And Now We Run.

"Who are you?" Ashley demanded as the mysterious man started prancing around the strange looking controls. "And what is... This place?" She asked, staring at in in awe..

It was huge. That was all she could say. She wondered if this was the only room, there seemed to be another door at the opposite side of the room so she guessed there was possibly more than one. But how all this beauty was squeezed into one tiny phone box astounded Ashley. It most certainly wasn't human; some of the strange looking buttons on the console were etched with strange symbols and markings, and the metal plates imitating the walls were from a metal Ashley had never seen before.

"This is the Tardis," The man explained, twirling around in a circle with his long arms stretched out like an eagle taking flight. "Stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. But lets start off with the easy parts shall we? My name is The Doctor," He introduced, pulling himself away from the console so he could look down at her.

Ashley had to admit that he was one of the most strangest people she had ever laid eyes on and she had only known him for about ten minutes. He had certainly made an impression, he was tall, tall and skinny with his pinstriped brown suit fitting round his scrawny frame in a way that made him seem more elegant. His dark brown hair was spiked modernly despite his formal appearance and he was also wearing pair of grubby worn white converse that somehow suited his brown suit and long brown coat.

Ashley nodded, "I'm Ashley," She replied, walking over to the console and running her hand gingerly across the metal-like panels. "I'm no pilot or anything," She began. "But it's a little... dark in here. Is it supposed to be this dead?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor frowned at that, flicking uselessly at a switch before he looked up at the large cylinder-shaped glass column at the center of the console.
"No Ashley," He replied back, "It's not supposed to be like this. I don't know how but the power is gone, some source has managed to drain the power from the Tardis and now I'm stuck here."

Ashley blinked, "Stuck here? Well where were you before?" She asked curiously as she wandered around the room.

The Doctor shrugged, "Oh I don't really belong anywhere to be honest," he replied before clearing his throat. "I travel from here to there, did I mention the Tardis can travel through time and space as well?"

Ashley's eyes widened, she averted her gaze around the room again. "So," she began. "This is an actual spaceship?" She asked in disbelief, she wasn't sure why she was so surprised. She didn't know what else she expected since the ship clearly wasn't earth-made and this man was clearly unlike no other man.

"Why are you telling me all this?" She asked, "If this is an actual spaceship and you can travel through time- why are you telling some random stranger about it all? I could just so easily go and tell all my friends about this."

The Doctor leant backwards on the console and crossed his arms, giving her a stern look.
"Because - I think you're keeping something from me. How were you able to see this box? Only those who are deliberately looking for it or have some kind of telepathic ability can see through the Perception Filter. Of course I don't want anyone randomly coming across a time machine so the Perception Filter makes sure that the Tardis just seems ordinary to the general public so they don't take any notice of it," he explained. "But you, can see through the Perception Filter."

He narrowed his eyes at her, bringing out the stick thing once more. He pressed a button and the tip lit up blue, the annoying buzzing sound filling her ears as he waved it in front of her for a bit.
"What is that thing?" Ashley asked, cringing slightly as he pointed it closer towards her.

"It's a Sonic Screwdriver," He replied simply, rolling the words off his tongue.

Ashley's brow furrowed, "A what?"

"Sonic Screwdriver," He replied more clearly this time.

Ashley gave an irritated tut, batting it from her face, "Stop it!"He gave her a calm look, slipping it back into his jacket pocket. "What does it do?" She asked curiously.

The Doctor shrugged, "A lot of things really. Right then I was scanning you for any non-human activity."

"But I thought a Screwdriver is just meant to open stuff," Ashley muttered, giving him a strange look.
The Doctor shook his head, "Not a Sonic one."

"Then why is it called a 'screwdriver' if it doesn't just open stuff? It doesn't even look like a Screwdriver!" She pointed out.

The Doctor sighed, "Then what do you suggest we call it then? Because technically it is a screwdriver because it does still open things. It just... has a few add-ons."

Ashley shrugged, "I still don't think it's really relevant to a Screwdriver. Who even came up with that in the first place? As if you randomly go past a screwdriver and think 'Oh, this could be good if it was sonic'," she mocked. "Couldn't it have been called... gee, I dunno, Sonic Stick or something?"

The Doctor sighed, "Because 'Sonic Stick' doesn't sound as cool as 'Sonic Screwdriver'! Okay? Why are we even arguing about this? Unless we pop back in time to visit past me and say "Oh don't call it the 'Sonic Screwdriver' because Ashley says it's wrong, and she suggests we call it the 'Sonic stick' instead," We're not changing anything by arguing," He took a deep breath, spinning around on his heels and storming towards the console.

Ashley followed him, standing on the opposite end of the console and watched as his eyes were casted down onto the console, brown hair flopping over his face; clearly in deep thought. There was an uncomfortable silence, the only sound being the creaking of metal as it settled and the tapping of his long fingers on the console.

Ashley swallowed the lump in her throat, "Did you... Find any 'non-human' activity then?" She finally asked and the Doctor looked up, shaking his head.

"Nope, you're completely human according to my scans. Nothing strange about you at all. Which still brings us back to where we started," He paused. "Why were you running from those men today?" He asked, stepping round the console and closer towards her. "What were they after? Because it certainly didn't look like any normal mugging and those weren't your average thieves," He narrowed his eyes. "Why were they after you Ashley? Have you done anything? Have you seen something you shouldn't have? Because there's something about you that isn't quite right." He eyed the backpack hanging on her shoulders before his gaze averted back to her face. "Have you ran away from home or were you on your way to a sleep over?"

Ashley didn't answer, she just closed her eyes and bowed her head, gripping the console tightly. After a moment she opened her eyes, her gaze slowly rolling over to her wrist where the sleeve of her jumper had rolled up slightly - exposing the device on her wrist. She stared at it, ignoring her surroundings as she read the time, 3 and a half days to go. She looked up again, catching the Doctor's stare as his curious eyes were trained on the device. Ashley quickly drew her sleeve over it and they both locked eyes. She sighed, the Doctor opened his mouth to say something and she braced herself for an explanation- before the Tardis started rumbling.

It happened so quickly. It was a small rumble at first, the two heads quickly darting in every direction in confusion as the Tardis suddenly sprang into life. Lights flashed on and off, the column in the middle of the console flickered, the blue tube in the middle shooting up and down as a whirring noise filled the room.
"What's happening?" Ashley cried out, gripping hold of the console.

The Doctor burst out a mad laugh, leaping around the console with joy as he flicked switches and pushed buttons. "It's alive!" He announced, darting towards the monitor and slapping the side of the screen until it came into life. His face fell, "It's... Not actually me driving it."

"What?" Ashley asked, carefully making her way towards him, steadying herself as the ground beneath her tipped from side to side.

"Some kind of energy is dragging the Tardis elsewhere- I can't do anything to stop it," the Doctor said through gritted teeth.
The Tardis suddenly rock to one side again, Ashley screamed in surprised, the Doctor grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her down into a nearby by seat before racing round the console once more.

"But-" the Doctor shouted over the noise of grinding metal and the strange whirring noise. "I may be able to break the bond for a short period of time- just enough for us to lose the connection. The drawing energy isn't actually that strong."
He flicked a few switches one side, then crossed swiftly over to the other side of the room and pumped a lever. Ashley watched in admiration, everything looked so complicated and confusing. Yet the Doctor knew exactly what he was doing and what switch did what.
"Nearly there!" The Doctor laughed, bubbling with excitement. "Haha! Not so easy to bring this 'old girl' down is it?" He said to no one in particular.
Suddenly Ashley was thrown forward as the spaceship seemed to have come to a sudden stop, she tumbled across the floor, stopping once her back came into contact with the base of the console. The Doctor had fallen backwards down the stairs, he rolled as he hit the floor, tumbling into a nearby hat stand.

The console was smoking once Ashley's vision cleared, there were sparks flashing from the console and the lights had gone out once more, plunging them both in darkness. She groaned, touching the back of her head. There was no blood but her head throbbed painfully. She slowly put her hands flat on the floor, pushing herself unsteadily back onto her feet and using the console to support herself. The backpack had protected her back but she must have hit her head at some point during the crash.

"Doctor?" Ashley called out hoarsely, suddenly spluttering a ragged cough as she breathed in a handful of smoke. She stepped away from the console, holding her arm to her mouth and breathing through the material of her sleeve.

"I'm here," He called out, walking out from the door at the opposite side of the room. "Are you hurt?" He asked, walking towards her and examining her with his gaze.

Ashley shook her head, "I don't think so," She replied, her voice muffled through her sleeve. "What happened?" She asked.

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the room, "Whatever was pulling at the Tardis," He began, giving the ruined console a sad look. "Was also giving it power, and when I severed the connection, the power was lost and we had a bit of a crash landing. Not to worry though, we can go for a little walk while the Tardis repairs itself. And I'm guessing that wherever we have landed is somewhere near whatever was trying to get at the Tardis. Which is a good coincidence because I was actually looking for that source before I bumped into you this morning." He looked at her, giving her that same mad grin he seemed to always wear. "Shall we go for a little exploring then?"