Thanks to: Fablegirl777, ShinyIvyleaves, and Idoloni. Best review came from Idoloni: mucho gracias! And thanks for pointing out the out-of-character points- in this chapter, I revised a little bit according to what you said. There's very little that bothers me more than an out-of-character story, and the last thing I want is for my own writing to be that way- thank you for the help! :D

BY THE WAY- I don't own the Doctor. BBC does.

Amy and Rory met up with the Doctor outside their rooms an hour and a half later.

"Doctor, thank you so much for letting us stay here! It's wonderful! The rooms- they're not even rooms, they're like entire towns! This place is huge! We went to a water park room, and got massages, and there's a shopping centre, and it's so amazing!" Amy gushed, grabbing the Doctor in a hug. He squeezed her back, smiling.

"It is quite spectacular. Last time I was here, I didn't stay long, and didn't have this much fun," he confessed, releasing her.

"What happened last time you were here?" Rory questioned hesitantly, looking into the Doctor's eyes. His eyes flicked away for a second to look at the floor, but only for a second, before meeting Rory's gaze again steadily.

"I'm a busy man, Rory," he said carelessly, clapping him on the shoulder. "I don't take a lot of time for relaxation."

"But you didn't want to come here. Something bad must've happened," Amy prodded. There it was again- for a split second, his eyes were a sea of fear and doubt and dark thoughts.

"A few of my friends had an… argument. With me. And two of them- they left, unexpectedly. Just some odd happenings. One of them, Sky- one of the two who left- changed, and changed me too, and the other one who left sort of… un-changed us, and took Sky with her," he said, vaguely and haltingly. Rory and Amy exchanged a look, more confused than before.

"Changed? Changed how?" Amy asked.

"Why did they leave? And what do you mean, she 'took' her with her?" Rory added.

"It's complicated. And old stories. Old, old, old. Doesn't matter, don't worry yourselves with it," the Doctor said, shaking his head. Changing the subject gracelessly, he said, "So where are you up to now? The beach room? Or garden room?"

"Um, the ski room, actually," Amy said quickly.

"You're wearing a skirt," the Doctor pointed out.

"I'll change there. You can rent snow gear," Amy said. "Where are you going?"

"Library and café. They've got great chocolate," he said breezily.

"Right. Well, have fun." She and Rory turned and headed down the hall. The Doctor followed them.

"Isn't the ski room the other way?"

"Isn't the library and café the other way?"

"I thought I'd accompany you."

"I have Rory the Roman. You can go to your books and chocolate."

"Well you're going the wrong way to the ski room."

"Scenic route."

"Of course." The Doctor grabbed two white slips of paper from Amy's jacket pocket. "I didn't know the ski room required tickets. Or that the tickets, which you don't need, said 'Saph-Falls Shuttle' on them."

"Hey! Give those back!" she protested, trying to grab them. He held them high over her head, out of reach. "Rory! Grab them!" Rory looked between his furious, redhead wife, hands on her hips, and the Doctor, eyes steely, reached, hesitated, then stepped back uncertainly. "Rory!"

"I told you not to go on the shuttle," the Doctor said, putting his hands on Amy's shoulders and looking sternly at her.

"Yes, and we would listen, but you wouldn't tell us why not," she pouted.

"It isn't safe."

"Actually, it's the safest, strongest thing in this galaxy, and farther," Rory put in reasonably.

"No, it's not." The Doctor's voice was quiet and gave the couple chills. "There is something stronger. In this galaxy. On this very planet. Outside," he whispered.

"But… nothing can survive the X-tonic radiation," Rory said, confused. The Doctor nodded.

"Right. Nothing can. It's impossible. And yet…" he sighed. "You aren't going on that shuttle."

Amy snatched the tickets away. "That's a bunch of baloney. Come on, Rory," she said, grabbing her passive husband's hand and pulling him down a corridor to the stairs. The Doctor stared after them for a moment. And then he walked quickly away.

"Well, well, well," Amy said, after stepping into the shuttle. The Doctor turned around and grinned at the pair.

"Imagine that. We both booked seats on the same shuttle, at the same time. It's almost as if I know you well enough to know you'll disobey my request not once, but twice," he said.

"Oh, shut up. It'll be fine. Rory brought his sword," the ginger said, rolling her eyes and patting what appeared to be a normal ballpoint pen clipped to Rory's belt loop.

"If something we can kill with a sword comes at us, I'll be delighted. No, it's the un-beheadable things I'm worried about," he said cryptically, pulling out his sonic and spinning around, looking at the room. He began waving it about, pointing at random points behind chairs and on the ceiling as it buzzed, doing it's sonic thing. "Entertainment system," he explained to the pair. "It's not entertaining, though, just annoying and overwhelming. I'm disabling it. This way, we can meet our fellow travelers."

As he spoke and pointed his sonic screwdriver around, the second pilot came out and, as he predicted, tried to activate televisions and projectors and lights and music, describing each in great detail before pressing a button and failing to turn them all on. It was obvious who had been on the trip before- those who had been and had experienced the unpleasant 'entertainment' looked relieved, while the new travelers frowned.

"Well then!" the Doctor said, standing up and clapping his hands together happily. "We can just introduce ourselves to each other and make friends and such!" One skinny, punkish young man with mess black hair frowned up at him.

"Do I know you?" the man asked. The Doctor stared at him for a moment, looked at the girl beside him, and blinked.

"No, but we can get to know each other," he said happily. The man hesitated.

"I'm Damian. Damian Cane. And this is my fiancé, Izzy. You remind me of a man my father told me about. Some ghost story or something," he said boldly.

"Your father- he wouldn't be Jethro Cane, would he?" the Doctor asked. The boy nodded.

"Was Jethro Cane. He died in a motorcycle accident three years ago," he shrugged. "We weren't very close, but he told me a story once, about him coming here and the shuttle breaking, and something about a ghost, possessing a woman, and some man who said he was clever."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the Doctor said sincerely. "He was a fine man."

"That story… he said it was real, but it couldn't have been. I mean, ghosts? Possession? But- don't laugh at me- you remind me of the clever man from his story. You weren't…" he broke off, blushing.

"There? Nahh, not there, not this man. But," he said, eyes deep, "all stories have grains of truth in them. I won't let anything like that happen."

"Doctor?" Amy said, tugging on the bottom of his coat. He turned to her, noticing with happiness that the other three passengers seemed to be getting to know each other, and leaned down so they could talk confidentially. "Doctor, what was that about ghosts? Were you really there?"

"Yes."

"Was there really a ghost? And possession?" she asked, eyes wide. The Doctor gave her a grim smile.

"Ghosts aren't real. Now, you two ought to meet Damian and Izzy. They're going to get married, going on a trip in space first. Sound familiar? I'm going to talk with the other passengers." With that he went to the front of the shuttle and sat down beside an elder woman, smiling.

I feel like this chapter doesn't have much content, so if I get two reviews then I'll update immediately... so if you just say anything, ANYTHING AT ALL, I'll give youse another chapter tonight!