Chapter 4
A week passed and John Smith managed to scrape out a living. He found a place to stay, of sorts. It was a cheap lab space that Torchwood used to own about five blocks away from the bookshop. He didn't tell the landlord he'd be sleeping there. He was quite sure there would be some law or regulation prohibiting it. He bought a hammock and a small refrigerator at a thrift shop. He strung the hammock up with eyehooks that he screwed into the thick wooden support beams of the old building. It hung snugly between two walls of cabinets. He used the emergency shower, as well, a shower, and a Bunsen burner to cook his food.
Each morning he walked the five blocks, unlocked the bookshop, and began work. Now John sat at the front desk of the bookshop with his mobile in pieces on the counter. He did this often when no one else was in the shop. He used an ordinary Philips head screwdriver to add additional circuitry to the phone. It was his third attempt today to refine his crude scanning device. One by one the pieces were added, but the mobile's casing was too small to hold all the extra bits, so in addition to the screws he used bits of insulated wire and electrical tape to keep the device together.
When it was finished he turned on the screen. "Lifeforms" the screen read. It had a number below that kept fluctuating from anywhere 20 to 50 life forms. He sighed. He was used to that. It was picking up the number of people outside and in the nearby shops at any given moment. He through a switch that he had added to the back to limit the scope to anything within three meters.
Now it read a steady "1" for himself. He used the mobile's touch screen to change the settings, and the number now read in the trillions. John frowned. He was used to this too. Now it was picking up every microbe within three meters, including anything that was living on his skin. Either it picked up higher life forms like vertebrates or it picked up every unicellular organism within three meters. Try as he might there seemed to be no way of refining it further with the tools he had at his disposal. He only had so much money he could spend unless he wanted to live solely off of bananas. John sighed again and stuffed the device into an inner suit pocket. The device no longer functioned as a phone so if nothing else it removed the temptation to call Rose. He stood up and began shelving a small stack of new books.
He wished he would get another customer soon or Rachel would stop by again because it had been several hours since he spoke to anyone. Rachel had been at the bookshop less and less frequently. Her mother was very ill and didn't have much longer to live. She stopped by to check in on John this morning before racing out the door to visit her at Peaceful Pines.
The shop had been busy earlier. Several retired gentlemen had been asking him for help finding books up on the highest shelf. So he had an excuse to use that ladder. At lunchtime two teachers had been looking for used copies of the classics. They bought 63 books. It was the biggest sale he had so far, but now it was quiet again. John spent some time familiarizing himself with the literature. A lot of the earth classics also existed in this universe but most of them had some small differences. Most of the differences were trivial, almost like a translation error, but a few books contained significant changes to plot and characters. He started a mental list of the major differences to keep his mind occupied.
He began to wonder if his fears were unfounded. He was used to being in dangerous places. He put himself there often, but he didn't have his TARDIS anymore to constantly take him to dangerous places so life should be quieter. Maybe he destroyed his phone for nothing, and was just looking for problems that didn't exist. It didn't really matter because he had no one to call anyway, although Pete Tyler, Rose's father, probably wouldn't take too kindly to paying a phone bill for a phone that didn't even work.
The bell above the shop entrance rang as a customer entered. John grinned as he turned around, and headed back towards the front. A ginger woman with a baby buggy walked towards him. He was reminded suddenly that he would never be ginger. He had hoped perhaps his next regeneration might do the trick, but there would be no more regeneration. He smiled at the woman anyway, and noticed her infant son dressed in blue was sound asleep. He gave her his customary "Hello, let me know if you need any help finding anything." The woman thanked him and headed off to the children's section. She seemed content to be left alone so John continued shelving the new books.
A few minutes later the woman approached him holding a small stack of books. "I need an opinion on something, and I haven't got much time before this one wakes up."
"Sure, I've got lots of opinions. Ask away," said John with a grin. The woman smiled back.
"I'm looking for a book for my daughter. She's ten and hates reading. I've been trying to change her mind. I need something that will get her excited. I'm trying to get her away from all the downloads. I'm looking for something with substance, but that won't scare her off reading," said the woman.
"Well, what does she like?" asked John.
"Adventure shows, fantasy, and science fiction, she takes after me I'm afraid. She's not a typical girl."
"Are there any typical girls?" he asked.
The woman smiled. "No, I suppose not. I was thinking one or two of these." She held up the small stack. "What do you think?"
"Oh, not that!" said John grabbing the top book from the stack she was holding and tossing it down on the cart.
"What's wrong with that one?" asked the woman.
"Vampires, weak female characters, and it's just too old for her," said John.
"Oh, The Hobbit! The Hobbit is brilliant! Loved The Hobbit! But Tolkien is a bit wordy, so it's maybe not a good book to start her with." He flipped through the others in the pile. "Hmmm, maybe this one. Probably not this one. Never read this, I can't say. Oh, here it is! I think you found it! A Wrinkle in Time that's a classic! I read it when I was ninety. Nine, I meant nine. Maybe 10," said the Doctor recovering from his mistake. He quickly flipped through pages scanning to see if the story was the same as the one from his universe. When he was satisfied he handed it back to her. "I don't think you can go wrong there. Plenty of mystery, adventure, everybody lives, and it has a female protagonist! The physics isn't really sound, but it's got timey wimey concepts and it's a great big ol' adventure through the universe."
"Did you say 'timey wimey'?" asked the woman.
"Yeah, it's a silly thing I say sometimes. In the book they call it a Tesseract. They fold space and time to travel through it. They get it half right, anyway. Well, maybe a third… well more like… oh, it's a good story. That's what matters," said John realizing that the woman was giving him a funny look.
"It sounds perfect. I'll take it."
"Then follow me," said John abandoning the rest of the books his on metal cart and the two of them walked to the front register. Before the woman could pay there was a gust of wind like a hurricane, and a familiar wheezing sound John thought for sure he'd never hear again. "No way!" he shouted. The bookshop started to fade away and a new room appeared around them. The register and the book shelves vanished, but the young woman and her baby were still there. The TARDIS control room had materialized right around them. John's eyes went wide. The control room must have remodeled itself, because although he instantly recognized it as the TARDIS, the room was unfamiliar.
"No, no, that's not right" shouted a voice. A tall man with grey hair had his back turned to them. He stood at the center of the room in front of a giant hexagonal console full of buttons, nobs, and levers. A tall glowing glass column ran up through the center of the console and down through the floor to the lower deck. The space was darker and the ceiling taller than it was the last time John had seen it. Above the console and attached to the glass column near the ceiling spun three metal rings. They graduated in size with the smallest near the bottom. The circular language of Gallifrey was inscribed on them. The exterior of the room now had a raised deck surrounding most of it and the lower level was bigger as well. Although John missed the round lights on the wall and simplistic look the TARDIS had when he last piloted it, he couldn't help but grin now that he was back on board.
"Not right. Not right at all. What's wrong with her?" The man spoke with a Scottish accent. John couldn't help but wonder if that grey hair had once been ginger. The man still didn't seem to realize there were three people now on board. The woman instinctively looked at John, the most familiar thing in the room other than her own child, her eyes wide, and her lips pressed tightly together. She gripped the pram so firmly that her knuckles turned white. "Where are we?" She mouthed too frightened to speak.
"It's okay." John mouthed back at her. "It'll be okay."
"What happened? Where are we?!" The woman shouted finding her voice.
"Not now Clara," said the man at the console. He didn't even turn around.
"Where are we?! What is going on?" The woman cried.
"I'll let you know when I've figured it out," the man said.
"Um… Doctor?" asked John.
"Shh! Not now PE," said the man, "Clara if you're going to call your boyfriend don't put in on speaker."
"I must be going senile," John whispered to himself.
"Where the hell are we?" asked the woman.
"It's okay, trust me," said John quietly, "You're safe, I promise. Remember what I said about the Tesseract? Well this machine does something like that."
The woman's baby let out a soft cry, and finally the man at the controls whirled around.
"Tesseract?! Did you say Tesseract? Who are you people?" asked the man. "You're not Clara! No, I didn't bring Clara." He said, his eyes peering out at the woman from underneath his thick, grey eyebrows. "And a baby! What is a baby doing on my TARDIS!" He said pointing at the pram. Then his eyes fell upon the skinny man in a pinstriped suit, and his mouth fell open. "I know you and you're definitely not Clara."
"Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up," said John. He reasoned this older man was certainly the last and final regeneration of himself, or rather what he would be if he were still a full Time Lord. A Time Lord got 12 regenerations, 13 faces total, so this must be the last one because the Doctor had used the 11th regeneration creating John Smith.
The Doctor wore a long navy blue coat with a red lining and blue slacks. His look was somewhere between simplistic and magician, but John had to admit the new look seemed to suit the new face.
"How did you get on board my TARDIS? Wait, don't answer that. The answer's here somewhere." the Doctor said and studied the controls. "Oh that's it! I just need to invert the phase modulator!" He twisted a nob, pulled a lever, and the whole room shook. "Back you go" he said. "I'm busy!" The TARDIS wheezed, and shook violently. The baby buggy started to roll about the room, but the mother caught it with one hand and grasped the railing for support with the other. Her infant cried loudly. John fell into one of the metal chairs and gripped the railing next to it to keep from falling out. "No, no!" shouted the Doctor clutching the console for support. He flipped the lever back up, twisted a few nobs and the room stopped shaking.
"But I always get it right now. This face always gets it right. I always go exactly where I want to. So why am I here and where is here?" continued the man at the controls. The infant wailed loudly, and the mother rushed to her child's side. She stroked his head gently. "Shhh, it's okay." she whispered, but her voice trembled when she spoke.
John crouched down beside the woman. She rummaged through the storage compartment on the bottom of the buggy. "It's okay. I promise we are going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen to-" He stopped short as the woman pulled out a green baby blanket with blue monkeys, and a dummy in the shape of a bug eyed frog to pacify the child. John's eyes went wide. The frightened mother was doing her best to ignore John's words of comfort, but when he stopped short she looked at him. He let out a gasp. "Oh no!" he said.
"What is it?" asked the woman. He stared at her, but didn't answer.
"Doctor, you materialized around us," said John. He stood up straight and stared intently at the Doctor. "An accident, I'm sure, but we really need to get back to the exact time and place we left. Because if we don't, I think I know what happens next, and it's not good. I don't think it's a fixed point. We can still change it!"
"Either it is, or it isn't. There's no guessing. There's no 'I think' involved," said the Doctor. "You know fixed when you see them. Anyway, you're not going anywhere until I figure out what happened."
"Do you know this man?" asked the woman looking over at John.
"He knows me very well, but I don't know him at all," said John. The woman gave him a confused look.
"If I used to be you than how come I don't remember this?" asked the Doctor.
"No, you never used to be me, but I used to be you," said John.
"You're not making sense. Next you're going to say 'timey wimey' aren't you?"
"Please just answer me this. Have we moved?"
"How come I don't remember? I made a point to remember each life I had. I made a point to remember when I regenerated last. I should remember this!"
"Please, it's important! You tried to send us back. Have we moved?"
"Everything you've been through, I've been through too so how come I don't remember it? I couldn't have just forgotten. I would remember this. What's wrong with you?" asked the Doctor. He suddenly left the console and ran up to his doppelganger. He glared at him. "You're not concentrating! That's why I can't remember it."
John puffed out his cheeks, and let out a sigh. "No, you got it wrong," said John realizing he wouldn't get anywhere until he answered the Doctor's question. He raced over to the controls. "Look here on the monitor. You see?" he asked. The Doctor followed him over to the TARDIS console and they looked at the view screen together.
"Those coordinates don't make any sense," said the Doctor, "What is BW at the end? Letters aren't part of the temporal coordinates so what is that?"
"But it does make sense to you or it did. You tagged it like that. You almost called it Pete's world then you changed your mind. Remember when you were me. Just think!"
"BW? Pete's World?" asked the Doctor. "BW!" said the Doctor more loudly "No?!" His forehead wrinkled and his eyes grew wide as he stared at John Smith. As if to answer the question the monitor flashed. The string of numbers disappeared and were replaced by two words.
"Oh, Yes!" said John pointing at the screen which now read "BAD WOLF".
"But that means…"
"Human-Time Lord biological metacrisis." The two men said in unison.
"But that can't be!" said the Doctor. "How can I be here? The universes are sealed off!"
"I'm guessing it's been awhile for you. Probably just enough time that something big enough is threatening all of reality again and causing one universe to bleed into another. Am I right?" asked John.
"If there is, I'm not aware of it."
"How long has it been for you?"
"I'd say at least 1,100 years."
"Over 2,000 years old? I don't live that long? Tell me, I don't live that long."
"You're human, of course you don't live that long," said the Doctor. "Wait, that's not Rose Tyler is it? That's not… That's not your child?"
John gave him an intense stare. "Okay I guess not," said the Doctor, "is that really what I used to look like? On the verge of an emotional outburst at every turn?"
"No, of course that's not Rose Tyler! How can you have forgotten Rose Tyler?" John shouted ignoring the obvious insult and staring at the Doctor like was an imposter. "Where can you possibly be now that you forgotten Rose Tyler?!"
"I obviously didn't forget. I just forgot what she looks like."
"That woman there is a ginger."
"So?"
"Rose is blond!"
"Oh right, details."
"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" shouted the woman, "Why have you brought me here? Who are you people?"
"I haven't brought you anywhere!" shouted the Doctor. "You just showed up in my TARDIS because you were too close to him! He's the anomaly here!" The Doctor pointed at John.
"Listen, this is important," said John to the Doctor. "Have we moved since you materialized around us? You tried to move us! Did it work?" he asked. The Doctor made some adjustments on the console and the words "BAD WOLF" disappeared. The screen now shown the same circular Gallifreyan language inscribed on the rings above their heads. He clicked through the menus and found the information he was looking for. John looked over at his terrified customer and wished there was something he could say to make her less frightened. The sooner they got out of here the better.
"No! Wait, yes!" said the Doctor.
"Which is it?" asked John.
"We've gone backwards in time. We've gone about a week backwards to the early hours of last Friday morning by your time frame."
"Not a day I want to relive," said John. He ran his fingers through his hair and frowned.
"Why not? Something I should know? Cybermen? Daleks?"
"No, nothing like that. It's just-" he stopped short when he heard the sound of the TARDIS door creek open. His eyes went wide. The woman inched toward the door. It was black outside, unnaturally so. The light from the TARDIS seemed to just stop at the door. The woman hesitated. Her baby must have spit out the dummy because he started crying again, this time louder than before. The closer she got to the door, the louder he seemed to cry.
"No, don't go out there, it's not safe!" shouted John Smith but his warning had the opposite effect. She looked back at him for a second and then pushed the stroller out the door into the darkness. He raced out after her fearing he was already too late. Doctor wasn't far behind him. A silence fell about the bookshop. The baby that had been crying at the top of its lungs moments ago suddenly stopped. From this angle, he couldn't see the infant in the buggy. The mother blocked his view. John ran over to the woman terrified of what he would find when he got there.
"It's night. We were only in there a few minutes. How could it be night?" she asked him.
"Oh, look it's only a bookshop how dangerous could it be?" said the Doctor. He walked up to them.
John Smith didn't answer either of them. He stood beside the pram staring down at the baby and breathing heavily, his tongue pressed up against his teeth. The woman hadn't noticed yet.
"I tried to stop it but I couldn't have. We were always coming to this!" said John.
"What are you talking about?" She said looking over at him. When she saw the look he was giving her baby she looked down. At first she though it was just a trick of the light, but her eyes when wide.
"Ricky! My son! What's happened to my son?" cried the woman as she fell to the floor beside what was left of her baby. She started to cry.
John knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said, "but we can't stay here. It's not safe. The thing that did that, it can do that to us too. Think of your daughter, you need to get back to her alive."
"I don't think it's dangerous for us otherwise we'd be dead already," said the Doctor. He eyed the infant skeleton with a frown. Then he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, a long object with a green light on the end. When the Doctor switched it on a high pitch whistle emanated from it and caused the mother to flinch. The Doctor looked at the screwdriver for a moment. Then shut it off. "We're safe for now. There aren't enough of them. It's not a big enough swarm."
John stood up. "This is your fault!" he said pointing a finger at the Doctor.
"It's just like that other baby in the bookshop!" shouted the woman.
"It's not just like that baby," said John, "It is that baby. We've gone backwards in time. Last week's news story was about this baby. Same blanket, same frog shaped dummy."
"What?!" asked the woman choking back her tears.
"That's why no one reported a missing child because he hadn't gone missing yet. We have gone backwards a week. So you saw that news story and then you became it. Because he brought you here," said John pointing and glaring at the Doctor.
"What is that machine?! What is that thing!" she shrieked while pointing at the blue police box that sat glowing in the far corner of the shop. "That's where we came from, but that room was huge! It's like that folding of space you were talking about it like you knew? Like it was real! I thought it was just a book you were telling me about. That stuff isn't real?!"
The Doctor hooked his thumb around his chin with his fingers sticking up past his noise. He gazed off at the darkness looking at nothing in particular. "A fixed paradox. There was nothing to be done," he whispered to himself. Then he turned towards the woman. "I'm very sorry, but your friend is right, we should go. That swarm might grow."
"He's not my friend. He's just some man who works in the bookshop," the woman said but she looked over at John anyway. "You said we'd gone back in time. Then my baby is still alive! I can still go see him, and I can warn myself never to come here."
"No, you can't!" said John.
"You can't!" said the Doctor, "He's right it's my fault, and I'm sorry, but you can't. It's a fixed paradox and we're lucky those are generally self-sealing, but if you warn yourself you'll rip a hole in the fabric of the universe. I can't let you do that."
"I don't care! Who are you to let me do anything?!" shouted the woman.
"What mother wouldn't rip a hole in the universe to save her baby?" said John. The woman ran for the exit. She just got to the door when John grabbed her arm. The woman swung at him with her other fist, but he caught her wrist. John saw what was coming next, but he was too slow. She kicked him hard and he crumpled into the fetal position.
The Doctor ran up from behind her, and placed his hands on her face. He closed his eyes. "Rest now!" he whispered. For a moment the woman looked drowsy like she would collapse but then she stomped hard on the Doctor's toe and twisted away from him. Her purse snagged on his arm, and fell to the floor. She didn't stop. She ran to the door, twisted the lock, and disappeared outside.
The Doctor raced out the door after her. John got to his feet slowly. He grasped at his thighs for support and took a deep breath. Hurts worse as a human. He was about to follow after them but the glow of the TARDIS caught his eye. He grinned. He picked up the woman's purse, stepped inside the TARDIS, and closed the door.
"No, No No!" shouted John as the TARDIS shook and spun. He held tightly to the console to keep from falling over. Outside the tall blue rectangular box tumbled end over end along a sidewalk. The light on top smashed. People on street raced to get out of the way and luckily they all did. Finally it landed upright at the corner where a busy street met a dead end alley. John Smith opened the doors and blinked in the harsh sunlight. He wore his old tan overcoat that he had found in the TARDIS wardrobe. The air was cool but not cold enough he really need the coat. Still he was happy to have it back.
He stepped outside. A number of people were staring at him. "Sorry," said John, "the loo just fell out of the sky. I'm lucky to be alive!" He said pointing up. Sure enough there was a Zeppelin overhead to conveniently explain the problem.
Most of the people just stared at him. Some of them nodded in agreement, but a teen boy with a skateboard and two ear pieces narrowed his eyes at him.
"Why does the loo say Bad Wolf?" the teen asked.
"What?" John turned around. He noticed the shattered lamp on top and winced. Below the lamp, the sign now read "BAD WOLF" instead of "Police Public Call Box."
"What?" asked John again staring at the TARDIS. He raced back inside and checked the monitor for the date. If the screen could be believed he had gone forward in time two days, but he was still within his own time stream. He had to be careful now. He recognized this section of street. He walked it every day. He landed between the bookshop and his home three blocks away. If he didn't get out of here before 2PM when the other version of himself left work there would be trouble. He adjusted the controls, but the TARDIS wouldn't budge. The monitor just kept flashing "BAD WOLF" at him every time he tried to set the TARDIS to take him back. He sighed and stepped back outside.
Most of the crowd dispersed. They had things to do and for most of them the TARDIS sudden appearance would be nothing more than a bizarre tale to tell coworkers around the coffee machine while getting their morning coffee. Only two people were still paying the Doctor any attention, the teen who had spoken and a smaller kid about seven years old who stood next to him. The younger child held the leash of a pug who whimpered quietly.
John gave the kids a short wave, and was about to head off down the street when something in the alley caught his eye. The sun was high in the sky and John guessed it to be about noon but the alley was black. There should be at least some light shining in that corridor especially since the surrounding buildings were only three stories tall.
"So what's really going on?" asked the teen, "Toilets just don't fall out of the sky and they don't look like that."
"Well this one did," said John, "Something similar happened the other day about-" He stopped short realizing as he said this the story he read must have been about this exact incident which is why the toilet excuse had been on his mind. He didn't look at the kid. Instead, he walked slowly up to the alley and peered around the corner. Sunlight filled the alleyway and it looked normal once more. He scratched his head. What was he doing here? He hadn't meant to steal the TARDIS. He meant to take a short cut, and help the Doctor apprehend the mother from the shop. He discovered her named was Margaret Blake when he found her ID card while looking for her phone. He pushed those thoughts aside. The TARDIS obviously brought him here for some reason and it didn't appear to want to move from that spot until he fulfilled its expectations. It was as if it was waiting for something. John looked over at the telephone box as if it would suddenly explain itself. His eyes narrowed. The words on top were back to normal and the lamp had restored itself too. He looked back at the alleyway and something about it still didn't look right.
"I don't believe you." continued the teen, "there has been a lot of strange stuff around here lately. People just ignore it, but not me."
"Good," said the Doctor turning around to look at him, "What's your name?"
"Bill, and this is my brother Joey," said Bill gesturing to the boy with the dog. The pug whimpered.
"This is Wrinkles" said Joey pointing at the dog.
"Good to meet you Bill, Joey, and Wrinkles! I'm the Doctor," said John. His old title slipped out by mistake, out of habit. He didn't bother to correct himself. "Now tell me do you notice anything strange about this alley?"
Bill stepped over to the man who called himself the Doctor. Joey tried to follow but Wrinkles took two steps, and refused to go any further. "Sometimes, like now our dog won't go near it, and other times he races past it. We can't figure it out. He's not the only dog or the only alley where it happens."
"Okay good, now look down the alley," said John. Bill moved forward, but John put his arm out to block him. "No, don't go down there! Your dog is right to be frightened. Trust him!" said John. Bill stopped and gave the man a confused look. "Now what do you see?" asked John.
"I don't know, some dumpsters and bits of rubbish," said Bill, but then his eyes fell on a dark patch of ground on far side next to the dumpster. All the shadows pointed inward toward the back of the alley, all except this one, which pointed in the opposite direction toward the busy street. "That shadow," said Bill. He looked up towards the sky and then back down. He frowned.
"Good keep going," said John.
"What's casting it?" he asked, looking up again for answers. Finding none he looked back at the man who called himself the Doctor. John's mouth gaped. Bill followed his gaze back towards the alley, and noticed the mysterious shadow vanished.
Suddenly Wrinkles darted forward catching Joey by surprise and pulling the leash clear out of his hands. Joey raced after him. The pug darted between John and Bill before either of them had a chance to stop him. The shadow reappeared in the ally darker and larger than before. Joey tried to follow, but John grabbed his arm and held him back. The dog cried in pain and in seconds it was over. A crumpled pile of bones lay where the dog had stood moments ago. Sunlight once more poured into the center of the alley.
"Wrinkles!" cried Joey struggling to break free of John's grip. "Wrinkles! Wrinkles! What happened?" he shouted.
"I'm sorry," said John, but he didn't loosen his grip on Joey's arm. "I really am, but it could have been worse. It could have been you!" The boy stopped struggling and stared at him.
"The shadows are eating people?" Bill asked.
"I'm afraid so," said John with a nod. "Well, they're not really shadows. They're a swarm, a microscopic swarm that can strip flesh from bone." Joey stared at the man who had saved him, his face full of terror. He had stopped struggling to break free so John let go of his arm. He studied the alley carefully for a minute then he stepped off the sidewalk and into the alley. He deliberately walked into the shadow being cast by one of the alley walls on the far side. Joey shrieked but nothing happened.
"I think it's safe for now," said John. The two boys followed him tentatively out into the center where their dog lay. It was a skeleton with a collar and leash. "I don't know for sure if there would have been enough to attack you, but you'll need to keep an eye out. You've seen the news. Infants, and small pets are obviously at risk. Eventually it might be large enough to take down an adult. Count the shadows, and best be indoors at night, although being indoors isn't a guarantee."
John headed back for the blue box that had mysteriously fallen out of the sky and the kids raced after him. He stepped inside "I'm sorry I can't stay to help more. There is something I must do," he said to Bill and Joey.
"Doctor!" cried a familiar woman's voice. John looked up and saw Rose Tyler running towards him. He instinctively stepped towards her brushing past the two boys. "Doctor! You've come back!" she said. He stopped short remembering who he was, and that he was inside his own time stream. He swallowed and stared at her. Rose stopped, held in place by his pained expression and small shake of his head.
John took a step back, his Time Lord senses prevailing. He wanted to run to her. It would be easy to pretend he was the real Doctor. The lie might even work for a while since there would be two of them here, but he knew he couldn't. Even if he didn't create a wound in time, Rose would realize who he really was when she lay her head on his chest and heard only a single heartbeat. There was nothing to be done. He continued stepping backward, his eyes fixed on her. He was unable to look away until the TARDIS doors closed in his face with a bang.
Rose ran up and pounded her fists on the door. "Doctor! It's me! Wait please!" she shouted. She tried the handle but the TARDIS wouldn't let her in. He stood there for a moment listening to her shout. Then he turned and headed to the controls. There were bigger things at stake than him and Rose.
Joey and Bill thought they had seen the end of unusual things today, but what happened next made them both gasp. The blue box that had dropped out of the sky groaned. The two boys thought it sounded like a robot gasping for breath. The light on top was no longer broken and it began to flash as the entire structure simply faded out of existence. The gorgeous blond woman who had tried to get inside, and clung desperately to the door was still there though.
She walked up to them and held up an ID badge. "I'm Rose Tyler. I'm in charge of Torchwood. Can you tell me what happened?" she asked.
"The Doctor saved my life!" said Joey. Then he looked toward the alley and tears filled his eyes. "He couldn't save Wrinkles though."