I. Didn't. Even. Know. Rhinos. Could. Run.
Even her thoughts were out of breath as she rounded the corner at Leicester Square and darted into the throng of people coming and going, bright blue backpack thudding against her back with each step. The Judoon officer came around seconds later, seemingly invisible to the hundreds of tourists in the area.
Must have a perception filter active, she thought as she made her way through the crowd, bumping into several shoppers, eliciting multiple dirty looks and the odd rude comment. The Judoon carefully weaved this way and that through the onlookers, clearly trying to not draw attention to himself and thereby rendering his disguise useless. He was briefly held up by a woman pushing a pram, but continued on her trail shortly thereafter.
"Sorry! Coming through! Pardon me! MOVE!" she screamed, finally breaking to the other side of the massive group. Turning onto Charing Cross Road, an idea began seeding in the back of her mind.
This is mental. I'll never make it. She allowed herself to stop for a moment, attempting to catch her breath, calculating the distances, but as if appointment, her pursuer reappeared and the chase continued.
Emerging into Trafalgar Square minutes later, she didn't catch sight of the traffic cones and caution tape until it was too late. Taking a wild leap off the edge of the monument, she felt herself propelled through the air-graceful, flowing-until she promptly landed on a spare bit of scaffolding and fell rather ungracefully on her behind.
"BOLLOCKS!" she murmured, righting herself and continuing her run. I've gotta make it to the Thames.
The Judoon soldier watched the blue backpack of his prize bob up and down as he made his way around the giant stone monuments, figuring out her plan and cutting down a side street to cut off her progress. Emerging at the bank directly across from the London Eye, he breathlessly looked around the shoreline, and caught sight once more of the blue backpack and the wisp of a blond ponytail disappearing around a ferry. Clearly she thought it clever to disappear onto one of the river vessels, but he would soon prove her wrong. Drawing his laser from its sheath on his hip, he crashed aboard the ferry just as it was pulling away from the shore. Jogging further up the deck, he spotted the blue pack on a bench, the girl nowhere in sight.
Looking around quickly, his eyes grazed across the shoreline. There, on the bank, waving smugly stood the girl, leaning against a tree, without her bag. She gave a crooked grin as she watched the Judoon touch his wrist and disappear. Laughing to herself, still cherishing the surprised look on his face, she took a few steps to her right, not paying attention to the large object she then ran headlong into-slamming her face into the surface with enough force to knock her out. Falling backwards onto the ground, she had a precious few seconds of consciousness left to process what it was she had run into before falling into blackness. Rising above her was a large, blue box. The doors had just opened as she closed her eyes.
The Doctor jutted his head outside the door and looked around, utterly bewildered. His eyes circled the park once, finally landing on the unconscious girl on the ground beneath him. She was young, probably in her late teens or early twenties, with dyed blond hair and fair skin. She wore a tattered zip-up sweatshirt with blue jeans and (the Doctor had to smile a bit) faded Converse trainers. Around her neck hung a circular pendant, which the Doctor had barely begun to study when the door behind him opened wider, River stepping out and observing the surroundings.
"Doctor, one of your alarms is going off and it seems to-who is that?" she asked, pushing his arm aside to get a better look.
"Not sure. We should…um…" he looked around, clearly confused as to the turn of events, toying with idea of leaving her there. Just as he decided that that was indeed what he was going to do, a bright laser hit the top of the TARDIS, directly above River's head. Both their heads snapped up just in time to see the Judoon officer barreling toward the TARDIS on all cylinders, weapon raised.
"You can't leave her here," said River, looking at the Doctor with that you have to save her look he just couldn't say no to.
"…right!" he yelled, bending down to place his arms behind the girl's head and knees, picking her up like a child being carried off to bed. As he carried her into the TARDIS, River ran ahead, pulling several levers allowing the TARDIS to take flight. A blaring alarm rang throughout the console room as the Doctor gently placed the girl on the row of seats next to the console and ran his hands through his floppy hair, uncertain as to how to proceed.
The Doctor lightly jogged to a small screen hidden from view on a panel near the back of the console room. His eyes widened in horror as the number "2" flashed upon the screen in front of him.
"No…that's not possible…" he said, not noticing River approaching behind him.
"What's not possible? What is that read-out?" she asked, her hands snaking around the Doctor's waist in a playful fashion.
"Nothing!" yelped the Doctor, quickly changing demeanor, pretending to ignore the screen but deftly hiding it from River's view. "Flouro-geneous meta-phenomenon! Nothing to worry about!"
A scuffling noise caused both their heads to turn to the sight of the girl rising from the ground, her eyes wide in shock as she looked around the room.
"It's…" she began, dumbfounded.
The Doctor turned to River, his eyes suddenly that of an excited child, practically dancing on the spot. "Oh, please, I love this part," he said, pleading.
River rolled her eyes and swept his hair from his face, a smile creeping into the corners of her mouth. "Oh, go on then. But go easy on her. You know how grating you can be on the recently concussed."
"It's…" the girl continued, still gaping about the room.
The Doctor smiled in earnest and ran to the edge of the console deck, his hands gripping the lapels of his tweed jacket, standing proudly waiting for his favourite line.
"It's…a TARDIS."
The Doctor's smile immediately vanished from his face as he chanced a quick look back at River, who also appeared to be flummoxed. "That's…unexpected."