Author's Note: Next chapter, and it's another long one. :) I plan on having one more update on this fic this week which will put us at the halfway point (yay!) Also, expect to see an update on one of my other fics-in-progress this week...

I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/favoriting/reviewing this. It is always appreciated. :)

Additional Note: Anam Cara is a Celtic phrase meaning "friend of the soul." It's a timeless, all encompassing bond between two people, and I think it's a very apt way to describe the friendship between the Doctor and Jamie. Thanks to aragonite for the inspiration for this idea. Anyone who is enjoying my work should check out her account as well. There's a lot of awesome stuff there. :)

Chapter Nine

The Doctor continued to hum and wave his hands happily as he walked back to the TARDIS with Jamie and Peri close behind him.

When he had arrived at this station, he was not only concerned with the state Chimera had been in, but also his own lingering anxiety over the mind-slip he experienced earlier. He had hoped to find some answers and was astonished to discover that all the things that had been preying on his mind were connected.

'Not all that shocking really when you think about it,' he told himself. 'Many people don't realize just how complex the web of causality can be.'

Every once in a while, he glanced back at Peri and Jamie to make sure they were keeping pace with him. He was pleased that nothing unpleasant had happened to Peri during their exploration of the space station. He knew that she was hesitant to search for clues, and truth be told, he was concerned for her safety once he had an inkling of what had happened here. As it turned out, they had nothing to worry about once he had dismantled the infuriatingly zealous computer that had plagued them.

He thought again about the information Jamie had given about what happened. From what the piper had told him, the Doctor deduced that he must have been here on another mission for the CIA. The Doctor couldn't remember any details about this assignment, but he suspected that they didn't matter. It was obvious that some sort of subterfuge had been used to attract the attention of the Time Lords and to goad them into sending one of their agents here. That explained why the Sontarans had been prepared to kidnap both his former incarnation and Dastari.

'Still, this plan does seem a little too intricate for the Sontarans,' he pondered. 'Their cunning is mostly reserved for military tactics, and even those tend to be straightforward. No, no I suspect that there is another party involved in this. A party with even more cunning and foresight. Until I know exactly what we're dealing with, I will need to be cautious. The stakes are too high for me to afford to underestimate our opponents.'

The Doctor finally stopped humming, his expression becoming more thoughtful. He was still trying to place the sound he had heard in his telepathic trance while also coming up with some ideas about how to deal the Sontarans. Surprisingly enough, however, he found himself distracted. Apparently, the thought of dealing with Sontarans, mysterious scheming villains, and the prospect that his previous incarnation would be vivisected still could not completely take his focus from his continued surprise at finding Jamie's unconscious body in one of the service passageways.

The Doctor glimpsed over at Jamie again. It had been so long since he had last seen him, and until now, he had not realized how much he had missed him. Nevertheless, as much as he was thrilled to see him, the Doctor was also more than slightly concerned. Even though the piper appeared to be able to keep up with him and Peri, the Doctor could see signs that Jamie was disoriented and drained. He was convinced that the Scot went through more than one trauma during the attack on the station and during all those days he had spent trapped here, struggling to survive. When he had touched Jamie's mind while the piper was under hypnosis, the Doctor was saddened by the extreme grief and growing insanity he had detected. As he encouraged Jamie to rest, he had projected his own thoughts, feelings and memories of their time together. The Doctor hoped that it would diminish the mental and emotional suffering Jamie was going through and was gratified when it appeared to have at least brought the piper back to his senses.

He had also been shocked that Jamie had been willing to hide while his former self was taken away by the Sontarans. Some of the things he remembered vividly about Jamie were his predilection to be impetuous and his dedication to protect him. This mystery was quickly solved, however, when he found a very faint trace of a telepathic message still resonating in the Scot's brain. The Doctor recognized it as his own thought patterns and had marveled at how much concentration and mental energy must have gone into this message.

'He…I must have been desperate,' he thought. 'Not that I blame me. The Sontarans probably would have killed Jamie on the spot if they had found him. Perhaps that is part of the reason why I made contact with myself. My mind was already primed to communicate telepathically. It's not difficult to imagine that I might have reached out instinctively if I were put under some sort of stress.'

The Doctor continued to contemplate the telepathic signatures and workings of his former self until the three of them finally reached the TARDIS. Jamie walked over to it and placed a hand on the door.

"The TARDIS," he breathed. "I ne'er…I ne'er thought I'd be able…to see…leave…."

"Jamie?" the Doctor said, moving closer to him. "Are you all right?"

The piper did not respond. His hand fell away from the door and he stumbled backward. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back as his legs crumpled up underneath him. He would have fallen onto the floor if the Doctor hadn't caught him in time.

"Jamie!" the Doctor said, holding him upright. "Can you hear me? Here, hold onto me."

The Doctor positioned one of Jamie's arms around his shoulders and grasped the piper's hand into his. He kept his other arm around Jamie's waist. Jamie moaned and put a hand to his face, the movement clumsy and only partially succeeding.

"Doctor!" Peri gasped. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said. "We need to get him out of here."

The Doctor pulled the TARDIS key out of his pocket and handed it to Peri so she could unlock the door. As soon as she got the door open, the Doctor nearly dragged Jamie inside.

"Peri, go ahead and take off," he ordered.

"What, now?" Peri said.

"Yes, yes, now," the Doctor replied. "Use that switch I showed you for emergency dematerialization. You remember it, don't you?"

"Sure," Peri said. "But Doctor, what about…?"

"Just do it!" the Doctor snapped. "And keep an eye on the Vortex meter. Make sure the needle doesn't move into the red zone. I'll be in the medical bay."

Peri gave a response in the affirmative, but the Doctor barely heard her. He was too busy trying to get a half-conscious Jamie down the corridor.

"Come on, Jamie," he said. "It's not much further. You know that. Just hold onto me."

"A-aye," Jamie said. "Doctor….?"

"I'm here, Jamie," the Doctor assured him.

"I, I don' know what happened," the piper mumbled. "I jes…I came over dizzy."

"After everything you've been through, it's not surprising," the Doctor replied. "Come on, let's get you somewhere where you can sit down."

The Doctor nudged open the door to the medical bay and guided Jamie over to one of the beds. Once there, he helped the piper sit down and encouraged him to lean forward. Then he crouched down in front of Jamie, his hands gingerly clasping the Scot's forearms.

"Feeling any better?" he said a couple moments later.

"Aye, a wee bit," Jamie nodded. "Jes needed to rest for a minute."

"Yes, well, you just stay there while I make sure you're all right," the Doctor said as he stood up.

Jamie nodded again while the Doctor went over to get his diagnostic probe from the medical supplies. He waved it over Jamie's head and studied the screen.

'Hmm, body temperature's up a little over a degree,' he thought to himself. 'Could be a slight fever. Infection maybe? He might have caught something due his prolonged exposure to all those decomposing bodies. Or it could have been the food he would have been forced to eat.'

The Doctor felt a twinge in both his hearts. The idea that Jamie McCrimmon, one of his dearest friends, had had to huddle in fear under a ragged, filthy blanket and eat rotting food while surrounded by numerous corpses was almost too painful to consider. He knew that it was irrational to think this way, but a part of him was furious at his previous incarnation for leaving Jamie behind at that station to die a slow, horrific death.

'I should give him an antibody booster in case he's infected,' he thought as he turned his attention back to the scan. 'The combination of starvation, dehydration and lack of substantial sleep probably hasn't done wonders for his immune system. Otherwise, no injuries from what I can tell other than a few bruises. Nothing that proper nourishment and rest can't fix.'

The Doctor turned the machine off and briefly thought about how useful it would be if he could find a way to make this diagnostic tool more portable. Then he put it back on its shelf, pulled a vial out of his medical kit, and loaded it into a hypodermic gun. He picked up a sterilizing pad walked back over to Jamie.

"Here," he said as he reached to push down the collar of the jumpsuit the piper was wearing. "This should make sure that…."

However, before he could give Jamie the shot, the Scot flinched and pushed the Doctor's hands away.

"What are ye doin'?" Jamie demanded. The Doctor held out his hands, contrite.

"Jamie, it's all right," he assured him. "You're starting to develop a fever and I was going to give you something so you wouldn't get sick."

The piper reached up and rubbed the other side of his neck, the side where the Doctor had inserted the neural neutralizer needles. It may have been unspoken, but the message was clear.

"Jamie, I needed to calm you down and you weren't in the right frame of mind to listen to me," the Doctor explained. "I was afraid that you might hurt Peri or yourself and could not let that happen. Believe me when I say that, if there had been another way, I would have preferred to avoid forcing you to remain still."

Jamie stared at him for a long minute, his expression inscrutable. Then he lowered his eyes and let his hands fall loosely into his lap.

"It's fine," Jamie muttered. "It's nae important. Jes…do what ye were plannin' to do."

The Doctor frowned. His memory of how the Scot trusted him implicitly had been so strong, he hadn't thought twice about giving Jamie medical treatment without going into detail as to what he was going to do first. Admittedly, an error he should have been able to avoid. However, that did not mean he preferred the way Jamie gave in so easily either. As much as he needed Jamie to cooperate, he did not like the listless, submissive demeanor the Scot had taken on. Still, he needed to make sure that he wouldn't have to worry about Jamie falling ill.

It was always better to deal with one crisis at a time if at all possible.

The Doctor moved Jamie's shirt collar away and gently swabbed an area clean on his neck.

"This will just sting a bit," he said. "It should only last a second."

Jamie did not reply. The Doctor frowned a little more and placed the injector against the Scot's skin. One click and hiss later, the task was finished with Jamie reached up to rub the site of injection.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" the Doctor beamed at him. "Come on. Let's get you something to eat."

The mention of food prompted Jamie to look up, eagerness in his eyes. The two of them left the medical bay and walked down the hall to the kitchen. The piper sat down at the table while the Doctor hovered near the cupboards and appliances.

"Now, what would you like?" the Doctor asked him.

"Anything," Jamie answered honestly.

"Yes, but anything in particular?" the Doctor replied. "Wait. I think I have an idea."

The Doctor turned and grabbed some things out of the cupboards and refrigerator units, throwing all of into a large pan. He put his finger to his chin for a moment before reaching up for some spices from the cupboard next to his head. After he was done, he set the pan in the oven and hit a pair of buttons.

"There, your meal should be ready in a couple minutes," the Doctor said.

"What is it?" Jamie asked.

"You'll see," the Doctor smiled. "Now, how about something to drink."

The Doctor got out a large glass and turned on the water faucet. He handed it to Jamie, who gulped it down in seconds. The piper's hands shook slightly. Tiny rivulets ran down his chin from the corners of his mouth as he tried to taken in as much water as he could as quickly as possible. After he was finished, the Doctor silently re-filled his glass and sat it down on the table in front of Jamie. The piper downed about half of this one as quickly as the first, but ended up stopping after that.

"Thank ye," he said, sitting his glass down. "I cannae remember the last time I had a cold drink."

"You're welcome Jamie," the Doctor said. "Let me know if you want any more. Ah, I think your meal is ready."

The Doctor strolled back over to the oven and pulled out the pan. He scooped up a generous portion onto a plate and sat it on the table.

"Voila," he said with a grin. "Roast beef with all the trimmings. A favorite of yours as I recall."

The piper's eyes grew wide at the sight of the food. The Doctor was about to sit down with him when he suddenly noticed something missing.

"Ah yes, I forgot to get you a fork," he said, backing up toward the cupboards. "Just a moment, Jamie, and I'll fetch you one."

He turned and fished a fork out of a drawer. When he turned back around, he discovered that Jamie had decided not to wait for him. The Scot was hunched over his plate, scooping up food as fast as he could with his fingers. The desperate, ravenous way that Jamie consumed both food and drink spoke volumes about his recent experiences. The Doctor noted all of these details, morbidly determined to not let himself forget about a single one of them.

The Doctor discreetly placed the fork at Jamie's elbow and went back to the counter to prepare a small fruit salad for dessert. A few seconds later, Jamie noticed the utensil and used it for the rest of his meal. By the time the Doctor was done with dessert, Jamie had finished his first helping and had eaten two more hearty servings before finishing his meal with the salad.

"Thank ye, Doctor," Jamie said as he finished. "'Tis the best meal I've had since…the best in quite a while."

The Doctor nodded and assured Jamie that he was quite welcome, but the way that the piper had self-edited in mid-sentence had not escaped his attention. Jamie clearly did not want to talk about what had happened at the station. For the most part, the Doctor understood and did not want to pressure Jamie to talk about something he was not comfortable with. However, he also suspected that something Jamie wasn't telling him about that time was creating an almost crippling turmoil within the piper. It might not be pleasant, but the Doctor decided there and then that he needed to help Jamie release some of the poison that was festering inside his soul.

Jamie rubbed his eyes and yawned. Now that he was no longer hungry or thirsty, tiredness was creeping up on him. The Doctor smiled at him as he stood up.

"Come on," he said. "I think the TARDIS has moved your room back to where you remember it by now."

"Back? Ye mean it moved my room to somewhere else?"

"Yes," the Doctor said. "I keep all of the rooms that my companions use. Plus, I change rooms myself after each regeneration. And I prefer to keep my companions' rooms close to mine. Therefore, a shuffling of rooms becomes necessary."

"But why do ye keep these all these rooms in the first place?" Jamie asked.

"Are you surprised that I do?" the Doctor asked him.

"I don' know," Jamie shrugged. "A wee bit, I suppose. I guess I figured that after ye part ways wit' yer companions, ye'd have no more use for the room. I mean, it dinna always seem like ye'd ever see them again. Look at Ben and Polly."

"And yet, the fact that you're here now proves that it can happen, doesn't it?" the Doctor said. "My experiences with my companions are not always linear, Jamie. After all, time is relative."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Doctor was astonished to see Jamie wince in response. He had not expected to Jamie to react that way.

The Doctor stopped in front of a door and opened it. Jamie cautiously stepped inside. The Doctor followed, waiting patiently for the piper to say something.

"It's dusty," Jamie said.

"Yes, I suppose it is a bit," the Doctor said, running a fingertip along a surface and frowning at the residue left behind. "Apparently the old girl wasn't quite so thorough in the cleaning. Still, it looks like she freshened up the bed for you so I hope it will be comfortable. You'll find all your clothes still in the closet. And now, I suggest that you get some rest because there will be plenty for us to do once I figure out where they are holding me."

"Us?" Jamie said.

"Of course," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow. "If I'm going to rescue my former self from the Sontarans, I'll need all the help I can get. I'm counting on your assistance, Jamie."

The Doctor grinned as he said this. It was starting to feel like old times. He relished the chance to have Jamie alongside him again despite the troubling circumstances. That cheer quickly vanished when Jamie's face fell and he turned his back toward him.

"Jamie?" he said, moving closer. "You do want to help, don't you?"

"Of course, I do," the piper snapped with more vehemence than the Doctor expected. "It's jes…."

The Scot's shoulders drooped as he walked over to his bed and sat down.

"Mebbe…mebbe ye'd be better off nae relying on me," Jamie mumbled, his gaze firmly fixed on the floor.

"Whatever for?" the Doctor said. "This isn't like you. I've always been able to rely on you in the past."

Jamie raised his head, and the Doctor was shocked at the anger in his eyes.

"Aye. And look where that got ye, eh?" he said. "Ye got captured and mebbe killed by the Sontarans."

"Jamie, I already told you, I wouldn't be here in this form, if I died in that one. Why won't you listen to me when I say that the Doctor you know is still alive?"

"Och ,all right, so ye say he is," Jamie snarled. "But that does nae change the fact that ye got captured and had who knows what done to ye. And what did I do? I ran. I ran and hid. And now ye're telling me that ye need my help? Help? Like the help ye got at the space station?"

The piper pounded a fist into his lap and went back to staring at the ground.

"Ye don' need me, Doctor," he said. "I'll jes get in the way. I could nae bear it if something were to happen to ye 'cause I could nae help ye again."

The Doctor grimaced. He wasn't even remotely astounded at the revelation that Jamie was carrying an enormous amount of guilt over what happened. The Scot had always been tenaciously loyal to him. Unfortunately, that loyalty ended up becoming a double-edged sword during moments like this when Jamie inflicted so much shame and self-loathing upon himself. All of which was both completely unwarranted and unnecessary.

Deciding that this had gone on long enough, the Doctor strode over to stand in front of him.

"Listen to me, Jamie," he said. "When you ran and hid during the attack on the station, you did exactly what you needed to do. What I needed you to do. I'm sure I told you to run, did I not?"

"Ye did," Jamie replied. "But I should nae have jes let them take ye away like that. I should have done something."

"Like what?" the Doctor retorted, acerbic. "Like get yourself killed? Because that's exactly what would have happened if you had tried to interfere. Is that what you think I wanted? To see you dead? Putting that aside, don't you realize that if you hadn't survived, I might not have known about the danger I am currently in until it was too late?"

Jamie scowled and turned his face away. In the past, the Doctor might have been willing to stop there, but not this time. This time, it was vital that he get his point across. Although, he did sense that it was time to change tactics. He crouched down and placed his hands onto the piper's forearms.

"Jamie, why do you think I put so much effort into sending you a telepathic message?" he said, his tone becoming more solicitous. "A message that was so strong, so urgent, it was able to linger in your mind long after it was sent."

Jamie blinked, his expression softening. Confident that he was getting through to him, the Doctor pressed on.

"You said that I don't need you," he added. "But Jamie, nothing could be further from the truth. I'll always need you. That will never change. And that's why I did what I did at that station. So you would survive."

The Doctor moved his hands to clasp Jamie's shoulders gently which caused the piper to face him again.

"And now, just like so many times in the past, I'm counting on you, Jamie McCrimmon," he continued. "I'm asking you to fight alongside me again. Will you do that?"

"Aye," Jamie mumbled. "If ye're sure that's what ye want."

"If I wasn't sure, I would not have asked," the Doctor said. "Now, you should get some rest. I'll be in the control room if you need me."

Jamie nodded and the Doctor patted his arms before standing up. He started to turn to walk out of the room, but was stopped by the look on the piper's face.

"Jamie?"

"Do ye…do ye really think the Doctor's still alive?" Jamie asked, averting his eyes again. "I mean, my Doctor. Do ye think I'll ever see him again?"

The Doctor felt his hearts sink. Until now, he had simply assumed that Jamie would be pleased to see him. After all, he knew that Jamie understood the basics of regeneration and the changes that could accompany it. He had thought that, once he had proven his identity, the piper would accept him as he did before. It hadn't occurred to him that that might not be the case.

"As I said numerous times before, I'm sure he's still alive," the Doctor said, trying to not let his disappointment show. "I wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

"No, I know that," Jamie said. "What I mean is, are ye sure he hasn't had to regenerate into…well whatever ye regenerated into next? Can ye nae remember if this is when ye changed again?"

"Unfortunately no," the Doctor said, scratching at his curls. "This often happens when I cross my own time line. Any memories my earlier self would have gained about the outcome of events are blocked from my current memory. Making matters even worse, it seems the CIA tampered with my memories after I was released from their employ. I have very few recollections of the missions I was forced to undertake and what I do have is fragmented. Honestly, I cannot say for sure if this was the end of that incarnation or not."

"Ye don' remember when ye worked for the CIA at all?" Jamie said, his voice forlorn. "None of it?"

"Very little of the missions and any information surrounding them, I'm afraid," the Doctor answered. "But that does not mean I've forgotten everything, Jamie. Even though the Time Lords tried to erase everything from that period of my life, I refused to let go of any of the memories I had of you and of the times we had together. I made sure to put them into a corner of my mind that even they could not reach. And I still carry them with me. Even after all these centuries."

"Ye, ye say that ye still have all the memories," Jamie gulped. "But is that all there is? Is…is nothing else the same anymore? After ye change, I mean?"

Suddenly, another possibility popped into the Doctor's brain, one that he had overlooked until just that moment. It only took him a second of consideration before he closed his eyes and silently cursed his own stupidity.

'He's not just worried about that previous version of me,' he told himself. 'He's worried about the things that might have changed within me after regeneration and about who I am now at a more fundamental level.'

The Doctor let out a sigh as he reopened his eyes. Then he went back over to Jamie's bed and sat down beside him.

"Jamie, I meant what I said before about he and I being aspects of the same whole," he said. "Even after my appearance and surface characteristics change, I am still the Doctor. And if you're willing, I'd like a chance to prove it to you."

"How?" Jamie asked, quizzical.

"By letting me link with your mind," the Doctor said. "Then you can see who I am."

The piper's eyebrows furrowed. For a moment, the Doctor wondered if he would be given this chance or not.

"All right," Jamie nodded.

The Doctor responded with a nod of his own before placing his hands on either side of the piper's face. He leaned close and touched the tip of his forehead against Jamie's. Then, he closed his eyes and focused on allowing Jamie access to his mind.

'Jamie…my old friend…. Do you recognize me now?'

Seconds later, Jamie gasped and clutched the Doctor's arms. The Doctor broke contact and opened his eyes to see the piper looking back at him with eyes that swam with tears.

"It is ye," Jamie said, his voice cracking. "That dream I had of ye and him bein' the same…it was real. Doctor, it's really ye."

"Of course, it's me," the Doctor huffed. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Now that that's settled, I…."

The Doctor's words were immediately cut off by Jamie throwing his arms around him for a bear hug. The gesture had taken the Doctor by surprise and for a second he was tense and still. But it didn't take long for him to remember how much he had cherished the sincere, open affection that Jamie always had for him. Or to return the embrace.

"Doctor," Jamie said, the tears flowing freely now. "I, I thought ye were dead. All that time I was trapped at the station, I thought they killed ye. I, I ne'er thought I'd see ye again. I, I thought I lost ye and that ye were gone forever."

Jamie held on to him even tighter and buried his face against his shoulder. The Doctor patted his back and frowned again. He had chided Jamie for not listening when he repeatedly told him that he and his previous self were the same person. However, the Doctor felt equally dense for not fully appreciating the enormity of what Jamie was telling him when the piper said more than once that he thought he was dead. The Doctor recalled the illusion the Sontarans had left behind of him and concluded that it would be horrific for Jamie to watch him die that way. It now occurred to the Doctor that, whatever Jamie had gone through at Chimera, it was compounded by the terrible thought that he had lost his best friend. Perhaps for eternity.

"Oh Jamie, you of all people should know better than that," he murmured.

Jamie sniffed and lifted his head. His tears had dried and his expression was puzzled. The Doctor beamed at him in response.

"You should know by now that you could never lose me," the Doctor continued. "Not by tide nor time or even death. Anam cara, Jamie."

"Aye," Jamie said, a grin appearing on his face at last. "Anam cara, Doctor."

The Doctor's smile grew, and Jamie laughed as he embraced him a second time. As he held him, the Doctor soon realized that it wasn't just the fact that Jamie finally recognized him that was lighting up his hearts.

He reflected on how almost every second after this recent regeneration had been a struggle. The severity of the symptoms he had suffered as a result of his spectrox poisoning made it a bit of a miracle that he was able to regenerate at all. Unfortunately, despite his firm intentions to be a vast improvement on his last incarnation, the Doctor was forced to admit that much had gone awry. Mood swings, memory issues and a newly acquired asperity were only the beginning of his problems.

The greatest challenge he faced was proving to himself that he was still the Doctor.

He could see it in the way that people who had known him before. 'Are you really the Doctor?' Even if they didn't say it aloud, they said it with their expressions of disbelief and with the suspicious demeanors they projected. It was as if they were looking for something that was apparently absent in him now. Or at the very least, it wasn't obvious anymore. The Doctor had never been one to be overly concerned with what others thought of him.

But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt when Peri also had a questioning look in her eyes. Although, for her, the question was not whether or not he was actually the Doctor. No, it was far more insidious: 'why are you the Doctor now?'

The Doctor remembered scoffing at Peri's comments about his cricketer self being sweet. It had been easier to do than to ask her why she was so…disappointed at what she saw when she looked at him. In fact, it was still easier to disparage the incarnation before him than to admit that he found himself comparing that previous version with who he was striving to become now. He continued to work against the wickedness ignorance could bring about. He was driven to combat the evil that sought to oppress others. He spent hours happily working on overhauling the TARDIS and inventing a variety of useful devices. And yet, he still occasionally looked in a mirror and wondered if he was only a shadow in the glass.

Over time, he realized that he had a pair of questions of his own: 'will anyone ever be able see the Doctor in me? Or…am I just pantomiming in an effort to hide from the fact that the Doctor is no longer a part of who I am?'

However, in this moment, with Jamie clinging to him with all the familiar fondness he remembered, the Doctor reached a revelation.

'Anam cara, the friend of the soul,' he mused. 'And of all the souls in this infinite universe, the one who would always be able to see me for who I am and not be fooled.'

And that was the crucial point. The fact that his physical form, his habits, his taste in clothing, and his personality quirks had changed had meant nothing to the piper. Not even all the flaws and eccentricities he currently grappled with were enough to drive the piper away. All that mattered to Jamie was whether or not he was still the Doctor at the core of his being. Once he had that answer, it was all that the Scot needed. Just the fact that he was the Doctor was more than enough for Jamie.

And as it turned out, it was also more than enough for the Doctor as well.

A deep sense of contentment filled him as the Doctor smiled and patted Jamie's back again.

"Come on, Jamie," he said. "It's time for you to get some much-needed additional sleep."

"Aye, Doctor," the piper said drowsily. "Sleep…."

However, instead of moving away, Jamie simply shifted his position so he could lean against the Doctor and rest his head on his shoulder. It didn't take long for the Doctor to catch onto what he was doing, and he immediately began to shake the Scot's shoulder.

"No! Not here," he hissed. "You need to lie down and let me get to work. Jamie! Jamie, are you listening to me?"

A soft snore was his only reply. The Doctor let out a melodramatic sigh and slouched against the wall.

'I don't have time for this now. I need to check on the TARDIS' stabilizers, see if Peri is all right, put away those leftovers that are still in the kitchen…a whole plethora of things really.'

He looked down at Jamie and watched the steady rise and fall of the piper's chest. Truly, Jamie did need the rest, and he actually did look quite peaceful like that. Even the Doctor had to admit that it would be a shame to disturb Jamie when he was in the middle of such a relaxed slumber.

The Doctor scowled, but there was no trace of any annoyance behind it. At least, not at Jamie. Right now, he was just glad that Jamie wasn't the type to take advantage of another person's kindness because the Doctor found it unequivocally easy to indulge him.

Finally ready to admit defeat, the Doctor let out another sigh and carefully eased his coat off so he could wrap it around the sleeping piper. Once that was done and he was sure that Jamie would be comfortable, he turned his gaze toward the ceiling.

'Sleep well, old friend. I have missed you.'

Then the Doctor let his mind wander in search of answers to the challenges that lay of ahead of him while still allowing for the occasional detour into the nostalgic recesses of his mind.