The Doctor was still the Doctor. That much, Jay had been sure of for a long time, before her Doctor had even come back to find her. She'd truly believed as such following her encounter at the Bank of Karabraxos, after seeing all the bits and pieces of her Doctor in another version of him. Even now, Jay was able to see those pieces. The rambling, the loud complaints when the TARDIS sparked playfully, the fidgeting as he fussed with something, coaxing the still new TARDIS to move.

Jay really, really hoped she wasn't dreaming again.

But the hand that pressed to her spine and ushered her towards the door of the TARDIS reassured her otherwise, and she blinked when he opened the door and revealed the yard the TARDIS had stood in when it had left. They'd never left the TARDIS to look at the moon. But then, Jay knew he was eager to find Amy again and give her a trip to the stars.

To be honest, Jay wanted to know more about Amelia Pond. The Doctor seemed to like her quite a bit, and though they'd not yet spoken very much and gotten to know one another, Jay had certainly liked her. Jay just hoped that the woman's notorious temper didn't turn on her though. It'd likely rival Donna's.

The Doctor looked as if he was debating going to fetch Amy or not when she came flying out of the house in nothing but a white nightgown and a thin bathrobe. Jay broke into a grin almost immediately. Quite the impression Amy was making. First a strange police uniform - which, looking back on, Jay realized she'd barely noticed with the aliens running around. Now, a nightgown.

"It's you," breathed Amy, dark eyes widened. "And you," she added with surprise, catching notice of Jay. "You came back."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Of course we came back. I always come back."

Debatable, Jay thought, though she kept that to herself as Amy commented on the Doctor's clothes. The Doctor looked mildly insulted and annoyed, looking down at himself. He clearly saw nothing wrong with what he was wearing. "I just saved the world," he said rather sharply. "The whole planet. Again. For no charge. Shoot me. I kept the clothes."

"Rude," muttered Jay, elbowing him pointedly. "And she's got a point. Why the bow tie?"

"Bow ties are cool," he retorted, and Amy wrinkled her nose in distaste. Jay had to agree, though it somehow seemed to fit the man who'd once worn a pinstriped suit and converse. Jay fingered the cuff of her stolen coat, a stab of grief racing through her. She could say that this was the Doctor all she wanted; she knew she'd always miss his other face.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you from another planet?" He nodded, and her attention turned to Jay. "And you?"

"I'm human," she reassured, and then shook out her wrists with a frown. "Sort of. Like I told you, I had a run in with some alien I was sold off to, and…well, it left a little present. I can tell you the full story later, if you'd like."

"Okay." Amy looked as if she was taking this all rather well. She nodded once, loose red hair shifting like a flickering flame in the glow of the TARDIS lights that emanated through the door.

"So…what do you think?" the Doctor asked Amy, bouncing on the balls of his feet. She glanced at him questioningly. "Other planets. Want to check some out?"

Amy demanded, "What does that mean?"

Jay gave up on letting the Doctor explain his thoughts to the poor girl and said bluntly, "He means, 'Do you want to come with us?'" The Doctor beamed at her, clearly pleased by the "us." Amy looked startled, and she added simply, "We could go anywhere, anytime. He was mentioning some stars, which are always a fun place to start."

Irritated uncertainty flickered over her expression as Amy looked between them for a few moments. "All that stuff that happened…the hospital, the spaceship, Prisoner Zero…"

The Doctor beamed at her excitedly. "Oh, don't worry, that's just the beginning, there's-"

"That was two years ago."

Jay wished she could have captured the look on the Doctor's face at the realization that he was late again. She immediately rounded on him, scolding, "You said you checked several times!"

"I did!" He threw his hands up, absolutely horrified. "So that's-"

"Fourteen years!" snapped Amy, scowling at him.

"Fourteen years since fish custard." Jay wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded absolutely horrific. The Doctor whirled away from Amy, focusing on the TARDIS doors and resting his hand on the handle, intent on pushing it open. "Amy Pond, the girl who waited…you've waited long enough."

Amy stopped him in his tracks by musing, folding her arms, "When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and that the swimming pool was in the library."

"Why'd you move the pool to the library?" complained Jay, horrified. She loved the library. It was a comfortable place, where she and the Doctor had spent many hours simply resting or avoiding reality. It was a place she used to recover from the more exhausting adventures, when people died or she was simply tired of the universe.

"The TARDIS malfunctioned. Not sure where the pool is now," admitted the Doctor. He looked back at Amy. "Coming?" She hesitated, clearly reluctant, and he prompted gently, "You wanted to come fourteen years ago."

"I grew up."

"Don't worry, we'll fix that." The Doctor winked and threw the doors open before stepping aside. Jay ducked in before Amy, who trailed after her closely, as if grateful for the buffer between her and the rest of the Doctor's mysterious time machine. The Doctor swept in behind them, kicking the doors shut, and then flounced over to the console, where something was beeping cheerfully. Jay recognized what sat there immediately, and felt a flicker of sadness race through her. It was a new sonic screwdriver - the same one she'd seen in the Bank of Karabraxos. She couldn't say she was overly happy to see it, but…

She'd take that screwdriver over none at all.

As Amy stared in awe around her, Jay brushed past the Doctor, intent on going to her room. "I'll be back," she told him when he looked after her questioningly. "I want to go see if my room's still the same." And find her laptop, which she'd left upstairs when the Doctor had first returned to the TARDIS.

The Doctor frowned after her, but she ignored him and climbed the metal flight of stairs nearby, trusting the TARDIS to take her where she needed to go. The TARDIS's song was loud in her head as she meandered the hallway until finding the door she was looking for, a beautiful hum that filled her with warmth.

"I missed you, too," she admitted aloud, smiling widely as she stepped into her room.

It was almost exactly as she'd left it, souvenirs and all. The floors were still wooden, the walls painted the same soft dove-gray. Wooden furniture lined the walls, and her white bedding was neatly made. The bookcases had changed a little, expanding to make room for all of the things she brought back from her trips, and her desk remained as messy as she'd left it while learning more about mechanics. Her laptop had even been somehow brought there, her bag lying on the bed.

"Thank you," breathed Jay aloud, barely able to contain her delight. She meandered over to the bed and began emptying her pockets of the psychic paper and the cellphone she carried. She grimaced at the number of missed calls. She'd call Martha back, or at least shoot her a message, reassuring her that she was more than okay.

It was surprisingly difficult to make herself shed the coat. She'd already decided from the moment the Doctor had announced they were taking Amy on a trip that she'd leave it behind, if only to keep it safe. It was one of very few things left from the old Doctor, and she didn't want to lose it or get it ruined. So, she neatly folded it and set it on the bed, letting her fingers linger there for a moment. She only decided to move on when she felt the TARDIS rock beneath her feet, a warning that she was moving.

Once she was ready, Jay grabbed her phone and the psychic paper and began heading back for the control room, already putting the phone to her ear. The TARDIS would twist the halls, she knew, until her call ended. "Hey," she said as a way of greeting when the other line picked up. "Are you and-"

"Jay!" yelped Martha on the other end, making Jay wince slightly. Her voice was loud. "What happened? Are you okay? UNIT was looking into it, but the trouble's-"

"Gone." How odd, speaking to someone when you were two years in what was likely their future. "It was some space police, looking for an escaped prisoner that decided to take refuge in Leadworth."

"But that's where you are."

"Yes, and everything's fine now. The prisoner was returned to the Atraxi, and everything's good. More than good." She couldn't help but smile as she admitted, "Leadworth's safe, the planet's safe. I'm safe. You don't need to worry so much."

She wasn't sure why she hadn't yet blurted the news to Martha. Maybe it was because she knew Martha held somewhat of a grudge against the Doctor for ditching Jay like he had, or because Martha had always been the one who warned her to be cautious of such things. She found herself nervous that she'd lecture Jay for trailing the Doctor again though.

"We didn't get any readings on him while everything was happening."

Jay wondered how they could have missed him. Not only had he crashed to the earth fourteen years prior, but he'd been smack in the middle of the mess with the Atraxi. "I wonder why," she murmured, curious. "He-" She stopped, having arrived at the top of the staircase she'd gone up minutes prior. The Doctor was clearly up to something, rambling excitedly at the console, but there was no sign of Amy. Puzzled, Jay scanned the room, until a cry of "Doctor!" caught her attention and she realized that not only were the TARDIS doors opened up to the universe and stars outside, but that Amy's voice had come from somewhere beyond the doors.

"I have to go," she said hastily, ignoring Martha's protests and demands of what was happening. She snapped the phone shut and bolted down the stairs, hollering, "Doctor!" He snapped his head around, confused, and then grew alarmed when Jay hurtled for the doors as if she was going to fling herself right out.

"Amy?!" Jay questioned, immediately searching for the missing girl.

"Right here!" Jay cranked her head back and found Amy gripping tightly to the top of the TARDIS's doorframe, eyes wide. Jay sighed in relief and stretched a hand out. Amy caught her hand, and with a great heave, Jay managed to pull her back inside, stumbling and nearly falling in the process. Luckily, the Doctor had come to investigate and caught her with his hands on her shoulders, ensuring she was steady before dropping them.

"Ready?" he asked them, and Jay glanced at Amy for an explanation. Amy only pointed out the doors, and when Jay peered down, she found herself startled. Not just because there was a great, big metal city floating through space below them, but because of the faint, piercing sound that echoed from it. It was almost like a scream. It sent chills down her spine.

"It's the twenty-ninth century," the Doctor told her. "Solar flares roast the earth and send the entire human race packing its bags, racing for the stars. Whole nations. This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. A whole country, living and laughing and shopping, searching the stars for a new home."

"Can we go and see?" said Amy almost breathlessly, and Jay almost immediately wanted to protest. Something was in agony down there. Could the Doctor not tell? She knew she heard things even he didn't, but still.

"'Course we can," he agreed obliviously, heading back for the console. The pair followed him, and Jay frowned, lost in thought and nearly deaf to his words. "But first, there's a thing." Amy blinked, confused. "An important thing. In fact, it's a rule. We are only observers. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other people or planets."

The TARDIS was sent spinning into action with a few quick motions on the Doctor's behalf as Jay choked on her own saliva, sputtering and bursting into startled laughter. "Seriously?" she rasped, unable to help herself. She wasn't even sure the Doctor knew how to stand back and do nothing.

"So…" Amy took a deep breath and turned to Jay, deciding this strange girl would be the best source of information as the TARDIS landed with a small shudder. The Doctor only confused her more than he helped her, which wasn't something new. "We're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it. They've got to keep filming and let it die. It's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that."

"Good," said Jay, flashing her a wicked smile. "Because the Doctor can say that all he wants, but it never happens. He can't help himself." She was reluctant to leave the TARDIS, knowing precisely where they were and not wanting to listen to the screaming cry that seemed like it'd be pretty constant. At least she'd gotten better at tuning out such sounds. Maybe the Doctor could help her get even better now that she'd found him again. "Isn't that right, Doctor?"

When there was no response, she looked this way and that and realized the Doctor was nowhere to be found. Movement on the screen beside the console caught her attention, however, and Jay realized the Doctor had already left the TARDIS. In fact, he was waving them out. She sighed heavily. "Come on, let's catch up before he causes trouble."

Amy nodded quickly in agreement, and together, the pair made their way outside. Jay flinched, fighting the urge to hunch her shoulders when the cry echoed loudly in her ears now. It nearly deafened her to Amy when Amy commented, "I'm in the future. Like, hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries."

Jay managed to catch the last bit and grinned as the Doctor frowned at her. "You're a cheery one," he muttered before whirling around, looking carefully at each and everything his eyes touched. "Never mind dead. Look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" When they frowned at him, seeing only a busy marketplace that rather resembled the world they'd just come from, he prompted, "Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

As Amy took a wild guess at bicycles, for there were people going this way and that and some were on bicycles, Jay narrowed her eyes. The scream faded for the moment, shoved to the back of her mind so she could focus on other matters. She curiously tipped her head to the side as she realized that people weren't strolling around, enjoying their time in the market. Rather, they zipped from one place to the next as quickly as they could, and when the scream wasn't loud in her ears, the world was eerily quiet. As if something was missing aboard the giant spaceship.

"What are you doing?"

Jay whipped around, realizing she'd already nearly lost the Doctor. This version of him seemed to be easily distracted, for he had darted over to a table where two people were quietly eating and stolen a glass of water. He put it on the floor, staring at it, and Jay came over to join him and the confused Amy. Jay patted her arm soothingly before she crouched beside the Doctor, who'd pressed his ear to the ground, still staring at the glass.

"Jay," he said without tearing his eyes away. "Take a look."

She glanced at him, and then back at the water. It took her a good long moment to realize why she'd thought the air was eerily quiet, and that the water held perfectly still rather than rippling as it should have. "Ah," she murmured. "Engines."

He snapped upright and proudly beamed at her before returning the glass to the table. Amy looked between them as Jay rose, too, and made a face as the Doctor told the pair at the table, "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?" he asked Amy.

"Why did you do that with the water?" she asked. Jay thought she might be in a perpetual state of confusion at this point.

The Doctor frowned. "Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, do you see it yet?" Amy shook her head, and the Doctor pointed. "There," he said firmly, and Jay followed the direction he'd pointed in until she was looking at a girl.

The girl was clearly young - and alone. She wept alone on a wooden bench, trying to stifle her cries. She had pale skin and dark hair, with a small bag on her shoulder. She used the sleeves of her red sweater to help hide the sounds she was producing, and hunched over her lap. She was clearly in distress. Jay's heart ached for her.

"What's so important about one little girl crying?" Amy asked him, more so interested in the Doctor's answer than being callous about it. Jay could see the worry on her face, too, though she was briefly distracted by the piercing scream that suddenly slammed through her head. Jay's heart skipped a beat and she jumped before she could stop it, and the Doctor gave her a worried look.

"Jay?" he checked, concerned, and she snapped her gaze to his.

"I'm okay," she reassured quickly, hesitant to admit what she was hearing. She didn't want to get sent back to the TARDIS. But at the same time…she'd been on her own, with Jack and the others, for a year and a half. She'd used her capability of hearing what others couldn't. Why not use it now? Why not start showing the Doctor what she'd become capable of in his absence?

A small voice in the back of her head whispered that it might keep him from abandoning her in the future.

"Actually," she amended, especially when he frowned in disapproval, clearly knowing better, "there's this…something's hurt. I can hear it crying out." Her voice trembled when that very cry echoed through her head again. "I've been hearing it since I first saw the ship."

"What? I can't hear anything," Amy said, sweeping her red hair out of her face and twisting it into a knot, sensing they were about to get to work on something or another.

"That's the point, Amy." The Doctor's attention lingered on his friend, who tugged nervously at the sleeve of the green blouse she wore. "Can you tell where it's coming from?"

"Everywhere." Jay shrugged. "The sound's coming from everywhere." She hesitated, and then asked, "You can't hear it?"

He shook his head, and it only made her grimace. Sometimes, she got lucky. Other times, not so much. She wasn't disturbed by it, and instead, indicated the girl, turning their attention back onto other matters for the time being. "What's so important about the girl, Doctor? I mean, she's upset, but plenty of children get upset."

"She's crying silently." The Doctor didn't look away from her, seeming reluctant to do so. After a moment of thinking, however, he finally did so. His lips pressed into a tight line, fingers knotting together. A thought appeared to have occurred to the Doctor, though he wasn't keen on sharing it. He seemed to be half-lost in thought as he explained, "I mean, children cry because they want attention. Because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they can't stop. Any parent knows that."

Jay stilled, caught off guard. Even Amy questioned it. Jay had always known that the Doctor had lost a lot when his planet had been lost to the Time War. But this…he had to have had a family. She forgot that sometimes. Her heart twisted with grief for him. He hid that pain well, but it had to be a knife in his chest every time he remembered such things. She knew bad memories regarding that war plagued him regularly as it was, and she couldn't imagine how much worse it had to be if he'd had children, or a spouse, even. Silently, she stepped closer and slid her hand into his, not saying a word like Amy had. Rather, she offered him what little comfort she could and was relieved when his fingers tightened briefly around hers.

"Hundreds of parents walking past," the Doctor told them quietly, and Jay noted that. Sure enough, there were lots of people walking by without stopping. "And not one of them asks what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen."

"Which means it's everywhere," realized Jay, and he nodded firmly.

"Where she'd go?" Amy asked suddenly, and when Jay looked over, the girl had gone.

The Doctor shook off the cloud of sadness, winking at them. "Deck two-oh-seven. Apple Sesame block, dwelling fifty-four A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner." When they stared at him, confused by how he'd know such information, the Doctor dangled a wallet in front of them. "This fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four goes. Ask her about those things, Amy. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere - and they're clean. Everything else here is all battered and filthy, but no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Ask Mandy why people are scared of them."

Jay blinked, looking over her shoulder, and sure enough, there were several booths in the market square alone, filled with creepy things that smiled eerily at them. Jay grimaced, tightening her hand around the Doctor's in silent warning. While Amy was new to all this, and Jay was sure it would have been a better idea to accompany her…she was going with him.

Especially with the tingling that had crept up through her lower arm, barely reaching her elbows. She shook her free hand out thoughtfully. Soon, but not quite yet. She had a while before she went down again.

"No," said Amy suddenly, scowling at them both and folding her arms. Her dark eyes glared at both of them. "Hold on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here - and I'm not even dressed." Jay's lips quirked at her stubborn look. Amy was going to give the Doctor a run for his money. Donna would have loved her. She did have a point though. She was only dressed in a nightgown.

Before Jay could suggest they give Amy a moment to change in the TARDIS's over-sized closet, the Doctor said firmly, "It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? What will Amy Pond choose?" He clearly knew as he dangled the girl's wallet in front of Amy, smirking, and Amy grumbled as she snatched the wallet, making a swift decision. "Ha!" he said cheerfully. "Gotcha. Meet us back here in half an hour. Jay's coming with me."

As the Doctor began towing Jay away, Amy called after them, "What are you going to do?"

"What we always do," the Doctor shouted back. "Stay out of trouble."

Jay snorted, even as she kept a tight grip on the Doctor's hand, relieved.

He'd promised not to leave her behind again, and for the first time since he'd said as much, Jay found that she believed him.


Amy meandered down a dirty street, the hem of her nightgown and bathrobe turning dark with the dust and mud that caked it. She thoughtfully played with the red wallet in her fingertips as she meandered, hoping to find what she was looking for. She was still a bit wary, finding the job the Doctor had given her to be a rather big responsibility - seeing as she'd only stepped aboard a short hour or so ago.

Amy paused at that thought. It had been two years since Prisoner Zero, and she was still as bewildered by the raggedy man as she'd been fourteen years prior. Even more so now that the odd outsider who'd moved to Leadworth without warning was with him. It was even stranger that they were clearly close. Good friends, if not something more. Amy would have guessed the latter rather than the former.

Well, it was debatable, Amy supposed. They touched one another casually, with the comfort of people who had been together for some time and knew each other well. Much to Amy's amusement, the Doctor was far more obvious about it. He checked in with Jay regularly, proud of the smallest things. Something darker had sparked in his gaze when Jay had mentioned her odd ability to hear things others couldn't - Amy was definitely going to ask her about that when they returned to the TARDIS. He'd stared at her with an unreadable emotion, as if fear had devolved into something more like panic mixed with morbid curiosity and self-loathing.

Jay, on the other hand, was a little more reserved about it. It was still evident when she looked at the Time Lord. It showed in the warmth of her expression, in the way she seemed eternally amused with everything the Doctor did. She clearly knew him better than he thought she did, too. When the Doctor had brought up the idea of being a parent, she'd simply looked at him, as if she simply knew without needing to be told.

But she'd appeared withdrawn, almost. As if she was hesitant to openly offer whatever she felt to him. Amy guessed that it had to do with whatever had happened between the pair in Leadworth. The Doctor's sheer panic at the sight of Jay stalking away when she'd noticed him was hard to miss. He'd completely forgotten everything else at that moment, and Amy wasn't deaf. She'd heard the agony in Jay's voice when she'd said, "One year. One year and six months. Almost to the day. Give or take."

Jay seemed pleasant enough, but she'd always been labeled as weird by many of Leadworth's residents. Rory had liked her well enough though. "She seems sad," he'd always told Amy when they'd seen her around town. "Look at her. She always looks like she's lost something."

Rory. God, she'd have some explaining to do when she got home. She hoped he didn't mind that she'd gone on an adventure to the stars. He'd understand, though he wouldn't agree with it. She hoped. Besides, it was hard to not be sucked in after the triumphant victory of saving the planet alongside a madman with a blue box.

Something caught her eye, and Amy drew to a halt. There was an odd tent stuck in the middle of the path. It resembled a circus tent, and was taped off. She took a single step towards it, curious and intent on investigating.

"You're following me."

Amy whipped around, startled. The girl, Mandy Tanner, stood there. She eyed Amy suspiciously, chin jutted out. "Saw you watching me at the marketplace."

Trying to gain her trust, Amy offered the wallet. "You dropped this."

"Yeah," retorted Mandy, snatching it back with narrowed dark eyes, "when your friend kept bumping into me." Amy grimaced. Clearly, the Doctor needed to work on his subtlety. He had admitted to bumping into Mandy several times to get the wallet, and it hadn't escaped her notice whatsoever. When Amy glanced at the tent again, studying the sign that read "KEEP OUT," Mandy said, "There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way. There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps…what are you doing?"

Amy had approached the little tent, fascinated. "Oh, don't mind me," she told Mandy firmly. "Never could resist a keep out sign. What's through there? What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?" She was sure the Doctor would want to know. She wondered if it had to do with his water trick, or with the weird sounds that Jay could apparently hear. She'd have thought Jay was hallucinating had the Doctor not taken her so seriously.

"Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it." Mandy shifted uneasily when Amy glanced curiously at her. "Below. We're not supposed to talk about the Below."

"And because you're not supposed to, you don't?" challenged Amy, ducking under the tape. She grinned as she reached for the tent flaps. "Watch and learn."

"You sound Scottish," commented Mandy, and Amy frowned at her, not sure what that was supposed to mean.

"I am Scottish," she retorted, stopping. "What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere."

Mandy shook her head. "They wanted their own ship."

Amy shrugged, not surprised. Scotland had always been like that. She ignored Mandy's warnings and stepped into the tent, and Mandy uttered a nervous sound, retreating entirely. Amy peered around the inside of the tent, studying it. A red light emanated from a lanturn, and she found what looked like a flashlight, so she picked it up and turned it on.

She regretted entering the tent the second she did so, for a massive tentacle slithered from the hole, rearing back like a spitting cobra. Before it could lash out at her, Amy hurled herself backward, scrambling to escape. She yelped when she was met by a group of hooded figures just outside the tent, one of which released a gas from a ring that flicked open, shoved in her face.

The last thing she saw before passing out was Mandy's horrified face.


"So where are we going?" Jay's question was soft, but interested as the Doctor reached into his tweed jacket and removed his new green-tipped sonic screwdriver. He knelt on the floor of a maintenance closet of some kind, and had spent the last few seconds prying at a locked panel before giving up. Jay hovered at his shoulder, peering over it to watch.

"Down," he answered as the sonic screwdriver buzzed, unlocking the metallic panel in the floor. He grinned triumphantly and yanked it open. "To investigate the engines."

Jay hummed in understanding and made a face when he began clambering down a ladder. He dropped down the last few steps with a loud thud, and then peered around himself as Jay began climbing down after him. They stood in a corridor now, lined with metal panels, and the Doctor didn't hesitate to press his hands to one of the walls. He pressed his ear to it, listening. Silence. "Nothing," he declared. "Can't be."

"Oof!" He spun on his heel as Jay tottered on the ladder, grimacing. He instinctively stepped closer, arms half-extended in case she fell. She made it down safely, however, and smiled sheepishly. "Whatever it was started making sounds again. Caught me off guard."

"We'll figure out what it is," he promised. Confident that she wasn't going to hurt herself, he scanned a wall, frowning. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"The impossible truth," said a voice that didn't belong to Jay and definitely wasn't his own, "in a glass of water. Not many people see it, but you do, don't you, Doctor? Jayden?"

The Doctor perked up, interested. It wasn't often that someone recognized Jay alongside him, though it did occasionally happen. "You know us?" he questioned, and Jay's shoulder brushed his, her expression wary. It wasn't always a good thing.

"Keep your voice down." It was a woman, down the corridor. Her face was clad in a glass, porcelain white mask, and a velvety red cloak swirled mysteriously around her. The hood was drawn over thick curly black hair, and that was about all they could get regarding her looks. She was well-hidden in this disguise. "They're everywhere. Tell me what you saw in the glass."

"Who says I see anything?" challenged the Doctor, suspicious.

"Don't waste time," the woman snapped. "At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor. You both looked at it, and then came straight here, to the engine room. Why?"

"Because of the engines," said Jay softly, glancing at the Doctor. She looked back at the woman a moment later. "I know ships, and with something this big, those engines should be roaring. But they're not. The water should move in a glass, but it doesn't. It makes no sense."

"The power couplings," the Doctor added, gesturing to the walls, where panels stood. "None of them are connected. I'd bet my ship on it. And the walls are hollow." He knocked pointedly, and the sound echoed emptily. "If I didn't know better, I'd say there was no engine at all. But it's working. This ship is traveling through space. We saw it."

The masked woman nodded sharply, whisking closer. "The impossible truth, Doctor. We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly, and very few know how. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation that threatens every one of us. Help us. You're our only hope." She extended a slim hand, which held a thick metallic device. "This will take you to your friend. She's safe. Now go, and be quick!"

Jay took it when the Doctor didn't, looking at it with immense confusion. The Doctor's lips quirked into a smile. She clearly didn't know how to use it, which wasn't a big deal. He'd take care of it after this mystery was dealt with. He took it as the masked woman began to retreat from them, asking her, "Who are you? How do we find you again?"

The woman answered simply, "I am Liz Ten, and I will find you again." She vanished, leaving them alone in the engine room.

He was certainly interested. Liz Ten had more to her than she'd let them know. Regardless, he turned to Jay, fiddling with the device for a few moments. "It's a tracker," he told her. "Locked onto Amy." A floor plan appeared on the small screen, displaying the blueprints of the floor above their heads.

"There," murmured Jay, tapping it when she saw a blinking red dot.

"Right. Let's get Amy." The Doctor ushered her towards the ladder again, and then paused when she frowned severely at nothing in particular. Rather than continuing on their way, he stopped her. "Let me hear it," he said to her, making a small gesture with some impatience. He'd not liked the strength of Jay's ability to hear things at a psychic level in his last incarnation. He liked it even less now. Especially when it was something like this, when it was clearly bothering her - and when he couldn't hear a second of it. That in itself was unusual. He should have been hearing what she was hearing - unless the source was targeting his friend.

It made him wonder just how often she'd heard such things in the last year and a half, when he'd not been there to teach her how to properly deal with such things. It was one of the things he'd regretted most when he'd left her at Donna's wedding like he had: he should have taught her how to manage such matters.

Jay was clearly surprised. "Let's find Amy first," she decided. "It hasn't changed, so I doubt it will in the time it takes us to find her. Besides, I'd rather help whatever's screaming than waste time letting you hear it scream."

He really didn't like the way she'd described that. As she began scooting up the ladder, the Doctor hovering below in case she fell, he called up to her, "It doesn't bother you anymore?"

"The sounds?" She scrambled up and out, and then peered down at him, amused. Only then did he follow her up, clambering up as quickly as he could with the tracker shoved into his pocket. "Sometimes. Like now. But it's not really deafening anymore. I can work around them. I mean, it's not pleasant." She stood, brushing herself off, and when the Doctor was ready, they set off for Amy. "I'll have a nasty headache later. But I guess I just…got used to it. And there really weren't many instances it was a problem when I was with the others, you know? A time here and there with Jack, mostly. He was pretty good at helping me steer away if I needed to. And another time where I could use it to help someone, but other than that…the smaller sounds and songs, I managed to block out." She tapped her head once, smiling. "Like Amy. And Rory, too."

He was immediately interested. Donna had held a special song, Jay had told him more than once. It had promised a special fate. She'd mentioned on the side once that Martha and Rose had held one, too.

"Turn here," he said instead of responding to that. They turned down an alley and then another. They walked in peaceful silence for a while before the Doctor asked Jay a question that had been nagging at him since he'd found her again. "Did you ever run into anything dangerous?"

She grinned, surprising him. "Of course. I've got some stories now that I can tell you later. But we helped a lot of people and aliens. I think you'd be proud of what we did."

He didn't need to hear those stories to say that he was proud of Jay regardless. Still, he gave her a silly grin, vowing that when they got back to the TARDIS, he'd sit down and listen to as many stories as she wanted to tell him. He hoped Amy would listen, too. Such things would give her a true idea of what this life was like: dangerous, fun, and filled with saving people who needed them. And running. Lots of running.

"It's you."

They stopped, surprised. Mandy Tanner stood there, hovering beside a series of doors that looked firmly shut. She looked worried and unimpressed, all at once. She pointed at the doors. "Your friend - the Scottish one. She's in here."

Worry broke over Jay's face as she jogged over. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine." Mandy wasn't worried. "It's a voting booth."

The Doctor frowned, wondering what Amy could possibly be voting about. He knocked sharply on the metal doors, calling, "Amy?" He could hear muffled sounds through the door, voices both familiar and mechanical. He whipped his sonic screwdriver out, shoving the tracker at Jay. "Hold this."

Jay shifted back and forth, nervous as the sonic screwdriver lit in his hand. Within seconds, the doors slid open, revealing a shocked, rather scared Amy. She was in a chair, confused and lost, within a metal-clad room. The Doctor studied it. It was simple, with a chair, a screen, and two buttons that read "protest" and "forget." Amy's fingers hovered over the "forget" button.

"Doctor," said Amy, startled. She blinked up at him, furrowing her brow.

"What have you done?" he asked lightly, though he was a little wary. It was quite clear what had happened. Amy had seen something and pressed a button with the word "forget," indicating she'd not been able to handle what she'd seen. Jay squeezed into the room with him and Amy, curious as she peered around. It was a tight fit, but he didn't notice. A scan of a strange device attached to the metal ceiling told him a bit more. "That's a basic memory wipe. Must have erased about twenty minutes."

"But why would I choose to forget something?" Amy asked, puzzled.

"Because everyone does." The Doctor looked over his shoulder. It was beginning to occur to him that there was something he disapproved of happening aboard this ship. Mandy was still there, interested now. She looked fascinated by the inside of the booth, as if she'd never seen it before. She met his gaze hesitantly, wary. "Everyone chooses the 'forget' button."

"Did you?" he prompted gently.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet," she said with a shrug. That explained her interest in the booth. "I'm twelve. Anytime after you're sixteen, you're allowed to see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years."

The Doctor was fascinated and a little disgusted. What could be happening that made everyone choose to forget what they'd learned? "And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned," he muttered. "Democracy in action."

Mandy was puzzled. "How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish, too?" She paused, and frowned at Jay. "You're definitely not."

Jay looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or not, a smile tugging at her lips. The Doctor merely studied the buttons, an idea starting to come into his head. "I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. It won't play for me - won't recognize me as human."

"Why not?" Amy asked, staring at him. "You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first."

Jay cut in, even more amused with his snappy tone. Clearly, he didn't like being compared to humans at the moment. She got the feeling he was starting to theorize something he wasn't saying, and it wouldn't be good. To distract him, she asked, "Would it recognize me as human?"

"Probably not." He recalled the odd virus-like structures in her blood. If Jay was truly mutating like they suspected, then it was doubtful. He eyed her, trying to figure out where she might be regarding that little problem. As if reading his mind, Jay gave her wrists a pointed, rueful shake. She'd suffer through an attack sooner rather than later.

Amy gaped at Jay for a moment, and the Doctor guessed she'd likely forgotten what Jay had said about being a little extra something else. Regardless, Amy shook her head and focused back on something the Doctor wasn't too excited about. "Are there other Time Lords?"

"No." His voice was curt, quiet, and a little cold. The Doctor didn't like where this was going at all. "There were, but there aren't anymore. Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day, and bad stuff happened. And you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second. This." He stared long and hard at the "protest" button as he spoke, determined. Protesting would reveal what they needed to know. Of that he was sure. "Amy, Jay, hold tight. We're bringing down the government."

"Hold on a second," said Jay hastily, eyes widening, but it was too late. He'd already dragged Amy out of the chair and slammed his hand over the button. The doors slammed shut before they could even think about escaping, and Amy gaped at them, and then the floor. Jay's face went ghostly pale when it began opening beneath them. "Doctor," she squeaked, her hand latching onto his arm so hard he could nearly feel her fingernails through his jacket. "Doctor-"

Maybe he'd have kicked her out before doing this if he'd realized one of her worst fears was coming true. She was terrified of such drops and heights. He shook her off and wound his fingers through Jay's, confident that things would turn out alright. He didn't let himself consider the alternative. She clutched him like a lifeline.

And then they dropped into nothing, plummeting as the floor closed over their heads.


Amy was going to kill the Doctor. She was nearly confident of it. As confused as she was by her choice to forget something, she was more agitated with him than anything else at the moment. Especially as she was sent tumbling from a chute and fired into a pile of junk. It wasn't just junk, either. It was disgusting. It was all a bunch of waste. Nothing plastic or metal or anything like that; it was mostly food that hadn't been eaten. And it reeked.

The Doctor shot up from where he'd been thrown with a yelp. "High speed air cannon," he announced, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Lousy way to travel."

"Where are we?" demanded Amy, trying to flick and sweep pieces of rotten things away from her skin. It made her want to take a shower. Maybe ten.

"Six hundred feet down. Twenty miles laterally, which puts us right at the heart of the ship. What's this then, a cave? Can't be a cave." The Doctor frowned around him. "Looks like a cave…right! Amy, you're there, but where's Jay?"

Amy immediately looked around herself, reluctant to try moving on the oddly squishy floor beneath her feet. "There!" she said, pointing, and the Doctor immediately looked. A few feet away, Jay was simply curled up on her side in the muck, hands crushed over her ears and shoulders hunched as high as they would go. Amy could barely see her in the dimness of the cavern around them. Horror flashed over the Doctor's face as he bolted over.

"Jayden?" he demanded, kneeling beside her, and Jay cracked an eye open.

"M'fine," she managed through gritted teeth. "Not about to stop breathing. Whatever it is that's screaming is really, really loud here."

Amy studied the pair as the Doctor said something quietly to Jay, who muttered back at him. She didn't pay attention to what they were saying. Rather, as the Doctor gently helped Jay to her feet, she took notice of a few other things. The fond look on the Doctor's face, the uncertain one on Jay's as she let him pull her up upon sliding her hand into his. The way the Doctor brushed a few pieces of organic material from Jay's arms and shoulders, smiling widely at her uttered complaint about the nasty feeling. The warmth that briefly crossed Jay's face was sincere, albeit uncertain.

Admittedly, Amy was a little jealous. She had Rory, who tended to her in that manner, but it was the Doctor. She loved Rory, she truly did, but she had to admit that the madman wasn't too bad himself, and the adventure that kind of thing would have offered-

"Food refuse, all organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship," said the Doctor with a deep frown once he was sure Jay was okay. He helped her closer to Amy, not wanting to leave either of them out of reaching distance. Amy was okay with that. "But feeding what though?"

Jay cleared her throat somewhat weakly. "The floor, Doctor."

He bounced again. "Ah," he said with widening eyes, realizing what he was standing on. "Amy. It's not a floor. So, the next word is kind of a scary word. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place." She could have slapped him. She stared pointedly at the Doctor, waiting impatiently until he said, "It's a tongue."

She blanched. "A tongue."

"A tongue. A great big tongue."

"So…we're in a mouth," said Amy slowly, looking around nervously. The last thing she wanted was to be eaten alive by a massive creature they knew nothing about. Fantastic. "How do we get out?"

"Good question," Jay agreed. She shifted with care, using the Doctor's arm for balance when she nearly slipped on the tongue beneath her feet. "I can't say we've ever been inside a mouth, to be honest. So I can't help there. This thing is huge though. How'd we not see it?" She was touching her temple again, Amy noticed. Whatever she was hearing seemed to be deafening.

"Doctor," Amy prompted when he merely beamed, looking around in awe. "How do we get out?"

The Doctor rubbed his hands together, thinking as he glanced over his shoulder at the massive wall of teeth that were firmly clamped shut. "It's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is closed-" The Doctor froze as the floor shifted beneath them, a loud sound filling the cavern. "-for business. Right. Okay. Too late, it's started." When they looked at him, confused, he said, "Swallow reflex."

So they were going to be eaten alive. Just what every person wanted to hear. Amy stared anxiously at the back of the creature's throat. The Doctor suddenly yanked something out of his jacket, pointing it at the creature's throat. Amy frowned, curious. It resembled the blue-tipped device she'd found for him in her house, the one he'd tried to use and broken two years ago. It was different now though. "What are you doing?"

"Vibrating the chemo-receptors," he said curtly. "The eject button."

"Oh, God," whispered Jay, looking horrified. She checked her pockets, making sure everything she carried on her was firmly in place, and Amy looked between them in confusion as the Doctor did the same. She only had her clothes on, so she simply turned to look as something rumbled towards them.

The Doctor tugged at the lapels of his tweed coat. "Right, then. This isn't going to be big on dignity." He grinned impishly at Amy as a wave of something began rushing towards them. Amy became horrified, too, already disgusted with the thought of anything like that touching her skin.

Amy could have sworn she heard the Doctor shouting, "Geronimo!"


"'Geronimo?'" Jay's voice was hoarse as she swept anxiously at her clothes, trying not to get sick herself. It reeked, whatever it was that coated her skin. She hated it immensely. "Where on earth did you get 'geronimo' from?"

The Doctor, nearly slipping and falling back to the floor, cracked a small grin at her, eyes gleaming with mischief. He'd ensured she and Amy, who was unconscious, were unharmed before moving on, and Jay mused that this version of the Doctor was just slightly more attentive to such things than his last self. Not, she was quick to add, that he'd not been cautious and worried about such things. But when he'd worn the first face she'd met, he'd oftentimes gotten so easily distracted that he'd been running around until the last minute.

Jay wondered if anything that had happened leading up to his regeneration had created that. He'd mentioned to her just once that he thought the circumstance sometimes led to certain aspects of his new self. When Jay had asked him for an example, he'd told her about the first version of him that Rose had met. It had been a fairly interesting conversation, actually.

"It just came to me," he mused, dragging Jay's thoughts back to the present situation. "Now, this is a pipe."

"I can see that," Jay said drily, rolling her eyes. She bent to smile at Amy when Amy rolled over with a groan, squinting up at her in the dimness. "Hi there. According to the Doctor, there's nothing broken, and you have no concussion."

"Where are we?" croaked Amy.

"At a guess?" The Doctor glanced around, scanning the wall of the pipe they were in with his sonic screwdriver. "Overspill pipe."

Amy chose to just accept that and let Jay pull her to her feet, flashing her a wry smile that nearly matched the look Jay had given the Doctor only seconds before. "Can we get out?"

The Doctor ignored her question, making Jay narrow her eyes suspiciously. Sometimes he did that when there wasn't a good answer. But the Doctor only grinned triumphantly a moment later and freed them from the pipe, opening a panel in the wall. They all scrambled through and once they were out, the Doctor closed the panel again.

"Right!" he declared as they swiftly walked along. Amy and Jay had to nearly jog to keep up with the swift pace he set, and it took him a moment to realize it. He slowed down somewhat when he did. "One door," he said to them, "one switch, one condition. We forget everything we saw." He stopped then, staring, and Jay followed his gaze. He was staring at a booth with a creepy looking thing sitting in it. It reminded her of a clown, with its eternally grinning face, unblinking. "Look familiar?" he commented drily, and she looked closer.

"A forget button," realized Amy, noticing the big button.

As if on cue, the booth lit up, shining down on the creepy humanoid thing within. Jay jumped, not excited about it. Her eyes round, she decided to hang back as the Doctor sauntered closer, peering at the booth and leaning in far closer than she would have been willing to do. Amy followed a few steps closer before stopping, as reluctant as Jay was.

"There's a creature living in the heart of the ship," declared the Doctor to the booth as if it were human. "What's it doing there?" A chill ran down Jay's spine when she saw the thing's face switch from a creepy smile to a just as spooky frown. The Doctor wasn't impressed. "No, that's not going to work on me. So come on! Big old beast below deck, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. Is that how it works?"

"Doctor," said Amy nervously when the face switched to something a little nastier.

"Oh, stop it," the Doctor said with a roll of his eyes, and Jay could have throttled him. "I'm not leaving, and I'm not forgetting. What are you going to do about it?" He grew taunting, and Jay glowered furiously at him for it. "Stick out your tongues?"

The booths opened and the creature stepped out. Of course it did. Only then did the Doctor retreat a step with a small grimace, realizing his mistake. Jay groaned, hissing, "Doctor! Seriously?"

The sharp crack of a gunshot of some kind made her jump and grab Amy's arm, ready to move Amy to safety if need be. The Doctor was tense, too, for a brief moment, and Jay was stricken for just an instant with the memory of Jenny crumpling before her eyes. Her fingers dug into Amy's slimy arm as the creature collapsed. The Doctor relaxed only after finding the source of the gunshot, even offering the woman who'd appeared in a swirling crimson cloak a warm smile. "Look who it is. You look better without your mask. See, Jay, I had it handled."

"I'm sure," she bit out, irritated. Her hands felt clammy, the gunshot still ringing in her ears.

"You must be Amy," said Liz, turning to face the red-haired woman. Amy eyed her with as much suspicion as Jay did. "I'm Liz. Liz Ten." Amy smiled tightly in greeting, and Liz wrinkled her nose as she took in the slime that covered them. "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick. You know Mandy, yeah?" She smiled over her shoulder, and Jay realized that none other than the little girl they'd initially met was there, hovering nervously. "She's very brave."

The Doctor questioned simply, running a hand through his dark hair, "How did you find us?"

"Stuck my gizmo on you, remember?" The Doctor thoughtfully touched his pocket, where he'd shoved the device Liz had given him. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape." She winked at them, and then glanced at the creature that still lay where it had fallen. "So what's the big fella doing down below?"

Jay slowly let go of Amy, who stuck close as they drifted a little closer to the Doctor. Jay didn't think Liz was a bad person, per se, but she wasn't keen on where this conversation was going. Especially as another mournful cry echoed in her head, making Jay tense briefly. It wasn't as bad as it had been earlier, when they were in the mouth. It put a lot into perspective, actually. Jay had a good guess that the creature they'd nearly been swallowed by was the owner of that scream in her head. She just hoped they could do something to help it.

"You're over sixteen," pointed out the Doctor suddenly, even more interested in Liz. "You've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

"No," Liz corrected, sweeping a few steps back as the creatures began to move. "Never forgot, never voted, and not technically a British subject. They're repairing," she added, her smile vanishing as the creature stirred, trying to rise. "Doesn't take them long. Let's move."

As Liz took off at a brisk walk, crimson cape swirling around her ankles once again, Mandy took off after her at a brisk trot. The Doctor ushered Amy and Jay forward, too, and as they did so, Jay hissed over her shoulder at the Time Lord, "Doctor, who is she? She knows all about us, and if she's not seen whatever it is Amy chose to forget-"

"Could just ask, love," Liz called over her shoulder, pausing to whip a hatch in a wall of the ship open. It revealed a ladder and Jay sighed heavily, already unhappy with the idea of descending a ladder again. She flexed her tingling fingertips unhappily.

"I did ask," retorted Jay as she made Amy go first. "We asked. Several times. You won't answer."

Liz only laughed, ushering Mandy down next. The Doctor debated whether he should go after or before Jay, and Jay took the chance to go down when he took too long. When they'd all descended the ladder and Liz had closed the hatch behind her, she hopped down and said, "I've been brought up on all the stories, of course. My whole family was. A mysterious stranger with higher alien intelligence and the hair of an idiot, accompanied by his equally mysterious friend from the future who holds enough wealth in her hands to conquer the universe. It's kind of hard to not know who you two are. The Doctor - and Jayden."

"Jay," muttered Jay quickly under her breath. "Jay."

"Old drinking buddies of Henry Twelve, though one of you never drinks alcohol." Liz continued, not hearing her. "Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you," she added to the Doctor as they walked briskly. "Never met Jayden. Knighted and exiled you on the same day, didn't she? And don't get me started on the Virgin Queen."

Amy and Jay both looked at the Doctor with matching wide-eyed looks that had him hastily reassuring them, "I don't remember that one. I don't. Must not have happened yet."

"What must not have happened?" Amy asked with a hint of a smirk before yelping when she looked back and found that the creatures that Liz had shot had somehow caught up. Liz whipped around, guns up, and Jay hastily shoved Amy's head down as she ducked. The Doctor and Mandy did, too, as Liz fired at them until they collapsed.

"Liz Ten," mused the Doctor, straightening. "You're the Queen."

She winked and then led them around a corner. "Right. So there's a high-speed vent through there," she pointed to some grating, and Jay grimaced as the Doctor quickly explained to them that it was close to what had fired them down into the mouth of the creature below. "And wherever those appear, so do - there they are."

A crash on the grating made them jump and Mandy clutched at Liz's cloak as they peered through the grating to investigate. Jay furrowed her brow when the creature's agonized wail echoed in her ears, accompanied by a particularly nasty thrash of the tentacles on the other side. "What are they?" she whispered, fearlessly brushing her fingers against the grating. The tentacles shrank away when she neared, and her heart ached.

Whatever this thing was huge, and even it feared her when she wanted nothing more than to help it. For a brief moment, Jay felt a stab of self-loathing, frustration and fury mixing and churning in her chest until she stepped away and wrapped her arms around herself. Her fingers dug into her sides where they touched, as if they would drive away the negative feelings as Amy explained she'd seen one before in the road.

The Doctor didn't notice, too interested in studying the tentacle, but Amy did when she glanced over at her. Amy's brow furrowed briefly as she stepped back to join her, saying softly so only Jay would hear, "Are you okay?"

Jay blinked at her, caught off guard. Amy had never shown any interest in getting to know her in the time Jay had spent in Leadworth. But then, Jay had never tried to talk with many people either, too focused on why the Doctor had sent her there. She only shook her head, not wanting to get into what she was feeling at the moment. They had more important things to worry about for the time being. She rolled her shoulders, dropping her hands. She could pity herself later, when she was alone in her room with only the TARDIS for company.

"It's like a root," mused the Doctor, clueless to their small conversation behind him. "One creature. It's the one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the ship."

"What, like an infestation?" Liz checked, and the Doctor shrugged. Liz's eyes darkened with anger at the very thought. "And someone's helping it - feeding my subjects to it. Come on," she whirled away, "we need to keep going."

The Doctor didn't move, staring at the little "roots" that beat at the air vent mercilessly. Jay didn't move, waiting to follow the Doctor's move, but Amy stepped up to him, touching his arm. "Doctor?" she prompted, gesturing after Liz and Mandy, who'd trotted after the queen without a hint of fear on her young face.

The Doctor glanced at her, and then Jay, and Jay was taken aback by the graveness of his face. He spun on his heel and sighed, ushering them after Liz. "We should have never come here," he murmured, and a chill ran down Jay's spine as a scream accompanied his words, heard only by herself.

Nervous, she tightened her arms around herself even more and pressed onward.


Liz took them to a small series of rooms that she'd clearly been occupying. The one they entered was filled with half-filled glasses of water, all surrounding a singular circular area that was empty of them. The Doctor knew what story those glasses told, and Jay did, too. Amy and Mandy, however, peered at them with some confusion on their faces. Amy hadn't fully understood his ministrations with the glass earlier, and he wasn't inclined to explain it at the moment.

A theory had developed in his head, and his hearts ached at the thought of it. If he was right…well, right alongside the dread was anger. It was something only humans, desperate, could have thought of. But, he kept his mouth shut about it as he questioned with a small gesture to the glasses, "Why all the glasses?"

Liz didn't look at them, her brow furrowed as she considered their options. "To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and that it's my duty to find out what."

He'd give her credit. She clearly cared deeply for her people. "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this. My entire reign - and you've achieved more in one afternoon."

The ache grew worse as he studied the porcelain mask she held in her hands, looked at the young woman, whose body clock had been slowed - an idea that caught in his mind. He cast a quick look at Jay, thoughtful. Perhaps that might be an option, to slow the process of whatever the poison in her veins was doing. He'd have to look into it. Regardless, he was effectively distracted when no more than a few moments after they'd entered the room, a group of cloaked individuals swept in.

Liz clearly hadn't been expecting them. Her eyes flashed as she tugged Mandy to her, protective. "What are you doing?" she challenged, glancing among them. "How dare you-"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship U.K." The man's face was blank as he spoke, his expression smooth. The Doctor slowly made sure he stood close to his friends, should something go down. Amy looked simply confused; Jay was mildly concerned, her lips pressed into a hard line, as if she expected them to try and grab them.

It wouldn't have been the first time.

"You will come with us," the man finished.

"Why would I do that?" snarled Liz, proudly lifting her chin - only to falter somewhat when the man's head spun unnaturally on his shoulders, revealing a scowling, inhuman face. The Doctor frowned in surprise. They were half-human then. How many, he wondered, were half-human? How had they been created? So many questions, and he doubted he'd like any of the answers that came with them. "Whatever you creatures are," continued Liz, "I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, ma'am." The man's head switched back to the human one.

"I am the highest authority."

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, ma'am - to the Tower."

Liz considered this for a moment longer before nodding curtly. She would go - mostly for the child she kept close to herself. She wound her fingers with Mandy's, who clung nervously to her as she started forward at a swift walk. The Doctor nudged Amy and Jay along. Jay eyed him as he did so, commenting softly, "You're oddly quiet."

He didn't smile in response, like he once might have. He didn't try to reassure her, or Amy, who kept after Liz at a swift speed. Jay and the Doctor slowed somewhat, to keep their conversation semi-private. "I have nothing to say."

She nearly stopped then. Jay's blue eyes flashed with uncertainty - and grief, which only pricked at him. The Doctor wouldn't blame her for grieving his other face like she did. She'd accepted it, recognized him for what he is, but he'd never fault her for missing someone who was never coming back. "Liar. You always have something to say," Jay said warily, cringing. He fully expected her to be hearing the scream she'd told him of. He suspected it would be the creature that had nearly swallowed them whole, the creature thrashing in agony at grating wherever it had managed to come up. He just didn't know specific details.

"Let me hear it," he demanded suddenly, already reaching for her, but Jay shook her head and stepped out of reach. He grew frustrated with her, frowning, only to falter when Jay met his gaze evenly. If he could just hear what she heard, he was sure his theory would be right.

"You're a changed Doctor, Doctor," she said gently, "but if you're still the same man...my guess is we've both come up with something similar. You heard the song of the Ood long before I did. It's my turn to protect you."

As if she deserved to hear someone's endless tortured screams.

He opened his mouth to say something about it, but the words died on her lips when he heard loud crashing ahead. His stomach flipped uncomfortably when the "roots" beating on the grating beside them fled, retreating when Jay walked past, refusing to look at them. She'd certainly been quiet since they'd first found them, shown by Liz and Mandy. It explained a bit more about why she wouldn't let him hear. He said nothing more about it, only took her hand as they walked and squeezed it tightly.

She clutched his hand like it was the only thing tethering her to humanity.

"Where are we?" Amy asked as they entered an entry way of sorts to a massive room. Children were working, much to his uttermost horror. Children, who fearlessly walked among tentacles that had spiked up through the grated floor.

"The lowest point of the ship," the Doctor guessed, watching with some interest when the children remained untouched by the dangerous stingers that lashed out at any adult that came near them. "The dungeon."

A man stepped forward to greet them, cloaked like the others. "Ma'am," he said to Liz, inkling his head and ignoring the rest of them.

"Hawthorne," Liz said warily in response. She wrapped her cloak around her like a shield. The Doctor studied her closely. He didn't think she was entirely aware. He hadn't figured out where the queen who was trying her best fit into everything yet. He got the feeling Amy had fallen into line with every other adult on this ship though, which upset him greatly. He liked Amy, but if she started making decisions like he suspected her of doing…

"What's with the children?" Amy asked, echoing what they were all thinking with suspicion.

Mandy had broken away upon seeing them, giving a cry. She tackled one particular boy in a hug, and he greeted her with some excitement, lighting up with a warm smile. Hawthorne watched them, his face unreadable as he said, "Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast." Something about that sparked rage in the Doctor's chest. Citizens of limited value. Who decided what life was of limited value? "For some reason it won't eat the children - and you're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"Doctor," Jay said softly, and he glanced at her. A sheen of sweat had broken out around her forehead and her eyes were distant. Whatever she heard was painfully loud, and he could only comfort her with another squeeze of her hand. Even so, she was watching something he'd missed initially, her face twisted with agonized grief. He clenched his jaw in fury. From where they stood, he could see the top of a brain - much like the Ood's, if he thought about it. It was surrounded by railing, and hanging overhead were several electrodes that fired pulses of electricity down at it.

Humans. Always determined to find some way of reminding the Doctor how horrible they could be. He could hear the scream, too, for just a moment. It roared in his skull, deafening, as electricity struck the brain. The tentacles that had reached up like little roots thrashed each time it happened, and the Doctor could scarcely breathe. Jay had been hearing this since she'd set eyes on the Starship U.K.

"Lucky," he said bitterly. "Look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London - very lucky, aren't we? Except it's not a torture chamber…well, it is. Depends on your angle." Jay gripped his hand again - a warning now. He didn't care about the warning as Liz questioned what they were looking at, having seen the brain herself. Amy looked ghostly pale at the sight. "It depends on the angle," he breathed, that fury creeping into his voice. "It's either the exposed pain center of the big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly, or the gas pedal - the accelerator, making this ship go faster."

Liz looked sick as she slowly wandered closer to the brain. "I…I don't understand."

"Don't you?" The Doctor was cold, eyes glittering with malice now as he finally whirled into motion. He took off at a brisk walk, stopping at the railing to look down at the brain. "Try to. Go on," he sneered, and Liz looked at him in shock. "The spaceship that could never fly. No vibration on deck. This creature - this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, not invading. It's what you have instead of an engine. And this place? This is where you hurt it. You torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving.

"Tell you what." He whirled around, sonic screwdriver already in hand. "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear."

"Doctor," Jay rasped in protest, tears brimming in her eyes, but he ignored her protest as he aimed his screwdriver at one of the tentacles. He pressed the button, and the tortured scream that rang out made everyone, even Hawthorne and his companions, flinch. Jay slapped her hands over her ears, screwing her eyes shut as if the sound had amplified for her. He immediately stopped.

As angry as he was, he recognized that Jay hadn't been a part of any of it, and that he didn't want to cause her that kind of pain.

Amy, wiping tears from her eyes, looked on in horror, and for a moment the Doctor could have cared less. He was angry with her, too, for choosing that button. He wasn't oblivious. He knew why she'd done it. Well, at least, he had a damn good guess, and he wasn't pleased whatsoever with her decision. He was exceptionally angry with her.

"Who did this?" Liz breathed, rage of her own flickering to life.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," said Hawthorne simply, and Liz whirled on him, eyes blazing, but Hawthorne said nothing further. The Doctor wasn't surprised. Liz had been so intent on figuring out what was going on, but she'd yet understood the full extent of her involvement. Her slowed body clock, the antique mask that had fit perfectly to her face…

How many times had she repeated this process? Trying to understand and forgetting? And all these people, the creatures that had attacked them, everything…they worked for her. Fed people who protested to the beast below. Murdered anyone who decided to go against their queen.

The Doctor was as happy with Liz as he was with the rest of them.

Hawthorne turned away and instead went to a series of machines, pressing a button. Liz's face appeared on a screen, and the present Liz gasped softly when she began to speak, her own voice echoing through the air.


Jay didn't bother to try wiping the tears from her face anymore, not as the creature's scream echoed through her head again and again, louder here than it had been in its mouth. I'm sorry, she tried to think back at it, I'm so, so sorry. This had all been forced upon it, she was sure, and the Doctor clearly thought as much. The last time she'd seen him this frantic and angry had been on Mars. It was a different type of frantic rage, though. It wasn't self-directed.

She wanted to wrap her arms around her friend, but the look on his face…Jay knew it wasn't what he needed right now. Not as Liz's voice filled their ears, echoing from the video the man known as Hawthorne had played.

"If you are watching this…if I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London. The creature you are looking at," Liz continued, and her face was replaced with an image of a massive creature that resembled a whale of sorts, "is a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts that blocked our way. This one is, as far as we know, the last of its kind."

A muffled, heartbroken sound threatened to leave Jay's mouth. She pressed a fist over her aching chest. She couldn't look away from the video as Liz continued to speak, couldn't bring herself to look at the Doctor, who was the last of his kind, too.

"What we have done to it breaks my heart. The planet was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter, and then it came like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, built our ship around it, and rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the button to forget. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope…I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

The video flicked off, and Jay felt sick. Her stomach churned, and she pressed her tingling hands to her thighs, hoping to stave off the attack that she could feel building as her heart thundered in her chest.

"I voted for this." Amy's voice cracked as she turned to look at Jay with such devastation that Jay stepped over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "How could…why would I do that?"

The Doctor didn't even look at her as he said icily, "Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice: humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that, and that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know." Amy protested that she didn't remember doing so, and he finally gave her a sharp look that froze even Jay in her tracks. "You did it. That's what counts."

Amy, voice thick with grief, said, "I'm sorry." She looked desperately at Jay, and Jay tightened her arm around her shoulders in a comforting motion. He was upset, she told herself. The Doctor was upset with what was happening - and with good reason, but still.

It wasn't good enough reason for him to tell the girl who'd waited for fourteen years, "I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home."

Jay wondered where the "we" had gone. She dropped her arm from Amy's shoulder after giving her a comforting squeeze and stepped over to the railing he was moving away from. Jay let the scream of the Star Whale wash over her, let it deafen and hurt her. "I'm sorry," she told the creature in barely a whisper.

She wondered if it could hear her past the agony it must have been feeling.

"What are you doing?" Liz suddenly rasped, her own face streaked with tears, and Jay looked over. The Doctor was doing something with the machinery nearby. She suspected it was what controlled the machinery. She swallowed thickly, and then looked back at the brain as it practically convulsed in pain. This poor, poor creature.

The Doctor kept working, ripping at a wire. "The worst thing I'll ever do," he snarled, and Jay kinked her head to the side. "I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the Star Whale won't feel it."

Jay's eyes flew wide and she whirled on him, horrified. She bolted over. The last of its kind. "Doctor, you can't," she insisted, not afraid to reach out and catch his arm in her hand to stop him. He stilled immediately beneath her touch, and she tightened her grip until her knuckles whitened. He was briefly distracted, startled by it. It took her a moment to realize it was because he physically couldn't yank free of her grip.

Disgusted with herself, she ripped her hand away, insisting hastily as he stared at her with widened eyes. "You can't. Please."

His gaze lingered for just a moment on her hand before he boxed whatever he was thinking away for later. "Jay, I have three options," he rasped, turning back to what he'd been doing. "One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds of years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name," he tacked on bitterly, throwing a chunk of metal aside. It bounced, clashing and clattering in the silence that followed. "Because I won't be the Doctor anymore."

"You can't make decisions like that for me. Those are choices that I have to make."

"But they're not. They're really not. I can't speak for Donna, but I'm your friend. I've seen you make those decisions before, Doctor, and I won't let you make them alone. If you're traveling together, we make those decisions together… Is it a deal? We make those kinds of decisions together, Doctor?"

Jay's breath caught in her throat. She knotted her fingers together, her words trembling when she said, "We made a deal. We make these decisions together." The Doctor faltered, and she wondered if he recalled the conversation they'd had oh, so long ago, when she'd torn Pompeii apart. "You promised me we would make these decisions together. And you told me you'd not break another promise."

Please, she wanted to beg. She didn't care that she sounded childish, leaning so heavily on promises. She would suffer as the Star Whale did for a thousand years if it meant they could save the last of its species.

If it meant the Doctor would just listen. If he would stop and think.

Perhaps it was his frustration with those around them, or perhaps it was his despair at thinking there was no other option, or maybe it was just the new him. But he turned away from her and said bitterly, "There is never a 'we' in decisions like this. No human gets to be a part of this decision when they're the ones who did this."

Jay didn't look down in guilt like the others did. Even Amy's face was filled with such guilt that it was clear she blamed herself for what had happened to this poor whale, even when she'd not had anything to do with it. She didn't feel that guilt. Didn't need to, she realized, as a dark emotion swelled within her chest and she had to swallow it for a moment, wanting nothing more than to hit something.

"But I'm not human," she rasped in one last attempt. "Not anymore."

She wanted to scream at him to just listen to her.

He didn't answer. Rather than throwing something back at her, he acted as if she'd not spoken at all, and Jay couldn't help the startled, bitter laugh that left her. She shook her head and retreated back one step, and then another. She wouldn't stand here and watch him do this - not when he'd not even let them try something else first. Wouldn't even consider it.

This was the Doctor, she told herself as she pushed past the hands that tried to stop her from leaving. Someone managed to grab her shoulder, forcing her to stop and the sound that ripped from her throat made him recoil. It only sent her walking faster, her eyes burning with anger. She wasn't even sure where she was going, only away.

This was the Doctor, she tried to tell herself.

The same man that had made that deal with her.

The same man that had apparently decided someone else had made it.


Amy watched glumly from where she sat as the Doctor fidgeted with the machinery before him, her leg kicking mindlessly. Her chin remained propped in her hands, her elbows on her knees, and her eyes ached from the tears that had stopped at last. She didn't let herself stop watching the Time Lord as he worked on ending the Star Whale's suffering. She had done something she shouldn't, and she'd ensure that she endured every second of this.

Even if she was a little angry with the Doctor. She thought him being a little unfair with everything, and she agreed with what Jay had tried to insist on, though he'd ignored the missing friend. They should have tried something else before they'd gone down the route of murdering the last Star Whale. This adventure…God, she wished it could be more like her last experience with the Doctor. No one had bothered to tell her that there was so much heartbreak involved in running through space and time.

Giggling caught Amy's attention, and she carefully rolled her head to the side to look, exhausted and missing Rory a little. Rory would have sided with her. Would have helped her make the Doctor listen to reason.

Would have told her that she was right, even if she wasn't, because he simply loved her that much.

Mandy's laughter was loud in the silence of the adults, innocent when compared to the truth of the situation. Amy smiled a little to herself. She stood beside her lost friend, holding his hand tightly in hers and stroking one of the tentacles that had previously lashed at any adult that came near. It played with her, even, gentle and ever so cautious.

Amy froze.

Oh.

"Oh," she echoed aloud, rocking to her feet as the Doctor's sonic screwdriver buzzed, filling the silence, too. "Doctor, stop!" She bolted. She nearly crashed right into the mournful queen of the ship, who yelped when Amy seized her wrist and hauled her over. The Doctor, momentarily confused as he looked over. His eyes grew round with horror. "Sorry, your Majesty, I need a hand with something."

"Amy, no!" the Doctor bellowed, lunging towards them. He was too late. Amy slammed Liz's hand down on the button that read "abdicate."

There was a moment of silence in which nothing happened. Amy prayed she'd been right. If the Doctor stopped everything to help a child, then maybe, just maybe-

The Star Whale erupted, screaming. The world rocked and shook beneath them, sending everyone tumbling to the ground. The Doctor was hollering furiously at Amy as he crawled towards them on his hands and knees. No matter how angry he was with her, Amy was sure he'd come back. He certainly did, eyes round with horror as he waited for the world to descend into dangerous chaos around them. The others yelled, screamed, and shrieked around them.

"What have you done?" he shouted over the noise.

Amy clenched her jaw. Please, she begged silently, hoping against hope.

And just as she'd hoped, the world fell still and quiet. Everyone was quiet for a few moments, and slowly, Amy rose to her feet, dragging the Doctor up with her. Hawthorne flew over to check on the equipment, scared for what might be happening to the starship atop the Star Whale's back. Her lips curved into a smug grin when he declared in astonishment, "We've…we've increased speed!"

The Doctor looked stunned as Amy laughed, smirking at him. "Yeah, well," she retorted, throwing her hands in the air. "You've stopped torturing the pilot. That's got to help!"

"It's still here," whispered Liz from where she was sprawled on the floor, her crimson cloak rumpled around her. "We've…I don't understand."

Amy met the Doctor's gaze head on. "The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago," she said to him. "It volunteered. You didn't have to trap or torture it," she added to Liz. "That was all you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind, and all alone in the universe? Your whole race is dead - no future." She turned back to the Doctor, and his face was one of pain, realization, and horror. "What couldn't you do then, Doctor? You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

He ran his hands down his face, expression twisted in one of utter self-loathing, and she touched his arm soothingly. Amy remembered the crazy madman in a blue box who'd taken time out of his chaotic crash landing to tend to the scared child with a crack in her wall. She knew he'd been in pain, seeing the Star Whale be tortured, and she wondered how close he'd come to similar situations.

He dropped his hands from his face and simply looked at her with a heartbroken look. The Doctor knew what he'd almost done, and Amy didn't bother to scold him sharply for it. He knew, and he'd do his best to fix it. "You could have killed everyone on this ship."

"And you could have killed a Star Whale," she retorted, though a smile tugged at her lips.

"And you saved it," he said wryly. He looked at her with a fond look that reassured her that she wasn't going home like he'd said earlier. He seemed almost exasperated, even. "I know, I know."

Amy simply wound her arm through his, bumping him playfully with her shoulder. "All that pain and misery and loneliness just made it kind, Doctor. I've seen it before. Very old, and very kind, and the very, very last of its species. Sound a little familiar?" The Doctor's face softened further, and she was more than relieved to see that all of his anger had dissipated now that everything was turning out alright.

"Now," she said sternly. "Go find Jay and apologize. I'll finish up here."

As if she knew what she was finishing up with regarding a queen and her entire space-traveling country.


The Doctor was surprised to find that he didn't find Jay where he'd initially thought she'd be. The TARDIS hummed a refusal to him, even before he'd entered his ship. Jay wasn't there. So, somewhat worried that something might have happened to her in the time that she'd been away, he didn't bother to just search. He scanned the starship with his TARDIS and went immediately to find her once he'd locked onto her.

The view was beautiful. There was a massive window overlooking the entirety of space, stars and all. He could name them all, if someone asked him to. Jay was curled up in a ball against it, her knees pulled to her chest and her head resting against the glass as she looked out at the stars, her fingers fumbling with the key that hung from her throat. Her phone lay abandoned on the ground beside her.

Cautiously, aware that he'd messed up badly and that he'd greatly upset her, the Doctor came to stand near her, leaning against the glass with his shoulder. He watched the stars, too, for a moment, unsure of what to say.

He'd dealt badly with the situation. Jay meant a lot to him - more than he would allow her to know. "You promised me we would make these decisions together," she'd told him, and the Doctor's response hadn't been a very nice one - especially given everything they'd done and been through together.

Quietly, he said, "I'm sorry." What else was there to begin with? She glanced at him then, face unreadable even as her reddened eyes told him how much he'd upset her. She'd cried recently. "I did make a deal, and I didn't keep to it when it mattered." The Doctor averted his gaze, looking back to the stars. "And you were right," he added suddenly. "Amy found another way."

"The Star Whale?" she whispered.

"Alive, and no longer tortured." He tapped the ground with his toe. "It came to save the children." As if that was explanation enough. "I should have listened to you two."

"You should have," agreed Jay, and he glanced at her again. She was rubbing her temples, her brow furrowed, as if she had a headache. She was exhausted, he realized. Tired, and from the way her fingers fumbled and slid along her own face-

Ice crept into his veins. "Did you-"

"No," she interrupted. "Not yet." She dropped her hands, folding her legs neatly, and let them fall into her lap. "Soon, I think." Jay fumbled with her fingers in her lap. She wouldn't look him in the eye. Not as she said, "I can't…Doctor, if this is how you are now…I can't do this. I can't travel with you, if you ignore what we say just because someone's upset you." Brief panic struck him and he stiffened. She finally lifted her gaze, searching his own. "Liz, and Hawthorne, and all those people who made this happen. Be unhappy with them. But Amy…I think I'd have done the same in her place. I have done things for you, things like that, in the past. I tore apart Pompeii for you. So you wouldn't have to suffer through that decision again. If you're going to send her home, then I might as well pack my bags, too-"

The Doctor hastily broke in. "I'm not sending Amy home. I shouldn't have said what I did to Amy either, and I've already told her that." He had, when he'd run into her on the TARDIS. She'd come back before he'd even found Jay on the scanners. "You're only human, you two."

Jay shook her head, flexing her fingers in her lap. Her voice shook violently as she rasped, "But I'm not. Not anymore. I…I tried the booth." Tears welled in her eyes again and she tried to fight those tears back. They came anyway. "I tried to see if it would play for me, but it wouldn't. It told me I wasn't genetically compatible, Doctor."

Without a word, he offered her his hand. Relief flickered through him when Jay took it after a moment's hesitation, and he pulled her to her feet. "Come here," he murmured, and she hesitated for a moment, unsure. Still, she finally stepped close, letting him tuck her under his chin in a tight hug. After a few moments, Jay wrapped her arms around him in turn and buried her face in his shoulder, clutching him tightly. "You're human in the ways that count," he told her quietly.

"Prisoner Zero didn't think so," she whispered, voice muffled by his tweed coat. "The Star Whale didn't think so. The infected on Mars didn't-"

"I think so," he interrupted. The Doctor pulled back and smiled gently at her, letting his hands linger a fraction longer at her waist than he likely should have. He was careful, however, to not let her see too how far his affection truly went. A lot of things had changed since his regeneration, but that wasn't one of them. "And Amy thinks so, I'm sure."

Despite her despair, Jay gave a small, watery laugh, lifting a hand to wipe her tears away. "Amy doesn't even know anything about my issues."

"She'd still agree." He was confident in that. The Doctor offered her a hopeful small smile, unable to stop himself from lightly brushing some of those tears away himself. She let him. Quietly, he said, "I am sorry."

"I know." Jay took a deep breath and let it whoosh from her lungs before lightly pulling herself away. The Doctor let himself admit for just a moment that he wished she hadn't. He quickly pushed those thoughts away though and instead focused on her next few words. "Consider this to be your warning, Time Lord," she said almost playfully, though he heard the sincerity of her words. "I'll let it slide this time, and chalk it up to you being a new Doctor, but-"

"Don't do it again." He beamed at her, relieved. "I know."

Jay sighed softly and reached out to affectionately fix his bowtie, only for her fingers to still when the phone she'd left on the floor began ringing. She dropped her hand with a frown, pausing to scoop it up. She glanced at the caller ID and then answered without hesitation. "Hello?" she said, tipping her head to the side as she pressed the phone to her ear. Her gaze snapped to him a moment later, her lips pressing into a hard line. "Yes," she said, turning away and leaving him puzzled. "Yes, I'm fine." She began meandering away, heading in the direction of the TARDIS and leaving the Doctor to follow. He pushed his hands into his pockets, trailing behind her like a duckling.

Whoever it was kept the conversation going with Jay, who kept her voice quiet, until they reached the TARDIS. She pushed her way in without hesitation, and the Doctor grew even more curious as she vanished into the depths of the TARDIS. He'd ask later, if she was willing to answer.

Amy was waiting for them in the control room, still wrapped in her nightgown. He cracked a small grin at her impatient look, flouncing over. "Want a quick shower?" he offered, and Amy nodded curtly, glancing curiously after Jay. "Come on, let's see what the TARDIS has cooked up for you then. We'll take a rest before we try something new." He wasn't sure when Jay's next attack would come, and he didn't want to be smack in the middle of danger when it did.

Amy didn't know that though. She tucked her hands behind her back and said casually, "Good idea. The Prime Minister didn't sound too worried about whatever was happening."

"Prime Minister?" He glanced at her. "Which one?"

"The British one." The Doctor frowned, annoyed, and Amy smirked at him. "Winston Churchill."

The Doctor immediately clapped his hands together. "Good old Winston! He can hold on a moment longer." The Doctor rubbed his hands together eagerly, excited at the idea. Jay was more interested in the history of the early twenty-first century, but she'd certainly expressed some interest in the twentieth. Visiting Winston Churchill would be a fun adventure for her, and for Amy, who seemed just as excited as the Doctor was sure she'd be.

But first, a rest.

Adventure could come later.


The Star Whale episode! I have a particular fondness for this one. I have a damn good memory associated with it, and every time I watch it, I remember that memory. ANYHOW, upwards and onwards! Likely doing an original after the next chapter, which will definitely be fun, and this next one we're going to start having some particularly big developments.

Thank you to the glorious savethemadscientist for your lovely review, as well as those who favorited and followed!