A/N: Alex's outfit for this chapter can be found on my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.

The Doctor poked his head out the TARDIS door. He sighed. "No, girls, it's definitely not the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta," he reported. "I think I can see a Ryman's."

Alex poked her head out as well. "Yep, that's definitely a Ryman's and this is definitely Earth," she agreed. She squinted out a little into the distance. "Oh, there's a House of Fraser!" She glanced down ruefully at her outfit. She was still dressed in '80s era clothes from their previous trip to an Ian Dury concert. While pretty, her short black dress, black tights, pink leather jacket, low, black, lace-up heels, and octopus earrings didn't exactly blend in with modern-day England.

"No shopping, Alex," the Doctor shuddered. He hated anything with the word 'store' in it.

But before Alex could come up with a witty retort, they were suddenly thrown forwards onto the ground as the TARDIS doors slammed shut and the engines started up. "Amy! Amy!" the Doctor shouted, rolling over onto his back. Alex lifted her head just in time to see the blue box fade away, Amy still inside.

"Amy!" Alex shrieked, her eyes wide as she watched the box disappear completely.

"This is not good," the Doctor murmured beside her. "This is not good at all."

Alex shot to her feet. "Oh, you think?" she cried, pulling him up. "Now what are we supposed to do since the TARDIS has apparently decided to mutiny against you?"

"Oi!" The Doctor glared at her. "Mutiny against me?! What about you, eh?"

"The TARDIS loves me!" Alex cried. "You said so yourself! I'm always nice to her! You were probably messing with something you weren't supposed to, as usual!"

"As usual?!" The Doctor stepped towards her, forcing Alex to take a step back. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're always tinkering and fixing things you shouldn't!" Alex retorted. "Like that microwave you made explode last week?"

"That was a freak thing!"

Alex snorted. "Yeah, it might've been if you weren't crossing two different colored wires together!"

"Oi!" a voice came from across the street. The two turned to see a man walking a tiny Pomeranian, the man glaring at them. "Keep the domestics inside or I'll call the cops!"

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" the Doctor and Alex screamed. The Pomeranian started yapping, anxious to get away from all this yelling, and the man shot another dark glare at the time-travelers before being led off by the dog.

Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, we need to stop arguing. It's getting us nowhere."

"Agreed," the Doctor seconded. "Sorry."

Alex nodded, accepting his apology. "What caused the TARDIS to go off like that, assuming she wasn't mutinying against either one of us?"

The Doctor began pacing, running a hand through his hair as he tried to work out the problem. "Not sure. Could be any number of things. The TARDIS is sensitive. It'd have to be something pretty big to scare her off."

"So, we find out what it is, stop it, and then get the TARDIS back?"

The Doctor nodded. "That's about right." He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Come on. Let's walk. Standing around here is making my brain go dull."

Alex laughed as he pulled her down the road, dodging cars and random pedestrians. After passing a bunch of tenement houses, they came to a small shopping district. Alex found a small coffee shop and sat down at one of the outdoor tables while the Doctor ducked in and grabbed two cappuccinos. He soon joined her and watched as Alex sipped at the coffee gratefully.

Alex nearly moaned. This coffee was delicious. "So much better than Vincent's," she murmured.

The Doctor snorted a little. "Okay, we need to figure out what's going on."

"But how long could that take, since we don't even know what is going on?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Could be a few hours. Might possibly be even a few days."

Alex groaned. "Then we'll need a place to stay." She looked around the street, as if the answer to this problem would suddenly pop up. However, all she saw was a newspaper stand, a bunch of posh looking women in heels stepping out of a boutique, a young teenager at the table next to them talking loudly on his cell phone, and a bunch of pieces of paper taped to the window inside the coffee shop. Suddenly, Alex's eyes fixed on one note in particular.

She jumped up, startling the Doctor, who nearly spilled his drink on himself. Alex ignored him though, instead dashing inside the shop and over to the window. The Doctor watched as Alex examined the pieces of paper for a moment before ripping one near her eye-level off.

"Look at this," she announced as she came back outside. She handed the small piece of paper to the Doctor. "Read it."

The Doctor squinted at the almost illegible handwriting. Doctor, Alex – this one, no 79A Aickman Road, Amy XX. Underneath this was the official advertisement for the flat.

"You're sure this is our Amy?" the Doctor asked.

Alex let out a wry laugh. "How many other 'Doctor's' and 'Alex's' could there be? Plus, that's definitely Amelia Pond's handwriting." Alex could remember the many times where she had tried to decipher Amy's penmanship on the grocery list back in Leadworth and failed miserably.

The Doctor nodded and took a quick sip of his drink before tossing it in the trash-can. "Come on, Ally!" he cried, tossing her drink into the trash and pulling her out of her chair. "Let's go meet our new landlord!"

"Wait!" Alex cried, skidding to a stop and jerking him back. "We need money! Don't you see here? It requires four hundred pounds a month!"

"Right!" the Doctor winced. "Money. Where do we get that?"

Alex was about to wryly suggest a job until she spotted an ATM just around the corner. "Over there!" she directed, pointing to the machine.

The two hurried over to the machine. "You've got money, don't you?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah, but certainly not four hundred pounds!" Alex bent down and studied the machine. "Don't you have any money from your days at UNIT?"

"I told them I didn't want to be paid."

Alex let out a loud groan. "Great, that's a big help!"

The Doctor sighed and reached into his jacket. "Hold on," he said, withdrawing his sonic and passing it to her. "Hold that for a minute. I'm pretty sure there's a bag in here somewhere."

Alex watched, fascinated, as the Doctor rummaged through his jacket pockets and started pulling out various things and setting them on top of the ATM. There was a yo-yo, a feather pen, the psychic paper, an Abraham Lincoln bobble-head, a tennis racket, and, stranger than that, a Barbie doll. Alex frowned as this last one was passed to her.

"Bloody hell, where is it?" the Doctor muttered.

"Doc, do I want to know why you have a Barbie doll in your jacket?" Alex asked, fingering the doll's blonde hair.

The Doctor ignored her, sort of answering that question for her. "Aha!" he cried as he finally pulled out a large brown paper bag and unfolded it. He passed it to Alex and took back the Barbie, stuffing it and everything else back in his pockets. "Okay, Ally, use the sonic and buzz the machine. Then collect all the money that comes out."

Alex got down on her knees and placed the bag in front of the slot. She fingered the sonic and frowned. Though she'd seen the Doctor use it many times, she wasn't exactly sure how it worked. It didn't really have that many buttons. Alex had always assumed it was mainly operated through some sort of psychic programming.

The Doctor watched her as she attempted to work the sonic. "For Rassilon's sake, Ally!" he cried. "It's not rocket science!"

"No, it's Time Lord science," she retorted. Alex pressed a button and aimed it at the machine. However, this only resulted in a bunch of dogs nearby spontaneously howling.

The Doctor grimaced and yanked the sonic away from her. "Never mind," he muttered, waving the sonic around, causing whatever Alex had done to end, the dogs now silent. He looked around, making sure no one was watching them, before aiming the sonic at the machine and using the device on it. The sonic issued its familiar buzzing and Alex gasped and nearly staggered backwards as a bunch of notes flew out of the machine.

Alex hurriedly gathered the notes and put them in the bag. "This is way more than four hundred," she reported as she stood up.

The Doctor shrugged and pocketed the sonic. "We need to get in there. Amy wouldn't write a note if it wasn't important."

"What are we going to call ourselves?" Alex asked as they headed back towards the street they had originally come from.

The Doctor stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we can't say you're the Doctor and I'm your companion," Alex said, rolling her eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't normal! It sounds weird."

"Alright then, what do you suggest?"

"I don't know," Alex shrugged. She thought for a moment. "We need some kind of relationship with each-other. Friends? Cousins? Brother and sister?"

The Doctor quickly shook his head, shuddering as she said 'brother and sister'. The way he treated and looked at Alex was not in a brotherly way. Honestly, he didn't know what he was thinking suggesting they be father and daughter or siblings back in Venice. "No, no, that's too. . ."

"Too weird," Alex finished, shuddering also.

They walked on in silence for a moment, fastly approaching the intended house. Then, the Doctor spoke up. "Well, we are friends, right? We can just be that."

"Absolutely," Alex agreed. She had secretly been thinking about possibly pretending to be a couple like everyone they encountered thought they were, but she was pretty sure the Doctor would never go for that.

The two climbed the steps up to the house. As the Doctor rang the doorbell, Alex felt a pounding start in her head. She winced and looked up. Strangely, that only made the pounding worse.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked after hearing her wince.

Alex cringed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm fine. It's just a headache."

Right as she finished saying that, the door opened, revealing a young rotund man holding a set of fluffy pink keys. "I love you," he cried to a person he had been expecting to see on the doorstep instead of the Doctor and Alex.

Alex arched an eyebrow while the Doctor grinned. "Well, that's good, because we're your new lodgers," he said without missing a beat. Grabbing the keys from the man, he added, "Do you know, this is going to be easier than I expected."

The man frowned at them. "But I only put the advert up today," he protested. "I didn't put my address."

"Well, aren't you lucky we came along? More lucky than you know." The Doctor glanced back down at the advertisement before adding, "Less of a young professional, though Alex here could probably qualify as that. More of an ancient amateur, but frankly I'm an absolute dream."

"Hang on a minute, mate! I don't know if I want you staying." The man reached out and grabbed the keys from the Doctor. "And give me back those keys! You can't have those."

"Yes, quite right," the Doctor mused while Alex stood there, wondering why he was behaving so oddly when he had behaved almost normally in Bristol. "Have some rent."

He thrust the paper bag of money at the man and Alex watched his eyes grow wide as he saw the large amount inside. "That's probably quite a lot, isn't it? Looks like a lot. Is it a lot? I can never tell." Before Alex knew what was happening, the Doctor was pulling her past the man, through the door, and into the small entryway. She managed to let out a little yelp and send an apologetic smile over her shoulder before the Doctor began blabbering on again.

"Don't spend it all on sweets," the Doctor advised over his shoulder. "Unless you like sweets. I like sweets. Ooh. . ."

Alex, whose attention had been focused on a series of flickering lights above them and the fact that when she looked at the staircase her headache got worse, turned just in time to see the Doctor give the man, for whatever reason, air kisses on either side of his face.

"That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it?" the Doctor asked no one in particular. "I'm the Doctor. Well, they call me the Doctor. I don't know why. I call me the Doctor, too. Still don't know why."

Alex shook her head. What happened to Dr. John Smith? "Ignore him," she spoke up. "That's what I tend to do."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Ah, yes, feel free to ignore her as well, at least when she's being annoying."

"I'm never annoying, Doc," Alex smiled sweetly. "I'm the living definition of perfect."

The Doctor snorted and muttered something under his breath about Alex having a big head. Alex merely ignored him, hardly bothered, and stepped up to their potential new landlord. "Hi. I'm Alexandria Locke, but you can call me Alex."

The man nodded and shook her hand, liking her already. "Craig Owens," he introduced himself but his attention quickly went back to the Doctor. "The Doctor?"

"Yep," the Doctor confirmed.

Alex shook her head. "Again, ignore him," she said in a low breath, knowing she needed to explain the Doctor's bizarre behavior in a way that would make sense. "He just got off some very, very powerful medication. Withdrawal side effects include everything you see here, plus a tendency to invade personal space and dress oddly." She was pleased to see Craig nod along, evidently believing her.

"Who lives upstairs?" the Doctor abruptly asked, his attention going towards the stairs and to the door at the top. Alex followed his gaze, her head pounding as she did so. Before she lowered her gaze, she saw that the door at the top was an exact copy of the front door, right down to the cat flap.

Craig shrugged. "Just some bloke."

Alex looked at him, puzzled. How did you not know anything about your roommate who lived just upstairs? It was practically impossible, not to mention a little disconcerting. "What's he look like?" she asked in what she hoped was a casual voice.

"Normal," Craig shrugged, which didn't really provide anything useful. "He's very quiet." Right as he finished saying this, there was a loud crash from the floor above.

Alex raised an eyebrow as she looked up at the ceiling. Yes, that's very quiet! She thought snippily.

Craig blushed, as if sensing her thoughts. "Usually," he added.

The Doctor shrugged, seemingly accepting this, though Alex was sure he suspected something was going on, same as her. Still clutching her hand, he pulled her along through the door on the left of the stairs.

"Sorry, who are you again?" Craig called after them. "Hello? Excuse me?"

"Ah," the Doctor hummed as he abruptly stopped in the living room/kitchen area. Alex followed his gaze up to a large gray stain on one corner of the ceiling. She stared at it, wondering what exactly it was.

"Is that dry rot?" she asked Craig, releasing the Doctor's hand to step a little closer to the stain.

"Or damp. Or mildew," Craig suggested as the Doctor followed Alex. He wasn't sure what that stain was but he didn't want Alex getting too close to it. Who knew what might happen.

"Or none of the above," the Doctor added.

But Alex was still preoccupied with what Craig had said. "You don't know?" she asked, whirling around to look at him disbelievingly. How could anyone not know what a stain on their ceiling was? And why didn't Craig get it fixed?

As if sensing her thoughts, Craig quickly assured her, "I'll get someone to fix it."

"No, I'll fix it," the Doctor jumped in. Like Alex, he didn't trust that stain or some common repairman to try and work on it. "I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister. No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister."

"Good," Alex smiled. "It sounds like the name of some vicious Rottweiler. Or a shock collar for dogs."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her, much to Craig's amusement. The two really seemed to enjoy teasing and bantering with each-other, trying to rile the other up. "This is the most beautiful parlor I have ever seen," the Doctor said suddenly, in an attempt to break the silence. "You're obviously a man of impeccable taste."

Alex looked around the parlor. It was all right, not as fancy as the ones she was accustomed to were. There were a few well-worn chairs and a leather couch, along with some outdated green shag carpeting and a few bookshelves with books and knick-knacks on them. Opposite the sofa was a decently sized flat-screen. At least if she got bored while they were here, she could entertain herself by trying to figure out what was happening on Coronation Street.

She smiled at Craig and watched as his eyes widened a little when he saw her eyes change colors. "We can stay, can't we?" she asked, skipping up to him. The Doctor smirked, knowing hardly anyone could resist Alex's charm. "Please, please, please, please, please?"

Chuckling a little in spite of himself, Craig said, "You haven't even seen the room."

"The room?" the Doctor repeated, mostly focused on the fact that there was only one room for rent. He'd have to share with Alex which, oddly, wasn't such a horrible thing.

"Your room," Craig confirmed. Suddenly, something dawned on him. "Wait, what are you two exactly? Married?"

"No, no," the Doctor and Alex said simultaneously, shaking their heads. Craig noticed that their faces were getting a little red as well.

"Boyfriend? Girlfriend?" he tried.

The head-shaking got faster, Alex's hair nearly creating whiplash. "No, not a couple," she corrected.

"Friends," the Doctor added.

"Just friends," Alex stated, feeling her heart rate speed up. Why that was happening, she didn't know. She and the Doctor were friends, so they weren't really lying. Sure, she had a crush on the Doctor but no one, not even the Doctor himself, knew about that. So why was she so nervous?

Craig looked at them a little weirdly, but nodded all the same. "Okay, it's just down here." He led them back out through the living room and out into the entryway. Alex tried to ignore the increased pounding in her head as she followed Craig to a door just opposite the stairs.

"Yeah, this is Mark's old room," Craig explained as he pushed the door open, revealing a room that perfectly matched Alex's '80s outfit. "He owns the place. Moved out about a month ago. This uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money in the will."

Alex arched an eyebrow. Awfully convenient, she thought, wondering whether she and the Doctor had something to do with that.

The Doctor nodded, thinking this as well. "How very convenient," he said aloud, echoing Alex's thoughts. He stepped into the room as Alex hesitantly sat down on the bed. "This'll do just right. In fact—" However, he was cut off as a loud crash sounded above their heads, followed by a bunch of banging before going quiet again.

Alex frowned. "Good lord," she muttered, standing on the bed so she could try and listen at the ceiling. "What is he doing? Moving furniture?"

Craig shrugged, indicating he didn't know, while the Doctor reached over and wrapped his arms around Alex's waist. "Alex, get down from there," he said, lifting her down and setting her on the floor next to him. "You're making me nervous."

Alex smirked at him as she regained her balance, noticing he still had his arms wrapped around her waist. "What, would a simple, Ally, please come down, not suffice?"

The Doctor smiled down at her, almost forgetting Craig was in the same room with them. But before he could truly get lost in his fantasies of kissing Alex, another bang came from upstairs. Frowning, he released Alex and licked his finger, holding it up. "No time to lose," he muttered, before turning back to Craig with a big smile.

"We'll take it!" he declared. "Ah, you'll want to see our credentials." He pulled the psychic paper out and flashed it quickly in front of Craig before putting it behind his back and holding it out with his other hand each time he came to a new reference. "There! National Insurance numbers, NHS numbers, references. . ."

Craig's eyes widened at one particular reference. "Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?!" he cried.

"He did my christening," Alex lied smoothly while the Doctor looked at the paper, baffled as to why it showed that.

"Yes," the Doctor said slowly, tucking the paper back into his jacket. "Ally's family here is practically a reference itself." Not seeing that Alex looked pretty embarrassed, he mouthed G-Locke to Craig.

Craig's eyes widened again as he took in the young heiress standing in the shabby room. "Really? Cool!" he exclaimed.

Now noticing that Alex's face was slowly turning beet red, the Doctor grasped her hand. "Are you hungry, Alex?" he asked before pulling her out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen, giving her no time to reply. "I'm hungry."

"I haven't got anything in!" Craig informed them, coming in just in time to see the Doctor rummaging through the refrigerator while Alex hopped up on the countertop next to the stove.

"You've got everything I need for an omelet," the Doctor assured him, shutting the refrigerator and grabbing a pan from somewhere to set on the stove. Grabbing an egg out of a carton, he expertly cracked it into the pan. "Fines herbes, pour trois!" On this, he ruffled Alex's hair, causing her to giggle.

Craig watched them, wondering if they really were friends or not. They certainly acted like a couple. No friends of his would worry that much if he stood on a bed to try and listen at a ceiling, except perhaps Sophie. He watched as Alex craned her head to see what the Doctor was doing while the Doctor tried to keep her back, saying she'd get hurt from all the steam. "You're sure you're not a couple?" he couldn't help but ask again.

"Positive," Alex and the Doctor simultaneously replied, not even looking up at him.

Craig raised his eyebrows at their continued synched speech. "You do that a lot?" he asked.

"Yes," they both answered, before looking up and grinning at him, Alex giggling a little.

Anxious to change the subject to something other than her and the Doctor's relationship, Alex craned her head to look at the stuff decorating the refrigerator. She was pleased to see a postcard advertising the Musée d'Orsay's Vincent Van Gogh exhibit. She had bought a postcard of Ally's Roses in the museum gift-shop, now tucked into a corner of her bathroom mirror. Also on the refrigerator was a photograph of Craig and a pretty blonde girl. "Who's the girl, if you don't mind my asking?" Alex asked.

Craig glanced at the photo before replying. "No problem. That's my friend, Sophie."

"Girlfriend?" Alex pressed.

"A friend who is a girl," Craig corrected her. "There's nothing going on."

"Oh, that's completely normal," the Doctor said, thinking about his prior girl companions who he'd had platonic relationships with, except Rose, of course. He looked over at Alex and smiled. "Works for me."

Wouldn't you like for it to be more though? His subconscious inquired.

Shut up! He thought, quickly tuning back into what Craig was saying before he or Alex noticed he wasn't listening.

". . .met at work about a year ago, at the call center."

"Oh, really, a communications exchange?" the Doctor asked as he grinded pepper into the omelets. "That could be handy."

"Firm's going down though," Craig went on. "The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do. I got a plan all worked out. But I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best." He then let out a slight laugh as Alex wrinkled her nose, watching the Doctor put ham into the pan. "Why am I telling you two this? I don't even know you!"

"Well, I've got one of those faces," the Doctor easily replied as he mixed the omelets. "People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around."

"And I'm just easy to talk to," Alex smiled, crossing her legs daintily.

Craig chuckled, which grew into an all-out snort as he watched Alex's expression sour as she watched the Doctor cook. Clearly, she wasn't very taken with his food. "Right," he said, smiling back at her. While he wasn't sure about this Doctor bloke, he did like Alex. "Where's your stuff?"

"Oh, don't worry, it'll materialize," the Doctor answered. "If all goes to plan."

Craig frowned in confusion and looked at Alex for guidance. Feigning annoyance, Alex rolled her eyes. "He means it's late," she huffed. "Never use a first-year moving company. I told him and I told him, but he hardly ever listens to me."

"Thanks for the vote in confidence, Ally," the Doctor retorted, playing along.

"Always happy to help, Doc!" Alex chirped.

"You sound American," Craig noticed, pointing at Alex. "How'd you two meet?"

The Doctor and Alex smirked at each-other. "Cambridge," the Doctor answered, winking at her.

Alex nearly chortled, remembering the ridiculous lie they'd come up with when Marigold first met the Doctor. Luckily, she caught herself before their already fragile cover could be blown. "He's right. I was taking a tour of Cambridge. He was working as an advisor there at the time."

The Doctor laughed a little. This was pretty fun. "I gave her the tour around," he added. "She pestered me with so many bloody questions. . ."

"Hey!" Alex cried, temporarily forgetting that this scenario wasn't even real.

"Sorry," the Doctor laughed, ruffling her hair a little.

Alex giggled and pushed his hand away. "And I guess he was so enchanted with me, I haven't been able to get rid of him since."

Craig smiled. They were so cute together. They really seemed to enjoy each-other's company. Aloud, he said, "So you've just been hanging around her ever since?"

"Pretty much," the Doctor confirmed.

"You seem pretty comfortable with each-other," Craig commented.

"We've been living with each-other for a while now," Alex explained, happy to tell the truth. They were, in a way, roommates.

"So why'd you move?"

"Change of scenery," the Doctor evasively answered as he finished the omelets and began preparing plates. "Ha! There we are! Bon appétit!"

~Living the Life of Ally~

"Oh, that was incredible!" Craig exclaimed as he sunk into the sofa after polishing off his omelet. The Doctor and Alex sat across from him, Alex perched on one of the chair's armrests.

"Yeah, not too bad, Doc," Alex complimented. Despite her initial misgivings, the Doctor's omelet was delicious. Maybe she was too quick to judge his culinary habits. Maybe that fish fingers and custard combo wasn't so bad after all.

She shuddered. No, it sounded awful. No way in hell was she ever eating that, even if the Doctor's meals were delicious.

"That was absolutely brilliant," Craig corrected her. "Where did you learn to cook?"

"Paris, in the eighteenth century," the Doctor answered before reconsidering his answer. "No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? Seventeenth?"

Alex shook her head. God, she was going to kill him. "Twentieth," she ground out between clenched teeth.

The Doctor nodded quickly, sensing her growing aggravation. "Right, twentieth! Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order."

Craig looked at him in wonder. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?"

"They never really stop," the Doctor smiled, not at all bothered by the question. "Ever been to Paris, Craig?"

Craig shook his head. "Nah, I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveler."

"I can tell from your sofa," the Doctor nodded, causing Craig to frown at him and Alex to cock her head in confusion as she tried to work his thinking out.

"My sofa?" Craig questioned.

"You're starting to look like it," the Doctor clarified. Alex, stunned, frowned and immediately whacked him on the back of the head. The Doctor let out a yelp and turned to give her a look.

Alex wasn't bothered though. "Don't be rude!" she hissed.

Then, much to Alex's relief, Craig started to laugh. "Thanks, mate, that's lovely! No, I like it here. I'd miss it, I'd miss. . ."

"Those keys."

"What?"

The Doctor nodded to the fluffy pink keys in Craig's hand that he'd been playing with for the past few minutes. "You're sort of . . . fondling them."

"I'm holding them," Craig argued. He stood, pointedly leaving the keys on the armrest.

"Right," the Doctor said skeptically, drawing the word out slightly. He and Alex watched as Craig headed towards the kitchen, grabbing something off a cabinet near the door.

"Anyway. . . These are your keys," Craig explained as he headed back towards them, holding up three keys looped around a chain.

The Doctor grinned, jumping up. "We can stay?" he asked, turning around briefly to pull Alex up.

"Yeah, you're weird, you can cook, and I like Alex. It's good enough for me."

Alex smiled happily. "It's the Southern charm."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, even though he knew she was right about that whole Southern charm thing. Craig snorted a little and held the keys out. "Right," he explained, holding up each key and ticking it off. "Outdoor, front door, your door."

"My door," the Doctor grinned, taking the keys. "My place. My gaff."

"Ours, Doc," Alex corrected.

The Doctor nodded. "Right, sorry. Ha, ha! Yes! Me with a key . . . er, us with a key."

"And listen," Craig began, leaning in a little closer, "Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?"

The Doctor frowned. "Why would I want that?"

"In case you want to bring someone round," Craig clarified. "A girlfriend or . . . a boyfriend?" Noticing the slight discomfort in the Doctor's eye when he made this inquiry, Craig turned to Alex. "You too, Alex."

Craig looked back up just in time to see the Doctor's eyes darken and his hand wrap around Alex's waist, clutching her possessively. "Oh, I will," the Doctor answered as he tried not to vomit at the thought of Alex bringing some young stud in off the street and pinning him down on the bed in their room. "I'll shout if that happens."

Alex, meanwhile, was also feeling a little uncomfortable. Aside from her headache, which was gently increasing in pain amount, she also felt a little ill at the image of the Doctor bringing some blonde bimbo in from a club nearby and kicking her and Craig out so he could have her all to himself. Of course, she knew the Doctor would never do such a thing, but the image still refused to leave her mind.

"Don't worry about me Craig," she said. "That's not going to happen."

The Doctor visibly relaxed in relief at this bit of news. "Yes. Something like, I was not expecting this!" He started to head off but quickly doubled back. "By the way, that?" he said, pointing up at the mysterious gray stain. "The rot? I've got the strangest feeling we shouldn't touch it." Then, before Alex knew it, she was being pulled along towards hers and the Doctor's new room.

"Wait!" Craig called after him. "Don't you need another bed or something, since there's two of you? I mean, I don't have one, but I'm sure I can conjure something up."

The Doctor waved him off. "No, we're fine!" Honestly, he couldn't imagine not sharing the bed with Alex. He had immensely enjoyed the few times he was able to stay in bed with her and he'd actually been looking forward to doing that again ever since he saw the room. Since he couldn't say any of this to Craig though, he settled for another truth. "Got used to it when we got stuck in a Moroccan jail cell for a week."

He headed off down the hall while Alex just stood there, watching Craig's disbelieving expression. "He's joking, right?" Craig asked.

Alex shook her head. "Sadly, no. Some advice? Never insult the King of Morocco. They'll throw you in jail and those places practically reek of Hepatitis C." She shuddered, remembering their stay there. It hadn't been too bad though. The Doctor had entertained her with stories of past companions, including one that almost had her rolling around on the dusty floor, about a companion named Tegan trying to strangle another companion, Adric, and the Doctor's various attempts to break them up.

Leaving Craig to digest this, Alex went down the hall and into their room. Shutting the door behind her, she found the Doctor sitting on the bed, patiently waiting for her. "Having fun, Ally?" he asked.

"Yeah, loads," Alex answered. She shrugged her jacket off, neatly placing it across the back of the desk chair. Right then, a sharp pain went off in her head. "Ah!" she cried, staggering back a little.

The Doctor shot to his feet and was standing by her in less than a second. "Ally, what's wrong? Are you okay? Well, obviously you're not. What is it?"

Alex grimaced and rubbed her forehead. "It's just a headache, Doc," she replied, but she winced again as another tremor went through her. "But it . . . really hurts."

The Doctor quickly guided her towards the bed. "Just rest, Ally," he said, pulling out the covers and putting them over her. Once she was settled, he went over and adjusted the window blinds, making the room nice and dark. "Take a nap. I need to figure out a way to contact Amy anyway."

"In the dark?"

The Doctor sat in the desk chair, placing Alex's jacket down on the desk. "Time Lord, Ally."

Alex nodded. "Right. Sorry."

"Stop talking," the Doctor ordered, but Alex caught a bit of teasing in his voice. "Sleep. I'll wake you when I get through to Amy."

Alex nodded and eased her head down on the pillow. Though her head was still pounding, she felt a little soothed by the darkness. But knowing that the Doctor was there with her made her feel even more soothed. She felt safe and secure with him there beside her and she knew she didn't want this feeling to go away any time soon.

Alex sighed and closed her eyes, feeling a wave of fatigue wash over her. Sleep. Yes. Sleep was good.

~Living the Life of Ally~

Alex shifted away as she felt someone shaking her shoulder. Honestly. Why would someone be trying to wake her when she was resting and at peace?

"Five more minutes, Mom," she muttered. She wasn't even sure why she said that. Her mom was long dead and Alex couldn't ever recall her five-year-old self being woken this way.

"Ally, it's me," a familiar voice broke in through her subconscious. Slowly, Alex opened her honey-glazed eyes and looked up into a lovely set of dark green ones.

"Hi, Doc." Alex sat up a little, noticing the Doctor was sitting right next to her. She squinted in the light coming from the bedside lamp. "How long was I asleep?"

"Just a couple of hours," the Doctor informed her. "How's your head?"

A small twinge of pain answered that question. Alex cringed. "It still hurts, but not as much as before."

The Doctor nodded. "Don't worry. It's probably just from all the banging around in the TARDIS." Actually, he hadn't ever known that to happen, but it wasn't completely impossible.

Alex nodded, accepting this, but she was pretty sure there was something more to these headaches. If they were a result of traveling in the TARDIS, she should have gotten them a long time ago. Also, they hadn't started until they came to Craig's. Her head muscles twitched again and Alex sighed. God, it was really bad when it actually hurt to think.

"You figure out a way to contact Amy yet?" she asked, leaning back against the headboard.

The Doctor grinned and nodded. "Yep!" he confirmed, reaching up and tapping a device on his ear.

Alex peered closer. "Is that a Bluetooth?" she wondered. "Since when do you have a Bluetooth?"

"You'd be surprised what a person like me collects after so many years of traveling."

"Including a Barbie doll?"

The Doctor ignored her, instead flopping back on the mattress. "Earth to Pond! Earth to Pond!" he called, tapping the earpiece. "Come in, Pond!"

"Doctor!" Alex heard Amy exclaim before a bunch of feedback sounded, causing the Doctor to wince. "Sorry."

"Could you not wreck my new earpiece, Pond?" the Doctor snapped at her. "How's the TARDIS coping?"

"See for yourself," Amy replied. Alex shifted down to rest her head on the Doctor's chest so she could hear better . . . and get closer to the Doctor, if she was being honest with herself. Alex frowned as she caught the sound of malfunctioning machinery coming from the earpiece. Glancing up, she saw that the Doctor was doing the same.

"Ooh, nasty," he murmured. "She's locked in a materialization loop, trying to land again. But she can't."

"Hmm. And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat. So, go upstairs and sort it!"

"I don't know what it is yet," the Doctor protested, looking up at the ceiling. "Anything that can stop the TARDIS from landing is big. Scary big."

"Wait. Are you scared?" Amy questioned.

"No!" the Doctor objected. "I can't go up there until I know what it is and how to deal with it. And it is vital that this man upstairs doesn't realize who and what I am. So no sonicing. No advanced technology. I can only use this because we're on scramble. To anyone other than Alex hearing this conversation, we're talking absolute gibberish."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Idiot," she muttered, causing him to look down at her in confusion. "What if Craig is listening in right now? He already thinks there's something wrong with you."

"Yes, and by the way, I caught that bit about me being on medication," the Doctor glared. There was a bunch of snickering on Amy's end, causing the Doctor's glare to harden. "Stop laughing, Pond!" he scolded. "This is a serious matter!"

"Right, yes, sorry," Amy coughed, trying to control herself. "Continue."

The Doctor nudged Alex's head off his chest, getting up to walk around the room to examine the stuff Mark had left in it. Alex rolled her head back to her pillow to watch him. "Now, all I've got to do is pass as an ordinary human being. Simple. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Have you SEEN you?" Amy wondered.

"So you're just going to be snide?" the Doctor retorted. He picked up a pair of aviator sunglasses and tried them on, admiring himself in the mirror. "No helpful hints?"

"Hmm. . . Well, here's one. Bowtie? Get rid!" Alex giggled at this.

"Bowties are cool," the Doctor shot back. "Come on, girls, I'm a normal bloke. Tell me what normal blokes do."

"They . . . watch telly, they play football," Amy reflected. "They go down to the pub."

They drink beer, read car magazines, watch ESPN, flirt with girls in cropped shirts and leather pants, Alex thought. They wear too much cologne to attract girls, they bet, they play pool, they whistle at a girl as she walks down the sidewalk. . . Alex shuddered. Then again, maybe the Doctor being himself wasn't such a bad idea.

"I could do those things," the Doctor considered, unaware of Alex's thoughts. "I don't, but I could."

Right then, there was another series of crashes from upstairs. Alex jumped while the Doctor dropped the book he had grabbed. Both stared up at the ceiling curiously. "Hang on, wait, wait, wait. Amy?" the Doctor called into the Bluetooth.

"Doctor, look!" Alex cried, pointing to the bedside clock. The Doctor followed her gaze to see that the hands on the clock were going backwards and forwards rapidly.

He looked down at his wristwatch to see it was doing the same thing. "Interesting," he mused. "Localized time loop."

"Ow!" Amy cried as she apparently bumped into something. Alex gathered that the TARDIS was likely being affected by the time loops, which explained why the ship couldn't land here. "What's all that?"

"Time distortion," the Doctor explained. "Whatever's happening upstairs is still affecting you."

"It's stopped," Amy reported. "Ish. How about your end?"

"My end's good."

"So, doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?" Alex frowned. She wouldn't say that.

"No, no, no, not really," the Doctor told her. "Just keep the zigzag plotter on full. That'll protect you."

There was another 'ow' from Amy and the Doctor frowned. "Amy, I said the zigzag plotter!"

"I PULLED the zigzag plotter!" Amy protested.

"Is she standing with the door behind her?" Alex asked, suddenly remembering something she'd seen when she watched the Doctor fly the TARDIS.

"Yes!" Amy called, hearing her.

"Take two steps to your right and pull it again!" Alex advised.

There was a pause on the other end as Amy did this. "Yay, it worked!" she cried.

"Impressive, Ally," the Doctor complimented. He had no idea Alex paid that much attention to his driving.

Alex grinned. "Does this mean I get to learn how to fly the TARDIS?"

The Doctor snorted. "Keep dreaming," he retorted. Actually, in all honesty, he wouldn't mind teaching Alex how to fly the TARDIS. The ship already liked her and he was pretty sure she could learn to fly it, no problem. "Now, I must not use the sonic. I've got work to do. Need to pick up a few items."

Alex frowned as he disconnected with Amy. "What kind of items?" she questioned.

"Just bits and pieces to try and detect what our friend upstairs is doing. Shouldn't be gone too long."

"Wait! Can't I come with you?"

"You still have a headache, Alex. You need to rest."

Alex pouted, but she knew he was right. Her head was still pounding. She wouldn't be much help to the Doctor while she was in pain. "Fine," she sighed, scooting down further under the covers. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

The Doctor smirked. "Like try to pierce my nose?"

"Oh, bring that up again!" Alex shrieked.

"Or go Goth in the next few hours?"

"It was a PHASE!" Alex groaned.

"Good thing it ended though," the Doctor said. "You look so much prettier without dark make-up."

Alex giggled. "Thanks, Doc!"

The Doctor laughed a little along with her and reached out to grasp the doorknob. "Don't worry, I'll be back before morning. Just sleep. I'll try not to wake you when I get back."

Alex nodded, silently agreeing to this. But just as the Doctor opened the door and stepped out into the hall, something occurred to her. "Doc?" she called.

"Yes?"

"Why wasn't I affected by that time loop thing?" she asked. "I can see why you weren't, being a Time Lord and all. But why me?"

"Lots of things don't affect you when you're out of your time-stream," the Doctor explained. "It's like how you and Amy were able to remember the clerics back on the Byzantium. Time-travel changes how you see the universe."

Alex nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. I was putting it down to my crazy mind and all."

The Doctor laughed a little. "Well, that could be a factor," he admitted. "I don't know. I make up a lot of this as I go."

"Oh, really?" Alex smiled, arching an eyebrow. "You finally admit it?"

"I never admit anything of the sort," the Doctor retorted.

"Sure you don't!"

"Go to sleep, Ally," the Doctor told her, coming back over to plant a kiss on her forehead before quickly departing, pulling the door shut behind him.

Alex sighed and reached over to turn the lamp off. An unspecified amount of time alone with the Doctor? In a shared room, nonetheless? She grinned to herself as she closed her eyes, anxious to get back to sleep so that she could numb the pain in her head and see the Doctor a little quicker.

Maybe this would go better than she thought.

A/N: Fluffy bits in this chapter and there will be more! :) Hmm, wonder why Alex is getting those headaches. . . I'm pretty sure the answer's fairly obvious. :)

Notes on reviews. . .

ShadowTeir - Lol, that's okay! The reason I didn't put in anything else about the prince was because I felt I had said enough about the situation and there really wasn't a good place to put another mention like that. Yeah, it was a chapter of aw's, wasn't it? :) Hmm. . . I'm afraid I can't PM you about that. I'm sure you are very trustworthy, but I just can't take the risk. :) Plus, I'd like to surprise EVERYONE when it happens! A hint? Hmm. . . Well, I will say that their getting together kicks everything off. :)

SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - Lol, I thought that the line sounded good! :) Plus, Alex IS attracted to the Doctor and DOES like the smell of his cologne, so it's not completely outside the realm of possibility! :) Ooh, sorry you spent 6 hours doing homework. That sucks. :(

moonsword17 - Glad you liked 'Vincent and the Doctor'! I love 'The Doctor's Wife' too and I'm excited for that episode. The TARDIS's relationship with Alex is really sweet. :)

jesterlover - Yes, long live the prinos! :D

KatieTheBaka - Aw, I get sad at the end of that episode too... :(

Guest - Yes, she really should. She should probably take Craig's assumptions into consideration while she's at it! :)

Guest - Thanks! :)

Lady Shagging Godiva - When I wrote 'simple-minded', I was referring to the fact that Alex, at first, doesn't believe in time travel. Sorry for the confusion! :)

The bunny always dies first - Sorry! At least this episode is much lighter. :)

Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Yes, he DID paint her roses! Vincent likes giving his girls flowers, doesn't he? :) Don't worry, Alex will be her usual incredible self in those episodes. But I won't lie and say that there aren't a few teary moments. . . :( Glad you like the relationship between Alex and River. I can't say why River is jealous of her, but I think it'll become apparent pretty quickly when we get into Season 6 where there are more River episodes and where her background is shown more. :)

TheGirlWhoWaited - How can anyone not love Vincent after seeing that episode? :) And thanks!

rycbar15 - Lol, it IS pretty funny, isn't it? :) Poor Doctor, hopelessly oblivious to what he's feeling. . . Good question. Alex will be in 'A Christmas Carol' and 'The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe' but she won't be in 'The Snowmen'. There is a very interesting reason for that, which will really kick off the second half of Season 7.

The Raggedy Time Traveler - I remember that too. It was so encouraging. :) And thank you! I'm glad to have proven you right. Oh gosh, I am amazed by how many people are reading this too! I never imagined it would get this popular, let alone this many reviews. Thanks. :)