A/N: Hi everyone! Just a quick note to say thank you to those of you who have commented, followed and hearted this story! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Hope you like this chapter!

Ruri sighed to herself, feeling much better after showering. Getting all that sweat and grime off her body felt amazing. She couldn't help but ponder over the fact she had seen multiple people die, right in front of her over the course of a short period of time. Was it always like this with The Doctor? She was even too consumed by it all to even consider telling him to take her home. She bit her lip as she dried herself, wrapping the towel around her body as she headed back into her room. She decided to take a closer look, and upon inspection she saw objects that she had in her own bedroom at home, along with new bits and bobs. Furrowing her brows, she realised that perhaps what the others had told her was true. Perhaps she didn't travel in 'order', whatever that meant. But how would that impact her? Her ability to have a life? What if there wasn't a way to stop the jumping? Would she ever get control of it?

Shaking her head, she came back to the real world, deciding she would panic about her situation after she'd had some sleep. She turned, going to head to the wardrobe that was in her room, when she blinked...

As she opened her eyes, she found herself in a new room. A room she didn't recognise. She frowned, before hearing the door to the room open as she gasped, spinning round, conscious of the fact she was dressed in only... a towel. As the door opened, a familiar face walked in, as his eyes lit up at the sight of her, before they quickly glanced downwards, his smile falling as he also gasped, slapping a hand over his eyes.

"Ruri!" The Doctor exclaimed, the bow-tie wearing Doctor, seemingly flustered by her current state.

"Doctor!" She called back, gripping the towel closer to her body, as if she wanted it to become one with her skin.

"Where are your clothes?!" He asked, voice risen a few octaves as he tried to walk forwards, a hand still covering his eyes.

"Where do you think?!" Her own voice raised. "I didn't just go for a spacewalk in a towel did I?!" However, after she'd spoken the Doctor bumped into the bed, falling forwards as he removed his hand from his eyes to try and catch himself. He let out a sigh of relief as he realised he'd landed on the bed itself, looking up once again, before he remembered his current situation, letting out a weird noise before resuming his eye covering position.

"Don't suppose we're on the TARDIS..." Ruri muttered as he shook his head. "Great." After a moment, there was a knock on the door, as Ruri's eyes widened.

"Doctor, you alright?" A male voice called out. "I heard some weird noises... Sounded like you were talking to someone?"

"Um!" The Doctor pulled himself up, keeping his eyes shut. "Yes! I was, myself!" He called back as Ruri sent him a 'are you serious' glare. "Oh, Doctor!" He put on a high pitched voice as Ruri slowly blinked, putting her face in her hand.

"Okay..." The voice responded. "Well, if you need some space... Let me know."

"Yes! Space! Lovely!" The Doctor said too enthusiastically, as Ruri gathered the man on the other side of the door had gotten the complete wrong idea. A second passed, as the footsteps walked away from the room, causing the pair to sigh. "That was close." The Doctor turned back round, forgetting to cover his eyes as he stared at Ruri.

"Oi!" Ruri scolded him as he closed his eyes again.

"Oh, right, yes, sorry." He muttered.

After some more bickering, the pair managed to find some spare clothes in one of the draws. Clearly it was men's clothing, but anything was better than a towel. She wore a large shirt and some joggers that swamped her, as she sat on the bed, The Doctor re-entering the room once it was safe.

"Earth to Pond, Earth to Pond." He spoke as Ruri frowned at him. He walked to the bed as he threw himself down on it, laying back to look up at the ceiling. "Come in, Pond." He pointed to his ear piece as Ruri raised a brow.

"Doctor!" Ruri heard Amy's voice shout through the device as The Doctor winced.

"Could you not wreck my new earpiece, Pond?" He asked. "How's the Tardis coping?" Ruri listened to his side of the conversation. "Ooo, nasty. She's locked in a materialisation loop, trying to land again... But she can't." He paused. "I don't know what it is yet. Anything that can stop the Tardis from landing is big. Scary big." He glanced at Ruri who eventually threw herself back onto the bed also, copying his position. Listening to The Doctors voice rambling was oddly comforting, as she soon found herself closing her eyes, the heavy weight of sleep falling upon her.

Ruri stirred as she heard commotion outside her room, with three different voices chatting away. She pushed herself up, seeing it was daytime, as she gathered she must have slept through the night, but what she didn't expect was to see some weird contraption taking up half the room. Looking at it in shock, the door to the room opened, revealing The Doctor... in a towel. Ruri's eyes widened as he walked in nonchalant. She found herself clearing her throat as she averted her gaze, staring at anything else but him.

"Ah! Ruri, you're awake!" He grinned. "Blimey, you can sleep through a lot." He commented.

"Yeah, that will happen when you're exhausted." She quipped back.

"Ok, so!" He clapped his hands. "Let me fill you in."

"Maybe put on some clothes first?" She suggested as he looked down, remembering he was in only a towel.

"Good point."

After the Doctor changed into a football outfit, which caused Ruri to look at him funny, he began to explain why he was in a flat and why there was a weird makeshift machine in the room.

"So you have to try and blend in?"

"Yes, and I'm doing pretty well so far!" He said proudly as she gave him a skeptical look. "Ok, I'm doing fairly well." He landed on.

"I think if you had just told Craig you were a nutty professor he wouldn't get suspicious." She teased as he playfully narrowed his eyes at her. "And now you're going to play a footy with the lads?"

"Yup." He nodded, standing up.

"And do you know how to play football?" She followed suit, looking at him.

"Ruri, I'm over 900 years old, of course I know how to play football!" He exclaimed as she folded her arms. "Footballs the one with the sticks, isn't it?" She shook her head, fighting the urge to laugh at the alien.

Ruri raided the wardrobe and draws once again, grabbing a fresh button up shirt, large wooly jumper and finding some casual trousers, using a belt to hold them up. She felt weird taking someone else's clothes, but she had no other choice. Literally. Not even the TARDIS was around.

The Doctor opened the door to the room, peering in to see Ruri dressed and ready. She stood feeling like a child in her dads clothes as he gave her a grin.

"Um, little thing-" He began, wringing his hands nervously as she eyed him. "Craig knows you're here. I had to tell him. Otherwise he'd think it was weird a random woman was in my room." She pursed her lips at him, folding her arms. "But in telling him that, he assumed... that we-" He awkwardly gestured between the two of you. "And that you're my girlfriend." He finished as Ruri thought for a second, before sighing and nodding.

"It makes sense." She muttered. "Not many grown men have their friends that are women sleep over without it being romantic." She commented. "Even though that's literally what happened."

"Yeah..." He trailed off. "So... Ruri Rogers... Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked, as she raised a brow. "J-just for now, I mean." His eyes widened. "I wasn't asking- I mean- Not that I wouldn't want to ask- I just mean that whilst I'm pretending to be human, to keep up appearances, you know..." He rambled as Ruri laughed, walking towards him.

"Doctor!" She shook her head. "You can relax." She told him. "You're not the first man I've pretended to date." He sighed in relief, before frowning.

"I'm not?" He sounded confused and a little... disappointed? Ruri rolled her eyes as she started to pass him to head out into the main living space. Stepping out, with The Doctor following, she headed towards the front door, seeing a man and woman chatting in the building hallway as they instantly turned to look at you. The woman, Sophie, gave you a big smile as Craig seemed to look at the Doctor, giving him a thumbs up as Ruri fought the urge to roll her eyes once more. Typical bloke. After all the pleasantry's, the four headed to the game.

"So, how did you meet The Doctor?" Sophie asked as you both stood on the sidelines of the game.

"Oh-" Ruri thought for a moment. "We bumped into each other." Wasn't a total lie. "I was lost and he gave me directions. Ended up walking me to where I needed to go and the rest was history." She told the woman, who smiled sweetly.

"Aw, that's sweet." Sophie commented.

"What about you and Craig?" Ruri asked, raising a brow. Sophie instantly became flustered.

"Oh, no, we're not-" She began, shaking her head. "Just friends." She pulled her gaze away, watching the game again, missing Ruri's knowing look.

"Uh huh." She smirked, nudging the woman, who gave a sheepish smile. "Waiting on him to make the first move?" She asked. "Sophie, sometimes men don't know what to do, even when it's staring them in the face." She continued. "You need to give him a little nudge. He may be your friend, but remember he's still a bloke." She joked, causing Sophie to let out a little laugh. But before Sophie could answer, her eyes locked onto the game as The Doctor began racing down the pitch with the ball.

"That's not bad." Sophie muttered. "Yes! Go!" She exclaimed, cheering the alien. "Go on, Doctor! Go on, Doctor!" Ruri watched in amazement as he went and scored a goal, causing everyone to cheer in unison, celebrating the win. He quickly ran along the spectator line, landing at you two as Sophie gushed at him. "You're brilliant. You're amazing." He grinned, turning to Ruri.

"Not bad." She commented. "For someone who thought football was the one with sticks." She quietly added as he sent her a wink, before running off again. He ended up scoring more goals, causing the team to win the game, much to his delight.

Once the match was over, everyone starting wandering off, as The Doctor and Craig approached the girls, with the team captain following as he chatted to the Doctor.

"You are so on the team. Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor." The captain told him as the Timelord smiled. "We're going to annihilate them."

"Annihilate?" The Doctor repeated, before his expression turned dark, taking a step towards the man. "No. No violence, do you understand me? Not while I'm around." He told him as Ruri's eyed widened, as she stepped next to the alien. "Not today, not ever." She lightly tugged on his jacket sleeve. "I'm the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm-" Finally getting his attention, he peered down at her, as she shook her head, clearing her throat, causing him to realise this man was not declaring a war. "-and you basically meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?"

"Yeah." The captain said a little weirded out.

"Lovely." The Doctor smiled once again. "What sort of time?"

At that moment, Craig opened a drink can, as it sprayed out, but it suddenly kept happening, like a loop. Ruri frowned, turning to The Doctor as he watched, the two being the only ones unaffected.

"Amy?" The Doctor called into his ear piece. "What does the scanner say?" Pause. "Yes, yes, it's, it's good. Zigzag plotter. Zigzag plotter, Amy." Pause. "Amy? Are you there?" He looked at Ruri worried. "Oh, thank heavens. I thought for a moment the Tardis had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it, lost forever."

"Not helping." Ruri whacked him lightly on the arm as he furrowed his brows. After a bit more back and forth between the pair, time returned to normal, as Craig groaned at his now wet top. "That was weird." Ruri muttered.

"I've got some rewiring to do."

Back at the flat, Ruri and The Doctor were back in their room, as she threw herself down on the bed as the Doctor worked. She thought for a moment as she turned to look at the alien.

"What year is it?" She asked as he peered up from his work.

"2010." He answered, causing her to sit up.

"2010?" She asked, thinking aloud as he hummed, giving her a quick nod.

"Why?" He inquired, pausing what he was doing to give her his full attention. She shrugged.

"Just wondering..." She pulled her gaze away, playing with her jumper. "If it's 2010... That means... My mums still alive." She said softly, as his gaze softened. "That feels weird to say." She let out a breathy laugh. "Could I see her?" She suddenly asked, as her eyes went back to his own. "Like, could we? Just go... After all this. If we're here... Couldn't we just pop over in the TARDIS?" He stayed silent, swallowing the lump in his throat as it was his turn to pull his gaze away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep." She mumbled as he shook his head.

"It isn't that." He said softly. "Ruri, I'd do anything... Anything for you to be happy." He told her as he looked at her again. She searched his eyes, seeing his was being sincere. It still felt so weird that he knew more about her than she did him. "But we can't." He sighed. "It's not that simple." He put away his sonic, walking over to sit beside her on the bed.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because..." He paused. "Because this isn't your world." He told her as she frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"This universe is just one of many. An infinite amount of universes, or if you like parallel worlds, different dimensions..." He explained, as she shuffled forwards, sitting on the edge of the bed with him. "The world you came from differs from this one. Maybe only slightly, in the tiniest of ways, but it is different." He proceeded, glancing at her every now and again. "But you can't travel from one universe to the next. They're sealed off. Like these invisible walls in time."

"So I can never go back?" Her voice wavered as he closed his eyes for a moment. He shook his head, causing her to feel a wave of emotion hit her. Not only was she jumping about time, but she wasn't even from this time.

"I tried." He broke her thoughts. "To find a way... A gap, a weak point... But it would rip apart this universe. I'm sorry." He hesitantly reached out his hand, taking her own in his. "But, you always have a home, with me and the TARDIS." He looked at her, his eyes softening. "Always." He lifted their hands to his lips as he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. She gave him a weak smile. The moment was interrupted by a knock on their door.

The Doctor got up to answer, as Ruri heard Craig asking for some space as Sophie was coming over. As quickly as the conversation started, it was finished, as The Doctor shut the door in his flat mates face. Ruri gave him a questioning look, knowing that peace and quiet isn't something he did, which was proven by how he exclaimed at his makeshift machine, causing her to giggle slightly. He gave her smile, glad he'd made her laugh.

"There's that smile!" He pointed at her, still grinning. "Right, now how about you give us a hand, make yourself useful." He playfully told her, throwing her what appeared to a trolley wheel. She scowled at him in retort, before shifting closer to the machine, taking things he kept throwing her way to hold on to.

It wasn't long before it had gotten dark outside, as Ruri found herself fast asleep, still holding random bits and bobs in her hands, with a blanket covering her body. Frowning, she looked around the room, seeing no sign of The Doctor. Wondering where he could be, her question was answered as she heard voices out in the living room. Her eyes widened, remembering what Craig had asked... Shooting out from the bed, Ruri launched herself to the bedroom door, opening it. She stepped out, being greeted by the three, as The Doctor was sat with some wires around his neck, whilst Craig looked mildly irritated and Sophie sent her a smile.

"Ah Ruri!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Why don't you come join us?" He offered, as Craig shot him a look. "We're having wine and talking about human stuff." He grabbed his glass, taking a sip before pulling a face and instantly spitting it back into the glass.

"Um..." Ruri cleared her throat. "Actually, Doctor, I need to talk to you." She landed on, as he suddenly looked worried, placing the glass back down, instantly sitting up straight. "Privately." She muttered.

"What is it?" He quickly stood, wires still around his neck as he rushed over to her. "What's wrong? Is it Amy? Did I do something wrong? Are you ok?" Ruri sent the others an apologetic glance.

"Doctor-" She lowered her voice. "I'm fine, I just thought we should give them a little space." She whispered, as the Doctor sighed in relief, his posture instantly relaxing. He turned to give the couple a smile, bidding them goodnight as he reentered the bedroom, with Ruri following. Upon the door closing behind them, Ruri smacked the aliens arm as he yelped.

"You wally!" She shook her head at him. "Craig asked you to give them space, and what do you do? The opposite." She lightly scolded him, as he gave her an oblivious look.

"Did he? When did he do that?" He rubbed his arm.

"Maybe when he knocked and specifically asked you to give them space." She rolled her eyes at him. He grumbled under his breath about 'humans', before removing the wiring from his neck, heading to his machine. "You should've woken me up, I'm not going to sleep now." She added, groaning.

"You looked peaceful." He told her, waving his hand. "And you can get a bit grumpy when you're disturbed when sleeping." He added.

"It's still so weird hearing you talk like that." She commented. "Like you know me so well, yet I know little to nothing about you. The alien that travels in a wooden box. An enigma." She raised a brow. He sent her a small smirk, adjusting his bow tie.

"I quite like that." He mused. "An enigma." He paused. "Much more interesting that way. The reality is always so much more boring." He replied, causing her to smirk at him.

"I don't know... Your reality seems totally different to most." Sharing a moment of silence, it was broken as he stood back from his machine, spinning the bike wheel, he grabbed his earpiece as he called to Amy. Once she responded he carried on.

"Right. Shield's up. Let's scan." He looked at the machine. "Upstairs." He frowned. "No traces of high technology. Totally normal?" He looked at Ruri. "No, no, no, no, no, it can't be. It's too normal." Ruri listened, sending him a confused stare. "Without knowing and get myself killed? Then you really are lost. If I could just get a look in there. Hold on. Use the data bank. Get me the plans of this building. I want to know its history, the layout, everything. Meanwhile I shall recruit a spy." He trailed off, Ruri shaking her head at him. Taking his earpiece off he began pacing the room.

"Why don't I go up?" Ruri offered, causing him to stop in his tracks. "They haven't seen me, as far as I'm aware... I could just... knock?" He shook his head.

"No." He told her sternly. "It's too dangerous, too ominous, too... Unknown." He added.

"Well then, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see then aren't we?" She folded her arms, sitting down on the bed. "Now, stop pacing and try to get some rest." She told him as he reluctantly sat down, laying back as she copied him. "So... It seems only fair you tell me about yourself." She side eyed him, seeing him ponder for a moment. "Nothing too in depth, unless you're comfortable with that, but just the basics." He turned his head to look at her.

"I'm a Timelord, that's my species." He began. "From the planet Gallifrey. But there was a war... And I had to make a decision. A terrible decision." He paused, frowning. Ruri turned to look at him as he spoke. "My home planet is lost. Time-locked. I can't ever go back." He said softly, as she realised he was telling her this, to empathise with her. Letting her know, he understood how it felt, to not be able to go back home. "So I travel. Anywhere, any when." He forced a small smile.

"I'm sorry." She told him gently. "How comes you look different... You talk the same, and your eyes... They hold that same look, but your whole face..."

"Timelords. We have this trick." He explained. "When our bodie is dying, we can change our face. Well, not just our face. Everything. It's called regeneration." Ruri raised a brow. "Same mind, same memories, same person, just new."

"And being over 900 years old?"

"And still looking good." He joked, as she rolled her eyes.

"900 years old... with the face of a 28 year old." She pondered, before letting out a gasp. "You're a catfish." She laughed as he gave her a confused stare.

"I'm a what?!"

"Oh, don't worry." She waved him off. "Human joke." He huffed as he pushed himself to sit back up. "If it's any consolation, it was a pretty funny one."

Morning came around, as Ruri gathered she must've managed to get a few hours sleep in. Groaning, she sat up, before she realised she wasn't in the flat... She appeared to be back in the TARDIS, in her own bedroom. She figured she must've jumped whilst sleeping. God it was so unpredictable...

She decided to change into her own clothes (well, clothes that were in her rooms wardrobe), taking off the borrowed ones, choosing to put on a white turtle neck and plaid trousers, throwing on a leather jacket and white trainers. Once she was dressed, she exited her room, trying to remember the way back to the console room. Heading down the corridor, she began to hear distant voices, deciding her best bet was to try and follow the sound. After a few twists and turns, she finally came to the top of the stairs in the console room, sighing in accomplishment as she saw the spikey haired Doctor and Donna.

"Donna!" Ruri exclaimed, greeting her as she came down the steps. The ginger woman turned and quickly beamed at the woman, walking over to her as she gave her a hug.

"Oh Ruri! Thank god you're ok." Donna told her as she pulled away. "You gave us a scare at The Library. Martian man over there theorised you must've jumped." The Doctor was next to walk to Ruri as he gave her a tight hug.

"Yeah, I jumped. The teleport must've triggered something." Ruri explained, as the alien pulled back, giving her a grin.

"Where abouts are you?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, I've just come from future you. The Library for me was a few jumps ago now." She told him as he nodded. "So, where are we heading?"

The Doctor and Ruri stood on a large platform, the Timelord on what looked like a pay phone to Donna. They were on the planet Midnight, Donna wanted to relax and have a spa day whereas The Doctor wanted to sight see and explore, leaving Ruri in the middle of the two. She could've really used a massage... But The Doctor used those big brown eyes to convince her to come with him, causing her to give in and accompany him on his trip.

"Sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires." The Doctor spoke to Donna. "This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine." He was trying to convince his companion to join them, which clearly wasn't working. "Oh, come on. They're boarding now. It's no fun if I see it on me own. Four hours, that's all it takes." He sent a look Ruri's way as she peered around at the futuristic tram/train looking ship they would be taking. "All right, I give up." He sighed. "I'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs." He smirked at Ruri. "Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?" He hung up, walking towards Ruri.

"I really wish you hadn't said that." She mumbled as he gave her a confused look. "That's what everyone says before something back happens."

"Nah!" He shook his head. "Come on!" He held out his hand for her to take, wiggling his fingers. "Let's explore Midnight."