A Madman in a Box
Children of Gallifrey
"One day, you'll see!" cried the young boy excitedly. He leapt to his feet and pointed at the two suns of Gallifrey shining down on them. "I'll be out there among the stars, seeing all of time and space, all of history. I'll be making history!"
The older girl smiled at her friend's enthusiasm, though she knew how silly it was.
"You know you can't do that. We aren't supposed to change history, it wouldn't be right. It's better to just observe from afar. Don't get so invested in things!"
He turned to her with a brightness in his eyes, and an incredulous smile.
"How can you say that? To see everything out there... what could be better?" The girl merely pursed her lips. "Besides, isn't it wrong, to just sit here and do nothing while there is pain and suffering that we can easily avoid?"
"What, are you going to go fix the universe?" she asked sarcastically, though her tone was gentle. "Change every moment in history where something has gone wrong?"
The boy just grinned.
"Moment by moment." His friend shook her head disapprovingly, but she couldn't help the smile that forced its way to her lips. She was amazed and delighted by the eager way he spoke about traveling, the confidence in his quirky grin, and his inherent desire to help others.
"Well you can't fly around in the stars without a TARDIS," she pointed out.
"So I'll get one!" he exclaimed.
"The High Council will never give you one if you're going to misuse it like that!"
"So I'll steal one," he said with a sassy wink.
"Oh wipe that cheeky grin off your face," she teased. Grabbing his sleeve, she yanked him back onto the ground with her.
"So you'll just roam the universe, all alone in your TARDIS, slaying dragons forever?"
"Yeah!"
"And do you know what that'll make you?"
"A hero? A knight? A protector of worlds?" he supplied proudly.
"A madman in a box."
The little boy made a face at his companion as she laughed, snorting in amusement.
"Well at least I don't snort like a pig," he teased her.
"Oh, pig am I?" The boy stuck his tongue out at her. With a playful yell, the girl lunged over and tackled him. Locked in a friendly tussle, the boy and girl shrieked as they began to tumble down the hill. After a moment they erupted in whoops of laughter as they rolled rapidly over the red grass.
With an 'umf' the friends hit the bottom of the hill and stopped abruptly, the girl landing on top of the boy. As the boy groaned beneath her, the girl pushed herself up so she was hovering above him.
Without any warning she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss. Stunned into silence, and blushing madly, the boy lay still as she jumped to her feet. Standing up timidly, the boy was embarrassed to feel the color in his cheeks.
"What was that?" he asked shyly, his hand shaking as he brushed his floppy hair out of his eyes.
"Well," she said confidently, "I figure that someday when you're out there traveling you'll be quite a Casanova, so I wanted to be able to say that I was the first to kiss you, before all those other girls get their hands on you."
Though he was still blushing, the boy smiled in surprise.
"Did you just say Casanova?"
"I have picked up some human cultural references over the years. I spend too much time with you, you human-lover," she mocked. The boy grinned, his familiar enthusiasm returning to his face.
"How could you not be interested in them? A race that looks just like us. Completely technologically inferior of course, but that's what makes them all the more interesting!"
"Just like I said, when girls see that look on your face, they won't be able to help falling in love with you. You really will be a Casanova," teased the girl, captivated by his bright eyes once again. The boy waved away her words, not seeming to understand the implication behind it.
"I don't want to be a Casanova. I want to be a Romeo!"
"A what?"
"Romeo! From Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'," recited the boy. "Romeo and Juliet are the ultimate symbols of true love."
"So you want to just have one true love?" the girl checked. He nodded emphatically.
"Someday I'll have one," he said confidently, looking out at the sky once more. "I'll find her out there somewhere, I'm sure of it."
The girl felt somewhat sad at his proclamation, though she told herself it was silly. She was only eighty-six years old, and he only seventy! It was silly to think that her crush meant anything special. Besides, she could never travel as he wanted to do. Gallifrey was her home, how could she leave it? The rolling hills, the red grass, the singing mountains: those were all she needed.
"Well you'll have to come back and visit every once in a while," the girl said. "I'll want to know all about those worlds that you explore."
"Why don't you come with me?" he suggested passionately. "We could travel together! Wouldn't that be fantastic?" A dreadful feeling filled her heart simply at considering the possibility.
"No, I could never do that," she answered truthfully.
"You can do anything you want," he said with a smile. "And you never know, what you want might change. Maybe someday we will be traveling the universe together."
"I doubt that. If we did, do you know what that would make me?"
"What?" he asked.
"The companion of a madman in a box."
The Doctor Is Born
"I'll be out of here faster than you can say 'Alpha Centauri'," the young man proclaimed.
"Alpha Centauri," repeated the woman sarcastically. "Oh look at that, you're still here. It's good to see you!" The man made a hurt face at his friend.
"Must you take everything I say so literally? It was clearly said for effect." The woman grinned.
"Oh I know, I just can't help it. Teasing you is too much fun and you make it so easy!" she exclaimed. "But seriously, you're never going to leave. You've been saying that same thing for over a hundred and fifty years now."
"Yes, but this time is different," he said seriously, becoming quiet. "Just wait and see. I promise you that I'll be out of this place before my next birthday."
"'This place'? How can you refer to Gallifrey like that?" she asked in disbelief. "Do you truly not care for it at all?" The man looked all around him at his beautiful world of rolling red hills, vibrant colors and a city encased in a dome. Despite all of his desires to leave, it truly was his home, and he knew that it wouldn't be easy to go.
"I care a lot for Gallifrey," he admitted softly, "but I can't remain here for eternity. I need to see what else is out there. I already know what this planet has to offer: I want to see what others can offer me. Can you honestly say that the idea of exploring every star system and every galaxy in the whole of time and space doesn't appeal to you?"
"You know... after growing up with you all these years, I think that it does," she admitted quietly.
It was true. After spending hundreds of years hearing her best friend's fanciful stories and exciting plans, the woman had changed. No longer was she the scared little girl who couldn't stand the thought of being separated from her home. Now she longed for adventure, just like he did. Her ties to Gallifrey still bound her more tightly than they did him, but she knew that it would not be enough to satisfy her for much longer.
The man grinned knowingly and gave her a wink.
"See? I told you so."
Becoming more serious, the man reached out and took her hands, seeming unaware of the effect it had on her two beating hearts.
"Come with me. We can leave Gallifrey together and go anywhere we want." Carelessly releasing his hold on her hands, the man turned aside and flung out his arms exuberantly.
"We can explore the universe!" he yelled loudly, as if inviting the world to join in his eager happiness.
The woman smiled sadly, wishing she could do as he asked. More than anything, she knew that she didn't want to be left behind if he truly did leave. But to leave would mean stealing a TARDIS. She couldn't take a risk like that. He might be able to throw the law out the window, but the rule of the High Council bore more heavily on her: her father was a member. Stealing a TARDIS was unthinkable, and not something that she could take part in.
"You know I can't do that," she said quietly, trying not to tear up. He turned to her in disappointment.
"Don't be scared of your father," he advised gently. "I won't let anything happen to you. I'll always look out for you."
Once more the woman felt her hearts beat more rapidly as butterflies erupted in her stomach. Could he truly speak that way to someone he didn't care about? Either way, his assurance somehow did calm her. She felt protected just being in his presence, as though he could do anything. But this still did not change her mind. Her fear was too great even so.
"I can't." The man looked sad but he nodded understandingly. Drawing his friend into a tight hug, he rested his cheek against her head, sweetly stroking her long brown hair.
"Then I'll just have to come back and see you," he said. The woman laughed abruptly into his shoulder. Pulling away she rolled her eyes at him and gave him a light shove.
"You and I both know that will never happen," she replied. "If you leave you'll be a renegade. You can never come back."
"I know," he said gently, "but I thought it would be nice to say." The woman chuckled again but averted her eyes from his, unable to bear the weight of his gaze. Those dark, intelligent eyes would make her cry if she had to stare into their depths for too long and realize that she might never see them again.
After all, the man was turning two hundred and thirty-six in a week's time. If he kept true to his word, he would be gone by then, and she would never get to see him again.
"That foolish boy!" yelled a man, his robes flapping up around him as he paced madly around the room. "I told you he was a terrible influence!"
The woman sat quietly in her seat, fighting her tears. Just like her friend had promised, he was gone in a stolen TARDIS. The Council was outraged, including her father. It had only been a day and already she dearly missed her best friend's cheery, quirky attitude: his jokes and his comforting embrace; the brightness of his eyes and the shine of his smile. She was in love with him after all.
Why did I never tell him? she cried regretfully in her mind. Why did he never care for me? How could he have left me?
"Well at least he's gone now, though I hope you will choose your friends more wisely from now on my daughter," continued the man. "Still, he will be marked as a renegade and hunted through the years. Sooner or later we will find him, and he will answer for his crimes."
"Can't you just leave him alone?" she asked through clenched teeth. The man looked at his daughter in surprise before his expression hardened.
"Don't get any ideas," he said harshly. "We will catch him and he will be held responsible for his crimes. Just as he deserves."
Tears sprang to her eyes as her father stormed from the room. Was her friend smart enough to evade the capture of entire leagues of Time Lords?
Apparently he was. For a long time after his disappearance, the woman heard tales of 'The Doctor', his assumed alias. Every time she heard of another of his adventures, the woman's heart lit up and she couldn't help but wonder what other fantastic adventures he was having that she hadn't heard about. But these brief periods of delight were broken up by longer periods of sorrow and loneliness. Now that 'the Doctor' was gone, she had no real friends left. Her father meant nothing to her, and all of her other friends had faded away long ago.
One day the woman stood on the hill that she had once shared with her friend, and she contemplated what it would be like to be out there in the universe by his side. Every so often she would momentarily decide to follow him, but that spark always died very quickly.
Suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps over the grass behind her. Her first instinct was that it was him, her best friend, the one she loved, just like it always had been. Her nerves became jittery but an invigorating feeling rushed through her. Whirling around with a bright grin, her spirit was immediately crushed as she saw who was standing there.
Now that she took a moment to think about it, it was of course preposterous to think that it could have been the Doctor. She shouldn't have allowed her hearts to react the way they had.
A heavy weight appeared in the pit of her stomach: despair that it was not the Doctor, and hate towards the man that stood there now.
"It hurts, doesn't it," the man said with a cruel smile, "knowing that he left you. That he didn't care about you."
"He asked me to go with him," she snapped. The man's brows rose slightly but his cool smile remained constant.
"Then you chose not to go with him," he said in wonder. "How fascinating."
"Leave me alone," she demanded, turning away.
"Oh don't be that way," he pouted, "I miss you!" The woman scoffed and did not respond.
Years and years ago, when the Doctor and the woman had been merely children, this other man had been a friend of theirs. As time passed, he changed. The pounding in his head that began when he was eight never ceased, and the woman personally thought that it had driven him mad. For some reason he became competitive, deciding that he would best the Doctor in everything. His marks at the academy were always just a bit higher than the Doctor's, and he collected a large group of friends (or followers, as she thought of them), as a way to taunt the Doctor and the girl about their lack of friends.
Somehow the kind, witty boy that he had once been had morphed into a brilliant, power-hungry, cruel man. At first it had been a source of sadness for the Doctor and the woman, but over time they had come to resent their once-friend.
Now he was claiming to miss her, but she saw through his façade. Though she didn't know his intentions, she did know that his intentions were never clean. If he was speaking to her, he needed something from her. Well, he wouldn't be getting it, that was for sure.
"You can't tell me that you don't miss me too," teased the man. Sneering, the woman turned back to him.
"Oh you think so? I don't miss you. There. Now leave me alone."
"I have a proposition for you," said the man easily. Though this automatically rang warning bells in her head, she could not abate her curiosity.
"What?" she asked.
"Join me."
"What does that mean?"
"Your precious Doctor," mocked the man, "has stolen a TARDIS, become renegade, and somehow made a name for himself out there in the universe."
"So?"
"Well, then why can't we?" The woman's eyes widened in surprise.
"What are you suggesting?"
"I'm going to follow him," declared the man. "Leave this planet, just like he did. I know that you want to leave as well. You can come with me."
"Why would I do that?" scoffed the woman. "You think that I'll go with you if I didn't go with him?"
"Yes," he said with a confident smirk, "because I think that there's a desperate urging inside of you that you can't ignore any longer. Especially now that he's gone. Don't you want to find him? Don't you want to see what he's seen? Then come with me."
The idea was tempting to her, though she tried not to think so. To leave Gallifrey, and to go find the Doctor...
"Why do you want me with you?" she asked curiously, suspecting the man of something.
"I told you, I miss you," he repeated. The woman merely glared at him, waiting for more. The man rolled his eyes but smiled. "Well, perhaps it goes a bit deeper than that."
"Continue," she said.
"What he wants and can't have, I want. It's as simple as that," he said with a smirk. Contempt filled her heart. Of course it was something as pathetic as that. It all made sense now.
"We could assume aliases like he did," the man continued, taking advantage of her silence as she thought. "Though 'the Doctor' seems rather pathetic, don't you think? I'd choose something much more... impressive."
"Oh, like what?" she asked. The man stared out into the sky, pondering this.
"The Master," he said strongly. Looking back at her with a devilish grin, he winked. "That sounds better, doesn't it? And it suits me."
"I think it's sick," she said, the disgust evident in her voice.
"So my dear, would you like to come with me?" he asked, trailing his fingers lightly down her arm and whispering seductively, eyes locked with hers.
"Absolutely not," she said, taking a powerful step away. The man's expression hardened momentarily, but then his regular smirk returned.
"So be it." With that, he turned and left, leaving the woman breathless with fear. Why did he have the power over her to make her feel this way? Was he serious about following the Doctor?
He was. The next day, the Master joined the Doctor as renegades. The woman stared out into the sky, evaluating her life. The man she loved was out traveling the stars, and so was her worst enemy. Gallifrey was still home, but a sad one. An old one. An empty one.
A fire suddenly lit in her soul, like an epiphany. The time for worrying was past. The time for clinging to the security of the rules and the constancy of her family and her life on Gallifrey: all past. She was going to find her Doctor, no matter what. With the Master abroad, he would need her.
Before the week was up, the woman stole a TARDIS of her own. Though the security on the TARDISes (increased due to the now multiple thefts) made her palms sweat and her knees knock, by using her father's influence the woman was able to bypass the security. Boarding a TARDIS, the woman set the controls and lifted off, taking her first breath as an official renegade.
For years she searched for the Doctor. For a time she would wait to hear word of him, but by the time she arrived at the scene he was already gone and the trail cold. After a century or so of this, the woman changed her tactics. Instead of following his trail, she visited sites of important moments in history, places that she felt he would eventually visit. Normally she would stay on Earth because of his love for humans (particularly their origin), but she would also branch out every so often.
None of her efforts proved fruitful. Centuries passed, and she was unable to find her Doctor. As they say however 'The journey is more important than the destination'. And so it was with her. While she always maintained her original search and goal, never giving up faith that she would find the Doctor, she managed to merely enjoy the universe in all its splendor. Finally she was able to see the wonderful sights and worlds that her friend had once described to her. Sometimes she had her own adventures, but on the whole she did her best to stay out of trouble.
In her wanderings, she somehow also managed to avoid meeting the Master at any time. This almost worried her, for sometimes she wondered if perhaps the Master had found the Doctor. And if he had, what had happened? Would she even know if something happened to them?
Her only answer was to keep searching until one of them was found. But her plans were interrupted when another horror began.
The Time War.
Being renegade, the woman was able to stay out of the war, until its very end. Near its conclusion, the woman was forced to realize that if she did not hide herself, she would be hunted by both Time Lords and Daleks alike. Making one final desperate move, the woman hid herself from her own kind just before they were all destroyed, but at a terrible price.