As promised, a Monday update! I hope it's satisfactory and that you all enjoy it and comment! This was actually a tough chapter. I think I've got mono, so I'm SUPER sleepy and have been having a hard time staying awake long enough to write, but I was determined and inspired and finally got it done. It was also difficult with all the different characters flying around. Hopefully it wasn't difficult to follow. Also, for those true Doctor Who fans, there is a special guest appearance in this chapter. If you know it, you're awesome. :)

It was like walking in on a party you weren't invited to. Every set of eyes flitted up to the doorway where the five companions stood, staring them down with suspicious glares.

The Doctor looked around, fiddled his fingers and descended the three steps into the pub. Wary, suspicious eyes watched them until they settled themselves at the bar, at which point only those at the bar continue to stare.

The Doctor took the center seat with Amy and Rory on one side of him and River and James sitting on the other, both looking rather uncomfortable at being in such close proximity to one another.

"Alright, we're in the pub. What now?" Amy asked, looking across Rory at the Time Lord.

"Well, we need to find the gun dealer."

"Yeah, we know... how?" Rory pressed.

"Ask the bartender," the Doctor replied, then knocked on the bar. "Bartender!"

Rory stared at him like he was insane, then looked away, trying to disassociate himself from him in case he should draw unwanted attention.

The bartender frowned, but went over to where they were seated, staring at the Doctor with an impatient scowl. "Yeah?"

"We're looking for someone," the Doctor stated.

The bartender continued to stare at him, his frown deepening ever further.

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Um... anyway. Know any gun dealers I can buy some guns from?"

As the words left his lips, Rory scooted away a few inches more, turning his head away in distress.

"How would I know?" the bartender replied dryly. "Now, do you want something to drink or not?"

The Doctor, looking quite awkward, shook his head.

The bartender scowled at him, then moved on to help other customers at the bar.

"That went well," Amy said.

"I thought the bartender would know..."

Suddenly River turned around, her hand whipping out the concealed gun at her side and pointing it discreetly at someone behind her, moving so suddenly that it made both James and the Doctor jump in surprise and alarm.

"I don't like eavesdroppers," she said.

The alien (who was completely blue alien with tinges of purple, had no face, his right hand replaced with some kind of heavy weapon and wearing a black suit) backed away slightly, opening his hand and gun and lifting them a little in surrender. "Wasn't eavesdropping. Your friend just talks too loud. Couldn't help but overhearing," he said (how was a mystery since he didn't have a mouth) "But I think you'll be pleased I did."

"Oh?" River asked with interest, though her posture remained the same, gun still trained on him.

The alien nodded emphatically. "I make it a point to know everything there is to know about this port. It's not an easy thing to do, mind you, and dangerous, too, but worth it in the end. I can tell you where to buy anything, whether it's cybernetic parts, information, weapons, black market livestock, anything really."

River regarded him with a disdainful smile. "And I suppose you offer your assistance out of the kindness of your heart?"

The alien laughed, pointing his finger at her in forced and nervous amusement. "I get commission for every customer I bring to the vendors. It works well for everyone. I get paid, the vendors I work for get paid, and their customers get what they want. Everyone's happy," he replied.

"Lovely!" the Doctor said happily. "In that case, can you tell us where to find a gun dealer?"

"Depends on what kind of gun you're looking for," the blue alien replied, folding his arms over his chest and leaning on one leg in a more relaxed stance, now that he was distracted from River's gun, which had yet to be re-holstered.

The Doctor and James exchanged uncertain looks, shrugging to one another, then looked at the alien again. "We actually don't know... the kind that a hit man might use, I suppose..."

"That's not a very small list," he said. "You have anything more specific for me?"

"Show him the picture," Amy said.

"Oh! Good idea. Maybe you can tell us where this man gets his weapons from," the Doctor said, digging through his pockets and producing the picture of Mr. Boots, showing it to him.

The alien took one look at it, then went wide-eyed and looked up at them with new found alarm. "Where did you get that picture?"

"A friend," the Doctor said, putting it back in his inside pocket. "You know him?"

"No, and I'm hoping to keep it that way," he said. "I've had one or two dealings with him and neither of them ended well."

"Then you know who sells him his weapons?" River asked.

"Well, yes, but there are other dealers that have the same weapons. Why so specific about it?" he asked, then paused, staring at them for a moment as though something had just occurred to him. "You're looking for him, aren't you?"

"Yes, but he's looking for us, too, so really we're just making it easier for him," James piped in calmly.

The alien blinked at him. "Have you lost your minds?"

"Yes," Rory said in dismay.

"Are you going to help or not?" River asked.

The alien frowned, rubbing the back of his neck indecisively, obviously disliking the idea of involving himself with anything having to do with Mr. Boots, but after a while, he finally nodded. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. And I never helped you," he said, pointing a finger at them warningly.

"Of course not," River said, smiling and putting the gun back into its holster, which was concealed beneath her shirt.

"Right then," the Doctor said, hopping off of the bar stool. "Lead the way-"

"Sao Til," he replied.

"Hello, Sao Til," the Doctor greeted pleasantly.

Sao Til nodded in acknowledgement.

"So... what got you into this business?" James asked.

"Well, I used to be an arms dealer. Arms, legs, hands, fingers, any body part," he said. "Maybe I sold you something?"

"No, all my limbs are original... well, sort of... bit of a long story, but I didn't buy any, no," James said as the five of them began to follow Sao Til out of the bar.

"You were a literal arms dealer?" Amy asked, laughing at the thought.

"Yes, I was," Sao Til replied. "Got a little over my head, though and had to back out of the job."

"Oh, you poor thing," River said, giving him a sarcastic look of pity.

His head turned to her, and although he had no expression, it was easy to guess what it would have been.

They walked out into the street again and Sao Til turned down one of the smaller streets. They made their weaved their way through the port, watching ships come and go. The port wasn't terribly large, so it didn't take long for them to get to where they were going.

Sao Til stopped in front of a small shed-like building, wrapping on the door in a pattern. A slat in the door slid open, revealing a single, large black eye. It looked at the Doctor, James, River, Amy and Rory, then lastly Sao Til before closing again. They heard several locks unhitch and the door opened, creaking loudly and scraping along the ground.

A large, grey-skinned creature opened the door and stepped to the side, allowing them entrance.

Sao Til walked inside without glancing at the creature.

The Doctor turned to Amy and Rory and had them follow him inside, letting James and River take up the rear.

They descended a flight of stairs into a very large cellar filled with crates, barrels and boxes. A table was in the center of the room where half a dozen men and aliens were playing a game of cards, smoking up a storm so that the entire room appeared blurry.

Two of the men at the table were aliens, one looking much like the creature at the door, and the other a Silurian. The four others were men, two concealed by shadow, hats that were turned down over their faces and jacket collars that were lifted up over their necks. The other two looked a little more relaxed, leaning back in their seats, jackets off.

Of the two more relaxed, it was the bald man that looked up as the entered, taking a whiff of the cigarette in his mouth before flicking it on the floor and crushing it with his shoe. "Sao?"

"Good to see you, Holtus," Sao Til said.

Holtus smiled. "This is a bit of a bad time, Sao. I'm in the middle of a game. I've got a lot of money on the table."

"Oh, well if it's a bad time, I can just come back la-"

"Ooh, poker!" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly. "I love poker. I'm good at poker. I won a baby once. Not sure how that happened or who bet their baby, but it was very awkward. It was a draconian baby, too. They like to bite. Needless to say, that was an unpleasant week."

"I remember that," James said with a laugh. "He ate all of my ties."

The Doctor laughed. "And the cushions to the seats!"

"Ugh, it was like sitting on a metal skeleton for a while there," James said.

"Excuse me," Holtus said, looking between the two of them with his brow raised. "Who are you?"

"John Smith," the Doctor said, "And this is my brother, James."

"That's great, but what are you doing here?" Holtus asked impatiently, looking now at Sao Til for an explanation to the interruption.

Sao Til didn't say anything, apparently having achieved what he had come to do.

"Is that any way to treat friends of your best customer?" River asked sweetly.

Holtus eyed her thoughtfully. "You're a friend of Segoma's?"

"Well, we'd say yes, but since that name's a fake, then, no," James said.

"I call him Mr. Boots," the Doctor put in with a grin.

Holtus raised a brow at him. "Mr. Boots?"

"Better than The Cowboy," Amy murmured.

"He doesn't have friends," Holtus said, "He has victims and associates. So either you work for him... or you're his work."

"I doubt they're his work," said the other relaxed man sitting beside Holtus, "You'd have to be a mad man to go looking for him."

"Well, I have a box, so that helps," the Doctor said.

Everyone at the table looked at him.

Holtus' expression tightened with dawning realization. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the group. "You're the Doctor..."

The Doctor's brow rose in surprise. "Oh, I didn't actually expect anyone here to know me."

"I've heard of you, but I wouldn't recognize you if Grant didn't talk about you so often," Holtus said. "You're his obsession."

"I'm flattered," the Doctor said.

Holtus looked at the other members of his group. "And I'm guessing that's Amy and Rory Pond there?"

Amy and Rory looked at each other and then waved awkwardly. "Hello," they murmured uncomfortably.

"He mentioned me, too?" Amy asked.

Holtus nodded, then looked at River. "Doctor River Song?"

River smiled. "Hello," she said, her voice sweet and smooth with confidence.

Holtus looked lastly at James, staring at him for a long while. "Captain Jack Harkness?"

James looked appalled. "Really? Really?"

"Close," the Doctor said with a laugh.

"You shouldn't have come here," Holtus said. "He could turn up at any time."

"Fine by me," the Doctor said. "That's actually why I'm here. I'm looking for him."

"You're looking for him?" the other man said. "You are mad."

"Yes, I am, but like I said, I have a box, so it evens out," the Doctor replied nonchalantly. "Now," he said, taking a step forward that seemed to make everyone in the room more alert than they had been a moment ago, "tell me where to find him."

"I don't know where to find him," Holtus replied calmly, taking a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lighting it. "He comes and goes as he pleases. Follows his own schedule." He took a whiff of the cigarette and blew the smoke off to the side, purposefully away from the Doctor, almost as though he was being careful not to anger him.

"Oh come on, now. Surely you can do better than that," River said, stepping forward so that she stood beside the Doctor.

"I can't," Holtus said, shaking his head. "He's always on jobs and never stays in one place for very long. I might see him tomorrow or months from now. There's just no telling when or where he'll show up."

"Sounds like you, Doctor," Amy said.

"It does a bit," Rory agreed.

"Well, he used to be a Time Agent. If his Vortex Manipulator is still working, it's not much of a surprise," River said.

"Looks like you came for nothing, Doctor," Holtus said, locking eyes with him coldly. He didn't continue staring for long.

"Not necessarily," said one of the men, tilting his hat back and sitting up so that he was more visible.

James squinted at him. "Dickson?"

"And Nigh," the other man said, flipping his hat off of his head. "How are you, James?"

"Oh, weeell, I'm managing," James said, staring at the two of them with new found alarm, glancing around the room. "Where's-"

"Not here," Dickson said. "He had to make a few calls."

Holtus looked extremely confused, apparently unaware who exactly he had been hosting at his poker game, but everyone was too busy to explain the situation to him.

Sao Til, meanwhile, had crept his way along the wall towards the door, and at Dickson revealing himself, had bolted out the door, realizing he was way out of his depth and taking his chance at freedom while there was still time.

Dickson and Nigh stood from the table, tall, muscular and threatening-looking.

River's hand flew to the gun at her side, raising it and pointing it too fast for anyone to react in time. She took a half step in front of the Doctor protectively, focused and steady as she watched her targets.

Dickson and Nigh looked at each other unconcernedly, making no move to attack or to surrender. If anything, Nigh just looked amused and Dickson looked bored. "That gun's pretty well useless, little lady," Nigh said derisively. "We were just about to leave, actually."

"So soon?" River asked. "But we have so much to talk about."

"Not really. We're just here to make sure you lot got here," Dickson droned with disinterest. "Now you're here and our work for the moment is done."

The Doctor, James and River looked at each other.

"What's that?" James asked.

Nigh began grabbing money from the table and stuffing it into his pockets (everyone too distracted to stop him) and then he and Dickson turned towards them. "We've done what we were supposed to. The Cowboy figured you lot would come here," Dickson said.

"Oh, but don't worry," Nigh said, smiling darkly and looking at James, "We'll be seeing you all real soon."

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask a question, but before he could speak, the grey-skinned creature that had been guarding the door suddenly burst into the room, shouting with wild fear and panic.

"Pack it all up now!"

"What's going on?" Amy asked, followed by similar questions from Holtus and others in the room. Dickson and Nigh exchanged glances.

The creature, who had begun to throw things into boxes, turned and said, "It's the Shadow Proclamation."

I like leaving you guys with cliff-hangers if I can. ^_^ And oo-boy am I having fun! Can't wait to hear your thoughts! And thank you for all the comments and faves so far! They are absolutely lovely to see!