Her Secrets

by Marvel'sWhovian

Cerys has always lived life on the sidelines. She was a quiet observer. One night she meets a mysterious man who's first words to her are "Run!" From that moment she is hooked. As time goes by she learns that she's not just ordinary. There's more to her that meets the eye and in the end, it could destroy everything. She is impossible and she has a secret that no one must know.

2. Nestene Consciousness? Easy

Edited 20/7/2015

I took some sentences out and added in new dialogue and whatnot. It was nice to go back and revise what I'd written... again. Hope you enjoy it.

---

I awoke to my mobile going off. Groggily, although I was still technically asleep, I reached for it, knocking it onto the floor. I groaned and got up, locating the phone that had fallen under the bed, and answering before the call ended.

"Mickey and I are going to meet this man, Clive. He knows about the Doctor. Want to come?"

"Would I have to be nice to Mickey?"

"It would be nice but that's besides the point. I need you to come. Mickey thinks this guy is crazy and won't let me go alone."

I sighed. Well, at least the man had some semblance of sense. "Maybe he is but I'm in."

"Great. We'll pick you up in a bit."

"All right," I said before hanging up and tossing the phone onto my bed. Walking to the bathroom, I washed my face and took my hair down.. Because I hadn't done anything to it, it had reverted to its naturally curly state. I left it down, not really caring what anyone would think; it looked good frizzy, at least I thought it did.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on my front door. Putting on my leather jacket, I opened to see Rose with a smile on her face. Barely giving me a moment to lock the door, she pulled me down to Mickey's bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle. After a few minute of driving, we were at the man, Clive's, house.

"You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids," Rose said in an attempt to keep Mickey in the car.

Mickey scoffed and pulled off his seatbelt. "Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say." Rose and I rolled our eyes before exiting the car, leaving Mickey to himself. Walking up to the house, Rose knocked on the door. A kid answered a moment later.

"Hello, I've come to see Clive? We've been emailing."

"Her, not me," I clarified. I was really only around for protection, for the most part, and keep Mickey in the car.

The boy smiled at me before turning into the house. "Dad! It's one of your nutters! Even brought her nurse." I laughed as Rose glared at the boy. She was unable to utter a word in protest as a man on the heavier side with short brown hair arrived at the door, holding out his hand to us.

"Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose and Cerys. I'm Clive, obviously." I shook his hand, all the while glaring at Rose for telling him about me. I suppose it made sense for her to tell him, however, I wanted to be all mysterious.

"You should tell him, you know, just in case," I told Rose.

Confusion crossed Clive's face at my words. While I wasn't too worried, it would be for our best interest if he knew someone knew where we were. "My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill us."

"No, good point. No murders," Clive replied before he waved to Mickey. I then heard a woman ask who was at the door. "Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website," was his quick reply before he moved from in front of the door. "Please, come through. I'm in the shed." He ushered us into the house. I smiled when the woman couldn't seem to wrap it around her head that a woman had read about the Doctor as I followed Rose and Clive.

When we got to the shed, Clive showed us around the small space. "A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean." Rose and I nodded. "If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place." Clive had pulled out a dark blue folder from a stack of papers. "Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Doctor." Clive opened up the folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" He pointed to the fuzzy internet image. Although it was poor quality, the man was painfully identifiable as the Doctor.

"Yeah," Rose replied.

"Where'd you get the image?"

"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original," Clive suggested before pulling out a picture of Kennedy's cortege going through Dallas. The Doctor was just another face in the crowd. I looked at it disbelief. How in the world could the man be there? He'd have to be a lot older than he looked if that's the case. "November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?"

"It must be his father."

"Going further back," Clive began, gathering more photos and spreading them on the work bench, "April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend." "He pointed to the man that stood on the right who looked exactly like the Doctor. "This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And here we are." He turned and took a sketch from the pin board. "1883. Another Doctor. And look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion. "

"And who's that?" I inquired, sincerely curious. From all the information Clive had given us, he was either a nutter or telling the truth. After seeing the Doctor, meeting him, I was more convinced that Clive was actually onto something.

"Death." Rose and I looked at the man, not knowing what to say. "If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose and Cerys, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger. If he's singled you out, if the Doctor is making house calls, then God Help you."

"But who is he? Who do you think he is?" Rose asked.

"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world." Clive's voice was deep and ominous as he said that, causing a shiver coursed through me. While the fact that the man could be an immortal, or an alien, or whatever, it was the fact that death seemed to follow him. The shiver wasn't one of unease either. I wanted to be with the Doctor. I wanted to truly know if death walked with him, and maybe I'd meet it. Depressing, I know, but it would be nice to see.

Rose and I glanced at each other before thanking Clive for his help. Smiling at us, he led us back to the door. With parting words of safety and thanks, we walked back over to Mickey's car. As we approached it we found Mickey sitting where we'd left him, both hands on the steering wheel and a creepy smile on his lips. "All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak," Rose went on, not seeming to notice that there was something very wrong with her boyfriend. "You win! What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza. What about you Cerys?"

"Um, pizza is fine," I answered, inching away from Mickey. There was something off about him and it disturbed me. Mickey wasn't much of a smiler and he definitely wasn't shiny. I couldn't understand how Rose ignored the obvious signs. Maybe she didn't really care, or she just wanted someone to listen to her go on. Whatever the reason, I really couldn't comprehend how one could be so ignorant. Still, even though I wanted to get out of the car, I stayed to make sure Rose was all right.

"Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!"

"Or Chinese."

"Pizza!" Mickey exclaimed before putting the car in gear and weaving down the road with Rose and me holding on for dear life.

While at the pizza place, Rose remained completely oblivious to the change in Mickey. His skin was shiny and he seemed to have that stupid grin stuck on his face. Hell, he almost killed us a few times with his horrendous driving, that should have been a major indicator for the woman. One thing I could give Mickey credit for was that he was a safe driver, especially with Rose in the car. The way he'd just drove, it was the complete opposite as to the Mickey we both knew. Wary of the Mickey impersonator, I sat as far as I could from him, and even that wasn't far enough for me.

"Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going on in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips? I could do A Levels." Rose puffed out a breath. "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?" Rose questioned, stopping as she looked to me to help her decide and figure things out. I was glad for the reprieve. She could go on for days, something I both loved and hated.

Before I could reply though, Mickey spoke up. "So, where did you meet this Doctor?"

Rose cast him an annoyed glance. "I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?"

"You were," I replied.

Mickey ignored us. "Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?" He turned to me, seeming to hopefully get an answer. It seemed that whatever copied Mickey didn't do it's research. It would have known that the two of us didn't get along and were only semi-cordial in Rose's presence.

"No."

"Come on."

"Sort of," Rose said. I glared at her. There was no way I was going to talk about the Doctor to anyone, most of all Mickey Smith, impersonator or original.

"What's was he doing there?"

"I'm not going on about it, Mickey and neither is Rose. So mind your damn business."

"You can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, sugar, babe, sugar." Mickey's voice changed octaves before it returned to normal. I wanted so badly to face-palm at Rose's lack of observation. It was honestly concerning. "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 are you doing that for?" Rose asked, finally noticing something was wrong, thank the gods. I stood up, watching the scene unfold. Being around Mickey already had me on edge and there was no way I was going to sit there. As I stood there, someone came over and offered the two champagne. Glancing at the person, I was surprised to see the Doctor beside me. Catching my eye, the man winked, his lips quirking up a bit into a small smile.

"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?" The Mickey impersonator must have realised I wouldn't dare say anything because he kept questioning Rose. I knew if he wore her down enough, she'd eventually tell him something, and that didn't sit right with me.I grew more concerned when he grabbed onto her hand.

"Madam, your champagne."

"It's not ours." Rose waved the Doctor off, her attention still focused on her boyfriend. "Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"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 sneered, looking up at the Doctor. A grin crossed his lips when he realised the object of his questions was before him. "Ah. Gotcha." Mickey released her hand.

I watched as the Doctor smirked at him and began to vigorously shake the champagne bottle. "Don't mind me," he told the other patrons who had started to stare. "I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" The Doctor released the cage around the cork and it flew into Mickey's forehead and disappeared. After a moment, he spat it out. Rose looked a bit scared as I stared in slight fascination and disgust.

"Anyway," Mickey stated as his hand turned into a chopper. Rose stood and grabbed my hand, screaming as she dragged me towards the exit while Mickey destroyed the table. Standing by the door, we watched as the Doctor grabbed onto Mickey's head and after a few good tugs, pulled it off. That was when everyone erupted into a panic.

The body flailed around a bit, destroying anything in its wake for a while before I set off the fire alarm. "Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!" Rose and I yelled as we motioned them to the door. Once everyone was out the building, Rose, the Doctor, and I ran through the kitchens, Mickey's head in the Doctor's hand, leaving the body inside the restaurant.

Racing through the back door we ended up in the alley behind the restaurant. I had released Rose's hand when I noticed the blue police box. I barely paid attention to the Doctor as he did whatever it was to the door or Rose who'd blindly ran past the wooden relic. It felt so familiar, yet so foreign. However, the longer I stared at it, the more the comings of a headache grew. With Rose's screams, I turned my focus from the box and to my best friend.

"Open the gate! Use the tube thing. Come on!" Rose snapped in fear. She pulled against the padlocked gates. I could understand why her temper was so short; the Mickey impersonator, whatever it was, had made it's way to the backdoor and had started banging on it unrelentingly.

"Sonic screwdriver," he corrected, barely sparing her a glance.

"Use it!"

"Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here." He walked past me, towards the box but stopped, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You all right?"

I met his gaze, confused as to why he'd asked. It was the second time since meeting me that he had, and I couldn't help but feel as if he wanted to ask something else, something more specific. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." He shrugged and returned to the box and opened it. The Doctor went inside, leaving us outside with the plastic Mickey still banging on the restaurant door.

"You can't hide inside a wooden box." Rose exclaimed as she ran towards it. Seeming to think better of it, she ran back to the gates and pulled on the lock some more. "It's going to get us! Doctor!" Rose tried the gate again, running back and forth between the box and the gates. Although the situation was serious, I couldn't help but be amused by her actions.

Leaving Rose to herself, I walked around the police box trying to gauge how the three of us would fit inside. When I looked inside, it seemed like a whole different world, a dimension crammed into a little blue box. Grinning, I walked in, meeting the Doctor's gaze as he smiled at me. "Smaller on the outside," I muttered much to the Doctor's amusement. As he went to speak, Rose rushed in, slamming the door behind her. After a very hasty look around and then retreated out. I heard a siren in the background as well as a door smashing. At that, she quickly entered the box.

"It's going to follow us," she stated matter-of-factly.

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Kahn couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried." I smirked. Although it was quite hard to believe that an army had failed to break down a wooden door, I had a feeling he was telling the truth. The Doctor walked around the console that stood in the middle. "Now, shut up a minute." As he worked, I took the time to look around. There was a console area, with a pillar in the middle that glowed light blue. The walls were curved and bronze in colour. There were hexagonal indents in the wall, with circles in the middle of them. Wires hung from the ceiling and there were bronze support beams around the area, with a sole chair on the right side of the console. "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." The Doctor placed wires into the plastic head as he spoke. "Right. Where do you want to start?"

"Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?" Rose said slowly.

"Yes."

"It's alien."

"Yeah."

"Are you an alien?"

"Yes. Is that all right?" he asked, looking at me as he said it.

"Yeah," Rose and I answered.

"It's called the Tardis, this thing. S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." I glanced at my best friend. The look on her face told me that she had reached her breaking point. As interested as I was in the Doctor, Rose came first. In an attempt to soothe her, hugged her as she started to cry. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us." I glared at his insensitivity. A culture shock? This wouldn't bring her to tears.

"Not everything revolves around you, Doctor," I snapped, causing the man to glance at me.

"Did they kill him?" Rose questioned, trying her best to keep her voice steady. "Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that." I looked at my feet. I hadn't thought of him either. The man was of little significance to me, something that Rose was aware of.

"He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?" Knowing how Rose got when she was angry, I released my hold on her and took a few steps away from her, giving her some space. "And now you're just going to let him melt?"

"Melt?" the Doctor asked confused.

I nodded and pointed to the console. "The head's melting on the console, Doctor."

The Doctor turned back to the console. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Seeming to be in a rush, he began to press buttons and the thing in the middle began to move, well, the rotor did. The ship also made a noise, one I wasn't quite sure it was supposed to make, but said nothing about. It wasn't my spaceship.

"What are you doing?"

"Following the signal. It's fading." The Doctor ran around the console, stopping only to press more buttons. As the box violently shook, Rose and I latched onto the beams to keep ourselves from falling. "Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!" The shaking stopped and the Doctor ran out of the Tardis.

"You can't go out there. It's not safe," Rose said before running after him, pulling me along with her. It was an annoying habit of hers.

Pulling my hand from Rose's, I took in my surroundings, noticing we were in Westminster, on the north bank of the Thames next to the RAF monument. I was amazed that we had actually moved, not that I really doubted the man. Sighing, the Doctor walked towards the concrete gate. "I lost the signal, I got so close."

"We've moved. Does it fly?"

"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand," the man said dismissively.

"So basically materialization. Wouldn't it be controlled by a dematerialization circuit? It'd have to be. In order to do so. Am I right?" I asked. The Doctor's expression showed utter disbelief. I shyly smiled, not really liking that I had his full attention. My brain was filled with useless (or not so useless) information and there were times where my mouth spewed information before I could register that I'd begun speaking. It was something I was working on.

"How…"

"I took a course."

"Right, so if we're somewhere else, what about the headless thing? It's still on the loose," Rose questioned.

Thankfully, he turned away from me. "It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?"

"I'll have to tell his mother." Rose looked at me before glancing at the Doctor. Seeing his confused expression, she blew up on the man, again. "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."

"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"

"Yeah, he's not a kid," Rose interrupted.

The Doctor went on as if he hadn't heard her. "It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, alright?"

"All right!" He looked at me, waiting for my answer.

"Did I say anything?" He rolled his eyes but seemed to take my answer for what it was. Honestly, I didn't understand why he'd even question me about the things Rose was riled up about. Unlike her, I was taking things in stride, making little comments here and there, but really just observing it all.

"Yes, it is!"

"If you are an alien, why do you sound like you're from the North?" I asked trying to diffuse the tension. It was also to sate my curiosity with the man. He hadn't revealed much, even if he spent most of the time talking.

"Lots of planets have a north."

"What's a police public call box?"

I answered before the Doctor had a chance. "It's a telephone box from the 50's, Rose." He turned to face us, touching it fondly and smiling. I remembered reading about them when I was younger, during a time where I spent most of my free time with my nose in a book.

"It's a disguise," the Doctor finished. Rose and I smiled at his reaction. It was obvious that he loved his ship, even the disguise it took.

"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." He came and stood by us, going on the entire time. "Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!" He explained, moving his hands as if he were eating.

"Okay, so is there any way to stop it?" I asked.

The Doctor held up a tube with blue liquid in it. "Anti-plastic."

"Anti-plastic?" Rose repeated.

"Is she always this daft?" he asked me. I looked away, not wanting to get into it, although I did let out a small chuckle. "Yes, anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" He walked off, returning to the gate.

"Hold on, hide what?"

He faced us and walked back towards the Tardis. "The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?"

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London." I glanced at him, looking across the water at the London Eye, and then turning to face them. "A huge circular metal structure like dish, like a wheel." Rose caught my eye and we both returned our gaze to the London Eye. "Close to where we're standing." He had walked past the Tardis and stood by a metal fence. Rose and I followed, me going along with him and Rose a bit confused. "Must be completely invisible." The Doctor looked at us confused. We weren't looking at him, well I wasn't. Rose had a mocking smirk on her face. "What is it? What?" He turned and looked towards the Eye and then back at us. "What?" The Doctor finally caught on to what we were looking at. "Oh. Fantastic!" A big silly grin came upon his face as he grabbed our hands and pulled us across the Westminster Bridge. Getting to the end, we stopped, giving Rose and me time to regain our breaths. "Think about it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The window shop dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables."

"The breast implants," Rose and I said in unison, earning a chuckle from the man.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

I walked away from them, really heading to the stairs to sit but I found a manhole at the bottom of the small staircase. "What about down here?" I called.

Rose and the Doctor shortly joined me, the latter looking around a bit. "Looks good to me." He removed the cover to reveal a red light. We climbed down a short ladder into a brick-built area with a lot of chains. The Doctor looked around a bit before going to the door and checking it. Going through a door, we went down another flight of stairs and found ourselves in a multi-level chamber. "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go," Rose whispered. She was always a shoot first ask later kind of person. It was a trait that used to get her into trouble when we were kids.

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." The Doctor said solidly before he walked down to a catwalk that overlooked the vat which held the alien. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." I watched as the thing moved and made some sort of growling noise. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?" I couldn't help but wonder how he knew what it was saying.

I watched the Doctor, barely paying attention to my best friend. When I glanced back at her, I found her talking to Mickey, who was clinging to her waist like a child. He had survived after all; I guess they needed him to keep the copy going. The Doctor only confirmed my thought after Rose had brought it to his attention.

"You knew that and never said?" Rose asked slightly upset.

He walked towards her with me following closely behind. "Can we keep the domestics outside?" He continued to make his way down metal stairs. Rose looked at me and helped Mickey up. I glanced at her and shrugged, leaving her and the boyfriend on the platform. I had no desire to coddle the grown man, even if he had been kidnapped. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" It moved and groaned. "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?" I backed away slightly as a face formed in the plastic and it made more noise. The Doctor, however, didn't seem phased at all. "Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The plastic continued to make noise, splashing over the sides of the tub. "I am talking!" The Doctor yelled. The Nestene Consciousness quieted. "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 called out to us just as I felt hands latch onto my arms. Looking back, I saw the hands belonged to shop dummies. Two grabbed onto the Doctor as well, one procuring the vial of anti-plastic from his pocket. He struggled against their hold. "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." The Doctor continued to struggle, to no avail. The Nestene Consciousness grumbled and screeched. "What do you mean?" the Doctor asked. His face contorted when a door slid open to reveal the TARDIS. "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 watched the Doctor attempt to explain himself to the creature. Tears fell from my eyes as I watched his struggle. Whatever they were talking about, deeply affected him. "I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"

"What is it doing? What's going on, minus the fact that they are holding me and you hostage and all?" I quietly asked.

"It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going into the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!" He yelled at her before turning to me. "I'm sorry, Cerys. I'm so sorry." I shrugged, not daring to express how scared I truly was. Although I didn't let the fear show, I knew I was shaking. It wasn't that I feared death, but more so that my choice had been taken away. I wanted to choose when my time came, not some liquid plastic alien in a bin. As streaks of electricity moved up to the ceiling, I jumped, not expecting it at all. "It's the activation signal. It's transmitting."

I noticed that the plastic was becoming more and more agitated. The Doctor was still yelling for Rose to run, struggling a bit more against the plastic dummy. Much to our dismay, the stairs had collapsed as Mickey and Rose moved to leave. The living shop dummies pushed me towards the vat, setting me next to the Doctor. Rose and Mickey ran to the Tardis and once reaching, Rose tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. "I haven't got the key!"

"We're going to die!" Mickey cried after her. Rose started to look around, mostly looking for a way to get out. I watched her curiously as she did so.

"No!" The Doctor turned to her, an apologetic expression on his face. They stared at each other for a moment before he turned away.

Then I heard it, the voice the Doctor had been speaking to the entire time utter two words, "Time Lord." The words resonated with me in a way incomparable to none. The dam broke and tears flowed nonstop from my eyes. I clenched them shut, feeling a furious pounding on my mind. Pushing back the pain, I opened my eyes and glanced back at Rose who watched us, scared and curious. Mickey had yelled at her to leave us but it was Rose. She would never leave, at least she wouldn't leave me. She stood up and ran around the area.

I watched as she mumbled to herself before she grabbed an axe. "But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastics team. I've got the bronze!" She hacked at the metal, grabbing the chain on the wall firmly. She ran and swung along the side of the catwalk, kicking the plastic men holding the Doctor. It wasn't enough to hurt them but the Doctor flipped the one behind him over and into the Consciousness. The one holding the anti-plastic was kicked into the vat. The Nestene Consciousness, in all its fiery glory, screeched as it began to turn blue. The creatures holding me let go and stopped moving.

"Rose! The Doctor said as he grabbed her as she swung back to us. "Are you alright Cerys? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine."

He opened his mouth to say something but swiftly closed it as a deep rumble sounded in the room. "Now we're in trouble." He smiled. There was a small silence before we ran to the Tardis. The pipes had started to explode as the signal was lost and relayed back to the Consciousness. Mickey hugged the poor machine for his dear life. While the Doctor didn't pay much attention, I rolled my eyes at the man. He was a coward. Mickey did nothing but get copied and huddle in a corner during the danger. When the door was unlocked, we all piled in, Mickey first. After another explosion, we were soon on our way out of the sewer. Soon the Doctor told us that it was alright to exit.

The moment we left the Tardis, Rose phoned her mother. We were on the Embankment by a row of shuttered kiosks. Glad to be above ground, I sat on one of the wooden crates that littered the area. Mickey raced out of the ship, terrified by what he had just seen. Rose hung up after a while, not getting an answer. She went over to Mickey who was hiding behind a wooden crate. I leaned against the Tardis while the Doctor stayed in the doorway.

"Fat lot of good you were." Rose ran over to Mickey, attempting to get him onto his feet.

"Nestene Consciousness? Easy." The Doctor snapped his fingers as emphasis.

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

"Yes, I would. Thank you." He glanced down for a moment, seeming to think of something. "Right then, I'll be off, unless, 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." He smirked.

"Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing!"

I rolled my eyes. "You know Mickey, that isn't very nice. This man just saved your stupid life. Now shut it before I shut it for you." Mickey glared at me before cowering under my angry gaze. He had been on the receiving end of my anger more than once and he was well aware how bad I could get.

"He's not invited. What do you think?" He gave an opportunity for an answer. "You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere." I'd started to perk up but grew sullen at the realisation that he was asking Rose, not me. I guess it made sense, she did end up saving both of us; I was just the damsel in distress.

"Is it always this dangerous?"

"Yeah." At that Mickey wrapped himself around Rose. It was like watching a child who didn't want to let go of his mother. But he wasn't a child. Mickey Smith was a grown man and an embarrassment.

"Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go find my mum and Cerys needs me. Besides, someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so..."

"What do you mean Cerys needs you? I was asking her too." I looked at him, eyes wide, and then at Rose. I wanted to go and she saw it. I walked towards her, engulfing her in a hug. There was no way I was going to give up such an opportunity and she wouldn't ask me to.

"Go on. Have the time of your life. You deserve it, Cer," she whispered, bringing tears to my eyes. I turned and walked back to the Doctor.

"One out of two isn't bad. See you around Rose Tyler." We walked into the Tardis. I sat on the lone chair and watched him move around the console, mesmerized by it all. The noise was the best part, even if it probably wasn't supposed to be. "Oh, wait. I forgot to tell her something. How could I forget?" He stopped and pressed more buttons. When the noise stopped, he went through the door. I waited for a bit and watched as he came back inside. The Doctor smiled at me as he went back to the console, waiting. I glanced at him, confused until a minute later, my best friend entered the Tardis. The smile on my face only grew with her arrival. We were off to explore the wonders of space.