The moment Alice saw the mountains of books and the seemingly endless bookshelves lining the walls, she felt at home. Sure, she got into a blue box (BIGGER ON THE INSIDE?! WHAT?) with a complete stranger (who is quite attractive, but he is an alien. Not sure if that turns her off or not…) and is going to God knows where, but the simple sight of books is enough to make her feel at home.

She can't suppress the loud squeal as she immediately makes her way over to the books. She hears a throaty chuckle from behind her, but ignores it. There are so many books in here that she could drown in them. Drown in books. This is as close to heaven as you can get. And there's the attractive alien boy behind her. She must have died in the Dalek attack.

She pauses; Daleks. Aliens. Evil ones. Not like John. Will she run into more of them? Will they try and hurt her? Or will they be friendly like John? Books… maybe the books have the answers. She begins to scan the bookshelves, looking for anything about Daleks.

The Doctor watches the girl, Alice, as she begins to look around his book collection. He was quite proud of his books, yes he was. Thousands upon thousands of books from thousands upon thousands of different planets; classics from every known planet in the galaxy, and a few from the unknown planets. He watches Alice as her long blonde hair swishes back and forth as she scans up and down the shelves, obviously on the hunt for something. She was biting her lower lip in thought as she looked for something. If the Doctor had learned one thing in all his years in time in space, it was never to interrupt a woman in deep thought like that; not unless you wanted to be yelled at.

The Doctor isn't a fan of yelling, unless of course its yells and screams of joy. Like at an amusement park. He likes roller coasters, yes he does. He loves everything about amusement parks. He felt himself frown. Should he take Alice to an amusement park? He promised her somewhere fascinating, just as she had asked. Was an amusement park fascinating? He supposed not. Amusement parks were fun and all, but not really fascinating.

He wanted to groan, but feared that it would distract Alice from her hunt. And he didn't want to be yelled at. No siree. No yelling for him!

Besides, he had more important matters to attend to. Like what the Regeneration had done to his face, and his style. Like every other time he Regenerated, the Doctor acquired a new taste of style. And right now, he certainly wasn't liking his old suit. It was quite torn up and raggedy-

Raggedy Man

He felt his lips curl up in a fond smile. Amelia Pond. It had been far too long since he had seen his Amelia Pond. Like all his old companions, she held a certain place in both of his hearts. And both of his hearts ached in longing to see them all again. But he already said goodbye to them, and he didn't want to do it again. He hated goodbyes. And right now, he hated his old suit. Strolling up to the TARDIS console, he flipped some switches, and she made some groaning noises. Then the all too familiar whooshing sound surrounded him, and the giant orange crystal in the center began to flow up and down.

Orange crystal?

Right, right, new regeneration, new TARDIS. He felt himself glance around the new console room. It seemed to have found itself in his library….and once more the pool had been moved. Great. He hoped it would be easy to find. He liked swimming. It was calming.

Stop thinking about swimming. Look around and study.

He pushed the thoughts of the pool to the side, and scanned the room. Every wall was covered with bookshelves, and all his precious books were literally spilling out of them. Piles taller than him were already on the floor, and he worried that they would just continue to grow. And the last thing he wanted was a book avalanche. Those were messy, dangerous, and quite painful. Nasty things, book avalanches.

Scattered throughout the room were random chairs and sofas, usually with an accompanying footstool and small table to go next to them. Alice, who had apparently found a book that pleased her, was curled up in a strange purple chair with green legs and what appeared to be orange antennae sticking up off of the top. Even he found that a tiny bit peculiar, but Alice seemed to hardly notice what she was sitting in. She was too engrossed in her book to pay any attention. She hadn't even paid any attention to the TARDIS when she started groaning and whooshing. He loved seeing his newest companion's face when the TARDIS made her traveling noises. It was quite amusing.

But Alice seemed to be too into her book to notice his TARDIS's noises. The Doctor peered around the console and tried to see what she was reading. "A Guide to Who's Who in the Universe" by a Professor Laius II. The Doctor remembered buying that book at Eteocles III a few hundred years back, back when bow ties had been all the rage. He had bought it for someone else, but he couldn't quite remember who for. They had turned the gift down, (though the Doctor had forgotten the book was in a form of Ancient Greek that the people on Eteocles III spoke) so the Doctor had put it in his library. He watched as Alice's eyes flew across the page, reading almost as fast than the TARDIS can probably translate. He grins. She was asking the right questions back in her classroom, and now he clearly has evidence of her intelligence. If she can read it as fast as the TARDIS translate, she must be pretty brilliant.

And what else would be brilliant? How about new clothes?

The Doctor gave a satisfied hum as he looked over his TARDIS console. Everything seemed to be in working order, Alice is occupied, he could easily get a new outfit. He raised his eyes from the console once more to study Alice as she read. If the wheezing and groaning of his TARDIS hadn't disturbed her, he was sure nothing would. But, he had to try.

"Alice?" he said. She didn't stir, and he chuckled. "Alice, I'm going to go replace these rubbish clothes and get something more comfortable and more to my liking, alright?"

He stood there for a few seconds, staring at her and awaiting a response. He didn't get one. He shrugged, and looked around his new console room. The console, hundreds of bookshelves and hundreds of books, the occasional chair and couch strewn around, but where was the door? The Doctor felt his fingers fly across the warm console, and it gave a hum in response. Something shifted in the corner of his eye, and he glanced up. One of the bookshelves had shifted, and a doorway was now visible. The Doctor grinned, and made his way over to it. He peered down it curiously. It was a long, well lit hallway. The floor, like the console room, was hardwood, with a TARDIS blue carpet leading down. Several doorways lined the hallway, all of different shapes and sizes. He patted the wall, and worked his way down the hallway.

He didn't have to peer into any of the doors, he would save that for a boring day. Exploring the TARDIS is fun, and he loved it, but when he had a traveling companion, it was always adventures outside the TARDIS; he was scared that exploring the TARDIS would be boring for them. He didn't need to look in the doors, because he knew the TARDIS would lead him where he wanted to go. His old girl was faithful, and he found the wardrobe without any trouble at all.

The Doctor studied his new look in the mirror. He wore a black button up jacket, with a black and white plaid collared shirt, and black jeans. He had found some red Converse shoes from way back in his tenth life, and had put them on. Now, studying himself, he supposed he looked like a normal human teenager. The Doctor grinned and ran a hand through his brown hair. Then, the grin fell off of his face. He was missing something, something important. He scanned the wardrobe, looking for what would complete his outfit. Then, he found it. He snatched it up, and clasped it around his wrist. He pulled his arm away from his body and studied it.

Perfect.

It was just a plain black watch, but it was exactly what he needed. A useful tool, for sure he thought. Almost as useful as-

His screwdriver!

He tore out of the wardrobe and sprinted to the console room. He made his way to the console, and began flipping some switches and pulling some levers. If Alice was watching him, she would figure him a mad man. Which he was. He couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he thought that. After a few more furious flips of switches and pushings of buttons, a faint click and a hiss was audible. The Doctor laughed and spun around the console to the other side. A new, exact copy of his sonic screwdriver was sticking out of the console, just waiting for him to take it. He eagerly accepted it's wishes, and pulled it from the console; like King Arthur and Excalibur, he thought to himself. He gave it a toss, and then put it in an inside pocket of his new jacket.

"New look, I see." Alice's small voice rang out from behind him.

He spun on heels to face her, and gave her a grin. "Yup. The old suit was wearing on me, and I decided I needed a change. I think its a good change, what do you think?"

She gave a small smile, closed "A Guide to Who's Who in the Universe", and set it down in her lap. "It's good. You could definitely blend in back home easily. And its better than that raggedy old suit."

The Doctor nodded. "Don't want to be raggedy. I was raggedy one time, a raggedy man! When I was a raggedy man, I was also a little girl's imaginary friend. How about that, eh?"

Alice's chocolate brown eyes blinked owlishly, and her face was one of pure bewilderment. "You were….an imaginary friend?"

"Once upon a time, yes." The Doctor made his way away from the console, and looked around for a chair. Finding a maroon armchair, he bounded over to it and dragged it over to Alice's peculiar purple chair. He plopped down sideways in it so that his back was against one of the arms and his legs over the other arm. "A long time ago. But let's get away from that, shall we? I believe we were going somewhere fascinating, yes?"

Alice nodded, and began to think. The Doctor could tell she was thinking, because her lips formed in a pout and her eyes were staring at nothing in particular. This was often how he looked when he thought. Well, how he looked before. He wondered if he looked like that now, new regeneration and all. Perhaps now his eyebrows would scrunch up and his eyes would cloud over, or he would stick his tongue out. Too many options, he finally decided. He could do anything while thinking, and look like anything.

The Doctor took this opportunity to study his newest traveling companion while she thought. He would've done this earlier, sure, but everything was going so fast while the Daleks attacked her school. She had long blonde hair that would go down to her back if she were to stand up. She wore jeans with torn knees, and a plain red t-shirt. She obviously wasn't trying very hard to look good, but she was still a very pretty young woman. Her chocolate brown eyes were staring at nothing in particular, and one of her fingers had found itself near her lips. Every once in a while, she would chew on it in thought. The Doctor almost laughed. Again, a trait that he's had before while in thought. He knew it wasn't a particularly attractive trait, but when one is in thought, one can't really help it.

"This machine," Alice said all of a sudden, her eyes glancing away from whatever she had been staring at to meet his eyes, "You said anywhere in time and space, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "That's correct. She can take us anywhere in time and space. You have the whole universe up for grabs; anywhere."

Alice bit her lower lip. "That doesn't make it any easier, you know! That makes it, like, a thousand times harder!"

The Doctor couldn't help it this time, and he laughed. "Alright then, Alice Carvel, I'll help you narrow it down. In school, what is your favorite subject?"

"History." she answered almost instantly. "I love history. But I also love reading…."

"Favorite genre of literature?"

"Science fiction."

The Doctor gave a low whistle. "Wow. Okay. You weren't kidding, hard choice. I could take you to alien planets, or to anywhere in Earth's history. Both are your favorites…."

"I'm sorry, John. I don't mean to be so difficult, and I'm really sorry. I should be able to make up my mind and just decide but I can't and I'm-"

"AHA!" The Doctor bellowed, making Alice jump. He quickly launched himself over the arm of his maroon chair and quickly scrambled to the console. He once more began furiously flipping switches and pushing buttons. While Alice had been apologizing for something she shouldn't have been, in his opinion, his mind had been going a hundred miles an hour. He had finally come to a conclusion. "Yeah, I could easily take you to an alien planet or to anywhere in Earth's history, thats easy, and maybe a bit boring, but…."

He pulled one last switch, and the orange crystal that now rested in the center of his TARDIS began pumping up and down furiously as the all too familiar wheezing and groaning began once more. He turned and grinned at Alice.

"...Why not do both?"

He saw her eyes light up, and a big grin etch itself across her face, and that made it all worth while. She tried to get up from her chair, but he shook his head at her.

"I wouldn't do that. My TARDIS is known for-" he was cut off as the TARDIS lurched and he was thrown across the console. He clung furiously to the side of the console until the TARDIS righted herself. "...lurching during flight. Sorry about that, you alright?"

Alice's eyes were wide, and she clung to the arms of her chair for dear life. "Does it often do that?" she whispered.

The Doctor laughed. "Yeah, she does."

Alice shifted in her chair and looked at him. "You refer to the ship as 'she'. Is it alive, your ship?"

The Doctor pulled the monitor closer to him and studied it. "Yeah, she's alive, my good old TARDIS. She's a good girl, been with me since the beginning. A long time ago…"

He studied the monitor a bit more. He didn't like where the TARDIS was set to land, and flipped a few switches. The coordinates for landing didn't change on the monitor, and the Doctor frowned. He smacked the side of the monitor, and it changed to the coordinates he wanted to land at. The TARDIS gave its landing groan, and the crystal in the center grew still.

"Right then," he announced. "Thank you for flying TARDIS Time Vortex Flights, we hope you enjoyed your flight. Welcome to…"

He ran away from the console, snatched up a laughing Alice's hand, and dragged her to the double doors that lead out to their destination. He flung one of them open, and quickly dragged Alice outside.

"...Gaea!"

Alice gasped as she took in the landscape. Even the Doctor had to admit it was impressive. Rolling hills covered in luscious green grass covered the landscape. The long grass and a few sparse trees swayed in the wind. The beautiful blue sky didn't have a cloud in sight. A few birds flew overhead, and Alice gave a loud gasp.

"John, are those two suns?"

The Doctor looked up and squinted. "Yup. Two suns."

"Why are they red? Aren't all suns yellow?"

The Doctor looked down (blimey, she was rather short, wasn't she?) at her. "These two stars, Apollo and Helios, are older than the star that is Earth's sun. That's why they're red."

Alice looked up at him, and her lips formed into the pout she made when she was thinking. "Gaea? Apollo? Helios? What is it with this planet and Greek names?"

The Doctor grabbed her hand, and started walking. "The first settlers to arrive here in 3055 were of Greek descent. Since this planet reminded them so much of Earth, they named it Gaea, after the old name of the Earth. They named the two stars that are Gaea's suns Apollo and Helios after the Greek god and Titan that were sun deities, and named the moon that orbits the planet Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt back on Earth. Simple, really. They wanted to be comfortable here, so they surrounded themselves with familiar names."

Alice gaped up at him. "3055? Whats the year now?"

The Doctor stopped, and sniffed the air. He then licked his finger, and held it up to the wind. He really didn't need to do this, but he wanted to make a show of it for Alice. He already knew the date, as it had said it on the TARDIS monitor.

"Hmm…..smells like….hmm…..feels like…." he then bent down and picked a blade of grass. He tossed it in his mouth and began chewing. "Hmm, it even tastes like…..yes, alright. The year, Alice, is 3101."

Alice's eyes were wide and her mouth had formed into a grin. The Doctor liked it when she smiled. He should do things more often to make her smile. "Wow. You could tell by doing all of that? How did you…?"

He gave her a grin, and winked. "Ancient Time Lord secret. I'd have to kill you if I told you."

She laughed, a light melodic sound, and lightly punched his arm. "Oh, shut up."

He held his hands up in mock surrender. "Why dost the lady striketh me? I speaketh only the truth!"

She began to laugh harder and punched him again. He laughed too, and looked around. Their final destination should just be over that hill.

"Alice, you see that hill over there?" he pointed to the hill.

"Yeah?" She said, smiling still and swiping a blonde hair out of her face.

"Race ya!" He quickly let go of her hand and bolted away.

"John!" She shouted after him, laughing. "Not fair!"

She tried to catch up to him, but the Doctor was just too fast. He quickly got to the top of the hill, and turned to wait for her. She didn't take long, and was by his side in a few seconds. He motioned out over the hill. Alice's mouth dropped opened, and her eyes widened.

"What is that place?" she whispered, looking at him.

The Doctor glanced out over the hill, and looked at the marble, Roman-esque building. It was tall with long marble pillars, and a fantastic gold dome. It stood out, a beautiful building in a beautiful landscape.

"That," he began, looking back at Alice, who had been waiting for his answer, "Is the Museum of Human History and Achievements. Using technology just developed recently, you can travel back in time and witness how humans used to live. Any time and location on Earth. Quite an interesting place, if I do say so myself. You wanted history and an alien planet, Alice Carvel, here you are."

He gave her a grin, and she smiled back. She looked away from him to look at the museum. Her eyes scanned the horizon, and the Doctor watched her frown.

"John, usually museums are in cities. I don't see any other buildings. Why is this the only building?"

The Doctor grabbed her hand and began leading her down the hill. "Oh, there is a city. A great, big, fantastic city, full of both humans and aliens from many different planets. It's there, just a few miles below the surface. You see, the people of Gaea use advanced geothermal technology, literally taking energy straight from the core of the planet. Quite brilliant, really. But to use this technology, especially in the early stages that this form of technology is in, they must live underneath the crust. They won't be able to live above the surface and use this type of power for…..well, I don't know, a hundred or so years."

Alice gave a low "woah" and let the Doctor lead her down the hill. He let her digest this information, it was probably a lot for her to take in. The Doctor was proud of her, she was taking this quite well. Usually, it took a lot longer for his traveling companions to get the hang of it all, after all, it was a lot to take in. Bigger on the inside Police Boxes, traveling to different planets and times, it was a lot for a simple girl of the 21st century to take in. They reached the base of the hill, and made their way to the museum. As they got closer, the Doctor could see many different people, both humans and aliens, bustling around the entrance.

"John?" Alice asked suddenly, and he looked at her over his shoulder. "How are we going to get in? I mean, we don't have any money!"

The Doctor chuckled, and continued to lead her to the museum. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Just going to flash my credentials, and they'll let me right in."

"Credentials?" she sputtered in confusion.

The Doctor only hummed, and lead her to the entrance of the museum. Several different humanoids gave angry grumbles as he weaved through the long line in front, dragging Alice with him. When they got to the main entrance, a big man in a suit and shades stepped in front of them. He towered over them, and the Doctor looked up and flashed his most impressive grin.

"Hullo! Now, if you would just let us in, we have some work to do…"

"No." the big man grunted.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, and reached into his jacket pocket. He fished out his psychic paper, and flashed it to the man. "No? Well, I'm Doctor John Smith, and I'm here on a surprise inspection of the museum and its workings. This is my lovely assistant, Ms. Alice Carvel, who is here to merely see how I work and learn the ropes, per say. Now then sir, if you wouldn't mind….."

"You're a little young to be a doctor." was all the big man said.

"Yes, well, you've got to start early now a days, otherwise you don't get started at all." The Doctor said, nodding at the man and scooting around him. "Right then, come along Ms. Carvel."

Alice made a noise that resembled a "yes sir" and quickly attached herself to his arm. They made their way through the grand entrance to the museum.

"What is that thing?" Alice whispered, leaning closer to make sure that she would be heard. "You used that back in the classroom, I remember. Something about J.F.K."

"Psychic Paper." The Doctor. "Basically, I can make it read whatever I want it to. For instance…"

He dug it out of his pocket, thought a tiny bit, and then flashed it to Alice. She quickly read it and laughed.

"John Smith, the most clever man in existence? A bit confident, are we?"

"Nah," he grinned, "It's just true."

Alice giggled, and hit his arm playfully. They walked down a corridor to another pair of double doors. The Doctor opened them for Alice, and walked in after her. He almost ran into her, however, because she had stopped.

"Oh… my… God…"

The main room was quite grand and large. There was a fountain in the middle of a man and a woman holding the Earth. Hundreds of people of all species were walking around. The Doctor saw people of all different races mingling around the fountain; talking and laughing and shouting. He loved it. So many shouts of joy and happiness, and so many different races getting along peacefully and happily. It was fantastic. The room, besides being grand and large, was circular with a high roof that lead up to the glittering golden dome they had seen from outside. Around the room, there were doors that lead to what the Doctor knew to be the main point of their trip here.

The Doctor tugged on an awed Alice's hand. "You think this is impressive? Come on, let me show you impressive."

Alice hummed, and continued to stare at the giant crowd in utter fascination. She openly gawked at a humanoid with a fish head wearing a glass domed helmet filled with water as the Doctor lead her past it. The Doctor weaved through the crowd with Alice behind him, expertly parting the crowds to quickly arrive at his destination. He finally reached an archway that read "Private Viewing", and strode in. He gave off an air like he owned the place, and it wasn't long before another giant man like the one in the front of the museum blocked his path.

"Hullo!" The Doctor said cheerfully, holding out his hand. "Doctor John Smith, surprise inspection, yada yada yada, this is my lovely assistant Ms. Alice Carvel, surprise inspection, now Mr…..?"

"Not allowed in here."

"Actually, I was asking for your name." The Doctor said, not even skipping a beat. "But, if you want to play it that way, we will, my dear fellow. I do believe I'm allowed in, if you would look right here…."

He flashed the psychic paper, and the big fellow leaned down to read it, before standing back up and nodding.

"Sorry." was all he said as he stepped to the side, allowing the Doctor and Alice into the room.

The Doctor once more linked arms with Alice, and they made their way into the room. The room was more of a rectangle as opposed to the circular grand entrance they had come from, and was decorated lavishly. Different sofas and chairs were aligned around a coffee table. A few bookshelves were behind one of the sofas, and a lamp was on a small table near one of the chairs. The floors were a nice warm hardwood with a carpet underneath the furniture, and there was even a small kitchen in the corner of the room. It almost resembled an apartment, except for the giant black archway that stood out like a sore thumb in the far wall. A flatscreen TV with the words "Museum of Human History and Achievements" hung near it.

"What is this room?" Alice asked, unhooking her arm from the Doctor's and walking up to the bookshelf. She ran her fingers along the spines of some of the books, and then turned back to look at the Doctor, expecting an answer.

The Doctor couldn't help himself, and grinned. Of course, Alice chose to go to the books first, not the giant obvious archway that practically oozed mysteriousness and timey wimey stuff. "A private viewing room." He finally answered her.

"Viewing of what?" She fired back instantly, eyes darting towards the archway finally. "And what's that?"

"A viewing of any point in human history that we would like to see." He replied, striding over to the TV near the archway and tapping it. The words faded, and it brought up a basic interface. Options for different dates and time periods popped up on the side, and he scanned them. "And this is our way to view any point in human history we so desire. So, take your pick."

"Rome." she answered instantly, before suddenly furrowing her brow. "Wait, why couldn't we have just done this in your TARDIS?"

The Doctor tapped the desired time period and date, along with the corresponding location. "Well, because, you wanted an alien planet as well. And besides that, this place is cool and special, and can even do something that the TARDIS couldn't replicate exactly."

"And what is that?" Alice breathed, eyes wide in shock. The Doctor chuckled, seeing that she figured that there wasn't anything the TARDIS couldn't do.

Instead of giving her an answer, he merely hit the last few things on screen, and the archway gave a low hum. A low purple residue filled it, and swirled in intricate patterns inside. The Doctor grabbed Alice's hand, and strode into the portal. His vision was filled with the purple swirling patterns, and he felt Alice's hand clench his rather painfully. It stayed like this for a few more moments, purple vision and painful clenched hand, before suddenly, he was blinded. He smelt grass and heard running water. When his vision finally cleared, he saw rolling hills, a river, and a giant sprawling city in the distance.

"John?!" Alice yelled suddenly, and rather loudly. The Doctor flinched at the sudden sound, and whirled around to look at his newest friend and companion, fearing the worst. Instead, he saw her wearing a long white dress that went down to her ankles and left one shoulder exposed. A purple woolen cloth was tossed over the other shoulder. She also wore sandals, and her blonde hair was curled and laying on her shoulders in waves. The Doctor couldn't help but stare for a moment, and no, he most definitely wasn't thinking about how beautiful she looked, thank you very much.

"John?" She suddenly said again, breaking him from his thoughts. "What happened to my clothes?"

"Ah," He said, his voice cracking. He felt his face heat up as he cleared his throat. Stupid teenage body. "Yes. Well. That would be the lovely portal we stepped through. Not only does it send us back in time, but it also clothes you in the typical attire of the time, and, if necessary, implements you into society so that you won't be noticed as a stranger, and possibly be punished for it. Basic perception filter, really."

"Ok…" Alice said, digesting the information. She then looked the Doctor up and down and smirked. "Nice bedsheet"

He looked down, and studied his attire. "Oi! This is a toga, thank you very much, not a bedsheet! Totally different!"

She giggled. "Nice color too."

The Doctor puffed out his cheeks, and then blew out all of the air. "TARDIS blue is a fantastic color, thank you."

Alice gave her melodic laugh, and the Doctor couldn't help but smile a bit.

"So," She said, playing with one of her curls. "Where exactly are we?"

The Doctor suddenly felt quite embarrassed. He wasn't sure of their exact location, really. He had just set the destination for the Roman Empire in the year 27 BC, because 27 BC was around the time Augustus Caesar had come into power, and from what the Doctor could remember, Augustus was good at throwing one hell of a party in his villas. "Well….er, the Roman Empire in the year 27BC."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "No specific location?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Italy, I think."

Alice sighed. "Great."

The Doctor grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "C'mon, let's not get down. Look, over yonder, my fair maiden! A town! Nice big walls, so protected, and information! What could be better?"

Alice frowned. "John, the Romans spoke Latin. I don't know Latin, so unless you do, we're not getting any information."

The Doctor grinned. "Relax, another thing the portal did was give us the ability to understand and speak foreign language. Really though, you didn't need it. The TARDIS is already doing that for you. But, never look a gift horse in the mouth!"

"How does it do that?" she asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Sciencey wiencey."

Alice gave him a cold look.

He nodded. "Seriously, sciencey wiencey. You wouldn't understand if I tried to explain it."

She sighed. "Whatever. Let's go to this Roman town, Bedsheet."

"Toga!"

She just laughed.

It took them about twenty minutes, but they finally made it to the town. The walls were now a lot larger, and slightly intimidating, but the Doctor knew that these walls were nothing compared to what the important cities in the empire have. He expected to hear the busy bustling of an active town, but instead, he only heard silence. He frowned. He didn't like that, not at all.

"It's quiet." Alice noted the obvious.

"Yes," the Doctor muttered, "It is. Don't like it."

They entered the town with caution. The Doctor noted that the stone buildings were closed off, and seemed to have been abandoned for some time now. He slowly grabbed Alice's hand, and gave it a squeeze. This was odd, very odd, and he didn't like it. Usually, the Doctor liked odd. He was odd, and worked well with odd things. But this, this was a bad odd, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Where are the Romans, John?" She whispered, looking around the town.

"Not here." He whispered back. He spun around, looking in all directions. "We need to head to the forum, the center of the town. Maybe we can find some clues as to what happened there."

Alice nodded, and they continued down the road. They eventually arrived at the forum, but it was just as empty and abandoned as the rest of the town. The Doctor frowned. He was really starting to get a bad feeling.

"John, I don't like this, maybe we should-"

"BEHIND YOU, STRANGERS!"

The Doctor and Alice both jumped at the sudden voice, and the Doctor shifted in front of Alice to protect her. They both turned in the direction of the voice to see a man with long gray hair and a long gray beard wearing a ragged and filthy white toga staring at them in horror from one of the houses.

"Who are-" The Doctor began, but the man furiously shook his head and pointed behind them.

"IT IS NOT ME YOU MUST FEAR, BEHIND YOU!"

Alice and the Doctor shifted to look behind them, and the Doctor felt his blood run cold. A humanoid figure was standing in the middle of the street, where Alice and the Doctor had just come from. It stood there, staring, not moving. Long wings seemed to protrude from the back of the figure. It sent chills down the Doctor's spine. Just what was this thing?

"QUICKLY! INTO MY HOME!"

"John?" Alice whispered, looking up at him fearfully.

"Do as he says. When I say run, run."

"But we don't-"

"RUN!"

He grabbed her hand, and before she had a chance to protest further, the Doctor sprinted in the direction of the man's house. Alice gave a small yelp of surprise, but the Doctor tuned her out. He saw the man open the door and motion for them to hurry. The Doctor and Alice flew into the man's house, and he shut the door. He moved a large wooden beam into place, locking the door.

The Doctor and Alice were gasping for breath after their desperate sprint. The Doctor studied the man, who studied him back. The man was tall, and ragged. He looked like he hadn't bathed in a while, and smelt like it too. His beard and hair were both long and tangled, and his toga was far worse up close. He had bright blue eyes, which peered out at the Doctor from under thick eyebrows.

"I am Marcius." He finally said, "Welcome to my home."

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Alice. We are traveling together and saw this town. We are weary, and wanted food, water, and a warm bed to lay our heads and rest. Tell me, what has happened here?"

Marcius' blue eyes became stormy, and his shoulders sagged. "The gods have cursed this town, friends. You are very unfortunate to have stumbled upon us. The town of Fletus Angelus has had Erinyes sent upon us from Pluto himself. The townsfolk, my friends and family, have been taken by them. Have been murdered by them. I feared myself to be the last man, but then you two unfortunate souls stumbled into town. Now my friends, you are stuck here like me. Damned and doomed."

"John? What are Erinyes?" Alice whispered.

"The Kindly Ones, Furies, in Greek mythology. They're known for being sent after criminals by the gods, and they are relentless. They hunt until they have their prey, and then they make sure they die a painful death." He whispered back, before turning to Marcius. "Tell me, Marcius, what have you done to bring the wrath of the Erinyes down upon you?"

"I cannot say." He said, shaking his head. His long hair and beard swayed with this motion. "They have come and taken though. Now, I'm the only one left. They hunt me, Doctor, Alice, all day and night. I haven't slept in many a day. I don't think I can go for much longer."

The Doctor patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll help you get out of here alive."

Marcius nodded gratefully. The Doctor turned from him, and looked around. Marcius' house was not in the best of conditions. Furniture lay everywhere, and what seemed to have once been busts were lying on the floor, shattered into stone shards. Even the small altar to the gods in the corner that was traditional with every Roman house was in disarray.

Marcius apparently followed the Doctor's stare, because he said, "I know, a disgrace to the Gods, but I fear they no longer care about me or Fletus Angelus. I assumed they would not care if I let my altar fall into shambles or not."

The Doctor nodded. "It's fine, I understand. Now, Marcius, I would like you to tell me how this all began."

Marcius nodded. "It all started about a few weeks ago. A few of the children disappeared from town. We searched all day and all night, but there was no sign of them. As the week continued, more and more people began to disappear, and not just children. Young and old, it didn't seem to matter. They were taken. Stories were told of strange gray, winged creatures, and we assumed it was them who stole the townsfolk. We prayed for hours on end to the gods, but it seemed that they did not hear us. We later found out that they did not care. More and more townsfolk were stolen everyday, until it was only I who remained."

Marcius' eyes glistened, and the Doctor realized he was crying. He rested his hand on Marcius' shoulder, and Marcius nodded.

"I…" his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and shook his head before starting again. "I finally saw the creatures in the flesh for myself a few days back. It had been my wife, Aelina, and I hiding here. It had been silent in the town for a while, and she and I figured it was now safe to venture out. We were running out of food, and we desperately needed more. We opened the door and...they descended on us. They were horrible, Doctor. Horrible. Creatures of what seemed to be stone, screaming without sound. They pointed and screamed at us. They were everywhere. One touched my wife and she just….vanished. Good gods, she just vanished!"

The Doctor's blood went cold. The similarities between Marcius' story and stories he's heard before about a particular alien species were astounding. He didn't like it. His mind began working, trying to find a way out of this town, and get them all out. Judging by Marcius' story, they were everywhere. The only reason he and Alice hadn't been attacked as soon as they entered the town was because they had allowed them in, they had wanted them in.

The Weeping Angels were in Ancient Rome.

Then, it began to click in the Doctor's head. He smacked his forehead and growled in frustration. Alice and Marcius stared at him in confusion and shock. He was stupid, so very stupid! How could he have not had seen it before?

"Marcius, what was the name of this town again?"

"Fletus Angelus… why?"

"Weeping Angel in Latin….oh, that's clever! Oh, I'm so stupid!"

"Weeping Angel?" Alice asked. "What does that have to do anything?"

The Doctor didn't answer, he was too busy thinking. Running through scenario after scenario. Question after question. The coincidences were too great for this to be normal. This was a setup. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The Doctor didn't like the feeling he was getting from this whole scenario. He reached into his tunic and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. The perks of being very, very smart, he thought to himself, was being able to smuggle in technology into a system where it shouldn't be allowed.

"The Angels are using the Museum of Human History and Achievements as a feeding ground. They feed off of time energy. They're using the tourists as bait, and then displacing them in time to feed off of them. My guess is, they have bases in each time period the Museum can access, like Fletus Angelus here, and force the tourists here. Then, they close in for the kill. We have to get back, we have to stop them. Grab my shoulders, both of you. Don't ask questions, just do it."

They both did what he asked without asking questions, which was very smart. He raised his screwdriver, and it let out the familiar whirring noise. Purple particles began to flow around them, and Marcius let out a shout of surprise. He instantly let go of the Doctor's shoulder.

"No!" The Doctor screamed. "Don't let go! Don't let-"

The air was sucked from his lungs, and his vision blurred. When he could see and breathe again, he and Alice were back in the portal room they had started in, in their normal clothes.

"Marcius? Where is he?" Alice shrieked, looking around in alarm. "He should've come through, right?"

The Doctor shook his head sadly. "He let go."

Alice looked at him. "We can save him… right?"

The Doctor felt his hearts sink. "Alice, I'm so sorry. We can't risk going back there. It's too dangerous. I can't risk you getting hurt or killed by the Angels."

"John, we can't just leave him! That poor man! He's alone in that town!"

"We have no choice." The Doctor said firmly, and sadly. "I'm sorry. We just can't risk it."

A silence fell over them, and Alice looked at her shoes sorrowfully. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. Why did it always have to go wrong? Why couldn't the first trip with his companion ever go right? It was unfair. Why was the universe so unfair to him?

"John?" Alice whispered, and he looked up at her. "Why is it so quiet?"

And then it hit him. Before their trip to Rome, it had been loud and bustling outside. But now, it was quiet. As quiet as it had been in the streets of Fletus Angelus. Bad. That was really bad. The Doctor strode towards the door and opened it. No one was outside. The silence was deafening. The Doctor scanned the room, everything seemed normal, besides the lack of people, until his eyes fell upon the fountain. The statues of the man and the woman holding up the Earth was gone. He took a step back.

"Alice," he began. "We may have a-"

He stopped. During his sentence, he had begun to turn back to look out the door. When he did, he felt a cold hand clamp down on his wrist. When he finally finished turning and staring back out the door, he was met with the screaming face of the man who had been holding up the Earth with the woman. Alice screamed, and the Doctor felt his stomach drop. He swore very loudly in Gallifreyan, and stared into the man's face.

"John?!" Alice screamed, rushing to his side.

"Alice." He managed, forcing his voice to be serious and to not show the fear he was feeling. "I'm going to need you to reach into my right pocket."

"John, I-"

"Reach into my pocket. Now."

He felt her hand go into his pocket, and felt her take out the two items. The TARDIS key and his sonic screwdriver.

"Ok, now Alice, I'm going to need you to be very calm, ok? Point the sonic at the key, and think really hard. Think of the TARDIS, Alice. Can you do that for me?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her nod. He heard the whir of the sonic, and then a few seconds later, the familiar wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS.

"John?" Alice whispered. "John, what do I do now?"

The Doctor swallowed. "Walk into the TARDIS, and close the doors."

"What? No! I can't leave you!"

"Alice, do as I say. The TARDIS will take you back home. You will most likely arrive to meet U.N.I.T, who are friends of mine. They'll know what to do once you tell them what's happened here. They'll take care of the TARDIS."

"What about you?" Alice whispered. "John, what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Go, Alice."

"No, John, I-"

"Go!" He screamed.

There was a moment of silence, then what sounded like a sob. The Doctor heard the opening, and then the closing of the TARDIS doors. The familiar wheezing and groaning began, and he closed his eyes.

He felt time bend around him, an incredible pain, and then blacked out.

Alice stumbled into the TARDIS, and the noise that she knew meant that she was going through time and space started. She made her way to the console, and stared at the crystal in the center as it bobbed up and down. This couldn't be real, she thought to herself. He couldn't be gone. He couldn't have been taken by the Angels or whatever they were. He just couldn't.

This wasn't real. This just couldn't be.

The TARDIS gave an abrupt lurch, and Alice clung to the console. The lurch subsided. Alice stood up, and looked around. Did that mean she had landed? Where had she ended up? The wheezing noise was still going, so that meant she was still traveling, right? The crystal was still moving, so she was definitely moving. So what had happened?

The TARDIS gave a rumble, and the wheezing and groaning rose in pitch. It sounded like the TARDIS was gasping for breath. Alice stared in concern at the console, fear settling into the pit of her stomach. What was going on? Then, everything went to hell. The wheezing sharpened once more and picked up in pace. Gravity seemed to just vanish, and everything began flying around. Alice clung to the console and screamed. Different bits and pieces of the console began to spark and smoke began to come out of it. The TARDIS lurched and bucked, sending items flying through the zero gravity. The wheezing was growing louder and louder. Then, as abruptly as it had started, it ended. Alice fell to the ground as the gravity returned to normal, and clenched her eyes shut. She let out a groan of pain as she felt the metal grates of the floor dig into her.

Wait.

Alice's eyes flew open. The TARDIS floor around the console wasn't a metal grating, it was a lush blue carpet. She sat up quickly, and looked around. It was darker, and different. Weird orange holes were all over the walls, and weird stone arches came off of the walls to attach to the console, which was now worn and had a blue crystal in the middle instead of the orange one she was used to.

Alice shakily stood up, and looked around in confusion. What had happened to the TARDIS? Her eyes fell upon a stranger, and she screamed.

"What." He simply said, his eyes wide and his mouth wide open. His crazy spikey brown hair was everywhere, and his blue suit definitely didn't match his red Converse shoes.

"Who the hell are you?" Alice screamed.

"Who the hell am I? Who the hell are you? Why do random women keep appearing on my TARDIS? Well, at least you're not wearing a wedding dress."

Alice opened and closed her mouth. "Your TARDIS?" she managed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. Who else's?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. I think the more important question is, who are you?"


Thank you for reading! Sorry if you got double updated. For some reason, that last try the Document glitched out and had...interesting results. Anyways, please Review and tell me what you think of how the story is going so far, and where you would like to see it go!

Robo