A fanfic I wrote months ago—and after all this time I'm not even sure I still like it. Heck, I'm not sure I even still get it. Still, I figure since I haven't published ANYTHING for AGES, it deserves the chance to be seen in the light of day.

I own nothing except my OC, Lonnie.

As River walked into the distance, leaving a blue box and dazed man in her wake, she slightly angled her head to the left; she could see the Doctor unfurling his fingers and smoothing out the rumpled paper she'd passed him on the sly, when he had taken her hand. His brow was knitted as he read the words she had hastily scrawled onto a scrap of paper. She'd given a few whispered words gently to the TARDIS, and was certain she knew what she was doing, but…she would always worry about him, no matter where of when he went or what he did.

As the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS, reading the vaguely ominous words, he threw his coat onto one of the coral-like pillars.

April 19, 2013 - London.

He grimaced; playing in the deep lines of his face were thoughts ages beyond his flesh. If this was important to River, he'd go-though he really wished she'd be more clear. What part of London? An hour he should show up, maybe? A name, of someone he might need to meet? But no-just a day and place. Well…it was a start, and he could go on it.

As he began to work the TARDIS's controls, she suddenly gave a lurch and began shaking violently-she had no intention of going to London, that was certain.

"No-no-NO!"

The Doctor held on for dear life as the TARDIS screeched, rebelling against his will. London would have to wait.

When the TARDIS finally quieted down, the Doctor stroked her controls for a minute, making sure she was all right.

"Can't hurt to take a quick jaunt outside," he said thoughtfully, scratching at his chin a moment before grabbing his coat up again and shoving his arms through the sleeves. He opened the TARDIS door, just in time to come face to face with a tearful girl in a black dress.

"Oh, God-are you done with the phone?" she asked in an American accent, pushing a few tears away from her red eyes.

"Wha-what?" the Doctor asked.

"The phone," the girl insisted, nodding up at the words POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX. "I-it's not a police call, though, but I need a phone."

"Oh…sorry, that one just gets you the coppers," the Doctor said quickly. "Ah-quick question, what town am I in? Sort of traveling, around, and I tend to forget sometimes exactly where-"

"Good old Peoria, Pennsylvania," the girl replied sourly, looking at her watch before looking up at the Doctor. "God…Mom's gonna have my head. Do you have a car?"

"No-"

"Could you spot me cab fare?" The girl's eyes were earnest.

"Well, no-" When the girl looked hopeless, the Doctor melted-her eyes were so big and round and blue and beautiful-did he just think that? "I could walk you home, if you like-there's got to be the wrong sorts of people around."

"Tell me about it," she murmured lowly. "I just got dumped by one of them."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows but said nothing on the subject; it was better, he felt, to stay out of such things. "Where do you live?"

"Just a few blocks away, but…it's not the best part of town." She lowered her voice. "A girl got attacked last month, they found her half-naked in an alley under a cardboard box."

"Oh-fun little town, this must be," the Doctor murmured in distaste. "Don't worry-there's nowhere safer than with me."

The girl seemed unwittingly trusting, something that the Doctor found disconcerting. He needed to get some more information… "Do you go to school, Miss…?"

"Denali. Lonnie Denali. And no, I'm not in any college-I work at a club downtown, Tasha's. My name's Kandi Kane-am I rambling? I'm sorry, Mom hates it when I ramble-what about you? Where do you work?"

"Oh-around."

"You sound British. Are you British, or just gay?"

The Doctor looked up at her in surprise. "Not all Brits are gay, you know-"

"I'm sorry," Lonnie said quickly. "Maybe we shouldn't talk-I'm not good at talking."

The Doctor furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Tasha's, you say…never been a fan of those sorts of places, but…to see you again, I just might have to go." He gave her a smile that was returned wholeheartedly.

"I usually leave at three in the morning, if you want to catch me after a shift," she said. "Oh-my home's around this corner."

She grabbed the Doctor's hand unexpectedly and pulled him onward, turning around to face him and half-walking, half-running backwards.

"Mom loves British stuff-She won't even mind that I found someone off the street to walk me home, she'll be so happy I'm not with Saxon and-"

"Saxon?" the Doctor asked concernedly.

"Yeah, Ruben Saxon," Lonnie shrugged. She pulled him around the corner, still running backwards, and before a vacant lot she threw her arms out. "Here we are!"

The Doctor saw no house, no apartment-not even a refrigerator box. In the center of the clearing, he saw only a small metallic pyramid.

"Your house is gone," he said, and Lonnie furrowed her brow and turned about.

"My-" She shrieked in terror, while the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver. He ran to the pyramid, scanning it quickly.

"Constructed of carbon nanotubes and coated in platinum," he murmured. "Machinery inside, possibly a memory databank describing its transport history-your house was here this morning, right?"

Lonnie nodded, a new burst of tears blooming in her eyes. "My mom!" she exclaimed. "Where's my mom?"

"I don't know, Lonnie," the Doctor said in confusion. "Who would steal a person's house?"

"Maybe thieves came and stole everything," Lonnie suggested quickly; the Doctor shook his head.

"It doesn't look like there's ever been a house here. To lift an entire house…" The Doctor stretched his jaw, looking unsettlingly like a cat tasting the air with his tongue. "Not even a metallic tang of a teleport-who were you going to call, when you came to the phone box?"

"I-what?" Lonnie appeared confused. "Oh! I was going to call…" She furrowed her brow. "I don't know."

The Doctor watched her a moment before turning back to the pyramid and lifting it up. "I would say that this…this is a base for some sort of remote observatory. But it's tiny!"

"Where am I supposed to go?" Lonnie asked. "I haven't got a home-my mom's dead-"

"We don't know that," the Doctor said quickly, putting one hand on her shoulder and shoving the pyramid into his pocket with the other. "You can stay a while in my place, if you like-I promise I'll sort this all out."

The words had left his mouth before he thought about them, but he didn't want or need to take them back-there was something about this girl that was different. She looked up at him with eyes that reflected the moon's glow.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief. "D'you mean it? You've got enough space?"

"Just follow me."

The wonder in Lonnie's eyes was enough to make the Doctor smile.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed. "It's so big in here!" But-"

"Just a call box, I know," the Doctor nodded. "Bigger on the inside. Plenty of time for the full tour later, of course, only right now we've got to find out where this pyramid's from."

"Right, right," Lonnie said quickly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Nah, just stay quiet," the Doctor murmured. After he spoke, he wondered if it was a little rude…but Lonnie didn't seem to notice either way. He placed the pyramid into a scanner and set it on; in a few moments it dinged and he spun the TARDIS's screen to face him.

"Remarkable," he murmured.

"What is it?" Lonnie asked.

"A matrix composing a long-range physical three-dimensional imaging system," the Doctor breathed. "Short answer: a holographic emitter. It's from the Bressig."

"A hologram?" Lonnie asked in confusion. "But where's my house?"

"I don't know," the Doctor murmured. "But, the holographic emitter serves as a docking station when the hologram is inactive. So, since the docking port is reading zero memory usage, the hologram will have to come back to dock eventually-or its power will fail."

"So we'll find out who took my mom, then?" Lonnie asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, yes!" Lonnie shrieked with joy. The Doctor got to his feet, pointing at the door to the TARDIS. "We'll have to put this emitter back, now. The hologram will be on its way.

"And you know what the best bit is? That emitter, it's beeping. Sending out a distress call. That means, when the hologram's back-it only has about ten or so minutes, so we better rush-its owners will come down to collect it."

"Is this what you do?" Lonnie asked. The Doctor looked up at her curiously. "Fly about in space, like it's nothing?"

"Not like it's nothing," he replied. "But, yes."

"It get lonely?"

The Doctor looked up thoughtfully; he could see once again something different, something interesting, about this girl. She was somehow flighty on the surface, but with a deepness in her eyes that went beyond what he saw.

Or, maybe, they were just pretty eyes.

"Sometimes," he answered. "We've got two minutes." Lonnie allowed a smile to cross her lips, briefly.

They were sitting in the lot, on two lawn chairs facing the little pyramid. Lonnie leaned forward, setting her elbows onto her knees and questioning the Doctor with her eyes.

"You…you want to know if you can join me," the Doctor murmured, smiling gently.

"Oh, you're clever," she said, pulling her jacket about herself. Jacket? As the Doctor slowly looked her over-she wore blue jeans, a white tee and a beige jacket-he narrowed his eyes.

"You were wearing a little black dress, Lonnie," he murmured, furrowing his brow. Lonnie seemed startled.

"Why on Earth would I be wearing that?" she asked.

The Doctor opened his mouth but no words came out-he only thought silently as Lonnie looked at him curiously. Finally, when words came, he asked one question.

"Is Lonnie short for anything?"

Lonnie blinked. "Of course. London."

The Doctor closed his eyes. "Of course. London," he repeated. He opened his eyes and looked at his watch. "Thirty seconds."

Lonnie didn't seem fazed. "So, can I come with you?" she asked. The Doctor grimaced, pausing.

"Yes," he lied. "Yes, you can come with me. Fifteen seconds."

Lonnie appeared satisfied with his answer-though he didn't like the lie. Ten seconds.

"I can't wait," she said, smiling at him. The Doctor had to look away; he couldn't watch.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Suddenly Lonnie shook. "What's happening?" she asked the Doctor, who kept his gaze averted. "Doctor?"

"Your house wasn't stolen," he said lowly. "Your house has never existed. Have you ever brought anyone there before?"

"I-no," Lonnie allowed. "But my mom-"

"Is a fictional creation," the Doctor finished. Lonnie felt herself shake again. "When you saw the TARDIS appear-you were the only one, because that was your purpose, to observe-your failsafe activated. You sent out a distress signal because you saw something else alien, and your program designates that as grounds for escape."

"But-you're crazy!" Lonnie exclaimed. "I have a life, a job-"

"That's your design," the Doctor said, looking up at her at last. "And, I swear, you were wearing a black dress. When that no longer became appropriate, your program adapted. You created that story about a boyfriend because, I don't know, you were in distress. You saw someone else in distress on the street and took her distress for your own. Your program, the part designed to play human, needed an explanation for the confusion."

Lonnie looked down at her hand, and saw it flicker and fade. "But I was going to travel with…" she began, but her voice faded to nothing as she disappeared. The Doctor bowed his head, closing his eyes slowly.

He understood River's message now; the Bressig were conquerors, but not fighters. If they saw a creature alien to the planet they were planning on conquering, they would give an automatic retreat-they had no intention of fighting for the planet. They took by intimidation only, which, surprisingly, worked often.

He cursed himself for not realizing what she was instantly. That she wasn't human-not even alive. He had saved the Earth from the Bressig (though he doubted Earth would have fallen to them-in fact he was sure they wouldn't have) but, once again, he had broken his…he gritted his teeth. It was nothing, nothing, nothing that mattered.

The Bressig would come and retrieve their probe. They would leave and never return-that was all that mattered.

He did not have the luxury of caring.