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On one hand, she didn’t know what else she expected. How can someone not fall in love with Rose Tyler? She was beautiful, witty, smart and kind. It wasn’t a surprise when she saw the Doctor fall for her in such a short amount of time. He’d untie his shoe laces if it meant she’d tie them again for him. Yet still, it hurt. Y/N was always in everyone’s shadow. Never fully seen, nor fully appreciated.
When Martha came around, it was the same story. While Y/N was still wallowing in guilt and grief, his eyes were sparkling again at the sight of a new, exciting companion. Going to see plays, saving the world a million times. And every time, the girl was in the shadows. There, helping, but really just a side character in the story of it all. She saw the way Martha smiled around him. It was obvious. She couldn’t blame her, he’s handsome, he’s clever. What’s not to like? But Martha wasn’t there during the breakdowns. She wasn’t there to drag the Doctor up when he’d fallen down again.
Y/N felt invisible. Her best friend was the TARDIS, not the Doctor. They couldn’t fully talk, so conversations were a bit difficult, but Y/N knew the ship was listening. She ranted about the pain often enough. She didn’t have to worry about the Doctor hearing it. He wasn’t there anyway. Stuck away in his room, doing anything to keep his mind from going to Rose. And Mickey. And Pete, and Jackie. He never thought about going to his other companion and talk.
“He’s stubborn.” The machine replied with a hum quite rapidly and Y/N snorted of laughter. “That was a fast response. He’s supposed to be your thief, you know?”
She heard quick and loud knocking on her door. “What?”
The Doctor stormed in. “Martha’s sister’s boss says he’s gonna rewire humans. Wanna come?”
She smiled. Always a smile. Don’t show pain, because pain equals vulnerability. “Yeah, sure.”
“Okay! Dress fancy, and be quick!”
“You’ve got a bloody time machine!”
She was happy for him, though. Happy he found his fire again, something to fight for, something to live for. She’d live in the shadows for a hundred years if it meant seeing him smile at something he so desperately wanted to get done. She patted the wall and stood up. “Alright, show time. Show me some nice outfits that’ll fit whatever chaos will inevitably happen.”
Multiple suits and dresses swung forward, Y/N secretly thanking herself for actually bringing clothes after the Doctor suggested it. She went for a nice suit, a calm green in colour, having a matching green bowtie. “Love dresses, but if a guy’s gonna rewire humans, I’m probably gonna have to run from something.”
The TARDIS seemed to agree and pushed forward convenient shoes. After grabbing her phone and switching out her glasses for contacts, she was ready to go. “So, where we goin’?”
“My sister works for this guy in PR and he’s having an event. The Doctor wanted to go check it out,” Martha answered.
Y/N chuckled. “Of course he does.”
“Oi!”
The gallery that they were in seemed simple enough, aside from the strange device in the middle of the room. The Doctor didn’t let himself get distracted by that, though, and immediately stole some tarts and snacks from a waiter’s plateau. “Have you had any food in the last – I don’t know, decade?”
“Yeah?” he mumbled with his mouth full. Martha and Y/N looked at each other, very clearly trying to hold their laughter.
“What?”
Apparently, what Y/N didn’t know, was that the rest of Martha’s family was going to be there too. It made sense, but the girl wasn’t very prepared for the mother’s suspicion. “And who are you?”
“I’m the Doctor!”
The woman frowned. “Doctor of what?”
“No, just the Doctor,” Martha quietly explained and Y/N smiled politely.
“Hi ma’am, I’m Y/N. I’m with the Doctor.”
Francine looked her up and down, probably judging the suit. “Well, at least you have a regular name.”
Martha’s sister, Tish, was more concerned about how they got in. “Oh- plus one stuff.”
Y/N and the Doctor grinned at the same time, knowing fully well it was the psychic paper that put them as highly important. “Yeah, plus one stuff. Listen, do you think there’s champagne here? I feel like I’m gonna need it tonight.”
As if the universe heard her (it most likely did), a waiter with a big serving plate of champagne glasses walked by and Y/N sneaked off two for her and Martha. “Voila! Champagne.”
“Ooh!” the Doctor promptly took the glass from her and took a sip, face cringing at the taste.
“You know you don’t like alcoholic drinks, dumbass.”
He protested. “No, no! I like that one drink from uh- what’s it called? Liccos? They had a nice cocktail.”
“Those were non-alcoholic,” Y/N replied with a smug grin and she drank some of her beverage. “That’s quite nice. So, what is this then? Changing the human? What’s that all about?”
Fortunately, an old man stood up from somewhere in the room and started talking about his invention. Apparently, it was supposed to be a machine that anyone could step into old, and come out of as a much younger person. Y/N and Martha both frowned and upon the Doctor’s worried look, they knew something wasn’t right.
“I don’t think we’re really supposed to do that sort of stuff,” Y/N whispered as the old man, Lazarus, stepped into the device and turned it on. It started whirring and spinning, causing a lot of noise and wind.
“The systems are overloading.”
“What?” Y/N yelled over the noise, seeing the Doctor jump over the tables to hopefully prevent the thing from exploding.
“Get that man away from there!”
Martha held her mum back. “Mum, he’s saving it!”
The crisis was averted, albeit barely, and the door swung open. Suddenly, a very young, blond man walked out, as chipper as ever. “Holy fuck.”
“My creation!”
=-=
“Can we go ask Lazarus about this? Maybe he doesn’t even know it’s changing his genetics. Could be a danger to himself.”
Martha and the Doctor agreed and they stepped away from the event, sneaking past the people to go upstairs to Lazarus’ office. “It’s empty.”
Martha covered her mouth in shock. “No- look!”
A body. A gross, dusty body. As if someone unwrapped a mummy.
“That’s how he does it. He sucks the life out of people and uses it to live. It’s turned him into a monster.”
And even now, with a life-sucking monster out to kill everyone, she was in the shadows. Helping people, taking care of any wounds, calming everyone down while the Doctor was running around, fighting otherworldly creatures. She lifted her head as she heard someone say his name, an unknown man. He was talking to Martha’s mother. “You’re talking about the Doctor?”
After a small nod, Y/N continued. “Well then. Anything you insist on knowing? I’ve been with him for a while.”
“Are you dating him?”
Y/N smiled. A painful smile. “No, no we’re just friends. We travel around a lot.”
The mysterious man crossed his arms. “Where to?”
“Oh, you know, all sorts of places. Italy, Mexico, the Arctic. You name it.”
She shot the man a look and went to Martha, who looked like she was going to run back into the building at any moment. “Hey Martha-”
“I’ve got to go back inside”
“He’ll be fine, it’s important to keep yourself safe with these kinda of things, Martha!”
Still, she ran off, just like expected. She walked over to Tish and pulled her aside for a sec. “Hey, if anyone asks, I’ve just gone for a walk, yeah? I need some fresh air.”
Tish nodded and Y/N unbuttoned her vest as she headed for the TARDIS. It was breezy, which was nice, because Y/N was sure she was overheating. She found the TARDIS pretty quickly and unlocked the door, going inside. The systems booted up, lights turning on as an hello.
“Hi old girl. How are you?”
She leaned against the console, sighing deeply. “Am I needed?”
Another buzz sounded and she whispered, “Yeah. I just don’t know if he thinks that too.”
She grabbed a notepad from somewhere under one of the chair and grabbed a pen from her pocket;
Dear Doctor. I hope you know how much you mean to me. But I think it’s time I move on, and for you too. Thank you for the memories and everything else that you’ve given me. Much love, Y/N
She let out a shaky breath, knowing this was for the better. She deserved to feel needed. She deserved to feel loved. She put the note on the chair, together with her TARDIS key. The ship aggressively closed the door, obviously objecting.
“I know, I know. I’ll see you again, sometime in the future. But I’m doing this for me, alright? I need this.”
The door slowly swung open and Y/N stepped out, breathing in the fresh evening air. She heard loud music playing from the Cathedral and knew that was her Doctor doing something idiotic to save the day. “Goodbye Doctor.”
=Bonus =
The Doctor sighed and stretched as he entered the TARDIS, Martha doing the same. “Well, I’d say we’ve done something today.”
“Definitely!”
“Didn’t Tish say Y/N was going for a walk? She’d go here, right?”
Martha nodded. “Maybe she’s in her room, changing.”
The Doctor marched past the console, but Martha saw something on the chair. “Doctor.”
He hummed as a reply and walked back, picking up the piece of paper and the key. His eyes scanned the text once, twice, thrice, to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He sank down in the chair, hand on his face. “Oh Y/N. My Y/N.”
“What’s it say?”
“She’s gone home.”