"I feel so out of place." Myka says to me as we get out of the taxi and gauge our surroundings.

"Well, I can't say I am perfectly at ease, but when I first arrived in the 21st century, all of your clothes seemed like some futuristic outfit. When I put on a blouse or tight trousers, it did feel as if I was wearing a costume."

"And now?"

"Now I'm used to it. Not to mention the sight of your arse in said tight trousers is delightful." Fortunate me is gifted with a lovely rolling of the eyes. Myka is having none of my shenanigans today. "Let's find this artifact and get going."

When we approach the main entrance, we flash our badges to the t-shirted staff at the gate. I'm not sure about Myka, but I am completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the crowds and the number of participants wearing all sorts of costumes. She seems a bit surprised by it all as well, but living with Pete and Claudia (two impressive pop culture geeks) has certainly eased the shock of being here. The sight of Stormtroopers, Serenity crew and Doctor Whos is a bit much on this October afternoon when I honestly just want to be curled up with Myka and sipping a pumpkin spice latte somewhere.

It's some sort of artifact that has properties to make a person disappear. Claudia brought the ping to our attention as Myka and me are in the vicinity. No one has apparently gone missing lately; however, the ping is strong enough for Claudia to have alerted us to its presence.

Wandering the aisles of vendors, there are lots of interesting gadgets and memorabilia. Perhaps when we're done I ought to pick up some Christmas gifts for Claudia; it's never too early. There's just so much...stuff...everywhere here and so many eager spectators gobbling it all up. One booth is selling Doctor Who memorabilia, lots of DVDs, figures and TARDIS-shaped anything. It seems as good a place as any to find a present.

I settle on a multi-colored scarf, which I decide to put on to blend in a bit more with the throngs of people pushing past me. This is as dressed up as I will get for an event such as this. For a moment, I think that if I had shown up in my "old" clothes with one of my former coiffures, I'd fit in very well. The lightweight scarf I had been wearing is tossed into the messenger bag at my side.

A couple hours later, Myka is wandering over by some animation booth and I walk over to her looking at the cells. "Is that..." Myka bites the corner of her lip and points towards the scarf I'm wearing.

I cross my arms as I glare at her. "What?"

"The scarf."

"You like it? I found this for Claude. You know how much she loves the Fourth Doctor."

Myka's eyes widen and she pulls me to a secluded area of the floor. "Helena, this is artifact. It's the scarf!"

"No, it's a replica. See, there's a BBC logo at the bottom..." My voice trails as I don't see a tag at the hem like the others from the display.

"No, it's the original. This is what's causing those disappearances." Myka pulls out some gloves to remove it from me. "It's probably sending people into another dimension or into the future."

I casually glance at the scarf, suddenly noticing the frayed ends of the sides. Then when I realize what Myka is saying, I immediately and rapidly divest myself of it into a static bag. "Oh." I feel silly for not coming to my senses earlier. I try to keep my cool, figuring I had nearly made myself disappear to somewhere in time.

"Trust me." she says as she opens up my bag, looking for my other scarf. Myka pulls it out and drapes it around my neck, tugging it slightly to bring me ever-so slightly closer to her. "There." I softly smile, a bit embarrassed to have put on an artifact, but I truly didn't know. "Come on, let's get out of here. We have all afternoon in the city before we head out."

"At least let me stop back at the booth and pick up a non-artifact scarf for Claudia."

Myka kisses my forehead and we walk back towards the entrance gates. Looks like we will be able to indulge in a lovely autumn afternoon in New York after all.