A/N: Hello! This is the beginning of my new story, inspired by a minor scene in 'Curse of the Black Spot.' Nothing to do with pirates though, sorry. Hope you like it! Apologies for the rather cliffhanger-style first chapter- I'll try to post new chapters as soon as I write them. Reviews are love!

~LoverBoyWonder


"Right-o, Pond, have I ever taken you to the crystal cliffs of Epsilon-3?" the Doctor asked excitedly as he scurried around the console, in his element, flipping switches and pulling levers. "Nope," Amy answered with a grin, popping the 'p', "I suppose I can assume that's where we're going next?" "But of course," the Doctor said with a flourish, eyes bright. He pressed a button, pulled something, twisted something else, and with a familiar noise they were off.

They landed rather uneventfully and the Doctor ran to the TARDIS door, every bit the eager child with a skip in his step. Amy smiled fondly and hurried after him, sharing his enthusiasm. She stepped outside and looked around. "Doctor," she said with a hint of confusion in her voice, "I don't see any crystal cliffs. Actually this looks like Earth, you know?" She wandered over to him and tapped on his shoulder as he frowned. "You're right," he decided. "We're on Earth, and it's-" he licked a finger and held it up into the wind, "about 2011, actually." He turned and looked at the TARDIS. "Why've you brought us here? You're so temperamental sometimes, dear…" Amy sighed and turned around, walking back into the TARDIS with a wave of her hand. "Let me know once we get to the crystal cliffs, yeah?" The Doctor mumbled something incoherent as he scrutinized his surroundings.

The Doctor sneezed once, twice, and wiped at his damp eyes. "How odd," he muttered. "Must be the air- I'm getting old," he joked to no one in particular. "Right," he continued, directing his voice at the TARDIS now, "Let me see what's gotten into you." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the outside of the ship. Looking at the readings, he found nothing amiss and so wrote off the false stop as a fluke, patted the TARDIS, and went back inside. "You too, girl? We're both getting on a bit, I suppose." He felt something in his mind when the TARDIS nudged him reproachfully. "I know, I know," the Doctor said with a grin, rubbing his eyes a bit more. "Never talk to a woman about her age."

"Now, Pond," he said a bit louder so that Amy, who was reading off to the side, would hear him. "Let's get to those crystal cliffs, eh?" Amy stood and wandered over to the console. "Let's get it right this time, okay?" she said, a teasing hint in her voice. The Doctor scowled playfully as he prepared to bring the TARDIS into flight once more. "Geronimo!" he cried as the motion of the flight nearly threw both of them to the ground; they both agreed that the near-danger was the whole fun of it anyway. They heard the noise, felt the floor steady beneath them, and both let go of whatever they were holding, walking a bit more slowly to the door this time, as if to savor the feeling of entering into the unknown.

"And…" the Doctor threw the door open and Amy bounded out ahead. The Doctor followed her but almost tripped when she rounded on him, hands thrown over her head in frustration. "Doctor," she said, irritated. The Doctor looked around, just as bewildered as Amy. "How can we be in the same place? I flew the TARDIS out! We left, I felt us leave!" "I don't know, Doctor," Amy said, "Can you fix it? I don't want to, to be stuck here forever or something." "No, no. We won't be stuck here forever. It's just a question of…Amy!" She had turned back towards the TARDIS, and the Doctor hurried after her, taking hold of Amy's shoulders and turning her around. "It'll be okay," he said, searching her face. "I promise." "Okay," she whispered. Amy returned to the ship, leaving the Doctor, who was suddenly feeling extremely tired, standing outside to study the new enigma that had fallen right into his lap.