Park...
The Doctor and Lexi were walking with Craig and Sophie.
"What are you actually called, what's your proper name?" Craig asked The Doctor.
"Just call me The Doctor."
"Yeah." Sophie and Lexi agreed.
"I can't say to these guys 'Hey, this is my new flatmate, he's called The Doctor.'" Craig said sarcastically.
"Why not?"
"'Cos it's weird."
Lexi leaned to whisper to The Doctor. "He's got ya there." She leaned away when when Craig's friend walked up to them.
"Alright, Craig. Soph. Alright, mate."
The Doctor shook the friend's hand. "Hello. I'm one of Craig's new flatmates. I'm called The Doctor."
"Alright, Doctor. I'm Sean, and who might you be?" Sean asked turning his attention to Lexi.
Lexi smiled at him and shook his hand. "Hello, Sean. I'm Lexi, The Doctor's fiancé and the other flatmate he was referring to."
"Nice to meet you. Now, Doctor, where are you strongest?"
"Arms." The Doctor replied causing to Lexi face palm.
"No, he means, what position? On the field?" Craig asked.
"Not sure. The front? The side? Below?"
"Are you any good though?" Sean asked unsure.
The Doctor spun the ball on his fingertips. "Let's find out." He kicked the balled and headed out to the field.
Sophie looked over at Lexi as the men walked off. "Have you seen him play? Is he really any good?"
Feeling anxious to know herself, Lexi replied without even looking away from the field. "I can honestly say, Sophie, that I have never seen him play football like anyone else."
'Yeah, because you've never seen him play football at all.' Lexi thought to herself.
Sophie and Lexi walked over to the sidelines as the game started.
As the team was playing, The Doctor was taking over the field, intercepting passes to other players and scoring goals. Lexi and Sophie cheered from the sidelines. It upset Craig to see Sophie cheering for The Doctor instead of him.
Soon, the majority of the onlookers began to chant "DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR!"
Later...
The game was over and the team and friends were gathered around a bench having some beers.
"You are so on the team!" Sean said giving The Doctor praise. "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor, we'll annihilate them!"
The Doctor got right up in Sean's face. "No violence, not while I'm around, not today, not ever. I'm The Doctor, the oncoming storm... and you meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
The Doctor backed up. "Lovely, what sort of time?"
Craig opened a can and it spilt over and everyone laughed. Suddenly, it kept happening over and over again, involving everyone but The Doctor and Lexi.
"Um..." Lexi started. The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the small group. They put the earpiece between their ears and leaned in so they both could talk to Amy at the same time.
"Amy?" The Doctor asked.
Inside the TARDIS...
The TARDIS was shaking.
"Amy?" Lexi asked over the speaker.
"It's happening again! Worse!"
"What does the scanner say?" The Doctor hurriedly.
Amy went and glanced at the scanner. "A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"
"Yes, yes, it's... good! Zigzag plotter, zigzag platter, Amy."
Amy went over and used the zigzag plotter, but there was no change. She was thrown by the TARDIS as it lurched. She screamed out.
Park...
"Amy? Are you there?" The Doctor asked.
There was no answer.
"Come on, Amy, talk to us!" Lexi exclaimed worriedly.
"Yes, hello."
The Doctor and Lexi sighed in relief.
"Ah, thank heavens. I thought the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it.."
Inside the TARDIS...
"...lost forever." The Doctor said over the speaker.
"You mean that could actually happen?!"
Park...
"You have got to get me out of here."
"Ok, Amy..." Lexi started. "Just tell us. How are the numbers now?"
"All fives."
"Fives?" The Doctor asked. He glanced at his watched and saw that the time loop had ended. "Even better."
Inside the TARDIS...
"Still, it means the effect's unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don't worry."
There was a pause.
"Hang in there, sis." Lexi's voice resonated throughout the console room.
"I've got some rewiring to do." The Doctor informed.
"Hey! You two... 'hang on'!"
Inside flat, Hall...
Craig came down the hall from his bedroom to The Doctor and Lexi's and knocked on the door. The Doctor opened the door and Lexi popped her head into view from the side. The Doctor had an orange traffic cone under his arm.
"Hello, flatmate." The Doctor greeted.
"Hey. Listen, Sophie's coming round tonight and I was wondering if you two could give us some space?"
"Sure." Lexi agreed lightheartedly.
"Oh, don't mind us. You won't even know we're here." The Doctor stated. There was another loud noise from above causing The Doctor and Lexi to look up. "That's the idea..."
The Doctor and Lexi smiled at Craig and then quickly shut the door. Craig stood there listening.
"Oh, I got it!" Craig could hear Lexi say from the other side. "That goes there..."
"Yes, perfect! What a beauty!" The Doctor exclaimed.
There was some rustling and clinking but Craig just shrugged it off.
Parlor...
Sophie and Craig were on the couch.
"That's got bigger." Sophie said pointing out the stain on the ceiling.
"Oh, yeah." Craig agreed.
"Are we going out?"
"I've had a bit of a weird day, can we do pizz-booze-telly?"
"Great, love it! Wait." Sophie shut off her mobile. "No Melina, no crises, no interruptions."
"Great. Excellent. Um, Soph... I've... I think..."
"Where's this going?"
"I think that we... should..."
Sophie's nodded as she waited for Craig to finish his sentence.
"Hello." The Doctor and Lexi were kneeling behind the sofa, only their heads were showing.
"What?" Craig asked surprised.
"Whoops, sorry, don't worry, I wasn't listening. In a world of my own down there." The Doctor explained.
"He really is." Lexi backed him up on that statement.
"I thought you two were going out?"
"Just re-connecting all the electrics, it's a real mess. Where's the on switch for this?" He held out a normal screwdriver. Lexi snatched it away and glared at him.
"They really were on their way out." Craig said to Sophie.
"No, I don't mind, if you don't mind." Sophie replied.
"I don't mind, why would I mind?" Craig sounded a bit upset.
Sophie turned head to The Doctor and Lexi. "Then stay, have a drink with us."
"What, do we have to stay now?" The Doctor asked he looked at Lexi. "Do we?" He asked her helplessly. She looked at him unsure of what she should say.
"Do you want to stay?" Craig asked defeated.
The Doctor looked at him. "I don't mind."
"Ok!" Sophie said happily.
"Great!" Craig exclaimed with a fake half laugh.
Later...
The Doctor was sitting in the chair by the sofa working with the electric wires around his neck. Lexi was sipping a glass of wine while sitting on the arm of the chair leaning against the back. Sophie was drinking a glass of wine and Craig was looking up at the ceiling.
"'Cos life can seem pointless. Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same." Sophie said.
"Six billion people? Watching you two at work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from." The Doctor explained.
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"So, the call center. That's no good? What do you really want to do?"
"Don't laugh. I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."
"What's holding you back?" Lexi asked curiously.
"She can't, you need loads of qualifications." Craig interjected.
"Yeah, true. Plus it's scary, everyone I know live round here. Craig got offered a job in London, better money, didn't take it."
"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London."
"Well, perhaps that's you, then. Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable until the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?" The Doctor asked curiously. Lexi smiled, realizing what he was trying get at.
"You think I'd fail?" Sophie asked shocked.
"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie. Very few are going to achieve them. So why pretend?" The Doctor took a sip of his wine then made a face and spit it back into the glass. "Perhaps, in the whole universe, a call center is where you should be?"
"Why are you saying that? That's horrible."
"Is it true, though?" Lexi asked trying to help The Doctor help Sophie to see the point.
"Of course it's not true. I'm not staying in a call center all my life, I can do anything I want!"
The Doctor and Lexi grinned at her.
"Oh! Yeah! Right!" Sophie looked at Craig. "Oh, my God! Did you see what they just did?"
Craig snapped out of what he was thinking about. "No, what's happening? Are you going to live with monkeys now?"
"It's a big old world, Sophie. Work out what's really keeping you here, eh?"
"I don't know... Dunno. But, anyways... What about you two?" Sophie asked changing the subject. "How long have you two known each other?"
The Doctor looked at Lexi a little worried. She gave him a reassuring smile that said she'd do all the talking on this matter.
"Oh, quite a while actually. I met him when I was seven." That's wasn't exactly a lie.
"Aw, that's sweet. That really is a pretty ring." Sophie pointed at the ring on Lexi's hand.
Lexi smiled down at it. Rory really had picked out a beautiful ring for Amy. Lexi sighed heavily. "Thanks..."
The Doctor saw the look on Lexi's face. He put all the wires and things down on the coffee table; then put an arm around her waist and pulled her to sit on his lap. He kept his arms around her as she leaned back against him.
"So, how long have you been engaged?" Sophie asked.
"Oh, about... Eleven months... We're not in a real hurry."
Sophie nodded in understanding. The rest of night went about with just meaningless chit chat. In the end, Craig escorted Sophie out of the flat and to the door. The Doctor went into the bedroom to mess with all the bits and pieces he had gathered while Lexi was left in the sitting room all by herself.
She looked down at the ring and rubbed her thumb gently over it. Lexi started talking to herself in her head. "Oh Rory... I wish I could stop missing you and then maybe it wouldn't be so hard. I wish I couldn't remember you like Amy... Or who knows? Maybe me remembering you is the universe's way preserving you somehow... In my memory..."
Lexi sat there for a little bit until she couldn't take it any longer. She shot out of her seat and into the hallway towards her and The Doctor's room. She stormed in and slammed the door behind her.
The Doctor was finishing up whatever he was doing. "Uh, Amy? I gotta go." The Doctor turned off the earpiece and set it on the dresser.
Lexi threw herself facedown on the bed and started sobbing into a pillow. The Doctor stood there for a second, unsure of what he should do. He knew what this was about. It wasn't Sophie's fault for getting Lexi's feelings all stirred up. She didn't know. Lexi had held herself together until Sophie left. She was strong like that. Sometimes people just needed to cry. This was the first time Lexi was actually really full on crying in front of him.
He gingerly sat down on the bed and started rubbing her back. She lifted her head and looked over at him. He motioned for her to come to him. She complied and crawled over to let him cradle her in his lap.
He started rubbing her head as he spoke to her. "You know, I'm so sorry that this is happening to you."
Lexi sniffled into his chest. "You and me both."
"You did great out there."
"It... w-w-wasn't... e-easy."
"I know it wasn't. It'll all get sorted, somehow, in some sort of way."
"Thank you..."
"For what?"
Lexi looked up at his face through her tear filled eyes. "For handling me in my crying mess."
The Doctor smiled sweetly at her and kissed her on the forehead. He rested his chin on the top of her head as he continued to hold her. "Oh Pond... Believe me, I don't mind..."
The Doctor continued to hold her until she fell asleep. Some people had a hard time with their grief. He carried her over to the side of the bed she had been sleeping on and gently tucked her in, giving her another kiss on the forehead before going over to mess with some wires, quietly.