A/N - Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows! At least a few people are enjoying it so far :) Now, let's actually get into it...

Disclaimer - I don't own Doctor Who or anyone/anything in it. I only own my OC, Emma Walker.

"I can't believe we're hiding from Casanova just because you owe him a chicken." Emma hissed. She and the Doctor were currently hiding behind a stack of wooden crates, the latter of the two glancing around the crates to make sure they were still safe. "Just give him a bloody chicken!"

"Shh!" He glared at her. "I can't just give him a chicken because that would mean he's officially won our bet."

"So? Look, there's a chicken right there." There was, in fact, a chicken just a few feet away from them, eating seeds off the ground. "Grab it, throw it at him, run, and accept a bruised ego for a couple of days."

"Emma, it's not..." His voice was going lower and he began to shift uncomfortably, running a hand down his face. "It's not..." He mumbled. "It's not that sort of chicken."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What kind of chicken is it, then? A rooster? One of those weird fluffy ones?"

"Well—"

"Oh, she'll do wonderfully."

The Doctor was on his feet and spinning around in an instant, dragging Emma up with him to face Casanova. "Er...Giacomo, you recognized me, you old rascal!" He laughed nervously, trying to maneuver backwards around the crates.

"How could I not, dear Doctor? After all, I've been waiting for you to bring me a chicken and you finally have." He took a step forward. "Given that the two of you have such...unusual attire," He raked his eyes over Emma rather than the Doctor. "You must be here to make your delivery."

"Ah, well, I...um..."

"Oh, I wish Amy could see this. We should take Casanova to Leadworth." Her laughter had the Doctor heaving a sigh.

"Emma?"

"Yes?"

"Run."

"Why?"

"Because otherwise you may be spending the night with Casanova."

"—ah." With that in mind, Emma turned and ran straight for the TARDIS as fast as her legs could carry her. The Doctor was running close behind her, taking hold of her hand when he caught up to her and trying to pull her left as she tried to go right. "What are you doing? The TARDIS is this way!"

"I think I'd know where my own TARDIS is!" He tugged hard on her hand, his feet scrambling against the dusty ground while hers remained firmly planted. "It's this way!"

Her hand was suddenly plucked from his by Casanova, who brought it up to place a kiss on her knuckles. "Why leave at all?"

"Because...I have to visit the dentist?" She gave a nervous smile and pulled her hand from his, continuing her run in the direction that she thought the TARDIS was in. She was thrilled to find that she was right, but that soon faded when she discovered that the doors were locked. "Oh, come on!" She shook the doors. "You want me to be soothing like the Doctor? Come on, old girl..." All that really accomplished was getting her weird looks from passersby.

"Perhaps you've never experienced this kind of affection and it makes you nervous?" At the sound of Casanova's voice, Emma turned and pressed her back to the TARDIS. He seemed to take that as a sign to cage her in. "I can show you what it's like to be truly worshiped." His lips were on hers before she could even get half a word out.

"Mmph!" Her protests weren't exactly strong; she'd be lying if she said he wasn't an exceptionally brilliant kisser. However, she soon realized that she really shouldn't be kissing Giacomo Casanova, and she gently pushed him back. "Look...you're a handsome guy and a great — I mean, really great — kisser, but I'm just not interested in having sex with you. Maybe if the situation were a bit different from me being given to you as a 'chicken', I would feel differently. Do you understand?"

"Of course." He smiled warmly. "If you change your mind, I'll be waiting. Just as much as I'm waiting for the Doctor to deliver that chicken." He took her hand gently, lifting it up to give it another kiss.

"I'll keep you in mind." She was feeling rather flustered, her cheeks a slight pink. "My name is Emma, by the way. I know yours, it's only fair you know mine."

"Emma." He tested the name on his tongue. "What a perfect name for moaning."

"Oi!" The Doctor raced over to the two, coming from the direction he thought that TARDIS was in. "Enough of that!" He pulled Casanova back by his collar. "She's not your chicken and you won't be getting one. Come on, Emma."

"Bye, Casanova." She waved as he winked. "Doctor," she turned to the Time Lord as he unlocked the TARDIS and Casanova's attention was on a passing girl whose breasts were shoved halfway out of her dress. "if you weren't going to actually give him a chicken, why did you agree to it?"

He sighed, opening the door. "I thought he meant an actual chicken because he didn't tell me what he meant until after I lost. Didn't think I would lose." He grumbled and stepped inside, followed closely by Emma. "Remind me: don't go to Venice until after 1798."

"I'll try to remember that." She sat down in one of the jump seats, groaning. "That was too much running for me. You'd think after all this time with you, I'd be fit." She watched him as he moved over to the console. "Do you think we could take a little break now? Maybe go to Leadworth and have a nice, calm lunch with Amy and Rory?"

"Sounds boring."

"Oh, come on. You miss them."

He smiled and looked down at the console. "Alright. But just for lunch! We're staying for no more than...four hours. If things start to get boring, we're leaving." Despite his words, it was clear he was excited. He missed them even more than Emma did.

"To Leadworth?" She stood, making her way over and leaning on the console beside him.

"To Leadworth."

"I told you I heard the TARDIS, stupid!" Amy smacked Rory on the shoulder playfully as they walked out of the house, where Emma and the Doctor were just exiting the TARDIS. "What brings you two here, then? Big space emergency? TARDIS took you to the wrong place? Oh, you two had a snog, didn't you?"

The Doctor tried to glare, fidgeting. "None of those things. Emma just missed you, is all. Didn't you, Emma?"

"Of course I did. I better get a hug." She rolled her eyes as the Doctor opened his arms. "Not yo—" She let out a strangled noise as Amy and Rory pulled her into a tight group hug. "Okay, this is a bit much."

"The only reason he wants to hug you is because he's used to holding you so close in the night after you two have—"

"Shut up." The demand came from both her and the Doctor, as Amy grinned and Rory laughed awkwardly. The Doctor whined when the couple pulled away from Emma, "Where's my hug, then?"

Rory was the first to step forward, patting him on the back as he hugged him. "Hello, Doctor." After he stepped back, Amy and the Doctor just stared at each other for a long moment. Then they were both grinning and moving to squeeze each other tightly, laughing for no reason other than being happy.

"This is a very sweet reunion, but I'm starving." That didn't seem to even register to the two, let alone break them apart. "Hello?"

"Come on." Rory clasped her shoulder. "We were just about to sit down for lunch, there's enough for everyone."

"Was he any good?"

"Is that even a question? He was brilliant. I would have hopped in bed with him in a second just because of it."

"Why didn't you?"

"Morals or something."

The Doctor was looking between a spoonful of beans, Amy, and Emma all in disgust. "Can we please stop talking about how great of a kisser Casanova is? He only kissed your hand!" The look he received in return to that had his eyes widening. "No."

"It was just one kiss."

"That you'll be thinking and dreaming about for the next week." Amy teased, grinning. That grin disappeared when baked beans suddenly splattered into her hair, and she looked over to see the Doctor with his spoon raised and empty. "Raggedy Man..." The edge in her tone could have sent armies running. As her hand moved to grab a forkful of pasta, Rory grabbed onto it.

"You know what I think? I think we're too old for a food fight."

"Oh, Rory," the Doctor said darkly. "You're never too old for a food fight."

Emma wasn't exactly keen on the idea of having to wash food off of herself or off the Pond's furniture and walls, so she did the first thing she could think of to stop it. She grabbed a spoonful of beans, waited for the Doctor to open his mouth to talk, shoved it right in, and covered his mouth. For a moment he just froze, then a look of pure horror came to his eyes and he looked at her. "Do you want to spit it out?" The question made her realize he could very well just spit it into her hand, but he seemed to be smart enough not to as he simply nodded. "Will you apologize to Amy and promise not to throw anymore food?" Another nod had her moving her hand.

He spit the beans onto his plate like they were pure poison, coughing dramatically. "Sorry, Amy." He said begrudgingly, glaring at Emma as he did so. "I hate beans."

"Don't be such a baby."

"I am not—" His words faltered as a loud groan sounded from outside. "Oh, no. That was the TARDIS." He was out of his seat and running out the door in seconds, the other three exchanging a look before following him. He approached the TARDIS, stroking the door as it continued to groan. "What's wrong, old girl?"

"Maybe she's sick?" Amy offered. "Rory groans like that when he's ill."

"No, no, no, that's not it...what is it? Something's very wrong." He turned to look at them. "I need to figure out what's wrong. Emma, stay with the Ponds." He opened the door and got halfway through.

"No!" Emma shook her head. "I'm not risking you disappearing for a year."

"I won't. I promise, I'll be back, I just don't want any of you in danger." He stepped forward, dropping kisses on her and Amy's foreheads and nodding towards Rory, before he headed into the TARDIS.

"He's right, Emma, it's dangerous. You can stay with me and Amy until he—"

She didn't even listen to Rory, just stepped into the TARDIS right before the Doctor shut the door. He blinked in surprise before his eyes narrowed. "Emma, get out."

"I won't. You can tell me it's dangerous a hundred times and I'm still not gonna get out, because I've lived through a hundred dangerous things thanks to you. What makes this so different?"

"It just..." He raked a hand through his hair. "It is different, Emma! I promise I'll be back, so just go back with Amy and Rory. Please."

"No."

What desperation the Doctor had turned into pure anger. "Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me? I'm trying to keep you safe! You'll go back if I have to drag yo—" The TARDIS gave a hard jolt that had him stumbling forward, grabbing onto Emma for support. Instead of staying upright, they both crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Ow! Get off me!"

"It's not like I did this on purpose!" He rolled off of her and hopped to his feet, making his way to the console. He pushed every button, flicked every switch, toggled every toggle, and pulled every lever he could think of, but it only served to make things worse. "Oh, no, no, no, I've put her in flight. Stupid, stupid Doctor!" He hit himself in the head and went about trying to stop the process.

"Let me try." Dusting herself off, Emma moved up to the console and reached out to push a button.

"Emma—"

Sparks burst from the button, as well as several other places on the console, and they both jumped back. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"No, no, it wasn't you. It was her." He grabbed her, quickly pulling her back as flames erupted where the sparks had been. "It's like she's using all he power and it's short circuiting her. Amy may have been right...sickness...a virus?"

"A virus? She can get viruses?"

"It's possible. It's like a computer virus, I suppose, but much more powerful and much more dangerous. It could—" His words were cut short once again as the TARDIS shook, sending them both tumbling back against the railing. "Oh, blimey." As they slid to the floor, everything calmed.

"Is she better now? Was it just the sniffles or something?"

The Doctor shook his head, holding a hand to his back as he stood and stretched it. "She must be repairing herself." He eyed the fire on the console with a grimace. "Let me get my fire extinguisher."

"I'll tell Amy and Rory that it's alright." As Emma rose to her feet and made her way to the door, she had the feeling that it wasn't alright. Instead of dwelling on it, she shrugged it off and pulled open the door. "The TARDIS just has a..." Her words died in her throat. In place of a charming house and two best friends was a giant castle, settled on a large field of green grass and partly surrounded by trees. "Doctor...I've a feeling we're not in Leadworth anymore."

The Doctor had just been returning to the room with the fire exstinguisher, so he didn't see or hear Emma walking out as he said, "Nothing to worry about. If it was, there'd be gas masks and all that...unless she got rid of that..."

Emma, meanwhile, was looking around. The TARDIS was tipped up against the wall surrounding the property as if it hadn't landed properly, but she was too busy looking up at the gorgeous castle before her to notice. She also failed to notice the door creaking shut. "Blimey." She would have stepped forward were it not for the hand that suddenly clamped over her nose and mouth, pulling her back against a strong chest.

Unlike the kiss from Casanova, she screamed, squirmed, and kicked, and tugged at the hand to no avail. The hold was preventing her from breathing and she was fading far faster than she would have liked to. She continued to scream as loudly as she could, praying she could just get one loud enough for the Doctor to hear, but then she heard an all too familiar wheezing sound; he was leaving. She only had herself to depend on and she fought with everything she had, but her vision was getting hazy and the grip on her was too strong.

As she slumped in the person's hold and everything began to go black, she could only hope that she'd wake up and see the Doctor.

Oh, Emma, you just might ;) It's a bit fast-paced, but I hope it's not too bad! The start to a story is always rather crumby and I didn't want to make you guys read through boring chapters. I also hope that Casanova seemed, er, Casanova-y? Review, favorite, and follow if you'd like! I would sure appreciate it :)