Author's Note: And welcome back, past readers, welcome anew to those readers who stumbled upon this humble little story. Here we are with the second chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Oh um, I forgot this last time, I don't own anything from the Doctor Who series except for everything you are not familiar with. And I apologize for any mistakes I make about life in London or in England in general. I've never visited or anything. :P

Chapter 2

Angels and Omlets

The Doctor dashed up the stairs and turned right, running along the corridor, doors flashing by on both sides. Behind him, he could hear the footsteps of Amy and Rory. The Doctor came to a sudden stop in front of one of the indistinguishable doors on his left. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked it, then pushed it open and dashed in. "Quickly, quickly! In here!" Rory and Amy followed him in and he quickly sonicked the lock. Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, he spun around to face the room.

Against the far wall, a young lady stood, cowering. The Doctor beamed at here. "Why, hello! Sorry about," he looked around her small flat, noting the door that led out onto her balcony, "dropping in so unexpectedly." He had chosen the right side of the building, at least. Now the only thing that kept them from making their mistake was the lady standing in front of the door. He brought his hands together and started towards the stranger. She let out a shriek and shrank back even further. "Hello," he started again, waving, "I'm the Doctor. This is Amy and Rory. Sorry to drop in like this, but it is necessary. Pond, Rory, try and find me an egg beater and a cheese grater." His companions took off into the kitchen to do his bidding. The Doctor took another step forward. The stranger cringed.

"Nervous, twitchy little thing, aren't you?"

The stranger looked at him with her piercing blue eyes. They stared at him with a steady gaze out of her nervous, yet serious face, framed by long, curling, raven black hair. She licked her pale lips, her pale face betraying her nervousness to such a degree that the Doctor felt like he was confronting a trapped animal, an experience he didn't feel like reliving. She licked her lips again, eyes darting around the room, taking in her surroundings and the appearance of the Doctor. She crouched down, making her already diminutive size even smaller. She licked her lips yet again.

"A bow tie? Really?"

The Doctor's hands sprung to his bow tie, straightening it. "What? It's a bow tie. Bow ties are cool." He smoothed it out again, glancing at her. A ghost of a smile passed over her face and the Doctor beamed at her. She had a sense of humor at least. "I'm -"

"Yes, yes, I know, you're the Doctor and the two you sent off to raid my kitchen are Amy and Rory. The red-headed Scot is Amy, and the stupid looking one trailing after her is Rory."

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands in delight. "Now you're getting it! And who are you?" He leaned toward her, peering at her face closely.

The young woman stood up to her full height, which wasn't very tall or impressive, and held her chin at a stubborn angle. "I," she started in a dignified voice, "am Gracelin Rosemary Celia Pacem. I am 19-years-old and am a black belt, to have you know," she finished, trembling a little.

The Doctor turned his face to the left and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, hands held to his mouth. "Which martial art are you a black belt in?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"All of them" she said too quickly, eyes widening. The Doctor fixed her in his gaze and after a few moments, released her. He turned and glanced at the door, nervously, it appeared to Gracelin.

"Now, Gracelin Rosemary Celia Pacem. That's quite a mouthful. However," he said turning back to her and holding his hands in front of his chest in a stopping gesture, "it's great. A really great name." He was looking around the flat again. "In hurried, rushed, time-is-of-the-essence, life-or-death situations, I can't possibly call out "Gracelin Rosemary Celia Pacem, go smash that mirror' - for instance - before a Dalek kills you. Or me." he turned is eyes towards her again. "So, what should I call you?"

Gracelin opened her mouth to answer, but just then, Amy entered the room again, looking at a manual egg beater. "Doctor," she said, "we couldn't find a cheese grater but she has pre-grated cheese in her refrigerator. Will that do..." She trailed off, looking at the way the Doctor and the young woman stared at each other.

"Amy," the Doctor said, breaking his gaze with Gracelin and turning it to his friend, "pre-grated will do fine. Now, go heat up a sauce pan and get out some eggs."

Amy looked suspicious. "Why, Doctor? Are you going to make scrambled eggs?" He laughed an came forward, then put his hands on her shoulders.

"Little Amelia Pond, silly, silly. I'm not making scrambled eggs. I"m rubbish at making those." He gave a little laugh and patted her cheek. He turned back to Gracelin and held out his hand. "However, I do make a delicious omelet."

Gracelin let the Doctor take her by the hand and drag her into her kitchen where he proceeded to bang around in the cupboards, acting like he was at home. In a few minutes, each of them had a steaming omelet on a plate in front of them. The Doctor looked at the other three expectantly and they looked back at him. "Well?" he said. "Eat up!"

Even though she had seen him prepare the food with her own eyes, Gracelin still glared at him suspiciously as she took her first bite. The next moment, she found herself in heaven, the flavor exploding on her tongue. She dug in, eating with enthusiasm as Amy and Rory did around her. The Doctor laughed.

"That's what I thought!" He hadn't made an omelet for himself and contented himself with studying the room as his companions finished their meal.

Amy finished swallowing her last bite, savoring the last bite of flavor before she spoke. "Doctor, what are we doing about the angels? We've wasted too much time here as it is and the angels were closing in fast."

"Ah, now that is a question that has to be answered, but not now." The Doctor leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Not all questions have to be answered at once. Some are better left unanswered until further notice, and others yet cannot be answered, under any circumstance, ever.

"However, the questions you two have regarding the identity of our gracious, if not voluntary, host can, and will, be answered. Rory, Amy, may I introduce Gracelin Rosemary Celia Pace, the 19-year-old black belt of every martial art known to humans? Gracelin Rosemary Celia, may I properly introduce Ms. Amelia Pond," Amy waved, "and Mr. Rory Williams." Rory gave a nervous smile. "Formally, I am the Doctor. No one calls me anything else, except River calls me 'sweetie' and I do happen to get the occasional 'get-off-of-this-planet'..." he paused, looking pensive. Then he shook his head. "But I'm not even sure if that's a proper name. Speaking of names, what should I call you, Ms. Pacem?"

"Well, all of my friends call me Rose. They think it's a much prettier name than anything else they could get out of my mess of a name." She looked startled when the Doctor visibly stiffened.

"No," he said in a strange voice, "definitely not Rose." He then muttered something that sounded to Amy to include the world 'guilt'.

"Why not Rose?" Amy asked, curious. Not much could get the Doctor act the way he did when the name Rose was said.

The Doctor turned to look at Amy, infinite and ancient sadness in his eyes, his face looking older than she's ever seen it. It scared her than he was hiding feelings like that without her, his closest friend, seeing it. He turned to look at Gracelin Rosemary Celia. "So," he continued, a sad tone in his voice that wasn't there before, "not Rose. What should I call you?"

Gracelin was startled at this sudden change in the Doctor, For the whole 20 minutes she had known him, he had been happy-go-lucky, all smiles and enthusiasm. But now he was anything but smiley. "Er... you could... call me by my first name, Gracelin."

"No, no, not Gracelin. I prefer one syllable. Amy becomes Pond, and I call Rory Daft." Amy smiled and punch his arm.

"You do not!"

"Ow! Yes, you're right. I don't. Oh, um, how about, er, I know! Lin! Eh?" He smiled at her, though it did not quite reach his eyes. By the way he leaned forward, Gracelin could tell he was interested by this puzzle, but couldn't tell if it was genuine. She looked closely at his face, debating how much hurt would register on his face, and if she would feel guilty for shooting down his idea. Finally, she shook her head.

"No, too asian. I don't tend to look too kindly on my mum."

"She's asian? Ah, yes, I can see it in the eyes. Okay then, how about Grace?" Gracelin tilted her head, seriously considering it. It was short, simple, and had a nice ring to it. It was new, she hadn't heard it before, but glaringly obvious now that she thought about it. She looked the Doctor in the eye and nodded. "Perfect!" the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. "Grace it is!"

"But, Doctor, when are you actually going to have to call me Grace? When is there going to be a high stakes, life-or-death situation we will both be in?"

"Right now," he answered as the front door to Gracelin's flat rattled. "The angels are here. Rory, go and make sure the door is well secured. Now, you two, go out onto the balcony and wait for me there." He took out his sonic screwdriver. "There's something I have to do."

Post Note: And there is the end of the second chapter. This story has only just started! I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll hopefully post more chapters soon. Still have a lot to go over before the end. :) Until next time! Reviews are appreciated and spreading word of my story around the community awards you with a cookie! :) (Note: You'll have to make it yourself.)