The Doctor, wearing his favorite blue suit and red tie, walked up to Alfie's house. He rang the doorbell and waited. It was a nice townhouse in a nice neighborhood, and the Doctor hated it. It was too normal, too domestic for him. He wished he had the TARDIS with him so he could travel wherever he wanted again. Luckily, the other Doctor gave him a piece of the TARDIS, which could be grown into a working machine. Of course, it wouldn't be as big as the last one, but a TARDIS was a TARDIS. Soon, the door opened and he saw what Mrs. Owens looked like. She wore a pink cardigan with a beige skirt that went just below her knees.
"Dr. Smith, I presume?" she smiled as the Doctor nodded.
"Right you are," he grinned back as she let him inside. She asked for his coat, but he declined as he looked around the room. She invited him into the living room, where it was vacant. "Where is Alfie and Mr. Owens?"
"Alfie just got out of the shower, and my husband had to work late. He should be here in a few minutes. He told me he was on his way," she answered as they sat on the sofa. She stared at his red sneakers, thinking it was a strange outfit, but decided not to make a comment. "So, what are you a doctor of?"
"Astrophysics, mainly," he fibbed, putting on his glasses. Mrs. Owens smiled and nodded.
"That's rather impressive. I never like physics, but I would love to learn about the stars," she commented as he smiled.
"They are very interesting. And mesmerizing. I just wish I could go travel and see them," he mentioned, wishing for the TARDIS. Mrs. Owens grinned and sighed.
"If only the human race could get that technology," she exhaled, looking at the floor.
"I'm sure we'll get it soon," the Doctor informed, remembering the human race's future. Of course, that was a future of a different universe, but he couldn't see it being much different. It still was the same people, of course.
After a moment of awkward silence, the front door opened. A manly voice called in that he was home and Mrs. Owens informed him that they were in the living room. The Doctor watched the doorway as Mr. Owens came in. The second their eyes met, Mr. Owens nearly had a heart attack. He gasped and covered his mouth, holding his chest. Then he pointed at the Doctor, looking at Mrs. Owens.
"Sophie. Do you know who this man is?" he whispered as the Doctor turned to Mrs. Owens. She slowly shook her head. He regained his composure and entered the room. "Doctor."
"What?" the Doctor whispered, thinking it was strange that this man knew his name.
"I know you," Mr. Owens informed, sitting across from the Doctor.
"What?" the Doctor repeated as Sophie excused herself from the room. Mr. Owens watched her leave before turning back to the Doctor. "How do you know me? I don't know you."
"No, you don't, but the other Doctor does," he answered, intriguing the Doctor. "Let me explain. About a decade from now, we were sent into this universe, as I understand it. There was a flash of light and we were in a different world. I'm sure you know this, since your a metacrisis Doctor."
"How do you know that?"
"Because, a few years before we were sent here, the future you came to me for a room. We were roommates before I got married. Anyway, to quickly explain what was happening and why he was doing what he was doing, he shared with me his timeline. Not entire timeline, but enough to get what he was. However, he also showed me you. I wondered whether I would find you here. Anyway, we were attacked by those Angel things, and then we were sucked into this universe during the cybermen and dalek attack in 2006. I think my wife and son have chosen to forget the entire incident, since it was rather traumatic. Or the Angels tampered with their memories. I don't know, but they don't remember. Seeing you here means that I'm not crazy," Mr. Owens explained, laughing at the end. The Doctor looked at him skeptically before shaking his head. He rubbed his temples, trying to wrap his head around this.
"So, Mr. Owens-"
"Craig."
"So, Craig, how long have you been here?" the Doctor asked, wondering how far the Angels sent them back.
"About fifteen years. Alfie was three when it happened, that's why he doesn't remember it. I'm sure Sophie, I she remembers it at all, thinks it was all a bad dream," Craig answered.
"I see. That doesn't explain why the Angels are following you now..." the Doctor whispered, making Craig panic.
"What?!" he hissed.
"Didn't Alfie tell you? About the past two days? We've been attacked at least three times. I don't know how much more we can escape before they learn how to trap us," the Doctor informed, feeling exhausted just thinking about the Angels.
"What do we do?" Craig asked desperately.
"I don't know yet. I've only dealt with them once, and that was very tricky with a plan that had a very low chance of success," the Doctor answered grimly as Craig slumped. "However, did I tell you about Torchwood?"
"Torchwhat?"
"Never mind. What matters now is that I work for a government organization that wants the Angels gone as much as we do. That means that we're not alone. They've sent me and another to help you and your family," the Doctor informed, hoping to give Craig some comfort.
"Since when did the government know about this? Shouldn't they tell the public?" Craig retorted, a bit offended.
"And cause a worldwide panic? That's ludicrous. We want the world to work like nothing never happened. That way everything stays orderly and we don't have mass break ins or robberies. Otherwise, we would. We just can't trust the populace with that kind of information right now. And the government has always known about this, and they always do something about it," the Doctor informed with a warning tone. Craig swallowed and nodded. "I'm sure there are people, like you, that could handle something like this, but we know for sure that not all people are like you."
"Good point. What are they going to do about this, then?" he asked as the Doctor shrugged.
"Whatever they can. I have people researching the Angels as we speak, and I'm sure we can find a weakness of some sort," the Doctor answered as Craig took a deep breath.
"Why are you here?" Craig implored after some thought. The Doctor leaned back and shrugged.
"Because I want to know why the Angels are targeting you and your son. I haven't heard any problems from your wife, so I can assume she's safe for now," the Doctor reassured as Craig nodded slowly. "Now that I know that you aren't from this dimension like me, I can assume that the Angels have a much grander plan."
"How so?"
"You aren't even supposed to be here. Displacing you in time will either create no time distortion, or a giant boat load of it. Seeing the Angels here means that it probably is the latter. That means that we will have to make sure that we deal with the Angels quicker than we thought," the Doctor answered as Craig sighed.
"Why is it every time I meet you, there's always danger?" Craig chuckled, forming a weak smile. The Doctor shook his head and grinned darkly.
"It seems to follow me like a disease," he replied, remembering how he had hoped that it would be different here. It was a new him, and he didn't want to have danger following him wherever he went. He smiled as he remembered signing up with Torchwood, thinking he probably forfeited that hope when he joined. The Doctor stood up as Alfie came into the room.
"Oh, you're here," he greeted solemnly, feeling uncomfortable and awkward. The Doctor nodded and sat back down. "Hey, Dad. This is Dr. Smith. He's my astrophysics professor."
"Is he now?" Craig whispered, staring at the Doctor, who just shrugged casually.
"That's me," he smiled, crossing his legs. "I take it Alfie hasn't talked about me, then?"
"Why would I? You're just my teacher," Alfie replied, cutting off his father, who just shook his head for an answer.
"True, but I was more surprised that you didn't tell him that we were attacked by the Angels three times now," the Doctor clarified as Alfie sucked in his lips while his father looked at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Craig asked calmly as Alfie realized that he already knew. Instead of chewing out the Doctor, which every other teenager would do, he sighed and sat on the couch.
"I didn't think that you believe me if I told you about the Angels. I wouldn't believe myself! Who has ever heard of a statue attacking and killing people? I thought you would think that I had gone crazy or needed attention," Alfie explained quickly. Craig shook his head.
"I would never have thought that. Believe it or not, I've had my own weird experiences, and the Angels aren't the weirdest," Craig admitted, making Alfie feel better.
"I think you should tell him about where you're from. Where he's from," the Doctor suggested as Craig turned to look at him before nodded.
"Tell me what?" Alfie asked as his dad stared at him.
"Has this man told you what he is?" Craig implored as Alfie nodded. "That's he from a different planet in a different universe?"
"Something like that, yeah," Alfie answered, waiting until the end for his questions. Craig took a deep breath as the Doctor watched calmly.
"Well, when you were a baby, your mother and I had an incident with the Angels. They sent us back in time, but just in time for us to be sucked into another universe. Your mother doesn't remember, or chooses not to. I don't talk about it either for other reasons. We are not from this world," Craig informed as Alfie bit his lip. He tried to remember to think rationally, but could he really believe this. He turned to his teacher, who shrugged.
"Why else would we feel a connection to each other?" the Doctor whispered as Alfie nodded. He had felt that comfort being around Rose and the Doctor, and now he had an answer. A crazy, outrageous answer, but still an answer.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Alfie asked, trying not to sound demanding in any way.
"Would you have believed me?" Craig replied softly with a smile. Alfie dipped his head and smirked.
"Probably not," he answered just as Sophie called that dinner was ready.