Chapter four! Hope you all enjoy. Thank you for all the support thus far. Please keep it up, KEEP REVIEWING! Enjoy~!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Doctor Who. Maybe we can find a way so I could?

Warning: Doctor and OC pairing, silliness, crude humor, mild sexual content, violence, cursing, and alcohol and drug references.


Chapter Four: Choices

With no compassion, I was roughly shoved into the dungeon where my friends and the rest of the tour group were held inside. Everyone whimpered, pleaded, cried, and shrieked upon seeing the Requinali. With a yelp, I stumbled to the ground and winced.

Great. Now, I was going to have bruises with my scrapes.

"Alice!" Dan and Sarah rushed to my aid and helped me stand.

I glared at the Requinali, who locked the barred door behind me, as I shakily stood. "Just you wait, you bastards! The Doctor is going to stop you!" I yelled at them, not being able to stop myself. I ignored the skeptical stares of my two friends. "Just you wait! He's gonna stop you and save everyone!" I don't know why I was saying that, but I trusted the Doctor and I trusted him to save us all. He seemed so confident that he was going to do so, so I thought he would. No. I knew he would. Everything was going to be okay.

However, the Requinali snickered at me and left.

"Just you wait!" I screamed after them.

Sarah pulled me back. "Ali, stop that! Are you out of your mind?" she scolded me, tears in her brown eyes. Her scared expression matched Dan's and everyone else's. But me…I wasn't scared. I felt brave and confident, maybe a little anxious and shaky, but, like I said, everything was going to be fine because the Doctor was going to save us.

"No, I'm not crazy," I told her firmly. I held her shoulders and smiled comfortingly. "I am actually calm. Surprisingly, very calm."

She stared at me like I had grown two heads. "How can you be calm, Ali? We're going to die!" Dan cried, his bottom lip trembling, tears streaming down his tanned cheeks from his blue eyes—darker than mine.

"No," I shook my head and took one of his hands in mine. Grasping Sarah's as well, I squeezed their hands. "We're not going to die. We're going to be saved. The Doctor is going to save us."

"Who?" said Sarah.

"The Doctor?" questioned Dan.

"That's his name. I don't know who he is exactly, but he will save us from the Requinali."

"You don't know who he is?" Sarah asked incredulously. "You're putting your faith in a complete stranger?"

"Yes," I gave a curt nod.

Sarah threw up her hands in frustration and skepticism, turning away from me. "You've officially lost it, Ali! We're fucked!"

I frowned deeply, hurt. I didn't blame her for being cynical since trusting a stranger was weird and I was probably more optimistic than others, but she was one of my best friends, I thought she'd believe me. I had faith in the Doctor so she should have faith in me for having such faith in him.

My frown deepened. That sounded crazy now that I thought about it. But still

Dan squeezed my hand and I gazed up at him quizzically. "Do you really believe that this "Doctor" is going to save us, Ali?" he asked, sniffling.

I hugged him tightly. "Yes. I don't know why, but I do. He'll save us, Dan. I know he will."

My friend said nothing and just held me.

Doctor, please hurry.


I didn't know how much time had passed, but it felt like an eternity to me waiting for the Doctor. And unfortunately, as more time passed, the more my friends' fear and hopelessness washed over me; I was starting to feel the same way.

Where was the Doctor? Why hadn't he come for us? Was he hurt or dead? Was he battling the Requinali? Did whatever the Doctor had me do work? What had he made me do to begin with? What was going on? We couldn't hear anything from down in the dungeons. He promised he'd come, that everything would be fine, so where was he?

Oh, God, Doctor, please be okay. Please come for us., I prayed in my head, tightening my arms around my friends. Dan and Sarah returned the affection, stroking my head and arms. All we could was wait and believe. I closed my eyes and buried my face in Sarah's shoulder. Doctor…

"You rang~!" sang a voice, echoing throughout the entire dungeon.

Recognizing that voice instantly, relief and joy washed over me and I pried myself from my friends to run to the bars. I reached a hand out. "Doctor! Over here!" I called out to him, having difficulty seeing him from that angle.

Soon, a big, warm hand grasped mine and the Doctor appeared in all of his trench coat-wearing glory. He beamed crookedly and widely. "Hey there, Alice! Miss me?"

"You're okay!" I said happily.

"Of course! I told you I would be and I told you everything would turn out brilliantly!"

"You defeated the prince and the Requinalis then?"

"If by defeat you mean that Prince Equiden's Mummy came and dragged him and his mates home, then yes, I defeated them, but I didn't really do it, you did."

I blinked stupidly. "…Wha-What?"

"You sent the Queen a message from the ship telling her to come to Earth because her son was being a very naughty boy." the Doctor laughed. I was taken aback. "Now, move back, please. I'm going to free you," he told me, fishing inside his trench coat.

I did as I was told as the male pulled a long silver contraption with a blue tip at the end of it. He pointed at the cell lock, pressed his thumb against a button, and with a strange buzzing noise and blue light the lock steamed then, broke off. I stared in awe. He flashed me a wink. "Sonic screwdriver," he said as if that explained everything.

Once he pulled the door open, before I could stop myself, I threw myself at him. He stumbled back, taken by surprise yet, recovered, laughed, and hugged me back. "I knew you could do it." I whispered.

"I knew you could do it," he whispered back.

I smiled, hugging his neck. The Doctor pulled back, ruffled my hair, and turned to the others in the cell. "Hello, all, I'm the Doctor! And you are all now officially free of the beasties!"


After that, everything went by quickly. The Doctor opened all the cells, freed everyone, and we all filed outside where there were other people, police, and ambulances waiting for us. I guess someone noticed spaceships and contacted the authorities—maybe the Doctor had contacted them. It was a bit chaotic and unfortunately, in that chaos, I didn't see the Doctor and I didn't see him leave. I tried finding them, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't find him. I even tried to call out to him with my telepathy, but got nothing; it was silent in my head like usual—felt odd now.

I had to give up as it was getting late and Sarah and Dan desperately wanted to return to the hotel. I didn't blame them, but I still felt disheartened. I had hoped that I'd get to say 'thank you' and 'goodbye' to the Doctor, but maybe, he wasn't good at that kind of thing or maybe he wanted to head home immediately—to his planet, I guessed.

Still…

Nevertheless, I had to forget about him—like that was going to be easy—and return to my normal life.

Upon hearing everything, my professors/chaperones decided that we students, especially Sarah, Dan, and I, leave for home early. Thus, we had cut the trip by two days.

So there I was, lugging my luggage to the coach bus we were going to take to the London Airport. Others were doing the same and the rest were already on the bus—Sarah and Dan were among the latter. And I was about to load onto the bus after the driver helped me put my bags underneath when I realized I had left something important in the hotel room I had shared with my friends.

"Mr. Hicks! I left my sketchbook in the room!" I told him.

"Hurry up! We're leaving in ten!" he shouted back to me.

I didn't need to be told twice. I hopped off the bus and scampered into the hotel, asked for the room key to my room for a moment, and then, entered the elevator to go up to the third floor. The minute the metal doors opened, I ran out and to room 362. I went inside and grabbed my sketchbook, hugging it to me before exiting and putting it in my tote bag. I was about to head back to the elevator when I noticed a familiar figure standing in front of the door of the storage room.

"Doctor!" I beamed.

He flashed me a wink and stepped inside of the storage room. I jumped. "Wait!" I followed him.

I stopped short within the storage room seeing the Doctor leaning casually with his hands in his pants' pockets against a blue Police Box from the sixties—how the Hell did he get that in there? I approached him excitedly albeit nervously. "You came back." I said.

"And you're leaving." he replied.

"Yeah," I sighed deeply, rubbing the back of my neck. "After yesterday's incident—they're calling it a freak accident, which doesn't even describe what it was—my teachers and some parents figured it was a good idea if we cut our trip early and go back to America. Guess it seems rational enough, but it sucks."

"Oh, yes. You never want to listen to that rational side," he teased jokingly.

I smiled at that. "My thoughts exactly." I giggled. His smile grew. Then, I became serious again as I gazed up at him with furrowed brows. "Why did you come back and…" I peered through him at the blue box behind him. "And how?"

He looked back at the blue box as well and grinned at me. "Oh! This is my ship! Dear Alice, meet the dear TARDIS!" he patted it fondly—maybe a little too fondly. "It stands for-"

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space." I finished for him before I could stop myself. When he stared at me with an arched brow, my cheeks became flushed and I made a face. "Sorry. Psychic thing again." I mumbled, wiggling my fingers around my head. "Sometimes I make…guesses, I guess…and they happen to be right."

"You are an interesting individual, aren't you, little Alice?" the Doctor beamed, tapping my temple.

I blushed. "N-Not really. My mother was the full-fledged psychic; clairvoyance, telepathy, empathy, and so on. I j-just have an in-inkling of what she had."

He tapped my nose with his index that time. "Oh, don't you ever doubt yourself." He winked at me.

Blushing harder, I just shook my head and changed the subject, returning to the original one, "Why did you come back?"

"Oh! Right!" Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave me a crooked, charming grin. "Well, I thought you'd like to come with me."

"Come with you?" I questioned, arching a brow.

"Yes. As in the name, my ship can take me anywhere through time and space. I mean, I am a Time Lord, after all; it's my specialty you could say," he said proudly.

I stared at him. That just sounded too magnificent.

I had been taught after exiting childhood, like many, that the stuff in books and movies, fantasy and sci-fi things, didn't happen. It was all just made up, stuff to give kids hope and creative minds. I mean, I was always a dreamer, I always hoped that those were real even just a little. However, standing there now being told by an alien that his ship could travel through time and space, I was torn. The rational part of me, the "adult" part of me, was telling me that there was no way that was possible while the other part, the child and dreamer in me, kept saying that I should believe in the words the man, that special and extraordinary man, was saying.

"Prove it," I said after a moment.

The Doctor arched a brow curiously then, he looked amused. "Of course." He turned to face the doors of the TARDIS, pulled out a key, unlocked one of the doors, and pushed it open. Stepping aside, the brunet motioned for me to go first. I looked at him, but hesitantly stepped inside.

Immediately, my breath was taken away, my eyes widening and my jaw dropping.

I could barely describe what was inside the Police Box, but I tried.

For starters, it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger on the inside. It was definitely alien-looking. A giant machine with a large, aqua crystal-thing stood in the middle of the metal-like room. Things flashed and beeped. There were various doors on the two levels, so it was probably even bigger. It all looked so complicated, more complicated than the Requinali's spaceship. It was so mazing, so beautiful. I could barely wrap my mind around it.

"What do you think?" the Doctor spoke from behind me.

I glanced back at him on the metal ramp we stood on. He looked a bit smug and amused as he watched me. I beamed. "It's so…so…it's…" I could hardly speak. I laughed. "It's bigger on the inside."

"Yes," he chuckled heartedly. "That definitely is one way to describe it."

"You hear that a lot, don't you?" I teased with my own tickled smirk.

"Oh, maybe," he almost sang. He marched up the ramp to the large control panel. I grinned, trailing after him—he heard it a lot and something in his tone told me he loved it.

"All right, Alien-Boy. Prove to me that you can travel through time and space." I said mischievously, smirking. My heart was beating fast with childish excitement.

"You got it!" he exclaimed jovially. He leaned over a couple controls, grasping a handle and pressing a few buttons. "You might want to hold onto something."

I stared at him oddly, but complied. I sat on the small, raggedy couch near me and held on. The Doctor smirked and pulled the switch. The TARDIS lurched, throwing me forward and the Doctor backwards. There came a weird, but almost musical whizzing noise from the TARDIS as something moved up and down in the blue crystal. We spun, jumped, jerked, and twisted for a while and it was exhilarating. I smiled, the Doctor's being very contagious.

Then, suddenly, we stopped causing the both of us to tumble to grate flooring. We busted out laughing.

A hand appeared before my face belonging to the Doctor who was smiling—his eyes were so old, but his smile was so boyish. I more than willingly placed my palm in his and he helped me stand. "Come along, Alice! Its time to be amazed!"

I laughed as he tugged to the door. We stepped outside and I grinned when I found I was at the Globe again. He pulled me inside then, stopped, faced me, took hold of the hood of my deep gray, zip up hoodie and pulled it over my head completely. I gave him a bemused and slightly disgruntled look. He explained, "We've gone back a few days to when you travelled to the Globe with your university. If anyone who knows you, including yourself, see you there could be some serious trouble. So stay hidden and just watch from here. All right?"

I nodded. Nodding back with a smile, the Doctor turned and sauntered into the crowds. I intently watched him stroll up to some blonde girl, who looked star struck by everything around her. It took me a moment to realize it was me.

Oh, my God! I was seeing myself back in time!

Oh, my God! Oh, geez…was that really what the back of my head looked like? I needed to straighten my hair better.

The other me had to turn her head to her profile to look up at the Doctor for me to recognize her. They chatted animatedly and I felt elated and mystified and I knew the other me felt the same way. The Doctor seemed to have that affect on me. Then again, maybe he had that affect on everyone he met. He just had that aura to him. Strong, wise, otherworldly, and maybe even a little intimidating yet, gentle, kind, warm, and playful. I could see it on my face as the other me spoke to the Doctor.

I watched as she looked away, my teacher calling me. The other me looked disappointed to go, but smiled when the Doctor did. I watched as the other me look dumbfounded; he probably had said my name and winked. Then, the Doctor turned and left, skipping a bit. He headed back towards me. A triumphant smirk was evident on his face.

"So…" he drifted.

"You smug bastard," I scolded, but was beaming. He laughed.

"That evidence enough for you, Alice?" the Doctor asked. "Now, would you like to travel to Wonderland with me?"

I guffawed. "Like I've never heard that one before."

"Maybe, but could anyone actually do it? Show you the wonders of the universe? Take you to Wonderland?"

"No."

"But I can."

I'm sure he could. I had no doubt.

"So what do you say?" he asked again, strolling towards the TARDIS. I followed. Stopping by the doors, he held out his hand to me. "Would you like to come with me?"

For a while, I stared at his hand thinking. I thought hard.

He had proven to me that he could travel through space and time and seemed so amazing. He was extraordinary and everything that came with him was, too. On the other hand, I had a life. I was a college student working on my degree to become an actress. I had friends. I had family. I had dreams and goals and if I went with the Doctor, I'd be leaving those things behind. I might never seen them again, I might never be able to return my normal life, I might be killed or die or something. Then again, I had always dreamed of an opportunity like that, to travel through time and space. It was a one in a lifetime chance, but…

I peered up at the Doctor, who was watching me with expectant eyes—there was a hint of hope to them as well. His hand was still extended. "Is traveling with you always going to be like it was yesterday?" I inquired.

"Oh, no! No, no, no," he shook his head. I gave him a look, crossing my arms over my chest. He sighed, caving. "I don't mean for it to be that way. If it were up to me, I'd rather live a peaceful life. Doesn't exactly happen that way, though." He pouted, looking a child. I couldn't help a chortle. He cracked a smile when I did.

"Guess I can't blame you, but honestly, as weird as it sounds, that was the most fun I've had in years, maybe ever. Sure, I was terrified of dying or becoming a slave or of you dying along with everyone else, but it was exciting, exhilarating. And honestly, I wouldn't trade that day for anything in the world. I'm glad it happened, I'm glad I met you and I'd want to have that feeling again and again and again." I confessed softly, genuinely. "But…"

"But?" His dark eyebrow arched.

"But if I decide, at any moment, that I want to go home, will you take me back?" I queried seriously.

"Yes, absolutely. I could even return you to this exact moment before anyone could realize you were gone." he told me boldly.

I beamed and took his hand that he had lowered during our conversation in mine and squeezed it. "Okay then. I've made my decision. I'm all yours, Doctor. Consider me the TARDIS' newest passenger." I claimed joyously.

His smile become huge. "Motto bene! Allons-y, Alice!" The Doctor took out his key to the TARDIS and unlocked her, stepping inside.

"One more thing!" I called.

He popped his head out with an adorably puzzled expression. "Yes?"

I pressed my index into his nose, causing him to go cross-eyed. "No funny business like that you stunt you pulled yesterday with the kissing and the hugging, got me, Alien-Boy?"

"What?" he blinked rapidly. "That was for your safety, to cover up your scent from the Requinali! It meant nothing, I told you that!"

"That's what they all say~!" I sang teasingly, brushing passed him into the TARDIS.

"Oh, you're going to be a treat, aren't you?"

I just laughed aloud.

I had made my choice and I wasn't going to go back on it now. I knew I wasn't to regret my choice, not when I looked to the handsome alien smiling charmingly and mischievously at me with a certain sparkle in his eyes. Oh, no, I wasn't going to regret it. Definitely not.


Thanks for reading~! PLEASE REVIEW!