Of Towns and Toasters, Chapter Two

The Doctor had been staring out through the fog for some time; at least, he insisted that there was fog there, but Rose couldn't see any and was beginning to suspect that the toaster's actual function had been keeping his sanity - such as it was - intact. She had seated herself, her back against the TARDIS, and watched him as he just stood there, doing absolutely nothing.

She had to privately admit that it probably wasn't the most riveting experience she'd ever had.

"I'm going to take a look around," she said eventually, surprising herself at her own initiative; it was usually the Doctor who led the way when they landed, but she was getting the feeling that in this case he didn't have any more of a clue than she did. "Got to be better than just sitting here. Coming with me?" The Doctor nodded, not looking at her as she got to her feet, and they started down the street.

They didn't get far before the phone on the TARDIS began to ring, though, and the Doctor immediately whipped around, having learnt that disconnected phones ringing could never mean anything good. There were no gas-mask-clad children in sight, though, and he relaxed a little as the ringing began to die away. Rose stared at it oddly, though.

"I didn't know that was a real phone."

"It isn't. This has happened before." He wondered briefly whether to tell her the exact circumstances under which it had happened, but he had enough to worry about without disturbing Rose as well.

She frowned. "Why'd it just... fade away like that?"

"What?"

"Phones don't do that. They just stop ringing - they don't fade."

He stared at her for a moment, then turned - there were more important things to think about. "Stay close behind me, all right?" he muttered, shading his eyes in a thoroughly unsuccessful effort to see through the thick fog as he began to walk.

"We're not exactly going to get separated, are we? I mean, we're the only people around. I don't think I'm going to be swept away in the crowd any time soon."

"Rose, this isn't the time for that. Just trust me, okay?" She didn't answer, and he was simultaneously glad of the quietness and made slightly uncomfortable by the fact that he couldn't be sure of her presence any more. He could barely even hear her footsteps.

Stupid soft-soled shoes.

There was another sound, though, that he could hear now that Rose had fallen silent - like quiet footsteps, but coming towards them through the fog ahead. He grinned. Someone was here, then. Maybe the search wouldn't take so long as he had thought.

Suddenly there was a high-pitched squealing noise from behind him, and he spun. "Rose!"

Rose stood there, safe, albeit looking a little bewildered. The Doctor was relieved, but not about to let his guard down.

"What was that noise?"

"I think... I think it came from my coat."

"Your coat? What exactly is that coat made of?" But she had already fished out her mobile phone from one of the pockets. The squealing noise had stopped, but the phone was now hissing and crackling loudly. It reminded the Doctor of something, but he couldn't think of what.

Rose answered the question he hadn't asked. "It's like... static. You know, the static on a radio? It's like that." She shook the phone, and tried pressing some of the buttons, but the noise didn't stop. "Must be something messing with the reception."

The Doctor shrugged. "Nothing important, probably. But if it doesn't shut up soon I'm going to have to smash it to bits."

He turned around and found himself staring at a monster.

It was shaped like a dog, but its canine teeth were too pointed and its muzzle too long for a regular dog, and it was moving with a trotting motion which the Doctor had never seen a dog use. If anything, it reminded him of a...

It didn't matter what it reminded him of. What mattered was that a skinless canine creature was coming towards them, and now it had broken into a run.

He moved instantly to shield Rose from it. She seemed confused.

"What's wrong?"

The Doctor said nothing, keeping his eyes on it. When it leapt - leapt with surprising grace, not doglike at all - he dodged out of the way, pulling Rose with him, and the creature landed harmlessly. It spun around, making a snarling sound that was barely audible over the static from Rose's phone, which had suddenly become almost deafening.

"What are you doing?" yelled Rose over the sound of the phone.

"Rose, can you please be quiet when I'm trying to save your life?"

"Save it from what?"

Momentarily stunned by this reaction, the Doctor hesitated, and the dog-thing leapt straight at him. On reflex he caught hold of its flank - it was cold and slimy, but he didn't flinch; he had touched worse, after all - and twisted, flinging it away from him. A split-second later, he realised where he had just thrown it to.

"Rose! Get out of the way!"

Rose just stared at him, bewildered, as the dog-thing hurtled towards her - and through her, as if she had been made of nothing more than air. It hit the pavement hard, and faded away, whimpering piteously.

The Doctor stood frozen, his eyes on where it had been, as the volume of the static from Rose's phone dropped away to nothing.

"A wolf?"

The Doctor pressed a hand against his forehead. "The shape of a wolf. It couldn't have been a wolf. Wolves have fur and skin, for one thing."

"Mmm-hmm." She sounded skeptical, but she was trembling as she said it - no, shivering. He offered her his jacket, almost without thinking, and she took it gratefully. "Thanks. Aren't you cold?"

He glanced over at her. "Nah. Just leave me with the sonic screwdriver."

She handed it to him. "So, a wolf - a skinless wolf - jumped through me -"

"Was thrown," he corrected her, and looked slightly apologetic. "Sorry about that, by the way."

She raised her eyebrows. "You should be. You threw a non-existent wolf at me. I could have been seriously injured."

He glared at her. "It existed, I can tell you that."

"Okay. The wolf existed. I obviously couldn't see it because I was running around with my eyes closed, or perhaps because I am not gifted with your wonderful powers of alien-ness."

"Exactly."

"So, how'd it go through me then?"

He chose not to answer that, walking ahead in silence, and Rose had to suppress a laugh before setting off after him.

It was some time before the Doctor realised that he had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he had forgotten to look out for signs of toasters. Dimension stabilisers. Dimension stabilisers. Not toasters, dimension stabilisers. He had to stop letting that girl influence him.

He turned around, meaning to ask Rose whether she had seen any places that looked as if they might house sophisticated alien technology.

Rose was gone.

Well, that was just wonderful.