Sincerity

Introducing Mr Hardy

Martha was leaning against the wall, fuelled by eagerness. Her long black hair was up in it's usual clip, and she had her much trusted red leather coat over a long dark blue top and jeans. She was waiting for the return of a good friend of hers. It had taken a week or two to get over being cloned and possessed, but now she had, she just wanted to get back out there. Her face lit up, and excitement flowed through her veins at the familiar sound of the TARDIS engines.

"About time." She muttered to herself with a smile.

As the long awaited blue box appeared, a cheekily grinning Doctor leaned against the door, complete with glasses, as he'd just been reading an instructions manual, purely for entertainment value, he was like that. He smiled as Martha hurried over, hugging him and beaming.

"Miss me?" he winked.

"I was having a whale of a time with my parents actually." she said coyly

"Oh, I'll go then."

The Doctor turned to leave, but Martha just gave him a playful punch, ducking under his arm and stepping in to the TARDIS. What she saw wasn't quite what she expected. Everything looked pretty much the same, except there was a girl, a few years younger than herself, sitting on a rail to the side of the control panel, feeding something fuzzy and purple what looked like popcorn. The girl looked up with a start, to find Martha staring at her suspiciously.

"Who's this then, Doctor?"

"This is someone I'd like you to meet."

He motioned for the girl, with the front bits of her hair dyed pink, and wearing a blue bandana, to come over. Nervously, she jumped off the railing, landing neatly, and whatever it was with her flew over and landed on her shoulder. She gave a wary smile at the pair of them, and the Doctor put an arm between her shoulder blades, bringing her closer to Martha, like introducing a new student to a class.

"Martha, meet Ruby. Ruby, this is Martha."

"Hullo." said Ruby shyly.

"Hi. Nice to meet you."

Martha offered her hand, all be it stiffly, which Ruby shook lightly, before clasping her hands behind her back again. The two females turned to the Doctor, hoping he would break the awkward silence that had fallen on them. Martha was annoyed he'd waited a fortnight to present this stranger to her, and Ruby got the distinct feeling that she was going to be a third wheel of sorts.

"She saved the world…er, will save the world, in a couple of years. Saved my life too." He added as a selling point. "Have I said thanks for that by the way?" Ruby nodded, flushing scarlet, and staring at the floor.

"Saving your life seems to be in the job description, pointed out Martha. Who's this?" she nodded towards Kit.

Ruby tried to follow her gaze, but it was rather tricky, as Kit was on her head. She just laughed and looked up, Kit looking at her upside down. To make things a little easier, Kit flew off her head and in to her arms, and Ruby held her up for Martha to see, whilst the Doctor watched to see how they were all getting on.

"This is Kit, my little alien tennis ball." grinned Ruby.

"She's cute." Martha gave a small nod.

Then silence descended again. Down to the Doctor to break it once more. He strode over to the control panel, passed his three companions, and looked on the screen. Automatically, both Ruby and Martha went over with him, standing on either side. Martha leaned over his shoulder, trying to look at what he was seeing.

"Where are we going next?" she asked.

"I was thinking 1981." he grinned at both of them.

"Any particular reason?" queried Ruby.

"Ever heard of a little band called Metallica?" he gave them both a cheeky smile.

"Didn't strike me as your taste." Martha pointed out.

"Try anything once." he shrugged.

Then they set off, another rather bumpy ride. Martha, after the Doctor insisting, took Ruby to the closet where they could pick out outfits that would stop them sticking out like sore thumbs in early 80s L.A. As they left, he sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, looking at Kit, who had stayed behind.

"I really hope they don't kill each other."

Kit clearly didn't really know what he was on about, and just blinked at him. But he reached out, scratching her behind the ears, and she mewed happily. Sometimes it was nice to have a companion that didn't back talk. Or…talk, really. A few moments later, Martha and Ruby re-emerged. They were laughing about something, and both stared at the Doctor, and started giggling again. He felt like someone had brought out the baby pictures or something, and looked at Kit.

"I've always liked you best…" he muttered. Then he turned to the others, "You look lovely ladies, nice job."

Ruby was clearly uncomfortable in her clothes, a black denim mini-skirt, black knee-high boots, and a pale blue gypsy top. She kept trying to pull the skirt down, and was as pink as her hair, which was incidentally pulled back in a butterfly clip, so she had a palm tree of hair falling about for effect. Martha was wearing black leather trousers, black sandals, and a red vest top. For once, her hair was down falling loosely about her shoulders, but she wrestled it in to a bun as the other two spoke.

"Can I please stay in here?" begged Ruby.

"That's not the spirit Ruby Roo." teased the Doctor, "The last few trips didn't seem to bother you."

"Ruby Roo?" she raised an eyebrow, "Maybe so, but I was wearing trousers there. Not a belt." She tried to pull the top down this time.

"I think we should be about there."

"Good, I'm looking forward to your reaction." stated Martha honestly.

With a thud, much like an aeroplane landing, the TARDIS stopped it's journey. Ruby stayed at the back as The Doctor and Martha decided to waltz out. She thought to grab her bag, filling it with some supplies that they might need, also a change of clothes for her own peace of mind. She frowned as she realised outside the door was rather quiet. Cautiously, she opened it a crack, barely enough to be noticeable, but just about right to see by, she gasped and clasped a hand to her mouth.

"This is not 1981…" she whispered to herself. She darted back to the dressing room.

Outside the TARDIS, Martha and the Doctor were very relieved to have her as back up. Because they were surrounded by mounted soldiers, in the ancient red coated uniform and tricorn hats. The Tardis had landed in a small field, leading down to a beck. Martha's stomach was knotting up, but the Doctor, as ever, was perfectly calm.

"Damn Yankees…" growled a chunky looking General as he made his way through the ranks, "What's the hold up this time?"

"Doctor…" whispered Martha, "Where are we?"

"America, I think."

The soldiers who had found them all looked up as the General spoke to him, "Just a couple of people, we thought they looked rather suspicious."

"Suspicious, us?" said the Doctor innocently, "We aren't meaning any harm sir, we just got lost. If you let us go we'll just mosey on away."

"Sir…they sound English." brought up one of the soldiers.

"They may do Jamison, but we're not taking any chances. Seize them."

They did. The Doctor and Martha's arms were grabbed, and the pair of them were unceremoniously dumped on a horse. They were escorted by two further horses either side of them, the riders pointing their rifles at their heads. The horse's hooves thundered off, and when it was quiet again, Ruby came out. At her feet, she saw two things, the key to lock the TARDIS, and the Doctor's screwdriver. Good thinking on his part. She put both things in her bag, and ran off in the soldier's direction.

The other two were made to stop outside a huge army camp, tents everywhere, fires burning to cook food and dry clothes, and torches ready and standing, for when night came. It was like a modern re-enactment, only more real than either of them would have liked. They were marched in to one of the larger ones, presumably someone higher up in the army. As they arrived, Jamison, a fairly young man, with light blonde hair, and blue eyes, called over a little girl, about 8 or 9. She looked at Martha and the Doctor warily from beneath her bonnet.

"Amina, can you go and get these people some…normal…clothes." he said, eyeing them.

Admittedly, they did look rather bizarre in the outfits they were in now. Some of the material hadn't really been invented yet, for a start. The little girl, in a plain brown dress over a white undershirt, had burnt copper curls, and the same eyes as who they presumed was her father. She shrunk back from them, holding on to Jamison's arm. He slowly coaxed her off him, and she ran out, passed the Doctor and Martha, disappearing in to a small tent on the outskirts of the camp. The General from before, Macintyre, gave Jamison the responsibility of looking after their prisoners.

"So, what are your names then?" he asked them, taking off his hat to mop his forehead before replacing it again.

"John Smith." introduced the Doctor, "And this is Martha."

Jamison gave them a general nod, "You're pretty far out of the way, for not being involved in all this. How did you end up here?" he was addressing Martha.

"Uhm…" Martha hesitated, "We just sort of got lost, we were travelling, took a wrong turn or something. Where are we exactly?"

"You don't know? You really are lost. This is Yorktown, Virginia." replied Jamison.

"As in, America?" Martha blinked.

"No, as in India." Jamison rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later, Amina reappeared, loaded down by slightly raggedy clothing, she passed it over to Jamison, and gave a short bow, before running away from them again. The pair stared at the clothing they had been given, a simple shirt and breeches for the Doctor, and a dress not unlike Amina's for Martha. Jamison took note of the fact that Martha was in fact, female, he called over a woman, who looked exactly like him, just a different gender. She led her away to get changed, and Martha gave the Doctor a last glance. She had confidence in him, but how were they going to get away with this one? A little while later, the Doctor, rather loath to part with his suit, was dressed in the shirt and trousers. Several people had come in, partly to ask questions, partly to get a glimpse of their latest captive. When it was just him and Jamison again, the Doctor turned to him.

"What are you called then? I can't see Jamison as being a very common Christian name." he said conversationally.

Looking up from cleaning the barrel of his gun, Jamison eyed him, before answering shortly, "Andrew."

"Amina…?"

"My niece. Her father, my brother in law, was killed two weeks ago."

"Oh…I'm sorry."

Jamison froze, wondering how exactly to reply to that. He seemed to want to say something, but was unwilling to do it, and the Doctor didn't know why. He eyed the man curiously, leaning forward, willing him to go on, but Andrew sighed, looking down and lowering his voice.

"I'm supposed to say don't be, it's for the good of the country." His eyes filled with sadness, "But Amina is 8 years old. I can't help but think that if this whole thing is so good for the country, why didn't they bring their secret weapon out sooner."

He promptly stopped talking. That was classified information, he couldn't tell a complete stranger. This John Smith person could easily have been a spy for the Americans. He didn't seem like it, but you weren't to trust anyone, not at the moment. Things had been going so badly for them. Only now was it picking up, thanks to their plan, it was passed plan b. More like plan w.

"I see." The Doctor nodded sympathetically.

The situation was quite different with Martha. The women soon accepted her as one of the fold, simply caught up in this whole nightmare, through no fault of her own. They had been cautious at first, but now they wanted to hear all about the man in Martha's life. The explanation part was quite tricky to get out, the relationship was rather difficult to understand, but she told them what she could. They travelled together, and were very good friends. At that, the women clucked around her happily, cheerful and slightly mischievous, despite their circumstances. They were happy to share all they had, which wasn't much, with everyone, even a complete stranger, who was in theory a prisoner. There was a group of four tents, all open, looking in to each other. They were in the bigger one, facing out over the rest of the camp.

"I hope it's all over soon." sighed the woman from before, Amina's mother, Constance. "I at least want to go home with my brother in one piece."

The others nodded sympathetically. They all knew people who had been lost, brothers, cousins, and husbands. Amina was curled up, fast asleep, on Constance's lap as the other women darned clothes.

"I think it might be." nodded another woman, her sister in law, a dark-eyed, red-haired woman called Annabel, "Have you noticed how quickly they seem to win things now?"

Constance nodded, "Some of the villagers think it's some kind of magic." She turned to Martha, who was instantly alert, "We were doing really badly, heavy losses on our side. Then all of a sudden we win everything without even a scratch."

"How strange." agreed Martha, trying to blend in with them. "It can't really be magic though, can it?" she looked at them.

"Maybe not. But it's a lot of luck to suddenly just fall on them." said Annabel mysteriously, putting on a kind of accent that made the other women laugh.

Back with Andrew, the Doctor found himself being ushered out of the tent by the people who took over guarding him. He was marched towards somewhere near the centre of the camp, and presented with an axe. He stared at it blankly, and then saw the logs heaped to one side, for firewood. Half a dozen other people were at their own stumps, mopping sweat off their foreheads, and slicing the logs in half. They all turned and watched him.

"Fresh meat." whispered one of them to another; he had a clear American accent.

"Start chopping, Smith." Demanded a soldier.

The soldier prodded him with a bayonet, and The Doctor heaved a log on to the stump. He was not used to this. He'd saved the world countless, times, never got a thank you once. Now, he was chopping wood for some snooty-looking soldiers, who stood right behind him. After a while, they drifted off, and the American that had spoken before turned to him.

"I don't remember you. Which company are you from?"

He was a strong, well-built man, probably comparable to a modern day surfer, with unruly curly black hair tied up best he could, but his shirt and trousers were grubby and patched.

"Um, none." replied the Doctor.

"My god. The Brits have lost it. They've got one of their own here. Whatcha do? Give away a location? Slip up? Share information you shouldn't?"

"Nothing." The Doctor replied, shrugging, "Just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Tough luck." The man replied, meaning it, "I'm Marcus Stratton. You?"

"John Smith."

Marcus held out a hand, and shook the Doctor's, "Welcome to hell Johnny."

A passing guard shouted at them, and after a few hissed curses and gestures behind his back, the men got on with their work. They fell in to a sort of rhythm, lift, chop, thud, lift. But each time a soldier or family member of one of them came by, the Doctor paid attention to what they were saying, seeing if he could work out what this secret weapon was. It was clearly effective. The history books said that this was the losing side. But clearly, they had an edge at the moment. Another two soldiers went passed. One looked incredibly young, and seemed to be being shown around by an older gentleman, with steel grey hair and pale blue eyes. He had a blue cloth bag hanging at his side. Along with the others, he glanced up. The young soldier suddenly folded his arms. The uniform was far too big for him, and the Doctor was sure he'd seen a flash of purple hiding in the pocket. He grinned, and then looked down, going back to work.

"How long have those prisoners been here?" the young soldier asked the older one. He had to look up to address him; he was more than a head shorter.

"Between six months and, well, the one in the middle was caught today." replied the man, Killian.

"But, where did he come from? You haven't fought for the last few days, have you?" he asked, curious.

Killian, that was his last name, couldn't help but like this inquisitive young boy. He seemed suspicious and alert, great potential there. He wondered how long he'd last. "He was wandering about with his lady friend." Killian shrugged, "We couldn't risk him being a spy for the Yankees, so brought him in." he peered at his young charge. "What did you say your name was lad?"

"Hardy." replied the boy,

"I like it. Come along. Better introduce you to the girls."

As soon as they left, Marcus leaned on his axe, looking at the Doctor. He'd seen the interaction between him and the young soldier, despite it being discreet. Naturally, he was curious, as were his fellow choppers.

"Lucky you Johnny." He said with a slight smile, "Looks like you've got friends in high places. I saw the way that Killian looked at your friend there. Won't be long before he's promoted."

The Doctor shrugged, and then all of them got back to work. Amina slipped out with a wooden bucket of water. She was tiny, but managed it quite well. She brought it over to the men, Jamison always asked her to be subtle about it. He was one of the ones that did genuinely care for people's well being, but it was never shown. She curtsied swiftly to them, much to their amazement, and hot footed it away before she was seen. When she rejoined her mother and aunt, she froze. There was a soldier there, the young Hardy.

"Amina, sweetheart…" said Constance hesitantly. "This is Officer Hardy." Amina cowered under her mother's arm, convinced she was going to get beaten for helping the 'slaves'. So was her mother. "He's new here. Killian dropped him off, but he was called away."

Amina hid behind her mother, who put a protective arm around her daughter. All the women were wary of having an officer in the tent. It was like they were being assessed or something. However, Hardy gently knelt down to the girl's level, and he smiled at her. The girl was startled.

"Was it you who gave those men a drink?" he asked kindly.

Amina shrunk back. Was he trying to trick her in to admitting it? She rapidly shook her head, "No sir, honest."

"Really?" Hardy pressed, "Because one of them said to say thank you. The tall one, skinny?"

"Mr Smith?" suddenly realised Annabel.

"That's the one." Hardy nodded.

"The girl with him was here until a few minutes ago, she went to get water though."

Suddenly, something started fluttering in his jacket. He folded his arms over it, and it stopped. All the women stared at him in disbelief, edging forward curiously, although some of them seemed to think it was a trap. It started again, and he had to cover it again, and he looked so embarrassed, but in a friendly way, that the women laughed.

"Must have been those oats I ate." Hardy winked, and the ladies giggled.

Killian came back a couple of minutes after. The atmosphere was still light hearted, but it dropped a few degrees when he poked his head in. He looked around, and saw Hardy sitting in the middle of the women, with Amina smiling on his knee. Killian had never seen the child smile, not since the family joined the camp.

"My Hardy. You've done well to charm your way to these ladies' hearts so quickly."

"I'm honoured to have been accepted by them sir. They're very charming themselves." He answered.

The ladies laughed slightly again, blushing at his compliments. It had been so nice to have a young lad like Hardy around them, he wasn't all business, a person they genuinely liked being around. A boy, so much wiser than his years. Killian was almost envious; the women never accepted any of them before, it had taken forever.

"Well, I had to interrupt young sir, but the General wishes to see you. You know where to go?" Hardy nodded, "Then I shall see you shortly." he disappeared again.

Hardy stood up, letting Amina go down, although she clung on to him. "Don't go, please Mr Hardy!" she pleaded.

Constance looked embarrassed on her daughter's behalf. She whispered to Hardy, "I'm so sorry sir. She misses her father terribly."

"No need to apologise ma'm. May I talk to her for a moment?" he asked.

"Of course sir. Go along Amina."

Hardy went around to the back of the tent, in the cover of the trees, and Amina followed him, looking after him quizzically. She covered her mouth to hide a smile as his jacket started fluttering again. This time, he let it, and a fluffy purple head poked out, looking up at an awestruck little girl.

"This is my friend." Hardy said in a whisper, "Her name is Kit."

"Is she a fairy?" queried Amina.

"Of sorts. Listen though Amina, if the men around here catch me with her, they won't let me keep her any more."

"But that's so sad!" protested Amina,

"That's why I'd like you to look after her for today, if you would? It can be just our little secret?"

Amina's face lit up, and she nodded. Hardy, after a last hug for Kit, most peculiar behaviour for a young gentlemen, but Amina liked it, carefully passed Kit over. Kit mewled, and Hardy scratched her behind the ears to calm her down.

"If you need any help with her, ask Miss Jones. She'll know what to do. But other than that, she has to be a secret, or they'll take her away from me."

"I'll take good care of her Mr Hardy!" assured the girl.

"I know you will Miss Moore." Hardy winked at her.

He ducked in to the tent again; Kit concealed in Amina's apron, and took his hat off to the ladies, before disappearing again to catch up with his mentor. Just moments after that, Martha came back with another woman, bearing a bucket of water. The others immediately descended on them to tell them all about their visit.

"There's hope for us yet Martha!" exclaimed Constance, beaming, "We just met the most wonderful young man. He's already concerned about that Mr Smith of yours."

"He had such a pretty face, for a boy." voiced Annabel.

"Ooh er Annie." grinned Constance, "I think he's a little young for you."

'Hardy' strolled along down the path Killian had gone, he stopped briefly for a moment, making sure nobody was around. It was rather warm, and as he took off his hat, two strands of bright pink fell out. She quickly wiped her forehead, and reseated the hat, covering the pink. The Doctor's wardrobe had all sort of surprises. It was the only way she'd managed to fit in without standing out, grabbing the old style army uniform and pretending to be male. It worried her how effective she seemed to be, and she laughed slightly in amusement. Back to being Hardy, Ruby caught up with Killian outside the General's cabin. The older man turned to her, and gave a short nod, meaning for her to go in. Wide-eyed, she stared at him. Wasn't he coming in? No, evidently not. Apparently, the General was quickly impressed with her as well, because only a handful of the very senior officer had been invited to see him.

"Go on in lad, and good luck." Killian offered a small smile.

Ruby hesitantly stepped forward. Unbeknownst to her, The Doctor had slipped out of his chores, Marcus had agreed to cover for him, on the promise that if he got away, he would take them all with him, and they would go somewhere on their own terms, away from the war. He was there to accompany her discreetly, so she could report back to him. Ruby knocked on the door, and it was opened by a lanky young man with a cold face, who stared accusingly at her for daring to compete with him regarding General Macintyre's favours.

"Lewis. I don't need you to stand by me like a puppy. Go and make yourself useful." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." Lewis gritted his teeth.

As he left, Ruby's stomach filled with icy dread. This whole situation had an edge of caution about it. Had she been discovered? She had no idea how that would happen, she hadn't been there long. On a similar line, she wondered why on earth he would want to see her in person after just a few hours. Macintyre noted her muted urgency, and pointed to a chair on which she could be seated.

"Don't look so scared Hardy; it's unbefitting for a soldier of his majesty's forces." He growled. "You only arrived here today, am I right?" Deciding to be honest, she nodded. "With another shipment of troops. They were sent to another camp, why are you here?"

"I was sent as a messenger." she quickly lied, "So I could pass on what you expected to the others. They got tied up, else would have seen you in person…sir."

Macintyre didn't really believe her, but to be honest, he didn't care. Killian had pointed out something to him regarding the boy. Their current battle strategies were wavering. They were not sure how to approach their back up. It had taken weeks to train up just one soldier to a respectable level. It had taken longer to gain the loyalty and obedience of the other soldiers and their families, which Macintyre personally saw as on the same level. However, this child, so young he did not even seem to be a man, had tamed two thirds of the military population in the area, in a matter of hours. He was quite frankly seen as a threat. How long would it be before he had his own ideas and took the troops down his own path? So he wanted to keep the child busy.

"Come with me Hardy."

Ruby immediately stood up, just before Macintyre did, might as well be respectful. The General seemed to approve, and the two left out of the back door. A slight rustling of leaves, a bird to Macintyre, although she knew otherwise, was the only sound made as they started walking down a dirt track. Ruby started getting anxious as they went further and further away from the sounds and smells of base camp. They were going down through the middle of a solid cluster of trees, like some kind of corridor.

"I don't see it myself boy, but Killian seems to believe there's something special about you. He thinks we're lucky to have gotten you for some reason." He looked him up and down, "Personally, you seem more like a girl than anything to me, but I trust Killian, so I suppose I must take his word."

"That's…nice of him. But sir…where are you taking me? Why?" Ruby hesitantly asked.

She casually stretched her arm out, like her shoulder ached or something. Macintyre didn't even notice. He was still blathering on about loyalty and trust, serving the crown, and restoring order. She could see no links at all between the various rants he kept going off on. Eventually, he held an arm out to stop her, and she just narrowly avoided clunking her head on it., ducking back. The Doctor had been following them the whole way, silently stepping through the trees like only he could. Ruby had managed to pass him his screwdriver, through the branches, without Macintyre batting an eye lid. Now however, the General was all ears, and eyes, perfectly still and tensed. There was an almighty shrieking squawk, which made Ruby jump out of her skin. The path started getting wider. Then each line of trees, although still dense, spread out in a circle, so it was like they were in an arena. She looked around for the Doctor, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"What…is this?" she breathed

All around her she could see huge wooden stands, like the ones the hawks landed on in the bird shows she had been to. Iron rings and ropes were attached to them. The grass was patchy, worn away by movement, leaving patches of dry soil. Either side of the main ring were huge aviary like cages. But it wasn't birds in them.

"This is our special combat zone." replied Macintyre, both smug and proud.

"What are they?!"

"No idea."

Macintyre lead her to one of the cages. A few men, Native Americans it seemed, watched then warily, especially focusing on Ruby. She peered in to one of the compartments and gasped, shrinking back. Staring at her had been what looked like a pterodactyl, only smaller, their torsos roughly equivalent to a normal horse's, with a more lizard-like head, and a single huge horn protruding from it. There were five in total. Macintyre tapped the wire on one of them, but the things didn't move. Ruby turned to him for an explanation, and he grabbed something from his pocket. It was by all intents and purposes, an ocarina. It was dark blue, tear-drop shaped, the mouth piece towards the top end, on the right from a front view. Four holes one side, three the other. It had strange patterns and symbols all around it in silver. She couldn't quite work out what it was made of though. It seemed clay, but had the texture of metal.

"Why do you have a Chinese instrument in your pocket…sir?"

He didn't answer, instead deciding to demonstrate. He cleared his throat, and covered all the holes, before blowing in to it. The creatures suddenly wailed and lunged forward, hitting the wire. The longer he held the note, the more agitated they became, and he seemed to enjoy it.

"OK, I get it!" cried Ruby lamely.

Macintyre shrugged and threw it over to her. The creatures seemed to gasp as it flew through the air, craning forward and rattling their chains. The girl clumsily managed to catch it, taking care not to crush it. The General didn't seem to care less.

"We play that, they destroy our opponents, and they have no memory of it at all. You're a very suspicious character boy. You can stay here and experiment. You get those monsters to work to our terms, and we won't arrest you. Good day, Mr Hardy."

That was that then. The carers all looked at her sympathetically as Macintyre waltzed off again; leaving this lost boy with a musical instrument that controlled creatures he had no hope of understanding. Add that to the fact that he was actually female, from two hundred years or so in the future, trying to find a way to help get herself, another girl from the future, but her past, and an alien back to their home space ship, and things were slightly less than easy. As soon as Macintyre had gone, Ruby looked around for the Doctor as the carers disappeared themselves.

"Um, Doctor…are you here…somewhere?"

She turned with a start as he suddenly popped up from behind a crate on wheels, which smelled like it contained the thing's dinner. Ruby couldn't help it, and she started snickering, then laughing out right, as she saw the Doctor's clothes. They were too short for him, but too baggy for his incredibly slim frame.

"Well may you laugh, but bear in mind, I'm not the cross dresser here…sir." The Doctor pointed out.

"Ah, give me a break. What would help me more in this situation, a mini skirt, or this stiff, itchy, boiling hot uniform?" she paused, "On second thoughts, I'd rather have the skirt. Now, down to business. What are these, and what is this?" she held up the ocarina.

The Doctor took the instrument from her, holding it carefully in his hand as he switched settings on his sonic screwdriver to scan it. He frowned, it was definitely just your average ocarina, but there was some kind of extra technology integrated in to it, and he didn't understand the symbols engraved either. He handed it back and walked over to look at the creatures, and they regarded him with wise, weary dark eyes. As soon as he saw them the penny dropped.

"Endriago! They're Endriago!" he exclaimed.

"Dragons?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, recognising the Spanish.

"Well, your human word means that." The Doctor agreed. "But no, the Endriago are a race of aliens. Old, really old. They're usually benevolent, and they keep to themselves."

"So…what's brought them here?" asked Ruby.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Ruby kept a good distance away from them, at the very least making sure to be slightly behind the Doctor as he studied them. Following her common sense, she didn't want to get too close, considering how they had acted when Macintyre was around. Then again, Macintyre was not exactly the nicest of people to be around. The Doctor looked at them, trying to talk to them.

"How did you, end up here?" he pondered out loud, "Why do you fight for that man?"

The creatures all cried out in unison, but it was nothing that was understandable. They were desperately trying to urge this man to free them, but he had no idea what they were communicating. One of them flew up closer to The Doctor, and Ruby instantly shrunk back, and then froze.

"We try to explain…but you cannot hear us..."

It was a disembodied voice, and she had no idea where it came from, although she suddenly realised that the Endriago was addressing them. Her friend still looked puzzled, maybe he hadn't heard them, and she shrugged, turning to the creature.

"Sorry, what was that? I don't think my friend quite got that." She said earnestly.

"Get what? What didn't I get?" queried a bemused Doctor.

"You deaf or something? He…er, I think it's a he." She looked to the creature for insurance, and he nodded, "Was talking to you."

"I think you've been in that uniform too long. You're hearing things."

"He does not understand us. Why does this child?" he seemed to have forgotten she was standing right there.

"His mind is not open. He is preoccupied with the puzzle, not the solution." came another voice, female.

"Oh, come on!" Ruby was getting irked now, "How can you not hear that?"

The Doctor turned to her and frowned, "I think the question is how can you?"

Much to her annoyance, she found the sonic screwdriver suddenly in her face, and it was her turn to be scanned. She frowned, folding her arms. Slowly, a smile crept to the Doctor's face. The girl stared at him for some sort of explanation, impatient. Here were these imprisoned creatures, and he seemed to be completely oblivious to them.

"I do believe, Miss Arduino, your friend Kit hasn't quite finished with you." He replied with a grin.

"What?"

"Telepathy!" exclaimed The Doctor in explanation, "You can hear their thoughts."

"And you can't?" she raised an eyebrow. "Come on, give me a break."

All of a sudden, the man grabbed her hand, and then turned to the Endriago, meaning for him to repeat what he had said. If his suspicions were correct, and they usually were, he was happy to add, he might be able to use Ruby as a kind of circuit. That was, of course, if she let him. The girl eyed him curiously, and then caught on.

"We came here by accident. The Time War sent us spiralling off course. We have been travelling for years, and landed here."

"Why didn't you try and escape?" asked the Doctor obviously.

"We had nowhere to go back to." came the reply.

"Even so…couldn't you find somewhere else? I'm sure there are much comfier rooms than these around."

"Before we had time to do anything that man caught up with us. We were lost, and tired."

"And he took advantage of that." The Doctor frowned.

"Why haven't you left this place yet? Surely you can't want to stick around in these cages." added Ruby.

"We have no choice. That man has bewitched us."

Ruby looked across at the Doctor, puzzled and worried at the same time, but his focus didn't shift from the creatures in front of them. The expression on his face was almost frightening, and a chill breeze gave it extra edge, sending shivers down the girl's spine. She wished Martha was there, she was more used to him. Inwardly she wanted to shrink back and move away, but he still gripped her hand.

"How, how has he bewitched you?" questioned the Doctor.

"He stole something precious to us. It absorbed his wishes, and it is such that we are forced to fulfil them."

"This?" Ruby held up the instrument.

"It is of our people. We must follow its orders."

"But they've been corrupted…so you're stuck, doing the same thing, working for that man?" pressed the Doctor.

"Surely you can, un-hex it, or whatever?"

"We cannot. We do not know how to break the spell, once it is cast."

They were interrupted by the sound of something rushing through the trees towards the arena. It was Martha, running hell for leather towards them, hitching her skirt up above her ankles so it was easier to move. They both turned around in surprise, and Ruby quickly snatched her hand away from him. It was unnerving, to hear a whole conversation, that had no sound.

"Doctor! Doctor!" cried Martha.

"What is it?!"

The woman was panting, and had to lean over when she reached them to grab her breath, Ruby automatically offered an arm to help her stay upright, and without blinking, Martha took it. Her expression was that of urgency, she looked frantic. It was then that Kit flew out of her apron, and sped straight for her mistress.

"An attack! They found the camp!" she said urgently, "It's manic. Killian said that I was to fetch a Mr Hardy, and tell him to bring the back up." She turned to Ruby, "I'm assuming that's you."

The carers of the creatures suddenly reappeared, and it was all stations go as the animals were let out. They were able to stretch and move around, and it was clear to see how beautiful they were in their own way, as they flexed their wings. They screeched and soared off in to the sky. Martha automatically ducked, as they hovered in the air above their heads.

"Flute girl! Flute girl!" called one of the Native Americans, "Take them, flute girl!"

"How do they know you're female?" asked Martha.

Ruby shrugged, nobody else had worked that out. Save the creatures. Then again, she had been talking to them. She was startled as the guardians of the creatures started shouting something at her, she couldn't understand what they were going on about it.

"Three four three!" cried one,

"Go girl go!" shouted another.

She didn't need telling twice. Neither did any of them. They were soon sprinting back the way they had came, towards the camp. As they got nearer they could smell smoke, and hear shouts, a roar of noise. They froze as they came close to the camp. Tents and cabins were alight, women were ushering children, calling to them and choking on the smoke. The Endriago were above them in a flash, hovering around the camp and stirring up the smoke with their wing beats.

"Martha!" called Constance through a dusty haze, "Martha! Are you alright?"

"Mr Hardy!" chipped in a terrified little girl's voice.

Amina flung herself at Ruby, and clung to her. The women that Martha had been with, plus many other she had not met were all coming towards them. Despite the chaos and fighting, which was across on the far end of the camp, they were worried about the safety of each other. They held aprons and bonnets up to their mouths to stop the smoke getting them.

"Martha, Ruby, take those people to safety." ordered the Doctor, holding his hand out for the ocarina, which Ruby gave him.

"Ruby?" Constance's eyes widened.

"Hi, yea, that'd be me." explained Ruby sheepishly, "Long story. We should take his advice, and go."

"But, what are those things?!" cried Annabel. "Why are they following you?"

The women seemed reluctant to follow this girl posing as a man, with a strange flying creature with her. She didn't blame them, and she sighed. She took off her hat, letting her hair down, and they all gasped. She held her hand out to them.

"Trust me."

None of them moved. But then a shout and cannon fire echoed around the whole camp. Amina reached out and grabbed Ruby's hand, and they ran. Martha urged the others to follow, taking her place at the back. She called her good luck and take care to The Doctor as they disappeared. He watched them go, and seemed to fall in to thought for a moment, but another shout soon woke him up, and he ran towards the battle ground, with the Endriago.

"Where's Hardy?!" came a familiar voice, as Killian came to the Doctor, supporting a wounded soldier, Jamison.

"Amina and Constance…" came Andrew's weak voice, "Are they ok?"

"Hardy is taking the families to safety." replied the Doctor.

Jamison smiled weakly, "I thought she might."

"Come on Jamison, we need to get you seen to."

They carried on their way, and the Doctor stopped on the edge of the massive battle that was going on, amazed to see that the uniforms were near identical, just different colours. He realised he couldn't speak to the Endriago without Ruby around, so just looked up at them.

"I'm sorry."

Then he took the ocarina, covering all the holes, like Macintyre had done. He blew sharply in to it, and the creatures cawed furiously, and in a flash they descended in to the fight, cutting and slashing, knocking people and weapons aside. They were practically insane, and The Doctor was controlling it. He turned and saw two people carrying a third away, it was Marcus, held up by two of the other wood cutters. He looked up, staring at the Doctor.

"I thought you'd come back Johnny."

Marcus stumbled and fell, and The Doctor went over to help, but his attention was drawn by one of the creatures screeching, and a man screaming as he was thrown through the air, courtesy of one of the Endriago's horns. Turning back to the three men, he saw Marcus staring at the same thing he had been, before falling unconscious, and slumping in his friend's arms.

"Marcus…?" ventured the Doctor.

One of the men looked up at him, "He won't make it through tonight."

"I see…" said the Doctor slowly.

"We should make him comfortable." said the other man.

They nodded in agreement, and the Doctor stepped aside, letting them carry on. He watched their retreating backs, saying a silent goodbye to Marcus Stratton in his head.

Martha and Ruby had led the women and children to an abandoned log cabin in the woods the opposite side of camp, hidden by the trees, and presumably used by a hunter of sorts formerly. All of them practically fell together in a heap, exhausted from their hysterics, but the two young women stayed upright, desperately looking out of the window. Both of them knew what the other was thinking, because they were thinking the same thing. They were worried about the Doctor.

"Go to him." said a small voice, Amina, "We'll be ok." She was speaking very quietly, but everyone was listening intently to her, "Go to him, and tell the soldiers…that they should be honest. The outcome of this shouldn't be dictated by magic."

Constance and Annabel nodded in agreement with them. All of them urged them on. Ruby and Martha looked at them gratefully, then turned to each other, and ran out of the door. Ruby had left her hat behind, and it was sitting on a small wooden stool. As the group watched the two disappear back the way they had come, Amina picked it up, clinging to it.

"Do you always run a lot, when you travel with him?" Ruby questioned as they sprinted back to camp.

"Yes." Martha smiled. "It's in the job description."

They arrived back at the scene, and were horrified. The men didn't seem to be fighting each other any more. Instead, all of them were running and hiding, ducking for cover, and trying to avoid the Endriago. The Doctor was holding up his sonic screwdriver, trying to intercept the effect of the note from the ocarina on them, but it didn't seem to be working. He had tried looking for Macintyre to ask him, but he was long dead. The army had already been taken over by a man called Lord Cornwallis, from the faction 'Mr Hardy' had originally been assigned to.

"Doctor! I think they're done now, stop them!" cried Ruby.

"I can't." answered the man, with an edge of annoyance at his own failure.

"Talk to them!" she suggested desperately,

"We've tried that, remember?"

Ruby ran up to join him, and grabbed his arm, looking up at the aliens above them. Martha had no clue what was going on, although she stood by them, and they all moved aside as one of the dragons came too close for comfort.

"Hey!" called the pink-haired girl, "Hey! Can you hear me?!"

"Yes…" came the muted response.

"Stop! You can stop now!"

"No, we can't…it's like we have been possessed…we don't know how to break it…"

"Who are you talking to?" demanded Martha.

Without warning, Ruby used her spare hand to take hold of Martha's wrist, so both of them could hear what the aliens were saying. They kept looking at her, like they were trying to pull away, but they couldn't. She grabbed the instrument from the Doctor's hand.

"Break the pattern…please, you can do it somehow."

Martha was alarmed. So that's who she was talking to. The girl suddenly recalled the advice she had been given when they had been coming up from the arena. She let go of her comrade's arms, and instead held up the ocarina. She studied it, and then covered the three holes, and blew softly in to it. She jumped as it sounded a hell of a lot louder than she was expecting. Something seemed to whip passed them in the air. Then she opened those three holes, and closed the four, blowing in to it again. The Endriago seemed to be slowing down in the air. She repeated the first note again, and all three were knocked backwards by the force of the energy that suddenly erupted from them, invisible, but powerful, whatever had bound them had snapped. They landed in a heap on the floor, Kit hovering above them. Ruby landed on her back, and the ocarina flew out of her hands. She scrambled up, reaching to grab it, when The Doctor beat her to it.

"Thank you…thank you."

A hush fell over the whole grounds. The leading Endriago dove down, aiming straight for a worried Ruby, and another two were aiming for Martha and the Doctor. They scrabbled away, only to suddenly find themselves knocked on to the back of the pterodactyl/dragon/unicorn hybrid type creatures. Without much warning, they stared at the ground as it disappeared from beneath their feet. All the soldiers down below looked up in awe and a murmur spread from one side to the other. Martha remembered what Amina had said, and looked around for the man in the General's uniform. When she focused on him, she flew on the spot just above his head.

"Cornwallis, I presume?" she asked. He nodded. "Take some advice."

"And give it up." finished Ruby.

"these creatures are not your slaves to control." added the Doctor.

The General just stared at them dumbly, as did the surrounding men. Then they soared high in to the air, and Ruby laughed at something. The Doctor and Martha looked at her strangely, and she just shook her head, with a small smile. She leaned down, and whispered in to the ear of her transport. He nodded, and the other two wondered what she had said as they left the camp behind. They flew over a valley and woods, over the rest of Yorktown, and their destination became clear. This time, they enjoyed the brook and the scenery, as they went towards the TARDIS. The Endriago nodded, and their riders thanked them, as they slid down to the ground. Ruby took the cause of all this trouble out of her pocket, and offered it to their new friends.

"Here. This is yours."

"Please keep it." replied the leader, "We have no other way of thanking you, this is the least we can do."

Martha and the Doctor were alarmed that they could hear the animals speaking now, even if it was inside their heads. They didn't have to hold on to Ruby to get their messages across. An effect of the spell, most likely. But why hadn't it bothered her?

"You already said how important it is to you." protested Ruby.

"Which is why we decided you should keep it. It is much safer in the hands of a person who has no selfish wishes."

"Thank you…" Ruby faltered, "What was your name?"

"Rutilus."

"Can I ask you something, Rutilus?" ventured the Doctor.

"Certainly."

"Before…why couldn't we hear you? Except through Ruby?"

The world-weary animal stared at the Doctor in such a way that he felt completely see through. It was unnerving. It was usually him who had that effect on people. He felt totally exposed, although kept up his cool demeanour in front of his companions.

"That is, perhaps…something you would rather learn in private, Doctor." Rutilus answered. The Doctor nodded, understanding, "We must go, under the cover of night, we can find a safer place to recover. We thank you with all our souls, and if we can ever repay our debt, please, call us."

"Thank you again, Rutilus." smiled Ruby,

"Take care of yourselves." Martha continued.

The five Endriago nodded, and spread out their wings, in a kind of bow to their three rescuers. Then they turned, and flew away. They watched them go into the fading sunset, and then the three, weariness catching up with them, returned to their own current home. Once inside the TARDIS, Ruby smiled, carefully looking at the ocarina, before putting it in the side pocket of her bag.

"Well. That was certainly not what I expected from Metallica." voiced Martha.

"True that." agreed the Doctor, "But on the bright side, we just made history."

"You do that often then?" Ruby laughed.

"Oh yes."

"Oh! Here."

The girl rummaged through her ever faithful bag, and Kit sat on her shoulder, peering down in to it herself. Out of it she pulled a neatly folded pile of material, Martha and the Doctor's clothes. Martha was elated, immediately disappearing to change. The other two laughed as she left, and The Doctor started up the Tardis. A sudden jolt caused Ruby to trip and fall, and The Doctor caught her. There was a silent, motionless kind of electric shock. Neither of them made out they had felt it, until Ruby suddenly pulled away from the Doctor, who looked like he'd just had something stolen. They stared at each other, Ruby looked frightened of him.

"I, uh, I'm gonna, change…" she stuttered, and abruptly left.

The Doctor stared, dumbstruck after her. What the heck was that? He wandered to his own wardrobe, more than happy to get rid of the itchy clothing that he had been wearing the whole day. He faced the mirror to straighten his tie, and looked up with a start as he heard a familiar voice.

"In answer to your question Doctor. An open mind can accept more things even than one that has seen so much there is little it does not know. A mind can become so crowded, that nothing new can be accepted in to it. However, equally problematic, an open mind, may accidentally gain more knowledge than it wants."

With that, Rutilus was gone. The Doctor was taken aback, for once, it was not the answer that he expected, which rather proved the point. He stared at his hand, the one that he had caught his newest traveller with. There was more to her than he realised. He clenched his fist, holding it like that for a moment, before dropping his arm to his side, and closing the wardrobe, as he walked back to the control room.