Her Return (Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

The Doctor slowly dragged himself toward his beloved TARDIS. River was gone. After their 24 year night on Delirium, she just left. He knew what was coming for her, but she didn't: The Library. He knew that his time with her has finally come to an end. True, he thought it that way before, back on Trenzalore, but she didn't recognize him and there was no way of changing that.

He lazily pressed a few buttons and pulled some switches. He didn't really care where he ended up now, he lost the only other Timelord in existence. Well, part Timelord, but it was enough. He knew that moping around all the time wouldn't help. He did that once before and that ended with him in Victorian London, being nagged by his friends. Vastra, Jenny and Strax were helpful, but their constant nagging was really bothersome. He wouldn't be able to handle that again.

No, he was the Doctor, and he needed to go on an adventure and save some people. That's what he did, from now until forevermore.

"Alright, ole girl. What have you got for me today?" He whispered to his beautiful TARDIS, rubbing the console lightly. Suddenly, a map of London appeared on his screen with three alien lifeforms in the vicinity. Two in a park and one at a nearby coffee shop.

He ran around the pristine console, coaxing her to follow the signal. She didn't hesitate to jump into action, making his feet slide on the floor as he grabbed the panel for stability. He listened to the now happy whirring of the TARDIS, excited to see her thief in a good mood again. Oh, how he missed all of this.

He enjoyed, and loved, the 24 years he spent on Delirium with River, but now he needed some adventure more than ever. The TARDIS soon landed with her familiar banging noise and he jumped up from his now sitting position. He ran to the doors, making sure his screwdriver was safely in his coat pocket. He opened the doors and saw...nothing.

There wasn't a thing out of place in this peaceful park in London. He knew a lot could go wrong with nothing, but there was no sense of malice in the air he normally felt in one of these situations. He saw young parents watching children play in the park's calm atmosphere. The Doctor took a deep breath, smelling that good old Earth air that never seemed to changed.

With a smile on his face, he walked up to a young woman in her mid to late twenties with a young boy that looked like her, presumably her son. They both had blonde curly hair, but the most distinct difference was their eyes. Hers were a dark shade of brown while the boy's were a light hazel. "Hello, I'm inspector John Smith. I was wondering if you've seen anything strange around town lately?" He flashed her his psychic paper. She gave him an incredulous look before answering.

"No, I haven't. Well, I mean there's that bloke in the shop down the street who is really rude and never has business, but seems to stay around with plenty of money." He held in a sigh. He was hoping for more, but he figured this is all he was getting from her. "All right. Thank you for your time." The Doctor sauntered over to a bench where a newspaper was neatly folded and placed in the center of its wooden paneling. He quickly pulled it up and read, "9/5/2160" After reading the title he hastily threw it back onto the bench and walked away.

He knew the TARDIS wouldn't send him astray, so he decided to check the supposedly suspicious shop. The TARDIS had said something about a nearby coffee shop with the alien lifeform; maybe it would lead him somewhere.

He entered the shop, opening the door with the ding of a bell. He walked up to the counter, still not sure what to be looking for. Soon enough, a young man with shaggy brown hair and green eyes came up to the counter with a scowl on his face.

"Can I help you, sir." The boy called, obviously annoyed with everything and everyone. The Doctor just smiled at him. "Yeah, I was wondering if anything strange has happened around here lately." The boy didn't falter or remove his scowl. "No." His word laced with venom. The Doctor shrugged. "Just curious. My curiosity is going to be the death of me. Speaking of which, has anyone died lately?" the boy's eyes glinted with humor for a fraction of a second before wiping it off hoping the stranger hadn't seen it.

"No, sir. Now if you don't mind, leave." The boy began to walk away. The Doctor stopped him, by calling for him. "Hey, kid, wait! Don't you want business? I mean, I assume you don't get much with how your treating me, but I decided I want something." The boy let out an audibly exasperated sigh. "What can I get you?" He walked up to the register. The Doctor took a glance at its contents noticing it being empty. Odd.

"Black coffee, please." He didn't really care, since he wasn't going to drink it anyway, he just needed to see how this place worked. As the boy walked back into the back room, a light whirring came from behind the door, a noise not of this planet or time. As he waited, thinking about what it could possibly be, a woman walked into the shop.

She glanced around suspiciously with her hazel eyes, before stopping on the Doctor. She seemed to be in her mid to late thirties, by what the Doctor could see. She had brown, almost black hair. She walked up with a smile and outstretched arm. "Hello, sir. How are you?" She had one of those genuine smiles that you just couldn't believe to be anything different. It reminded him of...No, he couldn't think of her. She had to be long gone by now.

"Hello, I'm...John Smith and you?" He asked inquisitively, with a similar smile to hers on his face. Her eyes glinted for a moment before continuing as though it didn't happen. "I'm no one important, but if you must know my name is...Andrea." She smiled, before turning her attention back to the returning man.

He spotted her and rolled his eyes. "Another one? Really? " He muttered under his breath. The Doctor could almost make out him saying something along the lines of "Stupid humans, I'll never understand them." Well, if that didn't set off any alarms nothing would have.

Andrea stepped up to the counter. "Yes... I'd like a...black coffee." She ordered as she scanned the board above him. The man disappeared back into the doorway and Andrea turned her attention back to the Doctor. "Do you notice anything strange about this place?" She whispered in a conspiratorial voice.

"Do I know you from somewhere, Andrea? The name doesn't ring a bell, but you seem familiar." He asked, completely disregarding her previous question. She almost smiled, but concealed it. There was only a shimmer of one in her eyes that couldn't be hidden. "No, you don't know me."

The Doctor simply shrugged. "Alright." Just then the mysterious man appeared from behind the door again, lacking the drinks. The Doctor was really starting to wonder what was going on here.

Andrea decided to speak up. "You know. If you didn't want arouse suspicion, you should probably play your cover better." The man scowled again, before regaining a bit of a normal composure. "What cover? I don't know what your talking about." The Doctor crossed his arms.

"If you hated people so much, why do you insist on having a shop in which you have to interact with them?" The boy shrugged, obviously feigning normalcy. "I don't know, why do you have to poke and prod everything that goes on in everyone else's lives, John?" The mystery man glared at the Doctor.

"Look, quit the act. I know your not human, and I need you to stand down before things get out of hand. I'm going to give you one chance: leave or I will stop you." It was the Doctor who was glaring now. "Who are you anyways?"

"You don't recognize me, really?" The boy put a hand up to his chest and held his mouth agape in fake hurt, before rolling his eyes keeping his cold glare on the Doctor. "Doctor, I'm shocked. You and your impeccable memory, don't you remember me?"

While the Doctor was trying to figure out who this boy could've been, Andrea was standing shocked. She wasn't sure if she just heard the alien right. Did he really say Doctor? It couldn't possibly be him. He did say he would be back, but she never intended it to be like this. Her eyes wide and mouth agape, fixing on the Doctor. She didn't expect him to recognize her, with everything that's happened to him since he must have last seen her.

"Doctor..." She breathed before she could catch herself. Thankfully very quiet; although, she didn't think that stopped him from hearing. If he did hear her, he didn't show it. She gathered herself again and resumed to try and figure the rest of this case.

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A/N I'm not going to bore you with this, but it's out! Finally! It's out!

Alright, my question to you is this, who is she? Comment below the answer. You might be able to figure it out.