Timeless [Doctor Who/11th Doctor]

12. Alibi

CHAPTER TWELVE

"Are you okay?" I asked carefully as we wandered through crowds of tourists.
"I'm always okay," he shot me a lopsided grin. The sight of him all rugged, messy hair and ash-covered shirt, made me chuckle at his words.

I linked my arm with his as we carried on through the busy streets, resting my tired head against his shoulder for a moment and smiling.
"Can you take me home?" I asked him casually. Though, upon hearing me, a frown weighed down his lips and he paused for a moment.
"Yeah," he sighed, sorrowful. "Yes, of course."
Opening the door to the TARDIS for me when we reached it, he watched me waltz in and lean against the railings around the console.
"We had fun though," he spoke, fingers brushing the lever. "You and me, saving the world."
"Uh... yeah," I responded with a puzzled laugh. I truly never knew what was going on inside his head.
With a forced smile and a pull, he sent the time-machine spinning again.

When I rushed to the doors, the far too familiar sight of home greeted me. The dull skies against mountainous hilltops was such a contrast to the buzz of the cities we had run through. I took a step out, my battered trainers sinking into the mud slightly when I did so. Nostalgic, my mind returned to the first moment we stood outside that little blue box just days ago; when he had opened the doors to a whole new world with the click of his fingers.

"Aren't you coming?" I called back into the TARDIS. The Doctor was still hunched over the console, his tangled hair hanging across his eyes that I could still sense the pain in.
He hesitantly walked down the ramp and stood in the door frame, frowning at me. "Why would I come?"
"Moral support? I think I'm gonna quit my job or something..." I hadn't considered it until it slipped out of my lips. I suppose it had been wavering in my subconscious, that if I had no ties to this tiny village, I'd never have to stop running alongside him.
"Quitting? No, you can't quit! It's a lovely shop!" he protested. "What will you do then?"
I folded my arms, looking as unimpressed as I could. Seriously? What will I do then?
It took him a moment to figure it out, and when he did, he pointed his finger at me, then at the TARDIS. "Oh, oh right, yes, obviously..." he stuttered.
"You thought I was leaving you?" I burst out into a giggle.
"No," he muttered, finally stepping out of the box.
"Oh my god, you did, you idiot!"
"Did not," he retorted childishly, huffing as he made his way down the hill.

"Charlotte?" Mr Granger gasped when we arrived at the bookshop. The Doctor was pretending to flick through a novel behind me, his sooty fingerprints ruining their pristine condition.
"Yeah? Sorry, am I late?"
"Late?" he repeated in disbelief. "I haven't seen you in a week. Where on earth have you been?"
The sound of the Doctor rustling pages came to a halt.
"A week?" I turned around to him, glaring with my eyebrow raised.
"Ah," he backed away, holding the book in front of him like a shield. "That can happen..."
Internally cursing him, I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.
"Charlotte, who's this?" Mr Granger studied the mess of a stranger with a disapproving stare.
"I guess you're just going to have to sack me," I interrupted hopefully. "I mean, I am irresponsible, and unreliable, and... and it was me that accepted the euros, actually."
"Nonesense!" he chuckled, stopping me. "You're my best employee, I'm not going to fire you over this. I'm sure you... had your reasons, " he glanced between me and the Doctor.
"Reasons, yeah, many..." I glanced at the Doctor with an urgent look, begging him to help me out.

"Yes! You see, we were at the castle. And there was a ghost, a big scary ghost, and I thought... well, I don't want her to die so we ran away to Paris. It's lovely in the 20th century, you know-"
I buried my face in my hands as he rambled away to Mr Granger, who became more confused by the second.
"Doctor," I interrupted. "I think that's enough."
Oblivious to the fact he sounded like a mad man, he just stood there beaming at his story. I could have slapped him in that second.
"Uh, a word in the back, perhaps?" Mr Granger offered and I immediately agreed.

In the staff room, behind the counter, he started to boil the kettle.
"What really happened, Charlotte?"
It's sort of impossible to come up with an alibi when you literally were in Paris 48 hours ago. I stood there racking my brains for a good minute, and it was proving to be more taxing than any of the past 2 days had been.

"Well..." I started. I was absolutely, one-hundred-percent going to regret this. Oh god. "We eloped!"
Mr Granger was taken aback, almost dropping the box of tea bags from the cupboard. "Oh, that's wonderful!" he clapped his hands together and smiled like a proud father.
"I know we just couldn't wait!" Yep, definitely a regret.
"Well, I do wish you had called me, at least, dear. Noah was hardly any more present when I asked him to cover your shifts."
I laughed nervously, wishing I was anywhere but there.
Pouring the boiling water into our mugs, he shook his head in disbelief and delight. "What's with all the...?" he gestured around his face, hinting at the mess of mud and ash across the Doctor's skin.
"He's, um... a blacksmith?"

We ventured back into the shop room with our cups of tea to where the Doctor was standing, blissfully unaware, skimming over another book's pages.
"Congratulations," Mr Granger said to him. I outwardly cringed as the Doctor turned around and looked at me with confusion.
"Thanks!" I blurted, before he could say anything. Rushing up to him, I grabbed his arm and smiled at Mr Granger.
"Congratulations?" the Doctor whispered in my ear.
"We'll be off now, I'm sure you understand so..." I attempted to drag him out of the door, but I had no such luck.
"Absolutely not! We should celebrate!" my boss exclaimed, and I've never wanted to face-palm more.
"What are we celebrating?" the Doctor whispered to me again.
Clearing my throat, I swallowed the bullet and told him about my terrible lie. "I might have... said we eloped," I muttered under my breath to him, so quietly that I was kind of hoping he wouldn't hear it at all.
"Shall I call my wife? She'll be delighted. Oh! We should call everyone, I'll get the phone book out!" He excitedly scurried away into the backroom again, leaving me still clutching the Doctor's arm, my cheeks pink.
"So, we eloped?" he smirked at me.
"Would you shut up?" I hissed, elbowing him.

Then, Mr Granger called out from the staff room, "Barbara's on her way now!"
The Doctor and I shared a worried glance at the prospect of spending all night celebrating our fake eloping with practically the entire village.
"Run?" I asked him, hopeful.
He agreed immediately. "Run."