"Someone I loved

once gave me a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift."

-Mary Oliver


Before she realized what was happening, her driver's side door was wrenched open and a hand grabbed at her arm painfully, yanking her out of the car.

"What the fuck Sienna?" The young man with the military buzz cut was in her face, eyes blazing.

She attempted to move out from where he had her cornered and he shoved her roughly back against the car.

"Ouch! You're fucking hurting me." she shouted, looking around for someone to help her.

"That was real cute the way you took off on me last night. I've been trying to call you all damn morning. And I know you know it." He was clenching and unclenching his jaw angrily.

"As charming as this display is, I would prefer you stay the hell away from me." She fought to stay calm. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of cowering or acting scared.

His hands went around her throat and he shoved her hard against the car.

Okay, fuck calm. This asshole was trying to kill her.

"Chris! Please. Let go." He was actually choking the breath out of her.

"You bitch!" He yelled right in her face and shook her a little. Colored spots danced in front of her eyes. And she swore she heard some strange wheezing, groaning sound.

"CHRIS!" she managed to shout once more.

Chris knocked his forehead against hers, practically spitting on her when he talked. "I told you-"

She heard a familiar voice with a posh English accent interrupt him.

"Pardon me." It was the Doctor! Chris released her in surprise, turning around to deal with the interruption.

She rubbed her throat, her eyes watering.

Chris bowed up. "Can I help you fucker?"

"Chris, is it? Well Chris, I apologize in advance." And then the polite British man clocked Chris right in the face. He hit the ground like a sack of gravel.

The Doctor stepped over him like he was nothing more than that. "Sienna." he greeted her kindly, examining her throat. "It looks like you'll have some bruising here." He touched the spot gently. "Are you okay? Can you breathe?"

Tuesday, Universe A

Someone was shaking her.

"Savannah! Hey! You have to be at work in like, twelve minutes! What the hell are you still doing in bed?"

Savannah opened her eyes and saw her mom standing there, looking annoyed.

"Crap." She grumbled and rolled over. She grabbed the journal from the bedside table and quickly jotted down:

Some asshole with shaved head named Chris. Choking me in IGA parking lot. The Doctor punched him. They called me Sienna.

"Savannah! Seriously now." Dayle was starting to get pissed. She actually pulled the journal out of her daughter's hand and gave her arm a tug. "You need to get moving here. You're supposed to be a supervisor. Set an example. I know you don't want to mess your job up. Over a boy no less."

Savannah sat up grumpily, not even feeling a bit of the urgency her mom clearly wanted her to feel. "I'm getting up." She glanced at the time on her phone. 8:49 am. "Why are you only just now waking me up?" She mumbled.

"Um. Let's see. Could it be because you promised to drive Ember to school this morning and failed to do so and she missed the bus and I had to run home and take her myself?" Yeah. Her mom was definitely pissed.

"Oh shit. I'm sorry." She sat up and covered her face with her hands. She felt like a total asshole. Ember was her ten year old sister and it was most definitely not like Savannah to let her down like this.

Dayle sighed and Savannah could see she was visibly trying to calm down and be understanding. "Just call work and let them know you'll be late, huh? You definitely need a shower. I'll fix you something to eat. Okay Vannah?" Dayle studied her, her face worried, then turned and left the room.

Savannah sighed and dialed the staff line at the library. She got the issue desk supervisor, Silas Overman. "This is Silas." he answered politely.

"Hey Silas. This is Savannah Moss in customer service. I'm running a bit late here. Can you please let Joanne know that I'll be in by ten?" She felt embarrassed. She never did shit like this.

"No problem... Are you okay there? You sound like you don't feel well." he commented.

"Everything's fine. I'll be in soon." She hung up. Silas was a sweet guy but he didn't know her like that.

She finally got out of bed. She felt a bit lightheaded and unsteady on her feet. She scoffed at herself. She was surprised her lazy ass didn't have bedsores as well. She headed for the bathroom across the hall and shut the door behind her.

When she saw her reflection in the mirror she actually gasped. She was usually a fairly attractive young lady. Some had even accused her of being beautiful. But the reflection staring back at her was practically unrecognizable. She was pale and had dark circles around her eyes. Her long brown hair looked like total and complete shit. It was greasy and full of tangles. "Yikes." she said in an odd, strangled voice. She felt just terrible. She honestly wanted to climb right back into bed. If her mom wasn't home and about ready to kick her ass, she probably would do just that. Everything just seemed like such a hopeless joke to her. She turned the water on in the shower, got undressed and climbed in.

She sat down in the bathtub with her knees drawn up to her chest and let the scalding hot water spray down over her. She closed her eyes. She wished she could just stay here like this the rest of the day. She folded her arms over her knees and laid her head down on them. That was the first time she heard the eerie voice of an old woman. Clear as day.

The girl from the woods...The friend who is dead already...

Savannah lifted her head, startled. She looked around, feeling disoriented. What the-

"Vannah!" Dayle shouted. "Come on. I've got you some breakfast on the table. And coffee."

Savannah pulled herself up and managed to get her hair and body washed quickly. She was no longer concerned about the voice she thought she'd heard. She supposed she'd just fallen asleep for a moment.

When she walked in the kitchen she saw her mom had set out cereal, toast and coffee for her. Dayle was sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading through her dream journal. Savannah didn't mind since she'd shared pretty much everything in there with her before.

Savannah sat and sipped at the coffee. She curled her lip in disgust at the food though. Just the thought of trying to eat made her stomach turn over. She pushed the plate and bowl away and glanced at her mom who was reading today's entry with a very strange look on her face.

"Uh... mom...?" she asked.

Dayle looked up at her and said "They called you Sienna." She sounded slightly dazed.

"Yeah I know right? This guy Chris is apparently a wacko abusive boyfriend I never knew I had." She laughed but noticed that her mom did not join in. After the silence had drawn out for a time, Savannah continued. "It was the weirdest thing. This one took place in the parking lot of that IGA in Kirkmore. Dreams are so messed up."

Dayle didn't say anything. She closed the book and set it back down on the table. She pressed her lips together.

"Mom. What is wrong with you? Why do my dreams have you so freaked out?" She squinted at her mother, wishing she would explain her bizarre reaction.

Finally Dayle seemed to shake herself and regain her composure. She raised her eyebrows and looked at her daughter with a stiff smile on her face. "Eat your breakfast baby. I bet you'll feel better getting back into the groove at work."


Tuesday, Universe B

"Dayle... can I ask you something?" Sienna chewed on her lip. She was having lunch with her biological mother at a little cafe called Bean Tree. Gabe was at daycare so they had a little quiet girl time. She wasn't sure if she'd ever feel right calling her 'mom' even though calling her 'Dayle' felt a bit strange. Either way, Dayle didn't seem to mind.

Dayle looked up from her menu, curious. "Of course. What's up?"

Sienna cleared her throat. She had put off bringing this up for so long, she really didn't know the best way to approach it. But after seeing Chris yesterday, Sienna found she couldn't keep it in any longer.

"It's about...the Doctor..." she studied Dayle to gauge her reaction.

Dayle blinked and looked back down at the table. "Oh." she said softly after a moment. She fiddled with her napkin-wrapped silverware. "What do you want to know?" She finally looked back up and met her eyes.

Sienna shrugged. "Everything."

Dayle sat back in her seat and sighed heavily. After a long pause in which Sienna doubted Dayle would tell her anything, Dayle looked at her intently and said, "So about five or six years ago, before I met Jesse, this guy showed up at the apartment building, terribly injured..."

Nearly thirty minutes later, Sienna felt like her brain was going to incinerate from the batshit story her mother had just told her. She sat there, her plate untouched. Black holes and time machines and aliens that could change form. And some beings called Time Lords. Sienna leaned her elbows onto the table and laid her face in her hands for a moment before looking up and shaking her head. Dayle took a bite of her sandwich, looking almost amused at Sienna's reaction.

Sienna raised her eyebrows. "So... Let's say everything you've told me really actually happened. He and the...uhm... other you went back to their universe." Dayle nodded. "And you said that happened two years before you and I met, right?"

Dayle nodded again as the waitress came by to fill their drinks. Sienna waited til she'd gone to ask. "So why the hell did he come back in October? Why was he at that gas station? Why did he introduce us..." Sienna took a deep breath. "Why did he say I'd met him before?"

Dayle's face became troubled. She wiped her mouth with the napkin and tapped her index finger on the table for a moment. "I'm not sure. That day he brought you over? I only got the chance to speak with him briefly. But I know something happened. Something that involved all of us- you, me, Jesse, Gabe. He told me something had gone wrong with our timeline. And that it'd been fixed." She sighed in frustration. "But he wouldn't give me any more information than that. He told me it might be best not to talk too much about any of it for a while. It was clear he knew you quite well. He seemed worried about you for some reason. But he promised me that everything would be okay. That you would be alright."

Sienna realized that the memory of the conversation was really affecting Dayle. There were tears in her eyes. The sight hurt Sienna's heart. She reached over and squeezed her mother's hand. "Hey. I didn't mean to upset you..."

Dayle cleared her throat. "No. I think it's fine that we talked about it. It's just as he said. Everything is okay. You are alright." She actually giggled. "It's when he shows up here that we really have to worry."

Sienna tried to smile but then thought again of Chris. Of the fact that when she'd run into him in Kirkmore two months ago, he genuinely didn't seem to recognize her. She shivered.

"Dayle. Why... why do you think we don't remember anything? I'm almost positive he somehow made my ex boyfriend Chris forget about me. Somehow." She chewed on her lip and saw Dayle was staring off into the distance, like she was considering something. "Do you think he... Could he have made all of us forget things?"

Dayle was quiet for a very long time. When she spoke again, she still didn't look at Sienna and her voice sounded far away. "The last thing the Doctor said to me was that he had made a promise to someone that he'd make sure you are okay." Dayle's eyes narrowed. "When I asked him who the 'someone' was, he said something like 'sometimes it's better not to know things'." She looked back up at Sienna. Blinked. "Why are you wondering all this now? Have you remembered something?"

Sienna shrugged and told her in all honesty. "I don't remember a single thing about the Doctor other than that night in October." She sipped her Pepsi. "Whatever may have happened, I guess we'll never know."