Across The Universe (Open!)

[The Tenth Doctor]

The Doctor always somehow ended up back on Earth. He had adopted the planet as his own, and the TARDIS seemed unable to forget that fact. He had no logical reason to step foot on Earth again so soon after he had dropped of Adelaide and the others. But that had to be at least four decades into the future. By the looks of things, this was still the very early twenty-first century on Earth. Maybe it was a hint that he needed to try and find another companion because some of the best he had ever had had come from this time period.

He looked back over his shoulder at the TARDIS, as if she could read his mind and was going to give him some kind of a sign that he was correct in thinking that. But she was as incongruous as a police box could be in a small town somewhere in England. "All right. You win...this time," he told her, not feeling at all odd about talking to what looked like a big, wooden box because there was no one around to give him strange looks.

And that was because wherever she had decided to drop him off appeared to be one of those towns where the citizens were up by eight o'clock in the morning and locked inside for the rest of the night by five o'clock in the evening. The TARDIS really wanted him to find some brilliant human being here?! Fat chance of that happening...Oh, there he was being rude again. He should suspend all judgments until he found a living soul in the place that could tell him where he was.

The Doctor began to walk towards what he believed would be called the town's Main Street, although a street that appeared to have nothing more exciting than a post office and a small pond probably shouldn't be called a 'Main Street.' Finally, he did spot an old lady, carrying a large bundle out of the post office. The Doctor crossed the street. "Excuse me, ma'am, where am I?" he inquired. The old woman looked at him like he was a mad man but, in the next second, her expression softened as she realized what had probably happened here. A long night of drinking could make one forget where they were.

"I was your age once," she said, although the Doctor had no idea what she was talking about, "You're in Leadworth, my child." Leadworth? Could the TARDIS have picked him a more random town to drop him off at? "Thank you," he offered the lady, "Enjoy the rest of your evening." Instead of walking down the rest of Main Street, the Doctor began retracing his steps back towards the TARDIS. Leadworth seemed to be a sleepy town that was in no immediate danger of anything happening. Sure, the TARDIS had probably brought him here for a reason but that reason would have to appear before he reached her doors because he wasn't going to stick around here any longer than he had to.