Listening to the water running in the bathroom, the Doctor pushed a hand through his hair.
He'd never imagined that anyone could dislike the ARC; it was, at least to him, the most incredible Earthbound organization there was. Nonviolence and protection of the timeline put together! And yet there was Allison, with the water under such high pressure that the sound of her crying was barely audible.
Was it humans, or just women?-both of them were impossible, making human women the worst. He had the rotten luck of always getting entangled in the affairs of human women…not that he minded that often.
He heard the water shut off and the shower curtain be pulled aside. Simultaneously, there was a knock at the door; he leapt to his feet with the vigor of having sat immobile for nearly an hour.
"Thank you, brilliant timing-I'll just take that," he said, handing the pizza delivery man a hundred-dollar bill and taking in return the box of steaming-hot pizza. "There's a Do Not Disturb sign-brilliant!" He snatched the sign off the inside doorknob and hooked it onto the outside doorknob. The pizza man nodded and walked away.
"Allie! Pizza's here!"
There was a noncommittal grunt from the bathroom; out stepped a somewhat renewed Allison enveloped within a thick white bathrobe.
"I'm thinking we sleep in and then TARDIS off to Paris," she said. The Doctor eyed her cautiously.
"You all right?" he asked quietly.
Allison gave him an impertinent look. "No, half left," she said saucily. "I'm fine-like I said, they're not ruining my life anymore."
The Doctor looked at Allie unhappily. "I don't like to see anyone upset, Allie, especially my friends."
Allison took a deep breath before looking at the Doctor earnestly. "Doctor, going to Paris is the best thing. For one, it'll throw the ARC off our trail-they're following my cell phone, so I could just drop my phone off in Paris and let them run around in circles a while. Tonight, let's just eat the pizza."
She gave him a smile that was more real, and he sighed with relief. "Brilliant-could you maybe take the box? I'm burning my fingers off here."
Allison smiled before laughing gently; she took the pizza box from him quickly and set it on the room's table.
"You know you really don't need to buy new clothes," the Doctor pointed out as they sat down. He opened the box and extracted a cheesy slice of pizza. "I've got a whole roomful of clothes in the TARDIS."
"Yeah, but-it's totally ghosts of girlfriends past in there," Allie replied with a grimace. "How many girls have you-never mind, I so don't want to know. I just don't want to wear a dress some other woman who's been with you has worn."
The Doctor rolled his eyes before realizing how serious, how honest Allie's expression was.
Allison spun around with excitement, taking in the lights and the glamour.
"Anything I want?" she asked the Doctor excitedly.
"Anything you want."
She squealed with delight, jumping into the Doctor's ready arms. "Oh my God, you are perfect!" She went to run into the nearest store but the Doctor grabbed her wrist.
"Meet me back here in three-naw, five hours."
Allison laughed gleefully before pausing, grabbing the Doctor's own wrist. "You don't be afraid to buy something for yourself," she said. "Not that I'm not a fan of the suits, but you could expound."
As she ran off to the stores, the Doctor furrowed his brow.
"Expound?" he asked himself in amusement. Suddenly he heard the ring of a mobile-Allie's mobile, of course. She'd trusted him to drop it somewhere discreet but populous; somewhere hard to search with a company of soldiers. He really had to admit her cleverness.
For a few moments he struggled, whether or not to answer it. Finally he crossed to a bench and opened the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
The line broke off before he had time to finish the word. He grimaced-now the ARC would be coming to Paris. They didn't have as much time as he'd hoped.
He reached into his pocket; after searching several moments he found a wad of euros. Within a few minutes he was alongside the road, talking to a cab driver.
"Eiffel Tower," he said, handing the driver the appropriate amount in euros. "Allons-y!"
As the cab stopped before the monument, he lowered the window and threw the mobile into the street.
"All right-back to the shops."
