I found this on my computer a few days ago. Apparently I wrote it sometime after rewatching Rose, and while considering exactly what the Doctor did between the first and the second time he asked. I am of the opinion that he did go somewhere else before coming back, so this is my version of it. Bad Wolf cameo!

Run.

The first word he says to her. Trapped in a basement, surrounded by deadly shop window dummies, preparing to die. He glances at her for just a moment before pulling her away, only long enough to see the blonde hair and whiskey colored eyes. He grabs her hand and in the heat of the moment misses the spark that jumps between them when their skin touches.

A simple shop girl, that's all she is. Not even that, after he blows up her job. But then he runs into her again. She bombards him with questions, of course, the stupid ape. Follows him even after the arm tries to kill her. Most people would have just left it alone then, made up something to tell themselves and after awhile maybe even start believing it. But not her. So he pulls out his trump card: the turn of the Earth speech. Surely, even she would leave him alone after that.

But then he runs into her again while tracking the Auton. At a restaurant with her plastic boyfriend, too absorbed in her chips to notice anything wrong with him. She was rather resourceful in emptying out the restaurant though, he would give her that. And she didn't react too badly to the culture shock once she entered the TARDIS.

But its when they're under the London Eye, the signal already transmitting and him helpless, that he realizes something.

He doesn't want her to die. Too many people have died with him recently. And she's young, so young and so naïve about the universe. He yells for her to go, to run, to take the cowardly Ricky and just get out. But she doesn't, and before he knows it they're back in the TARDIS, the Nestene Consciousness dead and gone. The battle won.

She leaves the TARDIS with Ricky, pulling him out from where he's hiding behind some trash cans. And he asks her. He asks her to come with him, to travel the universe. He can see the indecision on her face, but for just a moment he allows himself to hope. Because down in that horrible room he finally felt alive again. He felt alive with hope and pride, and he had smiled and laughed for real when she let go of the chain and landed in his arms. It felt right, it felt good.

But then she said no. She gave some excuse and patted Ricky's arm, and he nodded and said okay, see you around. He put the mask back on his face, pretending not to care but not entirely succeeding. He closed the door behind him and dematerialized.

He shouldn't care. He doesn't care. People have turned him down before, plenty of times. He's never cared that much before. So why are his hearts clenching like this? He's fond of her, that's it. Just . . . fond of her.

He puts the TARDIS on random and holds on as it shakes and tumbles. He doesn't really pay attention to where he is when he goes outside, only registering that its some future colony of Earth. His mind is full of images of her, but he doesn't know why. Laughing, smiling, talking. Why can't he get her out of his head?

He's walking down the street when he turns the corner and runs straight into someone. At first all he says is the blonde hair and for a split second he thinks the impossible: that its her. But then the girl steps back and he sees the blue eyes and freckles and knows it isn't.

"Sorry," he mutters, already pushing past her. But a hand on his arm stops him, and when he glances back the girl is staring at him with an expression that even in all his years of life he can't identify. "What?" he asks, nearly snapping but also extremely confused.

"S-sorry." she says finally. "Thought I recognized you." the hand is removed and a second later she has melted back into the crowd. He shakes his head and turns back around, his thoughts already a thousand miles and a hundred years away. He glances up at the sign as he enters a shop, contemplating the strange name. Bad Wolf Fish and Chips.

He's halfway through his chips when a thought occurs to him. There's a sign on the wall above his table, a movie poster from the twenty-first century about something he doesn't really care about. The subtitle is An Adventure Through Space and Time! and he's been staring at it for twenty minutes when he realizes he never told her that he could travel through time. He's out of the chippie within a few seconds, leaving his half-full basket of chips behind him on the table.

He bangs into the TARDIS, letting the door slam behind him and starts the dematerialization sequence. He's landed back in the twenty-first century only seconds later. He runs down the ramp and pulls the door open, just managing to look casual as he leans against the doorframe.

"By the way," he says, watching with nervous glee as she turns around. "Did I mention it also travels in time?"

And then she's kissing her boyfriend goodbye and running to him with that smile, her tongue between her teeth, and he feels . . . he feels good.

Maybe he doesn't have to be alone.

The girl outside the Bad Wolf (hehehe . . . I couldn't resist) shop is my OC. I've been working on her for a while and she's finally found her way onto paper. I will post her story one day . . . you know, after its actually written.

I plan to make this a series of oneshots, covering some of my favorite episodes, and favorite parts of said episodes. The OC might have some passing mentions, like in this chapter. Nothing major.

P.S. Has anyone else seen the deleted footage of the Doctor hugging Rose during Dalek? It happens right after the Dalek self destructs, the Doctor just drops the gun and grabs her . . . well, its really cute. That will probably be a scene I do, so when I get to that I'll post a link so you can see it yourself.

Review! I'll update faster!