Sorry I'm a couple of days late. I've had so much uni work to do. It's been insane. Anyway, I've only got a couple of things left so I'll probably be able to make these chapter longer. Thank you all for following and reviewing. It means a lot to me. Also great to see some familiar names back after my previous stories. Hi again :)

xxx

'Did you hit your head running out of that building?' he asked with a frown.

Rose glared at him. 'Of course I didn't'.

'Good,' he gave her a little wave. 'Bye then'.

He went to leave but Rose grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the door before he could. 'No, you, inside, right now'.

'Who is it?' Jackie called out from her bedroom.

'Just someone here about last night. Just part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes'.

Rose continued through the sitting room and into the kitchen, not too sure what on Earth had come over her. She had in fact just invited an arsonist into their flat to have a cuppa.

'Look, I've thought a bit more about it and we really do need to go to the police. The news said they found a body and everything and I just want us both to come forward,' she called from the kitchen.

There was no response from the Doctor, so she continued. 'I just don't want to be involved in it any more than I already am and I'm sure you feel the same'.

'You got a cat?'

'No, why's that?' Rose turned back towards the sitting room to see the Doctor with the mannequin arm at his throat. 'Alright then, very funny. I thought Mickey got rid of that'.

Suddenly the arm released the Doctor and flew straight into Rose's face. She was instantly aware that the Doctor hadn't been joking as she struggled to breath against the plastic covering her mouth and nose. Although she couldn't speak, her mind screamed for the Doctor to help her. She could feel him trying to pry it away and gasped as they came crashing down on the coffee table.

There was a strange buzzing noise and then the hand went limp. Rose gulped in air and scrambled to her feet. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the device in the Doctor's hand. It was odd, but she was certain she'd seen it before she met the Doctor the night before.

'What is that?' she asked quietly.

'Oh this,' he grinned and held it up. 'It's my sonic'—

'Screwdriver,' she finished for him and then frowned.

He frowned then. 'I didn't tell you that'.

'You must have,' she turned away from him and started clearing up the mess. 'Anyway, shouldn't we talk about what just happened?'

When she turned back in his direction, he was pointing the screwdriver at her and squinting at it with a strange expression on his face.

'You better not be doing anything weird with that,' she frowned at him, but couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice. She had expected him to grin and maybe shoot a witty comeback at her, but he looked deadly serious.

'What are you then?' he asked suddenly. 'Human variants aren't commonplace for thousands of years, so why are you here now?'

'You're scaring me,' Rose stammered as he encroached upon her personal space.

'Well tell me what you are then. I'd believe that you're at least half human if your mother is anything to go off, but what else are you?'

'You need to leave,' she demanded. She was furious. She invited him into their home and there he was making a mess and accusing her of…what exactly? More importantly, why did it feel so horrible to have him rounding on her like that?

'No,' he stated flatly. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at her.

'Do I have to call the police?' she asked angrily.

'Oh, come on, we've been through that,' he huffed and paced the length of the room, screwdriver in hand. 'I was happy to leave you alone, but now you've gone attracting trouble. Plus now I find out that you're not exactly what you appear to be. So, you better start talking. How do I know you're here peacefully?'

Rose stared at the man, completely dumbfounded. He'd never given her any indication that he would hurt her, but she was certainly intimidated. Whilst there was something mysterious and dangerous about the man that piqued her curiosity, she didn't want to be trapped there with him.

'I really don't know what you're talking about,' she replied honestly and as calmly as she could manage. 'How am I not what I appear to be? What does that even mean?'

'Your DNA,' he gestured to the sonic screwdriver. 'It's not all human and I want to know why. It's kind of my business'.

Rose scoffed. 'Alien? Are you kidding me?'

There was silence between them and for a few moments, neither of them moved. Then Rose scoffed again and hurried into her bedroom to retrieve a photograph of her parents and her as a baby.

'Do they look alien to you?'

The Doctor's eyes darted over the picture before he looked back up at her with a frown. 'Well it had to come from somewhere'.

'Not here, mate,' Rose put the picture down and hurriedly ushered him from the room. 'You go and play with your toys and aliens and leave me and my mother alone, yeah?'

Once she got him out of the door, she closed it quickly and pressed her back to it, breathing out a long sigh. It was strange really, but something was telling her that she had just done something stupid. Her heart started to race, and she was made aware of the cold breeze coming through the cat flap down below. The air seemed to get colder by the second. Panic set in and Rose wrenched open the door.

'Wait!' she hurried along the walkway and then the stairs, taking them two at a time. A little across the street she could see the Doctor still walking away, not paying her call any mind. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she burst through the door to the building with more force than she ever had before. Her legs aches as she sprinted across the concrete, desperately trying to catch up as the Doctor unlocked and entered…another police box? Had he moved it?

After reaching the box, she pushed on the door and came toppling straight inside. Much to her surprise, she didn't fall straight into the Doctor, nor the opposite wall as she had feared. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight before her. She could see the Doctor ahead of her, and yet his lips didn't move as his voice rang in her head. I could save the world but lose you.

'Oh great,' he huffed when he noticed her inside. 'How did that happen then?'

Rose watched on with a frown as he came striding down the grating. He passed her without a second glance and took a moment to examine the door.

'How'—

'You couldn't just stay home, could you?' he sighed before offering her his hand.

She carefully took the hand offered to her and stood up gingerly. The room that she found herself in was certainly unlike anything she had ever seen before, and yet she didn't feel scared. If anything the warm light of the room made her feel strangely at ease.

'So I guess you've probably got some questions now that she's let you in,' he stated calmly, stepping to the side, and crossing his arms.

Rose was quiet for a moment. 'So…so this is alien…and you're alien?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Is that alright?'

Rose nodded. 'Okay, and it's'—

'Bigger on the inside, yep'.

'Right,' she nodded again and then much to the Doctor's surprise, she laughed. 'You know, I've always had this feeling. This feeling like the universe was so much more than we ever knew, you know? Does that make sense?'

'Yeah,' he felt his smile growing then. 'Curious little humans, you lot'.

Rose reciprocated his smile before it quickly vanished. 'Oh, but what about the plastic things? My mum was in the flat. What if there's more coming?'

'I don't think it'll be interested in your mother, don't worry,' the Doctor replied calmly. Rose watched him hurry over to the centre console and start pressing buttons.

'Hang on, are we going somewhere?'

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked at her. 'Well that depends on you. I'm going, but what you do is completely up to you'.

Rose hesitated.

'Can I…can I just see…?'

The Doctor grinned. 'Hold on'.

Rose grabbed hold of the nearest railing and watched the Doctor do his work. A strange, grinding sound filled the air and the whole room started to shake. For a moment she panicked, wondering exactly what she had gotten herself into, but then everything stood still again.

'There you go, have a look,' he gestured to the door.

'So that's it? We've moved?'

The Doctor nodded with a grin.

Rose slowly moved back down the metal ramp and pulled on the door. She had no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn't the vast expanse of space before her. A little gasp escaped her lips, and she took a step backwards. The knuckles on her hands turned white as she gripped tightly onto the railing.

'You could've warned me,' she shot back at the Doctor. 'What if I'd have been sucked out?'

'You couldn't be,' he replied calmly, coming to stand beside her. 'There's a shield around us, see?' He raised his hand and moved it outside the door, wiggling it around.

Rose relaxed a little then and did the same. For a moment they just stood, her marvelling at the sight of the Earth far below and him just watching her with interest.

'What about the plastic things though?' Rose asked after a while. 'Don't they need to be stopped? They've killed at least one person'.

The Doctor grinned broadly at her. 'I knew I liked you'.

xxx

Thank you all once again for your continued support. Update coming next week.