Hello again! So, I just have to say a quick thank you for all the reviewers, favourites and follows so early on! I am so keen to go on a rewrite journey again. I apologise that the chapters aren't very long at the moment, but they will likely get longer as I go. I am hoping to stick to a weekly updating schedule at the moment as I believe it is the only way that I will juggle my enthusiasm for writing this and my university studies.

xxx

The moment Rose's hand made contact with the wooden box; she felt a strange vibration in her fingertips that continued up her arm. Alarmed, she jumped back. The unusual sensation stayed in her hand as she slowly flexed her fingers. She was conscious of a gentle tingling feeling in the back of her skull and she felt strangely comforted.

'Didn't I tell you to get going?'

Rose leapt backwards with a start. The Doctor stood leaning against the wall, watching her with a curious expression.

'How did you get out here so fast?' she asked.

'I ran,' he replied in a condescending tone and ambled forwards with a key in his hand to unlock the box. He opened the door and was just about to step inside when he poked his head back around the door as if he was surprised to see she was still there. 'Are you going home or what?'

'Well what're you doing?' asked Rose. 'You did just blow up my job without an explanation'.

'I told you, the relay device on the roof was controlling the plastic dummies,' he replied matter-of-factly.

'And I'm supposed to just believe that there's some technology capable of bringing plastic to life, am I? I should call the cops on you'.

The Doctor grinned and pointed to the box he was half inside. 'Police. That's me. And no, not just technology, they're being controlled by a consciousness. A creature'.

Rose shook her head. 'A real loony, you are, mate'.

'What? You saw those dummies; they couldn't just do that on their own'.

'So it has to be aliens then?' Rose laughed. 'Why not robots with plastic suits? Or…or…'

'Or what? Students?'

Rose sighed and frowned. 'Well aliens aren't actually real, otherwise we'd have seen em'.

'Who says you haven't?'

'Don't be daft,' Rose rolled her eyes and took a couple of steps backwards. 'I don't want to argue with you, mate. I just reckon if there were aliens, they'd just a be a little more…alien'.

The Doctor stood quietly for a moment with an unreadable look on his face as he observed her. Whilst Rose couldn't understand why, she was very aware of the thumping of her heart as she held eye contact with this potentially dangerous individual.

'Right, anyway,' he broke the eye contact and the spell it had cast on her. 'Best be off. Get going, Rose'.

He went inside the box and shut the door behind him. Rose had the sudden desire to follow him but held herself back. Deciding that he wasn't going anywhere, and the police would probably find him if he tried anything else, Rose retreated from the alley and made her way home as she always did.

'Rose!' Jackie exclaimed in relief when she entered the flat. 'Where have you been? I thought you might have been blown up! I was just on the phone to Bev, and she was sure there were casualties. I was so worried'.

Rose took the tight embrace from her mother with no protest. 'I'm alright mum, really. I was out before anything happened. I'm just in a bit of shock is all'.

'Well look at you, you look haggard. I reckon you deserve some compensation for what you've been through. Come sit and watch some telly, and don't worry about dinner tonight, I'm ordering out'.

'Mum,' Rose groaned. 'I can still cook dinner; it is my night'.

'No, you've had enough stress for the day. I know himself will we here soon enough and you'll be distracted anyway'.

Rose sighed and flopped down onto the couch. It was clear that she wasn't going to win any arguments no matter how hard she tried.

'Rose, I've been trying to call you!' Mickey came hurrying into the flat without knocking. 'You could be dead. I can't believe your shop blew up!'

'I'm fine, Mickey'.

'But what caused it?'

'I dunno, I wasn't inside,' Rose replied tiredly. Her mind couldn't help drifting back to the stranger who was most certainly the reason for the explosion. She barely listened to Mickey and her mother as she her thoughts shifted to that police box and the sensation in her head that never seemed to leave.

'Come on, you need a good drink after what you've been through. Down to the pub, you and me'.

Rose barely held back a sigh. 'There's a match on, isn't there?'

'That's not the point I'm trying to make. We could catch the last few minutes though'.

'Go on, and take that with you,' Rose gestured to the plastic arm on the couch beside her.

After fooling around with it for a moment, Mickey leant down to give her a quick kiss before heading out again.

By the time Rose had forced herself to eat some of the pizza Jackie ordered, she was just about ready to sleep. She'd heard more than enough about the night's events as her mother gossiped and chatted on the phone with anyone who would listen. Not that it irked her too much. After all, it was one of the only hobbies her mother had time for.

When Rose's alarm blared in the morning, she groaned loudly, forgetting that she didn't have to leave. Jackie quickly reminded her of that fact and Rose was grateful when she didn't instantly start on her about getting a job.

She rose from the bed groggily and went into the bathroom. Looking at her sleep teased hair in the mirror, Rose wondered for a moment if everything had just been a strange dream. The shop definitely did blow up, but were those dummies just people pulling a prank or were they just plastic controlled by aliens like that nutter had said?

'Arsonist,' she said quietly to herself as she picked up her hairbrush. 'Arsonist nutter'.

She finished brushing out her hair and had a quick shower. Once she was dressed and had applied fresh makeup, she mentally prepared herself for her mother's onslaught before stepping out of her room.

Just as she was about to call out to her mum, her attention was drawn to a rattling noise at the front door.

'Mum, I thought you nailed that cat flap down already?'

'I did!' Jackie called from the other room.

'Then what…' Rose trailed off when she noticed that there had been nails in the door, but they had been removed and were now laying on the floor in front of the door. Dreading the potential invasion of another stray cat, Rose leant down and lifted the flap.

'Wait a second,' she growled, letting go of the flap and throwing open the door. 'What're you doing here? And don't tell me it's aliens this time because we're all human here'.

The Doctor stood silently for a moment before he frowned. 'I must have got the wrong signal'.

He reached forward and tapped her on the forehead, making a quick comment about her being a bonehead. Rose was hardly listening as the moment his hand made contact with her head, she felt something stir in her memory. It was only a moment, but it was enough to rattle her.

'Why do I know you?'

xxx

Thank you all again for the interest in this new story! Glad to be back writing about the lovely Drose again. Catch you next week :)