The Universe's Mixer

Dinah parked and then led Jake into the bowling alley. There was only a small sense of trepidation at the thought of bowling-not one of her strong suits. But Jake had chosen, and Dinah was glad to give Jake the chance to do something that other kids his age enjoyed, something that didn't revolve around death or crimefighting or any of the other bizarre aspects of either of their lives.

Granted, the main reason for the outing was so that she could meet his much older potential friend who just happened to be a gunslinger. So, not quite normal. But she wasn't about to tell him that he had to make friends his own age and couldn't have any friends beside that. It wasn't a fair thing to do to a kid who had seen and experienced so much more than anyone his age could imagine. This wasn't Star City, where there had been a school that nurtured children from tough, violent upbringings. Not that that had gone over so well for Sin anyway, but Dinah shoved those memories to the back of her mind.

She'd asked around, checked every possible place she could, and the Institute was the only school. There were no other choices, no programs that would allow Jake to meet others that might have more in common with him than some of the kids at school.

And the fact remained that this man had saved Jake's life. For that, Dinah was grateful. She was wary about the idea of Jake spending time with someone that might encourage him towards gunslinging, but she would have a hard time disliking someone who had gone out of his way to save Jake.

Dinah glanced down at Jake as they neared the counter.

"Let me know when you see Snake. He did say he would meet us here?"

( Gods it felt good to hold a gun again. )

Snake didn't think it was possible, but he may have finally found the one place he could not escape from.

Then again, it had only been a few days, so he wasn't counting himself down and out. Not just yet.

He hadn't slept since he'd arrived in The City. Sleep would put him at a considerable disadvantage if the truth behind his new location finally decided to show its teeth. (Or its claws, or its institutionalized police state, or anything else it might have been hiding.) As was to be expected, Snake was not a man who trusted openly. In fact, he wasn't a man who trusted at all. Once upon a time, he had devoted his life to a cause, but when that cause was shred to pieces like a bleeding man fed to a tank of starving sharks, well, he decided that there was only one person on the planet that he could put any stock in. And that was himself.

His energy was beginning to wear. And the hours of walking were showing scrapes on the toes of his combat boots and blisters on the bottom of his feet. But he was a soldier. A soldier, a fighter, a man to be reckoned with. (Even with one eye.) But even the best of the best needed to close their eyes every now and again, and fill their bellies with sustenance.
( And an eggroll, free of charge. )

"DOCTOR."

Even when Amy wasn't yelling her voice sometimes reached impressive decibels, drawing out the alien's title like a referee's whistle. The TARDIS continued to shake while sparks flew from the control panel. Gears made a grinding sound as if on a loop, the familiar wvorp! wvorp! of an alien time machine trying to land.

Amy held on to the handle bars positioned just below a monitor for dear life. If she were in a car, the equivalent would have been the dry cleaning bar located above the door, sometimes affectionately called the "oh shit handle." But Amy didn't curse, she much preferred to wail. She waited for the frightening shudder of the alien machinery to pass before doing so.

"Doctor? The numbers are gone. What does that mean? The monitor doesn't have the ...Doctor? Are you listening to me? DOCTOR."

With shaky fingers she reluctantly let go of the monitor's handle bars, waiting for her legs to solidly support her weight again. It didn't take long. She straighten out her blue jacket, tugged down on her green top and adjusted her leggings. By the time she'd finished nervous primping she noticed that the TARDIS's parking break sound had finally stopped.

"I think it finally landed. Are you going to answer me, Doctor?" Amy glared at the intercom as if he might somehow feel how annoyed she was. "Well fine then! I just better not be in that.. vortexy.. vortex.. thing.. you mentioned. Alright. I've been cooped in here long enough. You can't stop me if you won't speak to me. Well... Right then. Off I go. I'm going right now, Doctor."

The silence started to scare. Just a small amount. Maybe more, but Amy Pond was too upset by the situation to let anyone know it. "I'm leaving you a note! You better come find me!" Amy looked around the TARDIS console and found one of the Doctor's tweed jackets. Why he needed more than one-- or any, really-- was beyond her. She searched his pockets for a pen but found a small velvety jewelry box instead. Being nosey, she of course opened it.

It was a diamond ring.

She tried the ring on. It fit.

Amy quickly removed the ring and shoved it back into the Doctor's jacket pocket. Better to act as though she'd never seen it. At least for now. One red pen and a post-it note later slapped over a blank TARDIS monitor and Amy was out the white double doors. The note read simply: Answer when I'm talking to you! Gone out. Love, Amy.

From The City's perspective it looked as though a funny noise preceded the materialization of a strange blue box with the words POLICE CALL BOX illuminated over the doors. Only moments later did a young, red haired woman step out. Of course without a key she'd be locked out, but then Amy had assumed the Doctor was somewhere nearby.

At least until she noticed her surroundings.

"Nope. Definitely not Colchester." Her expression sobered accordingly.