It was strange, the Doctor decided, just how much time he actually spent on Earth.
The Doctor and Donna Noble were walking down the snow-covered streets of England, and while he was looking for a certain thing - which he had refused to tell Donna about - she was marveling at the dresses and horse-drawn carriages that surrounded them.
"Where are we, Doctor?" she asked, but then corrected herself after he gave her a look. "When are we, sorry." she rolled her eyes.
"London, England." he told her. "During the reign of Queen Victoria. Hopefully no one recognizes me, I wouldn't want to regenerate from a decapitation…" he mused. Donna just gave him a look of disbelief, choosing to keep her mouth shut for once. After all, that adventure had most likely happened with Rose, and if there was one way to ruin the alien's good mood, it was to mention her.
"And what are we doing here?" she asked. She felt it was a reasonable question. After all, the last time that he had taken her someplace, some… thing had used his body while she was getting pampered at a spa.
"Meeting someone." he told her, his tone distracted as he continued to scan the buildings on either side of the street. He pulled the black billfold that held the psychic paper out of his inner breast pocket, handing it to her so she could read the message scribbled inside.
Come on then! Was written in a flowing script. I'm not going to wait around here all day. There was a split second where the message disappeared, before it was replaced with a name and a date-and-time reference.
"And who are we meeting?" she asked, handing the psychic paper back to her alien friend.
"I've got no idea." he admitted, before looking at her and flashing a grin. "Should be fun."
"Ah ha!" he said happily, drawing some slightly scandalized looks from a group of ladies standing nearby - apparently he was being far too loud for their tastes. "Here it is!" he pointed to the wooden sign hanging out above the bustling pub.
"The Rose & Crown." Donna read. "Hang on, I know this place. Gramps and I used to come 'ere all the time."
The Doctor grinned, nodding at her. "Some places are old, Donna. Like this one." he simply explained, before heading inside.
The interior of the pub was warm and cosy, and filled with laughter and conversation. People were everywhere, filling every available seat. Barmaids were hurrying around, their skirts swishing in front of them to clear a path as they delivered trays of drinks to thirsty patrons.
"Something's not right…" the Doctor said quietly, and Donna scoffed.
"You're telling me! There's bloody rats everywhere!" she said, pointing at the floor.
But he just shook his head. "No, that's not it." he said, as he looked around the room. "Its… there!" he finally spotted it. He cut his way across the room, heading towards a door at the back with strange circular markings drawn on it with chalk - the same markings that Donna had seen back on the TARDIS many times before.
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The Doctor flung open the door, standing in it so that his overcoat billowed out behind him in a way he thought looked rather cool and mysterious. Donna thought it just made him look even skinnier than usual.
"Hello there!" he said to whoever was in the room - he was blocking the entrance, so Donna couldn't see. "I'm the Doctor. But you already knew that, didn't you? After all, you're the one who called me here."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, sir." A gentle voice said calmly, and the Doctor stalked into the room, with Donna following behind.
She was beautiful, that much was obvious. Her pale skin and olive green eyes were offset by her dark red hair, which had been piled up on top of her head in an elaborate style. She wore a beautiful plum-coloured gown made of crushed velvet, complete with bustle and cream-coloured trim, and looked as if she had just stepped out a women's fashion magazine for the time period. Somehow, she had managed to get a complete tea set in the seedy pub, and was currently adding sugar to her cup.
"Now, that's not quite true, is it?" he asked, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Because, y'see, the writing on the door? That's Gallifreyan - the language of the Time Lords. So either you just got really lucky with your doodling, or you've been expecting me."
The woman smiled as she sipped her tea. "And how am I to know that you are who you claim to be?" she asked in response. "Anyone could claim to be the Doctor - how do I know that you are truly him?"
"Well, to start with," the Doctor said with a rather put-out look on his face. "I could tell you what is written on that door is rather rude. I'm supposed to be the rude one, you know - rude and not ginger, that's me."
She gave a small laugh, just as a snorting noise came from near the fireplace. Both Donna and the Doctor turned to see what it was. A small, scaly creature sat so close to the fireplace that it was nearly in the flames. It lifted its head and yawned slowly, revealing pointed teeth that set Donna on edge just a bit, before slowly blinking open yellow eyes.
"Thats a snake." Donna said slowly. "You've got a snake for a pet."
"Now, I wouldn't say that." the woman said amicably. "Rosaline isn't a pet, nor is she a snake. I suppose you would call her my… companion."
"Right then!" the Doctor said. If you had just heard his voice, one might have thought that he was excited and cheerful. But both Donna and the mysterious woman were looking at him, and so they saw the dark gleam in his eye - the look of the Oncoming Storm. "Why did you call us here? I'm assuming it wasn't just to have tea and chat, because judging by what you think of me - the note on the door made that perfectly clear, by the way - this isn't a social call."
"You're quite right." she said, putting her cup back down on its saucer as she stood up. "But while we may have had our differences in the past, I can assure you that I don't have any issues with you at the current point in time. The question is, are you willing to help me?" she asked, as she stood up from her chair and walked over to a coat rack that stood in the corner.
"That depends on what we'd be assisting you with." the Doctor said slowly, and the woman smirked at him as she pulled on her long coat, buttoning it up quickly before placing the matching hat on your head.
"Oh stop playing around, Doctor." she chided. "You and I both know that you're going to help me - after all, you can't resist a chance to play the hero."
And with that, she whistled to her pet. The not-a-snake animal stood up before quickly darting out of the flames, racing over to the woman and settling in the fur lining of her coat. It moved so fast that all they were able to see of the creature was an emerald green blur, and then a pair of eyes that stared out at them from the relative warmth of a fur-lined muff.
"Well?" Donna asked. "Are we gonna help her?"
He didn't answer her for a moment or two, staring at the retreating form of the woman instead. When he finally did, though, it was with all of the exuberance that he could muster.
"Of course we are!" he said, quickly striding out of the room. "And as my friend Sir Doyle once said, 'the game's afoot!'"
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The woman had led them outside into the cold and snowy evening, quickly calling a cab.
"Number thirteen, Paternoster Row, please." she told him. "And quickly, if you wouldn't mind."
The driver nodded, barely giving them a chance to even get in the cab before he flicked the reins and started the horses.
They sat there in awkward silence for a minute, during which the Doctor stared at their mysterious associate, trying to discern every last detail about her, and she just sat, staring out the window.
Finally, Donna couldn't take it anymore. "Who are you?" she asked, getting the woman to look up at her. "You haven't told us anything about you! Do you seriously just expect us to come with you without any information at all?"
She smirked. "Well, that kind of is what you're doing, isn't it?" she pointed out, then gave a soft cry. She pulled a hand out of the muff to reveal a large red area on her hand. "Rosaline, that hurt!" she scolded.
Donna watched in surprise as the animal poked its head out of the muff and seemed to glare at the young woman. It's head was covered in emerald green scales, and had beautiful blue eyes with slitted pupils.
The Doctor looked at it in surprise. "That's a dragon!" he cried out, his voice cracking slightly. "Where did you find a dragon?"
"The dragon has a name, you know." she said testily. "Rosaline. We'd appreciate it if you'd use it."
Then she turned to Donna, picking up that conversation where they had left off. "But I suppose you're right. I'm acting a bit like him right now, aren't I?" she asked, but continued talking before she could get an answer. "Expecting you to just follow along behind me, no questions asked. What would you like to know?"
"Who and what are you?" the Doctor asked immediately, but she just frowned at him.
"First of all, I didn't say you could ask, you presumptuous git." she said sharply - she seemed to still be mad at him for his comments about the dragon - and that actually made Donna laugh a bit. "Besides, I couldn't answer that question even if I wanted to. Spoilers." she looked at Donna again. "Any questions?"
"What's your name?" she asked, and got a slight smile in return.
"Angel - I know it's not proper for you to call me by my Christian name, but I must admit, I feel as though I've known of you for my entire life." there was a mischievous glint in her eye as she said that. "And what is yours?"
"Donna. Donna Noble." she said, and the both the young woman and the animal on her lap looked at her in shock.
"You're Donna Noble?" she breathed out, and then her face broke into a grin. "Oh, I knew I liked you!"
Before she had a chance to ask what Angel was talking about, the carriage came to a stop, and the young woman quickly exited the vehicle, making sure the dragon was tucked back in her muff as a guard against the cold and snow as she made her way up to the door after she paid the cab driver.
She led them into an elegantly decorated parlour, and placed Rosaline on a cushion before turning to them. "To business, then." she said, gesturing to two chairs for her guests to sit in.
She sat down as well, spreading some newspapers out on the table before them. The headlines were lurid, screaming, "tenth tunnel digger dissapears, police stumped".
The Doctor leaned forward in his chair as he pulled his specs out of a pocket and slipped them on. "Well look at that." he mused, then looked up at the woman - Angel. He couldn't figure her out, and it was driving him mad - well, madder than usual. She looked and acted the part of a proper Victorian lady, but there were some things - her knowing Gallifreyan, for instance - that just didn't add up. "You think there's trouble?" he asked, and she rolled her eyes.
That was another thing that was irriating. All of his companions - even Donna, even Rose - had always acted like he knew everything. Sure, it could be nice, but there were those rare moments when he didn't know what was going on, and then they usually teased him for ages afterwards. But this one, this one was different. She acted almost as if she knew what he really was - just a madman with a box. Stuff of legends, sure. But really just a traveler, trying to do some good.
"Obviously. The only question is, what is it?" she asked. The dragon - Rosaline - had slipped out of the muff while they were getting situated, curling up next to the fireplace once more.
"What's the matter with her?" Donna asked, pointing to the sleeping dragon. "I thought dragons were supposed to be big and violent."
The Angel laughed softly. "Sometimes they are." she admitted. "And she can be plenty violent when she wants to be. But she really hates the cold, and we just got back from a long trip… and she's really more of a kitten than a dragon. Loves to curl up in warm spots and sleep the day away when she can."
"Well, d'you think she would mind waking up long enough so that you could show us where these terrible tragedies have been occuring?" the Doctor asked.
She looked at him in outrage. "Do you really think I'm going to let you go down there alone?" she asked.
"Course not! I'll have Donna with me!" he said, trying to sound reassuring.
"Well as comforting as that is, I'm still coming with you. Just give me about ten minutes to get changed into something more appropriate." she said quickly, before hurrying out of the room and up the stairs.
"I don't think that a different skirt is going to help much!" he called after her, but she didn't respond.
As soon as she was out of sight, the Doctor was up out of his chair, sonic in hand.
"What are you doing?" Donna hissed as he started to go around the room.
"Looking for information." he muttered. "There's no way she's a human, or if she is, than she's not from this time period."
"D'you really think that you're going to just find something lying around here?" Donna asked, just as he spotted a small blue book.
His hearts lept into his throat as he slowly walked over to it. As he got closer, he could make out more details - the perfect shade of TARDIS blue, the two hearts etched into the cover, surrounded by flowers. He was about to pick it up and start going through it, when that dragon was in front of him, sitting on the book.
"Come on, girl." he crooned, hoping to get the overgrown lizard to move. "I just want to have a look, that's all."
But instead of moving, the creature curled up on the book, with little puffs of smoke billowing from its nostrils.
"Alright, I'm ready!" the Angel called from the doorway. The Doctor turned around, and froze.
"That's not a skirt." he said - rather unneccessarily. The young woman had shed her dress, and was now dressed in dark blue bell-bottom jeans, a turquoise tank top under a leather jacket, and purple high-heeled boots.
She just looked at me in amusement. "Excellent deduction, Doctor. Top of the class!" she said sarcastically.
"You're not from here, are you?" Donna asked, and she gave a wry smile.
"Sorry - spoilers." she said, before walking over to where I was standing. She gave me a disappointed look when she saw what I was trying to do, though.
"You ought to know better than to look through a lady's belongings, Doctor." she chided. "Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude?" with that, she slipped past him, letting the dragon climb up her arm before settling on her shoulders, curling irs tail over her collarbone while she picked up the book and slipped it into a pocket on her jacket.
Donna snorted a laugh. "Oh, yeah." she said. "He just doesn't listen."
"Oi!"
She rolled her eyes, before gesturing to follow her. "Come on, then." she said impatiently. "We've got a mystery to solve."
And with that, she led them out into the snow-covered streets of Olde London Town.
A/N~ Alright, so here is the first chapter of the brand-new Angel-Verse! I'm already liking this a lot more than the old version, that's for sure! Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think - everyone's opinion is welcome!