Loneliness. Dark, cold, silent loneliness. The TARDIS is empty now,
save for one. The Doctor, slowly, as if physically in pain,
half-heartedly sets a course for somewhere, anywhere, far away from here
and now. It's always like this. Part of the job, really. At least
it's likely that he'll see some of them again -- though it's never going
to be the same. Jack, Martha, Sarah...Mickey. He regrets he hadn't
given that young man his due a lot earlier. Mickey deserved better, but
there's not much he can do about that now. Besides, they'll all do fine
without him, like they've always done.

Saving worlds always comes at a cost, but this time, more than ever, he
wonders sadly if it was worth it. Perhaps it was, but somehow this time
hurts more than anything. So much more was lost.

The Doctor misses Rose, of course, but he knows without a doubt, that
leaving her was for the best. Surely Rose will grieve for awhile, but
through it all, the Doctor will be with her, even though he won't.

A sad smile crosses his face. He knows his human counterpart won't
allow Rose to mourn for long, and they'll become part of one another,
even more than she was a part of himself. Yes. He'd done right by
Rose. He feels confident of that, and he will move forward -- he must.

But then, he thinks of Donna Noble. The most important woman in the
universe. The super temp from Chiswick, who only wanted to travel with
him forever, and who had no idea how brilliant she was -- and probably
will never know. A cherished friend, for whom he'd go to the ends of
the universe if that was what she wanted, though he hadn't told her
that, and now he never can.

His eyes squeeze shut, and the tears he was holding back now flow freely
down his cheeks. For a moment, he completely breaks down, his entire
being washed in grief. Then, suddenly, it hits him. There is one more
thing he can do to make things right. Eyes open wide, he changes
course, desperately homing in on a whim. Desperately seeking...if it
takes all the time he's got left, he will do this for her.



In an unassuming time and place, an unassuming man tries to pick up the
pieces of his life. So much was lost to him -- too many years had gone
by, and even his one chance at happiness turned out to be an illusion,
or so he thought, until he'd spotted her at the library on that
wonderful, horrible day. He tried to call out to her, but his stammer
got in the way. He's lived with that regret for far too long now. He's
had quite enough, and has the end all planned. But plans can change.
He nearly passes out at the sight of an old style police box just
appearing in the street, nearly knocking him over as he scrambles out of
the way.

After the initial shock, the man is really starting to enjoy being
abducted by aliens. Only one alien, though, and not much of one, at
that. He looks so much like a tall, skinny kid taking his dad's vehicle
out on a joyride...but this was one hell of a vehicle. "Bigger on the
inside!" he said, and that was no lie! Though "John Smith" probably
was, but somehow, that didn't matter. Oh, the questions he'd ask, if
only...

"So...Lee, is it?" The Doctor asks, knowing full well he'd got it
right, but wanting to put him more at ease.

"Y-Y-Yeah. L-L-L-Lee...M-M-McAvoy." Lee wants to ask the Doctor who he
is, why he's come and where they're going, but all he can say is,
"H-H-H-How?"

The Doctor explains quickly, telling Lee as much about how the TARDIS
works as he can in as little time as possible, in terms that a Time Lord
child might understand, yet still too complicated for the average human.
Even so, Lee continues to meet the Doctor's gaze evenly, and only seems
a little taken aback when the Doctor finally says, "Do you remember
Donna Noble?"

The Doctor is sad to leave, though he knows he has to. He's told Lee
everything he'll need to find Donna, carefully warning him never to
mention how exactly he'd got there. Truth be told, even if Lee had
wanted to tell her, his stammer would render any explanation
unintelligible to anyone without the right frame of reference. Donna


will be safe and happy. The Doctor is sure of it. Satisfied he's done
everything possible for Donna, he says a silent goodbye and moves on.

In the local library, Donna Noble searches for books on how to find Mr.
Right. It's not her usual thing, the library, but for some reason, she
feels compelled to go. As she prepares to check out her stack of books,
she bumps right into a man, who is also carrying quite a healthy stack
of books. "Oi! Watch where you're going with those!" Donna shouts, as
both stacks go scattering to the floor. "S-S-S-S- Sorry!" Lee says,
flustered and blushing, clumsily trying to pick up the books. "Oh, hold
on a minute! Let me get some of those!" Donna says, looking at him for
the first time, and rather liking what she sees, introduces herself.
"I'm Donna Noble! Why don't we pop off for a coffee after this, my
treat...you know, to make up for this mess!" Lee smiles, and follows
her out.