"-going," Jay commented aloud, "The TARDIS likes it."

The Doctor only frowned at her. "She certainly does," he muttered, turning a wary look onto the console. He rubbed his head, wincing a little. There was a small pain in his temple, a small pain that he attributed to the consistent repetition of time that was taking place. He wasn't happy about it. Not one bit. "Alright?" he asked when he noticed that his friends were also suffering from it, each of them rubbing the same spot on their own heads.

"This is confusing," grumbled Donna, annoyed. "You better have found something."

There was an underlying threat to her tone, and Jay arched a brow at the Doctor. Despite the frustration evident on her face, Jay was hopeful looking. So, rather than risking Donna's temper - and slap, as he still felt the sting of the blow even after a reset in time - the Doctor waved Jay over. "I need the device, which means it's going to hurt for a moment. No worse than last time."

Jay eyed him distrustfully now. "If you're lying, I'm going to throw you into the next black hole we go to see," she threatened, but dutifully held still so he could remove the device from her ear. He was incredibly gentle as he removed it, muttering a swift apology when a sharp pain shot through her head, just as it had last time. It was as the Doctor had promised, at least; no better, no worse.

Rubbing her head with a grimace, Jay stepped back to give him room to walk. Her head was a little foggier without the device, some of her memories of what had taken place the previous time not as clear as she would have liked. "The moment it started over...something with the spacecraft happened, right, Donna?"

Donna nodded in confirmation. "There was shouting," she recalled. "And some kind of big explosion."

"It could be something on the spacecraft," muttered the Doctor, nodding to himself. It was a distinct possibility. "But this century...there can't be something powerful enough to spark a time loop!" He ruffled a hand through his hair in frustration, casting an impatient look at the TARDIS's screens. She was scanning Jay's device, if Jay was guessing correctly.

"So, why don't we take the TARDIS to the spacecraft?" suggested Donna. "Take a quick look around there." She looked to Jay for support, and Jay nodded enthusiastically. She didn't think she wanted to reintroduce herself to brother each and every time the time loop started over.

"It's going to take the TARDIS some time to scan," muttered the Doctor to himself. "Let's go." He whipped around the console, flashing them a somewhat crazed grin. He slapped his hand over a button, and within moments, he'd pulled the lever that sent the TARDIS spinning through time and space. Jay listened in awe to the TARDIS's song. No matter how many times she heard it, she always loved the sound.

When the TARDIS had stopped rocking beneath their feet, the Doctor took the lead. He swung past the two women and peered carefully outside the doors, wary of letting them just run out. Purposefully entering such places had oftentimes ended with him looking down the barrel of a gun, and he couldn't say the idea of getting Jay or Donna shot was high on his list of things to do. Much to his relief, there was no sign of guns. He stepped aside to let them out, pushing his hand into his pocket to fish out his sonic screwdriver. He did a quick scan of the area as he spoke.

"Not much more than a storage area," he told them as they peered around. "Should be safe enough for now. Let's take a look around then, shall we? We've got approximately three hours to figure out what's going wrong on this ship before time resets again."

"What about my thing?" Jay asked suddenly, tapping her ear. It was devoid of the same one she'd worn before. "I won't remember things properly without it."

"The TARDIS has to scan it," the Doctor answered apologetically. "We could wait for the TARDIS to finish, but that'll be another hour, Jay. If we want to stop this time loop, we need to figure everything out as quickly as possible."

Jay looked a little frustrated with the idea of not knowing what was going on like the rest of them, but accepted that she'd not remember as well as they would quite gracefully. "As long as we can help Lucas," she declared, and then started for the nearest set of doors. "Did your sonic pick anything up?" she asked, opening them with a quick press of a button. They slid right open to allow them entrance to a tightly quartered room. Jay eyed the crest on a wall with a grimace; this was her father's work, from before he'd been imprisoned. She wondered where he was at the moment, if he was jailed away, or if he'd been released. It did also bring up the question once more: where was her mother? Jay had forgotten to ask Lucas when they'd been with him.

"No," said the Doctor with a frustrated sigh. "But I'm sure we'll - Donna?"

Donna had stopped, brow furrowed. "How many people run a ship like this?"

"Ideally," Jay answered immediately, "A handful. Five, at most. This," she made a mild gesture to the room they stood in, "is just a cross-through. They run through this area to get to somewhere else. Well, walk," she corrected under her breath, "at least, I hope to the stars and back that they're walking, because I don't think I want to do any running anytime soon…"

They investigated the walk-through area before moving on. The Doctor guided them now, leading them towards where he had readings of life - told to him via sonic screwdriver. Jay bit her lip when they entered a massive area that nearly scared the life out of her at first, for the entire space above their heads was made of some kind of window, revealing the beauty of space to them. Jay took a moment to study the wonderful sight, and caught notice of Donna doing the same thing. It was amazing; she could see the moon, not that far away, and a very close piece of rock that she guessed to be the asteroid the ship was designated for landing on.

"To think we've been further," Jay commented softly aloud. Much further. They'd been to the other side of the universe and back - and then some, if one included the travel through time as well.

She loved having such opportunities.

Jay focused back on the situation at hand, deciding she'd suggest they see something similar after they finished with the time loop. Especially as a voice cried out, the owner realizing they were there. "Who are you?" an angry-looking man snarled, rising to his feet. He'd been seated, looking at some scans and devices that immediately seemed to catch the Doctor's attention. The Doctor craned his neck, trying to see better. Clearly distracted.

Donna took over, lifting her chin and exuding confidence. "We ought to be asking you that," she said sternly. "This ship, set to blow, and you're just sitting there."

"Excuse me?" a woman nearby choked out, startled. Her wide brown eyes darted to the annoyed man's, who looked ready to punch the Doctor when he merely walked over to look at the devices. Jay fought the urge to trail after him and ask what he was looking at - or maybe take a look herself.

A third individual, an older man with gray-streaked dark hair frowned severely at them as he slowly rose to his feet, glancing over his shoulder just briefly at the asteroid they were approaching. "How'd you get here?" he asked rather calmly in comparison to his companions. "There weren't any stowaways - I checked myself."

Jay cleared her throat when Donna threw her a hopeful look. "Err, we're-"

"Hold on just a second," the woman interrupted, jabbing a finger at her and hurling herself to her feet. "You...I've seen your face before. You're Jayden O'Connors, the missing heiress to the O'Connors fortune, aren't you?"

"She does look like her," confirmed the calmer one.

"I'm not an heiress, first of all," grumbled Jay. "The whole thing was set to go to Lucas, thank you very much. But yes, I'm Jayden O'Connors." She copied Donna's stern look, hoping she looked more intimidating than she felt. "And as my friend here said, you're set to blow in…" She glanced at the Doctor, clearing her throat. He held up two fingers. "Two or so hours. We're not here to cause trouble. We're here to help."

"Don't touch that," barked the first one, and the Doctor ignored him. He stepped forward to physically force the Doctor away, but a glare from the oldest of them stopped him. He glared back.

"I'm Levi," the older man told them, "the one in charge. These are Quinnalyn - Quinn," he corrected hastily when Quinn gave him a nasty look, "and Kane. Now, if you wouldn't mind, tell us who you are, what you're doing here, and why you seem to be infatuated with that particular radar."

"Right, I'm Jayden O'Connors," Jay said confidently once more, figuring it was good to use her name and status in this situation. "These are Donna Noble and…" She paused to check with the Doctor, but he was too interested in whatever it was he was doing, so she shrugged. "The Doctor," she finished. "Just the Doctor, don't bother asking for more, because as far as Donna and I know, there isn't any. We got here with a ship we travel in, and we're trying to stop this ship from exploding, as already mentioned. As for the radar…what are you looking at, Doctor?"

Mildly, the Doctor asked Kane, "How long has this been flashing red?"

"What?" Kane launched himself at the Doctor, shoving him aside. The Doctor let him, grim. Panic shot across Kane's face. "It wasn't red a moment ago - what did you do? Did you touch something?" he said sharply to the Doctor.

"No," the Doctor said, putting his hands up as if it would encourage him to believe his innocence.

"Doctor?" Donna prompted pointedly as the other two burst into action. Quinn and Levi crowded Kane on either side, horrified by the discovery. "What's going on?"

"The gravity on that asteroid is completely off from what it should be," the Doctor explained with a small frown. He ran a hand through spiked brown hair, casting a glance at the asteroid through the large windows. "It's going to slam the ship right into it. Sonya's information...the notes Jay looked at during the viewing said the gravity's close to what it is on the moon. This is as if it's been multiplied by ten...adding on a few zeros. We shouldn't even be capable of freely maneuvering the ship this close to it."

"That's the explosion then," Jay murmured. "Right? That's why the ship blows up...so what do we do? Maybe if we stop it from exploding, time won't restart again."

"Maybe. We need to figure out what's making the gravity as great as it is." The Doctor looked over at where the three were desperately muttering, trying to figure out what was going on. He fell quiet, puzzling over it all. "Thing is," he said suddenly, "the TARDIS didn't catch anything. My sonic didn't either."

"So...it's not the gravity then," Donna said slowly. "Gravity's fine."

"Maybe."

"Stop with the maybes and just tell us what you're thinking," grumbled Jay, annoyed, and Donna nodded her agreement.

"It could be a small malfunction in the ship itself," the Doctor explained. "But the O'Connors brand has an impeccable reputation when it comes to spacecraft. As of this moment, not a single casualty has taken place on an O'Connors ship in ten years. So why now? Why on such an important mission? It's either the asteroid, or someone doesn't want this ship to land."

"Again, the asteroid," Jay commented. She cocked her head. "Then the ship's got a gremlin - potentially, I mean. A potential gremlin, if it's not because of the asteroid."

"A what?" demanded Donna, annoyed that she was hearing what was seemingly gibberish to her.

Jay smiled sheepishly when the Doctor blinked at her in surprise. "You know, a gremlin. I heard of them when I was reading not too long ago. The TARDIS gave me some old folklore books to read. They're little creatures that break machinery. They used to blame them for disruptions in machinery on airplanes and such."

Donna snorted, amused, and Jay flushed, defensive as she grumbled, "I'm serious. I mean, look at dragons and stuff. And you told me about the werewolf you met. Things out of fairy tales always prove to exist in ways we don't think they would. Why shouldn't a gremlin be a possibility?"

"It's an option," the Doctor agreed. "We'll keep that in mind. For now...Levi!" He whipped around, and Levi looked to him immediately, face creased in distress. Clearly seasoned at his work, even he was relieved to have someone who seemed to know what he was doing around. "Have there been any other strange things happening on this ship?"

"No," he answered, distressed. "None. A light flickered here or there, but that's it."

"Show me where," the Doctor said firmly. "Jay, you know a lot about these ships. I want you to take a look around. Donna, you should be able to talk to me through the ear piece." He tapped his own ear to show her what he meant, indicating the device - a device that Jay didn't have at the moment. "I want you to keep an eye on the navigation and such and let me know if anything changes. I'm sure Kane and Quinn will help you."

Donna looked immensely relieved about that, glancing at Kane and Quinn. They both gave her wary looks; Kane was more judgemental about it.

Sensing trouble between him and Donna, Jay suggested, "Kane, could you come with me? I know these ships well, but I've never actually been inside one while it was moving like this, you know? I don't want to compromise anything."

Kane scowled lightly, but nodded. The Doctor beamed at her in approval and then headed off with Levi. Jay turned to Donna and offered her a friendly "good luck." Donna bit her lip uncertainly and turned to look at everything before her, unsure of what she was doing even as Quinn began rambling about what she should keep an eye out for and that if she should see anything, she needed to tell Quinn.

"Right," muttered Jay to Kane. "Let's go."

Kane took the lead, and Jay went to work as he guided her out of the control area. He led her through a hallway that was empty of anything but walls cloaked in the O'Connors family sigil, and Jay ignored what was clearly meant to be there in favor of searching for what shouldn't have been. She wished she had the device the Doctor had made for them. She was worried that she'd miss something vital with her human eyes, and without the device to pick it up…

No, no need to worry about such things, Jay told herself as she turned a corner, hot on Kane's heels. She'd gone this long without such a thing. She'd be fine. She had good eyes for this type of thing; it was why the Doctor had sent her to do this. She'd find something if there was anything to be found.

Donna's voice came to life, flooding the air through an intercom. "Doctor, another light turned red. Quinn says to tell you it's some kind of radar."

Kane huffed, wincing. "Damn it," he grumbled. "Now we're going in mostly blind."

"The Doctor will fix it," she reassured quietly.

Sure enough, Donna declared, "Jay, the Doctor said something about you looking into it."

Which meant their Time Lord friend had rambled some kind of jumbled jargon that Donna couldn't keep up with before explicitly stating that he wanted Jay to take a look at whatever machinery controlled the radar that had been affected. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Kane, what controls the radar? Any electric panels I could look at?"

"Yeah. Sure." Kane gestured for her to follow, and quickly, they took off at a jog down a corridor. He led her through a twisting maze of halls until they came to a room that thundered from engines that were hidden nearby. Jay paused to listen to them. They sounded entirely fine. So it wasn't engine-based...she focused her attention on the wires that Kane revealed. He removed a panel from the wall, explaining, "This is the section that controls our systems up top."

Jay descended upon them, investigating them with a critical eye. She spent some time investigating each and every wire, but quickly realized she was coming up empty-handed. "Nothing," she muttered, puzzled. "Absolutely nothing. What on earth is throwing the ship's systems out of loop so badly?"

In answer, the ship suddenly shuddered around them. The ground shook so badly, Kane and Jay nearly fell. They exchanged wide-eyed, quick looks.

Time had run out.

"Go," Jay said, straining to hear the TARDIS's song. Her voice came out breathless as she tore off in the direction of the TARDIS. "Go!"

Now, they were racing down halls. Kane looked puzzled as she led him through a new network of complex corridors. He looked even more confused and annoyed when they came to a halt in front of the TARDIS. Her song was loud and clear in Jay's ears, and she ripped the door open to check and see if the Doctor, Donna, and their new friends had made it to safety just yet. Nothing.

"Right," muttered Jay as the ground shook again. The Doctor would find his way back, but she had no doubts Donna would need help. "We have to grab Donna and Quinn. Trust me, this is bigger than you think it is." She slammed the door shut and spun on her heel, racing off once more. She was impressed with how well Kane kept up with her. Her heart thundered in her chest, pins and needles racing through her fingertips. Jay ignored them.

"Donna!" cried Jay when she burst back into the main area, grateful for the short route. "Time to go!"

Donna bolted over to join her, relieved, but Quinn faltered. "Our work," she protested.

"You can stay and die with your work, or come with us and live." Jay's gaze was fierce. She didn't know if they'd die in the explosion and reawaken moments later all over again, doomed to repeat the destruction a fourth time, but she wasn't keen on finding out. "The Doctor should be coming back, too, with Levi. They'll head for the TARDIS."

Quinn bit her lip, still hesitant - until Kane barked her name. She nodded then, retreating from the controls slowly. Finally, she spun on her heel. "Lead the way."

Jay took off again, this time with Donna and Quinn, too. She headed straight back for the TARDIS, muttering to herself as she ducked around a corner. The TARDIS's song had risen a few octaves, alerting them to the imminent danger. "Quick, quick, quick," rambled Jay, skidding to a halt. The doors were already open, so she shoved herself inside. Donna followed, gasping for breath.

The Doctor and Levi were there. The Doctor was looking rather concerned, but the concern melted away when he saw that Jay and Donna were among the group that had suddenly spilled into his TARDIS. The three newcomers all sputtered in alarm and shock at the fact that the TARDIS was so much bigger on the inside. Donna ignored it all and roughly shoved past Kane after closing the doors behind her. "How much longer do we have?" she demanded as the Doctor slammed the lever down, sending them spinning back through time and space.

"Seconds," he said grimly, whipping around to face Jay. "Anything?" he said quickly, knowing her memory would not be so clear as soon as the time loop began again.

"Nothing's wrong with the wiring. It's not anything I can find on the ship, Doctor," Jay said.

"There was a whole bunch of those radars that went red," reported Donna. "Almost everything on that ship when red."

"So it's not the ship, but something affecting it from somewhere else?" suggested Levi, sensing the need for haste.

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but before he could speak...everything went white.


"-going," Jay commented aloud, "The TARDIS-" She cut herself off, stomach churning and face going ghostly pale. Without another word, she turned and bolted from the control room, disappearing into the corridors. Donna and the Doctor watched her go with mutual looks of sympathy. Donna looked a little ill herself, but not nearly that bad.

"So, what do we have, spaceman?" Donna asked, turning to give the Doctor a look that told him he better be coming up with some kind of solution.

"It's not the ship causing the time loop," the Doctor said confidently, immediately looking at the scans that the TARDIS had done on Jay's new device. The Doctor made a note to help replace it on Jay when she came back. It would hopefully help her from getting sick again if time should repeat itself a fourth time. "Well, actually, it is. Something about the way the ship's exploding must cause the loop. But it's nothing on the spacecraft causing it to explode."

So there had to be something in the general area that was causing issues.

"Sonya could know," suggested Donna, furrowing her brow. "She designed everything, right?"

The Doctor nodded, already making the decision to find Sonya. She'd be the one to help them fix this, he decided. He looked over when Jay stumbled back into the control room, face still white. "I don't know everything that's going on," she admitted blearily, "but I know we've done this before, possibly several times, and my head is killing me."

Donna laughed softly, though her face was full of sympathy. Chuckling a little himself, the Doctor gave her an apologetic look as he waved her over. He took the device he'd crafted, ready to reattach it, and explained quickly what was happening as he did so. She hissed, glaring at him when more pain shot through her head. "Feeling any better?" he asked her when he'd finished, and she grumbled.

"A little," she muttered, and the Doctor touched her cheek fondly before striding back to the TARDIS screen. Jay went to peer over his shoulder, knowing she'd not understand a single thing she was looking at but believing full-heartedly the Doctor would explain it. Donna watched them with sharp interest, her eyes narrowing for a few seconds as she noted something.

But she said nothing about it, merely smiled in amusement when Jay spun around to face her a few moments later. "So, back to Sonya we go," Jay declared.

"Back to Sonya," agreed the Doctor. "She might know something."

Jay started for the doors - only to pause and sigh heavily. "I really hope she's not some kind of alien in disguise," she told them. "That's the last thing Lucas needs in his life. He deserves to have a normal, happy wife who isn't going to turn around and try to destroy or conquer the world."

"She's human, Jay," the Doctor told her with a hint of a grin. He looked as if he thought her concerns to be the funniest thing he'd heard in a while, and Donna wanted to just slap them both.

"When you two are done," Donna huffed, "we're on a time limit. Or we have to start over again."

"Right!" The Doctor whipped around and ushered them out, frowning to himself. "Remember, look at everything. I'm coming with you this time."

"Good. Who knows how much Sonya knows about who we are," muttered Jay, and Donna looked inclined to tell her that it wasn't a lot, but kept herself quiet. Jay was still looking a little ill and she didn't want to confuse her further. Jay was wavering a little when the Doctor decided to move the TARDIS rather than having them walk through the gardens again. Donna suspected that he'd done so because of Jay, for he playfully offered her his arm when they went to exit. Jay took it gratefully, relieved to have some help with staying upright.

"Where'd you land us?" Jay asked as Donna closed and locked the door to the TARDIS behind them. "Anywhere close to where we need to be, or in the wrong decade again?" It was said teasingly, but the Doctor still pouted slightly, making her snort in amusement. Clearly, he took offense to what she was saying.

"Same place, closer to the exit," was his rather smug answer.

Jay nodded, not sure if she believed him this time around. Luckily, it seemed he'd managed to land precisely where he wanted to this time. They were fairly close to the southern exit of one of the public gardens, meaning that they were certainly closer to the estate than they'd been previously. Jay stuck close to the Doctor as he locked the door behind them, ensuring that no one would be able to enter the TARDIS. Jay stroked the blue wood fondly, listening to her song.

Jay's fingers stilled after a few moments. "Doctor," she said a little urgently, catching the Time Lord's attention as she snagged his wrist gently. "The TARDIS...do you hear her? She's exhausted. I don't think she's creating this time loop herself. She's...she's trying to help us, but I think it's tiring her out."

The Doctor hummed thoughtfully, touching the TARDIS and smoothing his hand along the wood himself. "What's wrong, old girl?" he said softly, and the TARDIS hummed back at him. Her song shifted ever so slightly in Jay's ears, and Jay smiled lightly, hearing the pleasure in it.

"She likes when you call her that," Jay reported, and the Doctor grinned at her, delighted.

Donna cleared her throat. "When you two are done swooning over a wooden box, we have a time loop to solve…?"

Jay huffed softly. She loved Donna, but even after all this time, Donna still didn't understand just what the box meant to the Doctor - to her. It was home, ever present. Even more so to the Doctor, who had only a blue box to return to whenever his friends left him, willingly or not. Still, Donna had a point. Reluctantly, she parted with the TARDIS and looped her arm through Donna's. She looked expectantly at the Doctor, who waved for Jay to lead the way. She knew the way better than he did, after all.

They'd barely stepped forward a handful of steps before there was an explosive amount of commotion. "Watch out!" a voice suddenly shouted, and Jay blinked as something massive came swinging out of nowhere. Donna dragged Jay back with a yelp when it nearly caught them all. The Doctor uttered something under his breath, when they stumbled into him. He caught their shoulders to help them catch their balance. By the time they fully comprehended what had happened, it had ended, and the danger was gone.

Footsteps caught their attention, and Jay whipped her head around as someone came running, eyes wide with horror. "Are you alright?" the woman asked frantically, hands fluttering. Wildly, tightly curled black hair bounced around her face as she turned her attention sharply to each of them. Her face was smeared with oil and dirt, her hands covered with thick leather gloves. Overalls had been thrown over what might have been extremely nice clothes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to almost kill you. Did the O'Connors family give you permission to be here?"

Her mouth ran a mile a minute, and Jay's head spun trying to simply keep up with what she was saying. Instinct told her she'd definitely met this woman before. But her memories were mush, and her head ached somewhat, so she didn't bother trying to figure it out. Instead, she looked to the Doctor as he answered, "We have permission. What are you building here that almost killed us?"

The woman winced. "Sorry," she repeated sincerely. "I'm designing a system to provide a false wind of sorts. It's gotten so hot in the last few years that a lot of people don't like to come here; so instead of encapsulating the area in a dome like most people did, I was given permission to try and design something that would create the same effect without taking away the natural beauty. If I can get this thing working, then there'll be a natural breeze that flows through, only enhanced by some cool air that's pumped through."

"So...air conditioning?" muttered Donna, and the Doctor cracked a grin. Even if she'd unintentionally repeated the joke several times now, he was still amused by it.

The woman tipped her head back and laughed, too. "I guess. That's a bit of an old-time phrase, but I suppose it's akin to outdoor air conditioning." She removed a thick glove from her hand and offered Jay her hand. "I'm Sonya. I apologize again for almost killing you, but it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Jay," Jay answered. "These are Donna and the Doctor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sonya said sincerely. She glanced at the Doctor with interest when he suddenly began approaching the base of the large device that had swung down and nearly killed them. Jay thought it rather resembled a pendulum. "You look like you want to say something about my work." Sonya eyed the Doctor with interest. "Any suggestions?"

The Doctor thought it over, studying the machinery closely. A spark of excitement suddenly shot over his face, and he spun around to look at Donna and Jay. "I think we just found the source of the time loop," he told them. Jay and Donna exchanged looks of confusion and alarm.

"You can't be serious," Donna protested. "The entire time, it's been this?"

"Wait, hold on. Time loop?" Sonya asked, beyond confused.

She was ignored in the excitement as Jay suddenly cheered, bouncing up and down. "Fantastic! That means we can stop time from repeating itself again, right?" she demanded hopefully, not excited to start this whole process again. She suddenly faltered, remembering their last attempt, in which they'd stood upon the ship that was going to land upon an asteroid that had been circling Earth. "Doctor...does that mean the ship will be okay when it lands? That it won't explode and kill all those people on board?"

"I don't know," the Time Lord admitted, circling the device. Sonya watched him with narrowed eyes, wary of the fact that a stranger was so close to her creation. "If we can figure out how it's creating the time loop, maybe. But if we don't, time will just start again, and we'll have to start all over. Again."

"I don't understand," Sonya snapped, glaring at them all. She raked a hand through her dark hair, face pale and mouth pressed into a hard, angry line. "What are you all going on about? Time loop? Ship blowing up? Start talking - or I'll call security, and I don't care who the hell you think you are."

Jay considered telling her who she was in turn, but decided against it. Her memories were still jumbled, even with the device back on her head. She wasn't entirely confident on how Sonya would react to finding out that a missing O'Connors stood right in front of her, though she could have sworn there was a flicker of recognition in Sonya's eyes when she looked at Jay. Jay didn't think it was a bad sort of recognition, like the Master had worn when he'd looked upon the Doctor. No, this was a "I could have sworn I've seen you somewhere" look.

So, Jay told her instead of what they were talking about, just as Sonya had demanded they do. Donna joined in with the explanation, while the Doctor scanned the device Sonya had crafted with his sonic screwdriver. When she'd finished, Sonya looked horrified. "But...but that's my work," she cried, pointing to the sky. "I'm the one who sent them...and they die?"

"Not if we can figure out what's going on here," the Doctor promised her. "Donna, come here." She faltered, not entirely sure she wanted to, but did so anyways. "Put your hand here," he told her, studying the results his sonic screwdriver had acquired. He pointed to a piece of one of three legs that kept the large thing upright, and Donna reluctantly did as she was told.

She yelped, ripping her hand back a moment later. "It...it shocked me!" she cried, glaring irritably at him, and the Doctor looked as if he wanted to smile. "Why'd it shock me?"

"It shouldn't have," Sonya said before he could answer. She hurried over, Jay trailing along behind them. She touched the piece and winced herself. She withdrew, rubbing the sore hand with confusion. "Where's the shock coming from?" It's...it's not even made of metal. It's made of a material I came up with, with my team."

"The material's producing it." The Doctor showed them his sonic screwdriver, as if any of them could read the results off of it. Jay looked inclined to shake some sense into him as she stared pointedly at him, and the Doctor was quick to say, "What exactly did you make this material from?"

Sonya began listing off a whole list of things that made no sense to Donna, nor to Jay, and the pair exchanged an exasperated sigh as Sonya began to detail what precisely she'd done. The Doctor knew what she meant, however, and nodded along with her words. Eventually, he interrupted the "gibberish" and declared, "There's your problem! That material's sensitive. There's probably something about the battery that isn't right." He whipped around, eyeing the device with care. It was large, towering high above their heads. "Donna, would you climb up-"

"No," Donna said immediately, not needing to be told the entirety of the question to know she was not interested in what he was asking. .

"I'll do it," Jay offered, fighting the urge to laugh at the look on Donna's face - and then the grudging glare the Doctor fired at his red-haired companion. She flashed the Doctor a grin that he returned, delighted. "Tell me what you need me to do up there, Doctor."

"There's a battery at the top," Sonya explained instead. "It's solar-powered. You'll need to unscrew the panel, disconnect the green and black wires, and then bring it down - without letting it touch the rest of the device." She winced. "The spark will blow it up in your face."

"Something about the batter is what's not agreeing with the rest of it," the Doctor explained to them, ensuring they follow along with the conversation, too, when Donna only glowered impatiently. "Normally, it wouldn't mean anything. It would do what it was supposed to do. But with how it is now, there's too much of that material and the moment it comes into contact with what this is made of," he touched the metal leg of the pendulum, indicating the silverish metal it was made of, "it explodes - and creates a spark in every battery on the planet."

"Wait," said Jay quietly, her face going white, "you mean that the ship's not the only thing that's blowing up?" The Doctor didn't answer, but it was enough as he pressed his sonic screwdriver into her hand. This thing was killing countless people, for she knew batteries powered pretty much everything that she knew of in her time, from a vehicle to a child's toy. Jay tipped her head back and took a deep breath. "Right. Get up there, get the battery, come down without touching the battery to the big swinging thing. I can do that. Donna, give me that cardigan you're wearing."

Puzzled, and somewhat unhappy about it, Donna did as she was told. Jay slung it over her shoulder and strode around the side of the pendulum, tracking down the maintenance ladder that Sonya told her had been built in. She gripped the first rail, and then flashed a wicked smirk over her shoulder at the Doctor, who looked rather worried now that she was actually going to go and climb up. "Good thing I can feel my fingers," she commented, letting go with one hand to wiggle said fingers at the Doctor and Donna. Neither looked pleased with her joke. "Right," she muttered, and then went to work, putting the sonic screwdriver between her teeth.

Rung by rung, Jay hauled herself up. When she reached the top, she paused to take in the view and admitted to herself that it was absolutely lovely from here. Perhaps Sonya should consider building some viewing towers, to overlook the gardens of the O'Connors family from high above. Shaking her head, Jay focused on the situation at hand. They didn't have time for her to sit around looking at pretty flowers.

With care, she did as she'd been instructed. She used her hip to balance herself, determined to not look down as she removed the sonic screwdriver from her mouth with care. She pressed the button, smug when the familiar buzz filled her ears and a screw began coming undone. Who would have thought? she almost said aloud teasingly despite knowing no one could hear her.

She disconnected the wires after putting the sonic screwdriver in her pocket, flinching at the drop below, and then took a deep breath before removing the battery. She was extremely careful as she wrapped it in Donna's cardigan.

Then, she looked down. Her head swam a little at the height, and she began to think this had been a bad idea. There was nothing to catch her should she fall. A familiar terror began lacing through her veins, and she found herself freezing.

She'd forgotten, somehow, that she feared such heights immensely.

"Come on, Jay!" the Doctor shouted from below, and Jay swallowed thickly, knuckles white as she gripped the first rung. She was shaking, she realized as she began to force herself downwards. She froze a few steps in, and had to stop to take some steadying breaths. Going up had been much easier than going down.

Jay wondered why the Doctor couldn't have done it himself as she carefully lowered herself down another step. Her answer came when she peered down again. He was tearing into the device, through a panel in the side. He was messing with some cables, fiddling with them and discussing what he was doing with the concerned Sonya. Donna alone watched her, looking worried.

Somehow, Donna seemed to realize what was taking Jay so long to come down, and she called, "Almost there."

Jay could have kissed Donna Noble, who was waiting right at the bottom for her. She was shaking as Donna gripped her arm gently, as if grounding her. "Thanks," whispered Jay, her fingers trembling as she tucked the cardigan-covered battery beneath her arm and staggered over to where the Doctor was working. "Here," she said, pleased with herself despite the cold sweat that had slid down her spine.

He stopped wrangling a few wires in favor of pausing to look up, and the Doctor furrowed his brow. "Alright?" he asked as he took the battery from her, concerned. Jay pushed a faint, unhappy smile to her face. No, that smile said, but I'll be fine. He took a moment to offer her a kind look of gratitude, thanking her silently, and then whirled around, ripping the cardigan off and tossing it back to Donna.

"I liked this," Donna complained, studying the black grease marks with distaste, and Jay found herself grinning lightly. Only Donna.

"We'll get you a new one," the Doctor said, rotating the large battery in his hands, keen eyes studying it. Sonya hovered over his shoulder, looking with him. "I'll even take you to Shan Shen. Beautiful planet, full of markets and festivals, each one based in different cultures. We'll make a day out of it."

Jay rather liked the idea of that. Shan Shen sounded wonderful after the day they'd been having.

"Ah ha," the Doctor suddenly muttered. "Right here." He offered the batter to Sonya, tapping a small piece with his finger. It was no bigger than a coin, and had magnetized itself to a portion of the battery. She frowned at it. "Don't recognize it?"

"I certainly didn't put it there. It's mine though." She glanced up at him, confused. "Could it have fallen in while I was building it? I could have sworn it was stored somewhere away from my workshop though…" Understanding lit her face. "Ah, I brought it back the other day, when I was finishing this. I must have put it on my worktable."

"So will time stop resetting now?" Jay said hopefully, crossing her arms after shaking her fingertips out.

"Yes," the Doctor said confidently with a reassuring grin.

Delight twisted through Jay's chest, and her heart skipped a beat. Finally, she could see her brother - and not have to worry about meeting him for the first time in a long time again.


"Ow," muttered Jay as the Doctor delicately removed the contraption he'd attached to her again. He'd removed his own and Donna's moments before, and Donna had disappeared to shed her formal clothes. She'd been happy to wear a long, beautiful gown to the celebration of Sonya's success, where Lucas and Sonya had promptly introduced them to just about anyone and everyone in attendance. The Doctor and Jay had, once again, gone through all of the work Sonya had done on the spaceship and the asteroid it was landing on, and she'd found herself happy.

A smile tugged at the corners of the Doctor's mouth as he gently touched the spot that had stung. "Alright?"

"Yes." She made a face. "I hope we never need those again."

"I don't know," hummed the Doctor, glancing to the TARDIS's ceiling with a grin. "They were helpful. Maybe we should use them every time we go out, so the TARDIS can help us out when an emergency shows up."

"That does happen far too much for my liking." Jay puffed out her cheeks and meandered over to the captain's seat. She dropped heavily into it, kicking off her heels. "Some day. Some day, we will have a peaceful trip, where no aliens try to kill us, where no...no contraptions reset time, where no one screws us over. I'd really, really like to just...sit there and look at something." It had happened here and there, but more often than not…

"What's the fun in that?" teased the Doctor, and she rolled her eyes, even as she smiled. It was good that they managed to save people, she supposed, though she flinched thinking of Pompeii and everything that had gone so very badly there. Sure, they'd saved one family, and she knew some people escaped. But it hurt, thinking of the lives that had ended. Even if she had been the one to make the decision on her own.

Jay rubbed a fist over her chest as if it would ease the grief and pain. It had been easier lately to do so - to accept that she couldn't change what she'd done, no matter how much it hurt her. She felt that it would have the Doctor more to do so - had hurt him more. when he'd gone through everything with his home planet.

The Doctor seated himself comfortably beside her in the captain's seat, his shoulder bumping hers, his knee touching hers. "Where to next?"

"Rest first," she reminded him with a snort. "And then that market planet you mentioned. Shan Shen, I think?"

He nodded to confirm that was its name. "Shan Shen," he repeated with a wink. "We'll take the TARDIS to visit the different markets. There's far too many. They fill the planet, so there's no way we could visit each one on foot."

"It's one we'll have to visit on multiple occasions then," Jay declared, propping a foot in her lap and rubbing her sore calf. She bit her lip, faltering when she saw the black veins that spiderwebbed her skin. "Hey, Doctor," she said, glancing at him, "think they'll have something for this?" She tapped her leg.

"Maybe," he answered, smile vanishing. He looked serious now. "We'll look."

Jay rubbed her sore foot harder and dropped his gaze.

Something told her there'd be nothing to help when they looked.

There never was, no matter how hard they tried.


At long last, an update! I always say that. ANYHOW. Next, we finally move into the 3rd season's finale episodes! OOF I'm excited for Jay to meet Rose.

Correction! Fourth season. Thank you, savethemadscientist!

ALSO, THANK YOU FOR 100 REVIEWS!

Thanks to reviewers (bored411, savethemadscientist, and MarieBarnes!) as well as those who favorited and folllowed!