WARNING: This is a sequel! If you haven't read Stuck yet, go back and read that before you read this! THIS IS VITAL! Thank you :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

Stranger I've known you for so long
I found you lost with a compass in the fog
Stranger you know me too much
Illusionary-self had not be touched

It was too early. Yes, the queen of waking up at a decent hour thinks it's too early, so it must be true. The sun had only just come up an hour ago, and already I was busy setting up. What kind of bookstore opens at six in the morning? Well, apparently this one.

"Cat, you look a bit tired."

I shot Chris a glare. "No, really?"

He raised his hands in a defensive position and carried on doing whatever he was doing. No doubt helping one of the store's employees unload the truck of books.

I sighed and dropped my face into my arms, my contacts burning my eyes. I should've just worn my glasses. And this shirt was too short. Well, no, it was actually too long. No, actually, I was just being irritable. I wasn't normally tired, but when I was I was unusually crabby. I'd be fine by the afternoon, when most of the readers would be around. Chris called them fans, but I preferred the term readers. 'Fans' was for the kids who'd seen the movie, but not read the book that inspired it.

"Ms. Black," I raised my head to find a young girl standing in front of me, one of the teenage employees. She had red hair, reminding me instantly of Riley. "I know you're not really 'on the clock' yet, but would you mind signing this?" She held out my book. Not the movie copy, but the original. With the painting of the blue box and the soccer ball.

I grinned at her, forgetting how grumpy I was for a moment. I signed her book, and she skipped away with a smile on her face. I loved readers like that. They always made me feel slightly important.

"Ready, Cat?" Chris asked, waddling over to me as he rubbed his large hands together like a villain of some kind.

"I think so." I shrugged.

"Great, 'cause we've got about ten people waiting outside those doors."

"Already?" I asked. I was thrilled that they all wanted to be here early, but I was hoping for a slow morning and a busy afternoon. Not the other way around.

"Yup, and they're still lining up," He grinned, and held a pen out to me. I took it, and dropped it onto the table in front of me.

This was going to be a long day.

I was being overemotional. It was a perfectly normal reaction, but it was still overemotional. And I was guessing that the contacts had something to do with it, but that was beside the point.

I took a deep breath and wiped the tears from my cheeks, looking down at my glasses folded on the counter. Thankfully, Chris had gotten them from my house when he ran to get lunch. My eyes could rest now.

I took my contacts out and put them in their case, then put my glasses on. Finally, I risked a glance at myself. My eyes were red, and you could see traces of tears caused by too much thinking about a painful subject (guess which one). I'd be fine by the time I got back out to the booth.

With another sigh, my focus moved to the glasses I now despised. It wasn't that they'd been annoying lately, it's just that they reminded me of the Doctor every time I saw them. He was always on my mind, he just normally lay dormant in the back of my mind. I preferred it like that. Much easier to carry on with life. Especially ever since I saw him when I was watching the Olympics a few months ago.

Another deep breath escaped me, and I turned to leave the women's room. I soon found myself at my little table again, people lined up and Chris tapping his foot anxiously.

"Cat, you said five minutes." He growled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Sorry," I mumbled, sitting down and ignoring the twisting feeling in my chest.

Chris was amazing. And not just because he was the world's best publicist. He knew me. Not as well as Riley did, but somewhere around there. He knew when I was happy and why, but, more importantly, when I was sad.

He set his hand on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "Another few hours,"

I nodded, offered him a smile, and went back to signing books.

Two hours and forty-five minutes later, I was walking around the bookstore. Chris had a few last minute arrangements to make with the manager, and he was my ride home. I could see them in the corner, but they were quiet. Chris normally was.

I sighed and went back to the spines of the books on the shelf in front of me. There wasn't anything interesting, seeing as I was in the section full of how-to and cook books. Plus, I couldn't see much because my eyes kept falling closed. What? All of the smiling at these things made me tired. However, as I looked around again, all of the exhaust was wiped from my eyes.

Just as one of the employees was about to lock the front door, an odd man jogged through, causing a slight bit of curiosity on my part.

"Sorry, sorry, just need a moment," He exclaimed in a British accent as he continued to jog, only towards me this time.

When he finally stopped in front of me, his broad chest heaving, I got a decent look at him. His clothing choice was odd to say the least, with his tweed jacket, boots, and rolled-up black pants. As his jacket swayed, I caught a glimpse of suspenders, and I strongly admired his bowtie. He had a strong jaw and pronounced cheekbones, his long brown hair sweeping against the right side of his face. His skin was pale and stretched nicely over his bones, but none of these features were as attention-demanding as his eyes. Although they were a shade of dark green I'd never seen before, they looked slightly familiar.

"Can I help you?" I asked, blinking as he stared at me. He looked like he was about to cry. Maybe he was one of those gay guys that really liked John…?

He was silent for a moment, appearing to not have heard what I was going to say. "Oh, right, I'm a bit late, but…" He held out my book (where had that come from?) and smiled at me sadly. "Odd enough, I've never been good with time."

I grabbed the book with a smile and opened it to the front cover. "Do you have a pen?"

He stuck his hand in his pocket and started rummaging about, his face pinching as he searched. Finally, he pulled his hand out. "Whoops, not that, let's see…" I caught a glance of something shiny before he shoved his hand back into his pocket, dropped whatever he was holding, and eventually found a pen.

I offered him a smile as I took the pen. "You should get a pocket-protector," I mumbled, and I looked at the book and started to jot down a message. "It would really compliment the bowtie."

Seeming offended, he reached up and tugged at the odd little tie. "Oi, bowties are cool." He put emphasis on each of the words, as if he'd said them so much he was sick and tired of them.

I chuckled. "I never said they weren't."

Silence struck us for a few moments, but I eventually finished signing the book and slammed the hardcover shut. "There we are." I grinned and held the book out to him again.

He happily accepted it, and somehow managed to fit the entire thing in his pocket. Then, he smiled at me, working hard to contain it. "May I have the pleasure of walking you to your car?" He held out his hand, and a memory of the Doctor doing the same thing popped into my mind.

Succumbing to my aching heart, I grasped his hand and started tugging him towards the door. "Chris, meet you at the car!" I shouted over my shoulder before looking back at the stranger. "I still don't know your name."

He let out a few sharp bits of laughter, and forced me to slow down by pulling at my arm. "I'm… James McCrimmon." He raised a long, slender finger and tapped my nose. "No need to introduce yourself, Catherine." The way he said my name seemed familiar, but I couldn't sort it. Plus, it sounded way too sentimental and sad for him to be thinking about me. He must've known another Catherine.

"So, I couldn't help but notice," I mumbled, releasing his hand. "Are you British?"

"Well, I'm from all over, I guess."

"Oh, well, that's informing," I smirked. "I'm just gonna say you're British."

He chuckled. "Can I ask you a question?"

I shrugged. "Everyone else does,"

"Brilliant, here goes," He grinned and clapped his large hands together. "Do you miss him?"

"Who?"

He held up my book and pointed at it. "Him."

I froze and blinked. "John?"

He nodded.

I was silent for a moment, and then sighed with a nod. "More than I should sometimes."

"Where'd he go?"

I shrugged. "He just had to go, that's all."

Once more, he looked like he was about to cry. "He just left you?" He sounded guilty, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe he'd just left someone behind before.

"He couldn't take me. He wanted to, though. He made the right choice, leaving me behind."

It had seemed like no time at all, but we'd reached Chris's car. Oddly enough, I didn't want to say goodbye to strange James McCrimmon. I would've liked to get to know him a bit better.

"Do you think he'll come back?" He asked, staring down at me.

I stared back as I shook my head. "No, I told him not to." I mumbled with a frown on my face. "He's not coming back."

He smiled sadly. "Here's a secret," His fingers were suddenly at the base of my neck, winding in my hair. He leaned forward slightly, staring deeply into my eyes. "You're wrong." With one swift motion, he kissed my forehead and turned, jogging away from me as fast as he could.

Slightly confused, I decided to just forget the odd man. However, as I leaned back against Chris's car, I couldn't bring myself to think about anything else. So, on a whim, I chased after him. I ran as fast as I could, hoping to see him, and I caught the slightest glance of a tweed jacket whipping into an alley. I ran to it, but as I turned the corner I saw nothing. There was a wall at the end, but nothing was seen other than that.

I frowned and slowly started back towards Chris's car. However, on my way there, I realized something. In my book, John and Rose stayed together. She went with him.

So how did he know that the Doctor had left?

Stranger you've followed me so far
Until the roads converged, as did the stars
Stranger the moon looks blue tonight
Your photo framed, raw within my mind

A/N: I did a little bit of editing to this chapter, and I forgot when I wrote here before... whoops. Anyways, thanks for reading!