Gettysburg, 1863

Was it just me, or had the breathing all around me suddenly heighten? I opened my eyes to see hundreds of men surrounding us, holding muskets before them and silently waiting behind hiding spots. I glanced at the Doctor, but he placed a single finger before his lips to show that we needed to stay quiet. But couldn't he hear it too? I could hear everyone breathing, the thudding of people's hearts, and the muffled screams coming from their mouths. There were distant sounds from farther away, though, I couldn't make out what it was.

A large booming roar came from nowhere, sending the Doctor and I a few steps backward, leaving us speechless. Several men jumped to their feet, some stayed behind the rocks and trees, and then there were a small amount that raced down the rocky hills, yelling. When my eyes fell onto the Doctor again, his face paled. He knew what was happening and he didn't seem to want to tell me. Guns began firing from every side and I covered my ears from the sound, pushing down my screams, when something pounded on the ground near us, which sent the ground to shake. It didn't take the Doctor long until he decided to walk down the hills, somehow missing the entire gunfire exchange with some men I saw down below.

A general, of what it looked like by his fancy medals, stood next to me, hands behind his back. I saw that he wore the colors of navy blue, yellow frills coming off the ends. Everything around me seemed so familiar, but I hadn't found the pieces yet. I leaned toward the general and asked, "Um, excuse me, but where are we?"

The general met me and his eyes widened in an instant. I shrunk back, afraid of what might be happening. "This is Gettysburg, my dear!" He turned toward the other men. "How the hell did a woman get on this field?!"

I stood there, shocked. Gettysburg? THE Gettysburg? My eyes flashed back to the Doctor walking through the middle of a battle, finally putting it all together. We were in the middle of the Civil War.

I ran down the hill after him, not bothering to care if my arms were flailing from the fear of being shot. I crashed into his back since I couldn't stop my feet from the odd angle of the hill. I tried my hardest to ignore the booms and screaming in the background. I will admit, it was extremely hard. The Doctor glared at me when he turned to see that it was me, but continued on, staring only straight ahead. I trailed after him, peering over my shoulder to see the battle growing more and more intense. Eventually, I had to turn around; it was all too gruesome to watch.

We came around a large mountain of rocks to see a different side of men; these ones all in grey. I shivered. Now that I knew where I was, I knew who they were. Confederates.

All of them gaped at us in both amazement and horror, and it had unaffected the Doctor. He walked to one of them, grabbed them by the front of their coat, and glared deep into the only existence of humanity he had. He gnarled his teeth and almost growled, "I want to speak to your commander."

The man shook from the Doctor's unearthly look. "He's busy. You can wait until tonight when the battle has taken a break."

I swear I thought the Doctor was going to slam the poor man against the rock behind him, and to my slight surprise, he pushed him back away from him, and soon faced me. I stared at the Doctor's kind blue eyes that showed me the pureness of his soul. If that's what he had.

We sat in between two large rocks that gave us refuge to the battle. I leaned against the cold rock, mesmerized by the sky. I could see the light blue all over without a hint of clouds, but in the background, firearms were being fired, cannons were crashing into the ground, and the screams of wounded and dying were echoing through the whole area. I closed my eyes, wishing for the sounds to be gone, but they weren't disappearing, no matter how hard I tried. I felt every emotion racing through me, but the highest one was sadness. I never imagined the civil war to be like this. I knew it happened; it was more horrid in real eyes than through history books. Before I knew it, I was crying. Crying for all the misery that took place here, all the people that died for reasons that still aren't clear, and for the fear and brutality that was actually faced here. The Doctor slowly peered over at me to see the tears heavily streaming down my face. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his chest and lap, raising his knees to keep me closer to him. Leaving his arms around me, he allowed me to cry to my heart's content, whispering kind words in my ear.

"You are one of the kindest souls I have ever met, Katharine," was the only sentence I heard clearly and it burst alive inside of me, sending light to shine throughout me. I found myself smiling at his precious words even with my eyes continuing to cry. It took me a bit to calm down, but soon enough, I was asleep in his arms, the sounds of battle becoming more and more distant.

I felt a shake move my whole body, and when I opened my eyes, I realized it was caused from the Doctor. It was dark now, the silence breaking through the field like ice. It was honestly frightening to hear nothing at all when you heard everything only moments ago. I rolled over so I could see the Doctor and he gave me a reassuring smile. I returned a thankful one then I noticed the man with a lantern standing in front of the crack, watching us. The Doctor and I crawled out of our hiding place, following the mysterious man with light. I tripped at one point and when I looked to see what it was, I found the body of a man lying there, bloody and dead. I began to scream, but the Doctor covered my mouth, stopping the sound from coming. I continued to move along with them, trying my hardest not to find myself glancing at the dead bodies, but enough where I knew I wouldn't step on them. It was horrifying, I will say that at least.

We went through a big part of the field until I saw multiple lights appearing before us, indicating the camp right ahead of Confederates. Again, my body shivered in the sudden terror. I could still hear the sounds of battle crawling along the silent green fields, blood stained from every side. I hustled my pace with the other two, deciding it was better not to be left alone in the darkness of this place.

Tents were upright all over, fires and lanterns between almost each one, with men sitting amongst each other, talking and playing cards. I could see nurses attending to some men who had minor wounds compared to some men that I saw with rags on their head and missing body parts. When I received a glare from a man with half of his body covered up, I took my eyes away, not once looking at the wounded again.

We were led to a large tent that easily had room for about five or six men to sleep in. But no, it wasn't that kind of tent, I realized after noticing a few men standing armed in front of the flaps. It was the commander's tent.

Stepping inside, I saw a large desk in the middle of it, with a better bed than blankets, and papers all over the place with some rolled up maps. In the seat behind the desk was a tall and strong man, his hair silvery-white, as well as his beard, with clean grey clothes on, multiple badges and emblems all over his chest and arms, and lastly, a single blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He gave a tight smile when we walked in, and I shook from fright. Even the glint in his eyes dispensed fear.

"Ah," his thick accent and rumbling voice spoke. "The Doctor."

I froze. The Doctor stared at him, something in his eyes sparking fury. I stepped closer to him, letting the tips of my fingers glaze over his hand, and that's when his body exhaled. I did the same, noticing that I held my breath while I had to make sure that he was okay. My mind wanted to race at the thought, but I pushed it away. Not with this man here.

"Robert E. Lee," the Doctor stated, nonchalantly.

"You've met the commander of the Confederate Army?" I hissed, loudly, enough for Robert E. Lee to look over at me.

"So they do use our term in the later days, do they now?" His lips curled into a smile that was unreadable. I couldn't tell whether it was evil, or hope.

"Nevermind about that," The Doctor shot forward, ignoring the suspenseful glances from the "guards". He never feared humans much. "You need to leave. Now."

Robert E. Lee lifted his eyes to meet the Doctor. That was something I thought I would never see. Two, determined, strong, and stubborn men, staring each other down until someone backed away. "Whatever for, Doctor?"

"You're going to lose this battle, Lee, you know this." I saw something flash through his eyes, something deep. "You can't keep doing this. People are dying. For what cause? Slavery? Declaration of Independence? That war was fought years ago, you don't need another one."

Robert E. Lee stood up now, leaving the blanket to fall to the floor, and began pacing around us, his eyes never moving away from us. "We need to show those Yankees that we aren't as petty as they make us out to be. We are proud of who we are too! We cannot let them treat us like prisoners."

Nothing moved the Doctor. He blandly stated his next sentence. "Which is exactly what you are doing to them. You are no better than they are, then."

I watched as Robert E. Lee's eyes grow large with surprise and I felt my heart race. What was this leading to? "They need to be treated the way we were."

"So, let me get this straight. You are sending hundreds of thousands of young men to die just because you want the North to understand your misery? You are doing nothing! You are bringing more misery to yourself, Lee. To your entire nation."

Robert E. Lee sat down again, studying us, thoughts running in his head, I could tell. "I don't care, Doctor. This is our cause, and you should have never brought yourself into this. Please, leave."

Huffing, the Doctor grabbed my wrist and started to trudge out the door. But, for one last time, he turned around, pointing a finger toward him. "You will regret this." Then, we left.

Back in the Tardis, he begun the process of time travel and I could see the anger still in his face. I walked up to him, lightly touched his arm, which forced him to look at me. "Are you okay?"

The Doctor loosened, but I could still see the pain in his eyes. "I hate war, that's all. I wanted to see if I could help them somehow."

I nodded, slightly understanding, finding a seat near the control panel so I could give him the space he needed.