They were driven to a small diner in the middle of nowhere and lead, at gunpoint, inside. The drive itself had been in uncomfortable silence. The leader's final statement weighing heavily on both Alice and the Doctor. What did he mean he wanted to have a chat? Alice was feeling remarkably guilty by this point. If she hadn't gone running off – again – they wouldn't be in this situation right now. For all she knew this man might try and kill the Doctor. And regeneration or not, she didn't think she could handle that. The Doctor had been right of course. There were only certain kinds of people who would be able to survive the apocalypse. And they were not nice people. But still, the Doctor had said they were wherever they needed to be. So Alice was holding on to hope that this would not end too badly. A sharp prod in the back reminded her that Fun was still holding a gun to her and she was holding up traffic. He lead her to one of the tables and gestured for her to sit, before sitting opposite her, his hand resting against the table, his gun still pointed right at her.

"Is that really necessary?" she asked, nodding at the gun. "I mean, I'm completely unarmed."

"'Fraid so, babe," he answered with a smirk, his eyes trained on her as the red headed man went about assigning everyone to duties.

"Jet: fire," he said, "Kobra and Fun, watch the girls. You, ginger" he said, grabbing the Doctor by the edge of his jacket, "with me."

Alice watched the man drag her friend away and chewed her lip nervously. She didn't particularly want to be left alone with these strange men. But the little girl – Sunshine – was smiling at her comfortingly so she tried not to be too afraid. She watched with interest as the other men went about doing as they were told. Jet, the curly haired one, set about preparing a fire, while Fun and the other one, who she assumed was Kobra, kept their eyes trained on her. Sunshine, it seemed, did whatever she wanted and had decided to try and help Jet.

"So he's in charge then?" she asked, gesturing in the direction the Doctor and the man had gone.

"Party?" Fun asked, finally giving Alice a name to work with. "Yeah. Well. Technically. Sunny here calls most of the shots."

Alice couldn't help but smile as the little girl grinned up at them before turning seriously back to Jet as he explained how to build a fire properly. "Okay," she said finally, turning back to Fun. "I have to ask. What the hell kind of names are Fun, Kobra, Jet and Party?"

Both men looked at her like she had grown a second head and Alice couldn't figure out what was strange about what she'd said. They were strange names. And Sunshine thought her name was weird. Alice simply raised an eyebrow at them, waiting for them to answer.

"They're aliases," Kobra finally said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "We buried our real names years ago. Everyone did." And then they were looking at her again, suspicion in their eyes. Silently asking why she didn't know that. How could anyone not know that?

"Wait, back up," Fun said, looking at her now like she'd wounded his pride. "You mean you don't know who we are?"

Alice shrugged and spread her hands in a 'no fucking idea' sort of gesture. "Other than dangerous? I haven't got a clue."

Even Kobra looked a little hurt at this. And then suspicious again. Alice wished she understood more about what was going on so she could stop being looked at like they were debating whether or not to blow her head off. Which they almost certainly were. She glanced down at the gun Fun was still pointing at her and stared at it for a long moment before looking back up at Fun who had appeared to have recovered himself. He stretched his hand towards her and grinned. "Well then, Fun Ghoul, at your service. That over there is Kobra Kid, Jet Star... and our fearless leader is Party Poison."

"Alice," she said, placing her hand in his. Instead of shaking it like she had expected, he leaned forward and brought her hand to his lips. She laughed as she caught Kobra rolling his eyes, and pulled her hand back to rest in her lap. "Should you be flirting with the hostage?"

Fun Ghoul shrugged. "Probably not," he admitted with a wink. "But it's really fucking nice to have a chick around who's not trying to shoot us in the face... ain't that right Koby?"

"Shut up," Kobra growled, shooting a glare in his friends direction before moving off somewhere else to prevent himself from punching Fun in the face. Alice gave Fun a questioning look and the man gleefully launched into the story.

"See, there's these chicks out there," he said gesturing out the window into the expanse of desert. "Smokin' hot and seriously dangerous. Like fucking desert Amazons, but with laser guns. They don't much like other gangs and anyone stepping foot in their zone had damned well better have permission or you can say bye bye to that pretty face." Alice could see that Fun was enjoying telling the story a little too much. "And this one time, the Kid over there he-"

"For fucks sake, Fun!" Kobra said, coming back towards them and smacking Fun Ghoul upside the head. "I said shut up! And why the fuck are you telling her this shit? For all we know she's a Drac, a BL/ind puppet or some shit."

"Ow!" Was all Fun said in return, rubbing the spot on his head where he'd been hit. It was clear what Kobra said had had an effect, though he tried to downplay it as much as possible. "Come on, Koby, she's not a Drac. Dracs are mindless drones. And why the hell would BL/ind send an unarmed spy?"

Kobra hit him again. "So we don't get suspicious. Think about it, Fun, who the hell still has a name like Alice, these days? BL/ind puppets, that's who."

"Well maybe that's not her real name?" Fun countered, glaring at Kobra and rubbing the new place on his head where he'd been hit the second time.

"Um, it is my real name," Alice said, reminding them both that she was still sitting right there. "And I have no idea what you're talking about."

Again suspicious looks. Fun had stopped trying to defend her and had tightened his grip on his gun. Even Jet, who had finished lighting the fire had come over to investigate. Great, what had she said now?

"How can you not know?" Kobra growled. "Everybody knows."

"Everybody knows what?" Alice snapped back, her frustration clear. "Look guys, I'm sure here at the end of the world, you've got valid reasons for not trusting any body. But me? I just got here. So could someone please explain what in the hell is going on!"

All three men looked shocked and confused. Probably from both being yelled at by a hostage and being informed that she had 'just got here,' which Alice was now regretting blurting out. Before any of them could start asking awkward questions, Sunshine moved away from the fire and came to sit next to Alice, looking at the three men expectantly. Immediately they became uncomfortable under her gaze until finally Jet Star cracked.

"BL/ind as in Better Living Industries?" he prompted, trying to see if that sounded more familiar. Alice shook her head, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable as the centre of attention. "BL/ind run this place," he explained bitterly. "They're based in Battery City and from what we've gleaned from various inflitration missions - " he made a strange noise as Kobra elbowed him sharply and gave him a significant look. "I well... whatever, they're into human experiments and all the shit. Not to mention they send out Exterminators and Dracs to 'clean up' the riff raff out here in the zones."

Alice blinked at him. An evil corporation, huh? That did sound like something the Doctor should be looking into. But the evil of humans wasn't really something he could stop. Unless there was alien involvement, apparently he wasn't allowed to do anything. "And Dracs are?"

Kobra made an exasperated sound and moved away to tend the fire or something else far away from the table. Rolling his eyes at him, Fun picked up her question. "Draculoids used to be real people. Citizens of Battery City or zone runners like us. But BL/ind does something to them, makes them like little robots. Can't think for themselves, can only follow their orders... we've had to ghost a few friends who've been Drac'd."

Kobra made another irritated noise and stormed off to find Party. Alice watched him go, her brows knitted together in concern. Oh dear, she didn't think it was a good thing to have some gun toting gang member disliking her. She looked down as something touched her hand and found Sunshine squeezing her hand comfortingly. Alice wondered what it was that made this little girl trust her so much.

Party had dragged the Doctor into what was once the kitchen of the diner, figuring it was the most private room in the diner. Pulling the Doctor roughly into the room and slamming the door behind him, he stared at the strange man for a long moment, trying to sort his thoughts.

"You're the Doctor," he said finally. Not a question.

"Yes?" the Doctor answered, wondering what was going on. "Though possibly not the Doctor you're thinking of?"

Party ignored him, circling the other man with a frown on his face. As if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "That blue box," he said, remembering what had distracted the Draculoids earlier that evening. "It's yours?"

The Doctor nodded, completely at a loss for what to do. He had no idea what the point of this interrogation was or where it might end up going. And he felt very uncomfortable leaving Alice alone with people who were clearly criminally dangerous. He watched the man pace the kitchen, clearly deep in thought, and folded his arms as he waited.

"Are you working for BL/ind?" he asked and the Doctor gave him a surprised look.

"For who?"

"Better Living Industries," Party clarified. Still the Doctor shook his head. "That's interesting," he said thoughtfully and the Doctor didn't think he liked his tone. "Because they sure know you, Doctor."

The Doctor met Party's gaze evenly, pretending not to be insulted by whatever the other man was insinuating. For a long while it seemed that neither man would back down, until eventually they looked away at the same time. "Do they just?" The Doctor finally said, examining a stain on the wall opposite him.

"Yes," Party said darkly. "We never gleaned much information it was all so vague. But every time we, or someone we know, infiltrate BL/ind, we hear your name. The Doctor. With his blue box. No one's ever found a picture, apparently because you can change your face." The Doctor looked uncomfortable. This was starting to sound like him. "I'm not sure I believe this last bit, but now that I find you in my home, with my daughter singing your praises I have to ask. Friend or Foe? And think carefully, because I will not hesitate to kill you."

The Doctor was thinking carefully. How was it this BL/ind place knew anything about him? He'd never heard of them before now. Was this why the TARDIS had brought them here? The Doctor found himself tugging on his hair in frustration. He hated not knowing what was going on. And he really hated not having the TARDIS around. He glanced up at Party and noticed the other man was looking at him expectantly, if a little impatiently. The Doctor understood. He too would not want a stranger anywhere near the people he cared about, unsure of whether or not they could be trusted. "I don't know anything about this Better Living Industries," he said honestly. "But I'd sure as hell like to. Any chance you can get me in?"

Party visibly relaxed, apparently satisfied with the Doctor's answer. He was about to reply when his younger brother burst into the room looking severely displeased. Kobra immediately through the Doctor a glare before looking pointedly at his brother.

"Give us a minute, Doctor," he said, taking Kobra by the shoulder and leading him to the other side of the room. The Doctor took this to mean he was dismissed and left the brothers to their private talk.

"What are you thinking," Kobra hissed. "Bringing strangers here? What if they sell us out?"

"They're not going to sell us out," he said calmly, confidently. His usual confidence however didn't appear to relax his younger brother this time, who was now looking at him like he'd lost his mind.

"They appeared out of no where, don't understand anything that's happened in the last seven years... that Doctor guy is British for fucks sake! Not to mention BL/ind know all about him. Where did they come from? We don't know anything about them, so why are they here?"

Party Poison sighed, he could see his brother's point. He had been arguing with himself inside his head for the entire drive home. He always found it hard to say no to Sunshine, but usually he drew the line when it might put the rest of his family in danger. But she had seemed so sure. And he was the Doctor. If he didn't know about BL/ind, but the knew about him what did that mean? Was he a danger to them and he didn't even know it? Could he put a stop to the experiments, and the exterminations? But Kobra was right, he never should have brought them here. Not without finding out more about them. "You're right," he said and this was what made Kobra relax. "But they're here now... and they could be useful." He ignore his brother's incredulous look. "Just... keep an eye on them. Make sure they don't wander off, or learn anything they shouldn't."

Kobra snorted. "Tell that to Fun and Jet. That chick's their new best friend. They can't shut up."

"Is it anything important?"

"Well... no... not yet," the younger man admitted.

"Then don't worry about it yet," Party said, a hand on his brother's shoulder as he lead him out of the kitchen, into the main room where the others were. "Just keep an eye on things."

Begrudgingly, Kobra nodded and took a seat by the fire next to his niece. Party wandered over to the table, where Alice was still sitting, now with the Doctor where Sunshine had been earlier. "Ideally we'd make for the city now. But clearly the whether has other ideas," he gestured at the window and Alice realised the wind was picking up a lot of dust. Of course, California was a desert now. Dust storms were ever likely. "So we'll all be stuck in doors for a while. We'll look after you here... hope you like kibble... and as soon as the dust dies down, we'll get you into BL/ind."

As he moved away, Fun and Jet followed him, leaving Alice and the Doctor alone. She looked at him questioningly, wanting to know what it was Party had had talked to him about and why he was suddenly so accommodating. The Doctor explained that BL/ind apparently knew who he was, and how he wanted to know why. And that of course he wanted to rescue the TARDIS and that all involved breaking into the BL/ind headquarters.

Nodding, Alice sighed. "But first we have to stay here, being scrutinised for every move we make and eating dog food... brilliant."