~~OO~~II~~OO~~

((Assistance and Resistance))

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

As the TARDIS slowed to a stop, I huffed, playfully swatting at the control panel. "Stop that shaky thing you do, it's not necessary," I muttered under my breath, scolding the time machine. She rumbled in response, amused. I huffed in annoyance, though a smile flickered across my face. Clave purred from his spot around my neck, rubbing his cheek against mine.

The Doctor was already inspecting the screen of the TARDIS, his black frames perched expertly on his nose, already having forgotten the events of earlier. I raised an eyebrow, surprised he wasn't demanding answers. Then again, we were on a mission hunting down whatever had been causing the TARDIS to fail. He typed something in, pressing a button off to the side. "Nothing," he muttered, "Absolutely…nothing."

"Well that's not good," I muttered. I peered at the screen over his shoulder with a thoughtful look, but it was in the circular language again, and I huffed irritably. "Could you change that?" I complained to the Doctor, "I like to know what's going on, you know!"

He was unable to help but grin, and the Gallifreyan language disappeared, replaced by regular old English. I sighed in relief, able to read it. And sure enough, the scans said nothing. "Alright, then we'll have to go find it ourselves."

"The TARDIS can hold out, I stopped the signal that was making it fail," the Doctor said slowly, his eyes gleaming thoughtfully as he removed his glasses and tucked them into his suit. He reached over to where he'd dumped his trench coat, pulling it on. "So it'll be safe enough for you, old girl. Ali, do you have your TARDIS key?"

I showed it to him. "Of course," I answered with a huff. "What, you think I'm going to go around without it? I'm not stupid."

"Of course you're not," he muttered back before offering me his arm with a slight grin. "Alright," he said cheerfully as I looped my arm through his and beamed, ignoring as Clave hissed irritably. "Off to hike then. We landed not too far away from a hiking trail that'll take us right on up."

We started through the trees, and I pursed my lips thoughtfully, sweeping my dark hair over my shoulder as I said, "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that whatever these guys are, they'll be dangerous."

"Most likely. It may have been unintentional, but they still almost caused my TARDIS to fail. That makes it a good possibility, though. So be careful."

I nodded my agreement, narrowing my eyes in thought. "You be careful as well, got it?" I was distantly reminded of my conversation with bow tie man, and felt a flash of concern for the future regeneration of the Doctor. I hoped he was listening to me and being careful, though I doubted he was staying out of trouble. He was just as much as the Doctor as my Doctor. There was no way he could possibly stay out of trouble.

We finally found a hiking trail, and the Doctor immediately dropped to his knees to examine the dust and rocks that made the trail up. I watched silently as he picked a rock up, examining it. Suddenly, to my disgust, he swept a finger through the dust and then licked the dust off. "Ugh," I said with a groan of disgust. "That's disgusting!"

He grinned. "Definitely here," he reported. "They've been along this trail a few times."

"How can you tell from tasting dirt?"

He laughed, straightening. "You can taste the differences," he answered with another smile. I shook my head, and he laughed again. "Now," he murmured, straightening and becoming serious as he led the way down the trail. "To find out where the aliens went… oh."

I nearly slammed into him, yelping in surprise. "What'd you…stop…for…" My eyes widened as the sound of guns cocking was heard, and I threw my hands up in surrender when I saw the gunmen that blocked the path before us. Clave tucked himself away so he wouldn't be seen. "Uh…Doctor?"

He slowly raised his hands as well, saying with a huff, "I really, really hate guns, could you please put those down?" He glanced at me. "I'd rather not sonic them, then we'd be arrested for sure."

I examined the gunmen with pursed lips, noticing the patch on each and every one of them. "Doctor, what's that sym-"

One of them interrupted me, raising a walkie-talkie to his mouth and said into it, "Two found on the eastern slopes, Captain. Surrendered without a single problem. What should we do with them?" A voice replied, and then the man nodded, standing and waving down the path with his gun. "You'll follow the path to where we've set up. Brandon and Chris will escort you and if you try anything…"

"Yes, yes," the Doctor said impatiently, "You'll shoot us. Very well, lead the way. Come on, Ali, it appears we get to get escorted to someplace we shouldn't be going." His tone was irritated and I sighed, trailing along behind him as one of the two that were dragging us with them, his name thing labeled him as Chris, started down the trail again.

"Doctor," I hissed under my breath, "What are we doing?"

"Just follow them!" the Doctor exclaimed in exasperation. "Just follow them."

"Alright, alright," I replied, glancing back at the other man who had to be Brandon, who was openly watching me. I shot him a dark look, glowering, and he merely smirked back, though he raised his gaze to look at nothing in particular. Clave shifted slightly on my shoulder, hissing under his breath and I quietly shushed him.

As we approached the actual viewing platform of the famous Mount Rushmore itself, I began to notice different tents and other camping things around. But there were no regular people coming to see the faces on the mountain. "They must have been made aware of the alien," the Doctor explained quietly to me, noticing my confused look.

I nodded, biting my lip as we came to a stop in front of a particularly large and black tent that towered over us. "Must have been hard to put that up," I mumbled to myself. The Doctor overheard and grinned in response, nodding his agreement.

Chris disappeared into the tent, and then ducked out a few seconds later with someone that I recognized immediately. "Jack!" I cried with a grin appearing on my face.

A huge smile appeared on Jack's face as well. "Ali!" he said cheerfully, immediately striding over. "Doctor! So that's who showed up."

"Jack," the Doctor greeted with a slight pout, looking more than slightly annoyed as Jack moved over to give me a hug in greeting. In response, Clave suddenly snaked his head into view, hissing and baring his sharp teeth at Jack. Jack jerked back, and the Doctor laughed.

"What is that?" Jack said with a frown, crossing his arms and touching the watch on his wrist.

The Doctor's gaze immediately locked on the Vortex Manipulator. "Clave is Clave, and is none of your concern. Now, how did you get that fixed?" he demanded crossly.

Jack waved him off as he peered curiously at Clave before saying, "I take it you're here about the aliens that have been running around?"

My attention sharpened and I narrowed my eyes, crossing my arms as Clave hissed warningly before hiding himself once more, glaring at Jack from my shoulder. "Aliens? There's more than one?"

Jack nodded and his smile vanished. "There's two of them running around and we can't catch them… Chris, Brandon, put the guns away and go back to your posts." He glanced at me with a wink, "New members, sorry 'bout that."

The Doctor huffed. "They're all new members, they all pointed guns."

Jack laughed then focused again on the situation at hand. "The Laxryn are shape-shifters." The Doctor's eyes widened and he gave a groan. "You see the problem," Jack sighed, shaking his head. "It's nearly impossible to find them. They can't leave the area, so they're only maybe three miles away at any moment."

"If you can't tell what they are, how do you know where they are?" I questioned with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, they told us that themselves when we caught one of them for a few moments," Jack replied.

"You had it?" the Doctor groaned, "And you let it get away? Jack! I thought you knew better!"

"It turned into a butterfly," Jack said defensively, "We couldn't catch it after it started flying away! But it told us that it stays within three miles, and this species doesn't lie."

"Wonderful," I sighed. "Just wonderful." I turned to Jack, crossing my arms. "Well they're certainly not going to wait around for us, what should we do? What have you been doing to get them that haven't worked?"

"Everything," Jack groaned, "We've tried every possible thing anyone can think of! We've tracked them, we've tried tricking them, and nothing works! They nearly killed a few people when they hid in our own forms."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at this, looking unhappy. "Alright, so what have you not done?"

Jack immediately opened his mouth to respond, then clicked it shut, looking slightly unnerved. Immediately suspicious, the Doctor crossed his arms. "Ah, so there is something. What is it?"

"I thought of it, sir," a young woman in a white lab coat, obviously a scientist, said as she stepped forward. My eyes widened in surprise when I noticed the familiar eyes of a Zaraux. Catching my eyes, she smiled drily, explaining, "My grandfather was a Zaraux that fell in love with a human such as my grandmother. Some traits have been passed on through the family, along with stories, Miss Successor."

The Doctor huffed at the title, obviously wanting to ask about it though he didn't, instead demanding, "Alright then, what was the idea that Jack seems to be reluctant to talk about?" He paused, and then added sternly, "And no calling me "sir", I go by the Doctor."

"I know very well who you are, sir," she replied bitingly, scowling. Then she continued, "The Successor seems to draw out every alien that exists, whether good or bad. I believe by sending her out into the forest alone-"

"Not happening," I interrupted as the Doctor opened his mouth to angrily protest against. "I've tried that, never goes well, believe me."

She glared at me and I returned the glare before looking at the Doctor. "So what do you think we should do, Doctor?" I asked, ignoring part Zaraux woman. "We can't just leave these idiots to deal with the aliens alone, especially with what happened to the TARDIS."

"No, we can't," the Doctor agreed with a sigh, shaking his head. "I want to have a look around myself, and then we'll figure out a plan. Jack, you take Ali with you to show her the west and north side of the area, I'll have a look at the east and south. Ali, take this so you, Jack, and I can all keep in contact with each other at all times." He grabbed something that a solider was offering, strapping it around my wrist.

I pouted slightly. "Why can't I go alone, too?" I complained. I pointed at Jack. "He's going to not to stop talking and you know it," I added, more teasingly than anything else, a slight smile appearing on my face. The Doctor fought back a grin at the huff that came from Jack.

"I have a sonic," he replied with a pointed look, "You don't. Now, any other questions?" When nobody spoke up and I merely raised an eyebrow, the Doctor beamed. "No? Good. Now, I'll see you in a bit. Jack, if I come back and Ali's harmed in anyway…" he threatened.

Jack frowned. "I'm not going to let her get hurt, Doctor, stop worrying already and get going. Come on, Ali, we'll go look around and see what we can find."

I followed Jack, stroking Clave's head when he suddenly peeked out of his hiding spot. Quietly, I told him under my breath, "Clave, go with the Doctor, please." I spoke quietly and quickly, not wanting him to get too far without Clave joining him. "Keep an eye on him."

Clave purred, nuzzled my cheek, then slid down my arm and dropped to the ground with a soft thud and vanishing into the shrubbery around us. "Nice…pet," Jack commented, and I smirked back at him in response as I said, "Alright, Jack, let's get to work."

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

A few hours later found me lazing about the place the soldiers and Jack had made camp. While everyone worked, including Jack, I sat there silently by myself, thinking and fingering the material of my white jacket while waiting for the Doctor to come back with Clave, slightly anxious. Finally, after three hours of him not returning, I grew tired of waiting.

I raised the watch-like thing around my wrist up, examining it; intent on contacting the Doctor with it as I'd been told was possible. A second later, a voice exploded through it, "I see you've discovered what this does, Ali!"

I squealed, jumping and nearly tipping my chair back. A few people shot me strange looks as they passed where I was sitting, but I ignored them, instead glaring at the watch, and then Jack as he appeared, smiling at me. "Very funny," I muttered sarcastically, scowling.

"Don't mess around with devices that we may need, Jack," the Doctor's voice warned through the device.

I watched intently as Jack pressed a button, replying into the watch, "Well she didn't know what it was exactly, so I had to tell her."

"You didn't need to scare me with it," I muttered before fumbling with the watch, attempting to copy his movements with the watch. He corrected me, making sure I had it right before I said, "Doctor, what's taking you so long?"

"Your little friend scared me," the Doctor answered, though not unkindly. His tone was amused. "And I seem to have gotten a little lost. I should return shortly, I found a trail. Go wait by the TARDIS if you must, I found something and need to use the scanners…"

I frowned. "If I must? Someone's cranky. I'll just stay here if you're that irritated with Clave, and tell him to come back if you want."

"I'm not cranky!" the Doctor protested immediately, obviously flustered that I'd even suggested that. "Clave can come along if he wants. Just go to the TARDIS if you want, I'm sure you have things you'd like to work on."

I grinned. "Not really, and relax, I'm just messing with you. I'll meet you at the TARDIS then? I'd like to see what you've found is."

"Yes, yes. At the TARDIS. And Jack, you don't get to come with her, do you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jack mumbled into his watch with a slight pout upon his face. I smirked lightly, and then sidled away from Jack, heading down the path and called over my shoulder, "See ya later, Jack! We should be back before dusk I think!"

"Alright," Jack said with a sigh, watching as I ran off.

It only took me nearly ten minutes to reach the TARDIS, and I smiled to myself as I finally did see it. A door was cracked open, showing that the Doctor had beaten me there, and Clave nudged it open, peeking his head through the crack with a purr as I came close. I grinned. "Hey, Clave," I said as he shoved the door completely open and hurried over to slide up and around my shoulders, purring and nuzzling his cheek against mine as he usually did.

"Ali!" the Doctor cried cheerfully as I ducked into the TARDIS, his eyes gleaming. He was standing beside the screen, black frames once again on his face and his eyes thoughtful as he examined the Gallifreyan on it. The Gallifreyan switched to English as I approached, and I blinked at what it read. "I found some tracks from one of their forms," the Doctor explained, becoming serious again. "I got some sample dirt and put it into this little thing here," he tapped on a small slide, where he'd placed the dirt, "and the TARDIS scanned it."

"So what'd the TARDIS find?" I asked as the TARDIS hummed happily in response, murmuring wordlessly in my mind.

"What Jack found is true, they've been sticking particularly close to this area," the Doctor explained, pointing at a small area on the screen, where a pulse was echoing. "The TARDIS is the dot in the center, so we should be able to tell if one or both are coming. Now, we need to figure out what they're doing here, shouldn't be too hard. But we need to find out how to capture one…"

I pursed my lips, then blinked as the TARDIS whispered, "My Thief knows of a way but does not approve of it. You know of it as well but do not wish to attempt it, my Girl; perhaps it is best that it is used, however."

I grimaced. I definitely knew what the TARDIS meant, and just as the police box had said…I didn't want to do it, just because the Doctor would get all angry about it. "Maybe," I said hesitantly, picking my words carefully, "We should listen to that scientist from earlier."

The Doctor shot me a dark look, narrowing his eyes. "No, Ali, we've been through this already. You're not going to act as bait."

I scowled. Irritated, I waved around us at the TARDIS, saying warily, "It's not like I would like to, either, but the old police box seems to think it's a good idea." The TARDIS made a scolding rumbling before humming her agreement.

The Doctor pursed his lips thoughtfully, and then rocked back on his heels. "So you really speak with the TARDIS then. Interesting. Never has that happened before, not once in all of my faces or companions. Why?"

I grimaced as the TARDIS hummed again, whispering irritably, "It is none of my Thief's concern whether or not I speak or do not speak with others who are not my Girl."

"The TARDIS doesn't like your question," I stated bluntly, "Now moving on, the TARDIS says we should do what the scientist suggested. It won't be like with the Zaraux, though, we can combine an idea Jack used and her idea. I could hang just outside the TARDIS with Clave," Clave purred at his name, "and Jack could hang around outside with a few soldiers. If it would make you feel any better, you could be inside-"

The TARDIS huffed in my mind, cutting me off, "No. They sense my Thief easily, as he is not from this planet."

"Alright then," I grumbled under my breath, "You could keep an eye from afar while the soldiers and Jack are hanging about out of sight."

The Doctor crossed his arms, pursing his lips unhappily after shoving his glasses into the inside of his suit. "No, Ali," he said firmly, "We're not following that plan, we'll think up a new one. But first I want to know how the TARDIS is speaking with you."

The TARDIS hissed angrily again, obviously ruffled up, and I winced at the exhaustion beginning to line her tone. "And my Thief wonders why I did not wish for you to announce this with him."

I pursed my lips, asking silently, Why don't you go and rest, you're tired again. I'll deal with the Doctor. To the man I had mentioned, I said gently, "Look. The aliens were somehow poisoning the TARDIS from here while we were in England, Doctor. They're going to need captured one way or another. Let's just try it. Please."

The Doctor pursed his lips, effectively distracted from his question. "Ali," he said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Trying could end up everyone failing and you getting killed if this species is aggressive."

"I know," I answered faintly, forcing a smile to appear on my face. I was definitely going to win this argument. "Trust me, Doctor, which you actually need to start doing more often, you know, 'because I'm not exactly weak and helpless."

"I know, I know," he grumbled before sighing again. "Fine, we'll try this plan. But if anything goes wrong, I'm taking you back to your friend's and you'll be staying there."

I bit my lip at the harsh words, but nodded and murmured, "Whatever you say, Doctor." I stroked Clave's head as he hissed at the Doctor and nuzzled my cheek reassuringly. I grinned. "Clave's not happy with your plan, though. Now, let's go get Jack and tell him what we've decided."

The Doctor silently nodded his agreement, his eyes narrowed as we ducked out of the TARDIS, the TARDIS whispering a quiet good luck to me.

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

I gave a small sigh from where I sat comfortably just outside the TARDIS, Clave curled up in my lap and a blade hidden in a sheathe on my back just in case the aliens did turn out to be aggressive and wanted to kill me. From where I sat, I could see Jack sitting in a tree, more so for the Doctor's comfort than ours, and there were soldiers surrounding the area.

The Doctor, however, had announced he was going to look around the other side of the woods. The button on mine was permanently down so that anything that happened could be heard by the Doctor himself.

Clave purred quietly in my lap and I rested the sketchbook I'd been drawing in on his back, stroking his head while drawing as I waited to see if any aliens would show up. I tilted my head thoughtfully, and then smiled. "We'll have to get you a collar like thing," I told Clave, "That way nobody can try and steal you away, hm?"

He purred again, opening a lazy but sharp amber eye to glance at me before closing it again, snuggling into my lap happily. Smiling, I continued to sketch him out on the paper, ignoring the chuckling I could hear coming from Jack in the trees, who'd most likely heard me from his watch-communicator thing that I couldn't remember the title of.

It was only a few seconds later that I heard a rustling nearby, and Jack fell silent in his tree. Clave raised his head, a low hiss coming from him as he dug his talons into my leg, making me wince. "What's out there, Clave?" I whispered to him quietly, setting my sketchbook aside and looking around.

Suddenly, to my surprise, everything was silent. There was no sound, and when I glanced at the tree, I was surprised to see that Jack had disappeared, probably hiding better now, I decided as I turned my gaze on the tensed Clave, who gave the first growl I'd ever heard from him.

I pulled out the knife, keeping it ready to throw. Training with knives hadn't been too hard, especially on the amount of land Mandy had had…

"Who's there?" I said darkly, wary. Clave slunk up to curl around my shoulders protectively, hissing furiously.

And the Doctor strode through the trees, hands in the air with a look that was just as wary as my own. "Don't worry; it's just me, Ali. You can put the knife down."

I relaxed, sheathing the blade and scolding, "Don't scare me like that, idiot. I could've thrown this and killed you, you know. Even if you do have two hearts or whatever you were telling me. Still could've seriously hurt you." Clave continued to hiss, glaring at the Doctor, and I frowned. "Relax, Clave. It's just the Doctor."

"Now that's interesting. I can assure you, Alissa, that I'm back at the viewing platform with our lovely scientist friend."

I froze, and Clave snarled. "Oh," I murmured, "Damn, that explains a lot. Clave!" Clave leaped from my shoulder and snarled, and I cringed slightly when his talons accidentally tore through my shoulder. The alien in the Doctor's form, who had been reaching forward, shrieked in surprise and pain as Clave knocked him to the ground, digging his talons and burying his fangs in the alien's neck.

"Make him stop!" Jack yelled as he dropped from his tree and ran over, "We need it alive! Make Clave stop, Ali!"

"Clave, stop!" I shrieked. Clave whined, pulling his fangs free, but continued pinning the alien so that it couldn't escape, and Jack's terrified look faded to a wary one as he set to work on forcing the alien to remain where it was.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist and I was airborne. I shrieked in surprise and confusion, and Clave whipped his head around, pouncing with a shriek. But the alien grasping me hissed in response, snarling, "Give my brother back."

My face paled.

I knew that voice. That was a voice I hadn't heard in years. A voice that hadn't been heard since I was four years old, listening to the screams fade away into silence as the metal creature disappeared from where it'd stared at me in the front yard.

"Momma?"

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

A/N: Newest update! ^_^ Hope you liked! Took me a few days. :3

Beingextremelycleveruphere: Thanks for the review! ;3 It made my day when I saw it! And I have to say, the fact that you're comparing my whole plot to Moffat's plots is flattering in the strangest way… XD

Yasmin: Thanks for your review! Maybe Ali'll get to drive it again, eh? ;)