Author's note: I cannot take all the credit for Chapter one, only half, but everything from here on is all my own work.
"Who are you?" Cara demanded, standing back. She had handcuffed him to a rail, and the man pulled against his restraints.
"Always bloody handcuffs! Why are you women always so kinky?" The man complained, testing the cuff against the railing, to see if either would give. "Where did you even get this?"
"I found it," Cara admitted. It was true; she had gone back downstairs to gather her books, and since they had been tossed around some were dog eared and crinkled, and she had to search hard to find them. One had flown into a half-open box, and when she opened it, the book had closed around the handcuffs, as if it was biting down on it to bring back to its master. Cara reckoned she could just take it, just in case. She didn't really think she would use it on him, but the situation was too dire and she just needed explanations.
"Wait," the man's eyes widened. "Does this mean you don't have the key?"
Cara's lips opened and shut as she realized what she had done, but she wasn't prepared to admit it. "Of course not." The man's eyes widened further. "I mean – I mean of course not that I don't have the key, double negatives right? I mean of course that I don't don't have the key and that means I do… right?" She chuckled nervously.
The man hung his head and sighed. "Okay, okay fine. Just go and find some wire cutters or something, just something." He took out his sonic screwdriver and started pointing it at the handcuffs, changing the frequency now and then. Nothing happened.
Cara crossed her arms. "Not until you tell me who you are."
"I'm the Doctor." The man looked at her. She laughed.
"Doctor who?"
"No, not who. Just the Doctor."
"Just the Doctor."
The man nodded, smiling and pointing his thumbs at himself.
"The Doctor of just."
His smile faded a little bit, and his brow furrowed. "Um…–"
"Just like justice. Are you are super hero?" Cara narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Strange man with a box by day, a protector of cities and promoter of justice by night; you are the Doctor!"
The man sighed as if he was a celebrity someone had suddenly recognised him. "Yeah I guess you could say that."
"No, who are you really?" Cara asked.
"The Doctor."
"But what kind of name is that?"
"A very attractive one–look that's beside the point. That thing out there," He pointed to the door. "is getting bigger. I don't know how, I don't know why. But at some point in the very near future, it's going to get big enough to crush us, so we need to get out of here. Right now." He rattled the handcuffs. "Which involves you getting me out of these."
Cara admitted that on the level of dealing with huge things, moving boxes and things bigger on the inside, this … Doctor was probably better at it. The butterflies in her stomach started flapping until it felt like crows had nested in her body, so she sighed and nodded, and plodded off in the direct that he was pointing. The room had several doors that lead into hallways, dark ones with beams of light that illuminated her face like glow worms. They seemed to pulse with her every step, and she was tempted to reach out and touch them, but she was more tempted to keep all her limbs intact and connected to her body, so she didn't. There were more doors on the sides of the hall, and she tried one. It was locked even though it was exactly the same door as all the others. She tried another, it opened with a click and it swung into a dim room that smelt like old leather. Suddenly a fire roared in a hearth and the place illuminated into light.
It was a library. Cara gasped – she had never seem so many books, stacked so beautifully against bookshelves so high; she couldn't see the top and the spine of each book was illuminated like glow sticks of different colours. She saw an armchair next to the fireplace, and looking around, she started walking towards it. She just wanted to see what it felt like, what the plush leather and wooden legs felt like under her, what noise it made and memories it held. She reached out and saw that she was shaking; but not with fear, with anticipation.
Suddenly "Caraaaaaaaaaaaa!"
She turned around, and whipped straight back out of the room toward the scream. She didn't even notice the fire spluttering out and the door shutting behind her. She sprinted down the hall, but it seemed longer than before, and there were more doors that she didn't recognize. Suddenly the hall ended, and she skidded to a halt, swinging her arms madly, managing to grip the ground on her tip toes, and swung back on her heels.
This is a pool.
She looked around and back down the hall – it definitely was where she had come from just a second ago, so why was everything different? She turned back around; and there is a pool in this … box. Her eyes widened as she remembered her initial shock that was now ebbing away but still clear in her mind – the shock of entering the box and seeing the interior. Another scream cut her short.
"Caraaa!" The Doctor screamed. Cara was minutely aware that the water in the pool had begun to ripple on its own, as if the ground was shaking. The screamed had flowed through the hall to the right of the pool, and without a thought she sprinted through it. It immediately lead back into the orange room she was in before, except now, without the protection of the TARDIS's interior stabilization unit, she could feel the shaking, and the room was quaking beneath her feet. She looked back, but the she could no longer see directly into the pool; it was as if the walls were moving and the rooms running around and throwing her sense of direction around for fun.
"Did you find one?" The Doctor yelled, face hopeful. Cara swallowed and ran to him, shaking her head. His face dropped. "There's no other choice." He wet his lips. "You're going to have to fly her."
Cara looked around; she couldn't see any planes or birds. What was she flying? "What am I flying?" She echoed her thought.
The Doctor nodded to the console. "The TARDIS."
Cara looked to the control panels, with its mismatched buttons, levers and strange contraptions. She spotted an egg whisk on the far right side. She looked back to the Doctor, a horrified look on her face. "I don't know how!" She said, grabbing onto a rail as the shaking became worse.
"I'll teach you!" The Doctor pushed her to her feet. "Hurry up! Pull the red lever and spin that gas valve three quarters clock wise, once counter clockwise and bang it with that sledge hammer hanging there!"
Cara reached out to the nearest red lever – which was unfortunately the wrong one – but before she could pull it something crashed into the right of the TARDIS, and she was thrown from her feet, back down the stairs. She handed on the ground, her head cushioned by … well … a cushion.
"Huh?" she said as she felt the cushion below her head. She saw that the box that she had retrieved her book from had toppled over, its contents spilled upon the ground. And right there, in front of her eyes, was a key.
She wasn't sure, but she had to try it, so she picked it up and sprinted back up the stairs. As she knelt the Doctor had a look on his face.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to pull the – oh." He said as his wrist came free. "Thanks."
Another roar ripped through the TARDIS and shook them violently, Cara having to hold on again to the rails. The Doctor sprang to his feet and did exactly what he told Cara to do seconds before, and more.
"Come on old girl!" He yelled, making dings and clangs here and there. Cara hadn't noticed before, but the spheres inside the column begun to move when certain switches were flipped, certain buttons smashed. They began to bob up and down, becoming faster as a strange whirring sound accompanying each bob began to overcome the roar. The coloured spirits pulsed stronger, until all of a sudden they struck vertically and became columns of light, almost obscuring the triplets as they pulsed harder, the whirring sound making Cara's ears ring. "That's it!" The Doctor yelled as a feeling of weightlessness overcame Cara, and the place shook gently instead of the roughage that the huge monster had put them through.
Whatever it was roared again, but it was getting further away and it roared over and over again in fury, until the only sound Cara heard was the now mediocre whirring and the Doctor's gentle encouragements.
Suddenly the whirring stopped, and the ground stabled, and Cara dared to loosen her grip. The Doctor slowed to a stop right in front of her, leaning on the console and grinning. Cara saw the look on his face and frowned.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
The Doctor nodded toward the door. "Take a look."
Slowly, Cara turned and made her way to the door. She didn't trust this man, even though every atom in her body screamed at her to do so. She's lived long enough to know that you should never trust people easily – they may seem trustworthy, but that never does prove anything. That plus the fact that, you know. He's mad.
She shook her head and smiled as she neared the door. The box that's bigger on the inside, the talk, the name, the monster. Cara stopped short of just opening the door.
"What's out there?"
"Take a look." The Doctor smiled warmly, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door beam. Clara stood her ground and crossed her arms.
"You can take a look for me."
The Doctor's smile turned into confusion. "But why?"
"After what you've just put me through, you expect me to just … stick my head out when we could be anywhere?"
The Doctor spluttered, and took a hand out to open the door. "But – but it's just … Earth." The door opened out onto a lush green lawn and trees, and over a concrete road was a row of houses, but suburban.
"This isn't the city. This isn't where we left off." She turned to him. "This isn't where I –"
The Doctor held up a finger, his face frowned, and he quickly pushed her out, shutting the door just as someone rounded around the box. He had curly dirty-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, a look of astonishment on his face.
"Uh, yes hello." The Doctor said, whipping out the identification again. Cara noticed that it was different this time – just how many identities did this man lie about? "Sorry, we're just putting up…" he patted the TARDIS's blue door. "…a statue."
The man put his hands in his hair, and he began to laugh. He looked this way and that, as if to say this isn't happening, and then he turned back to the Doctor with a look of disbelief.
"Blimey." He breathed. "You're the Doctor."
Cara looked from the man to the Doctor, as if to try and figure out whether they were all going mad. The Doctor smiled hesitantly, but not insincerely. "Yes, that's me."
The man laughed some more, then straightened himself. "I can't believe this; I was brought up on stories of you."
Suddenly the Doctor's smile disappeared and his brow furrowed. "Stories of me…" He whispered. He straightened upright and all of a sudden Cara felt him tower over like a god. "Who are you?" The Doctor asked quietly.
"Oh yes, of course." The man put his hand to his face. "It's me, Alfie. Craig Owen's son."
"Stormageddon, dark lord of all." The Doctor smiled suddenly. "Hello again!" He reached out and hugged Alfie, and much to Cara's disgust, sniffed him. He drew back and tilted his head. "You've grown so tall, but you're still so young. You still smell like baby!" He patted Alfie on the shoulder. Before Cara could comprehend what this strange exchange was, the Doctor turned and presented Alfie to her like a prize trophy.
"Amelia, you remember –" That's when he stopped short and Cara noticed his gaze change like a veil was drawn over them. It was a few moments of silence broken by Alfie turning around and looking over the Doctor's face.
"Doctor, are you okay?"
"Hm?" He looked at Alfie, and life sprung back into his face, but not his eyes. "Oh! Of course. Alfie, this is Cara. I sort of saved her." He smiled.
Cara feigned a cough and muttered abducted. Alfie smiled and waved like a child, mouthing hi. Cara waved back.
"Cara, this is Alfie. His father and I go way back." He glanced at Alfie, as if gauging his age. "Way…way back." He murmured. "Alfie, where is your dad?"
Alfie's face went blank, as if he was day dreaming. "I – I don't know." He drawled. "He went…" He started, but then he seemed to restart himself. "He went…" he repeated. The Doctor's face clouded, and he glanced at Cara, who looked equally worried. "He went…"
"Alfie…?" The Doctor said slowly. At the sound of his name, Alfie snapped to attention.
"Yeah?" He looked at them both. "Oh! That's right, d'youse want to come in for some tea?"
Cara started, but the Doctor interrupted her. "Of course Alfie, lead the way."
Alfie bounded off, apparently still bewildered and overjoyed at having found the Doctor. Slowly and wearily the Doctor followed after, and behind him trailed Cara, more confused and suspicious than she's ever been in her life.
What exactly was going on here?
Author's note: The first part of the conversation between the Doctor and Alfie is from a photoset I had seen somewhere, but I don't have the source. So, I do not own the first part of the talk Alfie has with the Doctor.
PS. Oh I also don't own Doctor Who. Like pfft that would be awesome.