The man burst into the room, nearing breaking the door off its hinges, brandishing a sword. "Doctor!" he roared, looking about wildly.

Inside the room was a stool with a familiar tweed jacket and bowtie, amidst other clothing, draped over it. A canvas was mounted on an easel, depicting the Doctor standing on a cloud in a rather god-like pose holding a trident, a swirling red cloth being all that protected his modesty. Next to the canvas was a pallet and some paints. The artist, a young woman in a dress, backed away slightly as the man advanced into the room.

"Where is the Doctor?!" he demanded furiously.

The woman laughed nervously. "Doctor who?"

And perhaps the man might have left, if not for a sneeze coming from underneath the woman's skirt, betraying the presence of a third person in the room. The man's eyes narrowed, and he used the tip of his sword to lift up the hem of the woman's long skirt. A rather embarrassed and naked Doctor peeked out.

"You know, this isn't really as bad as it looks."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Rory was unpacking groceries in their modest house while Amy read aloud from a history book.

"'At the personal intervention of the King, the unnamed doctor was incarcerated without trial and the Tower Of London'," she read out.

"Okay, but it doesn't have to be them," Rory replied, looking up. "Besides, where's Jenny in this?"

"'Two nights later'," she continued, "'a magical sphere some twenty feet across was seen floating away from the tower, bearing the mysterious doctor and a young woman aloft'."

That caused him to pause. "Okay... it's them."

"But there's more!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Doctor, what can you see?" the man dressed in only his underclothes, lying on his stomach in the small passageway between ceiling and floor, looked up as he spoke.

The Doctor popped his head down the hole in the tunnel roof. "Is the commandant's office painted sort of a green color with a big flag on the wall?"

Almost on cue, alarms began to blare and searchlights flashed just out of view.

"...I think the answer's probably yes. Oh, Jen is going to kill me!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Lying side-by-side with Rory on the couch, Amy snapped the book shut with a sigh. "It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention, although Jenny doesn't seem too happy about it." A frown marred her features as a Laurel and Hardy film came up on the television screen. "Are you watching this again?"

"I've explained the jokes..."

Amy just shook her head and went up to get the door as the bell rang.

"So what are you saying?" he called, sitting up and moving the book over into his lap. "Do you really think they're back there trying to wave to us out of history books?" He looked down at the book, flipping through the pages and missing the Doctor appearing onscreen in the movie wearing a fez on top of his head, wandering over and joining the two actors in a small dance number. He did glance back up in time, however, to see Jenny appear as well and pull her father offstage.

"It's the sort of thing they'd do," Amy called back, taking a letter from the postman after signing for it.

"Yeah, but why?"

"He said he'd be in touch." Amy wandered back over and leaned against the back of the couch.

"Two months ago."

"Two months is nothing," she dismissed. "They're up to something, I know they are. I know them."

As she spoke, she had been opening the letter, but as she read the words on the paper she suddenly grew still. Rory took note and frowned in concern. "What is it? Amy?"

"A date, a time, a map reference..." She looked up. "I think it's an invitation."

"From who?" Her husband sounded skeptical. Amy took a moment to read the letter again.

"It's not signed," she reported, tossing it at him. "But look, TARDIS blue!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The guard in a high-level security cellblock of Stormcage was incredibly confused. "You'd better get down here, sir," he said, speaking into a phone. "She's doing it again." A pause. "Doctor Song, sir. She's... packing. Says she's going to some planet called... America."

Inside her cell, overhearing the conversation, River could only smile as she tapped in the coordinates on her Vortex Manipulator and disappeared in a flash of light.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The bus stopped and Amy and Rory stepped out onto the pavement, both carrying heavy backpacks and waving to the bus driver as he drove off.

"Um, this is it, yeah?" Amy asked, looking at Rory. "The right place?"

Rory looked around and shrugged. "Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it."

"Howdy!"

They turned to see the Doctor lying on the hood of a red station wagon from the 1960s, his elbows propping him up slightly. He was wearing his customary tweed jacket and bow tie, and there was a stetson perched on top of his head.

"Doctor!" Amy exclaimed, and he grinned.

"Ha-ha!" he laughed, jumping off the car. "It's the Ponds! Pond One and Pond Two! Hello, Ponds, come here!"

He wrapped Amy in a hug, who returned it eagerly.

"So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" she joked.

The Doctor beamed back like a child who just received a compliment from his parents. "Did you see me?"

"Of course!" she laughed. "Stalker!"

"Flirt!"

"Husband," Rory pointed out.

The Doctor turned around and grinned at the other man. "And Rory the Roman! Oh, come here!" He hugged Rory as well before taking a step back to glance between the two of them. Judging by the way he was grinning, the two humans could only assume that it had been longer since he had seen them than it had been for them seeing him; he could have been traveling for years during the two months they'd been apart (and if that wasn't a confusing sentence they weren't entirely sure what was).

"Hey, nice hat," Rory commented.

The Doctor touched the brim of the stetson and smiled. "I wear a stetson now," he told them proudly. "Stetsons are cool."

At that moment, a gunshot rang out, blowing the hat off the Doctor's head and causing all three of them to jump and look around wildly. But the Doctor turned around, and his eyes landed on River, who was standing on the far side of the road.

"Hello, sweetie," she called.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

They gathered in a nearby diner, Rory insisting on driving the red car the Doctor had brought since he felt he was the only one who was qualified. Amy, as he told them, only won her driver's test since she was wearing a skirt, the Doctor could hardly pilot the TARDIS, and no offense River but he really didn't know her that well yet.

River just laughed and handed him the keys.

Now the Doctor and River sat at a table while Amy and Rory ordered sodas for them at the counter.

"Right then, where were we?" River asked, pulling out her journal. "Have we done Easter Island yet?"

The Doctor was flipping through the pages of his own, identical TARDIS-blue journal, until he stopped and pointed to a page. "Yes, I've got Easter Island!" he exclaimed.

"They worshiped you there," River smirked as Amy and Rory came back. "Have you seen the statues?"

The Doctor cleared his throat, continuing to look through the journal entries. "Jim the Fish?"

She beamed. "Oh, Jim the Fish! How is he?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Still building his dam."

Rory, now sitting next to the Doctor and across from Amy, glanced between the two of them. "Sorry, what are you doing?"

"They're both time travelers, so they never meet in the right order," Amy explained, having met River once before and remembering a conversation she'd had with Jenny on the topic. "They're syncing their diaries. Although..." She frowned slightly, looking at the Doctor with a scrutinizing gaze. "Jenny has one too, doesn't she? Why isn't Jenny here?"

The Doctor smiled, but even they could tell that it was strained. "She couldn't make it," he said lightly, his tone not matching the expression on his face at all. "She'd planned something with Sarah Jane a while back and didn't tell me... kids these days..."

Amy continued to look at him, but chose to let the subject drop in exchange for a new one. "Okay, then, well, you tell her we said hello. Now, what's happening? Because you've been up to something."

He let out a long sigh, slipping the diary back into one of his many pockets. "I've been running..." he told them after a moment. "Faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop, and I'm going to need you all with me."

"Okay, we're here." Amy's confidence was unwavering even as her worry increased. "What's up?"

"A picnic!" he said. "And then a trip. Somewhere... different, somewhere brand new."

"Where?"

They were all hanging on his every word now.

He smiled.

"Space. 1969."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The picnic blanket and food had been packed into the trunk of the car, so they all drove to a nearby lakeside (the Doctor insisted on it, something about the view) and set everything up. The Doctor was lying on his side while the others sat back, lounging comfortably with glasses of wine in their hands.

"Salut!" the Doctor said, raising the wine bottle in a toast.

"Salut!" the other three echoed, smiling.

"So, when are we going to 1969?" Rory asked, taking a sip from his glass.

"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy added, looking at the Doctor

"I'm 1103, I must have drunk it some time," the Doctor said dismissively, taking a sip straight from he bottle. A second later he made a face and spat it out. "Oh, wine's horrid!" he exclaimed. "I thought- I thought it would taste more like the gums."

Amy shook her head fondly. "1103? You were 908 the last time we saw you."

He shrugged. "And you've put on a couple of pounds. I wasn't going to mention it..."

Amy shot him a mock-glare, then took another sip of her wine, letting her gaze drift off up to the nearby rocky hills...

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she squinted into the sun, seeing a figure up on the edge of the sand dunes. "Who's that...?" she asked, glancing over at Rory.

Her husband frowned. "Who's who?" he asked her.

She blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"What did you see?" he repeated. "You said you saw someone."

She gave him an odd look. "No, I didn't."

The Doctor just watched, giving them a long look before shifting his gaze up to the small moon hanging in the light blue sky. "Ah! The moon, look at it!" The exclamation was a sufficient distraction, and they all shifted to the new topic. "Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you?" he laughed. "Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right."

"The moon landing was in '69," Rory pointed out. "Is that where we're going?"

A small smile played on the Doctor's lips, as though he knew something they didn't. Then again, he normally did, but he wasn't normally so obvious about it. "Oh, a lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers. Human beings..." He let out a long sigh. "I thought I'd never get done saving you." Behind them, up where they had parked their own car, a red pickup truck slowed to a halt. The Doctor set down the bottle of wine with a strange sense of finality before standing and raising a hand in greeting.

River got to her feet as well, but her gaze was fixed in horror on the lake.

"Oh my God!"

Amy stood with the others, staring at the... the astronaut that was knee-deep in the lakewater.

"You all need to stay back," the Doctor said firmly. "Whatever happens now, you do not interfere." They just stared back at him, eyes wide, confused, bordering on scared. "And Amy?"

The Scotswoman blinked and looked at him.

"When you see Jenny again, tell her I love her."

And with that, he turned and started to walk towards the lake.

"What did he mean?" Rory asked. "When we see Jenny again- tell her- what did he mean?"

Amy just shook her head faintly. "I don't know."

They watched in silence as the Doctor spoke to the astronaut, then took a couple steps backward, letting his head fall slightly. The astronaut raised his arm.

"What's he doing?" Amy whispered.

A green blast rippled outwards as the astronaut fired. Amy screamed.

"Doctor!"

River had to grab her to keep her from running forward.

"Amy! Stay back! The Doctor said stay back!"

Another blast, and the Doctor dropped to his knees, hands clawing at the shifting sand for balance.

"No!"

"You have to stay back!"

It was with a growing sense of horror that they stood, unable to move forward and unable to look away. The Doctor stumbled to his feet, still hunched over slightly, hair slightly askew and his hands starting to grow with an odd, ethereal sort of light, swirling golden around him. It started to cloud over his face as well, even as he turned and looked back towards the three still by the picnic blanket. They could hear his murmured words even there.

"I'm sorry."

The glow became brighter and more prominent as he started to slowly raise his arms out... only for the astronaut to fire a third and final shot from its weapon.

The glow vanished as a shockwave rippled across the lake, the Doctor fell to the ground, and as if some unseen spell had been broken they rushed forward across the sand.

"No! Doctor!"

"Doctor, please!"

Amy collapsed to the ground beside the Doctor, tears already streaming down her cheeks. Rory seemed to be frozen, staring at the too-still features of the Time Lord. River had her handheld scanner out and scanning, but they all knew what that flat, high-pitched tone meant.

He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be. He was the Doctor, he wasn't supposed to die, and he wasn't supposed to make them watch. And- Rory felt as though someone was ripping his heart out of his chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered kneeling down to hold Amy as she whispered broken, empty words into the Doctor's jacket, dimly heard River emptying bullet after bullet into the astronaut, which was seemingly unaffected, and walked back into the lake from where it came.

Jenny. Where was she? Did she- did she even know? The Doctor couldn't hide his emotions from them, very rarely was he good at doing that. Amy said her name and the Doctor looked years older, and his last message- she couldn't know. Not with him acting like that. She couldn't have known. What on Earth was he hiding...?

"Whatever that was..." River's voice was choked, but she managed to speak in a whisper through her tears. "It killed him in the middle of the regeneration cycle. His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one."

"Maybe..." Amy's voice was muffled as she spoke into her husband's shirt. "Maybe he's a- a clone, or a duplicate or something."

"I believe I can spare you some time."

It was the man from the truck. He had walked down the sandy path and up to the water's edge without any of them even noticing, and he stood next to them now with a solemn expression on his face and a gas can in his hands.

"That most certainly is the Doctor," the man said. "And he is most certainly dead." He gave them a pause to digest that before setting down the small can. "He said you'd need this."

The smell was easy enough to identify. "Gasoline."

"A Time Lord's body is a miracle," River said quietly. "Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell. We can't leave him here. Or anywhere."

"But what about Jenny?" Amy choked out, resting her head on the Doctor's chest as she realized he wouldn't wake up. "Where is she, Rory?"

"I don't know," he croaked. "But we're the Doctor's friend, so we do what the Doctor's friends always do."

He bent down to pick up the gas can.

"As we're told." He glanced back towards the water. "There's a boat. If we're going to do this... let's do it properly."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As the Doctor's body burned and Amy sobbed into Rory's arms, River turned to look at the man with a blank expression dangerously close to collapsing under grief.

"Who are you?" she finally managed to say hoarsely. "Why did you come?"

The old man pulled out an envelope. "Same reason as you. Dr Song... Amy... Rory." He nodded to each of them in turn, even as River took her own envelope out of her jacket to compare the two. "I'm Canton Everett Delaware III," he told them. "I won't be seeing you again, but... you'll be seeing me."

He left them with the cryptic message, picking up the gas can and turning to walk back to his truck.

"Four," River breathed, watching him go.

Rory frowned. "Sorry, what?"

She turned to look at him. "The Doctor numbered the envelopes."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You got three, I was two," River said as she continued with her explanation. They walked to a table at the far end of the diner, Amy trailing behind them, still in shock. "Mr Delaware was four."

"So?" Rory asked.

"So who's one?"

Rory paused. "You think he invited someone else? Could it be Jenny?"

River chose to answer the first question and ignore the second. "He must have, he planned everything down to the last detail."

"Will you shut up?" Amy finally broke into their conversation, her voice still monotone and gaze unfocused. "It doesn't matter."

"He was up to something," River said firmly.

"He's dead."

River shook her head. "Space 1969, what did he mean?"

"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter."

"Hey," Rory said in a placating tone, "it mattered to him."

"So it matters to us," River finished.

"He's dead," Amy repeated.

River continued to argue with her, but Rory had stopped, was staring at the table in the farthest back corner of the small diner, where a blue envelope rested next to two bottles of soda. Rory fumbled for words, finally coming out with a simple "Look" even though they were all already staring.

He shook his head a couple times to clear it, then looked over at the man behind the counter. "Excuse me, who was sitting over there?"

He shrugged, hardly glancing up. "Some couple, think they were siblings or something."

River hurried over to pick up the envelope. "The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages," she said quietly. "When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

Rory looked back at her. "Well... Your friends. People you trust."

She held up the envelope. "Number one. Who did the Doctor trust the most-?"

They were interrupted as the back door to the diner opened to let the Doctor stroll in with a straw in his mouth, Jenny following along behind, twirling her sonic screwdriver between her fingers like a baton. She'd finally gotten around to getting a new one – this time the light at the end was dark purple. When the two Time Lords saw the group, they both grinned and the Doctor pointed excitedly.

"This is cold," was all River could say, too shocked to even glare. "Even by your standers, this is cold."

His grin faded slightly, but not entirely. "Or, "Hello!" as people used to say."

"Doctor?" Amy whispered. "Jenny?"

"He wanted to get his special straw." Jenny shrugged, her expression resigned. "Apparently it adds more fizz."

Amy just shook her head, walking around both of them in a slow circle before poking the Doctor in the forehead. "You're okay," she mumbled. "How can you be okay?"

"Of course we're okay, we're always okay." The two quickly pulled her into a hug, oblivious as to what was wrong but clearly something was wrong. "I'm the King of Okay, and Jen's- actually, no never mind, that's a rubbish title, forget that title." He pressed a kiss to the top of Amy's head before looking over at Rory. "Rory the Roman, that's a good title. Hello, Rory!"

He hugged Rory too, Jenny following suit, then turned to River with a cocky smile.

"And Dr River Song... oh, you bad, bad girl, what trouble have you got for me this time?"

It seemed to be enough to snap River out of her daze, because a moment later the Doctor had spun partway around, his hand to his stinging cheek. Warily he looked back, straightening up and hoping she wouldn't slap him again because that actually hurt...

"Okay," he said after a moment. "I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet."

River nodded curtly. "Yes, it is."

He smiled again, throwing his arm over Jenny's shoulders. "Good, looking forward to it!"

"But I don't understand." It was Rory's turned to hesitantly walk forward and poke the Doctor. "How can you be here?"

"We were invited," Jenny spoke up. "Well, I was, that envelope wound up in my room in the TARDIS which is more than a little bit creepy, and so we decided to tag along. Date, map reference, you've got the same thing, yeah? Unless this is a coincidence, which is also kinda creepy."

"Amy," River spoke up suddenly. "Ask him what age he is."

"That's a bit personal-"

"Tell her," she interrupted. "Tell her what age you are."

A pause, where the Doctor glanced between the three of them, more confused than he had been when Jenny had come into his room on one of the rare nights that he actually slept holding a blue envelope in her hands and looking rather pale.

"Nine hundred and nine?" he finally replied, wondering if it was a trick question.

"But you said you were-"

"Yeah, but you said-"

"So where does that leave us, then?" River's demanding question was louder than the stunned murmurs of the two Ponds. "Jim the Fish? Have we done Jim the Fish yet?"

He snorted at the odd name. "Who's Jim the Fish?"

"I don't understand," Amy said after a couple of moments.

"...Yeah, you do," Rory replied, not looking like he quite understood it himself.

"We don't!" Jenny said brightly. "What are we all doing here?"

"We've been... recruited," River finally said, doing her best to choose her words carefully. "Something to do with space, 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware III."

She's hiding something.

Obviously, Jen.

"Recruited by who?" the Doctor asks, turning around to pick up his soda.

"Someone who trusts you two more than anybody else in the universe."

Jenny fixed her with a scrutinizing look. "And who's that?"

River's smile was strained, sad. "Spoilers."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"1969!" the Doctor exclaimed as he meandered around the console. Jenny was lounging in one of the chairs, toying with the settings on her sonic. "That's an easy one."

"Some years are easier than others," Jenny explained for their companions benefits, not quite registering that they were standing underneath the glass floor of the console talking and probably unable to hear them over their own conversation and the hum of the engines. "It's got to do with time and fixed points, kind of odd and doesn't entirely make sense, but that's time for you."

"1482 was full of glitches," the Doctor said with a serious nod. "Now then, Canton Everett Delaware III, that was his name, yeah?"

"Yeah," Jenny agreed.

"How many of those can there be?" he mused. "Well, three, I suppose..." He glanced around, seeing it was only the two of them standing around, their three companions underneath the console. "Jenny, is everybody cross with me for some reason?"

She glanced down through the glass floor. "Dunno..."

Underneath the glass, River, Amy, and Rory were, as a matter of fact, talking in hushed voices with one another.

"Can someone tell me why Jenny wasn't there?" Amy asked in a low tone.

Rory flinched. "Either something happened-" The ensuing glare from the other two women was enough to make him flinch. "Which it probably didn't! I'm not done with my sentence yet! Either something happened to her, which it most likely did not because the Doctor said we'd see her again, or he... he didn't tell her. Like he didn't tell us."

River sighed and looked down. "It's not like him."

"And... and that's a future version of him, right?" Amy asked. "Two hundred years older than the one up there?" When River nodded, her expression crumpled. "So he'll still die. We'll find out what happened to Jenny, and he'll still die."

"We're all going to do that, Amy," River pointed out quietly.

"We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves," Rory countered, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. "So the Doctor in the future, knowing he's going to die, recruits his past self and daughter and all of us to... to what, exactly? Avenge him?"

"Mmm, avenging's not his style." River shook her head in the negative.

"Save him," Amy blurted.

"That's not his style either."

"Save Jenny?"

The last one prompted them into a somber silence, gazing up through the glass floor at the father and daughter chasing each other around the TARDIS console. Finally, Amy stood up and crossed her arms.

"We have to tell him."

"We've told him all we can." River placed a hand on her arm to stop her from leaving. "We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacting with his own past, it could rip a hole in the universe."

"He's done it before," Amy sniffed.

"And, in fairness, the universe did blow up. And I was plastic for two thousand years, which isn't really an experience I would like to repeat."

"But he'd want to know!"

"Would he?" River looked at her sadly. "Would anyone?"

They jumped as the Doctor's head appeared upside-down at the edge of the console platform to look at them. "I'm being extremely clever up here, and there's no one to stand around looking impressed!" he said in frustration. "What's the point in having you all?"

He pulled back up, and they could hear Jenny's response to his statement. "What am I, then, pears?"

"You fly the TARDIS just as well as I do!"

"Not the point!"

"Couldn't you just slap him sometimes?" River called up. Jenny laughed.

The group of three started to head for the stairs, but Amy stopped them before they had gotten there. "We can't just let him die," she whispered. "We have to stop it. How can either of you be okay with this?"

River, for once, looked old beyond her years. "The Doctor's death doesn't frighten me, nor does my own. There's a far worse day coming for me."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The Doctor spun around the console, doing his very best to act as dramatically as he could for effect. His human companions didn't seem particularly impressed either, but they were certainly amused.

"Time isn't a straight line, it's all bumpy-wumpy," he was saying as he moved. "There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and again there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points when anything is possible! The TARDIS can't resist them, she loves a party, so Jen and I give her 1969 and NASA, 'cause that's space life in the '60s, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this is where she's pointing!"

"Washington DC, April 8th, 1969," Jenny read out for their benefit as they all shuffled closer.

Amy frowned. "...So why haven't we landed?"

"Because that's not where we're going," Jenny answered.

"Where are we going?" Rory asked them.

"Home!" the Doctor announced. "Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies. Doctor Song, back to prison. Me, I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911... or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes, one or the other."

"You have the knitting lessons," Jenny corrected. "I've got the biplane lesson."

He nodded before flopping down into a chair and rubbed his forehead, only looking up in annoyance as the others hesitantly walked forward.

"What?" he scoffed. "A mysterious summons? You think I'm just going to go?" He shook his head, his voice suddenly turning quite cold, leaving River to glare, the humans to shiver, and Jenny to look on impassively. "Who sent those messages? I know you know, I can see it in your face. Don't play games with me – don't ever, ever think that you're capable of that."

River tilted her head up slightly. "You're going to have to trust us this time."

"Trust you?" The Doctor sighed, but nodded, standing up. "Sure. Why not. I know Jenny does, to an extent. But first of all, Dr Song, just one thing. Who are you? You're someone from my future, getting that, but who?"

The archeologist couldn't bring herself to answer, which was the answer the Doctor was expecting.

"Okay... why are you in prison? Who did you kill?" Each question was met with silence, and he nodded again. "I love mysteries, me, but trust you? Seriously?"

"Trust me."

The words caused him to pause and look over at Amy, the Scotswoman being the one who had spoken up. Jenny finally came to her father's side and shot him a brief glance.

You're scaring them, Dad.

I don't like it when people hide things from me-

You're scaring me.

Jenny...

This isn't like you, Dad. And I swear, if this is about-

Jenny. It's okay. I'm sorry.

...Okay.

"Okay," Jenny repeated aloud.

"You have to do this," Amy told them, not backing down. "And you can't ask why."

The shaking note in her voice had them almost worried.

"Are you being threatened?" he asked her quietly. "Is someone making you say this?"

It was doubtful. This was Amy, once she had her mind set to something, that was that and no one could tell her otherwise.

"No."

"You're lying."

They did have to make sure, however.

"I'm not lying."

"Swear to us," Jenny said after a moment. "Swear on something that matters."

Promise us that things can go back to normal.

A faint smile pressed at the corner's of her mouth. "Fish fingers and custard."

The Doctor went to the scanner.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"So!" the Doctor announced, spinning around the console while Jenny read off a string of information, River, Amy, and Rory crowded around her so they could see as well. "Canton Everett Delaware III!"

"Ex-FBI, got kicked out," the Time Lord's daughter informed. "Doesn't say why; six weeks after he left the Bureau, the President contacted him for a private meeting."

"1969, who-"

"Richard Milhous Nixon," came the prompt response, before the Doctor could even get the rest of his sentence out. Jenny's amused gaze found him on the opposite side of the console. "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one here."

"I am the smart one!" he replied, offended. "You're just the one with common sense."

"Hah!" She grinned before going back to the screen. "Anyway, Vietnam, Watergate..."

"There's some good stuff too," River pointed out.

"Not enough," the Doctor called.

"Hippie!"

"Archeologist."

"Don't flirt in front of me," Jenny muttered, looking away. "Just don't."

The Doctor actually snickered. "Okay! Since we don't know what we're getting into, I'm being discreet, putting the engines on silent."

"But I thought-"

He flipped a switch and walked away, a loud metallic screeching filling the room. Jenny glared, leaning over to flip another switch, and the screeching stopped. Just as quickly, the Doctor hurried back around to eye her suspiciously. "Did you do something, Jen?"

"No," she replied with a straight face. "Just watching, just like everyone else."

After a pause in which he eyed her suspiciously, he went back to wondering around the console panels. "Putting the outer shell on invisible. Haven't done this in a while, big drain on the power!"

As he switched a lever, blinding spotlights came on from, seemingly out of nowhere, and River rolled her eyes as she pulled another lever so that they could see again. Jenny shot her a tired look, which the older woman gladly returned.

"I fly it better than he does," the Time Lady murmured. River smiled.

"You can turn the TARDIS invisible?" Rory questioned, blinking spots out of his eyes.

"Almost," Jenny corrected. "With help."

The Doctor paused to come back to their group. "Did you touch something?"

River plastered the most innocent expression she could manage onto her face. "Just admiring your skills, sweetie."

"Good! You might learn something!" Jenny clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Now, I can't check the scanner, it doesn't work when we're cloaked, so just give me a moment!"

And he rushed out the door.

The four watched as the doors shut behind him. Jenny shook her head and tweaked a couple of the controls for the scanner to flicker to life.

"...Idiot," Amy said after a moment. "He landed us in the Oval Office."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Fortunately, both President Nixon and an as of yet unnamed man had their backs turned as the Time Lord stepped out of the TARDIS, the doors shutting invisibly behind him, leaving nothing but seemingly empty air in their place. A recorded phone call was playing.

"Hello?" His attention sharpened as Nixon's recorded voice began to play. "This is President Nixon. Who's calling? … Is this you again?"

"Mr President?"

"A child?" the other man asked, and the Doctor took a couple steps closer. Oh, that would be Canton! Good, he was here already. That saved time.

"This is the President, yes."

"I'm scared, Mr President. I'm scared of the Spaceman."

"A little girl?" Canton asked.

Nixon shook his head. "Boy."

"How can you be sure?"

In response, he nodded at the recording, still playing.

"What space man? Where are you phoning from, where are you right now? Who are you?"

"...Jefferson Adams Hamilton."

"Jefferson, listen to me-"

The Doctor started to take notes as the phone hung up with a click, and all the recording played then was a dial tone. Canton looked at it for a few moments before speaking.

"Surely this is something the Bureau could handle, sir?" the man asked after a moment.

"These calls happen wherever I am," Nixon countered. "How do I know the Bureau isn't involved? I can't trust any-"

And at that moment he turned, freezing at he saw the Doctor. Canton slowly turned as well, but the Doctor, oblivious, kept writing in his notebook. He looked up, motioning at them to continue, but after a few moments of stunned silence he seemed to notice.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Hello! Um..." He smiled weakly, glancing around as though he hadn't quite realized where he was. "Oh, look, this is the Oval Office! I was looking for the... Oblong Room, yes. I'll- I'll just, ah, I'll... um. I'll just be off then, shall I?"

Turning on his heel, he promptly walked into the TARDIS and fell over.

Groaning, he got back up, rubbing his face. "Don't worry, it always does that when it's cloaked," he began, only to have Canton tackle him to the floor. Nixon having pressed a button for security, several Secret Service agents entered with their guns drawn.

"River, Jen, have you got my scanner working yet?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Jenny and River spared each other a glance.

"I hate him," River muttered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"No, you don't!"

"Get the President out of here!" Canton demanded. "Sir, you have to go with them now!"

"River, make her blue again!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A flip of a switch, and the job was done.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Everyone seemed to freeze as the air gave a shimmer, and then the TARDIS was visible in all her blue glory. Canton and the men holding the Doctor down stared, open-mouthed, and their grip slackened so he could stand up.

"What the hell is that?" Nixon gasped.

"Mr President." Smiling, the Doctor sat down on the desk, steepling his fingers and propping his feet up on the edge even as the agents pointed their guns in his direction. "That child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren't listening. Never mind, the answer's yes, I'll take the case!" The guns didn't waver, and he sighed. "Fellas, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug. You think you can just shoot me?"

"They're Americans!" River burst out of the box, followed by Jenny, Amy, and Rory, saying those two words as if it explained everything.

"Don't shoot!" the Doctor added, standing up as the agents all turned to them. "Don't shoot, definitely no shooting."

"Don't shoot us, yeah," Rory agreed. "Very much not in need of getting shot. Look, we've got our hands up!" He motioned with his arms to prove the point.

"Who the hell are you?" Nixon demanded.

"Sir, you need to stay back-" Canton tried.

"But who- who are they? What is that box?"

"It's a Police Box," Jenny said, and the Doctor suppressed a smile. "Can't you read?"

"I'm your new undercover agent," the Time Lord explained. "On loan from Scotland Yard, code name, the Doctor. These are my top operatives: the Legs, the Nose, and Mrs Robinson."

River glared. "I hate you."

"No, you don't!" he laughed. "Jenny's a trainee, but don't underestimate her, boys."

"But who are you?" Nixon repeated yet again.

"Boring question," he dismissed instantly. "Who's phoning you, that's interesting. 'Cause Canton Three is right, that was definitely a girl's voice, and there's only one place in America she can be phoning from."

"...Where?" Canton spoke up after a pause.

"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr Delaware-" one of the agents bit out.

"You heard everything I heard, it's simple enough," the Doctor cut in. "Give me five minutes, I'll explain." He sat back down again. "On the other hand, lay a finger on me, or my friends, and you'll never, ever know."

"But how'd you get it in here? I mean, you didn't carry it."

"Clever, eh?" he smirked.

"Love it."

"Do not compliment the intruder-" the agent tried again.

"Five minutes?" Canton interupted.

"Mr President, that man is a clear and present danger-"

"Mr President! That man just walked in here with a big blue box and three of his friends and that's the man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. What say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."

"Thanks, Canton!" Jenny said brightly.

"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself."

The Doctor gave a strained smile. "Not so thanks."

"Sir, I cannot recommend-"

"Shut up, Peterson," the President said. The agent's mouth snapped shut with an audible click. "You have five minutes."

The Doctor's joy was nearly palpable. "I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve jammy dodgers, and a fez!"

"Can I have some cocoa?" Jenny added.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Just a few short minutes later there were maps strewn all over the room, the Doctor still sitting at the President's desk while Jenny hovered by his shoulder, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand.

So, figured it out, Jen?

Of course, Dad.

"Why Florida?" Canton asked.

"That's where NASA is," Jenny explained. "She mentioned a spaceman. NASA is where the spacemen live, and there's another lead we're following."

"Amy, what's wrong?"

The three glanced over, seeing Amy standing near a concerned Rory, hand over her stomach.

"Amy?" River asked.

"You all right?" the Doctor called.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm just..." She shook her head as if to clear it. "...feeling a little sick. Um, excuse me?" She looked at the agent near the door. "Is there a toilet or something?"

"Sorry, ma'am," Peterson replied. "During this procedure, you must remain within the Oval Office."

Canton rolled his eyes. "Shut up and take her to the restroom."

"...This way, ma'am."

The two left through the doorway, Rory going back to a map and Canton looking pointedly at the two Time Lords.

"Your five minutes are up," he told them.

The Doctor ignored him. "Yeah, and where's my fez?"

While the Doctor continued to pour over the maps, Jenny slipped around past the guards and Rory and looked up at Nixon.

"Excuse me, Mr President," she asked quietly after a moment. He glanced over at her. "Could I ask you a question?"

"You may," he replied gruffly. She was rather thankful the guards seemed to be more preoccupied with her father than her at the time being.

"Do you know anything of a woman called the Commander?"

Nixon's eyebrows climbed into his receding hairline. "I think I should be asking what you know of her. Classified information, that is."

She just looked back stubbornly. "It's important. I need to know."

"Why?"

She didn't think she'd ever be glaring at the President of the United States, but she was resisting the urge to do so now. "Please, sir."

He looked at her for a few moments longer, then sighed. "She's an urban legend, a myth, and hardly anyone really thinks she exists until she pops up for a couple moments with some bit of advice before disappearing again. Some say she's a goddess, others say she's a vigilante, and the file we have on her is very large and full of a single piece of paper and some air."

"That's all?"

If she was disappointed, she didn't show it.

"That's all."

The ringing of the phone effectively interrupted their conversation for good.

"The kid?" Canton spoke into the silence.

"Should I answer it?" Nixon inquired.

"Here!" Ignoring the phone for now, the Doctor pointed to the map. "The only place that call could be coming from, see? Obvious when you think about it."

Canton stared. "You, sir, are a genius."

"Ah, don't compliment me, Jenny came up with it."

Jenny offered a smile. Canton motioned towards the phone. "Mr President?"

Nixon hesitantly lifted the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello. This is President Nixon."

"It's here!" The child sounded more frightened than it did during the recording. "The Space Man's here. It's gonna get me, it's gonna eat me!"

The Doctor was already up and pulling his daughter and friends into the TARDIS. "There's no time for a SWAT team, let's go!" he called. "Mr President, tell her help's on the way."

"Canton, on no account follow us into this box and close the door behind you!" Jenny called over her shoulder as she was dragged inside.

Canton stared, trying to understand how five people could fit into a box so small, already following. "What the hell are you doing?"

The agents and the President stared as the doors shut behind the group, and with the grinding of engines, the box dematerialized into nothing.

"Mr President, please help! Please help me!"

Nixon recovered his wits enough to speak. "Jefferson, it's all right. I'm sending my best people."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Jefferson isn't a girl's name, or her name either," the Doctor announced, spinning around the console while Canton seemed stuck by the door in stunned amazement. "Jefferson Adams Hamilton, Jenny!"

"Surnames of three of America's founding fathers," came the prompt reply. "Two of them fancied you, one fancied me. Odd meeting, that was."

Rory stood awkwardly a couple feet away from Canton on the stairs. "Are you, um, okay? Coping?"

"It's... bigger on the inside."

He shrugged. "You get used to it."

"The President asked the child two questions, where are you and who are you? She was answering where. Now, where would you find three big historical names in a row like that, Jen?"

"Street names! We're here, come on!"

They ran for the door, only to stop by Canton, who was still blinking as though he wasn't sure what he was seeing.

"It's, err..."

Jenny smiled sympathetically. "Rory, take care of this."

"Why's it my turn?" the other man asked.

"'Cause you're the newest." Amy smiled and kissed him as she walked past. Rory looked at Canton, still standing a couple feet away, before placing a hand on his shoulder.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

They stepped out into a warehouse, dirty and cluttered. The Doctor had found another desk to sit at and was waving an American flag about.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Center," he replied. "It's 1969, the year of the moon. Interesting, don't you think?"

"But why would a girl be here?"

"I dunno, lost, maybe?" He shrugged. "But the President asked where she was, so she did what any lost little girl would do." He stood up and peered through the window blinds, parting them with his fingers. "She looked out the window."

Through the window were three street signs in perfect view. Jefferson, Hamilton, and Adams.

"The only place in Florida, probably all of America," he continued brightly, "with those three street names on the same junction, and Doctor Song, you've got that face on again!"

River glanced over from the window. "What face?"

He smirked. "The 'he's hot when he's clever' face."

"This is my normal face," she frowned.

"It is," he agreed.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Not a chance."

"No flirting in front of the child."

Canton and Rory finally stepped out of the TARDIS, the former seeming significantly calmer than he had been before, although still stunned.

"We've moved," he breathed, looking around. "How- how can we have moved?"

"You haven't even gotten to space travel yet," the Doctor sighed.

"I was going to cover it with time travel," Rory shrugged.

"Time travel-"

"Brace heart, Canton!" the Doctor cheered. "Come on!"

"So we're in a box, that's bigger on the inside and it travels through time and space?" Almost hopelessly, he turned to Jenny.

"Basically," she shrugged.

"And how long have Scotland Yard had this?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"It's a warehouse of some kind," River was saying as they entered yet another room. "Disused."

"You realize this is almost certainly a trap, right?" the Doctor asked lightly.

"I noticed the phone, yes."

"What about the phone?" Amy questioned.

"It was cut off," she replied. "So how did the child phone from here?"

"Okay, but why would anyone want to trap us?"

"Oh, lots of reasons," Jenny shrugged. "Not sure which one though. Let's see if anyone tries to kill us, and then work backwards!"

"Jen, you're picking up on my optimism, it's unnerving."

"Sorry, Dad."

Continuing to walk through the room, they paused at the sight of a tilted table with the tattered remains of some sort of suit. River was walking over the moment she caught a glimpse of it, her scanner already in hand.

"It's non-terrestrial," she said as soon as the results came up. "Definitely alien, probably not even from this time zone."

"Which is odd," Jenny piped up. "Look!"

Smiling, she held up a box full of items. The Doctor hurried over and grinned over her shoulder.

"Very contemporary," he exclaimed, pulling out an astronaut's helmet. "Cutting edge. This is from the space program!"

"Stolen?" Amy asked. "What, by aliens?"

"Evidently!" He started to put the helmet on.

"But why?" she continued as Jenny put the box down. "If you can make it to the other, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"

"Lack of other opportunities?" the Time Lady shrugged.

"'Cause it's cooler!" The Doctor's voice was muffled from underneath the helmet, so he lifted the visor. "Look how cool this stuff is!"

"Cool aliens, Dad?"

"Well, what would you call me?"

"Old."

"Oi!"

Rory and Canton, who had still been following behind the group, came into view. "I- er- I think he's okay now."

Pulling the helmet off, the Doctor grinned. "Ah, back with us, Canton!"

"Like your wheels," the agent shrugged.

"That's my boy!" he cheered. "So, come on. Little girl, let's find her."

River and Amy were talking in hushed tones by the remains of the suit, and Rory and Canton were still awkwardly standing a few feet apart, so Jenny leaned up against some of the crates next to her father.

So...

He glanced up at her, still rummaging through the boxes.

Yeah, Jen?

I asked the President about the Commander.

His hands stilled for a moment before starting again as though he hadn't stopped.

Did you now?

He didn't know anything either.

Ah, well, can't know everything, can we?

You know you're curious.

So are you.

It's talking about me, of course I am.

"Jen, we don't know that-" He turned to speak to her in a muffled whisper, but she started talking over him.

"Yes, we do," she hissed. "They're saying it to me, they always have, it's something from my future. How can it not be?"

"Yes, but we don't know anything for sure-"

"What's this?"

River's shout from around the corner got them to stop.

We're talking about this more in the TARDIS, okay?

Sounds like a plan.

They followed River's voice to find her pushing a manhole cover aside, having followed one of the cables from the table. "Doctor, Jenny, look at this!"

"So, where does that go?" he asked, peering down into the darkness, their companions hovering a few feet away warily.

She quickly looked over the results on her scanner. "There's a network of tunnels running under here."

"Life sings?" Jenny prompted.

"No, nothing that's showing up."

The Doctor grinned. "Those are the worst kind. Do be careful."

River shot him an exasperated glare, starting to climb down. "Careful? Tried that once, ever so dull."

"Just shout if you get in trouble."

"Oh, don't worry." The smirk she shot the Doctor caused him to tug at his bowtie. "I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you!"

Canton watched her vanish into the tunnel. "So what's going on here?"

"Nothing!" he said quickly. "She's just a friend."

"Dad?" Jenny smiled slightly. "I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion."

"Oh!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ten minutes later, River was still in the tunnels. Jenny was swinging her legs as she sat on a crate, Amy helping Canton examine some of the equipment.

"So..." the American said. "I was in a bar, having a drink. Tell me honestly, am I still there?"

Amy laughed. "'Fraid not."

Jenny's gaze snapped over to the manhole cover as River shot up, panting, but then calming shortly after as though nothing was wrong.

"All clear," she announced to the room. "Just tunnels, nothing down there I can see. Give me five minutes, I want to take another look round."

"Stupidly dangerous," the Doctor sighed.

"Yep. I like it, too!"

She climbed back down, and the Doctor fixed his eyes on Rory.

"Rory, would you mind going with her?" he asked.

Rory stared at the manhole cover, then back up at the Doctor. "Yeah, a bit."

He patted his friend on the back. "Then I appreciate it all the more."

Rory let out a rather unenthusiastic sigh. "Hang on, River, I'm coming too..."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Another ten minutes, nobody seemed particularly worried that the two hadn't come back up from the tunnels yet.

"So you were kicked out of the FBI because you had attitude problems?" Jenny asked, looking at Canton.

"Nah." He shrugged, rather sadly. "I just wanted to get married."

"Is that a crime?" she said incredulously.

"Yes."

They went back to searching through the boxes in silence, then Canton pointed towards the Doctor. "Doctor who, exactly?"

"Classified," she smiled.

"Classified by who?"

"Oh, you know..."

She waved off the question, distracting herself with an interesting looking piece of junk.

"But you work for him, don't you?"

"He's my dad," she scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. And don't ask about the age thing, it's complicated."

"Help me!"

The shout of a child's voice echoed around the warehouse. Amy jumped a solid foot in the air, the Doctor was almost bristling as he spun about. Canton's gun was in his hand and Jenny had dropped into a fighting stance.

"Help! Help me!"

"It's her!" Canton was off and running, Jenny spared her father a quick glance before snatching up a pipe and running after as quickly as she could. Amy made to follow but stumbled before she could take a step, the Doctor just barely managing to catch her before she fell.

"Amy? What's wrong?"

"I need to tell you something!" she gasped.

"Dad!" Jenny shrieked, her voice echoing.

"It's important," she continued desperately. "It's really, really important."

"Doctor, quickly!" Canton bellowed.

The Doctor looked at Amy frantically. "What, now?" He started pulling her along through the rest of the warehouse, only to find Canton unconscious on the floor and Jenny motionless, slumped against the wall. Amy rushed over to Canton, the Doctor was gently patting Jenny's face, trying to get her to wake.

"Canton's breathing," Amy said. "Doctor, is she okay?"

"Just unconscious," he replied breathlessly, hand on the side of her face. "Got a right proper whack, that'll hurt when she wakes up."

"Doctor- I need to tell you something. I have to tell you it now!"

"Not exactly a great moment, Amy!" he snapped.

"No, it's important, it has to be now!"

"Help! Help me! Help me!"

"Doctor... I'm pregnant."

He stared, hardly comprehending, but heavy footsteps managed to break through his daze, and he glanced up to see the astronaut slowly coming towards them, arm outstretched.

"That's it!" Amy gasped. "The astronaut!"

The Doctor got to his feet, standing in front of Jenny protectively, but Amy scrabbled on the floor for Canton's gun.

The astronaut raised its visor to show a little girl, hardly more than six or seven, her eyes wide in terror.

"Help me!"

"Get down!" Amy shouted.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving your life!"

A gunshot rang out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Still alive. Still writing. Cross my hearts.

Anyone wants to freak out with me over the 50th you are so absolutely welcome to do so. I'll probably have something written for it later.