Chapter Four:

Wonderment

The swoosh of the universe landing in London whispered in the wind. The Doctor's quiet hum of music from his chest didn't disturb a soul as he stepped from his TARDIS. It had parked in front of a hospital. The Doctor stared at it, feeling a sense of worry run through his veins. His eyes scanned the area for trouble or familiar faces. There had to be a reason his TARDIS was overpowered by something else and landed in front of a hospital.

He stepped through the doors with hidden confusion and searched for anyone that looked familiar. A voice caught his attention. It was Jack. He was very softly comforting someone. The Doctor walked towards the voice and he saw Jack's figure holding and hiding someone. The Doctor made his way over to them and he sat down in front of them. His hair was wet, and he knew he probably looked like a mess, but when the TARDIS stopped, he didn't know what else to do but hop from his shower and run outside.

"Jack?" His quiet voice cut through the Captain, and Jack stood up in attention. The Doctor rolled his eyes and took a long look at the girl. It was Andie, he saw; his heart sank because she was crying. His quiet, calculating eyes made her look up and she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Her eyes were still the green like the grass on Grenifi, and her skin was the color of olives. Her lips were a pretty shade of rose. He noticed how her hair was the texture of Donna's, but the color of her father's. He wondered if it was colored, because he pictured her more with a dark auburn color of hair, if not a bit more red.

Jack sat back down and took Andie's hand. "You know the Doctor, I'm sure."

Andie's eyes penetrated the Doctor, and he looked down, his eye lashes covering his eyes and his hands restless. She wasn't sure what to say. The woman who raised her, her grandmother, finally passed away and she was left with Captain Jack, his team, UNIT, and now the Doctor who just showed up.

She took a deep breath, her hair falling lazily into her face. "I'm Andie." Her voice shook his core. It sounded so raw and intelligent. It reminded him of-

"Doctor. Just the Doctor. But you knew that." His forced smile didn't look like he had convinced either of them of his sudden mental shake up. After a year of traveling in this body, he was still spinning from the constant movement of the body's emotions. One year of thinking about her and worrying about her safety, and here he landed because her mind, part Time Lord, called for the TARDIS whether she knew it or not. Andie's mind, the strong power that the Doctor could feel falling from her core, pulled the TARDIS in.

She rose with Jack and reached for the Doctor's upper arm. She was too scared to take his hand. She knew his touch would be warm in comparison to her. She led them to her grandmother's room, and let them go as she approached the door. Her breath caught as she looked into the room and Sylvia lay, breath leaving quickly.

"Echo," Sylvia whispered into the air. Andie swished into the room as Jack and the Doctor left behind.

The Doctor looked at Jack, the word seizing his mind. "Echo," he whispered. And his mind flashed, the stars whispering her name, millions of people knowing it. "Is Andie called Echo here?"

Jack nodded, his body leaning against the door frame as Sylvia and Andie said their final goodbyes, and grinned "She's a smart kid, that Andie." His hair wasn't styled or greased back, and the Doctor wondered if it was her fault. What control did she have? What were her gifts? Was she logical like her mother was? Or was she instinctual like his own nature?

Jack stepped in front of the Doctor and looked him in the eye, a somber look on his face. "Doctor, are you gonna take her with you?"

The Doctor shivered and looked down. He had promised her he'd return, but she wouldn't remember that promise. He had dreamed of her. Though he was wrong about her appearance; he sensed her strength and was right about one thing: this human Time Lord was someone who would be in danger even here on earth.

And then Sylvia flat-lined. Andie fell into the chair next to the bed, weeping. Andie's quiet sobs forcing Jack to turn and run into the room to wrap his arms around her.

Dark hair fell into a light mocha colored face, and she was pulled into big American arms. She had become completely unaware of the man who had haunted her dreams, and fell into a dark sort of sadness that engulfed any mourning person. Her breath had calmed soon, though, and she fell against the chair.

The Doctor then realized why.

Jack replaced something into his pocket, his hands pulling her hair from her face, and carefully laid her back down into the chair. "You can finally remember," he whispered into her ear, "what I'd hidden from you. And it'll blow your mind, it may even give you headaches, but right now, you're going to allow everything to sink in at once." Very slowly, Jack turned back to the Doctor, looking at his shocked expression.

"You mean she hasn't been remembering anything, or that you've tucked away her Time Lord knowledge?" The Doctor's voice was slowly getting meaner and meaner. His eyes narrowed suddenly, feeling a deep anger rolling along his core. He let his breath go to calm himself. "Jack, I said protect her, not damage her mind!" He gazed at her before turning and leaving the room, moving towards the coke machine and letting Jack carry Andie towards the TARDIS.

No one noticed the pair. Together, they put her into bed and the Doctor sit down away from the sad, asleep girl in her bed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bit of a cliff-hanger, yeah? I didn't mean to, it was just a convenient place to stop this.

So, now we see a bit more of Andie. I really like this Andie. I have another thing with a girl named Andie, but I wanna change it up :D It might take a bit of time, anyway.