Chapter Three

The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and peeked outside. He gazed at Big Ben in the distance and smiled.

"Been done before but you can't go wrong with the classics," he said before sticking his head back inside.

The others stood in a cluster behind him. The Doctor gestured to the slightly open door.

"We're in London," he said.

"What year?" Amy asked.

"Dunno, part of the fun is finding out," the Doctor said. "We might be in the year 2011 or 3011 or even back during the time of the Black Plague."

"Goody," David said. "If we are, I opt to stay in here away from the Black Plague then."

"Nah, I doubt we landed during the Black Plague," the Doctor said cheerfully. "Besides, I see the London Eye. Didn't have the London Eye back then, did they?"

"Maybe it's an alternate world?" Rose said while Amy sniggered.

"Nope, no zeppelins," the Doctor said smugly. "So, up and out, everyone!"

"You better be right then," Rose teased as she followed him out the door.

"How dare you, Rose Tyler, I'm always right," the Doctor teased back as he took her hand.

The others walked behind them as they strolled down the sidewalk. The air was warm and the sun was shining down on them as they navigated through the crowd of people heading in the other direction. They reached a Pelican Crossing and the Doctor pushed the button on the traffic pole to his right. He then gave Rose an impish grin.

"I pushed a button," he said to her. "I love pushing buttons."

"Especially big, red threatening buttons that must never ever be pressed?" Rose said.

"Yes! You have one of those on you?" the Doctor asked eagerly.

"No, I'm right out of red buttons," Rose said.

"Blast, that would have made my day," he said while Rose and Amy giggled. "Oh well, come along, gang!"

They crossed the street and continued on their way. As they walked, Amy chatted with Rose and Rory and David talked to one another. The Doctor listened to them with a small smile on his face, pleased that his companions had bonded and were getting along well with one another. He hoped it would stay that way. While he walked, he looked around at the city and the other people. He was so engrossed in his self guided tour that he didn't realize that the others had stopped until Amy called out to him. He turned around and saw them standing around a bench. Amy was waving a newspaper at him.

"Found this lying here," Amy said to him. "The date is 2nd of April, 2007."

"Ah," the Doctor said as he walked back to them. "Nice to know we aren't in the middle of the Black Plague then. Let me see that."

Amy handed him the paper. He glanced at the front page and blanched. His companions glanced at each other when they saw how upset he was and Rose asked him what was wrong. He turned the paper around and pointed to the headline.

HAROLD SAXON ELECTED PRIME MINISTER.

"Okay," Rose said, confused. "Why does that upset you then?"

"Because this man is one of my greatest enemies. In reality, he's another Time Lord called the Master."

"What?" Rose said. "How can that be? You said you were the last."

The Doctor looked around and spied a chippie nearby. Guiding them to it, they went inside and got three orders of chips and some tea. While they ate their food and drank their tea, the Doctor explained the situation. When he told them about his tenth self being trapped at the end of the universe along with Jack and Martha, the Doctor noticed the stricken look on Rose's face, he quickly reassured her that they would be alright. Then he finished up by telling them about their escape and their coming back to modern day London.

"So when do they come back?" Rory said when he finished speaking.

"Two days from now," the Doctor said.

"So in the meantime, we stop this Master bloke?" Amy said.

"We can't," the Doctor said with a sigh. "If we interfere and change history, it could create a paradox. We have to let events play out no matter how distasteful the idea is to me. We just keep calm and keep out of trouble and don't interfere with Saxon or his wife. In fact, we stay as far away from 10 Downing as we possibly can."

After they ate, everyone used the loo inside the restaurant. The Doctor finished peeing quickly and went outside the door of the men's room. To his relief, Rose stepped out of the women's restroom first and he motioned for her to follow him. He took her up to the front of the chippie near the door.

"Just wanted to tell you that I also want to avoid Saxon since David looks like my tenth self and I'm betting Saxon will be on the lookout for me. We can't let anything happen to him or let him fall into Saxon's hands."

"Do you think David remembers anything about this?" Rose asked.

"Dunno, but that's another reason why I don't want us going anywhere near Saxon. The last thing we need is for his memory to be jogged by all..."

The Doctor trailed off and fell silent when he saw David and Rory coming out of the loo. He cleared his throat and adopted a casual pose as they walked towards him and Rose.

"So, are we ready to go?" the Doctor asked them. "Or do we have to wait for Pond to finish powdering her nose?"

"She likes to take her time," Rory said.

"Yes," the Doctor said, heading towards the women's restroom,"probably snorting cocaine or eating cocaine or putting cocaine up her anus."

"She isn't snorting cocaine in the loo," Rory said while Rose and David sniggered.''

Rose and David laughed harder when the Doctor looked around and opened the loo door just enough for his head.

"Come along, Pond," he said. "You can snort blow later."

"I'm not snorting blow," they heard Amy say. "Piss off!"

"I'm just wondering what's taking you so long," the Doctor said.

He stepped back when Amy came out of the loo and glared at him.

"For your information, I was doing...a woman's thing," she said to him.

"Really? What sort of woman's thing?" the Doctor said with interest.

Amy sighed and looked around before lowering her voice.

"It's...my time of the month," she said, giving him a pointed look.

"Your time of the month for what?" the Doctor said.

For a moment Amy thought he was teasing her but then she saw the genuine confusion on his face and groaned.

"Just...let Rose explain it to ya. Let's go," Amy said.

The Doctor watched as she walked to the front. He shrugged and followed her while Rose, David and Rory headed out the front door.