The cold air hit Sage's face as she walked down the dark street. Dim streetlamps lit up the sidewalk, as she rounded a corner toward her home.
She tucked a stray, black hair behind her ear and pulled her beanie down to cover her ears, tightening her grip on her bag with her other hand. As Sage rounded another corner, a loud wheezing echoed in an alley.
Sage paused in front of the alley, facing the dark. She bit her bottom lip, contemplating whether or not to look for the source of the sound.
"Don't do it, Sage. Every time a white person goes looking for something, they get killed. Don't do it." she said under her breath.
Sage walked away from the sound, but questions bubbled in her mind. She silently groaned, knowing she made up her mind.
She shook her head, muttering, "Damn your curiosity, Sage Tran." Taking a step forward, she started walking toward and down the dark alley.
Paying no mind to the trash littered on the ground, she reached the end of the alley.
Sage squinted, trying to adjust to the darkness and blinked when she saw a giant blue police box.
"That's odd," she muttered. "Police boxes went out of fashion ages ago, they wouldn't still be here now."
She looked up at the box, tilting her head to the side as she took in its features.
Its faded blue paint looked like it seen better days, and the height of the box towered over her petite stature.
Sage glanced at the sign on the door before putting a hand on the handle. A warm hum tingled in the back of her mind, inviting her inside.
She bit her lip again before taking a deep breath and pulled the handle open.
The door opened with a soft click and Sage hesitantly stepped inside. Sage was inundated with a soft, warm coral light and pleasant hum in her mind.
She fully stepped into the box and blinked, once, twice to see the huge interior.
"This is amazing," she breathed, astounded by the vastness before her.
Standing in the doorway of what seemed to be an alien ship, she drank in the sight.
A large console stood before her, thousands of wires, buttons and levers encircled the middle of the room.
Sage walked closer to the console, not noticing the door close behind her with a soft click, and lightly touched the controls in awe.
"How is this possible? This is insane," she wondered. Sage rounded the console, staring up at the machinery in awe. A pained groan echoed the room, and she looked up in alarm.
"That sounded not-human, but there's no one here. Wait, there's no one here. Where're all the pilots or whatever? They should be here, ushering me out or kidnapping me or something." The groan got louder and seemed to be in agreement.
"What's that hum? I heard it before, but I thought it was just the machine." An indignant hum answered her question.
She startled in alarm, "Where's that coming from?" Sage spotted a soft, golden glow emanating from the console.
Going towards the glow, she stared transfixed at the beautiful light. The panel lifted itself up, and the glow brightened, she reached out a hand.
Touching the soft glow, the light stared into her eyes and Sage was assaulted with information. She stumbled back from the light, falling down by the assault of knowledge, and the panel snapped shut.
She held her head in pain, her glasses were askew and her clothes were rumpled. Sage panted in exertion, trying to make sense of her new array of information.
"TARDIS," she breathed in awe.
"You're a TARDIS. But why'd you tell me? Why'd you go an', an', info-dump me?"
The TARDIS hummed in reply and Sage frowned at the pictures flashing through her mind. She frowned deeper when she realized that she understood them.
"You need my help, you and the Doctor. Ok, but why?"
The TARDIS hummed tiredly and more pictures flashed through her mind.
"His regeneration was that bad?" she questioned.
A hum of agreement answered her question.
"Right, ok. A sentient, alien spaceship just asked for my help to help another alien," she spoke aloud.
Sage pondered on what to do next, wrapping her locket chain around a finger and tugging.
"Will I regret this? Probably." Sage unwrapped the chain from her finger and looked at the TARDIS ceiling.
"Take me to your leader," she grinned, and the TARDIS hummed in exasperation before lighting a hallway up.
Sage stood up and righted herself, fixing her glasses and clothes and followed the lights.
Sage wandered down the halls until she reached a door.
"This one?" she asked to confirm. The ship hummed in answer.
Sage opened the door to a med-bay and on the bed laid the Doctor.
His military uniform was rumpled and scattered on the ground. He was in his trousers and he was on his front.
She rushed toward him and could hear his erratic breathing, and her lips twisted in worry.
Sage leaned over him, grabbing his wrist and feeling his weak pulse.
"What happened with his regeneration that he looks so bad?" she asked the ship.
The ship only gave a mournful reply, and horrible images passed through her mind.
"Oh god," she looked at the Doctor with sorrow and tears in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry."
Sage sniffed and wiped away her tears. "Ok," she said, taking a deep breath, "Let's get you hooked up to a heart monitor and IV, yeah? From there I'll figure it out."
Her hands moved automatically, pushing him onto his back and hooking up wires and plugs almost absentmindedly.
When she finished, she blinked and looked down at her handiwork. "I have no idea how to use medical equipment. How in God's name did I do this?"
There was a soft hum and Sage looked up sharply at the TARDIS. Her eyes narrowed, "Did you make me do that?"
The TARDIS hummed in reply, and Sage felt a burst of indignation at being used as a puppet before her anger deflated when she realized that it was for the best.
Sage sighed, "Next time warn a gal, yeah?"
A hum of apology and promise answered her.
"Right, what now? Any kind of meds I need to give 'im?" she asked.
A negative hum, "Then what should I do?"
Another hum with a flash of a picture, "Watch over him? Alright, minute somethin' goes wrong you'll take over, yeah?"
A grateful hum answered her and Sage smiled, "I didn't tell you before, but you're beautiful."
The TARDIS hummed her thanks and flashed more pictures, some of her and flowers of her namesake.
"Thanks for the compliment but I'm pretty plain. Anyway shouldn't you be resting? Your pilot's unconscious and all."
A reluctant hum answered her, "You best rest then, old girl. Don't bother with me, I'll find something to bide my time."
The TARDIS gave a quieter hum and a presence left her mind as the TARDIS shut down.
Sage was surprised that she didn't realize another presence was in her mind before shrugging, accepting the fact that she had just befriended a sentient spaceship.
Looking at the Doctor again, she smiled when she saw his breathing even out.
Studying the alien, Sage didn't notice any external differences. She didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed at the fact that he looked exactly like any other human man.
Looking around, Sage spotted and grabbed a chair, dragging it over to the bedside alien.
"Hullo there, Doctor. My name's Sage. Seems your ship's kidnapped me to care for your well-being," she chuckled.
"Though for a kidnapper, she's very nice. You'd best get better soon, Doctor because I have no idea what I'm really doing."
She sighed, slumping down in the chair. "What did I just get myself into?"
Sage grabbed her beanie and pulled it off, putting it in her lap before raking a hand through her hair.
"I'm gonna be here for some time, might as well get some stuff done," she dropped her hand and sighed.
She looked to the side, spotting her fallen bookbag. She must've taken it off when the TARDIS took over.
Sage went and grabbed the bag, rummaging in it to pull out her binder of notes.
She started spreading her papers on the floor and laid on her stomach. Grabbing a red pen, she uncapped it and settled in to grade papers.
An incessant humming thrummed in Sage's mind.
Groggily Sage woke up and sat up. She looked around, disoriented by her unfamiliar surroundings.
She blinked, trying to remember what happened last night.
Walking home and thinking how kids are so stupid when I gave them the answers and they still get it wrong, humming and then- Oh!
Sage starts as she remembers, Aliens!
She looked at her watch, "Fuck, I'm late for school!" She rushed to get her papers in her bag before she remembered it was the weekend.
"Well, takes care of that at least," she yawned.
Sage stretched her arms out, wincing at the cracks. "What d'ya want me to do since you woke me up at this ungodly hour on a weekend?"
A quiet hum and pictures answered her. Sage frowned, "You want me to make tea? How's tea gonna help him?"
Information streamed into her mind and she groaned in pain, "I have no idea what you just said to me. All I got is that it helps and science and that's good enough for me."
She stood up and tilted her head up at the ceiling, "You feel good enough to help me find my way?"
A bright hum answered her and she smiled, "Let's go then, babe."
She wandered the halls, chattering to the ship about weird anecdotes, her arms flailing as she spoke.
She was walking into the kitchen saying, "This is why I don't understand people. Why lie about feelings and the like if you both like each other? Why deny yourself the pleasure? It's better to have your heart broken, much as it pains me to say, than to not have loved at all." she said up to the ceiling.
An understanding hum answered her as she popped the kettle on, "Thank you, least someone doesn't think I'm looney. All my peers and relatives always thought I was stupid with all my opinions but now I know someone's on my side, albeit it's an alien spaceship."
Now an amused hum answered her and Sage smiled, "Is it sad to say that you're the best company I've ever had. More so than most people. Most times when I talk, they always say I talk too fast and can't understand and then when I try and say it again slower it doesn't work so it's always an endless cycle of frustration. You though, you understand me perfectly fine and I know you can't talk with words but it's great to have a conversation where someone understands me. I just learn to keep quiet now, 'cept when I'm teaching of course."
She leaned back against the stove, "You know I should be really freaking out about this. I mean an alien spaceship pops up outta the middle of nowhere, dumps a shit ton of information and essentially tells me to save her pilot. I should be freaking out, why am I not freaking out?"
The TARDIS just gave a knowing hum in reply. Sage sighed, "Yeah I know, I'm weird."
"Is that why you chose me or some bullshit? Cuz you know for a fact that'd he get better on his own, might've taken some time but you didn't need me," she asked.
The TARDIS didn't reply and Sage groaned at the unhelpful response, "Yeah, that clears things up, not answering always helps the situation."
The kettle screeched its shrill sound and Sage hurriedly switched it off, pouring the hot water into a mug to let the tea steep.
A few minutes later, she's walking back toward the Doctor with a warm mug of tea in hand.
She opened the door and carefully sidestepped her mess from last night. Snagging the chair with her free hand, she placed it next to the bed and sat down.
Sage looked at the mug in her hands and the alien laying on the bed next to her, "How the hell am I gonna get him to drink this?"
A hum answered her and she gave a short glare to the ship, "Oh now you answer me?" she grumbled.
A remote was dropped into her lap and she had to lift the mug up quickly so the remote didn't drop into it.
"Thanks, babe." Pressing the button to elevate the bed, she pressed the mug to his lips when he reached the satisfactory height.
Tilting his head, she carefully helped him drink the tea. After a few sips, Sage pulled the mug away from his lips and set the mug on the floor next to her.
For a minute, she worried that the tea didn't do anything, but then she noticed how his pallor seemed healthier than before.
Sage breathed a sigh of relief, "Sorry if the tea tasted bad, I've been living in England for a while now and I still haven't gotten the hang of making the tea taste great. I mean I've lived here for over eight years, that has to account for something yet my tea still tastes like shite! It's the oddest thing, I do everything you're supposed to, and yet it still tastes like I just put a leaf into hot water. I know that's what tea technically is but my hot leaf water tastes like the leaves from parks or something and I'm rambling."
She sighed again, "I read somewhere that coma patients can sometimes hear what people are saying to them. I hope to god you have no idea what I'm saying, this is all rather embarrassing, and yeah. I dunno, this is more awkward than I anticipated."
Sage stopped and pursed her lips in thought, "Alright, redo. My name's Sage Tran, I'm a history teacher and I was kidnapped by your ship to take care of you. For some reason, I went along with it. Dunno what that says about me really."
She could've sworn that his lips twitched in amusement. Sage grinned, progress was progress. If he could quirk his lips, then he was getting better. If he was getting better, then she'd make fun of herself for the sake of his improvement.
So she launched into stories about her students and opinions on the most inane subjects. She was careful not to really talk about her past, not wanting to relieve any of that.
Sage talked for what felt like hours, but she could see him reacting to her little stories so she counted that as a win.
When her voice went hoarse, she stopped and looked up at the TARDIS, "Is there a shower anywhere, I'm still in my clothes from last night and I think they're crusting on me."
The TARDIS hummed in amused agreement and she smiled, getting up, "Talk soon, Doc."
Sage followed the TARDIS's instructions towards a hotel-like room, heading towards the bathroom.
She quickly showered and slipped on the pajamas the TARDIS gave her, feeling only slightly guilty at the thought of taking the clothes.
She squeezed as much of the water out of her hair before throwing the wet towel back onto the hanger and flipping her damp hair behind her.
Sage wandered out of the bathroom, only getting lost twice before reaching the kitchen. Faintly noticing the mug of tea she used for the Doctor was on a drying rack.
She headed for the fridge, reaching in and pulling out ingredients before doing the same at the pantries.
Sage slipped into the familiar rhythm of chopping vegetables, humming an unknown song.
"I think your cooking makes up for your bad tea, judging by that smell."
Sage shrieked in surprise, dropping her knife and cutting herself.
She cursed colourfully in Vietnamese, sucking on her cut index finger.
Spinning around she pointed at the Doctor, who was leaning against the doorway, with her other hand, took out her injured finger and said, "What the hell? What'd you go and sneak up on me for?"
He put his hands up in surrender but didn't offer an apology asking instead, "Is it really sneaking when you're not trying?"
"If you manage to surprise the other person, then yes!"
He smirked in amusement, "It's not my fault you were in your own little world. I was rather loud getting here."
Sage frowned at the words and took the time to really look at the Doctor. He had changed into a maroon jumper, jeans, leather jacket and boots. He held himself stiffly and when she looked into his blue eyes for the first time, she saw the deep pain he tried to hide.
She didn't ask him about what happened, knowing he didn't want to talk about the war so instead she said, "Hand me that first aid kit."
He looked bewildered at her request, "What first aid kit?"
She gestured vaguely with her uninjured hand, "The one by the left of you."
"What'd you need a first aid kit for?"
"Thanks to someone, I went and accidentally cut myself. Don't know about you, but I'd love to not get the thing infected."
He rolled his eyes, but obliged, handing her the kit. She smiled sweetly up at him, "Thank you."
Not waiting for a reply she opened the kit, making sure she didn't touch the cut with anything and plastered the band-aid on it. Satisfied, she closed the kit and started up cutting vegetables again.
"What're you making?"
"Stir-fry with noodles, only decent thing I can make with what little you have."
"Oi, don't knock my ship!" he said, offended.
"I'm not knocking the TARDIS. The TARDIS is amazing, I'm making fun of the fact that you don't seem to be able to buy any decent food," she said.
He shrugged, "Don't really need to go shopping, anything I need TARDIS gets for me."
"Alright, you gonna keep standing there or are you gonna help me? Cuz I'm tellin' you right now, if you want any of this, you'll need to earn your keep," she asked, tilting her head up to look at him.
His lips quirked up in a small smile and he moved toward the kitchenette, following her instructions as she nattered on about random things.
"Grab the plates and things for me, the cupboards are too high and you're a giant," she ordered when they were done.
"Yes, your majesty," he replied sarcastically, moving to do as she asked.
"Damn right I'm a royal," she shot back.
"Royal pain in the arse, more like," she heard him mutter.
"You don't get to make that opinion until we've known each other for at least a week," Sage retorted, reaching for the plates he handed her.
The Doctor huffed a small laugh and she grinned as she spooned the food on the two plates, "Now take your food, I ain't gonna feed it to you," shoving a plate of the stir-fry into his hands.
They sat down at the table and Sage practically shoveled the food down her mouth. The Doctor was slower in his eating, methodically picking up his food and chewing it.
It was a few moments into the dinner until Sage couldn't take the silence any longer, "Okay, important question to be answered."
She paused when she noticed his shoulders tensed before barreling in, "What's your favourite colour?"
The Doctor coughed in surprise, "What?"
"You heard me. What's your favourite colour?"
"Why's that such an important question?"
Sage threw him an annoyed look as she swallowed a mouthful of food, "It's always used to get to know each other. Those gods awful and annoying 'let's all get to know each other questions' besides 'what's your name?' or 'what'd you like to do in your spare time?'. Thought we'd go and start with that."
"No questions about the ship you're in, just my favourite colour?"
Sage rolled her eyes, "If I wanted to know more about your ship, I'd ask her. The TARDIS will probably answer me better than you can anyway. So let me ask again, what's your favourite colour?"
"Burnt orange," he answered, a barely noticeable tremor in his voice and she ignored the ache in her heart at the reminder of his loss.
Instead she only tilted her head in thought at his response, tapping the end of the chopsticks on her bottom lip, "Like the orange from sunsets, yeah? That's a pretty colour to like. Sunsets are beautiful, I'm surprised though. With the colour of the TARDIS, I'd've thought that your
favourite colour was blue."
The Doctor didn't respond, and she looked over to see him lost in thought. She wasn't stupid, no matter what people said, she heard the slight tremor in his voice when he answered.
So she did what she always did when the air turned awkward, she rambled. "There was this kid way back when that I knew, he always wore this obnoxious shade of orange. You know the one, the bright, neon orange that blinds your eyes. Everyday he'd find a way to incorporate the colour into his wardrobe and that turned me off of any neon colours for life. Honestly you like orange, that's great, but does it have to be that orange?"
Her turn of conversation did the trick, the Doctor's shoulders were less tense and the sadness in his blue eyes were lighter than before. Sage sighed internally in relief at her success.
"You humans are rather odd, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't choose to deliberately wear that colour to annoy you," he replied.
Sage squawked in offense, flailing her arms, barely managing to keep her chopsticks in hand, "What'd you mean he did it to annoy me? I'll have you know that I am a lovable person that everyone enjoys being around."
He snorts, "Oh yes of course, and I'm sure that you didn't complain, loudly I might add, about the shirt."
"Well, I, but, you," she sputters, "I don't know what you're talking about."
The Doctor only smirked in answer, picking up his fork (ugh forks) and stabbing his food.
Sage finished her food with a small scowl, (it was not a pout!) stood up and threw the plate down into the sink with a loud clatter. She flinched at the noise and spun around to check on the Doctor.
His shoulders were tensed again and she could hear his breathing start to become erratic. The Doctor seemed to be barely able to hold himself together, his knuckles were white from gripping the fork. He was still methodically stabbing his food and putting it into his mouth, but it seemed to be more habit than anything.
Sage cursed at her stupidity, he had just gotten out of a warzone, is the last surviving member of his species and made one of the hardest decisions in his life. Loud noises would obviously set him off and even though the plate clatter wasn't anything like a gunshot, it could still trigger a panic attack.
She rushed over to the Doctor, and gently pried his fingers out of his iron tight grip, and instead let him grip her hand. She tried not to wince as his iron-clad grip made her lose all feeling in her right hand. Instead, Sage tried to remember what her therapist said when she would get into a panic attack, "Hey, hey," she said gently.
"Listen to me, you're not there anymore. You're safe, you're away. C'mon now, listen to my voice, follow my voice," she said coaxingly. He reacted marginally, shoulders relaxing minutely, but his breathing was still uneven.
Sage bit her lip, this wasn't working. What were those breathing exercises?
"Doctor, c'mon now, look at me, look at me," using her free hand to turn his face towards her.
He was sat stiffly, shoulders still tense and eyes lost in a horrific nightmare only he could see.
"Doctor, breathe in for four seconds with me, c'mon now, just four seconds." She waited until he did what she asked.
"You're doing great, c'mon out for seven." He shakily breathed out and she smiled softly.
"You're doing amazing, again in four out seven." Sage repeated the placating words, hating that she couldn't do anything else to help.
The Doctor followed her words, and she saw him slowly losing the stiffness in his shoulders. Sage breathed a small sigh of relief.
She looked at the Doctor's face, glad to see his eyes lose the cloudy daze in his eyes. When his eyes were the clear, bright blue, she smiled gently at him.
"Better?"
He nodded curtly, his grip on her hand unrelenting. Sage bit her lip, hesitating.
"I've had panic attacks too, ya know," she started. "It's not a bad thing to have well, it sort of is and, wait, off topic. Anyway this one time, I was watching some kind of show, god I don't even remember what about, and this guy threw a bottle of wine at the wall, shattering glass everywhere. I immediately shut down and started to have a panic attack."
Sage blew out a breath, "It was something so insignificant, but it just made me shut down, didn't come out of it for a solid five minutes or so and yeah," she ended pathetically.
The Doctor's grip on her hand had loosened to a grounding hold. She chanced a look at the Doctor and was struck by the intense look in his eyes as he stared at her.
Sage felt awkward holding his gaze and coughed, dropping her eyes on their linked hands. They sat in silence, their breathing and the TARDIS's warm hum were the only noise in the kitchen.
The silence was broken by the Doctor's gruff voice, "Thank you."
Sage smiled warmly, "You're welcome. Are you gonna finish that or should I bin it? Think carefully of your next answer."
The Doctor huffed a ghost of a laugh, "I'll finish it," he reassured.
Sage beamed, "Great, now I'm gonna go and try and sleep with slightly damp hair. You gonna be okay on your own?"
The Doctor faked a smile, "Of course, I'll be fine."
She hid her worried face with a grin and waited for the Doctor to release her hand. When a moment passed and the Doctor didn't remove his hand, she quirked an eyebrow.
"You know, for me to go to sleep, you'll need to let go of my hand," she said with a teasing grin.
The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced down at their interlocked hands. He quickly snatched his hand away as if he had been burned and looked away.
Sage ignored the ache at the loss of touch and giggled, "Thanks for letting me go."
She brought her hand back to her side, hand throbbing in pain. "Finish your food, I spent a lot of time making that and I expect that to be eaten, all of it. I'll know if you don't," she said pointedly.
The Doctor avoided her gaze and gave a slight nod. Sage internally sighed, and they were making such progress.
She stepped away from the Doctor offering a simple, "Goodnight" before exiting the kitchen.
She followed the TARDIS's hums and reached a door. Opening it she found a room similar to a hotel room and she strode in. Falling down face first on the bed, she closed her eyes and patiently waited to fall to sleep, forgetting to close the door behind her.
The Doctor's POV
The Doctor sat there in silence. He sat there until he couldn't hear the pitter patter of Sage's feet echo the hallway.
He didn't know what came over him, what caused him to go into a panic attack. The plate's clatter had triggered something in his mind, and then he was back in Arcadia. Screams of pain and the Daleks echoed within his mind.
The acrid stench of fire and sulfur burned his nose. Blasts of fallen buildings and bombs rang in his ears. He was stuck in a haze as he watched the fall of his capital city, stuck inside his body, helpless to do anything as he watched his people burn.
The Doctor didn't know how long he stayed watching over and over the horrifying sight. He was deaf to the real world, until a soft voice penetrated the cries of anguish. The voice confused him, how could he not be there anymore?
The battle was happening quite clearly in front of him, but for some reason he listened to the voice. The voice was nice, soft with a hint of sweetness He listened to its placating words and reassuring tone.
He didn't even realize his respiratory bypass had kicked in until the voice said to breathe. He followed the voice's instructions, pushing the battle raging in front of him away and followed the voice.
The Doctor had no idea why he listened to the voice, he had to fight, do something against the Daleks, but he stopped and listened to the voice, followed it.
There was something about the voice, its saccharine tone or maybe its understanding words, that made him want to obey the voice.
He breathed in, then out, in and out, and repeated it until his focus cleared and fixated on the person in front of him.
Sage Tran, that's right. He wasn't in Arcadia anymore, he couldn't be, Arcadia fell, and Gallifrey burned.
The Doctor stared intently at Sage's eyes, they were a dark brown, resembling dark chocolate. Her eyes were warm and filled with understanding and not the pity he was expecting. She had a small smile on her face, corner of her mouth lifted up.
He stared at her, not saying anything and Sage had bit her lip. The Doctor wasn't sure what she was about to do until he heard her break down one of her walls and admit she had panic attacks as well, in that ramble like style of hers, and he loosened his grip on her hand.
For what felt like hours, he didn't respond. He just stared at her intently and when she caught his gaze, averted her eyes.
They stayed in silence before he thanked her and was awarded with her bright smile.
She asked if he would continue eating and he placated her with an agreement.
In truth, his stomach churned at the thought of eating more, and when she left he stood up and dumped the remaining food into the trash.
The Doctor trekked out of the kitchen and through familiar, yet unfamiliar surroundings towards the console room.
He went to the monitor, typing in short instructions. A quiet ding and the Doctor reached out to grab the sonic that appeared. The sonic was slender, simple, and completely suited his new, spartan tastes.
He flicked the button on and off, the familiar whirring sound brought a small smile on his lips. The blue light was new, but he found that the colour was better than the red he had before.
The Doctor pulled up a grating from underneath the console and slid under. He flicked his sonic on again and started the tedious work of fixing the TARDIS. He started the work, if only to give his hands something to do and let his mind wander.
Why did the TARDIS let this human on? Why not just let him heal on his own? The TARDIS knew perfectly well that he didn't need anyone looking after him.
"Ow!" he cried, sucking on his burnt finger. He let go of his finger and glared at the wiring. "What'd you go an' do that for, you ungrateful ship?"
The TARDIS hummed indignantly, telling him she disagreed with his last statement. "What? I don't need anybody lookin' after me, 'specially not a little human ape."
She sparked in disagreement, and reminded him about how Sage did help him when he had that panic attack.
"Right, she helped with one thing and suddenly she's my babysitter," he said, rolling his eyes.
The TARDIS hummed in agreement, and the Doctor narrowed his eyes.
"She's not my babysitter," he said firmly.
The TARDIS hummed with no answer and shocked him again when he tried to fix another wire.
"Bloody hell, fine. See if I fix you anymore," he cried and slid out from the panel. The TARDIS gave a warning hum before telling him to look at the monitor.
"Touchy, touchy," but he relented, stood up and looked at the monitor. There was a reading of a massive transmitter in the middle of London.
"What? That can't be right. Show me where the transmitter is," he said as he typed commands into the keyboard.
"Henrick's, and where's that?" he groaned, "Of course, because I'm never done with savin' that lot am I?"
The Doctor shook his head and began typing in coordinates, rushing around to start the materialization process.
He pulled the lever and the familiar wheezing brought a smile to his lips as he rushed towards the door.
He started to pull open the door when he pulled back from a shock, "What was that for?" He asked indignantly up at the ship.
The TARDIS hummed in warning, showing him a picture of Sage still asleep in her room.
"Well, what'd you want me to do? You know those apes, wasting half o' their lives sleeping."
The TARDIS hummed in exasperation and only showed him the picture of Sage again.
"Fine, fine," he relented, "But if she's not out in time I'm leavin' without her."
The TARDIS hummed in affirmation, eagerly shifting hallways to help reach Sage's door.
"Why're you so eager with this one? She's just a little ape, emphasis on the little part. It's not like she'll impact my future or anythin'. 'Sides she has to go back an' teach soon anyway." he said nonchalantly, ignoring the pang in his heart as he said the last words.
The TARDIS only hummed knowingly, not bothering to reply. The Doctor huffed annoyed.
"What? Is she important to me or something?"
The TARDIS didn't reply and the Doctor rolled his eyes as an open door came into view.
He walked toward the door and knocked, looking in to see the sparse hotel like room.
The bed sheets were rumpled and her glasses were strewn over the table side.
The bathroom sink was running at full power and the door was thrown wide open.
"Sage?" he called out hesitantly.
There was no answer, and the Doctor ventured a few steps closer to the bathroom door.
He leant against the doorway when he saw Sage leaning over the sink.
He could hear her incoherent mutterings as he watched her in concern.
She was bent over the porcelain sink, hands gripping the sink tightly. Her knuckles turning white from her grip.
"Sage?" he said louder.
The Doctor watched as her back visibly tensed before she straightened up, turning off the sink and around to face him.
She ran a hand through her hair and smiled up at him with squinting eyes. If he hadn't found her hunched over the sink, he would've believed the smile himself.
"What's up, Doc?" she giggled but the Doctor wasn't an idiot. He could almost hear her forcing herself to smile and laugh.
But she didn't want to talk about it, and it was too early in their relationship right now to talk personally.
Relationship? Is that what this was? Well not the romantic one obviously, but the platonic friend one. He didn't know and he didn't like this new change in his life.
Usually his companions were the ones to listen to him, the ones he takes care of and grew to care deeply for. He takes care of them, occasionally they care for him as well, but he was the one with a plan.
He'd take them on adventures and save each other's lives, less talking about personal lives, just everyday another adventure.
The Doctor supposed he didn't want to get too close and only end up having them ripped away from him. If he stayed distant to an extent, the inevitable loss would hurt less.
His human companions were his company when the Time Lords were being, well stuffy gits. They brought a new sense of wonder to his adventures and that's why he loved them.
The Doctor loved them all equally and differently than each other. Their personalities and spunk gave him a new perspective during his adventures, it was why he usually bring human companions.
But he didn't deserve them, not anymore, not after what he did. And even if his curiosity was screaming at him about Sage, he ignored it.
"There's a small transmitter in London that's not human. I'd thought," the TARDIS interrupted and he amended his statement with a small roll of his eyes, "The TARDIS thought you'd like to come with and find out what it is."
Sage looked at him thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side, "Yeah, why not? Sounds like fun, gimme ten to change and I'll meet you by the doors."
He nodded curtly, resigning himself to wait half an hour and made his way towards the console room.
Ten minutes later, Sage walked out in jeans, an oversized pullover hoodie and a TARDIS blue beanie, hands stuffed in her front pocket.
The Doctor stared at her in surprise when she came out exactly ten minutes later and she stared back, fidgeting slightly.
"Exploring? Unknown transmitter from possible extraterrestrial lands? This ringing any bells?" she asked nervously.
The Doctor snapped out of his thoughts, "Right, right, yes! C'mon then let's go," and grabbed her wrist, dragging her off.
A.N.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Constructive criticism is welcome. This was un-betaed, therefore all mistakes are mine. Inspiration from amazing author LizzieXX.