The TARDIS hurtled through the Time Vortex in pursuit of a cylindrical object. Rose hurried into the console room to find the Doctor and the Artist rushing about the console, operating the controls. "What's the emergency?" Rose asked them.
"It's mauve." the Doctor replied.
"Mauve?"
"The universally recognised colour for danger." the Artist answered, hitting a blue switch and the TARDIS stopped shaking.
"What happened to red?" Rose asked, moving to stand by the Doctor.
"That's just humans." the Doctor replied, "By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing." He gestured to the object they were chasing on the monitor. "It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in and we've slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go."
"And how safe is that?" Rose asked.
"Totally." the Doctor replied casually and pressed a button. Part of the console promptly sparked, causing him to jump back. "Okay, reasonably. Should've said reasonably there." he corrected sheepishly.
The Artist just rolled her eyes and swing the monitor round to her side of the console to check it. She could see the Time Vortex turning blue, meaning that the object was going backwards in time. "Doctor, it's jumping time tracks, getting away from us." she warned.
"What exactly is that thing?" Rose asked.
"Haven't a clue." the Artist replied, swinging the monitor back to the Doctor as they worked to keep up with the object.
"And why are we chasing it?" Rose quizzed.
"It's mauve and dangerous." the Doctor told her, "And about 30 seconds from the centre of London."
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When the TARDIS stopped, the trio stepped out to find themselves in an alleyway behind some bleak-looking terraced houses. "D'yer know how long we can knock around space without bumping into Earth?" the Doctor asked sarcastically.
"Five days." Rose retorted, "Or is that just when we're outta milk?"
"All the species in the universe, and it has to come out of a cow." the Doctor muttered.
"Could be worse." the Artist quipped, "At least it doesn't come out of Rats... or Drashigs."
"Fair point." the Doctor conceded, and they made their way further along the alley. "Must've come down somewhere quite close." the Doctor observed, "Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
"A month?!" Rose questioned, "We were right behind it."
"Rose, it was jumping time tracks and hopping about all over the place." the Artist told her, "I'm not surprised we're a little bit out."
"Do you wanna drive?" the Doctor asked Rose indignantly.
"Yeah." she answered.
"We can teach ya sometime." the Artist said, "But I warn ya, the TARDIS is a complicated machine and the Doctor and I aren't exactly pros."
"How much is a little?" Rose asked, getting back on topic.
"A bit." the Doctor waved her off, heading for a padlocked set of doors at the end of the alley.
"Is that exactly a bit?" Rose persisted.
"Ish."
"What's the plan, then? Ya gonna scan for alien tech or something?"
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Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor
FanfictionFollow the adventures of The Last Time Lady, The Artist, saved by the eccentric time-traveler known as The Doctor at the end of the time war, which sees their home plant of Gallifrey lost, as they travel through all of time and space in his unique c...
