My feet landed on the familiar metal floor as I heard the Tardis whirring, I smiled sadly…even over the ice warriors that were sure going to kill us all.
I sighed as I opened my eyes to see a man staring right at me, "Who are you", he asked and my eyes went wide, then I narrowed my brows in confusion as I looked around…the Doctor…. was alone? Then I turned towards him as he still waited for me to answer, "It's me…Acacia", I told him my name hoping that it would spark some sort of familiarly.
"Acacia…", he questioned as I turned on the monitor to see where we were, it appeared we were in…London?
"I have…have to go", the Doctor said exiting out of the Tardis, "Uh…okay…I'll follow you and make sure you don't hurt yourself", I told him.
"What? Yeah, yes, of course", the Doctor said looking at me confused and then nodded as he exited out of the Tardis.
"Don't wander off", he told me turning around and then fainted in a bed of flowers and I sighed as I closed the door behind me.
Walking up and kneeling beside him, I asked, "You alright", he suddenly he got up to stand, "I'm always all right…I'm fine", he told me sounding almost drunk. I stood just as he fainted again, this time I was quick to grab his arm, with little difficulty, I gently laid him down on the ground.
"What happened", I asked looking down at him, "I don't remember", he told me and passed out again, I sighed, "I need to get you to a hospital, you might have a concussion", I said out loud.
I left to go searching around town until I found a telephone box, I went inside and realized I had no money. Sighing in frustration, I left the phone box to go ask a local if they could call an ambulance for my friend. When she asked me where he was I told here in the woods not too far from here and she lifted a brow at me before telling the hospital on the phone.
After she hung up, the woman told me that an ambulance was immediately dispatched and I thanked her before I quickly left. I ran to the Doctor just as I heard an ambulance in the distance, that was quick I thought. The men from inside of the ambulance brought out a gurney and placed the Doctor on top of it bringing him into the ambulance. I followed in after them and sat down just as they closed the doors so we could drive off to the hospital.
The man asked me what had happened and I told him, "I don't know…he seemed to be a little out of it and kept fainting", "Is he drunk", he asked me with knitted brows.
"No", I replied as I narrowed my eyes at the man and he sighed, "Right…well he may very well have a concussion." I gave a concerned look at the Doctor, "Can you tell me his name", the man asked me and I bit my lip, I didn't know if I should tell this man that his name was Doctor.
"I…um…", I said as my mind searched for names and then I said the first thing that came to mind, "John Smith", at that the man lifted a brow at me before he sighed and wrote down the name. Once inside of the hospital, they rolled the Doctor down the hall as I was told I had to wait in the lobby.
So, I sat down and waited, "Who is that man", I heard a Doctor say, "That young lady over there said his name is John Smith", said another Doctor, "Awful young isn't she", said the first Doctor, "Yeah…so is that his real name? Or does she know", asked the other Doctor.
Looking down, I fiddled with my hands nervously, "He was passed out by a police box of all things", I heard a man say, then another Doctor walked in and walked up to me. He told me that he would check on my friend, I smiled and nodded as he left.
Then someone walked in front of me, "Excuse me Miss", the man in front of me asked and I looked up to see that he was a soldier. "Might I ask you a few questions", he asked me.
"Certainly", I replied, "Who are you", he asked me and I was taken aback a little.
"A-Acacia Wood sir", I told him nervously trying to be polite, "And you're from the U.S.", he asked me, "Yes", I replied awkwardly, "What of the unconscious am man that was with you", he asked.
I started fiddling with my hands nervously again, "Um, we've…. we've been traveling together….", "Who is he to you", he asked without taking a breath.
"A-A friend", I asked confused, what's with all the personal questions I wondered, "One more question", he said and I nodded, "What are you", he asked me and I was baffled by this.
"I'm human", I told him obviously, then I felt something wet run down my nose and I narrowed my brows in confusion. Upon touching and looking at my fingers I saw that they were red, then I fainted and the soldier was quick to catch me.
"Help! Help", the soldier yelled, "What happened", I heard one of the Doctors yell as they ran towards us, "I don't know…her nose started bleeding and she passed out", I heard the soldier say before I passed put completely closing my eyes.
My head…my head was throbbing…my ribs…my ribs…everything ached, I felt like I was placed on a bed and then covered with a sheet. Then there was a pinch I felt on my arm and not soon after I heard a couple of men talking.
"What do the X-rays say", I heard one of the men asked, "Well…she's healthy, but her bone structure is a little off; the top of her skull seems to be stretching for extra mass, on top of that she seems to growing an extra rib to anticipate… extra organs… and then there something growing on the other side of her chest", I heard the man say as I fell asleep again.
I woke to hear someone yelling, "What do mean her blood's changing?! Yes, I'm sure I took one sample of the girl's blood…just the girl", I heard a man yell…was he talking on the phone, I wondered.
I got up groggily, before a nurse laid me back down again, "What are you doing", she asked frantically, "My friend…I need to find my friend", I told her. "Oh no, no, no, you need to rest", she told me and I shook my head.
"What of the girl", I heard a stern's man voice say outside of the room, "I'm afraid I can't let you go in there", another man said.
"Why not", asked the man who had a stern voice, "One: She's a young lady and two: …. there's something…strange going on with her", the man told the other man. "Like what", asked the man with the stern voice.
"She's… changing", "How do you mean", "She's human and something…else", "Excuse me? Did you just say she's human?" Then everything was silent before I heard their footsteps walk away.
Soon after that, I fell asleep again but then I felt my body being picked up off the bed, I cried out before they taped my mouth shut and my hands and feet before placing me on someone's lap. Whoever it was, held me up and I opened my eyes sleepily and looked up to see that the Doctor had his mouth taped shut as well. We were being pushed outside, towards a van and my eyes widened in fear…we were being kidnapped!
Then the Doctor kicked them and we rolled away as I tried to lean against the Doctor so I wouldn't fall off. We heard gunshots and we quickly ducked, every once and a while we would look back to see if the men who tried to kidnap us were gaining. I was glad to see they were far away, but not so glad as the Doctor rolled us into a garden and we fell over.
He was quick to get himself unbound and then came over to help me as well, the Doctor was busy covering a pillow with a shirt he had found as I pulled off the tape covering my mouth. I narrowed my eyes in pain and covered my mouth, the Doctor then grabbed my hand and pulled me up as we ran to the direction of the Tardis.
I was embarrassed to see that we were both in hospital gowns as another gunshot could be heard and the Doctor fell, "Doctor", I screamed in fear.
"Stop firing, you fool", I heard a man yell and a couple of soldiers ran to us as I knelt next to the Doctor to see if he was alright.
A group of soldiers surrounded us as one of them turned him over to see that he was passed out, "What happened", a soldier asked, "They-they gave no warning sir", another one asked.
"So, you shoot anyway", I yelled in anger at the soldier who gulped nervously, then they took us back to the hospital.
The doctors and nurses were quick to bring the doctor and I back to our rooms. As a nurse laid me down on the bed and covered me with a sheet another doctor came in to check up on me.
"Is she alright", I heard the stern's man's, the one I heard before, voice say.
"Yes, but she should rest even still", the doctor said, pointing the last statement more towards me as he glanced over. I sighed and then nodded, as I turned on my side to close my eyes and went to sleep.
A few hours later, I heard a whisper, "Acacia", turning around on my bed, I looked over towards the door way to see the Doctor standing there. "Doctor", I exclaimed sitting up, he was quick to shush me, and then gestured for me to come over.
I lifted a brow, before removing the sheet that covered me and walked over, "Are you alright", he whispered to me and I knitted my brows in confusion, "I should be asking you that", I told him.
He simply shook his head and waved it off, "It's just part of the regeneration process, what's this I hear about your body changing", he asked me.
"I don't know…I overheard it as well…something about my bone structure, my skull, and apparently, something is growing inside of my chest…Doctor what's going on", I asked him, I was hoping to get some answers but even now he remained silent.
I heard him whisper, "I wonder…" as he rubbed his chin in thought, then turned his head to face me again.
"We're going to try to sneak out", he whispered, "How? I mean we're still wearing our hospital gowns", I told him.
"…I have an idea, follow me", he told me before grabbing my hand as we snuck down the hall.
Then we stopped and he turned to face me awkwardly, "We're going to borrow some outfits", he told me, before I glanced at the doors and him with wide eyes.
I smiled and narrowed my eyes in confusion, "We're going to steal someone else's clothes", I asked, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"I did say borrow", he told me before going into the men's locker room and I scoffed, before I went into the ladies.
I took the opportunity to shower before I stole or "borrow" some clothes, I wrapped a towel around myself and went around the lockers as if I were shopping. This was certainly not the right thing to do, but we were desperate for clothes…and wearing a hospital gown was a tad bit uncomfortable.
Walking around, I grabbed a black and white striped shirt, black slacks, white tennis shoes, and a black fedora; I walked out of the locker room just as I placed my fedora on top of my head. I looked up to see the Doctor turn to face me in a black shiny fancy suit and then he lifted a brow at me and my outfit as I did the same. We then quickly hid behind a wall as two men walked passed, the Doctor and I sighed in relief as we began walking down the hall again not before he placed a black fedora of his own on top of his head.
Quickly, we snuck out of the building and got into a nice looking black and red car that looked like it could have been used in the 1940s.
He got into the driver's seat, pressed a button and we drove away, once we were down the road I had a sudden realization, "Did…did we just steal a car", I asked, "Yes", he replied. My eyes widened before I smiled baffled and the I shrugged leaning back in the seat, "Okay", I replied.
Then the Doctor reached over to push my fedora down so that it covered my eyes, "H-hey", I said then pulled the front up to playfully glare at the Doctor.
He just smiled amused, "Don't get used it", he told me. I smirked and shook my head, "I won't", I said crossing my arms and then placed them down on my seat to look around.
I finally glanced over to the Doctor, "So…where are we going", I asked, "To find the Tardis", he told me, "You know where it is", I asked, "I know exactly where it is", he told me, before he made turn.
As we drove through a tunnel with a gate at the end of it a guard popped up from behind it, as the gate opened, to stop us.
Doctor drove up next to the man and stopped, "Alright, alright…I suppose you want to see our passes then, hm", the Doctor asked. Before the guard could speak, the Doctor spoke again, "Yes, well we haven't got one and I'm not going to tell you our names either. Now you just tell Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart that we would like to see him…. well, don't just stand there arguing with me man! Get on with it ", the Doctor ordered and the guard quickly ran inside of the building.
"Um, Doctor", I said as soon as the guard was gone, "Yes", he replied looking over at me, "He didn't say anything", I told him to which he replied awkwardly, "I knew that." We got out of the car and snuck in hiding from a couple of guards along the way, walking down the hall and then turned left into a room we found the Tardis.
A man walked in after us, giving both the Doctor and I a smug expression, "Ah! There you are my dear fellow", the Doctor greeted as the man walked up to us. I just noticed there was a woman in the same room as us working with chemistry on the opposite side of the room.
"I expect you're wondering how we found you here", the Doctor asked, "Yes", the man said in a stern voice, the same voice I heard back in the hospital.
Curiously, I looked over to the Doctor, "Fortunately, I had this with me you see", the Doctor told the man, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a watch he wore around his wrist.
"Where did you nick that", I asked, "Excuse me", he asked surprised and I lifted a brow at him, "I made it. What do you take me for? Some kind of thief", he asked me before the Doctor winked and smiled playfully.
The man before us waited as the Doctor turned towards him again, "This watch homes on the Tardis", the Doctor told us, as I heard the Tardis hum behind me.
Turning around I walked forward to touch the Tardis before the Doctor said, "Careful, don't want to leave prematurely", the Doctor told me and I nodded, "Right", I said backing away.
"Nice of you to look after her for me", the Doctor thanked the man, "Do you happen to have the key, by the way", he asked.
"I do, but it won't work", he man told the Doctor, "Ha-hah! But it will for me", the Doctor told the man.
"Not so fast! I have a lot of questions to ask the both of you", the man told us, "My dear Brigadier, it's no earthly good asking me and least of all Acacia a lot of questions. I've lost my memory you see? And Acacia…well, I'm afraid none of it happened to her yet", the Doctor told, who now I know is Brigadier.
"How do I know you and your friend here are not imposters", Brigadier asked the Doctor, "But you don't, you don't…. only I know that", the Doctor told him before he began scanning the room.
"What do you think of my new face, by the way? Or better yet…no wait I can't say anything", the Doctor said turning around to face Brigadier as he touched his own face.
"Well, I wasn't too sure about either to begin with…but they sort of grow on you", the Doctor said while looking into a mirror and then glanced over at me smiling a bit. "Very flexible you know", the Doctor said looking back into the mirror as he rubbed his face, "Could be useful on the planet Delphine, where they communicate with their eyebrows", the Doctor said looking back at us waggling his eyebrows.
I lifted a brow at the Doctor, crossing my arms as I looked both confused and amused, "Yes much like that", the Doctor told me as he pointed towards my face.
Brigadier crossed his arm as and sighed as well, but wasn't as amused as I was, "Well, that's strange…how did I remember that", the Doctor asked us.
"Alright...alright! If I accept that you are the Doctor and that she is Acacia, there's still a lot of things- oh, by the way this is Miss Shaw", Brigadier said and the woman from across the room approached us.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows up and down at her, "That's Delphin for, "How do you do"", the Doctor told her and then shook her hand as he said, "Delighted, Miss Shaw", before he removed his hand.
"And this is my friend Acacia", the Doctor told her as I shook Miss Shaw's hand, "Don't worry I won't give you that strange greeting the Doctor just gave you", I teased and then said, "Nice to meet you", before removing my hand and placing it by my side.
"What are you a Doctor of, by the way", Miss Shaw asked the Doctor, "Practically everything my dear", he told her.
"And what of the girl? An assistant? A student", she asked glancing between the Doctor and I. "A friend and a traveling companion", I told her then she nodded…she seemed a bit uncomfortable…I wonder why?
The she answered my thought, "Traveling companion? What do you mean? You travel together? Alone", she asked, "Yes? I can take care of myself", I told her and she sighed as she gave me a worried look. I was faced with thought of what my purpose was in all this was, I just accepted that this was my life now…traveling through time to different points of the Doctor's life.
I heard the Tardis hum reassuringly at me and I glanced back at her, I made the right choice when following the Doctor, I felt coming from the Tardis.
"What's going on", the Doctor asked me as I turned around to face the group again, "The Tardis…spoke to me", I told him glancing back at it. "You spoke to police box", Miss Shaw asked not believing what she was hearing.
"No it's a Time and Relative Dimension In Space", I said turning to face her again and then raised my eyebrows at what I had just said as my head began to ache.
Miss Shaw's eyes widened and then she smiled awkwardly a bit unsure what had happened, "Okay…from what we can gather you two arrived last night, in the middle of meteorites", Brigadier said as he walked up to us.
"Did we really How terribly exciting", the Doctor said giddy, "Well, objects from space at any rate. You must realize I can't let either of you go until I'm sure there's no connection", Brigadier told the Doctor.
"Look, I've no recollection of last night and Acacia…she just appeared beside me. That's most unfair, how could we", the Doctor asked the man.
"What do you mean…she appears", Miss Shaw asked skeptical, "Well, she appears in different part of my life. Sometimes even…" the Doctor's eyes widened before he covered his mouth, glancing at me.
"It doesn't matter", the Brigadier said and then the Doctor nodded in agreement lowering his hand blushing a bit, Miss Shaw and I glanced at the men confused.
Suddenly the Doctor pointed at a silver container, "Now, what's this", he asked walking over to the table.
"Those are the bits of what the Brigadier thought might be a meteorite", Miss Shaw told the Doctor as the rest of us walked up behind him.
Inside of the container looked like it could be made of plastic, it was clear and was shaped in an uneven half of a sphere.
"Plastic", the Doctor asked her, "It's not thermal-plastic, neither is it firm- setting and there's no polymer chains", Miss Shaw told the Doctor as he looked down, examining the strange object. He picked it up looking at it, before he gave it to me to examine; as I rolled it around in my hands my fingers touched the edge.
"Ouch", I said as I felt an electrical tingle go through my finger and up my arm. I immediately dropped it, before the Doctor was quick to catch the object before putting back in the container.
"What happened", he asked me looking down at my finger as I held my hand, "It shocked me", I told him as I shook my hand trying to get rid of the sensation.
The Doctor held my finger examining it before rubbing it comfortingly, "It was just a minor electric shock, you should be fine", he told me, before turning his attention back to the object, letting go of my hand.
"I wonder what was inside", the Doctor commented, examining the object again, "Inside", Miss Shaw asked.
"Yes, well you can tell from the shape that this was a hollow sphere", the Doctor told her. "What do you think was inside", I asked, "Whatever was inside would have to have enough space for three cubic centimeters, wouldn't you", the Doctor asked me.
"Do I gather you both are going to help us Doctor", Brigadier asked sternly, "If we do, will you give me the key to the Tardis", the Doctor asked the man as he turned in the chair to face him.
"Possibly", Brigadier told him and I sighed, placing my hands on my hips, "Then go away and let the three of us get on with our work, there's a good fellow.
"Look do we really have to call you Miss Shaw", the Doctor asked, turning back around to face the woman.
"No, Liz…just Liz", she told him amused, "Liz, that's much better", the Doctor told her, "Liz is a nice name", I told her.
"Thank you", she said awkwardly as she blushed and smiled a bit at the two of us before we went back to work on the object.
"How many of these actual came down", the Doctor asked and we heard the Brigadier sigh behind us, "About fifty, as near as we can estimate", he told us, "And you found only fragments, not whole one", the Doctor asked as we turned to face the Brigadier again.
"One yes, but there was an accident. It disappeared", he told us.
"Then the answer to your question is obvious, isn't it? By the time your search party arrived, the rest of these things had been collected. Collected and taken somewhere", the Doctor told us.
"But where", I asked confused, "Hm", the hummed thinking as we all thought about the possibilities.