"Are we always so stubborn?"

"Well, from what I've seen…"

Katie glared at the Doctor. "That was something we call a rhetorical question."

"You have to admit, Paul was pretty loyal about Jak. I'm surprised we managed to convince him otherwise."

"Yeah, well, we may be thick, but we aren't completely stupid. Facts still remain facts, and the fact was that a lot of the things Jak would have said to convince Revere to move were over-embellishments. Add to that the attack on the dress shop, and the fact Jak was posing as a British officer, you have a good mix for disproving him."

The Doctor gave her a curious look. "I never really understood the whole-"

"Sibling rivalry the UK and the USA seem to have?"

He glared at her, though it was mostly in jest. "You need to stop interrupting me. Bad habit."

Katie shrugged it off. "I think the UK and the USA will be picking on each other as long as tea comes in paper bags and is made badly, and coffee comes powdered and overly sweet."

"It comes down to a morning drink?"

Katie grinned crookedly. "Yep. The Boston Tea Party sort of defined that whole thing for the separate country's identities. I know, the protest was taxation without representation, but most of us stopped drinking tea to continue the protest. The Party was the thing that really set the revolutionary ball rolling. Then we all turned into insurrectionist rebels by fighting Mother England, and we appealed to practically everyone else on the globe for funds, which we got, and we actually succeeded in what we were doing, and then we climbed straight up the global ladder to the top. Frankly, I'm surprised we made peace with Britain so soon after the war."

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky, blinking. "I can't tell if refreshing or disconcerting to have you admit that."

"Meh. We all know it. It's just that no one says it."

"Why do you constantly say you aren't-"

"Human but insist I'm American? Species can change, but once an American, always an American."

" Now that…that is just-"

"Creepy how I finish your sentences correctly? Tell me about it."

"Well, I was going to say-"

"Disconcerting?"

"Stop it."

Katie smiled mischievously. "Does it freak you out?"

"Yes."

"Then I won't stop."

The Doctor smiled at her, then looked up. "Ah, we've arrived," he said, recognizing the North Church. It was here that two lanterns would be hung, signaling the direction the Regulars would come from.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have taken TARDIS straight here."

"Oh, come on, where's the fun in that?" the Doctor said, making one of his many faces and knocking on the church door. "You don't get to see things when all you do is fly about. That's why I-"

"Fly about, because then you get to see the universe."

The Doctor gave a Katie one of his looks that always made her feel like a bug on a card. "Maybe we should have your psychic abilities checked. It's started to go beyond logical guesses."

The church door creaked open, and a young man, probably no more than 25 years old, opened the door. He was thin, but wiry, and Katie figured he was strong, considering the fact he was barely taller than her own 5' 2".

"May I help you?" he asked politely, though his voice sounded a bit strained.

"Are you Robert Newman, by any chance?" the Doctor asked.

"I am."

The Doctor smiled charmingly. "Good. You're just the man we're looking for then. Is there someplace we can talk privately?"

"Of course." Newman opened the main door and they went in. Katie and the Doctor followed Newman into a small side office. It looked more like a storeroom, but there was a desk in one corner.

"I have a message from a friend of yours. Silversmith by the name of Paul," the Doctor said.

Newman smiled slightly. "Ah. I was wondering when it would arrive. How many?"

"One lantern if they come across land, two if they use the sea," the Doctor said.

"Tell him I have already chosen two young men to assist me. They are entirely loyal to the colonies, and are vestrymen in this church. The Regulars are expected to move soon then?"

"Yes. Within the next day or two," Katie said. Newman hardly looked at her. Chauvinist. Katie thought. Just you wait, buddy boy. There are women who help so much in this war it'll make your head spin.

"You're certain you're up to this?" Katie asked. "The British soldiers boarding here won't be up and about, or if they are, you can find a way around them?"

Newman's face gained a slightly pinched look as the Doctor closed his eyes in exasperation. Katie ignored him; she knew her blatant disregard for diplomacy annoyed him, but she usually didn't care.

"I house them because I must. Once we are a free nation, I will not have to do so."

"Wasn't talking about that. Just didn't want you to cause your mum any problems, seeing as you still live with her."

"Yes, well," the Doctor cut in, "I think the two of us had better let Paul know you're ready on this end." He tugged Katie's arm and she followed him outside.

"Do you try to start arguments?"

"I prefer to call them 'debates.' And yes, most of the time I do. So, now what?"

"Well, this church is one of the three major points - in fact, the best one - to stop any sort of message reaching Lexington in time for Adams and Hancock to clear out before the Regulars arrive and arrest them. Stop the two lanterns, or put up one, and the whole thing could get scrapped. The other two are Revere and Dawes. Now, I get the feeling Dawes will be fine. History barely looks at him. But Revere is the prominent figure. He plays important roles through the rest of the war, not just tonight."

"Meaning we should stay with him, keep him safe," Katie said.

"No. I'll stay with Revere."

Katie crossed her arms. "And what do you expect me to do, fly-boy? If you tell me to go back to TARDIS and wait this out-"

"No, of course not. I need you to stay here."

Katie looked at the Doctor, a bit bug eyed. "You can't be serious."

"Oh I'm very serious."

"What am I supposed to do here?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Oooh, sometimes your American side isn't so helpful when I need you to keep up."

"Oi!"

"Kathryn, I want you to make sure those lanterns get lit."

"Okay, but it's one in the afternoon. You really want me to sit here until ten."

The Doctor grinned, enjoying Katie's disbelief. "Yep."

She glowered at him. "You just want me to be certain that I don't pulverize Jak if he shows up."

"Yep. And I thought you'd like to be here for such a historic moment."

Katie laughed lightly. "Yeah. Be the first to say, 'one if by land, two if by sea.' You'd better be back in time to take me to see the Shot."

Katie stared at the ceiling, idly hitting a paddle-ball in one hand while using her other hand to hold a lesson book on how to speak Kald -a language that was difficult for her because the residents of Kal had two tongues. She loved languages, and it was slightly irritating to have the Doctor know more of them than she did.

She had been sitting in the belfry tower rafters of the North Church for the entire afternoon, and most of the evening, with only the bats for company (they seemed to enjoy the sound of her trying to speak Kald). It was nearing 9:30 PM, and she knew the message for the lanterns to be lit should arrive fairly soon, but until then she was so very, very bored.

Footsteps on the stairs warned her of someone's approach. Katie slid her book back into her messenger style pouch and watched silently as Robert Newman and another man, who, if she remembered correctly, was named John Pulling, came up the stairs. The other man would be down below, standing watch Her eyelids drooped to a half closed state when she saw only one lantern with Newman and Pulling.

That little sneak! she thought. I have to admit, it's smart. Don't stop the signal, just change it. Well, I'm not going to stand for it.

Dropping down behind the two men from the rafters, she used the ball attached to the paddle to bop Pulling in the back of the head. He turned.

"Who are you? What are you doing up here?" he hissed. Katie cocked her head, his voice sounding a bit familiar. Newman also turned, a looked of peeved dismay crossing his face.

"I thought you left already."

Katie checked herself, then looked back up. "Nope, still here. You're missing a light," she stated, starting to play with the paddleball again.

Pulling seemed to go on edge. "The message said they were coming across the Boston Neck. That makes it one lantern."

Katie gave a short laugh. "Yeah, like that'll work. They'd have been seen already. Makes more sense to cross the Charles by boat. It's a quicker shot to Lexington, and gives them a bit more cover. Who received the message?"

Newman lifted an eyebrow, seeming to be smug. "You don't ask who brought the message, but who received it? Honestly girl,-"

"Honestly, this is why I'm sick of earth: the men. The Doctor is so taking me to another planet when we're finished here. Look, just put up an extra lantern and tell me who received the stupid message."

"I did," Pulling said. He rolled his shoulder, and Katie remembered where she had heard his voice before.

"I'm not going to let you finish this, Scraw. What kind of a name is that, anyway?"

"One I chose. Light the lantern Newman. I'll remove her. She's probably mad anyway."

I love this bit. Katie thought smugly. Turning her hand out, she whacked Pulling/Scraw in the left eye with the ball on the string. As he automatically reached up to check it, Katie stepped to his right, reached into his pocket, and continued to walk past him as she pulled out one of the perception filters the Doctor had found earlier. "Not these things again," she groaned. Pushing a button, she turned it off. She looked at Newman, who was now looking between her and Scraw.

"He…he changed into someone else. And you turned into him. Then you turned into you."

"Yeah, it's complicated." Katie cleared her throat. "Just…go get another lantern."

Newman was back down the stairs almost before he could finish nodding. Katie turned to Scraw.

"Right," she said. "This is the part where you, leave. Go back to your own time and place."

"I can't you stupid girl. This is the last thing this human does. Don't you get it? This is the important moment in this humans life; when they change history."

"Sorry, could you babble a bit more? Things might make more sense that way."

Scraw grinned. "They told me you wouldn't understand. That's alright. I can take you back anyway."

Katie scoffed. "Dude, I'm giving you a warning. You can either use your vortex manipulator thing to pop back to the 43rd century, or you can spend the next 24 hours bound, gagged, and unconscious and I'll take you back myself. Now what's it gonna be?"

"Doesn't matter. Once I go back, my job's done. I'll get recalled, and the real Scraw can take the heat."

Katie tilted her head back, exasperated. "Aah, are you serious?" She looked back at Scraw. "You're a Jahra? Are you nut jobs ever gonna stop following me? I told you idiots when you showed up at Waterloo acting like Napoleon, I'm not going back. So just buzz off!"

"We don't plan who meets you," Scraw said, starting to circle her. Katie turned, making sure she kept facing him. Scraw kept talking. "We're everywhere, every when, and we're all on the lookout for you."

"But why? What's so big that you need me?" Katie asked, her voice rising a bit.

"Got the lantern!" Newman said, dashing up the stairs. "You were right; a second messenger came and - ugh!"

The lantern shattered as Newman tripped on the last step, knocking himself out. Katie groaned again and looked at the ceiling, complaining to no one. "Really? Was that absolutely necessary? Do I always have to do things the hard way?" She looked back at Scraw. "Okay, we can have this convo later. Right now, I need you to shut up so that I can set things straight."

"No," Scraw said firmly, puling out a firearm. "If I take you back, I'll be myself. They'll cut me lose, give me my own life. I won't have to be a clone anymore. I can make my own decisions, instead of living the lives of others."

"So you do have independent thought," Katie mused. "Why don't you just walk away?"

"Because," Scraw spat out, "unlike you, the rest of us have our retrieval circuits planted inside our brains. If we try to do anything against our programming, we're brought back and terminated."

Katie glanced at her watch. "I haven't got a retrieval circuit, I have no plans to be 'terminated,' and I'm sick of arguing. You can tell me all about it… after I send that signal."

Rapidly leaning sideways, Katie grabbed the bell rope and pulled. The bells rang out, scaring the bats, who came shrieking out of belfry. Scraw, terrified and confused, dropped his gun and covered his head. Katie kicked the gun down the steps, where neither of them could reach it, but that was fine with her. Grabbing the back of Scraw's head, she tried to smash it against the floor in an attempt to knock him out. Instead, he reached around her neck with his left arm and grabbed her right wrist in a very tight grip.

Katie was never really certain about what happened then. She only knew that she had somehow twisted her body under Scraw's and flipped him over herself…right out of the belfry. Helplessly, she watched him land on the ground, dead.

She wasn't even breathing hard.

Without any idea of how much time she might have, she grabbed the candle from the smashed lantern, whipped out a lighter, and lit the first lantern and the candle.

"Well Doctor, I did as you asked. Signal's out." She allowed herself a half-smile. "One if by land, two if by sea."

After waiting 30 more seconds, she snuffed the lights and headed down the stairs, being sure to pocket Scraw's gun. It was far too advanced for these people.

It might even be too much for her.

*Constructive critisisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*