Disclaimer: Doctor Who is © copyrighted to BBC and this story is in no way used to make money nor does it receive prophet of any kind.

Authors Note: This fan-fiction is co-written with UnderdogAngel and has been in progress for a month or two at least. It started out as a roleplay on Tumblr and sort of evolved. We hope you enjoy. If you enjoy Doctor Who adventures, and you are a fan of the Tenth Doctor than we hope you enjoy this.

Note: The first part of the story is in first person. Once the characters meet up it will switch to third person. Happy reading.


Prologue


I never noticed. Or maybe I did but chose to forget but… The TARDIS… it's, so very quiet with no one else running about. When I'm not out there on some distant star, just sitting here in my little-big blue box to take time to breathe I find… I find it hauntingly eerie.

Not to say that it's actually dead silence like out there in space. No, no. My sexy blue TARDIS makes all kinds of noises. There's creaks and groans, moans and gurgles. Bubbling and whistling and sometimes a random thump from some distant room… not sure what that is. She sings… but… it's not the same as having another person on board.

I used to be…okay, being by myself. Or maybe not. Maybe I was never okay. Maybe I've just been lying to myself this entire time and only now realized it. THIS is why I don't take breathers. This is why I never stop! THIS! It gives me time to think about these things. These little insignificant things that… that make me miserable.

The TARDIS whispers to me sometimes. In my head. She tries so very hard, silly old girl. She likes it when I call her that. I can tell by the change in the vibrations underneath my feet. I think she knows I'm sad. We're moving now. I don't know where we're going. She's taking me somewhere. This isn't the first time he's done this. But I won't worry to much about it. She's never disappointed me yet.

She's trying to cheer me up. What distracted me in the old days? Surly not what she's suggesting. I was FAR to 'old' and 'stuffy' back then. …Well, maybe…, maybe by that point I wasn't quite as stuffy.

She's intelligent you know. She's so brilliant. Unlike some other TARDISes that I once heard of though, she can't speak physically. Poor girl. She never could quite get that worked out. But that's okay. I love her just the way she is. She's perfect in my eyes, if not a little run down. But even for an old girl, who would have thought her capable of this?

She's playing with me. She's hiding from me. Brilliant! She's hidden the study. My study. Brilliant girl. Wonderful brilliant TARDIS! No one hides better than a TARDIS…but no one finds better than a Doctor!

Now. If I were a sneaky TARDIS, where would I hide the study?


I must admit that my TARDIS is brilliant. She's so, so brilliant. I mean…I JUST found the kitchen again! I've been living off of alien food and that vending machine in the fifth bathroom! I really should map out the layout of this place.

But I still haven't found the study. She put the pool where the study was! How BRILLIANT is that? Brilliant TARIDS…but frustrating TARDIS.

As I walk around the pool and watch the little ripples I can't help but grow a bit frustrated. She's laughing at me. Snarky blue box! She's teasing me. Teasing me because she's a better hider than I am a finder. Oooh but I WILL find the study. No TARDIS of min will best me at a game of hide-n-seek.

I'm still not exactly sure where we're going but I'm beginning to think that this game of hers is to distract me. What is it she's hiding? What is it that she wants to keep a surprise?


I never did find the study. But I've stopped looking. Just for the moment that is. We've stopped moving. The TARDIS has stopped moving. We've landed. I would have kept up with this game of ours if I weren't so curious about what lay just beyond the doors.

I headed for the exit but promised her that we would once again pick up on our game when I returned. She offered no arguments or grumbles so I grabbed my coat and headed out.


I walked out onto a not so busy square. Looking around I spotted a sign with a beat up old yellow smiley face that read: Smile you're on camera.

It didn't take a moment for me to find the position of the camera. I smiled and waved. I wasn't worried. The TARDIS was out of the cameras line of vision and wouldn't be spotted. I moseyed away from my beloved blue box, sticking my hands in my pockets as I went. It appeared that I'd landed in the middle of an old out door mall. There were twisted blue concrete seats. Square tables and a square pond that at some point was probably used as a fountain.

As I rounded the corner I spotted the signs of life. Not bustling life but life non-the-less. People milling about. They'd probably notice the big blue box back around the corner but they'd ignore it. This place looked pretty old. Why should an old Police Box be any odder?

I approached an elderly woman with curly grey-blue hair. I was sure to smile extra big and friendly as I approached. There was no point in getting pepper-sprayed in the face.

"Hello." I called, warning her of my approach. She started and looked me up and down curiously, if not a bit wearily. She replied in kind, which was my queue to strike up a bit of conversation. "Hi ah, this might sound a bit daft but uh, where am I?" I asked, not surprised at all by the look she gave me. She looked at me as though I were a bit thick in the head… which, I sort of am.

"Redding." She stated in her quite cracked voice.

"Redding? Redding California?" I beamed. "I'm in America! Oh well that's different." I looked around and smiled. I didn't often travel to America. I mostly traveled to the UK when passing by Earth. But despite that, I am a lover of all the world and was no less excited at being back to my favorite planet.

"That's brilliant." I spun about as the old woman started walking past me. Obviously done talking to the loon in the pinstriped suit.

"Oy, ah,another daft question. What year is it?"

"2012. You'd better get your head on straight young man. Get off those drugs!" She barked before rounding the corner and disappearing. I smiled and turned to continue adventuring through Redding.


I wandered around what I assumed was the downtown area of Redding. The buildings were old, most of them made out of brick, and the are seemed a bit under populated for a city. There were no real businesses save for the usual ones, one expects to find. Fast food restaurants, gas stations and some small medical buildings. Over all it looked a bit run down. But despite all of that it was actually quite lovely. Charming.

I walked around for what felt like hours. I was offered a free cup of cucumber frozen yogurt by a sales lady working at a place called 'Spoon me' on the corner of California and Placer street. I ended up sharing the yogurt with a homeless man sitting on a bench in the middle of the park.

He was a friendly looking fellow who I thought could use the company. He sat separate from the other homeless people who all congregated on a large outdoor stage.

We talked for awhile. Talked while I let him eat most of the yogurt. It was a hot day and he could use it more than I could. We talked about little things. Like the things you appreciate when you have nothing. The way little kindnesses can cheer you up for an entire day and give you that strength to go on.

I learned that he'd lost everything back in 2008. His business had gone bankrupt, his wife had left him (taking their youngest child, a girl who would be about eighteen now, with her.) I'd also learned that he'd lost his son in Iraq. He apologized several times for 'boring' me with his pitiful stories but I told him I didn't mind. And it wasn't a lie. I didn't mind. I wanted to listen. I wanted to be that listening ear.

I'd offered him an address for an organization that I knew would be opening soon, telling him that in a few weeks he could go there and maybe get some help. He thanked me and we parted ways.

I wasn't entirely sure why my TARDIS had brought me here to Redding. Maybe she felt I could do with some fresh air and new scenery. Or maybe she just thought I needed some social interaction. Whatever it was, I was convinced I'd accomplished it. It was time that I returned to her. I still needed to locate that study.


Authors Note: oh Doctor. You should know that you can't go anywhere without SOMETHING transpiring. Don't fool yourself. Anyway. Hope you enjoy. Will probably update again later.