A/N: OK, getting better anyway. I'm only 45 minutes late! I'm trying to get the chapters up sooner but usually, I end up writing it right before it goes live. Sorry. And since I've been asked, I don't post on a specific day. I just try to get one chapter posted sometime between Saturday morning and Sunday night - sometime over the weekend. But of course this week has a holiday, so I'll try to get a chapter posted that day as well. "Try" being the operative word.

For those wondering about the prologue chapter, stick with me, this will all make sense. And, moreso than the other stories, this one flows right into the next one. I'm really nervous about how the next one is going to be received, and every chapter gets us closer to it, but... as the Doc would say, "Allons-y!"

"We don't have a lot of time, so I'll make this brief," the Doctor said. Callie's soliloquy had another five minutes or so on it, and then it was going to be time for the next scene. "I've just had a visit from your King's right hand man. He's reiterated his threat to your families and loved ones if I don't fall into line."

"Then you better be here to tell us that's exactly what you plan to do," Josh said. "Otherwise you won't be having a good day."

"I'm afraid not," the Doctor replied. "But I can promise that I'm here to help."

"Oh here we go again. How many times do you have to be told to get it in that thick head of yours? Nobody here wants your help."

"That's... not true," Robert said. "I would. It was recently pointed out to me that my worldview has been somewhat... narrow as of late."

"I can't believe this," the lighting director replied. "You let this con man talk you into something Robert?"

"I'm not a con man," the Doctor said. "Not today, anyway. Now, I could abandon my plan, I could stop trying to make sure the people get to hear a message of hope instead of one of heartbreak. But I'm not going to do that."

"But what about the King's threat?" Howard asked.

"I'm getting to that. What if I could promise your families would be safe?"

"How?"

"I'll save them," the Doctor said. "I'll get them out, wherever they're being held."

"None of us even knows where that is," Clegg said, "and even if we did, it'd take a whole army to assault it."

"I'm thinking of a... subtler approach," the Doctor said. "But I'll have to take my ship, and it creates a bit of a ruckus. Which means we have to work that into the play as well."

"That's funny. I remember when Robert called the shots around here..."

"That's enough Josh!" Lana said. "If this guy can help..."

"If! Exactly! If! He shows up out of nowhere and just expects us to trust him? 'Oh I'm here to make all your hopes and dreams come true!'" he said in a mocking tone. "'I almost screwed everything up but I'll fix it and free your planet. I've been here almost an hour now, after all.' This is a joke, and you're all falling for it!"

"I don't think it is," Robert said, and Josh raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, okay, maybe when he first showed up but... C'mon man. This guy just sat in a room with the second most threatening man on the planet and he didn't even flinch. That's got to be worth something."

"All your family members are young," Howard said, "but mine are elderly. Every day they're in there is another chance I won't see them again. If we can save them tonight, I'm all for it."

"Clegg," Josh said, almost pleading. "I know at least you're still with me on this."

"Uh..."

"Oh, I don't believe this! How do we know what he'll do after he leaves here? He might make things worse! He doesn't know a thing about this nation."

"Then come with me," the Doctor said.

"What?"

"You don't trust me. I understand that. You don't know me. But I could use a guide anyway, and this way if I step out of line, you'll be there to stop me."

'I'd like to see him try', Quinn thought, but she didn't say anything.

"And me," Howard said. "I'm dead, you don't need me for anything around here. But the Doctor might need an extra pair of hands."

"Glad to have you aboard," the Doctor said with a genuine smile. "And Quinn will keep us apprised of the situation here."

"Wait, what?!" she asked, mouth dropping open as she dragged him a few steps away from the group. "No, you're not leaving me here!"

"I need you to run interference here, and let us know if anything happens."

"No way. Every time we get separated, something terrible happens to me."

"C'mon, don't be stupid."

"I had to crawl through miles of conduits to power up a space station, I almost crashed a shuttle into an ocean..."

"...alright, a few times..."

"...and I was almost sacrificed to a giant stone god! I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Look, I know, I know it's dangerous. But I need your help if we're going to pull this off. You can do it, I know you can."

She sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. What do you need?"

"We need to come up with a plan here. Go with Lana, help set up the next scene."

"What do I do?"

"Just promise the resistance our help if they'll meet with us."

She nodded. "Okay. But give me the psychic paper, in case I need it while you're gone. It seems like its kept you out of prison, anyway." He handed her the leather wallet. "Thanks. What's it say, anyway?"

"No idea," he replied. "I let them fill in the blanks."

"Why didn't you show it to the MIB back there?"

"It seemed better not to tip our hand, at least not yet. Whatever's on there has a pretty deep significance for these people. Just... don't use that unless you have to - last ditch effort and all that. Now, go get ready for your scene."

The rest of the crowd was already dispersing, except for Keith, who was sitting exactly where he had been, next to the snack table, unmoving, throughout the whole exchange. She poured herself a cup of water and said, "You've been quiet."

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to think what to tell the others."

She'd forgotten, in all the excitement, that he was the only one relaying messages to the actors playing the soldiers. If they knew what the Doctor was planning, they might report it to someone. "You don't think what they're doing is right, do you?"

"I'm... er... undecided," he said. "I uh, honestly, I don't think it's good for people to be so polarized about things, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what that's like," she said. "It's like this about everything back home."

"How do you choose?"

"I don't know."

"No, I don't mean to be, um, philosophical. I literally, really, mean you. Um, personally. How do you choose?"

"I..." she faltered, unsure how to answer. "Sometimes it's based on what someone else told me to believe, sometimes it's about selecting the least objectionable alternative... there isn't just a single right answer. If I have two options, I just think... is there a choice I could make where I wouldn't be able to live with myself afterwards? And whatever's left, that's what I do." She sat down on a chair next to him. "It doesn't always work, though."

"No?"

"No. I have a decision that I can't make. Because sometimes..." she took a deep breath. "Sometimes I don't think I'd be able to live with myself either way. And then what do I do?"

He puffed a breath out through his lips in exasperation. "I don't know," he said. "What was that 'least objectionable alternative' thing again?"

She chuckled uneasily. "Yeah. I guess." She looked at him. "You have to do what you feel is right but... the soldiers are the ones saying people are going to die if we don't follow them. And for me, I know that's something I wouldn't be able to live with."

"Yeah. I guess so. But if I refuse to give them information... they won't be above punishing me, even if my brother is sympathetic to their cause."

"We can help. The Doctor and I-"

"Quinn, sweetie?" A pleasant voice called. She stood up and turned around to find Lana beckoning her. "C'mon, darlin', next scene's starting in a minute."

"I have to go," she said to Keith, "but... think about what I said?"

"I will."

Quinn and Lana entered from the right side of the stage, where a few steps and a tiny porch had been tacked on to the living room set. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She'd never tried improv, and had no reason to believe she'd be any good at it.

Lana knocked on the door with her fist - six loud, hard bangs - and suddenly the kind lady in her thirties who had called Quinn 'sweetie' and 'darlin' was gone, replaced in an instant with this brash, loud woman who seemed like she'd fit right in at a truck stop. Quinn had to admire her acting chops.

The door opened to reveal Callie's character, on the verge of tears, still wearing her nightgown from the "night" before. "Oh, Gert!" she said, reaching out and hugging the older woman. From her vantage point behind them, she could see Lana whisper something in Callie's ear, hidden from the audience by the door frame. In just a few words, she filled her in on what was going to happen next. They really were a professional theatre company, Quinn thought. She'd love to see the kind of thing they would do when they weren't under the threat of losing their loved ones.

"There there," Lana said. "I know, I know. It's hard."

"They just took him from me!" she cried into the proffered shoulder. "I can't believe he's de... locked up," she said, nearly slipping back into the dialogue as written. "What do I do now?"

"You keep going," she said. "You make him proud."

Quinn clenched her eyes shut. If she didn't say something now, she wouldn't say a thing the whole scene. Please let this be the right thing to do, please please please...

"You let us inside," she said. "It's cold out here." It at least earned her a laugh from the audience. Maybe this wouldn't be too hard. Maybe she could do it. The two women broke their embrace, and all three entered the living room set. Quinn's eyes went wide when she saw the room, or more specifically what was missing from it. "Where's the TARDIS?!" she said, legitimately surprised. Callie and Lana looked to the place behind the settee where the blue box had stood, surprised that it wasn't there as well. Quinn looked past them, to see Steve arguing with another stage hand and gesturing at something backstage. Obviously when they'd redressed the stage from the bedroom back to the living room, nobody had remembered to put it back.

"I, uh... some of my husband's associates collected it," Callie said, recovering from her shock quickly. "I don't want it in my house. For that matter I'm not sure about you either."

"Me?"

"My husband was arrested because of you!"

"In case you didn't notice, they came in shooting. We probably saved his life." She tried to calm herself; this was just a play, after all. There was no point in getting genuinely angry. Then she realized that as long as she was fired up, it was easier to come up with a good comeback, and tried to hang on to the anger instead.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"We just want to help."

"Do you have an army?" Lana's character Gertrude asked gruffly. "Guns? Anything?"

"No..."

"Then what help are you going to be to a resistance movement?"

"There are better ways of doing this," Quinn said. "The Doc... my friend taught me that."

"You're full of it."

"Just... let's talk. Please, that's all. Just let us talk to you, and I promise we'll help."