Lindsey didn't know what was going on, but she was pretty sure that Dave wasn't showing up. She'd figured that out back when this creep nabbed her. He looked older, lanky, with salt and pepper hair and gold rimmed glasses perched on his nose. But he was clearly stronger than he looked, since he'd managed to not only restrain her, but drag her into this back alley. A supposedly deserted alley, save for a weird blue phone booth at the back.

"I thought those things were supposed to be red," said Lindsey. It was obvious from the one-sided phone call that he was waiting for someone. It was also clear to her that she was in serious trouble. She wasn't worried, exactly. At least, that was what she told herself to stop the rising panic. No, definitely not worried. More embarrassed than worried. After all, she knew who'd come to get her out of this. Her mom would come in and get her out, scoop her up out of harm's way and lock up the bad guys. That's what her mom did. But then her mom would point out that see, Lindsey shouldn't have snuck off to meet Dave in the middle of the night, and she certainly shouldn't be in downtown Las Vegas in the middle of the night. So yeah. Not panic, not fear. Just embarrassment.

That didn't make her hands stop shaking.

"It's not a phone booth," said Dr Bradshaw. "It's a time machine." He gave her a cold smile. "But I guess you'll find that out soon enough."

"You're not gonna let me go, are you?" Lindsey said. "Even if this stupid Doctor guy shows up, you're not planning on letting me go?" She glared at him. She could feel her lips trembling. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Oh no," said Dr Bradshaw. He squeezed her arm and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. "You're worth much more alive. The Doctor loves his little pets. He'll do anything to make sure we don't harm his precious apes."

Lindsey tried to struggle out of his grasp, but once again, found it fruitless. "I'm not a pet," she snapped. "I'm not an ape, and I'm not a kid. Even if you can get away from the police, Sam Braun knows who I am. There's nowhere in the world you can get away from him."

"I think he might have trouble finding the place you're headed," Dr Bradshaw told her, the smile never wavering from his lips.

Lindsey continued to struggle against him, but he twisted her arm and she gave an involuntary yelp. He sneered at her, his eyes cold and menacing, and backed her against the phone box. For the first time, Lindsey had to admit that she really was terrified.

"Get away from her," came an unfamiliar voice from the other end of the alley. The weird thing was, it sounded British. Her captor loosened his grip on her arm, and turned around to address this new intruder.

"Doctor," he said. "Come to threaten me with another pencil?"

Lindsey peered at this Doctor guy who was supposed to be rescuing her. He didn't really look like the rescuing type. He was tall, thin, and dressed in a brown pin striped suit and red sneakers. He stood, blocking the entrance of the alleyway, his hands in the pockets of his long, tan trench coat. His silhouette was stark against the light from the streetlamps behind him.

"Not the Tangiers," the Doctor pointed out.

"Nowhere close," agreed Dr Bradshaw. "But I knew you'd be able to find me if I stayed by your Tardis."

"Not like you to be afraid of a few policemen," said the Doctor. "Particularly not ones under your control. But I'm guessing you weren't so concerned about the police as you were about what they were carrying. I'm assuming one of those policemen still has my sonic screwdriver?"

Dr Bradshaw nodded. "So here you are," he said. "No sonic screwdriver, no hope of rescue, and still so very weak inside your mind. You've certainly put up more of a fight than we expected, I'll give you that. But you've lost. You're ours now."

The Doctor looked over and met Lindsey's eyes. She was definitely panicking now, but she tried to smother it under irritation and defiance. So she gave him a look that seemed to say, "yeah, what're you going to do about this?"

"Let me see her," said the Doctor. He started forward, and Lindsey automatically stepped back. She bumped against the wooden box behind her, and cursed. She was cornered between two madmen, and as far as she could tell, no one else knew where she was. She winced as the Doctor came right up to her, and bent over so that he was at her eye level.

From his previous tone of voice, she had expected him to have the same cold countenance as Dr Bradshaw, but when she looked into his brown eyes, she felt oddly comforted. His whole body was radiating warmth and safety, and involuntarily, she felt the tension leaving her body.

"I'm going to look into your mind," he told her softly. "Just to make sure he hasn't put anything inside. Do you understand? It won't hurt, but if there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine it behind a door, and shut it away. I won't look."

Lindsey hesitated, but when she looked back at him, he just gave her a wink. She swallowed, and nodded at him. Very gently, he rested his hands on the side of her head, and all of a sudden, it was like… like she was in two places at once. She could still see the alley, feel the wooden box behind her, feel Dr Bradshaw's hand still clutching her arm. But at the same time, she was in her living room, sitting in a chair, her feet propped up on the coffee table even though her mom always got mad when she did that.

Close your eyes, she thought she could hear. She looked around the alley, but couldn't see anyone else talking. She sighed, and complied with the voice in her head. Now she knew she was going mental. Hearing voices, being in two places at once.

"You're not mental," the Doctor said. He was seated in the chair across from her, a cup of tea in his hands. "Look, I'm sorry about this. I don't really like to intrude into people's minds without their consent, but I really needed a chance to talk with you." He took a sip from his tea.

"Hang on," said Lindsey. "You mean this whole thing is just in my head? You're in my head?"

"Yup," said the Doctor. "Hope you don't mind the setting. I just pulled something I thought you'd find comforting and familiar." He put his teacup on the coffee table by Lindsey's feet.

"You have to use a coaster," said Lindsey. "Or Mom'll have a fit."

The Doctor shrugged, and the teacup promptly popped out of existence. Lindsey sat up straight in the chair. "What the hell?"

"Not real," the Doctor reminded her. "We're still in your mind, remember?"

Lindsey settled back in the chair. "Oh yeah," she muttered. "I remember." She eyed him suspiciously. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I think we both have figured out by now," said the Doctor, "that the Mara isn't about to let you go."

"The Mara?" Lindsey asked. "I thought he said his name was Dr Bradshaw."

"Dr Bradshaw is gone," said the Doctor. "The Mara took up residence in his head, and crushed him out of existence. If the Mara leaves his mind, there won't be enough of Dr Bradshaw left to take over. He'll just fall down, dead."

"And the Mara is…?"

The Doctor began running his hands through his hair, making it stick up even more than usual. "Sort of a mind-bug," he said. "Sort of. Dives into your head, eats up your personality, and sticks around to find more victims. He… well, he's sort of a 'they'. A collection of minds. A bit hard to explain."

"Yeah," said Lindsey. "Fine. So it's something that wants to eat my brain. Like a zombie."

The Doctor's face lit up. "Yes!" he said, a boyish smile spreading across his face. "Oh, that's brilliant! You're brilliant, Lindsey Willows, you know that?"

Lindsey scoffed. "Yeah, right," she said.

The Doctor didn't seem to notice she'd said anything, but just continued, his voice bursting with enthusiasm. "Zombies," he said. "The living dead. Just the right metaphor. Because the Mara, well, it's actually dead. What we're seeing now is just a ghost. A temporal echo. That's why they're so eager to get me and my ship. They think I can bring them back into existence, you see, and they're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure I comply."

"But why me?" Lindsey demanded. "What are you, some creep who has a thing for thirteen year old girls? This is a set up, right? You hire someone to kidnap me, then you swoop in and save the day like some big hero, and hope I'll fall for you?"

The Doctor looked horrified at the idea. "What?" he spluttered. "I… would never…" He began winding his fingers back through his hair. "Look, I know you probably don't believe me, but this is not a set up. I'm not trying to… abduct you, or seduce you, or bring about the end of the world, or whatever it is you think I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to make sure you don't get hurt."

"Why?" Lindsey demanded. She shot him her best menacing look, but he didn't appear to notice. He just met her gaze with an even stare.

"Because I've seen too many people suffer and die for me," he said. "Because this isn't your fight, and it isn't fair to drag you into this. Because your mother is worried sick. And because…" he paused, a sort of sad emptiness spreading through his eyes. "I couldn't save Sammy," he whispered. "But I can still save you." He blinked, and the empty sadness was gone. The sudden shift in mood caught Lindsey off guard.

"Right," said the Doctor in a sort of no-nonsense tone. "Far as I can make out, the Mara's changed its plans a little bit. Its plans… their plans… never mind. Group consciousness, pronouns can get a little sticky. Now that the Mara knows I can kill myself without regenerating—without letting them into my head, I mean—I'm guessing they are trying to find a new pressure point. That's probably where you come into the equation. A veiled threat. I die for good, and there's nothing left to protect you from them." He gave an involuntary shudder. "I think they proved that point last time."

"Great," said Lindsey. "I'm your Prozac."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, and she gave an exasperated sigh.

"You know," she said. "The thing keeping you from flinging yourself off a bridge?"

The Doctor was about to protest her metaphor, but decided it was not worth the fight. He just shrugged. "If you want."

"Well, thanks," said Lindsey. "Thank you for coming into my mind and explaining to me just how screwed I am. Anything else you want to tell me? There's no God? Life is just a pointless nothing that leads to an empty void of nothingness?"

"Actually," said the Doctor, a smile on his face, "I've got a plan."

Sara Sidle was trying, desperately, to calm Catherine down as they headed towards the Tangiers. "It's going to be okay," she soothed, but Catherine was hearing none of it. She just kept insisting that Grissom keep checking the walky-talky to see if the police had located her daughter yet. And every time they checked, the answer was always no.

"They have to be around there somewhere," Nick told Catherine. "It was the only meeting place they mentioned in the conversation, and they seemed pretty determined to make sure the Doctor was there."

Sara started, an idea coming into her mind. "Gil," she said. "Remember on that last tape, how everyone kept shouting and claiming that they could hear an alarm going off, even though we couldn't hear anything?"

Grissom nodded.

"Well," said Sara, "I'm betting that phone box of his has some sort of… mental communication. Telepathy or something. And when he died, it started screaming inside of people's heads."

"That seems a little far-fetched," said Nick.

"And even if it's true, I don't see how this helps us find Lindsey," Grissom pointed out.

"Well, that's just it," said Sara. "If the box can get inside the Doctor's head, he probably knows where it is. In that phone call, we thought that the Tangiers was the location. But that wasn't the location at all. It's the Tardis. Find the Tardis, find the Doctor." Sara smiled, and crossed her arms. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Grissom frowned, and pulled the car over. It did make a certain kind of sense. He picked up the walky-talky. "Any big blue boxes in the area?" he asked.

There was a crackle from the other end. "No," said the voice. "No police boxes around here."

"Hang about," said Catherine. "What's a police box?"

"More importantly," said Sara. "How did that police officer know we were looking for a police box?"

The CSI team all looked at each other.

"The Doctor was right," said Nick. "We really can't trust the police."

Catherine had apparently had enough of them all standing around, staring at each other and gaping at how clever the Doctor was. She dug out her phone and started clicking buttons.

"What are you doing?" asked Warrick.

"What does it look like?" Catherine asked. "I'm using the GPS in her phone to figure out where she is."

"Why didn't you do that sooner?" asked Grissom.

"Because I thought I knew where she was," Catherine replied. She stopped tapping at her phone and gave a satisfied "hmph". She handed the phone to Grissom. "There," she said. "That's where she is."

"Half way across town," said Grissom, pulling back into the street. "I guess we should have known."

The walky-talky crackled to life again. "Mr. Grissom, sir," came the policeman's voice on the other end. "Do you want us to scan the area for police boxes?"

Catherine snatched up the walky-talky, and pressed the button. "Forget the damned police box and find my daughter!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

The other members of the CSI team stared at her, and she smiled. "Well," she said. "That'll keep them busy."

Sara regarded the map on Catherine's phone. "You don't think that they stashed Lindsey's phone somewhere we couldn't track it?"

"Oh, I doubt they know that I can track it," said Catherine. "I never told Lindsey her phone had tracking software installed, and I'm pretty sure if she can't find it, her captor won't be able to either."

"You think they'll let her go when the Doctor shows up?" asked Nick.

"I doubt it," said Warrick. "If that story we got about Sammy is actually true, I'm pretty sure they'll turn Lindsey into another Sammy. You know, keep Lindsey around to make sure the Doctor doesn't try to kill himself again. As long as he stays alive, he can protect Lindsey."

"Yeah, but he believes he's an alien," said Nick. "I mean, even if he isn't nuts, he's hardly going to care about the life of someone who isn't even the same species as him."

"Oh, I'll make him care," said Catherine.

"He's dangerous," Grissom pointed out. "He's smart and manipulative and has complicated motives. We can't predict what he'll do, and we can't predict whether or not he'll try to protect Lindsey."

"He seemed pretty upset that they hurt Sammy," said Sara.

"Yeah, but he wasn't exactly protecting Sammy, either," said Warrick. "If that whole story is true…"

"Which we have no proof of," said Grissom.

"If it is true," Warrick continued, "it sounds like he was using Sammy's friendship to get him to arrange his own recapture."

"As I said before, we can't trust the Doctor," said Grissom.

"So we're leaving my daughter in the hands of a kidnapper and a man who believes he's an alien?" asked Catherine. "Oh, this just takes the cake."

"I'm pretty sure he really is an alien," said Sara, although she wasn't sure if anyone else believed her. "Gil, you believe he's an alien too, don't you?"

"He certainly thinks he is," said Grissom. "And as long as he is certain of that fact, I'm not sure it makes a clear difference biologically."

"It makes a difference if he's mentally unhinged," said Catherine.

Grissom turned the corner. "Just because you're beginning from a different mental starting point doesn't make your methods of reasoning any less valid." He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. "As I said, it doesn't matter whether he is actually an alien with a spaceship or not. He's got the mindset of a killer, and that makes him dangerous. His motives are confusing and hard to predict, and that makes him hard to catch. But I think Sara's right. I think we'll find him with that phone box of his." He pulled over, and parked the car. "All right, a few alleys away. Let's get moving."

"Stick together," said Sara, as they piled out of the car, but she wasn't sure that anyone was listening to her anymore.

As they approached the alley, carefully, guns in hand, they could hear a conversation taking place. And Sara recognized the voices.

"That's enough," said Dr Bradshaw. "You can see I didn't hurt her."

Lindsey gave a startled yelp, and Catherine looked like she was about to jump out and mow the man down herself, but the others all pulled her back. Grissom was at the front, peering down the alley, trying to assess the situation.

"You've got me now," said the Doctor. His voice was quiet, low. He was probably trying not to scare Lindsay. Grissom watched as he advanced towards Lindsey and Dr Bradshaw. "Let her go."

"No," said Dr Bradshaw. "I don't think I will, Doctor. And I think you already have figured out why. You'll keep yourself alive to make sure we don't hurt her."

"I won't wipe out half the galaxy for you," said the Doctor.

"I think you will," Dr Bradshaw told him. "I think you'll do whatever we tell you to, Doctor. I think you'll find that we are the ones in control."

The Doctor laughed. "You don't know how many times I've heard people say that," he said. "Every megalomaniac I meet, it's always the same thing. 'You are in my control, Doctor. You'll do what we say, Doctor.' Well, you know what? You've bitten off more than you can chew."

As if she had been waiting for the cue, Lindsey leaned over and bit Dr Bradshaw's hand, right where he was holding her arm. Dr Bradshaw gave a scream. Grissom and the other CSIs all ran out into the entrance of the alley, but each of them stopped as they watched the scene before them. The Doctor had put himself between Lindsey and her captor, and was trying to wrestle Dr Bradshaw away from the teenager with one hand. With the other, he snapped his fingers.

The doors to the blue box swung open, and Lindsey ran towards them. Grissom squinted as the light from within spread through the alleyway. From where he was, the inside didn't look like a phone booth. It was too bright, for one, and there didn't appear to be any phone.

"Lindsey!" called Catherine, and Lindsey turned around in the doorway, noticing her mother for the first time. Grissom saw a look of relief wash over Lindsey's face, and for a moment, he was sure she'd use the opportunity to make a dash towards them. Instead, she hesitated.

"Sorry!" she called out, as she ran inside the phone booth and shut the doors. Grissom didn't notice how close Dr Bradshaw was to her position until after the doors had already closed, leaving Dr Bradshaw banging his fists against the blue wood.

Grissom looked back at the Doctor, who was now curled up on the ground with his head in his hands. Grissom raised the gun, and released the safety. "Step away from him, Bradshaw," he instructed. "You're under arrest." He was about to recite Dr Bradshaw his Miranda rights, when he noticed the other man's amused look.

Dr Bradshaw grinned at Grissom. "Oh, I very much doubt that," he said. "Look behind you, Gil Grissom. You've already lost."

Grissom turned around, and found the police had already arrived and surrounded them, restraining the other members of his team. One policeman took the gun out of Grissom's hands, and pointed it back at Grissom. Grissom turned around, keeping his arms raised.

"Okay," he said to Dr Bradshaw. "You got me. Bravo."

"I don't care about you," said Dr Bradshaw. "All I care about is him." He turned on the Doctor, who'd managed to crawl along the ground to the far side of the blue box, his body propped against its wooden surface. Dr Bradshaw remained in front of the doors.

"You got me," said the Doctor.

"Oh yes, we have," said Dr Bradshaw. "And your mind is weak as a kitten now. How many more psychic attacks can you fend off, Doctor? How long before you give in to us?" Dr Bradshaw sneered at him. "You're trapped, Doctor. You can't get into your Tardis and fly off. And that little ape will have to come out eventually. Your clever plan has failed. Admit defeat."

The Doctor turned his head, and looked past the corner of the box. Slowly, and leaning heavily against the side of the box, he managed to get to his feet. He turned around, still resting his weight against the box, and gave Dr Bradshaw a weary smile. "You know what?" he said. "The gold glasses… not really your thing. Try black. Much nicer." He looked over at Grissom, and gave a wink. Then, without warning, the side of the box flew open, and the Doctor dove inside, slamming it shut behind him. A grinding, wheezing sound echoed through the alley, and the box—as unbelievable as it seemed—just disappeared into thin air.

Catherine began screaming death threats at the people around her. The rest of the team were simply trying to process what they'd seen.

"That… that didn't just happen," said Nick.

Dr Bradshaw was still staring at the spot where the blue box had been, and he looked livid. Grissom kept his hands in the air, just in case the furious man turned around. "I think disappearing police boxes are the least of our problems," said Grissom.

"Oh, no you don't, Doctor!" shouted Dr Bradshaw at the empty air. "You aren't getting away that easily. I'll kill everybody. I'll kill them all! I'll make this world run with blood until you get back. You just wait and s—" And then, for no apparent reason, Dr Bradshaw collapsed.

Grissom heard the sound of falling bodies behind him, and turned around to see about half the police force collapsing in the same way. The remaining members of the police force all looked around, puzzled, and tried to ascertain what, precisely, was going on. The rest of Grissom's team quickly managed to get free, and stepped clear of the police force. A number of policemen had begun checking the collapsed people for life signs, but failed to find any. Grissom had half expected as much.

"Just like Verity Cordman," said Sara.

"Just like Verity Cordman," Grissom agreed.

The wheezing, groaning sound came flooding back through the alley, and the CSI team turned back towards the dead Dr Bradshaw. Behind him, the blue police box appeared in the alley, as if from thin air. The door creaked open, and out stepped a very happy Lindsey. Wearing a different outfit.

Catherine ran forward and scooped her daughter up into her arms. She was crying while attempting to give her daughter a stern lecture about the dangers of running into disappearing police boxes with madmen who claimed to be aliens. Lindsey, obviously, wasn't listening. In fact, she seemed pretty upset about her surroundings.

The Doctor stepped out of the box behind her, and shut the door. Grissom advanced towards him, a hundred questions running through his head, but the Doctor didn't notice. He just knelt by Dr Bradshaw's body, and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor, quietly. "I'm so, so sorry."

The Doctor looked up at Grissom, then past him, over his shoulder. He suddenly grinned, and jumped to his feet. "Oh, Sara Sidle, you are brilliant," he cried, flinging himself past Grissom.

Grissom turned, and found Sara right behind him, carrying what appeared to be a thin metal tube. The Doctor took it and gave Sara a big hug.

"I'm guessing that's the sonic screwdriver," said Sara, managing to extricate herself from the embrace.

"Oh yes," said the Doctor. He raised it up and kissed it. "Oh, how I've missed you!"

Grissom shot her a look that demanded an explanation. Sara shrugged at him. "The Doctor's been going on at me since he woke up about how the police had his sonic screwdriver," she said. "So when the police surrounded us and one of them was holding a device I couldn't identify, I put two and two together." She looked back at the sonic screwdriver. "It doesn't really look like a screwdriver."

"Well, it's sonic," said the Doctor, defensively. He tucked it into his pocket, and looked over at Lindsey and Catherine.

Lindsey was looking at the Doctor with desperation, as if to implore him to help her escape from her mother's clutches. The Doctor shrugged at her.

"Like I told you before," he said. "I'm not here to abduct you. Go and live your life, Lindsey Willows."

"But it's a time machine," whined Lindsey. "She doesn't even have to know." She made a face at her mother.

The Doctor gave her a warm smile, and turned back towards his ship. He fished a small key out of his pocket, and inserted it into the lock.

"You're still under arrest, you know," said Grissom.

The Doctor paused, the key still in the lock, and looked back over his shoulder at Grissom. "There was only one group of people who ever managed to keep me on Earth for an extended period of time," said the Doctor, quietly. "They're gone now, Gil Grissom. I'm all that's left."

And with that, he turned the key, and vanished back inside his spaceship.