The Forever Moments

Chapter I

"This bold beauty and infinite loneliness
Of my childhood forest and sky
That beauty echoes through this journey
As the morning dawns, night tells it's story
Bold is beauty and my infinite loneliness
That's what man longs for his soul
The grave of my cradle, the place of my grave
is the last one in the wilderness"

~Nightwish, 'Erämaan viimeinen' (Last of the Wilds)

The Doctor was never one for humid climates. Especially rainy, humid climates. Even more so when it was raining heavily. But it couldn't be helped. There was something in this rainy little town that the old Time Lord knew needed investigating, and his insatiable curiosity refused to quite poking him in the back of his time brain until he found out why.

His companion, Cyphrin Fitzroy; trudged along beside him, squeezing up to him to get as much of herself under the odd, question mark handled umbrella. They came to a small diner that was filled with truckers and other patrons, but the two were desperate for a dryness that they fled into the place like two wet strays in a apple box.

"So," began Cyphrin as she tried to dry her electric blue hair. "Why is it that we've stopped in some town in America during the rainy season?"

"The urge told me to come here." he said simply. Cyphrin had learned by this point not to question the Doctors urges, so she said nothing further. "You hungry? I'm smelling fried bologna sandwiches." Cyphrin nodded and took a seat at the bar with the Doctor.

"If I may be so bold, what exactly are your urges telling you?" The Doctor finished placing an order, then turned to his young friend.

"That some things going to happen here and now. If I remember right, this is the begining of the failed atempt by the Highbreed to enslave the human race." he said very nonchalantly. Cyphrin gave him a odd look. She gave him those very often.

"And we're here to stop it?" she said.

"Wha? No!" said the Doctor, indignantly. "Haven't we been through this, you silly girl? You cant rewrite history. Not one word."

"But then why the hell are we here?" she said again. The Doctor went silent.

"I actually haven't the faintest idea. My instincts told me to come here at this point in time, so I did. I don't listen to those instincts enough, really. I should." he stopped to take a bite out of the sandwich that had been placed in front of him. Cyphrin just sipped on her RC Cola.

As the Doctor sat chewing, he felt a tingle run down his spine. It felt almost as if someone had just ran their fingertips down his back. Turning to see if that actually had been the case, he did a double take at the man who had just walked through the door. The Doctor could remember the face of every person he had ever encountered on his travels. But for some unfathomable reason, this mans face seemed implacable. But the Doctor knew that he had seen him some place before.

He turned back to the bar, his eyes still following the man. He was tall, about 6'2 perhaps. 'Has a strong profile, this man.' thought the Doctor as he chewed. When the man spoke, the Doctor listened intently. But no, not even the voice helped make the man anymore familiar.

The Time Lord strained his brain. Forget about being in the midst of the covert Highbreed invasion, this was top priority. He thought back through each of his previous lives. 13, 12 and 11 came up with nothing. And so did 10, 9 and 8. Going back further, the Doctor found nothing in his 7th, 6th and 5th lives. The Doctor rubbed his temples and regretted the fact that aspirin was lethal to him.

He took his time going through his 4th life, seeing as how he was in that body for the longest. He searched hard, finding himself at a place during the time Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan traveled with him. The Doctor remembered a crisis in a small town called Bellwood involving the Sontarans. He had met a little boy, one who turned out to be of more help than he had expected to be.

The Doctor looked at the man again. Quickly running through the numbers in his mind, he surmised that the boy would be in his early to mid 60's by now. 'There's only one way to confirm this,' thought the Doctor. After warning Cyphrin not to touch his sandwich (to which she grimaced), he got up and walked over to the man, who by now was nursing a mug of coffee.

"Exscuse me?" the man looked at the Doctor. Under his fedora, the Doctor could see the mans deep, dark eyes. "I know you must think this odd, some strange guy talking to you out of the blue; but I must ask. have we met before?"

"I wouldn't think so." said the man. "But don't worry, I get this a lot. Just one of those faces, I guess." he laughed and took another drink of his coffee. "What's your name, stranger?"

"Uh, Smith. John Smith." said the Doctor. The man paused for a moment, as if to consider the name.

"Well, good to met you Mr. Smith." he held his hand and the Doctor took it. "Names Max. Max Tennyson." Now it was the Doctors turn to pause. There was now no doubt in his mind about who this man was and where he had met him.

"Good to met you too, Max." said the Doctor. He let go of Maxs hand and walked backwards back to his seat, never taking his eyes off him. Back with Cyphrin, the Doctor felt a great sense of glee begin to boil up in his stomach. It was so strong that he felt like laughing out loud. But he coughed and held back for now.

"Cyphrin? I need to step out for a moment. You going to be okay?" Cyphrin nodded. "Dont touch the sandwich." he added before leaving.

Outside, the Doctor let out a long, very loud laugh. Thankfully the rain was so hard that no one inside the cafe could hear it.

After his laughing fit, the TARDIS team returned to their home; the Doctor having finished his sandwich along the way. He tossed his soaked coat and umbrella over the railing and seated himself at one end of the console.

"So, you mind telling me what all that was back there?" The Doctor scratched his ear and order K-9 to make some tea.

"Oh, that was me just overwhelmed with joy at meeting an old friend." he said casually. Cyphrin smiled, sighing with the knowledge that the Doctor wouldn't say anything further on the matter.

"So, where to now? Shoo Shan Sen? Nah, how abou-" the Doctor never got to finish his sentence. At that moment, a deep, bell sounding noise resonated through the TARDIS. Cyphrins jerked about to find the source of the sound, while the Doctor stood still as a statue, looking scared to death.

"No... no no no no no !!!" he shouted, rushing to the console and twisting, turning and pressing things at random. "Of all the things... of all the times!"

"What?! Whats wrong?!"

"Thats the Cloister Bell. Its an alarm, warning of a great danger. I just need to..." he said, going to the scanner screen and touching a few keys. "... find the center of the disturbance." The monitor zoomed in on the point in time and space where the great disturbance was coming from.

It really didn't surprise the Doctor to find out that it was coming from this very time and place.

The Doctor laughed out loud again and patted the TARDIS console lovingly.

"Oh, you clever old thing! The only being in the universe to be three steps ahead of me." he grabbed his coat and his cane from the coat rack. "Come along then, Miss Fitzroy. The universe needs a' savin!"

"Oye vey, I bet you never let lazy people on this thing, do you?" she said before jogging behind him through the wet, humid streets.