I woke with a start, and something jabbing me in the back. I couldn't remember actually falling asleep, until I did. And then there was a whole tangle of anger issues there. But the sound of a flag flapping in the breeze was confusing enough to dismiss my immediate violent plans for the Professor. It was only when I tried to open my eyes did it dawn on me that we were outside, because Christ, the sun, artificial or not, was bright as hell.

"What the…" My eyes blinked furiously in an attempt to keep me from going blind but it was still difficult to adjust.

"Ah, there you are. Feeling well rested?" The Professor asked as his face appeared, briefly blocking out the worst of the light. Then all that rage came rolling back and I gave him my best venomous look. It should have been enough to wipe that smirk off his face, but somehow he was impervious.

"No." I snapped, which was an utter lie. I felt great, and alert. But he didn't need to know that.

"Interesting how you started to realize what I was doing. How would you know something like that?" He seemed genuinely interested, which just meant he was going to try to ask more annoying questions. So not in the mood. As soon as I found some chloroform of my own, we was going to see how he liked it when the tables were turned. Just had to figure out where they sold that kind of thing. Wal-Mart? Kidnappers R Us? I'm sure the internet would provide some answers for me when the time came.

"Maybe because that's not the first time you messed around in my head uninvited." I swatted away his hand and pushed myself up. The bite in my tone seemed to dampen his mood and there was some satisfaction to be gained from that.

"Ah, awake are you? Thought you'd slipped into a coma." Donna smiled from where she was sitting cross-legged to my left.

"Yeah, well, he put me to sleep." I glared back at the Professor who wasn't looking even remotely sorry.

"He is pretty dull." She shrugged.

"No, not like he bored me to sleep. He wormed into my brain and did that little Jedi mind trick. He put me to sleep." She had just the right amount of outrage on her face for me to feel justified in my anger.

"Oi," she reached over and smacked him in the arm. It would have been better if it had been his face, but the effort was appreciated anyway. "No need for that."

"She would have been useless if she hadn't gotten any rest." His eyes had narrowed when Donna hit him, but he didn't seem overly bothered by her lecture. "Possibly even gotten herself killed. I did her a favor."

"Yeah? Well don't next time." It hadn't felt like a favor, it had felt like a major intrusion. Despite…it actually being good for me. Whatever. Not what we were focusing on right now.

"There's no need for hostility." Apparently, my crummy attitude was starting to ruin it for him. Good. "Are you saying you'd rather not sleep?"

"That's not the point."

"What is the point then?"

"You're supposed to ask about that kind of thing."

"You're saying I should have permission to do you a favor? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?" His tone was starting to edge toward annoyed. What the hell was he so pissed off about? He was the one jumping into people's heads, flipping them off like light bulbs. It was better not to get him started though. The last thing I needed was to get into a shouting match with a man who refuses to see reason. Plus, I'd only end up losing. He's way more articulate than me, and probably twice as stubborn. Hard to compete with that. But I was tempted to try.

"Look." I said, trying to use my most civil tone. "It's not that I don't appreciate it. But yes, you do need to ask before doing something like that."

"Why?" He was a child. A snotty, bratty, thousand year old child.

"Because it's not like holding the door open you idiot," whoops, there goes that 'civil' tone of mine. "You're going into my head without giving me any kind of choice about it. Does that sound like brainwashing to you? Because it does to me. I'm supposed to be able to trust you. I can't do that if you're just going to do whatever the hell you want. That's just like the old you that I've been hearing about, and he sounds like a real barrel of laughs."

Well. So much for not getting into a shouting match. If I'd had a moment alone to try and calm myself down, maybe I could have planned out my argument a little better and had a healthy conversation about what happened, but he had been right there, and seemed so smug about it.

Man, if his eyes had any kind of death beam, it sure as hell looked like he was trying to activate it right about now.

"Well," Donna said brightly, doing her best to dissipate the volatile energy that was radiating off both of us. "Look at you. The last time you needed a bit of hand holding, but you seem to be managing just fine this go around." Her voice was encouraging, but I had no idea what she was talking about. I'm pretty sure I've never needed handholding for berating someone, at least, not since I was eight. "Suppose you're on a boat though, so it's not quite the same." She shrugged.

"Boat?" The word didn't really register until I said it out loud. The ground beneath us was shifting ever so slightly, and then I looked up and realized the flag flapping in the wind wasn't actually a flag, but a sail. A big white sail. That boats had. To sail on water.

"Yeah, pretty great for something they had to build without many tools, yeah?" She patted the deck and I flinched, just barely containing the urge to scream at her. She was right though, it was much better than any ramshackle vessel I'd envisioned. But it didn't matter how seaworthy it looked, because we were sailing across the god damn ocean. My eyes trailed, unwillingly, to the edge of the deck, seeing the black water for the first time. It was still unnervingly calm, except for the ripples set out by our ship passing across it. My heart jumped up into my throat. Now hammering roughly just as fast as a hummingbird on meth. What was I expecting? That maybe we were just taking the boats out for a spin on the sand?

"Oh hell…" I whispered, slamming my head back against the mast behind me. Don't think about it, you didn't even notice it before, it's no big deal.

Jesus, what if the whole thing falls apart suddenly? Or what if there's a giant whirlpool coming up? Or what- Gah! Shut up! Count sheep. Close your eyes and count some god damn sheep.

Why? I don't know why, just do it!

There was probably a better exercise to do in this situation, something I might have learned if I'd ever sought professional help for all of my insanities, but I didn't know one, so sheep it was.

One sheep. One fluffy, happy sheep. Jumping merrily over a fence. Before falling into the swift river, the chill of it seizing his little sheepy legs, carrying him away from shore. The water soaking into his thick wool, dragging him deeper beneath the surface. He bleats for his friends and family to save him but they can't hear his garbled cries. He dies.

Two sheep…

Seriously. Should have seen a psychiatrist at some point.

"Or…not." Donna said, apparently noticing my full on panic face. This was all his fault. Yeah, that's it, try and hold the anger. It had kept you distracted before. Just because there was an ocean of water beneath fragile boards trying to suck me into its depths didn't mean the Professor was any less deserving of my unbridled rage. I was going to kill him. I was going to kill him dead and then strangle him after that.

Nope. Still freaking out.

But if we went down, I was definitely using him as a life vest.

"It's okay, we're nearly there anyway." Donna said, her voice tinged with regret. Note to self, shout obscenities at her later. Focus more on scrunching my eyes tighter shut. If I can't see the water, it's not real, right?

But none of this is technically real. It's some kind of manufactured twin of Gallifrey.

Some kind of evil twin.

Mwahahaha.

NO ONE ASKED YOU VOICES.

"Fitzgerald?" The Professor's hand came down on my shoulder, instead of sounding annoyed he actually sounded a bit worried. That might be touching, if I wasn't just screaming silently in my head. I let out a slow controlled breath, but my eyes were staying shut, god dammit.

"Yep. That's my name." My voice was only slightly strained. Hell, it was a miracle it had come out as anything other than shrieking.

"It's going to be alright. You've not drowned in the fifteen hours you've been on the raft and you're not going to drown in the last twenty minutes." Okay, twenty minutes. That was good to know. I mean, it would be better if it was ten, or five. Or none. None minutes would be best.

"I'm not sure you know the scope of how terrible my luck is. In general."

"Yes, actually. I do. But I'm not going to let you screw this up." He gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Thanks." There was little gratitude in my voice, but I'm sure he knew that it was implied.

"Besides, we still have to get through the army of time lords. You've got to survive the water so you can inevitably die more horribly. That instance would reflect your luck more accurately."

"That's a pretty valid point." My laugh kind of shuddered out of me. Not a good point, or a particularly reassuring one. But it was a valid one. Unless my luck was terrible enough to make sure I half drowned and then was torn apart by time lords.

Let's just focus on one shitty thought at a time, shall we?

The Professor didn't remove his hand from my shoulder, and I kept expecting that trickling sensation to tease into my brain again. A sign of him trying to wash away my anxiety as another 'favor'. At least that would give me something to shout at him about, which would have been a relief. Maybe. But it never came. Which, in turn, had added confusion to the mix of my panic attack. At least there was some variety in my mental instability.

What the hell did he think he was doing? Respecting my wishes? Was this to get back at me? Was it a trick? Was it a good thing?

When is the tsunami coming to kill us all?

I didn't know what he was up to, but I didn't like it.