She sat in the chair opposite his makeshift bed as he woke up.
"When was the last time you slept?" she asked incredulously.
"Why do you ask?" he replied groggily.
"Because you slept for a whole day." He sat bolt upright, confusion plain on his face.
"What?" he nearly shouted.
"Time lag, probably. I imagine you were careening recklessly through the Time Vortex the other day—and probably every day before—and if you haven't slept in a long while you've probably got some extreme time lag."
"I don't follow."
"Time lag is commonly associated with overexposure to the Time Vortex combined with a lack of regular sleep. Symptoms include excessive lethargy, disorientation, and occasionally irritability," she replied. He looked blankly at her.
"Are you for real?"
"I'm as real as you are," she replied curtly, "Time Lord."
"Care to take me back to my TARDIS then?" he asked sarcastically.
"No, I think I'll keep you here and turn you into a refugee like me," she shot back, smiling. Her smile faded as she realized what she was doing. He looked at her quizzically.
"Something wrong?"
"You need to go. I'll take you back to your TARDIS, but after that I'll have to leave you." He stood up and straightened his bowtie before looking directly at her.
"Whatever you say," he replied with a knowing grin. A sad gaze from her soon caused this grin to fade.
XxXxX
"You're very hesitant to get attached to people," he remarked as they left the house, Mutt walking between them.
"And you're hesitant to tell me your name," she shot back. He groaned in frustration.
"Have you always been like this?"
"Have you?" He sighed.
"Fine then," he snapped. "How long has your TARDIS been dead?"
"Two years. How long has it been since you learned to fly yours?"
"I never bothered to. River always teased me—" he broke off midsentence. She looked over at him, eyebrows raised in questioning, but he didn't continue that train of thought.
"So," he began again. "Two years on Earth, and you've experienced nothing un-Earth-y?"
"Pretty much. Mutt and I have kept to ourselves these last two years."
"Then what about before? You didn't just travel alone, did you?" She was silent, resolutely refusing to answer his question.
"I've not traveled alone in a long time," he mused aloud, occasionally glancing over at her to see if he has elicited a reaction from her. "I've had so many wonderful companions, and my most recent companions were, well, they've all been fantastic. Martha, Donna, Jack, Wilfred… Amy and Rory and their daughter, River; she's feisty, mind you… And Rose…" he stopped, eyes wetting with tears. "And they've all gone, in one way or another… Martha left of her own accord, as did Wilfred… Donna lost her memory and River got thrown into prison for good this time… Amy and Rory, well… And Rose," his voice cracked, "she's trapped with a Metacrisis in a parallel universe."
"I'm, I'm sorry," she said, genuinely feeling the Time Lord's pain. He shrugged it off.
"In the end, they break my heart. But I just keep going back for more heartbreak." She stared at him in shock.
"Why would you do that?" she asked emphatically.
"Because having your heart broken is far better than being alone." She shook her head in dissent.
"I don't think so," she argued vehemently. "Not having heartache is far better."
"Care to explain why?" he asked somewhat mischievously. She glared at him.
"Care to give me your name?" she retorted.
"Ouch. That hurts. No, I think I may have to keep my name a secret for now."
"Then what do you call yourself?"
"That I can tell you. I'm called the Doctor."
"Doctor Who?"
"Very clever. Ha-ha. You've never heard of me?" He looked at her, watching for some sign.
"Not to injure your ego, Doctor, but I can't really recall. I may have heard it once, long ago, but now…" She stared at the TARDIS in the distance.
XxXxX
After a mostly silent remainder of the walk, the pair (plus Mutt) eventually reached the TARDIS.
"You never told me what you called yourself," the Doctor said, leaning up against the side of the TARDIS.
"I…I just go by the Traveler now. Kind of self-explanatory, but it works," she replied with a shrug.
"Glad to have met you, Traveler," he said, grinning brightly. "And you also, Mutt. It's uh; well it's nice to know I'm not the last of the Time Lords." She gave him a genuine smile this time, one that didn't shrink away.
"Me too. Maybe our paths will cross again someday," she told him, secretly hoping they wouldn't.
"The two last Time Lords in existence? Traveler, I don't think it's possible we won't see each other again," he replied with a smile of his own. He opened the door of the TARDIS and walked in. The Traveler turned to leave, but his voice held her back for a moment more.
"Oh, and Traveler? Good luck with…surviving and all. Geronimo!" A sudden whoosh of air shoved her backwards and she watched as the TARDIS dematerialized with an incredibly loud but altogether interesting sound.
She allowed herself a small smile as she walked away.
XxXxX
The Doctor looked around the control room of the TARDIS. With just him it was so big, so lonely. The room was so quiet he could hear his double heartbeat—ba-dum ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum.
"The heartbeat of a Time Lord," he whispered. "Why is it that I find whoever's left and end up losing them too?" He slumped in a chair and groaned.
The silence hung for a moment, before he jumped up and ran to the screen on the console. He typed in a few things and suddenly, a massive list of names came up.
"Alright, let's see if I can find you…" he muttered, typing in the word "Traveler."
"Not found."
"What do you mean, not found?" he grumbled.
"Archive incomplete."
"Why you stupid—" He stopped and looked around him.
"Sexy? How would you feel if we brought another Time Lord with us?"
XxXxX
She sat in her home; thanking the universe that she managed to avoid getting attached to the only Time Lord she'd seen in ages.
"We're just fine on our own, right Mutt?" The dog barked in assent. A sudden noise caused the two of them to look up.
"Why is he back?" she hissed. The door burst open and the Doctor entered her home.
"Who were your parents?" he asked in curiosity.
"Why does it matter?" she snapped. "And why are you back?"
"Because I noticed something when I woke up." He rushed over to a room and flung the door open.
"Hah!" He leaned his head out. "You have the complete records and histories of Gallifrey in here!"
"So?" she replied with a scowl. "They were left to me when my parents died."
"Precisely. Well, did you ever think about the fact that we could see if there are any other surviving Time Lords?" She thought for a moment and stared at him.
"If I give you the records and go with you once will you please leave me alone?" He grinned widely.
"Sure thing." He grasped her hand to lead her to the TARDIS, and she slumped to the ground in a faint.
