Hold the pitchforks...

I'M BACK!

And I'm sooo sorry. This last month has been CRAZY. Full of major life changes. Seriously, I'm sorry. Don't think I haven't thought on this story like, every day.

Supposedly, this month will be better, so expect more updates!

Thanks for all the support! New followers, favorites, and reviews. Especially reviews! And the PMs. They all make me very very happy:)

"Right, there we go." The Doctor handed Martha back her cellphone. "Universal roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again. And Kylie, your new phone, black, as requested."

I eyed the new device in my hands, the shiny black case smooth in my hands. Now, I just had to learn to use it. "Thanks."

"No way." Martha grinned. "This is too mad. You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"

"As long as you know the area code." The edge of his mouth perked up. "Frequent flier's privilege. Go on, try it."

I opened the screen and touched one of the numbers. The screen lit up.

Confused, I looked at Martha. "Hey, how do I-"

The TARDIS suddenly jerked and I stumbled forward, just barely catching myself with the console without losing the new phone.

The Doctor started flipping switches, even using his foot to pull down a lever. "Distress signal. Locking on. Might be a bit of-"

Another jerk, and I slipped, falling on my side and clutching the phone. We came to a sudden halt, and I scrambled to my feet.

"-Turbulence." The Doctor brushed himself off. "Sorry. Come on, then. Let's take a look."

He sped out the door, and Martha and I followed closely behind, beginning to get used to how quickly his mind worked.

The wave of heat hit us right as my feet left the TARDIS. I shrugged off the jacket and threw it back in, looking around. Machines, cables, and ducts covered the place. The lights were red and steam immediately made my skin clammy.

"Whoa, now that is hot." The Doctor exclaimed.

I made a face, already feeling the sweat beginning to pool inside my shirt. "Ugh."

Martha grunted. "It's like a sauna in here."

The Doctor looked around. "Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down… wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat-" He pushed a bulkhead door open, and new air rushed in, a bit less warm.

We stepped after him. The new room had a sign that proclaimed itself area 30.

We'd been there merely seconds when people rushed in – two men and a woman. They were screaming and their skin was damp with sweat.

"Oi! You three!" the youngest man called.

"Get out of there!" The woman ordered.

"Seal the door, now!"

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"

"Are you police?"

The Doctor blinked. "Why would we be police?"

"We got your distress signal." Martha explained.

"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" The Doctor wondered.

I eyed the group of people suspiciously. And why are you so worried that we're the police?

"It went dead four minutes ago." The woman, the Captain, proclaimed.

The man who hadn't yet spoken stepped up. "So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain."

An alarm blared, and a computer announced, "Secure closure active."

"What?" The Captain cried.

"The ship's gone mad."

The sound of doors slamming shut reached us, and we turned to find a woman running towards us, trying to outrun the doors.

"Erina!" Somebody called out to her.

"Who activated secure closure?" She asked between pants as she finally reached us. "I nearly got locked in to area twenty seven." She stopped, finally noticing us. "Who are you?"

I saw the Doctor try to speak, but Martha beat him to it. "He's the Doctor, she's Kylie, and I'm Martha." She said, offhandedly. "Hello."

She walked almost mechanically to the nearest porthole.

The computer made another announcement. "Impact projection forty two minutes twenty seven seconds."

The Captain looked at us worriedly. "We'll get out of this. I promise."

"Guys." Martha called out.

I approached Martha, curious to see where we were. I looked out the porthole, and froze. "Ah, hell. Doctor."

"Forty two minutes until what?" I heard him ask.

"Doctor!" Martha screamed. "Look!"

We stared out into space as the Doctor joined us; the head of the massive yellow fusion reactor hitting us in the face as the ship slowly approached it.

The Captain finally answered the Doctor's question. "Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun."

The Doctor immediately snapped into action, approaching the group of people and grabbing the captain by her shoulders. "How many crew members on board?"

The Captain seemed bewildered. "Seven, including us."

"We transport cargo across the galaxy." One of the crewmembers explained. "Everything's automated. We just keep the ship space worthy."

"Call the others." The Doctor ordered. "I'll get you out."

He ran towards area thirty's door, trying to open it.

"What's he doing?" One of the strangers exclaimed.

"No, don't!"

The Doctor was able to open the door, but he was immediately knocked down by a blast of heat that blew my hair back. Erina rushed forwards, pushing the door closed once again.

"But my ship's in there!" The Doctor exclaimed as I helped him up.

"In the vent chamber?" Somebody asked, confused.

"It's our lifeboat." The Doctor responded, roughly.

The oldest man shook his head. "It's lava."

Erina checked the reading on a panel near the door. "The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."

"Channeling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."

Martha's eyes widened in horror. "We're stuck here."

I winced, watching the Doctor carefully as his eyes flickered back and forth, considering his options.

He wasn't one to give in easily. "So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun. Simple." He took off, running down a hall. "Engineering down here, is it?"

The computer's voice echoed through the halls. "Impact in forty twenty six."

Martha and I looked at each other, rushing after the Doctor once again.

We stumbled into a bigger room, even messier if possible. The Doctor came to a sudden halt, wildly looking around.

"Blimey," The Doctor muttered. "Do you always leave things in such a mess?"

We weren't the only ones surprised at the state of the engine room. The crew was gaping in disbelief.

"Oh, my God." The Captain gasped.

"What the hell happened?"

"Oh, it's wrecked."

I lifted one of the cables hanging from the engine, examining it close to my face. "These are clean cut," I blinked. "This was done on purpose."

The Doctor nodded, reaching into his jacket and producing a pair of glasses. I watched, amused, as he slipped them on and grinned. He started poking around the machinery, the tip of his tongue just barely visible between his teeth as he concentrated. "Quite efficiently too. Someone knew what they were doing."

"Where's Korwin?" The captain asked. "Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"

"No," One of the crewmembers mumbled around the flashlight he held between his teeth.

The captain approached the intercom placed on the wall. "Korwin, Ashton? Where are you? Korwin, can you answer?" She stepped back with a growl. "Where the hell is he? He should be up here."

The Doctor fiddled with one of the computers. "Oh, we're in the Torajii system! Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."

"Yeah, feels it." She muttered.

The Doctor looked up, grinning at me. "We're not far from your planet, Kylie. We could go visit later."

I ducked my face behind the machinery, clenching my teeth together as I toyed with some wires. Not that I knew what I was doing. Just wanted to look busy.

"First concentrate on getting us out of here alive, Doctor." I said, and strangely enough my voice came out calm, almost deadly so. "We'll talk about… home visits later."

"Of course." He twisted around, approaching the Captain, brows furrowed. "And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"

That drew my attention. The Captain wasn't meeting the Doctor's eyes, and one of her crewmembers was looking at her face intently.

"We're due to upgrade next docking," The Captain said, brushing the Doctor off. "Scannell, engine report."

The oldest man in the group, who appeared to be the second in command, meddled with the keys on a computer. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, wincing as he looked up. "No response."

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

Scannell approached the field of wires and equipment beside me. I stepped back, giving him room to look. "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."

"Oh, come on." The Doctor exclaimed, taking off his glasses. "Auxiliary engines. Every craft's got auxiliaries."

The Captain shook her head. "We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship."

Scannell shook his head. "Yeah, with twenty nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time."

Martha frowned. "Can't you override the doors?"

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."

The Doctor exhaled. "So a sonic screwdriver's no use."

"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time."

I winced. "We have no chance."

Disbelief colored the Doctor's words. "Oh, listen to you. Defeated before we've even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?"

"They're randomly generated," The youngest of the men spoke up. "Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti."

"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti?" The Doctor asked. "Get on it."

"Well, it's a two person job. One, a technician for the questions, and the other to carry this." Riley said, hauling up a massive backpack on. "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"

The Captain smirked wryly. "Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?"

Riley grinned. "Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."

"I'll help you." Martha said, helping with the equipment. "Make myself useful."

"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel," Riley explained. "That's why it needs two."

Riley took off, Martha following close behind.

"Oi!" The Doctor's voice stopped her. His eyes were as serious as I'd ever seen them. "Be careful."

Martha nodded, looking determined. "You too." Her eyes flickered to me. "Keep an eye on him, will you?"

I nodded back, a small smile on my face. "Will do."

Martha disappeared.

"Oi, I don't need looking after." The Doctor grumbled. "I'm several years your senior, you know. I should be looking after you."

I rolled my eyes, chuckling. "Whatever you say, Doctor."

The side of his lips twitched up in a small smile.

"McDonnell." A raspy voice came from the intercom in the wall. "It's Ashton."

The Captain ran over to the device. "Where are you?" She asked. "Is Korwin with you?"

"Get up to the med-center now!"

The Captain and the Doctor exchanged a look before startling me on a run. Frowning, I started after them, briefly meeting Martha's eyes as we passed them.

"Good luck!" I called out at her.

"You too!"

The computer's voice logged on to the ship's speakers. "Impact in thirty-four thirty-one."

We reached the Med-Centre, and I blinked as we came to a stop. A man and a women were trying to hold a man down, trying to lower him so they could place him in what looked to be a stasis chamber. The man was struggling, his eyes tightly shut and his face scrunched up in pain.

"Argh! Stop it!" The man holding him down yelled at him.

"Korwin, it's Abi." The woman pleaded. "Open your eyes. I need to take a look at you."

"Korwin!" The Captain cried as she and the Doctor approached the man. I followed, latching onto one of the man's legs as he almost kicked the Doctor in the chest. "What's happened? Is he okay?"

"Help me!" Korwin cried. "It's burning me!"

"How long's he been like this?" The Doctor asked.

Abi looked at him. "Ashton just brought him in."

The Doctor quickly took out his sonic screwdriver, and used it to scan Korwin down. I watched by helplessly, as he continued to struggle.

"What are you doing?" The Captain asked him.

"Don't get too close." The Doctor muttered.

"Don't be stupid," The Captain cried out. "That's my husband."

"And he's just sabotaged our ship." Ashton interrupted.

The Captain's head snapped in his direction. "What?"

"He went mad." The man explained. "He put the ship onto secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."

"Now way. He wouldn't do that." The Captain protested.

"I saw it happen, Captain."

The Doctor finalized his scan and leaned over Korwin. "Korwin?" He said, in a deceptively calm voice. "Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."

"I can't!" Korwin cried.

The Doctor seemed immune to his cries. "Yeah, course you can. Go on."

"Don't make me look at you, please."

"All right, all right, all right. Just relax." The Doctor looked wildly around. "Kylie? Pass me that-" I grabbed the red hypo-gun he was looking at and gave it to him. "Ah, perfect. Sedative?" he asked.

Abi nodded. "Yes."

Smoothly, the Doctor maneuvered the gun to Korwin's neck and pressed the trigger, immediately sedating the man, his body slumping into the gurney.

"What's wrong with him?" The Captain immediately asked.

The Doctor crossed his arms, running his eyes over the unconscious man. "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings." He paused. "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature. And, just for fun, run a bioscan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."

Abi glanced up from the computer she was working on. "Just doing them now."

The Doctor blinked, surprised. "Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"

Abi shook her head. "Not so far."

"Well, that's something."

The Captain seemed to be losing her mind. "Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?"

"Some sort of infection." The Doctor concluded. "We'll know more after the test results. Now, allons-y, back downstairs." He barked, then turned towards Ashton. "Hey. See about those engines. Go." He turned towards the Captain, eyeing her carefully. "Hey. Go." The Captain obeyed, following after Ashton.

The Doctor turned around, his hands suddenly on my shoulders and his eyes level with mine. I could only stare back.

"You. You stay with me, alright? You feel weird, strange, whatever, you tell me. Okay?"

I blinked. "Yeah, yeah. Alright."

He nodded, letting go of my shoulders and instead took hold of my arm, dragging me behind him as he approached the doorway. "Good. Call us if there's news." He called back at Abi. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Abi scoffed, unbelieving as she watched the Doctor order everyone around. "Who are you?"

The Doctor paused by the doorway, looking back at Abi, a smile playing on his lips. I rolled my eyes. Here it came.

"I'm the Doctor."

We ran down the corridor, me chuckling in his wake.

"What?" he asked.

"You and your exits. Always so dramatic."

He rolled his eyes, but grinned.

The speakers turned on. "Heat shield failing. At twenty-five percent. Impact in thirty-two fifty."