"LEAH!" Gwen shouted across the bar, "COME OVER HERE!" She giggled. Great, even Gwen was drunk. I'm not into alcohol though, so I must be the only sober one here. For one whole month Jack and I kept the engagement a secret, and just earlier today, we told the whole team about it.
I walked over and plunked down in between Jack and Gwen, "What do you want?" I sighed.
Gwen whispered, "You need to kiss your fiance!" Then she started humming a popular tune and she was shaking her head to the music. That's one reason I don't drink, you look crazy.
I looked at Jack and raised my eyebrow, he just shrugged. I'm also glad Jack knows how to hold his alcohol, he can be drunk and act totally normal. Ok, maybe that's not the best thing. Jack swung his arm around me and gave me a quick kiss for Gwen's sake.
"You don't look too happy here." Jack observed.
"Thank you Captain obvious!" I yelled over the music, "I think I'm going to head home, 'kay?"
"You want me to come with?" He asked,
"No you stay, you're having fun." He just turned back around to face the bar, and I left. Tonight was really nice, not too hot, not too cold, and there was a perfect winter breeze. Sounds cliche I know, but it was perfect. Ever since the engagement, I haven't had any time to myself either. It's like Jack thinks I'm going to run off, back to the TARDIS. Now, I would never tell him this, but I would give anything to run back to the Doctor.
I took my sonic out of my pocket, and I pointed it straight up at the sky. Snow started to fall down very lightly. As I reached the bay, I walked over to the railing surrounding the water. Closing my eyes, I pictured some crazy adventure the Doctor is probably on right now. Then, a lightbulb went of in my head. I sprinted back to the hub, and impatiently waited for the cog door to roll open. I examined my sonic, and tried to figure out what setting would be best for what I was about to do.
I flipped it to the Alpha V mode and aimed the sonic right at myself, then at the sky. I lowered my sonic, and shut my eyes. I whispered out loud, "Please. Please find my signal." As if on cue, I heard the engines whirring. I turned on my heels, and saw the TARDIS materialize in front of me. The Doctor opened the door and rushed out, grabbing me in a hug and spinning me around.
I yelped, and he set me down, "Leah! Oh my god, I missed you! It's been a FULL YEAR. Do you know how long that is!"
"Um, a year?" I laughed.
"Well it's a long time!" He scolded.
"Please Doctor, I need to get away from here just for a day. Can I come with you?" I begged.
"Oh really? Trouble in paradise? But honestly, you don't have to ask to come on." He reminded me.
"Not trouble in paradise. More like, I hate being around drunk people who can't stop talking about my wedding." I said. The Doctor's face dropped, oops. I forgot he doesn't know about the wedding. Well, now he does.
"YOUR WEDDING? YOU AND JACK ARE GETTING MARRIED?" He yelled.
"Well, yeah," I paused, "But it's not until Saturday."
"SATURDAY?" He lowered his voice, "Were you going to invite me?"
"Doctor of course! But, since I'm telling you about it this way, you're sort of already invited."
He sighed, "Well at least I'm invited! So why do you need to get away?"
"Jack's bachelor party is starting soon, and i figured my sort of party, could be a travel with you?" I asked.
"Of course! Where should we go? So many places to choose from you know."
I laughed, "You haven't changed a bit." I quick wrote a note for Jack, telling him I'd be back by morning, and not to worry about me I'm in the good hands of a Doctor.
I grabbed his hand and led him into the TARDIS, "You really need to change something in here. 'Coral' doesn't even begin to describe this place."
"Oi, I don't get to pick what my TARDIS looks like! Besides, I like the whole, coral, look." He laughed and walked over to the console, "How about London 1590?" He asked.
"Are you thinking Shakespeare?"
"You read my mind!" And he set the TARDIS for London late 16th century. The TARDIS shook as we traveled through the time vortex. Oh man did I miss traveling like this. The TARDIS stopped shaking, and I pulled up the screen to see where we were.
"Doctor, we're here. Shall we?" I held out my arm to him, and he gladly hooked his arm around mine. He locked the TARDIS once we stepped out, and we went down the street. There were two women screaming at a man, none other than Shakespeare himself.
The Doctor put himself in the middle of the women and Shakespeare, "Oi ladies, please some respect for the man."
"This monster right here stole a loaf of bread he did!" Said one of the women, pointing at him.
The Doctor turned towards Shakespeare, "Did you steal her bread?"
He boldly pushed the Doctor aside and ignored the women yelling after him. I grabbed the Doctor's arm, "He doesn't remember you?"
"He should. Let's follow him." The Doctor said sternly. We pushed open the wooden door to the house Shakespeare had gone into, to find him sitting at a table.
The Doctor walked over to him and lay a hand on his shoulder, "William, do you remember me?" He asked curiously.
William look up into the Doctor's eyes, "Hello Doctor."
The Doctor clapped his hands once, "Ah there we go! So what was with those women? Did you really steal from them?"
William sighed, "No I swear. People have been thinking that a lot lately. That I've been taking things from their stores. But I'm an honest man, I wouldn't take without paying!"
I walked over, "I believe you. Don't worry, we'll figure out what's happening."
He nodded, then asked, "So Doctor, where exactly have you been? You and miss Martha ran off on me that frightful day."
The Doctor replied, "Eh, time travelers always keep secrets."
William sighed, "Right, time travel," Then he nodded to me, "Who do you have here then?" He took my hand and gave it a kiss.
I pulled my hand back, "I'm Leah, the Doctor's best friend."
Before anyone had the chance to reply, there was a woman yelling outside, "William! You've taken my bread once already today without payin, you need to pay for your bread, you understand?" It was the same woman who had been yelling at him when the Doctor and I arrived.
We all exchanged glances of worry, before the Doctor and I ran outside. There, at the bakery, was a man who looked just like William Shakespeare. The Doctor and I took off and grabbed the man by his shoulders. I soniced the man, and he fell to the ground knocked out cold. Good thing that the woman was the only one around, or we would have caused quite the scene.
"You're really learning how to handle that sonic, Leah." The Doctor complimented, while lifting up the body of the impostor.
"Well, I learned from the best." I said while picking up the other half of the body. Together we carried the body of the fake Shakespeare into the house of the real one.
The real Shakespeare cried out, "What the hell is that? But, that's me!"
The Doctor used his own sonic to examine the body, and he looked at the results, "Ah, the Teselecta. They must of scanned your body and made a copy. Brilliant creatures they are." He said while putting on his brainy specs.
"So how do we get rid of the Teselecta?" I ask.
"Simple. We take it back on the TARDIS with us, and return it to where it belongs." He replied.
"Does that mean you two are done here? Already?" William asked.
"Well we just wanted to pop in to see what the danger was here." The Doctor said.
"Wait a second," I said, turning to face him, "You got a message that something was wrong on the physic paper, didn't you?"
"Well, yes. Sorry." He admitted.
I sighed, "No no, It's fine. Let's just get this thing back to where it's from." The Doctor and I said goodbye to William, and we hauled the Teselecta on board the TARDIS.
"Leah can you set the coordinates please? You know where to go."
"Right, Maldovarium bar, year 5145. Let's go." I plugged in the coordinates, and the TARDIS landed in year 5145. The Doctor and I lifted the body off of the ground, and carried it out of the TARDIS. We walked through the bar, and we got quite a few odd looks. The one look that I definitely did NOT like, was the one that came from none other than Dorium.
I whispered to the Doctor, "We're getting some odd looks you know. Especially from," I sighed, "Dorium."
The Doctor sighed, "We are NOT going to talk to him. He's a no good, lousy black marketeer. Let's just set the Teselecta over here." He nodded towards a long wooden table.
"I feel like we're dumping a dead body. Like mafia members or something." I joked.
The Doctor laughed, "Come on, time to get you home." We walked back to the TARDIS hand in hand, "So I'll be seeing you Saturday then?" He asked, clearly in discomfort.
"Doctor, don't do this." I sighed.
"Do what!"
"Pretend to be happy. I can read your emotions like a book." I reminded him.
"Oh bugger off." He said. I walked over to the console, and I set the TARDIS for home. The TARDIS roared through time, and we landed in a minute.
"You will come right? You can't skip out on me." I told him sternly.
"Leah, you have my word. I'll be there." We hugged and I left the TARDIS. I was back in the hub, and everyone was there. They all turned at me and stared, jaw's dropped.
"What's with everyone?" I asked. I didn't get an answer, "Ok, thanks? Is Jack in his office?" Again. No answer, "What is up with you guys? You act like you don't even know me! Wait, you know me right?"
Owen spoke up finally, "Yeah, we obviously know you. Don't act like you don't know why we are all shocked Leah." He said bitterly.
"Um, I'm just going to go talk to Jack if you don't mind." I didn't wait for anyone's approval. I slid into Jack's office and closed the door behind me, "Man, something is up with the team! They're all pissed off at me! Do you have any idea why?"
Jack snapped his head up to look at me. He yelled, "THEY HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON TO BE PISSED OFF AT YOU! YOU FUCKING LEFT US!"
Ok, now I was really confused, "I left for a night, relax! You had your bachelor party, so I went out on a trip with the Doctor. Nothing happened with him if that's what your so upset about!"
He slid his engagement ring off his finger and threw it in the trash, "YOU WERE GONE FOR THREE MONTHS, LEAH!"
My jaw dropped, "WHAT? I was gone for ONE NIGHT!"
"GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! I don't want to see your face ever again. Leave Torchwood, and have a nice fucking life!" He screamed at me. I didn't say another word, I ran out of his office and I saw the TARDIS still parked there. I pushed opened the doors, and I slammed them shut behind me.
"Leah? You're back awful fast." The Doctor asked curiously.
I ran up to him and sobbed into his chest. He held me and asked what was wrong. I replied through sobs, "We were gone for three months."