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After some directions from passing soldiers, Donna and I managed to locate the wayward Time Lord. We pushed through the plastic, dangly bits as Colonel Mace walked away from the Doctor at the bottom of the ramp. "Doctor," Donna called, sounding a bit subdued.

"Oh, just in time!" He chirped, a boyish grin on his face as he hopped up the ramp meeting us halfway. Grabbing a hold of Donna's free hand, he started to run back down the ramp, urging, "Come on, come on, we're heading out to the country! Get some fresh air and meet some geniuses, what more could a person ask for? Well, except for dinosaurs." The Doctor sent a cheeky wink in my direction before Donna pulled him to a stop.

"We're not coming with you," Donna told him firmly but gently. "I need to go home, I'm sorry."

"Really?" He asked, almost inaudibly.

"I need to," she affirmed.

"Well, if that's what you really want, I mean, it's so soon. I've wanted to take you to so many places…" The Doctor leaned forward, his voice lowered enticingly, "The Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, the Lightning Skies of Cotter Palluni's World, Diamond Coral Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko, the desert planet Shokesh of the Mutter's Spiral, Caligaris Epsilon Six in the seventy-seventh century…" He paused, gauging my and Donna's reactions. All those places sounded so amazing and wonderful, I wondered if Donna would ever see any of them before…before she forgot everything.

Swallowing hard, I looked away, avoiding his searching eyes. I squeezed Donna's hand for reassurance and she gently squeezed back. Reluctantly, the Doctor continued, saying, "…Thank you, Donna, it's been brilliant. You might not realize it, but you've saved my life in so many different ways. You're just…" He trailed off as an idea seemed to occur to him. "You're just popping home to see if your family's alright, aren't you?"

Donna nodded with a smile, whispering, "You Dumbo."

"You're just visiting home and bringing Penelope with you, not staying," Doctor added, realization hitting him like a brick to the face. He rubbed his cheek, probably feeling foolish now that he gave some thought about how she worded everything.

"Yes, you soft, outer-space dunce. You're not getting rid me, might as well get used to it."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm a great, big softy and proud of it."

"Ready when you are, sir," a boy not much older than I was-well, used to be-informed the Doctor.

Donna grinned, "What's more, you can give us a lift. Alphonsey, or whatever it is you say."

"It's 'allons-y,' Donna. That's French for, 'Let's go!'" The Doctor informed her as he gleefully led us over to the truck. I was a tad short, so I had some trouble reaching the step. Donna leaned down from her seat inside the vehicle and pulled me up to where I could reach it and climb in myself. "Ooh, a bit of a tight squeeze," the Doctor commented as we smushed together.

"Not really," Donna countered. "With Penny being so tiny and you being so skinny, we fit just fine."

The Doctor groaned, "Don't start this up again, not in front of…" The Doctor paused. "What's your name?"

"Ross, sir," the soldier informed him dutifully.

"Right, not in front of Ross. He'll help come up with more witty comments and then where will I be? Vastly outnumbered and with no hope of a retort."

"Oh, I doubt that," Donna scoffed. "I bet you could hold your own just fine if you used that big brain of yours once in a while."

"Oof, my heart, mortally wounded with your words, Miss Noble," the Doctor snarked, grasping at the left side of his chest dramatically.

"What a ham, I forgot to laugh," Donna stated flatly.

"It was a bit much, sir," Ross added.

"Oh no, there's goes my other one. Double heart-attack, right there," the Doctor moaned theatrically and I giggled at his ridiculousness. He turned to me and asked mock-seriously, "Was that a laugh I heard?" I shook my head, covering my mouth to hide my ever-growing smile and to stifle more giggles. "Are you sure? 'Cause I'm positive I did and my ears don't lie."

"You are corny, you are," Donna finally laughed.

The Doctor sniffed, attempting to look nonchalant. "I do my best."

The truck came to a stop by a quiet looking street and the Doctor opened the door, hopping out. "This is our stop, Penny," Donna informed me, giving a nudge. The Doctor held out his hand and I used it to jump down safely. He offered another hand to Donna, which she took, but didn't really need, as she slid down without much trouble. "We'll walk the rest of the way. See you safe and sound back at the factory, yeah?" The Doctor climbed back in with a 'bye,' not commenting on anything else. Donna persisted even as the truck started up and was pulling away. "You be careful, you hear me?"

We watched as the truck drove off before starting to walk down, I checked the sign, Rydale Street. I made to ask Donna a question, but seeing the look on her face, I refrained. She seemed to be almost in a dream as she made her way further down the street, as if she could hardly believe she was back. Looking down the street, I was almost reminded of home, how our street was quiet in much the same way.

An elderly woman greeted us, kindly-looking and curious. "Haven't see you in a while, Donna."

"Oh," Donna answered faintly. "I've been away…"

As we continued to walk on, I knew that Donna was not just going down Rydale Street but also Memory Lane, if you'll pardon my pun. My mind flashed back to the episode and I remembered the brief glimpses of memory that Donna had and currently was experiencing at this moment in time. I saw her as she hung from the window-cleaning platform in 'Partners in Crime,' a rock-man-posing-as-a-transformer crying out silently, her trying to save a little boy from the eruption before he was pulled away by his mother, her crying through the bars of the Ood cage, and her watching an Adipose baby floating up to join its family all flicker.

I saw what she saw.

Suddenly, the weight of what she must be feeling hit me. She was home, finally home after all the insanity and despair and excitement and wonder that had occurred. An experience that I would never be able to share, ever. Biting my lip, I stopped walking, allowing my hand to gently slip out of her grasp. Donna continued to walk forward several more feet before she stopped, spotting something. I followed her gaze, turning to look where her head was pointed.

It was Wilfred, her grandfather, taking out the trash.

He glanced in our direction, about to head back inside, when he did a double-take, recognizing Donna. Her hand flew to her mouth and she let out a small sob. Wilfred stood up completely now and began to frantically wave at her, as if trying to flag her down before she zoomed off once more with the Doctor.

At first, Donna tentatively started to pad over to him, but once she realized that he wasn't a mirage and wouldn't fade, she began to run. Wilfred seemed overwhelmed with emotion or, at least, as far as I could tell with my relatively poor distance vision; being near-sighted tended to make things difficult at times. Wilfred spread his arms out wide and Donna returned his action in kind, meeting up with him in an embrace.

Little ice prickles of jealousy and a terrible sadness started to claw and tug, vying for my attention. I swallowed hard as a lump in my throat began to make itself known. Images of a large, bear of a man with a close-clipped black and grey beard appeared within the forefront of my mind. 'And how's Pookie doing today?' He'd rumble affectionately, referring to my nickname that was reminiscent of a fat, orange tabby cat's stuffed bear. I could almost feel the huge, tan and calloused hand that stroked my head with a gentleness belying its size and gruff appearance. "Grandpa," I murmured grievingly, bowing my head.

"Penny!" Donna called out to me. "Come over here, no need to be shy!" I briefly closed my eyes, steeling myself and trying my very best to get a hold of myself. Reluctantly, I looked up with a faint smile and made my way over to them, trying not to visibly drag my feet. Donna nor Wilfred needed to know how much this was breaking my heart.

I sullenly stared into my cup of tea. It was sweet, disgustingly so, according to Donna who said that amount of sugar couldn't be healthy for anyone. I shrugged, mumbling about having low blood pressure. Donna didn't appear to be convinced, but she seemed to sense that I was in a sort of a mood and let it go. Besides, it was only four lumps with enough cream to change the color from a dark reflective hue to a light and murky brown. I took a small sip.

I liked coffee better prepared this way.

I had yet to see Donna's mother, as she was outside with the laundry. She didn't seem to know that Donna or I was here yet, and I wondered, briefly, how she would react. I decided that I would find out soon enough and forced myself to listen to the intent conversation being whispered between Donna and Wilfred.

"Yeah, but is it safe, traveling with him? Are you and-and Penny safe?" I was slightly surprised that Wilfred cared enough to include me, I had only known him, personally, for less than ten minutes.

"He's marvelous, Gramps, just… splendid." Donna smiled distantly, her happiness with this life shining through every so clearly. She gave a small laugh, "Best not tell him I said that, though, might get the wrong idea." Wilfred shook his head, all seriousness, but his eyes twinkled, clearly playing along with Donna, amused. "Thing is, I'd trust him with my life. And Penny's here with us now because he saved her from that sham of a life at the hospital."

"Never did explain who she was or any of that," Wilfred gently reminded.

"Well, that's the thing, we don't really know." Donna furrowed her brows. "The Doctor says she knows the future, sort of, calls her a 'precog,' whatever that is."

Wilfred shook his head in wonder. "You can't tell you mother any of this, won't be able to handle it."

"I dunno…it's all sort of massive, innit? Maybe I should try, wouldn't be fair to her otherwise."

"Fair to who, Donna?" An older, feminine voice asked and I looked up to see the subject of the current topic of conversation walk in through the door, carrying a basket of laundry. She appeared to notice me rather quickly. "And who's she? Is this who you've been spending time with these past few days? You didn't tell me you've got a new friend. Hello, dear, I'm Sylvia, Donna's mum."

"I'm-I'm Penny," I murmured, watching, intrigued, as she bustled around.

"Oh, hark at her! So quiet and demure, foreign too. How do the two of you know each other, then, work?" Sylvia asked, looking between both Donna and me curiously.

"Been traveling with some friends…met her on the way," Donna answered vaguely and I nodded my support of her answer when the older woman turned to me for confirmation.

"So I see," she said before slightly changing the subject. "The two of you are going to stay for tea, I'm guessing." Sylvia turned to me. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm a bit ill-prepared, 'cause we don't have much in the way of snacks. Trying to get Dad to stay on the macrobiotic diet…even though he keeps slinkin' off to get treats from that little petrol station a few blocks from here. Don't even try to deny it, I've seen the wrappers stuffed under the seats in the car. Got to be better than that to get past me, know all the tricks. Now then, what were you talking about, fairness?"

During the whole monologue, Donna and Wilfred had been exchanging looks and discreet body signals…I was painfully reminded of my grandpa and I while grandma was off on one of her lectures or tangents, as we tended to do much the same. I blinked away the memories that were threatening to envelop me once more, only to realize that I must've been out of touch with world around me for a few brief moments.

Wilfred was in the kitchen, messing with the stove and putting a tea pot on it while Donna was snipping out coupons. Sylvia had left the room, presumably, to put the laundry away. Dazed and the slightest bit confused, I picked up the extra pair of scissors that had been set within easy reach and began cutting away.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Colored pages fell to the floor as I lounged on the couch, cutting out ads that were to be used on a later date. A pile started to form on the floor. It was almost relaxing, doing this, putting me into a sort of half-trance. I liked doing thoughtless and menial tasks, like sweeping the floors, gardening, cooking or baking food, sewing, signing papers, things that only require muscle memory and left your mind free to wander. "What are you thinking about?"

I looked up into blue-grey eyes and a face that could only be in her late thirties. "Nothin' much," I murmured. "Just…thinkin' 'bout stuff."

"Your accent's showing," she joked and I smiled, going back to cutting out the squares and rectangles of paper with her in a companionable silence.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

"Penny…Penny! Are you alright?" I looked up to see concerned and very familiar set of blue-grey eyes and a face in her late thirties. They were not the same, though, she was not blonde. "Penny?" She asked again and I blinked hard, trying to chase away the phantom images of my mother.

"Yes, sorry?" I asked, focusing on her more clearly now, specifically on her red hair, trying to keep myself within the present.

"You just sort of zoned out, I've been tryin' to get you attention for a while now, is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, just…thinkin' 'bout stuff."

Donna blinked before joking, "Your accent's showing."

I shuddered, this situation too similar, too painful. I stood up, mumbling, "Need some air, 'scuse me." I hurriedly left the room with Donna watching me depart in concern.

I had been sitting on the front porch, just watching the kid kick his soccer ball around, when I saw the Doctor come up the road with the soldier boy, Ross. I guessed that their car was now useless or, at least, no longer trustworthy enough to use. I gave a small wave as they came closer into view, not leaving my seat, just passively watching as they trotted over. "What are you doing out here?" The Doctor asked with a frown and he came to a stop next to me.

I shrugged, "Just…needed some air to…to think."

He merely looked at me knowingly, not saying anything as he reached over me and ringed the doorbell. I faintly her Donna's footsteps and her voice carry through the door, "Oh, Penny, did you lock yourself outsi- Oh." She cut herself off, seeing the Doctor. She put a hand on her hip. "About time you got back. Did you manage not to blow anything up?"

The Doctor cringed slightly, squeaking out, "No comment!" He turned around immediately, avoiding Donna's incredulous stare as he set about walking to the road, checking out Donna's car where Ross was hanging about, on guard. Changing the subject, he continued, "You would not believe the day I've been having, or the one Ross has been having either! Had a fair walk to get back here from Rattigan Academy after Atmos tried to off us. We have an alien invasion on our hands, curtesy of the Sontaran Empire."

He opened the car door and bent inside it. It was hard to see what he was doing exactly, but whatever it was, it was only for a moment. He got out and crouched down, checking the underside of the car while Donna, Ross, and I looked on. Donna whipped out her phone, calling Martha to see if anything was happening on her end. The Doctor suddenly stood up and opened the hood, putting up the stand to hold it up before squatting down slightly, eyes scanning the car in front of him.

"I'll acquire us a vehicle," Ross finally said, probably feeling as useless as I was and was going to go do something about it.

"As long as it doesn't have Atmos and you didn't threaten people with your gun, you're not a thug!" The Doctor told him seriously. Ross gave a nod as he ran off and Donna continued calling while the Doctor went about doing…whatever it was he was doing. I continued to watch, my view slightly obscured by the hedges when the door opened behind me once again.

Wilfred hurried out, shouting excitedly, "Is it him? Is it really him, this Doctor?" He came to a stop by Donna and oggled at the Doctor in shock before pointing at him, almost accusingly. "It's you!"

Deciding that it would be better to remain out of the way of the door and making sure nothing went down, I went over to stand next to the three of them, as the Doctor uttered in a gruff voice, "Who?" He straightened and turned to Wilfred, his face the picture of surprise. His voice suddenly went high, sounding almost feminine, as he recognized the elderly man in front of him, "Oh, it's you!"

They stared at each other in mutual surprise as Donna looked between the two of them, utter baffled. "What, you two know each other?"

"Christmas Eve, I was at my post and he just vanished, right in front of me, in the middle of thin air. Thought I had a momentary leave of my senses, I did."

"And you never said anything?" Donna asked, flummoxed.

"Well, you never said anything either," Wilfred shot back, eyes never leaving the Doctor as he looked at him wonderingly. "Wilf, sir, Wilfred Mott, and I'm guessing you must be one of them aliens."

"Well, yeah," the Doctor admitted, a large grin overtaking his face. "No need to say it so loud, though!" He reached forward, grasping the man's hand, giving it a good shake. "Nice to meet you properly, Wilf, heard a lot about you from your granddaughter."

The look on Wilfred's face was full of awe and wonder, as if he had found a unicorn. "I'm shaking an alien hand, a genuine alien hand." The Doctor looked a bit awkward at that remark, looking somewhere between flattered and slight embarrassed from the almost reverent reaction he was getting.

He instead turned to Donna, asking seriously, "Any word from Martha?

"Nothing. So it's this Sonar-tarans?"

"Sontarans," the Doctor absentmindedly corrected. "But there's got to be more to it, they can't be just remote controlling cars and creating clones to create the system. That's not enough and there isn't a reason for it. Just what is their motive?"

'To make a clone world and turn everyone into potato-people,' I thought quietly to myself, knowing that the question was probably rhetorical.

The Doctor continued, turning to face Donna anxiously as he asked, "Is anyone answering?"

"Just hold on, trying again," Donna murmured as she held up a finger, frowning intently as she listen to the phone ringing. Then her face lit up with relief. "Martha!" She exclaimed. "Hold on, he's right here." Hurriedly, she handed off the phone to the Doctor who already had his hand out and waiting. He whirled away from us and strode off a few paces, speaking intently into the phone. I bit my lip as I craned my head to look at him properly, wondering if he had caught on yet, if he realized that there was something wrong.

I didn't dare dream to hope that my warning had been enough and that Martha hadn't been kidnapped.

When he turned around with a scowl on his face, my heart sank and a feeling of absolute horror crept up on me with his next words. "Apparently, there's been an uprising at the factory, the clones tried to stage a coup. Martha says it's under control now, but there's the thought. We must be getting close, the Sontarans are trying to distract us, want us to back off…but from what? Think, think, think!" The Doctor growled to himself before quickly turning back around to face the car and storm towards it.

He whipped out his spectacles and placed on his face before sonicking the car, searching for answers. He began to fiddle with the car engine and Donna approached him, clearly concerned with the news she had just heard. "Doctor, shouldn't we be trying to help them, UNIT? You didn't find any answers here before when you sonicked it."

"I trust Martha. If she's says it's covered, it's covered. Besides of which, now that I know whom I'm dealing with, I know what to look for," the Doctor muttered distantly as he moved to a different part of the engine and messed around with it. Briefly, I was concerned that he might wreck the vehicle irreparably before I remember that he used to own one, himself, called 'Bessie.' Surely, he would be able to put it back together again if he broke it somehow?

One could only hope.

Wilfred walked over to where Donna and the Doctor were standing and got straight to the point. "The thing is, Doctor, Donna is my only grandchild. You got to promise me you're going to take care of her." I fleetingly thought of Jackie and how she asked much the same for Rose, only more Jackie-Tyler-esque, with the underlying threat of ripping him a new one with the distinct possibility of maiming if the Doctor failed to comply. Not that he would.

Fail, I mean, he wouldn't fail. He'd always try, he's the Doctor, the good guy, the hero for cripes' sake.

"Whoa!" The Doctor's sudden shout made me just about jump out of my skin, heart jack-hammering in my chest. "I knew it! I just knew there was something fishy. I could just smell it, like a fish monger from the fish market. Now I know just what type of fish I was smelling, eau de poche temporelle."

"And what's that when it's at home?" Donna asked, leaning closer to study the sharp looking spikes that had just appeared.

"A temporal pocket is an area or section of space that has its point of relative index offset from real time and continues from that point. It became invisible and intangible unless you're clever like me and change the relative velocity of the-"

Donna looked very thankful when her mother came around the hedges, exclaiming, "Men and their cars! Sometimes I wonder if I was car that…" Sylvia paused, having just noticed a certain Time Lord who was tinkering with her car. Her expression instantly soured. "Don't I know you? Doctor…What was it?"

"That's me," came the careless reply with a half-hearted wave. Her expression seemed to pucker even more, as if she just sucked on the sour candy, Warheads.

"You know each other then?" Wilfred asked before exchanging a bemused look with Donna. An unheard message seem to pass between the two of them, as if to say, 'now who else will end up revealing that they somehow know the Doctor?'

"Dad! It's that man from the wedding, the one when you were laid up with the Spanish flu! The last time that man turned up, there was chaos, mark my words, he is bad luck."

"Hello? I'm right here," the Doctor called out irritably, but hardly surprised by Sylvia's dislike of him...In fact, he seemed almost resigned to it. Sylvia made as if to scold or smack him, one of the two, but considering the Doctor's track record, it might've been the latter. So maybe, it was a good thing when the spikey part of the Atmos-thingamabobber starting smoking and hissing, releasing the gaseous clone feed. "Oh, get back, get back!" The Doctor ordered, pushing us back and placing himself between us and the car. I covered my face to try to filter the thick gas coming off of it, a gas that was making it extremely difficult for me to breathe.

"Oh, marvelous," Sylvia spat sarcastically. "He blew up the car. What sort of a man goes around blowing up cars, what sort of a doctor? Nothing but trouble, what did I tell you?" The Doctor ignored her word, instead moving forward to inspect the car's engine the moment the gas stopped hissing, waving away any wayward smoke. I continued to keep my distance, not liking the strained effort it took to breathe, as if I had sprinted for longer than I should have. I wasn't wheezing yet, but I didn't want to push my luck.

"Not now, Mum!" Donna groaned, completely exasperated.

Sylvia was fed up and just done with it all. "Fine, I'll make an appointment with you next time." Sylvia stalked off and for a moment a flash of fear went through me. She didn't sound that upset in the show, what if she went inside the house before she saw Wilfred stuck in the car? What if she was too slow to come back the sledgehammer? What if Wilfred died? I scrambled after, hoping to delay her just long enough that she witnessed everything…

"M-Mrs. Noble," I gasped. "Wa-Wait, I'm-I'm sure Donna didn't m-mean to sound so surly."

Sylvia turned around on me and I skidded to a stop, just barely managing not to run into her. "Look, Dear, I'm sure you heart is in the right place, but, frankly, it's none of your business," she snapped. I shrank in on myself, suitably chastised and she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm just worried about her. I let it go earlier, but I know that she and Dad were talking about it. I usually just leave them to their own devices, let them have their fun once in a while, but I make sure to keep a firm hand, someone has to. And this Doctor…"

She shook her head, looking worn and harried. "Trouble dogs his steps like a shadow, all that commotion and chaos at the wedding... I just don't want her to get hurt." Raised voices and a car honking could be heard. We both turned around to see Donna banging against the car window with Wilfred trapped inside! "What's he doing? What's he doing?!" Sylvia demanded, sounding panicked. She moved as if to walk towards the car, but I knew that wasn't any time to waste.

"He's stuck inside, can't get out!"

She looked at a loss, hopelessly and frantically looking around before an idea seemed to occur to her. Without another word, she ran into the house with me close behind. She ran out into the garden where a small shed and kept, disappearing inside. I hopped from foot to foot, anxious for her to reappear, running back to the car only when I saw the sledgehammer in her hands.

I ran to the front and held open the door for her as she hurriedly strode past me, careful not to drop the large hammer or fall. I zipped past her and back to the car, stepping over the Doctor and knocking down the stand holding up the car hood with trembling hands filled with nervous energy. I dashed out of the way, starting to cough harshly as Sylvia reared back and slammed the sledgehammer against the windshield, instantly shattering it. Donna stared at her, stunned, but the older woman was having none of it, snapping, "Well, don't just stand there, get him out!"

Quickly, the Doctor scooted out from under the car and held Donna in easing Wilfred from out the windshield. I made to help but was too short to really be of any use. Sylvia handed me the sledgehammer to hold for her as she helped Donna support Wilfred, the Doctor hovering close behind. I limply held the hammer in one hand and used the other to trying to muffle my coughs. I noticed to my alarm that I was wheezing, not a good sign.

"Penny, Donna, come on!" The Doctor called, hopping inside the car that just pulled up. Knowing that I couldn't stay here for much longer, lest I risk a slow death by suffocation, I clambered inside, doing my hardest to breathe quietly and not cough. Something that was not easy to accomplish, as my cough were trying to force their way out of my mouth and my wheezing with still faintly audible to me. I was thankful when Donna bustled in and slammed the door.

I felt dizzy and light-headed, losing the battle to remain silent and appearing mostly well. I let myself cough a few times, trying hard to not draw attention. Thing was, whenever you try to be quiet at something, it's when it's the loudest. "Alright?" Donna asked.

I nodded, mumbling an excuse about swallowing my spit wrong, avoiding Donna and the Doctor's knowing looks that they exchanged. The car seemed shorted than last time, but maybe that was because I was preoccupied with my own thoughts. By the time we got out of the car, Donna was coughing and I was hacking and wheezing…possibly sounding like I was on my last leg.

"This air is disgusting," Donna gritted out and the Doctor nodded.

"It's not good for you and definitely not good for Penny. Get inside the TARDIS, both of you- oh!" He fished inside his coat. "I've never given you a key, Donna!" He handed her one with a large grin on his face. "Now, it's official."

She coughed, "Yeah." The Doctor's smile faded. Donna was quick to continue, "Let's get sentimental after we've all choked to death, yeah?"

A look of realized crossed his face. "Yeah." He quickly handed her the key before running off. Donna gripped my hand tightly and I stumbled after her as she guided me away. I felt ill at this point, like I wanted to toss my cookies, but my throat felt like I had swallowed a hamster or a golden snitch. I let out a wet sounding cough.

I hoped I didn't just cough up blood and that was only bile.

My legs trembled and felt weak, barely holding me upright as I leaned against the TARDIS, Donna clumsily unlocking it after a few tries. We both tumbled inside and Donna closed the door behind us. My legs gave out underneath me and she had to lean against the railing, both of us sounded worse for wear. Actually, I probably sounded like one of those smokers from the 'Left 4 Dead' game. I shuddered and lay down, hoping the world would stop spinning and the grate felt oh so cool against my flushed skin…

"Come on, up you get," Donna murmured, no longer coughing with her breathing under control. How long had I been out of it? My coughing had subsided and my wheezing wasn't so harsh, just a faint undertone to each breath I took. I meekly let her lead me to the jump seat and sat down there, numbly letting her fuss over me.

How long had it been since I last had an asthma attack that severe?

Not since I was a child and had to be hospitalized once or twice a year.

Memories of lying down in the backseat of my grandparents' car, because they were the only ones who cared enough to stay with me the whole time at the hospital and they were the ones who I lived with most of the time, fighting for each breath and sobbing, which just made it harder. I remember being given the steroids on the hour every hour and being unable to stop shaking, hands trembling so bad that it looked fake as my hand waved back and forth in small gestures. The feeling as if I had been sucking helium and being tense and unable to sleep for even a moment…

I couldn't help myself, I started to cry.

Donna seemed surprised and concerned by my reaction, wrapping me up in a hug. I didn't hesitate, returning it two-fold as my sobs started to make me cough wetly again and wheeze some more. She babbled reassurances, hesitantly running her hand through my hair. Her embrace pacified me, somewhere between Grandma's hugs, firm and warm, and Mama's hugs, awkward and soft. The familiar scent of shea butter, calmed me further until my cries died down with only the occasional hiccup and wheeze.

"There we go, it's alright," Donna murmured, still sounding a bit baffled but sympathetic. "I suppose that was a bit much for your first time outside the TARDIS and what a bad reaction you had! The Doctor wasn't mucking about when he said you had asthma. Looks like it's getting better know, though." She gently drew away. "Feeling better?"

I sheepishly nodded, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, no need to apologize, my first time was a bit much too."

"Sorry…Er, sorry, erm…oops?" I fumbled, trying to apologize for apologizing again. She laughed briefly and made to say something else when the TARDIS gave a jolt. We looked at each other, me with apprehension and her with worry. She made to go to the door, but I stopped her with a small 'wait.' I grabbed the mallet under the console, nervously twirling it in my hand.

Maybe all those times I played Whack-a-Mole would actually be put to good use.

To Be Continued...

Translations:

* Eau de poche temporelle ~ scent of temporal pocket [Lit. water of temporal pocket] This is brought to you by half a semester of French class and Google translate.

Explanations:

* I just added two more locations, but both the desert planet Shokesh of the Mutter's Spiral and Caligaris Epsilon Six in the seventy-seventh century are cannon places in Doctor Who lore...both of them being visited before by the Doctor. More information about these two place can be found on the Tardis Wiki.

* Pookie is the name of Garfield's teddy bear...Yes, my grandparents call me that.

* Precog is what the Doctor thinks Penny is. It'll be a term that's starts to pop up a lot.

* Speaking of Penny's accent (and mine) I realized that there are a lot of apostrophes and what would be defined as the misspelling of words if I wrote it as it sounded. I might do it on occasion when she says it out loud and someone points it out, otherwise, it won't be that evident. I won't do it often, because you already have to deal with her stuttering...Don't want to make her line incomprehensible.

* Now you're starting to see some deviation from cannon, something that will become much more pronounced in the next chapter.

* Cripes is a politer slang term for Christ.

* Warheads are, surprisingly, popular here, and by Warheads, I mean the candy! They're extremely sour and more you pucker up extremely quickly. Think of a lemon only much, much more sour. My least favorite candy next to licorice and Hot Tamales.

* Hacking is another way to say "coughing severely."

* If a person is on their last leg, they are usually dying.

* Yes, the golden snitch is a reference to Harry Potter.

* Actually, that's fairly common with me. I'm always apologizing. That isn't to say that I'm always in trouble or causing trouble, I just like to make sure there's no hard feelings and don't want to offend anyone.

* Whack-a-Mole is a popular fairground and arcade game where a person wields a mallet and hits the head of any plastic mole (which actually looks more like a gopher) that sticks its head out of one of the nine holes on the machine. No actual moles or mistaken gophers are harmed in the process...in fact, they usually giggle demonically or exclaim "D'oh" before coming back for round two.

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TITLE: I Am Not Like You

AUTHOR: Etimire T

ID: 10402169

SUMMARY: Matt Smith has just finished filming the first half of season seven in Doctor Who and can't wait to spend some time with his family; however, destiny has other plans. As he's driving home, Matt runs into (literally) a man who looks exactly like him and claims to be the Doctor. I will Loosely follow season 5, but when I say loosely I mean it. Enjoy! Matt Smith stars!

OPINION: Let me be honest with you, I almost never read stories where the actor meets the character they portray, because it usually ends up crack-ish and I just go "nope" and exit out of the tab. So the fact I'm making an exception in my advertisements with my usually strict "OC starring in Doctor Who" rule (which is actually just the rule of advertising the same general plot as the story I'm writing) shows just how well written this story is. It's all very original and has deviances in plot that end being surprise. And, this is very important, NONE OF THE DIALOG SEEMS FORCED, STILTED, OR UNNATUAL. It all flows very smoothly, I cannot emphasize this enough!

Thought Processes:

Hello, all! This'll probably be the last update for a while with college and since it was only the first week, it hasn't been that busy. However, I know that, that is likely to change and am taking precautions by dialing back on writing until I know for sure I can handle it. I'll update on my next break sometime in September or October, so it might be a long while.

Well, how do you like the (relatively) new editions to Penny's story? I think it looks rather nice, but it's not the only thing that's changed! Check out the first chapter! I rewrote it. Also, the cover for this story has Penny's picture! :D

Things are starting to pick up now and the 'Sontaran Stratagem' has now finished and 'Poison Sky' has now started. This whole adventure will end next chapter and the next one will start!

I, honestly, can't wait to introduce you to "Ashley." *Grins*

Oh, and, before I forget, if you want me to advertise one of you stories, I'll be happy to check them out. (Well, I'll be doing that anyway if they're in my favorites, but I'll probably ask for your permission if you had previously reviewed me or PMed me.) Just leave a note in a review or a PM or favorite/follow this story.

If you already favorited/following this story, chances are I have checked out your profile and just haven't advertised you story yet and might in one of the future chapters.

If you have anymore questions or just want to talk, feel free to contact me.

Happy Friday,

FFA, the Fan Fictional Authoress

P.S.: Sorry, guys! I didn't mean to troll you yesterday!

Date Submitted: Friday, August 29, 2014.