"What you doing up there?" A young girl called up to the Doctor in somewhat of a disbelieving tone.
What was he doing? He'd started to rescue an escaped balloon that had got snagged in a tree for a very distraught child - only to find himself stuck when a small army of branches broke and snapped just as he reached the escapee. His less-than-entirely secure purchase was far higher than he'd intended to climb, and jumping down was completely out of the question. Big ears or not, he was doubtful of their flight capabilities.
"Just enjoying the view," he replied in a mock casual tone.
"Well, I'll leave you to it then," she said with a smirk. "Artie rushed in and told me someone in the front yard needed rescuing, but guess he was wrong."
"Things might look rather nice at ground level, too," he called quickly.
She grinned cheekily. "Hang on then, I'll see what I can do."
Hang on? What else was he supposed to do? How old was she – 15? 16? Not that old.
She returned carrying a ladder rather awkwardly – goodness she was a tiny thing – and the boy from before was tailing after her, struggling on short legs with a long coil of fibrous rope.
"So what were you doing before you stopped to enjoy the view of suburban London?" The teen called up as she got closer.
"Rescue mission," he grinned widely, giving the balloon string a few gentle tugs so it bobbed up and down. "Someone was very upset to have lost this, and I stopped to help."
The boy – Artie was it? – nodded bashfully. "It's for my sister. It's her favourite colour and it's almost her birthday and she's turning eight!"
"I'm sure she is going to love it," the girl told him kindly, before relieving him of the rope and setting it next to the tree. Then she set about raising the ladder.
"That isn't going to reach me."
"I know, but it isn't meant to," she told him matter-of-factly as she propped the ladder against the tree with a metallic clang.
She put the rope over her head and across her chest, before scurrying up the ladder, which was just high enough to get her short frame up to the lower branches.
"Careful!" He was helpless to do anything, of course, but he was suddenly overcome with a protective feeling - momentarily startling him. It swelled up somewhere between the beats of his two hearts, tinged with more than just a concern for his would-be-rescuer's safety.
"I'm a lot smaller than you - the branches should hold."
"Yep, I noticed. But that means your arms are shorter, so you don't have the same reach either," he cautioned.
When she had finally reached just a few feet below him, she stopped and propped herself into a sitting position. "Catch!" She called, untying the end of the coil and tossing him an end.
He looked at the thin rope questioningly as it landed on one of his supportive branches.
"It'll be plenty strong! I look after Angie and Artie on Tuesdays when their parents go climbing together. This is one of their belaying ropes."
He wasn't convinced. "I don't suppose they're built like Jagrafesses, then?"
The girl didn't appear fazed by the term. "I dunno what that is, but you're really not that big. You're way skinnier than them."
The Doctor made a grab for the rope, grasping it gingerly. "Hey, the bodies choose me! Do you think I asked for these ears?"
"You could always try flapping them and see if you fly instead." The girl smirked at him. "Or you can trust I know what I'm talking about and use the rope."
"Well then, our safety…" he gave the balloon another little swoosh, "is in your hands then," he conceded.
Fixing the rope in a knot around the trunk was difficult with one hand – especially when such a precious commodity was in his care - but soon he managed it and was carefully finding his way down to the ground again. When his feet hit the earth, he gave a little triumphant cheer. Artie rushed over to him, all smiles, and he knelt to pass off that big red balloon to him.
"Mind this one, seems to like to cause trouble. You might want to warn your sister not to take her eyes off it in case it pulls another runner." He told the boy with a lopsided grin. Artie nodded, before shrieking and pointing to the tree. The Doctor spun around to see the girl losing her balance from where she had reached to untie his knot. He lunged forward just in time, catching her before she hit the ground as the rope fell around them. Cradling her close to his chest, he wondered how she had managed to fall clear of the branches. Perhaps every once in a while, the universe could actually be kind.
"What happened to careful?" He asked gently.
"Sorry," she muttered.
He put her down carefully, making sure she had fully regained her balance before letting her stand on her own.
"Artie? Where'd you two get off to? I need a hand here!" A man's voice called from around back of the house.
"Thanks, mister!" Artie called to the Doctor before scampering away.
"I should probably go, too." The girl said, though her eyes lingered on him and she showed no sign of being in a hurry to leave.
"I'd better get back to work," he told her with a tinge of reluctance. "One quick question before I go though if that's alright?"
"Okay."
"Any idea where I might find a lot of plastic? Like things made of plastic."
"Um..." She thought for a moment, looking away from him and biting her bottom lip in concentration. "Henrik's department store has a ton of plastic dummies, and there's loads at Queen's Arcade Mall, too. Mum and I went into town earlier to pick up party supplies there, though we might have to go back later 'cause we forgot some stuff. And I dunno…there seemed to be even more around than usual. A lot of them didn't even have clothes on. They were just kind of... there, almost like they lined up on their own."
"You noticed that?"
She shrugged. "Most people would, I think. They looked odd."
He shook his head.
"I doubt most people would have noticed that - give yourself some credit now. And thank you. That'll give me somewhere to start then."
"Start what?"
"My investigation."
"A detective took time to climb a tree to fetch a balloon?"
"And a young girl took the time to rescue him when he got stuck."
She grinned, and he felt that surge of caring again. "I hope you find what you need."
"I hope you do, too. You certainly deserve it," he told her genuinely. She seemed a little surprised by that, but smiled again before turning on her heel and strutting back towards the house, no worse the wear for having just narrowly avoided such a fall.
The Doctor watched her for a moment, shaking his head. I could've asked her what her name was, he thought, almost ruefully. "Next time," he muttered to himself. "Next time I meet a girl like that, I'll ask her name." Then he rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath.
"Alright then, let's see what kind of trouble I can find…"
A/N: Many thanks to DVeleniet for the betaing, and to e1evenc1ara for the shared interest in having more stories with Clara and Nine.