GHOST OF THE PAST
by
Crescent Dreamweaver
email: catz4dog1@aol.com
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Charmed. Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, and Charmed belongs to the WB! I just own any original characters in this, including the Doctor's companion, Callie. Also, I don't own any of the things referred to in this fic.
Synopsis: Book 1 of the Past, Present, and Future Trilogy, set during the fifth season of Charmed. While interviewing the mayor of San Francisco, Phoebe receives a vision about an alien invasion on the city.
Note: The Doctor in this is the Eighth Doctor. Also, there will be several cultural references. (Or, as they're more commonly known, in-jokes.) Some of them, however, will just be bad jokes. Before any of you can ask, this story is directly connected to one of my other stories, "Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged". Oh, and one last thing: if the British way of talking isn't quite correct, it's because I'm not British.
* *= indicates emphasized words
** **= indicates a person's thoughts
Let the story begin!
* * *
Episode 1
The TARDIS
Nineteen year old Callie Shaw walked into the control room of the TARDIS, and stopped dead in her tracks. There was a pair of legs sticking out from under the control panel.
"Doctor?" she called hesitantly. There was a thud, a muffled "Ow!", and the equally muffled sound of a man swearing.
A moment later, the Doctor crawled out from under the panel, rubbing his head. Callie fought back a laugh at the look on his face.
"All right there, Doctor?" she asked, concern finally overriding the humor of the situation.
He glanced over at her, and smiled. "I'm fine, Callie. I was just fixing a minor glitch, that's all." He glanced down at the control panel, and smiled at what he saw. "Excellent. We should be arriving in just a hour or two. Plenty of time to get cleaned up."
Callie blinked. "Arriving *where*, Doctor?"
"San Francisco, 2003." He turned and started to walk away. "There's going to be an invasion there in just a day or so, and we're going to try and prevent it."
"Oh, not again."
* * *
The planet Aquari, same time
**We are absolutely brilliant** thought Rabkcar Ladmira[1]. As the emperor of the Calamar, squid-like beings from the planet Aquari, watched his people preparing the weapons for the invasion against Earth, he felt a swell of fatherly pride. The devotion that they gave to the making of their weapons...Rabkcar could have wept for joy.
"Is it not wonderful?" he asked his advisor, Tuort[2], motioning towards the workers with one flipper-like hand.
"It is indeed, sire," Tuort replied, his large eyes moister than usual. "The wasteful humans that inhabit Earth will regret the day that they evolved into hairless apes[3]."
Rabkcar would have made a derogatory comment about humans as well, but found that he was too choked up by the wonderful sight below him.
* * *
San Francisco, 2003
Phoebe Halliwell walked into the mayor's office, and the secretary looked up at her, smiling cheerfully. **Nobody should be that cheerful on a day like this** she thought to herself. **It's hot, muggy, and this room has no air-conditioning.**
"May I help you?" the secretary asked, sounding as cheerful as she looked. To Phoebe's astonishment, she appeared to be completely comfortable, and not at all bothered by the heat.
"How can you stay cool in this heat?" she demanded, realizing too late that she sounded like a Pekinese in a snit[4].
Instead of looking offended, the secretary merely smiled, and motioned to her neck. There was a ropelike gel pack draped over the back of her neck. "I've been bringing this into work every day. It's an absolute lifesaver." She pulled it off and handed it to Phoebe. Taking it gingerely, she was surprised to see that it was just short of being ice-cold.
"That's absolutely brilliant!" Phoebe said, staring at it. "Do you have to refill it every hour or so?" She handed it back.
"Nope. I place it in the refrigerator every night, and it stays cool all day." The secretary placed it around her neck again, and then straightened up, obviously remembering that she had a job to do. "Now, how may I help you?"
"I'm here to see Mayor Wilkins," Phoebe replied immediately.
"Then you must be Phoebe Halliwell." The secretary motioned towards the office door. "He's been expecting you."
Phoebe walked towards the door, but before she could touch the handle, the door swung open. A tall man stood there, a welcoming smile on his face. "Welcome, Ms. Halliwell. I've been looking forward to this interview for quite some time."
Phoebe blinked. "Uh, thanks."
She followed him inside, and was immediately hit with a blast of cool air. Her eyes narrowed. "Is there some reason why you have air-conditioning, and your secretary doesn't?"
"Ms. Hallliwell, I don't have air-conditioning." Mayor Wilkins pointed up at the ceiling, and Phoebe looked where he was pointing. There was a large ceiling fan up there, going at full speed. "Debbie's ceiling fan is broken. She's ordered a new one, but it doesn't arrive until next week. Fortunately, she has that gel pack, which keeps her just as cool as the fan would. Now, are there any particular questions you have for the interview, or are we going to play it by ear?"
"Actually, I have a list of questions, most of them sent by my readers. When I said in my last article that I was going to interview you, I received dozens of letters with questions that people wanted you to answer." Phoebe pulled out the list, as well as a tape recorder. "I picked the most intelligent ones, as well as a couple that were kind of silly."
Mayor Wilkins let out a chuckle. "Let me guess. You want to show your readers that I, too, am human."
"Something like that." Phoebe turned on the tape recorder, and spoke into it. "This is an interview with Mayor Gregory Wilkins by Phoebe Halliwell. How are you today, Mayor Wilkins?"
"I'm doing quite fine, Ms. Halliwell."
"I have several questions for you, sir."
Mayor Wilkins leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed. "Ask away."
"The first one is, 'What are your views on the environmental extremists that have been popping up all over the city?'"
"My view is that anyone who is so passionate about the environment and is willing to work towards improving it should be commended."
Phoebe stared at him. "Even if their methods of improvement are dangerous ones?"
Mayor Wilkins spread his hands. "Whatever works."
Phoebe quickly stood up, anger radiating out of her eyes. "I think this interview is over, Mayor Wilkins."
"As you wish, Ms. Halliwell." He held out his hand, and Phoebe took it. Suddenly, a vision hit her, and she let out a gasp.
**flash**
People were running and screaming as over a dozen squid-like creatures came running down the road, shooting at them. Several people were hit by the watery-blue lasers, and they immediately froze, unable to move or speak.
**flash**
Phoebe blinked, and found herself back in Mayor Wilkins' office. She started to fall over, but before she could, the mayor grabbed her and lowered her onto the chair.
"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.
"An invasion..." Phoebe muttered, shaking her head slightly.
"I beg your pardon?"
She looked up at him, and realized what she'd said. "Nothing," she lied. She fanned herself. "I think the heat finally got to me."
Mayor Wilkins grabbed the bottle of water that was on his desk and opened it. "Drink this, Ms. Halliwell. It'll make you feel better."
The water was tepid, but Phoebe gladly took several gulps of it. Handing it back to the mayor, she forced herself to smile. "Hope you don't mind that it's got my cooties now." Standing up, she walked towards the door. "I, uh, I'd better get home before I collapse again."
Mayor Wilkins nodded. As Phoebe walked out of his office, however, the worried look on his face turned to one of understanding and hatred. "And I think I'd better contact my lord."
* * *
Halliwell Manor
Half an hour later
"So you had a vision about an alien army invading San Francisco," Paige Matthews mused. "Freaky."
"It was like watching an old sci-fi movie from the 50s," Phoebe agreed, plopping down onto the couch.
"That fake[5]?"
"No, that unrealistic." Phoebe sighed. "What are we going to do? We're used to fighting demons, not aliens."
"I think we should ask the Elders what they think," Piper Halliwell-Wyatt replied as she walked into the living room. Her husband, Leo Wyatt, was close behind her.
"Do you really think the Elders are gonna know what to do about alien invaders?" Phoebe retorted. "They're angels, not starship troopers[6]."
"Well, they might know *something* about the invaders," Piper snapped.
"I'll go ask them," Leo said quickly before Phoebe could fire back a retort at the pregnant Halliwell. With that, he disappeared in white lights.
* * *
Aquari
The two Calamar watched the workers in silence. Finally, the silence was broken by Rabkcar.
"Have you received more word from our human contact?" he asked, turning back towards Tuort. Rabkcar may have despised humans, but he had been astonished to learn that many of the hairless apes despised their brethren for what they had done to their world. Their contact was one such person.
"I have, sire. He says that the time is ready for our invasion. His city is experiencing what the humans call a heat wave."
"What in Neptune's blessed name is a heat wave?"
"A time when it is unnaturally warm. The point, sire, is that this heat wave is making the humans vulnerable. It forces them to hide in their houses, where they keep machines that produce cold air. There will be no one to stop us."
Before Rabkcar could reply, one of the workers approached him. "My lord, the weapons are complete.
Rabkcar let out a low chuckle, rubbing his hands together. "Excellent[7]."
"What are your orders, my lord?" Before the emperor could answer him, another worker ran up to them, breathing heavily.
"What's wrong?" Rabkcar asked sharply.
"We have received an urgent message from the contact, my lord! He says that there is a witch in his city, and that she knows about the invasion!"
Rabkcar's eyes widened slightly. "A witch? There's a witch in the City of the Golden Gate?"
The messenger nodded. "Yes, my lord."
The emperor frowned. "Then she must be disposed of." He turned towards the first worker. "Give your best warrior a human disguise, and send him to destroy the witch." He glanced over at the second worker. "Did our contact say what her name was?"
"Yes, my lord. Her name is Phoebe Halliwell."
* * *
The next day...
"Whaddya mean you left before the interview was finished?" demanded Ellen Nolton. She planted her hands on her hips, staring at Phoebe. "You only got an answer for your first question!"
"That's because I couldn't stand to be in the same room as him after he answered it!" She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe he supports the environmental extremists, even though they're dangerous!" Phoebe sighed. "If they were nothing more than protesters, I wouldn't mind so much. But these people threw buckets of pigs blood onto several workers at a meat factory, and formed a human chain around a water treatment facility. And Mayor Wilkins thinks that people like that should be commended for their actions."
Phoebe headed towards her office, Ellen following close behind. "But your readers are expecting to read your interview with the mayor. What are you gonna do about that?"
"I'll do an article on the extremists instead," Phoebe replied immediately.
Ellen started to object, but then stopped and thought about it. "Well, it *is* a human interest story," she said slowly.
"And I can write an apology to my readers at the beginning of the article," Phoebe added.
Ellen finally nodded. "All right. If you're going to have it in the next magazine, then I suggest you get cracking."
Phoebe grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "Will do, chief!"
As she turned around and headed towards her office, one of her co-workers stopped her. "Phoebe, you've got a visitor in your office," she said, winking at her. "A *male* visitor."
Phoebe growled in the back of her throat. Cole. Didn't he know when to leave her alone?
* * *
On the roof of Phoebe's office building, there was nothing but silence. Suddenly, there was a wheezing/groaning noise, and a blue police box appeared. A moment or two later, the door opened, and two figures walked out.
"A rooftop?" Callie said incredulously. "Why did you land the TARDIS on a bloody rooftop?"
"Because we need to be here," came the Doctor's reply. He was carrying a long rope, about an inch and a half thick. Walking over to the edge, he glanced down, and began lowering one end of the rope. "This building is over a hundred feet tall, and the TARDIS is exactly in the center of the roof. No one's going to be able to see it from the ground." The Doctor glanced at the mutinous look on Callie's face, and sighed. "In approximately two minutes and forty-five seconds, a young woman is going to be pushed out of her office window. She'll grab the rope, and gravity will cause her to plummet towards the ground at a steady pace. The rope will end five feet above the ground, and she'll be able to drop to safety." He let out another sigh. "That's the theory, anyway."
Without another word, he tied one end of the rope around a large pillar on the edge of the roof, taking care to tie it in a particularly intricate and complex knot. Placing the rest of the rope on the ground, he crouched by the edge.
"Now, we wait."
* * *
Phoebe walked into her office, and was startled at the sight that greeted her. Her male visitor *wasn't* Cole after all. She guessed he was probably in his forties. He was about six feet tall, with thinning brown hair and brown eyes. He wasn't exactly bad-looking, either. **Except for the hideous brown suit. Of course, I don't think even Cole could make that suit look good.**
The man stood up as she approached him, and held out his hand. "Phoebe Halliwell, I presume?" He gave her a bright smile, showing off perfectly white teeth. "My name is Harold Anderson[8]. My employer, Gregory Wilkins, sent me to apologize for his actions yesterday. He realizes that defending the extremists so passionately probably wasn't the most intelligent decision that he's ever made."
"Well, you can go back to Mayor Wilkins' office and tell him that he's too late. We're not going to do the interview after all."
"You're not?" Mr. Anderson tugged at the collar of his shirt.
"No, I'm not. I'm doing a piece on the environmental extremists instead." Phoebe stopped speaking and stared at the man in front of her. "Mr. Anderson, if you're overheated, I can turn up the A/C."
He glanced up at her, startled. "What?"
"Well, it looked like you were attempting to loosen your shirt collar, so I assumed that you were overheated."
"I'm not overheated," Mr. Anderson snapped, tugging at the shirt collar again. "Sweet Neptune, how do you humans stand these torture devices?"
"Us humans?" Phoebe repeated, growing alarmed. She started to back up, and froze when Mr. Anderson pulled out a gun. It was the same kind of gun from her vision. "Oh, god. You're one of the aliens."
Phoebe tried to run past him, but he grabbed her and yanked her backwards. "I think it would be much easier if I just threw you out the window," he hissed. "It would arouse less suspicion than shooting you would."
Mr. Anderson dragged Phoebe over to the open window. Before she could open her mouth to scream for Leo, she was thrown out.
Instead of hitting open air, she hit something thin. Without bothering to wonder why there was a rope hanging outside her office window, she grabbed it and held on. Phoebe looked over at her window, and saw Mr. Anderson glaring out at her.
"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to shoot you anyway," he called, and brought his gun up. He snapped off several shots at Phoebe, who barely managed to dodge them. She didn't care anymore about who rescued her, just so long as they got her away from the homicidal alien bent on using her for target practice.
Hell, she would willingly have *Cole* rescue her.
"Help me!" she screamed. "Somebody help me!"
* * *
Callie and the Doctor looked down at the young woman hanging by the rope and yelling for help at the top of her lungs. Then, at the same time, they glanced over at the rope. It had caught on the ledge, and was preventing her from plummeting towards her freedom.
"Well, it looks as though your theory was faulty, Doctor," Callie said. She glanced over at the Time Lord, just in time to see him to jump over the ledge[9]. "Oh, bloody hell." Letting out a sigh, she watched him fall. "Wonder what the new one's gonna be like?"
* * *
The Doctor plummeted down towards the young woman. Obviously his theory hadn't worked because there wasn't enough weight on the rope after it snagged on the ledge. But if he added his weight to hers, it would be more than enough.
* * *
As Phoebe dodged another laser shot, she glanced up just in time to see someone plummeting towards her.
"Oh, shit." Those were the last coherent words out of her mouth before the person falling twisted around in midair and wrapped his arms and legs around her.
Sending them both plummeting towards the ground.
Phoebe began screaming shrilly as they plummeted to their deaths. The Charmed Ones would be no more, unless Patty Halliwell revealed that one of them had a long-lost twin.
"Brace yourself," the man said next to her ear calmly.
Before Phoebe could start screaming about how she didn't want to die like this, the rope jerked to a stop, and they swayed slightly in the air. Blinking several times in astonishment, she glanced down, and saw that they were only about five or six feet above the ground. The man that held onto her let go, dropping neatly onto the pavement. He held out his arms.
"Jump," he called up to her. "I'll catch you."
Phoebe glanced down at him, and bit her lip nervously. "If you drop me, I'm going to kick your ass," she called down.
"Just trust me. I won't let you get hurt."
Phoebe closed her eyes, and let go of the rope. Almost immediately she was caught by a pair of surprisingly strong arms. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into a pair of pale blue ones. Her rescuer set her down carefully on the ground.
"Are you all right?" he asked, looking concerned. Phoebe nodded, her hands resting on his chest. He was wearing the weirdest outfit she'd ever seen: long green velvet jacket, white shirt, grey button-up vest, black trousers, and black shoes. He had curly mahogany hair, and of course, there were his blue eyes. He looked, for lack of a better word, aristocratic.
"My name's Phoebe Halliwell." She cocked her head to one side, studying him. "And you are?"
"The Doctor."
Phoebe blinked. "Doctor who[10]?"
The Doctor bowed. "Exactly."
Before Phoebe could say anything else, she became aware of two heartbeats: one beneath each hand. She jerked them away, staring at him.
"You've got two hearts," she murmured in shock.
"Well, yes, I do," he admitted. "All Gallifreyans have two hearts."
"Oh." Phoebe promptly passed out.
* * *
The Doctor was barely able to catch Phoebe before she fell to the ground, unconscious. Callie came barreling out of the office building, and stopped in her tracks when she saw him holding her.
"Doctor, is she all right?" she asked, looking concerned.
"She'll be fine," he replied, giving her a reassuring smile. Easily lifting Phoebe into his arms, he carried her down the street. "We'd best get her home before Arhtom[11] comes after her again."
TO BE CONTINUED...
* * *
Eighth Doctor: Paul McGann
Callie Shaw: Herself
Phoebe Halliwell: Alyssa Milano
Piper Halliwell-Wyatt: Holly Marie Combs
Paige Matthews: Rose McGowan
Leo Wyatt: Brian Krause
Arhtom: Gary Shandling
Rabkcar Ladmira: Himself
Tuort: Himself
Mayor Gregory Wilkins: Himself
Debbie the secretary: Herself
Ellen Nolton: Herself
CULTURAL REFERENCES
[1] Rabkcar Ladmira - Admiral Ackbar spelled backwards
In the Star Wars universe, there was a character named Admiral Ackbar, who was a member of the Rebel Alliance. He was a member of the Calamari, squid-like aliens who lived on a water planet.
[2] Tuort - Trout spelled backwards
*shrugs* Hey, I told you there were going to be bad jokes.
[3] "The wasteful humans that inhabit Earth will regret the day they evolved into hairless apes."
In the movie "Planet of the Apes", humans were referred to as "hairless apes".
[4] "'How can you stay cool in this heat?' she demanded, realizing too late that she sounded like a Pekinese in a snit."
In the book "Callahan's Key" by Spider Robinson, main character Jake Stonebender starts to yell something, stopping himself when he realizes that he sounds like a Pekinese in a snit.
[5] "That fake?"
Old science-fiction movies usually had really cheesy special effects, and the monsters usually looked very fake. But obviously that didn't stop anyone from watching them and enjoying them.
[6] "They're angels, not starship troopers."
The book and movie adaptation "Starship Troopers" were about soldiers who fought against aliens.
[7] "Rabkcar let out a low chuckle, rubbing his hands together. 'Excellent.'"
Anyone who doesn't get this joke needs to have his/her head examined. In the cartoon "The Simpsons", Homer Simpson's boss, Mr. Burns, is a rich old geezer who has a habit of rubbing his hands together and saying "Excellent."
[8] Harold Anderson
In the movie "What Planet Are You From?", the main character is an alien who disguises himself as a human named Harold Anderson so that he can help take over the world.
[9] "She glanced over at the Time Lord, just in time to see him jump over the edge."
The Doctor did nearly the exact same thing in the book "Trading Futures". The only differences are that in the book, he was thrown out the window, and the young woman on the rope was scaling the side of the building.
[10] "Phoebe blinked. 'Doctor who?'"
In one of the books about the Eighth Doctor, he gets amnesia and when he's told that he's the Doctor, he replies, "Doctor who?" *shrugs* Well, I thought it was funny.
[11] Arhtom - Mothra spelled backwards
Mothra is a character from the old Godzilla movies.
* * *
A/N: Well, what do you think? Please R&R, but no senseless flaming. Unconstructive criticism is unhelpful, and it doesn't tell me what I'm doing wrong. Also, the reason for a couple of the bad jokes was because I was writing this between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. last night.
I can't remember who Phoebe's boss was, so I created an original one. If anyone remembers who her actual boss is, please let me know.
I'll try to post episode 2 as soon as I can. See ya!