Chapter one

He lay silently in Roses old bedroom with a cold cloth on his head.

Rose sat on the floor beneath the bed while she attempted to unscramble her brain. Her mother would have a shock when she got home.

The TARDIS had materialized right in the middle of Jackie's bedroom, destroying part of the ceiling in the proses.

Rose had no idea what she was supposed to do. She dropped her head into her hands and caught back her breath after having to drag the Doctor from deep inside the TARDIS to her bedroom where he was safe.

But this wasn't her Doctor. This man was now a stranger, a stranger who would know who she was when he woke up but she would have no idea who she was to him or what he would remember about her. He would be completely human.

Her head shot up when her heard her mothers key in the door.

"Rose?" she called from the hallway.

"how the hell..?" Rose said to herself. She stood up and started to walk out.

She bumped into Jackie who was just outside the door, carrying handfuls of plastic shopping bags.

"There you are darling" she said, casually handing Rose the bags. She walked to the kitchen and Rose followed.

"how is he then?" asked Jackie, while poring water into the kettle. "good cuppa'tea, thats what you need. You look a bloody mess! I bet he's 'ad you draggin him around all over the place" she laughed.

Rose stood there for a moment and then dropped the heavy shopping bags in the counter with a thud.

"Mum, how did you know we would be here?" she asked suspiciously in a slightly hushed tone.

Jackie laughed. "well you two bloody told me didn't you" she continued to pull items out of the bags and put them away. "you're in for a treat, three months of looking after him!" her voice quickly dropped into 'gossip mode' as she went on "Ohhhh you'll never guess what Sharron told me the other day, that naighbor of 'ers is a right nosey cow"

"Mum." Roses hands were up in the air in attempt to get her mother to stop talking. "Just stop for a second.. what? What do you mean 'we told you'? What did we tell you? When did we tell you?"

Jackie let out a large breath and handed Rose a hot mug of tea. They continued to the living room where she began to explain.

"well, a couple of weeks ago you an him turned up at my front door. I thought it was just your average visit but you started going on about some monsters or something that would be after you. You gave me a massive wod of cash and a credit card and told me to go out a but a nice flat somewhere!"

Rose was listening intently and nodded.

"okay, what else did we tell you?" she asked.

"Well, you gave me this little box. You told me not to open it until today, when you were here. 'told me to give it straight to you." she got up and picked up a brown cardboard box from the windowsill and placed it on Roses lap. She put her tea on the coffee table and inspected it.

Her mother was giving her a strange look, with her lips to the side and eyebrows raised.

"what?" demanded Rose, catching her mothers gaze.

"I don't think you're going to like whatever's in there, love"