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The TARDIS was still violently chucking them about, making it impossible to keep their feet firmly on the ground. Still, thankfully, Alice and Martha had found themselves tightly grasping onto the console, both sharing similar looks of alarm as the TARDIS still shook.

"But how do you travel in time?!" Martha inquires with a yell over all the noise, "What makes it go?!"

He rolled his eyes a little, rotating the wheel control at the console, "Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything!"

"Oi! What have I told you about being rude, Spaceman," Alice smacked him on the shoulder, "Just answer her question!"

He rolled his eyes again and said, "Martha, you don't want to know. It just does. Hold on tight!" The young redhead watched in amusement as he clambered onto the console to stop himself from falling off.

This didn't work out well for Alice and Martha, who fell over when the TARDIS suddenly lunged as small alarmed noises escaped them. Unfortunately, the Time Lord had also fallen, ending up on top of Alice. She thought he sure did weigh a ton for someone skinny as a rake.

"Bloody hell, Doctor, what have you been eating lately?" the young woman grunts from the weight of him as she finally pushes him off, "You weigh like a few sacks of potatoes!"

But the Doctor ignored her comment as he got back onto his feet and dusted himself off. Alice rolled her eyes as she and Martha got up.

"Blimey!" the young woman exclaimed before asking, "Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?"

"Yes, and I failed it, " he answered casually, striding over towards where his coat was and putting it on.

"Now, why doesn't that surprise me," Alice offered sarcastically before raising an eyebrow at him, "Yet you never did mention it beforehand, did you?"

"It never came up," he responded with a shrug.

"Of course, whatever you say."

The Doctor shook his head before steering the subject in another direction and couldn't help the smile that now appeared on his face, "Now, make the most of it!" he went to toss Martha her jacket and Alice her cardigan with a slight skip in his step as he went towards the doors, "I promised you one trip, and one trip only. Outside this door..." he stopped to face both women with a grin, "Brave new world."

Both women shared equally excited grins.

"Where are we?" Alice and Martha asked in unison.

"Take a look," with a subtle smirk, he opened the doors and nodded to the outside, "After you, ladies."

Sharing another grin with her best friend, Alice was the first to venture out into the unknown as her eyes soaked in the historical sights of a bustling Elizabethan street in the nighttime. She was in total awe as the people walked about dressed in period clothing. She was impressed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she now sees Martha and the Doctor coming to stand beside her. Martha was just as easily impressed as Alice, her eyes wide as saucers.

"Oh, you are kidding me!" the young woman gasped, "You are so kidding me!"

The redhead laughed at her friend, "Pretty impressive, right?" Then, grinning, she slung an arm over Martha's shoulders.

Martha continued to grin, "Oh, my God, we did it. We travelled in time. Where are we?" she raised a hand as the Time Lord was about to answer, "No, sorry. I got to get used to this whole new language. When are we?"

Glancing up briefly, he grabbed Alice and Martha by the arm, pulling them back just in time, just as a man tipped the contents of his loo out the window above.

"Mind the loo!" he shouted out to them.

Alice grimaced at his words, "Definitely, before the invention of the toilet," before recalling to her flatmate briefly glancing at her, "Reminds me of those times we've worked the late shift in A&E."

Martha pulled a face, "Please don't remind me."

The Doctor had since started walking, and both women went to hurry after him, dodging the foul contents as Martha now inquired, "But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

The Time Lord furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, turning to face both young women as he walked backwards, "Of course, we can. Why do you ask?"

"It's like in the films," Martha explained with some concern, "You step on a butterfly. You change the future of the human race."

"What film have you seen that does that?" Alice asked, giving her best friend an odd look.

The Doctor looked at her oddly, only to disregard it and shake it off, "Tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?"

"What if I don't know? What if I kill my grandfather?" Martha suggested

"Are you planning to?"

"No."

"Well, that answered that question, didn't it?" Alice voiced joyfully, her eyes still taking in the sights and sounds. Boy, would she tell Donna about this when she next saw her again? It was a shame she didn't bring her camera to take pictures. Then again, there was probably some rule against it for getting things like that from the future into the past, "So this is London, yeah, in about what probably the late 1500s, right?"

The Doctor was somewhat surprised but at the same time rather impressed by how Alice had figured that out but tried not to show it as he answered, "That's about right. It's around 1599."

Martha paused in her steps and frowned, "Oh, but hold on," she went on to speak as the Time Lord faced her direction, "Am I all right? I'm not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?"

"And why would they do that?"

"Martha!" Alice turned to her best friend and frowned at her for even thinking such a thing.

"What?" she chuckles lightly, "Who do you think they're going to take, Ally? The redhead with almost green eyes and porcelain-coloured skin," she now sighed, pointing the finger at herself, "Or me being the most obvious choice?"

"Well, they'd have to take us both kicking and screaming," Alice went to stand beside her, "Because they'd have to go through me first to take my best friend. Besides that, clever clogs here isn't even human," she gestured towards the Doctor.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes before starting to explain, "Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there. They've got recycling," he gestured towards a man shovelling horse manure into a bucket, "Water cooler moment."

Two men are speaking beside a water barrel. As they wandered past, a man was preaching.

"...and flames will consume the world!" he cried.

"Global warming," the Doctor beamed widely, "Oh, yes, and...entertainment! Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to..." he takes hold of their hands which Alice pulled a face at, tugging both women along the south end of London Bridge, past St Mary Overy, Southwark Cathedral to be greeted by the most spectacular building before them. The building is something Alice recognised instantly from a school trip she had once been on in secondary school.

"The Globe Theatre," the young redhead voiced aloud before even the Doctor had a chance. Martha was surprised by this because her best friend was equally beautiful as she was brilliant. When she didn't know the answer to something, she'd ask Alice. Honestly, she was like a walking and talking encyclopedia.

"Yes, of course," he glanced at her, rather impressed by her knowledge again, letting it show with a slight grin, "The Globe Theatre! Brand new, just opened. Though strictly speaking, it's not a globe. It's a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides. Containing the man himself."

"Whoa, hang on a minute," the young redhead voiced with excitement, sharing equally wide-eyed looks with Martha, "Are you saying Shakespeare is in there right now?"

Alice had always adored the theatre when she was younger, whether to go and see a musical or a dance performance. Still, her all-time favourite was the plays written by Shakespeare and the very thought of going into the Globe Theatre to see the actual man himself was making her insides buzz with joy.

"Oh, yes!" the Doctor replied with a grin, holding out each arm towards both young women, "Miss Jones, Miss Noble, will you fine ladies accompany me to the theatre?" he now asked in a somewhat gentlemanly manner which Alice thought looked a little cheesy whilst he had said and would probably have girls swooning at his feet.

Rolling her eyes, she and Martha linked arms with him, "We'd love to, Mr Smith!"

"When you get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare," the Time Lord tells them as they stroll towards the theatre.

"We'd both get sectioned!" Martha exclaimed with a laugh.

The Young Noble also laughed, getting the joke entirely because if she phoned her mum and told her she'd been taken to a loony bin, that's for sure. But now, all she could ponder was what play they'd be seeing.

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She can't remember the last time she was this excited about the play because it was unique to Alice and written by Shakespeare himself! It properly surprised her for the Doctor to have not uttered a word. It was lovely for once as she saw all his worries disappear from his face, even if only for a short while. Just as the play finished, everyone started clapping and yelling with excitement.

"That's amazing!" Martha praises with enthusiasm just as the actors take a bow. Alice couldn't agree more as she also clapped along, "Just amazing! It's worth putting up with the smell," she glanced in her flatmate's direction, who nodded and then in the Doctor's direction to ask, "And those are men dressed as women, yeah?"

"London never changes," he responded with a smile.

"Oh, forget that, Spaceman; I want to see Shakespear!" Alice hollered cheerfully, eyes rapidly darting about the theatre, searching for the man in question.

"I do, too!" Martha also cried out, "Author! Author!" she started chanting and pumped a fist in the air, "Do people shout that? Do they shout Author?"

A man from beside them gathers what she is doing, deciding to join in, and not long after, the rest of the crowd follows suit.

"Author! Author! Author!

"They will now, " Alice commented with a giggle as she joined in on the chanting, making the Doctor and Martha grin at her. Then, she pats her friend on the shoulder, "Well done, Mar. You just started something that began in 1599. Now, who can even say that?"

"Nobody!" she responded with a giggle.

It was then only a moment later, as Shakespeare came out onto the stage, the cheering becoming ever louder as they bowed with exaggeration and blew kisses into the crowd, which made the applause grow all the more. He was different from what she remembered in his pictures from the history books because Alice couldn't help but find the man attractive with his long hair begging to be tussled. He was hot to her for a writer at this time in history. She couldn't tell the colour of his eyes from where they stood, but they looked very mesmerising.

"He's a bit different from his portraits..." Martha implied, looking him over just like Alice had been.

The redhead nodded, "He's hot, that's for sure," which made the Time Lord frown at her, which she only had briefly noticed, but Alice thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

"Genius! He's a genius! The genius!" the Doctor implied, "The most human human there's ever been. Now, we're going to hear him speak. He always chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words."

"Ah, shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare bellowed back at the audience, who laughed in return.

The Doctor sighed with disappointment, "Oh, well."

"As they say, never meet your heroes," Alice grinned slightly as Martha and the Doctor nodded in agreement.

"You've got excellent taste. I'll give you that!" Shakespeare calls to the audience, still grinning. He now pointed to a man in the crowd and offered jokingly, "Oh, that's a wig!" the audience laughed once again, "I know what you're all saying. 'Loves Labour's Lost', that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops!" everyone nodded, "Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle. You'll find out soon," Shakespeare boastfully laughs as the audience joyously claps, "Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius," he bows to them, and they clap again. When Alice noticed, he went ridged for a moment, and his expression became vacant. And questionably raised her eyebrow, finding it rather peculiar, "When? Tomorrow night!"

The audience gave another raucous applause, but the crew seemed stunned by this news as they stood on stage with him.

"The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it 'Loves Labour's Won!'"

The crowd cheered again, but the Time Lord remained dead quiet. Too quiet for Alice's liking, which made her worry.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" she asked him with concern and barely nodded in response, too lost in his thoughts.

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Having filled out the Globe Theatre along with the crowd a short while later, all three now left somewhat baffled by what just happened as Martha voiced her confusion, "I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of 'Loves Labour's Won.'"

"Exactly. The lost play. It doesn't exist, only in rumours," the Time Lord returned in explanation as he frowned. Now Alice understood why he had been so quiet after Shakespeare's surprise announcement, "It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never turns up. And no one knows why."

"Well, that's strange," Alice couldn't help but comment.

"Oh, it's bizarre," he agreed with her.

"Have you got a mini-disc or something?" Martha now inquired, "We can tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint."

The Doctor offers Martha a dubious look, "No."

"That would be bad?"

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded.

"Well, how come it disappeared in the first place?" Martha asked with a frown.

"That's a good question, actually, " Alice nodded before crossing her arms and glancing in Time Lord's direction to ask, "What do you think, Doc?"

He said nothing to them for a while, "Well..." he glanced between the two friends, "I was just going to give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer."

So when the Doctor's back is away, they both high-five one another, grinning from ear to ear.

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After discovering where Shakespeare was staying, they arrived at his room; the Doctor knocked on his door, which was now already open. Glancing up at the source of the knock, he finds a grinning man with brown spiked-up hair. Alice's heart couldn't help but skip a beat by seeing how much more good-looking the man was in person.

"Hello!" the Time Lord greets merrily, "Excuse me, not interrupting, am I? Mister Shakespeare, isn't it?"

The playwright now groans with disbelief, "Oh, no. No, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me," now rolling his eyes in exasperation, "And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove..." he trails off now having taken notice of the attractive young redhead standing behind the Doctor with Martha. Alice couldn't help but invitingly smirk in return and slightly brush some hair away from her face, "Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me."

"Well, of course, I will," she flirts in return, bringing a grin out of Shakespeare, making his brown eyes dazzle in the daylight. But she didn't see the Time Lord pulling a face at their exchange. Instead, Shakespeare glanced at the other two men in the room, "You two get sewing on them costumes," he waved them to leave, "Off you go."

"Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muse," a blonde woman holding a tray leads the others from the room.

His new muse? Alice liked the sound of that.

"Sweet lady," Shakespeare beckons her towards him with a slight growl. Brushing past her best friend and the Doctor, who was now frowning. But Alice seemed utterly oblivious as she slid into the chair beside Shakespeare, "Such unusual clothes. So..." his eyes trailed over her body, "Fitted."

Alice knew he had a point about her and Martha's clothes because they were modern-day to them in their time but not currently in this era.

She smirked, resting against her hand, just gazing at him, "Then you should see my other clothes as well. They're just as equally fitting," she purrs."

"Is that a promise, young maiden?" Shakespeare replied with a smirk.

"Possibly."

Having enough of the flirtatious banter between Alice and Shakespeare, the Doctor cleared his throat and took out his wallet, showing it to Shakespeare.

"I'm Sir Doctor of Tardis, and these are my lovely companions, Miss Martha Jones and Alice Noble," he introduces them.

"Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank," but Shakespeare barely glanced at the paper.

The Time Lord was impressed as he blinked, "Oh, that's very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius."

Martha takes the paper in his hand and studies it closer, only to frown at it for a few seconds, "No, it says so right there. Sir Doctor, Martha Jones and Alice Noble. It says so."

"And I say it's blank," Shakespeare challenged her with a smile.

Alice also took a glance but couldn't see a thing on the paper either, "Oh, that's blank," she also agrees with Shakespeare, earning equal looks of surprise from her best friend and the Doctor, "What should I be able to?"

Shaking it off, the Time Lord took it back from Martha, "Psychic paper. Er, long story," he now rolled his eyes a little, "Oh, I hate starting from scratch," both women frowned as he put away the psychic paper.

"Psychic?" Shakespeare tested the word on his tongue, "Never heard that before, and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious prosocline lady?" he inquired with a purr to Alice.

"Oh, you think I'm his..." Alice scoffed before gesturing at herself and the Doctor, "You wouldn't catch me with him in a million years."

"What about the blackamoor lady?" Shakespear now inquired, glancing in Martha's direction.

"What did you say?" Martha gasped, her eyes widening with disbelief.

"Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiopian girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric..."

"I can't believe I heard this," Martha looked away and shook her head.

The Time Lord sighed heavily, rubbing his temples, "It's political correctness gone mad," he shook his head, "Er, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia."

Alice turned to the Doctor and whispered, "Seriously, that was the best you could come up with?"

Yet he didn't have the time to respond when a man with a loud bellowing voice entered the room dressed in expensive clothes and a gold chain, "Excuse me!" to Alice, the man didn't look best pleased, "Hold hard a moment. What abominable behaviour! A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mister Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined before it can be performed!"

Shakespear offers with a sigh, waving the man off, "Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it around."

"I don't work to your schedule," the man indignantly bellowed, "You work to mine. The script, now!"

"I can't."

"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled."

"It's all go around here, isn't it?" Martha comments.

"It seems that way," Alice agreed with her.

Lynley glared at Shakespeare, "I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, 'Love's Labours Won' will never be played!" with that, he stormed out the room