Jethro sat in his room with his door locked as his parents were talking loudly in the other room. He could hear them clearly, they were talking about sending him away to some place that they thought would help him. Jethro was depressed, but they couldn't seem to figure out why.
It had been a few years since they incident on Midnight but he couldn't forget about it. He was going to help murder the Doctor. He didn't want to do it but there were so many people yelling at him and he was confused and scared. He didn't want to kill anyone but in the end, he was still helping them lug the Doctor over to the door so that they could throw him to his death.
He often had nightmares about that day. Sometimes he would end up helping kill the Doctor, in others the Doctor would be mad at him and yell at him for not helping him, but in the worst ones it was him who the beast would possess and all of the people there would try to kill him while he couldn't move.
His parent's would hear him wake up screaming on most nights but he kept his door locked because, as much as he wanted the nightmares to end, he felt as though he deserved to have them.
His parent's didn't know why their son was becoming the way he was. He barely ate anything and there were ever present dark circles under his eyes. He spent most of his time researching the Doctor though. He found so much information. There were pictures of him all over the galaxy. He had companions that he traveled with and it seemed that he could change forms. The most reoccurring factor in all of the stories however was the blue box. No one knew much about it but the fact that it was believed to travel through time and space and that it was in every single story that involved the Doctor.
Jethro only talked to his parents once about the stuff he had found while researching. They though he was crazy for ever believing such stories but in reality, he was desperate. He wanted to apologize for what he had done. He didn't want the Doctor's forgiveness for he knew that he didn't disserve it, but he wanted the Doctor to know how truly sorry he was and how much he regretted it.
So when his parents fell asleep that night after coming to the decision that they were sending him to an institute, Jethro decided to run away. He couldn't find the Doctor while he was locked away in some institute, so he packed a bag and left just as the clock struck midnight.
The Doctor swung the door to the TARDIS open and stepped out into the open air with Amy and Rory right behind him. The Doctor looked around and noted that where ever they had landed looked a lot like Earth.
He run over to a man handing out what the Doctor thought were this planet's version of newspapers. He took one from him to see where they had landed but all thoughts of that had stopped when the Doctor saw the picture of a boy he met a long time ago on the front page.
It was a picture of Jethro, the boy that had been there when the tour shuttle had broken down on the planet Midnight. The story said that he was depressed and had runaway search of a man that Jethro referred to as "the Doctor" according to his parents.
The Doctor turned to Amy who was currently laughing about something that Rory had said. He wordlessly handed her the paper and she looked at it for a few minutes before looking back at the Doctor. "What should we do?" Amy asked. "We find him." He said.
Jethro walked down the streets with his hood up, concealing his face. There were people looking at the paper that contained the article about him but he just hoped and prayed that no one would recognize him. He couldn't go back, not with what his parents had planned for him. He had to find the Doctor.
He had been walking for a while when his stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten much yesterday and he hadn't eaten since he'd been out so by this point he was starving. He rounded the corner into an alley so that he could sit and eat one of the sandwiches that he had made without have to worry about being recognized. As he rounded the corner though, he ran straight into something.
He hit his forehead on whatever it was and then fell backwards, hitting his head hard on the ground. He could feel a really bad headache forming so he kept his eyes closed for a few minutes before he tried to open them. When his head felt like it had stopped spinning he decided that it was okay for him to open his eyes.
Slowly, Jethro opened his eyes and when he did, he found himself face to face with the Doctor's blue box. He blinked a few times, he even pinched himself, just to make sure that he wasn't imagining things (which was possible, he didn't really know how hard he had hit his head). Sure enough, he wasn't imagining it. He hadn't even been out for a whole day and he had already managed to run right into the Doctor's blue box, literally.
He stood up and walked over to it. It looked rather small for the Doctor and his companions to travel in but he wasn't going to judge. Hesitantly, he reached up and pushed the door open. He took a step inside and gasped. It was huge! There were flashing lights, levers, switches, and buttons of all kinds. He took a few steps inside and paused. The blue box was empty, the Doctor wasn't here. Jethro sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He really should have been sleeping and eating more, but he couldn't. Not with all of his guilt eating away at him.
He walked down a ramp that led him down to the control panel. From there, he noticed a hallway. He went to see where it led. He was expecting some futuristic room with floating furniture or something similar, but instead he was in a normal living room. And sitting right in the middle of the room was a large couch. In fact, it was the coziest looking couch he had ever laid eyes on. He walked over to it and laid down, allowing himself to sink into the cushions. He closed his eyes and before he knew it he had drifted off to sleep.
The Doctor had searched all day with the Ponds only to come up empty handed. Jethro was no where to be found. He sighed as they reached the TARDIS. He would continue looking the next day and would not give up until the boy was found. He followed behind Amy and Rory as they entered. "So Doctor, how do you know this kid?" Amy asked. "I met him when I was on vacation actually. I was on a tour and our ride broke down. Then there was this creature, one of which I had never seen the likes of before. In the end a lot of people died, I was almost one of them. Jethro was there. He was very intelligent and curious. He was scared too. But then again, who wouldn't be? I think I know why he's trying to find me. I think he's still blaming himself for something that happened on that trip." Amy nodded and grabbed Rory's hand. Then they ran off down the hall.
Everything was silent for a second before Rory yelled, "Doctor!" He ran down the hall after them and found them in the living room. "What is it?" Amy gestured to the couch. There on the couch was Jethro, sleeping soundly. The Doctor smiled, "Let him sleep. I'll talk to him in the morning."
Jethro woke in the morning with a loud yawn. For the first time in a long time, he hadn't had any nightmares. He had slept peacefully the whole night through. He sat up on the couch and stretched his muscles. "Sleep well?" a voice asked. Immediately, his eyes flew open. There was a man standing in front of him wearing a brown jack, suspenders, and a red bowtie. Jethro narrowed his eyes in contemplation, "Doctor?" He asked. After a pause, the man nodded his head.
Jethro launched himself off the couch and stood in front of him. His eyes filled with tears, "I'm so sorry for what happened on midnight. I didn't want to help them but there was so much yelling and confusion and-" The Doctor raised his hand, indicating for him to stop. "Jethro, this isn't necessary. I know it wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for any of it either. I've put what happened that day far behind me. I think it's time that you do the same." Jethro's eyes were no longer filled with tears as he thought on the Doctor's words. "So, you've forgiven me?" He asked, his voice filled with hope. The Doctor nodded, "I've forgiven you."
Jethro broke out into a wide smile and the Doctor pulled him in for a hug. He pulled back when Jethro's stomach let out a loud growl. The Doctor laughed, "I think you could use some breakfast. Then, you can go home. Your parents are worried sick." Jethro nodded earnestly.
After breakfast in the blue box, Jethro went home. His parent's embraced him when he walked through the door. They didn't send him away, instead they all spent more time together. He started eating more and he no longer had nightmares when he slept. His depression vanished completely. He also stopped wearing such dark clothes. He went to school and decided to get a proper education. He wanted to do something with his life. He decided that he wanted to help people, like the Doctor did. He became a psychiatrist. All of this happened because of the Doctor. The Doctor, his blue box, and his forgiveness.