Chapter One: Centurian in the Hallway

Main thenes… No.

Mian themes… I prodded the backspace in annoyance.

Main Themes of The Age of Innocence. Enter.

I glowered at the screen in exasperation while my english teacher rambled on. Something about the family tree of the main characters in the book. She was even drawing it out on the board, making the dry erase marker squeak as she etched a line from 'Mrs. Henry Van der Luyden' to someone with the last name 'Welland', the first name being little more than a squiggle. Her handwriting needed work.

My best friend, Penny, glanced over at me, her face mirroring the same boredom that I felt. It's not that we hate english; and Mrs. Pierce is actually a good teacher; but she was a little over obsessed with The Age of Innocence, honing in on the family drama in the book while Penny and I couldn't get past the sexism and hypocritical assholery of the main character. I know that the family dynamic and social commentary is important. But come on. Focus on something else.

"We have to write a essay on this shit", Penny mouthed, making sure to subtly block her mouth so Mrs. Pierce couldn't see.

"Three weeks and one semester left" I mouthed back, not looking up. "Don't lose hope now".

I tugged at my pants leg, which had ridden up slightly when I shifted in my seat, tucking my left leg under me and leaning forward slightly. I was wearing my typical outfit, which consisted of high-waisted 'pedal pushers' and a long sleeved button up shirt. My neighbor, old Mrs. Alani, loved to gush about how I dressed like she did in the late 1950's and 60's. Penny never wastes an opportunity to tell me how uncomfortable my clothes look. Well, she would think that; from her tennis shoes- jeans-Tshirt- athletic jacket combo, everything else is uncomfortable. Whatever. I ran my fingers through my brown-blond hair, rearranging the large loopy curls before letting them fall back to my shoulders. I was perfectly comfortable in my clothes, the fabric being light and loose.

I looked back over to Penny, who had started doodling on a piece of paper. She had a smudge of graphite from the pencil on her cheek. Someone should probably tell her.

Just as I leaned over to get her attention, there was a hesitant knock at the door. Before my teacher could tell them to come in, the door was cautiously opened by a man with light eyes and a rather large nose. But the most interesting feature wasn't his face, but his choice of clothes. If I dressed a bit out of date, then this man DEFINITELY did. I came out of a 1950's clothing catalogue, but he looked ready to walk back INTO a history book, dressed as a Roman soldier.

"Umm… I'm sorry but…", he started in a British accent, which sounded extremely out of place in Virginia, while his eyes flickered around the room uncomfortably. "Do you have a Monet English?" His eyes settled on me briefly before darting back to my teacher. "Can I borrow her for a minute?"

I exchanged a confused look with Mrs. Pierce as I stood to carefully pick my way around bookbags and other students' legs to make my way to the Roman, who ducked out of the door as soon as he saw that I meant to follow him. I went out into the hallway and shut the door behind me.

The Roman was already halfway down the hallway and being confronted by another man, who was thin and lanky with a large chin and a bowtie.

"I managed to get the TARDIS turned right. It isn't facing the wall anymore, we can get in now. What is it? Did you find her?" The bow tie man didn't wait for an answer. I saw his eyes shift past the Roman to land on me before he broke into a large grin. "Monet!"

The man bounded over to me and, seeing that there was no one else in the hall, grabbed my face and kissed me deeply. I was too shocked to respond immediately and didn't offer any resistance until he took my wrist and began dragging me down toward where the Roman had vanished, talking all the way.

"Sorry to pull you out of class, but we've got to help Amy and I couldn't waste time re-landing to when you're between classes… Vastra and Strax are on board, so you can imagine how antsy they're getting…"

I snapped back to my senses and began to struggle. "Hey! What the hell! Stop it! Let go of me!"

The man let go of my wrist and gave me a confused look. "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

He searched my face as I fumbled for words, not even knowing where to start. I was about to say something when it dawned on him. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

I blinked and shook my head. "No. I don't. So what the hell was that?" I felt anger bubbling up in my chest. "And you the hell do you think you are? Dragging me out of class to…".

The man silenced me with a shake of his head. "Sorry. I didn't realize it was so early…". I watched his face shift from sad, to concerned, to amused, all in the span of a second. "But I guess there is a first time for everything". He beamed at me and snatched by hand up again to continue dragging me down the hall. "Sorry, I know this is a bit of a shock… but you'll understand everything soon. I'm the Doctor… and that's Rory. RORY!"

The Roman soldier popped his head around the doorframe of the custodian's closet at the sound of his name. "What?"

"There has been a complication", the Doctor explained, still hauling me toward the closet. I tried to pull away, but he was alot stronger than his gangly looks suggested. "But I am afraid that we'll have to work with it".

Rory sighed as he walked over to grab my other arm. "You've got it wrong haven't you? She has no idea who we are?"

"Well, not WRONG, just a bit of a surprize. This was always going to happen eventually, I just had no idea when".

"Well YOU get to explain it to her," Rory said as they wrestled me into the closet. "I'm tired of being the one that always has to explain everything… just because you and Amy say I'm 'the newest'...".

"Don't worry, Rory. I've been waiting on this one for a very long time".

Once in the closet I could see what they were trying to get me to. A large blue box perched crookedly in the corner amid a pile of toppled brooms and buckets.

"What the hell is that? I'm not going in there! No way…!"

My protests were cut short when Rory the Roman opened the door of the blue box and the Doctor two-handedly shoved me inside. I stumbled through the doorway, swearing, and the two men followed, closing the door behind them.

My vulgar commentary trailed off as I gazed around the room. It was huge; a gigantic room crammed inside a box inside a broom closet. The light was warm and bright, mostly emanating from a console up some stairs in the center of the room. There were some voices and movements up around the console, but I wasn't ready to deal with them yet. Rory walked past me and up the stairs. The Doctor came up beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

"It's called the TARDIS", he said. "It's a time machine. You and I spend a great deal of time here. Have lots of adventures. Lots of laughs. Good days and bad days, alike. But what do you think? Any passing remarks?"

I gave a sideways glance his smiling face, and after a moment's consideration, cried: "What the fuck?"

The Doctor looked slightly disappointed and took his arm off my shoulders.

"Oh, well, not really sure what I expected. Though I'd almost forgotten how you could swear. Anyway, come and meet your friends".

The Doctor grabbed my hand and led me to the stairs to where Rory was peering down at us, but now he was accompanied by two women.

"What's wrong with Monet?" One of the women asked.

"The Doctor got the time line a bit wrong", Rory answered. "It's her first time".

"Well this should be very interesting", the second woman responded as the Doctor and I reached the top of the stairs. I was stunned to see that she was alarmingly scaly and green.

"Wha- she's green..", I stammered, looking at the woman with wide eyes.

The green lady let out a hissing laugh. "I am Madame Vastra. A lizard lady from the dawn of time. And this is Jenny". She gestured to the other woman, who at least seemed human.

"Nice to meet ya", Jenny said, smiling.

"Bringing aboard a civilian presents an extreme tactical disadvantage," said another voice. A rather large armoured potato-man that I hadn't noticed emerged from around the console.

The Doctor looked up from where he was purposefully pushing buttons. "Monet, that's Strax. And don't worry. She'll be fine". He smiled at me before he was running about the console, pulling levers. The console roared to life, and what had simply seemed as a bizarre room was suddenly heaving and breathing like a giant beast. I was flung into the railing, where I held on desperately. A look around told me that everyone, excluding the Doctor, was doing the same.

When the room stopped shaking the Doctor bounded to the door and flung it open to disappear outside. Although I couldn't see anything, the dismayed voice of a man wafted in. After a minute the Doctor hurried back in accompanied by a very fat man who, to my horror, was a bright shade of blue.

"I KNOW I said I owed you a favor, Doctor, but here? Now? FOR THIS?" The man whined. "Demons Run? The Headless Monks? All for the sake of a girl?"

"That 'girl' is my wife!" Rory snapped, his hand resting on his sword.

By this point I was feeling a little bit sick. Scratch that… very sick; and the Doctor must've seen it on my face, because suddenly he was leading me a short distance down one of the corridors and into a room that turned out to be a bathroom. He closed the door behind us and stood watching me while I leaned against the sink. I stood there for a moment before looking up, hands over my mouth, starting to panic.

"Hey. Hey. Hey", the Doctor murmured, closing the toilet seat lid and sitting me down on it. He knelt down in front of me. "I know this is a bit of a shock. Talk to me. What are you having the most trouble with?"

"I-", I stammered, and used the heel of my hand to rub at the space between my eyebrows. "I- What the hell is happening?"

The Doctor captured my free hand and held it in both of his. "Like I said, my name is the Doctor, and you're on the TARDIS, which is my ship. It can travel in both time and space", he explained in a soft voice. He gave a tired laugh. "In essence, you've been abducted by aliens. Though it isn't exactly like you'd imagine, all of that cornfield rubbish is usually nonsense".

"You're an alien?"

He nodded.

"What about the green lady?"

"Actually, no. But she's not human either. She's from Earth, just like you, but from a long long time ago. She's from an advanced race that existed when the dinosaurs did".

"And the blue man?"

"That's Dorium Maldovar. He IS an alien".

"He looks like the girl that ate the blueberry candy from Willy Wonka".

The Doctor laughed. "Yes, I suppose he does".

"The potato?"

He laughed again. "Alien".

"What exactly are you all trying to do?"

The Doctor brushed over my knuckles with his thumbs. "Our friend, Amy. She's been taken by some people. She's your friend too, or will be, from your perspective. She's Rory's wife, and she's pregnant. I've been calling in my debts across the universe to collect people to help".

"Why is Rory a Roman? Is he from ancient Rome?"

"Oh, no, he's not".

"Then why's he dressed like a Roman?"

"The outfit builds confidence, as well as it leaves an image".

"Okay, then". I let out a shuddering sigh. "What do you want me for? The potato… Strax… said it… I'm useless at this stuff. Aliens and time travel and… whatever else".

"Useless? No", he chuckled, "I don't think you've ever been useless. Even on your worst days, I've wanted you here".

"Why? I've never met you before, how do you know me?"

"You don't know me yet, but I know you. Time travelers, that's what we are. You and me. We- we are very close…". The Doctor sighed and brushed his lips across my hand.

"How are we close? This is ridiculous," I felt the anger rising again to mix with the confusion. "Why the hell should I believe anything you've got to say?"

"Monet Odelle English", he started softly, almost taking me by surprise. "Your parents are Clay Gavin English and Suzanne Kitty English. You live a ways outside of Washington D.C, because they both work at the Smithsonian. Your father at Natural History, and mother at the Art museum. That's where you got your name, because Claude Monet is her favorite artist. You prefer surrealism, but you're favorite Monet painting is the one of the waterlily pond, because it reminds you of that place in the woods, down behind your house, where the creek goes through that large thicket and widens out and slows down enough for a few waterlilies. Not even your parents know about that place, it's where you go to draw or have a think. But you showed it to me… that's where we first…"

The Doctor broke off and shook his head sadly. "Sorry… spoilers". He looked back up at me, staring into my face pleadingly. His eyes were green. "But the point is… I know you… and you mean a lot to me. You don't know me yet, but you will. And maybe someday I'll mean a lot to you, too… but right now… right now we need to save Amy, and the baby. I'll explain everything else after this is all over. But until then, I need you to be brave".

I stared at him dumbfounded for a moment, unsure of what to say. But he seemed to be waiting for an answer. "Okay… I guess…" I whispered uncertainly. "What do you want me to do?"

The Doctor looked relieved. "Right now? Just stay with Vastra and Jenny… they'll look after you".

He reached into the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a pale green wash cloth, which he wet under the faucet before passing it to me. I stood and looked into the mirror, and my face looked back at me, makeup smeared and dark under my eyes. I hadn't realized I'd been crying. The Doctor hovered behind me while I wiped away the smears, a hand on my shoulder.

The cold water helped me to steady myself, and when I turned around a few moments later I was a bit closer to normal… or I at least didn't feel like I was going to vomit anymore. So I looked up into the Doctor's face and gave a small nod.

He beamed at me in return and pressed a kiss to my forehead before turning back to open the door. I followed him out, more curious than I had been when I followed him in.

"Why do you call yourself the Doctor? Just the Doctor? Like, that's your name? And how big is your ship? It's not just one room, it's got long hallways. How does that work?"

The Doctor gave a laugh that was a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Yes, just the Doctor. And the TARDIS is very big. Very very big. But don't worry about that now… more important things…".

Everyone in the console room looked up when we came back in. Their faces changed from concern to relief when they saw that I wasn't still about to fall to pieces. Well, all except Dorian and Strax, who probably couldn't care less.