The Doctor walked briskly down the hall, trying to ignore dull hum of chattering conversations and ringing phones. His mind was so fixed on trying pick the increasingly quick beeps of his sonic screwdriver that that he ran headlong into a woman carrying a thick sheaf of loose papers. They scattered everywhere, flying into the air and sliding across the hall, and he hadn't even had the chance to look at the person that was suddenly yelling at him.

"Oi!, Watch it, spaceman!" His eyes shot up, and he could feel both of his hearts skip a beat. His throat constricted as he realized that he was staring into the angry eyes of Donna Noble. His mind racing with fear, he choked out,

"What did you call me?" He felt on the verge of tears, he didn't want it to end this way, she couldn't die, he couldn't let her mind burn up from the memory of the time lord.

"Keep your head out of the clouds, mate. I'm not flippin' picking this up; you ought to do it since you almost knocked me over. She stood over him, fuming as he knelt down to gather the documents from all over the floor, suddenly giddy with relief beyond any that he had felt for a very long time.

"Sorry, so sorry. Really, I am, I'm just a bit out of it." He jabbered, with a huge, geeky grin on his face. Of course this wouldn't trigger her memory; he didn't even have the same face. As he stood up to return the sheaf of papers he straightened his bowtie, looking Donna straight in the eyes. His bright smile confused her, and her defensiveness fell by just a tiny increment.

"Listen," she started. "I apologize for snapping at you, you probably don't deserve it. Except for the bowtie." She added with a small smile. The doctor knew that he should have been hightailing it out of the situation, but he had loved the woman so much, she was the best mate he had ever had, and he wanted just a little bit more time, to assure himself that everything was okay with her.

"Hey, bowties are cool." He retorted. Donna laughed, suddenly wondering why she felt comfortable talking to this odd stranger, why she felt that she could see into his head, why he seemed to be such a wonderful man, and why she was suddenly afraid that he would disappear forever.

"I'm sorry, I've got to get back to work, but I was wondering if you wanted to grab a coffee sometime, maybe?" The doctor looked at her, figuring that everything seemed to be alright with her. "Yeah" he smiled. "I'd like that." He turned around and started to walk away with lightness to his step that had been missing for quite some time. Donna suddenly called out

"Hey, I didn't catch your name!" The doctor turned around. "It's John Smith." She cocked an eyebrow, as if to say really? As if anyone would believe that. He turned back to the end of the hall, throwing over his shoulder "I'll see you around, Donna Noble"

She shot back in a confused tone "Oi! How'd you know my name?" Just before the elevator doors closed, the man yelled back. "It's on your ID card." The doors slid shut as Donna looked down at the card clipped to her lapel, mumbling "right." to no one in particular. She returned to her desk, her head still spinning from the strange encounter.