A-Levels and Aliens

OK, so I lied (sort of). I've found time today to put this chapter up but this WILL be the last chapter until next Tuesday at least. I expect I will be doing a lot of writing over the next few days… airplane travel woot! And we had to fly from Luton which is a two hour drive away! Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll be back soon! (Isn't that an Oliver song?)

Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me


The TARDIS door opened and Jack and Rose entered, laughing loudly together. The Doctor stood up from where he'd been sitting and smiled.

"Did you have a good time?"

"Yup," Rose said, hugging him and then leaving her arms around his waist, "It was great!"

"Yeah apart from the fact that Jessa wouldn't leave me alone!" Jack said, grinning,

"You so loved it!" Rose said, "So, what did you do, Doctor?"

"Sorted out a little problem," he replied, exchanging a look with Jack who knew exactly what the Doctor had been doing that afternoon. The ex-Time Agent breathed a sigh of relief as he realised it had been mostly dealt with.

"Oh," Rose said, "Everything alright now?"

"It will be. A few things need to happen first before I'll know for sure,"

"Cool," Rose yawned, "What are we doing for dinner?"


The next morning, the Doctor and Jack were feeling particularly anxious hoping that Matt would turn up and the whole episode would finally be over with. They both did their best to hide their nerves from Rose and if she did notice anything, she didn't say. At just before eleven o'clock, the Doctor and Rose were curled up on the captain's chair, listening to some music that the TARDIS was playing for them and Jack was idly fiddling with the control panel. Suddenly, there came a knock at the door and the Doctor and Jack looked at one another.

"I'll get it," Jack said, shoving his hands in his pockets,

"Probably Mum," Rose muttered. There wasn't anyone else who visited the TARDIS.

"Mmm," said the Doctor, stroking her hair lightly.

Meanwhile, Jack had opened the TARDIS door slightly and stuck his head out. "What do you want?"

Matt stood there, pale and trembling with a bunch of flowers in his hand. "Can I speak to Rose please… Jack?" he asked quietly.

Jack folded his arms and glared at the boy, secretly enjoying seeing him sweat. "As long as you don't upset her again, otherwise you will be dealt with."

Matt swallowed and nodded nervously. He was glad that Rose had two friends that radiated 'Hurt our Rose and you will regret it'. She deserved it even if at the moment, it was directed at him.

Jack nodded and opened the door fully, taking a step backwards allowing Matt entry.

"Matt?"

Rose's surprised voice reached his ears as he looked around him in awe. It was much bigger on the inside. When he had been coming towards the TARDIS, he had wondered how three people managed to fit inside, let alone live inside it. Quickly refocusing, Matt's gaze landed on Rose's slightly confused face and the warning face of the Doctor, who held her in his arms.

"Hi," he said, weakly, "Um, I just came to apologise for my treatment of you these past few weeks,"

"Oh." Rose stood up and walked cautiously over to him.

"We'll leave you two to get on with it," the Doctor said, gesturing to Jack. Rose shot him a grateful look which he returned with a smile before leading the way out of the control room. Rose turned back to look at Matt, who stared at her nervously.

"I guess I should start with I'm sorry," he offered,

"Why?" Rose's single word could have asked many different questions but Matt immediately knew what she meant.

"I was scared," he confessed, "I saw this thing disappearing in mid-air just after Result's Day and it startled me. I couldn't believe my eyes and a couple of nights later, I was on the internet when I decided to do a search. And then I found this website all about the Doctor,"

"Mickey's website," Rose muttered,

"What?"

"Nothing. Go on,"

"OK, well anyway. I read all this information about him and found out how dangerous he is and I got scared," Matt continued,

"Of what?" Rose asked, raising her voice a little, "You've met the Doctor before! How could you think he was dangerous?"

Matt shrugged.

"He's only dangerous to his enemies and you're not his enemy, Matt! Anyway, why were you so scared that you felt the need to ignore me for over a month?" Rose finished, icily.

Matt winced at her tone and her having put the clues together and worked out the truth.

"I was scared for you," he replied, slowly, "I didn't want you to get hurt so I… I… I don't know why I did it! My stupid brain took the information and decided it would make me ignore you!"

Rose leant back against the control panel with a sigh and chewed on her lip in thought. Matt hovered awkwardly near her, watching her and waiting for her verdict.

"I know why you did it," she said, at last, "Its Psychology. A defence mechanism, I think. You displaced your fear of the Doctor onto me, didn't you? You couldn't be angry at the Doctor as you don't see him so you were angry at me instead."

Matt nodded and looked at his feet. "I'm sorry."

Rose shook her head. "I can't really blame you. It's a natural thing to do according to Freud or something,"

"Good thing you listen in Psychology," Matt joked, lightly, "Erm… are we OK then?"

"Yeah," Rose said, willing to accept his apology. She still wasn't entirely sure about how she felt about Matt at the moment. He had hurt her badly and their friendship might never be the same again which would be a shame.

"I…erm… got you these as a sort of peace offering," Matt said, holding out the flowers.

Rose took them. "Thanks," she said, sniffing them, "Thank God they're not roses. My ex-boyfriends constantly bought them for me and I got so bored of them."

Matt allowed himself to laugh. He was lucky; he had almost bought her some red roses from the florist.

"Oh and the chocolates! Don't get me started on them! My Gran used to buy me some every Christmas and always made the joke that nobody else could have any 'cause they were Rose's. It was funny when I was a kid but when she still did it when I was 15, it got a bit drab!"

Matt's eyes widened. Other than flowers, he had deliberated over buying her some chocolates. Specifically Roses.

"Come on," Rose said, beckoning him over, "Let's go put these in some water."

Unable to believe his luck at present buying, Matt followed her.


When they entered the kitchen, Matt and Rose found the Doctor and Jack sitting around the table, having a drink.

"Hey," Jack greeted, "Everything alright now?"

"I think so," Rose said, filling a tall glass with water for the flowers. The Doctor didn't own a vase, even after living for over nine hundred years.

"That's good," the man in question remarked simply. He caught hold of Rose's hand. "Come and sit down."

Rose immediately sat down on his lap and he encased her with his arms, leaning his head on her shoulder. They then watched as Matt hesitantly took the seat next to Jack.

"Whatever we tell you in this kitchen goes no further. It's extremely important that you don't tell anyone about us. Don't even talk to Rose about it at college if you can help it," the Doctor said, seriously, staring Matt in the eye,

"Of course," he replied, "I promise."

The Doctor took in a breath. "What do you want to know then?"

"Who are you?" Matt asked, immediately,

"I'm a Time Lord. The last Time Lord," the Doctor said, quietly.

Rose hugged him closer, knowing that speaking about his past and his planet still hurt him deeply. "He comes from a planet called Gallifrey," she said, feeling a gentle squeeze from the Doctor as thanks, "There was a Time War a while back before I met him between the Doctor's people and these creatures called Daleks. The Time Lord's won but it was an empty win as they all died in the process- the entire planet of them- apart from the Doctor. He's been on his own ever since."

"Oh God, I'm sorry," Matt muttered.

The Doctor nodded, willing someone to change the subject. Luckily Jack came to his rescue.

"Where are you from, Jack?" Matt asked.

The Captain grinned. "Oh about 3000 years in the future…"

"What?" Matt's astonishment made the three time travellers grin, instantly banishing the tense atmosphere that had been present moments ago.

"He's from the fifty first century," Rose volunteered, "Except we picked him up in world war two…"

"You and all this is so crazy," Matt said, shaking his head in bewilderment,

"Don't worry, it gets worse," Jack soothed, patting his hand before proceeding to tell Matt just that.


The explanations took a few hours and it was mid-afternoon by the time that Matt felt he knew enough without actually seeing it. The Doctor refused to take Matt time travelling and Rose didn't ask.

"I better get going," Matt said, "I still got some homework to do for tomorrow,"

"Alright," Rose said, standing up, "See you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," Matt replied, "I'm…erm… sorry you know?"

Rose simply nodded as Jack showed him out. Then, she turned back to her Doctor, straddled him and laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"You OK?" he asked her softly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yeah." She paused for a moment. "What is it with blokes apologising to me a lot recently?"

"Maybe you just have that effect on us. We just have to come grovelling to you, our golden goddess."

Rose giggled into his shoulder, "Why'd he come apologise?"

"Maybe his conscience struck him," the Doctor said, airily,

"It was you!" Rose breathed, lifting her head to look at him, "You did something… what?"

"I just showed him what he couldn't see,"

"Thanks,"

"No problem. I couldn't stand seeing you upset any longer. I'd given him long enough to get his act together,"

"You don't need to explain. I'm just glad you did it," Rose murmured finding his lips with her own, "Love you,"

"Love you too. My Rose."

Jack peeked into the kitchen but retreated quickly as he saw his companions were busy. He smiled and continued up the corridor to his room. All was well in the TARDIS.

For now at least.


Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received