Sometimes people need a nudge, sometimes a bit more. Two familiar scenarios, one with a very different outcome.

-0-

The marketplace buzzed with activity. This bazaar was filled with about half a dozen or more races both as vendors and buyers. One particular browser was in a bad mood. Actually it would be better say he was in a fairly foul mood as he searched through mechanical bits and bobs. Most gave him wide berth, his body language fairly radiating leave me alone. Black boots, dark jeans, jumper and black leather coat didn't particularly fit in here, but no one was going to point that out to him. Sometimes attitude really was everything.

He stopped at another table, almost roughly handling the parts. The stall owner started to protest, but looking at his face the words died on her tongue. Glancing up at her, he scowled but managed to slow down and gentle his searching.

In the next moment though, his head snapped up as a gentle giggle sounded by his elbow. His cold blue eyes fastened on the figure next to him. The form seemed female, dressed in jeans, trainers, and a dark hoodie. The hood was pulled forward and down, obscuring most of her face. Blazoned across the chest of the hoodie were the words, Bad Wolf. She was extending her hand that held another piece of equipment that draped over it. "Was this what you were looking for?" Her voice seemed familiar, but odd at the same time with a tonal quality to it.

"Yeah, thanks." His voice was gruff in reply.

He eyed her as he reached for the object. He hadn't said anything about what he was looking for, how did she know? Had she been following him? Sharpening his gaze, "And just how did you know what I was looking for?" He was rather surprised by her amused response. "Because I have it on rather good authority that I'm brilliant, you should know." Eyes narrowed further he demanded, "Who are you?"

"Pay the shopkeeper Doctor and come find me. Maybe I'll tell you maybe I won't. I can promise that talking to me is worth your while." With those words she turned, and started down the street. Across the back of her hoodie more words were printed. They read, Basically…. Run!

Curiosity was a trait that was very strong in the Doctor. Plus she knew his name and he had no idea who she was. Someone knowing who he was could be a bad thing or a good thing. He needed to find out which. Hastily he shoved the local currency in the shopkeeper's hands. It was probably way too much, but he didn't want to lose sight of this mysterious woman.

He started out after her, and she must have been moving far faster than he thought. He could just barely catch a glimpse of her at the end of the street. She turned and he cursed under his breath as he temporarily lost sight of her. Swiftly moving down the street, he turned in the direction he saw her go only to just barely catch a glimpse of her turning again. Breaking into a jog he sped to that corner to turn, only to see her sitting calmly at a table. She had two baskets of crisps in front of her. She was casually dumping vinegar on one of them.

He sauntered over and dropped down in an empty seat across from her. She shoved the untouched basket of chips over to him. Picking up one from the basket in front of her she gave a small sound of appreciation as she bit in. "Nothing quite like chips, these ones aren't quite as good as I had at home, but still, they are good."

Eying her he picked up a chip from his basket to bite into. "So where is home then?" Her voice was soft in response before reaching for another chip. "Gone, it has been gone for a very long time now." He paused and his voice was gentle in response. "I'm sorry. "

"Not your fault Time Lord. It wasn't one of the ones caught up in your Time War if that is what you are wondering. No, I'm not here to ask you to try and go back and change things. I know better than that."

He had stiffened when she identified his race. Her next comment didn't really cause him to relax. She didn't seem to be offering harm, but better to be cautions. "Then why are you here, why talk to me? Do I know you?"

"No, though we might meet again in the future."

He considered that, carefully eating his chips as he watched her. "Then how do you know who I am?"

"Better to say I know your story very well."

"Nobody knows my story that well." His voice was harsh in response.

"You'd be surprised." She just kept casually eating her chips. The woman was almost playful in her banter with him.

He was starting to get irritated and it showed in his voice. "So, surprise me. You can take off that stupid hood. Not like what you look like is going to bother me."

She ignored his biting tone and shook her head. "No, I'm here to give you a nudge, not a shove."

He dropped the chip in his basket and leaned towards her, "A nudge?" What kind of nudge. What is your name? You know mine but haven't given me yours." The Doctors voice carried hostility now."

"It is not important. What is important is why you gave up so easily on the girl. Why did you just leave her there Doctor? She does seem to be a bit jeopardy friendly."

Instantly he jerked up out of his seat roughly grabbing her wrist. "You leave her out of this. Don't you dare threaten Rose." His voice was harsh and threatening. The back of his mind wondered about the instant protective response he had. However he didn't allow it to show on his face.

His response if anything actually seemed to please the woman in front of him. "Relax Doctor, I wouldn't dream of Rose. I know how important she is, even more so than you do at this point." If anything his grip tightened more on her wrist. He demanded, "What do you mean by that?"

Unperturbed she simply shrugged at him. "That is for you to find out. Go back Doctor, I promise you won't regret it. You don't even have to outright ask her to come with you again. You just really need to mention the one thing you forgot to tell her about the Tardis."

He released her wrist and slowly stood. "And what was that." Tensed he watched her.

"You tell me, or rather tell her /Time/ Lord.' She remained utterly calm, working on eating her chips.

He stared at her for a moment and then abruptly stalked off. She stayed there, finishing her chips. A small smile played across her lips as she heard the sound of the Tardis' engines. A moment later, she vanished.

****-0-****

The void was a vast expanse of absolutely nothing. It held neither light, life, warmth, matter, nor any energy, except for her. If a living thing were trapped in here, if it was lucky it would die. The less lucky went mad, and then they died. It was all a matter of time. That she existed here was a trick not of fate, but of time. A sacrifice made for her that left her with gifts that she would rather trade for the life she had before. Since that choice wasn't hers she simply gathered herself up and dove through the dark coldness.

Right now she was simply a ribbon of energy following trails through the void that only she could see. They were the paths that told her where she needed to be next. Which reality needed her to pass through and set a few things right. She'd rather not have more universes collapse into the void. It tended to make her day rather unpleasant sorting things out. So in self-defense she would follow the pull and nudge things back into the right direction. No universe needed her hanging out mucking things up, so she slipped in and out and went back to her life. That's all it was, self-defense really. If she told herself that long enough maybe someday she'd actually believe that, maybe.

The path before her became more urgent. Latching on to it she followed along, the need was strong here. The good thing was that it would easily take her to the when she needed to be. So time was not an issue. However the strength of it pulled at her, making her want to move faster. Generally that was how it happened she found a path and stuck to it, unless something surprised her.

As if that thought was a cue, a gate suddenly opened up and started spewing objects into the void. With a sigh, she left the path and moved quickly towards it. Metal objects were being sucked into her home. They were ones that she recognized, and caused her to grumble under her breath. It was going to take her ages to track all those bothersome things down and make sure they were dealt with. Highly irritating, the void was not the universal trash dump. She was going to make sure whoever opened this gate up got a strong lecture. That is as soon as she made sure they were alright. Not that she cared, much.

She stretched herself through the breach, feeling energy shift and her physical self take form. Each time she entered a reality the, first shape she emerged as would be the most useful for the moment. She could always change shape later on if she needed to. First entry was always the trickiest as often she emerged in the middle of trouble. Like right now for example.

Her physical form solidified first, with sharp reflexes and instincts ready for action. It took a few moments longer for her mind to settle from the transition from Void to Reality. Some realities were vastly different, so she needed to know where and when she was to properly settle things.

Emerging into the bright white light she found herself stretching out. Her form was humanoid, but looked much like she was living liquid metal. It was hard and only slightly warm to the touch. She was much larger than a human, but her form was heavy. The long talons on her feet and hands helped her dig into the ground to prevent from getting pulled back into the void.

Metal objects bumped into her as they were getting sucked in and she ignored them as not worth catching. They didn't belong here she could tell. While she didn't approve of using the void as dumping grounds, she got the desperation and need that arose at times. Then, something organic was rapidly coming her way, and she reached out and caught it, pulling it close to her. One knee on the ground, one foot dug into it. She held the object close to her with one hand. The other dug its talons into the ground for purchase against the pull.

Metal going into the void was one thing, organics was another. Metal things had a much higher chance of surviving and getting pulled back out if they were important, organic creatures, not so much. So she held the organic creature close waiting for the ripping winds to stop. In a few more moments the breach would close and she could let go again. She could catch the terror pouring off this poor thing and the relief in being caught. At least this one didn't mess on her, she'd had that happen before, always annoying.

Finally the breach closed behind her and she could relax her arms and hands outwards. She left her hands linked a bit even as she extended them. No reason to let whatever this was to run off before she figured out what was going on here. One knee still pressed on the ground, the other foot flat with talons dug in she took a look at just what she caught. Hmmm well it was a human, blond hair, looking up at her without much fear; well that was improvement over most folk's reactions. Taking a look up, the Void Walker noted that if she stood she would not hit her head on the ceiling, though she would tower over this creature. Oh wait it was talking to her.

Shifting her gaze back down to the blond creature held in the cage formed of her arms and hands she worked out which language it was talking in. Let's see, English, early 21st century, London accent, oh it was thanking her well gratitude was always nice.

The brown shape approaching in a roll of emotions caught her attention and she looked up. It's, no his, attention was divided between her and the yellow and pink girl in her hands. Wait, wait, wait, she knew this scenario. With an eye roll she separated her hands so he could get to his Rose.

This was Rose Tyler and The Doctor at the white wall, which was not her favorite scenario to have to deal with. Hopefully this time she could get away with just a minor lecture. She did manage to get here in time to catch Rose. Keeping her meddling to a minimum was most important.

She linked her fingers again to keep them caged here. It was the best way to read their timelines to see what needed to be done. The other help would be… ah yes, their Tardis sent her a cheerful greeting. The telepathic ship would give her the rest of the information she needed to sort this out.

The two were so wrapped up in each other they weren't quite catching on to the fact that they were effectively captives of something that came from the void. While it was a good sign that they were very attached to each other, she did need to sort things out. Clearing her throat she looked down to the embracing couple and spoke. "Ya know, the void is really not meant to be a public dumping ground. D'you have any idea how long it's going to take me to deal with that mess?"

This obviously was not what they were expecting as the both jumped and looked up at her with round eyed expressions. She hid a smile as she added, "Considering the circumstances though, I suppose I'll let this one go."

Rose urgently whispered, "Doctor, I thought you said nothing existed inside the Void."

She could see his expression go blank and then the mask of the friendly and carefree bloke slide on his face. "Hello there I'm the Doctor, this is Rose, who might you be? Oh, and we would be ever so grateful if you didn't mind opening your hands back up please. Rather not fond of being held in a confined area for long. Rose could tell you that. Oh yes thank you for catching Rose by the way, would be very unfortunate if I needed to fetch her from the Void. Not very hospitable to our types you see."

She gave a half smile as Rose gave the brown suited man a small smack on the arm and hissed something at him. Amused she addressed them. "I know who and what you are Time Lord, and I'd rather not have to deal with you being a hyperactive ferret so I'm not going to confine anyone."

His eyes narrowed as she identified him and she simply pulled her hands apart. Behind him Rose giggled at the ferret comment. "You may feel more comfortable if our heights more closely matched. This is easily dealt with."

Straightening up, her form started to shrink down until she was only slightly taller than they were. Her liquid metal appearance stayed, this would do for now. Better the unfamiliar to keep them off balance.

A blank expression shuttered his features as he studied her. She could almost see his brain buzzing trying to determine what she was. His voice was calm and even. "You seem to know us, but we don't know you."

With an incline of her head she acknowledged his point. "Oh I have as many names as you do Doctor, and they mean just as much and as little as yours. As you are The Doctor, I am The Void Walker, and we need to talk."