It was cold outside the theater. Sure it was technically summer, but the nights were really chill. The screen of my phone was warm from my pocket and I relished the feel of it on my cheek.

"911. What's your emergency?"

"Hi," I started slowly. "I don't actually have an emergency. I just was wondering if you would know how to connect me to the police in England. It's urgent."

Her voice sounded drone now, knowing that there was no imminent threat to human life. "I can connect you to the operator. They'll be able to transfer your call from there. Hang on one sec..."

I heard a few beeps while she made the specific adjustments to get me connected to the operator. The wind began to blow during the interim, so I pulled my jacket closed while I waited. In a moment, the sound of ringing met my ear. After one ring, the operator picked.

"Operator. How may I direct your call?"

"Yes, hi. Can you connect me to the London police department?"

"It will cost you international fees."

"I understand. Please, it's urgent."

A few moments of silence followed before I heard ringing again. It rang more than once and with each sound, I bit my lip harder, praying that this would work. Finally, someone picked up.

"This is the Metropolitan Police Service. How may I direct your call?"

I stopped and thought a moment. Would it be reasonable to ask them to simply connect me to "the Doctor", or would they think I was crazy? Maybe I should ask for Scotland Yard or maybe even UNIT? I began to break down trying to think of something to say.

"'Allo? Are you still there?"

In a panic, I blurted the first thing to come to mind.

"Could you please connect me to UNIT headquarters? I need to speak with Kate Stewart. It's urgent."

The man on the other end of the line hesitated. "I-I'm sorry. There is no UNIT division in the Service. I don't..."

"Look, I understand that UNIT is a top secret division of the British government, but this is important. I need to speak with Ms. Stewart about a mutual friend of ours. You may have heard of him. He's called the Doctor."

There was a sharp breath taken at the mention of the Doctor. "Hold on."

Again, waiting in relative silence until the call was forwarded to another line. The movie-goers were starting to spill out of the front doors. I plugged my free ear to listen for the sound of ringing as people came rushing past me. One of them bumped into me, nearly knocking my phone out of my hand. I turned to find Ev standing there, smiling.

"Why'd you leave so quickly? You missed the secret ending."

The other end picked up and I held up a finger to shush Ev.

"Hey-" he started, but I shook my hand at him.

"Hello? Who is this? How did you get this number?"

"Miss Stewart?" I nearly shouted.

"This is she. Again, I ask who is this?"

"Ma'am, you don't know me. I was at your base one time about a year ago. I saw you, but we were never introduced. I'm a friend of the Doctor's. I seem to have lost him and I need to find him. I was hoping you might have some way of contacting him."

"Really," she chuckled. "You're a friend of his? Then you know how difficult it is to get hold of him. Even you, 'a friend', don't have a way of contact. The Doctor dislikes UNIT and what we stand for, so why would he give us his number before he gave it to you?"

"Please, Miss Stewart. Check your contact list. Look under the T's for 'Telephone Box' or 'TARDIS' or something. There might be something there."

There was a heavy sigh and the sound of a keyboard clacking. "Alright, I'm looking. But I can't say that anything is there. The last time I checked we had no way to call him. I've tried time and again but nothing has seemed to wor-"

Her words were cut short.

"Miss Stewart? Are you still there?"

"Well, if I never... There is an entry here titled 'Telephone' and the subscript says 'Box'. How on earth did that get in her-"

"That should be it! Would you send the number to me, please? It may not work anymore, but it's worth a shot."

"I suppose I can if you really need to contact him. There's no telling where he is right now so he may not even answer. I'll let you give it a go, though."

A message beeped on my phone, a text containing the number from Kate's contact list. I looked it over, feeling my unquenchable hope building, then returned to the call.

"Thank you, Miss Stewart. I'll let you know if I get through or not."

"You're welcome."

I hit "End" and was about to call the new number when I felt Ev's presence looming nearby again. He was standing quietly, hands in pockets, waiting for my call to be over.

"Ev, I'm sorry. Something's come up. I need to-"

"It's alright," he interrupted. "I'll be in the car when you're ready to go."

With that, he left me to do my calling. I smiled as he walked away. He was so understanding.

But back to business. I tapped the highlighted string of numbers and placed the phone back up to my ear, moving farther away from the exiting crowd. It rang and rang. It rang forever. I was giving up when finally, someone picked up.

"Yes, hello. You've reached the Pizza Fanclub Hotline or the TARDIS. Don't know which one. You tell me who you'd like to talk to; the Pizza Fanclub Chairman or the Doctor."

It was strange. His voice didn't sound the same as it had the last time I saw him. It sounded...younger, more English, less Scottish. Maybe he had set up an answering machine for the TARDIS?

"I'd like to speak with the Doctor, please."

"This is the Doctor. How can I help you?"

The voice didn't change. This couldn't be the Doctor. But who else knew about the TARDIS? And who else would pretend to be a Pizza Fanclub Chairman?

"Doctor?" I hesitated. "It's been a while, but it...it's me. It's Kristen."

"Kristen...Kristen...why does that name sound so familiar...?"

I swallowed hard at hearing that. He had forgotten me? Already? Was I not important to him?

"Wait! I've got it! You're Sputnik, right? Sorry, I kind of changed heads since we last talked and so some of my memories are a little jumbled. YES! Hello! It's been ages. What have you been up to?"

"Trying to find you," I laughed. "You sound different. Is everything alright?"

"Dandy! Well, I'm trying to outrun a group of crazed Halberings in the TARDIS, but other than that, dandy!"

It was now that I heard the sound of the TARDIS whirring through space and the levers and switches on the console being pressed and pulled. It was now that I remembered how much I missed those sounds for the first few weeks after returning home.

"Doctor, I know you're busy right now, but when you have a moment, could you come see me? I need to talk to you...in person. I'm at the theater on the 64." I looked at my phone for the other details I need to give him. "Date is the 17th of May, 2016. Time is 2:18am."

"2:18am? What are you doing out so late?"

"Midnight showing. Just get here, will you?" I laughed.

"Will do. See you in a few seconds."

The call was ended and within moments, I heard the screeching of the TARDIS around the corner. I ran to find the box materializing. I was so happy to see it again. But, it looked different. Something was definitely off with the whole Doctor thing. His voice had changed and the TARDIS had changed. And when the doors flung open and a man stepped out, I saw that even his face had changed. Everything had changed.