A Case of Mistaken Identity
It was nearly a year to the day when the crazy Doctor Bowtie guy showed up again. Which made sense considering the reason Galen was there in the first place. UK festival tours were one of his favorite things. They didn’t have a new album to promote, but The Counter-Curse was getting more and more popular in the UK scene and the band was doing more festivals this time around.
“Reading AND Leeds!” Brad had exclaimed when word came.
“Yeah, they tend to go together,” Terri had said while twirling a drumstick.
But that had been a couple months ago. Now, Galen was backstage at Reading--the mainstage!!--watching the acts before them perform. So, it was understandable that he didn’t notice the strange vworping sound behind him. His redheaded bassist, however, did.
“Uh, Galen?” said Daphne, hitting him on the arm while looking over her shoulder.
He turned to see what she was staring at only to be met by the blue police box once more. The door opened and a familiar head popped out.
“Let’s see. Where are we... then.”
“Doctor?” Galen shook his head but stepped closer, Daphne holding onto the arm of his hoodie like she was ready to pull him back in a second.
“This isn’t Yonkers,” said the Doctor, looking around yet unaware of the goings on in his surrounding. “Not Yonkers, so where. Where am I and why did I end up here, yes. So.”
The Doctor snapped to attention, focusing on Galen. He squinted a half second before recognition.
“Oh, no wonder! Silly TARDIS, old girl isn’t what she used to be. Tell me, Galen, what is going on here? What’s all that--that racket?”
“Excuse me, shouldn’t we be asking you what’s going on here?” said Daphne. “Do you know this guy, Galen?”
“Just what I need,” said the Doctor, “Another ginger.”
“Uh, kind of,” said Galen. “This is the Reading Festival. Twenty-twelve.”
“Definitely not where I was trying to go.”
The door of the blue box opened once more an an even more familiar person stepped out.
“Mr. Howard??” said Daphne.
Nathan Howard’s eyebrows went up, but he smiled and stepped forward, wrapping his son in a hug.
“Galen, hello. How are you?”
“And Daphne. Hello, dear,” said Mr. Howard, turning to hug the bassist.
“Hi? I’m confused.” She accepted the hug though.
“I do love a family reunion, but we really should be getting on.”
“Wait, no. Why do you have my dad?” said Galen, putting on his best don’t-fuck-with-this-diva face.
“Biiiit of a misunderstanding,” said the Doctor. “Too much to go into really, but I ran into him a while back. Didn’t realize what was up at the time, bit distracted then. Van Gogh can be very distracting. Anyways, then things went wonky and now your father and I need to get back to Yonkers to deal with a situation, so if you don’t mind, we’ll just be leaving now.”
“Hold on a moment, Doctor. I haven’t seen my son in a long time and that machine of yours travels in time. I think we have a moment to spare to say hello.”
“Yes, yes. Hello good-bye, hello good-bye. We good now? There are corpses walking the streets of Yonkers, Mr. Howard.”
Mr. Howard ignored the gangly man in favor of looking over his son and Daphne, as if checking to see what had changed. His gaze soon shifted from them to a sweep of the backstage.
“Craft service table,” said Daphne.
“Oh god, he shouldn’t meet the Doctor. He’s still blaming him for that blown amp.”
“What? You blamed me?” said the Doctor.
“I told him the truth,” said Galen, gesturing with upturned palms. “If anyone was going to believe me, it was him. I can’t help how he decided to interpret it.”
“Right. Well, this has been lovely, but let’s go.” The Doctor looked at his wristwatch and gave Mr. Howard a significant look.
He made an unimpressed face, but Mr. Howard seemed ready to fold to the Doctor’s insistence.
“It’s good to see you, Dad. We’ll be home soon. I’ll come see you and you can tell me all about how you got mixed up with Bowtie Guy, okay?”
“Presuming we get the walking corpse situation cleared up,” said Mr. Howard with a good amount of humor in his tone.
Galen was used to his father’s profession, as comfortable with it as one could expect, but he couldn’t stop the shiver that went up his spine. “Um, yeah.”
“I’ll tweet you,” said Mr. Howard.
“Bye.” The redhead ducked in for another hug. “Good luck.”
“Thank you. Ready, Doctor?” Mr. Howard turned and was back in the TARDIS before the Doctor had a chance to respond.
The Doctor gave them a scrutinizing look then shook his head. “Nah, I’m sure it was just a glitch. Well, take care. Break a leg. Dude.”
“Right, thanks.” Galen made a pained face. “You too. Take care of my dad.”
The Doctor went back in the TARDIS and within seconds it began dematerializing, the broken lawnmower sound dampened by the loud rock show going on behind them.
“What the actual fuck?” said Daphne as the blue box pulsed and faded.
“Hey! Is that the amp breaking fucker? COME BACK, SIR! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!”
Galen caught his best friend by the arm as the taller man tried to bound past him at the box. It disappeared completely and Galen let Brad go.
“Was that him?” Brad asked.
Galen sighed and patted down the pockets of his denim jacket. "I need a fucking cigarette."
(Author's note: So, guess who saw Vincent and the Doctor for the first time today. I felt INSPIRED. Love ya, Ace! PS oh lordy I had fun trolling you on anon. SORRY I COULDN'T RESIST.)
