Part 2

Hetty toyed with the straw in her drink. The first weekend off in months and she was spending it as gooseberry to her housemate. What was it with her and men? Was it the hours she kept, was it her obsessive tidiness. She didn't know; perhaps she was destined to stay 23 and single. She glanced across the dance floor to where Anna and Kevin were dancing wildly. Anna waved; Hetty raised her glass to her. Her gaze wandered. There was a couple having a heated debate over to her right and to her left a drunken man having an argument with himself. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the dance floor. Anna was walking towards her with Kevin not far behind.

"Alright?" Anna said picking up her drink from the table.

"Smashing, that guy seems to be the best catch of the night!" she signalled to the argumentative man. Anna laughed.

"I'm bored!" Kevin piped up and then drained his pint glass.

"I think a kebab, a cheap bottle of wine and an all night DVD fest is called for!" Hetty said picking up her bag.

"Sounds good to me!" Anna said sweeping up her bag and following the other two.

Loud sighing and tutting sounds emanated from underneath the grating surrounding the Tardis console. The doctor now in his 10th incarnation was tinkering with the tardis' electrics.

"How on earth did this get in here?" the doctor said aloud. A small plastic toy car was thrown on to the grating, closely followed by the doctor. He stood and stretched his body. He felt a little stiff after being down there in such an enclosed space. He pulled down the sleeves of his green shirt and brushed the dirt from his striped suit trousers. The doctor mopped his brow, managing to get a smudge of oil across his forehead.

"Well I think the spring cleaning might have been a little too ambitious!" he kicked the toy car into the large pile of other things that he had managed to find whilst sorting out the console room.

The doctor leaned wearily against the railing that encircled the console. So much for taking his mind off things. Leaving Donna behind was harder than he thought. He was alone again. Alone for him wasn't good, he had lost Rose. The life had suddenly disappeared from the Tardis. There goodbyes had been brief and there was so much he had wanted to say. That day had been one of the hardest in his life. He stood lost in thought for a moment. This thought was interrupted by a strange chirping sound. It took him a minute to realise where it was coming from. The noise came from the pile of junk. The doctor got on his hands and knees and rummaged through the pile. He tossed aside empty bottles, a comb, a baseball cap, a Rubik's cube, a copy of the davinci code and a teaspoon. He found the source of the noise it was a small bird whistle.

"Well, there's something I haven't seen in a very long time!" he said passing from hand to hand. "Now little birdie what did I keep you for?".

"No, no, no!" he slammed the bird on the console and began frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers.

"Please, please don't let me be too late!"

Kevin put a handful of kebab meat into his mouth.

"You're disgusting!" Anna shoved him playfully. They were heading home. Hetty was tapping out a text message on her phone.

"Looks like they've had a rough shift at work, that was Casey she said that all the loonies had been in!" Hetty said putting the phone back in the pocket of her jacket.

"That's the problem with your place, never a dull moment!" Anna laughed. They carried on walking down the high street. It was quiet now but in the morning it would be full of families with screaming children and old people with shopping trolleys. Tonight it was adorned with the odd reveller making there way home.

The night clubs were closing and people were starting to spill out on to the street. Some went quietly looking for a taxi; some were looking for a fight. The three friends decided to cross the road to avoid any trouble. As they were crossing a man bumped into Kevin.

"Sorry mate!" Kevin helped to steady the man and went to carry on walking.

"Hey pal what is your problem?" the man shouted.

"No problem ok!"

"Come on you want some?" the man became agitated. Kevin ignored him.

The man spun Kevin round and spat in his face.

"Hey come on mate!" Anna shouted and tried to square up to him. Hetty pulled her back. Suddenly there was a glint of metal; a scream and Kevin was on the floor. The man stood over him a blade in his hand. He looked straight at Hetty and smiled.

Hetty gasped. She was in the night club. She looked around, the couple to the right of her were still arguing and the guy to the left was still arguing with himself. Her gaze darted to the dance floor; Anna and Kevin were dancing together. Hetty suddenly felt very sick. She got up from her stool and picked up her bag. Everyone seemed to be staring at her. She swayed slightly and bolted for the door.

Once outside Hetty sent a text to Anna to apologise and tell her she would see her at home. She had started towards the taxi queue when she heard a scream. She turned towards the alley that ran alongside the club. Hetty could just make out a small group of people about half way down. They noticed her and one of the men came running towards her. He looked at her as he ran past. It was the man who had attacked Kevin. She stared after him, she heard the scream again.

Hetty reached the middle of the alley to find a man on the floor, a girl hunched over him sobbing uncontrollably and a girl watching who looked very scared.

"I'm a nurse, let me look at him!" Hetty said crouching down to speak to the girl.

"We did nothing……. He just stabbed him….." the girl was in shock. Hetty turned to the other girl.

"Help your friend, go to the end of the alley and ring an ambulance and guide it to here when it arrives, ok?" with that the other girl helped her friend up and they both tottered in the direction of the taxis.

Hetty started to examine the young man. He had a stab wound to his chest and was bleeding heavily. She took off her jacket and placed it under his head.

"Can you hear me?" she checked to see if he was breathing. He just groaned. Where was that ambulance. He was unresponsive and was losing blood rapidly. She looked around to see if there was anyone else there, she was alone. Hetty took her right hand and placed it on the wound and with her other hand she rolled back her sleeve to reveal an eye symbol on her arm.

"This might sting a bit!" she whispered gently. Hetty's eyes clouded over and a bright golden light emanated from her hand. The man cried out in pain. A few moments passed and Hetty fell back onto the ground. The man moaned and started to stir. Hetty sat up, she was exhausted and her arm hurt like hell, but at least he seemed better. She heard the approaching sirens.

"Sorry pal but I'm not good with the superhero bit so I'll be seeing you!" She staggered away to the other end of the alley and on her way home.

High above the alley a figure stirred. He had seen what he had come for.

Another figure had been watching, he tossed the bird in the air caught it and headed back to the Tardis.