Rose was quite scared now.
"Doctor, please! It's me, I swear, I'm still the Rose you met in that shop basement –"
"Shhh." He moved towards her, holding her arms as she grabbed at him. "It's alright, Rose. I wasn't lying when I said I knew the difference between you and the Healdon." His voice was now gentle, his face concerned.
"You did?" Rose breathed, trying to quash her tears and act like she'd known this all along.
"Of course! I'd know you anywhere." He drew her into a hug. "I'm sorry I upset you. It's better that the Healdon doesn't know that I can recognise it."
Rose accepted the embrace, resting her head against his shoulder, feeling his presence calming her.
"It looked so much like me…I mean, every little detail. It gave me the creeps. I dunno how you could see any difference."
"Appearance doesn't matter as much to a Time Lord. It's more about what's up here." He tapped his temple.
"Can you really tell what I'm thinking then?"
The Doctor grinned cheekily. "Only to a certain extent. You'd know if I was reading your mind."
Rose raised an eyebrow at the remark. But the Healdon was not far from her thoughts for long. "Why did you send it to find Jack? Why send it to the Tardis if it's dangerous?"
"Well, like I said, if we can lure it inside, and trap it, I should be able to use the Tardis to prevent its metamorphis until we can return it to its planet."
"Planet?"
"Yep. Other side of this solar system. Big tourist attraction. Healdons are fascinating in their natural habitat," he said enthusiastically.
"Well, personally I don't see the attraction," she replied. The Doctor moved back to the doorway, checking the coast was still clear. "So what happened with you and the commander?" she said, with a teasing smile. "Since you're still in one piece…"
The Doctor managed to look a little sheepish. " I was right, " he began, but then he took on a serious expression, instead of the grin which usually accompanied a statement like this. "The Healdon was part of an experiment involved in the creation of drugs to alter people's appearance. The commander is head of a team which was doing tests on it, looking at DNA… they think it could 'help' the police force, but they can't even begin to understand what they're dealing with…"
He frowned, looking quite angry for a moment. Rose quickly gave him an And? look.
"Anyway, to the point. Apparently, they were conducting some other tests this morning, spatial awareness quotients I think, when what should turn up on the screens but the Tardis…. That's how Bella knew where to find us. The commander's convinced that we're the cause of all this. He claims that when we arrived, the Healdon started behaving strangely, which led to it's escape…"
He gazed at Rose, as if expecting her to make a comment. She looked back, nonplussed. "So…?"
"So it means that creature knows the Tardis is here! I mean, it was always suspected they were aware of time dimensions, but it was never proved…" The Doctor grinned in excitement. To divert him from lecture mode, Rose took his hand, and they set off for the Tardis.
The time machine was actually in sight before they became aware of other signs of life. The sound of running footsteps. Rose tensed automatically, and the Doctor, sensing her discomfort, folded his hand around hers, and they stood, together, ready to face whatever lay ahead.
The next second, Jack came hurtling out of a corridor just ahead, blaster secure in hand, and made straight for the Tardis, without even noticing them. In his haste, his Tardis key slipped from his fingers, dangling by its chain, and he was forced to temporarily pocket his gun to recover it. It was only then that he noticed his two friends.
Jack yelped in surprise, dropping the key altogether as the blaster was reinstated in his fist. On recognising them, his hand twitched as if to lower the weapon, but, still wary, he kept it level as they advanced towards him.
"S'alright, Jack," the Doctor said calmly, typically undeterred by the common scenario of a gunbarrel pointed at him. "It's only us."
Jack let his arms fall, then tensed again. "How can I be sure of that?"
"Because if I was a Healdon, I wouldn't know that we first met in London, 1944, in a hospital full of mutant patients," the Doctor said. "Honestly, why won't anybody believe me when I say who am?"
Rose didn't waste time. "Have you seen it?"
"Yeah. We joined up with a few others to track it down and almost had it cornered, but it changed so fast it was hard to know who was who. I did a scan on my wrist-com so I could fetch you guys, then it jumped me."
Jack glanced back down the corridor. "It was following me, but I think I managed to lose it –"
The words were barely out of his mouth before the tall, striking figure of Bella appeared at the junction opposite to the one he had taken. An order to stop was on Jack's lips as she walked towards them, but the Doctor laid a hand on his arm to prevent him, able to recognise the real thing.
"I was just looking for – WATCH OUT!" she yelled suddenly, pointing down the passage behind the trio, who all spun round just in time to catch a glimpse of a Myvian now retreating hurriedly around the bend. The Healdon had copied Bella's appearance.
"Tardis, everyone," the Doctor said, holding the door open.
"Right now, I think we all need a cup of tea," he said, once they were all safely inside the timeship. Jack decided that he wasn't carrying enough weapons, and disappeared into the depths of the Tardis to add to the mini-armoury that he usually carried with him ; he was unnerved by his encounter with the shape-shifter.
The Doctor and Bella discussed plans over tea and biscuits. Rose listened, trying not to make a face as Bella added a rather noxious-looking substance to her beverage, turning it a sludgy grey colour and consistency. She felt rather useless, so after a few minutes she went to find Jack.
Rose returned to the console room a short while later in search of the Doctor, but when she got there she found only Bella, mooching around the controls. She felt a twinge of suspicion, remembering what the Doctor had told her earlier. Then she mentally reprimanded herself ; she supposed she was a bit on edge today.
The Myvian looked up with a smile as she approached. "Can you fly this thing?"
"Not really. I help the Doctor sometimes, I know what some of these bits and pieces do," Rose replied, not wanting to sound totally incapable. "Sometimes I don't think even he knows everything about the Tardis," she continued, with a fond smile, reminded of when he'd first brought her back home, 12 months instead of 12 hours later than intended.
Bella ran a long, spidery finger down the side of the main screen, then reached out with another hand to poke at one of the dials. Rose felt an almost irresistible urge to tell her to stop. She must have got it from the Doctor ; she knew how he disliked people fiddling with his beloved ship.
"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," Bella murmured, then fixed Rose with her fiery gaze. And Rose felt that prickling, invasive, slowly seeping feeling inside her head again.
Her vision swam for a second, and then Bella was right in front of her. Rose became aware of how much taller she was.
"You're going to help me get out of here."
And somehow, Rose wasn't very surprised when the Healdon drew Bella's gun from its holster and pointed it at her head.
I seem to be throwing in sophis-sounding terms everywhere. Don't know if they make any sense, so sorry if they cause offence. Lol, I'm rhyming again. Probably due to my excitement at the new series coming out WAHEY!