"You're absolutely certain."
"Yes," the man snapped back at Katie. "The silversmith left just after 9:30, when the church bell rung. Another bloke was with him, never did catch his name, but he wore the oddest clothes. Now get out of here! It's late, and the missus and I want to sleep."
Katie stared at the door as it slammed shut. She turned on her heal and stalked off, grumbling to herself.
"Well that clinches it. I am taking back what I said about forgiving him. Going on the midnight ride without me? Being in Lexington for the big moment while I'm stuck in Boston? He still has to make up for my percolator, far as I'm concerned. Ooo! That…..that…..Doctor!"
Breathing deeply, Katie calmed herself down. "It's alright, it's okay. At least he hasn't left you out on the street. If he rode, he'll have left TARDIS behind." Katie brightened. "TARDIS!"
Running as fast as she could, Katie made it back to TARDIS in record time. It had remained unlocked after the meeting earlier, so Katie was able to get inside. She hurried over to the TARDIS's console and started scanning it until she found what she wanted.
"Okay, I think I know the basics. This tells me my date, this gives me a planet, this one lets me know my coordinates on that planet, and these are my basic control settings…I think. My planet is Sol Three… that's a certainty. Lexington is 42 degrees North, 26 minutes, 32 seconds and 71 degrees West, 13 minutes, 36 seconds…I hope. The time I want is 3 o'clock AM on April 19th 1775...that should get me there before sunrise. And this lever makes the whole thing work."
Katie glanced up at the tall, green blue tube in the middle of the console. "Alright lady love. I hope you don't mind helping me out, because he hasn't actually let me touch anything yet. This is educated guesswork. Mostly. I think." Katie inhaled deeply, clenched her eyes shut, and pulled the lever.
It was the bumpiest ride Katie had ever had in TARDIS. She dashed about madly, pumping pumps, whacking spots, and doing everything the Doctor did most often. She was certain TARDIS was screaming at her, and was positive the Doctor would hang her on a wall for what she was doing, but he promised he'd take her to see the Shot, and he probably wouldn't be back in time for it. He'd even promised to teach her to fly TARDIS one day. So, she was just taking the first steps. Right, like that'll hold. she thought.
Vwwwrrr. Vwwwrrr. Vwirp, Vwirp, Vwirp. Vwwrr. Vwwrr. Vwrrop.
Katie grimaced at the sound that TARDIS was making. Before she could think of anything specific to do, she landed with a loud WHUNK. Katie shot up and rolled. When she stopped moving, she noticed that TARDIS was at a distinct right tilt. However, that was only a side thing to the branches and leaves that were in TARDIS.
"A bush? I landed around a bush? No, wait, those are maple leaves. I landed in a tree?"
Half crawling, half climbing over to the front door, she pushed open the right side and looked down. She was definitely in a tree. However, she was also looking at Lexington Green, and it was certainly still dark. Katie started to smile, pleased she hadn't killed herself or blown a hole in space time.
"Oi! You mind telling me exactly how my TARDIS got in a tree?"
The Doctor had been riding hard all night. After a tense, technically illegal crossing of the Charles, Revere and the Doctor had barely escaped capture in Charlestown, they had ridden to Lexington, where they had warned Adams and Hancock of their imminent capture if they didn't get a move on. The Doctor and Revere met up with William Dawes and Samuel Prescott in Lexington as well. After another five miles, the four men had almost crashed right into a roadblock of British troops. The Doctor and Prescott had managed to escape, but Dawes and Revere weren't so lucky.
The Doctor wasn't too worried about them. Dawes would escape, but get thrown from his horse and have to walk back to Lexington. Revere would be captured and questioned, but the sounds of church bells and firing shots attesting to the message already getting out would gain Revere his freedom, the regulars letting him go out of fear for themselves. However, he would get out too late to continue the message to Concord. Fortunately, that's where Prescott came in. The Doctor sent him onwards, knowing he would be alright. He was more worried about Revere, and the unknown location of Jak.
Figuring that they would probably end up converging at the Battle of Lexington Common, the Doctor headed in that direction. Because of his tired horse, and his lack of knowledge about the area, he knew he wouldn't be able to return to Boston until the next morning. Kathryn would be upset, but he would try and watch for whoever fired that first shot she was so pumped up about. That would probably cover any offense. It wasn't healthy to have a traveling companion who was mad at you.
It was three in the morning when the Doctor finally got to Lexington. The 700 Regulars would show soon, and only 80 American men would come out to fight them.
"Brave fools, that's what started the most powerful country on earth. Brave fools." The Doctor grinned. "And isn't it brilliant?"
A sick, wheezing sounds startled him from his thoughts. It was oddly familiar…
The Doctor realized what it was. He had to go way back in his memory to figure out where he had heard it, but it was there. It was identical to the sounds from the first time he flew the TARDIS by himself, when he hadn't really known what he was doing. The signature wind started up as the TARDIS materialized around the top of a nearby maple with a loud WHUNK.
"What?"
He got off his exhausted horse and walked around the maple, staring at the TARDIS. It was covering half the tree, and was leaning so much he feared the tree would break.
"What?"
One side of the TARDIS's door flopped open and Kathryn's head poked out. Just as she started to smile, he called to her.
"Oi! You mind telling me exactly how my TARDIS got in a tree?"
Kathryn looked at him and swallowed, her pleased look vanishing. "Well, I… The thing is…. Ah, I um…. I flew her."
"What?" Rather than feeling angry, the Doctor was more curious than anything.
"I flew her. Not very well, but I managed it." She glanced down at the tree, then back into the TARDIS. "Sort of managed it. Kinda. Not so good at the parking bit yet. What's the date?"
"April 19th, 1775."
Kathryn pumped an arm in the air. "Yes! Oh, you don't know how relieved I am to hear that. I was worried I'd come too early, or worse, showed up late."
"The only thing you got wrong, Kathryn Trouble Moore," the Doctor sternly said, finally remembering to be upset, "is that you have now truly fulfilled your new middle name. I want you down here and explaining exactly how you just flew a TARDIS."
Kathryn shrank back into the TARDIS. "I'm thinking it'd be healthier for me to stay up here."
"Kathryn…"
"Look, if you want to know, I think you'd better park her somewhere else first. I've managed to materialize around this tree, so it's now partway inside TARDIS." She vanished the rest of the way inside, calling to the Doctor. "Come on! Don't want her getting shot up during the skirmish."
Rubbing his face, the Doctor let the horse's reigns drop from his hand. It would find its own way home, and the Doctor had his own problems to worry about.
"You can't possibly be serious."
"I most certainly am. I figured it out by watching you. That and I found this really, really thick book with the title 'TARDIS Manual.'"
The Doctor gave her a look. If the TARDIS had let her find the manual, she must not have really minded if Kathryn flew her. "How did you find that?"
"It was on the shelf in my room. TARDIS keeps it supplied with new stuff for me. It had all these pages torn out though. Weird."
So the TARDIS had handed it to her. Interesting. "No, it's not. I tore them out. I'm glad you found it though, because I'm getting rid of it."
"Why?"
"I never agreed with it."
Kathryn crossed her arms. "It gives instructions on how to fly her. How can you not agree with it."
"Because I don't. What possessed you to fly her over here anyway?"
Kathryn bit her bottom lip, slightly nervous. "I knew you wouldn't be back in time to take me to see the Shot."
"You chanced blowing a hole in the universe to see a war start?"
"Of course not! I knew what I was doing. To some extent. Okay, not really, but you promised to teach me. And you went on the midnight ride with out me. I was entitled to compensation."
"Not like that!"
"Chill! Nothing went wrong while I was flying her, and everything fell in place for tonight. I got the signal out, didn't I? And since you're here the message obviously got all the way to Lexington and then to Concord. We've set things straight! Now all we have to do is grab a hot drink and a plate of chocolate almond biscotti, put our feet up, and wait to see who fired the first shot. Then our task is done and we can find a planet."
The Doctor closed his eyes in exasperation. Kathryn drove him absolutely mad at times. Right now, it was her human stupidity coming through, rather than the risk she had taken flying the TARDIS.
"You really think we've finished."
Kathryn regarded him for a moment. "Your tone tells me we haven't. What did I miss?"
"Kathryn, if the message got through, and the Regulars are on their way, and Buckman Tavern is probably already filling with men who will be prepared to take a stand, it seems as though Jak didn't reach his goal."
"Which is a good thing."
"No, it's not. It means he's planning something else."
"Like what?"
"Come on! You can't be that thick!"
Kathryn's green eyes flickered with annoyance and her face turned a light purple-pink. "Watch it, fly-boy! If you're so bloody bright, you explain it!"
"Don't swear."
"Fine. What did I miss, O Grand and Glorious Time Lord?"
The Doctor smiled lightly. Whenever she started using names like that, it either meant she was beyond annoyance, or teasing. Sometimes both.
"You said it earlier. This first shot is what draws-
"the line America holds for centuries to come and it's a fixed point!" Kathryn gasped, finally realizing what the Doctor was aiming at. "So all Jak has to do is find the person who lost their nerve first, stop them somehow, and bada-bing, bada-boom, America stops before it starts!" She returned his smile. "You're good."
The Doctor grinned. "Yeah, I know."
Her half smirk showed. "Not that good. How close did you park us?"
"Oh, only about a quarter mile from Lexington Green."
"I'll race you."
"No."
"Fine. I'll help along the 900 year old man. Or should I just find you a walker instead?"
"Kathryn…"
"Maybe a wheelchair."
The Doctor's memories of his last few days with Martha flashed through his mind. His time with the Master when his age had been forced to show. The thoughts were strong enough that some of the emotions leaked through into his eyes and voice.
"Don't Kathryn. Just…don't."
Kathryn's face sobered. She looked at him, her green eyes somehow peeling back layers until she saw what was wrong. It un-nerved and comforted the Doctor at the same time.
"All right then. We can walk. Better that way any how. You get to see more that way, instead of it all flashing past." She sauntered over to the door and opened it. She turned back to him and grinned. "Come on, Ageless One. You can lecture me about flying her on the way there."
The Doctor smiled and joined her. She never asked questions. On the rare occasion something about his past came up, even if it endangered lives and he felt that he owed her an explanation, she always stopped him, saying he should only talk if he needed to.
A mate. That's all he needed, and that's all she was; a mate.
"Squirrel!"
The Doctor laughed. A very odd mate.
*Constructive critisisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*