Part Two! Takes place during 'Human Nature'. Enjoy! :D

I don't own Doctor Who or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All I own is this story.

Doctor Who © Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber and Donald Wilson. Buffy the Vampire Slayer © Joss Whedon.

Please review constructively and responsibly. If this story isn't your particular brand of vodka, don't read. Allow others to read and form their own opinions. Cheers xx

WHY WON'T MY HEART STOP POUNDING?

"They can't tear me down, they can't take you out of my thoughts."
~Metric: 'Eclipse (All Yours)' (Eclipse (All Yours) - Single [2010])

John sat on a chair in his quarters, looking and sounding miserable as Joan examined the back of his head for any signs of an injury.

"Oh stop it. I get boys causing less fuss than this." She admonished, gently. John scowled.

"Because it hurts." He insisted. Joan rolled her eyes, as Buffy re-entered the room carrying a cold compress in her hands. She looked worried.

"Is he alright, ma'am?" Buffy asked nervously.

It would really suck if the Doctor somehow hurt himself, and neither Buffy nor Martha were around to prevent it from happening. John instantly brightened the minute Buffy walked in, but Buffy barely acknowledged the interest as she was intent so on his well-being. Joan smiled reassuringly as she took the cold compress from Buffy and placed it gingerly on the back of John's head.

"Yes, I believe he is fine. Just a small bump on the head." Buffy sighed in relief.

"Well, that's good then." Suddenly, Martha bursts in.

"Is he all right?" She asks frantically and Buffy shook her head in exasperation. Way to blow our cover, genius! She thought, annoyed.

Joan frowned in disapproval.

"Excuse me, Martha. It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking." John looked at her with a raised eyebrow as Martha nodded absently.

"Sorry. Right, yeah." She rushes back over to the door and knocks it on it hastily. "But is he alright?" She asks Joan, before looking at John with concern. "They said you fell down the stairs, sir." John gives a small bemused smile.

"No, it was just a tumble, that's all." Buffy rose to her feet and started making herself busy.

"Have you checked for concussion?" Martha asked Joan, falling into 'doctor mode'. Joan looked slightly peevish, and Buffy made the mental note of chatting with Martha about this later on.

"I have. And I daresay I know a lot more about it than you." Joan reminded her. Buffy stopped herself in time from snorting at the irony. Martha faltered, remembering.

"Sorry. I'll just tidy your things." Martha said, and immediately started bustling around the room. Buffy turned back to John and Joan and gathered up her bucket.

"I'll just return to my duties. Glad you're feeling better, sir." Buffy stated, mentally kicking herself for acting so unlike herself, and wished that this whole adventure would be over and done with soon so she could return to her normal self. She curtsied awkwardly and turned for the door.

However, John stopped her unexpectedly.

"No, wait please. I'm sure your chores can spare you another minute or two." He insisted and Buffy fixed him with an incredulous look, but reluctantly came back into the room. "Martha; I was just telling Nurse Redfern, Matron, and … Elizabeth." Buffy hid a smirk when she realised he had just managed to stop himself from calling her 'Buffy' in time. "About my dreams." Buffy frowned. No he hadn't. He was too busy moaning and bitching about his sore head… However, Joan seemed to know what he was talking about. John motioned for Buffy to come closer as he continued talking. "They are quite remarkable tales. I keep imagining that I'm someone else, and that I'm hiding." Buffy didn't miss the subtle widening of Martha's eyes when he says this, and Martha exchanges questioning glances with Buffy as though wondering if what John was saying was true. Buffy subtly shook her head no, which deepened Martha's confused frown. Both girls had the same thought: What game are you playing, Doctor? But for different reasons.

"Hiding? In what way?" Joan wanted to know.

"They're almost every night." He explained, then shook his head with embarrassment as he glanced at Buffy curiously. "This is going to sound silly." Buffy fixed him with a serious look.

"Why should it sound silly, sir?" Buffy inquired.

John flushed.

"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts." Both Martha and Buffy took a sharp breath, but Joan laughed lightly.

"Well, then. I can be the judge of that. Let's find out." As Joan pulls out her stethoscope to listen to John's chest; Buffy and Martha thought back to when they had first learned about the Doctor's two hearts. For Buffy, it was how it proved the Doctor was in fact an alien back when she had first met him in Sunnydale and mistook him for a vampire she needed to dust on her long list of 'things-to-Slay'. For Martha, she was following a hunch when she heard an unusual echo of the heartbeat she had confirmed on the left side of his chest. He had winked at her then; and Martha wished that he'd do it again now to reassure both her and Buffy that he was still there in the room with them, not trapped in an ordinary looking fob watch. "I can confirm the diagnosis. Just one heart, singular." Joan announced.

Buffy couldn't resist.

"May I?" Joan and John looked at Buffy in astonishment.

"I beg your pardon?" Joan blurted out in surprise. Buffy immediately backed down.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry." And she looked away in embarrassment. However, John seemed to realise what she had asked.

"No, it's quite alright. Nurse Redfern if you wouldn't mind?" Joan frowned in bemusement, but obliged handing the stethoscope to John who took it and offered it to Buffy, essentially creating Deja-vu with that simple gesture; as he had done the exact same thing when they had first met. Buffy hesitantly took the medical tool and kneeled down in front of him, putting the ear buds into her ears and placing the drum on his chest. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. Buffy moved it to the right, and froze when she heard nothing. Damn… he really did turn into a human. That just seems so wrong somehow.

She lowered her arm slowly, almost disappointed and glanced up meeting his familiar deep brown eyes with her own green ones. She was shocked by what she was seeing in them: fascination, amusement and the unmistakeable and unapologetic emotion of love. Buffy gasped. And Martha looked on with deep jealousy. John cleared his throat, feeling a little uncomfortable. Buffy immediately took a step back.

"I'm sorry, sir." She stammered, and cursed her cheeks for burning. Why won't my heart stop pounding? Joan was a combination of awkward, embarrassed and amused.

"Please excuse me, Mister Smith. I have a busy day ahead of me. Please take it easy for the rest of the day." Joan made her excuses. She was pleased that her friend had seemingly found someone … even if it just happened to be a scullery maid of all people.

"Yes, thank you again, Nurse Redfern. I'll keep that in mind." John acknowledged as Joan curtsied and left the room leaving both Buffy, Martha and John behind. Buffy decided that it was probably time for both she and Martha to make themselves scarce as well. Before I do something that could fuck everything up… Buffy thought frantically.

"We better leave too, or the Headmaster will have our heads." Martha suggested slightly crisp, before Buffy could even open her mouth to say so herself.

"Yes, I agree. I'm glad that you're feeling better, Mister Smith." Buffy said politely, and gathered up her bucket.

She and Martha turned for the door.

"Wait!" They turned towards him, ever the dutiful servants; even if it was temporary. John gets to his feet and approaches Buffy, before glancing over at Martha. "If I might have a moment of Elizabeth's time, please Martha." She nodded stiffly, before retreating despite Buffy's wild, pleading eyes wishing for her to stay. But Martha had gone, and Buffy turned back.

"Did I forget something, sir?" Buffy asked professionally, but inwardly having a massive panic attack. John gave her a warm smile.

"John, please Buffy. If I have to call you 'Buffy' when we're in private, I insist that you show me the same courtesy of calling me 'John' when we're in private." Buffy gave a small smile, to disguise the giggle that was threatening to escape from her mouth. She just hoped the Doctor wouldn't give her what for when this entire adventure was over.

"If you insist… John." Buffy replied. He beamed.

"I don't wish to keep you, but I have, er, I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction. Not that it would be of any interest." John explained. Buffy's eyes widened. Was the Doctor somehow, instinctively, giving her permission to learn a little bit more about himself?

"I'd be very interested." Buffy replied, immediately.

John looked bashful.

"Well, I've never actually shown it to anyone before." He wonders over to his desk and picks up a small, TARDIS blue notebook that was almost bursting from the seams with information. Buffy eyed it greedily as John hands it to her. She opened it and read the first line on the first page.

"'A Journal of Impossible Things'" She read. Then she turned to the next page, curiously and saw lots of inky scrawl and pictures. One of which included a very detailed picture of a Dalek. "What an interesting imagination you have, John." Buffy complimented him, all of a sudden feeling slightly intrusive.

John chuckled sheepishly.

"It's become quite a hobby." Buffy continued to turn the pages of the Doctor's personal history and facts his human alter-ego had scribbled down in his search for answers; creatures she had never even heard of or seen in her wildest dreams. It wasn't until she came across a very distinct partial drawing of a young girl's face that she froze. This couldn't be who I think it is…?

"You have a thing for pretty girls, John?" She asked, almost hesitantly.

John was quick to answer.

"Oh no, no, she's just an invention." He explained, and Buffy turned to take a look at his face as he explained. "This character, Rose. I call her, Rose. Seems to disappear later on." Buffy felt her heart break at the very subtle, but very obvious signs of sadness in John's eyes even though it was obvious that he wasn't aware of it. Desperate to move on from the topic, Buffy turned the page and that was when John stopped her and pointed to a drawing of the TARDIS. It had been labelled 'magic box'. "Ah, that's the box. The blue box. It's always there. Like a like a magic carpet. This funny little box that transports me to faraway places." Buffy smiled.

"Almost like a magical portal." Buffy puts her two cents in and earned a pleasantly surprised smile from John.

"Yes, I'd imagine that's a very accurate description. Brilliant theory, Buffy." She flipped another page, and glimpsed sketches of other men's faces. "I sometimes think how magical life would be if stories like this were true." John had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Buffy winced.

"If only." She agreed. Truer than you think… John sagged a little bit.

"It's just a dream." Buffy flipped another page and saw a drawing of the pocket watch that started all of this. She closed the book and handed it back to John, but he pushed it back towards her. "No, no. You can borrow it for a while. I insist." Buffy's eyes widened.

"But, sir. This is yours, I couldn't possibly…" Please don't tempt me, Doctor… Buffy protested wildly.

"Please. Consider it a thank you for helping me when I fell down those stairs." John insisted. Buffy reluctantly agreed.

"I'll guard it with my life." She promised, and she slipped the book into one of her oversized pockets of her apron.

"Be sure you do." He playfully teased. Buffy curtsied again before picking up her bucket and disappearing out of John's quarters.

Where upon she was immediately accosted by Martha. She grabbed the Slayer and pulled her out of earshot of others.

"Buffy, what the hell were you thinking?" Martha demanded. "What were you doing in there with him?" Buffy frowned defensively.

"What business is it of yours?" She demanded.

"Buffy, he's not the Doctor at the moment. You don't know that…"

"I don't know what?" Buffy asked, warningly. Martha sighed in frustration.

"Buffy, we don't belong here."

"Your point? He asked me, not the other way round." Buffy pointed out. "Look, Martha. We don't have time to discuss this." She cut off whatever Martha was about to say. "We better get back to work before the headmaster kicks both our asses. We'll talk about this later." She promised begrudgingly.

"You bet we will!" Martha promised. As the older woman walked off, Buffy muttered underneath her breath.

"God, you're worse than Giles on one of his 'holier than thou' pedestal rants." She sighed. "Must be an English thing."

That night, Martha and Buffy head off to the local in the village. Buffy waits outside at a table in the chilly air. She wears a thick, but simple woollen coat, gloves and a scarf; but she can still feel the chill, and it's just like home back in America. Martha returns to the table carrying a pint for herself and a bottle of soda for Buffy.

"God, it's freezing out here." Martha grumbled. Buffy nodded, but wanted Martha to get on with what she wanted to discuss with her. She accepted the bottle and unscrewed the cap, taking a sip as she waited. "Buffy, we need to discuss what went on after I left the Doctor's quarters today." Buffy scowled, swallowing her mouthful of soda.

"He just wanted to say thanks for helping him after he fell down the stairs." She explained defensively. "He wanted to do it in private." And give me his personal journal to look at during my free time…

"So why don't I believe you?" Martha asked. Because you're paranoid or a jealous bitch? Buffy thought privately as she took another sip.

"I'm not sure why. But whatever he says to me in private is just that, private. It would be the same thing for you too." Buffy explained, matter-of-factly.

Martha, taken aback by her frankness, scowled and was about to retort but thought better of it when she saw the dangerous flash from the Slayer's eyes. Buffy hoped that when she introduced the Doctor to her friends and her mom that their reactions would be positive, and that if somehow a relationship did develop between the Doctor and herself that it didn't cause a massive shit storm. Suddenly, something flashes in the sky. Buffy blinked and turned to Martha, looking spooked.

"You saw that too, right?"

"Yeah." Buffy immediately abandoned her drink to go and investigate. "Buffy, wait for me!" Martha called after her and took off after the Slayer. Both girls found themselves running through a field.

"Shit, where did it go?" Buffy cursed. Martha came up to her panting, and fixing her with an annoyed glare.

"Buffy! Don't charge off like that. You could've gotten lost, hurt or worse!" Martha scolded her. Buffy, getting jack of Martha babying her, turns to tell her to pull her head in when they are blinded by a green light that appeared to be searching the ground for something. "What the bloody hell is that!?" Martha exclaimed. Buffy paled, and she got a sinking feeling that she hoped was wrong.

"I've got a hunch. Just hope I'm wrong." Buffy replied, and took off again.

The light was heading back towards the village; and Buffy and Martha followed after it, urgently. Buffy's hunches usually proved to be true; but they also sometimes proved to be also very deadly as well. And deadly + a human Doctor did not mix well at present. Unexpectedly, and for the second time that day, Buffy ran straight into John who grabs her shoulders to steady her. Martha skidded to a halt beside them.

"Anything wrong, ladies?" John asked, concerned by the disturbed expressions on their faces. "Far too cold to be standing around in the dark, don't you?" Something flashed out of the corner of Buffy's eye.

"Look in the sky." All of them crane their necks and followed the light's path through the star-studded sky. John smiled.

"All gone. Commonly known as a meteorite. It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all." He explained. Buffy and Martha didn't agree. Something sinister had just arrived, they just knew it.

"I think it came down in the woods." Martha observed. But John shook his head.

"No, no, no. No, they always look close, when actually they're miles off." John was unknowingly in touch with his inner Doctor. "Nothing left but a cinder." He turns to both Buffy and Martha. "Now, I should escort you back to the school. Ladies?" Thoughts flew between Buffy and Martha; one of them should investigate where they had seen the 'meteorite' had landed, just to make sure it really was cinders. And the other should go with John to protect him just in case it was what they feared.

"You go on, Elizabeth. I need to follow up on something before I turn in tonight." Martha suggested, somewhat reluctantly and slightly resentful.

"Are you sure?" Buffy replied, hesitantly. Martha nodded.

"I am." Buffy nodded and took John's arm, earning a pleased smile from him.

"Then I shall bid you goodnight." John tipped his hat at Martha politely and led Buffy back towards the school, with Martha watching after them miserably. After they were out of sight, Martha took off in the direction of where they had seen the 'meteorite' had landed. However when she got there, there was nothing of interest to be seen. Stumped, but determined; Martha set off back to the school.

The next day, Buffy and Martha set off for their weekly visit of the TARDIS; both of them biking it to an old barn on the outskirts of town. Buffy noted with concern how quiet Martha had been that morning. They go in, and Martha unlocks the TARDIS with a Yale key that the Doctor had given both of them on their last adventure. Martha places a hand on the machine and smiles sadly.

"Hello." No response. She sighs, feeling stupid. "I'm talking to a machine." Buffy jumps when the TARDIS makes a wheezing sound. She smiles at the console in bewilderment.

"The Doctor is fine, as far as I'm aware. Still oblivious to being a Time Lord FYI." She responds. Martha looks at Buffy like she's nuts.

"Who are you talking to?"

"The TARDIS." Buffy replied, like it was obvious. Martha looked dubious.

"How do you know what the TARDIS is saying?"

"Apparently, it's alive and has psychic and telepathic abilities. Slayers have prophetic dreams sometimes, which means they are open to telepathy." Buffy frowned in bemusement. "At least, that's what Giles tells me." Martha shook her head, deciding to just let it go for now. There was silence for a few minutes, and each companion had their own painful memories of what had transpired here a few months before.

~BUFFY'S MEMORY~

"Doctor, what's wrong; apart from the obvious." The Doctor raked his hand through his hair, stressing out.

"They're never going to stop." He admitted, and Buffy's eyes narrowed in frustration. Geez, can't we catch a break!? "Unless …"

"Unless, what?" Buffy prodded. The Doctor didn't reply immediately. Instead he came up to Martha and cupped her face in his hands.

"Martha, you trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She replied, frowning. He does the same thing to Buffy, who suddenly looks very afraid.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, in a small voice. The Doctor, seeing her panic, touches his forehead to Buffy's and attempts to comfort her.

"We need to hide, but this won't work unless I have both yours and Martha's help." He explained. "So I'll ask you again, Buffy, do you trust me?" Buffy paled, but nodded.

"With my life." The Doctor smiled with relief before kissing her forehead. Then just as quickly darts away, retrieving something from one of his hiding places.

"Good. Because it all depends on the both of you."

"What does?" Buffy gasps.

"What are we supposed to do?" Martha asks, looking confused and frightened.

The Doctor holds up an ornately decorated fob watch and shows both Buffy and Martha. There isn't anything specifically special about this watch, except that it screamed old-fashioned. Buffy reckoned it probably would've been something that Giles probably would owned back at home. She mentally grinned and made a note to ask him when she got back. The Doctor looked at the girls pleadingly.

"Take this watch, because my life depends on it. This watch, girls. This watch is me." Both of them looked very confused.

"Right, okay, gotcha." Martha nodded, but when the Doctor moved on with his preparations, Martha stopped him. "No, hold on. Completely lost."

"Need more information." Buffy agreed. The Doctor huffed in frustration.

"Those creatures are hunters. They can sniff out anyone, and me being a Time Lord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space." He explained.

"And that's good because…?" Buffy prodded.

"They can smell me, but they haven't seen me. And their lifespan will be running out, so we hide. Wait for them to die." He said. Martha didn't like the sound of the idea.

"But they can track us down." The Doctor nodded.

"That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord." Buffy's eyes widened. "I'm going to become human." A complicated looking headset is lowered from the ceiling of the TARDIS…

Both Buffy and Martha eyed the abandoned headset still dangling nearby above their heads with trepidation…

The Doctor eyed the strange headset, uneasily, and it filled both girls with a sense of dread. Clearly, if the Doctor was having second thoughts, what he was about to do was apparently not something taken lightly.

"I never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered." He mused.

"What does it do?" Martha asked. The Doctor turned and looked at them with a serious look in his eyes.

"Chameleon Arch." He replied. "Rewrites my biology. Literally changes every cell in my body." Buffy eyed the thing in horror. "I've set it to human." He puts the fob watch into the headset. "Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me." He looked at both of them regretfully. "Can't do the same for you two, so you'll have to improvise. I should just have enough residual awareness to let you in." He explained.

Buffy couldn't help but laugh at that last part of her memory. The Doctor certainly had enough residual awareness to let her in … too much in fact. But what she didn't know, was that the TARDIS had been witnessing firsthand the strong feelings her thief was developing for the young Chosen One. And while she didn't necessarily like it – since the TARDIS was a very possessive ship – she also wasn't foolish enough to not recognise that one could not help who they fell in love with … especially the Doctor. And the TARDIS had seen it once before when Rose Tyler was once the Doctor's companion and love interest.

But while Rose had been nice enough, and the TARDIS had no issues with the spunky blonde bombshell; she had known that Rose's romance with the Doctor was doomed from the start. However, with Buffy; the TARDIS had taken a peek into Buffy's distant future involving the Doctor, and was very happy with what she had seen. So, the TARDIS had decided to give the Doctor a little push in the direction of the Slayer and added falling in love with 'scullery maid Buffy' as part of his fictional life story as schoolteacher John Smith.

"But, hold on. If you're going to rewrite every single cell, isn't it going to hurt?" Martha questioned, already having concerns about this procedure.

The Doctor nodded.

"Oh, yeah. It hurts." Buffy's mouth fell open.

"But, that's barbaric!" She yelled out in protest. "We can't allow you to do that, Doctor! There must be another way!" Buffy exclaimed. But the Doctor fixed her with a stern look.

"Then by all means, please point it out to me!" The Doctor demanded, stressed.

Buffy was silent.

But she threw the stubborn Doctor a scathing look, demonstrating her protest at what he was attempting to do. Both she and Martha watched helplessly as the Doctor secured the Chameleon Arch to his head, and then hesitating only for a second pressed the button … and endured utter hell. Martha couldn't watch and buried her face into Buffy's shoulder, while the Slayer stood defiantly in place and bravely watched as her Doctor screamed in agony as the machine changed his biology.

~END OF BUFFY'S MEMORY~

Buffy jolted back to reality when she heard the Doctor's familiar cockney accent coming from the console screen Martha was currently watching. Buffy immediately lost interest. She had already seen the recording the Doctor had made for them earlier; but she couldn't understand why Martha was re-watching it. But she suspected it involved her, because Martha continued casting suspicious glances over to her and back to the image of the Doctor on the screen.

"This working?" The Doctor tested before clearing his throat. "Martha? Buffy? Before I change, here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Two, don't worry about the TARDIS. I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it. Just let it hide away. Four, no wait a minute, three. No getting involved in big historical events. Four, you two. Don't let me abandon you. And fi—" The Doctor's voice is cut off when Martha impatiently fast forwards through the list.

"But there was a meteor, a shooting star. What are we supposed to do then?" Martha whines.

"I don't think you'll find the answer there, Martha." The young trainee doctor looked at her flatly. "I mean, the Doctor is brilliant, but I don't think even he can predict when a random meteor or shooting star comes down to Earth." But Martha stubbornly persevered and unexpectedly got a useful piece of advice that even got Buffy's attention.

"And twenty-three, if anything goes wrong, if they find us; Martha, Buffy, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've got a perception filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it. To him, it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to." He warned. "Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, girls. Your choice." The Doctor hops up from the monitor and walks off screen, but then stops and returns smiling warmly into the screen. "Oh, and thank you." Martha pauses the screen on the Doctor's smiling face and sighs miserably.

"I wish you'd come back." She looked up to see that Buffy had already left.

But why, Martha wasn't sure.

Classes were starting up again as Buffy returned to the school; and she was thankful that today was her day off, so she wasn't in any hurry. However, she did need an excuse to see if the fob watch that the Doctor used to house his Time Lord essence was still on the shelf in his study. But, it would be difficult because – much to her frustration – it was poor etiquette to barge into somebody's room without their permission, so she needed to find John and invent an excuse to get in there.

Not that it would a chore, of course; Buffy had already come to terms with her feelings for the Doctor, and was absolutely overjoyed that even despite the fact that he was currently in his human alter ego, the Doctor very much reciprocated her strong feelings for him. Shrugging, Buffy decided to go and find John; however he was bound to be in class at present, so she instead grabbed John's journal – which she kept with her at all times, not trusting the other staff to come across it and read it – and went to find a tree to sit under and read it cover to cover.

Buffy walked out of the school, and walked by the shooting range where the boys were practicing how to fire at rough targets on the grounds below the terrace wall. To her surprise they were being supervised by John and the Headmaster. Buffy risked a closer look; despite how extremely weird and unnatural it was to see the Doctor standing near or even tolerating the sight of guns.

"Concentrate!" John instructed sternly. The boys fired off rounds. "Hutchinson, excellent work."

"Cease fire!" The Headmaster called out. John turned and smiled respectfully at his superior.

"Good day to you, Headmaster." The stern looking man, nodded politely back.

"Your crew's on fine form today, Mister Smith." John warmed to the praise.

"Excuse me, Headmaster. We could do a lot better. Latimer's being deliberately shoddy." Hutchinson dobbed in and glared at his peer, a smaller pale boy with dark blonde hair neatly combed to one side of his head.

Latimer bristled indignantly.

"I'm trying my best." He protested. The Headmaster looked at Latimer with disapproval.

"You need to be better than the best. Those targets are tribesmen from the dark continent." Latimer seemed distracted by something as he replied to his teacher's criticism.

"That's exactly the problem, sir. They only have spears." Buffy frowned slightly in astonishment. What the…? The Headmaster didn't appear to like being corrected; or at least having a younger person speaking their own mind or give their opinion.

"Oh, dear me. I hope, Latimer, that one day you may have a just and proper war in which to prove yourself. Now, resume firing." The boys carry on with the lesson. However, Buffy's sharp eyes noticed that Latimer was definitely distracted by something in his thoughts; and whatever it was that he was focusing on was obviously very disturbing.

Eventually, the machine gun stops firing.

"Stoppage. Immediate action." Nothing happens. Hutchinson looks down in confusion and glowers. "Didn't I tell you, sir? This stupid boy is useless." Buffy takes offence at the comment. Wasn't it obvious that Latimer was clearly dealing with something bad? Hutchinson stood up and addressed the Headmaster. "Permission to give Latimer a beating, sir?" The Headmaster turns to John.

"It's your class, Mister Smith." John didn't blink.

"Permission granted."

Buffy gaped in outrage.

The Doctor would never have condoned corporal punishment. The Slayer let it slide, because John was not the Doctor and wasn't expected to know any better than the social customs he had 'grown up' with. A stunned Latimer was led away by Hutchinson and a couple of his friends. Buffy sighs deeply and continues walking. John notices her and immediately lights up like candle. He approaches the wall.

"Ah, Elizabeth." Buffy stops in her tracks and pastes on a fake smile.

"Mister Smith." She curtsies, and holds up the TARDIS blue notebook in her hands. "I was just off for a walk, and decided to do a bit of reading." John smiles. "I'll give you back your journal when I next see you." Buffy promised.

John waved her off.

"No, no, no. You don't have to." He smiled that same cheeky grin Buffy loved seeing on his face – Doctor or not – and Buffy turned to go.

"If you'll excuse me, Mister Smith. I won't keep you from your class." Buffy hurried away, smiling when she could feel John's gaze on her back.

"Is something bothering you, my dear?" John wondered, sounding troubled by Buffy's slightly cold reception. She turned and gave him a blank look.

"I was just thinking of a man I knew. He hates violence; never wielded a weapon. He would rather search for a peaceful solution during times of fear and conflict." Her face clouded at a particularly negative memory of the Doctor. "He would've been horrified by all of this." Buffy gestured to the tents, sandbags, and numerous amounts of different weaponry in front of them. John frowned; for some reason Buffy's description of this particular gentleman sounded very familiar to him.

Two workmen are hoisting an upright piano up to the first floor window of the Ironmongers. Buffy and John were walking together on the quiet Farringham village street. When John had first asked her to join him, she was surprised but eager; having almost finished reading his journal when he had approached her underneath the tree she had nestled underneath.

"Please, tell me more about your friend." John had asked her. Buffy hesitated; how to describe the man walking beside her without giving anything away, and quite possibly risking his ire.

"There's not really much to tell about him. I only just met him recently, and he likes to keep things close to his chest." John was intrigued.

"Did he ever say why?" Buffy bit her bottom lip.

"No, he didn't. But I suspect it's because he's ashamed of his past." She admitted.

John looked sad.

"What a shame. How did you come to this conclusion exactly?"

"From the look in his eyes, how he takes death, violence and other types of mayhem personally; or feels responsible if he can't prevent something bad from happening." She stopped and looked him right in the eyes she had just described. "That, and I suspect he's lonely." John sighed and continued walking.

"I can't imagine ever feeling like that." John mused. Buffy gave a secret smile, but said nothing. "Where did you first meet your friend?" He asked, sounding slightly jealous. The Slayer smirked, if only John knew that he was getting jealous of himself.

"Back at home in America. I had just finished work for the night, and was making my way home when I was stopped by somebody who tried to take my purse." Buffy improvised. "I managed to get away and literally ran straight into him." It was John's turn to smirk.

"Yes, you do seem to make a habit of doing that." He teased, thinking back to the two occasions where Buffy had bumped into him in the school hallways. Buffy scowled playfully at John.

"Anyway, he assisted me. We've been … friends ever since." Buffy trailed off looking slightly upset.

John's playful smile dropped almost immediately.

"Is something wrong, Buffy?" Yeah, unfortunately… Buffy thought bitterly, and decided to change the subject. The small weight in her pocket inspired her.

"In your journal, in one of your stories, you wrote about next year. Nineteen fourteen." John instantly looked uncomfortable.

"That was just a dream." He insisted. Or a recollection of something that's already taken place… Buffy thought grimly.

"All those images of mud and wire. You told of a shadow. A shadow falling across the entire world." John sighed.

"Well then, we can be thankful it's not true." He confirmed firmly, but not unkindly. "And I'll admit mankind doesn't need warfare and bloodshed to prove itself. Everyday life can provide honour and valour, and let's hope that from now on this, this country can find its heroes in smaller places." John predicted, trailing off as a woman rings her bicycle bell, attracting both Buffy and John's attention as she peddles along. The two men with the piano struggle as it dangles from a fraying rope. Then a woman pushing a pram comes around the corner. Buffy's eyes widen as she can almost predict what would happen next and searches for a solution. "In the most…" John sees a boy standing next to him, with a cricket ball in his hand. The rope holding the upright piano frays even more, and the piano drops a bit. "Ordinary of, of deeds."

John immediately snatches the cricket ball from the protesting boy's hands and throws it at the scaffolding outside the Ironmongers. It falls and hits a plank that sends a brick flying through the air to knock down a milk churn in front of the pram, stopping it just before the rope finally snaps and drops the piano to ground only a feet from the pram. The piano falls to pieces startling both the woman and the baby in the pram. Immediately, workers and onlookers crowd around the woman and her crying baby. Buffy's mouth dropped open, stunned.

"Oh, goodness. That was impressive." Buffy praised John, who looked relieved. Damn, Doc. You've got skills… John turned to Buffy, smiling.

"Miss Summers, might I invite you to the village dance this evening, as my guest?" He asked the Slayer with hope in his brown eyes.

Buffy beamed.

"Absolutely." John grins happily and offers Buffy his arm, which the Slayer takes. They continue walking. It was then that Buffy remembers a page in the Doctor's journal, that one the Doctor's former faces – the fifth one, she believed – was an expert in Cricket, and always kept a cricket ball in his possession at all times.

Buffy grinned in amusement. Look out, John. Your inner Doctor is showing…

Buffy and John head back to the school via a cart track. In a nearby field is a scarecrow, half-hanging from its cross-member. John was still eager to learn more about Buffy.

"So tell me more about yourself, Buffy. Your parents?" Buffy stiffened slightly, this was a sensitive topic; but thankfully John hadn't noticed. Right Buff, this is where your improvisational skills need not to be on the fritz…

"My father, Hank, is a lawyer, and my mother, Joyce, works in our town's art gallery. They are … wonderful parents." Buffy admitted uncomfortably.

John frowned.

"I sense there is more to this explanation."

"It's very complicated. I'm not sure how to describe it." Buffy hesitated.

"I'm sorry. Did they, er…"

"Die?" John nodded. Buffy gave a humourless smile, and shook her head. "My parents divorced a year ago." Buffy admitted. John looked very surprised, and Buffy feeling mortified continued walking. John recovered easily, and rushed to catch up with her.

"My condolences. That is very unheard of." He stated.

Buffy shrugged.

"Well, it's done. Nothing more to do about it." John went quiet. Buffy changed the subject once again, wishing to move on from the awkward topic. However, John stopped and frowned at an untidy looking scarecrow not too far away from where they were.

"That scarecrow is all skewed." They both walk up to it, with Buffy stopping half way to it. Scarecrows always give her the creeps. John tied its arm back onto the cross-member, and Buffy watched.

"Where did you learn how to draw so well?" She asked him curiously, and indicating the scribbles in his journal.

"Gallifrey." John replied automatically. Buffy froze at the familiar name of the Doctor's home planet.

Again, she improvised.

"Is that Irish?" What the fuck, Buffy? John was thoughtful.

"Yes, it must be, yes." John agreed.

"You don't sound Irish, though." Buffy pointed out. John straightened up the lopsided scarecrow.

"Well, I'm not. My father, Sidney was a watchmaker from Nottingham, and my mother Verity was a nurse." John replied absently, as though reading from an invisible script. Buffy made a face. Seriously? That's your fabricated life story?

"That's very interesting." Buffy replied. John looked pleasantly surprised.

"Really? Right. Yes. Well, my work is done." He took a step back from the scarecrow and stood next to Buffy, admiring his work. "What do you think?" Meh…

"Brilliant."

"I'm discovering all sorts of new skills today!" John stated, proudly as he led Buffy away. Unknown to them both, the Scarecrow turned its head to watch them.

John led Buffy back to the school and back to his study. He asked for his journal back.

"May I sketch you, since you're so interested in my work?" John asked Buffy politely. Buffy nodded.

"Of course. Where would you like me?" She asked, as she mentally winced at how suggestive that sounded to her own ears. I really just said that!?

Thankfully, John didn't notice.

"Yes, uh, please sit right here." He indicated to a Chesterfield. "And please don't move until I say." John requested. Buffy sat down in a comfortable position and faced John as he turned to a fresh page in his journal. It took several minutes, but eventually, John set down his quill.

"May I see?" Buffy asked. John sat down next to her on the Chesterfield. He handed her the journal and Buffy glanced down at John's interpretation of Buffy's face and shoulders. She was stunned. "Oh, goodness. Do I really look like that?" John nodded.

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful." Buffy breathed, touching the page and being careful not to smudge the drawing.

"That's how I see you." John admitted, confidently. Buffy could hear her heart thudding in her ears, and she swallowed hard. She was unable to label John's confession as 'corny' because it wasn't. It was the best thing Buffy had ever heard in her sixteen-years on this Earth.

Slowly, she looked up at John.

"I've never been called that before." Buffy admitted, truthfully.

The Slayer could count on one hand the amount of boys that competed shamelessly amongst themselves for her attention back at Hemery High, and back then Buffy had been the epitome of shallow and a social climber. She didn't once realise that the boys were just using her as a stepping stone on the popularity scale; and they only referred to her as 'hot' or a 'babe', but never 'beautiful'. John saw the sadness in her eyes, and wanted to get rid of it. He smoothed her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek gently.

"Well, you better get used to it." He suggested before he leaned in and kissed her. This kiss was different to the other one that the Doctor had given her back in 2007. He had described it as a 'genetic transfer', a distraction for the Judoon. No, this kiss was a slow and gentle closed mouthed kiss. The type Buffy had heard her mom describe from her Danielle Steel novels she sometimes liked to read. She just didn't realise that she'd be experiencing it for herself. John pulled away from the kiss first, and leaned his forehead against hers. "I've never …" Buffy pulled him back in for another kiss, when the door unexpectedly opens and Buffy jumped in surprise as they both turned to the door. It was Martha, staring at them both with shock and anguish.

Buffy's eyes widened in horror.

"Martha, what have I told you about entering unannounced?" John barked in annoyance.

Martha quickly runs out again. Oh, shit… Buffy thought.

A tearful Martha leans on John's study door.

"That wasn't on the list." She whispered. Martha immediately left school grounds to seek the sanctuary of the TARDIS, and to check to see if she had overlooked something in hers and Buffy's instructions.

"Four. You two. Don't let me abandon you." The Doctor's voice spoke from the scanner. Martha was distraught.

"You don't have to worry about that, Doctor. You've certainly not abandoned Buffy. Your actions tonight made that perfectly clear." She said, spitefully. Martha fast forwarded to the Doctor's cheerful, smiling face.

"Thank you."

"You had to, didn't you? You had to go and fall in love with a human, and it wasn't me … it was Buffy." Her voice broke.

A/N: Poor Martha What's gonna happen now? Stay tuned for part three to find out ;) As always, please review with your thoughts.

Cheers, guys xx