Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

Big thanks to Chakoteya transcripts and BBC iPlayer.

Chapter 02 - Rose

Saturday, March 26th 2005, Powell Estate.

I looked at the alarm clock I had just switched off to see it read 7:30am. I sat up rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and swivelled my head around to look at the calendar I had hung on the front of my wardrobe, eyes focusing on the date circled in red felt tip.

Today's the day.

I got up out of bed stretching out a yawn before making my way to the shared bathroom to start getting ready for the day. Stopping to take a look at myself in the mirror as I finished brushing my teeth, I noted the differences and similarities between how I thought Rose Tyler had looked in my memories versus now.

We weren't completely identical, I was a little bit more toned, likely from the exercises I took up as I knew I'd have to run a lot one day, my hair was a shade darker, and a bit longer falling to just below my chest. I also had slightly thicker eyebrows that I wiggled at myself in the mirror, not really seeing the need to join in with the thin brow fad.

I wiped off my toothpaste before continuing my morning routine. Hearing the TV flick on in the living room I called out "Mum! Will you put me some toast on please?"

"How many love?" She called back.

"Just the one please!"

I finished getting dressed for work, brushing my blonde hair up into a practical pony tail, and dabbing on a bit of mascara and gloss, before grabbing my bag. I double checked its contents, making sure I had everything I needed for the day already packed. Doing a quick once over in the mirror on the back of my door, I nodded to myself before walking out through the small corridor and out to the table.

Mum just entering the room before I did, setting the plate carrying buttered toast on the table, as I walked in before taking the seat opposite sipping at her coffee. "There you go sweetheart. We're running out of butter can you pick some up on your way back tonight?"

"Will do." I replied bending down to kiss her on the cheek in thanks before taking my seat, popping my bag down beside my legs.

She took another sip of her coffee, peering at me over the rim before asking "You hear back from any of them placements yet?"

Ah. I'd been telling my mum that I'd been applying to work abroad in programs where you go out to help people, build schools etc just in case the Doctor did end up liking -the Rose Tyler that was me- enough to take me on as a companion as well.

After all, from what I remember he has a habit of being a bit late and I sure as hell 1. Wasn't going to make my mum think I was dead and 2. Deal with her fury if I did when I came back.

Might also save him from being slapped. Probably.

I finished my bite of toast before replying as casually as I could "Nothing yet, but they're very exclusive, could end up being a last-minute notice kinda thing."

"Ah, well you just let me know alright? Keep me updated and all that." Mum replied getting up, popping a kiss on the top of my head as she passed, moving to take a seat on the sofa and grabbing the remote to the TV.

"Will do." I checked my watch, grabbing my bag and getting up myself upon seeing that it was time to head off to catch the bus. I gave mum another kiss on the cheek in goodbye as I passed, her calling out a "See you later!" after me, grabbed my waterproof off the hook near the door, quickly popping it on, and headed off and out of the flat to work.

The day from there passed like any other work day, arrive at work, put my stuff away, restock what was running low, serve on the tills, and deal with customers that didn't understand that yes, I get that you bought this from here but the receipt is dated 2 weeks past our return policy so there's nothing I can do.

Another average day of working in retail.

The only thing that broke up the monotony of the day was meeting Mickey for lunch, as our breaks had luckily happened to coincide, with him popping over from his job at the mechanics. We grabbed a quick lunch from maccies, too tired from the day so far to bother with anything else, and fast enough to eat in the 30 minutes that was our lunch break. Cheap, cheerful, and most importantly, nearby.

We quickly scoffed our lunch down, complaining to each other about the difficult customers of the day, before waving each other off as we headed back to finish our shifts. On a usual day, I would be counting down the hours till I could go home. This day I was counting down for a different reason entirely.

Finally. The clock had just hit the end of my shift, and today should be the day that I, Rose Tyler, meet the Doctor.

I grabbed my bag from my locker, swinging the strap over my head as the tannoy sounded above "This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you." And made my way along with the other sales assistants back down to the entrance of the store.

"Oi!" I turned away from the doors to see one of the guards shake a clear plastic wallet at me. "Take this down to Wilson before you go."

Showtime. I nodded taking the bag from his outstretched hand before making my way into the lift, hitting the button that would take me down to the basement.

I stepped out into the basement hallway, shivering a bit from the change in temperature, calling out "Wilson?" He could be alright. I could be wrong. "Wilson, are you there?"

I made my way further down the hallway towards Wilson's office and knocked on the door with little hope.

"Wilson? You in there?" No answer. "I've got the lottery money." A clatter echoed from further down the corridor, my head instinctually snapping to look towards the noise.

Or, I could be right. I took a shuddering breath before continuing down the pathway, closer to where the noise had sounded.

"Hello? Hello! Wilson, it's Rose. From upstairs."

I took another sharp breath before pushing open the door to the store room, stepping inside, turning on the lights to see a row of mannequins lining each wall. I'm scared. Oh, I'm so scared.

I called out again hesitantly taking another step into the room "Wilson?" only to have the door slam closed behind me.

"What" I quickly whirled around back to the door trying the handle before beginning to pound on it when it refused to open "Open up! Open please! Please!"

I heard the sound of movement behind me, quickly turning around, to see one of the mannequins had now turned to look at me. I gave up my vain attempt to reopen the door, sprinting through the rows of mannequins as they started to move to the other side of the room in hopes of another exit.

"Someone let me out of here!" I shouted as I came to a stop against a wall, my pursuers gaining on me. Come on Doctor! You've got to be here by now…right?

I hear another clatter, turning my head back to see all the mannequins were now almost within arm's reach. My eyes widening in terror and I screamed out another cry of "Help!"

I plastered myself against the wall in a poor effort to keep some distance between us, before I felt a warm hand grab my wrist. I snapped my head to look at it following the arm up to see the Doctor grinning at me.

"Run." No arguments there.

I quickly followed after him through the door that I hadn't even realised was only a few feet away, his hand dropping from my wrist to grab my hand, pulling me towards the lift as we ran, the mannequins giving chase behind us. As soon as we made it to the lift I quickly hit the door close button just in time, as one of the mannequins lunged through at us, its arm getting trapped between the doors stopping it from closing properly.

The Doctor dropping my hand to dodge it as I plastered myself against the back of the lift trying to remain out of reach. He finally grabbed the invading arm which after several hard tugs broke from its body, allowing the doors to close and the lift start rising.

I let out a sigh of relief, relaxing against the wall as there was no longer any immediate threat, commenting lightly "You pulled its arm off."

"Yep." He replied popping the P, tapping the arm against the wall before lightly tossing it at me to catch. "Plastic."

I swallowed before answering, holding the arm tightly "Right. And it was moving how?"

He grinned at me. "It's alive of course."

"Right." I hesitated before asking "Do you know if Wilson was still down there?"

"Who's Wilson?" He asked tilting his head slightly.

"The chief electrician."

He looked away, walking out of the lift as it came to a halt. "Wilson's dead."

"Ah." Poor Wilson. I looked down at my trainers as I walked out after him.

"You alright?" I looked up to see him looking down at me, brows pinched.

"Ye-yeah." I cleared my throat. "I barely knew him, just a bit sad is all."

He hummed in what I assume was agreement before turning back to the lift panel."Hold on. Mind your eyes." He warned before taking something out of his pocket - Sonic screwdriver? - to do something to the lift controls making them short circuit, in a flash of light.

"What did you do to the lift?"

He flicked his eyes to me briefly from where he'd already began to stride away. "Disabled it to make sure they can't follow us."

"You said they're living plastic right? What does that mean exactly?" I asked quickly following after him.

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He held up a small device that looked like a bomb as we came to a stop by a fire exit.

Probably is. "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." He gently pushed me through the exit before stepping back through the door shutting it behind himself.

Well.

The door opened again before I even had chance to turn around, the Doctor popping back through. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

"Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose." He beamed at me shaking the bomb. "Run for your life!"

He popped back in, the door closing behind him, and I decided to take his advice, quickly making my way away from the back entrance I now found myself in, running out of an alley, down past the shops, and across the street, narrowly missing a taxi as it passed beeping at me.

I paused once reaching the other side, turning to face Henricks, looking back towards the building just in time to see the explosion take out the entire upper floor, the fire beginning to quickly spread lower.

I shook my head blinking rapidly to clear the spots from my vision, as others still out in the city screamed, some running away, others pointing, stopping to watch the display. That really just happened.

He actually blew up my job. I thought a bit incredulously turning away from the burning building. Beginning to walk on autopilot, I began the trek to make my way home, not taking any notice of the police box I passed on my way to the bus stop, one thought sticking out.

I need to get butter.

I finally got back to the estate somewhere close to 9pm, and yes, I did manage to pick up some butter on the way. I unlocked the door pushing it open, calling out "I'm home" in the direction where my mum was undoubtedly sitting in front of the TV chatting on the phone.

She got up off the sofa still chatting away, lightly squeezing my arm as she went past on her way to the kitchen to pop the kettle on. "She's just got in. Oh, I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter. Oh, and here's himself."

I'd followed her in, beginning to put away the butter and other snacks I'd bought whilst at the shops, turning to see Mickey had just let himself into the flat.

"I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!"

Quickly pulling my phone out of my pocket I saw it had run out of battery without me noticing. Looking up at him a bit sheepishly I replied "Sorry, I didn't notice it had died. I'm all right though, honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss."

I accepted the mug of tea mum passed me with a quiet thanks before leading Mickey back into the living room to sit on the sofa.

"Well, what happened?" He asked once I'd settled myself against the cushions.

I shook my head. "I don't know. It happened after I'd already left."

"What was it though? What caused it?" He pressed.

"I wasn't in the shop Mickey. I was outside. I didn't see anything but the explosion itself."

It was at this point mum came back out of the kitchen holding out the phone to me. "It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview."

"Mum, I didn't see anything."

"Well, they don't know that!" She gave a small huff, giving a quick goodbye over the phone before hanging up. "You've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out."

I muttered a sarcastic thanks as the phone rang, mum picking up immediately, walking off as she answered. "Bev! She's alive. I've told her, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death."

Mickey peered into my mug before standing. "What're you drinking, tea? Nah, nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock. You need something stronger."

"Nah, you just want to go to the pub don't cha?"

"Oh, come on! We'll go down the pub, you and me get your mind off everything. My treat. How about it?"

I smiled knowingly at him unmoving. "Is there a match on?"

"No," He answered, a bit too quickly. "I'm just thinking about you."

"There's a match on, definitely." I nodded to myself taking a sip from my mug.

Mickey huffed a little. "That's not the point!" A pause. "But we could catch the last five minutes."

I snorted. "I'm fine, Mickey. Go on without me. Enjoy your match."

He popped a quick kiss on the top of my head in goodbye before I called after him. "Can you bin that on your way out?" I gestured to where I'd chucked the plastic arm on the armchair when I came in. Ha.

"No problem. See you later!"

"See you later!" I called back as Mickey pretended to be strangled by the arm, smiling at him a bit nervously in return as he left.

I glared over at the alarm that had just woke me up early on a Sunday, seeing it flash 7:30am. Must have forgotten to reset it after yesterday. I thought yawning as I sat up, mum cracking my bedroom door open to lean herself against the frame, clad in her pjs and dressing gown.

"There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to."

I nodded sleepily in reply before deciding to still start my morning routine, as I was now up anyway.

As I made my way into the kitchen to peer into the fridge, mum called over where she was passing by the doorway. "There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs."

I scrunched my nose in distaste. "The butchers. Can't really stand the smell."

"Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim."

I nodded along as if I was actually paying attention, before peering in the direction of the front door as I heard a rattle. "Was that the cat flap? I thought you'd nailed it down already?"

"I did it weeks back!"

"Are you sure you didn't just think about it?" I teased before going to have a look.

As I got closer to the door, I noticed the screws that were in the cat flap are now lying on the floor. I kneel down to pick them up before the flap pops open, a head peering through. Doctor?

I quickly stood and opened the door to see the Doctor looking at me in confusion as he asks "What're you doing here?"

"I live here." Obviously.

"Well, what do you do that for?"

Is he being serious? "Because I do. Most people tend to live places."

He looked back down at the device in his hand before turning back to me "I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" He reached forward to knock lightly on my head. "No, bonehead. Bye, then."

I grabbed his arm before he could leave. "No. You. Inside. Right now."

I pulled him into the flat, closing the door behind us, leading him into the flat as I made my way towards the living room my mum calling out from her bedroom.

"Who is it?"

I shot him a glance when he paused in the hallway, looking around curiously, as I continued into the living room to tidy up a bit calling back. "It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes."

She popped her head around the corner to look at him. "She deserves compensation."

He nodded back at her "Oh, we're talking millions."

She gave him a slow once over before leaning against the wall. "I'm in my dressing gown." Oh my god.

"Yes, you are."

She continued. "There's a strange man in my flat." Mom please.

"Yes, there is."

She stroked her hand down the front of her dressing gown. "Well, anything could happen."

He paused before bluntly stating. "No." Pfft. Sorry mum.

"Do you want a coffee? Or tea?" I intervened quickly.

He turned back to me as mum went back to her room, nodding slightly. "Might as well, coffee thanks. Just milk."

I set about making us each a drink, looking back at him through the hatch in the wall as I waited for the kettle to boil, to see him picking up one of the magazines left out for mum's hairdressing clients. "That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien."

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?"

He flicked through a paperback I'd finished and left on the side for mum to read. "Hmm. Sad ending."

"It could be important. But I don't know really." I turned as the kettle clicked filling the cups up before adding milk and stirring.

"Rose Tyler."

"Yes?" I headed fully into the living room now carrying our drinks over to see him placing down one of the letters on the end table, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears."

I placed the drinks down on the coffee table before quickly snatching the deck of cards he'd picked up out of his hands gesturing at him with them before scolding lightly "No."

He opened his mouth to reply before being cut off by a scuffling sound, both of us looking around for the source. "What's that, then? You got a cat?"

"No."

At this point the plastic arm I'd gotten Mickey to throw away only the night before decided to make itself known by somehow managing to leap into the air, latching itself tightly onto the Doctor's throat.

"Oh my god!" I quickly grabbed onto the other end of the arm, keeping away from the coffee table, as the Doctor fell back onto the sofa trying to pull it off.

With a great heave that landed me on my arse it finally let go, flying through the air, only to fall back down and grab my face instead. "Mmmph!"

The Doctor rushed over pulling out his sonic screwdriver, buzzing it against the arm for a few seconds before I felt it let go, taking a deep breath as he pulled it away from me. Thank god my mums drying her hair, I don't know how I would've explained that.

He fiddled with the screwdriver a bit before jabbing it into its palm once more, the fingers finally halting their movement. "It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see?" He waved it at me. "Armless."

"Ya think?" I pulled myself up from my position on the floor before quickly following after the Doctor as he ran out of the flat.

"Hey wait a minute! You can't just go running off!" I shouted as we raced down the stairwells.

"Yes, I can. Here I am. This is me, running off. See you!"

"But there's something I still need to ask you!" I protested.

He turned to look back at me, still walking as we exited the building and into the courtyard, brows raised inquiringly. "Well, what is it then?"

Oh god what do I say? "Um," Why have I never thought this far before? "You see the thing is I sort of, well, sort of knew all of this was going to happen."

He tilted his head at me eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "What d'you mean?"

Right. "It's like I've seen all this before. I-I knew you were going to be there yesterday and that the dummies were alive. I just sometimes know things."

"You get de ja vu a lot?" He asked not ceasing his stride as he buzzed me with the sonic.

"Yeah, is that important?"

He looked at the device before turning back to me. "Low level telepathic field with some latent psychic abilities, got kickstarted somehow, probably when you were a child, very likely you're also a bit time sensitive. Which explains how you know stuff sometimes."

I bit my lip. "I know stuff about you though. Like some things you're gonna do in the future, places you'll visit and stuff. I viewed it all like it was fictional, like a TV show you know? Though I don't remember everything." I admitted.

"Well, of course, human minds are fallible so it's not like you could remember every single little detail." He grinned reaching over to rap his knuckles lightly on my forehead. "No mess, no fuss. Just a little bit extra in there than the average ape."

"Oi!" I swatted his hand away from my face a bit fed up at this point. "Did you know insulting species is the lowest form of humour?" I took a breath before continuing "Also how does that explain me knowing all this as a TV show?"

He casually waved off my worries. "Meh, just something your mind came up with to make sense of the information. It happens, you humans always make things up to try and make sense of everything, whether conscious or subconsciously."

I stared at him for a moment crossing my arms before asking. "So, who are you then?

"Told you. The Doctor."

"Yeah, but Doctor what?"

He huffed a little. "Just the Doctor."

"The Doctor." I stated.

"Hello!" He grinned giving me a small wave.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?"

A shrug. "Sort of."

I shook my head lightly. Moving on. "So, what's happening with the mannequins then? They tried to kill me."

The Doctor sighed in exasperation. "It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me."

"Well, that's nice." I replied sarcastically. "It's not like I asked to be down there! Are you saying you're somehow important then?"

"Sort of, yeah."

I scoffed smiling. "You're full of it."

"Sort of, yeah." He grinned back at me.

I paused before asking "But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?"

"No one."

"What, you're on your own?" That must be lonely.

Another shrug. "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."

"Okay. So, what are you going to do with it then? I mean, if it's living plastic, how do you get it to stop?"

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead."

"Radio control?" I queried.

"Thought control." He corrected. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Just taking it all in. "So, who's controlling it, then?"

"Long story." He dismissed.

"But what's it all for?"

"They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you." Well, that's cheery. "Do you believe me?"

"Yes." I paused coming to a halt behind him. "Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?"

He finally stopped, turning to look at me before speaking. "Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it." He reached to take my hand gently in his. "The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go."

He dropped my hand. "That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home."

After finishing his piece, the Doctor turned and walked away, the plastic arm swaying in his hold as he moved.

I turned and started making my way back to the flat, hearing the sound of the TARDIS echoing from around the street corner I had just turned away from.

The next morning found me knocking on the front door of Mickey's flat carrying a bag of takeout from a café near the estate.

"Hey, hey, there she is! You bring breakfast?" Mickey greeted as he opened the door.

I held up the bag as I passed him into the flat. "Yep."

"Great, I'm starving, you want a drink?" He asked walking into the kitchen, turning a tap on.

"Only if you wash the cup. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?"

"Yeah." He answered before quickly popping his head back out of the kitchen. "Don't read my emails!"

"Wouldn't want to!" I called back as I made my way to his bedroom.

Walking inside and over to take a seat in front of the computer, waiting for it to boot up before finally opening the web browser to search for any information on the Doctor. I remember there being a website full of photos. I continued scrolling through the results until I came to a website titled 'Doctor Who? ...do you know this man contact Clive here.' I clicked on the link opening the site to see a fuzzy picture of the Doctor. Bingo.

After arguing with Mickey a little bit about how it was highly unlikely Clive was a serial killer, and that if he was that worried then he should drive me there as a precaution, we finally pulled up in front of the address Clive had given me.

"You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids." I protested as I undid my seatbelt, the car having come firmly to a stop.

"Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say."

I rolled my eyes, turning to open the door before getting out to make my way over to knock on the door. I waited for a moment, a young boy then opening it. "Hello, I've come to see Clive? We've been emailing."

He turned shouting back into the house "Dad! It's one of your nutters!"

Clive, who appeared to be a friendly, somewhat heavy-set man, stepped out of an adjoining room greeting me with a smile and a handshake "Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose. I'm Clive, obviously."

"I'd better tell you now." I began joking "My friend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me."

He gave a small laugh, waving at where Mickey had rolled his window down to glare at him. "No, good point. No murders."

A woman's voice called from upstairs "Who is it?"

"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website." He called up before turning and gesturing for me to enter "Please, come through. I'm in the shed."

We continued on through the house the woman -presumably his wife- questioning as we got further "She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?"

We stepped into Clive's shed which had been revealed to have been decorated like I'd expect from a room belonging to a secret agent. Him beginning to make his way around, looking into some files on a shelf as he spoke.

"A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place." He pulls out a thick blue folder, making his way over to me, laying it on the desk. "Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Doctor. Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance."

He turned pointing to the computer screen open to his website behind us "That's your Doctor there, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original" He pulled out a series of photos from the folder showing them to me, revealing the Doctor to have been a part of a crowd. "November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?"

"Yeah." I replied softly "Do you have any more?"

He put his fingers up in a 1-second gesture going over to collect another photo from the side of the room showing it to me "Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived."

"And here we are." He reached over to pull down a sketch hung on the wall "1883. Another Doctor. And look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded." His tone turned foreboding "The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion."

I spoke quietly "Who?"

"Death. If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger. If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you." He warned.

"Who do you think he is?"

"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world."

Looking at how serious he was, I swallowed deeply, coming to a decision. "Clive I've got something to ask of you. Something you need to do no questions asked. It's very important."

He looked at me brows furrowed. "What is it?"

"Sometime this week you're going to go shopping yeah?" He nodded hesitantly. "When you do, if the mannequins start to move, don't stop. Don't stare. You take your family and you run. You understand?"

He stared down at me for a moment, taking in my expression before pressing his lips together giving a tight nod. "I promise."

I let out a breath, giving him a small smile. "Good."

Giving my goodbyes to Clive, I made my way back through the house and out to where Mickey had parked. Opening the door to the passenger side I quickly got in doing up my seatbelt as I asked "You want to go get some lunch? I fancy a pizza."

"Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!" I jerked my head to look at Mickey seeing that he had been replaced while I had been gone, skin shiny like plastic. Shit.

"Or Chinese." I offered, pretending I hadn't noticed the swap. Need to get somewhere more public so I have a chance of getting away.

"Pizza!" Plastic Mickey responded as he started the car, veering widely across the road as he set off.

I subtly grabbed the side of the door, bracing myself. Well, this should be a fun car ride.

We were now blissfully sat inside a pizza restaurant, away from any roads that plastic Mikey could drive poorly on. I sipped at my water, still feeling a little sick from the journey over, before attempting conversation. "Do you know of any places that have jobs going? Mum told me to try Finch's but you know how I get about the smell, so I'm not going to even bother applying. What do you think?"

"So, where did you meet this Doctor?" Straight to the point I see.

"I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" I tried to stall.

He continued pressing "Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?"

"No."

"Come on." God that smile is creepy.

I paused before hesitantly replying "Sort of."

"What was he doing there?"

"You know what Mickey?" I began protesting "I don't want to talk about it. So, I'm not going to. This is me putting my foot down."

"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, sugar, babe, sugar." He replied appearing to sort of glitch out a bit "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

"Why'd you keep saying that?" I asked tightly.

"Your champagne." A waiter spoke from beside us.

"We didn't order any champagne." Plastic Mickey brushed off not taking his eyes from me grabbing my hand "Where's the Doctor?"

"Madam, your champagne." The waiter repeated.

"It's not ours." I replied, attention fully on trying to remove my hand from the grip it was in. "You better let me go now if you know what's good for you!"

He tightened his grip "I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?"

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"

I turned to look at the waiter with plastic Mickey as he answered "Look, we didn't order i-" Oh thank God. "Ah. Gotcha."

The Doctor then started shaking the bottle he was holding before pointing it at the imposter "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" He let loose the cork, sending it flying into fake Mikey's head, only for it to be absorbed into his 'skin' before being spat out.

"Anyway." The imposter stood, hand morphing into a paddle before slamming it down onto the table breaking it. I quickly moved from my seat rushing away and over to the wall where the fire alarm sat. I turned to see the Doctor had removed "Mickey's" head from his body, it saying "Don't think that's going to stop me." As its body got back up.

I quickly broke the alarm pressing the button, shouting "Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!" as I ran with the Doctor towards the back of the restaurant, through the kitchens, and out of the back door. The Doctor quickly turning with his screwdriver to lock it behind us as the imposter's body banged against it.

"What's that?" Best double check.

"Sonic screwdriver." He replied holding it up before putting it away, replacing it with a key as he walked towards the police box."Let's go in here." He unlocked the door, pushing it open to step inside.

"Okay." I replied, quickly following after him, closing the door gently behind me as I stepped inside. I slowly turned from the doors to get my first real look at the TARDIS, letting out a breathless "Beautiful." Before raising my voice slightly to ask "Is there any way of it getting in?"

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." He replied not looking at me as he wired up the plastic head he'd carried to the console. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." He finished his task, turning to look back at me "Right. Where do you want to start?"

"It's bigger on the inside." I stated dumbly.

"Yes."

I tilted my head asking "How much bigger is it?"

He shrugged. "Haven't found an end yet."

Fair enough. "You're an alien, right?"

"Yes." A small pause "Is that all right?"

I nodded my head a few times answering "Yeah."

"It's called the Tardis, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"Mickey's still alive right?" I quickly questioned worried "I think I remember that they had to keep him alive to maintain the copy."

"It's a possibility," He answered continuing "though I can't say for certain."

"Well, he better be alright." I stated angrily. "They copied him so they better have kept him alive! And now you're just going to let him melt?"

"Melt?" He quickly turned to look at the head, rushing over. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" He quickly made his way around the console pressing buttons and flicking switches as he passed.

"What're you doing?" I asked as the TARDIS began to shake, making a distinctive wheezing sound.

"Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!" The shaking stopped, the Doctor running out the door.

I quickly followed after him to see we where now overlooking the Thames. The Doctor leaning against the side of the bridge frustrated. "I lost the signal, I got so close."

"How does the TARDIS move?"

He brushed me off "Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand."

"If the plastic's connected with a signal of some sort does that mean the body melted at the same time as the head?" I asked curious.

"Yes. Are you going to witter on all night?"

I thought for a moment "If we get to where the signal was coming from, is that going to be where they kept Mickey?"

"Who?"

"Mickey! My friend! You know the one they copied? I can't believe you already forgot him" I stated in disbelief.

"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"

I cut him off "Yeah, he's not a kid."

He turned to me irritated "It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?"

"All right!" I shouted back

"Yes, it is!"

Huffing, I paused before asking "If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?"

He crossed his arms defensively "Lots of planets have a north."

"Why does the TARDIS look like an old police box?"

He finally smiled, stepping towards the box tapping it in pride "It's a disguise." For what? When you go to 50's Britain?

I smiled back shaking my head "Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?"

"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!"

"Any way of stopping it?"

The Doctor reached into his jacket pulling out a tube of dark blue liquid. "Anti-plastic."

"Anti-plastic." I repeated.

"Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it." He walked back to look over the bridge "How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on. Hide what?"

He looked back at me "The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?"

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London." He continued walking, making his way around to the other side of the TARDIS. "A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." Coming to a stop to a view boasting the London eye, at which I nodded towards "What?" He asked turning to look behind him "What?"

I gave him a look asking "Are you being serious?"

"What? What is it? What?" I grabbed his arm turning him to directly face the Eye. He finally catches on grinning at me "Oh. Fantastic!"

The Doctor grabs my hand as we begin to run across Westminster Bridge until we get to the steps leading to the base of the wheel, where we come to a halt. "Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables,"

"The breast implants." I mutter.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

I jog over to the side, looking over the parapet, spotting a large manhole cover at the bottom of the steps. "What about down here?"

The Doctor runs to me, looking over too before grinning "Looks good to me." Rushing off to make his way down the stairs, as I quickly move to follow after him.

We make it to the bottom of the steps the Doctor stopping to open up the hatch revealing a red light glowing inside, along with a small ladder which we start making our way down. We reach the base of the ladder, hopping down to land in a brick-built area with a lot of chains hanging from the ceiling and walls. Quickly walking along the length of the small room to exit through the door and down another flight of steps into a multi-level chamber.

The Doctor paused by the railing to point out to me "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"Well, then. Do what you gotta do and then let's get out of here." I stated.

"I'm going to try speaking to it first, got to give it a chance." At that he made his way down to the catwalk overlooking the vat holding the Consciousness. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The vat bubbled up. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach."

I look around the rest of the room as I made my way down, hoping that Mickey was around here somewhere, before spotting him sitting against the railing on one of the lower levels, quickly rushing past the Doctor to get to him. "Oh, God! Mickey, it's me!" I lower myself down to crouch beside him "It's okay. It's all right."

He shushes me slightly before speaking in a trembling voice "That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!"

I wrinkled my nose a bit at his smell "God you stink" before turning to call out "Doctor, they did keep him alive!"

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." He answered as he made his way down to us.

"Like I said. So, I was right!"

"Yes. Now can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" He continued on the path down past us, and closer towards the vat. "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

I stood to look over the railing at the vat as it bubbled up angrily at the Doctor's words.

"Oh, don't give me that." He continued "It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The vat screeched bubbling up again. "I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."

I spotted a pair of shop dummies advancing on him calling out a warning too late as they grabbed hold of him, one removing the tube of anti-plastic he had showed me from his pocket. The Doctor quickly defending "That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not." The vat screeched again swelling angrily. "What do you mean?"

A metal door above the Doctor slid open with a shriek, revealing that they had the TARDIS. "No." the Doctor began arguing "Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"

"What's it doing?!" I yelled down to him as the vat let out another roar.

"It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!"

I pulled my phone out of my bag, quickly dialling "Mum?"

"Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me."

"Mum you need to get home right now!" I pleaded.

"I'm just going to do a bit of late-night shopping. It won't take me that long I'll see you later. Ta-ra!"

I stared down at my phone in shock before shoving it back into my bag shouting "She hung up on me." Before flinching back as a shock of what looked like lightening arched from the vat making a section of the ceiling explode, turning to the Doctor in question.

"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!"

"How do I stop it?!" I yelled back.

"Just get out, Rose! get out! Run!" He shouted back still struggling in the dummies hold.

"The stairs have gone." I shouted grabbing Mickey's hand to pull him along as I ran to stand by the TARDIS. Turning to him I ordered "Wait here."

"We're going to die!" Mickey called back hysterical.

I looked around, seeing if I could spot anything that could help, turning to the Doctor as he yelled out "No!" the dummies attempting to throw him into the vat.

"Just leave him!" Mickey cried out to me. "There's nothing you can do!"

I finally spotted an axe next to a length of chain attached to the wall opposite. I sprinted over to it yelling out "You wanna bet?" I struck the chain with the axe "Because you know what?" another hit "I might have no job," another hit, this time chain breaking free, which I grabbed tightly, turning to face the Doctor. "But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze!"

I ran, clutching the chain to the edge of the catwalk before jumping off, swinging towards the dummies below, knocking the one holding the Doctor enough for him to get a decent grip, throwing it over his head and into the vat. Continuing my swing to kick the second dummy, still holding the tube of anti-plastic, after the first, both landing in the vat causing it to shriek in pain as it turned from golden to blue.

"Rose!" The Doctor called out grinning as he caught me when the chain swung back around. "Now we're in trouble."

We quickly made our way up to the Tardis, as explosions set off throughout the room, where Mickey was on the floor holding on to it for dear life, the Doctor reaching around him to unlock the door pushing him inside as we followed, myself coming in last, taking one final look back before closing the door behind me.

Now exiting the TARDIS to see we had landed around the corner from Queens Arcade, Mickey running out ahead of me, tripping a little in fear, still shocked by everything he had seen today, to hide behind a pallet leaning against the wall.

I jogged over to him patting him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do better next time."

Turning to see the Doctor still standing in the doorway of the Tardis as he called out snapping his fingers. "Nestene Consciousness? Easy."

"You were useless in there." I replied teasing, putting my hands in my pockets "You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

"Yes, I would. Thank you." He admitted sincerely. "Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."

"Don't." Mickey pleaded from the ground beside me "He's an alien. He's a thing."

The Doctor nodded at Mickey stating "He's not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?"

He smiled nodding "Yeah."

"I've been waiting almost my whole life for this." I admitted tearing up a bit before smiling "I'd love to."

He grinned back at me stepping back inside the TARDIS calling out "Just come on in when you're ready."

I crouched down beside Mickey before helping him stand as he protested "You can't go!"

I checked to make sure he was steading on his feet, giving him a once over before opening my bag, rummaging around a bit, before pulling out an enveloped letter I'd put in there for just this occasion. I handed the letter to Mickey. "Here give this to my mum, should explain my absence if I'm gone for longer than expected."

He took the letter looking up at me dumbfounded. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am." I replied winking before rushing off to the TARDIS, pausing in the doorway to call back "Thanks for everything, see you in a year!" I laughed closing the door behind me, finally ready to start my new life exploring time and space.

And that's chapter 2 finished!

Oh my, I don't know why I really expected any less from an episode named after the character but she has a hell of a lot screen time compared to other episodes ahaha

I also explain at one point in this chapter that though Rose does have foreknowledge, she doesn't always remember every detail so sometimes still reacts as she usually would, or gets stumped. She's still just a normal person like the original Rose.

Next up: The End of the World