So this is our first longer chapter. I'm already having so much fun with this and I have so many ideas for between episodes as well! I hope you're all enjoying it!

xxx

'So, what're we gonna do?' asked Rose as the Doctor hurried back up towards the console.

'Well I've been trying to find the signal. You see, the consciousness that's controlling the plastic is transmitting from somewhere in London. I haven't quite figured out where yet, but I've got to do it fast. It might be waiting to build up power before it launches an assault'.

'An assault?' she frowned. 'With plastic dummies?'

The Doctor turned to give a her a serious look. 'Plastic is deadly, Rose'.

Rose frowned. 'Well yeah, if you breathe it in, or to sea turtles and dolphins and stuff, but what good is that for taking over the world?'

'Have you ever thought about how much plastic is in your city? In your home?'

Rose gasped. 'What about my mum, I've got to warn her!'

'And say what? Tell you what, you help me out and you won't even need to bother her'.

'What can I do to help?' she frowned again. 'I'm not exactly an expert on…anything really'.

The Doctor grinned. 'But you are. Everyone is an expert at something, even if it doesn't sound so impressive as university degrees or great honours. You're an expert human'.

Rose smiled back and then sighed. 'I dunno. I don't know if I should…maybe you'd better take me back, yeah?'

'Ok,' the Doctor nodded and turned away to the console once more.

It felt wrong. Everything about leaving the ship felt so wrong. She longed to beg him to take her away from her mundane life, and yet she couldn't do it. Maybe one day she could. Maybe if she explained everything to her mum first. She barely noticed the noise and the movement as the Doctor piloted his ship. A small part of her felt hurt that he was so willing to get rid of her, but what right did she really have to think that? She'd just met the man, after all.

'There you go, right back where we left,' the Doctor turned to lean against the console with his arms folded across his chest. 'Home sweet home'.

'Look, I'm not saying I don't want to come help. Of course I do, I just…I just don't wanna disappear without seeing my mum first. She'd worry about me, you know?'

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something and then shut it.

Rose moved to the door and opened it, glad to see that she was in fact back home. She stood half out of the door and looked back at the Doctor.

'Listen'—

'Rose?!'

Rose whirled around to see Mickey pelting towards her. She groaned internally as he came skidding to a halt in front of her and caught sight of the interior of the box.

'Mickey'—

'I saw that thing just appear from nowhere! What're you doing and who's he?' he gestured to the Doctor.

'Look, I'll explain. He's'—

'No one,' the Doctor interjected. 'Forget this ever happened'.

Rose watched on in astonishment as the Doctor came forwards and ushered her out of the ship. 'Wha'—

'I don't do domestic. This,' he gestured between them, 'is very domestic'.

'Doctor'—

The door shut and Rose pulled Mickey a few steps backwards.

'Rose, who is he?' Mickey demanded.

Rose shook her head. 'He's the Doctor. He's…'

She trailed off, unable to form the words to describe the man she had just met and yet she felt like she knew so well. The look in his eyes when she had said that she needed to go home. There was pain there. Those impossibly old-looking eyes. Her stomach filled with a fluttering the flooded up into her chest. She swallowed thickly, suddenly uncomfortably aware that she cared about that man. It was such an overwhelming sensation that she had to hold back a sob as the blue box disappeared.

'Rose, why are you crying? Who is he? What is he?'

'I…I dunno Mickey. He's just trying to help. He's good, I promise. He didn't hurt me or anything'.

'But why was you with him?'

'Because I followed him. He came to home to sort out some trouble. You'll think I'm daft if I tell you. Just trust me that he knows what he's doing. He's already helped me'.

Mickey didn't say anything else for a moment while he regained his composure. 'Probably just some prankster anyway'.

'Yeah, something like that,' Rose rolled her eyes. 'What're you doing home anyway?'

'I had a lunch break and thought I'd come see you'.

'Well go eat your lunch then,' she gave him a nudge on the arm. 'I'll be fine'.

Mickey gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked away. Rose saw him shaking his head as he entered the building. She supposed that denial was his only way of coping with the truth he'd just seen.

She sighed and slowly made her way back up the stairs, ready to hear her mum yell at her for leaving the door wide open. When she reached the door, she found it still partially ajar and wondered what her mother was doing if she hadn't noticed it.

'Mum?' she called out into the apartment.

There was no reply.

Rose entered the apartment as quietly as she could. She grabbed the nearest object she could find to use as a weapon. It was a vase that her mother's friend Bev had gifted her for Christmas a few years ago. Rose knew her mother loved that thing but was sure she'd be okay with the loss if it were used to protect her daughter.

'Hello?'

No answer.

Rose sighed. 'Mum, are you still here?'

She carefully investigated each room, grateful that her mother wasn't one for shutting doors between rooms. When she got to the kitchen, she saw that the lid was missing from the top of the bin and the garbage was gone. Her body instantly relaxed she and carefully sat the vase down on the side table nearby. Looking around, she saw that her mum had obvious noticed the smashed coffee table and had cleaned up the glass. It was strange that she hadn't tried to call her for an explanation, and even stranger that she had left the front door open.

Rose plopped down onto the lounge and sighed again. What was she supposed to do now? She'd heard of a few jobs going from people around the estate, but nothing that she really like the idea of. Maybe she could go back to school? That wouldn't be so bad without the influence of Jimmy Stone in her life. She grabbed one of the pink cushions from nearby and started fiddling with it. Sitting around the apartment wasn't going to do her any good, that's for sure.

'What're you doing there then sweetheart, darling?'

Rose nearly jumped out of her skin. Her mother stood watching her from the hallway with a smile on her face.

'Mum, you scared me half to death. What were you doing anyway? And look I'm sorry about the table. There was a bit of an incident with the Doctor and'—

'Where is he now?' Jackie asked with the same smile. 'You met him at the shop before all this happened, didn't you?'

'What? Mum, you're acting weird,' Rose got to her feet and slowly started to back away. 'Why don't you care about the table?'

'But where is the Doctor now? Do you know? I'm sure you'd know. You can trust me Rose, darling, sweetheart, plum, darling'.

Rose backed even further away as her mother stepped further into the room. 'Seriously mum, if that even is you, you're scaring me'.

'Don't be frightened sweetheart, darling, Rose, sweetheart. Just help me find that Doctor'.

Rose continued to keep her distance as they slowly circled around the broken coffee table. Seeing that she was getting closer to the hallway, she waited until her mother was over the other side of the room before she made a run for the door. Panic filled her as the grasped and handle, flung it open and came running headlong into the Doctor. He must have seen the panicked look on her face because he quickly pushed her out of the way and hurried inside.

'Doctor, be careful!' Rose called behind him as there were sounds of a struggle in the sitting room.

The next thing Rose saw was the Doctor running towards her with her mother's head tucked under his arm. Rose made to get past him, but he stopped her.

'Doctor, that's my mum!'

'Rose, you need to run,' he grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the flat.

Rose didn't protest when she saw the headless body of her mother staggering around the flat smashing everything it hit. The vase that Rose had carefully placed on the bench went flying and shattered against the wall.

'Doctor, what was that thing?' Rose panted as they reached the bottom of the stairs. 'I know that wasn't my mum. So, where is she?'

The Doctor calmly reached up to unlock the door to the box. 'I don't know'.

'What do you mean?' she asked as they entered the box and walked up towards the console. 'Doctor, you need to tell me right now if my mother's dead'.

'I don't think so. Does that make you happy?' the Doctor huffed. 'Look, I understand you're worried. You did just see a plastic creature that looked like your mother. That being said'—

'She's melting,' Rose shrieked. 'Doctor, she's melting away!'

'No! No, no, no, no, no!'

The Doctor set to work piloting his ship. Rose watched the plastic head of her mother melt away on the console. Even once the ship stood still, she couldn't help but stare. The Doctor rushed past to look outside, but Rose paid him no mind.

A few moments later he came back in. 'Rose?'

'What?' she murmured, not moving her eyes from the melted plastic.

'Rose, look at me,' he took her by the shoulders and turned her away from the console. 'That was plastic. That wasn't your mother'.

'Are you sure?' she asked tearily.

'I'm pretty certain, yeah. I know she likes her makeup, but I never thought your mum was plastic'.

Rose managed a watery laugh. 'I'll give you a smack in a minute'.

'Come on,' he offered her his hand. 'Let's save the world'.

Rose sniffed and then nodded and took the offered hand.

'So what're we looking for?' she asked as they headed out into the sunlit street.

'A transmitter. Some big, round, right in the middle of London. I don't know how no one's noticed it'.

'You mean like that?' Rose pointed to the London eye.

The Doctor beamed at her. 'Fantastic'.

He took off running, giving Rose no choice but to be dragged along. While she had to admit she wasn't the most active person, her body came alive with energy as they raced down the street. Rose felt her fears ebb away as she focused on her hand in the Doctor's. It was warm and covered hers almost entirely. The connection between them felt so strong that she could practically feel his two hearts beating.

Rose frowned. He'd never told her that and yet she could feel it. With his hand in hers she could feel so much about the man that she shouldn't know. She could feel the weight of impossible guilt on his shoulders, she could feel his adrenaline and excitement, and strangely, she could feel his fierce love for bananas.

She easily located the hatch where the consciousness was supposed to be lurking. The Doctor was all smiles as he opened the hatch. He took one look inside and instantly moved to go in.

'Wait,' Rose stopped him with a hand on his arm. 'Be careful, Doctor'.

The Doctor gave her an intrigued frown for a moment before pulling out a small vial of blue liquid. 'Don't worry, I've got a safeguard'.

He quickly shoved it back into his pocket and leapt down onto the ladder. Rose rolled her eyes and carefully made her way down after him. There was a strange red light shining from a doorway at the other end of the room. It was so bright that Rose wondered how nobody had noticed it before.

'How long has it been here?' she asked aloud.

'I dunno,' the Doctor answered quietly. 'Can't be too long though or it would've taken over by now'.

They crept towards the doorway and peeked down into the multi-level chamber below. The source of the light was in a pit in the floor. The molten plastic formed a grotesque face in the middle of the blob.

'The Nestene Consciousness,' the Doctor nodded in confirmation. 'Living plastic'.

'So what're you gonna do?' Rose asked anxiously. 'That thing killed someone and might have killed my mother. Are you going to kill it?'

The Doctor gave her a stern look. 'I'm going to give it a chance'.

He strode down onto the catwalk to demand an audience with the creature. Rose's eyes followed his movements until she caught sight of a pink dressing gown on another level.

'Mum!' she raced out of hiding and hurried down the stairs to where her mother was cowering under her dressing gown.

'Rose! Sweetheart, what're you doing here? It's not safe. That thing, it talks. I've heard it'.

'Oh mum,' Rose hugged her tightly. 'How long have you been here?'

Jackie blinked at her. 'I went to take the rubbish out. The garbage bag stuck to my hands. It was like it was melting or something. I raced down the stairs to put it in the bin and I can't really remember after that'.

'We've got to get you out of here,' Rose glanced down below to see two dummies approaching the Doctor from behind. 'Doctor! Watch out!'

The Doctor whirled around, but he was too late. The dummies grabbed hold of him, and one produced the small vial.

'Damn,' Rose growled, pulling her mum to her feet. 'Mum, you've got to get out of here'.

There was a horrible grinding sound as the Doctor's ship was revealed from behind a metal door. Rose watched on helplessly as the creature wriggled angrily in the pit.

'Doctor, what should I do?' she called as bolts of lightning began shooting from the pit.

'It's starting the invasion! You have to get out!' the Doctor yelled back.

'Come on mum,' Rose ushered the other woman down the stairs to the door of the Doctor's ship. Much to her amazement the door opened just as it had before. 'Get in there and don't come out'.

She shut the door behind her mother and turned back to the pit below. The Doctor shot her a confused look. The creature in the pit hadn't said anything specifically to her and yet she was certain it was looking at her. The plastic writhed in agitation and she heard it then.

'Time lord!'

Rose gasped softly. She had heard that name before, but she couldn't quite place where. It was just one of those things that she'd known for as long as she could remember. She felt moisture on her cheeks and realised that she was crying.

'Rose, get out of here!' the Doctor yelled.

'And go where?' she whispered.

Seeing her opportunity, she ran to the wall where several of the longest chains were tethered. Determination filled her. She had nothing in life if the Doctor died. Her mother was safe, but for how long? Mickey…she didn't even know where he was. She had no future if she didn't take the chance. Now or never.

She took a fire axe leaning against the wall and used it to attack the chains. Once a longer one broke free, she hurried up the stairs a few more paces and took aim. Bracing herself against the railing, she pushed back and let the momentum take her straight down to her intended target. The two dummies both toppled into the vat below and with them the vial.

The Doctor reached out and grabbed her before she could swing over the vat itself. The moment she was in his arms she let out a quiet laugh of disbelief.

'Now we're in trouble,' the Doctor grinned and pulled her away from the screeching creature and towards his ship. He went to open the door and found it locked. With a huff he grabbed his key out and they calmly stepped inside as the room around them began to cave in.

'Rose!' Jackie met them as soon as they entered. 'Rose, what is this thing? It's bigger on the inside'.

'Mum just relax. We're safe now and everything will be alright. The Doctor took care of it'.

'You did, really'.

Rose looked over to see the Doctor grinning at her.

She returned his grin with a modest smile of her own. Jackie looked up at the Doctor with luminous eyes.

'You're an alien'.

'Yes,' the Doctor replied simply.

'But he's a good one,' Rose tried to reassure her. 'He helps people'.

'How do you know him so well?' Jackie asked Rose with a frown. 'You've never mentioned him'.

Rose hesitated. She didn't know him, not really. He was fascinating and exciting, and he made her feel like she had a purpose. He blew up her job one moment and the next she trusted him with her life.

'I've only known him a little while…' she trailed off, unsure of what would sound believable.

'I'd run into a bit of trouble figuring this whole mess out and Rose here graciously chose to help me. Did a fantastic job of it too'.

Jackie nodded blankly.

Rose rubbed her on the back a couple of times before approaching the Doctor. 'I think we better get her home. It's a bit much'.

'Good point'.

The Doctor raced around pressing buttons and pulling levers. Rose watched on a little sadly as he hurried around. It looked like a job for a crew and yet there he was all alone. Jackie was more than ready to leave when Rose assured her that they were home. She ran straight to the door and out into their apartment. Rose heard her shriek in shock.

'Bit of a shock, I suppose,' the Doctor nodded with a tight smile.

'So what're you doing now?' Rose asked quietly.

'I'll head off now, I don't want your mother getting back in here'.

Rose chuckled and smacked him on the arm. It was such a familiar exchange and yet she knew she'd never done it. The Doctor seemed to notice too. He cleared his throat and shifted a little on his feet.

'Where will you go?' she asked in wonderment.

'Anywhere,' he grinned. 'I could be over the other side of the universe like that. He snapped his fingers.

Rose grinned. 'That sounds amazing'.

'Well, why don't you come?'

Rose's grin fell. 'I can't. I mean, my mum is a little traumatised right now. I think I need to give her a bit of time before I go swanning off'.

The Doctor nodded with a passive expression. 'I mean, I could always give you time'.

'You mean you'd come back?' she asked hopefully.

'Yeah, why not?'

'I just didn't know if you'd do that,' she replied honestly.

'Here,' he rummaged through his pockets and fished out a small piece of paper. 'Call this number when you've had enough time'.

'Thank you,' Rose hurried forward and embraced him tightly. He was a little taken aback and returned the hug cautiously. Rose could hear his hearts beating in his chest and it sent a little thrill down her spine. A thrill that was short-lived as the same overwhelming guilt reached her. So much sorrow, and all alone too. An image flashed across her mind of the Doctor standing alone against an impossibly dark sky.

'Rose?'

Rose sprang backwards, quickly wiping away a tear from her face. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I don't know what…'

'Humans can't do that'.

'Do what?'

xxx

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'm having a great time writing this as I've said, but I want to make sure you guys are enjoying this as well. Until next time!