Chapter Thre: The TARDIS

It's been a couple of years since the Doctor had shown up at her school. Veronica's life had been sort of crumbling ever since. She'd told her father about his appearance at school, and he'd gone nuts, but she'd calmed him down, and convinced him not to sue the school. She'd also lied to him about what the Doctor said. She just told her father that he'd gone to see her, and that he said that her mother was happier with him. That he had come back only to brag.

The weight of lying was hard on her.

Luckily, she had her best friend, Laura, to help. But Laura was almost always busy. Busy with her boyfriend. Busy with her family. Busy with her others friends. And that was okay for Veronica, most of the time. But it was lonely. There was no one like Laura. Laura was strong, pretty, good with everybody, and the one person who Veronica felt comfortable with. Laura could handle all of Veronica's problems. She was the sister Veronica never got.

And as much as Laura and Veronica spent time together, it was never enough. When they were kids, they were joined at the hip, but when they were sent to different schools in high school, her safe haven behind Laura was pulled away. She was forced to face the world of high school alone.

At first, it was okay, because they made it a thing that they'd see each at least once a week, but then the Doctor showed up, and things slowly got worse. Slowly, but surely, the people in her life peeled away from her like a onion, until only her, her father and Laura were left. Of course, Veronica wouldn't be sitting in her basement leaning against the bar with one of her father's beer bottles in her hands if Laura was here.

But she wasn't.

Laura was gone.

After years of teasing, Laura's parents had finally moved themselves to the other side of the country, dragging Laura away with them. It was heart breaking, and Veronica wasn't sure why people always looked to alcohol to restore a broken heart. She'd grown up with, "If you're down, pop open a beer." But beer was disgusting, and no matter how much she drank it didn't taste better or hurt less. Then again, she'd only sipped two little sips. The stench of beer made her stomach sick; so after a painful moment of looking at the alcohol in her hands, she pushed it aside and sighed.

It was times like these when she thought back to what that strange man had said about her never having to be lonely again. While she blamed him for everything, she knew she was weak enough to accept his offer if he were to ask again.

It was then that she heard the whooshing sounds behind her, and her hair started to blow into her face. Stunned, Veronica turned around slowly to face a particular blue box that was now in the middle of her basement. Thinking she had been caught, Veronica sputtered, "I didn't even really dr-drink it. I t-took like two sips, it was nothing. I promise daddy; I didn't drink! I don't drink. Y-you... You're not my f-father." There was a tense moment as the Doctor stood there, confused, only his head visible from behind the blue door.

Veronica was too flustered to recognize him instantly, she slowly reached behind her to grab the bottle, but her shaking hands knocked it over instead. The clatter of the plastic bottle broke both of them out of the awkward silence.

"Well, I'm not your father," the Doctor joked, giving a slight chuckle, but it was caught in his throat when Veronica's face scrunched up angrily.

"You!" Veronica roared. She was going to deal with the spilt alcohol later. "This is your fault!"

"Now," the Doctor called, disappearing into his mysterious blue box, "I can explain!"

Veronica, without thinking of the consequences, pushed herself away from the bar and chased the Doctor into the blue box. Her eyes never left his back as she chased him around a circular table with flips, levers, and buttons galore. She didn't notice any of that. She was too angry.

Laura left.

Her father was unhappy.

Her friends left her.

Alex had transfered schools.

She was alone-and it was his fault. That was all the mattered.

She chased him around one more time before she tripped, and fell flat on her face. It was then, that everything slowed down. The Doctor's breathing slowed as he stopped running, but looked at her carefully, asking himself to help her, or leave her. The room itself also seemed to slow down. The beeps and flashes of color seemed to stand out, and she realized just how big the room was, and how small the box in her basement was. It was like a small, beautiful voice in the back of her mind whispered, "It's him."

Her mind jumped to her mother's journal. The mysterious man her mother had traveled with. The things the Doctor had said those awful two years ago. And it all connected.

The Doctor was the mysterious man her mother had run away with to go on space adventures; and on her last trip, she had died, leaving her child and boyfriend behind.

Veronica took her time getting off the floor. She was flustered by this new information. First she flipped to her back, and took in the beauty of the machine around her. She took in the colors, the texture, and the smell of the machine. It smelled like cooper and the faint smell of cleaning fluid. While strange, the smell was comforting.

Her mother had been here, in this same box, with this same man. She had trusted him with her life time and time again, only for him to save her again and again. Veronica sat up slowly, dragging her hand along the orange rail next to her, and pulled herself up. Her back was to the Doctor. Perhaps he hadn't killed her mother, and considering how they're adventures together supposedly had went, maybe she had died of other things. Veronica hoped her mother had died of natural causes. But a voice in the back of her mind whispered, "It wasn't natural."

Veronica took in a deep breath and smoothed back her hair. "So it's you," she said. Her voice was soft. She turned to face the Doctor, who was looking very uncomfortable. "You're this mysterious man that my mother traveled with." She leaned against the orange rail and watched the Doctor closely, waiting for him to respond.

"Uh yes, yes that's me," the Doctor said, looking around. He leaned up against the control panel. "I'm the Doctor-did she really call me mysterious?" The Doctor smiled, but Veronica stayed stoic, thinking.

"Prove it," she said.

"Prove what?" the Doctor replied dumbly. His eyes glanced around nervously. Unluck when he'd met her before, Veronica was confident and desperate for something the Doctor couldn't put his finger on-and he didn't like not knowing.

"Prove that you're this space man my mother rambled on about in her journal. Do something." Veronica looked around, and spread her arms wide to gesture to the area around her. "Prove to me that this magical box can take us through time and space."

The Doctor was still for a second, before he popped his neck and groaned. For a brief moment Veronica though that he was going to kick her out of his blue box, but the shake of his shoulders assured her otherwise. He bounced up and away from the control center and fixed his bow tie for good measure. "I guess you leave me no choice, Ms Smith." He smiled a huge smile. "But first! You have know my beautiful time machine-the Tardis."

"Tardis," Veronica echoed as the Doctor continued. She crossed her arms, but kept listening.

"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. TARDIS!" The Doctor danced around pulling levers and switches but then he stopped and faced Veronica, who was petting the orange railing of the Tardis. He paused for a moment, stunned by how much Veronica looked like her mother. But his realization only lasted a moment before he smiled again. "Where do you wanna go?"

Author's Note: This is just a short story I'm writing. I will most likely make a lot of mistakes because I'm trying to get it out of my head before I lose it, but I will go over it again and again. So do not worry!

This chapter hasn't been looked over because I've got to get it out of my head! I've been working on it for too long, so please don't be too upset.

Have a great day - and criticism is welcomed. I'm aware that I'm not perfect, and it's okay to point out the flaws. I would actually insist on it because not only will it help me as an author, it would help me to make this an enjoyable story for more people.