The Doctor's New Path

By John Proft / Orko

Based on characters and situations owned by the BBC and John proft. (and more to come)

Chapter one:
The newest companion

There are infinite possibilities. Every choice we make has more than one answer. Every choice we make can take us in one path or another. But what if you made the other choice. What if you turned left instead of turning right? There countless alternate universes just outside our own, these worlds are almost exact duplicates of our own with one exception in each one. An example would be what if television was never invented, or what if the human race only had one eye.

Many of these universes contain a being known to many as "the doctor" the doctor that is most commonly known is a great hero, as are many other of his duplicates in these other universes. But this story will follow a slightly different doctor. While the doctor we know can freely travel threw time and space. This doctor has an added ability. In addition to time and space, his ship is able to cross the dimensions as well. He has little control over the ability, and is still learning the rules of doing so, but we are getting somewhat ahead of ourselves.

Our story starts with a boy by the name of Jack Carson, in the American Midwest, on the 12th of October 1999. An ordinary, pathetically average boy. He spent his days working at the local gas station owned by the always grumpy Mr. Murphy . The day had started like any other. He had been working for a good two hours when it quickly changed from ordinary to very, very extraordinary. He yawned from boredom as he mopped the floor. Mr. Murphy barked with a snicker,"You missed a spot."

Jack fought to keep from groaning in irritation, and simply extended his mop to where his employer had pointed out. After another moment of silence, the boy looked up.

"Don't you ever get bored?" Jack asked, his eyes glancing off into space.

"What do you care, Jack? You're just a damn janitor. Shut your hole and go empty the trash." Murphy replied. Jack didn't bother to hold back his sigh this time, as he went back to the janitor's closet and set the mop away. He grabbed the box of garbage bags from the side shelf, as he held it in his hand, he stared at it for a moment. The box seemed to be a symbol of his life, simplicity, normalcy. He frowned and headed outside. Walking to each bin, he pulled out nearly overflowing bags of filth and refuse, and threw them into the cart he tugged behind him.

He was in the middle of pulling out the third bag next to an unused gas pump when he saw a man walking past him into the station. He was a tall man, bald, wearing a leather jacket and a somewhat surly attitude on his face. Jack watched him walk into the room with a purpose, but figured it was most likely nothing more than an angry customer demanding a refund or something, and returned to changing the trash. After another minute or so he found the bag of garbage he was pulling out was heavier than he expected, he found it slipping and it was to late to simply return it into the garbage and try again. If he lost it now he would be spending the rest of the day scrapping up garbage and glop off the parking lot.

A moment later and his grip would slip, and just as he was about to give up... A second pair of hands had gripped the top of the bag with him, and with the added help, he was able to get the trash bag into the cart. Jack took a deep breath as he relaxed himself, relieved that the problem had been solved, Jack looked up to thank the person who had helped. His eyes went wide, because staring back at him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. A beauty that was beyond looks, he saw a flicker of something incredible in her eyes.

"I... I um.. Thank you." Jack mumbled, trying to hide his almost overwhelming attraction to the tall blonde.

"Oh, don't mention it." She said with a bright smile. The smile alone was enough to make him blush. Again, he tried to shake it off but the small giggle made it clear she could read him like a book. He didn't know how he felt about that. Jack wasn't exactly an attractive person, he was of average height, overweight, and looked very nerd like but not in the average sort. He was muscular, but most times it didn't show, due to his child like interests overshadowing any good looks he had, his hair was a dirty, unkempt blond, with normaly sparkling blue eyes that seemed to have dimmed in the light of depression, not the normal type of person to pick up a girl so beautiful. She gave him a look of slight confusion.

"You alright?" She asked. He was so shocked by her presence that he only now noticed that she was British.

"Yeah, sorry, just a little exhausted." he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I bet." She said, glancing at the cart of trash. Jack was about to say something else when the bald man he had seen earlier was now running up to the girl.

"Well, we have a problem then..." The bald man said to the girl.

"What? You mean we're stuck here?" The girl asked. The man gave a small frown and nodded.

"For the moment. I'm sorry, Rose." Jack looked from the man back to the woman.

"Is... Is something wrong?" Jack asked. The bald man gave a groan, as if every word out of Jacks mouth was an annoyance.

"I'm sorry lad, what's your name?" The man asked with a quickness in his words.

"Um... Jack... Jack Carson."

"Well, Um Jack Jack Carson, we seem to have lost our ride for the time being, or rather a very important piece of our ride, I can fashion another one but it will take a week." the man said with a speedy British accent. Jack felt a little uncomfortable with how this man acted. But he could see these two seemed to be in trouble. He didn't have a family any more, but one thing he remembered his mother always said, always help someone when you can.

"If you guys need a place to stay I have a spare room..." Jack said shyly. The bald man looked at the girl, and she looked back. She seemed to like the idea, but the man did not.

"Oh no, it's alright lad, we'll do alright, I ..." As he talked, he looked over to the girl, who seemed to have a bright smile. "Oh no, Rose. We can't."

"Well why not? I think its a brilliant idea." The girl said as she took Jack's hand and shook it with a joy in her eye.

"I'm Rose Tyler, and this joyous man here... Is the doctor." Jack looked from her to him and back to her. "Doctor, this is Jack Carson." Jack scratched his head, a common thing he would do when he was confused or uncomfortable.

"Doctor? Doctor who?"

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Jack scratched the back of his head as he walked back into the station, feeling very confused. But he had friends... friends who seemed like they were at least partly interested in spending time with him. He couldn't remember the last time he had a friend. He couldn't help but crack a small smile as he walked up to the register, awaiting new orders from his superior.

"Your fired Carson." the man behind the counter said in a firm tone. Jack was blindsided, eyes wide in sudden shock.

"W... Why?"

"You've been daydreaming every day for the last two weeks, and now these two yo-yo's come in and you spend a half hour chatting it up with them. Your mind is not on the job. so get the hell out." Murphy said steirnly, motioning for the door.

"But... I..."

"Get out!" Jack wanted to argue more, but there was no point. His boss couldn't be swayed, whether it was reasonable or not, Jack was now out of a job. He slumped and slowly walked out of the station. Rose and the doctor were still outside, they had barley walked a block when they saw Jack coming towards them. As he got closer Rose seemed to become concerned at his stance.

"You alright?" She asked as Jack closed in. At about 3 yards distance he bit his lip, and a sprang came in his step as he smiled a bright smile.

"Oh yeah, I'm good, boss just let me off early. Want to get settled in?"

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Jack gave a somewhat nervous smile as he fumbled with the keys to his apartment door. It felt strange to him to have guests over, and he suddenly realized what they might say when they saw his place. With a final turn of the key the door clicked open and he motioned for his two new friends to come in.

Instantly Rose and the Doctor were hit with an odd smell. Like the smell of old paper and plastic. The door led to a small kitchen on the left side, and past that led to the main living room. The walls were decorated in a way that made the room look like it was the store of a toy collecting shop. Perfectly preserved action figures hung on push pins and posters depicting movies and comic book characters displayed proudly in frames.

"Well... cozy isn't it?" The Doctor said to Rose with a sarcastic smile.

"I think its brilliant." She replied. It clearly wasn't her thing and maybe a hair obsessive. After a moment Rose jumped in surprise, hearing a odd sound she felt she should recognize.

"Oh, sorry." Jack said as he dove behind the couch and pulled out a small bundle of fur.

"This is Booger. My cat." Jack said sheepishly as he held the small calico kitten in both hands. Rose felt a childish warmth rise in her as she walked over and pet the timid creature.

"Awe, she's so adorable." Rose said in almost a whisper as she held the cat in her hands. Jack laughed.

"She is a he." he replied, causing Rose to blush lightly.

"So what are the arrangements for our time here then?" The doctor asked as he came out from the kitchen, nibbling on a banana. Jack wanted to get angry but he let it go.

"Well, Doc, I want thinking..."

"No... No, no, no. Not "The doc" just the doctor." The doctor said in an even tone. Jack scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Sir, I respect you, even admire you a little, but there's this thing in my head and it will never let me call you anything other than Doc." Jack replied with a nervous smile. There was a long silence between the two men as they stared at each other. Rose swore she could cut testosterone with a knife.

"Moving on, the arrangements then?" The doctor asked.

"Well, I thought you sir, could take my bedroom and Rose can take the spare room."

"And what about you?" Rose asked. Jack smiled.

"I'll take the couch." Jack said as if it wasn't even a problem. Rose raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Are you sure? Surely the doctor or I could..." Jack waved his hand, dismissing the idea.

"It's not a problem." He said with a smile as he walked into the kitchen.

"What are you doing now?" The doctor asked. There was a banging about in the kitchen.

"What else would someone be doing in a kitchen, Doc? I'm making us all lunch."

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Three plates of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches were set on the small table, almost making it feel cluttered. A napkin and an empty glass beside each plate, and a jug of milk and a bottle of Pepsi at the tables center. Rose, Jack and the doctor sat. Jack waited for his guests to eat first. The doctor picked up his plate and gave the sandwich a long sniff, before setting it down and taking a nibble. He grimaced for a moment.

"Doctor." Rose whispered, scolding him.

"Well it's not exactly the finest in gourmet cooking is it?" He asked evenly. Rose gave Jack a look, as if to say I'm sorry, before taking a bite of her own sandwich. It seemed alright to her. Of course, it wasn't the greatest food she had ever had but it was still alright.

"I think it's marvelous." She said with a smile. Jack blushes a little as he took a the bottle of Pepsi and poured it into his glass.

"Thank you." He said as he took a sip. "So, what brings you two here?" Jack asked, trying to find out more about his new friends.

"Well we were looking for a..." Rose began before she was interrupted.

"A part... For our car." The doctor finished evenly, as he took a big bite of his sandwich, then poured himself a glass of milk.

"You have to wait a week for a car part?" The doctor stared at Jack with eyes that seemed to say "Leave it alone." Jack simply took a breath and a sip of his soda. "Well if you guys need help getting around or anything let me know."

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About three days had come and gone and while Rose seemed to be a perfect guest, when she wasn't sleeping in or hogging the bathroom, the doctor was as irritating as ever. Up at all hours of the day, smashing and pounding on things, and not really caring about who noticed. Jack woke up with a groan as he looked around. He found extension cords and wires covering the floor. He sighed as he sat up. Again, it was something he wanted to get angry about, something he should get angry about, but he wouldn't. This was the way Jack was. He would hold his anger in and keep it there.

"Good morning, fancy some breakfast?" Rose asked as she handed him a plate of bacon and eggs. "Jack blushed. No one had ever made him breakfast in bed before. No one had ever made him breakfast before. He took the plate in silence and started to slowly eat.

"Thank you." He said weakly, trying to cover his morning breath.

"Quite alright. Least we could do for ya, letting us stay." She said with a small smile. Jack nodded with as he continued to finish his breakfast. Suddenly the cat burst out of the back hall, as if afraid he was about to be skinned, followed closely by the doctor, an angry look on his face.

"You wrenched cat, you pee on one of my shoes again, I'll skin ya alive!" He growled. Jack wanted to laugh, but held it back. He knew the doctor very little, but it was enough to know he'd never truly hurt Booger. The doctor sighed as he straightened his stance, and looked over at Rose.

"Think that's funny, do you?" He asked evenly. Rose had a wide smile on her face, and a hand over her mouth.

"Nothin', honest." She replied, and before the doctor could scold her more, she was up, and down the hall. "Got to stop at the loo." She said over her shoulder. The doctor simply sighed in frustration and took a seat beside Jack on the couch. It took Jack this long to realize he was in nothing but his boxers, his blanket only covering below the waist.

"I take it you two have been together for a long time?" Jack asked.

"Oh yeah, she's a real pain, that one." He said with a deep breath.

"You guys, um, close?" He asked, wondering why this hadn't come up sooner.

"Sort of, we been together a long time but we're just friends." Jack couldn't help but feel good at the sound of that.

"So you guys said you travel together a lot, any reason?" he asked. The doctor smiled at that.

"You know we've met many people. Many great people, many terrible people. And no ones ever asked me that. Honestly I don't know anymore if there's a reason for it, maybe just cause it's fun I suppose." Jack nodded.

"That makes sense." Jack said almost quietly.

"It does?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah, I wish I could travel. I've always wanted to go all over, London, Japan...Oh God, how I'd love to go to Japan." Jack said as if in another place for a moment. The doctor's smile went wide.

"Have you ever wanted to go to another time?" he asked.

"All the time, I'd like to see the future, but who wouldn't... But honestly the first place I'd like to go is the late 30's." The doctor's eyes widened.

"The great depression?"

"That was there too... But 1938 saw the birth of one of the greatest storioes of all time." The doctor raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"Superman. The 30's showed us the first great super hero." The doctor nodded.

"You want to be a hero do you?"

"I want to make a difference. I want to help people, like when I asked you to stay. I just wanted to help." The doctor rested a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"You are helping Jack." Jack smiled at this, it almost felt like a father being proud of his son. After a moment Jack stretched.

"Well I got to go to work." Jack said with a yawn.

"Oh, come on now Jack, you and I both know you been out of work a couple days now." Jack's eyes went wide. Jack frowned. "So what you been doing when you go out all day?"

"Job searching." Jack said with a frown. The doctor nodded.

"Don't worry lad, we'll be out of your hair in a few days." He said with a chipper tone. He then leapt off the couch and headed off down he hall. He stopped when he saw Rose standing in the hall.

"He's got no job?" Rose asked. The doctor leaned back to peer around the corner, making sure Jack wasn't listening. Jack was busy getting dressed.

"No, he no longer has a job."

"But he was working at the station when we met him, he..." A realization came to Rose in mid sentence. "Th.. That was because of us, wasn't it?" She asked. The doctor frowned.

"More like my fault. The lad at the counter just would not give me a banana so I slapped the idiot." Rose's eyes widened in anger as she slapped the doctor hard in the face.

"What the hell..." The doctor said in anger.

"You lost that man his job, have you been paying attention these last few days. He has no one. No parents, no siblings. His life consisted of going to a job he hated, and returning home to a cat...and we made it worse for him." The doctor growled, wanting to argue but he knew she was right.

"So what would you have me do?" He asked.

"Well..." Rose asked, looking down at the TARDIS (as an accronym it should be capitals) key that she held in her hands. It took the doctor less than a second, but it suddenly came to him.

"Rose no... No you are not." Rose smiled.

"Your right doctor, cause you started all this for him, so your going to do it."

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The day finally came for when the doctor and Rose were planning to leave. Jack had made sure to get up early and was busy in the kitchen when rose stumbled out of the room, her arms out in a long stretching already smelled something pleasing being cooked in the kitchen. She wandered into the small kitchen and saw Jack frantically preparing all sorts of food. Toast, pancakes, fresh orange slices. Three plates on the table as they were placed the day they had arrived, as were silverware and empty glasses.

A pitcher of milk at the table's center. She rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, forgetting her top was the only thing covering her bottom half, and quickly lowered her arm just as Jack turned, a massive pile of pancakes on a plate in one hand, a spatula in the other, blushing as he saw her there, her messy bed hair somehow looking just as pleasing as any other style he had seen. He couldn't help but smile as he saw his old Power Rangers t-shirt snug against her chest.

"What's all this then?" she asked, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. I figured," He spoke as he returned to his breakfast preparations, "I thought, I'd give you guys a proper meal." He said, a small hint of sadness in his voice, one Rose could pick up on. They had spent the better half of a week together and both barely knew anything about each other. She felt the least she could do was get to know him better, the doctor had been so distant since they had gotten there, she had felt mostly alone.

"So tell me about yourself, Jack?" She asked as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. Jack slowed his cooking as he thought it over.

"Not much to tell really. I've been on my own since my parents died when I was 16. Since then I haven't really strayed far from the great and boring state of Minnesota, scrapping by from pay check to pay check. Every spare dime going to my... well, my collection. Which will be soon going up on ebay." he said with a sigh as he turned off anything that was still cooking, and slumped in the chair across from her.

" on eBay... 0Cause you lost your job?" She asked. Jack nodded.

"Figured it out huh?" Rose just sipped her juice. "Yeah... I'm kind of broke and with no job I'm pretty sure my landlord will be here in the next 3 days with an eviction notice."

"Isn't there anywhere you can go?" Rose asked as she took a bite of bacon.

"If I suck up really hard I could try asking my ex girlfriend if she'd let me stay til I get a new job but... It wont be the first time I came crawling back to her..." Jack said sheepishly. It was clear it was a thought he did not look forward to.

Rose was about to say something, when there was a loud burst coming from the other room. Jack and rose both turned to see the doctor, back in the cloths jack met him in, and soot on his face, like you'd see on the face of a cartoon character who just let a bomb go off in his face.

"I got it rose! I lost it for awhile but I finally got it!" He said with a joyous voice. Jack scratched his head, again confused.

"Are you sure then, doctor?" The doctor's eyes were wide with excitement.

"Absolutely, but it wasn't exactly easy mind you. Oh and jack, sorry but some of your... Toy's... May have gotten damaged." Jack's eyes widened in horror, in an instant he was on his feet and racing into the room. The second jack was out of side, the doctor leaned in to whisper to rose.

"I'm going on to get things done, stay here and I'll pick you up." Rose raised and eyebrow.

"Pick me up? I'm not just some tart you know." Rose said evenly. The doctor rolled his eyes.

"You know bloody well what I mean, just don't go anywhere." And with that, the doctor was out the front door and out of sight. A moment later, jack stumbled out of the bedroom, his eyes wet with tears, a burned comic book in his trembling hands. Rose walked up to jack, wondering why such a simple thing would cause him so much pain.

"It... I know it hurts jack, but it's just a magazine." She said in an attempt at a comforting tone.

"It was more than that... I know I have alot of stuff, a lot of childish things but this one was different, I um... It was all I had left from my sister." Jack said with a weak voice. Jack fell to his knees, just staring at the book that was still falling apart in his hands. Rose hesitated, but then rested her hand on his back, and kneeled beside him.

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An hour had past and jack had since collected himself. It still hurt but he really felt silly crumbling over a book in front of a beautiful woman. In that time both jack and rose had cleaned themselves up and were now wandering about the apartment, cleaning up with an absent mind about them both.

Rose smiled as booger rubbed up against her leg, and she clearly took the hint that she was hungry. She took it upon herself to feed the self centered cat.

"So, where did the doc go?" Jack asked, awaking her from her absence. This was something she didn't know how to explain. Before she could even try... She heard a noise, a noise like a scraping threw the wind itself. A sound that made Jack nervous and slightly terrified, but a sound that made rose smile a bright smile. Rose raced up to jack and guided him to stand against the apartment wall, booger racing to cringe under the couch.

Rose and Jack watched with eyes wide as something seemed to phase from nothingness. At first there was almost nothing, but slowly more and more it took shape, as if it wasn't there and then it was. Like it was something that was always there, but only now chose to show itself. When it was finally finished, and the loud swooshing scraping swoosh had faded, what stood there was something jack had never seen before.

"it... It's a phone booth?" Jack asked in confusion. Rose scoffed.

"It's a police box, silly." Rose said with a snicker as she casually walked up to the massive blue box, and knocked on the door. The door swung open and out stepped the doctor.

"Oh, hello, do you need a ride then?" He asked, still with that blinding bright smile. Rose practically jumped for joy, and hugged the doctor with glee. She turned back after the moment of happiness had past, to see jack still staring in shock. Rose snickered and walked up to jack, grabbing his arm and holding it as if they were about to go out for a date.

"Jack, I have a feeling the doctor here has something to say to you." She said as she pulled jack up to the booth's door. The doctor climbed out of the box with a look on his face that seemed clear that he wasn't excited for what was coming.

"Yes... Jack... Only since I was the reason you lost your job and all, I thought, well we thought, that you might like to come with us." Jack was confused.

"go.. Go with you?" Jack asked. This was something The doctor enjoyed to do, so his irritation seemed to fade.

"Yes, well... Let's try this a different way," The doctor said as he pushed the box door wide open, "Why don't you take a look inside, there's a good lad." Jack slowly walked up to the box, incredibly confused of what he should even be thinking. Was he scared, was he nervous, was he excited, he honestly didn't even know.

He slowly peeked his head within the door, and his jaw dropped. He slowly walked in, as if he was afraid the slightest touch would break something. The inside of the box was massive, impossibly massive. As if there was a whole world within what was just a small box, a small... Blue... Box.

"What.. What is all this?" Jack asked in almost a whisper.

"This, dear boy, is the tardis." rose said, practically skipping in after him.

"Ta... wha?" jack asked in confusion.

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space!" The doctor said as if reading it from a text book. Jack scratched his head in confusion.

"um... Doc... Pretend I don't understand a single word of that." Jack said slowly, still reeling from this strangeness. Rose chuckled as she walked up behind jack and whispered in his ear.

"It's a time machine." she said almost seductively.

"Not just that," The doctor said with a smile. "tell me again, jack. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?" Jack scratched his head, enough to wonder if he was clawing a hole in his head.

"The late 1930's." Jack replied. The doctor ran up to him, so close he could feel the doctor's breath.

"Are you sure, you can go anywhere, laddie. Any place, any time, any... World." Jack's eyes went wide in astonishment. It was like his old life was just an image he once saw in a mirror, and everything now was like... A life he never knew.

"I.. I don't know." Jack said honestly. The doctor backed up a little, his smile bright and wide.

"well, maybe we can ask someone else." He said with a chuckle as he ran to the still open door. There looking back at the doctor, was booger, staring up at the doctor as if waiting for him.

"well, you coming... Booger?" He asked. The cat sprung up and raced into the Tardis. With a bright laugh, he leapt into the booth after the cat, the door swinging shut after them both, and as simply and easily as it had appeared, it disappeared.

End of chapter

Next chapter: brave new universe

To see a Trailer for Chapter 2, take a look here

watch?v=uIj8OyIYvxo

please comment but please be kind