"I bet if you call Steph's contact at the Inquire you could get a fine amount."

"I have nothing to tell, mum, and I won't make something up for 15 minutes of fame."

Jackie let out a long sigh before taking a sip of her tea, "Alright. I won't say anything more about that but you should at least request compensation from Henricks. You could have been seriously hurt. I heard they found that Wilson fellows' remains, burnt to a crisp he was."

"Mum."

"Alright, alright."

An odd scattering, kinda like a cat scratching at their door was heard.

"Is the cat coming by again?"

"No, I nailed the flap down. It had fleas."

I walked to our front door to find the nails mum had nailed down now at the foot of the door. More scrambling was heard and so instead of kneeling on the floor I opened the door to find a familiar man in black leather.

"You're not the cat."

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"What do you do that for?"

I let out a laugh, "I have to live somewhere."

I heard an odd sound and saw a device in his hand that flashed an almost neon blue. A Mind Palace door opened and a voice whispered, 'sonic screwdriver.'

"Must have gotten it wrong." His brow furrowed as he looked down at the sonic device.

"I still have the arm if that's what you are looking for."

As if answering a thump came from my bedroom and I opened our front door further letting the man who called himself the Doctor in.

I pointed to the cardboard box in my bedroom that was already trying to slide off my bed.

The man pointed the sonic screwdriver towards the box and it made the 'sonic' noise again, the box stilled.

He turned toward me, "The box?"

"You said living plastic didn't want to take any chances."

He nodded in approval before catching a glimpse of himself in the hallway mirror.

"Could have been worse…" he flicked his ear, a small frown on his lips, "The ears."

The Doctor opened our front door and went to leave, cardboard box under his arm.

"Hold on, where are you going?"

I went to go out but was stopped by mum who called me from her bedroom's doorway.

Mum in her satin pink robe peered out from her bedroom after the Doctor. "Ooh…who was he?"

I shook my head, "I'll be back mum, going to talk to him about the thing."

"Alright, don't forget you have your flight. You said earlier it might move up. Might not be here when you come back, call when you land."

I would find out later what that was all about, in the meantime I waved at my mother before closing our front door behind me and chasing after the Doctor.

He was halfway down the Powell Estate's stairs when I caught up with him.

"So who are you really? You said you were the Doctor but who do you wish to be?"

He barely slowed down but he did look back at me, "I haven't been asked that in a long time." He went down some more stairs.

"You run from strange things, blow up buildings and you have a sonic device that does amazing things. Who are you not Doctor?"

"Sonic?"

"The device that you point and open things with."

"Sonic screwdriver."

"Yeah that."

"I am just passing through."

"So you are some sort of passing vigilante?"

He laughed.

"Who else knows about the living plastic? The police?"

"No, just me."

"What? All on your own."

"Who else is there? You all live your lives eating your chips unknowing of the war going on beneath your feet."

"So the controller is underground?"

This time his stare was longer, his eyes moved over my features as if trying to find something specific.

"So if the plastic is living, and its controlled by something…can that something be reasoned with?"

The Doctor matched his pace with mine, "The organism uses thought control, to manoeuvre the mannequins."

"Due to them having features and limbs?"

"Yes."

"So they are just the first wave? Is it an invasion?"

"You don't seem surprised."

"I remember aliens being in London before, even if everyone else has forgotten."

The Doctor leaned forward, "Yes why is that? Most humans would be running and screaming." He rapped his knuckles almost gently against my forehead, "Nope not plastic. Just bonehead."

I tsked at him, "Why would they make plastic of me? I'm not important."

"Everyone can cause a ripple, even tiny ants."

"A ripple?" I couldn't help myself from speaking up again as we turned a corner and the blue box from the night before came into view. "Or a song?"

He paused his back stiff and his body turned away.

"You asked who I am, Rose…" He turned his head, his hand slipped into mine. "I can feel it, the turn of the earth…"

The Doctor then looked like he had gone into a trance.

I felt as if the hand in mine was slipping away and I needed to hold him tight before he too slipped away.

And then he did.

"Mickey, can I use your computer?"

I glanced at the flat I had grown familiar with, Mickey had moved into it when he turned 18 almost two years ago.

"Yeah…want a beer?"

"No, that's fine."

His head popped around the corner, "Don't read my emails!"

I let out a laugh, "I'd rather not know, Mickey."

I sat down at the small desk he had in the corner of his bedroom.

I needed to find out about the Blue Box and the man with the familiar face.

I opened Mickey's laptop then

typing sounds filled the room.

After only a couple of rephrasing my search I found a site where at the top its headline read, "Have you seen this man?" Several fuzzy pictures showed the same face as I had seen the last couple of days.

But it was the police box found in the far background that called to me.

"Hey Mickey, do you think you could drive me somewhere?"

"Sure, I don't have work today."

"I'll pay for lunch and gas."

"Are you sure about his Rose? He could be an axe murderer."

Mickey looked over at the sweet suburban house with narrowed eyes.

"I looked him up. He has a wife and kids. Plus Charleen lives a couple of streets over and I talked to her, you know she always has the details about everyone in her area. She said he's a loyal family man, just a bit of a geek."

"Five minutes, then I'm coming in after you."

After I knocked on the pretty light blue door, a jolly man came to the door and his wife smiled from behind him as she carried laundry down from upstairs.

"I can't stay long, my bestie is in the car over there."

The man pointed at me, "She's here about the Doctor." He turned back towards me, "Of course you are. Come I'm out in the shed."

The shed was indeed a shed but with storage containers stacked on one side and a desk beneath a map of red strings between photos and news clippings on the other wall.

"He shows up all through history. Here at the Kennedy assassination." He handed a picture to her, one she'd already seen on the website but this one showed the whole picture. Then next showed a family in the early 1900s, "Another, here's the Daniels family in Southampton 1912 where they suddenly cancelled their trip on the Titanic." He handed over a drawing with the Doctor's likeness, and the Doctor's song played in my mind. "He is a legend. Wherever he goes, disaster follows. He's known as the Oncoming Storm."

"Perhaps the storm was already there and he was a lifeboat."

The man hummed beneath his breath, "You believe they are one and the same too."

"I believe he's not what he seems."

I sighed, I was no closer to knowing anything I didn't already sense.

The doors of my mind whispered of 'travel through time and space' and what human had that capability now. He could be from the future but I highly doubted it was that simple.

"Neither are you."

I shook my head from my thoughts, when I heard the man speak up.

"Thank you for sharing your discoveries. I must get going."

"Be careful Rose if the Doctor is back then we are all in grave danger."

As I got into Mickey's yellow Volkswagen, he was oddly silent.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mickey. I'm surprised you didn't rush in like some brave knight." I buckled my seatbelt, "So pizza?"

The thrum of the engines came and then the car took off nearly hitting a nearby pole.

I held on to the sides of the seat.

"Whoa there, Mickey! You just got a new paint job, you wouldn't want to ruin it."

"Pizza."

I looked over at Mickey and swallowed a gasp, pursing my lips tight. His skin was almost clammy and his sideburns almost looked as if they'd been painted on.

"Pizza it is then?"

"Pizza!"

"Right." I swallowed and smiled when 'Mickey' looked over at me.

My hands itched when I got the sudden urge to knock on his head to confirm he was a bonehead in order to alleviate my fears, but my gut was telling me otherwise.

I hadn't given myself away yet by the time we reached the pizza place.

It was when we sat down that the questions started up.

"So this Doctor?" 'Mickey's' smile was frozen and creepy quite frankly. "Did you meet him at the shop?" His hand reached across to take mine and I sat back out of reach, "Where is he?"

"Champagne?"

"We didn't order any champagne." Fake Mickey spoke.

I looked up to find a familiar goofy smile, the man gave me a wink.

"Don't mind me just toasting the happy couple."

"We are not a couple. She's my…" The plastic grin widened almost comically wide, "Ah…you."

"On the house." The cork came off the bottle with a pop only to hit the plastic Mickey in the head and the cork to be absorbed.

I jumped up and ran over to the fire alarm, I pulled it and shouted to the other patrons. "Everyone get out!"

The restaurant people just stared, at least until some saw plastic Mickey start chopping down tables with his axe turned hand.

I hurried and opened the front doors locking them in place on their stops before stepping back out of the way. "Everyone out!"

Screams came from my left and I turned to see plastic-Mickey's decapitated head talking in the Doctor's hands, "That won't stop me."

I looked around only to find the body was on the other side of the restaurant on a rampage.

A hand grabbed mine and pulled me out the back of the restaurant.

There in the middle of the back alley sat a familiar blue box.

"Come on in."

I ran in after the doctor only to find myself frozen on its threshold, the doors closed behind me.

What surprised me the most was the scent of the time ship, it reminded me of things that are golden. A campfire with the faintest sweetness from s'mores roasting over it, amber, sunlight warming puddles of raindrops and honeycomb. It was comforting, like a warm embrace to all my senses.

The banging from behind me made me jump forward, "Can they get in?"

"Not even the hordes of Genghis Khan could get in and believe me they've tried."

I caught myself in a chuckle until I saw the decapitated plastic Mickey head on the console. I straightened myself and walked toward the Doctor who was fiddling with things near it.

"So how are we going to rescue him?"

"Who?"

"Mickey." I pointed to the head plugged in. "If they are remote controlled…"

"Thought controlled…"

"Could we somehow lock onto the signal?"

An excited grin and the doctor pulled a lever by the head, "Yes!"

"Even if it melts?"

He glanced at me inquiringly to see me already pointing toward the deflating head.

"No!" He ran to the other side of it, "No, no, no; the signal is failing."

The song of the ship rose around the Doctor as he shouted and moved quickly around its centre. It rocked and then seemed to settle, I held on tight to the bar around the centre of the room.

"We've lost the signal."

"If you blew up the.."

"Relay signal."

"Right, then there's probably some sort of transmitter nearby. What do we need to look for?"

The Doctor ran out the ship's door and we found ourselves by the Thames.

"Something in the middle of London. Has to be massive, it would be like a large wheel or dish…"

I pointed behind him at the London Eye.

"Like that?"

"Oh…" he turned back to me with a grin "...fantastic."

I was learning to love when that big goofy grin lit up his usually intense darkened features. He had suffered something great not long ago. I could feel it and a door opened in my mind whispering 'time war'.

We ran across the bridge, our hands slipping into each others' almost naturally, our features aglow from the giant landmark shining above our heads.

I ran to the edge of the stone pathway and searched for an entrance underground by the river.

"Doctor, over here!"

A firelight glow flickered against the tall underground industrial walls. The lights came from a lava blob looking creature at the bottom.

"You give it a chance, Doctor and I'll look for Mickey."

As the Doctor approached words spilling out regarding something called the Shadow Proclamation, I looked around searching for my friend. In one corner I saw movement and rushed forward as I saw a familiar frightened face.

Mickey sat hunched over his knees shivering.

"Oh Mickey." I knelt carefully by him, being cautious with my movements knowing he had been through a harrowing experience. "I'm here."

I looked over at him, my nose wrinkling at the sour smell of sweat and urine, but from what I could see he didn't seem physically harmed.

He trembled but welcomed my side hug, his arms slipping around my waist and his head falling to my shoulder a choked sob coming from him. "Did they get you too?"

"No, I'm here to rescue you."

Mickey glanced over my shoulder at where the Doctor was shouting at the 'Nestene Consciousness'.

"Is he…?"

"He's an expert, he helped me find you."

Mickey seemed to have regained some composure as he sat back, "You shouldn't have hugged me, I'm gross."

"A shower, some fish and chips and you'll be right as rain."

He let out a dry chuckle that turned into a parched cough.

I rubbed his back ignoring the desire to not touch it due to its dampness.

"We'll also get you water soon."

A rumble shook the whole place and Mickey dove back into my embrace. I glanced down at him with a small smile on my lips, and he wondered why I called him my lil bro.

"No! I wasn't going to use it. It was just insurance." The Doctor's voice shouted over the rumble.

The roar grew louder and I watched as some living plastic held back a struggling Doctor, while another held a vial in its hand.

The sound of a chain rattling came from above and the blue box was shoved onto a ledge overlooking the Nestene.

I looked down at Mickey, "I'll be right back."

Mickey tightened his hold on me and I looked at him, "Mickey if he dies, I think we won't be far behind. When you see me sprint over, you need to get as close to that blue box as you can."

I felt him nod and I patted his back one last time before running over to where I saw some chains hung upon a rack. I took an axe and hit the rack until the chain fell down. I ripped the bottom of my sweatshirt and tied it around my hands, before I grabbed onto the chain giving it a yank to make sure it was sturdy enough.

I would have to time this just right.

The Doctor shouted from behind me, "It's doing its final phase. Get out Rose while you still can."

"I can't do that, Doctor."

Lightning from the beast went up through the roof, beginning the transmission. It was either now or never, I had to do it for Mum, the Doctor, and Mickey.

Taking a deep breath I did a running leap aiming toward the solitary plastic holding the vial in his hand. I swung precariously over the sputtering lava-like creature almost missing the mannequin but just as the chain started going back I was able to kick the it into the Nestene.

I swung back.

I felt the Doctor's arms wrap around my middle and felt as we fell back. We didn't have much time and quickly picked ourselves up before running toward the ship.

Mickey ran right after us.

He froze as soon as he ran in and would have run back out if the doors hadn't shut behind him and the ship moved beneath his feet.

The ship resettled.

"Home sweet…" the Doctor trailed off as Mickey ran out.

It was quiet after Mickey left and I looked over to the Doctor.

His brow was furrowed as he looked down at the ship's console.

"Are you alright? You froze back there."

He looked up, his eyes intense with his hands clasped in front of him as he leaned against the console.

"Yes but you saved me. Thank you, Rose Tyler."

"I suppose I did." I smiled, I gazed into his intense eyes wondering if he could see into my mind when he stared like that.

A ring from my phone interrupted the intense eye contact we had.

I walked toward the ship's entrance, "Hi mum, are you safe?"

"Don't go outside! There was shooting and…"

"You are safe now though and not hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." There was a pause and a rustling, "Oh no! What about your flight?"

I looked back at the time travel ship and smiled as the pieces at last started to slip into place, "I'll leave a note if plans change."

I stepped outside as I hung up. I looked back at the Doctor.

He already stood in the doorway.

In his eyes the saddest look even though a smile was upon his lips.

"Right then, I'll be off…" He looked down then back up, "Unless you want to come with me. We could go anywhere in the galaxy and beyond. Free of charge."

I already knew what my answer was going to be before I even said it. This was the moment I had prepared for all my life.

"Do I have time to pack?"

A real grin lit up his features, "Pack light. The TARDIS provides everything else."

I turned but not before looking over my shoulder, "Don't leave me behind, Doctor."

He let out a laugh, "Never."

"I'll hold you to that, Doctor."

[Excerpt from when Rose left Clive]

Clive looked back through his files. He wasn't sure this was the right thing to do, but the Doctor was dangerous.

He turned to the back of a file where he'd taped a small business card.

A breath and then he dialled the number on his phone.

There was silence as the dial tone ended.

Before an automated voice asked, "Have you had a sighting?"

Clive tightened his fingertips upon the business card, and looked down at the pictures he'd just shown the girl.

"She was just here."

"Excellent right on time."