A small grunt of displeasure left her lips as the ringing of her alarm broke into her dreams.

Time to get up.

Swinging an arm out of her warm cocoon, she missed the pink device by about eight inches. With her second attempt, she managed to hit the "Snooze" button. Then Rose Tyler just slid her arm back against her chest. It was the same morning routine every day. She would lay in bed for fifty-two seconds after hitting her alarm and then push her covers off of her in an attempt to thwart off the temptation of just going back to sleep. It was a lot like ripping a bandaid off, you had to do it quick and just deal with the pain all at once, rather than drawing out the agony of bargaining with her alarm clock and then her mother. Right on cue, as Rose was getting out of bed, she heard her mother call from the kitchen, saying that she had better get up now or risk being late for work. Rose rubbed the drowsiness from her blue eyes and pulled her pajamas off. It took her three minutes and eighteen seconds to get dressed on a good day and today was looking to be a good day, an average one at best.

As her mother started to call out to her for the second of three that morning, Rose opened her bedroom door. "Yeah, I heard ya." She said and slipped into the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth and hair. Soon she was back out and checking her jeans for her wallet, keys and cell phone. Her mother pointed to the couch where her daughter's keys had been deposited several hours ago when Rose had gotten in the night before. She and Mickey had been out at the pub watching a match and having a few drinks. Rose walked home, having brushed off her boyfriend's offer to escort her, and tossed her keys on the couch before finding her bed and promptly going to bed. Thankfully, the blond twenty year old wasn't feeling many of the next-day side effects of late night partying. Even so, she didn't like doing it too often, mostly because she was often strapped for cash, and it just wasn't that fun.

The same old thing day in and day out...what kind of life was that?

Still, even though Rose found little interest in her life, she had no idea how to go about changing it or finding her passion. When she was in school, she would draw pictures of other worlds and other people. But like most, when she grew up and was forced to pick a career for the rest of their life, she panicked and decided to just get right to work, rather than continue on to higher education. That, and she had been dating a boy who wasn't too into University so she decided her time could be better spent with him, rather than in classes. And as she found herself hopping off the red bus, she knew she had made a mistake. That relationship didn't last long but it did manage to take any wind that were once in Rose's sails. And two years later, she was still working in the same shop in the mall. It wasn't fun or glamorous but Rose still hadn't looked at University or at least finding a more fulfilling job.

To her, thinking about the future was scary and she wasn't even that old. There was a lot ahead of her, she told herself that it would get better. She had yet to learn that for things to get better, you had to actually do something. After clocking in, she started her shift and texted Mickey during the downtime. While they couldn't meet after work, they made plans to do something on the weekend. It was Thursday and not much was happening but that didn't seem to bother Rose. Not much happened anyway. At the end of her shift, she called her mum and asked if she needed to pick them up anything for supper later but her mother said she would be out for the night which meant Rose could just grab something quick on the way home and the flat would be hers for the rest of the day. Rose had feeling if she texted Mickey about the apartment being free, he'd drop his plans and come right over.

Which was why she didn't tell him. She grabbed something from a nearby McDonald's and headed back home early. When she got back, she heard an odd noise coming from the back. "Mum?" She called out. It was possible her mother was leaving but Rose had thought she had already gone. As quickly as the nose was heard, it had faded away. "Weird." Rose muttered to herself and set the bag of greasy food on the couch and went to get changed out of her jeans and into something more comfortable and lazy. Upon entering her room however, she found a blue box of some sort parked right next to her bed. Was this a joke? Rose looked around, her room was pretty tight and she wasn't sure if the box could even fit through the door. Her curiosity was turning into panic as she debated on what to do. The Police Public Call Box or whatever wasn't really a threat aside from it being in her flat uninvited.

Even if she did ring up the police, what would they do? Or even think?

Telling herself it was nothing, she dashed out of her room, the idea of changing now out of her head. As she stood in the small hallway, she began to debate about what to do. How could she enjoy hours of television and fast food when there was a giant box in her bedroom? Rose quickly went back into her bedroom and marched over to the box and knocked on the door. "Is anybody in there?" She called out, feeling rather ridiculous. The blond girl waited six seconds before the door was pulled open from the inside. "Bloody hell!" Rose exclaimed and ended up staggering into the wall. While she hadn't any expectations, having someone just open the door so casually was not what she thought might happen. Her heart began to race as the idea of calling someone, even Mickey, popped back into her head.

"Blimey..." Rose crumpled to the floor and put a hand to her chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." She sighed and looked up to see a tall man standing outside of the blue box. He said hello and offered her a hand. "Thanks." She swallowed and accepted it. Even now that she was on her feet, the man was still at least a foot or so taller than her. Her eyes went from him to the box which was now closed. "Why are you in my bedroom? Wait, how did you get in my bedroom? Is this a joke or somethin'?" She questioned, her lips turning down slightly. She was still pretty weary of the man but things like this never happened. And it was more interesting than whatever was on the telly. "Though I reckon this isn't Mickey's doing or Shareen's." She muttered and ran a hand through her hair.

This was certainly not how she thought her day would go.

"You're not from around here, are you?" She then asked him, noticing his Northern accent. She moved to sit on her bed so she could think about this whole event. It was so weird. Yet at the same time, Rose was slightly excited. She was so used to the mundane routine of her day-to-day life that anything was surprisingly welcomed. And if that meant a half day with the flat to herself and some random bloke in her room, so bet it. She almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Maybe I should show you around the city or something." She joked a little and cracked a small smile.

The console was smoking. Not a little flutter of steam like when the TARDIS has a tantrum at the edge of a time-lock, oh no -- she was billowing with hissy hot rage. It swirled and loomed white with a sulfury smell that gagged in the Doctor's new throat.

He coughed, crawled along the floor with splayed limbs, grabbed the hot console and dragged himself to his feet, wheezing. The walls were cracking. The smoke made his eyes water. At least he had eyes. And hands. And feet, in proper working order as far as he could tell. He blinked away the film from his eyes just as the TARDIS lurched; the console slammed into his stomach and knocked the breath out of him.

"Gaaaa-hahaha!" he laughed in pain and with the joy of being alive and whole, and he launched himself to proper standing position. "All right, come on then!" he hollered, racing clockwise round the console from button to lever to switch, even as the floor stilled and steamed. A fire sprang up between his feet, and he jumped and stumbled backward, grabbed a fire extinguisher (wherever did he get that?) and fumbled with it for a moment before dousing the fire down good with a thick stream of foam.

It was at this moment that there was a distinct knocking at the door.

Knocking? He was sure he had been hurtling through space! Whoever could be knocking halfway between galaxies? Without a second thought he bounded to the door, yanked it open and stuck out his head through a billow of white smoke, eyes wide with curiosity.

What he found was a human girl sitting on the floor and staring at him with -- well, quite the sort of face you would expect from a person who'd just found a man in a box in her house.

"Oh. Hello! Sorry!" He grinned amiably and dawdled out into the room, the fire extinguisher dripping in one hand and the other let down to help her to her feet. He was dressed in old Victorian clothes that didn't quite fit him (and didn't at all suit him): a scarf and a frilly shirt and a coat that had once been properly neat but now was scuffed and charred. The shoes were all pinchy, too.

"I'm just a little busy now," he interrupted her, and he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the smoke that was billowing into Rose's room. "Shifting dimensions and all that, no time to talk. Come back later, 'kay?" His smile was goofy and bright, and he hopped back into the TARDIS and yanked the door shut behind him.

A second passed before the door opened again, letting in another flow of smoke, and he stuck his head out, his brow furrowed curiously. "Is this your bedroom?" he asked in a lilting voice, as he glanced around at the stuffed animals and pink duvet. It wasn't often the TARDIS materialized so precisely inside a building without his guiding finesse. "Huh." He withdrew suddenly, and the door was shut once again.

The oddly dressed man who smelled strongly of smoke quickly dismissed her and headed back into his box. Rose shook her head, not sure what was going on or why. It was all too weird. But before she could think about anything else, he came back out and asked if they were in her bedroom. "Um yeah." She replied. Her head was spinning. How was he to ask about their whereabouts, it was obvious wasn't it? At least to her it was. The man then vanished back into the box and Rose stood up and quickly walked out of her bedroom. She had no idea what was going or even why. He had mentioned something about dimensions or something but that made no sense at all. Was this some sort of science experiment gone awry? Rose felt as though a heavy weight was pushing down upon her shoulders.

Fresh air.

She needed fresh air.

Maybe then, the weird guy would be gone and she could move on and enjoy the rest of the day on her own as planned. Seeming to function on autopilot, she headed out the door and up the stairs to the roof of her apartment complex. She loved the view and how no one else was ever around to bother her. Rose liked the peace of being on top of the world, in her imagination. Even Mickey knew Rose liked to go to the roof for her privacy. She lived in close quarters with her mother, space was necessary no matter where she sought to find it. After five minutes of deep breathing, she decided to head back down to her flat and try to make proper sense of the absurd event. She headed back down the stairs and headed back inside the apartment.

It was then that she got a text from Mickey saying he was on his way. She cringed, not thinking that his presence would help things. She tried to think of an excuse to turn him around but none came to mind. Just great. Rose waited by the front door and soon began to pace around the living room. Before she knew it, her boyfriend had let himself in as he usually did, which annoyed Jackie. "Hey Rose, I thought I'd pop by and surprise you. I guess you can't consider it a surprise if I said I was on ma way." He smiled a little.

"This isn't a good time." Rose tried to explain though she really couldn't.

"Why? Your mum around?"

"No, some guy is actually..."

"What? Who?"

"I don't know-" She began to say but Mickey moved past her and headed back in her bedroom, obviously thinking the worst. Rose was quick to chase after him. "Mickey, wait! It's not what it sounds like. H-he just showed up out thin air like some wacky magician." She yammered and got to her room to see Mickey staring at the blue police box. Another knot formed its way in the pit of her stomach. How was she going to explain when she didn't even know what was happening. Rose looked off and felt a headache coming on. "I don't even know him." Rose said to Mickey, trying to calm him down.

"That's one weird thing after another." Mickey muttered and looked back at his girlfriend. "A weird trash bin moved on it's on and now this? I think we're mental." He rubbed his head.

"You're mental." Rose corrected with a bit of a glare. "Trash bins may have wheels but they can't move on their own and this has got to be some kind of joke or something." She insisted. Though this could be something else. Or it couldn't, they could have just had too much to drink the night before. That was a simple explanation right? What else could be happening?

Just at that moment, on perfect cue, the police box door popped open and the Doctor leaned out of it. The smoke had gone and he'd changed his clothes -- all leather and boots, like he'd just walked off an 80's film set. "Sorry, but did I hear someone say a trash bin moved on its own?" He looked between Rose and Mickey with a curious and slightly concerned furrow of his brows -- but his eyes fixed on Rose and he smiled in recognition.

"Hello again!" He stepped forward and offered his hand. "So this is your bedroom is it? Very nice, love the teddies. But sorry about barging in like this," he gestured at the box behind him, "the TARDIS has been acting a little wonky lately, I've completely lost the steering, she won't be dematerializing anytime soon." He tipped his head in greeting. "I'm the Doctor by the way, how d'ya do, wots your name?"

He noticed Mickey, and he turned away from Rose with a bright grin and grabbed the boy's hand. "Hullo, I'm the Doctor, pleasure ta meet you. We're in London aren't we?" he asked of them both. "Twentieth century? No -- twenty-first, yes, fantastic, twenty-first century Britain, I love it, all you Londoners with your cellphones and telly and chips and have you got anything to eat I'm famished," he asked this of Rose, meekly, and he gave her an apologetic grin.

"But!" He turned suddenly toward Mickey and gave him a look of intense curiosity and possibly grave importance. He wasn't quite sure yet whether there was anything very important, but strange things tended to end up being important when they happened where he happened to be. "Tell me then, what was it you were saying about movin' trash bins?"

Rose had no idea what to think anymore. She looked to the man who had quickly done some sort of wardrobe change, which in her opinion suited him better than the period clothes he had on before. The man looked to Mickey but then mostly at her. "Um yeah hi." She smiled a little, giving a bit of a finger wave in his direction. The man then went on to compliment her teddy bear collection to which she pouted her lips slightly. Bears were cute and cuddly. So what if they were a bit beyond her age range? Thankfully the topic switched but the man simply began to speak about things which Rose knew absolutely nothing about. Finally he finished by saying he was known as the Doctor. "I'm Rose, Rose Tyler and this is Mickey." She said, scratching her head a little.

The Doctor then shifted to Mickey and shook his head. "Ello." Mickey just said, still as bewildered as Rose was. "What's a TARDIS?" He asked the Doctor, though he had a feeling it was the blue box. What else could it be? But the man simply continued to ramble about the era they were in. Mickey gave Rose a sideways glance. The Doctor ended up asking about food but before Rose could speak up, the man looked back to the dark skinned boy who was just a wee bit older than the blond. "Trash bins?" He blinked. "Oh right. Well we were down by this cafe and me and ma mate, Kyle were talking 'bout the match last night and we were right by these recycling bins yeah? So we threw some bits away and kept walking." He paused as if he was trying to make sense of it himself.

"Then what?" Rose asked.

"Well we turned back around and then heard something. We turned back and the bins had moved 'bout a few meters toward us. It was really strange. We thought someone had just moved em but there wasn't anyone else around." He finished. "So we kept on walking and when we looked back, they were right back by the curb where they had started." He shrugged a little. "We thought it was some kids messing around or something." Mickey said.

Rose looked to Mickey, usually he was one to joke around but he seemed pretty serious about the incident. Odd. "Well I do have something to eat, it's not much but just some chips and a burger." She spoke up to the Doctor. He had mentioned several odd things about her time and then his weird box. Rose wasn't sure what to make of the Doctor but so far, it beat watching the telly. "We can always go out and get something, see if anything else is after Mickey." She gave a bit of a teasing smile. The boy just shook his head, not sure what they should do.

"Oh yes, let's go out!" the Doctor piped immediately at Rose's suggestion, his eyes as big and excited as he grin -- and with the TARDIS door shut behind him he strode out of the room, unable to stand still a moment longer now that he'd had a taste of mystery.

He was already in the hall with his hand on the door and an impatient glee in his voice. "Mickey, could ya show us where you saw those bins? They were by a cafe you said, right? I love cafes. They're a perfect place to hide in plain sight." He gave them both a wink, yanked open the door and disappeared out onto the landing.

"Come on, you two!" he called, and he spun around and leaned over the banister to stare down in to the apartment building courtyard, pushed himself upright again and stretched as he walked. His legs worked, his arms worked, he could still see and hear and taste and smell. He was in London, hot on the trail of some new and interesting and fantastic thing. It was glorious to be alive.

His legs suddenly gave out halfway down the stairs, and he grabbed the railing and watched his feet fly out from under him. He gave a terrific cough, wheezed, and leaned over the rail; A warm tingle of energy bubbled up his throat just before a wisp of gold trickled out between his lips. He'd have to keep the exertion down, he thought to himself. At least it wasn't as bad as last time.

He lifted his head and blinked out at the courtyard. He could've sworn he'd seen something small and dark scurry across the ground and out through the gate. It had been running on two legs.

At the Doctor's bright and readily response to go out, Mickey rolled his eyes, clearly not too eager for this new addition. They didn't even know him. Before he could talk Rose out of it, she had already jogged off to catch up to the wide eyed man called the Doctor. Mickey was hoping to spend some time with his girl, not with the addition of a third wheel. Rose chased after the Doctor as he headed down the open hallway and hurried down the steps which were on the side of the complex. "Hey, hold on will you!" She called out to him. As she ran after him and finally closed the gap, she saw him hunched over the stairs. "You alright?" She asked him. Mickey then caught up to them, already a bit annoyed at the man who was butting into something that wasn't even his business.

"This is stupid." Mickey tried to tell Rose but she waved a hand at him.

"Oh, sush." She said and turned back to the Doctor who seemed to have regained his composure though she could have sworn she saw some sort of odd golden glow come out of his mouth. Was she imagining things? This day was just too weird. At any rate, they continued along with Mickey grumbling a bit under his breath. Rose understood why he was upset but they had a mystery on their hands, right? It was better than just sitting around, making out during commercial breaks while they lounged on the couch watching tv. "Anyway let's go." She said as the man gazed out at the courtyard. She wasn't sure what he was looking at or for, but he seemed serious either way.

"Let's just go back and let him worry about this. It's not our problem."

"A look around ain't gonna hurt." Rose smiled to Mickey. "You don't have to come if you don't want to." She shrugged, the last thing she wanted to put up was a disgruntled Mickey.

"And leave you with Mr. Tall and Leather? No way."

"Suit yourself." She smiled and they continued down the stairs. Once there, Mickey realized he had forgotten something in Rose's flat. "Hurry back." She told Mickey who quickly headed back up the many flights of stairs. Now that they were alone, Rose had a better chance to sum up the man who just went by Doctor. "You're really an odd sort of fellow." She noted with mild interest and amusement. She glanced up and decided they could move on and not deal with Mickey's lollygagging. "I think I know the cafe he's talking about." Rose said and led the Doctor down the street until they arrived at a small but quaint cafe. It was wood and copper and held a nice charm about it. "We can grab a bite in here if you're really hungry." She offered.

Outside there were the trash and recycling bins Mickey had mentioned but to Rose, they seemed unmoving and lifeless. "They got great sandwiches here, tea is good as well." She commented and wondered where Mickey had gone, as it shouldn't take him this long to catch up with them. She was unaware of course, that as Mickey headed down the stairs for the second time, he had spotted the same blue box outside. He assumed it had moved, for whatever reason. He had gotten close and tried to open it. It was thick and rubbery in texture, yet didn't budge. As Mickey retracted his hand, it was stuck like glue and the replica TARDIS ended up pulling the black boy in and swallowing him whole.

Crikey.

"Why are you so interested in this anyway?" Rose asked the Doctor. "It's nothing, right?"

The Doctor was almost too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice that Mickey had left -- but the distinct lack of irritable muttering in the background was a wonderful relief.

He gave Rose an appreciative grin and he loped easily along beside her in the cool dark, hands clasped behind his back, glad for her company and her curiosity. He decided he liked this girl, whose first instinct upon finding a strange man in a box in her bedroom was to invite him to tea. She didn't jump to judgments, and that was a rare and funny thing.

"Nothing?" At her question he tipped his head with a closed smile and a crinkled brow, and he laughed. "Rose Tyler, nothing is nothing!" He hopped forward and spun around, walking backward then sideways while his arms encompassed the sky and the trees and the fences and potholes. "Everything is [/i]something[/i]. The tiniest atom on the smallest speck of existence," he hunched his shoulders and pinched the air, "once gave birth to a universe. Every thought in your head," he tapped his temple, "has infinite potential to change the course of time and history. So recycle bins that move on their own? No, I don't think that's nothing at all!" He winked and strolled ahead, eager to see these mysterious bins, even while he smiled to himself at the look on Rose's face.

"That must be them!" He rushed across the street, and he circled the culprit bins with a satisfied grin, as if he expected them to apologize for their misbehavior. When they obstinately did nothing of the sort, the Doctor reached inside his coat, flipped the sonic screwdriver in the air, and pointed it with gusto at the guilty party.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr

He circled round the bins like a tiger stalks its prey, poked the screwdriver at the sides and wheels and lids, peering intently at the readouts above his thumb. His victorious grin was fading with each second of silence. He yanked a lid open and pointed the little light down into the pile cans and bottles, then peered close at the readouts, his brow furrowed. He dropped the lid with a disappointed snap.

"Well," he sighed, spinning around to face Rose again, hands in his pockets, "maybe they are nothin' after all. But best we keep an eye on them, just in case. Cafe's the perfect spot! How 'bout those sandwiches, yeah?" He gestured hopefully toward the cafe. "I'd love a cup of tea."

Just around the corner, a couple of trash bins scuttled quietly into the alley.

Nothing was nothing? Well she couldn't argue with that could she?

And then the man sprang to life and stuck a pose, stating that everything was something. Well again, she couldn't much argue with that. A slight smirk grew on her lips as she watched him get quite excited. He then went on to talk about atoms, to babble about one's thoughts. He seemed very passionate about the universe and she decided that she wouldn't mind sticking around him for a little bit longer. She wasn't sure what to say when his tirade of sorts concluded. "A-alright." She surrendered. Rose shook her head a little, surprised at how amused she was. The Doctor then turned back around to carry on with the mission at hand. Plastic bins.

Darting after him, she looked at the bins Mickey had mentioned. They looked normal to her. She kept quiet and waited for the man to do something, since he clearly had a beef with plastic things. He then took out an odd metal object and poked and prodded the innocent looking inanimate objects. "Um everything alright?" She asked him. Though it looked as though his glee was fading with each passing second with no real response of movement. "Maybe we have to be looking somewhere else? A watched pot never boils, something like that?" She suggested, it seemed he looked much better with a grin, rather than a frown of disappointment. Even so, she wasn't totally convinced that this so called something was really something but she held her tongue at any rate.

He spun back to her and decided that they could move on, while keeping an eye on them at any rate. He then brought up her offer of food. "Oh yeah sure. My treat." She guessed though she wasn't sure why she had to. Technically he may be considered her guest but he wasn't really an invited one. He sort of just showed up out of thin air. "Come on then, Doctor." Rose laughed a little and headed into the cafe.

Looking around, she spotted a table and took a seat. It was a quaint round table, nice polished but aged wood. The chairs were cushioned and the air held a scent of fresh bread, coffee and sweetness. Rose snagged one of the tiny menus on the table. She wondered where Mickey was. It was about time for him to come back unless he just ditched her. But that didn't sound like him. Sure, he wasn't happy about the change in plan but she didn't think Mickey would leave her alone with an odd stranger. She pulled out of her cell phone and sent her friend a text and then put it away.

She told herself that he was being a muppet.

"So far, nothing's happened." She glanced out the window which they were sitting next to. The pair had a full view of the street, passersby, the bins, etc. Rose looked back at the menu, quick to pick out her usual tea and sandwich. Part of her wanted to suggest once more that Mickey was just being bonkers but another part pushed that aside. For now anyway. Rose looked up as a waitress came over to take their drink and food order. Once they had been given, she left them alone. "So where exactly are you from? Did you say?" Rose asked the Doctor. The way he spoke about atoms and space and the grand picture of sorts, she was quite interested.

"Your accent, it's Northern." She commented. But then there was his blue box he seemed so fond of. That was something she knew nothing about, then again her geography wasn't up to par as it should be. The Doctor also seemed interested in odd events, like some fanatic from the internet who believed in aliens or bigfoot. Was he one of those people? Some crazy Star Trek fan or something? Sure, that was possible, she told herself, but Rose didn't get that vibe from him. What was it then? What was it about the man called the Doctor that made him stick out like a sore thumb?

The cafe was perfect. The Doctor dropped comfortably into a chair, and he surveyed his surroundings with an interested smile. No one in the universe could pull off a cozy little eatery quite like the Londoners. He loved the soft textures, the worn-in tables, the sweet aromas of coffee and baking bread, the clink of cups and the murmur of conversation. He couldn't live without the wild and the strange and the fascinating -- but it was the little things that made life worth living.

Rose asked him a question, and at her comment on his dialect he gave her a smug grin. "Yes, it is!" he encouraged her, and he let himself be distracted by a gorgeous stack of blueberry pancakes that was being carried past them. He intentionally paused before his answer, just to drag out the dramatics; it was such great fun to tantalize Rose's curiosity. He could see her in the corner of his eye, and he waited until she was just bursting with more questions before he leaned his elbows on the table and peered at her with interest. Some people he lied to, just to gently satisfy their small minds; others he would intimidate purposely with the truth just to watch their heads explode. Rose, though -- Rose was curious.

He took a breath. "If I told you that I come from a far-distant planet, and that the big blue box in your bedroom is my spaceship, would you believe me?"

At that moment, there was a terrific crash, smash and clatter in the kitchen, like an entire shelf of plates had toppled to the floor. The Doctor sprang immediately from his chair, swung around behind the bar and pushed his way into the kitchen, where shards and bits of porcelain littered the floor. Everyone was talking at once, pointing in all directions, blaming one another for the incident, but some claimed to have seen a little dark thing sprinting through the debris toward the stock shelves. The Doctor set to scanning the kitchen with the sonic screwdriver, searching for signs of intelligent plastic despite the cook and waitress behind him who insisted he leave at once. If only he could catch one!

While everyone in the cafe craned their necks to see what was going on, something small and dark skittered across the floor past Rose, toward the door that led outside. It moved too fast to see clearly, but it was no more than eight inches tall and ran on two legs, and it was dressed in a playhouse doll's outfit. It had a silver key clutched in its tiny hands.

The man piped up and agreed that his accent was in fact Northern but rather than elaborate, he sort of paused.

Rose gave him a bemused look, waiting for him to continue. "Yeah?" She grinned a little. But then he posed an odd sort of question, asking how she'd react if he told her he was from a far distant planet and that he box in her room was a spaceship. Before she could even think about the slim possibility of him being honest, there was a sudden crash in the kitchen. Looking over to see what was going on, the Doctor had already ran off into the back to see what had happened. The blond on the other hand, wasn't too concerned. So what? She had worked briefly in the food industry before, hated it, and knew accidents could happen. And if she were back there, the last thing she'd want was a patron poking around making things worse. "Doctor?" She remained sitting but craned her neck to try and see anything.

Shaking her head, she wasn't sure what to do. In the chaos, she wondered if he was telling the truth, as absurd as it was, it made sense. Sort of. If he was an alien or something, then his interest in strange happens could be explaining. Rose was never sure if she believed in ghosts or aliens or anything like that. But strange things were happening and the only person with answers was off in the kitchen. She hoped he was at least getting her a sandwich while he was at it. Looking down, she saw something tiny scuttle across the floor towards the exit. "What in the world...?" She got up and looked back toward the kitchen.

"Oi, Doctor!" She called out. Before she could consider getting him herself, the blond decided to just run after the little doll herself. She ran after it as it let itself out. She wondered if someone was remote controlling it. How else could it be moving on its own? Rose saw it turn down the street and she was quick to follow after it. "Um 'scue me, sorry sorry." Rose pushed past some people on the sidewalk as she tried to keep up with the plastic pipsqueak. Looking up ahead, she saw it was headed for the crosswalk. "Oh no you don't!" She darted ahead and cut it off.

It tried to turn back around but she dove for it and grabbed it. It squirmed with a surprising amount of strength. Rose got to her feet and moved out of the way of people trying to cross the street. She let out a tired sigh and took the key it had. She looked at it. It was an ordinary key. What was so special about it? She held the door with one hand, holding it by the back of its neck like you would a cat. Looking, she saw the Doctor hurrying over to her. "Hey, 'bout time you showed up. Look what I got." She smirked and held up the doll for him to see. It was quite feisty at this point. "I guess you were right, something weird is going on, we hit the jackpot. Way better than trash bins, I reckon." She said and then opened her other hand, revealing the silver key.

"It had this. Any idea what it is, mister alien?" She asked, unaware that it just so happened to be the key to his very own spaceship.

The sky up above was slowly churning, slowly filtering out the final bursts of sunlight. Soon, the sun would descend and the moon would be upon them. Daylight still remained but they only had an hour or so left before the street lights would come on and things would become even more tricky if they wanted to find more answers. "Have you seen Mickey?" She asked the Doctor though she had a feeling he hadn't but it didn't hurt to ask. "You think it's possible some tiny plastic man's kidnapped him?" Rose joked a little, not really taking that notion seriously at all. It was more likely he just got bored and left. Idiot. "Anyway, what should we do now?" She asked him. "If you really do got a spaceship, you must have some kind of...lab or something like that." She waved her hand a bit.

When the Doctor discovered that Rose was no longer in the booth he'd left her in, he'd spun about on his heels and craned his neck and looked under tables and behind the counter. And when she didn't appear to be at the cafe at all, he barreled out the front door and very nearly stumbled into Rose herself. He straightened and teetered a bit and he blinked at the squirmy little ugly thing wrenching in her hands.

"Whoa. Feisty little fella!" He laughed and patted the angry flailing plastic on the head, then leaned his hands on his knees to get a closer look. "Much better than a trash bin, I'll say. This is a full-blown auton: he's all plastic -- solid plastic, if ya feel the weight of 'im -- being controlled by a remote intelligence." He tapped his temple with a grin. "Fantastic stuff, just the link we need. Well done, Rose!"

But at the presentation of the little silver key, his expression fell. He smacked the lapels of his jacket and checked all his pockets before he submitted to take the key from Rose's hand. "This little bugger had this key?" The Nestene Consciousness must know what it's for -- which means he was being targeted. Which means the Consciousness knew where the TARDIS was. Which means --

The Doctor was pacing in a small circle, muttering to himself, so he barely heard her questions about Mickey. When he finally did come up for air, he took the little plastic man into one arm and grabbed Rose's hand with the other. "Mickey'll just have to find us on his own, we've got no time. We've got to go back to your apartment, now, and we've got to run. Come on!"

With that, they were sprinting along the roadside and down the quiet dusky streets, the Doctor dragging Rose along without waiting for an answer, back the way they had come.

"This key is the key to my spaceship," he explained as they ran, and he tightened his grip on the squirming little auton. "But why would the Nestene Consciousness need a key unless it had a lock?" This was bad. This was potentially very, very bad.

When they entered the courtyard of Rose's complex, the Doctor let go of her hand and barreled up the stairs, though it was Rose who had the means by which to get into the apartment at all. He was forced to wait for her, pacing, unable to stand still, holding the auton now by both arms with its feet dangling.

Inside the apartment, the TARDIS had gone.

The praise from the Doctor was a bit unexpected but welcomed.

She gave him a smile and looked down, back at the thing she had caught. His disposition then changed when he noticed it had a key. It clearly belonged to him and which was unsettling in any situation but Rose had yet figured out the real gravity of the plastic auton-or whatever having said key. Rose watched him pace around in a circle, trying to think or something. She looked around though no one seemed to be paying them any mind, nor did it seem like any more plastic stuff was coming to life.

Still, something didn't feel right.

The Doctor soon snapped from his daze and grabbed the small plastic doll and then her hand. Before she could say anything else, he was pulling off back toward her apartment. "Hey, wait!" She couldn't do anything else but run to keep up with him and make sure her arm didn't fall off in the process. "Doctor!" She figured that if they got to her flat, they would just poke around his spaceship though she wasn't sure if there'd be much room in there for her as well. So many questions and curiosities had been left unanswered and yet she wasn't feeling deterred in the slightest.

As they ran, he mentioned that the key it had was to his spaceship. Oh. Oh, wow! "Do you think they got it somehow or wanted to gain access to it or something?" She asked him. But upon getting back to the courtyard in front of her complex, he let go and went on his own. "Hey, wait!" She called out again and continued up the stairs after him. When she got up, she unlocked the door and the Doctor hurried inside. Rose looked around and saw no sign of Mickey.

Following him inside, she shut the door and locked it to be safe. "Doctor?" She went into her bedroom and found it was gone. Based on the man's expression, he hadn't moved it. So who had? "Didn't you say it was busted or something?" She asked him. She really wasn't fond of the idea of another stranger getting inside of her house and mucking about. "Well how far could they have taken it if you know is sort of broken?" She asked him. But sadly as she looked around, there weren't any obvious clues that could point them in a proper direction. Rose let out a sigh, beginning to realize that she wouldn't be eating anytime soon and her idiot boyfriend was nowhere to be found.

"So you said these nesting things...are like transmitting signals, yeah? Maybe if we find where it's coming from, we could find your blue box?" She mentioned. There was a knock at her door and she headed off to check it out. She looked through the small hole and backed up. "Doctor! I think you've got a visitor!" She yelled and ran back to her room. "There like an army of these mannequins and they look really angry...for plastic dummies." She muttered. And it wasn't really army but there were three of them and the banging wouldn't let up. "Can't we just melt them or something?" She suggested frantically.

The only thing she knew was that she didn't want to stick around to experiment. "If that thing is useless without your ship, then drop him and come on!" Rose wasn't pleased with the idea of being killed over kidnapping some plastic doll. She didn't think there was another way out of the apartment though. They were trapped like dingy rats. She didn't see any other way though, they had try and make a break for it. "I'm not sticking around to be chopped to bits by a barbie doll, come on." She grabbed the Doctor's hand and opened the front door and then hurried down the hall and down the steps. Luckily the white mannequins weren't too fast and that meant she and the alien could get away to make a better plan. There were so many plastic things though, in a sense they could be surrounded no matter where they went.

"Let's try by the water or something." She suggested.

Maybe plastic people couldn't swim.

Gone! The Doctor -- clutching the scrabbling ugly doll to his chest -- spun around in the middle of Rose's room, peered at the ceiling, ducked and squinted under the bed, threw himself at the window and stared down, but there was no possible way the TARDIS could have got out of there --

And then Rose's voice brought him the news of mannequins outside the only door.

He barreled down the hall and glued his eye to the peephole, beyond which was, indeed, a trio of faceless plastic heads. The door shuddered with every angry knock. "They want the key," he breathed. "They've got the TARDIS and they want the key --"

And then, Rose's hand was in his and the door was flung open, much to the shock of the three autons. The Doctor made a surprised noise and stumbled out after her, dropping the little ugly doll in his wake.

"Rose! Wait! Oh, no no no no no!" He picked up the pace and chanced a look behind them, where all three autons were pointing their plastic hands at the fleeing targets. Their fingers fell down on a hinge. "Get down!" He sheltered her with an arm and ducked over her and kept moving as quickly as possible.

PEW! PEW! PEW!

Shots of light whizzed past their ears and exploded deep craters into the wall beyond them; the Doctor swung Rose around and down the stairs, keeping himself between her and the crossfire, and he was grinning like a lunatic. He laughed at the thrill of being shot at, squeezed her hand and raced down into the courtyard, side by side with the girl who understood more than she knew.

"Let's go!" he agreed, intrigued by Rose's impeccable instincts, and turned their route toward the waterfront. He flinched as another close shot showered them with pieces of brick and cement, and he shielded Rose with his jacket and matched her running pace out of the complex.

Crowds of people were screaming in the distance. The autons were on the move throughout London, and they weren't happy. "We have to find the consciousness and shut it down," he called to her over the din of cars and buses. He weaved his way across the street to the tune of honks and horns. "It'll be underground, somewhere with access to a transmitter. Something big and round and metal." He held little hope of finding it alone. He was even considering a call to UNIT: as much as the idea left a bad taste in his mouth, they couldn't afford to waste time while people were dying.

"What?!"

Rose looked over her shoulder as she heard shots being fired. Were they actually shooting at them? How?! She saw their hands were shooting lasers at them and she had to double take to actually believe what she was seeing. First an alien in a box, moving plastic and now the plastic was trying to kill people? And where was Mickey in all this? She didn't have time to think anymore about him or even her mum or mates as she hurried with the Doctor, trying to get out of harm's way.

The two of them hastily rounded a corner and started down the long flight of stairs. The blond looked over at the man but rather than be fearful or worried, he was actually laughing as though he were on some roller coaster. Was he mental? Rose shook her head and tried to keep up with him. "If there's a joke I'm missing, let me know!" She said as they made it into the large space though now they could be considered sitting ducks. Rose stopped to catch her breath, not having done this much running since school. They let go of one another and headed off with a new destination in mind.

The trio of dolls were on their tail it seemed. They took another shot at them and the Doctor quickly moved her out of the way. "Thanks." She said and ducked down behind his jacket, though she didn't think it was good enough to deflect lasers. As they ran along, it seemed more panic was spreading as more plastic things sprung to life. This was bad. Very very bad. Rose looked around, trying to spot anyone she might know but it was all a blur.

Rose followed the Doctor as they quickly crossed a street and he began to explain how they could fix everything. "A what?" Though he filled in her in on what the transmitter could be. She thought for a while. The clock tower might work. "Big and round?" She muttered and started to think. "Oh! I have an idea! Come on." She said and took the lead. Rose ran along until the large Ferris Wheel came into view. "How about that?" She grinned at the Doctor. It seemed a possible place that had enough space to send a big signal out though Rose wasn't sure if this was happening all over the world or if this was just in London. Either way, something had to be done.

"Wait...what are you gonna do anyway?" She asked him.

"I mean you're unarmed right? You think you can just walk in and ask them to stop taking over the city?" Rose frowned as they looked around for a way to get in. She wasn't sure why she hadn't yet gone off and tried to help others or look for her mum or Mickey but a part of her wanted to see this boggling mystery to the end. And she wanted to get a good look at whatever was terrorizing her hometown. She had a right to know after all. And the Doctor and her got along well enough, she wasn't getting the vibe that she should leave him alone or that he wanted his space.

The London Eye! Fantastic! He never would've thought of it! The Doctor gave Rose a gleefully amazed grin, glad to have been the one dragged off toward danger. Her eager curiosity fueled his own energy, until he thought he might go mad if he stood still a moment longer. He took her hand again and yanked her along the riverside with a triumphant laugh; the laser fire followed them like mosquitoes.

What was his plan, then? Seagulls screeched overhead, and a cargo ship hulked past on the river; somewhere they'd lost their plastic pursuers. They'd come full-stop to the edge of the Do Not Enter signs of the closed Ferris wheel -- but whoever paid attention to signs anyway? The Doctor hopped a fence, jumped down closer to the water and reached up to help Rose do the same. "Pretty much, yah!" he answered her question, and he gave her a wink as he grabbed her hand. He'd barely turned round when he stopped short, and his expression fell in surprise.

Rose was standing in front of them.

Well, it wasn't actually Rose. It looked like Rose, but this Rose was a bit off on her shiny, soulless expression. She wore the same clothes, her hair was in the same style, she even had the same makeup molded creepily into her cold hard face.

Plastic-Rose was pointing a hand at the two, who were pretty much caught between a wall and the water below.

"Well hello!" the Doctor crooned, grinning even as he raised his hands above his head. "You've got better at this, didn't know you could make a copy without an original, very sophisticated, who did your hair?"

"We knew you'd come" Plastic-Rose replied in a slightly flatter version of Rose's own voice. "A strand of her hair was on the boy's jacket. That's all we needed. We'd hoped you would have left her behind."

"DNA replication, brilliant!" The Doctor smiled and nudged Rose (the real one), expecting her to be as shocked and impressed at the Nestene advancements as he was. "Not modest either, I like it."

Plastic-Rose held out her other hand, the one that wasn't loaded. "Give us the key."

The Doctor raised his chin. He said, "No," like a defiant child.

Plastic-Rose's fingers dropped, and the laser whirred as it powered up.

Having come to a sign that was meant to keep punk teenagers away, the Doctor seemed eager to disobey it. Rose looked around over her shoulder and saw no sign of plastic people or police officers. She bit her lip and decided that she was already in too deep to just walk away. She climbed to the top and the Doctor helped her get down the other side. Thankfully she had on jeans so she wasn't busy worrying about her heels or her clothes or anything stupid like that. She looked around and saw the city lights across the river coming on.

In her mind, it was preferable to fix everything before it got too dark to even see. And people often went out at night and if people were out in public, they were at risk. Right? Rose felt the Doctor take her hand after she had made it down safely. He seemed nonchalant about the plan she swung at him but for now she decided to trust the weird guy, he seemed to know what he was doing.

More or less.

More than her anyway.

"Doctor! What do we do now?" Rose took a cautious step back but then took one forward, looking at the plastic clone of herself. "Is that what my hair looks like? I need to get it cut or at least trimmed. What do you think?" She glanced to the Doctor who had just commented on the copy's hair. Rose would take the indirect compliment, since she didn't think some dummy would really care about gossip and idle chit chat about hair or trendy fashion.

"O-oh wow! Yeah that's...really amazin'..." Rose glanced to the Doctor, a bit confused as to why they'd want to get so chummy with the enemy. The plastic Rose didn't seem too bothered and then demanded the key. What key? To the spaceship thing? Rose licked her lips and looked to the Doctor who refused to give it up. "F-fine, we'll give you the key." She said, quickly thinking on her feet. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the key to her flat. From far away they looked nearly identical. "On...on one condition!" She said nervously and glanced back to the Doctor, still holding his hand with her other, quite tightly.

What should she demand?

For them to leave?

Would the key be enough for them to leave?

"I uh...um I won't give it to you, you're just...just a lowly servant of the Nesting Consciousness...right? We give you this but we have to meet you directly. You know, proper business etiquette and all that." She cleared her throat. Hopefully the Doctor had a plan because she didn't think the weird aliens would enjoy being tricked. "Wait." it suddenly hit her, what the plastic her had mention. They had Mickey?! "I also want my boyfriend back, and for none of us to be um...harmed." Rose attempted to add to her list of demands in exchange for some dinky old key.

The plastic Rose looked to them and new orders were transmitted to it. "Alright, follow me." She said flatly and led the Doctor and Rose down under the wheel. As it opened the door, it grabbed Rose and held her back. Two other plastic henchmen then grabbed the Doctor. The key was quickly taken from Rose and she was pushed over to where Mickey was being guarded. They were now in a hot underground facility of some sort. "Rose! They took me! I thought they took you too!" Mickey babbled and hugged her.

"No no, I was perfectly fine with the Doctor."

"This is all his fault!" Mickey pointed to the Doctor.

"He's trying to help." Rose tried to explain.

"This key is incorrect." The plastic Rose turned to the vat of fiery looking goo. A gurgling noise got Rose's attention as she saw the two plastic beings drag the Doctor over to it. Rose pried Mickey off of her as the ones guarding them aimed their laser hands at them. Rose looked around, not sure what she could do. She had to do something, everything was going wrong and from the faint screams outside, it sounded like they didn't have anymore time.

"Mickey, distract them for me, will ya?" She asked the petrified boy.

"Wha-no! Stay here."

"And do what? Nothing? How's that gonna help?" Rose muttered and ducked off as Mickey started to make a scene, though from the sounds of it, he had been doing that long before she and the Doctor turned up. She was so glad to have him unharmed, now she had to figure out how to help the Doctor clean up this mess. She quickly climbed up onto a ledge and scratched her head. The plastic guards suddenly spotted her and went after her. "Crap." Rose looked around frantically. The Doctor was too preoccupied to help, muttering something about Shadow Proclamations or whatever. Seeing a dangling chain, she reached for it.

"Gotcha." She pulled on it but decided to test its durability herself since there wasn't any time to look for anything else. She grabbed on tight and pushed herself from the ledge and kicked the back of one of the plastic guys, pushing him out of the way. Letting out a bit of a squeal, she let go and got to her feet. "Doctor, you alright?" She asked as she saw some smoke begin to rise from the floor under them. "What's goin on now?" She asked nervously. "Mickey?!" Where had he gone off to? She heard him mention a blue box and how it was the root of their troubles. What blue box? How could it be where they were?