CHAPTER ONE
It was just a flash of blue.
Kurt swears he saw it. He's winded and almost knocked over eight or so people in his attempt to see where it went. The hopeful smile that had formed on his face falls when he turns the corner only to see more anonymous people hurrying in different directions.
He can't help but be a little upset. Every time he sees that flash of blue it tends to be accompanied by the appearance of a short but very attractive man in a suit and a bowtie. This man is a mystery to Kurt. Over the course of the past few years, Kurt has run into him multiple times, and each time he's left with more questions than before. He only refers to himself as "The Doctor" and never divulges any personal details. The cynical side of Kurt points out that there must be a reason for this. The guy must still live with his parents or have some creepy doll collection. Not to mention that anyone who uses a nickname like "The Doctor" has to be a bad amateur DJ or Jersey Shore reject. With the amount of gel in this guy's hair, the latter might actually be true. He's shorter than Kurt but gorgeous with warm brown eyes and naturally tanned skin. Kurt has no clue why he finds this man so intriguing when he should be completely weirded out by the situation. It definitely isn't normal for a man traveling in a blue telephone box to talk to you at random moments in your life.
Kurt changes his focus and turns around to get back on track. He was already pushing it to get to work on time, and now he'll definitely be late. Not that he minds. Dull doesn't even begin to describe his job. Kurt had always wanted to be involved in fashion, but he had hoped it would be on the design end and not the accounting end. He always told himself this job would be a stepping-stone to a position he was more passionate about. Six years later and he's still keeping track of budgets and expense account records. He may have not seen a bolt of fabric since his orientation tour, but he knows the ungodly amount of money it costs to purchase each one.
Kurt gives one of his characterized eye rolls and sighs as he pushes through the revolving door not noticing the short man in the tailored suit and red bow tie watching him from the other side of the street.
The Doctor smirks to himself, which quickly transforms to a thin-lined frown. He's been without a companion for a while now. When your lifespan can be endless, hundreds of years alone can't seem like that long, but he hasn't shared his adventures with anyone or anything since this most recent regeneration. He can't seem to find the fun of traveling through space and time without opening someone else's eyes to it.
Generally the selection process for a new companion happens mostly by accident. He either saves them from mannequins or a hospital on a moon, but this time is different. He has carefully selected who he thinks he wants to be next.
He's been watching Kurt for a while now. Before this regeneration, he just happened upon him while in New York enjoying a much-deserved day off from saving galaxies. He was about to step onto his time and space travel vehicle, known as a TARDIS. Just as he grabbed the handle to the door of the blue colored police phone box, they caught the other's eyes. The boy seemed to have been hurrying with bags in his hand and his satchel was threatening to slip off his shoulder, but he stopped when he saw the Doctor standing there. He was gorgeous. Tall and slender with pants that had to be painted on they were so tight. His blue shirt matched his eyes perfectly making them even more piercing.
"Hi," the Doctor said.
"Hi," the boy managed to get out breathlessly.
Then the Doctor turned with a smirk and opened the door. He almost had a foot in we he felt a hand tug at his elbow. He took a step back to see the disheveled boy looking at him.
"I'm Kurt." He stammered, regaining some of his composure.
"I'm The Doctor."
Kurt's brow didn't even have time to furrow questioningly before The Doctor was gone in a whirl of blue.
The Doctor smiles at the memory and remembers why he's here. It's finally time to ask Kurt to join him. What he doesn't know is that he's been pulled here for another reason. Nothing can be left totally to coincidence, and the things that are about to be set in motion are going to affect Kurt and his doctor drastically for the rest of their lives.
When Kurt met the Doctor, he had been caught off guard. Why was the extremely attractive man looking at him and actually talking to him? He hadn't had much luck in that department. Also, why was he standing in a back alley near a replica of an old British police box? There was something in that man's grin like the way it spread across his entire face that made Kurt's knees metaphorically buckle. He was gone as quickly as he had appeared and Kurt couldn't explain what had happened or if it even did occur. Try as he might to push him from his thoughts, The Doctor's face was stuck in Kurt's mind permanently as if their meeting was some kind of clandestine happening. He was drawn to him with this strong initial attraction, and that developed into an obsession with this man and who he was.
Kurt sits at his desk daydreaming about The Doctor despite everything telling him that he's either creating an imaginary boyfriend since he can't keep a real one or there's an equally crazy guy out there just messing with him. Neither option is very appealing. Kurt is tired of waiting around for this mystery guy to come back into his life. His appearances have been so sporadic, and when they do occur he's barely there. How can he be expected to hold onto someone when they've not spent more than a total hour together over six years?
There were three years between when Kurt first saw the Doctor and their second meeting. He had dated a lot of look a likes along the way, which is therapist said was unhealthy, but they ended up just being good for sex since none of them were the real thing. Kurt was twenty-four now He was still interning away in the accounting department for Banana Republic, hoping that one day he'd get transferred to a more fashionable floor. You'd be surprised how terribly people who work for a clothing line dress. . He'd been in counseling for having an obsession with a magic mystery man. He knew telling his family about this man that rode around in a flying telephone box was a bad idea. He had finally admitted that the Doctor was a fantasy and not a real person after a continuous struggle with everyone in his life to prove the man existed. Sadly, no one was around the next time Kurt ran into him.
Kurt loved walking down the street and eating his lunch outside at a little Bistro because the fresh air was good for his muddled brain and natural lighting was much better for him than the yellowy fluorescents of the office. While trying to finish his diet coke before heading back to work, he feels the presence of someone sitting at the small table with him, which he finds extremely rude even for a New Yorker. As he raises his gaze prepared to whip out a snarky remark, his face freezes mid reaction. Sitting across from him is that short jerk and his impossible grin. It doesn't look like he's aged a day.
"Do I know you?" Kurt tries to play it off just in case his mind is playing tricks on him again.
"We just met. Well, at least in my time stream." The Doctor rattles off.
Kurt stares blankly at this gibberish reply.
"I suppose I should explain myself, but I really don't have the time at this moment. You're Kurt, right? I have been following the right guy?"
"That's a little too creepy for me," Kurt says as he gathers his things to go, but a warm touch on his hand stops him. He looks and the wonderfully masculine hand on his and feels the warm touch surging through his body. As his eyes travel to the man's face, he practically melts at the man's smile, which takes over his entire face.
"It can't be you," Kurt says, "I convinced myself I dreamed our entire encounter due to an addiction to caffeine, but here you are. People called me crazy, but I knew it was real."
Tears start to well in Kurt's eyes. This man, with whom he has shared so few words, stands and pulls him into an embrace. The hug is warm and meaningful.
"I have to go."
And with that the man is gone, leaving Kurt with a sudden lack of warmth. Kurt quickly picks up his things to follow him, but when he turns the corner he just sees the faintest fading of blue.
"Well, shit."
The phone on his desk rings, bringing Kurt back to reality.
"You've reached accounting. This is Kurt. How may I help you?"
"You're needed on floor zero. Come as quickly as possible." The voice was unfamiliar and almost inhuman.
"Excuse me? Hello?" but they've hung up already
Kurt convinces himself that was a prank. When the receptionists get busy or lazy, they tend to forward their calls to someone else. Because Kurt is "nice," he tends to help them lighten their load more often than anyone else.
He picks up the report he was working on to actually attempt to get some work done when Ethan, a fellow accountant, stops at his desk.
"You're supposed to go down to the basement as well, right?"
Kurt can't help but notice his painfully put together ensemble. Just because argyle is semi-cool for the wealthy working class does not mean that any array of colors can be thrown into this template. The mixture of purple, red, and orange almost makes Kurt forget he was asked a question.
"Yeah, I guess," he says, "What's it about?"
"No clue," Ethan pipes up, "Better than sitting at my desk for the rest of the afternoon."
Kurt agrees with this logic and follows Ethan to the elevator.
The Doctor easily gets into the building. With psychic paper taking the form of any document you need and a sonic screwdriver opening all locked doors among other things, how can it be difficult?
As he strolls casually to the elevator bank, he begins to think about the last time he saw Kurt. It felt like yesterday because for him it was.
In Kurt's time stream, it had been a little over a year.
It had been pouring outside as Kurt stood under the awning of his office building, which was providing little protection. The wind was blowing rainwater under the covering soaking Kurt's clothes and once perfectly coifed hair. He was so distracted that he didn't even notice the blue police box blink into existence next to him.
"Could you use a lift home?"
Kurt pushed his hair out of his eyes where it was hanging in curtains. Blaine saw the recognition dawn on his beautiful white face. Blaine was confused as the recognition quickly turned to a look of fury. Too soon there were little but surprisingly strong fists hitting his chest followed by a string of high pitched yelling.
"How dare you? I can't believe this. I haven't seen you in two years, and you just expect to show up and talk to me whenever it's convenient for you."
The Doctor grabbed Kurt's wrists and pulled them down. He could see the hurt etched on the man's face. It was then he realized this was more than just scoping out a new companion. That could be dangerous.
"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have come." The Doctor tried to back up and remove himself from this potentially damaging situation. Falling in love with a companion never ended well. It always works best as a friendship because it feels less like rejection when they leave you by either choice or death. Being almost immortal led to the latter happening too often.
"Really? You're just going to leave again? That's really great, Blaine. I hope you're getting everything you want out of this screwed up relationship…"
The Doctor looked at the man quizzically a smile forming on his face.
"Blaine?"
Kurt's cheeks flushed crimson like a little boy who had been caught wearing his mother's shoes.
"I had to give you a name. My friends would have thought I was crazy if I complained about the mysterious 'Doctor." Kurt made the air quotes as he said that last word mockingly. "You looked like a Blaine. I went through a lot of choices, but that sounded the best." His eyes had fallen down to looking at his wet shoes.
"I like it. I've never had a name before," The Doctor said smiling encouragingly at Kurt and taking his hand. "Come on. Let me get you home, and I can explain a few things."
It was Kurt's turn to laugh. "There's barely room for you in that police box, and I don't get into flying vehicles with strangers."
"I'll save it for later then. Let's walk."
The rain had not let up, and The Doctor walked Kurt to his modest apartment saying very little along the way. Kurt finally broke the silence that had only been punctuated by the pitter-pattering drizzle. .
"So… Who are you?"
After a short sign, The Doctor began to explain, "I'm a time lord, the last one, actually. I travel through space and time helping to police the galaxies." He was about to continue, but he realized he was walking alone.
Kurt has stopped and was just staring at him. "Does that line actually work on people?"
"It's true! I promise. One day I'll show you. Until then, you'll just have to trust me."
Kurt rolled his eyes. This guy was a trip. He doubted he'd ever be able to trust this man, especially after saying that last line. At least Kurt can explain to his therapist that it's the person pretending to be from the future is the one that needs counseling. They had reached Kurt's doorstep. The Doctor drew Kurt's hand to his lips and placed a small kiss.
As he turned to leave, Kurt yelled out, "When will I see you again?"
The Doctor looked back at him with that devilishly cute grin and said, "Only time will tell." Then he backed away until he was consumed in darkness.
The Doctor smiled to himself remembering that moment. He thought it had been one of his more clever lines. Admittedly, he had worked on a long list of cool parting words that he could bring out whenever necessary. It saddened him a little to think about how they were used too often.
He didn't have time to dwell on this, though, because as he waited with the throng of people at the elevators. One going down opened in front of him, and there was Kurt. More alarmingly, though, was the thing on the elevator with him. Kurt is in danger, and he doesn't even have a clue.