"Do you even know where you're going?"
Maggie panted exasperatedly as the Doctor tugged her along the lamp-lit street. The air was so thick with humidity it practically suffocated her. Her hair began to cling to her face.
They were still running. Maggie made herself a mental note that she may or may not be in the process of being abducted. She wasn't sure, but prayed silently that this man really was the Doctor. She was positively certain that he was, however, now doubts had begun to take root in her mind.
Well… She figured, at least if he isn't telling the truth you have to admit dying by the hands of some psycho dressed like the Doctor is at least an interesting way to go out. It could be worse.
"Ahhh…..yes, of course I do!" he said interrupting her train of thought.
"….I can feel her around her somewhere! Usually I can sense where the TARDIS is, but….something is throwing me off," The Doctor said, uncertainty creeping into his tone.
Maggie suddenly skidded to a halt, tugging back her wrist, and almost slipping on the damp concrete. That was enough. She refused to go another step until she was certain of who he was. The Doctor let go of her wrist without resistance, but spun around, raising his brows and shooting her an incredulous stare.
"How do I know you are who you say you are?" she said, her hand flying to her head and brushing the stray hairs out of her face. "We've been running for five minutes! How am I supposed to know if you're not just some crazed psychopath who happens to have a weird fetish for dressing like the Doctor!"
"Weird fetish…?" he muttered before she cut him off once more.
"—I'm not taking another step if you don't prove it right now. I'm curious, but I'm not stupid," Maggie spat, her eyebrows knitted together. She didn't know where the sudden tough-girl bravado came from, but she figured for her own safety it was better to come off tougher than not. She folded her arms and attempted to give the man a solid glare that likely came off far less intimidating as she thought.
The Doctor considered her words for a moment. He stepped forward, looking her squarely in the eyes. She could see the dark green reflect dimly in the street light. It wasn't until then that she realized how much taller he was than she, at least six inches. She silently cursed her unintimidating height.
Suck it up, and stand straight, she mused silently, pulling herself to her full height.
Mind over matter.
"Listen," the Doctor began, looking at her earnestly. He was close enough that she could see her own skeptical look reflected in his eyes.
"I need you to trust me. Please, just believe me," he smiled, and quoted himself, "Twenty minutes. Believe me for twenty minutes."
Maggie scoffed at the absurdity of the situation. She wasn't sure if he even knew that she knew those were the same words he had said to Amy. She slowly shook her head before pausing.
I swear I'm going to get myself killed at this rate.
"Okay…..under one condition," She started slowly, against her better judgment. He clasped his arms behind his back and leaned forward attentively.
"Sonic something. If something actually happens, I'll believe you."
His face lit up, this time in a big, goofy, lighthearted smile, and reached into his inner coat pocket, flicking out a small device that could only be a sonic screwdriver. He looked over at Maggie, a rather smug smirk playing on the edge of his lips. His eyebrows rose as he pressed a button.
VVVSSSSHHHHHHHHHHZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Maggie's eyes widened and she jumped as sparks flew from the nearest lamp post. Its light flickered out with a noisy sizzling sound. Her mouth fell ajar and in that moment she was thankful for the slight darkness because the stupidly wide smile that graced her lips must have made her look like complete idiot. A high pitched giggle involuntarily fell from her lips and her hands flew to her mouth.
She couldn't believe it. She stood silently with wide eyes and vaguely wondered if this must be what it's like to be completely and utterly star-struck.
Stop staring like some fangirly teen, she chided herself.
"So…..are you coming?" he asked, his tilted slightly. Maggie's hands fell from her face, but her smile remained plastered to her lips as she gave a weak nod. Part of her wished that she could have come up with some clever funny quip, but her inner smartass seemed to be temporarily unable in that moment.
"Allons-y," she whispered, but she knew he had heard. He rose a questioning brow, but nodded to the street in front of them.
"But…..on a more serious note…where is the TARDIS?" Maggie asked, strolling alongside him.
"Ahh…..no idea." he threw his arms up in mock surrender as he continued, "Which is extremely, not very good," He stopped walking and his hand shot to his hair.
"Something is very wrong here, and without the TARDIS I won't be able to run a scan for any temporal energy flux…"
He paused, the creases between his browns deepening.
"Unless…. I suppose I could use a laptop to build a makeshift temporal scanner….." he paused again, eyes flickering to Maggie. Her eyes widened.
"No."
Not my baby.
"Oh, no, no, no….you are not taking apart my laptop to make some sort of scanner…thingy."
The Doctor suddenly resembled something akin to a guilty puppy.
"I promise I'll put it back together! And I could set it up so you'd have free wi-fi anywhere in time and space!" he tilted his head and gave what resembled a pout. "Ah? So what do you say….deal?"
She considered this for a moment.
The man drives a hard bargain.
"Fine…deal."
…..
The two backtracked to Maggie's home. The house was dark when they returned. Maggie pushed open the door. However…she realized something was odd. She hadn't turned off the lights when she had left.
The Doctor seemed to have also noticed as he met her cautious glance.
"Hello?" she called out timidly into the darkness of the house, carefully stepping one foot into the doorway. Her eyes darted around the shadowed foyer.
"Careful…" the Doctor muttered, "We need to grab the laptop….and leave. Someone….or something has been inside your house," he said quietly.
Of course…..why does it always have to be a something when it comes to the Doctor.
"Now, where is it?"
"On the kitchen counter," Maggie said in a hushed reply.
"Okay…..follow my lead," the Doctor said before stepping ahead of her, one cautious foot in front of another. Maggie found herself holding her breath as she peered into the darkness of the small foyer. Her heart pulsed painfully in her chest as she followed closely behind him, moving slightly to the side so she had a view into the kitchen.
The Doctor continued forward and cautiously flicked on one light. Maggie hesitantly walked into the kitchen, glancing around once more.
"Careful…keep your eyes peeled."
Maggie nodded and snatched the laptop off of the counter.
Great. Mysterious alien creatures in my house would be just what I need. She thought as she retreated towards the door.
The hardwood floor creaked behind her. She stiffened.
"Doctor?" she said.
"Yes?" he replied in a slightly muffled voice.
"Are you standing behind me?"
"What—no. Maggie!" The Doctor shouted, shattering the silence. Maggie whipped around and stumbled back, terror clutching at her chest.
Shit.
Her eyes widened as she took in a large creature that loomed several feet above her. It was consumed by mostly shadows and she stared at it in paralyzing awe for a moment before it raised its arm and swung at her. She snapped back into reality, and, clutching the laptop close to her chest, she deftly ducked under the gigantic arm, darting behind the beast, to the door.
"Maggie! We have to leave now!" the Doctor shouted, pulling her quickly towards the door. Maggie nodded wordlessly, looking fearfully at the strange beast in her home.
"You don't say…" she muttered as he snatched her hand.
"Run!"
He didn't have to tell her twice. They ran, fast and hard, and with far more purpose than before. Maggie did all she could to hold on the laptop, and clung to it as if it was a life raft. After a few minutes, and checking several times to see if they were still being pursued, they slowed to a stop.
Maggie coughed, her chest heaving to regain a steady breathing pattern. Her hands rested on her knees as she looked up at the Doctor.
Well, this was not how I expected my day to go…. She mused, her gaze drifting back down to the crackling concrete at her feet.
"What was that…..thing?" she panted.
"I wasn't able to get a very good look at it, but I know that it was very large, and not very friendly."
"No shit, Sherlock," she said with a nervous laugh.
"Well, since going back to your house is out of the question, are there any other places nearby we could spend a moment so I could locate the TARDIS?" the Doctor said.
She straightened back up and pursed her lips for a moment.
"I could have driven us somewhere…..but my car is back at the house, so that's out of the question….There is a private school less than a block away that has a set of stone bleachers we could sit on…"
"That'll do!" he exclaimed clapping his hands together. "Lead the way."
…
Maggie wrung her hands nervously and shivered. It wasn't very cold, but it was a sort of humid cool. The temperature had dropped significantly, but she wasn't sure how much of that was from the cool air, or from adrenaline wearing off, and the realization of finding a strange creature in the safe haven of her home. She had texted Elizabeth and told her not to go back there, making some lame excuse why. She slid her palms over the cool stone as she gazed into the night sky.
"Beautiful isn't it," Maggie said nodding towards the sky. The Doctor briefly paused his busy typing and glanced at Maggie, then at the sky.
"I suppose it is, but believe me, this is nothing. It's much too bright here to see the really good stuff," he admitted. Maggie smiled. The smile slowly faded though as reality set in, knowing the very real possibility that she may not ever get to see the really good stuff, as the Doctor put it.
"Voila! I've done it!" the Doctor exclaimed, tilting the laptop screen towards Maggie. Of course, she hadn't a clue what to make of it.
"With this, I'll be able to locate the TARDIS," he added, looking back to the screen and typing in some sort of extra code. A GPS-like map popped onto the screen, showing a blinking dot. "There you are…." He muttered, hopping to his feet and extending a hand to Maggie.
"Well come along, Mags!" he said.
….
"Oh, hello gorgeous! You had me worried." the Doctor crooned as he approached the TARDIS, brushing his hand across the painted wood exterior. He snapped his fingers and the door swung open. He took a step inside before looking over his shoulder, noticing that Maggie was not following.
She stood planted a few feet from the door, her mouth slightly ajar. She wrung her hands uncertainly in front of her, playing with the hem of her shirt. She blinked, realizing how idiotic she must have looked, staring like a deer in the headlights at the Doctor and the TARDIS.
"Well…..aren't you coming?" the Doctor finally asked, after gauging her reaction for a moment. She stopped staring at the box for a moment and looked back to him.
"Am I invited?" she asked with an unusual note of shyness creeping into her voice. Her chest began to hurt as she vaguely realized that she had forgotten to breathe.
"Of course you are, why else would you still be here?" the Doctor waved his hands as he gestured her inside. She hesitantly stepped forward inside the TARDIS. She beamed, poorly masking her awe as she walked inside.
"I thought it would be bigger," she remarked dryly. His look of utter disbelief made her composure falter and smirk grew into a wry grin as she laughed. "Although, I suppose for tradition's sake I should say, 'It's bigger on the inside.'"
"Alright then, smart arse, you can just show yourself out and let me do my work if that's your attitude," the Doctor said seriously, but then grinned with a small laugh, skipping up the steps towards the TARDIS controls, and pulling down a screen. "Now let's see what's happening with the temporal energy levels around here…." He said leaning in close to the scanner.
Maggie leaned over to try to get a peek. His eyes drifted across the screen before a sudden pop! made him jump back. Sparks flew from the monitor, and the screen became static.
"I am assuming that isn't a good sign," Maggie said.
"Wibbley-wobley timey wimey…." The Doctor said, spinning around to face Maggie, who leaned back as his face suddenly appeared inches from hers. "You have yourself a rift in time and space."
