Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

A/N: My first attempt at a self-insert fanfiction, in my own eyes, didn't turn out that well. This is the second attempt, which will hopefully be much tighter and more polished. I have named it 'Alterations' because a) I'm altering the original, and b) the characters I introduce are going to be altering the timeline of the show, albeit not drastically.

So without further ado…

Alterations

Prologue

It was a beautiful, sunny day in London; at least, it would have been beautiful if it weren't crowded, dirty and boring. So it seemed to Charlotte Richards, who had come with her best friend Laura Seamer and their mothers to the Doctor Who Experience. They were on their way back to the hotel after hours shopping, visiting museums, and so on…Charlotte was very much looking forward to relaxing with some lemonade and her iPad.

The heat and her tiredness must have been messing with her head; she kept seeing things out of the corner of her eye, like a horse drawn carriage or an old fashioned store, only to look over and see a bus or a Boots. Laura noticed her frowning and asked in concern, "Are you alright, Charlotte?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm just overtired".

"Oh, okay. Come on, we'd better catch up with them" said Laura, looking ahead to their mothers Jenna and Sue. The two of them hurried to catch up, walking quickly towards a patch of shimmering air. Believing it to be a heatwave, Charlotte and Laura strode right through – and felt the ground drop out from under them. Sue looked over her shoulder to hasten the pair along, only to frown worriedly when she saw no sign of them in the crowd. "Charlotte?! Laura?!"

/

Charlotte gasped in shock, first at the sensation of falling and then at the sensation of landing in something very cold. Disoriented, she scrambled to her feet and pulled Laura up with her, both of them shivering violently. "Where…how…what…w-where are we?" Laura asked through chattering teeth, the light cotton of her blouse doing nothing to protect against the biting chill of the wind.

Day had turned to night, warm sun to freezing snow. A wrought iron lamp-post nearby, under which they huddled in the hope of deriving some warmth, and the cramped, terraced houses around them, seemed to point to one impossible conclusion. "I th-think w-we're in t-the past" Charlotte managed to reply; she was fervently wishing she had ignored her mother's advice to not bring a jacket. Then she realised, her mum – their families – they would never know what happened….

"H-how?"

She was confused, and scared, but Charlotte had always been the practical sort. "We g-gotta get w-warm, f-find an inn…or something" she bit out. They trudged down the street, peering at the darkened houses in the hope of spotting a light on somewhere. Charlotte looked at her watch after they'd walked down at least ten streets – only to realise it was still stuck in modern time, and telling her it was two in the afternoon when it quite clearly wasn't.

A clatter up ahead made them jump and freeze. A man stumbled into view, dressed in clothes that Laura, who had a bit of an interest in history, recognised as Victorian. He was also swaying slightly, and quite clearly drunk. Charlotte slowly reached out to tug Laura away, hoping they could sneak off and double back around, but the drunk looked up and spotted them. He leered and moved towards them. "Well, well, well; wot do we 'av 'ere?"

Laura and Charlotte both started backing away as the intoxicated man advanced. "Aww, don' be scared, luv, I ain't gonna hurt ya…much" he slurred. If they really were in the past, then by this time period's standard Charlotte and Laura were practically naked – it didn't take a genius to figure out what the drunk probably thought he could do with them. Charlotte slowly, without taking her eyes off the man, began to crouch down.

"Ooh, you're kneeling! I like it. Never had a pretty young thing like you kneel down to-pfft!" he spluttered as a handful of snow was thrown right in his face. Charlotte and Laura were already running for their lives down the street; the man snarled and gave chase.

Around the corner, Charlotte spotted an alleyway and darted into it, followed by Laura. They pressed their backs against the wall in the shadows, holding their breaths and each other's hands. The drunk ran past them, and for a moment it seemed they'd escaped…but then Laura sneezed, and he heard it. The pair didn't dare to even move, as the man eyed the alley suspiciously.

He took a few steps towards them; their hearts thudded in their chests in fear of being discovered. Suddenly a scrawny alley cat ran past them and between the man's legs, making him jump and curse. To their immense relief, he seemed to believe the sneezing sound had actually been the cat; spitting on the ground, he wandered off. Laura and Charlotte waited a few more minutes until they were sure he'd gone, before hurrying back the way they had come.

It occurred to Charlotte that if a drunk was wandering about, there must be a bar or an inn nearby; they came to where the drunk had first emerged, and found another alley, with an archway that led to a small yard behind a closed pub. It all seemed oddly familiar… "Cerise, look!" Laura gasped in surprise, pointing at the sign hanging by the door: 'The Rose & Crown'.

Wait a minute – a narrow street, an archway into a small square yard, a pub named The Rose and Crown? Charlotte and Laura met each other's disbelieving gazes. "Y-you don't think…?"

"It's t-too cold to think" Charlotte decided; running had warmed them up a little, but they were horribly underdressed for this weather. She approached the door of the pub; fears of being sent away ran through her head, but she was desperate. Charlotte knocked as loudly as she could on the door, rubbing her sore knuckles afterwards. There was no sign of anyone coming, so Laura tried knocking.

This time they did hear latches sliding, and a voice huffing, "Alright, hold your horses, I'm comin'" – the door was pulled open, and the person inside raised a lantern to reveal a round face, dark brown hair and eyes creased slightly, in bewilderment or tiredness or concern, they couldn't tell. The woman standing before them was unmistakably Clara Oswald, and they could only gape in shock.

Clara, however, quickly ushered them inside. "You'll catch your deaths out there. What're you doing out there dressed like that?" she hissed at them once she'd locked the door. The pair glanced at one another, and Charlotte simply replied "Got robbed". It was the most believable answer she could think of, and Clara seemed to buy it. "Oh, I'm sorry. C'mon upstairs – but be quiet, okay, the landlord don't like to be woken up" she warned. They nodded in understanding and followed her upstairs, into a small bedroom with a wooden chest at the foot of the bed.

"There's some spare clothes in there" Clara nodded at the chest, "I think they should fit. I'll go and get you something hot to drink". She turned on her heel and left to let them get changed. Laura opened the chest and found some Victorian clothes within; they pulled on gowns that fit over their t-shirts and shorts or skirts, and found a Gladstone bag in which they could fit both their handbags.

The gowns were long enough to cover their trainers, something Charlotte was very glad about. There were a pair of women's boots in the chest as well, and the heels seemed ridiculously high; the last thing she needed was to be stumbling about in those things. She looked herself over and was satisfied that she was sufficiently covered up; then there was a soft knock at the door.

Charlotte looked at Laura, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring into space. She moved over to the door and opened it, seeing Clara holding the lantern in one hand and balancing a tray with two bowls of some sort of soup in her other arm. Charlotte quickly relieved her of it, smiling gratefully. "Thanks".

"You're welcome. Now, do you wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

I've no idea was Charlotte's first thought, as she put the tray down on a small table besides the bed. What she actually said was, "Um, I'm Charlotte, she's Laura" - They were Victorian names, right? "We um, we were travelling from Yorkshire to London, but…the carriage was attacked, by highwaymen. We just ran, we…we left our gowns behind so they wouldn't slow us down". Charlotte didn't really like lying, but it seemed necessary right now.

"You've got no money, then?"

Well, they had money – but it might not even be worth anything in this time. "Sorry…we'd pay you if we could" Charlotte replied, which wasn't really a lie.

"I don't mind; it's the landlord I'm worried about, but I'll talk to 'im. I'm Clara, by the way, Clara Oswald".

"Nice to meet you; and thank you, so much, for letting us in. I think…I think you might have saved our lives" Charlotte admitted. Really, she couldn't believe their luck in coming across Clara; it meant she could have a plan for what to do next, and how to get them home. Clara smiled and nodded, before leaving the two of them to their meal. Charlotte touched her hands to the bowl; they were warm to the touch, but not too hot, so she picked one up and offered it to Laura.

Her best friend made no move to take the bowl; Charlotte frowned worriedly and set it down again. "Um, Laura…are you okay?"

Laura's gaze snapped over to her, frowning. "No, I'm not" she declared, tears in her eyes. Charlotte sat down beside her and pulled her into a hug; Laura started to cry. "Shh, shh, it's alright" Charlotte murmured, rubbing her best friend's back comfortingly, "It'll be okay".

"N-no it won't!" Laura said stubbornly, pulling back to look at Charlotte with a reddened, tear stained face. "I don't like this, I…I want to go home!"

Charlotte felt her hearts break a little. "Me too…but I've got a plan, okay?"

"What?"

"Well, think about it. We just met Clara Oswald, at the Rose and Crown, that means we haven't just travelled in time, we're in the Doctor Who universe! That is pretty cool" she had to admit, and Laura nodded slightly in agreement. "If Clara is here, then the Paternoster Gang will be here too. The Doctor might even be around. All we have to do is find Madame Vastra, convince her to help us contact the Doctor, and then convince him to help us get home".

"But what if he doesn't want to?"

"I think he will just to get us out of his way…besides, at the very least he's bound to let us stay on board the TARDIS. I don't think he'd want a couple of time displaced humans from the twenty-first century wandering around the eighteenth".

"Um, it's the nineteenth, actually".

"Right...um, I don't suppose you remember which year 'The Snowmen' episode was set in, do you?" Charlotte asked hesitantly. Laura had quite a good memory for dates, and if they could recall which year it was set in, they would know how long they'd have to wait for the Doctor to get back in the game. Laura frowned in concentration, absently accepting a bowl of soup from Charlotte.

Judging by the greenish colour, it was pea soup, and a few sips confirmed this. It was really rather tasty, and Charlotte had nearly supped all of hers when Laura lowered her spoon and said hesitantly, "I think…it was 1892".

"Yeah…that sounds kind of familiar. Doesn't Madame Vastra live at 13 Paternoster Row?"

"I don't remember" Laura shrugged apologetically. Charlotte considered it and shrugged herself. "I suppose we can just ask someone" she mused, "…This is mad, isn't it?"

"Yeah…"

"Hey, I'm homesick as well" Charlotte put an arm around Laura's shoulders, "I hate to think how worried everyone is…but we know where we are, and tomorrow we'll find out when, and we can start finding a way home again. There's nothing we can do for now…let's just try and get some sleep, okay?"

Laura hesitated, and then nodded. They put the bowls of soup aside, pulled off their gowns and climbed into either side of the bed. Charlotte blew out the candle. "I hope Clara finds somewhere to sleep" Laura remarked as they tried to get comfortable, "I think this might be her bed".

"I didn't even think about that" Charlotte admitted, "But I don't think there's much we can do about it now. Let's just be grateful we aren't freezing out there on our own…goodnight, Laura".

"Goodnight, Charlotte" Laura smiled back, before closing her eyes. Charlotte kept hers open, lost in thought and trying not to cry. Their families would be so worried, and they had no way to contact anyone…she would be lost in despair if they were simply trapped in the past, not in the Whoniverse. It was insane…this sort of thing was supposed to only happen in fanfictions, not in real life. She doubted how well they would adapt to Victorian life…Laura might cope, but her? The thought was unnerving, to say the least. It was a long while before she fell asleep, and when she did, it was fitful.

/

Early next morning, Charlotte and Laura stood before the landlord, Bob Chilcott. They stuck to the story Charlotte had invented the night before; that the carriage they had travelled to London in had been attacked, and they had gotten lost in the city. "Where were you heading?" Chilcott inquired.

"Somewhere called Paternoster Row…our cousin lives there".

"Could you tell us where it is, please?"

"I'll have Clara call a carriage for you" Chilcott, before turning to the barmaid and declaring, "And since these young women can't pay for the food, board or a carriage, the money is coming out of your wages". With that, he left to get the inn ready for the guests who would soon be arising. Clara sighed, and Charlotte winced guiltily. "We're sorry about your wages…and taking your clothes" she apologised.

Clara gave them a small smile. "Don't worry...I can manage. Now then, what will you be having for breakfast?"

"Um…we don't want to trouble you any more than we need to…"

"Oh, it's no trouble" Clara assured them, "Besides it's too early for a carriage" she explained, "So, breakfast?"

"I'd like some breakfast" Laura remarked, "Um, what is for breakfast?"

"Porridge or bacon and egg"

"Mmm, bacon and egg would be very nice" Laura smiled, practically licking her lips; Charlotte added, "Uh, yes, thank you. Two plates of bacon and eggs, please". Clara nodded and showed them to a table in the corner of the bar, where they sat discussing what to tell Madame Vastra when they reached Paternoster Row. They decided that full disclosure would be the best approach…apart from anything else, neither of them wanted the Silurian to see them as enemies.

The inn must have been quite well-off; the eggs, bacon and tea were all of much better quality than they had expected. Indeed, Charlotte was starting to feel as if she might be able to adapt to this time period…she just hoped she wouldn't have to. After breakfast, Clara took them out to the street and hailed a carriage. She handed over some money and told the driver, "Take Miss Richards and Miss Seamer to Paternoster Row, there's a good man".

/

The carriage dropped them off at the end of the street; the girls thanked the driver, who tipped his cap at them and drove off. "Okay, I'm pretty sure it's number thirteen, so we'll try there first" Charlotte decided. They walked up the street, counting the door numbers until they arrived at the right door. It looked familiar, increasing their confidence a little; they stepped up and knocked on the door.

It was opened by a short, bald butler with no visible neck. "Can I help you, human scum?"

It took all of their self-control not to snigger at the Sontaron's unintentional humour. "Ahem – yes, we're here to see Madame Vastra. It's a matter of great importance" Charlotte replied, politely but firmly. Strax eyed them both suspiciously. "May I inquire as to who you are?"

"Charlotte Woods and Laura Thorpe, we're…relatives of Miss Flint".

Strax grunted and beckoned for them to follow him. "Wipe your feet, and do not attempt to escape or you will be swiftly dispatched. May I take your bag?" he asked, holding out stumpy arms towards Marina, who was carrying the Gladstone bag containing their belongings. "Um, no thank you".

"Wait here whilst I announce your presence" Strax instructed, before trudging off to find Madame Vastra. It wasn't long before he returned to show them into the conservatory, where Madame Vastra awaited them, Jenny standing beside her chair. Laura and Charlotte seated themselves opposite the other pair, and the Sontaron made himself scarce after a pointed look from his mistress which was clear even under her veil.

Madame Vastra sat back in her peacock chair and regarded the young women sitting before her with a cool stare. "It is most fortunate that you were able to find your way to your relative's house" she remarked, before looking up at her wife. "Tell me, my dear, do you recognise their names, or their faces?"

Jenny shook her head. "No ma'am; never seen 'em before in my life".

"How interesting…I would like to know why you thought it would be a good idea to lie to us?"

Laura and Charlotte looked at one another. Here goes nothing thought Charlotte, taking a deep breath and replying, "Because we thought it would go over better than telling you we're from the future".

Vastra was visibly startled; Jenny even more so. "The future, really? Well I'll be blowed" – she frowned suspiciously, "'Ere now, 'ow do you know who we are? 'Ave you been spying on us?"

Laura opened her mouth to reply, only to quickly close it when Madame Vastra held up a hand. "I believe it will be necessary to give them the one word test" she suggested calmly.

"Of course, ma'am" Jenny nodded, before looking at Laura and Charlotte. "The madam will ask you both questions, one at a time. You need to restrict yourself to one word answers only, do you understand?"

They both nodded; they had practised during the carriage ride, answering each other's questions with just one word, in case Vastra decided to test their trustworthiness. Madame Vastra turned to Laura first, and inquired, "The names you have given us, are they real, or aliases?"

"Real".

Then to Charlotte, "Did you intend to keep your true origins a secret?"

"No".

"How did you come to know of us?"

"Um, television"

"What's television?" This came from a rather confused Jenny. Vastra explained it was a device from the future that allowed one to see moving images, and then asked Charlotte, "You have viewed Jenny, Strax and I on this 'television' – do you do this regularly?"

"No".

"How is it that our exploits have appeared on your television?"

Laura hesitated, struggling to think of one word to sum it all up… "Acting" she replied finally.

"So others have taken our roles in the future, and allowed themselves to be…televised?"

Charlotte did understand why Madame Vastra wanted to give them the one word test, but it would take them ages to explain everything like this. So rather than reply straightaway, she reached up into her sleeve and pulled something off of her wrist, holding it up to show Madame Vastra. "Proof" she said simply, tossing it into the Silurian's outstretched hand.

The bracelet had come from the Doctor Who Experience – loose blue elastic with a small TARDIS charm hanging from it. Madame Vastra threw back her veil to stare at the little silver charm; Jenny looked over her shoulder, eyes widening. "But…that's the TARDIS. It looks just like the TARDIS" she said in bewilderment. Madame Vastra pulled her gaze from the bracelet to Charlotte and Laura, asking them, "Where did you get this? Explain everything".

"Well, um, we were in London for the weekend; see, um, we're not just from the future. Me and Charlotte, we're actually from a parallel universe. That's what I meant by 'acting' – people in our world have acted out some of your adventures with the Doctor, in episodes of a show called 'Doctor Who'. Charlotte and I are really big fans of it, we went to see the Doctor Who Experience and, and on our way back to the hotel, we…we somehow ended up here".

"Yeah, and can I just say, it's an honour to meet you. I bought the bracelet at the Experience, it's sort of an exhibition all about the show, and like Laura said, on the way home…we've no idea what happened, I thought I saw something strange but I assumed it was just a trick of the light, or that I was tired".

"Mm, I thought I saw some strange things as well".

"What? You could have mentioned that sooner; I'd thought I was going crazy!"

"Oh…sorry"

"S'alright; oh, um, if you're wondering where we got these clothes from, being from the future and all – I suppose you could say we were rescued by a…very generous young barmaid" Charlotte smiled thoughtfully. Then she cleared her throat and held her hand out towards Madame Vastra, saying "Um, can I…?"

"Oh yes, my apologies" she said, handing the bracelet back to Charlotte. She gave her wife a meaningful look; Jenny looked over at the two Whovians once more, before nodding. "Yes, I think so" Madame Vastra agreed, before turning to the time displaced pair. "You both seem very honest; I hope you can understand my caution, but I see no reason not to trust you. We have contact with the Doctor – but I must warn you, he is unlikely to help. He has…been hurt deeply".

Both Laura and Charlotte nodded in understanding. "Yeah, we…we know he lost the Ponds…um, that reminds me actually, what year is this?"

"It's the 29th of November, 1892, miss".

"Oh, uh, you can just call me Laura if you like".

"Yeah, and call me Charlotte…I know he might be a bit reluctant, but there's no harm in asking him, right?"

"True" Madame Vastra, "Very well, I will contact the Doctor post-haste. For now, would you like the privilege of a tour of our humble house?"

The two Whovians grinned excitedly. "We would love it" Laura announced, feeling very pleased. If she was right about the episode, this was the year that the Doctor got better, which meant he would help them, and they might just get home okay!

/

The tour of 13 Paternoster Row was fascinating (they skipped over the cellar, which Jenny explained was "a bit messy"), but the phone call to the Doctor was…less than productive. Charlotte suggested asking the Doctor to meet them both, since it might be harder for him to refuse help in person. Thus did the Paternoster Gang, Laura and Charlotte find themselves facing the Time Lord on a deserted street that same evening.

They had watched 'The Snowmen' episode, but seeing the Doctor in person, with dark clothes and a dark expression…Laura felt a little scared, and Charlotte was torn between being nervous and wanting to hug him. She settled for being nervous.

"Madame Vastra, Jenny, Strax…you wanted me to meet someone, I believe".

"Two someone's, actually; Doctor, these are the girls I told you about, the ones from another universe" Vastra gestured to Charlotte and Laura, who both waved with hesitant smiles on their faces. The Doctor didn't smile back. "It's nice to meet you…Madame Vastra told me this universe of yours has a television show about me?"

Laura nodded and explained, "Yeah, it's one of the best TV shows in the world, lots of us really love it".

"Well, I can't say I blame you" the Doctor admitted with a small smile, before inquiring, "But why did you ask for me to come here?"

"To ask you directly to help us return to our home universe" Charlotte replied, "I don't think it would be difficult; you just have to find the tear or whatever it was that we fell through, send us back through, and close it up behind us".

"To do that I'd have to travel into your universe, and the TARDIS would die"

"The last time that happened, one power cell survived – and besides, that's just one suggestion. I bet you could come up with a dozen other ideas".

There was a long pause. "I'll run some scans, see if any anomalies turn up" the Doctor said finally, and they sighed in relief; it was a start. "Thank you, Doctor" Laura smiled gratefully, before cautiously asking "Um, I don't suppose we could stay with you, in the TARDIS?"

The Doctor just looked at her. "I'd rather not have any company, thank you" he said curtly. Then he bid them goodnight and turned to leave.

"Merry Christmas"

He paused and turned his head slightly. "It's November".

"Well, early Merry Christmas" Charlotte amended, "It is special, after all".

"What's so special about Christmas?"

Charlotte smiled and replied, "It's halfway out of the dark".