Dancing Across Time (Book Two of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Chapter One: The Christmas Invasion

Saleen Harper walked out of the computer store, shopping bag slung over her shoulder as she looked up into the darkening sky. Phil Coulson came out a moment later, putting his sunglasses on, still looking pish posh in his suit. "You got everything?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied. "Skye should have her hands full with all of this for a while."

"Where to next?"

"I need a coffee," she muttered in reply.

He chuckled, then fell silent. "Did you hear that?"

Saleen tilted her head, eyes narrowed in concentration. Her eyes widened when she heard a whooshing noise. One she knew quite well. She looked at Coulson. "Oh my God."

"They made it!"

Saleen and Coulson ran through the crowd of people and headed towards where the whooshing was getting louder. Along the way, they saw Jemma Simmons start to run with them, and they slid into an alleyway. "Saleen!" Jemma shouted.

"Jemma, it's the TARDIS!" she shouted back.

"I know, I know! I heard it! She's alive, Saleen. I said so, didn't I? I told you she's alive!"

"Then where is it?" Coulson asked, looking around.

There was a vvvvvworp sound, and the TARDIS emerged in midair, banging into three blocks of flats. Jemma squeaked in surprise, and Saleen's eyes widened. "What happened to it?" she asked in shock.

The TARDIS barely avoided a post office bin, and it finally crashed into trash bins. Saleen set down her bag and approached, Coulson and Jemma behind her. She stopped so suddenly Jemma ran right into her when a completely unfamiliar man opened the doors of the TARDIS - while dressed exactly like the Doctor. "Here we are, then!" he said brightly, in a South London accent that made Saleen blink. Coulson had a hand on his gun, and Jemma was backing away. "London, Earth. The Solar System. We did it!" He seemed to acknowledge they were there and gave them a big grin. "Jemma! Coulson! Saleen! Blimey!"

"How do you know our names?" Saleen demanded, drawing her gun as Coulson did the same.

The man held up a hand. "No, no, no, no. Hold on. Wait there. I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you, something important." He walked towards them, almost in a pacing manner as he tried to complete his thought. "What was it? No, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Shush, shush, shush, shush." He held up a finger, then his eyes brightened. "Oh, I know! Merry Christmas!" And he promptly collapsed unconscious.

Jemma shrieked and danced backwards as Saleen and Coulson dropped down, trying to help him. The sound of the TARDIS door opening again made them look out, and Jessie scrambled out, and her eyes widened when she looked down, seeing him on the ground. "What happened?" she asked, closing the door. "Is he all right?"

"I don't know!" Coulson replied. "He just keeled over."

"Who is he?" Saleen asked. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Ah." Jessie scratched the back of her head. "That's him. Right in front of you. That's the Doctor."

Jemma's eyes widened. "What do you mean, 'that's the Doctor?'" she asked. "Doctor Who?"

***

Jessie sat next to the Doctor's bed, breathing shakily as she watched him just . . . lay there, not moving. She looked up as Jemma and Skye came in, Jemma handing Jessie a stethoscope. "Here we go. Picked it up from the Bus, just if you needed it."

"I still say we should take him to the hospital," Skye said.

"Can't. They'd lock him up," she said, putting the stethoscope on. "They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race. Now shush!" Skye obediently stayed quiet as Jessie checked the left side of the Doctor's chest, then switched to the other side. She sighed in relief. "Good. Both are working."