When Astra would think back on this day, the start of everything, there was nothing really there to suggest what was coming.

It had been a normal start. Late wake up, teasing of her younger brother, quick catch up call with her Uncle/godfather, then out to the park to sketch the world. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. Well, other than the start of the end of the world.

She had accepted that there were aliens. Too many things had happened for her not to, such as that space ship that crashed into Big Ben, and the time she had somehow made it out onto the roof with hundreds of other people, standing right on the edge, with no recollection, but, never did she believe that she would come this close to them.

They had started off nice enough. Ghost people. They came in shifts and, once the initial panic wore off, were generally accepted by the public. While the ghosts themselves weren't a challenge to capture in pencil, generally grey and relatively shapeless, the reactions people had to them always provided inspiration. Joy, sadness, tears, anger. The emotion list ranged on and Astra loved to capture these moments in her sketchbook as her own mementos of time past.

It was just before a ghost shift that he came. The Doctor. She had been sitting in her spot at the park, sketching various hand positions of people walking around.

The noise had hit her first. A sort of wheezing, groaning sound that seemed to fill her heart with joy and something else. It would be a while before she learnt what it was. But, then a blue box appeared out of nowhere. It phased into existence and everyone seemed to not notice – except for her.

He stepped out next. Tall, thin, with brown eyes and brown hair, sticking up all over the place as he ran his hand through it. A look of concern on his face as he seemed to scan the park. He seemed like he belonged, and, again, no one else paid him any attention. Other than her.

Her head tilted to the side as she watched him. He was captivating. "Click." She whispered, and stored this mental image of this strange man to draw later. And she would draw him later, just much later than originally anticipated.

Then his eyes met hers and his face changed. A relieved smile broke out and he made his way purposefully towards her, grabbing her by the wrist as he got to her and hauling her to her feet in a hug as he reached her.

"Thank goodness you're okay. I'm sorry it took so long – I had no idea!" He said into her ear, before letting her go and giving her a big smile. Taking her hand in his, he swooped down to pick up her canvas bag, as though he had done it hundreds of times before, and pulled her towards the blue box that he had exited.

Bringing her inside, he hung her satchel on a hook to the side, before dropping her hand and making his way further into the large room that was spread towards her. He didn't seem to notice that she had stopped, her jaw dropping, as she took in the environment around her.

It was bigger on the inside. It had been just a small box when she had looked at it, but, this! This was an entire room. And there was a corridor at the back – it went on to more!

A blonde girl smiled at her and chuckled a little as the man danced around the centre of the room, a large console with a cylinder rising and falling, making that noise she had heard earlier, that seemed to resonate through her body.

"What's wrong Astra? Has it been a while since you've seen this desktop?" She teased and Astra turned sharply.

"How do you know my name? Do I…do I know you?"

The girl froze then, as did the man. Both of them exchanged a look before he stopped what he was doing and came back over to where he had left her. She hadn't moved and now, looking at her face, she seemed so pale and confused and almost in a panic.

He pulled a device out of his pocket and she eyed it warily.

"It's alright." He said, showing it to her, "Just my sonic screwdriver. I'm just going to do a quick scan of you, alright?"

She nodded, hesitantly, and couldn't help but tense a little as he pointed the device at her and moved it up and down the length of her body, the tip shining blue and resonating. He looked at it after and his face seemed to fall.

"No, no that can't be right." He muttered, before pointing it at her again and running the same test. The result must have shown the same however, as he paled a bit more and sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know! And you! You didn't even warn me! Just grinned every time I asked about the time you first met me…A lot of help you are, keeping secrets like that! I mean, how's a bloke supposed to know when you don't say anything?" He rambled.

"Doctor!" The blonde girl spoke up, causing him to stop his muttering and look back up. She gave him another pointed look and he looked sheepish.

"Sorry, sorry. Right." He turned to look at her then. He looked more imposing. His eyes held such a command over the room and she suddenly had the urge to draw them, to study them closer. "Where are my manners? I'm the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" She asked.

"Yup."

"Just 'The Doctor'?"

"That's right. And this is Rose."

The blonde waved and smiled and Astra gave a small wave back, fighting the niggling feeling that she had seen her somewhere before.

"So, you both know me? How?"

"We're Time Travellers. Well, I am, Rose is along for the ride."

"Oi! Watch it Doctor! You're stuck with me now!"

He grinned at her, "Yes, well, anyway. We've met you before. A future you. Meeting a past me. Time Travel is a funny thing like that, you sometimes meet people in the wrong order and that's what happens to us. All over the show we are."

"So why did you get me? Not some…future me?"

"Got to start somewhere! And you never told me how we met. No, it was you I was meant to get and you I was meant to drag into this. Speaking of!"

He suddenly turned and ran back to the console, turning dials and dashing about. Rose came up to her and placed a comforting hand on her forearm. "Are you alright?"

"Just a lot to take in. You know. Time Travel. Meeting people who know me. That sort of thing." She took it in and watched him then. "What is this place? Because I swear it was a box when I saw it in the park, but now it's…"

"It's called the TARDIS. It's his time machine and it's bigger on the inside."

"You don't say." Astra said and Rose laughed.

"You'll do fine, becoming yourself already."

"I still have a lot of questions."

"We'll get to those!" The Doctor said, pulling a final lever before dropping underneath the console. "Just a few other matters we need to take care of first! Like those ghosts!" his voice floated up from under the console.

"Yeah, and, according to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds!" Rose added, leaning against the console. "Which means we're not going to sit back and do nothing"

The Doctor jumped up out of the console floor, wearing a backpack and holding a strange device that connected to his backpack like a hose.

"Who you gonna call?" He asked and Rose smiled, as did Astra.

"Ghostbusters!" The blonde yelled.

"I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" The Doctor replied, with a silly voice, kicking his legs out in front of him and heading to the door of the TARDIS, while Rose laughed at his antics.

"Come on." She said to Astra, holding out her hand, and the newcomer smiled and took it, wondering what was about to happen with these two insane people.

As they stepped out of the door, Astra froze and Rose halted next to her. "What is it?" She asked, as the Doctor started laying out cone devices and chatting to a blonde lady.

"We've moved. This isn't the park." She murmured, looking around at the small playground and grass, but the many flats around them.

"Nah, this is Powell Estate. It's where my mum and I live. Needed her knowledge of the ghost shifts, so, we came back after we got you." Rose said, smiling encouragingly, but Astra hesitated.

"You just seem to take this in your stride. How do you deal with it?"

Rose's face softened and she gripped both of the girls' hands in her own. "You just learn to. And you will too, I've seen it. Now come on, the Doctor needs his girls. He's hopeless without us." She winked and pulled her forward, to where the Doctor was chatting with a slightly older woman.

"Finally! Astra! A voice of reason! Tell him to stop meddling and that they're harmless." The woman said.

"Erm. Well. They seem to be harmless? I mean, they haven't done anything since they've been here." She said, running a hand through her hair, tussling the blue and purple strands.

"Astra?" The woman asked, confused.

"Jackie, she's new." The Doctor said, stopping his setup to smile almost sadly at her. "This is the first."

"The first time she's met you? And this is happening? God knows how you convinced her to stay!" the woman, Jackie, said.

"Yes, well, hopefully things will pick up!" He started moving again, placing down another cone. "When's the next shift?"

"Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble." Jackie said, watching him, as Rose and Astra stood aside. "What's that lot do?"

"Triangulate their point of origin." The Doctor replied.

"I don't suppose it's the Gelth?" Rose threw out.

"Nah." The Doctor said, and Rose shook her head and looked away almost embarrassed. Astra moved forward to touch her arm and offer her an encouraging smile. "They were coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper." The Doctor continued, while plugging in wires to the cones.

"You're always doing this." Jackie retorted, "Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? Just think of it, though. All the people we've lost. Our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?" Her face seemed to plead with him, as if she didn't want him to destroy the magic she believe in.

"I think it's horrific." The Doctor responded, and Jackie looked like she had been slapped. Rose winced a little and Astra felt sorry for the woman who seemed so out of her depth. It was clear that, while Rose spent a lot of time with the Doctor, Jackie really didn't. Nor could she seem to see why she chose to.

"Rose, Astra! Give us a hand!" he said, winding through the cable back to the TARDIS. Rose took off at a run behind him and Astra followed through with Jackie, who pulled the door to behind them. The Doctor was already talking when she moved further into the box. As scared and unsure as she was, she was also curious. An actual time machine! She wondered how far into the future he was originally from to have this technology available. And why the planet did not know about it already.

"As soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into the red, press that button there. If it doesn't stop," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the device he had used to scan her with earlier. His sonic screwdriver. "Setting fifteen B. Hold it against the port, eight seconds and stop."

"Fifteen B, eight seconds." Rose repeated.

"If it goes into blue, activate the deep scan on the left." The Doctor continued.

"Hang on a minute, I know. Push that one." She pointed to a button and looked back for clarification.

"Mmm. Close."

"That one?"

"Now you've just killed us all."

Astra watched as Jackie started to frown at their interaction.

"Err…that one."

"Yup! Now, what've we got. Two minutes to go?" He looked at Jackie, who looked at her watch and nodded. "Brilliant, come on Astra!"

As he ran out of the TARDIS, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.

"You doing alright?" he asked, as he started to prep for the ghost shift, activating the cones with the device in his hand.

"I think I'm coping okay." She responded, watching him work. Part of her was itching to grab her sketchbook from her bag, where she had stashed it earlier, but the other part was fascinated just watching him dash around.

"That's good. Can't have you not doing okay." He responded, flashing her a smile before going back to zapping the cones. "What's the line doing?" he yelled.

"It's alright. It's holding!" Rose's voice yelled back and he nodded before moving forward.

"So. First adventure. What do you think so far?"

"Is it always like this?"

"Ask me that a little later on when I know more." He responded and she laughed, causing him to grin.

"I get the feeling you know me quite well." She responded back.

"Fairly." He replied. "I've only known you for around 2 years."

"How?"

"I'll answer more later." He said, mimicking his word from earlier. "Here we go!" he yelled out, so that the other two could hear him.

"The scanners working. It says delta one six." Rose yelled out.

The Doctor straightened, moving towards Astra and putting his hands in his pockets, a look of excitement on his face. "Come on then, you beauty!"

Astra laughed at his energy and he just grinned, before moving one of his arms and wrapping it around her, pulling her close. She froze for a moment, before relaxing into him. 'Two years, huh?' she thought, looking up at the wide eyed look paired with a grin. 'Wonder when I'm going to meet the first version of him then.'

Suddenly, a ghost appeared inside the cones and the Doctors smile faded, as he started to examine it. Letting go of her, he reached into a pocket and pulled out a pair of old-school 3D glasses, the ones made out of cardboard with red and blue lenses. Staring at the ghost for a second, he ducked to fiddle with the box in front of him and the ghost began to struggle.

"Doctor…" Astra said, pulling his attention back to what was happening.

"Aha, don't like that much, do you?" He said, still fiddling with the box's dial. "Who are you? Where are you coming from?"

The ghost thrashed against the force field and the Doctor jumped up and back, a hand going out in front of Astra. "Whoa! That's more like it!" He pulled off the 3D glasses and folded them up. "Not so friendly now, are you?"

The ghost seemed to struggle a bit before fading and the Doctor moved quickly to gather up the equipment. Astra jumped in to help pack up and he shot her a thankful smile. Once the cones and cables had been collected, the pair ran back into the TARDIS and shut the door.

The Doctor moved to store the equipment back under the console and Astra followed. "Thanks for the help." He said and she smiled back. "Any time."

"Right, still stuff to do! Come on!" He darted back up to the two above and Astra shook her head, trailing behind. 'Always moving this one!'

"I said so!" He said to the others, throwing his coat over the rail by the door. "Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source. Allons-y!"

He pulled a lever and the TARDIS lurched, causing Astra to almost fall down the stairs she was attempting to climb up. "Oof!"

"Sorry Astra!" He called out and she pulled herself to her feet and continued up the stairs to join the rest of them up top. Rose was hovering by the jump seat and Jackie was sitting in one of the nooks. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy." She said back and he just nodded, showing that he had heard her, and continued on.

"I like that. Allons-y." He darted around and flicked more levers. "I should say allons-y more often. Allons-y. Watch out, Rose Tyler, Astoria Hale. Allons-y." Astra blinked at the use of her full name. She should stop being surprised, she realised. If he had known her for two years, he probably knew a lot more about her than she knew herself.

"And then," The Doctor continued on, still fiddling with the console as he rambled. Rose shot a nervous look to her mother, just sitting there. "It would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say 'Allons-y, Alonso', every time. You're staring at me." He said to Rose, stopping.

"My mum's still on board." She said softly and the Doctor looked over to where Jackie was siting.

"If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you." Jackie said and Astra tried to hide her small laugh at the comment as the Doctor seemed to pale and Rose just smiled.

"Wait, this thing goes to Mars to? Not just through time and around Earth?" Astra asked and the others turned to look at her with her comment.

"Er, yeah. It can do anywhere in Time and Space." The Doctor said.

"Oh, wow! Anywhere?" She couldn't help the thoughts and possibilities that crossed into her head at that and the Doctor smiled softly at her.

"Anywhere you want, Sulley."

She frowned. "Sulley?"

Rose giggled and the Doctor opened his mount to reply when a noise from the scanner drew his attention back to what was happening, and Astra stored the nickname away for later as she and Jackie joined the other two to watch as soldiers started surrounding the TARDIS in the area they had landed. "Oh, well, there goes the advantage of surprise. Still, cuts to the chose." He started moving and looked back at them. "Astra, with me. Rose, stay in here, look after Jackie."

"I'm not looking after my mum." Rose said, as she followed the Doctor, Jackie trailing along behind and Astra bringing up the rear, interested as to why he was bringing her rather than Rose, who knew what she was doing.

"Well you brought her! And Astra doesn't know enough about the TARDIS to stay and take care of her." The Doctor responded and Astra winced a bit. Ah, there it was.

"I was kidnapped!" Jackie retorted as Rose ran ahead of the group and barred the door, stopping the duo from leaving.

"Doctor, they've got guns."

"And I haven't." He said, reaching to move Rose out of the way. "Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot me dead but the moral high ground is mine. Come on Astra." He opened the door and the blue-haired girl shot Rose a bit of a reassuring smile, as she slipped out of the door after the Doctor.

The Doctor let her pass on ahead, before closing the door behind him and looking at the troops in front of them, pointing their guns in their direction. He raised one hand in the other, the other grabbing hers and raising it as well. He squeezed her hand for reassurance, and so that he could keep her close, and Astra raised her other hand also, her heart starting to speed up in fear.

Suddenly a woman came running towards them, making her way through the soldiers and towards the pair of them. "Oh! Oh how marvellous!" She said, starting to clap. "Oh very good." She looked at the soldiers and they started clapping too. "Superb. Happy day." The Doctor and Astra exchanged a confused look, before turning their attention back to the scene before them.

She turned back to look at them and they slowly lowered their hands, Astra's still held tightly in the Doctors. "Uh, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor –"

"Oh I should say. Hurray!" The lady interrupted, clapping again.

He looked around, shocked, before smiling nervously. "You, you've heard of me then?"

"Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor, Astra, and the TARDIS." She gestured to them and then started clapping again.

Astra was starting to get a little creeped out. It was one thing for the Doctor and Rose to know who she was, but an entire organisation? What was in store for her? She subtly moved closer to the Doctor as he tried to quieten down the people before them, sensing her distress, letting go of her hand temporarily to wave down the crowd.

"And and and you are?" He asked, trying to turn the focus away from them.

"Oh, plenty of time for that." The woman responded, still smiling. "But, according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. Astra is your constant companion, yes, but, there is usually another. The Doctor, Astra, and another. That's a pattern, isn't it, right? There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. So, where is she?"

The Doctor stared the woman down before putting on a fake smile. "Yes. Sorry. Good point." He opened the door and reached his hand through. "She's just a bit shy, that's all. But, here she is, Rose Tyler."

He pulled Jackie through the door and Astra smiled at the older woman in a way she hoped was encouraging. Jackie seemed to have been thrown into this the same way she was and she felt sort of protective over the older woman.

"Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that." He said, waving his hand in a yaking motion, causing the strange woman to smile. "And, just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But she'll do."

"I'm forty." Jackie said, glaring at him.

"Deluded. Bless." He said, continuing on. "I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well, I say not bad." He rambled and Astra tried to hide her smile. Even in danger, this man was ridiculous. He reached behind and grabbed her hand again. "Anyway, lead on. Allons-y. But not too fast. Her ankle's going."

As they started to move, Jackie leaned in behind them and whispered. "I'll show you where my ankle's going." Astra sniggered and the Doctor just raised an eyebrow.

He did, however, tug Astra a bit closer. "Stay close to me." He whispered and she met his gaze and nodded, her hand tightening on his. She felt so out of her depth right now but had a feeling that, if she stayed close to this man, to the Doctor, they would be okay.

They followed the blonde woman out, the soldiers falling in behind, as they left the loading bay and went through a corridor. "It was only a matter of time until you found us, you or Astra, and at last you've made it." She smiled at them both, as she moved to open a set of double doors in front of them. "I'd like to welcome you, Doctor, Astra. Welcome to Torchwood."

Behind the doors was a larger warehouse, where soldiers were running back and forth and alien tech was hanging from the ceiling and boxes were being moved, undoubtedly holding more technology - cultivated or captured. They came to a halt as the Doctor took it all in, Astra standing next to him, her hand still clutched in his, while Jackie stood behind them.

"That's a Jathar Sunglider." The Doctor said, looking up at the ship that was being tested above them.

"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago." The woman explained.

"What, did it crash?" The Doctor asked, looking concerned.

"No, we shot it down." She said bluntly, causing the Doctors gaze to move to the still smiling woman next to them. "It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us. Now, if you'd like to come with me." She nodded her head and started to move again.

The Doctor turned to catch Jackie's horrified and confused expression, before looking down at Astra. She was still quiet, still taking it in. While he and Jackie remembered Christmas Day and the weapon that shot down the Sycorax, Astra would have no memory of it other than her first self. It had yet to happen to this version he was creating. His hearts twinged a little as he thought about how much his friend had ahead before she became the girl he knew her to be.

With a reassuring smile at her, however, he buried it down and started following the woman again, who was starting to speak. "Torchwood Institute has a motto; if it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire."

"For the good of the what?" Jackie said, who had wandered past the Doctor and Astra, who were dawdling as he took in what was in this place.

"The British Empire." The woman responded, stopping to turn and respond.

"There isn't a British Empire." Jackie replied.

"Not yet." She said, still with that horrible, plastic-looking smile. "Ah, excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind." She turned and received a large gun from a soldier who appeared behind her. "Do you recognise this, Doctor?"

He studied it briefly. "That's a particle gun." He said, almost in shock.

"Good, isn't it?" She said with that smile still in place. "Took us eight years to get it to work." She moved so that she looked at it from a different angle.

"It's the twenty first century." He responded, looking at her almost in horror. "You can't have particle guns."

"We must defend our border against the aliens." She said, matter-of-factly, before handing the gun back to the soldier. "Thank you, Sebastian, isn't it?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The soldier replied, taking the gun.

The woman smile at him further "Thank you, Sebastian." She turned back to the trio. "I think it's very important to know everyone by name." The Doctor made an almost mocking face and Astra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He seemed to always act this way and it was amusing her to no end. No wonder she travelled with him so much. "Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person."

Granted, Astra thought, looking at Jackie, this lady was laying it on thick and almost asking to get mocked.

"I thought aliens were still being played down. I mean, we've had instances, but, no one has admitted to them yet." Astra said, and the woman looked at her before chuckling, the Doctor cringing a little.

"Good one, Astra. Aliens, being hidden. Ha! Maybe to the general public, dear, but not to us who know better." She winked and Astra's brows furrowed.

Before she could ask the woman to elaborate, however, the Doctor cut in. "Have you got anyone called Alonso?"

"No, I don't think so. Is that important?"

The Doctor made a face. "No, I suppose not. What was your name?"

"Yvonne." She said, and the Doctor nodded. "Yvonne Hartman.

Jackie made a face and Astra filed it away as the Doctor went to grab something out of the nearest box, finally letting go of her hand. It looked like black plastic step-stools with handles to Astra, but, she was pretty sure there was more to it than that.

"Ah yes," Yvonne said, watching him pull one out. "Now we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowden. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass." Jackie raised her eyebrows, and Astra felt her mind stirring at the possibilities. "I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric." The Doctor seemed to look at her in mock-agreement before dropping the device back into the box and wiping his hands together. Astra pushed down the urge to give him a pinch for being condescending.

"I could do with that to carry the shopping." Jackie said, looking at in in awe, as the Doctor wandered off and Yvonne moved closer.

"All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general publics." Her fake smile was back, along with a look like she was looking down at Jackie and Astra scowled.

"So what about these ghosts?" Astra said, trying to move the attention away from Jackie and the look she was receiving.

"Ah yes, the ghosts." Yvonne said, and the Doctor moved back to paying attention. "They're, er, what you might call a side effect."

"Of what?" He asked.

"All in good time, Doctor." She responded, the smile coming back. "There is an itinerary, trust me."

"Oi!" Jackie called out, as the TARDIS was driven by on the back of a truck. "Where are you taking that?"

"If it's alien, it's ours" Yvonne said again.

"Alien?" Astra asked, whipping her head to stare at the Doctor, who seemed to be avoiding making eye contact.

"You'll never get inside it." The Doctor said, confidently, keeping his gaze firmly away from the blue-haired girl and only on his time machine as it moved through the warehouse. Later, he would tell her later.

"Hmm. Et cetera." Yvonne said, with a challenging look that Astra caught.

"I can't get inside it either. Alien or human tech." Astra muttered and Yvonne raised an eyebrow, her attention on the girl rather than on the Doctor, who subtly nodded at Rose who peaked out of the TARDIS.

Turning on the spot, Yvonne started to walk, the Doctor, Jackie, and Astra falling into line behind her. "Remind me to give you something when this is over." The Doctor muttered into her ear and Astra looked up expectantly.

"What? An explanation?"

He at least cringed a little at her words. "Something like that, but not now, later."

"Seems to be your favourite tune, Doctor." She muttered back and he shot her an apologetic smile before, walking faster to catch up with Yvonne. Astra fell into step besides Jackie, content to just observe and see while her mind mulled over the situation. Honestly, she was still terrified, but, the Doctor seemed to ooze confidence and she tried to take some of it in and appear a lot more caught up and on-to-it than she felt.

"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you." The Doctor said to Yvonne, who almost scoffed.

"Well of course not. You're the enemy." Yvonne replied casually. "You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown."

"1879. That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland." The Doctor responded, thinking back to that day with Rose. A trip he had been thankful he hadn't brought Astra along for.

"That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."

"Hang on. Werewolf?" Astra asked, her ears picking that up.

"Long story, tell you about it later." The Doctor said automatically, thinking back to how she almost hadn't been surprised when Rose had told her about the adventure she had missed. He was going to have to explain a lot once this was over it seemed.

"I think he makes half of it up." Jackie said, aiming it more towards Astra, as the two in front kept chatting, the Doctor shooting Astra a glance to see how her face ranged from disbelief to thoughtful.

"Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great, and fighting the alien horde." Yvonne continued, ignoring the banter.

"But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?" He asked, looking confused.

"Oh yes." Yvonne replied, stunning the three. "But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us." They stopped in front of a door, heavily guarded. Yvonne looked at the Doctor, "Starting with this."

The door opened and Yvonne led them into a small room with equipment and two lab techs. But the biggest thing of all was the large sphere at the back, hovering in place.

"Now, what do you make of that?" Yvonne said and they took it in.

Astra moved closer to the Doctor, not liking what was happening when she looked at it. He was studying it closely as well, his brows drawn a little as he observed.

"You must be the Doctor." One of the lab techs said, coming over and holding out his hand. "Rajesh Singh. It's an honour sir."

The Doctor just ignored him, and continued to stare at the orb. "Yeah" he muttered and Rajesh pulled away his hand.

"What is that thing?" Jackie asked, and Astra was glad someone did.

"We've got no idea." Yvonne said with a shrug, as all of their gazes locked on.

Astra shivered as a feeling of wrong went down her back. "What's wrong with it?" She asked, almost in a half whisper. The Doctor looked down at her, before putting an arm around her shoulders and bringing her in close for support.

"What makes you think there's something wrong with it?" Rajesh asked, looking towards the blue-haired girl.

She shrugged, tearing her eyes away from in. "I don't know. It just feels…weird. I feel wrong when looking at it."

The Doctor let go of her suddenly and moved closer, going up the stairs in front of it and Astra wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight off the sense that was almost overwhelming her.

"Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone." Yvonne said, and Jackie moved to place a hand on the young girls arm. "Makes you want to run and hide, like it's forbidden."

Then she turned to went to follow the Doctor, who was standing almost underneath it, looking up.

"We tried analysing it, using every device imaginable." Rajesh started to explain, as the Doctor brought out his old 3D glasses again and put them on to look at the sphere, putting his hands in his pocket and acting like it was a normal occurrence. "But, according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing, it doesn't age. No hear, no radiation, and has no atomic mass."

"But we can see it." Jackie argued back.

The man smiled, and pulled his glasses off. "Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off nothing. It is absent."

Astra looked back up at it again, thankful for Jackie's presence, thinking about the technicians words. That could be it, but, she felt like it was almost something more. The urge to draw was gone, which was such a strange thing for her. She didn't want to remember, didn't want to capture it on paper. What was it and how was it doing this?

"Well, Doctor?" Yvonne asked, as the man was still standing under the sphere and looking at it with his 3D glasses on.

"This is a Void ship." He replied, still not moving.

"And what is that?" The woman asked, after looking towards the others who shook their heads in confusion. Rajesh moved to stand next to her as the Doctor finally looked away from the sphere and took off his 3D glasses.

"Well, it's impossible for starters." He looked back up, after putting the glasses in his pocket. "I always thought it was just a theory, but it's a vessel designed to exist outside of time and space, travelling through the Void." He sat down on the steps, in front of the two.

"And what's the void?" Rajesh asked, trying to understand it.

"The space between dimensions." The Doctor replied, leaning in close. "There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between, containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that. Nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down, no life, no time. Without end." His eyes moved to lock on to Astra's as he continued, "My people called it the Void. The Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell."

"But someone built the sphere. What for? Why go there?" Rajesh asked, still trying to wrap his head around it. He was a scientist for Torchwood, he needed to know this!

The Doctor's gaze finally moved from Astra's as he looked at the curious man. Astra felt herself let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Was he trying to scare her or comfort her as he said those things with such an intense gaze, she really didn't know.

"To explore? To escape?" The Doctor looked back up. "You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, end of the Universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation."

Yvonne smiled, smugly. "You see, we were right. There is something inside it."

"Oh yes." The Doctor replied flatly, no expression on his face as he looked at the woman, causing her smile to falter.

"So how do we get in there?" Rajesh asked, his mind racing.

"We don't." The Doctor got to his feet and moved back towards Astra and Jackie, pulling the younger into his arms again, trying to comfort her after his words. He had watched the look on her face change and he didn't want to cause her to be frightened. To not want to travel with him after this. A Void ship was not a good first impression, he had decided. He would keep her close, keep her safe, and fix it when this was over. "We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?"

Yvonne folded her arms. "Well, that's how it all started. The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake."

Astra's grip tightened on his sleeve and he squeezed her lightly. "Show me." Letting go, he quickly took her hand in his, for some connection to reassure her, and to make sure that he could keep her close, and started stalking out of the laboratory, turning to the left, the way they had been going.

"No, Doctor." Yvonne called out, having started to follow the Time Lord and his companion, Jackie following behind, to not get left, while Rajesh saw them out.

The man turned and went the other way, not about to admit his mistake, or change his determined face, despite the small smile that appeared on Astras' and caused him to feel just a little bit better. He could still turn this around after all. He could still make her want to travel with him and secure her as one of his closest friends.

Well, here it is! The beginning. It's planned all the way up to end of Eleven and some of Twelve. I'm about 3 episodes in on writing. Fingers crossed!