A/N: This is a sequel to The Truth Complex. Picking up a few months after. I don't know if I'll finish. I have a plan, but I don't know how I feel about writing this. I decided that I was going to try. I also feel like posting will make me want to keep writing. Oh, and the science of these things is not my strong suit. So, please don't judge me on that aspect. Read and hopefully you'll enjoy. ^_^

ONE

The engines were phasing. The control room shook. Cords flew out of their places. The Doctor and Amy fell over themselves, hands gripping the console to remain upright. It was in every way a typical flight, except that everything at once seemed to be fizzling out of control. The situation had gone from standard to 'oh, that should not be on fire' when smoke began to rise from the temporal stabilizer.

"I said flip it, Amy!"

"I'm trying."

Amy hauled herself off her knees and flipped the main stabilizer, but the TARDIS spun even more out of control and she was jerked sideways. The Doctor looked at his ship, trying to figure out what she wanted. She was in one of her moods, which had been happening more and more frequently. He got vague readings from the monitors and all of them were borderline paradoxical. Something was making his ship sick and he couldn't figure out what it was. Right then, all he needed to do was get her to land. In one piece. Not on fire. And not kill himself and Amy in the process. "Right, easy enough." He said aloud, shouting a quick "nothing" when Amy asked him to repeat himself.

When the ship finally stopped and the final dying sounds of it phasing subsided, Amy let go of the console. The Doctor rubbed his hands together as he rushed for the monitor.

"Okay. Could of done without all the crashing around bit, but let's see where you've taken us." He mumbled. He turned a few dials, flipped a switch, and hit his palm on a button that was flashing green at him. He studied the monitor. "Huh. Not really sure…" He tapped the screen with a knuckle. "Date's a bit muddled, but it seems like our location is sound. The last planet in the…Athello galaxy." He looked around the screen at Amy briefly. "Long way from Earth."

"So, not colonial America, I take it." She asked as he flit about the controls.

"Not quite America, no." That had been there destination and the TARDIS had spat them out nearly as far from there as possible.

"So, we landed somewhere else? Happening a lot lately. Something wrong with her?"

"I…have no clue. Something's got her out of sorts, but none of these findings are making much by way of sense." He twisted a handle and hit a few buttons on the typewriter keys, and then stopped. "Well. Right now I suggest we let her rest. Smoke seems to be settling so there's a good sign. Not sure why we've landed here, but, I find, there is usually a reason. So, shall we?" He motioned to the door, his fingers rubbing together as he waited for her to stop frowning.

"Shouldn't we stay and try to like…fix the ship or something?"

"Well, good thing about Trillvianaria, very technologically advanced. If we're going to stop on a planet to find possible supplies for a Type 40 TARDIS, this would be my fourth choice. So, how 'bout it then? Always fun to visit a new planet. Well, new for you. Not so much for me."

Amy glanced at the door and then set her hip against the console. She examined a fingernail. "Sound great." She took another step toward him and he turned away from the console, leaning on it with one hand. "This going to be our first official date, then?"

The Doctor tipped sideways, his hand bumping something that nearly sent the TARDIS into another frenzy. He set it right quickly and ran a hand through his hair. "Well. Ha...you know, I'm rather excited to see why exactly she brought us here, what do you say. Coming?" He jumped down the stairs leading to the door, effectively dodging her grasp with a small twirl.

Amy rolled her eyes. "You're not avoiding this forever." She called over her shoulder.

"Oh yes I am." He sing-songed in response, spinning in front of the door to wait for her.

When Amy finally crossed the control room to meet him, the Doctor was staring at her solemnly, hands in his pockets. She poked his shoulder. "We'll see who lasts longer. I can persist forever if I have to." She eyed him dangerously. "Do not underestimate me."

"I don't think I could underestimate you." He smiled lightly and leaned toward her, his voice quiet. "I'm nearly one thousand years old, Amy Pond. It's not possible for you to outlast me."

She put her nose next to his, her voice low and serious. "I wouldn't bet on that."

He looked down at her. "What're you trying to imply?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that." She tapped his nose with her finger. "Just consider that you're starting to make me very cross and I don't play nice when I'm cross." She winked and then grabbed his collar down to her level so she could kiss him on even ground.

He kept his hands in his pockets and didn't have time to return the kiss before she was releasing him. She moved her hands from his shirt to the door. Adjusting his bow tie, the Doctor took a sharp breath. "Now. I have only been here a few times myself, but it's a must see. Feel free to look around, I'll just keep an eye out for anything useful." He began. The problem was more serious than he was letting on, but it was easier to just let Amy go with the flow and not worry too much. The TARDIS was old, she'd sort herself out. And he had a feeling the problem wasn't something he'd be able to sort out mechanically.

The last few places they'd gone there'd been issues. Technology off by a two years, a historical figure dying a few days earlier than planned. A left turn instead of a right one. Little things that just didn't seem right, but nothing that seriously disturbed the balance of time. He'd mentioned most of this to Amy, but he hadn't linked any of those problems to the TARDIS until a few days ago. Best wait until there was more to go on.

Amy grinned, always filled with that eager excitement, that restless need for the new and exciting. "Let's go." She pushed open the door and the Doctor strolled out behind her.

The TARDIS had landed on a sidewalk in the metropolis, Jhenmor. Buildings, the tops lost in the icy clouds, surrounded them. Walkways and lines of traffic rose at levels above and below them. The sounds of the city both deafening and ongoing. Water cascaded from fountains in various streams down into the lower depths of the city and trees and rocks decorating the organic structures. The buildings were the very picture of an advanced city, with the fountains and waterfalls bringing it a natural rustic quality. The entire city hung between past and future.

Amy, once her eyes had adjusted, took a deep breath and wrinkled her nose, but the Doctor sniffed deeply. "My…God, what is that?" She put a hand over her nose.

"That, is the beginnings of Artron Generators." He smiled. "Must be a few decades from mastering the technology. The generators won't smell this bad for long. It's the basillium they're using to run the turbines." He sniffed in again. "Basillium and a hint of latex…" He moved to the edge of the buildings they were sandwiched between and glanced up and down the street.

"Yeah, all that and just…bad. Smells like bad…sewer…ugh. That's horrid." She pinched her nose.

The Doctor smiled. "That would be the sewer vein running along this wall. We must have landed in one of the bad neighborhoods. Not a lot of activity is there?" He asked, noting that their piece of sidewalk was completely empty and the rest above and below them were nicely filled.

"Right. That'd be it. Can we move somewhere less fragrant?" Amy walked into the street, moving as far from the odor as she could. Not one building she passed was similar. Some were sleek black with tinted windows. Some were made only of windows. Some were more bucolic with stone work and white-grey support beams protruding at the corners and at each level. Even the trees were more vibrant greens and duller browns Amy was used to, pure emerald leaves and trunks closer to ash in color.

"Well, it doesn't disappoint, does it?" She breathed. "Even those clouds seem brighter than from home." She sent him a cheeky smile, "Good choice. I approve."

"Approve?"

"Oh yeah. As far as first dates go, this is got to be up there." She winked and his smile grew more serious, like it always had when she had brought up anything on the subject of dates.

The Doctor watched Amy, who was pointedly looking at everything around her except him now. She was never going to make this easy. And he really preferred when things were easy. At least, when it came to these sort of problems. With a sigh he let his eyes follow some movement of people in the distance. He knew she'd want to do some looking around and the city grew more artistic and structured the higher you rose in level. The Avvaxi Mar Gardens were something of a legend here and in the next two galaxies.

It did not take Amy long to find a row of boutiques to window shop. She pointed and then jumped to the next window before he could even comment on what she was looking at. He just shook his head when she commented on the 'gorgeous' gems adorning a jacket and he didn't have the heart to tell her she was looking in the men's department. He really just hoped this was enough to distract Amy from her current mission of pinning him down with labels and obligations. Or maybe that was just how he felt about the situation. Like he was being pinned down. Caged. Ensnared. Captured. Take your pick.

He knew it had been a mistake to let her win even the minimal romantic relationship she'd snaked out of him. So far, nothing worse than a few rather intense make-out sessions had occurred. Avoiding anything more intimate had, on several of those occasions, been harder to forestall than he liked. But even with that, he could tell she was getting restless. She would start to demand more soon enough and he envisioned the entire situation as a hole that he was digging deeper and deeper and soon wouldn't be able to crawl out of.

Trying not to let his thoughts sour his mood, at least in a way that would be perceptible to Amy, he began to look inside the shop windows as they walked. The people, not exactly human, but humanoid enough for someone like Amy not to know the difference, ignored them for the most part. He followed Amy quietly. She seemed to be enjoying herself and her happiness made frowning rather difficult.

Amy had held up a finger for him to wait while she just checked on one thing in one of the boutiques, and he was happy to wait outside while she shopped. She had been in there much longer than the two minutes assured when a woman caught his eye. She was walking in the shadows of the buildings and he watched her struggle with her steps, finally falling to her knees on the walkway. Her hand was propped on the wall and she tried to right herself.

"Are you all right?" He asked, jogging up to her and offering a hand. The woman's neck creaked as she slowly twisted her head to the Doctor.

"I…" She began to run her tongue over her teeth, saliva dripping down her chin. Then she bit down, grinding her teeth together before lifting her head to look at him. "Yes." Was her reply as she twisted her neck and continued to limp down the street.

The Doctor kept pace with her. "Are you sure everything's fine? You seem to be having a bit of trouble standing." He had that itching curiosity building in the back of his head and he could feel something wrong with the situation. Something off.

The woman stopped, her back snapping straight and her head falling sideways. "Muscles…" She breathed, as if she were overjoyed to have them. Then she took a breath and righted her head and let her shoulders relax. Blinking, she turned her head more fluidly than the first time and smiled. "That is very kind of you, young man, but I assure you I'm just fine. You have a good day."

Before he could open his mouth she began taking confident steps down the street and seemed to have regained her footing. "Odd. Very odd." The Doctor waited until she was out of sight before turning to look for Amy. He took out his sonic and held it in the air, "Well," he examined the readings and then pushing it closed with his palm. "That is…very curious." He was all set to sprint off and begin investigating, but instead heaved a sigh. "Amy." With an agitated click of his tongue he went off to find her because the shopping was going to have to wait.

A/N: I already have a chapter two, so I will be posting that tomorrow. Reviews are appreciated. I do plan on working on this, but I am on a job hunt so I'm rather busy and that probably won't lesson when I actually find a job, so updating might be slow. Thank you for reading. ^_^