Cool, so before I start this chapter I'd like to add some context. Most of seasons 4 & 5 were shown once and then never again. With few exceptions, most of them are only available in telesnaps that are basically a few clips and what amounts to a PowerPoint presentation with audio. I don't really have the attention span to watch those, so I read the novelizations instead for a good portion of them. Anyway, the point I'm making is that the Second Doctor according to the novelizations is 5' 3" instead of 5' 8" like his actor was. Also, either the author liked being mean to Patrick Troughton, or the Second Doctor dressed a lot more shabbily in the novelization than in the show. Anyway, there will be elements of that in this story.

And now, for the acknowledgments:

Thanks to the following person for following: Handy99

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Thanks to the following people for reviewing: Saiyanprincess1511, notwritten

Speaking of the story, let's tell that now.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to call the being, or whatever it was that dragged her from place to place "the Bitch Force". Not because it wasn't a bitch of course, but more because perhaps it wasn't best to antagonize it the way that she did.

The "hook" feeling around her waist turned and she felt herself being flung into a wall like she was a tiny rubber ball during lacrosse practice.

"Bitch,"

She felt the TARDIS hum under her fingertips.

"Not you Honey…UNLESS you're the one who's been tugging me around like this. And I hope that you aren't!"

The TARDIS hummed in a negative under her fingertips.

"Do you know who or what is?"

The TARDIS made the same noise.

Marion sighed. "Well, I guess I ought to see who the current TARDIS crew is then. Where are they?"

Instead of humming under her fingertips, a light flickered behind her out of the corner of her eye. In a way that could only be described as the TARDIS saying, "Hey! Look over here!" Marion looked to see what it was and saw nothing. When she looked back, there was a corridor that she was certain hadn't been there before and she could hear voices on the other end of it. They sounded frantic.

"Where's Marion!" a voice said. It sounded Scottish.

"A second ago we were… Oh, Doctor! You don't think that she-,"

"Of course not Zoe, she probably just got dragged off elsewhere. Wouldn't be the first time that that happened. Marion'll probably come through the hallway any moment now and we'll know that everything is fine and sorted,"

"Aye, but what if it's like the last time?"

"What do you mean-,"

"Don't worry about it, Zoe," the Doctor cut the girl off, "And Jamie, 'last time' didn't end up too badly did it?'"

Well, that answered that question! No need to ask where she was: sometimes in season 6. Just after season 5 at the earliest. She just had to hope that it wasn't the War Games. And also, ignore what they were talking about and pray it never came up.

Marion stopped walking. She wondered if and how she'd be able to look any of the Doctors in the eye having seen them regenerate.

'Maybe. Just maybe, what I'll do, is that after they did their adventure that could normally result in their death, I could prevent that and the convince them to chill out on a beach in the middle of nowhere until they-'

Marion didn't need to complete that thought. Even if she could save the Doctor, the odds of her being able to keep the Doctor in one place and out of trouble was about as likely as her being able to convince Daleks to stop being genocidal and take up Twitch Streaming. And even if she could do that, by here math then by the 4th Doctor, the Doctor would be like...1200? 1400? Not 750 is, that's for sure.

Marion finally made her way into the console room and it was interesting to look at. It looked exactly like the way it had in the show in the sense that it was completely black and white. Normally, blacks and whites have a hint of blue to them, you know to make them look blacker or white. But everything about this room from the glowing temporal column to the round bits on the walls looked like they had all been put together by a person with achromatopsia. The only things in the room with any kind of color on them were it's three inhabitants, now four inhabitants.

Zoe Heriot stood looking over them dressed in a sparkly bright purple jumpsuit. She seemed worried. Jamie, in his red and green kilt, was the first to notice her appearance and he pointed her out to the Doctor with an:

"There she is, Doctor! I told you that she got on the TARDIS alright!"

Marion saw a brief flash of a blue shirt and a red bowtie and then…

"OMPH!"

The first thing that Marion noticed is that despite the fact that he dressed like Edgar Allen Poe after being found on the side of the road in front of a bar shortly before his death; he smelled less like a back alley and more like a library that someone had turned the fireplace on in.

Then Marion noticed the obvious. That the Doctor was hugging her. And rather tightly too. Her stunned reaction to this made the Doctor take a step back. He wrung his hands together sheepishly the way that his current incarnation was prone too.

It wasn't that Marion didn't like hugs. It's just that getting one like that out of nowhere surprised her and surprises made her freeze like a deer in headlights.

Marion noticed another thing about the Doctor. He was nearly half a foot shorter than she thought he was supposed to be. In fact, he was barely taller than she was.

"Hello there Doctor," Marion said stiffly, still slightly frozen. "Nice to meet you Jamie, and Zoe too! Lovely, lovely, to see you all! So where were you just?"

"The Land of Fiction!" Zoe said, "Don't you remember? Did something happen? The TARDIS came back together and when we looked up you were gone?" something seemed to occur to the girl "But that was the Associate wasn't it? It'd be impossible for you to change your clothing that fast wouldn't it?"

The Doctor looked at her, "Oh dear, then we don't know if something went wrong then. She could be still in the Land of Fiction!"

Marion strongly doubted this, but at the same time, didn't know how to impress that in a way that made them feel better. So instead, she said something that she was pretty sure was true but had no real proof of.

"I'm sure it's alright Doctor! I'm pretty sure that I pop up roughly around the same place as whatever past or a future version of me was before I got here! If the Associate had been stranded in the realm of fiction, I wouldn't have popped up in the TARDIS now would I!"

"Well then, Marion, if you are sure...and you are sure?"

"Yes!"

'No! WAIT ACTUALLY!'

Marion quickly reached into the inner pocket of her coat.

"You know the drawer where future me puts stuff for past me! I found this! She told me to give this to you and to not open it under any circumstances. That last part was to me. You can open it I mean. Not sure what it says, but she did tell me to give it to you? Wait, did I already say that? I think I already said that? Here,"

Marion held out the letter to the Doctor who quickly took it and opened it. Marion hadn't noticed how tense the Doctor had been until he read the contents of the letter and his shoulders relaxed.

"What's in the letter?" Marion asked, attempting to move around and look over his shoulder at it. The Doctor jerked away from him and pressed the letter to his chest.

"Sorry, Marion. I can't tell you what's in it. It's part of the point of the letter you know."

Marion sighed, "Oh well, I'll find out eventually! I think I know where we are right now, but maybe check the scanner to make sure!"

Marion examined the console for a moment before confidently flipping a switch.

"Where are we?" Jamie asked, "What's that?"

"You've been there before Jamie!" Marion reminded.

"It's the moon, isn't it?" Zoe asked.

"Got it in one! Gold star!" Marion paused, "I don't actually have any physical gold stars with me. It's a metaphorical star!"

'What if I like, bought a tiny package of gold star stickers?' Marion thought, 'I should do that! It'd be pretty dope I think!'

"Yes, yes. Zoe, that's the dark side of the moon. We seem to have stopped in space,"

"I remember seeing this before," Zoe said. Marion bet that she had a great view of it from the wheel. Otherwise, what was the point? Other than science Marion supposed. But if you were doing science in space, you better be able to look at the stars twinkling. Otherwise, you might as well be doing science in an underground bunker.

She wondered when the "Van Statten" thing would happen.

"Shush, Zoe. That light on the Moon's surface. Do you see it?"

"Doctor! It's getting bigger! It's coming towards us!"

"Zoe, that's a missile!" the Doctor spoke like he had only realized what he was looking at about halfway through his sentence. He began messing with the console.

"A what?" Jamie asked.

"A missile," said Marion, "it's like a cannon, but with longer range,"

"Somebody's fired a missile at us, Jamie!" Oh, Doctor, come on, let's get out of here,"

"He's trying Zoe," Marion said.

'His problem is that he barely knows how to drive this thing,'

Marion was a nerd. Full-stop. She was a nerd both in the sense that she really liked math and astronomy and did quite well in physics. She was a nerd in the sense that she knew just enough about obscure things in history to be a regular dark horse in trivia games. But she was also a nerd in the sense that she'd also consumed basically every piece of Doctor Who media she'd had the attention span to consume and the capability to get ahold of.

This is all to say that Marion had read the official Type-40 TARDIS manual and knew from said manual that basically, the only reason that the Doctor was able to get his TARDIS anywhere was because Honey very, very much loved her thief and was unwilling to lose him just because he'd accidentally programmed her coordinates to Sagittarius A.

None of this changed the fact that the little man couldn't drive.

"If he's trying to land," Zoe cried, "then why haven't we landed yet,"

"Well, it's the landing circuit. It seems to have jammed. That's why we're stuck in space,"

"Doctor WAIT"

"Ah,"

The landing lever came away in the Doctor's hand and he stared at it silently before slamming it on the TARDIS's console.

"We'll never make it! Oh, we're too late!" Zoe said, staring at the scanner.

"Oh, the stupid thing! Oh!" the Doctor continued to bang the broken lever on the console as if that would fix things.

"Oi! Don't be mean to Honey, she's doing her best,"

Marion placed her hand on the console to brace herself. The TARDIS hummed like it did when it was guiding her to her different rooms guiding her towards a much smaller lever. More of an overgrown switch than anything.

"Hey hold on a second," Marion said, "Let me try something,"

The missile was closer and closer and closer.

Marion flicked it and the light under it flashed white.

"Marion, what was that switch you flicked," the Doctor asked?

"No clue,"

And then the room started shaking.

"Hopefully the right one!"

Despite the landing merely being a simple dematerialization, all of them were sent to the ground as if they had actually crashed.

"Okay," Marion said, shakily pulling herself to her feet using the TARDIS console to brace herself.

"Show of hands," she said, "Who's dead?"

"That's not funny," Zoe said, getting to his feet.

"Don't raise your hand then,"

"I think we've landed," Jamie rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that, Jamie. Are you all right, Zoe? What switch did you flip Marion?"

"Uh..." Marion looked around for a second and tapped the switch from before.

"This one?"

The Doctor examined it.

"Oh, you engaged the HADS?"

"HADS?" Zoe asked, wondering what she was talking about.

"Hostile Action Displacement System," the Doctor explained.

"Oh!" Marion said, "Well, that makes sense then! I knew it was a thing, but just didn't know what it was called,"

"What's a Hostile Action Displacement System?"

"Simple Zoe," Marion said, "If a TARDIS is attacked, like for example, by a missile, and HADS is on, it instantly dematerializes and appears somewhere else where we aren't in danger of getting exploded!"

"Bit of a rough landing," Jamie commented.

Marion shrugged, "Nobody's perfect!"

"At least we weren't blown to pieces by that missile thing,"

"Why would anybody want to fire a missile at us? Surely they'd find out who we were first?" Zoe asked?

"Maybe they already knew who we were," the Doctor reasoned.

"Or perhaps they just hate the color blue!"

"Is that really what's going on?"

"No. Although, that would be pretty funny,"

"The question is," Zoe said, "was the object we saw on the other side of the moon in this time zone or not?"

"I can answer that," Marion said, "it's in this timezone,"

"You mean it could still be out there?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, but it's not like, right outside the TARDIS. Why not look through the scanner,"

The scanner showed the back and white image of a cow looking curiously into the scanner. Jamie, Zoe, and the Doctor laughed in relief.

"We're certainly not on the moon's surface, are we?" the Doctor laughed.

The TARDIS made a loud noise the sounded like someone shaking a sheet of thick metal foil in front of a microphone.

"What's the matter with the TARDIS, Doctor? It keeps going wrong all the time,"

"It merely needs an overhaul, Jamie, just like any piece of machinery,"

"Yeah!" Marion said in a deadpan tone, "That's DEFINITELY the reason you can hardly land where you're supposed to. No other explanation. It's TOTALLY 100% Honey's fault and she's just missing a few parts. Totally,"

Zoe didn't seem to see her sarcasm.

"Well, haven't you got any spares Doctor?"

"No, no. Not unless Marion's got spare TARDIS parts in that bag of hers,"

Marion shook her head, "No, sorry. Just some odds and ends. I've got a pry bar?"

"No, no that won't do," the Doctor said with a sigh, "We shall have to see if we can get some made. Let's have a further look, shall we?"

The Doctor adjusted the view of the scanner to show a large electricity tower.

"Oh yes, it could be the twentieth century. England in summertime, I should say. See the rain clouds? We might try and look up our old friend Professor Travers in London. He might be able to help us. Have you met Travers yet Marion?"

Marion shook her head.

"Oh well. I guess this could be the first time you get to meet him then. Now, come along. Let's just collect this circuit, and I think I'd better see this one. There. It's all right,". The Doctor pressed something on the TARDIS. The room filled with pulsing white light and the TARDIS made a noise of protest.

"What was that?"

"It's just a fault in the visual stabilizer circuit. We'd better take that too," the Doctor yanked it out and it sparked.

"Oh dear," Marion said.

Everything disappeared as the room went dark. Marion, who had been closest to the TARDIS door felt around until she found the latch and pushed it open.

"Doctor? Doctor? Where are you?" Marion heard Jamie call from inside the TARDIS.

"Come along, take my hand," the Doctor called back.

The TARDIS was completely and utterly invisible. It was odd to see Zoe and the Doctor seemingly poke their heads out of nowhere. The two of them joined Marion in the field followed closely by Jamie.

The cows mooed at the group as they walked across the pasture until they reached the road.

A large, dark green, military-style car drove along the road. The Doctor hailed it down like it was some kind of overgrown taxi. The driver of the car took notice of the four of them and slowed down.

"I wonder if you could help us-" the Doctor was barely able to finish his question before the man cut them off.

"Are you trying to get out?"

"We're heading to London," Marion explained.

"Get in," the man said. He sounded sharp and gruff. He didn't sound unkind as much as he sounded like while he wanted to help them out, he didn't want to stop and chat because he was already risking a lot as it was.

"Oh, that's very civil of-" before the Doctor could finish, Marion put her hands on his back and pushed him towards the back of the truck.

"Thank you, sir!" Marion said quickly.

"Just get in,"

The four of them quickly climbed into the back of the truck. It was of military-style, which meant that there were benches along the sides for them to sit on. Marion shut the door and the four of them sat in the dark.

The ride gave them time to talk amongst themselves.

"So Marion," the Doctor asks, "Where have you been?"

"Uh," Most of what Marion had done thus far was spoilers, yet, she still wanted to answer him.

"Crashed a destination wedding,"

"What?" Zoe asked.

"Don't worry about it. It would've crashed and burned even if I hadn't shown up," Marion chuckled a bit. The joke wasn't that funny, but it still made her laugh. "Before that, I was at Tombstone,"

"Ah," said the Doctor, "So you're quite young then,"

Marion looked at the Doctor, she could only just barely make out his face in the dim light. Even if it looked a bit older with a few more lines on his face that some of his others, he was still quite young. His first face had died of old age and yet even he sometimes thought of his previous face as his 'older one' if Marion remembered the novelization right. He had no way of knowing that his first, ninth (counting war as ninth), twelfth (also counting war) were the only ones who would get to do that. Mr. Beatle's haircut wasn't even going to be able to do that. Marion stared at what she could make out of him in the faint light that crept in from around the door.

"So're you," she finally said softly "Young I mean. Tombstone's the only time I've met a version of you younger than you are now,"

"And you aren't going to tell me much other than vague snippets that won't make sense until after the fact are you,"

"I think you know the answer to that, don't you,"

"Yes, yes, but you can't fault me for trying can you?"

"No...but-,"

Marion and the rest of them braced themselves at the car lurched to the side as the driver pulled over suddenly. Marion stood up from the bench. They heard the sound of footsteps around the van and the sound of the driver opening the back of the truck back up.

"Is something wrong?" the Doctor asked.

"Look, we'd better get clear of the lorry. Come on.

They quickly hopped out of the truck with Marion helping the Zoe step down. They crept slowly into the woods keeping their heads down and moving slowly. The last thing any of them wanted was to step on a twig. Marion was especially careful because the group hadn't stepped on anything and if she did and they all died it would be her fault. It'd be even worse since she'd be the only person who survived.

"What's happening? Why are we hiding?" Jamie asked.

"Shhh," Marion shushed him.

"Company security were on my trail," the man explained.

"Which company?" Zoe asked.

"The company," Marion said, "There's always a company. Some rich and/or powerful loser wants to be more rich and/or powerful and they mess with nonsense they don't understand. Just call it 'the company'. Everyone will know what you're talking about. The name doesn't really matter much. It's just 'the company',"

The man stared at them for a second.

"You aren't from around here are you?"

"What gave it away?" Marion asked. She took this time to move her psychic paper ID thing to the inner pocket of her coat where she could snatch it out more dramatically.

"We're strangers around here," the Doctor offered as en excuse.

"Strangers? Then you're not from the community, then?"

"No,"

"Then how did you get inside the compound?"

"Very carefully," Marion responded.

Before the man could question that admittedly nothing statement, Zoe asked a question of her own.

"This community you talked about, are they prisoners here then?"

"Those who haven't gone over to the company are, yes. Not that they say you can't get out. They just make it pretty impossible without passes,"

"You can move in and out," Jamie pointed out.

"I got in all right," the man conceded, "But getting out might be just a bit more difficult,"

They crept closer to the fence and peered over the other side of it.

"This company," the Doctor asked, "what do they do?"

"Other than bad stuff,"

"Yes," agreed the Doctor, "Other than that,"

"International Electromatics. Now surely you've heard of them?"

"Well, no, we've been a little out of touch,"

"You must have been," the man said in disbelief, "They're the worlds-,"

Marion heard a noise in the distance, "Get down," she said softly but sharply. They ducked down and a pair of motorcycles drove past, their headlights illuminating the place where they had once been.

"Sorry," Marion said more out of politeness than her actually feeling sorry, "I heard a pair of engines approaching. Figured that it was bad news. So, what were you saying?"

The man looked at her with curiosity for a moment, before continuing, "International Electromatics: They're the world's biggest electronics manufacturers. You can hardly buy a piece of equipment that isn't theirs,"

"One of THOSE companies then," Marion said simply.

"Well, what is this place," Zoe asked, "this compound?"

"They set up a whole community of their own. Factories. Houses. A vast network of industrial complexes. All of the local people have been bought out. Most of them join the company. The others...," the man trailed off.

"What about them?"

"My people haven't been able to track him,"

The Doctor looked at him in confusion, "Your people?"

"Should be safe now. We're not far from the guard post. You four had better stay out of sight in the lorry. I'll try and bluff our way out. Come on,"

The man guided the four of them back to the truck. Right before she climbed back in, Marion saw a large rock and got an idea. She picked it up and carried it with her into the back of the truck. The others climbed into the truck as well and the man shut the back. After a few moments, they heard the sound of the driver side door opening and then shutting. The car rumbled as the engine came to life and the car moved forward.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," the Doctor said, "but what exactly is the rock for?"

"If I'm right," said Marion, "And, I often am, I might just save a man's life!

Marion was busy wondering if she should've gotten in the passenger seat and come up with a plan that would work anywhere outside of sixties low budget spy movies.

Then again...that's what this was? Was it not?

After driving for a few minutes they came to what had to be the checkpoint.

"We're slowing down," Jamie observed, "Must be the guard post now,"

"Yes, but why are we hiding like this? We've done nothing wrong," Zoe said. The poor thing sounded legitimately baffled.

"Oh honey," Marion said softly, "If doing 'nothing wrong' meant you didn't have to hide then our jobs would be 101% easier,"

"Keep down," the Doctor told them, "We'll find out later,"

The truck finally slowed down to a stop and after a few moments, it started up again. He's passed the checkpoint.

Marion had to come up with something to say and say it quickly.

The car came to a stop and the man appeared in the back of the lorry.

"They're right behi-"

Marion cut him off.

"What's up ahead?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's up ahead?"

"Nothing for a few miles and then there's another gate before it gets out to the road?"

"Great, Great," Marion hefted the rock in her arms. It was roughly the size and length of a shoe and that's what had gotten her attention in the first place.

"Is there anything of any importance in the car. For UNIT I mean?"

"How do you-"

"Answer the question!" Marion said perhaps a little harsher than she meant to.

"No?"

"Alright then. Perfect,"

Marion walked towards the driver's seat.

"What the hell are you doing?" the man said baffled.

"They goons with the motorcycles are right behind us and they're going to shoot you! Ask the Brig about me. He'll say I know what I'm talking about," 'Hopefully,' "I'm going to use this rock to hold down the gas pedal. It'll drive on ahead and we can all flee,"

"Now see here!"

The motorcycles were getting closer. They were running out of time.

Marion took this time to remember back when she'd been in 11th grade during Spirit Week. Her class's theme had been "United Kingdom" and that Thursday had been "Character Day". Marion, wanting to put as little effort into cosplay as possible had gone as a UNIT agent. All she had needed to do was take a decent photo, edit it onto a jpeg, print it onto cardstock, and pop it into one of her old lanyard cases. (She would've put more effort into it, but she had an ASL II project that was due Friday and had both been assigned a week prior and not started. She didn't want to fail that because she had spent too long on a cheap prop.)

The point here was that Marion knew what a proper UNIT ID was supposed to look like and she had the ability to create something far more realistic than anything in HP Inkjet and a cracked copy of photoshop could accomplish in much less time.

She flashed her psychic paper in front of the man's face for a moment. He looked at it in confusion and then in understanding.

"Good!" Marion said. "Now, y'all head off into the woods, I'll be with you in a moment,"

The motorcycles came closer.

"Go on! GET! Shoo,"

The Doctor looked at Marion for a second.

"Marion are you..."

"Yes," Marion was starting to become frustrated, "I am sure. I'll meet you later. It's not like I don't know where you're going!"

The four of them ran into the woods. Marion watched them for a second and got to work. The truck's engine was still on. It was simple work to turn the steering wheel to be straight ahead and to drop the rock on the gas pedal.

The truck rushed forward and Marion moved her hand back before it could get caught and slammed the door shut. She dove into the bushes making sure to do so in such a way that the speeding out of control lorry offered her some temporary and dangerous cover.

From her hiding place, she saw the men on their motorcycles talk to each other, look around, and then speed after the car.

After waiting to see if they would double back and listening for their engines, Marion crept back, deeper into the woods, following the path of broken and trampled leaves as she went.

Marion finally, finally made it to the road but the Doctor, Zoe, Jami, and the man were nowhere to be seen not to mention the man from the truck. Marion looked down the road and sighed loudly.

'It's not like a car would've fit all five of us and its driver anyway,'.

"Either I'm hitching a ride or I'm in for a run. Good thing I'm wearing shoes with good arch support instead of something shitty like converse,"

Marion shifted her bag on her shoulder and began running down the road keeping to the side near the woods in case a car was coming without stopping or the motorcycle gang decided to circle around. At the same time she remained close enough to the road that if a car did come by, she could wave them down.

She just hoped that she wouldn't have to run or walk or jog the whole way. It'd be pretty fucking annoying if she JUST missed them.

'Still,' Marion thought, 'If I hurry, I'll probably be able to make it. Maybe if I can't catch the Doctor, then Isobel and Zoe will still be there. Girls only espionage mission? GOD I really hope I can hitch a ride though. Oh speak of the devil,'

A car drove up next to her. The windows were tinted and Marion couldn't see who was inside of it until the person rolled down the window and…

"Are you getting in here or not? You can't be planning to walk to the Walkins' house, can you? I don't doubt that you could, but even you can't run faster than a car. Come on get in,"

The driver of the car wasn't a stranger. Marion didn't know enough about cars to know what kind of car the man was driving. She didn't even know enough to know if it was old by the late 60's standards. (They were in the late-60's right? Or was it early 70's she couldn't be sure.) Or if it was a modern car.

What she did know, was who the man driving the car was. She had just left him. It was the Doctor. Not the one with the spotted bow tie and the general aesthetic of a Beatles reject, it was the Scottish one with the grey hair. And, judging from his hair, one that was decently older than the one she had just left.

Marion opened the passenger door and slid inside. Marion had barely put her seatbelt on when the Doctor sped off.

"Aren't you supposed to be at St. Lukes?" Marion asked, "You know, guarding the vault? Teaching classes?"

"Who says I can't go on a short drive and help out a friend hm?"

The Doctor made an unnecessarily sharp turn forcing Marion to grab ahold of the "uh oh" handle to brace herself.

"Nardole," Marion responded, "And besides, St. Lukes is in Bristol. That's like, 2 hours away from London!"

Marion was only just barely familiar with the conversion of kilometers to miles, but she knew that the Doctor was probably going well above the speed limit.

"I thought you were American," the Doctor responded to what she had said earlier, "Two hours for your lot is barely a trip."

"Well yeah, but it's still around a four-hour round trip,"

"I've been around for two thousand years. Four hours is barely a blink,"

"Good luck explaining that to Nardole. He's not going to be happy,"

"He's never happy and besides, how would he even find out?"

"You're going to be gone for at least four hours Doc. What, did you tell him that you were going to spend the rest of the day in the vault with Missy?"

The Doctor was silent.

"Holy- you did? Do you seriously expect him to-,"

"Ah, number 18, St. James garden. Here you are. They should be right inside," the Doctor said quickly. He pulled up across from a large white townhouse with a set of stairs leading to a dark green door.

"Thanks, Doctor," Marion said, she opened the passenger side door and got out. Before she could close the door, the Doctor spoke up.

"Wait a minute,"

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a folded note sealed with a piece of tape. He held it out to her.

"Let me guess," Marion said looking at it warily, "A-"

"-note from the Associate?" the Doctor stopped her, "Yes. That's exactly what it is. Now go, go, before my past self tries to check outside to where you are. None of us has the time for a paradox,"

"Don't you mean..."

"Marion. No,"

"A Pair-O-Docs?"

Marion made a finger gun gesture to the man accompanied by a wink.

The Doctor stared at her for a moment. Then he leaned to the side, shut the passenger door, and drove off.

"Harsh!" Marion said with a laugh.

Marion turned on her heels away from the road and opened the note. It was written on what appeared to be St. Luke's stationery. The kind the school might use to send out important information to students or recommendation letters to other institutions. The Associate had used the Sonic Pen in favor of a typewriter based on the orange and slightly hovery letters. The contents of the letter were simple, a series of phone numbers and extensions. There were dates by each of the numbers so that she would know when was the best time to use each one. The number seemed to change a couple of times each decade, and the year list ended in 2017. That made a good amount of sense. Marion looked around to make sure that no one was nearby, and then snapped a photo of the list with her phone. She pocketed the items and walked back up the stairs towards the door and rang the doorbell. She heard the sound of movement on the other side of the door and muffled speech.

"Hold on a moment, who's at the door?"

The door opened to reveal Isobel Watkins. She wore a red and white dress and had her dark blonde hair in a bob with her hair slightly longer in the front than it was in the back.

"Hi!" Marion said, "A few of my friends came by here looking for a Professor Travers. Are they still here?"

The woman looked her up and down, "You must be Marion,"

"Marion!" the Doctor called from behind Isobel, "Marion do come in,"

Marion looked at Isobel, asking permission before she did so. The other woman sighed and stepped away from the front of the door.

"Thank you!" Marion said.

"So," the Doctor continued with whatever they had been talking about, "Professor Travers doesn't live here anymore you said?"

"Well, he did. He left about a month ago. Gone to America for a year with his daughter,"

"Oh that's just great," Jamie groaned.

"My uncle worked at the Cavendish labs," Isobel explained, "He wanted to do some work so Professor Travers said he could use his daughter's lab here. And I moved in because I got kicked out of my studio last week,"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Marion said, "It's a good thing you were able to move in with your uncle!"

"You can say that again,"

"What field of science is your uncle in?" The Doctor asked Isobel. He frowned at the camera he was looking at.

"Marion, can I use your screwdriver for a moment,"

"Uh, sure,"

Marion rummaged through her bag looking for it as Isobel answered the Doctor's question.

"Oh, I don't know. He's in applied physics or something. Always messing around with computers and things. Complete nuts,"

Marion finally dug past the rope and the prybar and found the screwdriver. With a little more rummaging, she found the little cloth bag of heads. She wordlessly handed it to the Doctor, who slid one of the smaller ones into the slot and tightened something in the back of Isobel's camera. He handed the cloth bag back to her.

"Well that is fortunate," the Doctor responded, "Perhaps he might be able to help us. Is he at home?"

"No,"

"Well, where is he?"

"Well, how do I know?" Isobel responded, "I'm not his keeper. Hey, have you fixed it?"

"Oh? Oh, yes," the Doctor handed Isobel the Camera and gave Marion back her screwdriver "That's all right,"

"That's really great. Thanks!"

"Miss,"

The Doctor was ignored in favor of Zoe and her glittery purple jumpsuit.

"Hey! That's a jolly outfit. Would you mind posing for me?"

"What?" Zoe said in confusion.

Isobel guided Zoe off to the side.

"Look, just stand there,"

"Miss?"

"Isobel. Yeah. Now, just stand here. Head over the shoulder,"

"Excuse me, Isobel," Marion said finally, "Do you know when your uncle is going to be back?"

"No, he left about a week ago, I haven't seen him since,"

"A week!" Jamie said in disbelief.

"I'm not sure what you expected at this point, Jamie,"

"He was prattling on about some new invention, or something or other, and having the chance to develop it," Jamie moved in front of her camera, "No. Not you,"

'Oof,'

"Okay now, just..."

"Can't you get in touch with him?" the Doctor asked. He sounded frustrated at the way she was more focused on her camera than him.

Isobel looked down from her camera, clearly annoyed that he kept asking her questions, but at the same time, not wanting to show it.

"No, I tried. I wanted to borrow a couple of quid off him in a hurry, but well, they said he wasn't available for phone calls,"

"They?" the Doctor latched onto this, "Now who is they?"

"Just get that, will you? I don't know. International Electric something or other,"

"International Electromatics?"

"Yes, probably," Isobel replied.

"That name's whatever the opposite of 'catchy' is,"

"You mean your uncle has gone to work for these people?"

Isobel nodded.

"Well, surely we can get in touch with him,"

"Well, you can try telephoning but I doubt if you'll get any joy. Phone's in the hall and the number's scribbled on the wall,"

The four of them turned to leave.

"Hey. Don't go. I don't often get the chance of photographing a real model," Isobel called out to Zoe.

"Oh, alright,"

"And I don't suppose you would mind me taking a couple photos of you Marion. Would you?"

"Ah," Marion said, "Well, no, no thanks. I think Zoe's got it covered,"

(

)

"...3," Jamie read off.

"3,"

"4,"

"4,"

"2,"

"2,"

"Do you suppose this firm could be the one that the driver was talking about?"

"I doubt that there's going to be two companies in the same area with the same name running around. That's how lawsuits happen,"

"That's not the point Marion! Watkins could have been kidnapped!"

"Very, very good point,"

"Ah, Jamie. You mustn't let your imagination run away with you. I must admit, it's a bit strange,"

"It wouldn't be the first time you had to save a kidnapped scientist,"

The Doctor made the universal gesture for, "Shhh, I'm on the phone,"

"I would like, please, to speak with Professor Watkins,"

There was just silence.

"Oh, yes, you see, but this is very important,"

More silence.

Marion noted the address to International Electromatics on the wall and she jotted it down in her notebook with one of her smaller ballpoints.

"Yes, but I must speak with him,"

The Doctor realized that he wasn't speaking to a person.

"But this is an automatic answering device!"

Marion could faintly hear a voice saying, "Party not available," over and over again.

The Doctor all but slammed the phone back on the receiver.

"Now what?"

"There's only one thing for it. We'll have to go there ourselves,"

They re-entered the lounge area.

"Any luck?" Isobel asked.

She was photographing Zoe who had changed out of the jumpsuit and into a bright red dress with a green feather boa.

It was certainly a look.

Marion hoped that that camera of Isobel's was in black and white.

"No, it was stupid simple-minded computer answering service,"

"Well, what do we do now?"

"Jamie, Marion, and I are going to this place. Come on, Zoe,"

"No, thanks," Zoe replied, "I think I'll stay here. It's great fun,"

"Cool," Marion said, "If we're taking a while, STAY here. We'll be back eventually,"

"You look like a chicken with all those feathers on!" Jamie added.

"Jamie be nice,"

"What's the address," the Doctor asked.

"I saw it on the wall and wrote it down. No worries,"

"Do you not write anything down on paper at all?" Jamie asked incredulously.

"Well, I'd only lose it if I did. Writing on a wall's much safer. You can't lose a wall, can you?"

"No,"

"Not on less you tried it on purpose,"

Isobel went back to taking photos of Zoe and the three of them left.

The group arrived at the tower. There were several in the complex, and the address led to this one. It wasn't too far away, and Marion was all but certain that they'd passed it on their way from the field where they had landed. Instead of going through the main entrance, like a bunch of amateurs, they found a side entrance that was closed to the general public. They knew it was closed because it said: "NO UNAUTHORISED ENTRY" in big capital letters. Only there was weird spacing in the middle of the word.

"Well," Marion said looking at the door with an exaggerated pensive look on her face.

"If that said 'No Unauthorised Entry' we'd be at a loss,"

"But..." asked the Doctor.

"It says, 'No Unau Thorised Entry',"

"What does that mean?" Jamie asked.

"No idea. Let's go in,"

Marion pushed open the door and gestured inside.

"After you,"

The Doctor walked through the door, followed by Jamie.

Marion scanned the surrounding area with her eyes until she finally spotted the car with Sergeant? Benton. She was pretty sure that he was a Sergeant at this point. He got that promotion before "the Invasion" but after "Web of Fear". Maybe that was Yates who got the promotion. Actually, maybe that was Yates in the car? No, she was PRETTY sure that it was Benton.

Unless…

Actually, on second thought, this didn't really matter.

Marion pointedly looked at the truck and waved.

She then walked in after the Doctor and Jamie.

"Who were you waving to?" the Doctor asked.

"You'll meet them later," she paused, "But wait, you've already met them? I'm going to meet them later but I know who they-" Marion stopped. "Actually, you know what? Don't worry about it. It's fine. They're fine. Nothing to worry about,"

"Marion, are you feeling okay?"

The Doctor reached out to put a hand to the woman's forehead.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Marion brushed the hand away. "Order of events is a bit confusing a lot of the time, you know?"

"Now," Marion said, clapping her hands and looking at the large machine, "this must be the answering machine thing,"

It was about the shape and size of three or four lockers side by side with two rolls of recording tape in the front, a pair of cabinets up top and it had a control panel sticking out of its front.

"I thought so," the Doctor said looking it up and down.

"I wonder how it works,"

"What is it?" Jamie asked.

"It's what the Doctor was talking to on the phone earlier,"

"More stupid computers. Automatic receptionists," the Doctor grumbled. They walked within range of the computer speakers.

"Right,"

The computer made a whirring noise as the wheels on its front began to turn.

"International Electromatic Company. State your business,"

"I would like, please, to speak with Professor Watkins,"

More whirring.

"One moment," there was a pause, "Party not available,"

"Then I would like to speak with someone in authority,"

"Your request will be considered and your appointment arranged. Please state your name and address,"

"That's no good. I wish to speak with somebody now,"

"It's not going to work Doctor," Marion said soft enough that the Doctor could hear, but the computer could not.

"I am sorry. All personnel are engaged,"

"But I insist. This is an emergency!"

"State the nature of the emergency,"

"It's a private matter,"

"Private matters have no emerg-," the Doctor banged his fist on the computer.

"OH SHUT UP YOU STUPID MACHINE!"

"Diabolical inventions,"

"Doctor, shouting at a machine isn't going to help. Robots that can be spoken to and reasoned with won't be invented until at least the mid-70s,"

Marion paused,

"Or the mid-80s. Either way, we really should try something else,"

"Where are we going?" Jamie asked.

"Well, there must be somebody else in this building except these stupid machines. Come on,"

They backtracked. Out the door, they came from and out and around. And they walked down an alley in between two of the buildings in the complex.

"Hey," Marion, "So…,"

"Yeah,"

"Jamie, Doctor, I'm going to tell you something, but before I do, don't react,"

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you unless you swear not to react,"

The two men nodded.

"We're on camera. They know we're comin- Doctor! Stop looking around. I just said not to react. Geez, I'll keep it to myself next time. Come on come on. Let's go, go, go. Let's get this over with and stay vigilant.

The three of them stood in front of an elevator. The Doctor pressed the up button. As the elevator went up, Marion reached into her bag and grabbed the small roll of duct tape. She ripped off strips of tape. She stuck the strips together making a sheet about the size of a small napkin.

"Hey real quick, do either of you have a handkerchief or stress ball or something that could cover up a hole?"

"Why?" the Doctor reached into his pocket and retrieved a small ball from his pocket, "Will this do Marion?"

Marion looked at it and took it out of the Doctor's hand and pressed it into the middle of the duck tape sheet thingy.

Instead of answering, Marion said:

"As soon as the elevator opens to let me know if you hear a loud hissing noise and also, where it's coming from,"

"Marion? What are you doing? What's all that for? What are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you in a minute. Just trust me,"

The elevator doors slid open and the three of them walked out slowly.

'Now, where is-,'

Marion saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

'Bingo!'

"Jamie! Quick, boost me so I can reach that," she pointed at the nozzle that was quickly pumping out white, choking, smoke. The Scot crouched down and cupped his hand for Marion to step on so she could reach.

Marion's goal plan was simple. Stuff the ball into the nozzle and hold it in place with the tape. That would keep the gas from flooding the room.

Marion pulled the collar of her shirt up to cover her nose and face and climbed up. This put her just close enough to it to grip onto it with part of her arm and take some of the weight off the Highlander.

Ideally, this would've been a smart move. She took much of the weight off Jamie which would have allowed him to balance a bit more easily and hold her up long enough to go through with her plan.

However, Marion did make three mistakes.

First, she underestimated the amount of time it would take for Jamie to succumb to the gas.

But that was fine. She had always had decent upper body strength. She had taken judo for God's sake. In theory, she should've been able to hold herself for a while; certainly long enough to put her plan into action. She just had to push the ball into place and stick it.

This is where her second mistake came in. She overestimated how opaque the smoke would be. This hampered Marion's ability to see what she was doing. She could hear just fine, though. For example, she could hear Jamie, the Doctor, and herself coughing. Finally, she managed to find the nozzle's hole and tape it into place. The hissing stopped and Marion could hear another noise.

"CREAK"

'Oh shit Oh fuck,'

This brings us to her third mistake: Assuming that the gas dispenser could hold her weight for long periods of time. It snapped off sending her to the ground and the thing she had been trying to cover up down with her. Sure, the nozzle that the gas had been coming from before was blocked, but it was also currently on the floor and gas flowed freely from the pipe.

Marion's vision went white as gas-filled her vision and then black as it filled her lungs.

'Ok universe,' Marion thought, 'we'll call it a draw,'

(Next Chapter: All Tech Executives Are Shady...)

Marion: I've planned ahead and have an excellent and elegant solution.

Knockout Gas:

Jamie's Lung Capacity:

Gravity:

Marion: Uh oh

Listen. I know that I promised that the Second Doctor would show up like, 7-8 chapters ago. But...ah...I had trouble finding episodes that either didn't involve plot points I didn't want to come up too soon or didn't have plot points that require things to have happened yet.

Pretty much it's like this.

Events from Marion and the reader's point of view:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4.

Everyone else:

3 - 4 - 2 - 1.

This isn't talking about the 1-4 Doctors mind you. It's there of events from the Doctor and everyone else who isn't Marion. Marion experiences the third thing first, the fourth thing second, and so on.

The Doctor isn't the only person experiencing Marion out of order you know. Anyway, I accidentally made a whole bunch of Second Doctor serials have important plot bits that require something to have happened previously that Marion doesn't know about at the time in order for them to work so...

Anyway, the point is that event one is happening now and will continue in the next chapter.

See ya!