Rising From The Ashes (Book Five of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Meanwhile on the Bus and the TARDIS

"No, let me see if I've got this right," Phil Coulson shook his head, turning around to look at the three agents around the hologram table on the Bus. "There were these eye aliens threatening to incinerate the Earth, found whatever they were looking for, came back, then ran off again?"

"That is exactly right," Melinda May nodded, looking at the reports from two years ago.

"And this just happened out of the blue? Who brought them back?"

"Well, that's where we're guessing," Leo Fitz said slowly, "but if we were to assume anything . . . who do we know that would bring an alien back for a scolding?"

"The Doctor and Jessie," Coulson nodded. It made sense. "Did anyone get photos?"

"Unfortunately, that's the one thing we couldn't find," May sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "And they haven't been heard from since."

"Because there were two different sets during 2016," Jemma Simmons nodded. "The Doctor and Jessie we knew at the time, and the new ones."

May shook her head. "I can't believe those two are gone now."

"Just like we couldn't believe our first Jessie was gone at first, either," Coulson pointed out. "They're still out there, somewhere. For all we know, it could have just happened, or they could have held their regenerations off like they did before."

"I don't think they could have," Fitz shook his head. "Jessie was limping, horribly, and while she looked perfectly fine, she appeared half dead. I don't think they lasted much longer after we saw them."

"Saleen called from the field later, also," Jemma added quietly. "Jenny was an absolute wreck."

"What happened?" Coulson asked.

"They were hunting down a Sontaran with Steve and Martha, but it was right behind them. Jessie knocked it out with one of her swords. They didn't even say anything. They just smiled and left."

Coulson shook his head. "They're definitely gone."

"So are we going on a Doctor Wolf hunt again?" Fitz asked, and held up his hands when everyone turned to him. "What? It's a fair question!"

"I don't think we'll jump blindly into it this time, but yes, I think it's time we did," Coulson nodded. "So get to it."

May nodded and headed for the cockpit as FitzSimmons began pulling up anything they could to help them find the Doctor and Jessie.

***

"So it's really a spaceship?" Amy kept asking, following the Doctor around the console like a lost puppy.

Jessie sighed as she worked at one of the monitors, trying to figure out a safe place for them to go without spooking Amy away. Pompeii had been disastrous, and Martha's first real trip had ended with her flirting with Shakespeare. And she'd gotten the end of the world! For once, she wanted something a bit in between . . .

But no flirting. No, she was going to keep Amy and Rory together. She smirked. She was playing Martha now.

Something caught her eye, and she smiled. "How does Starship UK sound?" she asked the Doctor.

"Brilliant," he answered.

She smiled and started piloting, the TARDIS flying smoothly under her direction. Not once did the TARDIS jerk around, and eventually, they sailed into smooth space.

The Doctor turned to Amy with a grin. "I'll even prove it to you that it's a spaceship."

"How?" Amy asked.

The Doctor just grinned in reply.

***

Fair warning, "The Beast Below" turned out super short, but I hope "Victory of the Daleks" will make up for that. We'll see how the Doctor reacts to when Liz 10 mentions the infamous Virgin Queen. :P And just how blunt and spoilsport Jessie can be. And how fun she can be. And how, being a former human, she understands Amy better than the Doctor does. The interlude afterwards will have some Amy/Jessie bonding . . . which goes down the drain at the end of "Flesh and Stone." You probably know why, you've seen the episode. ;) Good thing Rory'll get in to cheer them up.

By the way . . . FitzSimmons will be VERY important to this version of Doctor Wolf. If anyone can guess why, you're either a) somehow inside my head, or b) you paid veeeeery close attention to every word I said in 11:03 *wink wink*

I'll try and get "The Beast Below" up soon!