A/N: Wow, I managed to finish this just before heading to work! Wow. I didn't think I'd have the time, but I think I pulled it off! Woot!

Anyway, I hope this came across as smoothly as I hoped it would. This episode didn't really interest me when I saw it and made me really hate Adam, but I'm trying to make it more of an episode that I can enjoy. I didn't like the original enough to memorize everything so I had to watch it again at least three times. Lol. It's a challenge, but I think as an episode where Jessica and the Doctor start over, it's a pretty good place to start.

Let me know what you think, please! All the reviews give me encouragement.

Also, school starts on Monday if you all haven't read the notes until now. Then my timing for each chapter might drop to once a week if I have the time. Less once finals start.

Thanks again!

The Long Game

Part Two

"Money. We need money. Let's go use a cashpoint."

I could do nothing but try and smile at the Doctor's discomfort. The buzz and the mayhem of what had to be the food court pounded at me in a way that felt too much like my first trip to London. The only reason I could manage it to any degree came from an overwhelming sense that how they thought, how their emotions came out, was all wrong. Like they had minds of their own, but those minds were complacent with … something.

It caused a knot to appear on my forehead just like what happened with the Doctor when he got confused. I could usually put my finger on what pulsed beneath the surface. In such a confined place, I should have been able to guess at what drove these people. I got nothing except an increasing instinct that something really wrong lay hidden beneath everything.

For instance, I finally noted with an even bigger frown, something had the hairs on the back of my neck tingling. My eyes followed the Doctor and the others as they approached a terminal that looked suspiciously like an ATM. I hung back some, following the urge that raced through me. The feeling of déjà vu intensified. I'd only felt such a surge of instincts a couple of times before.

A breath warmed my neck that didn't belong to the crush of people around me.

I sighed, shaking my head. "You never learn, do you? I'm not going anywhere, if only so I can reach the right time to deck you for being so stupid." I couldn't turn around and look. Not when the Doctor could just glance over. Didn't want to cause even more of a situation than I was already balancing.

"How did you …."

The confusion in his breathless question told me plenty. "So you're going backwards in time as well as interfering." With no hesitation, I jabbed backwards with my elbow, connecting with a very solid body. I smirked at the grunt it produced. "Trust me, you deserve more than that. Big freaking idiot, that's what you are."

A forehead pressed against the back of my head. "Please, Jessica. Just turn around and leave before it's too late. Before you get too wrapped up in all of … this." Hands gripped my shoulders like I'd blow away if he let go.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, reaching back to grip one of those hands. The desperation rolling off of him didn't come off as intense as the first time he'd surprised me, but it still threatened to consume any common sense he still had. "Whatever's going to happen to me, I'm very sorry, but I can't walk away now. I won't be leaving no matter what you try to do to change that."

A movement caught my eye. "You'd better hide. I think you're starting to wonder where I am, Doctor."

One breath and the hands and warmth had vanished. He'd go back even further. Back to where I first saw him in Downing Street. Couldn't fault him for stubbornness.

"Right! There you are." The Doctor, the right one, almost skipped over. An intense, exhilarated bounce made him livelier than I'd seen him in a while. "Sent the domestics out sightseeing. Shouldn't get into trouble. Now we can look around a bit."

Blinking away the remnants of the other Doctor's desperation, I frowned a little in confusion. "We?"

"You heard me."

"I don't know anything about two-hundred thousand," I protested, jabbing my finger in his direction. I didn't touch, but came pretty close. "You're the brains as you keep reminding me."

"But you know people." The thrill of finding trouble faded and the Doctor fixed me with a no-nonsense stare that tried to bring out the ugly blush again. "You've been frowning ever since we got here, so you've noticed something's wrong, too."

I had? I rubbed my forehead self-consciously. "But …."

"And," the Doctor held up a finger, keeping me from stopping his train of thought. "I need someone to ask the stupid questions. Ow!" This time he didn't quite duck out of the reach of my hand.

I shook the sting out of my hand, but softened my glare quite a bit. "They aren't stupid and you know it." Inside, I'd been knocked off my feet by the fact that the Doctor was asking for my opinion. Granted, he could be a little thick, but going so far as to give me a compliment? "You're not saying this to make me feel better, are you?"

The Doctor's only reply was a cheeky grin before he grabbed my hand and hauled me towards the other side of the crowded room. Two women crossed our path before long, bringing the Doctor's charge to an end. He gave a none-too-subtle tug on my arm before releasing my hand.

Right. Stupid question time. "Sorry," my voice wobbled a little as I scramble to think about what the Doctor would ask. "Um … this is going to sound stupid, but we're a little lost. Where are we?"

Both women looked this close to model-gorgeous. The dark-haired one scoffed and gestured at something to our right. "Floor One-three-nine. Could they make it any bigger?"

I had to admit, the two of us had to have been pretty stupid not to see the gigantic numbers looming on the wall. The urge to bang my head into something hard started to creep up on me. "Right, sorry. I meant what station are we on?"

That sent them both smirking and their eyes widened a little too suggestively. "Must have been one hell of a party you two had."

"You're on Satellite Five."

I shot a glare at the Doctor. This was why I didn't just go up and ask people questions without a plan.

At least the Doctor caught on to that. "What's Satellite Five?" If the Doctor had to ask that, then he probably didn't know—which worried me more than I wanted to admit—or he simply wanted to hear their reactions.

Their disbelief gave off some warning bells. "Come on. How could you have gotten on board if you don't know where you are?"

Well, I could answer that one. "Look at him," I rolled my eyes and jabbed my thumb in his direction. "He's stupid and dragged me along with him."

"Oi, that's harsh!" I felt pretty sure that the indignation didn't have to be forced.

The brunette froze, a little bit of fear souring her amusement. "Hold on a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test … kind of thing?"

Something that the Doctor could latch onto at least. He perked up with the worst excuse for a guilty smile ever. "You've got us. Well done. You're too clever." A hand rooted around in his jacket pocket until he fished out something like an ID holder. With a snap, he held it in front of the women and their faces changed.

When I tilted my head to get a glimpse … all I saw was blank paper.

Oh the Doctor was full of surprises. Another thing to add to the list of questions waiting for him when we got back.

"We were warned about this in basic training," the brunette murmured, her nerves spiking through the roof once she saw whatever I should've seen on that paper. Her friend glanced her way. "All workers have to be versed in company promotion."

Tugging her suit a little straighter, the darker woman took a deep breath. "Right, fire away. Ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor Five-hundred, I'll do anything."

I tapped my finger against my leg. Thing Number One that didn't feel quite right. I didn't like corporate ambition to begin with, but the way the woman seemed to revere the words "Floor Five-hundred" worried me for no clear reason. And emotions that didn't make any sense to me might help the Doctor figure out what had both of us asking questions.

The Doctor frowned a little bit. "Why? What happens at Floor Five-hundred?"

"The walls are made of gold."

I couldn't stop the shudder that rolled over me. My breath came up short for just a few brief seconds. Walls couldn't really be made of gold. Not in year two-hundred thousand where there'd be plenty of more useful materials. I'd read too many books to be comfortable with that.

Seeming to snap out of an almost reverent trance, the darker woman perked up with a smile that just made me wince inside. The brown-nosing was about to start. "And you should know, Mister and Missus Management."

"No, no, we're not …."

"We're so not …."

"… married."

And there went little bit of confidence I'd had. Speaking at the same time? The Doctor and I inched away from each other. How could they even think that we were married?

Both women smirked, but didn't say anything else. The woman seemingly in charge ushered us over to a literal wall of TVs. "So, this is what we do. Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."

My eyes flicked over every one of them. Glimpses of a wider galaxy I probably wouldn't see this trip. The Bad Wolf channel caught my eye and I finally saw a decent alien-looking alien. Just a big head in some sort of container. "How does that work?" I muttered under my breath. Thankfully not loud enough for anyone but me to hear it.

That went in one of the Doctor's over-sized ears and out the other. "I get it. You broadcast the news." Bored already, he could easily be losing interest in the lead we had.

The look on the woman's face almost made me feel stupid. "We are the news. We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels. All coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going through us."

But what about the aliens? Now that the Doctor had mentioned it, I could feel the frown on my forehead returning and nothing I thought of helped smooth it away.

"Now, everybody behave, we have a management inspection." The room we were led into contained at least seven more people. The woman paused and tossed the Doctor such a coy look that I hoped he didn't notice. "How do you want it? By the book?"

"Right from scratch, thanks." Thank goodness for small miracles.

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor five hundred praising me, and please do. Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy."

I made a face as soon as Cathica turned her back again. If she kept it up, I just knew I was going to smack that right out of her. Or throw up. Or both. Even the Doctor had to have picked up on that.

The brunette from earlier cleared her throat. "Actually, it's the law."

Ha. Take that Flirty News-Anchor from Space.

Cathica's embarrassment made me grin a little. "Yes, thank you, Suki." Taking a breath, Cathica moved to the side of the chair that dominated the middle of the room. "Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go," she almost breathed as she sat in the chair. "And engage safety …."

The others in the room held their palms over the terminals in front of them. The whole room lit up like a great big battery. Cathica snapped her fingers.

A whole opened up in her forehead.

I took a step forward, stunned, revolted, yet fascinated all the same. I could see her brain, for crying out loud! I almost missed the beam of light that streamed directly into that whole … and the dread that started darkening the Doctor's emotions.

With a face slowly becoming grim, the Doctor strode a little ways around the room. "Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."

I focused on Cathica and got … nothing. "And it overrode her emotions, Doctor," I murmured so Rose couldn't hear me. When he glanced at me, I gestured at everyone else in the room. "It's … it's like they've all been drugged into a trance or something. I can't sense a thing."

"But if it's going straight into her brain, she must be a genius," Rose murmured.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, she won't remember any of it. Too much information. If she did, her brain would blow up. It overwhelms the normal functions so the brain can act as the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."

Well, as far as a hidden explanation went, that kind of worked. I nodded. If the brain got overridden, the emotions would probably be effected as well.

While Adam seemed this close to freaking out, Rose didn't seem quite as daunted. "And the people on the edge? What do they do?"

"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power," the Doctor added, the dread finally making its way into his voice. Oh, he recognized that technology, all right, and if it gave him a very bad feeling ….

"You all right?"

I glanced over to see Adam leaning on the small railing, looking close to losing his balance. "I can see her brain."

I groaned inside. Loud and long. Still hung up several conversations behind.

"Do you want to get out?"

"No. No. This technology, it's amazing." Adam's blooming enthusiasm made me edge away from him. Felt too close to the greed of Statten for my comfort. Perhaps I was simply overreacting. Perhaps he honestly found tech to be interesting. But considering his recent job, I couldn't shake the feeling that he'd get into some sort of trouble.

"This technology's wrong." With the strength of his scowl, I could almost see the wheels grinding away in his head.

Rose smirked a little. "Trouble?"

Finally, she picked up on the wrongness of Satellite Five.

Mischief brought a smile to the Doctor's face. "Oh yeah."