The Doctor contemplated all that Jennifer had told him about the current situation. It made sense, and gave him an even greater reason to find a way out. But what to do?

"Jennifer, what do you remember of the day you were brought in?"

"Not very well. It's been, oh, fifteen years or so? Of course, that's just a guess."

The Doctor wrinkled his forehead. "Fifteen years?"

She shrugged. "I guess so. Feels that long, anyway."

The Doctor gave her a curious look. If she had said that when he first came, he would have believed her. But now that they'd been talking for a bit, she looked younger than he had first averaged. Maybe it was because she seemed to have a light in her eyes again, as if just his presence was making her hopeful. His only hope was that he wouldn't disappoint.

He rubbed his chin, running through his own entrance. He talked to the General, then got his collar, got rushed along, keypad, cell, coat, conversation…

Keypad. What use was a keypad when no one locked the doors?

"Jennifer, you said that these collars were attached to the brain stem…what would the purpose of that be?"

Jennifer thought for a moment before answering. "A check on vital systems. It could be used to register how long we've been in so they know to move us. In Level Five they used it sedate us."

"How do you mean?"

Jennifer smiled. It seemed to be getting easier for her each time. "Level Five is where most people come in, including all the people that have just been fighting. It gets rowdy."

"Could it be used to register if someone passed a certain point?"

"I suppose it could."

The Doctor rose from his spot against the wall and opened the door. "Hold this for me," he said to Jennifer. She grabbed onto the door while he ran his hands along the threshold, searching. He stopped near the top of the door.

"Just as I thought. Look," he said as he pointed. "Sensors."

"What for?"

In response the Doctor pointed down the hall. Nothing had happened to it yet. "Why isn't it moving?" Jennifer asked.

"We haven't gone past the door yet." The Doctor turned to Jennifer. "How strong are you?"

"Depends on what you need me to do."

"Do you think you could pull me back up from an unknown drop?"

Jennifer raised her eyebrows. "After fifteen years of little to no exercise?"

"Right." He looked her up and down for a moment. "Keep that in mind."

"What do you—whoa!"

The Doctor had abruptly seized Jennifer by the wrist and pushed her out the door. Before she had time to comprehend what had happened, she was outside the cell, and the only thing keeping her from falling over the edge of the newest gap in the floor was the Doctor's grip.

"What are you doing?" she yelled at him.

"What can you see?"

"What do you mean, what can I see?"

"Just that," the Doctor said calmly. "Tell me what you see."

"The walls moving, you idiot!"

"Jennifer, they haven't moved."

She froze for a moment. She looked around herself again. The hallway had clearly changed and there were definitely missing stones under her feet. Directly under them in fact… She gasped again as she realized she was standing on thin air.

The Doctor pulled her back in, catching her and releasing her in the same instant.

"Sorry about that, but I had to be sure," the Doctor said, his tone not very apologetic.

"Sure of what?"

"In your professional opinion, our collars could easily be attached to our brainstems, yes?"

"A bit unlikely with the amount of time spent getting them put on, but yeah, they could be."

"Well, sensors in the door frame, you step out and see moving walls while I know that the stones don't move…"

Jennifer nodded, seeing where the Doctor's train of thought was leading. "The collars are set to play with our vision should we try to leave, and the keypad simply lets the door know when we get checked in. Well done."

The Doctor didn't acknowledge the compliment, his mind still occupied with something. "Doesn't help us much though." He ran his hand through his hair, thinking. His eyes landed on his trench coat, which he had left lying in the corner. "Perhaps…"

"Perhaps what?"

The Doctor once again ignored her statement, instead crouching down by the coat. In a slightly hurried fashion, he started going through the pockets. Jennifer knelt in front of him.

"Won't do you any good. If you're lucky enough to receive any personal objects back, they make sure to take everything that could be useful out."

"What looks like junk to some may be a tool to others," The Doctor said as he put his hand in the last available pocket. He pulled something out, and then grinned broadly upon seeing it.

"Jennifer, when we get out of this, remind me to tell a friend of mine she can have free reign over my storage spaces and my closet."

"Why? What did you find?"

The Doctor held out something that looked like an extremely small compact, maybe an inch across.

"Tell me Jennifer Nance; have you ever heard of a CeaXhell?"

"Hello?"

Julius knocked again on TARDIS's door. "Trouble mam, are you in there?"

There was a small clicking noise, followed by a shout. "Come in and close the door behind you!"

Julius did so. He was so used to simply acting when orders were given that he had firmly shut the door and heard the lock click before he really saw the interior of TARDIS.

"Bigger on the inside, remember to breathe, close your mouth, don't forget to blink at some point."

Once again, Julius simply reacted to these commands, though he still stared. "How?"

"Just chalk it up to magic. Really, it's a lot easier to explain that way."

Julius looked around, this time trying to see Trouble. "Mam?"

"Don't start that mam business again, Julius. Call me Trouble or you'll be in it."

Julius walked up the ramp towards the large cylinder that looked like a control station. Under the floor beneath the control station he could see the bottom half of Trouble. She seemed to be repairing something, though he couldn't make heads or tails of all the wires and cords.

"How go the repairs?"

"Meh, so so. I know a bit, but the Doctor is really the one to do this. It's like the difference between changing the oil in a car and changing the spark plugs."

"Spark plugs?"

"Maintenance for very, very old cars."

"Isn't there a manual you could use for your ship?"

"She's not mine. There used to be a manual, but the Doctor threw it out. He didn't agree with it. Was there anything else?"

Julius crouched down next to the hole. "I brought the files on that building. It's not much."

"I'll take it. Just set it on one of the chairs. I don't need you bumping any controls."

Julius did as he was asked, then returned to where Trouble was. "Will you be finished soon?" he asked.

"I should be."

Julius shifted into a sitting position. He watched Trouble work for a few more seconds. "What's it like, traveling with him?"

"Terrifying," Trouble said bluntly. "Life-threatening. Heartbreaking. Mentally challenging." The sounds of repairs paused, and Julius could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke again. "I wouldn't trade it for anything." The sounds picked up again. "Of course, it isn't all adrenaline. Just this morning the Doctor was giving me a history lesson before we got hit. Still don't know what whacked us."

"A history lesson?" Julius said incredulously. "What sort of history could you learn? You travel through time."

"Which is why I have to take history lessons. How are you supposed to know what's wrong if you don't know anything about it? Besides, this history lesson was a special one. It was about the planet the Doctor was born on. Only place I can't seem to pick up on. Everywhere else sticks instantly, but the Doctor's home has problems sinking in. Just like everything else about him," she added, as though mildly puzzled by the fact.

"Have you ever been there?" Julius asked. "To his home-world."

"Sort of. Not really. Not physically. He described it once, in a way."

"How'd you meet him?"

"An accident. I appeared in TARDIS and never went back home."

"Not even to say goodbye?" Julius asked, shocked.

"I couldn't," Trouble said, her voice thickening. "I would only have put them in danger if I did."

"But you're fifteen! Don't they know where you are?"

"As far as they're concerned, I'm still at home. There was…is, a race of creatures out there. People, I guess. They…they do a lot of stuff with cloning, and I'm one of their many products. The original is back where she should be, and I get to run around the vortex with the Doctor. Fair trade in my mind."

"Do you miss them? Your parents."

The repairs paused again. "Yeah. Yeah I do. I miss them a lot." The sounds started up again with extra vigor.

"What were they like?"

"Well, my mother was a pretty woman. A little on the forgetful side, and she could get impatient, especially in the early mornings when I had to be at school and she had to get to work, but she was a very wise woman. Very supportive. My dad was kind of short, had a beard and glasses, but he was such a brain. Oh, was he smart! Good streak of humor too. We had this thing, sort of an unspoken ritual almost, when we were teasing each other. We'd be picking on each other for something, and then we'd reach a point where we'd stop for whatever reason. And then he'd usually call me Daughter, rather than Gi—Trouble. I'd return it by calling him Father. Not sure why we did it, but it always made me feel…like I was supposed to be there. Loved, I guess."

"Any siblings?"

"One, an older brother. I think I miss him the most actually. I could always talk to him about nearly everything, and he had a grand smile that showed all his teeth, and he was so creative. Such an imagination. We'd sit and share story ideas, creating worlds in our spare time. He wanted to be an archeologist. Knowing him, he made it too. Why are you asking all this?"

Julius shrugged, knowing Trouble couldn't see it. "Suppose you could call it research, what makes a Companion and all that. If you know what sort of person the Doctor travels with, you can learn about him."

"What about your stories?

"You can know all about what someone did by reading stories, and can speculate about their lives, but you can never really know."

"Are you planning to write this up?"

"If we win, it'll be part of our history. When we lose, it will be something for scientists to dig up years from now."

"You won't lose if I have anything to do with it. Tell me something Julius," Trouble said, changing the subject slightly. "What are the stories the Doctor has managed to stir up around here?"

"They didn't originate here," Julius said, his voice picking up an excited quality, as of a person speaking on their favorite subject. "They come from all over, bits and pieces that all the different species have brought with them from their worlds of origin. Marvelous tales, adventures and things. Enough to get the imagination running."

Katie sat up part way and pointed to a tool box. "Hand me the laser welder. Looks like a pointer with a green button on the side." Julius did this and Katie lay back down. "Anything stand out in those pieces?" she asked.

"The consistency of what he does. He always seems to show up precisely when needed, when things are at their worst, and then disappears once it's over. A few stories speak of the women he travels with and his changing faces."

"Do they say anything about TARDIS?"

"Only that it's a blue box full of wonder and mysteries, and only the privileged few gain access."

"What do they call her?"

Julius thought for a moment. "Most of them simply refer to it as 'the blue box.'"

Trouble sat up again. She looked oddly at Julius, as though she couldn't decide something. Suddenly, a small sound that was a cross between a ring and a chirp filled the room. Trouble glanced to either side curiously. "Is that yours?" she asked. Julius shook his head.

"TARDIS phone doesn't ring like that." Trouble pulled herself out of the wiring and started walking around the console room listening carefully. Julius looked on. "It reminds me of something. Like a…a… But no one…" Trouble's eyes widened. She quickly pulled her bag out from under the console. She rummaged through it and pulled out a dark red LG flip phone. She flicked it open with her thumb and held it to her ear.

"Doctor?"

Julius hurriedly got to his feet. "Is it him?"

Trouble held up a finger, silencing him. "Say again?" she said into the phone. "One more time, you are not coming in… Hang on and try to keep the connection open."

Trouble scurried to the other side of the console. Still holding the phone she flipped a couple of levers and typed something into the screen before started to turn a handle. She whirled on Julius and pointed at him. "You! Make yourself useful and keep this going." Julius quickly did so as Trouble plugged the phone into a wire on the other side of the console.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes," a cheery male voice said through the loudspeakers. There was still an undercurrent of static, but the voice still came through fairly clear. "Good to hear you again. Are you with the TARDIS?"

"Is that him?" Julius asked breathlessly. "Is that the Doctor?"

"I'm in her now," Trouble said, ignoring Julius except for a dark look. "She's a bit battered. When I get to you again you'll have to finish the repairs but she'll hold for the moment. Where and when are you?"

"When is a bit difficult to establish. Calendars don't really exist down here. But the planet's called…" There was a moment of silence. When the Doctor spoke again, it sounded like he was talking to someone near him. "Where are we again?"

"Beriin," a female voice said, also faint.

"We're on Beriin," the Doctor said. His voice was almost swallowed by the rising noise of static.

"Sing the Hallelujah Chorus," Trouble said. "Do you have a space race going on where you're at?"

"I do," the Doctor said, sounding slightly surprised. "Iuhins and the Ranngour?"

Trouble beamed broadly. "Oh Doctor, we have got to go meet Lady Luck sometime. Is she real?"

"What?" the Doctor called. Julius almost couldn't hear him through all the interference.

"Is Lady Luck a real person?" she nearly shouted.

"No! Yes! I'm not sure. Why is that important?"

"I'm up with what's left of the Iuhin army," Trouble said, pulling a few more levers and starting to pump at something. "Julius," she said, looking up at him, "push the yellow button. Not the one next to the meter, but the other one by the dial. Can you say exactly where on the planet you are?" she finished, raising her voice.

"I'm in—"

A sharp burst of static cut off his words. Trouble pulled a wrench out of her back pocket and struck the console sharply.

"Say that again!"

"I'm….Labyri…Three!"

"Three what?"

"….ee! Lev…"

There was a sharp click as the connection was lost.

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