I do not own Doctor Who or Peter Pan

"Run along then," said the Doctor making hand motions waving forward, "We can't keep outer space waiting for very long now can we?" he quipped flashing Rose one of his bright smiles.

The enthusiasm-almost childlike for a 900 year old alien was as infectious as ever and Rose turned and jogged towards the street leading to her apartment.

"Don't wander off, doctor!" Rose yelled without turning around.

He watched as the windblown locks of her blonde hair were the last part of her to turn the corner around an old abandoned brick factory. Stretching his arms upward he yawned and glanced lazily around him when a faded store sign caught his eye.

"Albert's Used Books, let's see if there's anything worth reading in there," he rubbed his hands together quickly and strode towards the doorway.

He gently pushed the doorway open and the small ringing of a bell alerted the old clerk to his presence.

"Lovely shop you have sir, I hope to find something worthwhile of reading in here," he said sincerely with a quick nod.

"Ahh, yes…of course," said the clerk raising a skeptical eyebrow.

As the doctor headed for the shelves the clerk shook his head to himself as he leaned to pick up another stack of books needing organized…these brainy types thought they knew everything because they were well read. The doctor had read the titles of one entire book shelf within a couple minutes and nothing had caught his interest. He was fond of Charles Dickens but had most of the works he loved already on the Tardis.

"Oi, you don't belong there," said the Doctor pulling a copy of Peter Pan off the shelf.

He examined the faded red cover and thin gold lettering and was about to return it to its proper place in the children's story area when he became curious (if he had time to fix major problems in galaxies everywhere he most certainly had time to fix the wrongs on a book shelf.) The Doctor had spent a lot of time reading books about human's advances in technology lately, it amused him. He likened it to a serious five year old creating a finger painting with stern discipline and the belief he was creating a Rembrandt. The scholarly tone of the silly ideas they thought were huge intellectual advances in the realm of outer space often could keep the Doctor chuckling all day. Often he would double over laughing while reading books speculating on the possibility of the existence of aliens "out there in the universe." This though he had not read, he rarely felt the need to read "fantasy" as he felt he did a far better job of living it but he sensed a whimsical nature to the book, could it be the fact that the title included a well known character name of Greek mythology?

"All right then Peter…we have at least fifteen minutes until Rose returns and that gives me more than enough time to finish you."

The clerk without realizing it had stopped re-shelving books to observe the strange man reading a book, within a minutes time he had seen this man grimace dramatically then grin, laugh out loud, scoff angrily and then there were many well punctuated use of "fantastic!" that could be heard in every corner of the store.

The Doctor had read the first few chapters within moments; he was captured by this man J.M. Barrie's storytelling and characters…he would have to make a mental note to visit the writer's time period. When he had finished the book he couldn't bring himself to leave it, though his memory was incredibly sharp and he would likely not forget any part of the book for years to come he wanted to bring it along onto the Tardis, perhaps Rose had never read it…though he certainly wouldn't know when she would have the time to read it with her human pace and their busy schedule of time-and-place hopping. He returned to the Tardis and busied himself with some engine check-ups until Rose returned. Perhaps it was the silence after reading the book that made him contemplative; causing him to see his own Wendy when Rose entered through the door. A sad smile played at his lips, Wendy was often astounded by Peter but never failed to bring him back down to earth as well, he gave her pixie dust to fly and she in return helped him find steady ground to walk on. The soft blueish-green glow of his Tardis reminded him she was his Tinkerbell; his constant companion through everything and had seen every side to Peter there was.

The red of the book cover caught Rose's eye; it surprised her to see something as ordinary as a book from her world lying on the panel of the Tardis, picking it up she read the title. The Doctor turned his head.

"Have you read it Rose? Fantastic little bit of writing that is."

"I did, years ago actually…honestly I remember more from the movie I watched as a child but all in all it's about the same." She said flipping absent-mindedly through the pages.

"So you fancy it much?" inquired the Doctor.

"I did, it was a wonderful children's story, a reminder that some of the best parts of childhood are make believe and the things you can imagine," she said looking to the side nostalgically.

"And the character's, now aren't they something?"

"I suppose," said Rose "but Peter…"

The Doctor turned to look at Rose, her eye's seemed to be full of a sympathy and understanding "he was so lonely."

"Oh, but the things he did and the places he saw, the people he met!" replied the Doctor.

"They grew up…they moved on, became adults…Peter, he continued on he saw new wondrous things and could not tell those he cared about because they had settled in, returned home to live a life of their own, in a rather old-fashioned way. Peter lived on to battle another Hook or to save another Tiger Lilly. He kept being, as you would say fantastic,"grinned Rose as she placed emphasis on this last statement.

She was noticed emotion filling the Doctor's blue eyes and she shook her head clucking her tongue. He did have a tendency towards the dramatic. When she looked at him again though she saw the loneliness in his eyes. For her, the book was fictional fun, a childhood tale but for the Doctor who had seen things beyond belief this fantasy hit closer to reality than most normal books on earth could ever for him. Crocodiles who ticked like clocks? Dust that could make humans soar like birds? A pirate ship that sailed through the clouds? Dangerous mermaids? Why, Rose had even seen stranger things traveling with the Doctor!

It could only hurt to relate so well to a character like Peter...always one of a kind, alone in that fact.

Rose walked over to the Doctor, whose face was a mask of calm as he returned his attention to the checkups.

"Hey," she said softly.

The Doctor's seriousness melted away as he gave Rose a reassuring smile, she knew he was already putting whatever dismal thoughts he had behind him; he didn't like causing Rose too much concern about his own internal-state.

"Hey there Rose Tyler," chuckled the Doctor "lovely little book club we had goin' there for a minute?" said the Doctor.

"I think we should have more," said Rose tilting her head thoughtfully her warm brown eyes meeting the Doctor's gaze.

"Many more," said the Doctor in agreement giving a nod.

"And one more thing, Doctor." Said Rose

He raised his eyebrow questioningly as she reached for his hand the way he had reached for hers so many times and leaned over to kiss him on the forehead like a mother would a child.

"If I were Wendy I would have stayed with Peter."

"Oh, Rose Tyler, where have you been all these years!"

He jumped from his seat and ended up squeezing her in one of his trademark bear hugs. After releasing her, he assumed his steering position at the Tardis and focused his gaze on her with a mock levity,

"Now Rose are you prepared to find and possibly fight-though there may be a few negotiations first- another Hook?"

"Well...then I suppose the real question is whether you have enough pixie dust to keep this earthling in the skies?" She assessed him in return with the same mock seriousness, her arms crossed.

"Well it's your lucky day lass, I just happen to be Peter Pan you know," he said tilting his head "Oh, and I have a bloody marvelous Tardis, or Tink as you might have heard her called before," he said winking at Rose.

"Mmm…well in that case Peter, let's not waste any time and fly!" Rose replied joining the Doctor at his helm.

He dashed around the center of the Tardis with leonine speed pulling knobs, pressing buttons, and the occasional bang of a fist. He reached for the speed control lever and before yanking it back turned to Rose first,

"To Neverland?" he inquired.

"To Neverland!" said Rose beaming.