XxX -Chapter I: Of Light and Other Things that Shine- XxX

Some places are very dark. Some are very brightly lit. Some places don't know which category they fall in. Sunlight can be a bitch like that.

Sunlight can be so biased that even in broad daylight, which it wasn't, a perfectly respectable London alley could go dark as night due to being surrounded by overbearingly tall buildings.

It didn't matter now because it was night and everything was equalley dark.

*TARDIS noises*

A pulsing beacon illuminated the brickwork on either side of the incoming blue police box. A tousled street cat, the only witness to the sudden materialization, was startled into an epiphany. She scurried of the catch some rats and be a better mother to her children.

When the light ceased and the sexy noises were silenced, the distinctive doors of the TARDIS clicked open. A man in a trench coat with short brown hair strolled out, followed by another with neither a trench coat, brown hair, or a stroll.

"Come along, Companion!" The Doctor called to the follower, not even bothering to turn around. He put his hands in his pockets and continued at a brisk pace.

The other man jogged slightly to catch up. "Where are we?" he inquired. He couldn't make out anything now that the warm light of the TARDIS had faded. He wondered idly how the doctor could tell where he was going, if he was going anywhere at all.

"Typical American," the doctor replied, "can't tell London if she's looking you in the face."

"London's a she?"

"Yeah, like the TARDIS."

"And we ride inside her?"

"I wouldn't think too much about it."

XxX

Also in London, a young man named Graham sat tinkering with some spare parts in an abandoned attic. He had been gathering the bits for a few weeks now, and his creation was nearing completion.

Graham jotted a torque calculation onto the splintery wooden desk. He had run out of paper the day before yesterday. The dim flicker of the lamp made strange shadows on his face where he bunched his eyebrows in concentration, the contrast making him older than he actually was.

A glance up from his number crunching revealed his work. It was mostly brass, all the carefully aligned cogs glistening with polish. Eventually it would rotate a drum that in turn would pluck notes and clash cymbals to make a two and a half minute song. Well, the first time would be that long; it slowed from there. Hopefully a shop nearby would buy it and he could afford not to steal lunch for a few days. He smiled and returned to his math.

A gust of polluted London air penetrated the cracks of the attic's walls, blowing out his only light. When others would have sworn, Graham only sighed. He fumbled around in the desk's only functioning drawer for a moment and pulled out his matchbook. However, when he opened it, it was empty. Graham sighed again, got up and retrieved his coat from the back of his chair.

The floor boards creaked. The door hinge squeaked. The two flights of stairs with three missing steps added their complaints. The only quiet thing in the house was Graham. When he left, the house continued to babble without him.

An upturned hat was on his doorstep. Graham picked it up and examined it. He had always wanted a bowler hat. After brushing some soot off, he placed it snugly on his almost blonde head and set off with a slight smile.

XxX

Ben had only been the doctor's companion for a short time. The doctor preferred female companionship as it raised ratings on his sci-fi series, but the new traveler had proved himself useful and adequately witty on their adventures thus far.

It was just after eleven, according to the blonde companion's smart phone. The doctor had sonic-ed it up to adjust to any time period automatically. It also could make calls to anywhere in any time frame. It was basically iOS 42.0.

"It's not that terribly late," Ben observed, slipping his cellular device back into his pocket. "Where is everybody?"

"That is a bit strange, yeah?" The doctor agreed. He continued to walk with wide steps and his hands deep in his trench coat. He ducked his head into an alley and squinted for lack of light and glasses. "It's not even raining that bad..."

"There's somebody," Ben pointed to a lamp post on the other side o the cobblestone street.

The doctor craned his neck as if being taller would improve his vision. "Where?"

Now Ben knew the doctor was messing with him. "There. By the lamp post. He's looking right at us!"

"Right."

"You're not funny, you know."

"Niether are you." The doctor smiled aggravatingly and continued roaming with a purpose. Ben shook his head and crossed the street, looking both ways despite there being no automobiles, parked or otherwise.

XxX

The doctor was used to being by himself. He had once been called a lonely angel, but he knew that 'angelic' was very far from what he was.

When he did have a chance to be with others, he accepted it gladly. He welcomed it, sometimes too eagerly. He was always a bit put out when they wandered. He was The Doctor. Why would you pass up The Doctor?

Still, one thing he had learned from his experience with humans is to let them go, give them space, give them time. And if anyone could give time and space, it was The Doctor. Never the less, it stung a tad.

It stung even more when a slash of light attached to an iridescent arm swung out from a shadow and pierced the doctor in the side.

XxX -End of Chapter I: Of Light and Other Things that Shine- XxX