Zo had grown up over the past six years.

She was now a girl of eighteen, curly hair usually bound into a high ponytail. She still danced when she could, and she still lived in her parents' flat. Not that she wanted to. If she could have, she would have moved out, but she didn't technically have a job. Not for lack of trying. But no one wanted to hire a girl more attached to dancing than work.

Not to mention she kept staring out the window, waiting for a man in a blue box to appear. It was a bit pathetic, really.

Just a bit.

—

Zo's soup burned on the stove.

She, like her family, like a large portion of the London population, stared at the telly. The news was switched on, reporting an explosion. At a department store.

News if Zo ever heard it.

She stood in the entryway to the small kitchen, open-mouthed, a spoon in hand. She had been stirring the soup, her post-lesson dinner, when the report came on, and was instantly drawn to it. Her parents and brothers sat on the sofa, her mum's book abandoned on the arm of her seat as she too watched.

So far, there were no answers as to the why. Why had Henrik's, a perfectly ordinary department store, suddenly exploded mere minutes after closing time? And how? A body had been found in the ruined basement, thought to have been the electrician, but no one knew if he had set the explosion.

Beep! Beep!

Zo's eyes widened and she ran to rescue her burning soup. She could eat it now, she thought as she pulled the pot off the stove, that was for sure. She flapped the hand holding the spoon at the smoke billowing upwards, wishing the smoke alarm would stop. She felt as though her ears were bleeding, honestly.

Tipping the soup down the drain, Zo thought that this inexplicable explosion could be what she had been looking for for the last six years.

—

Zo was known on the Powell Estate for dancing in the oddest of places.

Today, she was near a small playground, her pale pink dress flowing around her. It was a bit short, especially for April, but it reminded her of her costumes, with its large skirt and lace trim. Besides, the sleeves were long enough to keep her warm. She wore headphones, so no one else could hear her music. But everyone could see her dance.

A pause in the music, though, brought a sound to her ears that was a bit unusual. A wheezing, groaning noise, one that she had heard before. She yanked her headphones off and spun in a circle, searching madly for the source of the noise.

There!

She took off running, vaulting the playground fence and speeding in the direction she thought the noise was coming from. She passed a girl on the street, a blonde she vaguely recognised. The noise grew louder for a moment, as Zo skidded to a stop, and then faded. She was too late.

The girl—Rose, Zo thought her name was—stood behind her, staring in the same direction. "You heard that too?" she asked Zo when the dark-haired girl turned. She had an odd frown on her face, and Zo remembered that she worked at Henriks—something her mum had told her once.

"Did you see a man?" she asked, "Leather jacket, big ears, rather grumpy?" She thought for a moment, then added, "Northern accent?"

Rose nodded after a moment. "What- what do you know about him?"

Zo grinned. "I know he calls himself the Doctor. And I know he won't be gone long."

—

Rose insisted that Zo go with her. She wanted to find the Doctor—but not in the way Zo had expected.

"He has to have shown up somewhere," Rose said as they walked to Rose's boyfriend's flat, "it just makes sense someone would put somethin' online."

"Do you really think it's that simple?" Zo asked.  She trailed Rose up a flight of stairs, hardly out of breath. She didn't doubt that Rose had a point—it was smart, smarter than Zo'd been for the past six years. But at the same time, she couldn't see them getting very far with this plan.

Rose gave her a hard look. "It's worth it to try." she said, and Zo couldn't bring herself to argue. She didn't want to get on the blonde's bad side, she decided. That would not end well for her.

Rose's boyfriend, a black man that Zo had seen around before, opened the door, grinning. He wasn't that much taller than Zo, she noted. "Hey, hey, here's my woman!" he said. Zo rolled her eyes. He didn't notice her.

"Shut up," Rose said fondly, and kissed him. Once they broke apart, he stepped aside to let Rose, and by extension Zo, into the flat.

The boyfriend blinked, staring at Zo. "Who's she?" he asked Rose, as though Zo was not there. She hated being ignored.

"My name's Zo," she said, "I'm Rose's friend." The blonde nodded helpfully, and Zo grinned at her.

The boyfriend shrugged, and closed the door. "Coffee?" he asked both girls at once. "I'm Mickey, by the way."

Zo shook her head, but Rose nodded. "Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash." she called after Mickey. She nudged Zo's arm and led her in a different direction. "Can I use your computer?"

She pulled Zo into another, messy, room as Mickey answered: "Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom." Rose sat at a computer desk, and Zo crossed her arms, trying to keep the screen in view without hovering. Mickey paused for a moment, then added, "Don't read my emails!"

Zo huffed at that, but said nothing as Rose pulled up a search engine and started typing. The first two searches, 'doctor' and 'doctor living plastic' (Zo raised her eyebrows at that one, but Rose just waved her off) turned up nothing of any worth. Rose frowned at the blank search box for a minute, thinking, and Zo sighed.

"Here," she said, leaning over Rose's shoulder. "Try 'doctor blue box'." Rose twisted in her seat, looking up at Zo with a strange look that plainly asked why in the world would she do that. "You saw one, right?" Zo asked her. "Right before the noise?" When Rose nodded, so did Zo. "So search it."

Sighing, Rose turned back around and typed the search in. The very first result read 'Doctor Who? Do you know this man? Contact Clive here.' A very blurred picture of the Doctor was beneath it. Rose turned to look at Zo, who nodded.

Rose clicked the link.

—

Mickey thought they were insane.

He told them as much, as he parked his tiny car outside Clive's house. "I want to come." He said flatly, turning so he could see Rose clearly. Zo shifted out of his view.

"You're not coming in," Rose said. They'd argued about this the whole way there. Zo was tired of it. "He's safe. He's got a wife and kids."

"Yeah, who told you that?" Mickey didn't even pause for an answer. "He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say!"

Rose rolled her eyes and got out of the car. Zo clambered out of the backseat, saying to Mickey as she did, "You know, this is a really awful way to murder people. Postin' about a man that only a few people know about? Come on, Mickey." With that, she straightened up and shut the car door.

Rose was halfway across the street when Zo caught up to her. She smoothed her hair down, pulled on the hem of her dress, and hoped Mickey wasn't right.

It was Rose who rang the doorbell. And it was a kid who answered. He looked at them expectantly. "Hello," Rose started. "We've come to see Clive? We've been emailing."

The boy turned away, calling, "Dad! It's one of your nutters!" The two girls looked at each other. So far, so...decent.

A man came to the door a moment later, smiling. "Oh, sorry." he said. Zo snorted as quietly as she could. "Hello. You must be Rose and Zo. I'm Clive, obviously." He chuckled a little. Zo wished she'd stayed in the car.

"My boyfriend's in the car," Rose said, turning and pointing back to where Mickey sat, "just in case you're going to kill me."

Clive chuckled, and Zo stepped to the side. "No, good point." he said, "No murders." He cheerfully waved at Mickey, smiling. Mickey did not return it.

Smile gone, Clive waved the pair inside. As they stepped into the entry, a woman's voice called from upstairs, "Who is it?"

"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's—they've—been reading the website." Clive called up to her. He shut the door behind Zo. "Please, come through. I'm in the shed."

When his back was turned, Zo mouthed "the shed" at Rose, who just sighed and followed Clive. As the three of them walked away, Clive's wife echoed behind: "She? They've read a website about the Doctor? They're shes?"

—

The shed was smaller than Zo had expected, though why she expected something different she couldn't have said. It was covered in photographs and old books. A TV screen perched in one corner. She stood with her arms crossed near a table that took up most of the room, listening to Clive. She was pretty sure he really was a nutter, and refused to believe a word of what he said. But still he talked.

"A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you," Clive said, repeating what he'd told Rose in an email—the one that brought them here. "People might intercept it. If you know what I mean." He moved to a different part of the tiny room, making room for Zo to stand next to Rose instead of slightly behind. "If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, the 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." Zo couldn't help but snort. This was rubbish. Did time travel really not occur to him? Clive cast her a glance, then pulled an image from a pile and showed it to them. It was the same one on his website. "That's your Doctor there, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Zo said, crossing her arms. "So?"

"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year." Clive pulled a series of photos, each zoomed out more and more. "The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original..."

The final picture was on President Kennedy's assassination day. Despite herself, Zo's jaw dropped. What on earth was he doing there?

As if they had no clue what they were looking at, Clive said, "November the twenty-second, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?"

Zo did see. She saw that all this solidified what she already knew. She opened her mouth to say as much, but Rose spoke first. "It must be his father..." the blonde muttered, leaning closer to the picture.

Clive didn't respond, but turned to the TV. Using a remote to click through photos as he spoke. "Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and a friend. This was taken the day before they were supposed to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And here we are. Another Doctor." He pointed to the photo. "Look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven through history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion."

"Who's that?" Rose asked before Zo could stop her. This blatant exaggeration was obviously getting to her.

Clive looked first Zo, then Rose in the eye. "Death."

The shed was silent for a moment. Zo wanted out of there. Clive had no idea what he was talking about, that much was clear to her. But Roe was eating it up.

"If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, girls, then one thing's for certain: we're all in danger." His voice was more serious now, and if Zo didn't already know he was crazy, she be scared. "If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you."

"I met him when I was twelve."

Clive and Rose both turned to look at Zo, who honestly hadn't planned on speaking. But she'd started, might as well keep going. "Six years ago, the Doctor saved me from being plunged into darkness by a monster. He saved me." She shook her head. "He doesn't bring death. He stops it."

She turned and went out to the door, not afraid to let it slam behind her.

—

Not two minutes later, Rose stepped out of the shed, shaking her head. "You're right," she snapped. "Come on, I'm done here."

Zo trailed behind Rose back to the car. She couldn't begin to guess what had happened after she left, and she didn't really want to know, either.

Rose practically threw herself into the front seat of the car. Zo followed more calmly. "All right, he's a nutter," Rose told Mickey. "Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win!" She sighed and leaned her head against her hand. "What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza."

Later, Zo would wonder how she missed the obvious problem. It wasn't like her to miss something so obvious.

But she did.

"Pizza!" Mickey said, his voice a little...off. "Puh-puh-pizza!"

Rose didn't notice at all. "Or Chinese." she mused. She turned to look at Zo. "What d'you think? Chinese?"

Zo didn't get a chance to answer, because Mickey said, "Pizza!" and veered off down the street. He hadn't driven like that before, that was for sure.

—

Zo liked pizza, and she liked Rose well enough, but she did not like how odd Mickey was acting. His face looked fixed, like it was frozen in place. It didn't look natural. She sat, silent, not touching her pizza and staring at Mickey. He paid no attention to her.

"Do you think I should try the hospital?" Rose was saying, "Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it, then, dishing out chips?" She shook her head absently. "I could do A levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up." She shook her head. "What do you think?"

Rose looked at Mickey—who Zo was starting to doubt even was Mickey—and didn't think anything was wrong. Zo was starting to worry about her too.

"So, where did you meet this Doctor?" Not-Mickey asked.

Rose blinked. "I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?"

Not-Mickey ignored her. "Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?"

Rose frowned. "No."

"Come on."

Rose sighed, rolling her eyes. "Sort of," she admitted.

"What was he doing there?" Not-Mickey asked.

"I'm not goin' on about it, Mickey." Rose insisted. "Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe."

Zo picked at her pizza. Not-Mickey leaned over a little, making Rose look him in the eye. How could she not see something wrong? "But you can trust me, sweetheart, babe, sugar, babe, sugar." Rose sat back at that, frowning. She glanced at Zo, who just shrugged. "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

His voice sounded almost mechanical, Zo realised, and she tilted her head to one side. A robot replacement, maybe? But he didn't look like metal. He looked like plastic.

"What are you doing that for?" Rose asked.

Zo leaned forward, putting a hand on Rose's arm. "Rose, there's something very wrong with your boyfriend."

Rose gaped at Zo for a moment, then looked above her. Zo twisted in her seat, looking up as well. A familiar man in leather grinned at her. "Champagne?"

Not-Mickey looked up too. "Ah. Gotcha." he said, smirking.

The Doctor grinned, and started shaking the champagne bottle he held. "Don't mind me," he said, "I'm just toastin' them. On the house!" He released the cork, which flew across the table and hit Not-Mickey's forehead. And it was absorbed. Into his head.

Rose and Zo watched open-mouthed as the cork made its way through Not-Mickey's face until he finally spit it out. "Anyway," he—it?—said, standing up. His hand flattened, becoming what looked like a plastic meat cleaver. He brought his hand down on the table seconds after Rose and Zo lept away from it.

The Doctor stepped forward and wrenched off Not-Mickey's very plastic head. Rose screamed. So did everyone else, actually. Zo included.

It got worse when the head kept talking. "Don't think that's going to stop me," it sneered, and Zo stumbled back several steps. The body got up from the wrecked table and stumbled around, one hand chopping randomly. The other customers panicked.

Zo grabbed Rose's arm and dragged her to one side, out of the path of the mad plastic. Rose looked around, frantic, and pulled the fire alarm. "Everyone out!" she yelled, starting to shoo people towards the doors. "Out now! Get out!"

Zo blinked, then rushed after her, rounding up stragglers. Within moments, the restaurant was empty except for the girls, the Doctor, and the headless body. And the Doctor was leaving through the kitchen.

Zo nudged Rose, pointed to him, and the two of them followed him at a run while the headless body of Not-Mickey continued to destroy the restaurant.

They ran into an alleyway, or a sort of courtyard, behind the restaurant. The Doctor held a silver tool with a blue tip that Zo recognised. He pointed it at the door; it buzzed, and Zo grinned. This felt familiar. This felt safe. Rose kept running, to the big doors at the end of the alley, right past the blue box smack in the middle of the open space. She smacked straight into the gate, pounding her fists on the thick metal.

Zo simply stood, arms crossed, in the middle of the yard. The Doctor and grinned at her. "Zo Parker." he said, almost laughing. "It's good to see you again."

Zo laughed, and rushed to hug him. "I've missed you!" she said. "I spent six years watching for you out my bedroom window." She stepped back, releasing him, at the sound of banging from the door the'd come out. "We should move."

Rose yanked on the gates. "Open the gate!" she yelled, "Use that tube thing. Come on!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Sonic screwdriver!" he called to her. He extended an arm to Zo, which she took, and they headed for the TARDIS as Rose yelled at him once more to use his sonic screwdriver. "Nah," he said. "Tell you what, let's go in here." Zo laughed as he pushed open the door, leading her inside.

It was just as Zo remembered. The platform, the console, the round things. She laughed, spinning around on the centre platform, her arms outstretched. Rose was still shouting outside, but Zo couldn't be happier than she was at this moment. She had all she wanted.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled outside, "Zo!" As Zo stopped spinning, she heard Rose's footsteps coming towards the TARDIS, then she was inside. She stuttered to a stop just inside the doors, grabbing onto the rails automatically, and stared at Zo and the Doctor where they stood at the console. Then she ran out again.

Zo couldn't help it. She laughed a little.

After a moment, Rose darted back inside, the door shutting behind her. She seemed to be less concerned now, and Zo internally patted her on the back for that. Much better than her first time. "It's going to follow us!" Rose said, her voice still a little panicked.

The Doctor barely looked up from his task of connecting the head to the console. Zo sat in the very comfy chair. "The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried." the Doctor said. "Now, shut up a minute."

Rose glanced at Zo, who stage-whispered, "He's not trying to be mean. He just says things." Rose pursed her lips, but said nothing.

"You see," the Doctor rambled, "the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." He turned, crossing his arms casually, and addressed Rose directly. "Right. Where do you want to start?"

Rose gaped like a fish for a moment, soundless. "Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?"

"Yes." Straightforward, Zo liked it.

She could practically see Rose thinking. "It's alien."

"Yeah."

"Are you alien?"

"Yes." The Doctor paused for a moment. "Is that all right?"

Rose was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing." The Doctor said, gesturing to the ship. "T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

And Rose burst into tears.

In all honesty, Zo was a little glad that Rose was having a reaction similar to her own. Sort of. Rose hadn't passed out, but hysterical crying was close enough in Zo's book. She got up and went to Rose's side, wrapping the blonde in an awkward hug.

The Doctor nodded, like he'd been expecting it. Though, if the last person he'd had aboard was Zo, then he actually might have been. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"Did they kill him?" Rose asked, and Zo took a step back. Oh, of course.

Zo would have been lying if she'd said she was worried about Mickey. She had been wondering what had been done to him, but she just assumed the plastic one was a replacement, and that he was all right somewhere. But Rose had a point.

The Doctor, on the other hand, looked confused. Rose snapped just a little. "Mickey. Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"

"Oh." The Doctor's frown grew. "I didn't think of that."

"He's my boyfriend!" Rose said, tears forgotten. She was furious. "You pulled off his head! They copied him, and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?"

He blinked. "What?" Zo pointed to the console behind him, to where Not-Mickey's plastic head was melting on the console. His eyes widened. "Oh, no no no no no!" He began pressing buttons and flipping switches frantically. Seconds later, a sound Zo knew well echoed throughout the room. They were in motion.

"What're you doin'?" Rose asked. She took a couple steps forward, her tears long gone now. Once again, Zo was impressed by her attitude about the whole thing.

"Following the signal," the Doctor said, "It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it!" Something beeped, and the Doctor ran around the console. "No no no no! Almost there... almost there." A couple more buttons, and he stood back. "Here we go!"

There was a dull, metallic thunk as they landed. The Doctor whirled around and headed for the door, pushing past them. Zo followed. "You can't go out there!" Rose said as the Doctor opened the door, "It's not safe!"

Zo and the Doctor ignored her.

—

Zo would always relish the feeling she got every time she stepped outside the TARDIS somewhere new. Even if she had been there before, it seemed different for having travelled with the Doctor. New, somehow. They were on the bank of the Thames now, next to the RAF monument.

Behind her, she could hear Rose stepping out of the TARDIS, carefully closing the door behind her. Zo spun once more, grinning at Rose. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" she whispered.

"I lost the signal," the Doctor said, looking around, "I got so close."

"We've moved," Rose said, her voice quiet, "Does to fly?"

Zo shrugged, laughing. "Sort of."

"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." the Doctor said dismissively.

Zo glared at him. He could be a little kinder to Rose. The blonde thought for a moment, then said, "If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing?"

Zo nodded. "Not-Mickey. It's still on the loose."

"It melted with the head." the Doctor said, "Are you going to witter on all night?"

"Doctor!" Zo said, "You're not helping."

Rose was crying again, just a little. "I'll have to tell his mother." The Doctor gave her a confused look. "Mickey! I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien." She turned and walked away, arms crossed, facing the other direction.

The Doctor sighed. "Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"

"Yeah, he's not a kid." Rose snapped.

The Doctor kept goin as if she hadn't interrupted. "-It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right!"

"All right."

"Yes, it is!"

They stood in silence for a moment, both with arms crossed, Zo between them. She hoped they didn't keep this up, because it was more tiring than Zo was ready to deal with.

"If you're an alien," Rose said after a moment, "how come you sound like you're from the North?"

The Doctor scoffed. "Lots of planets have a North."

"What's a.. 'police public call box'?" Rose pointed to the inscription above the TARDIS door.

"It's a telephone box from the 1950's." Zo said. "I read up on them."

"It's a disguise," the Doctor added.

"Okay." Rose stepped back towards Zo. "And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?"

"Nothing. It loves you." the Doctor said, "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!"

He seemed a bit too cheerful, Zo thought. "What war?" she asked, frowning. She didn't remember him mentioning a war last time they'd met. He didn't answer.

"Any way of stopping it?" Rose asked.

The Doctor pulled a little vial full of blue liquid out of his jacket. "Anti-plastic."

"Anti-plastic." Rose said flatly.

"Really?" Zo asked. "There's such a thing?"

The Doctor nodded. "Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it." He spun around, looking out at the rest of the city. "How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on. Hide what?" Rose asked. Zo was already looking around. She had no idea what he was looking for, but it wouldn't hurt to get a head start, right?

The Doctor turned back around to face them. "The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the single."

"What's it look like?" Rose asked, and Zo snapped back to attention.

"Like a transmitter." the Doctor said simply.

Zo crossed her arms. "And what's that look like?"

"A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial." he told them. Zo looked around again, sure she'd seen something like that. "Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." Rose nudged Zo, pointing at something behind the Doctor-

Oh. Oh this was brilliant!

"What? What is it?" the Doctor look round, having noticed their glances. "What?"

Both girls kept looking at the London Eye that perfectly framed the Doctor's head. He looked behind him four or five times before he finally got the hint. "Oh." he said, then turned back to the girls, a huge grin on his face that made Zo laugh. "Fantastic!"

—

Zo was used to big movements in little skirts. She was used to running and jumping and doing splits. On pointe. It was not hard to her, and it certainly wasn't unusual.

But she had never done any running in regular heels before.

And she never would again.

She could keep up with the Doctor, if she pushed herself, and her skirt wasn't too hard to run in, but those heels made her almost fall over once or twice, and she was one more trip away from just taking them off.

They came to a stop near the Eye, panting. "Think of it," the Doctor said, "plastic, all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables..."

"The breast implants," Rose muttered to Zo, which only made the already out of breath girl laugh.

The Doctor apparently didn't hear. "Still, we've found the transmitter," he said, "The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

Rose leaned over a rail nearby. "What about down here?" she asked, pointing.

Zo and the Doctor joined her; they saw a set of concrete steps leading to a manhole cover that was bigger than Zo. The Doctor nodded. "Looks good to me."

And they were off again, running down the steps and stumbling to a stop at the manhole. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to open the hatch, which creaked and let a billow of sour-smelling smoke out into the air. A red light came from below. Zo swallowed. "Let's go," she said.

The Doctor descended first, then Rose, and finally Zo. The ladder was short, and before long they were standing upon a grated platform. Rose pushed open a door and the three stepped into a large room. It was ringed with multi-level platforms and stairs, all metal, and in a vat in the centre was what looked like some sort of orangy slime. It was hotter than Zo had expected.

"The Nestene Consciousness." the Doctor said. "That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"It's a bit odd, isn't it?" Zo asked, tilting her head to one side as she looked at the creature.

Rose snorted in amusement, then said to the Doctor, "Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go."

Zo stared at her. Obviously, Rose had just met the Doctor, but did she really think he would just kill a living creature like that? That wasn't how he operated, she remembered that.

"I'm not here to kill it." the Doctor told Rose. "I've got to give it a chance." He headed down the stairs to be closer to the Consciousness, seeming to stand more upright. Neither Rose nor Zo followed. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." he said, sounding more professional than Zo had ever heard him before.

The Consciousness below moved, and a strange noise that Zo couldn't even begin to describe echoed back up at them. The Doctor nodded. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

Without warning, Rose ran down the stairs towards a small platform edging the wall. "Oh god! Mickey, it's me!" She collapsed at Micky's side, where he sat hunched against the wall. And honestly, Zo had seen that one coming. "It's okay," Rose was telling him as Zo approached, keeping one eye on the Consciousness. "It's all right."

"That thing down there," Mickey pointed, "the liquid. Rose, it can talk!"

Rose wrinkled her nose. "You're stinking," she told him. She turned a little and called, "Doctor, they kept him alive!"

"Yeah, that was always a possibility," the Doctor called over his shoulder, "Keep the original alive to maintain the copy."

"And you never said?" Zo yelled back at him.

He just rolled his eyes and turned back to look at the little group. "Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" Without waiting for an answer, the Doctor completed his descent to the edge of the vat. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" he ask. "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

Zo stifled a snort. Then she blinked as a screaming face appeared in the vat. "Woah," she whispered, leaning forward to get a closer look. Rose reached out and grabbed onto her arm, anchoring her.

The Doctor scoffed. "Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The Consciousness made another noise, and the Doctor raised his voice. "I am talking!" It shut up. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."

A flicker of movement below caught Zo's eye. "Doctor!" Rose yelled, but it was too late. Two ship window dummies grabbed the Doctor, one on each side. One reached inside his jacket and pulled out the little vial of anti-plastic. The Consciousness roared angrily.

"That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it!" the Doctor protested. "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not." He paused. "What do you mean?"

At a noise from the Consciousness, a door above Rose, Zo, and Mickey slid open, showing the TARDIS. Zo blinked. How had it gotten there? The Doctor's face changed completely; Zo couldn't read his expression anymore.

"Oh, no," he said, "Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship." He was having a conversation with the Consciousness, Zo realized, and she wondered how he could understand it. "That's not true," he went on, "I should know, I was there. I fought in the war." There was that war again. Zo leaned closer once more. She could feel Rose's grip on her tighten, but she ignored her. "It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"

Rose yanked Zo back, and the pair exchanged glances. Obviously, he hadn't mentioned any war to Rose either. The question nagged on Zo's brain, and she knew she would ask him about it later. Whether he wanted her to or not.

"What's it doing?" Rose called to the Doctor, pulling Zo back more as she spoke.

The Doctor glanced up at them. "It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion!"

Zo's eyes widened, and it felt as though a weight had been dropped into her stomach. She stumbled against the wall, and tried not to look as scared as she felt. The Doctor yelled still: "Get, out, Zo, Rose! Just leg it now!"

Zo didn't run. Neither did Rose, though Mickey clearly wanted her too. Zo smiled, though her stomach still felt like a riot. Rose was brave. The blonde pulled out her mobile, dialing and biting her lip absently as she waited for a response. "Mum?" she asked after a moment, tucking her hair behind an ear.

Zo carefully edged towards the rail again as Rose spoke to her mum. Not much seemed to be happening down below, just a lot of noise. She took deep breaths, trying not to panic. She couldn't faint, not here. She would die if she did.

She shook her head, clearing it, and watched the Doctor. Behind her, Rose was saying, "Mum! Mum!" in a panicked tone. Above, she knew plastic was coming to life. Below, the Consciousness was shouting and boiling and she couldn't do a thing about it. Helpless wasn't Zo's style.

The Consciousness lashed out at them. Energy bolts lashed out from the centre of the vat, looking just like lightning. Zo yelped and ducked. "Doctor!" she shouted as she stood back up.

He turned to look up at them. "It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!"

Rose looked up as the energy grew. "It's the end of the world," she muttered.

"Get out!" the Doctor yelled again, watching as the Consciousness grew noisier and began to move. "Just get out, all of you! Run!"

"The stairs have gone," Rose called in response. She was right, somewhere along the way the stairs outward had collapsed, leaving them with no escape. Unless...

"Rose!" Zo turned to the other two as an idea came to her. "The TARDIS!" Rose looked up at the ship, then back at Zo. She nodded, grabbed Mickey's hand, and the three of them dashed up the remaining stairs to the TARDIS's door.

Mickey slumped against the door as Rose and Zo tried to open it. The door would've budge, though, no matter how hard they tried. Zo tried not to pound too hard on the wood; she would hate to damage it.

"We haven't got the key!" Rose shouted, pounding on the door once more.

"We're going to die!" Mickey wailed. Zo kicked him, hoping he would get the hint and shut up. He just glared at her in response.

Rose took a step back from the door, searching all around. What for, Zo couldn't begin to guess. Another way out? Yeah, good luck. Zo could hear the noise from above, echoing down through the manhole they'd left open—it was chaos, and no better than down here.

The Doctor heard too. "No!" he shouted, struggling against the dummies holding him captive.

Rose seemed to have found what she was looking for, because she ran along the ledge that still remained. "Just leave him!" Mickey yelled after her, "There's nothing you can do!"

"And what should we do instead?" Zo demanded. "If you hadn't notice, we can't get out!" How could he be so thick?

Rose seized an axe from the wall. "I've got no A Levels, no job, no future," she said, approaching a chain held to the wall by a piece of rope. Zo's mouth fell open. "But I'll tell you what I have got." She chopped through the rope, and grabbed onto the chain. "Jericho Street Junior School under sevens gymnastics team. I've got the bronze!"

Taking a running start, Rose lept from the ledge and out over the bat. Mickey and Zo (and the Doctor) watched with wide eyes as she kicked both dummies holding onto the Doctor. They fell into the vat, taking the anti-plastic with them. The Consciousness started to turn below, just like the anti-plastic. It screamed.

The Doctor caught Rose as she came back around, holding her steady as she stepped onto the ground again. "Now we're in trouble," he said as things started to explode.

Holding hands, the Doctor and Rose ran up to the TARDIS, which Mickey had started to hug like it was his mother. The Doctor unlocked it and the four of them piled in, Zo slamming the door shut behind her.

The Doctor went straight for the console, while Rose eased Mickey up to the seat. Zo slumped against the rail lining the walkway, closing her eyes. She took deep breaths, it only catching once or twice.

The TARDIS had taken off, she could tell by the noise. She just- she needed a minute.

They landed, and Miley ran for the door as soon as he could. Rose followed at a slower pace, pulling out her phone—probably to ring her mum again.

The Doctor looked at Zo, and she shook her head. "'M not leaving," she said, "Not this time."

He nodded. "Are you all right?" He came closer as he asked, until he was standing right in front of her. Zo took a deep breath, nodding as she did.

The Doctor turned to face the door, where Zo could just barely see Mickey clinging to Rose's legs like a child. "A fat lot of good you were," Rose said.

The Doctor scoffed. "Nestene Consciousness? Easy."

"You were useless in there," Rose countered, "You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

"Yes, I would." The Doctor was serious now, and Zo squinted at him. What was he thinking? "Thank you. Right then, I'll be off. Takin' Zo with me. I owe her a trip." He grinned at Zo, which she gladly returned.

He turned to step back inside, but stopped before he could. "Unless, er, I don't know, you could come with us." He glanced at Zo, and she nodded. Rose was smart, and fun. She was perfectly all right with her coming. "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."

"Don't," Mickey said, clinging to Rose ever-harder. "He's an alien. He's a- thing."

Zo wrinkled her nose. "He's not invited." she said, leaning around the Doctor so they could see her.

He nodded in agreement. "What do you think, Rose? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."

She hesitated. "Is it always this dangerous?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

Just when Zo thought she might come, Rose blinked and shook her head. "Yeah, I can't. I've, er, I've got to go and mind my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so." She patted Mickey on the back as she spoke; he looked more terrified by the second.

The Doctor looked down, not meeting Rose's eyes. "Okay. See you around."

He stepped back, closing the door, and went to the console. Zo didn't budge. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Taking off." He didn't meet her eyes now, either.

Zo crossed her arms. "You missed something. When you asked her. You didn't tell her about the time travel."

—

Zo waited, arms still crossed, by the console. They'd gone back. The Doctor was by the door again, leaning out of it. "By the way," he said, "did I mention it also travels in time?"

He stepped back a moment later, and Rose came running in, grinning. The door shut, the Doctor sent them off, and Zo hugged Rose.

"I knew you'd come," she said. "It's going to be amazing."

—

7119 words! Holy crap! And I didn't even write the whole episode!

Please let me know if I've gotten anything wrong! It's been a while since I've seen Rose. I know for a fact that then it with Clive is off, but I've never payed much attention to that section before. Don't forget to tell me what you think! As you can see, Zo is a lot less introspective than my other characters, and I want to know how it works! Thank you for reading!