Until We Burn | Dr Who

Chapter Nine: Born Again

I have been to Earth at least ten times in my life. Each time, Jack was there with me. After everything that I had gone through, he had always been there to cheer me up. But now I'm trapped here with no money, no family, nowhere to go.

I've been through enough to find most humans difficult to trust, and although Jack and Rose have proven to me that at least a few of them weren't terrible, I still don't feel comfortable. Apart from my silvery eyes, I pass perfectly fine as a human. That doesn't matter, though. I'm an outsider.

Rose's mother meets us at a small chip shop. She seems nice, kind, someone who truly wants to help. She greets me with a warm smile, her willingness to trust catching me off guard. It is close to what I had imagined when thinking of what my own mother could be like. Perhaps a little less chatty.

"And it's gone upmarket, this place," she remarks as Rose and I sit opposite her in silence, "they're doing little tubs of coleslaw now. It's not very nice. It tastes sort of clinical."

Mickey glances over at Rose, then to her unopened box of chips. I really don't feel up to eating, but I still attempt to eat a little so that Jackie won't have completely wasted the money. He sighs and turns back to the blonde woman. "Have you tried that new pizza place on Minto Road?"

"What's it selling?"

"Pizza."

"That's nice. Do they deliver?" Pausing, she looks over to us. "Oh, Rose, have something to eat."

The girl continues to stare out of the window, one hand propping up her head whilst the other grips onto mine under the table. "200,000 years in the future, he's dying and there's nothing I can do."

I can tell that Jackie is lost, trying to support her child in an impossible circumstance. "Well, like you said, 200,000 years, it's way off."

"But it's not. It's now. That fight is happening right now, and he's fighting for us, for the whole planet, and we're just sitting here and eating chips!"

"Listen to me," she snaps, "God knows I've hated that man, but right now I love him and do you know why? 'Cause he did the right thing, he sent you back to me. He saved you and your friend."

Rose sighs impatiently, shaking her head. "But what do I do every day, Mum? What do I do? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed, is that it?"

Shrugging, Mickey lowers his gaze. "That's what the rest of us do."

"Well, I can't!"

"Why? 'Cause you're better than us?"

"No! I didn't mean that!" She pauses, allowing herself to gather her wits before she speaks again. "But it was. It was a better life. And I don't mean all the travelling and... seeing aliens and spaceships and things, that don't matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. Same with Inara and— You know, Mickey, he showed you, too. That you don't just give up, you don't just let things happen. You... make a stand, you say no! You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away, and... I just can't!"

Her chair falls to the ground with a loud clatter as she jumps up, sprinting out of the shop.

—

Whilst Mickey checks on Rose, I go back to the Tardis on my own. It is eerily quiet, a lonely feeling having settled over it.

I approach the console with a sad smile. "Hello, old girl. You might have to get used to me for a while, I think I might just stay here. Not much out there for my 'fantastic life'."

It doen't even hum in reply like it used to. It's just silent.

"You know, I'd really appreciate it if you showed me how to go back. I could even get those pistons working again if you did."