A/N: In this story, I am going to follow the unwritten rule of Dalek stories: mention the Daleks in the title, then introduce them at the first cliffhanger as if they're a total surprise. Seriously, this happened all the time in the classic show, and once in Nine's run the Daleks showed up in the teaser for a two-parter even though they WERE the cliffhanger and they weren't even in the title!

Okay, rant over. On to the story. Parts of this really happened at my school. Sadly, neither the Daleks nor the Doctor were involved.


"Here we are!" the Doctor announced as the TARDIS landed.

"Where?" Lindsay asked eagerly.

"Pittsburgh," the Doctor said, "in the year—" A little red light started blinking, just around the corner of the console. The Doctor studied it. "Now, according to this, we're in the year Common Era...twenty-fourteen."

2014. Lindsay counted to five before responding. "Uh...when I said future, I think I meant something a little...farther future?"

"So did I," said the Doctor. "But we've landed here, which means...which means something is very wrong here, something she wants me to deal with right now." He glanced back at the console.

She again! "Who is 'she'?" Lindsay asked. But the Doctor was already striding past her, pulling something out of his jacket as he opened the door and entered the classroom on the other side.

And stopped short, taking in the projector screen at the other end of the room, and the shocked faces watching his entrance.


They were watching The Mind Robber, Lindsay noted. Not her favorite serial; it had been fun the first time, but upon later viewing had lost its charm...yet somehow every episode had survived.

Distracted from the stunned silence in the rest of the room, she was surprised to find herself being hugged by a complete stranger.

She pushed him away, and he backed off apologetically. He was tall, thin, and nondescript, with sandy hair and glasses. "Sorry, Lindsay," he muttered. "I forgot..."

He knew her name. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Sorry," he said again. "You haven't met me yet, but..." He glanced at the Doctor. "Can you explain it?" he asked.

"Maybe I can," said the Doctor. "It seems to me that you're someone from her future. Friend, classmate, romantic attachment? It's okay," he said to Lindsay, whose mouth was hanging open. "Happens all the time to time travelers; I keep meeting my wife in the wrong order. Well, I didn't find out she was my wife till quite recently; she wouldn't tell me until right before we got married, and anyway, what's your name?"

The question was directed at the boy, who smiled. "Russell Redmond," he replied. "And yes; I'm her boyfriend from the future."

"What-" Lindsay began. The rest of the thought was drowned out by a siren. The half-dozen students in the room left quickly, though one girl paused to pull a DVD from the player in the corner and took it with her.

Russell started to leave, then turned back and motioned at Lindsay and the Doctor. "Come on! We have to evacuate."

"Evacuate for what?" the Doctor asked as they followed Russell out of the classroom and into a nearby stairwell.

"Probably another bomb threat," Russell said calmly. "We've had eight this week." He shook his head. "This is the first one on a weekend, though." He led them down one flight and into a huge empty room with a vaulted ceiling and lots of little round tables.
"How long have you been getting bomb threats?" the Doctor asked.

Lindsay thought she saw one of the tables slide out of their way. "Doctor?"

"Couple of weeks," Russell said. "They keep getting threats for the Cathedral—that's this building-and Chevron—that's the chemistry building up the hill."

The table moved again, and this time Lindsay thought she saw something metallic. "Doctor, that table!" Lindsay insisted as they pushed through revolving doors into sunlight.

"Not now, this is important!" the Doctor said, following Russell down worn stone steps to street level.

"But that is too..." Lindsay protested weakly. The Doctor wasn't listening...how to make him...aha. She stopped halfway down the stairs, got in character, took a breath...

"DOCTOR THERE'S A TABLE IN THERE THAT MOVED AND I SWEAR IT WAS WATCHING ME THERE'S SOMETHING IN THERE!"

For a split second she wondered if her accent hadn't been fake enough. Then he turned around. "Well, why didn't you say so? Let's go!" He dashed past her, up the stairs, and back into the Cathedral.

Lindsay felt drained, and climbed the stairs more slowly. Russell and a short overweight brunette girl caught up with her.

"You scream like a Companion," Russell joked, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Then he remembered, and withdrew. Lindsay found herself wishing he hadn't.

"I was going for Peri," she admitted. "Never doing that again." She shook her head for emphasis, then glanced at Russell's friend. "Hi," said the other girl.

"Lindsay, this is Lily. She and you and I are...will be?...the board of the Doctor Who Club here."

"Well, it's a good thing we'll have all this experience then," Lindsay replied. "Let's go catch up with the Doctor."


They found him kneeling on the floor, surrounded by chairs. "Evidence of a perception filter here," he muttered as they approached. "Smells like an external projector. If I could find that—" He crawled under a nearby table and promptly bumped his head. "Found it! Ow."

"Are you all right?" Lindsay asked, hurrying over. He didn't answer.

It was the box. He was holding a little gray box, and staring at it (Lindsay imagined it had bit him). "What is it?" Lindsay asked.

"Perception-filter projector," the Doctor replied, still staring at the box. "A perception filter fools the senses, tricks the mind into ignoring something in plain sight." He transferred the box to his left hand and touched one fingertip to his tongue. "And it was manufactured by Daleks."