I know there are about a zillion other stories like this one out there, but I thought I'd try my hand at one anyway. Keep in mind that I am fairly new to the 'Doctor Who' universe, and mistakes I have made are because of this. I do not own 'Doctor Who', (although I'd love to get my hands on David Tennant) or the song "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton. I'd like to thank my equally obsessed Who-fanatic friend, Dan, for introducing me to the wonderful new series and to Michael (you know who you are) for putting up with our ravings.

Chapter 1: Meetings

Just a day, just an ordinary day.

Just trying to get by.

Clutching the warm cup of coffee to me, I tried to warm myself up. The breath of the people who rushed by me spiraled in the air. Sighing heavily, I worked my way past them, boarding the train. I checked the screen on my cell phone, finding a seat by the window. If the train left on time, I wouldn't be late for my interview. This could turn out to be a good day.

Fifteen minutes passes. I'm getting restless and the train is getting fuller. The compartment door opens with a loud "bang". I jump, slightly, in my seat. The caffeine must be getting to me. I take a deep breath, trying to relax. Internally, I'm debating if I should drown out the world with my mp3 player when a masculine voice captures my attention.

"This seat taken?" I turn towards the voice. He's tall with messy brown hair and intense brown eyes.

Just a boy, just an ordinary boy.

But, he was looking to the sky.

He flashes me a brilliant smile and I can't help but smile back. After a brief moment of staring at him, I force myself to focus.

"Oh, no, sorry."

"Thanks." I hadn't noticed before, but his voice carried the tones of a British accent. My gaze drifted back toward the window as I rested my head on the back of the seat.

"I'm the Doctor." I turned to look at him, again.

"Sorry, I'm not paying attention. I'm a little bit tired today." I tried again, "I'm…"

"Alix Edwards, I know." I stopped, my eyes widening. He said it so calmly, so commonly, like it was nothing.

"Who are you?" I scooted back to get a better look at him. He looked perfectly harmless, albeit a bit mismatched, in his brown pinstripe suit and white tennis shoes.

"I'm the Doctor," he repeated, enthusiastically.

"Doctor of what? Medicine, psychology?"

"Just the Doctor."

"I don't know who you are or how you know me, but I'm not sitting here any more." I stood, glancing around. The car was full. I let out an aggravated groan.

"Problem?" He asked, innocently.

"Well, at least I don't have to talk to you," I muttered, sitting down again. I pressed myself further against the window.

"I suppose, then, that you want to have nothing to do with hearing about the train accident that's going to occur in…uh…" he looked up, briefly, toward the ceiling, "twenty-two minutes."

"What?" Fear seized me. I thought of the countless movies I'd seen where a supposedly "nice" man sat next to an unsuspecting victim on an airplane or train and forced them to go along with their demands.

"What do you want me for?"

"You're going to help me."

And as he asked me to come along,

I started to realize,

That everyday he finds just what he's looking for.

"No!" I took out my phone, my fingers already punching in 911. "I'm calling the police. If you're some terrorist or something, they should know. I'm not going to let you kill all these people." He looked appalled at that.

"Who said it was going to be me?" He grabbed the phone from my hands, pressing the "END" button.

"Hey!" I shouted, reaching for it. He handed it back.

"There's no need for the police. They wouldn't believe you anyway. I need your help, though, and you have to be calm if you expect to help me in keeping everyone here alive." He stood up, holding out his hand to me. I just stared at him for a long while. "I'm here to help."

Like a shooting star, he shines, and he says,

Take my hand,

Live while you can.

His tone was so sincere, that I couldn't help but put my hand in his.

Together, we made our way down the aisle to the next train car. He was leading us toward the front of the train where the conductor was.

"What's your plan?" I asked, quietly. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and brought out a thin leather wallet. He flipped it open, showing it to me. Inside was a small pad of blank paper. "But, there's nothing on it." He looked at the paper for a moment, before glancing back at me.

"You can't see that?"

"No, is something supposed to be there?"

"Yes. It's psychic paper. Right now, I'm projecting the credentials for a Railway Agent on to it. It takes a very special person to see what's really there." His curious gaze rested on me, and I felt like I was being studied.

"What are you going to tell the conductor?"

"That I'm from the Railway Agency and that I've gotten word that the train is running on the wrong track. Hopefully, he'll believe me before the crash happens."

"Crash!" I squeaked. He held up a finger to his lips.

"Quiet, we have to keep this very quiet. We don't want to cause a mass panic. Now, what were you imagining?"

"A bomb, a terrorist plot. Something like that." He smiled.

"Alix, you have a far too active imagination." Something was still nagging at me, and I realized then what it was.

"How do you know all of this, and why did you choose me? What's so special about me that you've got me mixed up in this whole crazy rescue mission with you? Are you really from the government or some secret agency?"

"No, I'm just the Doctor. This is what I do. Although, this situation is a bit different then what I'm used to dealing with. This wasn't supposed to happen, originally. Could be any number of things, but now that I've found it I'm going to have to do something about it." We came to the door that lead to the conductor's car. "And I'm really going to need your help. Just go along with me, and you'll be fine. We'll get out of this."

"Okay," I answered, squeezing his hand. "I think I'm ready." He smiled,

"Good." He knocked three times on the door. "Railway Agency. I'm here about some conflicts in the train schedules. Very important." It was a moment before the door slid open.

"Yes?" The conductor was an older, tired looking man. He studied us, momentarily, before speaking again. "Let's see your badge." The Doctor held up the small wallet with the psychic paper. The conductor seemed to approve. "Now, what's this about the schedules?"

The Doctor glanced over at me before answering,

"I've been called to tell you that the schedule you were given was wrong. The track we're on has been arranged for another train heading in the opposite direction. If we don't switch tracks at the next opportunity, we're going to have a crash on our hands." The conductor nodded in my direction.

"Who's she?"

"Oh, right. New agent, I'm training her. Brought her along on the job to show her how things work." He seemed to accept this answer.

"You said we needed to switch tracks?" The Doctor nodded. "Our last chance was about three miles back." I looked up at the Doctor, watching his face contort into an expression of intense thought.

"Get on the radio. Try contacting the station. Tell them we have a code black situation. Got it?" In a moment of panic to get on the radio, the conductor slammed the door in our faces.

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" I swallowed, trying to get the hard lump out of my throat.

"We are going to get ourselves off of this train." He took my hand again, leading me toward the opposite end of the train. "When I told you before that this wasn't supposed to happen today, I wasn't talking about the train accident." I shot him a puzzled look.

"What?"

"I was hoping that I could stop the train from crashing this time around, save more lives, but I suppose fate has other plans. It would have been a lot less complicated. I suppose I arrived a bit too late."

"This time around?"

"In the original history, everybody on the train is supposed to die, except for a single person. For some reason, this time, no one survives. I have to fix it or else time and space as we know it could be ripped apart in one huge cosmic mess."

"The death of one person is going to rip apart the whole universe?" I scoffed, trying to pull my hand from his. "This is some joke right? Something Jack and Andy planned. Who are you really, one of their stupid friends from the rugby team?"

"No." He tightened his grip, nearly running now. "I don't think you'd be laughing if you knew you were that person."

Don't you see your dreams are right in the palm of your hand?