Amy felt like she was dreaming. Dreaming would be the only rational explanation of how she was floating in outer space. But then she would look down to see the Doctor holding her ankle and she remembered that it was all real.

"Come on, Pond," he gently pulled her back inside the TARDIS. "Now do you believe us?"

Amy clung to him as she laughed and glanced back to outer space. "Okay, yeah, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! Whoo! What are we breathing?"

"I know, I asked that too on my first day," Gabby said from the console. She was loving Amy's reaction to the TARDIS. Now she completely understood why the Doctor loved that bit. The only one who was more calm was, unsurprisingly, Renata.

The Time Lady would just smile and chuckle every time Amy made a remark about everything being real. Gabby had no idea how Renata could be like that.

"We've extended the air shell, we're fine," Renata reassured Amy.

Amy was about to remark when she saw something curious below them. "What is that!?"

At her tone, Renata assumed there was something wrong and rushed towards the door. Gabby followed in suit.

The Doctor was already investigating from his spot but he didn't look concerned. He straightened on his feet. "Now, that's interesting. 29th Century!" He walked for the console, taking Renata with him on the way. She only let him because he wouldn't be so calm if it was nothing. "Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations…"

"Um, Doctor?" Amy started to call, not that either Time Lord would notice.

The Doctor currently had Renata's back against his chest, locking her between the console and himself. He was maneuvering the controls but was using any excuse to touch Renata. She knew it, and she had absolutely no protest in mind.

"..migrating to the stars…"

"Doctor?" Amy called again to no avail.

"Isn't that amazing?"

"I think their endeavor to survive are very admirable," Renata remarked, chuckling when she received a kiss on the cheek. Trying to find any excuse to land a kiss on her was also on his to-do list. She didn't have any protest about that either.

"Doctor!" Amy's call finally got their attention.

The two Time Lords looked over to the door to see Amy poking her head out.

"Where's Gabby?" Renata immediately noticed they were short one American. She hurried towards the door while the Doctor calmly walked behind her. He was hearing Gabby's and Amy's quiet argument.

"I want another turn!" Amy was poking her head out of the TARDIS, her hand clearly hanging onto Gabby's ankle.

"You just had a turn, shut up!" Gabby properly snapped. She was having too much fun floating in space. She'd never done that!

Amy huffed with a pout. "C'mon!"

"No!"

"They seem to be getting along," the Doctor's comment didn't even pass over the two humans. He came to stand by Renata who was shaking her head at them both. "Gabbs! Pond! I've found us a spaceship!"

~0~

Eventually, Gabby and Amy were pulled from the door (though not without promising that they'd both get 'another turn' later). The Doctor had pulled up the floating spaceship on the monitor for them to see.

"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland - all of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship - that's an idea! That's a whole country, living and laughing and...shopping! Searching the stars for a new home!"

"Oh that's cool," Gabby remarked with a laugh. "Any chance the States are floating out there too?"

"Never mind that, can we go out and see?" Amy eagerly watched the screen change through different images of the so called Space Britain.

"Course we can but first, there's a thing…"

Amy looked up from the monitor to see the Doctor suddenly serious. "A thing?"

"An important thing. In fact, thing one..." the Doctor made a show of looking at her through a magnifying glass, Donna's old magnifying glass, "We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets."

"Oh my God," Renata suddenly gasped, sounding like she was absolutely terrified. Everyone looked at her to see her covering her mouth.

The Doctor instantly got worried. "Renée, what is it?"

"You…" she touched his arm and he quickly grabbed her hand, nodding her to go on. "...are an even bigger liar than before!"

The Doctor's face fell flat while Gabby burst into laughter. Amy wasn't sure how to react so she kept watching silently. Renata then smirked at him.

"That was not funny," the Doctor dropped her hand to wag a finger at her.

"Neither were you lying through your teeth!"

"I wasn't lying!" Yes, yes he was.

"I've known you for centuries, do not stand there and lie to me!"

Amy's eyes widened at the centuries. How old were they!?

"I'm not lying!" the Doctor insisted. He was too far gone now to go back.

Renata decided to save her breath after catching an interesting sight on the monitor. She turned the monitor so he could see a little girl sitting alone, crying her eyes out. It was a sight he wouldn't be able to resist.

It reeled him to the screen alright. "Ooh! That's interesting!" he even forgot about what he was arguing for.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah?" Amy tried making the analogy to understand the rules better. "Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it - they've got to keep filming and let it die."

The Doctor did a semi-nod but he hadn't been listening to a word she was saying. He only caught Renata's second smirk when he pulled her towards the door. Yeah, alright, she got him.

Amy leaned closer to the screen and couldn't help feel sorry for the little crying girl. "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard - being all, like, detached and cold?" Of course she stopped when the Doctor himself appeared on screen waving at her! Amy did a double take at the screen. "Doctor!?"

Gabby sighed beside her. "He does that. And Renata can only do so much about it. C'mon!" She rushed towards the doors, leaving Amy to follow.

'Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored,' a tannoy was speaking over when the two girls emerged from the TARDIS.

While Gabby was taking it all in a quiet awed way, Amy was gawking. She exhaled a breath hidden in her lungs as she stared at the arched glass ceiling that gave her a perfect view of the stars. When her neck finally started hurting from gazing upwards too long, Amy took in what was on the ground. Their path was lined by stalls and booths all trying to make business with things Amy wasn't sure about.

"I'm in the future. Like hundreds...of years in the future," Amy laughed for a brief second before a new thought popped into her. "I've been dead for centuries."

"That's not exactly something you should be thinking about," Renata said as she and the Doctor walked up to them. Of all the things Amy could've said, she really went with that?

"It does cross your mind," Gabby remarked from her own experiences. It earned herself a grateful smile from Amy while a surprised expression from the Time Lords. "What? It does."

"Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" the Doctor went straight to business. He hadn't expected for something wrong to appear since this was really meant to be a nice trip for Amy, but he wouldn't act surprised about it either.

Amy, however, shot him a disbelieving look. "What's wrong?" Everything seemed perfect around them! People were bustling with their daily tasks and the sellers seemed to be in a good selling mood with those loud yells for customers to stop by their stalls. What could possibly be wrong?

"He's right," Renata said, seemingly knowing what Amy was thinking. "Be studious and look at everything. Notice the small things."

"Kind of like 'Find Waldo'," Gabby said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Except in this case Waldo is the wrong thing we're looking for." Renata sent the girl a confused smile that made Gabby blink with realization. "I'm starting to sound like him, aren't I?" On the side, the Doctor grinned at himself.

"It was bound to happen after spending too much with him," Renata shrugged.

Gabby dropped her arms to her sides as she wondered if this was good or bad. From her perspective, she'd been travelling with them for about a year now. At first, she spent a lot of time between them and Donna but after Donna's memories were wiped and Renata fell ill, Gabby found a lot of her time was spent with the Doctor. She helped him in whatever she could and during those 6 months of Renata's illness, the Doctor worked fervently at creating a cure. Gabby learned a lot about mathematics, science and Time Lord biology and physiology. She wanted to help so she needed to start by learning the details that made up the big picture. It was there that the Doctor would go into full detail about whatever he was using that day to hopefully create a cure.

Plus, they were together for a long time. They traveled together to pick things up so natutally they talked a lot. It was impossible not to pick up a few things from him in all that time. She got to know him better - he taught her how to drive the TARDIS - and she learned a few of his secrets that few, or none, of his companions had known.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Gabby finally resolved and laughed when the Doctor's grin widened.

Meanwhile, Amy had been trying to be as studious as Renata told her to be. She was gazing at every stall, see what they were selling, the mannerisms of people, etc. It was just a lot to take in for someone who had only just known about the future. "Uh, is it...the bicycles?" Her finger languidly pointed to the rickshaw nearby. "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."

"Says the girl in the nightie," the Doctor remarked, not that he cared what she wore. Of course it elicited a gasp from Amy.

"Oh, my God! I'm in my nightie!"

Renata elbowed the Doctor on his side. "Please don't make her self conscious. We didn't exactly give her time to change." She then cast a glance in Amy's direction. "Don't worry Amy, I've been there myself. It was pretty bad, I was in the place of all places. The Shadow Proclamation!"

"Space police," Gabby translated just as Amy opened her mouth to ask.

"And I met the head of the space police," Renata shuddered as she remembered. "At least you're in place where they don't really care what you're wearing."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. They were missing the big picture with all the nonsense talk about clothes! "Now, come on, look around you. Actually look. Life on a giant starship, back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state - excuse me!" He'd run off towards a table where two people were having lunch.

"Doc…" Renata reached a hand out but she was too late. He'd taken the couple's glass of water to put on the ground.

Gabby watched in amusement but Amy was so confused about what he was doing. "He does that a lot too," Gabby whispered to the ginger.

The Doctor took a quick look at the still water, exchanged a look with Renata, then returned the glass to the couple. "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area," he explained to their poor confused faces. "There's an, uh...escaped fish!" He tapped the side of his nose and returned to others.

Renata exchanged another glance with him, silently confirming she'd seen it too. The still water.

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked him, but not before glancing at Gabby to see if she would say that he did that for some odd alien reason. Gabby did not because she was just as puzzled as Amy.

"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track," the Doctor passively remarked. "Now, police state - do you see it yet?"

"Where?" Amy had seen a lot of things so far but she didn't remember police anywhere.

"There!"

Amy followed the Doctor's pointing finger to the little girl crying at a bench all by herself. He led the way to the other empty bench across from the girl. He took a seat next to Renata while Amy took the other end and Gabby decided to sit on the bench's arm rest next to the Doctor.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy wondered what was so important about the sight. Little girls cried all the time.

"The madness," Renata huffed as she crossed her arms. She was shaking her head disapprovingly. "There is a little girl crying and nobody has stopped to ask her what's wrong."

"Maybe because it's nothing truly bad?" Amy tried but it was apparently the wrong answer.

"She's crying silently, Amy," the Doctor said as if it was supposed to mean something to her with that brief explanation. "I mean, children cry cos they want attention, cos they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."

Amy studied his long gaze on the little girl then moved onto Renata. There was something similar in both their expressions but Amy was sure they were different at the same time. The Doctor looked as if he was remembering, and judging by his explanation Amy was willing to bet he was speaking from experience. Renata, on the other hand, was close to crying. There was something terribly sad in the woman's eyes that wasn't really the same as what was in the Doctor's eyes. It was so interesting...

"Are you parents?" she finally asked them.

Gabby watched the two Time Lords stiffen at the question and when they moved on without acknowledging it, she wasn't very surprised. She herself didn't exactly know the story of each of their children's backgrounds but she knew how it ended. The Doctor's children had all grown up and died in the Time War while Renata's unborn child died in her womb after regenerating during the Time War. That would always be one of the stories that they could never open up about with her. And that was totally fine. Gabby was just happy that they could share with each other and help ease their pain.

"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means...they already know, and it's something they don't talk about," the Doctor was explaining to Amy their way of deductions. It was a good help for when Amy started looking around at the people passing by, she realized that none of them even batted an eye at the crying girl.

"Bloody secrets," Renata spat. She would absolutely hate them after everything it put her through. "They're choosing not to help her so it must mean they're afraid of something."

"Like what?" Amy asked.

"Shadows - whatever they're afraid of - it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state!" the Doctor winked at her now that she finally understood.

None of them noticed when the little girl got up from the bench after a bell rang, a lift bell.

"Where'd she go?" Gabby started looking around and even got up from the bench to do it better.

"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A!" the Doctor had the answer ready to go, which warned himself a confused glance from Gabby.

"You're not psychic," she said as if he was about to use that excuse on her.

"You're looking for Mandy Tanner?"

"Doctor, seriously!"

"Oh alright," he dug into his jacket's pocket to pull out the girl's ID wallet. He tossed it over to Gabby. The girl swiftly caught it and checked the information. "It fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her."

Now it was Renata giving him a stare next to him. "Four times?" She had seen each of those times and had to question how the hell she was attracted to him. "You stole from a child."

"I borrowed," he corrected. "Because Gabbs and Amy are going to return it."

At the mention of her name, Amy blinked. "Me!?"

But the Doctor had already made up the plan. "Make sure to ask her about those things - the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere!"

Gabby gave a glance to the nearest 'booth' and couldn't help but shudder. They were beyond creepy.

"But they're just things," Amy remarked as she got up from the bench.

"They're very clean things," Renata pointed out. "Everything else here is battered and filthy - look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Ask Mandy, 'Why are people scared of the things in the booths?' I'm sure the answer will be interesting."

"Got it!" Gabby answered with a grin. Amy whipped her head in Gabby's direction, not needing to ask what her face was already conveying. "You'll be fine, Amy. It's how it goes."

"I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!"

"Unfortunate but it will make for a funny story later on," Renata gave the girl a smile.

"It's this or Leadworth," the Doctor reminded her, something that did make Amy stop for a moment. "What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose? Ha-ha, gotcha!" He check his watch for the hour. "Meet us back here in half an hour."

"What are you going to do?" Amy asked him. He looked eager to do something alright but Renata seemed...a bit indescribable.

"What I always do. Stay out of trouble."

"Badly," Renata made sure to add. She crossed one leg over the other. "Good luck girls."

"But…" Amy began to say when Gabby reached for her arm.

"C'mon!"

"Stay out of trouble," called Renata.

Gabby snorted. "Right!"

The Doctor smiled as the two girls went off. He was hoping they would get along and it seemed like that would be the case. His smile faltered when he saw Renata staring at him. He wasn't sure what kind of expression was on her face so it made him a bit nervous. This new incarnation would also be giving him those faces it seemed…

"What?" he finally asked when he gave up trying to ready her face.

"I'm just trying to decide how I can be attracted to the likes of you," she had answered so calmly that the Doctor initially didn't quite register what she'd said. "You bumped into a child 4 times to pickpocket her ID wallet."

"Yet you watched me and said nothing," the Doctor bumped shoulders with her. His smirk made her roll her eyes and look away. "Seems to me, love, that you might just be jealous you couldn't do it."

Renata scoffed and once again looked away. "You really think that I'd be jealous I can't pickpocket a child!? Do you remember who I am!?"

"Always!" he kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand, pulling her off the bench. "And I'm going to have so much fun watching how I rub off on you!"

"Oh please," she was close to laughing. "I've known you at your worst - when you had a misdemeanor and was sent to my foundation so I could fix you up," she jabbed her finger on his chest. "You did not rub off on me."

"Oh but I did, tiny bit," the Doctor raised his index finger to his thumb, squinting one of his eyes. "Made you sneak into classrooms, didn't I? Made you run before you got caught, right? That was just a preview. Now you're going to get the full experience!"

"No, I will n-"

"Starting now!" he pulled her into a run despite her shouts for him to let her walk.

~0~

Gabby had let go of Amy's hand once they got into a lift. Mandy's street was in another floor. Gabby calmly pressed the button for level two and watched the elevator doors slide shut.

"Okay, is this how it works then?" Amy had to ask when the elevator tarted going down. Gabby didn't look very concerned about what was going to be on the other side of the doors when they opened again. "Doctor says he never interferes in the affairs of other peoples or planets but then he does when there's children crying?"

"Oh, if there's a child crying he'd stop everything." Gabby stayed quiet for a moment until she snorted so loudly that Amy actually jumped in her spot. "Sorry, sorry," Gabby laughed. "It's just...I guess this is what I was like on my first trip, though instead of the Doctor I was like that with Renata. I'm her companion."

"What, they have specific companions?" Amy asked, eyes darting to the side as she wondered who's companion she was then. A little voice inside her head might have, for a moment, wished it'd be the Doctor.

"Sort of but not really at the same time." Gabby led the way out of the elevator and checked the ID wallet again for the address. She then made a turn down the left corridor. "It's just like that I guess. But listen, one thing you should know about the Doctor is that he lies. He doesn't do it to be rude or just plain mean, he does it to protect us. Trust me, I've been there and I know what it's like. So when he says that he doesn't interfere…"

"He's really saying the opposite?" Amy presumed and confirmed she was right when Gabby threw her a smile.

"Now you're getting it."

"And what about Renata? She seems very different from the Doctor…"

Once again, Gabby snorted. "That's an understatement. She's the polar opposite of the Doctor. He doesn't like rules, she does. The Doctor is all over the place while Renata likes her routines. She actually makes us dinner every night after each of our trips."

"Like a Mum?" Amy was close to laughing. For some reason she couldn't quite picture that scene involving a normal dinner between the aliens. She thought back to when they had crashed into her backyard and they had a strange midnight meal.

"I know, I thought it was weird too," Gabby confessed and shared a laugh with Amy. "The Doctor sitting for dinner?" They laughed even louder. "But it's fun, trust me."

Amy studied the girl for a moment while they walked. Gabby definitely seemed to know what she was doing unlike herself who was more nervous than ever. While she fidgeted in the unknown corridors, Gabby merely looked around to make sure they weren't being cast suspicious stares from the locals. "How long have you been travelling with them?"

"Um, I think for a year now. I was 19 when I met them and Don…" A visible trace of hurt crossed Gabby's face all of a sudden. It brought her to a slow stop in the middle of the corridor.

"Are you alright?" Amy wondered what had made Gabby's face turn like that. She'd been happy just seconds ago.

Gabby blinked out of her trance and shook her head for good measure. "Yeah, sorry. I just realized it's been a year since I met a friend that I can never see again."

"Oh…" Amy wasn't sure how to respond to that. To be fair, she hadn't known how to respond to nearly everything that had been happening to her these past two hours.

"Her name was Donna," Gabby started explaining, her voice low. "She, um, she was the companion before me - well, she came just a bit before they bumped into me. She sort of helped me process everything about the Doctor and Renata, the travels, the TARDIS...she helped me through it."

"What happened to her?" Amy quietly asked, already presuming the story did not have a good ending. Otherwise, that woman would still be around and Gabby wouldn't look so mortified.

"Bad things," Gabby bit on her lower lip. "Bad things that I can't help but wonder if they could've been avoided had I done something about it." It was one recurring thought she kept having about Donna's ending. She had been there when Donna touched the Doctor's severed hand, she should have done something to hold Donna back! If she had, then Donna would still be with them traveling. They would still be the small space family they had formed.

"Is she dead?" Amy's question was a mere whisper, now scared herself that this might be how she ends up if she wasn't careful.

"No...just her memories about us," Gabby sighed. "Something happened and the Doctor had to wipe her memories about all of us, everything about the travels. She can't remember us or else she'll truly die and we can never see her again." She blinked away the tears when she felt Amy's hand touch her shoulder. The ginger was giving her a sympathetic look, clearly wanting to help but having no idea how to do it.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, it's just…" Gabby felt like she needed to be honest with Amy, be upfront about the reality of things. "Renata and the Doctor are wonderful people and they try their best to keep people like us safe, but the truth is that sometimes...they can't. Things can get very dangerous around them, Amy, and you have to understand that they will try their best—they will literally give up their lives for us—but sometimes...there are moments where they can't win. If you want to travel with them, then you have to be aware of the risks you're taking. Do you?"

Amy swallowed thickly. Of course she hadn't truly thought about the implications of travelling with the Doctor and Renata. Right now, all she could think of was that she was in the future, on a spaceship! But that was normal, this was her first adventure! Gabby had been on dozens and dozens, she was more experienced. But Amy couldn't help but doubt Gabby a little. Maybe she was trying to scare her off? Go back to being the only companion in the TARDIS?

Or maybe she's trying to keep you from being the next Donna? Amy made a face at herself. She didn't know Gabby enough to trust her but why would Gabby make up a story like that? What if it was true? She would have to be very careful even when things were seemed like a lot of fun.

"Amy?" Gabby touched Amy's arm, figuring that Amy was processing everything she'd said. "I know it's a lot. Take it slow and if you have any questions, any doubts, something you just want to get off your chest...I'm here. That's what Donna was for me and I'd like to be that for you." She offered Amy a smile that, little by little, Amy returned.

The companions had to stick together, right?

"You're following me," they suddenly heard a high voice tell them. They looked ahead to see Mandy glaring at them. "Saw you watching me at the marketplace."

"You dropped this?" Gabby held the ID wallet and winced when she realized she made it a question. So much for being assertive.

Mandy scoffed. "Yeah, when your friend kept bumping into me."

Gabby inwardly shook her head at the Doctor. No matter what incarnation, he would never get a clue about how to be discreet.

"Hey, what's that?" Amy noticed a part of the street was surrounded by barriers. It had flashing red lights warning people to stay away. Amy didn't miss the weary look Mandy gave the restricted area.

"There's a hole. We have to go back."

"A hole?" Gabby and Amy simultaneously asked, neither believing it was just that. A hole didn't need all those flash lights.

They got closer to it and noticed the flashing lights of a shop Magpie Electrical.

Many shook her head at them. "Hey, are you stupid? There's a hole in the road! We can't go that way!" But neither girl listened to her. "There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps. What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't mind us, just looking," Gabby tried moving around the so-called hole but found that the entire area was sealed off.

"I never could resist a 'keep out' sign," Amy admitted as she planted herself on the ground right in front of the locked gates.

Gabby poked her head from around the gate, shooting Amy a smirk. "You're definitely getting it."

Neither of them saw Mandy casting a fearful glance at one of the booths with smiley faces. Smilers, they called them, but Mandy thought they were terrifying clowns. "Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Gabby asked her as she returned to Amy's side.

"Below…"

"Hm, I think that's been your number one mistake then." Gabby sat down next to Amy and examined the lock. "What do we got?"

"A hair pin?" Amy suggested as she pulled out one of her own hair pins.

Gabby grinned. "Point one for Amy Pond!" Amy laughed and started working on the lock.

"You sound Scottish, and you you sound American," Mandy noted after truly listening to them discuss how to open the lock.

"Cos we are," Amy glanced over her shoulder. "What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere. And America, right?"

"Well, America has their own ship. Obviously. And Scotland wanted one too."

"Good for them. Nothing changes."

"So...how did you get here?" Mandy asked, eyeing the girls' backs suspiciously. They hardly ever got foreigners on their ship and much less foreigners with an interest on breaking the rules.

"Oh, we're just passing through," Gabby shrugged her shoulders. She tilted the lock so that Amy could maneuver the hairpin better.

"With your parents?"

Gabby laughed when she realized Mandy must have meant Renata and the Doctor. "Oh no! They're not our - they're not my parents!" And yet the ironic part was that in their last incarnations, everyone joked about the same thing. She could be their daughter but Gabby, as well as the Time Lords, pointed out that she looked nothing like them but ow that they regenerated into younger bodies, Renata's new appearance could actually pass her off as Gabby's mother. Funny how things worked.

"Hey, hey, result!" Amy cheered when the lock clicked opened.

"Awesome!" Gabby high-fived with her then glanced back at Mandy. "Coming?"

Mandy shook her head fervently. "No!"

"Suit yourself," Amy said and decided to crawl into the tent first.

"Amy, you should have let me go in first," Gabby said as she squeezed her way next to the ginger. "Never know what you could find."

Mandy gasped when she saw the Smiler booth near them spin to show a third face. It was terrifying. "Stop!" she called to the girls in horror. "You mustn't do that!"

"Oh but I think we should," Gabby remarked slowly once they were fully inside. The inside of the tent was flashing emergency red lights. It was creepy alright.

Amy found a torch nearby and turned it on. She froze when she saw something squishy sticking out of the hole on the ground. "Is that...is that a tentacle?" she squinted her eyes through the darkness.

Gabby flipped her head in her direction and blinked at the sight. She scurried next to Amy to have a better look. "I think...I think so, yeah…"

The 'tentacle' suddenly struck at them, eliciting a scream from the two. They whirled around and rushed out of the tent, crawling out messily. Once they saw the light on the other side, they met a group of black hooded men surrounding them.

"Uh...hello?" Gabby managed to crack a smile before one of them sprayed her and Amy with a type of gas that sent them into darkness.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you think we'll get caught sneaking around restricted areas?" Renata asked as she climbed down a ladder's last step.

The Doctor was right above her and went down the last step. "What makes you think it's restricted?"

Renata flapped an arm to the empty corridor. "I don't know, just a hunch!"

The Doctor shrugged it off and pressed an ear to the wall. There nothing but silence there. "Nothing."

"Well that's not possible," Renata folded her arms, staring at the wall wearily. Something had to be driving this ship so naturally, there should be engines running.

The Doctor used his sonic to scan the immediate area but even the scans told him there was nothing there.

"Interesting…" He heard Renata murmur. He gazed up from his sonic to see the Time Lady inching towards a single glass of water on the ground.

"You do realize that could very well be a trap, right?" he called after her.

"Maybe you're already rubbing off on me, then," she smiled distractedly as she bent down in front of the glass. The water wasn't moving at all.

"Renée," the Doctor moved to her side and held a hand for her to straighten up.

"The water, it's not—"

"The impossible truth in a glass of water," a strange female whisper startled them.

The Doctor pulled Renata behind him, eyes shooting everywhere to find the source of the new voice. He found a red-cloaked woman with a white mask over her face.

"Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor? Renata?"

At the mention of their names, Renata pushed the Doctor aside and demanded the woman to explain. "How do you know our names?"

The woman merely put a finger to her masked lips. "Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."

"Well, if you don't answer our questions, why should we answer yours?" Renata challenged.

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

The Doctor sighed and answered. "No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So...I thought we should take a look." He moved to a nearby power box on the wall and opened it up. The wires were there, alright, but nothing was working. "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look - they're dummies, see? And behind those walls, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was…"

"No engine at all," the woman nodded, clearly already having reached that conclusion.

"And yet the ship is travelling through space like nothing," Renata eyed the woman's mannerisms as much as she could. Something was...familiar about her. "We saw it, so it means somebody's lying through their teeth around here."

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

"How?" the Doctor demanded as if she already reached that conclusion as well.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor, Renata. You're our only hope. Your friends are safe." The woman held out a device for them to take.

"What do you mean?" Renata immediately stiffened. She glanced at the Doctor, both quickly worrying over what the woman meant.

"This will take you to them," the woman promised them. "Now go, quickly!" She forced the device into the Doctor's hands then turned away.

"Oh no, who are you?" demanded Renata. "You're noble, right?" the woman paused, turning sideways but kept quiet. "I'd recognize those movements anywhere. You've been trained to walk and talk like somebody from a higher class. So, who are you?"

"Mm," the woman sounded impressed, but not surprised. "It's true what they say about, then."

"What is?" Once again, Renata exchanged glances with the Doctor as if he would know what the woman was talking about. He didn't and he didn't like that this woman knew Renata when they didn't. He wasn't able to trust that she wouldn't hurt them.

"You. Your like a Noble yourself despite the fantastic lies you manage to create."

Renata's face paled in two seconds flat.

"Then again, isn't that what all Nobles tend to do?"

The Doctor pulled Renata behind him, shooting daggers at the cloaked woman across them. "Stop that!" he snapped. Who did this woman think she was talking to Renata like that?

"It's alright, I didn't say it to offend. I know how things work."

"That's not who I am anymore," Renata weakly tried to argue but it was hard getting past the fact that even a stranger knew about her terrible habit. "I don't—"

The Doctor barred her from getting any closer to the woman. "You do not have to explain yourself to this woman."

"I'll see you around," the cloaked woman said, making it clear that this wouldn't be their last meeting. Although now the Doctor was even less inclined to see her again.

~0~

When Amy and Gabby woke up, they each found themselves in a small room with four monitors resembling old retro televisions. Amy screeched when she saw another of the Smilers booths inside with her.

She jumped out of her chair and went to the door, banging on it for someone to get her out. "Help! Help!"

'Welcome to voting cubicle 330C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it.'

Amy whirled around and saw the monitors had come to life. Her eyes widened and quickly took another scan of the room. It was just her inside, nobody else.

"Gabby?" she tried to call but no one answered

'The United Kingdom recognises the right to know of all its citizens…'

Amy left the door and drifted up to the monitors, taking notice of three large buttons in front of her. One said 'protest', the middle 'record' and the last 'forget'.

'A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll.'

Amy let herself fall back into the chair behind her. Her fear was momentarily taken away when the monitor showed her name along with her age.

'Name - Amelia Jessica Pond. 'Age - 1,306.'

Amy laughed. "Oh my God! Shut up!"

'Marital status…'

That one made Amy pause.

'Unknown.'

For some reason, that might have relieved her a bit. It wasn't like she was trying to forget marrying Rory, but it wasn't something she was going to be thinking about while she was on a spaceship in the future!

'You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know…'

Amy once again straightened up as the presenter spoke about whatever he was. She wondered if this is what Gabby was being subjected to as well.

'When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest...or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the program will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - and we hope that you will - then press the "forget" button. All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls.'

Amy gulped. What could this video contain that people would willingly choose to forget? Whatever it was, it was about to appear on her screen next.

~0~

Gabby banged endlessly against the door keeping her locked in the small room. "Let me out! I said let me out!" she yelled in vain. She angrily turned around and walked back to the monitors. She studied the three buttons in front of her and wondered why the hell her only options were 'protest', 'record' and 'forget'.

"Where's the 'let me go' button!?" she banged against the monitor, ignoring the pain it caused against her fist. "Can you hear me in there!?"

She switched gears and started pressing any button she could find. She truly felt like the Doctor swiping her hands over each button, no matter how small they were, but even with all that effort none of the screens came to life.

"Well!?" she waited for something to happen. She had pressed a lot of buttons. One of them had to do something!

But nothing ever did.

Gabby was furious! First, they spray her with some kind of knock-out gas, then they place her in some type of television room where she was obviously supposed to watch something, and they don't even let her see it!?

She ran back to the door, this time pounding against the metal with all her might. "Let me out! Let me out! I said…" All of a sudden, her hands glowed a strong purple, reminiscent of the way they had back on the Crucible. "LET ME OUT!" Once her hands made contact with the door, they forced the door off its hinges. Gabby toppled over it and landed unceremoniously on the ground.

"How did you do that!?" Mandy, who'd been stuck waiting outside the two rooms, scurried to help Gabby get up. She didn't even understand what she'd just seen except a strong purple glow with a few butterflies of the same color. That had to be wrong, right?

"Gabriella!" they heard Renata's cry just seconds before the Time Lady reached them.

"Gabbs, what happened!?" the Doctor helped pick the girl up. He eyed the fallen door on the ground and then the doorless room behind them.

"I-I don't know! I...Amy!" Gabby frantically pointed at the next room with its door still very much attached. "She's in there! She's got to be!"

"How did you—" Renata's question was cut off when the door to Amy's just slid open.

The Doctor hurried inside, only catching Amy turning the monitor off. She had no idea when she recorded a video warning herself to get them off the ship but who's to say that it wasn't another trick?

"Gabriella, it's important you tell us what happened," Renata said as she helped Gabby walk towards the bench Mandy had waited on.

"I-I-I don't remember, they...there were these hooded people and they-they sprayed us!"

Amy gave a confirming nod. "Yeah, I remember that but...that's pretty much it." She cast another look inside the room where the Doctor was now hastily scanning all the monitors. "I don't remember."

Renata thought that was weird and waited for Gabby to say the same thing, but of course Gabby didn't. Her experience had been completely different.

"None of the monitors turned on even after I pressed all the buttons but nothing turned on."

"What?" Mandy frowned. "You didn't a see a video?"

"What video?" both Renata and Gabby asked.

"The video that everyone watches in there!"

Renata looked down at Gabby but she shook her head. "Nothing turned on for me…"

Renata then glanced at Amy. The ginger seemed out of it. "I can't remember…"

"So she can't remember if she watched it and you-" Renata met Gabby's nervous eyes, "-just couldn't watch it?" This made absolutely no sense so she left Gabby on the bench and walked into the room with the Doctor. She heard Mandy once again question Gabby how she was able to get around watching the video, but Renata thought the answer would be in the room. "Tell me you've got something."

The Doctor was standing on the chair using the sonic on a lamp above. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about 20 minutes."

"Memory wipe?" Renata eyed the three buttons in front of the monitors.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy poked her head inside the room.

"Cos everyone does," Mandy called from the bench. She had taken a seat next to Gabby. "Everyone chooses the "forget" button."

"But I didn't even get that option!" Gabby exclaimed. Her reminder made the Doctor scurried out of the room and into the one Gabby had been in.

"Alright, so have you watched this video." Renata stopped by the bench to ask Mandy.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years…"

Renata sighed with understanding. "And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action. Lovely." She moved into the second room, prompting the others to follow.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?" Mandy asked the pair while they got in front of the monitors.

"Oh, we're way worse than Scottish," the Doctor moved the buttons much like Gabby had and saw none of them responded to him. "We can't even see the movie. Won't play for us."

"Like me?" Gabby blinked. She glanced at Amy and saw how puzzled she was now.

"It played for me…"

The Doctor gave a small nod but there was a type of grimness in his face that didn't go unnoticed by Gabby.

"What is it?" she pressed for the answer. "Doctor?"

Renata had reached the same realization and glanced between themselves and Gabby. "Oh, Gabriella…"

"What is it?" frowned the girl, demanding to know what they'd figured out.

The Doctor licked his lips nervously. He didn't want to scare her but he also knew that Gabby wouldn't let them go without hearing it. "The difference being the computer doesn't accept us...as human."

Gabby's entire body instantly froze. She had locked eyes with the Doctor and waited for him to say to add that he had meant him and Renata. They were Time Lords, not her. She was human! She wasn't some alien! She then checked Renata's reaction, but the Time Lady didn't seem so shocked about it. She was checking her hands which prompted Gabby to do the same.

She'd knocked the door off its hinges. How could she do that? Could it be that the Cosmic Butterfly wasn't completely gone from her system? She hadn't experienced any of its power since she first used it on the Crucible. Sure there'd been instances of a few non-human feelings, like the time she'd felt the connection with Renata as the Time Lady had expelled Vortex energy against the Assessor and the Time Lords, but that's all it'd been: feelings. She thought the Cosmic Butterfly would be a one time thing...but what if it wasn't? What if it was dormant and residing in her body until she needed it again?

I needed to get out of this room, she glanced at the doorless threshold.

"I'm so confused, I thought you said you were human?" Amy was now staring at Gabby like she had sprouted horns.

"I thought I was…" Gabby helplessly looked at Renata.

Renata had set aside her own questions to give Gabby some reassurance. "We'll run some tests as soon as we get back to the TARDIS. But don't worry, this doesn't mean you're in any kind of danger." It actually made her curious to know what kind of readings Gabby's exams would give.

She froze.

For a moment there, she might have sounded like the Doctor.

Seeing her eyes suddenly narrowing on him, the Doctor raised his hands in defense. "What I do!?"

She rolled her eyes. "More like what didn't we do. We were supposed to run tests, remember?"

The Doctor winced. He did remember. He also remembered why those tests didn't get done. Images of their heated snog flashed across his mind, tinting his cheeks red. He would not complain one bit for forgetting those tests.

"So none of you are actually human," Amy remarked as it finally settled. She looked the trio over, registering Gabby's reminder that she believed she was human, but struggled to truly accept it based off on their familiar appearances. "You guys look human."

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first," the Doctor pointed at her with his sonic.

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy noticed straightaway how their faces seemed to fall, except for Gabby. Although the girl looked half as grim as the Doctor and Renata.

"Not quite," Renata said quietly, scolding herself almost immediately after answering. Yes quite, she berated. Yes. They were gone. "There were, but there aren't...just us now."

Amy arched an eyebrows at her, clearly wanting to know how that was possible. Renata couldn't bring herself to say more. After all, it'd only been a day since the Time Lords happened to return for a brief moment.

"There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't," the Doctor turned to the controls with a new sense of rage. Where did these people get off thinking they could just ease their problems by making people forget? That was beyond cowardly. "Not ever. Cos this is what I do - every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government!" He slammed his hand over the 'protest' button. The door slid shut behind them, leaving Mandy on the other side but those still inside were a bit afraid of what was coming next.

"What the...?" Renata was the first to see the Smiler in the room turning its head around to showcase an angry one. "Oh, well, that's mature!"

"Ah, Renata!" Gabby jumped when the floor began sliding open.

The Doctor reached over to pull Renata with him, making her pull Gabby who then grabbed Amy. Renata didn't need to see the Doctor to know what he was thinking next.

"Don't you dare!"

"Say, 'Wheee!'" He was absolutely grinning behind her.

"DOC —AAH!" Renata only felt the grip of his hand on her waist pulling her into the chute.

Author's Note:

I have to say that this was one of my favorite chapters to write (which I had to separate in 2 in the end). I loved Gabby's scenes with Amy's because now, like she said, she's the "previous" companion. She's assuming the role that Donna had and she wants to really make sure that Amy understands what it means to travel with the Time Lords.

For the reviews:

The Time Lord Oracle: Yeeeah I'm not entirely convinced with the way s5 (and s6 for that matter) was written so I will do my best!

doctorsgirl262: Thank youuu! Hope you liked the new chapter too!

lexicaruso: You're totally fine, thank you so much! I just ended up separating it because I felt like it was too much content and the focus would be all over the place xD.