Note: Co-written with The Doctor's Charlene (charlenetyler-theprotector on Tumblr). Charlene Tyler is an OC from her DW fanfiction series Charlene, Charlene Who?. The Doctor in that series is, obviously, not Teine (my muse).

Full summary: The Doctor runs into a woman named Charlene Tyler who claims to be his current companion. Trouble is, he's never seen her before and has no recollection of her traveling with him.

But since she's trapped in his universe until the walls between universes open up again and she can go back home, it seems as though he's stuck with her.

Not What It Seems

"Doctor! What's the matter with you?!"

"There's nothing wrong with me," he snarled instantly before whirling around to face the source of the voice. Then he frowned, backed away as he came face to face with a blonde woman. "How do you know me? Cos I don't know you."

Charlene's anger faded at his question and she looked at him, startled. "What are you talking about? Of course you do. It's Charlene." She slowly stepped closer to him, her eyes peering into his.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "I'd remember meeting you or traveling with you, and I don't. So: Who are you to me?"

He didn't know who she was and that broke her hearts.

"I'm Charlene Tyler, your companion," Charlene answered quietly. If he didn't know her, she couldn't say anything more than that.

He barked out a laugh, but there was no humor in it. "Yeah, the last time I met someone who knew me and I had no idea who they were, she ended up killing herself to save me without even giving me a straight answer as to who she was. The only thing she would say was 'Spoilers' and that she was very important to my future self. She also knew my name. Still don't know how she could ever have found that out." The Doctor stopped, studied Charlene for a long moment. "You're not planning on doing that are you? Dying, I mean."

Charlene couldn't help it. She laughed. "No, I'm definitely not planning on dying…" she told him. "Could happen though…but I would just regenerate anyway." The last sentence slipped out of her mouth without really thinking about it.

He just stared at her for a long moment. "…What," he said flatly.

Charlene stiffened, realizing what she said. "Err…nothing…" she offered weakly.

"No. That wasn't nothing." He stepped closer—too close—and stopped when he sensed… something in the back of his mind. "You're a Time Lady," he realized, taking a step back before moving to his right—circling around her. "How? How did you—?" Survive the Time War, he wanted to say, but the words died before he could say them.

He didn't have to say it. She knew what she meant. "I don't know…" Charlene admitted softly. "I don't remember much about how I survived. All I remember is a man. I didn't know who he was, but he knew who I was. I think he had something to do with it. I didn't know that I was a Time Lady until much later…I thought that I was just a human and I grew up with Jackie and Rose Tyler…"

Dark brown eyes hardened, flashed with cold fury. "That's funny, because I don't remember you being around when I was traveling with Rose. Even if you'd used a Chameleon Arch to turn yourself human, I would have seen you around the Powell Estate."

"Well, I'm not lying if that's what you're thinking," Charlene said, shaking her head a bit. "I'm not. I did grow up with them. I have no idea what's going on just like you don't…"

The Doctor had continued his slow circle around her, his movements silent, almost predatory. "Which leaves us with two options. Either my memories or yours have been tampered with—and I hate it when people mess with my mind—or you're from an alternate timeline that somehow crossed into mine. Which is it, do you think?" He was in front of her now, standing still, and studying her with his head slightly tilted to the right and his arms folded over his chest.

Charlene shifted on her feet nervously at the way he was staring at her. It was so unlike the way her Doctor stared at her. There was no love in his gaze whatsoever. So it must be the second one.

"I think it's the second because it makes the most sense," she finally responded, meeting his gaze head on. "And because you don't look at me the same way…"

"And what way would that be? An acquaintance? Companion? Friend?" His gaze sharpened. "Or something more… like a lover?"

Charlene flinched when his gaze hardened and she didn't respond as she glanced away from him.

"Well? Which is it?" He reached out, lightly gripped her chin, and turned her head to face him.

Her heart skipped a beat and she licked her lips. "The last one…" she breathed.

"Hmmm." The Doctor gave her a quick once-over, then released her and stepped back. Something close to amusement glinted in his eyes, then was gone. "Well, whatever you may think, I am not your Doctor. Do you think you'll be able to remember that?"

"Obviously…" Charlene said rather bluntly. It wouldn't be hard to remember that. Him looking at her the way that he was made sure of that.

"Now that that's settled… What made you think something was wrong with me?"

"You're nothing like my Doctor…" she replied softly. "That's why."

"Am I? Good. I wouldn't want to be."

"And why's that?" Charlene wondered out loud.

The Doctor smiled, shook his head. "No. I'm not going to make it that easy for you. You want to find out, do it yourself. But while we're on the subject… what was your Doctor like?"

She didn't know if she wanted to find out. "Kind, energetic, wouldn't shut up to save his life." She chuckled softly. "And so many other wonderful things…"

"And if I told you I was like that once? And it was all a façade? Do you have any idea what I went through in my previous regenerations?" the Doctor snapped

Even as he spoke, he could feel part of his mind trying to reach out to hers. The reflex link connected a Time Lord with the hive-mind of Gallifreyan society and the thousands of Time Lord intelligentsia, could link them to the Matrix. As a renegade, even before Gallifrey was destroyed in the War, he had been denied access to the Matrix almost as often as he'd been granted it. And now that Gallifrey was gone along with the Time Lords and the Matrix…

Immortality had been a lifestyle, not a choice. And now that there was no more Matrix, no more backup biodata… when he ran out of regenerations that would be it.

Except… His eyes narrowed as he looked at Charlene, an idea forming in his mind. How many regenerations did she have left? Would it be possible for him to—?

Abruptly he cut off the thought in case she was listening in, though he doubted she knew much about her own physiology or Time Lord society in general, let alone the Time War and why he'd been forced to end it. Of course, that all depended on what her Doctor had told her. Even so… it had taken him years at the Academy to learn what he did now. It was more than likely she hadn't had that opportunity.

Charlene's gaze softened. "You've told me about Gallifrey if that's what you're talking about…" she said quietly. She did, in fact, feel his mind trying to connect with hers but she didn't let him.

He shook his head, closed off the reflex link. "I'm not just talking about Gallifrey and the Time War. If you've met any of my previous incarnations…" The Doctor let his voice trail away. "Anyway. How did you get here in the first place?"

That was a good question.

"I have no idea," she admitted after a moment.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that; scoffed and turned his head away from her. "That's not an answer. What were you doing when you got pulled into my timeline?"

"I told you, I don't know. All I remember is being with my Doctor one minute, then I found myself, here with you." Her voice sounded a bit frustrated. It was frustrating not knowing how she got here in the first place.

"Some help you are," he muttered sardonically. "Where were you? In the TARDIS? Outside on some planet? What? There wasn't a bright white light or anything, was there?"

"I was in the TARDIS…I know that for sure…" She tried to think if there had been a white light and now that he mentioned it, there was. "Actually, yeah, there was a white light…"

"Okay, so that means one of two choices: a transmat beam, or… No. Maybe? Yes!" Excited now, he spun in a circle on his heel, one hand held palm out in front of him after raking through his already messy hair.

Well, his enthusiasm when he figured things out hadn't changed.

"What?" she asked.

"You were pulled from your timeline into mine, yeah?" The Doctor didn't wait for an affirmative. "Think about it. It's not the first occasion I've met someone who fell through Time—or even a crack in Time. It's how Dalek Caan entered the Time War and saved Davros from the Nightmare Child at the very last possible second, never mind the fact I was there and saw Davros's ship fly into its jaws." He paused for a second, considering. "You haven't run into any blokes in fancy dress and skulls for masks, have you?"

"No…" She frowned. "At least…I don't think I have."

"Good. Keep it that way. But if you do, run like bloody hell." He smiled crookedly, wiggled his fingers in a spooky manner. "Faction Paradox—they're a family affair." The Doctor shrugged, stuck his hands in his pockets. "Y'know—'Bloodline to bloodline, in constant transition. Our pattern, our flesh, and our one restoration. Conception, completion, the will of the city. The Grandfather watch me. The Grandfather know me. Grandfather watch me. Spirits maintain me.' Renegade time-travelling voodoo cult and all that."

Charlene just blinked at him. "Right…" she said slowly.

He dropped all pretense of fooling around, eyed her seriously. "I'm dead serious. I've encountered them before, and they'd just love to get their hands on a Time Lady like you. The Faction recruits from all sorts of lesser races, but they were originally a House on Gallifrey. Their founder was Grandfather Paradox—and you don't want to meet him, never mind the fact he hasn't existed for over two hundred years. They've also got a biodata virus—and it's a right nasty piece of work. It latches onto your biodata, fucks everything up, and forces you to become a servant of Paradox before you ever contracted it." His smile then was more like a quick baring of teeth. "He's never mentioned them to you, has he?"

She was quiet for a moment. "No…never mentioned them before." Then she shook her head. "I'm sure there was a reason why he never told me…"

"Sure—like maybe you don't know him as well as you thought." There was another flash of teeth; his gaze turned predatory. "Don't tell me that never occurred to you. Did you think you were different just because you're one of our own kind?"

Charlene flinched. "No, of course not…" she muttered. "Besides, I wasn't always a Time Lady."

He raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Yeah, neither was I. Nor was Rassilon or the Master or Romana. We had to earn that title. That being said, my eighth incarnation once claimed to be half-human, and I have used the Chameleon Arch to turn human a couple times—but those were under extreme circumstances."

"Yeah I know…" Charlene said as she met his eyes. "I have too…but I don't remember how or why."

The Doctor shrugged. "It's not important now, anyway. Well, not to me. It could be important to you. Just wait. The memories will come back eventually. Trying to push for them could only make it worse."

He turned away from her, started to walk off. "Later, ta."

"Hey, wait!" Charlene called, following after him. "You can't just leave me here!" He might not be her Doctor, but she had nowhere else to go, so she only had one choice. Stay with him. Maybe he could help her get back to her timeline.

"Try me," he snapped, not bothering to look back over his shoulder at her. "Just cos you're a Time Lady doesn't mean I have to help you out."

"Come on, please!" Charlene maneuvered herself in front of him, stopping him in place by putting her hands on his chest. She looked at him pleadingly with her brown eyes that looked so much like Rose's. "You're the only one who can help me, please Doctor."

Cold dark-brown eyes flicked down to where her hands were resting over his hearts; he stepped back, eyes hard as obsidian. "If you're looking for a pity shag, go find someone else. And if you're not… Sorry, but I can't help you." The Doctor stepped around her and continued on his way back to where he'd left his ship. "Until the walls between universes open up again, you're stuck here. Besides… I don't do the saving-planets thing anymore."

Charlene was stubborn though and continued to follow him. "I'm not asking you to save a planet, and you don't have to help me get back, just let me stay with you," she persisted. "Until those walls open up, please."

"I don't do the saving lives gig either." The Doctor stopped when his TARDIS came into view, considered his options, and sighed in exasperation through his nose. It was obvious she wouldn't stop following him around even if he told her to leave, so he might as well let her come with him. "Fine. But only until then and you're going straight back home, got it?"

Charlene sighed to herself in relief. "Thank you!"

On instinct, she stepped towards the TARDIS and went to open the doors. Once her hands touched the surface, Charlene felt a chill. This definitely didn't feel like the TARDIS she knew, which shouldn't have surprised her but it did.

The Doctor entered just after her, shut the doors behind him, and shrugged off his brown coat, tossed it over one of the coral struts.

"Now, don't go getting any ideas," he started as he made his way around the console. "I'm not even looking for a companion in the first place—and try not to fall for me, all right? I've had enough of that from past companions as it is."

Charlene slowly followed after him. She could do the not falling part, as long as she kept the mindset that this wasn't the man she loved, not by a long shot.

"I promise," she said to him. "No falling."

He gave her a long, measuring look over the console. "Good. Make sure you don't. Now…" He turned dials, knobs, pushed buttons, and finally pulled the lever. The central column glowed, started to move up and down as the familiar wheezing and grinding noises of the TARDIS's engines filled the air and they vanished into the Vortex.

"…Next stop, everywhere."