Fic: 'The Doctor and Phil's Bogus Journey' (Doctor Who/Phil of the Future, gen, PG, 1/6) Title: The Doctor and Phil's Bogus Journey (1/6) Fandom: Doctor Who 2005 / Phil of the Future Characters: The Doctor (Nine), Phil Diffy, Keely Teslow, Rose Tyler Word Count: 1849 Rating: PG Spoilers: PotF - "Back to the Future" (with "Get Ready to Go-Go", "Christmas Break", "Happy NIRDay") ; Doctor Who - anything up to "The Empty Child". See first: The Doctor and Phil's Excellent Adventure. Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me. Summary:Phil knew he didn't have much time. 'I'm looking for the Doctor,' he said urgently. 'Doctor, wherever you are, I need your help.' Phil Diffy is on his way back to 2005 when his time machine goes haywire. Now he's careening through time, and only one man can help him.
The Doctor and Phil's Bogus Journey
"Thanks for walking me home, Phil," said Keely. She was clutching desperately at her tiny purse, switching back and forth between glancing shyly at Phil, and ducking her head. From the warmth of her cheeks, it was safe to assume that her face was as red as her dress. Fortunately, the moonlight was sparse and fleeting, just enough to hide this problem. Unfortunately, the effect only served to accentuate the fact that the evening was increasingly romantic. Keely was having a hard time forgetting that mere minutes ago, she'd been slow-dancing with Phil in the Diffy's garage.
"No problem," said Phil, his voice unnaturally soft so as not to disturb the stillness. She shifted her weight slightly, uncertain of what to say. But he solved that problem by continuing to talk. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry about tonight," he hedged.
"Don't be," she said, in the flickering yellow of the streetlamp, she saw hope in his eyes. "Everything worked out anyway."
"I guess so," he said, stepping closer. Keely tensed with anticipation. If Phil was about to do what she thought he was about to do, she wanted to be ready. She was very scared, because she and Phil hadn't discussed a relationship, but he had called her hot, and he was jealous of Owen. So she was pretty sure he liked her. And she was positive she really, really liked Phil.
"Keel," he said quietly, stepping even closer, and Keely knew this was it. She shut her eyes, waiting. She could feel his breath.
A blast shook the air, a shotgun crack that made Keely jump. She glanced over her shoulder apprehensively, but nothing else had changed about the night.
"Just a car backfiring," said Phil, and his logic served to calm her, but the moment was forever lost. She looked at him and could see it in his eyes, but neither would bring voice to it.
Keely smiled slightly. "It's late," she said.
"Yeah."
"I should... I should go."
"Yeah."
Keely hustled up the walk to her house, regretting every step.
Christmas Eve, Keely went over to Phil's house. She'd been working up the courage for her plan, and apparently the working up part had taken longer than she'd expected, because when she arrived on the Diffy's front porch, the lights were already off in the house. Phil opened the door in his pajama pants and a t-shirt, and he blushed hotly when he realized who was standing there. "Keely, is everything okay? It's like, almost midnight."
Oops. She should've asked for a new watch for Christmas. "Well, I just... I mean, I know I'm not going to see you tomorrow, since we're both spending the day with our families, and I just, I wanted to give you your present."
"Oh." He blinked. "Do you wanna come in?"
"I don't want to wake your parents," she said. "I can just do it here." She reached into her enormous purse, trying to find Phil's gift. "I know it's nothing like what you gave me for Christmas a few years ago," she stammered, finally finding it. She'd been going crazy for the past few days, thinking about how Phil had managed to save the Yuletide Star, and Keely's Christmas, and how nothing she gave him would ever compare to that. She could only hope this would at least show her gratitude. She pulled the present out of her bag.
Phil eyed it with trepidation. "A plant?"
"Not just any plant," she said. "Mistletoe."
"What about toes?" he said, staring at her uncomprehendingly.
Keely swallowed her frustration. Mistletoe had probably died out in 2057 or something. Wasn't that always the case? "It's a tradition," she said. "When two people are under the mistletoe together, they have to..." She tilted her head back and forth.
True to form, Phil interpreted nothing from the gesture. "They have to... do the Macarena?"
Keely sighed. "No, Phil. They have to kiss."
"Because of a plant? That seems sort of—" Keely cleared her throat, and Phil widened his eyes. "Oh. Oh."
Keely smiled. This was the moment she'd been working up towards for what felt like ages. She licked her lips, muttered a quick prayer under her breath, closed her eyes, and moved in.
The boom that rocked the air around them made her lose her footing, careening off her path towards Phil's lips and instead nearly bashing her face against the doorframe.
Recovering quickly, she whipped her head around, and thought she saw something this time, thought she saw the flash of a large white rectangle at the end of the street. But it was gone.
"Did you—?" Keely asked, then thought better of it. "Never mind. I should go. Merry Christmas, Phil."
Phil was staring at her, utterly perplexed. "Merry Christmas, Keel."
They had to use up all of the napkins Phil had brought to wipe off their faces after the battle, but Keely didn't mind. There were worse things than smelling like cake batter, after all.
Keely leaned back, snacking on cheese and crackers, and tried to think of her life before Phil. They'd only known each other for over a year, but it was such a powerful year that it seemed like her life had only just begun when Phil Diffy walked into it. He did so much for her, and it seemed like she did so little in return. Was the simple act of keeping his secret a fair exchange for all the sweet things he did for her?
"Keel?" Keely blinked, finding that Phil was waving his hand in front of her face. "Are you in there?"
"Yeah," she said. "Just thinking."
"Oh, okay."
She smiled at him brightly. "Phil, I'm just so happy we met."
Phil grinned, the sort that made her feel a little wobbly inside, and glad that she was sitting. "Me too," he said.
She was beginning to feel nervous, as if her body knew what she was going to do before she was. "Look, Phil, I—"
"Yeah?"
There was a smudge of cake on Phil's cheek still, ruining her moment. She leaned forward, using the cleanest napkin corner she could find to swab at his face. "All better," she muttered.
Phil deflated slightly. "Oh." The nearly imperceptible slump of his shoulders didn't go unnoticed by her, however, and she wondered if maybe he'd been hoping for something more. She was still too close, after all. And they did miss their chance before. It would make this a perfect birthday.
She decided to go for it. She closed her eyes, inches from his face, scared out of her mind but really excited. She was just about to hit ground zero when something seemed to explode behind them.
To her surprise, Phil straightened. "What did that sound like to you?" he asked.
It sounded like missed opportunity, was what.
Actually, it sounded like previous missed opportunities. The night after the dance, the picnic, and now this. It was the same sound, every time. What had been annoyance before was now turning out to be a coincidence.
Phil wasn't even noticing her. He was looking all over the park, his features screwed in thought. The ruined moment with Keely was the last thing on his mind.
Maybe it was more than a coincidence. Maybe it was a message. One that said maybe she and Phil weren't supposed to be together.
A moment later, the sound duplicated itself, softer this time, and followed by a steady hum. A lawnmower. The park service, going to work. Phil frowned as his concentration was disturbed. But concentration on what? Was he that oblivious to the fact that Keely had just tried to kiss him?
Phil whipped out the Wizard, pressing buttons and waving it around. He was looking for something.
Whatever it was, he didn't find it. He pocketed the Wizard once more. Curiosity ate at Keely, made her want to ask what he'd been looking for, but irritation at the situation won out, and she said, "This has been a really great birthday, Phil." Regardless of what had just happened, she meant it.
Keely stayed for a few more minutes, but it was only a gesture of politeness. She was embarrassed, and Phil was elsewhere mentally, unable to return to the picnic despite what appeared to be his best efforts.
Heavy-hearted, Keely headed home. She tried to convince herself that just because it hadn't happened this time, didn't mean it couldn't still happen. Where one door closed, windows opened, or however that went.
It was only the beginning.
Phil Diffy wished, not for the first time, that he'd paid better attention during those time machine driving lessons his dad had tried to inflict on him. Going back or forward a few minutes in one set space wasn't too bad. But maneuvering this beast through ion clouds and warps was proving to be much, much more than Phil could handle. He was all alone in the rented machine that had caused his family so many problems. He was all alone, he was lost, and he was exhausted.
He was also crashing.
Phil, when he had time to, would give himself major props for navigating the time machine back where it needed to be. Unfortunately, a lot of it was busted, and he was having problems parking. Dates kept flashing on the TPS (Timeline Positioning System) as Phil skidded through time just as a plane would bounce to a stop on the tarmac.
October fifteenth, 2004. December twenty-fourth, 2004. March twenty-sixth, 2005.
Each time, the time machine landed, skittered, made a roaring sound as it backfired, and then skipped ahead into the time portal.
This was where he wanted to be, the time that he'd been in Pickford with Keely. He needed her. But he couldn't get the machine to stay for more than a few seconds at a time.
Somewhere in 2007, a little boy ran over to his toddler sister, sitting on the lawn of the house they'd moved into only months earlier, wailing because a loud noise had scared her.
In 2008, a shaggy man in a fur pelt cocked his head and sniffed at the air, recognizing a scent that he hadn't encountered in a few years.
In 2010, the RV crashed. It did not just stop on the street in front of the Diffys' house, it skittered across the sidewalk, tore up the lawn, and finally came to a screeching halt in the middle of the garage. Bric-a-brac rained down on its time-weathered surface, things crashing and rattling in a cacophony of chaos. Then the engine died.
Phil backed up the emergency generator he'd picked up in 2090, and made sure his first task was to activate the distress signal. The generator was weak, and Phil knew he didn't have much time. "I'm looking for the Doctor," he said urgently. "Doctor, wherever you are, this is Phil Diffy. Please come get me. My family's missing. I need your help." He pressed the 'send' button, praying that the message reached its destination.