The Doctor waited outside a coffee shop on the college campus in his trenchcoat, looking tough. He was looking for either Rose or Alfie to show up. After a half an hour, the Doctor finally sent a text message to Rose to meet him at the coffee shop. He must have tried nine times before he succeed in sending on that made sense. A lot of them were unfinished sentences and strange words that weren't in the dictionary. He knew that Rose was going to tease him later for it, but he wanted to deal with Alfie first. Many people passed him casually, but none he recognized.
"Dr. Smith?" Alfie called out, surprised that he actually showed up. The Doctor turned to him and smiled. Hopefully Rose would show up soon.
"Alfred!" The Doctor shouted back, opening his arms.
"You actually came," he smiled as the Doctor gave him a strange look.
"Of course I came. I never go back on my word," the Doctor informed, leading the young man into the coffee shop. Alfie smiled fakely, wondering if this was a good idea. He did meet the man to figure out why an Angel had attacked him. They sat down at a booth as a waitress came over to them.
"How may I help you?" she asked kindly as the Doctor smiled.
"I'll have two chocolate chip cookies and a hot chocolate," the Doctor ordered, looking at the young lady.
"I'll have a latte," Alfie added with a polite grin. Once the waitress was gone, Alfie leaned on the table, looking at the Doctor. "I want to know what the hell happened earlier. With the Angel."
"Where shall we start?" the Doctor answered, being helpful. He quickly glanced around to see if Rose had made it into the restaurant yet, but she was either very well hidden or not there.
"How did that thing follow me to school? It's a statue. How does it move?" Alfie demanded, thinking that he was going crazy.
"It's kinda hard to explain," the Doctor started as Alfie smiled and shook his head.
"Try to," he whispered, leaning back.
"It's a creature from outer space," the Doctor began, thinking that he was going to lose the young man. However, Alfie didn't move an inch. He was listening intently without a different facial expression. "Anyway, they're basically the universe's most gifted psychopaths."
"They?"
"Yes, they're a race. Anyway, when they touch you or you touch them, they send you back in time and feed off the time distortion. They eat all the years that could have been your future. That's why I didn't want you to touch them when we first found you by your house," the Doctor answered.
"That still doesn't explain how they move."
"I'm getting to that. The thing is, they have the perfect defense mechanism. When a living creature sees one of the Weeping Angels, they turn to stone, but when you look away, or even blink, they become faster than you can ever imagine. They're greatest gift is their greatest curse. When you see one, you need to make sure that you keep staring at them and try your hardest not to blink. If your outside, get into a building or your car. If your inside, run like hell. Try to get out, but do not let them touch you," the Doctor warned as Alfie nodded. He knew that this all sounded too crazy for belief, but he had just been attacked by a statue. Twice. Anything would seem normal after that.
"How do you know this?" the student asked as the Doctor smiled and sighed. The dreaded question had been asked. He sat back as the waitress came back with their orders. The two men thanked her before she left.
"It's a bit hard to explain, but I'm not from around here, either," the Doctor replied as Alfie started to laugh.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" the student asked softly, thinking that even this seemed too extraordinary to be true. The Doctor sighed and shook his head.
"You don't, and that's okay. I can't tell you anymore than that or the government will get on my track," the Doctor answered as Alfie raised an eyebrow.
"You're running from the government?" he whispered, laughing.
"No, working for it. I've been deployed by them to find out what this Angel business is all about," the Doctor answered as Alfie nodded, thinking that made more sense than the fact that he was an alien.
"Does Rose know?"
"What?" the Doctor stated, his eyes darkening. How did this boy know who Rose was? And that they were together?
"I met her in my class earlier. She told me about you, how you were too smart for your own good," Alfie started as the Doctor looked up, thinking that was true. "Does she know that you're not from around here? Or that you're working for the government?"
"Yes," the Doctor stated, thinking he was giving too much information.
"And she's okay with that?"
"You certainly ask a lot of questions."
"I do indeed," Alfie smiled, leaning back before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Any other questions?" the Doctor inquired as he ate his cookie. Alfie thought for a moment before sighing.
"No. Any for me?" he countered as the Doctor smiled.
"I think we're good here, then. If you have any more questions or concerns, come see me after class, okay?" the Doctor smiled before standing up. He grabbed the last cookie and his hot cocoa before leaving a ten on the table. Alfie shook his head and looked out the window. "I'll see you tomorrow, Alfie. Beware of the Angels."
"See you," the student replied as the Doctor walked out of the coffee shop. About halfway down the road, he bumped into Rose, who had been running. She stopped in front of him, panting.
"Rose! Are you okay? How far did you run?" he asked, offering his hot chocolate, which she denied.
"Sorry... I... missed it. Had to... run... three blocks... to get here..." she whispered in between breaths. The Doctor led her to a bench on the street to catch her breath.
"It's alright. Didn't go so bad after all. I guess getting attacked by a statue really changes you perspective on the world," he informed, taking a sip of his drink. Rose nodded, proud that he went all by himself.
"Did you give away your identity?"
"Of course not. Well, I implied it. I said that I wasn't from around here, and I think he got the point. Doesn't seem like he's going to give us a ton of trouble after all," the Doctor added as Rose gave him a concerned look.
"Are you sure that was a good idea? And you left Torchwood out of this, right?"
"I said that I worked for the government," the Doctor answered as Rose's head landed in her hands.
"You cannot just tell people that," she whined, thinking that was not the brightest move.
"Well, what else was I going to say? Did you want me to say 'Hi, I'm an astrophysicist, so I know all about space, including the statues that tried to kill you'? I think that might have gone over badly and we would be tracking down an Alfred Owens from the census records," the Doctor replied, defending myself. Rose sat up and sighed.
"You're right. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices," she whispered, her head beginning to hurt. The Doctor sighed and rubbed her back.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap like that. I think I have more Donna in me than Doctor," he laughed dryly as she smiled.
"It's fine. It's been a long day, anyway," she agreed, grinning at him.
"Oh, and when did you meet Alfie Owens?" the Doctor asked as she blanched. Rose did not think that Alfie would have told the Doctor about her.
"Um, in class today. After I came to talk to you," she whispered as he smiled.
"You went to class? In college?" The Doctor asked, proud of her. She blushed and nodded as he embraced her. "Oh, look at you, getting an education."
"Probably wouldn't have if Alfie didn't show up. I figured that I could gain a peer perspective to make sure that he was alright and that the Angel didn't pop up again," Rose murmured, embarrassed.
"So, what's the verdict on the kid?" he asked, getting back to business.
"He's a great kisser," she mentioned as the Doctor turned to her, shocked and offended. She burst out laughing. "I'm joking, Doctor. Like I would ever do that."
"Get on with it," he mumbled, looking away as he turned red. Rose bit her lip, thinking it was cute when he got all flustered.
"Anyway, it seems that he's an above average boy with a very, very superior intellect. I could probably compare it to yours, but yours would still be dominant because of the Time Lord gene. Apparently, people think he's showing off and trying to prove himself better than everyone else. He doesn't have any friends and no one even sits by him. Kind of sad when you think about it," Rose whispered at the end as the Doctor smiled.
"The life of a genius is a lonely one," he remarked as she nodded, understanding.
"He seems like a good kid, though. Doesn't strike me as dangerous or anything," Rose concluded as he nodded slowly, thinking.
"We should meet his parents," he informed as Rose laughed.
"You can't be serious. We can't go meet his parents. That would be ridiculous and most likely unnecessary. Why do you want to meet his parents?" she asked as he shrugged.
"I don't know, but I think there's something wrong with this student, and I want to know what it is. Maybe the parents know," the Doctor reasoned as Rose shook her head.
"How would we do that without looking really bad?" Rose whispered as the Doctor thought of something. He grinned widely and looked at Rose. "What?"
"What if we talk to Alfred and get him to leave a book or something and we have to return it to his house? That way we would have a chance to meet his parents and not look like complete weirdos," the Doctor explained as Rose nodded, thinking that they could get away with that.
"I think that actually might work," she replied as the Doctor jumped up. "I'm going to leave this part to you, though. He has to leave it in your class, or you personally have no reason to return it."
"Agreed. I'm sure I'll think of something by tomorrow," the Doctor thought as Rose smiled.
"I'm sure you will, too. Shall we go back home?" she asked as he nodded. "And I'm driving."
"What? But you drove the way here," he complained jokingly.
"I know. I don't trust your driving. I've seen you fly the TARDIS," Rose replied as he smiled.
"Never did pass that driver's test."
"That actually explains a whole lot."