The day after the events of Cardiff—or had it been a week?—Rose and Alex had requested a visit home to see their mum. The Doctor had been happy to take them, and so that was how he and Alex ended up waiting in the console room for Rose to get ready.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, seeing Alex bite her lip and check her watch. "It's a time machine, A. There's no rush."
Alex smiled at him. "A?"
"Eh, thought I'd try it. No?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Not so much."
He shrugged. "Hmm. Alex, Lexi, Allie, Alexia, Xan, Dria..."
"You good?"
"I'll find one," he assured her.
She rolled her eyes. "If it helps, my middle name's McKenzie."
"McKenzie," he echoed. "Kenzie, Kez, Zizi..."
"So," Rose interrupted, skipping in. "How long have we been gone?"
"About twelve hours," the Doctor replied, throwing the dematerialisation lever to land the TARDIS at the Powell Estate.
"We won't be long," Alex promised, making her way over to the door. "We just want to see Mum."
"What're you going to tell her?" the Doctor asked as the three of them left the TARDIS.
"I don't know," Rose admitted. "We've been to the year five billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours?" She snorted. "Nah, we'll just tell her we spent the night at Jake's. See you later."
Alex pointed at him, poking her tongue out. "And don't you disappear." He gave her a mock salute and watched as they walked away.
***
"We're back!" Rose called as they walked in to the flat. "We were with Jake. He was all upset again. I told him that boy was no good for him, but what do I know?" She dropped her keys in the bowl by the door.
"You in here, Mum?" Alex asked, poking her head into the living room where the TV was on. It was the news, showing a report on a crash in the city centre. The screen changed to see a candid photo of the single fatality, and Alex's heart stopped.
It was Jake.
Jackie walked in behind them, dropping her mug to the ground. "It's you!" she realised, her eyes widening in shock. "Oh my God, it's you!"
On the living room table, several missing posters were laid out, each showing Rose and Alex's faces. Rose glared.
The front door opened suddenly, and the Doctor ran in, grinning sheepishly. "It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry." Alex ran for the door, freaking out. Rose shot the Doctor a meaningful look, then put her arm around her mother, taking her back into the kitchen for a nice cup of tea. Somehow, everything had fallen apart around them.
***
When the Doctor finally caught up with her, Alex was sitting on the edge of the roof, hugging her knees tight to her chest. She was shaking so much he thought she was crying, but when he sat next to her he saw her cheeks were dry.
"Don't know why I came up here," she admitted flatly. "I hate heights."
"I'm sorry I got the flight wrong," he said.
She huffed a laugh. "I don't care about that. I mean, sure, Mum's probably pissed, but... I don't care." She took a deep, shaking breath. "My friend died. It was on the news. He got hit by a car and now he's dead and I never even said goodbye and—" She swore, clenching her fists on top of her knees. "I should be crying, right? I mean, he was one of my best friends. I've known him for years. I should be fucking distraught. God, what the hell is wrong with me?"
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Watch Us Run |1| The Ascension | A Doctor Who/MCU Fanfiction
Science Fiction✅ approx 185,000 words. It's March 2005, and Alex Tyler is barely recovering from recent trauma. Living with her mum and older sister, she has good friends, and she's doing what she loves at work. But sometimes, she thinks, there has to be somethin...
