The Doctor looked calm as ever; she couldn't see a trace of the burning desire to get out of the galaxy that she knew existed as they stood before the Jedi High Council. No, he didn't look nearly as nervous as she was sure she did, as he smiled at the members of the Council, observing them carefully, and being scrutinized right back.

It was Yoda –and come to think of it, he really didn't look like a puppet up close- who broke the silence. "Know, you do, Doctor and Donna, why here, you are?"

It took her a moment to decipher the question, while the Doctor answered. "Oh, of course! Just precautions, I'd assume. We are in the middle of a war, after all. I figure it'd be foolish to not screen all the strangers who popped out into a battlefield." From his easy, conversational tone, one might've thought he was talking about the weather.

Donna did her best to not frown back at any of the Council members, none of who looked pleased in the least.

" You say you 'popped out of nowhere.' Where were you before you came to Exarius?" That was the dark-skinned, bald one.

"We were in the Naboo Lake regions. It's a great place to walk around, though on our salaries, Donna and I could never afford a home there."

"What exactly do you do for a living?" She couldn't even remember this one's name, a male with dark skin and a series of pointed horns on his head.

"Well, I travel. And I take pictures. Holo-graphs, that's what you call them!" It was a rather good lie.

"And I write. Captioning, usually. I'm very witty."

"Oh, yeah. Donna's quite witty." They were on a role, though she couldn't tell if anyone actually believed them.

One of the Masters –definitely not Human, red-skinned and with some kind of head-growths- switched subjects. "What do you want from the Jedi?"

"Oh, nothing too big. I just want to get my ship refueled. See, it's organic –sort of- and it runs off of a natural energy source found in only a few places. I haven't been in this area of the galaxy for awhile –well, except for the Naboo trip- and I'm not quite sure where I can go. I'd like usage of the Archives to find somewhere to go to, and then transportation to get me and my ship there. And Donna."

"Uh huh. Doctor, tell me about the technology you used to shut down the battle droids." Baldy.

For the first time since they had walked into the impressively-built chamber, the Doctor hesitated. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?" A simple enough question, but it posed a huge challenge.

"Well, it's… complicated." Oh yes, more than they could know. "As I told Master Kenobi, it's an heirloom, a very useful one. I've never known where it came from."

"Do you have it with you?"

Again, he paused before answering. "I would say no, but you'd know that's a lie."

"We would." The dark-skinned man seemed to have taken the lead. "Would you let us see it, please, Doctor?" Stated as a request and in a friendly, even conversational tone, but to Donna, there clearly weren't any other options.

Still, the Time Lord resisted. "I'd rather not. It's… precious. I've heard you Jedi don't think much of attachments, but it means a lot to me."

"You understand that our abilities to help you may be limited if you aren't able to offer us any sort of knowledge about yourself, and just what your situation is?"

"Yes, of course." The Time Lord reached into a pocket and pulled out the screwdriver.

She frowned; was he really just going to give it up?

Apparently so. He walked over to the man and handed it to him. "I assume that records of this will reach no ears other than the Jedi's?"

"Probably." He didn't elaborate on just who it was who also might get wind of the two of them as he silently studied the device. Wordlessly he passed it to the wrinkled, green Master sitting to his left who also examined it for about a minute, before passing it on. The cycle continued –minus, of course, the half-dozen or so Masters that were somewhere on distant planets that she'd probably never see- until at last it returned to the bald Master (Pace, Race, Mace? Now she vaguely recalled Kenobi mentioning him, though she still had only the faintest clue what his name was.)

"Thank you for your cooperation, Doctor. We have a few more questions to ask you before you are dismissed. Perhaps the one we should have started out with: What is your name?"

"Doctor."

"Perhaps I'm not being clear enough. Your real name." He drummed his fingers lightly on his thigh, and a burst of annoyance flared up in her. Did he really have somewhere better to be?

"My real name is the Doctor. It is and… and it always has been."

"A name, that is not. Called you by something else, surely people once did!"

"Well," he shrugged, "I've gone by John Smith too, though I suppose that that would clearly be a pseudonym."

"Your resistance is rather unusual." For the first time a different Master, one that wasn't wrinkle-skin or baldy, spoke up. This one had a rather unusual head, skinnier than a Human's and bulbous at the top. "Do you not want our help?"

"Of course I do. But my name is the Doctor, and it will be for the rest of my life." There was something final and firm about that last sentence, more so than his previous words. "Next question?"

There was a moment of silence; she wondered if the group of Jedi were able to converse without speaking. Surely in a world where they all ran around waving laser swords, that wasn't too implausible.

"Very well. If you do not tell us, than so be it." Mace (That was his name, right?) inclined his head, before turning to her. "What's your real name?"

She started, surprised. Before then, she had never been directly addressed before, and the Jedi asking the question was rather intimidating. "Donna. Donna Noble."

"Hmm. And what planet do you come from, Donna Noble?"

"Ea- Coruscant. Like the Doctor told Master Kenobi, we're from Coruscant."

"Can you tell me which district?"

No. She glanced at the Doctor desperately, and he opened his mouth as if to provide an answer, but a different Master –one covered in off-white and cream hair; one of the odder creatures she'd seen- held up his hand. "The question is for Miss Noble. She will provide the answer, not you."

"Er…" she glared at the Time Lord; didn't he have some psychic trick to help her?

Apparently not. "…the upper district?"

They didn't seem to be buying it. "Lying, you are! Come out of it, nothing good will." Citrus-coloured eyes scrutinized them. "Hurt you, the truth will not."

"Can we just say that we come from far, far away?" How on Earth (Or should she do as the Romans did and say 'How on Coruscant?) could he joke at a time like that? "That would cover it."

"I'm afraid we'll need something a bit more specific than that." Finally, Master Kenobi had spoken up. "Surely you have nothing to fear. Even if your planet is in an alliance with the Trade Federation, we will not hold it against you."

"Sorry, Master Kenobi." He man quickly smiled at the rest of the Council, "And you, and you, and you. I apologize to every member of the Council. But you don't understand. Things are… complicated. Very, very complicated. You seem like a nice bunch of chaps –and ladies- and I'd love to get to know you better, but I cannot answer the questions that you're asking."

"Are you physically unable to?" A dark-skinned woman wearing some sort of bizarre headdress asked that one.

"Well, in all technicalities… no. But you wouldn't like the answers. Trust me."

Again, an uncomfortable silence blanketed the room. This time, though, it seemed to stretch out, enveloping days, years, and centuries until at last a small cough shattered it. "Tell us, you will, your motives here."

"To get home. Trust me, we have no desire to do anything sketchy here, if that's what you're worried about. See, my ship is organic –sort of- and it can only be refueled under very specific conditions. I'm not familiar with this area –I should've brushed up on my facts before going to Naboo, granted- and I need to search through some files to find a place that'll suit it. The Archives will be really useful."

"Right. And you, Miss Noble? What is your intention?"

"What he said. To leave." She realized how rude that had sounded and winced. "I mean, it isn't that you haven't been hospitable –well, we haven't exactly been here awhile, but-"

"Thank you; we understand." Another silence, though this one didn't seem nearly as tense, and then, "We must conference further on this matter. You will wait outside for our decision." He nodded towards the huge chamber's doorway, which slid open as if on some mental command, and revealed the small room they had crossed through to enter.

Wordlessly the pair strode out the doors, into the considerably less-impressive waiting room. It was tiny and windowless, the walls a dull blue, and furnished only by a low, empty table and several straight-backed chairs. She instantly collapsed into one, warier than she had realized. "They stick us out here for who knows how long, and there aren't even any magazines? Yippee."

The Doctor sat into the chair next to hers. "Magazines? You'll be lucky to find a few sheets of paper, that stuff is so outdated. It's all digital now." At her glare he quickly added, "But I get your point. I suppose it wouldn't've hurt them to leave us a holo-novel or two."

"Yeah. So, how long do you think it'll take them?" She glanced northwards to wear the doors were closed, trying to picture what they would be saying.

"Oh, not too long. A few hours, at most." He winced as she glowered at him again. "'Course, I guess 'long' is a relative term. Me, I can wait a few hours. Life's long enough for that."

"Right. How do you think they'll decide?"

"I don't know, Donna. I just wish I could know what goes on during a meeting like this…"

******

"All respect, Master Kenobi, but this is mad." Shaak Ti frowned, showing off the traditional pointed teeth of a Togruta. "They lie, bending and hiding truths. Even the Force shields them. Something is clearly not right!"

"She speaks the truth." The agreement came from Eeth Koth, a Zabrak Master. "It seems as though trusting them would be folly."

"You were correct on one account, though. They are… different. Time travel, that seems far-fetched, but… from far, far away, maybe that would be accurate." Adi Gallia frowned thoughtfully. "That technology was like nothing I've ever seen before. We could learn so much from it."

"Whatever other truths that they bend, there are no doubts in my mind that they are being truthful about coming from far away." For Obi-Wan to deny that would be as obvious a lie as them coming from Coruscant was. "But if we imprison them on no grounds but our suspicions, we will not be earning their trust, and the best way to gain such knowledge is through trust. If we foster good relations, then they will be considerably more likely to offer us information on the device."

"True, but we do not know if their motives are sincere. Maybe if the galaxy was at peace we could chance it, but the likelihood of them being Separatists, or having some affiliation with Dooku exists. It is too high for us to risk trust."

"Hmm, but too high, it might well be, for us to not support them." Yoda's apparent support took Obi-Wan by surprise. "To go home, our travelers want to! Cautious is the Force around them, but caresses them, it does. Many different ways to serve it, there are."

"Master Yoda, I trust your abilities much more than I would mine, but why can nobody else feel this?" Mace's typical serious expression almost bordered on worried.

"Tainted by your doubt in them, you are! Even Master Kenobi, who supports them, concerned, isn't he? When lose those doubts you do, see them clearly you can."

"Can you really be without doubts?" Depa Billaba voiced the question linking together all of their thoughts.

"When nine-hundred years old you are… yes."

******

Donna tapped her fingers impatiently against the hard, uncomfortable chair. She shot another glance at the digital clock –chrono, she had been told it was called- and saw that only half-an-hour has passed. "This is boring."

"I know, but I'm trying to figure out what else you showed learn about the marvelous galaxy we're stranded in." His face lit up. "Oh, yeah! Something like paper is occasionally seen. It's called flimiplast. Can't wrinkle, and erases messages when you're done. Useful thing."

"Flimiplast? Dumb name." Before she could comment further the doors swung open.

Obi-Wan stood in the entrance, wearing a stoic, unrevealing expression. "We have made our decision."

As they rose to enter she whispered in his ear, "I thought this was supposed to take hours. Is shorter good or bad?"

"Depends."

Once again they found themselves in the middle of the intimidating chambers. "Doctor and Donna. Our decision is as follows: You will be granted quarters with Master Kenobi for the time being. We will allow you to search through the Archives and if you find a planet adequate to your needs, we will provide transportation to that place. However, you may not go anywhere unescorted. This is our compromise." And it was one that had not taken them long to reach after Yoda offered his support to the two.

"That's very generous. I accept the terms." The Doctor looked satisfied.

"Yeah, I do too. Accept them, I mean." She smiled at the Council.

Mace Windu stood. "Very well, then. This meeting is over."