Chapter One:
Fangirl's Dream… Or Nightmare?

I was walking by our neighborhood park when I heard the familiar sound of the Tardis making its gruff landing. I thought it was the alarm on my phone going off, but the time wasn't at all right... and the sound was too loud and rich to come from my tiny phone speakers. Soon enough, I was frantically searching for the origin of the noise, turning my head round and round. To my surprise and excitement, in the farm field next to CAVIT, stood a little blue police box. It was unbelievable!

"The Tardis? Here? WHAT?!" my head screamed.

Still stunned by what was before me, I saw it's doors open a crack. A seemingly young man popped his head outside. My mouth dropped to the center of the earth.

"Could it really be him? Was The 10th Doctor literally peeking out of his box in an Arizonian farm?" I thought in a frenzy of curiosity.

As I watched in awe and wonder, The Doctor spotted me looking at him. His face bore a mischievous smile, then he swiftly pulled back into the Tardis.

Too ecstatic for rational thought, I ran across the main road in a blur. I didn't even check for cars, I had to catch him before he left. Again, he poked out of the doors, but this time he had a concerned and urgent expression on his face.

Next thing I knew, I'd woken up in the Tardis on a comfy chair. My left leg was elevated and had a cast. Strangely, it didn't hurt at all. What did hurt though was my head, but still hardly that. Frightened by this new situation, I tried to get up, falling as a result. Suddenly, I heard the kind voice of a man I could recognize anywhere.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." The Doctor said gently.

"You've got to stay still, your leg's broken."

At that, because of all the mixed emotions I was experiencing, I began to softly cry. He came over and lifted me back into the chair. I was just so completely overwhelmed by everything that all I could do was sob. Some of the tears were happy tears though, I was finally meeting The Doctor. The rest were from utter confusion, as my last memory before waking was a white pickup truck heading straight for me.

"H-how... how am I alive...? And h-how'd I get here?" I asked, choking back cries and sniffles.

Speaking kindly and seriously, The Doctor responded.

"I saved you. You ran across the road and were nearly hit. Brought you back to the Tardis and fixed you up. Still comfortable?"

I nodded, but something felt weird about the conversation. It was the feeling of deja vu. Did we have this convo before?

Ten noticed the look of new confusion on my face. I turned to him, sniffling.

"Have we had this conversation before?"

"Yeah, 4 times actually." he sighed, swiftly scratching the back of his head.

"Really?" I said, still a bit woozi.

"Yeah. It's the anesthetic. You've been repeating yourself. Should wear off soon." he reassured me.

The Doctor continued "And... when it does wear off..." he gave me a look of solace,

"... you're going to hurt... a lot."

My confusion quickly turned into dread. How bad is a lot? I've got a very low tolerance for pain.

I looked to The Doctor in a mild panic.

"Can you... can you give me any more?" I asked groggily.

"I've given you as much as I can. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. There's nothing I can do now." he said.

I could tell The Doctor wanted to help, he just didn't have the power to do so. And if I know anything about The Doctor, he hates being powerless.

I wiped my nose and gave him a straight-line smile.

"That's okay. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have darted across the street like that. If anyone's to blame, it's me." I said kindly.

At the moment, Ten was acting a bit broody like he does sometimes.

His face made known his emotions. It showed plainly that he didn't believe a word I said.

With a self-condemning gaze, he stared blankly at the floor and sighed.

"No. It was my fault." he said.

I struck him a face of good-natured disagreement.

"You could have been killed."

The Doctor was still staring the floor down, blinded by the undeserved guilt he'd placed on himself. We both lingered in silence for a few moments.

It's funny... I know so much about The Doctor, but he barely knows a thing about me. Or so I thought. At the time, I had no idea he already knew exactly who I was. Not before long though, I realized Ten had more info than he was letting on. But… I was holding out on him too, being a big Whovian and all. So I left it at that.

Finally, The Doctor looked up from the floor that he found so interesting.

With a quick sharp sniff, his face bounced back to it's normal quirky self.

"Sooo... all of time and space? Whaddya say? I think you deserve a little trip. Where do ya wanna go?" he asked.

Hit with feelings of unrealism, my head was whirling. Because of the anesthetic, I still couldn't think clearly, making such a decision incredibly difficult. It took me a while to process his question, but at last I decided on a destination.

"Um, I'd love to see space. Like plain weightless, beautiful, wonderful space. Nothing fancy, I just want to experience 0-Gs and see the gorgeous stars." I said.

With that, he smiled and pulled a lever on the Tardis console. Oh, such a sound to hear, her engine starting up and then taking off.

Not barely 30 seconds and we had arrived in space, floating just above the Earth's atmosphere. Gentle and tenderly, The Doctor helped me to the Tardis's entrance. Ten opened the doors to reveal stars and galaxies unending. As I stared out at the wonders before me, my eyes were once more filled with tears. It was just so awe-inspiring! Carefully picking me up, he slowly inched me into space. The Doctor held firm to my right ankle so I could float in the stunning cosmic landscape. It was brilliant, my heart pumping, adrenaline coursing through my veins, no feeling was better than that!

After a few minutes, Ten pulled me in and set me back on the comfy chair, elevating my broken leg again.

"Now... are you sure that's all you wanted?" The Doctor asked.

I smiled and nodded. "Uh-hmm. Yep. That's it."

Ten looked at me again. "Positive?"

"Well..."

I was hesitant.

By now I'd become a bit suspicious at the way he'd been treating me. We hadn't even exchanged our names yet, either of us. I knew why I didn't ask, but I didn't quite understand The Doctor's reason.

He always wants to know a person's name, it's usually his 1st, sometimes 3rd, question when meeting someone. I looked at him with eyes of ambivalence and a face of benevolence. With no idea why he hadn't asked my name, I found myself in multiple emotions about The Doctor.

After a few seconds I realized I'd been silent too long. Dropping my gaze downwards, I let out an awkward chuckle.

"Sorry. I'm just tired. I kinda spaced out a bit." I said.

Continuing to look down, I chuckled once more.

"That's quite alright. You've been through a lot. It's fine if you'd like to go home now. Do you want to go home?" he asked.

Still unsure of what to say, I pondered on his inquiry, thinking whether I wanted to go anyplace else or not. After a while, it was clear that I couldn't decide on an answer. I was so exhausted and overloaded that I had nothing left. I started to cry, tears streaming from my eyes. The Doctor looked as if he didn't have any idea of what to do. Tentatively, he made his way to me.

He glanced over my face then softly he spoke.

"Hey, hey? What's wrong? There's no need to cry. What's the matter?". As that was being said, he'd gently wiped away my tears.

I sniffled and then responded.

"I, I can't…"

The words couldn't escape my lips. I was on sensory overload. No matter how much I tried I just couldn't say what I wanted. But before I could even utter another syllable, the Tardis began to shake and rumble.

ZAP! SWAZZ! CHWAZIP!

The sound of electrical malfunctions and breakage filled the console room. Both The Doctor and I were thrown about, swaying this way and that. Out of nowhere, the Tardis became absolutely calm and quiet. Then, suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. After a few seconds, my eyes started to recover from the brightness. When I gained back my full vision, I immediately recognized that I was sitting on a sidewalk in an unfamiliar street corner.