Second Chances [Doctor Who Fanfic]

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who and all its attatchments are sole property of the BBC.

Background: Claire is a companion that comes in once he takes Donna home. She's special and can read people. They travel together throughout "The David Tennant Specials" and yeah. This is my first fanfiction EVER so enjoy. Terrible or not :)

PART 1  Flaws In a Non-Existent Plan

SECOND CHANCES

The war was over. Won. His reward was all that lie beneath his pain.

The Doctor and Claire sat in the TARDIS with an awkward silence as their only comfort. The battle was finished, and the Doctor knew that his time was up. And in some odd way, he felt comforted by the fact that once again he was alone. Left with nothing but Claire, all he had was the small consolation of ending up with nothing and losing everything.

Claire looked at the Doctor with a worried expression, surely thinking about what they were going to do now. He had no words to say, no hope to give, and certainly no future to look forward to. Claire's eyes barely began to water, but it didn't slip past the Doctor's vision.

"So. What do we do now?" Claire's words were the Doctor's exact prediction. He wasn't sure how to answer her without making everything utterly dismal. He looked up at her and was instantly reminded of Rose by the look on her face; worried, mostly for his well-being.

"I don't know," he finally concluded, pursing his lips and looking away. Claire continued anyway.

"Well, you're gonna change...soon...and I'm wondering if I should just...go." The idea of being completely on his own was so appealing, he almost shooed her out right then and there. Her gift had caused him enough trouble already.

"Nah, you're fine. I'll be the same person I've always been, just a bit of a different look. Physically." Claire's previous readings and notions had already given her this knowledge, but humans always needed reassurance and explaining it probably helped her nerves a bit.

"Doctor...s'there something bothering you?" Claire said, tripping over the domestic nature of the question. Personal levels were usually a boundary he'd never crossed until he met Donna, who was always asking questions about people and places of the past.

"To be completely honest," he said, pausing and watching as Claire nodded in understanding, "There's always SOMETHING bothering me. And right now, just about every 'something' is at work on me 'bout now." The TARDIS went silent again, and Claire stared awkwardly at her feet. Often times, she didn't have an answer to the Doctor's responses.

"Doctor-" The Doctor looked up and watched his quivering companion who looked like she was in cold sweat or something.

"Claire, you alri-"

"I'm fine, but I'm worried about you. There's a lot you don't talk about, and I saw that...Donna, it was, and I was wondering if she was, you know..." The Doctor, although clueless most of the time, managed to understand what she was pointing to.

"No, no. We weren't...together, if that's what you mean." Claire sighed, strangely relieved. The Doctor's eyebrow arched I'm confusion.

"Ha, thought she was a little...not your- type?" She laughed nervously. "Well anyway..." The Doctor faked a smile and slumped a little farther in his seat.

"But there's someone. Doctor. There's someone else. She's the something that's bothering you." Claire's sight kicked in quickly, giving her the odd silver gleam in her eyes that gave the illusion of a metal iris. But then, just like that, it was gone. "Doctor, please. Let me see." Her eyes widened in a puppy-dog innocence and she clasped her hands tighter together to keep them from going to straight to his temples. The Doctor gave her a grim look and then looked away as she sighed.