So, I just finished watching the 6th season of Doctor Who, and since then there's been a little plot bunny hopping around in my head. This is only the start of that plot bunny. I might write more if people like it.
For the first nineteen years, nothing happened. Then came the Doctor. He appeared in his magical blue box called the TARDIS that can go anywhere in time and space. My name is Blaine Anderson. This is my story.
Blaine honestly wasn't doing anything when he heard a rap on his window. First of all, who knocked in windows, and second of all, Blaine happened to be bored and curious. So he got up and glanced out the window to find a blue box in his backyard.
"Um," squeaked Blaine, because, really. Either this was a really silly dream or he had not noticed the box in his backyard yet. Both options seemed unlikely. He decided he had better head down to investigate, and hurried down the stairs into his backyard to find another shocking discovery. There was a man about his age, standing next to the blue box. He wore black jeans and a blue shirt with a matching scarf, and white boots. He glanced up as Blaine approached.
"Oh, hello," the man said. His eyes were really beautiful. Wow. "Sorry about the crash landing by the way." He indicated the police box. "She does that sometimes."
Valiantly Blaine tried to say something productive, but the only thing that came out was, "Who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor," the man said. He grinned at Blaine.
"Doctor … who?" asked Blaine. He had this nagging feeling that he had seen this man before. A long, long time ago…
"That's precisely it," said the Doctor. "But just call me Doctor."
He leaned against the blue box. "There must be a reason the TARDIS came here instead of New York."
"The TARDIS?" Blaine asked.
"Yes. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. T-A-R-D-I-S. Simple, really." The Doctor smiled at Blaine. "So. Anywhere in space and time. Where do you want to go?"
Blaine gave the Doctor a wary look. "Anywhere? What's the catch?" Blaine doubted the Doctor's claims. Of course you couldn't go anywhere in time and space. That was impossible. Then again, wasn't it impossible for a giant blue box to turn up in the middle of the day in the middle of his backyard? Yes.
The Doctor shrugged. "There are complications, but there's always time to fix it. If you come, you'll see. Lots of it is actually quite pleasant. Well? Anywhere you'd like to go? We can start simple."
"New York?" suggested Blaine. "New York, Nederlander theatre, with the Original Broadway Cast of Rent—"
"Nineteen-ninety six," mused the Doctor. Blaine looked at him, startled, as the Doctor smiled. "I know my Broadway too, Blaine."
"How do you know my name?" said Blaine. He was a little shocked. Okay, more than a little. It wasn't every day that a blue box came to your backyard with a highly attractive man your age in it that was willing to take you to a Broadway show.
"I remember everyone and anyone I've ever met," said the Doctor. "You're no exception." He bit his lip. "So! New York and a Rent fan. I can do that. I've honestly been meaning to watch it for a while, but I never got around to it. He sighed. "Well come on. We're wasting time." He opened the door to the TARDIS.
Blaine followed the Doctor inside. His brief wonderings about how you could fit two people into a box that big were quickly quashed as he stepped into it. "Whoa," said Blaine. "It's bigger—"
"On the inside, yes," said the Doctor. "It's what everyone says. This is one of thousands of rooms. I guess you could spend a normal, human lifetime exploring every nook and cranny of the TARDIS, but there's so much more than that to look at."
"That's weird," said Blaine.
The Doctor closed the door. "Trust me," he said. "You haven't seen the worst of it." He rushed to the middle of the room, where a large circular panel rested. There were a few screens and a large array of switches and levers. The Doctor seemed to know exactly what did what and which buttons to press.
"Favorite Broadway show?" he quizzes Blaine, leaning against the center. "I like Wicked, Rent, Next to Normal, and the classics aren't bad either.
"Same," said Blaine. His eyes were still scanning around the interior of the TARDIS. He was mind-blown by it. Of course, Blaine had definitely heard of things being bigger on the inside, but he hadn't actually thought they could be real.
The Doctor noticed him looking around. "You get used to it," he said. "It's actually really nice. There's about a hundred guest bedrooms and a gaint fridge."
"A giant fridge would be nice," agreed Blaine.
"I'd take you to it," said the Doctor, "but we're outside the Nedlerlander at the moment. A few months after the opening. On the other hand, sitting and simply singing at a table for the whole first act isn't exactly the essence of the show, no offense to Jonathan Larson." He sighed. "It's a pity, he was a lovely guy."
He walked over to the door and opened it. Admittedly, Blaine was half-expecting nothing to happen. But no. He found himself in the very heart of New York city in the middle of 1996, as was obvious by the large signs depicting the fact that Rent was playing in the Nederlander theatre.
"Wow," Blaine said.
"I know," said the Doctor, rummaging in one of the drawers on the wall. "I bought tickets in advance." He pulled out two white pieces of paper. "One for you," he said, handing one of them to Blaine, "and one for me."
"How did you—"
"Well, first I went and looked to see when the whole cast would be out, and then I went back to buy the tickets. I did a whole lot of other stuff, decided to pick up you, and here we are?" He headed out of the TARDIS, spreading his arms as he did so. "New York City. Center of the universe."
Blaine laughed and trailed after the Doctor. When he looked back there was no sign that that the TARDIS had ever been there. "Doctor?" he said.
Without looking back, the Doctor explained, "Don't worry, Blaine. It can turn invisible." He led the way into the theatre, both of them passing their ticket in as they went.
"Seats are front and center," the usher told them as they passed. Blaine led the way this time, over-excited for this. First of all, Rent was his favourite Broadway show. Second of all, he was going to see it with the original Broadway cast. Third of all, this was a very nice dream. Blaine really didn't want to wake up.
Two hours later they emerged from the theatre. In all honesty, Blaine couldn't help but be amazed. He'd just seen his favourite show. Wow.
"Did you know that in 2086 there's going to be an absolutely amazing adaptation of Rent?" the Doctor said. "No, wait, probably not, but you should see it. And in 2211 the theatre world will be revolutionized, because Gangers are acting instead of the real actors. It's still live, you get the OBC forever, everything's great!"
"I lost you at Gangers," Blaine told the Doctor.
The Doctor blinked. "Yeah, sometimes I do get ahead of myself…" He sighed. And then stopped. "Wait. Stop."
Blaine looked around. "What is it?" he asked. The streets were filled with people all flooding the streets, heading out from Broadway shows or dinner or just lots of tourists shopping and walking around the area. At first there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, until Blaine noticed two statues on the street. "Those?" He blinked.
"Exactly, those," said the Doctor. "Try not to blink, and back away."
"They're not moving," Blaine noted.
"They aren't moving because they can't," the Doctor said quit patently. "They're not even breathing." Eyes still peeled open, he walked forwards and rapped the statue on the head. "Stone," he said. "You know what—"
He pulled a random tourist from the street. "Have a staring contest with this lovely woman right here," the Doctor told her. He barely had enough time to tell Blaine, "Follow me," before making his way through the crowd.