Background Note:

I've been a fan of Doctor Who for over two decades, watching the classic series on repeats and DVDs and being an avid watcher of the revival. The one constant in Doctor Who is reinvention, and I'm not just talking about the lead actor. Jon Pertwee (my Doctor) was a secret agent for UNIT, while Tom Baker's early years were dark and gruesome horror.

To that end, I have created my own Doctor and companion. For all intents and purposes my stories take place "sometime after" the current series, whatever series that might be at the time of reading. He might well end up being the 18th or 19th Doctor by the time I'm done. Although of course, it is a Time Travel show, so he may show up at the same time that another Doctor was running around (Spoilers!).

Similarly, one of the problems with a show about time travel is that I may inadvertently create a canon error. I will do my best not to!

Also, while Doctor Who nowadays may feature some close ties to the real world, for my purposes, the world of Doctor Who is a separate universe from our own. That's certainly how I viewed it in the classic era and since I don't remember a UFO crashing into Big Ben in 2006 I'm guessing that's how the real writers view it too!

I'm not going to deal with the regeneration limit. If he's a post-13 Doctor, please assume that matter has been dealt with.

Anyway, this is the first story in my own personal take on the Doctor Who universe. I hope you enjoy it.

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Overnight Custody

Part 1 – Criminal!

Jamie Marie Foster smiled to herself as the police car drove past slowly. She poked her head out from the alleyway where she had hidden herself, and watched the red rear-lights disappear into the wet and misty night, towards Battersea, near the River Thames. After it had gone completely, she finally stepped out from her hiding place, and pulled her hood up over her head. The rain pattered against her leather jacket as she stepped briskly in the opposite direction to the police car.

She checked her watch. It was now getting on for 2am, and the rain had been hammering South London all night. The clubs were finally starting to empty, the streets weren't as crowded as they would normally be on a Friday night; everyone seemed to have stayed in the dry. She should have been in the dry too, more so than anyone else perhaps, but she couldn't stand the idea of being in that house one more second.

Not with him.

As she passed the Dancing Dragon, two very drunk men staggered out the door, laughing and singing loudly. The leader of the little group bumped her, sending her staggering out with them and knocking her hood back onto her shoulders. "Watch it!" she barked.

"Sorry I… Jamie?" replied the man.

"Oh great," thought Jamie, she was in for it now. With her hood up, she retained some degree of anonymity, but now her face was out for all to see. After what had happened, there didn't seem to be anyone left in England who didn't know her face.

"What are you doing out psycho?" the man teased, "shouldn't you be at home?"

"Yeah," his friend joined in, "they'll be out looking for you psycho."

"Let them find me," Jamie sneered back, desperately trying to fein confidence as the lies left her lips. "I've done nothing wrong"

"Yeah well we'll see won't we?" the man chuckled, "I heard a rumour that you messed him up good and proper."

"Well, don't believe everything you hear," growled Jamie, and stormed past them, pulling her hood back up over her now-wet and matted dyed-red hair.

"Hey Psycho!" the man called after her. Jamie stopped for a second and turned her head. "You're going the wrong way, aren't you? I thought your favourite club was that way".

Jamie rolled her eyes and shook her head, walking away as the men laughed hysterically, and headed back in the other direction.

Psycho…

Psycho…

It cut like a knife. She'd already lost her university place over what had happened, she didn't need her life plastered all over the rumour mill, making the rounds with every ne'er-do-well in the local area. The whole thing was meant to stay quiet, but someone had tipped off the tabloids and now everyone had tried and convicted her in their heads. And then there was her father.

It wasn't what she'd done that had upset him, oh no. It wasn't even the threat of her going to prison. No, it was the publicity. Everyone knew her father; in fact many people looked up to him and worshipped the ground he walked on. But he was nothing without his image, and she had taken a sledgehammer to a carefully sculpted image of a perfect family life. With one stupid act she'd wrecked an image he'd worked tirelessly to build.

And then there was…

What was that? A siren blast?

Jamie turned and looked over her shoulder, and saw a police car heading towards her. The registration was different from the one she had seen earlier, but this one was clearly looking for her! She looked left and right desperately, but the only refuge she could see was a large rubbish bin in the car-park of a nearby shop, down another dark alley. Convinced she'd already been spotted, she knew she had no choice, and dashed towards it. As she quickened her pace, the police car pulled up, and both policemen leapt out.

"Miss Foster! Stop! Police!" Jamie darted into the alley and sprinted towards the bin, but hearing the heavy police boots just behind her, knew she'd never manage to hide in there. Her only choice was to keep running and hope for another option, but her options were pretty limited as she entered the car park.

Going back was not an option.

To the left was the road, but if the police backtracked to their car she'd never outrun them there.

To the right lay a row of gardens behind a series of fences, the first over six feet high, she couldn't jump that.

Finally, some luck, as she looked along the fence, she saw that someone had parked their car immediately in front of it, giving her a bit of leverage. She headed towards the car, but still wasn't sure she could make the jump. However, as the boot-steps got louder and closer she knew she had no choice.

Jamie leapt onto the bonnet of the car and ran towards the fence, setting off the alarm as she did. With a burst of energy, she vaulted over the fence, landing in a grass garden on the other side and rolling as she landed. Her ankle stung as she landed, but she hurled herself up.

The boot-steps kept coming, only one pair now, the others disappeared back in the other direction. They were trying to out-flank her!

Jamie kept running as best she could, sprinting across the garden and vaulting the second fence, just as the policeman landed in the garden behind her. She sprinted across the second garden, then the third, narrowly avoiding a small fish pond on the other side. Her heart pounded, her chest hurt, her head raced, and her ankle was really starting to slow her down. Jamie knew she couldn't keep this up much longer. As she reached the fourth fence, she forced her arms to grab the fence.

There was a loud splash behind her. Jamie turned briefly to see that the policeman hadn't been so lucky jumping the third fence, plunging into the pond up to his waist. Jamie allowed herself a cheeky smile as she forced herself over the fence, leaving the policeman struggling to get out of the pond. As she landed in the next garden, her ankle shuddered again. She winced through the pain, realising she had to stop and hide somewhere.

Instead of heading for the next fence, she ran towards the house, reaching into her jacket pocket as she reached the back door. She pulled out her trusty Swiss army knife and deformed hairpin, and jammed them both into the lock. What luck! An old fashioned pin-lock! With a turn of her wrist the door opened and she ran inside, closing the door just as the policeman landed in the garden behind her.

Jamie slumped down against the door, trying to catch her breath and rest her ankle. She pressed her ear up against the wood, and listened. She could hear the policeman trudging round the garden in his soaking wet trousers, looking all around for her. She held what was left of her breath as he came closer to the door, then breathed a sigh of relief as he turned and walked the other way. "I've lost her," he said into his radio. Jamie smiled, leaned her head back and closed her eyes, breathing heavily.

Then suddenly the light went on, and she was confronted by the sight of an elderly white-haired lady standing in the doorway in front of her. Jamie looked around, and found she was in a small, cosy, and now very well-lit kitchen. The woman was shaking with fear as she looked at the young soaking-wet red-haired woman in front of her. "Get out!" she screamed, "Get out of my home!"

"Please," said Jamie, fighting to speak through the pain in her ankle, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just need a place to hi…"

"Get out!" the woman wailed, "I don't have anything worth stealing! Get out of my home!"

"Be quiet!" barked Jamie. She turned her ear back towards the door, trying to block out the old lady's screaming.

The bootsteps approached from outside.

There was a loud knock on the door

"Madam, it's the police. Is everything alright?"

Jamie hung her head, the chase was over.

Five minutes later she found herself by the woman's front door, as the policeman reached for his handcuffs.

"You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you fail to answer when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say…"

"…may be given in evidence", muttered Jamie, "I know the drill. I was a law student you know." The policeman cuffed Jamie's hands behind her back, then shook his head as he lead her slowly through the front door of the house, towards the approaching police car.

"You know," he said, "if you'd just gotten into the car when we pulled up, we'd have kept you in the cell overnight for breaching your bail, your dad would have hired some high flying solicitor, and you'd be home for dinner tomorrow." Jamie didn't react, and continued to stare down at her feet as they walked. The car stopped in front of them, and the other officer got out and walked towards the back door, opening it. "But now," the policeman continued, "we've got breaking and entering, possible assault, criminal damage…"

"I get it, alright?" snarled Jamie, turning to face him and gritting her teeth, "lets just get this over with."

The policeman shook his head again, sadly, and led her towards the car door. "What happened to your trousers?" the second policeman asked, causing Jamie to smirk a little as she remembered the chase.

Suddenly they were all thrown off their feet by a huge explosion, landing on the wet road. Jamie screamed as she hit the ground, her hands still cuffed behind her back. The open doors of the car blew shut, and the car itself rocked from side to side with the force of the explosion. The slamming door seemed to trigger a chain reaction across the neighbourhood, with every car-alarm in the street sounding simultaneously, trees rocking back and forth, dogs barking from inside their homes, and newly switched lights beaming out from every house as people gathered at their windows. Jamie composed herself, and with some difficulty rolled herself over until she was sat up. Her jaw dropped.

Looking north, towards the River Thames and inner London, Jamie could see huge yellow flames roaring up into the sky. From the flames, a massive cloud of soot and ash bellowed up into the night sky, blocking out the stars as it rose higher and higher, and dropping ash down into the neighbourhood with the rain. The two policemen pulled themselves to their feet and adjusted their uniforms, staring along with Jamie.

Slowly, people began emptying into their front gardens, and then out into the street, ignoring the combined rain of water and ash as they stood there in their pyjamas and dressing gowns. Jamie, the policemen, and everyone in the street stood in amazement, transfixed by the flames and smoke as they danced in the night sky.

Suddenly, amidst the chaos, there was a hiss from the police car's radio.

"All available units respond, large explosion at Battersea Power Station, I repeat, Battersea Power Station," it hissed, "possible terrorist action, requesting special response units"

"That doesn't make sense," thought Jamie, "why would terrorists blow up an abandoned power station?"

The radio hissed again, as the two policemen pulled Jamie back to her feet and led her to the car. She cocked her ear in the direction of the car radio as they lowered her into the back and secured her in place.

"One suspect in custody. Suspect is a Caucasian male, aged late thirties to early forties, shoulder length brown hair. Won't give his name, but says he's a Doctor of some kind…"