"Doctor, I have a really bad feeling about this." I told him, as I followed behind him.

All he could do was frown at me. "You've been worrying a lot more recently."

"I know, and you know I have my reasons." After everything that had happened, with the child and the Silence, the Doctor seemed to tread more carefully around me. He hardly let me out of his sight and was always checking up on me. "I just know that something is wrong, I can feel it."

"It's okay, we will work it out. I promise you." He told me, before kissing the top of my head and dragging me along with him.

"Doctor, where are we?" Rory called from somewhere behind me.

"Oh look, a hatch." He said, completely ignoring Rory. The Doctor eventually managed to get the hatch open, and we were faced with a group of what looked to me like pirates.

"Yo ho ho! Or does nobody actually say that?" The Doctor called, looking at the men, and weapons.

The Captain led us to his cabin, wanting to know how we got on board and what exactly we were doing there. The Doctor tried to explain to him that we had picked up his distress signal.

"We made no signal." The Captain told us.

"Our sensors picked you up. Ship in distress." The Doctor told him.

"Seventeenth century." I reminded the Doctor.

"Sensors?" It was clear that the Captain was utterly confused.

"Yes. Okay, problem word. Seventeenth century. Our ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother." The Doctor told him, trying his best to explain how we knew they were in trouble.

"That big blue crate?" He had seen the TARDIS sitting in the hold, and we had tried to explain to him that it was our ship.

"That is more magic, Captain Avery. They're spirits. How else would they have found their way below deck?" One of the crew asked him. He didn't trust us.

"Well… I want to say multi-dimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won't go there." The Doctor decided. "Look, I'm the Doctor. This is Star, Amy and Rory. We're sailors, same as you. Ooo ar." He put on a rather stupid voice and ended up with a gun pointing at him. "Except for the gun thing. And the beardiness."

"You're stowaways." Avery declared. "Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed."

"No, someone did, but that wasn't us." I mumbled. Only the Doctor heard me and gave me a bit of an odd look. I didn't really know why I said it, I couldn't explain it.

"Now what do we do with 'em?" The crew member standing beside him asked.

"Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality." That was when we were all led up on deck, where the crew laughed while the Doctor was forced to walk the plank.

"I suppose that laughing like that is in the job description." The Doctor asked nervously, checking the watch on his wrist. "Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard."

"Oh, shush. I'm thinking here." I moaned at him, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

"Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need four empty bellies to fill. Take the doxies below the galley. Set them to work. They won't need much feeding." The Captain ordered.

"Oi, do not call me or Amy a doxy." I shouted at him, struggling with the man who was pulling me away.

"Rory? A little help?" Amy called to her husband as she too was pulled away.

"Yeah. Hey, listen, right? She's not a doxy. Neither of them are." Rory said, being held back himself. The only person who wasn't being held onto was the Doctor, he was almost at the end of the plank.

"I didn't mean just tell him off. Thanks anyway." Amy called as she was shoved down below.

"Oh, you lads are so going to regret this." I warned them, feeling a flare of energy building. The Doctor just tried to reassure me, telling me that everything was going to be fine as I was pushed down with Amy.

"Okay, now what do we do?" Amy asked as we jumped down the ladder.

I looked over at a trunk and pulled it open. "Oh, look. Ever been a pirate before?" I asked her. She just shook her head at me and I couldn't help but smile. "Well, now you have." I handed her a cutlass and took one for myself, before opening another trunk and finding some appropriate clothing as well.

"Okay, do we have a plan?" Amy asked me as we prepared to go back on deck.

"Same as the Doctor's." I told her with a grin.

She grinned back at me. "Make it up as we go along."

"Where are the rest of the crew? This is a big ship. Big for five of you. I suppose the rest of them are hiding some place, and they're going to jump out and shout boo." The Doctor asked.

Amy and I took that as our signal a bother shouted at the same time from where we were now standing on deck. "Boo!"

"Throw the gun down." I ordered Avery. He looked at Amy and I, standing there in our coats and tri-corns, holding swords. As soon as it was on the ground, Amy kicked it away. "And the rest of you, on your knees you filthy blaggards."

"Star, Amy, what are you doing?" The Doctor asked, seemingly a little worried.

"Saving your life. Okay with that, are you?" Amy asked him, watching the crew carefully.

"Put down the sword. A sword could kill us all, girl." Avery said to me, the blade of mine extremely close to his throat.

"Really? I never would have guessed that. Maybe you should have thought better before throwing us below deck and sending my Doctor to walk the plank." I felt the energy flare up a little again. Sure I hated weapons, but I was only doing this to get us out of the situation we were stuck in.

Before anything else could be said, the rest of the crew makeshift weapons in their hands and were attacking Amy and I while Avery grabbed hold of the Doctor. The metal clashed as Amy and I both fought of the pirates, they didn't seem to like the fact that two women were able to handle a sword.

The men all started whimpering when the blade came close to them, which made me a little suspicious. Amy and I both ran up the steps. "Grab the rope." I called to her, before cutting it with my blade and sending her swinging across the ship. She kick a man in the face and slashed another with her sword as she went.

"You have killed me." The man who Amy caught said.

"No way. It's just a cut." My dear Amy protested. "What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

"One drop, that's all it takes." Avery called to her. It seemed like the fight was over, and something else was stirring instead.

"Come on, I barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?" Amy asked. None of us really knew what was going on, but I had a bad feeling that we were about it.

One of the other pirates charged for Amy, making her swing again. As she went, she dropped her sword. Rory went to catch it, but it ended up slicing his hand instead. The man managed to restrain Amy, leaving me the only one standing, except one of them had sneaked up behind me, yanked the cutlass from my hand and tossed it overboard.

"Er, Doctor, what's happening to me?" Rory asked, as a black spot appeared on his hand.

"She can smell the blood on your skin. She's marked you for death." Avery informed him.

"She?" I asked curiously.

"A demon, out there in the ocean."

"Okay. Groovy. So not just pirates today. We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in. Very efficient. I mean, if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you." The Doctor said, a hint of excitement in his voice as he looked at Rory's hand.

"Probably not the best of times to get all excited" I reminded him.

"And it probably wasn't the best time to dress up and play pirate. But we can certainly do that when we get home." I saw a smirk on his face and just rolled my eyes at him.

"Not a good time to flirt either. Probably."

That was when we heard singing. There were no words, just… noise. "Quickly now, block out the sound." One of the crew called, covering his ears.

"What?" Rory asked, looking at the others as they all covered their ears as well.

"The creature. She charms all her victims with that song." Avery told us.

"Oh great. So put my fingers in my ears, that's your plan?" Rory cried, more than just a little annoyed. "Doctor, Summer, come on. Let's go. Let's get back to the… er… back to the…"

Both Rory and the other man who Amy had cut started to giggle. They were acting like little school girls. "The music. It's working on him. Look." One of the crew pointed out.

"You are so beautiful." Rory said, looking at his wife and acting like, well, a bit of a love sick idiot. Amy seemed a little taken back by the way her husband was acting. "I love your get up. That's great. You should dress like a pirate more often." He told her. "Hey, hey, cuddle me, shipmate." Rory tried to hug her.

"Rory, stop." Amy said to him firmly.

"Everything is totally brilliant, isn't it?" Rory told her, holding onto her shoulders. "Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant beards. I'd like a beard. I'm going to grow a beard."

"You're not." Amy warned him.

"The music turns them into fools." Avery said, watching both the men.

That was when I noticed the bright light, illuminating part of the water. "Eh, Doctor… you might want to take a look at this." I said, not taking my eyes away from the light.

He turned, and so did everyone else. And we all watched as a woman just flew out of the water. The song became clearer, and louder as she broke the surface. Rory seemed to be enticed by her as she slowly came down onto the deck of the ship.

Amy managed to hold Rory back, but the other man stepped forward, touching the woman's hand as she reached out to him. As soon as he did, he turned into nothing, just a cloud of smoke as he screamed.

"I have to touch her. Let me touch her." Rory cried, dragging Amy forward as she tried even harder to hold him back.

"Sorry but he is spoken for." Amy growled at the green, glowing woman. Those words seemed to make her angry, as she turned red in rage and threw Amy across the deck.

I quickly rushed to her side and helped her up. "Everybody into the hold." The Doctor cried, helping me with Amy. "Rory, come on." The Doctor ended up having to drag him down and into the hold where we stood in a few inches of water.

"What is that thing?" Amy asked, feeling a little shaken from the blow still.

"The legend. The siren." Avery told us.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "She is no siren. I've seen sirens, and she most certainly is not one of them. I mean, really? Sirens look nothing like that. And the singing? Well, don't even get me started on it." I rambled until the Doctor put an arm around my waist. "Sorry, really am getting as bad as you." I mumbled to him. "Anyway, carry on, Captain."

Avery just looked at me as if I was mad, as were the rest of his crew. "Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we becalmed, picked off the injured."

"Like a shark. A shark can smell blood."

"Okay. Just like a shark, in a dress. And singing. And green? A green singing shark in an evening gown." The Doctor declared.

"A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of statues and now a green singing shark in an evening gown. What am I going to do with you, Doctor?" I asked him playfully.

"Oh, shut up, you." He said, rolling his eyes before kissing the top of my head.

"The ships cursed." Captain Avery cried.

"Yeah, right. Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things happening but you can't be bothered to find and explanation." I said. "But there is an explanation, and I'm going to find it."

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Rory said dreamily.

"Actually, I think you'll find she isn't." Amy told him, getting a little angry and annoyed with her husband.

"She is."

Amy turned to face the Doctor and me. "We have to leave right now."

"That create of your really s a ship?" Avery asked, as we all waited in the hold for some one to come up with a plan. I knew that the Doctor would think of something, he always did. But just in case, I was already forming my own little plan.

"Well, it's not propelled by the wind." The Doctor told him, before having Avery point his gun at him again.

"Show me." He demanded. "Weigh anchor. Make it sail."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing, aren't you? Freud would say you're compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa."

"Yeah, I remember. Took a lot to wake you up every time." I said, smirking at him a little.

"Leave the cursed one, Captain. The creature can have him." One of the crew called out, talking about Rory.

There was a distant look on Rory's face. "Yes, please."

Avery seemed to agree with him. "We don't want the siren coming after us."

"Not a siren. And we are not leaving anyone behind." I told him firmly.

That was when one of the crew let out a scream before looking down at his leg. "Great, a leech. Everyone get out of the water." I shouted, the Doctor grabbing me and pulling me onto something dry.

"It's bitten me, I'm bleeding." The man who had just pulled he leech off his leg cried. There was now a black spot on the palm of his hand, just like the one Rory had.

"She wants blood. Why does she want blood?" The Doctor wondered out loud.

"What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?" Amy asked the man, a smug grin on her face now.

"It's okay, we're safe down here." The Doctor assured everyone. Only I wasn't feeling as confident as he was. "No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber."

No sooner had he finished talking when the green singing shark in an evening gown suddenly shot up from the water. "You were saying?" I asked him, as he pulled me behind him a little.

"Oh. Ah, hello again." The Doctor said, as she started her wordless song again.

Amy held Rory back, as the other man was drawn towards the woman. He crept forward, pulling away from those trying to hold him back. His hand reached out and he touched the woman, disappearing in a cloud of smoke as he screamed. All that was left of the man was his hat as it hit the floor.

Before I knew what was going on, the Doctor was dragging me out of the room, along with everyone else. Amy was still having trouble with her husband, and had to keep pulling him along with her.

The Doctor finally locked us in a room. "Safe?" Amy asked, holding onto Rory.

"I have my good days and my bad days." He told her, scanning the hat that he had picked up with his sonic screwdriver.

"How did she get in?" Captain Avery asked us.

"Bilge water. She's using the water like a portal, a door. She can materialise through a single drop. We need to get somewhere with no water." The Doctor said in a panic. I had been thinking, and I wasn't quite sure about the so-called siren.

"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean." Amy hissed, struggling to keep her husband under control.

"Did you see her eyes? Like crystal pools." Rory told her dreamily.

"You are in enough trouble." Amy warned him.

"What about the magazine?" I said, looking at Avery.

Amy seemed a little confused. "What?"

"The armoury where the powders stored." I told her, waiting for an answer from Avery.

"It's dry as a bone." He finally said, making the Doctor' face light up.

"Brilliant idea, Star. Let's go there." There was a smile on his face, but I could see in his eyes that he was still worried.

"I give the orders." Avery told him with a growl.

"Ah, worried because I'm wearing a hat now? Nobody touch anything sharp!" The Doctor called, grasping my hand tightly and pulling me along with him. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked me as we made our way to the only safe place we could think of.

I let out a sigh. "Yes. No. Possibly. Oh, I don't know at the moment. I'm still feeling off, and I have no idea why." I told him honestly.

"Everything is fine. I promise you. What ever is wrong, we will sort it." He assured me. I just nodded at him and we soon reached the armoury.

"Quickly, man." Avery shouted at one of his men as he looked for the key to the door. The only problem was, he couldn't find it. It was missing from his rather large collection of keys. "How can it have gone?"

"Someone else had the same idea. Like I said earlier, we aren't the stowaways." I told them, as the door clicked open when the Doctor tried it.

Everyone pilled into the room, closing the door quickly and barricading it with whatever they could find. I looked around the room, there was something that just didn't feel right. "Who's been sleeping in my gun room?" The Doctor asked, as he looked around as well.

That was when he all heard it, someone coughing. Captain Avery placed his gun back in the holster on his belt before pulling the lid off one of the barrels of gunpowder. "You fool! You fool, boy!" Avery cried, pulling a young boy out from the inside of the barrel. "What are you doing here?"

"Who is he?" One of the crew asked.

"What, he's not one of the crew?" The Doctor asked, a confused look on his face.

"No. He's my son." Avery told us. He set the boy down, informing us that his name was Toby, and let him relax a little. I couldn't help but notice the way he kept coughing so much.

"What in God's name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you." The look on the boy's face just told me that something was wrong, that there was something he hadn't told his father. It seemed that Avery noticed it as well. "When?"

"Last winter. Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy. 'An honourable man she said'. How I'd be proud to know you. I've come to join your crew." The boy told him.

"I don't want you here." Avery told him, a hint of sadness in his voice as he spoke.

"You can't send me back. It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home." The boy reminded him.

"It's dangerous here." Avery told him. I could see that he did actually care for his son. "There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin."

"The black spot?" He asked, showing us the palm of his hand before coughing some more. He too had the mark.

"There's nothing wrong with the boy. He has no scars." Avery said, checking him over for any cuts, any way that the 'siren' could have collected his blood.

"Yep. Ignore my last theory." The Doctor said, his brain working over time trying to make sense of everything.

"He has his good and his bad days." I told Captain Avery. "I'd recommend ignoring several of his theories. I'll let you know when he's found the right one." That just earned me a frown from the Doctor.

"What are you not telling me?" He asked me, watching me closely.

"She's not a siren. And a lot of this doesn't make any sense. Do you not feel like we are being constantly watched? Like there is something out there, just watching us?" I asked him, feeling a little nervous and apprehensive about what was going to happen before we had found a way out.

"It's not just blood she's after. She's coming for the sick and wounded." I told everyone. "Like a hunter chooses the weakest animal. Problem is, it won't take long until every gets bruised or something. Humans, you damage too easily." I added.

"She's right. But our ship, it can sail us away from here. You and me, we can fetch it." The Doctor said to Captain Avery. "Let's go."

"You're not the Captain, remember?" The man hissed at him.

I jumped when Toby pulled the lid of the water barrel, allowing the siren's hand to reach out and try to grab him. In an instant the Doctor and I were forcing the lid back down.

"The water's dangerous. That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man." Avery told his son.

"We're all cursed if we stay aboard." One of the crew called out.

I let out a sigh. "It's not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we're helpless. We are not helpless." I told them, even getting the Doctor frowning at me now. "We need to get out of here."

That time the Doctor nodded at me. "Captain, what's our next move?" He asked Avery.

He turned to his crew. "Wait with the boy."

"Captain, we're all in danger here."

"I said wait. And barricade the door after we've gone." Avery told him firmly.

"Sure you want to go?" Amy asked the Doctor, glancing at me from the corner or her eye.

"We have to get Rory and Toby away. She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese." The Doctor replied.

Amy nodded at him. "Okay, well, remember, if you get an itch, don't scratch too hard."

"We've all got to go some time. There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid." He said, causing me to whack him around the back of the head. "What was that for?" He cried, rubbing the spot where I had hit him.

"What do you think? Do you have a thing for sea creatures or something? Fish from space and now mermaids." I asked him, folding my arms across my chest. I most certainly was not impressed with the way he kept eyeing up the fish every time we came across them.

The Doctor let out a sigh before wrapping his arms around me. "We will sort it, all of it. Whatever has happened, I will make it better, I promise." He whispered to me, before letting me go and following Captain Avery out and to the deck.

I noticed Rory finally started to look a little more normal, it would seem that Amy had as well and her face was like thunder and she kept pacing the room while I sat with a coughing Toby.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked her, standing beside her.

"The most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" She asked him quietly.

"Oh, tell me I didn't really say that." Rory moaned, fully understanding now why his wife was just a little upset with him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked, as the two crew members decided to remove the barricade from the door.

"We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain's gone soft. Its time for us to leave." The captains right hand man called.

"You won't get far." I whispered, my bad feeling was just getting worse and worse.

"He told you to wait, you dog." Toby called, getting up from where he was sitting. I was quick to follow behind him. "He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honour-bound to do as he tells you."

"Honour-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?"

I glared at the man, before pulling Toby back a little and putting my arms around him from behind. "Don't listen to him, Toby." I told him softly.

"We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger."

"Liar!" Toby shouted. "He's no wicked pirate."

"Oh, you think so?" The man growled, trying to be as intimidating as he could, only I wasn't scared of him. He could try as much as he wanted to, but he wouldn't scare me. "I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men."

I just held Toby closer to me as I carried on glaring at the crew members. "Get what treasure you can. I'll meet you in the row boat." While the man had been talking, Toby had found a cutlass.

"You're going to remain at your post." Toby ordered, pulling away form me and holding the cutlass in front of him.

"I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down." The man ordered.

"One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard."

The man just scoffed at him. "You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy."

"I don't need to, do I?" Toby asked, before slicing the man's hand. I felt just a little proud of the boy, even though I knew it was wrong.

"You little swabber!" The man cried, seeing the black stop on his hand now as well.

"Congratulations. You made it to the menu. Probably shouldn't go out there now." I told him, a smug smile on my face. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at Toby. "You shoot, you blow us all up. I thought you wanted to live?"

"Mulligan, what are you doing?" He asked his crew mate, who had taken the keys from him.

"No honour among pirates." Amy commented, as Mulligan left and the other man started to rebuild the barricade. He was in the same boat as the rest of us now, he had to hide like Rory and Toby.

"Hey, come on Toby. You can put the cutlass down now." I whispered to him, gently tugging it out of his hand. We sat back down and I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Erm, what's happening to the TARDIS?" I asked, just knowing that something wasn't right.

"She's having a tantrum."

I just frowned. "What do you mean, a tantrum? She doesn't have tantrums. She can be stubborn at times, but never a tantrum."

"The parametric engines are jammed. Orthohonal vector's gone." The Doctor called to me in a panic. "Okay, she's run off on her own. That's a bit of a new one. There goes our only hope of getting out of here."

All I could do was let out a sigh. "She can't have gone far. I'm sure se will turn up when she's ready."

"Everything been okay down there?"

I hesitated for a moment. "Well, Mulligan is making a run for it, the other guy now has the black spot as well, thanks to Toby. Rory has been constantly apologising to Amy for what he said. That's about it I think."

"Okay, and what about you? Are you alright?" I could hear the concern in his voice, and I could feel it as well.

"Course I'm alright. Just keeping an eye on Toby. You do know how serious it is? If we could have got him back to the TARDIS he would have been fine. But without her, he won't have long, Doctor." I told him sadly. I had already worked out exactly what was wrong with the boy, and now that our ship had run off, there was little hope of curing him.

"I know. I don't know what else we can do. Just look after him until we get back. We will find a way out of this." The Doctor assured me. I knew he was right, we always managed to get out of whatever trouble we got into. And this was going to be no different, even if we were missing our TARDIS at present.

A/N: So just my luck, I get sick over half term. But I've been sticking to my writing, and getting at least 2 chapters written up per day (so basically one episode). I'm trying to get ahead again, and I may just be able to do that.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, they make me smile, and really have been making me feel a little better when i read them. So feel free to leave some more.

Also a thank you to all those who have favourited/followed. Next chapter coming soon.

Pippa.