A/N: This is a short scene that I've been toying with for awhile. I thought it would be interesting to see how the Doctor would react to a furry friend in his TARDIS! Any reviews would be lovely~ I do not own the Doctor, or Donna, or the TARDIS, or anything cool. I do own Riley, though, and the chaos that unfolds in this story.

"No, Donna," The Doctor said, his arms crossed. "Just—no."

"Oh, come on, Doctor," Donna complained. "Stop being such a…such a…"

"Such a what?"

"Such a spaceman," Donna replied after a moment of hesitation. "Yeah, that's right. Stop being such a spaceman."

"And what exactly is a 'spaceman'?" He asked, slightly amused. Secretly, he was glad to have someone to joke around with, and no one joked around quite like Donna.

She had to think about this for a moment before answering. "You are," She answered finally, as if that explained anything.

"Oh yeahhhhhhh… well, I'm proud to be a spaceman."

"I don't know why—"

"Meow!" The cat the Donna was holding made itself heard. It squirmed around a bit in her arms, trying to find a more comfortable position. Even when it found a more comfortable position, it did not look happy; the Doctor could tell this just by the way it held its eyes.

"Donna, bring that cat back outside," The Doctor said, keeping a wary eye on the cat. "Can't you see it doesn't look happy? It was probably happier back outside where it belongs."

"Actually, she was dying to get inside," Donna pointed out. "Didn't you hear her? She was meowing, and meowing, and meow—"

"Wait," The Doctor interrupted. "She? How do you know it's a she? It could be a he for all you know."

"It's a she," Donna said simply. "I can just tell, that's all." As soon as she said that the cat squirmed more in her arms. Finally the cat jumped down, scratching poor Donna's arms in the process. It landed gracefully on the floor and padded toward the Doctor, leaving Donna holding her arms in pain.

The Doctor just laughed at her.

"Yup, definitely the cat's definitely a she," The Doctor decided. "Only a girl would be quite so temperamental." The cat started to rub against the Doctor's legs, begging to be patted. Once she started to purr ever so softly, the Doctor could not resist. He bent over and started to pet its white fur.

"She certainly likes you," Donna pointed out, slightly jealous that the cat liked the Doctor more than it liked her. "You've always been a lady's man, haven't you Doctor?" After a few moments of being pet, Riley decided that she wanted a belly rub, so she plopped herself on the floor, right on the Doctor's shoes. Instead of doing what the cat wanted, bent over even more and picked her up right off of the ground and cradled her in his arms. The cat only purred louder.

"Oh, shut up," The Doctor said, still petting the cat.

"So can we keep her?" Donna asked, looking hopeful. "Pretty please?"

The Doctor, still petting the cat, hesitated for the moment. Finally he sighed and said "What are we going to name her?"

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Donna practically squealed. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at her childlike reaction, happy that he could make her happy. "I was thinking that we could name her Rose."

The words that she said cut through the air like a knife, going straight to the Doctor's heart. The smile was completely wiped of his face, and the levity in the air was suddenly gone. A heavy silence came over them, and Donna knew instantly that she said something wrong. A long moment passed and the Doctor spoke, quietly and full of emotion. "No. Absolutely not. We're not-we're not naming her Rose." He didn't even look up, but Donna knew that some dark emotion showed in his eyes; if only she knew which one.

Donna thought for a moment questioning him about the name, to try to shed some light on his past. But if his reaction was so negative at the mention of a name, what would it be like to question him about the person who that named belonged to? The moment passed and she thought better of it. If he wanted to talk, then he would. "Okay, so Rose is definitely out of the question. Do you have any better suggestions, Doctor?"

The levity that was in the air returned, only now there was a shadow cast on the mood. The Doctor returned to petting the cat, and the cat continued to purr. "I was actually thinking that we could name her Riley."

"Riley?" Donna asked, incredulous. "That's a rubbish name! A dogs name for crying out loud!"

"Oi!" The Doctor exclaimed. "I like that name! And unless you have a better name, I wouldn't be talking!"

Donna decided not to argue, let him have this one little victory. Perhaps it would get him in a better mood after the 'Rose' incident. "Fine, Riley it is." She said.

"Hello, Riley," The Doctor said, smiling brightly. "Welcome to your new home."

With that, Riley leapt out of the Doctor's hands and landed on the controls, setting the TARDIS in motion. Both the Doctor and Donna fell over.

"Come here, you!" The Doctor said, trying to grab Riley. She just leapt off of the controls then sprinted deeper into the TARDIS. "I'm so going to kill that cat!" The Doctor started chasing after Riley with Donna following after him.

I know, the ending is rubbish, and I have to work on it. Any suggestions at all would be lovely~