THUMP

Suddenly, everything was still again. All was quiet. Laney stood up from her semi-fetal position she had taken on the floor, slowly but surely making sure the ground was stable beneath her. As she struggled to control her racing heartbeat, she looked over at the Doctor, eyes wide. "What was THAT," she panted. "I thought I was going to die!"

The Doctor checked the monitor once again, studying the screen intently, pressing a few buttons before answering her. "That, little miss, was the sound of time travel." Swinging the monitor towards her, it displayed:

April 20, 1863,

32.3206° N, 90.9333° W

Vicksburg, MS

Laney laughed, heading towards the TARDIS door. "Doctor, once again I have to wonder about your sanity. This...this box is amazing. But time travel? That's not possible in the physics world or otherwise." At the door, she hesitated, resting her fingers on the window. What if...

The Doctor simply chuckled and pulled on his jacket, adjusting his bow-tie with care. "Miss Laney, I have seen and done things that have been physically, spiritually, and emotionally impossible in eighty-seven different planets and at least two parallel universes. However..." He walked down to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, and covering her hand on the window with his own. He leaned in close, whispering in her ear, "If you don't believe me, look outside." Gently, he helped her push open the door of the TARDIS, and sunlight came flooding in.

Laney once again found herself doubting her own intelligence, faith, and anything she had ever believed true. As she stepped out into the green grass, she felt the dirt beneath her feet. She recognized the warmth and humidity of her home state, knew the feeling of the rough grass beneath her bare feet. She walked out further, in wonder at it all. She could see a town a few miles away, but no recognizable architecture. The terrain looked familiar- lots of hills, with the forest all around. She closed her eyes. If she listened hard enough to nature's silence, she could just hear it: the sounds of creeks and rivers, overriding the rush of the mighty Mississippi. There were no cars to blot the noise, only nature.

It was like an instinct. She knew where she was, she had been here before\. In the years after, in her days, this was Vicksburg National Military Park. The hill she was standing on, she had gotten lost up here when her grandparents had taken her for a picnic here so long ago. Her grandfather, Papaw she called him, had always loved studying the Civil War and said that it was only natural that there be some bullets still left around in the woods. How could little Laney resist? She had wandered off into the woods, wanting to find a bullet shell to make her Papaw happy. After a while, her Granny had noticed she was missing, and panicked. It was no worry, though. They soon found her down at one of the memorials, having gotten completely and utterly lost.

On impulse, Laney let out a war-whoop, laughing. She danced in the grass, twirling and twirling until finally she fell breathless to the ground. She breathed in the air and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of nature's silence- creeks and birds.

The Doctor hung back at the door of the TARDIS, leaning on the door frame, simply watching Laney. In his mind's eye, he remembered a flash of blonde hair. A smile. So much of the same youth, so much the same energy and vivacity... he pushed it to the back of his mind, continuing his earlier worry. How did Laney end up here...what made her so special that she could reach him across time and space? A mind that strong is a formidable thing, to possess a mental link across the universe is to possess an immense amount of power. He walked out to her, plopping down beside her on the grass.

Laney opened her eyes, hearing him come lay beside her. She turned her head towards him. It was strange. With his eyes closed, he seemed so different. Old and tired. Earlier, she hadn't gotten him to sit still or be quiet. But, before she could get a closer look, he stirred. She averted her eyes quickly, blushing. "So we really are in Civil War Vicksburg?" she asked. It seemed less of a question and more of a surrender.

The Doctor's eyes remained closed as he answered, "Yes. April 20, 1863." Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly. He looked back down at her, scanning her from head to foot. "Miss, this isn't..." He waved his hands vaguely over her, looking for words. "This isn't going to work."

Laney shot up like a bullet, worried. "What isn't going to work?"

Vaguely, he gestured to all of her again, worried. "This...You're naked."

Laney plucked at the worn out Delta Green sweats she had donned. "This?" Suddenly self-conscious, she looked down at her dirty, bare feet. "I was just on rounds, I didn't know..." She bit her lip. She did look rather ragged, didn't she? Well, she hadn't really expected to travel in time tonight. Laney stood up and dusted herself off in a huff, glaring back down at the Doctor. "And I'm not naked! I'm fully covered."

The Doctor laughed and shook his head, jumping to his feet with the energy of a child. He picked an imaginary piece of lint from Laney's shirt, and gave it a little dusting. "No, nowadays you're naked. A good Southern belle like you needs a gown!"

He circled her, staring at her hips, chest, and legs, muttering to himself all the while. "Probably a 76 waist...91 bust, 158 centimeters tall..."

Laney felt quite uncomfortable. Not exactly sure what to do, she crossed her arms across her chest, blushing. "You havin' fun?"

Thinking, he drummed his long fingers against his face, before a light went off in his head. "Silly Doctor, I have exactly the thing!" He sprinted back to the TARDIS, opening the door and darting in. Before he closed, the door, however, he stuck his head back out, grinning from ear to ear. "And yes!" he replied cheerily, "I am!"

Layers. Dozens and dozens upon dozens of layers of blue cotton and crinoline. Laney tugged at her corset, struggling to breathe as she turned to face the Doctor. Her skirt seemed to move independently from herself as she turned in the mirror. She kept pulling at her sleeves that felt tight on her arms.

"Doctor," she complained, "I can't even move in this dress, let alone breathe. How am I going to trekking across the country if I can't even breathe?"

The Doctor grabbed her hand and gave her a quick, playful spin. Planting an equally lacy parasol in her hand, he took hold of her shoulders, smiling. "But look at yourself! You look like a regular Scarlett O'Hara." He nudged her playfully. "Now all you need is your own plantation."

Laney giggled, twirling the parasol in the mirror. Yes, she did look pretty. But... "But Doctor," she interjected, "This may work for a ball or something, but don't I need to...ya know...be unobtrusive?" She squirmed, fighting for some room for air from her lungs that pressed into her backbone. "Plus," she admitted, "I don't think with my short hair I look very much like the gentry."

The Doctor sighed as though regretful. "Yes, you're right." His eyes crinkled merrily as he smiled, began to chuckle, and finally burst into full-out laughter.

"What?" Laney demanded, self-conscious again.

Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, he continued to chuckle as he strolled out the door of the wardrobe room, calling back over his shoulder, "That was for hitting me! There are more reasonable options around here somewhere. Have fun getting out!"

Completely confused and a little flustered, Laney just shook her head and started getting undressed.

Struggling, she pulled the dress over her head and unlaced her corset stays. It was sweet relief, feeling oxygen rushing back into her lungs. She flung the cursed thing far away from her as she could, inwardly cursing the Doctor as she pulled off layers upon layers of petticoats. Finally, she was down to a simple white cotton underdress. Still in her bare feet, she roamed around the wardrobe. The only thought she could think of as she surveyed the wardrobe was, If only my theatre department had access to this place!

She ran her fingers over the dresses, picking through. Not this one, too 17th century, not this one, too 1960s...until... her hand stopped. It was the dress. THE dress, the one she had worn in her dream. She pulled it off of the hanger, running a hand over the soft blue cotton muslin. It was just as she remembered: long-sleeved, with traces of lace on the sleeves and collar. Instinctively, she pulled it on over her head and fastened the small buttons up the back. Surveying herself in the mirror, she found herself smiling. It fit as though made for her. Forgetting shoes, she ran out the door and down the hallway, bursting into the console room.

The Doctor had not been idle while Laney was getting dressed. He flicked the spork again and pulled his monitor towards him, watching as the strange symbols flashed by, making sense to no one but himself. He mumbled to himself as he worked, watching as a diagram of Laney's brain appeared onscreen. "Brilliant girl, lovely little miss hidden away at university, why can you reach me..." Looking closer, he noticed a small blip on the screen.

Speaking out loud to the TARDIS, he rubbed his temples as he mumbled, "Love, zoom into that blip and let's take a stick and poke it, shall we?" The brain on the screen disappeared, with only more strange symbols coming up. The Doctor wrinkled his brow. "No information available, what do you mean no information available." He looked up at the console before frowning at it. "You're a magical box that can store entire rooms, but you don't have information on her brain?"

Frustrated, he plopped down into his chair, drumming his fingers. "Think, think... Miss Laney, a human can send me a psychic message about needing help, but does not know she needs help. She can also somehow speak to people from the past but only in her dreams, which may or may not be real... And she can remember every single detail about the encounter including..."

Laney burst into the room, smiling widely and twirling around in her new outfit. The Doctor suddenly stopped in his tracks, amazed by what he saw. "Including exactly what she wore." Jumping down hurriedly from the console deck, he took her firmly by the shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. "Where did you get that dress?" he questioned intensely, eyes wild.

For the umpteenth time that day, Laney was frightened, but to her credit, she didn't hit him again. "In the wardrobe room," she stammered, "It's.." She closed her eyes, afraid. "Doctor, you're hurting me."

As if coming out from a spell, the Doctor released her and laughed. "I'm sorry. You astonished me is all, and I'm not easily astonished. This one time, I was on the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius after a particularly bad case of the platypus influenza had taken hold. You see, the Raxacoricofallapatorians had called me in desperate.."

"Doctor!" Laney interrupted. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're gonna sit here and talk nonsense while the past is right outside that door?"

The Doctor stopped, stunned. He never did get to finish his stories. Quickly recovering, he adjusted his bow tie and stuck his hands in his pockets, looking down at Laney's bare feet. "Well, I was waiting for a certain little miss to go put her shoes on."

Laney said nothing, only laughed and opened the door to the TARDIS. Who needs shoes when you've got the world to explore?