Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who that goes to the BBC
Craig Owens, who was wearing a dress shirt and a greyish-blue tie was sitting at a table in a new house that he and Sophie got after the Doctor helped them hook up a year ago, was talking on the phone.
"Mum, it's not just you. I'm phoning everybody. I'm texting the world. Craig Owens can do it on his own. No-one is coming to help me!" Craig said, talking to his mother on the phone before he heard knocking from the front door, "Mum, I'm going to have to call you back." He then shut off the phone and rubbed his eyes as the knocking continued, "I'm coping, I'm coping on my own... I'm coping on my own!" He then began walking to the front door and soon reached the front door and opened it, "I'm coping on my own!"
As soon as Crag opened the door, he saw the Doctor, wearing his double-breasted coat with Rose standing next to him with smiles on their faces, while their eyes looked 200 years older than when they dropped Amy and Rose at their house.
"Hello, Craig! I'm back!" The Doctor said, greeting Craig, "And I've brought Rose with me."
"Nice to meet you at last, Craig," Rose told Craig as she shook his hand.
"She didn't… How could she phone you?" Craig asked them with confusion, "But nice to meet you as well, Rose."
"How could who phone us? Nobody phoned us, we're just here," the Doctor told him before peering inside Craig's new house, "You've redecorated! I don't like it."
"You always say that whenever someone redecorates, Doctor," Rose said with a snort.
"It's a different house, we moved," Craig explained.
"Yes, that's it," the Doctor muttered.
"Doctor, what are you doing here with your wife?" Craig asked the Time Lord.
"Social call," the Doctor answered, "Thought it was about time we tried one out that wasn't with our friends like Jack, Martha or Mickey. How are you?"
"I'm fine," Craig answered.
"This is the bit where one of us says We're fine, too, isn't it?" The Doctor asked him, "We're fine, too. Good. Love to Sophie, bye!"
"Don't mind him, Craig, he's always been rude," Rose told Craig, "Even in his first incarnation when we went to the Academy on Gallifrey together."
"From what I've seen in your husband's head that one time, I know, Rose," Craig stated as she began to follow the Doctor as he turned around as he began walking away with Rose but they both stopped when the light at the front door began to flicker.
"What was that?" Rose muttered to herself.
"Something's wrong!" The Doctor stated as he and Rose went inside Craig's house before Craig closed the front door behind both Gallifreyans before the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the area with it before he began to go upstairs, "On your own, you said. But you're not... you're not on your own."
"Just, shh!" Craig said, trying to shush the Doctor as he and Rose followed the Doctor up the stairs.
"Increased sulphur emissions. And look at the state of this place," the Doctor muttered as he looked around the upstairs of Craig's house, "What are you not telling me and Rose?"
"Doctor, please," Craig pleaded with the Time Lord.
"Is there something you don't want us not to know, Craig?" Rose asked him.
"Shh!" The Doctor said, shushing Craig.
"No, you sush!" Craig ordered him.
"Will you both be quiet!" Rose ordered both her husband and Craig, causing them to stop shushing each other, "Now what is that you're not telling us, Craig?"
"It's a long story," Craig answered as the Doctor walked over to one of the bedroom doors, which Craig noticed, "Doctor…"
The Doctor then suddenly opened the door and rushed in and inside the room was a nursery with stuffed toys and cloth hangings on the walls, which the Doctor didn't notice, while Rose gasped in surprise as she realised what Craig was hiding.
"Whatever you are, get off this planet!" The Doctor ordered as he used his screwdriver inside the room.
"Doctor! It's not something that wants to take over Earth," Rose told her husband as they heard a baby starting to cry as Craig went over to the crib inside the room, "Craig and Sophie had a baby."
"She's right," Crag said, agreeing with the Time Lady, "And you've woken him!"
In Craig's kitchen, the Doctor closed the freezer door as he turned to Craig, who was standing near the table as he held his baby in his arms as Rose followed her husband.
"So when you say on your own…" The Doctor began to ask Craig.
"He meant himself and his baby, Doctor," Rose explained.
"Rose is right, I meant on my own with the baby, yes. Because no one thinks I can cope on my own," Craig said, agreeing with Rose before he placed his hand over the Doctor's right shoulder, "Which is so unfair. Because I can't cope on my own with him! I can't. He just cries. All the time. I mean, do they have off-switches?"
"Human beings? No. I've checked," the Doctor answered as he sat down at a chair around the table and flipped through a pregnancy book, reading the entire book instantly.
"He meant babies, Doctor," Rose told her husband as Craig put his baby in its high chair.
"Same difference," the Doctor stated, "Sometimes this works, though." He then put forefinger in front of his lips, "Ssh." As soon as the Doctor shushed Craig's baby, it went quiet.
"Can you teach me to do that, Doctor?" Craig asked the Time Lord.
"Probably not," the Doctor stated as he was now looking at baby books.
"Oh, please come on, I need something, I'm rubbish at this," Craig begged them.
"At what?" The Doctor asked him.
"Being a dad," Craig answered, "You read all the books, they tell you you'll know what to do if you follow your instinct. I have no instinct! That's what this weekend's about, trying to prove to people I can do this one thing well."
"He was the same way when we had children of our own back on Gallifrey," Rose told him.
"Do you have any ideas then, Rose?" Craig asked the Time Lady.
"Well, have you tried any nursery rhymes?" Rose asked him.
"Well no but…" Craig began to answer before the Doctor began to laugh at the book he was reading.
"So what did you call him? Will I blush?" The Doctor asked Craig as he closed the book he was reading.
"No, we didn't call him the Doctor," Craig told him.
"No, I didn't think you would," the Doctor muttered.
"My stepmother, Jackie Tyler once joked that she named her baby after my husband," Rose said, recalling when she, her husband and Donna left their metacrisis counterparts in Pete's world with her stepmother and Pete after they stopped Davros and the Daleks from detonating the Reality Bomb after they stole Earth and 26 other planets and transported them to the Medusa Cascade.
"He's called Alfie," Craig told the Time Lord, "What are you both doing here anyway?"
"Yes, he likes that, Alfie," the Doctor muttered as he leaned over to listen to Alfie, while Craig was preparing Tea for him and both Gallifreyans, "Though personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All."
"Sorry, what?" Craig and Rose both asked him at the same time.
"That's what he calls himself," the Doctor answered.
"How do you know that?" Craig asked him.
"I speak baby," the Doctor answered as he stood up, while Rose snickered.
"Actually, he's reading his mind with telepathy," Rose explained.
"Of course you do, Doctor," Craig muttered, "I don't even know when his nappy needs changing." He then sat back down, "I'm the one supposed to be his dad."
"Oh, yeah. He's wondering where his mum is," the Doctor said as he massaged Craig's shoulders, "Where is Sophie?"
"Yeah, where is she?" Rose asked Craig, agreeing with her husband, "I still haven't had my chance to meet her yet."
"Gone away with Melina for the weekend," Craig answered, "Needs a rest."
"No, he's your dad, you can't just call him Not-Mum," the Doctor told Alfie.
"Not-Mum?" Craig said with confusion.
"That's you," the Doctor stated, "Also, Not Mum, that's me. Rose. And everybody else is…" He then leaned in front of Alfie, "peasants. That's a bit unfortunate." He then tickled Alfie's head, causing Rose to chuckle.
"What are you both here for?" Craig asked the Doctor and Rose.
"I just popped in to say hello," the Doctor answered as he almost put a piece of chalk in his mouth.
"And I wanted to meet you," Rose added.
"I checked downstairs when I moved in," Craig told them, "And next door, both sides, they're humans. Is it the fridge? Are there aliens in my fridge?"
"We doubt it, Craig," Rose assured him.
"I just want to see you, Craig! Cross our hearts," the Doctor told him as both of his hands crossed one of his hearts each, "We've been knocking about with each other and no one else. A farewell tour. One last thing, popping in to see you, then I'm off to the Alignment of Exedor."
"The Alignment of Exodor?" Craig said with confusion.
"17 galaxies in perfect unison. Meant to be spectacular, we can't miss it. Literally can't. It's locked in a time stasis field, we both get one crack at flying our TARDIS straight into it, if we get my dates right," the Doctor explained before he looked at a newspaper, "Which we have."
"Sounds nice," Craig told them, "Anyway, how old are the two of you now?"
"We're both 1,103 now," Rose answered.
"So this is me popping in and popping out again with Rose," the Doctor added as he picked the newspaper back up, "Just being social, just having a laugh. Never mind that."
"Never mind what?" Craig asked him.
"Mmm, nothing," the Doctor answered.
"No, you noticed something, Doctor," Craig stated as he stood back up as the Doctor hid his face with his hand as he paced around the room, "You've got your noticing face on. I have nightmares about that face."
"You really don't want to know, Craig," Rose told him as the Doctor put a hand over his face and spun around as Craig talked.
"Nope, we've given up all that, done with noticing things," the Doctor stated as lights flickered in the room, "Didn't even notice that, for example. Got to go. Good seeing you, Craig." He then shook Craig's hand.
"Yeah, and nice meeting you Craig," Rose said as she shook his hand as well.
"Goodbye, Stormageddon," the Doctor told Alfie as he air kissed him on each cheek.
"Yeah, goodbye, Alfie," Rose said, saying goodbye to Alfie as well before he began fussing as the Doctor and Rose both walked away.
"No, no, wait, wait, could you do the shushing thing, Doctor?" Craig asked the Doctor, "Shh."
"No, it only works once, and only on life forms with underdeveloped brains," the Doctor apologised.
"Hang on, you said farewell tour, Doctor?" Craig said as he realised what the Doctor said a few moments ago, "What do you mean, farewell?"
"It's a long story," Rose told him.
"Ssh…" The Doctor said, shushing Craig as he placed one of his index fingers over his lips, causing Craig to stop talking as he was now unable to speak for the moment.
"Just go. Stop noticing. Just go! Stop noticing! Just go. Stop noticing. Just go. Stop it!" The Doctor muttered to himself as he and Rose walked down the street outside of Craig's house before he saw a street light flicker, "Am I noticing? No, no I am not. And what I am not doing is scanning for electrical fluctuations."
"What is it, Theta?" Rose asked him as he scanned the street light with his sonic screwdriver.
"I'm not sure, Arkytior," he answered before he continued rambling to himself as they walked towards the TARDIS, "Oh, shut up, you! I'm just dropping in on a friend and introducing Rose to him, the last thing either of us need right now is a patina of teleport energy, we're going. Going! Not staying. Going. We are through saving them." He then rested his head on the TARDIS' door, "We're going away now."
"You're going to investigate it, aren't you, Theta?" Rose asked him.
"How did you know, Arkytior?" he asked her.
"In all of my 1,103 years of knowing you since we were children, I know you," she answered.
The next day, the Doctor had his jacket removed as he was demonstrating a remote control helicopter for a group of children with Rose standing next to him as he had a name tag over the left side of his braces, while Rose had one over the left side of her t-shirt as they were standing inside a department store.
"It goes up-tiddly up, it goes diddly-down!" The Doctor said, imitating an aeroplane as Rose giggled, "For only £49.99, which I think is a bit steep but then again it's your parents' cash and they'll only waste it on boring stuff like lamps and vegetables, yawn!"
As the Doctor was demonstrating a remote controlled helicopter with Rose next to him, while a group of children watched, Craig entered the department store, pushing Alfie in a stroller as he was on his mobile with Sophie.
"Yeah, Soph... Just enjoy your holiday! Yeah, coping," Craig told Sophie as he continued to push Alfie's stroller.
"Uh, oh," Rose muttered as she saw that the remote controlled helicopter was beginning to lose control.
"Nobody panic, but I appear to be losing control," the Doctor told the children.
"Yeah, love you," Craig told Sophie when the helicopter suddenly came down behind him.
"Oopsey-daisy," the Doctor muttered as he fell backwards and sat on the display table behind him and Rose as Craig noticed the two Gallifreyans before they knelt on the floor and gathered the children around them, "Guys, guys, ladies and gentlemen, while I deal with this awkward moment you go and find your parents/guardians! Try in lamps!" Rose then gave one girl a high five before they left the Time Lord couple, "Craig!"
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Craig asked both Gallifreyans as he approached them with Alfie's stroller.
"I'm the Doctor, I work in a shop now. Here to help. They gave me a badge with my name on in case I forget who I am, very thoughtful, as that does happen," the Doctor said, pretending to introduce himself to Craig and pointing at his name tag as he recalled when he had amnesia after he regenerated into his Fifth, Seventh and Eighth incarnations.
"And I'm Rose Smith, the Doctor's wife. I haven't worked in a shop since someone decided to blow up Hendriks in late March of 2005," Rose pretended to introduce herself to Craig as well.
"You both were leaving... the alignment of Exeter, what about that?" Craig asked them, "One chance to see it, you said, Doctor."
"Well, we were on our way, saw a shop, got a job, you got to live in the moment, Craig," the Doctor told him before turning around, "Mind Yappy."
"What?" Craig said with confusion as the Doctor grabbed a light brown toy dog with black around some parts of its ears, back and its eyes, while its muzzle and feet were white.
"Yappy. The robot dog. Not so much fun as I remember," the Doctor explained as he and Rose laughed as he stroked Yappy, "You look awful."
"I haven't slept, have I?" Craig explained, "I still can't stop him crying. I even tried singing a nursery rhyme to him last night."
"May I ask which one?" Rose asked him, "Because some infants only go to sleep like certain ones."
"Does it matter?" He retorted, "But how do you know so much about nursery rhymes, Rose?"
"Because my mother, Persephone, went to Earth a lot before I was born and studied the people and culture of your planet, causing me to have an infatuation with Earth and its people," Rose answered, "And besides, his mother and mine were friends growing up and introduced us to each other a few months after we both were born as we were both born a few months apart."
"Yeah, he did mention that...he thought you were crying, too. He didn't get a wink. Yappy, say goodbye to Craig and Stormageddon," the Doctor said, ignoring what Rose told Craig before he pretended to be the toy dog, "Goodbye, Craig, goodbye, Stormageddon." As the Doctor sets Yappy down, something whizzes across the floor at the other end of the department.
"Did you sense that?" Rose asked her husband.
"I did, Rose," the Doctor answered as they began heading down the aisle, "What was that?"
"You're both here for a reason, aren't you?" Craig asked both Gallifreyans, "You noticed something, Doctor, and you and Rose are investigating it." The Doctor then got down on his hands and knees, "Because it's you and Rose, it's going to be dangerous and alien."
"It might not be," the Doctor argued.
"Doctor, I live here, I need to know!" Craig said, pleading with the Time Lord.
"No, you don't," the Doctor stated.
"He lives in the area, Doctor," Rose explained, "That's what he meant."
"She's right and my baby lives here, my son," Craig added, agreeing with the Time Lady.
"Doctor, I think you should tell him what we're investigating," Rose told her husband.
"Okay, Rose, only because I love you," the Doctor relented, causing Rose to blush, "Sheila Clark, went missing Tuesday. Atif Ghosh, last seen Friday. Tom Luker, last seen Sunday."
"Why's that not on the front page?" Craig asked them as he picked up a newspaper from a table nearby to look for the names of the people that disappeared on the newspaper, only to not see it on the front page.
"That's what we were wondering, Craig," Rose told him.
"Page one has an exclusive on Nina, a local girl who got kicked off Britain's Got Talent. These people are on pages seven, 19, 22," the Doctor stated before he pushed the stroller as Rose followed him, "No-one's noticed yet, they're far too excited about Nina's emotional journey, which in fairness, is quite inspiring."
"And what else?" Craig asked them as he began to follow both Gallifreyans.
These funny old power fluctuations... which just happen to coincide with the disappearances," the Doctor stated as he, Rose and Craig walked into the children's clothes section of the department store as the Doctor was still pushing Alfie's stroller.
"That's just the council, putting in new cables," Craig told them, "Isn't it?"
"I wish it was that, Craig, but it's more to it than that," Rose stated as the Doctor stopped in front of a lift that was blocked by construction tape.
"Oh, yes, that's it, mystery solved, oh, wasting our time, now you can go home and we can go to Exedor, goodbye, and here's a lift," the Doctor told Craig as he used his sonic screwdriver on the lift.
"It says out of order," Craig protested.
"Not any more," the Doctor said as he pulled down the tape, "See? Here to help." The lift doors opened up as the Doctor started to push the stroller inside.
"It says danger," Craig protested as he took over.
"Oh, rubbish, lifts aren't dangerous," the Doctor stated.
"Actually, they can be, Doctor, because you can get trapped in them," Rose argued.
"Nonsense, I have never met anyone trapped inside of a lift before," the Doctor argued.
"Do I look like I'm stupid, Doctor?" Craig asked him before Alfie gurgled.
"Quiet, Stormy. Oh, all right, there's more. Come on, Rose," the Doctor relented after chuckling at Alfie as he and Rose entered the lift before he used his sonic screwdriver on a panel within the lift, "Just between you, me, Rose and Stormy, don't want to frighten my punters. Someone's been using a teleport relay, right here in this shop. Missing people last seen in this area." He then placed his finger on Craig's lips, "Before you ask, CCTV's been wiped."
"A teleport? A teleport? Like a beam me up teleport, like you see in Star Trek?" Craig stammered with disbelief as he motioned his hands towards the lift's ceiling.
"Exactly. Someone's been using a beam me up Star Trek teleport," the Doctor said, agreeing with Craig as he did the same motion with his hands as Craig did, "Could be disguised as anything."
"You would've loved my second incarnation and Chameleon-Arched self, Craig," Rose told Craig, "When me and him went to London in 1941 before we met our friend Jack and when he still had big ears and wore leather jackets, I called him Spock."
"Yeah, we would've, Rose," Craig said, agreeing with the Time Lady before turning back to the Doctor, "But a teleport? In a shop? That's ridiculous!"
"What was that? Was that the lights again?" Craig asked as the lights flickered again as they were no longer in the lift and were in a spaceship instead, which the Doctor and Rose noticed, but Craig hadn't yet.
"Oh, no," Rose muttered to herself as she noticed an oddly familiar robotic humanoid shape nearby as she realised what kind of ship they were on.
"Yes, that's it. That's all, it's the lights," the Doctor said at the same time.
"Why did you say that, Rose?" Craig asked the Time Lady.
"Because I think I know where we are," Rose answered.
"What do you mean, Rose?" The Doctor asked his wife.
"Don't you see any familiar old… friends of ours?" She retorted.
"Oh," the Doctor muttered as he saw the same robotic humanoid shape that Rose saw, "Cybermen!"
"What are Cybermen?" Craig asked them.
"How can you not know what a Cyberman is?" The Doctor asked him with confusion, "They along with Daleks invaded your world in 2007."
"Dalek?" Craig said with confusion.
"Of course," Rose muttered as she realised why Craig couldn't remember the Battle of Canary Wharf, "When we rebooted our timeline, we must've changed some events of the early 21st century like stopping the invasions of Earth of the 2000s from happening."
"That actually makes sense," the Doctor told her when the Cyberman suddenly saw them and began walking towards them.
"What is that?!" Craig asked both Gallifreyans.
"That's a Cyberman, part human, part cyborg," Rose answered as she took out her sonic screwdriver and used it on the machinery, sending them back into the lift just as the Cyberman was about to reach them, "As you say, Doctor, quick reverse!"
"What the hell just happened?!" Craig demanded before the lift doors opened as the Doctor and Rose strided out as Rose put her sonic screwdriver back in her jacket's pocket with Craig following them as he pushed Alfie's stroller.
"They must have linked the teleport relay to the lift, but she fused it! They can't use that again," the Doctor told Craig, "Stuck up there on their spaceship."
"What are Cybermen?" Craig asked them.
"As I said, Cybermen are part human, part cyborg," Rose answered.
"Ship? Spaceship?" Craig repeated with disbelief, "We were in space!"
"It's got to be up there somewhere, can't get a fix, it must be shielded," the Doctor said as he, Rose and Craig stood outside the department store along with Alfie and his stroller as he had his jacket back on as they looked up at the sky as the Doctor scanned it with his sonic screwdriver.
"Rose, you fused the teleport. You sorted it. They can't come back," Craig told the Time Lady.
"No, it was just temporary," Rose argued.
"She's right, we've just bought ourselves a little time," the Doctor said, agreeing with her, "We Still have to work out what they're doing before we can stop it."
"But if they've got the teleport and they're evil, why haven't they invaded already?" Craig asked them with confusion.
"Craig... take Alfie and go," the Doctor urged Craig.
"No!" Craig protested.
"No?" The Doctor asked with confusion.
"You have to, Craig, they'll try to convert you," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "And I lost my stepmother to them during the Battle of Canary Wharf before we rebooted the Universe and can never see her again as she's trapped in a parallel Universe."
"No, I remember from last time, people got killed, people that didn't know either of you," Craig protested, "I know where it's safest, for me and Alfie. And that's right next to the two of you."
"Is that so?" The Doctor and Rose both asked him at the same time.
"Yeah, you both always win, you both always survive," Craig stated.
"Those were the days," the Doctor said with a smile.
"I can help the two of you, I'm staying," Craig told them.
"Fine," Rose sighed, "You can help us.
"Craig… Craig, all right, all right... maybe those days aren't quite over yet," the Doctor said, agreeing with Rose as he smiled and shook his head, "Let's go and investigate... I mean, there's no immediate danger now."
"Good afternoon, Val," the Doctor and Rose both greeted an elderly woman, who looked like that she was in her sixties or seventies with fair skin and brown hair as they along with Craig entered the department store's jewellery section with Alfie's stroller.
"Hello," Val greeted both Gallifreyans.
"Where am I investigating?" Craig asked both Gallifreyans as the Doctor and Rose began walking over to the counter, only for Craig to grab the Doctor's arm.
"Well, look round. Ask questions," the Doctor answered, "People like it when you're with a baby, babies are sweet, people talk to you. That's why we usually take a human with us."
"And besides, some of our best friends are human," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"So I'm your baby?" Craig asked them.
"More like our friend," Rose answered.
"Yeah, what she said," the Doctor said, agreeing with Rose as Val watched and smiled before Craig left the Time Lord couple as the Doctor grabbed a pair of sunglasses.
"Hope you both don't mind me saying, Doctor and Rose, but I think you both look ever so sweet, the two of you with your partner and their baby," Val told them as the Doctor put on the pair of sunglasses.
"You've not noticed anything unusual around here lately, Val?" The Doctor asked her as he took off the pair of sunglasses.
"Yeah, have you?" Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Well…" Val began to answer.
"Yes, yes?" The Doctor asked her.
"Mary Warnock saw Don Petheridge snogging Andrea Groom outside the Conservative Club on his so-called day off golfing," Val answered.
"Yeah. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," the Doctor muttered as he air-kissed Val on both cheeks as he began to walk away, "Come on, Rose."
"And then there's that silver rat thing," Val added.
"What?" The Doctor asked as he and Rose stopped and turned around with a smile on his face.
"What do you mean by silver rat?" Rose asked her.
Soon the Doctor, Rose and Val were in the toy section of the department store after Val explained what the silver rat thing that she saw looked like as the Doctor was under a table scanning with his sonic screwdriver, while Rose had a large net in her right hand.
"A silver rat," the Doctor said as he stood up, "Glowing red eyes."
"Sounds awfully like a Cybermat," Rose muttered to her husband.
"Yeah, it does, Rose," the Doctor said, agreeing with her.
"Yes, then it zizzed off," Val stated, "I wanted to get one for my nephew, but stockroom say there's no such item."
"I bet they do," the Doctor muttered as he put his sonic screwdriver away.
"Yeah, I doubt that they do, too," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Well, what was it then?" Val asked them, "Answer me that."
"A Cybermat," the Doctor and Rose both muttered at the same time before they along with Val heard the sound of clothes stands falling over nearby.
"What's all that hullabaloo?" Val asked aloud.
"Umm… That'll be our friend," the Doctor answered as Rose handed Val the net.
"Sorry, Val, but we must dash," Rose apologised as she and the Doctor ran towards the sound of where Craig was.
"Make a habit of hanging around in womens' wear, sir?" A dark-skinned man, wearing the uniform of a security guard along with a name tag over the left side of his jacket with the name 'George' on it told Craig as he was picking up womens underwear that he accidentally knocked off of their clothes stands as he was in the ladies department of the store, while Alfie was crying.
"I'm sorry, oh, ssh, ssh, Alfie, come on," Craig said before he began rocking Alfie's stroller with his hand.
"He's a pervert, look at him," A woman with light skin, brownish-blonde hair, wearing a white dress shirt, blackish-grey skirt, leggings and a light purple cardigan along with a name tag on the left side of her cardigan with the name 'Kelly' on it.
"Hello, everyone! We're here to help," the Doctor said as he and Rose ran over to them.
"Hello, Doctor and Rose," Kelly and George greeted both Gallifreyans.
"Hello. Has anyone seen a silver rat?" The Doctor asked them, causing Kelly and George to look at the Time Lord with confused looks on their faces, "No, OK. Long shot, I see you've met our friend, Craig. Nice uniform George." He then gave him an 'OK' sign and whistled.
"I agree with my husband, that is definitely a nice uniform, George," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Thank you, Doctor and Rose," George told both Gallifreyans, "If he's with the two of you, that's all right then."
"Sorry. I thought he was hassling me, 'cause that's the last thing I need today," Kelly apologised, "'Cause Shona's not turned up, right, so I'm doing twice the work for the same money. If you don't mind…"
"Ssh!" The Doctor shushed her as he placed his index finger in front of his lips, causing Kelly to stop talking.
"Please teach me how to do that, Doctor," Craig begged the Time Lord.
"No hold on... Un-ssh!" The Doctor said as he turned back towards Kelly, "Shona?"
"My supervisor," Kelly answered, "She's meant to be in today but never showed up."
"Where did you last see her?" Rose asked her.
"How do you do that, Doctor?" Craig asked the Doctor as they along with Rose walked along the department store's ladies department with Alfie's stroller, "It's a power, isn't it, some sort of weird alien hypnotic power, I bet you excrete some sort of gas that makes people love you."
"Would that I could, Craig?" The Doctor retorted.
"We don't have any powers like that, Craig, we swear," Rose assured him, "The main powers that Time Lords and Ladies have are telepathy and the ability to change our face and body through a process called Regeneration."
The Doctor then opened a curtain, causing a woman that was behind the curtain to scream before he closed the curtain, "Sorry, Madam." He then opened the curtain again, "I'd try that in red if I were you." He then closed the curtain again.
"I'm right though, aren't I?" Craig asked him.
"As I said, Craig, Time Lords and Ladies only have Telepathy and Regeneration as abilities, nothing more," Rose told him as the Doctor peered into another room, causing Alfie to gurgle.
"Yes, I know he does make that mistake," the Doctor said, agreeing with Alfie, "Of course he does. Of course you do, we're friends."
"But I did exactly what either of you would have done, and I nearly got arrested!" Craig reminded them before Alfie made some more noises.
"Stormy thinks you should believe in yourself more," the Doctor told Craig as he began scanning the room with his sonic screwdriver.
"Great, now my baby is reviewing me," Craig muttered, causing Rose to giggle.
"Here. Right here Last night, a Cyberman took Shona," the Doctor stated as he entered the last room.
"A Cyberman?" Craig said with confusion, "I thought it was a little silver rat?"
"It's not a rat. It's a Cybermat," the Doctor corrected him.
"There's a huge difference between Cybermen and Cybermats, Craig," Rose told him.
"All right don't have a go at me just 'cos I don't know the names," Craig told them.
"Cybermats are infiltrators. Very small, very deadly. They collect power like bees collect pollen. One of them's been sucking the electrical energy from this area," the Doctor explained to Craig as they along with Rose were walking through one of the department store's departments with Craig walking with Alfie's stroller.
"We've met them before in the Arctic in 2010, where they infected a team of survey team workers, who slowly began turning into Cyberslaves from nanoforms, a form of Cybermen who are less intelligent than regular Cybermen after they uncovered a Cyber-ship buried underneath the ice that they were digging through. The Cyberslaves brought a Cyber-Lord, the commander of a Cyber-ship back online after they captured our companion and planned to convert her before we stopped them," Rose added, recalling when she, the Doctor and Amy went to the Arctic before they met the Weeping Angels on the Byzantium.
"But why a shop, you know, why not a nuclear power station?" The Doctor asked himself.
"Yeah, why would they use a shop for power, rather than somewhere with more power?" Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"OK, why?" Craig asked them.
"Let's ask it," the Doctor told him, "We wait for the shop to shut, we stake the place out, and grab ourselves a Cybermat."
"And this is just a coincidence, is it?" Craig asked them.
"What is?" The Doctor asked him.
"Aliens in Colchester?" Craig explained, "Aliens twice in my life, happening to me just when you and Rose both turn up."
"This is not our fault, Craig," the Doctor assured him.
"He's right, it's not our fault that aliens are in Colchester," Rose said, agreeing with her husband before Alfie started fussing.
"Shh, shh. Look what you've done, Doctor!" Craig told the Time Lord as he began comforting Alfie.
"It's his nappy, he's mentioned it twice," the Doctor explained.
"I don't speak baby or have telepathy, do I?" Craig asked him, rhetorically.
"There's a changing station over by electrical goods," the Doctor told Craig as he pointed at a changing station nearby.
"And of course, you'd know that, Doctor," Craig muttered before heading towards the changing station with his baby, "Come on, Alfie."
"Craig, it's a coincidence. It happens, it's what the universe does for…" the Doctor began to say.
"Theta, look," Rose said as she noticed something before the Doctor turned in her direction and saw Amy and Rory shopping with Rory carrying many bags as a young girl came up to Amy.
"Can I have your autograph please?" The girl asked Amy.
"Yeah. Sure," Amy answered as she took a notepad that the girl was holding.
"..fun," the Doctor finished.
"What's your name?" Amy asked the girl.
"Ellie," the girl answered.
"I like your hairband," Amy told her as she signed her autograph.
"Thank you," Ellie said, thanking Amy for the compliment as the Doctor opened his mouth as if to call Amy, only for Rose to stop him as they backed away and ducked behind a rack of clothes.
"All right?" Rory asked her.
"There you go," Amy told Ellie as she handed Ellie her pad and autograph.
"Thank you," Ellie said before Amy and Rory left as she pointed out at Amy to her mother and then pointed in the Doctor and Rose's direction, causing the Doctor and Rose to questionly point at themselves before they turned around and saw that behind them on the wall, there was a promotional ad bearing Amy's face and it was for a perfume named Petrichor 'For The Girl Who's Tired of Waiting'.
"Amelia Pond," the Doctor muttered as he smiled.
"And just think that the next time we see her, I'll be on my next Incarnation and Regeneration," Rose added as she smiled as well.
The Doctor, Rose and Craig were hiding behind the perfume counter as George walked by on patrol as the Doctor was holding the net after he got it back from Val.
"OK, shh," the Doctor told Rose and Craig before they soon got up as soon as George passed by as the Doctor and Rose both began scanning the area with their sonic screwdrivers, "Right. Let's be having you then, Cybermat."
"Can't you both put those on quiet?" Craig asked them as Alfie started crying.
"No! It's a sonic screwdriver. Sonic equals sound!" The Doctor answered as he took an item out from his coat, "Take this. I got it on my discount, 10% off. It's a papoose." He then placed it around Craig's neck.
"Why do I need a papoose?" Craig asked him.
"Alfie wants to attach you to him," the Doctor explained, "You're far too slow when he summons you."
"When's he going to stop giving me marks?" Craig asked him.
"He won't, Craig," Rose answered.
"She's right and besides, that's parenthood," the Doctor said, agreeing with Rose, "Couldn't you have got a babysitter?" Alfie then began cooing at them, "No, any babysitter...doesn't have to be a hot one."
"I told everyone I know I didn't need their help this weekend, they won't answer my calls," Craig answered, "I didn't know there was going to be an invasion of Cyberman." Alfie then began fussing, "Shh."
The Doctor, Rose and Craig then began trying to quiet Alfie.
"It's OK," the Doctor assured Alfie.
"Yeah, Don't cry, Alfie," Rose said, agreeing with her husband as Craig picked him up before the Doctor saw the Cybermat and lunged at it, catching it in the net.
"Ha-ha!" The Doctor whispered, "That's very odd. It must be on low power. Or I'm better at that than I remember."
"Or maybe it doesn't want to attract too much attention," Rose suggested.
"I didn't think of that, Rose, that's also a possibility," the Doctor said, agreeing with her as he picked up the Cybermat as he stood up and showed Craig the Cybermat.
"Oh, is that it?" Craig asked them.
"Yeah," the Doctor answered.
"It's definitely a Cybermat," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Oh, it's quiet cute look at that. Look, Alfie, look," Craig told Alfie before the Cybermat opened its mouth, showing two rows of sharp teeth, causing Craig to scream as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on it before he began panicking, "Metal rat. Real mouth! Metal rat, Real mouth, metal rat, real mouth!"
"Stop screaming. STOP SCREAMING! Shh!" The Doctor ordered Craig.
"Yeah, stop screaming, Craig," Rose said, agreeing with her husband before they heard a scream.
"Come on!" The Doctor told Rose and Craig before he ran off with Rose following him before Craig did the same as he put Alfie in the papoose.
In the department store's basement, the Doctor searched the corridors using his sonic screwdriver's torch setting with Rose before he spotted George's torch on the floor, "George!" He then noticed George's body, "George…"
As the Doctor bent over to examine George with Rose doing the same, a Cyberman came out of the doorway and knocked him to the ground with its arm before it placed its hand on the left side of Rose's neck, electrocuting her, causing both of them to black out before they regained consciousness with Craig looking down at them.
"Doctor! Rose! What happened?" Craig asked them.
"Oh, we've been chipped, chapped... Chopped!" The Doctor answered as Craig helped him stand back up before the Doctor did the same for Rose, "The Cyberman... it killed George, took him back to the ship."
"The Cybermen are here?" Craig said with surprise, "But you said."
"Yeah, I know what I said, I say a lot of things!" The Doctor said as he stumbled as he walked around with Rose doing the same before he used his sonic screwdriver around the area as a torch again, "But Rose fused the teleport it should have taken them days to repair."
"Yeah, it should've taken them at least five days to repair their teleport," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Are you both OK?" Craig asked them.
"We should be dead...but the arm it chopped me with, it was damaged, old spare parts," the Doctor answered, "Must have changed those missing people."
"It did something else to me, Doctor," Rose told her husband.
"What do you mean, Rose?" The Doctor asked her.
"It electrocuted me," Rose answered as she noticed golden regeneration energy from her right hand and showed it to her husband, "Enough volts to trigger my regeneration cycle."
"What is that?" Craig asked them.
"It's regeneration energy, Craig," Rose answered as the golden glow of her regeneration energy stopped.
"We had a feeling that she was going to regenerate soon," the Doctor added, "We saw signs of it about 200 years ago."
"Yeah, but I think I can hold it for at least a few days at most," Rose told her husband.
"That's great! We can use it against the Cybermen," the Doctor stated.
"Anyways, they changed the missing into Cybermen?" Craig said with surprise, "Why didn't they change either of you?"
"Long story. We're not exactly compatible," the Doctor answered, "But why are they using spare parts, why? Everything we find out makes less sense!"
"Yeah, it doesn't make sense at all," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Doctor, Rose, listen to me. If the Cybermen are here, then we're not safe, we've got to go," Craig told both Gallifreyans, "We've got to go back to base."
"We've got a base?" The Doctor said with surprise, "When did we get a base?"
"Isn't it obvious, Doctor," Rose told her husband, "It's Craig's house."
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