The Doctor returned to the TARDIS and immediately went to Rose. He knew she'd be in the same state, but it hurt him no less to see her like that. As exhausted as he was starting to become, he was ready to get started again.
"I'm back. It's done," he informed her as soon as their telepathic connection was made.
Rose didn't respond at first and it worried him. "I'm just remembering. No need to get worried again."
"You remember it then?"
"Quite vividly. It was a hard day to forget. The previous memories were a bit blurred, but I was old enough this time to hold onto them."
"Which worries me. How do we know this is going to work out? I can save you from the shadow beings, but not your assumptions."
"But you know what my assumptions are," she reminded him.
"An angel?"
"My guardian angel. Mum and I discussed it and we didn't think that it could be anything else. In fact, she took us to a church to speak with a minister to ask his opinion on guardian angels and demons. The minister believed in angels without a doubt, demons too, but by the way he looked at Mum, it was obvious that he thought she was a nutter.
"She decided that we should start going to church after that. She wasn't sure that God was real, but if that's where angels came from, she didn't want God to think we were unappreciative."
"Jackie started taking you to church?" the Doctor said in surprise.
"Just Christmas and Easter. She said those were the ones that really counted."
The Doctor tried his best not to laugh, but failed. "Do you think that assumption will hold then? Even when you start traveling with me? When you start meeting aliens, you won't question angels?"
"I'm pretty stubborn, remember. I don't think there's anything you could say that would make me change my mind. The assumption will hold," she assured him.
"Alright. I'm ready then."
"You're not," she told him. "You're starting to get tired. I'm sure you haven't slept since this started and I'm sure it's been days. You need to rest first."
"I'll be fine," he assured her.
"You say that, but just slight exhaustion can affect your reflexes. You want to be at your best, so go get a little sleep. I'll be here when you wake up. Rest, Doctor," she ordered.
The Doctor sighed, but did as he was told. She was right. He didn't want his reflexes to be impaired. The shadow beings were changing tactics a bit. The last time, the being acted as soon as they arrived. He had hardly stepped out of the TARDIS when the lighted sign started to flicker. The members of the Pantheon of Discord were in Rose's head. As she gained new memories, they saw each one. They could learn from the others. He feared that they might get more aggressive. If that was the case, he had to be quicker.
It was difficult to fall asleep, but after a time, he was able to suppress his thoughts and relax his body, forcing himself to sleep. As a time lord, he didn't need much rest at all and woke after just two hours. He ate a quick breakfast and returned to Rose.
Another member of the Pantheon was released and the chase happened just as it had the previous three times. January of 2000. Rose was thirteen years old. The Doctor ran out of the TARDIS and quickly looked about. He was at the Powell Estate again, but Rose was nowhere in sight. Then he spotted her. She was coming down the stairs, ready to leave Bucknall House. She had a backpack on so he assumed she was heading to school. The Doctor saw a man across the lot, staring at her with intensity. Something was about to happen. He took out his sonic screwdriver and was prepared to run.
Just as Rose walked out, a cracking sound came from above her.
"Rose!" the Doctor shouted.
A giant cluster of icicles, the largest being almost a meter long, broke from roof several stories above her. Rose looked up at the Doctor and then above her head. At that point it was too late to move. She covered her head to protect herself from the blow and gasped when, instead of solid ice, she was doused in cold water. She looked up again and then around her, but there was no ice. It had melted into water. The angel melted the ice.
Rose looked up and saw him running. She wasn't going to let him get away again.
The Doctor raced around the corner and down the pavement, passing shops and a few pedestrians that he weaved around. He heard Rose calling after him. She'd started out by shouting 'angel' but then switched to calling him 'mister'. He ignored her. He'd out run her and he needed to keep after the shadow being that still had a gotten a good head start. The being stopped suddenly and turned around. The Doctor was confused and stopped, too. The disguised being raised his hand and a large dog began barking ferociously. The Doctor turned and ran back toward Rose, shouting for her to run. He passed the dog that was jerking on its lead, lunging toward Rose. The owner was having a hard time restraining it. The lead suddenly broke, and the dog charged after her. The Doctor's head start meant almost nothing compared to the speed of the dog.
The Doctor swooped Rose by the waist and pushed her into the nearest shop. He entered after her, but not before the beast sunk its teeth into his leg. The Doctor pulled his leg in and shut the door on the dog's head. It instantly released him and the Doctor was able to close the door properly.
"How many times, Rose Tyler, have I told you not to follow me? I'm going to say it once more. You stay here! Do not move until that dog is restrained by officials!"
The Doctor grabbed the door handle and Rose shrieked for him to stop.
"You can't go out there! You'll be mauled!"
The Doctor shook her off, fled out the door, being sure to close it, and took off running. The dog never left its place at the door, barking and snarling at Rose. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, adjusted the setting, and pointed it at the dog. It calmed immediately. He hadn't had to use that setting in ages. He was glad he still had it.
Rose stood at the shop door, absolutely stunned. The shopkeeper asked if she was alright. Outside the door, people were asking her the same thing. She was too overwhelmed to respond. She just stared at the dog. She had watched her angel racing away and when he lifted his hand, the dog just stopped. There it was now, sitting outside the door looking tame as could be. The owner held it by the collar, appearing just as stunned as Rose. The woman wasn't sure what she should do.
The authorities arrived quickly and the dog was led into a cage in the back of a van. Rose figured that it was safe to go back outside, but was still apprehensive.
"I don't know what happened," the owner was telling police. "She's such a sweet dog. I've never seen her aggressive at all. I mean, even when strangers come to the door, she's just excited to see someone's there. She's never been aggressive. Just before this happened that little toddler was petting her. She's so good with people. I don't know what happened. The girl just came running in our direction, and Roxy started lunging and barking."
"Did the girl provoke it in any way?" the officer asked.
"No. Maybe Roxy was frightened because she was running, but we see joggers all the time so I don't know how that could affect her. Really, the girl didn't do anything. We've seen her before. She comes this way to go to school and sometimes stops to pet Roxy."
Rose turned to see another officer interviewing the shopkeeper who was explaining that the dog only seemed interested in Rose, no one else.
She still had no idea what to do. Slowly she turned and started toward school. When one of the officers saw her, he stopped her immediately.
"Hold on, you can't go anywhere just yet," he told her. "We have to talk to you for a minute."
"I'm not in trouble or anything, am I?" she asked uncertainly.
"No, of course not," he said in surprise.
"Well, I heard you asking if I provoked it."
"I just had to ask what the owner had to say. I don't believe you did, but even if that were the case, you wouldn't be in trouble," he assured her. "So what do you have to say about all of this?"
"I don't know. It happened like they said. I was just running and when the dog saw me, it got angry and came after me. It's not going to be killed is it?"
"You're worried about the dog? After it attacked you?" he asked in astonishment.
"It didn't actually attack me. Well, it tried, but I didn't get hurt; no harm done. And it's always been nice before. I don't think she'll do it again and the owner would be crushed if it was put down," Rose said seriously. "If you're taking my statement, I want that put in there."
She didn't blame the dog. She didn't know how her bad luck could possibly affect animal behavior, but she had no doubt that's what happened. She must have seen that dog a hundred times and it had been nothing but friendly. Her angel was around so it was a bad luck day. The dog went only after her. The dog shouldn't die because of her bad luck's influence.
"How will your parents feel about it though? It up to them if they'd like to press charges."
"I'll talk to my mum about it, but I'm sure she'll trust me. I'll make sure she does. Can I go now?"
"Not yet. We need your name and a few other things."
Rose sighed in annoyance, but complied.
When Rose was finally free to go, she went off to school. She was terribly late at this point but it didn't matter to her. She was more concerned about where her angel had gotten off to.
The Doctor was back to tailing Rose before she had left for school and stayed out of sight the best that he could. He watched as she headed for the school entrance and leaned up against the building beside the school. This was going to be even more difficult than watching her flat and he really wasn't sure how he should handle it. Could he possibly come up with some excuse so that he could enter the building? Maybe he could use his psychic paper. So long as Rose didn't see the psychic paper, it should be alright. He made his decision, but before he even started for the school, a side door of the building opened.
"I knew it!" said Rose as she ran up to him. "You can't just show up at the last second; you follow me around."
"Rose, you're supposed to be in school," the Doctor admonished. "Get back in there."
"Not a chance," she grinned. "You're not getting away from me this time."
"I can't do this. I can't be talking to you like this. You need to get back to school. Pretend like I'm not here."
"But you are though. And don't you think it'd be easier if I stuck with you? Last time, I don't think you knew about the carbon monoxide for awhile. We were pretty sick when you got to us because you couldn't watch us from outside. The school's a lot bigger. You won't be able to keep me safe from out here. See, it's better if I stick with you."
"Oh, this is so not good." the Doctor groaned and scrubbed his face as he tried to figure how best to manage this.
"If you're trying to figure out what to do, you don't have to. I'm not giving you a choice. You're stuck with me." Rose smiled mischievously with her tongue between her teeth.
The Doctor sighed in defeat and started walking.
"So what are we going to do?" Rose asked excitedly.
"Nothing," the Doctor answered flatly.
"Nothing? We're just going to walk aimlessly?"
"I'm not taking you out for entertainment. I'm not supposed to be with you at all."
"You keep saying that, but why not? Why aren't you allowed to talk to me? And who says you're not?" Rose asked curiously.
"It's just against the rules."
"Whose rules?"
"Doesn't matter. The rules still stand and I really hope I'm not going to regret this. Just listen. If you're walking with me, you're going to have to do exactly what I say. If I say stop, you freeze. If I say run, you run. And when I say run, I don't mean a few steps and then stop. If I say run, you run as fast as you can in the opposite direction as me and all the way home. Do you understand?"
"Alright," Rose conceded.
"I'm serious. Very serious. You have to obey. I'm giving it all I've got to keep you safe, but you have to help me out."
"Alright."
"Good."
"How come you never wear a coat?" Rose suddenly inquired. "It's freezing. Aren't you cold?"
"I don't get cold very easily," he answered.
Rose looked him over and took notice of the blood on his calf. "You're bleeding! I didn't even think about it! I'm such an idiot. That dog bit you! Shouldn't you go to the hospital or something?"
"I'm fine. It wasn't too bad. Boxers' teeth aren't as large as some dogs and it wasn't really after me. I won't say it didn't hurt, but it's alright now," he assured her.
"You're not even limping. Are angels really that different from humans?"
"I'm a bit different, yeah," he replied. He didn't want to claim to be an angel, but at the same time, he didn't want to dissuade that assumption. And he certainly didn't want to tell her that he used his sonic screwdriver to help seal the wounds a bit.
"How come you don't have wings? Or do you and this is just a disguise? How do angels really work? I-"
"You ask too many questions and you already know that I'm not going to answer them. I can't. I'm sorry. I know you're curious, but there are some things that you just can't know."
"Okay, last one. Do you have a name?"
"Of course I have a name."
"Well, what is it?"
"Can't say."
"Ugh! Do you have any idea how frustrating you are?" Rose growled. "If you don't tell me your name, what am I supposed to call you?"
"You're not supposed to call after me," the Doctor reminded her.
"But I do and I sound ridiculous calling out 'angel'. There has to be something I can call you," Rose persisted.
"You can refer to me however you want," the Doctor said with a shrug.
"Okay… How about Horatio then?"
"Horatio?" the Doctor asked in disbelief. His nose scrunched in distaste. "You've got to be kidding."
Rose laughed. "You said I could call you whatever I want… but yeah, I'm just kidding. I don't know what to call you." She thought about it for a couple minutes and then shook her head. "I really don't know. I guess 'angel' will have to do until I think of something else."
The Doctor just nodded. He really didn't want her calling after him at all. His plan had been to be as invisible as possible and she was completely destroying that plan.
"If you have a name, who gave it to you? Do you have a mum? I never actually thought of angels being kids."
"You have to stop asking, Rose. I really can't say," the Doctor said firmly.
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Rose really wasn't sure what to say. She had so many questions to ask. It was hard to withhold them.
"I'm getting kind of hungry," she said at last. "Can we stop for something to eat?"
"Do you have any money?" the Doctor asked.
Rose shook her head in disappointment.
"Neither do I," the Doctor informed her. He could easily acquire it if he wanted to, but not without his sonic screwdriver or psychic paper, neither of which he planned to use in front of her.
The Doctor reached into his bag and pulled out an apple which he handed to her.
"Thanks," said Rose. "What else do you have in there? Never mind. I'm sure you won't tell me."
"I'm sorry again that I'm such a curiosity, but that's really how it has to be."
"What about this one: Do you eat?"
"Of course I eat. Why do you think I have food in my bag?" the Doctor chuckled.
"Well, you don't get cold and you heal really fast. How am I supposed to know just how different you are?"
The Doctor stopped suddenly. "Do you smell that?"
"If you mean food, we're standing right outside a-"
"Run!" the Doctor ordered.
Rose stared at him a second then turned to go.
"Run!" the Doctor commanded again, pushing at her back to encourage her to move faster. "Everyone, run now! Run!"
Rose did as she was told and kept running. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the Doctor had been running after her, but then stopped. She didn't stop. He told her to run home.
A horrifying blast behind her shook the ground, causing her to trip and fall. The sound was louder than anything she'd ever heard. When she turned around, she saw that the pavement where they'd been standing had been blown apart. Flames were rising from it and spreading to the awning over the restaurant. Her angel ran right past it and continued up the street. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't see him again that day.
The Doctor watched the shadow being struggle to escape the mirror. He knew there was no way it could get free, but he still took pleasure in watching it get pulled into the antiverse.
Just one more shadow being and the Pantheon of Discord would be wiped out.
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