Chapter 2

oOoOoOo

The new man stood in the Doctor's place, quite awkwardly, his arms laden with the tusks, and the sonic screwdriver clenched between his teeth. He had ears the size of satellites, and wore a dull leather jacket. Amy stopped running, and stared. "Who're you?"

"Who am I?" When the man spoke the screwdriver clattered to the ground; he didn't seem to notice. "Who are you?"

Amy balled her fists. Angry Red-Haired Scotsman Mode: Activated. "What have you done with the Doctor?"

"The Doctor? But I'm the-"

There was a crashing from the end of the hallway where they had just been running from, accompanied by harsh voices. That would be the guards, trying to get through the door. Amy swooped down, picking the sonic screwdriver up in her free hand; "RUN!"

Amy was planning to glare at the man to make him come with her, since there was no way that she was going to let him out of her sight, but to her mild surprise he was running right along with her.

"Who's chasing you?"

"Oh, like you don't know."

"No, I don't."

"Oh, come one; this is some kind of body swap thing, right? You've been swapped with the Doctor to get you in here- well, if you're trying to capture me, buddy, you're doing a pretty painful job of it."

"That's because I'm not trying to capture you!" No voice had ever managed to capture that exact mix of frustration, annoyance and confusion. "How don't I know that you're not capture me?"

How could she respond to that except by laughing?

She had absolutely no idea where she was going- the underground base was like a maze. But then, she'd gained a lot of experience in this kind of thing over the last couple of months, and when you get down to it, a place that doesn't have the people trying to kill you is as good as any. She spotted another door, which lead to yet another corridor- this one more elegant, less utilitarian than the last one. The stranger stayed by her side, even as she paused and activate the screwdriver, locking the door. It was a good thing the Doctor's taught her to use it.

He watched her curiously. "Right. So you've got a sonic screwdriver, then."

"You know what this is?" she said suspiciously.

"'Course I do. Now, let me guess, those blokes out there want to kill 'cause you're gonna' blow up their base of operations with the Geeradi oil from these tusks and that Floportian sub-transistor your holding."

"We're not going to blow it up. We're just going to destroy their production line."

He rolled his eyes, and motioned for them to keep moving, obviously not too keen to hang around. "That's just another way of saying blowing it up."

"They're pumping out poisons!"

"No doubt they are. Oi, don't be so angry, I love me a good bang. Gonna' make one right now. Can't have people like that running amuck on- where are we?"

Who the hell is this guy? "Treefarex Six."

"Right, can't have them run amuck on Treefarex Six. So, let's go blow up a production line."

He was at a full run now, and Amy found herself scrambling to keep up, both physically and mentally. "Wait, what, you're helping us? Why? What's going on?"

"Not completely sure, to be honest. As for why, well, I'm the Doctor, it's what I do."

oOoOoOoOo

Rory clutched the metal rod tighter, and with one last breath, swung around to face the stranger-

-who didn't even flinch, and instead stood blinking at him. "What are you doing with my Mercury Dust Extractor?"

Rory felt his arm stop mid-swing, he was so surprised. He tried to remain calm. "Where are we?"

The stranger (and never had such a term been more fitting, as this man was certainly strange) looked around. He glanced at the ornate wooden door. "Outside the library."

"Oh? And where's the library?" Oh, God, his voice had definitely squeaked.

"Um, right there," the man said, pointing and looking baffled. The man really was nothing like he'd been expecting, and his unorthodox appearance had been enough to make the kidnapped man pause. He was thin and young, with messy hair, and wearing, of all things, a tweed jacket. "Are you okay, Rory?"

"Okay? Okay! Well, let's see, I wake up in a strange room, covered in bruises, in some building I don't recognise, with absolutely no memory of how I got here, and then some random guy in tweed, who's probably my kidnapper, shows up and knows my name- how do you think I'm feeling?"

The words tumbled out of Rory's mouth like a torrent of fear and adrenaline, and they seemed to physically hit the man. The stranger's expression slowly dropped into one of wariness. He extended his hands slowly, like he was talking to a wild animal.

"Rory," he said slowly. "Do you know who I am?"

"Should I?" It sounded like a snarl.

"Yes. Yes, you're really, truly, very much should."

He shouldn't listen. Rory knew that. All logic said to fight, to hit this man, to find the police, to get away. But as the stranger stared at him with the most tender, caring expression, and there was something in his eyes- (eyes that seemed too old for that boyish face)- that seemed to quell all logic for a moment. And Rory found just a second of trust. "Right, then. Who are you?"

"The Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"No. Nononononono, Rory, no. You know me."

The trust was waning now. Rory was starting to get angry at himself; why had he hesitated? He'd lost the element of surprise, let the guy's surprising appearance get the best of him- now how would he get away? "I've never seen you before in my life!"

"Yes, you have. Remember, saved the entire Earth with your phone? It was very impressive." As the hostility began returning to Rory's face, 'The Doctor' began to scramble. "Now, come on. I was at your stag night. Actually, know what?- forget the stag night, bad thing to remember right now. I was at your wedding, though. Amy! Remember Amy? You must do. Showed up in her garden, she called me the Raggedy Doctor…"

"Wait, what. The Raggedy Doc- you sicko." Fury coursed through him, and Rory found himself pressing the stranger up against a wall. "Amy has spent her entire life trying to forget about that, so if you're trying some sick ploy, kidnapping me to get to her, I'll, I'll…."

"I HAVEN'T KIDNAPPED YOU!" He sounded so distressed; not afraid, just distraught. "Roranicus Pond, you have to trust me-"

"That's not my name."

"Right. Right. Rory Williams, you have to listen to me. I swear that I did not kidnap you, and that I would never hurt you. I think you've lost your memories."

"That's ridiculous!"

"Is it? It's physically possible. You said yourself that you have no idea of how you got here. You could be missing more than a couple hours worth of memories. I know for a fact that you are."

Rory shivered. He tried to ignore the sense of trust this man seemed to exude; focused on the facts and logic. "I don't believe you. Occam's Razor. Either I've been kidnapped and drugged, or I'm with my girlfriend's time travelling imaginary friend and lost months of my life."

"Exactly! Also, it's more like years, really."

"Years." How much incredulity can be packed into one word?

This Doctor guy grinned. He was apparently a little bit thick. "Yes, years. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that I can get them back. Almost certain. Now, look at this sensibly. Why would I kidnap you? And if I had done- which I haven't- I wouldn't have let you sleeping in an unlocked room, now would I?"

That was a good point. But then maybe he was just a very stupid kidnapper. "How come I'm covered in bruises, then?"

"You fell down, of course. You're very clumsy."

It shouldn't be like this. All Rory should have to do is try to knock this guy down and run for safety. Why is he standing here talking? That's what Rory was thinking even as he wearily asked, "You still haven't proved anything."

"Well then, one whopping big order of proof coming right up."

oOoOoOoOo

Jackie Tyler glared at her daughter. "You do not need to go looking for him."

"But he's been away for hours!"

"And you've been away for weeks. Honestly, Rose, stop fussing. The man's handled who knows what, I'm sure he can deal with London for a couple hours. And you can handle visiting your mum for the same amount of time."

"Oh, mum," Rose protested, and collapsed on the sofa.

Captain Jack grinned at her from an armchair, over a cup of tea. He'd been perfectly charming, the best house-guest you could have. Which was all well and good, because Rose had ordered him to behave, because she wouldn't have been able to handle it if both he and the Doctor got on Jackie Tyler's bad side. But now he was being too good. When she mouthed a pained 'help' he just smiled even more broadly, clearly saying 'she's right, you know.'

Maybe the Doctor was right. Domestic can be a pain in the ass.

Rose felt four light feet land on her stomach. She looked up to find two green eyes staring down at her. "Who's this?

Jackie glanced over at the cat. "Oh, that's just Embers."

"You bought a cat?"

"I didn't buy him. He just wanders around the estate, and likes coming into the apartment. You never fixed that cat flap, so there's nothing stopping him, is there?"

Rose struggled into a sitting position, trying not to knock the animal off. "But you're letting it stay?"

Jackie shrugged. "He doesn't live here. Just comes in to visit, sometimes. Besides, Ember's not hurting anyone, is he?"

Jackie made one of those ridiculous 'isn't it cute' expressions at it- (both the Doctor and Jack would have been quick to point that Rose could often wear an identical one on her own face). Rose stared disbelieving at the animal. Jackie Tyler had never been much of a cat person; she liked small fluffy things well enough, but she had to be able to faun over them. This cat hardly looked like the pampering type. It was nearly jet black, with a few white spots on its flank, and emerald eyes. It looked fairly mangy, with a tattered ear. Why would Jackie want this little tramp?

Rose looked up, watching her mum, as she busied around the house, asking if Jack wanted anything else, and telling Rose that she "really should stop by more often, if just to get her washing done, her clothes are filthy, doesn't that ship have a washing machine?"- and she felt an unexpected surge of guilt. Was her mum lonely? That was ridiculous, of course, she had all her friends on the Estate to keep her company, not to mention Mickey. But then, after what Rose had said to Mickey in Cardiff, just a few weeks ago, he might not be that keen to drop by his ex-girlfriend's mum's place.

So, yeah. Maybe she was lonely. Lonely enough to latch onto a stray that came through the cat-flap. When Rose suddenly recalled seeing the Doctor's goofy face through that very same flap, she thought she understood it herself.

But then she was thinking about the Doctor again- what was taking him so long?- and all thought of Jackie and the cat went out of her mind.

oOoOoOo

Author's Note: To start off, a big thank you for those who left reviews on the last chapter- AdidasandPie, Pilcrow and breather89. They were such great encouragement.

Also, the introduction of Rose and Jack. If I didn't make it clear enough, they're still from Nine's era, in-between the episodes 'Boom Town' and 'Bad Wolf'. On another note, this is the first time I've ever tried writing Rose Tyler, in any capacity, so I'd absolutely love some feedback and constructive criticism in that area.