I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

Prologue

Pounding head, blurry vision, loud noises, and a rank smell. That's what the girl woke up to.

"Ugh...where the fuck am I?" she mumbled, rubbing her throbbing temples. Her green eyes flickered open and scanned the area around her. She was in some sort of alley way and tall buildings could be seen all around her. This wouldn't be an issue, of course. However, the girl realized something just then. She had absolutely no memory of anything. She didn't remember how she got there, what happened, or even her own name. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to remember something...anything! Nothing came. Her mind was blank, wiped clean with no trace of any of her past. The girl leaned back on her hands and looked around.

"...Shit"

Chapter 1: London Ain't No Place For Giant Bugs

"Alright you sexy thing," The Doctor purred, rubbing the console of the TARDIS. He was in mid-flight, though he was open to his location. During his most recent travels he was alone, save for his ol' girl the TARDIS, that is. However, the ship had a mind of her own. When he was with a companion, he had set locations. It was as if he was taking them on vacation. Though a vacation with him was not a vacation at all...

Now, however, with just his incredible fashion sense and ship to keep him company, he was letting the TARDIS decide where he should go next. The Doctor fiddled with buttons and levers, mumbling under his breath as he read scanners. His face twisted up in a sneer.

"London?" The Doctor commented. "You're taking me to London? What?! And it's not even a fun year! 2014, what happens in that year? Well...other than the obvious of course. You know..Royal Weddings and things. Though I don't think that I should go, old girl...not after the last time." The Doctor was known to ramble. The TARDIS whirred her response and the Time Lord threw his hands up in defeat.

"Alright alright! I'll look around bloody London.." he muttered, placing his hands on the console.

The TARDIS landed, making that beautiful sound that The Doctor loved with all his hearts. A muffled yell could be heard outside. It sounded something like a vulgarity. The Doctor shook his head and fiddled with his Sonic Screwdriver. Such language...

The Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS to see a girl, appearing in her mid-twenties, staring at the blue box with wide eyes and an open mouth. She had brown hair and dazzling green eyes. Her nose was sprinkled with freckles, which she obviously tried to unsuccessfully hide with a layer of make-up.

"Hello!" The Doctor chirped.

"Who the fuck are you?! And h-how did that-that-that box just appear?!" she snapped.

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "Well that's hardly a proper greeting now is it?" He tilted his head to the side and stepped out of the TARDIS. He looked around, peering out into the street he'd just landed on. Everything seemed perfectly normal...so then why was he here?

He was snapped out of his own thoughts by the girl tapping on his forehead. He shooed her hand away and stared at her in disbelief.

"Sorry...just making sure you were real," she muttered. The Doctor watched as the girl knocked on the TARDIS walls.

"I can assure you it's real," The Doctor said. The girl spun around and frowned.

"I'm not so sure about that..." she muttered.

"No really! You can trust me, I'm The Doctor," he said with a grin.

The girl crinkled her nose.

"What?" The Doctor asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

"The Doctor? The Doctor of what? That's really more of a title than a name," she said, crossing her arms.

The Doctor frowned and straightened his bow tie. "Well that's what they call me," he said.

"What they call you? What, are you like some sort of stripper that's like...putting on the sexy professor persona?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"W-What? No! No no no! I'm- you think I'm a sexy professor?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "And that's what he gets out of it."

The Doctor couldn't help the cocky grin that was now plastered on his face. "Well if you're so fond of names, why don't you give me yours?"

The girl eyed him curiously. He was a strange man, but he had this quality to him. It was magnetic in a way. It pulled her in, making her want to know more about him, talk to him, watch him work. "Charlie."

The Doctor frowned. "Charlie? Short for...what? Charlotte? Charlene? Charnalaka?"

"...Charlotte, who the hell has a name like Charnalaka?" she replied.

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but screams and cries of terror stole his attention. He dashed off, following the screams.

"Hey! Wait up!" Charlie called, racing after the one called The Doctor.

The Doctor slowed to a stop and looked around. People were running and screaming, all heading away from the center of the city.

Charlie caught up to the man, now out of breath. "You know, most people run away from whatever scared these people...not towards it," she commented, resting her hands on her knees.

The Doctor turned to her with a sly grin. "Well I'm not most people."

And with that he was off, running towards whatever it was that was scaring these people so. Charlie shook her head, but followed him without hesitation. It felt natural to simply follow this strange man with a blue box.

It felt like they were running for ages, but it was probably more like a few minutes. Charlie had never been much of a runner.

Charlie looked up at The Doctor to see him simply standing there, staring up a bit with a smile on his face. The streets were just about empty, from what Charlie could see. However, her head was down so all she had to go off was the lack of noise.

"Okay Doc...so what exactly is it that we-" Charlie stopped mid-sentence at the site of it.

It was twenty feet tall at least. Its skin, or outer shell, was black as night and its millions of eyes were red. It had pincers on the front of its head and eight long, hairy legs.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" Charlie snapped, pointing at the giant bug.

The Doctor turned to her with a frown. "Do you have to swear so much? It's a nasty habit, not very polite at all."

"Yes, I do. Now answer my question, Doc! What is that?!" she said again.

The Doctor couldn't say he was too keen on the name "Doc". Although Jack called him that, he still wasn't particularly fond of the nickname. As The Doctor scanned the bug with his sonic screwdriver, a thought hit him.

"Hang on.." he said. The Doctor turned to Charlie and scanned her as well.

"What're you doing?"

"Are you American?" he asked with a perplexed expression.

"Yeah. I moved to London about a month ago. New York was just sort of- Oh this isn't the time for this! Doc! We have a giant bug in the middle of London!" she pointed out. As if on cue, a second bug came crawling in.

"Okay make that tw-" A third appeared next to its companions. "Okay THREE. We have THREE giant bugs in London and you're questioning me about my heritage!" she said.

The Doctor turned towards the arachnids and nodded. "Quite right," he said. The Doctor stepped towards them, admiring their form. "Oh you are...beautiful," he cooed.

Charlie crinkled her nose as some sort of slobber dripped from the mouth of one of the alien bugs and landed with a plop. "Beautiful isn't exactly what I would use..." she muttered.

The Doctor stepped up to the three bugs and frowned. "Why aren't they attacking?" he muttered. With another scan, The Doctor nodded his head. "Ah! They're Spinera! A peaceful species. They're usually migrating through the universe to lay their eggs this century... What are they doing here?"

"Do you often talk to yourself? Should I be concerned? Doc?"

The Doctor ignored her and scanned the Spinera again. He frowned. The three were definitely female, and they definitely had eggs that were ready to be lain. As another reading came in, The Doctor gave a few nods. "Aah.. Okay. Okay okay. Got it," he mumbled.

"Got what? Got milk? I just...Doc!"

"Oh will you shush!" The Doctor called.

"Don't you tell me to shush!

The Doctor ignored her again and walked up to the Spinera. "You're lost, aren't you?" he called. One of the Spinera let out a cry. It sounded terrible. Like nails on a chalkboard and the roar of a lion all rolled into one. Charlie covered her ears and winced.

"Yes I see you're young. This is your first time migrating isn't it?" The Doctor replied.

Another cry came, but this one was sad. Charlie opened her eyes and watched the creatures. They hung their heads in despair. Despite their ugliness, Charlie's heart went out to the creatures. She knew what it was like to feel lost. The girl stepped forward, hesitantly at first.

"We have to help them," she said.

The Doctor turned to her, eyeing her curiously. "What?" He of all people knew they had to be helped, but he didn't think that this girl would have any sort of sympathy towards the lost creatures.

"They're lost! They're away from home! We...we can't just not help! Can't you send out like...like a transmission or something? A message!" she mused, snapping her fingers and bouncing on her toes as she brainstormed.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile. He studied Charlie a moment, simply admiring how much she suddenly cared for the lost Spinera. When she looked over at him with a perplexed look, he realized he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Right! We have Spinera to save!"

The Doctor burst through the doors of the TARDIS in a flourish. He flung his hands in the air and danced down the steps to the console. Charlie entered the ship and her eyes widened in awe. It was beautiful, and far bigger on the inside. Lights blinked and illuminated the organic looking structure in various colors.

"This is...amazing.." Charlie breathed. She ran her fingers over the console and the TARDIS hummed a response. Charlie practically jumped out of her skin.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

"That was the TARDIS" The Doctor replied, flipping a few switches and checking monitors as he did so.

"The what? Is that the name of this thing?" Charlie asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"She thinks her name i-"

"She?"

"Yes, this particular TARDIS is female"

"Oh. That's...nice."

"She thinks her name is sexy"

Charlie gave a snort of laughter. "Why would she think that?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

The Doctor looked away sheepishly and flipped and turned a few more dials. "Because...that's what I call her"

Charlie's eyebrows shot into her hair line and a crooked grin stretched across her face. "Is that so? ...Should I leave you two alone?" she asked with a devilish laugh.

The Doctor shot the girl a glare, but other than that, ignored her.

Charlie hoisted herself up onto one of the railings of the ship. "So what does TARDIS stand for, exactly?" she asked, tilting her head.

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but Charlie spoke too quickly. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space" she said in a hurried voice.

The Doctor stared at her, his expression suddenly becoming very serious. "How did you know that?" he demanded, closing the distance between them in just a few strides.

Charlie stuck her hand out, pushing The Doctor away a bit. "Woah Doc, personal space," she said, wincing at how serious he suddenly looked.

"How did you know what TARDIS stood for?!"

Charlie shrugged her shoulders and lowered her gaze. "I dunno... Sometimes things like that just...just happen to me. I just know the answer to something and I...I just can't explain how I learned it or why I know it," she muttered.

The Doctor looked completely puzzled. "What do you mean you don't know?" he asked.

Charlie knit her eyebrows together. "I mean I don't know, okay?!" Realizing she had snapped, Charlie took a deep breath and calmed herself. She took a sudden interest in her hands. She always hated explaining this to people. They gave her looks of sympathy that she didn't want. They'd tilt their head to the side and give her this look that said 'Oh I know what you're going through'. But they didn't. No one else knew what Charlie was going through.

Taking another deep breath, Charlie began her story. "This is a bit of a complicated story, Doc... So just...just wait to ask questions until I'm finished, a'ight?" Without waiting for a response, she continued. "I woke up a year ago in an alley in New York. I had no memory of...anything. And by no memory, I mean no memory. I didn't even remember my own name. Charlotte Renner? Yeah, I made it up. Someone asked me what my name was and I just said "Charlie" and they said "Short for Charlotte?" and I just agreed. And then Renner.. I have no idea where that came from. I guess I just thought it fit me. Well New York was really hard. Everyone was so mean... I guess that's how I got to be so mean. They all swore like sailors, and again, when in Rome. After about ten months, I finally found a way to get out of New York. It was this boat. This cargo ship that took a bunch of people to London. I was stuck in a crate for like...two days straight. It sucked ass, Doc. Don't ever agree to do that. But I didn't have a passport, I didn't have a birth certificate, I didn't have anything... All I knew was I could do a lot of weird stuff. Like painting, fixing things, plumbing, lots of odd jobs like that. I made a living by doing strange things for people, and they'd pay me without questions. As for knowing about the TARDIS, I don't know... Sometimes I just know the answer to questions I ask and I don't know why. I can't explain it, and if you can I'd greatly appreciate it."

The Doctor looked dumbfounded. He'd never heard such a wild tale. Well, that wasn't entirely true. The raggedy man whipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned Charlie for anything strange. Her vitals were fine, her brain was functioning properly...

"Your memories must be in there somewhere... We just have to..unlock them," he muttered, rubbing his chin.

"No!" Charlie exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. She jabbed a finger into The Doctor's chest and gave the man, who had a shocked look on his face, a stern expression. "I don't want to know my past, a'ight? If it was bad enough for me to completely forget it, then it can't be something I'll be happy about remembering. I still just...can sense I can do things. I'll be put in a situation and I can just do stuff. I can't explain it, but I'm definitely not complaining!"

The Doctor's mouth was agape. "Don't you want to know how you learned all of these things?! Don't you want to know about your family?" he asked. He certainly wanted to know, but that was him.

"No, I don't. I contacted the police and told them my situation. There were no missing person reports out on me. So either I'm entirely alone, or my family doesn't care." Charlie paused and rubbed her arms. She averted her green gaze. "Either way, I'm better off on my own..."

The Doctor's lips were in a tight line. He wanted to press the issue further but decided that there were more important matters at hand. He clapped his hands together and scurried over to the console. "Alright! So, I've set up a line of communication. It's a sonic wave of sorts. The Spinera have receptors in their antenna, it's how they communicate. I should be able to give off a signal to let them know that three of their young members got lost," he said. The Doctor grabbed the large red handle and offered the other open spot to Charlie.

The girl grinned and walked over to the console. She placed her small hand on the lever and looked up at the Doctor. With a from both of them, they pushed down on the lever.

The Doctor stepped back and watched everything work. "Let's just hope none of my enemies are in range... Otherwise I just sent them a beaker that I'm here," he said.

"Wait what?"

"Don't worry Charlotte Renner... I'm the Doctor," he said with a cocky grin.

"Charlie," she corrected, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Oh come on! Charlotte Renner, that's a great name! It's so...sophisticated," he said, wiggling his eyebrows like a mad man.

Charlie gave a snort of laughter. "Well if you haven't noticed, I am anything but sophisticated."

"Oh I've noticed," he mumbled.

"What was that, Doc?"

The Doctor ignored her and ran up the steps and out of the TARDIS. He was such an enthusiastic man. He had a bounce in his step that Charlie just didn't see anymore. But there was more to him than meets the eye, she could tell. There was something about him. Some old and wise quality that he gave off. But he was hardly old. He couldn't be more than thirty six, could he? Charlie was snapped out of her train of thought by The Doctor calling for her outside.

"Charlotte! Come here and look at this! Here they come!" he exclaimed. He was such a little kid, and Charlie just loved it.

"Do I have to?" she groaned. Without another word of protect, Charlie made her way outside. What she saw in the sky above was...certainly something. "Woah.." she breathed.

Hundreds, no, thousands, of Spinera were in the sky. It was like it was suddenly night at 3 in the afternoon because of the amount of Spinera blocking out the sun.

"They came in a big group, to find the family members they'd lost... They took time out of their migration to come and save these three... There's thousands of them, but these three Spinera were enough to make them all turn around and rescue them." Charlie was simply astounded by the dedication these creatures had to one another. Charlie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You know...for creatures that may not be very pretty on the outside, they really are beautiful," Charlie mused, tilting her head.

The Doctor nodded his head, watching as the lost Spinera left with their family to continue on their migration through the galaxy. "Yes they certainly, most definitely are."

The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS and started flipping a few switches. He was mumbling under his breath about where to go next. "Where should it be, hey ol' girl?"

Charlie stepped inside after him and leaned against the frame of the door. She simply enjoyed watching him for a moment before she decided to speak. "So...you're leaving then?" she asked, running her fingers through her brown hair.

The Doctor looked up, forcing himself out of his concentration. "...Yes, I am. Can't ever stay in one place for too long. Then you're settling down, don't like settling down... Never been my thing, not my scene," he rambled.

Charlie chuckled and nodded her head. "Yeah, I can understand that..." she said. Charlie walked towards The Doctor with a sad smile. "So I guess this is goodbye then, yeah?"

The Doctor arched an eyebrow. "Is it?"

Charlie narrowed her eyes and tried to suppress a smile from stretching across her face. "Whatdya mean, Doc?"

The Doctor fiddled with his fingers and pursed his lips. "You know...usually people ask to come. Are you gonna make me...?" his voice trailed off.

Charlie nodded her head and grinned. "Yep. You want me to come, you gotta ask. That's how I roll, Doc," she replied.

"Yes alright. Charlotte-"

"Charlie"

"I'll call you Charlotte for as long as you call me Doc"

"Well that sucks, cause I'm not coming if you call me Charlotte," she said with a grin.

The Doctor let out a groan and ran his hand over his face. "You're a lot of trouble Charlie Renner..." he said. The Doctor clapped his hands together and then straightened his bow tie.

"Charlie, would you like to join me in seeing the stars?" he asked. He had a twinkle in his eye that Charlie just couldn't resist. It was this child-like, wonderful quality that Charlie had never seen before. And she couldn't wait to see more of it.

Charlie's grin overtook her face and she nodded her head. "Well if you insist, Doc," she said, faking a curtsy.

"That's not a proper curtsy," he said with an amused expression.

"Just drive the ship, Doc..."