Chapter Six

Before Zoe could move, Jamie stood between her and the Doctor and placed his hands on his hips.

"Now why did you go an' do that for?" he demanded as she looked at him and frowned.

"Who are you?" she asked and he was stunned that she didn't recognize him.

"You really dinnae recognize me?" he asked, sticking his lower lip out while he pouted and her eyes went wide.

"Jamie, is that you?"

"Aye, it is, an' we better get going because I hear someone coming," he said as the sound of someone running filled the air and she looked at the Doctor then the TARDIS.

"There is no way I am going with…" she said when Jamie sighed, picked her up off the ground, placed her over his right shoulder, turned and headed for the TARDIS. "Put me down!"

"I will once we're inside," he said as he walked inside the TARDIS and the Doctor softly laughed, following them inside. Closing the door, he watched Jamie walking to the jump seat when he placed Zoe down and the Doctor walked to the console.

"This is kidnapping!" Zoe shouted while the Doctor moved around the console, pushing buttons, pulling levers, turning switches and buttons then pulled the main lever. The engines hummed around them while the TARDIS vanished and the security guards ran into the room.

"What?" one of the security guards asked as they looked each other then shrugged and left the room.

"Alright, will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" Zoe asked when she stood up and walked to the console, looking at the Doctor. "And, if you are the Doctor, why do you look so different?"

"That's a bit complicated," he said as she turned him toward her and locked eyes with him.

"Either you tell me what is going on or you can take me back to the station."

"Zoe, please, there isn't time for explanations right now. All I can tell you is that I need your help."

"No, I'm not going to help you, so you better just take me back to the station!" she demanded when Jamie placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him.

"Zoe, let's go get a cuppa tea, eh?" he said with a pout and she half smiled, seeing his lower lip stick out. She never could bring herself to admit it but she always thought he looked cute when he pouted.

"I don't want tea. I want to go back to the…" she said when he went to pick her up again but she held her hands up, stopping him. "Fine, I'll go, but I'll walk."

"This way then," he said as he held his hand out and they left the control, heading down the hallway.

"That went well. Are all your traveling companions this disagreeable?" Captain Benton asked while the Doctor looked at her and sighed.

"Do you think Jamie will be able to talk her into staying?" Amy asked.

"I hope so," the Doctor said then folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the console.

Jamie was surprised by how much the kitchen had changed since the last time he traveled with the Doctor but he found his favorite chocolate biscuits in a tin in the cupboard and walked to the table, placing the tin on the table.

"You can sit down," he said while Zoe sat down at the table and he found two mugs on the counter with a little box of his favorite tea. After he made the tea, he brought the mugs to the table then placed the mugs on the table and sat down, tucking the kilt between his legs. "You still take two sugars in your tea?"

"Yes," she said with a nod of her head and he scooped the sugar into the mug, handing it to her. Zoe held the mug in her hands as he opened the tin and took one of chocolate biscuits out of the tin.

"Tae be honest, I shouldnae be eating these," he said with a smile when the tin vanished and he looked at the ceiling. "Och, that's nae fair!"

"Do you really believe that he's the Doctor?" Zoe asked while he nibbled on the chocolate biscuit and nodded.

"Aye, I do. I'm nae sure how I ken though. There's just something in his eyes that tells me it's him."

"Who are the others?"

"Well, Amy is the lass with the ginger hair. Captain Benton…"

"Is she any relation to Sergeant Benton?"

"Aye, she's his granddaughter. The other man is the Brigadier."

"He is?"

"Aye, now, do you mind telling me why you went an' slapped the Doctor?"

"I slapped him because he ruined my life," she whispered then sipped on the tea and he frowned with a confused look on his face.

"He did?"

"Let me ask you something. How come you remember all this? Did he give you your memories back?"

"No, I already had them."

"But how is that possible?"

"Well, the first time the Time Lords removed my memories…"

"Wait, they did it more than once?"

"Aye, it was after the Doctor an' I did some missions for them."

"When was that?"

"It was right before they sent him into exile."

"Why wasn't I with you?"

"It's because the Time Lords wouldnae let him have the both of us."

"Why?"

"They knew that he's run off if we both were with him. Now, the second time they wanted tae remove my memories, the machine broke. I told them no one would believe me if I told them anything an' I was right. No one did," he said with a smile and she smiled back, sipping on the tea.

"You told me that you fought in the Battle of Culloden."

"Aye an' they dropped me off in the middle of the battlefield. It's true that's where I first met the Doctor but they could have just put me on the boat with my laird an' his daughter so I could have gone with them to Paris."

"How did you survive the battle?"

"By the skin of my teeth," he said then got up and poured some more tea into the mug, walking back to the table and sitting down. "See, this redcoat shot at me but I ducked an' chased him up this hill. When I went over the top of the hill, there was this regiment of redcoats at the bottom an' they pointed their rifles at me."

"What did you do?"

"I ran down the hill. They opened fire an' I got shot three times, once in the shoulder, once in the leg an' the last shot grazed the side of my head. I thought I was done for when their commanding officer rode closer an' I could barely see him. The last thing I remember was him saying that I was just a boy. When I woke up, I did wake up now an' then but nae for very long, I was in bed in this really fancy bedroom. It turns out that he took me home an' became my guardian."

"Why?"

"Now, that's the funny thing. It turned out that he had a son, Daniel, who died at Culloden, an' he couldnae bring himself tae allow another boy lose his life."

"How old was Daniel?"

"Like me, he was seventeen years old."

"So he was using you as a replacement for his son?"

"Aye, but I never thought of him as my father," Jamie said as he looked at the mug and half smiled. The Doctor was his replacement father and he swore that losing two fathers was enough. "Anyway, I healed an' grew up on a horse ranch just outside of Inverness."

"Are you married?"

"Aye, I am."

"Do you have any children?"

"I have twelve children."

"Oh, do you have any grandchildren?"

"Aye, too many, if you ask me!" he said and she softly laughed. "The youngest one is Hannah. She is my little shadow an', if truth be told, she's my favorite," he said and winked at her. "Are you married?"

"I was," she sighed and he reached over, placing his hand on top of hers.

"What happened?" he asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

"The Doctor happened," she said and looked at the mug.

"Doctor, where are you going?" Amy asked while he headed out of the control room and they headed down the hallway.

"I need to see if she's alright," the Doctor said when Amy gently touched his arm and he stopped looking at her.

"I'm sure that Jamie's handling it. I mean they are friends, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are, but I still need to know why she's so angry with me."

"Then let me come with you. Safety in numbers and all that," she said with a smile and he nodded, taking her hand. Walking down the hallway, he tried to think of a reason for why Zoe was so angry when he sighed and they walked around the corner, heading for the kitchen.

"What do you mean the Doctor happened? What did he do?" Jamie asked when Amy and the Doctor walked into the kitchen and they looked at them.

"That's what I would like to know," the Doctor said and Zoe sighed.

"Fine, it took me three weeks for my memories to readjust but I kept thinking there was something missing. I checked the security footage of when you and Jamie left but something was out of place. The footage clearly showed me sneaking into the TARDIS but that couldn't be right because I clearly remember being in the hallway with no memory of where you two were. I tried to figure out why I couldn't remember and went to see several therapists. One of them hypnotized me but nothing happened. They said I was blocking whatever it was I was trying to forget. It became an obsession. I needed to know what was going on. Oh, I did have a life but that obsession cost me my marriage and my relationship with my daughter," she said and the Doctor sat down, placing his hand on top of hers.

"Zoe, I am so sorry. I had no idea," he said as she sighed and looked at his hand.

"Is it true that the Time Lords let you travel with Jamie before you went into exile?"

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the "p".

"Are you still in exile?"

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"Aren't the Time Lords going to be upset that you contacted us?"

"No, because the Time Lords are gone," he sighed and Jamie frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked when a chocolate biscuit appeared on the table in front of him and he smiled. The Doctor told them about the Time War while Amy brought over two mugs of tea and they sat down at the table.

"If this true, why didn't you come and get us?" Zoe asked.

"I didn't because I didn't want to interrupt your lives. You were doing fine without me," the Doctor said.

"How did you know that for certain? Did you know what happened to Jamie? He was shot by the redcoats and could have been killed."

"No, that wouldn't have happened."

"How do you know that?"

"Jamie, do you remember the doctor that treated you?"

"No, I dinnae, but I do remember this blonde lass. She kept telling me that everything was going tae be alright," Jamie said and the Doctor smiled.

After their meeting with Queen Victoria, Rose had asked him who James McCrimmon was and he told her all about Jamie. Asking if it would be alright if they went to see him, he took her to Culloden when they saw Jamie getting shot and snuck into the camp, telling the commanding officer that he was their new surgeon. During the night, the Doctor had snuck out of camp when he retrieved some medical equipment and used it to save Jamie's life. They stayed in the camp for a few days while Jamie drifted in and out of consciousness and the Doctor remembered the long talks he had with the commanding officer.

"Should I tell him that I told Commander Watertin to take him home and became his guardian? Nah," the Doctor thought.

"Well?" she asked and he sighed, looking at the mug.

"Och, does it really matter? Look, my life wasnae all fun an' games either. It is true that he could have shown up an' fix things but it doesnae always mean that things will be better for it. Things just happen an' you have tae face whatever it is or let it eat you up until there is na' left but pain an' misery," Jamie said as they looked at him and he sipped on the tea.

"Jamie, that was…" the Doctor said and Jamie smiled.

"Brilliant?" Jamie asked and the Doctor nodded.

"Fine, I'll help you," Zoe said when the Doctor stood up and held his hand out. Taking his hand, they left the kitchen while Jamie and Amy finished their tea then Jamie stood up and held his hand out, wiggling his fingers at her. Giggling, she took his hand as she stood up then they left the kitchen and the mugs vanished while the soft humming of the TARDIS filled the air.