Disclaimer: if I owned any of this, TenII would never have had to do any of this.
A/N: I had to do something else entirely so of course my muse insisted I wrote this...
A/N2: written for the hc_bingo challenge prompt "homesickness"

One Step At A Time

Part 1

.

A shadowy figure ran across the grass, heading towards the upper allotments.

"'Ere, what's your game?" Wilf muttered to himself as he followed at a safe distance under the cover of darkness, determined to find the blighter and stop him in his tracks.

The clouds slightly parted, allowing Wilf a better view of the area. Not a sign of the interloper could be seen. Now worried, Wilf shuffled faster towards his beloved shed and let out a plaintive groan when he saw that the lock had been broken.

"You swine!" he exclaimed in frustration. "I hope for your sake that you're not still in there."

With that, he dramatically shoved the door open and peered inside, fists at the ready.

He couldn't see anything out of place, or that any items were missing. What could the stranger have wanted in here? As his eyes desperately sought out clues in the gloom, the sound of someone lightly panting reached his ears.

"Come out! I know you're in here," he called out. "It's no good you hiding so you might as well show yourself."

A breathy voice answered, "Is that you, Gramps? It's me."

"Who's me?" Wilf suspiciously asked as he stepped towards the voice.

Two wide eyes appeared in the dark, closely followed by a tall dark figure. "John Smith."

"His Lordship! What are you doing hiding in here?" Wilf gasped. "Donna ain't with me."

"I'm... I… I'm not him," John stammered apologetically. "I look just like him but I'm not the Doctor."

"Pardon," Wilf murmured in confusion. "But you said you're John Smith."

"Oh, I see. It's a name he often uses, but I had to choose something to call myself and it seemed as good a name as any," John blustered. "Sorry for the confusion." There was a pause, and then he asked, "He never called himself 'John Smith' in front of Donna so when did he say that to you?"

"The night he brought her home without her memories," Wilf supplied without knowing why.

"The metacrisis," John sadly noted. "He would have had to do that."

"Excuse me, but who exactly are you?" Wilf demanded to know, now peeved at being so confused.

"If he mentioned the metacrisis, which I'm assuming he did because you aren't questioning that aspect, did he not mention me?"

"No. Should he have done?" Wilf wondered.

"It would have helped a bit," John huffed, "especially to explain why I am here. Nice to know I was so noteworthy."

"To be fair, he was rather broken up about Donna at the time," Wilf defended the Doctor. "But you've still got the chance to explain who you are and why you are hiding in my shed."

"True," John acknowledged. "And it's really good to see you for myself rather than as a memory." He then struck out a hand to shake. "How do you do. I'm John Smith. Part Doctor, part Donna; born from the metacrisis."

"What, like a son?" Wilf asked as he took the hand to shake.

"Yes, no, maybe. I can see why you'd think that, but in this instance you'd be wrong," John replied. "I'm more the Doctor with a little bit of Donna that made me human." He couldn't keep the bile out of his voice on that last word; it still disgusted him to a certain extent. "Less like a mother and more like a blood supplier. I think of her in the same terms that someone would their kidney donor."

"Like someone who died whilst providing for other people's sake?"

"Well… yes, you could say that," John agreed and nodded his head. "Since she technically died, from what I felt." Seeing Wilf's startled expression, he added, "Me and her, we were connected; but the pain of separation hurt so much! I was floored by it for days. God knows what it must have done to the Doctor. Anyway…!"

"You don't have to put on a front with me," Wilf tenderly assured him, adding in a touch on his shoulder. "Blimey, you need feeding up! You're all skin and bone. We can't have that. Let's go down and get you something to eat and a nice cup of tea. How does that sound?"

"Pretty good, to be honest," John admitted, giving Wilf a thankful wan smile. "It's been a few days since I've had anything proper. Will Sylvia be there?"

"Do you want her to be?"

"I don't mind." John gave him a brighter smile. "I'm starving and gasping for a cup, so all the explanations and labels can wait half a mo."

"You talk just like Donna," Wilf commented with a chuckle. "Are you sure you didn't get more than her blood?"

"That isn't the half of it, Gramps." John then stilled as they walked down the hill. "Is it okay to call you 'Gramps'? If not, I'll switch to 'Wilf'."

"Whatever you feel comfortable with, lad," Wilf kindly replied, patting John on the back. "This'll take some getting used to, having someone new in the family." At John's questing gaze, he amended it to, "Well, sort of family, kind of adopted. Like an in-law."

"What!" John spluttered.

"Now now, don't get all whatshername," Wilf chided. "I'm only throwing out thoughts here. But tell me, where have you been all this time?"

"I was left in another universe, with Rose. She said she met you when she killed a Dalek that was threatening you."

"Oh aye, I remember her," Wilf cautiously answered. "Up and disappeared on us, she did, after phoning the Doctor. Left with her, you say? That's a bit off. Why didn't you come back with Donna and his Lordship?"

"Rose used a dimension cannon device to travel. Anyway... He was annoyed with me," John reluctantly admitted, "and wanted to stop Rose from leaping from universe to alternate universe by giving her what she wanted. Sort of."

"Which was?"

"Him. A version of him that could lead a normal human life." John averted his gaze, not wanting to see Wilf's sympathy. "She loves him with all her being." And then the question he was dreading was uttered.

"What about you? Where do you fit in to all this?"

"I don't; fit in, that is," John explained. "She still wanted to get back to the Doctor despite having me as a substitute; so she started using the dimension cannon again to look for him. I knew things had to change but when she sought out Donna to persuade her to die, I had to stop it immediately."

They had reached the kitchen patio door at this point of the conversation. As the stronger light hit John's features Wilf exclaimed, "Blimey, you not only look a bit like him, you're the spitting image!"

"So I've been told," John sighed. "It's caused loads of problems."

So Wilf ushered him in with the words, "I'm sure we'll find a way round it." And indicated he should sit down whilst the kettle was put on. "What was you saying about that Rose girl getting Donna to die?"

John seated himself at the kitchen table, taking in the familiar surroundings and silently revelling in his victory at getting there. "She said she did it to get Donna to leave an alternate universe and pass on a message to the Doctor."

"You don't sound convinced," Wilf observed.

"Well, let's just say that there are aspects of it that I don't agree with. I allowed that trip because it had already happened for Donna but I stole every dimension cannon jumping device, along with every record of the plans, and then set the coordinates to here."

"What about the machine? She could have used it again," Wilf interjected.

"Not anymore. I made sure of that," John stated. "I planted a bomb with a timer to go off once I'd used it."

"You sacrificed your new life to stop it," Wilf reworded, obviously impressed. "What exactly does this dimension cannon thing do?"

"It takes you to any place in the known universes. You get the whole of creation to explore."

"And you chose right here, when you could have gone anywhere. Why did you do that?"

John purposefully looked directly into Wilf's eyes to say sincerely but somewhat brokenly, "Because this is home."

"Aw, lad," Wilf crooned and placed a comforting arm around John's shoulders. "Nobody can blame you for being homesick. We'd all feel that way. Welcome home where you belong."