"Paragliding off of the tallest peak on the planet of Rakno, a mountain top three times as high as Everest, in order to escape from some really angry yetis; no problem. Repelling down a 1,000 foot pit to hoist up TARDIS because she fell down it and the Doctor was too banged up to go himself; marvelous trip. Strapping a parachute to my back and jumping out of a helicopter-looking thing because he fell out with the planet-eater chick that looked like a platypus; had a blast. Sitting on buildings and now hiding in a tree while he hangs out with people from American history; so not cool!"
Once again, Katie was fuming. She seemed to do that a lot now. Before she met the Doctor, quiet annoyance, strained silence, or pained looks were the greatest emotion she had ever expressed. Now she was verbal about the things that peeved her, creatively so.
Maybe it was because she wasn't surrounded by people who either ignored her or seemed to board their only two brain cells on a lower plane of I.Q. than she had. It could have been because she knew the Doctor wouldn't retaliate with fists as others would have, and his replies in their verbal banter contained words larger than monosyllables. It might even have been because she actually trusted the Doctor. Whatever the reason, Katie couldn't seem to keep quiet about her irritations anymore.
"I understand the whole, " 'Consider this a punishment for almost blowing a whole in spacetime by flying TARDIS without supervision"' thing, but honestly, it's my country, so I should be the one allowed to meet the people!"
Blowing air out in a huff, Katie raised her binoculars and scanned the surrounding area, looking for Jak. She wasn't watching only for him, though; she kept her eyes on Lexington Common, waiting with concealed excitement for the Regulars to come down the path. She lowered her binoculars and checked her watch. 4:10 A.M. The militia men would start emerging from Buckman Tavern soon, Captain John Parker leading them. 80 men, led by a veteran with tuberculosis, waiting for 700 trained soldiers. Of course, they had no idea how many were coming. Not just yet.
After the long wait, they aren't even certain the enemy will show. But they will. A messenger will show up in five minutes to confirm that. Katie glanced at her watch again. 4:11. Strike that. Four minutes.
The minutes crawled by. Katie watched a crowd gather. After Revere's message had woken everyone in the county, people had turned out, all of them waiting to see what would happen.
As the minute hand on Katie's watch landed on the 15 minute mark, a horseman who Katie knew had to be Thaddeus Bowman, rode straight for the inn. He disappeared inside the door. Katie nodded, as though tipping a hat to him.
"In ya go, Bowman me lad. You just tell the good Captain the lobster backs are truly on the march."
Light splashed onto the cobblestone as the door to Buckman's Tavern opened. Ignoring her search for a few moments, Katie twisted her neck awkwardly in order to watch the militia file out. The Doctor and his pinstripes stood out like a lump of gold in a basket of diamonds. The Doctor had gone in only a few minutes before with the intention of looking for Jak. Judging by the lack of 43rd century prisoner with him, Katie decided Jak hadn't been in the tavern. She groaned and turned away.
It is a serious pain fixing history. I hope we don't have to do it again for a very, very, long time. Like, fifty years or something. Katie lifted her binoculars again, searching the gathering crowd for Jak. After a wake-up call like that for the entire county, no one was going to miss this, and Jak could easily hide in the group. When I find him, he is so going to regret messing up America's history. Or rather, trying to. I'm sending him back to his own time with a shiner, a broken beak, and maybe a fractured skull. Depends on how much he struggles.
She turned her attention to the militia again. It was kinda cool - no, it was seriously amazing to see them. 80 men, of varying ages, all with family, none of them with formal training as a soldier, standing ready to face an unknown amount of fully trained, fully equipped British Regulars, each one part of the greatest army on the planet. Katie turned away from them again, smiling slightly.
"Yeah. Americans are stupid. It's official." Taking another look at her watch, she noted the time.
"4:20. 40 more minutes." She watched as Captain Parker assembled his men in parade ground fashion on Lexington Green, each man in full view, and not hindering the approach to Concord. Inspections had been made before, with no damage done, and as far as Captain Parker knew, the same thing would happen again. The assembled militia were there to show political and military determination. Because of Captain Parker's tuberculosis, she couldn't hear his words, but knew what he was about to say to the men.
"Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."
Well, that's what the monument stone would have engraved on it. Really, all Captain Parker told his men was to not fire unless fired upon. But it sounded so much better the other way.
Katie checked the time. 4:25. She groaned quietly. "I don't know which is worse; waiting and not knowing when the enemy will show up, or waiting and knowing exactly when they'll show. Painful either way."
It was painful. The tree branches were not the world's thickest, meaning that they were horribly uncomfortable to sit on, and the bugs all seemed to be converging on her. It was a little weird, watching them become dry husks whenever they came in contact with her skin and she pulled what little energy they had out of them. Oh well. Couldn't be helped.
Time crept past like a one legged turtle with arthritis. Slowly, ever so slowly, the seconds ticked by, until it was only five minutes before the British would come over the hill.
Katie scanned the 70 or so people gathered to watch. She furrowed her brow and peered down at a part of the crowd. "Yah, it's him." Pulling a small, flat, round thing that looked like a compact with a one-inch diameter, she flipped it open and spoke into it.
"Target is a hundred yards behind you and to your right. Be joining you in a moment." Katie saw the Doctor's back straighten for a moment before he stepped away from the crowd, his head bent. He pulled something small from his coat pocket and another something from his ear. He looked at them both in disgust, put back the ear piece and opened the other thing, tucking it into his breast pocket.
Katie nearly fell out of the tree with suppressed laughter when the Doctor's irritated, surprised voice came out of her own earpiece.
"How did I get a Forgin communication device in my pocket? And a CeaXhell in my ear?"
Katie couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. "I put them in when you helped me get in the tree. Not bad for a fifteen year old."
"When you get down-"
"Yes, yes, you'll thank me properly. Right now, just get Jak away from the crowd. There'll be enough of a scene without us adding drama."
"Stop going through my things!" the Doctor said, his voice almost a growl. Katie smiled again, enjoying his irritation.
"Why? It's perfectly good stuff, very useful. You really should take advantage of it more often, because I certainly am. We can have this discussion later. Right now, we have to make sure someone fires the Shot. We've only got five…no, four minutes, twenty seconds."
Closing her compact, she slipped out of the tree on the side facing away from the Green. It wouldn't do for someone to see her.
Going the round-a-about route, she made for the crowd, noting the Doctor weaving his way among them as well. She had no idea what he would do to get Jak away from the gathered folks, but it would probably work in the end. His plans usually did.
Whatever the Doctor might have been planning, he didn't need it. Jak spotted him and quickly backed out. Katie changed her course to intercept them.
Everyone froze, just for a moment, as 700 British Troops came down the path. Marine Lieutenant Jesse Adair, who was leading the advance guard, did not turn left towards Concord, as everyone save Katie, the Doctor, and Jak were expecting. Instead, he sent his men to the right, straight down the middle of the Green, in a confused attempt to surround and disarm the militia. What made this attempt only an attempt (for, strictly speaking it would have been a good move otherwise) was that for whatever reason, the Regulars rushed for the militia, cheering loudly, then they stopped and formed a battle line.
Katie finally stopped staring and made a beeline for Jak. He saw her and also started moving, though he kept close to the Green, a gun in his hand. History had no certain thoughts on who fired the Shot, but Katie didn't think Jak would let that stop him. How he intended to stop it, she didn't know. She only knew she had to stop him first.
Jak disappeared behind a nearby wall, the Doctor and Katie close behind him. Katie reached into her messenger pouch automatically and pulled out the gun Scraw had had earlier. Fortunately, the Doctor didn't see her do it.
They both turned around the wall at the same time. Jak was rolling a stone over next to it in order to have a clear shot at…whoever. He turned to point his gun at them as Katie brought hers up. She could feel the Doctor's disapproval.
On the other side of the wall, Major Pitcairn, the man who was truly leading the Regulars, yelled at the militia, telling them to lay down their arms and disperse. Jak smirked.
"Man took the words right out of my mouth. But in my case, I only want you to disperse into atoms."
"You've already lost, Jak," the Doctor said. "If you fire, your shot will be heard, and the Revolution begins. If you leave it, then whoever's supposed to fire the Shot will fire it. Whatever you do, that's the end of if."
"What makes you think I want to stop it?"
Katie scoffed. "How about everything you've done so far?"
"You obviously don't know how to adapt. I know that this won't stop. But if I get rid of the two of you, all protection that American history might have had disappears. We can intercede at another point."
Katie groaned. "Doctor, why is everyone out to get us? Just once, I'd like someone to say, 'Here, have a bundle of flowers for your hard work,' instead of the bad guy telling us we're going to die."
"Don't count on it. Rarely happens."
"Bummer. Ah well. Look Jak. All you've gotta do is drop the pistol. We'll let you leave unharmed if you do, promise."
Jak shook his head. "No. If I fail at this, my life is over, in every sense of the word. I'm not backing down." His smirk became a leering grin. "Although, it would truly be a beautiful sort of irony if the American protecting the birth of her country was shot at the only moment it will ever have." Cocking his gun, he leveled it at her chest.
"You don't want to do this," the Doctor said, his voice harder than usual. Katie risked a quick glance at him, not sure who he was speaking to. Somehow, he was much closer to Jak then he had been before. When did he move? she wondered briefly. She turned her attention back to Jak.
"Yes, I do."
The loud crack of a gun broke the still air. Katie gasped and flinched. So did Jak. More gunfire rang out on the other side of the wall. The Doctor took two bounding steps towards Jak and grabbed his gun. Jak started checking himself, as did Katie. There was no wound on either of them. Katie looked at the Doctor quizzically.
"Then who…?"
"That's what I'd like to know," he answered, his voice quiet. Jak was still puzzled enough that he hadn't moved. Katie's face flushed, and her features twisted into complete, furious, disbelief.
"Do you mean to say that I now have a clogged percolator, nearly got blown up with a dress shop, am short one psychic ring, probably convinced the Paul Revere that I'm insane, clambered onto two roofs and hid in a tree, nearly drowned, was almost shot on three -count 'em- three separate occasions, didn't get to go on the Midnight Ride, and risked blowing a hole in spacetime -which probably caused TARDIS no end of anguish- just to miss one of the most important events in the whole of American history!"
She flexed her free hand, doing her best not to lose her temper completly. "That…that's just…that's just wrong." She glared at Jak and pointed a finger at him. "I blame you for this. However, I'm still going to extend the same invite to you that I did to your friend. You can either go home by yourself, or we will take you there. What's it gonna be?"
Jak looked at her, some sort of emotion on his face. "Did you already take Scraw back? Or did he run of his own accord?"
The Doctor groaned. "Kathryn, please don't tell me that you flew the TARDIS to the 43rd century."
"I didn't. How could I? I had bats in the belfry as it was. As he isn't here, the only obvious option left is that he ran. Now, Jak, what's your choice?"
"I already failed in my assignment. You may as well take me prisoner."
"We don't take prisoners," Katie and the Doctor said simultaneously.
"Then kill me here. Your country men are already running off to Concord. Britain will lose its hold on this place. With you two living, I could not even stop the true threat to my mission."
"We won't kill you. Doctor, please take a peak over the wall and see if it's safe to take this man home."
Forty-third Century
Somewhere in Britain
Underground, Jak's superiors were waiting for the news reports to change. The few who had traveled in time would know when the change would occur, when America stayed as part of Britain. All they had to do was sit back. Jak was the best. He would not fail them.
A whooshing, humming sound vibrated around the room as a wind started in a corner. A large, blue police box, such as they had had millennia ago appeared in the room. All the room's occupants stared as the door opened with a creak. Light shone from it as two silhouettes stepped into view, one behind the other. A very American voice spoke.
"You're gagged because you tried to kill me on three separate occasions, tied because you tried to destroy TARDIS's console on the way here, and you're missing your vortex manipulator and your uniform because after you made me miss the Shot, I deserve compensation."
The silhouette in front was forcefully shoved out of the blue box. It was Jak, missing most of his disguise and his vortex manipulator, hands tied behind him. A cloth had been stuffed in his mouth. The female silhouette thumbed her nose at him.
"The forceful evection is for trying to kill America before it was even born."
Shutting the door firmly, the box disappeared with the same whooshing sound.
After un-gagging Jak, a note was found written on the cloth.
43rd century Experts: 0
21st century American and Every century Alien: 2
TARDIS
Somewhere in space
The Doctor flung open TARDIS's doors. A nearby star burned beautifully, brilliantly, though it was far too close for comfort. Katie stood nearby, her eyes wide. The Doctor turned towards her, a determined look on his face. She stepped back.
"Doctor, think about what you're doing for a minute. You can't really want to do this."
"I do, Kathryn."
Taking a few quick steps, he stood right in front of her, grabbed a heavy tome from her arms, spun around, and flung it out into the star. It was incinerated in a matter of moments. Katie futilely ran towards the door, staring at the spot.
"I wasn't finished reading that. Why would you do something like that?"
"The book is wrong."
"Doctor, it was the instruction manual for TARDIS a moment ago! I've noticed that you cut corners upon occasion, but in general it must be right. You have to follow it to some extent."
"Nah, never. I only read it once. Well, I skimmed it. Sorta. I read the chapter titles."
Katie blinked, shocked. "Why? It was the instruction manual!"
The Doctor shrugged, closing the doors. "I didn't agree with it. The only reason it's been around this long is because I couldn't find it."
"There was a chapter in that book about finding things in a TARDIS, you know."
"More fun not knowing. You can constantly be surprised."
"I'm flying around the universe with a man who does everything by the book except the book. Fantastic," Katie said in a dry tone. She walked around the console room, staring at the console. She stopped suddenly and pulled her CeaXhell out of her ear.
"Nearly forgot! This thing needs a charge."
"I'm not charging it, Kathryn. You really need to stop going through my things."
"Doctor, you have some seriously useful junk lying about. Just because you only ever touch a sonic doesn't mean I can't have a few tools."
"Then ask!"
"And bother you about every little thing I think I might need? I don't have a multi-purpose, does everything screwdriver like you do. Most of your stuff is left to collect dust anyhow! You should be glad someone's using it again."
The Doctor regarded Katie for a few moments. "You're completely unrepentant about this."
"Two hundred percent. I'm not going to stop, and I only borrow things within reason." Katie added a wheedling tone to her voice. "Of course, if you got me my own sonic…"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Aw, come on Doctor!"
"NO. You are no where near the age anyone should be before they even begin to learn how to use one of these."
"When will I be old enough?"
"Maybe when you turn 200."
"Yes!" Katie pumped a fist in the air. "Sweet! Now I really have something to look forward to!"
"I said maybe!"
"Might as well be a yes." Katie twirled around and skipped off down the hall. "I'm holding you to it, Doctor!"
The Doctor stared after her. Why had he said he'd give her a sonic? He had never given anyone a sonic before, even if it was promised for 185 years into the future. Let them use it maybe, but actually handed one off? They would have to be someone really special to get that.
He smiled as he walked slowly around the console, occasionally pushing buttons. Kathryn was someone special. Maybe one day she'd even earn a screwdriver. After all, she was born in a country that started out as a rebel insurrection. An ant hill deciding to take on an anteater…and winning. The Doctor's smile became a grin.
"Brilliant."
*Constructive critisisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*
Swa! Finished! I want to give thanks (many many many thanks) to my Beta Reader Rose202. She was amazingly helpful on this story.
The next episode is titled "Winning Hand". I'm bringing in a new friend, though it could be an old one. I think it really depends on who you are.
Go recomend this story to all your friends!