Title: The Stowaway

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: "The Stowaway" from the Doctor Who album, general rumours about the episode and series 4, The Parting of Ways, Doomsday. Basically nothing you don't know already or can't discount as untrue.

Ships: Ten/Rose

Summary: The Doctor crashes into the Titanic in time to find the whole ship under a Mummy's curse, and a waitress with a message from Rose.

A/N: I'm not a Titanic buff, so some things are guessed at here, however I did learn a few things during research, the Titanic was classed as a mail ship (hence the RMS), and the legend about the Princess of Amun-Ra being on board is an urban myth. As for the Stowaway stuff – this is an idea I had while on my 30th listening of the track. It's a case of wishing the following to be true rather than expecting it. However, if we all wish hard enough…

"He said 'Borrow or steal, I'll find a way

To be with my lover, next Christmas day,

I'll wander and roam, I'll cover the ground,

Next Christmas you'll see me, I'll be around.'" – The Stowaway

Damn seasickness…

Astrid gripped the rails and tried to breathe shallowly to make the nausea disappear. She was up near the front of the deck and it was already quite cold and dark for an April night, but after the hot dining room the chill was refreshing.

The deck was quiet as people had gone inside for dinner, normally Astrid would be serving but after fainting she had been ordered outside for fresh air. Only the few people who weren't hungry or worked on board were about.

Of course, it didn't always feel like seasickness. Some nights she would wake up feverish, unable to breathe, and her friend Annie would have to cool her face with a cloth – but by morning she was always well again.

There was suddenly a loud thud and a blue box hit the front of the ship as though it had been travelling at a hundred miles an hour. Astrid was thrown backwards onto the deck, when she picked herself up she couldn't believe she had missed it – it must have been travelling at a hundred miles an hour to hit that hard.

She crept forward for a better look. Usually if anyone broke a nail up on deck a hundred people came running, but it seemed as though she was the only one to have seen or heard.

When she saw it she was surprised. It was tiny compared with the head of the ship. Why didn't it fall off? And how had it got there at all?

And it said Police Box…

She felt the sickness overwhelm her again and she raced for the rails. The words meant nothing to her, she had never even seen the box before, but something about it made some emotion – it felt strangely like excitement – well up inside of her. It was like wanting something so badly that it hurt, and it was so strong she was going to be sick. She retched helplessly.

"Are you alright?"

Astrid lifted her blonde hair out of her eyes and looked back at the box. A man was looking at her from inside.

Impossible. She would have heard anyone come over, and to go inside would be impossibly foolish. Unless he'd been in the box all along…how could he have survived a crash like that in such a tiny vessel?

"Hello?" she croaked.

The man was young and thin and within seconds he'd hopped over the railing that was sticking into the box and come over, talking a mile a minute.

"Seasick is it? Nasty. Can't say I like boats that much. Except canal boats of course," he added. "You can have a lot of fun on a canal boat. And there's always the option of stopping for cream tea which is a bonus you don't always get out at sea. Tell me," he said suddenly, as though he were asking her if she happened to have the time, "this boat isn't the Titanic is it?

He held up one of the life rings.

Astrid had been watching him in incomprehension but this was finally something he said that she understood. "Yes."

"Are you sure about that? Absolutely, positively sure? I mean – if it came down to you knowing for a fact that water is wet and knowing for sure that this boat (the one we're on right now) is the Titanic, you would be less sure about the water being wet?" He peered down at her looking ever so serious.

Astrid wondered whether it was all a joke, but she nodded. "This is the Titanic."

The man frowned and thrust his hands into his pockets, he leaned back against the railings and drank the view of the ship in. "That's impossible," he said in a wondrous tone.

He looked at her again. "You're sure?"

"Yes," said Astrid.

"Really sure?"

"Yes."

"This isn't some joke is it?" he asked, echoing her own feelings precisely. "You didn't just have a novelty Titanic life ring lying about and decided just to throw it in to confuse me?"

"A novelty Titanic…" she began, utterly lost. She scowled; annoyed that he was standing here acting as though she was somehow the mad person. "Just who are you?" she demanded. "I ought to go and get the Captain!"

"Me? I'm just…" he looked back at his destroyed box, "…passing by."

The man whipped out a strange glowing stick from his pocket and began waving it about at the blue box. Astrid felt something strange – a glowing within her, a warmth.

"Doctor…" she whispered.

"Hmm?" he turned around. "What's your name again?" he added.

"Astrid," said Astrid. "Astrid Peth."

The man turned and shook her hand as though he was truly fascinated to meet a waitress called Astrid Peth who was feeling seasick.

"Nice to meet you Astrid Peth, I'm the-" he paused, eyebrows furrowing. "Wait a minute – how did you know who I am?"

"I don't," said Astrid honestly.

"Yes you do. You just called me the Doctor. The Doctor being me. Me. The Doctor," he added unnecessarily.

"I didn't," she lied. She really didn't want to think how she might have known his title anyway.

"You did."

"I did not!"

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"And d'you know what else is strange?" said the Doctor. "Five minutes ago my ship crashed into the front of this ship and so far no one's noticed."

He looked about at the empty deck and then back at the blue box. "I thought when we crashed that it might have been the reason…but the TARDIS didn't do any damage at all. This ship is fine. It's better than fine. It's A-OK. What day is it?" he added.

"April the twelfth," said Astrid.

"What time?" said the Doctor. He leant over the rails as though looking for something.

"Around half past eight, why?"

"Hmm," said the Doctor. "We've got a couple of hours left yet."

"We?"

"Everyone," he looked about him again. "Why isn't anybody coming?" Is no one interested in me? How rude."

"You there!" bellowed a voice that was unmistakeably Captain Smith.

"Oh!" the Doctor beamed. "There's somebody after all." He thrust his hands into his pockets and stood bouncing on his heels.

The captain was a tall, thin man in his sixties with a white hair and beard. He strode towards them all alone, which surprised Astrid, who had only seen him surrounded by a gaggle of important people (although admittedly this was mostly at mealtimes). He looked strangely vulnerable out here without anyone with him, but his voice – which Astrid had never heard at less than shouting level- remained unchanged.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded the Captain.

"Ah," said the Doctor, who didn't look particularly concerned to have such a man bearing down upon him. "Well that's the question isn't it? I mean bit hard to tell which party's to blame really – and it's not like there's any damage to your lovely ship. So I say if you organise a couple of blokes to move my box onto the deck, I'll set it to heal itself, then we can get inside out of the weather and swap insurance details."

What amazed Astrid was the man's totally unconcerned air, as though it was all some silly misunderstanding instead of utter impossibility.

"I asked what was going on!" roared the Captain.

"Well don't look at me," said the Doctor. "It was an accident really…" he looked back at the blue ship, "…or not…I can't think why she'd…"

"Right, enough games, come with me," said the Captain. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at the Doctor.

"Now that's quite enough of that," said the Doctor, who looked perfectly in control for a man having a gun pointed at him. His eyes flickered to the gun only briefly before boring into the Captain. "Now what's going to happen is that we – that is the three of us – are all going to go and have a cup of tea and discuss this like reasonable captains, waitresses and doctors. I'll tell you why a blue box has crashed into your ship. Astrid here can explain how she knows me, and you Captain, can explain why you're pointing a gun that won't be available for another two hundred years."

He leaned in, not seeming to care that the barrel was closer to his face than before, and stared into the Captain's face, reading his eyes, his mouth in a grim line.

It was like watching a lion tamer at work without a whip or a chair. The Captain lowered the gun and put it away with bad grace.

"What's she got to do with this?" demanded the Captain.

"You're good at demanding things aren't you?" the Doctor commented, all ease and charm again. "Very good demanding tone right there. If I could do a voice like that I'd never stop demanding things. 'You – stop that!', 'You - leave this planet alone'. This voice isn't as good at demanding though," he said seriously.

The captain didn't look impressed, but he did look baffled. "Tea," he said gruffly. "Right."

He led them through the ship into a wonderfully decorated cabin that was quite heavenly to Astrid, who had seen little else in the ship than the kitchens, dining room, and her own sparse quarters. There was a thick blue carpet that you practically had to wade through and soft gold trimmed armchairs around a highly polished low table. A chandelier hung down from the ceiling and the room was lined with bookcases.

"Lovely!" said the Doctor. He dropped into an armchair, stretched his legs out in front of him and rested his arms behind his head.

The Captain sat much more awkwardly in a matching armchair, leaning forward. His trousers rode up so you could see his socks. Astrid chose the last chair and sunk into in sheepishly.

Astrid sat and stared at her lap. It was only after several minutes of silence that she looked up to find the Captain staring at her impatiently. "You girl – we're waiting," barked the Captain. "Tea!"

Astrid jumped to her feet. How could she have got it so wrong? "Sorry Sir!"

"Sit down Astrid," said the Doctor calmly. Astrid sunk down instantly. It hadn't been said in the same tone of voice but it was one just as certain that the orders would be followed.

"I thought you said tea," said the Captain through gritted teeth.

"I said tea for three. Astrid wasn't feeling too well and she isn't the only waitress around surely. So go ring a bell or something and order some for us all." The Doctor winked at her.

The Captain obeyed, stepping out, and returning a few seconds later. Astrid stared with wonder and the man who could make the Captain jump up so effectively.

Nothing was said until a pot of tea, three cups, and selection of cakes that had met the Doctor's approval very well, was in front of them.

"Very civilised," he said, stirring in his sugar.

"I need to discuss that ship," said the Captain impatiently.

The Doctor looked curiously at the Captain. "This is very strange. Everyone knows more than they should. She knows I'm the Doctor- you know about space ships and guns. Was there something in the horoscopes this morning that I missed?"

"What's a horoscope?" asked Astrid.

The doctor waved a hand dismissively and frowned to himself. "I really should start keeping my jokes century appropriate. Might get a few laughs that way. Anyway, so – my ship?"

He smiled at the captain, all ears,

"This isn't something that should be discussed here," said the Captain, and Astrid was embarrassed to feel his eyes flicker to her. She stumbled to her feet.

"Thank you for the tea," she mumbled. "But I'll go now…"

"Sit down Astrid," commanded the doctor again.

Astrid sat.

"Now there's nothing here that can't be said in front of my mate Astrid here," said the Doctor with a wink at her.

"That…ship…" said the Captain. "It's from the future isn't it?"

Astrid felt her eyes swivel to the Doctor. Were it not for the blue box and the strange glowing stick he'd had that had so effectively soothed her, she would have thought the Captain ill in the head to take such a strange man seriously.

The Doctor did look slightly futuristic, she supposed. The strange shoes he wore on his feet- the odd haircut.

"Got it in one!" said the Doctor, delighted. "Just passing through. My space ship out there had a bit of an accident – one minute she's fine, the next we're here. Bit embarrassing really. But there you are. My ship'll take about forty minutes to heal which is pushing it a bit, but she understands the need to get out here sharp-ish."

"Yes," said the Captain imploringly. "You must be gone by eleven. Are you aware of the events about to take place?"

The Doctor's face froze. "I beg your pardon?"

"Tonight. Are you aware of the events?"

"Well I'm aware", said the baffled Doctor "but how are you?"

"Aware of what?" asked Astrid who had been looking from one to the other and not really understanding either.

The two of them suddenly looked a bit embarrassed to have her sitting there. Astrid stood up. "I'll just-"

"Sit down," said the Doctor. He wrinkled his nose at her and asked; "Are you on a spring or something?"

Astrid shook her head.

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Now let's all get each other up to speed shall we," he said. "I'm an alien from the future. The blue box that crashed was a space ship – my space ship – called the TARDIS. I don't know how we ended up here. That's my story, what about yours?"

The Doctor pinned the Captain with a freezing stare.

"Time Agency," said the Captain eventually. "I'm near retirement now, of course, but this is a fairly routine job. It's the tourism you see – aliens and time travellers pop-up left right and centre to come and gawk. I relive the same night over and over, and when they pop up I send them straight back home and wipe any memories or traces of them left. It's a nightmare – I must see ten love struck couples pretending they are Jack and Rose a week."

Rose…

Rose…

Rose…

Astrid shut her eyes to drown out the echo in her head and forced herself to listen to the captain. She took a sip of tea that made her stomach churn. The sickness had eased off a little in the excitement but here it was again.

The Doctor was looking confused. "How do you remove the multiples? There should be hundreds of you running around – you can't travel back in time to somewhere you've been and relive the same moment…it's a paradox!"

The captain smiled and tapped his nose. "Time Agency trick."

"Believe me – I know all the tricks in the book," said the Doctor seriously. "You Time Agency lot have barely had a…peek at the glossary."

"Maybe we're more advanced than you think," said the Captain with a carefully neutral face.

"Maybe!" said the Doctor with a bright and utterly false smile.

He then turned and focused on Astrid who was nearly pinned in her chair by the weight of the gaze.

"And then there's you," he said. "How did you know who I was?"

His gaze had switched to one so distrustful, so suspicious, that Astrid squirmed despite her innocence. "I didn't know! Honestly! I just – I saw that stick - and I heard the word 'Doctor' in my head. Like a whisper…"

The Doctor was still looking at her; his eyes didn't even leave hers while he reached for a piece of Victoria Sponge.

"V'ry int'restin'" he said around the cake. He swallowed, knocked back some tea, and spoke again. "This thing happen a lot to you – knowing this are going to happen before they happen?"

Astrid shook her head. "Never."

"Hmm…" said the Doctor. "Doubly interesting."

"But you don't understand!" the Captain cut in. "I'm trying to tell you. Something is seriously wrong!"

"Wrong?"

"Look," the Captain took a deep breath. "I've lived this night every night for over a year – I know how it goes. I know every scream, every person, rich, poor, maids, labourers, everyone. I know what happens to them all and I know how the hours leading up to it go."

Astrid stared in horror and tries to take it in. The Captain said that he lived this night over and over to stop tourists (she didn't quite understand how) and…well she wasn't stupid. There was only one thing that could be so important – a disaster, a shipwreck. Suddenly the floor beneath her feet felt far less sturdy. Would she die? What would happen to her?

The room swam and she slumped onto the table.

A/N: I know, this doesn't relate to the song too much yet, but it will soon! I'd love to hear your opinions.