I am so very sorry about how late this is. The Holidays were chaotic and with me starting school the beginning of February, I was only able to write in small intervals between the two. But I have finally gotten to sit down and write today. I think I have two or three more chapters left before the end of this story. :'( which is kind of sad, but good since school will be occupying most of my free time for a while. Anyway, this is just basically an answer chapter to all of the questions I've posed thus far. I hope you enjoy it! Again, so sorry about the ridiculous lateness!


No sooner had the Doctor put in the coordinates and dates in the TARDIS than it had shot off into the Vortex, its passengers latching on to anything they could find. The TARDIS sped towards its destination, finding no time to wait for the Doctor to land it, and instead opting to land itself, jarring everyone aboard.

The Doctor got up from where he'd nearly been thrown down and patted the console comfortingly. "Easy, Sexy. I'll get him back. I promise," he whispered to her, then turned to his companions. "Is everyone alright?"

"What happened?" Amy asked as she and Rory helped each other to their feet.

"Nothing," the Doctor assured her with a smile. "Let's see where we ended up, shall we?" He helped River to her feet, then headed to the door, stopping in front of it and letting Amy, Rory and River gather behind him.

"Stay behind me," the Doctor said, then opened the door.

They were in the middle of a long, windowless hallway. It was dark, the walls and carpet deep, natural colors. From the other end of the room, a woman was walking down the hall towards them. Her hair was up in a tight bun and she was dressed in neat and clean business clothes.

They all watched her as she quickly strode up to them, looking hurried and irritable. She stopped in front of them, glared at the TARDIS in the middle of the hall, then looked at each of them in turn. "You're early."

The Doctor blinked at her. "I am? For what?"

She glared at him. "You're expected in the viewing room," she said, pointing towards a door at the far end of the hall behind them.

"What are we viewing?" Rory asked.

The woman, who had handed each of them pass cards to clip to their shirts, turned her glare to him.

Rory, flustered, look at everything but her.

"Alright then, everyone to the viewing room, I suppose," the Doctor said, turning around.

"Not you," the woman said. "You're needed in Sale Room 5."

"What's in Sale Room 5?"

She stared at him, expression stoney.

"Right. Sounds fun. Where's Sale Room 5 then?"

"This way," she said, then started walking.

"Wait, you're not going alone," Amy said, grabbing his arm before he could even start following the woman. "You know this is a trap, right?"

"Of course it is," the Doctor agreed. "That's why I made a counter-trap. You worry too much." He pinched her cheek, then turned on his heels. "I'll be back in no time! See if you can find James."

"But Doctor-" Amy said, but the woman turned to her, raising a hand.

"Your passes do not extend to any of the Sale Rooms. Now, go to the viewing room or you will be detained until we reach the next docking station."

"We're on a ship?" Amy asked.

The woman sighed irritably, glancing down at the watch on her wrist. "Time's wasting. Presentations are about to begin. I would advice the three of you find seats. I'll be keeping an eye on you. You," she said, pointing at the Doctor, "come this way."

River looked at the Doctor, who smiled at her confidently, giving her a thumbs up. This was enough to reassure her, so she turned and led her parents to the viewing room.

The Doctor, meanwhile, turned and followed the woman down the hall.

She led him down a long, winding hallway until they had made a half circle, stopping in front of a door which the Doctor determined was on the other end of the ship, straight across from where he'd parked the TARDIS.

She took a key from her pocket, unlocked the door and let him inside, shortly walking off with hurried steps to perform whatever other duties she had to do with a grimace on her face.

The Doctor entered the room and closed the door behind himself. He was in a small room, no bigger than a closet. To his right was an empty coat rack and computer mounted into the wall, which included hand and eye scanners. Ahead of him was another metal door, protected by the best security measures money could buy, complete with a deadlock seal. To the left was a big red button...

So naturally, the Doctor pressed it.

Static followed and the Doctor realized it was an intercom, so he pressed it again, announcing, "Hello! It's me. The Doctor. I have arrived!" then let go.

The Doctor didn't have to wait long for the door to unlock and open for him, letting him step inside of another rather small room, this one a little bigger than the bedroom of a small flat. At the end was a large computer on which a screen was rapidly counting up, reaching into the hundreds of thousands. Above the computer and making up for most of the wall was a large screen depicting another small, white room, wherein the Doctor saw James pacing up and down each wall, knocking and tapping on each of the four walls that appeared to be detaining him. On one of the walls was another screen with the same rising numbers as the ones in the room he was currently occupying.

Lastly, the Doctor's eyes fell on Mr. Boots, reclining in a chair, his legs resting on the computer in front of him. He looked up at the Doctor, then down at his vortex manipulator, then up again at the Doctor. "You're early.

The Doctor ignored him, his eyes glued to the screen, where James had begun pacing the white room he was in, ruffling his hair in thought. He crossed over to the screen, the bright green numbers displayed there having reached the millions, and started trying to pry it out of the wall. He gave up easily, rubbing the back of his neck. He'd obviously tried that already.

Finally, the Doctor looked at Mr. Boots. "Where are your henchmen?"

"Where are your companions?" Mr. Boots countered.

"Safe," the Doctor replied, stepping forward. He glanced at the controls of the computer, figuring out how each worked. It was almost a control room and it all seemed to be connected to the screen counting upward.

Mr. Boots nodded, smiling evenly, then answered. "Dead."

The Doctor looked at him.

Mr. Boots shrugged, unconcerned. "It's unfortunate, really. I had meant to keep my word," he said, then flicked his eyes at the Doctor. "Until you decided to open that big mouth of yours."

"I thought they should know they're employer wasn't what he appeared," the Doctor said.

"Well, good for you. Now their blood is on your hands," Mr. Boots said, then added, "but I suppose that's of little consequence to you. After all, you've killed more people than even I have."

The Doctor felt a pang of guilt in knowing that the statement was true, but opted to ignore it. "I know what your plan is."

Mr. Boots smiled, knowing he'd gotten to him, but decided to play along with the Doctor. "Oh? And what would that be?"

The Doctor strode forward, glancing up at the screen as James began rummaging through his jeans pockets for something useful. He had an abundance of random knickknacks and gadgets, but nothing particularly helpful to his current situation. The Doctor narrowed his gaze at Mr. Boots again, "This isn't about money, is it?"

Mr. Boots waited patiently for the Doctor to continue.

Which he did. "This is about vengeance."

Mr. Boots smiled. "Vengeance against who?" he asked, encouraging the Doctor to continue.

"I kicked the Silence off of earth. They couldn't go anywhere without humanity trying to kill them, so they fled. They fled to Agora. It's a perfect place to hide and regroup. A planet full of people who have never seen the moon landing video, but they still needed a grip on earth. That's where your parents came in."

"They integrated them and others into all of the major governments, secretly pushing humanity in the direction the Silence wanted. It wasn't as fool-proof as the presence of the Silence themselves, obviously," Mr. Boots said.

"But something happened. What happened that made the Silence decide to kill them?" the Doctor asked. "They changed their minds, didn't they?"

He nodded. "I think it was shortly after meeting you in person. I remember my father coming home one day after weeks of the two of them being away. He was ranting about you averting some international disaster involving black boxes," Mr. Boots mused, but couldn't remember the details, so moved on. "It was a few weeks after that he decided we would disappear. They planned to leave during The Harvest, when everyone would be out. They thought we would be harder to spot."

"They killed them anyway. Right there. In front of everyone. But they spared you. Why?"

"I wasn't spared," Mr. Boots corrected. "I got very lucky. I got separated from my parents- just for a moment- by the crowd. The Silence didn't bother with me, because they thought I would forget. But my father-" he tapped his head, grinning "-was a clever man."

"You remember," the Doctor said, "so you got off Agora to get your revenge on the Silence. Which is where I come in, I assume..." he paused, then added, "The prophecy could have been a metaphor, you know."

Mr. Boots chuckled. "Doctor, do you really think my first instinct was to let you kill them for me? I went out to kill the Silence myself. I got into the Time Agency, and on about... oh... my third mission, I think... I stumbled upon a field. On Trenzalore."

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't given much thought to the prophecy. He didn't really have much use for them anyway (even if the last one did kill him), but he could see no lie in Mr. Boots' eyes. He meant it.

"You were there?"

He nodded. "I would tell you all about it, but I don't want to give anything away."

The Doctor swallowed, the information sinking in. That was that, then. He now knew how he was going to die and it terrified him. The last thing he'd wanted in this new body was another prophecy dictating his demise.

Mr. Boots continued, leaning back comfortably in his chair, "Afterwards, I knew all I had to do, was wait for that to happen."

"Then why this?" the Doctor asked, then pointed to the screen at James, who had taken a seat in the corner of the room, staring at the numbers on the screen that had well past the millions. "Why do you need him? He has nothing to do with the Silence or that prophecy."

Mr. Boots looked between the Doctor and James. "What makes you so sure of that?"

The Doctor swallowed. "He couldn't have been there..."

"Who did you think was going to answer the question?"

"Well me of course. I'm the only one that knows the answer."

"No, he knows the answer, too. He's the one who answers. He's the one who brings the downfall of the Silence."

"No... he doesn't... he couldn't... he can't be there!"

Mr. Boots chuckled. "Well, to your credit, I at first thought it was your previous incarnation, and I believed that for years. After you regenerated again I was, needless to say, a little confused. That is, until James introduced himself to me. It made so much sense after that."

The Doctor stared at him, all of the pieces connecting together in his mind as he sorted it. "At the Shadow Proclamation. The file..."

"It gave me everything I needed. It told me who he was, where he came from, how he'd gotten here, and, consequently, what my new purpose was. Everything that has happened up to this point has been to ensure that James gets to the fields of Trenzalore... and to make sure he stays here until that time."

"Like having the Shadow Proclamation put him into their system. He's a recorded species now."

Mr. Boots nodded. "And this," he said, pointing at the screen, which suddenly went from the millions straight up into the billions. "In case you hadn't figured it out yet, this is an Auction Vessel. Only the highest of the Black Market buyers and sellers come here. And I've been showing James off to every one of them for the forty-five minutes. They all now know what he is, what he can do, and how important he is to you. That's how much they're offering for him." He pointed at the screen, which had apparently stopped at the highest bidder... at over a billion credits.

"You wouldn't sell him," the Doctor said.

"Of course not. This is just to show you what your enemies are willing to pay to get him. Wait a little longer and you'll see what they're willing to do to get him."

"This is a show. For me. To make sure I don't take him back?"

He nodded. "I have three things I want you to see before we finish here. And this is the first," he said, then clicked a button on the computer. "Given up already, have you?"

The Doctor looked up at the screen as James' head popped up, looking around at the ceiling. "Oh, no... just... mulling..." James said, scratching his ear.

Mr. Boots laughed. "Well, while you do that, I'd like to discuss what we were talking about earlier today."

"What, the bit about how you're a homicidal psychopath?"

"No, not that one. I want to know where you want to go."

"On again about that, are you?" James asked.

"I want an honest answer."

The Doctor, who hadn't been quiet this long in his life, for some reason felt it was important to not make his presence known. Not just yet, at any rate. Besides, he wanted to know how James would answer, and he didn't think he would say if he thought the Doctor was there.

Mr. Boots glanced at him and grinned, apparently aware of his train of thought.

"I want to go back to Rose," James said passively.

"I said honest."

"I am being honest."

"You're giving me a half-truth and that simply won't do. You've made it abundantly clear that you love her- I have no doubts about that- but I don't care how much you love her or how you would never hurt her or any of that nonsense. I didn't ask about that. Disregard obligations. Disregard what you should do or what is the right thing to do. Where. Do. You. Want. To. Go."

The Doctor stared at Mr. Boots for a second, then at James, watching his expression. He looked distressed and uncertain; like the answer was too difficult for him to get his tongue around.

"I..." James started, then hesitated, like he was going to just not answer. "I don't want to go."

The Doctor felt a wave of guilt and sadness wash over him as the words washed over him, an echo of words his own lips had once muttered before he'd died... all alone... afraid...

Mr. Boots watched him, studying his reaction.

"I don't want to go back," James said finally. He looked down at the floor, biting his bottom lip, then, after several seconds of silence, added, "But it doesn't matter what I want. I have to go back. The Doctor doesn't want me here. And I can't leave Rose."

Mr. Boots then chuckled. "Well, you're wrong there. Isn't that right, Doctor?"

James face tightened. "What?"

Suddenly an alarm started wailing throughout the entire ship.

"Ah," Mr. Boots said, "Here comes the second thing I wanted to show you."

The alarm began to cut out, static overbearing the loud noise until a single, spine-chilling voice rang out over the ship. "EXTERMINATE!"


That's right! Daleks! I'm so excited about this next chapter. It's going to be so exciting! Okay. I hope you enjoyed this update and if you have any questions, comments, or critiques to give me, please feel free to share! I live for your opinions! XP Hope everybody's holidays were lovely! (How could they not have been with that fantastic DW Christmas Special?)