When I arrived, and opened my eyes everything seemed different, the Tardis had changed again and looked like it was falling apart. The Doctor, like last time, seemed to be hiding and when he did appear he looked at me with narrowed brows with a glimmer of hope in his eyes?
I looked at him in confusion until he narrowed his eyes, placed his screwdriver with the red tip into the console, and then flipped a switch which sent me forward through time again.
In the midst of my confusion after I had opened my eyes from being engulfed in the white light, I saw the Doctor leaning against the console as he was upset.
"Doctor", I asked then he looked up, smiled, and then pulled me into his arms to give me a hug.
I hugged him back in confusion, "What happened", I asked, but he ignored the question as an alarm went off.
"That's more like it", the Doctor yelled and then ran to the console, "What's happening", I asked as I ran to his side.
"Seems like the Tardis picked up a reading off of an old friend back on Earth", the Doctor told me as he pushed in the coordinates for Earth.
"Who", I asked, and the Doctor responded by turning the screen towards me and I narrowed my brows in annoyance, "Are you kidding me?"
"What? I thought you'd be excited", the Doctor asked as I lifted a brow at him, "The Nestine and the mannequins with their finger guns", I said as I jokingly pointed finger guns at the Doctor who smiled.
"What does the radar say", I asked, "Well, it says they're huge and the signal they're using is coming from some sort of large circular disk", the Doctor told me as we landed.
"Where are we", I asked, "London", was he response as he ran to the nearby closet to grab a scanner, and then ran to the Tardis's door.
"Come on", he urged and I smiled as I followed him out, when we were outside it turned out to be night.
"What are we looking for", I asked him, "A high concentration of the Nestine Consciousness, they'd most likely be gathered around like bees protecting their queen. This way", the Doctor told me as we ran to a big store.
Once at the entrance, I tried to open the door which so happened to be locked, which made sense since it was closed.
"Locked", I huffed, then the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, showed it to me, and then pressed the button while pointing it at the door. I shook my head when we both walked in as he was looking at me smugly, before we were stopped by a security guard.
The Doctor then pulled out a notepad that I've never seen before, opened it, and showed it to the guard who immediately started apologizing and let us right in.
After we passed the guard, I asked, "What is that", as I pointed at the notepad, "Psychic paper, let's people see what I want them to see and it works most of the time", the Doctor said as he showed me the paper. I looked at the Doctor in confusion, then at the paper before finally closing it in his hand as he looked at me confused.
"I'll make sure I'll keep that a secret", I told him as we walked, as he was pocketing the psychic paper he looked at me in alarm before I ran to a nearby computer.
"It says here they got a new shipment of a new kind of mannequin", I told the Doctor as we both heard a yell from the basement.
"Someone's still here", the Doctor told me, "Maybe they're here to close the store", I questioned as I looked up who could possibly still be here.
"Ah, there's three people still here…the security guard, Wilson the electrician, and a Rose Tyler who works as a cashier", I told him.
There was another yell and this time I could tell it was female…was it Rose Tyler? The Doctor and I looked at each other, before we quickly made our way down into the basement.
When we entered the basement, it seemed like a maze, "How are we going to find her", I asked frustrated.
"We'll have to separate, go left and I'll go right", the Doctor told me, "Alright", I said doing what he instructed as we both went our different ways.
At the end of the hall I saw a glimpse of blonde hair and a pink jacket, I ran towards the person and grabbed her hand just as the Doctor did the same. Then we both told her to run as she held onto my hand as we made our way back to the elevator with many obstacles in the way.
Once we were all inside the elevator, the door began to close before one of the mannequins managed to put its arm through. The Doctor began pulling on it, before he asked me to help him.
"Right", I said as we both managed to pull the arm off no problem and the door was finally able to close.
"You pulled his arm off", Rose told us, "Yes, plastic", he said as he tossed her the arm which she catched.
"Very clever, nice trick, who are they? Students, were you in on it", she asked the last part directly to me.
"Absolutely not", I told her, "Why would they be students", the Doctor asked as Rose continued to regard us suspiciously.
"I don't know", she said, "You said it, why students", he tried asking again.
"Because…to get that many people, dressed up, and being silly…they have to be students", Rose replied.
"Or really immature and pulling a prank", I asked her, "Exactly", she agreed, "It does make sense, well done", the Doctor told her, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"What", he asked me, and I replied by crossing my arms then lifting a brow at him and then he sighed, "They're not students", he finally told Rose.
"When Wilson finds them, he'll call the police", Rose told us, "Who's Wilson", the Doctor asked as he pretended to be clueless…I thought.
"The Chief electrician", Rose replied and the Doctor nodded, before he told her that Wilson was dead which made me look at him in shock.
"Did you see his body", I asked him as we exited out of the elevator, "Yes", he told me as he short circuited the elevator's control panel with his screw driver.
"Is that some sort of joke, because if it is…that's sick", Rose told us, "Who are you two? Who are that lot down there", she asked as the Doctor pulled me from her before I could answer her question as we made our way towards the exit.
"They're living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device from the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this", the Doctor said as he showed her the scanner.
"So, we're going to go upstairs and blow it up", the Doctor told her, "That's a bomb too", I asked him, and Rose gave us confused looks as he smiled at me.
"We may die in the process, but don't mind us. You go home, go and have a your beans and toast", the Doctor told Rose as he pushed her through the exit.
"Don't tell anyone, if you do you'll get them killed", the Doctor told her and began to close the door before I stopped it.
"I'm Acacia and this is the Doctor by the way", I introduced, "Rose", she stated her name, "Yes, well, nice to meet you Rose. Now, run for your life", the Doctor told her, before dragging me back inside.
We then ran to the roof to set up the scanner/dynamite and quickly ran down the stairs that went down the side of the building.
"You didn't have to tell her there was a possibility that we could die", I told him as we ran from the building.
"I had to discourage her from following us and it worked", the Doctor told me and I gave him a look as the building exploded behind us.
"Wait, wait, wait", I said as I grabbed the Doctor's arm, stopping him. He looked at me confused, "I just realized something", I told him.
"What", he asked with narrowed brows, "That mannequin arm…she took it with her", I told the Doctor and he sighed.
"I'm glad I parked nearby", the Doctor said as we made our way back to the Tardis to grab another scanner.
"You get some sleep, I'll just make another scanner", the Doctor told me, "You're going to build another scanner…I hope you don't make another dynamite out of it", I said half joking and half serious.
"No, this time I'll make it with parts of a coffee maker, microwave, toaster, and a blender", the Doctor told me, and I smiled amused.
"Okay, is my room still through that door", I asked him as I pointed towards a door that was in another room.
"Yeah, and down the long corridor", he told me and then immediately went quiet as he went on his search of the objects that he listed.
"Okay…well, goodnight", I told him as I walked through the door, not before I heard the Doctor quietly say goodnight as I closed the door behind me.
I smiled before walking down the long hallway and noticed even the walls were different, the only thing that wasn't was the door that led to my room.
I pressed my hand onto the handle and turned it, the door opened to reveal my room which was the same as back on Earth.
The room was dusty, but that was to be expected as I haven't been in here for a while…maybe it's been years. I shook my head as I closed the door behind me then I took a shower, before putting my pajamas on, and went to sleep.
The next day I brushed my teeth, pulled on a different black and white patterned shirt, black pants, tennis shoes, and left my hat on my bed.
Then I exited my room and entered the console room where the Doctor showed me the scanner he made happily.
"Now, this should show us where the arm is located", the Doctor explained as I approached, "We better hurry then", I said and then we left the Tardis.
"No hat", the Doctor asked, and I shook my head, "I wore it all the time, I thought I'd change up my style", I told him as I gestured to my outfit.
"To fit in with the twenty-first century", he asked me, "More or less", I admitted as we headed straight to an apartment complex.
"The scanner says it's in there, come on", the Doctor told me as I followed him inside and up the stairs.
We stopped at the door where the scanner said the arm was in and the Doctor noticed that there was a kitty door attached to it.
"Maybe if I take off the screws, perhaps it'll exit on its own", the Doctor said as he handed me the scanner and then knelt in front of the kitty door.
"What? You're hoping it'll just slither right through", I asked him, "Exactly", he told me as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and used it to unscrew the screws from the kitty door.
"Mom you're such a liar. I told you to screw in the kitty door, we're going to get strays", we heard Rose yell from inside of the apartment as well as footsteps approaching the door.
"I did! Weeks ago", we heard another woman yell, which I presumed was Rose's mother.
I watched in amusement as the kitty door was tapped cautiously, before it completely flipped opened to reveal Rose's face. Then it immediately closed as she saw the Doctor looking through it with narrowed brows.
Rose opened the door just as the Doctor stood back up, "What are you doing here", she asked us.
"We must have picked up the wrong signal", the Doctor said as he grabbed the scanner from my hand to check it again. "You're not plastic are you", the Doctor asked, before he knocked on her head.
"Nope, bone head, bye then", the Doctor told her before we tried to walk away, but she was quick to grab us both and drag us into her apartment.
"Rose? Who is that", Rose's mother asked as she closed the door to the apartment, then she walked to her mother's bedroom.
"It's about last night, they're part of the inquiry", Rose said as she left, the Doctor and I approached her mother's bedroom.
"She deserves compensation", Rose's mother told us, "Oh, we're talking millions", the Doctor told her, and I just shook my head.
"Do you two work together", she asked us, "Yeah, she's my partner", the Doctor told Rose's mother as I waved awkwardly at her.
"She's a bit young isn't she", she asked, and I sighed in annoyance, "Is everyone going to ask me that", I whispered to the Doctor out of frustration.
"She might have thought we were together", the Doctor explained, and I blushed a bit at that, "Oh", was all I said, before I walked into the living room.
"She didn't deny it", I heard Rose's mother say as Rose cleaned up the living room, "Don't mind the mess, want some coffee", Rose asked as the Doctor walked up beside me.
"Might as well, thanks. Just milk", the Doctor told her, "Can I have tea? I don't really like coffee…too bitter", I asked.
"Yeah", she replied as she walked into the kitchen and the Doctor walked over to a table to grab a magazine as Rose was talking in the kitchen about what we were going to do about the whole living mannequins in the store situation.
"Well, that's not going to last", the Doctor said, and I looked at the Doctor confused, "What", I asked, and he turned the cover of the magazine towards me.
"He's gay and she's an alien", he told me before tossing the magazine on the table, "How could you possibly know that", I asked him.
"I've met them before", he told me, "You have", I questioned with a lifted brow, "Yes", he told me jokingly upset.
I shook my head as I looked around the room, more specifically at the pictures as I heard the Doctor flipped through a book quickly. When he was done the only remark that he had about it was that it had a sad ending.
"You read it that fast", I asked as I turned around to face the Doctor, "Yes, give it a try", the Doctor said as he handed me the book.
I lifted a brow at him as he just smiled urging me to do it, I finally did as he said, flipping through every page while reading every word at rapid time, and by the end I had a tear rolling down my cheek.
I quickly wiped it away, "You were right", I told him as I set the book down and to change the subject he quickly looked at himself in the mirror.
"Ah! Could've been worse, but look at the ears. Acacia, what's your honest opinion", the Doctor asked me, and I looked at him confused, he's never asked me this before.
"About what", I asked unsure, "My face", he said as he gestured to his face, "You're face looks fine, your whole look is very different from what I've seen you in before", I told him honestly.
"What do you mean", he asked me, "I…well, you look like you've been through something traumatic…when I first saw you I mean. You seemed sad…is something the matter", I asked him as he looked away.
"No", he told me as he smiled sadly at me, I knew he was hiding some sort of pain, but I didn't want to push him.
The Doctor began to distract himself as he played with a deck of cards before making a mess with them. This made me laugh as the Doctor got a chuckle out of it as well, that is until we heard a noise from behind the couch.
"What's that? Have you got a cat", the Doctor asked as he peeked behind the couch, only to have the mannequin arm to grab his throat as Rose said, "No."
I tried grabbing it as I gasped for air when it felt like my own throat was being crushed, while Rose came out with a tray of mugs.
She seemed calm as she watched the Doctor and I get choked, "I told Mickey to chuck that out and what's wrong with you", Rose asked the Doctor and I.
"I can't believe this, give someone a plastic hand and they go mad for it", Rose told us as she sat the tray down on the coffee table.
"We're…not…joking…around", I told her in-between gasps, "Sure you aren't", she told me sarcastically, "Well, I know your name, but what the Doctor's name? I mean Doctor what?"
Then the hand seemed to fly off of the Doctor's throat and grab Rose's face, the Doctor and I were quick to grab it then pulled it off of her face; at least before it turned around to grab mine.
"No, you don't", the Doctor said as he tried pulling off the hand off of my face as the arm pulled back, which caused us to land on the coffee table.
This action caused us to break it, the Doctor pressed his sonic screwdriver onto the arm and pressed the button until it turned life less.
"There we go…armless", the Doctor told me amused as he removed the hand to reveal my face as I looked up at him.
He paused for a moment, before I said, "That's nice. Now, could you kindly get off of me…you're kind of heavy", "Right, sorry", the Doctor said as he helped me up.
"Alright, we got the arm, time for us to go. Bye", the Doctor told Rose, before he grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the apartment, and down the stairs.
"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off", Rose told us, "Yes we can. This is us "swanning off", see ya", the Doctor told her.
"But the arm was moving, it tried to kill me", Rose told us, "It tried to kill all of us", I corrected, "Whatever! You can't just walk away, that's not fair. You have to tell me what's going on", Rose told us.
"No, we don't", the Doctor told her as we continued down the stairs and then we exited out of the apartment complex with Rose still following us, demanding answers.
"All right, I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone, you said I'd get people killed. So, your choice…tell me or I'll start talking", she told us, and I narrowed my brows at her.
"Is that supposed to sound tough", the Doctor asked her, "Sort of", she replied, and I scoffed at that.
"Even if you did talk and managed to get people killed. Are you really willing to do that", I asked her upset and she noticed my tone as she sighed.
"I…I don't know", she told me, "Even if she did, we're still not telling you anything", the Doctor told her, and I looked at the Doctor.
"Who are you", Rose asked him, and I turned my head to face Rose again, "Told you, the Doctor and this is Acacia", the Doctor told her as we made our way to the Tardis, which was still a great distance away.
"I know who she is, but who are you? Doctor what", Rose asked, "Just the Doctor", he told her, "The Doctor", she questioned, "Hello", he said as he jokingly waved at her.
She sighed and asked, "Is that supposed to sound impressive", but the Doctor didn't say anything, "He want it to be", I told her.
"Come on, you can tell me. I've seen enough", Rose groaned as she looped her arm with my own, "Are you the police", she asked us, "No, we're not the police", I told her.
"We were just passing through. We're a long way from home", the Doctor told her with a longing that I've heard come from him before.
"But, what have I done wrong? How come these plastic things keep coming after me", Rose asked, "Oh, suddenly the whole world revolves around you. You're just an accident that's all", the Doctor told her.
I looked at Rose awkwardly, "He means that in a nice way", I told her, "In what way was that nice", the Doctor told me, and I gave him a look.
"That thing tried to kill me", Rose told us, "It was after us, not you", the Doctor exclaimed, "We were in the shop, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing", I gave the Doctor another look, he knew that wasn't true.
He continued, "We were tracking it down, it was tracking us down. It fixed on you, because you met us", the Doctor told her as Rose removed her arm from mine.
"So, what you're saying is the entire world revolves around the two of you", Rose asked as she gestured towards us, "Sort of yeah", "No so bluntly", the Doctor and I told her.
"You're full of it, both of you", Rose told us amused, "So, all that plastic stuff…who else knows?"
"No one", the Doctor told her, "What? So, you guys do this by yourselves", Rose asked us.
"Yes", I told her, "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot…all you do is eat chips, sleep, and watch telly while underneath you, there's a war going on", the Doctor told her.
"Okay, start from the beginning", Rose told us, "They've been here before, a long time ago. Living plastic that were controlled by a single consciousness called the Nestine. We've defeated them before", the Doctor told her.
"Twice, but it seems they've returned", I added, "Okay…I mean, if we're going with living plastic, and I don't believe that. But, if we do…how did you kill it", Rose asked us.
"The thing controlling it projects life onto it. I cut off the signal before…with few difficulties", the Doctor told her, before he looked at me.
"So, radio control", Rose asked, "Thought control", the Doctor corrected, "It's like mind control, only they bring plastic things to life", I told her, and she seemed confused.
"You okay", I asked her, "Yeah. So…what is the Nestine? Where did it come from", Rose asked, "Long story", the Doctor told her.
"What's it all for? Shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops", Rose asked us amused.
"No, they're not", I told her as I smiled, "Right, of course", she said as she continued to laugh.
"It's not a price war", the Doctor added in amusement, but then turned serious, "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you", the Doctor told her.
"That's a bit intense Doctor", I told him, "But, she's still listening", he told me, and I turned my head to face her, she looked like she didn't know what to believe.
As we were close to the Tardis where we could practically see it, Rose suddenly stopped, "Really though, and this isn't just for the Doctor...who are you", Rose asked us.
I looked back at her as she stared back us confused, bewildered, and wonder. The Doctor and I looked at each other, before he grabbed my hand.
"You know how they tell you…about the world revolving and as a kid you can't quite believe it", the Doctor said as we approached her, and then we both grab one of her hands.
"You can't believe it, because everything you see is standing still…but we feel it", I told her, "The feeling of the Earth, the ground beneath our feet is spinning at one thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. We can feel it, we're falling through space…all of us. Clinging to the skin of this tiny world and if we let go…", the Doctor said, then Doctor and I let go of Rose's hand, but the Doctor refused to let go of mine.
I looked up at him as he continued, "That's who we are. Now, forget us, Rose Tyler. Go home", the Doctor told her as we walked towards the Tardis.
After we entered the Tardis, I turned on the monitor to watch the screen as we dematerialized and watched as Rose came running back.
"She's coming back", I told the Doctor, "We'll be long gone before she gets here", the Doctor told me as the image disappeared.
Then another image popped up on the monitor, it looked like a search result for the Doctor and the Voyager.
I narrowed my eyes in confusion at that, "Looks like someone is looking you and someone called the Voyager up online", I told the Doctor, who quickly came running to look at the screen.
"It must be Rose… "Contact Clive"", the Doctor questioned as he pushed in the coordinates and then we de-materialized.
"Doctor", I asked as he bit his thumb and then lowered his hand to look at me, "Who's "the Voyager"", I asked him.