"Hey, Professor! Catch!" Ace's call made the doctor look up just in time to see something flying towards his head. Reflexively, he reached up and caught it. Looking down, he realized he was holding a silver can. With no cap. He yelled and dropped it quickly, and then he heard Ace cracking up behind him. He turned to see the girl in question doubled over laughing. He glared at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It was empty, Professor," Ace gasped out between fits of giggling. "It was an extra one. But the look on your face-!" She collapsed on the floor, laughing even harder.

The Doctor sighed, smiling, and turned back to the closet in front of him.

Martha had "taken the weekend off", as she put it, to go visit her family, so he and Ace were cleaning out her room, which over the years had become a sort of dumping ground for old, useless things that the Doctor couldn't quite bring himself to throw out. The closet was the worst place in the room, so he had decided to start there. Ace had been cleaning out under her bed when she found the spare can, and apparently hadn't been able to resist uncapping it and throwing it at him to scare him. But he could feel her eyes on him now. She was worried she'd gone too far. She hadn't seen him smile.

She was like that now. Still trying to figure out this new him, trying to feel him out and discover just how far he would go. He was very different than she was used to, he knew that. Her old Professor would never have approved of her lobbing an empty Nitro-9 can at his head. He didn't mind, now, but she didn't know that. He was doing his best to be patient with her and help her get to know him. He tried to help her find her Professor in him, and he thought it was working. She still looked at him a little strangely now and again, but he also saw the light in her eyes when he tapped her nose, and heard the lilt in her laughter when she poked fun at him, and the pride in her face when he told her 'very good' or 'well done', or when she figured something out without his help. So he knew she was seeing her Professor more and more in him, and she was becoming much more comfortable around him. Truth be told, he had been surprised at how quickly she had accepted him. Whatever she had seen in his eyes all those months ago had convinced her. She just had to be sure. She wasn't as suspicious as she used to be, though- it seemed the Doctor was not the only one who had changed.

He turned slowly, enjoying himself, and faced her solemnly, still holding the can. He felt immediately ashamed of keeping her in suspense when he saw the anguished look on her face. He grinned, and she smiled back, relieved.

Seeing that she was still nervous, he said "I know I shouldn't have acted mad. But the look on your face!"

She stuck her tongue out at him and threw a pillow. They were both laughing now. Ace was having trouble breathing. She was so happy here, with her Professor. She still couldn't believe t was really him, but it was. He was different, true, but she could see that he was still himself. She had known him better than anyone, and so she found him still, in the look on his face when he was deep in thought or when he knew more than he was telling. She heard him in his voice when he was worried and saw him in the twinkle in his eyes. And truth be told, she wouldn't have minded if her Professor had been a little more like he was now. They probably could have avoided a lot of trouble that way. Then again, he seemed to get in as much trouble now as he did when she first met him, so maybe not. It was nice to know his sense of humor had improved a little, at least.

"I'm bored of cleaning." she announced suddenly. "Let's go do something."

He turned to look at her. "As I recall, Ace, 'something' for you usually involves, oh, say, bringing down an entire system of government, or almost being turned into a giant, horse-riding cheetah, or getting yourself trapped by an attack squad of Daleks, or burning a house down. With a side of blowing something up, for good measure."

"Yeah, well," she said, unrepentant. "So, you wanna do something? Or would you rather me wander around the TARDIS all day?" She had him there, and she knew it. The look of alarm on his face gave him away.

"Oh, no, that's quite all right, Ace." He sometimes slipped back into his old speech mannerisms around her for a sentence or two. "We can go 'do something', as you put it."

"All right! I thought I was going to DIE in here, seriously!" He laughed. She could act so much like a teen, sometimes. Well, physically she almost was, but still. He smiled fondly at her as he followed her out of the room. There as no one quite like Ace. He really had missed her.

She was waiting for him at the door, her rucksack slung over one shoulder. He looked at it warily as they left the TARDIS side by side.

"What would I find in there, if I worked up the nerve to open it?"

"A bottle of water, a baseball bat, and a deck of playing cards," she lied cheerfully, except for the part about the bat. The handle could be seen sticking out from under the bag's flap. They both knew what was in the sack. Inwardly, the Doctor smiled He hoped fervently she wouldn't find an excuse to use the real contents of the bag-silver cans of her homemade explosive-but was almost positive she would. He also wondered when she had found time to whip up this latest batch. Briefly considering telling her to leave the rucksack in the TARDIS, he quickly decided it wasn't worth it, instead asking

"Why a baseball bat?"

"I know you love all your fancy gadgets and stuff, Professor, but personally I think you should always have a good ol' bat handy, just in case your fancy toys give out. That and some Nitro 9. Not that I have any," she added hastily.

He laughed. "Of course not, why would you? You're a good girl and always do what you're told. The bat might be a good idea, though. You never know when a Dalek'll turn up just begging for a good whack."

"Yeah. You really never know." Her voice was subdued suddenly, her face solemn. He had forgotten, for a moment, what she had been through recently. It was too easy to fall back into their old, familiar bantering. Without saying anything, he sidled closer to her, just near enough to brush her shoulder with his, a silent reassurance. I'm here.

She shook off her mood, saying "Do you think you could, you know, 'fix up' the bat for me? Like you did with my old one? That one was seriously wicked." She sounded wistful.

"Nah, sorry, Ace, any chance of that blew up with the Hand of Omega. Now!" They had reached a busy intersection, and the Doctor looked around before offering his arm to Ace. "Shall we tour the city, Milady?"

She rolled her eyes at him and threaded her arm through his. "Lead on, Milord." They shared a smile as they wound their way through the steady stream of foot-traffic on the sidewalk.

You have no idea how much I'd love reviews. Over 900 hits on this story but only 6 reviews? That is sad. ; )