My Rival, My Doctor

Chapter 12

The TARDIS gave me a time and date for the first Bad Wolf result. In Cardiff, present day.

I noticed the TARDIS whilst I walked. A tall guy with dark skin knocked on the door and another tall guy opened it. "Who the hell are you?"

The first guy was offended. "What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," he answered, "Whatever your selling, we're not buying."

"Get out of my way!" I decided that's my cue. Doing exactly what the first guy did, I knocked. The Jack Harkness guy opened again exasperatedly. "What the hell do you-" He trailed off when he saw me. Jack smiled smoothly and stuck his hand out. "Captain Jack Harkness. You are?" he flirted.

"Who is it?" The Doctor called.

"I'm looking for the Doctor," I answered suavely, "Just tell him that Celeste is here." Jack looked at me dubiously, but shrugged. I smiled sweetly. "Doctor, Celeste is here!" He went inside, leaving the door open. I followed swiftly. Leather jacket Doctor again. "Ah, Celeste!" he greeted, "See you met Jack."

"Yep, but I have not met him." I pointed at the first guy standing near Rose. " 'Ello!" I waggled my fingers. Huh, I seem to do that a lot.

"Mickey," he replied before turning to Rose, "You look fantastic." They hug while the Doctor is up a ladder, fixing something, and Jack and I stand awkwardly. "Aw, sweet, look at these two," Jack said in his American accent, "How come I never get any of that?"

I flashed a smile. "Buy me a drink first."

"You're such hard work," he teased.

"But worth it." We both started laughing. The Doctor tensed up a bit, interrupting us. "So why are you here, Celeste? I mean, the last time we saw you was eating chips after Platform One."

"Well, my TARDIS brought me here," I lowered my voice to a whisper, "I'm following something. Something repeated in my life and I can't explain any more." My eyes flashed.

"Important question," Jack flirted, "Are you single?"

"You couldn't handle me." I smirked devilishly. The Doctor snickered behind me. "You don't even know what species I am." My eyes flashed again with actual energy this time.

"I've handle other species before."

I narrowed my eyes playfully. "Ever handled a Time Lady?"

Rose spoke up, "Did you manage to find it?"

"There you go." Mickey gave Rose a passport. Kinda forgot about Mickey.

"I can go anywhere now," she said proudly, waving her passport around.

"I told you, you don't need a passport."

Rose sighed, "It's all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything."

"Sounds like your staying, then," Mickey huffed, "So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big-ears up there-"

"Oi!" he exclaimed.

"Look in the mirror," I agreed. Seriously, how did he not notice? They're like Dumbo's.

Mickey continued, "But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of-"

"Handsome?" Jack suggested cheekily.

"More like cheesy.'

"Early twenty first Century slang," he asked me, "Is cheesy good or bad?"

"It's bad."

Jack tried to understand, "But bad means good, isn't that right?" I just shook my head.

"Are you saying I'm not handsome?" The Doctor called from the ladder. We all just stayed silent, avoiding the question. He looked at me shocked. I just winked smoothly at him.

"We just stopped off. We need to refuel," Rose explained, "The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."

"The rift was healed back in 1869," the Doctor continued.

"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth," She told, "They were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it."

"But closing a rift always leaves a scar," Jack said.

"And that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race-" I trailed off.

The Doctor smiled. "But perfect for the TARDIS, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and-"

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation," Jack explained.

"Like filling her up with petrol and....." I gestured to Rose.

"Off we go!"

"Into time!" He cheered.

We all yelled in unison, "And space!" Mickey looked a bit lost. The Doctor smiled down at me and I smiled at him.

"My God, have you seen yourselves?" Mickey critiqued, "You all think you're so clever, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah," Rose agreed.

"Yep!" Jack yelled.

"I have been told and it has been proven." I smirked at Jack and the Doctor.

We all went outside in the day. "Should take another twenty four hours," the Doctor explained, "Which means we've got time to kill."

Mickey stared strangely at an old lady. "That old lady's staring."

"Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box," I suggested.

"What are you captain of, the Innuendo Squad?" He asked Jack, ignoring me. Jack made a gesture and started to walk away.

"Wait, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it," he insisted, "Doesn't it get noticed?"

"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?"

"It's a cloaking device," Rose explained.

The Doctor said pointedly, "It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck."

"So it copied a real thing?" Mickey asked disbelieving, "There actually was police boxes?"

"Yeah, on street corners," I illustrated, "Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell."

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?"

"I like it, don't you?" He checked.

"I love it." I smiled flirtatiously.

Mickey struggled to understand. "But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?"

"Ricky," the Doctor purposely got his name wrong, "Let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?"

"Walk past it," I answered.

He continued, "Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore."

"What's the plan?" Rose inquired.

"I don't know," he admitted, "Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me. Safest place in the universe." The Doctor sneaked a peak at me and when he saw me notice, the Doctor winked.

I pursed my lips and stared straight ahead, knowing I can't become attached.