Friends In Distress (Emilie)

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This was it. It was, wasn't it? Of course it was. The TARDIS may sometimes go in the wrong direction, or to the wrong location or time, but whenever she was tracking a distress signal, the Doctor's ship always got the co-ordinates spot-on. And so here he was. Earth, by the looks of things. "Now then," he said to himself, stepping out of the doorway and straightening his jacket. "Let's see who's in trouble this time."

As he turned a corner, the Time Lord took in the scenery. Looked like a shopping street, typical of the twenty-first century. It wasn't surprising to him that an alien would be sending a high-power S.O.S from this time. There were always crawling about. What he was interested in why. Most of the aliens crawling about nowadays want to destroy the planet for some reason. Who would be seeking help? He was so lost in thought, he didn't keep a proper eye on where he was going.

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Walking home from university, Emilie was preoccupied with the synthesis questions she had been given. It seemed like there was a very simple answer, child's play really, but whatever that answer was - it eluded her.

Despite her many good qualities, paying attention to her route was not one Emilie was known for. Really, even she was not sure why her parents thought she should be on her own. They must have thought her responsible enough. She had plenty of money in the bank for food, or she would have been in much more trouble.

Not that she had fully forgiven them for leaving her here of all places. England. Honestly. Was it too much to ask that she actually have input in what boring human city she was trapped in?

Fine, fine, she was human herself. That didn't mean she had to like her species. Wasn't that the whole reason she had been raised on the road?

Maybe it was some sort of inner boredom that directed her to pay attention to this particular stranger, maybe it was just that he had stopped dead in the middle of the street and he seemed lost enough Emilie wasn't sure if he would remember lorries drove in the road and pedestrians were meant to walk on the street.

"Are you mad?"

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Well that was a nice greeting. Not really. Or was it meant to be neither hostile or nice? The Doctor couldn't tell. All he could tell was that this human-looking young woman had come up to him and asked him a short question. "Oh, don't tell me people are starting to notice," he said in answer, giving her a joking smile before frowning a little. "Why do you ask?"

Then his answer came as his eye caught something. A car coming round the corner they were standing on the road beside. He only saw it because he was looking over her shoulder, and it was coming round behind her. And it was travelling at such a speed that it would be unlikely the driver would notice two pedestrians until it was too late.

Thinking quick, the Doctor grabbed the human and pulled her on to the pavement just as the vehicle went past, almost flying. Not literally, of course. He let his breath go as it went off, checked to see that his new acquaintance was alright, then dusted himself down.

"Okay, yes. Maybe I am a bit mad. You alright?" He looked her over again, checking for any signs of injury. "Sorry about that. I don't know why I attracted your attention, but I nearly got us both killed there. Then again, I wouldn't have seen it unless I was looking at you. So sorry and thank you at the same time, I suppose." He breathed out a long breath again and leaned against a lampost, studying her.

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There was something very off balanced about this man, and for some bizarre reason Emilie did not think of this as too unusual for comfort.

Emilie had successfully managed to capture his attention, and he in turn had noticed the car behind. Convenient, really, it spared her from explaining in detail just why she had questioned his sanity in the first place.

On the down side, he'd had to pull her down to get out of the way and that... that was certainly different.

"You attracted my attention by standing in the middle of the road like a loon," Emilie stated.

Sure, it might not need saying, but that wasn't going to stop her from doing so.

Standing up, Emilie rubbed her wrist briefly before nodding.

"Everything is still attached."

And really, she didn't look any worse for wear, so it was probably no harm no foul.

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"You attracted my attention by standing in the middle of the road like a loon," Emilie stated.

The Doctor frowned at her a little. "Yes, well, I get that now," he said. "Sorry. I just got here, and I'm not entirely sure of where to go. Anyways, nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor, in case you ever want to find me again. But good luck with that, it'd be difficult. Bye then!"

He turned away from her just as he took out the sonic screwdriver. Standing there, hunched over the device, he fiddled with it. "Come on then, let's be having you..." It was always jumpy whenever it came to tracking down a distress signal. He still had to figure out whether it was from excitement, nervousness, or a technological glitch.

Eventually it decided to fix on a direction, and the Doctor grinned. "Right then. Geronimo!" He started off down the street, making sure to stay off the road.

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It wasn't keeping up with his speech that was the problem. It was keeping up with his mood swings.

'Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor. Bye then?'

What kind of sentiment was that?

"Hang on, the Doctor." She'd already decided to follow him. "Rassilon, you're cranky aren't you? It's nice to meet you too, I'm sure you're the most charming man I've ever saved from a car crash and had save my life as well at the same time. What exactly is it you're looking for? Answers? Questions? John Galt?"