John Smith

The job that Caroline had managed to get was tedious. It was one of the few she actually felt comfortable doing, one that didn't involve directly interacting with any actual people. Certainly, she would be on the phone with them, but being the phone was different than in person. She could manage a phone.

Jen, a folder in her arms, walked quickly past Caroline's cubicle, dropping a cup of water with a small smile. Caroline barely ever actually moved from her cubicle, and thus she tended to forget to hydrate herself. Thankfully, her friends had taken it upon themselves to ensure she didn't drop down in a faint.

Once Caroline began doing something, she tended to find that she didn't remember to do anything else. She could sit reading a book for an entire day, or walking randomly through the streets of the city, or stitching a piece of fabric for hours on end and never actually realize how much time had passed. It would always feel like only a few minutes, but would have turned out to be a few hours.

She only noticed that time had passed when she ran out of something to do; she was careful not to read too long of a book, otherwise she'd sit there for days. She'd done it before.

"Drink up," Jen called as she walked away, Caroline grinning to herself as she spoke to a customer on her headset.

"I'd be happy to explain how it works," Caroline said, sipping water before beginning to explain to the man on the other end how the Adipose pills work. She had looked into the science before taking the job. She likely wouldn't have turned it down if it had been a scam, it was a job after all, but there was something comforting about the fact that she knew the science was sound.

It was strange science, but it seemed to work. She had always felt as though something was off with it, a shiver running down her spine, but she couldn't determine exactly what was wrong. The pills seemed to work.

Once the call ended, Caroline took a moment to rub a space above her head, feeling a sharp painful twinge and almost lightheaded a second later. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply before preparing herself for the next call. That had been…strange. Perhaps she should take a break at some point; she hadn't actually eaten anything for a few hours.

"Good morning," she fought the slight shakiness in her voice. "I represent Adipose Industries."

A few minutes into the call, Caroline found herself staring at her screen, listening to the woman on the other end go on quite a long spiel about how much she needed the pills. "We deliver within three working days," Caroline informed her, just as she noticed a man sliding into her cubicle. He seemed tall, with brown hair and a brown suit. She shivered as he slid in, and had no idea why.

Perhaps she really did need to eat something soon.

"John Smith," he whispered, showing her an ID, "Health and Safety. Don't mind me." She nodded, shifting in her seat at the concept of possibly speaking with a man she didn't know. "Do you have any samples of what you send out?"

Conveniently, the woman on the other side of the line asked a similar question, and, as Caroline answered, she handed John Smith what she was describing, for she had examples of both it and the pill. The pill example she had was made of plastic, but the pendant was an actual one. "The box has 21 days' worth of pills, an information packet, and a special Adipose Industry pendant. It's made of eighteen carat gold, and it's yours for free." He was studying it as the woman asked a strange question. "No, we don't give away pens, sorry." A complaint. "No, I can't make an exception, no."

The fact there was still someone on the other end of the phone seemed to help with her ability to have John Smith beside her.

John Smith tucked the pendent into his jacket pocket. "I'll need to keep this for testing." Caroline nodded, honestly not knowing what Health and Safety could want with a golden pendant. "And also a list of your customers. Could you print it off?"

Caroline pulled it up on the screen. The list was about a million people long, as it currently only included the greater London area. "Of course." The man was watching what she was doing. He had quite striking hair, which, along with his suit, had been the first thing she had noticed about his appearance.

"That's the printer there?" he stood up in order to look around the area of cubicles.

She nodded. "Yes, by the plant." The woman on the other end had accidently hung up the phone; she had seemed to be elderly and not that used to using a phone.

"Brilliant." He sat down again, but stood up a moment later. "Has it got paper?"

Caroline sighed. "Yes. Jimbo keeps it stocked. Nothing to worry about." As calm as she had to be for this job, interacting with people in real life was always slightly more difficult. She was desperately hoping that someone else would call soon so that she could return to a state far more comfortable for her.

Thankfully, he was interrupted from continuing to ask questions by Miss Foster, the owner of Adipose Industries, walking in, flanked on either side with a guard. "Excuse me, everyone, if I could have your attention."

Caroline stood immediately. John Smith peeked his head up originally, but ducked down once Miss Foster looked in his direction. "On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day." Caroline widened her eyes, her mind already beginning to calculate how that would be physically possible. "And if not, you'll be replaced. Because if anyone's good in trimming the fat, it's me. Now. Back to it."

Everyone sat down at once, Caroline grimacing as she did so. John Smith seemed amused by her expression. "Not a fan of the boss?"

Caroline almost chuckled. "Not a fan of the fact that to do as she requested is almost impossible." Even if it just took five minutes for each customer, which was nearly impossible, it would take over eight hours straight to simply reach the one hundred marker per person. There was a small twinge of pain right behind her eyes, a pulse almost, and Caroline fought the urge to rub it.

She glanced at John Smith briefly, wishing he would leave so that she could begin attempting Miss Foster's insane request, when she found herself staring at him longer. She had really only given him passing glances previously, not enough to study his face. And, now that she did, she had an itching that she knew him. "Have I seen you before?" she whispered, frowning, this time not from the second pulse in her head.

John Smith shook his head, shrugging. "No, sorry, I don't think so." They stared at each other for a second, his brow almost furrowing as though he was attempting to see if he could remember her. "Anyway," he shook his head slightly, "if you could print that off." Caroline nodded, still frowning, but did as he asked; Miss Foster had interrupted it previously. "Thanks." He moved to stand, but Caroline spun around and grabbed his arm, surprising even herself.

"Do you happen to own a blue Police telephone box?" that was where she knew his face, or at least a face like his. He had been one of the aliens on the street, and then he had been the one to vanish in the box. Or maybe it hadn't been him, because why would an alien be wandering around claiming to be Health and Safety?

John Smith didn't even blink. "I don't, sorry. Were you looking for one?"

"No." She nodded towards the printer, reminding him where it was. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."

He rushed off to the printer as Caroline prepared to be patched through to the next customer, sighing internally at the fact she was alone again, she didn't have to interact with people. She had just taken a sip of water when John Smith returned with a grin, leaning against the edge of the cubicle. "Me again."

Caroline, water in hand, spun in her chair so that she was facing him, tilting her head in almost amusement. "Now what?"

"Can you print it again?"

She sighed, but did as he asked, guessing that somebody else must have accidently taken it. He went back to the printer, but came back a third time, as Caroline was waiting to be connected, though this time he was holding the printout. "Why were you asking about a blue Police telephone box?"

This time Caroline didn't spin to look at him. "I saw one on Christmas. There was a man who went into it that I thought looked like you, but clearly wasn't." She glanced over her shoulder at him, listening to a phone start to ring on the other end of the line.

He nodded, but before he darted off again, asked her a final question. "What's your name?"

"Caroline Attwater. Now leave."

This time he truly did leave, forcing Caroline to return to her work as somebody answered their phone. "Good morning. I represent Adipose Industries."

A few hours later, Caroline was finally ordered to take a break for food by Jen. She hadn't wanted to leave her cubicle, not wanting to risk her job because of Miss Foster's new ridiculous instructions, but even she could admit it was becoming difficult to keep her eyes open or focus on the screen.

Jen did have to practically drag Caroline from the chair, but she did leave it eventually. They were standing by the water cooler, Jen describing a phone call she'd just finished quite extravagantly. Caroline was listening with the regular surprised expression she crafted when involved in conversation, not even noticing how tightly she was clutching the small paper cup of water.

When small specks of darkness began to appear at the edges of her vision, she didn't even notice. She didn't notice the way one of her arms seemed to shake, her entire body almost on the brink of falling apart.

"Caroline…" Jen said slowly, frowning, pushing back a loose piece of blonde hair in a short moment of actually noticing what was happening to the woman before her, "are you alright?"

Caroline didn't have a chance to respond before she collapsed, her head spinning and pounding.

When she woke again, her stomach feeling as though it was attempting to devour itself whole, Caroline found Jen crouched over her, looking panicked. "Oh thank God!" Jen nearly shouted. "Are you alright? What happened? Are you feeling okay?"

Caroline blinked slowly, her mind processing what had happened. She must have fainted, as that was the only way she could explain the situation she found herself in. "I…I think I fainted," she mumbled.

Jen laughed, relieved she could actually speak. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"Something to eat." Caroline had determined quickly that that was the reason. She hadn't actually eaten yet that day, having arrived late to work, and she actually, honestly, couldn't remember the night before.

Jen nodded eagerly, jumping up to hunt down some type of quick snack. She returned after what felt like only a second, helping Caroline sit up slightly before handing her some type of snack bar. She devoured it in a moment. Jen rubbed her back as she ate, looking worried that Caroline could collapse where she sat again.

Once she was finished, Jen also pointing out the cup of water she'd somehow managed to not spill, she made the motion to stand up, only for Jen to force her to stay seated. "There is no way I am going to let you go back to work right now. You are going to go home, rest and eat something."

Caroline frowned at her, already attempting to determine exactly how many people she had sold Adipose to that day. Technically, somehow, she was fairly certain she had managed to sell at least one hundred packages. How she'd managed she had no idea, but somehow it had happened. Perhaps it was helpful she hadn't actually taken a break until Jen had forced her to finally leave her chair.

And, besides, it was almost time for her to leave anyways. She'd be able to leave a little early. "Fine," she agreed, and Jen hurried to gather anything Caroline had left in her cubicle before sending her on her way. Caroline knew that Jen likely still had calls to answer, packages to sell, and felt horrible that she was risking the woman's job. She had no doubt that Miss Foster would follow through with her threat.

Caroline spent the journey home attempting to move slower than she had on the way there, not wanting to risk fainting again. The street she lived on wasn't on any direct bus or underground line, so she always found herself finishing the journey home on foot. She could have easily called a cab, but walking was always preferable.

She had her coat wrapped around herself, head held high and walking slowly. The street, aside from the cars, was almost completely empty. She wasn't commonly home at that time, rather still at some various job, but it was nice to be alone after such a long time speaking to people, even just over the phone. True, she was about to be alone in her home, but the sooner the better.

However, Caroline's walk home was interrupted by a man running past her, holding some type of beeping gadget out before him. She came to a stop at almost the same time he did, watching as the machine made a strange noise and he hit it a few times. She could only see the back of him, but she knew she had seen it before.

He blew on it a few times before it began the same steady beeping as before. Then he began to run again. Caroline only had to stand there for a moment, staring, before she began to run after him.

It was the alien from Christmas, or the man she'd seen that day. By the way he was holding the machine, which did not look like something from Earth, Caroline would guess the former, possibly also the latter and he'd just been lying to her before.

He rounded a corner, this time choosing to run on the sidewalk, before the gadget made a strange sound and he spun in a small circle, Caroline ducking behind a car, before hitting it again and continuing on his way. He was chasing something, Caroline reasoned.

He had just turned another corner when, Caroline managing to stay a few steps behind him somehow despite not having eaten much that day, when a large black van drove almost directly towards him. The man waited until the last second before he stepped away, looking resigned, before the gadget began to beep again, this time in the direction the van was driving.

The fact that it was a car, and would therefore be traveling at a much higher speed then he could even attempt to reach, did not seem to deter him. Rather than chase it down the main road he turned off onto a side one, likely hoping to run into the van again. Caroline, having only just reached the end of the street he'd turned off on, stopped when she heard the beeping slow, the van no doubt out of reach of the machine.

The man, John Smith maybe, lowered his hand resignedly, turning around only to seem to skid to a stop at the sight of Caroline standing there. His mouth fell open in shock at seeing her there, and there was no doubt that he knew exactly who she was, which meant this was John Smith.

Which also meant he had been lying to her. Caroline, in a strange moment of confidence, walked forward. "Do you actually own a blue Police telephone box?" she asked, referencing the conversation they'd had only hours earlier.

The man took a step forwards as well, eyeing Caroline as though he was judging something about her, an action that made a shiver run up her spine. "You were in London on Christmas?" he was answering a question with another, Caroline noted.

She nodded slowly. "Yes." He made no move to actually answer the question she had asked him, and some part of her curiosity made her continue asking him questions, continue speaking to him rather than fall silent. "I believe I asked you a question," she couldn't help but notice her voice was shaking, slightly, "and you have neglected to answer."

"Yes," was all he said, and Caroline suddenly found it quite difficult to hide her excitement at the prospect. "You work at Adipose?"

The question was enough to temper Caroline's excitement. "Considering that we spoke there just a few hours ago, yes." John Smith, though Caroline was fairly certain that wasn't actually his name, almost seemed amused by that. However, Caroline frowned as she glanced down at what he was holding and thought briefly about what street they were on.

She knew there were at least two Adipose customers within the general area to where they were right then. One, a woman named Stacey, had actually managed to learn that she worked for Adipose and had approached her a few days before. This man had asked for a list of customers, and was running through the streets with some type of machine seeming to chase something. And he seemed very interested in confirming that Caroline actually did work at Adipose.

"Is there something wrong with the Adipose pills?" she asked, frowning, stepping forward again. She was neglecting the fact that she really did need to eat something, and the fact that speaking this long to somebody she didn't know was making her feel horrible on its own. What she needed to know at that moment was if the Adipose pills were harming people.

He shook his head. "I don't know. Something feels wrong, but I don't know what's happening. I was trying to find out but this," he hit the gadget again, "keeps malfunctioning."

"I could see that," Caroline nodded. She was tempted to ask if she could help, even if she wasn't certain what she could do. But even if she could do something, Caroline was not the sort to actually offer. "What is your name, your real name?" she added the last part as it looked like he was about to say that John Smith was his actual name. "You lied about the blue box so you must have lied about the name."

He almost smirked, though it was more of an amused grin. "The Doctor." Caroline nodded, amused by the fact that this felt like his actual name. He looked like a Doctor, even if he was an alien one. "Would you like to," he jerked his head over his shoulder, "come and help?"

Caroline very nearly said yes. But then her stomach made a horrible noise and she nearly doubled over from a sudden pain in her head, and she knew she couldn't. Not right then. "I can't right now," she admitted, wishing she could, honestly wishing she could, because she needed to know what Adipose was doing. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor nodded slowly, tucking his hands into his pockets, somehow managing to fit the gadget inside. "Goodbye, Caroline Attwater," he seemed almost amused by her name.

"Goodbye Doctor," Caroline agreed before turning and walking away, fighting her way through the head pain. She hadn't actually drank much that day, really only the two small cups Jen had handed her. The moment she was out of his sight she let herself double over slightly, gritting her teeth against the hunger.

When she reached home and actually sat down to drink something and eat, all Caroline could think of was what could be wrong with Adipose. She had only really looked when the company was just starting, when Miss Foster had just entered the market. She hadn't read up on any theories surrounding Adipose, any mysteries.

She may have had unease about it originally, but she hadn't followed through. And she should have at least looked once.

As such, Caroline spent the rest of the night, when she should have been sleeping, reading up on the theories surrounding Adipose Industries. The story behind it beginning was strange on its own, with Miss Foster emerging with no sign that there had ever actually been any tests of her products. She just arrived with claims it worked, and later had tests done to prove her claims.

The pills did work. They got rid of fat at a steady rate in a way no other pill had done. The side effects were minimal. It was as though, as the slogan of the company proudly stated, the fat just walked away.

But that wasn't how fat worked. Caroline had known that wasn't how losing weight worked. It wouldn't, it couldn't, just vanish. There would be some type of sign, some change, in your body. But Adipose Pills had none of that.

They were simply weight loss pills that worked perfectly.

Jen followed Caroline practically like a hawk the next morning. She was constantly asking her if she had eaten anything, if she had drunk enough water, if anything hurt. Caroline constantly repeated that she was fine, that there was nothing to worry about and could Jen leave her alone to get back to her job.

Selling the pills, now that Caroline both knew an alien was looking into them and the scientific side of her mind had kicked in to inform her that something actually was wrong, felt bad. She knew they were helping people, and there was no actual evidence they were harming anyone. Perhaps they were from an alien race that just wanted to help humans lose weight.

And Caroline couldn't stop thinking about the Doctor. She had seen him four times now. He was looking into Adipose. Perhaps she should have said yes, she should have offered to help. She would probably know more than rumors on the internet. Perhaps she would have actually been able to begin figuring out what threat the Adipose Pills posed rather than sitting in a cubicle selling them to more people.

By the end of the day, Caroline needed to leave the main room and take a break from possibly selling people their doom, though she knew that was quite an exaggeration she couldn't help but think it. She found her way to one of the toilets, one of the nicer ones that no one tended to go into.

Adjusting the edges of her jacket before beginning to twist the ring she'd received for Christmas, Caroline made her way to the last stall, needing to just sit in silence for a moment.

She did not notice the woman that had been sitting in a stall for over four hours now, though the woman noticed her.

A few minutes later, Caroline had lost track of time. She normally wore a watch, but that morning she had forgone finding it in favor of actually eating breakfast, not wanting to even risk a repeat of the day before. She had no way of knowing that the building was starting to close down, because all she was doing was slowly rubbing her head, beginning to wonder if there was some possible way she could find the Doctor again.

It sounded as though, slightly further down the line of stalls, somebody stepped out. Caroline immediately froze, having thought the room was empty. A phone began to ring, and whoever had stepped out quickly turned around to answer it.

"Not now," the woman, whispering in a room where whispers traveled. Somebody on the other end said something, and Caroline realized that if she listened she was going to be getting the very annoying situation of only hearing half of a conversation.

"I can't. I'm busy." Another moment of silence. "I'm in church." Whoever was talking clearly had some type of secret they were keeping from the other person. "Praying." There was a long period of silence punctured by the sudden bang as the doors to the toilets burst open.

"We know you're in here," it was Miss Foster, "so why don't you make this nice and easy and show yourself?" There was no movement, though Caroline did, as quietly as she could, lift her feet from the ground so that it didn't look like she was there. It was instinctive, even if she wasn't technically hiding. "I'm waiting. I warn you, I'm not a patient woman. Now, out you come." Nothing. "Right. We'll do it the hard way." Slight movement. "Get her."

There must have been her customary two guards with her, because then came the sound of somebody kicking the doors open, and Caroline was fairly certain Miss Foster would never do such a thing. She knew that, technically, she had nothing to worry about. She did work at the company, she had an acceptable reason for being there. But the other woman in the stalls, the one who'd been on the phone, did not.

However, when the guards reached the fifth stall, they stopped. "There you are," Miss Foster cooed.

"I've been through the records, Foster," it wasn't the woman from the phone, "and all of your results have been faked. There's something about those pills you're not telling us."

"Oh, I think I'll be conducting this interview, Penny," then the footsteps left, the door closing with no sign that they had even thought there was anyone else in the stalls, let alone two people.

When Caroline heard the other woman step out of her stall, she did so as well as quickly as she could, making the ginger spin around in shock. She held her hands up slightly, as though to prove she posed no threat, and took a deep breath. "Are you interested in the pills too?"

The ginger nodded, frowning. "Who are you?"

"Caroline Attwater." She lowered her hands. "I work in the call centre." The ginger backed away slightly. "There is something wrong with the pills. If you don't mind, I'd like to find out what." Perhaps it was speaking to the Doctor, and not taking advantage of the fact he'd offered for her to come with him, but Caroline found herself readily offering her help to this woman who's name she didn't even know.

"Donna Noble," the ginger introduced. "Now come on!" they strode out of the toilets, thankfully having waited long enough that Miss Foster was nowhere to be seen. The fact the call centre was empty informed Caroline exactly how long she'd been sitting in the toilets, but she didn't care at that moment. All she cared about was attempting to remember where Miss Foster's office would be.

Donna was the one to point out that the location was posted on a small poster by the lifts. They rushed up to it, the two as quiet as they could be. It was rather easy for Caroline, the state natural to her. There was no one else in Adipose Industries, or at least nobody they came across.

Quickly, they reached the secretary's station outside of Miss Foster's office, hearing the sounds of voices coming from inside the room. "What sort of a country do you think this is?" Penny, a reporter and presumably prisoner of Miss Foster, which was a strange thought in itself, asked.

"Oh, it's a beautifully fat country. And believe me, I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale."

"So, come on then, Miss Foster, those pills. What are they?" Donna and Caroline were slowly approaching the door. There was a small window, one at a height Donna could reach easily but Caroline, a few inches shorter, could already tell would be a bit difficult if they desired to look in.

"Well, you might just as well have a scoop, since you'll never see it printed. This is the spark of life." No doubt she was holding up one of the pills at that moment.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Caroline and Donna slid down the door slightly, out of sight of the window for a moment in order to listen better.

"Officially, the capsule attracts all the fat cells and flushes them away." With no side effects, Caroline couldn't help but add. "Well, it certainly attracts them. That part's true. But it binds the fat together and galvanizes it to form a body." Caroline sucked in a breath. An alien. Adipose pills were forming creatures from the fat cells in human bodies.

"What do you mean, a body?"

"I am surprised you never asked about my name. I chose it well. Foster. As in foster mother." There was a very, very quiet squeaking sound. "And these are my children."

Slowly, Donna and Caroline stood in order to look through the window and see the small white creature, smaller than a book standing on Miss Foster's desk. It was partially hidden by a pillar, but Caroline could see enough of it to know what it was. "You're kidding me," Penny, the reporter that was tied to a chair, said. "What the hell is that?"

"Adipose," Miss Foster said slowly, walking around to stand before Penny. "It's called an Adipose. Made out of living fat."

Miss Foster and Penny had some kind of conversation, but both Caroline and Donna stopped paying attention to it when they locked eyes with the Doctor across the room, who seemed to be suspended in some type of window cleaner's cradle. His eyes widened as much as her's or Donna's must have.

"Donna?" he mouthed. "Caroline?"

"Doctor?" Donna replied, just as silently, while Caroline could only look between the two in slight shock. How was it that the exact woman she'd run into in the toilets had also met the Doctor? How was it that she kept running into something related to aliens? "Doctor!"

"But what? What? What?" his 'what's grew more exasperated as they repeated.

"Oh my god!" Donna seemed to have forgotten the fact that they had just been listening to a conversation in which Miss Foster was revealing her plans but, granted, the Doctor and Caroline had forgotten as well.

"But…how?"

Donna pointed at herself. "It's me!"

"Yes, I can see that," the Doctor mimed.

"Oh, this is brilliant."

"What the hell are you doing there?" the Doctor pointed at both of them, referencing both.

"I work here!" Caroline reminded him, though that didn't actually provide a reasoning for why she would still be at Adipose at that hour.

"I was looking for you," Donna continued.

He pointed at himself. "What for?"

"I, came here," Donna began to mime her story as well as mouth it, with the Doctor nodded along as though he understood every aspect of it, "trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble=you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Meet her. Crept along. Heard this lot. Looked. You! 'Cos they…" she jerked her thumb back towards where Miss Foster was standing, only to find her staring at the three of them, arms crossed and waiting.

She had very clearly noticed.

"Are we interrupting you?" Miss Foster asked them.

"Run!" the Doctor jerked his head to the side, Donna and Caroline turning to run.

A/N: Caroline's entered the drama! Now she's met Donna and the Doctor, so who knows what could happen next.