It was times like these that the Doctor wished he'd regenerated with a third arm - just nicely placed between the shoulder blades of his other arms. Not too long - probably the same length and size - but just nicely placed... so he could pat himself on the back, "Probably be a real problem for my tailor though..." he thought to himself. With the chaos caused by River/Melody. The Teselecta and poor little George the Doctor had felt half exhausted... alien planets... history and... stuff, Amy and Rory HAD said a thing or two about it. Okay, admittedly, he'd been shooting more for Peladon just shortly AFTER the crowning of... well... okay, and - sure - when he'd landed... well, he'd thought it was just BEFORE... but, still, it was always nice to be surprised wasn't it? That's what he'd said to himself - having been traveling for so long he'd learned to leave 'destinations' as a surprise most of the time. So Amy and Rory hadn't known about the whole... queen... crowning... thing... and what a bore that probably was anyway - dancing hairy animals and skunk-headed people, no no no no; no fun at all... total yawn-fest there.

Now, the Eye of Orion? Perfect place! And it was fishing season too - not that you actually ever CAUGHT anything on Orion (what with the Fish sleeping most of the time because of how tranquil the water is) but the actual FISHING itself... perfect.

Not that the Doctor was doing all that much fishing. Curled up on a deck chair like some raggedy doll the Doctor had pulled his fez so far down that the brim of the hat touched his chin. He seemed to have 'vanished' inside his long-coat, curled around his arms and ankles like a big blanket you'd be amazed if you could even imagine there was anything but a bundle of blankets, or something, sitting in the chair... that was until you saw the head and hat tilt backwards, and a mischievous glint from the ancient eyes of a time lord smiling to himself as he watched the Ponds running up and down the beach - Rory trying to grab hold of an all-too-slippery Amy who'd managed to get the ball away from him in the middle of some sort of... weird... rugby/soccer/amy cheats game they were playing. Smirking as Rory wrapped himself around Amy in a smash-tackle the Doctor almost laughed as Amy kicked him in the shin and took off running.

But the smile slowly faded as the Doctor's mind went back to an adventure now somewhat forgotten by the married couple... "We don't kill them, we extract them near the end of their 'established' time lines... we give them hell," that churned the Doctor's stomach. The Time Lords were 'gone'... more or less. Despite what the Time Agency and the CIA and Romana and everyone ELSE might claim... NO ONE had the right to just... pull people away from their lives and just pass... judgement... on them... "Three million years of absolute power... that's what it takes..." as he looked out at the beach the Doctor couldn't help but wonder if he'd not just unleashed another 'Time Lord' menace in potentia upon the universe. Desperate times called for desperate measures, as the CIA was so fond of saying, "Careful, those who give up their freedoms for a little temporary safety - deserve neither freedom nor safety," the Doctor smiled at ol' Ben's wisdom... not EXACTLY his best zinger, but it had stopped a few aliens in their tracks, at least long enough for Ben to sneak a kiss and then run off to sign that paper.

As the Doctor thought about all this, he grew to realize what really bothered him... Lake Silencio... 22/04/2011... what would the universe be like if there WAS another menace... and he wasn't there to save it? What if someone looked up at the sky... and shouted Doctor... and he couldn't hear it anymore?

"DOCTOR!!!"

Jerking upright the Doctor's eyes widened when he saw Amy and Rory fading away, "Ponds!" he shouted as he jerked out of his deck chair and ran... head-long into a wall. Well, a wall that was fading into existence... around... him? Pressing his hands against the 'wall' that was appearing around him the Doctor shouted, "Rory! AMY!" just as they vanished from sight and the Doctor lost all sight of the beach on which he'd been standing.

Looking around himself in shock the Doctor discovered he was standing in some sort of 'corridor' filled with smoke. Pulling his hat off his placed it over his mouth and charged forward. Warning klaxons and mauve warning lights were flashing all over the place. Stumbling through a particularly thick cloud of smog, the Doctor fell down a pile of ruined wiring and bits of electronics, and landed with a plop in the middle of what must-have used-to-be some sort of... console room? Standing up slowly the Doctor waved the smoke away from himself. Dozens of different pieces of technology could be seen jutting out of the walls and terminals around him. A Sontaran surface-to-air canon could be seen grafted into an egg-timer that was fused to Judoon translation-probe that was holding up part of the right side of - what seemed to be - a makeshift TARDIS console.

Running his fingers over the controls the Doctor yelped when sparks shot out at him and he jerked backwards - letting out another yelp when he was yanked off his feet and thrown into the air. Hanging half-way between the ground and the roof the Doctor waved his hands around and saw a blue energy field holding him in place, "Okay, anti-grav field mixed with some sort of prisoner-suspension device... projected by?" tugging his screwdriver out the Doctor waved it around him as he hovered through the air. The field changed color to green and there was the sound of music before it turned blue again and the Doctor laughed, "It's sonic! Wired through..." looking at his screwdriver the Doctor grinned, "A cellphone?! Early 1990's design... hope I don't pick up any radiation - you did check that didn't you? Hello?" as he was spun through the air again the Doctor let out a shout as he was turned upside-down and his screwdriver fell from his grip.

Slowly he was brought around to the left side of the console (still hanging upside-down) and suspended above a tiny figure. Blinking his eyes the Doctor grinned, "Ah, yes, haven't done this in a while - um... sorry to bother you, but the blood is all rushing to my head and - as I'm not being kissed - it's not really all that pleasant so if you don't mind?" looking at the woman the Doctor noticed her blue uniform, blue eyes and the blonde strands of hair sticking out from under her helmet. As she removed the helmet and set it on the console the Doctor grinned when she raised her fingers... and snapped. But the grin faded somewhat when all that happened was that the warning lights switched off (replaced by the somewhat dim white normal-running lights) and the klaxon shut up, "Ah yes, well, that was keeping me from being heard so-"

Watching her bend down to pick up his sonic screwdriver the Doctor grinned, "Ah, little toy of mine, might be a bit complicated for you but-" blinking in surprise as the 'field' rotated him and she scanned him with the screwdriver the Doctor sighed when (upside down still) he was brought to a stop, the woman examined the screwdriver and (in a somewhat smug-sounding voice) said the word 'Doctor'. Rolling his eyes the Doctor said, "Oh whoopee, you've caught me - people a lot less talented than you have done that... which doesn't really speak well of me, but never mind," sighing as she dropped his screwdriver to the floor and then pulled a smaller hand-held unit from her belt the Doctor said, "Now that's just rude - sonicing me without an introduction. However, SINCE you know me - you must also know I'm very dangerous. That's right - the kind of tough, randy, blokish, action-hero type who saves the day by cutting corners and taking no prisoners,"

When she didn't even look up as she continued to examine her hand-held scanner the Doctor scowled, "Alright fine, I sort of fiddle with things and... look, you said I'm the Doctor - and right now I'm not just the Doctor, I'm confused - Doctor VERY confused here!" as she moved behind him (still leaving him upside-down) the Doctor said, "Newsflash here - in big type I'm thinking, I've just decided I don't like you - so-" with a plop his fez finally gave up the ghost and tumbled to the floor next to his screwdriver, "So could you PLEASE give me a name? It's very difficult not LIKING someone when you're upside down, dizzy, blood RUSHING to your head and you don't even know WHO they are!"