A/N: At first I wanted to add this story to the Skipper's second in command, first in heart collection but it turned out too long and too...descriptive for the style of that collection. Action takes place after the episode Fit To Print. The team's activity got discovered and the plan with new identities was brought to life.

The idea hit me after Doctor-Hamato's request.

Boring prologue:

0930 hours, Mexico, Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta

A beautiful woman with long black curly hair, white top, black chiffon skirt, ballet shoes and red neckerchief crossed the street. The shoes didn't really fit the whole image but she was going to work and not to a ball. Besides, the last time she had tried to walk in high heels she had ended up with a twisted ankle. The theory that men had invented heels to slow women down seemed provable to Esmeralda Ramirez. That was the lady's name. The problem was – she wasn't a female. With a feminine appearance it wasn't surprising that a Polish guy ended up as a girl in Mexico, right?

She passed by the statue with two dolphins. Always expecting that the Doctor with a big dolphin tattoo on his back would be the cause of their fall, Esmeralda was still in shock that the scenario had gone different. Six months after, she really should have got used to her new life. But she couldn't. There were nights she was just sitting on her bed and thinking what she should have done to prevent the horrible events. No one was killed or hurt...but still. Esmeralda missed her team.

It wasn't like she didn't have any contact with her friends. Professor Richard Perky spent two weeks of his holidays in Puerto Vallarta after Esmeralda had sent him a postcard: 'Wish you were here'. Moreover, she collected press cuttings about him. The man became a honourable member of the Chicago Linguistics Institute, discovering a new branch of phonetics.

Another of her team mates was busy with shooting the next season of The Puzzler. A BBC production in which he was the main star. Mr Harry Tux was nominated to the Emmy Award. Esmeralda was in touch with him, chatting at nights. She had to admit that the time zone difference between London and Puerto Vallarta was killing her and she was quite sleepy at work. Her boss and co-worker assumed that she was simply a party animal. Such a beautiful lady must have had a string of lovers. How wrong they were...

Miss Ramirez couldn't complain about her new life. It wasn't the best, true. Quite boring: work, city and its attractions, her attic flat with a little laboratory. She didn't invent anything big, more scratching a plan of a time machine, to bring back the old good times before the...incident. The weather was unbearable (no snow!), the views were beautiful. The general balance hit zero. Still the hole, deep in her chest, was howling. The man of her life wasn't by her side. The man with many names and identities. The adventurer, the macho, the gentlemen, the leader...the missing one. Half a stretch without him seemed like the eternity. Could he forget about her? No, more probable was that he was not allowed to contact with her. Esmeralda hoped that he would close all the doors behind him he would come to see her. And she kept waiting.

Sighing, she put right the neckerchief. The material covered a part of Esmeralda's throat. Inside of it, in the larynx, she had a chip with the Voice Changer. It wasn't visible outside. The first month with the chip was horrible, after six months, she put up with it but still was wearing different neckerchiefs and light scarves, probably just to remember that it was inside of her.

Esmeralda approached the equipment rental store she was working in. It was a simple tiki shop, she really didn't know who had had the idea since this was a coast in Mexico and not Haiti. But it wasn't her business. The tiki belonged to an elderly man, with no sense of humour and even little sense of generosity. Esmeralda's co-worker's name was Bella - a young and boundless girl who liked boys, a lot, and was always late. That's why usually Esmeralda opened the tiki shop and was alone until Bella finally showed up. Clients floated during the summer season which hit its end. The beach was silent. As silent as it could be with all the shouting birds, working ships and coming and going waves.