Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

Aliens of London

After they'd left Cardiff, Rose began to feel tired, so the TARDIS obliged by providing her with a suitable bedroom. Eight hours later, a fully refreshed Rose returned to the console room to find the Artist lounging on the jump seat and watching a 1980's music video on the monitor. "Ah, morning, Rose." the Time Lady greeted, "You sleep alright?"

"Yeah, fine." Rose replied, "Wos' that ya watching?"

"Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr." the Artist answered, "I love this song. Great film too."

Rose joined her by the monitor and watched as scenes from the movie played along with the music. "Yer a fan of Ghostbusters?" Rose checked surprised.

"Yeah." the Artist agreed, "You know all the creatures the Doctor and I have met over the years, we've never met a ghost made of green slime, maybe one day, never say never."

"Never say never to what?" a familiar Northern-accented voice asked, and both woman turned to see the Doctor enter the room.

"Meeting a green slime ghost." the Artist told him.

"Maybe one day." the Doctor nodded, then turned to Rose. "Right then, Rose Tyler. Where d'yer wanna go today? Past, present, future or alien planet?"

Rose thought for a moment. "Um, actually, I was wandering if ya could take me home." she told the Time Lords.

"Oh, right." the Artist said slowly, trying to hide her disappointment at Rose wanting to leave, but she supposed she couldn't blame the human after what happened on Platform One and in Cardiff.

Rose realised what the Time Lady was thinking. "No, no, no, not like that." she explained, "I just wanna pop in, see mum, grab some stuff, and we can be off again."

"Why d'yer need to get stuff for?" the Doctor questioned, "The wardrobe's got all the clothes you could want."

"Yeah, but those clothes ain't mine." Rose clarified, "An' I wanna see mum."

"Fair enough." the Doctor conceded "London, 2005 it is." And he and the Artist got to work piloting the TARDIS.

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One quick flight later, the TARDIS materialised on the Powell Estate. Rose stepped out first, followed by the two Time Lords. It was surreal for Rose to be back home after visiting a space station five billion years in the future and 19th century Cardiff. "How long have I been gone?" she asked.

"About 12 hours." the Doctor replied, leaning against the TARDIS with his arms crossed.

"Ooh, right. I won't be long. I'm just gonna see my mum."

"What're ya gonna tell her?" the Artist asked out of curiosity.

"I dunno. That I met two aliens and they took me to the year five billion and then we met Charles Dickens and only been gone, what, 12 hours?" Rose joked, and the trio shared a laugh. "Nah, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See ya later." She turned and began to walk towards Bucknall House, then paused and turned back to the Time Lords. "Oi, don't you two disappear!" she warned.

"We won't, we're in no hurry." the Artist assured her, and so Rose ran off in the direction of her flat, leaving the Time Lords by themselves. "Right, while we're waiting, I'm just gonna get something from that cafe I went to last time we were here." the Artist said to the Doctor, "You want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good thanks." the Doctor replied.

And so the Artist began to walk towards the shops on the estate. Halfway there, something taped to a lamppost caught her attention, so she went over to look closer and her eyes widened.