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It was hard not to notice that the Doctor seemed to be deliberately avoiding the 1960s since picking her up. Helen was, of course, rather grateful about that— not only did it spare her the risk of bumping into somebody she knew, it also meant that there was no real risk of her arrest for one of the biggest art thefts in the history of the British Museum— both things that she was keen to avoid.
That didn’t mean that at times she didn’t miss it, though.
The TARDIS seemed to suspect as much, given that despite not having had much in the way of possessions to bring along when she’d come on board (she’d stopped at her flat for a few sentimental items, but had hardly had time to pack her bags in case the police turned up on her doorstep) her room had been filled with things which might have been from home. She said could have been, because she got the distinct impression that they were more than likely reproductions from a fair way ahead of her (judging by some of the smaller details, at least), but she still more that appreciated the ship’s efforts.
It had done wonders for her homesickness to be able to retreat into a corner and put on old records as though her whole world hadn’t shifted.
She had to admit, she was a little caught off guard when they landed in a place that looked an awful lot like the London she was used to. Of course, it never changed that much, at least not when they visited it in the same century she was used to, but this wasn’t just similar— the buildings were identical to when they’d been built.
“Is it safe for me to be here?” She asked the Doctor, rather more quietly than she might normally have done, clearly worried about drawing attention to herself.
She was so worried, in fact, she hardly noticed the car moving along the road beside her which seemed to be hovering a foot or so off of the tarmac.
“I’m not sure I remember those from Earth.” Liv mentioned, nodding vaguely at the vehicles to draw Helen’s eye to them.
It was odd; they looked just like cars she might have seen on the road back home; right down to the open-top-busses and black cabs, but even if some days it seemed as though the British Museum had been another lifetime, she was still fairly sure that cars had never hovered ominously above the road surface back home.
“Yes, those aren’t quite right…” She said, sounding thoroughly baffled. She looked to the Doctor, who seemed unphased by how put off they were.
He had the air of a child on their first holiday, staring at everything with a kind of energy few could have matched. Still, he did eventually notice that Helen had addressed him— after he got a sharp elbow in the ribs from Liv.
“Hm?” Was about all he said, before seeming to catch up with his own train of thought. “Oh, right. This isn’t Earth.”
Helen blinked a few times, and while Liv seemed to take as much in her stride, it was somewhat more of a leap of logic for someone who had lived in this city her whole life.
“…This does look a lot like London, Doctor.” She pointed out, though honestly, nothing would fully surprise her any more.
“Styles come back around.” The Doctor announced vaguely, looking around with the uncertain air of a tourist without a map, and then taking off in a seemingly random direction.
At this point, neither of his friends were under any illusion that he knew where he was going, but they followed along anyway.
“So this is— what?” Helen asked, looking around at the familiar buildings, and spotting several high-tech additions which wouldn’t have made sense in their original context, “A future version of Earth?”
“It’s a colony. Like Kaldor—” He turned to look at Liv, “But a few centuries before your time. The rest of the population has had less time to put their stamp on things. The whole city still bares the eccentricities of the founding families.” Turning back to Helen, he finished his little lesson, “These ones were from London— and from the looks of it, had a bit of an affinity with your time, Helen.”
“So why are we here?” She asked, trying to batten down the odd sense of the uncanny she got walking past a British Museum that had a few too many columns with just a bit too much space in between them— as though the place had been subtly expanded, while trying to maintain the look of the original.
“Well, I need to go to a parts market.” He clapped his hands together. “Terribly boring stuff, I’m afraid, but they sometimes have the right couplings here, and the ones on the TARDIS are wearing a bit thin.”
Helen might not have understood exactly what he was talking about, but she really didn’t like the concept that there were important TARDIS repairs were hanging on a maybe.
“So where’s this market then?” Liv asked, looking far more relaxed in this place than Helen was, despite it ostensibly seeming more like her time.
“Well, I thought you two might want to just…” He shrugged, “Have a wonder around.”
Two sets of eyebrows shot up. They both remembered what had happened the last time the Doctor had taken them to a colony world and then let them loose on their own. Neither was prepared for another robot rampage.
“What?” He asked, before either had even said a word. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, after Kaldor?” Helen asked, being rather more blunt about it than she might otherwise have been.
He waved them off, “Oh, you’re fine. I’m sure you’ll have much more fun exploring than standing in an auction room all evening.”
Neither of them were prepared to deny that that was true.
“Excellent, then it’s settled.” The Doctor clapped his hands together, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. “Just meet back at the TARDIS when you’re done. Do you remember where we parked?”
“Better than you do, probably.” Liv remarked. Helen bit back a laugh.
If the Doctor heard the sarcasm in her tone he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Good, good.” He said, more to himself than them, and then, just like that, he’d disappeared off into a seemingly random side street.
A day to just explore, with no danger breathing down their necks or threatening to destroy the Universe, was a real rarity— enough so that it took them a few minutes to even decide on what to do with their newfound freedom.
In the end, Helen decided to see how far instinct would take her. Spotting a familiar red and blue underground sign, she took Liv’s hand and began to pull her over to it, not wanting to lose her in the platform crowd.
“Where are we going?” Liv called over the buzz of the commuters around them.
“I’ve absolutely no idea.” Helen admitted. “I’m just sort of going with it.”
Liv laughed, though the sound was lost in the bustle of the platform. Still, the sight alone was enough to bring a smile to Helen’s face. Whatever nerves she’d had about this whole thing were, slowly, beginning to ebb away.
After a while, Helen had begun to realise what the Doctor had meant about style. While a lot of things looked right, the whole place seemed more a pantomime of the 1960s than the real thing— everything was just a little too bright and shiny, coated in a thin veneer of unreality. The underground stations looked the same, but they were squeaky clean, there was nobody smoking, and she didn’t have that same nervous urge to look out for pickpockets.
The trains were almost the same, though, she noted with some vague sense of relief, they seemed a little bigger, and the ventilation inside seemed to have been improved, making the short trip significantly more comfortable than she was used to.
The people too, proved to be oddities in their own right. Their clothing was about what she’d expect from back home, albeit often in more garish colours, but things kept catching her eye which just didn’t… fit. Sometimes it was obvious, like the young woman sitting at the end of the carriage with a large purple lizard curled up in her lap like a dog, complete with leash, or they green-skinned humanoid in the business suit who’d slipped on at the station after there’s, but some were so mundane she might not have noticed them.
Two old women sat together in the priority seats, chatting away as though they were the only ones around. She’d initially assumed they might have been sisters, until she caught a glimpse of interlocked fingers and matching rings. Her eyes flicked around, looking out for anyone about to give them trouble but… nobody even seemed to be paying them any mind.
Two young men got on at the next stop. There were a couple of seats left empty, but they didn’t seem bothered with them. The taller of the pair grabbed onto one of the plastic rings hanging from the ceiling, while the other kept his back pressed to the wall, one hand curled lazily around a handrail. A cheeky smile was exchanged, and then the taller took advantage of his position, leaning forwards with one hand still wrapped around the overhead support and kissed the younger. It was quick and sweet— nothing particularly scandalous at all, and when they pulled away both looked perfectly happy.
Helen’s breath caught in her throat.
For the briefest moment, her heartrate quickened, and she had visions of the backlash they’d encounter— of harsh words, and police, or worse, of violent people taking things into their own hands. She wanted them to just run at the next stop. She wanted them to get out of sight before they could get hurt.
Liv’s hand settled on her wrist, snapping her out of it, and drawing her eye away from the couple.
“You alright?” She asked, voice warm, and full of concern. “You were staring a bit.”
Helen faltered, and all of a sudden the strangeness of her surroundings hit again; The weird grunting noises the pet lizard creature was making, the green man rustling his newspaper, the old women chattering away about the price of flyers these days. This looked like home, but it most certainly wasn’t. There was no danger here— at least not for two people just trying to be happy in each other’s company.
“I—” She took a breath, her eyes settling on a loose thread in the garishly patterned seat cover behind Liv. It was easier than looking her in the eye. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just a little uncanny, that’s all. It looks like home but—” Her eyes flicked back to the couple. Liv was quick to follow her gaze.
“Is this about—” She began, but Helen shook her head quickly. “…We can go back to the TARDIS if it’s a bit much?” Liv suggested.
She was right of course. They’d hardly gone off with much of a destination in mind, and it wasn’t as though they’d travelled many stops, but… Well, Helen found herself wanting to see more.
“No, no it’s fine. I’m fine, just… It’s strange, that’s all. It’s a good kind of strange, though, I suppose. Freeing.”
Liv raised an eyebrow at her.
“Freeing?”
“Well.” Helen hesitated, “I have to think a little less about acting properly. If people can—” her eyes turned back to the couple for a half second, and then back to Liv. “And nobody comments, I could…” she shook her head quickly, dismissing that train of thought.
“You could…?” Liv asked, curious, and clearly unwilling to give up on finding out what she’d been thinking.
It was so very like her, prying, but being gentle enough about it to try and make sure that Helen had the space to process what she was thinking. It might have been annoying but… Well, Helen was well aware of her usual temptation to bottle such things up inside. A part of her couldn’t help but wonder if doing things this way might be healthier.
“Well. I could do anything, couldn’t I?” She asked. “I could—” Another head shake, as though she didn’t quite feel right voicing it. “The two of us could… And nobody would even look twice.”
She didn’t feel right saying the words, and Liv didn’t push her too. The implication had been clear.
“You… You think about that a lot then? You and me?”
Helen’s heart picked up again, and she twisted her hands together in her lap, letting out a slow breath. All of a sudden, the space between their seats felt a lot smaller.
“Sometimes.” She admitted, slowly.
“I do too.” Liv said, as though it was the most mundane thing in the world. Somehow, that helped.
“Not here though.” Helen clarified, perhaps a little too quickly. “I’m not sure I’m ready for—”
Liv’s hand was on hers again now, and though it was subtle enough that it could easily have been an accident, she didn’t doubt it was intentional.
“We can take as much time as you need.”
It wasn’t a big declaration, or… Well, or anything concrete, really.
It meant the world to her.