KIND OF WOMAN THAT'LL HAUNT YOU

Chapter Five

After fifteen minutes of intense argument, the band finally relented and let the Doctor and Rose stay. Mick told them to sit in the front row. Rose was still wary, especially when the band members glared at her. But, the Doctor merely stretched his feet out, put his hands behind his head and relaxed.

Soon, Rose forgot her anxiety and the band forgot them, as they went through their set and discussed changes in between songs. Finally, after an hour, they were finished and the Doctor and Rose applauded. The band gave them polite smiles. All of them put their instruments down and left the building to rest up for the day. Stevie grabbed Lindsey’s arm when he started to leave.

“Come with me,” she said.

Lindsey followed her while she walked over to the Doctor and Rose. She sat down in the seat beside the Doctor.

“Please tell Lindsey what you told me,” she said.

She looked at Lindsey.

“And please listen to him. I know what he has to say sounds incredible, but he’s telling the truth.”

Lindsey looked into her eyes. He nodded and knelt down beside her.

“Okay, so, what did you tell Stevie?”

Lindsey listened in stunned silence while the Doctor told him what he had told Stevie. He didn’t say anything until he had finished.

“I can’t believe this. I mean, normally, I would have you committed. But, I trust Stevie. I trust her intuition and if she believes it, then I will too.”

“I will not hurt any of you. Rose can vouch for that.”

“But, Stevie said she felt that death was gonna follow you. Is that part of her vision true?” Lindsey asked him.

The Doctor sighed.

“I won’t lie, deaths do have a tendency to occur around us, but that’s not due to me…most of the time. We tend to get into trouble wherever we go and we end up fighting monsters or evildoers and sometimes people do die, that’s just the nature of our job. We travel around, helping people who need it and fight against the darkness and injustice in the universe.”

“And this blue box Stevie saw. That’s the TARDIS thing?”

“Yes.”

Lindsey looked at Stevie.

“Steves, you know if we tell the others, they won’t believe it.”

“That’s why we won’t tell them who the Doctor really is, it’ll be our secret. Just keep quiet until they leave, then we’ll tell them. I told you because I knew you wouldn’t freak out.”

She looked at the Doctor.

“I hate keeping this from my band, but Lindsey and I go way back. He knows me and knows how psychic I am, so that’s why I felt it was safe to let him in on what you told me.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Well, like I said, I’ve been a fan for a long, long time and we’ve had a couple of stressful days, so I offered to take her to see you in concert.”

He grinned.

“Actually, we were aiming for the Rumours tour, but my TARDIS has a mind of its own sometimes, and we ended up here.”

Lindsey and Stevie glanced at each other.

“Well, gee, sounds like you need a new time machine,” Stevie said.

“Nah, I’ll never replace her. TARDIS and I go way back. ‘Sides, it’s better this way. I get to hear all your greatest hits, not just the ones from the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours albums.”

“Well, we’re a lot calmer now too,” Lindsey said, “back then, it was a very crazy time.”

Stevie snorted.

“That’s an understatement,” she said.

She looked up at the stage and watched the roadies who were walking around, checking equipment.

“Listen, we’re done here for now. So, why don’t you come with Lindsey and me and we’ll give you a tour of LA and get something to eat?” she said.

The Doctor beamed.

“Oh, I would be honored,” the Doctor said, happily.

“Yeah, me too,” Rose added.

Stevie looked at Lindsey.

“My limo or yours, Linds?” she said.

The Doctor could barely contain his excitement. Here he was, sitting in Stevie Nick’s limo, listening while she and Lindsey gave him and Rose a tour of the city. Looking at them, he was glad they finally accepted him and Rose. He always hated to lie to people, especially when he had to keep it going for an extended period of time.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” the Doctor said to them.

Stevie smiled.

“Our pleasure. It isn’t every day you get to meet a time traveling alien.”

“Well, it’s not every day you get to meet a couple of rock legends,” the Doctor replied.

Stevie blushed.

“I just didn’t realize aliens knew about us,” she said.

“Are you kidding? You guys are brilliant!”

Stevie shared a grin with Lindsey.

“An alien fan, who knew?” she said to him.

She glanced out the window for a moment and then beamed when an idea popped into her head.

“Listen, I have a house here in LA. I’d really like to go home for a bit, see my dogs and get something to eat there. Is that alright?”

The Doctor’s face was brighter than the sun. Rose giggled.

“I think he’s okay with that,” she said.

“Okay, we’ll stop at my house and take a break, then.”

Rose’s mouth fell open when she saw the interior of Stevie’s house.

“Oh, my God, this is incredible,” she said.

She looked over at the Doctor who looked like he had just won the biggest lottery in history. She ruffled his hair and he winked at her.

They heard the sound of dogs barking. Stevie’s face lit up.

“My babies! There you are!” she said, bending over when two yorkies ran to her, “oh, I missed you.”

She smiled when the dogs licked her furiously on both cheeks. Lindsey rolled his eyes and grinned.

“Her dogs. She can’t live without them,” he said.

“No, I can’t. They’re my babies,” she said.

She pointed to them.

“This is Sara Belladonna and the smaller one is Sulamith.”

Lindsey looked at the Doctor and Rose.

“See, you can tell the woman is a poet. She can’t even give her dogs normal names like Fluffy or Spot.”

“Can it, Lindsey,” Stevie said, when everyone laughed.

They looked over when a young woman with long, black curly hair walked up to Stevie.

“Hey, Karen, great to see you. My babies behave while I was gone?”

“Yup, like little angels.”

“Good.”

Stevie turned.

“Guys, this is Karen, my personal assistant. Karen, this is the Doctor, and Rose, and you know the elderly geezer, of course.”

The Doctor and Rose giggled when Lindsey flipped her off. Stevie smiled.

“Well, if you guys come this way. You can sit in the living room and Karen and I will find us something to eat.”

An hour and a half later, after Stevie gave them a quick tour of her mansion, the four friends sat in the living room eating cheeseburgers and chips. Stevie and Lindsey listened, awed, while the Doctor and Rose told them more about themselves and recounted some of their adventures. While they talked, Stevie kept looking at Rose, completely floored that this young woman was brave enough to go time traveling with an alien and fight monsters alongside him. At first glance she didn’t look like she’d be able to handle the danger, but Stevie could sense the power and strength that flowed deep within her. She had to admit she felt a little jealous that she got to do all of this. Inwardly, she thanked God that these two had decided to come see them.

Rose, on the other hand, was sizing up Lindsey and Stevie while she was talking to them. Lindsey had a rugged face with graying hair and beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of her other Doctor’s eyes. Even though he was in his late fifties, Rose thought he was still very handsome. Stevie, though, was gorgeous. She had to admit she didn’t know too much about the band. Her mother had the Rumours album and she had grown up listening to the songs on it. She loved the picture on the album cover and knew what the band looked like since there was a group photo on the back. Stevie had been pretty in the ‘70’s, but time had definitely been kind to her. Looking at her face with its almost smooth alabaster skin, she figured that Stevie had probably had a face-lift at some point. But, even so, she had a natural beauty about her that most women her age would kill to have. Her soft brown eyes matched the Doctor’s and her long, flowing honey blonde hair reached halfway down her back. There was an aura of sophistication and elegance around her and Rose couldn’t help but think of an old time Hollywood actress when she looked at her. But, at the same time, there was a down-to-earth, motherly feel about her and the more time Rose spent with her, the more she liked her.

She sat beside Lindsey, lazily stroking her dogs while they lay in her lap. Occasionally, Stevie would lock eyes with her and gave her a warm smile which Rose would return in kind.

They continued to talk for another hour or so before Lindsey’s cell phone suddenly went off. He looked at the display.

“Kristen, I’ll be back,” he said, getting up.

Stevie nodded. Lindsey excused himself and walked out. The Doctor looked at her.

“Kristen?” he said.

“The wife.”

The Doctor’s lips formed an O.

“Are you married?” Rose asked.

Stevie smiled.

“Only to my career,” she said.

“You’ve never married?” the Doctor asked.

Stevie gave them a sad smile.

“I was married back in 1983 for all of two seconds,” she said. “The whole thing was a very ill-advised move on my part. Other than that, no, never been married.”

“Not even to Lindsey?” Rose asked.

Stevie smiled.

“Not officially. Although, when we lived together before joining Fleetwood Mac, we considered ourselves married in all but name.”

A wistful look passed over her face.

“You still love him,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah, I do. But, unfortunately, we have a problem co-existing together most of the time. Both he and I are independent, headstrong people who want our own way. We butt heads on nearly everything. We both care for each other, but we would drive each other insane if we lived together. It’s a strange relationship we’ve got. Like I said, I trust Linds with my life, which is why I let him in on what was going on. We’ll always have a deep bond, but I couldn’t put up with him constantly around me and he feels the same. We both need our space or we’ll be at each other’s throats in under a minute. But, what about you guys? You have time to date people while you’re running from these Dalek things?”

“Dating’s not my thing, too domestic,” the Doctor said, waving his hand.

“Not a homebody?”

She chuckled when the Doctor shook his head vigorously.

“He hates it. Domestic life scares him. I threaten him from time to time, telling him we’re gonna get a mortgage and buy a home.”

“Wow, that’s cruel,” Stevie said, eyes twinkling.

“Yup, she’s a mean little git, but I put up with her.”

Stevie locked eyes with him.

You love her, don’t you? She thought to him.

The Doctor smiled.

Yes, I do. He thought back.

Thought so. I can tell. I’m glad you found someone. You seem like a nice guy.

Thanks. I try to be.

They looked over when Lindsey came back in the room.

“Sorry about that. She knew I was back in LA today and wanted to talk to me. Plus, I had to talk to my kids, say hello.”

The Doctor nodded, as Lindsey sat back down beside Stevie. Looking at them, the Doctor suddenly had a thought.

“Listen, Stevie, you were kind enough to show me your house, so why don’t I show you ours?”

“Your house?” Stevie said.

“The TARDIS.”

Stevie and Lindsey glanced at each other.

“Oh wow, see your time machine, I’d love it,” Stevie said.

“Yeah, me too. I’m curious to see what an alien’s spaceship looks like.”

“Well, actually, spaceships vary from species to species, so what you see isn’t representative of all spaceships in the universe, but I consider my TARDIS the very top of the heap in terms of spectacular-ness. So, if you guys are ready, Rose and I can direct you back to the TARDIS and let you take a look.”

“Well, Linds, ready to see the alien spaceship?”

“Ready when you are!” Lindsey said.

“Okay, let’s go! Show us your ship, spaceman!”

The Doctor grinned.

“Your wish is my command.”

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