Familiar Stranger
Summary: The Eleventh Doctor is exhausted from a long journey by himself. His Tardis takes him someplace that gives him solace. There, he has a chance encounter with someone he's missed for a long time. Doctor & Donna. One Shot.
Notes: This takes place before the start of season 6. Amy and Rory are staying at home and the Doctor is travelling alone. I thought this fit nicely. This is a story I've had in my head for over a year and barely had inspiration to write it now. Please enjoy!
He was exhausted. He needed a break. Too much excitement. Sighing, he cranked the wheel, turned this knob and that switch, then spun around pressing random buttons. He looked up at the screen of the Tardis.
"You decide this time old gal. Where do you think I should go?" The Doctor asked his Tardis, not expecting an answer back. A few moments later, the machine made strange noises. A smirk spread across the Doctor's face.
The Tardis sped up and threw itself into the Time Vortex, knowing exactly where and when it was going. In no time at all, the Tardis materialized in a park. The blue doors opened and the Doctor stepped out, feeling something wet inside his boots. Unfortunately, his Tardis found it amusing to land in the fountain. The Doctor chuckled and closed the door behind him.
A man noticed him getting out of the fountain, but didn't investigate further. What a nutter, he thought.
The Doctor walked along the concrete path, hands in his jacket pockets. His mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts, various things fading in and out like the wind. Where could he get another jammy dodger? He wanted fish fingers. The total equvialent mass of a Snood in comparison to a violin.
He reached the enterance of the park where it cut off into the shopping district. The Time Lord was curious to know what time he was in, as he already knew the Tardis had taken him to his favorite planet: Earth. He chose a path along the left side of the street and started off in that direction. He passed by shop after shop, barely noticing the people inside. Something was tugging at him, but he couldn't push the feeling aside. After a while of going north, he stopped to observe a newspaper near a stand.
"The Times, September 8, 2011," he read aloud. That was all the Doctor needed to know before continuing on, going nowhere and everywhere. He smiled, lost in his thoughts.
The Tardis knew exactly how to cheer him up. Many people were on the streets, some were walking right next to the Doctor, others were behind him or in front of him. The people on the other side passed him by one after the other. The Doctor wasn't paying attention to anyone in particular. He continued walking ahead, his pace quickening. At that moment, a person's arm briefly brushed up against his left jacket sleeve at a fast pace, then going on ahead of him. A strange sensation filled his body.
The Doctor's brown eyes narrowed and searched ahead to see who it was. He saw something ginger moving quickly towards a hat shop. The Time Lord's two hearts began to beat quicker against his chest. He knew he shouldn't; he knew he would. Curiosity getting the best of him, he casually made his way to the same hat shop and looked inside the window. His two hearts skipped a beat when his eyes wandered to the person's face. The woman had long ginger hair and she was chatting to a sales person, checking out a few hats.
His heart-rate increased as he fought with himself about going inside. Although he had a new face and she would not recognize him, he thought it to be risky to approach her, or even be near her. His hearts ached with pain as he watched her, but he gave into something he knew he shouldn't do. A long time ago and so far away, this woman was his friend, his best friend. He had some of the craziest of adventures with her then. These memories almost seemed dreamlike to him since it was such a long time ago. There was a longing to see how she was doing, to see if she was happy, and just be by her side for just one more moment.
The Doctor observed his reflection in the shop window. He adjusted his jacket and ran his hand through his unkempt hair, then casually walked into the hat shop. The ginger woman was looking at herself in the mirror with a hat on her head, talking to herself. The Doctor approached her, but turned to the sales woman at the counter. He placed his right elbow on the counter with a determined look in his eyes, gazing at her.
"I'm looking for a fez. Preferrably red with a dangly tassle. Do you carry them?" He asked, fiddling inside his jacket pockets for something with his left hand.
The ginger woman turned away from the mirror, her eyes glancing at the tall man. She approached him, a bemused grin across her face.
"Why on Earth would you want a fez?" She laughed. Of course she had to chime in! This bloke was strange.
The Doctor spun around on his heel and gazed into her green eyes, their bodies inches away from each other. The ginger-haired woman shivered slightly from his stare. He grinned tenaciously.
"I like fezzes. Fezzes are cool," he said proudly, adjusting his bowtie.
Still staring into her eyes, memories flooded back to him of a past life; a past full of adventure, happiness, sadness and guilt. He fiddled with his bowtie in frustration again, something he did when he was nervous. The woman standing in front of the Doctor looked at his face, seeing a hint of sadness in his eyes., but couldn't understand why and thought best to push it aside
"I'm sorry sir, we don't carry fezzes here." The sales woman replied moments later, breaking the connection between the Doctor and the woman.
"Well of course you don't, this shop is for lovely and brilliant hats!" the woman said loudly, approaching the counter. She shook off the feeling the bowtied man gave her.
"I'll take this hat, it's one I can't put down!" she said excitedly. The woman turned her body to face to the Doctor whose back was facing her. "I'm sure you can find a fez... let me think." She looked up at the ceiling deep in thought. "You know, I think they sell funny hats and things a few blocks down the road there. The shop is called Party Fun & Trinkets. Perhaps they have something?"
She quickly grabbed her purse, took out her pocket book, and removed a credit card, facing the sales woman again with a smile. The Doctor inched closer to her until he was a few inches beside her.
"Thank you, Donna Noble. You're really too kind." The Doctor locked his eyes onto her face, fingering a button on his jacket. Donna looked up at the sound of her name, but the man had all but disappeared.
Donna thanked the sales woman for her time and for the hat, then stepped outside the shop. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk to put her pocket book away. Standing about a foot away from her, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest, stood the Doctor wearing a red fez. Donna was messing with her bag, frantically trying to zip it shut.
"Oi, it's you!" She approached him, pointing her index finger, seeing the fez on his head which made his brown hair stick out a little. He looked rather silly with it on. There was a silence between them that seemed to last for eons. Her breathing increased slightly at the strange familiarity this man gave her. How could he? He was a stranger she had never met.
The slience was broken when she spoke, her voice filled with questioning.
"How did you know my name?" She hesitated before continuing, "I never told it to you." The Doctor closed his eyes, a mischievous grin on his face. He knew the answer to that question.
"Donna!" An elderly man called out from the crowd. Donna turned around, recognizing the voice.
"Oh grandad, you found me!" She said, mildly sad that he found her so quickly. She had hoped he wouldn't find her so soon.
"Why did you run off like that love?" He saw the hat box in her arms. "Oh I see, you wanted to buy another hat didn't you? You got about 25 of them at home!" He sighed shaking his head in amusement at his granddaughter. They both laughed happily in unison.
Quickly, Donna turned around again, hoping the man in the jacket was still there. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she noticed he was gone again.
"What are you looking at sweetheart?" Her grandfather asked quizzically.
"Nothing... just an unusual bloke I talked to in the hat shop." She answered uncertainly, her eyes still searching.
Her grandfather looked ahead of Donna. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone slipping away in the shadows of the alley, but never got a good look at them. He could have sworn he heard a familiar sound in the distance moments later. He shook his head. It couldn't be...must be getting old, he thought.