Lenny Bartle sidled away from the police station, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his raggedy old coat, fingering the paper Will had given him and wondering what it could mean-"Places: Single Person Accommodations for Ex Services". Single Person Accommodations. He would have a bed, his own bed, his own whole apartment for that matter. And he wouldn't have to worry about waking anyone else up with his nightmares, or worse...
He had been there again last night. His physical body had been in a jail cell in the East End, of course, but the rest of him, the part that mattered, had been back in Iraq, the same place it was every night. Everything was the same, as it always was-the sound and force of the explosion jarring him awake, the smell of burnt flesh, and the sickening horror as he realized it was his fault Flint and the others were dead.
Damn. It was bad enough dreaming about it every night-why did that memory have to follow him around during the day? Merry bloody Christmas, indeed. Nothin' merry 'bout it.
From an open window of a house, he heard the high-pitched, joyous laughter of a small child, and his heart twisted. It would be Katie's second Christmas without him there-he'd been overseas last year. And she had been too young to remember her first two. He swallowed past the lump in his throat, clenching and unclenching his fists, steeling himself. But all he could do was wonder what Tammy had told their little girl this morning when she asked why her daddy wasn't home again for Christmas.
His hopeful mood brought on by the possibility of having a place to live shattered and lost in self-pity, Lenny wandered further and further through the East End until he looked up and realized with a start that he didn't know where he was. It shook him a bit-he took pride in knowing the city like the back of his own hand. It was one of the very few things a homeless person could boast about that few other people could. But he was not familiar with the buildings on either side of him, and when he turned his gaze to the object in front of him, he was certain that he was utterly and truly lost, for he had never seen the likes of it before.
It was a box. A big, blue box. Around the top edge where the words "Police Public Call Box". But it didn't look like any sort of call box Lenny had ever seen before. It looked old-fashioned, and for a minute Lenny wondered what Will had slipped in the porridge the coppers had so kindly provided for him this morning to make him see this apparition. But there was a soft, welcoming light coming from the windows, and suddenly Lenny realized that he was freezing. And his toes hurt. Sure, it was his own fault for pissing all over his boots two nights prior and then walking around barefoot in December, but it didn't change the facts. He wanted warmth and to get off his feet. Who knew, maybe whoever'd left the light on had also left a bag of crisps, or even better, a little something liquid to warm him up?
With that thought in mind, he approached the door and tried the knob. It wouldn't turn. It figured. But Lenny was not so easily deterred. Cautiously peering in the window, he noted that no one was inside. Picking up a discarded piece of lumber from the alleyway, he made to break the window when suddenly a voice called out from behind him.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
Caught red-handed and surrounded on all sides by buildings with no means of escape, Lenny did what had been trained into him by months in the Army-he attacked. Without wasting so much as a second to get a good look at the man who had cornered him, he raised the board over his head, whirled one hundred and eighty degrees, and rushed at the speaker with the full intent of inflicting whatever degree of harm was needed to ensure that this man gave him no further trouble. What he hadn't counted on, however, was the speaker turning around and running. Thrown off-balance by the weight of the lumber and unable to stop spinning without coming into contact with something, Lenny stumbled sideways and struck his head on the wall of one of the buildings beside him. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a flash of red and brown in the direction the other man had run. Coward.
The first thing he saw when he came to were spectacles. Spectacles and a brown coat. It was the man who had run away from him earlier! His head spinning and pounding, Lenny moaned and blinked painfully.
"Oo're you?"
The other man grinned widely. "Nice of you to join us! I'm the Doctor!"
"Doctor... 'Oo?" asked Lenny blearily. If that man spoke that loudly again, Lenny was going to punch him.
"Just 'The Doctor'. It's Lenny, isn't it?"
"Huh? 'Ow did you know?" Stunned, Lenny jumped to his feet, shutting his eyes as his head spun. He didn't know whether to be angry, which was his default emotion, or scared, which common sense told him to be. Mainly he just felt dizzy. But the other man had made no move to fight him-after all, he'd run away the first time-and as Lenny stared at him, waiting for an answer, his vision cleared and he finally began to take notice of the Doctor's physical appearance. He was tall, to begin with-Lenny's nose only came up to his neck. He was oddly dressed, not that Lenny was one to judge-he wore a dark blue suit jacket and trousers, a tan coat that dropped to his shins, and red Converse sneakers (Lenny remembered the flash of red he'd seen just before he'd hit the ground). His dark hair was mussed in the front, and his brown eyes held an almost insane look which unnerved Lenny just the slightest bit. The man straightened up and said,
"I've been watching you since you were brought to the police station last night. I know about everything-Iraq, the accident, Tammy, all of it."
His anger rekindled at the admission, Lenny drew back his arm to strike, but the Doctor put up his hands in a display of goodwill.
"I can help you."
Snorting, Lenny shook his head. "There's nothin' you can do ta 'elp me. There's nothin' anyone can do!"
"Oh come on, it's Christmas, it's the time for helping others." The Doctor tilted his head and flashed him a winning grin. Lenny, unconvinced, did not lower his stance. The other man then lowered his voice, his face turning solemn. "Lenny, you have hurt enough people, haven't you? Do you really want to hurt me as well?"
That did it. Lenny swallowed and dropped his arm to his side, lowering his eyes to the ground.
"I didn't think so. Now come along, I have something that I want to show you!" He strode past Lenny toward the blue box like nothing had ever happened. Lenny didn't particularly want to go with him, but this man didn't strike him as someone who could be effectively argued with. So he tried a question instead.
"I don't know anythin' about you-you won't even tell me your name! Why should I do anythin' you tell me?"
The other man flashed a devious little smile. "Trust me, I'm the Doctor."
Lenny rolled eyes skyward. The Doctor had the door to the blue box open and was standing halfway inside it, motioning for Lenny to follow him. Lenny hesitated a moment, suspicion still hindering him, but just then a chilly wind blew and Lenny remembered how cold he was and how much his toes hurt. Besides, what did he have to lose? He climbed into the box and left the cold London air behind him.
He missed the sound of the door slamming shut at his back as he gazed around in wonder at his quite unfamiliar surroundings.
"'S bigger on the inside."
"Quite right! Here we go, allons-y!"
Lenny was so busy gazing around him in nearly speechless wonder at all the buttons and switches and lights and contraptions on whatever this thing was that he was standing inside that he nearly missed the significance of the Doctor's statement.
"Wait a second, go? Sorry, but I'm not goin' anywhere with you!"
The Doctor looked frustrated now. "You said that you would let me help you."
"Yeah, 'elp me, not abduct me! Where were ya thinkin' of goin', anyway?"
"Somewhere amazing."
"I'll bet it's borin'." Lenny taunted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" The Doctor never seemed to lose that boundless enthusiasm. "There's so much out there, if you would only have the courage to look for it!"
"Courage? Don't you talk ta me about courage! You 'aven't been in battle, you 'aven't seen the things I 'ave..."
"Haven't I?" It was not a smart response-the Doctor's tone was serious. Lenny stood, jaw clenched, breathing heavily in and out through his nose. He couldn't refuse now-no one called the courage of a soldier into question and got away with it. When he didn't respond verbally, the Doctor cracked another smile like nothing had ever happened and said, "I'll take that as a yes." Turning to the large circular array of buttons and dials in the center of the box, he flipped some switches and suddenly there was a loud noise and the column in the middle of the room lit up. His eyes enormous, Lenny clutched at the nearest solid thing-the wall-and hung on for dear life as the police box started to move.
"WHAT THE 'ELL?" He could think of a few times when he had been this scared, all of them in Iraq, but not very many. A very small amount, actually. Almost none.
The Doctor had an almost insane grin on his face. Over the roar of the machine, he yelled "Did I mention we're going back in time?"
"WHAT?" Lenny believed it. He was now prepared to believe anything this man told him. The Doctor nodded enthusiastically and then went back to madly pressing buttons. His knees trembling, Lenny sank to the ground as he suddenly felt the sensation that they were flying.
"WOOHOO!" yelled the Doctor, his exclamation accompanied by a spurt of maniacal laughter. Lenny recalled the time he had found a ten-pound note lying on the ground and treated himself to the all-you-can-eat buffet and wondered if his facial expression then had been the same as the Doctor's was at this moment.
"Brilliant," muttered Lenny sarcastically, his voice muffled due to the position of his head, which was now located between his knees. There was a reason he hadn't gone into the Air Force.
Soon the whirring of machinery died down, and they were able to speak in normal tones. The ride had also smoothed out, mercifully, so Lenny was able to speak without the possibility of subjecting his poor boots to another form of mess.
"What is this thing?"
"This," said the Doctor, running a hand lovingly over a red lever at the center console, "is my TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'. She's my space...ship."
Lenny decided not to press that particular matter. He already felt like his brain was going to explode.
"You said we were going back in time. When am I going to end up?"
"That's the fun bit! Never really knowing." The Doctor winked. Sensing that it was unlikely he would be able to get any more answers out of him, Lenny quieted and leaned his head back against the wall of the TARDIS, closed his eyes, and tried his very best to imagine that he was not flying. He focused on a mental picture from two years ago that day, the last Christmas he, Tammy, and Katie had had together before he left for Iraq. It hurt, but it also brought a smile to his lips.
He must have dozed off, mercifully not deeply enough to dream, because the next thing he knew was a massive jolt as the TARDIS landed.
"Sorry about that, she lands a little rough," apologized the Doctor, seeing Lenny's startled and slightly nauseated expression. He patted the center console affectionately before turning and looking at Lenny as though by still sitting against the wall a full five seconds after landing, he were preventing them from accomplishing whatever mission they had to perform. "Well come on, then! Allons-y!" With that, he flung open the TARDIS door and ran outside. Lenny didn't speak French, but he didn't bother asking what the phrase meant. Not wanting to be left behind, he followed the Doctor out into another alleyway and immediately stopped, staring wide-eyed. For not more than one hundred yards in front of him was the biggest, most impressive-looking structure he'd ever seen.
It was a castle. Not some frilly, princess-y castle like the pictures in the books Tammy used to read to little Katie while he secretly listened in. No, this was a fortress, built of stone and looking more imposing than an eight-foot-tall man holding an AK-47. And it was huge, at least ten stories tall. Lenny hoped it had an elevator.
The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Nottingham, somewhere around the time the year of our Lord 1193. Christmas Day from the looks of it. I do love Christmas."
Lenny, thinking he had perhaps misunderstood him in his awe over the castle, blinked . "Wot? 1193?"
"Yeah." The Doctor nodded rapidly. "The Middle Ages, great period. Feudalism and knights in shining armor and plagues and all that sort of fun stuff. It's great, isn't it?"
"Yeah, great," echoed Lenny unenthusiastically.
"I'll just leave you to it then!" The Doctor turned on his heel and strode off rapidly in the direction opposite the castle. Lenny just stood there for a moment, completely stunned, and then ran after him, yelling,
"Wait! Leave me to what? Ya can't just leave me 'ere! Wot am I supposed to be doin?"
The Doctor turned briefly to yell "Check out the castle! Quite a structure, a must for any tourist visit. Just watch out for the Sheriff-nasty piece of work, you don't want to run into him. I wish I could stay, but timelines and all that. Just try not to get into too much trouble. I'll be back soon!" And then he really was gone, vanished around a corner into a crowd of people dressed in some very old-fashioned attire. Lenny suddenly felt very conspicuous-his clothing, though dirty and worn, was very modern-looking. Trying his best to stay as unnoticed as possible, he pulled his hood up, thrust his hands in his pockets, and walked quickly toward the castle. Even so, he could feel eyes boring into his back, hushed whispers attempting to divine his origins and those of his very strange clothing. He wondered what kind of reactions the Doctor was getting to his red Converses.
When he reached the castle's entrance he encountered a problem in the form of two men dressed in shiny metal armor, holding long sticks with some very sharp-looking metal things on the ends. Though he knew he could have taken them with no trouble if he was in his own world, right now he had no weapon, and he was more out of his element as a soldier than he had ever been in his life. Besides, this place was so big that there were bound to be more where they came from, even if he were to punch them out. So, he ducked behind a nearby corner in the city wall before the guards could notice him to re-think his barely-existent strategy. Less than barely-existent, actually. Better make that non-existent. He didn't even know where he was going inside the castle.
Suddenly, he heard the first movement of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (it was one of the few lectures he hadn't happened to sleep through or skip in his music appreciation class as a teenager) blaring loudly from the direction of where the TARDIS was parked. Everyone, including the guards, went running to see what this strange noise that no one had ever heard before. Lenny grinned as he hurried through the enormous doors before they could come back. Nice one, Doc. Thanks.
He found himself in a stone hallway with a vaulted ceiling at least two stories high. There were large windows spaced intermittently with columns made of the same stone as the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. It was by far the fanciest place Lenny Bartle had been in a long, long time. He barely had time to soak it all in before he heard a phrase quite similar to one he had heard earlier that day, and spoken with the same accusatory tone.
"Oi! 'Oo're you?"