A/N: Written for the Labyfic LiveJournal Challenge "A Most Unusual Development."
P.S. I haven't abandoned my other story (if you happen to be reading it and wondering why I am posting dribbles when it remains un-updated). I've just had a rough month. The draft is being edited and should be up soon, I swear!
My basket was overflowing with homegrown goodness when I dropped onto a chair outside a bustling café. I'd always loved the night market. There was something extraordinary about purchasing fruit under a night sky and skipping through the streets while the summer air began to cool.
I blew lightly on the mug of decaf I'd ordered and surveyed the groups of people passing by. The stirring notes of a guitar drifted over the busy scene lending it a cinematic quality. Shoppers flitted from one booth to the next haggling over fruits and frivolities as their children ran amuck. Young couples as well as old ones clasped hands and meandered aimlessly in their love-struck ways.
As I continued my casual observations a young woman dropped into the chair next to mine with an exaggerated sigh.
"I've lost him." She stated.
"I know the feeling." I laughed.
"Clara Oswald," she extended her hand.
"Sarah Williams, at your service. Who are you after?"
"A tall fellow of indiscriminate age, dressed in black, and very cheeky." Her crisp accent was almost as charming as her speech.
"Hmm," I wondered. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"Well, you can't blame a girl for trying." She lifted her cup in my direction.
"Ain't that the truth."
She downed her drink in a flash and was back on her feet. "I suppose I'll see you around, Sarah."
"Actually, would you like some help? I can drop my basket off at my car over there and join you in the search. I've got nothing better to do."
She paused as if considering my offer. "Yeah," she finally smiled, "that would be great."
Once my basket was deposited safely into my beat-up old Volvo we ventured into the waning crowds.
"Does your friend have a name?" I asked.
"Yes, but I just call him Doctor."
"Is it likely that he would be found amongst the crowd or creeping in the shadows?"
"He'd probably be comfortable in either. Generally, when I lose him, I just search about for nervous looking people. He tends to have a certain effect."
"I see." Being somewhat taller than my new friend, I arched my gaze across the square and searched for any sort of disturbance. There was none, but I did see a conspicuously dressed man hovering around one of the small alleyways. His suit was out of place for the summer heat and he paid no mind to the wary stares that several people tossed his way.
"I may've found your Doctor." I inserted my arm into hers and dragged the woman across the cobbled streets. Recognition dawned in her eyes as we cornered the man I'd spied.
"That's him alright." Her face lit up.
"Oiee, Doctor." She hailed him.
The man mumbled to himself and continued to exam the brick wall before him, paying Clara no mind. She drew up close to him tapping his shoulder several times.
"What is it?"
He spun around with a deadly glare. I took a cautious step back and waited. The Doctor's eyes shifted from Clara's to mine and then back to hers. There was something in his look that I'd seen before. His gaze was old and mocking.
"Was one pair of too large eyes in a too round face not enough? You had to go and snag a recruit?" He shook his head and returned to his work.
"Be nice." She hissed, unaffected by his malice.
"Nice, she says." He muttered.
Abruptly, he stopped and turned on me. His fierce brow crinkled as he eyed me.
"Who did you say you were?"
"I didn't. My name is Sarah."
"Sarah." He spoke my name as if he were trying to recall if it meant anything. "Hmm," he pulled some sort of instrument from a hidden pocket, much like a birthday party magician, and pointed it at me. The thing buzzed and blinked and I frowned as he frowned.
"Interesting."
"What is it?" Clara asked.
"This girl has been in contact with trachoid time crystals." He looked at me accusingly.
"Trach...what?" I felt my eyebrow arch in a way that I generally tried to avoid.
"Trachoid time crystals. You've been moved through time and space." His eyes dared me to deny it.
My stomach lurched a bit as I tried to understand what exactly was happening.
"How can you know that by pointing a laser at me?"
He didn't answer. Instead he grabbed my wrist and tugged me further into the dark alley.
"Doctor!" Shouted his companion as she followed in our wake.
"Hey!" I tried to plant my feet into the pavement, but he was stronger than he appeared. Before I could break free, he'd yanked me into a suspiciously out of place police box. Clara stormed in behind us.
I bit my lip as my eyes scanned the unbelievable sight. "It's bigger on the inside."
"You're an astute one aren't you?" He rolled his eyes.
I'd seen some pretty miraculous things in my time, so I didn't bother to ask the hows and whys. "This is certainly some kind of awesome."
"I'm glad you approve." The Doctor drawled. "Now," he leveled me with a direct stare, "what do you know about the recent disturbances within the time space continuum?"
"Ahh, not a lot." I eloquently informed him.
"Well, you are the only person we've encountered who has been mucking about in space and time." He crossed his arms.
"I wouldn't say that I mucked about in anything. I was drawn into a rather nasty game of hide and seek fifteen years ago." I placed my hands on my hips in subtle defiance. It would be a cold day in the Underground before I let the man cow me.
"What do you mean?"
Sighing I dropped my arms and leaned against a rail. Clara stood between the two of us prepared to moderate if necessary.
"I made a very stupid wish...Once Upon a Time...and it was answered by the Lord of the Labyrinth, the King of Goblins."
"The King of what? Utter nonsense…" He circled around a complicated looking console.
"It isn't." I shook my head.
"You mean to tell me that some mythical king pulled you through time and space because of a wish?"
"Yes."
"That's absurd." He sneered.
"Is it really Doctor? After all we've seen you can't believe that?" Clara gave me a sympathetic glance.
"Fine." He darted around the console and grabbed my arm once more, jerking me over to all the knobs and gadgets.
"Place your finger in here and think about this place...this Labyrinth. If it exists in all of time and space we will find it." His condescending expression nearly goaded me into it.
"I'd rather not. Jareth and I didn't exactly part on good terms." I stared warily at the console.
"So your King has a name. It sounds like a fairytale to me."
"It was...in the most Grimm sort of way."
"Then show us." He shoved my hand into the place he'd indicated and immediately the Labyrinth swam to the forefront of my mind.
With a great whirling noise-Vworp Vworp-the police box moved. It moved us through time and space to the one place I'd never thought I'd see again. The Doctor and his companion looked as shocked I felt when we landed with a soft thud.
"No way." Clara's round eyes filled with amusement as she bounced toward the door.
"Impossible." The Doctor left me to stalk after her.
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." I quoted strolling up beside them.
The Doctor rushed out into the red sand. His old eyes became young again as he took in the unknown landscape. "This is brilliant. Impossible, but brilliant." He dipped down to examine the sand beneath his feet.
"Oh, it's quite peachy until you run into the Jabberwock." I warned. The air was already beginning to hum, not with the sound of the police box, but with magic. We all three stood to attention as a cultured, yet disembodied, voice embraced us on the hilltop.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
Laughter colored the bit of poetry that the Goblin King had snatched from my memory. My heart stopped at the sound. It was just as I'd remembered it.
I may be persuaded to write a second part. It does seem a little unfinished.