Doctor's visit

The incident happened one sunny day in September. Despite the fact it was supposed to be autumn the sun had shone brightly. Because of this many had been forced to change from their winter clothes, whilst other stubborn Londoners had soldiered on with only brief mutterings of 'bloody English weather'. Of course, on such a bright day the sombre atmosphere needed to visit a graveyard was sorely lacking, though Doctor Jekyll went anyway.

Perhaps it was some sort of sudden rebellious streak that caused him to do this, or maybe that it had been too long since he had visited his friend's grave. In Hyde's opinion it was so he could get a moment's peace from Miss Murray and Sawyer 'going at it like bloody rabbits', as he so eloquently put it. The church grounds could give Jekyll peace and quiet away from the League but not from his darker half…

The doctor sighed and eventually found the grave he wanted. It was the final resting place of his dear friend: Gabriel John Utterson. They had known each other from their schooldays and had always remained close (Too close, according to Hyde- who used Utterson as a source of much taunting) even when Jekyll had become reclusive due to his experiments.

Yes, he had indeed been a good friend, a good man… And then Hyde had decided to take his life. The monster had done so much more, but this was the crime Jekyll could never absolve. He knelt down then, on the cool grass, cursing the monster within on what he had done. Hyde had known the effect it would have on him, the sorrow it would bring and-

Suddenly a loud noise shook him out of his thoughts. Jekyll looked up, and his eyes widened in shock. Something was materialising before his very eyes. And that sound, like an animal groaning and wheezing, increased as the object became clearer and clearer. Presently, it stopped. Now the doctor could see what it was, though that did little to help.

A blue box.

The door opened. Someone stepped out. They were human, as far as Jekyll could tell, wearing a blue pin-striped suit, odd-looking shoes, thick black glasses and had ruffled brown hair. And he was smiling: a huge, cheery grin beaming at Jekyll. Henry just blinked in shock. What the-?

'Right you are then.' The stranger said, still grinning madly. He turned back to the box and re-opened the door yelling inside, 'be back in a minute,' and then once again looking at Jekyll. 'You. I want a word with you.'

'W-what?' Jekyll managed to get out, stuttering in confusion. Hyde was merely laughing. 'I-I-I… Who are you?' His time with the League had taught him that most things were not as they seemed, but this was just odd… A blue box?! It made no sense… And why did it have 'POLICE' written on the side?

'I'm the Doctor.' The stranger explained, looking much happier than poor confused Jekyll. 'Not a doctor, the Doctor. Still, a doctor all the same, like you, Doctor Jekyll.' Henry opened his mouth wordlessly. What was happening? 'Jekyll, Jekyll, Jekylly, Jekyll…' The Doctor mused, playing with the name. 'Doc-tor Jek-yll… Always struck me as an odd name, that did… 'Course not half as odd as what I sometimes come across. Ever heard of a Raxacoricofallapatorian? No…?' Jekyll shook his head dumbly. 'Wouldn't suppose you would…' He trailed off, looking the side, almost as if he had forgotten his purpose. Jekyll blinked.

'Now. To business.' He said suddenly and clapped his hands together. With Jekyll watching him, he sauntered over to, eventually reaching the grave and patting it with his hand. 'See this here? Yeah? Yeah… This isn't right… Nope. He's dead. Always dead… It boggles the mind. He's an anomaly you see- and I've got to work out a way to fix it.'

Jekyll listened as 'the Doctor' rambled on and came to the conclusion that he didn't understand what the hell he was talking about.

Let me out, an all too familiar voice suggested, the prat's obviously bonkers. Just let me at him and his bloody blue box- I'll be in and out quicker than a Whitechapel whore.

'Oh, shut up you.' The Doctor scolded, sounding not unlike a mother with a small child. That wide and slightly alarming grin returned- two rows of shiny white teeth were shown to the world. His eyes were bright and intelligent, intently focused on Henry and yet somehow still moving. They were almost bird-like, in an odd way, and just as extraordinary as the rest of him.

'I didn't-' Henry managed to splutter out before he was interupted.

'No,' the Doctor interjected. 'not you. Him. Here I am trying to do important work and have a decent conversation, and the last thing either of us needs is 'Mr Hyde' whittling on. Despite having this-' he pointed to the blue box '-I don't have the time for distractions. So, shut up.'

Prick! Who does he think-

'Now!'

Though Hyde was not physically present, Jekyll could sense that his jaw had dropped. In fact, much to his surprise, he noticed his own jaw was open rather uselessly as well. In haste he closed it, mindful of how stupid he must look. The Doctor grinned again. Hyde said nothing.

'Right.' The Doctor brought all of his fingers to his palm, leaving the thumb, giving the other doctor a 'thumbs up'. Henry had no idea what the gesture meant. 'Now, I bet you're wondering why I'm here… Long story… Do you know what paralell universes are?' A shake of the head told him the answer. 'Guess you wouldn't, you not being with Torchwood and all that.'

'Basically… Well, there's an infinite amount of universes right? Every single possibility you could ever imagine has its own universe. Now after a bit of work- hard work- I've managed to be able to travel between all these universe thingys… It's complicated, involves tachyons, but what it means is that I can go to any of them… Problem is- something's wrong. Very wrong. Just look at this grave… It's wrong…'

This explanation had not been followed by the Victorian doctor in the slightest. This 'Doctor' was far too difficult to understand. Henry knew the meaning of the words he used- some of them anyway- but strung together like that they made no sense. The man was obviously mad… And why was he so obsessed with Gabriel's grave?

'With me?' He asked. Jekyll gave no reply. 'Good… Point is, your mate here isn't supposed to be dead. Not this much anyway. Usually the paralell universes balance each other out, but this section- 'cause they collect together y'see- doesn't, and only in this factor… The probability is so low it's practically impossible. And it's not right, gives me chills it does, doesn't sit right with me… So I need to fix it.'

'Do you understand?' He added, his bright eyes inspecting Jekyll closely. Hyde remained silent, glowering at the newcomer with impotent rage. Though the man was quite obviously mad he carried an air of genius about him, and an aura of adventure. For all the world Henry wanted to leap up and go with him, into his strange blue box…

'No…' was the halting, confused answer. It resulted in a sigh from the Doctor, though he did not seem that peturbed. It was almost as if he relishing explaining these things, whatever 'these things' were supposed to be.

He grinned again. 'Your pal, Gabriel, he's dead in too many realities in this sector. I'm here to balance it out.' Although Henry had not been able to comprehend the stranger's words so far, he thoght he understood what this man was saying- partly, at least… Of course it was impossible, but the mere thought of having Gabriel back made his heart leap.

'You're… you're going to bring him back?' There was a nod. Jekyll blinked in confusion. Was the man taunting him? It was crueler than Hyde to bait him with thoughts of his old friend… 'But… how? What will you do?'

'Yes.' He replied infuriatingly, not answering the question, turning back and walking to his blue box. Jekyll stayed sat down at the grave, upset beyond measue. He did not like this sick joke. 'And just a piece of advice… Stay away from any martians..' The door was opened and the Doctor made to get inside. Jekyll could not see what was within the box.

'Wait!' Jekyll shouted and stood up. A nearby blackbird escaped into the wind, startled by the sudden movement. The sun in the sky did not fit the dramatic atmosphere. He paid no heed to the advice, instead wanting his answer. 'What? What will you do?'

There came that wide grin again.

'Oh, I've already done it…' Before the other doctor could react he closed the door. Within a couple of seconds that odd wheezing sound came again, and the box started to turn transparent. It was not that much longer before it disappeared completely. Jekyll just looked at the space where it had been, stuck in place by shock. Even Edward had no witty comments.

'Henry?' A vaguely familiar voice called out from behind.

Jekyll turned around.

'Gabriel?'

Fin

A/N If you actually managed to get to the end of this, you might be a little confused. Gabriel Utterson does not belong to me, and is a character from the original book. I didn't write this because I'm a big Gabriel/Henry shipper (although I am) but because of one reason…

This fanfic was brought to you by the 'please stop killing Utterson' association, we thank you for your time.