The New Assistant

The Doctor was smiling big as as he pressed buttons, and flipped switches.

"When you smile, it's not good." Mirna stated, crossing her arms.

"Oh, just you wait. You'll love it!" he said, then licked his lips. "It's hard to know if he's there, or not..." he mumbled to himself. "Ah! The Medusa Cascade! He said his ship would be in orbit there for a while! Of course!"

"I thought we were going to eat, not go to one of your buddy's ships." she chuckled.

"Oh, Jack is one of the best American cooks I know." He opened the door, and Mirna closed her eyes, then slowly opened one of them.

As soon as she saw what was outside, it took her breath away.

"No time to talk about what it is. Walk on the bridge to the ship." The Doctor ordered, then walked over to the odd looking ship.

Anna followed, and was greeted by a tall, fit looking man with brown, almost black, hair, and brown eyes.

"Hey! You look like me!" the man said cheerfully. He was right, after all: She looked like him.

"I see you've met Jack." observed The Doctor.

"Where'd you find this chick, Doctor?" the man, apparently Jack, asked, not taking his eyes off Mirna.

Mirna cleared her throut. "Excuse me, 'this chick' has a name."

"Ooh. Feisty one, aren't you?" Jack said with a smirk.

"Oh, believe me," she said, then leaned forward for imphasis, "I'm just getting started."

Jack threw back his head, and laughed. "I like you, chick."

"She might prefer Mirna, Jack." The Doctor said, cutting in.

"Well, nice to meet you, Mirna. Always a pleasure, Doctor. Shall we?" he said, pointing them to the kitchen.



Jack lived up to his reputation. The food was great: Hamburgers, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, etc.

"So...? How was it?" Jack was straddling one of the three chairs that he had.

"Well, I'm not eating at Ruby Tuesdays anymore." Mirna chuckled, and Jack chuckled with her.

"Jack, you should really consider a career in cooking." The Doctor stated.

"Nah, been traveling the stars for to long." he said emotionally, as he gazed out the window.

Mirna stared at him. "Who did you lose out here?"

Jack's head snapped to meet her gaze. "How did you-?"

"She's good at figuring people out." The Doctor said, looking at her. She may be able to figure him out, but he was at a loss about her.

"Nah, it's easy. In fact, you're probably in this very area because it meant something to that person." Mirna said, leaning forward.

"Okay, now you're just creeping me out." Jack said, leaning back.

The Doctor chuckled. "His ex b-" Jack cut him off with a glare. "So-rry." he mumbled.

"So, you know about me, Mirna. It's only fair that you tell me about you." Jack rested his chin on his hand.

"Well, my mom is a slutty, drunk, druggie. My dad is in the insane asylum, I had to put him in it. I've had many different jobs, just because I hate being around my mom. Mostly because of this:" she held out her arm, which had a long scar on it. "Mom was drinking, and she got mad at me, so she broke the glass bottle, and cut me with it. I then proceeded to kick her into the walk, and rip the bottle out of her hands, then whacked her over the head with it. She never laid another hand on me."

"I'm-I'm so sorry," Jack said quietly.

"If I knew that..." The Doctor whispered.

"I learned to fight for myself the first time she hit me." Mirna said, staring at the table. She snapped her head up, and stated "I'm going to go look around the ship, if you don't mind."

"No, please, go right ahead." Jack said, offering a comforting smile.

As soon as she was out of ear shot, The Doctor turned to Jack.

"I need help."

"Okay, what's the problem?"

"I think I'm falling in love with her."

Jack laughed. "I thought that it was a real problem!"

"It is!" The Doctor insisted.

"No, it's not. You just don't want to be happy."

He started to retort, but stopped. "That's possibly true." he finally said, "But I don't want to be a pedofile."

"You-How old is she?"

"...Fourteen."

"Ahhhh. Now I see the problem."

Mirna's voice cut into their conversation. "Hey, Jack? I really want to push this big blue button."

"No-no-no-no! Don't press that!" he shouted, then got up to run to where Mirna was.

Maybe Jack is right. The Doctor thought, pondering what he said.