Okay. First of all, I'm not really taking this story seriously. So if there is a problem with it, I don't really care because I'm just working on it when I have writers block for more important things. Flame it and I'll delete your comment. (Hate to sound rude, I'm really trying not to be, but I'm also just trying to get my point across: if you don't like the story, stop reading it and forget it exists because this isn't a writer who needs "well, you kinda suck" or "write more, but better"). I really do appreciate you stumbling across my little story, though. Don't expect regular updates, sadly. Like I said, this story is my rope to climb over the writer's block, and I don't get writer's block too often to the point where I need to abandon my projects for fanfiction.

Thanks for stopping by and leave a nice comment if you would like. (smile)

She thought it was the end when the bus bore down on her, it's great red and white stripes illuminated briefly in startling clarity before the bright headlights blocked out everything in one giant flash that kept growing and growing. Abriel crouched low, covering her face with one arm, wrapping the other around herself and her cat as though to hold together some part for people to find once the bus passed. She had one last selfless thought before the inevitable moment came where metal would rip flesh and cut bone: Abriel hoped her kitten would escape the bus tires.

There was no flashing before her eyes of important moments in her life, no faces, no precious memories hidden deep down in her subconscious to emerge right before her death. Abriel was slightly surprised about this later, when she actually had time to think about it. Time was nearly run out and, even though the screeching of the brakes let anyone nearby know that a vehicle was trying to stop, anyone watching would have known the bus had been going too fast to halt on such short notice. The driver, face twisted in horror and panic, knew that turning would involve potentially hitting another vehicle in an oncoming lane of traffic and could even tip the charter bus carrying children back from a school field trip. So, if no one had watched Abriel, the young woman running into the darkened street after her escapee kitten, she most definitely would have been crushed by a bus.

However, someone was watching and, in a moment of extreme desperation and surge of adrenaline, Abriel was saved. As she hunched down, bracing for the two tons of rubber and metal about to send her off into another existence, Abriel felt a weight hit her, driving her down into the tar and gravel of the road. Rocks hit her face, which smacked painfully on the ground, and she tried, still thinking about her kitten, not to crush the little thing still mewing in her arms. There was a fearsome noise, warm gusts of wind, and a rush of the familiar sound of traffic unfamiliarly close; it came and went in a matter of moments.

Even before she opened her eyes, she knew the bus had passed over her, probably missing her head, shoulders, and feet by mere millimeters. But Abriel also knew all parts were accounted for and, gingerly as to not hurt herself or her captive feline, who was silenced by the sudden shock of a brush with death, she sat up and put a hand to her head. Patting her hair, almost in a reassuring manner, Abriel looked over to find another person sitting there with her.

His face was initially serious, lines of fret and frustration running deep. Clear brown eyes, unclouded by the fear that was suddenly flushing all the blood from Abriel's face, assessed the situation quickly: middle of the road, at twilight, with a foolish girl and a kitten. The bus had slowed after passing over Abriel and her rescuer, and was starting to pull over to the side of the street, just a few houses down. Now that the bright lights were out of her eyes, She had a hard time focusing in the dim light to make out any more features of the person next to her, although she bet it was a man from the way his arm around her shoulders felt. The streetlights, the dull orange bulbs that hadn't been changed in years, were flickering on and there was more traffic on it's way down the road.

Abriel stood up unsteadily, stumbling along after the man, who had gotten up and was now leading her out of the street and to the sidewalk. She heard a voice asking where she lived and she pointed to the small house they stood in front of, the tiny brick building hardly more than a bedroom, kitchen, and a bathroom that doubled as a closet.

"That tiny place?" the man asked, his tone hinting at humor but words insulting. It was all Abriel could afford on her budget as a poor artist. She could only afford heat when she sold a painting, which was rarely, and the cat ate better than she did. Still, Abriel nodded and, getting over her shock at nearly being hit by a bus and then rescued, realized the shouting she was starting to hear was coming from the bus driver, a plump man practically rolling down the sidewalk towards her.

"Miss, are you okay? You came dashing into the street behind the cars and I couldn't stop in time," the driver explained, huffing and puffing to a stop in front of Abriel and the man whose hands where in his pockets, swaying in a satisfied manner. The strange savior was rocking back and forth on his heels, listening to the driver apologize to Abriel and warn her to stay out of the street.

"It's- It's okay, it was foolish of me," Abriel stuttered, petting the top of the cat's head, who had started to squirm now that it realized the danger was over. "I was just trying to save my cat and didn't see you coming."

"No harm done," the strange new man said, still rocking back and forth, practically amused. "Although it's hardly possible to miss an entire bus coming at you, it still happens now and then, but no harm done."

"It's pretty dangerous to be running in front of buses, too, young man," the driver stated, poking a finger at the man, who had stopped his movements and now crossed his arms in defense of himself. "Ya saved someone, but don't make a habit out of it; you could have both been killed."

"Duly noted," the brown-suited man said, waving goodbye to the driver who, after apologizing one last time, walked away back to his bus. "Have a good night! Thanks for the excitement!"

"That wasn't excitement," Abriel said, finding words again. "That was terrible!"

"Excitement as a definition doesn't really mean being pleased with the situation," the man said, starting to amble down the concrete path leading to Abriel's open doorway. "It's just assumed that when someone is excited, they are happy."

"That was rather scientific and pointless," was the reply, none too sarcastic.

"I just saved you life. You're not very happy with me, are you?"

"I'm perfectly happy with you! You rescued me! But I don't think I have a mind at the moment to be defining the English language, thank you very much."

Abriel walked past the man and into the house, hand hesitating on the doorknob. She had never had a male visitor before, despite the near year she had lived there on her own. A little courtesy couldn't hurt, Abriel concluded after a brief moment of silence, and she stepped out of the doorway, pulling the door to it's widest.

"Would you like to come in for some tea?"

"No, thanks," was the unexpected answer. The man smiled and thanked her before turning around on his heel and walking back down the path. He had passed by her little front gardens by the time Abriel found her voice.

"But I wanted to thank you!" she called, disappointed and feeling foolish. "I don't even know your name!"

The man never paused as he called out over his shoulder, "I'm the Doctor."