CHAPTER II
The Doctor hummed a small tune, trying to keep the mood light. He had no idea why his beloved T.A.R.D.I.S. had chosen to land in Martha Jones's bedroom but he wondered if it was because he had been just thinking about her and the T.A.R.D.I.S. knew where to go? "You are a real piece of work girl, aren't you." He said not unkindly. Preferring not to dwell on the past, he instead racked his brain for how he, the Doctor, the last of the great Time Lords, had gotten drunk.
As he was thinking he vaguely recalled the events of the previous day. He had been on a small planet Zuto. Zuto was like its cousin Pluto, except Zuto was not a dwarf planet. Zuto was a small planet about…two galaxies to the right of the Milky Way. At coordinates 20-20-30-50 it was located nestled right behind its three moons and one sun, and unlike the earth, it rotated in half the time it took for Earth to do its 360. Zuto had three oceans and only three continents. Its inhabitants were the Kuthulus. Not to be mistaken with the Kuthulu that humans talked about. No, this race was a special kind of race. There were three subspecies of the Kuthulus. One was designated for the sea, one land, and the last for flight. Like many planets that he'd encountered these alien galaxies were inhabited by usually one specific species adapted to it. That's why the Doctor loved Earth so much; it defied the natural laws of the galaxies.
""Think man, think." He told himself. He remembered strolling amongst the blue sand that lined the violet tinted waves, and how the sea foam was as soothing as that of Earth's. The bright orange sun that hung in the sky while the three purple ringed black moons faced in the opposite direction came into his memory. Their six hour days were really splendid. Their six hour nights were even more so. Since Zuto's time was different, so were the sleep patterns. He remembered how he'd gone to a nice bar on the Kuthulan island of Kuthili. He realized that while Earthly liquor couldn't do a number on him….Kuthili was known for its very strong alchohol. So now he knew what had happened before his blackout.
"Well, now that that mystery is done and solved, let's see what busy things I'll be doing today. Groceries…Nah. Alien activity?; let's check shall we?"As he rambled off as old men tend to do, he shook his head shifting back into focus. "I may look young, but I sure don't feel it." He said shaking his head.
It was only a second, but an image of a young girl popped into his head. "Susan…." He breathed. He blinked; he was caught off guard by the formation of salty tears. He rubbed his eyes in a flash. He sank back onto the couch inside of his T.A.R.D.I.S., and sat in silence, nothing but the whirring of the animated engines to break his thoughts. It had really been a long time since he'd last thought of his first companion to ever travel with him. No one knew, but he had been a grandpa once, as well as a father. 900 years ago….didn't sound like such a long time now, he sighed. He had indeed been old once. In human years he would've been in his 70's but because of his regeneration, he had been escaping death's door for a long time.
It was only for a moment, but he allowed himself to remember. He couldn't ever forgive himself if he forgot. Gallifrey…"Imagine a world where the sky burned a brilliant orange under twin suns. The second would rise in the south and the mountains would shine as they swooped into slopes of blood red grass and the wiry brown of the trees poked out between silver leaves. Imagine a world where, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, a people lived, a noble race with so much courage that they have two hearts to hold it. Imagine these Time Lords, watching the universe grow old, but never touching it." His voice was soft, and a look, not fitting for such a young face, shown in his eyes.
He smiled sadly to himself, staring at his hands. "No one can outrun time… not even I." he looked up again and stood up abruptly. "And yet, I've been doing one heck of a good job I think." He said cheerfully. Expertly pushing his past away as he'd always done, he pressed the buttons on his T.A.R.D.I.S. and set his coordinates for another less achoholic planet. He'd go to Nexus, hopefully the chances of him showing up drunk to Martha Jones's house would be 0.
He felt the familiar rumbling and rubbed his hands together expectantly. "Lots to do, places to go, people to see." He said cheery and parroting his motto.
He felt the familiar rumbling as the T.A.R.D.I.S. was flying through space. His old gal had been with him since the beginning of everything. He did not dwell on the loss of his people…but it didn't mean he'd forgotten. He'd never forget.
How could he, when he had been a coward.
He sighed to himself and then looked around for his glasses. He fancied them to be fashionable and felt it helped him blend in with the Earth people more.
His destination was to get away from Earth right now. He felt a rumbling and was thrown off balance. "What?" he exclaimed surprised. He rolled over to the main controls of his T.A.R.D.I.S. and punched in some buttons; he had to see what was going on outside his T.A.R.D.I.S. and his eyes widened in surprise to what he saw.
He was in a brightly lit city and he couldn't for the life of him, figure out where he was. The city had bright lights in different colors, and it looked like what humans called a party and gambling district. It also happened to be night time. "Where in the name of Jupiter's moons am I?" he murmured. He sniffed smoke coming from his T.A.R.D.I.S. and realized that it was malfunctioning. "No, no, no!" he gasped shocked and worried. He took of his jacket and tried to fan the T.A.R.D.I.S. "Hang on girl, come one, don't do this to me now!" he muttered. Without so much as a warning, he felt a tug at his nape, and was flung out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and winded. He coughed and looked up in time to see her slam the door in his face. He stared open mouthed.
She had shut him out.
"Girl, what is it?" he pressed worried. "Come on, you can't do this to me right now! We're in the middle of who knows where, and you landed in quite a spot. You're making a spectacle of yourself." He said ruefully. It dawned on him.
He was thankful that no one was there; he knew he was still on Earth, but apparently people stayed indoors in places like these where gambling and drinking and other touristy things went on. But he didn't think he was in London anymore. In fact, he wasn't sure he was in Europe.
"You know, if it was that time of month, you should have said something earlier!" he said reproachfully. His blue 1970's police box remained silent. And then it did something strange. It began to Whiirrrr, whiiiirr, whirrrrrrr and the Doctor's eyes widened in shock.
"I'm kidding, I kid! Please don't leave me!" he said panicking. He fumbled for his Sonic Screwdriver and realized it was still inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. "That's great, that's just great!" he shouted, panicked, scared, and mainly upset. The door of the T.A.R.D.I.S. opened for a second and his Sonic Screwdriver flew out, hitting him in the head. He fell with an "oof!" to the ground, and while rubbing his forehead, and through watery eyes, observed as his beloved space time ship faded in front of his very eyes.
"I see, you want to be alone then. Fine by me." He said chagrined. Why his T.A.R.D.I.S. landed him here and on top of that, booted him out, was enough to ruin his day. Night. Whatever hell time it was on Earth where he was.
She must be recalibrating herself, he thought moodily. Where am I? he asked himself again. He had never seen this place before. Well, I suppose I'm here for reason…even though she's recalibrating herself, she wouldn't just land me here…. He told himself.
The night breeze rustled through his hair and he pocketed his Sonic Screwdriver. At least she gave that to him, he consented. He decided he might as well take a walk, since she wouldn't be returning for a while. He walked amongst the humans as they were walking on the streets, and cars drove by. People entered and exited the brightly lit buildings and the Doctor couldn't help but be fascinated as he always was, by the earthly sights. "This isn't Africa…" he said to himself, "Nor Asia… not Australia." He looked around and observed the way people looked. "Everyone looks…different here." He said to himself.
"Escuse me." He heard a young girl's voice pipe up. He looked and there standing in front of him was a young tan woman, who looked modestly dressed in her jeans and very fine jacket. Her long dark hair was tied up into a bun on her head and she didn't look like she was wearing much makeup. Uncommon, the Doctor thought, for a female human because he always thought makeup was their best friend. "You seem lost, are you lost?" she asked him and he could tell that she was not asking it as though he was odd, but rather as though he had just made a wrong turn or something.
He shrugged and responded, "If I ask someone where I am, they may think I'm crazy."
"But you're not." She said.
"Oh no, I really am crazy." He pressed. He was slightly amused with this girl.
She folded her arms and responded, "You're not crazy. Trust me, I deal with crazy people every day. Just look at my family. You, sir, are normal in comparison."
"What kind of crazy are we talking about?" the Doctor asked humorously.
"Your state of health I'm sure is not mental." She stated. The Doctor was curious now.
"Really?" he challenged, grinning, "I fly a T.A.R.D.I.S., it's my space and time travel spaceship and it got stuck looking like an old 1970's police box back in 1978 because well, stuff happened. Oh and, I'm not really from here, I'm from a planet far away and I'm the last of my kind. A Time Lord if you will, and might I add, that I look smashing, in these glasses." He prattled, and he put on his glasses to prove his point.
There was a quick silence and he figured he'd probably spilled too much; not that he cared because who would believe her? Actually, to put it more precisely, who in their right state of mind would believe him?
She laughed.
He was taken aback but she was laughing. She extended her hand out to him and her eyes were gleaming kindly. "My name is Teresa, and you are?" she pressed.
The Doctor was intrigued but thought about what he should tell her. "I'm…the Doctor, but everyone calls me…John Smith." He said, shaking her hand.
"The Doctor?" the girl asked and he realized that she had no British accent at all. "Fascinating, I'm a doctor too. Of course, I'm sure my profession is slightly different from yours." She said, teasingly.
"A doctor? You are?" the Doctor asked surprised. "I had a friend who was a doctor too!" he said excitedly.
"Oh really? Where is she?" Teresa asked cheerfully.
"She's…." he remembered and his face fell. "Oh…we're…not exactly on speaking terms…" he said.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Oh. You know. Stuff." He responded waving it off.
"Well, you should go make it up to her!" Teresa pressed him. The Doctor was surprised at how animated this girl was. He blinked.
"She's really not happy with me." He said ruefully.
"What'd you do?" she pressed.
The Doc pondered how to answer and finally he congressed with, "I flew my T.A.R.D.I.S. after getting drunk on Zuto from Kuthulan beer into her bedroom and broke her bed and nearly killed her."
Teresa raised her eyebrows at him. He raised his in response.
"You obviously don't believe me." He said.
"I don't know. It could be lies, but who knows." She said complacently, and shrugged.
The Doctor didn't know exactly why he said what he did, but he did anyways, "I like you. Once my T.A.R.D.I.S. turns up from recalibrating, you want to come with me on space and time adventures?"
"It depends," she said playfully, "Do I get to drive?"
"Only the captain gets to fly his ship. And only a Time Lord can fly their Space ship." The Doctor pointed out. The young woman smiled at him.
"You are a strange man John Smith, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in my books." She said grinning. "Since you are obviously a space man that has gotten lost, we are in Las Vegas."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Las Vegas?" he asked surprised.
"Yes, and you have obviously never traveled outside of Europe. I suppose you come from London, yeah?" she pointed out.
This girl is sharp as a whip, he thought in awe. He nodded.
"So, you're an alien that has a hot British accent." She pointed out.
"Escuse me, did you say…hot?" he asked.
She shook her head at him. "You really aren't from around here are you?" He continued to look at her questioningly and she rolled her eyes. "It's a compliment. You're cute." She stated.
"Oh…" he said.
"Well, where are you headed then?" she asked him.
"I'm not entirely sure." He said, frowning. She thought he was cute? Last time he had been cute in his books was 845 years ago.
"Well, why don't you come with me then?" she asked. He blinked at her.
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly do that. Do you make it a habit to pick up hot British aliens?" he asked her.
"If there are more as cute as you then possibly." She said, teasingly.
"There aren't." he stated automatically. She stared at him. He looked at the ground and saw her feet stand right in front of his. A warm hand slid into one of his limp ones and she tugged him before he could object.
"You look like you could use a pick-me-up." She said cheerily.
"Oh, no, it's quite alright. I don't really drink!" he stammered.
"You're my kind of guy." She laughed. "Don't worry," she said smiling at him, "You're cute but you're not in any danger of having me fall in love with you."
"It's the glasses isn't it?" the Doctor couldn't stop himself from joking.
"I prefer a guy that's more grounded I guess." She said, smiling but her voice had gotten softer. The Doctor realized that she must have had a recent break up. She wasn't the only one. He had had a recent loss as well. Rose Tyler. Dona Noble. Martha Jones… His hand that had been limp before now reassured her as he knew she was the one that needed comforting now. They smiled at each other and then she slipped her hand deftly out of his.
"Come on then," she said, and the Doctor saw that she was getting into a human car. "It's a Hyundai if you didn't know." She pointed out to him. She patted the passenger seat. "Come on in, and don't forget to fasten your seat belt. Do aliens have seatbelts?" she asked.
"No, my T.A.R.D.I.S. is like a bus…" he said. He was not familiar with not only driving in a car; but not being the one in control..
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"It's just…my T.A.R.D.I.S…. it may turn up any second and I don't want to leave it." He stated. Teresa rested her head on her wheel and gazed at him.
"Well, if it is your T.A.R.D.I.S. then I'm sure it'll find you, no matter where you are." She pointed out.
"I've never truly been away from it before…" he said honestly.
"John, was it?" she asked. He looked at her. "What you told me, about the T.A.R.D.I.S., about you. I believe it."
"Yes, but why? Why do you believe me so readily?" he asked.
"Because, you're the Doctor." She stated.
His eyes widened. "Do I…know you?" he asked suspiciously. She shook her head at him.
"No, but there is something about you….I can't not believe you. I've always been open to the impossible and I suppose, you're part of that impossible." She said. "You too, you need to believe in the impossible."
He looked at her confused.
"You're T.A.R.D.I.S. will find you. You have to believe in it." She said.
The Doctor didn't quite understand, but he felt that she was telling the truth. Humans, "You humans are truly remarkable." He said praisingly. He got into the car and fastened his seat belt.
"My house is only about an hour and a half in land from here. You can stay until your T.A.R.D.I.S. returns." Teresa said.
"Alright then." The Doctor replied. His two hearts began to beat faster and he felt like he had indeed not been put here by mistake. The reason why he was not only outside of England, but in fact in North America, had to be for an important reason. This had never happened before, but he expected many things that hadn't happened before to happen to him.
He gripped the seat at first; he wasn't used to being in a car. He felt very vulnerable; a feeling he marveled that humans suppressed every day when they drove these contraptions. He hadn't realized how intriguing it was to be in a human car.
A pair of glittering black eyes flashed from under Teresa's car; but neither Teresa nor the Doctor were aware of the danger that they were both about to be in.