Aggie stood nervously behind the curtain waiting to begin her number. The curtain rose as the band began to play Stardust and the young brunette began to sing, trying not to let her stage fright show. As she sang, she noticed a somehow odd sort of chap standing at the rear of the club. This distracted her, but she was able to finish the song without incident. When it was finally over, she kept her eyes on him as she bowed and slipped backstage once more. 'I wonder who that is... I've... never seen him before,' she thought to herself as she retreated to her dressing room. This club was relatively small with a fairly regular crowd. This man stood out like a sore thumb to her. She sat at her dressing table, trying to push him from her mind, but failing miserably. For some odd reason, he was all she could think about.
The Doctor was reeling. He couldn't believe that Adelay had just killed herself to stop him. He frowned and looked into the TARDIS' monitor. For a brief instant, saw the Master's face in his last form grinning at him, but he blinked and it was gone. He flipped the TARDIS into auto pilot and dropped himself into the jump seat. "That's what I've become, isn't it? Acting like I can bend time to my will. Donna was right: I need someone to tell me when to stop."
The TARDIS landed and the Doctor stood up, not even glancing at the monitor and walked out the doors, grabbing his coat along the way. He was in London, sometime in the early 1900s, if his nose was right, which it always was. He was across the street from a club and walked right into it just as the band started playing Stardust. It was a beautiful rendition by a beautiful young human girl, though she did seem a bit nervous. He watched her sing and noticed that she watched him, which was very rare. Most humans ignored him for the most part. When the song was finished and the singer slipped backstage, the Doctor felt the compelling urge to speak with her and so, slipped through the crowd and backstage.
Aggie sat at her vanity, lit up a cigarette, took a nervous drag and let out a deep sigh. Why was she feeling so... funny? She gazed at her reflection through the wispy cloud of smoke escaping from her crimson lips and drifted into a deep state of contemplation. Why had she reacted so strangely to this slightly odd newcomer? It made absolutely no sense, but when they locked eyes from across the club, she felt as though she were meeting her destiny. Suddenly, there was a knock at her door. She snapped out of her reverie, put out her cigarette and called out, "Yes? Come in!"
On his way backstage, he was stopped by a bouncer and immediately flashed his psychic paper. "I'm an agent... I'm interested in your singer." The bouncer looked over the paper and handed it back. "She's the third door back," he told the Doctor, letting him pass by. The Doctor walked up to the door and knocked. At her response, he entered the room and looked around, taking in everything in one glance before letting his eyes come to rest on her. "Hello, there."
"I-I wasn't expecting you... I mean, that is, I-I thought you were my stage manager... I-I m-mean h-hello..." She turned round in her seat to face him, her eyes once again locked in his. She gulped softly and felt her cheeks flush red. She hadn't noticed till now how handsome he was. What weighed more heavily on her mind, though, was why was he here now, talking to her?
The Doctor smiled slightly. She was tongue tied; it was pretty cute. He bowed toward her, not breaking their eye contact. "Very sorry to deceive you. I'm the Doctor, miss?"
She paused, giving him a perplexed look. "The... Doctor? Just a title? No name?" There was another awkward pause before she spoke again, "Well, I'm Aggie Carson... So... what exactly is it that you want... Doctor?"
The Doctor muttered something about humans and names under his breath, but then smiled. "Yes ma'am, just The Doctor. It's very nice to meet you, Miss Carson, and may I say you have a wonderful singing voice." He ignored her question completely, in his typical fashion.
Aggie blushed. "Thank you... I must admit, I don't usually get visitors back here, especially not ones bearing such compliments." She smiled a little brighter and continued politely, "You may sit down, if you wish..." As she observed him, she could tell he was bursting with potential energy, like some sort of battery with legs... legs which lead down to odd-looking shoes.
"Sit? No, that's all right, don't really do a lot of sitting. I'm more of a mover - keeps my mind occupied." He moved to a dresser and picked up a crystal trinket, looking it over.
"So... we've been introduced, you don't want to sit and talk... yet, apparently, my dressing room somehow fascinates you..." Aggie wasn't quite sure what to say or what to make of this Doctor person. She studied him in curious silence as he busily snooped through her belongings, before finally speaking up again, "Sorry, but there's got to be a bigger reason why you're here... isn't there?" She watched his face closely, her greyish eyes settling into his as she hoped for some sort of discovery.
The Doctor's mind flashed back to the laser blast, when Adelay shot herself, and quickly decided to ignore Aggie's question. Turning away from her, he remarked, "You know, there's a lot you can tell about someone with what they keep around them. That's one reason I.." His sentence was interrupted by a scream from out in the bar and he turned to smile enthusiastically at her. "Adventure!" He dashed toward her door, starting out of the room at a quick pace, then poked his head back in at the perplexed young woman. "Coming?"
"Um... yes?" she responded, very concerned about the sudden scream and just a bit confused. Aggie got to her feet and followed the Doctor out of her room, just managing to close the door behind them. As she tried to keep up with the handsome stranger, she watched his long coat flap behind him and got a strange, almost Deja-Vu type feeling. This felt completely jarring, yet also somehow... right.
The Doctor skidded to a halt, his red Converse squeaking on the tiled floor. He stared at the cyberman standing there in something that a human would probably call shock. "NO!" he yelled and stepped forward. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" The cyberman turned toward him and raised his arm. "YOU ARE THE DOCTOR! YOU MUST BE DELETED!" He fired the beam from his arm at the Doctor, who moved away quickly, pushing Aggie out of the way.
Aggie didn't even get to see what was going on before the Doctor was suddenly pushing her away from... something. In an instant, amidst the sounds of screaming and panicking patrons, she shrieked as she was slammed against a hard surface. A little disoriented, she opened her eyes and saw the Doctor's face only inches from hers. She had become sandwiched between him and a wall. Her heart racing and her face burning red, she just barely managed to sputter out, "Doctor... what's going on?"
"A cyberman in your club, Aggie. Your singing seems to be drawing all sorts of lost beings tonight." He stood to his feet and helped her up. He then began to dig through one of his pockets and pulled out a mirror. He put it out the side of the wall and looked, pointing into its reflection for Aggie. "He's bad news."
Aggie felt as though she could no longer breathe, and this was making her a bit dizzy. She bashfully held her breath as she watched him. Slowly, she took his lead and looked into the mirror. "What the hell is that thing?" Suddenly, the big, tin reflection began to move. She held back a yelp with a gasp, flattening against the wall again and instinctively pulling the Doctor back beside her, out of the monster's path. The heavy, banging clang of robotic footsteps approached ever closer, making her blood grow cold. They were like trapped mice, she thought.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started adjusting the settings on it. "I really hate to do this before I get the information I need, but you know, protecting human lives and all that. Wait here." He handed her the mirror, then stood up and walked out into the open, picking up a serving tray on the way. "Oi! Tin can! Looking for something here?" He held up the serving tray, deflecting the blast the Cyberman shot at him. "DELETE!" The Doctor sighed and pointed the screwdriver at the Cyberman, "Enough of the broken record routine." He turned it on and the cyberman started to shake, sparks flying out of its neck before finally falling over.
At first, Aggie tried to be content just watching the scene from the mirror. But like the Lady of Shalott, she couldn't stand to just watch the knight from its reflection. She sneaked around the corner and watched everything from directly behind him. As the golem hit the floor, she stood in total shock, her eyes wide, her face pallid and her jaw slacked. The mirror slipped from her hand and it, too, crashed to the floor. This snapped her back to reality and she apologetically dropped to her knees. "Oh, I've smashed your mirror... I'm sorry," she muttered, starting to hastily pick up the glass. "I guess I'm bad luck... Ouch!" She quickly brought her cut finger to her mouth.
The Doctor looked back at the sound of the mirror crashing, moving over and crouching down next to her. "Don't worry about it; it's just something I picked up on Altraxi 5. There are a million more like it. The whole planet is actually a mirror factory." He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a bandaid for her finger. "Let me see your hand." He took her hand and put the bandaid on her finger over the cut.
Aggie watched quietly as the Doctor bandaged her finger. "Thank you..." she responded softly, looking at the strange bandage before raising her eyes to his again. Slowly, she held onto his arms and stood up, still looking at him. He was something else! As they stood there together, all the things he'd been saying started to sink in. Humans? Altraxi 5? Cybermen? He was a mystery wrapped in a blue suit. With a gentle laugh, she teased, "You're not from around here, are you, Doctor?" She smiled and blushed again.
The Doctor grinned at her and winked before turning back to the cyberman and running his screwdriver over it. "Alright tinny, lets find out where it is you came from." The chest piece popped off and an information tube popped out. The Doctor pulled it out, looking it over.
"Eww, that's sort of... gross..." came Aggie's voice from over his shoulder. "How do you know so much?" Somehow, she knew he wasn't going to answer her. She watched everything he did closely until she heard the sound of footsteps. She looked back and saw one of the managers approaching in the distance. Quickly, she touched the Doctor's back with both her hands, leaned down and hurriedly whispered into his ear, "Quick! It's one of the managers, and you probably don't want to be questioned by him, do you?"
The Doctor scowled and looked in the direction of the footsteps. "Bah! I don't have time for questions from peons," he frowned. "I mean... no, I meant peons." He grabbed her hand and continued, "Besides, I can't read this thing here; it got damaged. Come on." He pulled her along out the door and across the street to the TARDIS.
Now was the time Aggie decided to act as though the Doctor were nuts. "This is your solution - to hide in a telephone box?" She stopped and looked around to see if anyone was coming, then gave the box a good looking-over. "I don't know how well that will work out for us... I mean, won't it be kind of... cramped?" She blushed at the idea, though to be honest, she didn't hate it.
He laughed as he pulled out the key and unlocked the door. "No, actually, it will be anything but cramped." He opened the door for her, grinning widely and gesturing for her to go ahead of him. "Ladies first."
Aggie stood before him, blinking questioningly before deciding to just go with it and step inside. As her eyes fell on the amazing sight, she gasped in wonder, her expression slowly morphing from utter shock to total delight. From now on, she was going to believe anything he said... Well, maybe. Eventually, she found the words to speak, "This place is... wonderful!" She giggled like a happy little girl, her eyes dancing.
He followed her in, closing the door behind them and walking up to the controls, smiling while she took it all in. He plugged the information tube into one of the TARDIS' ports and set up a scan of the tube. He leaned on the console and looked over to Aggie. "So? Questions?"
"Yes, I'd say so!" she laughed joyously, placing her hands carefully on the console, away from any controls and leaning toward him. "Firstly, what is this marvelous thing... secondly, how'd you get wrapped up with some simple person like me... and thirdly, do I need to prepare for something?"
The Doctor nodded. "Right then, so this is my TARDIS. That stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. She's my ship." He ran his hand along the console lovingly. "Secondly, don't put yourself down. You aren't simple. And third, you just might." He moved back around the console and pulled the monitor to him, touching buttons.
"Wait, if this is a ship, then where are we going?" Aggie moved to where the Doctor was, leaning over his shoulder so that she could see the monitor, which made no sense to her. "Well, I mean you... For all I know, you'll want to drop me at home. It's not like I've been invited, and I'd hate to invite myself along..." She gave a slight, uncomfortable laugh. "Then again, if you have invited me and I've overlooked that fact, then I hope we have time for me to pick up a few things?" She paused and watched him, waiting for a reaction. Aggie realized she'd just embarrassed herself and backed away slowly, her cheeks burning bright red yet again. She tried to cover this by laughing. "But... I've put together that you're not human, so if we're 'peasants' as you so put it, then it'd be silly to have me in the way..." She reluctantly backed away from the console a little further. It had happened. She was babbling nervously like she always did whenever she felt embarrassed. She didn't want to go. In fact, she wanted desperately to stay, but she wasn't sure whether he actually wanted her along or not, and she didn't want to assume.
The Doctor smiled while looking through the information tube for the duration of her whole ramble, until she had finished. 'I could take a lesson from her in the rambling department, actually,' he thought to himself. "Aggie, take a deep breath. We don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to. I'm not a kidnapper," he assured her, despite what Donna had thought the first time they met. "Also, I said peons, not peasants, and I didn't mean you, I meant your manager. Anyone that can't see the bigger picture, I've never really liked talking to. I'm sure he would have been more interested in his club's sad state than the cyberman laying on his floor." He pulled the tube out of the console and started flipping it around on his hand. "As for traveling with me, that would be completely up to you." 'After what happened on Mars, though, I think Donna was right: I need someone to stop me,' he thought to himself.
By now, Aggie was completely beet red. She lowered her face to the floor and remained silent. After some thoughtful deliberation, she finally looked back up at him and spoke, "If I'm... honest... Doctor... I... really would like to stay... if you'll have me..." She chuckled slightly again. "But not if that's not what you had in mind!" she quickly reiterated. "... Nevertheless, if I'm to come along, I really should pack a bag, shouldn't I?" She had never been so embarrassed in all her life, asking a strange man permission to tag along like that! What would he think of her? She wasn't usually like this, after all.
The Doctor grinned, trying his best not to laugh. He could see that she was quite embarrassed about asking him to come, but he had seen much worse when it came to people wanting to come with him. "Well, the TARDIS has a huge wardrobe. I'm sure you could find some comfortable clothes there to use, but you can grab some stuff from your house. Where do you live?"
Aggie's face brightened into a grateful smile. She gave him the address, then looked for a place to stay out of the way. There wasn't much in the way of seating, but she decided it would be best to sit in the one seat she found. If he didn't want her there he'd most likely tell her so. "I want to thank you, Doctor, for having me along," she spoke up as she watched him. "To tell you the truth, I'm just thrilled to be leaving London for once!"
He chuckled and flipped the switch, throwing the TARDIS into the vortex. He started running around the the console, piloting the ship to her destination. "Well, you don't have to worry. London is just one small place in a universe of possibilities. Though, half the time I do end up back there." He shrugged and landed the TARDIS with its telltale whine. "All right, out that door is your place."
Aggie was amazed, even by this tiny 'trip'. The TARDIS landed with a thud, shaking the room and the seat she was in. Slowly, and with an enormous smile, she descended the ramp and down to the doors. She opened them just as slowly, then stepped out cautiously onto her own street! Quietly and quickly, she slipped in through the back door and up to her room. She put a few of her favorite belongings and clothes into her suitcase, then sat at her desk and wrote a letter to her family. Within minutes, she was back to the Doctor.
The Doctor had been sitting there in the TARDIS, letting her have her space while at the same time contemplating the events of the last couple of days while he was flipping the data core over. It was his fault that the cyberman had been in that club. It was tracking him when he landed. Thrown here through time from the 1800s when he defeated the Cyberking. It figured - something else he had done had come back to bite him in the ass.
Aggie opened one of the doors to the big, blue box and smiled happily when she saw him. "Hello, Doctor, I'm back!" Her smile faltered slightly when she saw the solemn look on his face. She had obviously interrupted a moment of deep contemplation, one that made him look sad. Hoping to brighten his spirits, she smiled again, this time a little softer as she climbed the ramp with her bag. "I tried not to pack too much, but there were just a few things I couldn't leave home without."
The Doctor smiled at her, though it was a little forced. "Alrighty, then. You're all ready to go, I take it?" He stood up, tossing the data tube onto the seat and moving to the controls. Aggie certainly wasn't as knowledgeable as the Doctor, but if she was gifted with one insight, it was with reading people. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew he was terribly unhappy, and that's not how she wanted them to start out together.
In a low, tentative voice, she answered, "Yes, I-I'm all ready... to go..." She carried her lone suitcase in both hands to the seat and sat down carefully, then looked up to observe him. "Forgive me if I'm being too nosy, but... I can tell something is wrong. If you'd rather I stay behind, I understand." She was not only concerned for his feelings, but was also afraid that he was not as eager for her company as she was for his.
The Doctor smiled and sat next to her on the chair. "No worries, Aggie. I'm just thinking of days past and mistakes made. Not something I should ever really do." He patted her on the leg a stood up again. "Ready for your first trip?"
Aggie smiled a little brighter, relieved. "As ready as I'll ever be, Doctor..." She said his name with a touch of early-won affection. Part of her hoped he wouldn't notice. The other part hoped he did notice... and just maybe feel a little enchanted himself. She also wondered just where they'd be going. Anywhere was better than London, especially with the mysterious Doctor.