"This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you."
"Rose!" Turning, a blonde looked to see a brunette with curly hair walking towards her, smiling madly, though her eyes seemed anxious. "Sorry I didn't get to talk to you earlier." Inwardly, the blonde groaned. Elara wasn't her favorite person, a bit too timid for her tastes, though from what she heard through the grapevine, she had good reason to be like that.
"It's ok," She said instead, and as the two tried to walk through the doors, the guard stopped them, handing them the lottery. Screwing her face up, she didn't say anything as Elara trailed after her and into the lift, a little bit thankful that she wasn't going into the basement alone.
"Wilson?" She called as the other woman walked over to the door. "Wilson, we've got the lottery money. Wilson, are you there?" Knocking on it provided no answer, making the two share concerned looks.
"We can't hang about 'cos they're closing the shop," Elara called while Rose tsk'd, getting impatient.
"Wilson! Oh, come on." At the clattering and scuffles down the hall, both women turned towards it, inhaling sharply. "Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose and Elara. Hello? Wilson?" As she opened the door, all she could see were boxes of clothing, old fashion and new, as well as dummies that were dressed in said clothes. "Wilson?" the blonde continued to call, noting how nervous her coworker was. She was always scared of dark rooms and the dummies, so Rose hadn't thought much about it. Suddenly, the door slammed shut and she rushed past the brunette, groaning as it wouldn't budge. "You're kidding me," she grumbled, but Elara shook her head, looking very, very nervous. "Is this a prank?" she demanded, glaring at the other woman.
"No," she whispered, meeting the blonde's eyes easily. "This is very real… and we need to go, now." The brunette grabbed her arm and tugged her forward, causing her to turn and almost scream as a dummy walked towards them.
"What are they?!" She shrieked, easily following her coworker as they were backed against the wall, only a few feet away from the second exit. Squeezing Elara's hand, Rose felt a pain go through her; all the months of working with the woman… she didn't even know her last name or where she was from, other than America.
Then, suddenly, a hand engulfed hers, causing her to look up. A man with cropped hair and a leather jacket stood beside Rose, blue eyes darting between the two. "Run," he said, and as he dragged her with him, she, in turn, dragged Elara, though it seemed as if the woman was easily keeping pace.
As the three raced through the basement, the dummies followed them, some trying to get through different storage areas. Finally, she felt like she could sob in relief as they got to the lift, but one of the dummies stuck an arm through, and in a blink of an eye, Elara was on it, yanking the arm off of the dummy, allowing the door to close.
"You pulled its arm off?" she said hesitantly, which made the brunette blink before glancing down at her hands, which still held the arm.
"I hadn't even realized-," she mumbled. "All I could think about was getting the elevator closed before it came in and got you. It's plastic, by the way," as she added that to the man, Rose turned back towards him, stomach twisting. What happened to Wilson?
"What were they?" She asked instead.
"Well, what do you think they were?" The man shot back, making Elara sigh and shake her head.
"Students?" Rose offered.
"Why would they be students?" The man questioned, making her flush.
"I don't know," she grumbled.
"'Cause to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they have to be students," her coworker mumbled, making the blonde nod in agreement.
"That makes sense, well done." he complimented, and she felt that if she knew him, it would've been much higher praise. It was ruined, however, by his next words. "They're not students."
"There should've been another man in the basement," Elara butted in. "Roger Wilson, the Chief Electrician. Is he safe? Is he still down there?" She saw something cross the man's face, too fast for her to really catch.
"Wilson's dead." the man replied in an even tone, making Rose's head spin.
"That's just not funny. That's sick!" As they exited the lift, Elara clamped her hand over Rose's eyes just before a bright light flashed and the blonde shook her off to see the man disabling the lift and then opening the emergency door. "I've had enough of this now. Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?"
"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures." He answered, ushering the two out of the door. "They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." Was that a bomb?! She shared a panicked look with Elara. "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." As he shut the door, all she could do was stand there dumbly as Elara attempted to tug her away from the building. A few seconds later, it opened again. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What're your names?"
"Rose," she stuttered out, and his gaze turned towards the other woman.
"Elara Troy," she replied, and the man beamed at the two of them. He was rather handsome for a madman about to blow the place up, she thought.
"Nice to meet you, Rose, Elara Troy. Run for your lives!"
This time, she didn't hesitate to let Elara tug her along as they raced across the street, dodging a taxi as the story blew up a second later. About a block away, the brunette slowed down, something sparkling in her eyes as Rose stopped to turn towards her.
"Are you ok?" she asked, mentally cursing as she realized that she hadn't once asked her how she was. "Are you hurt?"
"Aside from where one of the dummies hit me, I'm good," she answered. "It's just a bruise. Anyways, uh… I'm… I'm sorry this happened," she mumbled, and for half a second, she felt a flare of white-hot panic.
"Did you plan for this to happen?" she demanded, and the brunette immediately shook her head.
"No! I just- I have a bad habit of saying sorry even when it's my fault." she showed her a rueful grin, fiddling with the plastic arm. "I… you should probably get home. No doubt this is already on the news."
She glanced down the street, the block lined with shops, and shuddered. Turning back, she paused, noting how the woman's hands shook and how her eyes seemed to dart all over the place. "Do you want to stay over?" she blurted out. "Just for the night, to make sure everything is safe?"
As Elara relaxed and grinned, Rose felt as if she was doing something right.
When her alarm went off the next morning and she shuffled out into the living room, she had forgotten that she had offered Elara a spot on their couch for a moment, the brunette's hair catching her off guard for a second before she leaned over the back, seeing the other woman asleep still.
"There's Finch's," Jackie was saying as she went into the kitchen and got the tea ready. "You could try them. They've always got jobs."
"Oh, great," she grumbled. "The butchers." A groan from the sitting room signaled that Elara had woken up, and as she walked in wearing some borrowed pajamas, Rose offered her a mug, which she took with a hesitant smile.
"Good morning darling," Jackie had immediately taken to her ex-coworker. Turning back to Rose, she continued. "Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim."
Elara let out something between a huff and giggle as the door rattled, making Rose set her drink down. "Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays." As she stood, Elara stiffened and caught her hand.
"Rose, what if… what if the hand wasn't as dead as we thought it was?" she whispered in horror. "We brought it here." The blonde's eyes widened.
"I did it weeks back!"
She still went to the door, her guest behind her. Sure enough, there were screws on the floor, signaling that her mother had nailed it down. As the flap moved, she jolted back as Elara dropped to the floor and poked it open before letting out what she prayed was a relieved noise. "It's that man," she whispered, standing up, and Rose immediately opened the door.
"What're you doing here?" The man, the Doctor, demanded.
"I live here." she snapped back.
"I'm just visiting," Elara offered hesitantly, and Rose felt like kicking herself.
"Well, what do you do that for?" He was rude.
"Because I do. I'm only at home because someone blew up our job."
The man frowned at this. "I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" He leaned forward, moving to knock on Elara's forehead, and without thinking, Rose stepped between them, going crosseyed to keep her gaze on his hand. "No, bonehead. Bye, then."
"You. Inside. Right now." Grabbing his arm, she pulled him into the flat, doing her best not to think about how Elara pushed herself flush against the wall so he didn't touch her.
"Who is it?" Jackie called as they passed her room.
"It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes." she said before walking away, letting the man go in favor of ushering Elara forward. "How'd he find us?" she murmured, and the brunette shrugged.
"He couldn't've found you through my name…" she mumbled back.
She let out a semi-annoyed noise but turned around as the Doctor walked towards them. Nodding, she went into the kitchen. "Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?"
"Might as well, thanks. Just milk," he replied.
"We should go to the police. Seriously. Both of us. I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong. They said on the news they'd found a body. All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke. Anyway, if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying. I want you to explain everything." She knew she was rambling, but she was nervous and scared.
"What's that, then? You got a cat?" She frowned at his question.
"No. We did have, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate." As she turned and left the living area, the mugs slipped from her hands as she saw the man almost desperately trying to pry the fake arm Elara had severed off of the said woman's neck. "Elara!" She all but shrieked, leaping into the fray. Somehow, the arm had gotten thrown off in favor of grasping at her face. The three fell back, smashing the coffee table, and a few seconds later, a high-pitched noise left the arm frozen.
"It's all right, I've stopped it." He said as she sat up, taking note of the brunette's already bruising neck and the headache that was forming. "There you go, you see? Armless."
Scowling, she grabbed the arm. "Do you think?" she demanded before slapping him with it, causing the other woman to let out a harsh laugh.
"Ow!" he protested. Then, he suddenly grabbed the arm from her and raced off, leaving the two stunned before Rose rushed forwards, leaving the other woman behind.
The Doctor left her with many questions and no answers, and when she returned to the flat, Elara was gone and the table was repaired as if it had never been broken. Clive only doubled her questions, especially as she saw not only the Doctor but Elara as well in impossible photos, too old, too pristine to be photoshopped. I believe the Doctor is Death, and this woman who follows him is his Grim Reaper, collecting the souls, Clive had said.
Mickey had taken her to one of her favorite pizza joints, and as she glanced through the menu, her mind was going through a storm of thoughts. "Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips. I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up. What do you think?" Ok, so she was still bitter about Stone, that was good to know.
Mickey's question had her frowning, however. "So, where did you meet this Doctor?"
"I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" She demanded as his grip on her hand tightened.
"Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?" he continued as if she hadn't spoken.
"No," she murmured, squinting her eyes at him. Something felt wrong. Something felt off.
"Come on." he encouraged, making her shrug both physically and mentally.
"Sort of."
"What was he doing there?"
"I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not, because I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous. And then Elara is somehow mixed in this mess…" she trailed off, shaking her head. Elara wasn't bad; she was nice and always so skittish.
"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe," his voice went deep, causing her to stiffen, "sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."
"What're you doing that for?" she snapped, trying to take her arm back.
"Your champagne." A waiter said, and he sounded familiar, but this was her favorite place, so that would have explained it.
"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?" Mickey-not-so-Mickey was grinning at her, and it was wrong.
"Madam, your champagne." the waiter said, stepping closer to her, and she almost sighed in relief.
"It's not ours." She replied, once again trying to twist away from Mickey's grip. "Can you let go? You're hurting me."
If anything, his grip went tighter before he relaxed his grip, but not enough for her to get free. "I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?"
"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"
"Look, we didn't order it." Mickey all but snarled, looking up and then grinning, causing Rose to look up as well. It was the Doctor. How did he find her? "Ah. Gotcha."
Suddenly, the man started to shake the bottle, grinning. "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" He popped the cork, pointed directly at Mickey, and the blonde watched in horror as it disappeared into the man, only for him to spit it out a second later.
"Anyway." at his grin, his hand turned into a sharp block, making her scramble back and scream. She watched him break the table just before the Doctor grabbed him and pulled his head off, making the other customers panic as well. "Don't think that's going to stop me." The body got up and started to flail around.
Looking around frantically, she pulled the fire alarm. "Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
As they ran through the kitchens, she saw the Doctor throwing pots and pans on the floors, and decided to tip a free standing wire frame onto the walkway.
"Nicely thought!" The Doctor chirped, ushering her out the back door into an alley. At first, she didn't even notice the blue box in the middle of the way, she was hyperfocused on the gate, and the padlock that was on it.
"If you can use that tube thing on the lock-"
"Sonic screwdriver," he corrected, taking out a key and going to the box. Was he stupid? It was wood. Whatever had… had…
Oh god, Mickey.
"Tell you what, let's go in here." He gently guided her into the box, which… it was bigger than her mum's flat. How? It barely looked a meter by meter long!
"Won't it follow us?" She asked as he went to the circle thing with the tube and started doing something to Not-Mickey's head.
"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." She blinked, turning to look at the weird room, but all her mind could buzz about was Mickey.
What if the hand wasn't as dead as we thought it was?
A chill ran down her spine as she shifted uncomfortably. Elara was… she wasn't exactly a friend or anything, but the thought of her in trouble or… or dead… had Rose feeling sick. If those things had done this to get her, what were they doing to get the brunette?
"Right. Where do you want to start?"
She blinked as the Doctor (alien?) addressed her.
"It's alien."
"Yeah."
"Are you alien?"
"Yes. Is that all right?"
"Yeah."
She was dazed, but the answers and questions just slipped out without thought. But one or two did linger in her head.
"It's called the Tardis, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." She couldn't stop the small sob that escaped her as it began to sunk in, seeing Not-Mickey's head slowly melt. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."
"Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" She demanded, and the alien's face went slack.
"Oh. I didn't think of that."
"He's my boyfriend!" She snarled. "You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?"
"Melt?" The Doctor whipped around and frantically started to pull levers and push buttons.
"What're you doing?" She asked, clinging to a support beam. Elara, her mind chanted. Mickey might be dead, but there was a chance to save her, right?
"Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!"
With an earthshaking thud and lurch, the Doctor ran out the door. Echoing in her mind behind Elara was the sounds of that… thing trying to follow them. And he was willingly going back out there. "You can't go out there. It's not safe." She called, but when he didn't come back, she weighed the choice and poked her head out.
They weren't in the alley anymore. Rather, they were beside the Thames, across from the Eye.
"We've moved." She whispered, stepping out and circling the box. "It's bigger on the inside. Does it fly?"
"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." She scowled at his tone.
"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose."
"It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?"
"I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien." She snapped.
"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-" the Doctor started.
"Yeah, he's not a kid."
He continued as if she didn't speak, "It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?"
"What about Elara?" She demanded, turning to face him as he stormed past. "She could be dead too!"
At this, he froze. "She doesn't live with you?"
"No, she's not even a friend, just some random coworker! She's too timid to do anything if she was in danger,"
He went back into the box, and as she followed him, he went to one of the screens. "Where does she live?"
"I don't bloody know,"
He just huffed. "No matter. Elara Troy, London," he frowned at the results, "2005…" the frown deepened. "May, 2005…" He shook his head, arms falling to the side. "Are you absolutely certain her name is Elara Troy?"
"Yeah," Rose shrugged. "She wouldn't've gotten hired if she didn't have proper paperwork."
"She doesn't exist," the Doctor frowned, turning to her. "Describe her, as best as you can."
"She's shy, timid, always doubting-"
"No, her appearance. Tall or short? Underweight? Overweight?"
Rose blinked. "She… she has… brown hair?"
"And her eye color?" Green. They were green, right? Or maybe…brown?
"I've never looked at her eyes," Rose realized aloud. "What's wrong with that?"
"Perception filter. She's made it to where No one who sees her would be able to describe her." He had a grim look on his face. "Elara Troy is connected to this somehow."
Alien, her mind whispered and she just… couldn't wrap her head around it. Elara was just so… human. "No," she found herself saying. "She can't be. She looked just as scared as I was." The Doctor gave her a look before ushering her back out, and after a moment, she shifted, not liking the silence. It might've been shy of two years since she left Jimmy, but the silence still made her nerves go off. She found him leaning up against the box. "If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?"
"Lots of planets have a north." He defended, and she tipped her head. That was fair.
"What's a police public call box?"
"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise."
"Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?"
"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!"
She just stared at him, not sure how to feel. "Any way of stopping it?"
He held up an almost glowing tube of blue liquid that she was certain she had seen before. "Anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic," she echoed in disbelief.
"Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"
"Hold on." she followed him past the bridge support as he started to walk away. "Hide what?"
"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."
"Well, what's it look like?"
"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." As he spoke, her gaze went straight to the Eye. It fit everything he was looking for. Would that even make sense? "What?" She nodded once to what she was looking at, but he didn't seem to get it. "What?" Finally, he turned, still not seeing it. "What? What is it? What?"
"She's looking at the Eye, Doctor," a voice from just behind her said, and both human and alien turned around.
There, covered in tiny scratches and finger-like bruises decorating her arms, stood Elara Troy, an off smile on her face. "And she's right. The Nestene Consciousness is under it planning an invasion."
"Who are you really?"
Elara's smile grew sad. "I am Elara Troy, I wasn't lying about that. We don't have enough time to explain everything in detail, so I'll keep it short." Rose had no idea what she was talking about, except for one thing: she knew the Doctor before this. "There's going to be… an incident, and it almost combines all of the dimensions together into one. Due to me having been at point zero, I'm unable to stabilize in one particular point in time."
"You're scattered?"
"Shattered, more like." she seemed to agree. "I can explain a lot more once we get this all sorted out."
"What are they after again?" Rose asked as they walked up the South Bank, closer to the Eye. Elara was just behind her and the Doctor, forming an odd triangle.
"Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables-"
"The breast implants." her and Elara muttered at the same time. They shared a small smirk before awkwardly looking away.
"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."
As she was looking away, there was a faint glow, and she could see it was coming from the manhole. "What about down here?"
"Looks good to me."
As they climbed down the hatch, Rose saw the Doctor frowning at Elara. "What's that there?"
"What?" the American asked, looking at herself.
"Your necklace," the alien reached out and easily snapped the leather cord. For a moment, Rose wanted to protest, but then she realized where she had seen the anti-plastic before as he held up the pendant. "Anti-plastic."
"I didn't plan on throwing it in," she huffed. "You just… lose things too easily, Doctor."
"So I just gave this to you?" he scoffed.
"Uh, world to save, remember?" Rose chimed in. "We can argue later."
"Right, Mickey would probably like us there sooner," Elara murmured, and Rose's heart soared.
"He's alive?"
"Yes. They need the living to stay that to mimic. He's likely dehydrated and panicking, but he's alive." She could very well hug Elara once this was all over, especially as they shuffled down the halls, ignoring the chains, into a large multi-level chamber, where this giant… blob… was sitting.
"Mickey!" Rose gasped, running to her boyfriend, who met her halfway. Elara was right behind, looking nervous as the Doctor walked into a catwalk.
"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." the vat let out a war, and Elara winced. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach? Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"
Even Rose winced this time. "He doesn't get better," Elara muttered. "Thousands of years in the future, and the idiot is still like this." It was a far cry from the fearful persona she had played.
"Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."
Rose saw movement and turned to see two shop dummied shuffling towards the alien. "Doctor!" she yelled, but it was too late. They had both of the anti-plastics and the Doctor was restrained. The vat let out another angry roar.
"That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not. What do you mean?" Another turn, and one of the doors at the top slid open to reveal the blue-box-ship thing. Elara was gripping the handrail with one hand, and her head in the other, and a glance at Mickey told her he was going to be useless too. "No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. 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!"
Another roar, even louder than before, and her ears were starting to hurt. "What's it doing?!" she demanded.
"It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!"
Rose. Just Rose. Not Mickey or Elara, just Rose. Part of her warmed at the thought, but as she forced the other two up the walkway, she pulled out her phone, desperately calling her mother's mobile. "Mum?"
"Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me."
She was outside. She was never outside this late. What time was it even? "Where are you, mum?
"I'm in town."
"No, go home! Just go home right now!"
"Darling, you're breaking- just going to- night shopping. -you later. Ta-ra!"
As her mother hung up, she almost threw her phone in frustration, reaching out for the box's doors, but they were locked. Then the lightning came. She was about to turn to the Doctor, but the stairs to him had fallen. There was no safe way down, even without the electricity flying in the air.
"I haven't got the key!" Rose told Elara, but just shook her head.
"He said it was too soon for me," she argued. "I'm not allowed a key until one year. It's been nine months."
"We're going to die!" Mickey moaned, and Rose looked around again.
"No!"
"Time… Lord…"
The chains.
A fire of determination was lit inside Rose Tyler as she grabbed the axe and started to swing.
"I've got no A Levels, no job, no future. But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team." she paused and grinned at Elara, who grinned back and nodded. "I've got the bronze!"
Taking the chain in hand, she ran full sprint, swinging over to the catwalk and kicking the autons into the vat. The anti-plastic was tossed in, but as the Doctor caught her and grinned at her, well, she was full of adrenaline.
"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor said before tugging her to safety. Elara was the last one in the ship, and after a few rough minutes of shaking, they landed by a row of kiosks. Mickey immediately ran out, looking sick, and her phone rang. It could wait, because she… she had to know.
Mickey was trying to hide behind a pallet, while Elara was a few feet away. The Doctor stayed in the doorway. "A fat lot of good you were." she snarked to her boyfriend, making Elara frown. She could keep her judgement to herself, Rose thought.
"Nestene Consciousness? Easy."
"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me." Rose snapped.
"Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."
What.
"Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing." Mickey shuffled over and hugged her legs, glaring at the alien.
"He is not a thing." Elara sighed.
"They're not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."
Her heart was thumping in her chest, and she was so focused on the sudden wanderlust, she didn't see the offended look on Mickey, or the hurt on on Elara. "Is it always this dangerous?"
"Yeah,"
"Yeah," she echoed. Mickey's grip on her legs tightened slightly. "I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so…" she trailed off. She'd… she'd love to see the stars. To go on different planets, and meet new people, but it would take years to get places. Years her mother didn't have. "Elara does though."
"I fucking do not!" the said woman sputtered. "I was dragged into this to begin with, fuck you."
The Doctor stared at the both of them for a long moment before nodding. "Okay. See you around."
As he went inside and the box started to fade, Elara suddenly let out a curse, shaking her hand. "Did you get hurt?" Rose asked, but the brunette just shook her head.
"Three… two…" she was still staring where the box was, and as she said 'one', it came back.
The Doctor's head poked out. "By the way, did I mention it also travels in time? You still owe me an explanation."
Time travel. "I'd be here in less than a minute for him, but it could've been a week for me?" she asked, getting a nod from the two. With that confirmation, she turned to Mickey, sweet Mickey who deserved better, and kissed his cheek. "Thanks," she murmured, turning around and running into the ship.
The Doctor clapped her on the back as she passed, and once she settled on the seat, they both turned to Elara, who looked like she was in pain. "Right," the Doctor began. "Who are you exactly?"
"Elara," she answered. "I'm… shattered throughout time. Every jump I do, I'm slowly rebuilding myself."
"What do you mean, every 'jump'?"
Elara's grin was painful, but excited. "You'll have to ask the other me once she gets here," she said before just… exploding into gold dust. It seemed to just violently come from her pores, and after a few seconds, a completely different woman was standing in front of them. She had short blonde hair, and angular face, and the most condescending smirk Rose had ever seen.
"Oh," the woman said. "Well, you're both quite young."
So this story has been a long time coming.
Ever since I fell in love with this fandom, I've always been intrigued by the idea of a person somehow falling out of time, their new normal being just appearing in random places and praying it'll be ok. But I've always wondered what those on the other side of the coin were thinking. Of how it would be a gamble on if it was a friend or enemy who stood in front of them at any given time.
Elara has been a hidden project, perhaps one older than Chloe, though Elara didn't have an official name until mid-2017. Elara is, perhaps, the most based off of me out of all my Doctor Who OCs, and I will admit, it is painfully hard writing her in situations that I would 100% run away from. the-apple-seed helped me with her story a little, and deserves the recognition, as they were the ones that urged me into considering publishing Elara's story.
Anyways, I think that's enough rambling from me. If you liked these first two chapters and want to see more, then please let me know, either through Follows/Favorites, Comments, or even both!
