Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. She is owned by Disney and Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. Any original characters shown or mentioned belong to me and cannot be used without permission. Got it? Also Doctor Who is owned by the BBC and also used without permission but with great respect.

The Unknown Adventure of Ann Possible

Chapter 4: The Enemy Within

Ann Possible was a doctor. A very good doctor. In fact some of her colleagues genuinely referred to her as the best in her field. As such she was accustomed to using logic and reason to find solutions to problems. Everything could be explained if you simply sat down and took the time to think it through. There were very set rules for the world and how everything on it worked.

Which made what she had just seen completely and totally impossible. James family motto was "Anything was possible for a Possible" but that was always meant to be more motivational than practical. Even if she did take it literally it still didn't cover what had just happened. The man who had just called himself "The Doctor" had just stepped through the sliding glass door that led into her living room. Not just through the open archway but through the door itself! The glass had molded around him as he walked forward and then snapped back and wobbled like Jell-O when he was all the way through.

Her right hand still hung by her ear even though she had dropped the phone a few seconds earlier. She wanted to lower it but she found herself unable to move or even speak. As it was, she barely heard him warn her that the planet would cease to exist by midnight tonight. She found just enough mobility to turn her head towards the clock to see that it was just now 9:00. Her head snapped back towards him when she realized he was still talking. She stared intently at him to try to match his lips movements to the actual words coming out of his mouth.

"Do you understand me Ann? The Earth will be destroyed at midnight," The Doctor repeated.

"I...I called an ambulance," Ann said flatly as she pointed to the hand that was holding the phone.

The Doctor's expression brightened a bit. "Good! That's good! They can take us somewhere to find an atomic clock."

"I...have a car," the redhead remarked as she finally moved her right hand down to her coat pocket to pull out a set of keys.

"Ann, you're in no condition to drive. Let's just put those back in here," he advised gently as he helped her put the keys back in her coat pocket then started to lead her over to the couch. "For now we'll just have a seat here on the couch." He set helped her sit down then stood up straight and looked at television. "Here we'll watch some telly, I'll put on a spot of tea and we'll just wait for the ambulance to come."

"I don't have any tea," she explained, starting to get some emotion back in her voice.

"Yes. Right. Americans don't believe in tea as much as the British. Shame that. Oh well, I suppose we'll just have to watch the telly."

He sat down next to her then picked up the remote and began to flip absently through the channels. Ann just stared at him as her mind slowly began to process everything she had just learned. Even as she was starting to accept it, she still wasn't sure she actually believed it!

"So...you're an...an..." she tried to say.

"An alien, yes," he replied with a nod.

She blinked a few times then leaned back on the couch and started to chuckle a bit. She covered her mouth with her right hand to try to be polite but soon forgot about it as she fell into a round of full blown laughter. She laughed so hard she actually shook the couch which caused The Doctor to look at her in concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, yes," she blurted out as she covered her mouth again and shook her head. "I'm sorry it's just...just that after all the times I've heard James go on and on about possibly meeting alien life through all the shuttles and probes he launched there's one sitting right here in the living room! And he missed it because he went to a light show at the planetarium! Oh he'd just kick himself if he ever found out."

"Well as amusing as that might be, I prefer he didn't know. I try to keep as low a profile as I can."

"Oh trust I won't tell him. I doubt him, or anyone else, would believe me anyway."

"Very few people do," The Doctor mused then turned back to the TV.

He stopped flipping through the channels when he noticed a new report with the words "Millennium Disasters?" in big white letters under an attractive African American reporter. A smaller set of words revealed her name to be Tricia Lockheart.

"And now we bring you a special message about the strange natural phenomena. Since early this evening bay area tides in places like San Francisco have broken all records for this time of year. Flood warnings have gone out along the Russian and Napa rivers and believe it or not in Hawaii it has even started snowing. People may wonder what this has to do with the millennium. Scientists say that the freak conditions are do to the very slight fluctuations in the Earth's gravitational pull. Fluctuations that apparently happen once every thousand years."

The Doctor chuckled a bit. "I love humans. Always seeing patterns that aren't there," he mused.

"In other news," Tricia continued, "The new millennium will be rung in style tonight at the Middleton Institute for Technological Advancement and Research with the unveiling of the most accurate atomic clock in the world."

The Doctor leaned forward with interest as the screen changed to show a giant octagon shaped glass structure with a column of vertical cylinders running down the middle of it. A large banner was hung over it and read in giant black letters "The Beginning of Middleton Mean-Time" with two additional horizontal banners on either said just the number "2000" on them.

"That must be a beryllium clock!" The Doctor announced as he sprang to his feet.

Just then the doorbell rang.

"That must be the ambulance," Ann said as she stood up and started to make her way towards the door.

"Excellent they can take us straight to the Institute."

Ann pulled up the door to reveal a man with slicked back black hair, dark shades and a black leather coat on. As he slowly turned his head towards her, she thought there was something odd about it but pushed it away. With everything going on tonight she was probably just being a bit paranoid and freaked out. Besides she had seen him around the hospital enough to know he wasn't really someone to worry about. The Doctor quickly came up behind her and stopped for a second to stare at the man. He too felt something familiar about this man, as if he had seen him somewhere else before. But of course he'd had the feeling many times over so it was nothing new. It was a mystery that would have to wait as he had more pressing matters at the moment.

"We need to go straight to the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research, do you know where that is?" he asked, even though he stepped past the man before he could answer.

He watched The Doctor leave for a second before he turned back to Ann.

"Of course I do," he replied in a cold voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

She shook the feeling off again then followed The Doctor into the back of the ambulance with the EMT close behind them. He did his best to hide his smirk, but couldn't help but enjoy the fact that he had fooled his oldest enemy. It seemed this new body hid his presence well from The Doctor as he apparently had no idea he was about to lock himself into a tiny ambulance with The Master. He chuckled a bit as he made his way to the small seat for the EMTs while The Doctor and Ann sat on the bench provided for patients.

"What's so funny?" Ann asked.

"Oh, nothing something I heard early this evening," he replied then turned to the driver. "Change in plans, take use to the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research."

"Uuhhh...okay," Chang replied, being careful to keep his identity concealed.

"Thank you," The Doctor said. "I assure you're making the right decision."

"Oh I know I am," The Master replied, his smirk growing a bit bigger.

The Doctor stared at him oddly for a second but forgot about as he turned to Ann.

"What time is it now?" he asked, a hint of urgency in his voice.

"About ten," Ann replied with a quick look at her watch. "But don't worry, James is on the Board of Trustees for the Institute and I've met them all so they should listen to me."

The Doctor muttered something in response before he stood up and started to move towards the driver.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" he demanded then sat back down next to Ann. "Come on, come on, come on," he mumbled as he fidgeted around nervously.

"Calm down Doctor, I'm sure we'll be able to stop this...Eye of Destruction," Ann tried to reassure him.

"Harmony!" he corrected.

"Right. Eye of Harmony. I'm sure we'll stop it before the Earth get's sucked through it."

The Doctor muttered something else that didn't seem inspire much confidence. Ann just shook her head and leaned it against the back of the ambulance's wall with a sigh before she noticed the EMT again. Although his eyes were covered by his dark glasses she could tell he was giving them both a curious look by the fact that his eyebrows were arched above them. Her own eyes widened a bit as she realized how it must look to him and quickly turned her head between him and The Doctor as she tried to think of what to tell her colleague. She look one last look to the eccentric stranger to her left before she leaned forward, EMT doing the same so they could talk more discreetly.

"He's having a bit of problems," she whispered as she tapped the side of her head. "For now I'm letting him play out this fantasy he has in hopes it'll help him along."

"Ah," The Master nodded, again having to hide his amused smirk.

"He also likes me to call him 'Doctor'. Probably because I'm his doctor. Freud had a term for this."

"Transference."

"Yeah that's very good Ann, but at least Freud wouldn’t have gone nearly catatonic on me," The Doctor interjected.

Ann glared at him for the remark.

"He probably would have hung up his pipe if he ever met you," she retorted.

"We did meet."

"Oh right, you're a Time Lord. I forgot. Next you'll be saying you knew Madam Cruirie."

"I did know her. Intimately."

"Does she kiss as good as me?"

"As well as you," The Master corrected.

Ann gave him an indignant look but didn't get to say anything as the ambulance came to a sudden stop which cause all three of them to lurch forward. As Ann struggled to recover from the unexpected stop, she failed to see that the EMT's shades fell off to reveal a pair of green cat like eyes. This detail didn't escape The Doctor's attention though as he stared directly at them and realized with a bit of horror where he had seen them before. The Master quickly slid the shades back on in a lame attempt to stay concealed but he knew the ruse was up. The two old enemies continued to stare at each other a few seconds longer until Ann's voice broke the tension.

"There's some kind of truck over turned up on the road ahead," she informed.

The Doctor peered around her in an attempt to see the commotion for himself.

"The Earth's about to be destroyed and I'm stuck in a traffic jam!" he declared in an annoyed tone. He then looked down at The Master. "Excuse me," he said then yanked the other Time Lord's shades off.

When Ann fell back onto the seat she took notice of the other man's strange eyes and gasped in horror. Before she could react further, though, he leaned his head back and made some kind of snorting sound. He then whipped his head forward again and spit out some kind of slime towards her. It happened so quickly she barely had time to cover her face with her arms to try to fend off the attack. Thankfully it mostly hit the sleeve to her coat but the part that did hit her wrist burned a bit. She let out a painful scream and try to brush it off with the other sleeve while The Doctor ushered her towards the back doors. He grabbed a fire extinguisher that hung above them and sprayed The Master in the face. He let out his own scream of anguish as the cold spray caused the remnants of his poison spit to freeze inside his mouth and on his face.

"AAAGGGHH!!" he cried out. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

The Doctor and Ann took the momentary distraction as the perfect opportunity to make their escape as he continued to writhe in pain. Chang stepped back from the driver's seat and quickly pulled out a long string of paper towels from the rolled above them.

"Get it off me! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" The Master continued to yell as Chang did his best to comply.

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The Master's cries were lost in the symphony of car horns and curses that filled the night sky. Added to that noise were the surprised screams at the sight of a man and woman running through the backed up lanes of traffic. Ann's mind raced as she followed The Doctor. What happened to her co-worker back there? Was he always some kind of alien monster? What was this stuff he spit on her? Was it toxic, infectious, were there going to be any long lasting effects? Why was she following this madman anyway? And just what was going to happen next?!

Her last question was answered when they came to a stop in front of a slightly over weight motorcycle cop who was overseeing the accident. Their sudden approach startled him which caused him to reach for his gun on instinct.

"Ma'am you need to get back in your vehicle right now!" he ordered as he held up his other hand to stop them.

The Doctor stared at him for a second then reached into his inner coat pocket. The officer responded to the perceived threat by tightening the grip on his gun handle and was ready to draw it when Ann stepped between the two of them.

"Wait Officer," she paused to look at the name on his badge, "Hobble! He's-he's...British!"

"Yes I suppose I am," The Doctor remarked as he pulled a brown bag from his coat and held it out to Officer Hobble. "Jelly Baby Officer?"

"Jelly Baby?" Hobble asked in confusion.

"Just...take it," Ann suggested.

The Doctor nodded in agreement as Officer Hobble reached into the bag and took out one of the baby shaped jelly candies. He sniffed it to make sure it wasn't laced with anything as he continued to stare at the two suspiciously. The Doctor made slight nibbling sound as a form of encouragement and amazingly it caused Hobble to shrug and take a bite out of the candy.

"Good," The Doctor mused then quickly reached forward and took the officer's gun from the holster and pointed it at himself. "Now would you kindly step aside before I shoot myself?"

Officer Hobble looked down in surprise and confusion to see his gun was gone then looked back up at the strangely dressed man in a bit of a panic.

"Don't do anything foolish," he said gently.

"You with me Ann?"

Ann looked back and fourth between the officer and The Doctor in complete amazement of the situation.

"We don't stand a chance!" she shouted.

"Would you excuse me for a moment," The Doctor pardoned himself before he took Ann by the arm and stepped away from Hobble. "I know this seems like an impossible task but to you I've already done the impossible, yes? I came back to life. I fought back death. It's what I do. And I need your help to do it again, only this time it won't be for myself but for the entire planet."

The redhead still looked dazed and confused about the whole situation for a few second but soon enough a look of determination caused her face.

"Give me the gun," she said in a rational voice.

The Doctor nodded and handed the gun over. Officer Hobble let out a relaxed sigh when it seemed like some sense of normalcy returned then started to reach for the radio on his bike. He was stopped when Ann shot it, completely destroying the piece of equipment. He turned back to see her looking a bit surprised by her own actions but she quickly held the gun more firmly and pointed it squarely at him.

"Now give him the keys!" she demanded, trying to keep herself from shaking too much.

"I'd do as she says," The Doctor advised.

Officer Hobble stared at them, not sure if they were serious or not. He decided not to take any chances though and pulled the keys from the bike's ignition and handed them over to the long haired man.

"Thank you," he said before he and Ann got until the bike.

They drove off in a hurry, with Ann tossing the gun away once they were far enough away from the officer.

"Very nicely done Ann," The Doctor yelled over the wind. "Though I do think the part about the keys was a bit unnecessary as they were already in the ignition."

"I was caught up in the moment!" Ann explained with a knowing smirk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at what was quickly becoming the middle of the traffic jam, The Master had just finished wiping away the last of the fire extinguisher foam as he stepped into the cab.

"What are we waiting for?" he demanded.

"The road's still blocked," Chang replied as he pointed to the line of cars ahead of them.

"This. Is. An. Ambulance!"

"Oh right."

With that, he kicked the ambulance into gear and made a sharp turn into the other lane, nearly causing another wreck. Once he cleared the traffic jam, he cut the wheel sharply again to get back into the other lane, almost running over Officer Hobble in the process. Thankfully he jumped onto one of the hoods of the squad cars next to him to avoid being splattered on the pavement.

"I knew I should have taken tonight off," he muttered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A bit further down the road, Ann held on for dear life as The Doctor drove at nearly break neck speed down the road. Again her mind tried to wrap her mind around everything that was happening.

"Doctor, what was that back there?!" she shouted over the roar of the engine.

"That was The Master," he answered.

"But...but that's impossible. I've seen that man around the hospital. Are you telling me he was this...Master the whole time?"

"No I believe that happened recently."

"How?!"

"I don't know. Perhaps whatever sort of...creature he turned into after his previous body was destroyed allowed him to take over that man's body. It's an excellent disguise too, I didn't recognize him at all."

"But what happened to...to..."

What was his name?

"He more than likely died when The Master possessed his body. I'm sorry Ann."

"Yeah..." she whispered, a slight feeling of guilt over taking her for not even bothering to learn her co-worker's name.

She had no time for mourning, however, as she when she turned her head she saw a terrifying familiar ambulance rushing towards them.

"Maybe I should have kept the gun," she mused.

"What?!" The Doctor asked in amazement, wondering if he heard her right.

"Look!"

He glanced down at the right hand mirror and noticed the ambulance as well.

"Hold on!" he warned before hit increased the throttle.

She tightened her grip as the bike moved faster and began to zig zag around the traffic. Even as she tightened her grip on The Doctor's waist and tried not to scream her head off, she couldn't help but have a certain song run through her head. It was one she had heard only a few times and certainly not one she was really a fan of, but the situation reminded her too much of a scene from one of James' favorite movies and it putting that song in her head.

That's it, if I live though this experience I'm going to burn that copy of "Terminator 2", she thought bitterly.

She was rocked out of her thoughts when the bike jerked suddenly and she found they were now in the other lane. As if that wasn't bad enough there were two semi trucks heading right for them.

"Look out!" she screamed in terror.

"I see them!" The Doctor remarked casually.

He quickly positioned the bike so it passed harmlessly between the two trucks, though not without nearly deafening them as they blew their horns in warning. The ambulance, however, didn't have such a luxury and had to turn violently into the other lane to keep from being smashed by the trucks, sideswiping a few cars in process. It swung back onto the road to continue its pursuit of the bike. A task made much harder by the fact that the police bike turned down a narrow side road while the ambulance continued forward.

"What are you doing Lee?!" The Master growled.

"This way's quicker."

"It better be."

"Look this is my town, I know what I'm doing."

"Again you had better. Now faster! Faster!"

"Alright, alright. So what's the plan anyway?"

"We'll let him get to the clock then we'll get his body."

Lee nodded then continued path he new would get them to the Institute quicker than their opponents. As he passed up all the other cars in their way, he couldn't help but think of all the wonderful things he could do with this payment.

"Hey man, when I get all that gold you know what I'm gonna do?" he asked The Master in hopes of breaking the tension.

"I don't want to know," the other man said dismissively.

Chang chuckled. "Man you kill me."

The Master looked honestly surprised by that remark. "You want me to kill you?"

"No! No man I mean, you make me laugh. You're a funny guy."

"I'm glad one of us is amused."

"Hey cheer up man. You'll get your body back and then, we're, you know, a team right?"

"Yes. We're a...team."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ann took a few deep breaths to try to keep her heart rate down. So far she was doing a miserable job of it. It was perfectly understandable though given all that was happening around her, but she really didn't want to add to the drama by having a heart attack in the middle of a high speed chase. Still she could relax a little bit as she didn't see or hear the ambulance chasing them anymore.

"I think we lost them," she informed The Doctor.

"Good! Then hold on!" he warned once again.

With that he revved the bike again, adding yet another burst of speed to it and zigzagging in-between the cars once more. He then made a sharp turn that nearly resulted in a head on collision.

"Not again!" Ann cried out as they jumped down a ditch and road along side the railroad tracks.

She let out another scream as he jumped out of the ditch a few yards down and back onto the road, causing even more cars to slam on their breaks and slide out of the way.

"Doctor, I have only one life and a family who depends on me, could you remember that?" she asked desperately.

"I'll try," he agreed.

She let out an exhaustive sigh and rested her head on his shoulders for a moment. This was certainly not how she expected to be spending the last day of the old millennium. Of course she had expected to spend the night together with her family watching the celebration in Times Square on TV. That was before James found out about the "fascinating" light show in the planetarium that would go on all night. As much as she tried to get into James' interest in celestial bodies she just couldn't. So she was intend on spending the evening by herself and just relaxing.

Instead she found herself on stolen police motorcycle with an alien trying to stop another alien hiding in the body of one of her coworkers from unleashing some horrible destructive force that would vaporize the entire Earth.

Yeah there was no seeing this coming, she thought with an weary smirk.

The feeling of the bike coming to a stop snapped her out of her reprieve and when she looked up she saw the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research building in front of them. It was one of the tallest buildings in Middleton and seemed almost out of place in the small town. The front wall was almost entirely made out of glass to give it a that "space age" look that was all the rage a few years ago and to show off to everyone how hard the scientists inside worked to improve everyone's lives. Personally she always thought it came off as pretentious and suddenly remembered why she didn't like coming here.

As she hopped off the bike she happened to look over her shoulder and notice and all too familiar ambulance sitting near the building with one of it's doors hanging wide open.

"Doctor look," she said as she nodded towards the vehicle.

A look of concern crossed The Doctor's face as he stared at the surprisingly ominous ambulance.

"What do we do?" Ann asked.

"We be very careful," he remarked and turned towards the door. "Come on."

Ann cast one last weary look at the former life saving vehicle then turned to catch up with The Doctor. She then took the lead as the stepped inside the spacious building. Though it seemed far less spacious at the moment since the first floor was crowed with people in their finest formal wear. It made her feel like she stood out even more given that she was still wearing the purple shirt, jeans and doctor's coat she had on since earlier in the evening. Then of course there was what The Doctor was wearing, but he might be able to pull it off in this crowd. She pushed those feelings aside then took a deep breath to calm her already shaken nerves before she stepped up to the large wooden desk in the center of the room. The brunette behind the counter looked less than enthused to be there and cast a rather annoyed look at the two newcomers.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Ann Possible, my husband is Dr. James Possible?" Ann stated, earning a rather blank look from the girl. "He's one of the board members, his name should be on the list."

"Yeah?" the girl almost snorted.

"Well he forget about tonight's event and went to another...meeting. So he sent me in his place and of course I brought along my guest here," she explained, gesturing to The Doctor.

The brunette looked her up and down and seemed to sneer even more, if that was possible.

"You know it's suppose to a formal event, right?" she said in a rather snotty tone.

"Yes but as you can see I just came from the hospital so I didn't have much time to change."

"And him?"

Ann considered that for a second. "Well...he would fit in with this crowd quite well, wouldn't he?"

"Whatever," the girl remarked before she handed her an ID badge.

"Thank you," Ann replied rather curtly before she took the badge and pinned it to her coat as she and The Doctor walked off. "I never thought I'd be so thankful for James' absentmindedness."

"It did seem to come in handy," The Doctor quipped. "Now we need to find out way to the atomic clock."

"I know. It should be right over here."

Ann's sentence was punctuated when they were stopped by an almost stereotypical "big, black security guard". It was the image most people got when they heard that saying; tall man with a muscular build, bald head, nice suit, hands clasped together in front of him and even an ear piece sticking out of his right ear. He glared down at them in a rather intimidating way that was actually working on Ann. She summed up her courage enough to speak though.

"Hi I'm Dr. Ann Possible and this my colleague from England Dr...Freud," she introduced, trying not to grimace at her own lack of imagination.

"Dr. Freud?" the security guard asked in disbelief.

"Well of course not the Dr. Freud," The Doctor quickly spoke up. "In fact my family isn't even related to his. But I get that all the time."

"Right."

"Anyway, he's here to see the new Atomic Clock," Ann continued.

"Then he can see it with everyone else," the security guard said flatly.

"You don't understand he's a specialist in this area."

"He's unauthorized and there no unauthorized people allowed past this point."

"You do know my husband's on the Board of Directors, right?" the redhead tried desperately.

The larger man seemed unimpressed by this fact.

"Well...thank you anyway," she said before she and The Doctor turned around and started to walk off.

"'Freud'?" he asked in astonishment.

"I paniced! It was the only name I could come up with. I'm not use to all this sneaking around stuff," she said in her own defense.

"Well next time let me pick my own name."

"Fine. So what do we do now?"

"We find another way in."

Ann shook her head at the rather ambagious answer looked around at all the tables spread throughout the room filled with socialites mingling amongst themselves. At least that's what most of them were doing, some were starting to stare suspiciously at her and The Doctor and making whispered comments as they point at the pair.

"People are starting to stare at us, we should probably make conversation," she suggested.

"Alright. About what?" he asked.

"Well for one, how do you plan to fit that on the back of a bike?" she asked, pointing to the second level of the room where the large, glass covered clock towered over everyone.

"We only need the tiniest part."

"I suppose that makes it a lot easier. So time travel is possible."

"Anything's possible."

"For a Possible," Ann finished on instinct.

The Doctor smiled knowingly at the comment. "Quite so."

She quirked an eyebrow at him but before she could say anything further, a slightly older man with thinning grey hair, matching beard and glasses came up to them. Even though he was dressed in a plaid colored vest, brown jacket and red bow tie he somehow gave of an air of smug superiority.

"Ann! Very nice to see you again," he greeted her happily.

"Oh Dr. Stagg, it's good to see you again as well," she replied politely as she shook his hand.

"James not hear with you?"

"I'm afraid not, he had...other plans."

"Oh that's a shame. So who's your friend here?" he asked as he cast a glance to The Doctor.

"Dr. Bowman," he replied quickly and shook Dr. Stagg's hand as well.

"He's from London," Ann added.

"Ah and how are things across the pond?"

"Going quite well I should say. We're very interested in this Atomic Clock of yours," The Doctor replied before he put his hand on the other man's shoulder and pulled him in close to whisper to him. "Just between you and me, a follow colleague in the area of time, is there anyway I could get a closer look at the clock?"

"No!" Dr. Stagg insisted as he pulled away. "I'm sorry, but only I have clearance to go anywhere near that clock. Now if you'll excuse me."

With that, he walked off in a bit of a huff, leaving Ann standing rather dumbfounded over the whole thing.

"That didn't quite work out," she retorted.

"I wouldn't say that exactly," The Doctor mused as he held up Dr. Stagg's clearance card. "I told you we'd find another way in."

He looked over to Ann and gave her a rather mischievous grin that she couldn't help but return.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the duo made their way to the Atomic Clock thanks to the "burrowed" clearance card, The Doctor walked around the structure until he found an access panel. He knelt down in front of it and began to manually turn the screws holding the panel on.

"It's times like this I wish I had my Sonic Screwdriver," he muttered mostly to himself.

"What?" Ann asked.

"Nevermind."

Once removed the last screw he pulled off the access panel then slid out a small column of circuit boards and wires. From there he pulled out a smaller tray, this one with just one rectangular chip in its center. Two red lights blinked through the clear plastic that encased the delicate circuitry inside. The Doctor reached down and carefully plucked it from it's resting place.

"See? I told you it was small," he said to Ann.

"What is it they say?" she smiled back.

"Yes, they have a similar saying on my planet."

He slid the column back into the clock and replaced the panel and screws then stood to quickly, and discreetly, walk away so that no one would be suspicious. Unfortunately, he and Ann were stopped when they rounded the clock and came face-to-face with another security guard. This one much less intimating as the first one as he was a rather small, unassuming Caucasian man that appeared to be in his early twenties. The only hints given that he was a security guard was the yellow patch on the left breast of suit which said "Security" in big red letters. Despite his smaller frame, he looked just as serious as the first guard.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked.

"I know you," The Doctor mused.

"You do, huh?" the guard asked septically

"Gareth. Answer the second question on your midterm exam, not the third. The third may look easy but you'll mess it up."

"What?"

"Remember answer the second question not the third."

"I won't. Now can I see what's in your hand sir?"

The Doctor held up his closed hand and slowly unfurled his fingers to reveal...a lemon flavored Jelly Baby. He smiled as he handed it to the completely confused Gareth then took Ann's hand and to lead her away from the area. The young man just stood there and watched them go before placed the jellied candy in his mouth and shrugged a bit.

Ann tried not to look too suspicious as she glanced over her shoulder to see if they were far enough way from...well everyone before she leaned forward to whisper to The Doctor.

"What was that all about?!" she exclaimed quietly.

"Ten years from now, Gareth will head the seismology task for as the UMCA task force. And devise a system for accurately predicting earthquakes."

Ann's eyes widened in surprise. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course. His invention saved the human race several times, be glad he didn't graduate in poetry..."

He let the sentence die of a bit when they stopped by the balcony and looked down at the ground floor to see a familiar face looking around the crowd.

"Look, there's the kid that took your stuff," Ann remarked as she pointed to the Asian American boy.

The situation only got worse when they saw him step up to a man in a black leather coat and dark sunglasses. They both turned around and ducked a bit to hopefully avoid The Master's gaze.

"You see who he's with?" The Doctor retorted. "Come on."

They ran towards one of the hallways that lead into the heart of the building in hopes of finding an exit that would allow them to leave unnoticed. Unfortunately, they were unaware that The Master had seen their escape and took Chang around another way to try and cut them off. Ann and The Doctor continued to run down the surprisingly winding hallway until they came across for security guards with their guns pointed right at them. They weren't firing though because they appeared to be frozen thanks to disgusting, dripping slime that covered their whole bodies. The two cast a disbelieving glance at each other for a second before they looked back at the frozen guards.

"The Master?" Ann asked.

"Be glad he just got your wrist," The Doctor said as one of the guards feel over backwards.

Ann jumped as the action caused the gun he was holding to go off and shoot the ceiling. She then noticed The Doctor moving towards the left wall near them right before he pulled the fire alarm.

"Why’d you do that?!" she shouted over the blaring siren.

"To liven things up! Come on!" he cried out as he took her hand again and started to run down another hallway.

As the crowd in the main room of the Institute began to panic and force their way through the front doors, Ann and The Doctor remained in the inner part of the building and stopped only when he threw open a pair of double metal doors that led to a small room that contained only a fire hose, a fire axe and a metal ladder leading to outside of the floor. Ann grabbed the axe while The Doctor grabbed the fire hose. They paused to give each other a "What are you doing?" look before they both came to the same conclusion.

"Door!" they shouted in unison.

The redhead then turned around and jammed the axe hand through the door handles so no one would be able to open it. She then turned around to see The Doctor sling part of the hose of his shoulder and start to climb the ladder.

"You're not afraid of heights are you?" he asked rhetorically

"Well...yeah," she answered anyway.

"So am I."

Despite her better judgement, she followed him up the ladder and just prayed that everything would turn out of the best. She was right at the top of the ladder when she heard a pounding sound and looked down to see the doors buckle in for a second. When it happened again right away she had a bad feeling who it was and so felt a little more motivated to go along with The Doctor's plan. A bit of that confidence was lost though when she discovered his plan was to use the hose to repel down the building. Still she doesn't have much of a choice and she held onto him tightly as they started to slowly descend towards the ground. They were about half way down when the axe handle finally wore out and snapped in half so that The Master and Chang would burst into the small room. He growled when he saw the hose unfurling up the ladder.

"Doctor!" The Master spat.

This cry went unnoticed, however, as they continued their journey down the building. They where just about to reach the end of the hose, but thankfully a police car called into investigate the alarm stopped right beneath them. The officer inside was a bit surprised to hear the sound of footsteps on his roof and opened the door just in time to see to figures running away. They hopped back onto the police bike and Ann steadied herself for the next part of this strange journey.

"Here we go again," she muttered as the bike zoomed off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they raced through the city streets once more, something kept churning over in Ann's mind. It was something that had been nagging her at the Institute but she tried to push it aside. It was something she knew she didn't really want to know, but curiosity was starting to get the better of her. Finally she broke down and just had to ask.

"So do you know what's going to happen to me?!" she asked over the roar of the engine.

"You don't want to know!" The Doctor cried back.

"Riiight. You can't just not tell me!"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

She started to get worried at the response. "Something horrible isn't going to happen to me or my family is it?!"

"No, nothing like that!"

"Then what?!"

"I can't say. The universe hangs by such a delicate thread of coincidences it's useless to meddle with it. Unless you're a Time Lord like me."

"Of course. But can't I just get some hint?"

He just chuckled and shook his head. The rest of their trip was made in silence as they crossed the city to eventually wind up in a back alley in a less than favorable neighborhood. Ann looked on as the motorcycle easily cut through a string of police tape that was in front of a blue box. It had a lantern on top and blacked out windows on two front doors. There was some writing on the black panel on the left door that revealed it was for in use for the public to aid the police. Of course the larger banner around the top reading "Police Public Call Box" also gave that fact away. She got off the bike and walked up to it with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

"This is it?" she asked.

"Yes this is it," The Doctor said proudly.

"A police box?"

"Yes. I like it. It's rustic."

"But...why?"

"The chameleon circuit got stuck on a previous misadventure and I just never got around to fixing it. Well...I did once but it didn't go over well. Besides I've gotten use to this thing. Like I said it's-"

"Rustic, right. So how do we get inside?"

"I just need...the key," he muttered as he leaned his head against the door when he realized he didn't have it anymore.

Ann placed her hand on her chin in thought. "You know, James forgets his keys all the time at work or at home so if I know I'm going to be out late I usually leave a spar for him-"

"Above the door!" The Doctor shouted excitedly. "Yes I remember there is one there! Mind giving me a hand?"

"Not at all," she smiled.

She then watched him crouched down before she stepped into his cupped hands so he could lift her high enough to reach the top banner, which stuck out just a bit.

"It should be in the cubby hole above the 'P'," he informed her.

She fumbled around a bit until she found a hidden panel she could slide back and reveal the golden key inside. She quickly snatched it up then motioned for him to let her down.

"Got it!" she said then handed the key over.

He quickly unlocked the doors and pushed them open, just in time for another police motorcycle to come around the corner.

"They must have followed us," he mused.

"What do we do?"

He smirked then stood aside to allow the bike to drive into the box. Ann braced herself to hear it crash and for the box to tip over but was pleasantly surprised when all she heard was the sound of the bike's siren's getting dimmer. She stood still for a moment before the bike came racing back out, the rider screaming, as if in fright. She blinked a bit then laughed in wonderment before she followed The Doctor inside. Once there she realized why the officer had been so freaked out. Somehow, inside this tiny little box there was a massive room filled with rows of bookcases and cabinets and candelabra spaced throughout it. There was even a rugged area with an easy chair and record player on the far end.

What stood out the most though was the main, octagonal shaped console. The glass pillar reaching up to the top of the vast room was impressive in and of itself but the metal spires curving down towards it seemed to make it even imposing. Overall, the only word she could think of to describe it was one she had heard James and the boys use a few times to describe some of their scifi stuff: steampunk. It was very steampunk. Of course that's what she was thinking, she what she was actually saying was:

"It's...it's...it's..." she stammered.

A sly grin crossed The Doctor's face as he watched her.

"Go on and say it. Everyone else does," he encouraged.

"It's bigger on the inside."

"There we go," he winked then started to walk towards the console.

"But...how?" Ann asked as she followed him yet again.

"Trust me you wouldn't understand."

She seemed offended by this. "Oh I can understand quite a lot," she shot back as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I know you can. It wasn't a slight against your intelligence it's just...well this isn't really your field I'm afraid."

She sighed and relaxed her posture. "Well...you're certainly right about that. So what do we now?"

He held a finger up right as a bell sounded throughout the room.

"You hear that?"

"Yeah?"

"It's a warning," he said as he started to walk around the console and adjust some of the controls. "It's a warning. It means the TARDIS is dying."

"I'm going to guess that's a bad thing."

"It's certainly not good," he mused as he looked up at the screen hanging above him. "We don't even have enough auxiliary power to move next door. Can you hand me the beryllium chip."

"Yes Doctor," she replied as she handed him the chip.

"Be careful."

"Yes Doctor," she repeated with a more snarky tone.

As he took it from her hand and started to mess around with the console again she couldn't help but look around her.

"This looks pretty low tech for a spaceship," she mused.

"'Low tech'?" he repeated with a shake of his head. "Ann, this is a Type-4D TARDIS, able to take you to any planet in the universe at any date in that planet's existence." He paused to look up at her. "Temporal physics."

"Oh like you mean inter dimensional transference. That would explain the spacial displacement we felt as we passed over the threshold."

He gave her an honestly surprised look.

"Please. You don't spend all your time married to a rocket scientist and not pick up something."

"If you like," he muttered as he hooked up the beryllium chip.

It activated with a slight beep that was soon followed by a low rumbling sound.

"What's that?" Ann asked, feeling a bit nervous.

"Good news. The Eye is closing," he smiled as he stood and started to adjust the controls again. "Now let's see...oh no."

"What is it?"

"I fear we may already be too late."

"But it's 11:48 we still have twelve minutes," she pointed out.

"There's no context for this! Hold on."

He turned a dial next to his hand then pulled a small lever all the way to its other side which caused several multicolor panels to light up. The section of the ceiling immediately above them suddenly changed into a giant hologram of the solar system. For the probably billionth time that night Ann found herself amazed by this man and his abilities.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she stared up at the simulated space.

"I'm sitting the coordinates to one minute past midnight," he informed.

"But why?"

"Because if I'm right and The Eye has been opened for too long the will be no future. I only hope-"

He stopped when a wave of energy swept across the hologram and destroy ever planet in it wake.

"No!" he shouted in frustration.

"Is this thing reliable?" Ann asked, hoping he was somehow wrong.

"Whatever's happening it can't be stopped by closing The Eye."

"Well how do you know that?!"

"I...haven't opened The Eye before."

"Now you tell me," she muttered as she shook her head and walked around the console.

"Ann, closing The Eye is not enough. We have to go back before it was opened maybe even before we got here."

"Well this is a time machine, isn't it?"

"With no power."

"What?!"

The Eye being open so long must have drained all the TARDIS."

"Great."

"I'm sorry. I truly am."

"You must have the power to go back."

"I don't."

"But what about that knowledge about the future? The stuff that's going to happen to Gareth and to me and to this city. That has to come from somewhere. Think!"

The Doctor buried his face in his hands as he tried to think of a solution. His head shot back up when it came to him in a matter of seconds.

"Wait, wait, wait," he exclaimed as he looked at her. "Are you any good a setting alarm clocks?"

"In my household?" she scoffed. "I pretty much have to be good."

"Good," he nodded as he motioned her over then picked up a small black, satchel from underneath the console. "Listen very carefully. We preset the coordinates just as I redirect energy from The Eye itself into the time node here."

"We jumpstart the TARDIS," she summarized.

"We jumpstart the TARDIS," he repeated with a small chuckle.

"What do I do?"

"Hit the top switch on the console there," he instructed as he crouched down again. "The top one."

She nodded and flipped the yellow tipped switch all the way to the right. As soon as she had done that though she felt a strange sensation take over her. Like someone was trying to inside her head. She tried to fight it but the force was just too over whelming. Without knowing what she was doing she picked up a heavy, blunt piece of equipment from the satchel.

"Good. Now hand me the neutron ram," The Doctor instructed as his hand appeared above the console.

There was no answer.

"Ann? Ann, the neutron ram," he tried again.

He sighed when again there was no answer.

"Look I'll show you," he suggested as he poked his head up.

He caught only a glimpse of her solid black eyes before the struck him with the metal bar. He fell roughly to the floor and the last thing he remember seeing was The Master and Chang standing near the entrance of the TARDIS.

Then everything when black.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: FINALLY! Finally I have this chapter done! I am so, so, so VERY sorry it took this long guys. My summer's been kinda...weird. Between getting a new computer, using only WordPad for the moment, getting use to the summer schedule at work, and a little surgery I had to go through my writing's suffered a bit. Hell it took me nearly a month to write the "quick and fun" "The Batman" fic I wrote between the third chapter and this one. Yet another reason this one was late. I really hope the next chapter won't take as long to get out and that the five of you who're reading this before will come back to read this one. And if you do I hope you're still enjoying it as well.

Again so sorry about the lateness of this chapter. It's been a little over three months and for me personally that's a bit unacceptable. Like I said I'll try to be better about it but there's only one or two more chapters, plus a quick epilogue to go so with luck it won't take too much longer.

Til next time. Which hopefully won't be that long.