Somewhere, inside the TARDIS, things were hectic. Not new, exactly, but definitely… different.
"The jaw!" the Doctor's voice could be heard screaming, "The jaw! What the hell is up with this-this jaw, this forehead, this whole face? It's practically perfectly square! AAAGH!"
"N-now, Doctor, just calm do-" Amy started, but was interrupted by more screaming.
"Why do you keep calling me Doctor? I'm not a Doctor! I'm hardly a nurse!"
"I'm a nurse," Rory said randomly.
"Jesus Christ, where am I? What's going on? Who are you people?" The Doctor's figure paced compulsively around the control room, "And what is up with these suspenders?" Once the jacket started desperately coming off, Amy strode towards the panicking man.
"Okay, stop! Stop! Listen to me!" Amy took firm hold of her Doctor's hands, which had already been working off the suspenders. An improvement if you asked her, but there were more pressing issues at hand. "Now, let's just calm down, and tell me: what is the last thing that you remember?" she asked as soothingly as possible.
The look of sheer fright on her Doctor's face made her heart constrict. It wasn't like the him to not know what to do. He was never lost like this. The expression didn't suit him. "I… I'm not sure." The Doctor's brows scrunched in concentration. "I went to sleep. I-I thought I felt a really heavy pressure all over my body, but I just thought it was a dream or something. Then I wake up in the floor of this thing!"
"Oh my God, Rory, do you think he hit his head? Why can't he remember? Can Time Lords even get amnesia?" Amy asked worriedly.
"No," Rory carefully approached the other man and started checking his head gently, "I know memory loss when I see it, and this isn't it. No sign of concussion, anyway."
"Then what is it?"
"The accent. It's american." He said cryptically. He and his wife slowly turned their heads towards the Doctor, or at least his shell. "This isn't the Doctor."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" The Doctor's face made a pleading expression; in his eyes they could finally see that this was not the Doctor at all. This person's voice steadily rose, ending in a near shriek at the end as they said: "My name is Samira Ross! I'm 20 years old, and I have no idea how I ended up in this man's body!"
Meanwhile, back on earth, the Doctor was only starting to understand in what level of trouble he was in right now. Not only was he in a human girl's body with no idea how he got in or how to get out, but his sonic screwdriver was in his jacket pocket on his body, so he found himself temporarily defense and resourceless. Also, Alexis' murderous glances were not helping matters at all.
They were sitting in opposite couches in the living room area, and the tense silence was palpable. The Doctor fidgeted under the boy's scrutinizing and extremely hateful glare, (being inwardly fascinated at how tiny and frail his host body's hands were). More than once the Doctor had opened his mouth to try and give some words of reassurance and comfort, but the vein that would instantly pop on Alexis' neck and temple made him immediately shut it. He was absolutely certain that the only reason that he was still unscathed and not beaten up to a bloody pulp was that he was inside this boy's girlfriend, and he would rather cut his arm before laying a finger on her.
That just made him hate the Doctor even more, though.
Yet these thoughts got the Doctor thinking. More specifically, the absolute certainty of this information. They were things he knew were true, like he instantly knew Alexis' name. Could it be possible that…
The Doctor instantly stopped fidgeting, and started looking at Alexis very intently. The latter instantly tensed like a rod, but the Doctor ignored that. He just observed every inch of him, down to the last tiny scar.
Huh. So it appeared he was wrong. He could tell nothing else for certain. He huffed, but not in defeat. There must be some sort of trigger. He decided to take in his surroundings. The only other thing that was in the little space besides the two small couches was a large corner desk with a PC, another PS3, and a professional looking microphone with a mighty dent at the top. The Doctor instantly felt a pang on his chest. Guilt?
"That microphone!" The Doctor pointed at it urgently, slowly getting up, "What happened to it? How did it get that dent?"
"What's it to you? How's that relevant?" Alexis snapped as he watched the Doctor in the body of this girlfriend give three mighty strides and pick up the object in question.
"Trust me, Alexis, in this sort of situation, everything is relevant. Now tell me," he brandished the mic between them, "How does this relate to the owner of this body?"
Alexis furrowed his brow in angry confusion, "You-she let it drop. It was an accident. And I still don't get how you know my na-"
"Yes! I knew it, brilliant!" the Doctor celebrated twirling and punching the air.
"What the hell?" Alexis said, getting up.
"Ah, but don't you see? How did I know your name? How did I know that this dent was related to Samira-! Oh. Oh! Just now! How did I know her name is Samira when we haven't even discussed that? It's slowly starting to click! See, these aren't my memories, in fact I'd wager they're not actual memories, or else I'd be able to see the microphone incident in my minds eye, but I can't! But this body reacted all the same! Why? Because it's all in here!" He pointed at his current head, "Underneath this fiery ginger hair of hers are all of her unconscious thoughts and knowledge." He massaged the scalp while maniacally looking around at nothing in particular, "When I saw the microphone, I felt a pang of guilt. But it wasn't me, oh no. It was the body remembering, reacting to what it already knew, deep inside in its subconscious. It's been conditioned to feel guilt when faced with the mic! That's why I can't freely access all the information and memories, because they're buried deep! Not even deep in her brain, but deep in her spirit! Things she'll never forget because her body will never let her forget them! It's like walking, you don't think about it, you just do it! It's automatic, reflexive, and you'll hardly ever forget how to. You don't think about your name, you just say it when asked! You're Alexis Sanyet, 23, scorpio, right-handed, singer, avid gamer, and you don't like reading!" The Doctor ended in a triumphant smile, dramatically pointing at Alexis. The latter wasn't sure he'd even taken a breath in this whole explanation.
"Really?" Alexis said in something very close to a whine, "Her subconscious thoughts. The things she won't ever forget. And one of them is that I hate reading?"
"Well, books are very important to her! Ooh. Very. I just fought an urge to punch you!" The Doctor beamed like the most fascinating thing had just happened.
Alexis glared. "You do know that orange hair is dyed, right?"
The Doctor put his current arms up over the hair in an awkward protective hug, "Of course I know, I saw the roots! Just-just let me have this moment, yes?" the Doctor pouted.
Alexis sighed in defeat. "So what now?"
"Now, mister Sanyet, we go shopping!" The Doctor declared grandiosely, and started walking towards the room he had awoken in, "Did Samira bring any clothes? Because I can hardly go shopping in her nighties, can I? There is much we've to do! I have to find the right materials to…" The Doctor's chatter disappeared with him into the room, and Alexis found himself, once more, rooted to the spot, simply staring after the stranger.
And here he thought he'd never find anyone as eccentric as his girlfriend. Either way, he would cooperate if it meant finding Samira. This person didn't seem to have wanted to be in her body in the first place, and seemed to catch on to things pretty quickly. A mind like that had to be useful to return things to their original state.
"Oh!" His girlfriends head popping out of the room made him come out of his reverie, "And do you happen to know of a place where I can find a fez?
A/N: Hello again =D
I wanted to explore the Rory/Amy/Samira side of the story a bit more, but the Doctor's findings and deductions got a little out of control (nothing new there), but I promise, I'll make the next chapter more TARDIS centric ^_^ This was just a way for me to set the first couple of rules to myself xD
Hope you enjoy this little bit!
