*Bloody hell guys, I'm really sorry! I meant to post this chapter like 3 hours ago but life is crap and I've only just finished it. In any case, I hope you like it. I wanted to explore how the Oswin dynamic would affect the Doctor's thoughts and friendship with the Ponds and River and vice versa. I hope you like it! Thanks a lot to everyone who is reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this story, it means a lot to me. I'll try and get the next chapter up before Sunday night! TPD*

The Doctor had been determined to not too attached to Oswin Oswald. After all, she wasn't a Pond. She could never compete with Amy and Rory. He would just take her on a couple of fun trips and then he could drop her back where she belonged in the 51st Century. And yet. As they ran down the corridors of a rundown, seemingly abandoned spaceship whilst being chased by androids, whose faces were painted on smiles and overwhelmingly sinister, all he could think about was the girl running beside him. Oswin was resourceful, funny and beautiful, so why was he trying so hard to detach himself from her? She had a crazy dress sense; today she was wearing a red tank top and beige shorts, with red trainers and her hair was half up and curly. She almost had her trademark smattering of red lipstick, which the Doctor hadn't even known was on the TARDIS, probably left behind by Amy at some point.

Oswin was dragging him by the hand, when all he wanted to do was shake her off so that he could dispatch the androids with his sonic. They were charging robotically behind them, the noises they made when their joints moved exceedingly unnerving but Oswin didn't seem fazed. Another reason to like this incredible girl. She suddenly stopped and yelled: "Duck!" and if the Doctor hadn't done so on instinct, he would have been hit in the face by whatever the hell she threw where his head had been moments earlier. The small object rolled towards the androids and they were engulfed by a shining blue light, that left them rolling around the floor, twitching occasionally but otherwise completely incapacitated. Oswin smirked and strode off down the corridor past the useless robots, and the Doctor gaped after her.

"Why the hell do you have EMP grenades?" he shot accusingly as he jogged to catch up with her. Oswin rolled her eyes at him and turned to face him, still skipping slightly as she moved gracefully down the corridor.

"They were in a box underneath the console," she reminded him with a wry smile and he stammered slightly as he tried to respond. "I thought they might be of use."

"I didn't say you could rummage around down there!" the Doctor snapped, straightening his bow tie furiously and stopping to put his hands on his hips. Oswin didn't stop moving, she just snorted at him.

"You didn't say I couldn't," she informed him in a sing-song voice that both angered the Doctor and made him want to smile. Exactly like he'd thought. Resourceful. "Now are you coming sweetie?"

"Don't call me that!" he said sharply and Oswin's eyebrow shot up as he tried to undo the damage with a tight smile.

"Sorrrry!" Oswin shook her head, less amused now and more put out. "Doctor."

The harsh tone with which she said his name made him want to wince and he raced off after her. He pulled on her shoulder and she stared at him, distaste evident on her face.

"I'm sorry Oswin," he said gently and she gave him her best bored face. "It's just that I have, had, I don't know any more in my life and she calls me sweetie and it just feels…weird coming from anyone else."

"Ohh you're hung up over an ex," Oswin still sounded miffed but at least now she wasn't glaring at him. "Well why didn't you say so?"

She was peeved and the Doctor knew that he'd have to try and get her back calm again or she'd never listen to him. And if she didn't bad things could happen. She'd stormed off down the corridor again and kicked the TARDIS doors angrily when she got there, turning back round to face him with a pissed off look on her face. The Doctor opened the doors and she swept past him inside.

"When are you going to give me a key?" she shot at him as she threw herself onto the seats, watching him all the way to the console.

"You don't need a key," the Doctor shot back. He couldn't just give her a key. That would make her a Pond. And she wasn't a Pond, she was just Oswin. She wouldn't be around long; there was no sense in getting attached to her. "Just one more trip or two and then you can go home."

"Oh so that's it!" Oswin laughed thickly and the Doctor frowned at her. "Chin, if you don't want me on your ship, then you might as well just drop me home now. I'm not here because I want you to feel obligated to take me places; I'm here to travel with you as a friend. I've not had a friend in a very long time, so forgive me if I'm not exactly great at it. But if you don't want me here, then I'm happy to go."

He stood, staring at her. She was standing now, with her hands on her hips, chewing on her bottom lip. It was a challenge, a question. Did he want her or not? The Doctor couldn't pretend that he didn't want her on the ship, but at the same time, she wasn't a Pond. And what about River? Maybe none of that mattered. It shouldn't matter, should it? The Doctor delved into his pocket and withdrew a TARDIS key. He threw it to Oswin, who caught it expertly, grinning at him and she gave a little laugh. She crossed the space between them and planted a kiss on his lips. He flailed and she stepped away from him, rolling her eyes.

"You really are going to have to work on your technique Chin," she ordered him as she returned to the seat and shot him her most dazzling smile. "It's horrendous. Did this ex teach you nothing?"

The Doctor didn't bother to correct her about River. He didn't know what River Song was to him or indeed where she was. He dreaded the idea of Oswin and River meeting, but equally, he liked Oswin and she was right, he couldn't just drop her home whenever he felt insecure about River. Either he wanted her on the TARDIS or he didn't. And if he was being honest then he did. He found the random outbursts of kissing incredibly frustrating, but that was just the way they were built. Oswin was very open and didn't care for social protocol, whereas the Doctor felt inherently awkward in such situations. He didn't want to ask her to stop either, because a part of him really enjoyed it.

"Your friends," Oswin said suddenly and the Doctor looked up from the dematerialising console to stare at her. "Nina and Pond. Why don't they travel with you all the time?"

The Doctor froze. How did he put into words his relationship with the Ponds?

"Because it's dangerous. The travelling. And they have lives, outside of this box. I can't keep dragging them along forever, as much as I want to. They have a house, a life, family, friends. I can't keep bringing them in, they'll give it up. Sooner or later."

"Is that why I'm here?" Oswin asked. "Am I a distraction? Someone to stave off the boredom until the Ponds get back?"

She was very perceptive, the Doctor noted. And very objectionable. But she was insecure as well, and the way the Doctor had been reacting to her had shaken her more than she was willing to let on. She was blunt, and that both threw him and was a nice change. He smiled at her warmly and her hard face softened slightly.

"I never know why," he reassured her. "I only know who. I like you Oswin, probably more than I'm willing to admit to myself. You're not a Pond placeholder, you are Oswin Oswald."

"Good," she smiled and it was an odd smile, because it was genuine. There was no sass or smirk behind it, it was a genuine, friendly smile. It suited her, the Doctor thought and Oswin stood, slapping him lightly on the arse as she stretched over the console to flick a few switches. The Doctor frowned and took over, watching Oswin closely.

"How did you do that?" he asked quietly and she shrugged.

"Genius, remember? I just watched you do it, it's not that hard to pick up."

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue, but Oswin had already stalked off, announcing that she was showering. The Doctor shook himself. River would be laughing at his awkwardness. She wouldn't even mind him travelling with Oswin, depending on where she was in her time stream. The Doctor hated thinking too much about River, as she might never turn up again. It had been a long time since he'd gone to Stormcage and he was more than happy to move on. Or was he? Oswin was unlike anyone he'd encountered, but she wasn't River, she didn't excite him the way River did, even if she knew how to fluster him.

The Doctor was still musing the River/Oswin puzzle, when she came out of the shower and into the console room, dressed only in a cream towel that barely covered her midriff. Oswin rolled her eyes as the Doctor ogled and she could see immediately how uncomfortable he was.

"Eyes front soldier," she warned him as he tried to focus on her dripping wet hair, which she was towelling with a second, also cream towel. "Sorry about the mess I made in the shower, I dye my roots. But don't tell!" she whispered as though it was some huge secret and the Doctor straightaway felt scandalous. "So Chin Boy, where to next?

"I was thinking Italy? In the Year 2342? Cyborg town, you'll bloody love it."

"Sounds awesome, anything to hack?"

At that moment, the Doctor had an ingenious thought.

"Oswin!" he beamed. "You know you deleted me from the Dalek databanks?"

"Yes…" she smirked.

"Would you fancy helping me do it again…?"

Amy had grown to stop living for the days when the Doctor came. But she still got a real kick out of hearing the materialising TARDIS. She took the stairs two at a time, shouting Rory's name before remembering that he was working. Giggling to herself, Amy threw open the front door and the Doctor was stood there a lazy arm around the girl from the Dalek Asylum, Oswin, Amy thought her name was. She was wearing a leather jacket and a short crimson skirt and she had a grin on her face. Amy tried not to let her smile fall at the sight of Oswin, but she was slightly disappointed that the Doctor hadn't come alone.

"Pond, you remember Oswin, Oswin, you remember Pond?"

"Charmed," Amy smiled falsely and Oswin stretched out a hand. Amy shook it and the Doctor beamed obliviously.

"Excellent, where's Rory?" the Doctor looked around, as if Rory was going to magically appear. "Oh don't tell me he's at that job thing he has sometimes?"

Oswin snorted and the Doctor nudged her with his elbow. Amy immediately felt spiky towards her but tried not to let herself get jealous, as it didn't suit her. She had chosen to spend less time with the Doctor, what did it matter to her who he was travelling with?

"He finishes work at ten," Amy informed the Doctor. "Come back in a few hours."

Amy wasn't sure if to be upset or not, but Oswin and the Doctor had changed clothes between their visits. That meant that they had clearly been somewhere in the meantime. Oswin was shivering and Amy raised an eyebrow at this, to which the Doctor explained: "We just went to visit the Sun Gods of Nakavue VI."

"Show off wanted to fly the TARDIS into the heart of the temple and earn himself the status as the twelfth Sun God," Oswin laughed. "I may have leant on the helmic regulator."

"I thought you said you didn't!" he said forlornly.

"I lied."

"Aha Doctor," Amy took him to one side, leaving Oswin on the doorstep. "How long have you been travelling with her?"

"Since the Asylum," the Doctor said with a casual shrug.

"And how long has that been for you?"

"The same length as it has been for you," he told her quietly and Amy frowned. It had been almost three months since the Asylum. Three months of Oswin. He looked uncomfortable all of a sudden and Oswin cleared her throat. The Doctor turned and invited her in and Amy immediately felt tense. Had she been replaced by someone younger with skinnier legs?

The Doctor took them to Rastafell XV, the planet of ultimate leisure. It was a nice relaxing day out but Amy couldn't focus on it. All she was doing was watching the Doctor and Oswin. He was very different around her, Amy thought, like he was somehow out of his element. She didn't take any of his crap and called him up on things that even Amy would never have done. When the day was over, he dropped them both home and before he had a chance to go off with Oswin, she cornered him.

"So Oswin," she asked tensely. "What is she now? Is she like us?"

"No!" he insisted, but it looked as though he was having a hard time convincing himself. "She's not you. She's not a Pond. She's just a person. She's just…Oswin. Amy, I promise you, she's not a replacement. I just like having her around, that's all."

Amy was somewhat sceptical of the Doctor's claims. Then he was gone, and she didn't know when she'd see him again. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long, as it was only a week before he pitched up again, this time without Oswin in tow. He was grinning at her like a maniac and Amy couldn't help but feel special.

"Where's Oswin?" she asked with a smirk.

"Dropped her home for a couple of days, so her family and friends could find out that she didn't die in the crash!" the Doctor informed her. "I told her I wanted some alone time with you, because I was worried that you felt bad. So, here I am for you and Rory. I was thinking New York, what do you reckon?"

Amy smiled. "New York sounds wonderful."