The Other Tyler - rewrite

T.A.R.D.I.S

As everyone ran for the exits, the Doctor grabbed Mei's hand and made for the doors to the kitchen, Rose following quickly. They sped through the kitchens, yelling at the staff to get out as well. Glancing over her shoulder, Mei squealed as she caught sight of the headless body right behind them and threw the exit door closed, bracing it with her shoulder.

The Doctor leaned against it next to her to help, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver for a moment. Rose looked around for an escape and sprinted to a set of locked gates, trying to get them open. Mei however, found herself staring at the blue police box in the middle of the back alley.

"Open the gate! Use that tube thing, come on!" Rose screamed, panicking.

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor corrected as he walked toward the blue box, Mei right behind him as a small buzz of excitement started to brew in her gut.

"Use it!" Rose ordered.

"Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here," the Doctor announced, unlocking the box and pushing open one of the doors. He grinned and gestured for Mei to go first, "After you."

Approaching cautiously, Mei peered around the door and her eyes widened as she took in the massive room in front of her - a slightly raised platform in the middle looking somewhat like a console panel with curved beams all around.

"We can't hide inside a wooden box!" Rose yelled from outside, then glanced at the dents beginning to form in the door and ran back to the gate.

She was still yelling, but Mei didn't pay any attention, and neither did the Doctor. He watched the auburn haired girl wander slowly toward the console with a look of awe on her face. She ran her fingers over the beams and he could hear a happy hum in the back of his mind. She stood in front of the console, then laughed and spun around a couple of times sending her skirt outward slightly. The Doctor grinned himself, watching the Tardis lights brightening with every sound from the girl.

"Oh my god," she laughed some more, then faced the Doctor, eyes sparkling, "She's beautiful."

Giving her a calculating look, trying not to show how happy he was at the statement, the Doctor asked, "How did you know it was a her?"

Mei shrugged, running her fingers over a metal bar, swearing she could feel it warm under her touch, "Just a feeling I guess. She's cosy, homey, like a mother should be, that's all."

The two fell silent as Rose burst in, slamming the doors behind her. They watched as she took a few steps forward before actually seeing the console room. Mei was about to speak when the blonde rushed back outside, then smiled when the Doctor gave her a confused look.

"Give her a minute," she suggested, "Rose isn't exactly . . . open minded."

"That's odd, for sisters close in age you think you'd be quite similar."

"Oh there are five years between us, and as for not being similar . . . Guess it's because I'm adopted," Mei murmured, looking around.

The Doctor jumped when she suddenly fixed her gaze on him, he'd been more focused on the word 'adopted'. It wasn't a common term for him, where he'd grown up family was sacred. No one was abandoned by choice, and even then another family would willingly take them in as their own.

"Can I ask, I don't mean to be rude but . . . are you alien?"

The Doctor nodded, looking hesitant, "Does that bother you?"

"Oh definitely not," she beamed, "I think it's amazing." And his usual grin returned as he moved to stand next to her, plugging wires into the plastic head, "So do humans look like you or do 'whatever you are' look like us?"