Chapter 4

Suspicions

They had been in the library for about fifteen minutes, searching for any information on the device when Rose turned to Amy. "I think I've found something, we'd better go show them."

Amy took a look at the book Rose held out to her. It was opened to a chapter on the history of some race called the Ga'eira. After she read the first sentence she agreed quickly.

They nearly ran back to the console room, Rose trailing slightly behind Amy, lost in thought.

Contrary to what Amy believed, she had heard what Amy had muttered, she hadn't missed that word. TARDIS. She ran it through her head. It all added up. The way the two ships seem to fit together so perfectly, the way 'Craig'(whose name, by now, was starting to seem suspiciously fake) seemed so excited about the mystery, just like her Doctor, the companions. Although she had thought he didn't like the TARDIS becoming domestic. She had noticed the wedding rings Rory and Amy wore.

But then again, he had regenerated, if 'Craig' was actually the Doctor. She ran through his image in her mind. The tweed jacket, the crazy hair, the bowtie.

She was smiling by the time she and Amy made it back to the console room.

"Ah, back already?" 'Craig' looked up through the glass floor. It seemed in his TARDIS it was easier to do maintenance.

"Yeah," Amy walked down to the level below via a new set of stairs, "And look at what we found." She handed 'Craig' the book Rose had found. He read the whole book in under two seconds.

Even in the danger they were possibly in Rose couldn't help but wish her Doctor could, or perhaps would, do that. He would spend hours reading a book, hours she wished he would spend with her. Even though they were married their life was much the same as before- saving the universe, one planet at a time.

"Hmm," 'Craig' stood from the seat he had been sitting in and quickly ran up to the main console, "Here, read chapter 13.4, that's the important bit." He tossed the book to the Doctor as he knelt down and once again investigated the device.

The Doctor read it quickly, so he could read that quickly, he just chose not to, Rose thought, annoyed. "This is interesting, very interesting. Rose! Have you read this?" The Doctor looked up at her.

"Yeah, I did in fact," Rose said raising an eyebrow, "That's why we decided to bring it to you two." She glanced at 'Craig.' He looked back. He still has that look. He still looks so lonely.

"So, is anyone going to explain what's so interesting?" Rory said from the pilot's chair, where the Doctor and 'Craig' seemed to have forgotten him.

"Why don't you read it?" Amy said, taking the book from the Doctor's hand and handing it to Rory.

There was silence as Rory read it. "What's so interesting about this?" Rory looked up confused, "They're some old race. What's this got to do with our space-ships?"

"My space ship." Craig interrupted. "Everything. The Ga'eira are an ancient race, one of the oldest in the universe it's said. Except, no one's ever seen one. Their technology just pops up in places. It's completely alien, but there are no existing species with that technology."

"So something weird pops out of nowhere, no one can explain, so they just blame some non-existent race?" Rory asked.

"Yes and no," 'Craig' replied, "Yes- people blame a lot of unexplainable things on the Ga'eira, but no- there is evidence that the Ga'eira once lived, and are still around today. Just no one can prove it."

"Or no one's had enough time to," The Doctor said ominously. Rose glanced at him.

"You mean they could be stopping anyone from finding out about them?" Rose asked. She was answered with a hesitant nod.

"Sounds like the Silence," Amy said.

"The what?" The Doctor said, immediately interested. It wasn't everyday he heard of a new species.

"The Silence," 'Craig' turned to him, "They're a creepy, evil race. They use other species to make technology. The important thing about them is you forget you ever saw them. When you look away you have absolutely no memory of ever seeing them."

"But they can influence what you do," Rory said, apparently eager to explain something he had at least a small understanding of, "See, when you're looking at them they can tell you to do something. And when you look away you forget they ever told you but you still do it."

"Post-hypnotic suggestion!" The Doctor said, excited, "But then that means it doesn't have to be just those, what did you call them? Silence, it doesn't have to be just them suggesting it. And you could copy that. Oh." He clutched his hair in his hands, "Oh!" He looked at 'Craig', "But that means…"

'Craig' paled, "But we can't prove it."

"No we can't, but our main suspect of who created that device is a seemingly extinct species," The Doctor retaliated.

"What is it?" Amy moved closer to 'Craig', Rose barely heard her whisper the words "Doctor, what… is… it?"

She couldn't help but smile a little, she knew it.

"It opens up the possibility that the two people who planted the device, were in fact not doing it of their own will," Rose's Doctor explained.

"That post-hypnotic suggestion thing," Rose added both as a statement and a question.

"Yes."

"Great," Rory cut in, "So if that is actually how that thing got put on the ships then the people who did it won't remember they did it."

"Which makes it even harder to find out who did," The Doctor grinned, "I love impossible mysteries."


The Doctor glanced at his human copy grinning at Rose. He sighed, attempting to turn it into a thoughtful one when he noticed Amy standing near him.

"Amy, Rory," He said to the couple, "I need you to go to the library again and find all you can on the Ga'eira."

"I'll go with you two," The human Doctor said. "Since our ships melded it might be best if I'm there too. Easier to work out where to look." He looked at the Doctor, and then Rose.

"So I'll just stay here," Rose said quickly, "Can't leave Mr. Craig here alone. Groups remember." She patted 'John' on the shoulder. "Don't take too long then."

He nodded, shot one more look at the Doctor and followed the Ponds down the hall.

The Doctor went to work on the console and the device. He was interested in how the device seemed to be like the current TARDIS, a mix of two magnets.

He was so intent on his work that he didn't notice Rose kneel down next to him.

"So, Doctor, watcha doin?" Rose asked.

"I'm just scanning to see if-" He stopped abruptly and stood. "You called me Doctor, but I'm… I'm Craig. Doctor Craig… and you were just-" He tried to let it slide.

"Just seeing if it was you," Rose smiled, "So you're the Doctor." She looked him over "Regenerated again, I see."

"Yes, I did," the Doctor didn't know what to say. He decided to return to scanning. He wasn't good with women on a good day, now Rose was standing two inches in front of him… And yes, he had in fact noticed the small, matching, golden rings both Rose and the Human Doctor were wearing. Yes back to scanning it is.

"Did you miss me?" Rose asked cutting through the silence.

The Doctor paused and looked at her, "Of course I did. But you have him now." He said motioning with the sonic screwdriver to the hall the Ponds and the Human Doctor had left through.

"Yeah, I know," Rose looked away, "I just wondered…" She seemed to not know what to say. Instead she looked at the screwdriver, "New sonic screwdriver then?"

"Yeah," He grinned. Now he was better at talking about this sort of thing.

"Looks different," She obviously had no idea what to say, "So, this your first regeneration after him?"

"Yes."

"Your TARDIS looks different," She looked around at the unfamiliar bits.

"Yeah, she changed," The Doctor lit up, "I got to talk to her!" He said excitedly, like a five-year-old boy who's come home from school to tell his mom about something exciting at school.

"Really?" She didn't really know how to reply to that, "Nice, is she?"

"Yeah," he was grinning even more now. Then the smile slipped, "Then she had to go back. To save us."

He looked away from Rose, even the memory nearly brought tears to his eyes.

"So what about Amy and Rory then?" It seemed Rose could tell that he was about to cry.

"Amelia Pond," he was smiling again, "Met her when she was seven, said I'd be back in five minutes, ended up being twelve years. Saved Earth with her and Rory Williams. Then went to the moon, found out I missed two years… again. Went to Star-Ship UK. Saved a Starwhale. Had adventures. Met vampires!" He said excitedly, completely forgetting about the device now, "Brought Rory along. Rory died. Then he became Roman and plastic! Then Amy died and I was in a box. Then we blew up the Universe twice and saved it. I never existed and then Amy and Rory got married. And I came back."

"You're so different, but you're still the same," Rose was laughing. "So maybe you should go back to that scanning."

The Doctor nodded and pointed the sonic screwdriver before spinning around, "Probably."


"Amy?" Rory leaned towards her, holding her hand, "Is it just me or are John's clothes familiar."

She looked over at him before glancing behind them, "No idea what you mean Rory." She motioned slightly with her head behind them. Rory looked back.

Amy followed his gaze. By now she was positive this man had a connection with the Doctor. When she and Rory had returned from the kitchen the Doctor and John seemed to be having a silent conversation by just exchange looks and glances while they were talking to the whole group. Amy wished she knew what those secretive looks meant.

She and Rory walked in silence until they reached the library, John moving in front to open the doors.

"Well that's interesting," He said, pulling out glasses and putting them on his nose. Amy couldn't help but notice they just added to his relatively good looks. She followed his gaze and noticed something she hadn't when she and Rose had been there a few minutes earlier. The room seemed to be split. There were two floors now, the bottom one had an unfamiliar greenish tone and the shelves seemed to be made of something mimicking coral. The second floor was more recognizable with its golden silver walls and more crystal like theme.

"Alright, Rory and I'll take the second floor," Amy glanced at John, "You can take this floor."

"Shouldn't we stick together?" Rory questioned, "I mean the Do- Craig said we need to keep an eye on one another." At a look from Amy he added, "Or more… implied."

"Yeah, well from the second floor we can keep an eye on Mr. Smith here and keep an eye on each other," She turned to John,"Agree?"

"Yes," He said with a nod, already pulling books off the shelves.

"Well then Rory," she took his hand in his, "Come on!"

They took the stairs to the second level and started searching.

When Rory was certain John was out of earshot he leaned closer to Amy and whispered, "So was it just me? Or were you making sure he didn't hear? Back in the hall that is."

Amy looked away from the book she was holding to glance over the railing at the tall stranger, "I've noticed. How do you think I wouldn't notice? He changed my life, everyone thought I was crazy, four psychiatrists… remember?" She shot him an icy glare.

"That I do remember," Rory knelt down next to her, pretending to be interested in a large book with a red cover, "And I was there when he used my phone to save the world. It's just, the clothes, they aren't torn up or anything."

"He's a time traveler," Amy said as an explanation. She had no clue, but she didn't want Rory to know it.

"A time traveler who happens to be able to change every single thing about him except for his clothing?"

"When I first met him," Amy thought back to that night when she was seven, praying for someone to help her, "He said something about early days, I don't know. He told me he didn't know what he liked to eat, 'New mouth, new rules' he said. He acted as though he didn't know who he was."

"When we were in the hospital, " Rory contributed, "Prisoner Zero made you faint, or sleep, but it pretended to be you and the Doctor," he pretended not to care and continued, "But at first he didn't know who the man was, standing next to you, even though it was him."

"You think he can change?" Amy leaned closer.

"Well he is an alien," Rory shrugged, "I'm not exactly an alien expert remember? I'm a nurse. He even beat me in that respect, the doctor."

"Rooorrry?" Amy smiled, "Are you admitting jealousy?"

"Maybe," Rory glanced at her, "But if… John-"

"If that's his real name."

"If John whoever he is, is the Doctor or his past, or future," Rory glanced down to the floor below, "Then why didn't our Doctor tell us?"

"Maybe he didn't want them knowing," Amy thought about it.

Rory sat back, pulling a book out of a shelf nearby, "Well it's not as if it's the first time he's kept information from us. I mean he knew for months that you weren't… you." Rory hesitantly mentioned Amy's long time as her Flesh avatar.

Amy just looked away.

"Aha!" Came the shout from below. Amy leaned over the railing to see John triumphantly holding up a huge book, "Found it! History of the Ga'eira, and all the compiled information."

"I've found something too," Rory said quietly, staring at the book in front of him. Amy leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.

She gasped.


The Doctor ran up the steps to see if the Ponds were alright, they hadn't responded to his announcement that they were done searching.

He saw the couple looking at a small, leather book, both with worried looks on their faces, "What?" He looked at them, coming to kneel next to them, "What is it?"

"Look." Was all Rory said as he handed the Doctor the book.

He looked down at the drawing covering both pages. It was the interior of the TARDIS, but it wasn't just any interior, it was the current one. The one created by melding two versions of the TARDIS together.

He just let it sink in. This was very not good.

Ok, so nearly 2 in the morning so I did my best to make it readable.

So again, please review. Thanks. :D