Thanks to Tsuki no Yasha, Wtfstarftw10, EmeraldGhost11, Luna91588, Lyanna Potter, Wolfpup59 for following/faving my story.
HannahHPandDWfanJones: they are indeed!
EmeraldGhost11: I'm really glad you love it!
NicoleR85: thanks. Here's the next. Sorry it has taken so long.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS with a smile on his face. "You're in a good mood", Alyssa commented as he locked up the box.
"Why shouldn't I be? I've got my box", he said patting the TARDIS "I've got my girl" the Doctor reached out, pulled Alyssa to him and gave her a kiss "the most brilliant woman in the universe".
"You're biased", Alyssa said putting her arms around his neck.
"Of course I am", the Doctor agreed "but it's still true. You are brilliant".
"I have to be in order to keep up with the smartest, cleverest and most handsome man in the universe", Alyssa said.
The Doctor grinned "Well…" he began.
"Which reminds me I have to catch up with Steve at some point, it's been a while", Alyssa said. She laughed when the Doctor pouted "of course I meant you, spaceman!" she pecked his lips "my spaceman".
"My Ali", the Doctor said emphasising the word 'my'. Alyssa had to admit she did kinda like hearing him say that.
"Absolutely yours", she agreed "And my mother's", Alyssa added.
"But no one else's", the Doctor said firmly.
"Oh I don't know. If you get another companion, you'll have to share", Alyssa told him.
"Why would I want another companion?" the Doctor asked "I have you". Why would he want someone else traveling with them? He had his box. He had his girl. For once in his long lives he was actually happy. Why would he want things to change?
"You never know Doctor. The future isn't set in stone. Now don't we have Adipose Industries to investigate?" Alyssa asked stepping out of his arms.
"Yes we do", the Doctor replied. He held out his hand and Alyssa took it. They walked hand in hand along the busy street towards the large building that housed Adipose Industries. Instead of going through the front door, the Doctor and Alyssa went around the back. The Time Lord opened the fire exit using his sonic and the pair entered the building.
The Doctor and Alyssa walked down a deserted corridor. "John Smith and Alyssa Palmer, Health and Safety", he said showing the physic paper to a guard as they passed.
The Doctor and Alyssa watched the presentation Miss Foster was giving from the projection room. If aliens were involved in the suspicious activity the TARDIS picked up, they didn't want them to know that there was another alien present in the building. "Adipose Industries, the twenty first century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is. You just take one capsule. One capsule, once a day for three weeks, and the fat, as they say…." Miss Foster turned to the large screen.
"The fat just walks away", a male voice spoke, the words appearing underneath the name Adipose Industries.
"Excuse me, Miss Foster. If I could?" A woman spoke up "I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for The Observer. There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand con men stealing people's money. How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?"
"Oh, Penny, if cynicism burnt up calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes. But if you want the science, I can oblige", Miss Foster replied. She stepped away from the podium to allow the people in the audience to get a clear view of the screen as it began to show how the Adipose Pills worked.
"Adipose Industries. The Adipose capsule is composed of a synthesised mobilising lipase, bound to a large protein molecule"
"Someone's coming", Alyssa said quietly to the Doctor when she sensed someone approach the door to the projection room. The Doctor nodded and got out the physic paper which he showed to the man who walked in only a moment after Alyssa had warned him.
"Health and Safety… Film department", the Doctor informed the man who nodded. He and Alyssa continue to watch the presentation while the man who entered, the projectionist went about his business.
"One hundred percent legal, one hundred percent effective", Miss Foster said once the presentation had finished.
"But, can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?" Penny asked.
"We've already got one million customers within the Greater London area alone, but from next week, we start rolling out nationwide. The future starts here. And Britain will be thin", Miss Foster replied.
In order to find out more information on the Adipose pill, the Doctor and Alyssa decided to talk to the staff. The pair went up to the call centre where numerous workers were busy answering phones. They headed to a booth where a young woman was talking on the phone "We deliver within three working days"
"John Smith and Alyssa Palmer, Health and Safety", the Doctor whispered showing the physic paper to the woman before he and Alyssa sat down "Don't mind us".
"The box comes with 21 days worth of pills, a full information pack, and our special free gift, an Adipose Industries pendant", the employee, Clare, explained on the phone, whilst giving a pendant over to the Doctor. "It's made of eighteen carat gold, and it's yours for free. No, we don't give away pens, sorry. No, I can't make an exception, no", the female employee said while she was looking at the Doctor who was inspecting the pendant. Eventually the employee finished with that particular phone call which enabled Alyssa to ask about getting a list of Adipose Industries customers.
"That's the printer there?" the Doctor asked jumping up looking around.
"By the plant, yeah", Clare confirmed.
"Brilliant", the Doctor said sitting back down. Much to Alyssa's amusement he jumped back up again asking "Has it got paper?"
"Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked", Clare replied.
"What?" the Doctor asked seeing Alyssa shake her head at him.
"Nothing dear", she said with a smile not even bothering to hide her amusement.
"Excuse me, everyone, if I could have your attention", Miss Foster said as she walked in with two bodyguards. Everyone with the exception of the Doctor and Alyssa stood up. "On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day" the Doctor stood up a little to look at Miss Foster over the divider while Alyssa stayed seated "And if not, you'll be replaced. Because if anyone's good in trimming the fat, it's me. Now. Back to it"
The Doctor dropped back down just as Miss Foster left so she didn't see him. "Anyway, if you could print that off, that would be great", Alyssa said to Clare. She nodded and did as the red head asked. Alyssa got up and headed to the printer to get the list of customers. Before she got there, she noticed that her shoe had come untied. She knelt down to retie her shoe, completely missing a certain ginger walking away from the printer.
"Oh, what's that?" the Doctor asked looking at a piece of paper the employee had given him.
"My telephone number", Clare answered.
"What for?" the Doctor questioned a little confused.
"Health and Safety", Clare replied "You be health, I'll be safety".
"Actually I'm taken. Sorry", the Doctor said not sounding sorry at all. Although the brunette was fairly pretty, he wasn't interested. He already had someone, a beautiful red head whom loved with everything in his hearts. He walked away from the booth and met up with Alyssa as she was coming back from the printer. "Where's the customer list?" the Doctor asked seeing that she wasn't holding any paper.
"It wasn't in the printer", she replied "what's that?" Alyssa asked noticing the paper in his hand.
"It's the phone number of that employee", the Doctor replied.
"She asked you out?" Alyssa questioned.
"Yes", the Doctor replied "but I told her that I was taken", he quickly added.
"Good. Well we're going to need that list reprinted" Alyssa said taking the paper from him "So I'll ask her to do that for us and at the same time I can give this back". She walked back to Clare's booth. "Hi. Me again. Would you mind reprinting that list for me?" Alyssa asked.
"Of course", Clare said.
"Thanks", Alyssa said "oh and you can have this back" she added dropping the paper with the phone number onto her desk.
The Doctor knocked on the door of Roger Davey, an Adipose customer. "Good evening Mr Davey", Alyssa greeted when the man opened the door "We're calling on behalf of Adipose Industries. Just need to ask you a few questions". The Doctor showed Roger the psychic paper, who took one look at it and allowed them into his home.
"How long have you been on the Adipose pills?" the Doctor asked as Rodger led them to the living room where he sat down on the sofa. The Time Lord and Alyssa opted to stay standing up.
"I've been on the pills for two weeks now. I've lost fourteen kilos", Rodger replied proudly.
"That's the same amount every day?" Alyssa asked.
"One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning", Rodger explained.
"What makes you say that?" the Doctor asked.
"That's when I get woken up. Might as well weigh myself at the same time", Rodger replied
"What wakes you up?" Alyssa questioned. In answer to her question Rodger takes the pair outside to show them the burglar alarm above the front door.
"It is driving me mad. Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes", Rodger explained.
"And every time it happens, there weren't any burglars?" Alyssa asked.
"Exactly. I've given up looking", Rodger said.
"Tell me, Roger. Have you got a cat flap?" the Doctor asked. Alyssa looked at him wondering why on earth he wanted to know that.
"It was here when I bought the house. I've never bothered with it, really. I'm not a cat person", Rodger said as he took them to the kitchen where there was a cat flap in the door. He and the Doctor knelt down by it while Alyssa stood behind them.
"No, I've met cat people" the Doctor said distractedly as he examined the cat flap "You're nothing like them".
"It's that what it is, though? Cats getting inside the house?" Rodger questioned.
"Well, thing about cat flaps is, they don't just let things in, they let things out as well", the Doctor told him.
"Like what?" Rodger asked.
"The fat just walks away", the Doctor muttered dropping the flap shut.
"Well, thanks for your help Mr Davey", Alyssa said shaking the man's hand after he led them back to the front door "It would be best if you stayed off the pills for a week or so", she suggested. The man was about to say something in reply when the Doctor's pocket beeped. He pulled out a device he'd constructed earlier and saw that it was flashing red.
"Oh. Got to go. Sorry", the Doctor said to the man. He pulled the door open with his free hand and ran out.
"Have a pleasant evening", Alyssa added before rushing out after the Doctor. The Time Lord grabs her hand when she catches up with him and together they run, following the signal on the device. They follow the signal along several streets, having to stop at one point when the beeps slowed. The Doctor just banged on the device, the beeps picking up again and the pair were continuing with their chase.
At one point, the Doctor ran into the middle of the road almost getting hit by a van if Alyssa hadn't pulled him out of the way. The device in the Time Lord's hand dinged as the van passed. He and Alyssa exchanged a glance before running after the vehicle. They darted down an alley when the van turned the corner, hoping that they could catch up to it. Unfortunately the Doctor and Alyssa never made it to the end of the alley way as the device stopped beeping, the red lights ceasing to flash as well. Both the Doctor and Alyssa stared at the device in disappointment.
"Damn it", Alyssa grumbled voicing hers and the Doctor's disappointment.
"You said it", the Doctor agreed. He her hand and they walked back up the alleyway completely unaware that Donna Noble was only a street away from them.
Alyssa smiled when she stepped inside the TARDIS hearing the familiar hum of the ship "we're back Sexy", she called shrugging off her jacket.
Welcome back sweetie
That made Alyssa smile even more. She loved hearing the TARDIS talking to her, even if she still didn't understand the reason why she was able to. Alyssa had asked the box but she had been pretty vague in her answers. The woman hoped that one day she would actually get proper answers as to why she could hear the TARDIS for the moment she just had to settle with the fact that she could.
"Where are you going?" the Doctor asked as Alyssa headed towards the door that led to the rest of the ship.
"To finish the painting so I can get it back to the museum", Alyssa replied. As she had worked hard getting her degree so she could get a job as conservationist, mainly in paintings, she didn't really want to give up her job at the British Museum. Alyssa didn't want to give up on travelling with the Doctor either so she came up with a compromise. She would take the paintings that her partner, Jenna Mackenzie, had allocated to her for restoration with her on her travels through time and space. Whenever she got some down time between adventures, she would work on the paintings.
In Alyssa's opinion the compromise worked pretty well. She could travel with the Doctor and maintain her job at the museum. It also gave her an excuse to visit her mother which she would do every time she had to drop a restored painting off. On occasion she also took the opportunity to drop in at the Coffee House so she could catch up with her former work colleagues. Steve loved her visits and was always eager to hear about her latest adventures. He didn't have to do much persuading as Alyssa was all too happy to share her adventures with him.
Her mother was a different story. While Sarah was aware that about her travels in the TARDIS, Alyssa felt that she couldn't tell her absolutely everything. If her mother knew how many times she'd come face to face with deadly aliens, she would probably have a heart attack. Either that or insist that she stopped travelling with the Doctor all together, something Alyssa was not prepared to do. As the saying goes 'ignorance is bliss' so Alyssa just tells her mother edited versions of her adventures.
"Couldn't you do that later?" the Doctor asked walking towards her.
"Maybe", Alyssa replied with a smile "if only there was someone to convince me".
"Is that a challenge Ali?" the Doctor asked with a smirk.
"It might be", Alyssa answered "Think you're up for it?" she asked teasingly.
The Doctor smiled already thinking of ways to convince her "absolutely", he replied. Alyssa stepped up to him so that they were merely inches apart.
"Prove it", she challenged before running off into the depths of the TARDIS. The Doctor chased after her looking forward to the moment when he catches her.
Alyssa ran along the corridors trying to keep herself from laughing as the Doctor chased after her. It was rather childish the way she was acting but she couldn't help it. The Time Lord had this way of bringing out her inner child sometimes. She turned this way and that through the maze of corridors that went throughout the ship. Alyssa pulled open the door to the library hoping that she could hide herself in the vast room. The woman sprinted along isles of books to try and lose the Doctor. She paused to catch her breath and yelped when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
"Gotcha!" the Doctor said.
"Yes you have", Alyssa said turning around in his arm "so Spaceman, how are you going are you going to convince me?"
"Well…I thought I'd do this", the Doctor said and kissed her deeply, pouring all his love into it. Alyssa put her arms around his neck, closing her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the wave of emotions that washed over her. When they eventually parted, both breathing heavily. The Doctor was pleased to see that his girlfriend's face was slightly flushed in a shade almost as red as her hair. "You convinced?" he asked.
"Yeah", Alyssa breathed "I'm convinced".
Sometime later the Doctor was in the console room examining the pendant he'd gotten at Adipose Industries through a magnifying glass. "Oh, fascinating. Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for…" The Doctor trailed off when he noticed that Alyssa had fallen asleep on the captain's chair. A soft smile appeared on his face as he regarded the sleeping woman. The Doctor set down the magnifying glass and pedant down on the console before going over to her. He picked her up and carried her to their room.
The next day the Doctor and Alyssa headed back to Adipose Industries entering the building the same way they did the day before. Something was definitely going on so they'd decided to have a little look around the building. Once everyone had gone home of course. "Any one coming?" the Doctor asked Alyssa as they stopped outside a cupboard door. The woman reached out with her abilities and didn't sense anyone else nearby.
"No", she replied. The Doctor nodded and opened the cupboard door. The pair entered the cupboard and the Doctor used his sonic to close it.
"What time do the staff leave?" he asked.
"Ten past 6 I believe", Alyssa replied.
"It seems we have some time to spare", the Doctor said. Alyssa smiled, clearly picking up on his emotions with little effort. She knew what he was implying by those words.
Around 6.10 the cupboard door opens and Alyssa stepped out with messy clothes and tousled hair. Despite her appearance she was smiling. The Doctor also left the cupboard hair sticking up all over the place and his tie askew. "Well that was something", Alyssa said breathlessly running her hands through her hair to get rid of any tangles.
"Yep", the Doctor agreed as he straightened his tie. The pair then made their way to the roof, still with smiles on their faces.
"Are you sure this is the best way to find out what's going on?" Alyssa asked as the Doctor climbed into the widow cleaner's cradle.
"Definitely", the Doctor replied.
"I don't know", Alyssa said hesitant about getting into the cradle. She'd gone along with some of his crazy ideas, not always willingly, but this didn't feel very safe.
"It'll be fine Ali", the Doctor assured her "I promise".
Alyssa sighed and got into the cradle "if the cables break, I'm not going to kiss you for a week", she threatened as the Doctor lowered it down the outside of the building.
"Those cables won't break. Trust me Ali", the Doctor said not really wanting his girlfriend to carry out on her threat. Alyssa opened her mouth to say something when Miss Foster entered, she and the Doctor quickly ducked down so they wouldn't be spotted.
Alyssa raised a brow when the Time Lord pulled out a stethoscope in order to hear the conversation going on inside the room. The Doctor put one end in his ear and held out the other for Alyssa. She stuck it in her ear and together they listened in on the conversation.
"This is ridiculous", a woman said. It sounded like the reporter Penny who'd been asking questions at the presentation the day before.
"Sit there", Miss Foster commanded.
"I'm phoning my editor", Penny said.
"I said sit", Miss Foster repeated.
"You can't tie me up!" Penny exclaimed as the bodyguard pushed her down onto a chair and did just that "What sort of a country do you think this is?"
"Oh, it's a beautifully fat country. And believe me, I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale", Miss Foster replied. Alyssa frowned at that. It sounded like this Miss Foster wasn't human. She hadn't picked up anything different from the woman the day before. Then again she didn't know that Tanya was an alien until she'd seen her face change in the police station bathroom.
"So, come on then, Miss Foster, those pills. What are they?"
"Well, you might just as well have a scoop, since you'll never see it printed", Miss Foster smirked holding up a pill "this is the spark of life".
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Penny asked.
"Officially, the capsule attracts all the fat cells and flushes them away. Well, it certainly attracts them. That part's true. But it binds the fat together and galvanises it to form a body", Miss Foster explained.
"Well, what do you mean 'a body'?" Penny demanded.
"I am surprised you never asked about my name. I chose it well. Foster. As in foster mother. And these…" Miss Foster took out a small white creature from her drawer and placed it on the desk "are my children".
"You're kidding me. What the hell is that?" Penny asked gaping at the creature.
The Doctor and Alyssa stand up to look through the window. The red head was taken aback when she noticed Donna peering through the circular window of the door across the room. She tapped the Doctor on his shoulder. When he looked at her, she pointed at Donna. The Time Lord was equally surprised to see her there.
"Doctor! Ali!" Donna mouthed.
"But…what? Wha… What?" the Doctor mouthed gaping at the ginger.
"Oh my god!"
"But… how?" Alyssa mouthed.
"It's me!" Donna mouthed pointing at herself.
"Yes, I can see that" the Doctor mouthed gesturing to his eyes. Alyssa had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing from the rather amusing silent conversation going on.
"Oh, this is brilliant!" Donna cheered.
"What the hell are you doing there?" the Doctor asked.
"I was looking for you"
"What for?" Alyssa asked.
"I came here" Donna started to mime her answer "trouble, read about it, internet, I thought trouble = you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Crept along. Heard this lot. Looked. You! Cos they…" Donna gestured to the side and looked at Miss Foster only to see she was staring back.
"Are we interrupting you?" the woman asked.
"Run!" the Doctor mouthed at the ginger.
"Get her", Miss Foster ordered. The Doctor quickly locked the office door with his sonic before using it to raise the cradle back up to the roof.
"And them!" Miss Foster shouted. The Doctor and Alyssa scrambled out of the window cleaner's cradle when it reached the roof. They entered the building as Miss Foster's guards shot the office door to get out.
"Oh, my God. I don't believe it!" Donna exclaimed when she met up with Alyssa and the Doctor on the stairs. She pulled Alyssa into a hug, the red head not minding one bit as she hadn't seen Donna since that day in the Coffee House. Which felt like a lifetime ago. "You've even got the same suit! Don't you ever change?" Donna asked the Doctor stepping back after hugging him.
"Yeah, thanks, Donna. Not right now", the Doctor said looking down seeing guards coming up the stairs a few floors below them "Just like old times!" he said happily grabbing Alyssa's hand and dashing back up the stairs, Donna running after them. She was buzzing from excitement in seeing the pair again. The trio ran out on to the roof where the Doctor led them to the window cleaner's cradle.
"Cause I thought, how do you find the Doctor and Ali?" Donna babbled as the Doctor soniced the cradle controls "well I thought at first I'd ring up because I had Ali's number but I didn't get any answer…"
"I've got a new phone because someone destroyed my old one!" the Doctor winced at that. Alyssa barely spoke to him for a week after he'd used parts of her phone for a device he was building. Even the TARDIS was in a mood with him for that, he got shocked every time he tried to operate the console. It took him getting Alyssa a new phone and apologising to both her and the TARDIS before the box decided to let him pilot her.
"I thought you'd forgiven me for that?" the Doctor asked.
"I have. That doesn't stop me bringing it up from time to time", Alyssa replied. She turned back to Donna "so how did you find out about Adipose Industries?"
"It was on this site on the internet", Donna replied.
"And you'd thought to take a look?" Alyssa asked.
"Yeah. When I couldn't get hold of you I decided to look for anything weird. UFO sightings, crop circles, sea monsters", Donna explained "The two of you opened my eyes. All those amazing things out there, I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the Titanic flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day. I mean, that's got to be a hoax".
"It wasn't a hoax", the Doctor informed her.
"Seriously? That was real?" Donna asked.
"Yep. Now in you get", the Doctor said hopping in the cradle. He held out a hand to Alyssa, helping her in.
"What, in that thing?" Donna asked.
"Yes, in that thing", the Doctor repeated.
"But if we go down in that, they'll just call us back up again", Donna pointed out.
"No, no, no, because I've locked the controls with a sonic cage", the Doctor informed her "I'm the only one that can control it. Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own, which is very unlikely".
"I really hope you haven't just jinxed us", Alyssa remarked as the Doctor lowered the window cleaner's cradle after Donna had got in. Sure enough the window cleaner's cradle started to plummet towards the ground. The Doctor pointed his sonic up at the pulley and the cradle jerked to a stop. "You just had to say something didn't you?" Alyssa grumbled getting to her feet as the sudden stop knocked them all to floor.
"Hold on, we can get in through the window", the Doctor said ignoring Alyssa's grumble about him jinxing it. His tried to use his sonic to cut through the glass but it didn't work "she's deadlocked it. I can't get it open", the Doctor told the woman.
"Well, smash it then!" Donna said picking up a spanner and smacking the glass with it. That didn't seem to work either.
"Ali can you…?" the Doctor asked.
"I can try", she replied placing her hand on the glass. She closed her eyes and concentrated.
"What is she doing?" Donna asked. The Doctor didn't answer her, just watched his girlfriend concentrate on breaking the glass. "Doc-"
"Donna quiet", he said rather rudely. Donna huffed in annoyance at his rudeness. She happened to glance up and gasped. Miss Foster was using her sonic to cut the cable!
"She's cutting the cable!" Donna exclaimed. The Doctor and Alyssa, whose concentration was broken by Donna's shout, looked up as the cable snapped. The cradle tipped dramatically, the Doctor and Donna just about managed to hold on. Unfortunately Alyssa wasn't so lucky. "Ali!" the Doctor and Donna shouted as the other red head tumbled out with a scream.
"Doctor!" Alyssa yelled as she clung tightly onto the broken cable "help!"
"Hold on!" the Doctor reached down and grasped the cable. Donna grabbed it too and together they tried to pull Alyssa up but they couldn't.
"Doctor!" Donna shouted.
On the rooftop, Miss Foster smirked "And now, for the other one", she said lifting her sonic pen pointing it at the second cable. The Doctor looked up and his face hardened seeing that Miss Foster was trying to cut the second cable. He raised his sonic at her own device and pressed the button. The woman's sonic pen sparked forcing her to drop it as it burned her hand. The Doctor caught it with his free hand and handed it to Donna as he climbed up the cable to the window they'd all tried to get into.
"Doctor hurry!" Alyssa shouted up to him not knowing how much longer she could hold on for.
"Work faster Doctor", Donna urged glancing down at the red haired woman who was clinging onto the cable for dear life absolutely terrified. The Doctor tried to stay calm as he worked on getting the window open. It wasn't easy as his hands were shaking, his hearts hammering in his chest.
"We won't be a minute!" the Doctor shouted to Alyssa as he finally managed to get the window open. He climbed in through the window not even bothering to help Donna up as he was more concerned with getting Alyssa inside.
When he reached the office, he rushed over to the window where Alyssa's jean clad legs were dangling. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Penny asked. The Doctor just ignored her and opened up the window.
"Ali you can let go now", he told Alyssa as he grabbed hold of her legs.
"Are you crazy? I'm not letting go!" she yelled at him unwilling to relinquish her hold on the cable even though she could feel the Doctor holding onto her legs.
"Ali, you know I'm crazy. I'm a mad man with a box", the Doctor reminded her "But you can let go now. I've got you".
Alyssa took a breath before letting go of the cable. The Doctor pulled her through the window into a tight embrace. Relief flooded through him as he held her trembling form. Seeing her fall like that had scared the living daylights out of him. He was pretty sure that he'd lost a few decades in the moment too.
"Let's never do that again", Alyssa mumbled when she'd calmed down enough from her ordeal.
"Never ever", the Doctor promised.
After freeing Penny, the trio ran through the call centre stopping short when Miss Foster appeared with her guards. "Well then" the blonde haired woman took off her glasses "at last".
"Hello", Donna said politely.
"Doctor!" Donna shouted.
"Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor and this is Ali", the Doctor said introducing himself and Alyssa.
"Hi", Alyssa said.
"And I'm Donna", Donna said introducing herself.
"Partners in crime. And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology", Miss Foster remarked.
"Oh, yes, I've still got your sonic pen. It's kind of sleek" the Doctor showed it to Donna and Alyssa.
"Oh, it's definitely sleek", Donna agreed.
"Despite it being sleek, I don't like it at all", the Doctor said glaring at Miss Foster. She tried to kill his girl which of course made him not very happy with the woman at all.
"Considering it nearly sent me falling to my death", Alyssa put in.
"And I don't like it when people try to kill my girl", the Doctor added still glaring at Miss Foster. Donna was a little confused by the Doctor calling Alyssa his girl. The first time she met them they were only friends. And when she crossed paths with Alyssa again at the Coffee House, the woman was still with her boyfriend Ben. She'd been pretty excited about an upcoming trip across Europe. Donna wondered what had happened between then and now for this apparent change in the Doctor's and Alyssa's relationship. "If you were to sign your real name that would be?"
"Matron Cofelia of the Five Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class", Miss Foster said proudly.
"A wet nurse, using humans as surrogates", the Doctor said sounding rather disgusted by that.
"I've been employed by the Adiposian First Family to foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost", Miss Foster explained.
Alyssa frowned at that "How do you lose a planet?" she asked.
"Oh, politics are none of my concern" Miss Foster waved them off "I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents".
"What, like an outer space super nanny?" Donna asked trying to understand what Miss Foster aka Matron Cofelia was.
"Yes, if you like", Miss Foster said ok with her analogy.
"So…so those little things, they're, they're made out of fat, yeah, but that woman, Stacy Campbell, there was nothing left of her" Donna said.
"Oh, in a crisis the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs. Makes them a little bit sick, poor things", Miss Foster told her.
Alyssa felt rather ill at the thought of people turning into the numerous white alien blobs like the one she'd seen in Miss Foster's office. "What about poor Stacy?" Donna asked.
"Seeding a level five planet is against galactic law", the Doctor said seriously, his thoughts going to the many innocent people who'd taken the pills completely unaware that they were dangerous.
"Are you threatening me?" Miss Foster asked.
"I'm trying to help you, Matron. This is your one chance, because if you don't call this off, then I'll have to stop you", the Doctor said, still serious.
"I hardly think you can stop bullets", Miss Foster said and the guards took aim. Immediately the Doctor stood proactively in front of Alyssa and Donna.
"He might not be able to. But I can", Alyssa said stepping up next to him. The Doctor tried to pull her back behind him but she just gave him a look which said 'trust me'.
"You?" Miss Foster scoffed looking her up and down "I highly doubt it".
"Why don't you have your men pull the trigger and find out", Alyssa challenged. She managed to stop herself from flinching when the guards took the safety off their weapons. "Go on Matron. Or are you too scared?" she taunted.
"Shoot them", Miss Foster ordered and the guards fired on the trio. Her eyes widened when she saw that the bullets seem to hit an invisible wall. Alyssa gave the woman an 'I told you so' look before flinging the psychic energy she'd used to create a wall at Miss Foster and her two guards. The force knocked the trio backwards.
Taking advantage of what Alyssa had just did, the Doctor grabbed her hand and ran out of the call centre. Donna ran after them rather surprised at what Alyssa had just done. She'd never seen her do anything like that before.
"What was that Ali?" Donna asked as they stopped by the cupboard that the Doctor and Alyssa had spent most of the day in.
"A long story", Alyssa replied rubbing her head "one I am happy to tell you once we stop Miss Foster".
"I'm holding you to that", Donna said as the Doctor was pulling out a ladder from the cupboard. "Well that's one solution. Hide in a cupboard. I like it", she commented as the Doctor threw out more supplies. He pressed the back wall of the cupboard to reveal a machine. During part of the time he and Alyssa were in the cupboard, he'd tried to hack into the machine. When they'd discovered it was triple deadlocked, they had decided to move onto something else to pass the time.
"I've been hacking into this thing all day because the matron's got a computer core running through the centre of the building. Triple deadlocked. But now I've got this" he held up the sonic pen "I can get into it", the Doctor explained. Alyssa didn't bother to correct him about the hacking in all day part because Donna didn't need to know what they'd been up to.
"She's wired up the whole building" the Doctor said after quickly flashing the sonic pen over the machine. Alyssa stepped out of the cupboard and glanced down the corridor when she sensed two people approaching. Sure enough the two guards that had been with Miss Foster came around the corner.
"We've got guards coming this way", she warned. The Doctor nodded and held two wires together causing them to spark. Donna and Alyssa watched the two men get shocked and collapse on the floor. "They're not dead Donna, just knocked out", Alyssa assured her.
"How do you know?" Donna asked looking at her.
"I can sense it", she replied "So why has she wired up the tower block Doctor?"
"That's a very good question Ali", the Doctor said picking up seemingly random wires and sonicing them with the pen.
"You look older", Donna commented looking at the Doctor while he worked on the machine. Alyssa helped him out by holding wires that he needed to sonic.
"Thanks", the Doctor said not looking away from his work.
"Is it still just the two of you?" Donna asked.
"No. We had this friend Martha, who we met not long after the Racnoss incident", Alyssa replied "she was great to have around, I could really open up to her. She was one who made me realise something really important" she looked at the Doctor who looked back at her, pausing in his work.
"Me too", the Doctor agreed with a smile. If it hadn't been for Martha Jones they would never have known that they loved each other. Well they might've done but it probably would've taken a lot longer than it did with the trainee doctor travelling with them. Donna looked at the two of them, the way they were looking at each other was more confirmation that they were more than just friends. "She was brilliant and I destroyed half her life"
"No you didn't. What happened wasn't your fault, it was the Master's", Alyssa told him. Although they were in a good place in their relationship, she was aware that he still blamed himself for the year that never was. She could assure him that it wasn't his fault a thousand times but it wouldn't make a difference. Alyssa hoped that one day he would be able to forgive himself for it, she already had.
"What about Rose?" Donna asked.
"Still lost", the Doctor replied.
"I thought you were going to travel the world Donna?" Alyssa asked wanting to change the subject. She knew that Rose was still a fairly sensitive subject for the Doctor.
"Easier said than done. It's like I had that one day with the two of you and I was going to change. I was going to do so much. Then I woke up the next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there", Donna said "And I tried. I did try, I went to Egypt. I was going to go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water, and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you. I must have been mad turning down that offer".
"What offer?" the Doctor asked.
"To come with you", Donna answered.
"You'd come with us?"
"Oh yes, please!" Donna said glad that he'd asked her again. Alyssa wondered if she'd intentionally mentioned the offer or if it was accidental. If it was intentional it was a pretty sneaky way to get the Doctor to ask her to travel with them.
"Right", the Doctor said a little uncertain. He'd enjoyed having Martha Jones travelling with himself and Alyssa. It had been fun, having another person to show the wonders of the universe to. Then the incident with the Master happened. The year-that-never-was had affected him pretty badly, still did as a matter of fact. That year had ruined not only Martha's life but her families' as well. Out of everything that had occurred, that wasn't even the worst thing to have happened. Alyssa being tortured, nearly dying because of it, surpassed that. The Doctor still had nightmares about it, all of them ending with Alyssa dead. When he woke up from having such a nightmare, he would hold Alyssa in his arms assuring himself that she was alive, that the TARDIS had saved her. He was never going to let anything like that happen to her ever again.
Although Donna seemed excited at the possibility of travelling with them, the Doctor was a little unsure. He was brought out of his thoughts by the computer declaring that the inducer was activated.
"What's happening Doctor?" Alyssa asked as the machine lit up.
"She's started the programme", he replied "So far they're just losing weight, but the Matron's gone up to emergency pathogenesis", he added.
"And that's when they convert…" Donna began
"Skeletons, organs, everything", the Doctor finished.
"Oh god", Alyssa breathed paling at the thought of hundreds, no thousands of people were going to be turned into Adipose.
"I've got to cancel the signal", the Doctor said pulling out the gold capsule from his pocket "This contains a primary signal" he explained pulling the top off to show the women the chip inside "if I can switch it off, the fat goes back to being just fat". Alyssa and Donna watched as he attached it to some wires hanging from the machine.
His hearts dropped when the computer announced that the inducer was increasing "No, no, no, no, no. She's doubled it. I need….haven't got time. It's too far. I can't override it. They're all gonna die!" the Doctor said panicking.
"Is there anything either of us can do?" Donna asked.
"Sorry, Donna, this is way beyond either of you. Gotta to double the base pulse, I can't…"
"Doctor calm down", Alyssa said placing a hand on his arm, sensing the sheer panic coming off him "what do you need?"
"I need a second capsule to boost the override, but I've only got the one. I can't save them!" the Doctor exclaimed.
Without saying a word, Donna reached into the pocket and pulled out her own pendant. The Doctor looked at her in shock before all three of them burst out laughing. The Time Lord took the pendant from her, hooked it up to the machine and the trio watched as it powered down. "You are brilliant super temp", Alyssa said hugging her happily.
Then a horn blared "What the hell was that?" Donna asked.
"That would be the nursery", the Doctor replied.
"When you say nursery you don't mean a crèche in Notting Hill", Donna said.
"Nursery ship", the Doctor corrected.
Incoming signal the computer announced, the machine turning back on.
"Hadn't we better go and stop them?" Donna asked as the Doctor tried to listen to the alien language that was speaking.
"what is that?" Alyssa asked.
"Instructions from the Adiposian First Family", the Doctor replied "She's wired up the tower block to convert it into a levitation post" his eyes widened as he listened to the computer "Oh. Ooh. We're not the ones in trouble now. She is!"
The Doctor took Alyssa's hand and the three of them hurry up to the rooftop. There they see hundreds of Adipose floating up towards the large ship in the sky. "What you going to do then? Blow them up?"
"They're just children. They can't help where they come from", the Doctor said watching the Adipose.
"Oh, that makes a change from last time. That Martha must've done you good", Donna remarked.
"Not just Martha", the Doctor winding his arm around Alyssa's waist. The woman leaned against him and waved at the Adipose, laughing when one waved back.
"I'm waving at fat", she said smiling. Despite the fact that they'd been created out of humans, they were rather cute.
"Actually, as a diet plan, it sort of works" the Doctor admitted. Then he noticed Miss Foster floating upwards in a beam of blue light "There she is!"
They ran over to the edge where the woman stopped floating "Matron Cofelia, listen to me", the Doctor said.
"Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again, it'll be too soon", Miss Foster said not interested in anything he had to say.
"Oh, why does no one ever listen? I'm trying to help. Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?" the Doctor asked. He knew that the Adiposian First Family wasn't going to take Miss Foster with them as they were aware that it was a crime to breed on Earth.
"What, so that you can arrest me?" Miss Foster asked.
"Just listen. I saw the Adiposian instructions. They know it's a crime, breeding on Earth. So what's the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice", the Doctor told her.
"I'm far more than that. I'm nanny to all these children"
"The parents have the kids now. They don't need you anymore", Alyssa put in trying to help the Doctor reason with the woman. Suddenly the blue light cuts off. Miss Foster look down bewildered before she falls with a scream. Alyssa tried to use her powers to save her like she did with Morvin but she was too late. She stepped away from the edge, hating that fact that she couldn't save her. It didn't matter what Miss Foster had done, she didn't deserve dying like that. The Doctor took her hand and led her away.
When they reached street level, the street was busy with ambulances and police cars. The Doctor took Miss Foster's sonic pen out of his pocket and threw it in a bin. He wasn't going to keep something that had nearly gotten Alyssa killed. "Oi you three!" a voice called. The trio turned to see Penny coming towards them, still tied to the chair. "You're just mad. Do you hear me? Mad! And I'm going to report you for madness"
"You see, some people just can't take it", Donna said as they watched her go.
"And some people can", Alyssa pointed out looking at Donna, who smiled knowing she meant her.
"So, then. Tardis! Come on!" the ginger grabbed the Doctor's arm and pulled him away. Alyssa followed them to where the TARDIS was parked in the alley, just behind a blue car. "That's my car!" Donna said seeing that she'd parked her car that close to the box. When she parked it that morning, she had no idea the blue box would appear behind it.
"Blimey that's a coincidence", Alyssa commented.
"Or destiny", Donna said going over to the boot of her car "and I've been ready for this". Both the Doctor and Alyssa were surprised that the boot was full of suitcases. "I packed ages ago, just in case. Because I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather…" Donna loaded the Doctor up with her luggage while Alyssa looked on rather amused by the look on her boyfriend's face "he and Ali goes anywhere. I've gotta be prepared" Donna tosses a hat box to Alyssa who just about catches it.
"You've got a…a… hatbox?!" the Doctor stuttered staring at the box in Alyssa's arms.
"Planet of the Hats, I'm ready!" Donna grinned continuing to unload her cases.
"You wouldn't happen to have packed a fez by any chance?" Alyssa asked setting the box down and going over to help her while the Doctor just stood there.
"As a matter of fact I have", Donna replied. She selected another hat box that was still in the boot and opened it up. "There you go", she said giving the red fez over to Alyssa. Donna laughed at how happy Alyssa looked holding a fez. "I take it you love fezzes then?" she asked recalling the first time she met them both. Alyssa had mentioned a fez then too.
"Of course I do! Fezzes are cool!" Alyssa said sticking it on her head. She spun around, half expecting the Doctor to say something about the fez like he usually did but he just stood there with Donna's luggage around him "Doctor are you ok?"
"I don't know", he said honestly causing Donna to turn around.
"You don't want me to come do you?" Donna asked sounding sad. She really thought he wanted her to join them on their travels through time and space.
"I'm not saying that", the Doctor said.
"But you asked me. Would you rather it just be the two of you?" Donna asked.
"I want you to come Donna", Alyssa said.
"Doctor?"
"I want you to come too" he agreed "it's just…the last time with Martha, something happened and it ruined her life. And that was all my fault".
"Again I say it wasn't your fault. When are you going to believe me?" Alyssa asked interrupting him.
"Maybe in the next life"
"I'm going to make sure you forgive yourself before that happens", the red head said firmly.
"And then Martha left", the Doctor told Donna picking up where Alyssa had interrupted him "it was her choice to go but it's still hard when your mate leaves".
"You just want to mate?" Donna asked looking horrified at the thought.
"I just want a mate!" the Doctor tried again, knowing that Donna had misunderstood his words.
"You're not mating with me, sunshine!"
Alyssa had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. Man it's going to be fun having Donna around she thought. "A mate. I want a mate"
"Well, just as well because I'm not having any of that nonsense" Donna said finally understanding his words "I mean, you're just a long streak of nothing. You know, alien nothing".
"Which I happen to love", Alyssa said moving to stand next to the Doctor who put his arm around her waist.
"So I can come?" Donna asked hoping that she still could.
"Course you can", the Doctor replied.
"Great!" Donna said. Then she suddenly remembered her mother's car keys "I won't be a minute", she said before running off.
"Where are you going?" Alyssa called after her.
"Just dropping off my mum's car keys!" Donna called back. When she'd disappeared around the corner, the Doctor removed his arm from around Alyssa's waist so that he could open the TARDIS.
"You know you could've stepped in earlier", the Doctor said as they carried Donna's bags inside.
"I could've but it was too funny", Alyssa said setting down a case "oh and by the way" she wacked him upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for?" the Doctor asked rubbing his head.
"That was for jinxing it. You should've known better than to do that. And I'm carrying out my threat. No kisses for a week"
"Why?"
"You know why. I told you I wouldn't kiss you for a week if the cradle cables snapped. They did", Alyssa said.
"Oh come on Ali that wasn't my fault!" the Doctor whined.
"Doesn't matter. I warned you", Alyssa said pointing a finger at him.
"Off we go, then", Donna said running into the TARDIS not long after Alyssa and the Doctor had gotten all her bags in "what's up with him?" she asked seeing the Doctor sitting on the captain's chair looking like he was sulking.
"I told him that I wasn't going to kiss him for a week"
"You two are together then?" Donna asked.
"Yep", Alyssa replied "I'll be happy to explain to you how we ended up together once we get you settled in", she added knowing Donna was going to have a lot of questions about that.
"So how come you're not kissing him for a week?"
"The cable to the window cleaner's cradle snapped", Alyssa replied.
"That wasn't the Doctor's fault, Miss Foster did that", Donna reminded her.
"Thank you!" the Doctor said happy that Donna was defending him in some way.
"Oh, I know that it wasn't his fault. But I did warn him, that's why he's sulking", Alyssa said.
"No I'm not", the Time Lord muttered although he was.
"Yes you are dear"
That is definitely sulking
"Even the TARDIS agrees with me", Alyssa said rather smugly.
"She would do. You're her favourite", the Doctor said standing up "so Donna. The whole wide universe, where do you want to go?"
"Oh, I know exactly the place", Donna said smiling. She'd decided to give her grandfather a nice surprise.
"Which is?"
"Two and a half miles that way", Donna replied pointing behind her.
Wilf was given the surprise of his life when the blue box that his granddaughter Donna had constantly gone on about appeared in the night sky where he was star gazing. A big smile appeared on his face when he looked through his telescope to see Donna standing in the open doorway waving at him. Next to her were two very familiar people. Wilf's eyes widened when he recognised them as the couple he'd met at Christmas.
Donna had once described them to him, telling him their names. The Doctor and Alyssa. And there were waving to him from the blue box. "That's them! Hey, that's them! Ha, ha, ha! Go on, gal! Go on, get up there! Hey!" Wilf did a merry little dance as he watched the TARDIS fly away.