When The Doctor dropped her off, she took a bus to her mother's grave and left a small bouquet of lilies; it was her favorite flower. Naomi took a long time at the tombstone, simply staring and not thinking. She felt as though her time with her mother was stolen from her. The thought occurred to her to ask The Doctor to take her back, just for a night. However, she knew better. It was risky enough that he brought her back to that factory. There was nothing she could do accept the harsh reality. It was going to be difficult, but she didn't have a choice. As the wind whipped around her statue-like posture, Naomi bundled her coat around her tighter and hid her hands in her armpits. Leaves danced around her while she sighed quietly with hollowed simplistic anger. Within her coat pocket, her phone began to vibrate to indicate a call. Naomi had the desire to be left alone today, so she ignored it. The vibrating stopped to allow Naomi about thirty seconds of uninterrupted silence. Her phone began to vibrate again. Growling low under her breath, she pulled it out and, without looking at the caller ID, she forwarded the person to voicemail. This time, they would get the hint and stop. She studied her mother's tombstone and small vase of lilies; it was hard to believe that her mother was murdered over ten years ago and that she witnessed it a second time little over an hour ago. For a third time, her phone lightly shook. "Jesus," she muttered as she examined her phone. The name on her screen read Ash. Fantastic, just the person I wanted to talk to. Begrudgingly, she answered the phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm a bit busy-"

"At a cemetery?"

Naomi raised an eyebrow and looked around her surroundings. She didn't see anyone else in the grassy area expect the groundskeeper. Following the horizon, the red haired woman brought her eyes to the parking lot just beyond a short fence. Three cars were parked in a staggered order; one of them was a white sedan with pink fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. Naomi sighed as she saw her blond friend sitting in the sedan and gently waving from the driver's seat.

"I'm visiting my mother," she confessed into the phone.

"Kinda figured that out. Mind if I join you?"

"Well, actually-" Naomi was going to reject her friend, however she saw Ash step out of the car; declining her wasn't an option. Instead of giving a definite answer, Naomi ended the phone call and slid it back in her pocket. Before Ash rushed over to the red haired woman, Naomi knelt down to get closer to the tombstone. Her blond friend joined her by dropping to her knees.

"She passed in July," Ash reminded her.

"No," Naomi grew grim and held a depressed stare at the slab of stone. "Almost two hours ago. I was there. More than I should have. I saw it. All of it."

"What?" When Naomi didn't answer, Ash continued, "She passed away peacefully in the hospital bed. Only the nurses were with her, remember?"

She glanced at her friend. It was she who didn't remember. Not what really happened. This seemed like a burden, knowing the truth and unable to talk to her family or friends about it; The Doctor must have gone to all of them and altered their memories so when she was growing up the truth wouldn't haunt her. In the corner of her eye, Naomi noticed the groundskeeper again. His hair held a strong resemblance to her Doctor's. She couldn't tell if it was the Scottish alien, or if she was just imagining him there. Before Ash noticed her change of focus, Naomi snapped back to Ash's eyes.

"You're right," Naomi whispered, quietly giving in back to the ruse The Doctor had created for them.

"Why aren't you at work?"

"I thought I would be here longer." She pushed herself up and dusted the dry leaves off of her pants.

"So you took a whole day off just to visit her?"

"Yeah, but now I'm going to go home now."

"I thought you said you didn't have a car anymore because of that whole mess with the Desin water?"

"I don't, so I was going to take the bus."

"I'll give you a lift."

"I appreciate your offer but-"

"Then let's go. And maybe get some coffee on the way." Ash bounced up and quickly cut Naomi off from declining her proposal. "C'mon, it's chilly." Naomi couldn't muster up any energy to argue with her stubborn friend, so she sighed and followed her to her white sedan. As they passed the groundskeeper, Naomi stared at him, trying to figure out if it was The Doctor or not. It didn't help that as she stepped by him, he kept his back to the girls. That was an indicator that it could be him, but it wasn't a conclusion. She decided to leave without incident.

Ash began to drive away from the cemetery as Naomi used her usual trick to avoid talking with her friend by turning the radio on. After a few songs played, while Ash sang along, the commercials aired. Normally, Naomi tuned out of the public service announcements and advertisements for popular restaurants. However, something caught her attention. The voice was confident, well-known, and familiar.

"Hello citizens of Renan, this is your Lieutenant Governor Brian Sandoval, speaking to you with an important request." Naomi's ears immediately grabbed onto the name and held onto it. Quickly, she turned the small knob to hear what he was about to say. "As the residents in Lincoln county recall the Public Distress in August, as do I. Having been kidnapped along with the many residents, I can clearly remember all of the events. You all have bestowed the credit of handling the riot all to me; however, I did not act alone. A woman with dark red hair aided me to take control of the hostage situation. My request is to ask for help finding her. She did not give a name, nor her origin. Her workplace is unknown and her current residence is hidden. She was around 5' 7'' and lightly built. If you or you know anyone with this description, don't hesitate to call my office. Thank you for your time."

"Holy crap," Ash glanced from the radio to Naomi, "Does he mean you?"

Naomi turned the volume lower and reclined back into the seat. "Unfortunately."

"Sounds serious, want to head to his office downtown?"

"Oh God no. Whatever he wants, he can wait. I'm not in a social mood."

"I can tell." She choose to remain silent as Ash rounded a corner and drove down the street.

They reached The Hot Pit apartment building parking garage and Ash easily found a spot to park her sedan. The two girls rode the elevator up to the twelfth floor and Naomi unlocked her front door from the hallway. "Are you sure you want to come in?" She asked as she pushed the door open.

"I walked all the way up here didn't I?"

"Suit yourself; mind the mess," Naomi stepped into her dimly lit apartment and immediately flipped the kitchen light on. Her blond friend followed her and closed the door behind her while glancing around the kitchen and living room.

"Is The Doctor here?"

Naomi looked to the usual corner where he would always land the TARDIS; it wasn't there. She was disappointed, but understood that he would give her some space. Naomi just wished that he would believe her when she told him that he didn't hurt her. "Doesn't look like it."

"Well, he must have been here," Ash pointed to her coffee table in between her couch and TV. A dark green vase with a lush bouquet of orange dahlias were sitting in the middle of the wooden table. Curiously, the red haired woman left her keys on the counter and walked to the new vase of flowers. A small note card was tied around the glass with a white ribbon. She gently pulled the card out and opened to reveal three words; "You know why."

With a small smirk, Naomi sighed, "Oh yeah, he's been here."

"What's the card say?"

"Oh, it's just something between us."

"Is it the 'L' word?"

Naomi snapped her attention to her nosey friend. "What? No. It does not have the 'L' word."

"Oh really?"

"I'm positive," Naomi handed the small white card to Ash, whom immediately examined it front and back. "He's not the kind of man to blatantly say something like that."

"Well, that's because he's an alien."

"That has nothing to do with it." With a flick of her wrist, Naomi grabbed the card from Ash and tossed it back with the bouquet of flowers.

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Not a clue."

"Doesn't that worry you?"

The red haired woman took her jacket off and grabbed a can of soda for Ash and a bottle of water for herself from the refrigerator. "A little. But he always come back for me."

"What if something happens to him while you're not with him?"

"What? You mean, like he gets hurt?" Ash nodded to her friend to have Naomi continue talking. "Well, he usually doesn't."

"But what if-"

"Stop," Naomi held up her hand to silence Ash. "Please don't put that thought in my head. I have so much going on right now, I can't lie awake in bed wondering about all the 'what if's'."

"Literally anything could happen!"

"And me worrying about it here and now won't help anyone."

"What if he doesn't come back?"

"Damnit Ash," Naomi sighed and shook her head, "Shut up."

Four days after The Doctor left the bouquet of flowers for Naomi, she had eased back into her working schedule. It was a Friday morning when Naomi walked into the warehouse to find a pile of paperwork and blueprints on her desk. Her shoulders dropped as she examined the small mountain of paper and folders. There was definitely more than meets the eye with this stack. Pressing her lips together to hold a tiny outburst of frustration, Naomi tossed her purse onto her chair and raked a hand through her hair. The hell did this work come from? It wasn't here last night. She lazily skimmed over the titles of the blueprints and realized it was an entirely new project. It looked like it was for a hotel named Delano.

"Oh hey," the red haired woman glanced up and saw her co-worker Edward standing in the doorframe between the warehouse and the front offices.

"What the hell is this?" Naomi flipped a cover of a folder to indicate her frustration.

"Our newest and most expensive project," Edward leaned on the frame and nodded to the small mountain of paperwork.

"Then why is everything on my desk?" She picked up a folder, and shook it at Edward, "This is for the wiring and installation; on site. Not my job description."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger," he held his hands in surrender. "Andrew told me to give it all to you."

"Why?"

"I have no idea." Naomi sighed loudly and tossed the folder onto the top of the pile; Edward continued, "We're having a meeting about this in ten minutes, whenever the project coordinator shows up."

"Fantastic. Now, I can tell him to shove this up his ass to his face." Naomi raked her hair again and growled low under her breath.

"According to Emily, this project will either make or break us. We can't afford to mess this up."

"Then why give me everything?"As soon as she said that, the office phone sitting on her desk began to ring. Another growl emitted from her throat as she was forced to quickly dig to reach the phone. "Hello?" she hissed, however she tried to be as polite as she could.

"Customer for you, Naomi," the receptionist said over the phone.

"Now? Who is it?"

"He's someone new, asked for you specifically."

"Let him know that I don't make the negotiations on new projects; refer him to Joely."

"I did; multiple times. He wants to see you."

Naomi rolled her eyes and wanted to complain into the receptionist's ear, but it wasn't going to help any. "Dammit, okay. I'm coming." Before Maria could utter an apology, Naomi slammed the phone to hang up. She stormed past Edward and took a quick breath to center herself before dealing with this new customer.

Within a few steps, Naomi entered the front of the office building. The lobby had tile flooring and a large marble counter. Three couches were scattered to offer customers a chance to sit comfortably while they waited for their appointment. Large leaf plants were potted in two of the front corners of the lobby. An aquatic tank was bubbling near the double glass doors as the sunlight was just hitting the pavement of the parking lot. Naomi glanced through the windows and found no cars in the parking spaces. She turned her head to Maria the receptionist who was writing down notes.

"Where is the client?" Naomi asked.

"He requested meeting outside; mentioned something about the nice weather."

"Well then," she sighed and rolled her eyes again. Naomi pushed out of the glass doors and quickly turned her head around to find her mysterious client. Out of curiosity, Naomi rounded the corner and looked on the side of the building. Her shoulders dropped again and her multicolored eyes shot up wide. The red haired woman stepped to the side of wall and out of Maria's view. Naomi gave a small smile and approached her client. "Honestly, I should have guessed it was you."

"I expected you did."

With a smirk, Naomi lightly shook her head and looked up to her Doctor. "How are you?"

"That's a very open-ended question."

"That's why I asked it."

"Why a leather jacket?" The Doctor nodded to the black jacket hanging on Naomi's shoulders.

"It's a little chilly," she answered while shrugging her shoulders.

The Doctor seemed to study her face; Naomi knew he was looking for signs of her lying. He could try, but he wouldn't find anything. "I've seen you run around a Sontaran battle ship in a tank top and pajama bottoms," he said, still carefully looking at her.

The red haired women slightly narrowed her eyes at him; she figured out what he was searching for. She understood his suspicions, however she knew following his lead would led to a less pleasurable place. With a shift of her feet, Naomi bit her bottom lip and decided to change the topic. "You never answered my question."

"As you to mine."

"You didn't ask one."

"The leather jacket?" Another nod in her direction.

She sighed, "I'm just cold. Nothing more."

"Are you sure about that?"

Naomi cocked her head a little and crossed her arms over her chest. Something was odd about The Doctor. Well, as odd as he could get without it being serious. His grey hair was standing upright and messy. Under his eyes were dark circles and he seemed to be more pale than usual. "When was the last time you slept, Doctor?"

He rubbed his knuckles and was clearly unprepared for that question. "How long has it been for you?"

"Well, I woke up at five so I could get ready in time to catch the bus-"

"That's not what I meant," He cut her off by waving a hand at her.

"Since the flowers?" Naomi didn't want to mention their last encounter, so she used the dahlias he had gifted her afterward.

"You could say that."

Naomi puffed out a small breath of frustration. She just wanted to move past that incident. He didn't hurt her; what was so hard to grasp about that?

"Four days," she dropped her arms and stepped closer to him. "I'm still fine, and I swear if you bring that up one more time-"

"You'll do what?" he seemed to dare her, but Naomi sensed a hint of fear in his voice.

They held each other's gaze for a moment as Naomi formed the perfect way to end her sentence. Threatening to leave was incredibly too harsh; and, quite frankly, she would never. The fact that he hasn't been getting adequate sleep told Naomi that he was deeply troubled about what he did. The thought of constantly hugging him every time he mentioned it occurred to her; however that didn't seem enough to actually stop him. Finally, she snapped out the perfect response.

"I'll make you have dinner with my family."

The Doctor was thrown off but what she threatened him with, but did his best to hide it. Domestic wasn't his foretay; maybe the idea of sitting down to dinner with her brothers would finally end this.

"Call that a threat?"

"Well, more of a promise, really."

"You know who and what has threatened me before. None of them succeed."

"That's because they weren't me," Naomi gave him a cheeky smile.

"Over two thousand years and no one has ever been able to make have supper with their family."

"Would you like to test your luck?"

Another small staring contest between the two. Naomi used her colorful eyes to pierce his dark orbs. She was able to see The Doctor relax a little; it was obvious that he was still upset about what happened, but Naomi had a feeling that she was helping him through it.

When The Doctor didn't answer her, she attempted to change the topic again. "I have ten minutes. Take me away?"

The Doctor straightened himself a little and eased his eyes at her. "Another threat?" he mocked her.

"A request," Naomi confessed. With the meeting looming in the back of her head and the ceiling high stack of paperwork on her desk, all she really wanted to do was spend time with her Doctor. "Don't make me go back in there. Not yet."

"Normally, people make the requests before the threats."

"Doctor," she looked up to him with pleading eyes, "Please?"

He looked down at her, meeting her eyes with dark orbs with traces of amusement. With a small shrug of his shoulders, he answered, "Anywhere particular?"

Naomi widened her eyes and smiled, "Somewhere I'll forget my responsibilities for a while."

"Running away?"

"Only with the expert."

The Doctor pretended to think about answering her; however, Naomi had a hunch that he couldn't refuse her. After a few seconds of "thinking," he cracked a smile and offered his hand to her. Naomi grabbed his hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. Eagerly, The Doctor led Naomi away from the side of the warehouse and into the park behind the building complex. The TARDIS was landed under a shady tree that lost about half of its leaves. The two raced towards the blue box, hand in hand. With her open hands, Naomi fished her key from under her jacket a shirt; it was always tied around her neck with a silver chain. The Doctor let her unlock the telephone box and push the door inward.

The two stepped inside the box to escape from the chilling wind and floating leaves. Naomi had a smile plastered on her face as she looked upon the interior; a part of her feared that she would never see this again. That part of her mind immediately disappeared when she walked to the main console. They released each other as The Doctor began to turn knobs, flip switches and type in coordinates. Gently, Naomi traced the edge of the console with her hands and studied the controls; still with an excited smile. The Doctor looked up at Naomi over the mainframe of the TARDIS.

"So what do you have in mind?" Naomi asked her Doctor.

"A place I went to when I was younger," he pointed over the dash at a lever, "Pull that one."

Naomi grabbed the lever he indicated and yanked it downward. She heard the soothing sound of the TARDIS begin its flight into the time vortex. It wasn't long before she let the lever go and stepped over to The Doctor to stand next to him. With a curious eye, she attempted to peer past him and onto the flight pattern on the screen. The Doctor quickly pushed it out of her sight and blocked her from adjusting herself to see where they were going.

"Why can't I see?"

"Oh, c'mon. What's life without a little mystery?" The Doctor moved away from Naomi and brought the screen with him.

She gave The Doctor a childish pouting face.

He only replied with raised eyebrows and pushing the lever back upwards.

"So, where are we?"

"Step outside and see for yourself," he gestured with his hand at the door.

Naomi practically skipped to the door with The Doctor following her in a more calm matter. She pulled back the door and used fast moving eyes to examine her new surroundings. They had landed in a tight alleyway between buildings. At first, Naomi thought they were still on Earth; but at the end of the alley was opened to a wide walkway with short shops on the otherside. The design of the shops were definitely not of human origin. With a quizzical look, the red haired woman stepped out of the TARDIS and on the new planet. Before she could inquire any information from The Doctor, a large alien walked in front of the end of the alley opening. She flinched, but realized that the green alien was still walking and didn't notice her.

On the indicated walkway, she silently watched as different species of alien casually walked in front of the odd shops. Naomi stood at the edge of the alleyway to get a better view of where they had landed. Overhead was a crystal clear doom that kept the natural elements out. Through the doom was a starry night sky filled with multicolored stars ranging in size and four visible moons shining brightly. Naomi was immediately captivated by the sky and kept her eyes upward. As she stood in awe of the night sky, The Doctor closed the TARDIS and locked up his space ship. He stood next to her and followed her eyes to the sky.

"Lomus Six," he began to explain. "Named after it's six moons. Most famous for the distinct location in the middle of a supercluster of different stages of stars and tidal waves."

"Monsoon season must be horrible," Naomi joked.

"The shops," The Doctor brought Naomi's attention back down, "Are the primary source of income. This planet lives and thrives on pure tourism. As the doom keeps the unwanted tsunamis out, observation decks were created to allow the tourist to glimpse up into space." The Doctor stepped into the opening on the walkway and pointed down the street. "This boardwalk stretches all around the planet. Starting from the northern pole and spiraling all the way to the south. Millions of shops have opened to get as much money from the tourists as possible to support the largely populated natives. Hotels, resorts and spas have been strategically placed to encourage constant spending."

Naomi joined The Doctor in the middle of the boardwalk as noisy aliens walked past them. "I thought you hated the concept of money?"

"I do," The Doctor held up a finger to her, "However, they're a few shops I want to show you."

"What's in the shops?"

"Anything conceivable in your imagination." He gave Naomi a charming smile.

"So where are these spectacular stores?" Naomi was eager to find these unbelievable shops.

The Doctor looked down one way of the boardwalk to get his bearings. He took a few steps in that direction as Naomi stayed close to him. The Doctor examined the shops around them by turning around in a circle. Naomi watched as her Doctor's expression gradually changed from excited to confused. She felt her own emotions draining as she silently watched The Doctor peer into a shop. After looking inside a window, The Doctor turned around with a sour face. He walked the opposite direction and stepped in a circle again. This time, Naomi remained where she was and realized that The Doctor was already lost.

"A little lost?"

"Give me a minute," he said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. Naomi scoffed at him jokingly and weaved through the busy crowd of aliens. "If I can hone in on the signal of the communications district, then the shop I'm looking for should be 23 miles from that."