"There. And there," the Doctor guided Sarah Jane as she used the sonic lipstick to attach some wires together. Alex was still crouched beside the Doctor, one of his hands holding her necklace charm.

Alex looked over to study him. She had missed him so much when she thought he was dead. Now, she just wanted to take in every detail. His hair was perfectly long and styled and his dark emerald eyes gleamed. She could see that he was wearing a new bowtie and shirt, something that she had to smile at.

Little did she know that as he was guiding Sarah Jane, the Doctor was studying her as well. Alex's hair had recently been touched up, the blonde in it shining brighter than ever. Her black velvet dress clung to her in all the right places and her legs in those black leggings. . .

The Doctor shook his head slightly. No! He had to concentrate! There were Shansheeth back on Earth and the kids had been left all alone. There was no telling what could happen with those two things in tandem. He had to stay focused on the task at hand. He could not keep checking Alex out.

Of course, considering his track-record with her, this was easier said than done.

Sarah Jane happened to look up as his eyes were wandering back over to Alex, something she had to smile at. This Doctor was so . . . love-struck and captivated by Alex. His last incarnation had been like that with Rose, though nowhere near the intensity of Eleven and Alex. Which reminded her. . . "Did it hurt?" she murmured.

The Doctor, jerked out of his thoughts about Alex's dress, looked over at Sarah Jane. He knew exactly what she was asking, and frankly, he didn't really want to go into it. Regeneration was always a difficult subject with him. There was a reason he hadn't told Alex about the full implications of regeneration; the personality changes, the changes in wardrobe, mood, not the hard concrete stuff. As far as Alex knew, he changed his physical features and nothing else.

"No," he lied, before quickly turning back to the machinery.

"I mean the regeneration," Sarah Jane said, knowing that he knew what she was talking about and that he was trying to avoid it. "That last body of yours. Was he okay in the end?"

No, the Doctor thought. His tenth incarnation hadn't died happily. He had just seen Rose for the last time, and he was incredibly despondent that he would never see her again. He'd also still been depressed over erasing Donna's memories of him. That incarnation didn't know that he would soon be encountering Alex, the one person who could make him forget those troubles. But, knowing that Sarah Jane was expecting an answer, he mumbled, "It always hurts." Louder, he said, "And there."

Sarah Jane buzzed the sonic lipstick over the designated area. As she did this, Alex sat quietly, deep in thought. The Doctor's words revealed a lot more about regeneration than he had told her. It was a painful process. She hated to think of her Doctor in pain.

Desperate to think of anything other than these dark thoughts, Alex looked around, taking in the red and pink landscape. "So, Doc. How'd you end up in this place?"

The Doctor looked over at her and smiled. Hopping up, he reached down and pulled her up. He was so excited about having her back with him. So excited, in fact, that he pulled a little too hard, causing Alex to fall against his chest. The Doctor stumbled back half a step before regaining his balance. He kept her against him as he said, "The Shansheeth lured me to a mighty old battlefield just begging to be explored."

Alex rolled her eyes. "They could lure you to a shopping mall, you're probably so bored now with the three of us on holiday."

"Three?" Sarah Jane questioned, reminding the two that they weren't alone.

The Doctor nodded. "I'm traveling with Alex, Amy, and Rory now," he explained as he reluctantly released Alex to go and fuss with some of the machinery.

"Amy and Rory got married," Alex picked up, "and while I was visiting some friends, the Doctor dropped them off on a honeymoon planet."

"Which isn't what you'd think," the Doctor jumped in, fiddling with a few wires at the top of the machinery. "It's not a planet for a honeymoon, it's a planet on a honeymoon. It married an asteroid. And they nicked the TARDIS."

"The Shansheeth," Alex clarified a second later, automatically figuring this out. "Not Amy and Rory."

"Fortunately," the Doctor said less than a breath later, "I had all this wreckage, enough to build a. . ." He trailed off and waved his arm over the cylinder-shaped device. ". . .space swapping do-da thinga-ma-whatsit." Alex shook her head at him while Sarah Jane laughed.

"So, you've got a married couple in the TARDIS?" Jo called out. She was sitting on some debris and rubbish a little ways away from them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Pond," the Doctor beamed.

But while Sarah Jane and Alex chuckled, Jo smiled sadly. "I only left you because I got married," she recalled.

The Doctor looked up and eyed Jo. "And there," he told Sarah Jane, briefly taking his eyes off the blonde-haired woman.

"Did you think I was stupid?" Jo asked, sounding worried and nervous as to what the answer might be.

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor questioned.

"Well. . . I was a bit dumb," Jo shrugged. "Still am, I suppose."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment before walking over to her. How could she think that? Jo's bright personality helped keep him sane during those first few years at UNIT. Never mind that she couldn't keep up with him like her predecessor Liz Shaw could; Jo made him happy and eager to discover the truth behind things. "Now what in the world would make you think that?" he demanded, sitting down next to her. "Ever, ever, ever?"

"We'd been traveling down the Amazon for months and we'd reached a village in Cristalino, and it was the only place for thousands of miles that had a telephone," Jo explained. "So, I called you. I just wanted to say hello. And they told me that you'd left, left UNIT, never came back. So I waited. I waited because you said you'd see me again. You did. I asked you and you said yes. You promised. So I thought, one day, I'd hear that sound deep in the jungle, I'd hear that funny wheezing noise and a blue box right in the middle of the rainforest. 'Cause, see, he wouldn't just leave, not forever. Not me. I waited my whole silly life. . ."

"He makes a habit of making people wait," Alex murmured quietly as she unashamedly eavesdropped.

Sarah Jane looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" she whispered as the Doctor and Jo continued their conversation.

Alex glanced at the Doctor and Jo before moving closer to Sarah Jane. "The Doctor met my friend Amy when she was only seven years old. The TARDIS was malfunctioning, I guess from his regeneration, and he told Amy he'd be back in five minutes."

"He wasn't?" Sarah Jane guessed.

Alex nodded. "He was twelve years late. After we defeated a bunch of aliens, he went off in the TARDIS, intending to be gone a few minutes or hours, but he showed up two years later."

Sarah Jane had to smile at that. It sounded like something the Doctor would do. "He really isn't the best driver," she agreed. "Whenever I traveled with him and we landed in the complete opposite of where we wanted to go, he always claimed that where we were was really where he intended to go."

"He still does that!" Alex revealed. "One time, we intended to go to Rio, but we ended up in a village in Wales ten years in the future."

"You think that's bad? He tried to drop me off in Croydon but ended up in Aberdeen instead."

"He told me about that! But I think the worst is when he got Rose Tyler home a year late. He said her mom had put up missing person posters everywhere and, when she saw him again, she slapped him."

Sarah Jane laughed heartily at that, causing the Doctor to briefly turn his attention away from Jo to see what was so humorous. He cocked his head a little in confusion when he saw Sarah Jane and Alex giggling crazily, both casting brief glances his way.

Oh, Rassilon, it's Sarah Jane and Rose all over again, he thought, remembering when he found the two laughing hysterically at the school all three of them happened to be investigating. They had been laughing while looking at him too. He'd never figured out why. What could be so amusing about him?

While the Doctor refocused on Jo, Sarah Jane ceased her laughing. She was very curious about the Doctor and Alex's relationship. They were so close and from what she had seen, the Doctor was constantly paying attention to her, like he was drawn to her by some invisible magnet. He also found ways to keep her by his side, like just a few moments ago when he kept her pressed to his chest after she tumbled into him.

And Alex was very different around him, too. The girl from earlier was strong, but fragile, and prone to emotional outbursts whenever someone said the Doctor was dead. That girl had tried to lock down her emotions so she wouldn't be in pain. But this girl, the one standing before her right now. . . She was stronger and her emotions weren't so guarded. She was flirty and happy and oh-so eager to save her Doctor.

That didn't just happen because of a new friendship.

"So, tell me," Sarah Jane began in what she hoped was a casual voice. "What about you and the Doctor?"

Alex stiffened slightly but turned her focus to the machinery so Sarah Jane wouldn't see. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice guarded.

Sarah Jane didn't fail to notice the guarded, careful tone that crept into Alex's voice, but she continued to press on. "I mean, you and the Doctor are really close."

Alex shrugged. "Well, yeah. After traveling and living together for quite some time, that tends to happen. It's either that or murder each-other."

"It's more than that," Sarah Jane protested quietly. She was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Did the Doctor tell you anything else about Rose Tyler?"

"You mean about their relationship?"

"Yes."

Alex was silent for a moment, wondering how much she should reveal. She didn't want to upset the Doctor by blabbing something that he meant for only her. But this was Sarah Jane, one of his favorite companions. "He said they were in love with each-other, but they were too scared to admit it."

Sarah Jane nodded, expecting this. "I always figured that was the case. I met her. Rose."

"What was she like?" Alex asked. She had only heard the Doctor's opinion of Rose and, considering how he felt about her, his view was probably biased. She wanted another, unbiased opinion, someone who could give her a more accurate description on what Rose was really like.

"She was nice," Sarah Jane smiled. "Headstrong. Stubborn. A lot like you, actually. She was really possessive of the Doctor. When we first met, we spent most of the time being jealous of the other. I guess she felt like I was intruding. But after a while, she came around."

Alex nodded. She liked this Rose. She wished she could meet her, even though she knew the woman would probably be jealous of her. "I wish I could've met her. She sounds great. But she'd probably want to strangle me."

Sarah Jane chuckled. "No. She would like you, I'm sure of it. She might have been a little jealous at first, but she had the Doctor's best interests at heart. She'd want him to be happy."

Alex hummed a little in reply. "So, why did you ask me if I'd heard of Rose?"

"I just wondered if you knew the Doctor had been that . . . close with someone before."

"He told me," Alex nodded. "And I know he's had several companions before me. He's probably been close with everyone he's traveled with."

"You're right," Sarah Jane agreed, "but that's not exactly what I was getting at. I meant, I wondered if you knew that the Doctor had loved somebody that much before."

Alex blinked. Then she blinked again. Wait. Was Sarah Jane suggesting what she thought she was suggesting?

"Oh, no!" Alex objected, shaking her head. "No, no, no, no, no, not in a million years. The Doctor is not in love with me."

Sarah Jane looked at her doubtfully. "Really?"

Alex nodded furiously. "Really. H-he's not into me that way, not at all."

Sarah Jane couldn't help but notice how Alex was saying only the Doctor wasn't in love with her. "But what about you?"

Alex stared at her. She had only told Lacey about her sudden realization of love for the Time Lord, and that was Lacey. Lacey had been her best friend for years, long before Amy and Rory. They knew everything about each-other. Sarah Jane, on the other hand, as nice and great as she was, was a stranger. As far as Alex could tell, they only had a few things in common; the Doctor and falling in love with him.

She couldn't tell her. Could she? "No, of course not," Alex lied, but she knew her voice gave it away.

Sarah Jane eyed the girl empathetically. She knew what it was like to love a man you could never have. The Doctor walked in eternity (he had said so himself) and Alex seemed to realize that. Based on her actions, it seemed that Alex had realized her feelings and that the Doctor couldn't be with her because of his Time Lord status.

But Sarah Jane knew, she just knew, that the Doctor felt the same way towards her. He hadn't said anything, but he didn't need to. His actions said more than enough. The flirting, calling Alex Ally, giving her a sonic necklace. . . That was all the proof Sarah Jane needed. She had known since she first heard Alex's name on the Dalek Crucible that the girl was going to be important to the Doctor. She just hadn't counted on how much.

But when would the two admit their feelings for each-other? How long would that take? Sarah Jane only hoped that they wouldn't try to admit them when Alex was dying or stuck in a parallel universe or something.

As the two women talked about the Doctor and Alex's love-lives – or lack of them – the Doctor and Jo continued their conversation. "Oh, but, you're an idiot," the Doctor said in reply to Jo saying she was silly waiting for him. He shook his head fondly.

Jo chuckled, her laughs caked with tears. "Well, there we have it!"

"No, no, no," the Doctor protested, "but don't you see? How could I ever find you? You spent the past forty years living in huts, climbing up trees, tearing down barricades. You've done everything from flying kites on Kilimanjaro to sailing down the Yangzi in a tea-chest. Not even the TARDIS could pin you down." And it was true. He had tried, but Jo always seemed to be on a completely different continent whenever he tried to find her.

By this point, Jo's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Hold on. I did sail down the Yangzi in a tea-chest. How did you know?"

"And that family," the Doctor went on, ignoring her question, "all seven kids, twelve grandchildren, thirteenth on his way, he's dyslexic, but that'll be fine. Great swimmer."

Jo looked at him in astonishment. "So, you've been watching me, all this time?

"No," the Doctor admitted quietly, his happy expression turning downcast. "Because you're right. I don't look back, I can't. But the last time I was dying, I looked back on all of you, every single one . . . and I was so proud."

Jo stared at him in silence for a few seconds before beaming. "It really is you, isn't it?" she laughed.

The Doctor smiled and nodded. "Hello."

Meanwhile, Alex had just realized something. "What about the kids back home?" she asked Sarah Jane. "Colonel Karim was coming up behind us and I just know she hasn't left that door. Something's going on."

Sarah Jane nodded in agreement. "We have to get back down there." She looked over at the Doctor and Jo, who seemed like they were wrapping up their conversation. Digging into her jacket, she pulled out a whistle. Seeing Alex's curious expression, she shrugged and said, "Never can be too careful, right?"

Alex nodded. "Right."

Sarah Jane looked back over at the Doctor and Jo. Though she hated to break up such an important bonding moment for them, they really did have to get back to Earth. She raised the whistle to her lips and blew. A sharp tweet pierced the air, causing the two to look over at her. "Sorry!" Sarah Jane apologized. "But we've got that lot back at home with the Shansheeth!"

The Doctor jumped up. In the process of comforting Jo, he had momentarily forgotten the situation back on Earth. "Yes, yes," he agreed as he walked back over to the machinery. "And I still need you, Jo. That bag of yours. I could smell black currant. Is it buchu oil?"

Jo dug around in her bag. "Handpicked in Mozambique," she said proudly as she handed him a small bottle.

"Perfect," the Doctor praised. He opened the bottle and then lifted part of the top off the machinery. "These circuits need connectivity. Wonderful! Little tiddly drop . . . that's it. . ." He clamped the lid of the device down, looked up, and grinned. "What a team."

~Living the Life of Ally~

A few minutes later, the Doctor jumped up off the ground, where he had been thoroughly examining the device. He may or may not have also been taking a look at Alex's legs. "There," he exclaimed, tapping the top of the device. "That should work."

Alex eyed him, not liking the 'should' part of the sentence. "Really?"

The Doctor nodded. "Intergalactic molecular streaming with just a hint of black currant. Nothing better, Ally."

"Oh, but what'll happen to Clyde?" Sarah Jane asked worriedly, thinking of the Doctor and Clyde's repeated body-swapping.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," he assured her. "All I needed was you three. Oil and sonics." He went over to the three and stepped in between Jo and Alex. He grasped their hands while Sarah Jane took Alex's. "Now, we can go back, and Clyde can stay where he is." He looked at all three women and grinned. "Hold tight." Jo giggled a little before they all disappeared in a flash of blue light.

A moment later, they appeared in one of UNIT's hallways. A small distance away was a vent, shouting coming from it. "Doctor! Sarah Jane! Anyone?!"

"Whoops!" the Doctor cried as they raced over to the vent. "Then again, maybe leaving Clyde in the same place wasn't such a good idea."

"Look out! Stand back!" Sarah Jane directed, forcing the Doctor, Alex, and Jo to step away from the vent. They watched as Sarah Jane waved her sonic lipstick in front of the vent. Once she was done, the Doctor lunged forward and helped her lower it from the wall.

"Ah! Ventilation shaft!" the Doctor cheered as the group looked down the small metal space. He nudged Sarah Jane, remembering the time she got stuck in a ventilation shaft. "That takes me back! Or even forwards."

He crawled in just as Santiago shouted, "Hurry up! They're going to boil us alive!"

"Don't worry!" Alex called back as she crawled in after the Doctor. "We're coming!"

As the Doctor and Alex crawled off, Jo shouted, "Don't worry, Santiago! I'm here!" Keeping her eyes on the interior of the vent, she removed her purse and said to Sarah Jane, "You go first. You've got the sonic lipstick." While she knew that Alex had the sonic necklace, the girl had said she had just gotten it, and it would take too much time for the Doctor to fiddle with the necklace while it was still around Alex's neck. Someone who had more experience with sonic devices was required.

She turned to look at Sarah Jane when the woman didn't respond . . . only to see a Shansheeth standing behind the investigative reporter, an arm wrapped around her neck to keep from shouting. Then, another arm wrapped around Jo's neck. She let out a shout.

From their position inside the vents, the Doctor and Alex caught Jo's shriek. They turned their heads, looking back the way they'd came. There was no Jo or Sarah Jane behind them.

"Doctor!" Rani shouted ahead of them. "Alex!"

The Doctor glanced ahead for a moment before turning back and shouting, "Jo? Sarah?"

"Sarah Jane?" Alex called, feeling a knot tighten in her stomach at what might have happened to the two women. "Jo?!"

"They're roasting us!" Clyde shouted.

"I can go back and get them," Alex offered. She moved to shuffle backwards, but the Doctor reached out and placed a hand on her back, stopping her.

"No," he argued, shaking his head. He had a pretty good idea on what had happened to Sarah Jane and Jo. The Shansheeth had likely taken them for whatever they planned on doing. He didn't want Alex getting snatched by them too.

Alex looked at him curiously. While she was very aware that they were wasting time that could be better spent saving the children and/or Sarah Jane and Jo, she was curious about why the Doctor wouldn't let her go. "Why not?" she demanded.

"I'm not losing you, too," the Doctor revealed, his voice low and serious, a voice that sent chills down Alex's spine. "I can't. Not you."

Alex stared at him, her eyes wide. Was he . . . did he . . . did he love her, too? "Really?"

The Doctor nodded furiously. "Yes. Ally, I—"

"STOP FLIRTING AND GET US OUT!" This came from Santiago, Rani, and Clyde all at once, causing the time travelers to jolt slightly. Unbeknownst to the Doctor and Alex, their conversation could be heard from the children's current position and, as cute as the two were, there were much, much better times to be flirting or confessing hidden desires than now. "Let us out!" Rani cried.

The Doctor and Alex looked at each-other, the romantic moment having long since left, and then back behind them. They both wanted to rescue Sarah Jane and Jo, but they just couldn't let the children get roasted. A split second later, the two began crawling forwards.

~Living the Life of Ally~

As this was going on, Sarah Jane and Jo were forcibly led along the strangely absent corridors to a room a nicely sized distance away from the vent they had started out at.

The two stared around the room in nervous shock. They were back in the funeral room, the lead-lined coffin having been pushed aside to make room for two boards with clamps on them. In the back of the room was some kind of control center with numerous buttons and dials. Standing beside this was none other than Colonel Tia Karim.

Sarah Jane's eyes narrowed upon seeing the woman. Alex had been right. "Oh, Colonel!" she shouted. "I didn't trust you from the moment I met you!"

"Like I care," Colonel Karim snapped. "Frankly, I've never met anyone so staggeringly pious in all my life."

But Sarah Jane and Jo barely heard her. Their attention was drawn to the very back of the room, where the TARDIS was sitting, big, proud, and blue.

Colonel Karim pressed a button on a touchable screen, causing the doors to lock and a little light over the top of them to glow red. "Now then," she smirked, "the chamber's sealed off. The Doctor and his precious Ally would need half a ton of dynamite to get through that."

"The TARDIS," Jo murmured, still caught up in the magnificent blue sight before her. "I never thought I'd see it again."

"That's what this is all about," Colonel Karim smirked as one of the Shansheeth stepped up beside her. "The TARDIS . . . and you."

Sarah Jane and Jo exchanged uneasy looks. Whatever that meant, it wasn't anything good.

"Place them in the memory weave," Colonel Karim ordered.

Against their will, Sarah Jane and Jo were placed into either one of the two boards.

~Living the Life of Ally~

It didn't take the Doctor and Alex long to get to the section of ventilation shaft the children were trapped in. A piece of steel had slammed down over where the grate went, the children's shouting and screaming coming out from beyond it. On the wall next to this was a device that was glowing red, the thing responsible for keeping the children trapped.

Without having to be asked, Alex shifted closer to the Doctor and lifted her sonic necklace charm, guiding it into his hands. If she hadn't been so focused on getting the children out, she probably would have noticed that her side was pressed right up against him and that her mouth was only inches away from his. But romance wasn't on her mind. Saving the children, Sarah Jane, and Jo were.

The Doctor ran the sonic over the device, the topaz in the necklace glowing as the device's light switched from red to green. "And release!" he cheered as the door lifted to reveal Clyde, Rani, Santiago, and the Groske that Alex had seen earlier.

"Blimey! You really have changed faces, haven't you?" Clyde exclaimed. "I couldn't see you before because I was too busy swapping."

"Oi!" Rani called, fanning her reddened face. "We're still cooking back here!"

"And where's my gran?" Santiago asked worriedly.

"Right. Yes. Sorry, uh. . ." The Doctor trailed off as he looked around, trying to figure out how best to move aside so he could let the children climb in. "She's in danger. . ." He trailed off once again as he tried to turn around, but failed when he bumped into Alex, causing her hands and knees to fall out from under her, sending her slamming down onto the metal.

She glared at him. "OW!" she snapped, shifting onto her hands and knees again. "That hurt!"

The Doctor winced. "Sorry, Ally. Can't turn around."

Alex rolled her eyes. "I could've told you that! I was in here not half an hour ago!"

"You'll have to shuffle backwards," Clyde revealed.

"Oh, yes, okay," the Doctor nodded. "Thank you, Clyde." He quickly began doing this, Alex shuffling alongside him. In front of them, one-by-one, the children and the Groske began climbing in.

Clyde was the first one in and was thus face-to-face with the Doctor. "Even your eyes are different!" he exclaimed, studying the Doctor's dark green eyes, very different from the whiskey-colored ones of his tenth incarnation. "It's weird, 'cause I thought the eyes would stay the same." He glanced down at the Doctor's white hand. "Can you change color or are you always white?"

"No, I can be anything," the Doctor revealed, causing Alex to look over at him. She really hoped that 'anything' didn't include potentially turning into a girl. She'd die from shock if that happened.

"And is there a limit?" Clyde continued. "I mean, how many times can you change?"

The Doctor, getting rather exasperated with these questions by this point, threw out a random number. "507."

"Oh. . ." Clyde nodded while Alex tried not to smile. She knew the Doctor was being sarcastic. She could always tell.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"Come on then, tell us," Sarah Jane prodded. She and Jo were now attached to the boards, cuffs around their wrists and a strange headband around their heads. "What exactly does that Memory Weave do?"

"'Cause I warn you, darling, the memory's going at my age," Jo chimed in.

"You need remember only one thing," the head Shansheeth told them.

"And what's that?" Sarah Jane asked, eyeing him warily.

"The TARDIS key."

Colonel Karim walked up. "The Weave takes the memory out of your head and makes it real," she explained as she checked Sarah Jane's headband restraint. "This device can build a physical key out of your thoughts."

"And then," the head Shansheeth jumped in, "we will have access to the TARDIS. The most miraculous machine in creation will be ours."

"No. . ." Sarah Jane breathed, the ramifications of such an act ringing around in her mind, none of which were good.

~Living the Life of Ally~

As the children helped the Groske out of the vent, the Doctor and Alex were standing in the middle of the hall, looking around. Alex had a hand wrapped around her necklace charm, running it over the walls and in the general area around them. Right when the sonic detected something, the Doctor shouted, "It's started!"

He took off down the hall, Alex, the children, and the Groske following close behind.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"No! You can't!" Jo protested upon hearing the Shansheeth's plans. "Ow!" This exclamation came as Colonel Karim tightened the restraint around Jo's head.

"We have seen so much of death," the head Shansheeth bemoaned. "The Shansheeth have presided over infinite funerals. We see the pain and the suffering again and again and again, but, with the TARDIS, we can stop this. We can intervene to prevent the loss of life on a universal scale."

Sarah Jane's eyes widened, and she gaped at him. "You want to stop death?!"

"It is a noble quest," the head Shansheeth retorted. "To halt the endless, endless weeping."

"And change the whole of history!" Sarah Jane argued. "That's why creatures like you can't have time machines! 'Cause you'll wreck the entire universe!"

"What did I say?" Colonel Karim said from her place by the controls where she was checking a monitor. "Pious."

"Oh yeah?" Sarah Jane turned her head to look at the young colonel. "Well, I'd rather be pious than vile." She was silent for a moment as the colonel walked over to her. Then, something occurred to her. "What do you get out of this plan?" Sarah Jane wondered.

Colonel Karim stared at her for a moment, as if trying to figure out what to say. "A bigger horizon, Miss Smith," she finally replied. "The Shansheeth can take me to the stars because there is nothing left for me here on Earth." The colonel's face grew wistful, like she was remembering something good that had been tragically taken away from her. "Not anymore," she murmured before she snapped out of whatever she had been thinking about. "Accelerate the Weave!"

The head Shansheeth flicked a few knobs, causing an enormous amount of pain to run through Sarah Jane and Jo. It felt like something was literally trying to pull their memories out, the memories hidden so deep within their brains that it took serious digging to try and unearth them. The two moaned in pain, trying to concentrate on anything else, but failing horribly.

~Living the Life of Ally~

Meanwhile, outside in the corridor, the Doctor and Alex raced towards the doors. They skidded over to them, and the Doctor pulled on the handles. "Oh, they've sealed it off!" he groaned when the doors didn't move an inch.

He and Alex began pounding on the door. "Jo! Sarah Jane!" Alex shouted. "Can you hear us?"

"They want the key!" they heard Sarah Jane call out. "They've got the TARDIS and a Memory Weave!"

"Too late!" Colonel Karim snapped. "Full activation!"

"Concentrate," they heard one of the Shansheeth order. "Think of the key."

The Doctor listened to this, panic settling in. He knew what a Memory Weave was capable of doing and it wasn't anything good. The device was banned on nearly every civilized planet due to the fact that its victims died from the memory draining. "Ally, sonic necklace, now!" he ordered.

Alex lifted her necklace and ran it over the doors, concentrating on getting them to open. She was actually getting the hang of this. But then, something in the back of her mind twitched. She didn't know how she knew this, but it was the sonic telling her that it wouldn't work on the doors.

She peered down at the necklace. "Deadlock seal!" she announced. "It won't open!"

"Damn," the Doctor swore, silently vowing to try and figure out a way to use the sonics on deadlock seals once they took care of this situation. "Try and find a way in," he ordered the kids, who immediately scrambled into action.

While the Doctor and Alex crouched down to examine some machinery beside the door, Rani and Santiago felt around the door and walls for a secret entrance. Clyde raced off down the hall to find another entrance while the Groske hopped up and fruitlessly tugged on the door handles.

"There's nothing!" Santiago bemoaned. "We're gonna need a bulldozer!"

"I've got the original here!" the Doctor called out, jumping up and removing the TARDIS key from his jacket pocket. "You can have it if you let them go!"

~Living the Life of Ally~

"You let the Doctor inside this room and he will destroy us," Colonel Karim proclaimed to the Shansheeth. "Keep going!"

"Think of the TARDIS," the head Shansheeth ordered.

Sarah Jane and Jo did their best to fight it, but the machine was too strong. Images of different TARDIS console rooms flashed before their eyes, along with multiple Doctor's, and even one peculiar instance when the TARDIS had to be towed out of a shallow hole of dirt.

"The key . . . remember. . ."

"Fight it, Sarah Jane!" Jo called. "Try to think of something else!"

"I can't!"

"Neither can I!"

~Living the Life of Ally~

Back outside, Clyde banged a fire extinguisher he had somehow procured against the door. Even though the Doctor and Alex had told him that a fire extinguisher was no match against a deadlock seal, he was desperate and willing to try anything. But of course, nothing was happening. "It's not shifting!" he shouted in frustration.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"The memories coalesce!" the head Shansheeth proclaimed. Orange lights shot out of Sarah Jane and Jo's head restraints, the lights colliding in the air in the middle of the room to form a sphere. Just barely visible inside the sphere was the outline of a key. "The key! It takes shape!"

"Don't! Don't!" Jo cried in vain.

"I can't stop," Sarah Jane weakly gasped.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"What do we do, Doctor?" Clyde wondered, hearing the women's cries. "What do we do?"

"Yes," the Doctor breathed. At some point, he had crouched down beside the machinery again. "Because . . . the Shansheeth are making them remember."

"Well, I know!" Clyde cried.

"But don't you see?"

"I don't see anything!"

But Alex did. She immediately saw where the Doctor was going with this. "Oh," she breathed. Then she grinned. "Oh! That could work! That's brilliant!"

"What? What's brilliant?" Santiago questioned, staring at the Doctor and Alex in bafflement. "What are you talking about?"

"The Shansheeth are making them remember," the Doctor began.

"So we do the same," Alex finished.

The Doctor beamed at her, pleased that she could keep up with him. He jumped up and fiddled with some controls on the machinery. "Opening comms . . . yes! Sarah, Jo, can you hear me?"

~Living the Life of Ally~

"The key!" Sarah Jane cried as the Doctor's voice echoed through the room. "It's almost ready!"

Sure enough, it was. The key was much more fully formed in the orange sphere now.

"Listen to me, both of you," the Doctor ordered. "I want you to remember."

"We are doing it," Jo retorted. "That's the trouble!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I want you to remember everything. Every single day with me. Every single second."

Colonel Karim listened to his words with a growing sense of anger and worry. "What's he doing?" she wondered.

"'Cause your memories are more powerful than anything else in the world," Alex jumped in.

"So think of them, Sarah," the Doctor continued. "Remember them, Jo. But properly, properly. Give the Memory Weave everything. Every planet, every face, every madman, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."

"I remember!" Sarah Jane cried. Flashes of many memories went by her eyes; the Tenth Doctor, Daleks, the Third Doctor, her Doctor, the Brigadier, the Osiran god Set, Slitheen, and so many more.

"No!" Colonel Karim shouted.

"Memory Weave overloading," the computer announced.

"I remember," Jo breathed as memories of Daleks, the Third Doctor, her Doctor, and more flashed before her eyes.

"We need that key!" Colonel Karim screeched. "What is happening?" She watched as the orange orb and the key disappeared, the room starting to shake a little. "What is happening?!"

"Initial target lost," the computer announced just in case they hadn't known.

"The device is overloading!" the head Shansheeth exclaimed in alarm. "Too many memories. Too many!"

"Reverse it!" Colonel Karim desperately ordered. "Bring that key back!"

~Living the Life of Ally~

The Doctor and Alex grinned at each-other. Their plan was working. Sarah Jane and Jo's memories were overloading the Memory Weave. But it still wasn't enough. They needed more.

"Come on, you all!" Alex called to the kids, moving back from the door to allow them to stand there.

"Tell them! Tell them!" the Doctor added.

"Remember us, Sarah Jane!" Clyde called. "Remember Maria and her dad, and all the stuff we did! Like the Gorgon!"

"And the clones!" Rani jumped in. "And the zodiac! And the Mona Lisa!" This last one caused the Doctor and Alex to frown in confusion, but there wasn't any time to ask questions.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"All of it! All of it!" Sarah Jane laughed as she remembered the Bane, the Slitheen, Maria, Luke, the Sontarans, the Trickster, and more.

"And just think, Gran!" Santiago called. "All the countries you've been to!"

"Every country in the world. . ." Jo beamed as flashes of rainforests, deserts, ancient Greek ruins, flying birds, and whales flashed before her eyes.

Right then, the Weave sparked, sending electrical sparks flying and smoke rising upwards. Colonel Karim yelped when a spark shocked her as she tried to touch the controls. "Weave starting self-destruct," the computer warned.

Sparks continued flashing all around the room. Sarah Jane gasped as one flashed from behind the board she was propped up on, but to her surprise and relief, the spark caused her clamps to loosen. "We've broken a circuit!" she cried as scrambled out of the restraints.

"I can't get out!" Jo cried.

"I've got you!" Sarah Jane assured her, rushing over to her friend.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor revealed, starting to pace in front of the doors. "The Weave's about to blow up. . ."

"And we can't get them out," Alex grimly finished.

"What?" Rani cried, eyes wide.

"You can't escape!" they heard one of the Shansheeth snap to Sarah Jane and Jo. "We need that key!"

"Weave now entering detonation phase," the computer proclaimed.

"I can't unseal the door!" Colonel Karim cried. "The power's gone!"

Inside, Sarah Jane and Jo raced over to the door. Sarah Jane, not knowing about the deadlock seal on the doors, pulled out her sonic lipstick. However, when she buzzed it over the door, it simply made a buzzingsound and the light at the top died. "We've drained it," she breathed, staring at the useless device in her hand. A slightly snippy part of her mind commented that it was pretty disappointing that a sonic lipstick had to be charged like the common cell-phone. "Doctor! Doctor! We can't get out!"

The Doctor pressed his forehead to the door. "I can't open it," he said sadly.

"Your sonic screwdriver. . ." Sarah Jane lamented.

"It's inside the TARDIS."

"And we can't get in 'cause guess what? We stopped ourselves getting the key." Sarah Jane shook her head. "Oh, that was clever. . ."

"It wouldn't work anyway," Alex said, her voice full of despair. "The door's deadlock sealed."

Jo stepped closer to the door. "I just want to say, I'm so glad I saw you again. I mean, all this time, and it was worth it, every second." Jo paused for a moment, something occurring to her. "Funny thing is though, your funeral turns out to be ours instead."

"My funeral?" the Doctor repeated, his eyes widening as a plan formed in his head.

"Doctor, all of you, you'll look after Luke for me, please?" Sarah Jane begged.

"No, no, no, no, no, but listen, my funeral!" the Doctor shouted.

Alex's eyes widened as the dots in her brain connected. "Oh my God, don't you get it? It's his funeral!"

Sarah Jane and Jo whirled around to look at each-other. "The lead-lined coffin!" they gasped, turning to look at the aforementioned coffin lying at the side of the room. They sprinted over to it, heaving the lid open as the room shock and sparks and smoke flew by.

On the other side of the doors, the Doctor asked, "How much time have they got?"

"Big bang?" The Groske shrugged. "Ten seconds?"

The Doctor immediately began herding the kids over to a corner a nice-sized distance away. Alex raced after him and planted herself down against the wall while the little blue Groske remained in front of the doors, counting down the seconds.

"Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six. . ."

"Hurry up, Gran!" Santiago shouted, poking his head out from around the corner before Rani pulled him back down.

"Five . . . four . . . three . . ."

The Doctor pulled Alex into his side, shielding her with his arms as he wrapped them around her. Alex pressed her face into his jacket lapels and breathed deeply, inhaling his musky cologne and just him.

"Two. . ." The Groske ran off down the other side of the hall.

On 'one', the door was blown off its hinges in a loud KABOOM, smoke and sparks flying out into the hallway. Alex jumped at the blast and the Doctor tightened his grip around her, burying his face in her hair.

A few seconds later, everyone got up. The Doctor and Alex reluctantly pulled apart and got to their feet, coughing at the sudden influx of smoke. The Doctor led the way over to the unblocked doorway, waving smoke away as he walked.

Then, something occurred to him. "What do you mean, the Mona Lisa?" he and Alex simultaneously asked Rani. Then, as if the question wasn't really that important, the two continued into the room.

There was a noticeable lack of Shansheeth and UNIT colonels inside. Fire was currently destroying the control console, while blown up bits of the boards Sarah Jane and Jo had been in decorated various parts of the room. In the back of the room, the TARDIS stood by, not a scratch or ember on her. The only other thing to escape destruction was the lead-lined coffin.

"Smells like roast chicken," the Groske commented, making Alex grimace a little.

The Doctor, noticing this, hastened to find something else for her to focus on. "Now then!" he cried, attracting her attention. "Smith and Jones!" The group went over to the coffin, Santiago, Rani, and the Doctor lifting the heavy lid. Upon opening it, the huddled bodies of Sarah Jane and Jo were revealed, both still alive.

"The coffin was a trap," the Doctor mused as the two women laughed and hugged, relishing in the relief that comes from not dying. "The coffin was the solution. That's so neat, I could write a thesis. Well, come on then, you two, on you get!"

But Sarah Jane and Jo ignored him, still caught up in their relieved laughter. Their laughs spread across the group and as Alex laughed, the Doctor wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side, relieved that she was still there.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"Attention," Mr. Smith, Sarah Jane's super-computer, called out as the TARDIS materialization noise echoed throughout the attic. "Temporal flux escalating in this vicinity." Mr. Smith opened outwards as the noise grew louder and the TARDIS fully materialized. "The TARDIS has landed."

The TARDIS door opened, and Clyde stepped out. He looked around in shock. He had only been in the TARDIS once before and was still amazed at what it could do. "Whoa! It's, it's Bannerman Road! It's like everything moved! I'll never get used to that."

Rani stepped out behind him. As she maneuvered her duffle bag out the narrow doors, she looked up and eyed Mr. Smith. "Mr. Smith, you're in big trouble!" she declared as she fully stepped out. "Those Shansheeth were bad!"

"It transpires, Rani, that you encountered a rouge element," Mr. Smith explained as Santiago came out and gawked at the computer. "And the Wide Wing of the High Shansheeth Nest sends apologies."

"No way," Santiago grinned. "On top of everything else, you've got a talking computer?! That is it, I'm giving up."

Meanwhile, the Doctor, Alex, Sarah Jane, and Jo were still inside the TARDIS. The control room had noticeably changed since Jo's day and since the last time Sarah Jane had seen it after her failed wedding. Jo paced around the console, looking around the room in amazement.

"Still the same old TARDIS," she smiled. "It doesn't matter what's changed, it still smells the same." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Then, a second later, her eyes popped back open. "No! Gotta say good-bye, or else I'd stay with you forever. Besides, I probably couldn't keep up anymore. Get you into trouble with the Time Lords."

There was a noticeable silence at this, at least to the Doctor, Alex, and Sarah Jane. The three exchanged uneasy glances, knowing the truth about what had happened to the Time Lords. But no one said anything. Let Jo believe the Time Lords still existed. They didn't need to ruin her memories of them.

The Doctor coughed, breaking the moment. "Um, yeah, we'd probably better go," he said, nodding to himself and Alex. "You know me, stuff to do."

"People to meet, chaos to cause," Alex quipped, causing the Doctor to shoot her a playful glare.

Sarah Jane and Jo snorted a little at that, but soon sobered as a thought occurred to them. "It's daft though," Sarah Jane began, "because, well, well, we were all saying that we had this theory that if you ever died . . . we'd feel it somehow, we . . . we'd just know." The Doctor didn't say anything so, taking this as something he thought ridiculous, Sarah Jane added, "But that's just silly, isn't it?"

The Doctor looked up from a knob he had been fiddling with. "I don't know. Maybe not." He looked at Alex, remembering their chemical connection with each-other. He was 100% positive Alex would feel it if he ever did die and he vice-versa. As for the others. . . Anything was possible. "'Cause between you and me, if that day ever comes . . . I think the whole universe might just shiver." He stared at them a few seconds, then shuddered.

Sarah Jane, Jo, and Alex jumped, Alex even yelping a little. Sarah Jane and Jo began laughing while Alex just whacked the Doctor on the arm. "You can't go five minutes without being melodramatic, can you?" Alex quipped.

"Oi!" the Doctor cried, staring at her, affronted.

"Oh, I like her, Doctor," Sarah Jane chuckled. "Keeps you in line."

"Why do I have to be kept in line?" the Doctor muttered to himself. "What does that even mean?"

The others ignored him, Sarah Jane choosing to pull Alex into a hug. "You ever need anything," she murmured into Alex's ear, "you come by. Whether you've left or just want to chat. I mean it."

"I'll probably take you up on that," Alex replied. And she knew she would. It was nice knowing other companions of the Doctor. When she had to inevitably leave the TARDIS, it would help knowing that there was someone on Earth she could relate and talk to, someone who knew what the thought of leaving such a fun life was like.

Alex pulled back out of Sarah Jane's grasp, only to be tugged into Jo's arms. "Oh, you are so beautiful!" Jo gushed, pulling back far enough to study Alex's features. "And so clever. You're more than a perfect match for him." She released Alex and watched as the young girl wandered back over to the Doctor, the latter pulling her into his side like it was second nature. She beamed at them. "Oh, you two make such a lovely couple."

The 'lovely couple' stared at her in shock. "Oh, um . . . uh, w-we're, we aren't. . ." the Doctor stuttered.

"Uh, no, no, no, not at . . . no," Alex weakly protested, remembering her realization about her love for the Doctor. Her cheeks flamed at that thought, growing redder than they had been five seconds ago.

Sarah Jane and Jo exchanged a yeah, right look.

"Well, we'll be off then," Sarah Jane said. She hugged Alex and the Doctor once again, even kissing the latter on the cheek. Jo did the same and, with a wave of their hands, they stepped out and shut the door.

The Doctor sprang into action the second the door closed. He ran around the console, flipping switches and pulling levers as the engines started up. Alex gripped the railing just as the materialization noise kicked in. A minute later, they were floating around in the vortex.

"Hey, Doc?" Alex said as she carefully released her grip on the railing. "Can I ask you something?"

"Since when has that ever stopped you?" the Doctor playfully retorted, looking up from a knob he was fiddling with.

Alex raised her necklace, exposing the brilliant TARDIS charm. "Why did you give me a sonic necklace?"

The Doctor leaned sideways against the console, his arms loosely crossed as he looked at her. Part of the reason he had given Alex the necklace was because in the Library, River implied that Alex had one. But he didn't want to tell her that. She'd just think he was keeping the timelines in check, which he sort of was, but there was more to it than that. He trusted her. Alex was always there for him. She was so smart, so funny, so beautiful, so perfect, and . . . he trusted her. He had never trusted someone so much before she came along.

The fact was, he knew he could trust her with a sonic device because she was deserving of one. He knew she'd use it responsibly and that her having one would come in handy in lots of situations.

But the simple fact of the matter was . . . Alex was deserving of one.

He smiled at her, watching as she played with the charm. She kept running her fingers over the gems, feeling their different cuts and sizes on the pad of her thumb. He could tell she was truly enchanted by the necklace and loved it just as he hoped she would.

"Because, Ally," he said finally, "you're deserving of one."

Alex blinked. She hadn't expected that. "Really?" she breathed.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. I know you, Ally. I trust you. I know you are deserving of a sonic device. Sarah Jane was the same way. That's why I gave her the sonic lipstick all those years ago. And now, I want to do the same to you."

Alex smiled, but then a thought occurred to her. "So, am I just one of a few lucky girls who get sonics?"

The Doctor shook his head so quickly and adamantly, Alex thought his head would fly off if it wasn't attached. "Of course not, Ally. Actually, I probably won't give a sonic device to anyone else. It can go to people's heads. You, however, don't have a problem with that."

Alex grinned. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

Within an instant, Alex had flown across the room into his arms. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chirped into his jacket. "You won't regret it, I promise!"

The Doctor chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "I know I won't." He pulled back from the hug to give her a mischievous look. "Now, how about learning how to use your sonic? It does more than go bzzzz and make dogs bark."

Alex chuckled, remembering what she had accidentally caused the sonic screwdriver to do back when they were staying in Craig's flat. "Sounds great, Doc, but first . . . I promised some people I'd get in touch with them about the funeral."

"Lacey and Marigold?" the Doctor guessed.

"No, but them too." Alex walked over to the monitor and pulled it down so that it was directly facing her. The screen was displaying its usual background of Gallifreyan symbols on a deep blue background. Alex turned a dial and then held the sonic necklace up to the monitor. She buzzed it over the screen, causing a bunch of computer symbols to run down the screen. A moment later, the words ACCESS GRANTED appeared.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Wait a moment," Alex smiled.

A second later, an image of the Torchwood Hub appeared onscreen, causing the Doctor to gasp a little.

The Torchwood Hub looked slightly different from a few days ago. Futuristic weapons were lying on tables and desks, a strange gray goop was on the floor near the stairs, and a chair had toppled over. One thing that hadn't changed from last time though was a bunch of yelling coming from somewhere off camera.

"Ianto! Keep hold of it!" Jack's voice ordered. A loud roar sounded out, followed by what sounded like struggling and a bunch of cursing. "Gwen, stun it! STUN IT, GWEN!"

"I'M TRYING!" an irate Welsh-accented voice snapped. A second later, there was a loud BZZZ followed by a thump, and then a triumphant, "Yes!"

"Get him into the cell," Jack's voice wheezed. Right then, alarms began sounding along with the electronic voice proclaiming, "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! COMPUTERS HACKED!"

"Aw man," Owen groaned.

"No, wait," Jack ordered, presumably to Tosh, who was probably gearing up to go and investigate their hacker. "Ten quid says it's her."

There was a short silence and then a "You're on" from Ianto.

A moment later, a bunch of skidding rang out and the Torchwood team appeared on camera. While Tosh hurried over to her workstation to shut the alarms off, Jack, Ianto, Owen, and Gwen raced over to the computer screen Alex had managed to hack into.

"Alex!" Ianto beamed. Then he remembered his bet with Jack. "Aw man." He turned to Jack. "I don't suppose you'd accept personal favors over money, would you?" A pause, and then Ianto shook his head. "Wait, sorry. Stupid question."

Jack just smiled and crossed his arms, leaning back against a table. "Alex Locke," he smirked, the consonants in her name enunciated in his smooth American accent. "Looking lovely as ever."

Alex was about to giggle until a low growl sounded out from behind her. "Jack," the Doctor growled. Alex turned to see the Doctor leaning against the railing, arms crossed and shoulders hunched. His eyes were dark and narrowed and he was glowering – literally glowering – at the screen.

Jack frowned. "I was just saying hello!" he objected, causing some of the Torchwood team members to snort.

"With you, that's enough," the Doctor argued. He pushed himself off the railing and went over to stand beside Alex, letting the Torchwood team see him better. He consciously wrapped an arm around Alex's waist, pulling her to his side. He wanted Jack to see that Alex was his and only his. The charming, smooth-talking immortal couldn't have her. The last Time Lord had already claimed her.

Jack peered at the screen. "I see you regenerated, Doc. And nice! You get younger every time I see you! Only. . ." Jack stepped closer and squinted. "Is that a bowtie?"

"Oi!" the Doctor cried, his glare intensifying. "Bowties are cool, thank you very much."

"No, they're not," Owen muttered under his breath. Gwen elbowed him.

Jack shrugged and resumed his position against the table. "Well regardless, you make it work, Doc. So, judging by the fact that I'm talking to you, I take it UNIT's reports about your death were greatly exaggerated."

"Faked," Alex jumped in. "By the Shansheeth and a colonel at UNIT who wanted the TARDIS to change and get rid of death."

"Fortunately, I managed to stop them," the Doctor beamed.

Alex lightly hit him on the arm. "You mean we, oh mighty one. Not to mention Sarah Jane, Jo, Rani, Clyde, and Santiago."

"Yes, they helped too," the Doctor admitted.

Jack chuckled a little, amused at their interaction with each-other. "Glad to hear it. A universe without the Doctor is not something I want to imagine."

"Neither do I," Alex said, shuddering at the very thought. A universe without the Doctor would be utter chaos.

A few minutes later, after chatting with the Torchwood team a little more, the Doctor disconnected and pushed the monitor away. He rested against the console for a moment, just thinking things over. Alex was still pressed into his side. It seemed as they talked with Jack longer, the Doctor's grip on her grew tighter and more possessive. She liked it.

She watched as the Doctor stared off, deep in thought. "Doc? You okay?"

"I'm always okay, Ally," the Doctor said, reaching up to run a hand through her hair.

"Really?"

"Yes, Ally. It's just. . . I haven't seen Jack in a while. Not since I was regenerating."

"That was a while ago, wasn't it?"

"A couple of months," the Doctor nodded. "That last body . . . he didn't die happy. I was quite fond of being him."

"I'm sorry," Alex said.

The Doctor sighed. "Typical humans," he muttered. "Always apologizing for things they have no control over."

"It shows we care," Alex corrected. "And I meant that I'm sorry you regenerated in such a bad state of mind."

The Doctor shrugged. "Wasn't all bad though."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Because of that regeneration, I damaged the TARDIS so much, I crash-landed into the backyard of a little Scottish girl. And because of all that damage, I arrived twelve years later than I meant to, meeting not only that now grown-up little Scottish girl, but her perfect American friend as well."

Alex blushed. "Really?"

The Doctor smiled at her. "Yes. I wouldn't change a single second of that day, Ally."

Alex giggled. "I'm glad to hear that, Doc."

The Doctor tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, straightened up, and pushed off the console. "Now!" he declared, spinning around a little. "How about some sonic lessons?"

Alex grinned. "Bring it on, Doc. Bring it on."

"Great! Now, for your first lesson, let's try checking a person's health. This is incredibly important as humans, and occasionally Time Lords, get incredibly sick. Aim your sonic out and start buzzing it at me. . ."

A/N: Nice long chapter for you all. Hope you liked this episode! It was one of my favorites to write! Up next, we've got 'A Christmas Carol' and then this story will be over. *sobs* But I've got another OC coming in the next couple of weeks to entertain you while I work on the sequel. :)

Notes on reviews. . .

The Raggedy Time Traveler - Alex won't be happy about being around so much water, but I will say some stuff happens beforehand that reassures her a little. Swimming lessons maybe? :) Glad you liked the chapter!

SopherGopherroxursox - Lol, I don't want anyone suffering from fluff withdrawal! Hope this chapter made up for it. :) I love that bit too. :) No, Alex didn't get kidnapped, but in my General Hospital crossover fanfic, the character I have chosen will get taken with them. I know, I'm jealous of Alex too! She's a glamorized version of me, so that makes me jealous of myself. . . If I could trade places with her, I would! :)

SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - Sorry for the confusion! The Groske race hate the Graske race. The Graske were in a Sarah Jane episode, though I haven't seen it. Hope that clears it up! Rani and Clyde are characters in the Sarah Jane Adventure series that help Sarah Jane defeat aliens. Santiago is Jo's grandson and was only featured in this episode. The other one you're thinking of is probably Luke, Sarah Jane's adopted son, who was off at college at this point. :)

mayfire21 - I can't think of any more old characters that might be popping up, but you never know! :)

rycbar15 - Lol, thanks. Yes, this story will end before Season 6 and the sequel will pick up with 'The Impossible Astronaut'. :)

We're All M-M-Mad Here - Glad you liked the chapter! :)

ElysiumPhoenix - Glad you like this! :)

Gwilwillith - Thank you! And yes, she will. :)

ShadowTeir - Lol, I'm not sure if they'd be fighting over it or not, but we know Alex would definitely win. :) Yeah, they definitely would feel the other dying. Lol, glad you like those parts! :)

Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Thank you! :)

JackSpicer2311 - No, 10 would still be regenerating. I think it makes for a good reaction from the OC. :)