Mirani + Amber - The Doctor, The two Captains and the Nurse
Yes yes I know, horrible title but I had to come up with something and it was the only thing that came into my head!

To make things easier when it comes to Dialogue when your character's are speaking then use a different colour for each. For example for The Docto I'll be using this blue and for Jack I'll be using this red Thoughts are in Italics like this and depending on which person is thinking it matches the speech colour. I think that makes sense.

They hadn't been back in the TARDIS very long. The Doctor was currently at the main console in the middle of the room, flipping odd switches and pressing odd buttons, his mind somewhere else. He thought back to the recent events, back to the whole thing with the pirate ship and the siren-slash-mechanical-medic. He suposed he could sympathise. The system had been without a purpose and humanity had given it a purpose. He suposed the only thing he could do was hope that the crew, Captain and his son would be alright on the ship. A smile touched his lips at the thought of the Captain and how he'd handled the situation. Definitely a forward thinking man, especially considdering the time period.
There was also Amy, Brilliant Amelia Pond, or should he be calling her Captain Pond now? She certainly seemed to fit the part. She'd managed to (somehow) take the sword and outfit with her, including that hat. He shook his head at the thought adn returned his attention tot he TARDIS. He debated where to go next, wasn't entirely sure. The TARDIS made a strange noise and the Doctor looked up at his machine in surprise. She wanted to choose the destination? He shrugged. The TARDIS was a beast all her own and far be it for him to deny her something. The TARDIS almost seemed to hum, if machines were indeed capable of doing such a thing, and they were off.

-o0o-

Hot tears streamed down his face even as he tried desperately to control the flow. It was useless though and he gave up on evey trying to hold back the torrential streams from leaking from his eyes.
Ianto...
A sob wracked his entire body as the name flitted through his mind, like an elusive ghost. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. He couldn't come back, not after what the 456 had done to him. Not after...
"You'll forget me..."
"Never could," Jack whispered, remembering saying the same two words to Ianto. He was being completely honest. He never would be able to forget the Welshman, never in all his long life.
He was huddled in the corner of the room he'd rented for the night. The bed he was on wasn't the softest but Jack honestly couldn't care. It was a place where he could be alone with his thoughts, his memories, his regrets.
"Ianto..."
He said the name aloud this time, the name falling from his lips in a hushed, hopeless tone.
Why had he thought this would be a good idea? He should have stayed away -- far away. He shouldn't have come back to Earth, or at least not so soon. He couldn't help it though. He'd been pulled back to this small, blue planet.
He may have been back on Earth but that didn't mean he had to return to the Wales or even England, not yet anyway. The wounds were still too fresh That was a step too far so instead he'd gone to the only place he could think of.
He'd huddled himself up in Japan, the place where his friend Toshiko had been born. The thought of her loss stung him, not as badly as Ianto's death but it still hurt.
He forced himself to stop thinking about all he'd lost and just focused on sleep. He needed some sleep. He closed his eyes a little tighter and soon was asleep in his curled up position on the small, rather uncomfortable hostel bed crammed into the corner, almost like a child.

[I'll be having Rory's speech and other parts in Green and Amy's in Purple]

Finally back in the TARDIS, and away from water, cuts and what they were all sure were near death experiences, Rory was trying his very hardest to relax. Oddly enough the strange lights, sounds and colours of the main console room of the magnificent machine almost felt...usual to him. Like walking into his lounge at home, or into the reception of the hospital where he had worked. It was somewhere that he felt he belonged. Relaxing, however, was always made hard by the Doctor. “Is it supposed to make that noise? The humming I mean? You haven’t broken it have you?”

A little while ago, he wouldn’t have dared to talk like that. Back then the Doctor had been almost untouchable, certainly not someone to be friendly with. Perhaps it was because everything was so very new back then, or maybe it was just because they had got to know each other. In the past, Rory had felt like the Doctor was...above him. A time travelling alien with the power to save so many humans lives. It was almost threatening. Now, the Doctor was often funny and always eccentric. He was just enough sensitive to understand, but not enough to be hurt. Still Rory stumbled over the words that he said, wondering after every sentence if it had been the right thing to say.

Amy on the other hand had never been effected by the mysterious man in that way. Perhaps it was because he had been there her whole life, in her memories and thoughts. It made it easier to connect with him. Sometimes, it was that connection with the Doctor, and a similar one with Rory that helped everything run smoothly between everyone.

Still wearing her newly gained pirates hat, she almost danced around the control room of the TARDIS, her mind racing to the next place to be. Although she wouldn’t admit it, she missed home. She got on so well with the Doctor, and with Rory, but they weren’t new. She had always liked the challenge of meeting someone new. The thrill when she discovered something about them, the new joys they brought to her life, and although they met new people every day, she knew that it was only a matter of time before they were travelling off again to the next big adventure.

((Wow! That's great! It's a brilliant first post! Oh and just so ya know I'm only separating the Docto and Jack's parts right now cuz they're in two different places and if I didn't then it'd be confusing. When they're all together then I won't need the break-y-thingy))

The Doctor turned as he heard Rory's voice and the small smile that had been playing accross his face as the TARDIS hummed grew a little as he took in Rory's expression. He could tell that the human was still rather nervous around him, nervous about the whole thing, but really that wasn't alltogether unexpected. He'd been thrown in at the deep end, almost litterally, so he was still unsure and The Doctor could understand that, could understand the insecurities that Rory must be feeling.

"Don't worry," he replied easily. "She knows what she's doing." As The Doctor looked at Rory a vivid image burst into his mind without him even realising it. The image of Rory, lying on this very floor, gasping for breath as he tried to invlate his lungs. It hadn't been that long ago that he and Amy had worked so hard to save Rory. He was so glad that Rory ahd showed Amy how to proform CPR (at least he thought that was what Rory had called it). It had almost reminded him of Jack, the way that Rory had come back to life with a gasp.

The TARDIS began to make a rumbling noise then and The Doctor could immediately tell that she was preparing to land. He didn't know where but he thought it was best to let the pair know that they were nearly there, wherever there was anyway. "Get ready to go," he told them. He glanced at Amy and rolled his eyes. "And Pond? Please leave the sword in the ship, the hat too."

-o0o-

Jack had finally managed to get up the strength of will to remove himself from the small hostel room. The person at the reception desk, a girl taht looked barely over the age of 18, gave him a strange look as he passed her in his usual greatcoat. He didn't really care though. Normally he'd have said something, tried to flirt for a bit, but he really wasn't in the mood. Flirting...it just didn't appeal to him right now and he didn't think it would for a while. He wasn't as naive as to think that he never would again. He was from the 51st century after all but the thought of Ianto kept him from actively persuing anything at the moment.

He exited the small hostel and found himself in the middle of a relatively busy side-street that led to a main street on the right. Deciding to just let his feet lead him Jack was guided towards the main area of town. There was a little square with a fountain and a couple benches and, almost on his own, his body carried him there. He sat down on a bench that faced the fountain and just stared up at it, watching as curved jets of water sprang from the mouths of four serpent like dragons entertwined in the middle of the small pool. It was quite a nice sight. One was red, one blue, one green and one purple. He closed his eyes and just sta there, taking in fresh lungfuls of air as he tried to think, tried to plan what he'd do next, where he'd go next.

Amy was almost disappointed when she heard that she would have to leave her new things behind. “Oh, you spoil sport.” Tossing the hat to the side somewhere, eventually to be scavenged for later she supposed, and leaning the sword against a pillar she started to smile. Again they had landed, again she would step outside and for the millionth time would be absolutely amazed.

“Yeah, I don’t like the thought of you running around with a sword either.” It took Rory a moment to reply. When the Doctor had looked at him, for a moment, barely even a fraction of a moment he thought he had saw...something. It wasn’t something he recognised, and he didn’t think it was a something he would ever understand. Still, it had been there and it had interested him.

Amy walked up to the man and waggled her finger in front of his face light heartedly. “Now, we don’t want to wake up missing a nose do we?” She smiled as she spoke to him. Time with the two boys was always a joy for her. Maybe it was because it was something she had waited her whole life for. Maybe it was just because there was nothing going on back home either. Either way, it had made leaving her old life behind her so much easier.

Recognising the noise of the TARDIS landing, or at least hoping that’s what the noise was, Rory looked to the doors. Once again they were going to step outside and probably be eaten by something with large teeth, or black eyes, or horrible slimy skin. He was distracted for a moment thinking if he had seen any nice or beautiful looking aliens. There was of course the siren. The beautiful woman and her enchanting song, but she had been...a program was it? The whole thing was hard to really remember.

Images flashed across his mind. One minute he was safe, the Doctor was being magnificent and throwing ideas around like always, Amy was doing whatever was needed of her and then...everything was quiet and dark and he was alone. Most of all though, it was cold. He had tried hard to think of what had happened after that, but it was no use. It was all just blank until he was gasping for breath, struggling on the floor and Amy and the Doctor were leaning over him.

“Oi, scatter brain.” Suddenly Amy’s voice brought him back to reality. The red head couldn’t help but laugh when she saw him crash back from his thoughts and watching him look suddenly nervous and shy when he realised he had been caught staring into space. “S-So Doctor. Where are we?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes slightly as Amy tossed that hat somewhere. He didn't bother to look right now though. He'd turned his head to look at a near-by screen that would display exactly where they were. A look of surprise crossed his face as he took in the co-ordinates. Well this was certainly unexpected, highly unexpected in fact. Of all the times and places to bring them to why had the TARDIS chosen to bring them here?

"What are you up to girl?" he murmured quietly, running a hand over a shiny, metalic surface. The TARDIS didn't respond to his words and he sighed. He turned around and smiled slightly as Amy broke Rory out of whatever thoughts he'd been occupied with. The Doctor had a feeling he knew what at least part of those thoughts entailed but didn't voice his theory aloud, not wanting to be insensetive to Rory's situation. It wasn't exactly easy coming back from the dead. He'd regenerated 10 times after all since this was his eleventh body...he should know.

He was broken out of his own thoughts by Rory's question and he looked at the two humans. He could tell that they were both ready to go out, ready for something knew. Or at least Amy was. She seemed to almost be buzzing with pent up energy, ready to be let lose at any moment. He was definitely very grateful he'd told her to leave the sword in the TARDIS. "We," he said, walking confidently over to the TARDIS door and swinging it open. "Are officially in the small town of Hoshi, Japan, Planet Earth, 2011. Don't ask me why, don't know. The TARDIS chose the destination this time, not me. Still, let's go out and explore a bitty shall we?" He grinned at the pair but didn't open the door yet, waiting to see what they'd do, if either of them would want to be the first one out for a change.

-o0o-

Jack was broken from his thoughts by the feel of...something nearby. He didn't know what it was but he knew what it was related to. He'd felt it, a ripple in Spacetime. He'd become atuned to that feeling over the years and knew that it could only mean one thing. There was time energy around here somewhere. How did he manage to get himself into these situations? Even when he was so far away from Cardiff he was still finding time anomylies! It was familiar to him but not familiar like the rift. He'd grown used to taht by now. No this was different and familiar and...

Could it really be who he thought it was?

He stood from the bench and began to look around, searching for the source of the spacetime ripple. It had come from...that direction, north of the square. It had felt relatively close. What should he do though? Should he go or should he stay where he was? Why was The Doctor here? Why now? Why not when the 456 had come and taken Ianto from him? Why hadn't The Doctor been there then? He was still frozen in place as he saw the blue box materialise out of the corner of his eye. It was on the other side of the fountain with the four dragons releasing jets of water from their mouths. Jack was partially hidden because of the angle but he could see the box and he knew that it was The Doctor, knew he hadn't been mistaken.

((Sorry but I've gotta go now. It's rather late adn even though I'm on study leave I'd still like to get some sleep tonight. We'll continue this tomorrow though yeah? I'm looking forward to your next post!))

Almost before she had heard where they were, Amy was waiting to run to the doors ready to fling them open. When she heard that it was Japan, the time decreased to milliseconds before she was facing the outside world. Instantly, the feeling of a cool breeze and the sound of splashing water filled her mind. “Oh It’s beautiful! I always wanted to go to Japan.” Walking outside, she took in the large water feature and the magnificent buildings that completely surrounded her.

Left inside with the Doctor, Rory looked out the door before strolling outside. Even he couldn’t deny it’s beauty. Although he had never been, a lot of the people he knew at one point or another had been. Still, it wasn’t so much the urban areas that interested him. He could see large buildings by going to the town nearest his village. Beautiful flora and lakes however he would have to travel a lot further for. “Oh well, this is nice.”

It was quite a pleasant surprise that they were somewhere vaguely familiar and not dark and alien. For a moment, he wondered if the Doctor had done it to give him some time to relax, but he wasn’t sure. He turned round for a second to take a look at the man who caused such fascination and uncertainty. Everything the Doctor did was a surprise, and every part of him was completely wild. Sometimes he couldn’t help but ask himself if all of the time lords were like that, or like humans, was it a quality that was simply possessed by some.

Amy was already making short work of taking in everything she cared to all at once. Sitting on the side of the great water feature, she let her hands dip into the rippling blue water as she looked high above at the great dragons that spit and gargled such simple beauty. It really was a magnificent place she would never forget.

“Surely there can’t be something wrong with it Doctor...I mean, can we actually go somewhere that’s safe?” Always inquisitive, Rory often asked the simpler questions that bothered him. Although he didn’t honestly believe that the TARDIS would only land in places that were in danger, that’s what seemed to have happened nearly every time before. He supposed that’s how the Doctor kept on with life, after everything that had happened to him. The constant go of his life.

[Okies, well I thought I would put this up anyway, ready for the next time that you're around. ^_^]

A chuckle escaped The Doctor was he watched Amy all but fling herself out of the TARDIS door. As it was he was half surprised the doors never escaped their hingers with the amount of force they had been opened by. Pond certainly was excited to see Japan. He idly wondered what had brought the TARDIS to this particular position in time and his thoughts were apparently mirrored by Rory.

"Good question," The Doctor complimented. He walked over to a moniter and looked at it carefully, squinting this way and that, trying to make out exactly what the readings outside were. "She says something about...spacetime? What about spacetime? We travel through it all the time, no pun intended, so what's got you all worked up girl, why land here...?" The Doctor paused, studied the readings a little more before shaking his head and turning to Rory. "I can't make head nore tail of this so...the only way to find out is to join Captain Pond out there I supose." The Doctor made a rather overexagerated glourish towards the door, motioning for Rory to go first. He'd shut the TARDIS after the other had exited teh area.

As Jack watched the TARDIS door was all but slammed open and a swirl of red came rushing out. He barely had time to make out that she was indeed a female before she was on the other side of the fountain. A new companion? He wondered how long it had been for The Doctor since they'd last seen each other. He twisted his head slightly, trying to see beyond the dragon fountain to the new companion on the other side. He wondered who she was and how The Doctor had run into her. He could just hear the sound of water being disturbed and guessed taht she'd dipped a hand into the fountain or something.

Deciding that he couldn't really see anything from this angle he turned his neck in the other direction and looked towards the TARDIS. The door was still open and inside he could just make out two figures. Two companions? Well this was definitely new. He couldn't make out any features from this distance so he'd need to wait until they stepped out to see The Doctor again. He wondered if the Time Lord had changed his face again since the last time they'd met. He also wondered what he planned to do when they met. Or should they meet at all? Should he just run? Run like the coward he was? How could he face The Doctor after the 456 incident? How could he tell The Doctor what he'd done to save the Earth's children. How could he tell him about Ianto...

((Okay. Here's the next part for you to look at. Hope it's alright ;)))

(Squee! I was looking forward to reading this all day. I get so excited about RP's)

Looking back at the TARDIS, Amy wondered what the two boys could be talking about. Even thought she was outside and enjoying herself, she couldn't help but think about the both of them. At least they were getting along. Rory always seemed to cheer up when he was talking to the Doctor. Although, Amy couldn't help but feel that he was upset about something. Maybe it was that he was missing home, or maybe he was just missing something in general. She had tried to talk to him once or twice, but it had either been the wrong time, or he would just smile and shake his head, ignoring everything that she would say.

Rory couldn't help but hear the Doctor talking to the TARDIS. A small, warm smile spread across his face as he listened to him talk to the machine where they spent most of their time when they weren't being killed. At least the Doctor and the TARDIS were always together. Even when he didn't have companions, he wouldn't be lonely. "Yeah, at least she's not walking around in that hat." Looking back at the interior of the room, he tried to take it all in before he eventually stepped outside into the warm sunlight.

He was surprised by how nice it was. Normally they were inside or somewhere ridiculously hot or freezing cold. Yawning and stretching, he walked over to the fountain to stand near the rebellious red head. "So, do you have any clue why we're here?"
"Not the slightest. Beats being chased though." That was true. Although she loved the excitement, She couldn’t help but think it would have been nice to be able to just sit around for a little while and enjoy the amazing places that they arrived at. Glancing at the square around them, Amy caught the gaze of a tall thin man who looked about as out of place as they all were. Dark hair and a definitely western look just increased her inquisitive nature, and her desire to talk to people got the better of her.

So she waved. A small, friendly wave in his direction. Amy wasn’t even sure if he had seen it, but that at least she had made an effort. For once, she didn’t feel like bounding over to someone and trying to start a still normal conversation. Also…it was perfectly possible that he had seen them all come out of one small box, and that understandably confused the majority of people.

Rory watched her wave and turned around. “You’re flirting!” It was barely a hiss out the side of his mouth, but she heard and did the same. “I’m allowed.” Almost laughing, Rory walked back to the TARDIS and stood around outside, waiting for the Doctor to come out. Oddly, he felt a little lost. Not having anywhere to go, or anything he was meant to be doing felt rather strange for the first time in his life. Amy was hardly talking anyway, too engrossed in the location and the man that she had waved at. The Doctor seemed to enjoy anywhere he was, whoever he was with and whatever he was doing.

It was then he let out a sigh. He almost surprised himself by doing it, not realising how badly he was bothered by it. He didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself, but he did feel at least a little bit alone, with nothing or no one to occupy himself with.

((I know the feeling. It's always nice to log onto mene and have RP updates ready and waiting.))

As Jack watched he saw one of the figures from inside the TARDIS step out and walk towards the red head. Figuring that he'd better move if he wanted a decent look he moved himself to a position where he was able to see both figures clearly. He saw them talk to each other for a minute before the readhead looked his way and waved. He blinked in confusion at her actions. Why did she wave at him? He glanced around, knowing that he was severely out of place, but that didn't entirely explain why she waved at him. Did she know who he was? Had the Doctor told her about him? Was that why the TARDIS was here in the first place. So many questions rose to the forefront of his mind and the only thing he could think to do outwardly was raise his hand and return the wave, knowing that it probably came off a little more awkward than his usual flourishing greeting.

Before the whole thing with teh 456 he knew that, if the same red head had waved at him, he would have immediately bounded over to her adn started up a conversation but he really didn't feel like doing that right now. If he did so he thought it would feel like a slap in the face of Ianto's memory. Oh he knew he'd be interested in people again eventually but for the moment he just couldn't, even if this was The Doctor's new companion so the wave would have to do for the moment.

His eyes flicked to the other person and he gave him a carefully discrete scan. He could tell that this wasn't The Doctor. There was something decidedly human about him, something taht made Jack sure that it wasn't The Doctor. Yet again another person taht, if he wasn't still mourning Ianto, he would have happily thrown himself at. He wondered why there were two companions now instead of just one.

The Doctor watched as Rory adn Amy talked from within the TARDIS before he stepped out himself. Immediately as he did so he could feel that something was off. It all but hit him in the chest as realisation dawned as to what the spacetime shift the TARDIS had detected was about. It was Jack. How in the Universe could he have not thought of that! Sure he hadn't seen Jack in a while but that didn't mean he didn't still remember the 51st Century man-turned-immortal. But why now? Why did the TARDIS focus in on this particular moment of Jack's existance? Had something happened that caused Spacetime to fluctuate? As a Time Lord he could sense Jack's presense. He was a fixed point in time, a fact, something that shouldn't exist and yet did, all because of Rose...

As soon as the third man exited the TARDIS Jack knew, he knew that it was The Doctor. His face had definitely changed since the last time and the bow tie was new but he could tell. There was something about The Doctor that you could immediately pick out in a crowd, something entirely alien about him despite his completely human appearance.

"Doctor," he murmured, his eyes trained on the Doctor even as the other han closed the TARDIS door adn began to slowly walk towards him. When the Doctor was a few feet away from Jack he stopped, taking in Jack's appearance. He looked rougher than usual, his eyes were clearly haunted by something. They were old eyes, eyes that had seen far too much. "Jack," he said, his mind completely focused on the immortal man before him.

Amy was almost surprised to see the man wave back. Okay, so it might not have been the friendliest wave, but they were both strangers. For a moment, she thought about getting up and walking over. That was until she saw The Doctor walking over to the man, and they seemed to start talking. Almost instantly both Rory and Amy walked away from the other two. Whatever they were going to talk about seemed serious, and they didn't need to be a part of it. Seeing a bench at least a fair distance away from the two men, they both sat down, taking in the situation.

"Amy, do you have any idea who that is?" Rory couldn't help but ask. He knew it was unlikely that she would, but his inquisitive nature got the better of him one again. Amy simply shook her head, trying to get a peek at The Doctor and his...friend talking without being noticed. Eventually she decided to give up. There was no way she could get a good view through the fountain, and she was pretty sure that The Doctor wouldn't appreciate her 'spying' on them both. "I think they're friends? Or at least they get on. Maybe that's why we came here, so they could chat." For the red head, that was almost a good enough answer. For now anyway, until she could pry into the details and get a better understanding.

Rory on the other hand just rolled his eyes. "The whole of space and time to travel to, and the TARDIS brings us here, so The Doctor can have a little chat? I doubt that Amy." The truth was, something about the situation was unsettling him. He couldn’t help but notice the serious look on his face that The Doctor wore when he was walking over to the other man, and the strange look in the other mans eyes when he was approached. Something about The Doctor being serious put him on edge, like bad things were happening and couldn’t be stopped.

It probably wasn’t helped by the things they had all seen together. The Doctor had laughed and smiled when they fought vampires and sirens, strange lizard creatures and air swimming fish. Yet something was so serious that for one, that warm and glowing smile was gone.

Noticing the unhappiness and anxiousness in Rory’s face, Amy hurriedly thought of something to take his mind off the situation. “Rory, do you miss home?” Almost immediately, and strangely surprised, the brown haired man looked up, before shaking his head slowly. “I didn’t really have much back home really. Just my job. I guess really, being here and doing the things we do with The Doctor, I’m almost being more useful then I was before.”

Looking at Rory for a moment, Amy smiled and nodded. Maybe she should spring questions on him like that more often. She had tried to get an answer out of him for a long time, and that was the first time she had. It almost comforted her that he wasn't missing anything from home, but was also a little sad. Not missing home meant that Rory didn't have anywhere that was his, or that he really belonged. Amy wanted better then that for him.

The two men stood there for a while, staring at each other. The Doctor carefully took iN jack's appearance adn clarrified in his own mind that, yes, something was most definitely wrong with this situation. Why was Jack all the way in Japan? What happened to his team? He knew that Jack was close to his team, extremely close, especially to that one man...Ianto wasn't it? Why wasn't Jack with him? Something was most definitely wrong and he suddenly knew why exactly teh TARDIS had brought him here. There was something immensely wrong with Jack and he had to fix the immortal. Just fantastic.

For his part Jack couldn't really think of anything more to say to The Doctor. What did you say to a Time traveling Time Lord with a big blue box that was bigger on the inside than the outside when you're still in the midst of what was usually termed clinical depression? He wasn't exactly in the most flirtacious of moods. Finally the silence grew too oppressive for Jack to bear so he opened his mouth to ask the question that was at the forefront of his mind, the question he had been almost desperate to ask ever since he had first caught sight of that blue box.

"Why're you here, Doctor?"

"Ah...rather complicated question taht. Why am I here indeed..." The Doctor trailed off for a moment, contemplating exactly how to say what he had been thinking moments before. He finally decided taht the best approach would probably be to dive right in. "The TARDIS brought us here, brought us to this specific point. Wasn't sure exactly why since nothing seems to be majorly wrong with the universe at the moment...except for you." It was at this moment that The Doctor paused and stared at Jack intently. "What happened Jack?" He asked the immortal, almost softly. "What happened to your team? Why aren't you with them?"

"I..." Jack paused, unable to get the words out. He slumped backwards and sat on the nearest bench, covering his face with his hands slightly, unwilling to let The Doctor see the tears that threatened to spill over onto his cheeks. "They're gone, all gone except one but I can't go back, not after...." A small sob escaped his throat despite his desperate atempts to control it. The Doctor for his part was completely at a loss for what to do. He glanced over at Amy and Rory, just visible from beyond the fountain, and wondered exactly waht he should do.

----------

((By the way, just watched this week's episode of Doctor Who! Quite a good ep but the preview for the next one looks brilliant!))

She had honestly been trying not to look. She knew it wasn’t her place to watch what was gong on between the two, but she was almost glad she did when she saw the stranger almost fall to the bench behind him, and cover his face with his hands. For a moment, Amy was torn by conflict. Wanting to go and try and help the obviously upset man, she was happy to run over and involve herself in the situation. However, it wasn’t until the doctor looked over, obviously at a bit of a loss for what to do, that she thought it would be appreciated.

“Should we do something?” Rory’s words echoed her thoughts, his caring nature showing through. A soft smile spread across her face, and she looked at the brown haired man. She had always liked how passionate he could be about people, and about making sure they were okay. A number of times she had seen the almost anger in his eyes when someone he had cared about was less then happy. Nodding, she stood up and walked towards the two people.

Rory decided that he would stand a little further back, and let Amy try and get involved first. He wasn’t terribly good at trying to talk to people for the first time, and didn’t want to make anything worse by saying something or doing something stupid.

As Amy walked over, she smiled at The Doctor. While she did, she realised that although she had seen The Doctor angry, and even annoyed, she couldn’t remember him being sad, or ever really dealing with someone be sad. It made her wonder if he did his best just to not do those things, or if it was something that he found it difficult to do.

Pushing the thought from her mind, she slowly sat down on the bench beside the stranger. That way, if he would rather her not be there, then he had plenty of time to say before she tried to talk to him. “Hey. I’m Amy.” Her voice was softer the usual, but not enough to sound pitiful like she knew it could sometimes come across. Even though she had only told him her name, she had found that sometimes, talking about something normal, like names, could calm someone down enough to talk.

A wave of relief passed through The Doctor as he saw Amy and Rory stand up and make their way towards him. Amy was better at dealing with emotional things. Jack was clearly in distress and he was at a bit of a loss as to how to deal with it. Seeing the almost unflappable Captain Jack Harkness in this state...it was a completely alien feeling, something he hadn't thought he'd ever see, not since the year that never was. The way he'd talked about losing his team...and suddenly The Doctor knew, knew what had happened. Jack had been talking about him the last time they'd parted. How could he have fergotten?

Jack could sense the presense of the two others approaching but didn't make a move to stop it. When one of them, the female, sat beside him he contemplated the idea of jumping up away from her but couldn't find the strength of will to do so. Let her sit here beside him. He idly wondered what she'd say, how much pity and fake sympathy would be in her voice when she talked to him. he was a stranger and judging by the confused look on her face and that of the other person the Doctor hadn't told the pair about him.

When she spoke Jack allowed a small look of surprise to pass over his face. She didn't sound like she was offering fake comfort. She hadn't even said an empty 'I'm sorry' like many would do in this situation. All she'd said was hello and told him her name, Amy. He knew the accent immediately. She was most definitely Scottish. A Scottish red-ead traveling with teh Doctor. That was a new one. Usually they were from around London or at least England. He turned his head towards her, lowering his hands. Unfortunately this exposed the fresh tear tracks that still made little rivers down his face but he didn't quite care at the moment.

"Jack," he said, his American like accent somehow softer than usual. "Captain Jack Harkness. Nice to meet you, Amy." It was the total and utter lack of flirtacious tone in Jack's voice that really worried The Doctor. This was bad, really really bad if Jack wasn't even atempting to flirt with anyone. This was beyond serious.

"Jack," he said, his voice just as gentle as Amy's had been. "How did they die? How did your team die? How did Ianto die?"

In a way, Amy was almost a little proud of herself. She hadn't really expected to get anywhere with the stranger, but when he lifted his head and politely told her his name, she felt pride wash over her. However all that emotion drained out of her when she heard the Doctors voice, and she heard just what he was saying. He seemed...serious, and genuinely sorry for Jack. That in itself wasn’t surprising, but it made her realise just how bad the man's pain must have been.

Rory, who had been trying to not pay so much attention, looked up and straight at The Doctor, the tone of his voice sending shivers down his spine. He had never heard him talk like that, not that he could remember, and he was sure that it was something that he would never forget. When a man who had seen civilisations rise and fall, who had killed and been killed, when a man like that took on that tone of voice, it was much more powerful then anything else.

Both of them barely breathed, waiting for an answer to the terrible question that had been asked. Amy’s thoughts were on who this ‘Ianto’ could have been. He was obviously someone very close to him. The most important out of whoever his ‘team’ was referring to. Rory was trying to work out just who that man was. The word Captain had caught him a little off guard, and he didn’t look anything like a captain. He was obviously also an American, his voice showed that. Maybe he was a time traveller too? The idea confused him. How many people were there jumping between places in time?

Looking at The Doctor, and then back at Jack, Amy couldn’t help but feel that everything had got a lot heavier. In a way, she almost felt sad herself. Not once in her travels with The Doctor had she ever seen anyone who seemed so utterly destroyed, who seemed so hurt. If The Doctor had made a point to know who he was, he must have been a good person...and yet there was just so much pain in his eyes.

"Ianto, he..." Jack trailed off, choking slightly on the words. But he had to tell The Doctor, had to make himself understood. The Doctor had traveled with companions over the years and he'd lost them, had had to move on. How had he done it? How had he managed to just move on? Were all the partings peaceful or had any been as violent as the one he had suffered when losing Ianto. He had to know. He had to tell The Doctor what happened. "He died in my arms. He...he was poisoned, they all were, the entire building! They didn't care who they hurt just as long as they got them, got the children. I begged them, begged them to take anyone else but him but they didn't. They took Ianto away from me..."

As Jack finished talking a wave of sorrow passed through The Doctor. No wonder Jack was in such a state. He didn't know the whole story though. Who had wanted children? What on earth had he missed in the last few years of earth time? He quickly glanced around himself, taking in the surroundings before turning back to Jack. "We shouldn't be talking out here like this," he told Jack and his two companions quietly. "Normally I wouldn't mind but anyone could be listening in. Do you have anything you need to take? He glanced over at the TARDIS meaningfully, silently indicating that Jack could come with them if he so wished.

"Nothing worth saving," Jack murmured. He hadn't traveled here with much, just the clothes he owned, a little money and a few photos of himself and Ianto taht he kept in a secret inside pocket of his greatcoat. He wouldn't let those pictures leave his person, refused to relieve himself of their comforting weight. They were all he had to remember Ianto by, those pictures and his memories.

"Come on then," The Doctor instructed. "Amy, Rory, help me get him to the TARDIS will you?" Without waiting for a response The Doctor quickly turned and began to make his way towards The TARDIS, silently contemplating exactly what he was going to do once the Captain was aboard the TARDIS. Normally the TARDIS couldn't stand to be around Jack after all, she'd ran all the way to the end of time to get away from him once and what a fiasco that had been. Still...she had taken them to this place at this specific time so...his mind completely made up The Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS again adn stepped inside. He left it open for his two, now three companions to enter. He hoped that Jack would respond to them. Amy had started well, managing to coax Jack to tell them his name. He figured that she'd be his best bet of getting Jack to open up further.

[[Nawh! Poor Jack, I feel really sorry for him!]]

Hearing the terrible words that Jack had said, and the harrowing, if undetailed account of what had happened, effected both Amy and Rory.

Rory looked at Jack for a moment, trying to understand the situation, to visualise his pain. Over his time at the hospital, he had seen a lot of people die, although he had never been close to them. Giving up, he decided there was no way he could truly relate. He had never really lost anyone that was close to him in the way that Jack had.

Amy watched The Doctor walk into the TARDIS and then looked back at Jack. She wanted to poor all her emotion and care into his life. She didn’t want to see him suffer, not like he was. Slowly, she opened her mouth to speak, a little cautious of her words. “If you’re going to be around for a little while, I want you to know that however small a comfort it may be, I’ll be looking out for you. Even if you don’t need me, I’ll be there, in all sincerity.”

Standing up, Amy held out her hand to help Jack up too. Even if he didn’t want her to be there, at least he would know that someone was. It didn’t seem like The Doctor was going to be the greatest source of comfort, not that she blamed him. Trying to seem a little friendlier, a tiny, warm smile appeared on her face, although her eyes remained full of empathy. It probably wasn’t the best way to meet new people, by telling them the worst experience that they could ever imagine.

Rory stood by the side, waiting for at least them both to be stood up before he joined them. Some how he felt outside the situation, as if he was only watching it on Television. Perhaps it was because he felt so utterly useless. He almost envied Amy at her skills with people. It was something he had always noticed about her, that without knowing a person she could feel so much towards them.

It wasn’t that Rory was unable to care, it was far from it. However, he didn’t believe that his particular brand of optimism would be the right thing to suddenly spring upon every one. When he wasn’t being optimistic, he could be devoutly caring and sympathetic, and could really show his passion towards a person. However, for him to do that, he needed to know the person and to understand at least some of who they were. Something that he had no chance to do with Jack. Instead he simply gave a soft smile whenever he saw eyes glance his way, trying to show that he wasn’t just oblivious.

((How do you think I feel? I'm the one writing it and all the time I'm doing it I'm thinking of that...THING named Children of Earth!))

Jack felt a small stab of something as The Doctor walked back to the TARDIS but couldn't really blame him. His presense caused a great deal of discomfort to teh Time Lord and he was honestly amazed that he, The Doctor, was willing to take him along in the first place. Amy's words broke through his thoughts and he looked at her. She was standing in front of him with an outstretched hand, waiting for him to take it. Should he though? Should he accept her atempt at comfort? She seemed to genuinely care that he was hurting and wanted to do something about it and that was a refreshing feeling but still...should he allow her to get close to him? She he allow himself to get close to others?

He lifted his head a little further and atempted a smile, shaking his head slightly and pushing himself to his feet. He was slightly unsteady but there was nothing major and soon he had his balance. He could feel the tear tracks drying on his cheeks even as he began to carefully make his way towards the TARDIS, his mind racing. He remembered that time when he'd ran towards the TARDIS, ran as fast as he could and hung on for dear immortality as the big blue box went whizzing through time and space to try and shake him off. Not really a comforting thought. Still the two companions, Amy and Rory were out here and the door was open. This was really happening. The Doctor was actually allowing him back into the TARDIS.

"Hurry up you lot!" The Doctor called from the TARDIS, walking back towards the door and poking his head around the edge of the blue outer coating. "We haven't got all day. Well we probably do but we don't need to spend so much time here do we? The sooner we're in the TARDIS the sooner we can leave."

Jack felt a stab of gratefulness towards The Doctor and his slightly impatient tone. It was still the same Doctor. He may have a different face but he could tell taht it was still him. He admired The Doctor for being able to keep up a happy outer impression even if on the inside he wasn't always as cheerful. Jack had learnt to do something similar over the years. This time though he thought that the emotion was real and honestly he was looking forward to getting away from this blue planet as well. He now knew why he'd been drawn back here, to meet The Doctor again. Now that that was done he could leave, leave and hopefully not come back for a while. It was quite a comforting thought. So with taht in mind he picked up his pace a little and made his way inside the TARDIS. As he walked he occasionally glanced over at the other human who seemed to be trying his best to give sympathy but wasn't quite sure how to do so or how to relate to Jack. That was alright though. He seemed genuine like Amy and that was enough for Jack at the moment.

They both watched as Jack started the short walk back to the blue box. Amy let her hand drop back to her side, and Rory walked back over to her. "I did not expect this." It was true. Whenever the TARDIS landed, he was already getting prepared to fear for his life, Amy's life and The Doctors, and anyone else who was standing around. He was trying to imagine the most horrifying creatures he could, to take the sting off when he actually met one of them. Yet he had never prepared himself in case they had bumped into someone who needed their help emotionally like Jack.

Amy shook her head, and they both started to walk slowly back the the doors of the TARDIS. "Things have got...weird lately. With everyone I think." She had been thinking it for a long time. The Doctor, although always mad, seemed to have a strangeness about him that he didn't often have. Sometimes she thought it was because of the constant threat of loosing one of them, and almost loosing Rory now too many times. Yet, from what she had heard, he had already dealt with loss his whole life, so what could there be that made it any different?

Rory looked at her, knowing that she was right. He remembered all the times that she had tried to speak to him about things, and he had shrugged her off. Yet seeing Jack, lonely and in need of so much comfort, it had scared him a little. It wasn't such a big deal of him to keep stonewalling the red head, but one day, he might really need her and then she wouldn't be there any more, and he would curse every missed opportunity. "Maybe later we could talk about it." The way he said it, it wasn't quite defeat and it wasn't quite a question. It was an offer, to perhaps share some things with Amy to ease her mind.

Now at the doors of the TARDIS, Amy looked at him with surprise in her eyes. That was certainly not what she had been expecting. She wanted to reply, but with the others in ear shot she decided to instead smile and nod. If Rory was having a few problems, perhaps telling The Doctor and a total stranger about them wasn't the best idea.

As Amy looked into the massive interior of the magical box, she had an itch in the back of her head. It was a similar feeling to when she forgot that she was doing things, but all she had been doing was walking back. She thought hard for a moment, to right back to the start of the day, and what she had been doing then. She was determined to remember, however small the thing she had forgotten was.

Reflexively Jack found himself tuning into the small conversation taking place behind him as Amy and Rory followed him. He paused slightly at the entrance to The TARDIS and stared inside for a moment, almost unsure whether he should enter or not. The Doctor saw his hesitation and beckoned him inside. Swallowing a sudden lump in his throat Jack strode accross the thresh hold and once again found himself in the massive space of the TARDIS main control room.

The Doctor looked back to Jack as he saw the immortal man enter the TARDIS. He could understand Jack's slight hesitation at re-entering his beautiful machine. He still remembered how maazing it had been the first time he'd set foot in her all those years ago...but now was not the time to be getting nostalgic. It was time to get to work. He tapped his chin in thought. He was pretty sure that there was still the room that Jack had used when they'd still traveled together. He didn't think it had been deleted. He'd never intended for Jack to return to the TARDIS do why had he kept the room? Oh well, it didn't matter now.

"Do you still remember where your room is?" The Doctor asked, turning fully to face the 61st century man. "If I remember right it's a couple doors down from where Amy and Rory stay."

Jack paused for a moment, thinking it over. He ran through the mental map of the small section of the TARDIS that he could recall visiting. He knew that the place was massive and he knew for a fact that he had probably only been in about 3/50ths of it's rooms if that. But he'd been housed pretty close to the control room so he thought he'd be able to find where he'd stayed. "I think I can manage," he finally told The Doctor. "My memory hasn't started to go just yet." He tried to make a joke, to lighten the mood a little athough he was quite sure that it didn't actually work all that well. Really he hadn't expected it to. He glanced around before locating the stairs and gingerly began to make his way towards them.

"Amy," The Doctor called. "Go with him would you? Just in case he gets lost. His old room should only be a couple down from yours if I remember right."

While the two men had been standing around, talking and thinking, Amy had been racking her brain trying to remember what it had been that had bothered her as she walked in. The next thing that Rory knew, Amy had launched herself over the side of the platform and was trying desperately to grab something that was laying on the floor just out of her reach.

As she heard her name called, she jumped back up. On her red hair, the pirates hat once again sat, along with the matching coat. The sword however was missing, which Rory regarded as a small miracle. “Aye-aye sir!” Walking in the direction that Jack had walked in, she smiled and winked at both of the boys playfully before jogging to catch up with Jack.

This left Rory completely alone with The Doctor and the huge control panel of the TARDIS. For a few moments, he just stood there, feeling a little bit awkward. Perhaps it was because of how effected he had been by how The Doctor had reacted to seeing Jack. That serious that had been in his voice and his eyes...it was something that he had never really seen before. He supposed that he should just assume that he didn’t really know anything about The Doctor at all, but it was harder to do then it should have been.

“So, do you have any idea where we'll go next?” At least even when he didn’t really have anything to say, there was always memories to talk about, or plans for the future. Well, he highly doubted that The Doctor actually planned anything, he was pretty sure he just went along with whatever seemed to happen at the time.

Once she had caught up with Jack, she slowed down a little and walked next to him. Putting out her hand she smiled and looked at him. “I didn’t really introduce myself properly. Amy Pond, Human.” That sounded a little strange, and she tried not to giggle. It wasn’t every day that ‘human’ was a useful response when introducing herself.

Jack heard a little comotion behind him as he walked but didn't turn around. When he felt a presense come up behind him and then beside he turned his head and blinked at Amy as he took in the new additions to her outfit. Was that a pirate hat? Well...that was definitely a new one. It looked completely authentic too...then again knowing The Doctor they'd probably been on some sort of ship not too long ago. He had to say the look suited her, the dark fabric of the hat complimenting her bright red hair. She seemed to like the jacket as well. Not that he could really say anything since he was wearing his traditional navy blue greatcoat.

The introduction she gave almost startled him into a laugh. His mouth curved up slightly into a smile at least but not quite a laugh. His face had lightened a little though. "Nice to meet you mis Amy Pond. Captain Jack Harkness at your service, resident fixed point in time and general annoyance." He couldn't really explain why he'd said what he'd said, only that it had felt...almost natural to say it. He suposed it was because she was a companion of The Doctor that he'd mentioned that. He wasn't about to go spewing out the little fact taht he was technically immortal though. Let her figure it out. He paused for a moment, remembering where he was and making a right turn. If he remembered right his room should be near teh end of this corridor. He wondered if it would be the same as the last time he'd stayed in the TARDIS.

Meanwhile in the control room The Doctor was pondering Rory's question. It was a good question. Where to go now that they had Jack on board? He had planned to go to one of the outer planets in the Veraxion system but he suposed taht having Jack on board now changed his plans a little. He tapped his chin in thought, bounding around the TARDIS main console and pushing odd buttons or pulling odd leavers, only half paying attention to what he was doing. The other half of his mind was focusing on the remaining human in the control room. It felt...different when he and Rory were alone without Amy. It wasn't a good different or a bad different as far as he could tell. It was just...different. He wasn't quite sure what had caused it though. Was it just the lack of Amy's presense or was it something else.

"Not sure yet," he answered truthfully. "Last time Jack was in here we'd ended up going all the way to the end of the universe, not on purpose mind you, but seems she's more stable this time so...let's just see where she takes us shall we?"

((Just curious have you watched the lastest episode? That may be a good one to incorperate into this fic cuz of the relationship because of what happened.))

[[*wails* I am a bad person! I have still not watched it, and my family is watching DVD's on the TV....*cryface* At this rate, I'm going to have to watch it and then watch the next one right after!]]

Amy laughed after he had introduced himself. It had been a while since she had talked to someone like him. “Oh I’m sure you’re not all that bad.” Perhaps it would be nice to have someone new around for a little bit. Some one who she didn’t know quite as well. “Well, I’m sure It’s going to be nice to have you around Captain.” Not sure if he would rather her leave him alone then, or try and continue on with the conversation, she just smiled and waited to see what he would say next. The poor guy must have had a hard day, and she wouldn’t blame him for locking himself away for at least a little while, although she didn’t want that.

“It’s when you say things like that I end up feeling less safe then I already do.” Part of it was almost a sort of casual joke, but there was at least some parts of truth. They had all been in so much danger, not just lately, but since the whole journey with The Doctor began. They had all nearly been shot, eaten and Rory had now died at least twice...Amy had been kidnapped by the Silence. Yet they all still stayed, quite happily in the TARDIS with The Doctor. It was as if no matter what happened, just The Doctor being there would mean that even death was okay.

Still, when he said things about the TARDIS and it going off on its own, it did make him a little bit scared that some day they were all going to end up somewhere they couldn’t get out of. It also didn’t really ease his mind that out of the huge control panel of the TARDIS, Rory was pretty sure that most of them had never been used, and that once or twice he had seen important looking parts of it used to hang things on. Yet, even though he knew there wasn’t any guaranty of anyone’s safety, they never really minded. Somehow, The Doctor and the crazy other-worldness of it all made it all seem too dream like, until something bad happened, and it crashed down around them. Yet, even then, when the Doctor was doing whatever it was he did that fixed everything, and they were back in the TARDIS...it all just melted away.

In the silence after she had spoke, Amy wondered how The Doctor and Rory were getting along. Thinking about it, she couldn’t remember them actually ever having a real conversation. Well, she supposed that her and The Doctor had never really done that either. There was never enough time. It was always from one event to another, never stopping, never holding or waiting for anything usually. Once or twice, she had wondered if he would ever slow down for anything, but she had finally decided to stop wondering, and supposed that it was how he dealt with...well whatever it was that The Doctor had to deal with.

((The next episode is probably online. Hang on a minute...
Project Free TV :: Doctor Who (2005) :: Season 6
There, that should take you to Project Free TV and then jost go down a bit. You'll see a couple different links but they'll all play the episode. Some are better than others as far as I know but you should be able to watch the episode. Hope this helps. A friend uses this site all teh time and I've used it once or twice and it's usually quite good))

"You may change your mind after a while," Jack warned, half playfully. A small spark was beginning to return to his eyes. He wasn unaware of this of course as he couldn't see his reflection but whereas before his steel blue eyes had been cold and somewhat metalic looking without the coating of tears now they almost appeared to sparkle slightly in the glow from a nearby light. It wasn't anything close to what they usually reflected but it was something, it was an improvement.

He stopped outside the last door in this particular corridor. It was quite nondescript like the other doors surrounding them but he knew that this was his room. He brushed a hand against the door, almost worried to go in. What for? It couldn't have changed that much could it? He glanced at Amy out of the corner of his eye and mentally debated what to do. Should he ask her to stay or to go back to The Doctor and the other companion in the control room. What was his name again? Oh yes, The Doctor had called him Rory.

Finally he took in a light breath and opened the door. He stepped inside but left the door open for the moment. He looked around, memorising the familiar sight. It really hadn't changed much. It wasn't too fancy but it wasn't overly simple either. A bad was against the wall with a small bed side table and a build in wardrobe on the oposite wall. It looked exactly like he'd left it all those years ago, complete with teh unmade bed and the slightly ajar drawer on the bedside table. A smile played accross his face. He idly wondered if some clothes would still be in the wardrobe. It seemed likely. "It's good to be home," he muttered to himself.

The Doctor paused slightly at Rory's words. He turned to face the human and stared at him intently. "Rory," he said, his tone not harsh but firm. "I won't let anything happen to you or Amy. Okay, I haven't been able to help all the time in the past and I admit that but I can promise you that I will do everything in my power as a Time Lord to keep you safe." He wasn't sure where this internal conviction had sprung from but he knew that it had always been there, always at the back of his mind. He would protect Rory, he'd protect both his human companions. He'd even protect Jack if the immortal was willing to allow him to.

"You can count on that Rory." With taht he turned back to the console and flipped one last switch. The TARDIS juttered to life and began to make that all too familiar sound. The familiar spark appeared in The Doctor's eyes as he heard the sound of his TARDIS coming to life. He delicately ran his fingers over the edge of a nearby plate of metal, almost lovingly, as his fingers brushed against the cool but somehow not cool material.

Amy smiled as he spoke. It was better at least then the dampened tone he had spoken with back outside. Poking her head around the door, she took a look into his room. It was nice, probably much like all the other rooms she hadn’t been in. How big was this place? Often she thought about exploring, but didn’t much like the idea of becoming hopelessly lost in the maze of halls and different rooms. She knew that there was apparently at least one swimming pool, and at least one library.

Thinking about it, she suddenly felt a burst of interest into just how big it all was. “Hey, don’t have any string lying about do you Captain?” She smiled and looked back down the corridor. If she tied it to her bedroom door, then she could go off exploring without getting hopelessly lost and having to be rescued. Her smile widened at the thought of The Doctor, Rory and Jack also wandering around the giant maze of the TARDIS, all trying to find her.

Rory was a little surprised by his response, and felt as if he should have just kept his mouth shut. The Doctor’s words and the look in his eyes when he had spoken sent a small shiver down his spine. It wasn’t often that anyone looked at him like that, and it felt strange to say the least. When the Time Lord had turned back to the control panel, Rory was left feeling as if he should say something. It was then, in that moment as he thought hard what he wanted to say, he realised that neither he, nor Amy had probably ever said thank you.

Looking at the back of The Doctor, he suddenly knew what he wanted to say. Perhaps it was because of the dream like state that being inside the TARDIS created, or perhaps it was simply because it had never felt necessary, but there were suddenly a lot of things that he felt should have been said and hadn’t been. For a moment, he raised his hand and opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead turned around and ran his hand through his short hair.

He couldn’t do it. Perhaps it was too awkward, or just too unexpected, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He wasn’t the most articulate speaker, and so often he didn’t say things until it was too late, but even knowing this he instead swallowed his words and sighed at his attempt. ‘It was a stupid thing to do anyway, you would have looked like an idiot.’

Jack turned to Amy as she poked her head around the edge of the door. The hat somehow managed to tip slightly with her head and looked like it was about to fall to the right off her head. Almost without thinking he reached out a hand and straightened it before pulling his hand back, barely aware that he'd done it. He glanced down at his hand on confusion before dismissing it. It was probably just his 51st century upbringing coming into play.

"String?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her request. "And what exactly would you like string for?" He thought he might have a vague idea of what she wanted to do, he'd jokingly suggested something similar to The Doctor at one point, commenting that this place was like a maze. He remembered some of the old stories he'd heard when he was younger, some of teh old myths and legends that he survived time. The story of the man in teh labyrinth was one of them. The names had been lost but he could still remember the story. A man had gone into the labyrinth to face the beast at it's heart and then had to find his way out again. The way he'd done this was by using string to mark where he'd ben. A genius idea and one that had been used in various forms throughout human history.

As The Doctor turned back to Rory he got the impression taht the human wanted to say something. Exactly what it was he couldn't be sure but he somehow knew that whatever it had been had been something that Rory had really wanted to say. When the human turned away the Doctor felt a streange sense of dissappointment wash over him but couldn't udnerstand why. Was Rory still taht nervous around him? You'd think he'd be used to taht after all these years of traveling with human companions. Or was Rory just not sure how to say whatever it was he wanted to say? That would make sense too but then again was it his presense that was making it difficult.

Finally The Doctor decided that he probably wasn't going to get an answer by going around and around in circles like this in his head so put the matter out of his mind for the moment. He glanced to the stairs and raised an eyebrow when he didn't sense either Jack or Amy coming back to teh control room yet.

"You think they've got lost?" he commented offhandedly to Rory. He doubted it but hopefully his comment would lighten the mood, even a little.