"Two weeks. Just two weeks. That's it. If you don't come back for us..."
There was a warning tone in the ginger girl's voice that was indicative of how serious she was.
"Don't worry. Two weeks, then I'll be back."
Was the response from the man wearing the braces and the bow tie.
"Good. That's settled then. Two weeks, Rory and I will meet you back here. Behave yourself Doctor."
The Doctor flashed a childish grin.
"I always behave myself Amy."
Amy slapped him playfully on the arm.
"Liar. Maybe we shouldn't do this, you need someone to keep an eye on you."
The man laughed warmly.
"Amy, Amy, Amy. I've been on my own before believe it or not, I am perfectly capable of staying out of trouble."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I said capable, not that I actually do."
He stopped smiling when he noticed the look of serious concern on her face.
"Just be careful. Please?"
He placed his hands on her shoulders to emphasise how much he meant what he was about to say.
"I will be careful Amy. I promise. Now you go with Rory, and you have a good time. I'll see you in two weeks."
She nodded as he pulled her close for a hug.
"Two weeks. I'll miss you."
Prying himself free from her grip, the Doctor turned around and entered the TARDIS, give one final farewell before closing the door. It would be easy to simply jump to the end of the two weeks, but this was meant to be a vacation for him as much as it was for his companions, the idea being that the time apart would help Rory and Amy as a couple. So although they would not know the difference, the Doctor felt that he would be cheating. This meant that he had to find something to do that would occupy him for two weeks. But where to go? The only places that were coming to mind were the planets and locations that he had earmarked to take the Ponds to.
Then it occurred to him. A surprise destination trip. He hadn't taken one of those in a while. Having made up his mind, he fiddled with the controls on the dash, setting them to randomise. He grabbed hold of whatever solid surface he could as the ship took him to his unknown destination. With a resounding thud that reverberated throughout the control room, the TARDIS landed. "All right my dear, what have you got for me this time?" He stroked the dash lovingly before bounding over to the doors.
He tried to open the door slowly to prolong the excitement, but his enthusiasm got the better of him and he flung the door open wildly, leaping out without looking and landing in a deep, muddy puddle. Water splashed about him and his trousers were soaked well up above his ankles. Eagerly, his green eyes drank in the surroundings as he tried to determine where his ship had taken him. He was standing in front of a house, well it was probably more accurate to call it a cottage. A neat, well-tended garden lay in front of a white picket fence. Brilliantly green lawn stretched from the other side of the fence up to the dwelling, which itself was a powder blue colour. It was only then that the Doctor noticed the man in the dressing gown, standing at the door with his mouth slightly agape.
"Hello!" The Doctor shouted towards the man. "This is going to sound like a stupid question, but where am I?"
The man didn't answer, apparently too dumbstruck by the stranger with the bow tie to formulate sentences. At that moment, a low rumbling sound broke the otherwise relative peace, and a large truck drove past with the word "Sainbury's" emblazoned on the side.
"I'm in England! All of space and time, and I end up in 21st century England! What are the odds?" He exclaimed happily much to the confusion of the other man.
He was of average build, with dark blue eyes and short blonde hair. Nothing particular special or noteworthy about his appearance, or the way he stood as he stared out of his front door, yet there was a sense of strength and willpower about him. In other words, he was the Doctor's favourite kind of person. The kind of person who was capable of extraordinary deeds but was completely unaware of it. The was something terribly familiar about the man, but nothing specific that the Doctor could put his finger on. So he did what he usually did when there was something he didn't fully understand. He started talking.
"It's rude to stare you know. Mind if I come in? I'm starving. I don't suppose you've got any custard?"
This seemed to jolt the man from his stupor.
"Huh? Oh, yes. Come in, I'll put the kettle on."
Ten minutes later, the Doctor sat clutching a cup of hot sugary water.
"I haven't been able to face tea since I became me,"he explained, although it was clear from the look on the other man's face that he was utterly bewildered. He chose not to mention it though, instead studying the Doctor as though he thought he might suddenly dematerialise right in front of him.
"I'm terribly sorry, I havent' even asked you your name. Here I am, sitting on your sofa, drinking your water, and I don't even know who you are." He sat gazing expectantly at the man who was still clad in his dressing gown.
"I'm Arthur. Arthur Dent."
Instantly the Doctor knew why the name was so familiar. Arthur Dent, he mouthed the name silently several times until the alarmed expression on Arthur's face stopped him.
"Nice to meet you Arthur Dent. That's a great name, Arthur Dent. I'm the Doctor."
"A doctor?" Arthur queried.
"The Doctor." He was starting to wonder if confusion was Arthur Dent's default expression.
"The Doctor what?" The Doctor smiled.
"No, just the Doctor." He was met with a frown.
"The Doctor?"
"Hello!" he said cheerfully as he gave a little wave, which caused him to upset hot water all over his lap. He let out a yelp of pain.
"Ouch, that's hot. Hot, hot, hot. Not surprising of course, it's hot water, so one would expect it to be hot. But then hot things aren't necessarily always hot, are they?"
Arthur hesitated. "They're not?"
The Doctor laughed. "Of course not! Think of the fires of Fyore. They burn hot, cold, and wet, all at the same time!" He made flamboyant gestures with his hands to indicate fire burning.
"You can't have wet fire. Or cold fire for that matter. It's impossible," scoffed Arthur.
"Not impossible, just highly improbable. Lots of things are improbable, like turning into a sofa for instance. It's not that it can't happen, it's just that the energies involved are infinitely large, so it makes it very unlikely."
Arthur stared incredulously, not sure if the Doctor was being serious. "You are quite possibly the strangest man I've ever met."
The Doctor grinned widely. "That's me. A strange man. Well, not so much a man as an alien. But strange, most definitely."
Arthur's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "You're an alien?"
The Doctor nodded. "You've got a problem with that?"
"No," Arthur responded, "It's just the two times I met an alien it didn't go very well. One time ended up in me and my friend Ford, who is also an alien, nearly being eaten by some hideous monster. But the first time began with the destruction of my home planet, the Earth."
The Doctor froze. That didn't sound right.
"What? The earth hasn't been destroyed." Arthur gave him a strange look.
"Yes it has. It was demolished to make way from some space hypervelocity expressway or whatever it was they called it." The Doctor shook his head as he tried to suppress the panic that was beginning to rise from the pit of his stomach.
"But this is Earth. Here. Now. England, 21st century." The other man slowly nodded.
"Yes, but this is Earth 2.0. Earth 1.0, where I was born, is gone. Vaporised. Almost a decade ago now." The Doctor was pacing frantically now.
"No. No, it can't be. I left Amy and Rory on Earth, in Moscow, in 2013. It can not be gone." There was visible frustration on Arthur's face and it carried through into his tone.
"Yes, it can, and it is. I saw it happen. Wait, did you say 2013? But it's 2011."
The Doctor dismissed the last comment with a wave of his hand. "I have a time machine, not important." He opened his mouth to continue speaking but was interupted by a stunned Arthur.
"You've got a time machine?" There was impatience in the Doctor's voice now.
"Yes, yes, time machine, that's how I got here, and I assume the noise of her landing was what drew you to your front door. As I said, not important. What is important is that we have a problem. If Earth is really gone, then where have I left Rory and Amy?"