"So, were you supposed to come with anyone else?" he asked, tucking away his screwdriver. He has slyly been trying to listen to the analysis results but found he couldn't concentrate while the child stared at him as if he were mad.
The little one must have been drinking its twelfth Raston nutri-pack before Amy stumbled in. By now the child had set itself in a routine where it would take a nutri-pack from the relevant dispenser, drink it, waddle over to the bin then waddle back, starting the cycle again.
Amy on the other hand stared, and then walked over to the doctor, still watching.
"Doctor is she ok?" she whispered. The childs ears perked up, but paid no full attention.
"Is it a she?" the Doctor asked, by the looks of it he didn't really care but seemed a little interested.
"Well she looks like a she to me"
"I thought it was an it but nevermind" he replied "do you have a name?" he said, speaking out to the little girl.
The child spun around after dropping the nutri-pack; the doctor noted how it had been sucked completely dry.
"He didn't have time to name me, and neither did he-" she snapped before pausing, it seemed like it was a touchy subject.
"-well they were calling me something but they wouldn't tell me and I couldn't hear"
The three stood in silence for a few moments. The child bent down and picked up a nutri-pack it had half-finished, staring at in confusion.
"Now she's thinking 'why didn't I finish that?'" the Doctor muttered carefully into Amy's ear. She too showed confusion; why did he even have to say that? she thought.
"So kiddo" Amy said as she wandered over awkwardly, stepping over the packs littered across the floor.
"You'll have to have a name, I don't know about you but I'd be so annoyed if people kept calling me 'kid'"
"Why?" the girl asked, eyes staring on inquisitive. The little smile from Amy's face fell and crashed to the floor "What do you mean?"
"Why do you want to name me? It's harder to pick someone out of a crowd in the dark when you don't know their name. Are you going to try and use a name to get me too?" the girl growled, it wasn't a child anymore; it was an animal back into a corner. Literally and metaphorically the Doctor thought.
The Doctor watched the orange from the walls of the TARDIS where refracted in the little one's eyes. They looked like they were ablaze with memories and knowledge a child shouldn't know.
Amy stood straight and left the room in silence.
The Doctor and the child were sat at the table now, the Doctor at the head and the child sat to the right of him. He cut off its gaze with a question.
"You didn't answer my question from before"
"Which question?" it asked with innocent eyes but the Doctor knew better.
"Who else was supposed to come with you? They could be wreaking havoc-"
"-I'm the only one, don't worry. Can I ask a question?"
He sat back against the chair and sighed, thinking that after all these years one tiny thing like a child wouldn't be able to get the best of him. He obviously didn't know better.
"What's your name?"
"I'm the Doctor" he said, the little one noticed at how proud he sounded, like it was something he liked to say a lot.
"No, what's your name?"
"There are a . . . few people alive who know that. You're not one of them so I'm not telling you"
"If I had a name I'd tell you. I don't think you'd use it against me"
"Why would you tell me and not Amy? I thought she was being rather nice until you decided to scare her off"
"She's human" the little one giggled. The Doctor stared on with a look in his eyes that showed he was genuinely unsure how to handle the situation. A few moments passed after the laughter stopped. There was a crushing sense of unease around them, or rather the Doctor, who knew what the child was thinking?
"She's from a lesser race you know, I saw some humans once. They were just like little ants that were running around, practically waiting to be stepped on"
"You didn't?" the Doctor gasped, leaning away from his seat.
"No! Why would I kill them? They just got in the way"
"Alright" the Doctor said, finishing the conversation. The child left him at the table.
At the main console he muttered to himself furiously, twisting knobs, pushing buttons, bashing at devices, whipping around the scanner as he worked. It was a good few minutes before Amy thought it was safe to come down those stairs.
"What now Pond?" the Doctor barked, not looking away from the scanner.
"Kiddo here just asked me to say sorry to you"
'Kiddo' peered around from behind Amy, nudging her to continue.
"uh, she's said sorry to me and all-"
"She shouldn't even be here!" the Doctor screamed. Amy flinched as she thought he was going to throw something towards her. He was only turning around the scanner to show her patterns and words in different languages.
"You shouldn't even be alive, should you?" he spat at the child.
Amy watched the little one took a step forward, but it collapsed screaming, clutching its head. She looked up to find the Doctor using the Sonic Screwdriver and pointing it at the child.
Immediately she rushed to the little one, but the Doctor ran over and placed himself between the two.
"See Amy? She doesn't like when anyone else messes with her traps" he turned to face his companion but received a burning slap across the face, his companion was crying as she went and cradled the child on the glass floor. He stood and watched what he had done. He realised what else this child had brought through, and he saw what he had been running from.
He muttered "Once a soldier, always a soldier"