Hey everyone! So this idea has been getting at me for a while now and I decided to type it up. I hope you guys like it!
Summary: The Doctor never met Clara Oswald after the loss of his Ponds. Instead he meets Anna Greene, a kind teenager who he takes a liking to and invited her to come with him. Through their travels the duo comes face to face with monsters, mayhem, and mysterious.
Rating:K+
Note: This is loosely based off a gif-set I made not so long ago (the link can be found on my profile page). Also I do not plan on this being a Doctor/OC story. Just wanted to let you guys know.
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Doctor Who. I do, however, own Anna Greene. Also, I apologize for any grammar or misspellings that are here. Lastly, this has not been brit-picked.
Enjoy!
The Doctor was alone. Of course, that was nothing new. He was use to being alone for his companions always left no matter what he tried to trick himself into believing.
Each loss had a unique effect on him. Sometimes he traveled around to try and cure his loneliness, other times he parked the Tardis somewhere and let himself be alone with his thoughts. It took time, years and years, but he would eventually get himself together and find someone else to travel with him. The Ponds, however, were a completely different story.
The Ponds weren't just companions, they were family. His Amelia and Rory Pond, the couple that waited and waited for them. Now they were done waiting and he could never see them again. Even worse their daughter, his River, was gone. He sobbed uncontrollably when she told him her final farewell knowing nothing of her fate. The Doctor did everything he could not to break down when she called him sweetie and said she'd be back.
She was wrong.
River Song, Amelia Pond, and Rory Pond were gone. The Doctor was alone and broken. His family-no, his new family- was gone.
He tried traveling but no matter where he went memories haunted his soul and mind. He missed Amy with declarations of "my boys", Rory with his "what is that?" and River with all of her wibbly-wobbly secrets. He missed his new family.
When the traveling didn't work he tried retiring to Victorian England but he quickly realized retirement just wasn't for him. The Doctor then tried visiting and staying on many different places but it always ended the same way with the Doctor leaving broken and alone.
That was the reason why the Doctor was seated in a small café located in the center of London. His dark hair was slicked back and his forest-green eyes were dark and cloudy. Despite his depressed appearance today happened to be one of his better days. He rather enjoyed being alone with his thoughts on days like today. However, the universe had other ideas.
"Coffee with two sugars?"
The Doctor peered up at the where the voice came from and found its owner; a brunette teenager clutching two steaming cups.
"What?" he was taken aback. Why was someone talking to him and even-more-so why was someone asking him about coffee?
"You take coffee with two sugars, right?" the girl tilted her head sideways, a concerned look in her grey eyes.
"Uh, yes. How did you know?" he replied extremely confused.
"Lucky guess and the fact that you just look like a two sugars type of person," the girl gave him a small smile and proceeded to place a cup on the table and slid it over to him. She then took a seat in the booth seat opposite of him.
"And what does that look like?" The Doctor questioned her. He was beginning to like her even though he knew nothing about her.
She gave his question a good, long thought before speaking. "I would tell you but then I'd have to kill you." She chuckled at this and took a sip of her coffee.
The Doctor smiled at this. "Who are you?"
"Anna. Anna Greene," she answered calmly then adding an extra bit. "And yes, that's my real name."
The Doctor seemed to be slightly amused by this and asked "Do people normally think that's not your real name?"
"Yeah. For some reason Anna Greene sounds like a made-up name. I mean I get it but it'd really annoying at times." She shrugged. "Oh well. You win some and you lose some. Don't tell my teacher though. He'd flip out at my attitude." She giggled. "He's really silly but he's also really smart. What's your name?"
The Doctor introduced himself and then asked, "Why'd you get me coffee? I don't even know you."
"Because you looked really sad and I hate seeing people sad." She confessed, looking down at her cup. "But back to you. What do you mean 'Doctor'? Doctor what?"
The Doctor grinned at her. "Most people say who. You know, like Doctor who."
Anna scrunched up her nose at this fact. "That sounds stupid and boring. It also sounds like the name of a show. Like, I love that show on the telly. It's called Doctor Who!" Anna rolled her eyes. "At least that's how the kids at my school would do."
"And how would you react?" the Doctor questioned, interested in her attitude toward her peers.
"I probably wouldn't care unless it was good. I only like good, interesting shows. Everything else is a waste of time." She replied matter-of-factly, crossing her arms so her light chocolate waves danced down her back.
"What kind of shows are interesting to you?" the Doctor was very curious about this girl who bought him coffee. She did what most people wouldn't and that alone was enough to spark interest. The fact that she was able to correctly guess what kind of coffee he liked based on how he looked just added to the initial spark.
Anna seemed slightly flustered by his questioned and responded likewise. "I don't know. Good shows, I guess. I mean, who really cares? It's just tele. I prefer books."
"If you like books I have a few I could recommend." The Doctor started to say and before either of them realized it the two began to start a conversation that would last over two hours before Anna's phone beeped and she checked the time.
"We spent two hours talking? Wow, I guess it was a good conversation." She gave a laugh and looked at the Doctor grinning. "I should probably head back now."
The Doctor froze and began to feel an uprising taking place inside him.
Show her the Tardis! She'd love it! Part of him encouraged.
But then she'll come with you and just remind you of the Ponds. The pessimistic part of him pushed the idea down.
But then you could go traveling and she could help you. Like Donna! The optimistic part of him argued.
Remember what happened to her?
"Doctor?"
The Doctor shook himself out of his thoughts and peered at her. Anna looked slightly worried, her eyes wide and innocent.
"Do you want to see something?" the Doctor asked Anna, giving her a smile.
"Sure!"
The Tardis was parked in a deserted alley and at that moment the Doctor felt a wave of guilt pass through him. She used to be so young but now, like the Doctor, she was old, dirty, and broken. It's funny how he never noticed this before but now having someone new seemed to make him feel uncannily giddy and young, like his old Pre-Angles self.
"Why are we here?" Anna wondered out loud, looking somewhat distressed. Her hands were tucked into her coat pockets and the Doctor noticed how she was no longer smiling and in a relaxed state but now frowning in a defensive position. He wasn't completely surprised; after all you'd be on your guard if a stranger who you knew for only two hours wanted to show you something down in an alley.
"Cause I want to show you her!" the Doctor beamed and gestured toward the Tardis while Anna gave him a puzzled look.
"It's a box. A blue, old box." She replied in a bored voice.
"It's more than a box," he explained as he struggled with the key. "A box that doesn't seem to like me right now."
"Okay, I'm really beginning to question your sanity." Anna leaned against the Tardis and raised her eyebrows. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal?" the Doctor gasped. "She's a big deal! Come and see!" he swung the doors open and leaped inside.
The Tardis' interior that use to be bright and homey was now dark and mechanical. Her console glowered and the Doctor proceeded to parade around like a child, beaming.
Anna, who was still outside, shouted to the Doctor, "I'm not going in there. It's a bit too tiny for me." She said the word tiny as if it was a personal offense and awaited the Doctor's reply.
"That's what you think!"
Intrigued, Anna gave into her curiosity and stepped inside. The Doctor stood at the console, beaming like a child on Christmas morning. Anna gasped and stumbled out the door at the Tardis' hidden size. She tripped over her feet and found herself sprawled on the ground forced to stare up at the impossible box.
She quickly leaped up and began to pace around the perimeter of the Tardis taking it all in. Anna then did the unexpected and clutched her phone from her pocket and began to take pictures of the exterior. After a few laps around the Tardis she snuck back inside where the Doctor still stood, patiently waiting for the overused expression.
"It's…it's," Anna stammered, holding onto her phone for dear life. "Bigger on the inside. It's impossibly bigger on the inside."
"She's called the Tardis. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. T.A.R.D.I.S. She's a spaceship." The Doctor was grinning a toothy grin now and was prancing around the console. "And she's mine."
Anna was silent and still for a second before rapidly running around the inside of the Tardis, her shoes clicking on the metal floor. She ran her hands on all that she could and continued to do so for a good few minutes before pausing and saying. "So she travels through time and space, right? I mean, you did say Time And Relative Dimensions In Space and you said spaceship. So I'm right." She ended it with a smirk and a flip of her hair.
"Yes, you're absolutely right." The Doctor loved this part.
"But why did you show me this?" she saw the look the Doctor shot her and added, "Or, I guess, her."
"I want to take you somewhere. You bought me coffee so I figured I owe you." He answered calmly and collectively, as if it was no big deal.
Anna just stared at him, dumbstruck "I bought you coffee that was no more than a few dollars and you repay me by offering to take me anywhere in time-"
"And space," The Doctor added, earning a glare from Anna.
"I was about to say that. So you'll take me anywhere I want to go?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes." He answered bluntly.
"Good god, I should really buy strangers coffee more." She laughed. "How about…1893?"
The Doctor lunged toward the controls and gave her a loopy smile. "Perfect!" And off they went.
So what'd you guys think? I would love some feedback! Thanks!