Fun fact—this is my first Doctor Who fanfiction and I am a fairly new Doctor Who fan. So this might not be as spick-and-span as you could imagine, but we'll see. ATTENTION: This is a trial run. If I get enough votes, I will continue these adventures (since this is basically just an introduction).
Have fun reading, fellow Whovians!
"Drop the sushi, don't look back, and RUN!"
It wasn't something you heard screamed every day, especially when the guy saying it was this weirdo with a British accent. Not that I had anything against Brits; they could be pretty cute. But this guy had to be at least late-thirties, and I was only a sophomore. Plus he was wearing a leather jacket and though part of me wanted to trust the man, I hadn't had much (or any) pleasant experiences involving leather jackets.
So my initial reaction was to stare. Not blandly, either, because I can't do bland. My expression was highly skeptical, with a little bit of disgust and confusion thrown in. The man rolled his eyes in the sassiest way possible for a middle-aged man, which made me involuntarily smile. He sighed, nearly growled, in an exasperated manner then proceeded to snap at me, the only one in the restaurant save for the staff.
"You don't understand; you have to leave right now or you'll be dead before you can finish lunch!"
I pursed my lips and quipped as I closed my laptop, "Don't you know never to trust a stranger?" Of course, my remark could've been taken for flirting because I'm an idiot, but the guy never picked up on it. He was just as frustrated as before, if not more, and ran his hands impatiently over his almost-buzz cut. Unfortunately he got an idea right then, and followed through with it without second thoughts. Reaching over for my laptop, he quickly snatched it up and ran off, leaving me shouting at him and calling him some not-so-nice things. I made a split second decision and slung my bag over my shoulder and stuck my pencil behind my ear before running after the guy as he exited the sushi place.
I hated it, but the guy was right. All around me on the street were freaked out people running around, panic poisoning the air. Whatever it was that was scaring everyone wasn't visible—yet—but I could hear something like a squadron or group of some sort marching mechanically. Something weird was definitely going on. Despite all of this, I needed to get my laptop, however superficial it may have seemed at the moment. It happened to be the opposite of such, because it contained all of my stories, book possibilities, and…well, secrets. So I ran like hell, not as much from something as much as to something…or someone.
Finally I turned an empty street corner and spotted the guy running, which fueled my anger at the moment and I screamed at him to stop. Surprisingly, he slowed and glanced over his shoulder at me cautiously before coming to a complete stop. Smiling triumphantly as I caught up to him and grabbed my laptop, my panting and heart pounding took a few moments to calm back down. Curiously, the man who'd stolen my laptop just stood there, almost looking concerned for me. Of course I knew that the stealing-the-laptop-thing was a ploy to get me out of the line of fire of whatever the hell was out there causing panic; I was just stuck on why this guy was being so kind to me. He certainly didn't seem to have any bad intentions so I pulled a hesitant smile and thanked him.
"No problem," he told me and grinned, a very adorable smile for a middle-aged man (or old man, as several of my friends would say, though he didn't look actually that old). We stood there awkwardly for a few moments, until the man cried at the top of his lungs, "RUN!" I winced at his volume but looked all around for the apparent threat he was screeching about—and good Lord, he was right to screech. Coming right for us, marching like a terrifying army, were dozens of robots. I know, I know, it sounds silly. But little did I know that robots marching around Chicago would be pretty much the least silly thing I'd encounter for a long time.
To my left, the strange British man grabbed my arm and took off running with me in tow, screaming about robots in Chicago. Was it a flash mob? A hidden camera show? A fan convention? I didn't have a clue what we were running from, but this man certainly seemed to be somewhat knowledgeable. I'd just about had it with fleeing when we reached a tall, blue box labeled a 'police box'. I'd briefly studied British history and knew that these things definitely weren't around anymore, especially not in America.
"Stay here," the man ordered; ignoring my sputters of protest as he ran off yet again, this time straight towards the street we'd seen the robots last. I hated waiting. However, it was only ten minutes later that the man returned with a triumphant smile and some weird mechanical wand-looking thing in his hand.
"What happened?" I breathed, surprising myself by actually sounding concerned for him.
He just shrugged and told me simply, "The Cybermen are gone."
"Wait, what? Cybermen? This isn't a hidden camera show, is it? Is someone going to jump out of a bush and sing, 'Surprise'?" The man just laughed, making me feel a little aggravated but making me smile just the slightest bit. He extended his hand graciously and I shook it with hesitance as he introduced himself.
"My name's the Doctor."
"Mm-hm that's cute. What's your real name, Mr...?"
"The Doctor. It's just…the Doctor."
I sighed in exasperation and begrudgingly accepted the name, then told him my own. "Alright, if that's how you want to play it. My name's Kasey. Kasey Davidson." A part of me screamed at me that I was stupid, and I probably was. Why did I give him my name? What if he was a pedophile and I'd just given him what he needed to steal my identity or rape me or something? But he just smiled politely and gestured to the police box behind me, which I was still trying to figure out.
"This here's my ship. The TARDIS, she's called. Lovely thing, isn't she?"
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and my lips pursed tightly as I looked it over for any quirks or weird things about it. In any case, he'd called it his ship, and that was certainly painting him a picture of being….well, not right in the head. He probably was insane, so I made the decision to inch away slowly. Bad decision. The 'Doctor' frowned, not in annoyance, or anger, but with disappointment and something akin to childlike pouting. His sad face was adorable, and I couldn't help but smile as he looked at me with his big blue-gray eyes.
He noticed my smile and grinned back, mischievously asking, "Do you like adventures?"
I shrugged. "I like writing about them," I replied, holding up my laptop in recognition that my stories were on it.
There was a childlike innocent about him as his eyes shone and he asked me, "How would you like to be a part of one?" And before I knew it, his hand was outstretched towards me, offering me what I knew innately was the chance of a lifetime. I had no idea, how much the Doctor would change my life from that moment.
With every bit of hesitance I felt poured into my voice, I asked, "Where would we go?"
He laughed, a delightful sound that made me subconsciously smile, and told me, "We could go wherever, or whenever you want."
Wait, what?
"Whenever?"
"Yes," the Doctor replied simply.
Another question popped into my head that I hadn't considered before, and I presented it right away: "But why me?"
"Funny you should ask that, not many do….I'm not quite sure, you….hmmm..." While he was mulling it over, I noticed the key had been slid into the door of what he'd called the Tardis, and making a split-second decision, I reached over and opened the door.
The Doctor didn't even protest when I thought he would, but that wasn't nearly important at the moment I saw what I did. As a fiction writer, my mind is prepared to handle strange and unexplainable things, but this….? This was almost out of the question. Slowly, I reached my head into the police box, though I knew full well by what I was seeing that I could dance around inside of it and never touch a thing but the floor. It—the Tardis—had high ceilings, multiple gadgets lying around, and a giant pillar emulating light and making odd sounds in the middle of the…room….Yes, it was indeed an entire room, somehow inside an 8 by 4 by 5 box.
"How the hell….," I muttered, taking a step back. I was almost too mystified to pay attention to the Doctor, but I did see him out of the corner of my eye smile wistfully.
"So what do you think?" he asked quietly, kind and respectful in a way that made me consider going more. My mind was a blur, and it was starting to flash back to how life had been up until now: boring, dreary, almost hopeless. Close to no one supported my writing, and God knows I didn't feel comfortable at home or at school. I was almost constantly worrying about my future, and this way….I would never have to think about my future.
"Yes."
I'd stunned myself by how I'd sounded when I'd answered: I was desperate, and I knew it.
The Doctor snickered, "You think 'yes'?"
"Yeah," I breathed, brushing my hands over my jacket. "I think it sounds wonderful." We smiled at each other, this time leaving no awkwardness between us, and the Doctor leaned in an inch, looking like he was sharing a secret.
"So…. All of time and space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"
Vote in the reviews if you want to see more of the Ninth Doctor and Ms. Kasey Davidson!
