Author's Note: A cute story. It took me forever to write. I think you'll like it, though. There are some beautiful scenes - and some scenes that just make me laugh.
In terms of timing, I'd say the 1999 sections are set before Paradox but after Buffy's 18th birthday. The 2011 scenes take place in 2011 (we're talking Alison Korjensky here, so there's no time travel involved). It should be read after "Reunion". It does mention a few other stories which I hope to write some day but have not yet. I'm a little short on writing time. I'm doing my best.
Forgive the slight unevenness in chapter lengths... especially at the beginning...
Enjoy!
Sunnydale, 1999
Wind gusted, as rain drenched the streets of Sunnydale. Lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a deafening roar of thunder.
"Nothing like a good rain, now and then, is there?" shouted an English-sounding voice, as he ran through the streets, waving about a blue-tipped sonic screwdriver. He kept buzzing, then adjusting it, then buzzing, again.
Lightning flashed, once more.
"Ooh! Didn't like that, did you?" the Doctor said, trying another frequency. The sonic chirped, then pulsed rhythmically. He beamed. "Ha! Got it!"
He spun 'round a corner. Kept sprinting.
"Not there," the Doctor said, swinging his sonic in different directions. "Not there… not there…."
Another flash of lightning. Another crash of thunder.
Then, suddenly, the entire area around the Doctor glowed blue, and a brick wall at the back of a nearby alleyway rippled with purple-blue energy. The brickwork on the wall began turning translucent.
"Oh, yes!" The Doctor sprinted over to the wall. "Yes. Yes! Brilliant." He soniced the wall, yet again. "Come on!"
The wall tried to reassert itself, fighting back against the sonic — but the Doctor adjusted the sonic while still buzzing, trying to stay on the offensive.
"Whoever set this up was good," the Doctor said, as the wall fought back — and he had to adjust the sonic, again. "But, know what?" His eyes twinkled. "I'm better!"
The wall began to convulse.
Splashing footsteps ran up behind the Doctor. Then stopped. "Doctor…"
Quick glance. "Bit busy, can you…?" He trailed off, as he noticed the gun now pointed in his face. "Ah." He raised up his hands. "All right, all right. I'll stop."
The gun lowered, a bit.
"Or maybe... I'm just getting close!" the Doctor cried, spinning back round and buzzing the wall, again. It convulsed even more, as a crash of thunder shook the ground beneath their feet. "You won't shoot. You wouldn't dare…!"
Lightning struck the building nearest them, filling the Doctor's vision with a blazing white light.
Then a gunshot rang through the air.
The Doctor fell to the pavement, bleeding, as his world faded into blackness.
