Time Lord and Lady

15: The Introduction

I stared at the man, eyes wide as I took in his features which were very handsome. He had chocolate brown hair that stuck up in places, light brown eyes and a grin that could win awards. I glanced further down to find him dressed in a brown pinstripe suit with a white shirt and blue tie, a light brown trench coat billowing out around him. The part that really caught my attention were his shoes which were a pale cream colour and looked almost like sneakers. I raised a brow and the man chuckled when he noticed I was fixated on them.

"Do you like them?"

"Why those?" I asked and he shrugged.

"They're practical and very comfy," he said and grinned before sitting cross legged in front of me, a look of concern on his face. "Now...what is your name?"

"Uh...Claire..."

"No...that's the name he gave you, you should have your real one back," the man said and I raised a brow before looking deep into my memories for my name.

"Alex," I said and my eyes widened as he grinned.

"That's it, Alex, nice to meet you," he greeted and held out a hand that I shook. "I'm the Doctor." I stared at the Doctor as a flood of memories came over me, shooting through my head like fireworks and I doubled over in pain. "Easy now. I've never met anyone that's been in a Chameleon Arch that long. I'm just impressed that you're still here, you still have a brain and a personality."

My mind raced with the implications of that statement as I stood, barely able to get to my feet. I stumbled a bit before basically crash landing onto a large seat by the console of the strange ship thing. It looked massive and I could spot corridors snaking off in multiple directions, not to mention the insane amount of buttons and gizmos strewn about the console itself. It was a wondrous piece of technology and I turned to the Doctor who had wandered over to make sure that I was okay.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah...I'm fine," I muttered but my head ached and I shut my eyes. "Just shocked is all. How long was I there?"

I opened one eye and glanced at the Doctor, frowning at the look on his face. It was one of pity and he reached out a hand, which I took, before taking a seat next to me.

"Thirty years," he said and my eyes widened as I slowly began to hyperventilate.

I stood, shaking and bolted to the doors of the ship machine before shoving them open, running out and toppling backwards. I sat there, in a patch of dirt, my mind racing and my heart felt like it was about to explode. I knew that was impossible, it wasn't beating, but it felt like it had snapped. My whole body hurt and I breathed in deeply, trying to calm myself down as the Doctor stood in the doorway of the machine. He walked over and leant down, wrapping me in a hug before I could even hope to protest. The hug worked though and I let out a sigh before sinking into it, letting out a couple sobs. The Doctor lowered himself to the ground but kept his hold on me to the point where I was practically in his lap. But I didn't care, the contact felt good and I needed after learning I just lost three decades.

I'm not about to die anytime soon since my people, Gallifraxes, tend to live until we find the one and since I left at 85, I haven't found them. I could live for hundreds and hundreds of years and never find them, so three decades was nothing, just a blip. But losing three decades against my will made it worse, it made me sick and the fear slowly turned into anger. I pulled back from the Doctor and slipped out of his lap, standing and brushing myself off before glaring at the city off in the distance. Whoever trapped me was going to die but I needed a bit of context before that.

"Where did you find me?" I asked and turned to the Doctor as he raised a brow at my sudden change.

"Uh...in Doras, that city right there," he said and pointed to the one in front of us. "You were being held by a man and I asked why and he said for "business and pleasure purposes" so I bought you. Not to own you...I just didn't want to think of what would happen if I didn't. You looked so happy to be there but as soon as we locked eyes I knew it was fake, it had to be. Then I spotted the locket around your neck." I glanced down and sure enough there was a locket around it and I ripped it off. Along the cover was an engraving of a language that I recognized, Gallifreyan. "Time Lords created the Chameleon Arch as a defence and this planet found a way to use it for their own gain. It's suppose to only work on Time Lords, but there were others around, ones that definitely weren't from Gallifrey. But since you felt different, I thought you might be."