The TARDIS was silent as the Doctor piloted her flight.
Rachel sat quietly off to the side, absentmindedly rubbing the ship's side (She could almost hear a purr, and would've made a joke had the Doctor not been mumbling to himself in deep concentration).
When he too lapsed into silence, finally, Rachel spoke.
"Where are we going?"
"Chernobyl, and as close as I can get to the actual event. Certain events in time are fixed and I can't change them." He smiled. "Pompeii's not so fun on 'volcano day.'"
Rachel shot to her feet. "You've been to Pompeii?"
"No," the Doctor said, a little uneasy, as he seemed to struggle with the controls. "But I've heard enough stories."
"Oh. Well can we go?"
The Doctor nearly shouted the quickly following "No." He paused as the TARDIS rocked. "At least not today. Right now, there seems to be something messing with my girl!" The Doctor moved frantically at the controls and it was all Rachel could do to hold on.
"Good God, Doctor!" she exclaimed when the TARDIS came to a rest. "What the blazes was that?"
"I have no idea."
As he fiddled some more with the buttons, Rachel thought up a very good question:
"Do you always dress like this?" she asked, gesturing to his beige slacks, dress shirt, and waistcoat with the tie tucked underneath.
"Hmm? Oh, pretty much," he replied, slipping on his suit jacket. "Sometimes I wear trainers instead of these. Do you always dress like that?" Rachel looked down at her lifeguard suit and squeaked. "The wardrobe is down the hall somewhere. The TARDIS will help you find it."
She dashed off and in little time she returned, plain white tee and skinny jeans lightly hugging her.
"Really? I think we've landed in Belarus, 1987 approximately."
Rachel cocked an eyebrow as the TARDIS chimed. "She doesn't think so. In fact, she suggested this outfit."
"Wait, are you communicating with the TARDIS? No one has ever done so that quickly. Especially not a human."
Rachel shrugged. "She likes me," she responded, filing away the 'human' comment for later.
With something of a glare at his ship, the Doctor gestured to the exit. "Let's go investigate the Dolphinus terror."
He opened the TARDIS doors and the two stepped into the gloom.
They had landed in an alleyway. Sidestepping fluttering papers, the Doctor and his companion made their way out to the main street. One page slammed into Rachel's face, and she started to crumple it into her hand.
"Doctor?"
He didn't hear her. He was looking around, trying to decipher clues as were to go. "I tried to land where there'd be the most chance for the aliens to grow-"
"Doctor!"
"What?"
Rachel shrugged in the direction of a nearby teen walking past, cut-up jeans and AC/DC shirt walk past, iPod firmly in her ears and large sunglasses over her eyes. "We're so not in 1987." She started to offer the paper in her hand to the Doctor, but he surged forward and tapped the girl on her shoulder.
Popping her hip, the girl pulled one ear bud out. "Ya?"
"This is going to sound daft, but can you tell me what year it is?"
"Tch. It's two-thousand and twenty, dude. Twenty-twenty's where it's at! Where have you been?" Tossing her hair, the teen put her music back in and walked away.
"2020 in Belarus. Not as bad as some-"
"We're not in Belarus." Rachel offered the Doctor the paper that had flown in her face.
"The Kiev Times?"
