Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

Chapter 2

The day Rose had met the Doctor again had mostly gone exactly the same as it had the very first time she had met him. She'd gotten up early for her morning jog and yoga, made breakfast for the both of them and packed a lunch for Mickey and had then set out for work. Work that day had been very long and Rose had been sure to take Mickey his lunch during her own lunch break because he'd forgotten it again before going back to work herself and when she was stopped at the door by the security guard, who had then handed her the lottery money to give to Wilson, she'd nearly had a heart attack from how quickly her heart had started pounding in her chest.

She was hyper aware of absolutely everything as she headed for the basement and Wilson's office. Every echoing sound her shoes made on the concrete, the brush of clothes against her skin, the twitch of a mannequins head turning her way.

Her head snapped towards the mannequin that had moved and she made sure she kept that damn thing within her range of sight as she headed towards Wilson's office, calling for Wilson.

And then she walked into a room full of mannequins and every hair on the back of her neck stood up. She looked around, still calling out for Wilson, keeping a wary eye on every mannequin she could see. Nothing like walking into a trap overpowered and outnumbered as she was. She vividly remembered one of them snapping a pipe. Her breathing shuddered when she suddenly felt a charge in the air that she hadn't felt before and every damn mannequin in the room came to life turning to her very suddenly and startling a shriek from her.

Her eye's went wide, as fear and adrenaline flooded her body and she backed into the wall close to the door, trying to keep her eye on all the now moving mannequins. She turned to head to the door and found herself looking directly into his bright cerulean eyes. He didn't wait for her to process anything, he grabbed her hand and said one word, "Run."

And they were running once more and she was thrilled.

He led her to the service lift and once more one of the mannequins stuck their arm through the door and he wrestled the arm off and then tossed the arm at her. She kept a tight grip on it, remembering how it had once tried to strangle both of them. She was staring at him and she knew that but she couldn't quite help it. He was finally here!

She tore her gaze away from him and looked at the arm in her grasp, releasing a shuddering breath. He was looking at her in concealed concern, as if he feared that she would burst into tears any moment.

Looking up from the detached arm, she questioned softly, "You pulled the arm off. I take it they weren't just a group of people fooling around. Then some kind of technology?"

He grinned brightly, thrilled by her deduction, "Living plastic controlled by a relay device actually, but well done."

Rose swallowed a lump in her throat, "Wilson was supposed to be down here. The Chief Electrician?"

The lift opened and as they both rush out he uses his sonic screwdriver to disable the lift mechanism, he didn't look at her as he stated, "Wilson's dead."

She had hoped that had changed but she couldn't have done anything about it, she had never known when Wilson had died. She nodded, with another shuddering breath, "Okay, we should call the police then."

The Doctor shook his head, "Nope. Not while the Auton's are still being controlled. It's too dangerous."

Rose nodded again, she was overwhelmed from seeing him again, but that was fine she was supposed to be new to this and overwhelmed in the first place, "Then what do we do? How do we stop them?"

He stopped in front of the back door exit and turned to her in surprise for a moment but he quickly caught himself and pushed the door open, gesturing for her to go, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of them. They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He holds up a small bomb, "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."

He shuts the door in her face and she hasn't even turned to leave before it opens back up and he sticks his head out, "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

"Rose." She answered softly. Perhaps it was best that she didn't try to help him, she needed to calm down. She was going to end up giving herself away if she didn't get control of herself.

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life." He shut the door again and she turned and ran down the alley.

She quickly went across the street and continued down it, barely realizing when she suddenly stopped right in front of the Tardis. She hadn't noticed but she had instinctively ran straight for the Tardis. It had been two years since she had seen her but it was still practically ingrained in her that the Tardis was home. She was safe there.

She casually leaned against her breathing heavily, closing her eyes at the comforting hum the Tardis sent her. She smiled at her attempt to comfort her, but she was worried and she whispered, "How am I to hide what I know? I need to I know but I can't lie to him. He's too smart for that."

The Tardis hummed again comfortingly and a fog seemed to seep through Rose's mind. The Tardis was blanketing her memories? Hiding them? Rose couldn't quite tell right then. She was so confused as if she was going into shock. An explosion from behind her brought her back from her musings and she ran home, forgetting what she had just been doing.

It was only as she finally stepped into her flat and saw Mickey frantically holding his mobile phone to his ear and pacing the floor, that she was reminded that she hadn't called to let them know she was alright. The next few hours were very draining as her mum came over and Mickey and her hovered and mother henned her. She finally begged off that she was tired and they finally let her go to her room.

Once she shut the door, she stripped and headed for her bathroom, tossing the plastic arm in her closet and shutting the door on it. She'd once again forgotten she'd still been carrying that.

She frowned as she stepped into the shower. Once again? Why had she thought that?

That man who'd saved her tonight, the Doctor? She wondered if he was alright.

Well with Henrik's blown up there was nothing keeping her from going on her world tour. She should make sure she had everything packed and ready to go after she spends tomorrow saying goodbye.

She readies herself for bed slipping on a pair of night shorts over her underwear and a tank top, before pouncing on her bed and curling under the covers.

She looked up at her ceiling, her mind on the man who saved her. He looked so familiar, like she was supposed to know who he was and her hand where he had held hers still tingled. She'd felt so safe when he'd held her hand. She smiled and rolled her eyes at herself. That's what happens, she supposed, when you concentrate so much on your studies and making sure that your mother's taken care of that you don't even bother pursuing relationships. Nineteen years old and she'd never had a boyfriend or even kissed anyone, of course the first man to have ever sent tingles down her spine with just a touch would draw her attention.

She frowned. Why had she never had a boyfriend again? It wasn't like she'd never had offers but she'd never even looked or bothered with trying for a relationship. Did that mean that she was asexual? No she had very much felt like pouncing on the man who'd saved her. So it wasn't that she didn't want sex or a relationship…she was just very picky about who she was attracted to and she'd been very distracted with school work, taking care of her mum, and her career as an artist and her dream of traveling the world and painting it's beauty.

She drifted off to sleep but her dreams were occupied by two men, the man who'd saved her that night; leather jacket, boots, short brown hair, cerulean eyes and a wide grin on his face, and another man; brown suit, red converse shoes, fantastic sort of brown hair, dark eyes and a brilliant grin.

The next morning she went through her morning routine like usual, jogging, yoga and feeding Mickey and her. After that Mickey had to head to work but he made her promise to meet him for lunch one last time before she took off for her trip, something she'd mentioned during breakfast that morning. Promise made, Rose set about repacking her camping backpack, making sure she had everything. She'd told her mum she would be leaving today for her trip so that was already taken care of and after her lunch with Mickey she should be good to go.

Mickey fed and heading to work, her backpack double checked, she looked down at herself and realized that she was still in the soft blue knee length sundress that she'd put on after her workout shower. She should probably find something more practical for traveling. Her head shot up as the doorbell rang.

She tilted her head at the odd excitement that filled her. She was anticipating something. Something good was going to happen. She shook her head as she went to open the door. That was a weird thought.

Opening the door she was surprised to find the man from last night standing at the door, "Um, hello."

He was looking at a strange device in his hand, but he glanced up from it at the door opening and seemed just as surprised to see her. So he hadn't followed her. Good to know she supposed.

"What are you doing here?" He had a rather dumbfounded look on his face and at his question she felt herself deadpan, "I live here."

"Well, what do you do that for?" What kind of question was that? She found herself quite amused by this man.

"Because I do. What're you doing here?" She questioned, but he ignored her, "I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you? No, bonehead. Bye, then. "

This man was so strange. He'd just knocked on her forehead and was about to just go on about his day as if nothing had happened. She snatched his hand, "Get in here."

He came easily enough, stumbling a bit in surprise at her strength but then his attention veered off again as she puttered about the kitchen making up a quick breakfast for him. She wanted to know what exactly happened last night and why they hadn't gone to the police with the information.

"Anything to drink? Some tea or coffee? Figure I at least owe you breakfast for saving my life last night."

The strange man sifted through their mail muttering to himself here and there, before stopping in front of the hall mirror, "Just coffee, black if you will. Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears."

She smiled to herself at his mutterings, so weird, still who was she to judge. She plated up some bacon, eggs and toast, grabbing a banana for some reason and setting it at the table, "Breakfast is ready." She turned to grab his coffee and set that down as well, "It's not much but it's a start."

He turned to the table then and seemed about to decline but saw the banana and changed his mind, sitting at the table and seeming to relax for the first time since she pulled him into her flat. As he ate and drank his coffee she smiled, she always enjoyed taking care of other people, "I'm glad you're okay, but can you explain what exactly happened last night. If we're going to go to the police I'd like to know what we're telling them."

As she spoke Rose headed towards her room to pick out some more practical clothes. Opening her closet door, she shrieked as the plastic arm flew at her face and she fell back on to her bed, struggling beneath its strength. Her bed bounced beneath her and she found her hips pinned in place by the strange man's thighs as he helped to get the arm off her face or disarm it with his weird device.

The arm stopped suddenly and she threw it at her dresser, breathing deeply. That had been terrifying. Looking at the man who'd just saved her life again, she watched as he went to double check the plastic arm as she caught her breath. And then he yelped and fell next to her on the bed, the arm at his throat, strangling him. Both his hands were trying to pull it off his throat, which meant he'd dropped his device when it went for his throat. She flung herself from her bed and found it on the floor, snatching it up she threw herself on top of him, grabbing the arm with one hand and trying to shove his device into one of his hands. They both struggled for a moment before he finally managed to disable it completely this time. She slumped against him and then she heard something she never wanted to hear again.

"Well it's about time you found yourself a man, Rose. You can't stay a virgin forever." Her mum had let herself in and she was now standing in her bedroom doorway looking amused at Rose and the strange man she was straddling, both breathing heavily as if they'd both been running a marathon or doing something far more intimate. She seemed to have somehow completely missed the arm that had just been strangling him. Rose exchanged an embarrassed look with him before scrabbling off him and he'd snatched up the arm again and started rushing out of the flat.

She hadn't gotten her answers and now she had even more than before and she was not going to let her mum's snickers and a little embarrassment stop her from getting them. She chased after him down the stairs calling after him, "You can't just swan off!"

"Yes I can." He called back thundering down the stairs quickly, proving his words, "This is me, swanning off. See ya."

She snorted, but shook the amusement off, "That arm just tried to kill me. You can't just walk off. You've got to tell me what's going on."

He huffed in amusement, "No, I don't."

"All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking." Rose stated determinedly.

He looked at her, bemusedly, "Is that supposed to sound tough?"

She shrank in on herself a bit, losing her confidence, "Sort of."

He grinned, seeming delighted by her gumption, "Doesn't work."

"Who are you?" She questioned as they both came to a stop in the middle of the parking lot.

"Told you. The Doctor."

She nodded, he'd said that the night before, "Yeah, but Doctor what?"

"Just the Doctor." He stated, giant grin on his face.

"The Doctor. Is that supposed to sound impressive?" She questioned with a grin of her own.

"Sort of." Unlike her, he was quite confident of his answer.

"Come on, then. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?"

"No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home."

She frowned though, "But what have I done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after me?"

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all." He moved to leave again.

"It tried to kill me." She protested.

The Doctor stopped and faced her, "It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me."

She snorted, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you."

The Doctor grinned brightly, "Sort of, yeah."

She couldn't help herself. She giggled, "You're full of it."

"Sort of, yeah."

Her smile faded for a moment though, "But, all this living plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?"

"No one."

"What, you're on your own?" That seemed so lonely.

She seemed to have hit a nerve because he was suddenly defensive, "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."

She took a deep breath to calm herself, this man sent her through so many emotions with one conversation, "Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, how did you kill it?"

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead." He explained shortly.

"So that's radio control?" Rose frowned, that didn't seem quite right.

"Thought control. Are you all right?" He studied her as she thought that over.

She nodded, "Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?"

"Long story."

"But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?" That seemed even more bizarre, but she didn't quite want to seem fatalist by saying take over the world.

"No. It's not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?" He was watching her intensely.

She didn't want to but everything he said she found herself believing, she nodded, "Yes."

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise at how certain she sounded.

"Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?" She questioned, curiously.

Suddenly he grabbed her hand and was very serious, "Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go." He released her hand just as suddenly and then turned to her, "That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home."

He walked away, leaving her dazed in the parking lot and staring after him. She didn't think she'd ever had a more intense conversation than she'd had just then. She turned to go back to her flat before she heard a humming sound and she turned to look behind her again. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but after the day she'd had she found herself even more jumpy and more than willing to return to her flat so she could do some research or you know get a handle on herself.

She was still blushing as she entered her flat to find her mother was still there with a giant grin on her face, "He looked a little old for you but he seemed quite fit. Well done, Rose. Although you picked a hell of a time to pick up and leave for a year or two, didn't you?"

Rose's blush deepened and she tried to ignore her mum as she cleaned up the kitchen and went back to her room to change into some blue jeans, a red tank top, blue jean jacket, and a pair of comfortable black boots that were great for ankle support. She put on some black eyeliner and some light pink lip gloss and braided her hair but that was as far as she went with makeup because she didn't want to be lugging around a makeup case. She needed that room for her paints. Hefting up her giant backpack she relocated it into the front room by the door, she was going to be taking it with her when she went to meet Mickey for lunch. Afterwards she'd set out maybe head to France first.

The Doctors face popped up into her mind. If he was to be believed then Britain was in danger, but what could she do to help. He at least seemed more than capable of handling the situation but he was just one person. What if he needed help?

No he'd made himself perfectly clear that he didn't need anybody to help him. He'd told her to forget him. Still he seemed so lonely.

She'd tried to do some research on her laptop on the Doctor but all she'd run into were some conspiracy theorists who'd given her warnings to stay away from him because trouble usually followed him. She'd put her laptop back into her backpack after that and Mickey had picked her and her backpack up for pizza. The moment she'd gotten into his car she could sense that something was wrong with him. The air was charged and stifling around them, his face was shiny like plastic and for some reason he kept calling her pet names like they were dating. She'd never been more uncomfortable than when she was sitting in his car on the drive to the restaurant. Could those plastic things have copied him or had they just overlapped him and controlled him?

She was tense and wary the entire conversation and when he kept bringing up the Doctor and where he was, she grew even more wary. Cautiously looking around her for some kind of weapon or something to defend herself with or perhaps someone else was realizing that something was wrong as well. Either way she kept a tight grip on her backpack.

What she did find was the Doctor in his leather jacket, holding a bottle of wine and heading their direction. When he realized that she'd seen him, his eyebrow raised and she couldn't help but sigh in relief at the sight of him. He was becoming a regular knight in shiny leather jacket, wasn't he?

The Doctor popped the cork right into the plastic Mickey things face and it just sort of melted through and he spit it back out of his mouth. She threw herself away from the table as the Doctor wrapped an arm around its neck and pulled his head off with a couple strong tugs. People screamed but stayed in their seats and she rolled her eyes, darting over to the fire alarm and throwing the lever, shouting, "Everybody out!"

The plastic Mickey head opened his eyes and threatened from under his arm, "Do you think this will stop me?"

His headless body got up and started thrashing around with his now large cutting board flyswatter hands. Everybody scattered and the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her through the restaurants kitchen and out the back door, where he then locked it behind them with his weird device.

She started running for the gate but suddenly stopped as she saw the blue old fashioned police box in the middle of the alley. The Doctor was casually walking over to open it and she could hear a beautiful humming noise coming from it.

"Let's go in here." He said nonchalantly, as if it wasn't just a box. It wasn't though was it? She'd dreamed about this box before. For two years she'd dreamed about this box. It was called … It was called the Tardis.

Her head was pounding and she followed him without question, rubbing her head as she did so. She quietly closed the door behind her and once more she was overwhelmed. The humming was louder now that she was inside and she looked around the console room. It was just as she dreamed it would be. Ramp, coral struts, grated floor, circular rotor and a mash up of controls that only the Doctor would be able to make sense of.

The Doctor was rambling again, "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. Right. Where do you want to start?"

She meant to ask how it was bigger on the inside but somehow she ended up choking in awe, "She's beautiful!"

Both his eyebrows shot up in surprise and her eyes widened as she realized that she'd said something he hadn't been expecting and was no doubt completely off subject. She'd done that so many times when she found something so beautiful that she'd wanted to paint it immediately, but usually she'd do it around Mickey or her mum and they knew to just sigh in exasperation and go about their day until she finished.

She rushed to explain herself, her backpack hanging from her right hand and bouncing against her calf, "Sorry, sorry, it's just… I get distracted sometimes…it's the artist in me…"

He frowned in confusion, "I thought you were a shop girl?"

"Well yes, but only for extra money and to stay busy. I make more than enough off my paintings for my expenses I just can't stay shut in my flat or I'll get bored and start bouncing off the walls."

"And the backpack?"

"I'd been planning to go on a world tour. After my job blew up, I figure now's as good a time as any." She shrugged, running her hand over the coral struts and continuing to look around, "So it's bigger on the inside, is she alien?"

"She?" He questioned, looking at her oddly.

"Um yeah, I just feel like she'd be female. Her humming feels feminine."

He looked at the rotor oddly before looking back at her with some understanding, "Aw, you must have some low level telepathy abilities. You wouldn't be able to hear her humming otherwise."

Rose tilted her head in curiosity, "Low level telepathy huh, and if I told you that as soon as I saw her the word Tardis popped into my head? Or that I've been dreaming about her for two years now?"

"Low level telepathy and probably a bit of precognitive abilities. And yes she's alien."

"And you're alien as well?" She asked this mainly for confirmation because she'd already pegged him as alien because he was the weirdest person she'd ever met.

"I am. Is that alright?"

She giggled, a little hysterically, "Yeah. Yeah, it's great. It's wonderful."

He tilted his head and smiled at her, "You're a little weird, but most people with your abilities do go a little weird without proper training so you're doing wonderful so far."

She smiled at him before she frowned, "Mickey's melting."

The Doctor jolted and quickly turned to plastic Mickey's head to see that it was in fact melting and he started darting around the console hitting this button, twisting that, pulling this, "No, no, no, no, no, I'm losing the signal. Hit that button."

He pointed but there were so many buttons and levers that she shouldn't have been able to know which button he meant, but she still darted forward and slapped a green button.

He sighed in frustration, "I lost the signal, but we shouldn't be very far from it."

She followed after him, leaving her backpack in the Tardis, when he rushed down the ramp and out the door, "What is it that we're looking for?"

"The Nestene Consciousness is what's controlling the Autons, or rather the liquid plastic."

"And what exactly do they have 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!" He crossed his arms and leaned back against the Tardis grinning down at her.

She looked around and found that it was night time and they were on the north back of the Thames next to the RAF monument. She frowned, "She doesn't fly does she?"

He shook his head, "Disappears there, reappears here."

"And the blue Police Call Box?"

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise."

She nodded in understanding, "So how do we take care of the Nestene Consciousness?"

"Anti-Plastic." He stated, pulling a blue vial out of his leather jacket, "But first I've got to find it. How do you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hide what? What are we looking for?" She asked eagerly.

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal." He was looking around turning every which way.

"What's it look like?" She frowned, searching her memories for an idea. She was sure that Mickey had told her something about this but this was also alien and she couldn't quite be sure that they would look the same.

"Round and massive, right in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing." He was facing her as he said this so he could be forgiven for missing that the London Eye was right behind him and was perfect for what he had described, she nodded at it.

"Must be completely invisible. What? What?" He asked bewilderedly, when she began giggling.

She pointed behind him and he turned to finally see the London Eye, he turned back to her and grinned brightly, "Fantastic."

He grabbed her hand once again and they both started running towards the London Eye, "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…"

She snickered under her breathe, "The breast implants."

He snorted, but there was a red tint to his ears, "Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

She looks over the parapet and sees a large manhole entrance at the bottom of the steps, "What about that?"

Stepping over to follow her eyesight the Doctor nodded, "Looks good to me."

They both rush down the stairs, the Doctor quickly opens the hatch and a red light emits from below and they climb down a short ladder into a brick-built area with lots of chains. From there they go through a door and down a flight of steps into a multi-level chamber.

The Doctor whispered to her, as they approached a circular vat of reddish orange moving liquid, "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

Rose nodded her understanding, but frowned when she suddenly remembered that he was carrying around what was considered a weapon that would destroy the Nestene Consciousness, she grabbed his arm before he could approach any further and she whispered quietly, "Doctor, should you really be going into negotiations with a weapon?"

The Doctor seemed offended, "I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance."

She rolled her eye's as she watched him go down to the catwalk overlooking the seething vat. That was not what she had meant.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." He called out.

The creature in the vat flexes and the air feels charged again, just like down in the basement of Henrik's. The Doctor responds as though he had heard something she had not, "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

It's at that point that she spots Mickey on a lower level and she runs down to make sure he's not hurt, "Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right."

She suddenly finds it strange that she hadn't really been worried or concerned about what had happened to Mickey until she had seen him.

Mickey was crouched low in a corner as if he could hide his quivering form if he made himself as small as possible, but he turned wide eye's towards her the moment he heard her voice, "That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!"

So the Doctor wasn't the only one who could hear the creature speaking. Rose brushed that thought aside to focus on later, "You're alright. Doctor, they kept him alive!"

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy."

"You knew that and you never said?" She was irritated at the Doctor for being so casually dismissive about Mickey's possible death, but she was far more irritated that she hadn't even seemed to worry about what had happened to Mickey after his copies head had melted.

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" The Doctor snarked, before turning back to the creature, "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" A brief charged pause. "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

A sort of face forms in the vat of plastic.

The Doctor scoffed, becoming more irritated the longer he talked, "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."

Sudden movement behind the Doctor grabs her attention and she shouts a warning, "Doctor!"

A pair of shop dummies grab the Doctor from behind and one takes the vial of anti-plastic from his jacket pocket. The creature roars in angered accusation and the Doctor shouts back desperately, "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?"

At his last question she frowns trying to determine what's going on from half a conversation and a charged atmosphere was difficult, but her attention is soon drawn to an opening door above and behind the Doctor that reveals the Tardis.

The doctor struggles frantically, "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!"

Rose finally hears something from the creature as it roars, "TIME LORD!!"

"What's it doing?!" Rose shouts, worriedly.

"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!"

It, the alien, was attacking her home planet, endangering her mum and Mickey. Sweet Mickey, who despite having his feelings for her crushed by her, still tried to take care of her. As the plastic in the vat keeps roaring, Rose sees the emergency axe and the chains hanging from the ceiling. The Doctor was pinned in place by the mannequins. Negotiation had failed and the alien was now attacking and harming innocent people. She had to do something.

The Consciousness has started throwing energy bolts around.

"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!"

The Eye lights up with energy and the plastic in the vat is getting extremely agitated. The Autons are attempting to push the Doctor into the vat. Rose shoves Mickey towards the Tardis, but she runs for the emergency axe, breaking the glass with her elbow. She yanks the axe out of its box and runs for one of the chains connected to the wall from the ceiling. There's a small gash on the back of her bicep from the glass but now not really the time to care about that.

She's muttering to herself as she strikes the chain with the axe, "Got my A Levels, my mum and Mickey are taken care of and all I've ever wanted to do is see and paint the beauty this world has to offer."

She finally manages to chop through the chain, grabbing it and taking firm hold, "I can't do that if you destroy it."

She takes a running leap and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat. The second one also drops the vial of anti-plastic into it. The golden Nestene screams as it starts to turn blue.

"Rose!" The Doctor yells her name as she swings back straight at him and he yanks her into his chest, folding his strong arms around her. She has but a small moment of comfort before the Doctor starts pulling her towards the Tardis, a bright grin on his face, "Now we're in trouble."

Explosions start and the signals from the Eye stop. The shop dummies that had just started to move, stagger and then fall over. The Doctor and Rose run to the Tardis, where Mickey is holding on for dear life, and they all go inside. The Tardis dematerializes and the safety of being inside the Tardis relieves Rose greatly. She's still bleeding, but the adrenaline keeps her from feeling the pain. She's more worried about her mum and Mickey. Mickey, she can see is safe if a little banged up and more than likely terrified out of his mind, cringing into the railing of the Tardis. Mum, however was suppose to still be at her apartment and Rose hopes that she had stayed there and hadn't gone shopping.

The Tardis materializes on the Embankment by a row of shuttered kiosks and Mickey runs out, terrified. Rose stumbles out behind him, the adrenaline fading, leaving her a bit exhausted, but she's got her phone in her hand and calling her mum anyway.

Jackie answers her mobile phone, " Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house!"

Oh lord, her mum had gone shopping, "Mum, Mum, are you okay?!"

The Doctor's watching her from the Tardis doors, his face blank. The same type of blank Rose had seen on many other doctors faces when they're preparing to give a family bad news. It brings to mind his chosen title of Doctor and she's reminded that no matter how much they try, doctors can't save everyone.

"It's not safe. There were these things, and they had just started shooting! And they-" Rose sighs in relief. Her mums okay if a little shook up, but she doesn't sound hurt. She hangs up, satisfied with her mums safety but she has other things to focus on right now. Like thanking the man who was brilliant enough to try saving their lives when he didn't have to. Things were calmer now and nobody was in immediate danger.

The Nestene Consciousness' words came back to her as she absentmindedly follows Mickey, to where he is attempting to hide behind a pallet.

'Time Lord.' And the Doctor's panicked words about a war and superior technology. His knowledge of an alien lifeform. She had already understood that he was an alien when he introduced her to the Tardis, but the adrenaline was gone, and while everyone was a bit shook up, they weren't in danger, which meant she was free to think on the less important details.

A whimper at her knees draws her attention, years of taking care of other people causing her instincts to urge her to comfort Mickey, "A fat lot of good you were, Mickey."

Okay maybe she was teasing him, but his reaction to the situation was reminding her of one of her reasons for not dating him in the first place, not that she'd ever tell him that, and perhaps the humor of the situation would snap him out of his lingering fear.

The Doctor snapped his fingers from the doorway, obviously going for nonchalance, "Nestene Consciousness? Easy."

Rose snickered, "You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

She'd never done anything like that in her entire life and she could feel something building... anticipation? She'd helped an alien save the world tonight.

"Yes, I would. Thank you." The Doctor admitted a bit sheepishly.

It was quiet for a moment and her thoughts were all over the place. She had meant to leave tonight to travel the world and see and paint it's beauty and somehow she had ended up meeting a man who was so much more than he seemed at first glance and she had helped that same man save the world from an alien invasion.

"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." The Doctor was watching her a hopeful look coming to his eye's.

She was abruptly reminded that he had told her that he worked alone. He did things like saving the world on a regular basis and then he just moved on, but there he was offering to take her to see the world in his Tardis and she had never wanted to kiss a man more in her life.

She was breathless as she stepped towards him and the Tardis-

"Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing." She came to a sudden stop and frowned down at Mickey, who was glaring at the Doctor for some reason.

The Doctor frowned as well, "He's not invited."

Which..okay fair.. Mickey wasn't exactly giving a good first impression..

"What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."

Never had anything sounded so tempting. He was offering to show her the world. It was everything she had ever wanted but...

"Is it always this dangerous?"

"Yeah." He was honest and upfront about it, which was something.

Mickey pulled at her pantleg and she sighed, "Yeah, 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."

"Okay. See you around." She had disappointed him with her answer and she had immediately regreted her decision as the Tardis dematerialized.

It was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life but she had been taking care of her mum and Mickey for years and the instinct to put them above her own wants and needs was ingrained into her. She sighed, a lump growing in her throat, "Come on, let's go. Come on. Come on."

"You wanted to go didn't you?" Mickey accused softly. Even in his lingering fear, Mickey had noticed her disappointment.

"Yeah." She croaked quietly.

The sound of the Tardis materializing behind them drew her attention and the Doctor popped his head out of the doors, "By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"

Mickey rolled his eye's and sighed, "Go on. You wanted an adventure, Rose."

She grinned, brown eye's lit up in excitement, "Thanks."

Mickey snorted, putting his still shaking hands in his pockets, "Don't thank me, just stay alive, and be happy. I'll keep an eye on Jackie and let her know you went on your trip."

She kissed Mickey on the cheek and ran for the Tardis.


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