Of Gods and Miracles
Prologue:
The desert sun is hot on my back. It's so bad that I feel like it's drying out my insides with every breath I take. Dust and a metallic tang hang heavy in the air, a sure sign that the clouds off in the distance will bring more than shade and very soon.
To my left, Amy and Rory Pond stare at me with surprise, and yet not. They've seen me before, if the floppy, fez-bedecked mess barreling down on me, lips puckered and arms spread wide, is any indication.
I remember…pain. It echoes through my joints as I tense. Pain and light and a horrible, awful compression. Somehow, I've been transported into the world of Doctor Who. I don't know how, I don't know why. All I know is that I'm lost, adrift in a universe that with every fibre of my being doesn't feel like it fits, and probably won't for the remainder of my life.
And so, when the Doctor gets within grabbing distance, I deck him.
He stumbles back and plops to the ground. The fez tumbles off and we all watch as it rolls forlornly to a stop in a little puff of dirt. The Doctor drags his eyes back to me and I experience that ancient otherness firsthand as his gaze locks with mine. There's a hefty amount of shock there and a growing sadness that has something, I presume, to do with me. And then, just for an instant, there's a flicker of something that stands my hair on end and has me stepping back: desperation. Deep, dark, worlds-will-burn, galaxies-will-be-torn-asunder attachment that I want no part of, given the nature of this universe and this man.
"Did she just…?" Rory whispers.
"Punch the Doctor? Yes, husband, she did." His wife whispers back, glancing at me unsurely.
As the duo eye me, I turn crisply on my heel and march away. When I'm at about ten paces, I hear the Doctor scramble to get up. His screwdriver goes flying and he scuffles after it with a curse.
"Devi? Devi…wait! Just hold on a minute!"
Of course, he's going to follow me. So what do I do? I bolt.
My name is Devi Mann. I don't have a pocket watch, I don't know the show by heart, I'm not a super genius, and no, I don't worship the ground the Doctor walks on. I used to live a life of sheltered mediocrity until one day a Time Lord and his blue box dragged me to adventure kicking and screaming. This is the story of how a normal girl got transported into the Whoniverse and refused to be a Mary Sue.