Chapter 3- Faith, Trust, and Hot Dogs

We ended up going to Millennium Park that day, well away from my apartment. Once we found a nice street so the TARDIS could sit without being bothered (and you thought parking a car was bad?), we stopped at a hot dog cart and purchased a couple. We made our way to through the Park and ate the dogs in silence (they were really good hot dogs). We got to Lurie Garden as we finished the hot dogs and started the Q&A session.

"So, the Aligrena," I began. "What do you know?"

The Doctor said, "I picked up the Aligrena crash signal from about three weeks ago. The TARDIS couldn't follow its specific time track, and we just landed about an hour ago. The Aligrena have such a strong encryption key I couldn't crack it until they made a move on your sister. The attack sent out a signal that the TARDIS tracked to your flat."

"So they took Naomi just because she was there?" I snarled, my fingernails digging into my palms. "It might've been a fluke."

The Doctor led me off the main path and down a vacant side trail which twisted and turned through a cluster of flower beds. "Erica," he said, slurring the letter A at the end of my name. "As far as I know, there's a specific reason they went after your sister. Remember what the Aligrena said? It said that you and your sister had a calibrated mind. I don't know what they need a calibrated mind for, or even how they calibrate a mind, but I will find her."

I looked up at him, suddenly angry. "Who are you?" I demanded. "Why were you in my apartment? Why did you only get there in time to save me and not Naomi?!"

"Erica, if I had the chance to save your sister, I would have," the Doctor pleaded, clasping my small hands in his broad ones consolingly. "I could only pick up the Aligrena's signal after they'd taken her. I'd go back and save her now in a heartbeat, but crossing our own timeline would be catastrophic. If I rescued her then, our timelines would rewrite themselves. Time can be rewritten, but not once you know what's going to happen. It's impossible." I could see the sincerity in his eyes—he truly meant his words. He would have saved my sister if he could've.

But that didn't change the fact that he didn't.

"Get away from me," I snarled, shoving him away. I marched down the path, back onto the main trail, and away from the Doctor, who still followed me. He got cut off by a trio of elderly men interrupting each other with war stories, and I used the temporary deflect to run down a side road. I had started out as jogging, but then I began running, and soon I had sunk into a full-out sprint. I had to get away—from the Doctor, from the Aligrena, from the fact that my sister was gone and it was all my fault.

The thought of Naomi made all the energy drain out of me after about twenty yards. I fell out of my sprint and into a desperate walk, collapsing onto the first park bench I saw. Soon enough, I had caught my breath, and that's when I started crying.

I thought of Naomi, probably hooked up to Martian technology with all sorts of wires and needles—oh God, she hates needles—and of the Aligrena, lying in the TARDIS just waiting to destroy the time-and-space machine and any chances I had of finding my sister. I buried my face in my hands and cried into them, not even caring enough to wipe them off when they were coated in tears. Thankfully, the passersby who were just trying to enjoy the nice June day ignored me, and I tried to keep my sobs as silent as possible in return. Just the possibility that somewhere those fiends could be harming her terrified me—my entire life had been dedicated to caring for her, protecting her.

Hell of a job I had done.

It was only a few minutes until I peered through my fingers and found two brown leather boots in my line of vision, the high tops left exposed. I raised my head and found the Doctor standing over me, his face apologetic.

"Is it you, the real you?" I asked, wiping my hands on my jeans. "Not some robot replica?"

"It's really me," he replied.

"How do I know?"

He smiled consolingly. "Banana bread."

I sighed, relieved. "I'm sorry," I said pleadingly. "I get that you couldn't get to my sister in time. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."

"May I sit?" he asked. When I gestured to him that sitting was fine, he settled down next to me, folding his hands between his knees. "I understand, Erica," he said in a low voice. "Believe me, I do. You had every right to react like that."

"What do I do?" I moaned. "She's probably all the way across the universe by now, having God-knows-what done to her. I thought she was just taking forever to wake up!" I dragged my hand down my face. "Some sister I am."

"Today…" the Doctor began, with an air of not knowing the next words coming out of his mouth, "…today's events were beyond your control. You can't blame yourself for the Aligrena. The fault lies not with you for not being able to save Naomi, but with the Aligrena for attacking her in the first place."

"What do they want?" I asked, wiping my face and hands.

"I don't know, Erica, but I will find out," the Doctor said, standing up. I rose with him, he threw his arm across my shoulders comfortingly, and we silently walked away from the park bench, away from Lurie Garden, and out of Millennium Park. As we trekked back toward the TARDIS in silence, a new thought blossomed in my head, one that, when I presented it to the Doctor as a fully-fledged plan, would either be taken very seriously by the alien or would just be laughed off as ridiculous.

As we turned back down the alley and the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS, I lingered a few feet back. The Doctor slipped into his blue box and turned around to face me, a half-consoling smile on his face.

"Thank you for your help, Erica," he said, slurring the end of my name again. I liked when he did that. "I will bring back your sister. Just have some faith."

That's when I knew I had to ask. "Will you let me come with you?"

I was sure the Doctor would laugh my suggestion away, shaking his head amusedly as he closed the TARDIS door and made it fade away with that ethereal vwoorp. But instead, he peered at me, his smile turning from apologetic to…proud, maybe? "Could be dangerous," he warned.

"I'm sure it always is," I replied.

"Are you sure you want to come with me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I have to find my sister," I stated. "That's my job, and mine alone. I won't let you do it in my place—but I'd greatly appreciate your help."

The Doctor smiled broadly and retreated slightly inside the TARDIS, holding the door open for me. "Erica Stone, welcome aboard."

I returned his smile and said, "Thank you, Doctor." I walked inside, the Doctor letting the door snap shut as soon as I had entered. Childlike, he dashed up the stairs and to the console, flipping some switches next to the comatose Aligrena. As I climbed up the stairs behind him, symbols began flashing in red on the Aligrena's screen.

"Sarsgaroth," I read off. "What's that?"

"The planet it last visited!" the Doctor exclaimed, whirling around the console. "And if we go there, then answers might be waiting for us. Hold on, Erica, 'cause we're about to go for a bumpy ride!"

Suddenly, the TARDIS began vwoorping, and I clung to the banister as the central crystal pump began moving up and down. The Doctor had the most beautiful look of wonder in his eyes as he gazed at the TARDIS, a hint of a smile creeping up his face.

"To infinity and beyond," I whispered to myself. Naomi had always loved the Toy Story movies.

I vowed to re-watch them all with her as soon as we got her back.