Chapter 12 the arrival

The two men settled her on the floor right in front of the computer so it could scan her. Then Mr Smith's screen went from the normal screen saver to some sort of futuristic scanning system. Scanning her body from head to toe a green light covered Romana in every inch. Then up on the screen a 3D hologram of Romana's body appeared in grid format and lots of text appeared next to it. Luckily Mr Smith was there to decipher it.

"Her body temperature is way above average and she seems to have some form of gas surrounding her body" the computer translated.

"Thank you Mr Smith that's all for now" Sarah nodded.

"But wait there's more" Mr Smith added. Everyone turned to look at Mr Smith as he now was the centre of attention.

"There's unknown activity going on in her brain. It seems that something is trying to enter the real world through her troughs".

"What, of course they would" John belted. Then every head turned to John.

"Rose they found us, we have to move on" said John.

"Wait a minute; you're not going anywhere so whoever they are we can fight them" Sarah – Jane spoke up.

"No you don't understand if they get Rouen then they'll feed on her so they live forever" John said.

"Who are they anyway?" asked Jack.

"Their called the family of blood. They used to raise through time and back looking for time lord's, until I well he trapped them in prisons they wasn't suppose to escape from. But somehow they got a hold of Rouen's troughs and psychically channelled her through her dreams to release them" said John. Martha's face fell as John told his story as she had seen what they could do.

As the others joined in on the narrative Rose felt alone and left out. She had been forgotten by the rest of her friends and decided she'd had enough. With that she left the attic and grabbed her coat to go out the door into the cold December night. She closed the door lightly so no one could hear her leave. Her boot left a print in the snow and the crunching sound make her giggle. She thought of her times here as a child with her friends and the thought of Christmas made them all cheer. Lost in memory she'd forgotten why she had departed from the house. But she still went on under the lamp lit street. Not a thing could be heard accept for the crunch of snow under her shoes. Her travels brought her into the centre of London where the shops bustled with people and the Christmas sales caught eyes from a mile away. Another memory hit her as she used to come here with her friends and shop until they dropped to the floor and their purses were as dry as deserts. The mere thought brought a smile back to her face and a light deep inside and to shine brightly and fell like a fire for the warmth. But the light like fire was extinguished when she thought about what happened afterwards. Her job was destroyed and her life changed forever as she had met that one man that changed her life forever. She was too lost in thought to notice a disturbed figure watching her from behind. He studied her every move and monitored her expressions. He tucked his hands in his pockets casually and made sure his jacket didn't get in the way. Getting bored he decided to move his foot to the side blowing his cover. As Rose turned around all she saw was the figure of a man half cloaked by the light of the tall lamp.

He slid to the side to get his silhouette out of the light but Rose was too quick on her feet to let him get away. As he ran he was focused on not letting the blond haired woman see his face. But Rose was smart and followed the foot prints until the man's way was blocked by a wrong turn. Forced to give up he held up his hands in surrender. He turned round slowly to face her. Then Rose got a close look at her stalker. His brown hair was flicked out of the way of his face and his brown eyes filled with sympathy while staring upon her fair face. It was like he knew her but Rose had never seen him before in her life. His red bow tie fastened tightly around his neck and tweed jacket hung loosely unfastened.

"Do I know you?" Rose asked quietly. His mouth opened but then closed again as he couldn't force out the words he wanted to say.

Sarah – Jane's attic turned colder as the night continued to drift away. Martha pulled her coat around her tightly to keep in the warmth of her body. Jack's Second World War coat kept in the heat of his body any way. Romana hadn't moved from where Jack and John had placed her. Her breaths were steady and the robotic dog K-9 never left her side. Suddenly John turned his head to where Rose had been placed and noticed something was wrong. Rose was gone and no one had even heard her go. But where was she? Was she in trouble? Did she think they had neglected her? All very good questions which no one could answer at that moment in time. This caused a stir and the crowd emptied out of the attic like water gushing out. Once things had fallen silent Mr Smith scanned Romana once more to check his readings were clear. She was no longer the centre of attention; everyone had abandoned her for Rose. Not that she cared. She was half asleep, so how would she know?

Still stood in the alley way Rose and the stranger still stood in duelling positions. He had now lowered his hands and opened and closed his mouth wanting to say the words on the tip of his tongue. Finally he got out the words,

"Rose I don't know what to say or where to begin".

"Well firstly you can tell me who you are and why you are following me?" Rose said distempered. The man cupped his hands over his face ready to admit everything.

"Well I was wondering what you were doing here so I followed you all the way from Sarah – Jane's house and I just wanted to see you, after all it's been a long time". Rose looked at him with eyes of perplexion, her face puzzled. She could not figure out whom the strange man was or if she had seen him before in her life, which she hadn't. He now preceded slowly forward, his arms raised still in surrender. Something about the way he walked reminded her of somebody, but whom? He was now at her face, their heights matched and she could feel his warm breaths on her face. Then he grabbed a hold of her hand and placed it on his chest. There she could feel the beating of his heart and slowly moved it over to the other side and then felt the same again. Without him opening his mouth she flung her arms around him and whispered

"Long time no see".

Romana's eyes fluttered and a brilliant green was revealed. K-9's tail began to wag and Mr Smith awoke in all the noise. She slowly dragged her hand over to her head and placed her fingers on her temple and rubbed.

"Good evening mistress Romana" K-9 transferred.

"Your recovery is going swiftly" another voice said in the background.

"Where am I?" said a faint voice. Romana dragged her body off the floor and looked around the room. The bare brick walls glowed red and the giant computer in the wall put her off a little.

"You are in the attic of Sarah – Jane's house mistress" said K-9. Mr Smith previewed her scan results from earlier showing how she was doing.

"These show that your body temperature has returned to normal but the activity in your head is still continuing" said Mr Smith. Romana looked closely at the results concentrating on the top of her hologramic head.

"Its them again I have to tell everyone, wait where are they?" asked Romana.

"They went out looking for Mistress Rose" said K-9 his head nodding.

In the busy town centre of London the streets were still full of excited shoppers. The gang had stuck together to not get separated. The search for Rose continued after battling the now heavy falling snow. The sky had now gone from the beautiful dark blue to a murky black. Purple lightening covered the sky and flashed before the eyes of the bewildered shoppers. Then chaos broke out as the scared people ran in doors and the metal barricades came down and blocked the view from outside. The group looked up to search the skies for any signs of answers. The Doctor and Rose also grew suspicious as they stared at the strange clouds. They began to run towards the centre of town where the others were trapped in the never ending crowds of scared citizens. Romana broke down on the floor holding her head. The company of the robots had become daunting. They couldn't do anything as she cried holding her head. Suddenly the lightening in the centre of town angered. Martha hid behind Jack as the sound of the thunder grew louder. A giant tornado ripped apart the atmosphere as it crashed in front of the group. The raging winds tore bench's and trees out of the ground. The friends looked in fear as they could see the vague silhouettes of people at the bottom. Martha cringed as she recognised one simple shape of a balloon and a girl no older than ten holding it. They had arrived. They had taken control of the sky and now they could do what they liked with it.

The Doctor and Rose arrived on the scene. Rose's eyes widened as she gazed upon what was once a peaceful street that had now been turned into waste land due to the shredding winds of the tornado. Then she saw how close all of her friends were.

"Hey get away from there" she yelled at the top of her voice. She tried to run to them but The Doctor then pulled her back.

"Rose it's too dangerous!" he yelled, his voice although shouting was calm. Then he shouted Sarah – Jane who turned around to see the both of them waving to come over to them. Sarah dragged the rest of them away to safety. Romana got her head on straight and headed for the door.

"Where are you going mistress?" asked K-9, who positioned his head to the side.

"I have to find them or they could all get killed because of me" she said in a stern tone.

"Good luck Romana" Mr Smith said. Romana nodded and headed for the front door.