The Unexpected Hero

Rubie's Bad Mood

LACEY

"And today's weather..."

My alarm went off with the local radio station as the tune. Since I was using my old, broken iPod dock I loved so much, the only alarm function that worked was for the timer to play the radio or the buzzer.

I wouldn't classify it as an iPod dock because the docking part broke... I guess you could call it an alarm-auxiliary station: with added, dysfunctional pieces.

I groaned sleepily, making a face when I heard the whirling of Doctor's screwdriver. My dock made a zapping noise and shut down, causing a frown to curse my dried out lips.

"There was a remote, Doctor," I almost moaned from waking up, watching the Doctor rub his sleepy eyes with his thumb and index fingers.

"It's a little early, don't you think?" The Doctor squinted, angling his head at me, as if to focus his vision like a camera lens.

"I don't like being late to work," I rolled off my bed and on to the floor, "but I don't like getting up, either."

The morning was over with usual quick recovery, all thanks to my daily caffeine rush and a dose of my favourite caramel-flavoured alcoholic syrup. What would I do without you, coffee?

I had my work attire on. Black slacks, white collared shirt, black jumper. My hair was slicked back into a thick bun, with my reading glasses used to hold my rebel fringe back.

"Have fun at work," the Doctor yawned, "think of me! I might go back to sleep in that comfortable chair..."

I applied my makeup on carelessly, knowing I had my faithful makeup wipes to clean away the extra eyeliner. I could never apply makeup without makeup removal wipes. I just couldn't.

I prepared myself for my lift to work with Rubie. It was her day to drive, which let the stress off my shoulders. Driving to work and back was a drag. Not a bad one, but a good one. I'd rather stay in the car than my cramped cubicle or 'mogul' office.

The car horn signalled her arrival. I ran out the door, yelling a goodbye to the Doctor. As I got in the car, I felt it. A bad vibe.

"What happened?" I asked instantly, noticing she must have gotten up earlier than usual. She was on time, and she had bags under her eyes! Poor Rubie.

"I slept with the Master last night..." She murmured.

What?! My brain screamed.

"...he didn't tell me he was tired. He just curled up next to me like we were lovers..."

Oh. That type of sleep.

Work seemed to take her mind off things, which was good. She wouldn't bring up the Master at all, or ask me about the Doctor. The office was too busy with overtime. I needed to arrange photos for clients, while Rubie was stuck on customer service. She was definitely not having a good day.

"Rubie," I dragged her off into the Ladies bathroom, shaking at her shoulders to snap her out of her blatant mood. "Rubie Asher, get your ass off the ground!"

She shrugged, blinking with tired eyes.

I cupped a handful of water from the tap and splashed it over her face.

"Oi!" She screamed with the only conviction I had heard from her all day, "what the fuck?"

I laughed at her menacingly, squealing when she started to throw copious amounts of water at me.

I removed my glasses from my head and put them over my eyes, even though I wasn't planning on reading the instructions on how to flush the toilet or wash my hands correctly.

We ran out of the bathroom, as if we were playing an unfriendly game of tag.

I stopped in dead silence when I saw the big blue box parked in front of me. Rubie froze too, and we both seemed to be circling around each other making jazz hands.

The Doctor burst from the TARDIS doors, grinning.

"Fancy seeing you here," the Doctor laughed mechanically. I receded back into my staple, steady position, putting my hands over my mouth in reaction to my in-depth thinking.

"Get that thing out of here," I screeched.

"It has a perception filter, Lacey," Rubie explained to me as the Doctor swung on the door. It took me a while to figure out... What door?

I was having a nerve overload, afraid that people would walk into the perception filtered TARDIS, but no one did. The Doctor sat at my little computer cubicle, playing around with my rainbow slinky I kept on my desk for plain afternoon entertainment.

"Your job looks so boring," he weighed a side of the slinky on each of his hands, staring at me once he retrieved the steady hands for a balanced slinky.

"You need a passion for it," I stated boringly. The Doctor laughed, looking unimpressed.

"You shouldn't be working here in an office, you weren't made for that." His voice struck me as serious, and that made me cringe.

"What should I be doing?" I asked, taking the slinky from him and tucking it away in my top drawer. The Doctor raised an eyebrow with his creepy, signature grin.

"Well today, Miss Lacey, you should be coming with me, to no where."

"You don't know where no where is," I muttered under my breath when I saw my supervisor look over to my desk.

"Exactly!" The Doctor said rather loud, catching my supervisor's attention. I put all my weight on my feet now, after sitting on a fold out chair. I was springing my way to the corner that the invisible TARDIS inhabited, hoping the feeling of being spotted would get me there in time.

The Doctor pulled a face, to whom I wasn't sure. When I discovered I was in the safety of the TARDIS, I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Rubie snuck in, pushing through the door I leant on.

"Can I join you?" She asked quietly.

The Doctor smiled at her, giving her a two finger salute.

"Welcome aboard. I have it from a good source you can fly the TARDIS, correct?" The Doctor was being kind to an upset Rubie. My best friend blushed a little and nodded. "If anything happens, take charge!" He sounded like a commanding war officer.

As soon as Rubie smiled, she went off to explore the many rooms of the ship. The Doctor's grin went lop sided.

"Thanks," I breathed out.

"You can't made a sad person sad, can you?" He winked. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, Doctor. Just take us to no where."