This story has a different tone than the rest of my stories. When you see the setting for the story, you might think it turns into a Doctor whump, but I promise, no angst. Anyway, here goes...

"Here we are, Rose Tyler," the Doctor announced as he opened the TARDIS door. "Torgau, Germany in 1627."

"Yeah, but why here and now exactly?"

"I told you - to see the opera! The first German opera, written by Heinrich Schütz," he explained with excitement.

"Yes, but you said that it's a libretto based on the Italian opera Dafne. Not that I don't like Germany, but why wouldn't you want to see the Italian one?" asked Rose.

"Well, I already saw it. But this is great. Heinrich did it so well that the Italians later translated his version back into Italian. It'll be great! Now… Where is the court? I thought I parked us close…"

"Is that it down there?" Rose suggested as she pointed down the road at a large building.

"Perhaps," the Doctor said thoughtfully.

"Well, we better go find it. I didn't dress up for nothing." Rose twirled and the skirt of her dress fluttered up. It was lovely looking with lace and poofy sleeves that were fashionable for the time, but Rose found the lace itchy and the sleeves irritating. She didn't dress up for nothing.

"Watch your twirling. If your dress goes too high, it could be a scandal," the Doctor warned as they started walking down the street in the direction Rose had pointed.

"Right, because we never cause scandals," she teased.

"We cause too many. This is just a nice trip to the opera."

Rose looked about her as she walked. The homes were all very cute, but the people entering and exiting them were not what she'd expected. They looked poor, sad, and starving. She knew it was due to the Thirty Years' War and bad crops, but the way the Doctor had talked about an opera at the court for a wedding celebration, she assumed it would be in an affluential part of town. She felt overdressed and bad about flaunting it in front of people who were struggling just to get by.

The Doctor stopped in his tracks when a certain church came into view. "No… No, we're not in the right place. Let's get back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor took her hand and started leading her, but she stole her hand back to lift her skirts and keep up with his pace.

"What's wrong? Not 1627? Not Germany?" Rose inquired.

"1627 Germany, but not Torgau. We're in Würzburg. Not a good place to be."

"Well, slow down a second and explain it to me." Rose stopped trying keep up. She still moved swiftly, but she didn't feel like running in her uncomfortable low heeled boots if she didn't have to.

"You've heard of witch hunts, yes?"

"Yes."

"Well, Würzburg is the worst of them. In a span of eight years, they killed off 900 people. Men, women, and children. If we stand out at all…Well, that wouldn't be good," the Doctor explained.

"You somehow managed to put us in the most dangerous town that we could land in for this time period? How'd you manage that?" Rose chuckled and shook her head.

"Hush, you. I was thinking 1627 Germany. I must have just mixed up the coordinates in my head. Where we wanted to go and where we definitely didn't want to go."

"Alright. So are we going to shoot for Torgau again? Or are we going somewhere else?"

"Well, witch hunts aren't just in this town. Maybe it's be better if we see an opera somewhere else," the Doctor decided.

"We could always see Barber of Seville. I haven't seen that one yet. Figaro, Figaro, Figaro."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "That seems to be the only part of the whole opera that anyone remembers."

"Well, there's the other part of the song 'La la la la la la la LA!" Rose laughed and skipped to catch up with him. "I'd know more if you took me to see it."

"Alright. Il barbiere di Siviglia it is. Would you like opening night or-"

"Doctor," Rose said anxiously.

The Doctor knew that tone of voice and turned to her immediately. A black shadow circled around her feet and rose up to her ankles like mist. Rose tried stepping backward out of it, but it followed, continually circling.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice wavered in a higher pitch.

"Get out of it!" the Doctor ordered.

"I'm trying!"

"Run!" The Doctor took her by the hand and started running across the center of the square. But the shadow could not be out run. The shadow circled around her faster, rising from her ankles up to her head. As soon as it reached the top of her, it swirled back down in a flash and Rose was gone.

The Doctor put his head in his hands and groaned. They were just supposed to go to the opera.

"Witch! He's a witch!" a child called across the square.

The Doctor looked up and saw that a crowd had gathered all around the square. The boy that cried out was pointing at him. Following his accusation, a number of other people echoed the claim. Others just stared in fright.

"Me?" the Doctor asked, pointing at himself. "Well, yes, I suppose it would look like that... Not to worry though! I'm heading out right now. Never to come back. Promise."

The TARDIS was just on the edge of the square so he made a run for it. Before he got there, he was seized by two men from the crowd.

"Oh, this just isn't fair," the Doctor moaned. "Alright, fine. I'm a witch. Take me off to witch jail."

The Doctor walked awkwardly between the men. They had such a tight grip on him that each of their steps were pulling him off balance. He became concerned when he realized they were taking him directly to the courthouse.

"Hold on! Hold on!" He stopped walking and tried to pull back. "I'm not supposed to get a hearing yet. I'm supposed to go to witch jail. You've got one, I know. Prison just for witches. Trials don't happen right away; there's a queue. It takes weeks, months, or even a year to get a trial date. You're taking me to the wrong place. Witch jail. Witch jail."

The men didn't stop walking and just continued pulling the Doctor along with them. They didn't speak a word until they were in the courtroom. It appeared there was already a trial in session.

"What is this?" the judge demanded.

"Your honor, this man's a witch," one of the men spoke up.

"I applaud you for restraining him, but he belongs in prison. He'll -"

"See, I told you," the Doctor told them both. "Witch jail. Off we go!"

"You don't understand, your honor," the man continued. "We've never seen such dark magic before. He made a woman disappear in dark smoke in town square. Over a dozen people witnessed it. What's more, he already made a confession."

"Vanish in dark smoke? And he admitted to it?" the judge echoed in shock. No one ever confessed so easily. Some people died of torture without ever confessing.

"We thought of taking him to prison, but if he can make people vanish, we were worried he might disappear, too," the other man said.

"The woman completely disappeared?" the stunned judge asked again.

"Completely," the first man confirmed.

"Take this child back to prison. I will see him next," the judge finally decided. "This powerful witch comes first."

The Doctor wanted to argue that he could wait, but he looked at the boy, no older than ten, and couldn't let court sentence him. Prison was dangerous because of unsanitary conditions, insects, and lack of food, but it was better than the torture they'd put him through after he'd had his trial. It made the Doctor sick. These people were sick.

The courtroom was cleared except for the judge, the Doctor, two guards, and the two men that brought him in. One of the guards approached him and clamped heavy shackles on his wrists.

"Let us start with your name, witch," said the judge.

"Aw, really?" the Doctor whinged. "I'd really rather not be remembered in this."

"Your name," the judge demanded.

"Fine. I'm the Doctor."

"Not your occupation. Your name."

"No, but that is my name. The. Doctor. That's me."

The judge looked like he was about to push the subject further, but the Doctor spoke first. "Look. I really am 'The Doctor' but even if you don't believe me, I've seen your records. 'Wandering boy, twelve years of age' 'A little maiden nine years of age' What's wrong with 'The Doctor'? Heh, I'm 'The Witch Doctor'." The Doctor chuckled to himself.

"Do you find this amusing?" snapped the judge.

"A bit," the Doctor admitted.

"You won't find it so amusing when we're through," the judge threatened.

"Alright, let's get on with it." The Doctor sighed and looked around. He noticed then that people were filing into the courtroom to watch.

"These two men claim that you destroyed a woman with dark magic. Do you confess?" the judge challenged him.

"Actually, they said that I made her disappear. I'll go ahead and take the blame for that. Why not? But I didn't destroy her. She's still alive," the Doctor claimed.

He knew it was dangerous to plead guilty because the penalty was death, but it was much more dangerous to plead innocent. To plead innocent meant that they tortured you until you confessed. At one point in history, there was a time limit on how long a person could be subjected to torture. If they lasted through that without confessing to being a witch, it was a sign of their devotion to God and God's protection over them. At this point, they would torture you until you confessed or until you died. Once you were accused, there was no coming out alive. Personally, the Doctor would prefer to skip the torture.

"Alive, you claim?" the judge asked dubiously.

"Yeah, I just sort of 'poofed' her. Completely by accident. We were having a game and she just 'poofed'," the Doctor said with a shrug.

"You claim you didn't kill her?"

"I've already answered that. She's still alive, just somewhere else. I wouldn't kill her; I like her."

"If she's still alive, where is she?" the judge asked suspiciously.

"Well, that's a bit of a problem. I'm not exactly sure," the Doctor confessed.

"And you expect us to believe you?"

"I said I'm not sure exactly, but I do have a rough idea. My guess is, she's about two kilometers into the forest to the east. I'm not sure which direction, but about two kilometers in. Likely with a few other women."

"Other women?"

"Yeah, there has to have been other women going missing recently, right? The last week or so?" the Doctor asked.

"Are you saying that there are other witches doing this, too?"

"What?" the Doctor asked in surprise. They wanted him to accuse others of witchcraft. "Are you kidding? All me. I don't even know anyone around here. My friend and I just decided to visit for awhile and things just sort of happened."

"Your friend, is she a witch then?"

"No, don't be ridiculous. She's as sweet as they come. I couldn't have poofed her if she was a witch."

"So you still claim that you're a witch?"

The Doctor sighed. "Usually people only have to tell you once, but yes, I'm a witch. So what happens now?"

"I still have more questions."

The judge carried on for quite some time, asking the Doctor a number of ridiculous questions. What did the devil promise him in exchange for his soul? Did the devil keep his promise? Where did he first pledge himself to the devil? To all of these he claimed that he never had and didn't need to. He was just born with the gift.

The questions got weirder. Did he have sex with the devil? Was he baptized by the devil? Did the devil give him gifts? Did he turn anyone into demons? The Doctor couldn't believe what he was hearing and answered "no" to each of them.

"I said I'm a witch. I told you what I did. I didn't do anything else. I had no help from anyone. What more do you need to convict me? Just send me off to witch jail and ready the post that you're going to burn me at."

"I'm afraid that we'll have to find other devices to get a true confession," the judge declared.

"What? You mean torture?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.

"If that's what you wish to call it," the judge confirmed.

"But I confessed. You don't torture people to confess something when they've already confessed!" the Doctor argued heatedly.

"You claim to be a witch, but you do not admit to consorting with the devil. You also will not give any other names of those you practice dark magic with."

"Fine. I met the devil in a street alley and he gave me sweets. I like sweets. He then splashed me with water; that was my baptism. I turned a little dog into a demon, but he was hit by a carriage and died. And I don't do magic with anyone here because I'm from out of town."

"Take him," the judge ordered the guards. "Use whatever means necessary to get a true confession out of him."

As the Doctor was led out of the courthouse, only one thought came to him. 'Please, Rose, figure it out... I'm going to need you sooner than I thought.'

One more reminder - no whump. So what do you think so far? Please review.