Viburnum

A Fanfiction by Hrlyqin

Believe it or not, I've never really been one to bend the rules.

No, really.

I like rules. They're usually there for a reason, even if we don't like them, and we're better off just following them. Every time that I've really gotten into trouble, it usually involved Sherlock Holmes and you can't blame me for that. People have no idea how... convincing he can be when he wants something.

But left to my own devices, the most rebellious thing I can be accused of is having my iPod on when I'm working. The night shift, and I always get stuck on the night shift...which is so unfair, I mean, just because I don't have a family or a boyfriend or a lot of friends even doesn't mean I don't like my nights free too sometimes...can just get boring, and too quiet, and I get a little bit scared sometimes. So it's nice to have music to keep me company.

This was how it started, another night shift, me by myself doing paperwork on the body that had washed up on the shore line this morning, listening to my Angsty Girl playlist and trying not to let my eyes go cross as I ticked off endless boxes on endless forms.

Tick, tick, tick.

My pen moved in thymine to the music. Tick, tick, tick to the beat, beat, beat. I was so in my own little world that I didn't hear anything, didn't notice anything at all until a hand touched my shoulder.

I was up out of my seat before I could even process that I was moving. I held my pen like a weapon (even though, I know, it was a pen) and faced the intruder angrily. My first thought, honestly, and don't tease, was 'AHHH! Zombie!' because I'm in a morgue in the middle of the night but then my second thought was no, that's ridiculous, zombies don't wear bow ties.

Well, they could, I guess. If they wanted to. If they happened to be buried in one but who would bury a corpse in a bow tie?

So not a zombie at all but clearly someone with something very wrong with them mentally because who sneaks up on a person down here in the dead of night without coughing or clearing their throat or saying hello or anything like that? It's just common sense! It's just...polite!

My anger must have really showed on my face because the visitor raised his hands up in a 'I come in peace' gesture, or maybe a 'look, I'm unarmed' gesture. He was clearly trying to look harmless and maybe hoping I wouldn't stab him with my pen.

"What in the name of everything sacred and holy do you want?" I shouted. Not a great introduction but he had scared the living daylights out of me.

"Or, hello, as they used to say. Do they still say that? What year is this?"

"Excuse me?"

"No..." he said, clearly talking to himself now, "No they must because they say that until well into the Stragix invasion and that hasn't happened yet, the sky's still blue. So, hello."

When I didn't answer he looked confused, twisting his mouth up onto the corner of his face in thought. After a minute, it was like a light bulb lit up over his head. "Oh! I see...that was probably rude of me. Sorry. It's Thursday, isn't it? I never get those right."

"Who...what do you want? I'll call security." I added threateningly.

"On stop it Molly, you're not going to do that."

I looked down but no, my ID badge was sitting on the desk. So how did he know my name? Who was this guy and what did he want? People came down here sometimes for...you know, weird stuff.. They offered me money for body parts or to give them some time alone with a certain corpse (don't think about that too hard, I try not to) and for drugs, a lot. They always wanted to buy or swipe some formaldehyde. I've heard they dip it in things.

But this man didn't look like any of those people. They were either really grubby and sort of scary or very posh and still sort of scary. He just sort of seemed crazy, but...not violent, or anything. I didn't feel like I was going to be raped anytime soon.

(Not that I would entirely mind. It's been a dry season)

He seemed to decide that I was not going to attack, and that I wasn't going to call security either because he walked over to me and first things first, he depenned me, setting it on the desk. Then, levelly, looking into my eyes as if he was going to impart the knowledge of the world to me, he said, "You should get your coat."

"...Sorry, what?"

"Your coat. You're going to need it. Probably. Likely. Maybe not but what the hell, grab your coat and let's go."

"I'm not going anywhere with you! I don't even know you!"

He smiled, as if to say that this problem was easily solved. "I'm the Doctor."

"So are half the people in the building right now."

"Not like me. Molly Hooper, I need you to trust me for five minutes. Give me five minutes right now and I promise I'll make it worth your time. But we need to leave right now."

This is when my naturally obedient nature started to fight with itself. See, I knew I had piles of paperwork to finish, things I had to get done tonight. I'd be in trouble if the day shift came in and they weren't all neatly filled out, filled in and filed away. Besides, this was my job and I took pride in doing it well. Skipping off in the middle of the night was not doing it well.

But there was this man here and he was doing that thing, just like Sherlock did, where he really, really made you want to do what he said. Except with this man, the Doctor, there was no malice, no contempt, no suffocating feelings of superiority coming off him like bad cologne. That was what I think really sold me; he seemed nice. Charming. Crazy but in a nice way. Fun, I guess is how I would put it. He seemed like fun.

And paperwork didn't.

So I went. With every step I took, I reminded myself of all the truly stupid things I've done in my life. I tried to figure out when I would need to get back by, in order to even try to finish all my work. "Sorry," I said as he was leading me down the hall, "but how long do you think this is going to take? I've got work to do and I know you said five minutes but..."

"Five minutes. I promise you that you will be standing just where you are in five minutes."

"What could be so important that it will take less than five minutes?"

Abruptly, he stopped walking. He was in front of me and in front of him was a police box. I was pretty sure that there hadn't been a police box here earlier. What made me so sure? It could be that we were still inside the hospital, in the hallway that led to the auxiliary linen closet. No one really came this way, ever, but I think that if there was a police box randomly sitting here, someone would have mentioned it at some point to me.

"You would be surprised." he said quietly, almost whispering it as he opened up the door.

While he stepped inside of it, I was still staring at the outside. It was so blue. Really, ridiculously blue. It reminded me of deep ocean waters or play doh or flowers in a field or just...just amazingly blue.

It was beautiful.

Blue-tiful, I thought to myself, giggling a little bit.

The man, the Doctor, popped his head out of the door. "It's much more impressive on the inside, really!"

Blushing a little at being chided, after running my fingers along the blue outside, I walked through the door.

.

.

.

.

When I was little I had a pop up book all about a princess in a tower. Not just a princess, there was a dragon guarding here and a garden of thorns that the brave prince had to get through before he could fight the dragon, and an evil witch's lair complete with bats hanging from the ceiling and a simmering pot of green ooze. I loved that book. I made my dad read it to me every day. I harassed him about it endlessly, trying to get him to explain to me how the pop ups of the long thing tower and the dragon with it's hideous black wings and the bats in the ceiling could all fit inside the book when it was closed. I thought it was magical. When he finally showed me how the pictures collapsed and all fit together, the way the little folds and cuts made it all possible, I was devastated. I never wanted to read it again after I understood how it worked. The spell was broken and it broke something in me too, something young and innocent...

But I was pretty certain that no matter how long I searched, I wasn't going to find any folds or flaps or strategically placed cuts here...

Or maybe I would...I had no idea...

No idea whatsoever.

"It's bigger..." I paused, "It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside." I was gesturing about, trying to illustrate my point but obviously, the Doctor already knew that. This was his device, or ship, or home maybe.

"Tardis." he told me. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's my own little world in here. Do you like it?"

"It's amazing." I answered honestly.

"And wait until you see where it goes."

"Where does it go?"

"Anywhere." He smiled at me and it was a gleeful one. Full of excitement. Then, like a flash, he was off, running around the central column, pulling levels and flipping switches.

"You might want to hang on to something." he added as an afterthought.

And then I was flung across the floor, my back hitting the door which thank heavens was closed now. Oh this was awful. Not magical or wonderful at all. Terrible. Vomit-inducing. It was going to induce me to vomit.

Then, just as suddenly, with one last loud jerk, it stopped.

The Doctor came over to me with a bright, christmassy grin on his face, took one look at me and frantically started searching the room while I sat on the floor clenching my teeth. It was like being seasick but times a million, or the way I felt the morning after I attended my first and only hen party. But that had passed. So would this. Everything smelled like cedar for some reason...cedar and bacon...there's a girl, Molly. Breathe deep. In and out. In and out.

By the time the Doctor came back, presenting me with an upside down to hat to throw up in, I felt well enough to just laugh at it. Also, it was a really nice hat. I didn't want to ruin it.

"Good, better then! Alright, up you go. Lots to do, planets to see...come on.." My host half-helped, half-pushed me to my feet. I couldn't tell if he was excited that I was okay and our adventure could begin, or just very happy I didn't get sick all over his tardis thingy. Grabbing my coat off the floor, I found myself at the door again and going past it.