The Doctor strolled around the TARDIS console humming quietly to himself. He had grown far too used to being alone in his nine hundred years. His friends came and went in what felt like seconds, but he was always alone in the end.
"Surprise me," his voice broke the silence that had hung over the old ship for what seemed like years.
Responding to his request, the TARDIS lurched, wheezed a few times, and landed.
"That didn't take long," The Doctor muttered to himself as he walked over to the door, grabbing his brown trench coat on the way. "What've you got for me this time?"
Katniss Everdeen was a young girl from District twelve in the country of Panem, a nation ruled by tyrants and a ruthless and heartless president. Young Katniss Everdeen's life had just changed in a drastic way: she had been chosen to go to the luxurious Capitol and fight to the death with twenty-three other teenagers in an event called The Hunger Games.
She sat against a tree with her knees hugged to her chest, staring out over a lake that she loved to come to when she just wanted to be alone and think. Just then, she heard a wheezing noise and the creak of a door that hadn't been oiled in centuries. She hadn't even thought of grabbing her bow. She wouldn't stand a chance against the Capitol's infamous Peacekeepers, even though her aim was dangerously spot-on.
A tall man with brown hair that stood up in the front, a blue pin-striped suit, and a brown trenchcoat walked out of the snow-covered trees, looking around the clearing and across the lake. He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled loudly. He was clearly lost. Suddenly, the man turned around, and his eyes fell on Katniss.
"Hello," he grinned brightly and waved, coming over to join her.
"Hi," Katniss replied dully.
"Aren't you cold?" The tall man asked as he took off his brown coat, laid it across her shoulders, and sat down on the ground next to her.
"I guess," she replied, still sounding very dull.
"What's wrong?" the tall man asked.
"Why would I tell you?" Katniss asked, sounding more rude than she had originally intended. "I just met you!"
"Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you don't know than someone you do know," the man replied wisely.
"Fine," Katniss gave in. "I'm terrified. I've been reaped to go to the Capitol and compete in the Hunger Games."
"The what?" the man asked.
"The Hunger Games."
"What are "The Hunger Games"?"
"Where are you from?" Katniss asked suspiciously.
"Far away," the man replied vaguely. "This is Earth, right?"
"Yes," Katniss replied slowly. "And we're in District Twelve of the country of Panem."
"You can fill me in later," the man broke in. "What's so scary about "The Hunger Games?" Don't people like games?"
"It's only a game for the Capitol. Two people from each of the twelve districts are "reaped" to go to the Capitol and compete in a fight to the death in a man-made arena until only one person is left. This is its seventy-fourth year."
"That's terrible!" The tall man replied. "Hasn't anyone tried to put a stop to it? To revolt?"
"District thirteen, but the Capitol destroyed the whole area. Killed everyone."
"Humans," the man sighed. "When will you ever learn?"
"I'm terrified," Katniss repeated weakly, pulling the strange man's coat more tightly around her shoulders.
"You should be." He put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him. "You're allowed to be scared. I know I have."
"Who are you?" Katniss asked, looking up at him.
"I always forget that part," the man muttered to himself. "I'm the Doctor, and you are?"
"Katniss Everdeen," Katniss replied.
"Katniss. Katniss. Katniss. Katniss. Beautiful name."
"Thanks... So, where are you from?" Katniss asked.
"Far away," the Doctor replied once again.
"I got that much," Katniss replied exasperatedly, "but where are you from?"
"It's called Gallifrey. It's a planet in the Kasterborous System, some 250 million light years that way." The Doctor pointed to the sky.
"Wow. So you're an alien?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"How did you get to earth?"
"My ship."
"Wow. Can I see it?" Katniss asked, suddenly forgetting about all of her troubles for a few short seconds.
"Another time," the Doctor replied. He really hated to kick her when she was down, but this place didn't look safe during the day, much less at night. "It's getting dark. I'll show you tomorrow.
"Okay. Do you have a place to stay? You could stay with my family," Katniss offered.
"I don't usually do that," the Doctor replied slowly. Don't kick her again. "But I will," he gave in.
"Great," Katniss replied with a hint of unwanted enthusiasm. It was clear that she wanted to be sad right now.
"We'll leave when you're ready," the Doctor said, leaning back against the tree and pulling the girl to him once more.
Less than two weeks later, Katniss was on a train to the Capitol with her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark, and their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. She hadn't seen the Doctor since the morning after he had stayed with them. He had hurriedly said his goodbyes and rushed off into the woods once again. Katniss had never even asked him why he called himself "the Doctor," but she probably wouldn't get a direct answer, anyways.
When they stepped off of the train and into the Capitol city, she saw the Doctor among the crowd of onlookers. He grinned and waved, just as he had done when they had first met.
She was shepherded around the Capitol so much over the next few days that all she could do was catch brief glimpses of him, and he would grin and wave.
After her big interview in front of the whole country, Katniss finally saw a chance to talk to the Doctor as she was coming off of the stage. She started to walk towards him, but a Peacekeeper grabbed her and shoved her toward the door.
"I'm going!" She said agitatedly.
The Peacekeeper lunged at her and grabbed her jaw and held her a foot from his face. "What did you just say to me you swine?" He snarled.
Haymitch and the Doctor sprang into action simultaneously. Haymitch grabbed Katniss and tried to pull her away from the Peacekeeper, but he wasn't having it.
"What did you say?" He repeated.
The Doctor grabbed his wrist. "You don't want to do that," the Doctor said coldly, looking the Peacekeeper in the eyes. The Doctor looked very young, but his eyes were centuries old, and the look of hatred and malice in them only magnified that age.
Realizing that the Doctor was clearly not a man to be trifled with, the Peacekeeper released Katniss, and Haymitch pulled her to safety.
"Do that again. I dare you," the Peacekeeper snarled as he stalked away.
"Same to you!" The Doctor called after him.
The Doctor followed them into her dressing room and hugged her after she was released. "You were brilliant," the Doctor said.
"Thanks," Katniss replied. "And thanks for what you did to that Peacekeeper back there. Nobody ever stands up to them."
"Don't mention it," the Doctor waved it away. "It had to be done. I'm usually not a huge advocate of violence, but I can be pretty vicious when I want to be, as I'm sure you can tell from my muscular and manly stature," he added with a wink.
Katniss barely had time to laugh before she was once again dragged off to her last night in the Capitol, and possibly the last peaceful night that she would ever have.
What seemed like mere seconds later, Katniss was getting ready to step on her platform that would take her to her death, or a life time suffering at the hands of nightmares and the Capitol. The Doctor, Haymitch, and her designer, Cinna, were there to see her off.
After the others had said their goodbyes, the Doctor stepped up to her and hugged her. "Stay safe," he whispered as he kissed her on the top of her head.
"I'll try," she whispered back, still clearly terrified.
"Watch out for poisonous berries, and remember that it only takes one spark to start a fire," he winked at her.
Katniss didn't have time to try to decipher the Doctor's warning, if that was what it was; she was already being lifted up into the arena. Now she had to concentrate on staying alive.
Several Months Later
Katniess ran through the forest as fast as she could, desperate to get to her lake. I'm going back? She couldn't believe her ears when she had heard the conditions of the Third Quarter Quell. She wanted to cry. To scream. To let herself go and be vulnerable while no one was watching.
She threw herself against a tree and began sobbing hysterically into her knees. She thought she was alone, but she was far from it.
"I thought I'd be seeing you here," said a familiar voice that she hadn't heard in ages.
"You though right," Katniss growled, her head still between her knees.
"I'm very proud of you Katniss. I never got to tell you when you made it out of the Capitol alive, but I knew you'd return to the lake eventually."
"No thanks to you," Katniss said. "Where were you? Why didn't you make an attempt to help me? I almost died! You know just as well as I do that you could have ended the Hunger Games if you truly wanted to, so why didn't you?!" Her voice rose to a shout.
"I wanted to help. I really did, but I couldn't," the Doctor replied sheepishly.
"You don't know what I went through out there! You don't know anything about war! About having to kill your own people! If you did know, you would have stopped at nothing to help me!"
"I do know about war," the Doctor said, sitting down next to her as he had done on the day they had first met. "I know far too much."
"You don't look like you've fought a day in your life," Katniss replied, hell-bent on staying angry.
"I have. Oh, how I have," the Doctor sighed.
"It couldn't have been worse than what I had to endure."
"I'd go through what you went through any day of the week if I got to forget what I had to do."
"Tell me about it," Katniss grunted, still trying to sound angry.
"Like I told you, I'm from the planet Gallifrey, the home of the Time Lords. There was a war; a Time War. It took place between my people and the Daleks, a race of mutant creatures who are engineered to do nothing but hate and kill. It was starting to threaten the whole material universe, so I had to put a stop to it. I did unspeakable things, but that was just to avoid what I knew would have to be done."
"I knew I would eventually have to use the Moment, which would kill everyone; there was no other way. I killed my people and burned my home planet. I'm the last Time Lord, but the Daleks lived on. The Dalek flagship escaped. My people died in vain, so I do know what war is like," the Doctor finished, daring her to find something worse in her experience.
"That's awful," Katniss said, beginning to get some perspective.
"Yeah," the Doctor replied simply.
"That still doesn't explain why you couldn't help me," Katniss continued defiantly.
"It was a fixed event. If I had meddled and helped you win, I could have altered the course of history. Plus, I did help you. Remember?"
Katniss shook her head after a minute of thinking.
"Where did you get that idea involving the poisonous berries?"
Katniss sighed, "Fine. I'll give you that one."
The Doctor grinned, "Lovely. What's bothering you now?"
"This year is the third Quarter Quell."
"Okay."
"They always do something special for it, and they're reaping the competitors out of the previous victors... And I'm the only female victor in Twelve," she began to sob again.
"Oh, dear," the Doctor said, genuinely surprised. "I guess they think you're trying to start a revolution and they want to get you out of the way?"
"How did you know?" Katniss sniffed.
"I was still around while you were in the arena and after you returned to District Twelve. You hear some very strange and terrible things in the Capitol."
"I can imagine," Katniss replied.
"Don't worry yourself too much about this whole "Quell" thing. Just take it as it comes and keep your head held high. They're not trying to kill you, they're trying to make people hate you and distance you from the world. Don't let them. Just ignore what they say, and don't worry about it if a few people hate you."
"But I have to go back in there," Katniss reiterated.
The Doctor got up and began to walk over to the treeline. "Don't worry, Ms. Everdeen," he called over his shoulder. "I have a feeling everything's going to be just fine." And with that, he was gone.
It's almost time! The Doctor thought excitedly. Haymitch has sent the loaves and the force field is meant to be destroyed tonight! The Doctor rushed through the halls of the building where he had stashed his TARDIS, deep within the Capitol.
When he got to where he had put it, he gasped. Where is it? It was right here! Suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks: It's a trap!
Just as he predicted, several Peacekeepers came out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground. The Doctor didn't fight back. He was anxious to meet this "President Snow", who he would surely be taken directly to.
"Take me to your leader," the Doctor laughed.
"Shut up!" a peacekeeper barked.
Several minutes later, the Doctor was standing in front of a man who he assumed was the President of Panem.
"Hello," the President said.
"President," the Doctor said brightly.
"Who are you?"
"The Doctor."
"What is your name?"
"The Doctor."
"Tell me your real name!"
"The Doctor," the Doctor replied calmly.
"Fine, Doctor, why have you been helping Ms. Everdeen stir up this revolution?"
"Oh, so you've seen me? That was some brave stuff your people pulled on that Victory Tour, and you'll pay for it in due time."
"Is that a threat?"
"It certainly is," the Doctor replied simply.
"Who are you?" Snow asked, frustrated.
"The Daleks call me The Predator. The Oncoming Storm. Feel free to call me the same."
"You will die here, Doctor. We will kill you. You will never help Katniss Everdeen again."
The Doctor grinned, "You could certainly try."
"You're arrogance blinds you to reality, Doctor. You really think you stand a chance against my Peacekeepers?"
"I do, but all I have to do is keep you busy until it happens."
"Until what happens?" President Snow asked, suddenly very interested.
"You've been outmaneuvered, Mr. President."
"How?!" The President shouted.
The Doctor looked at his watch. "By my calculations, Mr. Heavensby and Mr. Abernathy should have commandeered a Capitol ship by now and should be en route to rescue our tributes from the arena"
"What do you mean?" Snow shouted.
"My clever Ms. Everdeen and her fellow tributes are about to blow up your force field, Mr. President. In 3... 2... 1..."
There was an earsplitting BOOM that shook the whole Capitol.
"Sorry, Mr. President," the Doctor said, looking at his watch. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got people to see, lives to save, and corrupt governments to overthrow!" with that, he skipped off towards the door and out into the hall.
"Get him!" the President screamed. The Peacekeepers ran into the hall to pursue the Doctor, but all they saw was his trendhcoat whip around the corner at the end of the hall.
The Doctor ran towards where he had stashed the TARDIS before, pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and activated it. with a buzz, the TARDIS appeared.
"Ha! Perception filter!" the Doctor shouted as he crammed the key into the lock and ran inside.
The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS lurched violently.
"They've put their shields up!" the Doctor laughed with delight. "But they've forgotten who they're messing with!" the Doctor pulled another lever and there was a loud crash. He looked at the scanner and laughed as he saw the Capitol below him, and three Capitol ships naïve enough to give chase.
The Doctor danced around the console as rockets flew around the TARDIS, not even scratching the old ship.
"HADS, make yourself useful!" the Doctor shouted. As if it were waiting for permission, there were several explosions outside. The Doctor looked at the scanner and saw the shrapnel of the Capitol ships falling to earth, and then he saw the ship carrying the rescued tributes.
The doctor laughed once more as he pulled a lever and the TARDIS disappeared with the familiar wheezing noise and the rise and fall of the time rotor.
Haymitch was sitting at a table eating with Plutarch and Finnick and arguing about what to do next. Now that they had revealed their existence to the Capitol, it was only a matter of time before they launched a counter-attack, and they had to be ready when the time came.
Plutarch was about to shoot down Finnick's suggestion when Haymitch happened to look out of the window and see something that thoroughly surprised him. There was a blue box spinning through the air with three Capitol ships chasing it, and the ships couldn't even make a dent in the wooden box.
"What the—" Haymitch started, but then all three ships exploded and the blue box disappeared with a flash of the light sitting on top of it.
"Was that that Doctor guy that Katniss is always talking about like he's a god? I heard her mention a blue box in the arena," Finnick said.
His question was answered when the blue box appeared in the little lunch room and the Doctor stumbled out of it.
"Hello!" He grinned.
"We were starting to think Snow had gotten to you," Plutarch said, gesturing to an open chair.
"He did," the Doctor said, "but that explosion gave me enough of a diversion to get out of there unscathed."
Just then, Katniss stumbled into the room wielding a syringe. Haymitch quickly took it from her
"Where's Peeta?" She growled.
"The Capitol picked him up. We couldn't get to him in time," Haymitch replied sadly.
Before Katniss had a chance to tear Haymitch's throat out, which she looked ready to do, the Doctor spoke up, "It's going to be fine, Katniss. We'll get him back."
The Doctor's condolences were worthless. Katniss leapt at Haymitch and drug her fingernails down his face. She was soon restrained and sedated, after a lot of kicking, punching, and screaming insults at Haymitch.
When they were finally back in the lunch room and things had calmed down, the Doctor said, "I have to leave."
"What?" Haymitch was dumbfounded.
"If I stay, I might help you," the Doctor replied sadly.
"So you're saying that you can't stay, because you don't
want to risk helping us?" Haymtich asked, getting angrier.
"Yes. You wouldn't believe how much I want to help you, and I hate leaving, but this revolution is a fixed point in time. It has to happen a certain way, and if I meddle in that certain way, it could change the course of history." The Doctor began to walk towards his blue box.
"You can't just leave us," Finnick said earnestly. "We need you."
"You'll be brilliant without me. Trust me," he winked. "It's been a true honor meeting all of you."
With those final words, the Doctor walked into his box and disappeared, leaving the revolution to unfold and the Capitol to burn
Katniss walked through a meadow watching her children run through the weeds. She loved to watch them. So young and innocent and full of life. They didn't have to worry about the reaping. A luxury Katniss had never known. As she turned to watch her son, she noticed a man that she hadn't seen for some time.
He grinned and waved.
"Hey, stranger," she said with a grin as he walked over to her.
"It's been a while," the Doctor said.
"Some fifteen years."
"I'm so proud of you," the Doctor said as he hugged her. "You were absolutely amazing without me."
"We had our moments."
"You were amazing. Really. I didn't interfere, but I certainly watched from the sidelines. You did better than I could have ever imagined."
"Peeta and I got married," Katniss said.
"So I've heard. I was starting to think you would never realize how much he loved you and how much you loved him."
"I'm glad I did; and these are our kids," she said, gesturing to the two children playing in the meadow. "It took some convincing, but I finally came around."
"I've always loved kids. So young and full of life."
"Do you have kids?" Katniss asked.
"Once," the Doctor replied vaguely, "A long time ago."
"Always so vague, Doctor."
"It keeps things interesting," the Doctor laughed. After a pause, the Doctor said, "Well, I was just checking in to make sure you were okay and happy, and I can see that you're more than that. I'll be getting on," he said, hugging her tightly one last time.
"Bye, Doctor," Katniss said, kissing him on the cheek. "Will I ever see you again?"
The Doctor grinned, "If I'm lucky."
As he walked back to the forest, he turned around. "Remember that promise I made you all those years ago, when we first met?"
"What promise?" Katniss asked curiously.
"Would you like to see my ship?"