Something told me we'd be happy forever
 Don't see how this could change any of that

The day has been a rousing success by the Doctor's standards. Most everyone at the studio had a complaint of some kind, and most everyone there thought the plan was doomed to failure.

"Mind you, they may be right," he confides to Rose as they get in the car to go meet Sally. "But at least we'll have tried."

Rose pauses before turning the key in the ignition. "You don't really mean that."

"No?"

"No. This is going to work."

He nods. "It just might."

"Any idea who might be behind this?" she asks as they drive out of the studio's car park and hit the motorway.

He sighs. It's very hard for him to admit that he's wrong, or not as clever as he thinks. "Not yet. But it's only the first day."

Rose nods. "Are you sure you want to go out tonight? It's been a long day."

"This movie business might take a while. We have the time now, let's go."

"Fine. There goes the evening."

"It won't take long," he disagrees.

"No," Rose agrees. "Not the way you look at houses."

"What's that mean?" he asks, looking over at her.

She's almost sorry she's spoken, but she keeps going, almost against her will. "You haven't liked any of the houses we've seen, have you? You've just been determined to not like any of them."

"Why would I do that?" he asks.

"Because! Because."

"Because why?"

She looks at him. "I don't know. Why would you act like that?"

He is completely baffled by this. "It was my idea!"

"For the TARDIS!" she throws at him. "We're looking for a house for the TARDIS to grow in!"

"No," he says evenly. "For a safe place for it, yes, but a home for you and me."

"So you say."

"What?"

Rose ignores this, and hit the gas pedal hard. She's braced herself for it, but the Doctor is jolted back in his seat.

"Rose, what's come over you?" He reaches across to touch her arm and she jerks it away.

The Doctor stills, his hand frozen in the air between them. Slowly he lowers it back to his lap.

"Rose?" he asks, much more softly and gently.

"Stop it," Rose says through clenched teeth. She doesn't want him to be kind and gentle.

"What's happened?" Confusion colors his voice. He's much better at dealing with Rose than with other people, but there are moments when she can still confuse and confound him.

"We've been looking and looking at houses, and nothing is right. I think it's a sign that we should stop."

"Stop looking at houses?" he asks incredulously. "But that's what we're supposed to be doing. The Home and Garden Channel recommends viewing twenty-five houses before making a decision."

"Oh, sod the Home and Garden Channel and your late-night viewing!" Rose snaps. "We're not going to find one. This was a huge mistake. We ought to just stay in the flat and be done with it."

His telepathic skills are intermittent and somewhat unreliable. He doesn't need them for this.

"We should just stay in the flat," he repeats.

"Yes." Rose sees the exit for the house they're supposed to look at and takes it, crossing over three lanes of traffic without looking.

"Or maybe you should stay in the flat and I should leave," he continues. "Is that what you've got planned? Or is it that you leave me with that flat and run home to your parents?"

Rose doesn't answer, but her breathing becomes more rapid.

"Rose? Is that what you want? Or is that what you're afraid I'm going to do?"

She doesn't answer as she turns onto the correct street and parks behind Sally's car.

Her silence is inflaming him like no angry response ever could. "I knew you still had abandonment issues, what with your father and Mickey and with him, but this is ridiculous, Rose."

She gets out of the car and slams the door. "Maybe you should think about what you want," she tells him.

He gets out of the car and slams his door shut. "I'm starting to think that what I wanted isn't really what I want," he tells her, and has to stop talking as the doors to Sally's silver Lexus open and two women climb out.

"Hello, there!" Sally shakes both of their hands. She's in a red suit today, with shoes to match and perfectly applied red lipstick. The woman with her is younger, in her thirties, perhaps, and dressed in a yellow suit that compliments her soft brown hair.

"How are you, Sally?" the Doctor manage to ask, forcing a smile that he hopes doesn't look as fake as it feels.

"Oh, very well, Dr. Smith. This is Julie, my assistant."

"Nice to meet you," Rose says.

"So nice to meet you both," Julie says.

"Julie's new," Sally explains. "I've been so busy I needed help."

Rose nods. "Of course. Is this is?" she asks, gesturing to the house.

"Yes. Come on!"

Rose and the Doctor walk side by side behind the two agents. Anyone watching would not look twice or think anything was wrong. Even any lurking photographers, not as common anymore, wouldn't be able to put a negative spin on it. But Rose doesn't reach for his hand. His hands are in his pockets. They don't look at each other.

They walk inside and Rose knows it's not the right house. The walls are dark and the rooms are massive. There is no way she could call this place home. The kitchen looks like something out of a large hotel, not a home.

A man walks into the living room and comes to a halt. He's wearing a cardigan sweater and is about forty years old, overweight and with thinning hair. "Oh, hello, Sally." He frowns at Rose and the Doctor. "What are you doing here? Did we have an appointment?"

"I'm showing the house, Howard." Sally gestures to the man. "This is Howard Long, the owner. Rose and John were just looking around."

Howard Long frowns. "Yes, about that, Sally. You haven't been returning my calls. Can we have a word?"

The Doctor looks around, determined to be positive. It's a terrible place, of course, but if Rose wants him to look, he will.

He maintains this position for all of four minutes, when he starts to cough.

"Goodness," he manages between coughs, "is there a cat here? I'm terribly allergic to cats. Excuse me, won't you?" And he heads for the front door.

Rose narrows her eyes and follows. "I'll be right back," she says to Sally.

"What the hell are you up to?" Rose demands when she steps outside.

He's sitting on the front steps, arms resting on his knees. He looks up at Rose, standing above him, and shrugs.

"Getting some air."

"You're not allergic to anything, let alone cats."

"Well, I don't like cats. Close enough." He stares straight ahead into the street.

Rose stands there for another minute before sitting down beside him.

"What's come over you, Rose?" he asks quietly. "I feel like every new step in our life is some kind of test. That if I don't do what I'm supposed to you'll get angry with me."

"I don't do that."

"Don't you? Then why the outburst in the car earlier?" He nods to their car, parked on the side of the street. "You know the last thing I need is an entire house for the TARDIS. As if I would ever buy a bloody house to grow a TARDIS!"

Rose looks down at her lap. "You were using it as an excuse."

"I used the TARDIS as an excuse. So I could convince you that a house would be nice. I know that you know how I thought. How I used to think," he clarifies. "I've changed, Rose. I may not have been happy to be human, but I am. If this is all the time I have I'm going to make the most of it."

"How can we make the most of the time we have by buying a house?" she whispers. "Going to work every day and having beans on toast at night? Hunting aliens and trying not to get killed. Is this the life you meant for me to have?"

"It's the one we do have. Do you want something else?" he asks carefully. "Something more?"

She doesn't, and that's the great irony. The Rose Tyler who left behind her family and friends to see the universe wants only to stay home and be safe.

"I want what we have," she says finally. "I want what we're gonna have. Maybe it's just that we just don't know yet what that's supposed to be."

He manages to follow this twisted sentence to its conclusion. "There's only one way to be sure of that," he says.

Rose wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I really don't like this house."

"Oh, I hate it," he agrees. "Shall we leave?"

She smiles. "Yeah. I'll go tell Sally."

Before she can stand up he reaches over and draws her against his chest.

"Rose."

"No, don't. I'm sorry. I've been acting so stupid today."

He brushes her hair back from her eyes. "Why?" he asks her tenderly. "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing, love. Really."

He doesn't quite believe her, but he doesn't want to try and read her thoughts without her permission. Giving in for the moment, he gently kisses her cheek. "Come on."

They enter the house through the front door, looking for Sally or Julie. A sound draws their attention to the back of the house. Rose leads the way to a swinging door. Placing a hand on it, she pushes it forward. She takes a step in, and then quickly steps back, bumping into the Doctor.

"Ow!'

"Shh!" She places a hand over his mouth, looking frantically over her shoulder. "Oh, no. Oh, no."

"What? What's wrong?" He looks in the room, above her head. "Oh no. No, no, no."

Julie, the new assistant, is holding onto Howard Long's arms. He is struggling, without success, to free himself. Julie looks young and frail, but she's clearly stronger than she looks.

Coming near Howard Long is Sally, but it's a Sally enveloped in an unearthly glow. As she closes in on Howard, the glow, a sickly yellowish-green in color, touches Howard. He begins to slowly disappear, seeming to evaporate into thin air. A long stream of pale matter materializes where Howard once was, and it's taken in by the glow and taken in by Sally.

The Doctor takes hold of Rose's hand and runs to the door. They don't stop until they're in the car. He takes the keys from Rose's pocket, starts the car, and drives away, all faster than should be possible.

Rose is fighting back dizziness. "She...she ate him," she says, trying to breathe. "She just ate him."

The Doctor is driving at a breakneck speed. "Do you think he didn't want to the sell his house after all?" he asks, appalled. "What if she does that to all her customers who won't cooperate?"

Rose groans at the thought.

"Was she gonna eat us if we didn't buy a house from her?" he continues.

"What is she? What was she doing?"

He finally comes to his senses, Rose's question jolting him out of his shock. The Doctor stops the car at the entrance to the motorway. "I don't know," he says, staring at Rose. "But we have to find out. We have to stop her." Ignoring the angry honks of the other cars surrounding them, he reverses the car and backs out of the motorway, heading back to where they came from.

Two streets over, he throws open the boot of the car and starts rifling through a toolbox. It's materials he's carried around to Torchwood and back home, or to the university for study. Rose has never paid too much attention to it all, except for cursing when it took up space she needed for the shopping.

Ten minutes later, the Doctor nods. "All right. I'll be right back."

She shakes her head. "Where are you going? What is that?"

He holds up the small black device he's built out of the spare parts in the car. "This will let us follow them. Sally and Julie are clearly in it together. We need to follow them back home and find out what's going on."

"But where are you going?"

"The house is right through that gate. I'm going to attach it to their car and be right back."

Rose can't find anything to say. "I'll come with you."

"No, you stay here and wait. As soon as I get back we have to leave in case they're looking for us."

"What about Howard?" she whispers.

"I think it's too late for Howard."

"But what if they've already left?"

He looks grim. "Then we'll have to keep looking at houses."

Sally's car is still parked in front of the house. The Doctor drops to the ground, crawls forward, and attaches his handy-dandy tracking device to the underside of the car. He runs back to Rose and gets in their car.

"All right, go!" he says. "They're still there. They have to leave sometime."

Rose stops the car a few streets over. She parks in front of a chip shop and the Doctor runs inside to get them some dinner.

"Think of it as an alien stakeout," he says, sipping his drink through a bright purple straw.

Rose shakes her head. "At Torchwood we'd have a van and all kinds of cool equipment."

"Possibly," he concedes. "But this is more fun, isn't it?"

She smiles at him. "Yeah, it is."

"We could still call this in," he says, throwing it out there because he feels he must.

Rose shakes her head. "No way. Just you and me here. Like old times."

"Shiver and shake," he agrees.

She frowns slightly at the old memory. "Not this time."

Sally's car starts to move, and they follow it, keeping a few car lengths behind at all times.

"Proper procedure," the Doctor explains. "See it all the time on tv."

"Of course," Rose agrees. "Hang on." She points to the building where Sally has parked her car. "We know this place."

The Doctor watches Sally and Julie walk inside. "We've been here. Sally showed us this house."

"We hated it. It was dark and creepy and awful."

"And we left quickly because something spooked Sally," the Doctor finishes. "Come on."

They ease in through the front door, listening hard for any noises.

The Doctor touches Rose's shoulder and points to the right. He touches his chest and points to the left. Rose nods and moves off, looking for Sally.

She's made it through the dining room and the kitchen when the floor creaks behind her. Rose turns, acutely, painfully aware that coming here without backup had also meant coming here without weapons. She can't believe they were so careless - in thinking they were invincible they've left themselves open.

Julie is standing there. "Well. Ms. Tyler. Hello."

"What are you doing here?" Rose asks.

Julie smiles. "Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing."

oOoOo

Rose is marched to the cellar, a dark, damp place. Julie unlocks a door and waves Rose inside what appears to be a small storage room. "Sally will be here soon, don't worry." She smiles and closes the door. Rose hears the turn of a key on the other side.

Rose stares helplessly at the door before turning around. There is a small window near the ceiling. She tries madly to break it but the glass doesn't budge. All she gets for her trouble is a sore hand.

Well, at least the Doctor hasn't been caught, Rose consoles herself. He'll get her out.

It's at that moment, of course, that the door opens and he's pushed inside. His hands are tied together.

Rose's eyes widen. "What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to rescue me!"

He holds up his bound hands. "Sorry. I'm a bit tied up at the moment."

The door shuts behind him.

"I don't believe this!" she seethes. "I bloody well don't believe this."

"She found me! She had a gun. Time was I'd get shot, regenerate, and pop up again, right as rain. Well, barring any major regeneration sickness. Well, barring regeneration sickness, period." He levels a look at her. "Didn't think you'd appreciate me dying here today."

"How are we supposed to get out?" Rose demands. She's aware that she's being a bit unreasonable, but really, it's been a long day.

"Untie me, for starters?"

Rose begrudgingly unties his hands. Rubbing his wrists, he looks around. "Shame I don't have my coat." His jacket, with its Time Lord pockets, is at home.

"It's an old house," says Rose. "The locks can't be very good." She goes to the door.

"They'll have made sure the door is secure," the Doctor corrects her. "Maybe not...oh, yes! The window." He starts trying the window, with no luck. Rose doesn't bother to correct him on that score.

She stands by the door, her ear pressed up against it. She doesn't hear anything and jiggles the knob experimentally. Behind her, the Doctor is still trying to get the window open.

Rose backs up a bit, squares her shoulder, and braces herself. With a good, solid kick, she breaks open the door.

The Doctor spins around. "What?"

Rose smiles at him calmly.

"What-how-"

She raises an eyebrow. "Years of Torchwood training, and you didn't think I could handle a small inconvenience like being imprisoned? Seriously, love."

"I am impressed," he states. "Very, very impressed."

"Thanks."

"Also," he continues, walking deliberately to her, "also very, very turned on."

Her eyes widen in surprise. "What?"

"Almost as much as when I see you with a gun," he admits. "It seems wrong, but I just can't...help myself." He kisses her, long and deeply and slowly, and Rose shakes her head to clear it when she pulls away.

"Donna was right. You're bonkers. Come on!" She grabs his hand and his heart starts to race, and they're running down a dark hallway, laughing like lunatics.

Not the first time. Won't be the last.

oOoOo

They find Sally in the kitchen. She's standing there in her suit, smiling and for all appearances like any other estate agent showing a home for sale.

The only difference is that Julie is there, too, tied to a wooden chair with several lengths of rope. She looks terrified.

Sally turns her head as she hears Rose and the Doctor approach. Casually, almost lazily, she tosses a small blue sphere their way. Rose and the Doctor stop where they stand, their feet and legs held in place by a glowing blue column. Rose tries to move and finds that her legs will not cooperate.

"Get back, there's a love." Sally smiles at them. "I won't be but a moment here."

Rose shakes her head. The Doctor folds his arms across his chest and looks incredibly angry.

"Sally, you need to stop now, okay?" Rose says, trying to be as reasonable as possible.

"Stop her!" Julie protests.

"You're not the real Sally," the Doctor says. "Something happened here the last time we came to see this house. Sally heard a noise and started acting strangely."

Sally smiles mockingly. "Did I? Was I afraid? Or did I just look afraid?"

"What were you doing?" the Doctor asks. "Who are you?"

Sally, or whoever is now Sally, has never met the Oncoming Storm. Rose could almost pity her.

"You were supposed to be my latest meal that night," Sally says lightly. "Not Rose, of course - she's too visible a person. But you." She tilts her head, looking at the Doctor appraisingly. "A new food source, handy to have nearby. I brought you here that night to see what kind of man you are, Dr. Smith. I was planning to have you at our next showing. Hoping for a night when Rose here had to work and couldn't come along. Things never worked out, did they? You and Ms. Tyler just refused to agree and go your separate ways for long enough. Pity. But I made do." She smiles broadly at them. "I'm sure you understand."

"You're insane!" Rose says.

"You're not human," the Doctor states.

"No to the first, yes to the second. Now." Sally frowns. "Julie's loss is a bit of an inconvenience. But she's starting to be a right pain, aren't you, my dear?"

She spins on her heel and starts to glow.

"Don't touch her!" a terrified Julie calls out. "Howard touched her and he died!"

"You'll die," Rose protest, but Sally is already extending tendrils of her light toward Julie. Julie shuts her eyes and turns her head away.

"Stop!" Rose screams, looking frantically around for something to release them.

The Doctor is trying to break the force field surrounding them, but while it lets them move their upper bodies, they cannot free themselves of it.

"Stop it!" The Doctor joins Rose in yelling, but it does Julie no good. She disappears as they watch in horror.

"No," Rose moans.

Still glowing, now appearing more round then before, Sally turns to smile at them. She's stretched out her red suit, and just below the bones of her face appears something else, something more sinister and less human.

"What is she?" Rose whispers.

"New universe," the Doctor says tersely. "No idea. Rose, get ready. She'll come for me first, and then you run."

"No!"

Sally moves closer, glowing more strongly and starting to turn to the Doctor.

"You won't find me as easy to dispose of," he warns her.

She laughs. "Please."

"Don't give it up. It is a skill you will need."

Rose hears Janet's words in her head and reacts without thinking. She pulls a knitting needle from her hair and flings it at Sally like a dagger. It breaks the glow and lodges within Sally's body. Sally stops and looks down in surprise.

"What have you done?"

Rose yanks the other needle out of her hair and throws it. It takes less than twenty seconds for the creature before them to dissolve in a mist of sickly green smoke. At the same moment it disappears, the force field surrounding them groans to a stop.

Rose falls to her knees. Her hair, pulled free of its pins when she pulled the needles out, hangs all around her face.

The Doctor falls to his knees beside her and gathers her up in his arms.

She raises her head to his, tears tracking down her face.

"I knew she was too cheerful to be true."

He hugs her tightly.