Chapter One
Before they headed out, the Doctor and Rose were given a couple of large forest green hiker's backpacks that the TARDIS filled with essentials. Rose gave him a dubious look when the TARDIS made them materialize out of thin air.
"So we're just gonna trust a machine that she knows what we'll need?" Rose said.
"I'm sure she put the essentials in here," the Doctor said, shrugging his on. "Besides, we can find what we need on the way if she didn't. We're both resourceful people. Now…"
The Doctor walked to his console and checked it.
"Today is 30th July, 2011 and outside the door is Oklahoma City. Ready for an adventure?"
"Ready when you are," Rose said, shrugging on her backpack.
They walked to the door, opened it and they walked out onto the edge of a field by a road. The sun was just beginning to come up, not even showing itself yet, only the slightest yellow in the distance. There was a city bus passing by them and a few cars but the surrounded area looked run down and trashy. Rose looked diagonally across the street and saw a large patio behind a building. The patio had several picnic tables on it with a black iron fence around it. There were people going in and out of it. Rose tugged on the Doctor's jacket sleeve and pointed to it.
"What's going on over there?" she asked.
"Only one way to find out," the Doctor said, closing the TARDIS door.
He and Rose ran across the street and then ran across the street to their right to get to the side the building was on. As they neared it, they saw two tables at the front of the patio. Some people were lined up at them, getting something to drink at one and receiving a small brown sack at the other. At the back was another line that was waiting to go through a black iron gate into a building next door. When they walked up to it, Rose noticed that some of the people looked haggard with worn and dirty clothing and a few of them looked drunk. They walked up a brick walkway and through a black iron gate onto the patio. They turned and walked over to the tables. There was a large coffee urn on one with Styrofoam cups, sugar and creamer and on the other table a man was passing sacks to people from a dented blue plastic bin. The Doctor glanced at Rose and they walked over to the table with the bin on it.
"Good morning," a man said with a smile as he handed them each a sack.
The Doctor and Rose thanked them and peeked inside. The Doctor pulled out a sandwich wrapped in a plastic sandwich bag and examined it while they got in the other queue.
"Peanut butter sandwich," he said to Rose.
"Yeah, got one as well and a bottled water and bag of pretzels and a tin of mixed fruit and a tin of vienna sausages and a plastic spoon. Doctor, I think this is for homeless and poor people," she said softly. "Notice how the people around us look?"
The Doctor looked around at the haggard people. He heard someone rambling on about random things and saw a man wearing a plastic Viking helmet sitting at one of the picnic tables going on and on about nothing in particular while the people around him ate their food and talked.
"See, I think these are tramps," Rose whispered to him.
"Well, in a way so are we at the moment since we're going without the TARDIS," the Doctor whispered back.
"Good morning, would you like some coffee?"
The Doctor turned his attention to a young blonde woman who was standing behind the table with the urn on it. He nodded and he and Rose took a Styrofoam cup and got some coffee.
"Haven't seen you here before," the lady said to the Doctor while he put some sugar in his coffee.
"Yes, we're new, just got into town," the Doctor said to her.
"Are you staying at the City Rescue Mission?" the lady said.
"Uh…no, we're staying out in the open," the Doctor said.
"Oh," the lady said, frowning. "You know there are missions around if you need them."
"Yes, but we prefer the outdoors," the Doctor said.
The lady nodded and the Doctor pointed to the queue at the back.
"What's over there?" he said to the lady.
"Free clothes, get in line and get some," the lady said.
The Doctor glanced at Rose and shrugged as he walked back to the queue. Rose followed him, took a sip of the coffee and made a face.
"Gah, this tastes like shite," Rose whispered as she caught up to the Doctor.
The Doctor took a sip, made a face and he and Rose looked at each other before they both set their cups down on the nearest picnic table.
They got in the queue together and a man spied Rose and beckoned to her.
"Women go on in," he said to Rose.
"What? That's not fair," the Doctor teased as Rose stuck her tongue out and walked ahead of him and the three other men in the queue.
She stepped down into another small patio that was bordered on one side by the building containing the clothes and another building across from it. She was about to go in the building when the man stopped her.
"No backpacks, leave them out here," he said, pointing to the other building. "We'll keep an eye on them."
Rose nodded, shrugged off her backpack and set it down against the wall of the other building. Then she went in and went down a wooden ramp into a rectangular concrete building. The inside of the building had several clothes racks filled with clothing along the sides and in front of her. Off to her right were metal racks that had new and used blankets and new and used backpacks and purses. In front of that was a wooden picnic table that had several shoeboxes sitting on them. Rose walked over to those and saw various toiletry items in each one. She then walked over to the metal rack and examined the blankets. While she was looking she heard one of the staff yell out that they were allowed to take two shirts and one pair of pants. Rose looked through the blankets, not intending to take any when one caught her eye. It was a pink fleece blanket with Scooby Doo's head all over it. Grinning, she picked it up and examined it. It was brand new and so cute so she decided to take it. She rolled it up, put it under her arm and walked over to another rack further down the wall that had t-shirts on hangers. She casually looked through them, noticing that some were a bit worn and some shirts were new. She pulled out a hangar and looked at a pink t-shirt with a colorful butterfly on it. While she examined it, the man kept telling everyone they were only allowed two shirts and one pair of pants.
"Boo!"
Rose jumped when the Doctor came up behind her and grabbed her sides. He chuckled and came up beside her. He noticed the blanket under her arm and pulled it out.
"Scooby doo?" he said, looking at it.
"Yeah, problem with that?" Rose said.
"You're keeping this?"
"Yeah, like I said, problem with that? I like Scooby Doo," Rose said.
"Yes, but…what if a homeless person wants it?"
"Sorry, got to it first," Rose said with a shrug.
"Rose, how could you? Taking Scooby Doo away from the needy. Doo hog!" he said while Rose giggled and snatched the blanket back from him.
"Doo hog!" the Doctor said while Rose gave him a pointed look, rolled it back up and put it under her arm.
"Hello, sir, men's clothes are over there," a man said, coming up to the Doctor and pointing across the room.
"Don't really need any, I'm just here with the shop-a-holic," the Doctor said, pointing at Rose. "Can't resist clothes, bless."
"Shut up," Rose said.
The man chuckled and extended his hand.
"Name's Bob," he said.
"I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor who?"
The Doctor was about to say something when Rose looked back at Bob.
"His name's John," she said.
"Ah, nice to meet you, John, and you are…" he said to Rose.
"Rose," Rose said, shaking his hand.
"England? You have English accents," Bob said.
"Yeah, London, we're here in America traveling," Rose said.
"Oh, well, welcome to America and be careful out there," Bob said. "Take what you need but only two shirts and one pair of pants please."
The Doctor nodded and Bob patted him on the shoulder and walked away. He looked at Rose.
"My name is not John," he said.
"Doctor, I get tired of introducing you to people and having them say, Doctor Who? You use John Smith as an alias, yeah? So use it!"
"What if I don't want to? What if I like Doctor, huh, huh, huh?" he said while Rose giggled. "What if I start introducing you as Doo Hog the blanket thief, huh, huh, huh?"
"Oh, belt up and go get a blanket," Rose said, waving her hand towards the rack.
"Doo Hog, Doo Hog, depriving the homeless of a dog," the Doctor chanted as he wandered over to the rack.
Rose flipped him the vees and put the shirt back on rack. She turned to her right and looked at a rack filled with used blue jeans and slacks. She found a pair in her size and unfolded them, examining them. They were slightly worn but in good condition. She put them against her body, judging if they would fit or not.
"Now the Doo Hog is pinching the blue jeans."
Rose sighed when the Doctor sniggered as he put his head on her shoulder.
"It was your idea to come in here, git," Rose said to him.
"To look, not to pinch free clothes that need to go to the needy, Scooby Doo Thief!"
"There's plenty here, they won't go without," Rose said. "They can make do without Scooby Doo. I want it!"
"Doo Hog."
The Doctor scampered away when Rose tried to swat his head. She folded the jeans and put them back before turning around and looking through some jackets and hoodies on a large rack. The Doctor strolled back over to the rack and stood across from her, staring at her with accusing eyes while Rose tried not to look at him.
"Doo Hog, Doo Hog, robbing the needy of a dog."
"Shut… up!" Rose said with a laugh while the Doctor made tsk tsk sounds at her. His tsking grew louder when Rose took a hanger off the rack and looked at a purple jacket. She slammed the hanger back on the rack when the Doctor said, "shameful, some poor soul will need that jacket."
"Now listen here, you git," Rose said laughing as she came around the rack towards him. "You're getting on my last nerve, you hear me?"
"I'm your conscience trying to dissuade you from partaking in clothes you don't need and a Scooby Doo blanket you definitely do not need. How old are you again?"
"Fine, I'm putting it back," Rose said.
She started to walk away but the Doctor grabbed her arm and gave her a wink when she looked at him. He took her hand and they walked up to the front where woman were standing behind a counter putting people's things in sacks. They started to go up the ramp when a woman behind the counter called to them.
"Do you need socks or underwear before you go?" the woman said.
"Um, no thanks, I got what I needed," Rose said.
They waved to the women and walked up the ramp and out of the building.