"Where to first?" the Doctor asked, standing by the controls. "I can take you to ancient Egypt, Rome, the discovering of America, Fairyland, Razvahan, Padrivole Regency 9, the Lost Lands, Dastaria..."

"Home, Doctor. I want to go home," I said softly, sure of myself and my decision.

"Very well, then," he said, pushing some buttons on the console. I walked up to him.

"Think you can teach me how to fly this thing? I've always wanted to be a pilot," I said, tracing the control panel with my finger.

"Very well, you can fly us to our next adventure, but first, Portugul, 1993," he said, beginning to push a series of buttons and was about to pull a lever when I stopped him by putting my hand over his, holding it in place.

"No, not then. December in Edinburgh- at the train station," I said, my eyes steady. I did not want to see my father and what we were. I wanted to see my mum and me at the beginning of our adventure in Britain.

"Edinburgh, then," he agreed and, together, we set course for my first day in Britain.

There she was, my mum as young and beautiful as the break of dawn. Her hair was longer, then, and a brighter blonde. Less gray from years of stress as a single mother. She had a baby carrier in one arm, a trunk in the other, and about five bags strapped around her in the most awkward way possible. It was no surprise when they fell off her arms and onto the floor. She focused on keeping me from falling, which resulted in dropping her trunk as well. Naturally, I ran to help her pick up her things.

"Jess!" the Doctor called after me, but I ignored him.

"Here, let me help," I said, reaching to pick up her bags.

"Sorry, i'm a bit frazzled. Life's a bit chaotic right now," mum said, chuckling bitterly.

"It'll get better," I said, handing her bags back to her, "trust me."

"Thanks..."

"Jess," I said with a smile.

"Jess, what a lovely name."

"I think so," I smiled.

"My name's Jo," she said, but couldn't outstretch her hand to shake mine. We both laughed, "nice to meet you."

"You too. Good luck with your new life, and your baby," I smiled, turning away and walking back to the TARDIS.

"That was reckless," the Doctor said, looking cross.

"But the world didn't collapse, did it? She didn't recognize me, i'm still a baby."

"You think you're so clever."

"I know I am," I smirked, patting his shoulder as I walked past him and into the TARDIS. "Come on, the universe awaits us!"

"Right you are!" his face lit up as he ran up to the console, shutting the door behind him. "And I know just the place!"

"Ah ah ah!" I scolded, stopping him before he could touch it. "I'm flying this time." The Doctor complied and gave me instructions on what to do. When it came time to take off, I was so excited I could explode. "I can't believe it! I'm flying a time machine!" I grinned. Suddenly, the TARDIS began to shake. "...or crashing one."

"What did you do?" the Doctor exclaimed, taking over the controls.

"Nothing! I did exactly what you told me to!" I said, grabbing onto the railing.

"Hold on! We're going to crash!" he exclaimed. I secured my grip as we hit more turbulence before finally steadying after one final thrust.

"Doctor?" I asked, my head spinning.

"Here," he said, climbing to his feet. He had been thrown over the railing, but it wasn't much of a fall.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Peachy," I said, still catching my breath. "Where are we?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" he said, jumping right back on the ball. I followed him as he practically skipped to the door. As he opened it, it revealed a sandy beach with lush greenery not twenty feet away.

"It's some kind of island!" I said, tossing my jacked onto the railing before stepping onto the beach.

"Not just any island... Nikumaroro," the Doctor said. Confused, I followed his line of sight and stopped when I saw her.

"Is that?" I gasped.

"Amelia Earhart," he responded. I squealed and ran up to her, shaking her hand fervently.

"So good to meet you Amelia! I'm Jess, and this is the Doctor," I grinned like an idiot and she gawked like I was mad.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" she said suspiciously.

"Why, the TARDIS, of course!" I said, ready to explain everything, but the Doctor put a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. "Right, sorry..."

"TARDIS? What's a TARDIS? I've definitely gone mad. I knew this would happen eventually. Once I lost Fred, there was no hope for my sanity." Amelia said, looking glum as she sat down on the sand.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting beside her. "Tell me what happened."

"My plane crashed and Fred was injured. Fatally, i'm afraid and, well..." she gestured over to a lump in the sand, a makeshift cross sticking out from it. "My plane is beyond repair and i'm stranded on this lonely place."

"Our time machine crashed, too. What year is it, now? 1937? 38?"

"Can't tell you, I've lost track of the days, but yes, I imagine it's around then. I took off on my voyage in 37. Did you say time machine?"

"Yes, yes I did," I said with a grin.

"Please, please take me back to save Fred!" she pleaded, holding my hand and looking at me with puppy eyes.

"I- I'd have to ask the Doctor. I'm not sure what kind of rules there are about this stuff," I turned my head over my shoulder and called the Doctor before turning back to Amelia. "So what caused the plane crash?" I asked, hoping I could solve the mystery now that I had Amelia as witness.

"Not sure, really. We were flying just fine when we hit some really nasty turbulence. Almost as if we were being sucked down out of the sky."

"I checked the TARDIS and there's nothing wrong, it had to have been an external force," the Doctor said, running over to us.

"Just to be clear, it wasn't my driving that caused it?" I said, pushing for an apology.

"No, it wasn't," he exhaled childishly, "so what is it? What have you found?"

I smirked triumphantly before continuing, "Amelia, can you tell us exactly what happened?"

"Well, Fred and I were flying over Kiribati in the Pacific when we hit a bit of rough air. Worse than any I had ever dealt with- if it were any normal sort, we should have gotten through it, but it was as if something was pulling the plane down."

"Yes! Oh, it's brilliant!" the Doctor said, leaping in joy. We had a breakthrough.

"What's with him?" she asked me, unsure why we were so excited over her misfortune.

"He likes mysteries- and investigating! Come along, Amelia!" I announced, heading for the forest.

"Wait- you can't go in there!" Amelia shouted.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Amelia?" I said, egging her on. Had I bothered to look back at her, I would have seen just how terrified she was. Maybe then I wouldn't have gone in alone. Maybe then I would have waited for the Doctor. Maybe then I wouldn't have been captured by the Tractators.

"Hey!" I shouted, spotting something unusual, hoping to get its attention. "Are you an alien?" I asked, realizing that was kind of stupid to ask that only moments after, when it turned around.

"You," the beast grunted. It was big, as big as a man, but more of an invertebrate. It had a shiny black shell and, between each section black tuffs of fur stuck out. Its face was kind of like a fish, but it had big creepy eyes and two long antannae. Think roach. "You are a human."

"So? What's it to you? What are you, anyway?"

"We are the Tractators, led by the almighty Gravis," he said, rising to his hind legs, as did his friends, which only now revealed themselves. I must admit, they blended into the shadows quite well.

"Gravis? What the bloody hell is a Gravis?" I asked, not backing down despite being outnumbered.

"Gravis is our leader, the most powerful Tractator. He has power and intelligence beyond your wildest dreams, human child."

"Hey! I'm not a child! You... You... Fish Beetle! Why do you need me, anyway? What good am I to you?"

"We need intelligent humans to power our machinery," he said as a couple of them stood beside me, grabbing my arms.

"Aw, you think i'm intelligent. How sweet," I said in a sugary voice. "Let me go so I can give you a big ol' kiss."

"Flattery won't work on us, human. We only follow the orders of Gravis."

"You know, i'm traveling with the Doctor. Clever man, he is. Clever as ten of me, at least. I bet if you guys had him on your side, you wouldn't need any more humans, you'd be all set!"

"Where is the Doctor?" they asked, eager for my cooperation.

"I could fetch him for you, if you'd like," I offered innocently. The Tractators looked at one another skeptically, before releasing me.

"Bring us the Doctor," they said.

"Aye aye, Lord Fish Beetle," I saluted before dashing off into the forest. "Suckers," I snorted, but when I reached the beach, the Doctor was gone. "Amelia, where's the Doctor?"

"He went to look for you, of course!" she said, running up to me. "What are those?"

"Oh, Tractators," a few had followed me, it seems.

"They look like... Fish Beetles," she staggered, looking disgusted.

"I know, right?"

"Where is the Doctor?" one of them asked.

"Oh, they speak! This is a marvel," Amelia gasped curiously, carefully inspecting them with her eyes.

"Looks like he's popped out at the moment. Would you like some tea while we're waiting?" I asked sweetly. Apparently they didn't, because they grabbed my arms with their awkwardly webbed hands. "We have coffee too! No?" They started to pull me back toward the forest.

"What do I do, Jess?" Amelia called from the beach. She must have a branch or something to fight them off, because she hadn't been captured yet.

"Find the Doctor! He'll know what to do," I called as I disappeared into the forest. Gravis wasn't going to be too happy with me. When we arrived, we were at the site of a plane crash. No, it was a spaceship. There was a particular Tractator standing on a plane of it. He was a bit more green than the others and seemed to be in charge, as no one stood too close to him. "Hey there, Gravis. You look ravishing!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, woman of Earth. Tell me, where is the Doctor?"

"He's on his way. I told him not to keep you waiting, but you know how he is, always wanting to make an entrance," I sighed dramatically.

"I just like to be fashionably late, is all!" a voice called from the treetops. Confused as to why he was up there, we all turned just in time to see him swing down on a vine. "Allons-y!" he shouted as he swung. My eyes widened as I realized he wasn't planning on stopping, he was planning on taking me with him. I held out my hand and he took it. I braced myself as we swung through the air, landing on a tree branch. I nearly lost my footing, but managed to stay atop it.

"We had a deal, Doctor," the Gravis said.

"Oh, yes indeed. You wanted me, and here I am!" he said, opening his arms wide. "You might want to save this," he whispered, handing me his vine. I took it without hesitation, assuming he had some plan in mind.

"You will assist us, Doctor," the Gravis said as the Doctor hopped down.

"I'm not just going to assist you, i'm going to save you." the Doctor said, immersing himself in the crowd of Tractators. "Amelia!" he shouted. Just then, Amelia came out of the spaceship behind Gravis and tossed his sonic screwdriver back to him. "Jess!" he called, stepping to the side. I knew what I had to do. So I gave my best Tarzan battle cry and swung down, aiming for the Gravis. I kicked him straight in the- I guess it's his chest- and knocked him back into the spaceship. The Doctor activated his sonic, which made the hatch close. As it did, Amelia saluted bravely with a smile on her face while I swung awkwardly back and forth on the vine, unable to stop.

"Doctor!" I called, getting nauseous. Two stable hands grabbed my waist and I let go of the vine, letting them guide me back to the ground. "What about Amelia? She's stuck in there with Gravis!"

"He'll be harmless now that he's separated from the other Tractators. As soon as she passes through the atmosphere, he'll be friendly as a puppy and ten times as intelligent," he said, watching the spaceship as the engines started. I followed his line of sight and watched as Amelia took off, heading into the sky with her new companion.

"Amelia Earhart and the Gravis, traveling the stars," I said as the ship grew smaller with distance. "Earth's greatest pilot and female adventurer with the whole of the universe ahead of her."

"It's going to be one hell of an adventure."

"So what do we do now? All these Tractators..." I said, walking through the swarm of them and back toward shore. They were no longer on their hind legs, but were crawling on the ground like bugs.

"They're harmless little things now, dumb as a doornail. They'll just burrow beneath the Earth's surface for a few hundred years until another Gravis comes along."

"I wouldn't say they're small," I shuddered, remembering the feeling of their hands on my arms. Well then, how about a quick swim before our next adventure? The water here is lovely."

"You want to swim in the ocean?" he asked, as if were unthinkable.

"Well i'm not going to swim in the treetops, am I?" I smirked, hanging the Doctor's coat on a branch. His eyes widened as I started to take my clothes off. "Don't worry, i'm going to keep my knickers on," I rolled my eyes. What a baby. "Well, come on then!" I said, finally kicking off my pants, the last article I was wearing aside from my bra and undies.

"I- I can't," he said, unmoving.

"Well why not?" I put my hands on my hips, wondering what he was getting at. "You can swim, can't you?"

"Not really, no..."

"900 years and you haven't used the swimming pool once?" my jaw dropped, appalled.

"I've always been hopping from one planet to another, swimming was never really of interest." Understandable. With a whole universe of adventures, why would he spend any time floating about in a pool of water?

"Take your pants off," I commanded.

"What?" his face twisted in surprise.

"Shy, are we? Come on, i'm going to teach you how to swim," I grinned, feeling a bit cheeky. No pun intended.

"Well then," he said, loosening his tie, "Allons-y!"