Miriam grumbled to herself as she shelved the port glass she'd been polishing with a bit more force than necessary.

"Watch it there," Kathy said from beside her. The other woman finished drying a pilsner and housed it more gently. "You're gonna knock the shelf down."

Miriam picked up another glass and turned away from the door to the pub.

Kathy turned to look at her. "What?"

Before Miriam could answer, the bell on the pub door gave a ring, and Kathy glanced in its direction. "Ah…" Kathy smirked and gave Miriam a nudge with her hip. "Don't know why you've been puttin' him off. He's rather fit and has that fancy job of his. All honest and such."

Miriam rolled her eyes and attempted to ignore the sound of footsteps heading in her direction. As the steps drew nearer, she let out a resolute sigh and turned to face the on-comer head on.

"Hiya Murial," the man greeted her with a perfect smile that had at one time made her swoon. After all, Kathy was right, he was an extraordinarily handsome man.

Miriam attempted to smile as the man made himself comfortable on one of the barstools. "Hey there Theo… ah… Alister." Miriam blushed at her fumble and then inwardly scolded herself. Lord help her if the man thought she was blushing because of him.

"Thought I'd stop by, see how you're settling in."

"Again," Kathy mumbled from next to Miriam and received a quick kick in admonishment. Her cheeks reddened further upon realising that Alister had heard the other woman. He was kind enough not of mention it.

"Keeping busy." She waived the cloth she'd been using in the air.

"Right." There was an awkward pause, and then he continued, "You find that Doctor and that girl?" he asked.

The mention of Rose and the Doctor made any good thoughts Miriam had for the day fall into the pit of her stomach. After all, it had been over three months without any sign of them and any hope of finding her way back home.

"Rose, her name's Rose. And no," Miriam replied. It was clear from her tone that she really didn't want to think of it.

"Jackie's girl?" Kathy asked.

"Yeah," Miriam mumbled.

Kathy let out a sigh and shook her head. "No doubt she'll turn up eventually. Heard she'd run off with some other bloke a while back and wasn't seen for a year. Had her mum all worried, police searches and everythin'. I remember her commin' by with posters."

Miriam just shrugged.

The trio was alerted to another arrival and turned towards the door of the pub. Alister frowned upon seeing Miriam's face light up at the sight of the man. His frown deepened when Miriam hurriedly put down the glass she'd been polishing and tossed her rag into the sink before hurrying away without any sort of goodbye.

"Who's that?" Alister grumbled.

"Oh, that's Mickey Smith. He's a regular around here," Kathy explained.

"I didn't think she waited the tables?" Alister's expression continued to sour as he watched Muriel give the other man a hug.

"He's sort of a special case with her. Good friends and such. I think he's that Rose's boyfriend." Kathy explained.

"Why's he so chummy with Muriel then? I don't like it," Alister actually growled.

"She's not Miriam you know," Kathy told him softly. "You can't expect her to be." Her tone expressed her own sadness. She too missed Miriam. Muriel was so similar at times. The corners of Kathy's lips lifted when she thought of the times their Miriam had helped out at the pub. Couldn't mix a drink or prepare a sandwich for the life of her. Muriel, on the other hand, had already acquired a following for her Tuesday night desserts. Before Muriel's arrival, Tuesday nights were really slow, unless there was a game on. Now, it was usually crowded, and the clientele more… well rounded.

"I know…" Alister ran his hand down the side of his cheek. "It's just, it's just so difficult, with her standin' there." He nodded to where Muriel was standing, ready to take Mickey's order. He scowled at the man from across the room as Mickey gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Kathy noticed Alister's possessive behaviour and reminded him, "You know it's awkward for her," Kathy nodded to Muriel, "You being her sister's boyfriend and all. What's she supposed' to think? You know what she's gonna think, and she'd be right. You don't even know her. Not really. She's not your Miriam."

Alister nodded. He'd been telling himself that very same thing. Each time he headed towards O'Connor's he hesitated knowing seeing Muriel would just bring up his feelings for Miriam. "It's just hard you know," he tried to explaine, "but at the same time… I like her." He nodded towards Muriel once more. "I like her like that… as Muriel… she's different."

Kathy smirked, raising one brow. "Good sort of different?"

Alister blushed slightly, the corner of his lip lifting. "Yeah."

"Well, if your interested, you'll have to do more than sit around and stare at her over the bar. You're getting a bit weird. Maybe ask her out or somethin'."

"You mean like a date?" Alister asked. He looked slightly shocked at her suggestion.

Kathy rolled her eyes. What was wrong with the man? "Of course a date you plonker. How else you gonna find out how different, good or bad, she is. Get to know her, not some memory of Miriam. If you're gonna make anything of it… you're gonna have to start from the beginning. You can't expect her to suddenly have feelings for you. To be honest, your hanging about just there," she nodded to the barstool he was sitting on, "is sorta creepy."

"She thinks I'm creepy?" He worried.

"Come on. What do you think… yeah?" Kathy scoffed.

Alister glanced over to where Muriel was chatting animatedly with Mickey. "Yeah. Sorta right. Creepy." As though reaching some sort of decision, he stood and readied himself to act. "Right then. Not Creepy."

Kathy sighed and shook her head as he walked away. She hadn't meant that he should go over now. Alister was acting stupid, and she thought Muriel was a right fool herself. She let out a sigh as she watched Alister head in Muriel's direction. He was a good-looking sort and a gentleman at that. She only wished he had a brother. Her eyes drifted to the man's retreating backside. He had a rather lovely bum. Letting out another sigh, she reached for another glass and began to polish.

Miriam let out a laugh as Mickey dropped her back to the floor after giving her one of his hugs. "Here for a game I take it?" Miriam asked him.

"Can't I just come by for a visit?"

Miriam laughed. "Not sittin' here." She gestured to his table.

"True… but that doesn't mean I didn't come to see you."

Miriam rolled her eyes. "Right, and coming to see me is convenient cuz you don't have the sports channels you like."

"Yeah, well, wouldn't want to take up all your time. With you workin' and all." Mickey defended himself with a tease. "Besides, Jackie was askin' about you today. Said you hadn't visited this week."

"Yeah?" Miriam smiled and slid onto the bench across from him. "How's Jackie? I've been busy with the pub. Hadn't really had time to drop by. You know how she gets talkin' once she gets your ear."

Mickey laughed, "Don't I know it. Been there for dinner three times this week.

The corner of Miriam's lip twitched. She'd gotten to know Jackie pretty well over the course of the last three months and genuinely liked the woman. In truth, Miriam didn't know how Jackie could handle knowing her daughter was off somewhere flying about with that madman. However, it seemed that Miriam's assurance that Rose had been in a later episode had been enough. Sure, Jackie wanted her daughter to come back for a visit, but she was no longer a wreck. Thank goodness. A wrecked Jackie was exhausting.

Miriam's thoughts were brought back on track when Mickey added, "I was just thinkin' you'd like to head up to Cardiff with me next Friday. I'm meetin' up with some mates for Wales vs Scottland. Thought you'd like to tag along, you know, see some of those sights you were going on about."

"While watching a rugby game?" Miriam questioned, her brow raised in scepticism.

"Well no… I wouldn't do that to you."

Miriam laughed. "No rugby… great. I'd love to… A trip to Cardiff sounds like just the thing." The O'Connor's had been trying to persuade her to get out more. Just the other day Eva reminded her, "You can't go waitin' on some man my love, alien or not. As much as we'd love for you to stay, you've got to start thinkin' about building a life for yourself." Miriam had nodded. She'd come to that same conclusion. Who knew when the Doctor and Rose would return. After all, according to Jackie, the alien was a rubbish driver.

Both Mickey and Miriam were suddenly startled by the sound of Alister clearing his throat.

Mickey tried not to roll his eyes. Miriam tried not to groan. Was he going to stare at her from here now?

"Muriel, I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment," Alister asked politely, ignoring Mickey altogether.

"Sure." Miriam pulled herself up from the booth and gave Mickey a smile. "I'll be back."

Mickey nodded. "It's fine, go on." He gestured her to be off.

She allowed Alister to lead her away and gave him a bright smile. "Yeah?"

Alister shifted slightly and then asked, "I was just wondering, you know, just wondering if you'd like to go out this weekend? My gran has a really nice place out in Cornwall, a vineyard and everything. Thought you might want to get out of the city or something? I mean, I was heading out anyway and thought… well… you might want to go?"

Miriam blinked. His granny was still alive? Theo had once told her that his gran had a vineyard in Cornwall; however, she'd died when he was young, and the family had sold the land off. Nobody was interested in maintaining a vineyard. She was actually slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to go, though, a more significant part of her was relieved. She wasn't ready to go off somewhere with this Theo… this Alister. "Oh that sounds wonderful but… I can't. I've just made other plans. I'm heading out to Cardiff on Friday."

Alister frowned. "Cardiff? What's in Cardiff?"

Miriam thought there were plenty of things to see in Cardiff. "Well, I was thinking Cardiff Castle, of course, then there's Henllys and Caerphilly."

Alister nodded. He recalled his Miriam had liked touring castles and other historical sites. He supposed her love of history and old buildings was what drew her to study archaeology. "You going with the family then?" He nodded towards Richard.

"No, Mickey invited me. He's-"

"Oh, right. Never mind then." I was clear from his expression that he was annoyed.

Miriam was taken back by his unexpected curt behaviour. The man before her suddenly reminded her of Theo, her world's Theo. He'd been extremely jealous and somewhat overbearing at times. She frowned. "Right."

"Yeah," Alister mumbled and took a few steps back. "Well then, anyway…" His expression changed from being annoyed to what might be genuine hurt.

"I'm sorry… perhaps another time?" She suggested.

"Sure." He allowed a slight smile to grace his face. "Another time." With that, Alister Theodore Harlow III walked out of the pub.

"What was with him?" Mickey asked from behind her, drawing her attention from the direction Alister had left.

"Ah, he was… well, I think he was asking me out on a date." Miriam told him.

"Well if you'd rather go…"

"No." Miriam was adamant. "I'd like to go… maybe… sometime… it's just a bit too weird you know. He was so different but so the same back in my world. I feel sorta bad for him you know, but I'm not her. I'm not the me from this world. Yeah?"

"Yeah, I can see that." Mickey looked up over Miriam's shoulder for a moment as though trying to recall something and then turned back to her. "You know, I think I met the other you once now that I think on it. Just before she headed off on that trip, the one where she died."

"So what did you think of her?" Miriam asked.

"I don't know, just like I said, just a brief meeting." He studied Miriam for a moment and then added, "she was slightly shorter I think. Strange isn't it."

Miriam tapped her shoes. "Heels. I tend to wear shoes with heels."

Mickey nodded. "Yeah, from what I got, she was more of a trainers sorta girl. Less… you know…" he fluttered his fingers at Miriam, "less girl like."

"Yeah." Miriam smoothed down the skirt she was wearing. "I've never been fond of tracksuits and trainers. Though, perhaps that's something there. I think she must have been slightly thinner." Miriam noticed Mickey was looking slightly uncomfortable with their direction of the conversation, so she asked, "So, when do we leave for Cardiff?"

Miriam stepped down from the train and looked around. Cardiff looked just the same as it had the last time she'd been there, in her world. Her survey of the station was cut short when she heard a group of men calling out Mickey's name. Mickey jumped from the train and hurried over to where a group of four more men was huddled together slapping each other on the back good-naturedly. Miriam slowly walked towards them, and her cheeks turned pink when two of the men noticed her and stopped in their roughhouse greeting.

"Hiya." Miriam gave a little wave.

The other men turned, and Mickey smiled brightly as he introduced her, "Yeah, right. Mates, this is a friend of mine, Miri-."

"Muriel." Miriam shot her hand forward to the nearest man, attempting to cover Mickey's fumble.

The man instinctively shook her hand, though it was clear he was slightly startled by her abrupt greeting. "Oh… uhh. Brian. Um. Brian Owens." Miriam grinned brightly at him. It was soon made clear that Brian wasn't used to being greeted so enthusiastically by a female. He had sort of a dazed expression on his face, and his cheeks were becoming a somewhat alarming shade of pink.

"Right," Mickey cleared his throat from beside her. He'd realised his near fumble and tried to make up for it in introductions. "And this here's Bill." Mickey nudged a tall skinny bloke with spiky red hair who's attention seemed to have diverted to his phone. Bill looked up, gave her hand a quick shake and a rather cheeky grin. "Sorry." He winked in good humour.

"No. It's okay." Miriam began, but she was slightly insulted when he immediately returned to looking at his phone. "Okay," she glanced at Mickey. He just rolled his eyes. "And this is Kevin." He patted a short blond man on the back. Kevin had a firm handshake and was much more attentive, though without the shocked expression displayed by Brian. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Brian was still trying to process their exchange.

"Where's Marc?" Mickey asked Kevin.

"Said he'd be round in a bit," Kevin replied. "Got caught up in some traffic on his way down."

"Drove then did he?" Mickey asked.

"Wouldn't have taken the train would he?" Kevin responded as though it should have been obvious.

Mickey nodded as though realising it had indeed been an obvious conclusion.

"Ah, there he is!" Keven nodded in the direction somewhere behind Miriam. She turned and quickly realised why this Marc wouldn't have travelled by train. Her eyes widened as a large man, he had to be over seven feet tall, with long dark hair came striding towards them in an easy gate that Miriam was sure would require her to jog to keep up.

"And there he is," Mickey stated as though they all had been waiting hours for the man to arrive.

Miriam briefly wondered if this was how a hunted deer might feel. As the man drew nearer, she was sure both her body and her breath had utterly stilled. The man was gorgeous and had an uncanny resemblance to a hero of a highlander romance novel, not that she'd ever admit to reading one. By the time he stood before her, it was obvious her heart was functioning. She could feel her cheeks burning, and she was sure they would put Brian's to shame. It was clear Marc noticed her reaction and he smirked as he stepped forward and grasped her limp hand. "Ah, you must be the lovely lass Mickey said was going to join us." He drew her hand up to his lips, bending low in the process. "Marcus McDonald at your service." Miriam's eyes widened at the sound of his deep voice, and she was sure she was going to faint right there. Scottish. Most definitely Scottish. In the back of her mind, she could hear Eva's voice whispering in her ear, and her cheeks reddened further. "Muriel… a… Muriel Rasmussen," she breathed out.

She was startled back to reality by Mickey's annoyed voice. "Yeah, Marc. Good to see ya could make it."

It was clear Marc took no offence and just continued to examine Muriel, making her feeling somewhat uncomfortable, though it was nothing like the feeling she had when Alister stared at her. She tried not to stare back at him; after all, he really was a work of romance novel art. It was extraordinarily difficult. Every time she tried to attend to the conversation between the other men her eyes would drift back to Marcus McDonald. Before she knew what was happening some sort of decision had been made, and Mickey was pulling her along to wherever they were headed. He needn't have bothered. The tall Scotsman had moved in front of the group. There was no doubt Muriel Rasmussen would have followed behind him. He had nice legs after all.

[Obviously, I didn't attempt making Marcus' dialogue with any sort of Scottish accent to it. I wouldn't know the first thing about trying to write it without sounding ridiculous. You'll just have to use your imagination… or if one of you have a knack for it… I'd more than welcome your assistance.]

Note: If you haven't read or listened to "Only Human" by Gareth Roberts, you must. It's hilarious. Rose and the ninth Doctor go back 28,000 years. I'll be making some references to "Only Human" within this adventure.

"So, do you think we'll see dinosaurs then?" Rose asked the Doctor as she looked around the icy landscape. The mammoth were now only specs of brown in the distance. She had been disappointed when she hadn't seen any dinosaurs the last time she'd travelled into the ice age.

"Nope. No dinosaurs here. You're about sixty-four million, nine-hundred, sixty-eight years, three weeks, two days, and five minutes too late for that Rose Tyler."

Rose scrunched up her nose. "I really don't want to know how you know that."

The Doctor continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Though, if you want to get technical about it, in an evolutionary sense, those pigeons who stole your chips last week are descended from the Archaeopteryx. That pigeon would take a bit more than a few chips I tell you." He nodded to her quite seriously.

"Doctor," Rose put her hands on her hips. "Really?"

"Well if you're going to be that way," he pouted. The pout quickly transformed into a wicked grin when he added, "On a positive note," he circled his finger at her, "you won't be running into the in-laws. Bit of a distance from Bristol by foot, not to mention a few thousand years." It was clear that the Doctor thought himself quite clever.

Rose rolled her eyes and looked off into the distance towards the edge of a vast forest. The forest reminded her of that particular adventure. She frowned remembering what had happened to the kind Neanderthal clan that had saved her. And then there was Tillun, from the human clan. The corner of her lip twitched slightly. Tillun had been fit, absolutely gorgeous… for a caveman, but that didn't mean she fancied facing her husband's family again. Husband. She giggled at the thought. She glanced at the Doctor and wondered how many times he'd been married accidentally or otherwise. She'd felt a sense of amusement at first, with all his protestations about domestics; however, as the thought of him actually being married began to creep in, she realised she really didn't like the idea… accident or not.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor's concerned voice pulled her from the disturbing thought. "You okay?" The Doctor stepped forward and lifted her chin to get a better look at her. Rose forced a smile on her face as she looked past him at the icy landscape. "Yeah." The doctor narrowed his brow. Rose took a deep breath and turned to him. Her smile grew genuine, and her heart fluttered at the concern on his face. This Doctor was so new; however, there was no doubt in her mind, not any more: this was the Doctor. Her Doctor. "Yeah." Her smile brightened even further. "Perfect."

The Doctor was clearly satisfied because his demeanour returned to his usual enthusiastic self. "Right then!" He bounced on his toes. "32,006 B.C." He put his hands in his pockets and began his lecture, "The late stone age, the Upper Paleolithic era. You busy humans have begun spreading all out over Eurasia, making yourself at home with more and more settlements. Your imagination blossoms… cave paintings! Oh, got to love the cave paintings. Brilliant bits of art! You begin recording your history… Ever developing new amazing things. Flint tools for hunting! Spears! Knives! Adding all sorts of added zing to your boring and frankly crude stone tools." He nodded to a stream that could be seen in the distance. "And fishing! You remember fishing Rose?"

Rose cringed remembering the stinky ceremonial fish that had been used at her "wedding."

"The humans are moving up. You're climbing higher than you've ever been before!"

Rose frowned as she remembered the small Neanderthal clan that had saved her and their horrible fate. She looked into the distance, towards the trees once more. She wondered if their ancestors were living there, somewhere in the forests. Hunting, gathering, moving on, unaware of their fate. She sighed.

The Doctor, unaware of her melancholy thoughts continued, "And then there's Alice Springs! Have you ever been to Alice Springs Rose? Quite the hot spot around this time!"

Rose just blinked. She had no idea what Alice Springs was.

The Doctor looked disappointed but was more than willing to explain. "In Australia, nice little settlement forming. We'll have to pop over, go for a camel ride. We'll have to go sometime before the 51st Century. All the desert parks have been converted to tulip groves by then. No crisper needed!" Rose blinked once more. That made absolutely no sense. Tulips? In Australia? Crisper?

"Out there," the Doctor continued, "the world is so fresh and new!" He took a few more steps forward, moving away from the protection of the Tardis. He inhaled a large breath and then… started choking.

"Doctor!" Rose hurried forward in concern. Before she could reach, she was halted as she was met with the horrible… taste… the air it actually tasted… like chalk. She licked her lips together in an attempt to ease the dryness of her mouth. There was obviously something wrong with the air; however, she wasn't for sure why the Doctor was acting like he'd walked into a smoking building. He was now waving his arms about, as though it might clear the air. Had Rose not seen the concern on the Doctor's face, she would have found it amusing, the way he emphasised the unpleasant experience, his face scrunched up and his tongue smacked against his extremely white teeth.

Before she could react any further, the Doctor pulled her back towards the Tardis.

"Yuck! Ick! Gross!" He coughed and then spit onto the grass at his feet. He looked at Rose with concerned eyes. "It's stagnant… and dry." "He gave another cough and then ran his hands through his hair as though shaking something out of it.

"Well yeah. Obviously." She licked her lips to moisten them.

"No. No. No. I mean stagnant." He scrunched up his nose a few times, reminding Rose slightly like a bunny. "I mean... its set." He then leaned forward, just outside that barrier. "And I can smell it. Taste it."

"What was that?"

"Just barely feel it." He stepped out of the protection of the Tardis, this time using a more natural breath. He gave a hesitant sniff of the air. His eyes met Rose's. "Time Rose. It's drawn. Stale. Stone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked.

Instead of responding, the Doctor began to wildly wave his sonic screwdriver in the air. Just as suddenly, he drew it back and examined the readings. "Not completely still… just… well… slow, really really slow, like its moving in well… in slow motion."

"How can time be moving in slow motion?" She nodded in the direction of the herd of mammoth in the distance. She doubted mammoth moved all that fast. Not that she was an expert; however, they seemed to be moving at a reasonable speed… for a sort of a fury elephant herd.

"Oh, that's the thing, we're not moving in slow motion, but the time energy in the air is stilted. It's that chalky taste. You can taste it because you've travelled in the Tardis. You know what time energy tastes like. The more you are around it, the more sensitive you become.

"What do you mean taste like. I've never tasted anything weird in the air," Rose questioned.

"That's because it's normal. Time energy in the Tardis is normal, for your human senses. You don't have the developed taste like a Time Lord. You're just human. You don't have the palate for it. Too underdeveloped."

"Thanks," Rose said sarcastically.

"But this," He waggled his tongue in the air and then cringed at the taste, "this is really not normal. So not normal that even you can taste it." He began sniffing lower, much like a dog, until his nose was level with the tall grass. He used his screwdriver to scan it for a moment before plucking a bit and stuffing it in his mouth.

Rose cringed as the Doctor made a face and then spit it out. "Nasty, really, really, nasty and blah," he complained.

"What you do that for?" Rose asked.

"That's just the thing. Grass isn't blah." He stepped back into the fresh air surrounding the Tardis. "Cows seem to like it, sheep, goats, you know." Suddenly he grinned. "Oh yes, I love them! Got to love those bouncy baby goats." He jumped in place as though demonstrating.

Despite the situation, Rose couldn't help but smile.

The Doctor abruptly stopped his bouncing and frowned once more. "They wouldn't like this grass." He kicked the ground, uprooting a patch of the green plants. He pointed to the grass just outside that barrier. "That little patch is twenty years old."

"What?" Rose didn't understand. "How could it be twenty years old. "Doesn't it die off and whatever."

"Yep!" The Doctor responded. "Dies and regrows, dies and regrows, over and over again, consistently building up nutrients. That," he pointed at the ground, "is as good as a bit of cardboard."

"So what does that have to do with the air being stagnant? So chalky?" Rose asked.

The Doctor turned to look at her. "Everything."

Rose was just about to ask what that meant but lost her opportunity when he suddenly grabbed her hand and began pulling her away from the safe field around the Tardis, his sonic screwdriver pointing down towards the ground. "What are you doing?" She gasped before clamping down her breathing. She had no desire to taste the chalky air.

"It's getting thinner, thinner, and thinner."

Eventually, she couldn't hold her breath any longer and let out another gasp. She expected to inhale the chalky air; however, the air that greeted her was fresh. She sniffed. It smelled fresh. Amazingly clean and clear. "What happened?" The Doctor scanned the area and then walked a few feet back towards the Tardis. Rose noticed that the light at the end of the screwdriver was blinking more rapidly as he neared where what she assumed was a band of that stagnant time energy. As though he'd scanned enough, the Doctor pocketed the screwdriver and turned to her. "Time energy Rose," he began as he walked back towards her. "It's all around us. Around everything in the universe, unless of course, you're in a time lock, and then its sort of just... locked. There is something here, something suppressing this area." He gestured to the area between them and the Tardis.

"What do you think it is? Is someone doing it?" Rose asked.

The Doctor's brow narrowed. "Perhaps, but… but…"

"But what?" Rose asked impatiently.

"It could also be a virus?"

"What do you mean a virus?"

"A time virus. A purging of sorts… but not," the Doctor explained.

"What… you mean like the Reapers or somthin'?" Rose shuddered at the very thought.

The Doctor studied her, "Possibly, you could see it that way… but not really."

"Like I said, Time energy is all around us. It keeps you moving day to day. There are faint traces of it in every being, in every living thing. It moves on. It keeps on moving, processing the energy that surrounds it and releases it. Much like a tree produces the air you breathe." He nodded towards a small stand of trees between them and the Tardis. "Those trees aren't breathing Rose and I don't like it one bit."

"It's bad then." Rose looked to the Doctor, though it really wasn't a question.

"Yeah, really, really bad."