A.N. This story takes place roughly a "week" before the Pandorica Opens and a few years after Journey's End. In all honesty, I'm at a complete loss of how the Doctor and his companions tell how much time has passed for them while their skipping here and there through it all, but then again the Doctor is a Time Lord so he probably just instinctively knows.

Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. Also, I have no beta (I am looking though, if anyone is interested) so all mistakes are mine. Let me know if you catch any (including any characters that seem OOC) and I shall fix it as soon as I can.

Spoilers: Series Four and bits and pieces of series five. Other than that, not much.

Summery: In which Amy Pond meets Rose Tyler-Noble and learns a bit about the Doctor.

I am, therefore I run

Prologue

He was always running; fast, slow, maybe stopping for a small breather, but only for a short while. He ran even faster after the war, so sure he'd be able to outrun his past and the mistakes both he and his people had made. But not even the time lock could stop it from catching up with him when he wasn't paying attention.

So much pain, so much joy. He lived a life that only one other had the true capability of sharing with him. But she was a silent companion, only able to share a thought and a shadow with him while she whisked him away from one adventure to another. Others would come and go, each breaking his heart a little and the one after sewing it back together only to break it all over again. He had often wondered how long he could keep this up in his old age, so sure that it would eventually kill him. It was no longer that he was getting too old for this life. He was already too old for it.

And so he ran as fast as he could from the past, the loneliness, the name trying to catch him.

He never thought it would end like this. He had expected to go out in a blaze of glory or maybe even a small whimper when no one was looking. But to no longer have to run? To no longer be lonely? To be able to travel the stars with the woman he loved and not need to worry about opening old wounds? Galifrey never existed in this universe and he was finally free from all the pain and unbalance his people had caused.

It was too good to be true. The TARDIS cutting that was given to him was incompatible with the energy of this universe and couldn't even grow. He should have expected it. That was how he, Rose and Mickey got stuck here in the first place. But he was ancient with so much already locked away in his head he was often surprised he didn't forget more.

So, no travelling the stars and he was going to grow old, wither and die. Permanently. But he could still have his happy ending. Pete was happy to have a sudden family of his own and set up his new daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law with enough money for Rose to go to college and get a good job that included a lot of travel time. He could live with that. This world had so much to offer and it was almost completely new to him. A different universe, a different history and nothing but a memory chasing him. The memory was easy to lock away when nothing tried to bring it out. He put it in a little box and buried it deep within his mind, never to be reopened. He was human now, with a single heart beating in his chest that he shared with a woman who shared hers in return.

Yes, the Doctor could be happy in this world of zeppelins and riches.

Chapter One: The Beach

Amy sighed dramatically before shifting against the railing again as she watched the Doctor fiddle with his console and explaining the various complicated things he was doing with so much techno babble it might've well been a starfish language from the planet Chulak for all she was concerned. Come to think of it though, she'd be able to understand that language better due to the TARDIS's translation… thing, but the words coming out of the Doctor's mouth meant absolutely nothing to her.

"Doctor," she groaned in complaint. Of course, he ignored her and kept right on talking, saying something about banana's now. "Doc-tor," she drawled, pouting. He finally stopped talking and looked at her with a complete and authentic look of innocence on his face. "Why aren't we going? You promised a beach. And it better be good since you've been promising for the past few trips," she continued. She was beginning to wonder if he even knew how to fly this machine or if he just pushed random buttons and hoped they didn't land in the middle of a star or something. Even though he claimed to be able to go anywhere he or she wanted, they had yet to really get somewhere on purpose. The closest that came was probably Venice.

And the Doctor was talking again, this time in words she could understand, so she listened. "-beach, the beach is the best. Automatic sand!" he exclaimed excitedly, throwing his hands in the air as he said it.

She laughed a little and raised her eyebrow. "Automatic sand? What does that mean?" Sometimes the words that came out of his mouth did make sense, she kept telling herself.

"It's automated," he said simply then grinned. "Totally. Cleans up all the rubbish that's been left about. Completely!" He padded down his shirt, looking around. "Now, I just need my special green- ah." And with that, he disappeared into one of the many rooms of the TARDIS to find his green… whatever. Smiling at his strangeness, she walked up to the controls and touched a few levers and buttons, wondering what they did. She didn't pull or push any of them though. Who knew what would happen if she did.

"Amy!"

She turned around and looked over her sunglasses in the direction of the voice. It sounded like the Doctor, but much too serious to be him in his current excited mood. She gave the area another once over before turning back just in time to see the Doctor running back in with a green hammer in his hand.

"What's that for?" she asked, eyeing it. There were a few hammers right under the console within easy reach.

"She likes it," he said simply and began pulling levers and typing on the type writer. "Next stop," he said dramatically after the type writer gave a satisfying 'ding'. "Space Florida! With the best automatic sand and freshest sea wa-"

The Doctor banged his head against the console as the whole room suddenly lurched to the side, sending both of them tumbling across the floor. The TARDIS jerked again to the other side, making a noise that didn't sound good and sending Amy, who had managed to get back on her feet, running to keep them under her and slamming into the rail. With a final thump, the whole room suddenly went still, silent and dark save for a faint glow underneath the platform.

"Doctor?" she called out. "Doctor, what happened?" She looked around, gripping the rail like a lifeline. The Doctor didn't answer. "Doctor?" she called a little louder. "Doctor, where are you?"

A small moan caught her attention and she looked down to see the outline of a man sprawled on the floor. She ran to him and lifted him up, his limp body heavy and completely unmoving. Amy began to panic. She was God-knew-where in a TARDIS that was too silent and too dark and no idea how to fix it. "Doctor, wake up. Please wake up." She rocked him and made sure he wasn't actually dead. He was breathing at least, so there was hope. She just had to be patient and let him wake up and fix whatever happened.

It took a few minutes but when nothing else happened, she began to calm down. She got up and walked over to the door, hoping that wherever they landed had at least a breathable atmosphere. She gently opened the door and peered outside.

Well, he actually did bring me to a beach, she thought wryly stepping out onto the damp sand and looking around. The beach looked completely deserted and she discovered why when a blast of cold air hit her like a bus. Shuddering, she stepped back inside the warmth of TARDIS but left the door open to let in some light and fresh air. She went into one of the wardrobes and changed into warmer clothes, just in case they were going to stay here for a while. She grabbed a few blankets and walked back into the control room to make the Doctor comfortable.

And then she sat down, wrapped her arms around her legs and watched the Doctor, waiting for him to wake up.