Note: So... I know it's been a while, and you probably all want to kill me for making you wait so long for this chapter, so I'm just going to leave it here...

Emily and I were already in our Greek-style togas when the TARDIS landed. The Doctor refused to change, stating again that no one ever noticed.
The three of us stepped out into a bustling metropolis. I could hear voices calling out—vendors shouting what they were selling. I looked up at the Doctor, who was frowning a bit.

"What now?" I asked.

He continued to look around, then licked his finger and tested the air. "It seems we've overshot Plato by… ooh, I'd say, nearly two hundred years. We're definitely in the late-sixth or early-fifth century BC."

"And Plato was…?" Emily asked.

"Late fourth." The Doctor looked around. "You know what's funny… this is about the time the Greek gods got really popular. They may be already."

I tried to follow the Doctor's gaze, but before I could figure out what he was looking at, he grabbed my wrist—I grabbed Emily's—and he dragged us toward a cart.

"'Scuse me," he said to the person selling silver jewelry. "We're new in town. Where's the nearest temple?"

"We have one for Zeus nearby, but if you don't mind the trouble of a journey, you could go to Olympus itself," he said.

The Doctor nodded. "So we're in…"

"Dion," the man said.

"Dion! Lovely place, Dion." He grinned. "Right, where was that temple again?"
The vendor pointed to our left, and we followed his direction. The Doctor muttered to us as we walked away. "I've had experience with so-called gods. If they're still here, we'll find them."

"Uh, Doctor?" I asked as we walked. "Are you saying that the Greek gods really existed? And we're going to go see them?"

"Well, yes and no. And yes again."

"Explanation," Emily demanded.

"They're probably not actually gods." The Doctor started walking faster. "I'm hoping to find a clue or two in the temple."

Emily had an "Aha" moment. "Oh… so it's like those vampires in Venice that were actually fish-aliens."

I grimaced. "So we're basically going on a hunch, and may be fried by a dozen-odd pretend gods?"

The Doctor ducked his head in a nod, "That's about the size of it."

I inwardly groaned, and Emily noticed the pained look on my face. "We'll be fine," she said. "Just try not to die."

"Not helping," I replied.

"Not sorry," Emily sang back.

I stopped walking when we got to the temple. There was an altar out front and a few columns that led to the entrance. The Doctor glanced back at me and made a "come on!" face, so I followed them in. I hoped that no one thought we were disgracing the temple by the way we'd just walked in.

As the Doctor scanned every available surface, I admired the floor mosaics and the eagle statue. Emily went straight for Zeus and reached out to touch the raised scepter in his hand. She quickly drew back with a surprised interjection.

The Doctor looked up from the engraving he was waving his screwdriver over. "What?"

"The statue zapped me," she replied, eyebrows furrowed. "It didn't really hurt, but that shouldn't happen."

I walked over as the Doctor scanned the scepter, then swept his sonic screwdriver over the whole statue. "Strong electrical current," he muttered. "The entire statue has got to be connected to something extremely powerful—not even a car battery could get this hunk of marble to produce the slightest shock."

He scanned the base and muttered, "Oh, yes… A trail to follow."

"What?" I asked.

"Silver," he said. "The base is hollow and lined with silver. Where there's a current, there's a source. Come on!"

We followed him out the temple door and around the building. As he scanned around the back wall, someone called out, "They're defiling our temple!" and suddenly we were surrounded.

The Doctor stood and raised his hands, and we followed suit.

"Now," the Doctor said, "let's not go throwing stones…"

Half of them looked happy to do so.

He swallowed nervously—not a good sign. "I am a… wall inspector."

"Our temple needs no inspection," a man said, stepping forward.

"Someone asked me to take a look at a crack just there." The Doctor pointed at a tiny crack in the stone wall just where he'd been scanning.

Well played, I thought, unable to stop a small grin.

The man stooped down to take a look. "I see. We will have this looked after. Who asked you about it?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I can't quite remember. They seemed very distraught about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got other walls to inspect." He scratched his head with his screwdriver and jabbed a thumb toward the mountain.

The crowd dispersed as the man straightened his back. "Very well. On your way then."

When we were out of earshot, Emily muttered, "Wow. Close call."

The Doctor let out a nervous laugh as he flipped out his screwdriver and pointed it at the ground. "You're telling me. There was this one time, in Pompeii—"

"The water gun incident?" Emily interrupted.

The Doctor glanced back at her and let out a slow, "Yeah…"

I grinned. "Still not used to having people along who know about a lot of your adventures, huh?"

The Doctor shook his head. "It was hard enough with River and her—"

"Spoilers?" I had broken in this time. Emily laughed.

"Yes. All of which I've finally seen the end of." He was watching the ground intently as he walked.

Emily raised an eyebrow at him. "So… she's a screamer?"

He glanced at her with a sigh. "We were both snuck up on by a Raxicoricofallapatorian—not an easy task for a Raxicoricofallapatorian, by the way—and we both screamed. Thanks very much."

Emily turned to me and muttered, "Can't take a joke. And the sass!"

"Heard that," the Doctor said. Then he allowed himself a small grin. "And I never leave my TARDIS without a little sass."

Emily looked concerned. "Is that supposed to be a parallel with your 'banana to a party' quote?"

The Doctor's face mirrored hers. "What, too much?"

She said nothing.

"Okay, too much. Taking the sass, leaving the sass quotes. Got it."

After a moment's awkward silence, I broke it. "Not to be a nag or anything, but where are we going?"

The Doctor stopped in his tracks and scanned the air ahead of him. "To the source of an immense amount of electrical energy."

I looked at him and Emily warily. "So," I replied, "that's an 'I don't know but it's dangerous.'"

Em grinned. "Scared of a few aliens?"

"Stop that," the Doctor snapped at her. Her grin wavered. "I suppose you think you're brave, brushing off a potentially deadly situation?" Emily looked appropriately ashamed. "Don't confuse bravery with stupidity—bravery is not blindly charging into the unknown." He turned to me, his voice softening. "It's using your head to overcome a frightening situation."

I felt my face grow warm as I avoided his gaze. I wasn't comfortable with him berating my friend and then praising me for my fears.

"Now the question is," the Doctor said: "what is our strategy?"

Happy August, everyone! (Please review!)