Doctor Who © BBC

A/N This going to be an AU from just after Journey's End where Ten meets Amy before he meets his fate and then series 5 will probably end up a pretty big AU, I dunno haven't planned that far a head yet.

Which reminds me! I would appreciate the help of a beta reader, or even just someone to bounce off ideas with cause I'm the only Doctor Who fan I know, which is a shame, so any help would be great!

.o0o.

Chapter 1

Amelia Pond didn't like being left alone, it wasn't a nice feeling, even at the age of seven she knew it wasn't a nice feeling but sadly… it was a feeling she knew all too well. Amelia was left alone on a regular basis by her auntie in their large house on the edge of town, sometimes she would leave Amelia for a few hours, other times, days and Amelia didn't like it. She wasn't scared of being alone, not in the slightest, she didn't get scared, however, the sad feeling that she got when she was left alone that she didn't like.

Going to stay at friend or relative's house is the thing that kids normally do when their guardian is away for work or any other reason, but not for Amelia, she didn't have any relatives other than her auntie, not even parents – something she herself thought was strange – and as for friends… well Amelia hasn't had a friend for as long as she can remember. None of the other kids in her class wanted to be her friend, even to the point of outright avoiding her, though, there was one boy, he was really weird, he would say 'hello' every day to her in school but then would turn bright red and run off. She honestly didn't know how to react around him. And so, she was left alone in her big house with no one for company but herself.

Amelia hated it, she hated being alone, she hated the sad feeling that welled up in her chest when she was by herself. All she wanted was a friend to and take her away from her loneliness, was that too much that too much to ask for? No matter how hard she tried, Amelia could never make a friend, or at least a friend that lasted more than a day.

And to make everything worse, there was a crack in her wall…

Auntie Sharon had told her that it was just a normal crack, nothing more and nothing less. But that didn't explain the draft that came from the crack or the voices. Amelia wasn't scared of the crack, no not in the slightest.

She was terrified.

She didn't know why but the voices scared her more than anything else out there, just repeating the same thing over and over again, every single night and they sounded so inhuman and it terrified her. Made worse by the fact she had no one to turn to, her aunt had just dismissed the claim as something small, she had no friends to at least tell about it and she had even prayed to god, like her aunt told her to do whenever she was feeling particularly lonely or scared… but that was weeks ago.

So here she was, Amelia Pond, aged seven years old, about to talk to the only grown-up who had never let her down, not even once.

"Dear Santa." She began, kneeling beside her bed, her hands pressed together in the 'praying' position, "Thank you for all the pencils, the fishes and books, it's Easter now so I hope it didn't wake you but it's kind of urgent…" she paused and took a breath, "There's a crack in my wall, auntie Sharon says it's just a normal crack, but I know it's not because I can hear voices from it, so I was wondering if you' be able to send someone to fix it, like a policeman or something, I'd be really grateful."

At that moment a very strange noise interrupted her, it was like a mechanical wheeze that grew louder then faded, grew louder again and then there was an almighty crash in her back garden. Dogs barked of in the distance and the hissing sound of smoke echoed through the night.

Amelia could hardly believe it; it couldn't be, could it?

"Be right back!" she shot up from the side of her bed and ran the short distance from her bed to the window.

Lying on its side, there was a big blue, wooden box with bright orange lights shining through the windows near the top. Smoke rolled off of it in thick, heavy plums and the destroyed remnants of the garden shed was strewn all around it on the grass. If she looked really carefully Amelia could see a white panel on the front of the box that clearly read 'Police'.

"Thank you Santa" Amelia whispered, a wide smile spreading across her face. She knew Santa would never let her down.

She quickly grabbed her dressing gown from the back of her bedroom door as well as her trusty torch that she kept sitting on her bedside table and ran as quickly as her legs would carry her, down the stairs, through the kitchen where she reached the back door, she spotted her welly boots and made the quick decision of putting them on (it's never a good idea to go outside at night without wellies).

The little Scot pulled open the door and ran outside with a now almost nervous expression; what if it wasn't there anymore? What if whoever was in there was dangerous? Well, the sound of smoke hissing from the box could still be heard and there was no way Santa would send anyone dangerous.

Running through the old wooden archway that stood between the two tall hedges Amelia felt the excitement raising her chest as the fallen blue box came into view. She slowed down as she drew closer. She shone her torch around the box curiously, trying to see every detail that there was to see about it. Finally reaching the front of the box, Amelia had to crane her neck to see all the over it, thankfully the top end was propped up slightly, making it easier for her to see over it.

"Police telephone box." She read slowly, feeling more and more certain that whoever this was here to help her.

"Hello?" She called out, "Is anyone in there?"

There was silence, even the barking dogs from before had quietened down, now only the sound of a faint whirring noise from the box filled the air. A minute passed, then another and just was Amelia was about to give up and go inside with an expression set in defeat, the doors swung open with a loud bang, smoke rose up into the night sky illuminated by the orange that came from inside.

Amelia stared in awe at the sight, but it was strange, it was just a box… why was there light coming from it? And where was all that smoke coming from? It just wasn't possible was it? Just as she was about to let her curiosity get the better of her and move closer to have a look inside a large metal hook pulling a long rope flew out of the box and latched itself on to the useless old and rusted roller.

The sack on the rope pulled tight and not a minute later a hand appeared and grabbed on to the edge of the box, then another hand and finally a face. A face of a man wearing a manic grin with an assortment of nasty looking cuts and bruises all over. A particularly nasty cut Amy couldn't help but notice spread right across the bridge of his nose from eye to eye. Amelia pointed her torch directly at the man and he squinted slightly in the light. He pulled himself up and over the edge of the box revealing a torn up and raggedy brown suit then hopped down on to the ground.

"Hello!" The man said cheerily, "I'm the Doctor!" and promptly passed out.

The man, the Doctor he called himself, fell to the ground with a loud thud like a sack of potatoes. Amelia jumped back in surprise at him, what was she supposed to do? A man crashed a box in her back garden, climbed out of said box like it was a cliff, introduced himself and then fell unconscious. Was this person really here to help her?

She stood and stared at the unconscious man for a second, torch hanging limply in hand, before she decided to see if she could wake him up so she knelt down beside him and putting her hand on his shoulder, began to shake him gently,

"Mister? Wake up mister, are you alright?" Amelia prodded him more but the most she got from him was a slight wiggle and some mumbling.

Amelia bit her lip, unsure of what to do next; having an unconscious man in her garden was not something that she was familiar with. She stood over the man for a few minutes before an idea hit her.

She ran back inside a quickly as she could. There was one thing that always happened in cartoons when someone was unconscious. Opening the cupboard underneath the kitchen sink, Amelia pulled out the biggest basin she could find and begin filling it with water from the sink.

.o0o.

With a resounding splash, the water poured out of the basin and on to the unconscious Doctor, soaking him through.

The reaction was instant

"Ah! Dammit that is cold!" He yelled as he sat up coughing and spluttering, "What on earth was that for?" he stared down at the little girl with the now empty basin in her hands.

"You passed out mister," She said with a thick Scottish accent, "You wouldn't wake up so I poured some water over you."

"Well you shouldn't ha- you got that from cartoons didn't you?" Amelia nodded, "Okay, fair enough, you're, what, seven, eight years old?" he asked.

"I'm seven"

The Doctor broke out into a massive grin, "Alright, I can see why you did it." He shook his head like a dog getting some of the loose water out of his hair, "Do you mind if we go inside, I need a towel or I'll catch my death of cold." he ran his hand through his hair rubbed it on her sleeve is if to prove a point.

Amelia looked at the Doctor as if he had grown a second head as he began to march off towards her house,

"Are you always like this?" she asks as they walk.

"Like what?"

"So rude?"

"Yep, never been ginger though," he said, a huge grin spreading across his face like he was sharing some inside joke, "Hope this next one is ginger, it'll be soon and I hope he, or she, is ginger, for my sake. Come to think of it, there's never been a woman either."

Amelia just stared at him.

The Doctor opened the back door of the house into the kitchen with Amelia only a few steps behind. He asked for directions to where the towels were kept and then rushed off to collect one.

Amelia sat at the kitchen table patiently waiting for the Doctor to return. She was confused by the man; he had so much energy yet looked like he was drop at any second with all those cuts and bruises and talked at a hundred miles an hour. But despite all of this Amelia couldn't help but be fascinated by the man, like what was that box outside? Why did he have to use a rope to pull himself up and out of it? Surely it wasn't so big that he was unable to stand up in it.

"Judging by that look on your face you have some questions for me."

Amelia looked up to see the Doctor standing in the door way of the kitchen drying his hair with a fluffy pink towel. He plopped down at the table with a cocky grin,

"Well come on, don't just sit there staring at me like some kind of slapped chicken." He said cheerily, "Ask away! A curious little seven year old like yourself has got to have some questions they want to ask me, a guy who has literally dropped out of the sky into her back garden, barged into their house and is now using someone's favourite towel."

He wasn't wrong. There were hundreds of questions whizzing around in Amelia's head that she almost didn't know where to begin!

Almost.

"Who are you?" she asked simply.

"Bit of a dull one isn't it?" the Doctor replied looking a little disappointed, "I told you already, I'm the Doctor!"

"Okay then, what's that big blue box outside? And why did you need a rope to climb out of it?"

The Doctor grinned almost manically, "Now that's a question! Her name is the TARDIS and she's my spaceship, the greatest spaceship I might add" he declared proudly, dropping the now wet towel onto the table in front of him.

"You have a spaceship?" Amelia asked looking incredulous.

"Of course I do!" The Doctor exclaimed sounding indignant, "How else would I be able to get here to help you?"

Amelia's eyes widened, "Are you really here to help? How did you know?" She almost stood up in her chair with excitement.

With a mischievous grin the Doctor winked at her "Of course I am, a lovely little girl like you, how could I refuse? As for how I know," He leaned forward over the table, "Let's just say a good friend of mine told me."

The little red head smiled happily, she needed to get Santa extra cookies and milk for Christmas.

"Now, as for why I needed that rope to get out, well, I was in the library and I needed to get out so how."

"There's a library in there!?" Things were just getting more and more unbelievable.

"Yep, a swimming pool too, though I haven't seen it in ages, it keeps changing place and I can never keep up with it." He looked extremely put out by that thought, "I tell you what, after we're done here, how about I take you with me, how does that sound, eh?"

Amelia's eye widened like saucers, "Wait you mean you'll take me out into space with you?"

The Doctor shrugged, "I don't see why not, just for a little trip though."

"I'd have to ask Aunt Sharon." The young Scot could barely believe this.

"No need, I can have you back five minutes before you left cause the TARDIS can also travel in time, did I mention that?" and with that he shot up from his seat and turned to head out into the hallway, "Now, back to business, what is it that you need help with?"

Jarred by his sudden change in subject, Amelia had to pause for a second before replying, "There's a crack in my wall and there are voices coming from it. I kept telling Aunt Sharon but she has never believed me." She got up from her chair to follow the Doctor through the house.

The Doctor began hopping up the stairs two at a time with Amelia struggling to keep up, "Oh really" there was a slight tone of concern in his voice, "Have you been able to make out anything they have been saying?"

"Not much, it just sounds like noise like a bunch of people talking at once but..." Amelia trailed off.

The Doctor stopped at the top of the stairs looking back down at her, "But what?"

"I keep hearing someone say something, but it's always when I'm not listening but when I do, it can't hear it." Amelia said looking more than a little uncertain.

A dark shadow crossed the Doctor's expression, "Come on, let's get this sorted!"

He rushed off into Amelia's bedroom pulling a small silver-y device from his pocket. The Doctor spotted the offending crack on the girl's wall and immediately every cell in his body felt sick at the sight of it. He never doubted Amelia's words, not for a second but this crack scared him, no matter how many times he saw it, it scared him.

The little Scot walked through the door behind him and seeing the wary look on his face, "What? How bad is it?" she inquired quietly.

The Doctor turned to her suddenly looking more chipper, "You got yourself a nasty little one here, I'll tell you that! But it's nothing a sonic screwdriver can't fix." he flipped said item in his hand with a cocky grin.

Moving over to the crack the Time Lord pulled out a pair of badly beaten and scratched glasses from the inside pocket of his blazer and placed them on the end of his nose. He made some thoughtful noises while he ran his fingers along the crack and tapped each side of the crack before finally jumping back from the wall.

"Well? Can you fix it?" Amelia looked up at him eagerly.

The Doctor looked back at her slightly offended, "Of course I can fix it! I'm brilliant!"

"I thought you were the Doctor?"

"Did you just- never mind, point is I'm going to close that crack, now stand back!" The Doctor ushered Amelia away from the wall, almost out the door and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the crack and turned it on.

"Here we go! Good luck!"

The crack pulled itself open wider and wider in response to the screwdriver revealing a beautiful sight of gold, red and orange lights all swirling around each other like a magnificent dance, but with all the lights came the sound, the sound of hundreds if not thousands of voices talking, whispering and yelling over each other all at once. But despite this, there was one voice that sounded clearer, more defined than the others, what it was actually saying was still lost in the cacophony of noise, and it wasn't coming from the crack...

Suddenly, the screwdriver's hold on the crack gave way and it slammed shut disappearing completely from the wall and all was silent again.

The Doctor put away his screw driver with a satisfied grin, "And voila, the crack is gone! Just like magic."

Amelia just stared, she seemed to be doing that a lot, between the Doctor and the now crackless wall in amazement "Is it gone now?" she asked quietly, "Like gone gone?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yup," he replied popping the 'p', "Gone, vanished, never to be seen again… I think." he muttered that last part almost inaudibly.

"What was that?" she asked

Without any warning there was an enormous bang, loud and powerful enough that it shook the glass in the bedroom window, followed by the loud mechanical wheezing noise only this time it sounded weak, almost sick. The Doctor's expression morphed into one of horror,

"No no no no no no no! Not now!" He yelled darting for the door almost shoving little Amelia out of the way and sprinted down the stairs.

Said Scots-girl once again confused, and slightly worried at his quick change of mood, whatever had happened wasn't good.

Amelia chased after him out of the house and into the garden where his spaceship was laying. When she caught up to the Doctor was pulling the grappling hook he'd used to climb out of the TARDIS off the old roller and threw it back into the blue box then finally climbing up onto the side poised to jump back in.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

The Doctor smiled down at her a mournfully, "My time's up here, I gotta go, I got a friend I need to get back to and adventures to go on."

Amelia looked down at the ground completely disheartened "Oh..."

"Hey, don't look so glum! I'll be back! I promise you, I'll be back for you!" he swore, "I don't know when or where, but I'll see you again, pinky promise" he bent down from the box and held out his pinky for her to shake.

She looked at him for several seconds as if trying to judge whether he lying to her, if he was just going to be like everyone else and abandon her but the sincerity in his eyes and the shear commitment in his voice told her that he could be trusted.

Amelia Pond, aged seven, wrapped her pinky around his and they shook, sealing the deal.

"Atta girl." he said getting back into position on the box's edge and with one last look over his should, the Doctor gave Amelia a small wink and said,

"Allonz-y!" And leaped into the TARDIS with a loud splash following several seconds later.

And with that the big, bright blue police box faded from sight...

Okay chapter One done... at last.

Anyways, review and tell me what you think!