ellerkay: (Doctor Who handcuffs)
[personal profile] ellerkay
Title: Companionanny
Rating: PG
Word count: 1, 086
Disclaimer: All for fun, none for profit.
Summary: For [livejournal.com profile] nevacaruso, who wanted to see Katherine as the Doctor's companion.
A/N: I resisted making a Lady Christina joke. THIS IS AMAZING.


It was late, and Katherine walked through the quiet streets towards her flat. She turned a corner and saw a man in a blue suit and sneakers running towards her at full speed. He kept looking over his shoulder like he was fleeing something, but the street was empty – as far as she could see, at least. Recent experience had taught Katherine to question what her senses told her.

She stepped aside to let him pass, but he screeched to a halt in front of her.

“Pencil,” he panted.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Pencil, pencil! Tell me you have one!”

Katherine, bemused, opened her purse and pulled one from its slot. Before she could hand it to him the man whirled around.

“Now listen,” he shouted, staring at the ground. “By the articles of the Shadow Proclamation – and you should know a thing or two about that – I hereby offer you the chance to sit down and talk about this like reasonable sentient beings!”

Katherine saw it now, a shadow on the ground moving too fast and against the light. As she watched, it rose up, gaining size without seeming to gain substance.

“I warn you, this woman is armed and dangerous!” the man said. Katherine glanced down at the pencil. The shadow thing glided forward, reaching out a dark armlike appendage.

“Okay, it’s not listening to reason,” the man said. “Quick, stab it.”

“Stab what?” Katherine said. “It’s got no body.”

The thing was getting closer.

“Just do it!” the man shouted. Katherine, feeling foolish, thrust the pencil point-first at the creature. Half of it disappeared in the blackness; the thing made an indignant noise and collapsed, pooling on the sidewalk. The pencil seemed to have pinned it down, and it was still.

“Is it dead?”

“Nah, just incapacitated. The lead neutralizes it.” The man pulled a bag out of a pocket and gingerly scooped the creature into it, then stood up, wiping his hand on his pants and wrinkling his nose. “Eugh, still sticky.”

“What is it?”

“Shadow creature.”

“Thank you, I’d worked out that much on my own. Where is it from?”

The man looked at her, seeming to see her fully for the first time. He looked more serious now. “A couple light years beyond the Milky Way.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m the Doctor.”

Katherine considered for a moment that he might be psychotic; but, after all, she’d seen what she’d seen. You couldn’t trust your senses, but she knew how to trust her intuition.

“I’m Katherine,” she said. They shook hands, and her fingers brushed his skinny wrist as they let go. “And where are you from?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, nodding vaguely to the left. “Around.”

“But not Earth.”

He looked at her appraisingly. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know any humans with two heartbeats.”

He gave a little smile. “I’m from very far away. Well, I used to be. Now I’m from all over.” He cocked his head. “I don’t suppose you’d like to see it.”

“See what?”

“All over.” He pulled a little metal something with a blue light on the end from his breast pocket. “You seem to be handy in a crisis.” He pointed the metal thing away from them. It made a noise like something out of a bad science fiction movie, and then a police call box appeared across and down the street.

“That’s yours, is it?”

“Oh yes.” He smiled proudly. “Want to see inside?”

Katherine followed him, aware she was going with a strange man with a name like a wannabe pimp to a small, enclosed space. She watched him go into the box, then poked her head in cautiously, hand on the bottle of pepper spray she carried. After a quick glance, she stepped inside.

Up a ramp the Doctor was playing with the knobs and buttons on a console. Katherine got the distinct impression he was doing it just for show. Finally he looked up, beaming.

“What do you think?”

Katherine looked around for a long moment. “It’s nice,” she replied.

“Nice?” he said indignantly. “She’s brilliant! Didn’t you notice that it’s bigger – ”

“Bigger on the inside, yes, I can see that. Like I said, nice.” She walked up the ramp and looked over the console (which was admittedly marvelous), careful not to touch anything.

“Maybe I should mention – ” Katherine looked up. The Doctor had the serious face on again. “Well. I don’t usually lead with this, but…could be anytime. Probably soon.”

“What could?”

“Sometimes – not often, mind you, but periodically, I – change.” Katherine raised a questioning eyebrow, and he ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more wildly, and it hadn’t exactly been neat before. “New face, new body, new everything. I’m still me, but – I become a different man.”

“Not a problem,” she replied immediately. He looked a little suspicious.

“No?”

“I have some experience in the general area.” It was the Doctor’s turn to raise an eyebrow, and an epic eyebrow raise it was. But she didn’t feel like elaborating, and when he got the hint, he grinned broadly.

“Right! When would you like to visit, then?”

For the first time in the whole strange encounter, Katherine was really thrown. “I’m sorry – did you say when?”

It seemed impossible, but he grinned harder.

“Oh, didn’t I mention? Interstellar distances are a breeze, but time travel – ” He patted the console affectionately. “That’s where she really shines.”

Katherine only had to think for a second. “Eighteen eighty-six.”

“Oh yeah?” The Doctor began fiddling with the controls again, this time with more purpose. “And what’s in good old eighteen eighty-six?”

“Robert Louis Stevenson.”

“Favorite author?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“I should warn you, it doesn’t always work out, meeting your heroes. I met Dickens once. Fantastic writer, but was he ever grumpy! I straightened him out a bit, but be prepared; good old Robbie S. might not turn out exactly who you want him to be.”

Stevenson wasn’t who Katherine wanted to meet, of course. But she decided not to share this fact right away. Are you afraid the time-traveling alien in the blue box will think you’re mad? she asked herself, and smiled a little.

“Aaaand…ALLONS-Y!” the Doctor shouted, throwing a lever with great gusto. The police box, or whatever it really was, lurched violently, and Katherine grabbed onto the handrail behind her. Her smile widened. After all, she’d been in need of a new job…

Date: 2011-09-03 11:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nevacaruso.livejournal.com
So awesome! (Two delicious bits of fic in one day! WHAT THE WHAT.) Your Katherine is splendid: quick-thinking, levelheaded, cautious, and adaptable. (I especially loved her admiring the TARDIS console.) And her choice of destination just made flawless sense. Of course.

*hugs you* Thank you for writing this!

Date: 2011-09-05 02:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ellerkay.livejournal.com
Two delicious bits of fic in one day! WHAT THE WHAT.

lol, I am spoiling you. ;) I put up a couple prompts for the fic meme as well, don't know if you saw...

I'm glad you liked my Katherine. She was a lot of fun to write; she's cool as a cucumber and SO smart.

*hugs back* You're so welcome! Thank you for the amazing prompt.

Date: 2011-09-04 12:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vincentursus.livejournal.com
You have the characterization perfect.

And the "Yes, and then what happens?" feeling at the end is quite strong, which I'm told is something good for authors.

Date: 2011-09-05 02:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ellerkay.livejournal.com
Thank you so much, on both counts. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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