The darkness and loneliness now seemed to consume him as he paced the corridors. Al had managed to get out of the Imaging Chamber just in time to witness Doctor Beckett's latest quantum leap. It was now the early hours of the morning, and sleep was the only thought on his mind.
Suddenly his silence was interrupted. He heard a whooshing sound carried through the corridors of the top secret base. Rushing through the man made labyrinth, he just managed to catch sight of a blue box appearing right outside the imaging chamber.
His mouth hung open as the door opened, and the shocked form of Gushie left the bizarre craft. Looking at his surroundings, the little scientist seemed to nod an affirmative; he was now in a location he was familiar with. Taking a deep breath, he ran past Al and further into the complex.
As Al approached the wooden box, another person stepped out of it. Someone who Al had already met, but in a totally different situation. Neither man really knew what to say, so the Doctor decided to break the silence. "Al Calavicci, welcome to my world".
Al could only point to the strange craft. "The TARDIS?"
"Exactly", exclaimed the Doctor as he closed the door behind him. "Needed to get your friend home. He seemed a bit panicked. Will he be okay?"
Al nodded. "Gushie's tougher than he looks. He'll be fine. What about you?"
"The minute the bomb went off I went back to my own body. How's Doctor Beckett?"
Al folded his arms. "He's okay. He landed in 1992 in California. It was night, so he can finally get a bit of sleep. It's not all glamour for some time travellers, you know".
The Doctor took a sharp breath in and nodded. "Yes. That's the reason I wanted to talk to you".
"Talk to me?"
"Yes. You see, I lied. When I said I can always control where the TARDIS goes, I was lying to you. Some days are easy to get to, like Saturday afternoons and Friday evenings, but some places put up so much resistance –".
Al noticed the pause. "Doctor. What are you trying to say?"
The Timelord straightened up, trying to look as dignified and truthful as possible. "I'm trying to say that Doctor Beckett's a good man. Such a good man that I went back to get him".
Al snapped to attention. "So did you get him?"
The Doctor frowned. "I calculated sixty-five different times where Doctor Beckett materialised. Rory and Amy may not realise it, but I used the TARDIS computer to find him".
"So what happened?"
"I tried, I really tried. But the TARDIS wouldn't materialise in any of those times. I'm sorry, I really am. In all my travels, no one has deserved my help more than Doctor Beckett. But I couldn't give it to him. I'm sorry".
As Al nodded, the Doctor walked slowly back to his TARDIS. Just before he entered it he turned around. "It's funny. Maybe it's the same unknown force that moves us both".
Closing the door behind him, the TARDIS began to glow. An intrusive whooshing sound was heard as it faded from Al's retinas leaving him alone in the cold corridors seen by so few men.