Doctor Brian

Stonewall

Justin Taylor awoke to the familiar sight of the loft after having a troubled nights sleep. It was weird dreams that were all about spaceships and aliens that had caused Justin’s troubled sleep. He had even dreamed that Brian was some kind of space alien. Now how weird was that, Justin thought, as he rolled over and saw Brian was awake.

“Morning” Justin said, sounding as if he was still half asleep.

“You tossed and turned all night.” Brian said.

“I just had the weirdest dreams, all about spaceships and aliens.” Justin told Brian.

“I’m not surprised.” Brian observed.

“What do you mean?” Justin asked.

“Cause we’re on a spaceship.”

That snapped Justin fully awake. “You mean there really is a TARDIS?” Justin asked, sitting up and now fully awake.

“And we’re on it. Had it make a copy of the loft to give us a little piece of home.”

“How big is this thing?” Justin asked looking around.

“Know there’s a swimming pool and a bowling ally somewhere.”

‘No bathhouse?’ Justin jokingly asked.

“Deck 10.” Brian answered matter of factly as he got up and headed for the shower.

“Deck 10. Of course it has a bath house, its Brian Kinney’s spaceship…” Justin muttered to himself as he got out of bed. “Of all the guys in Pittsburgh I could have fallen for it had to be E.T. the intergalactic slut.” 

“I heard that!” Brian playfully yelled from the shower.

After they both got cleaned up Justin followed Brian to the control room. After checking a few dials he handed a piece of paper to Justin. “I want you to memorize this but don’t say it out loud.” He told Justin.

“What is it?”

“It’s a code that will have the TARDIS take you home in case anything happens to me.”

“Like what could happen to you?”

“This isn’t some star trek with a bunch of fuzzy aliens.” Brian said harshly. “Life in the universe is nasty, brutish, and short and as soon as you understand that the safer you’ll be. As a matter of fact there are plenty of aliens that would love to kill every human in the galaxy and starting with you wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Ok I understand.”

“Good now let me land this thing.”

The engines of the TARDIS echoed down a dark wet ally and into the night as the ship slowly materialized.  A few seconds later the box opened and Brian and Justin stepped out. Justin immediately started a coughing fit.

“Sorry I should have warned you about the smog,” Brian said while making sure Justin was ok,

“Where are we?” Justin asked as he looked around.

“You should ask when. It’s June 1969. I thought I’d show you a little bit of your own history. The Stonewall is just up the street. The riots should be starting in a few minutes.”

 “Vic told me about it. He said he was there.”

“He told me the same stories. But we should be careful. He doesn’t meet us for another 20 years or so. So remember he doesn’t know us.”

“So we try not to run into him, right?”

“You’re learning fast.”

The two of them tried to stay in shadows as they watched events unfold. New York’s finest pulled up right on cue. Soon patrons of the bar were being lead out to police cars. Neither one exactly saw how but a massive riot soon started. They watched as the police retreated into the Stonewall bar and heard and saw as police reinforcements came up a few minutes later.

After that the riot quickly grew beyond anything they heard from the stories. And just as quickly they found themselves caught up in it and thrown in a paddy wagon for a ride to jail. Justin had never been arrested before and he just glared at Brian before he finally said what he was thinking. “Some Time Lord you turned out to be.”

Brian let the comment slide. He had just activated an emergency beacon he carried. Brian knew he was going to hear worse from the person he expected to answer it.

The Doctor and Rose were taking a leisure trip through hyperspace. The Doctor was surprised and shocked as his TARDIS picked up an emergency beacon. “That’s impossible.” he said as he looked over the read outs.

“What is?” asked Rose wondering what the alarm meant.

“That’s an emergency beacon. A Time Lord can use it to call for help. But there are no other Time Lords.” He said. The Doctor knew that for a fact. So who’s sending the distress call he wondered.

Rose could almost read his thoughts. “Lets go find out.” She said.

The Doctor smiled. He knew why he liked Rose so much. They almost have the same sense of adventure. “Why not indeed?” The Doctor said as he began the process of homing in on the signal.

The boys were booked and throw in a cell with the rest of the arrested bar patrons. Justin was really pissed at how calmly Brian was handling everything. “So what do we do now? Justin asked.

“Relax.”

“What do you mean relax? I’m in jail 10 years before I was born. How much worse can it get?” Then from the far corner of the holding cell they both heard a familiar voice.

“Well girls, anyone need help making bail. I’ve got the number of a great bail bondsman. There’re two things every queer should have, a good bail bondsman and a good proctologist.”  Brian and Justin both recognized the voice. They both looked and knew it just got worse when they saw a younger Vic sitting in the corner.

But they didn’t have much time to worry because at that same moment help arrived. “Where the hell have you been? I thought you were dead,” said The Doctor from outside the bars.

“I was but I’m feeling much better now.” Brian answered his mentor as he got up and went over to the bars. “Can you get us out?’ Brian asked.

No problem.” said The Doctor. He held up a folder that Brian knew contained psychic paper to the deputy. “Here’s my ID. I told you I’m the assistant to the assistant police chief and I want him out of here now.”

“There’s two of us.” Brian said and pointing to Justin.

The deputy didn’t argue and opened the cell to let the two out. Justin hesitated for a moment then went over to Vic and gave him a hug and whispered something to him, then followed Brian out of the cell.

If looks could kill Justin would be dead from the stair he was getting from Brian as they walked away from the cell. “What? I didn’t change anything.” Justin said.

But he had. What nobody knew was that there were consequences to this trip. Victor Grassi was always proud of the fact that he was at the Stonewall that hot June night. He thought it was like being able to say that one witnessed Bunker Hill or The Alamo. But he never really gave a second thought about his cell mates. That was until his nephew introduced his best friend to him years later.  He was the spitting image of the young man who was with the blond. But Vic knew it had to be a coincidence. He couldn’t have been there. That would be like something out of the comic books his nephew was so fond of.

That was until a certain blond showed up years later. It was then that Vic knew for certain that they had been there. And he remembered what Justin had whispered to him just before he left the cell “I’ll see you in about 30 years.” Brian and Justin had been there in 1969 and that showed Vic that sometime in the near future time travel was going to be possible. That gave Vic hope that if something like that was possible then the cure must be just around the corner. It was that thought that gave him the hope to go and fight everyday. The hope to go on and it was that hope that gave him peace and that he held tightly to until the day he died

After introductions between the two Time Lords and their traveling companions the four of them left the police station. Rose and Justin seemed to hit it off and kind of ran ahead.  The Doctor and Brian walked in silence. Brian knew some questions were going to need answers but he tried to avoid them. “I see you’re dressing better now. Hugo Boss?” Brian asked admiring the Doctors black leather jacket.

“Savile Row if you must know and where the hell have you been?” asked The Doctor.

 “I hid.  I think we all went a little crazy after the Time War. I became a human teenager and after awhile I just forgot who I really was”

“Where did you end up?” The Doctor inquired.

“Pittsburgh.”

“Pittsburgh? Oh well it could worse, it could have been Manchester.” The Doctor said.

“So who’s the young man?” He asked Brian.

“Justin. We’ve been together for a few years.”

“Little young isn’t he?”

“Wish I was as mature as he is sometimes.”

Their walk was a quick one and everyone arrived back at their ships. Rose and Justin said their goodbyes and went into their own TARDIS’s. Brian and The Doctor hung back to talk a moment. “So now what?” asked The Doctor.

“Thought him and I would travel a bit, expose him to a bigger universe.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“Got it from an old friend.” said Brian. The two old friends smiled as the lost years faded away. They didn’t say goodbye. The Doctor just waved and entered his TARDIS and left.

Brian walked into his TARDIS where Justin was waiting.

“Where’s the Doctor?” asked Justin.

“He’s off on his own”

“I like Rose. See told me a lot of where they’ve been. You know they saw the end of the world.”

“Well I think I can think of a few better things to see. In fact I know this little planet called New Ibiza. Great beaches and you should see the cabana boys.” Brian saw the glare he was getting from Justin. “Ok, forget the cabana boys. But you should see the place, two suns and three moons. Like to see that romantic in you turn down a moonlight walk on the beach under three moons.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Great, then it’s decided.” Brian pushed a couple of buttons twirled a couple a wheels and pushed a few levers and they were off.

“How long is it going to take?” asked Justin.

“A few minutes.”

“Then can I ask you something?”

“Never could stop you before.”

“With all this technology could you have cured Vic?”

Brian thought that question came from left field. he sat down at the console and thought for a moment to come up with an accurate and honest answer. “Yes.” was all he said.

“Then why didn’t you?” Justin asked.

“I know we can sometimes look like gods with all this technology but we’re not. But I know it’s sometimes easy to forget that. Then the unintentional consequences happen. I cure Vic. I cure Ben. I cure Hunter. How do I explain it and what about everyone else? Where do you draw the line? I’ve learned the hard way you don’t play God.” Brian told Justin. “I’ve been there. It never works like you intend and one day I tell you about it.”

Before Justin could ask more the landing warning sounded. “We’re here.” said Brian. They felt the TARDIS come to a halt. “Next stop paradise.”

Brian and Justin left the TARDIS but instead of paradise they found themselves in the middle of smoke filled ruins of a destroyed civilization. “I know we’re in the right spot. There’s the beach and the hotel.” Brian said pointing off in the distance.

“What could have happened?”

“A war is what happened and a big one from the looks of it. Somebody attacked this planet.”

Then Brian saw them. The stuff nightmares were made off. “No, it can’t be.” Brian said almost in a whisper. They had to get out of there and right now without being spotted. But he didn’t know it was too late. Without saying more he turned and shoved Justin back into the TARDIS but he wasn’t fast enough to protect himself. Part of the energy blast hit Brian and threw him into the TARDIS.

Justin didn’t know what happened as he was shoved into the TARDIS.  But he heard the blast and saw Brian fly through the doors and land on the deck of the control room. It didn’t take an expert to see he was badly hurt. He could think of only one thing to do. He remembered the paper Brian had given him. “TARDIS emergency program two, there’s no place like home, execute.” He yelled. The doors slammed shut and he heard the engines start as the TARDIS dematerialized.

Once he knew they were on their way back to Earth Justin turned his attention to Brian. He looked to Brian to tell him some way he could help. “I’m dying.” is all Brian could say.

“You can’t.”

“We have a way of cheating death but it means you’ll never see me again. At least not like this.”

“I don’t understand but do what you have to do.” was all that Justin could say.

Brian went on finding it harder and harder to talk. “Never know what you’ll get” With those final words a burst of energy came from Brian’s body that was so intense that it temporally blinded Justin. When he could finally see again he was shocked at what he saw. Someone else was lying there in Brian’s clothes. As the figure sat up it saw the shocked look on Justin’s face. When it looked down it saw the reason why.

“Aw shit, tits.” The figure said as it collapsed back into unconsciousness.

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