THE STOWAWAY

Chapter One

"So where are we then?" Clara asked the Eleventh Doctor as they stepped out of the TARDIS.

"San Francisco, I believe," the Doctor said, looking around.

"Brilliant, I've never been to San Francisco," Clara said while the Doctor shut the door. "Although, I'm sure you've been here loads of times."

"A few times, yes," the Doctor said, turning back towards her.

"Let me guess…you were here when they had that big earthquake, yeah? You got tons of people to safety?"

"No, I was here at another time but I did manage to save the Earth then," the Doctor replied.

Clara was about to ask what happened when a wistful look came over the Doctor's face. She recognized that look. It was when he was thinking about someone who had been close to him. She debated whether to ask him to tell her about the person but figured he would do it in his own time if he felt so inclined. The Doctor was stubborn and she knew he wouldn't give her a straight answer if she asked outright so she touched his arm, jarring him from his reminiscing and asked if they could go somewhere.

"But of course, we could go see the Golden Gate Bridge, how does that sound?" the Doctor said.

"Sounds fine to me, Doctor."

"Well then, Clara Oswald, follow me."

He crooked his arm and Clara threaded her arm through it before the two of them walked away.

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"Damn it, come on," Grace Holloway grumbled as she drove her car home from work. "Honestly, it shouldn't take me two hours to get home. Stupid traffic!"

She sighed when the man in front of her slammed on the brakes of his white Prius and she had to slam on hers to avoid hitting him. She sat in her cherry red mustang and tapped the steering wheel impatiently with her fingers. There was construction up ahead and rush hour traffic was slowed to a crawl while the cars made their way through it.

After twenty minutes, she finally made it through all the construction and she breathed a sigh of relief as she got back up to normal speed and made her way back home.

She was nearly there when she caught sight of the TARDIS and slammed on the brakes. She winced when several cars behind her slammed on their brakes and honked at her and she quickly turned off before someone decided to engage in a bit of road rage and do something to her.

"Doctor, oh my God, you've come back," Grace whispered as she pulled her car up beside the TARDIS and parked it.

The TARDIS was standing in a parking lot. It was near the back of it but still conspicuous, at least in Grace's opinion. She turned the car off and put the keys in her purse before getting out of the car. She stared at the blue box with a grin on her face, eager to see her old friend again. She admired the TARDIS, thinking it looked newer than the last time she saw it. When she got to the door, she also spied a sticker she'd never seen before. She read it, wondering what St. John's was before she knocked on the door and called to the Doctor to open the door. At first nothing happened and then the door suddenly swung inward. Grace hesitated a moment before stepping inside.

"Doc…"

She shut up and her mouth dropped open when she saw the interior.

"Wow, this is certainly different from last time," she said as she looked around. "Now it looks like a spaceship. But where is the Doctor?"

She climbed the steps, calling his name and frowned when she got no response.

"He must be in here, why else did the door open?" she murmured as she stared at the console.

"Grace!"

Grace jerked her head around when she heard the Eighth Doctor's voice coming from somewhere. She looked around but couldn't see him. Then she saw a flashing light coming from the back door.

"Doctor? Is that you?" she said, walking towards it.

She followed the flashing light and the sound of Eight's voice as he called to her. As soon as she was out of the room, the door closed on its own and the TARDIS sealed up the back door.

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"I'm sorry," Eleven said to Clara as they walked towards the TARDIS. "I thought it was closer than that. I miscalculated the distance between the TARDIS and the Golden Gate Bridge. Pardon me. I do make mistakes from time to time."

"Really? And here I thought you were godlike," Clara teased.

She laughed when Eleven tried to take a playful swipe at her head. As they neared the TARDIS, Clara slowed down when she noticed the car parked nearby.

"That wasn't there before," Clara said, pointing to it.

"Yes, I know. But this is a car park so I suppose cars can park here," Eleven said, waving his arms around.

"I agree with that but shouldn't we go somewhere else before the TARDIS is towed," Clara said.

"In a moment, Miss Hasty, gotta get inside first, you know," the Doctor said as he pulled his key out of his jacket pocket.

He unlocked the door and he and Clara stepped inside. He looked around but by this time, the TARDIS had unsealed the back door and everything looked normal to him. He closed the door and grinned at Clara.

"Right, Golden Gate Bridge, second attempt!" he said as he bounded up the stairs towards the console.

Clara followed him and watched while the Doctor powered up the TARDIS, both unaware that now they were carrying an extra passenger inside the time ship.

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