(A.N.)This story is the second episode of my personal Doctor Who series, featuring original companion Ryan Murphy. If you haven't read Episode 1 "The Last Day" and would like to do so, the link is in my profile. Though I suppose you don't have to do so if you're just looking for a good Doctor Who story. :)

Hello to any returning readers (if I have any). I really wanted Episode 2 up soon after I'd finished Episode 1, so I could hopefully finish it before starting on Uni work. Sadly I ran into a few problems, such as discovering a Superman comic had done BASICALLY EVERYTHING I PLANNED TO DO! So obviously, there was a lot or re-writing. However, I now have Uni work I have to concentrate on, so updates will not be as quick as I would like, but I'll try my best.

Anyway I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to drop me a review! Here's Episode Two...

Okay, so maybe she was a little drunk.

Certainly, her legs were slightly less sturdy than usual, which might make stairs difficult. But after all, that's what elevators were for.

Despite the late hour, there were still some staff behind the front desk, who sent her the occasional disapproving glance. Andrea gave them a defiant, if slightly lopsided smile as she passed. They were very snooty here. Then again, if she worked in a five star hotel right in the middle of Manhattan, and was earning gazillions for checking people in and out of rooms, she might be a little snooty too.

There was a brief moment of panic when she couldn't find the elevators, but this soon passed once she realised she was already standing in front of them. A few seconds and a 'ding' later, she was stepping through the doors and admiring the artist's rendering of the New York City skyline displayed on the walls of the elevator. She tried to press the button for her floor, but this was easier said than done, the alcohol in her system wreaking havoc on her hand-eye-coordination. After a few drunken misses, she pushed the button for the 12th floor. Or, at least, she thought she did. It was close to the button she usually pressed, and she supposed that would do.

Andrea sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall. She may have fallen into a drunken, standing sleep if it had not been for the 'ding' of the elevator reaching its destination shaking her out of her slumber.

The only problem was, she'd been expecting a 'ding'. A 'ding' like the one that rang every other time she'd rode the elevators during her stay here. What she'd just heard was a different type of 'ding'. Low and tuneless, like it was broken.

She pondered this for a second, but then shook her head, momentarily losing her balance as a result. She stepped through the doors and began walking towards her room at the end of the hall.

It was a few second before Andrea realised there were no lights on in the hallway. None. Only the moonlight sneaking through the window at the very end of the hallway. Otherwise, just darkness. Her first thought was that there had been a power outage, and that she should march right back down to the lobby and complain. But that couldn't be true, as the lights inside the elevator car were performing well enough.

As if in response, the elevator doors drew themselves closed, that unnerving 'ding' ringing out again,

She looked at the sign above the doors, the numerical lights telling her the elevator was already a few floors down. Too tired to wait, and not trusting herself to withstand marching anywhere in this state, she again started walking towards her room.

She was almost at the end of the corridor when the moonlight fell upon one of the many doors she was passing. The room number, and those on the rest of the doors, were all in the 1300s. Her room, however, was 1205, and all of the room numbers on her floor began with a 12.

Sighing in exhaustion, Andrea realised she had pushed the wrong button and gone up one floor too many. The phrase 'never drinking again' sprung to mind. She turned back towards the lift, stopping when she saw that none of the little numbers above the door were illuminated. Nor was the button next to it. She was almost certain both had been working perfectly when she had started walking away from the elevator. Why had they gone out now?

Andrea ignored the little twinge of panic. She'd had too much to drink, she told herself, and she was over-reacting. The hotel had simply suffered a power failure, that was all. And yet, she couldn't stop herself walking towards the stairs a little faster than was necessary.

Suddenly, a noise cut through the silence. A click, followed swiftly by a creak. A door had opened behind her. Andrea stopped walking. She didn't turn around, she didn't want to. So she waited for whoever had opened the door to speak to her. A few seconds passed, no voice came. So Andrea started walking again, just that little bit quicker.

Then it happened again. A click, and a creak. Again, Andrea waited to be spoken to. And again, there was nothing. Hands shaking, Andrea slowly turned her head to look behind her.

The very last two doors at the end of the hall had opened, just a crack. Two streaks of light were spilling out of them and across the floor. There was no shadow of fellow guests behind the door, checking to see who was walking outside their room at such an hour. Just light. A weird, silky white light.

"Hello?" Andrea said. There was no response. "I'm sorry if I woke you." she added. "I'm just on the wrong floor. I think there's been some sort of a power failure."

But still, no one answered her.

"Typical, right?" she said, chuckling weakly. "You pay hundreds of dollars for a five star hotel and the power goes out?"

She began to wonder if there even was anyone behind the doors to answer her, and she started to back up towards the elevator. "Sorry, again, if I woke you, I mean." she rambled. "I'm just gonna, uh, go down to my floor now. So, um, goodnight."

Another door opened, the next one up from the two already open. It's light fell across the floor, the same silky glow as the others coming from inside. A second later, and the door opposite that opened. And then the one next to that. And suddenly, they were all opening. A horrible rush of clicks and creaks, as every door started to open, one after the other, moving up the hallway, towards her.

Andrea dropped her purse and started running. She ran as fast as her intoxicated legs would take her, trying to scream but too terrified to do so. The clicks were getting louder, the light was gaining on her, the elevator was too far away. She wasn't going to make it.

And then she tripped. She fell face first onto the posh carpeted floor. Before she could even attempt to get back to her unsteady feet, it was too late. The door to her immediate right opened. She saw the light. Saw what was inside. And then, there was no Andrea left to see anything.

DOCTOR WHO

The Thirteenth Floor

The blue doors opened, and Ryan Murphy came face to face with the Universe. An infinite black, streaked with the occasional unearthly blue, and dotted with the lights of a thousand worlds.

"Pick one." said the Doctor.

Ryan looked at him, leaning against the door frame and smirking at Ryan.

"…what?" Ryan replied.

"The stars." said the Doctor, nodding towards them. "Pick one, and that's where we'll go."

Ryan shook his head. "No, no. I understood the question, I was just trying to draw your attention to how insane it is."

The Doctor frowned. "What's insane? Pick a planet out of the sky, and that's our destination."

"The big deal is that the furthest I've been away from England is to my Nan and Granddad's retirement villa in Crete, and now you're asking me to pick a whole new world to go to. Can you really not see how that might be a big deal?"

"If it helps," the Doctor offered. "I think there's a planet in the future based on 21st century Crete. We can go there, if you fancy it?"

Ryan winced. "No thanks. Present day Crete is enough, don't need to see the planet."

The Doctor stepped off the door frame and looked at Ryan, the starlight bouncing off his eyes. "Really, though. Anywhere. Anytime. The entire known Universe at your disposal, and some of the unknown bits. Where do you want to go first?"

And suddenly Ryan knew how to answer.

"New York City." he said.

The Doctor's smile faltered. "…sorry?"

"What, is that not okay?" said Ryan quickly, fearing he'd said the wrong thing.

"No, no, it's fine. It's just…" He glanced out of the doors again. "When people see the field full of other planets, that's usually the direction they want to go in."

"I know." Ryan nodded. "And I do, eventually. But I've barely seen any of my own planet yet. And New York! That's like a living movie set, y'know? When I was a kid, it was like all everybody on TV talked about was New York. Everything seemed to happen there. Friends, Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, everything. And I always said, if I ever got the chance…" He trailed off, suddenly feeling a bit silly. But when he looked back at the Doctor, he found him smiling at him.

"That'd be the first place you'd go." the Doctor finished.

"Yeah."

"Well then." said the Doctor. "New York it is." And he threw the blue doors closed and ran towards the TARDIS console. "Actually, on second thought, other planets are great stuff, but there really isn't anywhere in all of space and time quite like New York City!"

"You've been?" asked Ryan, following him up the steps and onto the glass platform where the console sat.

"Have I been?" asked the Doctor, beginning to pull random levers and push whichever buttons jumped out to him. "I sailed the ship that brought over the Statue of Liberty. It was my idea to put all the theatres on Broadway. And I once went for a lovely walk through central park with John Lennon."

As the Doctor disappeared around the other end of the console, Ryan's jaw dropped. "You knew John Lennon?"

"Knew him?" said the Doctor, poking his head around the central column to face Ryan. "I was the seventh Beatle!"

Ryan frowned. "Don't you mean fifth Beatle?"

"No, Brian Epstein was the fifth Beatle. Then there was this other bloke, Pete Best, he was probably the sixth Beatle. But then it's me, honestly!"

Ryan laughed. "Okay."

"Oh." said the Doctor. "And one more thing."

"What?"

"Hold on to something!"

The floor lurched, and Ryan was sent flying into the console, as the glass ornament in the central column began to rise and fall, accompanied by the grinding mechanical noise of the TARDIS engines. On the opposite side of the console, the Doctor laughed as Ryan hung on for dear life. With a final thunk, they landed.

"All in one piece?" the Doctor asked.

"Just about." Ryan replied, steadying himself. His eyes shot to the door. "Are we there? Is that New York outside?"

The Doctor grinned. "The one and only." Ryan made a move towards them, but the Doctor stopped. "Whoa, and just where do you think you're going?"

Ryan stopped and looked back at him. "Err, New York?"

"Not yet you're not." said the Doctor, stepping towards Ryan and looking suddenly serious. "Travelling in the TARDIS is a privilege. You must, at all times, follow the rules of time-space travel. With no exceptions. Understand?"

Ryan nodded quickly. "Yeah, of course."

"Good. Now, rule number one." he said, suddenly beaming with a mischievous smirk. "There are no rules!"

Ryan laughed and went to go for the doors again.

"Rule number two." said the Doctor. "Always bring a jacket."

Ryan looked back in confusion. The Doctor seemed serious again.

"Never know what type of weather you'll get in New York City, so you should always bring a jacket. Do you have a jacket, Ryan Murphy?" Ryan shook his head. "Right then, better go down to the wardrobe and get one. I'll come with you, fill you in on the rest of the rules. For example," he said, putting an arm around a mystified Ryan and leading him away from the doors. "Rule number three: If you ever see a sign offering Free Chocolate, never go inside! It's always a trap."

End of Chapter One