Lucy looked at the Doctor in a puzzled manner. "Where do I want to go? Well, everywhere! My sister's traveling the world and I just never really had the guts to go after her." The Doctor nodded sagely and then put the tips of his fingers to his lips, palms pressed together, almost like he was praying. "Keep in mind, Miss Blake" he said "that this is a time machine as well. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. That's T.A.R.D.I.S. We can go anywhere or anywhen in the universe."
"You're joking." Lucy said matter-of-factly. "Okay, now I get it. You've been taking the mickey out of the whole time. Anywhen? Impossible." The Doctor regarded her with a look of complete earnestness and the two just stared at each other for a long time.
"Fine." Lucy said, breaking the silence. "Fine. I want to go to Tiananmen Square. You know when." The Doctor's face fell. Lucy raised an eyebrow, sure she had called his bluff and that he was about to admit that he couldn't really take her back or forward in time. Then, looking down, voice almost a whisper, he said, "Alright, I'll take you. But I'm warning you, I've been and it's not pretty." Lucy's jaw actually dropped.
"You mean… this is for real? We can really go to Tiananmen Square? But, but no one knows what really happened, not for sure anyway. I mean, sure, there are stories, and, and that famous picture of the man staring down the tanks, but God. You're really telling me you take me there and I can see what happened to all those people."
"I'm really telling you I can take you there and you can see what happened to all those people." The Doctor replied. Lucy suppressed a smile. What happened was horrible. Unrest between the People's Republic of China and the actual people of China caused several peaceful and non peaceful demonstrations in 1989, mostly in Tiananmen Square, but also in areas around Beijing and Shanghai. On June 3rd, some 100,000 people were reported to have gathered in the Square. The Army came and started killing people, and soon tanks as well. By June 4th, the Square was completely empty. The next day June 5th, Lucy's birthday, incidentally, the event would be forever immortalized by one man. While Lucy's mind was reeling, the Doctor was walking slowly about the T.A.R.D.I.S., pulling levers and pushing buttons. With a jolt that knocked Lucy off her feet, the ship took off. The Doctor strode over without a word and picked her up by her elbow. Lucy stared at this man, that in less than half an hour had changed her entire life, forever. He was frowning, and those eyes that captivated her looked older than ever. She wondered vaguely if he was mad at her. She had asked him to show her a terrible event and perhaps he wasn't up to it. Perhaps he thought her morbid curiosity repulsive. Or perhaps, he wasn't mad at all and Lucy was, again, reading too much into things. There was another abrupt jolt, this time with Lucy managing to stay on her feet, and they stopped. The Doctor walked to the wooden doors that looked so curious in contrast to the rest of the room and turned to her. "I'm going to warn you again, Lucy. What happened here was nothing short of a nightmare. This has nothing to do with aliens, monsters, anything like that. However" and now he looked stern, like he was her father, chastising her, "this is probably one of the most terrible things you will ever experience." Doubtful, Lucy thought. She'd been through a lot, abusive father besides. The Doctor turned once more, ducking out the door and into the world beyond. Lucy followed, trepidation filling her every pore.
Lucy Blake was met with bodies pressing in on her, moving all as one. People were everywhere, some laughing and talking, others looking sombre, mournful, even. As they walked, the Doctor gave Lucy some more background information. "A few months ago, a very powerful mad died, Hu Yaobang. His people were not allowed to mourn him publicly, as decreed by Mao Zedong. Protests have been going on for weeks, really. Some of them turned violent, burning vehicles, using them as roadblocks. At any rate, about 100,000 people are here now, none of them unified, all of them angry to some extent." Lucy nodded as she struggled to keep up with the Doctor's long, loping stride.
"Is anyone going to notice we aren't Chinese?" she said, looking round at everyone. The Doctor said nothing, just shook his head. Another thought occurred to Lucy, suddenly. "Can we save everyone? Can we tell them to get out now, tell them they'll all be killed if they don't leave? We could save hundreds of-"
"Absolutely not! There are some things in this world that are fixed in time and this is one of them. I've said it a thousand times to people like you, some things have to happen. Terrible things have to happen. The Holocaust, Mt. Vesuvius, wars, even this, Lucy. Even this has to happen."
Lucy could feel her face growing hot, could feel a prickling behind her eyes. "But why?" she almost screamed. Several people looked round, clearly alarmed. The Doctor had been speaking quietly. "Why? Why genocides and death all the time? People say these are examples, that history is one big example, so we don't let it happen again. But it still does. No one learns. Innocent people still get killed because people turn blind eyes while the corrupt rise to power. It isn't hate that's destroying this world, it's indifference!" Lucy stormed away from the Doctor who looked so ancient now. Lucy, ducking her head lest anyone see, let a single hot, angry tear fall from her eye, then composed herself and walked briskly back to the Doctor. "I'm sorry. I understand why things have to happen, but can't you at least understand why I'd want to try to stop them from happening anyway?" The Doctor sighed, looking relieved and saddened all at the same time.
"Oh, Lucy, I do. I really do." He walked over to her and put his left arm round her shoulders, steering her toward the edges of the crowd. They sat down on a nearly vacant square foot and it was then that Lucy realised she couldn't see. "We're going to miss what happens if we stay here, we won't see a thing."
"On the contrary, we'll see plenty." Retorted the Doctor, tightening his hold on Lucy's shoulders.
"Hang on. You said you've been here. You mean, here in Tiananmen? When all this happened?" The Doctor nodded again and sighed gustily. With his free arm he ran a hand through his spiky hair which stuck up at odd angles. "Yes, I've been here. 1989, 3 June. It's nearly half ten in the evening and things are about to get ugly." Just as he said this, Lucy heard the stirrings of thousands of people all around her. Shouts raged through the crowd, orders were being barked into walkie-talkies. It was then that Lucy realised that she could understand everything being said. By the time she'd turned to the Doctor and opened her mouth, he said, "The T.A.R.D.I.S. has an automatic translator. You'll understand every language both foreign and alien. They'll understand you too." Lucy nodded, mind reeling. She looked back up when the first shot was fired. Screaming could be heard several meters away from Lucy and the Doctor. The latter rose and touched Lucy's shoulder, looking at her expectantly. She rose as well and followed him into a partially concealed alleyway. From here, they could see everything going on, and not be a part of it. Objective outsiders. Horrified, disgusted outsiders. When the shooting got too close, they made a mad dash for the T.A.R.D.I.S., hand in hand, just barely getting through the doors as bullets whizzed past their ears. The Doctor kept his back to Lucy who didn't even bother to take a proper seat. She slumped slowly to the floor, knees drawn up to her chest, sobbing silently. Lucy put her hands on either side of the tops of her head and cried, wincing every time a shot came close to her. The Doctor looked round and his face fell when he saw the crushed looking Lucy. He walked over to her and bent down, his face level with hers. "I'm sorry." He said, almost sounding on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry." He drew her into his arms, and she leaned her head against his chest. At one point, Lucy fell asleep, long after the last shots had stopped.
Lucy awoke in a bed. It wasn't hers. This wasn't her room. She bolted up, ready to panic and then remembered where she was. She was in a space ship that was currently located on Tiananmen Square in 1989. Late last night and early into this morning; thousands of people had been killed at the hands of their own government. She threw the covers off herself and looked down at her clothes. She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, black ballet flats and a long tailored yellow shirt with thin black pinstripes. The jeans were covered in gravel and dirt from her stay on the ground and the shirt had several stains on it that looked horribly like blood. Biting down on her tongue was the only thing that kept her from vomiting. She rose and left the room, sure it wasn't the Doctor's. This room looked designed for a permanent guest. She walked down a dim hallway and into the main room of the ship. The Doctor was at the controls and when she approached, slow and gingerly, like if she moved she would break, he looked up. "There we are. Are you ready to leave?" He sounded bright, like last night hadn't happened. Lucy widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows.
"What, what's today? What time is it?"
"The shooting stopped at about 5:40 the morning of 4 June. You fell asleep at about 8:00 that morning. It is now about noon on 5 June. You've been asleep for the whole time."
Lucy reeled and actually staggered on her feet. The Doctor was at her side in no time flat, holding her up. "No, no we can't leave yet. Something's about to happen that I can't miss. Can you take me to that alleyway where we were last night? Or, or the night before, whatever." The Doctor nodded and Lucy was positive that he knew what it was she wanted to see. They left the T.A.R.D.I.S. and walked down the completely empty Square. Lucy was already stifling sobs. In about seven hours, around 7,000 people, civilian and military, had died, the rest simply disappeared. Lucy looked at the empty Square, wondering where they were. Dead? In some torture chambre? Jail? Thousands of people didn't just disappear. Finally, they reached the alcove and ducked inside. And then they saw it. One man. One man in a white shirt and black trousers holding a bag of groceries. He was on their left, his profile to them, looking forward at a column of tanks coming straight for him. Lucy grabbed the Doctor's hand, witnessing history. Today was her birthday, marked by grief and death. The tanks moved aside, ready to go around the lone man. He moved back in the path of the tanks and they stopped. Climbing up the front, the man looked like he was storming a castle. A soldier stepped out of the tank to speak to him. Lucy and the Doctor could just barely hear. "Why are you here?" he said. "You have caused nothing but misery." Without waiting for an answer, he turned and went back to his position, directly in front of the tanks. Eventually, he was pulled aside, talked to by the police, but this conversation neither Lucy nor the Doctor could hear. The press had gathered everywhere and Lucy was crying freely now. No one ever learned for sure what happened to this man. Most believed he was taken away immediately and executed. The Doctor was taking charge now, leading Lucy away, out of sight from the tanks and out of reach of the media. Back in the T.A.R.D.I.S., Lucy put a hand to her phone, about to call Juliet and wish her a happy birthday. Then she remembered that it was six months away from their birthday, and that she had traveled back in time. "Happy Birthday, Lucy and Juliet." She said under her breath.
"What was that?" asked the Doctor?
"It's just, um, here anyway, it's mine and my sister's birthday. You know, not back in my time, but here, 5 June, 1989, Tiananmen Square. Never knew the dates coincided." The Doctor gave her hand a squeeze and said. "I'm really very sorry, Lucy. I'm sorry you had to see all that."
"You were right, you know. When you said that it would be one of the hardest things I'll ever go through. And I've been through a lot."
"Feeling up to sharing?"
"Not in the least. I don't know what I feel. Part of me wants to go home and pretend I never met you. The other part, the part I like better never wants to go home again."
"You're welcome to stay with me, Lucy. To travel with me. We can go everywhere. We'll do something nice next. Something fun. Maybe, Woodstock, you'd love Janis Joplin." Lucy laughed and for some reason knew that the Doctor was speaking with all sincerity. She looked down at the bloodstains on her clothes, her shaking hands and laughed even harder. "Yes, Doctor. I'd like that, I think." The Doctor winked and before the ship sailed off again, Lucy got one last look at the deserted Square and could have sworn she saw that lone man who stood on the tanks looking directly at her from across the Square.
