This fan fiction is based on the Doctor Who television series. Doctor Who is a trademark of the BBC. The stories from the television show and Doctor Who characters within are copyrighted by the BBC. The original character Miriam is of my making. This story if written for the sole purpose of Doctor Who fan enjoyment.
Miriam flipped through the channels on the television. She knew there wouldn't be anything on that would interest her; however, it was just what one did while sitting on a couch next to a remote. Press buttons and flip through channels. Oh, sure she could probably find something to do. She'd considered reading a book. She'd ended up standing in front of the bookshelf for twenty minutes and browsing through her kindle for another ten. Nothing had caught her eye.
She glanced in the direction of the kitchen. It could use a good scrubbing, especially the counters. She'd notice just this morning that there were coffee stains that had accumulated under the coffee maker. Apparently, someone, and that someone being her roommate Laura had spilt coffee and not bothered to lift the coffee maker to see if anything had gone under it.
Miriam turned back to the television. She didn't feel like cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, or even doing laundry. Miriam just didn't have the energy. She hadn't had the energy to do anything for the last two weeks. Not since she'd received that text from Theo, a text obviously not meant for her.
Two weeks earlier.
Miriam flopped down on the couch. It had been a long morning. The theatre was getting ready for its production of Phantom of the Opera, and as Christine's understudy, she had to be there each and every rehearsal, not that she participated in every rehearsal. She usually ended up mending costumes or helping move around sets. Today had been a moving around sets sort of day.
"Hey, Miri." Laura stood in the doorway, a large cup of coffee in her hand.
"Hey."
"Josh is coming over tonight. We're having a marathon." Laura informed her.
Having a marathon meant one of two things. Either Laura and Josh would be locked up in her room for the next eight hours, or he was coming over to watch Doctor Who. Miriam didn't understand what they found so interesting about the show. It was the same thing each and every episode, not that she'd sat down and watched a whole episode. The Doctor and some companion or another, land somewhere and save the world from aliens. Over and over again.
"We're re-watching the second season of Doctor Who, you know, get all hyped up for the con in two weeks," Laura told her excitedly.
Vivian groaned. It seemed everyone around her was getting 'hyped up.' Blue police boxes were popping up everywhere, especially around the Franklin K. Harding Convention Center, which just happened to be three blocks away from their flat.
"You still going out with Theo tonight?" Laura asked. She wiggled her eyebrows.
"Cancelled," Miriam sighed. "He got called into work."
"This evening?" Laura asked. It was clear from the tone of her voice she was surprised.
Miriam shrugged. "Yeah. Clients from Japan are visiting. He's supposed to take them out to dinner."
Laura shrugged. "Sorry."
There was an odd silence in the room before Laura's cheer returned. "Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up."
Miriam nodded. "Thanks." She then stretched before standing. "I'll think I'll see if I can't find a nice audio book narrated by Alan Rickman."
Laura giggled.
It was then Miriam's phone buzzed notifying her she'd just received a text. It was Theo. [8:00, room 1213.] Miriam's face brightened, and she waved her phone at Laura. "Looks like Theo got out of taking them to dinner."
Laura smirked. "So, I'll see you sometime next afternoon?"
"Possibly." Miriam winked at her friend. "I think I'll go take a nap. I might need it."
Two hours later.
"Miriam! I thought you were going to meet Theo!"
Miriam was startled from her nap by Laura's hard knocking. She looked at her phone. 8:15PM. She checked the alarm she'd set. She'd set it for 6:00 AM. She rushed to the bathroom, texting on the way, [Will be a bit late. Love you.]
Just under an hour later Vivian stood in front of the door to room 1213. She adjusted her dress and smoothed her hands over the fabric. She'd picked out this dress, and the knickers underneath, months ago. She'd been thinking about this night for a long while. He'd originally booked a room so that they could have some private time away from their roommates. Some champagne, a bit of heavy snogging, maybe even a bubble bath. She had made other plans. She'd decided that tonight was the night. They were engaged now after all.
She knocked.
When a tall redhead wearing nothing but a towel answered the door, Miriam thought she'd read the room number incorrectly.
"I'm so sorry! I must have the wrong room." Miriam blushed as the woman's towel started to slip.
"It's all right. We thought you were room service."
"Is that the champagne love?"
Miriam knew that voice. Her eyes went wide.
"Nope. Wrong room." The redhead told him.
"Then get back here. I've got something for you!
Miriam couldn't believe it. She pushed past the redhead.
"Hey, you can't come in here!" The redhead pulled at Miriam's arm, but Miriam was having none of that.
There he was, Theo, laying on the bed, not a bit of clothing on him.
"You bastard!"
Present
So here she was. Alone. Laura and Josh had gone off to their Doctor Who thing, and she was left sitting on the couch flipping through channels. She stopped upon seeing what appeared to be a period piece about Charles Dickens. She enjoyed period pieces and was rather fond of Charles Dickens. Satisfied she just might enjoy the show, Miriam sat back, snuggled into a warm blanket, and waited to see what Mr Dickens had in store for her. She was therefore extremely disappointed when the next scene was of a man with what appeared to be a large penlight, poking around some metal futuristic set. Obviously not a period piece. She continued to watch until she saw it, the blue police box. She groaned. What a thing to do to what had appeared to be a promising show about Charles Dickens. She tossed the remote onto the coffee table and stood. Perhaps she'd go out for chips. Chips sounded lovely, and a nice pint of Guinness.
Down at the pub.
Miriam was surprised that O'Connor's wasn't very busy. She was easily able to get her favourite booth in the corner. It was perfect for having a nice relaxing evening sampling O'Connor's famous chips and washing it down with a pint of Guinness.
"What can I get you, Miriam?" Richard O'Connor asked as he approached her table, polishing a glass on the way.
"Just a pint Richard, and some chips to start I think." Miriam smiled at the older man. She'd been coming to O'Connor's since she was six and Richard had become sort of a second father to her.
He nodded and went back to the bar to pour her drink and deliver her order.
"Not at that convention then?" He chuckled as he put the perfectly poured Guinness before her.
"Not likely." She gave him a smile. "Thanks." She lifted her glass to him and took a long drink. She then looked around. "A bit slow I see." O'Connor's was downright empty considering it was a Friday evening. The pub was a local favourite and was nearly bursting at the seams on most Friday nights. Tonight it looked like any other pub in the area.
"It's that convention." He told her.
Miriam looked at him as though he'd gone mad. The convention cleared out O'Connor's? "You're kidding!"
He shook his head and had a seat across from her. "Had to send Faith and Kathy home. Apparently, this is the biggest one yet. That Peter Capaldi fellow, some bloke named Smith and that Scotsman, Tennant, David Tennant."
Miriam nodded. She vaguely remembered Laura mentioning that. She really didn't know much about the actors. She knew one of them had been in one of the Harry Potter movies but couldn't remember which one.
"Just not my thing, as you well know." She lifted her glass once more to him and then took a much smaller sip. She wiped a bit of froth from her upper lip and then added, "And I wouldn't know Capaldi, Smith, or Tennant if they walked into the pub just now."
"Well, enjoy yourself. I see you brought you book." He nodded to her Kindle.
"Yep. An exciting Friday night for me."
He stood, patted her on the shoulder, and then nodded down at her beer. "Have that on me."
"Thanks, Richard."
He gave her a wink and headed back to the bar to check on her chips.
Miriam had just gotten into her book when a loud group of men entered the pub. By the sound of them, they'd already had a little more than they should have.
Miriam glanced at Richard, and it was clear he'd already zoned in on them. Miriam returned to her book knowing very well the group of men wouldn't be there that long.
She was therefore startled when the smell of alcohol overwhelmed her, and a slurring voice came from across the table from her.
"Oi now, look here!" One of the men fell onto the booth. "You shouldn't be alone on a cold night like tonight lovely!" His eyes were glazed over and had a disturbing leer to them. He rubbed his hands together. "I could keep you nice and warm."
Miriam's eyes widened.
In only moments Richard was there. He looked down at all four of the newcomers. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"We've only come in for a bit of a drink mate." One of them argued.
The man who was leering at her from the other side of the table gave her a hideous smile. "And, the pretty lady can join us."
"No. I'm afraid you'll have to leave," Richard repeated, his tone was now threatening.
It was then Thomas O'Connor arrived. While Richard was a big man, Thomas was altogether something else. Richard once told Miriam he used to do a bit of boxing back in Ireland.
"Right then." One of the men in the group, who was clearly not as dimwitted as the others, stepped back. "Come on fellas, let's head down to Mike's."
The man on the bench hadn't taken his eyes off Miriam, so Thomas reached over and pulled the man up by his arm.
"It's time you were gone, and I don't want to see you back if you're going to be disrespectful to the lady." It was clear Thomas' grip wasn't a light one because the man let out a whine. "You'll be leaving now then." He shoved the man towards his group of friends. He would have fallen had one of the cronies not caught him and begun to drag him out of the pub.
"Thanks," Miriam told the O'Connor brothers. She blew them both a kiss.
Thomas winked at her and let out a sigh. "Oh, if only I were a few years younger."
"And not happily married," Miriam added wiggling her bare ring finger at him.
"Very true lady. Very true."
Richard patted her shoulder and nodded to the nearly empty plate of chips. "Will you be wantin' more then?" He asked.
"Oh no!" She leant back in the booth. "I've had enough. I think I'll just hide out here for a bit longer."
"Just fine. Just fine." He patted her on the cheek. "Give us a wave if you want anything else."
Miriam nodded and shooed them away.
Two hours later.
"You're sure you'll be fine?" Richard asked, a worried expression on his face.
"I'm sure. It's just a block. I've walked it plenty of times over the years as you well know."
He nodded. "I do. I do. But why don't you give us a call when you get home. It will ease this old mind."
"Sure thing." Miriam stood and gave the man a kiss on the cheek. She pulled her wrap around her shoulders and stowed her Kindle in her purse. "Night Richard."
"Goodnight my dear.
The walk home.
It was a lot colder than it was when she'd left her flat. She was glad she'd brought her shawl. It was nice and thick, 100% wool. Eva, Thomas' wife, had given it to her as a Christmas present last year. She'd brought it back from their trip to Scotland. Eva had thought of her as soon as she saw it.
"You're such a tiny little thing, my girl. We'll have to bring you with us next time. My granny would fatten you up, and find you a nice Scottish boy."
"Not an Irish?" Miriam had asked. After all, she'd married Thomas.
Eva shook her head. "My Thomas is an exception, but if you want to find a real husband, a strong Scottish boy will do you right." She'd given Miriam a wink and a little shove on the shoulder. "In more ways than one my girl. That Theo isn't for you."
Clearly, Eva had been right. Perhaps a trip to Scotland was in order.
Miriam's musings were cut short when she heard a voice that permeated the wool shawl she was wearing, sending chills up her spine.
"Ah… look who we have here boys. Our little lady, walkin' home all alone!" It was the man from the pub who'd been leering at her. Without looking back, Miriam picked up her pace.
One of the others taunted, "Aw, come on love. You don't want to run. We just want to walk you home."
"What do you say?" The another asked. "We'll keep you warm all the way."
Miriam began to walk even faster. When she heard them pick up their pace, she ran. Apparently, the men had split up because she soon found herself surrounded, no way to go but a dark alley. Miriam's heart was beating like mad.
"You didn't need to run love." One of the men began to approach her.
"We just want to have a bit of fun!" Another stepped out into the light.
Knowing very well if she stayed there, she'd have no choice; she ran into the darkness of the alley.
She knew she'd made the wrong decision moments later. It was a dead end. She could hear their voices growing. She looked around for a place to hide. That was when she saw it. It was one of those blue police boxes. This one was bugged up against the wall, a bit of scraping on one side. Apparently, it hadn't been put out with the rest because of its condition. Making a decision, she hurried forward, opened the doors and shut them firmly behind her. While she knew the box would probably be an obvious place for them to look, she hoped perhaps they were too drunk to consider looking.
"Where did she go?" She heard one of the men near the box.
"It's like she just disappeared," said another.
"Nah… oh wait a minute. What about in here."
Miriam's heart rate doubled when she heard one of the men knock on the door of the box.
"Come on out lovely; we just want to have a bit of fun." Miriam could hear him pulling on the door handle.
"That's not really a door Clive. Just one of those props for that convention going on. Doesn't open."
Clive stopped pulling.
Miriam let out a sigh of relief.
"She's gone. Where'd she go?" One of the men questioned.
"Maybe she went up there!" One of them called out. "She can't be far."
"Good thing. She's a real looker. Nice front end and rear bumper that one."
There was a series of vulgar comments, but they soon faded as the men wandered off, leaving Miriam sitting on the floor of the wooden blue box.
Miriam sat there staring at the doors, waiting just to make sure they were gone. Once she was sure they had moved on, she stood and tentatively pushed to open the door. It didn't budge. Not even a bit. She tried pushing on the other three sides of the box; however, they too seemed to be completely solid. She stepped into the centre of the small space.
"How?" She whispered to herself.
It was then she heard a very strange humming noise, not quite like a motor, more like a computer booting up, but that didn't describe it very well either. There was an odd whooshing and scraping quality to it as it seemed to fade in and out in a slow rhythm. This was followed by a sound you might hear on some video game.
"Hello?" Miriam called out. Clearly, someone was out there playing some sort of game with her. "Very funny. Lots of laughs." She called out, trying to keep the worry from her voice. She recognised that sound. It was that Doctor Who sound she'd heard coming from the television during one of Laura and Josh's Doctor Who marathons. "Hello?" There was no answer.
She tried the door once again; it still wouldn't budge. Then, just as she was about to call out again, the box jerked to one side and then the other. The strange grinding noise began to fade and then stopped just as the entire box slammed to one side, as though something had hit it. Hard. She fell onto the floor. Only moments later she heard a woman calling out "Rose! Rose!"
A male voice joined her, "It's the TARDIS!"
"I knew she was alive, I just knew it!" The female voice sounded extremely happy.
Miriam knew what the TARDIS was. The TARDIS was the blue police box. Was someone role-playing out there? That would have explained the sound effects; however, she wasn't so sure about the motion. It had been so realistic.
Miriam stood and hesitantly and went to where the doors were, or at least, where they should be. She gave a strong push and promptly fell through them and onto the pavement. It was daytime, and she was no longer in a dark alley.
"Rose!" The voice came running.
Miriam looked up to see a woman in her late thirty's or perhaps early forties hurrying forward.
It was clear the woman hadn't been expecting her.
"Who are you?" The woman asked as though Miriam had played some sort of trick on her.
Miriam looked around in confusion. She tried to focus on the woman, but the world seemed to be spinning slightly. She groaned and looked around. Where they hell was she.
"Where's my Rose!" The woman demanded.
Miriam slowly tried to stand, her balance returning slightly. She was so tired, so very tired. Why was she so exhausted?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man in what appeared to be a mechanic's suit rush past her. He tried to open the doors to the Police Box however they remained fixed.
"Rose!" He called. "Doctor?" He banged on the doors. When there was no answer, he hurried back to her and grabbed onto her shoulders. He gave her a shake, "Where's Rose!"
The older woman hurried past Miriam and attempted to pull on the doors. When they didn't budge, she turned to face Miriam. "Who are you and what is going on? Where's my Rose?"
When the mechanic released her, Miriam wavered on her feet; this was something more than some practical joke. She was going mad, or she was dreaming. She briefly wondered if she was dead or perhaps in the hospital. She rubbed her head. Was she in a coma? It would be her luck that even in a coma she'd be haunted by blue police boxes. Suddenly there was another sort of whooshing, grinding noise. Miriam watched as the mechanic and the woman began looking around frantically.
"Where is it?" The woman searched the road, rushing here and there.
It was then Miriam saw it. It shot right out of the sky, slamming into a building, then another, until nearly taking her out as it flew overhead and then came to a crash landing, bumping into her police box.
The man who came out of the police box wasn't anything like the actor who she'd seen playing the Doctor earlier that day, or perhaps last night. This bloke was much thinner, had more hair, and sideburns. "Good Lord!" She muttered. It was that actor, the actor that played Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter.
She stared as the man looked around, a mad looking smile on his face.
"Here we are, then. London, Earth, the Solar System, isn't it?" He said as he looked around. He then stepped forward towards the woman and the mechanic who had just been questioning her.
"Jackie, Mickey, blimey!" He looked thrilled to see them; however, they looked just as shocked to see him as they had been to see her. Clearly, he wasn't the person they'd been expecting. Miriam briefly wondered if another police box might come flying out of the air.
The man then stepped back from the two confused people; his eyes grew wide. "No, no, no, no. Hold on." He held up his hand as though to stop them from saying anything. "Wait there. What was I going to say?" He circled them. "There was something I had to tell you. Something important. What was it?" He then went to them and put his hands on their shoulders. "No, hold on. Hold on. Hold on." Then, as though he'd been struck by lightning, he remembered. "Oh! I know. Merry Christmas."
Miriam's eyes widened slightly when Barty Crouch Jr. noticed her and pushed past the woman and the car mechanic. "Well hello there!"
Miriam froze when he grasped onto her arms and his smile widened. He let go and then pointed at her in a way that made it clear he thought she was hiding something. "Oh yes. I love it! You're new!" He turned back to the other two people, putting his arm around her. "She's new!" He declared before turning around to face her once more. He threw his arms in the air. "I'm new too."
Jacky Tyler and Mickey Smith watched in horror as the eyes of both strangers rolled back in their heads. In seconds, Jackie was trying to hold up the young woman, and Mickey was attempting to keep the man from hitting his head on the concrete.
"What happened?" Rose appeared from the Tardis. She then noticed her mother holding up an unconscious young woman. She hurried over to help her mother. "Who… are they alright?"
"Don't know! They just sort of keeled over. Who are they? Where's the Doctor?"
Rose helped her mother lay the strange woman down, putting her head on the Doctor's leg.
"That's him." Rose gestured to the Doctor. "That's him right in front of you. That's the Doctor."
Jackie frowned. "What do you mean, that's the Doctor? Doctor Who?"
"Then who's that?" Mickey asked as he pointed to the young woman. "She just arrived in that other Tardis."
"What!" Rose turned around, and sure enough, there was another blue police box. She hurried over and pulled on the doors. They wouldn't budge so she pulled out her key and attempted to unlock it. Rose frowned when the key didn't turn. "It won't work," Rose muttered to herself. She then turned to face Mickey and her mother. "It doesn't work." She looked down at the strange woman and the man who claimed to be the Doctor. There was nothing they could do until they woke up. "Let's get them inside."