Part 1- Temptation

She goes wandering off - parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house. All those temptations calling out…

The first time I saw him again, I thought I was home.

Never mind that he was wearing leather again, instead of the pinstriped suit that was the favorite of this regeneration. Never mind the haunted look in his eyes; self-centeredly I may have put that down to him missing me. It was the same voice, same face, same body walking back to the TARDIS, so I never took the chance to take a second look.

He probably thought I was crazy when I first tackled him, but to his credit he didn't overreact, just stood there as I hugged him.

"What?"

"I came back," I whispered into his jacket, "I really did it… how's that for impossible?"

He obviously didn't know, because he didn't respond, either verbally or bodily, just stood there looking confused. After a moment I began to share his confusion, and backed away.

"Doctor?"

"That's me," he replied. "Terribly sorry, but I don't seem to have met you yet. That alright?"

"What?" I asked, stumped for a moment. Then it clicked. I swore under my breath. "Parallel world, right. Just… I didn't expect to run into a parallel you, that's all."

"Sorry, but did you just say parallel world?" he asked. Suddenly the cheerful demeanor was replaced with a disapproving, business-like one. He took out the sonic screwdriver- that hadn't changed, at least- and began scanning me. "Cause as far as I know, and I know quite a lot, messing about with parallelities is a dangerous business. What makes you think you're qualified to do it?"

"Cause I've traveled with you… well, a parallel you… and I know how dangerous it is, but trust me. I've got a reason."

"It must be a fairly pressing reason to justify ripping holes in the fabric of Reality," he said, his grip on my arm tightening as he finished the scan.

"If I don't keep on doing it, there might not be any Reality to mess with," I snapped back. "That a good enough reason?"

His eyes showed a flicker of surprise before returning to calm and collected. "Maybe. Why don't you come with me, have a little chat, and we'll see."

"That's when the stars started going out, and we had to find some way of gettin' in touch with the other universe. Suddenly my pet project became priority number one. So they called researchers and scientists from all over the globe, and made the Dimension Cannon a reality. I've been making jumps ever since, but I can't seem to hit the right universe. And… well, that's how I ended up here, anyway," I finished, trailing to a stop.

I had told him pretty much everything. How could I not? I had wanted to talk with him for so long, sort things out, and here he was, his face, his voice… except it wasn't him, not really. But here in the TARDIS, familiar surroundings even if it wasn't my world, it was easier to forget, to pretend. Maybe I'd gone a bit too far.

I glanced over to see how he was taking it, but his face revealed nothing. It was impassive, bathed in the green light from the central column, and for a moment I wondered if I should have toned down my story. Been less emotional, just factual, giving no hint of what had happened between myself and the other him… well, too late now.

"How long?" he asked, finally speaking up.

"What?"

"How long has it been? For you, I mean. Since you've seen him." He was still refusing to look at me, just letting his gaze travel round the console room like I wasn't even there.

"It's been about three years, I guess."

"And you love him." Not a question, but I answered anyway.

"Yeah."

"And what about him, does he…" He doesn't finish the sentence. Typical.

"He never said," I whispered, my mind returning to that fateful day at Bad Wolf Bay. Those unspoken words have haunted me for the past three years, and it seemed like I would never get an answer.

"Up for a trip?" he asked suddenly, catching me completely off guard.

I wasn't sure if I had heard him right at first. "Wh…what?"

"A trip!" he repeated, "A journey, a one-time, round-trip excursion to somewhere, somewhen in this universe, all expenses paid for." He looked at me expectantly. "Well?"

"Well, I…" I stuttered. Then my communicator began beeping. I glanced down, feeling torn. But I had a job to do. "Sorry, but I can't."

He glanced at my device curiously. "Why?"

"Because my team has found has found a hole back into my universe," I explained. "We don't rip holes, we just use the ones that already exist- they're getting more and more frequent these days. But I've got just five minutes to transport home, or I have to wait for them to find another rip. That could take days."

"Not a problem, I can get you back within five minutes," he replied easily. "Did I forget to mention, it also travels in time?"

After that, of course, I had no choice.

He asked me where I'd like to go. And for a moment, I couldn't think of anything. Besides, any destination I could think of might not exist in this universe anyway. Then I remembered my adopted world, and the growing Darkness that had troubled us, and I knew where I wanted to go.

"Stars," I told him decidedly. "Take me somewhere where I can see the stars."

He raised his eyebrows but made no comment about my vague choice, simply threw down a lever and began operating the ship. I settled back to watch the familiar yet strange sight.

The truth is, I was feeling a bit lost just then, traveling with this man who wasn't… I couldn't say that he wasn't the proper Doctor, because I learned long ago that no universe is the proper one. Either all of them are real or none of them are… but he wasn't my Doctor. The one I knew, who knew me. And yet he looked so familiar, dashing around the console like mad. It was almost enough to make me feel at home.

Feeling the need to break the silence, I asked him, "So, you never even met me then, in this world?"

He glanced at me curiously. "I would think that would be obvious," he stated wryly. "You said on your world, we met during an Auton invasion… as it happens, that did occur in this universe, but I never met anyone in the cellar."

"What happened, then?" I asked curiously. "How did you get rid of the Nestene Consciousness?"

He paused for a moment, eyes hard. "You said you're familiar with regeneration. Then you should know that being close in proximity to a Time Lord who is undergoing the process can be fatal. Too much energy for some species to handle. The Nestene Consciousness happened to be one of them."

The blunt answer startled me, and I suddenly remembered something I had told the Doctor on the night we met. You'd be dead if it weren't for me, I had joked. It was more than a bit eerie to realize it was the truth.

Uneasy, I attempted to change the subject. "What about afterwards, though? You never… met anyone, traveled with anyone? Someone else?"

"There was someone," he told me after a long pause. "A woman named Martha. But…" He lapsed into silence, obviously remembering. For a moment, I felt a tinge of jealousy. I had to remind myself that this wasn't my Doctor, and anyway, this woman might not even exist in my original universe. Still, after hearing the longing in his voice, I felt… awkward.

"What happened to her?"

He raised his head slowly from where he had been staring at the controls. His gaze was unfathomable, and something in his manner was telling me, you really don't want to know. After a moment, there was a jolt, signaling that the TARDIS had landed. Briskly he turned away from me and headed towards the door, shrugging off his memories without looking back. I followed him more cautiously.

Neither of us brought up Martha again.

At first I couldn't figure out why he had brought me to that planet. The place was barren, no grass or plant life of any kind, and the air was slightly difficult to breath. Noticing my dubious expression, he smiled a bit. "Just wait," he promised me. "This will be worth your while."

The sun was going down as we arrived, but it wasn't a particularly beautiful sunset- at least, not until the sun was gone from the sky. That was the strange thing about this world: when the sun disappeared, the sky got brighter, not darker. And the atmosphere was so amazingly clear that it was easy to see what was casting this bright light.

Stars.

Millions upon millions of them, all visible to the naked eye. Suddenly, it was as if there was no blackness, no emptiness of space- only stars. The light of the stars washed out the afterglow of the sun, bathing the ground in a silver light that was brighter than day.

The man who was not my Doctor stood next to me and whispered quietly, "This planet revolves around a star close to the center of a galactic cluster. The stars here are packed closer together than anywhere else in this galaxy, you could sit here for the rest of your life and never be able to count the number of stars you can see."

Fascinated, I watched as more and more shining points of light blinked into existence across the expanse of the sky. It was encouraging to see stars appearing rather than disappearing for a change. "What is the name of this planet?"

"Actually," he told me with interest, "This planet has no name. There's no life here, and no explorers ever come this far into the cluster to bother naming it. It remains empty and nameless forever. Bit sad, really."

I frowned at the thought. Something so beautiful and clear ought to have a lovely name, or at least someone to appreciate it. But there was only us. Unthinkingly I slipped my hand into his, seeking the comfort his other self had always offered. Surprised, he turned towards me, familiar eyes searching my face. We gazed at each other for a long time like that, uncertain and shy. For just a moment I wanted… well, I thought it might be nice to kiss him.

As soon as that occurred to me, I repressed the impulse and pulled away from him, wrapping my arms around myself as a barrier. However much he looked like the man I longed for, he was not my Doctor, and to get further attached to him would be wrong for both of us. With some difficulty, I turned my attention to the heavens again, determined to forget about what I had nearly done.

This was not my world.