Wow! First off, I want to apologize for not posting in a month! I didn't have good interent access to post, but I thought about you guys everyday! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your reviews and when you fave or story alert this! To make up for the lack of posts, I'm putting up a chapter now and one Monday, and likely one on Thursday as well. You see, I may not have posted, but I have been writing ;)

Uber big thanks to StarofCalamity, rara saryn, SciFiGeek14, SerenityMoolight , Bad Wolf Jr, WeepingAngel123 , TARDISgirl192 , ROGMethos, Wandering Hitokiri, Lindsey, pheobep3, FantasticlyBrilliant, and FullWolfMoonGirl for taking the time to review by amateur work! Loads of love to you all!

** **

The sound of time and space parting filled the dirty alley-way and a blue box appeared from the Vortex. It had a light on top that glowed in time with the sound and stopped when the box finally solidified with a "thunk". A second later a door in the box opened and two figures stepped out.

Zoe spun around in a circle, looking up at the sky she'd seen burning five billion years from now.

"How long have I been gone?"

"'Bout twelve hours," the Doctor replied from his stance leaning against the TARDIS.

Zoe laughed, more because she knew he was way off than anything else.

"Right. I'll just pop up to Shireen and then we can get chips." Getting chips was the excuse she'd used to get the Doctor to bring her back. After all, it wasn't like she needed her stuff; she'd brought it all with her the night she'd left with him, afraid it would all get thrown away if she went missing for a year. She didn't have a Mum to keep it safe for her like Rose.

"What are you gonna tell her?" the Doctor asked curiously. She paused and looked back at him. A mischievous grin grew on her face.

"Oh, I already got that covered."

Zoe turned and began to walk away, then froze and looked back.

"Don't you disappear, you hear me?" She was truly nervous about that. Their relationship wasn't as innocent as the Doctor and Rose's. She'd made more trouble than Rose had, and wasn't sure of her place in his life yet.

To her immense relief he nodded and smiled, just like he had in the episode.

On her way up to Shireen's flat she tried to deal with the knot of nerves in her stomach. There were so many variables floating around this next bit- like unavoidable jellyfish in a lagoon. She was afraid if she kicked out, or changed something else with her actions, she'd get stung, figuratively speaking.

Zoe knocked on the door hesitantly.

"Who is it?"

Crud, she thought. What was she supposed to say- "Hi, it's your former best mate. Sorry it's been a year, but hey, why don't I make up for it with a drink at the pub and we can talk about old times?" Not likely.

"Umm… it's me!" she called back. She saw a shadow at the peep-hole and the door flew open.

"It's you," Shireen said dumbly. Zoe smiled nervously and waved.

"Hi. Long time, no see, huh?" She shifted feet awkwardly.

Shireen ran a hand down her face and sighed.

"It's been a year. A year to the day."

The girl's voice was flat, numb, defeated. Zoe's heart broke just a little.

"'M sorry. I know it's been a while."

Shireen exploded. "A while?! A year is a while?! You didn't even call! Nothing! Not even a single bleedin' text! And now you turn up on my doorstep, acting all non- noncha- nonchent-"

"Nonchalant?" Zoe provided.

"Yeah! Nonchalant! Where were you?!"

Zoe frowned. "But I explained it in the letter."

Shireen threw her hands in the air. "What letter?!"

Zoe stared at her. "The one I gave Mickey, for both of you." The look Shireen was giving her made her feel like she'd dribbled or something.

"He never gave me a letter."

A myriad of emotions crossed Zoe's face before settling on something a little scary.

"That boy better run and hide."

** **

The Doctor ran up the stairs four at a time, his coat (he really liked leather this time round- ok, that sounded wrong) flapping behind him.

"Zoe!"

He had to catch her. If he caught her before anyone recognized her, he could go back and try again. It would only be a small paradox, miniscule really- nothing he and the TARDIS couldn't fix. Then Zoe wouldn't miss a year of her life back home.

Her home is in the TARDIS, with me, a part of him said. But that was ridiculous. Like any companion, she'd eventually leave him- likely after whatever she was supposed to accomplish was accomplished. That was probably the only reason she'd come with him in the first place. He could understand that, timelines and all that.

So why did the thought hurt?

It was too late. She was already talking to that girl, the one he'd saved in the shop, her friend. He internally winced. Time for damage control. Ick.

"Zoe," he said, rushing up to her breathlessly. "I got it a bit wrong. It's been 12 months, not 12 hours. Sorry."

She was smirking. Why was she smirking? Unless she…

"'S okay; I was pretty sure this would happen."

Fantastic. And he meant that sarcastically. Well, at least she wouldn't hate him. She'd still come with him. Not that he needed her to; of course not. It would just save him the trouble of finding a new companion, that's all. Not many were good companion material these days.

He was knocked out of his maudlin by the other girl's- Sharon? Shannon?- high-pitched voice.

"You?!" She turned to Zoe. "You were with an alien?! And you knew this would happen?!"

"Shireen-"

Shireen, that was right.

"-calm down. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I thought Mickey would give you the letter and you'd understand."

Letter? Was she talking about the paper she'd given the idiot last time? Exactly how much did she plan on telling them?

The girl Shireen chewed her bottom lip in consideration.

"This letter's pretty important, yeah?"

"It explained it all in detail."

Shireen nodded slowly. "Well… why don't you come in and tell me what was in it."

Zoe looked like she was gonna protest but changed her mind and followed Shireen into the flat. He began to edge away and prepare his escape back to the TARDIS, but Zoe shot him a look that made it very clear what would happen to him if he didn't come as well. He decided it would be wisest to obey.

"Don't mind me," Shireen called from the bathroom once inside, "I'm just finishing getting ready for work."

Zoe smiled. "Oh yeah? Where are you working now?"

"Oh, this marvelous little boutique! It's a bit out of my way, but the pay is good enough to make up for it."

"Where's it by?"

"Big Ben."

** **

The Doctor watched bemusedly as Zoe followed Shireen from room to room, bickering as they went. Normally he'd classify this as domestic and hide in the TARDIS, but this time he found it entertaining. So he'd stolen a bag of crisps from the pantry and leaned back against the counter to enjoy the show.

"A year, Zoey! A year of no contact and then you show up with big ears and demand I not go to work!"

Big ears? He felt the appendages with consternation. That was uncalled for.

"Please Shireen! If you ever trusted me, don't go to work! Call in sick or something!"

"Forget it Zoey! You can't just waltz back in and pretend we're back to normal! You aren't a part of my life anymore, and you don't get a say in it!"

The Doctor winced, vicariously feeling the jab. Didn't stop him from eating another crisp though.

"Urgh! Please believe me Shireen! I wouldn't ask this if I didn't have a good reason. I'll even pay you what you would have earned today!"

The other girl spun on her heel. "Why?! Give me one good reason to do this!"

The Doctor watched as Zoe fumbled for an answer.

"Because… because I'm from the future and know what happens today."

He raised an eyebrow, hand paused in mid-air with a crisp.

For a moment he saw a flicker of belief in the shop-girl's eyes before she growled in frustration and stalked out of the flat.

Well that went well.

Then Zoe turned to look at him with huge eyes brimming with emotion, begging for help.

Bugger. He'd never been able to resist eyes like that. Even in his grumpy first incarnation. He'd let Susan bring a kitten on board when she gave him those eyes. Thankfully it was gone by the time he'd met Ian and Barbara. He would have had no respect if a kitten was onboard. It was so… domestic.

With a show of a sigh he put down the crisp bag and headed after Shireen. He stopped out on the balcony and adjusted his screwdriver, pointing it at the girl who was already on the ground, walking away.

He turned it on and she paused and began rubbing her temples.

"What'd you do?" Zoe asked at his elbow.

"Concentrated sonic wave. Just enough to give her a nasty migraine, make her think twice about going in today."

"You can do that? What setting?" she asked, interested.

"643-a," he said. "Why?"

"Just curious. No!"

"What?"

"She's still going!"

He looked back down, and sure enough saw the girl pop an aspirin before heading off again.

"Shireen!" Zoe cried, running after her friend.

The Doctor sighed and adjusted the intensity of the setting. He pointed it once more and this time the shop-girl stumbled before fainting dead away. Zoe reached her just in time to catch the unconscious body.

"What did you do to her now?"

He rolled his eyes- like he'd harm the human. "Knocked her out. Same effect as a mild concussion without any lasting damage."

"What setting is that?"

"643-c," he said, joining her on the ground and relieving her of Shireen's dead weight.

He frowned. "What's with the interest in the screwdriver?"

"Oh… nothing," Zoe said, sounding far too innocent to be believable. "Nothing at all."

** **

Eyes fixed on the dull and dreary sky, unbroken by alien ships as of yet, Zoe paced up and down on the roof of Shireen's building. Shireen herself was still unconscious, laid out on her sofa in her flat. The Doctor leant against the half-wall like in the episode and watched Zoe fret.

"How much longer is she gonna be out?"

"About a half-hour," he replied.

She returned to chewing the pad of her thumb. He stored that in the file called 'Zoe' in the back of his brain as her nervous habit. The file was quickly growing, stuffed with all the little quirks and habits of hers he learned from watching her, something he found himself doing oftener than he liked. Or maybe he liked it too much.

A bitter laugh from Zoe brought him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"'S just… I don't know. This is completely mental," she explained, pausing to look out towards the city. "This life is insane, but there's no one to talk to about it; no one that would understand. I thought… I thought that once I met you I wouldn't feel so alone, but I still do."

The Doctor's gut knotted in dread. Was this when she'd decide to leave him? He wasn't ready to lose her yet. He didn't know when he would be, though that time would come eventually.

His face must have betrayed his thoughts, because Zoe quickly reassured him.

"I still like it with you! It's better than staying here. But… I'll always be that little bit isolated because this isn't my home. I don't have a family anymore. There's no one who truly knows who I am or knows what I know, whereas before…" Zoe swallowed before continuing.

"My dad and I were really close, especially after Mum died. I could talk to him about anything at anytime and he'd understand. And now," she drew a shaky breath. "Now I know my future, and your future, and the future of dozens of others, and I can't tell a soul. I can't tell my daddy, and I really, really need to."

She wrapped her arms around herself, and spoke in such a tiny voice the Doctor's hearts broke a little for her.

"How do you do it?" she whispered.

"Do what?" he asked, though he already knew what she meant.

"Handle being the only one in the universe like you. You know things that no one else will ever be able to understand or learn."

The Doctor looked into her green eyes and saw a portion of his pain in them.

But… I'll always be that little bit isolated because this isn't my home. I don't have a family anymore. There's no one who truly knows who I am or knows what I know, whereas before…

She'd said how he often felt almost verbatim. It was possible she was the only person in the universe who could comprehend what he'd lost- two people united by their solitude. He hadn't thought he'd ever be happy to be alive again after the Time War, but now he realized he was, because he wouldn't have met her if he had died. This one human girl made surviving worth it.

She was what helped him, he realized, and the revelation blew him away.

But before he could share his discovery with Zoe, a spaceship (of course it would be a spaceship) flew over them, close enough to blow her hair into a strawberry blonde storm. He followed the ship with his eyes as it sideswiped Big Ben and splashed into the river.

Zoe slipped her hand into his and he looked down at her. He was glad to see she was smiling, even if her eyes were still a bit watery.

"It's Showtime," she teased.

"Fantastic!"