Chapter Two

A Pretty Something for a Special Someone

If the shrill doorbell wasn't enough to wake Vi up at 6am the next morning, the continuous knocking certainly was.

Lying beside her in their shared bed, Olivia moaned softly. "Who's at the door?"

"Shh," Vi planted a kiss on her forehead, "I'll check. Go back to sleep."

Vi sat up in nothing but her black cotton underwear and long socks, threw on a tatteredsleeveless shirt, and shuffled down the short corridor to the front door. The utter twat behind the door had only grown more insistent, now alternating between pings of the doorbell and rampant knocks.

Vi flung the door open. "What?" she hissed.

It was him, the ridiculous man with his "very clever" screwdriver and tatty bowtie. The Doctor. His face lit up at the sight of her. "Hello!"

"Shh!"

The Doctor cocked his head. "What's the matter? Oh dear, I didn't wake you did I?"

Vi turned her head to peer back down the corridor, checking for signs of her girlfriend. No way was she going to let this crazy alien man-child wake up Olivia at 6am on her birthday.

So she slid out of the flat, closing the door softly behind her. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak again, but she held up a finger to stop him. She nodded at the stairs leading outside and the two of them hurried down into Cardiff's crisp, grey morning.

Vi folded her arms. "Gonna tell me how you found my flat?"

"Ah yes," the Doctor nodded, "of course. Don't worry, nothing creepy. Just got your fingerprints off my screwdriver, ran them through a couple government programs, matched your profile to your ID, and got your address from that!"

"You have a very distorted perception of 'creepy'."

He frowned like he didn't understand the comment, but decided to ignore it. "Besides, I only wanted to thank you for your help yesterday. I couldn't find you after I took my friend home."

"Your friend the alien," Vi clarified.

The Doctor blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Noticed that, did you?"

"Hard to miss."

"You don't seem very frightened. Or really….shaken at all, actually."

Vi shrugged like, yeah? So?

The Doctor laughed. "Seen many aliens before?"

"Doctor, I'm not fond of being woken up at 6am for smalltalk," Vi told him. "You're welcome. That what you want?"

"What were you doing yesterday in that shop?" he shot back.

Vi raised her eyebrows like it was obvious. "Shopping."

"For whom?"

"Why so curious?"

"Because…" the Doctor moved in a step closer to her, the knowledge and wisdom in his eyes suddenly betraying his mask of childish naïvety. One corner of his lips curved upward. "Someone as blunt and indifferent as Violet Rouse from Cardiff doesn't buy pretty jewellery for just anyone. I watched you get shot at by an alien and sigh with boredom. Whoever you were shopping for must be pretty special to have all your attention."

"Mm." Vi nodded. "Violet. You really did look up my records."

"I interrupted you yesterday," the Doctor proceeded, "in the middle of what I'm safe to assume was a very meaningful shopping adventure. But I won't apologize just yet."

"Does that imply you're going to turn up at my door at 6am another morning? Because I would sincerely appreciate if you didn't."

"No." The Doctor smiled. "It implies I might not have to." He paused, still nice and close up in her face. "Behind me. What do you see?"

Vi kept her eyes on the Doctor for another moment, tense at the thought of him so effortlessly penetrating her mind, then flicked her gaze beyond his shoulder. Parked on the pavement right by the kerb was an British police box, painted blue just like they were in the 50s and 60s. She hadn't seen a police box outside her flat before and knew instantly it must've been his. She gently bit at the inside of her lip - couldn't help it. She was intrigued, but she'd be damned if he got the pleasure of knowing that.

Vi brought her eyes back to the Doctor. "Make a habit of dragging around an old police box?"

"To the naked eye, yes," the Doctor grinned, "to the, uh…clothed eye, it's much cooler than that."

"I get the feeling our definitions of 'cool' are quite different."

"Well, let's test that theory shall we?" Without warning the Doctor jumped back, twirled around a couple times, and landed next to his mysterious blue police box. Out of his tweed jacket pocket, he produced a particularly unextraordinary little key. He waggled his eyebrows.

Vi narrowed her glare on the Doctor, waiting for him to crack. If he was hiding something, toying with her, tricking her, he'd crack. But the Doctor stared right back with that playful expectance, letting her study him for as long as she needed to. The man was hardly an open book, but whatever he was keeping from her….it wasn't going to hurt her.

So finally, Vi nodded. Never taking her eyes off the Doctor, she advanced toward the blue police box. As she approached, he dug his key into the lock of the door and twisted. There was a quiet clicking noise.

The Doctor stepped back, an excited little smile on his face. "Whenever you're ready, Violet Rouse."

Vi took a small step forward, pushed on the police box door, and stepped inside.

The first thing she noticed were the colours. A warm amber glow radiated through the circular lights splattered across the walls of all different sizes. Beyond the three-step walkway was a hexagonal glass floor supported by metal planks, tubes and wires, and a railway surrounding it. Smack bang in the centre of this hexagonal glass floor was what appeared to be a console: buttons and levers and screens lining every inch of it. The place was complete and utter chaos, and yet….it all made sense. Everything had it's place.

Vi took those three steps forward onto the glass floor and stopped. "Huh."

The Doctor danced on in behind her. "Huh? Is that all you've got to say?"

"Well, it…." Vi took a deep breath, soaking it all in, "it's certainly bigger on the inside."

The Doctor grinned to himself. "There it is."

Before she could ask, the Doctor leapt forward past her and twirled around the console with a great big stupid smile on his face. "So! Violet Rouse needs something pretty for a very special someone! Let's go find it!" He fiddled with a couple buttons and yanked down on a big red lever. "Violet, be a dear and close that door behind you."

Vi paused. All her life she'd told herself not to trust the unknown. What you didn't know could screw you over. But oh, it was so deliciously tempting to take the risk.

She said, "You're an alien."

The Doctor peered at her from behind the console. "What makes you say that?"

"You mentioned it yesterday."

"Did I? Huh." He scratched his head. "Should really be more careful about exposing such personal information."

"This is your spaceship then."

The Doctor was quiet a moment, a slow smile coming across his face. "Spaceship, time-machine, phone box, take your pick."

"Well, what do you call it?"

"Me? I call it the TARDIS."

"An acronym."

"Very good! Quick. I like that." He grinned. "Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Pretty cool, huh?"

Slowly, Vi took two steps backwards. The Doctor studied her, suddenly remembering just how overwhelming this could all be to first-timers. He walked forward, trailing his hand along the console. "Violet?"

For a moment she was quiet, still backing toward the door. She stretched her arm out behind her as if she were preparing to yank the door back and sprint away. Her sharp grey eyes were wide.

The Doctor froze. "Violet, just wait a moment."

Vi brushed her fingertips against the door, took one final step back, and slowly closed it. She never took this sharp grey eyes off the Doctor when she said, "Vi."

The Doctor heaved a sigh of relief. "Vi? What's a Vi?"

"Me." She narrowed her glare. "It's Vi, not Violet. Got it?"

He nodded. "Yes. I got it."

"Good." A surge of life raced through her and she marched forward to the console. She inspected all the panels and buttons and levers with an intensity that could set fires. "Something pretty for a special someone." Her gaze challenged, bright and penetrating. "Let's see what you've got."

The Doctor grinned. He flipped and tugged a couple more levers, rang a bell, and the TARDIS gave a sharp jolt. Vi's heart jolted with it, her head spinning. The Doctor suggested she hold onto a railing, but in this moment stability was the last thing Vi wanted. She wanted to fly with this incredible machine. As it jostled and spun and danced, she got jostled and spun and danced with it. Arms outstretched, she bumped around the console and fought to keep her footing. The Doctor was ecstatic with laughter and cheers.

There was one great final jolt. It very nearly threw Vi off her feet - she crashed straight for the Doctor, but he caught her by her forearms. Everything she didn't trust about humans - their eyes, their smell, their touch - was nonexistent in the Doctor's grip. The man's blood was laced with foreign matter. Vi recognized nothing. Where she knew this should've been a big GET AWAY NOW sign was instead something so….alluring.

"We've moved, haven't we?" she whispered.

"See for yourself," the Doctor returned like a dare he knew she couldn't resist.

Vi pushed herself away from him and raced for the door. Hand pressed against the wooden surface, she paused. Breathed. You just travelled in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside. Are you ready for this?

Back still turned to the Doctor so he couldn't see, she smiled. And then, she pushed open the door and stepped outside in nothing more than a pair of long socks, black cotton underwear, and a sleeveless shirt. The Doctor followed her out, closing the TARDIS behind him.

It took a couple seconds for Vi's eyes to adjust to the morning sunlight. God, she'd never seen a sky so bright. She blinked and her vision cleared, imaginary sequins popping up here and there. Slowly, they cleared away to reveal a worn gravel road leading to a set of great iron gates in the distance. Vi guessed it was behind that big rusty gate they'd find the excitement she itched for. The heads of mountains stretched out beyond the horizon in every direction she turned.

"The Ottoman village of Eski Doğanbey," the Doctor's voice spoke from behind her.

"Turkey," Vi breathed. She frowned. "Ottoman. No, that's not right." She turned to him. "The Ottoman empire reached dissolution in the 1920s." Then it hit her: TARDIS. T for time. 'Time-machine', the Doctor had said earlier. Vi froze. "What year is it?"

The Doctor grinned. "Violet Rouse - sorry, Vi - welcome to Turkey, 1432." He strolled onto the gravel road and extended his arms, twirling in a circle. "Soon to become one of the most sought-after jewellery producers in the world."

"Something pretty for a special someone," Vi murmured.

"As promised," the Doctor winked.

Vi stared down the road at those big iron gates. Her blood sung, urging her forward to run run run. An old world at her fingertips to explore.

"I knew I could crack you," said the Doctor.

Vi didn't even glance back. "Crack me?"

"That's right. I didn't buy the whole apathy masquerade for a second! Admit it…" he stepped forward and nudged her arm, "you're ravenous for adventure."

She pushed him back, much harder. Her glare was simmering. "Pretend you know anything about me one more time."

The Doctor stopped. Slowly, he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. Should've known better than to prod too hard at her cemented barricades. The loss of breath and glimmer in her piercing grey eyes had almost let him forget how many barriers this girl had up.

Before he could respond, apologize, the Doctor saw Vi's pressing glare lift off him and catch something behind his shoulder. He turned around to see a young Turkish man carrying a long spear sprinting toward them like his life depended on it. Must've shot out from the thick forest on the other end of the road. The Doctor's best guess was an individual hunting trip.

"Look at him go!" the Doctor whistled. He turned back to Vi. "Perhaps he's late for an appointment."

Still looking past him, Vi tilted her head. A small frown drew a crease between her eyebrows. "Somehow I doubt that."

When the Doctor turned back to the forest again, he was inclined to agree.

An 800-pound Eurasian cave lion had sprung out of the trees and was racing down the track after the hunter. Which happened to also be toward Vi and the Doctor. With tall rounded ears, a tufted tail, faint stripes, a primitive mane and the biggest teeth Vi had ever laid eyes on, this thing was out for blood…..and the pair stood there dumbfounded like raw meat on a stick.

The Doctor swallowed. "Oh dear."

Just approaching earshot, the Turkish hunter screamed, "Run!"

That was all the encouragement Vi and the Doctor needed. They sprinted into action just as the hunter shot past them. The three ran for their lives down the worn gravel road.

Sharp pieces of rock and dirt pierced through Vi's socks as she ran, but she never slowed. She sprinted in a straight line with a breath held deep in her lungs. No time to breathe when you were running for your life it seemed. Adrenaline buzzed a fire through her veins, keeping her going on and on and on closer to the iron gates of the Ottoman village.

"That….that's a lion!" the Doctor gasped. His arms did this funny flailing thing as he struggled to keep up. "What on earth were you doing prodding a lion?!"

"It's a long story!" the hunter shouted back.

Vi almost stopped in her tracks. "Doctor, are we speaking Turkish?"

"Now?" he wheezed, "you're asking me this now?"

"I'll take that as a yes," she muttered. Still sprinting as fast as her long dark legs would take her, she glanced back. The lion was gaining, looking hungrier and more vicious by the minute. Vi pushed herself even harder.

They were approaching the gates. A group of four or five Turkish villagers were waiting for them, screaming out to run faster. They cracked the iron gates open and frantically waved the three in.

The Turkish hunter was the first to safety. Vi was next, followed closely by the Doctor. Turned out getting past the gate wasn't the problem…getting the gate closed was.

Three villagers plus the hunter grabbed hold of the iron bars and pulled. Bones, tendons and muscles in their arms bulged and quivered in effort. A couple of the women in the streets who had just been observing before dropped their baskets to help.

"It's jammed!" a man shouted. "God help us, the damn thing won't close!"

"Doctor," Vi said, still out of breath, "this the part where you do something clever?" She normally wasn't the one for pushing expectations on people, but she estimated about ten seconds before that bloodthirsty cave lion was in the village. The raw emotionless hunger flickered in its feline eyes. It was so close now she could see the details. Hear the breath. Feel the thud of its paws on the earth.

Villagers were screaming now, pulling with all their might. There had to have been at least ten of them on the gate. The Doctor was flailing and bouncing around with his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at things and making no difference. Three seconds and the entire Ottoman village was cat food. Vi knew what she had to do.

She shoved through the crowd on the gate, grabbed hold of the iron bars, and shoved it forward with all her might. The gate swung open further and collided with the cave lion in a powerful grating of teeth and metal. The mighty beast flew back onto the gravel and landed on its side with a loud whine. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, Vi thought to herself as she too got tossed back a couple feet.

She landed back on the ground in the village and rolled over a couple of times, gravel opening cuts and pressing bruises into her flesh. Vi coughed out once and lay on her back for a couple of seconds, waiting for her breath to slow.

The Doctor wasn't quite that patient. He yelped, "Vi!" and raced towards her. Before he could reach out to help her up, she'd shaken him off and gotten herself to her feet. Her body was still buzzing, little sparklers drizzling through her blood. She saw the fizzles die before her eyes and shook her head around until they were gone. Something hot was streaming out of her nose. She wiped it with the back of her hand and saw blood.

The Doctor was frantically scanning her with his screwdriver, the stupid thing making buzzing noises up and down her body. The frequency of the buzzing went up three notches every time it got to a place she was aching.

"Lots of cuts and bruises," the Doctor said unhappily, "but you'll be alright. Do you feel alright?" Then, like he hadn't noticed it until now, he double took. "Vi! You're not wearing shoes!" He frowned. "Or pants."

"Mm," Vi muttered. She reached in the Doctor's front pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, mopping up the blood under her nose. She peered past the Doctor's shoulder to examine the iron gate. In the distance, a cave-lion's rump was disappearing back down the road toward the forest with its tail between its legs.

Following her eyes, the Doctor turned around. He giggled like a lunatic man-child he was. "That, Violet Rouse, was fantastic. Absolutely fanTAStic!"

"Vi," she reminded him, shoving the now-bloody handkerchief back in his pocket, "and thanks."

To show their appreciation for Vi's quick-thinking and her courage, the people of the Ottoman village discovered a canine tooth the cave lion had lost when Vi smacked it with the iron gate and strung it up with a beautiful gold chain and stone pendant. On the base of the tooth, one of the artisans glued on a cap of gold.

When their work was finished, the Turkish hunter who had run with them earlier lifted the necklace to place it around Vi's neck. Gently, she stopped him. "No." He cocked his head. "This isn't for me." She turned around and met the Doctor's eyes with a tiny knowing smile. "A pretty something for a special someone."

"Well, Doctor," Vi said as the TARDIS materialized back outside her flat in Cardiff. She held up the beautiful gold chain with a small stone pendant and lion tooth draping off the end. "Consider your apology accepted."

He nodded. "I am glad to hear it." Like always, he hadn't stopped smiling, but there was something different about his face now. Something….sad. The kind of face people got when something ended before they were ready to let it go. Vi felt an odd pang at her chest in leaving him there. Leaving his spaceship - the blue police box bigger on the inside - behind.

But she had a girlfriend waiting upstairs on her birthday. Imagining Olivia lying in bed, curled up in the bedsheets with her mess of white-blonde curls taking up half the pillow, was enough to ease any regrets leaving the TARDIS behind.

So, with a final salute, she disappeared out the door and slipped upstairs to wish her girlfriend a happy birthday.

The Doctor didn't leave immediately. He tried to distract himself with a little electrical engineering, fiddling with some wires beneath the console. Alone again. The TARDIS gave a low hum. He smiled. Okay, not quite alone.

He didn't know how long he'd been tampering beneath the console in his little swing before he decided the job would do - he could redecorate the library another day - and waltzed on back upstairs. He played around with a couple switches, just wasting time to be honest. There was a part of the Doctor that felt like he was waiting for something, and if he just held off a little longer that 'something' would show itself: a swarm of killer bees would attack the people Cardiff, cybermen would storm through the streets, a platoon of Judoon soldiers would abduct a hospital and send it to the moon (again), Vi would come back….

But why? Because everyone came back. No one left the TARDIS that easily once they'd gotten a taste - not even an apathetic drum player with a menacing metal lip piercing like Vi.

~ Vi pushed him back, much harder. Her glare was simmering. "Pretend you know anything about me one more time."~

The Doctor sighed. Maybe he really was wrong about her. God knew that's what she wanted him to think at least.

So that was it then. Fine. Maybe he'd pop back a few decades and see if Elvis was free for brunch. They were due for a catch-up anyway….the Doctor poked around some of his toggles, adjusted his screens, and got ready for take-off when suddenly…..

The doors to the TARDIS burst open. "Who the hell do you think you are, mister?!"

He spun around. "Um, hello?"

A very angry-looking young woman with a tangled mess of champagne blonde curls sticking out in every which direction stormed down the corridor of the TARDIS onto the console platform. She was still in her pyjamas - pink polka-dot shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Everything about her aggressive stance - hands on hips, big blue eyes burning with demands - was contradictory to the person she was beneath it all. Cute, small, and sweet.

"Don't hello me, sir!"

The Doctor glanced back over both shoulders. He raised his eyebrows at the flushed blonde woman; sheepish for a reason he didn't know yet.

"Yes, you," she snapped. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

The Doctor opened his mouth as if to ask, "uh…who are you again?" She didn't give him the chance.

"Five minutes ago my girlfriend returned to our flat upstairs all bruised, bloody and dirty and I'm to understand that is because of you." She took two defiant struts forward in her pink polka-dot pyjamas and poked him hard in the chest. "No one gets my girl bruised and bloody. No one. You got that?"

"Um, sorry," he begun, "I'm not sure I quite unders - ah, Vi!"

Violet had strolled in the doorway behind her friend, a small smile on her lips and her arms folded. She nodded at him. "See you've met Olivia."

"Listen up, you," the blonde - Olivia - poked the Doctor again in the chest. "Get my Vi scratched up like this again and I'll….I'll…." for the first time since she'd stormed into the TARDIS, Olivia was finally glancing around at the walls and buttons and screens and stairs. She started to frown. "I'll…." She blinked. "Oh. Oh my."

Movements just as impassive as ever, Vi meandered up to the console. Olivia's big blue eyes were sure to pop right out of her skull they were open so wide. Her face had gone blank, stunned, full pink lips slightly parted while words escaped her. "It…it…it's…."

"Bigger on the inside," Vi helped her out. She brushed a tender hand across Olivia's neck and softly kissed her jawline. "Yes."

The Doctor met Vi's eyes and arched one eyebrow. "The special someone, I presume?"

Vi didn't respond, she didn't have to: there was this look on her face - one he hadn't seen yet and to be honest he hadn't thought her capable of. An expression of submission. The sharp grey hooks in her irises melted into warm pools of mercury. An upwards curve on her lips without the secrets beneath it. For the briefest of moments, while Vi had her eyes trained on Olivia, she hid nothing. All her barriers were down. Clearly, Olivia was that "special something" and so, so much more. She was Vi's key.

The Doctor straightened his back. He brushed flecks of dirt off his coat and he adjusted his bow tie. He held out his hand in front of Vi's champagne-blonde key in polka-dot pyjamas and cleared his throat.

"Olivia, it is a great pleasure to meet you. I'm the Doctor…." he grinned, "welcome to the TARDIS."