Eleven years later

He never came back. I waited. Eleven years, I waited for that raggedy man and his bright blue box to come and whisk me away to see the stars and all the weird space monsters he battled.

"Nurse Alice?"

"Oh sorry, Tim! I must've zoned out, is time for you to sleep?" I asked, Tim replying with a tired nod as he laid back in his small bed.

He looked up, staring at me widely, "Will you tell me a story, Alice? I love your stories so much!"

"Ok then, but you better go to sleep straight after, no causing trouble!" I knew how he felt and I didn't blame him for kicking a fuss when bedtime came. Getting any slumber in a lonely place like this was hard enough for me, not to mention the disturbing night noises that plagued me and still do on the rarest of occasions. "There's this man who lives in a blue space box and all he does, all day, everyday, is protect all the children on the Earth. You see, somewhere beyond the stars there are nasty creatures who try to harm us because they want this planet all to themselves. But, do you know who saves us?"

"Superman!"

"No, not quite" I knew that getting him into superheroes was a bad idea, he never shuts up about them now. "The Doctor saves us, he's Space and Time's answer to Superman. I bet he's out there right now defeating some monsters!"

Tim scoffed, closing his eyes and mumbling in a half asleep state, "Superman's still my favourite"

I chuckled, taking my time to observe the sleeping child in his cold, orphan bed. I was just like him not too long ago, immersing myself in dreams and stories, finding happiness in a hero. I guess I still am like Timothy. I'm still alone, still hoping that one day my superhero will come for me and we'll go on an adventure. Five minutes. Eleven years. Heck, it could be a hundred years later and i'll still be silently praying my mad man in a box would return to show me the stars.

A loud knock on the door startled me, bringing me back into my empty reality. "Coming!"

"Hello there"

I was face to face with him, staring into those timeless pale green eyes. He hadn't changed at all, there wasn't wrinkle on his face. He looked exactly like he did eleven years ago. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a little girl about this tall" he gestured with his hands, "with pretty brown hair, her name's Alice Cradle. I told her i'd be back"

"Sorry but there's nobody by that name here, never has been"

"No..no. There must be, she heard these noises and I told her i'd help" the Doctor frantically shook his head with disbelief before something caught his eye and he stopped, straightening up, "Hang on a minute... Your badge! Why does it say Alice Cradle on your badge if she doesn't exist?"

Oh. "Sheer coincidence?" I mumbled innocently before giving up the charade, "Fine! I'm her, whoop-de-doo, you've found me! Now off you pop into that blue box of yours, i'm sure you've probably got space aliens to thrash"

He had a dumbfounded expression on his face, almost as if he hadn't grasped the fact that he'd been more than a five minute trip to Buckingham Palace, "But you were a little girl..."

"And you said five minutes!"

I placed my hand on my hip, watching as the Doctor attempted to decipher the whole matter like it was a complex equation. He tapped himself on the head, "I've done it again, haven't I? Oh well, i'm here now and I can solve those noisy neighbours of yours!"

"No need, they've stopped" I lied badly. I don't know what I was doing nor thinking. Here was this man who travelled in what appeared to be a time machine and takes on aliens throughout the Universe and there I was denying his aid to help me and my monsters.

"Oh, Alice, you've forgotten, haven't you?" he smiled knowingly, "I can hear them too. Now, are you going to let me in?"