A/N: Hi, everyone. Now, I know I've introduced a bit more of a relationship between the Doctor and Talia so I really want your opinions on that. A couple of people said it was the Doctor being OOC and if others don't like it too much then it's not going to be too difficult to change it, because it's not mentioned too much anymore. I don't want to lose fans ^_^. The only reason I included it anyway is because I have a huge crush on David Tennant and couldn't resist, but I don't really mind making it more of a Doctor/Rose relationship where no-one really says anything obvious. Anyway, time to find out where the Weeping Angels sent Talia.

Chapter 12: Sahara Syndrome

In a second, I was in the middle of a desert. I had no idea when, or where, but all I could see were rolling yellow dunes and a few flies.

Great. I would have to be sent somewhere extreme.

But the Doctor would find me. He would have a way. If he could get out of that mess we were in, he could find me. Still, I didn't know how long that would take so I decided to pick a direction and start walking; I would need water.

I was being very rational, but then again I could also feel a hint of hysteria in the back of my mind. Panic rose, but I fought it down by picturing the Doctor and my parents, waiting for me, safe and sound.

Taking off my jumper and tying it around my waist, I started towards the nearest dune, clambouring to the top and back down again.

Thus my day continued in a similar fashion. It was midday when I'd started, and I kept going for quite a while once it grew dark and cool until I was too tired to continue. I picked a dune that didn't have any burrows or lizard holes near it and lay down on the side away from the wind.

The Doctor would find me.

I repeated that to myself over and over until I fell asleep, then started again the next morning.

By midday again, I started to get quite worried. I hadn't come across any water yet, or anything in fact but just sand and sun. The heat was starting to make me dizzy and, though I stopped every now and then, I knew I'd probably sleep earlier today than yesterday. That was bad, as I could cover more ground at night.

As I lay down, I felt hopelessness and despair begin to eat at my mind. I was in the middle of a desert, I didn't know where and I didn't know when. Millions of places and timelines…how could he ever locate me?

I didn't even realise I was crying until the tears evaporated, ironically bringing some relief to my stinging face.

As the next morning dragged on, my lips cracked and bled, my head pounded like a rock and the hallucinations began.

Most of them were the usual; oases, tents, even a dune buggy. Once or twice, though, I was convinced I saw the Doctor and the TARDIS. Each time I ran towards them, but each time, they were nothing more than figures of my dehydrated mind.

My light-headedness got worse and worse. My throat burned like fire, my limbs ached from all the walking and my skin was dry as a bone. I felt sick from a lack of food and drink and blackness licked the edges of my vision, threatening to pull me under. Still I struggled on, determined not to give up even though my body was screaming that I wouldn't last too much longer.

Then, just past midday, I heard a voice.

"Talia! Talia!"

Just another hallucination, of course, the one rational part of my mind remaining told me. Still I turned in the direction of the voice and saw, as I had before, the figure of the Doctor about a hundred metres away. He seemed to see me and began to run over. I tried as well, but my legs wouldn't obey.

Besides, what was the use. It wasn't real.

I stopped after struggling a few steps, and the world spun around me. The blue of the sky and yellow of the sand melded together until I couldn't tell which was which.

The next thing I felt was my head hitting the sand as I collapsed outright, my body finally giving up on me while my mind screamed to get up. The image of the Doctor grew closer through my glazed, half-closed eyes.

"It is you! Oh, you look terrible!" he cried.

Then he scooped me into his arms and all of a sudden, I knew he was real. Though I was seconds away from losing consciousness completely, I felt tears slide out of my eyes.

"Doc…tor." I croaked.

He held me closer, shielding me from the sun with his body. "I'm here. I'm so, so sorry."

Suddenly everything went black…

I woke blearily and a cup of water was raised to my lips.

"You have to drink, but slowly."

The Doctor's voice was muffled and distant, but I understood them enough to sip at the cup until it was empty before falling unconscious again…

The next time I had a fever and a cool, damp cloth was pressed against my forehead. My breathing was sharp and my head still hurt.

"Doctor!" I called weakly.

"It's alright." He said softly. His hand touched my arm, but I couldn't seem to unglue my eyes to look at him. "You need more rest. Not many people survive what you've just been through."

So I obeyed…

I was alone when I woke the third time. My head still hurt and I felt weak, but no longer ill or dizzy. I relaxed in the bed for a few minutes before deciding that I should get up and have a shower.

As I sat up to do so, the door opened quietly. The Doctor, clearly still thinking that I was asleep, backed in slowly with a tray in his hands. He turned around and jumped upon seeing me awake, almost dropping the tray in his shock.

On it was a perfect breakfast; two pieces of toast, a muffin, tea and a selection of jams; I noticed there was also a serve for me.

"Talia! You're awake! How are you feeling?" He asked.

I smiled up at him. "Much better now." I stared pointedly at the tray. "What's this?

He chuckled, bringing it over and placing it on my lap. "Just something I thought you deserved, after what you've been through."

"Thank you. How on earth did you get out of that? And you can see!"

He shrugged. "What you did created a distraction. The telepathic power the Octavian was using to blind me stopped and I quickly took it on a trip into the TARDIS. There's a room that no living being can get out of. I've never used it before, but I didn't want to kill it so I thought it was appropriate."

"Wow." I gasped. "And…my parents are safe?"

He nodded. "They continued staring at the Angel while I took care of the Octavian. I returned, placed the mirror back in front of it and released your parents. Then I had the rather difficult task of finding you. It was very reckless, you know, what you did."

His light tone betrayed nothing, but I could see the remembered worry and fear in his eyes. He must have thought I was lost.
"How did you find me? All of time and Earth…" I started eating, caring less about the answer than about the fact that he had found me.

"Well…you've travelled between dimensions. You're covered in Void stuff. I used the TARDIS to trace it, but as it's been a while it was very faint. How long did it take…or rather, how long were you in that desert?"

I took a deep breath, remembering. "Just over two and a half days, I think."

A frown crossed his face. "No wonder. You were half dead yesterday. I'm so sorry that it took that long."

I shook my head. "No need to apologise, Doctor." I squeezed his hand to emphasize my point. After a few minutes of silence I asked, "So…where and when was I?"

"You were in the Sahara Desert, near the middle, in the mid 1500s."

I stared. "Wow. I thought it might have been the Sahara…but I didn't think that it was that long ago."

He nodded. "This Angel must have been really powerful to send you back that far. I just can't understand how the Octavian would have captured it."

He slowly morphed into his thinking face, where his eyes grew small, his lips pouted slightly and he seemed to be staring at something far away in his Time Lord mind.

"It must have carefully planned the whole thing." I commented. "I can just picture it hunting Weeping Angels with a large mirror tucked under its wing."

"That's the thing." The Doctor said with a sigh, turning to me again. "No-one can really tell where Angels will turn up."

"He obviously could. It's maybe an Octavian skill." I suggested. "Creatures of the night? Sounds about right for locating quantum-locked statues."

He shrugged. "It rings a bell. I'll have to go and read up on Octavians again."

"But not now." I said quickly, hoping he wouldn't rush off to the library.

He smiled gently. "No, not now. Now we can just relax and do whatever you want to do."

I debated on that for a moment. "Movie?"

"Movie." He agreed.

A/N: Cool? Not cool? Too simple? Make sense? I welcome comments so please review. Next chapter takes place roughly a week after this one. I'm bringing into it one of my favourite aliens in Doctor Who...only because we know nothing about it, so here's my idea.