Chapter Two:

The hiking team groaned and grunted as they trekked up the path. If only the electric fields around the engine's core hadn't gone down; then the crystalline fuel wouldn't have frozen and then they could have flown up to the mountain outpost. They couldn't get the hover crafts online so they had to pack all the supplies onto their back and hike up the mountain. They all wore metallic suits that were incredibly dense but looked and moved like an extra liquid layer; inside their helmets was a computer which monitored the area, their life signs and the oxygen capacity in their inbuilt air tanks.

"Come on Reggie!" Lewis called down to the straggler at the back of the line.

"I'm trying!" he cried back.

Lewis has been working as a scientific officer at U.N.I.T for many years and he had been delighted to lead the next research team at the distant outpost on a distant planet but if he had known he'd have to hike to his outpost with a team of unfit braniacs and a strange American man then he may have reconsidered. But he hadn't and he was here; so he might as well get on with it.

"How long now Chris?" he asked his engineer who he had set to be the navigator.

Chris looked at his inbuilt computer, the data showed on the visor of his suit, and read the information allowed. "We're about ten miles from the base."

Lewis heard a few groans; mainly from Jess, Tracey and Christian apart from one. Jack, their head of security, was calm and collected but in a moment he could be jokey, fiery and ferocious.

"Are you alright Harkness?" Lewis asked as they climbed onto a stable rocky ledge.

"Yes sir," he smirked with a salute; his American accent was refreshing compared to all the Brits' on the research trip. He wasn't sure why the Captain had come on the mission but with his credentials and the support from the Brigadier; Lewis couldn't turn him down.

"Good, good," Lewis replied, clasping his hands together. "I guess we should take a rest here since I can see we all desire one."

"Thanks," Christian grinned, collapsing onto the rocky ledge.

"I really think we should get moving," Jack urged.

"Me too," said an over the top upper class accented voice from the edge of the ledge.

The whole troop of explorers spun around, all of them arming the miniature laser cannons in their gauntlets, to see a man dressed in a blue tuxedo staring at them.

"Who are you?" Jack ordered, taking command since he was meant to be head of their security.

"Oh Captain Jack Harkness, I'm almost disappointed but then regeneration never did keep me looking the same."

"Doctor?" the American asked, powering down his gauntlet and lowering it.

"Jack, do you know this man?" Lewis asked; his firearm still aimed at him. "And why isn't he wearing a safety suit?"

"Because the planet is habitable enough to not wear one," The Doctor instantly said. "And yes, Jack does know me; well not like this anyway."

"What are you saying?" Lewis asked. "Wait…The Doctor? The Doctor?"

"Yes, The Doctor," the Time Lord replied. "Well a Doctor, one of the many incarnations that come together to become The Doctor which you are referring to."

"But…how? When?"

"All questions that can answered by two words," The Doctor explained. "Blue Box."

Cold steel cut against his face as he sliced the hair off his cheek and watched as it cascaded into one of the T.A.R.D.I.S sinks. The auburn beard was slowly cut away until when he looked in the mirror and The Doctor could see his face once more. His face was slim and his cheek bones stuck out.

He washed the hair away and then splashed his face with the cold liquid. His hair wasn't in need of a cut and even if it was; he couldn't cut his own hair without looking ridiculous. After cleaning his teeth jumping in the oversized lake of a bath and bandaging up his wounded arm, he exited the marble washroom and made his way to the gigantic wardrobe; with a crystal white towel wrapped around his waist, showing his lean body.

The coral feel to the ship felt natural to him, he liked the way he felt as he grabbed one of the large supports to swing around and look upon the large collection of attire he had collected over many years.

He made his way over to the rack of apparel and began to push clothes along the rail. He'd just come out of a leather phase and instantly decided that he'd wear something different. The Doctor flicked a shirt across and found something he liked; something very Doctor-ish.

He grabbed the clothing he desired and rushed off towards a changing cubicle; the T.A.R.D.I.S was empty so he didn't bother drawing the curtains. He hung the clothes on the hook and pulled off his towel. His arm was being difficult as he tried to pull on his clothes and shoes; but eventually he was dressed and the last thing left to put on was a black trilby which hung on the hook.

He plucked it off and pushed it onto his bright red hair. Gradually he looked up at the full length mirror and smirked at how his attire fitted him perfectly. A black trench coat, which went down to the midpoint of his calves, enveloped him. Underneath that was a black pinstriped shirt with grey pinstriped trousers and thin black tie. His sleek leather gloves matched the colour of his, expensive looking, shoes. It reminded him of an Earth, 1930's, American Private Detective's clothes; he liked it.

With a new energy moving across him, The Doctor left the changing area and made his way down to the console room. It was different to anything he'd before; after the Time War he took on a more 'steampunk' and 'coral' design. The room curved in a semi-dome and the glass time rotor rose up to meet it. Cables hung across the ceiling, along the slight rafters, down the coral supports and across the floor. The console was circular, unlike anything before, with six panels in it that emanated a blue light. It was less buttons and screens and more miscellaneous devices that made up the time machine. Many people have previously called it dirty and drab but he disagreed, for him it was wonderful with its low lighting and metal mesh flooring.

The Doctor yanked off his tight gloves, feeling his hands getting too warm, and stuffed them in his pockets and he walked closer to the circular, coral, console. He grabbed the scanner and pulled it towards him, white Galifreyian text moved along the blue background. His eyes fixed onto the screen while his hand flew to a lever. He threw the lever and flicked a switch before going to input the coordinates.

The screen suddenly showed a warning. He stared at the screen, all he wanted to do was head on a holiday but as soon as he did that; he got issued an alert. Why did it always happen to him? He contemplated the idea of shutting it off and heading off to a distant world where he could sit back and relax but he knew that if he didn't answer the call, no one else would.

He sighed and read the data. This was bad. This was very bad.

Scarlett walked down woodland path, under the twig made archway, and arrived at the large console area in the centre of the forest. The Doctor was staring at the scanner as he switched it back from a screen of Galifreyian text to a moving image of swirling galaxy.

"What was that Doctor?" she asked in her thick Scottish accent.

"Oh nothing," he sighed.

"Don't lie Doctor, what was that?"

"Fine…it was the data on the gateway to another universe that is amassing, I was monitoring it's progression."

"Why?"

"Because we've come to the day that I have been dreading."

"And that day is?"

"The day when I have to fight a demon."

"Oh okay, that makes a lot of sense but when it comes to you; not a lot does."

"Exactly," he smirked. "Now…what did you find in the library?"