Ever had that one really bad flight, which Is worse than any other flight possible? Well that was me with a flight that was ten hours delayed because they forgot to send the plane. Still I'm here now which is all good, with the final chapter of World War Three. Thank you to all those that reviewed, grapejuice101, fanfreak4ever, thegirlwhoimagined, and the mysterious M.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me
World War Three: Part Five
As soon as we got back home into the Powell Estate, I immediately went upstairs to pick up my bag from my flat. I looked around the rooms. It was a good flat, even if I had I only lived in it for a few months before disappearing for a year. It could have even become home if I had been there for longer. However ever since I had stepped into the TARDIS that spot had quickly been taken and the flat where I used to live was just another flat, stripped of everything that had made it personal to me.
Dragging my bag outside, I took one final look inside, before shutting the front door firmly, locking it up. As they said, a door once closed always opens another, and the shutting of this door meant that the TARDIS was open. And I had always preferred blue to yellow. Everything that I owned was now packed away in the bag at my feet. That was a little sad as well, everything that I owned fit into one suitcase, albeit a rather large suitcase. Well at least it meant that I didn't have to return for a repeat journey. That would have been more trouble than it was really worth.
Halfway down the flight of stairs, my phone suddenly rang. I pulled it out, looking at the Caller ID, frowning when there was a little picture of the TARDIS on it. I pressed the answer button, holding it up to my ear, "You've got a phone?" I asked him, starting to walk down the stairs again.
"Nine hundred years of time and space travel and you don't think I've got a phone?" the Doctor's voice echoed in my ear, "Shame on you, of course I've got a phone in here. It is a telephone box after all," I hummed lightly in agreement, "I've just got to send out this dispersal, it's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert just in case of any bargain hunters turn up. It'll take a couple of hours and then we can go,"
"I'm just coming down the stairs so I'll be about three minutes," I told him, "I think Rose is still with Mum," I reached the bottom on the stairs, "See you in a second," I clicked the phone off, before picking up the suitcase and wheeling it over to the TARDIS. I pulled out the TARDIS key, quickly unlocking it, pulling my bag with me, "So the last time I went travelling with you," I called over to the Doctor, "There wasn't any time to properly get anything. Now I think I've probably got everything that I could possibly want," I looked down at my bag, "Where exactly do I put this? Do you have a cloakroom or something?"
"Cloakroom?" he asked, "You're staying here long term now, you get a room," I raised my eyebrows in surprise. He sighed, pointing towards the doorway, "Go down there and you'll find a door that'll have your name on it. Shouldn't be too far from this room, the TARDIS likes to keep them close. Either way when you find your name then that's your room,"
"I have a room?" I inquired and he nodded, "I'll be back in a bit," I picked up my suitcase, heading through the doorway, looking at the different doors that lined the corridor. Finally I found my name etched onto one, and I opened it up. I smiled at the room that was inside it. It was bright blue, with yellow stars painted on the ceiling. A bed was placed in one corner of the room, desk in another with a wardrobe standing next to it. There also was an empty bookshelf which I knew would come in handy to put anything on let alone books. It was fairly large for just one person, but I could get used to it very easily, it was perfect for someone like me.
Placing my bag on my bed, I quickly placed all my clothes in the wardrobe, the books on the bookshelf and my laptop on the desk, plugged into what seemed like a normal plug socket. I didn't know whether the TARDIS ran on electricity, or even had electricity, but the laptop seemed to be charging in any case. Shoving my now empty suitcase under the bed, I grabbed my diary, and a pen, before walking out of my room, and heading back down to the TARDIS control room, starting to write down everything that had happened in the past week.
"All done?" the Doctor asked, and I nodded, distractedly as I continue to fill up the pages of my diary, "I've just rung Rose so she'll be ready when we leave, if she decides to come. Like I said earlier, we'll be a couple of hours before we can get the TARDIS going again. How was your room?"
"Perfect," I answered, looking up, "No really, everything was perfect. Did the TARDIS get into my head and figure out what I liked in a bedroom?" he nodded, tapping on the console, "Right, so where are we going first, after you've sent off your dispersal to tell everyone not to come to Earth? Which planet?"
"The Horsehead Nebula," he replied, "There's a plasma storm that is brewing there. Ten million miles wide, there are fires burning, and I am going to ride the TARDIS right into the centre of it, before riding the shock wave all the way out. We could end up absolutely anywhere in the whole of the universe," I grinned at that, "Does that sound like a good plan?"
"Your good plans usually turn out for the best," I told him, "That sounds fun. We've just got to wait a couple of hours," I looked at him speculatively, there was a lot that we needed to talk about and I knew that he would only be distracted if we were in here until it was time to head off to the Horsehead Nebula, "Hungry?" I questioned lightly.
"Starving," he responded, before turning towards me, his eyes narrowed slightly. I smiled innocently, closing the diary and storing it in my pocket, "There's a kitchen in the TARDIS," he added, quickly, "And Rose told me that your mother was thinking about cooking for all of us,"
"Mum wants to cook?" I raised my eyebrows, "I didn't think you did that type of thing," he folded his arms, "It's my last night on Earth in London for what will, I hope, be quite a while," I informed him, "I have the rest of my life to eat in the TARDIS Kitchen, not that I have anything against the TARDIS's kitchen," I looked up at the ceiling, "I'm sure that it's a very nice kitchen. But we have a while to kill, and as both you and me are hungry, it might be an idea to go outside. I have just enough money, so you don't have to pay," I walked towards the door, "So are you coming or am I going to eat all on my lonesome?"
I stepped outside, looking up at the block of flats, and leaning against the TARDIS. Sure enough the Doctor came out a minute later shrugging on his coat, "Right, seeing as you're the one determined to not eat in the TARDIS then you can choose where we go," he said to me, before adding, "Chips are good,"
"Then we'll go to a chip shop," I told him, walking in the right direction, "There's one not too far away, and it's not exactly expensive,"
Half an hour later found us sitting in the chip shop, eating chips in one of the plastic booths. At this moment I was just mechanically eating the chips, not really tasting it properly, and from looking at the Doctor it seemed the same, "I know the real reason why you wanted to eat outside the TARDIS," he finally broke the silence that had descended on us around ten minutes ago, "It's about what happened in Downing Street, isn't it?" I sighed, throwing the chip into the box and looking at him, "You thought that the TARDIS would have too many distractions for me to try and avoid your questions,"
"Which to be honest is a very valid reason," I retorted, leaning back in my chair, "I might not know you completely but I know enough of people to know that they can find something to distract them from questions. And the TARDIS is one place where you could find an infinite amount of things to distract you, and the chip shop has hardly any so I thought that I would have been a good place to come and talk properly without Rose here to complicate matters, when I need to talk to you without her,"
He sighed, nodding, "Fire away then," he offered, and I traced a pattern on the plastic surface of the table, "It was about Downing Street, wasn't it?"
"Yes," I said slowly, "And I thought that we could get on the same page as it were," I was terrible at this, really I was, the last time that I talk to someone about something this personal, well they didn't take it too well. She didn't take it too well, "I trust you with my life," I started, "And that's rather new for me. I don't trust anyone really, apart from Rose," I retraced the pattern, "So I don't really know where we go from here,"
"Where do you want to go from here?" he asked and I shot him a look, "You shouldn't trust me, Mary-Anne, not with your life. Like I told your mother, this is my life, running into trouble head first, without looking back, always moving on," he swallowed, "My life is dangerous and any moment someone could get killed, people got killed today and one day it might just be you and it would be my fault. I wouldn't forgive myself if that ever happened,"
"I'm not pretending that there is no chance that I won't die," I informed him, "But I think that everyday there is a chance I could get killed," I saw his face, "I know it's not the same, because getting killed by crossing the road would be by accident. But I think I would rather die trying to save something, than die by accident, because then there would be a point to it," he didn't look reassured, "I promise that I won't try and get myself killed," I tilted my head a little, looking at him, "In Downing Street, you hesitated about that missile," I said slowly, "And you said that it was because you could..."
"Lose you," he finished, and I nodded, "I wasn't lying," he carried on, "I really wasn't," I looked down, "You're important,"
"Doctor," I said, "I'm really not, I'm no one," I clasped my hands together, "I'm a shop girl from the East End of London. I don't have any qualifications that get me anywhere, I got kicked out of school at age sixteen and my life before you wasn't going anywhere. My friends before you, numbered all of one and that was my sister," I laughed slightly, "I'm the most ordinary girl in the whole of creation, why would hesitate over me,"
"Oh Mary-Anne, you're the most important person in the whole of creation," he told me, "You're certainly not ordinary, not by a long shot. You've helped saved the world three times, and a space station, not anyone can do that," I looked sceptically at him, and he took my hands in his. All the times that he had taken my hand when we were running for our lives I had never really considered what his hands felt like, there had always been something else to distract me. Now I studied them carefully. They were rough hands, certainly not soft, large but also warm. I blushed slightly, when I realised that I had been silent for a while, only running my fingers over his palms. I made to drop them but he gripped mine carefully, "And you know in nine hundred years, I've never met anyone who has been no one,"
I smiled shyly at him, "Well, perhaps," I replied, "Maybe. But I still trust you with my life," I pressed my thumbs into his palms lightly, "Nine hundred years and you're still alive," his brow furrowed at that, "Not a bad rate really. I think if anywhere is safe, then the Doctor in the TARDIS is a pretty good bet," I but my bottom lip, "You know, before you my life was so dull, and then you dropped down in that little blue box of yours and everything seemed to have...colour,"
He smilies, "Nine hundred years, I still get surprised by humans," he answered, "I thought I'd seen it all, everything from the mountains of Appalapachia to the Egyptian pyramids being built. I thought that I'd had enough of saving the human race years ago, but I'm finding that saving the world is just the beginning. The world has colour," we both grinned at each other, coming to some unspoken agreement, "So what happens now?"
"Do I look like I know what to do?" I laughed, "I've never done this before. Take it as it comes, I suppose," I smiled at him, "Get into the TARDIS, travel around a bit, see the universe and get into trouble. That sounds like a plan of some sorts. We could go anywhere,"
"Anywhere at all," he finished, and we exited the chip shop, "So in all of time and space, where would you choose?" I tilted my head to one side, "I can take you to the Charge of the Light Brigade, anti-gravity skateboarding on Delta 7 in the year six hundred thousand," I smiled, watching him talk, "Anywhere in time and space, your choice. Back and forward," he looked down at me, "How far would you go with me?"
"Oh," I looked thoughtfull, "All the way to the end of universe, and back again," I replied to him, "Right out to the very edges, or right to the very end of time. How ever many years in the future that is," I looked up at the darkening sky, "And tomorrow we could be standing under a bright orange sky, in a place with three moons, and that..." I sighed, "You're amazing, you know?"
"Me?" he scoffed, "I'm a man with a little blue box, which I borrowed for a while. In what way does that make me amazing?" I looked at him as if he were insane, "You humans, you're the amazing ones," we walked past the few shops near the estate, "I mean the majority of you are completely thick. You walk by things that are completely out of the ordinary, and you keep going, don't stop to ever question what is right in front of you," he stopped and turned to me, "But then there are others, people that you think that are all the rest, but then they do something, something little, something so tiny that suddenly everything changes. What you thought before didn't matter, because everything has changed," I looked in his eyes, a startling blue, "Suddenly you start seeing the world in colour," he cupped my face in his hands, "You are amazing," he pressed a light kiss to my forehead, "Now, we have a graffiti artist to catch, and a sister to wait for," I let a bewildered laugh as he suddenly started running, pulling me along with him, "Time stops for no one!"
We managed to catch the person who had decided to graffiti the words: BAD WOLF on the side of the TARDIS. He was only about twelve, but he knew he was in trouble the moment he saw the Doctor. The TARDIS camera was easily able to spot who had committed the deed. The Doctor wasn't too hard on the boy, only making him scrub the words off with soap and water which took the boy a couple of hours at least. Scrubbing dry paint off wood was difficult even at the best of times, so I didn't envy the boy.
It was dark when Mickey, having changed out of his slime covered clothes, came to sit outside the TARDIS, reading the newspaper. The boy had finished scrubbing the graffiti off the side, so the Doctor stuck hi head out of the door, looking around to where the boy was, inspecting the work, "Good lad," he congratulated the boy, "Now if I catch you graffiting that again, I'll have you," he jerked his head roughly, "Now beat it,"
The boy didn't waste any time, dropping the scrubbing brush into the soapy bucket, picking it up, before sprinting off. We both crossed over to Mickey who was clearly bursting with an unanswered question, "So I just went down the shop," he started nervously, "And I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is," he held up the paper which on the headline was the worlds: ALIEN HOAX, "I mean, how could they do it?" Mickey burst out, "I mean they saw it!"
The Doctor shrugged, "They're just not ready," he explained, simply, "You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face - nope! Can't see it!" he looked pointedly at the man in front of him, "There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick,"
Mickey laughed slightly reluctantly, "We're just idiots," he confessed, and I rolled my eyes.
"Well not all of you," the Doctor admitted, and I raised my eyebrows at him. Now who had clearly had a change of heart? "Oh...shush," he told me, "Mickey the Idiot saved the world, it's not every day that I'm forced to eat my words," he dug through his pockets, "But here's a present for you," he handed over a disc, "That's a virus. Put it online, it'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist," Mickey frowned, "It's because you're right, I am dangerous, And I don't want anyone to follow me,"
"How can you say that?" Mickey asked, looking over to where Mum and Rose had just entered the courtyard, "How can you say that and then take both of them with you?" he looked at me, "You could die out there, Alice, and so could Rose. You're not safe if you go with him, and there wouldn't be any way that you could get me for help,"
"My choice," I answered him, bluntly, "Besides, I've tried to live a life where nothing really happened, and it was...boring," I looked up at the TARDIS, "Trouble makes you think on the more important things in life, and I couldn't ,it's that for the world, not this world at any rate. I'm staying with the Doctor. Whatever Rose decides to do is her choice, I'm not making her come with me, and I'm not making her stay,"
"You could come with us," the Doctor suddenly proposed, and I looked around at him quickly. Now the world really had changed, twenty four hours earlier and the Doctor would have never asked Mickey to come with us, "You could protect her and make sure that she was safe. You could come with us,"
Mickey shook his head rapidly, "I couldn't," he confessed, "This life of yours...it's just too much. I couldn't do it," I knew that it would have taken a lot out of him to admit that to the Doctor, let alone with me standing right by. But I had found out that Mickey wasn't so bad. He actually was quite useful in a crisis. I had been wrong, but it was a nice thing to be wrong about, and I guess that without the Doctor and World War Three almost happening, I still would have thought of Mickey as an idiot, "Don't tell Rose that I said that," the Doctor and I both nodded quickly.
I turned towards where Mum and Rose was coming closer. Mum was babbling rapidly to arose, begging her not to leave in the TARDIS, "I'll get a real job," she promised, "I'll work weekends, I'll pass my test and if Jim comes round again, I'll tell him no, I really will,"
"Mum," Rose smiled at her, on her back was a large bag that was no doubt filled with clothes, "I'm just going travelling, that's all. And then we'll come back. That's all. Just travelling, loads of people do it, and you can call me any time you want so it's not like we're going forever. Be back before you know it, so there's nothing to worry about, and if you saw it out there, you wouldn't be able to stay home either," she handed the Doctor her bag, "Last time we stepped in there," she nodded to the TARDIS, "It was spur of the moment. Now we're signing up, you're stuck with us, hah!" she looked at Mickey, "Come with us. There's plenty of room,"
Mickey gestured to the Doctor and the man merely tightened his arms around the bag filled with clothes, "No chance, he's ah, a liability," he said bluntly, and I hid a smile behind my bag, he was a very good actor, "I'm not having him on board," Rose looked ready to protest, "My decision is final," he added and Mickey shot him a grateful look from where Rose couldn't see.
She turned back to him, "Sorry," she apologised and he waved it off slightly, before kissing her, "I'll see you around," she told him, "All right?" he nodded, "I will see you soon,"
Mum rounded on the Doctor, "You still can't promise me," she aid to him, "What if they get lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they're left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away - how long do I wait then?" she demanded, and the Doctor didn't answer her. She turned to me instead, "Alice, please, don't do this to me,"
I looked away, "Everyone leaves home someday," I answered her and she let out a faint scream of frustration, "I don't promise that it won't be dangerous, but we'll be all right, we'll both be absolutely fine. You'll see,"
Of course she wasn't convinced by me, so she turned to look at Rose, "Mum..." Rose said patiently, "You're forgetting - it's a time machine. We could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe and by the time we get back," she held onto Mum's hands, "Ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying," I moved into the TARDIS, standing next to the Doctor, hearing Rose's parting words of, "See you in ten seconds time,"
"So," I asked, pulling down the lever that the Doctor pointed me to, as Rose ran up to the console, "The whole of time and space, anywhere that we can go," he grinned at me, turning a dial, "And I seem to remember something about a plasma storm, and riding the shockwave to end up anywhere," the console whirred with energy as we fly through the Time Vortex, "Surprise us,"
So 'Dalek' is next, and I really like that episode so await the next chapter. See you soon