I own nothing. Not even a creative way to say this.

"Okay," the Doctor straightened his jacket and wiped his hands on his pants nervously. "Okay, okay, okay. Let's do this."

"Look at you," Amy put a hand on her hip and smirked. "More than just a friend, I'd say."

The Timelord threw his hands to his sides indignantly. "What? No! She's just - It's - I just usually don't make... Social calls, that's all."

"Okay. Follow my lead." His companion patted him on the arm and spun on her heel, charging towards the direction of the house in front of the two.

"Oi!" The Doctor stood, rooted indecisively to the ground for a moment before huffing and chasing after her. "Hold on, no, wait, that's my job! I do the leading, you do the following."

"That's not what it looks like," Amy sang teasingly as he arrived next to her. Then she raised her eyebrows and rang the doorbell.

"No, no, wai-" the Doctor froze as he heard footsteps and a strikingly familiar, "I've got it!" He turned to Amy.

"Okay," he whispered quickly. "Here's the plan. We were just perusing the -"

The door swung open and he snapped his mouth shut, eyes wide. "Uh, hello, uh," he stammered.

"Hi, we're from the Agency of... Awesome," Amy smiled. "We've just been perusing the area for... Awesome... People... And, well, we just, we, um... Tell 'em..." She paused and gave the Doctor a once-over. "...Bob."

He glanced at her and nodded before reaching a hand out. "Right! Yes. The name's Bob. Credentials right here, as you can see." He gestured to his -

"-psychic paper." Rose Tyler stared down at the blank white sheet. "That's psychic paper."

"Is it?" The Doctor threw the black wallet over his shoulder without a backward glance. "Didn't notice."

"Sorry, who did you say you guys were?"

"Right. We..." Pause. "Sorry, is your..." He glanced at her left hand. "...husband home?"

"Uh," Rose frowned slightly at the strange man in the bow tie, then turned back to the interior of the house. "Yeah, he is. John? John, can you come over here?"

Footsteps grew louder as the Doctor turned to Amy, mouthing, "John?". She shrugged.

"Rose," a voice called. "If it's those solicitors again, just tell them that I've got another enchilada and I am not afraid to use -"

Tentoo appeared at the doorway. "Oh, hello, again." He grinned at the Doctor.

Eleven frowned. "Again? We've met?"

"'Course. Well, not me, strictly, but other me. Well, Timelord me. Well," John Smith raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

Silence.

"You, me, Zygons, The Moment," he continued. "None of this is ringing a bell?"

Silence.

"Okay, then. Who's this, where's Clara?" Tentoo gestured towards Amy.

"Clara? Who's Clara? Dunno any Clara. This is Amelia Pond."

"Amy," she corrected, reaching a hand out.

John leaned back on his heels, his eyebrows high. "Oh, I see. Hasn't happened yet. Future you, then, you'll... well, wouldn't wanna spoil it."

"Future me," Eleven echoed with a smile. "I've got a future. Good."

"Wait, hold on," Rose muttered. "You're someone from the Doctor - John's past, then?"

John grinned and put his arm around his wife.

"Rose Tyler," he brushed a hair out of her eyes gently. "Meet... the Doctor. Why don't you two come on in?"

"So!" The Doctor flopped down into a big chair holding a cup of tea. He took a sip and promptly spit it back into the mug, placing it on the coffee table in front of him with a grimace. "Smith. John Smith. Johnny Smithy Smith and Rose Tyler... Smith."

John blinked. "Yeah... No, don't do that."

The Doctor bounced on his seat a couple times to measure the fluffiness, then crossed his legs and grinned. "How are... Things?"

"Things?" John raised an eyebrow. "You crossed a universe to ask about 'things?'"

"Don't be rude," Rose elbowed him. "Good. They're good. Got two kids - they're in school now."

"So," Amy leaned forward. "There haven't been any... Strange things goin' on here?"

"Well, depends on what you mean by strange. Yesterday, we were making soup, and instead of using half a tablespoon of basil, we used half a cup, and well," John trailed off with a chuckle, ignoring the Doctor's disgusted face.

"So this is what the human me comes to," the Timelord whispered coldly to no one in particular with a shudder. "Soup-making surprises."

Amy sighed. "We want to know about Bad Wolf."

The married couple exchanged a glance.

"What she means, is, well," the flustered Timelord waved his hands. "Amy's been going through some... Issues."

"Issues," John repeated slowly.

"I mean that I'm stuck in a time-loop. A one day time-loop. Always ends when the Doctor dies. And I always see the words Bad Wolf - which have somethin', I know, to do with you." She gave Rose a pointed look.

Rose shook her head. "Sorry, mate, I haven't seen or done anything... Time-ish... For about ten years, now."

Everyone jumped as the Doctor suddenly shot up. "Okay. You!" He pointed at John. "Come with me."

"And you two," he nodded at the two remaining, "just sit and do whatever you... Women... Usually do. Talk about kittens or- or knit or something."

"Knit?" They spat at the same time, then looked amusedly at each other.

"Two companions... It's a bit dizzying," the Doctor muttered before grabbing Tentoo's arm and dashing out of the room.

"Are you sure about all this, John?"

"What?"

"All this. How can you live like this?!"

"I don't understand."

"Yes, you do. You're a Timelord! How can you stand it?"

"No, Doctor, actually, I'm not. I'm human. I'm John Smith; I'm not the Doctor anymore."

"Are you insane?!"

"Says the one wearing a bow tie."

"You're the one with only one heart and all that human-y... Ew, gross."

"Doctor - I'm happy. We're happy."

"..."

"Come on, then. Let's figure out what's going on."

"So... You were the Doctor's companion, then?"

"Yeah, yeah I was... Once. Two of his faces, actually."

"What?"

"Regeneration, it's a... Thing he can do to save himself."

"Right, yeah, I know. Just surprising, that's all."

"Then, there was Martha, and Donna, too, and, well..."

"So what do you think they're talking about in there?"

"I dunno, probably something way above our sophistication. He's so wise, so clever, that man."

"And I said, 'No, I can't marry you, you're a chicken!'"

"Aha! Rassilon, that's gold."

"Anyway."

"Right. Yes! Back to..."

"Yeah... You know, this is the first time I really haven't been able to think of a solution. At all."

"Well, to be fair, you're only given a day."

"Less than a day. And you're only human."

"So keen to point that out, eh?"

"..."

"Don't laugh at me like that, you're just a Doctor."

"Yes, well, you're just a... Smith."

"Oh, you're one to talk."

"What?"

"What? ...Now, if the Master were here with his paradoxical machine and his laser screwdriver -"

"-Are you comparing me to the Master?"

"Kidding."

"Wait."

"What?"

"Wait. Shut up. Stop. Go back."

"Wha- Oh. Oh. Oh! Yes!"

"The something we never-"

"-something we never solved! We never figured out how he did it. The -"

"Paradox -"

"-machine!"

"Ha! You're brilliant, you are!"

"HA! We're brilliant!"

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. Must've reached some sort of epiphan-"

- the Doctor burst into the room with a wide smile. "Amy! Amy, I've figured it out."

"We've figured it out," John corrected with a grin.

"Well, technically, you're just a manifestation of my hand."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amy glanced at Rose with a bemused look, who simply grinned back at her. "What did you figure out? Can we stop it?"

"Yes! We can. And we are going to. Right now."

"Now?!" The Doctor pulled Amy up.

"Yes," he urged. "And we've got to hurry, there are over a trillion ways to die in this universe and, judging from our prospects thus far, we haven't got long before we meet another."

The companion stood up and frowned, placing her teacup on the center table. "Doctor… Doctor, what's happening? Don't I need to know?"

"I'll tell you on the way."

"On the way to where?"

The Doctor grinned, his hands on Amy's shoulders. "My past. But first," he turned to Rose and John. "We've got to say a proper goodbye."

Rose coughed as she placed her mug beside Amy's. "Already? Blimey, you just got here!"

"Yes, and now we're just leaving."

"We can't… I mean, I was wonderin'," the blonde blushed slightly. "I sort of wanted to see the T.A.R.D.I.S. Just one last time. Last time you sort of... just... disappeared. I never got to - I didn't..."

"Oh," the Doctor glanced at John with a slight grin. "Yeah, of course. Come along, then… Tyler."

He straightened his bowtie and walked out the door before anyone could notice his guilty expression.

A voice suddenly boomed out from the sky, a megaphone somewhere.

"ATTENTION, ATTENTION," it spoke. "THIS IS NOT A DRILL. PLEASE PROCEED TO YOUR DWELLINGS, REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THERE IS AN ESCAPED FELON IN THE VICINITY. REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

"No," the Doctor breathed. He turned to Amy, his eyes wide. "Of course, of course."

"Of course what?"

Tentoo closed his eyes. "Oh, brilliant."

"Amy," the man in the bowtie continued. "Listen, listen very carefully, you're going to have to repeat this tomorr - the next today."

She gave a short, nervous laugh. "What do you mean? You haven't died yet, you aren't dead. Just get inside, we'll be fine."

"No, that's not the point," he whispered hurriedly. "You said - earlier - you said that every time we're close to a solution, I die. That happens for a reason. There's a thing. It's called a paradox machine. It's from my past; remind me tomorrow and I'll know what it is. It's stopping us from getting any further, it needs me to die, and to continue dying."

"Doctor, get inside!"

A car driving maddeningly fast pulled into the neighborhood.

"Doctor!" Amy began to breath grew ragged as she pulled desperately at the Doctor's arm. "Doctor, get. Inside. Now. Please. I don't understand."

"Amy, don't you see?" John placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "He's dead. He's dead, no matter what you do. It's fixed, every day it's fixed."

"How can you just say that?!" Amy snapped, shrugging his arm away. "How could you ever say that? There's gotta be a way to save him."

"Bad wolf!" John blurted. Now she was listening.

He took a breath and continued. "Weren't you wondering what that was? Rose from the past is saving him, she's saving him every day. She looked ahead when she saw all of time, and she saw this! She created a time loop for him. He'll be okay. He'll be okay. If he faces his deaths it'll be faster, but he absolutely cannot run away."

Shots fired. The Doctor collapsed.

"Doctor, no!" Amy turned around and slapped Tentoo. "How could you just let this happen?! What is wrong with you? You knew this would happen!"

"Hey," Rose stepped forward and frowned. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It'll be alright, I promise."

Shots fired once more. A street light nearby fell over.

"I have seen him die too many times." Amy closed her eyes. "Get him inside."

They pulled him indoors and he groaned.

"Amy. This is important. Tomorrow, you've got to tell me everything, don't give up. It's up to you. Remember, paradox..." His breath grew heavy as he gagged. "Paradox machine. I'll be able to explain more... Ah... Tomorrow. You can do it."

"I don't understand, I'm not getting it. Doctor, don't -"

There was a flash of golden light and everything went dark.

"Amy," a voice echoed in the back of her mind. Female, wise, wise beyond humanity. Bad Wolf. "Good luck."

Thanks for reading! Please leave me some feedback :)

- Impossible Oswin