I wouldn't get comfortable with these updates coming in so quickly. I have and exam in a couple of weeks and I really need to do well so they may slow a little. I hope that won't spoil your enjoyment though.

'PurpleFluffyPancakes': (love the name by the way) I'm glad you like my take :) I know I've said it before but I love hearing from new reviewers because you tend to have a fresh view on my work and you don't hold back which is excellent! I know my spelling isn't always great and I tend to write too fast for my computer so silly mistakes get made but I'll try to pick out a few more of them because I know how annoying they can be. I can see why the whole name thing is confusing. The idea was usually that Winter reverts to her best friend's name as her undercover name because it's something she can easily remember. I do the whole 'ohh it's midnight…well I'm up this late I may as well read one more chapter' thing as well, it's a dangerous hobby fanfic :) and as for the music, it's always nice to find someone with good taste in music. I like pretty much anything I can sing along to (and classical and Jazz) so yeah, pretty much anything. Not dance though, I'm not really into the whole 'let's computerize my voice and stick it to a beat' thing. It was never my intention for Jack and Nemo to be together originally. On the other hand this story was only supposed to go up to the end of Children of Earth. They just seemed to fit better and better as they went along, he's the only one I could really see her with in the end…although I'm sure her girlfriend would have something to say about that. As for the whole dying thing. It's a bit of a mystery but as far as Winter knows she can die if the TARDIS dies. She is also aware that in certain situation the TARDIS can basically steal her consciousness and when that happens all her normal bodily functions cease. So her body doesn't breath and her heart doesn't pump, until the TARDIS thinks that she is out of danger. Jack knows she can 'play dead' and merge with the TARDIS but Winter's Jack wasn't around when she died in the parallel universe and he didn't get the whole story out of John when she drowned in the Torchwood basement. Any more confusion feel free to ask, I love discussing this story :) I'd love to read your story, I don't know if you've read the ones that some of the other reviewers have written, I'm going to put links on my profile :) it might make you feel more confident writing for Winter. I know how stubborn she can be to write with. ;) (By the way, I LOVE long reviews)

'Sonotalady': Glad you liked it :) Unfortunatly I don't actually go to Wales until September and it's north wales but if you do happen to be passing through London then I'd be happy to show you around. ;) If 2 billion people were watching me get married I'd be spending the whole time praying to every deity I could think of that I made it up and down the aisle without tripping. Giving away IS a pretty old tradition, not everyone does it now-a-days. I think people just love the old fashioned pomp and circumstance of an old style wedding :)

'Rachy Babes'; S'alright about the reviewing late, I closed the window on your latest chapter without reviewing so I'll just review here: LOVED IT! I think I had a bit of a Blackadder meets Dr who moment and decided that that's possibly one of the things I would do if I had all of time and space. Jack's a hopeless romantic so I always knew there was going to be a lot of rambling and I knew he would dress her up and take her to do something she loved but I never thought he'd do it in 1930's Berlin. As for Fawks she'll be sooooo jealous when she finds out what Winters wearing ;) Oh and that reminds me. Jack's reply to Fawks' message…well let's just say the nicest translation I can give you is: F*** off back to your own universe.

'Sashaxh': I know that the longer chapters are great because they give you more to read and to think about but sometimes a chapter loses its significance if it gets swamped with the normal storyline. This one is longer but be prepared for one or two small chapters along the way, sometimes they're the most important ones.

Sometimes solutions aren't so simple
Sometimes good bye's the only way

Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple
Sometimes good bye's the only way

And the sun will set for you
The sun will set for you
And the shadow of the day
Will embrace the world in grey

And the sun will set for you

Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day

'Welcome Home!' Winter sang as they appeared in what appeared to be a rather big desert.

'I'm not actually from here you know.' Jack replied. She waved a hand in his direction and glanced around the expanse of redish coloured sand. 'So, let's see shall we.' He looked down at his vortex manipulator and read off the details, 'Utah desert, America, Earth…'

'Doctor.' Jack's head shot up in surprise as Winter turned to grin at him.

'Doctor?' she pointed towards the road to their right, off in the distance two young travellers were hugging a man stood next to an old car. 'How do you know it's...'

'I can feel it.' He nodded slowly then grinned at her. She threw her bag over to him and hurtled forwards (as fast as she could manage in the outfit concealed beneath her black coat- thank god she'd thought to stick her converses on), veering towards the small congregation as they turned to meet another traveller. She didn't need to stop to know it would be River Song, that woman seemed to turn up everywhere but that didn't matter. She squealed at the look of joy on the Doctor's face as she pounced on him.

'Nemo!' He yelled, 'Nemo, it's so good to see you.' She heard Jack's light jogging pace and pulled back to let him through. 'Captain Jack Harkness, as I live and breathe, you look young!' Jack smiled and swept the Doctor into a hug but he didn't speak. He was obviously pleased to see his old friend but there was clearly something bothering him. She hoped it wasn't the whole proposal thing. 'Sooo.' The Doctor leant back on the car and smiled, 'How about lunch?' Winter cocked an eyebrow and grabbed the keys out of his hand. 'Hey!'

'Are you kidding? You can't even fly your own TARDIS without causing havoc, there's no way you'd get me in that car if you were driving.' She rounded the front and slipped into the cool leather interior. The bags were packed into the back and everyone piled in. The Doctor directed her, sulkily, back to a small diner where they parked up for some drinks. River and the Doctor sat down to do diaries and Amy and Rory stood by the counter chatting. Winter stepped slowly inside and caught sight of Jack leaning over the counter and running his finger along the worktop in a tiny pattern of squares. She sighed and approached him like a frightened horse. 'Jack, Jack please, Jack I didn't mean to upset you I just…I'm not the marrying sort. I can't just sign my life away after so long feeling like the only one looking out for me was me.' He looked up sharply.

'I always looked out for you.'

'No, Jack I didn't mean it like…' he turned from her murmuring, 'forget it' and nudged Rory up so he could perch on the end of the stall with the rest of the group. Winter hung her head, she couldn't join them, she could hear the conversation from here so she didn't really need to but she wanted to. She wanted to go over there and have some reunion time with her friends but how could she look at him after saying that. What was she talking about, signing her life away? This was Jack, he'd never ask her to sign her life away and yet…She just couldn't do it. Too many people had let her down, disappeared on her, died, moved away. If she were to attach herself to him like that, in a bond so permanent that she would be seen as his with no visible contest then she would have nothing to protect her from the pain if they were pulled apart.

TTT

'Salute!' The others chanted as they clinked their wine glasses together. Winter surveyed the towering red rocks as they sat on the picnic blanket by the lake. The car was parked a few meters away and the Doctor had pulled out some fruit and a bottle of wine. Jack had seemed to have relaxed slightly but Winter had known him too long and she had a feeling that the Doctor realised something was up as well.

'So, when are we going to 1969?' Rory asked, Jack nodded in agreement.

'Yeah and why 1969? What happens then?' he asked. Amy gulped down her wine and smiled craftily.

'mm, and since when did you drink wine.'

'I'm eleven hundred and three I must have drunk it some time.' He told her, taking a large gulp of the wine from the bottle and promptly spitting it back out over the sand.

'Aw Doctor,' Winter complain, 'That's nasty.'

'Arg yes it's horrid I…I thought it would taste more like the gums.' She shook her head, not bothering to correct his assumption that she had been commenting on the wine rather than his manners.

'Eleven hundred and three?' Amy suddenly pointed out, 'you were nine hundred and eight last time I saw you.'

'And you've put on a couple of pounds I wasn't going to mention it.'

'Never mind weight gain.' Winter dismissed, 'What I want to know is, where's the TARDIS?' the Doctor's eyes glazed over with some emotion she couldn't quiet put her finger on. Sadness?

'It's safe, just fancied something a little more fitting for America.' She frowned at his sweeping reply. That told her nothing, for all she knew he could have parked her back in Britain and taken a bloody plane.

'Who's that?' Jack and Winter turned to look at Amy, following her eye-line, nothing.

'Who's who?' Rory asked.

'Sorry what?'

'What did you see? You said you saw someone.' Only Winter caught the fleeting look on the Doctor's face as Amy denied having spoken. A look of understanding almost like he knew what she was talking about, recognition of some unknown situation. She frowned but in a moment the look was gone and he was back to his old self. She heard a quiet tinkle and looked down to see Jack filling his glass with wine. He caught her looking and offered her the glass. To be honest she wasn't really in the mood for wine but in the hope of redeeming herself in his eyes she smiled and took the offered item, lifting the glass to her ruby stained lips and sipping at the red liquid. He looked up over her head and frowned.

'Are we expecting company?' Everyone turned to look over at him and watched the large car pull up a few meters back from their own car. An old man got out and waved to the Doctor, he didn't smile just got up and raised a hand in reply.

'Who's he?' Amy's question was lost on them all as River looked out across the water.

'Oh my God.' A lone astronaut stood in the water, watching them. The water pooled around his white suit and the Doctor moved towards it.

'You've all got to stay back, whatever happens now you do not interfere.' Winter hated those words, she knew what they meant, they meant he was about to do something dangerous. Something they wouldn't agree with but he trusted them to let him be and believe that there was a plan. Unfortunately Winter also knew that he was the Doctor and plans were not always his thing, in fact she had a pretty good feeling that he just made everything up as he went along. She watched him walk up to the figure and start talking to it. Everything seemed fine…

Then everything went to hell. The figure raised its arm and blue light shot out at the Doctor who flinched back and swung around in pain. Winter's hands shot up to her face and she just about recognised Amy struggling to get past her husband, River and Jack. The Doctor looked up at them and mouthed something, she shook her head slowly as golden light began to filter out of his skin. The astronaut didn't give him the chance, he raised his arm once more and sent out another shock of light, this time Winter moved. She swept past Jack and the Ponds, pushed River out of the way and leaped over the Doctor onto the ground. He wasn't moving, he wasn't regenerating, he was just lying there…still. Amy fell at the opposite side of his head, she was distraught, tears poured out of her eyes and her hands were shaking violently. Somehow Winter felt too numb to cry, she didn't need River's machine or Amy's attempts to find a pulse to know what was happening, she only vaguely heard the shots fired from River's gun. He was gone.

TTT

Amy was sitting as far away from the Doctor as she could. Jack had followed her with a blanket and was currently sitting with her, not talking, just sitting. Rory and River were retrieving the boat from the opposite side of the lake, to place the body in when they set it alight and the old man stood by his truck watching them all. Winter was taking care of the body. She had brushed the sand from his trousers and run her fingers through his hair to smooth it out. He looked peaceful, his tie straightened and his suit brushed down. What was she going to do? He was gone, the TARDIS would rust away and die out without him. Something stopped her hand as it ran down the front of his suit, a lump, just over his heart. She lifted up his suit jacket and felt around in his inside pocket, cold metal met her fingers and thin leather and when she retrieved her hand she was holding the sonic screwdriver, the TARDIS key and the psychic paper. Her mouth raised shakily in a sad smile. She opened the flap of the paper and her mouth fell open.

Go on 'Kitten' take them.

(And Nemo, when the knaves are on the table, look to your right.)

With the message suddenly wiped from the paper she looked around and saw River walking towards her. She stashed the screwdriver and the paper in her jacket pocket and stood up to meet her. 'It's time.' River told her. She nodded as the older woman looked down on the Doctor and struggled to hold back the tears that gathered in her eyes. Winter left her alone to grieve and approached Amy and Jack.

'Is it time?' Amy asked hoarsely. Winter nodded and Amy sighed, she stood up and began to drift over to where her boyfriend was helping River lift the body into the boat. Rory picked up the can of petrol but to everyone's surprise, including her own, Winter snatched it from his hands and whispered.

'Let me.' He nodded but Jack put a hand over hers.

'Are you sure?' She hesitated, fire, not really her strong point…but this was the Doctor. The man who had saved her countless times, gone out of his way to comfort her, spent hours and hours of his time on the valiant just talking to her as she fazed in and out of reality. She wanted to do this.

With a single nod Jack slid his hand off hers and she raised the can carefully pouring it around the Doctor's body. The old man handed her the matches and her hands shook as she raised one to the side of the box. Warm hands slid down her arms to her hands and steadied them. Accepting Jack's help she leant back and let him strike the match and throw it into the boat. The fire began to take hold and she pushed backwards, recoiling from the flames. Rory began to walk the boat out to the deeper water and they watched it drift away, after a time River turned to the old man and asked him quiet plainly.

'Who are you? Why did you come?' He gave her an old, tired smile and glanced back at the flaming boat adrift on the lake.

'The same reason as you.' He replied and from out of his pocket he produced a tattered blue envelope. River took her own from her bag and held it up in comparison. She slipped her fingers into the pocket of Jack's coat and fingered the envelope she had entrusted to him. 'Dr Song, Amy and Rory, Jack and Winter. I'm Canton Everett Delaware the third. I won't be seeing you again but…you'll be seeing me.' He gave them a nod and turned to make his way back up to his car. They watched him go in the glow of the fire and River looked down at the envelope in her hand.

'Five.' River told them, as if the number had some great relevance.

'I'm sorry what?' Rory gave her a look of pure confusion as she held up the envelope in her hand.

'The Doctor numbered the envelopes.' Winter looked back out at the burning boat and felt a wail of despair well up in her stomach. Jack looked down just in time to slip his arm around her waist and hoist her up. The other's hardly noticed but she couldn't hold herself up anymore. It was like the bones and muscles in her legs had turned to jelly. She hadn't slept in days, Jack was off with her, the Doctor was dead and the TARDIS was lost. Her mind was in overload.

'I didn't even kiss him goodbye.' She mumbled to Jack. He smiled slightly and grasped her legs in his other arm, lifting her off the ground.

'Come on, let's get back to the diner.' Winter nodded into his neck and kissed him just behind his ear. The last thing she felt was the shiver that ran through his body at her touch.

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