A/N: for those of you who care, I edited the author's note in chapter one. It was too wordy. I should also edit this one as it is completely unnecessary.

Chapter Two: A Strange Place

"We should have stayed and had the tea," Sarah complained as she walked down the boring grey corridor. Jonathan, her companion, smirked.

"And miss out on the big adventure?"

"We could have stayed together."

"The main corridor goes two ways." Jonathan smiled. An understanding smile. "You agreed because Sarah Jane suggested it. If it were the Doctor, you would have asked to stay with them."

Sarah started to say something mean but his look stopped her. "It's . . . just . . ."

"It's called confidence. She knows what she is capable of."

"It's more than that." She tried to find the words. "She's a suffragette. No . . . it's that she's not afraid to be a woman."

Sarah stopped. She had said that last sentence with pride and longing. And she knew her companion was aware of it. Almost afraid, she turned to face him. She found him smiling.

"That's why I liked her at once, Sarah. She even took the time to change into trousers because it was more comfortable." He had a gleam in his eye. "You should have accepted her offer to change as well."

"I . . ." She stopped short as she realized Jackie was teasing her. She didn't like it. The counter-thought came that it was always fun to tease him. She tried to say something. "I've never done that before, Jack. Wear trousers."

Jack looked at her. She couldn't understand why. Of a sudden, it came to her. It was because of what she said. And what she was thinking. In one moment, he went from Jackie to Jack. In both word and thought. And he noticed. His look now spoke volumes but the easiest way to describe it was a mixture of 'what you did was wonderful' and 'it's about time'.

"Corridor's bending again. No side corridor here, either." Jack rubbed his hand along the flat wall which was where the corridor to the Tardis would be, at their bend. "Odd, don't you think. There should be a new corridor soon or this structure won't make any sense."

"No, it means it won't be sym-metrical."

"Sarah, this is an artificial construct."

"You're very good at repeating the Doctor's words."

"And understanding them. This is an enclosed structure. Like the floor of your house. You have hallways and rooms and closets. All of them fit the framework of the house. This place should have a framework. From what we've seen so far, it's circular in construction. The round room we landed in, and the corridor leading from it, make me think of a wheel. Except there don't seem to be any more spokes."

They continued walking. Sarah was now thinking about all sorts of things. One caused her to comment. "You're enjoying this."

"Nonsense."

"You are, Jackie. Sorry . . . Jack. And don't smirk at me. If you wanted me to stop teasing you then you should have done the same to me before now." This time they shared a smirk. "And you are enjoying this. Only the two of us here, wherever here is, so you have your own private audience to show off for. And you know I'll listen because I don't understand."

Jack finished her sentence. "And you hate that." He paused to smile. "So do I."

She pointed. "And you have your wish."

At the next bend was a corridor leading inward. After a short conversation, it was agreed that Jack would go alone. He insisted once she suggested joking/fearfully that a door could slide out of the wall and close them in. Jack said it was a good thought, and possible. If it did happen, she should run back to the Tardis. She promised she would bang on the door a few dozen times, first.

Sarah watched as Jack walked away. She could see him touching a wall, probably looking for the doorknob or whatever they used. She almost laughed when he turned around and gave her a shrug. That was when she heard the sound.

"JACK."

It was an instinctive reaction. The sound she had heard was a word. Hello. After her scream, it was followed by other words. An apology. And all she could do was stand there with her hands pressed together over her mouth and nose and look at the speaker. He was perhaps a year or two older than her. He was tall, an aquiline face, dark hair. Dressed in a black suit with a blue shirt and dark tie. A more youthful Douglas Fairbanks than in the cinema last May.

"Sarah?" Jack asked as he ran up. He turned to the stranger, angry. "What did you do?"

"I said Hello. Sorry. She was so concerned watching you, she didn't hear me."

"I'm fine," Sarah said, hurriedly. "He surprised me. That was all." She then asked if his name was Douglas.

"Luke. Luke Smith."

"Sarah Smith. It's a pleasure to meet you, Doug, um, Luke." She accepted his hand and shook it.

Someone next to her said, "Excuse me."

"Oh, that's . . . Jack," Sarah said casually. "He's not related to me or anything."

"Do you normally shake hands this long?" Luke asked.

"Only when she infatuated," Jack offered.

Sarah pulled her hand away and began to blush. That was exactly how she was acting. To make matters worse, Jack was telling him how they were in London an hour ago and all of this was a surprise. To ice the cake, the new boy admitted the same was true for him then explained that her reaction to his presence was more due to psychological relief than physical attraction as shown by her emphasis about not being related.

"No," Jonathan countered, "that was because we have the same last name. She likes you because you look like Douglas Fairbanks. From the cinema." His look said he wanted her to confirm his guess.

"Really?" Luke seemed surprised. "I don't have a mustache, for one."

Sarah stopped blushing. Hearing something strange causes that to happen. "Douglas Fairbanks does not have a mustache. And he couldn't be much younger. It was only his second film." She frowned when Jonathan smiled. "What?"

"Sarah, he said he was in London before he came here, the same as us. Remember what Tardis means?"

"You came in a Tardis?" Luke asked, suddenly excited.

"With a man called the Doctor," Jonathan told him.

Luke frowned. "That's impossible."

"He's telling the truth," Sarah insisted. "Why would that be impossible?"

"Because that's how I came here? With the Doctor. Not that he meant to take me along but . . . things happened."

"The same with us," Sarah admitted.

"An induced magnetic flux?"

Sarah looked confused but Jonathan flashed her a grin and said the answer was probably yes. She returned his grin and said that it forced them into the Tardis along with the Doctor and Sarah Jane. Their grins faded as Luke took an involuntary step backward. When they answered his next question with a yes, he uttered again that it was impossible. They had to ask why.

"Sarah Jane Smith was my mother."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat. "Was?"

Sorrow filled Luke's face. She thought it only made him more dashing.

"That was why the Doctor came. It was for her funeral. The Doctor was telling us she had a full life, fuller than most. It was up to us to make her proud."

"We'll introduce you to her, Luke," Jack was saying cheerfully. "Let her know what the future has in store." He was still smiling when he said that the Sarah Jane they knew was barely ten years older than him and she clearly had no husband. That caught Luke's interest and brought a smile back to his face.

Luke suggested they return to the Doctor. Once they shared information they agreed it should be his Doctor as he was investigating the next hub. There was a Tardis there. Luke would have followed except he had seen Sarah.

Sarah laughed as Jack seemed nervous again. She joked that they must have come full circle. Luke told her no.

"I examined the bend in the corridor and estimated it to be almost 26 degrees. If the construct is circular then it has fourteen sides. I shouldn't have said circular. I should have said it appears to be tetrakaidecagonal."

Sarah groaned. "You wouldn't be a genius by any chance."

"Not by chance," Luke answered, adding cheerfully, "I could explain if you like."

Sarah wasn't sure of how to answer. She decided it would be easier to suggest a later time. Perhaps they should rejoin the Doctor.

"Oy, you look like you just came from a funeral."

Sarah looked in surprise. The comment came from a girl wearing a leather jacket. Behind her were two gentlemen and a bushy haired woman.

"I did," Luke answered coldly.

"Did it again," the girl said angrily to herself. "Doctor tries to teach me to think before I speak. Look, do me a favour. Forget what I just said. My name's Ace." She held out her hand. After a pause, she added, "please."

Introductions began again. The woman was River but both men introduced themselves as the Doctor. Sarah was now even more confused. "But I was brought here by the Doctor?"

The man with the umbrella, nodded. "That would be me."

"But . . . you don't look like my Doctor."

This time the man with the bow tie smiled. "No, I don't."

Luke and Ace snorted. The woman, River, gave him a scathing look, then said in a scolding voice, "she doesn't know. Just tell her." She turned away from him and looked at Sarah. "This is where it gets complicated."

"That's your mother's line," the Doctor with the bow tie said.

Still looking at Sarah, she said, sotto voce, "Oh, how I hate that man." River then smiled. "The Doctor isn't human. When he dies, he doesn't die. He literally becomes a new man. It's called regeneration." She smiled as she nodded behind her. "Mine's number eleven. That means he's already regenerated ten times."

The Doctor with the umbrella smiled. "That would make me number seven. I hope that explains things."

"I think I can help," Luke offered. "Mum told me about her time with the Doctor. He would have been the fourth." He paused. "Wait, did he have curly hair and a long scarf?" He smiled when Sarah shook her head. "Yours is the third Doctor. Mum must have met him before he changed."

"A bit of a dandy." The Seventh Doctor said.

"He wore a bow tie," the Eleventh Doctor said as he adjusted his own. "Bow ties are cool."

"Still," Seven said, "if this is true, then all thirteen of us will be arriving. I think it's the first time I've been in one place all at the same time."

"More important," Eleven said. "If all of us are coming. And we appear to be landing in order. Space if not time. That means we are on the exact opposite side of where we need to be."

Sarah let out a sigh and turned to Jack. "At least it will give me time to sort all this out."