The Fall of Arcadia (Book ONE)

Chapter 34

Sera:

"Doctor, Baby, I'm just heading out for a bit, I need a run!" I shouted to him while he was in the shower. "If my sister and Rory wake up, tell them I'll be as fast as possible."

"OK, Dear, see you soon!" He shouted back, and I stuck in my head phones and jogged to the main doors, hitting the streets hard the minute the doors were closed. For some reason we were in San Francisco, somewhere I hadn't actually been before, and by the look and taste of the area, it was about 1999, late December.

I cut through an alley way, thinking I could go across the bridge, but paused when I saw a young Chinese man stood against the wall, more men pointing a gun at him. But as they all fired, the TARDIS materialised. My TARDIS.

They all stopped, and a moment later, the Doctor came out, except, it wasn't my Doctor, it was the 7th Doctor, all question marks and a cute umbrella. They all fired, not sure what else to do. "NO!" I screamed, running out as they hit him, but then they turned the guns on me, and I fell to the ground as they hit home.

"What was that thing?" They all cried as sirens wailed, making them scarper. Still semi conscious, I dragged my was over to the Doctor, trying to see if he was alright.

"Baby? D, Doctor, i, it's me. S, Seraphina." I choked, the bullet through my right heart making me cough up blood. "I, I'm here, my Love."

"S, S, Sera? Timing Malfunction. K, Koschei..." He tried to tell me as the other man came out from behind the old TARDIS, first checking his dead friends and then coming to us. I'd curled my way into the Doctor's arms, and I smiled, remembering that eve now we loved each other, we just never said it.

"Timing malfunction." We muttered to him, both bleeding profusely.

"I'll get you an ambulance." He told us, going to get to his feet as a clear goo oozed from the TARDIS lock. And then I knew what he meant by Koschei. His last request was that the Doctor bring him home to me, his only remaining family.

"Stop it! Stop it."

"What? Here it comes. Hold in there, old guy, Sweetheart. Chang Lee'll help you." Chang Lee ran over to the end of the alley, trying to get someones attention. "Hey, over here!"

An ambulance came over and he looked in my pockets, that were tight against my skin, thank you very much, for some form of id. And he found my old library card from Leadworth. "Alycea Pond? Huh, could sworn you called yourself Seraphina, toots. Stay with me, yeah?"

Once we were in the ambulance, I tried my best to keep a hold of the Doctor's hand as I fought to stay conscious, listening in to Lee's and the ambulance workers conversations. "Were you with them when it happened?"

"Yeah, we were just passing."

Liar! I whispered into his head, trying to make the best of a horrific situation. I saw the Doc manage a small smile, even though he was closer to a coma state than I was. Lee's face dropped as he stared at me.

"Is she rich? She looks it, but where we're going, she'd better be rich. Here." I watched him pass Lee a clipboard of paper work, but he shook his head.

"Hey, I'm not signing anything, Mister."

"Sign, or we can't do nothing. Come on. That girl would be a major waste of beauty if she died." And now I regretted wearing this stupid tank top to run in. It hugged my curves way too much.

"What's the date?" Lee asked, relenting as he too checked me out. The Doctors hand tightened on mine and I laughed, then coughed as my heart, my right one, started skipping beats, which messed with the rhythm of the left one.