"Nearly two weeks!" The Doctor announced and stared at the figures in the Hub. "Nearly two weeks and nothing! Is this normal for you?"

"Of course not." Jack was stressed as he paced. "Two members of my team are missing and the Rift is spitting out nothing when it says something's coming through."

He paused and turned to face Captain Harkness. "That's it! Show me the activity your computer's recorded."

The Doctor followed Jack over to the computer and stared at the information as it came up on the screen. Other than the activity where he'd come through time and space in his TARDIS the activity showed up all around one place in Cardiff. He frowned, these were low signals and wouldn't show up as anything unusual until after a few days, and even then it may not be obvious something was wrong until they put the results together like this.

"What's down in that area?" He asked Jack after confirming that most strange signals came from that location.

Jack looked at the screen. "Nothing, I sent my team there every time and every time they said there wasn't anything out of the normal. Shylah claims a store was playing its music too loudly once but that doesn't seem like a crime."

"Get your team, follow me." The Doctor instructed before taking the bracelets Jack claimed to be a new TARDIS and throwing them to the man. "Take those, if they finish transferring information we might be able to find them faster."

"Doctor, what's going on? Are Murdar and Owen in danger?" Jack ran after him.

He paused to think. "Well... not immediately. But we should get everyone out."

"Out?"

"Call your team." He repeated before grabbing a device from among Murdar's equipment. "This should narrow down on time, I've been wondering where this went."

He turned on the tracker and put in Time Lord DNA base code but frowned as four dots showed up on the screen, that wasn't right. If anything there should only be two: him and her. That didn't matter much though, three of the dots were in the correct area and two were right next to each other. Even better was the fact the two dots beside each other were staying in that one location, all Jack's team had to do was track down the one that was walking around.

"Catch." He threw the device to Tosh, who caught it and gave him a bewildered look as she continued walking over to Jack. "Go find that lone dot, I'm going for the double."

"What?" Jack started to interrupt him. "Doctor-"

"Go look, contact if its her or a glitch." He responded before leaving the Hub, trying to ignore his hand Jack kept in a jar, which was a bit disturbing.

Beating the Torchwood team to the location wasn't a challenge; in fact The Doctor could bet they were still driving here after the initial shock of his brief take over. Jack had probably come up with a plan in case something went wrong, something that wasn't a bad idea to do but overall seemed unnecessary. Reaching the block where the signals were coming from at first revealed nothing, then faint music grew louder and a large bustling fair appeared. A grin spread across his face, as he realized why this hadn't shown up on the scanners.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor walked into the fair, which was and wasn't in the universe at the same time. "Just brilliant!"

He continued walking, ignoring the oddly dressed carnies trying to give him wristbands, until he reached the building where the signal should have been coming from. Why didn't it surprise him that The Pessimist, despite being negative, ended up in such a cheerful place? Then again, as children she had enjoyed the louder Gallifreyan music... perhaps that's what drew her. He opened the doors and walked into the dark cinema, the concession stand was empty and looked like it had been raided, and as he walked by rooms he could hear movies playing and occasionally laughter or screaming from the audience. Coming to the end he turned to look down the rows again, which one held the Time Lady behind it? A slight frown flickered on his face for an instant before he went for the quietest door with screams coming from the film.

Pushing it open revealed a slasher movie playing to an empty audience. The Doctor walked deeper into the room, maybe he'd followed the wrong dots and this location was the glitch. It certainly seemed that way unless The Pessimist had left. He stared around the room one last time, taking in the popcorn container and drinks that upon closer inspection were still half full. Someone was definitely in here.

"Pessimist?" He looked around again before walking to the door; maybe he'd catch her walking back here.

Weight dropped onto his back from behind and he fell to the ground while a sharp blade rested onto the back of his neck. "Doctor, are you here to kill me too?"

"I don't kill." He could've thrown her back, she wasn't that heavy. "Pessimist let me up."

"You used to not kill. How do I know you aren't lying like Assassin? Are you even The Doctor anymore?" The blade loosened against his neck and her voice lost its edge.

"I saved you from a Dalek." He responded as a brief memory of a slightly familiar wounded woman came to his mind from what was for him only a few weeks ago. "That was you right?"

The blade left him completely and he was allowed to get up. "Doctor why did you find me?"

He gazed into her vortex blue and gold gaze, it seemed to glow in the darkness. "The others are looking for you. I showed up by accident, though I will admit, I have been wondering if you died in the attack... you didn't have a way to escape."

"I did actually." She tapped her glowing choker. "This transported me and Shylah here."

He felt relief flood him as he realized his childhood friend was still alive, he pulled her against him and felt her tense for a moment before accepting the hug. "I am so sorry. I shouldn't have taken you to that time Pessimist."

"You didn't know I'd be taken as an experiment." She mumbled against him before pulling free. "It's Outcast by the way. Didn't anyone tell you the High Council changed my name after my first death?"

"They told everyone who wasn't there you were to be killed... nothing more than that, I told you that before." He let go of her arms before noticing the other man watching. "Is that their doctor?"

Outcast grinned and motioned for the tousle haired man to come closer. "Owen, this is The Doctor."

"He doesn't look like a doctor." Owen responded.

"Neither do you." He replied back with a grin.

Owen stared at him for a few more moments before glancing away. "Murdar, how can we trust him? Your last friend healed and then killed you. What if he's lying too?"

"He isn't. The Doctor never lied to me." He was warmed by her faith in him, though it was rightfully placed.

"Unless he's just a very convincing liar." Owen was studying him again.

The Doctor felt Outcast leave his side and nudge Owen. "Relax, I knew him since we were children, if he tries anything I'll deal with it."

In the background another person screamed as the killer started chopping them up. He didn't turn around to watch and instead changed the subject. "There has been increased rift activity around this area have either of you seen anything odd? Other than the fact his fair doesn't exist completely in your world?"

"I knew the fair wasn't in town." Owen muttered.

Outcast however provided a better answer. "At night there was fog covering the entire ground. When I tried to leave I heard screaming in my head, and then when it went away I followed Owen back here. I haven't seen anyone leave either, only show up... like we can't leave."

His eyes widened as the pieces fell together. "This is not good, we need to get out before nightfall... we need to get everyone out before the number goes to zero!"

"What are you talking about?" She was staring at him like he'd lost his mind. "Doctor, this is a fair, its fine."

"You just said it's like you can't leave." He pointed out. "If you can't leave then this place should be too crowded to move but it isn't! Tell me, one of you, where are the people going if they don't leave?"

The two glanced at each other and Outcast gave him a doubtful expression. "Why would we want to leave?"

"What number was on the bands you received?" He asked.

"Six." Outcast said.

"Thirteen." Owen glanced at his band with a frown. "It says ten... They're counting down."

Outcast gave a short laugh. "Or maybe you need glasses."

"They're counting down to execution day." The Doctor grabbed her wrist and looked at the number. "Yours says three now."

She pulled away and examined it for herself before paling. "What do we do? Who is executing us?"

"It's right there... I can't quite remember." He paced in front of them; perhaps it was time to contact the others. "The carnies look human but they're the ones handing out the bands... What if they're working for something? Yes, that's right... who is it though?"

Irritation flashed through him as he tried to remember, it was like he was forgetting why he was even there. He fought against it but the more he struggled the more muddled his mind became, what was going on? A slight buzzing noise and a startled shout made him look up to see Outcast's choker glowing brighter and her form start to fade.

"Doctor!" She shouted his name as her choker glowed brighter and Owen worked to try unclipping it... his form was fading in and out now too.

"Outcast." He lunged forward, unsure what was happening, though as he touched her arm it felt like moving through the vortex would. Then darkness over took him as the world disappeared around them.