Author: Sally Wiget

Authors Note: Background no doubt sorely needed since there's probably not that many Whovians who are also Imaniacs and vice versa…Doctor Who was a British sci-fi show, in which the main character (the Doctor) came from the planet Gallifrey. He was a Time Lord, and he could travel through time and space in his TARDIS, which happens to be shaped like a blue police box-kinda like a telephone box, but not really. Oh yeah, the TARDIS is bigger (waaay bigger) on the inside than the outside. He normally has at least one travelling companion along with him, and in this case it's Marc Davis, a college student from St. Louis. The Rani is mentioned; she's one of the Doc's enemies, and Lace and Alan are mentioned; they were former companions of the Doctor's.

"You never can tell."-The Doctor, Paradise Towers

"Damn," Darien hissed, dodging behind a dumpster and breathing heavily. "Hobbes, what the hell are you thinking?" He peeked over the top of the dumpster again and ducked back instinctively when another bullet whizzed past.

Darien Fawkes was in the unfortunate position of being in the middle of a gunfight. Literally. Hobbes at one end of the alley, the guy they'd been following since yesterday at the other end, and Darien smack in the middle.

The Official had been positively excited about this case, something that had immediately made Darien suspicious. A dangerous foreign criminal no other government agency had been willing to touch had been spotted in San Diego, and the Fatman had assigned Fawkes and Hobbes to tail the man, find out why he was in this particular city of this particular country, and arrest him at an appropriate time.

Unfortunately, the man (known as Erick) had realized he was being followed and had started firing off a gun in the bar he'd been drinking in. Thankfully he'd run out back before seriously injuring anyone, and Hobbes and Fawkes had given chase.

And now Darien was beginning to wonder if either his partner or this Erick would ever stop shooting at each other. He was readying himself to quicksilver and risk disarming the man when an entirely unexpected event occurred.

"STOP!"

The alley abruptly silenced. Darien blinked, his ears ringing and his heart still pounding. He hadn't thought anyone could yell that loud.

Someone stepped halfway out of the shadows, feet clacking on the pavement, water dripping loudly in the silence down the sides of the buildings around him. Darien peered into the darkness, trying to get a glimpse of the newcomer.

"Stop this," the stranger repeated quietly but with so much anger his voice shook. He was tallish and thin and his clothes looked wrong somehow, but Darien couldn't make him out very well because he stayed close to the shadows. He didn't seem particularly dangerous.

"I know who you are," the man said clearly.

There was a long pause. Fawkes knew Hobbes was confused, thinking fast, considering his options, his gun wavering between his original opponent and this new man. Darien very quietly and very literally disappeared. He didn't think the stranger had seen him hiding behind the dumpster, and he planned to keep it that way.

"Not that easy, Doctor," said Erick softly and ran away, feet thudding on the ground.

"Wait!" the stranger yelled and broke into a run after the other man.

"I've got it, Hobbes!" Darien yelled and chased after the other two men.

Pounding feet on pavement and heavy breathing were the only sounds Darien could hear as he ran after Erick and the stranger. He hoped this chase would be short; he didn't know how much time he had left before he needed the counteragent, but he didn't think it was much.

He saw the stranger gain on Erick, pull him to a stop, and then saw Erick punch the newcomer in the stomach a couple times. "Oomf," the man said, bent over and staggering. The other man ran on and leapt into a car.

"Aw crap," Darien muttered, hesitating between the stranger and the now-starting car with Erick. At that moment he saw headlights swing towards him and jumped out of the street, pulling the other man with him just in time to avoid being run over by Hobbes and the van.

Darien turned back to the stranger. He leant against a brick wall, still holding his stomach and gasping, but seeming to stare right at Darien. Darien shivered and stepped back a ways from the strange man, unaccountably afraid.

The man took a single deep breath, pushed himself away from the wall, and began jogging again, at a more measured pace and in the opposite direction.

For want of anything else to do, Darien followed him.

* * *

The man led Fawkes to another alley. He paused by a large, dark box that Darien could barely make out in the darkness, then put a key in the lock and opened the double doors.

Darien was by now quite adept at slipping in doors behind people before they had a chance to close them. He was still congratulating himself on doing this yet again when his surroundings began to sink in.

The room was huge.

Darien gasped. It was a Victorian Gothic monstrosity of a room with armchairs and bookcases and candles everywhere and clocks and a garden and streetlights and-he couldn't take it all in. It was impossible. He barely managed to stop himself saying anything aloud.

"Mark!" the man called out sharply, stepping more fully into the room, still breathing hard. Darien just barely managed to jump out of his way as he stomped down to the many-sided console in the middle of the room. He yelled again in an even more angry and insistent tone, "Mark!"

A young woman, barely out of her teens, skidded into the room. "Doc?" she asked, an interesting assortment of emotions crossing her face, ranging from fear to
exasperation to concern. "Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened?"

"I was right. He's here."

Darien's attention was dragged back to the people and away from the remarkable room. He inched closer to the man and waited to hear more.

The girl-this Mark? Darien wondered-went up to the console and stood near the man. "Who's here?" she asked. Yeah, I'd like to know too, Darien thought grimly.

"You remember the distress call we received?" The girl nodded. Distress call? What the hell-- "It was a fake. He wanted me to come here."

"Who's 'he'?" The girl sounded exasperated. Darien couldn't blame her.

The man sighed deeply. "His name is Erick." Darien's ears pricked up at that. "He…well, he wants to kill me," the man added honestly.

While Darien was surprised, the girl seemed unconcerned. "So what else is new?" she said acerbically.

"I suppose he feels he has a right. I…his family…I couldn't save his family. They died because of me."

The girl's face hardened, then became sympathetic. Darien was finding these two characters most intriguing.

"He's tried to kill me a couple times before, on other planets. Now he's on Earth and doesn't care who he hurts. We have to stop him, Marc."

On other planets? On Earth? What the hell does that mean?!

She nodded. "What happened out there?" she nodded toward the doors.

"I walked into the middle of a gun fight. Apparently he's already made a name for himself here on Earth and the authorities were alerted to his presence. In fact," the man suddenly frowned, "there was something odd going on back there. I could have sworn I noticed two people in the alley besides Erick and yet…" he trailed off, his frown deepening. "Somebody pulled me out of the way of that van being driven by the man who'd been shooting back at Erick," he said slowly, pacing around the console. "But there was no one in the passenger seat. And I didn't see who helped me…"

Ohhhh crap.

"Doc?" the girl said, worry etching lines in her forehead. "What're you talking about? A firefight? Getting run over? Are you hurt?"

"Only winded when Erick hit me…but who helped me?" The man looked up, looked around the huge room, then looked directly into Darien's eyes. Darien panicked and ran for the doors.

"I know you're here." The man's clear voice, just like the tone he'd used on Erick, stopped Darien in his tracks. He slowly turned around and faced this stranger again, who was thankfully still looking where Darien had previously been standing. "I can feel you. You might as well show yourself."

"What the hell-" the girl muttered, utter confusion on her face.

"I said show yourself!" said the man, his face stone.

"Oh crap," Darien sighed and appeared out of nowhere.

* * *

Marc stared in shock at the man who had just appeared out of nowhere. He was shaking silvery flakes off himself, looking sheepish. He was tall and thin, in a black leather jacket and khakis, his hair long and thick and as dark as his eyes.

The Doctor watched the man like a hawk. "Thank you for saving my life," the Time Lord said when the man stilled. "I am the Doctor. This is my friend, Marcella Davis. Who are you?"

"I'm Darien." He actually sounded embarrassed. "Darien Fawkes."

"How'd you do that?" Marc couldn't stop herself from asking. She looked over at the Doctor. "I thought you said we were on Earth!"

"We are. San Diego California, the year 2000 to be exact."

The man stood awkwardly in the room, hands in his pockets and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Look, I'm sorry to butt in like this, but can I leave now?" he said. "I've gotta find my partner, make sure he's okay, still tailing the guy, that kind of thing."

"You mean Erick?" Darien nodded. "I think you should leave him to us, Mr Fawkes. He is a dangerous man."

"I know he is," Darien said, "I've read the files. Look, I'd love to just hand the guy over to you, but then I'd have to explain to Hobbes and the Fatman and I really don't want to do that."

"Then you must allow us to help you catch and stop him. It's me he's after; he won't stop till he's gotten to me!"

Darien stared at the Doctor and didn't know what to say. The man's clothes were even odder, now that he could see them properly. A long, dark velvet frock coat, a paisley vest and wing collar, cravat and watch chain and baggy trousers. His eyes were pale and deep, his voice soft. The girl-Marcella, Marc, whatever-was medium height, her skin very pale and her short, straight, silky hair very black. She had incredibly blue eyes, and she was dressed in all black: black trench coat, black slacks, black high-heeled boots. She looked out of place in the crazy room, as out of place as Darien felt-the Doctor at least fit in with what Darien assumed was his home. "How'd you know I was here?" Darien asked.

"I could feel your presence," the Doctor said so seriously Darien didn't even feel like laughing at him.

"Yeah, well, that's great but I have to go now." He checked the snake tattoo under his watch and winced. "Really have to go now."

"Why?"

Darien didn't want to go into that right now. "Look, you two had better come with me," he sighed. "I've got to find out what's going on, and you two have some explaining to do."

"Where do you want to go?"

"The dept. of Fish and Game." He rattled off the address, then added, "Why?"

"I can get you there two minutes ago."

Marc looked at the Doctor and shook her head wearily.

"Oh really." Fawkes didn't sound very convinced.

The Time Lord didn't answer, merely manipulated some controls on the console. Marc smiled slightly at Darien's look of confusion and sat down in a nearby armchair.

"What are you doing?" Darien asked.

"Getting you to your agency."

The government agent folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah. Right."

The time rotor in the center of the console glided to a halt. The Doctor looked up at Marc through the glass and rods and gave her a tiny smile. She smiled back. He flicked the switch, opened the doors.

Darien went up to the doors and glanced out casually, then looked again. "Cripes," he whispered. The darkened hallways of the Agency stood outside the box. He spun around again. "How'd you do that?" "I could well ask you the same thing," the Doctor answered levelly.

Darien winced. "Come on. I've got a couple calls to make."

Marc and the Doctor followed Darien outside.

* * *

A half-hour later the small group, joined by the Keeper, stood in the basement lab. Darien rubbed his arms absently where Claire had just given him his shot.

"So you mean…you can just turn invisible at will," Marc said stupidly.

"You saw," Darien answered, then winced. "Pardon the pun."

"That's crazy,' the girl whispered.

"Is it?" said Darien. "What about your friend's-box?" He flicked a thumb at the Doctor, who was talking to Claire's menagerie of animals. "You don't think that's just a little weird?"

"Yeah, but that's just alien," Marc shrugged. "You're from home. Earth-my time, just about."

Darien blinked. "He's an alien," he said, in the exact same tone Marc had used about his invisibility.

"Oh, in some ways I'm positively a native," said the Doctor as he wandered over to rejoin the group. "Very interesting. I didn't realize you had come so far in the study of invisibility."

Claire studied the Doctor intently. "I've seen your picture before…" she said, frowning. "Something to do with the military, I think…"

"The military?" Marc and Darien chorused, staring at the Doctor.

"UNIT, I expect," the Doctor answered modestly, grinning at the Keeper. "Ever heard of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart?"

"I don't think so…but UNIT sounds familiar. I remember glancing over some files from them…of course! You're that Doctor, aren't you?" The Time Lord shrugged modestly. Darien looked between Claire and the Doctor and said, "Would someone mind filling me in?"

"Yeah," Marc agreed acerbically.

"I occasionally worked-still do a bit, I suppose-for UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce."

"Oh." Darien paused. "Never heard of it."

"It's top secret," Claire explained. "The only reason I heard about it was because they'd been doing some experiments that helped me cure Gloria."

Fawkes nodded. "Uh-huh. Now, about this Erick," he said, swinging his feet over the side of the reclining chair he always sat in for his shot. "Who exactly is he, Doctor?"

"He's from the planet Clithenes. The Rani was there, doing experiments on the people, and I stopped her-unfortunately, not soon enough for Erick's family." The Doctor's voice softened. "And that was after I promised to save them."

"When was this?" Marc asked quietly, drawing him out of his reverie.

"Oh, a while ago. Lace was still with me at the time, as was Alan. I met up with Erick a couple times right after that but haven't heard from him since-until now."

"Why did he come here?" Darien asked.

"You mean this planet?"

The ex-thief shrugged, unwilling to agree to the preposterous question but unable to completely disagree with it either.

"He knows it's one of my favorite planets. I can't allow him to keep hurting people." The Doctor's face was impassive but Darien didn't particularly like his tone of voice.

Claire turned to Darien. "Did you get in touch with Hobbes?"

Darien nodded. "He lost Erick, so he's coming back here. We have to talk to the Official anyway." He glanced over at Marc and the Doctor. "That includes you two, you know."

"Oh we know," Marc assured him. "We're used to it."

Darien raised his eyebrows. "What she means is," beamed the Doctor, "we often have to explain ourselves to those in authority."

Darien shook his head as he looked at the odd pairing. "And I thought the people who worked here were loonies."

"Hey!" The Keeper slapped his shoulder.

"Who the hell are you two anyway?" Darien said, ignoring her.

"Told you. He's the Doc, I'm Marc." The girl turned to the Doctor. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around introducing me as Marcella," she added in an aggrieved tone.

"Sorry," said the Doctor.

"What was that-box?" Darien persisted. "How does it work? You're an alien?"

"Please try not to hold it against me," the Doctor answered blandly. "The 'box' as you call it is my TARDIS-a time/space machine. Marc here is from a couple years in your subjective past-1998 or so-and I'm from the planet Gallifrey. You wouldn't understand how the old girl works, believe me, unless you have a degree in temporal mechanics, and I find that highly unlikely."

Marc shrugged. "You just kinda go on blind faith," she explained, "and tell yourself you'll sort it all out later."

The Doctor wandered back to Claire's animals. She followed him, keeping a wary eye on his movements. Marc and Darien watched them and simultaneously shook their heads.

"So you're a government agent?" Marc said, one half of her mouth curving up in a smile. "That surprises me."

"Yeah? Why?"

"Not exactly a Man in Black are you?" she said, gesturing to his t-shirt and khakis. "Still, I'm the one travelling around the space-time continuum with a guy in velvet who can't keep track of what he puts in his own pockets. What do I have to complain about?"

"I wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for the gland," Darien found himself telling her. "I should be in jail. I'm a thief. Or at least," he amended, "I was."

She looked surprised. "Wow."

"You don't look like the type to be wandering around the space-time continuum you know," he pointed out in return as he shrugged back into his black leather jacket.

She laughed. "I'm not," she admitted. "I should be studying for my midterms, back in St. Louis."

"You're a college student?"

Marc nodded. "Sophomore-majoring in history. That's probably the most interesting fact about my life. And before this, probably the most dangerous or interesting thing I did was go to Canada once."

Darien blinked, and their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Hobbes into the room. "Well, hello," Hobbes grinned at Marc. "I don't believe we've met."

Marc grinned back at him and held out her hand to shake. "Hi. I'm Marc."

"I'm Bobby Hobbes, Marc. And why are you here, if you don't mind m-" Hobbes saw the Doctor and stopped. "What's he doing here?"

"He says he knows Erick. He also says Erick's being violent to get back at him. Oh yeah, by the way, he's called the Doctor," Darien answered.

Hobbes frowned. "What?"

"Erick does not belong here," the Doctor said. "I broke a promise to him, and his family died. This is his revenge against me."

"Killing other people?"

"Knowing I feel responsible for their deaths," the Doctor answered quietly.

Hobbes nodded slowly, then turned back to Darien. "The Official's here. He wants to talk with us. You'd better come too," he added to the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Come along Marc." He headed for the door and stopped when no one followed, turning back inquiringly to look at the others.

"You're with him?" Hobbes asked her.

She grinned again, nodding. "Sorry," she shrugged.

Darien rolled his eyes and pulled Hobbes toward the door. "See ya, Claire," he called over his shoulder as he pushed Hobbes out of the room.

"Lovely meeting you," said the Doctor as he followed the partners.

"Bye," Marc gave her a little wave and also left.

The Keeper shook her head. "Very strange," she said aloud and went back to work.

* * *

"So you know Erick?" said the Fatman.

The Doctor nodded, prowling around the Official's office. Eberts followed him, adjusting the pictures the Doctor slanted, putting things back in their proper places after the Doctor moved them, and the like. Marc and Darien were sitting down, Darien sprawled with his legs stretched out, Marc with her legs calmly crossed and her hands in her lap. Hobbes hovered near them, occasionally glancing down at Marc appreciatively.

"I got to know him quite well a few years back-he was helping me defeat the Rani. But when he saw how his family died, he…snapped. Blamed me for not getting to them in time and saving them. He's been very disturbed ever since."

"How do I know I can believe you?"

The Doctor slowed down, gradually stopped moving. Eberts breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief. "I worked with UNIT in the seventies," said the Doctor. "I suggest you contact their British HQ, or perhaps Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. He'll vouch for me. Your Keeper has even heard of me." The Doctor stared the Official down. "You can believe me."

"In the seventies?" the Fatman snorted. "You would have been a kid back then."

"Actually, I was a white-haired middle-aged man but that's beside the point."

The Doctor remained holding the Official's gaze without blinking or cracking a smile. Darien slid further down in his seat. Marc frowned slightly, as if struggling to imagine the Doctor with white hair.

"You think you can help us?" the Official changed the subject after the silence had stretched into oppressiveness.

The Doctor nodded sharply. "All right," the older man continued. "I'll call your Brigadier. In the meantime, find Erick. I want to know what he's going to do next."

The small group shuffled out of the office. Hobbes and the Doctor went to the agent's office to pick up some equipment; Darien and Marc agreed to meet them at the van parked outside.

"Must be weird travelling with him," Darien said.

"Must be weird to go invisible," Marc retorted.

"Yeah, but at least I don't run into BEMs everyday. Of course, some of the stuff I've seen the past few months would probably rival travelling through time and space…" Darien shook his head.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" Marc said suddenly as they walked out the door. The sun was starting to come up, brilliant and fiery oranges and reds and dark clouds visible behind the tall buildings. "It's absurd. Dreamlike. But you find yourself just accepting it and moving on."

"Yeah," Darien agreed, thinking about his own situation. "I guess you're right." He laughed. "But I have to admit, meeting aliens is a helluva lot weirder than going invisible."

"Oh, not really," Marc grinned. "It's just meeting aliens on Earth is the weird bit. Anywhere else they wouldn't be aliens."

Darien was about to come up with a sarcastic retort when something-someone-flew at him, coming from out of nowhere. He didn't even have time to hit back before he found himself falling to the ground, stunned.

"Fawkes!" he heard Marc's voice scream, but it was oddly muzzy, far away. He tried to open his eyes and could make out blurry shapes struggling in the sunrise, one being dragged away by another. They disappeared as his eyes fluttered closed.

He blacked out.

* * *

"Fawkes! Fawkes, dammit, wake up, buddy."

Darien slowly and cautiously opened his eyes. He was still lying on the pavement outside the agency-he couldn't have been out long; the sun hadn't changed position in the sky. Hobbes appeared in his line of sight, kneeling over him, holding Darien's head in his lap. Darien winced.

"Not again," he groaned. He remembered Marc. "Marc!" He tried to sit up and instantly dizziness and throbbing pain crashed over him. He groaned again and fell back, a hand automatically moving to a spot on the back of his head that hurt the most.

Hobbes helped him sit up slowly. "The Doctor's searching for her. We were just leaving the building when we heard her scream. Was it Erick?"

"Who the hell else would it be? How'd he find us? How'd he know the Doctor and Marc were with us? How-"

"We'll figure that out later," Hobbes answered. "Let's get you to the Keeper." He and Darien staggered into a standing position, then stumbled back into the building. Hobbes deposited Fawkes with a concerned Keeper, then went back out to find the Doctor and report to the Official.

"This is becoming a habit Darien," Claire chided him as she fussed over the back of his head.

"Don't blame me; blame the people who keep beating me up," Darien defended himself. "You think I like this?"

A few minutes later they were rejoined by Hobbes and the Doctor, whose forehead was creased in worry. "Couldn't find them," Hobbes reported. "Official's pissed."

"Of course he is," said Fawkes. He looked over at the Doctor. "I'm sorry, Doctor. He came out of nowhere-"

"Not your fault," the Doctor said heavily, sitting in the Keeper's chair by her computer. "Mine." All the energy seemed drained out of him, which just made Darien feel even guiltier.

"We have to find them," Hobbes said. Before Darien could reply sarcastically, the older partner continued, pacing around the lab, "They won't go back to his hotel room; he must know we know where that is. He'll take her someplace new, secluded, not obvious-where would he go?"

The Doctor stood up and also began pacing. They miraculously managed to avoid each other, each wrapped up in his own thoughts. The Keeper and Darien watched them, Darien rubbing cautiously at the tender spot on his head.

"His spaceship," the Doctor abruptly ground to a halt. "Of course! That will have to be somewhere secluded-he daren't let anyone see it-and he probably won't have been back there since landing here on Earth, or else he'd draw attention to it and himself."

"Spaceship?" Hobbes scoffed.

Darien's head was killing him. "How can we find it?" he asked.

"Easy. I'll scan the city for any unusual metal alloys, energy signatures, something of that sort."

"And then we'll go in, grab the girl, and arrest Erick," said Hobbes.

"Piece of cake," Darien agreed caustically.

* * *

The Doctor sat in the back of the van. Hobbes was not happy about the man coming along with them, or about Darien's plan. The more experienced agent was driving them to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, the place the Doctor had pinpointed from inside his large blue box.

"You can't go in there alone," Hobbes insisted. "You need backup."

"He'll see you. If I go in there invisible, he won't know a thing. You need to stay outside, have the van ready to move when I get Marc out, so don't even think about asking me to turn you invisible."

"Look, he just hit you over the head; you're not-"

"I'm fine," Darien said through gritted teeth. His head was actually pounding in time with his heartbeat, which was going a bit too fast for his liking, but he wasn't about to tell Hobbes that. He finished adjusting the mic in his ear.

Hobbes parked and looked over at Darien. "This is a bad plan, Fawkes. Really bad. I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but it's the best any of us have come up with on the drive over here. Trust me, okay?"

Hobbes scowled but didn't answer. Darien took a deep breath, quicksilvered, disappeared from sight. He opened and shut the door.

Hobbes jumped out of the van and walked around to the back. He began to open the back door. "Look Doctor, I know Darien'll get Marc out-" he stopped. "Doctor, you in there?"

The Doctor didn't answer.

Hobbes swore as he looked inside the back. The Doctor had disappeared as effectively as Fawkes.

* * *

The Doctor stealthily slipped into the warehouse and looked around, all his senses alert. All of them. He knew Darien was nearby and wondered if the invisible man knew he was close.

The Doctor went exploring.

* * *

Marc was scared out of her mind. Erick-a large, dark man, not in skin color but in presence-had pushed her into a small room, presumably what had been an office but was now completely bare, and disappeared. He came back soon after that and watched her.

She couldn't breathe. Her heart felt like it would explode out of her chest. She couldn't even cry she was so scared.

"How," said Erick, his voice shaking with rage, "can you stand to travel with that man?"

She didn't want to look at him. She couldn't look at him. "I'm sorry about your family," she started, her own voice shaking but for different reasons, when he interrupted her.

"Are you? What do you know about it? He killed my family. How can you like him, travel with him, knowing what he does to innocent people?!"

To read the rest of this exciting story, please click continue.