CHAPTER 3

"Wow." Alex breathed quietly, floating around the TARDIS in a trance-like state. She examined everything closely, touching things carefully as if she couldn't believe they were tangible. The Doctor turned to look a her as he started flipping controls on the main panel. The group had returned to the TARDIS after almost a half-hour of catching up on the cold street. It was time well spent, even though 90% of it was a yelling fight between Ty and Alex, both of which refused to be even the slightest bit kind towards each other.

"What are you wowing about?" The Doctor asked off-handedly, looking back down at the buttons and switches. "You grew up in here. You of all people should be used to it by now." Alex abruptly snapped her attention back to her father, stopping short.

"And that is where you are wrong. I wasn't even six when I left here. I don't remember much, and what I do remember is extremely vague," Alex explained softly, staring down at her feet. Being in the TARDIS seemed to have triggered something in her. Memories she didn't remember making were flooding into her head, and it was like she'd just experienced them minutes before. Nothing like what she considered the 'real' memories. She approached the control panel, stepping up onto the platform it was perched on. It was just her and the Doctor- River and Ty had both cleverly disappeared somewhere in the TARDIS. Ty had been complaining about his hunger and had set off looking for the kitchen. Similarly, River had left mumbling incoherently about locating something. Alex knew she wasn't really looking for much anything at all, but had left the Doctor and his daughter alone on purpose. She didn't mind, though. There really was a lot to catch up on anyway. She wandered up to the control panel, staring at her feet. There was a moment of pure silence- even the TARDIS made no sounds. The Doctor looked up at her. Alex finally looked up herself, meeting his eyes.

"How long has it been for you, Alex?" he asked slowly, carefully, a hunch beginning to form. The girl remained silent before finally speaking.

"Ten years. It's been ten years for me," she whispered reluctantly. She still avoided eye contact, her eyes locked on the top of her sneakers. Her hair hung loosely around her face like a curtain, shielding her features from the Doctor. He knew she'd aged ten years, but time travel was complicated sometimes. A person could age years and years and not have waited more than ten minutes. Of course, the opposite was viable as well- barely aged more than a month and have waited a lifetime. He'd hoped the former was true for his daughter, but apparently things had turned out differently. He sighed heavily, staring up. He'd certainly win father-of-the-year for this stunt. It hadn't been nearly that long for him and his wife, but it wasn't anything he could help.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"But don't worry about me," Alex said swiftly at the same time. "For some reason, it doesn't seem to have actually been that long," her voice wavered at the end, trailing off as if she'd remembered something important. She was a good liar.

"There's no use brooding over time already passed!" she exclaimed, suddenly returning to her usual self. "Where are we going?" The Doctor stared at his hands, wandering through his thoughts.

"I'm not particularly sure where we should be headed. But, Alex, there's a lot we need to know. What happened at the school?" he asked. Alex stopped reacting properly again, stuttering.

"Well, um.. I'm not entirely sure?" she guessed, contemplating which reply would keep her from having to return to the dreaded place. The Doctor sighed and stared at her with a knowledgeable look on his face.

"Wait. Let's back-track. Why exactly were you running through places like schools regenerating every other week anyway? And there is absolutely no use in trying to say you haven't because you've already said it many, many times. It's almost as if you are trying to escape from something. Someone. Or many someones, perhaps?" The Doctor fished around thoughtfully. Alex was rendered wordless. She felt like knocking herself in the head- he was right. She'd already said she'd been doing an 'awful lot of running' and there was no telling what she'd burst out in the heat of her and Ty's argument. There seemed to be no use in denying what he'd suggested.

"So what if I'm running from someone?" she questioned testily. "What does it matter?"

"Where have you been for ten years, Alex?" The Doctor demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Alex retorted. "It's over. I've escaped, I never ever plan on returning and I've long since forced those memories somewhere they can never be retrieved. Nothing before now matters. So I'd appreciate it if you would drop it. I don't want to go back to the school. I don't want to talk about it and I don't want to even think about it. So that's that, and let's go do something fun. I'm done with everything before now and that certainly includes Ty. So let's drop him back somewhere and forget about it. Forget about it all."

Alex spun on a toe and frustratedly stomped away deeper into the TARDIS, passing Ty, who was munching on a sandwich, on the way. He turned to watch her leave, then returned his line of vision to the Doctor.

"What's up with her?" he asked with a full mouth. The Doctor had returned to the controls and finally flipped the large switch to send them on their way. The TARDIS jerked around for a moment before launching into space. The Doctor turned, resting on the railing, his arms crossed.

"She really gave you mono?" he asked, suddenly seeming awfully concerned about the truth of that statement. Ty glanced around before taking a seat on the railing opposite the Doctor.

"I wasn't kidding. I was down for a month and a half. Forty-Two days to be exact. November 1st to December 12th," he finally said, finishing his sandwich.

The Doctor shook his head and hopped down, beginning to pace back and forth in front of the panels. This had really all come too fast for him- this whole parent thing. He'd at least figured that he'd have a few years before he had to deal with teenage girl things. Boys. He shuddered at the thought and finally stopped moving.

"What were you doing with her that would involve the transfer of mono anyway?" he hissed, approaching the boy. Ty stammered for a moment, trying to locate the correct statement to keep the Doctor from murdering him.

"Spin-the-bottle?" he tested. The Doctor leaned over until his face was merely an inch from Ty's.

"Let's just get this through your head, little boy," The Doctor furiously stated. "This is a TARDIS. More specifically My TARDIS. I can see any and everything in this whole entire place that I want to. You lay a fingertip on my daughter and I will know. Don't even try and get away with it. And in the event you don't listen to this warning, I will make sure you get thrown into the next black hole we pass and you will die a painful and miserable death. And I will not feel sorry for you. Are we clear?"

Ty nodded once, his eyes huge, a look of pure terror on his face.

"Good." The Doctor said. "Now, get out of my sight before I go ahead and kick you out anyway." Ty hit the ground running, racing back to wherever he had come from. The Doctor watched him go, smiling slightly to himself, chuckling. He really had been quite angry, but scaring the kid had been a good bit of fun. Nice one Doctor. You've still got it! He thought. He shook his head and began to mess with the TARDIS again. Now it was time to figure out how to get Alex to have a discussion with him without stomping away angrily.

River sat in her and the Doctor's bedroom, reading one of many books she'd found in the TARDIS' library. It was nice and quiet in here- the room was one of the most secluded places in the machine and it also required great purpose to locate. She flipped the page, muttering the words out loud to herself. She was locked into the story-line, a romance between the unlikeliest. She liked those sorts of stories- they tended to remind her of her relationship with the Doctor. She often got lost in her thoughts and memories thinking about it. She continued reading until she began to hear other noises mixed in with her's. It was peculiar. She stopped reading and walked to the door, pressing her ear up to it, listening. She could hear what sounded like one end of a telephone conversation.

"What am I supposed to do, Jess? No I can't run away. What a silly idea. Well yes I want to be around them. I love them, they're my parents. I just don't want to go back. I'm scared. What if they find me? You don't think they will? Okay. Okay. Alright Jess. I'll stop worrying. I'll try to see you soon. Love you. Kay, bye." River listened.

"Alex," she sighed. It seemed as if something had gone wrong upstairs. The girl sounded like she was keeping back tears, or maybe recovering from them. River remained behind the closed door. Alex sniffed and sighed shakily. River slowly opened the door, sticking her head out. Alex jumped.

"Alex?" she asked softly, looking at her daughter. The girl stood there, looking at her feet.

"I'm sorry mum, I didn't know you were down here. I'll go somewhere else," she mumbled starting off somewhere.

"Nope, nope, you aren't going anywhere. Something's wrong," River said, offering her hand to the girl. Alex sighed and followed River back to the room.