Last of Their Kind

by ThyWanderer

Worn down from years of strife as the last of her kind, Madison once believed happiness was far from reach. Everything begins to change when she meets a man called the Doctor. As secrets and sorrows are shared between them, the pair finds comfort together amidst the stars. Madison can only hope that this time things will be different, even if the universe has other plans for her.

2. Chapter 2

Hello again! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favourites. I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying it so far. Hope I can keep up in bringing the good stuff.

I had chapter two ready to go pretty quickly, so I thought to go ahead and post it. Once again, let me know what you think!

---

Chapter 2

When Madison woke up again the next morning, she felt the normal ache of sleep cutting into her bent up tail. It was not healthy having her tail curled up in such a way. But it was the only way to sleep in such a small space that Madison knew she had no choice. A bubbled sigh left her lips as she carefully began to stretch herself out. It hurt just as badly as it always did. The sharp pain in the midsection of her tail where it had bent was as harsh as ever. She winced, groaning as she slowly stretched herself. Her tail flopped over the side of the tub, hitting the floor as her upper half remained under the cold water. She just laid there, blinking sleep out of her eyes as she tried waking up fully. Sitting up in the tub, she reached over and began draining the water. She waited until it was almost all gone before she pulled herself out of the tub. She grunted as she hit the floor with a flop. Her tail swished back and forth, making sharp smacks on the cold tile as she grumbled. She hated this part of the day. It was always such a pain to get out of the tub and get herself dried.

"Note to self, play the lottery, win, and then buy a place with a bigger bathtub," she grumbled as she turned herself over and sat up on the floor. "Right. With my luck, it'd be a thousand years before I ever see a dime of lottery money." She reached over into the sink cabinet and grabbed a few towels and began to dry herself. As always, it took a while before her tail was dry enough. She watched, with sad eyes, as her scales slowly receded back, her tail splitting apart in two, and her fluke shortened before becoming feet once again. She glanced down at her hands and arms, seeing the webbing between her fingers and the light patches of blue scales recede away, too. She wiggled her toes and bent her legs lightly to get the pins and needles out of them before finally standing. As per usual, she wobbled on her feet for a few minutes, trying to gain back the ability to walk. She had always assumed that, given her age, she could bounce back much quicker than this from her change. Her parents never seemed to have problems changing back and forth from what she recalled. But perhaps they had merely hidden it well and this would always be a struggle for her.

Placing on some sweats and a large shirt, she walked out into the living room and started her day. She was not rushing too much as she knew there was nowhere for her to go today. No job and all that. She would have to call the manager later and see what there had to be done about the lost job. Until then, she began making herself a bowl of cereal. Munching away on the light breakfast, she sat on the sofa and turned on the telly. The news came on first thing, showing scenes from Central London last night and what the authorities were doing about it today. Madison shook her head, changing the channel to a nature documentary instead. She rather not keep thinking about that night. It was still so . . . strange to her. Again, her thoughts went to the Doctor.

Madison blinked, tensing as she heard something shuffling around her flat. What? What was that? But before she could go and investigate, she heard something else. Something at the front door of the apartment. She blinked as she listened to a buzzing sound from outside the door. Then she heard the door opening and shutting quite quickly. Before she knew it, in stepped the man from last night. He walked into the living room with a heavy frown on his face. He looked down at the silver tool in his hand, appearing confused by something. She reached over for the remote, turning off the television.

"Do you make it a habit of breaking and entering?" Madison questioned casually, smirking lightly as she watched him jump slightly, startled by her presence. "Because that's a very bad habit to have." The man looked her up and down with a heavy frown.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her as if bewildered by her very existence.

Madison scoffed, setting down her bowl onto the wooden coffee table. "I should be the one asking you that. What are you doing in my flat?"

The man ignored her, looking down at his tool in annoyance. "Must have got the wrong signal," he muttered. He then looked at her sceptically. "You're not plastic, are you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Last time I checked I'm not." She stood up, walking over to him. She scoffed as he knocked on her forehead.

"Nope, bonehead," he muttered.

She knocked his hand away. "Excuse you. That was awfully rude, you know. If you're going to knock on my head, at least buy me a drink first."

The Doctor looked back down to his tool, fiddling with it. Though he did give her a slight, mischievous glance. "I'll buy the drinks if you buy the chips."

Madison smiled lightly, amused now. "Call it a date, then." She shook herself out of whatever it was she was doing with this strange man. What had gotten into her? She was normally not like this. Except . . . with David and her old friends. But that was a long, painful memory she wished to stray away from. "I'm glad you're okay, though."

The Doctor looked at her with a slight frown, a bit taken back by her statement. "'Course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

She wanted to tell him that she had been quite worried about him. Instead, she looked at the man's strange silver tool that was buzzing slightly. "Are you searching for something? More plastic creatures?"

"You could say that, yeah," he explained, nodding. "I'm following a signal that's similar to the relay I destroyed last night."

"Thanks for that, by the way. I'm out of a job now," Madison spoke up, mostly teasing him as she was not truly that upset about her loss of a job. Shop jobs were easy to come by, for the most part. She noticed that the Doctor appeared to ignore her, still messing around with the slender tool in his hand. She began to think over what he had said, pondering it. "If you're tracking a similar signal, like that from last night . . ." She looked over towards her bedroom door, frowning as she saw that it was open. She sighed. "Oh, dear."

"What?" The Doctor blinked, looking at her now.

"It's that plastic arm. It must have come back to life." She pointed to her bedroom door, making him turn to stare at the room. "I locked it up last night in hopes to throw it out this morning."

He looked at her curiously. "Why'd you keep it?"

"I was just too tired to throw it out properly. Perhaps that's a good thing I didn't. It could have hurt someone." She looked around, wondering where it could have gone to. She knew she had heard something moving about earlier . . . She watched as the Doctor walked towards the bedroom door, edging carefully into the room. "Be careful. It might-."

It was then that a plastic arm jumped through the doorway, wrapping its fingers around the Doctor's throat. Madison leapt right into action as the Doctor stumbled back into the wall behind him. She grabbed at the arm, trying to yank it off of him. But it had too good of a hold around his neck. The Doctor waved a hand wildly, trying to get her to stop. She looked around, hoping to find something to save him. She saw the silver tool on the ground where the Doctor had dropped it. Picking up the tool, she saw a small button on the side and pressed it. It buzzed loudly as she aimed it at the arm. She kept pressing it up against the plastic, pressing the button over and over again in hopes that it would do something. Just stop the arm, that was all she could think about. Then, finally, the hand let go of the Doctor's throat and fell to the ground, once again unmoving. The Doctor panted while Madison breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, wanting to check him over immediately.

"Yeah, fine, thanks," he said quickly, brushing off what had occurred quite easily. It appeared as if he was unbothered by almost being choked to death. It made Madison even more baffled by this bizarre man. "What made you use that for?" He pointed at the tool that was still in her hand.

She glanced at it, shrugging. "Don't know. Just remembered you using it for things last night and thought it might help. It seems like a tool for a variety of uses to me."

He gave her a bright smile, appearing quite pleased by something. "That was some quick thinking there." He grabbed the tool from her grasp and picked up the arm from the ground. "Well then, thanks for the save. Bye!" And he was out of her door and down the hall before she could even blink.

Madison rushed out of her flat after him, not even caring that she was not properly dressed. Her only thought was to catch up with this man and see what else he might need. She bumped into Rose right outside of her doorway, surprising the blonde.

"Maddie, who's that?" questioned the girl, seeming bewildered by the sight of a man suddenly leaving her friends flat.

"Sorry, Rose, I'll have to talk to you later," Madison replied quickly before running down the hallway and around the corner after the Doctor. She found him going down the many stairs of the building complex. "Hold on, wait, you can't just leave after something like that! At least, not again!"

"Yes. I can. Here I am. This is me, leaving, see ya!" he replied briskly as she chased after him down the many steps of the staircase to the building she lived in.

"But if that arm came back to life, then there's probably more plastic mannequins out there, right?" she asked him, panting slightly as she tried her best to keep up with him. This man and his long legs. He was far too fast for his own good.

"Right you are. So that means I've got my work cut out for me," he replied easily, sounding not at least a bit concerned.

"All by yourself?"

They both exited the building complex now, walking down and around the estate area. "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed and watch telly, while all the time underneath you, there's a war going on."

Madison stepped up to get close beside him, trying her best to keep in step. "Are you at war with these plastic creatures?"

He gave her a side glance. "Not necessarily, no, but there's a lot going on in the underbelly of this world that you've got no idea of. Probably would just confuse your dull ape brain if I even tried to explain it."

She felt a bit offended now, realizing that he thought her stupid. Her face heated up as she grabbed the arm from his hand, yanking it away. "Don't allude to my ignorance of the situation as stupidity. Simply because I do not know does not mean I cannot comprehend once the situation presents itself. From what I understand so far, these plastic creatures are another species, particularly a hostile one, trying to do something here in the middle of London. You're here, also someone of another race of sorts, trying to stop them from doing harm. If I'm incorrect, please, by all means, correct me." She then hit him lightly with the arm on his chest, feeling a bit proud of herself as he appeared somewhat taken back now.

"Well . . . you not like most stupid apes, I'll give you that," he finally replied, smiling lightly at her. The smile dropped as he hummed, seeming to think for a moment before appearing to decide on something. "The plastic mannequins aren't really living. Not really. There's a thing controlling them, projecting life onto them."

"So, like a remote control device for a children's toy?" she wondered, trying to understand. It must be some kind of advanced technology that she knew for certain she could never hope to understand. She barely understood computers as it was. Even her mobile confounded her at times and that was considered simplistic technology.

"Sort of, yeah," the Doctor said, nodding. "It's more thought control." They kept walking for a moment. She waited for him to explain more, being as patient as possible as she felt that talking to her was not something he had as a top priority. He glanced at her thoughtfully. "You're taking all of this well. Doesn't the idea of 'aliens' make you scared?"

"No. Should it?" She kept her green eyes steady with his blue. "This world is full of bizarre and impossible things. Why should aliens be such a frightening concept?"

"Don't know. Most people like to pretend it's just them in the whole universe. Just them, on a little planet, floating away in the Milky Way within a billion other little planets."

"Well, anyone who thinks they're the only ones in the entire universe are completely moronic."

The Doctor threw back his head as he laughed heartily. "Heh, that's what I say every day."

Madison smiled, glad that she could make him laugh. "What is the goal, though, of this controlling entity?"

The Doctor grew a serious expression once again, looking at her with a steady gaze. "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you." A pregnant pause stayed between them as Madison slowly digested this statement. "Does that scare you?"

"Yes," she admitted, nodding as she looked away from him and towards the street they were passing by. They were walking down a sidewalk now, going by different passing cars and such. She wondered, if the Doctor could not stop these creatures, then how many people would get hurt in the wake of this coming war. "Suppose this means we'll just have to fight harder in stopping them."

"'We'? There's no we." The Doctor stopped then, making Madison come to a halt beside him. He gave her such a puzzled look then, staring her up and down.

A heavy frown was given to him in response. "Of course, there's a 'we'. I'm in this just as much as you are now. Besides, I want to help you."

"I don't need help."

"Really?" She waved the plastic arm at him, smirking. "I beg to differ."

The Doctor rolled his eyes in exasperation, snatching the arm from her. "Oh, I could have handled that fine. Besides, it just means we're even now." He started to walk off but was quickly stopped as Madison grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Why is it you're so against me helping you? Is this some sort of show of masculinity?" she questioned him, baffled as to why he simply would not accept her offer.

This seemed to confuse him as he blinked in shock, taken back. "What? What makes you think that?"

"I don't know. I don't know what sort of man you are," she replied with a shrug. She stared at him now, curious as to what sort of man he truly was. Those rich blue eyes of his seemed otherworldly. An explosion of an enriching experience. Ancient in many ways. Yet young in others. A deep welling of sadness just there, under the surface of it all. She reached for his hand without realising it, taking it into her own in a gentle grasp. "I'd like to know, though, what sort of man you are," she spoke quietly.

"I don't think you do," he replied, his voice just as soft. The shift in his face, that deep sadness, appeared as he gazed back at her. "I'm the sort of man who only gets people hurt in the end."

She tilted her head, curious now. "Is that why you're pushing me away? You're afraid I'll get hurt?" His lack of response said everything to her. She smiled sadly, nodding in understanding. It was why she moved every ten years, after all. Making friends and loved ones, getting too close to people when one had such a long lifespan . . . it hurts getting too close to them. She lived through watching the man she loved slowly waste away and die. She never planned on going through that agony again. Not ever. "I understand. Really, I do. I just . . . want to help. If I get hurt in the process, then please, don't think it's your fault. It's never anyone's fault when bad things happen."

He did not say anything. Not at first. Instead, he kept his ancient eyes locked on her. Searching for something. For what, she did not know. She could tell that he was reading her, taking in everything that she was and ever would be. There was a spark of recognition that seemed to go through him then. It was his turn to give her a searching gaze. "Who are you?" he asked curiously. "Who are you really?"

She was taken back by this. She realised then that she might have overstepped her boundaries. Broken a few of her rules that kept her safe through all these years. She let go of his hand, stepping back as she kept her expression as even as possible. Hoping, praying, that she was not faltering to show her wariness of such a question. She had been asked this question a few times before. Never did it turn out well for her.

"I'm just . . . Madison Baker," she replied, giving her best bewildered expression. Like she was uncertain as to why he questioned this. "I feel like I should be asking you that, actually. Is 'The Doctor' a title or . . . ?"

"I'm just the Doctor. That's me," he said, expression changing again as he smiled with ease. As though he hadn't been searching through her soul just a moment ago. She felt relief go through her then. Good. He thought she was normal. Good.

"Then, will you let me help you, Doctor?" she questioned, hoping she was not sounding like a broken record. She did not wish to push him. But at the same time, there was this driving need she felt. A need to be there with him. She didn't know why that was, but . . . she felt compelled to follow it. She waited for a response while he just kept his eyes on her. Those blue eyes that spoke of so much that she had yet to comprehend. She felt drawn to keep staring at those eyes. She was lost in them, those sea-blue eyes.

"You're really persistent about helping me. Why?" he suddenly asked.

"Because . . . you seem like someone who needs it. Is that such a bad thing? To want to help someone?"

He shook his head, smiling kindly now. "No. I've just never had someone who wanted to help me like you do."

"That's not bad though . . . right?"

"No, not at all." He beamed, his smile contagious as Madison could not help but smile as well. But his smile fell as he seemed to shake himself out of it. "This time . . . I'll have to say no. I'm sorry. Really, I am. But . . . I've got to do this on my own. I've already made a promise to myself. No more help from anyone." He walked away swiftly then, going down the street and towards a distant corner of another sidewalk. Madison saw a strange sight of a police public call box. Something she had not seen in such a long time. She thought all of those were gone by now?

"If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me!" she called after him, waving at him with a smile when he looked over his shoulder towards her. He nodded, smiling lightly before continuing on and going into the blue box at the end of the corner. She stood there, finding it strange that he would go into the box. Then, she blinked as she watched it slowly disappear from sight, the light on top of it slowly ebbing, growing brighter and dimmer. A sound echoing from the box that she had never heard before. A wheezing, whooshing, guttural sound. That was the best she could describe it. She stood there for a while longer, staring at the blank space where the blue box had been. She wondered if that had been his spaceship. Such a strange appearance.

Blinking and shaking her head, she gradually walked away and back towards Powell Estate. A long sigh left her, feeling oddly saddened by the Doctor's departure. Again, she wondered why she felt this draw towards this strange man. This strange, unique, brilliant man. In the short time of their meeting . . . she wanted to know everything about him. To learn all there is and . . . share all that she was. Though this thought made her angry with herself. She knew this was wrong. She could never share such a thing. Not with anyone. Oh, she was getting too old. She was starting to slip in her ways. If she felt a need to open up to a simple stranger, what else sort of trouble was she to get herself into?

She sighed as she entered her flat once again, frowning as she realized she would have to wash her feet. They were dirty from walking around outside. It was not the first time she walked around barefoot. Though it was probably best she not make it a habit around the city. Broken glass was such a terrible occurrence around here.

"There you are! Where've you been?"

Madison blinked, taken back as she saw Rose Tyler in her flat. "Rose? What are you doing in my flat?"

"You left the door wide open when you took off," stated the girl, rolling her eyes. The young woman kept her hard frown on her face as she watched Madison begin to pick up the bowl she had left earlier. "So? Where'd you go and who was that man? I've never seen him before. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen you with a guy before." Rose was then smirking. "Did you go and get yourself a boyfriend behind everyone's back?"

"No, it's not like that," Madison said, exasperated that the girl would jump to that conclusion so suddenly. She walked over to the kitchen basin, washing her dish before tucking it away into a cabinet. She then got a washcloth, washing off the bottom of her feet. "It's just this fellow I met last night. I sort of . . . met him outside the shop before, well, you know." She almost let it slip that he blew up the shop, but she decided against this. Rose most likely would not take that news too well.

"So? What's his name?" Rose questioned eagerly, grinning widely with her tongue lightly between her teeth.

"His name's the Doctor. And yes, just 'the Doctor'." Madison walked over, sitting down on her sofa now. She sighed as she stared up at the ceiling, sinking down into the chair as she felt at a loss of what to do next. Going back to watching telly seemed the last thing she wanted to do. Everything else, after the new encounter with the Doctor, just seemed lacklustre.

Rose sat next to Madison on the sofa, giving a curious gaze. "What do you mean just 'the Doctor'?" The girl laughed lightly. "What sort of name is that?"

Madison glanced at the girl, shaking her head. "It's just . . . his name is all."

Rose seemed sceptical of this answer but accepted it in the end. She then had that sly smile as before. "Did you get his number? Are you seeing him again?"

Madison shook her head sadly. "That's just it . . . he doesn't want to see me. No matter how much I try to ask him to let me in . . . he just shuts me out." She let out a puff of air, before laughing quietly to herself. Oh, the irony of it all. How many times have people said the same thing about her? Well, at least she let people into the life she would make up. Always a made-up story of each time she moved. Who she was. Where she had come from. What she did with her life. All made up, of course. She wondered if the Doctor did the same thing. Always lie to hide the truth of his troubled life. Maybe that was why she felt drawn to him? Were they similar, or was she merely pulling at desperate strings because of how lonely she had been feeling lately?

"Can't win them all I suppose," said Rose, staring at Madison, watching the way the young woman stared off sadly. It was clear as day just how dejected Madison was feeling.

"That's the thing, I can tell that he wants my help. Wants to let me in. It's just . . . something's holding him back. I just . . . Look," she turned fully to Rose then, hesitating with her next words, "have you ever . . . felt an instant connection with someone before? Like . . . your entire being is pulling in towards a direction and you just have to follow it?" Madison felt embarrassed asking this young woman such a question. Normally, she was the one answering life searching questions for people. Not the other way around. She felt almost like a hundred years old again. So young and fresh in the world. So naive. She felt flustered, in fact, asking such a question to a girl whom she was still not all that close to. But . . . she needed someone to tell her something that might help her get her mind off the Doctor and his strange appearance in her life.

"No, sorry, I don't really know what you mean," Rose replied, truly sounding at a loss and baffled by Madison's words. She watched as Madison turned, sighing and sinking into the sofa again. The young woman looked like she was at a loss for what to do right now. Thinking, Rose smiled as she got an idea. "Why don't we look up this bloke? We can probably find him on the web, yeah?"

"Are you suggesting I become a stalker?" Madison responded, rolling her eyes as Rose smirked.

Rose laughed, shaking her head. "No. I mean . . . maybe. But that's not the point." She elbowed Madison lightly, smirking devilishly. "They say the third times the charm, yeah? Maybe if you get his number and give him a call, he might just change his mind?"

Madison frowned as she thought about it. She shook her head lightly. "I doubt he has a number for me to find."

"It couldn't hurt trying could it?"

Madison looked to the girl, seeing how confident Rose appeared to be about this. She smiled slightly, encouraged by the girl's enthusiasm. Oh to be young and full of bright hope again. Well . . . why not try? It really couldn't hurt if she just searched for information about him. Just to see what sort of man he truly was. If it didn't lead anywhere, then it was no harm done. If it led back to him . . . then she really hoped he didn't think of her as a stalker. It was embarrassing enough just thinking about it.

"Oh, why not. It's not like I can't make things any worse," she said, earning an excited grin from Rose. She laughed as Rose went on to excitedly talk about what she thought of 'mysterious boyfriends' and such, just appearing happy to get Madison out there and explore the world. Madison could not help but feel a spark of excitement go through her. Eager to see where the next adventure might take her. A spark of something she had not felt in years.

XxXxXxXxXx

In the end, Rose took Madison to Mickey's place, using the young man's computer to search for anything that might be the Doctor. Madison was sceptical of the girl finding the man anything on the internet. But after prying for more information, anything that had to do with the mysterious man who entered her life, Madison recalled that strange blue box that the Doctor had mysteriously left in. Not that she really explained to Rose during their searching about the box. Only that she had seen the two connected together. This seemed to be the key to finding him on the internet as a site popped open to them. When the grainy picture of the Doctor appeared on the monitor of Mickey's computer, Madison could not help but feel a jolt of anticipation, perhaps even a hint of excitement, when seeing her reaching a step closer to finding the Doctor again. She realised then, why she felt this strange connection, this pull, towards this man. It was because, after so long of just living her days in a monotonous drone, that she found something new. Something different that could possibly light the way out of her grey life. She knew this was probably just her pulling at strings again. Perhaps she had lived too long and was becoming desperate for something new, something different. It reminded her of when she had met David. David and his band of outlaws. The feelings had been similar back then. Though for many different reasons.

Rose contacted this man named Clive. The man appeared to be the one to put up the site, in search of anyone else who might also know about the Doctor. The response from the man came almost immediately, excited to meet someone else in person to discuss the mysterious Doctor. Rose found the entire thing a bit sceptical. Possibly even somewhat dodgy as it was meeting a stranger off of the internet. Madison knew this wasn't something generally looked upon as a good thing to do. However, she felt that since Clive mentioned he had a wife and a son, possibly he was not entirely someone with malicious intent. Rose did not agree to this, so the girl was firm on going with Madison to Clive's place of living. Determined to be a 'backup' or sorts. Madison did not argue with the girl. She was quite flattered, actually, that Rose wanted to protect her at all. She realized then that Rose truly considered her a friend. Which made Madison feel guilty as she had not even considered the possibility until now. She would have to make it up to the girl later. Maybe have a day to 'hang out' and such. It would be nice having a girlfriend to pal around with again.

So, there they were, standing in front of Clive's home after Mickey drove them there. Rose shifted on her feet beside Madison as they waited for someone to answer after knocking on the door. Madison looked back over her shoulder towards Mickey, seeing the young man also shifting nervously in his seat. He too thought meeting Clive was something to be wary of. She, out of the other two, was the only one who felt comfortable doing this. She had met people through far worse means. Besides, her instincts on situations and people were very good. Hardly had she ever been wrong about something. Her gut said that this was the way to go to find the Doctor and she knew she needed to trust it.

"Hello," Madison waved in greeting when a preteen boy opened the door. "Sorry to intrude. We're here to meet Clive."

"We've been emailing," Rose clarified. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Dad! It's one of your nutters," called the boy, turning away from the door and walking away. It was obvious the boy wanted no part of his father's interactions. Clive, a portly man with a bright smiling face, came around the corner of the hallway in the home, seeming practically beaming to be meeting the two females.

"Hello! You must be Rose and Madison. I'm Clive. Obviously," he said in greeting, shaking each of their hands merrily.

"Yeah, I'm Rose. She's Madison. And I better tell you now, my boyfriend's in the car, just in case you're gonna kill us," Rose said, smiling awkwardly as clearly she felt out of place meeting the man. Madison, on the other hand, knew this man was nothing but an honest sort. An eccentric fellow, perhaps, but a loving father and husband by the looks of the home inside. That was the one talent she has always possessed, being able to read people. She got that trait from her mother.

Clive laughed boisterously, still beaming away. "No, good point! No murders," he said, apparently finding Rose's statement extremely funny. He waved over the two females' shoulders towards the distant, narrow-eyed, Mickey.

It was then that Clive guided the two into the back of the home and out into the garden where the man had a shed. The shed itself was cramped, filled to the brim with so many charts, books, maps, diagrams, and pictures of things. Apparently, conspiracists did not change much in the ages. Though, given the internet, she could see that the conspiracies have grown much more . . . extensive.

"A lot of this stuff is quite sensitive, I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept . . . if you know what I mean," Clive explained after he ushered them into the shed. He walked over to one of the massive bookshelves he had, pulling away from one of the rather thick folders on the shelf. He turned to them, walking back over. "If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories." He opened the file for them, letting them see a massive amount of information he had collected over time. All of which they could see was about the Doctor. "No first name, no last name, just 'the Doctor'. Always the Doctor. And the title seems to be passed down from father to son, appears to be an inheritance."

Madison glanced at the file, seeing small bits from the pictures held within. She saw faces of people she did not recognize. A man with a long scarf, smiling away. Another man with what appeared to be a celery stick on his coat for some reason. And a very old, black and white picture, of an elderly man with his hair slicked back and looking stern at whoever might have taken the picture of him. Were these the 'fathers' Clive meant?

"That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" Clive said, earning Madison's attention again. She looked over, seeing him pointing to a computer. The grainy picture of the Doctor with very short hair and rather big ears stood out to her.

"I don't know. She's the one looking for him," Rose mumbled, her expression showing that she was a bit taken back by all of this. Clearly, the girl did not see this coming in their search for the Doctor. Conspiracy theories were most definitely not on her list of things to do today.

"Yes, that's him," Madison responded quietly, staring at the monitor as she felt the mystery of the Doctor was only growing now. Was the name passed down from father to son? Was he truly just in the long line of 'Doctors' throughout history? Somehow . . . she felt it was more to it than that. She wasn't sure why she felt this. It just seemed . . . off, this theory of Clive's.

"I've tracked it down to the Washington Public Archive just last year," Clive explained to them, pulling out a plastic sheet with different pictures inside. "The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original . . ." He flipped through different pictures of the same photograph. One with the Doctor within a massive crowd of people. In the end, it was a photo of the day the United States president, John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated. She remembered that day. November 22nd of 1963. She had changed her mind about going to the motorcade watching and instead decided to stay home. It had been heartbreaking when the news broke of his death. She had such hope for that man and the changes he could make for the world. His life had ended too soon.

"Must be his father," Rose said, in disbelief as she stared at the picture. It was clear that she was not buying Clive's story at all that the picture was the same man Madison had run into. Madison glanced over at Rose, a bit uncomfortable now in bringing the girl along. She didn't want the girl to think she was mad, or to be feeling out of place amongst all of this. But perhaps that was too late for that now as Clive continued to bring out pictures for them to see.

Next was April 1912. It was a very old black and white photograph of a family from Southampton. There was the Doctor again, dressed in a suit, standing straight and with a distant expression on his face. Clive mentioned how the family cancelled their trip sailing on the Titanic, just the day before. She remembered that date, too. She had been working in the harbour of New York when the news broke of the ship's sinking. She had been so sad for all those affected. All those lives changed in an instant due to a tragic mistake. Her mind began to wander to those few short years later. Her parents, dying in the hospital bed with her by their side. The last Mer couple in existence, gone in an instant due to a terrible flu. Oh, how her heart still weeps over the loss. Her life grew so colourless after that day. She hated thinking about it, but she knew she needed to. A reminder to herself to never forget them, even in death.

Then, the next picture Clive showed was that of a drawing. This time of the date 1883. She saw the volcano sketched behind the Doctor in the drawing, and him wearing the same outfit as she saw him just earlier that day. On this occasion, apparently, was the eruption of Krakatoa. She remembered the date, though the news of the eruption did not reach her for some time. News travelled much slower back then out of the wild west of America. She had been with David and his outlaws during that time. They had just missed being dragged into the Bisbee massacre. It was lucky for them that David decided against going with the Cochise gang.

All of these memories being brought forth, some just melancholy while others downright heartbreaking, made her step back and quit listening to Clive. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, her mind, from all those old, painful, memories. It had been a while since something came forth and made her think back on her life. She tried not to dwell on what had been and instead always made herself move forward. Though it was hard moving forward when there was nothing truly there to keep her going. Since her parents' death, she had mostly just gone with the days, the weeks, the years, just droning on and keeping up a face the best she could. She had tried to keep doing what her father always did, search for any signs of Mer-Kind and hope for the future. But without him as a guiding force, the search ended as quickly as it began. Now, however, her mind raced with the implications of what the Doctor was. He couldn't be Mer. No, Mer never looked older than twenty-five. Something which always caused problems for her and her parents in the past. How many times did they have to say they were siblings instead of parent and child? She had lost count. But the Doctor, he appeared to be a race of species that lived as long as she. Did she finally find someone who might share in age with her? Somehow, the thought was more bittersweet than elation for her. She never wanted someone to live as long in life as she. It was a lonely life, after all. At least her parents had each other. Whom did she have? No one.

"But who is he? Who do you think he is?" asked Rose, the question bringing Madison out of her thoughts. She saw how the girl still had this look of scepticism, even a bit of suspicion. It was clear that Rose was not buying anything which Clive was telling them.

"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world," Clive said, his expression dead set and completely serious. Madison already knew about the alien bit, of course. Though the immortality bit was new. Could there be immortals in the universe? It could be possible. It was a big universe, after all. Though if the Doctor was immortal, then she truly did feel sorry for the man. That was worse than having a long lifespan in her book. To live forever . . . it was tragic.

"Okay! Well, it was nice meeting you, but I think we better go now," Rose said, giving the man a strained smile as she backed away from him and towards the shed door. Clive's face fell, looking greatly disappointed. Possibly even a bit hurt.

"You don't believe me," he sighed, shaking his head. It was obvious it was not the first time for him. It was possible he ran into people who thought him mad on a daily basis. Madison felt sorry for him. To have such knowledge and be considered an outsider because of it . . .

"I do," she said softly, smiling kindly at Clive. The man's eyes lit up as he smiled, looking as though his spirit had been lifted considerably. It must not be every day he found someone who did believe in his stories. She reached out a hand, shaking his. "Thank you, again, for meeting us. I wish you and your family well. I hope that you find the answers you seek someday."

She turned and left with Rose. The blonde was clearly in a hurry to get out of there. Madison was just sad that she couldn't ask Clive more about the Doctor. Though it might be best. There might have been questions on his end about her and what the Doctor was to her. Questions that she was certain she could not answer.

"You don't really believe all that, do you?" Rose asked the moment they stepped out of the home. "The guy is a nutter."

"Why not? The universe is a big, impossible place," Madison said as she stared at the girl. "Why is the possibility of aliens so strange?"

"I don't know. It just seems too far-fetched to me," Rose replied, shaking her head, still in disbelief at the entire occurrence they just shared. "Besides, all those photos were fakes. Anyone could make stuff up like that. He was probably just a scammer or something. This 'Doctor' is probably a part of it."

Madison sighed, her shoulders falling a bit. ". . . Maybe." Perhaps the girl was right and this was all nothing more than one big scam. It was hard believing that someone would go to those lengths to trick someone. But the photos seemed so real, and she had witnessed the blue box disappearing. Then again . . . illusionists were always so clever with these things. Maybe she was deluding herself. Perhaps she had been lonely for far too long and truly was desperate. She just did not know anymore. She saw all those things happen. She had run into alien life-forms before and those had been real. Why should she doubt the Doctor? She did not want to . . . her gut said that it was real. But maybe she was just tricking herself into believing? She just didn't know. Maybe she should take the time to think it all over. Maybe this was the one time her gut was wrong about something. There was the first time for everything.

"All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak, you win!" Rose said to Mickey the moment the two got to the vehicle. The girl sighed as she opened the door, ready to leave. Madison, who had been about to climb into the car, froze to the spot.

Instantly all the alarms went off in her head at the sight of Mickey. Something was wrong. Something she could not quite place. It was the way he sat there, staring straight ahead and smiling. Everything screamed 'wrong' as her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She didn't know what was wrong, just that it was. She glanced at Rose, hoping it was not only her that felt this way. But the blonde just stared at her in question, clearly wondering why Madison was not climbing into the vehicle already.

"Something the matter?" Rose asked her.

"No. No, everything's fine. Just a bit frazzled is all," Madison replied hurriedly, placing on a strained smile.

"Yeah, guess nutters will do that to you," Rose joked lightly, laughing a bit at her own joke.

Madison got into the car hesitantly, fearing what would happen if she showed any sign of being aware something was wrong with Mickey. She glanced at the man from the back, watching as he spoke and acted robotically. The way he stuttered when saying 'pizza' after Rose's suggestion for a place for them to eat only made Madison feel more on edge. But she knew she had to act normal. For Rose's safety, she needed to keep her head level. As Mickey drove them off, towards a pizza restaurant of some sort, Madison began to think of a plan to get Rose away from the young man. If she could cause a distraction of some kind . . .

Madison continued to feel on edge even after they had been seated at the restaurant. Waiters walked around the place, in between dining tables, serving guests with ease. The other guests themselves were chatting away, happily enjoying their meals and such. Any other given day, this would have been such a nice place, a chance for her to really get to know Mickey and Rose better. At least at a more personal level than what she had been with them. But now, all she could think about were how many exits there were, how to convince Rose to leave, and how to defend herself and Rose against anything which Mickey tried. Madison could only wonder what had been done to the poor lad. She did not know what, but it was obvious something given how he still had not yet quit smiling. That smile . . . it was beyond unsettling. She was shocked Rose was not mentioning anything amiss. She thought it was obvious. Perhaps it was just her picking up something wrong. Or, maybe the poor girl was merely blind to the unusual.

"We could try the hospital. Suki said they had something dishing out in the canteen," said Rose, breaking Madison out of her stupor. She blinked, realizing that the blonde was talking about jobs. Right. Jobs. Honestly, given what this day had been so far, getting a new job was the least of her concern at the moment.

"Right. Yeah. Hospital," Madison mumbled, glancing around the place again. She wondered if she could convince Rose to go to the toilet with her.

"I don't know. I'm not sure what else I can do. Maybe A-Levels?" Rose sighed, apparently somewhat saddened by the prospect of getting a new job. "Maybe if I didn't follow Jimmy Stone out of school . . ." She looked at Madison then. "What about you? What sort of schooling have you had? You've never said."

"Um . . . not much schooling." Madison had made herself a low-level worker during this move to London. She had been to university before back in 1980. But that had been ages ago now, and she had mostly studied languages, writing, and world history. Mostly just to catch herself up to current times and such. Nothing that had any value in the modern era of careers and such.

"So where did you meet this Doctor?"

The two females looked over to Mickey, who was now leaning over the table, staring intently at Madison. The way his glassy eyes gazed at her . . . it was unnerving. It was then, with a fresh wave of horror, that she realised what was wrong with him. The eyes finally gave it away. He was living plastic. Oh dear lord, what had she gotten Mickey and Rose into? What had been done to the poor boy? Did they kill him? If they had . . .

"Look, no more about the Doctor, okay? We've had enough nutters for today, thanks," Rose said, frowning at her boyfriend and shaking her head in disapproval. Mickey ignored her, leaning over the table more as he kept his hard stare directed at Madison. She, herself, leaned back, wanting to place as much distance between herself and this plastic man as possible.

"'Cause I reckon it all started back at the shop, am I right?" Mickey questioned, completely ignoring anything that was said. He grinned widely. "Was he something to do with that?" Rose looked back and forth between the two, obviously starting to realize something was going on. Madison straightened her posture, gazing back steadily at the fake Mickey.

"What have you done with Mickey?" she questioned carefully.

The Mickey across from her remained unblinking. "What was he doing there?" He grabbed Madison's hand that was resting on the table, squeezing it hard. "Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning. Where is the Doctor?"

Madison remained as calm as can be, gazing back unflinching as she felt the plastic nails on the man's hand digging into her skin. "I won't tell you anything until you've shown me that you will not harm anyone else today. I'll talk once you can promise me that."

"I don't understand. What's going on? Mickey, what are you doing?" Rose spoke up, looking at her boyfriend in hopes that he was just messing around. It was then that Mickey grabbed onto Rose's arm, pulling the girl close. Madison and Rose both tensed, staring at Mickey in alarm.

"Tell me where the Doctor is," Mickey said, his grin turning sinister.

"Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asked, her voice changing to show she was starting to become nervous.

"Let her go. Now," Madison said through gritted teeth, her temper flaring as she felt defensive over the girl's wellbeing. She couldn't let Rose get hurt. If the girl was hurt . . . Madison was not sure she could forgive herself.

"Tell me," ordered Mickey, now glaring.

"And I won't tell you a damn thing if you lay a single finger on Rose. Now let her go," Madison retorted harshly. Someone came around in the corner of her eye. A figure of a man came over and stood next to her.

"Madam, your champagne," spoke a familiar male voice. She recognized it right away. She felt somewhat relieved as she glanced over, seeing the Doctor's smiling face gazing back at her. But she feared what he would do to get them out of this situation. What if it only caused the fake Mickey to harm Rose or the other patrons of the restaurant?

Mickey looked up from the table, grinning darkly when seeing the Doctor standing there. Before the plastic young lad could do or say anything, the Doctor was shaking the champagne bottle in his hands before quickly uncorking it. The cork flew at Mickey and into the young man's head. Quite literally, too. It made the man jerk back as the cork was seen absorbing into his forehead. In this instant, the man had let go of Madison. Though he still had a hold of Rose. Madison stood up then and quickly yanked his hand away from the girl before lifting her foot and kicking Mickey back harshly. This caused the young man to flail his arms out before crashing down onto the floor on his back. But this lasted only a moment before Mickey got up, morphed his hand into a large flat weapon and chopped their table in two. Madison got in front of Rose, making the girl step back and away from the scene.

"Everyone, get out!" she shouted then, looking at the rest of the restaurant guests and servers. They appeared to be too stunned to move. Luckily, Rose thought quickly on her feet and went over to a fire alarm, activating it. The alarm seemed to awaken the people as they all hurriedly got up and left. During all of this, the Doctor was in the middle of a fight with the fake Mickey. Soon, the Doctor had gotten the plastic man's head off, though the plastic Mickey just kept right on talking, making threats as the body kept trying to come after them.

Madison yanked Rose away from the scene, steering the girl after the Doctor as the man ran off towards the kitchens with the head of Mickey in his arms. Madison and Rose both started yelling 'get out' to the kitchen staff as they rushed by. The headless body of Mickey still came after them, crashing the large flat weaponed hands against anything and everything that got in the way. Once the Doctor got out of the back of the restaurant and into an alleyway, he held the door open for the two females as they ran out. He then kept the door closed, fighting the enraged headless man that was on the other side. The Doctor pulled out his slim, silver tool, aiming it at the door and appearing to lock it quickly.

"That should hold him for a minute," said the man as he stepped away from the locked door. He then turned and smiled brightly at Madison who still stood nearby. "Hello again."

"Hello," Madison breathed, unable to keep the smile from her face. She was just glad that he showed up when he did. "I'm starting to think you're a magnet for trouble."

"Never know how to stay away from it," the Doctor replied smoothly, grinning cheekily with a teasing spark in his eye.

"Well, then, hopefully, I can learn to keep up," she said, laughing slightly. She looked over when realizing Rose was no longer next to her. She saw the girl banging on the alleyway gates, trying to get them open.

"We're trapped!" Rose yelled in a panic, turning to them in alarm.

"It's alright, he can use this tool thing," Madison said with assurance, trying to calm the girl.

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said casually as if to clarify what his device was. He walked away from the restaurant with ease, smiling away as if there was not a headless man still after them. Madison blinked as he walked over to a public police call box that she just realized was there. It was then she recognized it. It had to be the same one as before. "Tell you what, let's go in here," spoke the Doctor as he opened the doors to the box and went inside.

"We can't hide inside a wooden box!" exclaimed Rose angrily, shaking her head in disbelief. She then looked to Madison for answers. "Who is that man? Is that the Doctor?"

"Yep, that's him. And I think we should listen to him," Madison said, walking over and taking the girl's hand. She glanced over as she heard a loud bang come from the back door of the restaurant. "Come on, we better hurry."

Madison pulled the girl along as they both quickly went into the police box. The moment they stepped through the door and it closed behind them . . . each went through their own state of awe as they stared at the sight before them. From what had appeared like a very small box on the outside was the complete opposite on the inside. The room was massive, going into a vast expanse compared to what it visually looked like on the outside. There were coral pillars that lined the place, seeming to hold up the ceiling that lay far above them. Grated stairs led up from where they stood, up towards a central area that had a console of some sort on display. The console lit up a dim green colour, with a centre column with a similar colour. Around the walls that surrounded the room was a circular pattern, each having a dim yellow light source of sorts. There were more stairs seen towards the back of the room, leading up to an upper landing of more grated flooring. In the very back of the room was an archway to an obvious hallway that led deeper into the place. The entire room itself had a grunge, bronze colour to it that tied it all together.

Madison could only stare at it all, taking in the sight as her breath left her. It was all rather intimidating, yet beautiful at the same time. She did not know how to describe it. The room was simply . . . fantastical. She felt Rose beside her trying to back out of the vast room, but she kept a firm hold on the girl's hand. She didn't want to chance the blonde going back out there and the headless man hurting her. So she pulled Rose up to the centre of the room where the Doctor was currently hooking up the head he had acquired to the console.

"What are we doing next?" Madison asked as she came over to the Doctor.

"I'm trying to be smart. Now shut up a minute," the Doctor responded smartly. Madison scoffed, letting go of Rose's hand as she hit him in the side.

"Oi, rude!" she replied, shaking her head at him as he blinked at her in surprise. "All you have to do is say you're busy, you know."

"Fine. I'm busy," the Doctor said after he rolled his eyes and shook his head. He worked more with wires and the head, fixing it up for something Madison could only guess. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source."

Madison nodded, now seeing what he was doing. "Back to what's controlling the plastic beings, correct?"

"Right you are." The Doctor gave her his usual grin like he was very pleased with what she had said. He turned to face her fully now, expression more serious this time. "So . . . where do you want to start?" He gestured to what was around them.

Madison stared at him for a second before glancing over to the still stunned Rose she left over by the stairs. "I have many questions, but for now they can wait. I need to make sure she's okay." She nodded to Rose, walking over to the girl. She took the blonde's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Hey. How are you doing?" she asked gently.

Rose blinked, pulling herself out of her daze as she looked to Madison, replying, "It's-It's bigger on the inside. It's . . . alien." She then finally looked over to the Doctor. "Are you alien?"

"Yes. Ten out of ten observation," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes a bit. Seeing Madison's stern gaze, he sighed and nodded, understanding he needed to be a bit more gentle to the blonde.

". . . Okay," Rose breathed, letting out a long exhale as she slowly seemed to be adjusting to the sudden change. She then gave Madison a curious gaze. "Did you know . . . about all of this?"

"The bigger on the inside part was a shock. But did I know he was an alien? Yes," Madison told her, nodding as she gave Rose's hand another gentle squeeze. The girl merely nodded, seeming at a loss of words.

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space," the Doctor began to explain quite rapidly, sounding as though this were something he's had to explain quite frequently. It was then that Rose began to cry, letting out a sob as tears leaked down her face. Madison quickly pulled the girl into a hug, holding the blonde tightly in comfort. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us," they heard the Doctor say. Madison shushed him and shook her head.

"She's upset about Mickey," she whispered to him. The Doctor blinked and went 'oh' quietly as she continued to console the girl. "Is there any way he's still alive? Can we find him?"

"Sorry, I don't know," said the Doctor, shrugging a bit. "Doesn't matter anyway." Both Madison and Rose looked at the man in disbelief. Each one opened their mouth in shock.

"Doesn't matter?!" exclaimed Rose in outrage, pulling away from Madison as she stomped over to the man. "He's my boyfriend! You pulled off his head! And now you're just gonna let him melt?!"

The Doctor blinked, confused. "Melt?"

"He's melting," said Madison, pointing to the head on the console that was slowly turning into mush. The Doctor turned around quickly, eyes going wide as he stared at the sight.

"Aw, no, no, no, no!" yelled the Doctor, rushing around the console in a flash as he banged on different knobs, twisted dials, and flipped levers. Madison had no clue as to what he was doing as the control centre appeared chaotic in design. But it was clear that the console was the steering centre of the ship. The whole room began to rock side to side as the centre column was seen moving up and down. Madison heard the sound of the ship, the same as she had encountered earlier that day, the wheezing and whooshing noise.

Rose began questioning the Doctor more then as the man kept working on following the signal. Madison just stood off to the side, holding onto a railing and watching the man work and the console lighting up gently. It was then she began to notice something. A small something, quietly nudging at her mind. A presence that felt as though it were surrounding her. Cradling her mind into a cushion, or rather melding in with her own mind. She frowned, taken back greatly. Out of everything that has happened so far in the span of a day and a half, a telepathic connection was the most astonishing occurrence. She had not felt another presence like that in her mind since her parents' passing. She had thought she would never feel the touch of another in her mind since. The Arcateenian she had run into that one time had tried to enter her mind telepathically. But her parents had refused to allow it at the time, afraid of what might come of it. Now the gentle presence of another trying to nestle into her mind only made her sad. It reminded her of her mother's touch. So, immediately Madison tried to shut out whatever it was that was nudging at her mind. In response, she felt a flash of disappointment. Possibly even a hint of dejection. This made her curious as she looked around the room, trying to see what was the source of this presence. It could not be the head of Mickey, could it? No, that wasn't it. It felt much greater than that. So what . . .

She blinked as she realized the ship had come to a halt, no longer in motion. The Doctor was running out of the doors with Rose calling after him. She then swiftly made her way after them, taken back only for a second when seeing they had indeed moved in place. They were now somewhere by the Thames, near the London Eye.

"I lost the signal. I got so close," said the Doctor in aggravation. Rose stood a bit away from the ship, staring at everything around them in disbelief. Madison closed the door carefully behind her.

"We've moved," Rose stated, shaking her head slowly. "Does it fly?"

"It disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand," the Doctor said offhandedly, not giving either of the other two a notice. He only stared across the waters of the Thames towards the other side of London.

"I'd still love to hear how it works. Even if I don't understand," Madison said as she walked over to him. She smiled slightly at him. "Just ignore my dumb look as you explain it." The Doctor seemed to find her funny as he chortled quietly with a shake of his head. She glanced around them curiously. "Is the headless Mickey still on the loose?"

"No, it would have melted with the head," he explained, turning around to walk away.

"That's good. At least no one else will be hurt," she sighed, glad to hear of it. She had been worried about the restaurant guests and staff. She winced at the look Rose gave. It was obvious that the girl was greatly upset that she and the Doctor were not discussing the fate of poor Mickey. Madison wanted to believe that there was a possibility the lad was still alive. But given the circumstances . . . the chances were very low. She reminded herself of the fate of poor Wilson.

"Sorry. I know you're upset," she mumbled as she looked at Rose.

"You're damn right I'm upset. You're just going and forgetting Mickey like he's nothing!" the girl exclaimed angrily. "I'm starting to think you're alien, too!" Madison grimaced. Well, Rose was close on the nose on that one. Though Mer were, and always had been, strictly from Earth. At least . . . that was the main theory. Her father always suspected there was more to it than that . . . No, no, she was getting lost in thought again. Have to focus on the present.

"Oh, shut up, I'm working here," retorted the Doctor crossly, throwing the girl a look of reproach. Perhaps a little defensive as well as he stepped up beside Madison. "If we did forget some kid called Mickey," Rose scoffed about this, but the Doctor went on ignoring her, "it's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering about on this planet, and she's just trying to help me do it, all right?"

"So I'm allowed to help you now?" Madison questioned curiously, raising a brow at the man.

"Eh, might as well. You're a bit fun to have around. I could use a good laugh," the Doctor replied slyly, giving her a wry grin. Madison scoffed, hitting him playfully.

"Cheeky you are," she scolded half-heartedly, earning a chuckle from him. "Keep that up and it'll cost you more than a date."

The Doctor grinned slyly. "What do you have in mind?"

"Are you two flirting while my boyfriend is off dead somewhere?!" Rose yelled, earning the two's attention again. Madison blushed as she felt embarrassed while the Doctor rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. The girl shook her head at the two, sighing in exasperation. She then looked at the blue box next to them. "What's a police public call box?"

"It's a callbox that was used as a miniature police station of sorts. The public could use it to call the police if need be, and the police could use it as a temporary holding place for criminals," Madison explained, nodding to the blue box lightly. "They were more common in the 1950s, though I think this one is supposed to be from the 60s. They started making them blue then."

"You're right," said the Doctor, staring at Madison now with a keen eye. His blue eyes appeared to be searching as he gazed at her. She felt he was reading something from her, but what that was she had no clue. "You know your stuff about callboxes."

"I just . . . know interesting facts," she replied, giving a shrug as though it were no big deal that she knew all of this. She averted her gaze from his, nervous now about what he might see of her. She hated that she said anything at all. It was just that she had a few run-ins with the police boxes back in the day. Mostly due to unfortunate timing on her part in being in places she shouldn't have been. The last time she had actually had to break out of one before any police arrived to cart her off. That had been a fun day for certain.

"So . . . what was it, that thing that attacked us?" Rose questioned then, staring at the Doctor. The man finally looked away from Madison and towards the other girl.

"It's a living plastic creature, called an Auton, controlled remotely by another higher sentient creature, the Nestene Consciousness," the Doctor began to explain, going over to lean against the blue box of his and cross his arms. "Earth is a perfect establishing planet for it. Plenty of smoke and oil, toxins and dioxins in the air. Perfect since its food stock was destroyed in the war, its protein planets rotted. So. Earth. Dinner." Rose blinked multiple times, seeming to try and keep up with everything he just said. Madison nodded as she listened carefully, trying to understand this plastic species at a better level. If its food supply had truly run out, and it was dying, then she could possibly see why it had come here. Though to invade seemed rather illogical to her.

"Why invade though? Couldn't it establish contact and try to negotiate peace? I'm certain if it eats smoke and oil Earth would be more than happy to have a symbiotic relationship with such a creature. It could potentially solve a lot of global issues such as climate change," Madison wondered aloud, staring at the Doctor curiously.

"That's good thinking," he replied with a nod of approval. Then he shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, the Nestene Consciousness doesn't see it that way. It'd rather just take over and have the whole place to itself. Besides, do you really think Earth would be ready to share the planet with another race?"

"Don't know. It never hurts to give it a try," she replied with a shrug. The Doctor smiled warmly, nodding again. She felt glad to make him happy, even if she was not sure why he was so pleased by her words. "So, is there any way we can reason with this Consciousness?"

"Well, that's why I'm here. I'm hoping that I can." The Doctor stepped away from his box, walking down the sidewalk absently. Madison and Rose followed after him, keeping up with the man. "Just in case I can't though, I've got Antiplastic." He pulled out a long vial from his inner pocket, showing them a container of blue liquid.

Madison felt her gut twist uncomfortably. "Is that a weapon?"

The Doctor shrugged, putting it away. "Just as backup. I hope I won't have to use it."

"I hope you don't, either," Madison sighed, hoping that it would not come to violence. She hated having to resort to such things. Though that never meant she was not willing to do what it took to stop evil. She had resorted in the past to using guns and such against those who meant great harm. Did she ever forgive herself for doing such acts? No, she never did. To take a life was never a forgivable act. She especially stopped using such methods after the Halloway incident. Never again after that.

"But first, I've got to find it," the Doctor said, pausing in walking as he stared around the place in aggravation. "How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on. Hide what?" Rose asked him, now trying to understand more about all of this. To be perfectly honest, Madison thought the girl was taking it all rather well. Especially given how the girl earlier today stated clearly that she had no such beliefs of alien life and such.

"The transmitter," explained the Doctor, turning to them both. "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

Rose blinked, seeming to follow along. "What's it look like?"

The Doctor threw up his hands. "Like a transmitter! Round and massive, somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London. A huge, metal, circular structure like a dish, like a wheel, radial, close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible."

As he stood there, with his hands in his pockets in frustration, both Rose and Madison stared behind the man at the London Eye. Each gave the other a glance with raised brows before looking back at the Doctor.

"Ahem," Madison cleared her throat, nodding pointedly behind the Doctor. The man blinked, frowning as he looked over his shoulder and then back to her.

"What?" he questioned, clearly not getting it. The two girls kept nodding and he kept looking back and forth between them and the London Eye. "What is it? What?" Madison snorted, shaking her head.

"Just give it a second. You'll get there in the end," she teased him, chuckling as she watched the Doctor look back at it and her once more. Then, it slowly seemed to dawn on him as he grew a bright smile.

"Oh. Fantastic!" he said, hurrying off towards a nearby bridge. The two females quickly made their way after him, doing their best to keep up. It was at one point that the Doctor reached back and grabbed onto both of their hands, pulling them along as they raced across a bridge and over the Thames. Madison could not help but smile as she ran beside the Doctor. Something about this all . . . just felt so right. Like she was always meant to come to this point in time and run alongside this madman and his blue box. She didn't know how else to describe it besides a sense of belonging.

Once they were right under the London Eye, the Doctor began rambling over what would come of the Nestene Consciousness. Listing off all the terrible things that the life-form would do to the Earth. Madison could only guess what would happen when all plastic creations were to suddenly come to life. The pandemonium to follow in the wake of it all. As the Doctor wondered where underneath the Consciousness could be, Rose was the one that suggested a manhole that would lead into the floodgate of the Thames. If there was any placed underground that would be perfect, it would most likely be that. The Doctor rushed over to the edge of the walkway by the Thames, spotting the entrance to an underground area right under the waters. All three of them went down the heavy metal, round door, with the Doctor opening it and heading down first into the depths. As Madison climbed down after Rose, she noticed the eerie red lighting to the place. Steam hissed around the ladder, making everything feel dripping wet and humid. Once she reached the bottom of the ladder, the Doctor opened another door, leading them all into a vast room. There was a grated stairwell that led down into the depths of the room. The redlight from before was brighter here and for good reason. For in the centre of the room was a gigantic vat of molten liquid that burned hot red and yellow.

"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat, a living plastic creature," the Doctor pointed out to the two girls next to him. Madison had been expecting a lot of things when it came to an alien life-form that could control plastics, but this one surprised her. Then again, she felt silly for being shocked. She was certain that life came in all sorts of different forms out in the universe. Molten liquid being aware and alive should not be too shocking of a revelation.

"Well then, tip in the Antiplastic and let's go," said Rose, her face set in getting this event over with. Madison blinked, surprised the girl would immediately jump to ending the life-form's existence. The Doctor raised a brow at the blonde as he glanced at her.

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance," he told her.

"It might change its mind and see there's a better way," Madison said in agreement. The Doctor walked away, going a bit down the stairs with the other two just behind him. He stood tall and at attention as he gripped the railing in front of him and looked down at the Nestene Consciousness.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," he called down to the entity. There was some sort of gurgling, grumbling response from the entity as it bubbled and churned in the massive vat. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach." It gave him a similar response as before. Madison was not certain what sort of language this was. It was interesting, in all honesty, to have a language of noises instead of words.

By this point, Rose was running down the stairs past the Doctor and Madison. She made a sound of elation and relief as she ran down the stairs, going towards a hunched figure by a railing near where the vat was. Madison was relieved when seeing it was Mickey Smith, perfectly fine and unharmed. At least the young lad was okay.

"He's okay," she sighed, shoulders releasing some tension she had from earlier. She glanced over to the Doctor who still stood beside her, seeing how he appeared unsurprised. "Did you know he would be okay?"

"There was a chance, yeah," he mumbled quietly. "Keep him alive to maintain the copy."

"Why didn't you mention it?" she questioned him curiously. "I'm certain Rose would have liked to know."

The Doctor gave her a firm frown. "I don't have time for domestics. Besides, there was a chance that he wasn't alive."

She shook her head in disapproval. "Better to have some hope than no hope at all. And caring for someone's well being is not being 'domestic'." She walked down briskly towards Rose and Mickey, going over to make certain that both were okay.

She stayed with them while the Doctor went into a lower portion of the room. A section that hung a bit over the vat, allowing the Doctor to look directly at it. She watched as he began to address the Consciousness. It began moving more within the vat, morphing almost into a distorted face of some sort. It made high-pitched squeals and growls as the Doctor spoke.

"Oh, don't give me that!" the Doctor argued to whatever it was the Nestene Consciousness said. "It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The molten liquid moved greatly in its vat, sloshing around the sides, sounding like it was yelling at the Doctor now. The man standing above it merely glared back. "I am talking!" This seemed to settle the Nestene Consciousness as it stopped moving and quieted down. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people," he jabbed a thumb back over to the three behind him, "have only just learned how to walk. But they are capable of so much more. I'm asking you, on their behalf. Please, just go."

It was then that Madison noticed something moving in the darkness behind the Doctor. It was too late when she realized there were a couple of mannequins that came to life. What had the Doctor called them? Autons? Rose gave a call of alarm before she could, warning the Doctor of the sudden appearance of the two Autons. The warning did not help him, however, as the two Autons grabbed the Doctor on either side. He tried fighting them off as one Auton reached into his inner coat and pulled out the vial of Antiplastic. Madison felt her stomach drop as the Nestene Consciousness began growling loudly, the walls vibrating with how angry the creature was.

"That was just insurance! I wasn't gonna use it," the Doctor yelled, trying to bring back the situation that was slowly falling apart. "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy, I swear, I'm not." It appeared the Nestene Consciousness was not listening now as it continued to squeal and growl loudly. She watched as the Doctor appeared confused now. "What do you mean?"

Suddenly, a section of a wall next to where she stood with Rose and Mickey opened up, revealing the police box, the TARDIS. The Doctor stared wide-eyed at it and then back to the Consciousness.

"No, no, no! Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship," he said quickly, struggling a bit as the one Auton held him back from getting any closer to the vat below. The Consciousness growled loudly and the Doctor hurriedly shook his head. "That's not true! I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world. I couldn't save any of them." She could see how desperate the Doctor appeared now. How stricken. There was this painful look in his eye by whatever was being said to him by the Nestene Consciousness. She recognized that look. She had seen it time and time again through the ages. The look of utter regret and despair, of a deep ache that just would not go away. She could only imagine what had caused such a look to cross the Doctor's face. What had been done to him to cause such an expression, only the act of being a part of a dreadful war could cause that haunted look in his eye.

What sort of war had he been involved with? One that clearly must plague his soul just by the expression alone that he gave the Consciousness. And now this other creature was blaming him for the war? Why? Madison quickly shook herself out of her thoughts as the creature in the vat sent up a massive electrical bolt to the ceiling. The Doctor was yelling at her and Rose to run, that the Nestene Consciousness was activating the final wave of the invasion. Rose next to her tried phoning her mother on her mobile, but it was pointless. The service down here was terrible. Madison quickly ran down the steps, going to where the Doctor and the Autons were. If she could reason with the creature . . . well, she could certainly try. She didn't want to resort to the Antiplastic. Not yet. Not when the invasion had only begun.

"Please, you don't have to do this!" she yelled, trying to get closer to the vat, but found herself being held back by the one Auton that was not holding the Doctor. She looked desperately over the side of the ledge towards the vat, watching the molten plastic creature twist and turn where it lay. "Please, allow me to be the voice of the people of which you wish to invade. You can use me as a diplomat. I can go to those to the world above and we can make a treaty. You don't have to resort to violence. We can make peace. Please!"

Her words appeared to be meaningless to the creature as it continued to growl, to yell at her in whatever language it spoke. She shook her head, glaring now at it.

"If you're choosing to end the life of countless others . . . then you leave me no choice," she whispered, knowing what she must do next. "I'm sorry." She caught the glance of the Doctor, seeing him staring at her in confusion. Then his eyes went wide as he seemed to realise what she was about to do. She did not give him a chance to tell her 'no' as she knew it needed to be done.

She hurriedly spun herself and the Auton that held her around, confusing the poor thing, though it refused to let her go. She then hurled herself back, putting her full weight into the creature, causing it surprise and to stumble back, right back over the ledge that hung over the vat. The Auton never even had a chance to react as it fell right over, bringing her with it. She knew it still had the Antiplastic in its grip. She only prayed that the vial would open when she and the Auton fell into the molten liquid.

But, as luck would have it, the Auton let go of her at the beginning of the fall. On instinct, her hands reached out to grab onto something. Her hands roughly caught a chain that was hanging under the ledge. The chain snapped tautly as it yanked her arms painfully, stopping her in mid-fall. She swung a bit as she hovered right over the vat, barely missing the molten liquid completely. Sweat dripped from her as the heat hit her in waves. The Nestene Consciousness squealed and cried out, making her look down to see the vial had indeed opened when the Auton had fallen in. Whatever the Antiplastic was doing to the poor creature, it was causing a quick reaction as the Consciousness appeared to be breaking down, blackening and crumbling into pieces.

"Take my hand!"

Madison looked up, seeing the Doctor leaning over the ledge and was holding out a hand to her. The Auton that had been holding him fell past her, going into the molten liquid below. She climbed up the chain as quickly as she could, reaching out to the Doctor. He grabbed her and roughly pulled her back up to solid ground with him. He didn't give her time to gather her bearings as he was grabbing her hand in a tight grip and yanking her along, back up the stairs and towards the upper level where the TARDIS was. All the while the place around them was starting to go up, blowing up in different sections as they ran. Once they made it to the upper level, she saw Rose and Mickey both crouching in front of the doors to the ship, staring at her with wide eyes of disbelief. It was obvious that her surviving the fall had been quite a shock to them.

All four of them hurriedly got inside the ship. The Doctor sent them off just as they heard the place where they had once been went up in flames. Madison let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was all over. She watched the Doctor steering away the ship, not looking at her or the other two. Glancing at Mickey, she felt sorry for the poor lad as he stared around the ship in horror. He had gone through so much today. Being in a vast alien ship was probably one thing too many for him after the ordeal he had gone through. She could only imagine what the Nestene Consciousness had done to him when he had been kidnapped.

When the Doctor announced they had landed, Mickey bolted out of the doors and into the area they had come to. Rose was not far behind him, going to make certain her boyfriend was all right. Madison let out a long sigh. It had been a really long day. Her skin was itching for a bath. After the day she had, she really needed one.

"Did you plan that?"

"Huh?" She blinked as she looked at the Doctor, seeing him standing there with his arms crossed. He had this searching gaze as he looked her up and down.

"That little stunt you pulled. Did you plan on grabbing the chain? Did you know it was there?" he asked, his voice even, having a hard edge to it. She wasn't sure where this sudden demeanour came from. Was he angry with her?

"No. It just sort of worked out like that," she told him, giving a small shrug. In all honesty, she was still in a bit of shock that it had turned out like that. She had fully intended on falling into that vat. If it meant stopping the invasion, saving the lives of the billions on Earth, she knew it was an easy choice.

"Were you really ready to give up your life, just like that?" he questioned her, brow furrowed and giving her a look of utter perplexity.

"Yes. Without a doubt," she answered truthfully, with no hesitation in her words.

"I could have stopped them. Why did you have to give up your life?"

"But then you would have died, and that wasn't an option for me." She shrugged again. "Besides, I've lived a long enough life. Others have just started theirs. I couldn't let them die." Her eyes met his as she saw how he observed her carefully. With this searching gaze of his, she wished she knew what it was he was looking for. Then, she blinked and he was looking away.

"Next time . . . let me figure it out, okay?" He was fiddling with a knob on the console, seeming to be distracting himself now.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt a bit at a loss of what to say next. Something about his actions . . . it showed her that what she had done had upset him. She did not mean to upset him. It was not her intention. But perhaps he was like her and did not wish death on anyone, either. She could understand that. "Sorry that I'd upset you. I didn't mean to," she said softly. He glanced at her, not saying anything in response. She walked out of the TARDIS then, assuming that he most likely wanted her gone now. The invasion had been stopped. His work had been finished. He was likely going to leave now. Go back to whatever life he had come from. This thought only made her sad. Even though they barely knew each other . . . she would miss him greatly.

Rose was over by Mickey, sort of trying to snap him out of the panic that he was in. The girl looked up when Madison came over to them, sighing lightly.

"He's going to be like this for hours," she complained lightly.

"Get him a strong drink. He'll get over it eventually," Madison said, snickering a bit. She then smiled gently at the girl. "Thank you for helping today. It was good having you around."

"Fat lot of good I was," the girl sighed, shaking her head. "I didn't do anything."

"Nah, you were loads of help," Madison countered, not wanting the girl to doubt herself. Both looked over as the doors to the blue box creaked, showing them the Doctor standing there in the doorway and smiling at them.

"Nestene Consciousness! Easy," he remarked with ease, seeming pleased. Madison noticed his demeanour had shifted again, different from the more serious tone he had just a moment ago with her.

"You were useless in there! You'd be dead if it weren't for Maddie," Rose replied, scoffing and rolling her eyes at the man. The Doctor's expression grew sombre then, nodding in agreement.

"Yes, I would," he said, gazing thoughtfully at Madison now. "I may not approve of the methods, but you did brilliantly. Thank you." He then was all smiles again. "Right, then! I'll be off." There was a moment of hesitation as the Doctor seemed to quickly contemplate something. "Unless . . . I don't know. You could come with me." There was this side glance that he gave her. As though he was nervous about her response.

Madison raised her brow, a bit taken back. Hadn't he been rather adamant earlier about not having her around? And now he wanted her to travel with him? He saw her apprehension, so he quickly started talking again.

"This box isn't just a London-op, you know," he continued to say, "it goes anywhere in the universe. Free of charge." He gave a bright grin, having this eager look in his eyes as he stared at her.

"Are you sure?" she asked, nervous that he was merely asking her this as some sort of half-hearted 'thank you' and was not being sincere. Did he truly want her to travel with him? Or was he just making himself say that because he felt obligated to?

"Don't! He's an alien. He's a thing," Mickey said suddenly, recoiling back when the Doctor glanced his way. Madison looked at Mickey, shaking her head.

"Mickey, please show some respect," she said sternly. She looked back to the Doctor, still contemplating the offer. "I want to, but are you sure? I don't want you feeling as though you have to bring me along."

The Doctor blinked, clearly taken back by her response. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you along. Besides, why wouldn't I? You're brilliant." He gave her another bright smile, as though beaming away with pride.

His smile made her blush slightly, somewhat taken back by his flattering compliment. She smiled tentatively, nodding. "Okay. I'll go with you. But I'll need to come back so often. I have a home to attend to and bills to pay, after all."

"Done," the Doctor replied, making it a clear deal between them. His smile brightened tenfold then, apparently very happy with her coming along.

"Wait," said Rose, grabbing onto Madison's shoulder to have her turned around. "Are you sure? I mean . . . won't it be dangerous?" It was heartening to see the blonde was worried about her. Madison smiled warmly, nodding with full resolve.

"What's the point of living life without a bit of danger here and there?" she responded, grinning away now. She hugged the girl then, feeling ever so glad to know the magnificent Rose Tyler. "Thank you, for all your help today. And for being a great friend to me." She stepped back, smiling brightly. "I'll see you around, I promise."

She then turned and ran over to the magnificent man and the fabulous blue box of his. Excited to see where both would take her.

---

I hope the chapter wasn't too long. I don't like splitting episodes much unless it feels right for the story. Let me know if you like it so far. I want to know what everyone thinks.