A/N: I do not own anything relating to Doctor Who. I only own the ideas of my OC. Here is the last chapter of Rose. Let me know in a review if you would like longer or shorter chapters. I'm still on the fence about it. I won't be able to update for a little bit so I added two chapters today. Reviews are lovely. Enjoy.
He waked outside. Through the doorway I could see that we were no longer in the alley behind the restaurant. I gave Rose an encouraging squeeze on her shoulder and we walked after the Doctor. When we walked outside we looked around. We were on the north back of the Thames right next to the RAF monument.
"I lost the signal, I got so close." The Doctor pouted, looking like a put out child.
"We moved." Rose pointed out.
"Does it fly?" I asked, curious as to how we moved so far so quickly.
"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." He muttered.
"Rude again. Who's to say we wouldn't understand? I only asked if it flew. You could simply say dematerialize. We're not stupid." I snapped.
"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose." Rose asked, before the Doctor could respond to my outburst.
"It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?" He asked with an aggravated tone. I frowned at him.
"I'll have to tell his mother." The Doctor gave her a confused look. I realized that once again, we had forgotten about Mickey. I felt even more guilty at forgetting him. I got annoyed with him, but I didn't want anything bad to happen to him. "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. And don't think I didn't notice you forgot about him as well Nix!" She snapped.
"I'm sorry alright. You know my mind wanders and I get distracted easily." I tried to excuse my actions. Before she could yell at me more, the Doctor spoke up.
"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-" He started.
"He's not a kid." She snapped.
"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?" He snapped back.
"All right." Rose yelled.
"Yes, it is!" He yelled back. My head was aching from all the yelling.
"Enough! This yelling isn't helping anything. It's just giving me a monumental migraine. Rose, I get that you're upset but yelling at him is not going to fix anything. And Doctor, you are being exceptionally rude and inconsiderate. Now if you two would stop, I would be eternally grateful." I growled at them. They looked shocked. Rose shrank back a little from me and decided to change the subject. She turned to the Doctor.
"If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?" She asked.
"Really?" I muttered.
"Lots of planets have a north." The Doctor replied passively.
"What's a police public call box?" She asked.
"Telephone box from the 50's." I added, remembering seeing them on old television shows that I watched when bored.
"It's a disguise." The Doctor added. "How did you know?" He asked me.
"Television." I said simply while shrugging.
"She watches a lot of old shows." Rose added. "Anyway. This living plastic, what's it got against us?" She questioned, voicing both of our curiosity.
"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 explained with a strange enthusiasm. The word war made me shudder. I had always hated wars. Something about the killing and destruction. I saw flashes of fires and explosions. The sounds of screams filled my ears. I don't remember watching any movies or shows that were about war, I actively avoided them, but I must have seen something bad for me to react so badly. I tried to subtly shake off the bad feeling. Luckily neither the Doctor nor Rose were watching me.
"Any way of stopping this?" Rose asked.
"Anti-plastic." The Doctor explained, puling a tube of blue liquid out of his jacket.
"Anti-plastic?" She questioned.
"Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" He thought out loud.
"Hide what?" I asked, getting a little tired of his vague questioning.
"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boos the signal." He explained as if it was obvious.
"What's it look like?" Rose asked.
"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." He rambled on. Rose and I both looked behind him then at each other. I gave her a nod. Directly behind him, across the river, stood the London Eye. The Doctor noticed us looking at something so he turned around.
"What?" He asked. He looked back behind him again and then back to us. "What?" I rolled my eyes. Rose crossed her arms. "What? What is it?" I pointed at the London Eye to help him along. "Oh! Fantastic!"
"Took you long enough. Strange man." I muttered, barely audible. He gave me a questioning look. I shrugged. He looked at us both and held out a hand for each of us to take. We smiled at each other and took his hands before running across Westminster Bridge toward the London Eye. For the first time since the restaurant, Rose looked happy which made me happy as well. We finally made it to 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-" The Doctor began.
"The breast implants." Rose completed. I tried to stifle the laugh at attacking breast implants.
"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." He thought aloud again. We started looking around. Rose and I went to a small wall near the river. There was a manhole entrance down some stairs.
"What about down there?" I asked. The Doctor came over to see what we were looking at. His face lit up with a smile.
"Looks good to me." He beamed. We ran down the stairs as fast as we could. It was surprising that all this running hadn't taken its toll on my body just yet. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline rush. When we reached the hatch, the Doctor opened it revealing a red lit tunnel.
"After you." I told the Doctor, not knowing what we were going into and figuring he would better know how to handle things. He nodded and climbed down the ladder. Rose followed with me behind her. We walked through a tunnel an door that led to a large chamber. There were chains hanging everywhere. In the center of the chamber was a large vat with a gelatinous substance moving around.
"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature." The Doctor explained. I stared at the mass that was evidently a creature.
"Well, then. Just tip in your anti-plastic and let's go." Rose stated. I looked at her strangely. She had never been one to just attack first. That was usually my way of doing things.
"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." The Doctor explained. He walked down a catwalk that overlooked the vat. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." He called out. The Consciousness seemed to answer him in a way that he understood. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?" Again the Consciousness made some kind of response. Rose suddenly noticed something and began running. I followed her with my eyes to see Mickey cowering on a lower level. I was glad to see that he was alright.
"Oh God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's alright." She comforted him. I followed the Doctor as we made our way down toward her. Mickey was scared out of his wits. He was drenched in sweat. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or from the warmth of the room we were in. More than likely, it was a mixture of the two.
"That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" He muttered feverishly. Rose tried to comfort him.
"You're stinking." She commented before turning to the Doctor. "Doctor, they kept him alive." She was visibly excited and relieved.
"Yeah. That was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." He explained nonchalantly, acting as though we should have known that possibility. I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"You knew that and never said?" She shrieked.
"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" He replied.
"Rude again." I piped up. He turned to look at me.
"Why do you keep saying that?" He asked.
"Just want to remind you. Maybe you'll learn and become a bit more personable." I replied knowing well that my attitude was evident in my tone. He stared at me for a minute before shrugging and continuing down the stairs, closer to the vat.
"Am I addressing the Consciousness? 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?" He asked. I covered my mouth to hide a smile. The smile quickly faded when a face formed in the vat. It unnerved me. The Consciousness made a noise and the Doctor continued speaking. "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." He was now pleading with the creature. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some mannequins moving toward the Doctor.
"Doctor! Watch out!" I called out, but I was too late. Two mannequins grabbed the Doctor and held him tight. One of them reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the blue vial of anti-plastic. The Consciousness seemed alarmed. I didn't blame it.
"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." He pleaded. The Consciousness made another loud noise. It sounded frightened, if roars could sound frightened. "What do you mean?" He asked. A door on a platform above him opened, revealing the Tardis.
"What's going on?" Mickey asked.
"Hush." I snapped. I wasn't sure why I was being so rude, but I was trying to think of what to do. Every time I was deep in thought I would snap at anyone who interrupted my thoughts. I turned back to the Doctor.
"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!" The Doctor cried out, pain echoing in his voice. Once again the images and sounds of war invaded my mind. I popped my neck, trying to rid the images. The images of a city burning. People in robes running and screaming. Creatures of nightmares killing innocent people and children.
"What's it doing?!" Rose yelled. Her voice brought me out of my darkened thoughts. I looked over to see the Consciousness quaking.
"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, Phoenix! Just leg it now!" He yelled at us. Rose puled out her phone and dialed a number.
"Mum? Where are you, mum? No, go home! Just go home right now!" She looked at the phone. "Mum! Mum!" She looked at the phone again, evidently Jackie had hung up on her.
"Where is she?" I asked, worried about her.
"Shopping." She replied in a panic.
"Of all times!" I growled. Suddenly the room started shaking. Bolts of energy shot through the room and into the ceiling.
"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!" The Doctor yelled at us.
"It's the end of the world." Rose cried. I gave her shoulder a squeeze, trying to reassure myself as well as her. I was older, it was my job to keep her safe.
"It's not. We'll find a way. Just trust me. We'll figure it out." I said, my tone betraying my own words.
"Get out, Phoenix, Rose! Just get out! Run!" The Doctor yelled at us. Rose looked around.
"The stairs have gone." She cried out. The mannequins tried getting the Doctor closer to the vat. Rose, Mickey, and I ran over to the Tardis. "I haven't got the key!" She cried as she tried to open the door.
"We're going to die!" Mickey cried.
"You're not helping!" I growled at him. He cowered even lower. Rose and I looked around for something to help.
"No!" The Doctor called out.
"Time Lord." I heard the Nestene Consciousness say. It was the first time I could understand it. I paused and stared at the Doctor.
"Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!" Mickey cried.
"Will you just SHUT UP!" I yelled at him. Rose pointed at a chain that was hanging on the wall. I nodded. "Keep him quiet." I pointed at Mickey. She nodded. I grabbed an ax off the wall near the chain. "I've got no job, no future, no education. Let's just hope I remember how to do this." I chopped the rope holding back the chain. The chain dropped into my hands. Taking a deep breath, I backed up and ran off the platform. I swung through the air and was able to kick the mannequin with the anti-plastic into the vat. The Doctor was able to toss the other in as well. The once golden liquid started turning blue. I could hear it screaming.
"Phoenix!" The Doctor called as I swung back toward him. He caught me and helped me stand. Suddenly the room started shaking even more. Explosions started going off all over. "Now we're in trouble." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up to where Mickey and Rose were still sitting, by the Tardis. I was silent, not able to block out the screams of the Nestene Consciousness. The Doctor unlocked the door and pulled me inside. The other two followed quickly. He let go of my hand and started messing with the console. I sat on the floor as he put the Tardis in flight. Finally the sounds of screaming stopped. When we landed, Mickey ran out. Rose followed slowly, pulling out her phone. I slowly stood up. "Are you alright?" The Doctor asked me, as I stood.
"Yeah. Flight is a bit rocky. It's safer to sit down." I lied and forced a chuckle. He gave me a questioning look but I smiled and walked out of the Tardis to check on Mickey and Rose. Mickey was crouched on the ground near a pallet. Rose had walked over to him. I stood off to the side. The Doctor stayed in the doorway of the Tardis.
"Fat lot of good you were." Rose jabbed at the Doctor.
"Nestene Consciousness? Easy." He snapped his fingers.
"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for Nix." She added.
"Yes. I would." He turned to me. "Thank you."
"Welcome. Honestly, it was more luck than anything." I joked.
"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." He added, a bit of hope in his voice. Since I wasn't looking at him, I figured he was just talking to Rose.
"Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing." Mickey cried.
"Oh great, now you're being rude." I grumbled.
"He's not invited. What do you think? You two could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere." I looked over at him, realizing he was inviting the both of us.
"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked.
"Yeah." He admitted. Rose looked at me. It was an unspoken conversation. Over the years I had told her my dreams of traveling, but I didn't want to leave her and Jackie behind.
"Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump." She gestured to Mickey. The Doctor turned to me.
"And you?" He asked.
"Give me a sec to talk to Rose." He nodded. I walked over to her.
"Go. I know you want to. You deserve it. You've helped us out a lot over the years." She smiled.
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yes. Go." She seemed sad but she really did genuinely seem to want me to go. I hugged her and walked over to the Doctor. He smiled. I walked past him and into the Tardis.
"See you around." He smiled and closed the door. He moved to the console.
"You know, if you tell her it travels in time, she'll come running." I offered.
"How did you know?" He questioned.
"TIME and relative dimension in space. Not hard to work out." I teased. He smiled and we landed again. He went to the door, peaking out.
"By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?" He asked.
"Thanks." I heard Rose say.
"For what?" Mickey responded.
"Exactly." She replied and quickly ran into the Tardis. She quickly ran up and hugged me. I beamed. The Doctor smiled as he walked past us.
"Told you so." I smiled.