I was asked to continue Diana and Three meeting in the library, so here it is. This chapter is just the events of the entire day of November 23rd. I know it's late, but you have no idea how busy I've been with all my choir and band Christmas gigs/parades...

Just so everybody is clear on this: I've written Three the way I have for certain reasons. These reasons may or may not already be clear to you, but I promise I'm not making him OOC just for the hell of it. I've always viewed Three as a sort of romantic. So we'll see how well I did...

"Where are we, exactly?"

"TARDIS library, my dear. Lethbridge–Stewart seemed to have had enough of me and encouraged me to go on vacation for a few days." The Doctor looked around at the enormous shelves of books towering above us. "But that's no matter right now. Would you like to go somewhere?"

Pleasantly surprised by the suggestion, I glanced up at the Doctor. "Just you and me?" I asked slowly.

"Well, and Bessie, I suppose," he said with a smile.

"I-I'd… really like that."

"How about a lovely view of the countryside? I've been planning to take a relaxing car ride for a few days now."

"Sounds wonderful."

"Good." The Doctor grabbed my hand and smiled. "Come along, then."

"The countryside's so beautiful," I commented as we drove past a group of small yet lush, green hills. "It's nothing like this where I used to live before-…"

The Doctor looked over at me, then back at the road. Since he was driving at a slow, steady pace, he was able to keep glancing over at me. "You miss your family."

I nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"Do you want to go back to UNIT headquarters?"

"No. I-I… I want to do this. Spending time with you, Doctor, is all I want." I sniffled. "Right now, you're the only constant thing in my life. I don't want to lose that."

"My dear, you never could." The Doctor smiled briefly at me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not right now." I shook my head and sighed. "Maybe later. First, I'd like to know where you're taking me, Doctor."

He grinned and increased the speed he was driving at. "That, my dear Diana, is a surprise."

"What if I don't like it?"

"You will."

I shook my head in amusement. "You're awfully sure of yourself."

"I always am."

I was taken aback by the incredible scenery once the Doctor stopped Bessie. He hurriedly jumped out of the car and ran to my side, opening the door for me before I could even reach for the handle. He offered me his hand with a gentlemanly smile that warmed my heart. With a blush and a smile, I slowly put my hand in his and stepped out of the car.

"Doctor, I-... I don't know what to say. This is amazing."

The Time Lord pressed the door shut behind me, then moved his free hand to my waist so he could guide me. I was deeply touched and flattered by his actions. I gazed in awe at the beautiful, lush grass rippling in the gentle breeze and the stunningly blue sky above us. Everything was simply perfect and more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed of back home.

"It's incredible."

"There's more, you know."

I looked over my shoulder at the Doctor in slight confusion. "More?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yes. Would you care to see?"

"Yeah."

He pulled away and stepped forward, his black and red cape fluttering dramatically behind him. I followed, albeit a little shyly, and wondered what else he could possibly have done. Luckily for me, I didn't have to wait longer than a minute to find out.

With Bessie parked at the top of the hill, the Doctor and I made our way down the slope a little ways until we came upon a small grove of trees that gave a fair amount of shade and offered a wonderful viewpoint for the rolling hills and nearly cloudless sky. The Doctor was waiting for me at the edge of the grove, his arm extended and his face soft and inviting.

"What's all this for, Doctor?" I asked after I took his hand.

"For you."

I hesitated for a moment. "Me? This is for me?"

The Doctor pulled me after him into the trees. He stopped at the base of a small tree with just enough shade for two people and sat down by the roots. I followed his lead and sat down with a grunt.

Blushing, I said, "Sorry. That wasn't very graceful."

"It's fine, my dear. You're never particularly graceful, anyway, are you?"

I smiled a little, not sure if he was making fun of me or not. I finally decided that he didn't mean for his comment to offend me and let out an awkward laugh. "I guess not, no."

What is this for? I asked myself. Why has he brought me out to the middle of nowhere just so I can see some hills and some trees?

"I've been wanting to go out into the country for a while now," the Doctor commented, breaking my train of thought. "And I thought it would be an even better trip if you were to come with me."

"It's beautiful," I said honestly, looking out at the land that expanded past the horizon. "There's nothing quite like this back home. I mean, if you go north then you have these beautiful mountains with snow on them and absolutely incredible forests of trees that stretch towards the sky forever and ever, but nothing simple and beautiful like this."

The Doctor squeezed my hand. "When the Time Lords exiled me here, I was terribly angry. I still am, of course, but I was upset that I was forced to remain only on one simple planet. I didn't think anything good would come of it and that I would be positively miserable. And even though Liz and the Brigadier are alright company, it's you who seems to make everything better."

"Me?" I shook my head. It felt strange for the Doctor to be telling me that I made him happy, despite the fact that it secretly made me beyond thrilled. "No. Doctor, this is wrong. I shouldn't even be here in your universe. I should be back home, watching you on the t.v. screen, going to school, and fighting with my mom. I don't belong here."

"Diana, I only meant that... Well, you make me see things in a different light. All my companions do, but you remind me that I don't have to travel across the universe to happy. That there is more to life than fighting monsters and saving people."

"How could I have done that?" I asked.

"Because you have always reminded me, time and time again, that some things in life can be simple and that's alright. Before I met you, when I was on Gallifrey with my family, I was a different man. Everything was about science and observations and studying and being a proper Time Lord. I never gave anything or anyone simple a second thought, really."

"I changed your way of thinking?"

"Well, yes."

I slumped against the tree trunk and processed what the Doctor had said. I had changed him, the Doctor, the man who couldn't bear to watch children cry or let any unjust deed go unpunished. The thought was sobering and nearly frightening.

"What's wrong?"

I thought over everything that had happened to me in the last few days: meeting the Doctor for the very first time, watching him save the world and the human race, nearly dying at least three times. It was incredible.

"I never realized it," I started softly. "I never realized just how dangerous it is with you, Doctor. Because when you watch it on a television screen, it's different. You see these terrifying creatures that are ready to kill anything in sight and you cover your eyes so they won't hurt you. You laugh and cry right when you're supposed to because you're part of an audience. You know somewhere inside you that it's not real, no matter how real you want it to be.

"There're monsters out there ready to rip my body apart, actual, real monsters that terrify me more than anything. I've nearly been killed in the few days that I've known you, but I was whisked away into another adventure before I could really think much about it. But..." I looked up at the Doctor and felt tears start gather in my eyes. "Do you know how terrifying it is? Facing death? I know you've done it countless times, but if something goes wrong you won't die. You'll just regernate. Me, I'm not immortal. If I'm shot in the right place, I'll die and not even the TARDIS will save me. Do you have any idea how truly terrifying that is?"

"Yes. Because every time you are in danger, it kills me a little inside. You have absolutely no idea how much it hurts me when you face danger."

A few salty tears poured down my cheeks and I quickly looked down. "Doctor, I don't know-... How do you live like that, living in constant danger and fear of death? How do I live like that? Because I have nowhere else to go. I only have you now. I don't have a mother or grandmother anymore. I don't have a father, not that I ever had much one of anyways, but he's not here anymore. None of my family are here. So how do I live? How do I go on?"

His hand came down to cup my cheek. I held my breath as his thumb wiped away my tears, not sure of what to do with myself. "Diana," he said very gently, "look at me." I shyly looked up at him and noticed with a small amount of surprise that his eyes were glistening. "The TARDIS and I can be your new family. I know that you are still early in our timeline and there is much that neither one of us understand, but you have become my family in the long time that I've known you. It is my hope that you will consider me part of yours. I've lost my family, too, if you recall. I understand your pain, to an extent."

I eagerly searched his eyes with mine and was glad to realize that he truly meant his offer. Before I could reconsider or stop myself, I leaned forward and gave the Doctor a great hug and quickly kissed his cheek. My arms went around his neck and his went around my waist and held me to his chest.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Diana, it's really nothing," he insisted in a soft tone.

I tightened my embrace and sighed into his shoulder. Memories were racing through my mind and flashing across my vision; they made the tears flow easier from my eyes. I realized then that I didn't have a place to call home like I did when I lived in California. But I had the Doctor and the TARDIS and they both cared about me.

A large group of absolutely enormous clouds had started to cover the sky as time passsed. Eventually, the sun passed so that it was only an hour away from the horizon. Neither of us knew quite what to say and ended up remaining silent as we walked hand in hand up the hill, towards Bessie.

The Doctor helped me into the car, opening the door for me and offering me his hand again. When I looked down at him from my seat, a sense of understanding flashed between us. A bond had started to grow between the Time Lord and myself. I knew that we could both feel it in our hearts. I smiled at him and he smiled at me in return, then closed the door and wlaked to his side of the car.

Once the car had been started and we were on the road back to UNIT HQ, a clap of terifyingly loud thunder sounded overhead. The Doctor looked up at the sky and saw that the clouds above were actually thunder clouds.

"Please tell me that you have a cover for Bessie," I said worriedly.

The Doctor looked over at me with a somewhat annoying grin and replied, "Yes, of course I have one. I'm not a fool."

"Oh, thank God."

The Doctor pulled Bessie over to the side of the road and jumped out, running to the trunk in the back and pulling out a black cover for the car. The moment he started attaching it to Bessie was when it started pouring rain. I leapt out of the car and to the Doctor's side, asking him if I could help. He quickly explained what I had to do and instructed me to bolt the cover down on the opposite side. Both of us were soaking wet by the time the cover was attached properly.

"Forget aliens, Doctor," I commented with a half-hearted laugh, "that was an adventure."

He looked over at me from the driver's seat and let out a large breath. Water droplets were clinging to his mass of hair and dripping down his neck and his cloak and suit were shiny with water. I briefly wondered what kind of a mess I looked like as cold water slid down the nape of my neck and ended in the curve of my lower back.

The Doctor's eyes looked me over from head to toe for a few awkward seconds. Then he blinked and looked straight ahead. I looked down at my shirt that was plastered to my skin and my jeans, then started laughing.

"What's so amusing?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Well, look at us! We look like quite a couple, don't we?" I paused, then added, "I mean, not a couple couple. Just-... We look kinda ridiculous, don't we?"

He looked at me and then down at his soaked suit and smiled. "Yes, I suppose we do make quite the interesting couple."

He ignited the engine and started down the country road, rain pelting the windows and cover and thunder booming loudly above us. I moved some of the wet hair plasted to the side of my face and pinned it behind my ears, then changed my mind and quickly ran my fingers through my hair.

As the Doctor drove in complete silence, I absently tapped my fingers against the car door. Soft humming soon followed my tapping and within ten minutes, I was struggling to keep my humming below the crashes of thunder and the pounding of heavy rain.

"I hope the rain didn't ruin our afternoon," the Doctor suddenly said, his eyes still focused on the road ahead.

I shook my head with a smile and a blush. "No. It was perfect. Besides, I love the rain. It never rained back in California, at least not in the part of California where I lived."

"Well I do not enjoy the rain," the Doctor added.

I glanced out the front window; the rain wouldn't lessen anytime soon. I nervously chewed on my lower lip and glanced over at the Time Lord. "Doctor, is it safe to drive in this weather?"

"We don't have much of a choice, my dear."

"But is it safe? I mean, the rain doesn't look like it's going to let up at all in the near future. I-I was... just wondering." The Doctor quickly looked over at me before looking back at the road. "Could you at least slow down a little?"

"My dear, I am perfectly capable of driving at the appropriate speed for the current weather conditions."

"Yeah, well could you consider driving 'at the appropriate speed for the current weather conditions'?" I asked, adding air quotation marks for sarcastic emphasis.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and grumbled in an alien language under his breath. I smiled and looked back out the front window, watching the rain pound against the glass in a somewhat mesmerizing fashion.

By the time we reached UNIT HQ, both the Doctor and I were sniffling, sneezing, nearly frozen stiff, and it was completely dark. UNIT HQ was locked down and all the lights were turned off, which meant that we were stuck outside in the freezing cold night air of winteresque England.

"Doctor," I asked, my teeth chattering wildly, "can't you sonic your way in? So we don't have to freeze to death outside?"

"Yes! Brilliant idea, my dear." However, when the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the doors, nothing happened. "Oh. Oh dear."

"Do you need to reverse the polarity of something?" I asked sarcastically.

"No. My screwdriver, it-... Why, it's not working."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why not?"

"I don't know."

"Please tell me your sonic screwdriver isn't allergic to water, Doctor."

With a huff and flourish of his hands coming to rest on his hips, the Doctor turned to me. "If you can't help me, Diana, then could you please be quiet? Your sarcastic and rather pointless remarks are not helping."

I copied his actions and put my hands on my hips as I countered, "I'm trying to lessen the mood, Mister 'I-can-do-this-my-way-and-I-don't-need-your-help' Doctor. Because thinking about freezing to death out here is really depressing considering I was nearly killed twice in the last day!"

"I am trying to open this damned door and you are not helping!"

"Fine. I'll just go sit in Bessie and wait for you to figure it out because you so clearly know so much more than I, a puny little human, do."

With my final remark, I turned on my heel and stormed back to the car, slamming the door behind me. I watched, with my arms crossed over my upper chest, as the Doctor pointed his screwdriver every which way at the door to try and unlock it. After what seemed like nearly a half an hour, he came walking towards Bessie with his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Since me temper had cooled and I was feeling completely embarassed by my display of stupidity and immaturity, I leaned across the seat and opened the door for the Doctor. He slowly sat in next to me and closed the door behind him. I waited patiently for the Doctor to tell me why he couldn't unlock the door.

"It's wood. The door has wood in it."

I immediately burst into laughter, but tried to stifle my amusement as best as I could. "Oh my God," I breathed. "It's true. It's actually true. It doesn't do wood."

"No," he replied sadly. "It doesn't."

"You're kidding, aren't you? I mean, the sonic isn't actually disrupted by wood, or whatever... Is it?" The Doctor looked over at me with a blank expression on his face. "Oh my God, it is."

"Do be quiet, Diana," the Doctor practically begged. "I do hate it when you poke fun at me."

I smiled and shook my head. "I'm not making fun of you, I promise. I just... didn't think that was real, the wood thing. I thought it was just a joke or something."

"Well, obviously it is not a joke."

I could tell my amusement was frustrating the Doctor and stopped chuckling at our misfortune. I reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

He glanced over at me, his lower lip sticking out in a slight pout. "I suppose it's alright," he said.

"Why don't we try driving to the back entrance? If UNIT even has one that is. If not, then we can try looking for a window that's open or maybe someone who stayed in late."

The Doctor nodded wordlessly. He turned the key and steered Bessie so that she was driving around the large building. To our great disappointment, there was no back door and no one had decided to stay late after work, (as we discovered after circling the building five times and trying to open every window that didn't have an alarm on it).

"Don't you have an apartment or something?" I asked.

"No, why would I need one when I have the TARDIS. The old girl's been my home for many, many years now and I don't see why she should stop being so whether I'm stuck on one planet or not."

I smiled. "I completely agree with you, Doctor, believe me. But as nice as that sentiment is, it's not helping us right now because we're stuck out here, soaking wet, and have no way to get warm." Unless, I continued mentally, we stripped and- Woah, Diana! Where the hell did your mind just go? Bad Diana! Bad, bad, bad!

"It would seem that we'll have to stay in the car," the Doctor commented.

"Not necessarily. Don't you know where Liz or Jo or the Brigadier live?"

"Jo?" He tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion. "Who's Jo?"

"Ah. You haven't met her yet. My bad! Moving on." I smiled awkwardly and cleared my throat. "What about Liz or Alistair? Do you know where they live? Or maybe Benton or Yates? Anyone?"

"I'm afraid not, Diana."

"Well, do you know Alistair's phone number? We could call him and ask to stay the night!"

"No."

I lenaed unconsciously leaned forward with a wide smile. "You've never had to contact the Brigadier really quickly? Never had to get ahold of Liz in a tight pinch when she wasn't around?"

"Well yes, but UNIT always contacted anyone I needed for me."

"Doctor," I started amusedly, "this is why you need a cell phone and why you need to learn people's phone numbers. That way you can call them when you get caught in the soaking wet, completely freezing rain and can't get back to your TARDIS."

"Don't you have a mobile?" he countered.

"Well, yeah but I don't know where it is." I quickly shoved my hands in my jeans pockets, but found that my phone was not in any of them. "I didn't think I'd have it. I don't actually know where my phone is. I mean, after the first time I met you I kind of lost track of everything."

The Doctor nodded and seemed to understand exactly what I meant. "Remind me to get you a mobile phone, Diana. It will certainly come in handy in the future."

"Noted."

Silence. Awkward, prolonged, never-ending silence that made me want to cringe. And because it was so quiet, I could hear the raspiness in my breathing and the slight tingle in the Doctor's throat; it was because we were stuck in wet clothes in cold weather for a long time.

"So... What are we going to do now?"

The Doctor quickly started to strip his black coat and cape off and then placed them on the back seat. Being the always-prepared and snarky alien that he is, reached over the seat and behind to grab a plaid blanket that was hidden under the seat. To my surprise, it was dry despite all the rain the poor car had endured. Then the Doctor smirked and started to unfold the blanket. "I was thinking that we could use this blanket to keep ourselves warm."

"Why didn't we use that earlier when we were soaking wet?"

"Because we were soaking wet, of course."

I sighed. "Of course."

He extended his arm, bringing the blanket out and around my shoulders, then pulled away once the material was wrapped around me. I shivered when his fingertips brushed the back of my neck. Our eyes met and locked. I felt my heart leap into my throat as I gazed at the slight dampness of his hair and neck.

"Diana?"

I blinked and looked away, trying not to draw attention to my staring. "I'm fine. I just-... I was thinking."

"Would you like to come towards me a little? It would simply make it easier to stay warm."

I nodded. "Sure."

For a moment, I hesitated to move a single muscle. But then I realized that he was right and that both of us needed to stay as warm as possible so we wouldn't get sick. I slid from my end of the seat to his, wrapping the blanket tighter around my shoulders as I did so.

The Doctor smiled at me. "Better?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. Still cold, but you know. What are you going to do, right?" He spread his arms beneath the blanket and gestured for me to rest against his chest. My heart thudded heavily against my ribcage. "Are you sure? Won't I make you cold?"

"I don't feel cold and heat like humans do, Diana. But I'll be able to keep you warmer than just a blanket. And if you feel uncomfortable with it, then I'll move away."

I shook my head with a shy smile. "No. It's alright." I gingerly leaned forward and rested my shoulder and head against his chest. "I don't mind, really."

The Doctor's arms came around me and sent warmth running through myback and shoulders. As he tightened his embrace around me, I tried to stifle the sudden urge to yawn. I failed and ended up holding my hand over my mouth in embarassment.

"You should rest," the Time Lord suggested, his chest rumbling agasint my skin. "I know you have been under a fair amount of stress. Sleeping will help."

I tilted my head back so I could look at him. "What about you? Won't I get in the way if you want to sleep?"

"No, my dear. I rarely ever sleep anyway. No, you go ahead and rest."

Another yawn escaped my mouth before I could protest again. My eyes remained shut after the yawn passed. I could hear the double heartbeat of the Doctor's hearts thumping in his chest. I smiled and absently snuggled my head into the warmth of his body.

"Doctor?" I asked softly.

"Hm?"

I hesitated to ask my question, worrying that I would sound stupid. "Would you... sing a Venusian lullaby for me?"

He laughed, his voice in my ears and rolling in his chest. "Yes, Diana." His chin rested very lightly on the top of my head. The words he sang were completely foreign, but mixed with the melody they were soothing and relaxing. I found that I loved the sound of his voice hitting the lower notes and I also loved the way he would pronounce the words, as if they were part of a love song.

I fell asleep with my arms pressed between my torso and his, my head resting on his chest, and his singing filling my ears.

I woke up with a gasp and a withheld scream. My chest was heaving as my mind whirled in terror. The Doctor jolted beside me and quickly grabbed my arm.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Autons," I gasped frantically. "The Autons. They knew. Doctor, oh God. They knew. They killed Ransome and they knew I knew everything. They knew I was spying. For you. I was spying on them for you and they knew!" I gasped again and felt tears roll down my cheeks as I remembered the horrific events of my dream that were so eerily close to reality. "They killed me."

"Diana," the Doctor said soothingly, putting his hand on the back of my neck and pulling me torest my head on his chest. "It's alright. It was just a dream."

"They killed me. They shot me, right in the heart. I died."

"No. They didn't kill you. You're alive. You're right here, with me. The Autons can't hurt you anymore. I promise."

A shiver ran up my spine. "Oh Doctor, it was-... It-..."

The Doctor pressed his lips to my temple. "As long as I am with you, I will protect you, Diana. The Autons will never try and hurt you again. You're safe."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and cried into his chest. I shuddered and sobbed and gripped the TIme Lord's shirt with all the strength I had in me. "I can still remember every detail, Doctor. When I was in that factory. I thought I was helping you. I was trying to help you. And then they just came out of the walls and-"

"Hush now. You're safe. You're in Bessie, not in that factory. Forget that factory completely or nightmares will continue to plague you. You're at UNIT now, safe and sound. With me and the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton."

"I'm sorry," I muttered after a few minutes of awkward sniffling into the Doctor's shirt.

"Oh, Diana," he answered with a sigh. "I know what is to be plagued by your nightmares. You have no reason to be sorry for your fears. You could have died. That's reason enough to be scared."

He started singing again; it was the same lullaby he had sung to me when I first asked him. I buried my head in the hollow under the Doctor's chin and closed my eyes, humming gently with the lullaby until I fell asleep again.