Inside the TARDIS, River took what looked like a jumper cable and attached it to the scanner. A picture of the exterior flickered on.
"I thought the Doctor said that the scanner wouldn't work," Amy asked and both River and Rory snickered.
"Poor Doctor," River said with a smirk. "He just doesn't understand the old girl like the rest of us. Isn't that right, dear?" River's hand caressed the console.
"River, can you talk to her, the TARDIS?" Amy asked and Rory looked over at her, curious to hear the answer.
"We can all talk to her, Amy. The real question is, can I hear her?" River answered enigmatically.
Jack nudged past them and turned up the volume on the scanner. "Watch, listen," he said, pointing at the screen. A child's voice came from the recorder on the President's desk. The poor thing sounded scared of a spaceman. The Doctor had started taking notes.
When the recording was over, Nixon turned around and froze when he noticed the Doctor and Rose. The man sitting closest to them stood up. Canton, presumably.
Rose gave a little wave and a big smile. The Doctor looked slightly panicked. "Oh. Hello," he stuttered. "Bad moment. Oh look, dear, this is the Oval Office. We were looking for the... oblong room, right, dearest?" Rose smiled at him but didn't offer help. He sighed in exasperation. "We'll just be off then, shall we?" He walked slowly backwards towards the TARDIS. Rose calmly and carefully pulled a battered leather wallet out of her pocket.
Nixon hit the panic button on his desk and the Doctor turned and ran straight into the side of his ship. Comically, he fell to the floor. Not so comically, a deluge of Secret Service officers rushed into the room and held the Doctor down. One of them pointed a gun at Rose, and she simply held up her hands, psychic paper still in her palm.
"Rory, make her blue again!" the Doctor yelled from the floor. The beautiful ship blinked into view leaving the Americans stunned. In the confusion, the Doctor moved behind the desk and Rose moved to his side.
"Mr. President." Everyone's attention snapped to the Doctor. "That child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren't listening. Never mind, though, 'cause the answer's yes. I'll take the case. Fellas, the guns? Really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug. You think you can just shoot me?"
Jack stepped out of the TARDIS, hands up. "Doc, they're Americans!" With hands raised in surrender, River, Rory and Amy stepped out of the ship as well.
Immediately the Doctor threw up his hands. "Don't shoot! Definitely no shooting."
"Don't shoot us either! Very much not in need of getting shot," Rory said, ducking his head a bit.
"Who are they and... what is that box?" Nixon said in disbelief.
"It's a police box. We're your new undercover agents. On loan from Scotland Yard." Rose held up the psychic paper, handing it to Canton. "Code named Bad Wolf. These are my top operatives, The Doctor, the Author, the Roman, the Captain and," Rose gave River a wink, "Sweetie."
"Sometimes I hate you, Rose," River said in mock frustration.
"No, you don't," the blonde said with a laugh.
With a nod, Canton slowly handed the wallet back to Rose. Nixon was still gaping at the new arrivals. "Who are you people?"
"Nah, boring question." The Doctor began his ramble. "Who's phoning you? That's interesting. 'Cause Canton Three is right. That was definitely a girl's voice. Which means there's only one place in America she can be phoning from."
"Where?" Canton asked, suddenly intrigued.
"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr. Delaware," one of the senior agents, Peterson, remarked, his hand still steady on his gun.
The Doctor sighed. Humans could be a bit thick at times. "You heard everything I heard. It's simple enough. Give us five minutes and I'll explain. On the other hand, lay a finger on me or my friends and you'll never ever know."
"How'd you get it in there?" Canton pointed towards the TARDIS. "I mean you didn't carry it in."
"Clever, eh?" The Doctor preened a little.
"Love it," Canton said with a small smile.
His grip tightening on his gun, Peterson all but shouted, "Do not compliment the intruder!"
"Five minutes?" Canton asked.
"Five," the Doctor said with a smile.
Peterson quickly said, "Mr. President, that man is a clear and present dang—"
Canton cut him off. "Mr. President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and five of his friends. And that's the man he walked past. One of them is worth listening to. I say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."
"Thanks, Canton," the Doctor said, relaxing a bit.
"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself."
"Not so thanks," the Doctor mumbled and Rose swatted his arm. "Alright, I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street-level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve jammie dodgers and a fez."
"No fez," Rose said with an eye roll.
"Get him his maps," Canton said forcefully, and the agents around the room slowly lowered their weapons.
Rose grinned at him. "Thank you."
"You love my fez," the Doctor said, almost purring.
"Not in public I don't," she shot back.
"Seriously, Mum, too much information," Rory said, sticking his fingers in his ears.
"Wait, you're his mother?" Nixon looked incredulously between the two of them.
Rose was getting used to people's disbelief at the fact that mother and son looked to be about the same age now that she no longer wore her perception filter. "I moisturize," she said flippantly and Amy snorted.
A few minutes later, maps filled every available surface of the Oval office. The Doctor and his family scoured them, looking seemingly important.
"Why Florida?" Canton asked, coming up to the desk where Rose and the Doctor were working.
"That's where NASA is," the Doctor said, perusing one of the maps, his fingers flying over the pages. "She mentioned a spaceman. NASA's where spacemen live. Also, there's another lead I'm following. Now maps, I love maps."
"I'll get you a nice big one for your birthday," Rose teased him.
River and Amy were huddled on the couch when they overheard the Doctor. "Spaceman," Amy said, looking up. "Like the one we saw in the lake?"
"Maybe. Probably," River said, looking a little too calm.
"I know what you're thinking, Amy," Jack said, leaning over the back of the sofa. "And we can't stop that from happening, but we do need to help that little girl."
Before she could retort, Amy's stomach lurched. Maybe she had eaten something bad for lunch. Wait, when was the last time she had eaten? She stood up, needing to find a loo in a hurry.
"Amy?" River questioned, but Jack laid a hand on River's shoulder and shook his head. A look passed between the two, and River sank deeper into the cushions.
Something in the doorway caught Amy's attention. There was a tall creature in a black suit standing there. It was completely out of the ordinary and yet no one reacted. Then she remembered seeing one of these creatures in Utah. "I remember," she said softly.
"Amy." Rory came over and blocked her view. "What do you remember?"
"I don't know, I just—"Amy shook her head clear. "I just don't feel well. Excuse me." She sidestepped Rory only to be stopped by a Secret Service agent.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, for the duration of these proceedings everyone is to be contained in this room," the agent said as politely as possible.
Over his shoulder, Canton said, "Shut up and take her to the bathroom." The agent turned and escorted Amy out of the room.
"Your five minutes are up," Canton said a minute or two after Amy left.
"Yeah and where's my fez?" the Doctor grumbled.
The phone rang again, and Nixon hesitated before answering.
"Here," the Doctor said, pointing to a place on one of the maps. "The only place in the United States that she could be calling from." Rose looked over his shoulder and smiled.
Obviously impressed, Canton said, "You, sir, are a genius."
Clapping his hands together and trying unsuccessfully to keep his ego in check, the Doctor replied, "A hobby."
"Answer the phone, Mr. President." Canton indicated the still ringing phone.
Nixon pushed the buttons on the tape recorder and put the call on speaker. The same voice of that scared child filled the air. The little girl was pleading for them to help her. To save her from the spaceman who was coming to eat her.
Amy came in at the end of the call looking a little shaken. The Doctor noted her presence and nodded to Rose, who started ushering the group into the TARDIS.
"No time for that SWAT team," the Doctor said, throwing his tweed coat back on. "Tell her we're on our way."
"What?" the President demanded.
Ignoring the question, the Doctor said, "Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Canton demanded as he ran into the TARDIS after them.
At the console, the Doctor was starting the dematerialization sequence. "Jefferson isn't a girl's name. It's not her name either. Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton. Rose?"
"Surnames of three of America's Founding Fathers," she replied automatically, turning a knob to stabilize the flight.
"Lovely fellas, two of them fancied me," the Doctor said with flourish.
"And the other one fancied me. Old big ears here was completely jealous." Rose said with a tongue in teeth grin.
"Time Lords do not get jealous," the Doctor said, stomping his foot like a petulant child. Rose, Jack, Amy and River all laughed.
"Sure thing, Doc," Jack said, coming up next them. "Just keep telling yourself that and one day maybe it will be true."
Rory, on the other hand, was still standing by the door with Canton. "You okay? Coping?"
"Now if you lot are done taking the mickey out of me, we have work to do." The Doctor twirled. "The President asked two questions. Where are you and who are you."
"She was answering the first," Rose said, catching him by the lapels.
The Doctor leaned down and bopped her nose with his index finger. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."
"Only one?" she asked, giving him her best smile.
Before he could lean in for a kiss, Amy interrupted them. "Flirt later, you two," Amy said in mock condemnation.
Canton spun around. "It's bigger on the inside."
"Yeah," Rory said with a small smile. "You get used to it. And for now I'll save to the lecture on dimensional transcendence. Though it is a fascinating topic."
"There is only one place where you will find three big names in a row like that?" The Doctor grinned in challenge to the people on the console.
"Where's that?" Jack asked.
"Come on." The Doctor looked giddy as he grabbed Rose's hand and ran down the stairs. He never could resist a mystery.
"It's ah..." Canton stumbled over the words.
"Are you taking care of this?" the Doctor asked Rory.
"Yep, the reaction is always the best part." Rory grinned as everyone else filed out into the abandoned building.
"Where are we?" Jack asked.
"A few miles from Cape Canaveral, 1969, the year of the Moon." The Doctor flopped down into a chair while River went to check the phone.
Stepping carefully through the debris, Amy asked, "But why would the little girl be here?"
"I don't know. It lost me a bit. The President asked her where she was and she did what any lost little girl would do. She looked out of the window." The Doctor bounded out of the chair and hopped to the window by Amy. He pulled down the blinds and he and Amy peered out.
"Streets," Amy said, trying not to sound impressed. "Of course, street names."
"The only place in Florida, probably the only place in America, where three streets with those names intersect." He turned away from the window and raked his eyes up and down his pink and yellow girl's figure. "Rose, you've got that face on again," the Doctor said, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"What face?" Rose asked, confused.
"The 'He's hot when he's clever' face," the Doctor whispered dangerously close to her ear.
Rose smiled with her tongue in her teeth. "This is my normal face."
"Yes, it is." He brushed a kiss just below her ear.
Rolling her eyes and pushing him away, she shot back, "Oh, shut up."
"Not a chance," the Doctor said in a low husky tone.
"I have always wanted to say this," Jack said conspiratorially to Amy. "Oi, there's a time and place, Doctor!" Rose and the Doctor moved apart but neither looked remorseful.
"They get a bit worse, you know," River said to Amy, and the red-head snorted in disbelief.
Rory and Canton stepped out of the ship. "We've moved. How can we have we moved?"
"You haven't even got to space travel yet?" the Doctor asked as he picked up and then set down the phone. Then he turned and pulled Rose out of the room.
Sticking his tongue out at the retreating form of the Doctor, Rory said, "I was going to cover it with time travel."
Canton froze in place. "Time travel?" Rory nodded and watched the American, almost able to see the cogs turning in his head. After a few moments, Canton spoke again. "So we're in a box that's bigger on the inside and it travels through time and space?"
"Yeah, basically," Rory said with a shrug, leading the way out of the room.
"How long has Scotland Yard had this?" Canton spun in a circle before following.
"We're not actually with Scotland Yard. We're a bit more freelance than that," Rory said over his shoulder.
"You guys do this a lot then?" the agent asked.
"It's just our lives, lots of adventure. Really fun most of the time, even when you're running for your life," Rory replied.
In the other room, the Doctor tightened his grip on Rose's hand. "You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course."
River nodded. "I noticed the phone, yes."
"What about it?" Amy said, looking back towards the room they had come from.
"It's cut off," Jack said, pulling his gun from its holster. "So how did the child phone from here?"
"Okay, but why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy asked seriously.
River and Jack laughed and Rose raised an eyebrow. "Since when does someone not want to trap us?"
"Let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards," the Doctor said, pulling Rose closer to him.
"Look at this," Jack said, making his way over to what looked to be an examination table.
"It's non-terrestrial, definitely alien. Probably not even from this time zone," River said, trying to adopt a clinical manner.
"What the hell have they been doing to this poor girl?" Rose said mostly to herself. Closing her eyes she felt anger welling up at whomever or whatever had done something to a child. Suddenly she felt it, the brush of another telepathic mind, one that was utterly and completely scared. Trying to black out the conversation around her, Rose focused on that mind, sending comfort to them, telling them that she would be there soon. In the back of her mind, she heard the wolf howl.
"Which is odd, because look at this!" the Doctor continued, not yet noticing what was going on with Rose.
"It's Earth tech. Contemporary," River said while eyeing the spacesuit the Doctor was holding up.
Boyish glee filled his voice as he dug through the box. "It's very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space program."
"Stolen?" River queried.
Amy's eyebrows raised in confusion. "What, by aliens?"
"Apparently," the Doctor countered.
"But why? I mean if you could make it all the way to Earth, why steal technology that could barely make it to the moon?" Jack said, lightly kicking the box. "I mean the Torchwood of this time period has much better tech."
"Maybe 'cause it's cooler! Look at how cool this stuff is." The Doctor was practically jumping up and down now. He slipped the helmet over his head.
"Really, Dad, cool aliens?" Amy asked skeptically.
Pointing to himself, the Doctor asked, "Well, what would you call me?"
Amy and Jack exchanged a look before they said in unison, "An alien."
"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed, chucking away the helmet and looking over to Rose for support. "Rose," he said softly, noticing that she had her eyes closed and she wasn't moving.
When he touched her shoulder, she shuttered and her eyes flew open. "Did you hear that? Did you feel that?"
Shaking his head, the Doctor took her now clammy hand in his. "I don't know what you mean. Show me." Rose was lifting a hand to his temple to show him when Rory and Canton came back into the room.
"I think he's okay now," Rory said, nodding to the older man.
The Doctor shot Rose a comforting thought and she heard his voice whisper, "in a minute, love," in her mind. She gave him a small grin before he turned back to the newcomers. "Ah! Back with us, Canton?"
"I like your wheels," Canton said, pointing his torch back towards the room containing the TARDIS.
"That a boy," the Doctor said, clapping the man on the back. "So come on, little girl, let's find her."
Rose, River and Amy were left to examine the table. "When I find who did this to a little girl…" Rose said, her fists clenching.
"You will find them, Rose," River said, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder. "They will be punished, and that little girl will be fine. I promise. But for now, we all need to focus. Anger won't help right now."
"You're right." Rose let out a closely held breath. "Thank you."
"What's this?" Amy asked, pointing to a cable on the floor.
River pounced, following it to a manhole cover. She heaved it open and looked down. "Doctor, Rose, look at this."
"What's down there?" The Doctor peered carefully down the hole.
"Looks to be a network of tunnels," River said, looking over the results of her scanner.
"Life signs?" the Doctor asked, suddenly dead serious.
"No. Nothing that's showing up," River said, tucking her scanner back into her belt.
"Those are the worst kind," he said, stepping back as River prepared to descend.
"Be careful!" Jack warned her, coming over by the entrance to the tunnels.
"Careful?" River smiled cheekily. "Tried that once. Ever so dull."
"Shout if you get in trouble," Jack said softly.
"Don't worry. I'm quite the screamer," River said with a wink. "Now there's a spoiler for you."
"Actually, Beautiful, I know that quite well." Jack winked back.
"So what's going on here?" Canton asked, waving a hand around the room.
"I really don't want to know what those two get up to," the Doctor said with a shudder. Jack just winked at him.
"Doctor, I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion," Rory said, rolling his eyes.
"Right," the Doctor said before walking off, ignoring Canton's question.
Canton wandered off towards the table Rose was still examining. "Tell me honestly," he began. "I was having a drink in a bar. Am I still there?"
Rose looked up at him and he would have sworn her brown eyes flashed with just a hint of gold. "Sometimes I think I either died or ended up in a coma after the explosion at my job. But I'm not in a coma and you're not in a bar. It's all real, and when this is over, it's the only story you will ever tell."
A moment later River popped out of the tunnel, breathless. "All clear. Just tunnels, nothing down there I can see. Give me five minutes. I want to take another look around."
"Stupidly dangerous!" Rose called from the other side of the room.
"Yep. I like it, too," River said, heading back down.
"Hold on, River, I'm coming, too," Jack said as he descended the ladder.
When he reached the floor of the tunnel, River turned to face him. "How far in the future are you from?"
"In theirs," Jack's eyes flicked upwards. "About four years, haven't been linear with them for a very long time. In yours, well, spoilers, my love."
"Why are you here?" River asked, taking a few steps towards him, relief filling her eyes.
"I showed up in Utah because Rory sent me and because you need me. And I'm here in this dirty tunnel because I've wanted to do this all day." Closing the gap between them, Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss.
River automatically sank into the sensation of Jack's mouth on hers. It had been far too long since she had been able to kiss him. The last time she had seen him was right after Ianto…
Jack pulled back and rested his forehead on hers. "You know, a boy could get his ego ruffled with your mind wandering like that. Especially when you go there."
"Stop it." She smacked his arm. "I'm sorry. The shields are always tricky when you're out of practice," River said, stepping away and walking down the corridor. "And it's just been far too long since I've had anyone in my head. Especially since I've had you and then there's our… well you know what we were to each other." She changed subjects. "These tunnels are old, impossibly old. How are tunnels this old here and nobody knows they're here?"
He caught her up. "What we are to each other, River. What we will always be." They came to an access hatch.
River tried to open it and found it locked. "Why must people always lock things?" She turned and gave him a flirtatious smile. "What's a girl to do?"
"Is this sensible?" Jack asked, leaning against a wall giving her his best wolfish grin.
"God, I hope not," River said, continuing to pick the lock.
"How are you doing? I mean really. Don't give me that canned 'I'm always alright' crap your family is known for." He studied her as she stiffened.
"It hurts, Jack." She held back the sob. "I know exactly what's wrong with Mum and I can't do a damn thing about it. I shouldn't do anything about it."
"River..."
"And when they look at me, Mum, Dad, Nan, I know they love me. I can even see flickers of it in Granddad's eyes now. But I can't help but think it's echoes from Pops and not his affection for me. It's still love for River, though, not for Melody or even Mels. They have no idea who I am yet, and for me they will never know again."
She sighed. "I know they are only a few months after Mum and Dad's wedding. One day soon Mum will meet me for the first time and I will never see her again. And it will keep happening. Trisha, Sabrina, Dad, Tony, Nan, Pops, Granddad. The day that happens, the day that no one I love knows me, I might as well be dead, because what good is a near immortal life if no one you care about cares about you."
"Melody Rose, don't you dare talk like that." Jack had to hold himself back from taking her in his arms and shaking her. "Your dad and granddad are brilliant men. Then there's your mum and Nan, who are pretty badass themselves. And never ever count out your husband. This will all work out, I promise you."
"That's why you're really here, isn't it?" River gave him a small smile. "To give us all hope that we can get through this."
"Call me Mercury, messenger of the Tylers," he said, making her laugh. "All of you have your own burdens to bear. If I can give any of you hope that even though it gets easier eventually, I will. It's nothing that you, Rose, Rory, Amy and the Doctor haven't done for me at some point."
"I love you, you idiot," River said, opening the door at last.
"Right back at you," Jack said, walking over and smacking her bottom before they walked through the door. The lights in the center of the room started flashing and an alarm went off. "I'll make sure no one's coming." Jack headed back towards the door.
River moved to one of the computer stations. "This is old, centuries old. The Earth's not being invaded, it's occupied. Jack!" she yelled to the man at the door. "We need to get out of here now."
"I love it when we run for our lives," Jack said, taking her hand in his.
Back upstairs. Canton and Amy stood examining some of the equipment. "So," Amy started, trying to make conversation with Canton, anything to distract her from the nauseous feeling in her stomach and the creepy atmosphere around her. "You were kicked out of the FBI because you had attitude problems."
"No. I just wanted to get married," Canton replied.
"Is that a crime?" Amy asked, genuinely curious.
"Yes," he replied matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry." She paused. "I'm married to a man who's part human, part that," she pointed at the Doctor "and part that blue box we travelled here in. I'm sure that's a crime somewhere."
"Wait, how can someone be part of that blue box?" Canton asked, confused.
"The TARDIS, the ship, she's sentient. She's alive. The ship and Mum kind of bonded and now they share a genetic code. Rory's her son so…" Amy trailed off. "Honestly, they can explain it better."
"So Doctor 'who' exactly? And what's Bad Wolf?" Canton pointed to where the Doctor and Rose were working in tandem.
"Ah. That's classified," Amy said with a wink.
"Classified by whom?"
"God knows," Amy laughed. "Honestly though, they're my mum and dad. It's a bit of a crazy family." She stopped and looked serious. "I had something I wanted to tell them. Stuff always gets in the way."
"Stuff does that," he agreed.
"Help me!" the child screamed. Canton pulled out his gun and ran in the direction of the noise. Rory was right behind him. Rose and the Doctor were about to run when Amy collapsed, clutching her stomach and letting out a strangled cry.
"Amy!" The Doctor made to turn back.
"Go," Rose said, pushing the Doctor towards the door. "I've got her." He nodded and reluctantly ran from the room. "Amy, what's wrong?"
"It hurts," Amy said, clutching her stomach. "Mum, I have to tell you something."
Rose brushed her hair out of her face. "You can tell me anything, Sweetheart."
"Mum, I'm…" Amy swallowed and met her mum's eyes. "I'm pregnant."
The corners of Rose's mouth twitched. "Oh Amy, that's great." The little girl's pleas for help echoed around the room once more. "Not the best timing on the big announcement, though. Let's get you back to the TARDIS and…" She froze and her grip on Amy's arm tightened painfully.
Amy looked up and they were surrounded by the same aliens that Amy had seen at the Lake in Utah and in the Oval Office and in the bathroom. Why hadn't she remembered them before?
"It's the astronaut," Rory yelled in the next room.
"What do you want?" Rose demanded, standing up and helping Amy to her feet as well.
The creature tilted its head from one side to the other as if it was contemplating her question. "The same thing we have always wanted. The Time Child."
In the back of her mind, Rose could hear the wolf howl again and aloud she screamed, "Rory!"
A moment later, the Doctor and Rory charged back into the room. "What's wrong? Rose? Why did you scream?"
"I didn't scream," Rose said quickly, and then turned to Amy. "Did I?"
"No, I was right here and Mum didn't scream," Amy said, looking confused.
River and Jack emerged from the tunnels. Both of them had quickly drawn their guns. "What's wrong, Rosie?"
Rose looked exasperated. "Nothing is wrong with me. Amy was telling me…" Amy shook her head fervently. "Amy was having stomach pains and then you two came in the room. I don't remember screaming."
Raising his slightly trembling fingers to Rose's temple, the Doctor paused and gave her a look that sought permission before he looked into her memories. Rose nodded and while his fingers made contact with her skin, his mind made contact with hers. She first showed the feelings of the other telepathic mind and the wolf howl. Then she showed him exactly what she remembered about the last few minutes.
The Doctor pulled back. "We heard her scream. From other rooms Rory, Jack, River and I heard Rose scream. But Amy, who was standing right here, didn't, and Rose doesn't remember it."
"Because I didn't scream," Rose said emphatically.
"No, Mum, you did," Rory said. "You yelled my name."
"You just don't remember it. There's about a minute that's been edited out of your memory," the Doctor said, his voice growing cold with anger. "Someone grab Canton, then back to the TARDIS. Now."