This is one of my earlier works, so its not as good as it probably should be.

Prologue

Eloise watched as the strange man skulked in the shadows of the alley.

She didn't know why she was staring at him. Had it been any other day, she would've kept walking and ignored what wasn't her business.

But some inexplicable reason, on that extremely unimportant day, outside the mouth of that insignificant alley, Eloise Mabel Burkett decided to let go of her mother's dress and watch the man.

The man himself took no notice of the little girl as he checked every corner and crevice of the alley.

"Alright, I thought this was where I left you." He whispered to the open air.

Eloise cocked her head curiously at him. She didn't understand who he could possibly be talking about, as there was no one else there.

"Darling? Darling, you can come out know."

The young girl froze in guilty surprise. She had been sure he hadn't seen her and the man hadn't turned around.

"Darling? Come on, I'm sorry that I crashed you."

The man walked around with arms outstretched in front of him, as if he were blind.

"Please Sweetheart, I really didn't mean it. It's just that I got . . . distracted."

A wheezing, groaning sound filled the air making the man wince.

"Of course I care about you, don't be ridiculous."

Eloise didn't realise that she had crept further into the alley. She knew that she shouldn't be acting so silly. That she shouldn't be walking into an alley with a weird man she'd never seen before was talking to thin air. That she shouldn't be intrigued by the unfamiliar groaning sound. That she shouldn't want to approach either the man or the sound.

But someone else might as well be controlling her, because she couldn't stop even if she wanted to.

"Sweetheart, you're being childish. Just come out." The man continued to plead.

He started to turn on the spot and Eloise stumbled behind the dumpster, kicking over cans in her haste. With a wince, she pressed herself to the side of the bin, not knowing why she felt the need to hide.

"Hello?" The man questioned.

Eloise stayed silent as she heard his footsteps crunch in her direction, her breath sounding very loud in her ears.

"Who's there?"

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Doctor?" A woman's voice called out. "Doctor, I've been looking all over for you. You can't just run off like th-"

"I know you're there."

"Doctor, what are y-"

The man ignored his companion. "Why don't you come on out, eh. Promise we won't hurt you."

The was a pause where no one spoke.

"Come on." The man coaxed again. "All we want is to have a nice little chat. How about that. A little chat with little ol' Rose and me."

Eloise let out a breath and stepped out from her hiding place, eyes averted from the two people in front of her.

"Mama said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"Oh, we're not strangers. I'm the Doctor. And this is Rose." The man grinned happily and women gave her a reassuring smile.

"I don't like doctors." Eloise mumbled frowning at him.

The man blinked in barley contained surprise as a warmth gently grew within his chest and spread through his entire body. He knew exactly what it meant and he let out a slow, shaky breath, trying his hardest not move from where he stood.

"But I'm not just any boring doctor. I'm The Doctor."

"You're a stranger."

"No I'm not. I'm the Doctor."

"Tha-"

"Eloise? Eloise! Ellie!"

The trio heard the little girl's mother calling frantically and looked back at the mouth of the alley.

The strange man looked back at Eloise with sad eyes. "Is that your Mama?"

She nodded hesitantly and watched as he looked at his shoes dejectedly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Your Mama sounds pretty worried." The woman said to the girl softly.

"Yeah . . ." Eloise trailed off.

"Well, best you be off." The man muttered. "Go on then."

The woman looked at him strangely.

"Oh, okay."

The sad man looked up to see the little girl gazing at him and he gave her a false cheery smile.

The Doctor couldn't bare to watch as he let the little girl pass. It took everything in him to stand in that one place and not move.

Eloise once again stood at the opening of the alley. She could see her mother searching through the crowds of people for her and was about to run to her, when something stopped her. She didn't know what it was exactly that made stop. She didn't know why she turned around to catch one last glimpse of the strange man. She also didn't know why, at the sight of him, a heavy feeling sat on her chest.

The girl once again looked at her mother, still searching for her in the crowd, then back at the man, the women saying something inaudible to him.

The Doctor could barely hear what Rose was saying to him. Something about leaving, he didn't know. All he could think of was the little girl he just let go.

His promised.

His counterpart.

His other half.

His very soul.

"Doctor?"

He jumped when Rose lay it'd her hand on his shoulder and quickly wiped away growing tears.

"Ah, yes. Rose. It seems like we have a bit a problem."

"Docto-"

"You see, the Tardis is being a little temperamental right now-"

"Doct-"

"-and she doesn't want to show herself, so we might have to-" He cut himself off as he felt small arms wrap around his leg.

Eloise squeezed the mans leg tightly and pressed her face to his thigh, eyes closed, the heavy feeling vanishing in an instant.

"Doc-"

"Bye, Mister Doctor man."

Prying the little girl from him, he crouched down and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so I'm Mister Doctor man now?"

Eloise bit her lip and looked at the man with a furrowed brow. She shrugged shyly and made her way to the mouth of the alley back the street. But before she was swallowed by the crowd, she turned around one last time and gave the man and woman a small, hesitant cheeky smile.

"I still don't like doctors."

She turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

"Doctor, what was that?"

The Doctor's gaze was transfixed on where the little girl had disappeared, barely noticing the Tardis make herself visible.

He ignored Rose and walked over to the big blue box, placing a hand of her side.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you."

It wasn't a question.

The familiar groaning sound greeted the Time Lords ears.

"Thought so." He shook his head. "Cheeky old girl."