Beep! Beep! Beep!

Kathrine Miller rolled over to slam the snooze button on her alarm clock for the third time that morning but, unfortunately for her (but quite fortunately for her maintaining her daily schedule), she misjudged the width of her bed and went tumbling to the floor. She swore loudly, waking her room-mate.

"Hey!" a strong Boston accent shot out from across the dorm room "just because you have to wake up at God-knows-when in the morning doesn't mean the rest of us have to." Linda grumbled and yanked the covers over her head. Kathrine made a mental note to keep all further expletives in her head.

Until... "Shit!" 5:45. She was going to be late for her Chemistry lecture again. Launching into crisis-mode, she roughly pulled a hoodie over her pajamas, nearly choking on the mouthwash that was replacing her toothbrush for the morning. Textbook, I.D., notebook, and pencil in hand, Kathrine waded her way out of the messy dorm room while pulling on her shoes.

She raced down the empty walkway that would lead her to the Science Hall. Making a quick turn, she glanced at the clock tower. Yes! 5:55. I'll definitely make it by six.

And she would have- really, she would- if it hadn't been for the homeless man sprawled out in front of the library. Though, she wasn't sure most homeless people wore bow-ties. She battled with her conscience for a bit, half intent on leaving him there in favor of being on-schedule for the first time this month, but lost in the end.

"Uhm... sir?" Her voice came out in a timid squeak. She cleared her throat, mentally cursing herself as the clock struck six. "Sir?"

A low groan answered her. The homeless man stirred.

Oh God. He's not well. What if it's pneumonia? What is he's hurt?

Kathrine's frantic thoughts were cut off by a sharp intake of breath, followed by a loud "Whooo! Boy, was that a ride!" The man sat upright in a flash. "Now, what happened? Bumpy time vortex. Barcelona. Beep! Beep! Lost the TARDIS." His eyes widened, he began shaking. Kathrine was at a loss. Who on Earth was this guy? Barcelona? Time vortex? And what in the big, swirly universe is a TARDIS?

The well-dressed homeless man let out a sound of what can only be described as complete and utter defeat. "I've lost the TARDIS..."

Kathrine wanted to cry. She was not prepared for this. Not only was she convinced this man was a raving lunatic, she was sure beyond a doubt that there was no way she could help him.

Completely ignoring the girl's internal thought-process, he stood up, spun around, and seemed to magically regain his composure. "You, pajama girl." He strode over to her on his impossibly long legs. "I seem to be in a liiittle bit of a pinch. You see, I'm missing my box. My big, blue phone box. Happen to see one around here?"

"No. No, sir. Not that I can recall."

He mumbled "eh, was worth a shot," then turned back the the now thoroughly confused college student. "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

Surprised (not for the first time that morning), Kathrine shook the Doctor's hand. "Oh! What do you teach?"

"Just the Do- I beg your pardon?" The Doctor quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, uh. Sorry. It's just that any 'doctors' on campus tend to be professors."

Realization dawned on the Doctor's face. "Oooh, a university! I went to Uni once. Not like this, mind you. It was more... on Pluto. But I digress. Blue box." He snapped his fingers and began pacing down the walkway. "Can't be far away. Well, actually, it could be millions and trillions of years away or on another planet." a brief, uncomfortable pause "But I prefer to think it isn't, don't you?"

Kathrine found herself lamely nodding her head.

"Right. Good. Now," he pulled an odd-looking little tool out of the pocket of his tweed jacket "just need to scan for an artron energy signature." The tool whirred, a bright green light emanating from the tip.

A minute passed. Kathrine's mood was far from improved as the Doctor's face grew more and more concerned. "What is it?" she managed to choke out.

The Doctor stared at the tool in his hands. "Looks like you've got leeches."

"Leeches?"

"Yup. Quite a lot of them, too. They're sort of jamming the signal on my sonic screwdriver. Can't detect artron with these buggers sucking up all the energy in sight." The Doctor slapped the screwdriver against his palm a few times and glared at it.

Kathrine blinked. "Uhm... Doctor," she felt odd using the term, considering the battered state the man was in "I don't really follow. Do you mean to say that there are leeches on campus that... eat energy directly, rather than obtaining it from, you know, blood?"

The Doctor spun on his heel to face her. "Oh, no! These aren't your run-of-the-mill hematophages; they latch onto a life form or another energy source and quite literally suck the energy straight out of them." He leaned in towards Kathrine and began muttering as he inspected her left arm "Symptoms include sleepiness, accelerated aging, somewhat unsightly partially-invisible sores-" the Doctor pinched at the air above her arm and lifted his hand toward his face. Kathrine watched, disgusted, as the previously invisible leech phased into view in the Doctor's hand. "This one's been snacking on you for at least a month."

"Is that why I've been sleeping through Astronomy all month?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to chalk that up to general laziness." the Doctor grinned, but quickly sobered as the severity of the situation hit him. "I've never seen an infestation like this. At this rate, they'll flood every nook and crevice, sucking quanta out from under our noses. They'll keep eating and multiplying 'til the whole world- buildings, plants, people- 'til all of it's nothing but a dried-out husk."

Kathrine took a moment during the Doctor's monologue to regroup. Invisible quantivorous leeches? Sonic screwdriver? This all sounded like those cheesy sci-fi shows she used to watch when she was little. All that was missing now was a space ship. "I need to lie down." she muttered before collapsing into an awkward heap at the Doctor's feet.

And with that, I conclude my introduction! As is stated in my profile, I am more than happy to hear from readers about possible characters or plot devices you want to see in this story. It gives me inspiration! And I love catering to an audience, so send requests if you have them, and critique is always welcome.