Sorry about the wait, I kinda forgot that the first 3 months of the year tend to be the busiest for me. Definitely not the time to try and post a story regularly. Ah well. Anyway, the next chapter might be a while because I have to re-write it. Just a heads up...

A blue flash erupted, seemingly out of nowhere, and deposited two blonde travelers unceremoniously onto the pavement of a small alleyway.

"That was…" Jenny paused to catch her breath. "…one hell of a ride." The sizzling crackle of sparks and increasingly loud cursing drew her attention as Rose rushed to get the vortex manipulator off her wrist. It clattered to the ground and gave on last shower of sparks. Rose pulled out the sonic pen to scan the charred device.

"Unfortunately it looks like this was a one way trip," Rose said mournfully. "This thing's fried."

"Can't say I'm upset about that." Jenny replied. "So, where are we? And when are we?"

"I was aiming for 1967, Florida." Rose gingerly picked up the defunct vortex manipulator and slipped it into her pocket. Spotting an abandoned news paper, she peeled herself off the pavement to retrieve it. "Looks like we missed it by two years and…" She paused to mentally measure the distance from Florida. "About two thirds of the continent, roughly. We're in New York."

"So what do we do now?" Jenny asked.

Rose was about to reply when an explosion of energy lit up the night sky a couple of streets away. They both exchanged a quick grin before running as fast as they could towards it.

(…)

Melody dragged her dying body through the night. She couldn't take much more of this but she had no where to go and she was deathly afraid that if she stopped her previous captors would find her again. Painful coughs forced their way out of her lungs and into the cold air.

"Are you okay?" The concerned voice distracted her. Before she could answer the man another coughing fit attacked her. "Little girl, are you okay?"

"It's all right," Instinctively she knew it was true. "It's quite alright. I'm dying." A sad look swept across the man's face. "But I can fix that. It's easy, really. See?" She held out her glowing hands. Vaguely she realized that the man had run away. Not to worry, it would all be okay. She threw her head back and let the energy consume her.

(…)

The light faded abruptly but that didn't concern Rose or Jenny as they had already found where it was coming from. Quietly, they approached the little girl lying on the ground. They were silent for a few moments, contemplating the small figure in front of them.

"You know," Jenny broke the silence. "From the information, I thought she'd be older. And more gingery."

"I think she possibly was." Rose crouched down beside the sleeping toddler. "Looks like the regeneration regressed her age a bit. Not that she had much to begin with."

"Huh." Jenny considered it for a moment. She met Rose's eyes. "Now what?"

"Well," Rose paused to consider their options. "No vortex manipulator, no money, on the run from a religious cult and trapped in the past. It doesn't leave us much choice, really."

"Do we need to get jobs?" Jenny asked, a slight look of horror crossed her face. She'd tried having a job once, a foreign planet's equivalent of nine to five. It didn't turn out so well.

"Depends what you classify as a job." Rose mused. "If I remember correctly, the women's wage in this day and age isn't anything flash and I would really like to get off this continent."

"Are you suggesting we steal?" Jenny's eyes took on an excited gleam. Rose sent her a half hearted glare and Jenny managed to look suitably apologetic.

"I really don't want to, but I think we have no choice." Rose was silent for a moment, contemplating the dilemma. "All we need to steal is enough to set us up. I think I remember enough about history to invest it."

"okay, glad that's sorted. Let's get down to business." Jenny clapped her hands. Rose just stared at her, amused. "What?"

"Why don't you leave the stealing to me?" Rose chuckled. "I don't think bringing Melody is a good idea. I saw an abandoned building around the corner, why don't you hole up there?"

"Why?" Jenny whined. "Why do you get to do the cool job?"

"From what I can tell, you can fight better than I can. Did you forget that there's a religious military cult after Melody?"

"Fine." Jenny huffed and bent down to pick up the still sleeping toddler. "You better hurry back though." She turned to face Rose but was surprised to find her gone. "Guess it's just you and me, Mels. Come along Pond."