The Apprentice
Chapter 2: Lesson #1
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters involved except Guardian T. Time.
Time and the Doctor exited the TARDIS into the garden they'd just left, however it was now mid-day.
"Oh, well seems I was only a few hours off," The Doctor said as Time knelt down and put his hand in the grass.
"Not quite Doctor, try twelve years six hours…" He looked at the Doctor, "And five minutes"
The Doctor shook his head as he walked toward the house, "No, I can assure you that I didn't miss by such a wide-" He approached the back door of the house and produced a long silver rod which he aimed at the door lock and pushed a button causing the blue light at the end to ignite and a dull buzzing sound to echo across the empty yard.
"What are you doing?" Time asked as he approached.
"Sonic Screwdriver,"
"A what?"
"Sonic. Screwdriver. It lets me open any lock, read any signal, and if I wanted it to it could take your staff apart in a second now if you'll excuse me," The doctor threw the door open as the lock turned inside.
"I have a date with Amelia Pond,"
Time stood in the doorway, dazed, as the Doctor entered the house. A moment later he followed him, keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.
"Doctor, someone lives here. We can't just break in," Time whispered to him.
"Amelia lives here, and she's been waiting for a few more hours than I intended, and now that I'm here we can-" The doctor stopped as he went up a flight of stairs and turned the corner. He then turned on his heel and halfway through the turn slowed to a crawl and he finished.
"What is that?" he asked.
Time came up the stairs a moment later and saw a woman sneaking up on the Doctor with a cricket bat in her hands.
"Doctor,"
"No, what is that?" he asked as he began to walk slowly back toward Time, his gaze just to his left.
"Doctor!"
He turned to face Time, "What?"
Time held his hand up and pointed behind him, the Doctor turned just in time for the woman to hit him in the head. The Doctor slumped over and fell to the ground. The girl stepped over him toward Time and lifted the Cricket bat to hit him too, but he was one step ahead of her. He finished focusing energy into his staff and as the hour hand hit one, he sent it back to Zero and the woman froze mid-swing, an inch from his face.
"Whew, gonna need to learn to time that better,"
Time looked the woman up and down, and realized she was in a police uniform. He sighed and turned on the spot, rubbing his hand on his forehead.
"Why do I always get involved with world-bound enforcers? For once can I not get lumped in with someone who doesn't break a law? Just once!" he screamed at the ceiling as if he expected an answer.
A creaking sound drew his attention as the woman began to move again, but at an incredibly slow rate.
"Crap, magic's wearing off. Alright then," he stepped past the woman and drug the Doctor by his arms over to a radiator on the opposite end of the floor. Once he had the Doctor slumped up against the radiator he snapped his fingers and the woman finished her swing with a grunt.
"What the?" She asked, turning around she saw Time sitting cross legged on the other side of the floor, the Doctor unconscious next to him.
"What did you just do?" She asked, approaching cautiously.
"Prevented you from making a mistake, tell me… Do you recognize this man Amelia Pond?" Time asked her.
Her eyes widened, "How did you know my name?"
Time smiled slightly, "We met once, about twelve years ago, it was night, I grew and withered a rose bush,"
Her eyes got even wider as she stumbled back, "You-You're the Apprentice,"
"Really? That name stuck with you over Guardian T. Time?"
"If you're the Apprentice, that makes him the Doctor, but that's impossible, he deserted me,"
"Really though, the Apprentice is what you remember instead of my real name? …No, he didn't. It's just… he's not as good at flying his time machine as he leads on," Time seemed to give up halfway through his tirade.
"What's he doing here? It's been twelve years, I thought he'd forgotten all about me," Amelia said as she approached them and kneeled down in front of the Doctor, she pushed the hair out of his face and took a closer look.
"To you, it was twelve years, to us… It was maybe twenty minutes," Time explained, "Time isn't a straight line of events you know? It can bounce around and get tied up in knots. In addition you can bounce back and leap forward at your leisure if you have the power. The TARDIS allows the Doctor to do so on a whim,"
"What about you then? Your magic staff lets you do the same?"
"To a smaller degree. Anyway," Time stood up and planted his staff firmly on the floor.
"He's distressed about something, he snapped at me and threatened to break my staff on the way in,"
"Yeah I heard that bit," Amelia replied.
"Normally he's not so violent, normally he'd joke or reply with something witty,"
"So, you think something's wrong?" Amelia asked.
A sudden slamming sound echoed from across the house. Time turned his gaze as Amelia turned on the spot. A simple wooden door with white paint was beginning to glow a golden color from the other side. Suddenly it blasted back on its hinges and the light faded as it fell to the floor. Standing in the doorway was a man wearing a jumper and a belt full of tools, a large black dog on a leash in his hands. The man growled and barked while the dog remained silent.
"I think something is very wrong," Time replied as he readied his staff in a defensive stance.
