It's all AU.

Brant had been around long enough to get restless again.

The party had been a great diversion to walking back into this mess, and the town itself was interesting enough to hold his attention for quite a while, but in the end his attention span had limits and he'd just about reached them.

He flopped into a chair in the lobby, noticed the newspaper on a table beside him. He picked it up, glanced at the date and then snorted, laughed and tossed it aside. Lifted both his hands and pressed the heels into his eyes.

"This place is a joke."

After The Doctor got his unconscious, future-self (and rightful owner of this TARDIS) settled in bed and was quite sure he was neither going to wake up or die, The Doctor left him the hell alone. He went to the TARDIS wardrobe, exchanged his clothes to ones a bit more fitting with this regeneration - comfortable shoes and no wool, thank you very much.

He stepped out of the TARDIS, pocketing the key with one hand and flipping his coat's collar into position with the other. He made sure the door was locked firmly before he pocketed his key and walked away from it, and back toward the hotel. He'd made it about half-way when he spotted someone walking toward him. He waved, cheefully, and squinted.

"Hello!" he said, brightly. "Looking for someone?"

The Master was walking. He'd started walking out to the lake for some peace, because the drums might be gone but the thoughts hammering at the inside of his skull were more than making up for them. And once he'd started walking, he just hadn't stopped. He didn't know how long it had been. He was pretty sure there'd been a night. And then the sky had turned red and the trees had turned silver, which had completely freaked him out. He'd got soaked by the rain that followed but just kept on walking.

Eventually, he found himself nearing the town again and, finally, he stopped. He didn't want to face people again yet. He looked a wreck and he felt a wreck and he didn't know what was what anymore.

He was just realising how exhausted he was. He sat down on a fallen log at the edge of a little copse amidst the endless seas of grass, rested his chin on his hands and stared off blankly into space. He'd figure out what to do next in a minute.

Or a day or two.

"No, K-9, no," Theta scolded, kneeling in the grass and scolding the tiny metal dog. K-9's head drooped and his beep sounded very sad. Theta modulated his tone instantly, "To the twelfth decimal, not the tenth."

Jamie wandered into the lobby, went and stood in front of the stuffed bunny and appeared to be addressing it, very earnestly. "Tell me the truth here. Is it the ears? Do they stick out too much? The jaw's too strong? Body too gangley? Hair tufts up too much? ...Do I have a strange purplish body odor that I'm the only one who can't smell it? What is it? I can have and maintain an erection for the first time in twenty years and no one's interested."

( The Doctor and Jack arrive in Whoville - cut for length )
Jack laughed. "Come on, Doctor! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Anyway, it looks safe enough." He gave the Doctor a little shove, making him stumble out of the TARDIS into the library.

The Doctor immediately turned to check the TARDIS hadn't disappeared the way it had last time. It hadn't. Jack was still there in the doorway grinning at him. The Doctor slowly grinned back. Ah well. At least this time he had his own Jack.