Note from the author: Hello again! I apologize for taking so long to write this. I have been suffering from a terrible case of writer's block, so I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit forced. I still don't own any of the characters except for Mrs. Hooper. Thank you to all my patient readers. It means a lot to me. :) Enjoy.


The Doctor and Sydney stood in the driveway for a while discussing what was happening. He was very upset to learn that Molly was missing, and his mind immediately jumped to more serious conclusions than a simple case of a runaway child. Because he had yet to figure out why she was important, he had to believe that someone else might want her out of the picture. His mission to discover what would make her so special was constantly being interrupted by matters that were more urgent at the time.

He rubbed his eyes worriedly and sighed, "I'm sorry, Sydney."

She shook her head, and wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes again, "Don't be sorry Toby. It isn't your fault." If only he could believe that.

All of a sudden, her attention drifted away from the conversation. Her eyes looked past the Doctor, towards the road. "Hello? Can I help you?" Sydney inquired curiously.

He spun around to see whom she was talking to and groaned when he saw his blonde companion staring back at him. "I thought I told you to stay in the TARDIS this time?"

Rose rolled her eyes and made her way down the driveway, "And I thought I told you that I would do no such thing."

He threw his arms up in defeat before crossing them in front of his chest. "Sydney," the Doctor began, tilting his head in Rose's direction, "this is my friend Rose Tyler."

Sydney smiled halfheartedly and held her hand out to Rose, "It's nice to meet one of Toby's friends, I apologize for, well, all of this." She wiped her eyes again with her other hand, and released a small laugh.

Rose gave the Doctor a funny look before accepting the woman's hand and shaking it. "No need to apologize. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The look went unnoticed by Mrs. Hooper, and after introductions were made she suggested that they all go inside for a cup of tea. Both accepted the offer, but the Doctor had no intention to stay for long.

"You two take a seat, I'll pour the tea. Be back in hop." Sydney used the most cheerful voice she could manage, and walked into the kitchen.

"Why does she do that?" Rose asked immediately once their host was gone, "Why does she call you Toby?" She was worried that she had missed something, and judging by the look on the Doctor's face, she had.

"I'll explain later. In the meantime, you stay here and keep an eye on her," He pointed towards the kitchen where his friend was fixing their tea, "try to take her mind off things. She needs to smile, I feel like she hasn't done it genuinely in quite a while. I'm going to find Molly."

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Rose actually agreed to stay behind this time, but then he was off. "Be careful!" She stammered as he rushed down the hallway, and out the door.

He knew that he was leaving Sydney in good hands with Rose. Now he could focus completely on his young friend.

The Doctor pulled the sonic from his pocket and began searching. It turned out that finding a little girl and a dog was more difficult than it sounded, but after about an hour of searching, he stumbled across a clue.

In the forest a couple miles away from the Hoopers' house, he found a purple ribbon caught in a bush. Purple was Molly's favorite color, and nearby he found evidence that a dog had also run through these bushes.

"Got'cha!" He beamed as his hand removed the ribbon from the foliage. The little Hooper could not be too far away.

His search continued and after almost another hour, he came upon a small clearing. That was where he finally found the pair of runaways sitting in the grass, and looking extremely pitiful.

Molly had tears streaming down her face, and the dog looked like it was falling asleep in the warm sunlight. They had both desperately needed a break.

He stood outside the little meadow, and quietly looked at his friend. She looked so much older, and he hated that he missed the last few years. For some reason it made him a bit sad to see how tall and pretty she had grown in his absence. This was nothing new to him, though. Everyone had to move forward with or without him; it was simply the way of time, the circle of life.

Nevertheless, he refused to dwell on that, because he had right now, and the present matters just as much as the past or the future does.

"Lose something?" The Doctor asked as he stepped into the clearing, holding the purple ribbon between his fingers.

The girl's head instantly shot up when the familiar voice filled the grassy area. For a moment he thought he saw a spark of joy in her sad doe eyes, but it turned into a cross glare too soon to be sure.

"Where have you been?" She whimpered, although it was meant to sound very angry and demanding. Her voice grew a bit louder when she rephrased the question, "Where on Earth have you been?"

A fresh wave of tears hit her, and she had to wipe her eyes again.

There had been entirely too much crying today, he thought to himself, quietly walking further into the clearing.

His fingers fiddled with the ribbon in his hands as he tried to find the answer to her question. A whole list of places ran through his mind. "I've been a lot of places." The Doctor finally responded, and took a seat on the ground a little ways away from the girl and her dog.

Stephen eyed him curiously, unsure of whether to trust this stranger or not. "I'm not a stranger, I'm the Doctor. Friend of the family, don't give me that look." He said directly to the animal, which caused Molly's brows to pull together.

"What are you doing?" She glanced worriedly between Stephen and her friend. Perhaps he had lost his mind while he was away.

"I speak dog." He explained as if it made complete and total sense that he would be able to talk to her dog.

"No you don't. That's impossible." The little Hooper was a very intelligent girl, one of the smartest in her class, in fact. She knew that people could learn different languages, but not animal languages.

His shoulders gave a careless shrug, "I speak many languages. More than you can count."

She almost retorted that she could count extremely high, but decided against it. There were more important things to discuss.

Her voice softened yet again, "Why didn't you come back?"

A frown crept onto the Doctor's face, he tucked the ribbon into his pocket, and then patted his lap for her to join him.

Molly forced herself to be cautious, and tried very hard to stay where she was, but it was useless. She moved onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He hugged her back, happy to have his little Hooper again.

"I think we need to have another man to little girl talk, Molly. First, I have a question for you, though. Answer mine, and I'll answer all of yours. Sound like a deal?" The girl nodded, staying quiet so that he could continue. "Why did you run away? Your mother is worried sick about you."

Molly sniffled softly, her eyes staring intently at the ground. "I was going to come back, really I was. But today is my eleventh birthday, and my friends are busy, so I'm not having a party. It's just Mom and me, and few days ago I saw what she got me. It was an accident, but you can't un-see things."

His head tilted to the side curiously, "What did she get you that made you want to run away?"

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "She got me a bicycle. It was blue with only two wheels, and I know it's silly, but I don't know how to ride a bicycle. My dad always said that he was going to teach me one day."

The Doctor was still failing to see how this would make her upset, "He's probably going to teach you after you get your present. That's nothing to be upset about."

Without replying, she pulled out of his lap and walked away.

"Molly?"

Hugging her sides, she took in a deep breath, "You weren't here. You missed everything. Doctor, he can't teach me," Her petite frame shook with small sobs that she refused to release, "He died."

His eyes widened, and a frown deepened on his face.

"Every year on my birthday I waited for you. He waited with me sometimes, but you never showed up." Molly had to stop for a moment to pull herself back together.

He tried to take this moment to apologize, but she cut him off before he could finish saying her name,

"So what happened, Doctor? Did you just forget? Did you find out that I actually wasn't important at all? I need to know, because I've been asking myself why for a long time." The Doctor knelt in front of her reached out to take her hand in his, but she pulled hers away. "It was like I lost both of you."

"I'm sorry. I never meant to be away for so long. Do you remember when I told you that I was not a police officer? Well, my real job required me to be away. Sometimes I have to leave for a while; sometimes I don't come back for a long time, and sometimes I don't return the same man at all."

The girl finally looked up at him, "That sounds like a hard job."

A sad smile appeared on his lips, "It is, but someone has to do it."

For a moment neither of them said anything at all, but then Molly wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly again, "I missed you so much." She cried. Just as he had many times before, the Doctor hugged her back. "I may not be on time, Molly Hooper, but as long as I am able, I will always come back. I promise."

His shoulder was damp from Molly's tears when they pulled out of the hug. "Let's get you home, alright?" He stood up and glanced at the sky, trying to determine what time it was.

"I have one more question," she began softly, "What is your job?"

He glanced back her, and smiled again. "I'll tell you about it on the way home. Then I'll teach you how to ride that shiny new bicycle. Sound good?"

A bright smile stretched across Molly's face and she nodded quickly.

He held his hand out to her, this time she took it, and then, with Stephen at the little Hooper's side, they returned to the smallest house in the neighborhood.


"Now listen, everything I just told you is for your ears only."

Molly agreed to keep it private, and then they both walked into the house.

"Guess who is back!" The Doctor called out in a singsong voice.

Sydney was the first one to reach them, and she flung her arms around her little girl, pressing kisses to her cheeks, "Thank God you're safe!" She cried.

Rose trailed closely behind and took her spot standing beside the Doctor, "So, that's Molly Hooper?" She inquired, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

He grinned proudly, and nodded, "That's her."

After the Hoopers' reunion, Sydney pulled the Doctor into a grateful hug, "Thank you for bringing her back. We've missed you so much."

Rose stood off to the side, giving them a moment of privacy.

Molly noticed the blonde stranger, and walked over to her, "You must be Rose. I'm Molly. He told me about you."

She could not help but smile at the fact that he had talked about her, "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss. Molly."

The little girl stuck her hands in her pockets, "He said that you and I had something in common?"

Rose's brows pulled together, "What's that?"

Molly released a small sigh, "He said that your dad died when you were little too. I'm not as young as you were, though."

The companion and the little Hooper walked into the living room, "That's true. My dad got hit by a car when I was just a baby."

Molly took a seat on the couch, and Rose did the same. "My dad died from cancer earlier this year.

" As tears began to form in the girl's eyes, Rose reached over and held her hand.

They sat and talked like that for a long time. They discussed everything under the sun, including their experiences with the Doctor.

When he and Mrs. Hooper returned to the living room, Molly and Rose were laughing like old friends.

He smiled at the pair on the couch, and then gestured towards the front door with his thumb, "Ready to ride that bike, Molls?"

Sydney rolled the shiny, blue bike outside where everyone else was waiting. Stephen was lazily lying in the grass, ignoring all the excitement.

"First step is getting on the bike." Once she had completed that step, they worked on balance.

"Now we just have to get you going!"

Molly nodded anxiously, and whispered, "Don't let go of me, Toby."

He stood behind her, keeping her steady, "I have to let you go at some point so that you can learn to ride on your own, but if you start to fall, I'll always come back to catch you." He winked at her with a cheesy grin on his face, and then they were off.


Well, there's the latest chapter. I hope it is decent enough. For some reason I had a really hard time writing this. Please be kind in your reviews. I love you for reading my stories. Thank you. Stay tuned to see what happens next. xoxox