~10~

The Tardis made a groaning noise, and the Doctor and Rose were flung into the console with force.

"No offence, Doctor!" Rose shouted, "but it's a bit bumpy!" She was pushed back into the jump seat, trying to hold on to it.

"It's not me!" he replied, desperately hitting the buttons he could reach, "I haven't done anything!"

"But you were at the controls!"

"I was only recalibrating!" the Doctor shouted back, extending a hand and pulling Rose up next to him.

"Then where are we going?"

With another massive lurch, the Tardis stopped.

The Doctor looked over at Rose and grinned.

"Let's find out," he said, raising his eyebrows.

~11~

The Doctor held on tight, half laughing and half very concerned, as his Tardis was flung through the Vortex roughly.

Even though he missed Amy, he was a little glad she'd chosen this particular moment to visit home – he couldn't imagine her much liking this flight.

He swung his foot up to the console awkwardly in an attempt to kick an out of reach button, when with a thud, the ship landed, sending him flying back onto the floor, leg still resting higher up.

The Doctor pulled himself into a (less ridiculous) standing position, straightening his bow tie.

"Now then, sexy," he said, "where've you taken me, hey?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no reply.

"Right, well," he said, putting a hand on the console, "Geronimo!"

And with that, he walked out of the ship.

~10~

Rose peered outside from behind the Doctor, not sure what to expect. Thankfully, there were no armed guards, a situation they had walked into more times than the Doctor admitted.

He also wouldn't admit that that was exactly what he was looking for now, with one hand placed protectively around her waist. Satisfied no one was going to shoot her, he stepped out, allowing her to do the same.

Rose looked around. "Where are we, then?" she asked him.

"No idea," replied the Doctor, "although… I'd wager a bet it's a field."

The Tardis was parked in the middle of a green pasture, stretching out for miles, dotted with a few trees. In the distance there was a few small, stone buildings visible, and the Doctor decided that it must be a village.

"Gee, glad I've got you," Rose teased.

The Doctor smirked at her. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers, "let's go meet the locals."

The two walked hand in hand over the grass in silence for a few minutes, before Rose spoke.

"Do you know why we're here, then?" she asked. "No funny messages on the psychic paper or anything?"

"Funnily enough no," said the Doctor, "I don't even think the Tardis wanted to land."

"What, like Krop Tor?" Rose frowned a little in worry.

The Doctor looked down at her. "Don't worry," he assured her, "not like that. More like… like someone was pulling her. Although I can't see anything around here with the power to do that, unless we've stumbled upon the first trans-dimensionally aware cow."

On cue, a soft moo sounded a few meters away.

"That would be a mis-steak," Rose said, forcing herself not to grin.

He looked at her again, halfway between amusement and mock-disapproval. "Rose Tyler," he said, "did you just make a pun?"

"'Course not," Rose replied, giggling a little.

The Doctor pretended to groan. "Never complain about my jokes again… Oh hello, what's that?"

He pulled her into a run, eager to inspect the small silver looking object catching the sunlight a few meters away.

They reached it quickly, and both of their mouths fell open in surprise.

~11~

The Doctor had stepped out of the Tardis and found himself in a rather quaint village.

He wandered around casually, hoping to find a hint as to what had pulled him here.

"Er, excuse me," he said, stopping a small girl, "could you tell me if there's any sort of trans-dimensional energy magnet around here? Maybe some variation of huon particles?"

"What are Hugo particles?" said the child, frowning at him.

The Doctor frowned back at her. "Never mind," he said, ruffling her hair and looking away, "off you go then, run along."

The girl looked at him oddly again, and then ran back over to her friends.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, scanning the air.

"Standard Earth oxygen mix, 0.3% daffodil pollen, 0.05% tar particles and 3% cotton fibres," he looked around, "English countryside, nineteen sixty six. Ten o'clock on a Sunday."

He put it back in his jacket pocket with a frown, confused, and then strode over to a small pub.

A small bell rang over the door as he pushed it open.

"All right, lad?" said the barman, wiping a glass.

The Doctor smiled. "Hello," he said, walking over to the counter and sitting down.

"Haven't seen you before," the man said, "what'll you have?"

"Erm…" the Doctor thought. What did Earth-English people drink? "Milk."

The barman raised an eyebrow. "Just milk?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep. One glass of milk please. Shaken not stirred," he finished with a wink.

'Charming,' he thought to himself happily, 'nice one.' He straightened his bow tie again.

The barman moved away to get his drink, shaking his head as he did so.

The Doctor noticed a young woman sitting a few seats away from him. She was wearing a pretty floral dress with a matching headband, and a string of beads around her neck.

"So," said the Doctor, "you live around here?"

She jumped a little, startled, but smiled politely. "My mother does," she said.

The Doctor nodded. "She hasn't mentioned any temporal disturbances has she?"

"Uh," the girl looked confused, not helped when the barman placed the glass of milk down.

The Doctor frowned a little at her lack of help. "Forget it," he said, swinging his legs back round under the bar, taking a sip of milk through the straw he'd pulled out of his jacket.

Having decided that no one was going to be able to give him much information at all, he finished his drink in a few gulps, discarding the straw, and placed a one hundred pound note on the counter, oblivious to the surprised face of the bar man.

"That'll be all," he said, walking back out of the pub.

~10~

Rose watched as the Doctor picked the item up carefully, frowning at it.

"But that's…"

"I know," he said, inspecting it.

"How'd it get here?" she asked him, also inspecting it with her eyes. "Is it from the future?"

"Maybe," said the Doctor, before looking over at her. "Good guess," he added, with a small smile.

"Thanks," she said, and then looked back at it. "This is weird, though."

In his hand he was holding a sonic screwdriver. His sonic screwdriver. But funnily enough, he couldn't remember leaving it in a field. Especially since he could still feel it inside his coat pocket.

He placed the new sonic inside another pocket. "Best not leave it lying around," he told Rose, and they started walking again.

She nodded in agreement. "Do you think this has something to do with the Tardis?"

"Most likely," said the Doctor.

They came to the edge of the village, and the Doctor rubbed his head, frowning.

"You all right?" asked Rose, sounding a little concerned.

"That's…. That's weird."

"What?"

"It feels like… like the Tardis has moved. Like she's gotten closer."

Rose turned around, looking to where they'd came.

"But I can still see it," she said, "look!" She pointed, and his frown deepened.

"I know," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Lewis," he turned back to her, offering his arm, "are you up for a spot of investigation?"

"'Course 'sarge," she replied, taking it, "I am very good at deducing." She scrunched her nose up cutely as she spoke, and he grinned.

~11~

The Doctor wandered down another empty street, wishing that something, anything, would happen. He didn't like staying still. He tapped on his legs, sighing.

"What was the point of brining me here," he said, "if nothing's going to happen?"

Then, at the very edge of his vision, he saw a flash of movement, and turned around. Something had just gone around the corner. He spun around, then rubbed his hands together.

With a grin, that quickly faded into wary curiosity, he walked towards it, sonic screwdriver out.

"Who's there?" he said, putting one foot around the corner first.

Then, after a moments pause, he jumped around entirely, with a yell of "ah-ha!"

His brief enthusiasm vanished as he stared at the sight in front of him.

"That," he said, voice a little weak with surprise, "was not what I was expecting."


A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you like this so far - just wanted to say the next chapters will be much longer than this :) Please leave any feedback you've got - happy reading! x