"So where to next?" The Doctor asked as he took off his helmet.
"Where do you want to go?" Atlas shrugged, taking off his helmet.
"Well I mean, I don't know." The Doctor shrugged.
He stopped to think for a moment, looking at the boy. Everyone he had ever brought along had always wanted to go somewhere whether it be to see their late father or their future. He could take Atlas anywhere, he could take him everywhere. The Doctor showed him a planet where the people could walk on water, and there was nothing better than the sight of Atlas as he skipped over the water.
The Doctor took him back to the Tardis as the boy got a phone call. After that, he was abnormally quiet. The Doctor sat in the Tardis waiting for the boy to say what was bothering him but eventually he got tired of waiting. He stood up and started to flick in coordinates.
"Where are we going?" Atlas asked, hopping up.
"You're going home." The Doctor said.
"No, please. Can't I stay?" Atlas asked, looking up at him.
"You clearly have someone who wants you home." The Doctor said, motioning to the phone that was in the boy's phone.
"But I want to be here." Atlas said, grabbing the Doctor's hand to pull him to look at him.
"Atlas-" The Doctor said, he should of thought twice about bringing a teenager on board. After all, they were just tall children who could drive. But the look in the boy's eyes made it hard to think like that for long.
"Please don't make me go back." Atlas whispered, looking down at his shoes, and that's when the Doctor realized it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was missing home.
The Doctor smiled, suddenly getting an idea. The Tardis went off again, and Atlas gripped the handlebars tight. When he opened the door again he was confused to be standing outside his house.
"Doctor, did I do something wrong?" Atlas whimpered turning to see the smile across the man's face fade.
"I'm not leaving." The Doctor said, patting his shoulder as he passed the boy to his front door. Hopping up onto the porch, he knocked loudly on the front door and waited for someone to answer.
The door opened but the Doctor didn't see anyone. He was about to turn to ask Atlas if he had the right address when a voice below him coughed. The Doctor looked down to see a little girl no older than four, with curly red hair that hung over her bright blue eyes leaning against the open door. The Doctor was about to introduce himself when the girl noticed Atlas behind him.
"Atlas!" The girl called running to meet him.
"Teyha!" Atlas laughed, picking the girl up in his arms. The Doctor smiled, as he watched the little girl grip him tightly like if she didn't he would disappear right there.
"You're home!" The girl cried into his ear.
"Tey, I was only gone for a couple of hours." Atlas whispered into the girl's ear, pulling the girl back from him a little bit so that he could see her face, and gaze into those bright blue eyes of hers.
"I know, but I missed you." The girl said sticking out her bottom lip. Atlas smiled, bringing his finger up to tap the lip that threatened him and the girl sucked in back in running her tongue across it.
"Let's go inside, it's freezing balls out here." Atlas said, carrying the girl up towards the house. The Doctor planned to wait patiently outside, but Atlas turned to him just before he closed the door.
"You coming?" Atlas asked.
"Why not?" The Doctor mumbled stepping into the small little house. He followed Atlas through the foyer towards the living room, and the Doctor took note of all the little things in the house.
There seemed to be a million pictures of Atlas and this small girl. The Doctor was amused to see a picture of a much younger Atlas with cake across his face and a small baby giggling like she was very guilty. There was all sorts of toys, and books, along with a couple drawings.
"Mommy, Atlas s'home." The little girl cried as Atlas sat down on the couch with her in his arms. The Doctor stood behind the couch, looking at everything while thinking of possible explanations for him being in Atlas' company. Normally with other companions they'd be much older and female so those excuses wouldn't do.
His thoughts were broken by the loud annoying beeping of something in the kitchen. The Doctor covered his ears, lifting his shoulders and scrunching his nose at the sound. Atlas laughed at him , clearly not bothered by the sound at all. There were the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and then a woman's voice called.
"Atlas, darling, will you take that out of the microwave?" A woman called. Atlas set the girl down, next to him on the couch and then got up and headed for the kitchen, which was behind the Doctor.
"Relax, she doesn't bite. Much." Atlas laughed as he passed the Doctor on his way towards the kitchen. The Doctor sighed, sitting down next to the young girl on the couch. It was uncomfortably quite for a few seconds before the girl turned to look at him with piercing blue eyes.
"Who are you?" The girl asked.
"Um, Atlas." The Doctor called back towards the kitchen as the girl started to stare creepily at him.
The Doctor squirmed, hoping very much for this soon to be over, as the little girl started to move closer to him he flinched and fell off the couch. The little girl giggled, which the Doctor didn't find very funny so he ran towards the kitchen. Atlas was putting some kind of food into a large white bowl with his back turned from the Doctor as the woman's voice called again.
"Kids, dinner." The woman's voice said from the bottom of the stairs, the Doctor was suddenly uncomfortable with the amount of new faces so he stood over by the back door hoping to go unnoticed. Atlas held the bowl of what looked like rice and vegetables in his arms as he approached the table.
The woman moved about the kitchen, clearly oblivious to the Doctor, while the young girl sat down next to Atlas. The woman held her finger in the air flicking it as she counted off each child's head. She was surprised to see the Doctor smiling at her when she counted one more than usual.
"I'm sorry, I must seem so rude." The woman laughed, placing her hand over her mouth.
"It's quite alright." The Doctor smiled.
"This is the Doctor." Atlas said starting to serve plates.
"The Doctor?" The woman asked.
"It was a name that just stuck." The Doctor smirked lifting his shoulders up in a shrug like motion.
"The name's Mary." She said nodding her head slightly. No one really knew how the conversation should continue especially after the Doctor denied having dinner with them. He stood there oddly watching the small little family, listening to chit chat among the children.
