Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I wish I did but who doesn't?

Chapter Summary: Rose is in trouble and finds out a little bit more about the mysterious man she and the Doctor saw.

Author's Note: Okay, so I was bored and posted up both chapters seven and eight today. I wrote them both at high speed, so forgive errors and spelling or inconsistency. I was also tired when I proof-read! Enjoy. You may have to wait a couple of days for chapter nine, though. I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed, reviews are greatly appreciated!

Chapter Eight: You Don't Want To Mess With Him

Rose debated legging it, and then decided against it. She stood up slowly and came out from behind the boxes.

'You should probably know my friend will come looking for me if anything happens to me,' she said with more confidence than she felt at the moment. After all, how would the Doctor find her?

'Exactly,' he said.

She blinked. 'What?'

'You were thinking that you don't know if your friend would be able to find you,' he said.

'What makes you think that?'

'Deduction,' he said shortly. 'Why are you spying on me?'

'I didn't exactly intend to,' she said carefully.

He made a small sound of amusement. 'That's rubbish, and we both know it.' He shifted his coat aside, revealing a small gun holstered under his arm. 'I suggest you stop playing dumb and start answering questions.'

'Or what?' she demanded.

'Or you'll end up in more trouble than you realise.'

Rose smiled insolently. 'You really don't want to mess with my friend,' she warned.

The man smiled. 'Really? Maybe the two of you don't want to mess with me.'

Rose kept her eye on the gun. 'You seemed like a decent guy earlier. What changed?'

He shrugged. 'The weather.'

She frowned. 'What?'

He shook his head irritably. 'Stupid humans,' he muttered.

'You told me you were half human,' she pointed out, slightly insulted although frankly she had gotten worse insults from the Doctor.

'Fortunately, I didn't inherit the specie's chronic stupidity,' he said.

'Why are you here?' she asked him directly. 'I doubt whether you should be and being in presence of a dead body isn't exactly good, is it? How do I know you didn't kill him?'

'First, you saw I didn't – '

'I saw you shaking him.'

'And second, if I had killed him, you would be dead to stop you opening your big mouth and blabbering to everyone,' he finished.

'You dragged him in here, you were shaking him and shouting at him,' Rose said. 'I reckon you know something about why he's dead, even if you didn't kill him.'

'Right on the ball, aren't you?' he said irritably. 'Come here.' When she hesitated, he snapped, 'Just come here! Take a look at him!'

Reluctantly, but sure the Doctor would want to know all the details when she found him or he came and helped her out, she walked over cautiously. Looking down at the body, she gasped.

'You think I did that?' he asked harshly.

Slowly, she shook her head.

The corpse was even more badly mutilated than the first. Half his face was covered in blood from a horrific scalp wound that Rose had to turn her eyes from. Several of his fingers were literally missing, and there were several wounds visible under the tears in his clothing, wounds that looked as if they had been stitched up and then had torn.

She winced and looked away. 'What happened to him?'

'That's what I want to know,' he said shortly.

'How did no one notice that? When you were dragging him here?'

'It wasn't far from where I found him,' he said. 'I covered him up and dragged him here. I knew he didn't have long and I needed answers – '

'Didn't you even think of taking him to a hospital!' she demanded loudly, looking at him in horror. 'A doctor? Didn't you even think of helping him!'

'There was no time,' he said with obviously forced calm.

'No time! For what? For you to get your precious answers out of him? What kind of person are you?'

'No time for him to live,' he said patiently but angrily. 'He was dying, he would have been dead in minutes anyway and no hospital would try to save him.'

'What's that supposed to mean! Don't try and excuse yourself!'

'I have my reasons!' he snarled at her. 'Don't you go telling me what I should or shouldn't do because you do not live here, you don't know what this place is like and you don't know what goes on here! So save your sanctimonious lecture! If you lived here, if you were me, you wouldn't be so damned self-righteous!'

'There's nothing wrong in caring about people! And getting angry at people who let other people die!'

'Don't take the moral high-ground with me, stupid little human,' he spat. 'Not until you have some idea of what you're talking about!'

For a moment they glared at each other.

'Sorry to interrupt,' a voice said, 'but I have a few questions.'

The man spun, drawing the gun and levelling it at the Doctor who blinked in surprise at him.

'No need for that,' he said mildly.

Rose grinned. 'You took your time.'

'I was busy.'

'How did you find me?' Rose asked.

'Shopkeeper saw you wandering in this direction, I saw blood on the floor, it wasn't hard to work out what had happened after that,' the Doctor said cheerfully. He looked back at the blond man. 'There you are. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while.'

'Really,' the blond man said icily.

The Doctor nodded. 'Oh, yes.' He considered the man thoughtfully. 'And now I find you threatening me and my friend. Not a good way to start a friendship, I've found.'

'Who says I want to be your friend?'

'Trust me, you don't want to be my enemy,' the Doctor said quietly.

The man looked unfazed. 'And you don't want to be mine,' he said, equally serious.

The Doctor gave him a penetrating, intense look. 'What are you?' the Doctor inquired. 'You're not fully human, what are you? What species?'

'Human-Amraki hybrid,' the man said coolly.

The Doctor's eyes widened. 'Really?' He sounded astonished and fascinated. 'Not many of you around, are there?'

'No,' he said frostily.

'Yeah, because the Amraki race has a nasty tendency to kill all hybrids,' the Doctor said. 'They have a real issue with racial purity.'

'Oh, really?' the man said sarcastically. 'That might explain why the last Amraki I passed in the street spat at me, wouldn't it?'

'There's no need for that!' the Doctor said, pointing at him crossly. 'I'm not spitting at you, am I? Right, so be nice.'

The man blinked and looked rather startled to be spoken to as if he were about five years old.

'So, what are you skills?' the Doctor asked interestedly. He seemed to have forgotten that the man was holding a gun at them both. Rose rolled her eyes. Typical.

The man lifted an eyebrow.

Since you seem to have some idea about my genetic heritage, you should know.

The Doctor gave a broad grin. 'Fantastic!' he exclaimed. 'I haven't met a part human, genuine telepath for ages! Can you read minds?'

'I don't like to,' he said flatly.

'What about other skills? What others do you have?'

'Do you mind?' he asked. He sounded annoyed. 'I don't the time or the inclination to answer your questions. You are in my way.'

'Are you sure about that?' the Doctor asked. 'Who you, anyway? I saw you when that unfortunate man died, why were you there? You didn't surprised by what had happened, that's what drew my attention to you. Why? You looked as if you had been expecting it.'

'He let that one die, too,' Rose said, pointing at the corpse.

'Did he, now?' the Doctor said, looking up at him with great interest. 'What's that important?'

'It wasn't exactly a choice I made,' the man said defensively. 'And it wasn't a choice I would have ever made, letting someone die.'

'Who are you?' the Doctor asked.

'Better for us all if you don't know,' the man said sharply.

'I don't think so. I might be able to help you.'

'You're assuming I want your help.'

'You mean you don't?'

'No.'

'Sure about that.'

'Yes.'

The Doctor shrugged. 'You might change your mind.'

'Maybe. Right now, your help is neither appreciated nor wanted.'

'I'm going to find out what's going on here, whether you want me to or not and whether you help us or not,' the Doctor said.

The man smiled grimly. 'Then you won't need me to tell you anything, will you?'

'We can help, if you're in trouble,' the Doctor said softly.

He lifted the gun. 'You can't help me. I don't want you to.'

'You can trust us,' the Doctor said, walking slowly towards him.

'No. I can't. I suggest you stop walking.'

'Why?' the Doctor asked. 'You're not going to shoot me, or you would have done so by now and we all know that. You won't shoot someone who isn't threatening you, will you?'

'No,' the man agreed. He holstered the gun as the Doctor got within a couple of paces of him. 'Doesn't mean I won't hurt you.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'Come on, there's no need for that.' He pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and raised it. 'We're just talking, aren't we? And don't think that you can hurt us – '

The man feinted a blow at him. The Doctor stepped backwards and received a swift kick in the stomach, enough to send him crashing to the floor.

'Doctor!' Rose yelled and sprinted forwards.

And found herself tripped and tumbling onto the floor.

The Doctor rolled over and scrambled to his feet.

The man took a massive leap into the air and grabbed hold of the wall some ten foot above them, although there was apparently no handholds, and without a look back, scaled the wall at a tremendous speed, quickly disappearing.

The Doctor looked angry for a moment. Then he said, 'Oh, well.' He frowned and rubbed his stomach. 'That hurt.' He looked upwards in the direction the man had disappeared in. 'Amraki hybrid,' he mused. 'That explains a lot.'

'Like how he disappeared up that wall?' Rose asked sourly. 'He just beat us and took off, Doctor! We need to find him!'

'We won't get any information out of him,' the Doctor replied with a sigh. 'And if he wants to give us any information, he'll come looking for us.' He looked around. 'Let's take a look at that body, Rose.'

'It's horrible,' she said as he crouched down beside the body and examined it. After a moment, she said, 'I thought you were talking to Liana.'

'I was. She got called out on business and I came looking for you.'

'Oh,' she said slowly. He didn't seem to notice.

'Similar to the other one,' he said. 'Body parts missing.' He shifted the body onto the floor and examined it closely. 'Scars, healing wound.' He poked it, frowning as he prodded the body with the sonic screwdriver. 'There entire parts of the body missing, entire organs. What the hell is going on here? There's bit of him missing! How takes one or two bits out of lots of different people? And lets them get away?'

'No idea,' Rose said, watching him.

He got up. 'Oh well, that's what we're going to find out,' he said, with what Rose considered to be inappropriate cheerfulness.