Chapter 1 - Enter the girl

It was a run of the mill stop in Cardiff, the Doctor had decided to park his Tardis to fuel up while he walked around the area. Who knows, maybe something interesting would happen. The Doctor grabbed his fancy long brown trench coat and set off down the street. The street, at the moment, seemed to be completely deserted, which was highly unusual for this particular road lined with shops and restaurants. All of which also seemed to be empty. So then, where the heck is everyone?! It wasn't a holiday, as far as the Doctor could recall, and there didn't seem to be any great threat that would cause people to hide or die or be abducted...so what on Earth is going on?

Suddenly there was an earth shaking explosion from around the corner a few blocks down. Car alarms sounded and smoke was rising from where the Doctor assumed the explosion went off. He started to jog in the direction of the explosion but before he could get past half a block, a girl ran into the main road from where the explosion was. She slung a massive weapon onto her back and ran as fast as she possibly could with those heavy black combat boots weighing her down, straight towards the doctor. Every couple feet of so the ground would dent upwards, as if something were pushing up from beneath the pavement. As the girl neared the Doctor, she paused, grabbed his hand and shouted, "Doctor, RUN!" So, they ran.

The girl released his hand in favor of running faster and she was able to run ahead of him by a couple dozen paces. Every second or so, the girl would look behind them, terrified, and run just a bit faster. She suddenly turned the corner and ducked behind a dumpster, covering her mouth and nose with her hand so that her heavy breathing would not give away her location. Then, the Doctor turned the corner, but could see no sign of the mysterious girl that somehow knew his name. He slowed to a walk and stood in the middle of the alley, panting and wondering where the hell the girl could've gone. He slowly turned in a circle to ascertain his surroundings and spotted the girl cowering behind the dumpster. The girl's eyes widened in terror as she bolted up onto her feet. She slowly raised her hands into the air.

"P-please, I don't have any money, please don't hurt me!" The girl exclaimed in fear. The Doctor was completely bewildered.

"Money? What? I'm not going to hurt you, just tell me your name. What was that thing we were running from? And how do you know my name?!"

The girl slowly lowered her hands and braced herself on the wall. She was utterly confused. "I was running from you! You just started chasing me! And I have no idea who you are, i'm sorry!"

Aaaannd, now the Doctor was completely lost. "No, just a moment ago, there was an explosion, you were running from something, then you grabbed my hand and told me to run, so I did. What was that thing? Who are you?"

The girl sighed in resignation, it was happening again. "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't remember any of that. It happens to me a lot, I just forget things. ...um...I'm Louise. Louise Weston. And you are?"

The Doctor seemed like he was deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes were unfocused. "I'm the Doctor...," he mumbled.

Louise tilted her head slightly, causing one of her two dark brown braids to fall behind her shoulder. "Doctor? Doctor who?"

The Doctor seemed to snap back into place, "Ah, no, just the Doctor, Doctor is fine." He looked at the strange girl intently, "Louise, you said you forgot what you were running from, but you look like you're dressed for combat, and you have a massive gun on your back..."

Louise smiled and pulled the gun from her body, she held it our for him to see. "It's a PHASER," she explained, "Photon Harmonizing Atom Splitting Ergonomic Revolver, its good for ten, quick, mid-range bursts, but it needs a thirty minute recharge once the shots are used up."

The doctor knew immediately that this weapon wasn't human, and this technology was far too advanced for the time. "Louise, where exactly did you get this?" he asked as he looked her in her eyes, trying to detect a lie.

Her bright blue eyes suddenly dulled, before brightening again and growing confused. She tilted her head slightly again, "You just handed it to me, Doctor. Er, sorry, you can have it back, I just wanted to see it." She held the gun out to him.

The Doctor's eyes widened, he walked even closer to her, placed the gun on top of the dumpster, and gently placed his fingertips on her temples, "Louise, this won't hurt a bit, i'm going to try to help you, ok? Just close your eyes and open your mind." Louise nodded her head slightly and let her eyes drift shut. Immediately, she could feel the doctor probing about her mind. She could feel him looking at things, trying to find something, but couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was, or even sense the memories and thoughts he was trying to find and see. As he searched, the doctor's eyebrows furrowed and he frowned slightly.

"Louise, its like there are doors, blocking everything. Every time I try to look, they slam shut. Try to open some of them, try to remember something, anything.."

Louise focused on what she was just doing, she was talking to the Doctor, she knew that, but what about before that? She backtracked each running step, from where she was now until whatever it was she was doing before. All of a sudden, she could remember running towards the doctor, she shouted at him to run, she said his name and grabbed his hand and dragged him along with her! Then, she could remember the road cracking beneath her feet, she could remember holding that massive gun and firing at...something. She couldn't see what she shot at, it was getting dark and fuzzy and hot. The Doctor was able to see all of this, but his connection in her mind suddenly felt like it was burning him, and the door slammed shut in his face. The Doctor snapped back to himself, just in time to catch this strange girl as she collapsed, unconscious.

The Doctor held the sleeping girl in his arms, while he himself leaned against the dirty alley wall and tried to stop himself from shaking. Once he composed himself, he picked up the girl, briefly noticing how small and light she was. He had no choice but to carry her back to his Tardis, after all, he couldn't just leave an unconscious girl alone in an alleyway. He pushed open the Tardis door and kicked it shut. The doctor didn't have a proper place to lay her down, so he carried her deeper into the Tardis and laid her down in a soft bed in the spare bedroom down the hall from his own (which he hardly ever used).

As the Doctor rushed back through the console room, the Tardis whirred in disapproval. Honestly, the doctor agreed, he really shouldn't leave some strange girl alone in his time machine, but it couldn't be helped, besides, she was unconscious. With that minimal comfort in mind, the Doctor rushed out of his Tardis, locked it, and ran down the street to where the explosion was earlier.

Insert cool explanation about how the Doctor saved the day and rescued all of the missing people

By the time the Doctor strolled back to his Tardis, it was sunset, and he was smiling from another job well done, another date to add to his "times I saved the Earth," list. And, the girl would surely be awake. The first thing the Doctor did when he got back was rush to where he left Louise to check on her. The door opened silently and he stepped in. Louise was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed and her arms folded around herself. Her big blue eyes were bloodshot and dried tears streaked across her pale cheeks, she had been crying and awake for who knows how long. She looked up at him when he entered.

"Doctor," she whispered, "I don't know where I am...I think I forgot again..." She buried her face in her hands. The Doctor rushed over and sat on the bed with her.

"No, no no. You're okay, you were unconscious. I tried to find what you were forgetting, but something pushed me out. You're safe, you'll be ok," he said softly, trying to comfort her.

She looked into his deep brown eyes, "Are we...are we in your Tardis?" The Doctor's eyes widened again, "How did you know that? How do you know what a Tardis is?" His voice shook ever so slightly. He could feel confusion and rage and fear bubbling up inside of him. Who is this girl and how does she know these things?!

Louise's eyes dulled again, before looking up at him in confusion. "What's a Tardis?"

The doctor couldn't understand what was going on. For some reason, this strange girl seemed to know all about him, his Tardis, and alien technology, but couldn't remember anything she said or did involving it! He knew he would have to keep an eye on this very peculiar, very strange girl. But, she was obviously frightened. Maybe it wasn't her? Maybe there was something inside of her? Regardless, she seemed harmless enough, and he didn't want to scare her even more...plus, it would be nice to have someone else in the Tardis again alongside him...

The Doctor smiled at her a bit, "Why don't I show you? C'mon!" He grabbed Louise's hand, pulled her up off the bed, and led her to the console room.

Once inside, Louise dropped his hand and walked forward, eye wide with wonder. Her hands lightly trailed over the console, fueling her wonder and excitement. It was almost as if the Tardis was alive. Louise could feel the Tardis's energy all around her, she could almost feel her breathing and looking right back at her, almost like she was being examined. Louise tried to greet the Tardis's energy with her own, and was met with apprehensive warmth, like the machine was glad she was here, but also didn't like her. It almost felt like the Tardis was...afraid of her? Louise drew her hand back to her body and turned back to the Doctor, who was standing and watching her the whole time. She smiled at him, "She's beautiful. Absolutely remarkable! And she can travel through space and time? How does that work? Are you alone? There's a lot of controls, shouldn't there be a whole crew? And how is a ship this massive not detected by the people on earth? They would notice something this big! Unless, does this ship have a cloaking device? Are we invisible right now?!"

The Doctor was amused by all of her questions, and glad that she was so curious, but also a bit apprehensive about answering her questions, she did, after all, seem to already know that the Tardis could travel through time and space. "Well, aren't you curious. Alright, alright, slow down," he chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I'm the only one, but that is exactly the perfect number of controls, i'll have you know," he joked, causing Louise to smile more. "As for cloaking, why don't you take a look outside?" He nodded his head to the door. Louise raised an eyebrow at him, but walked to the door and creaked it open. She saw that just outside of the ship appeared to be solid ground, so she stepped outside. And turned around. And looked. And had to pick her jaw up off the floor. What?! How?! She walked all the way around the ship, twice, running her hand along the outside of the wooden box, poking her head inside the door. The Doctor watched her from inside, barely containing his mirth. Louise walked back in, eyes wide and sparkling, jaw dropped, and smiling. She walked to him and excitedly asked, "It's smaller on the outside?! How does it do that? Oh! Is it a time lord thing?!"

The smile immediately fell from the Doctor's face. Her ran to the doors, closed and locked them, and dragged Louise to the console room bench and sat her down. He paced in front of her, trying to figure out how to ask her who she is and what she's doing here. As for Louise, she was completely lost. Had she said something wrong? Wait...had she even said anything at all? She remembered walking around the outside of the Tardis...then she was suddenly here...

The Doctor finally stopped pacing and looked into Louise's confused eyes. "Who are you, Louise? Who are you really?" She honestly couldn't answer, she had no idea what he was talking about. The Doctor sighed and leaned against the console behind him, his feet barely an inch away from hers. To Louise, he looked like a giant, towering over her like that. Well, actually, he already towers over her by at least a whole foot, but it's more intimidating when she'd sitting. "Tell me about yourself, where are you from? Siblings, parents, pets, friends, a job?"

Louise shifted in her seat, mildly uncomfortable with the sudden interrogation. "I'm from dorchester, I moved to London last month because I just turned nineteen. I don't have any siblings, my mom is... a post office manager and my dad is...in the military...I haven't seen either of them in years. I can't really remember any friends, but I think they were there. I don't have any kind of job, except for my assignments. They told me to hunt for alien activity in the UK, they said I would eventually run into you and then the prophecy would start..." Louise trailed off, her eyes suddenly very dull and unfocused, before they went back to normal, "Oh, and I used to have a dog named spot, but I had to give him away to a neighbor when I moved to London..." She looked back up at the Doctor, who was standing up straight with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes were glaring but his face had lost most of its color. Louise felt a chill go through her and she slunk down lower in her seat.

"Who told you to try to find me? What prophecy?!" The Doctor bit out, trying to control his anger and fear.

Louise looked up at him, eyes duller than ever. She looked right through him and spoke in a monotone voice, "My friends, from so long ago, they told me I must, As the windows darken and time unfolds, from pain the nightmare will usher in new life, and the truth will be revealed in the final moment."

She was dizzy for a second, but Louise shook her head a bit and looked up at the doctor, about to ask him what exactly he meant, but saw that he was gripping the console tightly behind him and he looked pale and confused. In his mind, the Doctor had no idea what to do. Some people had sent this girl to find him and she was somehow tied to him in prophecy. Dread settled heavily in his stomach. He'd have to keep her around, he couldn't just have this girl wander off, but he also didn't want to put himself or anyone else in danger...

"Doctor? ...Are you alright?" She stood and touched his arm gently, "Doctor?"

He seemed to break out of whatever war he was waging in his mind and smiled faintly at her, making a last minute decision to keep her around, he answered, "Yes, sorry. Right. Well then. What do you say? Want to come on an adventure with me? See the stars? All of time and space, hmm?"

Louise's eyes light up like fireworks at the offer, she grabbed his arm excitedly, "Really? Can I? You'd really take me with you?! Yes, please!" She hugged him around the waist, "thank you! thank you! thank you!"

The doctor chuckled and pried her off of him, "Right then, where do you want to go?" The doctor started to pull on seemingly random levers and push seemingly random buttons.

Louise thought for a moment, she smiled and said, "Doctor, take me somewhere spectacular."