Chapter Text
"Good morning, Rose." I waved to her from my spot at the cash register.
"Morning, Jessa!" she waved back and started to fold the loose shirts on a display that was close to the register I was working at. "So, how was the date with that Ben fella?" I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"It was . . . okay, I guess." I started checking out a customer before she could reply back but doesn't mean she won't forget. After the customer left, she bombarded me with her curiosity.
"What do you mean by okay? I thought you two looked lovely together."
"What I mean was that he was boring and only talked about himself and how he was so successful, that I should feel lucky that he wanted to date a "common girl" like me." I looked over my shoulder, my grass green eyes connecting with her light brown. "So I popped him in the mouth and went home." Smirking when I heard her snickering.
Hours had pass by and it was time to close the store. Rose and I were finishing up folding some shirts, when the security guard came to me and hands me a package.
"I can go with you, Jessa, if you want?" Rose asked me with concern in her eyes.
"I'll be fine. You go on home and I'll meet you there." I walk over to the lift and enter it. I left the lift once it arrived in the basement.
"Wilson?" I go further down the corridor. 'Maybe I should of had Rose come with me.' "Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson?" I knock on the door with HP Wilson CEO on it. "You there? Look, they're closing the shop and I need to get home. Wilson!" there was a sudden nosie further down the corridor. I turned my head in the direction it had come from in curiosity. 'Curiosity killed the cat, Jessamine.' The little voice in the back of my head said to me, "Yeah, and satisfaction brought it back." Was my reply to it.
"Hello? Wilson, its Jessamine." I stopped outside a fire door for a moment, I open it and find myself in a room that's used to store shop dummies. I turn on the lights and walk further into the room. "Wilson!" I was getting aggravated. I try another door at the side. The fire door I entered closed abruptly. I sighed at myself, 'This is like all the horror movies show you what not to do.' Behind me, a dummy turns its head on its own accord, I turn around just in time to see it step out of its alcove and towards me. I don't move and just watch it. The dummy is soon join by two more. I finally start moving when all of the dummies are alive. I tripped over a box and quickly pulled myself up again. I'm about to pull my wand out when a hand grabs mine. I snap my head to look at the owner of the hand.
"Run."
We began to run, just in time, through a fire exit. The dummies are in pursuit. The mysterious man leads me into a lift, 'Yet another tip the horror movies tell you what not to do.' The doors close on one of the dummy's arms. The man pulls it off and the doors close. I looked over to the man in shock.
"You pulled his arm off . . . your mad!" I said backing away from him.
"Yep!" I have no idea if he was agreeing to the first part or the second part of what I said to him. He toss the arm to me, I catch it on insists and look at it, "Plastic."
"So it's not a trick? How did they come to life then?" I asked my curiosity getting the better of me again. The man grins at me, making me think that he likes me and my questions.
"Very good questions. Well done."
"Thanks?" It sound more like a question then anything else. "Well whatever they are, Wilson going to call the police, once he finds them that is."
"Who's Wilson?"
"Chief electrician." I answered to him.
"Wilson's dead." He steps out of the lift. I follow him.
"Really? That's too bad." I said indifferently.
"Hold on!" he pushes me to the side. "Mind your eyes." He points what looks like a screwdriver at the lift, making it spark.
"I've had enough now." I muttered and walked after the man. "Who are you? And what were those things down there? Please, answer me!" I was getting aggravated again.
"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He shows me an electronic device, "So!" he opens a fire exit for me. "I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process." That made me freeze up in my spot, "But don't worry about me, no. Go home, go on! Go and have your lovely beans on toast." I made a face at the mention food, I began to walk through the door before stopping and turning to look at the man.
"You're a mad man but a brave one, don't have much of those lately." I kissed him on the cheek, "Good luck, madman." I walked the rest of the way.
"Thank you. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." He shuts the door. I turn away and start to walk away. I don't get very far before the door opens again. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, what's your name?"
"Jessamine." I said with a light smile to him.
"Nice to meet you, Jessamine. Run for your life." He shuts the door again and I began to run. Outside, nobody knows what's going on. I'm so distracted that I nearly get run over by a taxi.
"Watch it!"
I proceed to get as far away from the building as possible and look back just in time to see the top floor blow up. I gasp and run home – pasting a blue police box. News 24 is on the telly. Rose and I sat on the sofa, watching it.
"The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Earlier reports in the. . ."
The dummy's arm is lying on a chair. Mum walks in holding a phone to her ear.
"I know, it's on the telly! It's everywhere! She's lucky to be alive!" she hands me a mug of tea, I take it with a soft smile to her. "Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was HER daughter! Oh and here's himself . . ." I turn to see Mickey appear in the doorway and rolled my eyes and went over to Mum to get away from the couple, sipping my tea.
"I've been phoning your mobile, you could've been dead! It's on the news and everything! I can't believe that your shop went up!" I scoffed at him and send him a glare. He hugs Rose.
"I'm alright! I wasn't even there when it went up. It was Jessa that was there when it happen. She was shaking so bad last night, didn't sleep a wink!" Rose turned to me with concern written over face. Mickey turned to me, now with the same amount of concern.
"Well, what happened?" I shrugged at him,
"Dunno."
"What was it though, what caused it?" I sighed.
"I wasn't in the shop, I was outside, and I didn't see anything but the roof get blown off." Mum walks back in,
"It's Debbie on the other end, and she knows a man from the Mirror – five hundred quid for an interview!" I turned to her with my hand out.
"Oh that's brilliant! Give it here!" I take the phone and hang it up. "Well, you've gotta find some way of making money. Your jobs kaput and I'm not bailing you out." The phone rings again and she answers it. "Beth! She's alive!" I rolled my eyes at her as she leaves the room, "I tell ya, sue for compensation! She was within seconds of death. . ."
"What're you drinking? Tea? No, no no, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock, you need something stronger." He takes my honey sweeten peppermint tea out of my hands. "Why?" I growled out.
"You deserve a proper drink, you, Rose and me, we're going down the pub, my treat. How about it?" I took my tea back and shook my head, I hated alcohol. Rose gets up from the couch, smiling at Mickey.
"Is there a match on?" he turns to look at her,
"I'm just thinking about you, Babe!"
"There's a match on." I said sitting back on the couch.
"Well, that's not the point. We could catch the last five minutes." I shook my head. "Go on then. We're fine, really. Go. Get rid of that. . ." She gestures to the dummy arm I brought home. Mickey points to his lips and Rose gives him a kiss, I make loud gagging sounds at them, making them roll their eyes. He pushes her back onto the chair and they laugh. He gets up to go and Rose puts a leg out to trip him. Mickey picks up the arm and waves with it.
"Buh Bye!"
"Bye!" Rose and I said at the same time. Mickey pretends to strangle himself with the arm and leaves. We both shake our heads fondly and turn our attention back to the news.
". . . fire then spread throughout the store . . . there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure. . ." Rose and I were having breakfast, listening to mum talk about new jobs.
"There's Finches . . . you could try them. They've always got jobs." I gagged on the piece of toast I was eating.
"No, thanks." I said after drinking some of my tea.
"Oh, great. The butchers."
"Well it might do you both some good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about getting compensation – Jessa, you had genuine shock and trauma! Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she IS Greek, but that's not the point – it's a valid claim." I rolled my eyes and began to hear rattling, I stood up and walked over to the front door.
"Mum, you're such a liar, I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays!"
"I did it weeks back!"
"No, you thought about it." I muttered to myself. I raise an eyebrow when I discover the screws on the floor. The cat flap moves violently. I jerked back, I moved my hand and poked the cat flap open gingerly. The Doctor's face is right outside it. "What?!" I open the door.
"What're you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"I live here."
"Well, what do you do that for?"
"Why do we do anything, really? I'm home because I've no job to go to right now." The Doctor gets out that screwdriver thingy again.
"Must've got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" he knocks on my forehead. "No, bonehead. Bye, then!" he makes to go, but I pull him back inside.
"You, inside. Right now." I shut the door.
"Who is it?" I heard mum's voice from her room. I poke my head into her bedroom.
"It's about last night, he's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes, mum." I left him there to go talk to Rose for a minute.
"She deserves compensation."
"Huh, we're talking millions." The doctor leans against the doorframe, waiting for me to come back. Mum looks at him for a moment and stands up, flirtatiously.
"I'm in my dressing gown."
"Yes, you are."
"There's a strange man in my bedroom."
"Yes, there is."
"Well, anything could happen." I got there in time to hear the Doctor's answer.
"No." the Doctor walk off to the living room, with mum pulling a face at his back. I giggled softly to myself earning a wink from the Doctor.
"Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?"
"Might as well, thanks! Just milk." I was about to go make it when Rose popped up from the couch.
"I'll make it, Jessa." I nodded my head in thanks.
"So I'm guessing calling the police is out of the question?" I asked as the Doctor picks up a gossip magazine.
"That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien." I sighed
"Umm… Doctor? What do we need to do?" I asked again. The Doctor picks up a book and flicks through it.
"Sad ending." I sat back on the couch with a frown,
"I happen to like sad endings." The Doctor still ignoring me, picks up an envelope and reads it.
"Jessamine Tyler." I perked up when he said my name. He turns to look in the mirror. "Ahh, could've been worse!" he prods his large ears. "Look at me' ears."
"You could fly with those things, like Dumbo." I mumbled. The Doctor shuffles a pick of cards. "Luck be a lady!"
"Oh god, please don't sing." I put my faces in my hands, watching him through the cracks of my fingers. He shuffles the cards again and manages to make them all go flying. I began to snicker at him.
"Maybe not." I, then, hear scuffling from behind my seat on the sofa. I jumped up and away from it. "What's that then? You got a cat?"
"No." I told him. I watch as the Doctor leans behind the sofa and the dummy's arm leaps out and grabs him by the neck. I began to help him from being strangle to death by the hand. We finally got it off and it attached to my face, I gasp in shock. The Doctor leaps up and tries to pull it off. We crash onto the coffee table, breaking it, and roll onto the floor. The Doctor pushes me back onto the sofa and gets out that screwdriver and disabled the hand.
"It's alright, I've stopped it. There you go, you see?" he tosses it at me. "'Armless."
"Do you think?" I use it to whack him hard on the shoulder.
"Ow!" Rose comes running out of the kitchen.
"Jessa! Are you okay?"
"Fine, Rose." I then notice that the Doctor has left. I run out of the flat with Rose behind me. He's running down the stairs with us on his tail. Rose finally speaks up about the situation,
"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off."
"Yes I can. Here I am, this is me, swanning off. See ya." I stopped a few steps behind him and turn to Rose.
"Rose, maybe we should listen to him, he seems to know what he's doing." The look she gave me basically said she wasn't going to drop it.
"That arm was moving, it tried to kill Jessa!" I sighed at her, I was fine.
"Ten out of ten for observation." Well, he sure is rude.
"You can't just walk away, that's not fair! You've got to tell us what's going on."
"No I don't." we reached the bottom of the stairs, and go through the doors.
"Alright then. We'll go to the police. We'll tell everyone. You told Jessa, if she did that, she'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell us, or we'll start talking." I turned to look at her in horror at what she just said.
"Rose, I . . . why would you say that?" she and the Doctor turn to look at me, "I won't be the cause for any more deaths, Rose. So drop it!" I finished off in a yell at her. I turned to the so called Doctor, now extremely pissed off. "Who the hell are you?!" my hands clinch into fists.
"I told you! The Doctor!" I could tell he was just as angry as I was from what Rose said.
"Yeah. But Doctor what?" Rose asked,
"More like Doctor Who." I scoffed at her.
"Just the Doctor." He was calming down, smiling at what I said.
"The Doctor." Rose stated dryly.
"Hello!" boy, was this man bipolar or something.
"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" Rose said snidely to him.
"Sort of." The Doctor shrugged seeming a bit stung at what Rose said. I stepped over to him with my hand out to him.
"Well, if it's any consultation I find it impressive. It's nice to meet you, Doctor. I'm Jessamine Tyler and the blonde is Rose Tyler, my little sister." He shook hands with me.
"Nice to properly meet you, Jessamine." Rose budges in between us bringing the attention to her.
"Come on. You can tell us. She's seen an enough. Are you the police?"
"No. I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home." That made me turn a questioning glance at him.
"But what has she done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after her?" the Doctor turned on me with a sneer on his face.
"Oh! Suddenly the entire world revolves around you! You were just an accident, you got in the way, that's all." I jerked my head back as if he slapped me. Rose looked ready to slap him.
"It tried to kill her!"
"It was after me, not her! Last night, in the shop, I was there, she blundered it. Almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down . . . the only reason it fixed on her is that she met me." That's when I pushed Rose out of the way with an angry look on my face.
"So, what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you." I put my hands on my hips, frown upon my face.
"Sort of, yeah."
"You're so full of it!" I hissed out.
"Sort of, yeah." I stared at him for a minute, then closed my eyes and sighed. I open my eyes and take the arm off him.
"Okay, start from the beginning, please."
"If you're gonna go with this living plastic, and we don't even believe that, but if we do . . . how did you kill it?" she looked over to me, "Jessa? You don't believe this right?" I looked up from the ground.
"Well, yeah I do. I mean, I had an army of shop dummies after me and then one of their arms attacked me, so yeah, I trust what the Doctor is saying is true." the Doctor smiled at me, I just nod my head back in reply.
"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead."
"So that's radio control?" I sighed at her.
"No, Rose, it's thought control." there was an awkward silence after that.
"Are you alright, Jessamine?" I nodded not looking at him but out to the sky daydreaming of what was beyond the cloudy, gray sky, missing his frown.
"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?" I ask as an afterthought.
"Long story." he supplied me, I looked over to him, seeing his look, and I sighed and looked back to the sky.
"Really though, Doctor. Tell me - who are you?" I turned my whole body to him, as he stopped walking.
"Do you know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving?" he walks back to me, as I was closest. "It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like its standing still. I can feel it." he takes my hand in his, "The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go . . ." he lets go of my hand. "That's who I am. Now, forget me, Jessamine Tyler." He takes the arm and waves it in my face. "Go home." He walks away. I watch his retreating back and then start to walk backwards to Rose, still watching the Doctor. The Doctor steps into a blue police box. I stare with wide eyes as I watch the box disappear with a loud sound. Rose took me to Mickey's flat. Mickey lets us in after we knocked on his door.
"Yahey, there's my women!" he slaps Rose bum. "Kit off!" I made a disgusted face at him.
"I'm not your woman." I grumbled at him, not wanting to be here in the first place.
"Shut up." Mickey gives her a kiss, "Mwah!"
"Ugh!" I stuffed my head into my arms. "Coffee?" Mickey asked us.
"Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?"
"No, I don't like coffee and you know that, Rickey." He glared at me.
"Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom." Mickey goes into the kitchen. Rose takes me by the arm and drags me into his bedroom and closes the door behind us.
"Don't read my emails!" Rose turns on his computer. I watch from behind her shoulder as she types in "Doctor" into the search engine.
"Rose, what are you doing?" I asked her, as no relevant results are found. She types in "Doctor Living Plastic". There's still nothing. "Rose, he said to leave him be." I told her but she ignored me. She types "Doctor Blue Box". The first result reads "Doctor Who – do you know this man? Contact Clive here . . ."
"Rose! We're not supposed to tell anyone about him!" she clicks on "Contact Clive" ignoring me again. Clive's name shows up in my mind onto the list, the list of the to die. Mickey, Rose, and I sat in the car, with me being force to listen to them bicker at each other.
"You're not coming in! He's safe, he's got a wife and kids." Rose said to Mickey.
"Yeah but who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an Internet lunatic murderer would say." I fully agreed with him on this, but Rose got out of the car anyway, grinning, forcing me out of the car. Mickey didn't look too happy and gives a man putting out his rubbish the evils. Rose knocks on the door of the house and it's answered by a boy of about eleven, I say.
"Uh, hello, we've come to see Clive? We've been emailing." I said to the boy.
"Dad! It's two of your nutters!" our eyes widening in shock at the boy, who we now know is Clive's son. Clive appears behind him.
"Sorry. Hello. You must be Rose and Jessa. I'm Clive. Obviously!" we shook hands with him and as I did, I claimed his soul as collected.
"I better tell you now – my boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill us!" we laughed.
"No, good point. No murders." He waves to Mickey who nods, still distrustful, as he should be.
"Who is it?" we all turn our heads to the stairs.
"Oh it's something to do with the Doctor! They've been reading the website. Please come through, I'm in the shed." I stared at him in shock, 'The shed!' Clive's wife, Caroline, came down the stairs carrying a washing basket.
"They? They read a website about the Doctor? They is two girls?" she smiles ironically and shuts the door. Clive shows us around the shed, which is short of a shrine to the Doctor, which isn't creepy at all.
"A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive, I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough - keep a lively mind - this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories. Even ghost stories. No first name, no last name. Just 'The Doctor'. Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son, it appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" he points to a photo of the Doctor on a computer screen behind us.
"Yeah." I said softly.
"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original . . ." he shows us some photographs of the Doctor standing in a crowd. "November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy." I looked at it in unbelievable shock. It was the same man straight down to his Dumbo ears.
"Must be his father. . ." Rose said to Clive.
"Going further back . . . April 1912." He brings over a photo album. "This is a photo of the Daniels family, Southampton. And friend." He points to the Doctor, standing with them. "This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World. On the Titanic. And for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And . . ." he shows us a sketch. "1883. Another Doctor. And look the same lineage. He's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He has a storm in his wake. And he has one constant companion." I looked over to Clive.
"Who's that?" Rose asked him.
"Death." Clive and I said in unison. He turns to look at me.
"If the Doctor's back . . . if you've seen him, Jessa . . . then one thing's for certain – we're all in danger. If he's singled you out . . . if the Doctor's making house calls . . . then God help you." I back away from him, moving closer to Rose.
"Who is he? Who do you think he is?" Rose asked him as she took my hand.
"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world." Rose and I came back to the car, she started talking before she's even got in.
"Alright! He's a nutter! Off his head! COMPLETE online conspiracy freak. You win! Oof." We get into the car. I started to notice that the person sitting at the wheel isn't Mickey and that it looks like a plastic replica of him. Rose seems not to take any notice. So I stay quiet until I'm needed.
"What're going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza." Rose spoke up, looking at me from the review mirror.
"Pizzaaa! P-p-p-pizza!" the not-Mickey sputtered, I looked at it wearily.
". . . or Chinese . . ." I said to Rose not looking away from not-Mickey.
"Pizza!" not-Mickey yelled and drove off in a wobbly line. Rose, not-Mickey, and I sat at a table for three in a restaurant. Rose was being Rose, talking about herself.
"Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had a few jobs going in the canteen. That's it then . . . dishing out chips . . . I could do A levels . . ." not-Mickey stares at me, grinning. "I dunno. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him, and look where he ended up. What do you think?"
"So, where did you meet this Doctor?" not-Mickey asked me. I stared at him, blankly.
"I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" I rolled my eyes at Rose's attitude.
"Because, I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Is he something to do with that?" he was still looking at me.
"No . . ." I shook my head.
"Come on." I shook my head again, now feeling a bit of fear for the not-Mickey. "What was he doing there?"
"We're not going on about him, Mickey, I'm not, because I know it sounds daft but . . . I don't think he's safe. I think he's dangerous." I snapped my head to look at Rose, with a raised eyebrow. 'Really? Now she starts believing that he's dangerous.'
"But you can trust me sweetheart!" then in quick succession, "Babe, sugar, darling, sugar." Rose looked confused while I looked horrified. "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose and Jessa. Because that's all I really wanna do, sweetheart, babe, sugar, sweetheart."
"What're you doing that for?" Rose asked not-Mickey. The thing looked at me again, making me back away from it. I heard someone approach our table. I looked around to find the Doctor, I smiled at him softly as he brought a finger to his lip, telling me to stay quiet. I nodded my head very lightly.
"Your champagne."
"We didn't order any champagne." Not-Mickey grabs my hand, making me jerk back. "Where's the Doctor, Jessa?" I watch as the Doctor simply moved to my side of the table, a frown on his face and holds the bottle out to me.
"Ma'am. Your champagne." I stared at him, then looked back to not-Mickey, trying to get my hand out of its grip.
"Let go, Mickey!"
"It's not ours . . . Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose stared at not-Mickey in concern, I huffed at her. 'Yeah, be concern for the thing that's hurting me, love you too Rose'
"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" I kept jerking my hand, trying to get away.
"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" not-Mickey raises his eyes to the Doctor for the first time in exasperation.
"Look, we didn't order I—" he realize that the waiter is the Doctor, "Ah. Gotcha." The Doctor shakes the bottle.
"Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" the cork pops out and hits not-Mickey squarely on the forehead. His forehead absorbs the cork and he spits it out of his mouth. It's finally revealed to Rose that Mickey has been replaced with not-Mickey.
"That's gross!" I said in disgusted at the thing.
"Anyway." His hands turn into clubs, making my hand free, and he smashes the table. Rose screams and runs out of the building. I jump away from the thing as the Doctor grabs not-Mickey's head and pulls it off. "Don't think that's gonna stop me." A couple at a nearby table scream, but the Doctor grins. I press the fire bell.
"Everyone out! Out now!" I yelled. Everyone runs for the exit. The thing stays inside, blindly smashing tables with his club – hands. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
The Doctor and I run through the kitchen and out of the back exit. With not-Mickey in hot pursuit, the Doctor locks a metal door with his screwdriver thingy while I wait for the Doctor to explain what was going on.
"What is that? In your hand?" I asked him looking at it.
"What, this? This is a sonic screwdriver." I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Sonic screwdriver? Who in the world would ever think that a screwdriver could be a bit more sonic?" I followed him into a police box in the middle of the yard. The Doctor shuts the door behind me as I stared in awe. I continued to walk forward, walking around everything, feeling everything that I thought safe enough to touch, and just staring in awe and happiness. I found the Doctor staring at me while he was wiring up not-Mickey's head.
"You see, the arm is too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right." He turns to me, giving me his full attention. "Where do you want to start?"
"Is it magic? Are you a wizard?" I asked in hope that he was or that this was indeed magic. His look became confused,
"No and no." I felt my face drop. I looked around.
"Then how is it bigger on the inside then the outside without magic . . . oh, its alien isn't it?" I asked as I turned back to him.
"Yup!"
"So that means you're an alien?" I asked moving closer to him, he beamed a smile at me.
"Yes. Is that alright?" he asked. I nodded my head with a bright smile.
"Yes, so what do you call this? She gorgeous!" I moved to look at the controls when I felt a warm hum in my head, I turned my head looking for the source of the humming.
"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." I glance at the head.
"So did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" I asked him, now a bit freaked out, especially with the humming still going through my head now that I realize it's not coming from the Doctor.
"Oh . . . didn't think of that." I made a 'really' face at him.
"He's my best friend, Rose's boyfriend. You pulled off his head – they copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?" I said looking at the head again, the humming soothing me, making me calm.
"Melt?" he turns around in time to see not-Mickey's head melting with a bubbling nosie. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Oh, no no no no no NO!" he starts running frantically around the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers. The humming started to sound annoyed as the Doctor did this.
"What are you doing?" I asked staying out of his way.
"Reviving the signal, it's fading! Wait I've got it . . ." he looks at the screen, "No No No No No No NO!" the TARDIS shakes as the engines move, I graded onto the railing. "Almost there! Almost there! Here we go!" the engines stop and the Doctor runs out of the TARDIS doors without another word, I follow him outside. "I lost the signal, I got so close." I hop out of the TARDIS, looking around confused.
"We moved? How?" I asked looking back to the TARDIS.
"Disappears there, reappears here, you wouldn't understand." I turn to look at him, an indignant look on my face.
"Oi, I'm not stupid like everyone else on the godforsaken planet! You rude, pompous, bugger!" he turned around looking at me in shock. I cross my arms and looked away. "I'm going to have to tell Rose." The Doctor looks at me questioningly. "Mickey. I have to tell his girlfriend he's dead and you just went and forgot about him, again!" the Doctor rolls his eyes, unconcerned. "I can't believe I stuck up for you." I shook my head and turned to walk away.
"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"
"Yeah, he's not a kid." I interrupted him, not looking back.
"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, alright?" I turned back to him.
"Alright." I said in disbelief.
"Yes! It is!" I shake my head in disbelief at him.
"Why do you sound like you're from the North?"
"Lots of plants have a North." He folds his arms indignantly and looks away. I giggled softly at him.
"So why a 1950 police public call box?" I ask stuffing my hands into my sweater pockets. The Doctor snaps his head back to me in shock again.
"You really are smart aren't you, very good at asking the right questions." He pats the TARDIS fondly, grinning. The humming sounds like it was purring like a kitten. "It's a disguise." I smile and shake my head.
"Okay, this plastic thing, what's it got against us?" I asked leaning against the TARDIS.
"Nothing, it loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air . . . perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth . . . dinner!" I sent him a questioning look when he mention a war, I wanted to ask but thought better of it.
"Any way of stopping it?" I asked instead. Grinning, the Doctor produces a tube of blue liquid from his jacket.
"Anti-plastic!"
"Anti-plastic?"
"Anti-plastic! But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"
"Hide what?"
"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal." I started to look around.
"What's it look like?" I asked looking back to him.
"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London." He starts to pace around, agitated, looking for a clue. "A huge circular metal structure . . . like a dish . . ." he stands facing me, his back to the railings of the bridge. Behind him, the London eye looms 450 feet above us, but he doesn't seem to register it. ". . . like a wheel. Close to where we're standing. Must be COMPLETELY invisible." I snorted at that and looked behind him to the Eye. "What?" I nod towards the Eye. The Doctor turns around, then back to me, completely nonplussed. "What?" I shake my head, still looking at the Eye. He turns around but still fails to make the connection. "What is it? What?" I simply carry on staring at it. The Doctor turns around again and finally, it clicks. "Oh . . . fantastic!" he grins insanely, takes my hand and we're running off. Hand in hand, the Doctor and I run across London Bridge towards the Eye. We come to a halt at the foot of the Eye.
"Think of it. Plastic, all over the world. Every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables; still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." I run off and find the entrance to a manhole at the foot of the wall, I look over.
"What about down there?" the Doctor runs to join me.
"Looks good to me." We run down the stairs to the manhole. The Doctor takes the lid off it, and red light and smoke pours out. We both climb down the ladder underground. The Doctor opens the door to another chamber and we go down some steps. The Doctor points to a huge, orange, wobbling mass in the middle of the chamber. "The Nestene Consciousness, that's it, inside the vat. A living, plastic creature."
"Huh, so I guess you're not going to kill it straight off, right? You're going to try and reason with it?" I looked over to him, to see him beaming a smile at me.
"Correct! You and your question, do you ever get in trouble with that little problem of yours?" I nodded to him,
"Oh, yeah. All the time, it use to drive mum mad when I was younger." We go down some more steps. The Doctor leans over the railings and addresses the Consciousness.
"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract. According to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The Consciousness flobbles around a bit. "Thank you. That I might have permission to approach." Meanwhile, I was pacing around in the background until I spotted Mickey and ran to him. The Doctor rolls his eyes.
"Mickey! It's okay. It's alright." I kneed down next to him.
"That thing down there, the liquid, Jessa – it can talk!" I pulled him into a hug, only to pull back again.
"God, you stink!" I looked at him in confusion, then back to the Doctor. "Doctor, they kept him alive. Why?"
"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." I gave him a harsh glare when I realize what he was saying.
"You knew that and you never said!" I grounded out through my clench teeth. Mickey clinging on to me, whimpering like a lost, little boy.
"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you." I helped Mickey to his feet. The Doctor approaches the Consciousness. "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warped, shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" the plastic globbers in what appears to be a negative manner. "Oh don't give me that, it's an invasion! Plain and simple! Don't talk about constitutional rights!" the plastic rears what would appear to be its head angrily. "I – am – talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt to walk, well all but one, she's learned to talk at the same time." The Doctor looked at me with a handsome smile and winked at me, causing me to blush a light pink across my cheek bones and bridge of my nose. "But they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf – please, just go." Two dummies approach the Doctor from behind.
"Doctor!" I gasped to him. The dummies grab him. One of them takes the anti-plastic out of his jacket pocket.
"That was just insurance! I wasn't going to USE it." The plastic globbers angrily. "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not . . . what do you mean?" the doors above him open to reveal the TARDIS. I realize that the humming was gone when we came here, I looked to the TARDIS questioningly, 'Is the humming coming from the TARDIS?'
"Oh, oh no – honestly, no! Yes, that's my ship." The plastic roars. "That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war – it wasn't my fault! I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"
"Doctor, what's it doing?!" I yelled down to him.
"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene had indentified its superior technology – it's terrified! It's going to the final base. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Jessamine! Just leg it! Now!" I dial a number on my mobile.
[Mum?!]
[Oh, there you are, I was just gonna phone. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police – don't thank me!]
[That's great, Mum. Where are you? Where's Rose?]
[I'm in town! Rose's at home, came in screaming like a banshee.]
[Go home! Just go home, right now!]
[Darling, you're breaking up, look, I'm just going to do a bit of late night shopping. I'll see you later. Tara!]
[Mum?! Mum!] I yelled into the phone. I pulled it away and saw she hung up on me. I glared at the phone, she was in so much trouble when I get home. The Consciousness sends out a signal.
"It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!" I looked over to the Doctor in worry. The electric blue signal shoots around the Eye.
"The end of the world . . ." I snapped my head to Mickey when he whispered that. I held him tighter.
"No, Mickey don't think that." I wince in pain as more names were added to the list. The Doctor is still being held hostage.
"Get out, Jessamine! Just get out! Run!" the Doctor yelled up to me. Part of the ceiling falls in.
"The stairs are gone and I don't have a key to the TARDIS." I said as loud as I could, the pain getting worse with the amount of names appearing on the list.
"We're gonna die!" Mickey yelled, I groan in pain, collapsing by the TARDIS. "Jessa?!" Mickey is holding me as he cowers at the door of the TARDIS. I moved out of Mickey's arms, moaning in pain as it shoots through my body. I grab on to the railing and watch as the Doctor struggles to get to the anti-plastic. I reached to my decision. I stand up fully without the help of the rail.
"Just leave him!" Mickey yells to me. I take action.
"There's nothing you can do!" Mickey says to me. I pick up an axe.
"I've got my A levels. But no job to show for it. And no future, not here . . . never here." I continued. I hacked at the chain on the wall, trying to release it. More pain shoots through.
"ACK!" I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut.
"Jessamine!" I heard the Doctor yell.
"But I also got a Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team and more." The chain came loose and I grab onto it. "I got the gold!" I swing across the gap over the Consciousness. I kick the dummies holding the Doctor hostage into the Nestene, anti-plastic and all. The Consciousness starts to writhe and scream. I land safely in the Doctor's arms at the other side of the gap.
"Now we're in trouble." The Consciousness starts to explode as the Doctor and I run off. The signal from the Eye is cut off. Mickey, the Doctor and I all manage to reach the TARDIS. I grin at the Consciousness before I go in and close the door, as it starts to die. Just before the whole chamber goes up in flames, the TARDIS disappears. Mickey runs backwards out of the TARDIS and falls over, looking terrified. He backs against a wall. I, however, step out and ring mum on my mobile again.
[Jessa! Jessa! Don't go out of the house, it's not safe!] I laugh in relief to hear mum's voice. [There were all of these things! And they were shooting! And they—] satisfied that mum was alive, I hang up on her, smiling to myself. I walked over to Mickey, wincing every step.
"A fat lot of good you were!" Mickey whimpers. The Doctor stands in the doorway of the TARDIS.
"Nestene Consciousness?" he clicks his fingers, "Easy."
"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me." I said teasingly to him.
"Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then! I'll be off! Unless, uh . . . I don't know . . . you could come with me." I look at him, standing up completely. I could go with him. I could leave this boring life. I'd be able to see what's beyond the stars again. I get to go on adventures again . . . I'll be able to truly live again.
"Don't! He's an alien! He's a thing!" I looked to Mickey with a frown on my face.
"He's NOT invited. What do you think? You could stay here and fill your life with work, food, and sleep. Your questions going to waste or you could go, uh . . . anywhere." My eyes widen at that before I remember, I could never go back home.
"Is it always this dangerous?" I asked.
"Yeah." The Doctor nods. Mickey puts his arms around my legs like a little child. I looked down to him then back up to the Doctor. I began to remove Mickey's arms, moving towards the Doctor.
"Jessa, no! Please, don't! What about Jackie and Rose? What about me? You're my best mate." I stopped walking towards the Doctor. I look back to Mickey. I turned back to the Doctor raising a finger for a minute, he nods. I move back to Mickey and pull him into a big hug.
"Oh, Mickey. I have to go with him . . . it feels right." I move back from him and cup his face in my hands. I see tears run down his face. I wipe them away with my thumbs. "Oh, honey. Don't cry. This isn't the end, it's just the beginning. Remember all those stories I told you? It's time to make some new ones and one day, Mickey, you'll be there right by my side and we'll be making our stories together. But I need you to be strong for me and watch Rose and mum for me, can you do that?" he nods his head, silent tears still running down his face. I hug him again tightly for the last time until we see each other again. I kiss his cheek and let go of him. I stand up and turn to the Doctor. He holds a hand out to me with a big smile on his face. I run to him and take his hand, smiling brightly as we enter the TARDIS.