The elevator ride down was long. Too slow for his taste, he wanted to be well away from here when the dimension cannon went off again. Finally, he got to the first floor and walked rapidly across the inlaid marble lobby and out the double glass doors. The heat hit him like a blast furnace as he went outside.

He felt he was being followed, but he didn't care. This wasn't about where he was going. It was just to get away, as far and as quickly as possible. He made for the nearest tube station. Luck was with him, he caught the train just as it was about to leave. He sat in his seat, eyes closed, just relaxing to the rhythm of the train. He would ride it until the end of the line, or until Rose fired the dimension cannon again.

He thought about the heat, way too warm for March. It was another side effect of the dimension cannon, slowly cooking the Earth. Already the ice fields of Greenland had turned into a lake held back from the ocean by a thin dam of rotting ice barely one quarter mile wide. He doubted it would last till the fall. When it went, the influx of fresh water would result in a sudden desalination of the ocean at that spot, effectively stopping the North Atlantic currents. It would plunge Europe into an ice age that would last a millennium or more. He had tried explaining this to Rose.

"But if the problem is global warming, wouldn't an ice age be the cure?" Rose had asked.

"No, it's not. No more than cutting off your head is a cure for a headache. You've got to dismantle that thing, melt down the parts to slag and wipe all the plans from every computer in the place."

"I can't do that, we might need it again."

"What would you need it for? It doesn't work, and if it did work it would collapse all of time and space. You and Torchwood with it"

"He just says that. When we were first here he said Mickey couldn't come back and he did. Then he said I couldn't come back and I did."

"It's not that you can't do it!" The Doctor's frustration was growing. "It's that you shouldn't, there are consequences when you do. He explained it to you. When Mickey and his friends were jumping between universes, this world was cooking as a result. Pete practically kidnapped my brother to make him fix it!"

"Well, he didn't fix it; he just used it as an excuse to leave me here. It was still too warm here after he closed the breach."

"Closing the breach just stopped more energy from coming in, heating up the planet further. Didn't the planet start to cool down a bit after that? He left you here because he had to. The breach was closing, if he had reopened it, then everyone here would have died. The universes would have collapsed"

"No, that's not true. He just said that to see how much I love him. He's depressed and insecure. I figured it out, that's why he left me here, to see if I loved him enough to risk everything. It had nothing to do with universes collapsing."

The Doctor was stunned. She apparently thought his brother was as mad as she was. "You saw it, you said so yourself," he pleaded with her to understand. "The dimension cannon worked and all the universes started collapsing, even the void was dead. Do you think that was a coincidence?"

"That was because of Davros, not me, and even if I did cause it, the Doctor can fix it, he always can."

And that was the problem, she firmly believed that whatever she did, the Doctor could fix it. She like an adolescent, realizing her parents didn't know everything she was up to, but still believing they had a magical ability to fix any messes she caused. Only, instead of parents, for her it was the Doctor that could magically fix everything. Twenty four years old and she still hadn't transitioned out of that teenage personality. The books he had read said her next chance to grow up was around age thirty five. He might not even be alive then to see it.

He suddenly was hit with another wave of nausea. The train had taken him miles away and still he felt it. The dimension cannon had been fired again, much stronger this time. He was glad he'd left the building when he did. His hand in his pocket, he gently closed it around the coral, cradling it. He could feel its whispered gratitude, its gentle song filling his mind. He let it relax him, take him away, for just a few moments, from all his worries and concerns.

He felt a hand slide into his jacket pocket as the train slowed for the next stop. Fast as an adder, he grabbed the wrist it was attached to, digging his finger tips into the tendons. He looked up at the thief, letting all his anger and frustration, stored for centuries, show on his face. The hand opened, the Doctor straightened his arm, returning the hand to its owner and let go. The thief fled.

The Doctor stretched and gave himself a shake, preparing to get off. He mentally whispered to the coral, letting it know he was okay. His anger had frightened it and it wanted to protect him from whatever had caused it. "It's alright, it's alright," He told it. "Just knowing you are here is all I need. It's all over now. I'm safe. Don't worry, just rest." The coral's frenetic energy smoothed and relaxed he reassured it.

He hadn't really checked which train he was getting on back at the station; distance had been all he was after. Now he wished he had, the thief meant it was a bad neighborhood. He wasn't afraid. Just not looking forward to the childish nonsense that was about to happen.

The train stopped. He made his way to the exit, stepped onto the platform and looked around. Dirty concrete, trash everywhere but in the containers put out for it, and yes there it was, the ID check that was always present in these less desirable locations, a desperate attempt by the government to maintain some control. He considered stepping back on the train, but previously that tactic had just resulted in him being pulled off rather roughly at the next stop. Treated like a criminal until they looked at his ID. Then it was fawning apologies that were more embarrassing than being hustled off the train.

He sighed and joined the queue, the sticky floor causing a crunchy snapping sound as he walked, the smell of urban decay penetrating his senses. He held his ID at the ready. No psychic paper. His brother hadn't left him any. Just as well. It took energy to use it, energy he couldn't replace. He was next in line. Let the foolishness begin.

He handed his ID to the policeman, who took it without looking. "State your purpose for being here."

"Just trying to get acquainted with the city. I'm new here and want to get the lay of the land as it were."

"Well, Mr…" The guard looked at the ID to get his name. His eyes went wide as he read it.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, looking upward, pleading in his mind. "once, just once, can't I get the incompetent one, the one who doesn't know his job. The kind the public says the force was full of."

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm so sorry, you shouldn't have had to wait. Simons here will take care of good care of you. Just go with him please. He'll fix you right up."

Resigned, the Doctor followed Simons. He'd tried bolting once, he hadn't gotten far, and everyone had gotten into trouble with Rose, himself, the police who found it impossible to restrain him without out doing him some injury, losing a week's pay as a result, and anyone who got near Rose for the next two days, had been subject to her wrath. He'd tried to explain he'd been hurt far worse with some of the TARDIS landings, she wouldn't hear it, she was determined to avenge him. Show how much she cared. How much power she wielded. A lot of fuss over nothing. People hurt needlessly because of him. So now he just went along in situations like this, saved the fuss for when it was worth it.

They must have updated the instructions concerning him. He wasn't led to one of the holding rooms in the station this time. Instead they had apparently kicked someone out of their office. An aid with tea and nibbles followed them into the room. Apparently standing orders when dealing with him, ply him with tea and food till Torchwood came. Simons motioned him to the chair behind the desk.

The Doctor sat in it and spun around, playing a bit to lighten the situation. It was a typical lower management government office, dull, unimaginative, standard certificates showing accomplishments on the walls. With a sigh he grabbed some nibbles and put his feet up on the rough wooden desk. "So how long this time?" he asked Simons.

"Not very, apparently there happens to be an agent on the very next train."

Ah, his tail, he figured they hadn't managed to board his train in time. "Well, I'll try not to be too much of a bother until then." He sat up, putting his feet back on the floor and picked up the tea pot. "Care for some tea? They say you shouldn't drink alone, though I guess they weren't talking about tea, were they." He smiled, hoping the joke would be understood.

Simons just looked at him and frowned. "Tough room," thought the Doctor "Look, I'm not any happier about this than you are, might as well make the best of it. Sit down and have some tea. Please?"

Simons reluctantly took a chair and sat across the desk from the Doctor. The Doctor handed him a cup and then poured one for himself. "So what are the orders on me now if I may ask?"
Simons just stared at him, decidedly nonplussed. The Doctor tried again. "I'm just trying to make conversation here. Anything you care to talk about? I don't think reading certificates on the wall is going to prove very entertaining."

"Why do you cause trouble like this? Every time you turn up, some policeman gets his pay docked because we did something wrong in handling you. Who are you anyway?"

"I'm no one special. I really don't know why they make such a fuss. I just want to check out the city a bit. I really hate being cooped up in an office. I'll make sure they know everyone here did their job with proper decorum. This is good tea by the way, thank you. Nice nibbles also."

"Why did you pick here to stop? It's a dangerous area. Did you want to get mugged?"

"Well, I really don't pick where I am going to stop. I just get on the first train and see where it goes. I get off when I feel like it. Kind of random I know, but a bit more exciting than preplanning everything, don't you think?"

"Are you some kind of mental patient?"

The door opened, saving the Doctor from having to answer. A tall blonde man entered with a frown on his face. The Doctor brightened. "Oh, hello, George, you have the duty today? This gentleman here has been quite good company, make sure she hears that. And good nibbles too. Here, have some."

George smiled and shook his head. "No, thank you, Doctor, we have to go."

The Doctor sighed and stood up. "Well, thank you Simons, it's been most enjoyable," He then turned to George, and smiled as he raised his eyebrows, looking hopeful and said. "Any chance we can go back via the train. There was a gentleman who seemed most interested in the contents of my pockets. I was hoping we might run into him again. He would probably enjoy one of your little talks."

George shot Simons a look, who shrugged. "First we've heard of it. He didn't say a word about it to anyone."

"Sorry, Doctor, she is sending a Zeppelin for you."

"Oh, well, I was hoping. A Zeppelin you say? She must be upset, she knows I hate those. Makes it seem like I am one of the tops, being above it all, literally and figuratively." He always enjoyed playing games with George, who would take it good naturedly, letting him indulge his weird brand of humor without taking offense.

George just smiled and shook his head. "Come on, it should be here now."