"The cosmos is within us.

We are made of star stuff.

We are a way for the universe

to know itself."

-Carl Sagan

Perfect darkness. She was crawling through a dank, dark tunnel. The sound of snarling echoed through the concrete cylinder. Someone or something was pursuing her.

Suddenly she yelped. "There's a drop off here! A-a-and it sounds like water down below."

"Jump." A man instructed her from close behind.

"What!?" she replied.

"Either jump or your good friend Marmaduke here will have you for dessert once he's through eating me." the voice informed her matter-of-factly

"Oh goddammit, why didn't I just go back to rehab?" she groaned. Then she took a deep breath and dove off into the darkness.

After a fall that sent her stomach to the top of her throat, she plunged deeply into a body of water. She was dimly aware of a second splash as her companion dropped in right after her.

She struggled to break the surface and when she did, coughed and spat, hoping to god this wasn't some damn alien sewer. She looked around realizing there was at least some dim light here. And fortunately, the water looked relatively clear.

A blonde man popped up right beside her. "Are you alright?" he shouted over the roar of the water and the pumping machinery.

"Just peachy. Where the hell's Marmaduke?" she shouted back, looking all around them. The thought of the creature appearing and pulling her back under had her panicking again.

"One thing about Arkheonites is that they can't swim." The man shouted.

Suddenly there was a third splash as the mutant fell and hit the water. It sank like a stone.

"The other thing about Arkheonites is they're not terribly bright. They don't know they can't swim." he grinned at her somewhat smugly and began to swim down stream. She trod water for a moment, shaking her head in disbelief before paddling after him.

Monday, Universe A

Savannah Moss woke up from the bizarre dream feeling groggy and disoriented. She sat up slowly, rolling the details around in her brain. Lately her dreams had been lucid and strange, (often featuring the same strange blonde man she'd never met in real life) and she learned if she made any sudden movements upon waking, she risked forgetting everything. She'd always been fascinated by the way the mind works both asleep and awake. With the weird stuff she'd been dreaming up lately, she'd even taken to keeping a little dream journal at her bedside to keep track of the crazy shit her subconscious mind concocted.

She grabbed the journal now and the pen right beside. She scribbled quickly before her brain could forget.

Dark tunnel. Chased by a monster. Jumped into water. Monster couldn't swim. Cute blonde guy there again.

The very act of writing it down seemed to solidify the dream for her. Almost like it was a real memory of something that had happened to her.

Savannah closed the journal and leaned back against the headboard. She stretched her legs out beneath the quilt. It was the quilt she'd had since childhood which made sense since she was sleeping on the bed in her old room at her mom's house. She'd moved back home only two days before, following a heart wrenching breakup.

Evan. Just thinking his name brought back the knot in her stomach. The anger and aching sadness. Savannah sighed and slid back down to her pillow, her eyes filling with tears. They had moved in together just three months ago after dating for over two years. She thought things were going okay. She had been blindsighted when he broke it off. He had come home Thursday evening from his job as a teller at First National Bank and told her point blank he wasn't in love with her anymore and he thought she should move out. Just like that. He turned over her whole world.

Savannah pulled the cover over her head and closed her eyes wishing she could return to the odd world in her dreams. Outer space and some stranger she called the Doctor. She'd rather deal with dark tunnels and alien creatures than the fact that this was day three that she didn't want to get out of bed. That she couldn't eat anything and she felt dead inside.

Truth be told, she was disgusted with herself. She'd always prided herself on being strong. So, her boyfriend had broken up with her? She never thought she'd become this pathetic victim. Compared to some of the things her mother had endured, this was nothing. Her story was so ordinary. A civil ending to a relationship. He'd even helped her move her things. There was no bad guy to blame or hate. Evan wasn't a cheater. He wasn't violent or even mean. He was just...done.

There was a knock on the door and Savannah quickly wiped away her tears and sat up. It was her mom.

She entered the room and stood at the end of the bed, her arms crossed. She was wearing pastel yellow scrubs, her curly blonde hair was up in a messy bun. She looked sleepy but just as beautiful as ever. She must have just gotten home from work. Savannah found she had a hard time keeping track of time lately. She honestly didn't know if it was day or night at the moment.

"Hey Vannah." Dayle greeted her softly, grabbing a hold of her toes playfully through the quilt. "You get some sleep last night?"

The thing that made Savannah feel the worst about all this was she knew her mom's heart was breaking for her. She could see it in her beautiful blue eyes, though she tried to hide it. She couldn't bear to see Savannah in pain. Savannah had spent the better part of her childhood acting brave for her mom's sake. This was the first time she truly couldn't find it in her to put on a front.

Savannah cleared her throat and smiled weakly. "Yep. Seems the one thing I can do well right now." She chuckled at herself and then quickly changed the subject. "Another fucked up dream too."

Her mother raised her eyebrows. She always seemed fascinated by these bizarre dreams she'd been having over the past few weeks. She was interested in every detail and asked lots of questions. It seemed a little weird to Savannah but then, her mom wasn't the most conventional of people.

Dayle joined her on the bed and gestured for her to elaborate. Savannah told her about crawling through the dark tunnel, the snarling creature she never quite got a look at, the drop off and falling into the water.

Dayle watched her face as she told the story, captivated. When Savannah was done, her mother asked, "So... the Doctor guy. Did he ever address you by your name?" Dayle's voice was casual but this was the third or fourth time she'd asked this question after one of the dreams.

Savannah narrowed her eyes. "No...he didn't. Do you have some theory as to what these dreams mean or something?"

Dayle just smirked at her. "Well duh. They mean you're just as crazy as your mother." She gave Savannah a playful slap on the arm.

Savannah giggled but found she didn't have the energy for there usual sarcastic banter. Inexplicably, she felt tears come to her eyes. She leaned against the headboard again and closed her eyes hoping to stop the tears from escaping. They squeezed out any way and rolled down her cheeks.

She sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me." she groaned miserably. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to move too much for fear she'd set herself off again. She felt so peculiar. Not herself at all.

After a moment of silence, Dayle reached over and grabbed Savannah's hand between the two of hers. "Baby girl, your heart's been broken. And it's gonna take some time to heal it. You get a pass for feeling like shit... But here's the thing: You get one more day to wallow around feeling sorry for yourself, then I'm going to require you to be a functional human being again. You know...Maybe shower? Eat. A little sunlight perhaps." She squeezed Savannah's hand who finally opened her eyes. Dayle's blue gray eyes met Savannah's big brown eyes. "Is that a deal?" she asked her daughter gently.

Savannah slid back under the quilt gratefully. "Deal." she murmured. "I need to get back to work tomorrow anyway. I'm on my last vacation day."

Dayle leaned forward and kissed her daughter's forehead tenderly. "I'm not sure how the library is operating without you."

Then she closed the blinds to darken the room a bit and left her daughter to rest.

Monday, Universe B

Sienna Woods pushed the book cart off the elevator into the corridor when she reached the lower level. She had a whole batch of geography books that needed relabeling by the Collection Management staff. Once they were delivered to the basement work room, she hoped to sneak out for a quick smoke before relieving the popular library librarian Margaret for her lunch break. Being just a clerk who'd worked here a little less than five months, Sienna was the low man on the totem pole, meaning she'd lunch last after hopping around to relieve everyone else first.

Truth be told, she didn't mind. She loved her job and was grateful for the chance. She had her friend Silas to thank for getting her foot in the door. He'd been with the library for four years and had been promoted to issue desk supervisor before he'd taken a little break to attend rehab. It just so happened that was where Sienna had met him. He'd reclaimed his job soon after finishing his program and a month later managed to snag Sienna an interview.

"Hey See." she heard a familiar voice shout from behind her. She grinned. Speak of the devil.

She turned to see a tall young man wearing a tan stocking cap and dark framed glasses grinning back at her. Silas was biracial- half African American, half Asian- and was seriously blessed in the looks department. All the single young women at the library were majorly into him, a fact that he seemed to be honestly unaware of.

"Hey Si." she replied. "Smoke break?"

He nodded and grabbed the cart away from her to push it down the hallway. She glanced over at him, as always, slightly uncomfortable with how kind he was to her. She loved Silas like a brother but unfortunately, his feelings went a little deeper than that. A different kind of love altogether. A fact that had come to light a few months back when they were kicking it at his place binge watching Supernatural together.

He had tried to kiss her and she had stopped him. She apologized profusely but made it clear to him that she just couldn't go there- not with him or anyone. It wasn't like she had never thought of him in that way. Truth be told, she just hadn't felt right about dating since she'd left rehab. Her therapist Lynn had told her that it was perfectly natural and not to put pressure on herself. At the time, she had been scared that the incident with Silas would spoil their friendship. But he was too humble and unselfish to let that happen. Things had pretty well gone back to normal within a couple weeks. But Sienna knew his feelings hadn't changed.

While she was certainly flattered (Silas was pretty damn hot, not to mention something of a genius), she felt the need to keep things very clear with him. It was something to do with the fact that in the past, she'd not shown much integrity in her friendships with guys. She wasn't proud of the fact that in the past she'd taken advantage of guys who she knew really liked her when the feelings weren't mutual. Of course in those days, she was often after a fix or money. If she'd learned nothing through rehab and her participation in Narcotics Anonymous, she'd learned the value of real friends- especially someone like Silas who knew all her secrets and still respected and cared for her.

Once they'd delivered the cart to Crazy Karl in the work room, they slipped out through the delivery entrance on the East side of the basement and made their way to the little courtyard. They sat together on the steps of the rickety old gazebo and both lit up.

Silas squinted over at her as she stuck her pack back in her jacket pocket. "Damn. Is that the same pack from yesterday?" He gave her an exaggerated impressed face. "Nice." She stuck her tongue out at him. Sienna had been quite the chain smoker since rehab but she'd promised her biological mom Dayle that she would try to quit. While it was easier said than done, she had cut way back.

She only just recently (since leaving rehab) made contact with Dayle and was pleased that she now felt a real part of her family. Dayle was married to a sweet dude named Jesse and they had an adopted son named Gabe who was a toddler and absolutely adorable.

Sienna felt sad that she still didn't have the easiest of relationships with her adopted parents. They were staunch conservatives and church goers and it took Sienna a lot of therapy to discover that she might never be able to live up to their expectations of her. And while she had come to peace with it, she regretted that a rift had developed there. They had refused to come to her six month milestone meeting at NA when her sponsor presented her with a coin commemorating six months of sobriety. It was a big day for her but Gary and Allison couldn't quite get past the fact that Dayle and Jesse planned to attend. It was like her new relationship with Dayle was a slap in the face to them and while she'd tried to be sensitive and careful about it, she thought they were really being quite childish.

She realized she'd been quiet for some time and that Silas was watching her. "Hey See. Whatcha thinkin about?"

She made an annoyed face. "Just family bullshit." She quickly changed the subject. "How bout you? How's it goin with the fam?"

He rolled his eyes and blew out a big breath. "Well, ever since I moved in with my brother Luke, my mom has been pretty much up my ass every other day. Like, she's convinced I'm going to start partying again." He was fidgeting with his stocking cap, something he did when he felt anxious or nervous about something.

Sienna leaned forward and studied him, concerned. "Well... Luke is totally straight though right? I thought you said he never even smoked pot."

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean... he drinks occasionally but not too much at the apartment. He's not a total dick like that. It just seems like every time I turn around, my mom is turning up to inspect the place." He made a "what the fuck" gesture. "I feel like now that I've moved out, I got out of prison but still have a parole officer." he muttered.

Sienna could empathize. Recovering addicts who took the process seriously had to do a lot of work to restore their loved ones' faith in them. And when you had been on a straight path for a good long while, keeping up with meetings and working the steps, it was a bit of a punch in the gut when someone didn't trust you.

She didn't know a lot about Silas's mom other than she was from the Phillipines and she'd raised him and his brother Luke by herself. She didn't seem to trust many people. She never dated. But she kept a close eye on her boys. Sienna actually had a lot of respect for the tiny, solemn woman who, to this day thought Sienna's name was Cindy. (Not that Silas would appreciate hearing that right now.)

Before Sienna could come up with a supportive and comforting reply, she saw a familiar green Taurus pull up and park at the hardware store across the square. Her heart leaped in her chest and she felt a familiar sense of surrealism wash over her. It was her ex boyfriend, Chris Bantree. She had never told Silas how things had ended with them, why Chris had finally disappeared from her life. She'd never told Silas about the Doctor. The mad man with a bow tie in the magic blue police box. It was a strange little secret. A secret that Dayle and Jesse knew, but nobody else.

She thought back to that night over six months ago. The night after she'd gotten out of rehab. She'd ran into Chris at the gas station and he started giving her shit. Wanting her to come back to him. Would have likely tried to get her to use. And then. This guy just kinda showed up outta nowhere.

After a big messy argument wherein Chris had put his hands on her and called her the 'c word', the Doctor had knocked his punk ass out.

Sienna watched Chris exit the Taurus and walk into the hardware store and thought back to that night in October.

Chris hit the ground hard and the stranger hopped around a bit, holding his injured hand like a little kid. "I'd apologize but there are some words you just don't say to a lady. OUCH!"

Sienna stared at him in amazement. "Dude. Who the hell are you?"

The man stopped the hopping but still had that look about him of a little boy with a boo boo. "I know you probably don't remember, but we have met before. I am the Doctor."

He leaned over Chris's prone body and seemed to place his fingertips against the unconscious man's temples. "There." he muttered to himself before dusting off his hands and standing up straight once more.

Sienna's eyes narrowed. "The Doctor? I'm quite sure I would remember..." Her words trailed off as the feeling of de javu hit her stronger than ever. She put her hand to her head, feeling slightly dizzy.

"Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, his kind eyes studying her.

Sienna shook her head. "I... don't know." She looked at him, taking in the details of his face. Trying to figure out how someone she couldn't recall ever meeting was someone she felt she knew quite well. And even trusted.

"Well." he clapped his hands together excitedly. "I have it on good authority that this young man won't be bothering you anymore. And what's more, there is a lovely woman named Dayle Moss who would love to meet you. And I'd be more than happy to take you to see her if you're free for the rest of the evening."

And that was the night she'd met her mother for the first time. They never spoke of the Doctor after that. When she'd brought him up, Dayle acted kind of funny about it, like there was more to the story she wasn't supposed to know. Like it was a taboo topic that she wasn't ready to get into. With all the other catching up they'd had to do since, Sienna hadn't wanted to broach the awkward subject again, biding her time. One of these days-

"See. Hey!"

Sienna snapped out of it and realized Silas had been trying to get her attention for some time. "Huh?" she asked, feeling flustered.

He stood and offered a hand. "Should probably get back in." He pulled her to her feet and placed his arm around her protectively as they walked. When they'd reached the service entrance, Silas asked quietly, "That was that douchebag Chris wasn't it? The one who beat you up and cheated on you?"

Sienna nodded, still feeling slightly surreal. Yes. That was Chris. And Chris had absolutely no idea who she was now. They'd dated for two years and he didn't remember her at all.