The woman gave a smile, one that was so like the Time Lady but yet so alien on the face of a complete stranger. "Hello, Duck," her voice was a bit higher but still held the same almost ostentatious drawl to it. Her hair was straight, brown that gradually dissolved into purplish tips, and much, much longer than it had been previously. Unselfconsciously, the woman felt herself up, causing Penny to blush. "Oh, not much of a change in body type since my last regeneration," she noted before humming in appreciation. "Love the new voice, though. Has more of a hypnotic quality to it, very useful…"

"H-How...?" Penny attempted to ask before trailing off helplessly.

River, the new regeneration of River, turned her bright brown eyes to the speechless ginger. "Oh, you and I have Sara to thank for this. I was out of regenerations, I gave it all to the Doctor, you know… But I must have had just enough artron energy left over and with Sara giving me that extra spark I needed…" She gave a smile. "Clever girl."

There was no doubt in the young girl's mind of who was before her, and Penny scrambled over to give the older woman a hug. "I-I thought you were…I thought that you weren't coming back."

"You'll have to try a bit harder than that, Duck, to keep me away." came the bemused response as River wrapped her arms around Penny. "But it appears that I get to have a bit more time than the both of us expected."

Penny started to get excited. Drawing away from the comforting embrace and babbling eagerly, "Sara will be so glad, the Doctor too. Maybe you can even come with us for a bit and-"

"Hush now, Penny," came the gentle interruption. "You know I can't."

"Oh," Penny murmured, looking down in disappointment before gazing at her in sudden hope. "But…But can you least come and say…" The red head trailed of when she saw River shake her head. "Why?"

River grimaced as the plaintive tone of voice, her eyes softening as they lingered on the crushed girl in front of her. "I can't. It would be a paradox otherwise. The Doctor… My Doctor was certain that I would die here. I can't be changed. The consequences…" River shook her head. "He can't know right now, probably not ever…"

"But-But you'll be all alone!" Penny protested, tears coming to her eyes. "It's not fair!"

"Oh, Penny," River sighed, wiping away a stray tear that slipped down the girl's face. "I'm sure I'll find a way to see him again… Just not as River. But I need you to promise me that you won't tell him. He can't ever know unless it's from me. Promise me you won't."

"But-"

"Penny, this is important. He cannot know," River stressed. "I need you to promise."

The girl slumped in defeat, her voice small. "I promise I won't tell the Doctor… But what about Sara, can she know at least?"

River hesitated briefly, but nodded. "Yes, you can tell her. But only Sara! Can't breathe a word of this to another soul, alright?"

"I won't," Penny swore pressing her lips together briefly as she glanced back at the entryway. "The Doctor's going to come back soon for me."

The Time Lady nodded, taking the hint. "I should go." She gave her a smile and hugged the younger girl closely, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "Goodbye, Duck."

"Bye, River." Penny's hair was ruffled and River turned to leave. The ginger caught sight of the wooden orb that she had been carrying around with her all this time and hastily picked it up. "Wa-Wait!" She ran over to where the brunette was standing patiently. Penny gave her the orb. "I was going to take this with me back to the TARDIS, but… could you watch it for me? Until we see each other again, I mean."

River smirked, seeing Penny's gesture for what it was, an attempt to insure that this encounter would not be their last one. "Of course, Duck." Smoothly taking the orb and tucking it securely under one arm, the Time Lady gave a steady wave of her hand and quickly left the room, leaving Penny by herself in the room where she waited patiently for the Doctor's return.

The girl wondered if he temporarily turned off the transmitter, since surely he was more than a hundred feet away by now. Now she realized he had in order to give her a brief sense of privacy. Likely it made sense that he decided to go pick up Donna first and probably wouldn't be back to pick her up until he made the sudden insight with River's sonic. Unless he came to pick Penny up first, in which case she'd tell him about the sonic with the data ghost to ensure there wasn't a paradox.

Hadn't Sara said that it was an important event? Something that would help Clara later on? She couldn't be sure of the details, especially considering that River had somehow regenerated, but Penny would be certain to cover all her bases. She couldn't afford to make a mistake this time.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The Doctor wondered if he had really bad luck or if he was just cursed. The Library was a complete disaster. The girls had tried to warn him, but, of course, he decided not to listen. The Time Lord wondered if he had selective hearing, only able to perceive what he wanted and leave everything else to the wayside. Certainly, since he encountered Sara and Penelope, that appeared to be the way things were heading.

Sometimes, it really did feel as if his life was a soap opera, one tragedy after another with just enough of a resolution that the episode could conclude but not enough that the show would bring forth an end… but that was ridiculous, of course, absolutely ridiculous. But if this was an episode, hypothetically speaking, it had a bittersweet ending.

Everyone but Proper Dave in River's expedition group had died, including River herself. The four thousand and twenty-two people were saved, literally saved, and had been returned. A hundred years into the future, perhaps, but they had been returned, alive and well. Thanks to Sara, before she had fallen asleep in her bed, he had found out from her how River could be 'saved' much in the same way as Donna, herself had been uploaded and stored into the system.

Why would his future-self give River his sonic screwdriver? Why, when he had all that time to find out a way to somehow contrive a rescue?

But he had. Of course he had. The screwdriver contained a neural relay. He had saved her.

Once he had saved River's data ghost, once all that excite and adrenalin had died down, the Doctor had been concerned about the disappearance of River's body. When he asked Penny about it, she could only manage to tell him it was gone. The Doctor supposed that Proper Dave had done as he requested to and was cremating River's remains. Just by looking at her, over that period of time, he could sense deep within his bones that River had been at least part Time Lady. One Time Lord can often sense the presence of another. He could almost feel the presence of her mind. That familiar sensation that he was once so accustomed to. He at first didn't want to believe it but now River was gone and only her ghost remained. He missed that presence with a sudden fervency.

Perhaps it was the way she had been about to pronounce his name so easily in Gallifreyan. Perhaps it was how she had brushed her telepathic field with his (giving him quite the shock, he might add) earlier when she was trying to discern why he was "pretending" to not know her. Perhaps it was the fact that her own eyes seemed to hold so many more years than her physical body displayed. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…

None of it mattered, he simply knew, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, how her death should be handled. And if he was somehow wrong with his suspicion, River was worthy to be laid to rest in the tradition of his people, especially if she really was to be his wife someday.

So the Doctor had requested that Proper Dave cremate her remains when the Time Lord and Sara happened to pass by the man on their way to the TARDIS. He hadn't quite expected the man to be so prompt, but it increased his merit in the Doctor's eyes. (Little did the Doctor know that River had run into Proper Dave and used her hallucinogenic lipstick before dragging him off to the teleports, so that her history wouldn't be interfered with.) Even better, the Doctor was able to go further with the traditions of his people by archiving River's data ghost. The data core of a planet was not the Matrix as on Gallifrey, but considering the circumstances, it was a suitable equivalent.

However, no matter how he looked at it, for a first trip outside of the TARDIS with him and Donna, it was rubbish. Which was why he was hoping that the next one would work as a suitable apology. Midnight was considered one of the top spas in the Universe. What could possibly go wrong there?

Xxxxxxxxx

"Oh, you three are going to love this," the Doctor gushed. "One of the most highly praised Leisure planets, sponsored by the Leisure Palace Company. It's called 'Midnight', a planet made of diamonds. Course, you can't touch the diamonds 'cause of the X-tonic radiation, but it's brilliant to look at, gorgeous, really. They got pools, a spa, and even little shops! There's loads of attractions, like scores of diamond falls, Winter Witch Canyon, and, ooh, you can't forget the Multifaceted Coast!"

Donna laughed. "Down, Boy! Alright, you've completely sold us on the idea already, we're here, aren't we?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Just calm down, Doctor, we're in a relaxation resort. Deep breaths…" The ex-temp joked, making the Doctor huff petulantly.

The clerk behind the desk chortled, "You two make such a good couple. A family of four?"

"Oh, no, we're not-"

"-it's not-"

"-definitely not-"

"-Yes, please. They're still finicky about labels," Sara interrupted with as much of a straight face as she could muster, attempting valiantly not to laugh. Penny giggled hysterically behind both hands cupped over her mouth, while both the Doctor and Donna looked shocked and indignant.

"Oi!" The two strictly friends protested at the same time. "Sara!"

"Right, of course," the clerk winked before handing over four brochures and a set of keys. "Enjoy yourselves now." The group barely made their way out of the reception before the elder woman made their reservations known.

"Sara, you can't just say we're married! We're just friends, you know that!" Donna yelped before pausing. "I mean, you do know that, right?"

"I know, but at the rate you two were sputtering, we would have been there for hours. Can't exactly blame him either, as much as it pains me to say it, Penny and I look like we could be your kids. Besides, all I told him was that you two were hung up on exact labels… I never actually lied," the brunette explained, shrugging. "We're never going to see him again. Who cares what he thinks as long as we know the difference? Penny's the closest thing I have to family right now, and you two are just friends, end of story."

The Doctor shook his head. "I can see your point, but just… Just give us a bit of warning, yeah?"

"No promises," came the flippant reply.

The Time Lord sighed. "I s'pose it will have to do. I'm thinking about going on the tour to the Falls, any of you want to join me?"

"I want to go try a mud bath," Penny immediately declared. "I mean, I've never done that before. I've been buried in sand up to my neck before and that was kind of fun until the tide came in… What?"

"Nothing, Penny," Sara said after a long moment. "Nothing at all. I don't think I'll do any mud baths, but I'd like to get a massage to work out all the kinks… My back's been bothering me for a while."

"And I'm getting the full work up, no way am I going to pass up a chance like that. Never been to a spa back at home, but I know this will be absolute heaven… Sorry, Spaceman, you're on your own."

"But…But… diamond falls! How could you not want to see that? Not to mention they even got a sapphire waterfall…" His voice dropped an octave as he tried to coax the three woman to join him. "Picture an enormous jewel the size of a glacier as it reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, where it shatters into millions of tiny sapphires. Then it all hurtles over the edge of a hundred thousand foot drop into a crystal ravine…"

Penny was completely enthralled by the description, nearly hanging on every word as the Doctor used broad gestures to help depict it the sight. Sara gently nudged her friend imperceptibly with her foot, attempting to remind her that going with wouldn't have a desirable outcome. The red head seemed torn for a moment before remembering that the destination was never actually reached in the TV show in the first place and reluctantly declined. "S-Sounds fun but… I just kind of want to nap in a mud bath and see if I can paint a picture of the planet." She gestured towards the panoramic view the fifteen-foot thick window provided.

"My massage summons me," Sara stated plainly. "I'd rather have that than watching shiny rocks fall over a cliff. My back will definitely thank me for it later."

"I'd rather go sunbathing," Donna added.

The Doctor looked genuinely aggrieved. "But… But it's no fun if I go on my own. It's only four hours-"

"There or a round trip?" Sara challenged.

"Well, okay, eight hours, but-"

"That's like a school trip, Doctor," Donna pointed out. "I'd really rather go sunbathing, maybe go for a dip in the pool."

The Time Lord slumped over in defeat. "Alright, alright, fine… I'll be back in time for dinner. I heard they have an anti-gravity restaurant. We could try that with bibs."

"It'll be like we're in space!" Penny cheered before realizing what she said and flushing. "Er, I know we are in space, but like… like the astronauts back in our time, I meant. Not… I mean…"

"Just like the astronauts," the Doctor agreed kindly. "Eight hours, then?"

After everyone gave the affirmative, the Doctor passed the transmitter to Donna as discreetly as he was able, but Sara spotted the action out of the corner of her eye. She gave no indication that she noticed anything at all.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"So we're not really going to enjoy the spa?" Penny queried, feeling disappointed.

Sara grimaced, her expression apologetic. "I'm sorry, Penny, but if we're going to try, we got to do it now."

The red head pouted, wheedling, "It's not like he's going to notice if we do it after having a little fun first…"

"It's not the Doctor we have to worry about, but Donna. She's got the transponder," Sara explained. "I don't know if the vortex manipulator from River will work if we don't have the transponder with us… And I really doubt that Donna will just give it to us if we ask nicely."

"So… We got to wait until she takes a nap?" Penny guessed, sitting on one of the many plush chair littered around the lounge while Sara took the other.

"No, but pretty close. I've been in spas before, and I've gotten pretty out of it in a hot tub or when they do those body wraps. If we're careful and quick about it, she won't know what happened until we're long gone." The older woman noticed that Penny still looked unconvinced and reluctant. "If you really want to go to a spa, we can do it later-"

"No! It's not that," the younger girl hastily interrupted. "It's just… Well, River knows us, will know us. Doesn't that mean we have to stay with the Doctor or it's a paradox?"

"Not necessarily, time can be rewritten, remember? We're not essential to the timeline the Doctor needs to follow and it would be better if we stayed out of it." She hoped that was true. Every instance when the Doctor said time could be rewritten, obviously he had to mean it. Even his own death on Trenzalore where he had seen his own tomb had been rewritten…..somehow. She shook her head in confusion before continuing. "Which is why we need to leave his life as soon as possible. Understand?" Sara tried to keep her tone soft, but she couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice as much as she tried. Penny looked at her in sympathy and in guilt for bring up bad memories, deciding to concede. The Doctor had welded on their bracelets for this venture and even Sara didn't know what settings it took to remove it.

Both of them wandered the halls, asking for directions from the occasional spa worker as they looked for Donna. Eventually, they found her relaxing under a giant hot towel, face down on one of those massage tables. Motioning for quiet, Sara tiptoed over to the nearby teak cabinet that was within Donna's reach; a robe, slippers, and the transponder rested there. Eying Donna carefully, Sara turned her attention to the transponder and started to remove it from under the slippers. In her rush, she took the device too quickly from the table and one of the slippers fell to the floor with a thud.

"Sara, what are you doing?"

The brunette cursed, her heart leaping into her throat, and she began to run out of the room, but Donna reacted quickly grabbing her arm. "Oi! You're not supposed to take that. Did you get teleported here from wandering too far?" The ex-temp tried to keep her towel up, which was failing, so she grabbed the extra-large robe to provide additional cover. "Hey, I'm not angry, just, Sara-!"

The brunette was panicking, "Let me go, Donna. I need the transponder."

"I can't give it to you, Doctor's orders. IF you want to go somewhere just- Hey!" Sara had wrestled herself loose and slipped on the floor, landing hard.

"S-Sara!" Penny cried out in worry, hurrying over to her fallen friend. The transponder had been jarred out of her grasp and slid across the floor. Donna picked it up, shaking her head at Sara's antics, wondering what had suddenly gotten the girl into such a state. She knew she was traumatized and the Library didn't do her any favors but she had started to think there was a little improvement but….Donna let out a gasp. She didn't expect Penny to approach her from behind in a tackle-hug, refusing to let go.

"Penny!" Donna sputtered in surprise before awkwardly patting one of the restraining arms around her waist. "What is it with you two? You're acting madder than a pair of hatter's and- Sara! I said 'no,' quit it!" The three struggled fervently with each other and Sara's anxiety and nerves built up with each passing moment, her energy no longer being latent, appearing on her skin in a diffuse glow.

It was enough of a fright that Sara let go of the transponder with a cry of fear, terrified that she might do something horrendous. If she wiped Donna or Penny out of existence…..she was in a sudden state of panic. "No, no, no!" She cried, wrapping her arms around herself and trying to will her energy away but it only became perpetually worse, growing brighter by degrees. The stress of Donna yelling, Penny fretting, and the fear of what was happening, the fear of herself. The light of the time energy consumed the room in a bright flash…

…And when it faded, all three occupants in the room had disappeared, leaving only the transponder laying innocently on the floor behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Donna looked around in panic, the people in the market place swirling around her and the noise overwhelming her in its sudden appearance. She clutched the robe tighter around her as she looked around desperately. "Penny?! Sara?!" They were nowhere to be seen, only strangers, and some of them didn't even look human in the least.

It almost looked as if she was in a Chinese market place, and she couldn't understand a word of what was being said, the TARDIS's telepathic influence being absent. There were apartment buildings and narrow alleys crowded with stalls. Up towards the sky were banners and pagodas, if Donna squinted, she could even see flying cars. She was nowhere even remotely close to home. Terror struck her, what if the Doctor couldn't find her? The universe was a huge place after all, and unlike Sara, Donna didn't think she had an energy signature that the Doctor could detect.

But a phone, his mobile, surely she could try to call that? She brought out her own phone, but it was fried from the journey there…wherever "there" was. The red head looked around frantically, searching for help. She couldn't give up yet, she had to get to the Doctor and find the girls. If Donna was here, where were they? They must be so scared, Donna thought. I know I am. She tried getting the attention of different people, but even if they didn't speak what appeared to be the main language of this planet, they didn't speak English.

She was passing by a small shop and a woman in a black and gold robe straightened, her eyes fastened on Donna. She called out, "Tell your fortune, Lady. Your fate foretold."

Donna whirled around immediately, "You can speak English? Can you help me?"

The fortune teller looked somewhat surprised by this response, but her eyes narrowed calculatingly. With a polite smile, she turned her head and tapped a device fixated just behind her ear. "Translate some. Many language. Little space."

"Oh, thank goodness, can you help me? I need to contact someone, I got…displaced."

"Let me tell your fortune. Then we talk," the slighter woman pressed, polite smile turning predatory.

"Oh, I can't pay you for it," Donna lamented. "Not without calling him first!"

"Fortune first. Call him. Pay later," the woman coaxed.

Knowing that this was likely her only chance at salvation, Donna accepted, glancing nervously about her one last time for either Sara or Penny. There wasn't a trace of them. Reluctantly, she entered, itching to get the palm reading done so she could call the Doctor and let him know what happened.

She wasn't to know her entire reality was about to see a drastic change and the Doctor was nowhere in the proximity. Indeed, Donna had forgotten that the Doctor or the girls had existed entirely.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Wh-where are we?" Penny swallowed nervously as she surveyed the darkened streets littered with garbage. A musty smell filled the air, which she struggled to identify. It nearly reminded her of rust or metal. Exceedingly distinctive. It appeared almost deserted and Sara felt her hands tremble in trepidation. What happened? She had been terrified when she had lost control of her emotions given rise to an energy surge. She hadn't meant to cause any of this. Whatever this was.

A street that appeared to be one on Earth. That much she could determine but it was so desolate. Penny's apprehension was not unfounded. Sara glanced down at the bracelets the Doctor had forced them to wear that he sealed on their wrists before handing Donna the teleportation beacon. The metal was sparking around the locking mechanism. Both appeared damaged and had smoldered, revealing the intricate circuitry underneath. Tiny interspatial designs that if Sara looked long enough, she felt it would almost make sense.

"I don't know." Sara's answer was faint as she felt the metal beneath her fingertips. Had she eradicated Donna from existence? What about the Doctor? She never wanted this. All they wanted was to live a life free from the TARDIS. From her nightmares. Oh, if only they had been more careful. No. Sara remembered her accident with the knocked over slipper that had garnered Donna's attention. It was me. I should have been more careful. Now something had happened and they were lost. Sara only had the sonic and the vortex manipulator that River given her. The vortex manipulator! Instantly Sara pulled the object from her coat only to look at it aghast. The power was running low. They wouldn't be able to teleport anywhere and it seemed the drain was steady. Something was affecting it. Was it the climate? The clouds around them seemed to have a nearly coppery hue and she bit her lip, straining to determine what was happening to the device. Could it be salvaged?

Penny also looked at the object that was meant to be the source of their freedom while closing her eyes. If only she had her sketchpad. But her mind seemed to paint a mental canvas on its own while giving way to a few sparse thoughts as she saw her older friend struggle with the switches so it could resupply its power cells. Is that possible? She frowned. Gasoline. It was a brief notion. Her neighbor had bought a Chevrolet Volt for which the car required premium gasoline. Anything lower, he had confided to them, the car's engine would be damaged and would refuse to run.

"That's it." Penny suddenly spoke, startling Sara. "It's the wrong gasoline."

"The wrong gasoline?" Sara repeated, looking at her friend and then back at the device. "What do you mean by….." She paused, putting together carefully what Penny was attempting to say, her voice stilted. "It doesn't have the right energy." The prospect appeared almost daunting. "But that could only happen if…."

"Not the same universe." Penny just knew. The air smelled wrong, it felt strange, even the ambient sounds were skewed from the reality they had previously occupied. If the TARDIS needed the energy of its original universe to travel from place to place, a vortex manipulator might require the same. Inevitably, what power resided in it would lapse unless it got a source from the original supply.

Sara was stunned speechless by the revelation. All they had seen was a brilliant flash of light and then they found themselves here. No trips through the void space. Not ones either of them recalled. It was almost instant. With that knowledge, came a dread. Where was that hell? That cushion between dimensions both had traversed through? They were there for a purpose but now….Sara pressed her lips together. Now…..

"What are you two doing about here?" It was a man, dressed in military gear with the exception of a mask guarding his nose and mouth. Penny was distantly reminded of the radiation gear that she had seen in one dystopian film or another that always caused her trepidation. Her fears were hardly unwarranted here. "This area is restricted. No civilians." Her hardly paused. "Are you contaminated?"

"Contaminated?" Sara asked, her voice filled with incredulity. "Contaminated by what?"

"Americans." He instantly surmised by their accent. "You should have all been deported. How did you leave the center?"

"Center?" Penny started to tremble at the severity his tone had taken. What did he mean by contamination? Would she become ill? "We don't-"

"We were kidnapped and brought here against our will." Sara tried stoically. "We're actually from Seattle but-"

"A city decimated by the Adipose industry." The soldier was shaking his head. "Care to try again?"

Adipose. She remembered the episode about the diet pills that used human fat to form children for the Adiposian home world, using Earth much like a nursery. But that didn't sound right. The Adipose targeted England, well, London specifically. They never managed to get their campaign to the states. Were they in a parallel universe? If things weren't quite happening the way they should…

The soldier was already speaking into his radio. The sudden arrival of these two strangers in an otherwise unoccupied area of Wales was suspicious. All foreigners were to be sent to labor camps. That was the order since other countries were closing its borders. America had its own crisis to deal with losing sixty million of their population. The loss of London alone had made England destitute. Of course, they couldn't afford to house people that weren't their own but….the soldier could only privately admit that he was uncomfortable with the mandate.

He swallowed, seeing the truck arrive, trying to bury his feelings. He had lost family and friends with the decimation of London. Not to mention the people he knew in the states he was struggling to determine if they were alive or dead.

"You have to go with them." His voice was dry as he nodded to his fellow soldiers and the girls looked around them with a mixture of alarm. Reaching forward, they laid hands on the girl's arms and immediately Sara, in panic started to struggle.

"Wait," She tried. "You can't do this! We haven't done anything wrong. We-"

"All foreigners are to be detained at deportation camps." The man holding her looked ultimately foreboding. "No illegal immigrants, no-"

"We're not immigrants!" Sara protested furiously. "We were kidnapped before any of this happened!"

"You will be debriefed at the decontamination center before you are sent up north."

"What contamination?" Sara found herself overwhelmed. Too many people and they were dragging the both of them away. Penny looked at her with a frantic expression.

"You're both aware what happened in London." It was a singular statement. "When the ship crashed into the City, the nuclear reactor in Greenwich went into meltdown." He paused. "It was catastrophic."

"You mean…" Penny was only starting to barely recognize what this was. "London…." She swallowed hard.

"London is gone." It was the detached, emotionless reply that the soldiers had currently adapted. "Wales is radioactive. You both could have been exposed."

It was the last response they received before they were locked away in the back of a military van heading towards an unknown destination.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Decontamination was largely an uncomfortable and humiliating process stripping both girls equally of any dignity while roughly dispossessing them of all their clothing, giving them only drab, uniform grey t-shirts and pants when they had been hosed down and fiercely evaluated. Suspicion only increased when the personnel confiscated their vortex manipulator and sonic screwdriver.

"Wait!" Sara protested. "Those belong to us."

"What are they?" A woman this time but in equal measure, cold and formidable. She was examining the equipment with renewed interest. Was it a weapon? She had never seen one like these. It was certainly worth having the captain evaluate. In the meantime, the sergeant leveled her gaze at Sara and Penny.

"It….." Sara's voice trailed, her mind going blank as she glanced at Penny who clasped her hands together, taking a deep breath.

"It's not a weapon." Penny managed. "Th-they come from our home so it's….it's sentimental."

In response, the sergeant pressed a button on the side of the sonic screwdriver. An overhead light suddenly sparked and blew out. There were yells of surprise as pieces of plastic fell to the floor from the exterior coating.

"Not a weapon?" The woman's face only hardened and Sara cringed.

"It's only for self defense." Sara admitted reluctantly. "We were kidnapped by this man and-"

"So you both claim." The Sargeant shook her head. "Sara Thomas and Penelope Carter. Received your driver's license in 2006 after relocating to Seattle." She was able to verify that much through the online database that was established between Scotland Yard, MI-5 and the joint forces in the States. "No one has reported you missing." She paused. "Especially not your publisher."

"You know about our books?" Penny whispered.

"I started reading them before…" The sergeant grimaced. Before everything went wrong. Before a flying ship crashed directly into London instantly killing millions of people leaving the rest of their country at the brink of self destruction.

Sara took a deep breath, trying to think. They knew a few things about them. Bits and pieces but how could she….then she realized. If she could only convince the sergeant.

"My publisher," Sara stared at the woman in front of her. "You can call her. She knows about us and will help arrange-"

"They're dead." The sergeant was dismissing Sara's one fleeting hope. "Casualties of Adipose and-"

"Look, I'm sorry." Sara cut her off. "We're both sorry we ended up here. We really aren't lying to you but couldn't you just deport us back? Send us back to the states if you don't want us here." She closed her eyes briefly. "We just want to go home."

"If and when we clear you from here, we'll send you north to the deportation center in Glasgow." Her answer was brief. "There is a waiting list." That was the essential problem. The States had their hands full with this new crisis and regaining a few displaced US citizens wasn't high on their list of priorities. Still the situation was perplexing and the sergeant wasn't apt to release them for the next forty eight hours once she spoke to her supervising officer. She nodded towards two subordinates who approached.

"They'll take you to a holding cell. I suggest you get some rest." The woman only gave Sara a look as she started to protest her lost items. "Your items from home," she started while glancing at the devices on the table, "are the least of your worries."

A chill went down Penny's spine. She felt nauseous. Maybe it was only the situation but her skin felt entirely sensitive after the forced hose down, yet she was dizzy and warm at the same time. Had they turned up the heat? She looked at Sara who while shocked with the situation otherwise appeared alright. What if….Penny was worried, thinking of the warnings for contamination. That could make someone very ill, couldn't it? Now a new level of anxiety started to fill her. What was she going to do?

They were removed out of the room and taken down a hallway before being locked into a cell that boasted only two metal cots with a sink and toilet. A camera was installed in the room so there was no illusion of privacy and Penny shuddered remembering her time in the mental institution far too well.

Sara on the other hand appeared utterly speechless as she stared at the door that had been locked in front of her. A prison. She could see all too clearly the similarities. Being locked in one room with no promise of freedom. Trapped. Isolated. Was this really what happened during the episode, 'Turn Left'? Detention facilities for illegal immigrants? Rampant prejudice? To make matters worse, both items that were to help them survive had been stripped from her. Maybe she should have waited. Perhaps until the 'Stolen Earth'. There would be sheer chaos with the daleks attacking. But she had been too desperate to get away and hindsight was still only twenty-twenty.

Sara wrapped her arms around Penny as the two sat on one cot for a while in simple silence.

"What'll we do?" Penny struggled to ask.

"I…." Sara started, trying to think. "We….well, we just…." The words seemed stuck in her throat as she looked down at her younger friend, wishing more then ever they could simply be back in a normal Seattle. Eating fish from Pikes Market, taking the ferry to Victoria. Striving to find coffee places that didn't sell out to Starbucks. Going to church. She remembered how much mass comforted them both as they tried to come to terms belatedly with the decimation of their universe. It wasn't easy at all but sometimes faith was all they had. Right now, Sara simply knew that to be unequivocally true. Belief. Faith. God. That's what we have…what we need.

Taking a deep breath, only one word came to mind but it seemed to answer all those questions in such a myriad of ways.

"Pray." Was all Sara said.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

When two officers entered their cell, Sara was overcome with anxiety. Penny was running a fever and no one answered the girl's calls for assistance. Oh, Sara knew she had managed to somehow heal River so Honor's message seemed to be based on sincerity but within her turmoil, she didn't know how to activate the ability without unleashing the rest of her energy with it.

"Honor said to th-think about your humanity." Penny offered, as she lay crouched on the cot, her small figure shaking. "Your empathy."

"I'm trying, Penny." Sara assured her with tears in her eyes. "I really am. I'm just not sure how. But what if River was a fluke and…."

"No," Penny objected. "You have to think positive. Think cheerful thoughts." A ghost of a smile in remembrance to the old advice Peter Pan had given so the children of the Darling's could fly to Neverland. In her haze, she started to wonder in all these realities, whether Neverland actually existed with a Peter Pan that refused to grow up. Could be nice not growing up. The red head mused.

"Not a lot of those to come by." Sara's voice was distinctly blank. "But I'll try. For you, I will try anything."

The officials that came didn't arrive under the auspices of offering medical care but to tell them that custody of them both was suddenly being transferred.

"Transferred….?" Sara shook her head. "But we are just wanting to go home." Her voice was edged with frustration. "You told us yesterday we would be sent to-"

"We aren't part of the authority that sees to labor camp division." The answer was blunt and Sara's mouth fell open. Labor camp? They were actually sending foreigners to labor camps. She felt sick. It was a repeat of the horrors she read and heard about during World War II. The concentration camps by the Nazis. The internment camps by the US government.

"But that isn't right!" Sara exclaimed. "You're all repeating history. Imitating the Nazi's and-"

She gasped as her arm was seized and she looked at a man with grey eyes as cold as ice. Bitter as steel. "I suggest that you demonstrate some gratitude for being spared that same fate."

"Gratitude?" Sara repeated. "Who are you exactly?"

He flipped out his badge. "Unified Intelligence Taskforce." She shoved the badge back into his coat. "You'll both be accompanying us to Leeds."

"UNIT." Sara interpreted, looking at them in shock. "But why….why take us now? There's nothing in this for you or…" Her voice trailed as she saw him hold out her sonic screwdriver and the officer nodded in confirmation as a dawning realization took hold.

"We are curious to know why you have a sonic screwdriver in your possession." He glanced between Sara and Penny equally. "Care to enlighten us?"

Sara only stared at him suddenly feeling even more trapped then they were moments before and the a glimmer of self satisfaction was evident in the officers eyes as both women were instantly rendered mute.

"We have someone who wants a word with you." He said without compunction. "A few people, I should say."

A horrible day. Penny felt tears come to her eyes as she struggled to focus. It wasn't even Thursday.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The van was freezing as Sara put her arms around Penny, looking at her guards in desperation. "You have to help her." She attempted to cajole them, quickly coming to a decision. "I'll tell you everything I can but not until you treat her."

"Acute radiation syndrome." One muttered to the other. Evidently it was a familiar diagnosis for the military but the way their guards looked at each other in grim reflection caused Sara's stomach to clench.

"What does that mean?" She demanded. "You can do something right?" Sara glanced down at her friend's neck wincing to see red splotches that highly resembled a rash but looked even more discolored.

The older guard winced. She didn't understand or want to comprehend the likely prognosis. Who did considering the sheer devastation the world had to endure? Her friend appeared to be just a kid. No older then his….he swallowed, remembering his own daughter. One more fatality. No one in UNIT had been spared in terms of grief. They had all lost children, parents, brothers, sisters or friends in the wake of the disaster. He tried to refocus and not remind himself how the girl that lay curled in the brunettes arms had almost the same color hair as his own beloved child.

Finding his voice, he asked, "Has she been vomiting?" They were limited in terms of what they had available in the portable first aid kit but if her condition had progressed that far, it would be telling.

"I….." Sara looked down frantically at Penny before glancing back at him. "I don't think so. Just dizzy and…." She paused. "They haven't really given us anything to eat and I don't know if…." How would Sara know if Penny could keep anything down since food had never been offered?

"Okay, let's see if she'll swallow these." He suggested, holding out two tablets, which Sara looked at with some degree of wariness.

"What are they?" She needed to know if they simply weren't going to make it worse. How can it be any worse? But Sara froze thinking of the one answer to that question with tears in her eyes. Why couldn't she figure out how to activate her healing ability? Everything seemed to be a succession of accidents and just when Penny needed her….she was overwhelmed by despair.

"Full spectrum antibiotic and an anti nausea pill just in case." He answered simply, holding out his hand in offering and Sara took a deep breath, nodding before taking the pills.

"Penny?" she whispered to the younger girl who seemed only half asleep, caught in a daze of memories of likely happier times. If only Sara could join in the revelry but she was here, awake in this miserable reality on the edge of panic by her friend's condition. "Penny…." She cupped the pills in her hand, lifting them to her friend's mouth. "You need to take these. It will make you feel better." Sara assured her. "Just-"

She was suddenly cut off as Penny's body started to convulse in a series of harsh coughs and Sara suddenly gasped feeling a surge of liquid hit her arm. She pulled her arm back only to look at it in horror. Bright red. Vibrant against her skin. It was blood. Penny's blood. Sara felt herself choke on a scream as her friend continued to heave violently in the truck. All the guards were moving in still frame and for the first time in her life, Sara wished the Doctor was there.

Penny's condition continued to steadily decline. The guards had tried to keep Penny separate, but Sara refused to leave her friend's side. "If she has it, I probably do too, so you can just shove it," she snapped angrily. "She's all I have… Just-Just leave us in peace!"

And, for a while, they did.

Never had Sara felt so helpless. Every time she tried to reach that same sensation of energy, tried to draw on her empathy, her focus snapped from her chaotic emotions and desperate grief. She had gotten close but Penny had let out a pitiful sounding wail of pain as she clutched at her head, making whatever thread-thin connection Sara had begun to establish disappear.

Penny's nosebleeds and headaches had been getting a lot worse lately along with her decreasing health. It had gotten to the point where Sara wasn't sure if the red head was having visions or hallucinations, with all of Penny's talk of a voice in her head and seeing the black haired woman from her paintings. Certainly the constant nightmares weren't helping, along with the ominous warnings, "It's coming, it'll be too late. We can't wait, Sara. We can't wait!"

"Wait for what?" Came the trembling question.

"For it all to end. We can't watch. We can't wait. Not a show. Not anymore. We can't wait or it'll be too late."

Sara's heart went cold. "The Darkness? Is it the Darkness? Penny!"

"We can't wait. We need to act first or it'll be too late…" The young girl whimpered. "He's coming. Can't escape and can't wait. We need to… We need to…" She sat up suddenly, her body stiff, from either fear or horror was anyone's guess. Sara tried to get her to lay back down, but the red head refused. "We need to tread carefully, Sara Thomas," her voice was flat, her eyes blank. "Everything is changing. We can't wait for the finale. We need to act or all is lost… He is coming."

"Who is coming, Penny? Is it the Doctor? Answer me, please!"

Penny blinked in a slow fashion, her brown eyes unseeing and flashing silver in the artificial light. "He is coming. We can't wait," she repeated before her eyes rolled up to the back of her head, and Penny fell back onto the bed, unconscious.

Sara could only look at her friend, helpless and unable to do anything during these episodes. She sat there at Penny's bedside for an indeterminable amount of time, taking in the skeletal frame and sallow skin, keeping a silent vigil while waiting for the next time the frail girl became aware again. Occasionally, there were moments where it was just like old times, if Sara ignored the pronounced signs of encroaching death on the red head's face.

Their last conversation had been so normal, if one overlooked the body-wracking coughs and the occasional splatters of blood in the handkerchief. "… I haven't liked eggs since," Penny finished.

"But you use it in baking plenty of times," Sara pointed out, perplexed.

"I don't if it's cooked, baked, or made into something else like egg nog or a quiche… Just don't like it plain and by itself," the red head explained hoarsely before coughing. And it was true, Sara hadn't realized until this very moment that she had never actually seen Penny eat scrambled eggs or a fried egg before.

She shook her head in amazement, "All because you had to eat green eggs and ham in elementary school. Let me guess, you don't like ham either?"

"No, I like fish or chicken better," Penny admitted before pouting slightly. "Don't laugh. It tasted funny and food like that shouldn't be green! Never really cared for eggs and ham anyway… No big deal."

"Sometimes you are worse than me when it comes to food," the older woman noted. "And for the strangest reasons! Last time it was pineapple-"

"-I don't like it except on pizza-"

"-which is gross by the way-"

"-tomatoes are fruit too, so you can't use the excuse that fruit don't belong on pizza-"

"-but I prefer pizza with white sauce so your point is moot anyway-"

"-you haven't tried it-"

"-and you haven't tried wine-"

"-I know I won't like it-"

"-and I know I won't like the pineapple," Sara concluded, crossing her arms and nodding firmly. The two girls stared each other down impassively before breaking into giggle that ended shortly with harsh coughs from Penny's end. There was a pause. "If only we hadn't met the Doctor, none of this would be happening."

"You don't know that," Penny pointed out gently. "Even if we never published, we might've gotten involved in the messes one way or another…"

"I guess… doesn't mean I have to like any of it," Sara grumbled. "Only good thing that happened was making sure River didn't die."

"I liked River," Penny admitted shyly.

The brunette gave a small smile. "I did too."

"I liked meeting Donna and… I can't wait to meet Rose," the Minnesotan whispered with a rasp. "Always wanted to meet her."

"She shouldn't be much longer," Sara murmured. "From what little I've seen outside of this room, UNIT's been busy with that mirror device. Rose just needs to talk to Donna, I guess, before she comes back here. I don't know how much longer we have to wait…" Sara paused with a shiver, Penny's warning coming back to haunt her. "I mean, how much longer this parallel world is going to last."

"I hope it's not too long," Penny sighed wearily. "It's taking a toll on us. You haven't slept in days."

"I have too," Sara protested weakly, making the young girl frown in a disbelieving manner. "I have, honestly! …Just in short intervals here and there…"

"Sara," Penny chided, eying her friend seriously. "You've been guarding me in my sleep. Now, it's my turn."

"Penny," Sara said, using the same tone as the younger girl. "I need to make sure you're stable… or at least aren't getting any worse than you already…" She paused, swallowing hard. "I-"

"Sara," the younger girl groaned, a frown deepening on her pale visage. "Your own health is just as important as mine. Nothing is going to happen if you sleep for a little bit. Please? For me? I'll wake you if I feel so much as a sniffle." She coughed harshly for a bit, gagging slightly before offering up a thin smile. "But I don't think you have to worry about that," she confessed. "Just some coughing but I've been doing that for ages, so sleep?"

The brunette scowled, looking like she dearly wanted to put up an argument. Both girls knew that if Sara did, Penny would back off as she didn't have the energy to do any intense verbal sparring with her friend. Still, the older woman didn't protest and instead conceded reluctantly, "Fine, I'll sleep for a bit. But only for a little while! You wake me up if anything happens, and I mean anything. Got it?" Her words may have seemed harsh, but the worry leaking into her voice dispelled any illusion of sternness that Sara had managed to put up as a front.

"Yes," Penny sing-songed, hoarsely, grinning. Within the next two minutes, Sara had drifted off into a heavy sleep, snoring quietly. The red head giggled before easing deeper into her sheets, attempting to get comfortable. After a moment, she also fell asleep, a smile still on her face as she dreamed of their house in Seattle and curling under a blanket on the couch as it rained softly outside.

She didn't wake up.

Author's Note: A bit depressing. Poor Penny. Thank you for all your last comments regarding your best wishes for my family. They did mean a lot. It's been a difficult time.