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Rose winced as she pulled off her shoes and tossed them on the floor of the Tardis. She sat down on the jump seat with her legs straight in front of her, pointing and flexing as she had learned in ballet class so many years ago. “Well,” she started, “since we didn’t get to see Elvis, can you at least take me to see the Beatles now? You promised me a tour of Rock and Roll, and I haven’t seen anyone!” “Oy, you got to see Chuck Berry!” The Doctor protested. “I glanced at him for half a second while we were being chased by a giant moth!” Rose conjectured, but the Doctor continued. “And we saw Buddy Holly!” “On our way to haunted house.” Rose emphasized the last two words with air quotes. “How was I supposed to know it wasn’t ghosts!” The Doctor said. “Because it’s always aliens,” Rose answered under her breath. He continued excitedly, “Which era then? Rough and tumble Cavern Club? Mop top Ed Sullivan? Ooooh, Sgt. Pepper? Abbey Road with all the beards?” “Mum always loved the beards,” Rose smiled. The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Let’s start at the beginning and work our way to the end,” Rose decided. The Doctor muttered as he punched in the coordinates on the console, “Humans, when will you learn that time is wibbly wobbly?” but Rose was already on her way to the Tardis closet for a costume change.
Rose reappeared in yellow mini dress with a white collar and buttons, white fishnets, and white gogo boots. She had teased her hair and flipped out the ends, and she topped off the look with yellow hoop earrings. “Too much?” She asked. The Doctor looked up. “Look at you all pink and very yellow!” He exclaimed. “Fashion forward; I’ll give you that, but I like it!” He winked. Rose smiled sheepishly before she noticed he had changed too. “And look at you!” She exclaimed. The Doctor could’ve passed for a 5th Beatle. He wore a plain black suit with a thin black tie and funny pointy toed boots. He flashed a massive grin and made for the door. He opened it and breathed in heavily. “Ah, sea air and chips! 1962, if I’m not mistaken.” The Tardis was parked on Mathew Street next to a bar called The Grapes. Ahead, Rose could see the sign for the Cavern Club. She stepped out of the Tardis and bumped right into someone exiting the bar very quickly. “Wotcha!” Rose yelled. The man grabbed her arm, steadying her. “You alright, love?” Rose looked up. Underneath a cloud of cigarette smoke was John Lennon himself. Rose nodded slowly, her eyes as wide as saucers. “You?” she croaked. “I feel fine!” John exclaimed, tipping an imaginary hat. He continued to the Cavern with a string of young girls following him, a few turning to glare at Rose.
The Doctor, grinning like an idiot, grabbed Rose’s hand and followed a few steps behind the crowd. Down, down, down into the Cavern they went, and, with each step, it got harder to hear anything besides rock and roll and see anything besides smoke.
“Some other guy now…” blared the speakers. Rose and The Doctor wiggled their way through the dense crowd, stopping to dance when they couldn’t get any closer. Actual dancing was nearly impossible in the sardine tin that was the Cavern, so they mostly just bobbed their heads and swayed as they watched the band play. “BACKSTAGE?” The Doctor yelled. “WHAT?” Rose yelled back. “BACK. STAGE.” The Doctor overemphasized. Rose nodded and off they went. A security guard stopped them, but, with a flash of the psychic paper, he opened the door. The backstage of the Cavern was no more than a closet, piled high with extra chairs and musical equipment. A man in a tweed jacket with elbow patches stood with his back to The Doctor and Rose tuning a guitar. Without turning around, he chided the security guard, “Not another reporter, Maxwell.” “No,” the Doctor started, “just fans. I’m The Doctor and this is Rose.” The man dropped the guitar on the floor. The dissonant sound of all the strings vibrating at once echoed far longer than usual. The man slowly turned around to reveal shaggy brown hair and a red bow tie. “Nice to meet you. I’m John Smith.”