A/N I don't own BBC or DW

Book of the update: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Chapter 23

"It's a spaceship," Amy said, looking out over the stars through the open door. "Your box is really, really a spaceship. Okay. Yeah, now I believe you. We are in space!" she yelled out the door, adding a whoop for effect.

"What are we breathing?" Donna asked and the Doctor looked over her shoulder and up at the stars.

"I've extended the airshell. We're fine." He looked down, and his eyebrows raised. "Now that's interesting," he murmured, looking at the huge metal ship floating just below them. He straightened up and hopped over to the console, talking all the way. "29th century. Solar flares roast the earth, remember, Rose? That was our first date. We had chips," he added, winking at her before he continued, "Anyway, the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves." He ducked down, turning some gizmo under the console and then straightened up again, pulling knobs and spinning wheels.

"Doctor?"

"…migrating to the stars," he continued, not hearing Amy calling his name.

"Doctor?"

"Isn't that amazing?"

"Doctor!" he finally looked up to see Rose and Donna holding onto Amy's ankles as she herself was somewhere in space, trying in vain to pull her back inside the TARDIS.

"Well come on! Get down from there, Pond, I've found us a spaceship."

He reached up and grabbed her ankle, pulling her down with ease, and then ran up the steps again to look out the porthole that the TARDIS had conveniently put there moments before.

"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland," he explained to the girls all peering over his shoulder out the porthole. "all of it bolted together and flying in the sky."

"Oh my god, that's amazing," Rose breathed, staring out the widow with wide eyes. "And that's the entire country, not just a part of it?"

He nodded and bopped her on the nose. "Correct. Starship UK. It's Britain," he told them all, "but metal. That's not just a ship. That's an idea; that's a whole country, just as you said, living and laughing, and….."

"Shopping?" Donna asked, noticing a building similar looking to her mum's favorite shop back home.

"Shopping," he agreed, "and searching the stars for a new home."

Amy bounced on her heels, grinning from ear to ear. "Can we go out and see?"

"Course we can!" the Doctor told her, walking over to the console. "but first there's a thing."

"A thing?"

"An important thing. In fact, thing one, we are observers only," he told her, raising a big magnifying glass to his eye, "That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels."

Donna snorted and he glared at her, only half serious.

"I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets," he went on and Rose giggled. He turned his eyes on her, pointing his finger. "Now, don't you start. Ooh, that's interesting," he said, looking beyond her at the scanner, which showed a little girl in a red sweater, sitting on a bench. She was crying.

"What's happened to her?" Rose asked quietly, but the Doctor didn't answer.

"So…..we're like a wildlife documentary?" Amy asked, hopping over to look at the scanner. "'Cause if they see like a wounded little cub or something, then they can't just save it, they've gotta keep filming, and…let it die," her voice sort of faded out as she watched the little girl, metaphorically the cub, cry on the bench. No one was stopping to help her, or even ask what's wrong. "That's got to be hard."

"I don't think I could do that," Donna agreed, her face filling with concern for the child.

"Don't you find that hard, being all like, detached and cold?" Amy asked, but her question was soon answered when the Doctor appeared on the scanner, crouching down beside the girl and asking what was wrong, if she was okay.

Rose grinned. "Oh, he is…brilliant."

"Doctor?" Amy asked, still looking at the image of the man himself on the scanner. Speaking of the image on the scanner, he stood up straight and motioned for them to come on, looking right at them. She turned to Rose and Donna.

"Did he…..can he do that?"

Rose just grinned again and shrugged, leading the way out of the TARDIS, but Donna laughed and patted Amy on the arm. "He's rubbish at rules." And then she followed Rose out, leaving a bewildered Amy to follow them, still looking back at the screen.

"Welcome to London Market," said a pleasant voice over the speakers when they walked out into what was apparently the London market. "You are being monitored."

"Monitored?" Rose asked no one in particular, scrunching up her nose. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm in the future. Like, hundreds of years in the future," Amy said, spinning around and looking at everything. She stopped when her eyes landed on the Doctor and a thought came to her. "I've been dead for centuries."

He frowned. "Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Nevermind dead," he said, placing a hand on her back and leading her around, Donna and Rose trailing behind, "Look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

"Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

Rose groaned, looking at what appeared to be something like a food court. "They haven't got any chip shops!"

He took his hand off Amy's back and turned to her, walking backwards. "No, but that's rubbish. Wouldn't like to live here, ta. Look again, come on, really look."

She looked around, up at the ceiling, the stars, but nothing seemed all that out of place.

"London Market is a crime-free zone," the speakers announced over the din of human beings all around them.

"Life on a giant starship, back to basics," the Doctor said, looking around, "Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer." He began to lead them around again, pointing things out as he spoke. "Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me," and he ran over to a table nearby, where a couple were sitting having their lunch. Or breakfast, or dinner. Whatever time it was. He snatched a glass of water off of the table and set it on the floor, crouched down and watching.

"What are you doing?" the man asked, looking down at him in confusion.

After a moment or two, the Doctor picked up the glass and set it back on the table. "Sorry," he told the couple, "Checking all the water in this area." He stood up and leant close to the woman's face, rubbing his fingers together awkwardly, as if he still wasn't quite sure what to do with this body yet. "There's an escaped fish," he told her confidentially, tapping the side of his nose before turning on his heel and striding back to Amy, Rose, and Donna.

"Where was I?"

"What'd you do that for?" Donna asked, just as bewildered as everyone else.

"Dunno. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state, have any of you seen it yet?"

"What?" Amy asked, at the same time that Rose asked, "Where?" they looked at each other and blinked, but the Doctor was already ahead of them, pointing.

"There." It was the girl, the one in the red sweater. The one who'd been crying. He walked over and sat on one of the benches, a few away from her, and leaned his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands and leaning his chin on his hands.

"One little girl crying," Amy said, not seeing the point. "So?"

The Doctor didn't answer.

"I mean, it's sad, sure, and I feel bad, but what's that got to do with anything?" Donna asked.

"Crying silently," the Doctor told them. "I mean, children cry 'cause they want attention, 'cause they're hurt, or afraid. When they cry silently, it's 'cause they just can't stop. Any parent know that."

"Are you a parent?" Amy asked, her eyebrows raised.

The Doctor said nothing, and Rose took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

"But why isn't anyone helping her?" Donna asked, trying to move the conversation away from the Doctor.

"Exactly. Hundreds of parents walking by, and not one of them asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of."

Something caught Rose's eye and she looked over the Doctor's shoulder at it. It was a box with a dummy inside, like the ones on the fairground that tell fortunes and jokes and things. It seemed a bit out of place here, on a starship in the 29th century. "Doctor," she said, tugging his hand a bit.

"Hmm?"

"What's that thing?"

He turned. "That's interesting." He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Amy, who was looking the other way, the way the little girl had just walked off to. "Here. This fell out of her pocket when I bumped into her. Took me four goes," he said to Rose in a stage whisper and she giggled. "You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Ask her about those things, the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere," he added after looking around.

"But they're just things," Amy said, twisting Mandy's notebook around her fingers.

"They're clean. Everything else on this ship is battered and filthy, but no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of any of them, look. Ask Mandy 'why are people scared of this things in the booths?'"

"No, hang on. What do I do?" Amy protested, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes. "I don't know what I'm doing here!"

He crossed his arms and looked at her. "It's this or Leadworth. Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" she frowned and flopped back against the bench. He laughed. "Haha, gotcha. Let's see. Meet us back here in half an hour. Actually, you know what? Rose will go with you. She's got this lovely watch, wonderful at keeping time. Go on then, shoo, shoo," he said, ushering them up and away.

"What are you gonna do?" Amy asked, a bit grouchily.

"What I always do," the Doctor replied, mimicking her tone. "Stay out of trouble. Badly." He stood up. "Come on, Donna."

"Oh, who's bossy now," she grumbled under her breath, following him even so.

"So is this how it works, Doctor?" Amy called after him, "You never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

He grinned, bobbing up and down a bit. "Yes."

Amy smiled back and huffed a little, spinning round and looking at Rose, who only shrugged, a laugh bubbling up in her throat.

DOCTOR WHO

"What's that?" Amy asked Mandy after they finally found her, pointing at a big road sign with caution tape up.

"There's a hole. We have to go back," Mandy said, nervously tapping her notepad against her other hand.

"There's a hole?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you stupid?" Mandy asked incredulously, "There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way. There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps…." She trailed off, Rose having already walked up to the makeshift orange gate, Amy on her heels. She pushed it aside and began to walk towards the tent that housed this 'hole in the road.'

"What are you doing?" Mandy cried, looking around nervously.

"Oh don't mind us!" Amy said loudly, leaning down to her briefly, "Never could resist a keep out sign."

"What's under the tent?" Rose called back, her hand already reaching for the lock.

"Nobody knows," Mandy said, her voice getting quieter, "We're not supposed to talk about it."

"Oh, and because you're not supposed to, you don't?" Amy questioned, rolling her eyes and walking over to Rose, squatting down beside her and pulling out a bobby pin from some small pocket in her skirt. "Watch and learn," she told them as she set to work on the rusted lock.

"You sound Scottish," Mandy commented, and Rose noted that she was still looking around anxiously, fiddling with the notebook in her hands.

"I am Scottish! What's wrong with that?"

"Scotland's gotta be here somewhere," Rose added quietly, but the girl shook her head.

"No. They wanted their own ship."

Amy grinned. "Good for them. Nothing changes."

"So….if you're from Scotland, how did you get here?"

"Oh, you know," she said, still working on the lock, "Just passing through with some friends."

"And your boyfriend?"

"No, he's just," Amy's hands suddenly stilled on the lock and her face fell. "Oh."

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing. It's just, I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind."

"Married?" Mandy cried in astonishment, overhearing them.

"Yeah, shut up, married," Amy laughed tensely. "Really, actually married. Most definitely," she finished, sounding extremely worried. Maybe nervous.

"Congratulations! To Rory?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Yeah. To Rory."

"That's fantastic! When's the wedding?"

"It's kinda weird, to think about it," Amy admitted, her eyebrows raised slightly and her eyes wide, "A long time ago, tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow!" Rose cried, pulling her hands over her mouth. "Amy, but you can't just-"

"I wonder what I've done," Amy cut her off absently, her head (and heart) a million miles away. The lock clicked open. "Hah. Hey, hey, results!" she turned back to Mandy. "Coming?"

"No!"

"Well, suit yourself, then. Rose?"

"Right behind you," she said with a grin, the conversation momentarily forgotten.

"Stop! You mustn't do that!" cried Mandy from behind them, but they ignored her, crawling inside anyways.

It was dark – the only light was from the partly open tent flap, and it kept bouncing all around. Rose squinted, trying to make out anything. There was something…..some sort of….wire, maybe? Suddenly, a light shone on from the box in Amy's hands and Rose gasped, looking at it. It was not a wire.

"Oh, my God!" Amy mumbled, staring at it.

"I think maybe we should go," Rose said quietly, looking at the….tentacle was the only word that described it. It was covered with a heavy red armor and there was a large defensive spike on the end, like a scorpion's tail.

"That's weird," Amy said, ignoring her. They stood up.

"Amy, we really should-" she cut off quickly as the tentacle lunged forward like a snake, its spike pointed right at them. They screamed and fell back as it lunged again. Amy scrambled to her knees, but Rose's jacket had gotten caught on the jagged wire behind them. "Go on! Get out of here! I'm right behind you," she said, tugging on her jacket, trying in vain to yank it free.

With a final fleeting glance, Amy crawled out of the tent, leaving Rose trapped and alone with the tentacle.

"Shhh, shhhh," she said in a soft sing-song voice, "S'alright. I'm a friend, see? Not going to 'urt you." She glanced down at the wire, but she couldn't see anything in the dark of the tent.

There was a quiet hissing noise from outside, followed by a dull thump, and Rose peeked through a hole in the tent fabric behind her, gasping when she saw Amy's limp body being dragged away.

She hastily pulled her arms out of the jacket and scurried away and out of the tent, leaving it behind. She looked around, but Amy and Mandy were nowhere to be seen. Rose was alone. She picked a direction at random and started down it, shivering in only her pink tank top.

There was another muted thud from somewhere vaguely in front of her and she took off running towards the noise, trying and failing to make the slap of her sneakers quieter.

Someone turned around, she could see their eyes reflecting the dull light, and looked right at her, sending chills down her spine. The person turned aside for a moment to say something to the man beside him, but when he turned back to point, Rose was nowhere to be seen.

DOCTOR WHO

"Is something wrong? You're being awfully quiet," the Doctor asked Donna, looking around him, poking his face into alleyways and around corners, hands still awkwardly clenching at his sides. He turned suddenly and hopped into a hole in the floor, climbing down a ladder. Donna raised an eyebrow but followed him without protest.

She looked up. "Hmm? Nothing. No, I'm fine; nothing's wrong."

He turned suddenly and hopped into a hole in the floor, climbing down a ladder. Donna raised an eyebrow but followed him without protest.

"If I know anything, I know that you, Donna Noble, are a terrible liar," he said, almost absent-mindedly as he continued prodding around once they'd reached the bottom, looking for something.

"What? I'm not!" She protested and he finally stopped what he was doing with something on the wall and looked at her.

"Donna, please don't lie to me. What's wrong?"

"It's just….." she trailed off when he waked off to open a panel on the wall a ways away from her, as if he wasn't even listening. "'S nothing. It's nothing!" she added when he turned his head to give her a dubious look.

"Donna."

"Alright, alright," she finally surrendered, "It's just that…..I'm not really….what I mean is, it's a little, uhh…freaky? The whole new person thing? Guess what I'm tryin to say is that I'm not quite….used to it, and it's just…just a bit weird. Guess I just feel a bit out of place, what with Amy and new you and new TARDIS and everything. 's nothing, really," she concluded with a silent sigh as the Doctor crouched on the floor again, looking at a glass of water (God knows where he'd gotten that one) and looked at it, frowning.

He didn't respond to her, too busy with his water glass. Donna looked up when she heard footsteps, and she saw a woman in a red cape with a mask on.

"Who're you?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

The woman winked at her, causing Donna to fold her arms and raise her eyebrow, suspicious, and then looked down at the Doctor. "The impossible truth in a glass of water," she whispered through the mask, "not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?"

He stood up and looked at the woman, examining her eyes closely, as that was all he could see of her face. "You know me?"

"Keep your voice down," the woman warned, "They're everywhere."

"Who?" Donna asked, not even bothering to lower her voice. "Why should we listen to you?"

"Silence!" she hissed, putting a finger to the mask's painted lips. "We do not want to alert them. Tell me what you see in the glass," she commanded the Doctor, who took an almost imperceptible step forward.

"Who says I see anything?" he asked, challenging and curious at the same time.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine that big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look." He walked over to the wall panel he'd been fiddling with and opened it, pulling out a big wire that didn't seem to attach to anything. "It doesn't make sense! These power couplings, they're not connected. Look!" he swung open another panel, showing them the couplings, which were indeed, unconnected. "They're dummies, see?" he ran across the small room to the other wall, rapping on it with his knuckled. "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was-"

"-no engine at all," the woman finished with him and he blinked, looking a bit more than mildly confused.

"What? How can there not be an engine?" Donna asked in complete shock.

"But it's working. This ship is flying through space; I saw it!"

"The impossible truth, Doctor," she whispered, "We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?" he demanded, searching her mask for answers.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope."

A/N I know that Donna is OOC right now, but it's because she feels unwanted and a bit like a fourth wheel, but she doesn't really want to broadcast that she's feeling left out, so she's sort of unintentionally excluding herself even more. She'll get better when she finds her place, I promise you. And Rose, well, she's just a hard person for me to write, I suppose. I went back and watched seasons 1 and 2 again to go back and remember how innocent and young she was. Some of that would be lost, after travelling and then the parallel world and then 12 years in Leadworth, but she'd still have ties to her younger self, y'know? So I'm working on it. If you have any tips for writing Rose or Donna, please review and tell me, I'd love to hear them :)