The Stolen Child
Chapter one:
Familiar sounds of gadgets popping and whirring filled my ears as I watched the Doctor play with the dials on the console of the TARDIS. A huge grin remained plastered to my face as the Doctor shot a wink my way.
"Ah Pip! Can you feel it; the excitement?" He asked with a laugh. I nodded in agreement and jumped up and switched on the radio to give us some dancing music. He pulled a lever nearby for takeoff then fell back onto the couch behind him. He laughed at my terrible dancing and I joined him moments later on the couch.
"The biggest, tremendous, coolest meteor shower the Earth has ever seen! And we're gonna get us a front row seats!" I said wiping my blonde hair out of my face.
"Meteor showers are cool," The Doctor replied with a goofy grin. "This meteor shower was so big and so close to Earth that the ground shook as several of them passed through parts of the atmosphere!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked grabbing the blankets from nearby and holding them up high above my head with a laugh. The Doctor rambled about the front row seats we were gonna get for this amazing show. I watched him again as he adjusted the levers and knobs on the console and then parked the TARDIS. The all too familiar noise came on as the time machine landed.
"Tell me that you are seeing this for the first time like me!" I said as he began heading down the stairs toward the door. I ran towards him, blankets streaming behind me like a cape. The Doctor let out a huge heartfelt laugh and shook his head.
"Cross both my hearts and hope die and never regenerate," He said with a huge grin. I smiled and giving in to the temptation to dance in excitement let out a little wiggle while he pushed open the door. I bolted from the TARDIS and ran right out ready to lie down the blankets and get our seats ready for the show.
"Oh this is perfect! Right out by the sea!" I sat down and placed the second blanket over my lap.
"For some reason, this makes me think back to the night we first met," I said suddenly. He put his hands in his pocket and looked at me sitting on the blanket at his feet.
"Ah yes, the big museum ball they threw for you and your team. That was a grand night indeed. I knew you'd be a good companion when you bested my psychic paper," He replied with a smile. He sat down next to me as I uncorked the bottle of wine I brought out for the occasion. He looked at me and I just smiled and poured myself a glass.
"I'd offer you some Doctor, but I know you'll just spit it back out again because you always forget how much you hate it," I said. He nodded in agreement though his face said otherwise. He just hates it when I'm right for once. Wine was always for sharing in my family, but it didn't always have to be. My parents loved their wine, and we grew up knowing what we good and what was bad and a glass at the end of a good day was just the type of thing we all did to wind down at night. As we relaxed and enjoyed the sea air, the first meteor showed up.
"It's starting!"
"Here we go!" We both looked at each other excitedly and linked hands as the falling rocks passed above our heads. The sky lit up as if it was day and the ground shook beneath us. The sound was incredible, like being inside a waterfall and an engine of an airplane at the same time.
"I told you this would be cool, meteor showers are always cool. Well, unless you are the meteor, then I guess it wouldn't be so cool….more like scary…"
"Doctor! Shut it will you? You're ruining the show!" I joked playfully hitting him. We both laughed and enjoyed the thrilling experience.
"Can you believe that something so seemingly simple like rocks falling through space above us is what is causing the ground to shake and rumble? It's so fascinating!" I paused and sighed happily. "Makes me wish my PHD was in astrology at the moment…"
"Now who's the one that's being rude and ruining the show? Shush it!" The Doctor joked winking at me. We gaped at the sky for what felt like hours. It felt like we could just hold the universe in our hands if we really wanted to. The shower only lasted about ten minutes, but the ground continued to shake a few minutes after it was over.
"After shock!" The Doctor laughed jumping up and down a couple of times.
"Think of the amount of energy that this would produce if we had the tools to harness it!" I said to him spinning around in a small circle. We enjoyed the sea air a little while longer before getting ready for our next adventure.
"I wonder what the rest of 2372 is like. The anthropologist in me wants to know…"
"Boring. Weather is normal, mostly sunny here all year round. Nobody important dies, nobody important is born."
"You spoil all the fun sometimes!" I replied wrinkling my face up. He laughed and shook his head at me.
"This is what I get for picking an anthropologist. You lot are just as bad as archaeologists…"
"Oi! Watch it Time Lord! I do people not tombs!" I replied poking him in the arm. He flinched though it couldn't hurt, he just wanted a reaction.
"Either way I point and laugh at your kind," He teased. I rolled my eyes and smiled. His goofy grin still plastered to his face. We sat there for a moment, just enjoying how things were: still and peaceful.
"Where should we go next?" He asked. I lit up like a Christmas tree. I had a grand idea and I knew it would be great.
"Can we go meet Tesla please? I really, really and I mean really want to go meet him!" I said picking up the wine bottle and glass packing up the blankets as well. The Doctor made a face at me.
"Really? Tesla? But there are so many other things we can go see. Cool things…" He complained a little.
"Tesla is cool! Better than Edison anyway! And we always do your ideas. This was one of the good ones. That last three have turned out way wrong!" I replied begging him. He scoffed at me and shook his head in disagreement.
"What? No way! Name at least one!"
"Oh let's see here…Custer…"
"Alien…" The Doctor cut in under his breath. I rolled my eyes and continued.
"What about the day you wanted to go see the World Trade Centre? And then it turned out we arrived on 9/11?"
"Aliens again…" The Doctor said. I again rolled my eyes and sighed.
"And let's not forget my favorite anagram…..The Dalkes in Disney World…." I sighed. The Doctor got all defensive.
"It's the happiest place on Earth! Why were there Dalkes there?" He said waving his arms in the air like he does sometimes. I shook my head as we began walking back towards the TARDIS. The Doctor gave a small sigh and he stopped me.
"Alright, let's go see Tesla then. You've made your point," He told me. My eyes got wide and a smile spread across my face.
"Seriously? You mean it?" I asked him. He nodded and then he smiled at me. I jumped up in joy. When we got close enough to the TARDIS it was my turn to stop the Doctor. He gave me a confused look and I smiled even wider.
"May I please try it?" I asked referring to snapping my fingers and opening the TARDIS door. He laughed and told me no. I pouted and asked again. The Doctor told me no once more.
"You need a psychic link with the TARDIS that takes years to develop. Try 500 minimum to build a solid link. You've been on the TARDIS with me three years, the link will not work and I can promise you that," He said in his factoid voice of his. It didn't stop me from trying. I raised my hand, fingers in the snap ready position.
"One…two….three…" I counted, and then the doors burst open. The Doctor stared at me in pure disbelief and my mouth was open in shock.
"That's impossible…"
"I didn't do that…..Doctor. Doctor I didn't do that…" I mumbled still a bit miffed. A figure suddenly appeared in the doorway of the TARDIS and we both froze. The figure was hunched over, as if in pain, leaning heavily on the door frame of the blue box. The moon was very bright, and his face was clearly visible. He saw us and shook his head as if trying to clear it.
"What?" He said. I got a little closer, as the Doctor stayed back.
"What?" He said again. I knew this man…
"Doctor…I know this man…this…this…is you…" I put it together but it didn't make sense. It just didn't make any sense.
"I know that…but how do you?" The Doctor asked me standing beside me now. I exchanged looks with him as we watched the man crouch down in pain.
"WHAT?" He said the last time before he passed out. Together we got him back into the TARDIS and covered him up with the blankets and let him rest.
"How did you know that is me in a past regeneration?" My Doctor asked one last time as we looked at him. I snickered a little and looked back at the console behind me.
"I tampered with the Voice Interface system a little after River showed me her picture book. She knows all your faces, and I do too. This was just your past, but how can he be here? That's a paradox… something very strong is obviously keeping him here, and possibly something else from your past…" I said kneeling by the man with a concerned look. The Doctor returned the concerned look and we both let out a sigh.
"I'm not going to get to meet Tesla now am I?"