"Eurgh," Barry groaned, rolling over. One minute he, Martha, and the Doctor had been exploring a creepy haunted house that could've been taken straight from a Scooby Doo set, which the Doctor claimed was a source of several temporal anomalies. He'd turned his back on his friends for just a second, sure that he'd seen movement out of the window, then everything had gone dark and he'd woken up…
Where am I? OK, city street…WH Smith, Tesco's, so it's gotta be Britain. Electric lights, Beatles T-shirts, so can't be that long ago. Judging by the hairstyles, maybe the '60s, '70s?
"Doctor?" he called. "Martha?"
"Barry!"
He spun around to see Martha hurrying towards him.
"Oh, thank God."
They hugged, briefly but tightly.
"Have you seen the Doctor?"
"Just got here."
"Same."
"Where are we?"
Barry pursed his lips and looked around. "Well…Britain, say, 1970s?"
"1969, actually," came a voice, and they both looked up with no small amount of relief to see the Doctor striding towards them, coat billowing behind him.
"Time travel without a capsule, nasty. Catch your breaths, don't go swimming for half an hour. London, I'd say," he added, clapping both of his friends on the shoulder.
"Okay, so how did we get back to London in 1969?" Martha asked.
"Those statues," the Doctor told her, running a hand through his hair. "Should've recognized 'em right off, but I haven't seen any for, ooh, ages. Weeping Angels, they're called. Or sometimes the Lonely Assassins. Fascinating creatures. One of the oldest races in the universe. The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. No mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death. The rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. You die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had. All your stolen moments. They're creatures of the abstract. They live off potential energy."
"Okay," Barry mused. "Fine. So, we're stuck in the past, then. Again."
"Not necessarily."
"How do we get back to the TARDIS?"
The Doctor turned to him, grinning.
"You, Barry."
"Me?"
"You should be fast enough to open up a portal to the Speed Force. Just run as fast as you can for, ooh, let's say a little over a mile, and you ought to be able to go fast enough to go forward in time."
"Wait a minute," Martha said, holding up her hands in a time-out motion.
"You can travel in time?"
"Well…I guess?"
"Oh, yes!" the Doctor enthused. "Just need to make one quick stop first."
"Okay," Barry breathed, straightening up. "But, uh, this is the middle of London. Where are we going to find space for me to run over a mile straight? Should we go outside the city or something?"
The Doctor grinned. "No need. Time you met an old friend of mine."
"So, let me get this straight," the man in front of them said. They'd taken a taxi to a military base, where the Doctor had demanded to speak to the officer in charge. He'd turned out to be a tall man with a bristling mustache and an air of authority that made Barry think of Nick Fury from the comics and movies.
"Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart!" the Doctor had exclaimed.
"You claim to be a future version of the Doctor, who has since changed his face?"
"Yep!"
"Really. Well, I'll admit I wouldn't put it past the man…"
"Here."
The Doctor dug in his pocket and withdrew a stethescope. "Two hearts. Check!"
Raising an eyebrow, he gently placed the end against the Time Lord's chest.
"Well, you do have two hearts, but that doesn't make you the Doctor."
"Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart," the Doctor told him, leaning forwards. "The first time we met was in the London Underground a couple of years back. You were in charge of a military task force operating out of Goodge Street. You found my friend Victoria wandering around the tunnels and brought her safely back. After Jamie, Victoria, and I helped you defeat the Intelligence, you put together UNIT, and we fought together against the Cybermen, along with Jamie and Zoe."
"My word," the Brigadier breathed. "You really are the Doctor."
"Hello."
"And these are your new companions?"
"Barry Allen," he introduced himself, shaking his hand.
"Martha Jones."
"A pleasure to meet you both. What happened to Jamie?"
Barry saw the Doctor wince, briefly, so quickly he wasn't sure most people would've noticed it. "Gone home."
"Ah," said the Brigadier, and didn't question any further. "So what can I do for you, Doctor?"
"Two things. First of all, my past self is going to arrive in, ooh, seven months or so during a meteor shower. I'd take it as a great favor if you pretend not to know who he is at first."
"Done. And the second?"
"I need a runway."
Barry stood at the edge of the runway, suited up, taking deep breaths as he stretched out. He patted his belt pouch to make sure the little item the Doctor had left there was ready, bent over to touch his toes, then crouched down.
"Ready?" the Doctor called, from where he stood well back with Martha and the Brigadier.
"Ready to go back…to the future!"
The Doctor smirked.
"Run, Barry, run!"
Lightning crackled across Barry's eyes, and with a yell, he set off. The ground pounded beneath his feet, the wind whistled through his hair, and electricity poured through his veins, like a shock he never wanted to end. Every step pushed him up, pushed him further, pushed him faster. Barry broke the sound barrier with a yell of effort, and kept on going, concentrating on the TARDIS, how it had looked when they'd landed at Wester Drumlins, his memories of the ship, the wheezing, groaning noise, the flashing of its roof light…
Almost too fast for even him to comprehend, a hole opened up in space, and he darted through it. Blue light swirled around him, and in the vortex, he saw images of people and places, which he instinctively knew showed his past and future, that which had already been, could yet be, and would never be.
Kara, flying through the air with one fist outstretched.
The Arrow, bow nocked and ready, leaping a rooftop.
His older self, locked in combat with the Man In Yellow.
A man he didn't recognize, standing in the TARDIS as he regenerated.
A blond woman in a black dress, jumping in front of a flying golden disc that sliced deep into her chest.
Another version of himself, running alongside the Avengers into battle.
A dark-skinned man with a green ring on his finger, thrusting his fist up at the heavens.
A black-suited, demonic-looking speedster with blue lightning crackling around him.
An army of Daleks soaring through space.
A circular building in the middle of Central City, with waves of energy pouring in every direction from it.
A tall, red-cloaked man with dark hair and a white streak at the temples, casting some kind of spell. He looked over his shoulder, directly at Barry, and winked.
And then, as naturally as stepping from one room to another, he was back in Wester Drumlins, Weeping Angels all around.
"I'll take that, thanks," he said, snatching the TARDIS key in a blur of motion from one of the angels, slipping it into the lock, and jumping inside before they could react. Once inside, he heaved a deep sigh and leaned against one of the columns for a minute, until he'd gotten his breath back, running his hands through his hair.
"Oh my God, I actually did it," he laughed. "I actually just traveled in time. By myself. Eat your heart out, Kang the Conqueror."
The TARDIS hummed at him, and he shook his head. "Right, yeah, sorry. Okay. Here we go."
He reached into his belt pocket and withdrew a digital cassette tape, and almost instantly, a hologram of the Doctor swam into being on one of the walls. Unlike the last time he'd seen a hologram of the Doctor, though, this one didn't speak to him directly, just faced outwards.
"This is security protocol seven one two," it announced. "This time capsule has detected the presence of an authorised control disc, valid one journey. Please insert the disc and prepare for departure. Keep all appendages inside the vehicle at all times, and make sure your seatbelt is secured, your tray table is stowed away, and your seat back is upright."
"Ha, ha," Barry muttered, rolling his eyes and inserting the disc into the console, taking off the handbrake as he did so. The time column began its usual wheezing and groaning, and he grinned.
"On my way."
"Right!" the Doctor announced, flicking a switch. "I've put Wester Drumlins into a time loop; no one'll ever enter ever again, and the Angels will starve themselves out. Onwards and upwards!"
Just then, the phone rang. The Doctor answered it. Barry and Martha shared a look as his shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes.
"Right," he repeated, much more quietly. "Star City, December 2008? We're on our way."
Bear in mind, not all of the futures Barry sees will necessarily happen; that's why they're called potential futures. Still, plenty of foreshadowing there, plus a little shout-out to Doctor Strange from Nimbus Llewelyn's amazing Child of the Storm universe.
I am a little sad we never got to see Sally, since she was great could've-been companion. Maybe she'll make a cameo later on, but no promises. However, I will say that in this universe, she and Larry got together anyway and started their store after a few years' worth of UST thanks to the ever-helpful Kathy and a couple of cosmic coincidences. Time is funny that way.
Fun fact: Originally, the Doctor's recorded conversation was going to end with "Run, Larry, run!"
Next up: The Scientist!
