"You've heard about the earthquake?"
She shook her head. Though, earthquakes seemed to happen every day, so she wasn't surprised there was a new one.
"Where was it this time?" she asked and looked at Cordelia.
"Southern Sweden", Cordelia answered, handing her some papers. She frowned. Sweden? That was not possible; it wasn't even near a zone where earthquakes occurred.
"You're sure?" she said.
"Yep", Cordelia said and sat down by her desk once again. "Quite powerful as well, believe it was over four on the Richter-scale."
"But that's impossible!" she exclaimed.
"Well, what is impossible in these days", Cordelia asked, looking at her. "Earth has been transported through the universe, and there were these Daleks and Cybermen, and that Christmas Star. And do you remember some years ago when the Sycorax showed up? What on Earth is impossible nowadays?"
She had to agree with that. During the last years, Earth hadn't been left alone. There'd been something new every day, at least it felt like that.
"But who or what could possibly cause an earthquake?" she muttered, looking through the papers. Cordelia didn't seem to listen anymore. Therefore she decided to take an early lunch and think about it all once again.
When she reached the park, carrying her lunch in a small box, he was already there. She wasn't surprised; he was always there. Always at the same place, sitting on the same bench in the same position. His brown coat was thrown over the back of the bench, even though it was freezing outside. After all, it was December and just a week 'til Christmas.
She sat down on another bench, taking a bite of the sandwich she'd brought with her. That was her daily routine; in the park, eating lunch next to a stranger hidden behind his newspaper. But today was different. She just couldn't enjoy this hour of freedom when something impossible had happened. She therefore pulled up the papers from her bag and started reading.
"What could possibly cause an earthquake in such an area?" she muttered, trying to find a simple clue among the sentences.
"Believe there's quite a lot that can cause that."
She turned towards him in surprise. It was the first time she'd ever seen his face, and she'd never heard him speak either, for that matter. His accent was slightly Scottish, but there was something different to it as well, something she was not able to see. He had dark eyes, so dark that they almost looked black, and his brown hair was a total mess.
"Sorry?" she said.
"You asked what could possibly cause an earthquake, and I answered that there's a lot that can", he answered.
"But isn't it impossible to cause it in such an area?" she asked. "I mean, it's far from any danger-zone."
"What area?" he asked, frowning.
"An earthquake has occurred today in southern Sweden", she answered. "If you think logically, that's impossible."
"Oh, I see", he said, rising and putting on his coat. She frowned and looked at him as he started to walk down the road. Then he stopped and turned towards her.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
"Where?"
"Well, you said you wanted to find out what could've caused it", he answered. It sounded weird, she thought, but it might be the best thing she could do. She quickly put the papers in her bag again and hurried after him.
"By the way, what's your name?" he asked when she caught up with him.
"Joanne", she answered. "Joanne Martins."
"Nice to meet you, Joanne Martins", he said, shaking her hand as they walked. "I'm the Doctor."
Weird name, she thought, but decided not to ask any more questions until they'd reached… whatever they were trying to reach by walking away from the park.
"An old police-box?"
Joanne turned towards the Doctor in confusion. He grinned.
"Say hello to my old friend, the TARDIS", he said, stroking the blue wood.
"What do you mean?" Joanne asked. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside, staring at the interior.
"But… how…"
"Did I mention I wasn't human?" he said, standing behind her in the doorway. She actually grinned back at him.
"If ever there was a door to Narnia, I've just passed through it", she said and walked up the ramp. There was a low humming coming from the ship itself.
"It's talking", she exclaimed, looking at the Doctor. "Your ship is talking!"
That he hadn't expected her to say. He hadn't believed that this young woman, probably not even twenty yet, would be able to hear the TARDIS.
"Hello girl", she said, looking up in the roof. There was a humming answer from the machine.
"I'm Joanne, pleased to meet you", Joanne answered. The Doctor closed the doors and walked up next to her, throwing his brown coat on a pillar that went up into the roof.
"Very well then, time to start working", he said.
"How are we going to find out what caused the earthquake?" Joanne asked, pulling off her bag. He grinned at her.
"Easy", he answered. "We just have to go back to before it started, be there when it starts and investigate it."
"Don't tell me that this is a time-machine", Joanne said, shaking her head at him. "Even if time-travel was possible, it would be very dangerous since by meeting your ancestors you could cause a time-paradox."
"How do you know that?" the Doctor asked, looking up from the controls.
"Been reading a lot", Joanne answered. The Doctor looked studied her for a short while, before he once again bent down over what seemed to be some kind of a computer-machine.
"Well, as long as you do not step into already established events", he said, scratching the back of his head as he stretched up once again. "But trips and investigations are just fine."
He grinned, showing a row of brilliant, white teeth. It was hard not to think of him as cute when he did that; to Joanne he looked like a small boy who was playing around with his favourite toy.
"So it's safe to go back to Sweden, some time before the earthquake?" she asked, eying the controls.
"Oh yes", he answered. "This old girl will take us right there and back again before anyone notices, but then we will know what really happened."
He started to turn some of the things that were controls but looked like other things; an old keyboard, a cowbell, and Joanne even spotted something with the resemblance of a baseball.
"You ready?" he asked once he stretched up again.
"Well, one is never ready", she said but smiled. He grinned back.
"Hold on tight."
He pulled a final lever and the machine started moving. Joanne grabbed onto the control-table and held on for dear life, watching the man on the other side bounce up from the couch to twist yet another set of controls.
"Is this what it is supposed to be doing?" she yelled over the whizzing noise that came from the machine.
"Of course, otherwise I would stop it!"
Joanne, who had started to think of him as a wee bit mad, wondered silently if he really would do that.
The next moment the machine came to a halt and Joanne fell back onto the couch behind her. The Doctor was already running down the ramp, grabbing his coat as he did. Joanne brushed off some invisible dust before she followed him, after some thought leaving everything but her clothes behind.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Just open the door", Joanne answered, longing for some fresh air. The Doctor did it and they stepped out in an entirely different area.
They were in Sweden.