AU!Doctor Who fanfic: First Impressions 3/?
Title: First Impressions (previously Greetings)
Fandom: Doctor Who, specifically NewWho
Characters: Rose Tyler, the Doctor, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, some OCs
Pairing: Eventual Rose/Doctor
Disclaimer: I don’t own any part of Doctor Who.
Summary: Rose Tyler wakes up, goes to work and returns home at the end of a normal day. She doesn’t meet the Doctor, the Living Plastic or see the TARDIS. From that day onwards the world she knows shifts forever, and another universe is born.
Part 1, Part 2.
“Hey, you! What do you think y’doing!?”
Rose had been half-deaf to any noises due to the shock of the situation, but she heard him now. The two kidnappers froze in mid-action, seemingly in shock. There was a stampede of footsteps, followed closely by the sight of a man in a coat sprinting towards them. The two figures exchanged a flurry of excited words before disappearing into the bushes they came from. Rose was left lying over the edge of the sidewalk, hands tied behind her back, and very much in a state of astonishment.
When the man finally came within walking distance to her he barely seemed out of breath, let alone as if he’d been running at all. Without another glance in her direction he pulled out a pen-like object from his coat pocket. It looked to be some sort of detection device which he shook while muttering a string of words, in which Rose caught not a single syllable of. After a little longer of this activity she had begun to think that he’d forgotten about her, and tried to clear her throat. It only resulted in the fabric slipping further down, followed by a wave of choking.
The strange man finally turned his gaze to her. “Sorry, I’m just…”
As quickly as he’d begun to speak, he froze then in mid-word. Rose tried to cough, wriggling at her tight bindings and wondered at her chances of getting an idiot as her rescuer. So far he wasn’t doing so well. Eventually the man sprung to action and sat her up on the curb, pulling out the cloth in her mouth. After some spluttering Rose recovered, and turned to face the man crouching beside her. But he wasn’t there.
“You…”
Her gaze travelled upwards to find him a fair few feet away from her, with a look on his face as if he’d seen a ghost. She watched as he tried to voice the word, again and again. But they never made it off his lips. The stranger stared at her with such an intense and horrified expression, that Rose found herself getting anxious.
“Are you…okay?”
She had thought the events of the last fifteen minutes to be strange enough, without having now to take care of her own rescuer. At least he was cute, Rose told herself. Unfortunately he didn’t seem any more comforted by her words, and instead his expression grew grave. After getting no response she turned away and attempted to untie herself. But it was hopeless, the double knot was tight and her fingers were just out reach.
After a while she felt cool fingers on her wrists, and turned to find the man beside her again. Without a word he took a pair of small scissors out of his trouser pocket and cut the string. Now free, she shifted away from him and looked about herself. Without thinking she spotted her dropped takeaway a few feet away and tried to get up, before she remembered.
“Uh, thanks…for before.”
She waited for a moment, just in case he was brave enough to speak to her, before getting up and absently moving towards her possessions. But upon arriving she remembered what had caused her to drop them in the first place. The image of her attacker’s face returned to her eyes. She froze.
“My god…that thing…those things that got me…”
Rose turned to see her rescuer standing close behind her, watching her as a spectator might the main magic trick of a performance. It did nothing to dispel her growing panic.
“Its face…it was, it was-”
“Alien.”
“What?”
“I said…it’s an alien.”
Rose stared incredulously at the man. A moment later it all got too much and she covered her face with her hands. As if propelled by this action, he immediately jumped to her side.
“Listen Rose, I know this is a lot for you to take in…”
“H-How do you know my name?”
“Just…just trust me, okay? You can trust me on this. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
She stopped to look at him. There was something in his tone, and in the way he looked at her. It was as if she was the last human being on the earth, besides himself. They now had to face what was left of the world together, and yet they were so alone. Rose looked at the man now standing very much within her personal space. He was grasping her hands tight in his, and willing her, very desperately, to believe him.
"Just for now...just trust me Rose."
After a pause, she released a heavy breath. Somehow, it seemed like the only choice she had at that moment. Rose found herself believing in him.
"...okay then."
"Alright," He smiled briefly, the first one Rose had seen since they'd met. "Let's get you back home."
"I'm not having a stranger walk me home...no offence or anything, just--"
"I know, I know it's weird, but I swear I'm not dangerous or anything, I just want to make sure you don't get attacked on the way back home."
Rose turned away and bent over to pick up her bag, but the strange man seemed to rush forward to take the load off of her. Instead she waved him off and checked to see if her pumpkin soup had leaked out completely. She was pleased to find its case still intact and without a drop spilled.
"How about this; if you're so keen to follow me home then we'll go together, but only if you explain everything that just happened, 'kay?"
He seemed to be happy with this arrangement, and so they headed off in the direction of Powell Estates. Rose felt it impolite to launch straight into her questions, and counted off a full three minutes of silent walking before she could stand it no longer.
"So...what the hell was all that?"
A bit of a smile tugged at his lips. "You were attacked by a pair of naughty Hashes; a long way from their home planet of Jebordim. You barely ever see them outside their own territory nowadays though..."
"H-Hashes? What's that?"
"They're aliens."
"...you're kidding me."
"No, I'm afraid I'm not."
"But, but aliens...aliens don't exist!"
"Aliens are very real, Rose. And you can't deny it yourself."
"But...you..." She could only look up at his face in disbelief. "What d'you mean?"
He halted in his steps and after a pause, walked over to a nearby bench. They'd made it about three-quarters of the way back, but this was a conversation that the stranger obviously felt was too urgent for delay. A moment later she sat down beside him. Once again he took her hands into his, but Rose decided she'd let him off just this time.
"You saw the face of the Hash that attacked you, didn't you? I could see it in your eyes."
"Yes, I saw its face...but it was..."
He covered her palms with his, pulling her a little closer toward him. "It wasn't human-looking, was it?"
She could see the face again, in all its grotesque and unique beauty. No matter what happened from then on, Rose knew she'd never be able to forget. It had a pair of beady red eyes, surrounded by large flaps of scaled skin and that nose. The creature didn't even have a nose, only nose flaps and nostrils. It couldn't be real, it just couldn't.
"Now listen to me Rose, listen to me very carefully. Those were creatures not from Earth. They are not human. They were born in another world, far away. And they are real, Rose. Very real."
By this point he held her face between his palms and his forehead rested against hers. She could feel his breath tickling the tip of her nose. His fingers were smoothing out the hairs sticking out on the top of her head, though she was sure he wasn't aware of doing it himself. But their sudden closeness seemed such a trivial matter then. No matter how mad the world suddenly seemed, it was real, all of it was real and Rose found that she could not deny it.
"...so aliens, are real?"
She could feel him nod his head once, firmly. "Yes, they are real. Trust me."
Slowly they moved apart from each other, and Rose stood up from her seat. She took a few shuffling steps forward, before she swivelled to face the man again. Unfortunately his expression of anxiety had returned.
"So lemme get this straight. Those...aliens...are after me?"
He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before he answered. "Yes...yes, they're after you. But I don't know why, you're just a regular human, and they're normally peaceful folk. What would they want with you?"
The man in the long coat stood up, pushing a hand through his dishevelled hair, and was about to start pacing when he caught Rose's expression. Quickly he remembered himself and stepped towards her, smiling.
"Right, sorry, just a bit out of it today, I guess. The aliens are after you for some reason, but I'll protect you from them, don't worry. They're mainly harmless creatures. I don't know what they want yet, but I'll track them down and find out."
He received no change in her overall manner from this speech. Instead he took hold of her free hand. Searching in another one of his coat pockets, which Rose was beginning to suspect held an unusual amount of things, he pulled out a mobile phone. To her surprise it was identical to hers. He placed it within her hand, curling her fingers around it.
“Use this phone to call me, whenever you’re in danger. It will work, no matter where you are.”
Rose supressed the urge to stare, and pulled out her own phone from her back pocket. But upon showing the stranger he merely shrugged and nodded.
“But, why would I need to call you?”
“Because I have to go.”
Rose was taken aback by this response. Of course she hadn’t expected to get a full-time bodyguard from alien kidnappings, and all from a day’s work. But from the way he spoke of his departure, she got a sense of finality that just didn’t sit well with her. Plus, there was so much more she needed to know from her strange rescuer. She wasn’t sure if she could handle all the new knowledge without him.
“But, why?”
“Just trust me. I don’t belong here…and I really need to go now.”
Rose opened her mouth to protest, but his grave expression had returned, and any objections she had died on her lips. He let go of her hand and turned away.
“But wait…your name. I never got your name. And who am I supposed to call when I’m in trouble?”
Rose watched as the man in the long coat halted in his step. For a moment she thought he would walk away without telling her his name. For some reason, the thought thoroughly upset her.
“You can call me…the Doctor. Just the Doctor,” He’d turned to her and for a moment a smile tugged at his lips, but then it was gone. “Goodbye Rose.”
Rose called out his name once, and then another time, but the man seemed too determined to leave to take notice. Finding herself very confused at the entire situation, she continued to watch him. It was only once he'd turned the corner and disappeared out of sight did Rose realise that she was still standing alone at the side of the street. All she could do was to take her things and return home, in the hope of making sense of the bizarre events of the last hour or so.
Fandom: Doctor Who, specifically NewWho
Characters: Rose Tyler, the Doctor, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, some OCs
Pairing: Eventual Rose/Doctor
Disclaimer: I don’t own any part of Doctor Who.
Summary: Rose Tyler wakes up, goes to work and returns home at the end of a normal day. She doesn’t meet the Doctor, the Living Plastic or see the TARDIS. From that day onwards the world she knows shifts forever, and another universe is born.
Part 1, Part 2.
“Hey, you! What do you think y’doing!?”
Rose had been half-deaf to any noises due to the shock of the situation, but she heard him now. The two kidnappers froze in mid-action, seemingly in shock. There was a stampede of footsteps, followed closely by the sight of a man in a coat sprinting towards them. The two figures exchanged a flurry of excited words before disappearing into the bushes they came from. Rose was left lying over the edge of the sidewalk, hands tied behind her back, and very much in a state of astonishment.
When the man finally came within walking distance to her he barely seemed out of breath, let alone as if he’d been running at all. Without another glance in her direction he pulled out a pen-like object from his coat pocket. It looked to be some sort of detection device which he shook while muttering a string of words, in which Rose caught not a single syllable of. After a little longer of this activity she had begun to think that he’d forgotten about her, and tried to clear her throat. It only resulted in the fabric slipping further down, followed by a wave of choking.
The strange man finally turned his gaze to her. “Sorry, I’m just…”
As quickly as he’d begun to speak, he froze then in mid-word. Rose tried to cough, wriggling at her tight bindings and wondered at her chances of getting an idiot as her rescuer. So far he wasn’t doing so well. Eventually the man sprung to action and sat her up on the curb, pulling out the cloth in her mouth. After some spluttering Rose recovered, and turned to face the man crouching beside her. But he wasn’t there.
“You…”
Her gaze travelled upwards to find him a fair few feet away from her, with a look on his face as if he’d seen a ghost. She watched as he tried to voice the word, again and again. But they never made it off his lips. The stranger stared at her with such an intense and horrified expression, that Rose found herself getting anxious.
“Are you…okay?”
She had thought the events of the last fifteen minutes to be strange enough, without having now to take care of her own rescuer. At least he was cute, Rose told herself. Unfortunately he didn’t seem any more comforted by her words, and instead his expression grew grave. After getting no response she turned away and attempted to untie herself. But it was hopeless, the double knot was tight and her fingers were just out reach.
After a while she felt cool fingers on her wrists, and turned to find the man beside her again. Without a word he took a pair of small scissors out of his trouser pocket and cut the string. Now free, she shifted away from him and looked about herself. Without thinking she spotted her dropped takeaway a few feet away and tried to get up, before she remembered.
“Uh, thanks…for before.”
She waited for a moment, just in case he was brave enough to speak to her, before getting up and absently moving towards her possessions. But upon arriving she remembered what had caused her to drop them in the first place. The image of her attacker’s face returned to her eyes. She froze.
“My god…that thing…those things that got me…”
Rose turned to see her rescuer standing close behind her, watching her as a spectator might the main magic trick of a performance. It did nothing to dispel her growing panic.
“Its face…it was, it was-”
“Alien.”
“What?”
“I said…it’s an alien.”
Rose stared incredulously at the man. A moment later it all got too much and she covered her face with her hands. As if propelled by this action, he immediately jumped to her side.
“Listen Rose, I know this is a lot for you to take in…”
“H-How do you know my name?”
“Just…just trust me, okay? You can trust me on this. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
She stopped to look at him. There was something in his tone, and in the way he looked at her. It was as if she was the last human being on the earth, besides himself. They now had to face what was left of the world together, and yet they were so alone. Rose looked at the man now standing very much within her personal space. He was grasping her hands tight in his, and willing her, very desperately, to believe him.
"Just for now...just trust me Rose."
After a pause, she released a heavy breath. Somehow, it seemed like the only choice she had at that moment. Rose found herself believing in him.
"...okay then."
"Alright," He smiled briefly, the first one Rose had seen since they'd met. "Let's get you back home."
"I'm not having a stranger walk me home...no offence or anything, just--"
"I know, I know it's weird, but I swear I'm not dangerous or anything, I just want to make sure you don't get attacked on the way back home."
Rose turned away and bent over to pick up her bag, but the strange man seemed to rush forward to take the load off of her. Instead she waved him off and checked to see if her pumpkin soup had leaked out completely. She was pleased to find its case still intact and without a drop spilled.
"How about this; if you're so keen to follow me home then we'll go together, but only if you explain everything that just happened, 'kay?"
He seemed to be happy with this arrangement, and so they headed off in the direction of Powell Estates. Rose felt it impolite to launch straight into her questions, and counted off a full three minutes of silent walking before she could stand it no longer.
"So...what the hell was all that?"
A bit of a smile tugged at his lips. "You were attacked by a pair of naughty Hashes; a long way from their home planet of Jebordim. You barely ever see them outside their own territory nowadays though..."
"H-Hashes? What's that?"
"They're aliens."
"...you're kidding me."
"No, I'm afraid I'm not."
"But, but aliens...aliens don't exist!"
"Aliens are very real, Rose. And you can't deny it yourself."
"But...you..." She could only look up at his face in disbelief. "What d'you mean?"
He halted in his steps and after a pause, walked over to a nearby bench. They'd made it about three-quarters of the way back, but this was a conversation that the stranger obviously felt was too urgent for delay. A moment later she sat down beside him. Once again he took her hands into his, but Rose decided she'd let him off just this time.
"You saw the face of the Hash that attacked you, didn't you? I could see it in your eyes."
"Yes, I saw its face...but it was..."
He covered her palms with his, pulling her a little closer toward him. "It wasn't human-looking, was it?"
She could see the face again, in all its grotesque and unique beauty. No matter what happened from then on, Rose knew she'd never be able to forget. It had a pair of beady red eyes, surrounded by large flaps of scaled skin and that nose. The creature didn't even have a nose, only nose flaps and nostrils. It couldn't be real, it just couldn't.
"Now listen to me Rose, listen to me very carefully. Those were creatures not from Earth. They are not human. They were born in another world, far away. And they are real, Rose. Very real."
By this point he held her face between his palms and his forehead rested against hers. She could feel his breath tickling the tip of her nose. His fingers were smoothing out the hairs sticking out on the top of her head, though she was sure he wasn't aware of doing it himself. But their sudden closeness seemed such a trivial matter then. No matter how mad the world suddenly seemed, it was real, all of it was real and Rose found that she could not deny it.
"...so aliens, are real?"
She could feel him nod his head once, firmly. "Yes, they are real. Trust me."
Slowly they moved apart from each other, and Rose stood up from her seat. She took a few shuffling steps forward, before she swivelled to face the man again. Unfortunately his expression of anxiety had returned.
"So lemme get this straight. Those...aliens...are after me?"
He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before he answered. "Yes...yes, they're after you. But I don't know why, you're just a regular human, and they're normally peaceful folk. What would they want with you?"
The man in the long coat stood up, pushing a hand through his dishevelled hair, and was about to start pacing when he caught Rose's expression. Quickly he remembered himself and stepped towards her, smiling.
"Right, sorry, just a bit out of it today, I guess. The aliens are after you for some reason, but I'll protect you from them, don't worry. They're mainly harmless creatures. I don't know what they want yet, but I'll track them down and find out."
He received no change in her overall manner from this speech. Instead he took hold of her free hand. Searching in another one of his coat pockets, which Rose was beginning to suspect held an unusual amount of things, he pulled out a mobile phone. To her surprise it was identical to hers. He placed it within her hand, curling her fingers around it.
“Use this phone to call me, whenever you’re in danger. It will work, no matter where you are.”
Rose supressed the urge to stare, and pulled out her own phone from her back pocket. But upon showing the stranger he merely shrugged and nodded.
“But, why would I need to call you?”
“Because I have to go.”
Rose was taken aback by this response. Of course she hadn’t expected to get a full-time bodyguard from alien kidnappings, and all from a day’s work. But from the way he spoke of his departure, she got a sense of finality that just didn’t sit well with her. Plus, there was so much more she needed to know from her strange rescuer. She wasn’t sure if she could handle all the new knowledge without him.
“But, why?”
“Just trust me. I don’t belong here…and I really need to go now.”
Rose opened her mouth to protest, but his grave expression had returned, and any objections she had died on her lips. He let go of her hand and turned away.
“But wait…your name. I never got your name. And who am I supposed to call when I’m in trouble?”
Rose watched as the man in the long coat halted in his step. For a moment she thought he would walk away without telling her his name. For some reason, the thought thoroughly upset her.
“You can call me…the Doctor. Just the Doctor,” He’d turned to her and for a moment a smile tugged at his lips, but then it was gone. “Goodbye Rose.”
Rose called out his name once, and then another time, but the man seemed too determined to leave to take notice. Finding herself very confused at the entire situation, she continued to watch him. It was only once he'd turned the corner and disappeared out of sight did Rose realise that she was still standing alone at the side of the street. All she could do was to take her things and return home, in the hope of making sense of the bizarre events of the last hour or so.