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Chapter Three

"Why are we in a CD shop?" the Doctor asked.

Rose hummed, flicking through a rack of CDs.

"When we were supposed to be going shopping to buy food for your mum?" He gave her a searching look.

She finally looked up. "Well you know, seeing as we were in town an' all, I thought I might as well pick up a few extra bits an' bobs."

Jack held up his arms, which had sprouted shopping bags on the end. "Like two new pairs of jeans, five T-shirts, a hair straightening device and a tube of…zzzzzzz…" he squinted at the tube.

"Zit free cream OK?" Rose said hotly, snatching the tube off of Jack.

"Whoa missy! Hmm, Virgin," Jack picked up a brochure, noting the name of the megastore. "Well maybe I can change that…"

People were starting to give the trio weird looks.

"Ha! Exchange s-students, from very far away," Rose laughed nervously, shoving the two in the direction of the exit.

"Very," the Doctor nodded, smiling at another girl.

"Yes indeed," Jack agreed, nodding furiously.

"Argghh!" Rose practically tore out her hair roots. Those two were so…so un-Earth-like sometimes- they had absolutely no tact! Maybe she should've bought the food and just gone home. Her thoughts were interrupted by the change of background song, which blasted tinnily over the speakers.

Like a serpent in the night,
He'll twist and entwine,
Until he has you wrapped around his finger-

"Too loud!" Jack bellowed above the grating rock riff. The Doctor nodded, and they both dragged Rose out of the shop.

"What has music come to these days?" The Doctor grinned, shaking his head.

"I liked it," Rose said sulkily.

"C'mere you," the Doctor said suddenly, engulfing Rose in a bear hug. "Do you remember that instrument we found in that secret underground lair where the Dalek was being kept?"

Rose's face lit up. "Do I?"

"Now that's real music."

xXx

The sky was awash with warm afternoon colours as the trio headed home. People would turn their heads at Rose and Jack's raucous laughter as the Doctor recounted the incident with the hairy toothbrush and all the while the sun shined and the day remained unnaturally warm.

xXx

"Perfect weather," Jack sighed blissfully when they reached Rose's home. From out of nowhere he produced a pair of sunglasses, and whipped off his shirt.

"Hey hey there," Rose murmured, eyeing Jack as she opened the door. Stepping over a few tin cans she plonked herself down on the sofa and stretched.

"Well, if no one needs me…" Jack was still stood in the doorframe.

The Doctor looked up from unpacking. "Oh no you don't! This is a respectable neighbourhood, you know."

"Fine." Jack sighed, pulling his shirt back on, to Rose's dismay. "Another time."

xXx

By seven they had managed to get the house looking somewhat more presentable, and now Rose was helping Jack as he bustled around in the kitchen. It seemed Jack had a flair for cooking. He'd whipped up a few exotic looking dishes-

"- the best cuisine in the galaxy! And all it took was a few favours to secure the recipes."

Rose decided to ignore this comment. Who knew what weird and wonderful new genders were out there, and how many of them Jack had given 'favours' to?

"Erm, Rose, why is the gravy jug so small?" The Doctor's voice called from the dining room.

Rose put down the half peeled potatoes and peered round the corner. Her eyes widened. "That's a candleholder dammit!" She yelled. "My dad bought my mum that!"

"Ooops…"

xXx

By the time Jackie arrived everyone was shattered. The weather was still scorchingly hot- Jack had retired outside and was checking out the local wildlife, shirtless, of course. Rose shook her head half heartedly as she dragged him back inside for dinner.

"You're the one that cooked it!"

"True, true."

Jackie was too tired to argue with the Doctor so everyone sat in a mutual silence whilst they ate. Until now Rose wasn't even sure if the Doctor did eat- come to think of it, she still wasn't sure. The food seemed to disappear right off his plate without him even touching it. He winked at her baffled expression.

The light mood of the dinner party seemed to carry into the evening, and it was with a great reluctance that Jackie said she would have to leave soon.

"Please mum, stay for a bit," Rose pleaded, but no, Jackie said she had to get back to checking on Beth.

"Why?"

"Oh look, darling," Jackie said fondly, "Beth was there when I needed her the most, so it makes sense that I should be there for her."

"But when…" Suddenly Rose remembered. "That other woman you were with when dad…" She stopped. Of course, Jackie didn't know. Jackie couldn't know.

Her mother regarded her strangely.

"Nothing mum," Rose said hurriedly.

xXx

It was after Jackie left that the Doctor removed his jolly façade. Jack was lying down on the sofa, dozing probably from sunburn whilst Rose was building a house of cards with the utmost care. The TV was playing in the background, the low hum of the news reporter delivering the latest reports coupled with the intense heat creating a dreamy hazy feel to the air.

-temperatures have been sweltering over the last few hours-

"Rose?" The Doctor asked.

"Hmmm?" Her house of cards shuddered.

"What if I was to ask you whether if you had a choice, you would do this?"

"Do what…?" Rose looked up, puzzled. He always spoke in riddles; that was part of who he was.

a new pandemic has broken out throughout parts of the world, experts say-

"Do this? You know, save the world, travel through space…?"

"Well you know what I'd say, you silly!"

The Doctor spoke carefully. "Well what if you didn't have a choice, like what if you were already involved, part of a chain of events?"

flu like symptoms, but not quite sure yet-

The house of cards collapsed. "What do you mean?"

Jack suddenly sat up. "Telepathic knife," he whispered, eyes wide.

"What?" Rose cried. By God she hated all these riddles!

stock market has come crashing down due to-

"I'm changing the channel."

"No wait!" The Doctor held up a hand. "I want to find out whether they've discovered the secret oil stash that's buried beneath the south of the Channel Islands yet." A minute later he relaxed- "Still safe", and Rose flipped to MTV.

"Now where were we?"

"Telepathic knife," Jack whispered again, hollow eyed.

And before you're aware,
You fall into your own despair

"Eurgh, that song again." The Doctor produced the knife from his pocket. The bone handle glistened in the evening sunlight. The tip was aimed at Jack's heart.

"Get that thing away from me!" He dived behind the sofa.

"Woah, what's the big deal?" Rose said, turning down the volume. "It's only a knife. Hey, isn't it the one that that kid who attacked Jack had?"

Jack whimpered.

"What's so special about it?"

The look on the Doctor's face told her that this was very serious indeed. "Go on Jack, seeing as you seem to know about this."

Taking a deep breath, Jack raised himself from behind the sofa and eyed the knife nervously. "Telepathic knife. Made from "Mortifera-Susurronium" roughly translates as 'deadly whisper'. The metal is extremely rare, in fact it can only be found on three sources in the chartered universe." The Doctor stroked the blade, watching it glint malevolently. "You really don't want to be around when someone has a telepathic knife. The knife picks up on all your thoughts, and is the perfect weapon for crimes. If you have the right elements, you can upgrade it into a Psychic Knife and then you're in deep trouble."

Rose had been listening in hushed tones. "How come you know so much about this?"

"When I was training to be a Time Agent, there were all sorts of things we had to cover. Hey Doc, weren't they banned?"

The Doctor smiled. "You tell me."

"Illegal since 126233 Universal Time, anyone found in possession of one suffers a whole ream of punishments blah blah. We had to do a recovery operation once, and believe me it wasn't pretty. After that I could sense them a mile off…but I never thought I'd sense one again…"

"But what is one doing here? On Earth?" Rose blurted.

The Doctor stood up. "Precisely what I need to find out."

"Oi, take me with you!" Rose demanded.

"Rose, I'm only going to the TARDIS," the Doctor said.

"Well will you check up on the weather patterns too, Doc, cos it's almost eleven right now and the sun is still melting my pants off!" Jack laughed.

The Doctor slid the knife back into his pocket.

xXx

"Well, it looks like it's back to the news," Jack said, flipping the channel. "Oh my God Rose, you won't believe what's on right now…"

The Doctor slipped out into the yard. There was something strange going on- he could feel the beginnings of a net being spun. And the longer he put it off, the deeper he'd fall into the web. He wiped sweat from his brow. Man, since when did it get this hot in England ? Producing the TARDIS key, he hummed as he approached his travelling machine, never noticing the blue sheen until it was too late.

There was a massive flash of blue light, and he was thrown violently across the concrete ground. Moaning, he clutched his head and sat up. It was then he noticed the burn mark on his jacket.

Rose burst out of her house and tore into the yard. "Doctor, you'll never believe what…" her voice trailed off as she saw the Doctor staring thoughtfully at his time machine. There was a burn mark on his sleeve.

"Someone knows about the TARDIS."

"What?" Rose asked. "How?" She reached her hand out to touch the machine, but there was a sudden blue flash and she was sent sprawling. "Oh."

This time there was a quaver in the Doctor's voice. "Someone knows alright, and they're trying to stop me from getting into my TARDIS."


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