Chapter One

Rose walked down the corridor carrying a small clipboard while she headed towards the console room. It had been a slow day and to pass the time the TARDIS had helped her and Donna and Martha organize a scavenger hunt. The TARDIS had patched in to the computer, made up three separate lists of items to find and printed them out. Each girl took a list and now all of them were trying to be the first to finish.

The problem was some of the items were unfamiliar to Rose. Most of the things on the list she had never heard of before and had no clue where to find them. But then again, that was part of the fun and a great excuse to do some more exploring of the TARDIS.

She entered the console room and smiled when she saw the Doctor. One of her items was the Doctor's freckle and as usual, the Doctor was right where he always was. Smiling, she walked over to him.

She paused when she got around the railing and saw what he was doing. He had his trench coat on and had his arm in his coat pocket clear up to his elbow. Assorted objects were lying next to him in a pile while he cursed softly to himself and rummaged around inside his coat. Not wanting to disturb him, Rose walked up, took a long look at his freckly face, grabbed her pen and with a flourish, checked off the item on her list.

"there," she said to herself.

She turned to go.

"There what?"

She turned back. The Doctor had paused and was staring at her, confused.

"Oh, I'm…uh…in the middle of a scavenger hunt," she said, sheepishly. "I have to tick items off the list."

The Doctor was even more confused.

"And what were you just ticking off?" he asked.

She grinned.

"Your cute little freckle."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow.

"That's one of the things on your list? One of my freckles?"

"Yup, the TARDIS made up these lists for me and Donna and Martha and she listed one of your freckles on mine."

The Doctor glanced up at the ceiling when the TARDIS rumbled out a laugh. Rose came closer.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

The Doctor sighed.

"My psychic paper fell down deep into my pocket and I'm trying to find it," he said angrily.

Rose stared at the objects on the seat.

"Um, do you mind if I look through these in case you have something here that's on my list?" she asked hesitantly.

The Doctor shrugged.

"Go ahead."

Rose held the clipboard to her chest and began to sift through the Doctor's belongings while he went back to finding his psychic paper. There was an assortment of stuff; everything from paper clips to kid's toys. Rose picked up a rubber duck and stared at it.

"Um…why is there a rubber duck in your pocket?" she asked.

The Doctor glanced at it.

"That's my bath toy. I like to have it along when we stay overnight at inns. Reginald comforts me when I'm in a strange bath."

Rose stared at him and then slowly put the duck down. She went back to sifting. She paused when she noticed a huge purple puffball. She began to stroke it and gasped when the puffball popped out into a tiny purple hedgehog-like creature.

"Hi!" it said in a high pitched voice. "I'm Wubby the Wondrous Wub! Would you play with me?"

The Doctor groaned.

"Ugh, you had to go and wake Wubby up, didn't you?"

"What is it?"

"It's an annoying little toy kinda like a Furby. You teach it to talk and it sings and dances and tells stories. I got it from some alien marketplace awhile back thinking it would be fun to have, but it's just become an annoying nuisance. Unfortunately, I stuck Wubby in my pocket when he wouldn't shut up and forgot all about him till now."

"What's your name?" Wubby asked Rose.

"Um…Rose," she said hesitantly.

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Say, would you like me to sing and dance for you?"

Rose glanced at the Doctor and noticed he was concentrating on finding his psychic paper. She looked at Wubby.

"Um…okay," she said.

"Great! Just watch me go!"

Wubby reached into a huge pouch on his belly and brought out a tiny straw hat and a wooden cane. He put the hat on his head, held the cane in his paws and began to tap dance while he sang in a high pitched voice. Rose smiled. She had to admit, the thing was cute. It danced and sang for a couple of minutes and then with a flourish, took the hat off its head.

"TA-DA!" it squeaked out.

Rose clapped.

"Oh God, don't encourage the thing, please," the Doctor said. "You do that and it'll go all night long."

"Sorry," Rose said. "I'll stop now."

Wubby turned and stared at the Doctor for a moment and then turned back to Rose.

"That is the great and glorious Doctor," he told her. "He is the most magnificent creature in the universe."

Rose glanced at the Doctor who was giving the toy a look of death. To her amusement, Wubby turned and saluted the Doctor.

"Oh, hail, the wonderfully magnanimous Oncoming Storm!"

The Doctor turned beet red when Wubby fell to his furry knees and began to worship him.

"What's this?" Rose said with a grin.

"Um…that is…a mistake. See, I told you that you teach Wubby to talk and well, I was kinda playing around with him and getting him to say stuff that now I really, really regret ever teaching him."

"Oh, Doctor," Wubby said, prostrating. "I am scum next to you. You are the greatest thing since sliced bread. How can I ever compare to your all-encompassing awesomeness?"

Rose bent over laughing as the Doctor put his head in his hands.

"Shall I find a virgin to sacrifice to your greatness?" Wubby asked him.

"No!" the Doctor said, grabbing him, squeezing him back into a ball and stuffing him in his pocket as Rose gripped the railing and roared with laughter. "And rest assured, you purple menace, once I get through looking for my psychic paper, you are going to be jettisoned into deep space."

"Aw, it's not little Wubby's fault, he's only doing what someone who shall remain nameless taught him to do, you know," she said.

"Yes, well, Wubby has worn out his wondrous Wub welcome, rest assured of that."

"He went back to searching his pockets while Rose picked through the rest of the objects. There was a yo-yo, paper clips, chewing gum, pens and pencils, a calculator, an orange gem, the sonic screwdriver, a comb, some coins, a credit stick, a photo of him and Rose, a clear plastic ball filled with green goo, an IPod, a Game Boy, and several wadded up pieces of paper.

"Nuts."

The Doctor looked at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing else here is on my list," she said.

"Oh, well, sorry. I guess the TARDIS didn't want to make it too easy for you."

"I'll say…what the heck is a Babzorian root anyway?"

"It's a medicinal herb that's used to treat seizures. It's in the huge white cabinet in the med bay."

"Oh, good, thanks."

The Doctor paused.

"Let me see that," he said, taking the clipboard from her hands.

He studied it with interest.

"My, my, you certainly have a range of objects here," he said to himself. "And they're all over the TARDIS; you are going to have quite a search."

"That's what I was afraid of."

The Doctor thought for a moment.

"Am I excluded from this scavenger hunt?"

Rose frowned.

"I…don't think so."

The Doctor gave her a mischievous look.

"Well then, how would you like me to accompany you on your great search? Give you a little advantage over the competition?"

"Um…I don't know, I mean, you probably know where everything is, so there really wouldn't be any point in--"

"That's just it. I don't remember where a lot of this stuff is," the Doctor said. "Most of the items on this list are things I collected over my nine hundred years, put away and forgot about. I know what everything is, mind you. But, apart from three or four things, I can't think where they are in the TARDIS. So, you see, I can assist you in letting you know what these items look like, but that's as far as it goes. Personally, I'm bored up here and the whole idea of a scavenger hunt is intriguing. Never done it myself and who knows what we might find. So, after I find this Rassilon-forsaken psychic paper of mine, do you mind if I come with you?"

"No, I'd love you to come," Rose said, overjoyed.

"Great! Just let me take one more dive into the old pocket here…"

He hitched up his coat, plunged his arm into his pocket and went in almost up to his shoulder. Rose watched while he scrunched up his face and cursed to himself. Then, suddenly, he beamed.

"AH-HA! Found it, at last! Sitting on a ledge right near the bottom!"

He slowly brought his arm up until his wrist was showing. He paused a moment and smiled.

"There, put it back safe and sound on the correct ledge," he said. "And this time, I made sure it was secure so it doesn't fall away again."

He took his hand out and looked at the pile of junk.

"Okay, so now, I'll get the rest of this stuff back in my pocket and then you and I can go off looking for all the items on your list and beat Donna and Martha at the scavenger hunt."