Amy Pond was still trying to reconcile the turn of events that lead her to this moment. She had no idea fours hours before that she was going to be a mother, though she had hoped. And now she was holding her newborn daughter after a long, painful, drug-free labor.

Melody Rose Williams-Pond. With strawberry blonde hair and the typical blue eyes of newborn babies, she was the most stunning thing Amy had ever seen. Even if she was repeatedly told she wouldn't see her for long.

They never discussed names, she and Rory. Never once did they discuss the hypothetical children of their future like so many couples do. She just couldn't fathom it, not really. It wasn't until her marriage and the possibility that she could have been did the notion of 'want' even enter her mind. Now she had, and the woman who once was supposed to be someone she trusted had told her she didn't have long with her baby girl. So Amy named her for the two strongest women she knew, to give her strength should the worse happen.

Because she was the ganger Amy, she lived every moment of her life while the real her was nothing more than an incubator. So in one of the few moments she had where it was simply her and Melody and only a handful of guards, she clutched her daughter close with the memory of Rory's words in her mind.

"I wish I could tell you that you'll be safe and cared for and protected," She whispered to her daughter as they neared the window that overlooked the asteroid belt that surrounded where ever it was that they were. "But this isn't the time for lies. Because I don't know if we'll get a happy ending. And if we don't, what you are going to be, Melody, is very, very brave. But not as brave as they'll have to be. Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, but trust me, he's on his way. And if they take you from me before he gets here, know that he will go to the end of time and space to find you. He's your Daddy, and he, and your Uncle, and your Auntie will stop at nothing to make sure you find your way back to us."

There was a tap on the door. "Amy," A small voice said, and she turned with a glare toward the one of nurses that had been tasked with caring for her. "I'm sorry, but you do need rest. Your body is recovering."

"No." Amy said, moving to the chair in the room but refusing to set Melody down. "I close my eyes, She'll take my daughter."

The small nurse nodded once, sympathetic despite working for the woman who Amy once told everything to. She lingered in the doorway, even though there were guards to make sure Amy didn't run.

Without thinking about it, Amy began to rock in the chair, listening to the coos of her daughter.

"He'll come for us, baby girl." Amy said as her eyes began to drift shut. "I know he will."

She swore she didn't shut her eyes for more than a second, and even that second wasn't intended. But when Amy sat up she did so with the realization that the small, warm, heavenly bundle she wanted to protect was gone. Gone from the room as well as her arms, and Amy broke.

"Please," She said into her hands, crying as she slide from the chair to the floor. "Please, Rory."

~DWDWDW~

"And you're sure about this?" Rory asked for the third time after the Doctor read off his list to him.

"Yes, Rory." He said. "These are the people Rose and I trust most. The people we can rely on to have our back. Some owe us a favor, some are those we know can face what's ahead without pause. All of them are friends, and who better to have your back than friends?"

"But they aren't our friends." Rory reminded him, moving around the console in his head to toe black gear that looked nearly military. He stood by the Doctor, pointing at the monitor. "Of your list I have met four people. And while, yes, I do trust them to help us because they know Amy, I can't say the same for the rest."

"So what would you have me do, Rory? Hire an army? Round up a bunch of mercenaries who can have their allegiance bought? How do you think She has managed to have the fortress she does? The research she's undergone, the enemies she's already had face me down at the Pandorica? She has money, Rory. All it would take is for her to find who ever is the leader of anyone we hire and offer them more, and we've lost. As much as I hate to admit it, this is war. And if there is anything I know about war is you want people you can trust at your side."

Rory stared the Doctor down, then finally nodded his ascent. "Fine. But there is one person I want added to this list, and you don't know her. But I do, and I know …."

"You don't need to explain, Rory." Rose interjected from her spot on the jumpseat. "We have friends we trust and you don't know, only fair you get one, too."

"Good." He nodded. "And you said the TARDIS will track them all down?" He asked this of the Doctor.

"To preserve time lines, the TARDIS will search out the people we want and find the latest place in their time line we can enter. This is so we don't know the outcome of what's to happen, and don't feel the need to protect anyone but Amy."

"Good." Rory said again. "So let's start with her."

~DWDWDW~

Rory walked down the corridor of the correctional facility, boots clomping and making noise, psychic paper in his hand to flash to any guard who tried to stop him. He glanced in each cell, seeing the various women look up at him curiously or intrigued, a few shouting some things that may have made him blush under normal circumstances.

When he got to the unit he was looking for he stopped, waiting to for the prisoner to look up.

She did, and when she met his eye she smiled.

"Quite the get up." Mels said, looking him over.

"Could say the same." He said. "But I'm not here to talk pleasantries, I need your help."

Mels hooted a laugh. "Still doing time for stealing that car." She said, gesturing to the walls of her cell.

"Yeah, about that. This will be a temporary leave. An unauthorized, temporary leave." He said.

"Oh?" Mels asked, more amused than intrigued. "How's that going to work?"

Rory reached into his pant pocket and pulled out the borrowed sonic, aiming it at the lock like the Doctor instructed and hitting the button. It whirred a bit, then the lock clicked open. He slid the door open, and Mels stood up in astonishment.

"Bloody hell, Rory." She said as she came closer.

"Amy's been taken," He explained. "And not just her, but our baby. So here's the deal, you come with me, help me get her back, experience what might just be the biggest thrill of your life, and then we'll return you here. And I will work on getting the Doctor to expedite your release. You remember the Doctor, don't you Mels?"

"Hot guy with the hot wife and the blue box from your wedding? Hard to forget him."

"He's helping orchestrate this rescue mission. But I need to know now: in or out?"

Mels smiled. "In."

Without another word, Rory motioned for her to follow. He walked determinedly, checking behind him every few seconds to make sure Mels was right behind. He lead her to a mens room, working the sonic on the door and unlocking it. He pushed the door open, revealing not only the stalls, urinals, and sinks lining the walls of the stark room, but the giant blue Police Box inside.

He led Mels toward it, and pushed open the door.

She hesitated. "Seriously?"

"Same blue box we vanished in, isn't it?" He asked.

She couldn't do more than shrug at that, then stepped inside.

"Oh Bloody hell, it's massive on the inside!" She exclaimed, eyes wide as she looked up at the ceiling and around the walls.

"Welcome to the TARDIS, Melody Jones." The Doctor greeted her. "Please follow the lights to your temporary room where you will find a change of clothes."

"Yeah, okay," She said, walking toward the corridor as if in a trance.

"That's your pick?" The Doctor asked after she was gone.

"Problem?" Rory asked.

"None!" The Doctor countered. "Better still, she did the thing! The thing you didn't do. Improved it, really. Massive! It's massive on the inside, I like that!"

"Where now?" Rory asked, cutting to the chase.

The Doctor flipped the switch he had been standing beside, sending the TARDIS on her way.

~DWDWDW~

He was in need of a break. An honest to goodness break. Tim had been staring at his computer screen, his notes, and while he was making a lot of progress in his work, he was in need of an adventure. Or at least a trip to breathe different air, preferable in a different time. Something that didn't have him chewing his pen.

He'd only been home bound for two months, and while the odd, complicated visits and trips with Jenny were great, he wanted more than just what thrill she offered. He needed to be on board the TARDIS, the real TARDIS, bad. The Doctor may have gotten him home a bit late last time, in the middle of winter, but he couldn't blame the guy. Tim was sure regenerating was probably pretty painful, and something said operating heavy machinery, let alone a TARDIS, wasn't recommended.

He startled when the engines sounded, stirring the pages of his notebook and nearly toppling over his half full paper coffee cup.

"Shit, ask hard enough." He mumbled to himself as he watched it materialize.

When it was fully formed, the doors opened, and Wolf Girl stepped out looking a bit too combat ready to make him comfortable.

"Something tells me this isn't a social visit." He said bluntly.

"Amy's in trouble." She replied.

He frowned. "Who?"

She blinked, confused, looked back at the TARDIS and then at him. "Amy Pond. You met her before? With her husband, Rory?"

Tim shook his head. "Can't say I have." He said suspiciously.

"Blimey, she was supposed to land later in your time line." Rose cursed.

"Wolf Girl," Tim said slowly, feeling uneasy as Rose worried her lip. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that the TARDIS wasn't supposed to land where we …." She stopped, stared at him, frowning. "She always takes us where we need to go." She said as if thinking out loud.

"What?"

"Not important." Rose waved it off. "Point is, we need you. You fought along side me once, against the Toclafane and the Master's men. I need you to fight along side me again."

"I'm a writer." He reminded her, wiggling the pen in his hand. "And while they say the pen is mightier than the sword, I seriously doubt it will do me any good. That was war, with guns and shit."

"So's this." She said without a trace of humor.

A chill ran down Tim's spine. "Doc hates guns." He said bluntly.

"That's how bad it is." Rose said. "Amy … they didn't just take her, they took her baby. And the Doctor thinks that they may have done something to one or both of them. I don't know if you remember the space station with Donna, where we were in that dream state, but…."

He didn't need reminding. And it wasn't just the memories of the woman and her sleeping gas that flooded his mind, but other visions as well. Things he had seen in the Library when they met River Song/Melody Pond. He knew, suddenly, that this was something he was meant to be a part of.

"I do." He said instantly, meeting Rose's eye. He stood up, slamming the pen in his hand down on the open notebook. "And you don't need to tell me more. I'm with you guys."

"Good." She said, giving him a weak smile before waving him over and leading him into the TARDIS.

When he stepped inside he paused. "Umm … this is new." He said, taking in the much more sci-fi looking console room that was more blue and orange than green and blue like before. He then looked around the room, seeing absolutely no one he knew.

Only the woman with the dreds didn't look at him with recognition.

"Tim!" The man with the floppy hair and the bow tie greeted him. He looked like a Victorian gentleman, or a really dorky professor.

"Wow." He said, coming up the ramp and looking him over. "What the hell happened to your wardrobe choices?"

The Doctor, because who else in the Universe would look like that, frowned. "What do you mean? I look cool."

"No, you really don't, man." Tim said with a slight chuckle to his voice.

"So the purple doesn't work for you then?"

"Storm boy, nothing about this works for you. What happened to the suits with sneakers, and the sweet-ass ties? And the hair? Really?"

The Doctor frowned even more, glancing over Tim's shoulder to what had to be Wolf Girl.

"Our TARDIS has determined that this is the place in the time line we needed to get Tim." Rose explained. "He doesn't know Amy or Rory, so we'll have to try and forget we saw him that one time. Let things happen as they're meant to."

"So this is the first time you've seen me … as me?" The Doctor asked.

"Yep," Tim said, popping the 'p' in the way of the previous Doctor.

"Wait, I thought we met him much, much older last." The man all in black asked, pointing to Tim with confusion. Rory, Tim knew upon seeing him.

"Not that I know of." Rose said.

"I don't really remember it either." The Doctor said. "Which means it's likely not something we're supposed to know. Not yet, anyway."

And with that confusing statement, Rory nodded once.

"Change of clothes should be in your old room," Rose said, putting a hand on Tim's shoulder. "We'll explain more when we get everyone rounded up."

"Whatever you say, Wolf Girl." Tim said, turning and heading toward the corridor as the Doctor threw the dematerialzation switch. "Do me a favor, Old Girl. Show me where I'm supposed to go?" He asked the TARDIS. She hummed in reply, showing him the way in his mind. "Thanks, you sexy thing." He said, imitating the old Doctor once more with a click of the tongue, earning an amused chiming-chuckle from the time ship.

~DWDWDW~

River stood in the corridor of the hotel, peeking in to the reception instead of actually going inside. She'd been in there, of course, she was there through the whole wedding. Her hair was pinned up, and she was wearing the awful red dress she and her mother mocked together but bought anyway because that was what was in vogue in 1971 on Earth.

Her mother wore one similar in Purple, and River watched her dance with the groom while wearing her brightest smile. Her mother's hair was still that wonderful shade of ginger with only a few grays setting in, and she somehow didn't have many lines on her face.

As River watched with a happy heart, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"I told you, Dad. I will dance with you after An…." She stopped as she turned around, seeing who she expected but not at the right age. "He-hello, Rory." She stammered out.

"Oh, good, you know me." He said with a nod. "Makes things easier then. We need you." He cut to the chase.

River looked him over, taking in his simplistic clothing all in black. "Amy." She said.

"How did you know?" Rory asked, taken aback.

"I heard the stories." She explained with a shrug, heart heavy. "I just didn't …." She shuddered, looking over Rory's shoulder at her father, aged much more than his younger self and making sure to stay in the shadows off to the side. "I'll be there in a moment." She said, giving Rory's arm a squeeze. "Where's the TARDIS?"

"Over there, round the corner on the right." Rory gestured.

"Go on ahead, I won't be long." She promised, and Rory nodded before heading over. River watched him go, sensing her father coming toward her now that his younger self was gone. "You never told me I was there."

"I never could," He said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "We didn't even fully comprehend who you were even with the keepsake. I wasn't sure if the day would happen for you in our life time, but when we saw you show up at the house in that dress, we knew." He smiled at her, the laugh lines around his eyes going deeper. "You have your vortex manipulator?" He asked. River lifted her arm, the sleeve of her dress falling enough to flash the device with her favorite lover's initials on it. "Good, the Doctor's never been the most reliable driver."

"I'll be back before you know it." River promised.

"You'd better. Keep telling us you'll never get married so I expect to dance with you at someone's wedding. Might as well be your brother's."

River chuckled. "I'll make sure Rose does the driving, then." She gave him a peck on the cheek then headed off for the TARDIS.

She snapped her fingers and headed inside the opened doors. It had been a bit since she'd seen it with the particular desktop it had. Even more so, it felt strange to be looking at so youthful a Tim dressed much like Rory was. And Auntie Mels, a woman who was more name than presence, sitting on a jumpseat and staring at the time rotor.

"Glad you could join us, River." The Doctor said, and she found him at the console throwing the switch.

She smiled, walked up the ramp, looking about. "This isn't everyone?" She asked, knowing from memory that they were quite a few short.

"No," Rose said. "We still have a few people to get. Change of clothes should be …."

"Don't worry," River said as she put a hand on Rose's shoulder. "I'll know where to go."

~DWDWDW~

The trenches were muddy, smelled of blood and sweat, and were filled with terrified men.

Jack, who had lost count of his age sometime ago, had been through enough wars that this didn't affect him in the least. The remarks from some of the soldiers, both behind his back and to his face, were a different story.

Still, he was Jack Harkness, he could turn on the charm even with gray hair and a few more wrinkles than he cared to have at any point in time.

"This is madness," The soldier next to him said as he clutched his gun. The young man's lips quivered as another bolt fired overhead.

"This is nothing." Jack shrugged it off. "German's may not have been quite as advanced, but I can say that World War One was far worse than this. Of course, going through World War Two twice wasn't a walk in the park."

The young man stopped whimpering and slowly turned to look at Jack. "World War Two? But that was thousands of years ago."

"Look good for my age, don't I?" Jack asked with a wink.

Before he or the young man could say anything, the sound of the TARDIS landing behind them drowned out the fire of the opposing side.

When the doors opened, River stepped out, dressed in head to toe black, arms folded across her chest. "Hello, Sweetie." She said to Jack.

"Did you steal it? Or are you and Rosie here to join me in defending the planet and the human race?"

"Well technically she and I aren't quite human, so I suppose we wouldn't be on the same side as you, Jack." She countered with smirk.

"At this rate, neither am I. But this is World War five, and if it comes down to aliens or humans, I say humans get rights over the planet they came from." Jack countered with ease as if they were discussing something as simple as tea.

"Would you like to talk politics or would you like to come inside and be a hero? Still war we're about to wage, but with a far different outcome."

Jack was about to counter with another flirty remark when he stopped himself. River, while her usual sexy self with that adorable smirk that could get her whatever she wanted, was pleading with her eyes for him.

"Is this …?" She nodded. "Well then," He said as he disarmed his gun and stood up. "Better go be the hero you always said I was."

As he strode toward the TARDIS, he heard the young man stammer and stutter. With one last smile over his shoulder for the poor kid, Jack entered the time ship.

"Looks like you guys have quite the mini army going on." Jack commented as he looked around. He smiled at Rory who frowned but nodded. He nodded to Tim who gave him a salute, and then his eyes found Rose and the Doctor who both gaped at him. "Oh, you've never seen me look this middle aged."

"Seeking out late spots in the time line." Rose replied as if only half paying attention.

"If you don't mind." River said after his longest, and dearest friends still gaped at him in shock. "Perhaps we should go pick up your daughter now."

"Right," The Doctor said. "Yes, Jenny."

As the Doctor, Rose, and River worked on getting the TARDIS to their next spot, Jack made his way over to the only person in the room he didn't recognize. "Captain Jack Harkness," He said with his best grin as he picked up her hand gave it a kiss.

"Mels," She replied. "Beginning to think we're planning on burning this place down to get Amy. Some serious hotness happening around here between the Doctor Bloke, the other American, and now you."

"Canadian." Tim said, from where he sat on the jumpseat. "Canadian, actually."

"And I'm from all over." Jack said with a wink.

"If you don't mind, Jack, would really prefer you don't flirt with her." River asked over her shoulder.

"What's your problem with it?" Mels asked.

River laughed. "Oh Melody Jones, if you only knew."

At the name drop, Jack understood. "Sorry, beautiful." He said to her with a wink. Then, leaning in for only Mels to hear, he added in conspiratorially, "She's the second closest thing I've had to a true spouse in my long life. Better not make her angry."

"Well, if you change your mind." Mels said as she looked him over appreciatively.

"Jack, please. Not the time." The Doctor replied as the TARDIS landed.

"Never is with you around." Jack added, though he knew the Doctor was right.

River's future was at stake.

~DWDWDW~

Jenny was sitting on a bench a good distance away from the people she was watching. Melody was off on her own for a bit, and the half-Time Lord was starting to feel a bit lonely. And when she was lonely, she liked to watch them where they wouldn't see her: the family she gave up.

From this distance, and with the other woman's back turned, she could almost pretend she was crossing her own time line to witness a family moment again from the outside. Of watching her little girl climb a different, seemingly more difficult portion of the playground equipment.

Part of her wanted to run over, to plant a kiss on Tim and cheer on her daughter in place of the blonde who was doing just that. The other part wanted her to run in the opposite direction as fast as her legs would carry her. She couldn't imagine settling down, not in the way Tim had wanted to for Olivia's sake. She couldn't even stop running and getting into trouble when she was thirteen months along and ready to pop.

Jenny sighed, quietly cursing her creation for lacking so much. Grateful as she was to have parents who loved deeply and completely, it didn't help her when it came to caring for someone but having no idea how to be what they need you to be. A solider, those instincts were still strong even when dormant, but motherhood? What was the need for maternal instincts when you weren't expected to live more than a day or two at most?

She heard a TARDIS begin to materialize, and panic shot through her as she noted Tim seemed to hear it as well. Getting up from the bench and whirling around in one, smooth motion, she watched her parents' TARDIS come in to view. Her Dad was going to end up trying to talk her into being more involved again, his Scottish accent making him sound more than a bit disapproving, while her Mum gave her a sympathetic look that would actually make her feel worse.

It surprised her to see her Dad's previous body pop out.

"Hello, Darling." He greeted cheerfully. "Need your help, if you don't mind. Normally not one to ask you to dig up those old soldier traits of yours, but there's been a bit of a … situation. A sort of abduction."

"Umm … sure thing, Dad." Jenny replied, heading toward her father's TARDIS. She hadn't spoken to this version of him for a couple hundred years, and it felt odd. She could liken it to muscles not being used for a long time. This Dad was more fun loving, though wasn't the fondest of Tim, not like the other one. The one she was used to now, the one that had been there through her whole pregnancy, who was constantly reminding her of how she'd never get lost time with Olivia back.

Inside was just as strange, and not merely because the console room was so different. Melody merely smirked and shrugged, and Jenny had to snort at the reality that they couldn't even do their own thing without somehow still finding trouble together. Her mother was focused on the console, as was Uncle Jack. It seemed strange to see Rory so young, and she had no clue who the woman he was talking to was. When she saw Tim sitting on the jumpseat, giving her a lazy smile and a small wave, her hearts stopped.

She moved toward him slowly, pausing beside him before moving to where the controls she'd man when with her parents were.

"Who's watching Olivia? Liz?" She asked him, looking at her feet.

"What are you on about, Goldilocks?" He asked, and she looked up at him to see his apprehension.

Goldilocks. How long had it been since she heard him call her that?

Too long.

"Right-o." Her Dad broke her out of her thoughts, and she instantly moved to her spot on the console. "Prepare yourselves, most of you likely haven't met our next guests."

~DWDWDW~

Rose and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS together, taking in the den of the house they had given up. It had undergone some changes, as would be expected when someone takes over as home owner, but all in all, it still looked the same.

"You're back early, ma'am." They heard Jenny Flint say down the hall just as the main doors closed. "Another case cracked, I assume?"

Rose looked at the Doctor with a frown but he merely shrugged.

"Send a telegram to Inspector Abberline of the Yard. Jack the Ripper has claimed his last victim." Vastra replied.

Rose and the Doctor both dropped their jaw at the same time.

"Oh my god, so that's what happened to him." She said through their bond.

"All the years I traveled I never did find out." He considered that thought, his face screwing up in a pensive manor. "Although maybe I did know but had to forget."

"How did you find him?" They heard Jenny ask as they had their silent conversation.

"Stringy, but tasty all the same. I shan't be needing dinner." Vastra replied, and Rose audibly smacked her hands over her mouth. Whether from the mental image the Doctor dredged up of Vastra having at a tunnel worker making her nauseated, or from the mere shock of how the greatest mysteries in all of England truly came to close, Rose wasn't sure.

"Congratulations, ma'am." Jenny said, sounding truly pleased. "However, just before you arrived, someone else had. In the den, I believe."

Rose and the Doctor immediately pulled themselves together as Vastra and Jenny's footsteps came toward them.

The door to the den opened, and Vastra gave pause before straightening her dress and coming inside.

"I can honestly say, I wasn't expecting you this evening. Though I do hope it's not to tell me I've altered some point in time I shouldn't have."

"Oh, no, blimey, Jack the Ripper stumped England for ages." The Doctor said. "The world, even. No one knew who he was, so I suppose it doesn't matter how he came to the end of his … you know what? Not important. What is important, is a thing you said when we gave you the house. You said you owed us, hoped you could repair it somehow. I'm calling in that owed debt."

"What do you need?" She asked.

"A dear friend of ours was taken some time back." Rose replied. "We only just found out where she was, and that she was pregnant."

"Was?" Vastra asked suspiciously.

"She has had the baby. It's complicated to explain how we know, what with flesh avatars and terrible labor pains." The Doctor rambled.

Vastra stared him down, her eyes darkening like the predator she really was. "A woman was taken, along with her child. No one does that without truly malicious intent. Don't call this the favor owed, Doctor. I will help you with great pleasure."

"Shall I pack the cases, then, ma'am?" Jenny asked.

"Yes," Vastra said, "and the swords."

"We'll wait in there." The Doctor pointed to the TARDIS behind them.

Vastra nodded, and she and Jenny were out the door.

"You get the feeling that Vastra is more used to our stopping by?" Rose asked her husband as they headed in.

"Yes, seems that way, doesn't it?" He replied as they stepped into the console room, everyone looking past them expectantly. "Alright, everyone, so we are clear before our guests come aboard. One of them is a Silurian. Homo Reptilia, which is a fancy way of saying humanoid reptile. Now, please, do not stare. She's a bit tetchy about that, and while Rose and I are informed she has recently ate, that doesn't mean she won't become a bit peckish. Jenny is all human. Not our Jenny, blonde Jenny, the Jenny about to come aboard. Which I just realized will become quite confusing." The Doctor rambled, hands moving all about as he went.

"Could just call Goldielocks 'Jen'." Tim suggested, making Jenny beside him tense and blush a bit.

"Need be, that's what we'll do." The Doctor pointed at Tim before giving him a thumbs up, heading up the ramp to his spot at the console.

There were the five of them flying now. The Doctor and Rose, of course, and she insisted Jack join Jenny and River.

Just as they all were preparing for their next destination, Vastra and Jenny walked in, both changed in Victorian style trousers and blouses beneath waistcoats. Both looked gorgeous, warrior women at their finest, and both carried a small case in each hand.

"Well," Vastra said, taking everyone in. "Certainly smells of human in here, with just a touch of alien."

"Certainly a lot bigger than I expected." Jenny said as she looked about the room. "Good thing, too. Be awfully cramped with this many of us."

"And there's still two more to come. Well, I say two, but it may just be three. Though I doubt that." The Doctor said before throwing the switch. "Onward. Gereonimo!"

~DWDWDW~

"You do it." The Doctor insisted.

"Why me?" Rose asked as she headed to the doors anyway.

"Because he respects you," Insisted the Doctor.

Rose rolled her eyes, opened the TARDIS doors, and was thankful she didn't yelp when she startled.

She supposed they had landed a minute ago, plenty of time for Strax to waddle over toward the time ship in preparation to knock, greet, or threaten.

He offered Rose a smile, or something very similar to it.

"Ah! It's the invincible girl! Is this the day you and the Doctor come to tell me my penance is paid?"

"In a way." Rose replied. "We need your help, your skills. May even be a bit of crushing the enemy on the battlefield."

"I will gladly be of assistance. Although I do hope that if I am to fight the same species that I am aligned with there will be a distinguishing wardrobe."

Rose stepped inside to allow Strax to waddle in, then looked to her husband at the controls.

"Well," He said. "One last stop."

~DWDWDW~

"Stop whining," Martha teased Mickey as he sighed once more. "A holiday is not the end of the world."

"A holiday, right." Mickey retorted, taking a sip of his beer. "Not so sure that's exactly what Kate put me on."

He looked down at his healed but still unsteady ankle. He knew he wasn't a young man anymore. But at forty-three, he wasn't exactly old either. But working with UNIT in the field had often meant putting oneself in danger. And the alien shot that hit him did an excellent job at destroying his ankle and keeping him confined to a desk for the better part of the last year as he recovered. He didn't limp anymore, and he could run at nearly at the same speed he could before. But Mickey was still unable to reenter the field, and when it was becoming clear that paperwork was starting to stress him more than they high stress situations the field put him in, Kate Stewart, head of Unit, told him to take leave.

He watched his boys run around the yard as Martha went toward the play house to check up on their daughter. He did enjoy spending time with his family, but he was getting restless. And with all the saved time off he accumulated over years of service, well … he was wasn't sure he was going to be able to go through the next two months without something more exciting than little league football.

When the grind of the engines cut through the yard, Mickey glanced over at his wife. Martha looked just as confused as he felt, having only seen the Doctor and Rose the day before.

"What the bloody hell, Boss? Forget your sunglasses or something?" He called out to the TARDIS when it was fully formed, taking another drink before setting his beer down on the table and standing up to greet them.

When the doors opened, and the Doctor stepped out, Mickey wasn't entirely sure what to say. Because it was, indeed, the Doctor, but he'd never seen this man before.

"Changed your face again." Mickey said evenly.

"Suppose I have." The Doctor said, his voice seeming more light and airy than before. "I need your help."

"Got a computer problem?" Mickey teased.

The Doctor shrugged. "In a way. More like … well, it's more like I need your experience as a solider. I'd ask Martha as well, but with MJ, Tyler, and Frankie, I couldn't vary well put both their parents at risk."

Mickey squared his shoulders, lifted his chin. "What's happening?"

"Friend of ours was taken, her and her baby, and we are planning on sneaking on the base where they are, and taking them back." The Doctor glanced over his shoulder at as someone stepped out of the TARDIS. A man, slight, definitely not a solider, dressed all in black. "This is Rory, it was his wife Amy."

"Any friend of the Doctor's a friend of ours." Mickey said as he reached out and shook Rory's hand when the man was close enough to do so. "And from one father to another, I'd take on an army to get my wife and children back, too."

"You just make sure you bring him back safe." Martha said, coming up behind Mickey. He looked at her, seeing the slight concern in her eyes but the certainty that he should go evident in her body language. "And don't tell Kate. She finds out you've been in the field of sorts, she'll have you on leave even longer."

"Yes, ma'am." Mickey replied, giving Martha a kiss before calling the kids over. With a wave. They dashed over, stopping at his feet. "You guys be good for your mum. Gonna head off with the Doctor and Aunt Rose for a bit. Might be gone five minutes, might be longer." He said, ignoring the lump in his throat at the mere thought of "never". He kissed his kids on the head, the boys protesting noisly though didn't shove him off.

He then stood, straightened his shirt, and allowed the Doctor to lead the way inside the TARDIS.

Kate could sod off. This wasn't work, not really. This was a companion going on one more adventure.

~DWDWDW~

"Here is what we know." The Doctor said to the ten other people in the room aside from his wife. "She, or Ms Smith, is holding Amy on an asteroid base in the Rasoft galaxy known as 'Demon's Run'."

"Sounds lovely." Mels said, having finally seemed to come to terms with the aliens in the time and space ship, as well as the TARDIS herself.

"Well, the name could be a bit more cheerful, but it was once home to a religious group known as the Silence. Leader went mad, killed them all. Or so we think. Supposedly we'd forget seeing them as soon as we turned our back. Regardless, place was abandoned for centuries then suddenly it's brimming with life. I followed the signal from Amy's flesh avatar to a set time and place and there it was. So, I have had some people take a look, drop us line, send us word, on who and what is heading out that way."

"People not here?" Rory asked, eyes narrowed at the Doctor. "Who was willing to spy for us but not fight with us?"

"Well, a young girl, for instance, who was a bit … mad. A sort of scientist, if you will. She attempted to experiment on Jen not long after she was born."

"Gridin?" Jenny asked, causing Tim to straighten up as well, staring at the Doctor slack jawed.

"Yes, well, after a couple centuries with the Shadow Proclamation, she's eased up a bit. And, as a thank you for informing her of what happened to Karn, as well as for helping her get sorted, she was willing to act as a bit of a … spy." The Doctor smirked, his ego growing to the point that Rose was starting to feel it as if it were her own.

"And what is she doing, exactly?" Tim asked.

"She's on the medical staff. But, as such, she's been there for quite a while, has seen what's going on. We are right, She does have money, and Gridin has informed us that our Ms Smith has paid the Clergy a handsome fee to pretend what she's doing is for the greater good."

River scoffed, chuckling to herself and shaking her head. When she realized everyone was looking at her, she waved it off. "Don't mind me. I just find some results of time travel horribly amusing."

"Right." The Doctor said. "Moving on. She also has a few mercenaries thrown in there. The Clergy do have a conscious, of course, so she needed people that would kill on sight if need be.

"So, take a look around you. Study one another's faces if you aren't already familiar with one another. These are your allies, your only allies. There is no one else in the Universe Rose and I trust more to have our backs, as well as the Ponds', than you lot. Some of you owe us a favor, yes, but we view most all of you as our family.

"We will be out numbered, maybe as much as ten to one. We never told you this as we asked you to come along, but if you want to leave we can drop you back where and when we took you from, no hard feelings. But tell us now."

The console room remained silent, no one showing the slight bit of hesitation.

With that, the Doctor nodded. "Those of you who lived aboard the TARDIS for any amount of time in any point in time, your room will be ready. For those of you who have not, she will guide you a room where you may rest, read a book, watch something, do what you need to do to prepare yourself in the next couple hours. The TARDIS will provide you with a capsule to help you sleep for as long as your species requires for optimum rest. When we wake, we'll have a quick meal and then it's off to Demon's Run. We'll discuss who will do and take what on route. But I do know one thing, absolutely one thing, and that is who ever She is, She will have not expected us. And She will never knew what hit her."


A/N: Thank you to the readers, favoriters, followers, and reviewers.

WaitingformyDoctorintheTardis, TheDoctorMulder, BadWolfGirl, Guest (they were a given!), DuShuZhi, Darkelvoriplorellion Tyler, Loca8892, eternity1012323, alice (me too), Eagle Hawke, annabethfan15, and jackjenfan.

Thank you for leaving word as always.

So, a word of warning, while it's more extraction and espionage than war, the next chapter has a very brutal scene in it. I will post warnings at the beginning.

Not going to lie, your anticipation has made me super nervous I will disappoint.

Also, I'm about to start the last two chapters of this fic. I anticipate about 8 posts after this one before we hit the end.

Until the next one.