Starlight ★ TENTH DOCTOR

In Another Life

The trio continued to walk down the semi-busy London streets, leaving Mickey behind to find his own adventure. Elizabeth couldn't help but stay silent, drowning in her thoughts and worries. After the recent argument, she had this gut feeling that Rose thought that she didn't care about her family as much as the younger blonde did. Rose was and always has been ready to risk it all for her family. Elizabeth on the other hand... 

Of course, she loved her family (what was still left of it) more than the whole world, but she also felt like a coward. If by any chance, she went back to that dreadful night 12 years ago when her parents got killed by those merciless aliens, she didn't know if she would stop them. Too scared of what the outcome of that may be. Too scared of the cosmic consequences. Guess that's why the Doctor liked to have her around, she worried too much about everything to screw up too much. 

The thoughts of this touchy subject made Elizabeth feel like running back into the Tardis and hiding in her room. But she knew that the Doctor would never willingly let her out of his sight. So the blonde shook her head to clear her mind, fixed her wind-tousled bangs and tuned back into the conversation that Rose and the Doctor were having. 

"Mickey's mum just couldn't cope." Elizabeth assumed that the man had asked Rose about her boyfriend. "His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sort of wandered off. He was brought up by his gran. She was such a great woman. God, she used to slap him!" Rose laughed but her face soon again grew sad. "And then she died. She tripped and fell down the stairs. It's about five years ago, now. I was still in school."

"I never knew." The Doctor sighed.

"Well, you never asked." Rose countered back.

"You never said!

"To be fair Doctor you never do ask about our personal lives-" Elizabeth joined the conversation. She would never let go of an opportunity to tease the man. 

"I do ask-" He looked at her in disbelief. Elizabeth gave him a pointed look, calling him a liar with just a stare. "sometimes..." The Doctor scratched his neck, embarrassed and avoiding the blond's stare.

"That's Mickey. I suppose I... we just... take him for granted. Do you think she's still alive, his gran?" Rose asked him.

"Could be." The Doctor shrugged. "Like I said, parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can." The trio stopped in their tracks as a loud beeping sound came from around them. Elizabeth grabbed the Doctor's hand out of pure instinct and looked around the street for potential danger. They were left puzzled as all the people around them suddenly stopped in their tracks.

"What're they all doing?" Rose asked, slowly walking towards one of them, cautiously keeping her distance.

"They've stopped." The Doctor obviously pointed out.

"I think it's the earpods," Elizabeth muttered, leaning closer to one of the men, trying to see a better look at the flashing device. She had completely forgotten her and the Doctor's intertwined hands and yanked the man along with her.

"The what? You mean the earpieces?" Rose gave the blonde a puzzled look. 

"Yeah, yeah that." Elizabeth dismissed the slight spoiler for her future and continued to observe the frozen man. "I just thought they were all antisocial and were listening to music, but no..." 

"They're like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together." The Doctor observed as well. Rose and Elizabeth pulled out their phones, feeling them vibrate inside their pockets. The sight of Rose's tiny phone compared to Elizabeth's iPhone made her giggle every time. She had one just like that in school.