A not so small interlude to tell you all how the Doctor originally met Alex and let me tell you... it's a doozy. It also takes the place of Blink.
Location: The Time Vortex
I sat next to the Doctor on the large chair by the console, his arm wrapped around me, as we watched Martha vent about an alien race we had just encountered, smiling the entire time. We had just wrapped up a pretty uneventful encounter with a race called the Calidaries that, to Martha's annoyance, hated medicine and had spent most of their existence ill. She was desperate to help them and did just that which unfortunately released a virus that had been dormant for years. The Doctor and I luckily managed to engineer a cure to stop the virus and get rid of the medicine but Martha was still a little angry they didn't have any in the first place.
"This whole thing happened because they didn't have medicine so I don't know why they got so angry that a virus almost killed them," Martha muttered as she paced the console room.
"The Callidaries believe in holistic medicine, herbs and magic, not needles and vaccines," the Doctor reminded her and Martha scoffed.
"So...they still need penicillin, they still need cold medicine," she argued and I rolled my eyes.
"Don't worry about it, they'll figure it out," I told her and turned to the Doctor, a grin on my face. "How about we make it up to her by finally telling her a story that's been long buried, long tucked away."
"What story?" the Doctor asked and raised a brow.
"The story of how we met," I said and the Doctor's eyes widened before he shook his head.
"No, absolutely not."
"Why? She's not going to tell them, she doesn't even know how to find them," I argued but the Doctor stood and shook his head again.
"Find who?"
"The Shadow Proclamation, a group of people in charge of guaranteeing that people like the Doctor and I, Time Agents, basically anybody with a device that can travel in time, that they don't break the law," I said and her eyes widened. "If they knew what the Doctor did at the end of the story of how we met, they'd take the TARDIS."
"Really? They can do that?" Martha asked and the Doctor nodded.
"When I land the TARDIS I become grandfathered into a timeline, it's why I couldn't stop you from going to work that day with the Judoon," the Doctor said and turned to Martha. "But I went back after I met Alex. I kept her from ever meeting the man that kidnapped her, which in turn should've kept her from meeting me, but I guaranteed everything was okay and she was safe. I broke Protocol 7, the continuity protocol, and at first I didn't know why...didn't know what came over me, but now I do."
I stood and walked over to the Doctor before wrapping him in a tight hug and he shoved his face into the crook of my shoulder, keeping me close.
"Please."
"Fine...but you're telling, I'll add in the bit at the end."
I nodded and let out a sigh and turned, returning to the chair and taking a seat, the Doctor following and wrapping his hand tightly in mine.
"So...Martha Jones...this is how I met the Doctor," I began. "It all started 300 years ago on a planet called Galbadoras after I woke up."
Alex
Location: Galbadoras, 4578 GY(Galbadoran Years)
"Are you alright? Ms? Are you okay?"
I blinked in surprise and looked up to find a man standing above me, eyes wide with a hand on either side of my face. I stared at him, my eyes wide as my very slow brain tried to figure out what happened. I knew that something was wrong, I could feel it, like I had fallen asleep halfway through a show and woken up at the ending. There seemed to be a gap missing in my memories and I shook my head to clear it before moving away from the man. I was sitting on the floor of some weird looking room that was full of lights and bits of machinery. I stared at it bewildered as the man moved back, giving me room and a chance to look at him.
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."
"I'm not," I said and his face fell. "We're actually neighbours."
"Really?"
"I'm from Gallifraxes. Or was...since it's gone," I muttered, shock that used to be only three years back and now it's thirty-three.
"That was a bit ago for me, couple decades, I was a whole other man when it happened."
"Regeneration...what an interesting concept," I muttered and chuckled.
"Do you?"
"No, we live forever until we've found the one. Since I left pretty early, centuries before it was destroyed, I never found them and likely never will."
"I've heard shout that," the Doctor admitted. "You don't start living till you've found the one. It was based on an old wives tale but was proven to have merit right?"
"That's correct. Turns out the Time Lords that found Gallifraxes ended up almost dying of radiation poisoning but they shared it, stopped their regeneration cycles, made themselves human to stay alive. The tradition kept going until it became rooted in our biology, which took about two thousand years."
"Incredible what love can do," the Doctor muttered and I nodded in agreement.
"We even cater to those that don't want love, they just keep on living, and can choose to end it whenever they want," I said and sighed, "up to 6500 years tho."
I wanted love myself and knew that it was beautiful that my home was accepting of everyone. There were all kinda of partnerships back home, man and woman, woman and woman, man and man and even other and other or other and them all. One couple was even three strong and they catered to those that hated love as well. If you really didn't want a relationship then you didn't need to have one, you just only got to live 6500 years, not forever, no one wants that. I was at 598 when the Doctor found me but wished that I was already dead and had found the one I love a long time ago.
When a Gallifraxes finds the one their heart starts beating and they're given a date between seventy and a hundred years as to when they'll die. It's a bit gruesome but it's also guaranteed that your lover will perish around the same time, and you'll never have to be apart. The whole thing was decided by a device that every Gallifraxes gets at birth, a Transponder that's wired into your wrist. Mine was the last of it's kind and it meant the world to me. I tapped the Transponder to see if it was angry about the thirty years thing but frowned when nothing happened. And then I saw it.
"Oh my god," I muttered and stared at my wrist, my bare wrist, my eyes wide.
"What?"
"The Transponder," I said and bolted back into his ship to look for it.
I ran over to the spot I woke up in and poked around but there was nothing. No Transponder and no vortex manipulator that I had stolen off a Time Agent back in 2007 on Earth. I had been using it to see the universe for almost a century and had planned to return it once the agent found me. I figured I could get at least four hundred years out of it before he noticed but now it was gone, missing, along with the last piece of my home.
"What's a Transponder?" The Doctor asked as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to calm myself.
"It's like a watch but has a screen and you use it to see when you've found the one but it does so much more. It can look things up, check on timelines, track things, scan people and it was the last thing I had from home. That Transponder has been wired into my wrist since birth and the man that kidnapped me stole it," I muttered and glared at the doors. "Not to mention the Vortex Manipulator attached to it."
The Doctor's eyes widened and he stared at me like I had grown another head. "You had a Vortex Manipulator?!"
"I stole it off a Time Agent back on Earth in the year 2007 when I visited about a century ago. It's a pocket time machine so I figured I could have some fun, and return it when he found me."
"Who'd you take it from?"
"That doesn't matter," I muttered and exited the ship once again. "What matters is getting it back and the Transponder."
"Alex, this machine is called a TARDIS and she can travel in time and space. I can take you somewhere safe, away from a planet that kidnapped you," the Doctor offered but I shook my head.
"Not without that Transponder."
"It's just a watch though...nothing more."
"What do you have left from Gallifrey?" I asked and the Doctor raised a brow before letting out a sigh.
"The TARDIS, she's the last one in existence," he muttered and ran a hand on the machine which was frankly just a box.
I had yet to really acknowledge the fact that it was bigger on the inside, much bigger and currently disguised as a 1960's police box, telephone and all.
"If the TARDIS was stolen what would you do?"
"Get it back. Do everything to get it back actually," he admitted and I smiled at him.
"That Transponder is my TARDIS and I'm gonna do everything I can to get it back," I assured and placed a hand on his arm. "So I'm either going alone or I'm not."
The Doctor sighed and looked down at me, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out if I was being serious. But then his eyes drifted to my left wrist where two small dots were still visible where the Transponder attaches. The Doctor looked between my wrist and the TARDIS before he let out a sigh and pulled out a small device, that looked kinda like a screwdriver.
"What's the Transponders sonic signature?" He inquired and I grinned.
"742478," I said and the Doctor nodded, pressing a button on the device and it lit up with a soft buzzing noise.
He swung it around and the buzzing got louder when he pointed it towards the west and the main hub of Doras. "Shall we?"
"Thank you," I said and he shrugged.
"No, thank you."
"For what?"
"For reminding me of what I'd do for something or even someone that I love," he muttered and I blushed. "That Transponder may sound like a fancy watch to me but if it means the world to you, it means the world to me."
I smiled and wrapped him in a tight hug, nearly toppling us over as the Doctor grinned.
"Thank you again."
"Shall we?" He asked, for the second time, and this time I placed my hand in his outstretched one with a grin.
"We shall!" The Doctor exclaimed and I bounded towards Doras, eager to get back what that man had stolen.
He was under the assumption that I was only going for the Transponder but that was a bit of a lie. I left home because I'm a weaver, I can create objects out of thin air, and the ability is banned almost everywhere. I weaved a gun behind my back and stuffed it in the waistband of my jeans, tucking my flannel shirt and denim jacket overtop. Getting back the Transponder was nothing but a bonus, but killing the man that kidnapped me, now that was the real treat.
***
I followed the Doctor through the bustling marketplace that was the city of Doras, ignoring all the people that were presumably for sale. Quite a few of them were just standing there, staring blankly at nothingness, a locket around their neck as the Galbadoran who owned them listed off a couple prices. Every person enslaved on the planet was there because of a distress that lured them in and then they were struck by a Chameleon Arch. But that begged the question...who was buying them?
"Is slaves really the only export?" I asked and the Doctor turned before giving me a nod.
"Galbadoras is considered a slave, one of only three in the entire universe. In my opinion there should be none but as long as they have buyers they're in business."
"Who buys slaves?"
The Doctor stopped and I rammed into his shouler, stepping back with a glare as he looked at me, a serious glint in his eyes.
"Lots of people. My planet included, at one point they were quite popular," he muttered and kept going as my eyes widened. "The main slaves were woman that worked in the senate but that was abolished a couple hundred years before Gallifrey was destroyed. I'm sure someone still had them but for the most part the practice was outlawed. Even simple planets like Earth have had slaves, it feels almost natural that at one point a civilization realizes how much fun it is to be holding all the cards over another."
I nodded, thinking of the Earth and it's dark and dangerous history. Sure other planets had their fair share of wars and famines but Earth's always felt so vial, so much worse. Probably because a lot of races thought the planet was quite funny, and stupid, yet to explore the stars even though it's been around for so long. Humans were just as interesting and clever, too clever, also opinionated and I had been around enough to grow quite fond of them. What they lacked in technology or abilities they more than made up for in imagination. I smiled at the thought but frowned when I remembered the last human I had encountered. I promised to show him the stars and got the distress call after he went home to see his mum. That was thirty years ago and I had to assume that Jason, all the way back in New York, had likely forgotten about me.
"Alex?" The Doctor asked and I blinked a couple times before turning to him.
"Yes?"
"That's him," he muttered and my stomach dropped when he pointed to a man about a foot away from us.
The worst part about a Galbadoran is how human they look with the only difference being eye colour. His eyes were red in colours but the rest of him looked so horribly human, down to the jeans and sweater he was dressed in. The gun got a whole lot warmer against my back as the Doctor stalked towards him, shoving his sonic back in jacket pocket as he went.
"You again? How are you?" The man asked and the Doctor leaned back, socking him in the face before he could answer. "What the hell was that?"
"That's for trapping her for three decades," he spat and the man glared at him.
"Look, it's not my fault she fell for the distress signal alright, happens to a lot of people."
The Doctor grabbed the man and glanced around to make sure no one saw before tossing him inside the store he was running and beckoning me to follow. I did and slipped inside to find a few more people milling about inside but they weren't free. Each one had a locket and a dazed look in their eye as they rubbed a couple surfaces with washcloths. I wandered over to the nearest one, admiring her incredible ears which were pointed and the seven fingers on each hand. She glanced at me, eyes clouded over and grinned before quickly going back to cleaning. I frowned at her and turned to find the Doctor had forced the man into his back office and I was quick to follow. I locked the door once I entered it and the Doctor nodded in thanks before dropping the man into a chair.
"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" He asked and the Doctor glared at him.
"No, you don't get to ask that," he snapped and got closer to him. "This planet gives off a permanent distress signal and I'm going to shut it down. Where is it?"
"And where's my Transponder," I added and the man glanced at me before letting out a sigh and nodded to a bin by the door.
I wandered over and dug through, grabbing both the Transponder and vortex manipulator. I placed the Transponder on my left wrist and it was quick to dig itself back in, monitoring my vitals and scanning the room. It picked up on the Doctor, labelling him as a Time Lord and the man who was named Crete. I glared at Crete who still looked reluctant to assist us in shutting down the alarm. The gun was still sitting there, waiting to be used and I let out a sigh before pulling it out. I wandered over to Crete and pushed past the Doctor before the barrel of the plasma gun on his forehead.
"Alex? Where did you get that?" The Doctor exclaimed as I glared daggers at Crete who started shaking, staring at me with wide eyes.
"You will take us to the alarm or else you won't do anything," I threatened and disengaged the safety with a click, the barrel of the gun heating up.
Crete stared at me, trying to figure out if I was being serious as the smell of burning flesh filled the room. I pulled the gun back and glared at the burning mark on his forehead before re-engaging the safety and stepping back. Crete stared between myself and the Doctor before he let out a loud sigh and stood, putting his arms up.
"Fine, I'll take you to it," he muttered and the Doctor nodded.
"Good, thank you. Give us just a moment," he said and dragged me out of the room by the arm holding the gun.
The Doctor pulled me over to the far corner of the store and yanked the gun out of my hand as I sent him a glare.
"What the hell man?" I asked and he frowned at me, eyes alight with anger.
"No...you don't get to act all shocked. What is this?" He asked and held up the gun as I scoffed.
"It's a gun," I deadpanned and he glared at me.
"Where did you get it? That man kept you for thirty years, he didn't give you a gun and I don't have any on the TARDIS so you're either very quick or very untruthful."
The Doctor stood there and waited for my response as I debated telling him the truth. Gallifrey was a lot like home, eager to get rid of weavers and even though my planet created them, they still made their way over. The Doctor could be one of the ones that's afraid of them, eager to execute me like everyone on Gallifraxes and so many other planets I've been to.
"Fine," I muttered and let out a sigh. "I'm a weaver. I can weave objects out of thin air and weaved that gun with the intent to kill Crete."
"A weaver," he repeated, his eyes wide.
"Yes...go lock me up or something, like all the other people I've met," I muttered and glared daggers as the Doctor shook his head.
"No, I'm not gonna do that," he assured and my eyes widened. "I've heard about what happens to weavers on certain planets and it's absolutely barbaric. You don't deserve that. Your secret is safe with me but I can't let you kill him."
"He trapped me here," I shot at him and the Doctor nodded.
"I'm fully aware of that."
"Then why don't you care?" I asked and sighed as the Doctor looked at me, a newfound anger in his eyes.
I glanced up and my own widened at the burning intensity and the fact that he looked mad, very mad. I stepped back a little but the Doctor grabbed my arm and locked me in place as he kept staring at me.
"I care," he said. "I care so very much. I care more than I'd like to admit to myself that he did that to you, to all these people. This planet is a wretched place that deserves to die but I also know what that can do to someone. How it destroys you from the inside...absolutely murders your spirit. I was in the Time War, I fought in it and when I met a companion of mine named Rose, a woman I just lost, I was broken, destroyed by it and she saved me. I couldn't save her but the one thing I didn't let happen was for her to get sucked into this need for revenge. So I care, Alex, I care. I care too much to let you turn out like me. Okay?"
I stared at the Doctor, eyes wide, and tried to ignore all the sensations happening inside my body at that moment. It was horribly overwhelming but there was only one thing I could think to do. I had never had anyone talk to me like that, not even the humans I attempted to spend my life with said things like that. He spoke in such a way that made me believe every single word and without thinking I pulled him forward and kissed him. It wasn't short or sweet, but messy and held so many different emotions it was almost overwhelming. It was my way of saying thank you, saying that I appreciated all the things he had and the things he was going to do. In that moment I didn't want to leave the Doctor's side and we stared at each other, all flustered after he pulled back.
"I-" I started but he cut me off.
"You're welcome," he muttered and wandered back over to Crete as I blinked a couple times before following him.
The Doctor used his sonic to unlock the door to Crete's office and dragged him out before ordering the man to take us to the beacon. He looked reluctant and I wished the Doctor hadn't took the gun but I also understood. He was right, killing him wasn't the answer. But my weaving didn't stop just because he gave me a beautiful speech and didn't immediately pull away from our kiss. If Crete did anything to hurt the Doctor or anyone else for that matter, it wouldn't matter about the speech or the kiss. The man would be dead before anyone could stop me and I was certain of it.
Hello, author here,
So....This was supposed to be a short little filler, introduction chapter, but it has turned into one my favorite things I've ever written...it would be about 10,000 words as one part and that's too much so now there's two. Frankly I could turn this whole thing into it's own book.
It won't be...but it very well could, I adore it!!! Who knew that writing just Alex and the Doctor would be so fun!! Might have a lot more next series!! We all know Donna likes to stay behind (lookin at you Midnight).
Just a note. This takes place between Doomsday and the Runaway Bride so the Doctor looks like he did in Doomsday. Also, this is what the transponder looks like!!! First look in this book.
Ignore the Samsung logo 😅