Back on Galifrey, in the open gardened grounds where the TARDIS sits, Andrea and Megan stand near the Timelord craft with wandering eyes. The tranquil setting seems rather ancient and mythical to them, detailed carvings engraved in the surrounding stonewalls shows the symbols of the Galifreian language.
"I wonder if we'll be allowed to live?" Megan suddenly thinks aloud.
Andrea gives a confused look and snickers at the woman's sense of doom.
"What? Why wouldn't they? Come on, I think you're being a bit down here…the Doctor won't let anything happen to either one of us."
"How do you know?"
"I just do, ok?"Andrea says raising her head with assurance. "He's someone that's always there for you. A man of honor and integrity…someone who'd do anything to be with you."
Megan looks at the other companion with a raised eyebrow and gives a coy response.
"Oh my god. You're in love with him, aren't you?"
Andrea just lowers her head and fiddles with her nails, as she doesn't respond to Megan's observation.
"That's it…you fancy the Doctor!"
"So what if I do? I've been with him for a while now…we've done and seen things together you couldn't possibly understand. You get to know someone who's been with you through near death experiences."
"Bullshit." Megan laughs. "Do you even really know him at all?"
"A lot more then you Megan." The angry young blonde woman snarls back. "The Doctor cares about me…he cares deeply. I see it in his eyes everyday and…what are you smiling about?"
Megan chuckles as she paces about with her arms folded and still giving the smile at Andrea's reaction.
"I'm smiling because you're so blind to your own feelings about him. The Doctor may care about you Andrea, but I'm sure he cares about everyone in general. From what I've seen of him and his race on Galifrey, it's more like time and space is on their brains rather then physical love."
"I'm not talking about physical love!" Andrea growls at her. "Sex isn't the issue…I mean of a bond between two people, love is much more then just going at it with one another you know. There's a spark between us…something that goes beyond physicality."
Megan sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "If you say so. I've never had time for that sort of relationship. The Cybermen wars took much of our time away from bonding too close to anyone. Half the time the person you'd get to know would end up dead on a mission or during an attack."
Andrea began to lower her defensive posture and looked back at Megan with pity.
"Sorry…I didn't know you guys had it that bad. But…what did you do about…well…you know…special needs?"
"Sex?" Megan glanced at her as she translated her meaning. "We just did it. Sometimes you've got to get that out of the way so you can focus on your job. If you thought the guy or girl was appealing, you take care of the urge right away."
"Are you kidding me?" Andrea gawks with an open mouth.
"Why waste time dancing around the issue? We're only human…and its all part of the natural process. A few moments of your time and its over. Its all you really need."
Andrea still stood there shocked at Megan's blunt explanation. And here she thought Megan was being a prude about love, it seems that Megan has never had a deep relationship with anyone in her life. Just a quick fix and back to being a soldier. Now Andrea really pitied her.
The Doctor suddenly appeared in the gardens and rushed over to the two women hanging around the TARDIS. His pace was rather lively and began searching his pockets for the key to his craft. Andrea's eyes lit up with joy as she saw him coming and Megan raised her arms up at him as if he had been taking forever to show up.
"Sorry ladies…are we ready to go?" The Timelord cheerfully says.
"Wait a second Doctor!" Megan howls as she stands in his way. "What about the Timelords sending us back. I thought we weren't supposed to be allowed to go with you?"
The Doctor gave a joyful sound of glee as he found the key in his multi-colored vest pocket and stared at Megan with intensity.
"Why? Do you want to go back and not exist? I could run right back and tell them to forget it?"
Megan quickly shook her head. "No, No! I'm just shocked that they would let us go. That's all…really."
"Don't worry about it Megan." The Doctor giggles as he pats her on the head like a child. "I wouldn't dare let anything happen to either one of you. Now come on, we've been given an assignment…tally ho!"
As the quirky man unlocked the TARDIS's door and stepped in, Andrea walked over to the craft with a very smug look as she stared at Megan. The brunette woman just watched her friend waltz in casually and shook her head. She hated the fact that Andrea was right about the Doctor finding a way to spare their lives.
"Ah well, what could be worst I wonder? Cybermen trying to kill me or Andrea's faith in the Doctor. Tally ho indeed."
She followed the others and stepped into the TARDIS and closed the door behind her. The light above the blue police box began to flash and the whooshing sound of the TARDIS began as it dematerialized into the fabric of space-time.
•••••••••••••••••••••••
Inside the perforated white walls of the timelord craft, the three travelers stand around the octagonal shaped console of the TARDIS and watch the Doctor fiddle with the various controls.
"Where are we going now?" Andrea asks.
"Earth." The Doctor states.
"Really?" Megan says with delight. "My Earth or her Earth?"
"I'm sorry is there a difference?"
"Uh…well, no. I mean yes…." Megan tries to explain. "Maybe I should put it another way…in which time era are we going to Earth?"
The Doctor makes a final tap of the controls and looks up at the two staring at him in suspense.
"Early 21st Century." He says with a smile and places his hands behind his back.
"Great!" Andrea squeals. "Looks like we're heading back to my time."
The Doctor shakes his head negatively.
"Think again. We are infact going to London, in the year 2020."
"Damn." Andrea pouts.
"Why there Doctor?" Megan asks.
The oddly dressed man heads over to the door leading deeper into the TARDIS and turns back to explain before he steps though.
"We've officially become investigators of a temporal occurrence. The Timelords need us to find out going on there and why. So don't think that this is yet another holiday for you Andrea…no more sunny beaches and purple nebula drinks."
A quick wink to her and a beaming smile, the Doctor steps through the door and leaves the room. Andrea gives a blushing smile as his gesture makes her giggle at his strangeness. Megan looks at the woman's reaction and rolls her eyes in disgust.
"Oh please say you won't be doing that the entire time?"
"What do you mean?" Andrea frowns.
"You know…'oh doctor…oooo tee-hee'…ugh!" Megan mocks to Andrea. "Makes me want to vomit."
"Bite me, Megan!"
The two women give each other a stern look and separate across the room. Both need time to cool off from the verbal slings and wait for the Doctor to return.
••••••••••••••••
London, 2020.
The TARDIS soon materializes near the London Bridge and the flashing light at the top soon stops. The bleak weather of the midday gives an air of gloom as the two companions step out. Andrea has kept her white starry hat on, but changed her clothes slightly. A nice blue denim jacket keeps her warm as the cool air rushes past and faded blue jeans keep her legs equally warm. Megan also sports a jacket, a quarter length one of tanned leather; her shoes are simple white runners and has pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
As they both move away from the TARDIS and gaze at the city, the Doctor comes out of the ship and locks the door with his key. Placing it back in his pocket, both women suddenly notice his new outfit he has on.
"Oh Doctor!" Andrea starts to laugh hysterically.
"What?" He wonders as he looks at himself.
Gone are his wild clothes, a pair of brown hikers, black slacks and a cotton plaid-blue shirt now compliments his physique. A very worn quarter length leather jacket in dark brown is part of his ensemble with a large red question mark pin attached to the lapel of his coat. He adjusts his grey belt with a silver buckle and looks at the two girls giggling at him for some reason.
"What? What is it?" He continues to ask. "Do you not like it?"
Andrea calms down as she suddenly draws breathe to answer him.
"No, it's not that. It's just…we've never seen you looking like this. You look so…un-Doctor-ish."
"Well thank you!" The timelord grumbles as he walks ahead of them. "I'll have you know I was looking pretty sharp in my last Regeneration. I admit the leather jacket was a stretch for me back then…but I've grown fond of the look. So pardon me if I'm getting a tad sentimental."
"Leather though, Doc?" Megan continues to snicker. "I think I prefer you sticking out like a sore thumb then being one of the crowd. Gives you an air of mystery. Now you just look plain."
"Critics." The Doctor grumbles. "Try to keep up with me ladies…I'd hate for you to get lost and not find me in the crowd."
The two women continue to snicker behind his back as they can feel he's not happy with their teasing. The three walk over the bridge and deeper into the city. A darkly dressed man steps out from a building near by and eyes both the TARDIS and the Doctor crossing the bridge. Placing his hand to his ear, he activates the small phone and walks over to the TARDIS.
"This is team one. Target has been spotted and making his way in, over."
"Rodger that." The male sounding voice replies back to him on the headset. "Proceed with the next phase."
"Rodger command. Team one out."
The Caucasian man looks back at the building he came from and signals the other similar dress figures gazing out from inside. A simple nod of his head makes them all come out and a truck appears from around the corner backing up towards the TARDIS. The group surrounds the craft and latch on cable wires and wait for the dark green vehicle to stop near them. A large crane is exposed as they remove the camouflage tarp covering it and maneuver the crane to pick up the Timelord craft.
"Hurry up!" The Caucasian man yells at the group. "The brigadier is waiting for this!"
As they finish hooking the TARDIS to the crane, the man nods again to the operator and begins lifting it up and onto its backload. When it finally sits onto the truck, the man gives a simple smirk and eyes the prize they've just taken.
"That's one down…one more to go."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The busy streets of downtown London fill the air of noise and people talking. The Doctor, Megan and Andrea walk briskly through the crowds as they continue to go deeper inward. The Doctor takes out a strange looking device from his side coat pocket and holds it in front of himself tapping on the buttons. Andrea is shocked he would just bring it out in broad daylight and tries to lower it away from view.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She says sternly.
"What?" He asks.
"You can't use that now! People might wonder what it is?"
"Andrea." The Doctor says bringing it back up. "This is the 21st Century. There are all sorts of strange devices, iPods, knick-knacks, electric hullabaloos of every design and function. I highly doubt anyone is going to come up and marvel at my 'technological oddity' and shout alien. Relax…this isn't the 18th Century. No one gives a monkey's behind about what I'm doing."
Hearing the Doctor speak to her in that tone took Andrea back for a second. It had been the first time in a long while he talked down to her in that manner. As he walked ahead checking the small device, Andrea held back Megan and gave her a look of concern.
"Do you think he's ok?"
Megan gave her a confused look now. "What? What's wrong with him?"
"I dunno." Andrea shrugs. "He's just so…different."
"Different?"
Megan looks back at the Doctor as he continues to point his device in every direction. An old lady tries to walk past the Doctor and soon finds him scanning her and looking deep into her eyes. With a simple poke of his finger, the woman gazes at him as if he's insane and shakes her head as he smiles and allows her to pass by.
"Uh…look." Megan says scratching her head. "I don't know him as well as you…but I think that would be as normal as he gets."
"Yeah, I guess." Andrea ponders. "Maybe it's just me then. I guess having a near death experience has made him a bit out of whack."
"Hurry up you two! I've got something!" The Doctor shows back at them waving the device.
Megan and Andrea give a sigh and rush over to him.
"What's that red flashing?" Andrea says as she points at his hand held scanner.
"That…is a clue." The Doctor says as he smiles and raises his eyebrows. "Not too far from here, an ionization localized in a back alley. Looks like our mystery begins there."
The group walks together as they dart down the back streets of London, follow his lead they look around the various directions and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. As they turn down the next lane, they find the back alley the signal has been coming from. The narrow path seems dark and ominous, the tall buildings obscure most of the light from the narrow alley, and suddenly Megan and Andrea get the impression that this is not the best place to be right now.
"Are you sure this is it Doctor?" Megan now says nervously. "I mean…maybe we could come back later…when the sun is out."
"What's a matter? Afraid of a few shadows are we?" The Doctor scoffs as he hunches lower to the ground. "To think…the world was on the bring of destruction from Cybermen. Laser fire, impaled bodies on hot metal, and a bridge on fire. My dear girl…I would think a few shadows are nothing to what you've seen. Tell you what…"
The Doctor erects himself and takes out a crumpled small papery bag from his coat pocket. Opening it up, he hands it over to her and makes a gesture.
"Here…take one of these. It's good for calming the senses."
"What are they?" She inquires as she lifts one out.
"The greatest cure for the willies. Jelly babies. Don't leave the TARDIS without them."
His attempt at humor was not lost on either woman; both snickered at his crazy antics and reached in for one of his gummy treats. Before he placed the bag back inside his pocket, he snared one for himself and crouched back down at the ground with his device. The Timelord chewed away as he watched the instrument zero in and finally revealed the spot he was looking for. Switching the device off and grabbing a small silver pen from his pant's pocket, he scrapes some of the ground with it and inspects the black residue covering the pen tip.
"Interesting." The Doctor mutters quietly to himself as he finishes swallowing the rest of his jelly baby.
Andrea looks down at the Timelord's discovery and peers at it with equal interest.
"Found something have you?" She asks.
Megan walks away from the two and continues to chew on her jelly baby as she looks about rather nervous. The Doctor rises up and touches the sample with his fingers. Rubbing the grime between them and giving it a quick sniff. He looks at the dirty fingers and becomes lost in thought.
"How odd. Particle degeneration? Or some sort of bio-electrical impulse resin?"
Andrea just continued to stare at his fingertips and wondered what it is he was talking about. Her police instinct was starting to kick in again; being away from her career had made her long to return to being a Canadian officer. She always found forensics fascinating, if only she had studied more about it, she might have been gone on to be in that area of expertise. But being so young and idealistic, she neglected certain criteria and wound up being a simple community cop in Vancouver, British Columbia. A regret that she only recently thinks about as the Doctor analysis the sample.
"Its just dirt…isn't it?" Andrea questions.
"No my dear. This isn't just dirt." He says with a serious note. "It's cellular residue. And it's human."
"Human? Wait…wait…how do you know that's human residue?"
"The texture and smell…having seen it so many times I know what it looks like…even smells like after it breaks down." The Doctor explains. "Whoever this poor person was…it seems they met with a very nasty way to go."
Megan turns around after hearing that in the distance and folds her arms over as she gazes at him with inquisitive eyes.
"You mean…someone was killed here? By what? What could do that to a human body?"
The Timelord taps the pen against his hand as he continues to think and explain at the same time to her.
"You've seen laser fire haven't you? You know how a body looks after being struck right?"
She nods and continues to listen.
"This was done by just that. Only much more alien in origin. It didn't just simply vaporize the man…no, no…this tore him from the inside out and destroyed all of his cellular matter in matter of seconds. It's a barbaric sort of weapon…one I've only seen before, by only one species."
"Which species?" Megan asks.
"Daleks." The Doctor states.
Andrea's eyes grow wide as he utters the name. "Daleks? Here? How could they be here?"
"I'm not so sure that they were." The Doctor says pacing between the two women frantically. "There was to be an invasion by the Daleks around this time…but timelines have changed somehow. Perhaps that's what's worrying the Timelords. You know, it's odd…but there's just a slight difference in the texture of this residue…almost as if it was combined with another form of weapon."
Andrea shakes her head as she shivers. "I'm just creeped out by the fact that you notice that sort of difference."
The Doctor gives a slight chuckle and stands in front of her. "You shouldn't be…after all we've been though. Besides, I think you like my differences."
Andrea smiles at him with that coy look that anyone with a crush might, Megan notices Andrea's expression and rolls her eyes. Clearing her throat, she tires to change the subject.
"So…what are you saying Doctor? There's more then one old enemy here? What…are the Cybermen here too?"
The Doctor spins around and shakes his head negatively.
"Not that I can tell…but…it could very well be couldn't it? Odd that this sort of thing would be happening in this place and in this time. I think I should make a trace of the temporal energy and see if it's coming from somewhere else."
As the Doctor kneels back down on the ground, he takes out the odd handheld device again and fiddles with the controls as he scans. Andrea hovers over him and looks down at the electronic gizmo as she tires to make sense of the odd looking graphics on the display. Megan just watches them both from the distance and sighs. But suddenly from behind her, a pair of gloved hands reaches out and prepares to snag her. Slowly and steadily, the mysterious person catches Megan off guard and covers her mouth as she tires to scream.
Megan stuggles with the person as she is dragged into the shadows, beyond the sight of the Doctor and Andrea who aren't even looking her way. Suddenly the attacker begins to whisper into her ear as she continues to break free from the uncomfortable position.
"Shhhh…ho there missy. Easy does it now."
The unmistakeable voice was that of a man, deep and welsh sounding, the man tried to calm her down as he kept her locked in his grip.
"What are you doing here? Who is that your with then now?"
Megan tried to speak but the man's massive hand blocked her voice from being heard. The attacker gave a slight chuckle as he realized he was preventing her from answering his questions.
"Right. Here's the deal then girl. Just tell me by nodding yes or no…ok?"
Megan agreed and nodded nervously.
"Good. Are you from UNIT?"
She shook her head negatively.
"Well, I take it your not the police then. Dressed like that I wouldn't think so. Am I right?"
The woman again agreed with his reasoning.
"Ok, now we're getting somewhere." The man smiled as he now exposed his face to her. "You're not from UNIT and you're not the cops…so I have to assume you're from the military."
Megan gave a confused look. She wasn't sure how to answer him at all, but rather then stay there with her mouth covered, she nodded that they were military in order for him to release her from the painful grip. The man pursed his lips and gave it a momentary thought.
"I don't think so. You see…I'm from the military…and I don't remember getting a messege about the likes of you three."
Megan had enough of this guy. With one full kick of her heel into his crotch, the man collapsed like jelly as the pain overwelmed him. Megan screamed for the Doctor as she ran out and warned them.
"Doctor! RUN!"
The Timelord quickly rose to see her running over and noticed the limping man trying to catch up. Andrea saw a weapon coming out of the man's pocket as he pulled it out and pointed at them. Her police instincts kicked in as she pulled Megan over and sheilded them all with her body. The Doctor quickly reacted to Andrea's sense of duty and simply stepped around her as she protest his course of action.
"What are you doing? Doctor!"
"Easy Andrea…I'm just going to talk."
"Stay Back!" The man shouted and aimed the gun at him.
The Doctor raised his hands and stopped inbetween him and the companions. Giving a glaring eye and watching the struggling attacker carefully, the quirky Timelord tries to reason with the fellow.
"Ok…will do." He smiles as he still keeps his hands up. "Just one question…who are you and do you have to point that thing at me? Sorry…that's actually two questions isn't it? Oh damn…that's a third one…"
"Shut up!" The man yelled again. "I'm asking the questions here."
"Right…fire away. The questions I mean…and not that gun. Obviously."
Shaking the gun nervously at them all, the man keeps his sights set on the Doctor as he steps closer to him.
"Who are you? You're not members of UNIT…nobody from there dresses like you three. Give me your names!"
"Well…" The Timelord suddenly says as he lowers his arms and grins joyfully. "I'm called the Doctor. Behind me here is Megan and Andrea…they're just companions of mine…rather nervous it seems because of you waving a gun at them and looking like you'll pull the trigger at any given time."
"What? Doctor? Doctor who?" The man quickly twitches his head inquizitivly. "Stop wasting my time and tell me your name for heaven's sake."
"Uh…well…it is just Doctor really." He mutters under his breath. "Although, I have been known to go under the name of John Smith. But…that was rather a long time ago."
The nervous gunman looks at the timelord again as if he's trying to remember the name. A quick glance at Andrea and Megan makes him slowly lower the gun and looks back at the Doctor again.
"Wait…wait a sec. You're just called…the Doctor, right?"
"Yes, that's right." The Timelord nods.
"Do you travel in…in a blue police box?"
The Doctor looks surprised at the man's question and smiles again to keep the mood light.
"I suppose I do. And before you ask…yes…it is called a TARDIS. Does that clear everything up for ya?"
The nervous man gives a slight smirk and puts his gun back into his holster.
"I didn't think you even exsisted. I mean…we were told to remember the details…but…the Major was right."
"Major?" The Doctor inquires. "And which Major would this be?"
A screech of tires in the distance causes the man to run past them and peer around the street corner. Both women approach the Timelord with curiousity and stare at the man acting odd.
"You don't think he might be an escaped mental patient do you?" Megan says to him.
"Highly unlikely my dear." The Doctor snickers.
"Ok…then just your usual everyday street nut then." Andrea adds.
"In London?" The Doctor says to her as he raises his eyebrow. "With a gun and wearing a camoflague suit? Must be a very organized bunch of street nuts to have all that on them."
The skiddish man turns around after the car passes and gives them all a worried glare.
"Look…I don't have time to explain. You have to just trust me, I was told to be on the look out for you. The Major can explain everything once we meet back at HQ. Please come with me Doctor, you're not safe…none of us are."
The Timelord studies his face as he looks beyond the man's fear and notices certain truths behind his eyes. Nodding in agreement, the Doctor grabs hold of both Andrea and Megan as he turns to follow the man already walking away.
"Wait…Doctor!" Megan grumbles as she is being wisked away by the Timelord. "You're just going to follow him? Just like that?"
"Yep."
Andrea rolls her eyes as they both try to keep pace with him as he pulls them along swiftly.
"Doctor knows best I suppose." She says with a bit of humor.
As they reach the end of the allyway, the nervous man takes out a small remote device from his pocket and clicks on the button. A roar of an engine sounds in the lane as a pair of bright headlights glare at them all suddenly. They hadn't noticed the car sitting there in the dark until he started it up, the vehicle looked like a smaller version of a Hummer, only this one was much more streamlined and dark green in color. The man opened the doors and helped the Doctor bring the women into the car.
"Hurry…we must hurry." The man muttered as he loaded them all in.
Megan hated being rushed like this and gave a sour face to the man.
"Alright! Alright! Don't push me! Ugh…what's a matter?"
As they closed the doors and sat inside the car, shadows appeared from the distance and headed straight for them. The man saw this immediately and reved the car as he frantically looked to switch out of park. The Doctor peered into the darkness and noticed the human shapes to them. Men dressed in dark black army gear and pointing weapons with green-lit targets at them.
"I take it they're not here to welcome us?" The Doctor muses.
"Oh god…It's UNIT!" The man gasps as he slams on the gas and speeds down the lane.
The black dressed soldiers open fire on the vehicle as it rushes towards them, dodging out of it's path, the car nearly hits them all. The lasers strike the Hummer all around and cause both Andrea and Megan to shriek from the explosions. With the damage doing very little, the car contiues past them and heads out into the open street. The soldiers run after it and continue to fire away in broad daylight. One of the soldiers comes running out and shouts at them all.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" The man growls at them. "The Doctor needs to be taken alive not dead you idiots!"
As the men ease down and group back together, they remove their dark hoods and surround the main leader as he takes off his as well.
"Sir…we should go after them!"
"No…don't worry about it soldier." The caucasian man states as he rubs his short blonde hair. "He'll be coming to us in no time at all. Get the men and pull back to UNIT Headquarters."
"Aye, Sir." The soldier responds.
As they all dash back down the ally, the chisled featured looking blonde looks back down the road and snickers.
"We'll be seeing you real soon…Doc."