Wow... that took far too long to get done... and it's probably not good enough to constitute such a long wait. I'll try and get the next one done sooner. Enjoy!
Eyes clenched shut, fingers gripping the grating beneath her, Alice was reminded of the time three or four years ago, that her boyfriend was driving too fast down the main road. They had both been drunk; too drunk to drive, but Ryan had insisted that he was fine. He hadn't been, of course, and had wound up rolling the car off the road. It had been the single most terrifying experience of Alice's life, being completely helpless and having nothing to do but hold on for dear life as the car lurched and rolled until it was finally stopped, quite violently, by a tree. Alice ended up with her right arm broken in three places, six bruised ribs, severe whiplash and a concussion. Ryan didn't make it.
In one awful instant, it all came back to her, the screeching tires, the screaming, the sound of broken glass and broken bones... Until she forced her eyes open and watched the Doctor as he ran about the control console, grinning as he ran a hand through his red hair, or hit some part of the console with a hammer, moving as though the constant violent shaking of the TARDIS – was that what he had called it? – was normal. She wasn't in a car, Alice reminded herself, she was in the TARDIS, a spaceship that was currently hurtling through time and space. After a moment's hesitation, she slowly uncurled her fingers from around the grating and pushed herself to her feet. A sudden lurch from the TARDIS caused her to stumble forwards but she managed to catch herself on the control console and grip the edges.
"Where are we going?" she asked, watching as the Doctor stopped touching the controls and simply gripped the console in the same way she was.
"I have no idea," he admitted gleefully. The excitement that he clearly felt about the mystery of their destination was contagious and Alice felt her lips twist upwards into a grin that mirrored his. It was exciting, travelling with an alien to who knows where... or when... and even though the wound in her neck was throbbing and she hadn't told anyone she was leaving, or who she was leaving with, and there was every chance she could die and no one would know what had happened to her... this promised to be the best year ever.
A loud thud. Violent shaking and creaking and then... nothing.
The anticipation was killing her and so as soon as the Doctor gave her an amused nod, Alice headed straight for the doors, throwing them open and stepping outside. Her surroundings were completely foreign. Trees and other plants she'd never seen before, tiny mammals and reptiles she wouldn't have pictured in her wildest dreams. Even the air seemed different, like it wasn't made the same as from home. She figured she was very, very, very far away.
Alice turned around to ask the doctor exactly where they were, but her words died on her lips as she stared at the blue wooden box standing in front of her. The Doctor, red hair and broad grin, was standing in the door way and just past his shoulder she recognised the control console of the ship they had travelled in. They had flown in a big blue box? Frowning, Alice moved back to the TARDIS, touching the wooden walls gently. A questioning glance at the Doctor told her nothing as he simply watched her, an amused glint in his eye. After making her way entirely around the TARDIS, it felt like her face would be permanently frozen in a frown. There was no way what she was looking at was the TARDIS. Was it? But when she poked her head inside the doors, she could clearly see the large room she had just been in.
"It's bigger on the inside," she said, after several moments of looking between the Doctor and the TARDIS.
"Is it?" he asked, a single eyebrow raised.
A few more moments of staring before Alice shrugged and returned her attention to her new surroundings. Alien technology. Bigger on the inside. Made sense... sort of. "Where are we?" she asked.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS to inspect his surroundings. Alice tilted her head to the side as she watched him examine, sniff, even lick a few things and decided he was showing off.
"Sol-Three," he said finally with a nod of his head.
"Sol-Three," Alice repeated, turning around. Sol-Three sounded so... official and foreign and... Hold on a minute. "Sol Three," she said again, this time with more scepticism. "Isn't Sol-Three Earth?"
"Yep," the Doctor said, clearly suppressing the urge to laugh. "You're still on planet Earth."
"But..." Alice didn't understand. Everything was too foreign to be earth, the plants, the air. It was all too different. "But it's not anything like Earth."
"That's because," he said, picking a leaf off a nearby tree and examining it closely. "This is Earth about 65 million years before you were born." A small reptile scuttled out from under a nearby bush and over Alice's feet. "Welcome to the Cretaceous Period."
Dark eyes widened as Alice stared at the Doctor in shock. "That," she said, pointing in the general direction of where the small reptile had gone. "Was a dinosaur?"
The Doctor nodded, barely able to contain a grin. He had seen dinosaurs before, of course, but it was always fantastic showing someone else the wonders of the world. He watched Alice register the information that she was now standing 65 million years before her time, the grin never wavering from his face as he saw the wonder become fear and then, one of his favourite emotions in the universe, excitement. Stepping closer to her, the Doctor extended his arm to her, an eyebrow raised.
"Care for a walk?" he asked, nodding in some vague direction.
"A walk in the Cretaceous Period?" Alice asked slightly breathless, eyes bright. Reaching out to take his arm, she hesitated, a slight frown crossing her face. "Is it safe?"
The Doctor screwed up his face as he thought, weighing up the various dangerous of two people walking through the Cretaceous Period, and tilted his hand from side to side. "More or less," he said, the hand moving to comb his fingers through his hair. "We won't go far," he assured her. "There's a beach on the other side of that hill. We'll just go there, then come straight back. Ten... twenty minutes tops."
Alice looked at the hill, her head tilted to the side, wondering how he could possibly know there was a beach on the other side. Then again there was every chance he'd been to this exact spot before. She glanced back down at his still outstretched arm and grinned, linking her arm with his. "Very well then, Doctor," she said. "Lead on."
Laughing, the Doctor pulled Alice towards the low hill, explaining various plant or animal life as they went. Alice's mouth was wide open in an awed, excited smile. This was by far the most awesome experience of her life. And things seemed to be going well, what with the lack of blood sucking, sharp toothed monsters. Though, Alice wasn't an expert on creatures from the Cretaceous Period and for all she knew there was a dinosaur version of a Coronovore lurking around somewhere.
"There it is," the Doctor said, gesturing grandly around him. Pulled from her thoughts, Alice focused on what he was gesturing at and barely suppressed a gasp. The Doctor hadn't been wrong about the beach. And what a beach. The water was calmly rolling against the shore, blue and glittery. The sand itself, golden and perfect in every way... but while the beach was indeed beautiful, it wasn't what took Alice's breath away. Dotted around the beach was a heard of dinosaurs she couldn't put a name too. Though they looked familiar and she suspected she'd seen drawings of them before. Some walked on two feet, others on four, and still more were swimming easily in the shallows. They had long, tubular crests on their heads, flattening into a bill not unlike that of a duck. Alice clung very tightly onto the Doctor's arm. Not out of fear, simply at a loss for what to do as she stared at real, live, dinosaurs.
"What are they?" she whispered, fearful that any noise, even from so far away, would startle the herd into leaving.
"Parasaurolophus," he answered. "A small herbivore of the Cretaceous Period."
"You sound like a poké-dex," Alice muttered, still staring at the dinosaurs. "Wait... small?" The Parasaurolophus looked anything but small.
"Well, in comparison to other creatures of this era," the Doctor elaborated. Alice gulped. "Want to get a closer look?"
Alice nodded fervently and allowed the Doctor to guide her down the hill. She still thought that any noise or sudden movements would startle the herd but they seemed unperturbed by their presence, even with the two humans... or well one human and one alien, walking among them.
"How'd you know this beach was here?" she asked, glancing at the Parasaurolophus that were swimming. "Have you been here before?"
"Not here, no," he said. "I went back further last time I was here... No, I could smell it."
"Smell it?"
"It doesn't smell beach like to you?"
Alice frowned and sniffed the air. Now that she thought about it, it really did smell like a beach... but slightly different. She supposed it was something to do with the slightly different makeup of the air. "Yeah," she said, slowly. "It do – " the rest of her sentence was cut off by a meek squeak as one of the Parasaurolophus nudged her in the shoulder with his nose. She froze as the Doctor disentangled his arm from hers and took a step back, smiling reassuringly. Not that she could see, being too focused on the dinosaur, a head or so taller than her, looking at her curiously. All the others were taller still so she assumed this one was young. That thought did not comfort her at all. It made an odd chirping noise that Alice honestly hadn't expected to hear from such a large creature, and tilted its long head to the side. Tentatively, Alice raised her hand towards the dinosaur, and equally as tentatively the dinosaur leaned its head down. The reptilian skin beneath her fingers was such an odd sensation, but her face broke out into a large grin as the Parasaurolophus leaned into her touch. "I'm petting a dinosaur," she whispered.
The Doctor, though, was not paying attention. He was looking at the sky, frowning at the burning light gradually getting closer. His eyes went wide for a moment before he clenched them shut and frantically began calculating in his head. "No," he whispered, looking back into the sky. "Chicxulub."
"Gesundheit," Alice said without turning away from the dinosaur.
"Alice, we have to leave now." His eyes were still on the sky but he was stepping backwards. He reached out and grabbed Alice by the upper arm, pulling her along with him. Alice made a small surprised noise as she was yanked away from the Parasaurolophus. It too looked surprised and made a strange noise out of the top of its tubular crest. Like a reptilian howl, but quieter and high pitched. The rest of the heard made the same noise, deeper, older, and the all began to gallop away in the woodland at the opposite edge of the beach. The young one Alice had been petting looked at her for a moment before joining the heard.
"What's going on?" Alice asked. The Doctor, who had been dragging her quite quickly back toward the hill, came to an abrupt stop and pointed into the sky. Alice's gaze followed his finger and she squinted her eyes at the burning light. It wasn't visibly closer than when the Doctor had first spotted it. But he knew that it was miles ahead of where it had been.
"That is Chicxulub," he said, eyes wide as he stared at her, making sure she understood the gravity of the situation. "It will collide with the earth, in the general area of where we are standing, and wipe out most of the life forms on the planet." Alice's eyes mirrored his. "Now, I can't stop it from happening. It's not possible. And even if I could, it's a fixed point in time. It needs to happen or you'll never be born... no one will. So... we leave. Right now. And I'll take you somewhere much less dangerous."
Alice stared at the meteor, which she assumed was travelling at impossible speeds, and nodded. She didn't particularly feel like being the first human being to go extinct. Apparently happy with that decision, the Doctor resumed dragging her along, back up the hill, until he froze at the top. His lips grew very thin as he pressed his mouth tightly closed, though he looked like he wanted to scream.
"What - ?" But Alice didn't need to finish her question as she saw immediately what was wrong. The blue box that they had travelled in was no longer sitting at the bottom of the hill. It was nowhere in sight. She looked back at the Doctor, panic clear on her face. Without the TARDIS there was no way home. She was going to be trapped in the Cretaceous Period for the rest of her life. This apparently wasn't going to be very long, what with extinction on the way.
A terrifying screech alerted them both to the large presence somewhere above them. Tipping her head backwards to see what it was, Alice suppressed a scream, the large winged reptile above them screeching against as it continued on its way.
"Is that a...?" she began to ask, but trailed off, unsure if she wanted the answer.
"Pteranodon," the Doctor said, his eyes firmly locked on the beast, an intense look of anger and fear in his eyes. "But I'm more interested in what it's got in its claws."
Squinting up at the Pteranodon, Alice examined the odd rectangular shape it clutched. Her eyes widened in realisation, her mouth forming a horrified 'o'.
"The TARDIS," the Doctor said aloud for her. Alice said nothing, not even sure of anything she could say. Their one and only ride out of the Cretaceous Period was disappearing into the sky and there was a giant meteor on the way. Awesome.
"Where's it taking her?" she asked finally, her voice barely more than a squeak.
"Its nest I would imagine." The Doctor's eyes were still on the creature as it flew away, though they no longer held the same emotions as before. Now they looked nothing but determined, and his voice was frustratingly calm. It might just have been Alice being selfish but she felt that she shouldn't be the only one freaking out at the moment.
"How can you be so relaxed?" she squeaked. "The TARDIS is gone, extinction is coming... I should see more panic coming from you... or at least some panic."
The Doctor finally looked way from the Pteranodon but thankfully did not give the frightened girl his usual grin, feeling now was probably not the best time. "I have a plan."
"A plan?" Her voice was somewhat less of a squeak now.
"Yeah... I'd say we've got until tomorrow afternoon till Chicxulub hits," he explained. "So, we go after the Pteranodon and get the TARDIS and leave."
Alice frowned, thinking over the definition of the word 'plan'. "Uh huh?"
"Alright so it's more of a framework than a plan," he admitted, "but as you don't seem to have any better ideas... coming?"
Alice scowled at him before brushing her hair out of her face, sweeping it into a bun, and nodding. What other option was there?
"I hate you," Alice informed the Doctor simply several hours later, as the blistering hot sun beat down on her. They had been doing nothing but walking for... however many hours now... Alice had lost track. It hadn't been so bad while there were still trees and grass and water around, but now they were trekking on the open plains, beneath a cruel sun and Alice was pretty sure they had no idea where they were going.
"You do not," he said as confidently as possible, though Alice thought she detected a hint of hurt in his voice.
"No..." Alice said slowly, feeling bad for taking her frustration out on him. "But I really hate this situation... where are we going anyway? I'm beginning to lose faith in your directional skills, Doctor."
The man resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he pointed to the large mountain they had been walking toward for the past four hours. "Where did you think a Pteranodon would have its nest?"
Alice's frown deepened as she shrugged. "A tree?"
The Doctor couldn't help but laugh. "It's not a bird, Alice," he reminded her. "It just happens to have wings."
"I know that," Alice said defensively. "I just... shut up... I'm suffering from heat exhaustion."
"Mmmhmm,"was all her said, still trying to suppress his laughter.
Alice waved a hand dismissively at him and fell into silence, contemplating her current predicament. True she was trapped on the verge of the Cretaceous extinction – which she had complained about many times by now – but then again, she had put herself in this situation. She could have said no when the Doctor asked her to travel with him, but she had jumped at the chance. Knowing full well the likelihood that she would once again be put in danger, she still agreed to stay in the strange spaceship and travel through time with a man she barely knew. That thought stopped her in her tracks. She knew nothing about the Doctor except that he was an alien who seemed to really like having red hair.
"What?"
Alice blinked at the Doctor, wondering why he was looking at her so strangely; until she remembered that she was no longer moving.
"Sorry," she said. "I was thinking about things and I realised I actually know nothing about you."
"Ah," he said as if he had been expecting the point to be raised sooner or later.
Alice was struggling to keep herself on her feet, the temptation to just lie down and pass out growing steadily stronger. "So tell me something," she said, blinking fatigue away. "It'll at least keep me conscious... like... what kind of alien are you?"
The Doctor was silent for a moment, trying to decide how to proceed. Obviously the question itself wasn't too difficult to answer, but it always lead to further information that in the past he hadn't been so open with. Granted he had only been in his current incarnation for a few days... and she did look like she needed a distraction...
"I'm a Time Lord," he said finally. "From Gallifrey."
"That's not pretentious sounding at all," Alice said with a small grin. "What's Gallifrey like?"
"Beautiful," the Doctor said wistfully. "Acres of fields of red grass, tall mountains that would shine amazingly when the second sun rose."
As the Doctor spoke, Alice tried to picture his words. And though she knew her imagination couldn't even come close to doing it justice, she couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave.
"The Citadel of the Time Lords, on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude..." And once the Doctor got started, he didn't seem able to stop himself. He justified it to himself by thinking that if they didn't make it to the TARDIS in time then at least Alice would know as much as possible about the man that got her killed. But in truth he suspected that it felt good to tell it all so someone. After being alone for so long, having someone listen was relieving. Eventually he explained to Alice about Gallifrey's destruction... the Time War and what he'd done to stop it. About Rose and Jack and the Daleks. Martha, Donna, the end of the world... Amy and River. Everyone who ever meant something to him and why they were no longer with him. The story took so long that night had fallen and they had set up camp – or rather a fire – by the time he had finished.
Alice lay on her back, hands folded under her head; trying to register all the information she had just been given. She hadn't expected a tale quite like that. Time Wars and universe destroying aliens... and his numerous companions – girls just like her who, for one reason or another, had stopped travelling with him. She appreciated the story though, and his honesty, though he seemed far too young to have experienced so much.
"How old are you?" she asked after a while, turning her head to look at him through the flames.
The Doctor thought for a moment, scratching his head as he calculated. "Nine hundred and... twenty."
At this point, Alice would have thought nothing could surprise her, but the man across from her – who looked in his early to mid-twenties – was almost a millennium old.
"I... wow..." was all she could manage to say.
"Yeah... don't think about it too much, Alice, it'll just weird you out."
"But how can you possibly be that old?"
"That's another story for another day," he told her, and while his tone was still friendly, it clearly stated that there was no room for discussion. "Just try and get some sleep... we're close but we'll need to move quickly tomorrow if we want to get to the TARDIS in time."
Alice nodded mutely and rolled over, allowing her eyes to close. It was a testament to how exhausted she was that her brain didn't try and keep her awake examining every detail of her day, and simply allowed her to drift to sleep.
It was still dark when Alice awoke, though she could see the beginnings of a sunrise off in the distance, and Chicxulub burned brightly now that is was so much closer.
"Alright," said the Doctor, already standing, his arms stretching above his head. "If we get going now, hopefully we'll make it to and up the mountain before Chicxulub hits."
"Hopefully," Alice groaned, pulling herself to her feet, kneading her sore muscles with her fists. For a moment she thought she could hear a dull roar coming from the area of the sky Chicxulub was in. But she shook her head and shrugged it off; it was only her imagination trying to make her situation worse.
Not that it needed to do so, as the walking alone was doing a brilliant job of that itself. It hadn't taken long for the sun to rise high enough in the sky that it burnt her while she walked. And of course she knew she couldn't stop walking because the meteor just kept getting closer and closer and she didn't feel like dying today. She trudged determinedly on, managing to match the Doctor's pace though he still seemed tireless, even after hours of walking.
A familiar sound caught her attention, and Alice finally allowed herself to stop walking, looking around to find the source of the noise. A few hundred metres away, Alice spotted the Parasaurolophus herd... or a Parasaurolophus herd, there was a good chance it wasn't the same one from yesterday... then again how many Parasaurolophus were there? One of the smaller wins turned its head until it appeared it was looking right at the Doctor and Alice and made the high pitched howl from the top of its head. Alice smiled and resisted the temptation to wave; the baby Parasaurolophus wouldn't know what waving meant. Alice turned to make sure the Doctor hadn't gotten too far ahead, and saw that he too had stopped, but he wasn't looking at the Parasaurolophus herd, he was looking behind them, eyes narrowed as if trying to decide if he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.
"Alice..." he said slowly, in a way that suggested that he was trying not to frighten her. "Now would be a good time to run."
Against her better judgement, Alice turned around to see what it was exactly the Doctor was looking at. And she really wished she hadn't. Running towards them were three raptors. She didn't know what kind but at that moment she didn't particularly care. Raptors. Vicious predators were running right towards her.
"Oh dear."
Spinning on her heel, Alice began sprinting towards the mountain that thankfully was getting nearer, the Doctor right beside her. Although she resisted the urge to look behind her once again, she could hear the raptors gaining on her. They were only metres away from the bottom of the mountain. If they could reach it in time, they could climb out of reach of the raptors. But the raptors were too close, every time the Doctor looked behind him, his face got more and more worried. Alice pushed herself as hard as she could, but she knew it wasn't hard enough.
But then a sound that made her blood run cold filled the air, a high pitched reptilian howl, and she couldn't stop herself from turning around. The baby Parasaurolophus was galloping towards them as fast as he could, making as much noise as possible. The raptors' steps faltered as their heads twisted around to see the source of the noise. Alice could almost see their minds working, trying to decide which meal would be better, two creatures they'd never seen before that were deliciously close, or a nice juicy Parasaurolophus heading straight for them. The choice was an easy one to make. Alice's pace slowed as the raptors changed course, her eyes filled with horror.
"No," she whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene before her. The Parasaurolophus gave a start as the raptors started heading straight towards him, but he didn't stop. He kept galloping straight towards them. "NO!"
"Alice!" The Doctor cried urgently, gripping her arm and pulling her towards the safety of the mountain. There was a ledge a few metres up they could easily climb to, if they could just keep moving.
"But –"
"Now!" he said firmly, tugging on her arm so hard that she would have fallen over, had it not been for his vice like grip on her arm. Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes and she allowed the Doctor to lead her the rest of the way. The Parasaurolophus let out a strangled howl and Alice looked around one last time, to see it disappear beneath the raptors. By this point, any hope she had had of keeping her tears in check disappeared as they began to flow freely down her face. She was so busy trying to at least breathe normally that the Doctor had to climb up onto the ledge first and haul Alice up after him. She lay on the ledge, trying to dry her tears, knowing it was stupid to cry for the death of a dinosaur. He would have died later today anyway... but going like that... torn apart by raptors because of her. It wasn't fair.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor was sitting somewhere behind her, finally sounding out of breath. Alice pushed herself into a sitting position and looked at him. She had almost expected a lecture, telling her not to worry about some silly dinosaur. But no, he was looking at her seriously, sympathy in his eyes. Alice felt less silly now and, drying her tears, got to her feet and stared defiantly at Chicxulub.
"How long have we got?" she asked, all trace of tears gone from her voice.
The Doctor hesitated as he looked up at her. Clearly the dinosaur's death had hit the girl hard – which did not seem strange to him at all. For some reason the infant Parasaurolophus had been intelligent enough to know that Alice was in danger, and determined enough to give up his life for her. No matter what species you were, that was a big sacrifice. After a while he stood, moving to stand beside her and look up at the nearing meteor. "Four hours, twenty minutes and forty-three seconds."
"...Right," Alice said. That had been a bit more specific than she was expecting. She turned around to look up the face of the mountain, squinting to try and see the Pteranodon's nest. "And how far have we got to climb?"
The Doctor turned around, and after a few moments of adjusting his position on the ledge he paused, calculating. "We can make it," he said simply, feeling that it was probably better to not worry her with specific distances. "You know, assuming we don't fall or get eaten."
"Yep," Alice said, now examining the rock face in front of her. "Well... let's go."
The Doctor watched her as she began to climb up the mountain with nothing but her hands. Of course, she had no other option, but he had thought she'd be more hesitant. So either she really, really wanted to get out of here, or she was a very skilled rock climber. Shrugging, the Doctor climbed up after her, following where she had put her hands and feet until he could find his own way, then climbed up next to her. "Do much of this before?"
Alice gave him a strange look, wondering why he decided now was a good time for small talk. "Not really," she said, slightly breathless. "But you know, how hard can it be to grab the rock, pull myself up and not look down?"
"Fair point," he said, grunting as he pulled himself higher. He thought about asking more mundane questions, to try and take her mind off the fact that she was climbing a mountain free hand, but decided it was actually probably better for her to concentrate on what she was doing so fell silent.
An hour or so passed and Alice leant back, stretching her arms and trying to loosen her muscles. Apparently it was actually quite difficult to grab the rock and pull herself up, and while she was managing it – barely – it put a lot of strain on her already weak upper body muscles. The only thing that actually prevented Alice from giving up entirely, was the thought that a freaking dinosaur had given up its life to save her... she couldn't let that happen and then just fall to her death. She could see the Doctor giving her worried looks out of the corner of his eye, and she wondered what he was thinking.
In fact, she was about to ask what it was he was thinking, but before she could draw enough breath to phrase the question, a large shape loomed over her, blocking out the sun, and emitting a piercing cry.
"Bugger."
Glancing up, Alice saw the Pteranodon heading straight for them. Maybe they were really close to the nest... or maybe it just knew where they were going... whatever the reason, it looked angry... or maybe just hungry. Alice tried to press herself against the rock so that the dinosaur would soar harmlessly past her. But she got such a fright as the creature neared her that she jumped, letting go of the mountain said and tumbling backwards.
"Alice!" The Doctor reached out one of his hands to try and grab her, but the Pteranodon got there first, one of its large claws gripping her tightly by the shoulder. Alice cried out as one of the talons pierced her shoulder, and the Doctor saw blood slowly begin to soak into her shirt. As the Pteranodon prepared to move higher up, the Doctor leapt off the mountain and gripped Alice by the ankles. He realised a little too late that it was probably not his best idea, considering her now wounded shoulder, but he didn't have a whole lot of options.
Alice pressed her lips tight together to keep from crying out in further pain, instead allowing the Pteranodon to pull her and the Doctor higher. She hardly dared to believe it, but she suspected the dinosaur was taking them straight to her nest, which while a good thing in theory – they'd have the TARDIS – it probably meant she had babies she needed to feed.
With the help of the Pteranodon, a climb that should have taken hours took only minutes and they were finally dumped into the centre of the nest. The Doctor landed first with a soft "oomph" as he hit the bottom, with a repeated, much louder "oomph" as Alice landed on top of him. "Sorry," she groaned leaning back and pressing a hand to her wounded shoulder. The Doctor waved her apology away, no damage had been done. He kept his eyes glued to the Pteranodon, waiting for her to strike, but she simply flew away, probably in search of more food for her children, aware that two tiny creatures such as Alice and the Doctor couldn't possibly feed them all.
But where were the Pteranodon Juniors?
The sound of soft breathing from somewhere behind him made the Doctor turn around and scramble to his feet. Alice did the same, granted she did it much slower, and her eyes widened at the sight before her. Three baby Pteranodons slept curled together mere feet away from the TARDIS. While these creatures were clearly infants in comparison to the Pteranodon that had just left, they were far from small, each one probably about the same size as the TARDIS.
"Wow..." Alice breathed, staring at the dinosaurs. It was a terrifying sight, three large carnivores that could awaken at any moment and tear them to shreds. But at the same time it was saddening. These were just children, probably only months old at the most, and today, in only a few hours, they would be wiped out with the rest of life on earth. With that thought, Alice moved back to the edge of the nest, looking out in awe at the world beneath her. It was nothing short of beautiful, pure scenery, not even a hint of human civilisation. "It'll all be gone," she said sadly as the Doctor came to stand next to her. "This wonderful, terrifying, beautiful place is going to be destroyed so that humans can live."
"Yep," he said, touching her unharmed shoulder comfortingly. It wasn't fair that so much beauty had to die in order for Earth to evolve the way it needed to, but it couldn't be changed. And even if it could, the Doctor didn't think he would change it, though humans could sometimes do stupid things, they could also do wonderful things, and it was the wonderful things he stuck around for.
Alice continued to stare in silence. Now that they had found the TARDIS, she didn't feel such a rush to leave. They still had hours, if the Doctor's calculation had been correct, which she suspected it usually was, so she could mourn the death of a world for a moment or two. Except for the fact that the soft breathing noises behind her had stopped. Alice desperately wished that the baby Pteranodons had just started sleeping more silently, but with a quick glance at the Doctor's face, she knew that her luck was not so great. Very slowly, the girl turned around, trying to keep her noises to a minimum as she faced the now very awake infant dinosaurs. Alice was about to say something but with a short shake of his head, the Doctor silenced her. Any noise now would startle the creatures into attacking. At that particular moment they were just staring at the strange things in their home... the Doctor planned to use that to his advantage... for however long it lasted. He slowly motioned for Alice to move towards the TARDIS, all the while staying slightly ahead of her so that he would be the first one pecked to death if the Pteranodons decided to attack.
Alice actually managed to touch the corner of the TARDIS before the dinosaurs stopped staring and started moving. With a startled screech and an unimpressed flapping of wings, the Pteranodons rushed towards them, beaks snapping. "Go!" The Doctor yelled, pushing Alice through the doors of the TARDIS, following behind as quickly as he could, locking the doors behind him. Almost as soon as the doors were secure, the TARDIS started rocking violently from side to side, pushed against by angry, snapping Pteranodons. Alice dropped to her knees, finding it difficult to stay conscious with all the blood she'd lost, it was beginning to get ridiculous really. Only yesterday, she'd had her blood drunk from a Coronovore... now bleeding from her shoulder... so far her epic adventure was going swimmingly.
The Doctor meanwhile rushed around the control console, talking rapidly to himself as pushed that button, pulled that lever, hammered that seemingly random piece of metal. Finally the rocking became violent lurching and Alice heard the strange noise that signalled the TARDIS was moving. The TARDIS managed to straighten itself out, and its flight became much calmer. Calm enough in fact that Alice could actually get to her feet and stay that way, despite her wobbly legs.
"Let me look at that." The Doctor had stepped towards her and pulled her shirt down to reveal the wound before Alice could answer, but by this point she didn't really care about modesty. "Hmm... I've got to work on keeping you in one piece, haven't I?" he said, examining the wound. He suspected she'd lose a great deal of use in her left arm for quite some time... hopefully not too long though. "It's going to be hard to explain where you've been if you're covered in scars when you get home."
Alice merely nodded, her eyes slipping closed for a moment before she managed to force them open again.
"Hey, don't pass out yet," the Doctor said cheerfully, touching her face lightly to make sure she was focusing on him. "Don't you want to see it?"
"See it?"
"The meteor," he explained, checking his watch. "Those Pteranodon infants knocked us forward a few hours and we're hovering in earth's orbit right now. If you want, you can go look out the door and see it hit."
Alice frowned to herself, considering the idea of watching the meteor hit earth. It was essentially the end of the world, not her world true, but the end none the less. Did she want to see all that destruction?
Yes. Yes she did. But not alone.
"Watch it with me?" she asked, slowly heading for the door.
The Doctor nodded, moving to stand behind her as she pulled open one of the doors. Below them, Earth slowly rotated, looking wonderfully blue and blissfully unaware of the doom that was fast approaching. Alice gasped, half expecting to be unable to breathe. She didn't bother to ask why that wasn't the case though, now wasn't the time. Chicxulub was burning through earth's atmosphere and would hit the earth in a matter of minutes. Alice braced herself against the frame of the door, thinking about the millions of creatures that were about to perish. Did they see the meteor heading towards them? Did they know what it meant?
Again there was the dull roaring sound, coming from so far away, but this time it could have been the sound of the impact. Ultimately, it was rather anti-climactic. While the area it hit was directly affected by the meteor, creatures crushed, set on fire etc. But for the rest of the world, it would take some years to take effect, but eventually everything would die, and the world will sleep, until new creatures evolved and developed earth differently.
Sleepily, Alice turned around and pressed her forehead onto the Doctor's shoulder, longing for sleep. A concerned frown crossed the Doctor's features as he closed the door. "Are you okay?"
When Alice made no answer, the Doctor's frown deepened and he moved Alice back so he could see her face properly. Eyes close, breathing slow, Alice had passed out. Again. "Someday you'll stay conscious around me," he said to her unconscious form, lifting her into his arms and carrying her into the infirmary. As he dressed her wound, he watched her sleep, and realised that it had been caused by exhaustion as much as blood loss... and probably hunger as well. He sighed... he hadn't been doing a very good job of looking after her. Three days and she'd already nearly died twice. The next trip he would take her somewhere ridiculously nice, where she would be well fed and not anywhere near dangerous aliens. He grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed and placed it over her, sweeping some of her hair out of her face.
For now, though, he would let her sleep.
Review please! Reviews are pretty and encouraging. Also, there is a link on my profile to a picture of who I think best represents this version of the Doctor.