Author's Note: I'm sure many old timers who frequent the DW section of this website at least know of my story. It's been 8 years in the making, but gosh so much has changed since I first started it. I've tried to reboot this story with all female incarnations of the Doctor and it's gotten some interest, but nowhere near the same level. I don't know if it's worth trying again, but I thought maybe I could meet y'all in the middle - i.e., keep most of the original Doctors as male, but change a few to female for some added interest and *spice*. Where my bi- and pansexuals at?

Word Count: 2,000

I was dreaming, I was sure of it. I had to be. But had I really fallen asleep so quickly? The air around me felt as though it had shifted, turning heavy and thick. Odd.

I wandered from the living room, past the kitchen and down the hallway to my bedroom, my purse raised into the air as a makeshift weapon. I could tell that something, someone was close by. Quickly and with shaking hands, I pulled my phone out from my skirt pocket and unlocked it, dialed 911 and left my thumb hovering over the call button.

"Diana..."

I yelped and snapped my head around, following the ghostly trail of the voice calling my name. My fingers tightened around my phone and I could just make out the sound of my phone ringing over the sudden presence of wind rushing through the apartment.

"Di... I need you."

"Who's there?!" I shouted, panicked.

Still resting in my hands, my smartphone crackled and a jolt of electricity shocked me. I dropped the phone with a yelp, my fingers tingling as I tried to rub the soreness away. The screen lit up as it started beeping rhythmically. "What the hell?" I knelt down and scooped up the phone so it was cradled in my hands again. The screen was pale and white, a series of black letters flashing in time with the beeping.

"39-1-26-52:13

NEED YOUR HELP"

Suddenly, a wave of nausea stronger than anything I'd ever experienced overwhelmed me. I fell to my side, my head throbbing as the room spun around me. My vision zoomed out, turned black, and then suddenly burst to life with shades of green and rusty brown. I felt like I was racing through a forest on a light-speed motorcycle; trees and crumbling walls zoomed past me in a blur. I came to a screeching halt underneath the shade of several great, dazzlingly green trees. Dark leaves decayed and crunched beneath my feet, yet I realized that I wasn't moving. In fact, I wasn't even in the forest for I could still feel the carpet of my bedroom rubbing against my cheek and the hear the beeping of the phone. The crunching sound of leaves underfoot had to be from somewhere, from someone, else.

A streak of blonde hair caught my eye and I turned, my world tilting with me as I tried to follow the darkly clothed figure stepping into view. It was a woman, her closed eyes framed by pale skin and perfectly arched eyebrows drawn together, her lips turned upside down. "Diana," she whispered, her mouth forming the shape of my name but somehow lagging behind the sound of her voice. "Please," she said, touching her temples. "I need you."

Her eyes flew open, wide, impossible, and full of confusion and wonder, and she looked at me. "Please. Help me."

Her legs collapsed from beneath her and she fell to the forest floor. The off-white walls and beige carpet of my room washed over me like a wave of ice cold water and I sat up, tears pricking at my eyes as I tried to keep from falling over. My temples pounded so painfully that I feared I really had been hit with a hammer, in more than just a metaphorical sense.

What the-? Who? What just-? A million questions rattled inside my head. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the woman and her pleas. Something familiar about her pulled at me, grasping firmly at my heart and refusing to let go. I grimaced, ignoring the phone's incessant beeping as I tried to recall her quickly fleeting face. Who are you? What do you want with me?

My own words echoed inside my mind. But as the echoes began to fade away, a new sound replaced it. The sound of a woman's voice, the woman's voice, whispering to me, like a lost soul in a graveyard. I don't know, she answered. And the echo said the same. Over and over again. I don't know, know, know...

Thunder sounded somewhere in the distance, low and rumbling a warning. I could hear the wind shrieking and moaning through the windows, could feel the walls shuddering as the wind began to pick up. My instincts were thrumming to life deep within my chest and every single one was telling me that something was terribly wrong. I needed to run.

A man's voice echoed around me as I bolted from the apartment. "Run!" he called, his voice familiar and accented. I caught a flash of bright blue eyes somewhere in my mind's eye.

The numbers that had flashed across my phone were speaking to me as I stumbled into the parking lot of my apartment complex. Over and over again, they sounded in my mind as the wind and thunder accompanied it like a hellish orchestra. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, lighting the world around me for a split second. In that single moment, everything I knew had disappeared. There were no cars, there was no apartment building, nothing but a small farmhouse, a barn, and a dirt road. But as soon as the lightning had ceased, the world had returned to normal.

There was another voice, another woman. "Welcome to Heaven. We hope you enjoy your stay."

The wind was so strong by then that it was close to knocking me over. Two streak of lightning lit up the sky, transforming my world into a rustic farmscape for two awful seconds. Another voice was calling to me. "Our destiny is in the stars, stars, stars..."

Then another voice. "Brave heart, my dear." And another. "Fear makes companions... panions panions panions- Fear makes companions of us all." And another. "... years of time and space, I've never met someone who wasn't important."

Then, as if time itself had slowed to an impossible pace, a third bolt of lighting shot out from the clouds above and hurtled towards the earth. I looked up, awestruck and crying, as the bolt fractured its way through the atmosphere and finally hit home in the center of my chest. And then everything was quiet.

Shades of blue, gold, purple, and red all swirled around me like a silent hurricane of colors. Peeking through the colorful mist were tiny pinpricks of light - stars - and planets of a million different sizes, all of them whizzing past me. Confused, I looked around and realized that I was floating. The mist had formed some kind of vortex around me and I hovered right in the middle of it, my arms and legs mere feet from brushing against the edges. A bolt of lightning shot across the vortex, narrowly missing my face and then-

I stirred, my ears ringing with the echo of a loud, shuddering wheeze. I was on the floor. How did that happen? I started to rub my eyes, but ended up knocking my knuckles against my glasses. I took them off, cleaned them with the corner of my shirt, and then slipped them back on. When I looked up, I expected to see my bedroom wall. Instead I found myself sprawled out at the base of a quaint little farmhouse in the dead of night, the only light being the full moon overhead. As I moved to stand, my body protested and fought against me, but I finally managed to stand on my weak legs by bracing myself against the wall of the farmhouse. I felt as if I'd been rammed into a wall.

A loud creak sounded, as if the world's largest door had been left to rust for a thousand years and was finally being opened after all that time. I cringed, curled into myself and thudded against the wall with a grunt. A bright white light flashed into my eyes.

"Don't move or-"

"Jack, wait!" The light was jolted to the side, a blessing for my poor eyes, and a figure marched towards me. "Blimey, Diana, what happened?"

The figure, tall and lithe, stepped in front of the light and took my face into its hands. Immediately, I pushed the person's hands away and stumbled back a few steps. "Don't touch me," I slurred, my mouth struggling to catch up with my words.

"Doctor?" came the first voice, an American.

"Where am I?" I asked. "What do you want with me?"

"Di," said the American, "it's us."

My lower lip and chin began to tremble. "Who are you?"

The figure, still mostly illuminated from behind, turned towards its companion and I caught a glimpse of a pale face with a substantial chin and a floppy fringe of hair. "She doesn't know who we are," the figure mumbled. English. Most likely a man, although his voice was a bit androgynous.

"Wait, so she was the event?"

"It looks like it."

What the hell were they talking about? I looked frantically from one man to the other, trying to make out the silhouettes of any potential weapons, but could see nothing suspicious. They were both quite tall, several inches taller than me, which meant that they would be able to catch up with me quickly if I bolted. And they had a light source. I didn't. Plus, I was still wearing a long skirt and vaguely historical garb from earlier that day. It was comfortable, but not suitable for running from potential kidnappers.

Then I had an idea. If I could get away from them just long enough, I could run inside the farmhouse and barricade the door. If there was a phone inside or even a weapon like a rifle or a bat, I could fend them off long enough for the sun to rise and hopefully get help. The pair were still talking to each other in hushed tones, but I could see them glancing at me very few seconds. I'd have to time it just right.

"Listen, we're here to help," said the English man.

Shit, they're focused on me again. Now or never. Run!

I bolted. With the moon just barely lighting my way, I followed the line of the farmhouse walls, my skirts gathered to my knees and crumpled in my hands. Through the grass, past the back porch, around a final corner, and I was back where I started at the front wall of the building. The front door was still ajar from when the men had exited, so I dashed inside and slammed it shut behind me. I threw all my weight against it, fumbling for the lock, and finally slumped to the ground after hearing it click.

A whirring noise started somewhere above me, followed by a grainy image of myself materializing into view.

"Di, you don't need to be afraid. Everything's alright." Her voice was different somehow, it sounded older and vaguely English, but she still looked young. "I know you're scared. But I promise you that you're safe."

"What are you?" It was the only thing I could think to ask.

"I'm a hologram. I'm a recording. I can't hear you or anything you're saying, but I remember this night and I remember all the questions I had. Those men outside? They're your friends, your family. Jack Harkness and the Doctor." The hologram me smiled knowingly. "No, you're not dreaming, and yes, it's really them. They can give you proof that all of this is real, but first I have to tell you a few things." Her smile faded then. "You're in another universe. A time storm started near our apartment and it swept you up. But this universe was crying out for you, it needed you, and that connection saved you. The time storm dropped you here, where you were needed most. You can't go back, Di, I'm sorry. This is our home now. But it's beautiful and wonderful and impossible and you find a new family here! You find love and purpose. You're not alone. And you know what? You're brave. And strong. And I believe in you and love you because you are the best person I know. The Doctor's waiting for you. He cares about you and he's going to keep you safe until you learn everything you need to know."

The hologram pressed a hand over her heart. "Courage, dear heart."

The whirring died down and the hologram quickly faded. I stayed frozen in place, staring at the space where the hologram me had once stood and wondering if I had unknowingly taken drugs and gotten myself stuck in a terrible acid trip.

A light flickered on overhead and illuminated the room I was sat in. It was a simple living room, decorated with a smattering of eclectic furniture, knick knacks, and art. If I didn't know any better, I would have said I was standing in my dream house. Except, at the back of the room by the fireplace, there was a large... thing that loomed taller than anything else I had seen so far that night. It was blue, with four walls, some windows, and a door. On the roof was a light that hummed and left a soft glow on the wall behind it. The sign at the top read: "POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX".

I scrambled to my feet. It felt like the entire universe had shrunk in that moment, leaving only me, the blue box, and the room we were standing in. Entranced, I stepped forward, step by step by step, until my hands pressed against the cool wooden door. There was life in that wood, beyond the door that separated me from a realm of whimsy and magic. There was a song in my mind that called to me and begged me to open the door. There was no awful anticipation, no dread curling up in the pit of my stomach, warning me to run as far away as I possibly could. There was only an invitation.

Don't be afraid, sang the box.

I was very much afraid. But I couldn't feel any of that fear, only calm.