Chapter One: Faeries
I jump and aim my foot at the Daleks eyesocket. The glass shatters to the ground and I slap and explosive onto it. I run back to my TARDIS, that is diguised as a wooden beach hut, and lock myself inside. I flip switches, push buttons, and pull levers on the console in the middle of the room. The TARDIS takes off and I laugh as the Dalek ship explodes.
The day started off like any other. I got up from one of my crazy dreams, showered, dressed, and was off to work in the blink of an eye. Little did I know this day would change my whole life.
I arrived at the cafe just in time.
"Nice timing," Said my co-worker, Jason.
"Always," I reply, tying a apron around my waist.
I started to brew the coffee just as the first customer walked in. He was a regular and I handed him his coffee before he could even say a word.
"Clever girl," He said.
"I try," I say.
He nods his head at Jason and turns to leave.
"Have a nice day, Mr. Stewart." I say right before the door swings shut.
The day goes on normally. Regulars coming and going, newcomers stammering as they try to pick what they want. I go on my lunch break with Jason, as we always do. We aren't a couple, just good friends, though sometimes I wonder if he wants to be more. We return and the cafe is filled. The others seem to be handling it fine though. I wrap my apron back around my waist and go back to the front.
I get back to the counter just as a peculiar looking man walks in. He wears a brown, tweed jacket, a red bow tie and suspenders, black slacks and black dress shoes. He's holding something like a metal bar with a glowing green tip. He holds it out and waves it around like he's scanning the room.
He holds it up in front if his face and whispers something barely audible, "I could've sworn it came in here."
"Can I help you?" I ask him.
He turns on his heels to face me. "You didn't happen to see any glowing balls of light float in here, did you?" he asks.
"Erm... No," I say.
He frowns and walks out.
I stare as he leaves, but the approach of another customer brings me out of my trance.
My shift ends and I walk down the street, heading to the corner store. I'm caught off guard by a blue box in the middle of the side walk. I circle it curiously. I stare at the 'Police Public Call Box' sign, wondering what the hell it was.
"Can I help you." I hear a voice behind me.
I turn to see the unusual man from the cafe.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You seemed to have taken an interest in my box."
I push some hair out of my eyes and stare at him in confusion. "Your box?" I ask.
Something buzzes inside his pocket and he pulls out something that looks like a wallet. He opens it and smiles.
"Gotta run," he says, before bounding off.
Before I notice, I'm running after him, curiosity making the decisions.
He leads me down several streets and alley ways until he runs into an abandoned building. He disappears into a room and I follow close behind.
I stop in the doorway and my breath hitches inside my throat. I stand in front of a million tiny balls of light.
I go farther into the room and notice the man is now talking with a women. Frizzy brown hair, tan skin, decent fashion sense.
She looks up at me.
"Found yourself a new companion, Doctor?" She addresses the man.
"What?" he asks, turning to me. "Ah, yes... found her wandering in circles around the TARDIS, she's..." he pauses, "Whats your name?" he asks me.
"I..." I start, "Alex."
"This is Alex." he says, addressing the women again. "Alex, this is River, and I'm the Doctor."
"Okay..." I say.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." River says.
"What do you mean?" I ask, but they are both to caught up with the balls of light to process my question.
I take a closer look at the balls of light and gasp when I see tiny faces and legs.
"Fairies?" I asked.
"Sort of." The Doctor replies, "These aren't Earth Fairies. I don't know where they came from yet, but they aren't from here."
I raise one eyebrow at him, but he turns back to the Fairies as quick as he turned away.
I turn back to the Fairies as well. I reach out and touch one but instantly regret it. My head starts to pound and images flash behind my eyes. I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on the images. A ciclular ship, dotted with small windows. After a second I realize it's on fire. Another image flashes behind my eyelids and I feel my eyes start to water. Fairies hurtling around the inside of the ship, panicking. Another image shows me the ship, crash landing into the Earth, and another shows me Fairies scrambling away from an explosion.
I snatch back my hand and my eyes fly open. I find the Doctor and River staring at me.
"What happened?" asks the Doctor.
I look back at the small Fairie I had touched. It looked like a littl girl, a scared little girl. "She showed me images of what happened." I say. "Their ship caught fire and they crash landed not far from here."
"What did the ship look like?" He asked.
"It was circular and-"
"Trader Fairies!" He exclaims, cutting me off. "Come on, ladies, we have a trip to make."
"Ooo, Feyry!" exclaimed River, "I've always wanted to go there!"
"I'm not coming with you." I say.
"Yes, you are." The Doctor says, confidently.
"And why would you think that?" I ask.
"Why would you follow me here?" He replies.
"That was different." I say. "I've only just met you and you haven't even told me your name yet."
"All the more reason to come." He said.
He turns to leave, River on his heels, and I watch him disappear out the door. After a minute, I narrow my eyes and rush after them.
"Told you you'd come." The Doctor says, once I catch up.
I roll my eyes and River chuckles.
He leads us to his blue box and stalks in, River not far behind, and me following close after. Ignoring the fact that it was bigger on the inside, I leaned against the controls and watched the Doctor switch them every which way.
I'm thrown off balance as the box hurtles in every direction. I grip the console in the middle of the room and see the Doctor and River doing the same. I watch as River makes her way towards blue switches and flips them one at a time. After a minute or two, the box settles down and I see the Doctor scowl at River.
River smiles and says, "Always forgetting the stabilizers."
"It's more fun when you don't turn them on." He replied.
I stand up straight and dust myself off. "Okay," I say, "Anyone want to explain what the hell is going on?"
"We are going to planet Feyry." Says the Doctor, "To pick up a ship and take it back to the Trader Fairies stuck on Earth."
"So... you mean... We're in space?" I ask.
He nods his head and my face breaks out into the biggest smile.
"You want to go out and see?" He asks.
I turn and look at the doors and then turn back to him. "Can I?" I ask.
He flips a few switches and then heads toward the door, me following close behind. He opens the doors and we both grip the edge of the door frame and look out into the starlit sky.
"It's beautiful." I say.
He smiles at me. But the moment is lost when the TARDIS jerks again. He swings the doors shut and heads back over to the controls. I follow him, but stand on the opposite side of the console.
"They've upgraded their defense system, just have to send them a little warning saying we mean no harm and we'll be fine." River says.
The Doctor starts messing with controls so I walk over to River and strike up a conversation.
"Is he always like this?" I ask.
"Pretty much." She replies.
"What did you mean when you called me a 'Companion'?" I ask
"Curious people, mostly humans, lucky enough to run into him, curious enough to follow him, good enough to travel with him." She replies.
"What happened to them?" I ask.
"Left, some by choice some by force." She said. "I seem to be the only one who hasn't left yet and I don't plan to."
Out of the corner of my eye I see the Doctor frown and his eyes water slightly. I wonder why but don't bother acknowledging it.
"So, it's just River?" I ask.
"Riversong." She replies. "Though sometimes he introduces me as a professor, but I have yet to become one."
"You two are so confusing..." I say and she chuckles.
The Fairies got our message and sent ships to guide us. We landed on the edge of a small landing doc and a couple Fairies waited outside to escort us. They lead us into a tall building, through many corridors, and up and down staircases until we arrived in what looked like a thrown room.
"Why have you come here?" Asks a, slightly taller, Fairie that was sitting in the middle of the room.
"A few of you have landed on Earth and are now stranded." Replies the Doctor. "We have come to retrieve a ship and take it back to them."
"Do you have any proof of this?" The Fairie asked.
The Doctor looked at me expectantly.
I knew what he meant and I stepped forward to address the Fairie. "I touched a small girl and she showed me what happened." I said.
"This girl was one of ours?" The Fairie asks.
"Yes."
"Come, show me." The Fairie says, gesturing for me to come closer.
I hesitate but step forward and hold out my hand. She does the same and our hands meet halfway and I see the images flash behind my eyes again. She pulls away with wide eyes.
"I will give you a ship. But three of my Fairies must travel with you." The Fairie said.
I nod and walk back to the Doctor and Riversong.
The Doctor smiles at me and we turn to leave, but the head Fairie stops us. "Wait," The Fairie says. We turn back to her. "Thank you."
"It's what I do." The Doctor replies.
We turn around again and leave, three Fairies following behind. We make it back to the landing doc and the three Fairies hook up a ship to the TARDIS.
"We will be riding in your ship to Earth and in our ship back." Says the one in the middle.
"I doubt you will need us to escort you back." River says.
"No, we can make it on our own, thank you." The Fairie on the left says.
River nods her head and we all climb into the TARDIS.
I doesn't seem to surprise the Fairies that it's bigger on the inside, but they seem to be keeping their distance, especially from me.
I try and stay as close to the Doctor as I can, a little creeped out by the Fairies.
"Why are they looking at me like that?" I ask him.
"They've never seen a human before." He replied.
"But youa and River are human and they aren't looking at you funny." I point out.
"Ah, yes." He says. "But I am not human and River is only partly human."
"What do you mean?" I ask. "Of course you two are human!"
"I am a timelord and River is the daughter of the TARDIS." He replies.
"Whats a timelord?" I ask.
"We travel in time, we don't die, et cetera, et cetera."
"You don't die?" I exclaim.
"No, we regenerate." He says. "It changes our appreance and a bit of our personality, but not much."
"Okay... So thats who you are?" I ask.
"Oh no, I am much more than that."
"Than who are you, Doctor?" I ask.
He stops messing with the controls and looks at me. "You'll have to figure that out for yourself." He says. "I am different to each person."
"I'm not sure what that means and I'm not sure if that answers my question or not, but I'll take it." I say, "That's the most information I've gotten out of you all day."
He turns back to the controls and chuckles a bit.
We make it back to Earth and the Fairies head back home.
"Well the, Alex," The Doctor says, while we are watching the Fairies take off. "Your choice where we go next."
"What do you mean?" I ask, "Don't think I'm coming with you, I've done enough traveling for one lifetime."
"But you haven't figured out who I am yet." He says, smirking.
"What makes you think I want to?" I ask.
"That look in your eyes when you asked me who I was." He replied.
I narrow my eyes at him.
"Come on, Alex," Interjects River, "He'll need the company while I'm gone."
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Back to that jail cell,waiting for me." She replies. "I've escaped many times but they never seemed to lengthen my time. I'll be out before you know it."
I look back to the Doctor and say, "Fine."
