SUNNY SIDE UP

By Jeremy Ogden

In the Hellmouth, something was stirring…..

The air churned itself up, and there was a wheezing, grinding sound.  And suddenly,  Sunnydale had a blue metropolitan Police Box for the first time in it’s history.

The TARDIS doors opened, and the Doctor peered cautiously around the door, taking in his new surroundings.  He sighed slightly as his suspicions, that this wasn’t the rally in Canada that he’d left Sam at, and that instead his temperamental craft had landed him again in an unexpected location, were confirmed.  A dark alleyway.   An ambulance  siren in the distance.  He was obviously on the right side of the Atlantic, going by the sound the siren was making, but the wrong side of the Canada-USA border.   He was very tempted to stay on the safest side of the door and leave straight away, maybe he could coast in the vortex for a while, at least while he untangled whatever mess the guidance system had got into this time, but there was something about this place he couldn’t quite quantify, that he couldn’t put his finger on.  Something was here that needed his attention.  He thought for a moment, wondering if this was another of those clever ruses his previous incarnation had started that needed it’s lose ends tidying up.  He couldn’t think of anything, but there again regeneration always did play havoc with his memory.                              

No, he thought, there was nothing he could recall that he had done in his previous persona, but this nagging feeling he had, that he had felt once before, it was definitely needed looking into.  He stepped cautiously away from the sanctuary of his time machine, and looked around again, before quickly turning to lock the door.  He fumbled with the key for a moment, realizing that the door hadn’t quite sealed itself, and tried again, sighing with relief when the lock clicked and the door was sealed.  He must get round to making a permanent fix of that locking mechanism - it wouldn’t hold together for ever.  For now though, his main concern was getting somewhere a little less.....dark.   His recent memories of dark American alleyways were not especially pleasant….

 At that moment a short distance away, the Chosen One was fighting for her life - and at the moment she was losing.  Now, the Slayer had had her share of near-death experiences since discovering her calling in life, not least of which getting entangled with a particularly nasty piece of work known as The Master. Now, though, and despite the assistance she was getting this evening from her friend, the enigmatic Angel, this was not exactly going according to plan.  They had stirred a particularly savage and filthy looking nest of vampires, and frankly had bitten off a little more than was palatable, and had been chased rapidly away by a vicious, snarling band of vampires some twenty minutes before.  Although about three of them (she wasn’t sure amidst the ensuing carnage) had fallen to her stake, the remainder were not giving in so easily.  At least one had broken away, and was now at large in the town somewhere.

The Doctor glanced around at the end of the alleyway, wondering which way to go.  That nagging presence was getting stronger, even though he had only walked a few yards from the TARDIS.  Which way?  To the left, he could have walked away towards the centre of what looked like a fairly nondescript American town, and to the right.....  The Doctor let out a sharp breathe.  Whatever it was he was looking for was down the street to his right. 

Buffy had just managed to stake another of these vampires - but was immediately attacked from behind by one of the remaining three.  Angel was still busy pummelling another of them  but her back was to him and this mean looking creature who she thought was their leader wasn’t the sort you turned your back to.  She tried another kick to his midrift but was blocked, the vampire swinging again at her head on the way up.  She sidestepped, but so did he, swinging out with his free arm. ....

Whatever it was he was looking for, he realized as he passed an alley on his right that he’d probably just found it.  Straining to see through the gloom, he could make out four, no five figures through the darkness, which was broken only by an ancient, flickering light on the left hand wall.  He froze, but he knew exactly what he had to do, and started to stride down the alleyway.

“Err, excuse me”, he called, in his best, casual voice.  He was seeing all five figures clearer now, as he walked closer - they had all  frozen at this unexpected interruption, and were now looking straight at him.  The Doctor took in his new acquaintances - a young, attractive human girl, probably in her mid to late teens, the Doctor guessed.  A slightly older looking, apparently human male.... but as he drew closer he noticed the young man’s face.  A vampire...?  And the other three, well, no doubt what they were, their faces were a strong clue, the glinting fangs a dead giveaway. 

“Excuse me!” said the girl, recovering first from the surprise.  “We’re trying to have a fight to the death here!” 

And as she picked herself up off the floor, she staked the nearest vampire.  His already surprised expression turned to one of sheer annoyance.

“Oh, crap!” was the last thing he said before he turned to dust. 

At that moment, his accomplices decided they’d seen enough.  One of them leapt to his feet and moved menacingly towards the Doctor, growling and scowling.  But the Doctor was expecting this and fixed him with intense eyes, and the vampire stopped dead in his tracks.

“You...” he exclaimed, a look of something between bewilderment, awe and fear in his eyes.  The remaining vampire meanwhile, turned his attention back to Angel, but his element of surprise was gone - as he found when Angel planted a solid blow on his jaw which sent him flying against the alley wall.

“I am a Time Lord, known as the Doctor, from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborus, the Doctor said evenly, his eyes still fixed on the now totally outnumbered Vampire.

At the mention of the words Time Lord, Angel let out a sharp breathe and shot a look at the Doctor which was not dis-similar from the one his transfixed enemy was now giving this slightly bizarre looking stranger.

Buffy, meanwhile was looking utterly bemused by all this.  And her bewilderment was fast turning to frustration, as she seemed to be the only one here who didn’t have any idea what the hell was going on.  The Doctor, meanwhile, was still tying the vampire with his steely gaze. 

“You are the ancient enemy of the Time Lords and I am under obligation to destroy you”, he said, suddenly sounding menacing.

But suddenly, as quickly as it had started, the Doctor’s hold on the vampire was gone.

“Oh, yeah?  And my name’s Billy Shakespeare!” he snarled,

“No, I don’t think so.  Dear old Will was a charming man, but long dead, sadly”. 

The Vampire snarled, and made to charge at the Doctor.  Not realising that Angel had grabbed hold the back of his jacket collar.  He tumbled to the ground, and the Slayer moved in for the kill.  Moments later, where a vampire had fallen, there was nothing but dust.

The Doctor looked at Buffy, slightly taken aback by what she had just done.  Buffy looked back, her expression reflecting her sense of bemusement and bewilderment. 

Angel just looked dark and brooding. 

Buffy took in the new arrival.  A shock of dark wavy hair which was treading a fine line between being untidy and nearly neat, intense eyes, noticeable even though the gloom, wing-collard shirt, velvet grey-green cravat and a long velvet frock coat which covered a patterned waistcoat.

“Constellation of where?” enquired Buffy, menacingly.

 “Kasterborus,” replied the Doctor, cheerfully.  “On the other side of your Galaxy, about 10 minutes in....”.  He stopped, suddenly confused himself, as something dawned on him.  He nodded towards Angel, still stood menacingly in the shadows a few feet away.

“Don’t think me rude, but why isn’t your friend here trying to drain every last drop of blood from your body?”

“Let’s just say Angel doesn’t do that kind of thing any more”, Buffy replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.  The Doctor frowned.

“I’ll explain later,” said Buffy.  The Doctor looked troubled - he suddenly realised he didn’t like being told that.

“After you’ve explained exactly who are and what you’re doing here”.

“Well, as I said, my name’s the Doctor, I’m a Time-Lord from the planet Gallifrey, and I just arrived in my TARDIS, which allows me to travel through Space and Time.   As to what I’m doing here, well,  actually, I’m not sure.  I was supposed to be landing in Canada in 1996 to collect my companion Samantha from an environmental rally she wanted to attend, but there was some temporal displacement in the Space-Time vortex and I ended up here...”

“Alright that’s it!” Buffy interrupted.  I’m not having any more of this Time-Lord crap....”

“Buffy, wait,” said Angel, finally moving forward out of the shadows.  “You’re supposed to be a myth,” he went on, now addressing the Doctor. 

“Good to meet you Buffy” smiled and shook Buffy’s hand enthusiastically.  “I take it that you’re the Chosen One”

Buffy’s jaw dropped just a little closer to the floor.

“As I said, I’m known as the Doctor-” The Doctor turned to Angel  “-and let me assure you, Angel,  we are not a myth.  Vampires are the ancient enemy of the Time Lords.  I don’t exactly know why I ended up here, but the presence of your...” he hesitated, not quite knowing what to call them “...erm, friends drew me to this alleyway.  And I’m assuming, that because the Slayer here appears to be trusting you, I can do the same”.

“How do you know who I am?” enquired Buffy sharply, now sounding a little annoyed as well as still showing a touch of bemusement.  “No, no wait, please don’t answer that!” she interrupted herself. 

“I think we should all move out of this alleyway before the mayor finds us here and starts charging us rent!”

  The three moved off up the alleyway, Buffy leading the way, the Doctor close behind and Angel keeping a brooding presence at the rear of the group.  “Er, where are we going?,” asked the Doctor, cheerful again.

** 

“Well, personally I think it’s more likely you’re from some where in the deepest England, but I suppose you did help us see off the local nightlife back there so I think you ought to meet Giles before you return to Broadmoor, or where ever it is you’ve escaped from - in your.... time.... machine thingy”, Buffy breathed back through clenched teeth.  “Certainly Giles  is going to want to meet you”, she added quietly, as she envisioned that intriguing moment, and subsequent hours spent in front of a roaring log fire, drinking tea and eating scones and sharing endless anecdotes about that unintelligible sport that the English play, and which by Giles’ occasionally rather forlorn accounts,  they weren’t actually much good at. 

“Ah, Giles! Will that be your Watcher, then?”

Buffy stopped in her tracks and turned slowly to face the Doctor.

“Buffy, don’t!” Angel breathed from behind the Doctor. 

Buffy gritted her teeth and started walking again, but decided to change tack a little.  “Look, erm... Doctor. What was that some kind of psychic trick you did with that Vampire back there?”

“Yes, though unfortunately my ability to maintain a psychic hold over the un-dead is not quite so strong as when dealing with the living”.

“Oh, well, I hear you can get good treatments for that these days,” was Buffy’s response.

“Really? I had no idea the subject psychic ability had attracted so much attention!”

“Er, Doctor, she’s joking,” Angel pointed out.

**

A short time later, the three were walking up the front pathway at Sunnydale High. 

“Look, are you sure we should be here at this time of night?” The Doctor had asked, when he realised they were headed for the big dark building in front of them.

“You claim to be a time-traveller from 250 million light years away and you’re worried about breaking into a crummy high school?” was Angel’s slightly disbelieving answer.

The Doctor glanced around him.  “Hmm, you may have a point”, he said.  Soon, they were walking along a deserted corridor.

“Library’s this way”, said Buffy.

“Hmm?  Oh fine” replied the Doctor, suddenly sounding a bit distracted.

“What’s wrong?  Don’t tell me you don’t  dark creepy corridors.  You wouldn’t last a week in Sunnydale!” Angel told him,  a little sarcastically

“Oh, it’s not that.  I just got the strangest idea we were being watched”, the Doctor replied, stopping to examine some small figurines in a display cabinet.  He could have sworn that just for a moment, one of them  had glowing eyes....

**

“Oh...is it Halloween already?” said Willow as she looked up and saw Buffy and Angel breeze into the Library accompanied by the curiously dressed man.

“Hi, all,” Buffy began.  “This guy helped saved us from a hideous death at the hands of some very nasty vampires tonight.  He says he’s a Time-Lord known as the Doctor from the constellation of Kasterborus, which is about 250 zillion light years away in approximately - “ she made a circular motion with her index finger while pointing at the side of her head “ - that direction”.

“Er, actually, it’s - “The Doctor paused, looking around above him as if trying to find his bearings “- that direction”.   He turned to look back in the direction they’d just come from and pointed upwards. “At Galactic co-ordinates ten zero eleven zero zero by zero two from galactic zero. And it’s million, not zillion”.

“Uh, huh.  What’s your home planet called?” asked Oz, as only Oz could.

“Gallifrey, actually, young man, thank you very much for asking!”.  And the Doctor seemed  genuinely pleased to be asked.

“Oh, boy have I got a headache!” Buffy complained.

“Ah! You must be Giles!” said the Doctor, spotting the bespectacled man in the brown jacket, now  standing at the top of a set of stairs, next to another, younger man, who was also wearing glasses, but was more smartly dressed in a suit.  He walked up past the bemused Willow and the  still brooding Angel, who had remained silent since their arrival at the Library.  He shook Giles enthusiastically by the hand.

“Err, yes, errm, right...” Giles looked completely confused.

At that moment, Xander and Cordelia had walked into the Library just in time to witness Giles’ confusion.  They were arguing as usual, but stopped the moment the

Doctor turned to face them. 

“Ah.  You’re English, aren’t you?”  Xander asked, looking at the Doctor.

Cordelia just stood and stared.

“Well, yes, I suppose I am,” said the Doctor, as if the thought had never occurred to him before.

“Look, please can we stay in one place in future, people, I’m getting tired of doing a plot update every time someone else arrives! “ Buffy exclaimed.   She pointed at the Doctor. “Time-Lord from 250 billion...”

“No, no, no ,no!  Million!” the Doctor pointed out.

Buffy went on undeterred. “Someplace a long way away...helped kill nasty monsters....needs our help finding his way back to the psychiatric ward from which he’s obviously escaped!”

“He is what he says he is”.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at Angel, who was looking at the Doctor with suspicious eyes. 

“There are legends about his people.   Not well known, I mean they don’t broadcast them every Saturday evening after the soccer scores, but they exist.  Vampires are reputed to be their ancient enemy.”

“I have to admit I’m not completely familiar with such legends....” the younger man next to Giles said.

“Shut up, Wesley!” Giles snapped. “What do they teach you at the Council these days anyway?” 

“Ah, so...Wesley, was it?  Is he a Watcher as well?”  The Doctor asked.  Then his look turned to confusion.  “Two watchers?”

“Well, as a matter of fact...” Wesley began.

“Long story, best you don’t ask”, Giles replied quickly.  “These...legends, Angel, tell us more.”

“Yes, do please enlighten us about these vampire-hunting,  beings which can travel through time!” Wesley chipped in.

Angel ignored him.  “The legend tells of a group of vampires who landed in central Europe amidst a ball of flame, about three thousand years ago.  Some had metamorphing powers and learned to turn themselves into birds.  Others became bats, as well as quite notorious”, Angel explained. “They were supposedly on the run from a group of powerful, nearly omnipotent beings who had orders to hunt them down and destroy them”

“My race fought a centuries long war with the Vampires, and every Time Lord is under standing orders to destroy them wherever they may be encountered.  Not generally a policy I willingly apply to any other beings, but the order stands nonetheless.  I last encountered them...oh, a long time ago in a Universe far, far away”, explained the Doctor.  “Well actually, it was a long time in the future, but I don’t want to confuse you....”  He looked around.  “....even more than you are at the moment”.

“Woah, rewind a little”, Xander interrupted. So you’re saying that Dracula was...an alien vampire?” Xander enquired. 

Cordelia turned her gawping away from the Doctor and onto Xander.

“Oh, come on, aliens landing and becoming vampires?  That’s nearly as silly as the idea that you can travel through time!”

“Oh, surprise, surprise,  Scully here doesn’t believe!  Even after  all we’ve seen, Cordelia?  open your eyes for once!”, Xander retorted.

“Oh, trust you to believe him.  I mean, I bet you were one of those people who thought that Calvin Klein got their corporate name from Back to the Future!” was Cordelia’s indignant retort.

Xander was just about to fire another insult back at Cordy when Giles interrupted.

“No, Xander’s right - is it as silly as the idea of demons, darkness and vampires themselves? The legends may not be totally accurate, especially after all these centuries, but there may well be a shred of truth in them.  I think the Doctor here is living proof - if this time machine he mentioned is real”.  Every pair of eyes on the room turned to look at the Doctor, who was grinning broadly.

 “Follow me” he told them, and made for the door.

Buffy held her head.  Giles scratched his head.  Xander looked at Willow, Willow looked at Xander, Wesley gawped at Cordelia, Cordelia gawped at the Doctor.  Angel just stood there looking dark and brooding.  Oz looked totally unconcerned.

Wesley started to open his mouth to say something.

“Shut up Wesley!” was all Giles said, and followed the Doctor out of the Library.

At the front of Sunnydale High, a shadowy figure was watching the entrance....

**

Twenty minutes later, the Doctor was leading them all up an alley way on the other side of town.  None of the others expected him to stop in front of the curious looking blue box placed towards one side about two thirds of the way towards the rear wall. 

“Here we are!” said the Doctor, reaching into a pocket of his coat, and pulling out a small metal object on a chain.  The others glanced at each other in bemusement. 

“A blue box?  I was kinda hoping for a DeLorean”.  Xander sounded genuinely disappointed.

“A DeLorean? No, no, no!  If you’re going to travel through time, you need to do it in style,” Buffy murmured quietly, cautiously eyeing the Police Box.  The Doctor slid aside a small metal cover on a tiny hinge mounted on the door, and slid the key into the keyhole the cover had concealed.  The door opened, and the Doctor stood back and held out his arm, gesturing for them to go inside.  Buffy and Giles were stood nearest the door, with Angel just behind them.  Buffy and Giles looked at each other.

“Oh,  what the hell?” said Buffy.  I doubt we’ll be inside that thing for very long.  We’ll probably run out of air!”

Buffy and Giles walked past the Doctor, followed by Angel, Wesley and Cordelia, Xander and Willow, with Oz last of all.  The Doctor followed them inside, to find the group looking round at the Console Room in awe.  The ceiling was in monitor mode, showing a panorama of the night sky. A comet shot past overhead, and disappeared on the far side of the room, where the ceiling met the wall at a curiously indefinable point.

“Anyone like a nice cup of tea?” the Doctor asked cheerfully.

Wesley fainted.

“Unbelievable!” exclaimed the Doctor, with a small sigh as Cordelia stumbled forward to help Wesley, while trying to tear her eyes away from the panoramic console room.   “How many times have I intervened to make sure that the inhabitants of this planet come to no harm, and have the opportunity to go on to bigger and better things in the future, and he is the pinnacle example of human evolution?  The pinnacle of his race?!  The best humanity has had to offer since it crawled from the primeval soup!”

Giles was also trying to tear himself away from the  view  to go to Wesley’s aid.

“Oh, he’s not that bad, really, once you get to know him, and besides-,” he lowered his voice  slightly —”he bowls a mean leg-spinner.”

“Really?” the Doctor beamed, his whole manner changing yet again.  “You know somewhere I have a cricket bat signed by the England captain the day they won the Ashes back in the year 2001".  He paused for thought for a moment. “ Can’t recall the chap’s name, mind you, but I’m not sure it sounded very English....”

Buffy didn’t have a clue what ‘The Ashes’ were, and wasn’t sure she wanted to know.  Having said that it did sound like something out of one of the ancient prophecies that were forever crawling out of one of Giles’ books in the library to threaten the World with Armageddon and Apocalypse, but she had a strong suspicion that they were back on the subject of that obscure English sport again. 

“You know why weren’t you around when we were trying to defeat The Master?”  Buffy put in. “ I reckon the two of you could have confused him to death by talking about that funny game you play in England....”

From deep within the TARDIS, there was an ominous rumbling sound, and the Doctor froze, and turned to glare at Buffy, his manner more tense and his eyes more intense than Buffy had seen since she had met him, even more so than the moments when he held that Vampire in his psychic grip.

“The Master?” he said quickly.  “He was here?  You know him?”

“Well, knew,”    said Willow, frowning at the Doctor’s sudden change of manner. We kicked his butt,  We saved the world.  And then we had a party”.

“Well...when was this?  The Doctor was starting to sound frantic. “What did he try to do?” He paused for a moment “You kicked his...butt?”  Giles was wondering if it was possible that the Doctor’s knowledge of demons and such went even deeper than he had let on.

“He tried to ascend to walk the Earth again.  Like Willow said, we stopped him, saved civilisation as we know it, and then we....”

“...had a party, yes, I heard”, the Doctor cut off Buffy’s slightly extended explanation.

“Yeah, and he had my friend Jessie killed as well,” Xander said, a slightly bitter edge catching in his voice.

“Now, wait, stop, stop” the Doctor said, looking confused, and a little alarmed.  Are you trying to tell me that this...Master was some sort of demon?  Who couldn’t even call himself a name which hadn’t been used before?”

“Well what name would you suggest?  Bob?  Terry?”  A slightly bedraggled Wesley managed to ask as he clambered to his feet between Cordelia and Giles.

“No, no, no, of course not, and besides, Terry has already been used.  He stole something once....Oh never mind.  Your villainous megalomaniac called The Master is dead, my villainous megalomaniac called The Master is dead. Either way I think at this precise moment the Earth is safe from villainous megalomaniacs called The Master .....”

At that moment, the TARDIS door, who’s locking mechanism had not quite shut the Console Room off from the world outside, burst open.  Standing in the doorway was an  angry looking vampire dressed in the same long black trench coats and dark clothes as the three Vampires who had been dispatched by Buffy earlier on.  Except that this Vampire did not stay very mean for very long.  He looked around at his new surroundings, panic forming on his face.

“As Francis Drake once said to me,” the Doctor said slowly, fixing the newcomer with a steely gaze, “Come on then, if you think you’re hard enough!”

And the Vampire turned in terror, and ran screaming from the TARDIS.

There was a moment of silence, and Wesley fainted again. 

“Oh Pants!” The Doctor rolled his eyes to the Console Room ceiling.

Giles was looking at him a little strangely “Francis Drake?” he inquired, completely ignoring the fact that once again, Cordelia was helping Wesley to his feet after his latest bout of unconsciousness.

The Doctor was wondering over to one of the antique looking filing cabinets that lined one of the Console Room walls.  He scanned some of the old wooden drawers, stopped at one, opened it, and retrieved after some rummaging around, a small, slightly battered looking white ball, which he held out on the palm of his hand.

“Oh, yes.  Actually, I did rather well - I beat him at bowls....”,                                

“I hate to interrupt your shameless name-dropping, but shouldn’t we get after him?  The....vampire, I mean?” asked Willow.

”Oh, I don’t think he’ll be causing much more trouble tonight.  We managed to see off his friends from the nest me and Angel found  earlier on”, Buffy’s was the voice of reason. “ Actually I wondered what happened to him; I hit him pretty hard before they chased us from the warehouse they were hiding in.  He’s on his own, and he’s terrified.  I think I’ll be able to catch up with him pretty easily”.

“OK, well I don’t like to sound a sceptic, but I’m actually dying to see some proof that this thing isn’t just some sort of trick.  Can you really time travel in it, as well as collect bits of old rubbish, that is?”  Cordelia gestured at the filing cabinets.

“Of course!” beamed the Doctor.  “Allow me to demonstrate”.  He walked back over to the central console The others gathered round.  Willow was frowning at what she saw.

“This looks like something out of an HG Wells story, pretty low-tech,” she said.

The Doctor looked back over his shoulder. “Low tech! Young lady this is a Type-40 TARDIS, capable of travelling to any planet in the Universe, at any point during that planet’s existence! “ he retorted indignantly.  He paused for a moment. 

“Actually I must visit dear old Herbert some time....Right! I intend to demonstrate to you that the TARDIS is capable of many marvels, including this...” He flicked a switch and pulled a lever. The door shut and….

...Nothing happened. There was absolute dead silence.   Everyone was looking at the Doctor, who was looking a little sheepish.  He raised his hand, and slapped it down on the side of the antiquated looking console.  The Time-Rotor started to move slowly up and down and a grinding, wheezing sound rose from deep within the TARDIS.  The Doctor looked relieved, everyone else looked at each other  in mild alarm.

“Don’t worry! The turbulence in the Space-Time Vortex was not concentrated enough to effect what we’re doing  - we’re just off for what is technically known as a short  trip,”  the Doctor explained.  He returned his attention to the console and tapped some more controls, and as soon as it had started, the ‘short trip’ was finished.  The Doctor opened the door and gestured for everyone to look.

“Go to the door, but don’t go outside, and don’t make any noise”, the Doctor instructed.

The group moved slowly toward the main door.   They now appeared to be in a Sunnydale street - and walking out of an alleyway a short distance away were three figures - what appeared to be Buffy, Angel and trailing a short distance behind, the Doctor!

“Er, where are we going?” the Doctor was asking cheerfully.  Buffy was muttering something about Giles probably wanting to meet the Doctor.

Giles was watching open-mouthed at the TARDIS door.  He glanced at Wesley who was standing next to him, and looking decidedly pale.

“Don’t even think about it Wesley!” Giles snapped between suddenly clenched teeth.  Wesley swallowed hard......and to his credit, remained conscious and on his feet.

The Doctor pulled the lever to shut the door.  “OK folks, the magical mystery tour is about to continue!”  The grinding wheezing noise started again, and moments later, the doors opened once more. 

This time, they were back in the Library, and they watching themselves disappear out of the door about half and hour earlier.

“That’s impossible...we’re....they’re....I’m....”, Buffy was truly dumbfounded. 

“I think I speak for everyone ion here when I say ’whoa, ’” Xander whispered.  Even Oz was looking a little stunned.

“I don’t want to try and dabble in things about which I obviously have no clue, but if we are here, won’t they have a small problem when you lead them to....er..” Giles asked, still staring out of the door.

“I think I know  what you’re asking, Giles, but I also think you’ve answered your own

question” the Doctor said.

Giles looked even more baffled.

“Well, we’re here, aren’t we?” Angel said.  He and the Doctor exchanged a look, as if understanding between them had suddenly dawned.

The Doctor turned back to the Console, shutting the main door and setting the craft in motion one final time.

“Where are we going this time?” Buffy asked.

“Back to the Library, at the exact moment when you entered the TARDIS when it was in the alleyway,” The Doctor explained.

The Time-Rotor began to rise and fall again, then a few moments later, it’s movement ceased.

Before anyone could speak, another ominous rumbling deep within the TARDIS shook them from their bewilderment and brought the Doctor’s attention back to the Console.  The rumbling got louder, and a bell started to toll.

The Doctor checked his instruments again.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid the tour’s over.  According to the TARDIS I have a three-minute window in the Space-Time vortex, and if I miss it...,” he pulled the monitor, suspended on flexible springs and mounted above the main console towards him and flicked another switch “...I won’t be getting out of here for a while.”

“Well, I guess it’s time for the Scooby gang to disembark then,” Buffy said.  “Goodbye Doctor and I hope you find your way back to Gullifrax....”

“Gallifrey”, Oz whispered to Buffy.

“Right ....” Buffy rubbed her temple with her hand.  She could battle demons and the forces of darkness, but all this stuff was leaving her in desperate need of an asprin.

 “She turned to her friends.  “OK guys, back to the normal world, battling normal people, like, the Mayor. And Principle Snider”

“I still say he looks that funny alien guy off Star Trek but no, no-one believes me...” Xander was saying.

Actually, Gallifrey was not very high on the Doctor’s list of preferred destinations one place he did not want to go right now, not that he’d expect Buffy to know or appreciate that.  But he also knew that he lacked the time and inclination to inflict his life story (stories, in fact) on this bewildered group. One by one they said and waved their goodbyes to the Doctor and stepped back into the Library, Wesley looking decidedly green around the gills and  helped by Cordelia,  until Angel was the only one left  with the Doctor in the Console Room. 

“Come on Angel, you’ve got less than three minutes!” Buffy called

“He’ll be out in a moment” the Doctor called back, and pulled the door lever on the Console, partially closing the  doors.  The two looked at each other in the dim light of the Console Room.

The Doctor broke the silence.

 “Despite what I said earlier, all that stuff about Vampires being my people’s ancient enemy, I’m not going to kill you”.

“Don’t fool yourself Doctor, if you tried to kill me I’d soon remind you of the reason for your race’s standing order to kill vampires”.  Angel replied, a dangerous edge in his voice. 

“I’m grateful. I think it’s obvious we both have a history, a past both dark and colourful, just  waiting to leap up and remind us about it, and we haven’t the time to bore each other with the details.  I’m just going to tell you this: take a look at yourself Angel.  Take a look at the people around you.  But most of all, look at Buffy...”

“I do a lot of that!” Angel put in.

“Angel, listen to me.  You two make a formidable team, you give each other a lot of strength. You’d go to Hell and back for each other....”

“Oh Doctor, you have no idea!”

The Doctor pressed on. “... But look at the bottom line - you’re a vampire.  And her attachment to you might just be the reason she dies one day soon”.

Angel’s expression suddenly darkened even further.  “You’ve been to the future, what do you know?” he asked slowly.

“I don’t know exactly the course of future events, I have a unique insight, I have a certain vision and perspective. All of my race do to one degree or other.  Giles is like us in some ways. However, unlike him I also possess a certain  amount of psychic ability.  I don’t know exactly what  your calling is Angel, but I do  know it isn’t here.  There’s something terrible brewing here,  I felt it as soon as I landed.  I know Buffy and Giles, and the others will stop it.  But I also know that if you’re still around, there is a chance they might fail, not necessarily with whatever it is that’s building up, but with something else.  This is the Hellmouth, after all, isn’t it?”

Angel looked a little shocked.

“And besides, as I said, you have another calling, with some one else who has a unique gift”.

“You’re telling me to leave Sunnydale?  Just walk out on them?” Angel asked, a little incredulously.

“No.  I’m not saying that.  But when things start happening in Sunnydale soon, that’s the time you really need to start weighing up your options - your future against Buffy’s”.

The bell’s tolling got perceivably louder.

“How do I know this isn’t just some old load of double talk, some plot to get me away from Buffy so that I can’t help her defeat this, whatever is going to happen?”

“Angel, I’m a Time-Lord.  You’re a vampire”.

“Exactly!”

“...And I haven’t killed you!”

That was the moment Angel knew, that one way or another, soon he would leave Sunnydale....and Buffy.

“He reached out to shake the Doctor’s hand. 

“Buffy will be fine!” the Doctor tried to sound re-assuring.

“As long as I’m not here?”

“Just think of it as a new chapter, a new beginning, trust me, I’m an expert on those,” the Doctor said with a smile.

The Doctor turned toward the Console again and pulled the door lever, allowing it to fully open.  A new alarm sounded, and this one was in the Console Room.

“That’s it, I’ve got to go.” The Doctor returned his attention to the Console. 

Angel nodded, turned and walked to the door.  When he reached it he turned,

“Goodbye Doctor, come back sometime!” and backed out of the TARDIS, just as the time rotor began to rise and fall.  The door closed in front of him.

**

In the Library, they watched as the blue Police Box faded away, the groaning, wheezing sound it made ringing in their ears.

Willow was the first to speak.

“Please can I have permission to pass out?” she asked.

**

The Doctor made some adjustments to the controls, and went over to the corner of the Console Room and poured another cup of tea.  The time rotor was moving up and down in a regular movement, the tolling of the Cloister Bell had ceased and TARDIS seemed to be humming in that contented way it had.  It was back in the Space-Time Vortex which now seemed  perfectly stable.  A sudden thought occurred to the Doctor.  He took a sip of his tea and went back to the console.  He called up the co-ordinates of his last destination - the Library - adjusted the Temporal settings, tweaked the Vortex regulator and engaged the destination controls.  Ten minutes later, when the signal flashed up on the monitor, he returned and engaged the materialisation circuits.

 The Doctor stepped outside.  Again he was in the Library, but the Library was in ruins.  Books in various states of destruction and decay were strewn over the floor, water leaking through the remainder of the roof.  The wall where the door had been was no longer standing - he could see through into the corridor beyond - or what was left of.  Securing the TARDIS door, he fished in his pocket for a torch and moved off into the darkness for a look round.  His felt his foot come down on something....organic.

 He crouched down for a closer look -and he knew that although no-one would be back at Sunnydale High for a while, once again the Slayer had prevailed.  He closed his eyes for a moment, but that odd feeling, that odd presence that Angel had projected into his mind... it was not gone, but it was far more distant.

“I hope you found your calling, Angel,” he whispered quietly to himself. 

The Doctor smiled to himself, and made his way back to the TARDIS.

—

Back Story (ie Small print for the Uninitiated)        

Vampires are established as ancient enemies of the Time-Lords in the TV story State of Decay.

In the BBC Novel Vampire Science it is stated by the Doctor’s companion, Sam Jones, that the Doctor recently dropped her off at an Environmental rally, and left in the TARDIS for a period of (from the Doctor’s perspective) five years, before returning to collect her during at the appropriate time.  This story takes place towards the end of this period, when the Doctor is trying to find his way back to collect Sam.

The reference to ‘Terry’, who ‘stole something once’ is an obscure tip of the hat to the tribute to seventies mod-rock performed by Bill Bailey at his stand-up gigs – ‘Terry Stole the Leg of Time’.

The story takes place at some point towards the second half of the third TV season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, at the time when the ‘Scooby Gang’ were realising that a lot of the goings-on in Sunnydale were due to the mysterious Mayor.  Shortly after, the Mayor attempted his ‘ascension’ as see in the episode Graduation Day, and Angel, realising that he could no longer stay with Buffy, left for Los Angeles, and met up with Doyle, as seen in season one of Angel.