Something felt off as Jay meandered through the halls of the TARDIS and made her way to the control room, seeking the Doctor. She combed her fingers through her hair as she walked, having been taking a nap in her room after fiddling with a gadget he'd given her, and she always found herself concerned about what he was doing during such moments.

Jay wanted to think it was the TARDIS, whose song had woken her initially, coaxing her out of bed. It swelled when she went in the right direction, died away when she took the wrong corridor. But Jay knew for a fact it wasn't necessarily the TARDIS that was making her feel off.

Rather, it was the lingering feelings of hurt. She rubbed her chest at the mere thought of it, still rather confused. She'd never thought the Doctor doing anything would upset her like this, but the simple memory of Christina kissing him, her mouth slanted against his…

Jay didn't like it, that hurt that burned in her chest. It made her irritable, and she wanted nothing more than to erase the image from her head. But that only made her see it more and more, and she felt a little bad, because the irritation had bled over and she'd even snapped here and there at the Doctor since then. They'd not done much, outside of another trip to a museum, but regardless, she couldn't always stop the snappy comments.

The worst part was the Doctor's expression. He always looked hurt himself, and confused. Jay had never been one for such comments directed at him and it was clearly as confusing for him as it was for her. She supposed she could have admitted what was wrong to him, something he'd encouraged and prompted several times, but...it just didn't seem like something she felt she could do.

Which was why she weighed the phone in her free hand as she walked, thoughtful. She'd already made the call, asking if she could, and she knew the Doctor would agree to it with only a few questions. She'd be safe, he'd know precisely where to pick her up when it was done and over with, and in the meantime, she wouldn't be snapping at him like she had been.

The TARDIS suddenly redirected her away from the TARDIS console room and instead led her down a new hallway, past a few storage rooms filled with junk, and towards where even from the hall, Jay could hear the Time Lord she was thinking about cursing to himself about something or another. When she entered the room the TARDIS had directed him to, she found herself standing in what she presumed to be the equivalent of a laboratory.

She knew immediately what the Doctor was doing in here.

He was bent over a microscope, his blue suit a wrinkled mess as if he'd been sleeping in it at some point. He was focused entirely on what he was doing, while some machinery ran nearby. In fact, there were a few machines doing tests of their own on the black substance the Doctor had fed them. Jay didn't even have to ask; she knew what he'd started working on. "Doctor?" she called, lingering in the entrance so as to not interrupt anything he was doing. Maybe now wasn't the best time…

The Doctor's head snapped up and around, and Jay's eyebrows lifted a little. His already messy dark hair stuck up even more than usual, as if he'd raked his hands through it several times. Jay's lips twitched at the sight as he said cheerfully, "Jay! Just in time."

"For…?" She blinked as he hopped to his feet, waving her in.

"Look," he said, and she made her way over to peer into the microscope at his demand, following his instructions when she paused uncertainly. She stared at the odd images before her, somewhat in awe. When she looked up at him, confused, he explained, "Did you see the sharp, jagged cells?"

"I think so?" Jay peered in again. Sure enough, there were near a dozen of those mentioned cells, all sharply jagged on the edges and black. She pulled back again. "Is that…?" She tapped the crease of her elbow pointedly, unsure of what else to call it, and the Doctor nodded a few times.

"That's what it looks like," he said. "Under a microscope, anyways. So I went back and looked at one of the samples of your blood you let me take a while back," he yanked a small slide out of his pocket and swapped it, adjusting the microscope as he did so, and then gestured for her to look again. "Look at the sample."

Jay did so, and immediately she realized what he wanted her to see. She could see small pinkish circles first. "Red blood cells," he told her in her ear, waiting for her to look up again. But among the blood cells there was the smallest jagged black cell, so small Jay was sure he must have missed it the first time he'd looked. When she looked up again, her thought was confirmed. He looked mildly annoyed as he admitted, "I missed it the first time."

Jay tugged thoughtfully at a lock of golden hair, looking back at the microscope. When she looked back at him, he was staring hopefully at her, and her face paled a little when she realized what he wanted. "No," she said firmly, entirely displeased with what she knew he was asking. "You said I'd never have to do it again."

"Yes," he said, gesturing to the laboratory around them, "but I need a new sample to look at! If we want to understand it and figure out how to stop the attacks…" He let the point hang there openly, and Jay bit her lip. The Doctor switched methods, and Jay wanted to throttle him for it when he said gently, "I know you don't like needles, and I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it wasn't going to show me something new. Trust me?"

She fought the urge to scowl at him. Those two words did her in. Trust me. "Of course I trust you," she grumbled, tucking the phone in her pocket and sighing heavily as the Doctor beamed and went to fetch what he'd need to draw blood. At least Martha had taught him to properly do it the previous time she'd agreed to do so. Even as the Doctor returned with everything he'd need, having dug it out of a drawer, Jay found herself beginning to sweat. She hated the fact that he'd be using a needle on her, and wished desperately that they knew of a better way.

Still, she sat where he instructed, turned her face away, and stared blankly at the nearest wall as he got to work. She forced herself to breathe deeply, knowing the last thing either of them wanted was for her to pass out. "Doctor," she said after a moment, even as the Doctor hummed a cheerful tune as if hoping it would keep her distracted. It wasn't working. She still felt the sting of the needle and swore loudly, her face cold and her hands clammy as she impatiently waited for him to finish. "I had a question."

He grunted, focused on his task, but listening, so she pushed onwards, hoping it wouldn't upset him.

"I wanted to visit Jack." She shifted tactics when his head snapped up, a startled look on his face. "He called and invited me, saying that he wanted to do something fun together." She felt bad about the fact that it was, of course, a complete lie. She'd been the one to ask Jack if she could come and stay with him for a little bit, claiming that she had a few things she'd like to get his help with - mostly, though she'd not told Jack this, her confusion and hurt regarding what had happened with Christina and the Doctor. It still bothered her, and she didn't like that one bit.

A smile tugged at Jay's lips when the Doctor grudgingly agreed, finishing up with drawing some of her blood, "I guess we could stop and see Jack. What did he have in mind?"

Gently, not wanting to hurt the Doctor's feelings, she said, "Err, well, actually, it wasn't an invitation for two."

The Doctor stared at her until she felt a little uncomfortable before he said, "Oh. That's fine, that's good." He rocked to his feet, and Jay made a face at the sight of the vials of blood in his hand. He'd taken far more than he had last time, and Jay got the feeling it was going to go into some of the machines running tests. "I'll keep working on this," he waved the vials in the air, "while you're visiting, pick you up, and off we go!"

Jay bit her lip. She could tell from simply looking at his face that the Doctor wasn't overly pleased with this decision, and that he might have even been upset that she wanted to go alone to visit Jack. Hesitantly, she caught his wrist and said, "You know I'm coming back, right? I won't be gone that long. He just wants to talk about something. I'll be right back." She would come back. She'd promised she wasn't leaving, and she was damn certain she'd do whatever it took to keep that promise.

The Doctor seemed to relax a little and his expression warmed as he grinned at her. Rather than responding to her, he instead shooed her out of his little laboratory and together, they set off for the console room. Jay purposely bumped him playfully with her shoulder and said with mock severity, "And after I get back, you're taking me to see that city you told me about. The one with the civilization whose people had two heads?"

The Doctor lit up. "The Aplans," he said, and Jay nodded happily, having been unable to come up with the name of the people herself. "We'll go as soon as you get back. Or maybe somewhere else you haven't been yet."

Jay hid a sigh of relief as they swept into the console room. Jay checked her pockets as she listed the address Jack had given her, ensuring she had her little crystal this time. Maybe, if she was lucky, Jack would be able to fix it for her. She certainly hoped so. She was tired of all the things she heard when they left the TARDIS. Many of them, outside the TARDIS's own song, hurt her head beyond belief.

As they'd been tending to do, the pair fell into a routine. The Doctor whistled a tune as he gave Jay a section of the console to control. Jay did her best before the TARDIS began to help her, and the Doctor did the rest, beaming proudly whenever she'd get the right button or dial or switch. She grinned proudly at herself, even, as she pulled the final lever and sent the TARDIS spinning through time and space.

When the TARDIS had landed, they made their way to the door, and the Doctor said seriously, "If you end up in any trouble at all…"

"I'll call." She beamed as she patted her pocket, where she'd shoved the phone. "I have the TARDIS's number memorized, and it's in the contacts." She looked so proud of herself that the Doctor laughed quietly, amused. Jay nudged him playfully with her elbow, glad that he wasn't so upset with her now, and eagerly threw the doors open.

She faltered, taken aback at where they'd landed. The Doctor frowned as they closed the TARDIS doors behind them. "Are you sure this is where he wanted to meet?"

Jay was a bit confused herself. "Yes," she said. "I think so. He must have gotten the vortex manipulator working again." They were surrounded by a vast, thick forest, filled with brush and various birdsong, chirping crickets, and so on. At the same time, it was very clearly an alien forest, for Jay knew for a fact that the animal peering down at them from a branch with interest was nothing she'd ever thought of existing on Earth.

Still confused, Jay snagged her phone from her pocket and tracked down Jack's number with some effort. She pressed the phone to her ear and continued scanning the trees as she waited. Eventually, Jack picked up, greeting her with a cheerful "Jaybird!"

"Hi," she responded. "Did you mean to send us to some alien forest?"

Jack sighed, and it told Jay that no, he'd not intended that. Not fully interested in trying to understand things that wouldn't make sense to her at the moment, Jay pressed the phone into the Doctor's hand and muttered under her breath as he began irritably muttering to Jack, "It's like when my mother would pass us off to the new nanny…" She certainly felt like it. The Doctor was worse than a mother hen, scolding Jack for not apparently giving her the right place to go to.

Before long, she was ushered back into the TARDIS. The Doctor told her to stay by the doors and after a few moments of fiddling with more controls, they tried a second time. This time when they stepped outside the TARDIS, they were greeted by the sight of an alleyway lined with wooden buildings. Jay beamed when she spotted her friend, waiting for them with an easy-going grin. "Jack!" she called cheerfully, waving.

"Sorry about that, Jaybird," he said without hesitation, smiling somewhat sheepishly. "Gave you one wrong coordinate, it seems." He gave the Doctor a salute, and his grin widened when the Doctor scowled at him. "Good to see you again, Doctor."

The Doctor ignored him, making Jack snicker about something or another, and he turned to Jay. "Call the TARDIS when you're done," he said rather sternly, and she had to fight the urge to laugh. He really did sound like a mother hen. She appreciated it though as she promised to do so. She bounced on the balls of her heels. She'd been excited to see Jack, and he'd promised that he'd have a surprise for her when she came, but just as suddenly as she was excited…

Fear struck her when the Doctor gave her a final smile and turned to leave, and her hand darted out and caught his wrist. This was the first time they'd done something like this. Sure, they'd gone to many places and times, but this was the first time the Doctor was going to leave her in such a way. It had happened accidentally here and there, but never on purpose. "You'll come back, right?"

The Doctor looked startled by the fearful question. His dark eyes snapped wide as he studied her expression. "Of course I'll come back," he retorted, tone a little sharp in his alarm. He was nearly offended by it, from the looks of it.

Jay's fear eased and she smiled brightly and tackled him in a tight hug. "I won't take too long," she promised in his ear, her face pressed into his shoulder. He returned the hug, arms tight around her, and she leaned into it as he pressed a fond kiss to the top of her head. When he pulled back, she murmured, "See you soon!" and hurried over to where Jack was watching intently, an amused expression now lying on his face.

"What?" asked Jay as she came to stand beside him, waving as the Doctor vanished back into the TARDIS. She stuck her hand in her pocket and clutched the crystal there as the TARDIS disappeared, too, a few moments later.

Jack merely whistled a small tune, turning. He waved for Jay to follow him. "Come on, Jaybird," he chirped. "I've still got that surprise for you waiting back at the inn, and then if you're up for it, I could use your help figuring something out. I figured we could talk after we're done. You said you wanted to figure something out and needed some help, right?"

Jay nodded confidently. "Yeah," she said, sparing a look over her shoulder at where the TARDIS had been. The hurt had faded somewhat now. She was happy about that at the very least. "So," she continued as they stepped onto a cobbled street, weaving among older looking houses, cottages, and small shops. A butchery stood empty. Jay furrowed her brow a little when they passed a woman on the street, skirts flying as she spun and kicked in endless circles, dancing her heart out. "What's the problem you need help with? Where are we, anyways? I'll try, but I don't know how good I'll be."

"Hold on, you'll see in a moment. And we're in the Holy Roman Empire, a town called Strasbourg in what will someday be France. Fifteen-eighteen." He paused at the entrance to an alley and gestured to the town square they'd come to. "And that's what I need your help figuring out."

Jay stopped dead in her tracks, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene before her. The town square was filled to the brim with people, and much to her surprise, no one was selling anything or offering services of some kind. No one stood still, talking. Rather, every single person within the town square was dancing. Men, women, even some children. "I don't understand," said Jay after a few moments. "How is dancing a problem, Jack?"

"Look closer," he said in a grim tone.

So, she did. Jay peered a little closer at the situation before them and as she did, her eyes widened. These people weren't just dancing. She could see more than one stumbling from exhaustion. Their bodies were gaunt, eyes hollow with misery and pain. Shoes were worn through. Blood stained the cobblestone beneath their feet, and Jay thought one woman might have danced her feet down to the bone.

Feeling ill, Jay recoiled a fraction. "Can't they just stop?"

"They dance until they collapse," said Jack with a shrug, "and then when they wake back up, they go right back to dancing. We can't figure it out."

Jay chewed on her lip, watching for a few more moments. "Poor people...of course I'll try and help. The Doctor really ought to have stayed though. He'd have a better idea of what to do and where to start looking then I ever would."

Jack merely elbowed her and said, "Come on, let's get you that surprise I promised." Jay glanced at him, not sure she wanted a gift after what she'd just seen, but followed him through the town nonetheless. They edged around the town square and murmured to one another, telling stories of what they'd been up to since they'd last seen each other.

Eventually, they came to an inn, and Jack ducked inside, explaining that he'd been staying there for a few days, since it began. No one was there to greet them at the front desk. "The innkeeper got dragged in," admitted Jack as they climbed a set of rickety stairs. "She's dancing down the street. For the last three days."

Jay flinched, her own feet aching at the mere thought. Ow.

She really wondered though, why the Doctor hadn't been invited to help, too.

When they reached a room, Jack entered it without hesitation, and Jay followed him in. Her eyes swept the room with interest, and she found that it was rather plain. The bed was small and very uncomfortable looking, and the only other piece of furniture was the nearby wooden dresser, which was so old and scuffed it looked as if it would fall apart at any moment. "Alright," said Jay after a moment, flashing him a grin. "What's my surprise?"

Jack grinned back and held up a finger, indicating she needed to wait a moment. He dug something out of his pocket, hit a button on it, and Jay's eyebrows lifted when a pile of things shimmered into existence. "I've been cloaking it," he explained as he grabbed a backpack and began shifting through it, furrowing his brow as he tracked down what he was looking for. "The last thing we need is some person from the fifteen hundreds crying witchcraft. They're just looking for someone to blame for all the dancing in town."

Jay murmured that she understood and fully agreed with what he had said. She didn't know nearly as much about this time period on Earth as she did about others, but she knew enough to keep several things - such as the voices she heard - to herself when out in public. "I still think the Doctor could have been helpful," she said lightly. "Besides, what do you think I'll be able to do?"

"I think - ah, here we go!" He removed a small wrapped package from the bag and weighed it cheerfully in his hand. "I think you might hear something I can't. I know it's a psychic link of some kind connecting them all. That's about as far as I've gotten. I can't figure out where, who, or why. Only what. Anyways, here you go."

He passed the gift to her and Jay began neatly unwrapping it, dropping to sit on the uncomfortable-looking bed. Indeed, it was as uncomfortable as she expected, and she winced a little, deciding that if it came down to it, she'd call the Doctor back just so she could sleep in the TARDIS. "I don't know how good an idea that is," she said as she unfolded the paper piece by piece. "If it's a link, then the last thing either of us need is me getting-"

The words died on her lips as she stared at the framed image in her hands. It was a simple gift, really. Nothing fancy when you compared it to the gadgets he could have given her. But it made her eyes well with tears and slowly, she wrapped her arms around the frame and drew it to her chest. It was a picture, of course, and one of none other than Donna Noble at that. But it was clearly recent, and Donna was walking hand in hand with a man Jay had never seen before. Donna certainly hadn't known him before they'd been friends.

"I know she can't look at the two of you," Jack said simply. "The Doctor sent a warning to Martha, just in case she went looking, and Martha told me. So, since she didn't know me very well, I've been keeping an eye on her. Well, I send my friends back at Torchwood to look out for her, but…"

"Thanks," Jay whispered, blinking back tears. "Thank you, Jack." The Doctor would be happy to know about this, too, even if he complained first. As much as he pretended to have a problem with the odd immortal man, Jay knew he was quite fond of him, just as he was of most of those who'd set foot on his ship. She set the picture aside and didn't hesitate to tackle her friend in a tight hug. He laughed and hugged her back.

"Now," she said, clearing her throat and taking a deep breath to steady herself. She'd show the Doctor and tell him later. Donna had someone trustworthy watching over her, even when they couldn't. She wondered if Wilfred knew. "Tell me everything you can about this psychic link you were talking about."


The TARDIS was quiet. A bit too quiet, actually. The Doctor didn't like it. Even after cleaning up a bit and changing clothes, the Doctor was still uncomfortable with the emptiness of his TARDIS. He kept expecting to hear the TARDIS hum soft greetings to Jay, who always responded, regardless of whether or not she was wearing her crystal.

He couldn't remember the last time Jay hadn't been there. Not since before he and Martha had found her in the darkness she'd been imprisoned in, lost and out of place and time. He was used to her regular check-ins, which came periodically at regular intervals. She always checked in. The Doctor had questioned Martha about it once, just before the end of her travels, and she'd said simply, "It's one of her fears. She's afraid of being forgotten. Look what her family did; they didn't even try to find her."

The Doctor never would have forgotten her. He was confident about that. But he supposed he couldn't blame her for that fear when her father had been the reason she'd ended up tormented for a countless period of time. He was confident it was why she'd demanded he promise to never leave her behind without warning either - a promise he sometimes worried about keeping. Circumstances sometimes worked against him. Well, it did more often than not.

Grumbling, the Doctor ran his hands irritably through his hair, mussing the damp strands as he meandered back towards the laboratory he'd been using for the last few hours. He'd set some tests to run while he'd cleaned up, determined to find out anything new. The TARDIS's most recent scans had basically confirmed their suspicions from a while back: whatever that mysterious poison or venom was, Jay was definitely mutating. He just didn't know how.

He was desperately hoping that the sample of the poison she'd accidentally come across would be enough to give him the answers he needed. Answers he wanted, so that whatever pain the attacks that poison caused could be stopped. The process might even be slowed long enough that age could catch up to her before it did anything to hurt her too badly. With everything that had been happening lately, all of the losses...they certainly needed the win.

And there had been the problems the Doctor knew Jay was having that she wouldn't speak to him about. She'd been rather closed off and distant in comparison to how she usually was, and it concerned him even more. He didn't know if it had to do with that poison, or she simply didn't feel like she could discuss it with him. After dropping her off with Jack, the Doctor was certain it was more than likely option B, but it didn't mean he had to like the fact that she didn't feel she could tell him any better.

A hum in his ears was comforting, and the Doctor tiredly dropped his hands, letting them slap against his thighs as he took in all of the work he'd been doing. Many of the tests were coming up inconclusive, he realized, annoyed. He scowled at the machines. The TARDIS hummed again, a gentle pointed gesture.

"Definitely the neurotransmitters," he muttered in realization, going to rap sharply on a screen with his knuckles. Two tests confirmed that: this one and the TARDIS's own scans. He went back to the microscope he'd let Jay peer through earlier, taking a glance at the new slide he'd prepared before leaving the machines to do their tests. "And something like a virus maybe?" He wasn't sure about that, but there was definitely something like a jagged black cell taking shape among her other blood cells.

The Doctor threw his head back and groaned, frustrated. None of this was making sense. He supposed they could have tried a few other times and planets, where hospitals were different - more advanced, with people far more versed in such things than even he was, but...it could end badly if they caught too many people's attention. The last thing he wanted was for Jay to get noticed by someone whose attention would fall more along the lines of how such a substance could be recreated and used.

Martha had come up empty-handed after an off-hand attempt at seeing what she could figure out, seeing as she had a significant amount of resources, but she'd quickly decided against continuing her research for that very reason. A higher up in UNIT had taken notice and had come asking. The Doctor had stopped by to grab everything she had gathered and used when Jay had been soundly asleep following her large attack after everything that had happened with the Daleks.

The Doctor impatiently kicked the nearest thing and immediately began hopping and cursing in pain under his breath, grumbling. Deciding that now wasn't a good time to stew in everything that was happening, he left the laboratory behind again. He felt restless, impatient to do something.

"Well?" he asked as he walked, meandering through the corridors of the TARDIS. "Any suggestions?"

The TARDIS only hummed sympathetically, telling him no in her own way.


Jack and Jay agreed that a walk around the town seemed like a good idea for the time being. Jack winked as he suddenly snagged her wrist, just before they stepped out into the street, stopping her. "Another little gift," he declared, and Jay cocked a brow, a smile tugging at her lips.

"You're spoiling me," she teased, even as he let go, revealing that he'd strapped something lightweight and silver to her wrist. To any other person, it looked like an odd silver bangle, though it was pressed to the skin rather than dangling loosely. "What is it?"

"Perception filter," he answered. He held his own wrist up, showing that he wore a matching one. "The Doctor might be able to get away without blending in, but I've got some bad luck. Must be the twentieth century coat."

"You look normal to me," she pointed out, puzzled. She looked down at herself, expecting to see that she was suddenly wearing something new. The Doctor had explained them to her in detail before, but she couldn't tell if the perception filter had actually done her any good.

Jack grinned. "That's because you're very good at seeing past them." He tapped his head pointedly. "I get headaches if I try to for too long. Now, shall we?"

The pair set off, and Jay tucked her hands behind her back as they did so. She noticed how Jack did his best to avoid the town square, where most of the dancing population seemed to have gathered, and just once, they came across someone who'd danced until they'd collapsed. Jay faltered when they found the man, but Jack ushered her onwards, telling her it was no good and to let the poor man rest. Apparently, he'd be up and dancing again as soon as he awoke, and it was best to just leave him be for the time being.

As they walked, Jay listened intently, her hand wrapped around her crystal, but she came up empty-handed and soon realized that the crystal was going to prevent her from hearing anything. She supposed that was the point of it, but…

She stopped walking when they came across the square again, and this time, she pressed her mouth into a hard line. "Here," she said, reluctantly holding her hand out. "Hold this and please don't let me start dancing with everyone else if you can avoid it." She dropped the crystal into Jack's waiting hand and the second she did…

Jay heard it.

She jolted, a little unprepared for the sheer volume of the sound that suddenly flooded her ears. It was music, but unlike any music she'd ever heard before, and she immediately felt an itch at the base of her skull. She felt something in her very bones reel away from that song, but the rest of her seemed to lean into it demanding she also start kicking up her heels and swirling skirts like the other women in the small town did as they danced and danced in small circles. Even as she stood there, she could feel her body start swaying slightly, drawn into it.

And just as suddenly, Jack was pressing the crystal into her hand again, and the song vanished. Jay blinked a few times, confused, and glanced at him. Jack cracked a small grin. "Hear something you wanted to dance to?" he said lightly, though it wasn't in his usual teasing tone. Rather, he sounded concerned, especially as he added, "Please tell me no. I don't want to have to call the Doctor in and explain that you physically can't stop dancing."

"Thanks," Jay said instead, immediately pocketing her crystal and noting that she needed to ensure it was with her at all times until they'd solved whatever was happening here. "There's definitely something going on," she added. "There's a really, really loud song."

"Could you tell where it was coming from?"

"Nope." Jay thought it over, recalling the tune, and even the mere thought of it made her want to consider joining in. It unnerved her enough that she stepped away from the square. "I think it's coming from the square though. I'd have to try from the outskirts of the town to know for sure, but I'm not sure that's such a good idea. It's still bothering me. It's...it's like someone's tied this string around them all and is now puppeteering them, you know?"

"Let's go try outside of town then," suggested Jack. "And we'll make sure you keep your feet on the ground. You okay with that, Jaybird?"

"Yes," she said confidently, taking a deep breath despite the fact that she wasn't sure at all about it. This was going to end badly, and she wasn't at all confident about it. They started walking again, quiet and each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, however, Jack spoke.

"What'd you want to talk about? Said it was an emergency," he commented. "But what kind of emergency?" Jack suddenly folded his arms and flashed her a cheeky grin. "Got someone you fancy and you're scared the Doctor won't approve? I'm honored, Jaybird."

Jay's face turned hot and red, and she opened her mouth to fire a retort at him only for the words to die on her lips. Just like that, her face went from a bright flushed to a pale, clammy appearance, and her lips pressed into a hard line as she stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat as the realization struck her. Jack had barely spoken, and just as suddenly as she'd been confused and frustrated by her own reactions…

"Jaybird?" prompted Jack, seeming concerned. "What's wrong?" He'd stopped, too, and any semblance of playfulness had vanished from him.

Her mouth opened and then closed again. After a moment of staring blankly at the space in front of her, Jay took a shaken breath and shoved her hand through her golden hair, turning a look that was somewhat unsure and frightened on Jack. His concern grew. "Come on, Jaybird," he prompted again, gripping her shoulder and giving her a gentle shake. "Can't help if you won't talk."

It was like pulling her own teeth out as she said in a strangled voice, "You aren't too far off, it turns out."

It scared her more than she could say, this realization. It was a simple one, and she was incredibly confident in the fact that it wasn't entirely unusual for those who'd met the Doctor. Christina was a damn good example, and she'd barely even known the Doctor for more than a handful of hours. Rose was on the other end of the spectrum, and even now, Jay could still feel the same irritable pull that matched the negative emotions she'd experienced when Rose had kissed the Doctor's metacrisis.

All those times Donna had given her those knowing smiles, checked on her, teased her about the Doctor. Even Martha had made occasional comments in recent phone calls and when they'd last seen each other.

Jack suddenly grinned despite the fact that Jay looked like she was going to be sick. "You fell in love with the Doctor, too, then?" he said simply, clearly not trying to upset her further when she was already seeming to struggle with the realization. He was no longer teasing, and Jay buried her face in her hands to hide her face, because yes, she very damn well had, and she got the feeling she'd felt like this for some time now.

She'd been jealous, in those moments with Rose and Christina, hurt that someone else was getting what she apparently wanted. Envious, even.

Dropping her hands, Jay said, "I can't...I can't do that to him."

Martha had loved him, too, and Jay had seen the way it had nearly destroyed her time and time again. And Rose...Rose had torn time apart to find her way back to the Doctor on more than one occasion, only to be left behind with a completely different version of the man she'd come to love. They had ripped themselves to pieces for the Doctor, and she knew it killed him every day to know that.

Beyond that, Jay was positive the Doctor had no desire to have someone aboard that felt like that. Especially someone who wasn't just human, but one who was suffering with something that would more than likely kill them in the long run.

And, for all she knew…

It just wasn't mutual.

Jay took a deep breath, deciding something very, very quickly. "I won't be like Martha," she said firmly, albeit somewhat uncertainly. She loved Martha, but she knew her friend had suffered, harboring feelings for a Time Lord who'd never looked twice. It had hurt Martha more than Martha had ever let on, and Jay refused to let herself suffer in that way.

It didn't mean it didn't hurt at all though, and when Jay couldn't help the soft sound of despair that left her, Jack's smile vanished entirely and he murmured, "Come here, Jaybird," and wrapped her in a tight hug. Jay returned it, taking as much comfort as she could. "It's not easy," he murmured in her ear, "being with the Doctor. You don't regret a single day with him, not in a thousand lifetimes, but it's definitely never easy."

Jay mumbled her wordless agreement.

After a few moments, Jack broke away and ruffled her hair, drawing a half-hearted glare from Jay. "Come on," he chirped, and she scowled as she fixed the messy strands. "What better way than to distract yourself with a group of people who just won't stop dancing?"

Just the word reminded her of that itch, and Jay had to pinch herself to stop thinking of it. As they set off again, she shoved a hand in her pocket and asked, "Do you have something to replace a broken chain, Jack?"


Grumbling, the Doctor glared at the gadget he'd been fidgeting impatiently with, annoyed with the pieces that had broken off just as he'd fixed them again. Losing patience with the temporary occupation, he tossed the broken gadget over his shoulder, finding some satisfaction with the clanking crash of it dropping somewhere out of sight in the TARDIS's console room. The TARDIS, on the other hand, hummed her clear disapproval.

He ignored her, of course, and rocked to his feet, eyeing the TARDIS controls. It had only been a handful of hours since he'd dropped Jay off with Jack, and the need to do something was so desperate that he found himself casually flipping the required switches to draw up the coordinates Jack had given Jay - the proper set, of course, not the first set.

"Fifteen-eighteen?" he questioned aloud when the time and place had come up on the screen. He squinted at the screen, perching his pair of black frames on his nose as if it would help him think about why Jack would have wanted to take Jay to that time in particular. Jack knew for a fact that Jay was far more interested in the early twenty-first century. So why there? And why France?

The Doctor rocked back on his heels, considering his knowledge of the time period. "Mona Lisa" was finished at some point. There was the Reformation. The Peasant Wars, Eight Years' War, Anglo-Spanish War. Henry VIII. Oda Nobunaga. Even Shakespeare himself. None of that screamed "Come look at me!" or "I'm fun, come here!" like Jack had suggested.

"Fifteen-eighteen…" he murmured under his breath, something about the time period snagging his attention. It dragged at his tongue, wanting to spill out as if he knew something he could ramble about regarding that period of time, that particular place. "Fifteen-eighteen…" He uttered the words to himself several times, in several voices and ways, as if that would help him again, even trying something musical-

He paused.

Nothing musical, he realized. Certainly not musical.

Well, not that anyone had been able to hear initially.

Dancing.

"Jack," seethed the Doctor, whipping towards the console. He should have known Jack would have taken her somewhere like fifteen-eighteen's France. Scowling as he began re-inputting the coordinates, he muttered to himself, "Let's just take the woman who hears things even the Doctor can't hear to a place full of people dancing for no reason whatsoever. A place filled with people who don't want to dance, but can't stop, 'cause it's contagious, with no physical symptoms."

Because that was fun. The Doctor slammed the lever down, sending the TARDIS spinning through time and space, furious with himself for not thinking to look into the location and time before letting Jay go galaventing off with someone who didn't think before he acted.

He could practically hear Donna hissing sarcastic comments at him, hear Martha scolding him with concern for her friend evident in her tone as he darted for the doors, not bothering to abandon his coat this time. It was early fall, and it would still be warm enough that such a thing would slow him down further.

When the Doctor burst onto the street, he immediately frowned at the sight before him. His TARDIS had landed smack dab in the middle of town, it looked like, and in every which direction, people were skipping and spinning, leaping and twirling. Pain radiated off of them all, and the smell was atrocious. Sweat, blood, and so much more filled his nose and made him wince. Nevertheless, the Doctor hastily closed and locked the TARDIS doors behind him.

He couldn't hear anything, he realized, but he kept in mind that Jay was incredibly sensitive to things he couldn't hear. She'd certainly proved it on San Helios. He'd never heard a single scream from the dead, not like she and Carmen had. And whatever these people were hearing, if they heard anything at all, was making them dance themselves into an early grave.

The Doctor began to squeeze through all of the people, wincing when more than one accidentally kicked him. One woman cried out when her sore feet connected with his shin, and he barely managed to keep her from collapsing. He could feel the poor woman trembling with exhaustion and pain as despite everything, she kept going.

The Doctor finally made it to the edge of the town square, admittedly a little breathless from dodging around people. He paused to look over his shoulder, frowning at the sheer number, and then took off at a jog, determined to track down someone who might have spotted Jay. She had enough going on without finding herself being forced to dance like everyone else, and the last thing he wanted was for her to deal with anything more right now.


"Alright," said Jack, hands on his hips as he stared at the path that took one straight out into the unknown. The edge of town was quite literally that: an edge, lined with trees that were incredibly thick, broken only by a single path in and out of Strasbourg. "This is it, it looks like. Not too big a town."

"How many people?" wondered Jay. "Dancing, I mean?"

Jack shrugged then, glancing over his shoulder in the direction they'd come. "I've heard four hundred, but I've heard a lot less, too. Really depends on who you ask. Want to give it a shot? You don't have to," he added when Jay paused, thinking it over. "You said it was still bothering you, even when you couldn't hear it, right?"

"It's the memory of the tune," admitted Jay, frowning. "It's very...well, it makes you want to dance, I guess." Even now, simply thinking of it was making her sway once more, and she was grateful that Jack had managed to find a simple cord in his pockets. Jack couldn't tell her what it was from, but it was enough to do what she needed it to do. The crystal seemed to work better now, hanging from her throat.

With great care, she lifted the crystal up and off her neck, and sighed heavily before offering it to Jack. "And you aren't hearing anything?"

"Little bits here and there, I think," he admitted. "Last night, I thought I felt the need to dance."

Jay thought it over, faltering in passing him the crystal even as he held out his hand. Her brow furrowed. "What were you thinking of? Music? I keep thinking of the music, and it's what's making it worse."

He shrugged once again. "I had an argument, I guess. With some friends back at Torchwood. It's why I'm here and not in my usual place. Needed a breather." Jack suddenly winked at her. "You know the feeling, don't you, Jaybird?"

It was definitely helpful, taking a breather from her uncertainty of her new situation aboard the TARDIS. But even now, it was upsetting that saying the wrong thing might change the very life she loved. Shaking it off, Jay focused on the situation at hand and passed him the crystal at last. "Why'd you choose to come here?"

"I didn't," he said simply. "I just showed up here after letting my vortex manipulator choose, and turned out there was a problem I think I can help fix." He paused. "Well," Jack amended grudgingly, "with some help."

The second his hand closed around her necklace and it left her hand, Jay could hear the tune again. This time, she listened closer to it, ignoring the way her body instinctively began to move along to it. She couldn't seem to stop herself, and she let herself dwell in the odd feeling rather than trying to fight it. Jack watched closely, ready to intervene with an uneasy expression when she began to kick her heels up and slowly spin, not quite as fast as the others in town, but dancing nonetheless.

Even as she slowly danced, Jay admitted, "It's much quieter out here, so whatever it is has to be at the town square, where the majority of the people are." She spun slowly again, brow furrowing as she debated what it could possibly be. "But-"

Another song cut through the first, and she stumbled, surprised to hear it but not necessarily unhappy to. Jack caught her elbow, quickly shoving the crystal back into her hand, but it didn't do much good now that the tune was stuck in her head. Even as she continued to sway back and forth, gripping his arm as if it would help stop the movements, Jay declared, "I hear the TARDIS."

"The Doctor's back?" he demanded in surprise.

"Must be." Jay felt a flicker of relief and confusion. "I'm not sure why though. He said he'd wait until I called…" She patted her pockets until she found the phone, and when she did she didn't hesitate to dial the number the Doctor had begun drilling into her head following everything with the Daleks: that of the TARDIS. But no one picked up. "Hm," she muttered, "he must not be in the TARDIS, no one's picking up."

Jack looked thoughtfully towards the town. "Well, let's go find him then. The more, the merrier, right?" He went to start walking only to stop when Jay skipped after him, cursing under her breath. The crystal did nothing to help now, and she found that she couldn't stop the slow movements that sent her spinning in a cautious circle, just as they'd seen the others doing. "Damn," she grumbled, trying her hardest to stop her feet, but they simply kept going without her permission. "Alright, this isn't...oof!" She tripped when she put a rather nasty halt on it, but within seconds, her body was swaying again. "Jack-"

"Come on," he said seriously, carefully trying to steer her out of town rather than back in. "If it's not as bad near the edge, then maybe getting out of town entirely will help. There's gotta be something in there that's broadcasting whatever you're hearing."

"Never again," Jay hissed under her breath as she hopped and skipped despite her best efforts, letting Jack steer her whenever he could, "am I taking that thing off. Never." As it was, the Doctor was going to kill her. He'd warned her time and time again to not do so, for this very reason, and she had no doubt in her mind that he'd likely skin Jack alive for the matter. She thought over what Jack had said and suggested, "Has there been anyone strange reported in town?"

"Nothing," he confirmed. "It was the first thing I checked. No one new - except for me. And I didn't bring anything that would make people dance to death. Besides," he added, grinning in relief when the further they got, the easier it got for Jay to get her limbs under control, even when she thought of the pretty song that was making the dancing occur. "It started before I got here apparently. I asked around."

When they were nearly three hundred feet away from the town's edge the dancing stopped entirely and Jay groaned in relief, shaking out the pins and needles in her fingertips. She continued shaking her wrists out of sheer habit as she turned a nasty look on the supposed little town of Strasbourg. "Why put it here? It's so normal looking."

Jack didn't bother to try answering. He didn't have so much as a suggestion. Instead, he ran a hand over his head and said quietly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to see what you could hear."

"It's not your fault," Jay reassured. "I could have said no." She flexed her ankle grimacing. She couldn't imagine how the people of Strasbourg felt if they'd been dancing for days. She was feeling the strain after a few minutes. "Alright," she said, hands on her hips and a determined look on her face. "So we just need to find what it is and shut it off, right?" She rocked back a little, recalling the last time she'd seen her brother. "I bet there's something broadcasting, just like you said. So we just need to interrupt the signal. And if the Doctor really is here, I bet the TARDIS can find it no problem." She paused, and then admitted. "I might need to stay in the TARDIS if we can get to it. I bet she can cut the signal off herself."

Jack agreed immediately and groaned, "He's going to kill me."

Jay patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I'll stop him," she promised with twinkling eyes. She'd focus on her distressing emotions and feelings later, she decided, frowning at the buildings she could see. She had to figure out how to help these people from a good distance. "What if," she suggested, "you see if you can find the TARDIS? Or the Doctor? If he could get the TARDIS out here, I can get out of range, and we can really start looking for whatever's doing this."

Jay couldn't help but grin when she saw the look on her friend's face. He really didn't want to hear the scolding that the Doctor was likely going to tell him. So, Jay promised, "I won't tell him if you don't."

"I like the way you think, Jaybird," Jack declared, relieved. He gave her a pat on the shoulder, and she patted his arm in turn. "Right. Call if something happens, and if you think you're going to start dancing again…"

"I'll call and head further out," she promised, even as she eyed the trees behind her warily. She wasn't too keen on going further out into a forest containing who knew what, but Jay knew for a fact that going any further into the village wasn't an option either. "Just remember, it's clearly somewhere in the square, so avoid that if you can."

Jack nodded, gave her a final playful salute, and then turned and took off at a brisk pace for Strasbourg. Jay watched him go with a small sigh, once again annoyed with herself. She'd been hoping to help Jack with this by herself. She would have loved going back to the TARDIS with a tale to tell the Doctor for once. He was always telling her stories of things he'd done before she'd come along; she wished she could have returned the favor. Regardless, she supposed not dancing herself into an early grave was far better than risking herself for a story to tell him.

Jay dropped her head, correcting herself in a sulky manner.

Who was she kidding? she thought wryly.

To impress him.


To say that he was annoyed was putting it lightly. The Doctor found that he was downright cross at this point. He'd searched all over the town and had come up empty-handed. Mostly because everyone in town seemed to be dancing in the streets, too panicked, pained, or downright tired to be able to tell him much of anything. He'd not missed the fact that throughout the short amount of time he'd been there, the number of people had even increased, as if something was making it worse. Perhaps it was the power in numbers, or because he'd planted a very powerful time machine right smack in the middle of it all, but it was definitely getting worse. And he'd let Jay walk right out into the middle of this.

And to make matters even worse, the Doctor himself was beginning to feel a desire to join in. He thought he could just barely hear the beginnings of a merry tune, and it unnerved him enough that he decided against continuing a search on foot. He made a beeline towards the center of town and began the hard process of weaving through squirming, dancing bodies to return to the TARDIS.

Worry for Jay had him slamming the TARDIS door shut behind him, immediately nixing the tune, and he was relieved that at least the TARDIS was safe from the effect of whatever it was. Still, it did him no good if he couldn't find the one who was most vulnerable. Grumbling, he ran his hands down his face and then went to work on starting up some scans of the area. He'd either stop whatever was happening or find Jay; either way, the scans would tell him what he needed.

The scans had just finished when the TARDIS doors flew open. Immediately he looked over and a scowl formed on the Doctor's face as none other than Captain Jack Harkness kicked the door shut behind him, entirely alone. "Before you start," Jack said as he hopped up onto the platform to join him, rolling his eyes, "Jaybird's safe and sound outside of town. Second she started joining in, we got out of town."

"Where safe and sound?" the Doctor demanded, already starting to direct the TARDIS, but Jack waved him off, instead going in the other direction.

"Whatever's doing this," Jack told the Doctor, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the dancing outside, "is here in the square. We think it's something producing a signal - broadcasting it, even. Jay said it was quieter the further away we got."

The Doctor immediately switched tactics, deciding that he didn't really apparently have a choice about what he was going to do first. The scans were done anyway, and the Doctor swung the screen around so they could both look at it. Jack was serious, at the very least, just this once and the Doctor appreciated that they could both agree on at least ensuring whatever was causing problems be stopped.

"There," said the Doctor, pointing. "The TARDIS is picking it up."

Sure enough, his ship had begun to play the tune the Doctor had heard just barely outside. The Doctor grimaced at the sound of it, but was pleased when he didn't find himself feeling that urge to start joining in again. He wasn't necessarily a bad dancer in his last incarnation, but this one...he hadn't really tested it out yet, and he didn't think it was a good time to necessarily start. Jack nodded, as if he'd heard the sound before.

"That's it," he declared, confirming the Doctor's suspicions. "Heard it the other night."

"But not now?" the Doctor fired back, frowning. "You didn't hear it when you found the TARDIS?"

Jack shook his head. "Nothing since the other night. Jaybird heard it past that noise-cancelling necklace of hers after a while though."

The Doctor immediately became more suspicious of the song that was forcing the town to dance. "It's not just a signal, it's a strong telepathic signal using something else to infiltrate the mind of whoever it affects," he guessed slowly, leaning back against the console. "The crystal I gave her is meant to stop things like that. Whatever's happening, these people are unintentionally allowing it in."

"So you're saying she's asking it to make her dance?" Jack challenged incredulously, unable to believe what he thought the Doctor was saying.

"Unintentionally," the Doctor repeated firmly. "She wouldn't do it on purpose, none of them would. The crystal's like a block she can rely on. If she doesn't want to hear anything or thinks it's protecting her, then it should. This signal's using something else to wiggle its way past that block." He thought it over for a few moments and then asked, "What were you thinking of? When you heard it?"

Jack winced. "Had an argument. I might have been in the wrong."

The Doctor perked up immediately. "And Jay? Do you know what she might have been thinking of?"

Jack winced again, and this time, the Doctor was fully aware that Jack was avoiding looking at him. This time, he seemed to be trying not to smile, as if he knew something about Jay the Doctor didn't, and it annoyed the Doctor further, drawing a nasty glare from him. It only seemed to amuse Jack further. "Yeah. She's processing something she wanted my help figuring out."

The Doctor almost let himself fall victim to the dangling bait Jack was clearly holding over his head, but he forced himself to stay focused. He'd dig around about whatever that was later. "And how'd she feel about it?"

"Upset," Jack said immediately, realization sparking in his blue eyes. "Almost like she felt she'd done something wrong."

The Doctor almost admitted his own thoughts when he'd started hearing the tune that still radiated throughout the TARDIS, but chose otherwise. "It's using guilt. Humans," he sighed almost fondly as he whipped around to look at the scans again. "Always guilty about something…"

"Oh, so I'm human again now?" Jack mused, but didn't stay focused on the topic. Instead, he simply made another small gesture, bouncing impatiently. "So this signal. It's like some form of self-punishing?"

"You let it in your head," the Doctor said, darting to the other side of the console to start flipping switches, listening when the tune changed. A lever sent it skyrocketing to a painful pitch, so he tried another method of altering the signal. "That guilt. You've done something wrong. You can't talk to someone else about it, can't let someone else know. That guilt builds and builds, so eventually, you start looking for a way to punish yourself. So here comes this tiny little piece of something. Probably falls from the sky during a meteor shower, lands unnoticed in the center of town. It feels all this guilt, so it starts to play a tune, trying to soothe your guilt like it's made to do by encouraging you to do something fun. But the longer you dance, the more guilt you feel. You've abandoned children, responsibilities, households, pets, jobs. It builds and builds and you can't bring yourself to stop."

The Doctor tried a few more things before giving a triumphant shout when the signal finally switched off with the TARDIS's help. "Temporary fix," he said cheerfully, "but that'll help them all out. By the time it starts up again, we'll have found it and made sure it can't do anymore damage."

Jack sighed, looking mildly annoyed that he'd not been the one to stop whatever it was, and it only made the Doctor admittedly feel rather smug. "Yeah, yeah, you go finish saving the day," Jack told him, already backing towards the doors. "I'm going to go get Jaybird. She didn't look too happy about sticking near those woods."

"The woods?" The Doctor glared at him, but Jack was already waving as he ducked out of the TARDIS, cheerfully whistling the tune of the song that had played under his breath. The doors closed behind him, but before they did, the Doctor could hear the roar of commotion and the weeping of people who could finally simply sit and rest their sore, aching bodies. The Doctor groaned, wanting nothing more than to leave Jack on some barren, sun-stricken planet, but grudgingly knew that Jay was a tad too fond of him to allow the Doctor to do so.

The TARDIS hummed happily, as if knowing that Jay would be coming home soon, and the Doctor sighed softly as he ran his hand over the console's surface. He pressed his mouth into a hard line suddenly, realizing that he was quite pleased, too.

The Doctor wasn't blind. Nearly a thousand years old, he'd seen his fair share of things throughout the universe. Sometimes, sure, he missed something here or there. He'd been oblivious to a lot of things, actually, as Donna had been very keen on pointing out more than once. Even Jay had teased him about a few things here and there.

But there were other things he wasn't oblivious to.

The Doctor knew the signs, and he liked to think he knew himself. Actually, he liked to think he knew himself more than he'd have ever liked, and he wasn't too pleased to know himself so well. He'd seen the signs in himself some time ago, and though he didn't like feeling that he was keeping Jay at arm's length, he'd continue doing so. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure she'd noticed and sometimes, if he was being honest with himself, little things created cracks that allowed other things to slip through. Something as simple as a smile would make him forget what he was trying to do, and it frustrated him even more later, after she'd left him to his own devices.

It would have been easy to simply beat Jack to Jay's location. The TARDIS would know where she was - she always did. But the Doctor was determined to build that wall up - or at least attempt to - and the first step was avoiding falling victim to his own whims and thoughts.

So, the Doctor instead slipped from the TARDIS, deciding to find the device that had been broadcasting such a vicious signal, even as the TARDIS seemed to sing her disapproval.


"Anything?" asked Jack as they entered the town square, and Jay shook her head, wincing sympathetically at the number of people simply resting on the ground. Some were weeping out of sheer joy; others wailed over their injuries, in agonizing pain. Jay flinched at one poor boy, who stared numbly at feet that had been worn to the bone. She hoped he'd get at least some form of treatment, though she wasn't expecting anything too good in the fifteen hundreds.

"Nothing," she reported, eyes lighting with joy when she spotted the TARDIS with someone familiar waiting just outside. She elbowed Jack as the Doctor flipped something in his hands, leaned back against the side of the blue box. "Signal's completely stopped and I have no desire whatsoever to dance. Ever. I'm not doing it again."

Jack chuckled and rather than continuing on towards the Doctor, he paused at the edge of the square to ask her, "You want to talk more before you head out with him? We didn't do much of it." It had been what he'd promised to do, after all.

"No, I think we actually covered what I was concerned about." Jay took a deep breath, sobering as she was reminded of her new troubles. She cast another glance at the Doctor. He was still fidgeting with the object in his hands, but with the intensity he was glaring at it...she knew without a doubt that the Doctor was fully aware they were there, simply waiting for them to come over. "I'll always have something to worry about though, right?" The Doctor glanced up then and caught her gaze and she flashed him a bright, happy grin that earned her a friendly smile in return. He waved, indicating he was ready whenever they were, and Jay waved back, signaling they'd be over in just a moment.

"I think you have less to worry about than you think," Jack said with a snort, having seen the entire interaction. "And you worry too much, Jaybird. Live a little." He cast the Doctor a sly look. "I'll leave you here. I like my vortex manipulator where it is, and I know he's probably cooking up some plan to stop me from using it again. If you ever need anything, give me a shout."

Jay laughed despite herself. "Coward," she teased, shaking her head. "Thanks, Jack," she added suddenly, not hesitating to step into the hug he offered. He wrapped her in a tight one, even lifting her off the ground for a moment. She mumbled seriously, "For sort of helping me figure myself out. And for Donna. It really means a lot to know someone's watching out for her where we can't, and the Doctor will think so, too, even if he'll never admit it."

As he put her down, Jack smiled widely enough that his eyes crinkled at the corners. "She'll always have someone watching out for her. You better get going. Think the Doctor's going to come marching over soon, and then I'll lose it for sure." He gave her a final, friendly wink, and then began backing away, giving the Doctor a mock salute.

Jay was still grinning to herself when she reached the Doctor upon picking her way around everyone struggling to begin recovering in the square. He was glaring at where Jack was disappearing around a corner. "Hi," she said a little sheepishly when he turned an exasperated look on her. "Turns out Jack's version of fun is a little bit much for me."

The Doctor pointedly tossed her the device he'd been messing with and Jay stared at it in wonder. "I made sure it won't start emitting the signal again," he said rather than commenting on what she'd been up to in what was certainly less than two or three hours that they'd been apart. "Just a little piece of debris that must have been cast out by a ship that went by one night. It's meant to be a communications device, but it must have malfunctioned, which is why they dumped it here."

"They couldn't have done it on the moon?" muttered Jay, shaking her head. Nonetheless, she kept a good hold on the device. She recognized the silent gift. He'd made it so she could fiddle with it as she saw fit, practicing the skills he'd been passing along. Instinctively, she opened her mouth to demand where the hug she'd been expecting was.

But the words died on her lips almost immediately, and she faltered, suddenly unsure of what to do. How did one continue as they had been after realizing that they loved their friend in a more serious way than they'd initially thought?

Luckily, the Doctor made the answer easy for her.

His expression melted into a playful grin and he swept backwards, holding the TARDIS door open for her. Jay ducked past him, clutching her new toy tightly, and beamed at the TARDIS when it hummed aloud in greeting. "Hello, pretty girl," she murmured, running her fingers along the railing. She glanced back at the Doctor and studied his tired face for a moment. "You didn't find anything, did you? With the new samples."

"No," he admitted. "Still just the neurotransmitters, really. And a small increase in what I showed you earlier in the blood samples. But enough of that," he said quickly, hastily changing the subject. She was relieved. She wanted to dwell on her potential demise just as much as she wanted to think about everything she'd need to keep to herself from here on out. "Where to now? Any other friends to stop and visit?"

"Not now," Jay said confidently. Her talk with Jack hadn't gone quite as she'd thought it would, and most of their time had been spent puzzling out the weird phenomena that had finally come to a stop. Still, she found that she was pleased to have at least seen him, and she made a note to ask the Doctor again some time - after he'd stopped being annoyed with Jack, though she doubted that would ever happen.

The Doctor murmured to himself for a handful of moments, thinking deeply about where to go next. After some hard thinking on his part, he suddenly beamed and began flying around the TARDIS console, a decision clear in his head. "How do you feel about Mars?"

"Mars?" she echoed, gripping the console and pressing a button at the TARDIS's order. She tipped her head, recalling everything she could about the red planet. It had been a favorite interest of her father's. He'd been fascinated with understanding how to use the newly accessed surface for his business. "I don't think I've been there just yet, so I suppose it's worth a try."

"Right then," he said cheerfully, immediately a whirlwind of energy as he began setting coordinates. "Mars it is. Allons-y!"

Jay watched him as he began ranting about something or another regarding species that had called the planet Mars home, and she forced herself to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat when he flashed her a particularly excited smile, or how she didn't mind his ranting on Mars at all, simply because he was the one telling her about it.

Rather, Jay forced herself to remain at arms' length, determined.

She wouldn't let this new struggle affect the Doctor, and she certainly wouldn't let it affect the life she had been leading for so long now. Even if it meant smothering it all, she'd keep it hidden. The last thing she ever wanted was for the Doctor to learn the truth, because to let someone know that you cared so deeply for them was to give them the opening to drop you off in a realm with a nightmare creature. Not that the Doctor would ever go to that extent, but she wouldn't put it past him to decide that such a thing might cause enough distraction and danger that he'd be better off leaving her somewhere - with a warning, as promised.

So, Jay would shove it all down, zip her mouth, and continue as she always had, because there was no way in hell she'd allow herself to lose the one person who she could count on to be there, no matter when or where she needed him.


The chapter I've been waiting for! Now I get to do awkward stuff, which is always fun, and just as we head to Mars, too. I have clearly decided to do "The Waters of Mars" even though the episode freaks me out. It'll be fun though, I can do lots of things. ;) Hope you enjoyed this one. I wanted it to be a little calmer, more focused on what everyone's thinking and feeling than I've been doing so people's thoughts are clear, but yeah.

It's two in the morning. Please excuse the confusion.

Thanks to reviewers (Lil'Sparrow7, savethemadscientist, and Spiffygirl90!) as well as those who favorited and followed! :)