The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, ignoring the look that River was giving him. Sure he was in his night clothes, but that didn't mean that there wasn't a chance that he might need it. See, this stranger proved it. But this couldn't happen, he ran the screwdriver over her body, and found nothing out of the ordinary. No Huon particles to explain this one away and he moved to her.

She was sleeping deeply, and she didn't show any indication of waking when he rolled her to her back. He gave her a once over, concerned for her safety and wondering how she got into the TARDIS, in the middle of the night, in the middle of space that was light years from Earth. He supposed she could have come from another civilization, they were in the right years for the humans to have spread this far, but something in his mind was telling him that wasn't the case.

"Doctor," River was watching him, her voice showing she was just as curious as he was right now.

He looked back at her, and shrugged. "No, idea. Let's get her to the med-bay, and run a few test."

It was all he knew to do, and he wanted to get some answers. He didn't like not knowing, especially when it came to something like the TARDIS.

He lifted her, easily really, and carried her the short distance. She was still asleep when he sat up his machines to do a full body scan. She was human, bearing traces of Earth minerals in her blood stream. Yes, completely human, single heart beating strongly in her chest, but there was something more. Something about her that the scans couldn't see, but he could. A human, who he knew had never seen the stars from anyway but from the Earth up. Yet, there was starlight in her wake.

He didn't understand it, but he would. First things first though. How did she get on the TARDIS? He could feel a nudge, and walked over to the screen, and re read the body scan. She was in an induced sleep, seemingly from the TARDIS if the mental images were correct.

"You brought her here?"

River was sitting by the girl, a place she hadn't left since he had laid her on the bed. She seemed to have a need to be near their stowaway, but now she looked at him. "Me?"

He shook his head, "No, the TARIDS."

The hum changed around him, a conformation if he ever heard one. "Stay here, please."

He instructed River, who nodded, clearly not intending to move, no matter what he said to her. He ran to the console room, reviewing the last actions of the TARDIS. There it was…a brief materialization in the city of New York, in the year 2053, and then she immediately sent them back to the area of space they had been. The TARDIS brought her here, forming around her, and taking her with them when they left. The TARDIS sought her out?

This wasn't the first time she had chosen the destination, but she had never done this before. He was the one who picked up people and brought them on board.

His TARDIS had touched this humans mind, inducing a heavy sleep, and he suddenly understood. She hadn't wanted the girl to wake up alone, and he rushed back to the med-bay. River was holding her hand, like they had known each other for years, and the Doctor moved close to her. He almost doubled over in the pain, time lines flashed before him, so definite it scared him.

"Let her go, then," he told the TARDIS, and the girl shifted for the first time since they found her.

She took in a breath, and he laid fingers against her neck, feeling the heartbeat increase as she came back around. She wasn't alone, the TARDIS had done her job, but he still didn't understand why she brought her here. Only he did.

Eyes opened, blue-green, and she blinked up at him, and then looked to River who hadn't let go of her hand. "Hello."

British, despite the pickup location, and he gave her a smile. "Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is River."

"Emily," she supplied, and tried to sit up. River helped her, "I thought that I was in my hotel room."

"Yes," the Doctor adjusted his bow tie, simply so he had something to do with his hands. "My ship, my wonderful ship, well…picked you up."

"Your ship kidnapped me?"

"Well," he shook his head. "I wouldn't say kidnapped, exactly. More like gave you a lift."

"I didn't need a lift."

"She disagreed." The Doctor told her.

Emily made a face, and he had a flash back. Emily was familiar, as much the memory of another as a stranger. Her words were of mistrust, but her eyes were full of an intense compassion. A look he hadn't seen in anyone in what felt like such a long time. He was a different man back then. He shook the feeling away.

"I would like to go back to my hotel," she stated, politely, but there was an edge.

"Okay," he agreed. She wasn't carrying anything harmful in her, and he could hardly keep her because there was something within her that wasn't quite human. No, she was human, this was something else. Something extra, that didn't change her physically, but made her…it was hard to explain, even to himself.

If she wanted to go, then he would let her. He bounded out of the room, leaving River to lead her there and flipped the switch. Nothing happened. The lights flashed in protest, but they didn't return to Earth.

"Stop it," he told the TARDIS. "She wants to go home."

Another wild set of flashes, just as the two women entered the room.

"Sweetie?"

The Doctor looked at River, and the girl who was going to break his hearts. The TARDIS wouldn't take her home, because that wasn't what had to happen. From the moment her body had touched the TARDIS she was set into a time line. One that the TARDIS decided couldn't be altered. Well, he wasn't going to listen to the TARDIS.

She was so young, too young to die. There were other alternatives, he owed this to…he couldn't say who, but someone to keep this girl safe.

It was then that the TARDIS shuttered, landing them, somewhere far from Earth and the last place he wanted to go. The doors swung open he and looked over at them. "River, go change. Emily, you are staying here."

He asked the TARDIS to close the doors while they put clothes on, and she did so, but he knew that they would reopen even if they weren't ready. He headed to their room, walking past Emily without looking into her eyes.

He knew she couldn't understand why she wasn't being included, and he couldn't very well explain. 'Emily if you step a foot onto that planet, I can't stop this. I can't tell you what this is, but once you leave the TARDIS it has to go only one way.' How could he explain that to her?

"Doctor, she is coming. You aren't going to leave her here."

He didn't understand Rivers sudden attachment, but she was glaring at him. He looked back at her. "She can't."

"She is," River insisted. "You aren't being fair, if she has to be here, the least we can do is make her welcome."

He looked into those eyes, Emily looked like she wanted to defend herself, but she didn't speak. River was going to fight this battle for her.

"She can't," he pleaded. He knew River wouldn't understand, because she had to talk him into it. Because even though he was the Lord of Time he couldn't stop this, even if he wanted to. He was powerless, and those eyes, eyes he had seen in his dreams, had vowed to protect the moment that they opened, were all trust.

Oh, Emily.