Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or any of the games that are mentioned in this chapter.
A/N: Sorry this is rather late; I was struggling with writer's block for the last quarter. Also, I don't think I'll bother with sneak peaks, seeing as how I'll probably keep forgetting to do them.
Dear Little Brother
The gentle hum of the TARDIS filled Laura's bedroom as she sat on the edge of her bed, lost in thought. There was a knock on the door; she blinked, looked up and called "Uh, come in".
Charlotte opened the door and smiled brightly at Laura as she stepped inside. "Hey! You alright?" she asked, shutting the door and walking over to the bed. "The Doctor's busy on the console, doing who knows what" she explained, flopping onto her back and then sitting up again.
Laura nodded hesitantly and replied, "Okay". This wasn't exactly true, but she wasn't upset or anything, she was just a bit…down. Laura partly hoped that her friend wouldn't notice, but in fact Charlotte did, and she immediately raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" she asked doubtfully, "Cos you've got that look on your face, you know".
"W-what look?"
"Your 'something's bothering me but I won't talk about it' look" explained Charlotte, "Come on, what's wrong?"
"…I guess I'm just a bit…homesick" Laura admitted after a moment or so. Charlotte sighed and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah, me too…but, there's not much we can do about it" she pointed out, as hard as it was to say that. Normally she tried not to think about how very far away from home they were, and tried to ignore the myriad of little moments that reminded her of her family…which was a lot of things, unfortunately. She took a deep breath and gave Laura a friendly squeeze. "Let's go on an adventure, take our minds off it" she suggested.
"It's not just that, it's...today is when…when Josh died" Laura mumbled, not meeting Charlotte's eyes. Charlotte sighed; Laura had lost her unborn baby brother in a car accident and she'd never quite gotten over his loss. Bouts of sadness overcame her on the awful anniversary, making her very melancholy and unresponsive. She glanced at Charlotte and said "I don't think I feel like going on an adventure today".
"You can't just stay in here" Charlotte protested in dismay, "It won't be as fun exploring without you. We can go wherever you want, just…you can't sit in here moping" she prompted.
With a bit of coaxing, she got Laura out of her bedroom and back to the console room. The Doctor was lying on his back on a skateboard under the console room, like it was a car engine. Charlotte walked over and lay down on her stomach next to him. "Hey" she smiled cheerfully at him.
"Hey!" he grinned back, gripping the edge of the console to slide from underneath it. Charlotte put a hand on his shoulder and quickly muttered "Laura's feeling kinda down. Don't ask her why, just…let her pick the destination. I know it was your turn but"-
"Yeah, that's fine" the Doctor agreed almost immediately, before sliding out from under the console and practically bouncing to his feet. "Okay, so, where do you want to go?" he asked Laura. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and said "Um, well, Charlotte and I are feeling kind of homesick, so maybe we could visit the parallel version of our home town?" she suggested hesitantly, "Just for a little bit".
"What if we accidentally run into our alternate versions?" asked Charlotte, before realising, "Actually, that would be pretty cool! We could pretend we were like, their clones from the future or something. If we did meet them, it wouldn't be that bad, would it?" she asked the Doctor, "I mean it's not like the universe would explode or something".
"Well, no…but it isn't usually a good idea to meet the parallel you. At least it never worked out for me" he answered, walking over to the scanner.
"Is that because the alternate versions of you that you met were all evil?"
"What – no! They weren't all evil...look, that's not the point here. The point is, we need to ensure you're not going run into your parallel selves. Meeting yourself, under any circumstances, makes you competitive, argumentative and just generally"-
"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Meeting yourself makes you competitive and argumentative?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "What about your Ganger? You didn't compete or argue with him, as far as I remember".
"Uh, that – I – clones don't count" –
"How do they not count?" she laughed, "If you meet your clone then you've met yourself…or were you talking about meeting your other incarnations? You're saying that every single time you've accidentally crossed your own timeline, you've argued and competed with yourself…except for when the fifth and tenth Doctor's TARDISes merged, for one. I feel like this is really about you being afraid that you'd have four of us ganging up on you at once".
The Doctor stared indignantly at her. "I – that's not – this isn't…shut up!" he rambled, pointing a warning finger at her. Charlotte and Laura sniggered and walked over to look at the scanner over his shoulder. Images of their faces appeared on one side of the screen, with two black spaces on the other side. "What is it doing?" Laura asked curiously.
"The TARDIS just scanned you both, and now she's analysing the data from Earth, England, 21st century to see if there's any matches for your identity within those parameters. She should be finished right…about…now" replied the Doctor – and the scanner continued. Embarrassed, he gave them both a warning 'don't-even-think-about-it-look', and they pressed their lips together in an attempt to not giggle.
A few moments later, the scanner reported that no matches for their identities could be found. "Does this mean we can visit our alternate hometown?" Laura inquired, hope filling her voice.
The Doctor nodded, and held up a hand, saying "Now this doesn't necessarily mean that your parallel friends and family don't exist here; so whatever happens, no matter how tempted you get, don't go looking for or talk to them if you see them. I know that might be hard, and I'm sorry, but it's for the best. They wouldn't recognise you, they wouldn't be your family. It would just be difficult for you…okay?"
They nodded solemnly. The TARDIS materialised and landed with the characteristic thump...Laura swallowed, and moved towards the door in trepidation. She pushed open the door, stepped out and blinked in the sunlight. Once her eyes adjusted, she could see the beach and the coloured wooden chalets the TARDIS had landed beside, and the castle ruins up on the cliff… "We're here! This is it!" she beamed, looking around at the familiar sight.
Charlotte and the Doctor followed her out, the former slipping on a pair of sunglasses. "It really is…oh, there's one difference already. The SeaLife centre here is modelled after the Sydney Opera House" Charlotte noticed, pointing down the beach at the white, geometric building, "It actually looks quite good" she remarked approvingly.
They walked along the beach towards the arcades and the town, trying to spot anything else that looked unfamiliar, but not much did. "It's so weird…if I didn't know we were in an alternate universe, I'd think we were back…" Charlotte commented; then she shrugged and added "Eh, I guess when you've seen one seaside town you've seen them all, right?"
"What's the difference between a parallel universe and an alternate universe anyway?" Laura wondered.
Before the Doctor could start to explain, Charlotte launched into a theory of her own devising. "Well I think a parallel universe is where one is, like, a mirror of the other – you know, like a universe where everyone is gender-swapped".
"Or where good people are bad and bad people are good?"
"Exactly; and an alternate universe is where it diverged and split off at a key point in history, and that's why there are all those time-differentials and stuff" she finished…before looking at the Doctor and hopefully inquiring "So…am I close?"
"Uh, well…no" he admitted, "You're on the right lines, but what you're thinking of are mirror universes and parallel universes, or alternate timelines".
"So are there universes where everyone is gender-swapped?"
"Laura, there are billions of parallel universes out there, all sort of…well, you know those Russian nesting dolls? Imagine all the universes nested inside one another, except they're never touching and in the space between is the Void, which goes on forever, even though it's full of parallel universes; no, on second thoughts, forget I said that, nobody could imagine that. Suffice to say that yes, in theory there is a universe somewhere, where gender or morality or some other variable has been flipped over".
"What about the other two things?" asked Charlotte, "What's the difference between them?"
"Okay, first of all, the difference between a parallel universe and an alternate one is that a parallel universe is just, sort of an off-shoot; an example of how things could have been, an alternate timeline essentially; but a fully alternate universe replaces the one it split off from entirely" the Doctor explained.
Once his companions had digested this information, Charlotte curiously inquired "I always wondered, you can feel the planet turning, right? How do you not get dizzy?"
"The same reason you don't feel it at all; I'm moving at the same speed as whatever planet I'm on…plus, I'm not really feeling the spin the way I think you're imagining it. You were picturing me actually feeling the ground move underneath me, like a giant treadmill, weren't you?"
"Uh…maybe…"
He chuckled. "It's not really like that at all; it's not a physical sense, per se, it's part of my time sense" he explained.
Laura asked "Is your time sense what lets you see the future?"
"Yeah, but I really see potential futures; what could be, what should be and even what must never be".
"I never got that either" Charlotte admitted, "I mean, doesn't that get confusing? What if you get distracted by something in a potential future timeline and walk into a wall, or something – oh wait, that would actually explain a lot" she grinned in amusement.
"Ha, ha, very funny; and that doesn't happen because I can see the present, past and future simultaneously, but I can also keep them separate in my head. I'd explain how it works, but you wouldn't really understand".
"Cos we're dumb humans" Charlotte said in a mock self-deprecating manner. As the Doctor had discovered, she had a bit of an odd sense of humour; she didn't want their friendship to turn into, as she put it, "a weird Freudian pseudo-parental thing' because of her homesickness, and decided the best way to not think of him as a father figure would be to tease the stuffing out of him. He was getting used to it.
"Of course not; it's just that human brains aren't designed to be able to picture three different realities simultaneously, without them overlapping. Plus, for me it's so intuitive that I don't think about it much, so I'd have trouble describing it" the Doctor explained. By now they'd reached the arcades, with the pinging slot machines and the chink of coins.
"See, this is what I love about you humans" the Doctor smiled, "You just carry on; never mind the alien invasions, you've got things to do, chips to eat, arcades games to play on…"
"Yeah, but don't forget, we're in Britain" Charlotte remarked, "Besides, I always thought this stuff was kind of point- ooh!"
Distracted, she hurried over to a claw machine and pointed at a stuffed blue dolphin plush inside. "Aww, look at the cute little dolphin! I love dolphins" she beamed happily, "It's so adorable…I wish I was good at these claw things. Or that I had money…do either of you have any money?" she wondered.
The other two shook their heads, and then the Doctor suggested "I can just sonic the machine on, if you like. I can get the dolphin for you as well".
Charlotte blinked at him. "Err…wouldn't that be like stealing?"
"Well…yes…but they'll get plenty of money from everyone else that comes here, I don't think one twenty pence piece is going to make much of a difference".
She sighed and said "It doesn't matter; I don't really need a plush toy, I'm too old for them anyway, and I don't want to steal it – it's a matter of principle – so, goodbye adorable dolphin plushie".
Laura decided she wanted to make sure her friend got that dolphin – it really was adorable – so she spoke to a passing teenage boy and politely asked him "Excuse me, you don't happen to have a spare 20p, do you?"
The boy dug a hand in his pocket and pulled out a handful of change, counting out two 10ps and handing them to Laura. She in turn gave them to the Doctor, who fed them into the machine (it accepted them, fortunately) and deftly manipulated the joystick to pluck the dolphin from the pile and drop it into the chute. He handed it to Charlotte, who hugged it to her chest and beamed gratefully at him; then she noticed the boy staring at her and quickly stopped squeezing the toy. "Aheh, thanks for that…it's for my little sister".
"Sure, no problem" he replied with a casual shrug.
"Yeah, thanks" Laura smiled, before asking "Um, have we met? You look…sort of familiar" she noticed. He was a bit taller than her, and lanky, with tight jeans and a 'Guns'n'Roses' t-shirt on. His eyes were dark blue, like her dads, and his hair was dark brown, like her mum's…exactly like, in fact...it was uncanny.
"Um, don't think so. I'm Josh, by the way, Josh Seamer" he introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake. Laura just stared at him, so the Doctor shook his hand instead. "Good to meet you, Josh, you're a life-saver. Well, not literally. It's quite a coincidence actually, Laura here is…Laura? Are you alright?" the rambling Time Lord asked in concern, seeing as how Laura had grown rather pale, and was staring at a now uncomfortable Josh as if he were a ghost.
"J-J-Josh?"
"Uh, yeah…are you okay?" he asked, wondering if she wasn't quite right in the head.
Laura swallowed and asked shakingly, "H-how, how old are you?"
"I'm sixteen…why?"
Other people were starting to notice, their gazes landing on Laura; she finally noticed the attention and shook her head. "N-nothing, I…I'm sorry, I have to go" she said hurriedly, before ducking past Josh and running out of the arcade. Charlotte hastily apologised – "Sorry about this" – and ran after her, with the Doctor close behind. Laura didn't get far; just around the corner of the building, where she stood leaning against the wall, her face buried in her hands.
Charlotte came and placed her hands on Laura's shaking shoulders. "Hey, don't cry, please. It's alright…it might just be a coincidence" she reasoned. Laura lowered her hands and sniffled, "No, it isn't. It's him, I know it is. I can feel it!"
The Doctor looked at them both helplessly. "Err, sorry, Doctor not following here, Doctor very lost. Laura, what's wrong?"
"It's Josh, Doctor. He's my little brother!"
"What?"
"He's alive here. He's alive…did you see him? He looks so handsome…" she sniffled and stared helplessly at the ground. The Doctor looked at Charlotte, hoping she might have more of an answer. Charlotte sighed and explained "When Laura was seven, her mum got pregnant. On the way to the hospital, her dad was in a rush and, a car ahead braked suddenly…they didn't think anyone was badly injured, but when they got to the hospital, the baby was…"
She trailed off, because it was clear from the Doctor's expression that he understood. He pulled Laura into a hug and closed his eyes in regret. "Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry…"
For lack of any better ideas, Charlotte joined in the hug. Laura pulled away first and scrubbed at her reddened eyes, insisting "I'm okay now. Honest…it just shook me up a bit, that's all".
Charlotte bit her lip and hesitantly suggested, "Uh, maybe…maybe it'd help if you went back and apologised for running off, and tried to get to know Josh a bit…you know?"
This suggestion had Laura looking thoughtful; or doubtful, it was hard to tell with her sometimes. "Um…I'm not sure he'd want to talk…and besides, we promised the Doctor, remember?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure if this is a great idea" the Doctor admitted. Charlotte frowned and asked "Can't you ignore your rules this one time? I mean, it's the only chance she'll ever get to spend time with her brother. I'm not saying she has to tell him who she actually is, I just think it'd be good for her to have closure. Are you saying it's bad for me to want my best friend to have closure?"
"No, that's not…look, I know you mean well, but I think Laura will just be hurt more if she spends time around someone who isn't really her brother".
"You don't know that for sure; she never got to know her real brother, so finding out what he might have been like will be good for her".
"You don't know that for sure" the Doctor protested.
"Guys!" Laura cut into their argument with a huff, "Please stop arguing".
Both of them looked contrite immediately. "Sorry" Charlotte sighed, "It's really your decision in the end" she admitted.
"Yes, it is" Laura agreed firmly, before faltering and adding "I just wish I knew what to decide. I mean, I would like a chance to…to see how Josh might have turned out, if things had been different. He's probably left the arcade by now, though" she pointed out, frowning a bit in disappointment. Charlotte's face fell a bit as well, and she put a hand on Laura's shoulder in sympathy.
"…Well, then. We'll just have to find him, won't we?" the Doctor asked rhetorically, "And there's always the possibility that he hasn't left the arcade".
His two current companions looked at him in surprise. "You – you're okay with this?" asked Charlotte.
"Well, like you say, it's Laura's decision really" he acknowledged, before asking Laura, "Do you think you're up for spending time with Josh?"
The thoughtful-doubtful expression came back. "Hmm…I want to try, I know that much. I don't think he'll really want to hang out with a complete stranger he's only just met, though. I didn't exactly make the best first impression, after all" she pointed out, embarrassed.
It was true that Josh had probably been less than impressed with her odd behaviour, but maybe he'd understand…one could only hope, right? "Not to pressure you or anything, but this is sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity…" Charlotte pointed out.
Laura took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right…let's go and find my little brother".
/
It didn't take long to track Josh down again; they found him in the arcade, playing Mario Kart. Laura took a deep breath and approached him, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt. "Um, hey, Josh?" she said cautiously, to get his attention. He looked over and did a double take, before pausing the game so he could talk. "Oh, hey; we met earlier, right?"
"Yeah, by the claw machine. Uh, sorry about running off like that. I have these panic attacks sometimes, but I'm fine now" she explained. It was as good an excuse as any.
"That's good…it wasn't something I did that set you off, was it?"
"No! No, it's fine. Anyway, uh, I felt bad that we got off on the wrong foot, so I thought I'd come back and just, see if you wanted to hang out" Laura explained with a shrug.
Josh shrugged right back. "I got nothing better to do, so sure". He held up the other controller and switched the game to multiplayer mode. "Wanna play?"
"You bet" Laura smiled, taking the controller. He was Mario, she was Princess Peach, and he won the first round – but not by much. "You're not bad. You play a lot of video games?"
"Yeah, but Sonic the Hedgehog is my favourite".
"No kidding, mine too. Hey, where're those friends of yours?"
"Oh, I think they're getting chips. So, uh, where are your friends?"
Josh was busy steering his character around an obstacle to answer, but then he replied "They're all out of town or sick. There's this flu going round, just so y'know".
"I'll keep that in mind" Laura said. She appreciated the advice, and was glad that she'd got into the habit of taking a bottle of antiseptic gel around with her. So had Charlotte; sometimes they got into rather icky messes, and they wanted to feel like their hands were clean after they'd been in dungeons or slogging through swamps. "Sorry about your friends" she added.
"Eh, it happens. Still sucks, though".
"Yeah…well, I'm happy to hang out with you, however long you want".
"Thanks...um, can I ask why? Uh, no offence, it's just…we only met ten minutes or so ago".
Oh dear; this was what Laura had been dreading. She'd never been good at coming up with excuses right off the bat, and the truth – 'Because you're actually the alternate version of my stillborn younger brother and I've always wondered what you'd be like' – just wasn't going to cut it. She had to give him some kind of answer, though. Laura bit her lip and then explained "It's no big deal…like I said, I felt awkward for how things went first time, and I wanted to try again. Also…you kind of remind me of someone I knew a long time ago, and I guess that makes you interesting".
"Huh. That makes sense, I guess. So…you ready for me to beat you in Mario Kart again?"
Laura grinned, "Bring, it, on".
They played another two rounds of Mario Kart before moving on when they realised there were impatient people behind them. "Should we go for a walk?" Laura suggested, "It's a really nice day, it'd be a shame to spend it indoors".
"Sure, why not?" Josh shrugged, sounding a tad bored. Oblivious, Laura left the arcade with him in tow and began making her way down the boulevard, heading towards the park. There was a fish and chip shop near the other side of the park and that was probably where Charlotte and the Doctor had gone. "I was thinking we could go up to the fish and chip shop and meet up with my other friends. I think you'll like them" she said confidently.
"Uh, sure...but the chippie is the other way" said Josh, pointing back the way they'd come.
Laura pulled up short and grinned awkwardly. "Oh…I was going to the one near the park, but if there's one nearer than that, then"-
"What park? You mean the skate park?" Josh asked, frowning in confusion, "There isn't a chippie near there".
"Err, no, I mean the park…you know, with the ducks and squirrels, and Chinese lanterns and everything?"
Josh stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "There isn't a park like that around here…are you sure you're not thinking of somewhere else?"
Oh, right – parallel world, duh Laura chided herself, face-palming. "Uh, yeah, I must've been…so, err, where is the chip shop?" she asked awkwardly, before suggesting "Maybe later we could go to this skate park you mentioned".
Josh raised an eyebrow at her. "Can you skate?" he asked dubiously, giving her the once-over. Laura flushed a bit in embarrassment and admitted, "Well, uh…no, I can't. Still, maybe you could teach me a bit? If you skate, that is" she added hastily.
Before he could answer, Josh's mobile rang. "Hang on a sec" he said, taking it out of his pocket. "Hey, mate…oh, nice one! Yeah, I'm just down by the arcades…nah, don't bother, I'll come up and meet you there…yeah, see ya" – he hung up and stuck the phone back in his jeans, before shrugging apologetically at Laura. "My mate Ian just got out of his part time job at Tesco's. So err, it was nice meeting you and all, but I'd better get going…"
"Wait!" Laura spoke up hurriedly, "Uh, maybe I…maybe I could come with you, to meet Ian?"
"Shouldn't you be looking for your other friends?"
"You and Ian could help me look…"
"Uh…look, Laura…it is Laura, right?"
"Yeah…"
"No offence or anything, I'm sure you're nice but…you're kind of creeping me out. You're just not my type, okay?" Josh said awkwardly.
Laura stared at him for a few seconds as it sunk in, and then pulled a face. "Oh, eugh, no! I wasn't – I'm sorry I made you think I was – I mean you're not my type either".
"Gee, thanks".
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" Laura backtracked quickly and face-palmed again. "Ugh, stupid…stupid…"
People were starting to turn their heads, and Josh shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "Uh, it's fine, honest...so, um, I'll see you around?"
"Wait! Just, wait…I wanna show you something" Laura said quickly, "It's really cool, and it won't take long. It's just down the promenade".
"What is it?" Josh asked suspiciously.
"It's err…it's hard to explain. Just come and see it, please. You'll like it, I promise" she said earnestly. Josh was still doubtful, but he felt kind of sorry for her, so he reluctantly agreed, "Okay, so long as it doesn't take too long".
Laura beamed and beckoned for him to follow her. She hurried back down the promenade, to the end of the chalets. The TARDIS was right where they left it. Laura stepped up to the door and pulled out her key, placed it in the lock…but it wouldn't turn. She frowned and twisted it harder, but to no avail. "Oh, come on" she huffed, "What gives?"
"Is this it?" Josh asked, "A box?" It was clear from his tone, now that Laura was paying attention, that he wasn't very impressed.
"It's not just a box. I mean, think about it – have you ever seen this box here before?"
He shrugged and said "Dunno".
"It hasn't always been here, Josh. It's how my friends and I got here, and I can show you, if I could just – ugh – get it open" she complained, scowling in frustration. The key remained stubbornly un-turnable. Come on, Sexy, let me in. Please? Laura pleaded telepathically with the TARDIS…at least she thought she was, she had no idea how it worked. Either way, there was no sign of the TARDIS opening.
"You came here in a box?" Josh scoffed, before muttering "Now I know you're crazy".
"I'm not crazy!" Laura protested indignantly, having overheard him. Josh raised an eyebrow, and she realised that everything she'd done so far – running off, insisting there was a park when there wasn't, asking to meet his friend and now trying to break into a police box – it was all going to make her seem crazy, and she didn't want him to think she was nuts… "Joshua, please, you have to believe me. I know I've been acting weird, and you're probably wondering why I'm bothering you so much. The truth is…"
Laura hesitated. Can I tell him? Should I tell him? The Doctor was right, I shouldn't have tried to talk to Josh, but there's no going back now… She took a deep breath, "The truth is, I'm actually…from a parallel universe. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true, I swear".
"Parallel universe? What, like in a sci-fi novel?"
"Yeah, exactly!" Laura nodded, "I'm from a universe where – well, where you're my little brother. That's who you remind me of".
"Right…I'm leaving now" Josh decided, turning on his heel and walking away. Laura hurried forward and grabbed his shoulder. "I can prove it!" she said desperately, "Your full name is Joshua Alan Seamer, you were born on the 25th July, your mum and dad are called Gemma and Alan, you used to live in Lancashire with a cat named White Socks, and now you live in a terraced house in town, up from the fire station".
Josh stared at her in disbelief. "How the heck do you know all that?" he demanded, now seriously disturbed.
"Because we're related!" she insisted, "In a parallel world at least".
"No way, that's insane. There's no such thing as parallel universes. Seriously, I need to leave, my mate's waiting for me".
"Please, just listen – I'm not crazy, I just wanted to get to know you!"
"Yeah, but why? Let's say I humour you; if I'm the parallel version of your brother, then why would you need to get to know me? Are we different somehow?"
"No, you – you're not alive in my universe. You were stillborn, but I always wanted to know what you'd be like if you'd made it, and instead I've made you think I'm a crazy stalker or something, and it all went wrong…" Distraught, Laura's eyes filled with tears, which spilled down her cheeks. Josh winced – he hadn't meant to upset her, he was just weirded out, and who could blame him?
"Aw, jeeze, don't cry. Come on, don't – look, how about we pretend all of this never happened. You go your way, I'll go mine and I won't tell anyone about this, okay?"
She sniffled, blew her nose and answered "I'm really sorry, Josh. I ruined your day, and I should've known better…you should just leave. It was nice meeting you" Laura said despondently, leaning against the TARDIS with her head hanging. Josh opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again, not knowing what to say…he looked again at the blue box she was leaning against, and realised that every time he'd walked down here, he'd never seen it before.
His phone buzzed – it was a text from Ian, asking him what was taking so long. He texted back to say he'd be there soon, and then took a deep breath. "Hey…how about I help you get inside this box? You can show me whatever's inside, and then we'll let bygones be bygones – or whatever the saying is".
Laura stepped away from the box, frowning. "Okay…but how? The key won't turn".
"Don't need the key" he said confidently, pulling it out and handing it to her. Then he took out a wallet and removed a lock-pick from the spine, inserting it into the keyhole.
Sorry about this, Sexy Laura thought apologetically, before asking with a touch of disapproval, "Where did you learn to pick a lock?"
"Nowhere bad" Josh replied, "It's just, I forget my house key a lot, so a friend of mine taught me this as a backup".
"Oh, I used to do that a lot. Forget my key, I mean…I attached it to the inside of my bag so I wouldn't forget it, but then I'd go out without my bag instead".
Josh chuckled in spite of himself. Something clicked in the lock, and he said "Hang on, I think I've almost got it".
Someone cleared their throat behind the pair. The Doctor and Charlotte had returned, the latter holding a bag full of fish and chips (as well as her dolphin toy) and wearing a worried, guilty expression. She stepped between Josh and the Doctor, and implored him, "Don't be mad at her, it's my fault for say"-
The Doctor just looked at her, and she felt her insides wither. Charlotte winced and stepped aside, next to Laura. "I'm so sorry" she apologised, feeling guilty for not realising what a bad idea she'd suggested.
"It's okay" Laura forgave her; after all, she knew Charlotte had only had her best interests at heart.
"It's not their fault, mister" Josh admitted, "It was my idea to pick the lock – she wanted to show me what was inside" he explained, gesturing to Laura.
"Inside that box" the Doctor began, "Is everything…and it isn't yours to show off" he admonished Laura. She shrank down and apologised. "I'm really sorry; I guess I got a bit carried away".
The Doctor's gaze softened. "Well…there isn't really a rule against showing anyone the TARDIS. I just want you to ask me next time, okay?"
"Okay" Laura nodded immediately, "…but I didn't know where you were".
He just looked at her, and pulled his phone out of his jacket.
"Oh, right…"
That reminded Josh that he had somewhere else to be. He pulled his lock-pick out and tried to sidle away, but the Doctor held an arm out and blocked his path. "Hey, look, I'm sorry I tried to break into your box, but I need to go, I'm late to meet someone" Josh explained a touch impatiently.
"Don't you want to see everything?"
"What do you"- Josh cut himself off when the Doctor snapped his fingers, and the door to the TARDIS swung open. He peered inside, and his eyes widened…he went in a bit further… "No way…no freaking way!" he exclaimed, staring around the interior in amazement. "It's bigger on the inside…how'd you do that? Is it some kind of optical illusion?"
"Something like that" the Doctor said airily, ushering his companions inside and shutting the door behind them all. He bounded up to the console, leaving Josh standing in an almost stupor.
Josh turned to Laura and said, "I take back what I said about you being crazy. This is crazy".
She grinned a bit and said in reply, "It's okay; I'd probably think I was crazy too".
"That's really my fault" Charlotte cut in. "I said that Laura should get to know you…I thought it would give her closure, but I didn't really think about how it would look from your point of view. So, sorry about that" she apologised to Josh.
He shrugged and answered, "Don't sweat it – I didn't really mind the company. You're not half bad" he told Laura.
"Thanks; you're a nice guy as well. I'm really glad I met you" she smiled back.
"Yeah…am I really your brother in another universe? Or, who your brother would have been…"
"It's true" Laura nodded earnestly, "but I understand if you don't believe me".
"After seeing this place, I'm not sure what to believe" Josh admitted. The Doctor grinned manically, and darted away from the console – he'd put the stabilisers on for once – over to the doors. "You ain't seen nothing yet" he said in a Texan accent, pulling open the doors to reveal a spiral galaxy. Everyone moved to stare out at it in awe.
"Woah…is that for real?" Josh asked in disbelief. He stretched an arm out, expecting it to be a hologram, but nothing happened. "What are we breathing?"
"Don't worry, I've extended the air shell" the Doctor reassured them, before explaining "This is the Nigellan Four Galaxy, in 3025, the height of the Nigellan Empire. So, Josh, if you had managed to break into my TARDIS - which you wouldn't have, by the way – do you think you'd have managed to pilot her here?"
"No…"
"Do you think you'd have managed to do anything at all?"
"No…"
"Do you want to go back now?"
"…Yes, please".
They shut the doors, and the Doctor piloted them back to the beach. "That was insane…I think I believe you now" Josh told Laura, "After seeing that, I can believe anything. Man, Ian is gonna think I'm"-
"He's not going to think anything" the Doctor interrupted, "Because you're not going to tell him, because you're not going to remember this".
"Huh? What d'you mean?"
"I'm going to erase your memory of us" the Doctor explained bluntly
"Even me?" Laura asked sadly.
"He'd never be able to tell anyone about you" the Doctor pointed out. Laura thought about it and realised he was right, and sighed. "Yeah, okay…it was really nice to meet you, Josh" she told him, "You're a great guy, and your mum and dad should be proud of you. I know mine would be. I love you, and I'm really gonna miss you, my dear little brother". She stepped forward and hugged him tightly, then let go and stepped back.
Charlotte put an arm around her shoulders and nodded to Josh. He nodded back, and then looked at the Doctor, wondering how on earth the guy was going to erase his memories. "This won't hurt a bit" the Doctor promised, before pressing his fingers to Josh's temples. The boy blinked, his eyes glazing over; the Doctor guided him out of the TARDIS and shut the door, before going back to the console and putting them in flight.
"He'll be fine – he'll wonder how he got there and then he'll go off and meet his friend" the Doctor explained. He put his hands on Laura's shoulders and asked gently, "How do you feel?"
"A bit sad…but I think I'll be alright. Thank you for helping me convince Josh I wasn't lying" she replied gratefully.
He smiled and tapped her on the nose. "You're welcome".
"You're taking us breaking the rules pretty well" Charlotte noted hesitantly.
"Well, it's just as much my fault as yours, in a way" the Doctor acknowledged, "And after all, you're only human. I hope you've both learned your lesson, though".
"Oh, definitely" Laura nodded emphatically, as did Charlotte.
"Good…now, let's eat these fish and chips, eh? I'm starving" the Doctor declared, taking a box out of the plastic bag.
"Are they still warm?" asked Laura.
"Don't worry, I sonicked the containers to increase the insulation by a factor of 10…"