Time's Heart
A Doctor Who Fanfiction
Rating T
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any related characters, FlatIron Crossings Mall, Starbucks, Hot Topic, nor any other corporate entity mentioned herein. However any original characters are mine, and are available for use with permission.

AN: Thank you for the Jelly Baby's, I Lost My Profile Page. Just the thing to inspire continued writing. And thank you to all the rest on my reviewers too. I just love you all to pieces. Evol d'na eca'ep.

XThisIsALineX

The redhead was silent for a moment as she stared at the central column in contemplation. "Don't care where. Old West?"
"In that case," he said as he moved quickly around the controls, "Colorado."

However where and when the TARDIS materialized was not exactly Old West Colorado. It was a place that was more aptly described as a disserted back corridor of a shopping mall.

The Doctor slowly closed the door as he pulled his head back into TARDIS. "Ereh'w eht kerf era ew won?" Muttering to himself in his native tongue, he made his way back to the control console. "Where have you taken us now old girl?" He fiddled with dials and knobs until the information he wanted appeared on the display screen. He let out a short laugh just as his Companion walked into the room.

"Is there a problem?"

The Doctor looked over his companion with a critical eye. Her long dark green skirt and jacket combination was a bit old fashioned for the time period. But since, according to TARDIS, the national stock-show or some such was going on, hopefully it wouldn't attract too much attention. He shrugged. "We're not exactly when I was aiming for." He squinted at the screen through his glasses, his nose scrunched up. Which, though the situation was serious, made his Companion want to laugh. When he made faces like that he looked like an adorable little boy. "We are about one hundred and," he paused to double check the numbers, "fifty years or so, too late for the Old West. But, it looks like we did make the stock show." He shrugged with one shoulder. "If you want to go to that. It is an option."

Donna arched a disbelieving eyebrow. "Stock? As in farm animals?"

He nodded distracted by the words of the TARDIS being whispered in his mind. "Horses, cows, cattle that is, umm, chickens and pigs and the like." In a move that surprised Donna, he edged away from the panel he was working on, casting it a dark, mistrusting look. "Oon ii ma ton. U-oy wonk tah't."

"Doctor?"

Theta stared at his companion blankly for a dozen heartbeats before blinking several times. He lifted his chin, his eyes wide as he worried his top lip and took in a sharp breath through his nose. He scanned the control room before settling his eyes back on the same panel. Sighing he addressed the glowing central column. "You were never this difficult before Rose got into your heart." His head tipped to one side as he listened to his ships reply. Tears filled his eyes as he smiled softly. "Ii wonk. Ii s'sim reh o-ot." He nodded and turned back to his companion, his tears hidden behind a false smile. "Well, ready to go then, off into the wild unknown expanse that is known as an American shopping mall in the early twenty-first century?"

Though worried, Donna returned his grin with a genuine one of her own. "Lead on Sunshine."

As he followed the redhead out the door, Theta paused, one foot posed at the edge of the threshold, one hand on the door itself. He spoke softly, barely louder than a whisper. "We'll talk when I get back, devoleb ret'sis."

With one last soft caress to his mind TARDIS closed the door as he walked away. Sighing to herself, she activated her passive scanners and settled down to wait.

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Petite Sarah Carnsworth stared at her adversary, her green eyes narrowed. She was determined to not give in, to not be beat.

"Staring at it is not going to make the price go down."

Sarah let out a startled shriek as her employer spoke into her ear, the soft Irish lilt of her voice tinged with amusement. Looking up at the taller brunette, she pouted in annoyance. "How many times do I have to ask you not to do that Ma'am?"

The older woman smirked, her dark eyes filled with amusement. She smoothed down the front of her crimson microsuade trench coat, before silently reaching into a pocket and offering the contents to her Companion. "Have a banana."

Sarah sighed in consternation. "What is it with you and your family's obsession with banana's?"

The brunette grinned. "There is nothing wrong with banana's. They are just bursting with usefulness and potassium."

Sarah rolled her eyes and made a small sound that could be taken as either agreement or disbelief.

Her employer just laughed joyfully as she devoured her treat, carefully slipping the peel back into an inner pocket for later use. She smirked at the look of disgust on her Companion's face. "Never know when those'll come in handy." Putting a hand on the shorter girl's arm she steered her away from the Goth-rock clothing and out of Hot Topic, into the mall proper. "Come on there's a Starbucks up on the next level and I could really go for a Chai right about now."

Sarah laughed as she was pulled through the post-Christmas crowds towards the stairs to the upper level. "You're addicted."

"Of course. A hot infusion of free floating radicals and tannin in latte form. What more can an almost two hundred year old ask for?" She dodged a stroller with a quick side step, spinning in a happy circle, before resuming her course through the crowd, leaving her Companion to follow at her own pace. "It's good for the synap…" Her words cut off with a startled squeak.

"Ma'am?" Sarah laughed when she caught sight of her mistress. It was obvious that she had collided with someone, as the gentleman in question, was currently holding her in a dip at the base of the stairs.

As for the Doctor, he was very surprised to find himself with an arm full of slender female. He had been chasing an alien of as of yet undetermined origins, who had had the audacity to snatch his Companion, when he had run into the woman who was currently in his arms. In an effort to prevent falling he had quickly wrapped his arms around her and twisted into a dip. Eyes as dark as his own blinked up at him in what appeared to be startled recognition. Pulling her back to her feet he absently noted that she was dressed in black velvet. When she was upright he was pleased to note that she was barely shorter than him.

He met her eyes, prepared to apologize when he gasped as the sensation of a light appearing in the darkness, flared into life in his mind. His arms tightened until they were pressed together forehead to toes, her hands trapped between them, still clutching his lapels.

And he knew. In that one brilliant instance he knew.

XThisIsALineX

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