Chapter Three

"And so the next van I jumped into contained a couple of nudists."

Rose stared at the Doctor in shock as the four of them headed towards Rose's home.

"No way. They were nude?"

"Completely. Mind you, I got out of there as quick as I could." The Doctor replied.

"You never told me you saw nudists." Martha said looking back at him.

The Doctor shrugged.

"You never asked."

Martha rolled her eyes and went back to her conversation with Mickey.

"It all sounds so wonderful. I wish I could have been there with ya." Rose said wistfully.

"Me too." He said squeezing her hand.

"So then what?"

"Well, then I kept on going and…"

Martha looked back at the Doctor and Rose as he was telling her what had happened to them on New Earth. She looked at the Doctor's face and saw the huge grin he had and the twinkle in his eyes. She had never seen him look so alive. And the way he stared at Rose filled her with envy. She wished someone would look at her the way the Doctor was looking at Rose.

"Novice Haim? She survived?" Rose said to the Doctor.

"Yeah, and it turns out she had been looking after the Face of Boe as penance for the research lab."

"Oh! How was he?"

The Doctor paused and Martha saw his eyes mist over.

"He's…dead." He said quietly. "He gave his life saving New New York."

"Oh God, Doctor, I'm so sorry." Rose said, squeezing his hand.

He squeezed back.

"He told me his secret before he died just like he promised." He said.

"What was his secret?"

He looked at her.

"He said "You are not alone.""

Rose stared at him.

"What? What does that mean? More of your people? They survived?"

"Well, yes, I didn't want to believe it at first because like I told you, I would know it if they were alive. But it turns out…"

"Still likes to talk, I see."

Martha focused her attention back on Mickey.

"Yeah, well, I got used to it." She said to him.

"So, where'd he find you?"

"Um…I was an intern at a hospital and the Doctor had registered as a patient because a Plasmavore was hiding there and he was trying to find it."

"A what?"

"A Plasmavore. It's this creature that sucks blood like a vampire."

Mickey shook his head.

"I'm so glad I stopped traveling with the Doctor. I had my fill after bat creatures and clockwork men and Cybermen and Daleks."

"I saw the Daleks too. Back in 1930's New York. They were trying to mutate into human form."

Mickey's eyes widened.

"No kidding? What'd they look like."

"Um…a human body with an ugly squid head."

"Glad I missed that too."

"Tell em about the pig slaves, Martha!" the Doctor said.

Martha looked back at him and grinned.

"Pig slaves? What?" Mickey said confused.

"Well," Martha said. "The Daleks kidnapped humans and were transforming them into pig slaves so they would do their bidding and…"

"Pig slaves?" Rose asked him.

"Yeah, pig slaves. They even tried to change this guy named Lazlo into one. They almost succeeded but he got away before they could alter his mind and he ended up helping me. He was a pretty nice chap. It was a shame that he ended up with a pig face."

"Why pigs though?"

The Doctor shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe it's how the Daleks view the human race? You're all a bunch of pigs? Other than that, I haven't the slightest idea."

"The Daleks are weird."

"You're telling me? I've been dealing with them for over 800 years. I think I found that out a long time ago." He said poking her in the ribs.

"You never change, you know that?" she said, poking him back.

"I do too change. Why you think I look different now." He said returning the poke.

Rose grinned as she smacked him on the back of the head.

"Oh, now that's goin' a bit too far, Rose Tyler." The Doctor said. "I think the proper response to that is to tickle you until you can't breathe anymore."

Rose's eyes widened and she backed away from him.

"No, you don't tickle me! You hear? Doctor, I'm warning you. I'm warning….Aaaah!"

Martha and Mickey watched as Rose ran past them followed by the Doctor.

"Get back here, Tyler, and get what's comin' to ya!" the Doctor yelled as he chased her down the sidewalk.

They stopped and watched as the Doctor seized her from behind and began to tickle her armpits furiously. Both of them fell to the sidewalk laughing hysterically as people hurried to get around them.

"Out of his bleedin' mind, he is." Mickey muttered.

Martha said nothing. She smiled as she watched the Doctor being happy and playful and thinking that coming to the alternate universe was the best idea he ever had.