Author's Note: I don't have an excuse this week. When I don't have enough time in the day to do anything, I have no problem getting time to write. Then when I have absolutely nothing to do for the week, I wait till two hours before the end of that Tuesday... And end up publishing it an hour late. Why? You'd think, switching over into a psych major, I'd know the answer to that question. Point it, yes, another first draft chapter, so they'll be typos. I haven't had a chance to get any fresh pairs of eyes on any of these chapters to edit them for me... I'll add it to the list. Item 1: Start a list.

Professor Song started everybody moving immediately. She didn't need to bark orders or shout, she simply told everyone what to do, and they did it. Violet hurried back to where she had been sitting and fished out her E-vo suit from a nearby crate. Professor Song followed at what Violet could only describe as a saunter.

She was confused. She had seen her teacher act in interesting ways to get what she wanted, but now, she seemed to be almost taking child-like delight in it.

"How exactly are we getting down?" the man asked, following slightly behind. "I have no intention of letting everyone pile into the TARDIS."

"We have a shuttle, sweetie," Professor Song assured him.

The man stopped for a moment and said something to Jenny. She hurried back to the blue box while he joined Violet and her teacher. Hamilton joined them, carrying an E-vo suit of his own.

"How exactly are you?" he demanded of the man.

"Me? I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"Luis Hamilton," he said between clenched teeth. "I bank rolled this expedition."

"Really?" The strange doctor looked at Professor Song. "Why is it you always get the rich men who insisting on tagging along on these expeditions?"

She grinned. "They never seem to trust me."

"Oh, fancy that."

"Doctor who, exactly?" Hamilton interrupted as he began to turn red again.

"Just the Doctor."

"That's it. No name."
"That is my name."

"No, it's a job."

"And a name."

"Professor Song," Hamilton snarled, whipping around. "What is his name?"

"The Doctor."

Hamilton glowered at her. She and the Doctor traded amused glances.

"So what are you doctor of," Hamilton asked after a few moment of fuming.

"Everything."

"You can't be a doctor of everything."

"Why not?"

"Because," he sputtered, "you can't!"

"Everything you can be a doctor of, I am. Except maybe surgery. I know how, mind you, but the hands aren't as steady as they used to be. Old age," He tapped Hamilton on the shoulder, "you understand."

Violet couldn't help but notice the vein bulging out of Hamilton's temple as she finished fastening her suit. She slipped the communicator in place on the side of neck, flinching as the psychic anchor connected. It felt like a large needle and always made her worry about brain damage.

"Besides," the Doctor continued, "I've never been much for bedside manner. Not enough patience."

Jenny appeared suddenly, carrying what looked like two bright orange E-vo suits. They looked a bit primitive. She handed one to the Doctor before she started climbing into her own.

"So why the Wild West?" The Doctor asked suddenly as he began to put his own suit on.

"Variety," Professor Song answered. "It can't always be cliff faces and psychic notes."

"Ah yes, cliff faces. I never did get around to asking you why there. I mean, defacing a cliff of pure diamond like that in a dead language, honestly."

"Made sense. I wrote my doctorate about those writings."

"Stable time loops for the win."

She grinned at him.

The shuttle was cramped. Violet found herself stuffed between Jenny and a mercenary who looked like he'd lost an ear in a fight. She did her best to make herself as small as possible.

Professor Song settled down comfortable, between Hamilton and another mercenary, who looked relatively normal, save for a severe set of frown lines. Or scowling lines, because that's what he was doing. Professor Song pulled a small blue book out of her suits satchel and started flipping through the pages.

The book didn't surprise Violet. Professor Song had several books, actual bound paper books, all relics of a bygone age. No, what surprised her is that the Doctor settled down across from Professor Song and pulled out an identical book.

"So, where are we?" Professor Song asked. "Early still?"

"Relatively," the Doctor answered.

"I'll admit, I'm surprised to see you."

"Really? You were expecting someone else."

"Kind of. I'm surprised to see you, you. The older you. Last time we met, you were so young."

"That would have been the Byzantium, right?"

"That was early for you."

The Doctor grinned. "Very early."

"Have we're done the Pandorica, of course. And Jim the Fish on Easter Island."

"Oh, Jim the Fish, who could forget him. Annoying little thing, but you don't meet many psychic, talking fish in the universe."

"Does he ever finish that dam?"

"Surprising yes. Well built too, when you remember he was just using his fins." The Doctor frowned. "He did not like my bow tie."

"Did anyone like your bow tie?" Jenny called.

"It wasn't that bad," the Doctor protested. "It fit me very well, I'll have you know."

"I liked it," Professor Song agreed.

He held one hand out, palm up, as if showing proof.

"It was very dapper."

"See, dap- Wait, dapper?"

Violet wouldn't call the noise her teacher made a giggle, but it was far closer to one than she had ever heard before.

"It was better than the fez," Professor Song continued.

"Oh, the fez," the Doctor said, as if recalling fond memories.

"Don't even. I don't want to shoot another one of those."

"You could always leave it alone. It was a fez. Fezzes are marvelous."

"Oh, not a chance in hell."

"What's a fez?" Jenny asked.

"Don't get him started," Professor Song warned her.

"Well, okay, a fez is-"

"No," Professor Song said. She flipped a couple of page in the blue book. "Have we done Stormcage yet?" she asked quickly.

"Stormcage?" The Doctor flipped through the pages of his blue book for a moment. "No, not yet. Wait, Stormcage. Stromcage. Isn't that where you were locked up? What in the world we be doing there?"

"Spoilers."

"That's ever so annoying, you know."

She grinned at him again. "I know."

"You know, one day this'll be flipped, and I'm so getting you back."

The shuttle shook as they entered the atmosphere.

The Doctor closed his book and slipped it into a bag. "How exactly did you find Kailum?"

"I'm an archeologist, dear, it's what I do."

He snorted. "I don't know why you insist on identifying yourself with that lot. They're mostly wrong. You seen enough of the past to know that archeologists are only right, what, three out of every ten times."

"The fun isn't in the knowing, sweetie, it's in figuring out the puzzle. Sure, I could ask you to pop back and show me, but that's boring. Have you read the tome yet? It explains a lot of it."

"I glanced at it. How did you come across that?"

"A girl has to have some secrets."

The Doctor shook his head. "River, you're nothing but secrets."

"Like I said, the fun is figuring out the puzzle." She paused. "Is this the first adventure together since the last time you regenerated?"

"What clued you in?"

"I'm not used to Jenny not recognizing me."

"I'm sure she'll get used to you."

"I know she'll get used to me."

"I'm right here, you know," Jenny called over the flaring of the landing thrusters. "I can hear everything you're saying."

"I know, dear," Professor Song answered.

The planet was a ruin. They had known that much going in. It was orbiting a Red Dwarf, and an old one at that. Although the way gravity fields around them fell prevented much stress on the planet itself, it had drifted far closer to the star than its original orbit could have been. Or, at least, what its orbit had to have been to support life. Red Dwarfs, despites their small size, were also usually the most eruptive on small scales. The planet was bathed in heat from solar flares on a regular basis, though the towering pillars of flame weren't close enough to actually strike the planet. Couple that with the frenzied magnetic fields that caused the flares in the first place, and it was unsurprising the planet was wrecked.

Violet worried that she could feel the heat through her suit. She's couldn't, she knew it was impossible, for any flaw in the suit would result in her combusting. That didn't stop the sweat from gathering between her should blades and across her chest.

"We can't stay out here long," Professor Song told the mercenaries as they unloaded the equipment. "The shuttle's heat shielding is more than enough to withstand this, but I don't want to stress our suits anymore than we have too."

"We know, ma'am," one of the mercenaries said.

Violet glanced around. She had been expecting ruined buildings or jagged outcroppings. Instead, what she got were trees. Or, rocks that had once been trees before heat and time and turned them petrified and shattered husks.

Professor Song led the way, followed closely by the Doctor and Hamilton. The mercenaries carried the equipment. Violet worried that they would find such a duty demeaning, but they didn't seem to mind. Jenny, she noticed, helped. Violet found herself tagging along like a lost puppy. That's probably what they thought she was anyway.

It wasn't a long walk, but Violet felt like it was getting hotter. She kept assuring herself it was just her imagination, but it didn't help. The scenery around them changed subtly. Low, smooth buildings staggered up, gracefully for lack of a better word, if that was possible, out of the broken trees. The few buildings that looked mostly intact seemed to be gentle circles with flat tops. Whether that was by design or the effects of time, she couldn't tell. It was calming and creepy at the same time.

They headed down into a steep valley that ended abruptly in a rock wall. In the wall was a beautiful set of doors that looked like they had been carved directly into the rock. Professor Song held up a hand for them to stop.

It felt like they stood outside the door for ages, though it was probably only a few minutes. Jenny and the mercenaries stacked up the equipment on one side. Professor Song and the Doctor poured over the carving. Hamilton stood in the way. Violet also tried to look at the carving before giving up and retreating so that she wouldn't be in the way. She couldn't make heads or tails of them.

"Why don't we just blow the damn thing in," Hamilton asked finally.

"Because we don't know what's on the other side," the Doctor snapped. "It could be anything."

"Besides," Professor Song said, "I want to close it behind us. It might give us some shelter from the heat."

"Anything would be more sheltered than we are now," Hamilton grumbled.

"How do you put up with him?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm a teacher now. You learn to deal with idiots."

Hamilton grunted.

"Why don't you use the screwdriver?" Professor Song asked.

"In this heat, I think it would melt."

"You should put dampers on it, take care of that problem."

There was a paused. "Yeah, you're probably right." A heartbeat passed. "Ah-hah!" The Doctor traced a finger along a series of carvings. "These here."

"How do we active them?"

He frowned at the door for a moment. "Living flesh."

"What?" Professor Song's eyes widened. "Don't you dare!"

It was too late. In a single motion, he grabbed his glove in one hand, twisted and unlocked the seal, and pulled his hand free. His arm flashed along the pattern, almost too quickly to follow. The moment he was done, his hand shot back into the glove. He gave her a smile as the doors began to shutter and open, spreading wide.

Then he toppled over.