The TARDIS landed with a crash, throwing the Doctor to the grated floor of the ship. He leaped up, not in the least hurt by this ascent. He was used to it, after all. It had happened countless times before on his many journeys. Sometimes he wished he passed the TARDIS driving test…. But then, where would be the fun in getting where you actually wanted to go? There was no adventure in that. And besides, because of that little quirk of his beloved ship, a whole new adventure was awaiting him, just outside those familiar blue doors.
He quickly checked the screen, registering that the Time Lord signal was still there, and it was stronger than before. Even if this was not Pete's World, there was always the hope that he was not, in fact, the last in existence.
A warm, rosy bubble of hope formed in his chest, right between his two hearts, and began to settle in. No matter the outcome of this trip, he would not return to the TARDIS alone.
Shrugging on his brown coat, he threw the doors open with a flourish. Outside, it was twilight, the sun having already sunk beneath the buildings that surrounded the current position of the inconspicuous blue box. Overhead, a large blimp lazily hovered in the chill air. The Doctor let out a loud whoop, and danced around for a few seconds. Passerbys hurried along, anxious not to be associated with this madman, who, for some reason, was extremely happy to be out of a Police Box.
"Excuse me," he said, coming up to the first person he saw, "but can you tell me where I am?"
The woman looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"You're in London, sir," she replied stiffly.
"Quite so. Can you tell me, did you have a rather large invasion of Cybermen here a few years ago?" the Doctor asked.
If it was possible, the woman stiffened even further. "How can you be ignorant of that? They killed nearly half the population of England nine years ago."
"Oh, right," said the Doctor, completely ignorant of his rudeness "That's brilliant!" he wandered off from her, still sporting an ear-splitting grin.
The idea took him suddenly: he had no idea where Tyler Mansion was. He had gotten there once before, but after all the events of the previous year, he had completely forgotten where it was. But that was easily solved by a genius like him. He sprinted to the nearest phone booth and practically ripped the pages of the phone book out in his eagerness to get to the T's.
"Tyaros, Tydin, Tyfrina, ahah! Tyler. 1462 Market Street! Brilliant!" Fishing his sonic screwdriver out of one of his pockets, (thanking his lucky stars that like his TARDIS, his pockets were dimensionally transcendental, and could fit just about anything he chose to put into them) he scanned the page, instructing the slim, pen-like device to remember the address for him.
"Taxi!" he called out.
It was dark by the time the Cab rolled out in front of the gates of Tyler Mansion. After digging into his pockets once again, he came up with the correct change and paid the cabbie. Then he was left alone in front of the imposing gates.
They were not locked, thankfully. To the side of the rather imposing front door were several cars; a daunting Mercedes Benz, a compact silver Honda , and a little red Thunderbird. The Doctor made his way to the door, and paused, his fingers hovering over the doorbell.
This was the moment of truth. This was the moment he had seen so many times repeated in his dreams, but had never dared to hope wouldactually happen. He should be breaking the door down and sweeping Rose off her feet. Yet he hesitated. Old insecurities resurfaced as he stared at the handsome door of the Tyler Mansion. What if Rose was happy here? What if, in coming here, he was disturbing some happy life that she had carved out for herself in his absence. What if she didn't want to come back with him? What if she were married? What if she were married to Mickey? The Doctor's head spun as different scenarios whirred around, all ending with Rose not wanting him any more.
His breath caught in his throat at the though, and his hearts pounded loudly. They were so loud that he wondered if those within the house could hear the thunderous noise. He realized with a jolt that he had been holding his breath, and he let it out now with a hiss. All this running around, this frantic energy dragging Martha from adventure to adventure, it had all lead to this moment, standing in front of an ordinary door.
But this was ridiculous. Was he a Time Lord, or was he a mouse? Mind you, the mice of Vorak 6 were some of the most vicious creatures he had ever come across. Nothing like Earth mice, of course, didn't look a thing like them. They had nearly tried to kill the Doctor the last time he was there….but that was besides the point. He was a grown Time Lord, and he would start acting like one. He was the Oncoming Storm, the one Daleks had nightmares about, and nothing was going to stop him, especially not his own fear.
With absolute determination, he pressed firmly down the button, ringing the bell. Then, he waited.
