"You can't do that," The Doctor protested, turning to the woman who had appeared in his Tardis, "I wasn't, We're in flight. That is, that is physically impossible! How did-"

"Tell me where I am," the woman demanded, "I demand you tell me right now where am I?"

"Inside the Tardis," The Doctor told her, listening to her demands.

"The what?" the bride- to- be asked.

"The Tardis," The Doctor replied.

"The what?"

"The Tardis!"

"The what?"

"It's called the Tardis," Cerese snapped, "would you guys please stop repeating yourselves, it's rather annoying."

"That's not even a proper word," the woman protested "You're just saying things."

"How did you get in here?" The Doctor asked, moving on after glancing at Cerese. He was starting to get that repeating things would be bad with her.

"Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me," the woman snapped, "Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it."

"Who the hell is Nerys?" The Doctor snapped

"Your best friend," the woman replied.

"Hold on, wait a minute. What are you dressed like that for?"

"I'm going ten pin bowling," She snapped, "Why do you think, dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle! I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away, and then you, I don't know, you drugged me or something!"

"I haven't done anything!" The Doctor protested, looking to Cerese for help

"I'm having the police on you! Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband, we're going to sue the living backside off you!" The woman snapped before storming to the doors, despite both Cerese and The Doctor protesting it.

"No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't!" The Doctor yelled as he followed her. She opened the doors anyway to reveal the swirling colors of a nebula. He paused beside her, speaking calmly now, "You're in space. Outer space. This is my space ship. It's called the Tardis."

"How am I breathing?" she wondered.

"The Tardis is protecting us," The Doctor told her.

"Who are you?" the woman breathed, turning to take in The Doctor properly.

"I'm the Doctor," The Doctor told her, "She's Ce-"

"The Timekeeper," Cerese interrupted, earning herself a glance from The Doctor before he continued.

"She's The Timekeeper," he continued, "you?"

"Donna," She replied.

"Human?" He asked, grabbing his sonic and started scanning the woman.

"Yeah," Donna said clearly annoyed by the sonic, though he ignored that, "Is that optional?"

"Well, it is for me," The Doctor informed, reading the scans.

"You're an alien," Donna noted, as though it should have been obvious.

"Yeah," The Doctor said.

"And you?" Donna looked at Cerese.

"You're alien to me," she said by way of answering.

"It's freezing with these doors open," Donna said, for lack of anything better to

The Doctor shut the Tardis doors and went back to the console. He really was confused, and a tad frustrated. All her wanted to do now was talk to Cerese and bask in the fact that he wasn't alone anymore. Even if it meant that he'd have to tell her what he did.

On second thought, maybe a distraction was a good thing.

"I don't understand that and I understand everything. This this can't happen! There is no way a human being can lock itself onto the Tardis and transport itself inside. It must be-" he grabbed and ophthalmoscope from one of his pockets and used it to look into Donna's eyes, hoping to gain some insight on what the connection was, "impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic-"

A hand suddenly connected with his cheek and The Doctor covered it before staring at Donna in shock.

"What was that for?"

"Get me to the church!" Donna demanded, more than fed up with the time lord and his antics.

"Right! Fine!" The Doctor said, exasperated, "I don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?"

"Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System," Donna said, listing everything about the church she as getting married in. She paused when she noticed a blouse on the railing and stormed over to it, "I knew it, acting all innocent. I'm not the first, am I? How many women have you abducted?" She turned to Cerese, "Did he abduct you?"

"That's my friend's," The Doctor said, eyeing the shirt sadly.

"Where is she, then?" Donna snapped "Popped out for a space walk?"

"She's gone," The Doctor told her honestly.

"Gone where?" Donna harshly

"I lost her," The Doctor explained.

"Well, you can hurry up and lose me!" Donna snapped before continuing more gently, "How do you mean, lost?"

The Doctor grabbed the blouse from Donna, tossing it out of the console room where the Tardis could take care of it and turned his attention back to Donna.

"Right, Chiswick," he deflected after a moment and turned his attention to the console.


Cerese watched The Doctor run around the console with interest. Usually, Tardises were flown by at least three pilots, a type forty Tardis could have anywhere from three to six depending on how complicated the flight pattern was supposed to be.

She could only assume that the Tardis herself was helping him fly. The hum that she received in response to that thought was confirmation enough that she was right about that. She considered stepping to help but as she hadn't flown a Tardis in centuries she decided that it might not be the best idea.

She watched Donna run out of the Tardis and followed The Doctor at a slower pace, wanting to see what earth looked like when it wasn't being attacked by Daleks and Cybermen. It was honestly louder than she thought it would be. And unbelievably smelly.

"I said, Saint Mary's," Donna snapped after she had surveyed the area, "What sort of Martian are you? Where's this?"

"Something's wrong with her," The Doctor explained sadly as he patted the blue box on the side, "The Tardis, it's like she's recalibrating! She's digesting. What is it? What have you eaten? What's wrong? Donna? You've really got to think. Is there anything that might've caused this?" The Doctor was questioning Donna who was running around the Tardis, trying to make sense of its size "Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off. What if you're dangerous. I mean, have you, have you seen lights in the sky, or did you touch something like something, something different, something strange? Or something made out of a, box of metal or. Who're you getting married to? Are you sure he's human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he?" He paused when he noticed that the human was running off, "Donna!"

The Doctor took off after Donna while Cerese decided she'd rather stay near the Tardis.

"He'll be back," She said to the blue box as she examined her outside, "though I wonder why he keeps you looking like this. Surely he knows how to fix the matrix when it gets stuck."

Cerese shrugged and opened the door to the Tardis. She considered waiting for The Doctor in the console room before deciding it would be more interesting to explore the Tardis. She wanted to be able to find her way around without help from either the Tardis or The Doctor.

She wanted to have a proper chat with him but that obviously wasn't going to happen while he was zipping around after Donna. Instead Cerese found the library, an anthology of human history, and got to brushing up her knowledge of the world she was somehow connected to.


Cerese was still in the library when she felt a change in the energy of the Tardis. It was hard for her to explain but none the less she made her way to the control room to find The Doctor running around the console. He barely acknowledged her as he worked to get close to what appeared Donna, a robot, and a taxi.

"Is it always like this?" Cerese wondered as she took a seat on the jumpseat with her legs crossed.

"Like what?" The Doctor asked as he tied a rope to a lever and ran to the door.

"Running around constantly without a break," Cerese explained before going over to the console to pull one last lever and further stabilize the Tardis.

"Yes," The Doctor told her, looking back in appreciation before putting all his attention on the bride- to- be. "Roll down your window!"

Cerese took her seat again and watched with interest as The Doctor coaxed Donna into jumping from the taxi to the Tardis. She winced as the pair landed hard on the floor before Donna hurried to stand up after an awkward moment of staring at The Doctor.

"Do you need help landing?" Cerese ventured after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

Her question seemed to spur The Doctor into action as he raced around the control room. She waited for a moment for his answer only to realize that he probably wasn't going to give her one. She shrugged and walked over to the captain's seat, being very careful to keep her balance as she went.

Cerese watched the pair as they went outside the Tardis. Only leaving after being prompted to by the ship herself. Something about recalibrating and not wanting to accidentally lock her in the ball pit. She would have survived the smoke.

Cerese stepped out to find the two on the edge of the roof, looking out over St. Paul's Cathedral. Donna had The Doctor's coat over her shoulders, which was much too small considering The Doctor's stick figure frame. She reached into the pocket of her trousers and pulled out a black cloak that was thinner than the red one she normally wore but still warm.

"Here," Cerese said, grabbing The Doctor's jacket and replacing it with her cloak, "this might keep you warmer."

"Thank you," Donna said, looking up at the brunette, "sorry but, who are you, you never really explained."

"I'm Cerese," She introduced, obviously confusing The Doctor since she'd refused to give her nickname earlier. Which was the name she preferred to go by anyways, "time lady."

"And how long have you been traveling with him?" She asked, gesturing to The Doctor, who'd put his jacket back on.

"I'd say about twelve hours now?" Cerese said, making it a question even though she knew that it'd been twelve hours, thirty- five minutes, and fifty-three seconds exactly since she'd left the void. She still wasn't sure what to make of all this but decided that it would be best for her to focus on Donna's problems and put her own on the backburner. Since that seemed to be what The Doctor was doing. She focused on the view of London as The Doctor and the bride-to-be talked.


"Oh and you'd better put this on," The Doctor said, remembering the ring he had in his pocket. He pulled out the gold bio-dampener and presented it to Donna.

"Oh, do you have to rub it in?" Donna demanded, though her voice was less harsh than it'd been in the past.

"Those creatures can trace you," The Doctor informed the red-headed human, "This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden. With this ring, I thee bio-damp."

"For better or for worse," Donna joked with a small smile, "So, come on then. Robot Santas, what are they for?"

"Ah, your basic robo-scavenger," The Doctor explained, in his element here. "The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. I met them last Christmas."

"Why, what happened then?" Donna asked, oblivious to the look of disbelief that The Doctor was sending her way.

"Great big spaceship hovering over London?" He asked dumbfounded, "You didn't notice?"

"I had a bit of a hangover," Donna told them with a shrug.

"I spent Christmas Day just over there, the Powell Estate, with this family," The Doctor said pointing in the location of Rose's apartment, "My friend, she had this family. Well, they were. Still, gone now."

"Your friend, who was she?"

"Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you?" The Doctor evaded, not wanting to talk about Rose anymore. The hurt was too fresh, "And how did you get inside the Tardis? I don't know. What's your job?"

"I'm a secretary," Donna told him as The Doctor brought out his sonic to scan the woman.

"It's weird. I mean, you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important."

"You're rude," Cerese said, glaring at The Doctor from where she was sitting be Donna.

"This friend of yours. Just before she left, did she punch you in the face?" Donna snapped before hitting The Doctor's hand away, "Stop bleeping me!"

"What kind of secretary?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping," Donna said before telling an impressively false story about how Lance proposed to her.

"What does HC Clements do?" The Doctor asked when she was done with her story.

" Oh, security systems. You know, entry codes, ID cards, that sort of thing," Donna said with a shrug, "If you ask me, it's a posh name for locksmiths."

"Keys," The Doctor said.

"Anyway, enough of my CV," Donna said standing up and offering a hand to Cerese, who accepted, "Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is going to be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian boy."

"Yeah. I'm not from Mars," The Doctor frowned, following the two women as they headed to the door leading off the roof.

"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned," Donna told Cerese, ignoring The Doctor behind them, "Everyone's going to be heartbroken."


Cerese was starting to like Donna. When they'd entered the reception to find the party in full swing she had fake cried to garner sympathy from everyone else in retaliation for not believing her.

She took another sip of her drink, wincing at the initial bitterness but enjoying the fruity flavor that was left behind. Cerese had decided to limit herself to one drink, even though she knew that it would have no effect on her, she'd have to have at least three more to even feel anything.

"How can you drink that stuff?" The Doctor asked from beside her. He'd taken one drink of the sangria before switching to a cool and refreshing iced water.

Cerese shrugged, setting down the drink before holding a hand out to The Doctor. She laughed when he just stared at it.

"Since we're here, do you want to dance?" Cerese asked with a small smile.

"Sure," The Doctor replied, taking Cerese's hand with a grin and leading her out to the dance floor.

Cerese was honestly surprised to find that The Doctor wasn't bad at slow dancing. She'd expected them to just sway to the beat but the time lord led her in an actual dance around the floor. She knew that people were staring but she couldn't care less what they thought of them.

"Is this your first time on earth?" The Doctor asked curiously after moment. His voice was pitched so that none of the other occupants of the room could hear him.

"Well, other than what happened a few hours ago, yeah," Cerese said, "the council wouldn't let me leave Arcadia, much less travel to another galaxy."

"Hm," The Doctor replied, a hint of sadness at the mention of their home planet, "what do you think of it so far?"

Cerese thought about it for a moment, "I think it's a very interesting place to be. I can see why you like it so much. Though I still haven't figured out why I have the connection to it that I do?"

"And what is that?" The Doctor asked.

Cerese was going to reply when she saw the man who had recorded the wedding earlier. She got an idea and decided to follow through with it. Knowing that figuring out the situation with Donna was more important than her connection to earth's time.

"Never mind that," Cerese said, pulling away from The Doctor and pointing to the camera man, "let's see if he knows anything."

She saw the disappointed look The Doctor gave her before he shook his head, following behind her as she led the way. Cerese stopped next to the man and waited for him to finish a conversation with a sweet older lady before getting his attention.

"Excuse me, sorry, we helped Donna get back here this afternoon. Is there any way you can show us what happened?" Cerese asked, gesturing to The Doctor to show that they were both interested.

"Of course, I taped the whole thing," The man said, setting the camera up to show the replay of the main event for the evening, "They've all had a look. They said sell it to You've Been Framed. I said, more like the News. Here we are."

"Can't be," The Doctor said after watching the gold particles appear around Donna, "Play it again?"

"Clever, mind," The man complimented, "Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."

"But that looks like Huon Particles," The Doctor said, glancing between Cerese and the camera.

"Which can't be hidden by a biodamper, Doctor," Cerese said before running to find Donna while The Doctor went to check out the windows.

"Donna," Cerese said, grabbing the woman's elbow and leading her aside, "sorry, the biodamper doesn't work. They've found you."

"But he said I was safe," Donna protested, gesturing to The Doctor who was running towards them.

"The biodamper doesn't work," The Doctor said, "We've got to get everyone out."

"My God, it's all my family," Donna said before she started running towards the door. The Doctor grabbed her and pulled her the other way.

Cerese let the two of them worry about getting everyone out while she focused on disarming the robots. While she didn't have much experience with this specific technology it didn't take Cerese long to figure out how a system worked. And any system as primitive as belonged to these robots had a high frequency weakness.

She quickly went to the stage and hid under a table to fiddle with some cables. She winced at a spark but kept working as the trees in the room started to spin, baubles coming off and exploding everywhere. Cerese kept working through the panic when suddenly The Doctor was next to her with his sonic screwdriver.

"Ah," The Doctor said, figuring out what she was doing, "want this?"

The took the offered sonic and used it for the last bit of tinkering before standing up to address the Santas, The Doctor right beside her.

"Oi! Santa! Word of advice," Cerese called getting everyone's attention, "If you're attacking a woman with access to a sonic screwdriver, don't let her near the sound system."

She activated the screwdriver which caused the speakers to short at a frequency that shook the robots to pieces. Cerese nodded when they were all dissembled before handing the screwdriver back to The Doctor and going to check on Donna.


"Look at that. Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robots," The Doctor said, having grabbed the remote from one of the Santas. They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."

"Never mind all that," Donna snapped, "You're a doctor. People have been hurt."

"Nah, they wanted you alive. Look," The Doctor tossed a bauble at Donna who caught it with wide eyes, "They're not active now."

"All I'm saying, you could help," Donna said, trying not to get upset with him

"Got to think of the bigger picture," The Doctor argued before running outside, Cerese on his heels, "There's still a signal!"

"Donna, who is he?" Sylvia, Donna's mother, called after Donna who was following the two with Lance in tow, "Who is that man?"

"There's someone behind this, directing the roboforms," The Doctor said, using his sonic to trace the signal.

"But why is it me?" Donna questioned, eyes wide with panic. Cerese grabbed the woman's hand and squeezed, giving her the comfort that The Doctor was currently unable to provide, "What have I done?"

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Ooo! It's up there. Something in the sky," The Doctor said as an ambulance pulled up beside the reception hall. "I've lost the signal. Donna, we've got to get to your office. HC Clements. I think that's where it all started. Lance! Is it Lance? Lance, can you give us a lift?"