Chapter Two – Arrival.

Hi hi! Chapter two – I hope I'm doing this okay, I'm feeling kinda nervous about doing this! Wow, that's for the reviews, sorry I haven't updates sooner, I've just been thinking over things in my mind, and trying to revise as well. Oh well, I always seems to write best during exam periods…probably because it gives me an excuse to ignore work.

Anyway, I hope that you like the end…I'm feeling nervous trying to expand on an already expanding universe, so please be gentle.

Thank you very much.

Xandra the Blue.

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"So, remind me why we're here again." said Rose as she opened the door, "It looks just like a regular wood to me." And it did, she thought. It was just a wood, full of pine trees, their pins littering the ground. It was unnerving when the Doctor landed anywhere that looked safe, it usually meant the oppose. Rose scuffed her trainers in the acrid orange soil, half expecting it to burn her shoes off, and looked up at the horizon, mist hugging the forest protectively, as if covering the trees in a grey sheet could hide them from woodcutters.

The Doctor stepped out, grinning widely, looking around in an annoying knowing manner before saying, "It does, doesn't it? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't…"

"Does this mean you don't know?" asked Rose, trying not to smile.

"Yes." Stated the doctor baldly, "not a clue. But usually, if you wait around long enough…" the doctor kicked a pile of pile of brown dead pins dramatically before he turned around and said, "It usually finds you."

"What signal did you pick up, where did it come from?"

"I don't know." He said, looking around him, trying to avoid Rose.

"Could you tell what planet or whatever it was from?" she asked.

"No" said the Doctor Tetchily.

"So what kind of thing are we looking for?"

"You're not looking for anything, you're staying here Rose. It might not be safe."

"When's that ever stopped you before?" she asked.

"Now!" he shouted, turning around, "It doesn't matter about 'before', what matters is now!"

"So, what am I supposed to do?" she huffed, "While you go off to find something dangerous?"

"I don't know, catch up on history?" he said sarcastically, but he put his hand on her shoulder, and looking her straight in the eye said seriously, "but stay near the TARDIS. Oh, and by the way, can I borrow the phone?" Rose pulled it out of her pocket unwillingly, and gave it over, wondering why she agreed to it.

"What do you want that for?" Rose snapped, as the Doctor turned it on and put it in his pocket.

"I won't be away long – but if I need you, I'll phone you." He patted her on the shoulder and walked off down a well-trodden path, leaving Rose on her own.

Rose, fuming with anger, yelled after him, "What if I need to contact you?"

He turned around and said, "You know your own number, don't you? Now remember, stay here! I'll phone when I find something!" He walked off, but before he disappeared he shouted, "Oh yeah, don't bring about the end of the world while I'm gone!"

Rose, burning in anger was about to return his comment when she realised that she was alone. She let out a little screech and slumped down on a conveniently placed stump. Perfect. Not only was he being petty, he had decided it would be a good time to go off alone. This wasn't typical of the Doctor, he was the kind of person who'd usually use her as bate, not telling her until whatever it was had tried to eat her head. Anyway, wasn't the point of being a companion was that they would work together – not him go off and her stay on the TARDIS and clean and stuff. Typical – it seemed all males, regardless of species, were the same. Convinced that they were better than females, expecting them to do just as they said! Rose had no intention of wondering off – where would she wonder to, considering they were in the middle of a wood, but she was wondering if she should just to spite him. He hadn't told her much about this place, just that it was earth in the year 2009 and that something strange was happening. Not that this was much to go on considering this could have been a summary of most of their adventures (if you changed the date).

Rose sat for a full ten minutes, considering what was going on, when she saw something move in the shadows. She looked around, wondering what had moved. She looked and saw nothing. Rose sighed. It was probably just a squirrel or something. Probably a side-effect of being with the doctor, convinced that something was after your blood. She was about to put it out of her mind when she saw it moving in the shadows again. She looked at the bushes, frozen for a moment when she saw something flash, like a knife, or a gun, but she couldn't see it properly.

Rose wasn't going to stay around if there was a madman with a knife in the woods. Hiding her fear, she got up and marched over to the TARDIS, shouting, "who ever you are, you don't scare me!"

She heard a rustle in the bushes, and as she twisted around, thought she saw a pair of eyes, like an animals lurking within the leaves. Hands shaking, she unlocked the TARDIS and almost dropping the key ran inside, locking the door behind her. She breathed out, and mental chided herself for being an idiot. Surely, she was just being paranoid…

She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself, when she heard something scratching at the door. Rose jumped away from the door, eyes bulging out of her head, as the door rattled, looking almost as if it were being broken down. Rose was paralysed a moment as the door looked as if might open under the force outside. Rose did what any sensible person would – she screamed and ran over to the phone.

Bang, bang.

The force outside hit the door twice and she picked up the receiver.

Bang, bang.

God, what was her number? She thought she felt tears run down her face.

Bang, bang.

O7778945…what was the rest? She didn't know, who phones themselves?

Bang, bang.

Oh God, she had to remember, but the door was starting to buckle under the pressure…

Bang…

O778945678! That was it! The banging had stopped, but she was still terrified. She wanted the Doctor, and she wanted him now…she punched in the numbers, hands shaking, and listened to the phone ring.

She looked around at the door, and suddenly saw that the lock was glowing a bright red. Oh no. Oh bloody…no! The phone still rung.

The lock fizzled slowly.

Rose turned back to the phone. "Please, please pick up" she murmured, "Doctor, you've got to be there…"

The lock was practically smoking.

Rose heard the ringing stop, then heard her own voice say "Sorry I can't answer you now, got a life to live y'know! Please leave a message for me and I'll phone you back…"

"Doctor, doctor" she shouted into the phone, "please, I'm scared, there's something trying to get into the TARDIS, I don't think it's friendly, please come back! I've locked the door, but it's burning it through! Doctor, come back, please…" she turned around and saw that the lock had melted through, and something was getting ready to open the doors. "Doctor, I need you…"

Bang!

Rose screamed. She turned away, and holding the phone in both hands shouted, "Doctor, I'm not messing around, I need you!" she felt a gun held at the back of her skull. Rose let out a small squeal and dropped the phone involuntarily, suddenly burning with shame at her own cowardice.

"Don't turn around, " said a voice, "I have a molecule energiser in my hands, and if I pull the trigger, you'll be stripped down to your component particles."

Rose gulped and said, "I'm not afraid of you."

"You understand me? " said the person behind her, almost shocked. The gun left her head for spilt second, as if the person had reeled.

"I understand a lot, so don't muck about. You don't frighten me." She replied, a lot more bravely than she felt.

"Then why did you run in here?" laughed the person behind her. Rose turned red, but the figure, moving the gun a bit said, "Don't worry, I'm not exactly judging you, put your hands up and listen to me."

Rose put up her hands. "Whatcha want with me? I don't have money. I'm travelling with a friend, a friend who you don't want to meet…"

"I don't want to hurt you…"

Rose laughed, "Well, you could have fooled me!"

"Is this ship yours?"

"Yeah." Rose lied, even thought her common sense now told her that this was probably not the right thing to do.

"Hmm, you look human to me, but what am I to do? Now, I'm going to slip a blind-fold over your eyes, and I want you to listen to me." Rose didn't move. The person behind her put a piece of thick black velvet around her head, and talked as they pulled the knot tight." I need someone to help fix my ship. And you'll do. Don't answer back, or I will pull the trigger…"

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Oh, the Doctor's being evasive, isn't he? I hope it isn't too out of character, especially when you find out why (but I think by around chapter 4, most people will have worked it out anyway) so, what did you think?

Thanks for the support so far, Xandra the Blue.