A/N; Hello! So glad someone clicked on my story (and if you clicked on it accidentally, please stay your right ring finger hovering over the backspace button). I do hope you enjoy it. Quick tip, though; if you haven't read the story preceding this one (it's called 'A Hard Day's Night in Time and Space'), please go give it a look. It will make this one much easier to understand. But anyhow, peace and love, hope you like it, and all that. Reviews are MOST WELCOME! Please share your opinion! I would delight in hearing from you!
Disclaimer; I sadly do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters or creatures from it. As for the Beatles, I obviously do not own them either (or their lyircs), and the characters here representing them are but fictional characters based off of the real-life people and based loosely off of the dramatized versions of themselves as represented in their films.
The skies were dark above the Lost Moon of Poosh, except for the stars that (to a human) would seem unusually close down to the crust of the planet. Each was about the average circumference (from the homosapien's perspective) of a harvest-moon on Earth. They looked rather peculiar, burning different colors. The people of the Poosh had long ago in the days of old flown up in their primitive space capsules and cast into the whirling and swirling gases of the stars something they called 'pooshdust' (in laymen's terms); it added incredible color; all possible hues of orange, blue, green, pink, purple, red, and yellow, and some colors that the human eye was not capable of perceiving. It was beautiful, utterly beautiful.
It was a sore shame that the people of the Poosh had not been multi-talented, or at least bi-talented. They did a wonderful, awe-inspiring, knock-out job of adding additional beauty to their planet, their stars, and their moon through their creativity. But they were lousy at military strategy, organization, and... Well, they were so lousy at it that they did not even have an acting military at the time that the Jinthrox invaded. And now the people of the Poosh were all gone, the patrons of the arts and the artists themselves. Not one left. Nothing left of their millions of works of art that they created in their thousands of years that they remained hidden and unnoticed by the universe at war around them. But when they made an expedition into space to look for new art to bring back to their home planet, they got noticed. And the rest is history.
This the Doctor had just found out.
The Doctor had been on his own for a while, just bopping around, trying to have some fun. His companion, Donna Noble, had decided to stay home for a short period. She had had a close encounter with some quick sand in the Amazon, and after that the Doctor had almost accidentally let her fall into a black hole. Though it was really nothing to get uptight about, she had gotten quite cross about it all, and had actually carried out her threat to go home for a day. She had gone home for her grandfather's (Wilfred Mott, an ever-merry fellow) birthday, and the Doctor was getting in about two weeks worth of adventures before returning to pick her up in the evening. He was trying desperately to keep from getting lonely, and he had promised himself that he would not give in and just spend equal to a day before going back to pick her up. And when the Doctor was alone, he was undoubtedly lonely, but he would rather forfeit a regeneration than to admit it. So what he did was run as fast as ever he could, bounce around the stars and fly back and forth through the time vortex, maxing the poor TARDIS engines, hoping that some recklessness would make him feel like he wasn't alone. But it didn't. It usually just blew a hose or burnt up a valve, and he had to stop and repair it, and he spent more time than he wanted to wrapping duct tape around vital equipment.
So as the Doctor was running to keep himself entertained, something he often did was visit bizarre/unique places to meeting bizarre/unique people and learn bizarre/unique things. And the Last Moon of Poosh would have been one of those such places. If his time proximity regulator hadn't gone a bit wibbly (which probably happened when he tried to fix a .055 second gap produced by a short in the wiring between the console controls and the time proximity regulator itself).
And the gap between the time that he wanted to visit and the time that he actually visited was more than .055 seconds. It was more like 500 years.
When the Doctor had stepped outside of the TARDIS, ready to experience the famed culture of the people of Poosh, he found a desolate, barren wasteland. And all that was left of that culture were the colors in the stars.
So, the long and the short of it was; he started knocking about the deserted moon, looking for the threads of an adventure (which he always did, whether he was alone or otherwise) to fall into his lap. And he found one.
The Doctor was running. What else is new?
He was running, sprinting out across the deserted plains of the Lost Moon of Poosh, accompanied by a friendly Hath.
The Doctor could hear both his hearts pounding in his chest and his dirty white shoes pounding on rock ground beneath him. The Hath was running as fast as ever he could, trying to keep up with the Doctor (few creatures were in as good of shape for running as the Time Lord).
Suddenly, there came a rumbling, coming from under the crust of the planet. It was a terrible roaring, getting louder and louder, vibrating the Doctor's very insides until it felt like it was disrupting the beating of his hearts. It stopped for a terrible moment. Anyone else might have been relieved, but the Doctor knew what came next.
He saw the TARDIS in the distance. It was still about a quarter of a mile away. He now sprinted, galloped, propelling himself into flying leaps in between every step. He was swinging his arms in powerful strokes. His speed increased so that he nearly forgot his Hath friend (his name was something that no human could understand nor repeat) in his frenzy to save his box of blue.
"Hurry!", he shouted through his teeth, spitting quite a bit accidentally. "We've got to save the TARDIS!".
The Hath faithfully followed, trying to pick up his pace, but still not being able to match the Doctor's.
Then, the rumbling from under the ground returned.
"HURRY! IT'S COMING!", the Doctor screamed, still running. The Hath could run no faster.
Then, there came a terrible shaking, trembling of the entire moon, violently from side to side.
"IT'S STARTING!", the Doctor screamed over the deafening roar.
Then, there was an instant of silence. The Doctor heard his hearts beating, and saw the TARDIS still yards in front of him. The second felt like an hour. He knew they would not make it in time.
"COME ON!", the Doctor's shout was swallowed up completely by the explosion coming from behind them.
The Doctor and the Hath both could not keep from turning and looking.
The Doctor saw nothing but fire, lava, and enormous slabs of rock the size of entire cities being thrust miles up into the sky. What had been the Lost Moon of Poosh just a few moments before would soon be huge chunks of rock flying through space. And the very ground under their feet, under the TARDIS, would be gone.
The Doctor now knew why the Moon of Poosh had been called "Lost" throughout most of time. It was about to get really, really lost.
The sound of the explosion was so loud that it just became a ringing static in the Doctor's ears. The Hath covered his ears.
The flames were upon them, licking their heels, when the Doctor slammed against the TARDIS, fumbling in his pockets for the key. He crammed the key in the hole after a time that seemed far too long and turned it with a quick wrench. He thrust the door open, and the Hath followed him inside, shutting the door just in time. The Doctor continued his rapid pace up to the controls just as the TARDIS was starting to make wretched sounds as the flames started to burn it.
The Doctor slammed down the emergency departure lever, and they immediately shot at the speed of sound straight into the air, out of the atmosphere, and then out of the flames and molten lava. He guided them several thousand miles away from what was a few moments ago a moon before setting the parking break and letting his legs finally give out. He was panting loudly, and the Hath was glubbing rapidly.
Then, the phone rang.
At first, neither of them noticed it. The Doctor just kept trying in vain to catch his breath. Eventually, the Hath pointed to the telephone attached to the console.
"Who could it be?", said the Doctor in disbelief. No one had called him for quite some time. Time Lords didn't get many calls. It couldn't be Donna (she had said "I won't call you, spaceman. You call me").
The Doctor struggled to get back up onto his entirely worn-out legs, and straggled over to the telephone.
"'Ello?", he said.
That's what he thought he sounded like. He actually sounded like a half-drowned person who was trying to speak when they were in need of medical aid.
"Hello?", returned the voice, sounding like they were definitely wondering if what they were talking to was a human being (or a time lord). The voice had a definite accent; the Doctor couldn't quite put his finger on it at the time. His body was trying to reoxygenate his blood before it took care of the farer reaches of his brain.
"Yes, who is this?", said the Doctor. Sounding more like 'Ye*wheez*, woo *wheez* thi*wheez?'.
"You all right, mate?", said the voice.
The Doctor cleared his throat and took in a very deep breath away from the telephone.
"Yes, I'm, ehem, quite fine. Who is this?", said the Doctor, still not sounding quite like himself.
"If I've gotten the number wrong, this'll sound really potty, but am I connected to the TARDIS?".
"Ey?", said the Doctor, straining. The ringing in his ears was still prominent.
"I said 'is this the TARDIS'?", the voice repeated.
"Sorry, mate, me ears are ringing like mad. You're going to have to shout.".
"A'SAID; IS THIS THE TARDIS?!", yelled the voice on the other end. The Doctor's ear popped, and some of the ringing stopped.
"Phew, okay, you've popped my ear. Thanks. Em, yes, this is the TARDIS. Who is this?" said the Doctor, starting to get impatient to find out who this voice belonged to.
"It's Bill.".
The Doctor furrowed his brow. He said nothing for a good many moments. He thought, sorting through his mental list of all the Bill's that he knew. He was only just coming to the list of humans called Bill when his thoughts were disrupted.
"Doctor?".
"Sorry, yes?".
"John Lennon.".
The Doctor then forgot all that he had been doing. Everything. He forgot that he had just survived an exploding moon, he forgot that he was out of breath, he forgot that his legs hurt, he forgot that there was a Hath watching him... And he forgot that the phone he was on had a short cord.
When he jumped up in the air in excitement and pleasant surprise, he unplugged himself.
The Doctor cringed out of embarrassment as he quickly realized what he had done when there was a cord slapping against his pinstriped suit. He plugged himself back in with haste.
"-octor? Hello in there? Doctor?", the Doctor got in on John's attempts to reach him.
"Yes! I'm here! John! My lad, what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in years! How've you been? How are the boys? Oh, wow,", said the Doctor smiling broadly.
"We're doing brilliantly, Doctor, the lot of us. But you might check your calendar again. It hasn't been years, mate. It's been about... Oh, six or seven months. But anyhow, I'm so chuffed to hear your voice again,", said John, and the Doctor could hear the smile in his voice.
"I'm chuffed to hear yours!", cried the Doctor. "See, six or seven months... That would mean... Hmm... You're about to work on another album, aren't you?".
"How'd you-", John stopped himself. Stupid question to ask a time traveler.
"Yeah, we just got back into the studio. What have you been up to, old boy?", asked John.
"Oh, this and that. I just popped off an exploding moon not a second too soon just about forty-five seconds ago,", said the Doctor, forgetting his cool.
"Oh. Well. All right. Jolly good, then,", said John, laughing.
"Well, nothing's really new with me,", said the Doctor, trying to regain his modesty. "Same old thing. Planets. Things. But anyhow, how's the band stuff going? What've you been writing?", gushed the Doctor.
"Everything's great. We're actually in the middle of writing the next LP. Just got back from our tour, and we're actually in quite a rush to turn out some new tunes,", said John.
John sighed a little, as if this last comment troubled him.
Then the Doctor realized there must have been a reason that he called.
"John, are you sure everything's all right? I mean, you can call anytime you want, but... I know it must be something,", said the Doctor, sounding concerned.
"I...", John sighed. "Actually, Doctor, yes. There is something. We didn't want to bother you, but we knew that you were the only one that could help us.".
"Well, tell me what's wrong and I'll be happy to help. I hope it's nothing serious,", said the Doctor, now getting worried.
"Oh, well, I suppose it isn't, really... But it is. Very serious to the lads and I.".
"What's going on?", said the Doctor.
John sighed long.
"I can't tell you over the phone. It's too complicated. And I don't know want to pay the bill for a 3 hour space-call.".
"Well, fine, then. I'll come to you, and we can talk it out. It's not an emergency, is it?", said the Doctor, the thought of immediate danger just occurring to him, his grip tightening in concern on the telephone.
"No, it's not an emergency. It's just really bad luck, and we need you to sort it, if you can. You're the only one that wouldn't think that we had all completely flipped.".
"Where are you now?", asked the Doctor.
"I'm at home.".
"Good, I'll come there. What's the address?", said the Doctor, getting a little excited as he fumbled for pen and paper.
"As much as I know you'd love it to be, Doctor, there are no girls to save and I'm pretty sure there are no bombs about to go off. Not in this neighborhood, at least,", John giggled. "Don't think I've forgotten your ways, Doctor. You love the action, the last-second rescue, the edge of peril.".
"I don't think you've forgotten a thing, mate,", laughed the Doctor.
"Well be assured, I haven't done. And I'd like to see you again when all the lads and I are together. They don't know I've called. Well, George does, but the rest don't. Plus, we need Paul to see Rose, now don't we? He's with Jane now, mind, but he'd still like to see her again. He became very fond of her that day...", said John, and it was apparent in his voice that he was floating back in time (or forward in time) to their day of meeting.
Several silent tears pooled in the Doctor's eyes. He started to open his mouth. He wanted to say. He had to say. He wanted John to know. And he didn't want to be the one to tell Paul.
But the prickly lump in his throat expanded until he started to choke. He tried to cover it up by a firm clearing of his throat. He had cried over Rose many times in private, but not for a long, long while, and he certainly didn't want to break it to the boys in that way.
"You all right, there, mate? You sound like you've got a touch of something.".
"Oh, no, I'm fine. It's just... Nothing. Nothing at all. I'm fine,", said the Doctor, trying to wipe his eyes silently with his sleeve.
"So, see you tomorrow at the studio canteen, then?", said John.
"Yeah,", said the Doctor, trying to force himself to recover. "Sounds brilliant.".
"All right then. I guess I'll see you then. And Doctor?", said John.
"Yeah?".
"I'm really, really chuffed to hear from you again,", John could not hide the happy laughter in his voice.
"It's brilliant to hear from you, John. It's great for a fellow to know that he's got friends in this big old universe,", said the Doctor.
"Well, you'll always have friends in us, mate. And don't be surprised if the boys attack you or something. I'm not going to tell them you're coming. Though George may suspect.".
"Fine, fine,", laughed the Doctor.
"Good. See you tomorrow, old friend.".
"Bye, then,", said the Doctor.
"Cheerio, old boy,", said John, starting to hang up.
The Doctor almost hung up. But then he realized - When is 'tomorrow'?
"Oh, John! J-", said the Doctor, frantically trying to grab his attention again.
"Yeah? Forgot something, Doctor?".
"Yeah, sort of. Sorry, this may sound funny, but... When's tomorrow?".
"Oh!", cried John, thoroughly amused. He had forgotten.
"29th September, 1964. Meet us at EMI on Abbey Road, we'll be in Studio Two if you don't catch us at lunch.".
"Fine. I'll see you then. And remember; I go by Mr. Smith sometimes. Or Dr. Smith. Depends what mood I'm in.".
"All right, then. Cheerio, old boy!", laughed John.
"Bye-bye,", said the Doctor, hanging up the phone with a huge smile on his face.
It was several moments before he emerged from his daydream to realized that there was a very puzzled Hath staring at him from where he sat in the floor.
"Oh,", said the Doctor, realizing that he was being observed.
"That was an old friend. I've got to go quite quickly, he needs my help. Do you need me to drop you somewhere?".
A/N; That's it for this chapter. I'm trying to make the chapters shorter in this one, as I realized how bloody long the chapters were in my first story after I uploaded them on here. Hope you enjoy! Please review, and if you haven't read my other story, please do! It's kind of necessary to check it out before you read this one, as you have probably guessed by now! :)
