1 day early, just cause I won't have internet access tomorrow: HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DOCTOR WHO! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please R&R!

The next morning, Athena woke up to what felt like a hangover. She looked around her room, "Doctor?" She quickly became panicked, "Doctor!"

Seconds later, the Doctor burst through her door, with his sonic screwdriver in hand. "What, what is it Athena?!" He scanned the room and realized everything was okay. "What's wrong?"

Athena apologized, "I don't know, I just got scared. Must've had a nightmare."

He put his sonic on her bookshelf, "that's okay." 'Oh Rasillon she's still topless…oh help me', "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, and yourself?"

"Fine, fine. What do you want to do today?" He looked at her like an eager puppy would look at its master, "Go back in time? Forward? A new planet? Somewhere on Earth?" He relaxed his face at his least favorite option: "Or have a chill day?"

"Actually, can we just have a chill day? I can't move my leg that well. We can't risk doing anything where we may have to run, I won't be able to keep up."

The Doctor looked at her, slightly disappointed but completely understanding. "Yeah, of course."

"What do you do around here for fun?"

"Oh…" He always travelled for fun. He had never spent much time on the TARDIS for fun. It was his home, not his playground. He swallowed and halfheartedly responded, "The library."

Athena groaned and rolled her eyes. "You said you had blank rooms, right?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you want one?"

"Can we?"

"Yeah, we can. Get dressed, I'll be waiting for you outside."

Athena slowly got out of bed and got dressed in a baggy tshirt and shorts. She put on a pair of sandals and went to meet the Doctor.

The Doctor was literally just outside of her room, she almost ran into him when she stepped through her door. He turned around, caught her from falling, and looked down at her. "So I'll follow you?" She asked, a hint of blush creeping up her cheeks.

"So you'll follow me." He took her hand and led her down the TARDIS hallways and around a corner. They were at a dead end with four doors, two on each side of the hallway. "Behind each door is a blank room. Take your pick and imagine something for us to do today."

The Doctor hoped that it would be something calm and tranquil, not some insane nightclub like Athena was probably used to.

She went to the first door on the left and opened it. The Doctor came up behind her and watched as the walls and ceiling retreated from them. Athena stepped inside and suddenly a very soft and lush deep green grass sprung up from the floor. Then multiple fruit trees and flowers came into existence. The sky was a brilliant blue with giant fluffy clouds floating above their heads. He could hear a babbling brook nearby, the sound calmed him immensely.

Athena smiled, left her shoes at the door, and walked inside. The Doctor took off his shoes and jacket and followed her into the garden. She walked over to a peach tree and picked two off and walked towards the small brook. She moved with a certain amount of elegance that the Doctor admired. Well, as much as her bandaged up leg would allow her. He followed her and laid down next to her.

She laid back as well and they stared at the clouds. She handed the other peach to the Doctor and they lay in silence and ate, letting the juice drip down their arms, the Doctor not caring that it would probably stain his shirt.

After several minutes of staring at the clouds they began naming what they looked like to them. Athena spotted several rabbit shaped clouds, a couple giraffes and a butterfly. The Doctor, on the other hand, was telling her the composite of each cloud, exactly how much water vapor, oxygen, and carbon was in each of the clouds. Athena laughed out loud, her warm laugh that made the Doctor smile and laugh along with her.

They stared up in silence for a little while longer and then the Doctor broke the silence. "I saw your tattoos last night."

"Yeah, I bet you did." She replied, feeling herself blush at the thought of the Doctor seeing her naked. She was glad the Doctor couldn't see her blush. But since he was an alien he could probably smell it or something bizarre like that.

"They're beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Especially this one." He touched her left thigh. "What is it?"

The tattoo he had touched was a large, gothic cross with a banner around it that said 'Jeremy 3-05-2005'.

She teared up a little bit. The Doctor could tell he had hit a nerve. "It's the day my brother was murdered."

"Oh…" Murdered? Poor Athena … "Were you close?"

"Yeah. Very."

The Doctor propped himself up on elbows and looked over at her. She was crying. He rolled onto his stomach and wiped her tears away. "I bet he loved you very much."

"Yeah…too much. If it weren't for me he'd still be alive."

"Don't say that."

"It's true though." She sat up and rested her arms and head on her knees, staring off into the distance rather than make eye contact with the Doctor. "He died trying to save me."

The Doctor sat up next to her. How are you supposed to comfort a crying girl? His companions had always snapped themselves out of it, he never really had to do much. It was now obvious to him that Athena had been dealt one of the worst hands of life he had ever seen. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She responded gratefully and put her head on his shoulder.

"You know you don't have to tell me anything, Athena. You can leave it at that."

"Yeah I know." That stung the Doctor. He didn't want to pry, but he wanted to understand. "I'll tell you anyways, just give me a bit of time. I can't cry and talk very well." The Doctor squeezed her shoulders in assurance.

"My parents died in 2002. Car crash." Another wave of tears hit her and the Doctor wiped them away. "No one wanted to take us in, we were going to be wards of the government. Wards never turn out well so we ran to the streets. We lived on the streets for almost three years." Another wave of tears hit her and he wiped them away again. "We were pretty good. Always found money, did odd jobs, got lucky and found money in the street, that sort of thing. We always ate, once a day we would eat at least something. We were saving up for our own apartment." She smiled and laughed at the memory. "Around Valentine's Day in 2005 he got a job at some shop. Three weeks before he was killed. We were going to be on the streets for another month or so before he had earned enough to get rent for an apartment. I was only 14 at the time." She tensed up in his arms. "March 5th, some brutes found us. Homeless network had found out he had gotten a job. Most were very congratulatory, you know, we looked out for each other for the most part. But these three boys, about his age, maybe a bit older, Jeremy was 18, weren't so congratulatory." She had tears flowing freely down her face, but she powered through it. She felt like the Doctor needed to know. "They demanded money. He gave them £93. He didn't want to give them everything, you know? We needed it. But £93 wasn't enough. They grabbed me." She choked on her words.

The Doctor turned to face her but still held her shoulders. "You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to Athena." She nodded and started sobbing. The Doctor pulled her into his arms and rocked back and forth, trying to soothe her. "You're safe with me. You're safe in the TARDIS." She nodded into his shoulder. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He kissed the top of her head, "Never. Don't you worry."

Athena's head was swarming with her nightmares. She was usually really good at consoling herself in the middle of the night, when no one was around, but this was different. The Doctor was right in front of her. She felt so embarrassed. She withdrew from his embrace and struggled to stand up. She wiped away the last of her tears and walked out of the garden and back towards her room.

The Doctor caught up with her, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to my room. I need to lie down for a bit."

"You want me there? Or do you want to be alone?"

"Alone."

"Okay…if you need me just shout. Or tell the TARDIS, she'll tell me."

Athena nodded her acknowledgment and opened the door to her room, closing it a little bit too forcefully in his face.

The Doctor felt sorry for her. He had never met anyone who had lost both of their parents at once and their only sibling. She had been completely alone in this world for five years. That's enough to turn anyone's heart to stone. No wonder she didn't believe that he was capable of loving Rose, she didn't understand. There was so much to this girl he didn't understand. She'd tell him eventually, when the time was right she would entrust him with her secrets and stories.

The Doctor wandered into the library and picked up a book about the history of the Medusa Cascade. He knew everything about it already, but he found it fascinating all the same, much like rereading mystery books he had already read countless times.

He was about two hundred pages into the book when all of a sudden he heard the TARDIS screaming.

He jumped out of his seat, dropping the book in the process, and sprinted towards the console room. As he passed Athena's room the screaming intensified. He could feel his gut churning. He burst through the door to her bedroom and scanned the room for her. He didn't see her.

Then the TARDIS flung open her bathroom door. Athena was lying in the tub, with her wrists slashed open, covered in blood.

She had her headphones on and was listening to music. The Doctor pulled a towel off the hook near the door, tearing the hook down with it. He ran to her side and pressed the towel to her wrists.

She slowly raised her head and glared at him. "Leave me alone." She had obviously paled. How long had she been bleeding herself?

"I need to stop the bleeding!"

"I know when to stop. Leave me the hell alone." She was obviously getting weaker.

"I'm not leaving you alone, Athena. I've lost too many people. Too many fucking people. I'm not losing you." The look he gave her was one of pure terror.

"Go away." And with that her eyes rolled back and her head fell down.

"Oh no you don't!" He shouted. He moved her legs away from the faucet and turned the tub on to get the blood down the drain. Was this his fault? He had questioned her about her past and she had started crying. Did he go too far?

It was. It was all his fault.

Calm down. The Doctor glared at the ceiling as if he was glaring at the TARDIS. "Don't tell me what to do!"

The Doctor gave a panicked look at Athena. This girl was so much more than he bargained for but at the same time he didn't want her anywhere else but in the TARDIS and by his side.

After a few minutes of pressure on her wrists the bleeding stopped. He got a fresh towel and dampened it under the faucet. He wiped off her arms and hands to get rid of all the caked on blood. He smelled her blood, AB-? He licked some of the bloody water off his fingers. Yep, AB- mixed with something else…probably an iron deficiency since she was so malnourished. Of course she was the rarest blood type, everything about this girl was rare. He didn't have any AB- in the med bay. He would have to draw some out of her once she was back to normal.

He picked her up out of the tub and laid her down on the mound of pillows in the well in her room. The TARDIS turned the fire on for them. He sat and watched her breathe. He then realized he needed to get some food and water in her. He ran to the med bay and grabbed a few bandages for her wrists. Then he went to the galley. The TARDIS had read his mind; The canvas bag on the counter. The Doctor picked up the bag and didn't expect it to be so heavy. He ran back to Athena's room and quickly as he could.

The room was already pretty warm. He took off his jacket and shirt and threw it on her couch, and unlaced his shoes and took off his socks and threw them into the corner. Now he only had on his undershirt and trousers. He sat down besides her and bandaged her wrists. Once he finished he went to bandage the other one. When he finished he positioned himself behind her head. He laid down on his side and watched the fire while stroking her hair. He was going to stay up all night to make sure she was okay.

About an hour later, an hour and seven minutes to be exact, Athena began to stir. She woke up and looked, very dazedly, around the room. She tried to sit up but the Doctor pulled her back down.

"Lie down. You don't have any energy."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Don't you dare tell me how I feel."

"No, I mean you don't have any energy. I'm sure you're fine. But you're tired." He knew you weren't supposed to provoke this situation, you weren't supposed to talk about it unless the person in question wanted to talk about it.

"Right…yeah…tired." She rubbed her eyes and then noticed her bandages. "Really? Really, Doctor?"

"Just wanted to be safe, that's all."

"Bastard."

"Yep."

Athena couldn't stay mad at him. He was trying to help. She wish he hadn't, but he just wanted her safe. She knew he had lost so many people recently, people he loved too. Especially his precious Rose. She just needed to relieve some stress, she hated talking about the past.

The Doctor sat up and pulled the canvas bag into his lap, "the TARDIS figured you might want a snack."

"What's in there?"

"Who knows? Let's find out!" That stupid cheeky grin he always had that made her smile every time graced his face. Athena let a small smile escape to her lips but nothing more. He started pulling things out of the bag, "chocolate milk, graham crackers, marshmallows, gummy worms, oh look bananas! Chocolate, peanut butter, fruit punch…"

"How much stuff is in there?"

"Oh there's more. It's bigger on the inside."

"Of course it is."

"Grapes, beef jerky, chicken jerky, turkey jerky wow...cheese cubes, and bread."

"Good picnic basket you got there."

"Good picnic we got here! Hold on." He sprung to his feet and ran into the closet. He grabbed a wire hanger off the rack and paused and looked at himself in the full length mirror for a moment.

'Oh God I'm getting old.' He ran his hands over his jawline. He looked towards Athena's room. He just needed to keep her distracted, get her happy again. He'll take her to some fantastical bazaar tomorrow. No trouble, just amazement.

He walked back into her room and plopped down onto the mound of pillows. Athena had already opened the gummy worms and had drunk some of the fruit punch. He laid back onto his elbow and undid the wire hanger, curving it into a u-shape. He put two marshmallows on each end and crawled up to the fire. Athena joined him with the bag of gummy worms. They both lay on their stomachs and stared into the fire while the Doctor roasted the two marshmallows.

Athena broke the silence, "I've just been thinking about the past a lot. My past." The Doctor looked at her, taking his eyes off the marshmallows. "It hurts."

The Doctor tried to swallow a lump that was growing in his throat. He knew everyone had problems and sad pasts, but there were happy moments too. But the more he learned about Athena, the more it seemed like there weren't any happy moments. He was about to respond, something sweet to make her smile, but the marshmallows burst into flames and distracted him.

The two of them quickly blew out the fire and then looked at each other. Athena's once somber eyes were filled with mirth and they both started laughing. Athena took a few gummy worms and shoved them into the Doctor's mouth, which started another fit of giggles. He had to force himself to swallow, he was laughing too hard.

After that they stared at each other. They didn't say anything, just looked at one another. The Doctor watched the reflection of the flames dancing on her piercings and jewelry while Athena watched the warm glow growing on the side of his face. The Doctor broke the gaze first and grabbed two more marshmallows to roast in the fire.

"Worth another try, yeah?"

"Yeah." Athena lay down next to the Doctor, who was already spread out on his stomach facing the fire. Athena watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was too enthralled with the fire to be paying much attention to her.

She kissed his cheek. His head whipped around to face her.

"What was that for?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving me. Saving me from London. From myself. I haven't really thanked you so thank you."

The Doctor smiled and kissed her forehead. "Any time." He smiled down at her. "Get the graham crackers! And the chocolate!" He pulled the marshmallows out of the fire and the two of them sat on the pillow mound and ate their s'mores. They spent the rest of the night eating the junk food that the TARDIS provided for them. At one point the Doctor even ran back to the galley and got a second gallon of chocolate milk and they had a contest to see who could drink the most the fastest. Of course he won, but at the cost of getting gummy worms thrown at him.

Near the end of the night Athena laid her head down on the Doctor's lap while he sat back, leaning on his hands. They watched the fire together, the Doctor sometimes stroking Athena's hair.

"The pillows aren't going to burst into flames, are they?"

"No, the TARDIS is controlling the fire."

"I like her, the TARDIS."

"Yeah, me too. She's home."

She sighed. "They figured he was lying to them."

"What?"

"Those three boys. They figured Jeremy was lying to them." She was starting to talk again.

"Oh…" was all he could say. He realized that he needed to shut up, let her talk. "Just tell me what you're comfortable with, you don't have to tell me everything or anything even." He ran his hand through her hair again and sat back and watched her.

"They hit him a few times. Knocked him down, kicked him. All the while, one of them had a hold on me. I couldn't help. Well what could a 14 year old do, right? But still…I couldn't help." Her breath got a little shaky. She slowed down for a moment and then started again, "They wanted him to give them more. They threatened him. He didn't back down. They threatened me. They saw that he was willing to do anything to protect me. To die to protect me. Poor Jeremy. So two of them held him back."

He could feel her start to shake. He put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed her arm. "Athena, you can stop. It's okay."

"No, if I'm going to be staying with you for a while you need to know. You need to know everything. Why I don't trust people easily, why I act like I do. You need to know."

After a moment of silence the Doctor replied, "Take your time."

A minute and eighteen seconds later, Athena started up again. "The one who had grabbed me, probably the smallest one of the three but still a lot bigger than me, pushed me up against the wall and stabbed me. Just once. I still have a scar on my stomach." The Doctor rubbed her arm again. "I was only 14, I didn't completely understand what had happened. I remember it, but luckily enough for me I remember it as a naïve 14 year old with no real schooling, no lessons. But I learned, when I woke up in the hospital, he had raped me. Apparently there was DNA from three different people. They had all had their go." The Doctor clutched Athena's shoulder both for comfort and as protection. He was furious. For the second time in being with her, he wanted to rip someone to shreds. "Even at 14 I knew that sex was for love. But not for me it seemed. Ever since it hasn't been, there hasn't been any love since." The Doctor felt her tears through his slacks. "Then they stabbed him. Four times. They took everything off him, the money he didn't give them, the watch our dad had given him, everything. After the three ran off he looked at me, with tears in his eyes. I saw him die. I saw the light leave his eyes. Then I felt darkness and coldness approaching me. I thought I was going to die too. But like I said, I woke up in a hospital. Someone had paid for my bill, whomever called the ambulance for me I suspect. Or took me, I don't know. But then I was cast back onto the streets with nothing." She pressed herself up to the Doctor's abdomen and held his hand. "That's going to have to be for another time though, that story."

The Doctor stroked her hair again, "Of course Athena. Of course." He kissed her hand. He let her fall asleep on his lap, he didn't move all night, he just stared at the fire, digesting everything she just told him.