I Didn't Mean It (Doctor Who)

Ch.7: House of Memories

Recap:

"So, that's my daily life. What do you think, do you wanna see more?" Doctor smiled.

"Is it always this dangerous?" I asked.

"Absolutely."

I paused for a long while, earning a worried glance from the Doctor, before saying, "Of course I want to continue!"

"Where to next?" Doctor asked me with a grin.

I took a deep breath of my inhaler and curled my lips into a smile, "I know just the place."

~o0o~

I took a deep breath, and said quietly, "2003, January 17th, in New York City. Lynn Street."

"A little...I don't know...boring, don't you think?" Doctor squinted at me, trying to read me.

"I just...wanted to see something...is that a crime?"

"2003...hmm...you were eleven. What happened when you were eleven?" Doctor asked, looking at me in the eye.

"Can you just take me there?" I asked, exasperated. Doctor stayed there for a moment, his eyes searching mine, before returning to the controls.

The TARDIS jerked as we took off, and the familiar wheezing noise droned through the air. There was a 'clunk' sound as we landed. Doctor creaked open the door suspiciously, raising an eyebrow as he saw a plain street dotted with cars and darkened with night. Soft rain showered down from the clouds, pattering on the roof of the TARDIS. Dim streetlights provided tiny spots of light on the pavement. It was exactly how I remembered it.

"Let me remind you, this is a time machine. We can go anywhere in time and space, and you decide to travel to London on an ordinary day?" Doctor asked, gesturing outside exasperatedly.

"This isn't just an ordinary day, okay?" I said quietly, brushing past him. I walked up to a small white house with a blue roof, numbers 7861 printed on the yellow mailbox out front.

I traced my fingers over the old mailbox, placing my hand over the small handprints slapped on in paint, my 5 year-old handprints. I couldn't stop a tear from rolling down my cheek and a smile formed on my lips as I ran my fingers over my mom's handprints. I looked up to see the Doctor staring at me. I quickly banished the tear with a swipe of my hand.

"Alice, what happens on January 17th, 2003?" Doctor asked softly.

"Nothing!" I mumbled, removing my hand from the mailbox.

"Exterminate!" I heard a faint robotic voice in the distance.

Doctor looked wide-eyed in the distance, his eyes full of rage at the sound of the voice.

"Alice, what happens on this day?!" Doctor yelled. I backed away from him slightly, taken aback by the pure anger edging his voice.

"My family die," I whispered after a while.

There was a sudden explosion from behind me, sending me sprawling back against the ground. I blinked rapidly, my head spinning slightly and my ears ringing. I struggled to my feet, dazed, and stumbled over to the house that wasn't much of a house anymore. Doctor followed not to far behind.

I ducked behind a bush and looked into the torn up house through a gaping hole in the wall. I saw me, 11 year-old me, laying on the ground next to my mother, amid the inferno of flames. Burns marks covered every inch of my left arm and neck. I touched the rough patches of skin on my face that I had covered with makeup every morning to cover them up. I could still feel the pain in my head from the explosion.

Tears ran down my face as I looked at my small, feeble hand reaching out towards my mother.

"You're going to die, how did you survive this?" Doctor asked quietly.

"Someone saved me. I wanted to come here to see who it was," I replied. I fire was inches away from me now, skimming my hand. The person should be coming about now.

"Alice, no one's coming," Doctor said, growing anxious as the fire got closer and closer.

"Someone's coming, trust me!" I replied, watching intently.

"Alice! You're going to die!" Doctor shouted at me. I ignored him.

"Alice!"

Doctor ran into the house, disappearing through the smoke. He emerged a few seconds later, gently dragging my younger self to safety. He coughed from the smoke into his sleeve. Her cloudy eyes searched around her, and kneeled down next to myself, looking into my own eyes. Her eyes looked straight into mine for a moment, until they slowly closed with unconciousness.

So that was it. The mysterious blurry shape I saw kneeling over me before I fainted was, in fact, my own self.

"Do I just leave myself here?" I asked awkwardly.

"Where did you wake up?" Doctor asked.

"In the Orphanage down the street," I replied quietly

Doctor scooped my younger self up gingerly, beginning to walk. I caught up to him, For a while it was silent, and all that could be heard was the soft sounds of crickets from the grass and cars on the freeway in the distance.

"Do you remember what caused the explosion?" Doctor asked finally.

"A bomb. I don't know who put it there," I said.

"You don't remember a name? Nothing?" Doctor asked.

I closed my eyes, remembering, "My mom...she seemed pretty scared. She knew something I didn't. She said that someone was coming for her, but she didn't say a name. She just said 'they'."

"Why do you need to know?" I asked.

"The things that were coming for your family, I heard them. They came after my family, too. But I don't know why they came for you," Doctor explained.

"These thing are...what exactly?" I asked.

"The Daleks," his face was so solemn at that moment that I felt as if there should be epic music playing, "And they shouldn't be here on Earth.".

I opened my mouth to say something when I realized we were standing in front of the Orphanage. I took a deep breath, seeing my old home again for the first time in 5 years. I walked shakily up the familiar steps leading up to the towering entrance, moist with recent rain. Many things had happened here that I was happy to forget.