CHAPTER FOUR — ALIENS AND AUTONS
juniper and rose — part four

"You think I'm an alien?" — juniper holloway

JUNIPER KNEW IT WAS IMPORTANT, SHE COULD SEE IT IN HIS EYES. He just stood there, still as a statue, as if he was waiting for her to make the first move on the board. But she didn't know what move to make because she didn't even know why he wanted to talk. Her heart somersaulted inside her chest, her eyes never leaving the man in front of her. Finally the Doctor spoke, breaking the silence they had somehow established.

"Come on." He nudged his head towards a small wall to his left — her right — before making his way towards it. Juniper hesitated for a moment but then stared to follow and watched as he sat down and gestured for her to join him.

The blonde's eyes drifted to the blue Police box that had moved from where she had last seen it. If the Doctor was a time traveller, then maybe, just maybe, it was his time machine.

"Oh, that." The Doctor spoke up awkwardly after seeing where her gaze had landed. "I'll get to it later, what I want to talk about is you?"

Juniper's eyes widened at his words. "Me?" She queried, unsure of what he wanted. There was nothing special about her, not that she knew of anyway, her life was just ordinary. She went to school, got incredible grades in college and worked at a store before it got blown up. Nothing peculiar had ever happened to her before the Doctor strolled into her life like a careless idiot.

"No, I meant the pavement, yes of course you!" The Doctor exclaimed sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. Unamused by his words, Juniper huffed, her hazel orbs redirecting to the ground. After seeing her reaction, he let out a weighted sigh as he continued to watch the woman beside him with the upmost curiosity and concern. "How are they?" He asked considerately and when Juniper frowned in confusion, he clarified. "Your headaches."

The blonde blinked, not sure how to respond. Should she lie and tell him that they're gone or should she tell the truth and admit the pain she was in? Juniper didn't know. She didn't even understand how he knew about them in the first place. Yes, he was there in the Tyler flat when that killer pain shot through her skull, but she didn't think he noticed, she thought he was too busy with the plastic arm.

"Still there." Juniper replied sadly, her arms wrapping themselves around her torso even though she wasn't cold.

At a sudden weight on her shoulder, Juniper turned her head to see the Doctor's hand resting there. "I'm sorry." He told her sincerely. Juniper just nodded in response. "When was the first one?"

Sighing, Juniper replied, her fingers tugging at a loose thread on her sleeve. "The plastics. When I first saw the plastics."

The Doctor hummed thoughtfully, his eyes flickering to the gold hanging around her neck. "So these headaches, they only occur when you're in the presence of aliens, right?"

Absentmindedly, the blonde nodded, but then froze when a thought came to mind. "Are you an alien?" She inquired, her eyebrow arched in curiosity as she took a moment to analyse the man sat next to her.

"Yep." The Doctor replied nonchalantly, popping the p with a large grin spread across his face. "Does that bother you?"

After a second of contemplation, Juniper answered, a kind smile etched onto her lips. "No, it doesn't and I guess it's the reason why you know so much about these plastic things."

"Autons." Corrected the Doctor and Juniper frowned in confusion; but luckily, and much to her relief, he explained. "The living plastics, they're called Autons and the Autons are being controlled by something called the Nestene consciousness."

A jolt of agonising pain went through Juniper's skull. The blonde gritted her teeth together, muffling her groans of pain as both hands went to up to cup either side of her throbbing head. Realising what he had accidentally done, the Doctor's eyes widened and there was nothing else he could do but just watch and wait for the pain to subside. Juniper felt like she had no control over her own mind, that something, or maybe even someone, was locking her out and banging against the walls.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

She didn't know whether it was the Doctor or her own mind telling her this, but she didn't care. In and out. In and out. Juniper's raspy breathing was heavy as she tried to calm herself down, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. It didn't take too long for her to normalise, the Doctor then quickly placed a hand over hers, reminding the blonde that he was still there.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." She reassured both him and herself as the tips of her fingers moved in clockwise circles on her temples.

He stared at her guiltily. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"I know."

Smiling softly, the woman looked to the alien beside her. It had certainly been an interesting 24 hours with all the plastics, blowing stuff up and the whole 'aliens exist' thing; Juniper wasn't sure what else was going to be happen but she knew that she probably wouldn't be surprised.

The Doctor sighed, and began again, more carefully this time. "I think I know why you are getting these pains in your head."

His words froze Juniper in her seat.

There were impossible yet she believed them all the same. For how could he know what was wrong with her, she didn't even know. Juniper stared into his eyes, her own irises pleading desperately at him. All she wanted was the truth, and he knew that.

The Doctor sighed, his infectious smile not yet returned. "There is this thing where I come from. When one of us goes into hiding we lock up all our memories and our DNA into a fobwatch. We're given a new life and keep it until we reopen the watch."

Juniper's lips formed a perplexed frown. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I think—" The Doctor started and even Juniper could see the nervousness in his features. "I think, your locket is like our fobwatch." With this reveal, he pointed to the golden chain hanging around her neck with the strange blue stick thing he had earlier.

Eyes wide, her jaw instantly dropped as a wave of shock and disbelief crashed over her. She must've not heard him right, surely it was a mistake. Right? There was no possible way his words carried any truth, they were bizarre and most definitely incredulous, because if they did (that was a BIG if) that would mean everything she thought she was knew about the world and herself was a lie. And that scared her more than those plastic creatures.

With tears threatening to slip from her hazel eyes, Juniper gulped despite the choked-up feeling squeezing her throat like a vice. "You think I'm an alien?"

"I—I don't actually know for certain. The only way to prove my theory would be to open the locket. But, who knows, I could just be jumping to conclusions and you're just perfectly ordinary girl with a headache problem." Juniper watched as a hint of his signature cheery smile made an appearance on his face as he looked down at her. Cautiously, he once again reached out and indicated to the aureate pendant. "You don't have to open if you don't want to, but aren't you curious to know if I'm right?"

Juniper shook her head and quickly wiped away any sign of tears. "It won't open, it's broken." She informed him.

"Have you ever opened it?"

"Well, no."

The Doctor's face fell ever so slightly. "How do you know that it's broken if you've never opened it?" He inquired with a reasoning mind.

Gaping in utter disbelief, the blonde allowed his words to sink in. He was right. It was something she had never thought of before, but now that she did, it made sense. Never had she opened the locket that hung close to her heart, to her it had always been broken. So not only did his words bring an element of truth to her life, they also invoked a sense of fear. Juniper was wrong: she was certainly surprised by the Doctor's question.

"I—I don't..."

The Doctor's lips formed a small, tender smile as his hand sought out hers. "It's okay." He said. Juniper didn't know what it was; whether it was the words or simply the way he said it, but he made her believe them.

"I guess—" she quietly started. "I guess that explains the amnesia."

Burrowing his eyebrows, the Doctor asked, the smile on his face fading yet again. "What amnesia?"

It was not a tale Juniper was fond of telling. Over the past decade she had built a life for herself in London and despite what all the doctors told her, she never regained her memories of anything before that time. Of course, she had been curious as to what her life was life before the blankness in her mind — who wouldn't be? But no one had come looking for her, so to her it seemed like no one cared. And if that was the case, what was the point in remembering? Maybe forgetting her past was a gift, a second chance, but without knowing what it was she was missing how was she know whether she had misjudged her circumstances and that it was really a curse instead.

Her heavy sigh punctuated the still air, its weight incalculable. "I don't remember anything from before I was sixteen, just nothingness." She told him and then felt his hand tighten his grip on her own. Juniper didn't know whether that was intended for her sake or for his. "I've tried to look back, like the doctors suggested, but all I get is darkness."

Humming curiously, the Doctor once again raised the metal stick towards her golden chain. It whirred to life, the bulb at the end emitting a steel blue glow as the Doctor himself directed his gaze to the locket. From the moment he set his eyes upon it, some part of him knew it wasn't ordinary: a feeling in his gut he just couldn't shake. And now he was going to find out whether or not his suspicions were correct. If they were, Juniper Holloway's life was about to change forever.

But just as he was about to scan the piece of jewellery, the device released a loud beep.

Recoiling his hand, the Doctor brought the metal wand up to eye-level, eyes narrowing as he examined it. Juniper just watched, cluelessly, as he fiddled with the device and start to mumble under his breath. Before she could ask what was wrong, the Doctor spoke up.

"The TARDIS has locked onto an auton signal. It's nearby."

TARDIS?

He didn't seem to notice Juniper's puzzled expression as he jumped up from his seat on the wall and made his way over to the blue telephone box. Juniper remained, startled slightly. She had two options: stay or follow him?

Well, she definitely wasn't to get answers if she stayed where she was.

Juniper stood up and ran after the man — was he a man? she didn't know — as he headed to the doors of the blue police box. Placing his palm against the navy wood, he pushed it open and entered. Juniper was not far behind.

She reached the door, scanning the words on the sign to her left and found herself frozen. There was no idea in her mind of what she was expecting. An unusual man almost certainly owned an unusual box and the contents inside were as much as mystery to her as he was. But she knew she had to enter.

Her fingers touched the coarse panels and upon contact with the box, she felt something stir inside her. Juniper had no clue what it was but it egged her to enter and follow the Doctor through the doors. A sigh fell from her tired lips as she contemplated her decision, her future. She already knew what she had do to.

So, the blonde pressed against the door with her hand, just like the Doctor had done, and stepped into the bizarre blue box. Wondering what on Earth was happening and if the Doctor could really give the answers she sought.

UPON ENTERING THE DOCTOR'S BLUE BOX, SHE FOUND HERSELF SEEING SOMETHING HER EYES SIMPLY COULD NOT BELIEVE. For within what appeared to be a small, one person telephone box was in fact a whole different world. Her breath hitched in her throat, her eyes widened to the size of saucers and if it felt like her heart had stopped beating. She just couldn't believe what she was seeing. If was impossible. Wasn't it?

Spinning slowly around on the spot, Juniper took in her surroundings. The room she was in was large and spacious. The yellow and brown walls were covered with round circles, for a reason she did not known, and in the centre of the room was the Doctor standing before some sort of console. Her hand touched the railing, testing to see if this was actually real and not just some hallucination. The metal was cold under her touch. This was most certainly real.

As her boots made contact with the floor, the metal beneath clanged with each step. Her jaw hung open, her eyes alit with awe. Whatever this was, it had completely mesmerised her.

Turning her gaze to the Doctor, Juniper watched with intrigue as he fiddled around with the buttons with the console. She started to speak, only to find herself incapable. Then a few something managed to escape her lips. "It's—its—"

Interrupted the Doctor with a sigh. "Bigger on the inside, I know."

Juniper replied at the same time. "Dimensional engineering."

At her reply, he whipped his head around to face her. Juniper frowned at the Doctor's response and watched as his eyebrows scrunched. "What?"

She just smiled and answered calmly. "I learnt a bit about it in the astrophysics part of my astronomy course." The Doctor was an alien, she knew that much, so maybe his people were the ones who found a way to get this vast area into such a small casing. "You somehow got the small outside around this big inside." He just stared at her in shock. "What is it?"

Shaking his head back from his thoughts, the Doctor replied. "That's most definitely a new one. People normally just say 'It's bigger on the inside' it does get a bit repetitive after a while."

"Well, it definitely is bigger on the inside." Stated Juniper with a smile as she once again turned on the spot to gaze at this impossible room. The Doctor smiled back. "So, what's going on?" She asked, making her way over to where he stood by the controls (well, to what she believed to be the controls).

The Doctor reached for a button besides Juniper and pressed it. "There's an auton signal nearby, the TARDIS detected it." Oh, now she understand what he meant. This box, this machine, was this TARDIS he mentioned earlier.

She looked up at him. "What do you think it's doing?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." The Doctor turned back to the console, pressing a button before pulling over the screen. He watched from the corner of his eye as the woman beside him leant in curiously, her eyes scanning over the screen that she couldn't read. Juniper didn't even know they were words; the circular, cog-like patterns fitted together like a bizarre puzzle she couldn't figure out how to solve. To her they were intricate and pretty designs, nothing more. But to the Doctor they were so much more.

Observing as he did, the Doctor went on to fiddle with the display screen only for a map of London to appear. Juniper arched her eyebrow as she watched, the screen zooming in, locking on to the auton signal (as the Doctor had previously called it). Juniper knew that area of London, it was near where they were now. The picture continued to expand on the red dot until an address remained. Juniper felt her a chill grow over her body as the colour drained from her face. She knew exactly where the auton was.

Pointing at the screen, Juniper informed the Doctor. "That's Rose and Mickey's favourite pizza place." The incredulous on his face told her he didn't see the importance of her words. Her heart raced, her palms grew sweaty and she looked up at him with such a look that he knew she was afraid. "Before I left them they told me they were going for pizza."

Eyes widening in realisation, the Doctor rushed around to the other side of the controls, pulling levers and pressing buttons. Juniper stepped back to give him space for whatever he was doing. He continued to run around, fiddling with the console before coming to a stop in the place he had once been by her side.

The Doctor turned to her with a determined look on his face as he curled his fingers around a final lever. "Hold on." Then he pulled it.

The TARDIS immediately started to jump and shake as if the whole world was randomly spinning. Clutching the console on instinct, Juniper held on for dear life as the Doctor's blue box continued to throw them around like rag dolls. In any other circumstance, Juniper would have smiled, she would have laughed at the absurdity of it all, but Rose and Mickey's lives were on the line.

A few seconds later, the quaking seemed to have stopped and Juniper let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She had no idea what had just happened but when the Doctor left the controls to make a dash for the door, Juniper followed. And when she exited the peculiar blue box she found her surroundings completely different. This TARDIS had moved them to somewhere completely different. It was incredible.

Juniper broke from her moment to suddenly chase after the sprinting Doctor, not wanting to lose sight of this fascinating man. He was entering a building from the back entrance and Juniper didn't know what else to do other than go after him. And when she did, she realised where they were: the pizza place Mickey and Rose had gone to. The very place that the Auton signal was coming from.

The Doctor came to a halt as if evaluating the scene before him and Juniper stopped beside him. Her eyes cast over the restaurant in search of her friends and when she found them, she frowned. "Rose and Mickey are over there." She pointed over to them. "But Mickey looks different." She didn't know what it was, but there was something very off with him. The creepy smile and shiny complexion she had noticed earlier were still present and she was surprised by how Rose hadn't noticed.

"That's because he's not your friend. He's a plastic duplicate."

"He's a what—?"

But before she could get an answer from the Doctor, he had already headed off towards where the young couple were seated. She watched as he swiped a champagne bottle from the collection and held it out like a normal waiter would. But the Doctor was no ordinary waiter. 

Of course, Juniper ran after him.

When she drew near to her friends' table, she could hear this 'Mickey' demanding answers to his questions about the Doctor. It seemed that whatever they were up against, they were afraid of this friendly alien. And Juniper didn't think these plastic beings would scare easy.

"Your Champagne." Offered the Doctor as he approached their table. Rose and Mickey didn't seem to notice it was him.

'Mickey' quickly dismissed him. "We didn't order any Champagne." Then he returned to Rose as Juniper approached the Doctor's side. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Madame, your champagne." The Doctor tried again.

"It's not ours." Still, Rose did not see who was waiting on their table. Juniper loved her friend but she could really miss the obvious sometimes. "Mickey, what is it, what's wrong?" She also still hadn't realised that the person sitting in front of her wasn't her boyfriend.

The plastic duplicate then said. "I need to find out how much he knows, so where is he?"

"Doesn't anybody want this Champagne?"

Juniper turned to smile up at the alien man. "I'll have some." Seeing her grin, the Doctor returned it.

"Look, we didn't order..." The fake Mickey finally looked up and spotting the Doctor and Juniper right in front of him, he sighed. "Ah, gotcha."

Rose quickly turned and her eyes widened when she saw who was behind her. Juniper quickly sent her friend a comforting look as the Doctor started to shake the bottle of bubbly to the point of no return. this was gonna get messy.

"Don't mind me." Grinned the Doctor as he continued to shake the Champagne. "I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!"

He uncorked the pressurised bottle and once he had released it, they watched as the cork was projected through the air. It sped like a bullet with one target: the plastic Mickey. And when it struck the duplicate in the head, it did not pass through it, it sunk into his plastic flesh forehead and disappeared inside. Then a moment later, they were shocked to see the fake Mickey spit out the cork across the floor.

That was both fascinating AND gross.

"Anyway!" 

'Mickey' leapt up from the seat, pushing the table to the ground. Juniper immediately grabbed Rose and pulled her away, just in time to avoid the plastic reshaping his hand into a hammer sort of object and bring it down onto the table. The people in the restaurant started screaming, started scattering. 

Holding on tight to Rose, the girls could only watch as 'Mickey' attempted to take down another table. But then the Doctor jumped into action. He grabbed the plastic by the head, wrapping his arm around his neck and placing him in a headlock to prevent him from escaping. 

Then the Doctor ripped off plastic Mickey's head.

Everyone screamed louder.

Juniper placed a hand over her mouth as she watched it all in shock. She knew it wasn't Mickey, but at the same time, she had watched a man she had trusted behead her friend. And that head was still alive even if the body had toppled to the ground.

Suddenly, another pain ripped through Juniper's skull. It was the most painful one yet and she let out a small scream as she clutched the sides of her head and buckled to the ground. Rose wrapped her arms around her friend, worry for her and fear and confusion over Mickey all contorting together across her face. She held her friend tighter as her agony continued. Which only worsened when the talking head managed to get his headless body to its feet.

Rose, still gripping Juniper like their lives depended on it, reached over and yanked on the fire alarm. "Everyone, out, now!"

The Doctor still held on to Mickey's head and Rose pulled Juniper with her as they made a dash for the back exit. The latter could barely stand, let alone run as every second the pain in her head wanted her to collapse. But Rose wouldn't let that happen.

Behind them, the headless plastic body was still chasing them and Rose yelled at the kitchen staff to run as they sprinted through the restaurant. They all instantly fled but the Doctor, Juniper and Rose continued to run until they had exited to the back — where the Doctor had parked the TARDIS.

He used the metal stick to lock the door behind them so the headless body could not follow. Rose, meanwhile, was holding Juniper with one hand as she tugged on the chain on the gate with the other. She was desperately trying to open it, so they could escape, not realising there was another way out. She turned back and shouted to the Doctor. "Open the gate! Use that tube thing! Come on!"

"Sonic screwdriver." He amended as he made his way over. A barely conscious Juniper registered his words and that just made her head hurt even more. 

"Use it!"

The Doctor shook his head after glancing at Juniper with deep concern. He could tell what was hurting her and he knew how to fix it. But he also knew this decision was up to her. Because it would change everything. "Nah, tell you what, let's go in here." He gestured to the police box.

Rose looked at him as if he was crazy. But with headless 'Mickey' continuously charging at the locked door, she had little choice.

So, she went inside. 

And what she saw inside the seemingly small wooden box shocked her beyond belief. The Doctor was there inside waiting, so when he saw her confusion, he quickly grabbed a weak Juniper from her as she dashed back outside. They didn't have time to deal with Rose's confusion, but he knew it was a natural reaction. So, he decided to focus on Juniper.

He led her to the main console of the TARDIS and gently placed her down in the seat. "Are you alright?" He immediately asked once she was sat.

Juniper opened her tired eyes and smiled up at him. "I'm doing a little better. This place, it seems to soothe my headaches." She had no idea why, but in the TARDIS, her 'alien-detector' mind didn't go off. In here, she was safe.

"They're getting worse." The Doctor pointed out.

"I know."

The last thing he wanted to do was push her, but he hated to see her in pain. "Juniper, there may be one way to stop this."

Open her locket. She knew exactly what he meant. "I know, Doc." A soft smile spread across his face at the nickname. With everything that was going on, she believed him. She believed that when he said she was probably an alien, that he was right. But she was scared of who she might become. "I need time."

The Doctor nodded in understanding. Then Rose finally decided to join them.

"It's gonna follow us." Rose exclaimed as she burst through the doors.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. And believe me, they've tried!"

With her head finally starting to feel normal again, Juniper could comprehend the world around her. His words made the blonde girl smile at the thought. One little blue box against an army. And she had no doubt the little box one.

The Doctor was busy tinkering with the plastic head to look at Rose. "Now, shut up a minute." He needed some quiet to work, it seemed. "You see, the arm was too simple, but a head's perfect." Juniper watched with intrigue as he plugged all sorts of wires into the plastic head. It was a little weird, considering the head looked like her friend, but they were well past 'weird' at this point. "I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." Then he turned to Rose. "Right. Where do you want to start?"

Rose was at a loss for words for a moment before she managed to say. "Um... the inside's bigger than the outside." The Doctor nodded. "It's... alien."

"Yep."

Suddenly, realisation struck and she glanced up at the man with curiosity and slight fear. "... Are you alien?"

"Yes." The Doctor confirmed and then he inquired. "Is that all right?" From her seat, Juniper held her breath as she awaited an answer. If she was in fact an alien then Rose's view on the Doctor may be similar to her views on her. 

"Yeah."

Juniper sighed in relief. She then listened as the Doctor explained the TARDIS to her. The Time And Relative Dimension in Space machine that allowed could allow them to travel anywhere in the space-time continuum. As the blondes listened to his words, Juniper pushed herself up onto her feet and started to make her way back towards the Doctor.

But then Rose started to cry and Juniper instantly redirected herself to comfort her friend. "Did they kill him? Mickey?" The girls embraced one another as Rose continued to ask. "Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

Juniper would have given the Doctor a look of disappointment if she herself hadn't let that thought slip her mind. She had been more focused on what that fake Mickey could do to Rose. And she hated herself for not thinking of her friend. 

"He's my boyfriend!" Cried Rose as she glared at the Doctor. "You pulled off his head, they copied him, and you didn't even think?" her eyes glanced to the console where the head of 'Mickey' laid wired up. "Now you're just gonna let him melt."

"Melt?!?"

Looking up in alarm, Juniper's eyes moved to the console only to find Rose was right: the plastic head of the fake Mickey was melting right into the buttons. She couldn't bear to watch it.

The Doctor cried out in panic and then quickly dashed around the console, pushing buttons and pulling leavers as he went. "What are you doing?!" Exclaimed Rose.

"Following the signal! It's fading!"

Juniper held onto the TARDIS railing as it started to travel to where the signal was going. It kept going in and out, losing it in places, but the Doctor kept finding it again. Then they finally landed onto solid ground. Hopefully where this Nestene Consciousness the Doctor had mentioned earlier, resided.

Because Juniper knew these autons were up to no good and the Doctor was the only one who could save them.

It's finally here!!! I can't believe it took me so long to update, I just kept getting writer's block every 100 words or so and it was so annoying. Luckily I pushed through so here it is.

So, The Doctor's told Juniper his theory and she's not particularly eager to find out if it's true or not. Can you blame her? I know it's a bit fast especially considering the locket will be opened very soon (oops, spoilers, sorry). But I do have my reasons. 1) The Doctor may be the dumbest genius in the universe but even he knows the signs. 2) I really want to write Astraea and her struggles to come to grips with everything. 3) Title link — you'll soon see.

Now that this chapter is completed I'm hoping to update this book way more often so expect the next chapter soon and if it's been more than 1 month, someone please pester me. It might just be the chapter needs finishing off and I need a little kick up the ass to get going again. 😂

Here's a meme to summarise this chapter.

Thank you for reading!!! Hopefully I'll see you all in the next chapter.

Sincerely Rosie aka Winter326