He runs in his dreams. It doesn't have to be in a specific time or place or to or from anything. Quite often he doesn't even know which regeneration is there; he simply runs.
"So where are we off to now?" Amy quizzed as she leaned over the console. The Doctor had originally promised and intended to take the couple to Rio, something Amy seemed somewhat intent on. He personally couldn't see what was wrong with going to see sky-feasters consume a dying star but she was going to have any of that, Rory. No, no Rory now, just Amy and the Doctor like they had started, when he had promised her those five minutes to show her the stars.
"Do we have to go Rio?" he began fiddling with switches and taps.
"All of time and space and you just want a sunny beach. Humans! All the same!"
"Alright then, if that's what you want" she said, spinning away from the console towards the stairs completely oblivious of her loss from mere moments ago.
"I'm off to change into something more boring then!" her voiced echoed as she ventured further away to find the wardrobe.
The TARDIS quaked and shook as if it enjoyed the ride, the cloister bell throbbed for the emergency at hand, holding on the Doctor grabbed hold of the screen; a white flash then nothing and it returned to its regular state.
"NO!" a child shrieked. It jumped from behind the opposite side of the TARDIS console.
The Doctor stared down at the child and the child stared back, the sheer improbability of the moment was stunning, simply and practically impossible.
"What are you doing in my TARDIS?"
The little figure in white and black robes backed away by a few steps. Utter petrifaction had caught the child, defenceless.
The Doctor walked around the console to stand over the little one, who stared back up in the fear a child knows when awaiting inevitable punishment. He was about to repeat himself but he recognised those black and white robes, Amy ran back to the console room, clinging to a bar of railing on the stairs as she went back to the Doctor's side.
"What in the world happened?" she asked, gasping for air before pointing to the child "and who exactly is the kid? Is she one of yours and Rivers-?"
"Oh I really don't think so Amy, can you imagine this place overrun with children?" he replied casually. The TARDIS creaked as though it liked the idea, though the Doctor knew Amy wouldn't understand.
"Screaming, vandalising, noisy children . . ." he finished. The TARDIS changed its tune soon enough.
There was a pause for a while. Amy had folded her arms and was staring inquisitively at the Doctor, who was apparently just staring into blank space. The child caught her gaze and looked back at the doctor, using her to talk.
"Doctor?" Amy whispered, nudging his arm. The Doctor began to walk slowly around the child like a vulture; as if he had been on pause and someone had pressed the play button.
"See, even the TARDIS agrees with me when I say, or rather, think that you shouldn't be here. What I don't understand is why you're dressed like that for this sort of transport, care to enlighten me?"
Furrowing her brow slightly, Amy watched the two thinking that it was already like the Doctor knew what was going to happen. She didn't like it though, watching the Doctor act in such a way towards a kid. She nearly left for the stairs before the child opened its mouth and spoke.
"I've always been dressed like this. I don't understand what you mean"
The Doctor crouched down a little to see eye-to-eye with the apparition before whipping out his screwdriver from his blazer pocket.
"You don't mind if I do a quick scan do you, just to make sure you're not ill? Travel and by that I mean the kind that you can even materialise here . . . it can be quite nasty without the proper methods-"
"-Scan? Like when you check the ships above to find out which ones you have to burn or help?"
"Sort of" the Doctor replied, his voice suddenly turned quiet and solemn. Amy didn't like the tone one bit. She told the Doctor she'd go to her room for a bit, he didn't really seem to notice aside from the quick nod.
The green light covered the child head to toe for several minutes. The Doctor paid attention to the sound while the child watched with the elder dark eyes, now dark emerald with the scanning light.
"You sound fine and you haven't keeled over which is good" he said as paced around the console, the child giggled at that. Peering around the time rotor he asked "How old are you anyway?"
"I'm two-"
"-two centuries?" the Doctor shrieked, twisting knobs as he spun around the console, it almost looked like he were dancing. Looking down to the floor the little one shook their head, the remnants of a faint smile extinguished.
"Blimey, that's a bit young isn't it for one of your kind? I don't suppose you know why you actually appeared here do you?"
Through a dark floppy fringe, the little one looked back up nervously at the Doctor. The Time lord saw that the little bits of emerald had gone from the eyes and was now replaced with orange.
"That's alright, it's alright" he said crouching before the child and clasping his hands together. He put on a smile; the brave kind he knew could comfort others; he was a Doctor after all.
"Are you hungry by any chance? I've a brilliant kitchen a few corridors down, or you could go to sleep for a bit if you want"
But the smile wasn't really working its usual magic; the child was looking at the doctor with a look in its eyes that spelt only sadness, even grief. Grief was often accompanied with guilt, but this one looked too young to really understand that and yet here it was with that pain etched into its gaze.
The doctor rose and extended a hand, he toned down the smile but kept it there "coming? I need to stretch my legs a bit and go for a walk; it gets quite stuffy in here sometimes"
The TARDIS groaned in annoyance while the child took the Doctor's hand; and he let his feet carry them away in the orange tunnels.