When a mysterious Time Lord from Alexandria's future rescues her and offers her the universe, she jumps at the chance to run away with him before her time runs out. But what happens when they never meet in the right order? And when one knows more than the other? Will this lead to love or mistrust?
A/N: Hello, this is my first ever published FanFiction! I'm a major Whovian with an obsession with the Tenth Doctor. This story is entirely my own with inspiration from the show. It came to me when wondering how the Doctor would react to being locked into a timeline that threatened his very existence; to have adventures with the one he loves only to lose her in the end, or risk changing his own past to save her. Also, the non-canon fictional character Alexandria is the reason for much of the Tenth Doctor's humanity in my stories. I try to stay away from altering the actual show, but I'm making no promises.
I've nearly finished the 2nd chapter, but I wanted to post this first one as soon as possible, just to get it out there. I'll post the second one tomorrow. I'll try to get a rhythm down in the next few weeks to update the story weekly. I'm thinking this story will span at least 20 chapters, if not more.
Enjoy! Review if you'd like! And definitely favourite it if you liked it, and follow the story for notifications on when I update!
ALLON-SY!
Breathing
CH. 1
Alexandria plastered on a fake smile as she walked out of the office. She had never let her disorder effect her so much; suppressing her emotions so harshly and so deeply for so long they now threatened to burst out at the seams.
As much as Alexandria was boiling inside, she had to control her heart rate that much more.
Although it was a typically cold and rainy day in London, Alexandria began to sweat through her white winter p-coat as she approached her car.
The lifts were broken in the parking garage. She could either walk back into the hospital and use another elevator, or walk up to her car from the stairs in the garage. She decided to take it slow and walk up.
Alexandria cursed her waining heart for failing her so suddenly. It wasn't long ago that these stairs would have been a welcoming challenge that she would have had the confidence to conquer. Now, these three flights of stairs threatened to overwhelm her. Not because of the length of them or even their vastness, but the fear of what could happen on the journey to her car.
Alexandria had WPW; Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The name doesn't matter, really. The upshot is that there was an extra electrical pathway in her heart leading to periods of tachycardia. She had a handle over the disorder in her teens; never playing sports, never drinking or partying, always playing by the rules. WPW is usually considered a childhood disease, but seeing as Alexandria was steadily approaching her thirties and still having attacks, she had to get it checked out. Which is what brought her to the hospital that day; the day she meet the Doctor. Not just any doctor, but the Doctor.
Her fear and anxiety about being alone in the stairwell brought her ascent to a crawl. At about the halfway point she felt a strong affinity for the steps in front of her as they grew closer. She reached a hand out in front of her as the world became blurry. Things calmed down once she sat down; knees close to her chest.
Alexandria breathed in and out slowly and deeply. A headache brewing in the back of her head. She dreaded getting up.
Deep in her own turmoils, she didn't notice two white figures standing in front of her. She jumped a little took quickly at the sight of them. Both were incredibly tall and wearing scrubs, lab coats, masks, and surgical caps.
Alexandria stood up saying, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. Don't mind me."
As Alexandria stood, she automatically felt something drag her back down. A shock went through her at the entry point in her neck of a needle. Before she could feel the crack of the cement stairs on her skull, the two figures dressed as doctors caught her under her arms. She was unconscious before she even landed in their grasps.
The headache Alexandria had before was a minor tickle compared to the piercing thunder in her head when she woke up.
She tried to lift a hand to her head to somehow sooth it, but something stopped her. Craining her sore neck downwards, she saw brown restraints keeping her holstered to a flat wall. Similar cuffs pinned her ankles as well.
This has got to be some twisted dream, she thought to herself.
She chuckled softly to herself then winced at the movement.
Alexandria looked up at the blinding lights that increased her headache tenfold. She tried to focus on the figures just beyond the lights. She remembered them from earlier as the ones who drugged her.
She took that time to look around the room while her nappers were busy. From beyond the the blinding construction lights she saw a large round machine; an MRI machine. She had been in plenty of them before to know just what they looked like. Alexandria deduced she was still in the hospital, but an abandoned part of it since the machine was not active and no one noticed her being taken by these large figures.
"Hey," Alexandria yelled.
She screwed her face up in pain at the loud noise.
"What's going on here? Let me go!" she yelled again; breathing deeper to control the pain.
"Oh, we will," said a deep voice. "As soon as you tell us where the Doctor is."
"We're in a hospital. You've got to be more specific," Alexandria replied.
Now is not the time to be joking with your kidnapper, Alex, she scolded herself.
More figures dressed as doctors came out from behind the lights. All of them were at least seven foot tall, if not taller. Alexandria gaped open mouthed at them and their green scaly skin. They were built like men, but their faces stretched behind their heads to form a sort of hard crest with one larger spike on the tops of their heads. The creature at the forefront of the group of five had noticeable orange-brown scales in streaks around his head; making his features look sharper and stronger than the rest.
Alexandria shut yer mouth and shifted in her skin.
"Your Doctor," said the leader. "We need your Doctor."
"My doctor?" she asked blankly. "I have many. Who do you mean, exactly?"
"You know different incarnations?" mused the lead creature. "Interesting."
Before Alexandria could tell the things she didn't know who they were talking about, a stalkier figure thrusted himself passed his leader at her.
"We want the one who destroyed our planet!" the creature hissed at Alexandria.
The leader stuck an arm out to stop the bulky man from getting to her.
"We haven't gotten what we want out of her yet," said the leader strongly; somehow growing in size at his words to his underling.
"What do you want? I don't know who you're talking about," Alexandria said shakily against the restraints.
The leader shoved The threatening man back in line then came even closer to Alexandria than before.
"I shall ask only once more," warned the tall man. "Where is the Doctor? We have come to surface at just the right time. Wherever the Doctor is, so is Alexandria. You don't get one without the other. Everyone knows that."
The words flowed out of the creature with such confidence it scared her to death. She didn't know a doctor. Or at least this man they called the Doctor.
"You must have the wrong girl," she stuttered. " I don't know this person."
Against her will, tears welled in her eyes as the leader pulled a rogue scalpel out of his lab coat.
"Please," she stammered. "Please. I swear, I don't know what this Doctor person did, but I promise you, I don't... I don't know who... I've never met this person! Please, let me go!"
Alexandria pleaded as she yanked against the restraints; back pounding the wall, wrists tearing in their vices. She was more afraid that her own body would turn against her rather than the frightening creatures towering over her. By being trapped there, she would have no way of getting to her medicine if her body decided to attack itself. And with all this stress she wouldn't blame her body for reacting so boldly.
"Please! I don't know anything!" she whimpered. "Please, just let me..."
Alexandria's plea was stopped short by her screams as the lead creature made a harsh laceration in her right bicep. She hissed before she could plead with her capturers again as he slashed a deeper cut in her clavicle.
"Stop!" said a serious voice in a doorway that Alexandria hadn't noticed before. "She won't tell you anything."
More like, I don't know anything, Alexandria thought to herself.
The Doctor stood over six foot tall usually. However, the radiation pulsing through him made him hunch slightly. He had to use the wall to steady himself. His caramel brown hair that stood on edge at all different angles added another few inches. He glided his long fingers over the white walls in the direction of the main entrance and away from where he had parked his TARDIS in an abandoned part of the hospital. He was luckily only several feet outside of his ship when he heard a threatening hiss coming from close behind.
"We want the one who destroyed our planet!" demanded the green alien.
The Doctor stopped short at the door once he saw her tied up. All of time and space fell away around him at the sight of her; his Lexi.
The overwhelmingly bright lights emanating from the room before the Doctor made him practically invisible in the doorway. He was able to take a few moments to appreciate her.
His breath caught in his throat. Lexi stood just out of reach. He could've cried for days at the sight of her there; looking so young and healthy. Her hair laid in perfect ringlets on her shoulders in a warm brown; not unlike his own colour. Her cheeks were so warm and full of life. Her lips were tender; eyes sparkling emerald green in the light, and her body so fit and petite. Instead, he let one solitary tear fall.
Alexandria didn't have her ring on, so the Doctor knew this was the right time. He had tried to find her later on, but knew that he had to comply with the rules of time just this once. He had to come here, to this exact time, because he had already done it; because his Lexi told him so, just before...
The Doctor was so distracted by Alexandria's beauty, and pure existence, he had forgotten he was supposed to be rescuing her.
"Please, let me..." Alexandria started to plead when the leader of the pack sliced her soft skin.
The Doctor didn't make himself known quick enough because the alien slashed her clavicle next without hesitation.
"Stop!" the Doctor demanded furiously; an undercurrent of a growl beginning in his throat.
He reigned in his emotions like a bipolar switching personas.
"She won't tell you anything," he said nonchalantly.
The Doctor sauntered in past the lights so he could be seen by everyone.
Alexandria took note of the tall man; well, tall compared to her. Against the green creatures he was puny. He wore a dark brown pin-striped suit, a light blue collared shirt, and a matching coloured tie. Forgetting she was kidnapped and currently being tortured, Alexandria took a second to admire the slender saviour.
The Doctor's hearts skipped two beats as he stood mere inches away from her.
"Lexi," he breathed softly.
Dammit, he cursed himself for letting her nickname slip.
Alexandria furrowed her brow at this mans words.
How could he know her name? Her nickname at that. Connections fired into place in Alexandria's mind.
This must be the Doctor everyone keeps talking about.
"Doctor," roared the bulky man from before.
The leader stared daggers at the overzealous soldier. He stood in rank; fighting the urge to pounce on the newcomer.
"Hello," said the Doctor, waving tightly with a manic grin. "Before we get started, can we turn these lights down? There's no need for the dramatics."
The Doctor pulled a long metal object out of his suit pocket; his sonic screwdriver. He pushed a button and the back lights dimmed drastically.
"That's better," the Doctor said patronizingly; pocketing the device.
"So, what seems to be the matter here?" the Doctor asked the room.
The room was still plenty bright enough to see everyone in it. Alexandria could see the other two green creatures that had looked much blurrier in the bright lights.
"You destroyed our planet," hissed the leader this time; playing along with the pretense of his soldiers.
"Who are you?" asked the Doctor.
"Silurian," stated the leader.
"That's not possible," replied the Doctor skeptically. "There was only one homo-reptilia ship that fled the Earth at the time of the projected catastrophe; the Silurian Ark. and that was never found."
"There was a secret military ship that left Earth at the same time," the commanding Silurian informed the Doctor. "Our ancestors assumed the other ship perished somehow because they had to repopulate our planet by themselves."
"Oh!" exclaimed the Doctor. "That explains the height! And why I didn't recognize you." He began pacing around the rows of soldiers. "Last time I saw you lot must have been the originals."
"We shall regroup with our ancestors once we've killed you," the Silurian soldier declared.
The soldiers shifted their scaly hands to the futuristic-looking guns hanging around their necks. The commanding officer stood behind his soldiers. He was easily a foot taller than them.
"Hey, now. Come on," stammered the Doctor; throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm sure we can talk this out. How do you know I'm even the one you're looking for? I could be any doctor. I've never even met your breed of Silurian before; didn't even know you existed." The Doctor had made his way back to Alexandria. "That's a first. I like not knowing, makes things interesting."
Although the Silurians had backed the Doctor into the same wall that Alexandria was still attached to, he had regained his confidence.
"You are the Doctor, aren't you?" asked the commander who still stood behind his soldiers. "The one who ended the Last Great Time War?"
The Doctor guessed the Silurian's words were meant to antagonize him. However, the Doctor understood the second they mentioned the Time War who these creatures were and how they got here and why they held him solely responsible.
The Doctor chose his next words very carefully. This was the only attempt he would have at a good first impression on Alexandria. He was named the Doctor for a reason; to save and comfort and heal. He had to heed Lexi's words and be the Doctor first and foremost.
"I'm sorry," said the Doctor fervently. "I'm so sorry."
The Doctor was determined not to start another war in this very room.
Jumping right to the chase, the Doctor added, "Let me help you."
"We don't need your help," snapped the bulkier Silurian soldier.
"We want you dead," interjected another soldier who had pulled his gun on the Doctor.
The rest of the soldiers followed suit. The Doctor noticed the commanding officer hadn't even touched his weapon in all the time since the Doctor walked in.
"I understand that," the Doctor said slowly. "But please, indulge a dying mans last wish."
The Doctor shivered internally at the double meaning of his words.
Once he knew they weren't going to open fire, the Doctor continued.
"Let me help you. It's the least I can do for what I've done," the Doctor told them. "Killing me won't bring your planet or your families back. Let me find you a new home. One where the gravitational force is like your home planets'. The weight of this planet will crush you."
"We're fine," hissed the second Silurian soldier.
The Doctor looked over at the elder Silurian who had been listening to him intently and without even a hint of vengeance. He knew straight away what the commanding Silurian had in mind this whole time; perhaps even before they had found him.
"How long have you been here?" asked the Doctor.
"We arrived on this continent five-hundred years ago and have been in our stasis chambers ever since," informed the lead Silurian.
"Well," said the Doctor, elongating the word. "Makes sense," he said more to himself. "You wouldn't have lasted nearly that long if it hadn't been for your stasis chambers."
"The hospital was built over our ship," the commander continued. "It was supposed to wake us once our ship coincided with you. With all of the cement, the tracker had a shorter range for finding you."
"So," the Doctor started. "What woke you up?"
The commanding officer turned his tall frame towards Alexandria.
Alexandria had stayed so quiet for so long even she forgot she was in the room and not just a fly on the wall. Her arms and legs had gone numb ages ago. She felt almost invisible until then.
"Her," the Silurian said obviously.
Alexandria perked up as all the eyes in the room stared at her. At the slight movement, she winced at the pins and needles crawling under her skin. The Doctor saw this. He knew that look on his Lexi all too well, but couldn't comfort her like he usually did just then.
"Me?" Alexandria said very softly.
The Doctor had been suppressing the pain burning inside him for so long he couldn't tell if it was hearing Lexi's voice again that made him almost want to cry or the bubbling, boiling fever raging just beneath his skin. His Lexi would have noticed his discomfort by now, but she wasn't there. He breathed in incredibly deep with his high lung capacity and expelled it slowly. Then he remembered he had to be strong enough to save her if she was going to have a future with him. Being able to control his body temperature came in handy just then.
Barely a second had passed when Alexandria spoke again.
"What could I have possibly done?" she stammered.
Oh, the things you'll do... thoughttheDoctor fondly.
The Doctor grinned softly to himself.
"The tracker must have picked up on someone who has traveled with the Doctor instead of the Doctor himself," the commander told her.
"Not quite yet..." trailed the Doctor. "It might be the right time for me, but too early for her. She has no idea who I am yet."
This broke the Doctor's hearts, but it was hard to place blame when he knew this day was coming with this version of his Lexi.
"Oh my," gasped the elderly Silurian.
The Silurian commander knew what this meant. He had toyed with the very fabric of reality. He was more of a scholar than a military man. He was only given the title of commanding officer due to him being the oldest Silurian left to survive after their planet was destroyed in the Last Great Time War. He had studied the Doctor and his companions. He knew all of the notable ones; Rose, River, Amy, and Clara, even Susan and Sarah Jane. But there was one companion that played a bigger part in the Doctor's life than all rest. She didn't stay long, but that's what made her so special. She was the only one the Doctor would have stayed forever with, but she couldn't. Alexandria Anderson would be one of the shortest lived companions to the Doctor, but the most important.