Hello! New chapter for you all tonight :) Triggers: Transphobia, misgendering You know the drill, ask for a summary if you can't read because of triggers. Best place to do so is at my tumblr, .com This chapter was last edited on 3/10/15.
CHAPTER 4 CROATOAN-DAY 1
"What sort of adventure, exactly?" I asked, putting one hand on my hip. "I figured that most of the time we would be in here, doing... I don't know, math-y equation stuff. Fixing the universe and all."
"Well, it sort of fits in with saving everything… We need to stabilize the paradoxes that Rose left behind, fill in all the gaps where she should have been there. This one isn't necessarily a paradox, but from what I can tell, in the alternate timeline, Rose was here, and saved a lot of lives. We can go in, fix it, then move on to the bigger stuff. Sort of like a test run, I guess," the Doctor said.
"Where are we going?" I stood, and followed the Doctor down the winding hallways back to the console room.
"From what I can guess, San Francisco, America. As for when, about 1906, April. I'm not sure what's meant to happen that we're supposed to fix, so we'll just have to show up and figure it out for ourselves."
The past. My head hummed and there was an airy, swooping feeling in my chest. Anyone can live in the present, and you'll grow up to see the future. But the past? That's something no one can ever see. I was mostly silent as the Doctor got the TARDIS going, but on the inside, I was freaking out, to say the least. The wheezing of engines sounded, and we were off. The room bounced around, significantly more than last time, before finally coming to a rest only a few minutes later.
The Doctor went to open the doors, when I looked down at myself. "Won't jeans and a tank top cause a bit of a fuss in the early 1900s?" I asked, amused.
The Doctor looked back, a bit put out. "Unless you want to put up with a corset, do what you want." I looked down at myself, pondering for a moment. There was no way in hell I could pull off a corset while still passing, but I felt odd that I would be going to the past so plainly dressed.
"One second," I called, and ran back to the wardrobe, pulling on a blue flowing dress that I had seen earlier, then running back to the console room.
"How do I look?" I asked, giving a tiny twirl.
He nodded, beaming. "You look lovely. Now, come on! Adventures await, and all that!"
I once again directed my attention to the large wooden doors.
The Doctor pushed them outwards, and it seemed we were in a different world.
One would expect something out of an old photograph, black and white and frozen in time. The city in front of me was huge, colorful, and bustling. Old automobiles lined the streets, and I could see a movie theatre on the corner, decorated with old-fashioned broadway-style lighting. People were on street corners, women dressed in frilly long dresses- and yes, what appeared to be corsets. Already, some passing couples looked at me in shock. I suddenly felt ridiculously self-conscious, biting my lip. Maybe the past wasn't the best idea.
The Doctor appeared beside me, appearing not to notice the stares and grinning away madly as usual.
"It's beautiful," I whispered, taking in the posters stapled to a nearby post and their pastel colors and cartoon-like figures. A newspaper rolled past on a bit of breeze, and I picked it up and checked the date. Sure enough, it was April 17, 1906. The headlines were nothing significant, just gossip tabloids and something about the President. It was with a jolt that I remembered this was America, not England. I chuckled under my breath- I'd always wanted to come here, and now I didn't even have to plan the trip!
"What now? Look for trouble?" I asked the Doctor, only half joking.
"That's just about it, yeah."
"Cool." I was about to step out onto the sidewalk when the Doctor stopped me.
"They aren't going to be nice, you know."
"I know."
"Just keep your chin up and ignore them, alright?" I nodded in agreement. This was the first time the Doctor had addressed the fact I was trans. I was kind of glad, it was nice to just be treated like a person for once.
As it turned out, there was not actually much to do in 1906 San Francisco, other than walk around and see the sights. It was almost 10 PM and we were about to go back to the TARDIS for a better reading of when and where the supposed trouble would be happening when we stumbled across the orphanage.
It was rather cool looking, actually. It was made of stone, and almost looked like a cathedral, with all of the statues and arches it had on the outside. From the windows, a warm golden light shone out, defying the stereotype of cold, dark, and empty children's homes. This one seemed warm, welcoming, and silhouettes of children could be seen through the upper floor windows.
The Doctor and I paused a moment, admiring the building. The Doctor spouted off some babble about architecture and Rome, and I admit, I wasn't really listening too hard. We were turning to leave at the end of the Doctor's rant, when all of the lights went off. The golden glow from the windows disappeared, and every streetlight on the road flickered a few times each, before winking out.
I had expected shouts, frustrated cries from the annoying power cut, but there was absolute silence. With all the lights on the street out, I could only see a few feet, to where the Doctor stood. He frowned, looking around in confusion. For a full minute, the silence remained. Finally, we heard a noise, but it wasn't exactly comforting. A single screech of a bird rang out from overhead, and the power flipped back on. The silence returned.
The Doctor pulled a leather wallet from his suit pocket, making for the orphanage. He pulled on the knocker, and the sound seemed to echo throughout the street. Still, silence was our only answer. He motioned me forwards, and he felt at the doorknob. Naturally, it was locked. He reached for a small silver cylinder he had earlier described to me as a 'sonic screwdriver' (Apparently, it could open almost anything) and the knob fell apart in his hands at the press of a button and the glow of a tiny blue light.
He grimaced at the mess he had made of the knob, mouthing a quiet 'oops' before slowly creeping inside, with me close behind.
On the inside, everything was exactly as it seemed from the outside. All of the lights were out, giving what must have usually been a warm and welcoming entranceway a spooky feeling. My sandals squeaked against the tile, and I almost felt like I was violating the silence that wrapped itself like a warm blanket around my ears.
"Hello?" the Doctor called out, and I rolled my eyes. We would be so dead in a horror movie right now. Nevertheless, there was no reply.
The Doctor produced a flashlight from his pocket (how big were they, anyway?) and shined it through the halls, but the light only lasted a few seconds before flickering out. He frowned, shaking it and tapping it against his palm. "Some sort of energy drain?" he muttered, pocketing the flashlight once more.
We hadn't taken another step yet when the lights came back on, soon followed by several people materializing into the hall with us. Immediately, several women (and a man) swooned, while terrified murmurs swept through the rest of the crowd.
The Doctor, of course, stepped forwards first, offering a huge grin and a wave to the nearest woman, who appeared to be a maid of some sort, with the sort of traditional black and white frilly outfit that defined old-timey maids further proving the theory.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Do you know what's going on around here?
Her bright blue eyes widened ridiculously, her breath escaping in short gasps. "They've taken the children."
~0~
Well, wasn't that cliché as hell?
I caught the woman around the waist as she began to fall, struggling and eventually letting her slump to the floor forcefully, despite my attempts to slow her descent. The Doctor had already started questioning the other people, who I now noticed were all adults. I ignored the stares in my direction once again, putting the care of the nurse into the hands of a more steady-looking woman, who despite the fear in her wide eyes, appeared to be in no danger of fainting.
The Doctor soon returned, confirming that they all had said the same. He hopped on top of a reception desk of some sort, grabbing everyone's attention.
"You've all told me that 'they' took the children, but I need to know, who are they?" He looked around desperately at the crowd, who had now gone silent. A man from the back looked both ways and spoke quietly.
"There were bird men. They told us to stay quiet and not call authorities. Who are you?"
The Doctor considered this statement for a moment. "Thank you. I'm the Doctor, here to help. I'll get the children back." As murmurs of disbelief circled the crowd, he approached me and we went back outside. He lifted his sonic screwdriver to the sky. "I'm scanning for any communication signals, to see if there are any spaceships up there.
"I thought it opened doors? What, you think it's aliens?"
"It can. It can just do this too. And from my experience, it usually is. Have you ever heard of bird-people on Earth before?"
He had a point. "Alright, what can I do to help?"
"This should only take a few minutes, you can go inside and try to calm people down. You seem like the type that's good at that stuff. I'll be inside in a second, when I'm done."
I nodded, pushing my way once more through the heavy wooden doors. I saw that the blonde nurse from earlier had woken up, and was leaning against a wall, trying to regain her bearings. I went over and sat down next to her.
She looked me up and down, taking in my clothes and appearance, before cautiously muttering a greeting.
"I'm Sophia." I said, giving a small smile I hoped was comforting. Why on Earth had the Doctor thought I should do this? I was one of the most unsympathetic people I knew.
"Ruth" she replied curtly, looking me up and down again. "Sophia's a bit of an odd name for a man, isn't it? And the dress..." She scowled.
I stiffened immediately. The inevitable... "I'm not a man."
Ruth opened her mouth again, but I was saved from the resulting argument when an overexcited Doctor bounced my way and pulled me outside again.
As soon as the cool night air touched my skin, I slapped his hand off me, glaring. I hated it when people grabbed me, especially when I was pissed off.
The Doctor appeared not to notice, though. "Five spaceships, straight up."
"Seriously? What can we do about it?"
"We should get back to the TARDIS, try to figure out who they are, and what they want. We have to be careful, we never know where they might pop up next."