Metamorphosis

by noblecrescent

Summary:

Renata has survived her illness and regenerated. With everything seemingly put behind them, she and the new Doctor decide to give themselves a chance but will they last? What with newcomer Amy Pond, Dr. Song lurking by - claiming things from the future - and Renata's belief in her inability to change for the better, things might not be looking so great for her and the Doctor. *2nd in the Home Saga.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to my 3rd OC/Doctor pairing story. This is the second story of the 'Home Saga' involving my Time Lady OC Renata and the (now) 11th Doctor. I recommend that you go back to the first story "The Beginning of Everything" listed on my porfile for a better understanding of Renata's history and her story with the Doctor. Now this story will be a rewrite of Season 5 and some canon Doctor Who comic stories as well as my own original chapters. This story will also feature a canon Latinx Doctor Who comic companion, Gabby Gonzalez. She is NOT my creation.

Fair warning: I do disregard aspects of the series to make it fit my story.

Renata's current visual reference looks like the actress Livia Brito with dark brown (almost black) hair and dark brown eyes.

Gabby's fancast actress is Victoria Moroles with light skin, dark brown hair and dark eyes.

Couple of fun things: Renata's and the Doctor's main theme song is "Home" by Gabrielle Aplin. Renata's personal theme song is Butterfly by Luna Mae. (There's a specific playlist for them on my tumblr profile saiilorstars ).

---

Renata had never seen a more disastrous regeneration unfold. Of course only the Doctor could make that happen. She shouldn't even be surprised. It was only a matter of time until one of his regenerations caused the TARDIS to nearly explode. She furiously ran around the console, trying to calm the box without getting her hands burned in the process. Parts of the console room were still in flames and where was the culprit!?

"DOCTOR!" Renata's yell could almost go above the thuds and sparks from the lit console.

"Busy!" the newly regenerated Doctor called back only to have Renata snap.

"No you're not! You're…" she trailed off after poking her head around the console to see the Doctor pulling himself back inside the box.

"You left me dangling out there!" He exclaimed, flapping a hand at the open doors. The TARDIS had lurched to the side, throwing him out like a ragdoll.

Renata's dark eyes widened indignantly. She huffed and stepped away — or stumbled away because of the bouncy ride — from the console. "I did not! I'm trying to fix your mess! You can't even regenerate properly!"

Now it was the Doctor's turn to be offended. "What!? Excuse me for not dying the right way!"

Renata stalked over to him, intending on pulling him away from the doors that he irresponsibly left open as well. "The TARDIS needs to land so it can properly repair itself but I can't do that because—oh no!" She had gasped at something past him out the door. The Doctor whirled around to see them about to hit Big Ben. He used his sonic screwdriver to pull them to the side, a rather harsh turn that sent them both flying.

Only this time it sent the Doctor away from the doors and Renata out the doors.

"Renata!" the Doctor panicked. Oh, if he killed her, she would definitely kill him.

Like him, Renata had managed to hold onto the edge of the entrance. Now she dangled and was terrified for her lives. "GET ME UP! I HATE HEIGHTS!" she cried.

The Doctor scrambled to the doorway and looked down at her. He felt absolutely terrible because this wasn't the first time she was in this situation. She had her eyes screwed shut and her hands gripping the TARDIS as much as she could.

"You need to stop doing this to me!" she shouted when she felt his hands grab her arms. Last time she dangled from a terribly high height was on the first day she met Donna Noble in the Adipose building, and just like then she screamed for help now.

"Up you go!" the Doctor pulled her up and into the TARDIS. She was far too terrified and wrapped her arms around his neck as if he would stop her from falling again. Despite her clinging to him, the Doctor managed to shut the doors behind them.

The TARDIS continued to spin and lurch, throwing the two against the door. Renata's back hit the door with a thud and because she still held onto the Doctor, she brought him with her. Now she was locked between him and the door.

Despite their situation, the Doctor still found time to smile at her. "Hello," he greeted her for the first time since regenerating.

She was right, he hadn't regenerated properly. All the physical injuries he sustained in his previous incarnation carried over and it meant that the regeneration process had to work twice as hard to heal everything. The poor TARDIS never stood a chance and Renata had to work hard to keep them alive. There'd been no time to say hello and make sure she was alright. He would take these few seconds to do at least one of those two things.

Renata froze under that new gaze of his; she swallowed out of nervousness. Though he had a younger face, his emerald green eyes still held all the love and intensity he confessed before regenerating. It was still enough to calm her in the midst of a scary situation. But the TARDIS shook them again, reminding her pilots that she needed help or else they were all goners. The pair headed — a bit zig-zag from all the lurches — towards the console. They had to stop it before somebody got hurt. As it was, there was somebody below them who was asking for help from a higher power...the only higher power a seven year old could think of.

Little Amelia Pond didn't know what else to do with the ugly crack on her bedroom wall. It didn't look right and it didn't sound right either. Cracks shouldn't be making sounds. That's why she was scared of it. If it was a normal crack like her aunt Sharon told her it was, then she wouldn't hear noises from it.

Santa Claus had to help. She was just so sorry that she was waking him up during Easter. But just as she was once again asking for his help, she heard a crash in her backyard yard. Her ginger hair whipped to the side when she made the quick turn. She dashed to her window and looked below to see a dark blue box on the ground. She didn't understand power a lot, but she thought if Santa sent them then it must mean it was good enough to help her with the crack. Now she just had to be brave enough to go see it up close.

She grabbed her red jacket and the first shoes she saw - a pair of wellies - then ran out of her room. She ran as fast as she could down the stairs, thinking if she delayed then the box would disappear and she would be back to step one with the crack. She had just made it into the yard when the doors of the box flung open. The grappling hook that was thrown out and latched onto her lawn roller stopped her for a moment. What kind of box did that? Then she saw hands grabbing onto the edge of the box. A man's head popped out first, revealing incredibly wet hair.

"Can I have an apple?" he asked as soon as he met the girl's gaze. That was the first thing that his mind had thought of after such a ride. It was odd what regeneration did. "All I can think about - apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving. That's new - never had cravings before!"

Amelia swore she heard somebody screaming from inside the box. She was sure when the man flinched and looked below to respond to whatever had spoken inside the box.

"Sorry, love," he climbed out of the box then reached for something inside — somebody inside.

Amelia blinked when he pulled out a dark-haired woman from the box. Like him, she was soaking wet. "Are you okay?" the question blurted from Amelia's mouth.

"No! I am not!" Renata answered without even looking at the girl. She didn't even register that the Doctor hadn't been the one to ask the question. She wouldn't straddle the TARDIS like the Doctor was, she wanted to step on actual ground. She wanted to confirm that she was no longer dangling in the air.

"It is freezing out here! Where are we!?" Renata hugged herself wet body and began to look around. With such a landing, she didn't have the opportunity to see where the TARDIS had deposited them in. All she saw was water from the swimming pool.

They were in a garden, probably a backyard, that could honestly use some work. The grass was unkempt which meant somebody had neglected to give it a proper mowing. There were abandoned tools to one side — she winced when she realized that they had inadvertently smashed the shed — and then a park bench that could use some cleaning. Finally, she saw a swing set…

Oh. Renata glanced at the girl, eyes wide when she finally realized there was a child present. A child had asked her if she was alright and she'd been so rude. "So sorry," she quickly apologized. "Uh...bit off my rocker thanks to…" she threw a sharp look at the Doctor who couldn't seem bothered. His grin was a sign alright.

Amelia looked between them and wondered how Santa thought they were capable of helping her. Then again, if they were this strange then perhaps they were the right ones to handle a strange crack with noise. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"We just had a fall," the Doctor said, patting the TARDIS under him. "All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."

"Yes, my library is ruined now," Renata came back to the box and peered inside, though as soon as she did she pulled away. It was an outright mess in there. "And Gabriella's going to be furious that her art room is basically nonexistent."

The Doctor winced. Up until now, their companion Gabriella Gonzalez hadn't ever been properly angry with him, so he was really hoping that he could keep that streak when they went back to pick her up.

Amelia hadn't understood what they were saying, but she could still make sense of what she saw. "You're soaking wet."

"Yes, we are," Renata glared at the Doctor again. She hugged herself and cursed the dress she wore.

"Yeah, you are," the Doctor repeated but he wasn't so upset like she was. He was staring at her with a growing smirk.

Renata blinked when she finally caught on to the fact he was checking her out. Her pretty flower-patterned dress was hugging her body in just the right way. He was loving the fact he could see her curves, her new curves that she would otherwise probably never show.

Her face went mad red, probably almost the shade of Amelia's hair. She turned away in an attempt to focus on Amelia, but there was a tingling feeling running up her backside. You are not going to do that right here, she scolded herself. But she may have sneaked a glance at the Doctor. He was still staring at her appreciatively.

Renata bit her lower lip and forced herself to pay attention to Amelia for real this time. "I am so sorry for the mess we've made here. I, uh, can tell that you've worked hard to keep this...garden clean…"

Amelia smiled in amusement when Renata had to practically force herself to finish that sentence after checking out the garden again. "Nobody takes care of the garden. But how come you're wet?"

"We were, uh, in the swimming pool," Renata walked back to the TARDIS, discreetly pinching the Doctor's arm. When the man yelped she smiled sweetly at him. He needed a good snap back to reality.

"You said you were in the library," Amelia reminded after she herself thought over the last statements the pair had made.

"That's because my library is now ruined as well because the swimming pool is inside it," Renata folded her arms again.

"Are you police?"

That question was enough to reel the pair in. They stared at the little girl who shifted on her feet, anxiously waiting for their answer.

"Why? Did you call the police?" the Doctor asked her.

"Not exactly, but I did want help. Did you come about the crack in my wall?"

"A crack?" Renata repeated, giving the girl a strange look for her question when suddenly the Doctor yelped in pain, falling to the ground.

"Agh!" the Doctor pulled himself up but was only able to kneel in the meantime.

Renata was at his side in a second, trying to ease his lingering pain. "You haven't regenerated properly thanks to the little old flight we had."

"Are you all right, mister?" Amelia asked, staying right where she was. Usually adults didn't want kids around when one of them was sick. Plus, the dark haired woman seemed to be on it.

"No, I'm fine, it's OK. This is all perfectly norm…" the Doctor trailed off and had the urge to open his mouth. When he did, regeneration energy drifted out.

Renata sighed. "Yup, definitely wrong. You'll need to rest."

"Did you?" the Doctor asked. By his calculations, it'd been about two days since she regenerated and he didn't see her taking a rest. She rolled her eyes at his weak attempt to argue.

"Who are you?" Amelia couldn't help herself from asking. They were so strange, especially the man.

"By the time we finish explaining, you'd be an adult," Renata offered the girl a soft smile.

"And to be fair, I'm still cooking," the Doctor was proud to announce. That was the one good thing he could remember from each regeneration: the thought of who this incarnation would turn out to be. What would he like? What wouldn't he like? What would his personality be like?

"Are you afraid?" Renata asked the child.

"No, it just looks a bit weird…" Amelia's gaze lingered on the Doctor as if he would release more energy.

"Well, that's good to hear, but I was talking about the crack you mentioned."

The answer was evident before Amelia even answered. She looked over her shoulder up to her bedroom. "Yes."

The Doctor jumped from the ground, missing Renata worriedly trying to stop him from doing anything else. "Well, then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor, this is Renata. Do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off."

"Doctor…" Renata tried stopping him again but she was too late. He'd walked straight into a tree. She gasped at the terrible smack she heard. That's the last thing he needed!

The Doctor had fallen to the ground on his back, a terrible headache soon to come. When he opened his eyes, he saw Renata already with him while Amelia stood behind his head. "Early days. Steering's a bit off," he excused himself but winced with Renata's scoff.

"Think it's more than just early days," she mumbled as she helped him stand up. Though before she completely let him go, she grabbed his head and pulled him closer to inspect any scratches or cuts on his face. She ignored - or rather did her best to ignore - the Doctor's following eyes on her.

"What's your verdict, my nurse?" he asked her quietly.

She blushed and let him go. "You're fine. But do me a favor and try not to crash into anything else. I will need you when I go back for Gabriella. Don't want to explain to her how you died once more by running into a door."

The Doctor grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

~0~

Amelia had brought the pair into her house, an action that Renata wasn't sure how to feel about. Did nobody teach this child never let strangers into her house? Amelia came into the kitchen with two towels for them to dry up. Renata gratefully took hers while the Doctor practically snatched his distractedly. He was busy studying the solitary kitchen.

"If you're a doctor, why does your box say "Police"?" Amelia asked him before glancing at Renata. "Are you a policewoman?"

"More like his caretaker," Renata dried her hair and flashed a smirk at the frowning Doctor.

"Lies," he promptly said. "Where's my apple?"

Amelia went off to the fridge and hid her smile when Renata scolded him for not saying 'please'. She came back with an apple in hand but once the Doctor took only one bite, he spit out in disgust.

"That's disgusting. What is that?" he wiped the lingering remains off apple from his lips.

Renata was frowning at him for that bit. "You've been asking nonstop for an apple - what do you think she gave you?"

The Doctor heard her, he did, but he also heard his taste buds and they did not approve. "Apples are rubbish. I hate apples."

Amelia could not understand how easily he could change his mind. "You said you loved them."

"No, no, I love yogurt! Yogurt's my favorite. Give me yogurt!" the Doctor rubbed his hands together at the thought of creamy yogurt.

Beside him, Renata watched Amelia run back to the fridge to get the yogurt. Just like before, Amelia returned with what the Doctor asked.

"Thank you," Renata was about to take the container so Amelia could get a cup but neither ever got the chance. The Doctor snatched the container from Amelia's hand and ripped the container off to pour a massive amount into his mouth.

Renata gaped that it almost looked like her mouth would hit the floor. "Doctor!"

The Doctor spit the yogurt out as well. "Ugh! I hate yogurt, it's just stuff with bits in!"

"You said it was your favorite!" Amelia frowned. Some of the yogurt was on her wellies!

"Doctor, you are being very rude right now!" Renata was so close to smacking him. This was too much, even for him!

"What? New mouth, new rules!" He sloppily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Renata shuddered.

Amelia chuckled. Renata looked incredibly funny right now.

"It's like eating after cleaning your teeth, everything tastes wro—agh!" the Doctor insisted but Renata grabbed him by the tie of his shirt and pulled him up to her.

"Stop making up stupid excuses and—" But the Doctor had another fit, ending whatever threat she'd been about to make. Renata let him go with a gasp. "Are you okay!?"

"What's wrong with him?" Amelia watched Renata lean the Doctor against the cabinets behind them. One moment he was arguing and the next he was sick? That didn't make sense.

"Oh, he, uh, just has—" Renata meant to construct a good reason that wouldn't scare Amelia off, but the Doctor had a very different idea in mind.

"Wrong with me? It's not my fault!" the Doctor exclaimed as he got off the wall. "Why can't you give me decent food? You're Scottish - fry something!"

"Doctor!" Renata scolded him while Amelia once again went to the fridge. "You don't have to, sweetheart!" she quickly told the girl but she was already pulling out a pan.

Amelia was a quick cook and in five minutes she presented the Doctor with two strips of bacon.

"Ah! Bacon!" the Doctor, to his credit, did look excited about this one.

However Renata wasn't very fond of the scent she got from it. I guess this incarnation won't like bacon, she concluded.

The Doctor agreed. He took one bite from a strip and spit it right out. "That's bacon. Are you trying to poison me?" he shot an accusing look at Amelia.

This time the girl took it a challenge. There had to be something this man would like and she would find out.

Meanwhile, Renata was close to steaming. "You are being incredibly rude!" she hissed at the Doctor as Amelia brought baked beans to them. "She's a child making food for you!"

"Well let's see if this is it!" the Doctor said. "Plus, you need to eat as well. When's the last time you ate since you regenerated?"

Renata rolled her eyes. Truth be told she didn't remember when she last ate. Things had escalated pretty fast after returning to Earth and finding the Master.

"Ah, you see, beans!" the Doctor happily exclaimed when Amelia came around with a plate. He took a spoonful of it and immediately decided she'd gotten it wrong again. He spit it back out on the plate and marched to the sink to throw it all away. "Beans are evil. Bad, bad beans!"

Amelia made a face and glanced at Renata. "What does he like?"

"At this point...not living!" Because with the glare she had on the Doctor, he might have just met his end.

Amelia sucked in a sharp breath and marched towards the cabinet. Her next attempt was simple. Maybe he was a simple man who liked simple food.

"Bread and butter. Now you're talking!" the Doctor rubbed his hands together as he prepared to eat.

This time, he thought it was so bad that the contents shouldn't even stay inside the house. He stormed towards the backdoor and threw the plate out. "And stay out!" he yelled as if it would really come back.

Amelia was frowning by this point.

"You are about to die again," Renata warned him when he returned. "She's done making food for you!"

"I just need something!" the Doctor argued as he went for the fridge.

Amelia followed him, offering other things she had in the fridge. "We've got some carrots?"

The Doctor scoffed. "Carrots? Are you insane? No, wait, hang on!" He flung open the freezer and searched through the contents. "I know what I need. I need... I need... I need…" He concluded that he needed two items that, if it wasn't for him, would never see each other. "Fish fingers and custard."

Both Renata and Amelia crinkled their noses with disgust. The Doctor happily went ahead with his odd creation.

"This time I get to make dinner for you," he proudly said to Renata when they sat down.

Renata tried her best not to look so disgusted at the bright yellow liquid inside the bowl. "Um...thanks?" Part of her laughed because he was actually trying to make dinner for her, but he'd chosen such a wrong combination. "You're so proud, aren't you?"

The Doctor dipped his fish finger into the bowl, eyes practically dazzling as he saw the gooey custard spill back into the bowl. He took a big bite and hummed with approval. "Good!"

Amelia chuckled from her spot. She'd chosen ice cream as her midnight meal.

"Oh, you are leaving quite an impression," Renata propped an elbow on the table to rest her cheek against her hand. The Doctor smiled proudly. He thought he was making a good one.

"Have some," he picked up a fish finger for her.

"Look Doctor, I appreciate your intention but...that does not look appetizing," Renata chuckled at it.

"But it's good!"

"Fish fingers and custard? I don't think so," Renata playfully rolled her eyes. The Doctor dipped the fish finger into the custard bowl as she went on. "I think I'll just grab an apple or something but you will not have me trying—" the Doctor had popped a fish finger into her mouth. Her eyes widened in alarm, quickly flashing anger at him. "Doc…"

"Ah! Chew!" the Doctor pointed at her with a wagging finger. "You always say you chew your food and swallow before talking at the table."

"That's what aunt Sharon says," Amelia said.

"See, Renata is very fond of routines and rules so I hope she wouldn't break them because it's her," the Doctor set a very smug smile on the Time Lady.

She returned the gesture with a sarcastic smile, but she started to chew to get rid of the foul combination. And then suddenly...she cocked her head and began chewing slower. When it came time to swallow, it wasn't forced at all.

"Well?" the Doctor asked, even though he had already assumed her opinion changed on the meal.

"Uuh...that was...that was actually kind of good," Renata said slowly as she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact. "That can't be right. It shouldn't work!"

"The oddest things sometimes work," the Doctor reached over with a thumb to clear off a lingering spot of custard on her lips. "Sound familiar?"

Renata blushed. "You think you're so smart, don't you?"

"I like to think I'm a genius," the Doctor said as he returned to his bowl.

"You are so modest," Renata sighed and reached for another fish finger, completely ignoring the Doctor's smug smile widening. She wouldn't hear the end of this one, she knew! She checked on the little girl who, up until now, hadn't shown any trauma from everything they'd put her through. "What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked when she realized they hadn't even asked her yet. They were there, sitting at her table, eating her food, and they didn't even bother asking her what her name was!

"Amelia Pond," the girl said.

"Ah, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairy tale," the Doctor said, making the girl smile a bit wider. Everyone always seemed to pick on her for her odd name, but what could she do about it?

"Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" Renata asked. She didn't even know where they were because of the TARDIS' crashing.

"No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish," Amelia crinkled her nose as if she'd only just moved in yesterday.

"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs?" the Doctor leaned a bit in his chair to catch sight of the stairs. Up until now, no one had come down to check on them. "Thought we'd have woken them by now."

"Oh, what would make you think that?" Renata sarcastically asked him. "You screaming at a plate of beans? Or how about the big old box crashing in the garden?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, we'll fix that for them."

"The least we could do," Renata mumbled.

"I don't actually have a mum and dad. Just an aunt," Amelia answered when she thought they were done bickering again.

"We don't even have an aunt," the Doctor said, giving her a wink.

"You're lucky!"

Renata gave an odd look at the girl. "Why would you say something like that? Is your aunt not nice?"

Amelia didn't answer right away, but Renata could tell the girl was upset by something. "She's nice, but...she's not here, is she?"

Renata hummed as she looked around. "Right. Of course she wouldn't be here. She really leaves you alone?"

"I'm not scared," Amelia raised her head up high, making the pair of Time Lords smile.

"Ooh, we know," the Doctor said. "You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man and woman fall out of box, man and woman eat fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?"

"What?"

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."

Renata agreed with a silent nod. And if she was guessing, Amelia must have told her aunt about this crack but the aunt hadn't listened. Amelia must be terrified and yet the aunt still left her alone!?

~ 0 ~

Amelia brought the Doctor up to her bedroom when they were done with dinner. Renata had insisted on washing everything before she could join them. How could they have dinner in someone else's home and not clean up after themselves? So, the Doctor began examining the crack on the wall by himself. At first glance, it did look like any ordinary crack. He might have even turned away if he'd only looked at it for a few seconds.

"You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen," he murmured as he worked along the crack.

"How are we doing?" Renata walked in a few minutes later and dropped an apple into Amelia's hand. "No seven year old should have ice cream at midnight. Have one."

Amelia scrunched her face at the apple she now held, though she did smile when she saw a carving of a butterfly on it. "How'd you do that?"

Renata smiled secretively as she bent down in front of the girl. "You want to know a secret? I'm like the Mother of butterflies." She turned her palm around and let golden energy rise from her skin, gently swirling until they formed miniature butterflies."

Amelia's green eyes expanded to the point of bulging from her head. She was enchanted with the butterflies flying around her. "That's so cool!"

Renata chuckled. "You think so? You want to know another secret?" Amelia nodded excitedly. Renata leaned a little closer and whispered, "I just learned how to do that downstairs."

The Doctor looked from the crack to see the sight. He smiled softly at the two. Renata was just so good with children, with people in general, that it seemed like no matter what incarnation she was in, this was a part of her core personality.

Renata straightened up on her feet and turned to the Doctor, catching him in his act of staring. She raised an eyebrow at him, questioning why he was wasting time, but he just continued to smile at her. Before she could blush again - she was beginning to think that this body would be doing that a lot easier now - Renata cleared her throat and walked up to the wall. "So, have we got anything on this menacing crack?"

"Uh, sort of…" the Doctor gave the crack all of his attention now. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing - where's the drought coming from?"

"Let's find out," Renata reached for her sonic screwdriver in her dress' pocket and aimed it at the wall. The Doctor took the chance to scoot closer to her, letting his chin rest on her shoulder while she took in the readings. Renata concentrated really hard on the sonic and not the sensation she was feeling from his closeness. "Interesting…"

"What?" Amelia wanted to get closer but she still was kind of afraid of the crack.

"Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey!" the Doctor thought that was the perfect explanation. He moved away from Renata and stopped at the start of the crack. "You know what the crack is? It's a crack, clearly." He began to run his fingers along the crack, bringing him back to where Renata stood. "I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, 'cos the crack isn't in the wall."

"Where is it, then?" Amelia made a face. Half of his words weren't making sense, but she was pretty sure that the thing on her wall looked like a crack.

"It's everywhere," Renata said quietly, her face growing more grim by the second. "In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. And that is not right. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together...right here in the wall of your bedroom. How could that happen?" she glanced at the Doctor for some ideas, not that she didn't have her own.

Her first assumption was that this was a direct consequence of the Master and the Time Lords breaking out of the Time Lock. There was too much tampering with that time period, from both sides, that perhaps Time itself finally had enough.

"Sometimes, can you hear…" the Doctor actually meant to think this but since he said out loud, Amelia quickly jumped in with the answer.

"A voice!? Yes!"

Both aliens paused to look back at the anxious girl. It was clear that she'd been waiting for somebody to believe her.

The Doctor reached for a glass of water on the nightstand. He chucked the water to the side and pressed its rim against the wall. Soon as he put his ear against the end of the glass, he heard an echoing voice on the other side.

'Prisoner Zero has escaped'

The Doctor stepped away, nose crinkling as he repeated what he heard. "Prisoner Zero?"

Amelia once again jumped in. "Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I heard!" She wasn't the only one hearing the voices now! If they believed it then it meant things would finally get fixed. "What does it mean?"

"Be subtle," Renata whispered to the Doctor. This was still a child they were dealing with and they shouldn't terrify her.

Of course that's what Renata thought, because despite her warning the Doctor still went ahead and answered with the blunt truth. "It means that, on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner." Renata rubbed her forehead wearily. So that incarnation also had a loud mouth. Great. "You might need a better wall," the Doctor concluded as he went for the desk nearby. He pulled it away so that the wall was free of any furniture. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or…" Renata once again made an attempt to remind him Amelia was still a child. This time it seemed like he got it. "You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

"Yes," Amelia nodded with a roll of her eyes. That was so annoying.

"Everything's going to be fine."

Amelia's face fell flat.

Renata shut her eyes for a moment, wondering which one of his lines was worse.

"Renée?" the Doctor called to her, in the process letting it be known that he would still be using that nickname for her as well. He was holding his hand out for her.

"Yeah, alright," the Time Lady moved up beside him and took his hand. Funny, it seemed to slip in so easily with his. Renata then glanced back to where Amelia stood and did the same like the Doctor. "Amelia?"

The girl grinned when Renata offered her other hand to her. She moved around the bed and took Renata's hand.

"Alright then, let's get this big, bad wall shut!" the Doctor held his sonic to the crack.

Amelia turned her head at the sonic when it started making that whirring noise. Renata's sonic hadn't made that noise, she wondered why the Doctor's did. Amelia soon forgot about that detail when a bright light started shining through the crack. It was opening! While Amelia shielded her eyes, Renata squinted hers to see prison cells on the other side. Her hand squeezed Amelia's when she realized that the child had been sleeping next to a prison, an alien prison.

'Prisoner Zero has escaped,' a voice announced on a loop. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'

The Doctor took a step towards the crack, hoping to end things without much trouble. "Hello?" At the second call, a giant blue eye surprised him and the others.

"What's that?" Amelia frowned at the creature. It kept swiveling its eyeball at them.

Before either Time Lord answered, a ball of light shot out from the crack and struck the Doctor. He landed against the bed just as the crack sealed up.

"Doctor, are you alright!?" Renata let go of Amelia's hand - though she ushered the girl away from the crack - and rushed to the Doctor.

He was getting back on his feet with a bit of struggle. The regeneration was still going. "There. You see, told you it would close. Good as new."

Amelia wasn't sure if she was supposed to be relieved or scared. But at least the crack was gone. "What was that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?"

"No. I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message." The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper from his pant's pocket. "Psychic paper, takes a lovely little message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' But why tell us?"

Renata dreaded the answer as she glanced back at the wall. "Because maybe this is where he escaped through…" If the crack truly was what they thought it was, then this was a weak point in Time. Anything could get through if it tried.

"But he couldn't have. We'd know!" the Doctor argued initially. They would have noticed something like that.

"No, we wouldn't," Renata said calmly to him. "It's like you said. I just regenerated 2 days ago and I haven't slept or ate since before and you just regenerated an hour ago. We're not functioning the right way."

The Doctor would concede with that point, several points. "Brand-new me, nothing works yet," he mumbled with annoyance as he headed out of the room. "Still, I feel like there's something I'm missing…" he stopped by the staircase banister and thought, "...in the corner...of my eye." He and Renata jumped at the sound of the cloister bell ringing.

"Oh, great," Renata sighed while the Doctor broke into a race for the TARDIS. She and Amelia hurried after him into the backyard.

"We've got to get back in there!" The Doctor exclaimed as he came up to the TARDIS. "The engines are phasing, it's going to burn!"

Amelia couldn't quite see that happening since it was just a box. "But... it's just a box! How can a box have engines?"

The Doctor struggled to free the grappling hook while Renata hurried to gather the rope around them. "That's because it's not a box. It's a time machine, sweetheart," Renata explained as she returned to the Doctor's side with the role in her arms.

Amelia blinked at her then checked the box again. "What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?"

"It's his, not mine," Renata gave a nod at the Doctor. "Mine wouldn't have landed like this."

"Oh!" the Doctor stopped working altogether to frown at Renata. "It's not like I planned this! I didn't see you doing a better job!"

"What!?" Renata dropped the rope with an indignant cry. "Your spasm of regeneration didn't exactly give me the time! Honestly, I have never seen a messier regeneration!"

Amelia's head once again turned from Renata to the Doctor as each of them took their turn responding to the other's comment. She smiled, though, when Renata sprouted golden butterfly wings. It definitely halted the argument.

"So...that's a thing now?" the Doctor was just as surprised as Amelia. He eyed the admittedly beautiful golden butterfly wings that were made out of pure Vortex and Osiran power. To Amelia, it looked more like fairy dust (Renata just needed to be blonde to be like Tinkerbell!). Bright, golden sparkle dust!

Renata was mortified to see them back. She looked over her shoulder with a loud groan. "Go away!" She shouted at them as if they actually had ears.

The Doctor chuckled at her. "C'mon my beautiful butterfly," he tugged her towards him by the hand. "We really have to get the TARDIS stabilized. I think a 5 minute hop into the future should do it."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Renata forgot about the silky argument and gathered up the rope she let fall.

Amelia watched the two work together like they hadn't been arguing a minute ago. It was rather funny. They were funny. Nothing around her was ever funny. She always spent most of her time alone. Who could she be funny with? Definitely not aunt Sharon. "Can I come?" she asked the two after they'd looped the rope through the door handle.

"Not safe in here, not yet," the Doctor told her, making her hopeful smile falter.

Renata walked over to the girl with a soft smile. "Listen, it'll just be 5 minutes and then we'll be back, right Doctor?"

"Absolutely!" he gave a thumbs up in the air.

"People always say that," Amelia frowned.

The Doctor walked over as well and looked her in the eyes. "Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me, I'm the Doctor. And, if you want extra assurance, that's why I have Renata."

Amelia's hope returned. "Really?"

"Have you ever seen a star in outer space?" Renata asked her and couldn't help chuckle at Amelia's widened eyes. She really did have big eyes. "Start picking a constellation. We'll work out permission with your aunt after." She had quite a few words to exchange with that Aunt of hers who just left her on her own.

The Doctor led Renata back to the TARDIS. They climbed over the edge again and, with one last look at Amelia, they jumped inside.

"Geronimo!" Amelia heard the Doctor's scream before the TARDIS doors closed. A few seconds later, the box disappeared into thin air.

Amelia continued to grin and hope for their return as she ran back home to collect her things. She had no idea what she would need to see a star in outer space but she would be very prepared!

~0~

The TARDIS returned to the same spot as before, but its inhabitants wouldn't notice straightaway something truly important. Renata came out of the TARDIS first - shoved out by the Doctor - coughing from the smoke billowing out of the box.

"We've got to let her repair!" Renata said in the midst of her coughing. The Doctor could only nod for a moment as he got over his coughing. "It's day time…" Renata realized as she looked up at the clear, blue sky. "Oh my God...it's day time! We told her 5 minutes — Amelia!" She raced into the house with the Doctor right behind her.

They hollered for Amelia to get out of the house. For this one moment, Renata would forget her rules about breaking in for the sake of Amelia's well being. They went directly to the one door they couldn't catch before but this time the sonic wasn't working.

"Is she at school!?" Renata tried to guess with the most logical idea. If it were that then at least she would be safe.

The Doctor struggled with the door but stopped when he heard a loud smack behind. He spun around and barely got a second to see Renata on the floor before he too was whacked across the head.

The next time they came to, the pair found themselves handcuffed to a radiator. A female police officer in a short skirt stood off to the side, speaking into her radio.

"White male and female, mid-20s, breaking and entering. Send me some back-up, I've got them restrained." The woman shot the pair a glare. "Oi, you! Sit still."

"Cricket bat. I'm getting cricket bat!" the Doctor felt the throb where the bat had hit him, but he was more angry at the fact Renata had also gotten the hit.

"Call me crazy but I think…" Renata paused to scrunch her face at the lingering pain she felt on the back of her head, "I think that was some uncalled police brutality." She tried moving her hand and found she was handcuffed to the same handcuff the Doctor was. "Oh, really?"

The Doctor nodded over at the policewoman. "I don't carry handcuffs, love!"

"You were breaking and entering," the policewoman said in a manner that would leave clear she used the appropriate amount of force against them.

Renata gasped with offence. "I have never broken into a place! Usually he—" she pointed at the Doctor with her free hand, "—is the one that drags me into it! My record with the authorities is clean!"

The Doctor stared at her with a flat expression. "Thanks, dear. Really appreciate your defense right now." His voice suddenly turned into a shout that startled the police woman but not Renata. "I literally died 2 hours ago and some woman just hit me with a cricket bat! You're not even going to mention that fact!?"

"What do you want me to do about it!? Kiss it and make it better!?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to snap when he suddenly tilted his head with consideration of the proposal. "Actually yes, that would make it so much better." Renata rolled her eyes but she turned her head away to hide her smile.

The police woman banged a hand against the staircase banister to get their attention back. "Do you want to shut up now? I've got back-up on the way! You both broke in!"

"But what are you doing here? Where's Amelia?" the Doctor asked, or rather demanded. He doubted this was the aunt Sharon that Amelia mentioned.

The police woman tilted her head at them. "Amelia Pond?"

"Adorable little Scottish girl," Renata said. "Where is she? We promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing." She craned her head up at the window where the sun was shining was through. "I suppose we must have gone a bit far. Perhaps a day? Has something happened to her?"

The officer folded her arms, seeming like she was enjoying their momentary panic. "Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time."

"How long?" the Doctor dared to ask. Renata had assumed they'd been late by a day but if turned out to be more, he wasn't sure Renata could take it.

"Six months."

Renata gasped. "No, no, no! We can't be six months late! We said five minutes. We promised!"

The police woman turned away with zero interest in their guilt.

"What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?" the Doctor now demanded from her.

"Sarge, it's me again," the police woman spoke in a hurried, hushed tone into her radio "Hurry it up, this guy knows something about Amelia Pond."

"What!?" Renata fully panicked now. Why would the police woman say something like that? Had something happened to Amelia!? What if she got hurt while waiting for them to come back!? Had she wandered off into the streets on her own to search for them!?

"Renée? Calm down," the Doctor struggled to move his cuffed hand closer to hers. He could see her beginning to panic and he wanted nothing more than to ease her. His free hand was the one to finally touch her face. "This face will be easier to read." He noted her widened eyes and the way her light skin paled up a bit.

"We told her 5 minutes and now something might have happened to her," Renata whispered. She directed her eyes to the police woman. "Please, you have to tell us what happened to Amelia? Is she missing?"

The police woman seemed to shift under those soft eyes of Renata. The Time Lady was so concerned, her voice cracking as if tears would roll down her face anytime soon. "Well…"

"Look, we need to speak to whoever lives in this house now," the Doctor cut in sharply. "And I'd like some information on Amelia Pond as well."

"I live here," the police woman snapped.

"But you're the police!"

"Yes, and this is where I live. You got a problem with that?!"

"I've got a problem with the fact you're keeping your mouth shut about Amelia!" snapped Renata. "So here's a little something for you, dear, how many rooms you got in this house?"

The police woman rolled her eyes. They were just trying to have her, weren't they?

"How many rooms?" Renata repeated the question, her tone growing harder by the second. "On this floor. How many rooms on this floor? Can you count them for us?"

"Why?"

"Because it will change your life," the Doctor left it at that. She didn't know what was living next door to her and once she realized it, she'd be in for the shock of her lives.

The woman decided to humor them. So she turned around and started counting the doors. "Five. One, two, three, four, five."

"Wrong," snapped Renata, making the police woman flinch. She sounded like a teacher.

"Six," the Doctor said, softer than Renata but it wasn't like he didn't understand her current feelings.

"Six?" the woman shook her head. "What do you take me-"

"Just look!" Renata insisted.

"Look where?"

"Exactly where you don't want to look," the Doctor told her, nodding at something behind her. "Where you never want to look, the corner of your eye. Look behind you."

The police woman sighed and turned where he was pointing to. She was about to chalk them off as crazy when she finally realized they were right. There was a door right there. "That's...that is not possible. How's that possible?"

"There's a perception filter round the door," the Doctor began to explain. "Sensed it the last time I was here. Should've seen it."

"But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even noticed."

"That's because the filter stops you," Renata told her. "Something came a while ago to hide. It's still hiding. You need to uncuff us now!" She yanked on the handcuffs, hissing each time the metal dug into her skin.

"I don't have the key. I lost it." Because she was walking towards the door, she missed Renata's and the Doctor's dumbfounded faces.

"How can you have lost it?!" Renata shouted in outrage. She yanked on the handcuffs again, ignoring the Doctor's cry for her to stop doing that.

"Hey you! Stay away from that door!" the Doctor shouted at the police woman who was just going straight for it. "Do not touch that door! Listen to me! Do not open that-" the woman turned the knob and effectively opened the door. "Why does no one ever listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?" He met Renata's gaze and saw her teasing smile. "Again?" he asked, disheartened over the problem repeating itself in a brand new incarnation.

Renata laughed. "I think that's just part of your personality, my dear."

The Doctor would've smiled more if he hadn't remembered the police woman wandering into the forbidden room at the end of the hallway. "Hey!"

"Sonic!" Renata exclaimed. "Mine must have dropped with that tumultuous TARDIS trip!"

The Doctor came up short with his own sonic. "My screwdriver, where is it?"

"Oh, great!" Renata rolled her eyes. Maybe her luck was beginning to change into something similar as his. That wasn't good at all!

"Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?" the Doctor continued searching his pockets to no avail.

"There's nothing here!" the police woman called from inside the room.

"And who told you that it would let you see it!?" Renata snapped. She tried turning her body to where she would be able to see a bit into the room, but the only thing she did was lean on the Doctor too close.

"Seriously, you could keep doing that," he wasn't at all shy to say.

Renata paused to give him a sharp look. "Well, this new you certainly has no problem flirting."

"I said I learned my lesson last time," he said, referring to his last words before regenerating. He was done wasting time with Renata and because he knew how shy she was, he would be the bold one (not that he ever had a problem with that). He would be the one to flirt with her, do the touching until she learned how to come out of her shell - or cocoon, given her butterfly abilities - and do the same. Renata was too used to hiding herself, hiding her feelings and not expressing how she felt at moments. It was the way she was raised on Gallifrey and after 11 regenerations, it would be a hard habit to break, but not impossible.

"You said silver, blue at the end?" the police woman's call cut into the pair's moment. They looked at the open doorway and saw she was way too inside.

"My screwdriver, yeah…" the Doctor said slowly.

"It's here!"

"Must have rolled under the door," Renata reasoned but the police woman said a very interesting response.

"Yeah. Must have," the policewoman said. "And then it must have jumped up on the table…"

"Get out of there!" the Doctor yelled frantically.

Renata started yanking on the cuffs again. That policewoman really was naive to think she was safe and sound in that room. She frantically pulled and pulled, feeling desperate as the Doctor vainlessly called to the woman to get out. Suddenly, her golden energy tangled around the cuffs, snapping them in two. "Ha!" Renata laughed, totally surprised but loving the fact she could do that. The Doctor was stunned but he would take whatever worked right now. Without thinking, she grabbed the cuff still around the Doctor's wrist and watched as once more the energy wrapped around it to break it.

"Loving it!" the Doctor exclaimed and scrambled up to his feet. Just as he helped Renata up, they heard the police woman scream from the room.

The police woman ran out of the room, terrified by whatever she saw in there. The Doctor marched over the rest of the space between them and snatched his sonic from her. "Give me that!" He used it to lock the bedroom door.

"Will that door hold it?" the police woman asked them, still slightly out of breath from bolting. The creature had stared her in the face!

"Oh, yeah, yeah, course! It's an inter-dimensional multi-form from outer-space - they're all terrified of wood!" the Doctor sarcastically snapped.

A bright light flashed around the edges of the door.

"What's that? What's it doing?"

"It doesn't matter, just go!" Renata ushered the woman towards the staircase. "Your back-up's coming, we'll be fine."

The woman spun around, forcing Renata back. "There is no back-up!"

"What? But we heard you on the radio, you called for back-up!"

"I was pretending. It's a pretend radio!"

"What!? Impersonating a police woman is a crime!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "I'm a kissogram!" she pulled her hat off and revealed her bright ginger hair that fell over one shoulder.

Renata was stunned but then a new thought popped in. "What's a kissogram?"

At that moment, the door of the room fell down to reveal a man in blue overalls holding a leash to a very large Rottweiler.

The ginger woman blinked at them. She had no idea how those two got into her room, but they at least seemed harmless. "But it's just…"

"No, it isn't. Look at the faces," the Doctor knew what the woman had been thinking and urged her to pay better attention.

The man was growling and barking instead of the dog.

The woman couldn't take it. "What? I'm sorry, but what!?"

"It's all one creature. One creature disguised as two! Now you really must go!" Renata tried turning the woman away, missing the way the man and the dog turned their head at them.

"Are you kidding!? I'm not leaving that there! In my house!"

"I am curious how it's pulling that psychic link if it needs a live feed," the Doctor admitted while he continued to study the man and dog. "How did you fix that?" He got a snarl as a response, followed by a threatening step towards them.

Renata yanked him back. "Please don't question the enemy when it can kill us! Am I also going to have to constantly repeat that in this regeneration!?"

"Well, I won't lie…" the Doctor swayed his head, figuring this was just another core personality trait for him.

'Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. 'The human residence is surrounded.'

The ginger woman's eyes widened in alarm. She spun around trying to find the source of the voice until Renata stopped her. Good thing she did because the woman was near dizzy. "What's that?"

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

"Okay, now we run!" the Doctor ushered Renata and the woman down the stairs. He used the sonic to lock the house door, hoping that would buy them some time.

Renata studied the woman while the Doctor made sure the door was actually locked. His sonic was acting a bit wonky. "Seriously, what's a kissogram?" She eyed the odd uniform, bobbing her head side to side. "And does it always involve short skirts?"

The ginger woman gave her a look. "Seriously?"

Renata innocently shrugged. She had only lived on Earth from 1913 to 1969 and the one year in the modern world that she spent with the Master against her will — she was mostly locked away. She didn't have a lot of time to truly get to know the humans in modern times.

"I go to parties and kiss people!"

Renata cocked her head to one side. "And you get paid for that?"

"Yes!"

Renata considered what that must be like and she soon crinkled her nose when she decided that would not be a job she would be interested in. "And the costume is from these parties?"

"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid!"

"Makes sense," Renata concluded. The Doctor finally got some handle on the sonic and yanked her and the woman away from the house.

"What's going on? Tell me! Tell me!" the woman rightfully demanded as they crossed the yard towards the TARDIS.

"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?"

The woman flipped her head to Renata, but the Time Lady confirmed the story with a nod. "Sort of it, sorry."

The Doctor groaned at the TARDIS who wouldn't open her doors. "No, no, don't do that, not now! It's still rebuilding, not letting us in!"

"Well what'd you expect after the number we put her through?" Renata gave the TARDIS and sympathetic glance. "We'll just have to make do until she's ready."

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

The Doctor flapped an arm at the house behind them. "We need the TARDIS! How can we stop them if I don't have the TARDIS!?"

"Never stopped you before," Renata smiled at him. The Doctor stopped fussing with the TARDIS to meet her smiling gaze.

The woman groaned at them and grabbed each of the pair's arms. "Come on!"

The Doctor would've let her take them to the street had he not seen the new-looking shed on the side of the garden. "No, wait, hang on, wait, wait, wait. The shed!" he got loose from the woman's hold and rushed up to the shed. Renata blinked at the sight of it as well. "We destroyed that shed last time we were here, smashed it to pieces!"

"So there's a new one. Let's go!" the woman tried pulling Renata with her but now the Time Lady was suspicious as well. She pried the woman's hand off her wrist and studied the shed.

"It might be new but it's also old," Renata said as she noticed the darkened spots of the shed's wood. The Doctor ran a hand down the wood. "It could be—" she stopped mid-word when the Doctor licked his finger to taste the wood. Renata scrunched her face, eyes shutting close. "Doctor—"

"12 years!" the Doctor whirled around with the right answer, stunning Renata in the process. He marched back to them, specifically to the ginger woman. "We're not six months late, we're 12 years late!"

"It's been 12 years," Renata felt her stomach churn wondering how angry little Amelia must have been with them. They broke their promise to her!

Meanwhile, the woman seemed more nervous than a few seconds ago. "He's coming!" she made a nod at the house still in danger of being incinerated.

"You said six months. Why did you say six months?" Renata got right in her face, demanding to hear the truth. She knew that the woman was hiding something. She knew the way people kept secrets because that had been her main job not too long ago.

"We've got to!" the woman insisted but Renata grabbed her arm tightly. The woman knew something about Amelia, what with those big eyes—

"The big eyes…" Renata whispered with her own wide eyes.

The woman only stared at her, mildly confused, but otherwise still nervous. "Look, we've got to go!"

"Not until you tell us!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Why did you say six months?"

The woman's thin eyebrows furrowed together as pain flashed across her face. "Why did you say five minutes?!" she shouted at both of them, pulling her arm out of Renata's hold.

"What?" the Doctor practically froze in his spot, only moving his head to see Renata staring sadly at the woman.

"She has the same big eyes," she told him. "Amelia's big eyes."

The woman, who was indeed Amelia, glared at her. "They are not big! C'mon!" She led the way out of the house, figuring if they wanted to continue with the conversation they would follow her into the street.

"You're Amelia!?" the Doctor was right behind the woman, forcing her to stop just to look at her again.

"You're late!" hissed Amelia and continued to walk.

"You were a little girl," Renata did her best to keep up with Amelia's fast pace. "Amelia Pond!"

"I'm Amelia and you're late!" Amelia hissed directly at Renata's face, eyes blazing with anger. "Five minutes my a—"

"I'm so sorry!" Renata threw her arms around the woman, hugging her tight.

Amelia had been expecting anything but that. Her big, green eyes flickered all around while she awkwardly stood there being hugged. She met the Doctor's gaze who was smiling softly at Renata.

"We didn't mean to be late! I'm never late!" Renata pulled away from Amelia, looking her over one more time. She was a complete adult now! Renata sighed and brought a hand to her forehead, letting her fingers dig through her black hair. "Amelia, I am so sorry. We really did mean to come back but the TARDIS is just…" She trailed off and shook her head, deciding that Amelia probably wasn't interested in excuses. She'd been wronged and she was rightfully upset. "No excuses. We're sorry. I did think of a star for you, though. I thought the Big Dipper might have been good. It's a popular one amongst the humans. I'm sorry."

Amelia arched a confused eyebrow at the Time Lady. She looked so guilty that it made Amelia feel like she was wrong for being so angry. How did Renata make that happen!? She glanced at the Doctor and while he looked pretty guilty himself, it was nothing compared to Renata. She was horrified.

Amelia wondered for the first time in 12 years, who really are these two aliens? She spent all her life imagining them in adventures that now that she had them actually in front of her, she had to rewrite everything she knew about them. Who was the Doctor? And who was Renata?

---

Author's Note:

And there's our first chapter! I am SUPER excited to move onto this story (I think some of yall may have noticed before). We've already seen a glimpse of what Amy thinks of the Time Lords and how they see her, specifically Renata. Their relationship will be a little more complicated because of Ren's drive to maintain the rules buuuut we'll see how it goes ;)

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 2: The Doctor and the Vortex Butterfly

Summary:

Renata and the Doctor have 20 minutes to save the world with absolutely no equipment. It's a time where they each have to show the world who they are, although Renata is surprised that the world may already know her. In the end, when they're alone, they finally get to speak the words on their minds.

Twelve years.

Twelve years had passed by for Amelia Pond. The more Renata thought about it, the more terrible she felt. She made a promise to that little girl that it would only take them 5 minutes to come back to her.

"O...kay…" Amelia pushed her orangey hair behind her shoulders. "You don't...you don't have to cry or anything…"

"It's been 12 years," Renata bit her lower lip, her eyes shining with genuine tears. "I have never been that late."

"It's true, she's never been late for anything in her life," the Doctor agreed. Of course Renata would feel a massive amount of guilt for something that was truly an accident. He felt guilty too but he wouldn't beat himself up over it, not when it hadn't been in his control. "And you know what? You hit me with a cricket bat."

Amelia rolled her eyes and continued to walk away. "12 years!"

The Doctor grabbed Renata's hand and followed after Amelia. "A cricket bat!"

Amelia scoffed. He thought that was bad? He only got a blip of the anger she had simmered for 12 years. "12 years and four psychiatrists."

"Four?" Renata gave her a strange look, making Amelia feel somewhat conscious about the reason behind the number.

"...I kept biting them."

"Why?"

"They said you weren't real!"

"And you thought biting them was the appropriate solution!?"

"Hey!" Amelia only stopped to point at Renata, though the abruptness nearly made her poke an eye out. "Twelve years!"

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

They had made it to a small park in the town and now the message was blaring at them through an ice cream truck.

"No, no, no, come on…what? We're being staked out by an ice-cream van?" Amelia frowned at the perfectly normal ice cream van she visited all the time. They could not be related to anything alien.

"What's that!?" the Doctor marched over to the van where the vendor was hitting the radio the message was coming out from. "Why are you playing that?"

"It's supposed to be Claire De Lune!"

"Stop hitting it," Renata made a face as she took the radio from him, though not a second later the Doctor had snatched it out of her hands. He missed her brief glare as he listened to the message closer.

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

He would then notice the same message broadcasting in a jogger's mp3 player and then from a few cellphones. Little by little, the message had reached everyone via technology.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Amelia saw everyone's confused faces as they tried making sense about why their technology had stopped working. Instead of answering, the Doctor raced towards the nearest house.

"Doctor!" Renata called for him as she followed, though when he leaped over a white fence she refused to do the same. "Honestly — there's a door!"

Amelia zipped by and took Renata by the arm towards the front of the house. When they reached the house, they found the Doctor had already made himself comfortable by surfing through the television channels.

An elderly woman sat on the couch and was watching him go through every channel. "I was just about to phone. It's on every channel." She smiled upon seeing Amelia. "Hello, Amy, dear. Are you a policewoman now?"

Amelia unconsciously tugged on her skirt. "Well, sometimes."

"I thought you were a nurse."

"I can be a nurse."

"Or, actually, a nun."

"People like to kiss nuns? At parties? Why are humans so weird?" Renata crinkled her nose at the last bit. Amelia jabbed her elbow into Renata's side, making it clear that she didn't want to hear anymore of those questions.

"Amy, who are your friends?" the elder woman asked after studying the Doctor and Renata. She was sure she'd never seen them before.

"Who's Amy?" the Doctor looked away from the TV screen to see the elder woman looking at Amelia. "You were Amelia."

"Yeah, and now I'm Amy." Amy Pond was a huge step up from the little girl who'd been picked on nonstop because of who she believed in.

"Amelia Pond—that was a great name," Renata was gazing at Amy sadly, wondering if the name change had also been a result from their tardiness.

Amy brushed them both off with a roll of her eyes. "Bit fairy tale."

The elder woman had slightly pulled the Doctor back to see his face. "I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not me. Brand-new face…" He moved his face just to make a point. "First time on."

"You look like a child, stop that," Renata said, though she was smiling from amusement.

He smirked. "Yeah? Make me."

Renata froze for a mere second before a blush overtook her face. Oh, this him was going to be a huge flirt and far bolder. She didn't know that was possible. How she would get used to it, she had no idea.

"Why is that on the TV too?" Amy unknowingly pulled Renata out of her thoughts. She had moved around the living room to see the television. The same message was broadcasting from there too.

The Doctor left the television and went for a radio on a window table. With the sonic's help, he heard the same message there too but in different languages. "OK, so it's everywhere, in every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world." He put the radio down and opened up the window, sticking his head out to look up at the sky.

"What's up there?" Amy stepped towards him but at the last moment decided against it. What if there was some alien about to shoot them? "What are you looking for?"

The Doctor hadn't heard her questions as he was making his own calculations. Eventually, he shut the window and turned back to the room. "Okay, planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core...they're going to need a 40% fission blast."

A young man with a computer bag around his shoulders walked into the house and was of course confused to find to strangers in his home. The Doctor barely paid him attention but did acknowledge him in a rather odd manner.

"But they'll have to power up first, won't they?" He had walked up to the man who was far taller than him. Despite this, the man only blinked at the Doctor while he rambled on. "So assuming a medium-sized starship, that's 20 minutes. What do you think, 20 minutes?" the Doctor had to stand on his very tippy toes just to see the man eye to eye. "Yeah, 20 minutes. We've got 20 minutes."

"20 minutes to what?" Amy had done her best to follow everything the Doctor had said but she felt like it hadn't even been said in proper English!

Realization struck the young man suddenly. "Are you the Doctor?"

At that question, the elder woman finally got it as well. "Oh, he is, isn't he? He's the Doctor!"

Renata ignored the hullabaloo as she crossed the room to take the Doctor's arm and turn him to her. "We've got 20 minutes and zero contacts right now."

"Well, it's like you said, hasn't ever stopped us before," he smiled at her.

"Yes, but I meant you!" He was the one who always did the big, unexpected things that would solve everything. She was just along for the ride.

"I can't believe it, Amy, you were telling the truth," the elder woman was still laughing away on the couch, much to Amy's embarrassment. "It's the Raggedy Doctor. All those cartoons you did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor, it's him."

"And that's the Butterfly Mother!" the young man pointed at Renata, now getting Renata's attention. "Never mind the Mother of Dragons - you're the Mother of Butterflies!"

"The what?" Renata unconsciously gripped the Doctor's arm. She flipped her head back to him. "He called me the what?"

"Fitting name," the Doctor said in bemusement. He took a few strands of her dark hair out of her face then bopped her nose. He headed back for the television that now had the same huge eye Amy once saw in her bedroom. "They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the planet. Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship and it's going to incinerate the planet. 20 minutes to the end of the world."

Amy nearly keeled over.

~0~

The Doctor led the way back to the town's park hopes of finding something a bit more useful than a normal house. Renata was right, they had no contacts right now and they didn't have time to waste!

"What is this place? Where are we?" he asked after making it back to the rather boring, quiet park.

"Leadworth," Any said, but she doubted either of them would recognize such a quaint town. She wouldn't blame them.

"Where's the rest of it?"

Yup, there it was. Any rolled her eyes. "This is it!"

"I like it," Renata said but Amy wasn't sure if she was saying it to be nice or if she actually meant it. Renata wasn't lying, though. She looked around the small town with a smile. It seemed so peaceful and it seemed like everyone would know everyone. She could see little shops lining the streets around the park and she had no doubt that most of them were owned by the very residents of the town. "Very homey."

"That's a word for it," Amy let her eyebrows raise upwards. She'd almost forgotten how Renata was, and even then she wasn't that sure because she'd only met Renata for like 2 hours! But at first glance, the Time Lady had seemed like a woman who could fit perfectly with one of those family shows from the olden days. Somebody very proper.

"Is there an airport?" the Doctor asked after making his own conclusions of the town.

"No."

"A nuclear power station?"

"Uh, no."

"Even a little one?"

Amy's expression asked him why they would have something like that in a small town. "No!"

"Nearest city?"

"Gloucester, half an hour by car."

"That's too long even if we called in UNIT," Renata sighed. "20 minutes!"

"Do we have a car?" the Doctor expended his last try, but once again Amy told him no. "Well, that's good! Fantastic, that is. 20 minutes to save the world and I've got a post office. And it's shut! What is that?" He had found a small pond to the left of the park and for some reason stormed towards it.

Amy couldn't understand why that would suddenly be so interesting and after checking for Renata's reaction, Amy concluded she wasn't alone. "It's a duck pond."

The Doctor had leaned very close to the pond that Renata had to grab his arm in case he lost his balance. "Why aren't there any ducks?"

"I don't know. There's never any ducks."

"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" Renata was the one to ask this time. That bit was curious. Why name something a specific way if it didn't make sense?

Amy didn't see it that way. She folded her arms with exasperation. "It just is. Is it important, the duck pond?"

The Doctor yelped and nearly fell into the pond had Renata been holding onto his arm. She used his grip on his arm to help him sit on the ground. "I'm not ready, I'm not done yet," he groaned and clutched his chest. Like last time, he needed some time to calm his body through the regeneration process, but he was on the clock!

Renata wanted to do something to help him stand but a process like this truly was individual. She could only stand by him. She scooted closer to him, putting her hand over his hand that clutched his chest. "I'm here," she said what she thought would be useless for him but he leaned on her side for comfort. Renata was surprised but she welcomed it fast.

Suddenly, the sky started darkening up and Amy knew that it couldn't be night time already. "What's happening? Why's the sky getting dark?"

Renata and the Doctor looked up at the sky, not even having to shield their eyes from the sky. There was no sun anymore, it was behind a grey shade. It only lasted for a few seconds before the day returned to normal.

"So what's wrong with the sun?" Amy frowned and looked down at the pair on the ground.

"Nothing. You're looking at it through a force-field," the Doctor said. Renata was helping him stand up. "They've sealed off your upper atmosphere, now they're getting ready to boil the planet."

Renata sighed loudly when she noticed all the humans in the park were taking pictures and videos of the sky instead of doing the sensible thing and running home. "Oh, why are humans so…" she was about to finish the sentence with the word 'stupid' but she caught herself in time after glancing at Amy staring at the sky. "They should be home instead of going crazy on their phones."

"This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind-up," Amy decided it was the only option that didn't make her feel scared out of her mind. She wouldn't give the sky another glance.

"Why would we wind you up?" the Doctor gave her a strange, almost offended glance.

"You told me you had a time machine."

"And you believed us."

"Then I grew up."

"Oh, you never want to do that," the Doctor gave a shake of his head and if he was going to add on then Renata didn't allow him. She had covered his mouth and took over in the conversation.

"It's nice to grow up but it doesn't mean you have to stop believing," Renata said. "Plus, I don't lie—" she winced at herself. That wasn't true and she knew it. "Well, I try not to lie anymore."

The Doctor pushed Renata's hand off his mouth. "Wait, hang on!" He abruptly flapped his arms so that he almost smacked Renata's head. She threw him a glare for such a messy movement but he was none the wiser. "I missed it!" He smacked his forehead enough to make Renata wonder if it would leave a mark on his skin. "I saw it and I missed it." And another smack!

Renata seized his hand and forced it to his side. "Stop that! Seriously, cricket bat and two smacks? Should I just help along and hit you too!?"

"I saw something!" he insisted and because he did, Renata grabbed his other hand in case he got the same idea.

"Then just tell us before you put yourself into a coma!"

The Doctor shut his eyes and stayed silent. There was something he knew that he missed and he just needed to think about it again. Humans were everywhere in the park, taking pictures…

There was a woman near the phone box looking up. Parents by the swing-set snapping pictures of the sky. And one nurse who following Amy's steps. His phone was on another person, never the sky.

Renata slowly let go of his hands when she was sure that he wasn't in danger of himself. She checked the clock on a nearby building and saw their time was getting shorter. Uh, Doctor, our 20 minutes?"

"20 minutes, the planet burns," the Doctor opened his eyes and looked at Amy. "Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me."

Amy held his stare with an expression that easily switched from stoic to anger. "No!"

That wasn't the answer that he was expecting. "I'm sorry?"

"No!" Amy grabbed him by the tie, ignoring his and Renata's cries, as she dragged the Doctor to a nearby car.

"Amy, are you out of your mind!?" Renata shouted in vain at the ginger.

Amy had slammed the Doctor's tie into the car door and made sure it stayed locked with the remote.

"Amy, I am going to need my car back," the driver of the car told her rather nervously since she looked angry as hell.

"Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee," Amy's response came out sharply but she was always looking at the Doctor.

"Amy, this is ridiculous!" the Doctor yelled at her but she wasn't budging.

"Who are you?" Amy yelled right back at him.

"You know who I am!"

"No, really, who are you?" Amy threw the question out for him and Renata as well.

"Oh for God's sake," Renata shook her head. "Amy, the world's about to end in 20 minutes and there are some people we are especially interested in saving!" She was sure that somewhere her best friend, Martha Jones, was going crazy trying to figure out a way to help UNIT. Captain Jack, if he was back on Earth, would surely be doing the same. And Donna? Renata's heart ached for their lost friend. She must be terrified out of her mind.

"Amy, catch!" the Doctor tossed an apple to Amy. She barely caught it but when she did, she was mighty confused to find the apple in her palm. "I'm the Doctor, that's Renata. We're time travelers. Everything we told you 12 years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go now, everything you've ever known is over."

Amy wouldn't look at the apple yet. She leveled the Doctor's gaze. "I don't believe you."

"Amy, please," Renata sighed as she moved beside the woman. "We didn't lie. We got it wrong, yes, but we didn't lie. Check the apple." Amy gazed at the apple briefly then back to Renata. The Time Lady sighed again. "I meant turn it over."

With eyebrows slightly furrowed, Amy brought the apple back to her eyes. She turned it over and found the butterfly carving she first saw on it when she was seven. It was still fresh as the day Renata gave it to her.

"We try to get it right," Renata insisted in a low whisper. "Please?"

Amy's eyes flickered to the Doctor who seemed just as hopeful as Renata that she would believe them. Renata's gaze was more intense than the Doctor's but at the same time, it compelled Amy to feel like everything would be okay. She didn't know why Renata had such a look but it made Amy shift.

"Fine, what do we do?" Amy unlocked the car door and the Doctor quickly scrambled away from it.

"Stop that nurse!" He ran straight towards the nurse in the park. "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"

The nurse was stunned to have his phone snatched, even more so when he saw Amy behind the strange man and beside a woman he didn't know. "Amy?"

"Hi! Oh, this is Rory, he's a... friend," Amy nervously looked between the aliens and completely missed Rory's indignant huff.

"Boyfriend!"

"Kind of boyfriend!"

"Amy!"

"I'm confused, how do you have a 'kind of' boyfriend?" Renata genuinely wanted to know the answer because up until now she had never heard the term. Amy, however, didn't seem interested in explaining.

The Doctor gave Rory a not-so-gentle shake from the shoulders. "Man and dog, why?"

It was then that Rory realized why Amy was around these strangers. He looked the Doctor over, especially the ruggedness of his clothes. "Oh, my God, it's him! The doctor. The Raggedy Doctor!" His eyes flickered to Renata and the flower dress on her. "You're the Mother of Butterflies!"

"Yeah, they came back," Amy sighed, trying her best not to look so embarrassed.

"But they were a story. It was a game!"

The Doctor grabbed Rory by the shirt, pulling him face to face. "Man and dog—why? Tell me now!"

Rory blinked with the harsh pull but he answered nonetheless. "Sorry. Because he can't be there. Because he's…"

"...in a hospital, in a coma," they ended up speaking in unison.

Rory wasn't sure if he should be relieved that somebody finally believed him on the matter, or if he should be afraid.

"Knew it. Multi-form, you see?" the Doctor let go of Rory and turned to the women. "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a live feed, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind."

And at that moment, the creature - the man and dog - snarled at them.

"Prisoner Zero," Renata sucked in a breath.

Rory's eyes might as well have been dinner plates. He kept changing gazes between the man and dog then to Renata and Amy and finally to the Doctor. "What, there's a Prisoner Zero too?"

"Yes," Amy answered just before they heard an electrical buzzing in the sky.

Everyone looked up as a huge spaceship flew across the sky. It stopped right above the park and showcased its famous one eye that would swivel back and forth.

"What's it doing?" Rory asked, terrified.

The Doctor whipped out his sonic to point at the sky. "See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver." He made a show of activating the sonic at the right moment and scared everyone even more when the street lights shattered, car alarms blared and sirens wailed.

Renata closed her eyes with a small sigh. That was one way to get everyone's attention. She did open her eyes when she heard a fire truck and the angry yells from firemen. They were chasing the truck that was running on its own.

"Oh, that was just going too far!" Renata turned to the Doctor, madly gesturing at the fire truck running down the street.

"I didn't mean to do that," the Doctor made a face and winced - as did everyone else - when they heard the truck crash.

Prisoner Zero barked at them but before it could move a step towards them, the Doctor redirected the sonic at a phone box nearby and made it explode. A few seconds later, the sonic itself sparked and fizzled between his fingers. The Doctor yelped and threw the sonic to the ground.

"No, no, no, don't do that!"

"Oh no," Renata watched the ship take leave without even eyeing Prisoner Zero.

"No, come back, he's here! Come back!" the Doctor called after the ship in vain. "He's here, Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…"

"Not so much anymore," Renata lowered his flapping arms and pointed at Prisoner Zero who was turning into pure mist.

"It just went down the drain…" Amy made a face as they all watched the remnants of the creature disappear through the ground.

"Well, of course it did," the Doctor groaned. They'd been so close and like always...so far.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, 17 minutes! Come on, think. Think!"

"Stop!" Renata grabbed his hand just inches from his forehead. "Seriously," she lowered it between them. "Please don't hit yourself." They needed his mind completely unharmed for what was to come.

"So that thing, that hid in my house for 12 years?" Amy finally tore her gaze from the drain.

"Multi-forms can live for millennia. 12 years is a pit-stop," the Doctor explained as he took his hand back from Renata, though he had to tug twice for her to let him go.

"So how come you two show up again on the same day that lot does? The same minute?"

"Well, it's not our fault," Renata argued weakly as she brought her arms over her chest. "Yes, they followed us to get to him but...I mean...one of these days they were bound to come anyways."

"What?" Rory blinked at her.

"Now, sport, give me your phone," the Doctor held his hand out for Rory's cellphone, but Rory was too out of it to notice on the first try.

"How can they be real?" Rory was looking specifically at Amy, wondering how the hell she was so calm with everything that was going on. "They were never real."

The Doctor grew impatient and waved his hand in front of Rory's face. "Phone, now, give me!"

Rory had no idea what he wanted from it but he handed his phone over and continued going off. "They were just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him!"

Renata looked between the two humans with bemusement. "Really?"

Amy felt her face reddened and before Rory could say what she dressed up as, she asked the Doctor what he was looking for.

"These aren't coma patients; they're all the multi-form. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero!"

"But he had a dog, though. There's a dog in a coma?"

"The coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog. Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him—" the Doctor jerked a thumb at Rory, missing Rory's indignant huff, "—the good-looking one!"

"He doesn't mean that," Renata tried stepping in but Amy made it worse.

"Jeff?" she asked right on the spot.

"Oh, thanks!" Rory exclaimed.

"Doesn't mean it," Renata tried again with a nervous smile.

"He had a laptop in his bag, a laptop. Big bag, big laptop, I need Jeff's laptop!" the Doctor went on without ever noticing his rudeness. "You two—" he said for Amy and Rory, "—get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done." He promptly reached over for Renata's hand and yanked her away.

They returned to Jeff's home, barging inside without so much of a knock. Renata couldn't stand for that, no matter how much she tried. She skidded to a stop in the living room where Jeff's grandmother sat. "Really sorry about that."

"Hey!" Jeff cried from his room.

Renata jumped and nervously smiled at the grandmother again. "Sorry!" She ran into the room and saw the Doctor basically fighting Jeff for the laptop. "Oh Doctor, this is too much even for you!"

The Doctor won the fight and took a seat at the edge of the bed, patting the empty spot beside him. "C'mon—blimey!" He motioned Renata to stay right where she was. "Get a girlfriend, Jeff."

The door behind Renata opened up to let the grandmother in. "What are you doing?" she curiously asked the trio.

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big video conference call!" the Doctor explained in a rush while he madly typed on the laptop. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me."

"Being so modest, aren't we?" Renata smiled and got a smirk in return. She walked over to the bed and sat next to him just as his callers answered.

"Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore!"

"Ooh, I like Patrick Moore," Jeff's grandmother might have inched a few steps towards them.

Renata chuckled while the Doctor promised to get her his number.

"You can't just hack in on a call like that!" Jeff exclaimed as he got off his bed.

"Oh trust me, this isn't even a quarter of what he can do," Renata shook her head. She had stories beyond his dreams about the things the Doctor could do.

The Doctor was more than ready with his psychic paper to answer the initial questions of who he was and what he wanted. He had about fifteen minutes left!

"Hello. I know, you should switch me off. But before you do, watch this!" he dropped his psychic paper on Renata's lap then started to type again. "Fermat's Theorem, the proof, and I mean the real one, never seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault, I slept in. Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie - why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and a joke. Look at your screens. Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention!" The Doctor knew he had them on his hook. He glanced at Renata just to make sure they were on the same page and found her staring at him instead. Initially, he was confused why she was smiling like...that. It was familiar but it took him a few seconds to remember when she smiled like that. In his defense, the last time she had a smile like that was in her first incarnation and she had a face that went red incredibly easily, even easier than this current one.

She was enthralled with him. She leaned close to him, widening her smile. She'd forgotten what it felt like to be so close to him while he did that. Whenever the Doctor got into his 'I'm a genius' mode, Renata was unashamedly attracted to him. He was just so incredibly intelligent. Renata honestly thought he was the smartest man alive. It wasn't news for her, not since the first time she saw it back on Gallifrey, but it was one thing knowing it and seeing it. She loved seeing it.

There was a tingle that started down her spine that was soon followed by the dozens of butterflies in her stomach (ironically). It made her puddy in his arms. Her last incarnation had been too worried about the Doctor finding out who she was that she barely had moments to really let herself feel things for him again. The little she allowed was always pushed away to the deepest end of her mind and hearts. And when the Doctor had found out who she was, she'd fallen ill. She was dying and she couldn't think about anything else other than saying goodbye. She didn't exactly know what they were right now, but she wouldn't fight it this time. There was a warmth in her body that brought her closer to the Doctor and she would finally let it be.

"I forgot you could do that," she said breathlessly, saving something else she wanted to do for later.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her but she didn't say anymore. His gaze lowered to her lips since she was biting her lower lip pretty hard. "Interesting…" He took notes for later when they weren't in the middle of saving the world. From now on, he would be using anything at his advantage.

~ 0 ~

Within five minutes, the Doctor had concocted a whole plan for the humans to follow. He'd gone back and forth between the laptop and Rory's cellphone whilst talking at light-speed to the humans on video call.

"Sir, what are you doing?" one of the men from the computer screen asked after the Doctor spent a significant amount of time on the cellphone.

"I'm writing a computer virus. Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. Why am I writing it on a phone?" the Doctor raised a finger for a few seconds. "Never mind, you'll find out. OK, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish - whatever you've got. Any questions?"

"Who was your lady friend?"

The Doctor deadpanned the man on the screen. "Patrick, behave!"

Renata laughed softly beside him while Jeff's grandmother beamed.

"What does this virus do?" another man inquired.

"It's a reset command, that's all. It resets counters, it gets in the wifi and resets every counter it can find. Clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time. But, yeah, I could be lying, why should you trust me? I'll let my best man explain." The Doctor waited for Jeff to cut in but for some reason the human stayed silent and away from them.

Renata raised an eyebrow at Jeff. "Uh, Jeff, that would be you."

Jeff genuinely looked confused to learn that. "What?"

The Doctor had closed the laptop but Renata made a motion for him to stay put. She got up from the bed and moved over to Jeff. "Listen I know you're scared and I honestly would be a little concerned if you weren't but this is your your moment. It's sort of like, uh, this is a moment where you're trying to get investors. Right?"

"Uh...not...sure if that's the way I'd put it," Jeff said slowly, glancing at the Doctor and his grandmother for some clarification.

The Doctor seemed to be smiling but not at him. He was nodding at Renata, encouraging her to keep going. It was a sight watching her try to relate to humans. At least now she was trying. Her last incarnation, while helpful, didn't seem very interested in that. She'd wanted to fix the problem and then move on without making much of an attempt to get to know humans. The only time she expressed interest was the day she met Gabby. Though she was a bit rocky...she'd get it with time.

Renata was aware that her comparison didn't entirely fit with the current situation so she tried re-wording it. "I used to be somebody who would have to persuade people to invest in my foundation, so I'd have to put myself out there and give one hell of a show. That's what you need to do right now and afterwards those guys—" she made a nod at the laptop, "—will be offering you any job you want."

"How do I get them to do that?" Jeff turned another glance on the laptop, now more interested in the idea.

Renata put her hands on his shoulders and fixated a smile on the man. "You have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. Old news to me."

"But I've never done that…"

"Put yourself out there!" she exclaimed and turned him for the Doctor and the laptop. "This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."

"But why me?" Jeff asked as the Doctor sat him down on the bed and handed him his laptop.

"It's your bedroom!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Now go, go, go!" He grabbed Renata's arm and headed out the room, though stopped abruptly and turned back. "Oh, and delete your internet history!"

Renata raised an eyebrow at him when he came out of the room again. "What?"

"Nothing. Oh, and great job back there!" he pulled down the living room and out the door.

"For what? All I did was just talk!" Renata laughed out of confusion.

"Words mean everything!" the Doctor turned abruptly once they were out on the street again, making Renata bump into him.

"You certainly did that as well back there," Renata said and suddenly found her lower lip was a chewing gum. "I just...helped a bit in the end."

"You were amazing," the Doctor stepped closer to her. He couldn't help but let his gaze linger on her lips.

"Uuh...Amelia - I mean Amy, she-she's probably waiting…" Renata nervously moved around him and studied the street for any way to get around. Alright, maybe her body needed a bit more time to adjust her...feelings. She couldn't possibly revert back to her school-girl ways from her first incarnation. "We need to find a way to get to the hospital."

The Doctor rejoined her and studied the nearly empty sidewalk. "I...may have an idea…"

Renata turned her head at him to see the wide smirk on his face. "Ah, so that'll be your mischievous face. Duly noted."

The Doctor once again yanked her down the street.

~ 0 ~

When Amy called them, they were nearly to the hospital. Renata refused to accept that stealing the fire truck had been a good idea.

"It was irresponsible!"

The Doctor didn't seem to agree as he happily drove down the road. "Oh, c'mon, Gabby would have loved this!"

"Oh sure, teach her to steal why don't you!?"

"I'm not stealing, I'm borrowing! Plus, look!" he reached for a specific button beside the wheel and turned on the fire engine. "Yeah!"

Renata rolled her eyes and looked out the window, but she found it was hard not to crack a smile. She knew he was right: Gabby would love this bit.

A short moment later, Amy called them again only this time she was more distressed. Prisoner Zero had found them in the building and had chased her and Rory into a coma ward.

"Listen, which window are you?" the Doctor asked but because of the fire engine, Amy hadn't heard.

"Oh for God's sake!" Renata reached over to turn them off. "Amy, which window are you!?"

"First floor on the left, fourth from the end!" Amy managed to answer before screaming.

"Amy!?" the two aliens simultaneously called but they only heard warbled voices, one belonging to neither her nor Rory.

"It must be Prisoner Zero," Renata ended the call. "Now what?"

"We do what every human does: we text!"

"Text?" Renata crinkled her nose. "A Time Lady does not...text."

The Doctor laughed. "Just tell her to duck!"

Renata wasn't even sure how to do such a thing. She never actually paid attention to Gabby when she tried giving her lessons back on Zhe's gallery. It'd been one of the many things Gabby would try to distract her with while she battled her illness. Since Martha liked to call every now and then, Gabby thought it was a good idea to learn to text. Plus, she thought it was fairly ridiculous that such an intelligent Time Lady didn't know how to do such a basic task.

The Doctor had successfully crashed the right hospital window so that its ladder shattered the glass of it. "Out! Out! Go!" he tried ushering Renata to the ladder first but she wasn't having it.

"I'm wearing a dress!" she argued, motioning him to take the lead.

"Oi! I'm not like that!"

"Just go!"

The Doctor groaned but went ahead first. He wouldn't ever be like that but she was overly shy anyways. Why argue over something so petty? When the two climbed into the coma ward, they found Amy and Rory standing in the middle of the room while a woman with two little girls stood at the entrance.

"Right! Hello! Are we late?" the Doctor didn't exactly wait for the answer as he went on. "No, three minutes to go. So still time!"

"Time for what, Time Lord?" the woman titled her head.

"Oh, so you know things," Renata snapped. "Doesn't mean it'll get you out of this. Take your disguise off and save these humans from further despair."

"Not happening," Prisoner Zero smiled sarcastically. "The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."

"OK. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again - just leave!" the Doctor exclaimed. At this point, he would take anything because time was now running on 2 minutes.

"I did not open the crack."

"Well somebody did and I'm willing to bet we know who it was," Renata mumbled so that only the Doctor could hear. "The Master and Rassilon."

Fair guess, the Doctor thought.

But Prisoner Zero seemed to know more than what they thought. "The cracks in the skin of the universe - don't you know where they came from?" A great big smirk spread across the woman's face, teasing the pair for their lack of knowledge. "You don't, do you?"

The little girls started laughing as they chanted, "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know. The Vortex Butterfly doesn't even know!"

Renata's eyebrows furrowed together at the name once used at her 'rebirth' on the Crucible. She thought after the Daleks and the Reality Bomb, she'd never hear that name again. "Hold on—"

"Doesn't know, doesn't know!" the girls laughed for another minute before the woman spoke again, much more serious.

"The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

The Doctor lost interest when they heard a clicking noise. His eyes flickered to the clock on the wall flashing '0:00' at them. "And we're off! Look at that. Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team is working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?" the Doctor pulled out Rory's cell phone from his pocket, giving it a triumphant wave in the air. "The source, by the way, is right here. Oh! And I think they just found us!"

"The Atraxi are limited," Prisoner Zero said, remaining totally calm. "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."

"Sorry, do you think we're stupid?" Renata made a face, almost offended. "Of course we planned for that - rather Rory planned for that." She glanced back at the man in question who even pointing at himself to confirm she meant him. Renata chuckled. "Well done Rory."

The Doctor once again waved the phone in the air. "Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is - no TARDIS, no screwdriver - two minutes to spare!" He cheered with his arms out, spinning around. "Who da man?"

Renata made a face at him, not even needing to say it for him to know she begged him never to do that again. She reached over to lower his arms to his sides. "Gabriella would've laughed at you."

"Yeah, she would've," he mumbled and thanked the Gods that Gabby wasn't around right now.

"Then I shall take a new form," Prisoner Zero said smugly.

"Please," Renata scoffed. "It takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

"And I've had years."

A bright light took over the woman's body at the same time Amy collapsed to the floor.

"Amy?" the Doctor called as he and Renata rushed to the woman. "You've got to hold on. Amy! Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please!"

"You need to let her go!" Renata glanced back at Prisoner Zero only to see a much more different disguise. "Oh dear."

"Doctor?" Rory blinked fast once he saw the new disguise.

The Doctor followed their gaze to see Prisoner Zero had turned into a young man. "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"

Rory threw him an incredulous look."It's you!"

"Me?" the Doctor made a face and quickly glanced at Renata."Is that what I look like?" She gave him the confirming nod.

"You mean you don't know!?" Rory almost shouted with exasperation. How could he not know what he looked like!? What kind of crazy was that!?

"It's been a busy day," Renata supplied with the briefest explanation.

"Why me, though?" the Doctor asked with genuine confusion. "You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not," Prisoner Zero answered but it hadn't been through the Doctor's mouth. Amy's seven year old self moved from behind him. "Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."

"Oh hey that's not fair!: Renata scowled. "And you're one to talk considering you're a convict!"

"No, no," the Doctor gazed down at Amy. There was something else he was missing again. She could have dreamed of anything right now, probably something happier than what the situation was, but she chose him. "Oh! She's dreaming about me cos she can hear me!" he carefully cupped her face and called to her. "Amy, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see? Remember you went inside. We tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy…dream about what you saw."

"No! No!" Prisoner Zero started to cry out as the shifting began once again. "No!"

"Well done Amy," Renata smiled proudly of the unconscious girl. "Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?"

Prisoner Zero was immediately captured with the shining light from the window.

'Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained.'

"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall," Prisoner Zero said his last words before disappearing.

"Oh no," Renata gritted her teeth with anger. "They are not going to pull that on us! I don't think so!" She swiped the cellphone from the Doctor's hand - he'd been about to use it again - and put her fingers to work. "You and Gabriella might just be proud of me right now!" She flashed the Doctor a quick little smile before returning her focus on the phone.

"The sun - it's back to normal, right?" Rory was relieved to the sky returning to normal through the window. And even better that Amy was waking up. "Amy? Are you OK? Are you with us?"

"What happened?" Amy asked slowly, still a bit hazed.

"They did it," Rory nodded to the pair who were suddenly very close to each other. Renata was still working the phone. "The Doctor and Renata did it!"

"Not quite yet," Renata called before asking the Doctor something in a hushed manner.

Amy and Rory both heard a 'Write in...make sure those numbers…'

"What are you doing?" Amy raised an eyebrow at them once she sat up.

"Tracking the signal back! And the Doctor's sort of filling in the gaps for me," Renata sent another quick smile at the Doctor. She knew her way around things as well but there was always a little something she hadn't come across yet. "And sorry in advance, Rory."

"For what?"

"The phone bill! Promise UNIT will reimburse you for that!" Renata winked at him before putting the phone against her ear. She cleared her throat and the next time she spoke her voice was no longer sweet and kind. It was hard and sharp. "This is Renata and you may not know me but that's okay because I know the Shadow Proclamation pretty well. Article 57, ring a bell?" She paused but of course there would be no response. "This is a fully established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? The idea that you could get away with it is laughable! Get your sorry behinds back here now or so help me…" There was another pause she took, a brief one as she considered if she really wanted to say her next words. And she decided: Why the hell not? It didn't mean anything wrong because she wasn't bad. She wouldn't hurt people like other versions of her in parallel universes had. "You lot, back here now or you'll have the Vortex Butterfly on you. See you in 30 seconds and not a second more!" She promptly ended the call and tossed the phone to Rory. "Seriously, though, UNIT will reimburse you for that." She then faced the Doctor who was looking more or less fascinated with her.

He had never been more attracted to her than right now. She had just ordered an entire prison ward to come back - under a specific deadline - and she had a new authoritative voice that made him shudder. If things weren't such a crunch time, he might have kissed her there and then.

"You going to stand there or come help me put these people back in their spots?" Renata smirked. She wanted to believe she had made him feel exactly the way he had done to her earlier. "We gotta get to the roof!" She laughed and dragged him out of the room with her, leaving a mighty confused Rory and Amy behind.

"No, no, wait! We can't!" the Doctor stopped them down the hallway. Amy had scurried after them, leading Rory to do the same.

"Where are you going?" she asked the pair.

"To change!" the Doctor made a quick turn into a different hallway.

"What? Doctor!" Renata went after him with a groan. "I said 30 seconds! That went for all of you!"

"I'm quick, don't worry," he had found a changing room and was already searching through one rack. "If we're saving the world I'm going to need a decent shirt! Not fair you got your quick change!"

Renata looked down at her flower dress that, truthfully, could use a good wash now. It still smelled like chlorine water from the swimming pool mishap. Still, it would do just fine until she could get into the TARDIS. "Well, fine! Just hurry!"

"To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!" he spun around trying to find something else in another rack.

"Sorry, I am so confused here," Rory rushed into the room with Amy. "You just summoned aliens back to Earth!"

"Yeah, never really done that before - quite a rush really!" Renata's face definitely said so. She giggled even, making the Doctor pause for a moment just as he was about to change shirts.

Rory didn't seem that happy about it. "But they're actual aliens! Deadly aliens, aliens of death and - now he's taking his clothes off!"

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you!"

"A door, Doctor! Seriously! Nothing bad happens if you use a door!"" Renata groaned as she turned away from him, ignoring the warmth in her face. She might have seen a bit of his back and that was enough to make her wonder what it might be like to press her hands against his skin.

"Amy, you're not going to turn around!?" Rory's incredulous question brought Renata out of her thoughts.

She blushed even more for realizing what she'd been thinking about and decided to put her attention on Amy. "Yeah, you are!" She turned the young woman around, shooting her a little look for trying that. What was Amy thinking!?

The group arrived on the rooftop in 27 seconds, but it was only because Renata forced the Doctor out before he could finalize his outfit. She compromised by letting him bring along a mess of ties around his neck. He'd choose on the way.

"On time, perfect," Renata spat at the waiting Atraxi ship at the end of the rooftop. Soon as she and the Doctor were in its vicinity, it scanned them.

"You are not of this world."

"What was your first clue?" Renata cocked her head to the side. "And the fact that we're not from Earth shouldn't be the reason you came back. You should come back because you did something wrong. You broke the law. Count your lucky stars I haven't phoned the Shadow Proclamation to shut you down."

"We took necessary measures," the Atraxi argued but only angered Renata more.

"No, you really didn't!"

"Why don't we think about it in this way?" the Doctor tossed a few ties over his shoulders, letting them hit Amy and Rory behind. "Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" The Atraxi delayed the answer. "Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. IS this world a threat?"

After projecting a series of holograms showing the Earth's history, the Atraxi finally answered. "No."

"Second question, are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" Renata decided to add since she knew the answer would further prove their point.

"No."

"One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here." The Doctor once more threw a few more ties behind him. He found one color that suited his fancy, all in the meanwhile the Atraxi went through the course of his enemies landing on Earth. "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is...what happened to them?"

The Atraxi went through every incarnation of the Doctor as it found that he was responsible for ending every single battle.

Just as the Doctor finished putting on his new tie - a bow tie! - he noticed that at the end of the hologram, it showed Renata's previous incarnation but it had been no ordinary moment in her life. Her spectacle as the Vortex Butterfly on the Crucible had certainly gotten around because that's the moment the Atraxi chose to show.

Renata was astonished that they would include her. She'd only meant to call them back and scold them. It was what she did best. She suddenly felt the Doctor's hand slip into hers. He gave her an encouraging nod to speak out, say what she wanted to finally end all this.

Renata took in a breath as she looked at the Atraxi again. "You've seen what we can do and don't think that I would hesitate to bring the wings out if you ever try to do something like this to Earth again. I suggest run. You wouldn't want the Doctor and the Vortex Butterfly after you."

There was no need to go on, for the Atraxi ship had taken off in a second. Amy and Rory broke into laughter to see their world completely safe again!

Renata ended up laughing as well after it truly donned on her what she'd done. She turned to the Doctor, pointed at herself. "Did I just—"

"Yes, you did, and you were amazing!" the Doctor leaned closer to her but suddenly felt something burning in his pocket. He hissed and pulled away from Renata. He dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key that was glowing.

"Oh, she's done," Renata gasped. She gave the Doctor a nod and the two were off on a chase for the TARDIS. Renata laughed as they hurried down the street and even across several lawns. She would never do that but she was too gleeful to stop.

They returned to Amy's backyard where the TARDIS stood. Straightaway, they could see the box had even given herself a new shade of dark blue.

"OK! What have you got for us this time?" the Doctor stopped in front of the doors, exchanging curious eyes with Renata. She was anxious to see what the TARDIS would look like now. "Ready?" he asked her.

"Mhm!"

He opened the doors for them and walked in at the same time. They were immediately blinded by the bright orange and gold exterior. It seemed more spacious than the last one since now they could see the bright staircase leading up to the second floor. The console was on a raised dais with a glass floor that allowed them to look below to the wires.

"Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!" the Doctor laughed and wondered what Renata thought about it.

Her dark eyes were still widened but there was a grin marking her face. "I've never seen such a more...elegant console room!" The TARDIS hummed as if she was thanking Renata for the compliment. Renata laughed and made her way up to the console, because now there were even small glass steps leading up to it. "Seriously, well done!"

"Trip to the moon to stabilize her!" the Doctor reminded her as he started moving around the console, pressing the new buttons.

"And I don't see a mallet anywhere nearby," Renata genuinely went around the console searching its lower drawers for any mallet. "Guess she finally got rid of that!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and stopped by the new lever. "So funny. Would you like to hang on?"

"I wouldn't have to if you drove correctly. You can't drive a TARDIS nor a fire truck, what am I going to do with you?"

"I can think of a few ideas," he flashed a smirk then pulled the lever.

The TARDIS rumbled as it took off.

"We should go get Gabriella," Renata said as soon as the TARDIS went still. "I think it's about time she came back permanently in the TARDIS...if that's okay with you, of course. Your TARDIS and all."

"Renée, it's ours," the Doctor said. "I've said this countless times before but I suppose we weren't really in sync in our last bodies."

Renata thought that was an understatement. "It's not like we made it easy on each other, especially me. I'm sorry."

"Stop," he said suddenly, startling her with the quickness he had said it too. "No more apologizing. You've done that over and over, as have I. I forgive you. I really do. I forgive you for keeping your identity a secret. And most importantly, that night on Gallifrey? The night that's been a nightmare for us...I understand why you said no to me."

Renata's arms couldn't seem to find the right way to move as he went on with their past mistakes. "If I could go back to that night where you asked me to run away with you...I would have."

There was a certainty that the Doctor heard and it made his hearts swell. She hadn't been sure about that in her last body. He asked her to run away with him on the eve of his wedding to another woman and when she said no, it shattered him. Even when he learned that she said no because of her blackmailing sister...it still broke him. It was single-handedly the most painful moment of his lives. Now to hear her say that she would choose him over everyone...that brought a closure that he didn't know he needed.

"You...are you sure?" He moved around the console until he stood in front of her. "I get that I asked too much of you. You had to leave your family...your foundation...your people…"

"You were my everything back then. I-I should have trusted that you could take care of yourself, that my sister couldn't actually hurt you. And I should have been braver. But you...you have never stopped being the love of my life. I am 758 years old and in all that time I never really learned to love anyone else like I loved you. And it's not like I didn't try. Elek was sweet and I did love him but our marriage never gave me the same rush I had when I was with you."

"That's exactly how I felt," the Doctor told her with a small smile. "It's funny how that works. Centuries can pass but the feelings are still there, raw as if it was still the first day I realized I loved you."

Renata matched his smile with her own. She looked down out of shyness and embarrassment. "So...so what happens now?"

"Well...I think...if you'd like...we're both at a place where we can start again?" the Doctor was thinking about it himself. There were no more lies, no more anger, no more illnesses and no more need of saving the world. Everything was good and calm. It was exactly what his last incarnation told her on the day that he had to leave her with Zhe. He wanted to be with her but at that time he was still too angry with her for lying to him. There were too many things between them that needed to be solved. But that was in the past. He didn't hold onto that anger now; all he wanted was her.

Renata raised her head at him, revealing a nervous tint in her eyes. "You think we can do that? It's been so much time, so many things happening. Do you think we could work this time?" It seemed so surreal to even think about them actually working after centuries of their first attempt.

"I will definitely put my best efforts," he chuckled, though that wouldn't distract her from his own nervousness.

"It's just...I don't really know how to do that anymore," she admitted. "I never thought that I would make it here. I didn't think I would regenerate. Plus, I thought that I wanted to die. I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm sort of rusty at this 'being in a relationship thing'."

"Darling, so am I."

Renata's scoff was hard enough to make the Doctor wince. "Please! You've snogged more people than I can count! And that was just in your last body!"

"Oi! It's not like I planned it!"

"No but you certainly didn't seem to mind!"

"Well none of that matters because the only one I want to kiss from here on out is you."

Renata blinked at him and smiled pretty fast. There was that warmth in her face again. "Really?"

"Yes. I've been wanting to kiss you all day today, especially when you made that call to the Atraxi. Talk about sexy!"

Renata's eyes widened all over again. "Doctor!" She playfully hit him on the chest while he laughed. He could see her reddened face which made it all the more funny.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her steady in front of him. "So what do you say? Shall we try again?"

Renata met his gaze slowly. The redness in her face had died down and all that was left now was a softened expression. After centuries of lies and denial, she was really getting a second chance with him? He must be mad if he truly wanted to her of all people, but then again she was just as mad for wanting him. They were polar opposites from the start! She was seen as a law abiding Time Lady and he had no idea what a law was. On the other hand, he loved travelling and he practically knew everything about the galaxies and she was still learning. Plus, he always had a way of doing things that she just didn't agree with. But that also drove her madly in love with him.

It was the same for the Doctor. He saw her as the pinnacle of what a Time Lady should be, everyone who knew her on Gallifrey thought the same. She was always elegant and graceful and so proper. She was always kind to whoever she met; she literally could not be rude to anyone. How could he not fall in love with her? Yes sometimes her law abiding trait irritated him and sometimes they did bicker over their different views on the rules, but he couldn't think of another person he'd want to bicker with. She was it for him.

"I would like to start over," Renata whispered. "I would definitely like to try again."

A huge grin took over the Doctor's face. "Run away with me?"

Renata laughed. The same question that once began their centuries-long torture was now the start of what could be their genuine happiness together. "Anywhere you want," she leaned on him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. That was the answer they should have had centuries ago. They should have been free. Better late than never.

"Our first stop is to Gabby but...there's one thing I'd like to do first," the Doctor lowered his head so that they were mere inches from each other's faces.

Renata had half an idea of what he was going to say but she was too enthralled with their closeness. I actually get to have this now, she made the realization seconds later. "What?"

"I said I've been wanting to kiss you all day today and now we're alone...in a TARDIS where interruptions are not possible…"

"Mm, that's not quite true. We have been interrupted before even when we were inside—"

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her and went ahead to kiss her. She could possibly ramble on for hours about everything that could go wrong, or everything that had gone wrong before.

Renata now welcomed being cut off. She would much rather kiss him too. She'd been wanting to do that all day just like him. She brought her hands to his arms, gripping them while he pressed his hands against her back. It was like an endless loop, whenever he pressed against her back, she would grip his arms. It was impossible to be any closer but they continued to search for ways.

Renata pulled away for a moment - it really would be just for a moment because she was not done - and looked the Doctor over. She hadn't really looked at him with everything that happened.

His style had drastically changed. Suits were abandoned for something a bit more classic, at least in her opinion. She could appreciate the dark brown tweed jacket - though she knew for a fact Gabby would have a few comments about that - but she would have some questions on the bow tie.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked her after a while of watching her study him.

She raised her gaze off his clothes and met his new green eyes. "I like this you."

The Doctor laughed. "Well, that's good to know. I like you too, darling."

Renata smiled along with him. She slid her arms up and around his neck. "Did we have a midlife crisis?" She referred to the fact that now both of them wore far younger faces than their last bodies. "I've never had one before."

"I think we just wanted to start fresh," the Doctor's answer was a viable one. She would take it. "Do you want to go pick up Gabby now?"

Renata titled her head and hummed. "Yes…" the Doctor made a move towards the console but she tightened her grip around him. "But after we do more of…" She brushed her lips over his, giving him a tantalizing smile.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh...right, right...I'd like that. I'd definitely like—"

Renata pressed her lips against his. She wouldn't let him get away so quick, not after all that they dealt with. Look at me being so bold, she commended herself.

The Doctor's hands once against found her back and pressed against it. The fabric of her dress was far too thin as he first noticed when they climbed out of the TARDIS in Amy's backyard. Now he had the full proof and he loved it. Eventually, one of his hands traveled up to the back of Renata's neck to keep her right against him. They were moving their lips in a sweet sync in the first minutes but after getting over it - because it had been centuries of longing - they started moving into a more rough type of kiss. They needed each other. They wouldn't realize to want extent that might be just yet but the seed was still there and it was being planted right now.

Renata gasped when the Doctor hoisted her up on the edge of the console. She laughed out of surprise, making a face that told him she'd never done anything like that, which only made him smirk. With him, she'd be able to do anything she wanted. There would be no more rules binding her.

They resumed their kiss, quickly finding their level of heat again. If they were more aware, they would've realized how easy it had been to reconnect; to re-establish the same intensity they once had centuries ago. One new thing Renata found truly pleasant was the fact she could hold onto the Doctor's hair. It was longer. She would love doing that from now on, she just hoped that the Doctor could find something about her that he liked too.

He had.

But he would keep that with him for a bit longer.

---

Author's Note:

These idiots are finally together after 93757620 years! So excited for you guys to see them like this! Fair warning, it'll be like a rollercoaster. Next chapter, we'll have Gabby back and finish up a loose string from the last story. After that is when we'll get to The Beast Below. 

Soo, if you follow me on tumblr then perhaps you've seen one of my latest posts that I unfortunately tested positive for COVID. My quarantine is back and since I'm going to be spending a lot of time on my own, I might just use this time to go back to drafts and try to write some more. However, it might also explain a possible lack of updating. Who knows, it's still new and I haven't really felt any symptoms. I'm hoping it'll stay that way but with this damn thing, who knows.

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 3: Reborn

Summary:

Renata and the Doctor finally return to pick up their companion, Gabby Gonzalez. While Renata gathers her things from Zhe's gallery, the Doctor makes one trip to the past to say goodbye to...Renata?

Gabriella Gonzalez was deep in her sketching book. She had come to sit in the garden of their good friend Zhe. Being an eccentric alien garden, Gabby was often inspired to make doodles and drawings of what was in it. Huge statues lined the cobblestone pathway. Not even the beautiful sparkly blue grass would make anyone take their eyes off the statues. Gabby's own statue—her first statue ever since she learned how to wield the Block Transfer—of Renata as the Vortex Butterfly proudly stood at the front. It was that statue that kept pulling Gabby's attention off her sketchbook every now and then.

She was doodling Renata and the Doctor, her mind not letting her think of anything else. Renata had regenerated then left one day ago to find their Doctor. There was trouble - as the other Doctor had told her and Renata - on Earth and so of course Renata would go find him. Gabby hadn't been too thrilled staying behind but she didn't have much of a choice. The new Renata was just as authoritative as the last. Something about a 'Master' and 'there's no way I'm letting you near him!'. Gabby still didn't understand but then Renata and the Doctor came back...only for Gabby to learn that the Doctor was going to regenerate. He had come to say goodbye to her. Tears still came to Gabby's eyes when she remembered his face. He was going to die and he was saying goodbye to everyone, including her. That had been one day ago and now Gabby was going crazy waiting for some type of contact from the two Time Lords. She didn't know if Renata and the Doctor were safe nor where they were.

The owner of the gallery where Gabby resided, and once Renata, had done her own digging with her contacts. They confirmed that the Earth was just fine, still rotating normally and still in its right orbit. Zhe was more than just the owner of the gallery, she had become a close friend of Renata and Gabby and so Gabby had no reason not to trust Zhe's words. Gabby just wasn't sure where Renata and the Doctor were now.

But then she heard it.

She froze when she heard the first light noise of wheezing.

Please be real. Please be real.

Gabby put her pencil down as she heard the second louder wheezing. She looked up and nearly cried out of joy when she saw the TARDIS materializing in the garden. She dumped her sketchbook on the bench and raced towards the garden. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Her vision was blurred from tears but she kept laughing like a little girl who'd just seen something magnificent. Because she had.

Renata had barely open the door and stepped out when Gabby collided with her in a big hug. "Woah!" Renata barely kept on her feet from such a hug. "Gabriella, what's the mean—"

"Shut up, just shut up! I thought something happened to you!" Gabby hugged her so tight that she might actually crack some bones.

"I'm sorry. We were in a rush and—"

"It doesn't matter," Gabby squeezed Renata one more time before finally letting go. "You're here, you're alive and—" she suddenly stopped and peered inside the TARDIS from where she stood, "Where's the Doctor!? Is he okay!?"

"Uuh...so there's been a change…" Renata was just beginning to explain when the Doctor walked out of the TARDIS.

"That's an understatement!"

Gabby loudly gasped and stumbled back a few steps. Her eyes were as wide as could be. "Doctor!?"

"Am I that bad looking this time?" the Doctor brought his hands to his face. He'd finally had a proper look at himself and he thought he was pretty good looking. It would do.

Gabby's eyes blinked fast while they looked the Doctor over. "It's you!"

"Why are you acting so surprised? I understand this isn't the first time you've seen me," the Doctor fixed his tweed jacket.

"Yeah but...that was the future you! That's what you said!"

"Hello, future!" the Doctor waved a hand. Gabby deadpanned him. "Oh alright," he dropped his hand to his side. "I'm sorry."

"Oh Doctor, I'm so sorry," Gabby's face slowly softened. "You died…"

"We all have to go sometime but in a matter of speaking I did die. But I'm here—"

Gabby didn't let him finish. She walked over and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

The Doctor hugged her back. "I had Renata with me. She took good care of me."

"Still, wish I could've been there when it actually happened."

"No, you really wouldn't have," Renata's words broke them apart. "Because being the Doctor, he of course had to send us directly into trouble."

"Again, I'm so sorry I couldn't die the right way!" the Doctor rolled his eyes at her.

"What happened?" Gabby asked them, fairly amused as they started to bicker over some aliens and a crack and...something about a Prisoner Zero? They sure seemed to be acting normally for them.

"It's a long story, Gabriella. How about we talk it over while we...pick our stuff up?" Renata's eyes flickered to the gallery.

Gabby soon beamed when she understood what it meant. They were finally going back to the TARDIS after such a long time. Renata's illness had finally faded with the regeneration! "Oh yes! So we're all...we're all going back!?"

"Well, we are like a family right?" the Doctor asked and Gabby didn't miss the way his arm curled around Renata's waist.

"Uuuh…" Gabby's eyebrow went up without her trying. She was definitely taken aback when Renata shared a smile with him and leaned on him. "I think...we have a lot to discuss." A lot indeed.

"Why don't you two go ahead and start packing?" the Doctor suggested. "I need to take a quick little trip on my own."

"What? But you just got back!" Gabby was terrified that they would leave again without her. She understood why Renata did it the first time but she wasn't interested in letting it happen again.

"It'll be quick for you. I have to do it," the Doctor shared a meaningful look with Renata.

Renata gave him a nod. She knew where he was going. "Go ahead. And thanks."

"Thank you," the Doctor countered. He dove down to her lips for a quick kiss.

Gabby gaped. Renata, meanwhile, smiled at him with an actual blush! Gabby almost rubbed her eyes to make sure she was truly seeing this.

"Be back!" The Doctor exclaimed and hopped Gabby's head. "Start packing, Gabby-Gabbs—oh," he paused for a second, "I like that! Gabby-Gabbs! Gabbs!" He snapped his fingers a bit too close to her face that she flinched back, not that he would notice. He spun away and rushed into the TARDIS.

"Yeah, he seems to like using his hands more this time around," Renata commented while the TARDIS de-materialized. "We'll see how that goes. C'mon then! We got some packing to do and some goodbyes to say!"

"Wait a minute!" Gabby exclaimed as Renata took the lead towards the gallery. "Are we not going to talk about that!?"

Renata smiled knowingly ahead of her. "About what?"

"Ooh no!" Gabby almost laughed at Renata's attempt to deflect the topic. "You're not getting out of this so easily Renata! I'm serious!" She trailed after the Time Lady into the gallery.

~0~

Zhe's Gallery, 1 day ago.

Gabby ran out of Renata's bedroom, shouting for the Doctor. She heard the TARDIS materializing from inside the room. It was him! He had finally come back and with any luck, he had a cure for Renata. She hated to think that Renata's time was coming to an end.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Gabby yelled all the way down the hall, and to the TARDIS but she nearly crashed into the door when somebody opened it inches from her face. Gabby fervently shook her head and blinked fast to get her sight back. When she did, she saw who had come. "...Doctor?" It was the Doctor alright, but not the version Gabby knew. "Who...who are you?"

The eleventh Doctor smiled kindly at Gabby, though it was very strained. "Hello Gabby. It's the Doctor, don't worry."

But Gabby still didn't look convinced. "No...he's taller. And he wears suits. Plus, you look nothing like him!"

"I regenerated, Gabby. I'm from the future. I got your call but I'm a little late."

Gabby blinked at him, deciding if it was really true what he was saying. She looked back towards Renata's room. "...she's dying. Renata...she's dying…"

The Doctor gave a small nod of his head. "I know," he said grimly. "That's why I'm here."

"Did you find a cure?" Gabby asked him with hopeful eyes. The Doctor remained grim. With his intense gaze, Gabby knew that he hadn't. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked back at the room again. "She's going to die!"

"She will but she'll regenerate," the Doctor gently touched her arm. "And I'm going to be there with her. Thank you for taking care of her."

"Will she be okay?"

"Afterwards, yes. I'll make sure of it."

Gabby sighed. "What's going to happen?"

"I'm going make her last minutes as comfortable as possible," the Doctor gave her a quick hug and a kiss on top of her head.

He left her in search of Renata. He made it down the hallway and walked into the room where his Renata would be, her previous incarnation. His hearts nearly stopped at the sight of her writhing body on her bed.

Zhe was holding her hand tightly, trying to calm the Time Lady down.

"Renata," the Doctor hurried to the other side of the bed, ignoring Zhe's suspicious stare. He brushed Renata's blonde hair our of her face, feeling the sweat from her skin in the process.

Renata was swaying her head, coming in and out of consciousness. "I want...I want the...I want...the Doctor. Where is he?"

The Doctor grabbed her hand tightly, once again feeling the beads of her sweat on her skin. She was close, alright. "I'm here, love. I'm here."

Renata stopped moving to look at him.

Zhe's eyes had widened on him too. "You're…?"

The Doctor gave her a nod just to ease her suspicions on him. He then smiled softly for Renata. She was squinting her eyes as if she couldn't see him when in reality she was trying to process his words.

"I'm here," he told her and kissed the back of her hand.

"You're late," she said, sounding as if she wanted to huff. It made him laugh. Even when regeneration loomed over her, she would always have enough energy to scold.

"Yeah I am. And you have no idea how sorry I am. I should've been here - the other me - he should be here, but he's not coming. I'm so sorry."

Renata struggled to smile without making it seem too strained. She felt her entire body close to bursting. "No...it's my fault. I waited too long to change my mind. I wanted to die alone. But now that I'm here…" fresh tears filled her eyes, "I don't want to die by myself. I want you with me. How selfish am I? To think that you'll always come to me like you're at my beck and call."

"But I am, and I have no problem with that. Anytime you call, I'll run to you. Always."

Renata sniffled. He was always much too kind to people who didn't deserve it. She definitely didn't deserve it.

"C'mon," the Doctor slid his arms under her body to pick her up.

"Doctor, she can't go anywhere," Zhe rose from her seat. "She won't make it to—"

"We're just going to take one last trip to the garden." He told her while he settled Renata's body in his arms. "My Renée deserves at least that. She shouldn't die surrounded in a bland old room. No offence."

Zhe rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile. It was definitely him alright.

"She's going to see the flowers one more time." He kissed Renata's forehead and headed out of the room.

He took Renata to the garden in the back, the same garden she would take walks in each day she stayed in the gallery. It was her favorite pastime. Hopefully it could bring her some peace in these last minutes. He wanted to help her as much as she had helped him during his regeneration.

Despite her worsening condition, Renata felt the change of air around them when the Doctor brought them outside. He walked over the blue grass and stopped by a beautiful flower bed he had no doubt Renata planted.

"Here we are," the Doctor lowered himself to the ground, keeping Renata close to him but in more of a sitting position so she could see her flowers.

"Thank you," she whispered, for it was as high as her voice would allow.

"Of course. I wish there was more I could've done for you. If there had been a cure I would've gotten it for you, no matter the price."

"I wouldn't deserve that, Doctor." She tilted her head up at him, allowing him to see the usual guilt that often plagued her. It sat in her eyes like it belonged there. "You have dedicated too much time to me when the truth is I never deserved it. Look at you, I dread to think that you regenerated because of me."

"Hey, that's not true," he lightly scolded her. "You want to know the truth? The truth is we have spent far too many centuries trying to erase what happened between us. We tried pushing it away and in doing so, we built a mountain of lies. But none of that means that I would ever stop loving you."

"Even when I wasn't been honest with you?"

"I don't care, Gala. I love you and no matter what you do, that will never change."

Renata couldn't help but cry in that moment. "I wanted to die," she blurted, immediately reminding the Doctor what the present Renata had said. She'd wanted to die in her last body, truly die without regeneration.

He looked at her with a pained expression. "Why? Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I never learned how to live, especially in this body. I was just so tired of everything going wrong. I thought that it was best if I just...stopped. Forever. But you...but you still love me even after I hurt you so much and I thought...maybe if I survived, we could actually happen. The right way this time. I wanted to live in the end but it was too late."

"It's never late," the Doctor told her. "Because if you put all of your efforts into this regeneration, I'll be waiting on the other side."

Renata brought a hand up to his cheek, gently stroking his skin. "You would want to be with me again?"

"Very much," the Doctor gave her a nod. He lowered his head to capture her lips in a kiss, proving his words true.

Renata welcomed him despite her doubts. No matter where she was, who she was, who he was, it would always be the same old story. She would love him until the end of her life.

They pulled away to share soft smiles with each other but a few seconds later, Renata's hands started glowing with regeneration energy. She groaned and nearly fell out of the Doctor's arms if he hadn't held onto her.

"It's time…" she took in a shaky breath. "Let's see if this is what wipes the slate clean."

"Good luck, love," the Doctor pressed a kiss to her forehead and then helped her stand up. She wobbled for the first few seconds but she ultimately got her balance.

"I'll...try…" she flashed him a tired smile. The months of expelling Vortex and toxic energy had finally taken its toll on her.

She swallowed hard and raised her hands to see them glowing brightly. There was a second energy, one that she recognized as the same energy she used on the Daleks and their Reality Bomb. It wrapped around her like a present. She could feel the ripple of pain strike her once again before the energy took her over. She screamed as the regeneration finally began.

The Doctor shielded his eyes from the brightness, hoping it would be a quick process. He couldn't stand hearing her agonizing screams. He tried peeking through the light and saw the silhouette of the energy forming butterfly wings behind Renata. The Vortex Butterfly was finally finding the balance it needed to rest within Renata.

Slowly, the light faded and the energy dissipated from Renata to leave a brand new woman in its spot. It was the same Renata that the Doctor left in the future. His Renata with long dark hair and matching eyes. She blinked pretty fast as she gathered herself from such a process.

"I...I'm alive…" she spoke hoarsely and touched her neck, her throat specifically. "And I sound younger. Am I younger?"

The Doctor chuckled and rushed to hug her, leaving a bunch of kisses on her new dark hair. "You're beautiful."

Renata smiled and hugged him tight. "Thank you for coming back. I don't deserve you."

"You have got to stop saying that, Renee," the Doctor said with a heavy sigh. "No more of this stuff. I can't bear to hear it."

"But it's true!"

"So I'm completely innocent in all this? I have nothing I should feel bad for?" The Doctor waited for her to try and lie with the answer. She couldn't because she knew that he had some faults in their past.

"I'm sorry," she said in a whisper. "I'm am so sorry."

"I know, dear," he raised her chin up to him. "But this is a new life you have, one free of illnesses. Don't you think you deserve a new chance to live freely?"

Renata bit her bottom lip. "That...that would be nice."

"If you really want to make things better, then just do that. Live the way you want to live. That's all I want from you."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Renata smiled for a moment. "This is my eleventh regeneration, my twelfth incarnation, and I'm only now going to try and live the way I want to. Isn't that funny? Nearly at the end of my first cycle of life and it's only now where I can try to do something I haven't been since my very first incarnation. I can be happy. It's in my name, actually. Renata. It means 'to be reborn' and I promise that this time I'm going to try and be someone good, be someone better than what I've been in the past. This new me is going to do big things."

The Doctor smiled with her words. He cupped her face gently. "I promise, if you give me a chance, I will do everything I can to add to that happiness."

"But first I have to find you," Renata reminded him. As much as he was the Doctor, he wasn't hers yet. "Where's my Doctor?"

The Doctor was reluctant to answer but he knew that she had to find him in order to get to where they were now. "I swear that he would've came but...he had a mishap..."

Renata pulled away from him, concern etching across her new face. "Is he alright?"

The Doctor wasn't sure how to answer that. His other self was probably on his way to Earth right now to stop the Master from returning. "There are some things I need to tell you before you meet with him. C'mon," he took her hand to lead her back to the TARDIS, only for him to remember something. "Oh wait!" He let go of her and rushed to the flower bed. He looked through them for a couple seconds while Renata watched him in confusion. "This one!" He had picked a beautiful red tulip from the flower bed and returned to Renata. He gently set it behind her ear and admired the sight of her. "Beautiful."

Renata touched the flower and blushed. "Thank you, though I could use a total change of clothes." She looked down at her clothes and realized that they no longer fit with her.

"I've got just the dress for you!" the Doctor promised. He had his current Renata's flower dress neatly folded on the Captain's chair. "C'mon!" He pulled Renata by the hand towards the gallery.

~0~

Present Day, Zhe's Gallery.

Renata picked up her golden pendant from her old bed stand and brushed her fingers over it. Her late husband had given it to her so long ago. She never took it off from the first day he gave it to her but now wearing it didn't seem quite right.

"Renata?" Gabby cautiously called her name. They were having a conversation when Renata spotted the golden pendant and suddenly the room went eerie quiet. Gabby wasn't all that surprised. She knew how important that pendant was to Renata, she just wondered how things would change now that she and the Doctor were apparently starting a relationship. That must be what Renata was thinking about.

Renata turned around to the girl. "Sorry, where was I?"

Gabby's smirk reminded her perfectly. "You just finished telling me about this Prisoner Zero fiasco and this Amy Pond girl and were saying how you and the Doctor finally talked."

"Right," Renata said, her eyes drifting to the side as a deep blush room her face over. They talked alright, followed by a good amount of kissing...on top of the console.

Gabby had come to know Renata really well, so she could see the red face from where she stood. "Hey Ren, something you wanna tell me about?"

"Hm? No!" Renata fervently shook her head and exhaled a shaky breath. "Why-why would you think that?"

Gabby set a hand on her hip and stared at the Time Lady for a good long minute. "Mhm. Is this how it's going to be, then?"

"Be like what?"

"Be like that whenever you and the Doctor make out." Gabby laughed when Renata went into a choking fit. "Oh my God! I knew it! I didn't think you were capable of making out with someone!"

"Stop saying that!" Renata exclaimed.

"What? That you made out—"

"Stop it!" Renata hissed, but the fact that she still had a red face made it impossible for Gabby to stop.

"I'm sorry, I'm American. I should say you 'snogged' instead, huh? Right term for you guys."

"Please, for the love of God, stop saying that!"

"Why? It's what happened, isn't?"

"Well, yeah, but...it just sounds weird," Renata crinkled her nose. It sounded childish and what she wanted with the Doctor would not be childish. "I don't 'snog' and I don't 'make out' with anyone."

Gabby giggled. "But you kind of did."

Renata deadpanned her. "Gabriella!"

"What? Look Ren, there is nothing wrong with having a little fun. And being serious, I am so happy for you and the Doctor." Gabby smiled at the Time Lady. "It was about time. I just wish Donna was still around to see it."

Renata could agree there. They both lamented the loss of their friend, especially since they had become like a little family and Donna was always trying to help the Doctor speak up about his feelings for Renata. If she could only see them now.

"So you guys really want me around?" Gabby inquired after a moment. "You don't want some, uh, alone time in the TARDIS?"

Renata chuckled. "God no! He'll drive me crazy! Plus, I might drive him crazy too. I don't know how these new bodies—" she gestured to herself, "—will interact with each other. Brand new us after all."

"Well, you're already making out—" Gabby giggled when Renata glared, "—so I think you'll be just fine."

"Yeah," Renata whispered as she looked back to her pendant in her hand. She turned away again and walked towards the bed. She didn't have a lot in the gallery to begin with, but the little clothes she had were now packed into a suitcase. "Did you finish packing yet?"

Gabby nodded her head. "Mhm. Just waiting for the Doctor now. Where exactly are we going?"

"I think we'll be going back for Amy Pond," Renata answered distractedly. Her fingers were still brushing over her pendant. "There's something not right about that girl."

"You mean because of the crack in her bedroom? Not really her fault though, is it?"

"No, not at all. But we want to be cautious and make sure her life wasn't affected by a crack that shouldn't have been in her bedroom."

"Good thinking," Gabby nodded again.

There was a light knock on the door a few seconds later. The Doctor poked his head into the room. "Hey! Are we done?"

"Yes!" Gabby beamed. She was more than ready to finally start travelling again. "But where did you go right now?"

The Doctor walked into the room with what Gabby could only describe as a grim smile. He'd been so happy before leaving, what could have changed his mood so quick?

The Doctor went directly to Renata who seemed to know what he would do, for when he hugged she already had her arms open for him. He hugged her tight and swayed her body. Gabby wasn't sure what he was saying but it sounded like he was apologizing for something. Renata had mumbled an 'I'm okay'. She wasn't sure if she should slip out of the room to give them privacy but before she could make up her mind, the two Time Lords pulled away.

Renata held onto the Doctor's hand afterwards. "Thank you," she whispered to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The Doctor smiled at her until he noticed the pendant in her other hand. He didn't mean to react at it, but it was impossible given who it was from.

Renata followed his gaze to the pendant and sighed. "Gabriella, can you take my suitcase out please?"

Gabby came for the suitcase on the bed and pulled it onto the ground. "I'll be outside then."

"Thank you," Renata nodded for her to go. When Gabby closed the door, Renata apologized to the Doctor. "I'm just a little unsure of what to do with it." She gazed at the pendant, turning it over and over in her palm.

"It's alright. I know how much that means to you. And actually, I do have something else to give you. It's only right you have it back." The Doctor reached into his jacket's inside pocket to take out a familiar necklace with a diamond hanging from it.

Renata gasped and instinctively took it from his hand. "My Whitepoint Star necklace." Tears came to her eyes as she remembered the horrid day her sister yanked it off her neck to give to Rassilon and establish the link between them and the Master. "I thought I'd never see this again." She turned the diamond around to see the old Gallifreyan names on it; her name, her late husband's name and their unborn child's name.

"I went back to Naismith's mansion when we left. The Assessor stole it from you and I thought I could do a little good. I know how much that necklace meant to you." It didn't matter to the Doctor that the necklace had come from Renata's husband, Elek. He'd been a good man to Renata, loved her, and had almost given her a child. "I hope you can find some peace now."

Renata broke into tears with the Whitepoint star in one hand and the pendant in the other. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her for a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"I don't know what to do with them now," Renata admitted through her tears. "I used to wear them all the time but...it doesn't feel right anymore."

"Don't think that I'd be upset if you wore them again," the Doctor said just to make sure she wasn't making a decision based on what he would think. "I know how much Elek meant to you."

"Yes but it's not right," Renata raised her head to meet his gaze. "I know it's not. It doesn't feel right. I used to wear the pendant because I was a devoted widow...because I swore to myself that I would never move on. But here I am...wanting to be with you. I can't wear them anymore. I...I don't want to."

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"I would like it if you did…"

"I have a room specifically meant for my previous companions, people I have cared for who are no longer with me. You could add these two necklaces to that room, give them a final resting place."

"I like the sound of that," Renata admitted. Elek was long gone and deserved to rest in peace just as she deserved to move on with her life too.

"Yeah? We can do that as soon as we get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor took her hands and closed them over the necklaces. "Shall we go?"

Renata nodded. "Yes."

They left the room without looking back.

~ 0 ~

"Please visit me soon," Zhe stood just outside the TARDIS with the trio of travelers. The humanoid blue woman was happy that everything turned out fine in the end, only lamenting that both Renata and the Doctor had to regenerate for it to happen.

"We will, I promise," Renata said, taking two of the woman's four hands into her own.

"I still have to continue my training anyways," Gabby chimed in, referring to her Block Transfer abilities.

"Of course," Zhe nodded. "I'll be waiting for you."

"Thank you for everything, Zhe," the Doctor said to her, truly grateful for all the support the woman had given them while Renata was ill. "I will never forget that."

"Me too," Renata agreed. "I don't have a lot of friends—actually, I only have three friends. Gabriella, Martha and you."

"Oi," the Doctor huffed in offence.

Renata gave him a light whack against his chest. "You're more." That certainly made his face brighten up.

Zhe smiled knowingly at the pair, just like Gabby was. "I'm glad it worked out for you two."

"Would you like to come with us for a trip?" asked the Doctor. "Could be fun."

Zhe chuckled. "Oh no. I'm good, thank you."

"Well then, I guess this is it," Renata gave Zhe a tight hug, thanking the woman over and over for everything she had done in the past.

Zhe was then hugged by Gabby and the Doctor. She wished them good luck on whatever adventure they had planned, because she knew they had something planned. She watched them go into the TARDIS and waved as the box de-materialized into thin air.

~ 0 ~

"NO WAY!" Gabby laughed almost deliriously when she saw the new interior of the TARDIS. It was nothing like the previous one. She spun around to catch all the bright orangey details of the walls. "This is too cool!"

"Yeah?" the Doctor chuckled as he watched her stumble after spinning so much. "You approve then?"

"Uh, yeah!" Gabby tapped on the glass floor to see if it was strong. "And we get a new glass floor!? It's so elegant!"

"I thought so too," the Doctor hummed in agreement. He then clapped his hands and turned to the console. Gabby scurried beside him, watching him work the new controls. "So, I know Renata told you about the little girl we met?"

"Yup! Amelia Pond, right? Er, Amy? Yeah, that's really weird what happened with her room. You think she's still in danger?"

"Don't know, but I'd like to keep her around to find out."

"So...is she, like, going to stay with us?"

"Would you mind?" the Doctor asked her, fixating a serious gaze that warranted an honest answer from her. Gabby wasn't just any ordinary passenger, nor companion, she was family and he wanted her to know that he truly valued her opinion, especially after Donna's departure. Nobody new had come aboard since then.

Gabby swayed her head as she thought about the idea of having someone new in the TARDIS. "Well...it could be fun not being the newbie this time. I could take some notes and be what Donna was for me. How old is she? This Amy?"

"Uh, she was 19 I believe."

"Oh! She's one year younger than me! I think it could be fun," Gabby gave a firm nod of her head. "Bring her in, Doctor. Let's see what Amy Pond brings to the TARDIS."

The Doctor laughed with her and that's how Renata found them. She had left her pendant and Whitepoint Star in the room the Doctor told her about. She felt a strange wave of peace when she closed the door, like she was finally moving on from that moment in her life. And seeing the Doctor and Gabby so happy and laughing made her feel even more sure that she was right where she wanted to be.

~ 0 ~

Amy Pond had memorized the TARDIS wheezing on the first night it left her for 'five minutes'. Now when she heard it for the third time, she jumped out of her bed without a second thought. No more pretending with costumes! She bolted down the staircase and into the backyard, almost laughing when she realized it was once again night time and she was in her pajamas! Well, a nightie but it was otherwise the same.

By the time she reached the TARDIS, the Doctor and Renata were already standing outside the box...waiting for her.

"Did we wake you up?" Renata wrinkled her nose as she gazed up into the night, starry sky. They'd been gone for more than a few hours again, she was sure.

"It's you, you came back!" Amy basically confirmed the suspicions. She was staring at them in awe, like she couldn't believe it...again.

"Sorry about the running off, got a bit lost in the moment," the Doctor sent a quick smirk to Renata who rolled her eyes in response. "Plus, we had to pick someone up. But don't worry, brand new TARDIS is ready for the big stuff now!"

Amy looked him over and made a face that didn't quite fit with the usual response someone would get seeing the TARDIS. "You kept the clothes."

Renata laughed to the side while the Doctor deadpanned the ginger. "Well, we just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge! Yeah, shoot me! I kept the clothes."

"I did not," Renata gestured to her very gray dress.

"And you left the bow tie too…" Amy once again made a face.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure how to feel about that as well…" Gabby emerged from the TARDIS, startling Amy. "Hi," Gabby waved a hand. "Gabby Gonzalez. And yes I agree with you: the bow tie is ridiculous."

"Hey!" the Doctor cried. "Bow ties are cool!"

"Yeah, the jury's still out on that one!"

The Doctor mocked them with a sway of his head. "Gabby, you can go back inside now!"

Gabby laughed and wiggled her fingers at Amy. "See you in a moment."

Amy slowly wiggled her fingers at her even though she still didn't quite understand how Gabby was even there. "Is she...are you...are you all from another planet?"

"We are," Renata gestured to herself and the Doctor. "But Gabriella's from New York. She's quite human...ish." After the birth of the Vortex Butterfly and the Cosmic Butterfly, both she and Renata still needed to run extensive exams.

"So what do you think?" the Doctor asked Amy. Her eyes flickered to him after studying the outside of the TARDIS. It was still as blue as she remembered it.

"Of what?"

"Other planets. Want to check some out?"

"What does that mean?"

Renata smiled at the woman. "It means we'd like for you to come with us."

"W-Where?"

"Anywhere you'd like. First trip is always your choice!"

Amy's eyebrows seemed to knit together for some reason. "All that stuff, the hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero…"

"Oh, don't worry. That's just the beginning. There's loads more!" the Doctor promised but also meant to warn Amy of what was to come.

"Yeah, but those things, amazing things, all that stuff…" Amy's face suddenly darkened with anger and annoyance. "That was two years ago!" She promptly smacked each Time Lord's arm, getting a sense of satisfaction hearing them yelp.

"Oh not again!" Renata let her head hang. "Doctor, you're seriously messing up my track record!"

"Sure, it's my fault—"

"You piloted us! On both occasions!"

The Doctor's mouth opened to argue but shut it at the last moment. Alright, so maybe it could've been been his fault.

"So...um…" Renata awkwardly met Amy's upset stare, the ginger woman having folded her arms over her chest. "What's it been, then?"

"14 years!" Amy spat and just a second after she said it, Renata did the same with a weary sigh.

"Really sorry about that."

"Fourteen years since fish custard. Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough," the Doctor said exactly what Renata had been thinking.

Amy's upset expression faded as curiosity took over, as well a bit of doubt. "When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library."

"Yeah. Not sure where it's got to now," the Doctor murmured as he had still yet to locate each room that'd gone missing. "I'm sure it'll turn up."

"It better if you know what's good for you," Renata remarked without a hint of playfulness. The Doctor winced and silently begged the TARDIS to help him out there.

"So... coming?" he asked Amy again since she hadn't said anything.

"No!" she exclaimed, or perhaps meant to shout at them like she knew exactly what she was doing.

"No?" Renata wasn't sure to laugh there and then. Amy was obviously trying to put up a front that she was no longer interested in the TARDIS. "You wanted to come 14 years ago."

"I grew up!"

"Don't worry. We'll soon fix that," the Doctor promised her with a smirk, only for Renata to say he would leave her right alone.

"Just be you, Amy Pond," she told the woman just as the Doctor snapped his fingers to open the doors behind them.

Amy was immediately bathed in the orange glow of the TARDIS interior and before she knew it, her feet were taking her into it. Hearing her coming in, Gabby poked her head from the console to see Amy's reaction. It was a whole other thing being on the other side now. Gabby wondered if this is what Donna felt when she first walked in and Donna watched her take it all in. Gabby smiled warmly at the memory of that day, though bittersweetly too. How times changed.

Amy's eyes had widened like dinner plates as she took in the whole room. She always wondered what it would look like on the inside, but it didn't compare to what she saw now. There were no words to describe how she felt, even if she tried she was sure nothing would come to mind.

"Well...? Anything you want to say?" the Doctor walked past her, missing the way Renata rolled her eyes behind him. He had no concept of being modest in anybody. "Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."

"I'm in my nightie," Amy said for some reason then quickly checked herself to make sure it was true. Yes, it was.

"Oh, I've been there," Renata laughed. "But don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe."

"You'll love it!" Gabby exclaimed. "I got lost in there the first time I went in. Played dress up!"

Amy's smile seemed permanent at the moment. She gazed at the console with fascination. She could hear a faint hum within it and wondered if that was part of the engines.

"So, Amy," the Doctor called on the other side of the console. "All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will...where do you want to start?"

"You are so sure that I'm coming," Amy once again tried playing casual and failed miserably.

"Yeah, I am."

"Why?"

"Because if not he'll just kidnap you," Renata said with a wide smirk on her face that threatened to turned into a laugh as soon as the Doctor huffed.

"We're still doing that!?"

"You kidnapped me," Renata reminded him then looked at a stunned Amy. "Yeah, he kidnapped me. Threw me right over his shoulder and dragged me in here."

The Doctor's mouth was wide open in offence. So that was true...but it didn't mean she had to go telling that to everybody they met. "Oi! You're still here!"

"Because I've been kidnapped!"

There may have been a vein protruding across the Doctor's forehead when Renata turned to him. "That was a year ago! When are you going to get over it!?"

"How does somebody get over being kidnapped?" she arched an eyebrow at him, still smirking knowing that she was getting under his skin.

Gabby shook her head at the two—clearly, that hadn't changed at either—and moved around the console to Amy. "So Amy," she pulled the girl's attention away from the bickering couple, "What do you think? It's fun out there...up—" her eyes briefly flickered to the ceiling to refer to space, "—there. I've gone to see the Star of Orion and I've lived in a space gallery. Oh, and I got to go into some interdimensional weird information link thing belonging to a Block Transfer Matrix." Amy blinked wide at such a complicated list. "Where would you like to go first?"

Amy bit her lower lip and glanced at the couple still going back and forth about the kidnapping fiasco - whatever that was. "Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

"Of course, it's a time machine," Gabby answered, wondering why Amy would be so specific about that. Maybe she had an appointment? "I won't say 5 minutes like those two over there but you have to know that they do try. Is there something important tomorrow?"

Amy's mouth opened but she didn't know how to put 'I'm getting married tomorrow' into a casual conversation. "Uh...just stuff."

"Alright then," Gabby motioned her to get close to the console. "Wanna see something funny?" Amy nodded. Gabby winked at her then took over the controls. The Doctor had long ago taught her how to pilot the TARDIS in case of emergencies. She had the laugh of her life, as well as Amy, when the TARDIS lurched and sent both Renata and the Doctor to the ground.

Serves them right for still bickering when they had a new passenger aboard.

---

Author's Note:

Didn't I say we'd get to see the previous Renata's final moments? We finally get closure and a hopeful promise for Ren's new life! Will she get it, though? Hmmm...

Okay, so the next chapter is super important for Gabby and Amy and I just now realized that the chapter is 18k? Do you guys want me to separate it into 2 chapters instead? Or give you the whole content in one? xD.

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 4: Through the Eyes of the Companions

Summary:

Amy Pond has her first trip in space with the travelers, this time with Gabby Gonzalez too. As they begin to investigate a strange ship that shouldn't be flying at all, Gabby tells Amy the truth about the travels and the danger with the Doctor and Renata.

Amy felt like she was dreaming. Dreaming would be the only rational explanation of how she was floating in outer space. But then she would look down to see the Doctor holding her ankle and she remembered that it was all real.

"Come on, Pond," he gently pulled her back inside the TARDIS. "Now do you believe us?"

Amy clung to him as she laughed and glanced back to outer space. "Okay, yeah, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! Whoo! What are we breathing?"

"I know, I asked that too on my first day," Gabby said from the console. She was loving Amy's reaction to the TARDIS. Now she completely understood why the Doctor loved that bit. The only one who was more calm was, unsurprisingly, Renata.

The Time Lady would just smile and chuckle every time Amy made a remark about everything being real. Gabby had no idea how Renata could be like that.

"We've extended the air shell, we're fine," Renata reassured Amy.

Amy was about to remark when she saw something curious below them. "What is that!?"

At her tone, Renata assumed there was something wrong and rushed towards the door. Gabby followed in suit.

The Doctor was already investigating from his spot but he didn't look concerned. He straightened on his feet. "Now, that's interesting. 29th Century!" He walked for the console, taking Renata with him on the way. She only let him because he wouldn't be so calm if it was nothing. "Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations…"

"Um, Doctor?" Amy started to call, not that either Time Lord would notice.

The Doctor currently had Renata's back against his chest, locking her between the console and himself. He was maneuvering the controls but was using any excuse to touch Renata. She knew it, and she had absolutely no protest in mind.

"..migrating to the stars…"

"Doctor?" Amy called again to no avail.

"Isn't that amazing?"

"I think their endeavor to survive are very admirable," Renata remarked, chuckling when she received a kiss on the cheek. Trying to find any excuse to land a kiss on her was also on his to-do list. She didn't have any protest about that either.

"Doctor!" Amy's call finally got their attention.

The two Time Lords looked over to the door to see Amy poking her head out.

"Where's Gabby?" Renata immediately noticed they were short one American. She hurried towards the door while the Doctor calmly walked behind her. He was hearing Gabby's and Amy's quiet argument.

"I want another turn!" Amy was poking her head out of the TARDIS, her hand clearly hanging onto Gabby's ankle.

"You just had a turn, shut up!" Gabby properly snapped. She was having too much fun floating in space. She'd never done that!

Amy huffed with a pout. "C'mon!"

"No!"

"They seem to be getting along," the Doctor's comment didn't even pass over the two humans. He came to stand by Renata who was shaking her head at them both. "Gabbs! Pond! I've found us a spaceship!"

~0~

Eventually, Gabby and Amy were pulled from the door (though not without promising that they'd both get 'another turn' later). The Doctor had pulled up the floating spaceship on the monitor for them to see.

"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland - all of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship - that's an idea! That's a whole country, living and laughing and...shopping! Searching the stars for a new home!"

"Oh that's cool," Gabby remarked with a laugh. "Any chance the States are floating out there too?"

"Never mind that, can we go out and see?" Amy eagerly watched the screen change through different images of the so called Space Britain.

"Course we can but first, there's a thing…"

Amy looked up from the monitor to see the Doctor suddenly serious. "A thing?"

"An important thing. In fact, thing one..." the Doctor made a show of looking at her through a magnifying glass, Donna's old magnifying glass, "We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets."

"Oh my God," Renata suddenly gasped, sounding like she was absolutely terrified. Everyone looked at her to see her covering her mouth.

The Doctor instantly got worried. "Renée, what is it?"

"You…" she touched his arm and he quickly grabbed her hand, nodding her to go on. "...are an even bigger liar than before!"

The Doctor's face fell flat while Gabby burst into laughter. Amy wasn't sure how to react so she kept watching silently. Renata then smirked at him.

"That was not funny," the Doctor dropped her hand to wag a finger at her.

"Neither were you lying through your teeth!"

"I wasn't lying!" Yes, yes he was.

"I've known you for centuries, do not stand there and lie to me!"

Amy's eyes widened at the centuries. How old were they!?

"I'm not lying!" the Doctor insisted. He was too far gone now to go back.

Renata decided to save her breath after catching an interesting sight on the monitor. She turned the monitor so he could see a little girl sitting alone, crying her eyes out. It was a sight he wouldn't be able to resist.

It reeled him to the screen alright. "Ooh! That's interesting!" he even forgot about what he was arguing for.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah?" Amy tried making the analogy to understand the rules better. "Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it - they've got to keep filming and let it die."

The Doctor did a semi-nod but he hadn't been listening to a word she was saying. He only caught Renata's second smirk when he pulled her towards the door. Yeah, alright, she got him.

Amy leaned closer to the screen and couldn't help feel sorry for the little crying girl. "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard - being all, like, detached and cold?" Of course she stopped when the Doctor himself appeared on screen waving at her! Amy did a double take at the screen. "Doctor!?"

Gabby sighed beside her. "He does that. And Renata can only do so much about it. C'mon!" She rushed towards the doors, leaving Amy to follow.

'Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored,' a tannoy was speaking over when the two girls emerged from the TARDIS.

While Gabby was taking it all in a quiet awed way, Amy was gawking. She exhaled a breath hidden in her lungs as she stared at the arched glass ceiling that gave her a perfect view of the stars. When her neck finally started hurting from gazing upwards too long, Amy took in what was on the ground. Their path was lined by stalls and booths all trying to make business with things Amy wasn't sure about.

"I'm in the future. Like hundreds...of years in the future," Amy laughed for a brief second before a new thought popped into her. "I've been dead for centuries."

"That's not exactly something you should be thinking about," Renata said as she and the Doctor walked up to them. Of all the things Amy could've said, she really went with that?

"It does cross your mind," Gabby remarked from her own experiences. It earned herself a grateful smile from Amy while a surprised expression from the Time Lords. "What? It does."

"Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" the Doctor went straight to business. He hadn't expected for something wrong to appear since this was really meant to be a nice trip for Amy, but he wouldn't act surprised about it either.

Amy, however, shot him a disbelieving look. "What's wrong?" Everything seemed perfect around them! People were bustling with their daily tasks and the sellers seemed to be in a good selling mood with those loud yells for customers to stop by their stalls. What could possibly be wrong?

"He's right," Renata said, seemingly knowing what Amy was thinking. "Be studious and look at everything. Notice the small things."

"Kind of like 'Find Waldo'," Gabby said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Except in this case Waldo is the wrong thing we're looking for." Renata sent the girl a confused smile that made Gabby blink with realization. "I'm starting to sound like him, aren't I?" On the side, the Doctor grinned at himself.

"It was bound to happen after spending too much with him," Renata shrugged.

Gabby dropped her arms to her sides as she wondered if this was good or bad. From her perspective, she'd been travelling with them for about a year now. At first, she spent a lot of time between them and Donna but after Donna's memories were wiped and Renata fell ill, Gabby found a lot of her time was spent with the Doctor. She helped him in whatever she could and during those 6 months of Renata's illness, the Doctor worked fervently at creating a cure. Gabby learned a lot about mathematics, science and Time Lord biology and physiology. She wanted to help so she needed to start by learning the details that made up the big picture. It was there that the Doctor would go into full detail about whatever he was using that day to hopefully create a cure.

Plus, they were together for a long time. They traveled together to pick things up so natutally they talked a lot. It was impossible not to pick up a few things from him in all that time. She got to know him better - he taught her how to drive the TARDIS - and she learned a few of his secrets that few, or none, of his companions had known.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Gabby finally resolved and laughed when the Doctor's grin widened.

Meanwhile, Amy had been trying to be as studious as Renata told her to be. She was gazing at every stall, see what they were selling, the mannerisms of people, etc. It was just a lot to take in for someone who had only just known about the future. "Uh, is it...the bicycles?" Her finger languidly pointed to the rickshaw nearby. "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."

"Says the girl in the nightie," the Doctor remarked, not that he cared what she wore. Of course it elicited a gasp from Amy.

"Oh, my God! I'm in my nightie!"

Renata elbowed the Doctor on his side. "Please don't make her self conscious. We didn't exactly give her time to change." She then cast a glance in Amy's direction. "Don't worry Amy, I've been there myself. It was pretty bad, I was in the place of all places. The Shadow Proclamation!"

"Space police," Gabby translated just as Amy opened her mouth to ask.

"And I met the head of the space police," Renata shuddered as she remembered. "At least you're in place where they don't really care what you're wearing."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. They were missing the big picture with all the nonsense talk about clothes! "Now, come on, look around you. Actually look. Life on a giant starship, back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state - excuse me!" He'd run off towards a table where two people were having lunch.

"Doc…" Renata reached a hand out but she was too late. He'd taken the couple's glass of water to put on the ground.

Gabby watched in amusement but Amy was so confused about what he was doing. "He does that a lot too," Gabby whispered to the ginger.

The Doctor took a quick look at the still water, exchanged a look with Renata, then returned the glass to the couple. "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area," he explained to their poor confused faces. "There's an, uh...escaped fish!" He tapped the side of his nose and returned to others.

Renata exchanged another glance with him, silently confirming she'd seen it too. The still water.

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked him, but not before glancing at Gabby to see if she would say that he did that for some odd alien reason. Gabby did not because she was just as puzzled as Amy.

"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track," the Doctor passively remarked. "Now, police state - do you see it yet?"

"Where?" Amy had seen a lot of things so far but she didn't remember police anywhere.

"There!"

Amy followed the Doctor's pointing finger to the little girl crying at a bench all by herself. He led the way to the other empty bench across from the girl. He took a seat next to Renata while Amy took the other end and Gabby decided to sit on the bench's arm rest next to the Doctor.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy wondered what was so important about the sight. Little girls cried all the time.

"The madness," Renata huffed as she crossed her arms. She was shaking her head disapprovingly. "There is a little girl crying and nobody has stopped to ask her what's wrong."

"Maybe because it's nothing truly bad?" Amy tried but it was apparently the wrong answer.

"She's crying silently, Amy," the Doctor said as if it was supposed to mean something to her with that brief explanation. "I mean, children cry cos they want attention, cos they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."

Amy studied his long gaze on the little girl then moved onto Renata. There was something similar in both their expressions but Amy was sure they were different at the same time. The Doctor looked as if he was remembering, and judging by his explanation Amy was willing to bet he was speaking from experience. Renata, on the other hand, was close to crying. There was something terribly sad in the woman's eyes that wasn't really the same as what was in the Doctor's eyes. It was so interesting...

"Are you parents?" she finally asked them.

Gabby watched the two Time Lords stiffen at the question and when they moved on without acknowledging it, she wasn't very surprised. She herself didn't exactly know the story of each of their children's backgrounds but she knew how it ended. The Doctor's children had all grown up and died in the Time War while Renata's unborn child died in her womb after regenerating during the Time War. That would always be one of the stories that they could never open up about with her. And that was totally fine. Gabby was just happy that they could share with each other and help ease their pain.

"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means...they already know, and it's something they don't talk about," the Doctor was explaining to Amy their way of deductions. It was a good help for when Amy started looking around at the people passing by, she realized that none of them even batted an eye at the crying girl.

"Bloody secrets," Renata spat. She would absolutely hate them after everything it put her through. "They're choosing not to help her so it must mean they're afraid of something."

"Like what?" Amy asked.

"Shadows - whatever they're afraid of - it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state!" the Doctor winked at her now that she finally understood.

None of them noticed when the little girl got up from the bench after a bell rang, a lift bell.

"Where'd she go?" Gabby started looking around and even got up from the bench to do it better.

"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A!" the Doctor had the answer ready to go, which warned himself a confused glance from Gabby.

"You're not psychic," she said as if he was about to use that excuse on her.

"You're looking for Mandy Tanner?"

"Doctor, seriously!"

"Oh alright," he dug into his jacket's pocket to pull out the girl's ID wallet. He tossed it over to Gabby. The girl swiftly caught it and checked the information. "It fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her."

Now it was Renata giving him a stare next to him. "Four times?" She had seen each of those times and had to question how the hell she was attracted to him. "You stole from a child."

"I borrowed," he corrected. "Because Gabbs and Amy are going to return it."

At the mention of her name, Amy blinked. "Me!?"

But the Doctor had already made up the plan. "Make sure to ask her about those things - the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere!"

Gabby gave a glance to the nearest 'booth' and couldn't help but shudder. They were beyond creepy.

"But they're just things," Amy remarked as she got up from the bench.

"They're very clean things," Renata pointed out. "Everything else here is battered and filthy - look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Ask Mandy, 'Why are people scared of the things in the booths?' I'm sure the answer will be interesting."

"Got it!" Gabby answered with a grin. Amy whipped her head in Gabby's direction, not needing to ask what her face was already conveying. "You'll be fine, Amy. It's how it goes."

"I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!"

"Unfortunate but it will make for a funny story later on," Renata gave the girl a smile.

"It's this or Leadworth," the Doctor reminded her, something that did make Amy stop for a moment. "What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose? Ha-ha, gotcha!" He check his watch for the hour. "Meet us back here in half an hour."

"What are you going to do?" Amy asked him. He looked eager to do something alright but Renata seemed...a bit indescribable.

"What I always do. Stay out of trouble."

"Badly," Renata made sure to add. She crossed one leg over the other. "Good luck girls."

"But…" Amy began to say when Gabby reached for her arm.

"C'mon!"

"Stay out of trouble," called Renata.

Gabby snorted. "Right!"

The Doctor smiled as the two girls went off. He was hoping they would get along and it seemed like that would be the case. His smile faltered when he saw Renata staring at him. He wasn't sure what kind of expression was on her face so it made him a bit nervous. This new incarnation would also be giving him those faces it seemed…

"What?" he finally asked when he gave up trying to ready her face.

"I'm just trying to decide how I can be attracted to the likes of you," she had answered so calmly that the Doctor initially didn't quite register what she'd said. "You bumped into a child 4 times to pickpocket her ID wallet."

"Yet you watched me and said nothing," the Doctor bumped shoulders with her. His smirk made her roll her eyes and look away. "Seems to me, love, that you might just be jealous you couldn't do it."

Renata scoffed and once again looked away. "You really think that I'd be jealous I can't pickpocket a child!? Do you remember who I am!?"

"Always!" he kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand, pulling her off the bench. "And I'm going to have so much fun watching how I rub off on you!"

"Oh please," she was close to laughing. "I've known you at your worst - when you had a misdemeanor and was sent to my foundation so I could fix you up," she jabbed her finger on his chest. "You did not rub off on me."

"Oh but I did, tiny bit," the Doctor raised his index finger to his thumb, squinting one of his eyes. "Made you sneak into classrooms, didn't I? Made you run before you got caught, right? That was just a preview. Now you're going to get the full experience!"

"No, I will n-"

"Starting now!" he pulled her into a run despite her shouts for him to let her walk.

~0~

Gabby had let go of Amy's hand once they got into a lift. Mandy's street was in another floor. Gabby calmly pressed the button for level two and watched the elevator doors slide shut.

"Okay, is this how it works then?" Amy had to ask when the elevator tarted going down. Gabby didn't look very concerned about what was going to be on the other side of the doors when they opened again. "Doctor says he never interferes in the affairs of other peoples or planets but then he does when there's children crying?"

"Oh, if there's a child crying he'd stop everything." Gabby stayed quiet for a moment until she snorted so loudly that Amy actually jumped in her spot. "Sorry, sorry," Gabby laughed. "It's just...I guess this is what I was like on my first trip, though instead of the Doctor I was like that with Renata. I'm her companion."

"What, they have specific companions?" Amy asked, eyes darting to the side as she wondered who's companion she was then. A little voice inside her head might have, for a moment, wished it'd be the Doctor.

"Sort of but not really at the same time." Gabby led the way out of the elevator and checked the ID wallet again for the address. She then made a turn down the left corridor. "It's just like that I guess. But listen, one thing you should know about the Doctor is that he lies. He doesn't do it to be rude or just plain mean, he does it to protect us. Trust me, I've been there and I know what it's like. So when he says that he doesn't interfere…"

"He's really saying the opposite?" Amy presumed and confirmed she was right when Gabby threw her a smile.

"Now you're getting it."

"And what about Renata? She seems very different from the Doctor…"

Once again, Gabby snorted. "That's an understatement. She's the polar opposite of the Doctor. He doesn't like rules, she does. The Doctor is all over the place while Renata likes her routines. She actually makes us dinner every night after each of our trips."

"Like a Mum?" Amy was close to laughing. For some reason she couldn't quite picture that scene involving a normal dinner between the aliens. She thought back to when they had crashed into her backyard and they had a strange midnight meal.

"I know, I thought it was weird too," Gabby confessed and shared a laugh with Amy. "The Doctor sitting for dinner?" They laughed even louder. "But it's fun, trust me."

Amy studied the girl for a moment while they walked. Gabby definitely seemed to know what she was doing unlike herself who was more nervous than ever. While she fidgeted in the unknown corridors, Gabby merely looked around to make sure they weren't being cast suspicious stares from the locals. "How long have you been travelling with them?"

"Um, I think for a year now. I was 19 when I met them and Don…" A visible trace of hurt crossed Gabby's face all of a sudden. It brought her to a slow stop in the middle of the corridor.

"Are you alright?" Amy wondered what had made Gabby's face turn like that. She'd been happy just seconds ago.

Gabby blinked out of her trance and shook her head for good measure. "Yeah, sorry. I just realized it's been a year since I met a friend that I can never see again."

"Oh…" Amy wasn't sure how to respond to that. To be fair, she hadn't known how to respond to nearly everything that had been happening to her these past two hours.

"Her name was Donna," Gabby started explaining, her voice low. "She, um, she was the companion before me - well, she came just a bit before they bumped into me. She sort of helped me process everything about the Doctor and Renata, the travels, the TARDIS...she helped me through it."

"What happened to her?" Amy quietly asked, already presuming the story did not have a good ending. Otherwise, that woman would still be around and Gabby wouldn't look so mortified.

"Bad things," Gabby bit on her lower lip. "Bad things that I can't help but wonder if they could've been avoided had I done something about it." It was one recurring thought she kept having about Donna's ending. She had been there when Donna touched the Doctor's severed hand, she should have done something to hold Donna back! If she had, then Donna would still be with them traveling. They would still be the small space family they had formed.

"Is she dead?" Amy's question was a mere whisper, now scared herself that this might be how she ends up if she wasn't careful.

"No...just her memories about us," Gabby sighed. "Something happened and the Doctor had to wipe her memories about all of us, everything about the travels. She can't remember us or else she'll truly die and we can never see her again." She blinked away the tears when she felt Amy's hand touch her shoulder. The ginger was giving her a sympathetic look, clearly wanting to help but having no idea how to do it.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, it's just…" Gabby felt like she needed to be honest with Amy, be upfront about the reality of things. "Renata and the Doctor are wonderful people and they try their best to keep people like us safe, but the truth is that sometimes...they can't. Things can get very dangerous around them, Amy, and you have to understand that they will try their best—they will literally give up their lives for us—but sometimes...there are moments where they can't win. If you want to travel with them, then you have to be aware of the risks you're taking. Do you?"

Amy swallowed thickly. Of course she hadn't truly thought about the implications of travelling with the Doctor and Renata. Right now, all she could think of was that she was in the future, on a spaceship! But that was normal, this was her first adventure! Gabby had been on dozens and dozens, she was more experienced. But Amy couldn't help but doubt Gabby a little. Maybe she was trying to scare her off? Go back to being the only companion in the TARDIS?

Or maybe she's trying to keep you from being the next Donna? Amy made a face at herself. She didn't know Gabby enough to trust her but why would Gabby make up a story like that? What if it was true? She would have to be very careful even when things were seemed like a lot of fun.

"Amy?" Gabby touched Amy's arm, figuring that Amy was processing everything she'd said. "I know it's a lot. Take it slow and if you have any questions, any doubts, something you just want to get off your chest...I'm here. That's what Donna was for me and I'd like to be that for you." She offered Amy a smile that, little by little, Amy returned.

The companions had to stick together, right?

"You're following me," they suddenly heard a high voice tell them. They looked ahead to see Mandy glaring at them. "Saw you watching me at the marketplace."

"You dropped this?" Gabby held the ID wallet and winced when she realized she made it a question. So much for being assertive.

Mandy scoffed. "Yeah, when your friend kept bumping into me."

Gabby inwardly shook her head at the Doctor. No matter what incarnation, he would never get a clue about how to be discreet.

"Hey, what's that?" Amy noticed a part of the street was surrounded by barriers. It had flashing red lights warning people to stay away. Amy didn't miss the weary look Mandy gave the restricted area.

"There's a hole. We have to go back."

"A hole?" Gabby and Amy simultaneously asked, neither believing it was just that. A hole didn't need all those flash lights.

They got closer to it and noticed the flashing lights of a shop Magpie Electrical.

Many shook her head at them. "Hey, are you stupid? There's a hole in the road! We can't go that way!" But neither girl listened to her. "There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps. What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't mind us, just looking," Gabby tried moving around the so-called hole but found that the entire area was sealed off.

"I never could resist a 'keep out' sign," Amy admitted as she planted herself on the ground right in front of the locked gates.

Gabby poked her head from around the gate, shooting Amy a smirk. "You're definitely getting it."

Neither of them saw Mandy casting a fearful glance at one of the booths with smiley faces. Smilers, they called them, but Mandy thought they were terrifying clowns. "Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Gabby asked her as she returned to Amy's side.

"Below…"

"Hm, I think that's been your number one mistake then." Gabby sat down next to Amy and examined the lock. "What do we got?"

"A hair pin?" Amy suggested as she pulled out one of her own hair pins.

Gabby grinned. "Point one for Amy Pond!" Amy laughed and started working on the lock.

"You sound Scottish, and you you sound American," Mandy noted after truly listening to them discuss how to open the lock.

"Cos we are," Amy glanced over her shoulder. "What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere. And America, right?"

"Well, America has their own ship. Obviously. And Scotland wanted one too."

"Good for them. Nothing changes."

"So...how did you get here?" Mandy asked, eyeing the girls' backs suspiciously. They hardly ever got foreigners on their ship and much less foreigners with an interest on breaking the rules.

"Oh, we're just passing through," Gabby shrugged her shoulders. She tilted the lock so that Amy could maneuver the hairpin better.

"With your parents?"

Gabby laughed when she realized Mandy must have meant Renata and the Doctor. "Oh no! They're not our - they're not my parents!" And yet the ironic part was that in their last incarnations, everyone joked about the same thing. She could be their daughter but Gabby, as well as the Time Lords, pointed out that she looked nothing like them but ow that they regenerated into younger bodies, Renata's new appearance could actually pass her off as Gabby's mother. Funny how things worked.

"Hey, hey, result!" Amy cheered when the lock clicked opened.

"Awesome!" Gabby high-fived with her then glanced back at Mandy. "Coming?"

Mandy shook her head fervently. "No!"

"Suit yourself," Amy said and decided to crawl into the tent first.

"Amy, you should have let me go in first," Gabby said as she squeezed her way next to the ginger. "Never know what you could find."

Mandy gasped when she saw the Smiler booth near them spin to show a third face. It was terrifying. "Stop!" she called to the girls in horror. "You mustn't do that!"

"Oh but I think we should," Gabby remarked slowly once they were fully inside. The inside of the tent was flashing emergency red lights. It was creepy alright.

Amy found a torch nearby and turned it on. She froze when she saw something squishy sticking out of the hole on the ground. "Is that...is that a tentacle?" she squinted her eyes through the darkness.

Gabby flipped her head in her direction and blinked at the sight. She scurried next to Amy to have a better look. "I think...I think so, yeah…"

The 'tentacle' suddenly struck at them, eliciting a scream from the two. They whirled around and rushed out of the tent, crawling out messily. Once they saw the light on the other side, they met a group of black hooded men surrounding them.

"Uh...hello?" Gabby managed to crack a smile before one of them sprayed her and Amy with a type of gas that sent them into darkness.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you think we'll get caught sneaking around restricted areas?" Renata asked as she climbed down a ladder's last step.

The Doctor was right above her and went down the last step. "What makes you think it's restricted?"

Renata flapped an arm to the empty corridor. "I don't know, just a hunch!"

The Doctor shrugged it off and pressed an ear to the wall. There nothing but silence there. "Nothing."

"Well that's not possible," Renata folded her arms, staring at the wall wearily. Something had to be driving this ship so naturally, there should be engines running.

The Doctor used his sonic to scan the immediate area but even the scans told him there was nothing there.

"Interesting…" He heard Renata murmur. He gazed up from his sonic to see the Time Lady inching towards a single glass of water on the ground.

"You do realize that could very well be a trap, right?" he called after her.

"Maybe you're already rubbing off on me, then," she smiled distractedly as she bent down in front of the glass. The water wasn't moving at all.

"Renée," the Doctor moved to her side and held a hand for her to straighten up.

"The water, it's not—"

"The impossible truth in a glass of water," a strange female whisper startled them.

The Doctor pulled Renata behind him, eyes shooting everywhere to find the source of the new voice. He found a red-cloaked woman with a white mask over her face.

"Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor? Renata?"

At the mention of their names, Renata pushed the Doctor aside and demanded the woman to explain. "How do you know our names?"

The woman merely put a finger to her masked lips. "Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."

"Well, if you don't answer our questions, why should we answer yours?" Renata challenged.

"Don't waste time! At the marketplace, you, Doctor, placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

The Doctor sighed and answered. "No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So...I thought we should take a look." He moved to a nearby power box on the wall and opened it up. The wires were there, alright, but nothing was working. "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look - they're dummies, see? And behind those walls, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was…"

"No engine at all," the woman nodded, clearly already having reached that conclusion.

"And yet the ship is travelling through space like nothing," Renata eyed the woman's mannerisms as much as she could. Something was...familiar about her. "We saw it, so it means somebody's lying through their teeth around here."

"The impossible truth," the woman hummed. "We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?" the Doctor demanded as if she already reached that conclusion as well.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor, Renata. You're our only hope. Your friends are safe." The woman held out a device for them to take.

"What do you mean?" Renata immediately stiffened. She glanced at the Doctor, both quickly worrying over what the woman meant.

"This will take you to them," the woman promised them. "Now go, quickly!" She forced the device into the Doctor's hands then turned away.

"Oh no, who are you?" demanded Renata. "You're noble, right?" the woman paused, turning sideways but kept quiet. "I'd recognize those movements anywhere. You've been trained to walk and talk like somebody from a higher class. So, who are you?"

"Mm," the woman sounded impressed, but not surprised. "It's true what they say about, then."

"What is?" Once again, Renata exchanged glances with the Doctor as if he would know what the woman was talking about. He didn't and he didn't like that this woman knew Renata when they didn't. He wasn't able to trust that she wouldn't hurt them.

"You. Your like a Noble yourself despite the fantastic lies you manage to create."

Renata's face paled in two seconds flat.

"Then again, isn't that what all Nobles tend to do?"

The Doctor pulled Renata behind him, shooting daggers at the cloaked woman across them. "Stop that!" he snapped. Who did this woman think she was talking to Renata like that?

"It's alright, I didn't say it to offend. I know how things work."

"That's not who I am anymore," Renata weakly tried to argue but it was hard getting past the fact that even a stranger knew about her terrible habit. "I don't—"

The Doctor barred her from getting any closer to the woman. "You do not have to explain yourself to this woman."

"I'll see you around," the cloaked woman said, making it clear that this wouldn't be their last meeting. Although now the Doctor was even less inclined to see her again.

~0~

When Amy and Gabby woke up, they each found themselves in a small room with four monitors resembling old retro televisions. Amy screeched when she saw another of the Smilers booths inside with her.

She jumped out of her chair and went to the door, banging on it for someone to get her out. "Help! Help!"

'Welcome to voting cubicle 330C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it.'

Amy whirled around and saw the monitors had come to life. Her eyes widened and quickly took another scan of the room. It was just her inside, nobody else.

"Gabby?" she tried to call but no one answered

'The United Kingdom recognises the right to know of all its citizens…'

Amy left the door and drifted up to the monitors, taking notice of three large buttons in front of her. One said 'protest', the middle 'record' and the last 'forget'.

'A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll.'

Amy let herself fall back into the chair behind her. Her fear was momentarily taken away when the monitor showed her name along with her age.

'Name - Amelia Jessica Pond. 'Age - 1,306.'

Amy laughed. "Oh my God! Shut up!"

'Marital status…'

That one made Amy pause.

'Unknown.'

For some reason, that might have relieved her a bit. It wasn't like she was trying to forget marrying Rory, but it wasn't something she was going to be thinking about while she was on a spaceship in the future!

'You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know…'

Amy once again straightened up as the presenter spoke about whatever he was. She wondered if this is what Gabby was being subjected to as well.

'When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest...or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the program will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - and we hope that you will - then press the "forget" button. All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls.'

Amy gulped. What could this video contain that people would willingly choose to forget? Whatever it was, it was about to appear on her screen next.

~0~

Gabby banged endlessly against the door keeping her locked in the small room. "Let me out! I said let me out!" she yelled in vain. She angrily turned around and walked back to the monitors. She studied the three buttons in front of her and wondered why the hell her only options were 'protest', 'record' and 'forget'.

"Where's the 'let me go' button!?" she banged against the monitor, ignoring the pain it caused against her fist. "Can you hear me in there!?"

She switched gears and started pressing any button she could find. She truly felt like the Doctor swiping her hands over each button, no matter how small they were, but even with all that effort none of the screens came to life.

"Well!?" she waited for something to happen. She had pressed a lot of buttons. One of them had to do something!

But nothing ever did.

Gabby was furious! First, they spray her with some kind of knock-out gas, then they place her in some type of television room where she was obviously supposed to watch something, and they don't even let her see it!?

She ran back to the door, this time pounding against the metal with all her might. "Let me out! Let me out! I said…" All of a sudden, her hands glowed a strong purple, reminiscent of the way they had back on the Crucible. "LET ME OUT!" Once her hands made contact with the door, they forced the door off its hinges. Gabby toppled over it and landed unceremoniously on the ground.

"How did you do that!?" Mandy, who'd been stuck waiting outside the two rooms, scurried to help Gabby get up. She didn't even understand what she'd just seen except a strong purple glow with a few butterflies of the same color. That had to be wrong, right?

"Gabriella!" they heard Renata's cry just seconds before the Time Lady reached them.

"Gabbs, what happened!?" the Doctor helped pick the girl up. He eyed the fallen door on the ground and then the doorless room behind them.

"I-I don't know! I...Amy!" Gabby frantically pointed at the next room with its door still very much attached. "She's in there! She's got to be!"

"How did you—" Renata's question was cut off when the door to Amy's just slid open.

The Doctor hurried inside, only catching Amy turning the monitor off. She had no idea when she recorded a video warning herself to get them off the ship but who's to say that it wasn't another trick?

"Gabriella, it's important you tell us what happened," Renata said as she helped Gabby walk towards the bench Mandy had waited on.

"I-I-I don't remember, they...there were these hooded people and they-they sprayed us!"

Amy gave a confirming nod. "Yeah, I remember that but...that's pretty much it." She cast another look inside the room where the Doctor was now hastily scanning all the monitors. "I don't remember."

Renata thought that was weird and waited for Gabby to say the same thing, but of course Gabby didn't. Her experience had been completely different.

"None of the monitors turned on even after I pressed all the buttons but nothing turned on."

"What?" Mandy frowned. "You didn't a see a video?"

"What video?" both Renata and Gabby asked.

"The video that everyone watches in there!"

Renata looked down at Gabby but she shook her head. "Nothing turned on for me…"

Renata then glanced at Amy. The ginger seemed out of it. "I can't remember…"

"So she can't remember if she watched it and you-" Renata met Gabby's nervous eyes, "-just couldn't watch it?" This made absolutely no sense so she left Gabby on the bench and walked into the room with the Doctor. She heard Mandy once again question Gabby how she was able to get around watching the video, but Renata thought the answer would be in the room. "Tell me you've got something."

The Doctor was standing on the chair using the sonic on a lamp above. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about 20 minutes."

"Memory wipe?" Renata eyed the three buttons in front of the monitors.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy poked her head inside the room.

"Cos everyone does," Mandy called from the bench. She had taken a seat next to Gabby. "Everyone chooses the "forget" button."

"But I didn't even get that option!" Gabby exclaimed. Her reminder made the Doctor scurried out of the room and into the one Gabby had been in.

"Alright, so have you watched this video." Renata stopped by the bench to ask Mandy.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years…"

Renata sighed with understanding. "And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action. Lovely." She moved into the second room, prompting the others to follow.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?" Mandy asked the pair while they got in front of the monitors.

"Oh, we're way worse than Scottish," the Doctor moved the buttons much like Gabby had and saw none of them responded to him. "We can't even see the movie. Won't play for us."

"Like me?" Gabby blinked. She glanced at Amy and saw how puzzled she was now.

"It played for me…"

The Doctor gave a small nod but there was a type of grimness in his face that didn't go unnoticed by Gabby.

"What is it?" she pressed for the answer. "Doctor?"

Renata had reached the same realization and glanced between themselves and Gabby. "Oh, Gabriella…"

"What is it?" frowned the girl, demanding to know what they'd figured out.

The Doctor licked his lips nervously. He didn't want to scare her but he also knew that Gabby wouldn't let them go without hearing it. "The difference being the computer doesn't accept us...as human."

Gabby's entire body instantly froze. She had locked eyes with the Doctor and waited for him to say to add that he had meant him and Renata. They were Time Lords, not her. She was human! She wasn't some alien! She then checked Renata's reaction, but the Time Lady didn't seem so shocked about it. She was checking her hands which prompted Gabby to do the same.

She'd knocked the door off its hinges. How could she do that? Could it be that the Cosmic Butterfly wasn't completely gone from her system? She hadn't experienced any of its power since she first used it on the Crucible. Sure there'd been instances of a few non-human feelings, like the time she'd felt the connection with Renata as the Time Lady had expelled Vortex energy against the Assessor and the Time Lords, but that's all it'd been: feelings. She thought the Cosmic Butterfly would be a one time thing...but what if it wasn't? What if it was dormant and residing in her body until she needed it again?

I needed to get out of this room, she glanced at the doorless threshold.

"I'm so confused, I thought you said you were human?" Amy was now staring at Gabby like she had sprouted horns.

"I thought I was…" Gabby helplessly looked at Renata.

Renata had set aside her own questions to give Gabby some reassurance. "We'll run some tests as soon as we get back to the TARDIS. But don't worry, this doesn't mean you're in any kind of danger." It actually made her curious to know what kind of readings Gabby's exams would give.

She froze.

For a moment there, she might have sounded like the Doctor.

Seeing her eyes suddenly narrowing on him, the Doctor raised his hands in defense. "What I do!?"

She rolled her eyes. "More like what didn't we do. We were supposed to run tests, remember?"

The Doctor winced. He did remember. He also remembered why those tests didn't get done. Images of their heated snog flashed across his mind, tinting his cheeks red. He would not complain one bit for forgetting those tests.

"So none of you are actually human," Amy remarked as it finally settled. She looked the trio over, registering Gabby's reminder that she believed she was human, but struggled to truly accept it based off on their familiar appearances. "You guys look human."

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first," the Doctor pointed at her with his sonic.

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy noticed straightaway how their faces seemed to fall, except for Gabby. Although the girl looked half as grim as the Doctor and Renata.

"Not quite," Renata said quietly, scolding herself almost immediately after answering. Yes quite, she berated. Yes. They were gone. "There were, but there aren't...just us now."

Amy arched an eyebrows at her, clearly wanting to know how that was possible. Renata couldn't bring herself to say more. After all, it'd only been a day since the Time Lords happened to return for a brief moment.

"There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't," the Doctor turned to the controls with a new sense of rage. Where did these people get off thinking they could just ease their problems by making people forget? That was beyond cowardly. "Not ever. Cos this is what I do - every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government!" He slammed his hand over the 'protest' button. The door slid shut behind them, leaving Mandy on the other side but those still inside were a bit afraid of what was coming next.

"What the...?" Renata was the first to see the Smiler in the room turning its head around to showcase an angry one. "Oh, well, that's mature!"

"Ah, Renata!" Gabby jumped when the floor began sliding open.

The Doctor reached over to pull Renata with him, making her pull Gabby who then grabbed Amy. Renata didn't need to see the Doctor to know what he was thinking next.

"Don't you dare!"

"Say, 'Wheee!'" He was absolutely grinning behind her.

"DOC —AAH!" Renata only felt the grip of his hand on her waist pulling her into the chute.

---

Author's Note:

I have to say that this was one of my favorite chapters to write (which I had to separate in 2 in the end). I loved Gabby's scenes with Amy's because now, like she said, she's the "previous" companion. She's assuming the role that Donna had and she wants to really make sure that Amy understands what it means to travel with the Time Lords.

Chapter 5: A Companion's Guide

Summary:

The time travelers have to figure out who's behind the creature snatching people up while working with Liz 10 and in the end, Gabby has to urge Amy to look past the Time Lords’ anger to see what they’re truly all about.

The entire group had fallen into the chute and were thrown out only to land in a splash somewhere full of oddly colored liquid. The Doctor jumped back on his feet soon as he got his bearings, though he noted the flooring underneath was a bit odd. He flashed the sonic around to see where exactly the chute had brought them to.

"High-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel!"

Renata thrashed the water before getting up. "You have got to stop throwing us down things when you've no idea where they lead!" She made a show by splashing some water to the side.

Despite knowing she was properly upset, the Doctor found it much too funny to be serious. She was covered in whatever liquid they'd landed in - he suspected a food refuse judging by the smell - and so all of her hair was sticking to her face. Her dress was pressed against her body again, something he'd begun to accept would be his downfall one day. She was trying to be angry but she kept scrunching her face and yelling about the horrible stench around them. Her kicking the food refuse was just a plus!

Yup. Completely, adorably, funny.

"Doctor, where are we?" Gabby was close to gagging with the odor around them.

"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally - puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say... Lancashire. What's this, then - a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave!"

"WHO CARES WHAT IT IS! GET US OUT!" Renata shivered excessively. She might just throw up there and then.

Amy was still on her knees beside them. She kept touching the ground. "It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!"

"Yes, but only food refuse!" the Doctor Doctor confirmed, not that it would make it better. "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship."

"You are so dead," Renata threw him a murderous glare he chose to ignore.

"The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed," Amy pointed out. She'd been trying to figure out how best to describe what she felt and that was as close as it would get.

"But feeding what, though?" the Doctor asked while he took another read off the sonic.

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy!"

"Uh, Amy, let's not keep touching that," Gabby helped the woman stand up. "You never know what it could actually be."

And a moment later, the Doctor heard a distant moaning. He froze, letting his eyes dart to the dark 'walls' of the so-called cave. "Er...it's not a floor, it's a…" he put his screwdriver away and prepared the best way to explain his discovery. "So…"

Renata narrowed her eyes on him. With all her thrashing, she missed the moaning. The Doctor was grateful for it because now he had a few minutes to come up with a way that wouldn't get him killed.

"What is it?" she demanded a dangerously low tone.

"The next word is kind of a scary word." And it was a pretty scary moment for him right now. He moved closer to her, taking her sticky hands into his. "Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place. Go 'omm'. Everybody! Omm!"

Gabby and Amy had no idea what he was doing but they would go along with it and see where it led. "Omm!" they collectively said.

"...it's a tongue," the Doctor had swallowed very hard, almost making it so that Renata couldn't understand him. Almost.

Her dark eyebrows arched up as her eyes widened. "A...tongue?"

"Aha...a great big tongue!" He couldn't help the excitement that crossed his face for a moment. It was a tongue! They were standing on an actual tongue! When could that ever happen!?

It was that same excitement that drove Renata mad. "I'm gonna kill you!" she pushed him away. "I hope you've enjoyed your small time in that incarnation because it's about to end!" She actually lunged on him, knocking them both to the ground. Her hands may have curled around his neck but she got a taste of the food refuse from their splash and nearly gagged on the side.

The Doctor was stunned that Renata had actually lunged on him, but he was close to laughing too. This new incarnation of hers was truly going to be an adventure. Perhaps it was a sign that things were going to change for the better now.

"Renata!" Gabby burst into laughter. Amy perhaps would've laughed if she wasn't still stuck on the fact they were inside a mouth.

Renata still narrowed her eyes on the Doctor under her. "You are so lucky there's witnesses!"

"I'm going to love you even more after this," he said before laughing. A blush bloomed across Renata's face, even more so when she realized their position.

Make a fool out of yourself why don't you? She quickly got off him and tried pulling her hair off her face. "How do we get out of here?" She reached for her pocket and took out her own sonic.

"What, you have one too?" Amy blinked at the golden-white sonic in Renata's hand. It even made the same sound as the Doctor's.

Renata gave a dismissive nod while she took a look at the readings. "This place is huge! Doctor, of all the places…"

"It's gorgeous!" the man exclaimed. She rolled her eyes in response. "Blimey! if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach." Of course soon as he heard the grunts in the back he regretted his words. "Though not right now."

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Gabby called to him. She would like if he didn't keep saying words that could get him killed by the mouth or Renata.

"OK, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is…" the Doctor made a turn towards the white set of teeth properly shut. "...closed for business."

"We can try, though!" Amy said determinedly. She left Gabby's side only to take two steps and hear another grunt. "Or...not…"

"Oh, great, it's started," Renata lowered her sonic to her side.

Amy swallowed hard. Whatever was starting was her fault. "What has?"

"Swallow reflex." The Doctor said just before they were thrown back into the refuse. Renata yelled as soon as her entire body was covered in the refuse again. In a quick second the Doctor used the sonic on the walls to get another process started, one that he was sure Renata would thoroughly scream at him for.

"What are you doing?" Amy sat upright, too afraid to stand until somebody else did too.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors!"

"Chemo-what?"

"The eject button!"

"How does a mouth have an eject button?"

As expected, Renata loudly screamed. "I really hate you! I hate this entire place and this entire ship!"

Gabby was about to ask for another explanation when they heard the creature growling and a wave of vile coming towards them. Oh, she might scream too.

The Doctor helped Renata stand up but she looked so close to murdering him he almost thought of letting her go. He winced at himself for that thought. "Sorry Renée. Only way out."

She would've indeed yelled at him had it not been for the terribly huge wave coming for them. "O-o-oh no…" Her hands suddenly clung to him.

"Right, then, this isn't going to be big on dignity," he tweaked his bowtie, not that it would matter in a couple minutes. "Geronimo!" He wrapped his arms around Renata's body to shield her from as much bile as he could.

Gabby and Amy tried cowarding behind one another, ushering the other one ahead before they would force each other to switch places. In the end, they all screamed as the bile collected them in its way.

~0~

When Gabby and Amy came to, everything was a bit distorted. They could see each other a few inches away but things were blurry. They could hear warbled voices in the background, going fast. It took a few minutes for them to realize they were lying on a hard, cold metal ground and that the voices they heard were actually Renata and the Doctor going back and forth in some conversation...or argument. Gabby wasn't sure.

"You really had to bring us there, huh? I always thought there was a wire in your head that's plugged into some box with the words 'act stupid' on the front!" Renata was watching the Doctor sonic the metal door that wouldn't open for them.

He looked over her shoulder at her, his expression a cross between wanting to laugh or be properly annoyed. "A box…?" The laughing was winning.

She huffed and folded her arms. "Being clean is something I love. I adore it. You know what I don't like? Being covered in sick! I was just thrown up like...like…" she groaned when no comparison came to mind. "It's just so terrible that I can't come up with the right word!"

"Ren?" Gabby called, alerting the pair she and Amy had woken up.

Renata turned around to help the girls stand up. "Don't worry. There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, unfortunately we're all covered in sick."

"And where are we?" Amy asked once she realized they were in a narrow room with, unsurprisingly, two Smilers.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess." Renata glanced back to see if the Doctor was anywhere closer to opening that door. He wasn't.

Amy crinkled her nose at the stench that seemed to be stuck on her. "Oh, God, it stinks!"

"Yeah, that's not the pipe," the Doctor paused scanning to shoot her an apologetic smile.

"Ugh! Doctor!" Gabby kept her arms away from her body. "This is by far the most disgusting thing that's happened to us!"

"Can we get out?" Amy wanted nothing more than to see a shower.

"One door, one door switch, one condition," Renata sourly said as she made her way up to the Smilers. She tilted her head at the smiling clown face. "It wants us to forget everything we saw. The audacity."

"Forget that we were inside the mouth of a creature? Honestly tempting," Gabby admitted after smelling a strand of her hair.

"Don't say that Gabbs," the Doctor gave up on the door for the moment. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship and I'd like to know what it's doing there."

The Smilers knew the question was directed at it and, as a response, they turned around to show their angry faces.

"No, that's not going to work on us, so come on," the Doctor made a motion with his fingers for it to give the answer. "Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?"

Once again, the Smilers turned their faces, revealing an even angrier faces than the last.

Renata was exasperated with the Smilers by this point. "Would you just answer!?" She slammed her hands against the walls of their booths, at the same time expelling golden butterflies. With widened eyes, she backed away. "Oops…" she stared at her palms much like Gabby had earlier. "How does that work exactly?"

"At a first glance, seems like its connected to your current distressed state," the Doctor said, reaching for her closest hand. He examined it as much as he could with the naked eye, but there seemed to be no excess and it didn't seem to harm Renata like it had in her last incarnation.

"I got mad at the door that wouldn't open!" Gabby exclaimed, absolutely believing the Doctor's theory. "It must be when we're mad!"

"But not always, right?" asked Amy who had remembered the butterfly trick Renata showed her when the Doctor was examining the crack in her bedroom wall.

Renata seemed to read her thoughts and nodded with a smile. "Yes! But-" she dropped her smile as her eyes landed on the Smilers again, "-right now I'm beyond angry! I'm covered in sick because of a creature that's no doubt being tortured in the middle of this ship and some stupid clowns are holding back on us! So you better-" she threatened the booth with a pointed, glowing finger, "-start answering before you become Vortex dust!"

The booths opened up to let the two Smilers come out.

The Doctor quickly pulled Renata back, prompting Gabby and Amy to do the same. "May I just say, good response but terrible outcome?" he told Renata who agreed with a quick nod of her.

"Okay, what do we do now!?" Amy urgently asked them as the Smilers approached them. They were looking as terrified as she was and she took that as a bad sign.

Suddenly, the red cloaked woman had the door opened behind them and shot at the Smilers. They were momentarily stunned.

The Doctor whirled around, happy as ever. "Look who it is!? You look a lot better without your mask!"

The woman was showing her smiling face at them. Her eyes flickered past Renata to the humans. "You must be Gabby and Amy. Liz. Liz 10."

Neither girl could understand when this woman became their friend but would gladly take it!

"Bit late, aren't you?" Renata smirked at the woman.

"A thank you is in order!" the woman laughed. "Right. You know Mandy, yeah?" she moved slightly to let the others see the girl behind in the hallway. "She's very brave."

"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked her after realizing there was no the woman had been casually around the area.

"Stuck my gizmo on you!" the woman chucked a small device at him. "Been listening in."

"Let me see!" Renata took the device from the Doctor to study. "Oh this is great! It could come in handy to keep an eye on him!"

"HEY!" the Doctor was utterly offended. It didn't help that the others, including little Mandy, started laughing. "Seriously!?"

"Sorry, sorry," Renata apologized but she was still struggling to stop laughing. She held the device back to him, not even noticing when he swiped it from her hand with irritation.

"Anyways, you want to tell us what's a creature doing in the middle of the ship?" the Doctor looked directly at the cloaked-woman. "Oh, my bad, you also voted to forget."

The woman took the sarcastic jab calmly. She shrugged her shoulders and refuted the statement. "Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?"

The woman tilted her head at him, giving him a smile asking him if he really needed to ask her that. "You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot…"

"Oh, another insult? Seriously!" the Doctor was reaching his limit with all these sarcastic jabs. Why was it always him!?

Renata felt guilty for taking her own jabs. She always did them and poor Doctor always had to take it. It was their dynamic, sure, but sometimes she needed to reel it back. She reached up to move some of his wet strands of hair off his forehead. She felt his body stiffen but soon relaxed under her touch.

"Sorry my dear. You do have the hair of an idiot but I love it," she said with a soft smile.

Well, that made everything better for the Doctor. He wouldn't mind if he stroked his hair all day. Actually, he might ask her if she could do that later. With any luck, she would say yes and they could have one calm day together.

When Renata was sure their little disagreement was resolved, she drew her hand away - an action the Doctor almost pouted at - and turned her attention back to the woman. "So, you were explaining how you know him?"

"Both of you, actually," the woman said. "Did I not make that clear?"

"Right, except that doesn't make sense. We haven't met you."

"No, I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was." The woman noticed the Smilers beginning to twitch behind them. "They're repairing." The group looked back to see the Smilers and quickly took a few steps away. "Doesn't take them long. Let's move." She took the lead down the hallway and continued explaining herself to the pair. "The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scones with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, wasn't she?"

"What did you do, Doctor?" Gabby threw the man a curious glance.

The Doctor preferred not to explain considering it really was his fault. "Torchwood," he left it at that and hoped she and Renata would get the jist.

"Knighted and exiled you on the same day!" the woman laughed. The Doctor scowled at her back. So much for keeping it a secret!

"That sounds like you alright," Renata mumbled to him as she rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"And how could I forget Marchioness Renata? Good friends with Anne of Cleves, bit rocky with dear old Henry VII - I'd be too, don't worry - but nobody more rocky than Liz I, huh? Goes for you too Doctor!"

"I haven't even met her! Doctor, what did you do!?" Renata glared at the man in question.

"How do you know I did something!?"

"Because it had to be! Notice how she didn't say drinking buddies of Henry VII, right?"

"Well, but…but you were the reason we couldn't go back to any Henry VII era!"

"Hey that was both of us!" Renata snapped loudly and jabbed her finger into his chest.

Gabby couldn't help snicker at the reminder of that precise trip. Amy heard the laugh and raised an eyebrow at Gabby, asking her what she knew.

"Long story short..." Gabby pulled Amy a bit closer to speak quietly without being heard. Of course with Renata and the Doctor arguing, she didn't have to try so hard. "We met Anne of Cleves and her then-husband, Henry VII, who wanted Renata as his wife. The Doctor got jealous, made a whole thing about it and we had to run for it in the end."

Amy hid her laugh behind her mouth and turned her head at the Time Lords. They were still going at it strongly.

"I didn't do anything!" the Doctor was shouting.

"Don't lie to me! Martha also told me this Queen was particularly upset with you! And now she hates me too!?"

"I didn't!" the Doctor insisted but Renata wouldn't listen. Gabby and Amy both shared equally confused but curious glances with each other.

"Good story to come, I hope," Gabby snickered with the ginger.

It wasn't until the woman introduced herself as Liz 10 - Elizabeth X - that the Time Lords stopped arguing.

"And down!" Liz shot at the pair of Smilers behind them. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." She led them into another corridor that would bring them to the base of a vator shaft. "There's a high-speed Vator through there."

The Doctor noticed two tentacles sticking out of a caged area, much like the one Gabby and Amy saw earlier. "There's these things. Any ideas?"

"Oh, we saw one of those up top," Gabby said as soon as she saw the caged area. "Right, Amy?"

"Yeah!" the ginger nodded. "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root."

"It's all one creature," Renata said and shuddered. "The same one we were inside minutes ago, but now it's reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

Liz eyed the cage with newfound horror. "What? Like an infestation?"

"Someone's helping it. Feeding it…" the Doctor tried getting nearer to it but Renata yanked him back.

"Feeding my subjects to it," Liz muttered and stormed off. "Come on. We've got to keep moving." Mandy followed in a hurry and just as Amy and Gabby were going to do the same, they noticed the Time Lords staring at the tentacles with odd expressions.

"Guys?" Gabby called to them while Amy gestured that they needed to be following Liz.

"We should have never come here," the Doctor resolved with a sigh. The creature banged against the bars keeping it inside. He should have just ran those exams on Renata and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't have caught sight of this ship.

Amy remembered the video she left for herself, warning her to get off the ship. Could it be related to the creature? And if so, why was it so urgent!?

~ 0 ~

Liz's bedroom was covered with a maze of glasses of water. It was a certain challenge getting around it but Liz was a master as she swiftly crossed the room to reach her bed. Sometime later would see the travelers cleaned up from showers, though Renata swore she would take a proper, long bath when they went home.

"What are these glasses for?" Gabby asked in a slight frustration after nearly knocking one over.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what," Liz said in what sounded like a recital.

"Lovely mask," Renata eyed the porcelain mask sitting at the foot of the woman's bed. She knew the Doctor had already taken a quick study of it while she was in the shower, but she wanted to see it with her own eyes. "Guess you would need it if you're a queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom."

Liz was dead serious as she watched Renata turn her mask over. "Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this - my entire reign - and you've achieved more in one afternoon."

"That's him alright," Renata said without even gazing up from the mask. The Doctor stopped pacing behind her, his amused expression asking her how she knew that line had been directed at him. She glanced at him with a wink.

"So Liz, how old were you when you came to the throne?" he asked afterwards.

"40. Why?"

Amy's mouth nearly dropped when she heard that. She turned away from the mirror after putting her hair up. "What, you're 50 now? No way!"

"Don't let physical appearances fool you," Gabby said before throwing a thumb at Renata and the Doctor. "Ask them how old they are."

"Ask and it's the last thing you'll do," Renata calmly said while she studied the mask, though under her calm words there was a clear warning.

Amy chuckled and went to sit on the chaise with Mandy.

"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps," Liz added for humor.

"Do you always wear this in public?" Renata waved the mask at Liz. The woman nodded her head.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting."

Renata had on a strained smile before she glanced at the Doctor. He already knew.

"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, cos it's perfectly sculpted to your face," he said quietly. Liz missed the knowing looks the pair were sharing.

"Yeah. So what?"

Renata met the woman's gaze a few seconds later with her strained smile stronger than ever. "Oh, Liz. So everything."

If they had been about to share what they knew worth Liz, they never got the chance. Four hooded men burst into the room, startling Liz out of her bed.

"What are you doing? How dare you come in here?" she rushed up to them in outrage.

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now," one of the men dutifully announced.

"Why would I do that?"

The man's head then spun to show the face of an angry Smiler.

"Mm, that's why!" Gabby exclaimed in horror.

Liz was appalled as she stumbled away from the men. "How can they be Smilers?"

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor said, rather disgusted.

Liz didn't seem to share the same sentiment. She was beyond furious and anyone who was responsible would feel it. "Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am," the Smiler, to his credit, did obediently answer.

"I am the highest authority!"

And that should be your first clue, Renata almost rolled her eyes. The human was too angry to even notice it.

The Smiler agreed with Liz, yet another clue that the woman missed, and announced that he would led her and the rest to the Tower of London. They were brought to a large stone room full of machinery. Only a few feet inside, Amy and Gabby noticed more of the creature's body was sticking out of grates.

"Where the hell are we?" Gabby wearily looked at the Time Lords.

"The lowest point of Starship UK," the Doctor said, giving the room a little spin. "The dungeon."

"Hawthorne!" Liz barked a gray-haired man who'd approached the group. "So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."

"Excuse me," Renata called with a similar authoritative tone. "Why are there children down here?" Her question made Amy and Gabby realize there was a line of children doing hard labor around the room. "It seems hardly safe for them. Where are their parents?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne replied with the most casual tone, easily enraging Renata in a second. "For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"You tried feeding children to the creature!? How dare you!?" She looked ready to lunge on him and it didn't seem like the Doctor would try to stop her.

The only reason he wouldn't join her was because his eyes had gone to the type of equipment around the room. One Time Lord for each problem.

"And you agreed to this!" Renata turned on Liz, startling the woman with the sudden change of direction her rage took.

"I did not!"

Renata's loud scoff made everyone around her flinch. "Yes, you did!"

Gabby pulled Renata back a few steps. "How could she? She's investigating her own kingdom, remember?"

"I remember, but she doesn't! This isn't even a dungeon room, it's a bloody torture chamber!"

"Ren, what are you talking about?" Gabby happened to look in Amy's way and saw the finger's mild fear. If she was in Amy's place, Gabby would agree the sight of angry Time Lady was fear-worthy. "Doctor?" she called to the man for some help.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed, speaking in a low tone.

Gabby recognized that immediately even if was in a new incarnation's voice. Oh great, they're both angry.

"Torture chamber of the Tower of London, except it's not a torture chamber, for this lot," the Doctor sourly went on as he strolled by the equipment. "I suppose it just depends on your angle." He came for Liz and, despite the woman's reluctance, he led her to an open well which was reply just a view into the engine.

Liz peered over the railing to see something huge and it was moving. "What's that?"

"It's your engine," Renata muttered, ignoring Gabby's please beside her to explain why she was so upset.

"Well, like I say, depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain center of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly…" the Doctor trailed off.

"Or?"

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator - Starship UK's go-faster button."

"I don't understand…"

The Doctor was getting frustrated with the lack of brains around him. The answer was right in front of Liz and she wasn't getting it! "The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature - this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading - it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving."

As if to help prove his point, an intermittent electrical beam shot down into the well, directly hitting the creature's exposed brain. Liz was stunned and she dared not look over the tails again.

"Tell you what," the Doctor hastily made his way up to another well to lift its grate. "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear." He used the sonic on an extension that had come undone in the grate. A loud, piercing sound filled the air until the Doctor stopped it.

Gabby felt tears come to her face when she realized that the sound was like a cry, a cry of the creature. "It's being tortured nonstop?" Renata nodded at her and finally Gabby realized why the two were so angry.

Amy hadn't yet reached that level and she was suddenly wondering if she wanted to.

"Who did this?" Liz demanded to know from the workers. She was furious, just like Renata and the Doctor.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne said, but Liz still didn't understand.

"I am the highest authority!" she snapped. "The creature will be released, now." But even with all her anger, nobody moved from their spot. "I said now! Is anyone listening to me?"

The Doctor slowly returned to her side and took out her mask from his pockets. "Liz. Your mask. Look at it. It's old. At least 200 years old, I'd say."

Liz could not understand what was so damn important about that mask. She recalled how long Renata had kept it under her eye. "Yeah, it's an antique, so?"

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not 50. Nearer 300. And it's been a long old reign."

Liz almost laughed at the absurdity. "Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years."

"It's been the same ten years," Renata clarified as she started heading for a small table set not too far from where they entered.

The Doctor led Liz by the hand and since the woman was utterly confused, she let it happen. "The same ten years over and over again, always leading you... here."

Liz swallowed rough when she saw a screen with a two buttons in front of it, reading "forget" and "abdicate". She turned a hard glance on Hawthorne. "What have you done?"

"Well it wasn't him," Renata corrected. "He's only following your orders."

Hawthorne nodded in agreement. "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." He reached over to the turn on the screen and as soon as it came to life, a recording of Liz herself appeared. It was what brought Liz to sit down and truly listen.

"If you are watching this...If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. 'And what we have done to it 'breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the star whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the "forget" button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

Amy felt sick to her stomach. "I voted for this?" She asked the Doctor and Renata despite already knowing the answer. Their grim faces just confirmed what she already knew. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you knew if we stayed here, we'd be faced with an impossible choice," the Doctor muttered with a growing sense of anger at the woman. "Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong." He turned completely to her and once Amy saw his face she backed a step. "You don't ever decide what we need to know."

Gabby sent Renata a look asking her to step in, but Renata did not move. She was just as upset but her method of expressing anger had always been to seal it away. Gabby really dreaded the idea of that trait following Renata into her new incarnation. Seeing that Renata wasn't going to help, Gabby moved to stand between the Doctor and Amy.

"Hey! She doesn't even remember doing it!"

Having Gabby in front of him didn't make his anger any less. "But she did it. That's what counts!"

"I'm... I'm sorry," Amy said, at a loss for other words.

"Oh, I don't care," he turned away, storming towards the equipment. "When I'm done here, you're going home."

Amy gasped. "Why!?"

"Doctor, that's being unfair!" Gabby called but he didn't stop for either of them.

"I made one mistake!" Amy argued as she moved to stand beside Gabby. She appreciated the girl's help but she didn't need anyone to fight her own battles. "One mistake that I don't even remember doing it!"

There was no telling if the Doctor was truly examining the equipment he would need for his new plan or if he was just distracting himself from looking at either girl. "Yeah. I know. You're only human."

Gabby's eyes widened. That one might have just hurt her heart. "Is that supposed to be an insult?" the Doctor said nothing more so Gabby turned expectantly at Renata.

The Time Lady had watched the entire argument unfold with no clear expression of which side she was leaning to. "We get it, we do, but Amy you shouldn't have chosen to forget on our behalf. You don't get to make that choice for us."

"I'm sorry," Amy insisted, hoping that at least Renata would be able to know she was being honest. All Renata did was nod though.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked the Doctor, taking a few steps towards the man but stopping when she got a better look at his darkened expression.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"But that'll be like killing it!" Amy exclaimed. She didn't remember pressing any buttons but she knew, she knew for sure, that she had pushed the 'forget' button to spare them pain. She only failed to think about the creature.

The Doctor's hands slammed down on the machinery and glared up at the group. "Look, three options. One: I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two: I kill everyone on this ship. Three: I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, cos I won't be the Doctor any more!"

"But there must be something we can do, some other way," Liz said but that was the Doctor's patience had finally snapped from the thread it'd been hanging on.

"Nobody talk to me!" he roared, startling everyone into silence. "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" After that, nobody tried to stop him anymore.

All except for one person.

'I think you may have hurt Gabriella's feelings back there…'

Nobody would notice the one second the Doctor momentarily stopped working. This was the first time Renata had spoken telepathically to him since he regenerated.

'You're that upset my dear that you've unintentionally lowered your mental shields,' Renata came up to stand on the other side of the equipment he worked on. 'Never really talked about connecting telepathically but since your door is open, I'm going to step in for a moment.'

'Are you not upset?' the Doctor raised his gaze to meet Renata's eyes.

'Oh no I am very upset. Amy did something terrible but...she did it with good intentions. I can relate to that. I'm sure you can too.'

The Doctor wouldn't give in so easily despite the kind face he had in front of him. 'They have been torturing this kind creature for centuries, Renata. How am I supposed to react!? Not everyone has your ability to bottle things in!' As soon as he thought - or said - those words, the Doctor closed his eyes with regret. His hands stopped working over the controls and drew back. 'I'm sorry. I didn't...I shouldn't have-'

Renata smiled lightly at his guilty self. 'No, no, that's completely fair. I did that a lot. But just to be clear, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be upset. I'm only saying, from personal experience, that you shouldn't push people away. When they do things like these, with good intentions, it's best to go back and see things from their perspective. I know it's hard, especially because of the circumstances but it does help.'

The Doctor smiled to himself, almost shaking his head. He always wondered how she could be so wise, even when they were younger. She always had the right words to ease something that could seem so impossible. 'I love you, you know. I'm glad I have you around...in this way.'

Renata reached over the equipment to grab his hand. 'Me too. And know that whatever you do, whatever you decide...I'm here.'

The Doctor swallowed hard as his eyes roamed over the equipment. The choice had already been made. He just needed to get through it.

~ 0 ~

Gabby and Amy sat on the ground together against the wall. They could do nothing to stop what was going to happen to the creature. All they could do was simply wait for it. Amy, however, felt like she was waiting for more than Gabby...because she was.

"I messed it up," she said quietly, bringing her hands up to her temples. "I messed it all up…"

Gabby could feel Amy's genuine guilt and put a comforting hand on the ginger's arm. "It was an honest mistake. Don't worry, you're not going home."

Amy scoffed quietly. "Oh please, you heard the man."

"You don't know him like I do. I mean...I don't know him like Renata does but I know him enough to know that he says a lot of things when he's angry. He's heartbroken."

Amy wasn't convinced. She had felt the Doctor's rage with one simple glare and she was not interested in being on the receiving end again. "If I make mistakes like that, maybe I shouldn't be around."

"We make mistakes, trust me. I did too," Gabby shrugged. Her eyes flickered to Renata who had drifted away from the Doctor to stop more children coming in from working.

Amy dropped her hands to her lap and questionably looked at Gabby. "You did?"

"Yeah, on my very first trip just like you. I pissed off Renata when I overstepped about something I heard about her. It was about her past and Renata is a very reclusive woman. I made the wrong choice by asking her, pestering her, until she snapped and threatened to drop me back on Earth."

Amy's eyes widened as she quickly glanced at Renata. The Time Lady was clearing off some soot of a child's face, trying her best to make the boy smile. She even bopped his nose with a glowing golden finger to enchant the boy. Amy couldn't see Renata acting the same as the Doctor when she was angry. Hell, she couldn't even picture Renata getting angry.

"She can get angry," Gabby said as if she read Amy's mind. Amy looked away from Renata with a light smile. "The Doctor's right, Amy, we're only human but that's not an insult. It does hurt a bit when he says it angrily," she sighed. "He's actually very fascinated with our kind. We're that good." She bumped shoulders with Amy, eliciting a smile from the ginger. "But you have to understand that even though they look young...the Doctor and Renata are actually very old. They've seen so many things that sometimes they snap. And our job as companions is to help them come back from it. We can't make them come back but we can try our best."

"So what can we do right now?" Amy helplessly asked as she cast another look at the Doctor. He was fervently working and had been for time now which meant the creature would be dying soon.

"I don't know. We better start thinking."

Amy blew a raspberry at their hopeless situation. "Great."

"Just look at the butterflies," Renata's voice carried over to the girls' spot.

Amy craned her head in time to see a few of the children 'awwwing' at a few golden butterflies fluttering in the air. A light smile spread across Amy's face as she recalled the same trick being used on her all those years ago. It had truly made her feel much less afraid of the crack. Renata gave the allusion of what a mother was.

Mandy had joined the group without neither Amy nor Gabby noticing when, but Amy did spot one of the creature's tentacles creeping out of a grate towards Mandy. Amy panicked and scrambled to get up but just as she straightened up, the tentacle only tapped Mandy's shoulder and then allowed the girl to pet it.

"Amy?" Gabby gently called to her but Amy was thinking suddenly.

"It won't eat the children…"

"The children screamed, then it came. It's the last of its kind."

Amy watched Mandy and a few other children pet the tentacle and it almost looked like the creature was trying to play with them.

"No, it's okay," Renata was soothing one of the younger children crying at the tentacle. "It won't hurt you. I'm here."

"There were, but there aren't...just us now."

Amy's eyes flickered to the Doctor after watching Renata conjure up a few more butterflies for the scared child. There was no doubt in her mind he would be trying to pull off some crazy stunt to make the scared child laugh too.

"Doctor says he never interferes in the affairs of other peoples or planets but then he does when there's children crying?"

"Oh, if there's a child crying he'd stop everything."

Amy then looked down at Gabby who was still trying to decide if Amy was alright. She'd stopped calling Amy's name but she was keeping a close eye on the ginger. Something was going on inside her head.

And indeed there was.

Amy felt like slapping herself for being so clueless! The Doctor was right, she had to have kept her eyes open! She should've noticed everything! "Doctor, stop!" she yelled and rushed towards Liz. Everyone, including the Doctor and Renata, stopped to see her taking Liz's hand and racing for the voting buttons.

The Doctor was quick to panic once he realized what Amy wanted to do. "Amy, no!" he went after them but he didn't make it in time. Amy had brought Liz's hand down on the 'abdicate' button. "AMY!"

The creature bellowed underneath them, rocking the entire ship.

The Doctor nearly fell back if he hadn't caught onto pillar. Renata's arms flailed trying to keep the children around her from falling back.

"AMY!" she yelled as upset as the Doctor.

Gabby had managed not to smack face-first to the ground, but she wasn't the same as the Time Lords. "No, let her! She's figured it out!" She had no doubt that Amy realized something none of them had. She would never put them all in danger like this. She didn't seem the type.

Amy laughed as if agreeing with Gabby. The ship slowly stopped shaking and actually returned to normal...with a few differences.

"We've increased speed," Hawthorne was stunned as he looked over their readings.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot! Gotta help!" Amy dramatically flapped her hands around the room.

"It's still here? I don't understand," Liz moved over to Hawthorne's side to see the readings herself.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered!" Amy began to explain, growing more excited by the second. "You didn't have to trap it or torture it - that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race was dead, no future. What couldn't you do then?" Amy started making her way towards the Doctor, her smile softening as she took in his guilty face for not realizing it before. "If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind...you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry." And just to really make her point, she purposely nodded at Renata who was surrounded by the children.

"Oh, she's good," Gabby smiled proudly at Amy.

~ 0 ~

Once everything was settled on the ship, Renata and the Doctor found it easy to slip away from the crowd. They'd wandered to the observation deck where they found such a beautiful sight of a starry space.

"It's funny how times change," Renata's soft voice broke their mutual silent wacth. "Last time I saw stars...we were fighting the Master. And we were hiding in a Vinvocci ship. Oh, and the world was ending." She let silence pass between them again when it truly donned on her where they were a short while ago, and what they were doing. "That was two days ago."

The Doctor said nothing at first as he reached for Renata's hand. "Two days ago seems like a very long time ago."

Renata side-glanced him with a small smile across her lips. "Doesn't it? Now we're here," she squeezed her hand around his and faced the stars again. "Looking at some stars, on a ship with a creature driving it…"

"Flying it, technically," the Doctor couldn't help make the correction but instead of getting annoyed, Renata chuckled.

"Flying it," she amended.

The Doctor gripped her hand again, licking his lips nervously as he turned to her and gently using their interlocked hands to turn her as well. "Renée, I don't know why I forgot about it but...would you consider connecting telepathically?" Renata's eyebrows slowly raised, her expression giving him the impression she would refuse. "I-I know we did it temporarily twice but this time, if you'd like, we-we could...officially do it. I would understand if you think it's too early, but...if I may give my opinion?"

Renata chuckled. "When don't you?"

He agreed with a sideways tilt. "Right. We've only just started a relationship but the truth is we've known each other far longer. What happened between us...it's been a long story. I've known you for my entire life even if I've only seen you in three of my incarnations. Most of my thoughts you know anyways, but I'd like it if you could see every part of me. Who knows, maybe if you see what really goes through my head you might realize I'm no good. But at least you'll have known who I really am."

"I know you," Renata said matter-of-factly. She slipped her hand out of his to bring it up to his cheek. "I've always known who you are. Of course I know I don't know all of your thoughts, or every you, but I know you. I know who you are." She stepped closer to him, leaving barely any space between them. "I would love to finally connect our minds. Who knows, you might see the real me…"

"I know you," the Doctor clarified just like she had. "My Gala."

Renata let out a small gasp at his brief Gallifreyan use. The last time she heard him say her true name in their language was centuries ago, too many centuries ago. "My Theta." The Gallifreyan just tumbled out but before the Doctor could fully process it, she'd pulled him to her for a kiss.

Their minds slowly opened to one another, inciting a slow, passionate kiss that they hadn't really shared yet. Memories from each other flooded their minds, ones that they knew - that they were both a part of - and others that were new. No secrets would be left uncovered because that was a thing of the past, something they promised each other going forwards.

~0~

By the time Gabby and Amy realized they were missing their drivers, Renata and the Doctor were already waiting for them by the TARDIS.

Amy nervously carried Liz's porcelain mask in her hands and held it out for the pair to take. "From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."

"My type of monarchy," Renata gingerly took the mask into her hands. "And leadership in general."

Amy smiled but anyone could tell she was bursting with questions about her stay.

"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship," the Doctor was the one to break the terse silence.

"You could have killed a Star Whale," she countered.

"And you saved it. I know, I know."

Renata curled her arm around the Doctor's arm and smiled at Any that kind, warm smile she'd gotten as a child. It was the one that told Amy things would be okay. "We're sorry. We may have rudely snapped. That happens sometimes."

At this familiar words, Amy glanced at Gabby and shared a knowing smile together.

"Why do I feel like we're missing something?" the Doctor asked Renata as he watched the two humans.

"Because you always do."

"Oi!"

"Don't worry, Doctor," Gabby put an arm around Amy's shoulders. "I've just been giving Amy some insight into the life in the TARDIS."

"You would," Renata gave her companion a proud smile.

"I wanted to be like Donna when I first came aboard," Gabby admitted and for a moment she, Renata and the Doctor dedicated a moment of silence to their missing friend, Donna Noble. She would forever leave a scar in their hearts.

"Thanks Gabby," Amy genuinely thanked her new friend because otherwise she may not have made it this first trip.

"Gabbs, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings," the Doctor said once he remembered the terrible look in Gabby's eyes after making his human remark.

Gabby shook her head with a chuckle as she came to give him a hug. "I like to think that I know you enough for these types of situations!"

"Still," he dropped a kiss to her head. "You're family. We don't fight."

Renata barely controlled the urge to scoff when she thought about her family. "We should go. I think we could all use nice baths."

"Mhm!" Gabby pulled away from the Doctor. "I've got some nice bath bombs, Amy! Bet you've never seen a bath bomb that shoots images into the air!"

"What?" Amy's eyes widened, making the others laugh.

"I bet you'll like the one with stars! My favorite is the butterfly one!" Gabby motioned to be followed in as she hurried into the TARDIS.

"Don't forget we need to run tests on you!" Renata called after the girl but it didn't seem like Gabby had heard.

Amy chuckled. "Do you always act like a Mum?"

Renata blinked at her and for a moment it looked like she would be saying something but instead she looked at the Doctor. "Why do they all say that?"

Now the Doctor laughed. "You really haven't figured it out?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh forget it." She turned around and disappeared into the TARDIS.

"Come along, Pond! Big day tomorrow!" the Doctor nodded at the TARDIS and missed Amy's wide eyed expression.

"Sorry, what?"

"It's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones."

Amy found her breath once she realized he wasn't talking about her wedding. Her wedding. She shook her head and followed the Doctor inside. Renata and Gabby had no doubt disappeared into the corridors which gave Amy a motivation to ask, "You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning...have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just...just because you could?"

"Once...a long time ago," the Doctor came straight to the console. He started the TARDIS up and brought them into the Vortex.

"What happened?"

He turned with a smile. "Hello!"

Amy laughed. "Is that how Renata left too? Because I really can't picture that, you know."

The Doctor's smile faltered but it returned just as quick when he remembered how it was that she came aboard the TARDIS. That might make a good story for Amy. "Actually, I kidnapped Renata, stole her right off 1969."

Amy's eyes bugged out but there was a clear doubt on her face, only further confirmed by her scoff. "No way!"

"Yeah, I did! Nicked her off the ground and threw her over my shoulder!"

"Please, don't sound so regretful," Renata appeared by the corridor threshold, arms crossed and with a mock glare on the culprit. "I should've had the Shadow Proclamation on you when I had the chance!"

The Doctor just smirked proudly as he gave a little spin.

It was then that Amy realized he had not been kidding. "Wait, this actually happened!?"

"Oh yeah!" the Doctor said, once again spinning as he made a round on the console.

"Seriously, at least try to look a little sorry!" Renata walked up the glass steps to the console.

"Why would I be?" the Doctor stopped to smirk at her.

Renata mock-glared again and shook her head. "Amy, go on. Gabriella found the bath bombs." Amy nodded and hurried towards the corridor. "Not even going to apologize then?" she continued with the Doctor, but judging by his proud smile the answer was a no.

"I used to want to but now I changed my mind!"

"You're evil!"

"Smart!"

Amy laughed. "Okay, that's seriously funny!" And kind of romantic. She wouldn't mind if the same thing happened to her.

---

Author's Note:

And there we are! Ren and the Doctor finally "connected" on all mental levels! I love seeing my babies grow *sniff.

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 6: Lost Daleks

Summary:

Renata, the Doctor, Gabby and Amy answer the call of Winston Churchill. The Time Lords and Gabby are downright horrified to see the Daleks have somehow survived the Crucible, a battle they only just got out of a few weeks ago.

"Guys, really, I'm fine," Gabby lost count how many times she'd repeated that line to Renata and the Doctor. She was sure it was easily more than 10 times.

And yet, neither believed her.

Renata had her arms folded so tightly that Gabby wondered if she was cutting off her own oxygen supply. The Doctor busied himself with the medbay equipment as if he was still rereading the results of Gabby's exams. Both of them looked so guilty it kind of warmed Gabby's heart that they cared so much, but it also broke her heart that they firmly believed she would be furious with them.

It wasn't anyone's fault.

After running the exams the Doctor promised Gabby, they confirmed that Gabby's DNA was no longer fully human. It now had strands of the Block-Transfer Matrix energy she touched last year in Zhe's gallery. After 6 months, coupled with the Reality Bomb incident, Gabby wasn't that surprised to find out that her DNA had mutated to include both human and black transfused strands.

"Doctor, you said that it was harmless so why are you two so concerned?" Gabby hopped off the med bed.

"Because it shouldn't have happened," he said as he finally raised his head off the screens. "You were under our watch and we let it happen."

"Guys…"

"He's right," Renata nodded. "I was there and I let you touch the apprentice when I shouldn't have. I was supposed to be watching you, protecting you…"

"Okay, stop," Gabby raised her hands to silence them both. "I was a big girl back then just like I am now. I made my choice and I have to live with it. Plus, it's kind of cool. I'm kind of like a hybrid."

"You are," the Doctor confirmed with a sigh. He rubbed his forehead in heavy circles. "You're human with a part of the block transfer matrix inside you."

"But it's not affecting me like it did with Renata," Gabby gestured to the woman. "And right now, she's a lot better even when she's like a hybrid too."

Because the Doctor needed that reminder too.

Not only had Gabby's DNA changed, but Renata's DNA now carried part of the matrix as well, the old Osiran energy and the heightened Time Vortex as well. In Renata's words, she was an outright mess even biologically.

"But I'm good now," Renata said as she felt where the Doctor's thoughts were heading to. "The worst has literally passed."

Gabby gestured at Renata again to make her point. "See? Gosh, you guys both act like parents — like my space parents!" She laughed at the brightened red blushes of the two Time Lords. "It's ironic how I kinda pass off as your daughter now, actually." She eyed Renata's dark hair. They were almost identical to Gabby's black curls. "You…" she spared the Doctor a glance, "...not so much. I mean, you kinda went overboard with the baby face, huh?"

"Ha, ha," the Doctor rolled his eyes. There was a relief, though, when he heard Gabby's genuine laughter. She truly didn't seem upset about her DNA situation and it let him breathe again. Gabby had truly become like family and after losing Donna, he didn't know what he'd do if he also lost Gabby.

"Can I go now?" Gabby asked, very much sounding like a child whether she planned it or not.

"Yes," Renata reluctantly said. She was aware that the Doctor would need a little more time accepting this new reality of theirs.

Before Gabby left, she surprised the Doctor with a tight hug. "I'm fine," she promised him. "You could even peek into my head and do that little trick of yours to see if I'm lying."

The Doctor gave her a half smile. Of course he could do that but even when he would see that she wasn't lying, he still wouldn't fully believe it. And Gabby knew it too.

"How about we wake up Amy? Go somewhere nice?" Gabby backtracked to the doorway until Renata called to her with one specific question she'd been thinking about ever since they brought aboard Amy.

"How do you feel about Amy being in the TARDIS?"

Gabby stopped moving. Her first response was to shrug. "She's cool. Around my age, so...got a bit more in common with her than…" she trailed off when she reached Donna's name. Just like the many times before, Gabby's entire face fell in grim.

Renata exchanged a look with the Doctor. They both had the same question then. It wasn't even that they read each other's mind or that they had telepathically spoken to each other since they now could. They just both knew Gabby so well.

"Gabby, is it perhaps too early to have someone new around?" the Doctor finally asked the girl and surprised her too.

"Why-why would that matter? It's not my TARDIS."

"Gabby, we're family. No matter how many times we regenerate that's not going to change."

Gabby's heart warmed with the Doctor's words. "You guys keep saying that to me…"

"Then do us the favor of believing it," Renata flatly said. "We were an unorthodox family, I know, but you and Donna were the first real family I made here."

"Same here," the Doctor agreed with a lasting smile on Renata. Gabby rolled her eyes at him. He was a lovestruck idiot for sure now.

"My point is..." Renata cleared her throat and desperately tried ignoring her warm blush, "We lost Donna and that left a deep scar for all of us. We could understand if you're not ready to have someone else in the TARDIS."

"You're right, losing Donna is going to leave a permanent scar in me," Gabby began with nothing but the truth. She'd been thinking about this for a while now and maybe it was time to say it out loud so that she could finally try to move on. "She showed me around this place. She was first person I confided in while I was here. And she was like family. She was. And it will always hurt that I couldn't save her."

"Gabby what happened wasn't your fault," the Doctor frowned in confusion at her, but Gabby shook her head st him.

"I could have pulled her away quicker but I didn't. And don't bother telling me there was nothing I could've done because I know that each of you have thought of a million ways you could've prevented Donna from touching the Doctor's severed hand." Gabby offered them a teary smile. "I know you guys too. If I could've pulled Donna away from that hand, she would still be here. That's gonna be one of my biggest regrets in this life, but Amy is not at fault for anything that happened to us before meeting her. She's like me, she wants to see space. She wants to see planets. You did to her what you did to Donna, if you really think about it."

And while Renata and the Doctor thought about it, Gabby decided to make it easier on them by explaining.

"Doctor, you met Donna once and then she waited to bump into you again. And you did. Then you met Amy as a kid and you came back for her. Maybe, someway, the universe is giving us one last bit of Donna."

"Maybe," Renata could find a smile for that.

"Yeah, so c'mon!" Gabby wiped away any loose tears on her face. "Let's show Amy something great today!"

The Doctor swayed his head, still reluctant to just go about so happily when there were things to worry about. Gabby could read his mind and shook her head.

"I'll wake Amy up!" Gabby exclaimed. "And Doctor, get that frown off your face! Ren, kiss him or something! That'll work now!"

"Gabriella!" the Time Lady called but Gabby rushed off in a laugh.

The Doctor, meanwhile, swayed his head towards Renata, his frown lifting slightly at the prospect of Gabby's idea coming to life. "Well…"

Renata rolled her eyes at him. "No." His face dropped with disappointment. She brought a hand up to her forehead and proceeded to mumble at how childish he and Gabby could be.

The Doctor's response was to surprise her with a wind his arms around her waist to tickle her. Renata laughed on instinct but fought to get his hands away from her.

"How ridiculous of you! Stop that!" As angry as she wanted to portray, it didn't come across like that with her laughter. She swatted his hands away and made a run for the doorway, throwing the laughing Doctor a sharpened look.

"I had no idea you were ticklish! That'll be great!"

Renata wasn't the least bit amused, unsurprisingly. "No!" she hissed. "It will not be!"

But the Doctor shot her a promising smirk. He raised his hands, wiggling his fingers at her. "Renée!"

"Don't you dare!" she pointed at him but as soon as he dashed for her, she gasped and bolted out of the room. She couldn't believe he was actually chasing her down the hallways, threatening to tickle her. "You're ridiculous!" she kept shouting at him.

The Doctor couldn't help his laughter behind her. Yeah, he couldn't believe it either but it was so much fun doing it. Renata desperately wanted to act like she was above such things but the truth is she was having as much fun as he was.

Renata came hurrying into the console, going as fast as she could up the stairs. The glass floor was admittedly trickier to run since it was slippery but she did her best.

"Gotcha!" the Doctor caught her by the console and laughed even more when she genuinely yelped.

"Get off me!" she exclaimed just before the console phone ring. It would put an end to such nonsense...she wrongly believed. She took the call and answered, "Hello, who's—ah!" She squeaked when the Doctor tickled her side. She quickly tried reclaiming some seriousness to properly talk on the phone…but the Doctor wasn't on the same page.

He was having the time of his life right now giving her messy kisses on her neck and cheeks while his fingers ran up and down her sides in a tickle spree. The moment for him was such a novelty after so many struggles.

"Oh, Prime Minister!" Renata said specifically as she shot the Doctor a look, hoping it'd be enough to make him stop.

It was not.

She barely suppressed her squeak after one particular kiss on her neck. "Winston! What's the, uh, the prob—" she cleared her throat to swallow down an automatic laugh from a tickle.

Winston Churchill had no idea where his phone call had led him to. He was only grateful that somebody had answered him on the first try. "Tricky situation, my dear Renata! Potentially very dangerous."

"Aha...what kind of—" Renata's entire body shuddered at the Doctor kissed just below her ear. She desperately tried pushing him away but he had a tight hold around her waist now. "What's the problem, Churchill?"

The Doctor almost laughed when he tickled her side and she hopped. It was so worth the smack in the stomach he got for it.

"Don't you worryyyy…." Renata quickly shut herself up by clearing her throat. She was losing this battle against the Doctor and badly! "We're on our way, goodbye!" She slammed the phone back in its place and whirled around, shooting the Doctor nothing but a murderous glare. "You are beyond ridiculous! You're a child! I was trying to have a conversation with a fr—"

Before he laughed right there and then, the Doctor attacked her lips with a proper kiss. It was fun leaving kisses around her neck and all, but nothing beat having his lips against hers. They were much too sweet to leave alone!

Despite kissing back being a very tempting idea, Renata still tried to bring back some order. The Doctor could feel her hands trying to find some part of him to push back but all she was doing was running her hands all over him. So he kissed her even more, making it rougher until he bit her lower lip just gently enough for her to gasp.

And she did.

And she lost right there.

The losing cry was her moan. Her arms instinctively came around his neck while he took his time exploring the inside of her mouth and just when he felt her finally give in, he pulled away. He took great pleasure seeing her eyes closed and her cheeks a full shade of pink.

Yeah, he loved being able to do this.

Of course when Renata gathered her bearings and remembered how the moment got started, she hit him on the chest. "I can't believe you did all that! Honestly!"

The Doctor laughed while she huffed and crossed her arms. "It was too much fun to stop!"

"I was having a conversation on the phone with a Prime Minister!"

"And?"

It was like Renata heard blasphemy. "And?" she repeated just to make sure she'd heard right.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? You got the gist, didn't you?"

Renata raised her hands as if to strangle him on the spot, an act that made it even harder for the Doctor not to laugh again. He thought one of her eyes was about to twitch at one point.

"C'mon Renée," the Doctor wanted to take her hand but he had to first uncross her arms and she wasn't budging. She only huffed and turned her head away from him. "It was just some silly fun. You know that thing we can do now?" She was pretty strong! He forced her right arm down after a few minutes of relentless pulling. "Back when we were on Gallifrey we had to hide, remember? We couldn't hold hands without the fear of getting caught, much less kiss."

Renata finally looked at him when those memories came to mind. Of course she remembered those moments. They were always so stressful, but they would do it anyways because they didn't have another way. They were always in hiding.

The Doctor took her hands, now both of them, and gave each a kiss. "And it took us so long to clear things up when we started travelling together. We didn't have any moments then...but now we do. We can. We can have as many moments as we want, we can be as silly as we want. We can do whatever we want."

He was absolutely right. Once again, he saw reality differently from her. She didn't even realize they had such ample opportunities like these. She just wasn't used to it. "We can, huh?" she asked with a sigh. "I'm sorry…"

"No, no, it wasn't for you to apologize. It was for you to realize it," the Doctor said, smiling softly at her. Of course she'd want to apologize, something else she was used to because of Gallifrey. "Renata, I don't think it's really sunk in that you can do whatever you want. You're free, my love. I chose to do this…" He tickled her sides, making her giggle, "Because I can, you know? What are the chances that I could've done that on Gallifrey?"

"None," Renata leaned on him with a sad smile across her face. "I'm too slow for you. And uptight. I am so uptight. Why would you want to be with me again?"

"Because you're exactly you," the Doctor said without a moment's thought. "I love you. I love you; who you are."

"Even when I get mad because you tickled me? And kissed me?"

"Yup."

Renata looked at him as if he were crazy...and he was, but not the type of crazy she was thinking of for this moment.

"C'mon Renée! Why wouldn't I love you!?" the Doctor exclaimed and surprised her with a twirl. She yelped when her back landed against his chest.

Spontaneous. That's what he was. Utterly spontaneous and she loved him for that reason.

"I wish I knew how to have fun like you," she whispered and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "One of these days you might get tired of me and my boring ways."

"Never gonna happen! I would love to teach you how to be more loose! At least until you find your own way."

"That'll be the day," she sighed even as he kissed her hair.

"You're already a bit more loose than your last body, actually," the Doctor said as a means of encouragement. He didn't expect her to fully turn into, well, him because she couldn't. And she shouldn't. She should be as 'fun' as she wanted to be.

"I am?" Renata made a face, clearly unconvinced with that statement. She felt exactly the same.

"You tried strangling me for real. And, I don't know, you just are. I can tell, so can Gabby by the way. You don't need to change, Ren. Just be who you want to be. And I…" he moved around her so that he could face her again, "...will continue being myself. So!" He raised a finger into the air. "Expect more surprise kisses and definitely more tickling! That was fun finding out you're ticklish!"

A scowl made its way across Renata's face. "Don't you dare!"

Her face was completely adorable and the Doctor loved it. He knew, despite her endeavors, that she would never exactly be "loose", and he truly loved that about her even if she doubted it.

As much as it pained her to hear it, he had fallen in love with the most uptight Time Lady he could find, and he had zero regrets.

~ 0 ~

Winston Churchill was waiting front and center when the TARDIS materialized in his corridors. He was flanked by several soldiers all pointing guns when the Doctor poked his head out. Not seeming concerned, the Doctor opened the doors completely to let everyone else out. As soon as Renata saw the soldiers with their guns, she gasped in horror.

"Hey! You put those down!"

None of the soldiers listened but they did share a similar state of confusion. The woman had sounded so authoritative, almost like a mother scolding her children for picking something up that didn't belong to them.

"Gabby, Amy," the Doctor moved behind Renata to pull their companions out, "Winston Churchill."

Gabby immediately let out an awed giggle. "I didn't think you actually knew him!"

"What? You mean you hadn't met him?" Amy quietly whispered to the woman while she stared at Winston in utter amazement.

"One of those trips they took before me," Gabby shrugged.

Apparently, the Doctor was a longtime friend of Churchill and once he and Renata began travelling together on their own, he took Renata to meet Churchill as well. It was a bittersweet moment for they both promised her and Donna that they would take them here soon. They were a little late.

"Doctor? Is it you?" Winston was studying the younger-looking man cautiously. He had already made up his mind that the black-haired woman was Renata. Nobody scolded soldiers like she did.

"Oh, Winston, my old friend!" the Doctor went to shake hands with him but instead of doing so, Winston held his hand out like he was asking for something. The Doctor laughed and stepped back. "Ah, every time!"

"What's he after?" Amy curiously asked, watching as Winston begrudgingly drew his hand away. Whatever he wanted, he knew he wouldn't get it.

"He wants the TARDIS key," Renata crossed her arms, shaking her head in a bit of amusement. In any other situation she would be upset but she knew that Winston would never be able to take the key away, at least not with those childish attempts.

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor!" Winston exclaimed, his eyes blazing with glee just at the thought of having the TARDIS at his disposal. "The lives that could be saved!

"Ah, doesn't work like that," the Doctor reached back to close the TARDIS doors just in case Winston felt extra bold today.

"Must I take it by force?"

"I'd like to see you try."

Gabby threw Renata an expectant gaze after that threat was made and she was mighty surprised to see Renata so calm. She still just looked amused.

"At ease," Winston eventually ordered the soldiers.

"Well thank you for that!" Renata shook her head and shot each and every soldier a new glare. "I don't want to see those around my friends!" She warned them as they began to walk.

"Is she seriously ordering World War 1 soldiers?" Gabby whispered to the Doctor but even when she asked she already had a crack of a smile started on her face.

"Wouldn't be my Renée if she didn't," the Doctor said with nothing but pride.

"So, you've changed your faces," Winston was making the comment when the Doctor moved up to walk alongside Renata who was right behind him. "Again," he sent a specific look at the Doctor.

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done."

"Bit more than that." Renata rolled her eyes. That was such a simplified, if not a blatant lie, for what a regeneration entailed.

"Got it, got it, got it!" Amy said in a rushed manner, making both Time Lords look back to check on her and Gabby. "Cabinet War Rooms, right?"

"Yup," the Doctor said and suddenly Gabby yelled 'Dammit!'.

"Are you two competing or something?" Renata couldn't believe it even when she was seeing it.

"All harmless, all harmless," Gabby waved it off but she shot Amy a look that warned her it wasn't over.

"You're late by the way," Winston said, bringing the attention back.

"What?" Renata blinked. "We are?" She was pretty sure they put in the right coordinates, although now that she got to think about it...those coordinates could have been wrong considering neither she nor the Doctor doubled checked the accuracy of said coordinates.

I started to, she reminded herself, And then the Doctor decided to get more 'fun'.

Oh, you had 'fun', the Doctor was suddenly in her mind and on the outside he was smirking from ear to ear. He was thoroughly enjoying her new ticklish body. It'd be his salvation when she was angry with him, his weapon against her, and most importantly: his way to be silliest with her.

"I rang you a month ago," Winston told them but he didn't appear bothered by it which was something that brought up some curiosity from Renata.

He sounded worried over the phone. What changed?

~ 0 ~

Winston brought the travelers to the lift because apparently, there was something he wanted to show them something up on the roof.

"I see we haven't given up the smoking habit," Renata mumbled when a puff of smoke smacked her in the face.

The Doctor silently pulled her to him and then switched spots with her. The smoke wasn't very nice smelling. He was glad Gabby and Amy were nicely tucked behind them because the smoke was even worse for humans.

"We stand at a crossroads, Doctor. Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily," Winston started going off. "So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace."

Renata took that as a warning. It was a clear, logical strategy of war, but what could Winston have come up with that deserved this much secrecy?

"Follow me," Winstron instructed once the lift opened.

The group emerged onto the rooftop covered in sandbags. Amy and Gabby gawked at the state of things. It was one thing to be in the past and another to be right smack in the middle of a WORLD WAR world war.

"Doctor, Renata, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of our Ironsides Project." Winston had led the pair of Time Lords up to a man standing on a raised platform.

Bracewell lowered his binoculars to wave at them. In return, the Doctor held his hand up to do a 'V for Victory' sign.

"Gabriella said that also looks like a L for losers," Renata remarked as she herself lowered the Doctor's hand.

"It does," Gabby said on her way past them. She and Amy wanted to see the sight of the city from the very edge.

The Doctor huffed at them but did keep his hands at his side then.

"I don't like them so close over there," Renata admitted once she saw Gabby and Amy standing just inches from the ledge. She started for them but stopped when a particular loud bang, no doubt a bomb dropping, scared her.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked her, stopping by her side.

Renata nodded with a sigh. "You know, I could have been here when this was happening - the past me? I moved away to New York just before this war happened. And when it did happen, I couldn't believe it. 'Again?' So many people died…" She shuddered deeply and nearly turned away from the sight. Every day there would be news reports of the dead, even if they were overseas. It broke Renata's hearts especially when she heard of the children. So many children died, most of them tortured or starved to death.

"I'm sorry you had to live through something like this...twice." The Doctor gently turned her away from the sight. Sometimes he forgot that Renata lived on Earth, posing as a human, for half of a century. She had lived through both World Wars and while she never partook in it, it was still traumatizing given their own War on Gallifrey.

"Ready, Bracewell?" Winston called to the man above.

"Aye-aye, sir!" Bracewell gave a thumbs up in return and commandeered their hidden weapon. "On my order! Fire!"

The 'weapon' fired a laser beam straight into the sky. It obliterated the German planes in a second.

"What was that?" Amy asked as she and Gabby watched the pieces of the targeted plane rain down to the ground.

"Doctor, why did that sound like…?" Renata felt the air leave her lungs as she made her conclusion.

"That wasn't human, that was never human technology. That sounded like…" the Doctor felt his hand tighten around Renata's arm. 'Stay here, please!' He begged Renata before running towards Bracewell's position. "Show me! Show me what that was!"

"Doctor, don't!" Renata called, about to run after him when Gabby and Amy caught with her. Knowing they would be close to that thing she knew but didn't want it to be true made Renata stop and bar them from getting any closer.

"But Ren! That sounded like—" Gabby exclaimed but Renata shushed her. The Time Lady keenly watched the Doctor as he demanded to see the 'weapon'.

"Our new secret weapon!" Winston laughed with triumph as a Dalek trundled out of its hiding spot.

Amy was overly confused when she heard Gabby practically screech in horror, Renata gasp lightly yet still full of horror. Why were they so shocked and scared? It looked like a pepper pot on wheels.

The Doctor was disgusted if anything. The Dalek came out painted in Khaki with a utility belt around it and a small Union Flag under its eyestalk. Even its lights on the top of its dome were covered. Was this a new form of mocking them?

"What do you think? Quite something, eh?" Winston called to him but the Doctor couldn't hear anything right now. A deep fury was rippling through his body at the moment, his mind doing nothing but flashing memories of the last time he faced Daleks.

A few weeks ago, actually.

A few weeks ago the walls of reality were in shattering. A few weeks ago Davros had him and Renata locked in prisons. A few weeks ago the Daleks nearly destroyed everything in every world.

A few weeks ago, he lost Donna.

And the Daleks were still standing.

The Doctor marched up to the Dalek and looked directly into its eye stalk. "What are you doing here?"

"I am your soldier."

"Stop it! Whatever game you're playing let's skip it!"

"I am your soldier," the Dalek continued to insist.

"Stay," Renata ordered Gabby and Amy, her tone sharpened enough to make it clear it was a true order and not a suggestion. Gabby dutifully nodded and held onto Amy's arm while Renata stormed over to Winston. "Where did they come from!?" she demanded from him. "Why are they here!?"

Before Winston could answer, Bracewell spoke up to ease up the confusing tension that had arose. "Perhaps I can clarify things here, this is one of my Ironsides."

"Your what?" both the Doctor and Renata turned on the man.

Bracewell was truly nome the wiser about the glares on him. "You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?" he asked from the Dalek.

"Yes."

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"

"Yes."

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war!"

Renata was audibly disgusted. She actually felt sick to her stomach right now.

The Doctor was only infuriated. They could not be back, no. They couldn't hurt his friends again and take someone else.

~0~

Churchill has presented every blueprint of the 'Ironsides' that Bracewell had created. While everything looked normal, the Doctor, Renata and Gabby knew it was a vile lie.

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides," Winston insisted even when the Doctor yelled otherwise. "Look! Blueprints, statistics, field-tests, photographs. He invented them!"

"Ha!" Renata almost laughed in his face. "Invented them? Oh, no, no, no!" Her face darkened. "NO No."

Winston had the good sense to be afraid for a second, but his logic won through a moment later. "Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fella's a genius."

"A Scottish genius, too," Amy chimed in with a far too cheery and casual tone for anyone's liking. "Maybe you should listen to…"

Renata settled quite a sharp glare on Amy, making her pause. "Maybe you should stay quiet on things you don't know about."

Amy felt like a child, a feeling she was beginning to get used to travelling with Renata. Gabby pulled Amy to the side, shooting her a somewhat disappointed look. Amy almost snapped "What?" at all of them. Honestly, she didn't understand why they were so freaked out by these pepper pots.

"He didn't invent them! They're alien!" the Doctor still shouted at Winston as if it would make a difference.

The revelation only mildly interested the man. "Alien?"

The Doctor heard Renata's very light gasp then her overwhelming concern. Connecting minds also meant connecting feelings and while the latter was usually good - he could genuinely feel all her love for HIM him many times - it also meant that he knew when she was scared. Right now, she was afraid for Gabby and Amy.

He reached for Renata's hand behind him, holding it tight as they both listened to the Dalek gliding in the hallway. It stopped in front of the open doorway, presumably staring at everyone in the room, and then continued on without doing anything.

Daleks would never help humans. They would never tolerate them! Renata's voice was frantic inside the Doctor's head.

He shared the same sentiment. He squeezed her hand, reminding her that they would figure this out before anyone could get hurt, then let go to continue with Winston.

"And totally hostile!"

"Precisely. They will win me the war!" Winston wrongfully cheered as he turned over a blueprint of a propaganda poster with a large Dalek front and center.

"You're going to kill us," Gabby's remark was the only thing that cut through the tensed silence.

~0~

Despite the collective attempts between Renata, the Doctor and even Gabby, Winston listened to none of them. He truly believed that the Daleks were a benign invention of theirs. He led them towards the map room just so they could see more of the 'Ironsides' at work, human work.

"Why won't you listen?" the Doctor was getting tired of repeating the same things over and over. Winston was brushing off all of his words.

"Frankly, it's rude that you called us for help and now you're not even listening to what we have to say," Renata huffed. She was trying her best not to revert back to her initial feelings towards the humans but Winston was making it really difficult.

Not all humans are naive, love. The Doctor shot her an amused glance on their way into the map room.

Renata only huffed again.

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts," Winston admitted, none the wiser about the silent conversation going on behind him. "The Ironsides seemed too good to be true."

"Because they are!" Gabby exclaimed from the back of the group. She was anxious each time she saw a Dalek just casually trundling in the hallway. "Look, if you have some reservations about these two—" she made a point at the Doctor and Renata, "—because they're 'aliens' then trust me. I'm human and I have seen what these creatures could do. They are the reason so many people have died! Amy, tell him!"

But Amy just blinked. "Huh? Tell him what?"

"What do you mean 'what?'? Tell him about the Daleks!"

"What would I know about the Daleks? I just started travelling with you guys," Amy shot them all a look. Didn't Renata just scold her because she was talking about something she didn't know about? And now they wanted her to agree with them solely because of what they thought about these experiments?

The Doctor stopped walking when Amy didn't immediately agree. Renata soon did the same and it was then that they realized just how truly lost Amy was.

"They invaded your world, remember?" the Doctor cautiously asked her, but Amy's eyes just kept giving him that blank face. "Planets in the sky, you don't forget that!"

"Oh my God," Renata whispered in true horror. What kind of trick did the Daleks pull this time?

"Amy…" the Doctor couldn't believe it either. "Tell me you remember the Daleks."

"Am I supposed to?" Amy got the idea that she was based on how everyone was reacting.

"What did they do?" Gabby frowned and took a step away from Amy as if whatever caused her to forget was contagious.

~0~

"She truly doesn't remember the Daleks," Gabby came back to Renata and the Doctor after having a much deeper conversation with Amy about the Daleks. Amy had zero idea what she was talking about and Gabby had been very thorough on the stolen planets fiasco but Amy still had no idea what she was talking about.

Gabby was genuinely afraid that whatever made Amy forget would happen to her too. She couldn't forget what those monsters did to her world and friends. "Can the Daleks really make us forget what they are?"

"I haven't heard of that truck but I wouldn't put them past it," Renata mumbled as she watched one courier Dalek trundle by them. Of course that begged the question of why the Daleks would go through that trouble.

"So they're up to something, but what is it? What are they after?" the Doctor couldn't figure it out and it was killing him. Each minute that he was still in the dark was another minute of advantage for the Daleks.

"What is she doing?" Renata stiffened when she saw Amy walk towards a Dalek. "Doctor, look at Amy…" She literally felt her blood go cold the moment Amy actually tapped the Dalek. "Oh my God!"

"Can I be of assistance?" the Dalek swiveled its eyestalk at Amy.

"Please," Amy nearly groaned of frustration. She had seen the collective disappointing looks that Gabby, Renata and the Doctor gave her each time she repeated that she didn't remember these 'Daleks'. If they were that worried that these creatures were actually hiding something, then she would just ask. "See, my friends reckon you're dangerous. That you're an alien. Is it true?"

"I am your soldier," the Dalek answered, much to Amy's pleasure. It even answered kindly!

"I might just regenerate from a heart attack," Renata put a hand over her chest where both hearts of hers were thumping madly. "Doctor, get her away from there!"

But the Doctor was watching the whole exchange thoughtfully. If the Daleks wanted to attack they would've done it already. If they had wanted to attack THEM them, they would've done it already. They were waiting for something...but what?

"Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie," Amy went on. "What else, though?"

"Please excuse me. I have duties to perform," the Dalek said before moving on.

Well that didn't give me anything, Amy frowned. Before she had another thought, Renata was yanking her away.

"Don't you ever do that, Amelia Pond! Honestly! We tell you that those things are dangerous and you just willingly walk up to one and tap it!"

Amy made a face when she saw the Doctor walking over to Winston to no doubt do something similar. "He's doing the same thing!"

"You're a human!" Renata turned her around. "And what's more, you don't remember them! This isn't a game, Amy!"

Amy huffed. She was being scolded like a child, in a War room! All she was doing was trying to help them, what was Renata so mad about? At least SHE she was trying to help the Doctor out, all Renata did was scold!

Right now, the Doctor was pleading with Winston to get rid of the Daleks. He was trailing after Winston, urging him by detailing what the Daleks could really do.

"We are waging total war, Doctor! Day after day, the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist!" Winston exclaimed, thinking it was a fairly good reason why he would turn to these experiments.

"Wait till the Daleks get started!" the Doctor angrily snatched the man's cigar out of his mouth.

"Men, women and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames!"

"Yeah? Try the Earth in flames!"

"I weep for my country, I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart!"

The Doctor would love to argue how much more things would 'break' if the Daleks were allowed to continue to work for them. "But you're resisting, Winston! The whole world knows you're resisting! You're a beacon of hope!"

"But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now!"

"Can I be of assistance?" a Dalek stopped by the two.

"Shut it!" the Doctor snapped and followed Winston down the room. "Listen to me. Just listen! The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are my oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them!"

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favourable reference to the Devil! These machines are our salvation!"

A siren sounded throughout the room, giving the all-clear.

Renata hurried to the Doctor as everyone else began to leave. "He's not stopping is he?"

"No," he muttered. If Winston wouldn't stop using the Daleks then they would make it stop.

~0~

The group moved into Bracewell's working room where the man himself was tinkering away on projects.

"All right, Prof! The PM's been filling us in," the Doctor called to let their presence be known. "Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

"Just doing my bit," Bracewell shrugged but wore a genuinely kind hearted smile.

Renata knew those anywhere. It was almost like he believed his own lie.

Amy picked up a spanner from a table. "Not bad for a Paisley boy."

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear," Bracewell remarked and shared another smile with her.

Gabby shook her head at Amy. It was frustrating that Amy still knew nothing of the true danger around them.

"How did you do it? Come up with the idea?" the Doctor asked Bracewell who looked all too pleased.

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

"Yes but we're curious of where these little ideas are coming from," Renata keenly watched every movement of the man. He moved around with casualty, such cheerfulness despite the current war going on.

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head! Wonderful things! Like... let me show you!"

"Show us papers of lies," Gabby mumbled while the man went in search of his files.

Bracewell didn't seem to hear the last remark made as he brought back his files on the Daleks. "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath!"

The Doctor quickly took the files from him and between him and Renata, they scoured through every last detail on it. It pained them to admit that all of the details were logical. It made sense. To anyone who saw the files it would seem like the Daleks were truly Bracewell's creations.

"And are these ideas your or theirs?" Renata wouldn't mask her suspicion. If anything, she could make the man more nervous and spill the real plans.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Bracewell refused and did it politely so, something Renata could respect a bit...a tiny tiny bit. "No, no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control! They are…" He stopped midway when a Dalek came up with his tea. "Thank you...the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"Servant…" Renata repeated, unsure whether she should laugh at the absurdity or be even more fearful that the Daleks were playing 'servants'. If they were willing to serve humans then it must mean that whatever they needed would be grand.

The Doctor did not speak until the Dalek had trundled away. "I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"

Winston entered the room with a second Dalek in tow. "Yes, Doctor. Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Did you miss the part where everyone else dies?" Gabby had the same sharp tinge in her tone as Renata had. Why wasn't anyone listening to them!? She yelped when the first Dalek stopped beside her, offering her a tea cup.

"Oh no!" Renata immediately yanked the girl away from the Dalek. "Not her!"

Like a domino effect, the Doctor reached for both Renata and Gabby to pull them away altogether. Amy almost laughed at the ferocity the two Time Lords had for these things. It was interesting because no one believed them, they wouldn't give it up.

Or maybe they're just scared, the voice in her head actually made a good point. She didn't take the Doctor for a liar—

She winced. Okay, so maybe he did lie here and there but Amy doubted that he would concoct this big ole lie just for nothing. He seemed genuinely fearful and angry with these creatures. As for Renata, she actually seemed less inclined to lie at all. Gabby seemed just as afraid as the other two were and she certainly wasn't a liar.

"We seek only to help you," the Dalek was saying to the trio of travelers but the Doctor wasn't budging and letting go of Renata who, in turn, wouldn't let go of Gabby either.

"Stay the hell away from them!" the Doctor nearly growled at the Dalek. Every part of him was yelling to get Renata away from this site altogether. He should've put her in the TARDIS, along with Gabby and Amy, the moment they saw the first Dalek on the rooftop. Whatever happened next, they would've at least been safe inside the TARDIS.

And on what planet, dare I ask, do you think I would ever let you send me away? Renata's question was sharp in the Doctor's mind. He winced and cautiously glanced at her. She had an arched eyebrow and an expectant look on her face. He was to answer right now.

I don't want to lose you. That had to be the best reason he could ever give; it certainly was the biggest reason behind his logic.

And you think I want to lose you? Do you think I would want to lose you knowing that I could've been at your side helping you? I don't want to be sent—

But Renata stopped when she heard Gabby's gasp. The same Dalek was inching closer to them again.

The Doctor forgot all about logic and shoved the two women away. "STOP!" he bellowed at the Dalek, making everyone else in the room freeze where they were. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"To help-"

"NO!" the Doctor cut the Dalek off. He was tired of this stupid game and he would put an end to it now. "What do you want!?"

"To win the war."

"Really? Which war?"

"I do not understand."

"This war, against the Nazis? Or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life-forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier…"

"Oh quit playing!" Renata called from her spot. She was barring Gabby from the sight but she wished she could pull the Doctor away from it too. He was far too close for her liking and she could feel his anger about to burst at any moment. An angry Doctor was not the best version of himself. It usually led to worse things.

True to her word, the Doctor spun away and grabbed a giant spanner off a table. "Alright, soldier, defend yourself!"

Bracewell was appalled to see his creature being banged upon like a mere toy. "Doctor, what the devil...?!"

"You do not require tea?"

The Doctor struck harder when he heard the question. Tea!? What the hell was this Dalek after!?

"Doctor, please, these machines are precious," Winston tried cutting in but the Doctor was hard at work striking the Dalek.

"Come on! Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!"

"I must protest!" Bracewell said as he intended on getting the Doctor away.

"You must stay back!" Renata mimicked his tone as she tried stepping closer herself. She was scared out of her mind thinking about the moment the Dalek would give up its charade and actually strike back with the Doctor right in front of it. Theta, you get back here right now!

If the Doctor had heard her words, he sure didn't like it. "What are you waiting for? You hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on! Kill me. Kill me!"

"Ren!" Gabby exclaimed in horror.

"Doctor, be careful!" Amy scurried over to Gabby's side.

Renata was inching closer to the Doctor but it was incredibly hard not to get smacked herself.

"Please desist from striking me. I am your soldier!" the Dalek said as if it were truly a defenseless creature.

It just made the Doctor angrier. "You are my enemy! And I am yours! You are everything I despise! The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again, I've defeated you. I sent you back into the void! I saved the whole of reality from you! I am the Doctor! And you are the Daleks!" He was able to kick the Dalek back with all his might, taking a dark pleasure seeing it rolling into a wall.

As he stumbled back, Renata snatched the spanner from his hands and glared angrily at him. "It could've fired at you! What were you thinking you crazy idiot!" She dropped the spanner to the ground and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

The Doctor blinked when it struck him that she was right. He hadn't thought about it, he was too angry. He needed to confront the Dalek, at least to get something out of it. "Sorry, I'm sorry…" he quickly hugged her back and kissed her hair. I'm sorry Gala. I didn't...I didn't mean to scare you.

Renata just hugged him tighter. Everything he said about the Daleks was true and that's why she was terrified seeing him stand in front of one.

"Correct," the rolling Dalek had suddenly said. "Review testimony."

The two Time Lords pulled away as the Dalek played back the Doctor's final words to it.

'I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks!'

"Testimony? What are you talking about, testimony?" the Doctor tried taking a step towards it but Renata was grabbing his hand before he took the first.

"Transmitting testimony now," went the second Dalek in the room.

"Transmit what, where?" Renata quickly asked it, not that it would answer.

"Testimony accepted!"

"Ren...whatever they're planning, it looks like it's 'go time'," Gabby swallowed hard. Oh God, would it be like the stolen planets all over again?

"Get back! All of you!" the Doctor exclaimed to the others in the room when the two Daleks started rumbling together.

"Marines! Marines! Get in here!" Winston called.

Two Marines entered the room but as soon as they did, they were both struck by a Dalek. Now everyone was listening.

"Stop it! Stop it, please!" Bracewell hurried up to the closest the Dalek despite everyone else doing the opposite. "What are you doing? You are my Ironsides!"

"We are the Daleks!"

"But I created you!"

"No," the Dalek shot Bracewell's hand to reveal a stump of wires and circuits inside. "We created you!"

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" the two Daleks collectively chanted before they teleported away.

"What just happened, Doctor?" Amy asked, unable to take her eyes off Bracewell's stump of circuits. "And sorry for not believing you by the way."

"I wanted to know what they wanted, what their plan was. I was their plan!" the Doctor felt like smacking himself. He got too angry and he messed up.

"Well, we better go fix it then," Renata squeezed his hand that was still holding hers. She didn't look upset with him even though she should've been. The Doctor shook his head but she started leading the way out of the room.

No one else is going to do it, right? She flashed him a smile on their way down the corridor.

The Doctor's hearts warmed for the tiniest of moments. Once upon a time, a long while ago, she had realized the meaning to that question and finally understood why it was that he went around the world helping people. It was at that moment that things started to mellow out between them and eventually turn into what they were today.

"Hey!" Gabby was quick to catch up with them and with her came Amy and Winston. "You guys want to fill us in on what just happened!?"

"Gabbs, pay attention!" the Doctor said, missing her roll her eyes in return. "Testimony accepted!" That's what they said! My testimony."

"Don't beat yourself up. You were right," Amy offered the only slightly okay part in all this. "What do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?" She was all too eager to get into the TARDIS and stop whatever it was those Daleks wanted to do.

The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS but kept the way in barred with his arm. "No. This is what we do," he nodded over to Renata who agreed with a nod. "It's dangerous, so wait here."

The disappointment was clear in Amy's pale face. "What, so you mean we've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?"

"I said this before, it's not a game," Renata said, making Amy roll her eyes. "These Daleks...you might not remember what they did, Amy, but it was bad. I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of them. Gabriella?"

Gabby nodded. "We'll be good here. Just keep your comms open, please?"

"Fair," Renata agreed and stepped into the TARDIS with the Doctor.

"What do they expect us to do now?" Amy flapped her arms when the TARDIS disappeared.

"KBO, of course," Winston said and earned the two same looks from the companions.

"What!?"

"Keep buggering on!"

And so they would.

---

A/N:

Yes, yes, it's been...a while. Let's just say, I got caught up with work and I somehow got tangled up in new/old fandoms that I obviously had to start drafting fics for. You'll notice I have a few MCU fics/Criminal Minds/Harry Potter fics out here now. Yeah, I got very distracted. Sorry!l

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 7: False Loss

Summary:

Renata and the Doctor once again take on the (new) Daleks, this time with a raging WW2 below them.

"Out of curiosity, do we actually have a plan?" Renata dared to ask while she and the Doctor went around the console, in opposite directions, to search for the Dalek ship that was no doubt near Earth.

"I have something in mind…" the Doctor said all too quietly for her liking. He was focused on finding the ship and was pretty pleased when it easily appeared on the monitor.

"You want to let me in on it, or…?"

The way the Doctor turned his head away was a clear indicator that whatever he had going on in his mind would totally be him.

Renata scowled.

The Doctor grinned.

~ 0 ~

There were three Daleks inside the ship when the TARDIS materialized. The Doctor emerged from the box first and despite his insistence for her to stay inside, Renata was right behind him.

"How about that cuppa now, then?" he thought to ask and winced when he heard Renata's colorful vocabulary inside his mind. I did not know you were capable of that kind of language, my dear.

Renata smirked from behind.

"It is the Doctor! Exterminate!"

"Wait, wait, wait, I wouldn't if I were you!" the Doctor quickly sprang his arm forwards, brandishing a small, round object in his hand. "TARDIS self-destruct. And you know what that means. My ship goes, you all go with it. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans! No nothing! One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that? TARDIS bang-bang, Daleks boom!"

Behind him, Renata stared at said object, unimpressed. It was a cookie. He was threatening the Daleks with a cookie. She closed her eyes for a brief second and wondered, truly wondered, how she was attracted to him when he pulled stunts like those.

While I will answer that question with examples, let's not get distracted. The cookie will only work for so long.

Renata rolled her eyes at the now smirking Doctor. She hurried towards the nearest control panels while he kept the Daleks frozen in their spots. "Oh! This is embarrassing! This ship's pretty beaten up - running on empty, I'd say, like you." She turned around to the three Daleks with a glower. "When we last met, you were at the end of your rope. Finished. You should've stayed finished."

"One ship survived," a Dalek said.

"And you fell back through time, yes?" the Doctor rolled his eyes. It was fairly obvious that one ship had survived wasn't it? Considering where they were now. "Crippled? Dying?"

"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices."

"Progenitor? What's that when it's at home?"

"It is our past. And our future."

"Pretty deep for a Dalek and since that's not quite possible why don't you tell us what it means?" Renata asked as she made her way back to the Doctor. She suspected the cookie farce would be ending in the next coming minutes.

"It contains pure Dalek DNA, thousands were created, all were lost, save one."

"OK, but there's still one thing I don't get, though - if you've got the Progenitor, why build Bracewell?" the Doctor couldn't understand even when he tried looking at it from many angles. The Daleks wouldn't create Bracewell without a reason, without...having to…

"It was... necessary."

Renata picked up on the hesitation and almost gaped because Daleks never hesitated. "But why?"

"Oh," went the Doctor all of a sudden. His eyes had widened seconds before a laugh slipped through his lips. "I get it! I get it. Oh, ho, this is rich! The Progenitor wouldn't recognize you, would it? It saw you as impure, the DNA is unrecognisable as Dalek."

"Blasphemy for you guys," Renata didn't hide her own laugh.

"A solution was devised," a Dalek said.

"Yes, yes, yes. Me," the Doctor rolled his eyes. Of course it'd be him. "My testimony. So you set a trap, you knew that the Progenitor would recognize me. The Daleks' greatest enemy! It would accept my word. My recognition of you." One of the Daleks moved its way to another control panel nearby. "No, no, no. What are you doing?"

"Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames," one of the other Daleks warned.

"Yeah, sorry to cut into the conversation," Renata said with a raised finger in the air, "But I would like to remind you all of your ship's current state. It's a wreck. With any luck, it'll drop dead in a few moments. You don't have any power to destroy London."

"Watch as the humans destroy themselves."

Renata exchanged a glance with the Doctor, both dreading what the Daleks had in mind. In a few seconds, they watched the creatures forced all the lights in London to turn on.

"Turn those lights off now! Turn London off or I swear I will use the TARDIS self-destruct!" the Doctor waved his cookie around like it truly was a menacing bomb.

"Stalemate, Doctor. Leave us, and return to Earth."

"Oh, that's it? That's your great victory? You leave?"

"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again."

"Not on our watch," Renata glowered at the creatures with all the hatred she could muster...and it showed.

"Alert, new energy readings…" one of the two Daleks still facing them said.

Just as Renata blinked, the Doctor reached over to her and yanked her behind him. "Don't you dare touch her!"

Renata raised both of her hands to see them golden again. She swallowed hard. Oh God, it was starting again. But I'm not weak this time. That's a huge change. That had to mean something good, right?

"Energy readings are inconclusive," the Dalek by the control panel said. "But it is not unseen. She is the same Time Lady with the Time Vortex power—"

Renata dropped her hands and poked her head from behind the Doctor, "Hey, it is not the Time Vortex. It's something...mutated!"

The Doctor threw Renata a look. "You really want to explain it better to them?"

"...good point," Renata put her hands behind her back.

Their attention was driven over to a machine at the end of the room that rang particularly loud.

"We have succeeded — DNA reconstruction is complete," one of the Daleks said. All three Daleks glided away from the cubicle enveloped in red energy. After a few sparks, the doors to it slid open.

"Observe, Doctor, a new Dalek paradigm! The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny. Behold, the restoration of the Daleks! The resurrection of the master race!"

Both the Doctor and Renata were horrified to see new Daleks emerging from the cubicle, larger ones of all colors. Their nightmare only continued as they were surrounded by chanting Daleks all proclaiming their superiority. It ended with the newer Daleks exterminating the previous Daleks, an act that was agreed upon by both sides.

"What…?" Renata would never cease to be disgusted by them. They took out their own kind without any regard for the fact that they were of the same species.

"Blimey, what do you do to the ones who mess up?" the Doctor stared at the new Daleks now turning for them.

"You are the Doctor! You must be exterminated!" A white Dalek declared.

"Not happening!" Renata once again while the Doctor brandished his cookie as a weapon.

"Don't mess with us, sweetheart!"

Renata shook her head at him. That 'bomb' is beginning to crack! I should just try to use this mutated energy on them!

Don't you dare! The Doctor shot her a warning glance to stay put. The Daleks still didn't understand who she was and he would love to keep it that way. If they didn't know her, they couldn't hurt her as easily.

"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race," the white Dalek continued. "Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."

"Hm," Renata folded her arms over her chest. "And let me guess, you're the last one?"

"Nice paint job. I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you," the Doctor said, cracking a smile. "Pretty "Supre-eme."

"Oh," Renata brought a hand to her forehead. "You didn't just say that one."

The Doctor scrunched his face. Yeah, that wasn't his best one. "Question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity."

"Including yourself and the Time Lady?" the White Dalek asked, sounding as if it were taunting.

"This Time Lady has a name, dammit!" Renata exclaimed even when the Doctor actively tried shushing her. "My name is Renata and you better think this little plan of yours through!"

"Shhhhh! Do you not get the 'shhhh!' part!?" the Doctor turned to her with a genuine irritation that would incite Renata's. He didn't want anyone knowing about her, much less the daleks.

"Don't you shush me! I said what I said and I dare anyone to tell me—"

"Scan reveals nothing!" the blue Dalek suddenly said, cutting off whatever would sprout from that disagreement. "TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!"

Renata groaned and snatched the cookie from the Doctor's hand. "Of course not! It's a cookie you ninny!"

The Doctor snatched it back and took bite of it, leaving only half in his hand. "It's a Jammy Dodger! And now I owe Gabbs one!"

Renata smacked her forehead. This was going far differently than what occurred on the Crucible.

A siren blared throughout the entire ship, pulling the blue Dalek towards the scanners. "Alert! Unidentified projectile approaching!"

Curious, the two Time Lords took a peek at the nearest scanner to see multiple projectiles coming for them.

"What have the humans done?" the white Dalek demanded, presuming it was one of the Doctor's strategies.

"We don't know," the Doctor said but he had a suspicion that Gabby and Amy were involved in the matter.

'Danny Boy to the Doctor! Danny Boy to Renata? Are you receiving me? Over.'

"Ah, lovely, they know my name," Renata mumbled with a light smile.

"Oh, Winston! You beauty!" the Doctor laughed. "Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up! Over!" He grabbed Renata's hand and ran for the TARDIS.

"Exterminate the Doctor!"

The TARDIS doors shut before the firing could reach either Time Lord.

"I'll give you credit on that cookie. It lasted way longer than I thought it would," Renata said once they were at the console getting them off the Dalek ship.

"I have good ideas!" the Doctor exclaimed. "But I say— you telling the Daleks who you were was not a good idea!"

"Well, I wasn't going to let them rip you apart! And you know what? If we're together then we're together in all aspects. I hate those Daleks as much as you have. I fought them too, remember?"

The Doctor would honestly prefer not to remember. Each time he thought of the Crucible, his hearts broke. Renata nearly died and tried wiping out the Daleks as a way to bring them down with her. And then Gallifrey? She fought in the War as much as he had - she'd regenerated during the War and lost her unborn child in the process.

"I just don't want them to know you, to make you a target," the Doctor sighed. "Not you, Renée."

"I am the Vortex Butterfly, remember? That's sure to get around," Renata touched his arm comfortingly but once she made that point, there was no comfort possible that would make the Doctor feel better.

Unfortunately, he couldn't spend time dwelling on that matter. The humans were still up in the sky trying to fight the Dalek ship. They had to help them as much as they could.

The planes struck the dish that was forcing the lights on over London as much as they could but eventually, the Daleks struck them all down except for one.

"That dish has really good shields," Renata frowned after the second to last plane was hit.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor, Renata... only me left now," the remaining pilot called over the comms. "Anything you can do, sir? Ma'am? Over."

"The Doctor to Danny Boy...the Doctor to Danny Boy," the Doctor grabbed a hardly used, old-styled, microphone from the console. "I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show, Doctor, go to it. Over! Going in, wish me luck. Over."

The Doctor and Renata prepared for the incoming attack. They needed to get the timing just right or the whole of London would be dust. Fortunately, they were Time Lords so they managed fairly fine to give the pilot the few minutes he needed to strike the dish.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor and Renata...going in for another attack!"

"Let them have it," Renata muttered and gave the Doctor the nod to pass on the message. He truly loved that old microphone.

"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over!"

"What about you two?"

"We'll be okay."

"Uuh…" Renata froze when the Daleks hacked into their monitor.

"Call of your attack!" the white Dalek ordered.

"Yeah, and would you like a cup of tea with that too?" Renata frowned at the monitor. "We will never let you get away again! It's your final end."

"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."

The Doctor hurried over to Renata's side. "I'm not stupid, mate! You've just played your last card!"

"Bracewell is a bomb."

There was an initial fear with that threat but the Doctor wouldn't believe it when things were so close to finally ending the right way. "You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body. There isn't a bone in your body!"

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum! Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."

Renata stepped away from the console, her face scrunching with frustration. Of course they knew what they would inevitably pick.

"No! This is my best chance ever!" the Doctor argued, although it sounded like he was arguing with himself rather than the Dalek. "The last of the Daleks! I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"

"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below! The Earth will die screaming!"

The Doctor stopped arguing to look at the cold facts in front of him. "And if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks."

"Then choose, Doctor! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth! Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum! Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"

The Doctor wasn't moving but Renata was there for him. She knew what they had to do. She returned to the Doctor's side and gently took the microphone from him.

"This is Renata to Danny Boy. I'm afraid you're going to have to withdraw."

"Say again, ma'am. Over."

"Please withdraw and return to Earth!"

"But Ma'am—"

"I said now!" Renata snapped, hoping the pilot would get the idea it wasn't up for debate. "There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!" She then returned the microphone to its spot. "C'mon Doctor, we gotta go."

The Doctor let her move him around until he could get back into the present. Maybe, maybe if they were fast enough they could do both things. They had to be.

~ 0 ~

Down in the war room, there was celebrations going on when suddenly the Doctor came running in. Renata ran inside a few seconds later, catching the moment the Doctor punched Bracewell to the ground.

"Doctor!" Amy screeched in horror.

"Dude!" Gabby slapped a hand to her mouth, equally horrified. "He helped us!"

"Ow!" the Doctor shook his hand in pain. "Sorry, professor! You're a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."

"You couldn't have just explained that from the start?" Renata came up to his side, throwing him a disapproving look.

"I panicked!" the Doctor dropped to his knees beside Bracewell. "There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you - a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension!" He pulled out his sonic and then opened up Bracewell's shirt. With a flick of the sonic, he revealed the mechanics underneath the man's skin. "Now keep down!"

"It really is just best if you listen," Renata offered an apologetic smile to Bracewell.

The circular pad on the man's chest divided into sections glowed blue until suddenly, one section turned yellow.

"Well?" Gabby came inching closer with Amy in tow.

The Doctor shook his sonic with frustration. "I dunno, I dunno, I dunno! Never seen one up close before!"

"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Amy asked, judging by the special countdown on Bracewell's chest.

"Not wired him up, he's...uh...well...he IS is the bomb," Renata scrunched her face, knowing how awful it must be for Bracewell to hear that. The Daleks had created the perfect disguise: the man truly had no idea what he was.

"Walking, talking…" the Doctor had the good idea to mimic the sound of an explosion.

"Seriously!?" Renata hissed. "They get it!"

"Well...isn't there just like a little wire you have to cut?" Gabby asked, nervously smiling at the pair. "You know, like in the movie?"

"Oh! The red wire!" Amy exclaimed, having Gabby agree with a pointed finger her way,

"You're not helping!" both Renata and the Doctor glared at them. The companions simultaneously pouted.

"It's incredible. He talked to us about his memories," Winston said in genuine awe. "The Great War…"

"Obviously they were stolen thoughts," Renata said dismissively until she blinked with a memory. "Kind of like you, Doctor."

"What?" he shot her a look.

"When you were John Smith, you truly believed you were him. You created the perfect disguise because even you believed it. It wasn't just a disguise it was...it was your life."

"Right, right…" the Doctor nodded his head as he began to see what Renata was trying to get at. He couldn't accuse Bracewell of faking it if he truly believed it was his life. It would be hypocritical to ignore his own past.

"Bracewell," Renata turned her attention to the man on the ground. "Tell us about your life. Your life? What is it like?

"I really don't think this is the time!"

"Oh but I think it is! Really! Tell us everything!"

Everyone panicked when the next section turned yellow.

"Bracewell, please!"

"Okay, okay, uh...my family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but...but there was a storm."

"And your parents? Come on! Tell us!" the Doctor motioned him to hurry along.

"Good people. Kind people. They... They died. Scarlet fever."

"I'm so sorry," Renata genuinely said despite knowing that it wasn't truly his thoughts, but the pain had to feel like it was. "What was that like? How did it feel?"

"Please…"

"I'm really sorry," Renata shook her head. She hated having to force him to relive these moments. "I get it, I do, but it's important. How did it make you feel?"

"It hurts, it really hurts! Like a wound! It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."

Two more sections turned a bright yellow. Renata felt her hearts sink seeing her plan wasn't working. She tried to keep going but she felt like it needed to stop once the fifth section turned read.

"I'm sorry…" Renata looked at the Doctor, her eyes blinking fast to keep tears away. "I'm not…"

"You had a good idea, you're okay," he reached for her hand, offering her a soft smile. It's what he would've thought if he had a bit more time to think about it.

Amy made a face at the two, huffing inside. Renata had gotten it wrong and now they were even closer to being blown up. "Hey...Paisley," she called suddenly when her own idea formed in her head. She slowly crept over to Bracewell's other side. "Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"

Bracewell gave her an odd look for her question, as was everyone else. "What?"

Amy took her chance before anyone could take it away from her. "Hurts, doesn't it?" She got a good feeling when she saw the last section had stayed yellow. "But kind of a good hurt."

"I really shouldn't talk about her…" Bracewell tried looking away but he couldn't do it.

"Oh, there's a 'her'," Amy beamed when the last section turned back to blue. She was on the right track!

"What was her name!?" the Doctor jumped on the opportunity.

"Dorabella."

"Dorabella? It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name."

"What was she like, Edwin?"

"Oh...such a smile. And her eyes... Her eyes were so blue...Almost violet," Bracewell was genuinely getting lost in the thought of the woman he spoke about. "Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world... Dorabella…"

And to everyone's delight, all of the bomb's sections reverted back to blue.

"Oh you two did it!" Renata exclaimed happily to Amy and the Doctor. "Bracewell, welcome to the human race!"

Amy smiled proudly, even more so when the Doctor agreed. "You're brilliant!" he kissed her forehead with a laugh. "Now," he pulled himself up to his feet, prompting Renata to do the same, "We gotta stop the Daleks!" He only made it halfway down the room when Bracewell called to them.

"It's too late. Gone. They've gone."

"Are you sure?" Renata asked. She dared to hope for a tiny bit but she could see it on Bracewell's face. He knew they were gone.

"No, no, no!" the Doctor frowned. "They can't! They can't have gotten away from me again!"

"No, I can feel it, my mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."

The Doctor's face deflated at the realization that once again the Daleks had slipped away. Renata folded her arms over her chest, sighing deeply.

"But it's okay, because you did it," Amy tried to be cheerful for the two. She glanced at Gabby and was relieved to see her on the same page.

"Yeah, I mean, you stopped the bomb," she added.

"We had a choice. And they knew we'd choose the Earth," the Doctor bitterly said. "The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won."

"But you saved the Earth," Gabby insisted. "It's not all lost, right?"

"Definitely not shabby," Amy gestured to everyone else in the room giving him grateful smiles. "Is it?"

"No," the Doctor had to agree and glanced at Renata. She was beginning to smile as well.

"You have a way with words, Miss Pond," she said to the ginger.

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friends. Here, have a cigar!" Winston walked over with a cigar in hand for either Time Lord to take.

"Hard...pass…" Renata said and just in case the Doctor had even the slightest of curiosity for it, she warned him telepathically: 'If you ever take even a puff of a cigar, I will never kiss you again.'

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her but truthfully, it was a pretty good threat to make.

~ 0 ~

"So, what now, then?" Amy followed Winston in the war room, trying not to show how bored she actually was.

"I still have a war to run, Miss Pond," the man said and stopped walking when a woman came up with a communique to sign.

"Bad war," Gabby mumbled as she came up beside Amy.

"They hit the Palace and St Paul's again. Fire crews only just saved it," Winston sighed as he lowered the communique to the nearest table.

The young woman who'd been very helpful during the Dalek fiasco came into the room with a face full of tears.

"Is she OK?" Amy asked, making Winston follow her gaze. "She looks very upset."

"Oh, Miss Breen? Her young man didn't make it, I'm afraid. Just got word. Shot down over the Channel."

"How terrible," Gabby frowned, almost going over to Breen to comfort her when Amy asked a very good question.

"Where's the Doctor?"

"He and Renata are supposed to be taking down the alien tech that's in the weapons," Gabby murmured though she did agree it was taking them a little longer than she thought. "I'll go find them. Get us out of here quicker."

Amy had no protests there. As amazing as it was to meet Winston Churchill, she didn't like the idea of being in the middle of World War 2.

~0~

Gabby had wandered through the corridors in search for her two Time Lords. She inwardly laughed. Her Time Lords. That was funny to think of. They were her friends, sometimes space parents when she felt like making fun of them.

She abruptly stopped when she heard a loud clang. She hated the fact that she had no idea whether the sound came from outside, like a potential weapon, or if it was just a normal sound from one of the rooms. Just another reason she would like to get out of this time period.

She poked her head into the next room she came across with and instantly frowned. Well, no wonder we're still in here. She had found her Time Lords...but they weren't taking out that alien tech.

They were kissing. Gabby rolled her eyes. Of course they are.

The Doctor had Renata sitting on the very edge of a table with no chance of an escape, not that Renata seemed to mind. She had her arms lazily looped around the Doctor's neck and was following his lips in sweet, slow kisses.

They had taken out the alien tech in the beginning - it was what they said they'd be doing. They worked finely together until they bickered over how to best pull out a specific device from the inside of a spitfire. Renata thought the Doctor was being unnecessarily fast and reckless while the Doctor thought she was purposely being slow and boring. Renata was naturally offended with the accusation, choosing to ignore the fact she called the Doctor reckless. She huffed and threatened to leave him right there to figure everything out on his own. The Doctor made the mistake of muttering that he'd be way quicker then.

Renata's response was to throw him a regular screwdriver. She only narrowly missed the back of his head because he'd ducked. After that, Renata realized what she'd (nearly) done and rushed back to make sure he was okay. The Doctor genuinely laughed while she ran her hands all over his neck and head to check for even the slightest of scratches. She wouldn't listen to his assurances that he was fine so the Doctor quieted her the only way he could. So they kissed, and murmured their apologies in the process, until somebody was to walk in on them. Of course they wouldn't notice if they were still deeply into their moment.

While Gabby thought it was sweet that they finally had moments like these, she thought this was hardly the place to have one. "It's World War 2!" she exclaimed, startling the pair. "And you guys are making out!?"

The Doctor threw her a glare for ruining a very good moment. Renata, on the other hand, flushed with embarrassment and she slid off the table.

"Gabriella, we, uh...we…"

Gabby shook her head. "Listen, I'm all for this new relationship but is this how I'm gonna find you now?"

"Sorry," Renata bit her lower lip, truly seeming apologetic.

"I'm not," the Doctor huffed and soon received a whack on his chest. "I'm not!" He wouldn't take it back even if Renata gave him the look at him all day. Why would he ever be sorry for kissing her?

Gabby laughed at the two stark different reactions she was getting. She would ask how they worked if she didn't already know them. "You guys are so in that honeymoon phase, huh?"

"The what?" the pair simultaneously asked with the same confused stare.

"The honeymoon phase? You know, that first phase of all relationships?" Gabby was still met with blank faces. "Wow, you guys really are aliens…"

"There was doubt?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, smiling when she laughed.

"Right. The honeymoon phase is basically the beginning of every relationship where you guys can't keep your hands off of each other. You're making out any chance you get."

"Oh…" the Doctor was quick to grin, and proudly too.

Once again Renata whacked his chest. "Gabriella that makes us sound like we have no control over ourselves," she said sternly but Gabby snorted and gestured to their current whereabouts. Renata rolled her eyes and looked away. "I am 758, I don't 'make out' with people."

"Then what were you doing?" Gabby smirked widely while Renata struggled to find an answer that would prove her point. There was no such answer.

"Oh, shut up and go wait for us with Amy!"

Gabby laughed. "Fine, fine, but could you do me the favor of closing the door the next time you guys are in one of your little moments? Nobody needs to see that!"

"Sounds fair enough," the Doctor shrugged. He didn't feel like being interrupted either.

"Doctor!" Renata huffed.

"What?" It was his turn to laugh when Gabby was gone.

"Would it kill you to have a little bit of dignity?"

"I don't have dignity because I admit that I like kissing you?"

Renata shook her head. She moved away from him to get back on the work they'd ignored.

The Doctor followed after her, keeping his laugh at bay because he knew if he laughed, she would smack him and huff all the way to the TARDIS. "Renée, I love you and all your huffy ways."

She rolled her eyes at him but did smile out of sight.

~0~

When the group finally joined together, they made one last stop before they could truly be on their way. They found Bracewell standing in the middle of his lab. Once he saw the group, he exhaled a shaky breath.

"I've been expecting you," he said with eyes on the Doctor and Renata. "I knew this moment had to come."

"And that would be…?" Renata trailed off for him to answer, trying her best not to look so puzzled.

"It's time to de-activate me."

"Ah."

"Is it?" the Doctor asked, sounding as if he'd only just thought about it. He glanced at Amy and Gabby, choosing to keep the game going in that moment. They both rolled their eyes at him.

"You have no choice," Bracewell said with a lamenting sigh. "I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business."

Renata brought a hand to her mouth. She struggled not to laugh because she truly felt for the man. But he wasn't making it easy.

"No, you're dead right, Professor. 100% right. And by the time I get back here in... what, ten minutes?" the Doctor side-glanced Renata and lowered her hand from her mouth.

"With you? I say 15."

"Oh, you're being too kind," Gabby put a hand on Renata's shoulder. "With the Doctor, it'll take 20."

"Thirty," Amy coughed and smiled when the Doctor threw each of them a look. Just because they were playing a game didn't mean they had to gang up on him.

"So we'll be taking 30 minutes…" Renata cleared her throat. "That's exactly what we're going to do. You are going to be so de-activated. It's going be like you've never even been... activated."

"God you sound like him too," Gabby muttered beside the Time Lady. Renata discreetly pushed the girl away, ignoring the mock-glare Gabby gave her in return.

"Thirty minutes?" Bracewell asked just to be sure.

"More like 40, if I'm honest," the Doctor shrugged. "Once we see to the urgent thing…"

"Yes!" Amy agreed, now wanting to laugh like Renata had earlier. Bracewell still wasn't getting it!

"…we've got to see to. The... the... See?"

"Very well," Bracewell nodded. "I shall wait here and prepare myself."

"Wow that Dalek tech is a little bit slow, huh?" Gabby made a face.

"Mhm," Renata agreed. "That thing we've got to do. Gonna take an hour, realistically, isn't it, Doctor?"

"Easily!" he nodded his head. "So no running off, that's what I'm saying. Don't go trying to find that little Post Office with the ash trees or that girl... What was her name?"

"Dorabella," Bracewell was quick to answer.

"Dorabella. On no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in an hour!"

And the penny finally dropped. A huge grin spread across Bracewell's face followed by a laugh. "Thank you, thank you, Doctor!"

"There we are," Renata laughed with him. "Do a lot, then. And we shall be off…"

"Mhm," the Doctor took her hand and turned them back for the corridor. "Gabbs! Come along, Pond!"

They were more than eager to get into the TARDIS after the day they had.

"So, you have enemies then?" Amy asked when the group reached the TARDIS.

"Everyone's got enemies," the Doctor shrugged, trying to be casual about it even though he knew what Amy was asking specifically.

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell. You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies!"

"Well, me, yeah...I suppose so," the Doctor sighed as he glanced at Renata. "I just sort of drag Renata into it too."

"No, the Daleks were my enemies before any of this happened," she shook her head and looked at Amy. "Daleks and Time Lords have been at it for centuries. This was just a slight preview of what they are capable of."

Amy gulped. "Sorry. Um, actually, I am sorry. I just thought that we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous. I don't think it's a game, Renata. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Renata offered her a kind smile. "Everyone has trouble when they first come aboard. God knows I did." The Doctor scoffed in agreement. "Oh be quiet, you brought it upon yourself."

"Yeah, you did," Gabby mumbled with a chuckle.

"When are we going to let it go!?" the Doctor groaned as she and Renata started heading inside. "It's all nice and fun but not when you gang up on me!"

Amy chuckled. "Happens a lot, doesn't it?"

The Doctor nodded his head with another groan. "Don't you dare join them."

"Promise," Amy raised her hand and went inside as well.

The TARDIS de-materialized a few minutes later. It was not surprising when Gabby and Amy both decided they needed some sleep.

"Get full rest," Renata ushered them towards the corridor and watched them until they disappeared. When they did, she turned around and headed back for the console.

"Renée, I've been thinking…" the Doctor began but Renata sarcastically cut him off with a 'I dread to think about what'. "Ha, ha. I"m serious." He came around the console to be at her side. "Would you like to go out on a trip with me?"

"We do that all the time," Renata smiled at him with confusion.

"Yes, yes, but I meant as in a date. I don't think we've ever been on a proper date."

Renata stopped to think about that, wondering if he was right. Back in their first incarnations they had to hide their relationship. They snuck around to have some adventures but it was always fast-paced and there was always the 'will they, or will they not catch us?' sentiment that followed them.

"Oh, you're right," she blinked when it hit her. "We haven't ever had a real date. Well, I guess that's also kind of normal since there wasn't really 'dating' on Gallifrey. You were betrothed and that was...that was that."

"But maybe we could break that tradition? I mean, unless you feel like getting betrothed already…" Even though it was a joke, the idea of marrying Renata left the Doctor with a red face.

Renata was in the same state. She bit her lip and looked away, cursing her body for blushing so easily. It would be a nonstop problem, wouldn't it?

"A date...would be nice," she found her words a few seconds later. "But...you don't have to go overboard with it."

"Me? When do I do that?"

Renata raised an eyebrow at him. She wasn't going to waste her breath answering that question.

"Yeah, alright," the Doctor shook his head. It was a stupid question. He always wanted to do the best he could, even if it was just for a date.

"It's not that I'd hate it, but...there's just no need," Renata shrugged. "You don't need to do all this impressive stuff for me. We are way past that stage."

"Doesn't mean I don't like to do it," the Doctor nudged her on the side until she smiled at him. "I will always try to give you the best of the best."

Renata felt her face get warm. He always tried to make her feel special, even back when they were on Gallifrey. He'd pull the craziest stunts just to make sure that whatever they were doing was at its best for her.

"Shall we go right now?" the Doctor asked, more than eager to get their first date started.

Renata blushed even more. The idea of actually going on a date with him was genuinely making her nervous. "I-I would love to but...there is something else we need to talk about."

"What? Like what?" the Doctor asked, his face falling into a pout.

"You know...Amy? She didn't remember the Daleks at all. And Gabby gave her a detailed story that Amy lived through!"

"I know," the Doctor sighed. It made absolutely no sense why Amy would forget the Daleks. She acted as if she'd never seen one.

"I would love to go on a date with you but I really think that we should just hold off a bit until we get a better idea of what we're dealing with. Nobody forgets the Daleks without a reason."

"Right but...our first date, Renée," the Doctor whispered, his pout deepening.

"It's been centuries, Doctor. I think we can hold off just for a few weeks more." Renata thought she was being fair for both sides but she forgot the Doctor was very impatient.

"But what if I just wanted to kiss all throughout the date?"

"You already try to do that anyways!"

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue that it wasn't true...but it was. It really was. A grin came to his face when he remembered Gabby's earlier words. "Right, because we're in the honeymoon phase…"

Renata crinkled her nose in disdain. "Don't remind me." The Doctor slipped his arms around her waist from the side. "Making us sound like we're children. We're far from it."

"I don't think that was the purpose, love. You have to admit that we are in a bit of touchy phase," he kissed her temple. "Definitely having spontaneous kisses. Lots of snogs."

"There's another word I don't like. We don't 'snog', we don't 'make out'. We don't do that!" she huffed, making him laugh.

"Then what do you call what we've been doing?"

"Kissing, that's it."

"Ah," the Doctor nodded but he couldn't help laugh. "Right."

"You think I'm being ridiculous, don't you?"

"Absolutely not. I think you're being you."

"Right, ridiculous."

"No, you're being you." The Doctor turned her around and lowered his head to hers. "Absolutely you." He gave her a short kiss as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. "And I wouldn't want you any other way."

Renata studied his face for any ounce of doubt. "...even when I throw screwdrivers at your head?"

The Doctor laughed the moment he remembered the screwdriver that landed only an inch from him. "That was surprising but...nothing you haven't done before."

"What?" she made a face. "That was the first time—"

"You threw a screwdriver, but not the first time you threw something at me because I really annoyed you. Remember the book that you threw at my nose, you actually broke my nose!"

Renata's eyes widened. "Oh my God…" She remembered that day alright.

He'd been with her doing his usual hours for his misdemeanor and that day she wanted to reorganize one of her bookshelves. She claimed it was better for the children to find them easier, but the Doctor had suspected she was just bored that day. It happened sometimes. He came up with a different system and bickered with her over it until, after one moment, she snapped and threw a book at his face. He actually felt the crack of his bone. It was a pretty thick book.

Renata had felt terrible when she realized what she'd done. The Doctor, however stunned he was - and he was - burst into laughter. It was the first time he'd seen the petite, proper Time Lady snap out of anger. It was actually one of his favorite memories of them. She hardly ever showed anger that when she did, she didn't just get 'mad' she snapped.

"Oh my God, Doctor, I am so sorry!" Renata cupped his face as if she'd just thrown the book right now. "I threw a book at your face…and a jar...and another book...and...oh my God, I have a problem." The Doctor was close to laughing again. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because I'm remembering those moments. You were so mad. Each time your little freckled face would get as red as your ginger hair," the Doctor's fingers brushed over her cheeks that no longer carried those freckles.

"I'm sorry," she looked at him with a genuine guilty face. "Did I hurt you badly?" she gently touched his nose.

"I've had some time to recuperate," the Doctor smiled at her.

Renata moved her hands down to his neck. "And the screwdriver? Did I really miss?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Renata still stared at him with full-fledged concern. She let her hands wander around his neck, something that the Doctor didn't mind one bit. If she felt like she needed to check for herself that he was fine, who was he to stop her?

"I'm sorry," she started giving him kisses on the lips, much to his amusement.

"I am okay—"

She kissed him again and let her fingers crawl to the back of his neck, still searching for any sign that he was actually hurt. "Really sorry!" She kissed him again.

The Doctor reassured her that there was no harm done, but she kissed him again...and again...and again. Yes, he truly loved his snappy, huffy Time Lady so much.

---

A/N:

I'm getting my juices back for this story! I'm in the middle of writing another comic episode for this fic and I absolutely lOVE it! Important moments for Renata and Amy!

And the next chapter is, yeah, the Angels ;). Spoilers go as follow: Gabby will not be her usual self, River keeps trying, and Renata is just trying to push through!

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 8: A Passive-Aggressive Butterfly

Summary:

The travelers meet River Song again only this time there's Weeping Angels, she's younger, not a professor and just as determined to make her disdain for Renata known.

"Some of these look like the ones Zhe has in her gallery," Gabby remarked by a marble statue in the middle of a museum.

"Who?" Amy stood next to her but as much as she studied the statue she didn't see anything fascinating about it like Gabby. To be fair, she didn't find this museum captivating at all.

Gabby chuckled. "Zhe is my art mentor. She's an alien with four arms and four eyes. Oh, and her artwork can sort of come to life by singing all these math equations."

It was understandable that Amy's eyes had bugged out. "What!?"

"And my artwork sort of does the same. I can use the block Matrix power inside me to create a statue like that—" Gabby jerked a thumb at the stone statue, "—by singing the right math equations. I actually made one of Renata and I'm currently working on my second one. It'll be of my friend Donna."

"WHAT?"

Hearing Amy's loud yell, Renata moved over to make sure they were alright. "What are you doing to Amy?" she immediately asked Gabby when she saw her smirking.

"Nothing, just telling her about the Block Matrix thing inside me, and you," Gabby's gesture towards Renata earned another wide-eyed stare from Amy.

"Okay, seriously, what?"

"Oh you're having way too much fun with this," Renata shook her head at Gabby. "Go find the Doctor and tell him it's time to go. This museum is kind of creepy."

Gabby looked around the museum and had to agree with Renata. It didn't have any people and it was full of antiques that she swore some had to be haunted. She had no idea why the Doctor brought them there in the first place.

"What was she talking about?" Amy asked Renata once Gabby rushed to find the Doctor. "It's an actual story, right?"

"'Fraid not. Last year, on Gabby's first trip, she and I were both infected with an alien energy that ultimately changed us both." Renata offered her kindest smile to the girl, knowing it was a lot to handle when every day practically gave her something new to learn.

"What...I'm sounding like a broken record, huh?" Amy brought a hand up to her head to scratch it.

"It's alright. It's a lot to handle," Renata assured her and gently brought her hand down from her head. "But if you have questions, we're always here to answer them."

"Well, I mean, if you don't mind...what kind of energy are we talking about? Cos I haven't seen it."

Renata brought her left hand up and allowed Amy to see the golden wisps of energy at her fingertips. Amy was immediately awed at the sight.

"Can Gabby do that?"

"Sometimes, like me. It's...still a work in progress," Renata lowered her hand with a sigh.

If it had been up to her, she would've made it so that Gabby didn't have to deal with extra alien abilities. But the truth was, both of them now had mutated DNA. Gabby no longer registered as a full human and the Time Vortex inside Renata was no longer the ordinary ounce of Time Vortex every Time Lord would carry in their bodies.

She was the Vortex Butterfly and she would have to face that sooner or later even though she had no idea what it meant. Gabby seemed relatively fine with the change, with her 'Cosmic Butterfly' title. Renata had no idea how the girl did it. The Doctor had tried to get them both to start training to use that energy, even if it was only to control when it came out and when it didn't. Renata was, naturally, more shy and reserved about it but Gabby was all for practicing.

"You guys just get weirder and weirder," Amy concluded with a firm nod of her head. Renata laughed lightly at her, having to give her that point.

"Doctor, c'mon!" they heard Gabby's whining from a distance. She was doing what Renata asked and was following the Doctor around some displays on pedestals. "Doctor! Listen to me!"

The Time Lord was doing no such thing. He was going from one display to another, pointing at each with something to say. "Wrong! Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums!"

"Since when?" Gabby groaned.

Renata started walking towards them, prompting Amy to do the same. "Doctor, I think they've had their fill of museums for today."

"Yeah, you promised me an alien planet!" Amy was quick to remind them in case ideas for their next trip started coming up. "Big space ship, Churchill's bunker...? C'mon!"

The Doctor only paused to correct her about their whereabouts. "Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delerium Archive, final resting place of the headless monks, the biggest museum ever."

"You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?"

"Wait for it," Renata crossed her arms and watched the Doctor continue on with the displays like a maze.

"Wrong! Very wrong! Oooh—" he pressed his nose to one glass display, "—one of mine. Also one of mine."

"Oh, I see. It's how you keep score…" Amy glanced at Renata to see if she'd guessed right...and she had.

Renata was pinching the bridge of her nose. "Mhm." After a month of traveling together with his last incarnation, the Doctor had brought her to another museum to do the same exact thing. He was only a little more jumpier than this current incarnation, but everything else was the same.

"That's just plain conceitedness," Gabby followed the Doctor to another display and sighed when he stopped to yet again press his nose to it. "Doctor, you're not putting yourself under a very good light here."

But the Doctor had stopped playing altogether. He was really studying the ancient box sitting inside. There was strange symbols engraved into it.

"Doctor, what is it?" Renata sensed his uneasiness and walked up beside him.

"It's from one of the old starliners. A Home Box."

"What's a Home Box?" asked Amy.

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data."

"So what's the deal with this one?" Gabby inquired. She noticed the way Renata's face paled to the point someone would think she's sick. She didn't even want to consider Renata getting a cold after everything she'd been through in her last incarnation. "Ren?"

"The writing, the graffiti - it's Old High Gallifreyan," Renata whispered, almost feeling a surge of rage come forwards when she realized yet another implication. "The lost language of the Time Lords."

"There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods…" the Doctor straightened up, looking more irritated than intrigued now.

"What does it say?" Amy checked the symbols herself but all she saw were a bunch of swirling lines forming circles.

"Hello, sweetie."

And now Gabby understood completely.

"What?" Amy laughed. "Who would say that?"

"You can't," Gabby was already warning the pair. "Leave her. Just...let's just go!"

"Leave who?" Amy looked at her, her nose scrunched in confusion.

"She left it here for a reason," Renata bit her lower lip. She had no desire to see that woman but what if it was a call for help and they didn't answer it so she died? She couldn't carry that on her conscience.

"Renée?" the Doctor reached for her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "What are—"

Before Renata changed her mind, she shot a fire of golden energy at the display and shattered the glass. The alarms blared instantly but no one moved, they were all too stunned.

"Well, don't just stand there! Let's go!" Renata exclaimed, urging them to start moving.

The Doctor sprang into action and swiped the box from the pedestal. They ran as fast as they could to the TARDIS, barely avoiding the guards coming after them.

"I cannot believe you did that!" Gabby caught her breath by the railings while the Time Lords went straight up to the console.

"Seriously!" Amy agreed only a few feet behind her. "Why are we doing this?"

"Out of obligatory reasons," Renata muttered as she and the Doctor worked hard to get the home box hooked up to the console. "And I will only give her points for creativity. Nothing else."

"Give her no points!" Gabby shouted. "Give her nothing!"

"Who!?" Amy shouted just as loud as Gabby had. She was getting real tired of this little game.

Eventually, they got the security playback working on the monitor. The group watched the monitor play a grainy, black and white footage of River Song winking at them. It quickly switched to another moment where she was facing off three men, two of them armed.

'The party's over, Doctor Song…yet still you're on board.'

'Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination.'

'Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution.'

'Triple-seven, five, slash, three, four, nine by ten. Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor.'

Gabby scoffed at the woman. "Oh, would you like a coffee and magazine to go with that too?"

Amy's eyebrows raised together. She felt a lot of animosity from Gabby and that was a plain first. Actually, up until now, Amy was sure that Gabby had always been friendly to everyone. Who was this woman who earned the opposite?

"We have to do it," Renata sighed as she glanced at the Doctor. "We can't let her die."

The Doctor begrudgingly agreed with her. "No, we can't."

They followed River's coordinates to get them at the right spot before she would be thrown out of whatever ship she was on. The Doctor then hurried towards the doors to open them up. He flung them open just as River was caught in space and pulled her right inside. The force of things threw them to the ground with River landing on top of him.

"Doctor?" Renata called almost as soon as she saw their position. She pursed her lips together and forced her hands to stay on the console. She couldn't get upset, nothing was happening, though she swore she saw a River shoot her a little smirk when the Doctor untangled himself from her.

"Follow that ship!" River ordered as she rushed towards the console.

"What's happening to it?" Renata barely got to ask when River pushed her aside to work the controls.

"It's crashing, what else!?" River snapped without looking like she even noticed. Her face only mildly scrunched as if asking Renata if she was really wondering that.

Renata closed her mouth and stay put. Gabby gaped silently at the Time Lady. If somebody yelled at her in her own ship, she would have something to say about it. But Renata wasn't that confrontational.

The Doctor hurried over to help. He motioned for Renata to come to his side and help but she shook her head. Why put herself into a situation? It wasn't worth it.

"They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them! Stay close!" River told him, ordered him.

"I'm trying!" he snapped.

"Use the stabilisers!"

"There aren't any stabilisers!"

"The blue switches!"

"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just...blue!"

"Actually…" Renata cut into the argument, shooting the Doctor an apologetic smile, "They are stabilizers dear." She reached over to the stabilizers River talked about and flicked them on.

"Of course I knew that but...they're boring-ers," the Doctor huffed and crossed his arms. "They're blue boring-ers! This is meant to be an exciting ship!"

Renata smiled at him. "It is. But we should really see what we're chasing. Where are we landing, actually?" She glanced at the woman who was still working hard at the console. She was choosing to ignore how well she seemed to know the console for...feelings.

River flatly ignored the Time Lady as she moved over to the monitor. "OK. I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side."

"Parked us?" the Doctor frowned at her. "We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."

"But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"You know, the…" the Doctor resorted to actually imitating the wheezing of the TARDIS, making Renata laugh. He grinned at her. "See? Renée knows what I'm talking about?"

River's face turned sour as she briefly glanced at Renata. "Mhm. It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on."

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise," the Doctor huffed and grabbed Renata's hand. "Let's go have a look Ren! Gabbs!"

"Oh, so on it!" Gabby rushed after them. "C'mon Amy!"

"Doctor, while I'm curious, we should really check the—"

"Environment checks!" River called, cutting Renata off at the right moment, almost like she planned it…

"Oh, yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks," the Doctor let go of Renata's hand to poke his head out the door. He was slapped by a force of wind but he wouldn't admit to it. "Nice out!"

"Stop being ridiculous," Renata chuckled as she tried pulling him back inside.

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt," River was reading off the monitor, "There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest…"

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," the Doctor cut her without noticing, "Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and…" He stuck his head out the door one more time just to make sure he would finish correctly, "...chances of rain later."

"Oh stop being a show off," Renata rolled her eyes as she finally pulled him back inside.

"Show off and right," he smirked proudly. He liked showing off to her, showing her that he was still as smart as the day they met and possibly more.

"Stop," Renata couldn't help her giggle. She hardly ever giggled which was why the Doctor beamed even brighter.

"Okay, how come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy walked back to the console where River was silently picking up her shoes from the ground.

"Oh, I had lessons…" the woman answered rather begrudgingly, like she was forced to do it. "The only reason I would thank Gabby for anything in my life."

Gabby flinched at the revelation that she was responsible for teaching River how to drive the console. "Me? I would never!" There was no power alive that would make her ever want to teach River Song how to drive the TARDIS.

"You did," River said, smiling triumphantly on her way to the doors. "So why did they land here?"

"They didn't land," the Doctor called to her. "You should've checked the Home Box - it crashed."

Gabby watched River go out the door and quickly dashed to close them behind her. She turned around with a glare. "I don't like her!"

Amy scoffed. "You don't say?"

Gabby rolled her eyes. "I have every right to be."

"Gabriella, are you alright?" Renata got the faint idea that there was more to Gabby's increased hatred towards River. Sure, the River they met in the Library hadn't been the nicest but it didn't exactly constitute the hatred Gabby clearly felt for the woman. It almost seemed like Gabby and her had already…

"I'm fine, peachy! Let's go!" Gabby stalked back to the console. "Doctor!"

"Mhm!" the Doctor agreed fairly quickly, leaving Renata to wonder if he knew what was going on with Gabby.

"Explain! Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?" Amy followed the two around the console, expecting a full fledged answer.

"It's a long story and I don't know most of it," the Doctor shrugged, about to take off. "Off we go!"

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go!"

"Oh! We could go to Space Florida! Renata would like that," Gabby said and once again the Doctor agreed fairly quickly.

"Are you basically running away?" Amy cocked her head to the side.

"Yep," the Doctor reached for Renata who was staying just a bit too far away from them.

"Why?"

"Cos she's rude!" Gabby snapped. "And a bi—"

"Gabriella," Renata settled a sharp look at the girl. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"She's from the future and she's not nice," Gabby said for Amy's benefit then looked to Renata. "And...no…"

"Wait, is that an alien planet out there?" Amy turned for the doors, suddenly getting the idea that it was.

"Yes, of course it's a planet," the Doctor answered her and Renata noticed the way that he and Gabby were actively avoiding her looks.

Amy's eyes dazzled with excitement. "You promised me a planet. Five minutes?"

"Of course Amy," Renata gave the girl a nod. Amy squealed and hurried for the doors. "But it's all we're giving you and then you choose another place!" Amy didn't really hear that last part but it didn't matter, Renata wanted a moment alone with the Doctor and Gabby anyways. "Alright you two," she folded her arms, "What is going on here? I'm missing something and don't deny it."

"It doesn't really matter," Gabby shrugged.

"Completely doesn't," agreed the Doctor.

Renata's gaze sharpened with the seconds that ticked by. "I'm not stupid so don't treat me as if I were. Now I am the first to agree that River Song isn't particularly a kind woman—"

Gabby snorted. "That doesn't cut it! Ren, she was so mean to you the last time you saw her! You told me she said all these things about you keeping your identity a secret from the Doctor!"

"Which was all true. I can't exactly get mad at her for that," Renata glanced at the Doctor and studied his strange silence. She took a good look at his face and saw remnants of...guilt? Was that guilt? Why would he be guilty? "It wasn't the best way I would've done it but...I did do it. I guess I should thank her for that—"

"No you will not!" Gabby wagged her finger. "You don't have to thank her for anything! You don't owe her crap!"

"Gabriella, stop," Renata's voice hardened suddenly.

Gabby stopped but she looked at the Doctor, much like Renata. "Tell her."

"Tell me what?" Renata waited for the Doctor to speak but he was diverting his gaze from her. "Doctor?"

"We, uh...we...sort of ran into River again after the Library," he spoke quietly that Renata did a double-take at Gabby to make sure she heard right.

"It was while you were sick," Gabby elaborated. "You were staying with Zhe and...and we bumped into her. Sucked us into this whole event."

"O...kay," Renata felt her air thin just a tiny bit at the idea of River alone with the Doctor and Gabby. "Well, what's so bad about that?"

"She was, first of all, plain rude to me," Gabby started listing off her fingers. "All snaps and no kind words. And she couldn't keep her hands off this guy!" She gestured to the Doctor who quickly snapped his head up.

If it was up to him, he would've never told Renata about the unfortunate meeting with River. He and Gabby were following a lead on a potential cure for Renata's condition and on the way, River had found them. She was ecstatic to find him, Gabby no so much, and even more so when she found out Renata wasn't around them.

That was the first time Gabby felt her blood actually boil. They had explained to River what Renata's condition was and instead of offering to help them - or at least give a simple 'I'm sorry' - she started going on about her own issues and how it would be marvelous if the Doctor could help her. She was on the hunt for a jewel that she was being paid to find.

Despite their judgement, they decided to help River. That's where Gabby's first desire to ever throw a punch at someone was born. River hadn't missed any opportunity to touch the Doctor. She would grab his hand - she actually ran hand in hand with him - then touch his chest. At one point, she touched his hair too. She didn't miss any opportunity. And she kept trying to show off. It was sickening. Gabby would've held more respect for the woman if she hadn't constantly tried to put Renata down while Renata wasn't there. Who did that!?

"Oh," Renata swallowed hard. Her insides were churning at the idea of River spending a whole day with her doctor and Gabriella. "Well...I mean…Doctor, you and I weren't together so...whatever you and her did at that point—"

"Nothing!" the Doctor was quick to say. Any sort of rumors going on he would stop right there and then. "Nothing happened! I helped her find her jewel and then I sent her on her way!"

"Where she then tried to kiss your cheek, and that's only because I warned her I'd punch her if she tried kissing you," Gabby muttered, much to the Doctor's dismay.

"You're not helping," he shot her a glare to shut up. Gabby raised her hands in defence. She was only speaking the truth.

"Doctor, it's fine," Renata sighed. She would rather not think about that day.

"No, because you're thinking things that aren't true! It's the reason why I didn't tell you about it. Plus, it just wasn't important. I was focused on finding your cure and nothing else." He thought it was such an irritating day anyways. River gave him a headache with all her future talks. And Gabby was right, there was far too much touching on River's side.

"It's fine," Renata insisted, putting on her best smile for the two. "Gabriella, I appreciate you thinking you need to defend me but I don't need it. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

Gabby would've liked to point out that Renata was very passive aggressive. River had already taken multiple shots in these past ten minutes and Renata had taken it with silence. She got the feeling it was why River even took the shots in the first place. It was much easier to see how her comments affected Renata.

"Let's go make sure that Amy's okay," Renata gestured for Gabby to start heading towards the doors. "And be nice, Gabriella. Whatever River may be doing, let's not forget what she did in her future. She saved all of us. We have to give her credit where it's due."

Gabby rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. It sounded a lot like 'it's not an excuse'. She made a show of letting the doors slam behind her to prove where she stood.

"C'mon," Renata grabbed the Doctor's hand to follow after Gabby. She led him down the steps of the console then for the doors.

Suddenly, the Doctor pulled her back. Her body did a quick turn before she felt the Doctor's lips land on hers. His hands cupped her face as he kissed her as loving and ardent as he could...and he could. Renata felt her legs lose their balance a few seconds into their kiss. She had to wrap her arms around his neck to keep her standing. Once that was settled, she let herself get lost in their kiss.

The Doctor was in complete control. He moved their lips in a slow dance, finding the just the right way to part Renata's lips and slip his tongue through. Delightful. She tasted of cinnamon from their breakfast, sweet like her. His fingers trickled down to her jaw once he began to, slowly, pull away from her.

"W-wow…" Renata sucked in breath once she gathered her bearings and even then she still needed to hang onto the Doctor. "That was...that was different." And completely acceptable for any future reference. The idea left her blushing like mad.

The Doctor smiled proudly. He licked his lips and resisted the urge to kiss her again. Actually, he had to put away the idea of letting everyone stay outside while he kissed Renata senseless. "I want you to remember this kiss whenever you get even the slightest idea about me and River," he touched her cheek with gentle fingers.

"Oh Doctor," Renata looked away but the Doctor wouldn't let her brush away her obvious feelings.

"Gala, I want you to remember that I love you. You have no idea how much I love you, actually. That kiss was only a quarter of what I feel for you."

Renata smiled softly at him. "I love you too. My Theta…"

The Doctor nuzzled his nose against her cheek and felt her body's light rumbles from her chuckle. "I think I'm going to take you out on a date today."

"But we agreed—"

"One day won't harm anyone," he pressed a small kiss to her cheek. "You, me, a date. Somewhere fantastic!"

Renata felt her hearts skip in delight as she wondered where this date would take place. "Okay, let's do it," she said. That's all she wanted in the end, wasn't it? The complete freedom to do whatever they wanted together.

"Just you wait!" the Doctor grabbed her hand and led them for the doors. Five minutes was up anyways!

~ 0 ~

River was busy on a handheld device when the Time lords emerged from the TARDIS. The ship they followed crashed on the very top of a large and old stone structure, resembling a cliff. It was no pretty crash as most of the pieces of the ship had scattered around the beach around them.

"What caused it to crash? Not me," River joked with a light laugh.

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it," the Doctor informed her and the others in the process. "According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them."

"About what?"

"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries."

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Amy whispered to the Doctor after waiting a decent amount of time. She would've asked Gabby earlier but the girl made her feelings towards River very clear, and fast.

The Doctor, whatever his feelings were, had sighed and gestured towards River. "Amy Pond, Professor River Song."

"Oooh, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" River stopped to sarcastically gape. She laughed when the Doctor winced. That clearly hadn't been done on purpose. "How exciting! Spoilers!"

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" Amy asked once River was back to work on her scanner. "She just left you a note in a museum!"

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum: The Home Box of category four starliner and, sooner or later, him. It's how he keeps score," River rolled her eyes playfully.

And how would she know that? Renata didn't even want to think about the possible reasons.

Amy only laughed alongside River, both agreeing how ridiculous it was of the Doctor.

The Doctor scowled at both of them. "I'm nobody's taxi service! I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship."

"And you are so wrong," River was happy to clarify as she threw smug looks towards Renata and Gabby. She wanted them - no, she needed them - to understand that this was a simple truth. Whenever she called, they would come.

"Well of course, because Renata and the Doctor would never let someone die. They're good people," Gabby folded her arms over her chest, meeting River's glare with her own. "A concept that unfortunately not everybody gets."

"Gabriella," Renata whispered, making Gabby desist in her glaring competition but not without a huff.

Passive aggressive!

"There's one survivor," River went back to the crashed ship. "There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die. Now he's listening!" River shook her head at the Doctor then spoke into her device. "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." She raised her device into the air and waited for a few minutes. When nothing happened, she turned to the group. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and used it on her, much to her delight as she gave a mock curtsy in return.

"Ooh, Doctor! You soniced her!" Amy teased beside him.

"I do that all the time," he muttered and reached for Renata's hand. She wasn't saying anything and she was doing a really good job at hiding her true discomfort, but at this point the Doctor knew her very well.

"We have a minute. Shall we?" River returned to them with a familiar TARDIS-blue diary in her hands. "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" Amy eyed the diary with natural curiosity.

"Stay away from it," warned Gabby. "She might try to hit you with it!"

River's eyebrows raised with the same curiosity that Amy had for her diary. "Have you just done the Silva gem hunt?"

"Months ago," Gabby responded.

"Ah, years ago," River said with a laugh. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

Amy was sure that if it was possible, steam would be coming out of Gabby's ears right now. Even Renata was looking between the two women, once again feeling like she was missing something.

'River tried smacking Gabby with the diary in that last trip we met her,' the Doctor filled in the blanks for Renata. Gabby was bound to mention it anyways. And a few seconds later, Gabby did.

Renata immediately looked at him with widened eyes. 'She tried doing what!?' A fierce anger started in the pit of her stomach. She could handle River not liking her but she would never allow someone to hurt Gabby.

'It was an argument that spiraled and Gabby tried pulling River away and so she...tried hitting her with the book. Like a swat, really.' The Doctor hated to even remember the moment. It was one of those moments where he truly wished Renata had been there to put an end to such a childish argument.

"O...kay…" Amy scratched the top of her head. She couldn't really picture River doing that but then again she was also conscious that she didn't know River. She didn't know what the woman was like.

She had gotten the gist of what kind of person Gabby was and it made it harder to picture her having an argument with River that would end up like that. She was honestly so confused why there was such an intense hatred between them. The Doctor and Renata didn't seem that way. Granted they looked weary if Amy would describe it, but not hatred.

"It's our diary, Amy," River answered her question in the end seeing as neither the Doctor nor Renata would admit to it.

"Our…?" Amy followed River's gaze to the Time Lords.

"We don't meet in the right order," Renata explained to the girl. "Seems like her past is our future." And just what kind of future she would prefer not to think about.

Four columns of swirling dust shot down from the sky and left four soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms. One of the soldiers came up to River and he didn't look one bit pleased.

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song!"

"No. I promised you the equivalent of an army," River raised a finger at him then proceeded to point at the Doctor behind her. "This is the Doctor."

The Doctor gave a half-hearted salute. He didn't want to be rude...yet.

"Gabby!" Gabby raised a hand in the air, taking charge as she knew that River had no plans of introducing them to the armed soldiers. "Amy!" She pointed at the ginger who waved nervously. "And Renata!" She gestured towards the Time Lady. "The Vortex Butterfly? You might have heard of her."

"Gabriella," the Time Lady hissed for her to be quiet. Gabby, however, didn't see what was so wrong about letting people know who she was. She would concede with River that the Doctor was worth the equivalent of an army but Renata was also there. She just needed a little more practice.

And it seemed like Gabby's addition did make a difference because the soldier was now staring at Renata in a new light. Renata couldn't tell what it was but he almost seemed...awed? Why would he be awed by her?

"Father Octavian, sir. Bishop, second class," he introduced himself to her and the Doctor. "20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Not precisely," Renata said and looked at River who, unsurprisingly, had her eyes on the Doctor.

"Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

Well, that pretty much ended the five minute rule they imposed on Amy.

~ 0 ~

The day had turned into evening and by that time, a transport ship had arrived to the sight. The soldiers set up their camp to prepare for what was coming next.

Octavian led the group down the campsite, explaining their current situation. "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralise it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this—" he briefly showed them another handheld device, "—behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good…" the Doctor breathed out. That was a lot to take in and the fact it was the Weeping Angels had him a little more on edge. Last time he faced them, they'd gotten him before he could even literally blink.

'Although it was the reason I bumped into Renata again after 1914.' The Doctor smiled lightly at that reminder. After 1914, he honestly thought he'd never see Renata again and then BAM! There she was living her life as a human doing all the humany-wumany things they do like grocery shopping.

"So there's like actual catacombs down there?" Gabby's question brought the Doctor back to the present. He winced after realizing he'd let himself get distracted when Octavian was explaining the entire situation to him. Whoops.

"Yes," Octavian nodded, eyeing her when she shuddered.

"I've seen the documentaries about the catacombs under Paris. Those are freaky!" Gabby looked to Amy and saw her shrugging. She didn't really know what a Weeping Angel really was anyways.

"Well, uh, this one has a Weeping Angels. I think it's worse."

"Yes, we do get the idea, trust us," Renata sighed. "It's not the first time we-" she gestured between herself and the Doctor, "-encounter them."

"Father Octavian?" a young soldier came for Octavian.

"Excuse me, ma'am, sir," Octavian then said to Renata and the Doctor.

The Doctor waved him off as he left. With a sigh, Renata turned to the equipment the soldiers had already set up. They weren't leaving anytime soon, that was clear. If a Weeping Angel was truly stuck inside the ship, they needed to get it out before it hurt someone.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a sonic," Amy remarked as soon as she saw Renata taking out her sonic to use on the equipment. It was similar to the Doctor's except it was thinner and colored golden and white with a blue light on the top when it turned on. Had she not been paying attention? Amy winced. That was a possibility. She was very aware that most of her attention had skipped over Renata (and Gabby for that matter) to land solely on the Doctor.

"Yes, I do," Renata chuckled at her curious eyes. "The Doctor made it for me last year."

"Oh, that's...that's nice," Amy silently looked at the Time Lords as they exchanged sweet smiles. She tried not to frown and when she felt herself losing the battle, she looked away...and still talked to cut the moment. "So, uh, what exactly is a Weeping Angel?"

Instead of answering her question, the Doctor looked up from the equipment to give her AND and Gabby the same sharp stare. "Now that's interesting...You're still here. Which part of 'Wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

Gabby scrunched her face. "Ooh, are you all Mr Grumpy Face today? You still do that even in a new body?"

"He'll do that in all of his incarnations, Gabby," Renata put a hand on the Doctor's arm, trying to ease him up for the girls. "They're only curious, Doctor. It's natural."

He sighed but did agree. It was better to answer and appease their curiosity and hopefully be enough to ward them off to the TARDIS for the duration of this little excavation. "A Weeping Angel, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and we're—" he pointed at Renata then at himself, "—supposed to climb in with two screwdrivers and a torch — and assuming we survive the radiation, and the whole ship doesn't blow up in our faces — do something clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's our day, that's what we're up to. Any questions?"

Gabby had none. That was a pretty stressful day alright.

Amy had one, however. She may have not been paying attention again. "Is River Song your wife?" The moment the question left her mouth, Renata's sonic clanged on the table after dropping it. "Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kinda like, you know, 'Heel, boy!' She's Mrs Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she gonna be your wife one day?"

The Doctor shook his fervently at her while Renata preferred to take up her sonic from the table. Gabby was throwing Amy a near-like murderous glare for such a stupid question.

"No, Amy. And we don't know her so please be careful," the Doctor sighed. He tried reaching for Renata's hand but she was purposely scanning more equipment, keeping her hands very busy and away from him.

Gala, you can't let Amy's question and oh-so-wrong assumption put a strife between us.

I'm not doing anything, I'm only scanning.

The Doctor almost rolled his eyes at her flat tone. "Renée"

"Doctor?" River called to him from a transport. "Doctor!"

"Oops! Her indoors!" Amy continued to tease, much to the Doctor's dismay.

"Stop it," the Doctor actually hissed at her, startling her into silence. He turned to Renata and had quite a struggle taking one of her hands.

"She called you," she muttered.

"I don't give a damn," he returned. "We go together to any place. Always."

She didn't show anger nor annoyance, but rolling her eyes expressed where she was at. Still, she at least let him take her away.

In the end, the entire group and Octavian met River inside the transport. She had pulled up a grainy black and white footage of a Weeping Angel. It was covering its stone eyes from the camera.

"What do you think? It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board," River explained as she controlled the video with a remote. "Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

"Yeah, that's an Angel alright," the Doctor glared at the screen. "Hands covering its face."

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian glanced at him then at Renata.

"He did," Renata was the one to answer. "And then he brought me into it. Story of my life."

The Doctor grinned at her. At least she was talking again. That was a good sign. "It was a long time ago on Earth. But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

"It's just a statue," Amy said after trying to find its menacing parts. But it really did look like a statue.

Gabby was rather perplexed by it too but she knew better than to ignore what Renata and the Doctor said about alien creatures. If they said the Weeping Angels were dangerous then they were.

"It's a statue when you see it," River clarified for Amy.

"Where did it come from?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."

"There's a difference between dormant and patient…"

For all they knew, the Angel was just waiting for the right time to strike.

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy asked.

"Amy, the Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen. No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature, the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defense mechanism," Renata answered just as River was about to. The Time Lady hadn't noticed, she only wanted to clarify, but it still earned her a sharpened glare from River.

"What, being a stone?" Amy almost laughed until Renata added.

"Being a stone...until you turn your back."

Amy had the good sense to gulp.

~ 0 ~

"The hyperdrive would've split on impact. The whole ship will be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing…" the Doctor was saying as he led the group out of the transport.

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian asked.

"Unfortunately not," Renata apologetically smiled at him. "It's more like, um...dinner to an Angel. And the longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow."

"Who built that temple? Are they still around?" the Doctor thought to ask, though River was already looking up that information on her handheld device.

"The Aplans. The indigenous life-form. They died out 400 years ago."

"200 years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are six billion human colonists," Octavian added.

The Doctor smiled, close to laughing. "You lot, you're everywhere! Like rabbits! I'll never get done saving you."

"I am NOT not a rabbit," Gabby set her hands on her hips. "I am...actually, according to my DNA results...I don't know what I am."

The Doctor rubbed his hand over her arm, though as concerned as he was about her new biology he was still smiling out of amusement. She truly didn't look the least bit bothered by the fact she was no longer a pure human. She was making jokes! If she was making jokes, then he should be able to let go of some of that concern right?

"Ma'am, Sir, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population…" Octavian trailed off when he saw Renata once again smiling apologetically towards him.

"There really is," she said.

"Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!" the Doctor added without the same prudence as Renata. Not surprising.

Octavian got the message though so he got into action. "Verger, how are we doing with those explosives?" He called to a nearby soldier then motioned for River to follow. "Dr Song, with me."

"Two minutes. Sweetie, I need you," River said on her way. The Doctor threw her a scrunched-face look. What was her obsession with that word?

"That's another thing she does," Gabby groaned and rolled her eyes. "She does half these things on purpose, you know."

"Gabriella it's fine," Renata waved it off even though it most certainly was not fine. River seemed pretty comfortable with her sweet names, she had also been in the Library.

"It's not and you know it," Gabby shook her head. "Stop being so passive aggressive, will you?"

"Gabby why don't you and Amy go wait inside the transport," the Doctor's question came out more as an order rather than a suggestion. "You'd be safer in there anyways…"

"You know I'm right!" Gabby exclaimed even as the Doctor ushered her and Amy into the transport. "Ren is so passive aggressive. You need to take charge here—"

"Yes, yes, now go!" the Doctor may have shoved her inside a bit too hard. He winced when he heard her yelp after bumping into Amy. "Sorry!" he called then turned for Renata. "She really is trying to help, you know."

"Hm, I can see that through her snaps. It's a bit amusing," Renata said quietly, her lips trying to quirk into a smile even when she knew it was rude.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you about meeting the other version of River," the Doctor came up to her and had to rip her sonic from her hand so she would face him.

"You didn't have to tell me anything. You did nothing wrong back there. You were free…"

"Doesn't matter, I was in love with you, still am…" he grinned, "So in love…"

Renata playfully rolled her eyes at him. Her skin went into a series of chills when he nuzzled his nose against her cheek. She would love that if he kept doing it, and he would.

"...do you think I'm passive aggressive?" The Doctor froze as soon as the question was asked. Renata sighed and stepped away from him. "I am, aren't I?"

The Doctor didn't want to blatantly answer with the 'yes' because it would inevitably hurt her feelings. So how could he word it perfectly? "Renée…"

"I can't help it," she actually pouted at him, a true testament to how out of place she felt at the moment.

"It's okay, it's okay!" the Doctor exclaimed and struggled to tug her up to him. "Ren, c'mon…" Renata weakly fought him off until she was against his chest. "Don't go all pouty on me."

"Pouty?" Renata made a face that ultimately turned into another pout. "I do not pout!"

The Doctor laughed lightly. "I'm Mr. Grumpy Face and you're Ms. Pouty Face!"

"That is not a good comparison!" Renata tried to act angry but her own laugh was giving her away.

"It's not...Ms. Pouty Face?"

"Doctor!"

He grinned with her more cheerful face. That's what he wanted to see, not that bottling up face. She was so used to doing that, to keeping her feelings away, and he really wanted it to stop. She had no reason to do that anymore. If she was bothered, if she was upset, then he wanted her to feel like she could come to him and tell him all about it. It would take a while, he knew, but he wouldn't give up.

River glared at the pair from her spot. Didn't she call for the Doctor!? Did he just forget that they were in the middle of a situation? A situation with a Weeping Angel!? Of course he did because Renata was once again being dramatic — over what, River didn't know nor cared for — and wrapping him around her finger. River despised that little knack Renata had for stopping an entire situation to suck everyone into her problems. Everyone always stopped to make sure she was okay, that she wasn't upset, and then Renata would do the same to everyone else. She played the role of a 'mother' to the very brim as if she actually was a mother.

All lies and manipulation.

~0~

"Looks like you're about to explode," Amy remarked about Gabby after a few minutes of just watching the girl grumble in her chair.

"You don't get it, Amy." Gabby got up from her chair and walked away Amy towards the huge screen with the Angel. "I've only met River twice and it was enough to know how mean she is. And how much she hates Renata and I."

In the beginning, Gabby actually felt bad that someone hated her that much. She couldn't understand why River would hate her like that. For a moment, Gabby thought the whole experience in the Library was just so chaotic that maybe she was imagining things. After all, she had been sucked into the virtual world with Donna. She didn't spend so much time with River. Maybe her mind was all fuzzy.

But then she met River again and realized that she hadn't been imagining. River seized the opportunity to spend time with the Doctor the moment she knew the opportunity was up in the air. More than that, Gabby saw the clear delight River took when she learned where Renata was, why she wasn't with them. That was what sickened Gabby. It forged the hatred that bubbled inside her today. How could anyone be happy that another person was fighting for their life?

Yes, Gabby would concede that technically there was nothing wrong with River trying to catch the Doctor's eye back then because he technically wasn't with Renata but the man had made it clear that he loved Renata. He wanted to find her a cure so that he could bring her back to the TARDIS and continue traveling together. He tried to avoid River's advances by changing topics, the conversation...but she wouldn't stop. Gabby knew she had no claim on the two Time Lords - they could do whatever they wanted - but at the same time she felt like it was her responsibility to keep them together.

At that time, Renata wasn't even in a position to argue with anyone. She was fighting a deadly advancing illness. She was near bedridden towards the end. And the Doctor's head was all jumbled up. Between finding the cure and clearing up his thoughts about Renata, he wasn't at his best. Gabby knew that Donna was the one the Doctor would always talk to about everything and now that she was gone, Gabby felt like she needed to step up. She had to be like Donna and ward off any potential danger to the Time Lords' growing relationship. It's what Donna would've wanted too.

So she put herself between River and the Doctor whenever he made it clear that he didn't want what River was doing. If Gabby saw that the Doctor was alright with River's advances, that he would let it happen, she would've kept back. But he didn't. He loved Renata. And sooner or later, River had to get the message. So, Gabby vowed from that last trip that she would ward off River Song at least until Renata found her footing and stood up for herself.

"She seems alright," Amy went on, oblivious to all the thoughts inside Gabby's head. She noticed the Angel on the screen was...changed? Was that right? "Definitely knows what she's doing."

Gabby snorted lightly. "You got that right. She knows she's making Ren miserable."

Amy cocked her head to the side. The Angel did seem like it changed. Her eyes widened. "The hands are different," she whispered. "Gabby? Wasn't the Angel covering its face?"

"Hm?" Gabby set her thoughts aside to see the screen. "I think so…" If she remembered correctly, the Angel had been covering its eyes. So why wasn't it anymore?

~0~

River begrudgingly handed over a book to the Doctor. She was certain she only called for the Doctor, not Renata, and yet here she was as well. "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."

Renata watched the Doctor zoom through the pages. She would ask him if he really read the mark's River left behind if she didn't already know him. He was fast but when it counted he caught things.

"Not bad, bit slow in the middle, didn't you hate his girlfriend?" the Doctor asked dismissively until something snapped in his mind. "No, hang on, wait, wait!"

Renata rolled her eyes when he sniffed the book. "You never know what could be on that book. Now it'll be in your nose."

The Doctor winced. That was a good point. He brushed his fingers under his nose just to check if there was something crawling inside. "Nope! All clear!" He grinned.

Renata shook her head at him. There was a small laugh trying to slip out from his antics.

Amy popped her head out of the transport. "Dr. Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

River shook her head. "No, just the four seconds."

Amy frowned and returned into the transport. Renata curiously watched after the girl. "Why would she ask something like that?"

"People are allowed to ask questions you know," River muttered not so quietly.

Renata sighed with annoyance. "It's just an odd question, wouldn't you assume? Why would she ask that suddenly?"

"Maybe she's confused," River folded her arms, staring at Renata as if an unspoken competition had just begun.

Renata wasn't interested in playing. She was more concerned with Amy. "Something's wrong."

"Do you want to go check on them?" the Doctor asked as he presumed the answer. He felt the same thing - something was wrong - only his concern went to the book in his hand.

"Mhm," Renata smiled lightly. He knew her so well. He nodded her to go on and check on their companions. No matter what incarnation she was in, she would always be a Mother Hen.

River rolled her eyes at them and turned away to busy herself with whatever was on the table. Once again, Renata was being dramatic and the Doctor was falling for it.

"Hey Ren!" Gabby was the one to come out of the transport now. "I'm pretty sure…"

Renata was already heading for them. "Something's not right, I know. Stay out there please."

Gabby snorted. "Not with that woman out there."

Renata pulled the girl down the transport way and ushered her along. "Wasn't an option! Amy, you too! Get out of there!"

Amy was still staring at the screen and Renata had to commend her for her entire focus on it. "It's wrong," she told Renata. "The Angel is looking at us now. It's hands are on its side!"

"Hm," Renata moved up to the screen. Her eyes went down to the date stamped on the bottom. It was still currently 'looping' between the four minutes River had showed them earlier.

Neither she nor Amy noticed the door closing and locking.

Outside, Gabby had joined the Doctor who was still going over the book River handed him. Gabby would give River credit where it was due because all she'd been doing since Renata left was just staring at the Doctor. She looked like she was trying to figure him out which, ironically, was what Gabby wanted to do with River.

"Oh, it's so strange when you go all baby-face," River remarked at one point. "How early is this for you?"

"Very early," the Doctor said distractedly as he flipped to the next page of the book.

"So...you don't know who I am yet?"

"How do you know who we are?" the Doctor thought of a better question. He lowered the book to meet River's gaze. "Renata and I just regenerated a couple months ago. And the last time we—" he pointed at himself then Gabby, "—saw you, I had a different face."

"I've got pictures of all your faces…" River answered, her voice shifting into a harder one. "You never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide."

"Pictures…" the Doctor breathed in when it started to hit him. "Why aren't there pictures?"

~ 0 ~

"How's it doing that?" Amy was gawking at the screen that was adamant to stay on. Renata had grabbed the remote to turn it off but each time she did that, it kept turning back on.

"I have never met such a stubborn screen," Renata mumbled. "You're a recording you're not supposed to move!"

Amy threw the Time Lady a bemused glance. "Did you just huff at the screen?"

Renata blinked. "...no, shut up!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Mature."

"Alright," Renata let the remote drop to the table. "Let's just unplug the thing and go ask Dr. Song about this questionable loop."

Amy shrugged and followed Renata to the power source. Renata unplugged the power but instead of getting a calm reaction, she heard Amy gasp.

The Angel's face was glaring at the camera now.

"Well!" Renata straightened on her feet fast. "Amy, out, now!"

Amy didn't need to be told twice. She ran for the door only to find it locked. "It's not opening!"

Renata hurried to see for herself and was mighty disappointed to see Amy was right. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Ren, it's moved again!" Amy gasped after seeing the Angel now glaring at them with its mouth wide open.

~ 0 ~

"This whole book - it's a warning, about the Weeping Angels. So why no pictures?" the Doctor turned his head to the side as he once again flipped through the pages of the Angel book. "Why not show us what to look out for?"

"There was a bit about images…" River said, attempting to take the book from him but he spun away.

"Yes! Hang on...'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel.'"

"What does that mean?" frowned Gabby.

A moment later, they heard Amy scream from the transport.

---

A/N:

Get ready folks, this one's going to be a doozy!

I think I might try this spoiler thing again. Spoilers for the next chapter go as follow: Future guesses for the title of the Doctor's wife are made and Renata's first bowling attempt is vividly remembered by the Doctor ;) (Do with that what you want!)

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 9: The Growing Angels

Summary:

The travelers start going down underground in search of the missing Angel. They make a horrifying discovery when they're in too deep.

One might as well say that all hell broke loose. Amy was yelling for dear life inside the transport while Renata blocked her view from the materializing Angel ahead of them. Outside, Gabby was banging on the door to bet let in. The Doctor was more or less doing the same thing whilst attempting to use his sonic.

"Doctor! Doctor, it's coming out of the television!" Amy yelled behind. "The Angel is here!"

The Doctor relentlessly yanked on the door. "Renata! Renée!" Why wasn't she answering him!? Was she hurt!? No, no, she couldn't be hurt! She had just gotten over the 'hurt' part with her illness. She couldn't be hurt! Not again!

You are thinking very loud! Renata's voice filled his head.

The Doctor only briefly smiled out of relief that she could still talk to him. He now needed to figure out a way to get her and Amy out of the transport. "Don't take your eyes off the Angel! It can't move if you're looking." The sonic wasn't working! "What's wrong? It's deadlocked!"

River had been trying to override controls next to the door. "There is no deadlock!"

"Clearly something's locking it!" Gabby exclaimed. "

~0~

Renata gave up trying to turn off the screen with her sonic and dropped it back into her pocket. "Okay Amy, don't blink! Don't even blink!"

"Trying!" Amy's voice shook with rightful fear.

Renata hurried up to the screen. She would have to turn it off manually...if there was a way. "Amy don't blink!"

~0~

"What are you doing?" Gabby anxiously watched the Doctor use his sonic again but it didn't seem to be doing much.

"Cutting the power! It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off — it's no good, it's deadlocked the whole system!"

"There's no deadlock!" River shouted only for him to snap at her.

"There is now!"

"Help us!" Amy begged from the other side.

The Doctor felt like throwing his sonic away. What good was it if he couldn't use it to save Renata!? And Amy. Definitely Amy too.

You are so loud, Renata actually huffed in his mind.

"Renata!" he groaned. Of course his thoughts were loud. She was in danger! He was spazzing and she was still holding onto her sensibility! How!?

Don't question it! I'm trying to turn the screen off but it's not working!

"You have to keep trying! Don't take your eyes off the Angel!" He shouted so that Amy could continue hearing them very important instructions.

"Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink!"

"I'm not blinking!" Amy snapped. "Have you ever tried not blinking?" She was resorting to winning and switching eyes, a smart move that Renata would commend on later.

Renata growled and slammed her hands over the controls. "It's not working! It just keeps switching back on! Stupid Angel!" Her eyes glared at the Angel. She didn't notice the anger gold flicker past her eyes but she did feel something warm on her fingertips.

"But it's just a recording!" Amy exclaimed.

"No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel!" the Doctor stopped momentarily to see River using a small blowtorch on the door. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to cut through. It's not even warm!"

"There is no way in, it's not physically possible!"

"Maybe the book says something!" Gabby hoped with all her heart that it did. She dashed back for the book the Doctor dropped.

Inside, Renata had struck the screen with energy. Amy flinched and - regretfully - blinked. Renata did not but she was mighty angry to find the screen still intact. Her energy wasn't as strong as she hoped. Actually, it was an embarrassment.

"Dammit!" she seized the control as a last resort. "Amy!"

"I know! Don't blink!" the ginger snapped frantically. It was the only instruction show kept going besides other ways to survive.

"Just keep looking at it. Don't stop looking!"

Outside, Gabby had returned with the book in hand. Her eyes scanned the pages for the bit of the pictures the Doctor got interrupted reading. "Oh! Look!" she exclaimed, making the Doctor turn back. He snatched the book from her hands, the only time she wouldn't mind, and took over the reading.

"What are you doing!?" River snapped when Gabby planted her palms against the door.

"Last time I opened a door with my...butterflies…" Gabby remembered that was the word the older River in the Library had used when Gabby touched her.

It seemed familiar enough because River groaned. "Those stupid butterflies!"

"Can maybe use it again to get them out!"

"Renata! Amy!" the Doctor called suddenly. "Don't look at the Angel's eyes! Look anywhere but don't look at the eyes!"

"Why?" Because that's exactly where Amy thought to look at that moment.

"The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors. Beware what may enter there."

"Ah!" Renata grinned suddenly when she caught the time loop again. "We've been doing this wrong! Want to turn it off but the angel won't let us so...what else can we do with a television screen?"

"I don't know!" Amy's voice was weary. Was Renata really going to turn this into a teaching session? She heard with great detail about how she used to teach Gabby when she first came to the TARDIS. She wasn't interested in being a student.

"Whatever holds the image of an angel, is an angel…" Renata mumbled. She'd seen the line through the Doctor as he went over the Angel book again. He was always saving her. "Let's hit the pause button! One, two, three, four…" she pressed the pause button and froze the screen just before the loop would end.

The door clicked open, nearly letting Gabby fall to the ground since she'd still been pressing her hands against the door. Gabby stumbled forwards instead but the Doctor zoomed right past her, knocking her towards the wall.

"Scuse you!" she exclaimed with a huff. The only reason she would let it slide was, once again, because he'd been worried over Renata.

"Amy!" River came in after and pulled the ginger away from the screen and Renata altogether. "You alright?" She figured someone had to make sure Amy was okay since the Doctor went straight for Renata, as usual.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Ren...did something…" Amy weakly gestured back to the screen. She turned her head at the same time River did and saw Renata swatting the Doctor's hands away from her.

He was cupping her face, eyes scrutinizing her for any injuries, while she repeatedly told him that she was fine.

"We just froze the screen but it didn't harm us," Renata assured him, even smiling like she hadn't been in near danger two seconds ago.

"But are you sure?" He begged her to answer with honesty so he could help her if she truly was harmed.

"Yes," she chuckled lightly. "I told you that you were thinking too loud!"

"Oh, 'too loud'," the Doctor let her go as he mimicked her tone.

Renata rolled her eyes and turned to Amy. "Are you alright?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, thanks…" She tried holding back the frown that was trying to mark her face. Why didn't the Doctor come make sure she was okay?

"Ren!" Gabby rushed up to the Time Lady. " I'm so sorry! I tried to use the same power I used to open the door back on the Starship UK but it didn't really work!"

"It's alright," Renata rested her hands on Gabby's shoulders. "I tried doing the same with my power but it didn't work. No butterflies yet."

"So it was here? That was the Angel?" River asked the Doctor who had dug into the controls of the screen. If there was one thing she absolutely despised, it was when the conversations shifted towards the butterflies. She hated butterflies so much!

"That was a projection of the Angel. It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant!"

The ground rocked with an explosion from outside. The entire group rushed out to see what was going on and realized that the soldiers had finally found a way through the tunnels. It was time to find the real Angel.

"Okay. Now it starts," the Doctor exhaled shakily before casting a look over to Renata and their companions. "It would be so much better if you stayed in the TARDIS."

"No," the trio of women said in unison.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at how easily they got into sync when it came to disagreeing with him. "Fine!"

River led the way towards the soldiers. Gabby noticed Amy rubbing her left eye with some pretty good strength.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, coming. There's just...something in my eye," Amy shrugged and continued to rub it.

Behind them, Renata walking alongside the Doctor but was beginning to lag due to the fact she was checking her palms for something. "I can't believe the one moment I needed to use this stupid energy it didn't show up! What good am I to Amy and Gabby if I can't defend them!?"

The Doctor actually stopped her, refusing to take another step without correcting her. "You almost got hurt. You did what you could, what any of us could. I will not have you belittling yourself, not again." Renata rolled her eyes at him but was startled when he pushed her hands down. "I mean it, Renata. You're not weak, you're a person. A Time Lady. Do you know how scared I was back there? Knowing you were locked inside with an Angel and I couldn't get to you!?"

"I just mean that if I could've used this energy, then I could've—"

"You still saved Amy. You didn't need your energy, alright? And I don't know why you're so worked up over its lack of presence. You have to train, practice using it. It's unfair to belittle yourself over something you just started using."

Renata wouldn't openly agree despite knowing he was right. "It's a bit bothersome that I couldn't use the one thing that makes me slightly special! How stupid is that?" The Doctor settled a dumbfounded look on her. Renata met his gaze when he tilted his head. "What?"

"The energy isn't what makes you special. You're special because you have the ability to make everyone feel safe...feel cared for."

Renata paused with his stare that had suddenly become so soft...for her. She felt air leave her lungs knowing he meant it.

"You're the only Time Lady who actually cared about everyone on Gallifrey, even when they probably didn't deserve it. Renata, I honestly don't know how no one ever told you this," the Doctor smiled at her, almost chuckling with her stunned face. Her husband, for one, should've mentioned that itty-bitty detail to her. He knew that Elek hadn't ever said anything from the fact Renata had trouble believing his words right now. "I'm going to spend a lot of time making you understand that," he resolved, making Renata snap out of her stupor to laugh. The Doctor leaned over to kiss her, effectively ending her laughter. "Fair warning, I'm going to end it with a kiss every time."

Renata bit her lip while she looked at him. The Doctor watched her lower lip slowly slip from her teeth's grip. Never had he wanted to kiss her so much. There was actually a shiver running down his back right now.

But he couldn't. Not right now. Because if he did, and Renata didn't stop him, who knows where they could end up.

~ 0 ~

The group had climbed down a rope ladder into the caverns. They were empty and rather dark but so far nonthreatening.

"Do we have a gravity globe?" the Doctor asked the Octavian once they were all on the ground.

"Grav globe," Octavian called for one of the nearby soldiers to deliver.

"Where are we? What is this?" Amy crinkled her nose at the damp tunnels before them.

"It's an Aplan mortarium. Sometimes called a maze of the dead," River said and was fairly amused to see her reaction.

"And...what's that?"

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone…" the Doctor had gotten his hands on the gravity globe, which turned out to be a sphere, and kicked it into the air. The group watched it rise into the air and light up the entire cave.

"It's the perfect hiding place," Renata finished with a long sigh. It truly was.

"Nice hit," Gabby nudged the Doctor on the side. "Didn't you know you could play."

"I don't," he said too quickly, then paused to think about it. "I think…" This was still a pretty early time in his regeneration. There were still plenty of things he didn't know he could or couldn't do.

Gabby chuckled. "I'll have a match with you later, then. I'm pretty good too."

River cleared her throat loudly and made a sharp gesture at the dozens of statues lining the cave. That was a much more important situation than a stupid football game. "

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Ocavian remarked. "A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack," River agreed.

"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle. Of death…" the Doctor scrunched his face. None of these were getting better. "A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine." He would give that one to River solely because she deserved it. Still, it was enough to get a smug smile in return.

"Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for," Octavian commanded his soldiers. "Complete visual inspection. One question - how do we fight it?"

"We find it, and hope," the Doctor said, though he didn't exactly portray the latter at the moment. He took Renata's hand and started down the cave, prompting their companions to do the same.

Just as River was about to follow, Octavian grabbed her arm to stop her. "They don't know yet, do they? Who and what you are."

River tensed but reclaimed her calmness within the minute. She had ample practice after all. "It's too early in their time streams."

"Well, make sure they don't work it out, or they're not gonna help us."

River rolled her eyes. "They will. And believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison."

~ 0 ~

When River caught up to the group, she found Amy and Gabby each lagging behind the Time Lords.

"Are you alright?" she stopped by Amy who was rubbing her eye again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Amy was sure she was just imagining things. So far, this was the most nervous-y trip she'd taken and she wasn't doing a good job reacting to it. "So, what's a maze of the dead?"

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls," River scrunched her face and apologetically smiled. "OK, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm." She showed off a syringe that made Amy even more nervous. "This won't hurt a bit."

She lied. It had.

"Gabby!"

"What?" the girl snapped as if the arguments were already being made.

River showed the syringe to her next. "It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship."

"And you're willingly giving that to me?" Gabby came up to the woman, holding her arm out. She got the feeling River would be enjoying the next minute.

"I can't have you dying when your babysitter is around."

"Gabriella?" Renata had noticed the slight standoff between the two women and fearing it would turn into something similar to what went on in the Library, she returned to them.

"Case in point," River said just before injecting Gabby. Yes, she did enjoy the yelp Gabby gave in return.

Gabby shot a scowl at the woman as she rubbed her arm. River switched to Amy again, acting as if Gabby wasn't even there nor Renata for that matter.

Amy couldn't understand how River did that. One moment River was arguing with Gabby and then the next River was smiling at her. "So...what's he like?" she found herself asking a moment later, nodding to the Doctor who seemed to be examining nearby statues with another handheld device. If River liked her, for whatever reason, it would be easier to get some information. "In the future, I mean. Cos you know him in the future, don't you?" She would ignore the feeling she got knowing she was only specifically asking about the Doctor and not...Renata.

River wouldn't mind either. "The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor…"

Amy cocked her head to the side, her expression almost making River laugh on the spot. "Oh, well that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

There was a pause and Amy swore that River had briefly - for a tiny minuscule second - her eyes had flickered over to Renata. The Time Lady was waiting for the Doctor to finish the scanning, as well as waiting for Gabby.

"Who knows..." River suddenly said, as if Amy had asked another question.

"But I didn't…"

River's smile widened. "You were going to. Go ahead. No shame in being curious."

Amy had no idea how River could know what she wanted to ask but she wasn't going to lose the opportunity to get the answer. "Are you the Doctor's wife?"

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy!" River threw her arm around Amy's shoulders, enjoying the precious situation she was being gifted with. She saw the subtle way Renata's shoulders had slumped and wanted far more. She deserved it. "This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

But then Gabby walked on by with a hard scoff, "She wishes she was the Doctor's wife."

Amy genuinely feared for Gabby's life at that moment. River's face dropped the joy she had to be replaced with a murderous glare. Gabby, however, didn't seem to mind as she walked up to where Renata stood and put her arm around the Time Lady.

"We all know that the only woman the Doctor would marry is Renata," Gabby flashed a smirk at River, now taking her turn to bask in utter joy. "I'll be sure to send you the invite. Or the video — I haven't decided yet."

Renata shook her head, but even though she wanted to scold Gabby for entering such a childish conversation with River...there was a little thrill at the idea of marrying the Doctor. It was one of those things that she had completely given up on the day she refused to run away with him. It became impossible just like their love...centuries ago. Maybe right now wasn't the moment, who knows when it would be but that the was thing, she was thinking about it again. It wasn't that she was ready to marry the Doctor — or anyone else for that matter — it was the fact that she considered the idea of doing it again one day. If the Doctor felt like it of course. Because for all she knew, maybe the Doctor wouldn't even consider the idea.

Maybe River was telling the truth.

Renata turned her head away, face scrunching with genuine pain at the idea of that possibility.

"Sorry Renata," Gabby said when they started walking again. "I know you said to keep it cool but I just can't help it with that woman. She's asking for it. Not to mention she's lying."

"We don't really know that," Renata sighed.

Gabby did a double-take at her. "What?"

"I mean, for all we know, River is telling the truth and one day, in the future, she really is—"

"I swear to God if you finish that sentence I will throw myself off from the top of the cliff." Gabby put her hands together in front of her nose, trying her best not to shout because she could sort of understand Renata's fear.

It was the type of thing River Song fed off from.

"There is no way in hell that the Doctor would ever marry that woman," Gabby shook her head. She didn't need to be psychic to know that was an inherent truth.

"A lot can happen," Renata said simply as she left Gabby's side. Who knew what the future had in store for her and the Doctor. It was nice to think about the good stuff that could happen to them but she was still a realistic person. Something could always happen that could change everything.

~ 0 ~

Gunshots brought the group back down to the main chamber of the caves. There they found a young cleric who had fired at one of the statues. The Doctor immediately examined the statue to make sure it wasn't the Weeping Angel.

"Sorry. Sorry, I thought... I thought it looked at me," the young cleric apologized over and over, still sounding breathless.

"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian angrily gestured towards the statue the Doctor was still circling.

The young cleric seemed to shrink under Octavian's glare. "No, sir."

"No, sir, it is not! According to the Doctor and Renata, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

"Well now hold on," Renata cut in between the two, giving Ocatavian a look to back off on the young man. "We have no idea which one of these statues is the one we're looking for. Under the circumstances it is more than alright, more than natural, to be afraid." She offered the cleric a kind smile. "What's your name?"

"Bob, ma'am," he nodded.

"Lovely name Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church," Octavian explained behind them.

Renata hummed. "I get it. Nice. Now Bob, please don't ever feel like it's not alright to be afraid."

"Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?" the Doctor came up to stand beside Renata. He was smiling more like a game than Renata's kind one, but still well intended. "Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on."

"You didn't have to be that type of rude," Renata mumbled to him on their way down the cave again.

The Doctor smirked. "Was I being rude? I hadn't noticed." Renata rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she really just couldn't deal with his antics.

The group finally got their way down the cave, passing more and more statues on their way.

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse?" Amy found herself asking after thinking she heard a noise. "There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River remarked.

"You've met them?"

"Mhm."

"We had dinner with their chief architect once," the Doctor remembered, sharing a smile with Renata. Although hers seemed a bit more forced. "Two heads are better than one."

"You mean you helped him?" Gabby inquired. She figured this was another trip they took before they met Donna and her.

"Uh, no, they had two heads," Renata clarified for her and Amy. The ginger looked just as curious as Gabby. "For some, it meant they were twice as rude."

"That book, the very end, what did it say?" the Doctor suddenly asked River. There was a strange feeling starting in his stomach.

River quickly took out the book from her pack. She opened it to the bookmarked page and read out loud. "What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels."

"Ominous and scary," Gabby remarked. She would really prefer to get out of there now.

Amy agreed. She walked in silence for a bit longer until she felt like it was high time to get out of there. "Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb."

"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go," River told her with a light smile.

"Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them some time," the Doctor seemed to be speaking more towards Renata than anyone else.

Gabby rolled her eyes playfully. "Do you extend the invitation to your, uh, companions?"

The Doctor winced and looked over his shoulder to see Gabby smirking while Amy was frowning. "Sorry."

"Of course he meant for everyone," Renata smiled at the Doctor before glancing over her shoulder as well. "We'll just make sure to stay away from the rude ones."

"But didn't you say they were all dead?" Amy made a face.

"So's Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team," the Doctor proudly said.

"And let me guess, Ren's your cheerleader?" Gabby saw the precise moment the Doctor's body lurched forwards as if to fall. And she didn't need to be in front of Renata to know that she was blushing.

"Shut up Gabbs," the Doctor muttered. "I was trying to talk about the Aplans. They were a very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

He was NOT not going to think about Renata's first experience at bowling...even though it was pretty adorable now that he looked back on it. It'd been one of their very first trips together after Martha left the TARDIS. He was horrified to learn that Renata didn't know anything about bowling. He HAD had to fix that.

He showed her the ropes of bowling but she found fairly quick that bowling was not for her. She dropped the bowling ball the first time, almost getting the Doctor's foot, and when she threw the ball down the lane, she missed all the pins. She hated the game by the end of it and when the Doctor brought her along to his 'bowling team', she made it clear she would watch.

Oh, he was thinking about it now.

She cheered for him despite not always knowing if he'd gotten a good score. Actually, she barely knew how the entire scoring system worked but it didn't stop her from clapping and cheering for him. She always smiled at him each time, even if his score was terrible.

Yup. He was really thinking about it now. If she did wear one of those cheerleader uniforms he might score a little bit more this time...

'You are not actually picturing me in a cheerleading uniform,' Renata mentally huffed at him. Her face was crimson red with just the glimpse she'd gotten of herself in the Doctor's mind.

He wasn't sorry one bit for what he pictured.

"There's something...I don't know what it is," River suddenly spoke up, having been scowling at Gabby for making that stupid comment. Gabby always made comments like that to irritate the hell out of her.

"I think she's right," Renata agreed quietly. She was beginning to get a funny feeling that she couldn't quite figure out yet.

"So the Aplans, they really had two heads?" Amy exchanged a look with Gabby, both smiling at the thought of it.

"Yeah," the Doctor shrugged. "But then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offence, Bishop."

Octavian's expression indicated it was too late. "Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor."

"He didn't mean it," Renata apologized for the Doctor then shot a look at him. "Mind what you say," she whispered. He smirked.

"Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way," Octavian said a short moment later when they had crossed down a narrow passage lined with statues.

"I think the church probably made a good call on that divorce thing," Gabby commented. "I mean...imagine the awkwardness after they get divorced and then they started dating?"

"Ha!" Amy chuckled.

And then the Doctor and Renata came to a stop, eyes wide as could be.

"Tell me we didn't…"

"What's wrong?" Gabby quickly asked them and saw the same wide-eyed expression now on River. For all three of them to be agreeing on something...it had to be big.

"How could we not notice that?" River was almost outraged at herself. She couldn't have missed it!

"Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick," the Doctor squeezed Renata's hand as they both took in the statues with a new, fearful, light.

"What's wrong?" Octavian asked as he pushed his way to the front of the group.

"Please don't move," Renata sounded like she was begging him and everyone else. She was. "Please just...stay right where you are."

Before Octavian could ask 'why', the Doctor cut in. "Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans…" River swallowed hard, truly feeling that fear creeping over her. "They've got two heads."

"Yes, I get that. So?"

"Oh," suddenly went Gabby. Renata quickly turned to her and Amy, bringing them closer to her.

"What?" Amy frowned, still not understanding. How come she was the last one!?

"So why don't the statues?" the Doctor breathed in as he started imagining exactly how many Angels there truly were around them. "Everyone, over there. Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak." Renata ushered the group towards a spot free of statues. "OK. I want you all to switch off your torches."

"Sir?" Octavian was rightfully reluctant to follow that order.

"Just do it," the Doctor reiterated, much to their dismay. One by one, the clerics turned off their torches, leaving the Doctor's for last. "OK. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" River eyed the torch as their last means of salvation and right now, it kind of was.

"No." But the Doctor still switched off his torch for a split second. When the light was back on, the statues were in front of them.

"Ah! They've moved!" Amy yelped. Renata kept a tight hold around her wrist.

The Doctor hurried ahead to see all the statues were lining their way to the ship. "They're Angels. All of them!"

"But they can't be!" River would still try to deny it until she saw a clear looking Weeping Angel in front of her.

The Doctor raised a finger to her to hold off on that denial. He backtracked and saw the Angels had moved forward. "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

"So we just literally walked into a trap full of deadly Angels!?" Gabby was outraged and immediately turned on River. She would never think that the woman was capable of concocting such an idea but there was always a first.

"I didn't!" River immediately argued when she saw the conclusion Gabby's expression reached. "There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear."

Renata could feel River's fear was just as high as theirs. Plus, she honestly didn't think River would purposely endanger ALL all of them like this. No, this was all the Weeping Angels.

"Could they have been here already?" Amy offered another alternative if only to take off some of the tension brewing between River and Gabby.

The Doctor was thinking of another way, probably the The way. "The Aplans, how did they die out?"

River closed her eyes. Dammit. "Nobody knows."

"We know."

"They don't look like Angels," Octavian said after studying the closest ones. They didn't look like the ones they came across in the files.

"And they're not fast. You said they were fast," Amy added. Maybe, just maybe, they were all wrong and this was a lesser evil. "They should have had us by now."

"These Angels have been dying, Amy," Renata said. "When Angels die they lose their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."

"Losing their image…"

"And their image is their power," the Doctor remarked only to get the idea a second later. 'Power. Power!"

"You're doing that thing where you're not explaining!" Gabby exclaimed.

"Don't you see?"

"No! Because you haven't explained!"

"He's getting there," Renata softly shushed Gabby. It was how the Doctor operated and though it wasn't the idealist way to do it, it worked.

"All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident - it was a rescue mission for the Angels," the Doctor finally said. "We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"...I take it back, don't explain further," Gabby shut her eyes.

"We need to get out of here fast," Renata told the clerics, more specifically to Octavian. "We're in a lot more danger than you previously anticipated."

Octavian nodded and spoke into his radio. "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

'I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir.'

The Doctor bolted for Octavian's radio. "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

Octavian frowned at the Doctor, his hand still in the position that he'd been holding his radio in. "I'm talking to my…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"

Renata scrunched her face. "Normally I would apologize on his behalf but, uh, I think this time he's got s point. Sorry."

Gabby shook her head at the woman. She just couldn't help apologizing, could she?

'I'm on my way up to you, sir, I'm homing on your signal.'

"Well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't I? Your friends, Bob, what did the Angel do to them?" the Doctor talked fast into the radio.

'Snapped their necks, sir.'

"That's odd. That's not how the Angels kill you, they displace you in time," the Doctor made a face as he turned back to the group, meeting Renata's gaze.

"Unless they needed the bodies for something," she hated thinking about that. Those were corpses that the Angels would be taking for their own malicious plans.

Octavian took the radio from the Doctor. "Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."

The Doctor once again grabbed the radio. "Don't be an idiot! The Angels don't leave you alive!" He snapped at the man incredulously before talking into the radio.

"Bob, keep running, but tell me, how did you escape?"

'I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too.'

"What do you mean the Angel killed you too?"

'Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something.'

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?"

'You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion.'

Renata was disgusted. It was like the Vashta Nerada all over again. Poor men. Their bodies were lost but now the Angels were taking over their voices too.

"So when you say you're on your way up to us…" the Doctor trailed off as he already knew what the answer would be.

'It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes.'

"No way out," the Doctor lowered the radio only for Octavian to snatch it back.

"Then we get out through the wreckage. Go!"

"That means you, run!" Renata ushered Amy and Gabby towards the clerics. "River-"

"I know!" she snapped as she passed by the Time Lady. She hurried along with the girls and the clerics.

"Called you an idiot. Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men," the Doctor felt terrible as he spoke to Octavian. If he would've been paying more attention then he would've seen the trap.

"I know that, sir. And when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families," Octavian sourly said then walked off only to be stopped by Renata.

"That's not fair because this entire expedition was funded by your church. Your people didn't do their due diligence with this crash!" Renata then gestured for Octavian to keep going. And he did, but quietly.

"Renée," the Doctor called to her, only to have her huff and turn around to meet his smiling gaze.

"I'm just saying we could've all looked a little bit harder!" She folded her arms over her chest. It wasn't always on him to figure things out.

"Thank you dear," the Doctor reached over for her hand and tugged her closer with it. He then raised the radio up to his lips. "Angel Bob, which Angel am I talking to? The one from the ship?"

'Yes, sir. The other Angels are still restoring.'

"Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you!" the Doctor grinned and ran off with Renata to catch up with the others.

"Amy!" Renata nearly had a heart attack seeing the girl by herself. Where the hell was River!?

"I can't move!" Amy cried.

"What? Why not?" the Doctor frowned at her. She was just standing there gripping the rail!

"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone!" Amy frantically gestured to her hand on the rail. To her, it looked like stone but neither Time Lord saw the same.

"Amy, what are you talking about? It's not stone!" Renata tried pulling the girl away but she wouldn't budge. "You are literally gripping the rail, nothing more!"

The Doctor flashed his torch across her eyes and saw what was keeping her there. "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?"

Amy gave a reluctant nod. "I couldn't stop myself. I tried."

"Oh Amy," Renata sighed. "That Angel is messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone."

"It is. Look at it!"

"I am!"

"It's in your mind. I promise you," the Doctor said, rather hurriedly since their time was dangerously running low. "You can move that hand. You can let go."

"I can't, OK? I've tried and I can't. It's stone!"

The Doctor's torchlight began to flicker. "The Angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. So do it, concentrate, move your hand!"

"I can't."

"Then we're all going to die!"

"You're not going to die!"

"Amy, they're going to kill the lights," Renata sighed and reached over for the girl's arm. Just as she'd said the words, the lights flickered off.

"Amy we need to go!" the Doctor frantically snapped.

"You've got to go, you know you have! You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know you can't die here!"

"Time can be re-written, it doesn't work like that," Renata said, forcing herself to skip over that unfortunate part in Amy's reasoning.

The light flickered again, bringing the Angel that much closer to them.

"Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink!" the Doctor quickly said, turning to face the creature in the process.

"Run!" Amy told him.

"You see, we're not going, we're not leaving you here!"

"I don't need you to die for me, do I look that clingy?"

"Oh for God's sake! Amy!" Renata groaned. "You can move your hand!"

"It's stone!"

"It's not stone!"

"Those people up there will die without you. If you stay here with me, you'll have as good as killed them!"

The Doctor inwardly groaned. They really didn't have time for this. "Amy Pond, you are magnificent. And I'm sorry."

Amy gulped, trying to appear as brave as she could. "It's OK. I understand. You've got to leave me."

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving you, never. I'm sorry about this!"

Renata closed her eyes just as he...

Amy screamed. "YOU BIT ME!"

The Doctor grinned at her dumbfounded, quite angry, face. "But not stone, see? Now run!"

Renata grabbed the girl's hand just to give ita quick study. She could see the bite marks left on her skin and felt terrible. "We'll make it up to you Amy, I promise!"

"Let's go!" the Doctor exclaimed and pulled Renata who brought along Amy.

"I've got a mark! Look at my hand!" Amy stilled cried on the run.

"You really didn't have to bite that hard, Doctor," Renata said, much to the Doctor's dismay.

"And she's alive! Are any of you getting that!?"

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?" Amy was giving him a look and then switched to Renata.

Renata actually laughed. "Space teeth. That's a new one."

The Doctor groaned at the two. "You're missing the point!"

They caught up to the others and as soon as Gabby saw them with Amy, she ran up to them. "I am so sorry! They wouldn't let me go back for Amy!"

"They did the right thing," Renata assured, then met River's expectant gaze. She nodded a silent thanks. See, River couldn't be that mean if she was actually watching out for Gabby...right?

"The Angel's are coming. And they're draining the power for themselves," the Doctor noted the way all of their torches were flickering with less gaps between them.

Octavian nodded, knowing where it was going. "Which means we won't be able to see them."

"Which means we can't stay here!"

"There are more incoming!"

"Any suggestions?" River would take anyone's suggestions at this point, literally anyone.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium," Octavian said.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure—" River looked specifically at the Doctor, "—but this is usually when you have a really good idea."

Once again she proved that she did know him. The Doctor was already working on it, his gaze flickering from one place to another. Renata felt the way his mind was working and genuinely had some concerns with its the speed. He would never cease to surprise her.

The lights flickered off again and the next time they returned, the Angels were much closer.

"There's always a way out," the Doctor said despite their passage truly being blocked now.

'Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?'

The Doctor turned for Octavian and was able to get the radio without any protest. "Hello, Angels. What's your problem?"

'Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir.'

"Why are you telling me this?" It's not like he couldn't already see it. He wasn't THAT that thick.

'There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end.'

"Which is?"

'I died in fear.'

"I'm sorry?"

'You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down.'

"What are they doing?" Amy whispered to River. She could see the way the Doctor had just frozen in his spot, but why?

"They're trying to make him angry," River answered quietly, already having seen more of those bits.

'I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that.'

"It's a trap," Renata whispered to him. He was trying to block her from feeling all the anger bubbling inside him. She didn't need that in her. "They want you to forget about us. Focus on them and slip up."

Never would I forget about you, Gala. The Doctor breathed out, as if that was what he had needed...and it was. He swallowed hard and met Renata's eyes. She was smiling at him so widely and happily. The Angel's wished they could drive his attention away from her.

He raised the radio again to his lips. "Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

'But you're trapped, sir, and about to die.'

"Yeah, I'm trapped. Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake!"

"What mistake, sir?"

Before answering the question, the Doctor turned to the others. "Trust me?" His eyes settled on Amy and River. He wasn't sure about the latter but the last thing he needed was for River to start shooting at him because she had zero idea what he would do.

"Yes," both women answered.

"Trust me?" the question went to Gabby next, making her playfully roll her eyes.

"Of course!"

"You lot - trust me?" the Doctor met Octavian's gaze.

"We have faith, sir."

If you ask me, I will feel very offended. Renata's smile turned into a smirk after catching the Doctor glancing at her.

I was going to ask if you loved me but I guess we could save that for later. The Doctor found time to smirk before he demanded for Octavian's gun. "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do...jump."

"Jump where exactly?" Gabby raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith. On my signal."

"What signal?" Octavian asked, getting quite a smug look in return.

"You won't miss it." The Doctor aimed the gun at the roof.

'Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake?'

"Oh, big mistake. Huge," the Doctor spoke into the radio with a huge difference in confidence. For now, they might just be able to save themselves. "There's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

'And what would that be, sir?'

"Me!" He fired at the gravity globe above them, making it explode.

Everyone got the signal.

---

Author's Note:

So out of all 3 Doctor Who OCs I've written these episodes for, Renata's fic is by far the one with the longest versions. I don't know if it's because this also the fic with the only other permanent companion (Gabby) in the TARDIS who has such a deep bond with the OC and Doctor that she has to have her own scenes/dialogue? Idk, but I'm sorry in advance because I also had to break up the next episode into more chapters.

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 10: Incoming Angels

Summary:

The Angels are getting closer to the travelers...

Amy was the last one to wake up after whatever happened, because right now she had no idea what happened. One moment, the Doctor said 'jump' and then the next she's out cold.

"Where are we?" She felt a little light headed once she was back on her feet and saw Gabby was feeling the same side effects.

"Exactly where we were," River said to her amazement.

"No we're not!" Amy searched for the Doctor and found him sonicking an indentation on the floor. "Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain."

"Amy, River already told you," Renata said with a light chuckle, never noticing the way River rolled her eyes at her, so disgusted.

Gabby did and she shot a glare in River's way. What was her problem? Renata was genuinely agreeing with her, saying she was right! What more did River want!? Gabby suspected Renata was doing these bits to try and change whatever River was so upset about with her and the worst part is that Renata was probably doing it to be nice. Because Renata was a kind woman. River was not.

"The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?" Renata watched Amy try to figure it out on her own but ultimately the Doctor gave her the answer.

"The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav-globe to give us an updraft, and here we are!"

"She would've gotten it!" Renata playfully groaned at him. "Just gotta give her some time."

"I don't know about that," Amy admitted with a sheepish smile. It was nice that Renata had that type of faith in her brain but Amy thought it would be a while until she figured out more of this space stuff.

"Doctor. The statues, they look more like Angels now," Octavian noted the creatures still advancing on them.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army!" The Doctor stepped up when he finally got the indentation to open for them. It was also right at the time the lights started flickering again. "They're taking out the lights. Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!"

Renata grabbed Gabby and Amy, ushering them in first. They landed inside a more high tech corridor, now belonging to the actual ship.

"Don't take your eyes off the Angels," the Doctor instructed as sonicked the keypad. "Move, move, move!"

"The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?" Octavian wanted to know and the answer came in the form of the lights flickering out again.

"They're here," Renata once again ushered Gabby and Amy through the open door. Before she knew it, the Doctor had pushed her inside too.

"This whole place is a death trap!" Gabby shrieked after their only escape route (the door in which they'd come through) had shut.

"No, it's a time bomb," the Doctor corrected, completely missing her gaping look. "Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."

"How is it that you're over 900 and you still don't know how to talk to people!?"

The Doctor genuinely shrugged without an answer. Renata laughed behind them, making him look back with offence (and a slight bemusement). As soon as she knew she was caught, Renata stopped and smiled apologetically.

"The secondary flight deck is over here," River rushed past them, 'accidentally' bumping Renata on the side. The Time Lady only blinked when her body stumbled to the left for a moment.

"OK. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah?" A new thought had just crossed Amy's mind and she wasn't entirely happy that she'd been clever enough to think of it. " So what if the gravity fails?"

"I've thought about that," the Doctor mumbled as he hurried over to the controls. River was a bit too slow!

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See. I've thought about it!" the Doctor hoped that was enough to make Amy stop asking those types of questions. "The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them, it's impossible."

Renata walked up to him, resting her hand over his arm and giving him a specific look. "How impossible?" she asked him.

He just knew her too well. The word wasn't in his vocabulary. "Two minutes."

"There we are," she nodded, though her smile was cut short when they heard a hum from the engine's power going down, allowing them a way into a cavern.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing!" Octavian exclaimed asd the lights went out. The group yelped when they saw an Angel's hand sticking through the opening.

"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered the remaining soldiers as four Angels appeared after the lights went out again.

"Don't look at their eyes!" Renata quickly warned before they made the same mistake as Amy. "Anywhere else except the eyes!"

"I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now," the Doctor informed them a moment later.

"Why do I sense a 'but' coming…?" Gabby asked, slowly looking at him.

"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."

"Ah, there it is."

"Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights."

"How long for?" Octavian shot the Doctor a look.

"Fraction of a second, maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."

"Maybe?"

The Doctor huffed. "I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!"

"Doctor, calm down," Renata advised him before they wasted time on a senseless argument.

"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness," Amy felt the need to remind them in hopes of motivating them to find a different solution.

"There's no other way," the Doctor apologized. He was already frantic trying to get them out of there in one piece. He literally had to be on 'fast forward' as Gabby liked to joke whenever she made remarks about his movements. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"Hey," Renata once again touched his arm. Her hand curled around it, gently squeezing it. "It's not on you. You're doing the best you can and if you need my help, just tell me what to do."

The Doctor smiled at her, relieved that she wasn't as frantic as he was. This was nowhere near what he intended on doing today. Five minutes was all they promised to Amy and then he would ship her and Gabby off somewhere nice and safe so that he could take Renata somewhere wonderful for a date. Their first date. He told her that's what they would do...and yet here they were inside a ship with pending deaths.

Renata got a glimpse of his thoughts and smiled warmly. She leaned over to give him a kiss on the lips. She meant to ease his concern over their date but he took it as motivation to get them out of there. A win, win, some would say. That date would hopefully involve lots of kisses.

River glared daggers at the two but Octavian yanked her away before she could accidentally ruin the moment.

"Dr Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?"

River inwardly sighed. Yeah, she did despite what had happened. "I absolutely trust him."

"He's not some kind of madman then?"

River blinked, her eyes darting to the side, clearly trying to avoid the truthful answer. . It was the only time Gabby would ever give River a point.

"...I absolutely trust him."

Renata would also give her credit. She would've paused too. She let go of the Doctor's arm and smiled at him to go on.

Octavian pulled River just slightly closer to warn her in a much quieter voice, "I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage these people. But that only works so long as they don't know who you are. I know that girl," he nodded over to Gabby who was watching the Doctor get back to work on the door. "I know what she nearly did to you. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell them. The Vortex Butterfly will not be so merciful again. Understood?"

River genuinely swallowed at that. No. She probably wouldn't. "Understood."

Octavian let her go and turned to his clerics. "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol, we don't have bullets to waste."

"Gabby, behind me," Renata reached over the girl, preferring to tuck her behind. "Amy?"

"Renée? I need you!" the Doctor exclaimed just as Renata had pulled Amy closer to them. "Spin the wheel clockwise four times!"

Renata nodded. "Amy, Gabby, stay close!"

"Ready!" the Doctor placed the sonic into the circuit.

"On my count then. God be with us all," Octavian took in a breath. "Three... two...one." The lights went out and the firing began.

"Turn!"

Renata turned the wheel as fast as she could. She could hear the mechanics squeaking as the door began to open up for them. "Gabby! Amy! Get in!"

The girls quickly slipped inside first.

"River-"

"I got it!" the woman said with a huff as she followed inside.

Slowly, the group trickled into the new, smaller corridor. Renata reached the next door first and with a whip of her sonic, she held it open for the rest.

"Go!" the Doctor arrived last but she shoved him inside first. "Renée!" He turned around only to crash into her. "Never mind!" He grinned after he caught her.

She shook her head at him and swatted his hands off her waist. "Go!" She turned him around so they could join the others in the flight deck.

Once they were through, Octavian put a device on the hatch lock to magnetize the door. As if the Angels could be trapped on the other side. "Nothing could turn that wheel now!"

"I'd try that again," Renata apologized as the wheel began to turn anyways.

He was horrified at the sight. "Dear God!"

"Ah, now you're getting it!" the Doctor called from the controls. They were all a mess, just his luck! "You've bought us time though, that's good. I am good with time."

Gabby felt compelled to make a comment about that but for the sake of the situation, she kept her mouth shut.

"Doctor!" Amy exclaimed when another door wheel spun to open."

"Seal that door. Seal it now!" Octavian ordered the clerics.

"We're surrounded!" River said just as the third door began to spin to open.

"Doctor, how long have we got?" Octavian hurried the man along with whatever plan he had in mind.

"Five minutes, max."

"Nine," Amy offhandedly said, making the Doctor glance at her. She didn't even realize she said it.

"Five," he repeated and she nodded.

"Five, right yeah."

"Why d'you say nine?"

"I didn't."

Renata studied the girl, curious as well but River got them moving again. "We need another way out of here!"

"There isn't one!" Octavian snapped.

"Yeah, there is, of course there is," the Doctor corrected. "This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet-falls. So-" he snapped his fingers, "-what do they need?"

Renata smiled at him. "There we go." He snapped specifically at her. "I don't remember you being this clever back on Gallifrey."

The Doctor mocked offence with a little huff to go along with it. "I resent that!"

"What do they need…?" Gabby looked between the two with amusement. She really liked this new part of them now. Back then, or rather last year, they couldn't bring up their old memories together because the Doctor didn't know who Renata was. She was too scared to admit who she was. And now every now and then, if they were privy to the conversation, they got to catch little snippets of what the first incarnations of Renata and the Doctor were like. It sounded like Renata, who went by Zuriah before her Naming Ceremony, was a little bit more adventurous but still completely untrained in the department. And the Doctor sounded exactly the same. He was far too adventurous for his own good.

"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked, seeming to know what the Doctor meant, as did River.

"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up…" the Doctor moved towards a wall, taking out his sonic in the process. "There's clamps. Release the clamps!"

"What's through there?" asked Amy as she watched him use the sonic on those 'clamps' he mentioned. "What do they need?"

"They need to breathe," River stepped up beside her just as the door slid up to reveal a forest on the other side. At least, it gave off the impression of a forest with trees and grass.

"Wow!" Gabby gasped with a grin.

"It's an oxygen factory," Renata walked past her to take a closer look.

"It's a forest," Amy remarked.

"If you'd like," the Time Lady agreed. "But if we're really lucky it might just be our escape route."

"Eight."

River shot Amy a look, Renata was too far up ahead to have heard. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Amy shrugged, once again missing the curious numbers she was saying.

"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there," the Doctor said to Octavian as the latter neared the forest.

"On it! Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels!"

"But there's actual trees in here...on a space ship," Gabby laughed. "Amy, come look!" The ginger didn't need to be told twice. She hurried along with Gabby to the ledge.

Renata had just stepped into the forest and chuckled. "If that's how you want to see it, but it's a lot more."

"Mhm," the Doctor agreed. "It's more than trees, way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs…" He moved to the closest tree and opened up a section of the peat moss to reveal circuitry underneath it. "Trees plus technology. Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. It is an eco-pod running through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle, on a spaceship, in a maze."

"Ha, it's like the Maze of the Salazais," Renata folded her arms over her chest. "Remember how you droned on and on about that place?"

The Doctor mocked a frown. "I did not drone. I explained to you what the maze was so that one day, when we went, you would know all about it."

"Sounds more like you were trying to impress me," she cocked her head to the side, smirking when his face went red.

That...may have been a possibility. It was during their early days together, like truly early for them. It was only just after they had confessed their feelings for each other. The Doctor had found out about several vegetation planets dedicated solely to farming. The Maze of Salazais promised fun in a connect-with-nature kind of way and while the Doctor loved the idea of going through a maze, Renata had not.

But she let him go on and on about the place. He seemed to know a lot about it, giving her details that no one would really bother to know. But of course he had. He always knew everything. She loved that about him. She would stare at him throughout his entire stories about the place, wondering how he was that smart and passionate about a place he hadn't even seen! Plus, she really did like it when he told her stories about places they would one day go to. He would smile in such a way, smirk at her...be all that smug that he was. She loved it. And him.

"Sounds to me, and looks like it to me, that I did," the Doctor now smirked. He caught that last train of thought. She rolled her eyes, refusing to say admit to it even though he already knew it.

"Can we move on please?" River impatiently called, only for Amy to agree with a curious number.

"Seven."

That made the Two Time Lords turn back to her. "Seven?" they repeated.

"Sorry, what?"

The Doctor zipped past Renata to come face to face with Amy. "You said seven."

"No. I didn't."

"Yes, you did," River nodded.

"Doctor! There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck!" Octavian said as he got closer to them again.

"Good, that's where we need to go!"

"Plotting a safe path!"

The Doctor still studied Amy's face like there was something he couldn't quite see yet. He was sure that was the problem.

'Doctor? Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir.'

The Doctor reluctantly looked away from Amy and drifted to the command chair, plopping down to answer the call on the radio. 'Ah. there you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject.'

"Not like the Angel doesn't deserve it," Gabby muttered as Renata walked up beside her.

"Stay close," she murmured. Gabby nodded.

'The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve.'

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging," the Doctor said, thinking there was nothing truer than that right now. He didn't have a master plan, he was...winging it. "It's nice in here, consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

'The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond.'

"Well, we've got comfy chairs, did I mention?"

'We have no need of comfy chairs.'

The Doctor had a small laugh to himself. "I made him say comfy chairs!"

"Doctor," Renata lowered her gaze on him. "Joke when there's no one in danger please." She really wanted Gabby and Amy out of this place and far away from Weeping Angels.

Amy still laughed with something to say. "Six."

The Doctor stood up quickly, once again casting Amy a look. "Okay, well, enough chat. Here's what I want to know: what have you done to Amy?"

'There is something in her eye.'

"What's in her eye?"

'We are.'

It was Amy's turn to make faces. Why had the conversation steered towards her all of a sudden? "What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."

"You're counting," River said quietly.

"Counting?"

"For a while now," Renata agreed. "And you don't even seem to be aware of it."

"You did say ten earlier," Gabby chimed in, much to Amy's horror. "When we were running into the doors. Do you even remember that?"

Amy did not. Her terrified eyes landed on the Doctor. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, counting down to what?"

"...I don't know."

'We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space.'

"Get a life, Bob!" the Doctor practically rolled his eyes as he sat down again, though he soon realized his choice of words had once again borderlined a joke. "Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."

'With respect, sir, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand.'

Everyone jumped when a loud screeching noise filled the air.

"Dear God, what is it?" River shouted through it.

"They're back," Octavian returned from the forest with a heavy breath.

'It's hard to put in your terms, Dr Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing.'

"Laughing?" Renata frowned. "Angels don't laugh. What makes this occasion so special?"

"Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor and the Vortex Butterfly in the TARDIS haven't noticed."

Renata stiffened. "How do they know that name?"

The Doctor instantly rose from his chair as he wondered the same thing. But apart from that...he felt like the Angels were onto something, something he'd been neglecting to see for a while. "There's...there's something we've...been missing…" He slowly turned around to see a huge glowing white crack high up on the wall.

He dashed for it.

"What is that?" Gabby breathed in at the sight but Amy knew it very well. After all, she the same exact one…

"That's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl!"

"Wait, that's the crack you were talking about!?" Gabby looked at Renata, the Time Lady much awed like them.

"OK, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian ordered the group and this time River agreed.

"Doctor, we need to go!"

"Sure, fine," he said without actually moving towards them. His feet were still closing in on the crack and once he was close enough, he pulled out his sonic to get a reading.

"What are you doing?" River demanded, annoyed he was blatantly ignoring her. Not surprising but still annoying each time.

"Right with you!"

"We're not leaving without you!"

"Actually, you are," the Doctor glanced over his shoulder. "Bishop?"

"Gabby, Amy, go along with them," Renata moved the girls towards the clerics.

"No, wait, but that's the same crack from my bedroom!" Amy tried to stay with them but Renata moved her along again.

"We'll figure it out, I promise! Go! River, you too!"

"I—"

"Know, yes, sorry," Renata sighed at the woman. "Please just take them and keep them safe. Please."

River turned away from her and grabbed Amy's arm, bringing her towards the forest. Gabby looked back at the Time Lords. Renata nodded to her to go along with the others. With a sigh, she hurried to catch up.

"You should have gone with them, Renée," the Doctor said once they were on their own.

"Oh, no," Renata turned to the crack. "I want to know how the Angels know about this crack and…" she swallowed hard, "...about the Vortex Butterfly."

She didn't really like that name anymore, not since it was born out of blood-rage. Gabby had tried turning it into something more cheerful at her art unveilment but Renata didn't feel like it'd done much. According to Rose Tyler, there were many worlds where the Vortex Butterfly was known for being a dangerous creature, a volatile one and Renata wasn't interested in following in her doppelganger's footsteps. She wanted to forget about the name; leave it in dust after regenerating from the incarnation it was born in.

So, how did the Angels know about that?

"Oh, that's bad," the Doctor pulled her out of her thoughts. His sonic had picked up a reading that truly scared him. "Ah, that's extremely very not good." He pressed his ear to the wall but pulled back when he heard Renata's gasp. Turning around, he saw they were surrounded by Angels. "Do not blink!"

"Yeah, got that!" She stuck her hand out for him to take. He grabbed it and helped her climb over the console to pass the Angels. He climbed after her as fast as he could and just as they made a beeline for the forest, the Doctor felt something grab him by the collar of his jacket.

"Doctor!" Renata whirled around to see him in the predicament. Of course.

~ 0 ~

"Should we really get that far away from them?" Gabby bothered Octavian with the same question the more they walked through the forest. Despite the clerics forming a circle around her, Amy and River, Gabby had moved up to keep asking.

She only stopped when River called Amy. Looking back, she could see why. Amy had gone to an extreme shade of pale. She was slowing down too, looking very sick.

~ 0 ~

"It didn't snap my neck, hooray!" the Doctor said solely for Renata's sake. He couldn't decide if she was scared or if she was mad that he tried to make a joke right now.

"They're worshiping that stupid crack," Renata said. "It's like...you're number two on the list."

"Well, that's frankly offensive—"

Renata glowered at him. "Shut up!"

The Doctor decided to switch gears for the moment. He tilted his head up at the Angel holding him. "Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else…"

"Ah!" Renata rocked on her feet when the ground grumbled underneath.

"Ha! Never let me talk!" the Doctor slipped out of his jacket and ran from the place with Renata.

~ 0 ~

Amy had curled up over a moss-covered rock, no longer able to walk on her own. She felt like pudding, if that was a real description. One more step and she might discombobulate on the spot.

"Amy, what's wrong?" River truly tried finding the reason behind it but once Amy went with 'four' she knew she wouldn't be able to just see the problem.

"Med-scanner, now!"

"Dr Song, we can't stay here, we've got to keep moving," Octavian said.

"Have you taken a look at her?" Gabby gestured to their friend on the rock. "She can't even walk!"

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels," Octavian raised his voice seeing that River was so calmly using the scanner on Amy like time wasn't of the essence. "Until that is achieved…"

"Father Octavian, when the Doctor is in the room, your only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home," River all but snapped at him.

"And Renata," Gabby added because it was true and to see River's reaction to that truth. Unsurprisingly, the woman's jaw tightened. She went on like nothing had interrupted her in the first place.

"And trust me. It's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And...Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor almost laughed at her. Renata might have subconsciously held his hand tighter.

On the one hand, she was happy to see that someone else knew how important the Doctor was and much more, that they would want to make sure he was safe. It's just something about the fact that this other person was River made her feel a little...uneasy.

River turned around to him, her eyes only locking onto the man. "I hate you!"

"You don't!" the Doctor helped Renata hop off the small ledge and together hurried to Amy. "Oh, Bishop, the Angels are in the forest."

"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian ordered the other clerics.

"How did you get past them?" River asked the Doctor while he checked Amy over.

"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."

"And what was it?" Gabby stepped closer to them. Hopefully they could figure out what was wrong with Amy and help her.

"The end of the universe. Let's have a look then!" the Doctor grabbed the med-scanner from River's hands.

"So. what's wrong with me?" Amy's voice was like a child's.

"Nothing. you're fine," River said just before the Doctor said the complete opposite.

"Everything, you're dying!"

"Doctor, please," River frowned.

"Yes, you're right, if we lie to her, she'll get all better!"

Renata grabbed the Doctor's arm and gently turned him to her. "I think what River means to say is that we shouldn't be blunt about it. Don't lie, but don't be harsh."

"Yeah, alright," the Doctor agreed. It did sound better how she said it. What River tried to do was completely gloss over the truth by putting a nice lie over it. He didn't like that one bit. It wouldn't help Amy!

River rolled her eyes at Renata. Of course the woman would make it so that the words sounded better in her mouth. It was ridiculous sometimes!

"So what's wrong with Amy?" Gabby got them back on track with her question.

"Something's in her eye…" the Doctor remembered Angel Bob's words. "What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything…"

"Doctor…" Amy called.

"Busy!"

"Scared!"

Renata knelt down beside Amy and passed a hand over her hair. "We'll do anything we can to help you, don't worry. You just relax, okay? We're here."

Amy nodded. She found comfort in Renata's touch. She stroked her hair like a Mum would. Funny, Amy didn't quite remember if her Mum used to do that to her.

The Doctor softly smiled at Renata. It seemed like no matter what incarnation of hers she was in, she would always have the trait of a Mother. He saw it plain as day with Gabby and Donna last year. She always made sure they had their breakfast and a lovely dinner to end the day. If they were hurt, she was right at their side trying to help them.

Now she did the same with Amy. The girl was so eager to see the world that she didn't quite have the handle on it yet. She treated things as a game and Renata wanted to make sure that she understood the real dangers of it. She didn't scold, she taught. And along the way, she started treating Amy like another child. She always made sure Amy was safe, whether she would tuck the girl behind her or push her into a room first because danger was lurking behind them.

And it was just in the way Renata spoke too. She always spoke to the girls in a motherly tone, ushering them away and teaching them what she knew. She encouraged them to try and be clever to figure things out on their own. She gave them the space to grow. It was a wonderful sight seeing as this was how the Doctor met her in the first place. Once upon a time, Zuriah ran a foundation on Gallifrey meant to teach and help anyone who needed it, whether young or old. Centuries later, Renata continued.

He loved it and her.

"Doctor?" River called to the man when she realized he was just staring at Renata. She wasn't doing much, why was he wasting time on her!? There's a double meaning for you. She briefly smirked, silently laughing at her own joke.

The Doctor shook his head and got back to the urgent matter. "Right, right, what happened? She stared at the Angel, she looked into the eyes of an angel for too long…" He started pacing back and forth, ignoring the warning calls of the clerics that Angels were nearing. He slapped his face for good measure, not wanting to lose track of his thoughts. "Come on, come on, wakey, wakey! She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and…"

"The image of an Angel is an Angel," Gabby remembered the book. "That's what was in the book."

The Doctor pointed at her, nodding in agreement. "A living image in a human mind. We stare at them to stop them getting closer, we don't even blink and that's exactly what they want, cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind."

"Three," Amy struggled to speak. "Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die!"

"No, no, you're not," Renata shushed her. "There has to be a solution."

"Now counting, what's that about?" the Doctor realized that was a bit dramatic even for the Angels. He used the radio again. "Bob, why are they making her count?"

'To make her afraid, sir.'

"OK. but why. what for?"

'For fun, sir.'

Renata gasped in outrage while the Doctor threw the radio to the side.

"Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain!" Amy would've flapped her hand if she could move her arm. She felt so tired.

The Doctor focused on her again and not on the stupid Angels for a moment. "Inside your head, in the vision centers of your brain, there's an Angel. It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind, and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off."

"Then what do I do?"

"If it was a real screen, what would we do, we'd pull the plug. but we can't just knock her out, the Angel would take over!"

"Then what? Quickly!" River waved her scanner in the air. Time was running out!

"We've got to shut down the vision centers of her brain. We've got to pull the plug, starve the Angel."

"Doctor, she's got seconds."

"How would you starve your lungs?"

"Stop breathing of course," Renata said on instinct before it hit her. "Oh, the main function of lungs is to breathe. The main function of the eyes is to see so…"

The Doctor snapped his fingers at her. "Amy, close your eyes!"

Amy looked at them both like they were crazy. "No, no, I don't want to."

"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!"

Amy hesitated. Renata nodded encouragingly at her. "Trust us please."

Amy scrunched her face as she closed her eyes. Almost immediately River saw the progress Amy's body made in seconds.

"Ha! You did it! You did it!" she beamed at the Doctor.

"Sir? Two more incoming!" A cleric exclaimed, followed by another.

"Three more over here!"

"Still weak, dangerous to move her," River told the Doctor as she put away the scanner.

Amy found the energy to sit up. "So, can I open my eyes now?"

"Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die," the Doctor followed what Renata suggested earlier. He wouldn't be brash, but he would be honest. "The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of...paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."

"Doctor, Renata, we're too exposed here. We have to move on," Octavian returned to the group.

"We're exposed everywhere, and Amy can't move, and anyway, that's not the plan!"

"We have a plan!" Gabby clapped cheerfully.

"I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking," the Doctor said, smiling at her when her hands dropped to her sides in disappointment.

Still, he did have a somewhat plan. He pointed at Octavian, letting him know he was up first on the plan. "Right! Father, you and your Clerics will stay here, look after Amy while the rest of us go to the Primary Deck."

"Doctor, I'm going to stay with Amy too," Renata said, truly cutting his train of thought off. He whirled to her, mouth open to argue why that couldn't happen when she beat him to it. "I can't let her stay by herself with all these soldiers. I trust that they can protect her but I'd rather have a hand in it myself too."

"Well, if Ren stays so will I," Gabby volunteered only for Renata to shake her head.

"No, you go with the Doctor. You'd be safer with him."

"Renée…" the Doctor did not like this plan one bit. His hearts literally hurt with it. He didn't know that was possible but Renata made him see it. "I can't leave you…" They hadn't been apart ever since she regenerated and found him on Earth while he dealt with the Master.

"Just for a bit," she smiled at him. "The quicker you go, the quicker we'll be done with it."

"Doctor, we have to go," River was all for the idea and because Gabby saw her so gleeful, she knew she had to go along too. It was clear that River would seize any chance to be alone with the Doctor and while Renata was passive aggressive, she was not. If River lived to make Renata's life miserable, then Gabby vowed to make River's life miserable as well. An eye for an eye.

"Go," Renata motioned the Doctor to follow River. "And look after Gabriella please."

The Doctor pointed at her. "Renata...I will be back for you. I swear."

"Of course you will be," Renata nodded. "Because if you're not, I'll be very crossed."

The Doctor could only half smile at her joke. He walked over to her and pulled her into a kiss, one that she truly hadn't seen coming but she would definitely welcome anytime. She followed his lips in a sweet kiss, smiling against his lips when she felt his fingers trace her cheek.

"I'll be back for you as fast as possible," the Doctor promised her. Every part of his body was screaming at him not to leave her behind. What was he thinking!? She could get hurt out here and he would be too far away to just run back for her. It wasn't a good idea, it wasn't a good idea at all…

"Go," Renata urged him, though a good part of her felt like pulling him back to keep kissing. The idea brought a tinge of red over her face.

The Doctor backtracked away from her, his finger pointing at her, assuring that he would be back for her.

"We'll run there," Gabby said to ease the Doctor's worries. He turned around, half-smiling at her, thanking her for trying.

River glared at the girl but not like she was doing to Renata. Her eyes blazed with raw anger. Once again making things about her!

"Alright!" the Doctor clapped his hands together, gaining everyone's attention. "If anything happens to these two women, I'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice. And I am much less kind than my dear Renée."

"Do you even know where the Primary Flight Deck is?" River asked, flashing a smirk at Renata when she thought to add, "It could take a while of searching...just us…"

Renata preferred to turn back to Amy.

"Yeah, with me," Gabby then added. "I promise to hold onto your hand so you won't get lost."

River scowled at her. "You touch me—"

"It's this way!" the Doctor said after licking his finger to hold it up in the air. "About a quarter mile straight ahead."

"Please wash your hands when you can," Renata sighed. It truly was a part of him that would never leave no matter what incarnation he was in.

"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics can look after Miss Renata and Miss Pond," Octavian said as he joined them. "These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in her protection."

The Doctor all but scoffed, wincing when he heard Renata in his mind telling him to be polite. Octavian was trying to help them. Eventually, they started on their trip and like Gabby had said, they almost ran.

"It's alright Amy," Renata grabbed one of her hands once they were alone. "I won't let you out of my sight."

"Well, I wouldn't mind it if you kept an eye on the Angels," Amy half-joked.

"Right, but my other eye will always be on you...you and Gabby."

Amy paused fidgeting for a moment as she worked through her thoughts. "Renata, did you have children before?" She felt Renata's hand over her suddenly squeeze. Tricky question, Amy assumed.

"Why-why would you ask?"

"Because you always act like one. I'm twenty-one. Gabby's twenty. We're not kids anymore."

"Oh Amy, I'm 757. To me, every human is a child." Renata smiled nostalgically as she recalled making the same statement to Gabby and Donna at one point.

"Well, the Doctor doesn't really act like that."

"That's cos the Doctor's still technically a child himself."

'I heard that,' the Doctor suddenly snapped, making Renata wince.

"The point is Amy, yes, I did almost have a baby at one point in my life but that's not the reason I act all...motherly. I've always liked taking care of people. I'm sorry if that's annoying."

"No, I mean...sometimes it is but I never really had a Mum or anything...it's kind of nice," Amy smiled. She wondered what type of Mother her own would've been like if she was still around.

"Well, right now I'm going to be super motherly," Renata squeezed Amy's hand. "None of these Angels are going to be touching you. Not under my watch." She heard a crunching noise and looked to the side as someone emerged.

It was the Doctor. And Renata swore she saw something else behind him, though. She carefully pulled her hand off Amy's and rose to her feet. He offered her a smile, a kind one. But it was also a bit sad.

He was wearing his jacket and Renata knew this was impossible. The Angels had kept that.

"What are you…?"

"Trust me," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he walked over to Amy. He took her hands, startling Amy until he spoke up, "Amy. you need to start trusting me, it's never been more important."

"But you don't always tell me the truth." Amy wondered if he truly came back just to tell her this nonsense. He was wasting time!

"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me."

"Doctor, the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?"

"What did you tell me?"

The Doctor rested his forehead against Amy's, barely managing to conceal his urgency from her and that was even with her eyes closed. "No, no... That's not the point. You have to remember."

Renata watched him gingerly leave a kiss on the girl's forehead. "What are you up to?" she demanded as he straightened up.

He only offered her a small smile before rushing off again.

~ 0 ~

Octavian led the group down the forest but was gaining a bit with the Doctor being mor distracted on the handheld scanner than walking.

"What are you doing?" Gabby came up beside him, trying to peer over to see what the scanner was 'scanning' now.

"Readings from a crack in a wall."

"The one here?"

He nodded. He kept working it until River came on his other side with more questions.

"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"

"Here's what I think. One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history - past and future - will crack."

"Is that possible?" Gabby made a face.

"Everything's possible," River sighed as she kept the 'around the Doctor' part to herself.

Gabby shot her a look. "You know something about that, then? Seeing as you're the from the future."

River rolled her eyes at the girl. "Contrary to your beliefs, not everything is my fault Gabby."

"And how would we know that? Where are you from, River? Who are you? How do we know you're not dangerous to us?"

River scowled, getting that familiar urge to smack Gabby for always being so...annoying. Renata was just...a whole level of pain and misery to her life but Gabby Gonzalez was plain annoying. She was a right danger when she wanted to be but she was mostly annoying, always trying to prop Renata up to make her look bad. Gabby had this endless belief that Renata was the kindest person alive. She was so blinded by Renata and all that energy around them that it was impossible for Gabby to ever see the truth. On some level, River could find it in her to pity Gabby...but that was on rare moments. Every other moment was filled with annoyance and hatred.

"Miss Gonzalez, I can guarantee your safety around Dr. Song" Octavian said as he purposely walked slower so the group could catch up. River shot a glare to his back. "Dr Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. The pardon means she won't hurt anyone."

River saw him look over his shoulder at her, warning her not to try anything. She seethed with anger.

"You were in Stormcage?" the Doctor now eyed her with even more hesitance about her.

"Prison, that's a prison," Gabby pointed. "Ren told me about that place. It's one of the Shadow Proclamation's prisons. You were in prison?"

River pursed her lips. Oh, now Gabby would have a field day comparing her to Mother Hen Renata.

She caught a break when the scanner in the Doctor's hand beeped. "What? What is that?"

The Doctor forgot all about prison talks now that he had the readings. "The date! The date of the explosion where the crack begins!"

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

June 26, 2010 flashed across the screen, the very night he had picked Amy up.

The group soon reached the outside of the primary flight deck. Octavian fervently worked to try to get it open for them.

"Hurry up and open it, time's running out!" River impatiently called from behind, unknowingly sparking an idea in the Doctor's head.

"What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"

"I just meant—"

"I know what you meant. hush! But what if it could?"

"Doctor, you're not making sense!" Gabby sighed. If Renata was around, she would've already made him go back to talking English.

"Time. What if time could run out?"

'Got it!" Octavian had found a way into the deck.

~ 0 ~

Renata was no longer sitting with Amy. She was more interested in the soldiers facing the incoming Angels. They were messing with the lights of the forest, making them flicker to advance.

"Weapons primed," the lead cleric, Marco, had the others spread out closer to the trees. "Combat distance five feet. Wait for it!"

"What is it!?" Amy jumped from the rock, landing a bit wobbly on her feet. "What's happening, just tell me!"

"Amy, you keep those eyes closed," Renata hurried to the girl and stood in front of her. "And the rest of you, please be wise. The Angels are coming full force."

A bright light flashed through the trees, confusing everyone.

"The ship's not on fire. Is it?" Marco asked the others.

"It can't be. The compressors would have taken care of it," one of the clerics responded. "Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?"

Renata made a face. That...was not how it worked.

"This side's clear too, sir!" another cleric exclaimed from the other side.

"The Angels have gone?" Amy asked, rightfully puzzled.

Marco took a look at his own scanner to see what had happened. "There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running."

"Running from what?" Amy swallowed hard. What could the Angels be afraid of to make them want to run?

Renata suspected it had to do with the crack they found earlier.

"Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that," Marco gave the order and watched the two clerics head towards the light.

"No, wait," Renata tried going after them but Marco grabbed her arm. "Look, something's not right here. That light is dangerous."

But Marco still wouldn't let her go. They waited for the two clerics to report back but minutes passed in silence.

"Okay, call them back," Renata ordered Marco as she finally yanked her arm out of his hand. "It's been five minutes and they haven't said anything."

Marco raised his radio but the light suddenly shined brighter than before. He, Renata and the remaining clerics had to shield their eyes.

"What's going on?" Amy could see that something had brightened up through her closed her lids.

"Amy, eyes shut!" Renata snapped. She didn't know if the same crack was coming for them but either way, it was devouring the forest.

Marco took another look at his scanner. "It's like, I don't know...a curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird, sick."

"And you think it scared the Angels?" Amy wondered.

"What could scare those things?" asked one of the clerics.

Renata knew, or at least she had barely discovered one. "The crack…" she whispered. The light blinded them for another few seconds, fading away to reveal the same crack shining in the air again. "How does it keep following us?"

"What? What is?" Amy reached out a hand until she felt Renata's dress. She latched onto the Time Lady's arm. "Renata!"

"Don't worry Amy, it's fine. I'm here!" Renata held the girl's hand but Amy shook her head.

"Please don't lie! You're not the Doctor, you don't do the same things. You want to be like a Mum, then don't lie. What is it?"

Renata whipped out her sonic to hopefully catch a reading from the crack without having to get close to it. Sure enough, the sonic whirred with the familiar crack in its presence. Even as Renata took a look at the readings, she knew it didn't make sense. Time was all screwed up on it. Why would Time be messed up?

"Renata, please!" Amy continued to insist.

Renata sighed. No, she didn't want to lie again. She had lied for so many years, so many centuries, that she never wanted to say another lie again. The crack was the same as the one in Amy's bedroom, she had a right to know about it. Especially if it had been messing with her life.

Her Mum.

"Okay Amy," Renata turned to her, cradling her head. "Listen to me, it's the same crack that we saw earlier."

"The one that looked like the one in my bedroom?"

"Yes. I don't know how but it is."

"...I want to see it." If it was truly the same crack, Amy felt like she needed to see it. It didn't make sense how it was following them but she needed to see it to believe it.

"Amy…" Renata let go of Amy's head. "You can't."

"The Doctor said I couldn't open my eyes for more than a second. That means I still got a bit of a countdown left."

"Amy, what would be the point? Do you not trust me?"

"Of course I do but...Renata, I need to see it," Amy found her hand again and squeezed it. "Please?"

Renata sighed and looked at the crack. "Half a second, you got that?" Amy nodded quickly. "No more than that!"

"I know, I know," Amy felt Renata turn her in the direction of the crack.

"Ma'am, I don't think it's a good idea," Marco said but Renata waved him off.

"She has a right to." Renata steadied Amy and hoped to God that she wouldn't regret this. "Alright Amy, ready?"

"Aha," Amy nervously licked her lips. "Ready."

"Okay. One...two...three!"

Amy opened her eyes to see the crack in the air. Her mouth fell open. It was the same crack as the one in her bedroom.

---

A/N:

I had to cut these chapters one more time because they were just too dang long! Promise there's just one more chapter and then we move onto the next episode xD.

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

My tardiness in updating is terrible and will probably continue to be terrible. I posted on the fics that I last updated with the news that I was taking an indefinite hiatus from updating because of my course load and work. Tonight I have miraculously gotten ahead of some work but next week I'll be back on my drowning schedule so updating will no doubt be spotty again. So sorry about it but I literally barely have time to do my own things, it's sad really. You guys have no idea how nice it was to actually open this site again and see my drafts waiting for me. Really miss that.

Chapter 11: Butterflies and Their Future

Summary:

As they get closer to escaping, the group of travelers begin learning bits of the future ahead of them and it's not looking very pretty.

Amy couldn't believe it. The same crack in her bedroom was now in front of her, mid-air, tormenting her all over again.

"Amy!"

Upon Renata's yell, Amy squeezed her eyes shut and stumbled on her feet. Renata took hold of Amy's side and passed her hand down Amy's hair. Renata counted that half second as best she could.

"I got you, just don't open your eyes again!"

"But how...how is it the same crack? I don't understand!"

"Neither do I but we'll figure it out," Renata promised her and stared at the crack. Honestly speaking, she had no idea how it was possible either...but Amy didn't need to know that right now. There were more pressing matters like the Angel in her eyes.

"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?" one of the clerics offered.

Marco nodded. "Go for it. Don't get too close!"

"Wait a minute," Renata called to the cleric but he was already too far ahead to hear. "We never heard back from the other two clerics."

"What other two?" Marco gave her a blank look.

"What do you mean?" she frowned. "Your other two clerics! You sent them over and they haven't reported back!"

"Ma'am, I didn't send anyone before."

"Yes you did!"

"You did! Crispin and Phillip." Amy backed Renata up. She just couldn't see that it didn't matter for Marco.

"Crispin and who?"

~ 0 ~

"Miss Gonzalez, Dr. Song, get through, now." Octavian didn't give Gabby the opportunity to protest that she needed to wait for the Doctor. He ushered in and did the same with River. Finally, it was just them two. "Doctor? Doctor?"

The Doctor was in the middle of making calculations. His mind was working fast to understand what he'd been missing lately. "How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognize the Daleks! OK, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah! Oh!" He did a little sprint in the middle of his pacing, fingers working fast in the air. "Time can be unwritten."

~ 0 ~

"Ma'am, with all due respect, you're not making sense," Marco was getting agitated having both Renata and Amy trying to tell him he'd forgotten his own people. "There never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you."

"Oh, don't make promises!" Renata huffed. "And I certainly don't appreciate you calling me a liar right now. What would be the point in me telling you this lie? I don't gain anything from it! You just sent your third cleric, Pedro, off towards a crack! I should've stopped you!"

"Pedro?" Marco once again had the same blank look on his face. "Who's Pedro?"

Renata blinked. "How are you doing that?"

~ 0 ~

"It's been happening and I haven't even noticed!" the Doctor smacked his forehead. He was figuring it out now. "The CyberKing! A giant cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no-one remembers!"

"That's true," Gabby realized with wide, blinking eyes. The trip had been accidental — the Doctor was trying to get them to some other planet for a potential cure for Renata — and they'd of course stumbled across a mystery the Doctor couldn't resist. It led to a giant CyberKing walking (or stomping) through the town, hurting dozens of people. That story should have become legendary through history. But nobody remembered a damn thing. No one at home — her parents, or her best friend Cindy for that matter — ever talked about it. It was forgotten.

"Doctor, we have to move!" Octavian insisted. "They Angels could be here any second!"

"Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels!" the Doctor snapped. His mind was still racing to make connections.

"Well how about Miss Renata!?"

The Doctor winced. "Of course! Alright fine!" But the moment they turned towards the deck, the lights went out.

An Angel had grasped Octavian's neck when the lights returned.

The Doctor brandished the sonic on the Angel. "Let him go."

"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it," Octavian said grimly, knowing what would happen in a few seconds.

"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you!"

"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"

"Can't you wriggle out?"

"No. it's too tight. There's nothing you can do."

~ 0 ~

"Oh...my God!" Renata rubbed her forehead with frustration. "Why is it that whenever I talk, people don't listen! What is that!?"

"There never was a Pedro!" Marco was just as frustrated with her. "There's only ever been three of us!"

Renata dropped her hand to her side, shooting him a glare. "I'm a Time Lady, my mind works quicker than yours. So do you really think that I would just forget the amount of people I'm around with?"

Marco shifted. "Well...no…"

"Exactly! I don't forget people, trust me! It's been a huge thing in my life! But you've...you've truly forgotten...how is that possible?"

"Ma'am, I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is," Marco said, motioning he would be walking away. "I won't get too close!"

"No, you can't do that!" Amy frowned. "Didn't you just hear Renata? You've forgotten your own people!"

"Here, spare communicator!" Marco chucked the communicator to Renata who, despite catching it with ease, was refusing to let him leave as well.

"I am not letting you go!"

"I'll stay in touch the whole time."

"If you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you!"

"There weren't any other!"

"OH MY GOD!" Renata pressed her balled fists to her head. She tried, she really tried not to view humans as, well...humans, but then they came with this kind of stuff. She was telling him what had happened three times already and the man wasn't listening to her. Why were they such fools sometimes!?

"Two minutes, I promise!"

"I SAID NO!" Renata opened her eyes to reveal a strong golden white hue inside them. It froze Marco in his spot.

"The Vortex Butterfly," he breathed in. He heard the stories, knew them like the back of his hand like most Clerics did. He knew about the Vortex Butterfly claiming the lives of the age old Crucible ship that once eradicated a decent amount of Earth's population at one point. That's where it started. And he knew where it ended. The Vortex Butterfly was known for her volatile energy when she wanted it to be so, but most of the records also expressed the love and warmth she could bring when she wanted to.

But right now, he saw the volatile energy that many people feared. He was crossing her.

The moment Renata had heard the name again, she gasped and turned away. She felt the energy course within her for those few seconds. There was a fierce rage to protect what was left of them from that crack and given a few seconds, she might have used it. (Though how she would've used it, she had no idea).

"Renata?" Amy felt the terse air around them and wondered if Marco had truly left. After being yelled at like that, he would be an idiot to.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was racking his brain for a way to save Octavian. The Angel had the man by the neck with zero space to work with.

"Sir, there's nothing you can do!" Octavian repeated.

"You're dead if I leave you!"

"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go…"

"I'm not going!"

Octavian was sure he would. "Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."

"Trust who?"

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is and what she's capable of..."

There was an alert in his mind pointing out that right now River was alone with Gabby. If what Octavian was saying was true…

Renata would kill him if he let anything happen to Gabby, but he would end himself first if Gabby was hurt.

"Tell me," he looked at Octavian, more urgent than ever.

"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."

"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?"

"She murdered...somebody..."

The Doctor blinked. Of all the things…

He didn't know River that much - he didn't know her at all actually - but to murder? That was something hard to digest. She had a way of being, a difficult personality but would she really murder someone?

"Who? Who did she kill!?"

"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't. The Angels are coming. You have to leave me!"

"You'll die."

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."

The Doctor nodded. "I wish I'd' known you better…"

"I think, sir, you know me at my best."

The Doctor stepped back. "Ready?"

"Content," Octavian nodded his head.

The Doctor turned for the hatch, jumping through as quick as possible and shutting it behind him. He went straight inside and was relieved to see Gabby perfectly fine.

"There's a teleport! If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here!" River exclaimed before noticing only the Doctor had come through. "Where's Octavian?"

"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator." The Doctor didn't necessarily wait for River's okay on the communicator as he snatched it from her.

~ 0 ~

"Renata?"

Renata sighed in relief to hear the Doctor's voice over the radio. "About time! We're in a bit of a...what did Gabby say? A pickle?"

~ 0 ~

Gabby laughed. "Right!"

The Doctor would only chuckle. He was glad, so relieved, to hear Renata's voice. It meant she was safe for now. "Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?"

~ 0 ~

"Just...one…" Renata shot Marco another look, warning him with just a simple expression to keep still. "There were three clerics that went to examine that crack and now our only remaining cleric, Marco, can't even remember them."

"No, they wouldn't."

"Ah, so I'm a little behind on information then. Lovely."

"Time's running out, literally. Renée, I'm so sorry. I knew I shouldn't have left you!" the Doctor shut his eyes for a moment. He should've listened to his gut, his entire body had raged at him to bring her with him.

"Doctor, don't do that. What do we do now?" Renata bit her lip as she studied the crack. It was getting bigger...and shinier.

"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."

"I can't see!" Amy exclaimed, reminding them in case they'd forgotten that detail.

"We'll be fine, we'll be fine," Renata hushed her quickly even though her own tone of voice expressed nothing but concern. "Marco!"

"Ma'am!" the young man stiffened, waiting for orders.

"Keep your eyes open for any Angels on your right. I'll take the ones on the left." Renata moved over to Amy's left side and motioned Marco to take the girl's right. "Doctor, we'll be starting now."

"I'm going to try and make it easier for you," the Doctor said after a moment. He was working the communicator and the sonic together. "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound."

They soon heard the noise so Renata pulled them into a walk.

"There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it!"

"Seriously need to understand what that crack is," Renata said as they moved slowly down the forest. "I don't understand how it's possible."

"Ma'am, I see more Angels," Marco warned. They were regathering and coming for them. In a moment, they would be surrounded.

"We'll be fine...everything will be fine…" Renata assured him and Amy. She could feel the girl's shaking arm around hers. She didn't want to say it but she saw more Angels on her side as well. "Doctor, talk to me more about this crack. Did I miss something?"

"It's an explosion. Somewhere an explosion is happening and that crack is just part of the results. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all."

"Oh, um...we should probably look into that," Renata bit her lower lip. "Cos I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen."

"Renée, please move!"

~ 0 ~

"It's never going to work," River groaned while the Doctor kept offering more useless comfort words to Renata.

Suddenly, she had the man shouting at him. Even Gabby had flinched.

"WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GOT!? River, tell me!"

"Doctor!" Gabby called when they heard a loud whooshing noise followed by a clanging. It didn't sound too far away which worried her a bit more. "What is that?"

The Doctor gripped the communicator. "The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them." He almost smacked his forehead in frustration. Never again would he leave Renata on her own, never again! "Renée! How are we doing!?"

"Ah, well, the forest is full of Angels but otherwise I'm fine," Renata's cool answer made River roll her eyes. A simple 'ok' would've sufficed.

"That time energy, what's it going to do?" River finally asked him.

"...keep eating."

"How do we stop it?"

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while!"

"Like what, for instance?"

Once again, the Doctor shouted at full volume. "Like me, for instance!"

Gabby shook her head and stalked over to River. She pulled the woman's arm to turn her around but before River could snap at her, Gabby whisper-hissed at her. "Let's try to figure out how to get that portal working before he bites your head off!"

River yanked her arm out of Gabby's grip. She hated to admit it - she really did - but Gabby made a point.

~ 0 ~

"Ma'am, the Angels are surrounding us," Marco's voice shook.

"Yes, I've noticed…"

"What are we going to do now?" Amy hated that she was slowing them down. She was only glad that Renata was around because otherwise, the cleric might have just left her.

"Keep walking, that's it. The Angels are scared right now," the Doctor told them. "It's your salvation right now. Keep going!"

Renata unwrapped Amy's arm from hers, startling Amy. She gasped, believing Renata to have gotten caught. "Ren—"

"I'm fine, I just...I want to try something…" Renata blinked fast, feeling the warmth of her energy. "Marco, keep walking her!"

Marco nodded dutifully and continued walking with Amy. Renata was right behind them now, letting sparks of golden butterflies into the air. With any luck, the Angels would assume the butterflies were part of the Time Energy and be warded off.

"Renata…?" Amy's nervous voice called for her.

"I'm still here Amy!"

"Ma'am! The Angels have gotten ahead of us!" Marco was forced to stop when a row of Angels barred their way.

Renata scanned their area and saw even more Angels had appeared on them. "Doctor, I'm sorry but...we are fully surrounded." She heard a loud clanging noise and assumed he had thrown something in the deck room. Later on, Gabby would tell her it had been his fist colliding with the control panel.

"Ma'am, what do we do now?" Marco asked again and Renata felt terrible because she had nothing. They couldn't do anything! "Ma'am?"

"I-I don't...I'm sorry, I don't know," Renata brought a hand up to her forehead. She was panicking, she was panicking quickly.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the front and engulfed both Amy and Marco.

Renata felt the air leave her lungs when she found herself alone.

~ 0 ~

"I will kill you!" Gabby lost it with River when she returned only with Amy and Marco.

"Amy, don't open your eyes! I teleported you!" River quickly told the girl before she would open her eyes on them.

"I will do it you selfish, jealous bitch!" Gabby genuinely screamed and stormed towards the woman, her entire body flaming purple.

"Gabriella!" the Doctor had to physically pick the girl up from behind.

"LET ME GO!" Gabby's legs flailed in the air as he turned her away. "She did that on purpose! I know she did! She hated Renata!"

"Doctor?" they both heard Renata's voice through the communicator.

Gabby stopped fighting altogether and snatched the communicator from the Doctor's hands. "Ren!"

Meanwhile, the Doctor turned for River, giving her a much darker look than Gabby's childish screams. "You better go back for her right now!"

"I grabbed what I saw!" River huffed, though there was a part of her that wasn't all that sorry for giving them that type of scare. It wasn't her fault that Renata wanted to play hero and got left behind. Oh well.

"GO BACK!"

"I need to set it back up—"

"DO IT!"

River flinched, glaring briefly before returning to the control panels.

"Ren! Ren! I'm so sorry! River got Amy and Marco!" Gabby was busy filling Renata in on what happened.

~ 0 ~

Renata could at least be relieved that Amy was safe again. "That's fine, she...she did the right thing." She swallowed hard. "I, uh...I think the Angels are closing in."

She didn't think, she knew they were closing. She swallowed hard. The Angels were surrounding her even as she tried to look at all of them.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor lost his patience and shoved River to the side, taking over the controls of the teleport. It was such a menial job getting it right for the second trip and she couldn't figure it out? River watched him carefully as he fixed the errors and when he met her gaze, she looked away.

Maybe she dilly-dallied on the job, who knew.

~ 0 ~

"Gabby, it's fine, I'm fine…" Renata stopped moving. There was no point in trying to get out of it.

"No, you're not," Gabby's eyes pricked with tears on the other side. "You're calling me Gabby. You don't do that unless you're scared."

It was the same story when they first met. Renata loathed nicknames. She found no point in them when people had proper names. She refused to call Gabby by her nickname and instead addressed her by her full name instead. But once they found out about Renata's predicted death and Gabby confronted her about it, Renata had assured Gabby that everything was fine. She was fine. Until Renata called her 'Gabby' before leaving the room.

Gabby glared deeply at River across the deck room. "I swear to God that I will hurt you if the Doctor doesn't get that working again."

"Wouldn't be the first time," River snapped back, startling Gabby for a second.

"Gabby," the Doctor warned just as Renata had over the communicator.

"Don't say things like that," Renata's voice clearly shook while she was trying to put on a brave tone.

The Doctor, however, felt inclined to follow in Gabby's footsteps if he couldn't get the teleport working again. River only folded her arms and watched the Doctor work, as if waiting to see how it would work out. And she was.

Renata took in a breath. "It's fine just...just get out…"

"What? No w—"

A flash of light cut Gabby off. Renata felt arms wrap around her waist and then a force of a pull. The flight deck was in her vicinity.

"I am never leaving you again," the Doctor mumbled with more than half his air gone. Renata smiled in utter relief as he held her. She hugged him and met his lips with a kiss that the Doctor would've liked to have prolonged but Gabby had other plans. She ripped Renata away from him to hug her too.

"Oh thank God you're okay!"

The Doctor threw a look at Gabby who couldn't have ignored it better. She had her eyes squeezed shut over Renata's shoulder. Renata only laughed at the two.

"Children!"

River loudly cleared her throat to get their attention back on the problem that mattered. Thankfully, an alarm blared with her.

"What's that?" Gabby pulled away to see.

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means... the shield's going to release!" the Doctor barely ran to said shields when they raised to reveal the full army of the Angels.

Renata pushed Gabby behind and backtracked with her several steps. "Angel Bob, I presume?" she asked.

'The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality.'

"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?" the Doctor didn't expect an answer but the Angels were full of surprises today.

'There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved.'

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"

'Your friends would also be saved.'

"No, we're fine!" Renata snapped, already telepathically warning the Doctor not to go all sacrificing himself.

"I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw me in," River offered herself up to ease any lingering resentment for her earlier stunt. That would get Renata to reel everyone back. She knew her just too well.

"River, don't. Watch Amy," went the Time Lady right on schedule.

"Oh, be serious!" The Doctor wandered over to a control panel, much too randomly even for him. "Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

River shot him a look. "Doctor, I can't let you do this."

"No, seriously, get a grip!"

"You're not going to die here!"

Renata suddenly laughed, much to River's annoyance. "How are you that intelligent and lucky?"

The Doctor flashed her a smirk. "I have no idea."

"What? What's going on?" Amy wished with all her heart that she could see what was going on. It was crazy frustrating to just to hear things!

"Everyone, find something to hold onto!" Renata said just as she dragged Gabby to the rail beside the Doctor. She motioned Marco to bring Amy to another rail.

'Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now.'

"If he does that I'll be very crossed!" Renata offhandedly commented as she tried moving River to another rail, only for River to yank her hand away before Renata could touch her. Renata didn't insist and only motioned River to take her place. She would really have to start remembering not to touch River. She didn't like it and forcing her to the same thing just wasn't nice.

The Doctor smiled again. "Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels: Night-night."

Gravity failed them when the power fully died. The deck turned to its side and gave the crack the full opening it needed to suck everything that swarmed near it. A burst of light flashed in the room before the crack disappeared.

~0~

"Here," Renata brought a blanket to drape over Amy now that they were back on the beach, relatively safe and sound.

Amy relished in the warmth of the blanket the moment it made contact with her body. "Thanks."

"Bet your bruised, huh?" Renata moved around the rock Amy found comfort on.

"Kind of, yeah," Amy nodded with a light chuckle.

"Sorry. That resort of stuff happens sometimes. But don't worry, the Doctor and I will find a nice relaxing place for you girls next time."

"Where is Gabby?" Amy wondered now that she could see again. She spotted Gabby making her way towards River and once Renata saw it too, she started for them.

"Watch her!" Renata pointed the Doctor to Amy. He was barely coming to them and was mighty confused with the sudden instructions.

Gabby had come up to River and eyed the sophisticated handcuffs on her wrists. River rolled her eyes the moment she saw Gabby, not hiding the noise she made afterwards.

"You're in prison," Gabby stated. "I knew you were mean and rude but I never thought you were in prison. That just confirms everything I think about you."

"This may come as a surprise to you, Gabby, but I don't really care what you think about me," River raised an eyebrow at the girl and smiled sarcastically. "I'm not you who desperately wants Renata's approval."

"At least I'm not some desperate woman chasing after a man who'll never look at her twice," Gabby smirked proudly when she watched River's fall flat.

"I hate you. You have no idea how much I hate you, Gabby."

"Yeah, but I do know how much you hate Renata. I saw it today. You willingly—" Gabby brought a finger up to point at the woman, "—left her back in the forest! You did that on purpose!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," River nonchalantly said, even shrugging for effect.

"Of course I do! I've seen people like you, only you're worse! Other people would've stopped but I get the feeling you'll never stop." Gabby could only picture the Library. River had used her last moments to take jabs at Renata. "And it kills me that Renata won't put you in your place."

"Oh, you mean Mother Teresa?" River had to take a last shot while she could. She saw Renata approaching them, no doubt to pull her little human child back.

Gabby swallowed down her snap to get through what she wanted to say. She stepped closer to River, having to tilt her head up due to their height difference. "Renata might be passive aggressive but I'm not. Every time you insult her, I will be there to return the favor. Every time you wanna wedge yourself between her and the Doctor, I'll be there to yank you out. If you hurt them, I will hurt you."

"Gabriella," Renata's voice was loud and sharp when she reached the two. They were nose to nose with eyes on each other that could kill on the spot. "Gabriella, step away."

River upheld her end with a deep glare even as Gabby finally relented and backtracked to where Renata was.

"I mean it," Gabby said despite Renata's insistence to stay quiet. "I swear it."

"Believe me, I know what you're capable of," River muttered, her dark eyes flickering to Renata for a second. "You learned from the best, after all."

Renata shook her head and looked at Gabby. "Go to the Doctor and Amy. Amy might need help getting into the TARDIS."

"Ren—"

"Go," Renata's tone was final. With a small groan, Gabby stalked off. Renata waited a moment before turning to River again. "I get that you don't like me, but what could Gabby do to you to make you hate her so much?"

"Unfortunately that falls under 'spoilers'," River sourly said. How she wished she could tell Renata right there and then what her precious Gabriella would one day do, or attempt to do.

Renata sighed. "Look River, whatever I do to you in the future...I'm sorry."

River loudly scoffed, looking more disgusted than ever. "Please. You and I both know - or you will anyways - know that neither of us are sorry for what we did. I'm especially not. So save your sorry sermons for someone who buys it."

It was beyond repair, Renata thought. There were visible traces of guilt marking her face, one that just made the anger bubble up inside River all over again.

"God just stop!" she snapped. "You're such a fraud."

Renata swallowed hard. "Yeah, you've mentioned something similar before." The older version of River in the Library made sure to leave that clear.

"Good," River's tone sharpened. "I just hope that one day the Doctor will see the light as well. Don't worry I'll be doing my best to guide him."

"What do you mean?" Renata lost a bit of her voice there. River took pleasure in it. These were some of her favorite parts of her life.

"What you hear," River stepped closer to the woman until they were face to face. She smirked so widely, so certain that Renata had to ask. It was beyond her at this point.

"River, how do you know the Doctor so well?"

This version of River seemed almost as knowledgeable as the one in the Library. And the sonic the Doctor made for her?

"Ah," River slightly raised her head, truly enjoying the moment now. "Well, you know…things happen — will happen."

Renata felt a lump in her throat. She couldn't help remember the moment she first learned about - the moment she met - the Doctor's wife. River looked so confident of her words and with her previous evidence...how could Renata not doubt herself for a moment?

And even though River couldn't see what Renata was thinking about, she knew the type of thoughts she was having. Her face had paled, her lips pursed, and there was a faint glimmer in her eyes.

Oh sometimes it was just too easy.

~0~

"Doctor, could you just pull Ren away from that woman already?" Gabby was harshly tapping her foot against the sand. She was knocking sand onto Amy's boots in the process. She was watching Renata and River having a 'conversation' but she knew when Renata was flailing and that moment was now. River was smirking far too widely for Gabby to be mistaken.

"Gabby, you really need to calm down," the Doctor didn't honestly think he'd ever seen Gabby so worked up over someone. River Song truly got under her skin.

"Doctor, seriously! You know we can't trust her!"

The Doctor wouldn't argue with that point. Already had had a brief conversation with River, learning more about this pardon she was trying to get from Stormcage. The woman was...enigmatic. She was quick to tell him the next time they would meet, though he laughed in her face when she gave the name of a blatant fairy tale. But what really drove the Doctor to his reluctance against her was her crime. She committed a crime, murder, and she accepted it.

"I thought she was cool," Amy remarked and winced when Gabby scoffed at her.

"Of course you would say that! She was nice to you all the time!"

"Okay, don't argue," the Doctor motioned them to sit still. He turned to go for Renata when he saw River beamed up to a ship in the sky. Renata remained in her spot for a few seconds before leaving the spot and going for the shore. She was upset, he could feel it. Their mind connection had faltered for a few moments, blocking him really. Before he knew it, he was making his own way towards her.

"My Renée, what are you thinking about?" he called once he neared her.

She was hugging herself, staring ahead but not precisely at the ocean. "You know me...I always think."

"Oh, I know," the Doctor stood beside her, side-glancing her thoughtful yet grin face. "But what is it? You're close to frowning and I daresay that there's a little tear wanting to come out of those brilliant eyes."

Renata quickly rid herself of the evidence by dragging a few fingers over her eyes. "Thoughts, so many thoughts. Not all of them are nice."

"You want to tell me what some of them are?"

"No need to bother you with them."

The Doctor stepped closer to her and nuzzled his nose on her cheek. She smiled with his touch (and maybe because it tickled). "You can always tell me what's bothering you, Renée. I'll try to make it better."

Renata's lips kept curving into a deeper smile as he moved his nose down, near her jaw. "I just...you're always so carefree and I'm...I'm always bringing problems."

"Take a look at who you're talking to, dear." The Doctor raised his head and reached a finger under her chin to bring her gaze over. "I'm 'problems'." Renata's laughter slipped before she even realized. The Doctor grinned. That was much better! "Alright Renata, you and me, on a date."

Renata tilted her head at him, trying really hard to keep that excitement she felt at bay. She didn't want to seem too eager and embarrass herself. "Anywhere in mind?"

"No idea but I will make sure it is the best place possible for you."

"Doctor, please don't go overboard. I know that's what you do by default but...you really don't have to with me."

"I can't just give you something 'blah'," the Doctor pretended to gag, making her chuckle. "It's our date! Our first date!"

"Well, yeah, but I already know you Doctor. We've had loads of times together adventuring on almost-but-not-exactly-dates and we got to know each other so well," Renata smiled at him. "You've already impressed me. I'm already in love with you."

"So you...don't want something...amazing? Brilliant? You just want 'blah'?" That made things even harder for the Doctor to figure out. He wanted something huge for Renata, leave her face stunned! It was just a natural drive to want to impress her. He wasn't used to the idea of not having to impress someone. It'd become a core part of him ever since he could remember. People coming into the TARDIS usually expected to see only the best things, so he just went with that. He had tried to impress Renata when they first met. Maybe she was right. He didn't have to keep doing that anymore. But then what else was he supposed to do?

Renata smiled at him while he went into a silent state, no doubt thinking about what they would do now. "I need a shower because I don't want our first date to be ruined because I smell like caverns."

"I think you smell like a lovely cavern," the Doctor grinned at her again.

"Okay," she laughed with a shake of her head. "Let's go. As much as I love the beach here…I'd rather not be around one where a ship crashed."

The Doctor agreed. He had a lot to think about anyways. Where would he take Renata on their date!?

~ 0 ~

"Alright, you two—" the Doctor pointed a finger at Amy and Gabby as he worked around the console, "—are off to a spa! The 52nd century! Or, if you're being daredevils, the Medieval Ages!"

Gabby's hand shot into the air. "Renata says I can't go into the Medieval periods again without supervision." At Amy's questioning look, Gabby added, "I may have accidentally gotten myself engaged."

Amy's eyes widened. "What?"

"Long story short, I thought he was just joking and I said 'yes'." Gabby laughed. She could still remember Renata's reaction when it all happened. But really, was it her fault that the prince of the kingdom they were visiting had snuck out of the castle to see the kingdom up close and instantly liked her? No! How was she supposed to know that he was the prince? Not even Donna could tell and she vowed that she could spot royalty from a mile away!

Well, the prince had not been playing and now he expected Gabby to live up to her 'I will' and become his wife. Renata had been furious while the Doctor babbled on about the ups and downs of such a marriage until she whacked him to agree with her. It ended almost like their visit to King Henry VIII had: running for their lives.

"Right," the Doctor quickly agreed, remembering that visit all too well. "So a spa!"

"Why are you shipping us off all of a sudden?" Gabby crossed her arms, eyeing the Time Lord suspiciously.

"Uh, Ren and I have somewhere to go!"

"Oh, well...can I at least get changed? I don't want to smell like Weeping Angels and River Song."

The Doctor looked at Gabby for the jab. "Go!"

Gabby proudly smiled as she turned to leave. "Amy! C'mon!"

"Be there in a mo," Amy said, though she didn't really have the intention of catching up. It was her chance now!

"Cool!" Gabby raised a thumb into the air before disappearing into the corridors.

"Uh, Doctor? Can I go home?" Amy asked as soon as they were alone.

The Doctor stopped altogether to give her a wide-eyed look. Had they already warned Amy off?

Amy could see what he assumed and laughed. "No, not like that! I just… I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."

"First of all, I'm not running from River," the Doctor said as he started to prepare the console for Amy's house, making sure that it was only a few minutes after he picked her up. He didn't want another 12 years to slip by for her. "I'm just not that eager to keep bumping into her. And second of all...hang on!"

~ 0 ~

Amy was silent the moment she and the Doctor walked out of the TARDIS into her bedroom...where her wedding dress was hanging on her closet door. It was better time for him to digest it before she started talking. They sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the dress for several minutes before the Doctor finally found his words...

"Well!" It wasn't much to begin with but he did have quite a surprise finding out that Amy Pond was getting married!

"Yeah!" Amy awkwardly laughed, fiddling her fingers together.

"Blimey!" He would say that she was too young to get married. After all, Gabby was only a year younger than her and she didn't look like she would be getting married anytime soon. At least...Gabby didn't look like she wanted to get married anytime soon. And, he supposed it did make sense that Amy would want to get married now since humans' lifespans were…

Oh, he'd rather not think about that.

"I'm getting married in the morning," Amy had taken up her engagement box from her nightstand, the one she purposely left when she saw the TARDIS again. She held the box to the Doctor, opening it up to see the engagement ring inside.

It was a beautiful ring, making the Doctor wonder why she wouldn't want to bring it along. "Why did you leave it here?"

Amy shot him a look, not that he would get it. "Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?"

"Yeah!"

Amy almost laughed at him. He was so clueless. "You really are an alien, aren't you?"

"Who's the lucky fella?"

"You met him!"

"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?"

Amy lost it when he mimed Rory's nose. "Yeah, that one."

"Well, he was good too."

"Thanks…" Amy took another quick look at the TARDIS before going on. She wasn't sure how long Renata and Gabby would be so she wasn't going to dilly-dally. "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

"Why would you need comforting?"

"I...nearly died?" Amy asked as if to jog his memory of the detail that literally happened like an hour ago. "I was alone in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think."

The Doctor winced. Yeah, that probably made a person think...especially a human and especially a human on their first super dangerous trip in the TARDIS. "Well, yes, natural. I'm sorry. Sometimes those thoughts aren't exactly the best."

"Well I thought about what I want. About who I want," Amy scooted closer to him, cautiously looking for his reactions. "You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." He nodded his head but two seconds later he took it back. "No."

Amy playfully rolled her eyes and scooted one last time so that their sides were side-by-side, no itty bitty gap at all. "About who...I want."

The Doctor was aware that there was something he was supposed to be understanding but as much as he thought - and he really tried - nothing came to mind. "No, sorry, still not getting it."

Oh my God. Amy scratched the side of her head as she thought about how best to put it without actually having to go into a full detailed explanation. That would just dampen the mood. "Doctor, in a word, one very simple word even you can understand…" She thought climbing on top of him would definitely seal her intentions.

It did.

And the Doctor practically shoved her to the side. He clambered over the foot rail of the bed, nearly falling face-first to the ground. "NO! You're getting married in the morning!"

Amy took it as a challenge rather than an actual 'no'. She got up from the bed and slyly smiled as she walked over to him. "The morning's a long time away!" She pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him against the TARDIS. "What are we going to do about that?" She undid a few of his buttons and even managed to slip off his braces.

She was fast, the Doctor would give her that but it was the only thing he would give her. "I have several ideas but you're not going to like them!" He pushed her away and quickly pulled his braces back up.

"I'm open-minded," Amy flashed him a smirk and grabbed the sides of his face to kiss him.

"STOP!" the Doctor pushed her away so hard that she landed against the foot railing again. "And don't you dare take another step towards me!" He was beyond furious with the girl for a) trying to seduce him and b) for continuing to try and seduce him even when he kept saying 'no'! "Listen to me: this will never happen!"

"Oh c'mon Doctor, I'm not looking for anything permanent. Most blokes run away with when they get the hint of commitment but that's not what I want!" Amy's eyes flashed with a darkness that almost made the Doctor run inside the TARDIS and lock the door.

But then he might bump into Renata. Oh Renata. This would be so lovely to explain...

"Amy! I love Renata! I am so ridiculously in love with her! You need to stop all this!"

But all that crossed Amy's face was confusion...and astounded. "What? You and Renata?"

"Yes — why are you saying it like that? And how did you not know!?" the Doctor was now the one wearing the confusion on his face, apart from everything else that'd happened.

"Because I never saw anything!" Amy frowned. She thought about it long and hard and couldn't remember one moment that looked truly 'couple-esque'. Sure, they held hands and hugged each other but...well, she did that with almost everyone she knew. "And, well...Renata's like a Mum. You could never be with someone like her!"

"Excuse you?" the Doctor's voice turned low and harsh enough for Amy to flinch. "Renata is like a Mother to you and Gabby and everyone else because she cares about everyone she meets! She would love to gather you all up and keep you safe even if it killed her! She's nurturing, loving, and a little bit uptight but she's my nurturing, loving, uptight Time Lady and I will be damned," — he started shouting and didn't even realize it — "if you use that condescending tone about her again! And just so we're clear, I could never reach up to her level! She's amazing and right now, you and I are hurting her - and Rory, by the way—" He stalked towards her, making her lean even further over the railing as he got impossibly close to continue shouting, "—beyond belief! You're getting married Amy! How could ever think that I would…" He trailed off when he happened to catch sight of the clock on the bed stand.

The date.

Tonight was the date he learned the mysterious explosion would happen.

"Doctor?" Amy accepted that her little plan failed and right now all she wanted (ironically) was for him to give her some space so she could get off the railing and fix her back. There would probably be the bruise of the railing imprinted on her skin within the next few hours.

"You're getting married in the morning!" the Doctor stepped back. The explosion, the crack...it was all in Amy's bedroom. Amy. "It's you. It's all about you. Everything. It's about you."

"Kinda getting mixed signals here... " Amy mumbled as he went on. One moment he was shouting how he was so 'in love' with Renata - how that was even working she wouldn't understand - and then the next he was going on about her?

"Amy Pond... Mad, impossible Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now!" the Doctor reached over for her arm and yanked her for the TARDIS.

June 26, 2010 was an important day and he needed to figure out why it all revolved in this bedroom.

---

A/N:

Okay folks, we finally finished this monster of an episode xD. No more Weeping Angels for a good while! There were a couple tidbits from the future in this chapter, though, hmmm...

And agh, the first date cut off by Amy (this part of the episode always boils my blood! Honestly, season 5 Amy was not my girl.) We'll see the consequences of this in the next chapter (which, by the way, is one of my favorites! You'll get a hint of why when you see the name of the chapter!)

Chapter 12: The Return of the Marchioness

Rory Williams could think of a thousand ways his stag night could've gone better but he was more focused on the first one because it involved his fiancee trying to seduce another man on the eve of their wedding! He would even overlook the fact the Doctor told him the terrible news after jumping out of his stag cake...in front of everyone else. He just couldn't believe his ears…

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

He could semi-believe that. He wasn't blind. Ever since Amy told him the story of how the Raggedy Doctor landed in her backyard he could see how enchanted Amy had been. She talked about both the Doctor and the Mother of Butterflies, but there was always a much more deep focus on the Doctor. He just always assumed that because the Doctor and Renata had returned, delivered an adventure, and left again that Amy would hopefully...let them go? He had been so wrong. Amy had just gone off with the Doctor and Renata at the first call and she hadn't even left him a text or given him a call just to let him know. It hurt on a whole other level.

Now there he was, inside the TARDIS - the box that Amy also spent years talking about - with Amy, who hadn't even given him a proper explanation. He just stood there, awkwardly looking around yet totally amazed because, well, it was the TARDIS.

Somebody cleared their throat but instead of seeing the Doctor again - because he'd dumped Rory and Amy into the console room then disappeared - Rory spotted a young woman coming down the staircase. Rory didn't remember her being around the two aliens in Leadworth. She looked around their age, presumably human. She had light skin, dark brown hair cascading over her shoulders and matching dark eyes.

"Hi, I'm Gabby," the girl came straight to Rory with a kind smile. She held a hand out for him to take.

"Uh...Rory…?" He glanced at Amy with a questioning look. Had she just ignored mentioning the girl to him?

"I traveled with Renata and the Doctor before they met Amy," Gabby explained for his sake. "I just...wasn't really there when they crashed into her backyard. Now I'm wishing I was so I could've set the record straight." She sent a deep glare to the woman in question. She couldn't believe what Amy had tried to do! All this time she'd been focused on keeping River Song away from the Doctor when she should've been focused on the girl already living inside the TARDIS.

"Well, um...nice to meet you," Rory said to be polite.

"I wish it was under better circumstances," Gabby shot another glare at Amy. "And I'm so sorry for what happened. I really don't know what would possess Amy to do something like that, especially when the Doctor was already with Renata."

"I didn't know that—" Amy tried to remind Gabby but was off sharply.

"That's not the point!" Gabby wouldn't yell only because poor Rory was standing right there. He had to be just as crushed as she knew Renata would be. The Doctor was trying to explain the whole thing to her right now. "God Amy, you have no idea what you did. Do you know how long it took me and Don…" She swallowed hard and momentarily looked away. She'd been about to say Donna. Donna would've had an entire cow with what happened. She sure would know how to fix things too. "It took a lot for me and a very good friend to help Renata and the Doctor finally get together, and it actually happened after we lost that friend...and now you've ruined them."

Amy swallowed hard now that she was feeling the guilt. She kept claiming that she didn't know the Doctor and Renata were together but...maybe that wasn't entirely all true. She did notice there were these extra lingering looks between them, the special smiles, maybe a bit of a flirt here and there...

Maybe she hadn't wanted to see it. It made it easier to go ahead with her plan.

"Rory," Gabby put her hands together and smiled at the man, "If you're willing, the Doctor did mention he would like to take you and Amy somewhere nice. But of course it's all up to you."

Rory thanked her with a small smile. It was his choice if he wanted to allow Amy to explain herself and it was his choice if he wanted to try and fix their relationship. "Where exactly is the Doctor? And Renata?"

"Ah, well," Gabby sighed but found another chance to glare at Amy, "If I know them, and I do, right now the Doctor is explaining what happened to Renata and she is going to be passive-aggressive about it but still be deeply affected by it to the point of putting their relationship status up in the air. Thanks Amy."

Amy swore she saw purple flash across Gabby's eyes. That scared her.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor really hated this moment, like he despised it with all his hearts. No matter how he re-arranged his words, it didn't make his story sound any better and that couldn't be. It simply couldn't.

There were tears in Renata's eyes and they kept building up the further the Doctor got through the story. Even if she tried to hold them back, and she really did, they kept coming. She didn't want to picture it but it kept coming to her. It was on a loop, really. "You kissed…"

"She kissed me," the Doctor quickly reminded Renata. It was the main point of his story but he suspected that it wouldn't really matter in her eyes.

Already Renata had changed out of her beautiful red dress she'd put on for their date. She went back to a pair of jeans and green-blue checkered shirt. Gabby had helped her get changed and even tried to do one of those hair buns Renata seemed to love so much. Renata had then pulled it all off, yanking some strands in the process, then proceeded to pin it all up in a messy hair bun, leaving several pieces dangling on the sides.

"It was just too good to be true," Renata was now walking down the corridors towards the console room. She learned that the Doctor had brought along Rory Williams to try and help the humans fix their relationship. She liked the idea and for now, that would be her focus. Of course she didn't exactly want to be around Amy at the moment, but Rory had no fault in it. He still deserved a chance to talk to her.

"No, no, don't do that!" the Doctor grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. The moment she could, she pried his hand off her. "You're mad at me and frankly, it's a little offensive! It's as if you think I wanted to kiss Amy!"

"So I'm not allowed to be upset?" she snapped.

"Well, it's not—"

"I should've known better! Us...it's not..." she swallowed down a lump in her throat. She wanted to cry so bad but what would be the point? Somewhere, she was sure River Song was laughing so hard right now.

"What?" the Doctor tried understanding but she'd cut off all telepathic connection between them the moment he told her what happened. "Ren…?" He tried touching her but she flinched away from him. He sighed and drew his hand back. "Renata, we were going to go on a date, you and I...why would you ever think that I would actually want to kiss Amy?"

"I don't doubt you," Renata said slowly, wanting to put all of her jumbled thoughts into at least one coherent sentence for him. She wanted to do so many things: scream, cry, lament, maybe cry again. "I just think that this might be a sign from the universe that we, us...it just doesn't work."

The Doctor froze at that. He looked at her, waiting for her to take such an awful statement back, but the only thing that happened was Renata shifting and looking away with fresh tears in her eyes. "Renata, why would you ever think that?"

"How did we start in the beginning?" she asked in a quiet whisper. It was all the Doctor needed to understand (the first reason anyways).

How they started their relationship the very first time on Gallifrey would always be bittersweet, one would say immoral…

"You cheated on your betrothed with me and I did the same to Elek," Renata took in a shaky breath as she finally gathered courage to look at him again. "Maybe this is our punishment. Doesn't it just fit?"

"Ren, don't do that," the Doctor's voice was as quiet as hers but it was begging for her to listen to him. He couldn't let this amazing thing between them just die because some human decided to get creative. "Please. I know that it's hard getting over this...unfortunate event, but I love you and you still love me."

"But what if it's just destined for heartbreak?" Renata stifled a sob. "I don't...I can't handle it a second time. Not again."

"Renata—"

She turned away from him and cleared off her tears. "We need to see if we can still salvage Amy's and Rory's relationship." Theirs was pretty much over…

...but the Doctor disagreed.

~ 0 ~

By the time Renata made it to the console, she was wearing her smile again. Gabby inwardly groaned. She was back to the 'hiding her emotions' thing again. Gabby confirmed it when she saw the look on the Doctor's face as he came into the room. Things hadn't gone well.

"Rory, hi," the Time Lady went straight to the young man. She offered him a hand to shake, much like Gabby had, but Rory could see that her smile was sad. He knew that one. He had it on too.

"Hello," he awkwardly said.

"So, I was thinking humans are always so fond of this little city in, um Europe," Renata started backtracking towards the console. "If you would like, uh...to visit for this date."

"You're actually taking us on a date?" Amy had to ask, still staring at Renata like she was waiting for the woman to burst into screams.

"Mhm," Renata barely looked at her once and it wasn't even out of anger. She just couldn't look at Amy. She had focused more on the controls instead.

The Doctor came up beside her, putting a hand over hers as she touched the lever. She craned her head away from him. "I was telling Renata that we should give you the choice to go out," he spoke to the couple while gripping Renata's hand. He wanted her to pay extra attention to his next words. "Because I get what happened. I really do. The life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans and I will not let that happen to you two…" He then leaned his head closer to Renata, even when she tried to move away, and whispered, "...nor us."

Gabby cleared her throat and raised her hand. "Um, can I make a suggestion?"

"Please," the Doctor almost begged. As of right now, Gabby Gonzalez was his absolute favorite and only ally in the world.

"Well, Ren was right. There is a city that's known to be romantic…"

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS materialized in the city of Venice, much to Amy's shock when they emerged from the box. Well, she and the Doctor came out first and then Gabby...Rory lingered inside with some serious reservations about the outside.

Renata ultimately came by him and chuckled, it was a genuine one too. "Don't worry, I've done the environmental checks. Nothing dangerous out here." She motioned Rory to go on out and he did...but slowly.

They were in a busy marketplace but it was Venice. They could see the water gently rolling behind them.

The Doctor flapped his arms open for the group. "Venice! Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city. Preposterous city!" He announced as if the group even needed it to be impressed. All three humans were so amazed by the sights. "Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding... constantly... Just beautiful! Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Oooh, that reminds me…" He quickly checked his watch. "1580. That's all right. Casanova doesn't get born for 145 years. Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory scrunched his face. That's not what he wanted to ask. The funniest things always came out of his mouth when he was stupefied.

"Long story. We had a bet," the Doctor said dismissively as he turned to face them. "Now think this as a wedding present, because, frankly, it's either this or tokens."

"Um, not tokens. There's no more tokens," Gabby suddenly said with a far too innocent look on her face for Renata to ignore. She stared at the girl like a hawk until she gave the explanation. "Donna and I sort of...used them. But the good news is, you're now in the lottery for some free tickets to an amusement park on the moon!"

The Doctor made a face but...that did sound kind of cool. He might check up on that later...with Renata...actually, he'd gladly give those tickets up if it meant Renata would look at him for a full minute right now.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please," an older man dressed finely came up to the group with a hand out for said papers. "Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. How inconvenient and imprudent. He was on a strict plan here! Still, he pulled out his psychic paper for the man to have a go. "There you go, fella. All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

It did the trick because suddenly the official was bowing at them. "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realise."

"No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens, visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice See where you bring me?" Amy whacked the doctor's arm. "The plague! The plague!"

"Don't worry, Viscountess," the official said, giving a peek at what her cover up for the trip was. She approved. "No, we're under quarantine here, no-one comes in, no-one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri." He pointed to the crest on the box he was carrying.

"Sorry, that plague died out years ago," Renata said thoughtfully.

"Not out there, your honorable Marchioness."

Hearing her old period disguise brought an automatic blush to Renata's face. The Marchioness of Gallifrey, after all, had been the tip of the iceberg for her and the Doctor in their pre-relationship days. That was the moment they let themselves accept the fact that they were still so in love with each other. Not to mention it had also been a pretty fun adventurous night between them, sneaking into private rooms and going through King Henry's collections.

Renata looked at the Doctor to see her already doing the same, waiting for her to make that connection. It was still the same story between them no matter who tried getting in the way. He loved her as much as he did that night and their moments on Gallifrey.

"Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes," the official went on to say. "Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"Did anyone ever think to check?" Gabby muttered. It couldn't be that hard to take a peek, would it?

Rory reached over to see the psychic paper. How was Amy a Viscountess and Renata a Marchioness? He grabbed it, not that the Doctor even seemed to realize as he walked over to Renata. "According to this, I am your eunuch!"

Renata scowled at the Doctor. "That was really rude!"

"I didn't do it!" the Doctor raised his hands. Stupid psychic paper was about to get him into further trouble. "It does what it wants sometimes."

"Oh, so now you think I'm stupid?" Renata rolled her eyes at him and moved away.

Gabby took the psychic paper from Rory to check for her disguise. She had a laugh when she saw she was Lady Gabby again. "Memories!" She looked up, gently letting the psychic paper hit her other hand. "Right Renata? I'm sorry, Marchioness."

The Doctor smiled. Gabby was getting it.

Renata could only afford a light smile but it was mostly directed towards Rory and Amy. "Well you two can go ahead and explore. Try not to get into trouble." She didn't necessarily wait for them to agree or disagree. She shooed them off and watched them go with a sigh.

"Doctor, you and Ren should go too," Gabby suggested and instead of answering, Renata turned back for the TARDIS. "No!" Gabby bolted towards the box, reaching it first, and barred the doors.

"Gabriella!" Renata frowned. "Get out of the way!"

"No! I'm not letting you go in there so you can wallow in self pity!"

"Gab—"

"You need to go take a walk and talk! Go!"

Renata could not believe Gabby was doing this and much more that the Doctor was just letting it happen. She looked back at him and saw his bemused smile. With a roll of her eyes, she backtracked. "I can't believe this!" She turned to leave with another huff and stormed away.

"Thanks Gabbs," the Doctor nodded at the girl, truly grateful for her help.

"Go get her," Gabby shooed him off. He didn't need to be told twice and raced after Renata. Once it was all clear, she pulled herself off the TARDIS and looked around. She was in Venice! Such a beautiful city!

"...I gotta get myself a boyfriend,"she concluded after realizing she was going to be exploring on her own. She remembered she still held onto the psychic paper and lifted it with a slow grin spreading across her face. She could have fun with it…

~0~

Renata made her way around a few stalls without particularly looking at what they were selling. Her mind was elsewhere at the moment and she doubted she would be able to focus on anything anytime soon.

The Doctor was right behind her, not letting her get away from him. He made it very clear to her that he wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed to talk. He was swallowing his own pride to make this possible. He knew that it was his fault and yet the way Renata acted made it seem like it was. It was frankly offensive but he wouldn't get into that right now. If he kept pushing on that, he would drive her away even more.

"Renée, you have to stop at some point," he said in a near sing-song manner. She had just stopped to try and focus on a few trinkets when he had said that so she dropped it and kept moving. With a roll of his eyes, the Doctor followed. "Nice one. So what's the plan, then? You're just going to ignore me for the rest of Time?"

Renata knew that would be impossible, but she wouldn't admit to that.

"Renata? What do you want to do? What do you need me to do? Whatever it is, I'll make it happen."

"I don't know," Renata muttered. She left the stalls to head into a less crowded passageway. It was more residents than sellers.

"Well that's helpful!"

Renata shook her head and came to a slow stop. She looked back at him with a grim face. "It's not easy, alright? There are so many things coming to fruit here and I'm...I'm scared."

How could she not be? River had made it seem like she really knew the Doctor. Amy had even assumed that she was his wife in the future. And now she even had Amy trying to wiggle her way into their relationship. What if this is how they start to drift apart? It paves the way for River to make her move and ultimately win. Thinking about the process, that she would have to see it happen…

Renata shut her eyes and turned her head away. She couldn't take that. It already hurt too much to think about it.

"Renée, tell me what you're thinking please," the Doctor took the few steps necessary to cut Renata off. He brought her gaze back to him with a finger under her chin. "Because whatever it is, I'm gonna correct it. I let you go once and I'm never letting it happen again."

"You can't do anything about it," Renata said quietly. "You can't do anything about the future."

"Future? What's that got to do with this?"

"Everything," she stepped away from him. "Amy trying to…" she crinkled her nose, she couldn't even bring herself to say it out loud, "What she did might be the start of us...ending things."

The Doctor frowned at the insinuation. "No! Absolutely not! Why would I ever want to be away from you?"

"Because you realize who I am...the type of person I am. A...fraud."

"What? Why would...Renata, I love you, but what kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Renata made a noise and turned to leave. The Doctor acted fast and rushed after her. "N-n-n-n-no! We were talking!"

"Doctor, what's the point?" Renata sighed, so close to tears again. She kept walking fast again. "Time is already acting and before you know it, we'll be right back where we started: heartbroken and alone."

She was talking nonsense. That's what she was doing. She was too hurt and scared so she was making things up to keep them apart before something else happened. But nothing would happen. The Doctor would make sure of that. He wanted to love her and make her happy…

He couldn't let her go.

"That's not happening!" The Doctor grabbed her arm and walked her up against a stone wall. Renata warily looked up at him, her hands on his arm trying to push him away. "You're acting just like your first incarnation, you know. You're scared of it because this is something new that's never happened to you. There's no plans for this! You're out of your comfort zone." He gently rubbed a few tears off her cheeks and wished he could take the ones in her eyes away too. She was looking at him so...desolate and heartbroken.

Funny, one of the things she claimed she wanted to avoid was already here.

"I always pull you into a no-plan zone, huh?" The Doctor smiled with guilt tracing his features. "I do more harm than good."

"It's not your fault," Renata stopped fighting him off and left her hands on his arms. "I know you didn't want anything with Amy but it could all be a warning, a glimpse into the future where you and I just don't end up together. There might be someone else waiting for you."

The Doctor couldn't think of where Renata picked up such a ridiculous idea. It was recent. She certainly hadn't mentioned this before, nor gave any indication that it was something she worried about. It was brand new. "Renata, the only one I want to be with is you. I can't believe I have to say that again but...if you need to hear it then so be it."

"But that's the thing, you can talk all you want but the future can say something else."

"No," the Doctor shook his head.

"You can't say 'no' to the future—"

"Do you know who I am? I'm saying no! And you know what else I say to the future?"

"What?"

"Here we—" he pressed his forehead against hers, letting their lips brush over each others, "—come. It's ours for the taking. Do you want to take it?"

Renata had trouble thinking of the answer when he was one movement away from a proper kiss. The Doctor smirked watching her follow his movements. She was answering without even saying it. She didn't need to.

"Oh my Renée, what shall we do now?"

She was aware he was tilting his head towards her, making it so that their lips would brush over each other's for a longer moment. "Don't…" she weakly protested but it barely sounded like one.

"Don't what?" the Doctor innocently asked and pressed his lips to the corner of Renata's mouth.

"There are people around!"

"So?"

Renata's words failed her as he continued to move his lips over hers. He wasn't kissing her but he was making her want him to. She felt her legs close to giving out, the feeling intensifying when he put a hand over her hip and gave it a light squeeze. She had to bite down her gasp but it wasn't done very well.

"We can't do this here," her voice had a pleasurable strain in it.

The Doctor loved it; he loved teasing her. "Ah, so you want to do something…" He was happy to point out to her. She would've frowned at him if she had all her senses together. "I'm happy to relocate if that's the issue." He pressed his lips over hers very gently, teasing her by keeping them still. "This is what I want to do and only with you." Renata only hummed as each of his words made his lips rub against hers. She couldn't take it, she really couldn't. So when the Doctor finally stopped teasing her and kissed her, she held onto him tightly before anyone else came to take him away.

They kissed each other for a few minutes like they weren't even arguing, like they weren't on thin ice, and like they weren't outside. Of course Renata was the one to remember where they were after a particular moan slipped out from her.

"We are…outside!" she had a much better grasp of her voice but it still could've been slightly louder...and firmer.

"Ah, we could go back to the TARDIS…?" the Doctor had definitely found his confidence in that moment.

Renata lightly shook her head, her entire face flushed. She needed to get rid of the fire underneath her skin. "Doctor, don't. This...this doesn't solve everything—"

"No, but it proves you still love me."

"I never said I stopped."

The pair shared a look in silence. Renata bit her lower lip (that was half swollen) and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"I never said I stopped loving you, of course I still love you," she whispered. "It's why I'm so afraid."

"But afraid of what?" the Doctor was tired of asking the same thing and never getting a proper answer.

Before Renata would answer, they heard a commotion from a distance. Without even thinking of it, she rushed to go see what it was, leaving the Doctor to follow. They almost returned to where they had first arrived and saw two lines of young women coming down the path with an older woman at the front. Each of the women wore veils over their head, no chance of seeing their faces, and yet they had everyone in the street frozen and staring.

One dark-skinned man didn't seem as awed by the others. He came shouting for someone named 'Isabella', going as far as lifting each girl's veil.

"Well," Renata said, finding it rude but the man seemed desperate to find 'Isabella'.

"What are you doing? Get away from there!" the older woman yelled at him in vain.

"Isabella!" He found the girl he was searching for but instead of looking happy, she backed away. "It's me!"

Another of the girls came forwards, hissing at him that he fell to the ground.

"Girls, come along!" the woman ordered and continued on their way like nothing happened.

The only man in the group, a young man, pressed his boot over the first man's chest. "She's gone," he said then called for their guards to take him away.

Renata frowned at the sight but blinked when the young man left with a flare of his cloak...like one of those movies Gabby often made her watch.

"You've got that face on," the Doctor suddenly hummed, making her snap her head in his direction.

"What?"

"You've got that face on!"

"What face?"

"The face you make when you're interested, and offended on behalf of someone. It's funny, it's a new face but it's still the same as the last one."

Renata frowned and turned away. "I do not make that face!" And yet she was still walking for the man that'd been taken away.

The Doctor smirked as he followed. Funny how his Renata was beginning to change and she didn't even realize.

They eventually found the same man not too far from where they'd saw him. He still looked as upset as earlier which only made Renata even more curious. She recognized that anger and frustration.

"Scuse me?" she called, making the man stop for the moment. He turned sideways and saw her and the Doctor standing a few feet from him. "Who, um, who were those girls back there? The ones with the veils?"

The man stared at the two with a puzzled face. They seemed...serious. That was confusing enough. "I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

"Our first day here," the Doctor said, which was technically true. "Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion."

"So that leaves us kind of interested in why you're trying to get your daughter out," Renata watched the man's face fall grim and yet...fearful. He was afraid of something.

"Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face... like an animal."

"Is that why you fell to the ground?"

He nodded. Even now he was still terrified. But who wouldn't be when they faced off a girl with fangs?

"You know what, I think it's time we met this Signora Calvierri," the Doctor concluded and looked down at Renata for her reaction.

She nodded.

~ 0 ~

"And what have you been doing?" Rory asked the question rather piercingly that Amy actually winced. Yeah, she deserved that.

She still kept walking down the passageway, barely looking at him for the moment. "Well...running. And fighting. I've been scared. More scared than I thought was.." She truly hadn't realized how scary things could get in the TARDIS and even now, when things were over, she could still feel the echo of the terror she'd felt.

"Well...did you miss me?" Rory studied her nonchalant attitude, at least she was trying to be. He could see her fidgeting with her crossing and uncrossing her arms.

"I...I knew I'd be coming back.."

"But that's not what I asked," he frowned. How hard was it for her to answer the question? If she missed him, she wouldn't have to think about it. Amy was so difficult sometimes and it pained him because they were supposed to get married...tomorrow...and it still looked like a challenge for her to answer questions like this. "The Doctor was right. It blots out everything else. You've always been half blind when it came to him and now that you've been travelling with him...it's a lot worse."

Amy finally looked at him and it was to show offence at his last statement. She wasn't blind...was she? She was aware that she focused a lot on the Doctor, the TARDIS and even Renata. But that was normal. They had come to her as a child with the promise that they would return in 5 minutes...and they didn't. It left her upset, naturally. She resented them on some level but it faded away when she realized that at some point in her life, they WOULD would return. She would get to see stars and space. How could she not be at least a little bit blinded by it?

"Rory," she stopped them from walking altogether, "This is our date. Let's not do this, not now." She didn't want to argue with him. There was already so much going on and she honestly didn't even know what she would tell Rory. She was...confused. "We're in Venice," she continued. That should be a good distraction.

Rory looked up just as he heard a fluttering of wings in the sky. Amy did make a point there. They were in Venice and not just that but...in the past. "We are, aren't we?" Amy nodded. "And it's 1580!"

"I know!" Amy linked her arm with his and quickly took off before he started asking more questions. She just needed a bit more time to sort things out. That was it, yes.

~ 0 ~

Gabby swayed down another passageway with the psychic paper in hand. Already she'd gotten several samples in different stalls because she was 'Lady Gabby'. She spotted a young flower seller and thought that maybe one of them might be nice to stick in her hair. That's what the girls always did on T.V.

Oh, how she wished Donna could be right there with her. She would've probably come up with more exciting things to do with the psychic paper. But it was just her now. Amy was on thin ice, bordering the line of being considered dead.

Gabby ultimately stopped the girl selling the flowers and asked for just one. Lady Gabby could surely get that and it wouldn't hurt the girl's profits. She tucked the posey behind her ear and kept moving. Only a few minutes away did she hear a scream belonging to the flower girl she'd just left.

She spun around and headed back, screaming herself when she saw a young man with blood on his fangs. He had actually hissed!

"What's going on!?" Amy came running up to Gabby and gasped when she saw the same thing.

The young man covered his face with his long cape and rushed off. Rory arrived to see the girl on the ground and immediately went to check up on her. He didn't quite understand what he was seeing - blood on her neck - but he felt a pulse.

"She'll be okay," he looked over to Amy and Gabby. Gabby nodded but Amy dashed after the culprit.

"Amy!" Both Gabby and Rory called after her.

~ 0 ~

With some help from their new friend, now known as Guido, the Doctor and Renata were able to sneak into the school of mystery.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Renata broke into a place," the Doctor had himself a good (quiet) laugh when Renata used her sonic to open the backgate of the school.

She rolled her eyes at him but there was just a smidge of thrill she felt knowing he was right. Time was she would yell at him for using the sonic to break locks and get into places they shouldn't be. The Adipose building was a primary example. Oh, what was happening to her?

The pair made their way down a few stone steps into a chamber. The school seemed old and very well kept. She noted the lone mirror against a wall.

"Well that's a weird place to put a mirror," she remarked in front of it.

"And look at what beauty stands in front of it right now," the Doctor came up behind her with a smirk on his face as he looked her over through the reflection. Renata tried rolling her eyes but she ended up blushing instead. The Doctor leaned a bit closer to the mirror. "And I don't look half bad either. Hello, handsome."

Now Renata could roll her eyes. "You are so vain," she said as he fixed his bowtie and checked his teeth.

"Who are you?" a couple girls' voices startled them into turning around.

Then the Doctor realized something interesting...they had no reflection. "Oh! How are you doing that!?"

Renata jabbed her elbow into his side. "Well don't be excited! It just proves they're not human!"

"But they're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter. WILL BE shorter. I'm rambling!"

"Yes, you are!"

"I'll ask you again, who are you?" the girls asked again.

"Curious, do you have individual voices or is that gone too?" Renata studied their faces and concluded they were the exact same. What one did, the other did too.

"Why don't you check this out?" the Doctor thought he would be holding out his psychic paper but instead saw an old ID with his first incarnation. "What!? Library card!?"

"Gabriella has it," Renata sighed, not impressed with his antics.

"I need the spare!"

"The spare?" Renata shot him a look fast. "You mean there's two lying booklets around the TARDIS? Oh no, that's way too much power for you."

The Doctor's response was to clap a hand over her mouth. "Shush! Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in the mirror? Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking?" Though silent, Renata still looked at him like he was crazy. Was he being extra ridiculous today or was that just her? "But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless…"

"Leave now!" the girls ordered. "Or we shall call for the steward... if you are lucky."

Renata pushed the Doctor's hand off her and stepped closer towards the girls. "You know what, call them because I would love to have a talk with your headmistress. This is supposed to be a school for young girls to educate themselves and someone's turned it into some...creepy cult."

The girls hissed with their fangs clear as day. Renata gasped and jumped back, bumping into the Doctor behind. Guido warned them that the girls had fangs but it was way different seeing it up close.

The Doctor pulled them into a quick run, stopping them just in front of the doorway. "Tell us the whole plan!"

Renata did a double take at him. "Nine hundred years and you think that's going to suddenly work!?"

"One day it will work!" He argued. That day just wasn't today. He looked at the girls advancing on them. "Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing... I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!" He yanked Renata with him as the Time Lady was seriously asking herself how this man could attract so many people...including herself.

~0~

To their luck, all three of the humans had seen the same 'vampires' in the city, on theirs was a young man. It helped the Doctor and Renata skip over the part of explaining and led them to a quicker gathering in Guido's home. Gudo brought out a map of Venice for the travelers to see. He had long ago tried sneaking into the school which explained the map's notes.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house," Guido gestured to the point he was talking about. "I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," Amy's lips curved into a wide smile and fast too.

"No," Renata said with a sigh. It wasn't surprising what Amy was trying to do. She was still dangerously eager.

Amy frowned. "You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"She always knows what you're going to say," Gabby said as she came to lean against the barrels Rory was. She noticed he kept his distance from the group so she wanted to keep him company, show him that he wasn't an outsider to them.

"I'm not a psychic I just know what you thought of," Renata said with a weary face. "We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in."

"Alright...maybe you did know," Amy raised her hands to admit defeat.

"No Amy," the Doctor also agreed with Renata, making the girl frown again.

"We don't have another option!"

"Amy!" Rory couldn't believe she was actually fighting to get into some vampire school. "You should listen to them!"

"There is another option," Guido cut in just as the argument would get heated. He made a gesture towards the barrels. "I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy."

Gabby and Rory shared a quick glance before their eyes settled on the barrels they were using as seats. They jumped out of the way while the Doctor moved to give them a quick study.

"Gunpowder," he sniffed. "Most people just nick stationery from where they work."

"Yeah, I would steal leftover plates from my parent's restaurant," Gabby added. She took several more steps away from the barrel for extra caution.

"Yeah, I would rather we didn't use explosives," Renata said as she straightened away from the table. "You blow up that school and innocents might get hurt."

"What do you suggest then?" Guido turned on the woman with a growing scowl on his face. "Wait until they turn her into an animal?"

The Doctor returned to Renata's side, his expression darkening as it settled on Guido. It wasn't like Renata was shooting down the idea of entering the school altogether. She wanted to keep innocent bystanders safe. "We'll figure another way in," he told Guido, leaving no room for further discussions on the explosives.

"I'll be there three, four hours tops," Amy said ever-so-innocently.

"It's too dangerous Amy," Renata insisted. Amy was truly persistent, she would give her that.

"What else you got then?" the ginger challenged, smirking when Renata came up blank. "Doctor?"

The Doctor would also commend her persistence. He hated that there wasn't another way. If someone didn't get into the school then more girls would be turned into...vampires. He couldn't let that happen.

"I have to know," he shamefully admitted and heard Renata sigh. Amy, meanwhile, beamed. "We go together. Say you're my daughter."

"What?! Don't listen to him!" Rory was nearly outraged at how quickly this turned into the opposite of what Renata had said. "Didn't you hear what she said!?" he made a gesture towards the quiet Renata.

"I always listen to what she has to say," the Doctor said earnestly, glancin at Renata apologetically. "We have to know," he said quieter to her. He didn't want her to think he was ignoring her opinion on the matter and much less that he was choosing Amy over her.

Luckily, Renata smiled a very small smile. "I know," she whispered. She just wasn't fond of the idea of Amy putting herself into direct danger where none of them were.

"Okay, no one's going to buy that I'm your daughter," Amy came up to the opposite side of the table and laughed at the Doctor. "You look about nine."

Gabby would give her that point. "Yeah, you kinda went a little overboard with that face, Doctor." The man in question mockingly glared at her in return.

"Fine, brother, then," he told Amy. That one would sure be bought...if one of them gave into the other's accent.

"Too weird. Fiancé," Amy might have smirked when she said that. Renata shook her head and moved away from her and the Doctor, much to the latter's disappointment.

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé!" Rory snapped and Gabby jumped beside him with a similar expression.

"Yeah, that's just plain offensive!" she added on his behalf.

At least Amy seemed to be dissuaded. "No. No, you're right."

Rory sighed with relief. "Thank you."

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

"Me?"

"Yeah! You can be my brother!" Amy walked over and rubbed his head playfully, chuckling.

Rory didn't share the same sentiment. "Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's OK?"

The Doctor had just found his way to Renata's side, the Time Lady having moved herself towards a window. He touched her arm and when she actually looked at him, he gently tugged her towards him.

"Actually, I thought he was her fiancé," Guido had pointed a thumb at the Doctor. Gabby slapped her forehead while the Doctor groaned. Renata silently pulled her arm out of the Doctor's grasp and moved away again.

"This whole thing is mental!" Rory switched the most important matter right now since it was dragging Amy with it. "She can't just go in there! Renata?"

At the call of her name, Renata walked up to the young man. "I understand your worries, but unless someone has a better idea…"

"Actually," Gabby suddenly said, raising a finger, "I might have something."

"What? No, we already decided," Amy frowned at the girl. Why was she making something else up when a perfectly logical idea had already been set?

"Right but you'll only have eyes on the girls when in reality we need eyes on this Rosana woman too," Gabby said, now rocking on her feet. The Doctor almost laughed when she grinned.

"What are you getting at?" Renata eyed her with dread. The last thing she wanted was for Gabby to put herself in danger as well.

"I think it's time for the Marchioness of Gallifrey to make a comeback," Gabby giggled.

~ 0 ~

Amy frowned like a genuine child who hadn't gotten her way...and maybe she was pouting for that reason. She hadn't gotten her way. Instead of coming to the school on her own to investigate, Renata would be bringing her and staying along until they could find Isabella and get out together. She made a perfectly reasonable plan and then Gabby went and ruined it with her stupid suggestion. And the worst part was that both the Doctor and Rory had agreed to it, Rory a lot quicker than the Doctor. Amy felt like she was being babysat. What the hell was even a 'Marchioness' anyways?

Renata wasn't very fond of the idea either but she preferred it this way than to send Amy on her own. She had no idea where Gabby even thought of this one but at least this way she could keep an eye on Amy and keep her safe while she dealt with the Signora herself. Whatever happened between her and the Doctor, Renata didn't want to see Amy hurt. She was still human, making her just a bit easier to target. She just didn't necessarily like that she would be using her old guise as Marchioness to do it. That meant conjuring up an entire story to tell and Renata wasn't sure if she could do that just yet. She never had to do the 'breaking in with a disguise' thing all by herself. Usually the Doctor was the one to lead and she followed. That's how it always worked.

Not to mention the fact that being a Marchioness again brought back too many memories of the last time she used it.

---

Renata tried her best not to make any noises, especially because she felt like her hearts were about to implode under her chest. She threw a look at the Doctor at the end of the bookshelf, asking him what were they going to do. But of course he had a plan. He always made up plans to get them out just before they would get caught. If they evaded the Time Lords, they could surely evade 16th century human guards.

'On my signal,' he mouthed to her. She nodded fervently. He aimed his sonic at the window and with one flick, the entire window shattered.

"Over there!" the second guard ran straight for it, prompting the first guard to leave the table forgotten.

The Doctor made a nod at Renata to go now. The two ran straight for the open doors as fast as they could. They joined hands as soon as they got into the hallway and continued to run.

Suddenly, Renata saw them running down the hallway of the academy after nearly getting caught wandering through the classes and prohibited rooms for students. And it made her hearts sore. She felt as carefree as she used to be with the Doctor as Zuriah. They were young, they were full of adrenaline and...they were in love.

Even the Doctor got the faint sense that this was all familiar, a bit too familiar, but the running made him push the thought to the side for now. He yanked Renata down the hallway of her bedroom and finally slowed down.

"That was incredible!" Renata was laughing melodically beside him. She brought a hand up to her hair bun that was on the verge of falling apart from all their running. She yelped in surprise when the Doctor gently brought her from her side to his front. Her free hand had come to rest over his chest and her other hand seemed locked under the Doctor's free hand.

"You had fun?" the Doctor asked quietly though with his ragged breathing it came out a little louder than intended. They were both still trying to catch their breaths, they could feel it. Renata felt the Doctor's chest heaving up and down under her hand and since Renata's chest was pressed to his, the Doctor could feel her own heavy breathing.

"Of course..." Renata swallowed down and laughed, hoping the air would fill her lungs soon. "I always have fun with you!" She had no idea what her words meant to the Doctor, especially right now. All she saw was his grin making its mark on his face. "Maybe tomorrow we can, uh, I can show you the, uh...the..." She was beginning to lose her train of thought the more she stared at the Doctor.

---

Renata tried to focus on the present. She and Amy would soon be allowed into the school...

---

Renata's breath hitched the moment the Doctor let his lips brush over hers and whether she would've gasped or not she didn't know because she just let him kiss her right there. She let his hand go and brought it to his chest while he lowered his hand to her waist. He kissed her gently, keeping it slow and sweet, unknowingly the same as the very first time they had kissed centuries ago. Later on, Renata would find it ironic that even that was the same. As seconds ticked by, they found their (old) sync and moved their lips with one another like it was a slow dance. Renata felt her body tingle when the Doctor's hand reached up to the nape of her neck where her loose bun was about to be undone. He pulled lightly on the strands to then run his fingers through them, eventually making the whole bun come down. It didn't matter; it just gave the Doctor an easier access to her curls.

---

Renata exhaled rather shakily with chills on her skin. She vividly remembered that night, she always would, but right now it was causing pain rather than the usual warmth it gave her. But she couldn't occupy her head with those memories right now. Amy was with her and she needed to look out for her safety. As soon as the gates of the school opened, she left behind 'Renata' and brought in the Marchioness of Gallifrey instead.

"Just keep quiet Amy, alright?" Renata whispered as the steward brought them down a stony passageway. "Let me do the talking."

"I know," Amy said, still plenty irritated to keep her quiet.

Renata sensed the woman's unhappiness but merely sighed at it. They were both unhappy it seemed.

"Signora, the visitors," the steward said as he led the two into an ornate room with one - Renata barely contained her scoff when she saw it - throne chair in the center of it over a raised dais.

A dark-haired woman in an elegant gown sat on the precarious throne, her beedy eyes already scrutinizing Renata and Amy from head to toe.

"Her most honorable Marchioness of Gallifrey," the steward introduced, prompting Renata to do a graceful curtsy bow.

Amy blinked at the woman. She did it so finely like...like she'd done it before. Gabby did say this was a disguise Renata used to visit Henry VIII, she remembered.

"And her sister, Lady Amy," the steward gestured to Amy and since the girl just stood there, Renata elbowed her on the side.

"Ow!" Amy rubbed her side and threw the woman a glare. Renata's gaze was sharp and it only took Amy a few seconds to get what she wanted. "Oh, right, um…" She did a quick curtsy, not quite as smooth as Renata but the Time Lady would take it.

"Really?" the Signora arched a thin eyebrow at the pair. "I had no idea there even was a...Marchioness of Gallifrey?"

"I suppose that happens when you seal off a city," Renata said with the same edgy tone the Signora had used.

"Ah, precautions," the Signora said, smiling strainly.

"Mhm…"

"My steward showed me your, uh, credentials," the Signora drummed her fingers over her throne's armrests. "Interesting they are."

"All in order I suppose," Renata took a few steps towards the throne when a young man strode into the room. She heard Amy's quiet gasp and looked back to see the girl's eyes widened. Obviously she recognized him. Renata wondered where from. "Signora—"

"Rosana, please," the woman waved her off. "It is an honor to have a Marchioness in my school."

"Well, yes, I...I have heard in great detail about your school and I cannot think of a better place for my young sister to be educated," Renata nodded at Amy to come forwards. Amy scurried up beside her and put on her best smile for Rosana. "I am, unfortunately, widowed, and I have not been able to find her a suitable husband."

The young man in the room, Francesco, flapped his cloak as he walked up to the two, specifically to Amy. The ginger swallowed hard when he got just a bit too close to her.

"Excuse you," snapped Renata, startling the man back. She had glared at him, something that no one in the city would do because of who he was.

Amy barely hid her smile.

"She looks familiar," Francesco excused himself.

"Impossible, we have only arrived today," Renata shot him down and shooed him off back to his mother, something that Amy almost laughed at now. Renata settled her attention back on Rosana who couldn't look more interested. "Do you think we could talk about a possible arrangement?"

Rosana's lips curved into a knowing smile. "I think so."

Renata smiled quite proudly of herself. So far, things were going good. "Maybe my sister can take a tour of the school so she...isn't such a strange to it when we reach an agreement."

"Of course," Rosana rose from her throne and called for the steward. "Carlo, take her to see the girls. I'm sure she'll make some new friends there."

Renata glance at Amy with an encouraging glint in her eyes. "I know you can do it," she whispered with genuine faith that for a moment, Amy stood there dumbfounded.

There was a ping in her heart followed by a churn of her stomach. Guilt. She was feeling guilt for what she tried to do with the Doctor. Renata showed no resentment towards her even when it was clearly an upsetting thing to find out that happened. Amy knew from the start that Renata was utterly kind, now she wished Renata wasn't because then...then the guilt would go away.

~ 0 ~

Amy was soon brought up to the girls' dormitory and found it to be domed shaped, like a church. Carlo didn't even bother introducing her, he only brought her in and left. Rude.

"Um, hi…?" Amy tried to greet the nearest of the girl but she flatout ignored her. "Okay…" Amy continued to move further down the room until suddenly the entire group of girls started heading out. "Did I say something?" Amy called out to them but none responded back.

"They don't talk," a dark-skinned girl said, revealing herself to be the only one remaining. She stared after the girls as the last one disappeared. "They don't...ever talk."

Amy curiously stared at the girl. "And yet you do."

The girl's eyes flickered to Amy, meeting the ginger's gaze. Amy was dressed like finely, deeply contrasting their recent enlisted students. "Who are you?"

"Amy, and you?"

"Isabella."

Amy beamed. "Ha!" She hadn't needed Renata in the end. Stop being mean to her! Great, now the voice in her head was feeling guilty too. She shook her head and those thoughts she would get back to eventually. "Listen, we're going to get you out of here, but I need you to tell me what's going on. What is this place? What are they doing?"

Isabella searched the room for anyone who might be lingering around. After she was sure it was just them, she answered, "They, um... they come at night. They gather around my bed and they take me to a room... with this green light and a chair with... with straps, as if for a surgeon."

"What happens in there?"

"I wake up here. And the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax."

That...that sounded bad. Amy swallowed hard and looked up at the ceiling as a bell tolled. Maybe having Renata around wasn't a bad idea after all…

~ 0 ~

The Doctor couldn't see the gondola getting to the school. Every part of him was screaming at him for letting Renata leave. He had promised himself that he wouldn't ever let himself be separated from her and yet here they were not even a day later. Gabby's idea did make sense in that it would be a safe plan if Amy wasn't alone but the Doctor hated sending Renata into a place he didn't know about. He had no idea what lurked through that school and if it was highly dangerous.

The only part he liked, and he wouldn't keep it a secret, was that this plan involved Renata dressing up as the Marchioness again. Even in a new incarnation, she looked just as stunning as she had the first time she wore a gown fit for the role. Last time's gown was golden and orange, more suitable for her slightly older body. This body, however, was a younger one. She had chosen the perfect baby blue gown with white trimmed sleeves. He had nearly fallen over when he saw her come out of the TARDIS.

Just like last time, he was deeply in love with the Marchioness of Gallifrey.

"She'll be fine," Gabby pulled the man out of his thoughts. She was sitting in-between him and Rory on the gondola while Guido guided them along the canal. "Ren knows how to take care of herself."

"What about Amy?" Rory soon asked, throwing both a sharp look. He was still upset at the turn of events. "Can you promise me that she'll be fine?"

"If she's with Renata then of course," Gabby smiled at him. She could tell that the man deeply cared for Amy. She was just too blinded like the Doctor said to see Rory was perfect. "Ren's taken care of me, the Doctor...and Donna so many times. She always takes care of us, even if it would hurt her."

The Doctor sucked in a deep breath at those words. Renata always took care of them and what did she get in return? Pain. So far, that's all she had gotten.

"We're here," Guido announced a few seconds before the gondola came to a stop.

"Gabbs, you should stay," the Doctor said as he started climbing out first. "Renata would kill me if I let you come."

"Don't worry, I'll put myself between you if that happens," Gabby said as she climbed out next.

The Doctor mocked a glare at her. "Gabby!"

"Oh shut up!" the girl waved him off and turned around to see Rory coming out last. She grabbed the torch they'd brought along and, to Rory's amazement, she sparked it lit with a purple flame. He saw tiny little butterflies amongst the flames.

"You have the same powers as Renata?" he asked, his mouth half open in shock.

"Sort of," Gabby shrugged. "I just learned how to do this a few days ago. Ren's powers are golden and I think they're stronger. But 'nough about that! Let's go!" She marched forwards, leaving behind a disgruntled Doctor to follow.

They reached the gate and just as Gabby was about to reach for it, the Doctor pulled her behind him. "I do the breaking into creepy places, alright? Don't know what's in there." Gabby shrugged and motioned him to go for it. He opened the gate with the sonic and slowly led them in. "Right. OK, I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back…"

"What happened?" Rory suddenly blurted. Gabby looked over at him and could almost hear his heavy breathing. He must have been gathering the courage to ask that. "Between you and Amy? You said she kissed you."

The Doctor's face turned incredulous, naturally. His eyes flickered to Gabby, asking her if he was really meant to answer that right now.

"Oh no, this one's between you two," she raised her free hand and stepped aside to give the two a better moment. "Just keep leading us in."

The Doctor frowned at her unhelpfulness. She always talked! It's literally what she did and she chose NOW now to keep quiet? He shook his head and went towards the next door. "Rory, seriously?"

"I have a right to know!" Rory said, surprising himself that he was actually going through with this. He was fairly non-confrontational but Amy made him do all sorts of things he never would. "I'm getting married in 430 years."

~ 0 ~

Renata had followed Rosana into the school's canal-side. It was frankly a beautiful setting with marbleized white floor and crystal water, but Renata knew better than to believe what she saw.

"So Marchioness," Rosana came to a slow stop and turned sideways, shooting Renata smirk, "I am honored to have you visiting my school."

Renata hated the look on the woman's face but even then she kept her own face blank of any expressions. She was a master at that. "My sister needed a school."

"Yes and you have travelled so far just to get her into this one?"

"Enlgand was no longer suitable for us."

"England? Or Gallifrey?"

Renata's face still didn't falter. Only her eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"

Rosana chuckled. "I know psychic paper when I see one. I commend you for your act, though. I've never met a Time Lord before...or Time Lady," she did a mock curtsy. "You should be in a mausoleum last time I heard."

"And you should bite your tongue before you say anything else about my home," Renata's contempt was lacing her calm tone. "How do you know who I am? Who are you?"

"Well everyone knows what Gallifrey is…"

"Except humans which means you are not. So, I ask again, who are you?"

"Are all Time Lords so intense?" Rosana sighed dramatically before laughing. "Well, I suppose given what happened to your world."

Renata's jaw tightened. "You're trespassing on this planet. You are aware of the Shadow Proclamation, aren't you?"

Rosana's playfulness died in a second. "We have not trespassed. We fell here. You think Earth was my first choice for a new home?"

"New home? What happened to yours?"

Rosana let silence pass before she answered. "There were cracks. Some were tiny... some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people and through others we saw silence... and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us... and Saturnyne was lost."

"Saturnyne?" Renata once again glanced at the water beside them. "Of course. Venice for a Saturnyne would serve as a good second home."

Rosana nodded her head, once again smiling lightly. "We did not trespass but we want to make a new home here. What are you doing here?"

Now it was Renata's turn to stay quiet.

Rosana raised her head the longer silence passed. "Oh, are you too pretentious to answer?"

"Never."

"Then? I only ask what you have asked me. Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Renata, I am a Time Lady and...I'm here for a wedding present."

"Oh, congratulations," Rosana said, actually sounding like she meant it. "I take it the other girl is your partner?"

"No," Renata said dismissively.

Rosanna didn't spend time asking more questions about that. "Well, you certainly seem like a woman who handles power like an everyday utensil. You and I could make a partnership. You're as much of a refugee as we are. What do you say?"

"I need to know what you're doing first," Renata subtly pointed out a flawed detail in her plan. "That tour I asked about...may I have the full one?"

Rosana's lips curled into a smile, almost a chuckle. "Well of course. Follow me, Marchioness." She led the way out of the mooring. Renata's face was grim as she followed the woman down to the underground passageways.

"Is my friend safe in here?" Renata asked after a good while of silent walking. She would keep the putrid smell of the passageways to herself but it was terrible.

"Of course, so long as she doesn't go poking her nose where it doesn't belong," Rosana truly meant it as a joke but it struck Renata.

Amy was still trying to have fun without measured precaution. She would inevitably get herself into trouble if they didn't meet up soon.

"What are you up to?" Renata moved onto the next order of business. She was getting tired of mindless walking. "You are taking families' daughters under lies and turning them into...what are you turning them into? A Saturnyne?"

Rosana stopped walking a few feet away from a stone room. Renata tried peeking around the woman to see what the room was about but all she saw was a chest against the wall.

"I did not lie," Rosana said calmly, soon earning Renata's flat face. "Alright, I may have overstretched the truth here—"

"Really? Because there've been reports that some of these girls have really sharp teeth," Renata made a show of baring her own teeth to make a point. "There was also one father who claimed that his daughter no longer recognized him. What are you doing to these girls?"

"One would say you're already against this alliance," Rosana said, narrowing her eyes on the Time Lady.

"You haven't told me anything so I'm dealing with what I have. What's in that room?" Rosana looked back to the room Renata pointed to. "You want me to work with you, start talking. That's the last time I'm going to say it." Renata nodded towards the room, expecting to be shown this time.

"Our world is gone," Rosana began, albeit a little edgy since her hand was forced. "I am a Mother and my children need me. Do you have children?"

Renata stiffened but thanked the darkness around them hiding her posture shift. "Almost…" she said quietly, eliciting an almost...sympathetic look from Rosana.

And she had. Rosana lowered her head as she began to speak again, "I lost children as well but I will not lose anymore. The girls are not in danger. I am merely making them...compatible for my sons."

"Sons?" Renata asked just before she remembered the mooring. "Are they...are they in the water? With the rest of Venice?"

"Of course not, they are secluded," Rosana snapped indignantly. As if she would endanger what was left of her children by placing them in the same water as the savages humans were. "Only one of my sons has taken human form." Renata's mind flashed back to the young man they met earlier and now she assumed he was the same vampire the others had seen. "The others await for their mother to find them new brides."

"Excuse me?" Renata blinked, her mouth falling just a bit open. "Brides? Is that...is that what these girls are? They're not students, they're brides!? How...how are you even meant to do that?" Rosana chuckled and condescendingly too, something that brought out Renata's scowls. "Start talking!"

"I am making them compatible, remember? I can't have human girls joining my family. I turn them into Saturnynes so they can join my sons in the water. It's a process but it's been working pretty well."

"Pretty well? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have to understand that such a process doesn't always go as planned," Rosana finally turned towards the room Renata was waiting to see.

"Exactly what process are you running on these girls?" Renata followed her into the room, coming to realize that there were several chests around. There was one grate in the center of the room, one that she was sure the Doctor would have to use to get inside. Guido's map of the school did show one tunnel leading to the one precise room of the school.

"It's a two week process," Rosana was saying, none the wiser of Renata's calculating thoughts. As Rosana moved around the room, Renata inched closer to the grate until she could release the bar keeping it locked. "We drain the girls each night until and fill them with our blood. It changes them over time until one morning they wake up with their humanity gone, faded away."

"What? Leaving them like empty shells?" Renata thought it was ironic how much of these forced marriages sounded like the ones back on Gallifrey. They all effectively went out like empty shells getting married because their families made it so.

"If they're like us, they're more than they were ever going to be as humans," Rosana said, stopping by one of the chests.

Renata noticed something dusty peeking out from it. She felt sick when she realized it wasn't 'dusty', it was a hand that'd been sucked dry. "Oh my God...are those…?" she raised a shaky finger towards the chest, "...are those...girls?" Her voice cracked towards the end of her question.

Rosana was amused with the sudden teary-eyed woman. "All processes have their failed subjects."

"But...but…" Renata hurried to the nearest chest and pried it open with her hands. She felt her breath leave her when she saw the sucked-dry corpses inside, all squished together like they weren't even important. "These were children! They were children, daughters!" She threw a hard-eyed look at Rosana, eyes flashing a fierce gold that startled Rosana.

"What are you really?" she demanded, taking a few steps towards her until Renata stood up with glowing golden form around her. "You're not a Time Lady…"

"And you're no mother!" Renata growled. "No mother would take another's child away! You're a cold-hearted murderer!"

"I am a mother!" Rosana shouted but Renata shot fire. Her hand had thrust forwards, her golden swarm of butterflies hitting the wall beside Rosana. "What the hell are you!?"

Renata couldn't hear her. Things were too heightened for her to separate each feeling. All she saw were chests after chests with crammed children inside, children who were murdered. What must their families be thinking? Did they think their daughters were still learning at the prestigious school? No, the mothers would know. They would know that something happened to their daughters.

Amy's still here with Isabella. GET OUT! Renata breathed in and suddenly the golden glow was gone. Without saying a word to the astounded Rosana, she hurried out of the chamber, screaming for Amy.

Rosana was left to ponder for a few seconds, her head turning to the spot on the wall now bearing a deep hole. For a moment, she thought she saw one tiny golden butterfly fluttering inside. She blinked and looked again but this time there was nothing.

~ 0 ~

It seemed like wandering through an underground passage wouldn't be enough to dissuade Rory from getting his explanation. The Doctor had no choice but to answer his questions as they moved along. Gabby kept to her promise of staying completely out of it...until the situation called for the opposite of course.

"She was frightened, we were all frightened, but we survived, and the relief of it... and so she kissed me," the Doctor thought that just about covered it. There was nothing else to it.

"And you kissed her back?" Rory's tone implied there was perhaps a little more from the Doctor's side.

"No, I kissed her mouth! By force!" the Doctor sighed and stopped walking, prompting the other two to do the same. "Rory, she kissed me because I was there. It would have been you, it should have been you."

"Yeah," Rory nodded all too sadly. It should have been but it wasn't. He wasn't there. Amy was running about with aliens while he was back on Earth.

"I meant what I said, Rory. Things sometimes get blurred when you first travel in the TARDIS," the Doctor said when he watched Rory's face slowly fall. "Everything is just so chaotic that sometimes...sometimes you do stupid stuff."

Rory seemed unconvinced. He glanced over at Gabby who was busy staring at the dark walls. "Were you?"

"Hmm?" the girl blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Were you blinded by it when you first started traveling with them?"

"Um…" Gabby's eyes flickered to the Doctor, asking him what she should say. She did NOT not want to get into this conversation, never this one. The Doctor merely nodded at her to say what she wanted. "W-well...I wasn't...I wasn't really 'blinded' but—"

"I knew it," Rory muttered and kept walking, taking the torch from the Doctor in the process.

"Wait, wait!" Gabby hurried after him, pulling the Doctor with her. "I didn't go kissing anyone like Amy but I did make my own mistakes! Ask Ren! She hated my guts in the beginning!"

Rory stopped walking suddenly and suspiciously looked at her. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Gabby nodded and whacked the Doctor's arm.

"She did!" he agreed.

"I was brand new to the TARDIS and I went touching things that I shouldn't have. If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't be able to do that," Gabby nodded to the purple flames over the torch. "We make stupid mistakes, we really do."

"But we all know who Amy loves," the Doctor said, "It's you, Rory."

And yet for some reason, Rory wasn't truly convinced. He couldn't think about it that much because a strong gust of wind blew out the torch, leaving them in total darkness.

"Can we go and see the vampires now, please?" Gabby's frail whisper brokered through the silence. If they were lucky, maybe they would sparkle.

---

A/N:

This was one of my favorite chapters to write (it's #2 actually). I loved referencing the Marchioness bit from the last story. It was just such a favorite chapter of mine too! I also had to break the chapter up in 2 because I just wrote too much xD. But I promise it's not a monster like the Angels. Just two!

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 13: Starting New

"Stop her!" Rosana's shout echoed in the passageways as a group of girls chased after Renata. Rosana wasn't particularly chasing after Renata but she was still keeping an eye on where she was going, preferring to leave the job to the girls.

Renata was fuming and shouting as well but for Amy instead, knowing she had to be in danger. Renata didn't want to be in the school for another moment. "AMY! AMY! Where are you!? AMELIA!" She was forced back when a group of the fanged girls appeared, all hissing at her like she was next on the meal course.

Rosana smirked as she watched the Time Lady stumble back into the wall. "For all that bravery, you are still very outnumbered."

Renata swallowed hard, getting even more nervous when she heard Amy's voice begin to call for her. The girl was in the trouble and if she wasn't, she would be soon.

"Oh, the girl's here too," Rosana clapped her hands together, smiling sarcastically. "Who shall we go after?"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had pushed his way up the grate that allowed them into the chamber room full of chests. He helped Rory and Gabby climb out and once they were all above ground, they called for Renata and Amy. Neither woman answered.

"Doctor, I can't see anything!" Gabby exclaimed. "We left the torch down!"

"Just as well I brought this, then!" Rory pulled out a small pencil torch from his pocket, giving a bit of light to the room.

The Doctor, however, came truly prepared. He took out an even longer torch from his inside pocket, one that didn't need to be flamed on. "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight!"

Rory was amazed at how he had even carried that in his pocket. "Yours is bigger than mine."

"Let's not go there!"

Gabby smacked her hand to her forehead. "So, whether alien or human, men are truly all the same! Idiotas los dos!"

The Doctor merely smiled and turned to study the room they were in. The grate had been opened for them so at one point in the night, Renata and Amy had to have been in here. He noticed several chests against the walls and walked over to one.

Gabby watched him open one chest and crinkled her nose when he held a grimy old hand. "What happened to them?" She was sure she could see more grimy bodies inside the chest.

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them…"

"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own," Rory said, basing his knowledge off what he'd seen on t.v. How accurate it was, he didn't know.

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies," the Doctor straightened up and looked around at the other chests. If Renata was here and she'd seen the chests, her hearts must have broken.

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?" Rory asked.

"Maybe not everyone survives the process," the Doctor theorized. If there was such a process then of course there would have to be dead bodies along the way. Nothing was ever perfect.

Rory huffed in frustration. Amy was in terrible danger, more than he previously thought! "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

"That's not his fault Rory," Gabby said quietly. "Everyone has a choice and Amy happens to be adventurous." Rory shook his head at her, not wanting to hear more of her defense. Gabby wouldn't insist, he clearly wasn't ready for that realization right now. She tried to do her best to help the Doctor figure more things out about the corpses but instead she ended up finding a hole in the wall. "Doctor, look at that," she pointed to the wall. The Doctor hurried to it and soon realized it was blasted in. "What is it?"

"Renée was here," he mumbled, his hearts beginning to pick up at the image of her having to fire at the wall. What could have made Renata fire? Rory was right, they needed to find them.

"Renata!?" they suddenly heard Amy's voice. "Renata!"

Rory sprang up like a spring. "Amy!" He ran out of the chamber room, making Gabby and the Doctor run after him.

~ 0 ~

Renata scrunched her face and pressed herself even more against the wall the closer the girls got to her. She was really outnumbered, she would admit that, but she was totally powerless. She could COULD use some of her butterflies but she...she didn't want to hurt the girls. They were still children, girls' whose lives had been ripped away.

~ 0 ~

"Renata!" Amy cautiously crept down the passage with Isabella in tow. Of course it would be their luck not to find the Time Lady when they really needed to get out. "God, Renata! Where are you!?"

"Amy!" Rory thoroughly scared her that she'd immediately smacked him away. "Ow! Amy!"

"Sorry!" Amy gasped when she realized it was him. She hugged him then saw the Doctor and Gabby coming down.

"Where's Renata?" the Doctor scanned the immediate area to no avail. He only saw Isabella and presumed who she was. "You found Isabella?"

"Yeah but I don't know where Renata is," Amy said as she stepped back from Rory. "She and the Signora were going to have a talk."

The Doctor properly panicked. Of course Renata would do the talking with the bad people. It's what he would do. He would much rather it was him than her. "RENATA!" He screamed, making the others jump in their spot. "RENATA!" He hurried down the passage, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Behind them, Gabby sighed. "So much for the element of surprise..." She still ran after the Doctor to join the screams.

~ 0 ~

"You should have just taken the deal," Rosana went 'tsk, tsk' as she watched her girls inch closer to Renata. Each time one of them hissed, Renata tried to lean away but remembered she was already against a wall, so instead she sucked her chest and body in as best as she could. "One entire city for us all. I could have even gotten your little friend a husband."

"She's already engaged and I don't do deals with murderers," Renata still spat despite her situation.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to end here," Rosana pretended to pout. She waved for the girls' to move back, but only slightly, so she could come face Renata.. "I can't risk the process on you and have you causing harm to my sons."

"Who said I would've wanted a Mummy's boy as a husband?" Renata smirked proudly at herself for that remark when she saw Rosana's indignant face. Gabby would have been proud of her!

"Those are my sons! How dare y—"

Renata took her chance and kicked the woman away. Funny, she felt something hard on Rosana's legs. Renata quickly backtracked with her eyes glued to Rosana, watching how the woman's entire appearance briefly shifted into an insectoid creature. "Saturnyne," Renata realized. "You're a Saturnyne! Of course!" She laughed until she realized she sounded exactly like the Doctor would. "I mean...you're a Saturnyne, of course you are," she nodded firmly.

Suddenly, the girls hissed again and Renata had no choice but to run again. She yelped each time one girl got close enough so that she could feel their hair touching her body. "I don't want to hurt them! I don't want to hurt you!" she cried, grabbing the sides of her dress to run quicker. "Please, just stop!"

"RENATA!"

Renata abruptly stopped at the Doctor's voice, making a huge mistake in the process. She felt one of the girls' hands on her and screamed. "GET AWAY!" She blasted a swarm of butterflies against the girls, knocking them to the ground.

"Renata!" the Doctor finally saw her and hurried towards her. Renata barely had time to move when he already had her in his arms. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"Woah, what happened to them?" Gabby blinked at the girls stumbling to get back up. She laughed, though, when she saw a remaining golden butterfly in the air. "Ah, Renata got hardcore."

"Did not!" Renata huffed and pulled away from the Doctor. "I didn't...I didn't mean to…" she turned to the girls with a heavy heart. She didn't want to hurt any of them but she certainly wasn't going to let them hurt her. "They're all empty shells now."

"And they're getting back up! We should go!" Amy motioned them to start running again.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella took the lead fast.

"Wait!" Renata stopped the Doctor from following and thoroughly startled him when she started pulling his jacket off him.

"What are you doing!?" he exclaimed, feeling part of his face get rather warm.

"She'll need it!" Renata hung his jacket over one of her arms then grabbed the Doctor's hand to keep running.

Isabella had led them down a few steps to get out through its door. She and Rory pulled on it to open it and ushered Amy and Gabby out.

"Quickly, get out!" Isabella then told Rory. She tried to follow herself but the sunlight burned her skin.

"It's okay! It's okay! I got you!" Renata came as quickly as she could with the Doctor. The dress was truly heavy. She threw the Doctor's coat over Isabella's head and then carefully led her outside. While they hurried down the steps, the Doctor sonicked the door behind them.

"Isabella! Isabella!" Guido climbed out of the gondola to meet his daughter. He was overfilled with joy seeing his daughter again.

"Don't take the coat off her!" Renata immediately instructed as the two now helped Isabella into the gondola. "Doctor?" She turned around to see him lagging at the staircase. "Get over here!"

"I need to meet this woman," he declared with absolute anger lacing his tones and features.

"Fine, but after we get the humans to safety. Then we'll both go back," Renata gestured to the group waiting for him. She wasn't all too crazy to go back into that school anymore but if he was going, then she had to as well.

"You're not coming," the Doctor came straight to her.

Renata raised her head defiantly. "Oh yes I am. In fact," she flashed a smirk at the Doctor before turning to the gondola, "Guido, take them back to your house please. And make sure that Isabella doesn't take the coat off until she's inside. Rosana sent her girls after me. I would like a word with her about her behavior," Renata nodded at Guido to take them away. He didn't question them. He needed to get his daughter away from the school as quickly as possible.

"You are mad, do you know that?" the Doctor groaned when it was just him and Renata. He just got her out of the school and now he was about to bring her into it again.

"I'm not mad, I am furious!" she snapped. "They're Saturnynes! And Rosana has kidnapped these girls, turning them into empty shells for her sons! She's stolen people's daughters and she tried to make them kill me. I am beyond mad. I am angry on behalf of every mother, every parent, who lost their daughters to Rosana and her cult."

The Doctor would not point out to Renata that her face was completely red solely because he was already walking on thin, almost nonexistent, ice with her. He nodded his head, acknowledging her feelings on the matter and then endeavored to help ease those feelings by doing whatever he could which, in this case, would be taking her back to the school.

He tried taking hold of her hand but she flinched away from his touch, whether it was due to her current state or because she was still upset about earlier he couldn't tell. Together, they made their way back to the school, this time going by the front to make their presence very known.

Rosana was sitting on her throne, clearly waiting for them - Renata, at least. Her lips curled into a smug smile upon seeing the Time Lady. "You stole one of my students."

Renata had no sense of control at the moment so she stormed over, or at least tried to because the Doctor had grabbed her back only a few steps forwards. "She's not your student! She was a prisoner!" she still yelled at the woman across the room. "Just like every other girl in here!"

The Doctor was very aware of the light gold that was rising from the top of Renata's head. It used to be less noticeable with her once blonde hair but now that her hair was as dark as night, the gold had nowhere to hide. Rosana was privy to the secret as well, for she rose from her throne with an accusing finger pointed at Renata.

"You say that I'm a liar but you lied first. You are not a Time Lady. What are you?"

Renata stopped thrashing in the Doctor's arms, stumped for a moment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're glowing, Marchioness," Rosana smirked as she came down the small steps of her throne's dais.

Renata glanced at the Doctor to see him nodding. He looked concerned but if she was being perfectly honest, she felt fine. In fact, she felt great. She was angry but her health was perfect. She carefully untangled herself from the Doctor, apologizing to him for her behavior. Once she calmed, the golden energy faded.

"What are you really?" Rosana asked again, her eyes glinting with fascination.

"I am a Time Lady," Renata reiterated, adjusting her dress in the process. "And you are a liar." Rosana scoffed. "You're even wearing a perception filter."

"Funny thing that perception filter," the Doctor spoke for the first time, especially now that he was semi-sure Renata wouldn't try to kill Rosana on the spot again. "It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank... hence no reflection. But why can we see your big teeth?

"Self-preservation over-rides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain." Rosana arched an eyebrow at him, as if just now realizing Renata hadn't come alone. She looked him over for a few minutes before answering a question he hadn't asked. "Ah, you're the husband."

The Doctor scowled and glanced at Renata to see her throwing murderous glares at Rosana again. "No! We're not" she shouted even, as if the mere idea of someone thinking they were husband and wife was utterly despicable.

It hurt. A lot. Was she that angry with him? Did she think they were too far gone to ever fix things? No, she couldn't think like that. One error, an error that he didn't even commit, shouldn't be the end of their relationship. He couldn't let it be. He loved her as much as he knew that she loved him. She was just being her stubborn self again.

He cleared his throat. "I'm the Doctor and the only thing Renata and I are only concerned about is what's going on at this so-called school."

Rosana rolled her eyes. "I don't understand what is so difficult about this. We're all refugees here. I am only trying to create a second home. I offered a partnership with your, uh...friend…" She made a gesture towards Renata. "She's made it pretty clear she's no longer interested. But, I am a fair woman, so I shall offer you the same deal."

"And what would that be exactly?"

"Help me finish my plans and you can enjoy Saturnyne II with me." There was a new sultry type of look on her face as she approached the Doctor.

Renata immediately felt like charging on the woman again, only this time she was well aware it wouldn't be on behalf of the mothers everywhere but more...on behalf of herself.

"My partnership can be in any way you choose," Rosana delivered her last words with a charming smile.

It became a trust testament to Renata's self control when Rosana dragged her finger across the Doctor's chest. She didn't need a mirror to know that she was glowing again. This time she could actually feel a warmth bubbling inside her, urging to come out and tear Rosana away from the Doctor. She shouldn't be anywhere near him! Including Amy!

And once Renata thought about what it must have looked like when Amy kissed the Doctor, she felt a new rage wash over her. Tears and sadness were gone to be replaced with utter anger. Jealous. Yes. That's what she was. Jealous that everyone always wanted to keep her and the Doctor apart. Whether it was to keep the Doctor for themselves, or simply because they didn't like him being with her, it always happened. It. Always. Happened.

The Doctor very kindly, but sternly, pulled Rosana's finger hand off him. "I don't think so."

Rosana very quickly understood where they were and, after yanking her finger out of his hand, stepped away from the pair. "Get out!" she barked. "Rest assured that I will do what neither of you could do for your planet. I will bend the heavens to save my race."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Renata shook her head. "Not this way."

"GET OUT!"

"Don't think this is over!" Renata yelled right back. "We'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone! That's a promise!"

The Doctor grabbed her hand, this time letting him, and left the school.

~ 0 ~

Renata got a quick change out of her period dress into her regular clothes again. She brought Amy's clothes back to her at Guido's house in case she wanted to get out of the dress as well. It had been something Amy wanted to do ever since she got out of the school, but Gabby said no one was leaving the house until the Time Lords were back. Rory agreed as well.

Renata put all of her attention to Isabella after coming back. "Isabella, how are you feeling?" The young girl was sitting in a chair next to her father. Renata assumed Guido hadn't left his daughter's side ever since they came home.

"She says things look too bright," Guido said before Isabella even opened her mouth. It did explain why Isabella was staring at the table. "Is that normal? What were they doing to her there?"

Renata glanced back at the Doctor for some help. He was standing across the room, purposely keeping his distance from her because he knew that's what she wanted. As soon as she realized that he was holding her hand after leaving Rosana's school, she'd yanked it out of his and picked up her pace.

Still, it only took one look from Renata to make him come over. "Rosana said that this whole process lasted 2 weeks," she started explaining, "And Isabella's been at the school for how much time?"

"One week," Isabella answered, still keeping her gaze on the floor.

"Right, so then the process wasn't finished. They were draining her blood—"

"My what!?" Isabella made the mistake of looking up and quickly shielded her eyes before lowering her head again. "That's what they were doing to me!?"

"Why would they want to do that?" Gabby asked.

"They're vampires, aren't they? Isn't that what they do?" Rory said.

"They're far from vampires Rory. They're Saturnynes," the Doctor explained. He knelt down in front of Isabella, placing a hand on her shoulder as he ducked enough to meet her gaze. He pulled out his sonic with his other hand and waved it in front of her. "I'm going to scan you really quick, is that alright?"

Isabella nodded her head and watched him wave the sonic in front of her again, the light reflected off the sonic making her look away. Amy returned at that moment, dressed in her regular clothes, and strode over to Rory and Gabby.

"No, the Saturnynes' DNA didn't get to permanently change her," the Doctor said to Renata. "I'm guessing it really has to be a two week thing. I think Renata got you out just in time."

"I did too," Amy mumbled under her breath. She was the one who found Isabella in the first place. It was a joint mission and they jointly got her out.

"Thank you," Guido smiled at Renata with the most grateful gleam in his eyes. "I have my daughter back because of you."

Renata smiled back softly. "You don't have to thank us. No parent should ever have to lose their child." Her smile faded as the weight of her words truly settled. It was the same for the Doctor.

"What about my eyes?" Isabella's natural question pulled the two out of their darkening thoughts.

"Here yah go!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled out a pair of black sunglasses from his pocket.

"Dude," Gabby laughed at him while Renata shook her head at him.

"The side effects from the process should fade soon enough," the Doctor told Isabella as he helped her put the sunglasses back on.

"Now then..." Renata moved away to pace. Yes, she was pacing because there was still a school to tear down, stone by stone she would add. "Rosana and her little sons are not vampires," she sent a smile at Rory for his earlier assumption, "They're actually Saturnynes — basically like your local fish. They need water. And today, brides."

"Brides?" Amy made a face. That was surely becoming a theme, wasn't it?

"Is that why they're using the school then? To recruit...brides?" Gabby made a similar face as Amy.

"They're not 'recruiting', they're kidnapping," Renata snapped, although not at Gabby but at the situation. "Rosana is kidnapping girls to turn them into brides for her sons."

"And these sons...where exactly are they?" asked Rory, looking around as if he would find them right there.

"In the water," Renata glanced at the Doctor. "She has them waiting for these girls."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido declared, but Renata was quick to point a finger at him.

"You need to focus on your daughter and only her well being. We can do the rest, can't we Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded. "Oh yeah. We need to figure out how exactly Rosana is planning on taking the city over. Saturnynes come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do? Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable…"

"She said, "I shall bend the heavens to save my race," Renata said. "And God knows she's desperate. What could she do in this state?"

The Doctor thought of the answer fairly quickly. "How about sink Venice?"

"Oh," Renata's eyes widened. "And then repopulate it with the girls she's transformed. She has her sons waiting for that moment…"

"Gross, Mommy's making compatible girlfriends for her sons?" Gabby crinkled her nose. "How are we going to stop—" A loud clattering from above cut her question off.

"The people upstairs are very noisy…" the Doctor said after they listened to a bit more of the clattering.

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido said as he rose from his seat, moving even closer to Isabella.

The Doctor sighed, resigned that this was just part of the usual day-to-day for them. "I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

"If they're fish people, how are they doing that?" Rory swallowed hard as the wood creaked even louder.

No one got to answer as those fish people shattered the glass to get into the house. The entire group huddled together. The Doctor brandished his ultraviolet torch again, and Renata made sure that Isabella was behind that ultraviolet torch.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Amy exclaimed when she spotted girls outside the windows. She flinched when they shattered that glass too.

Renata brandished her sonic at the girls, purposely forcing the girls' true selves. It definitely got the group to yelp.

"What's happened to them!?" Guido asked, now taking hold of Isabella's arm even tighter. They were not taking her away again!

"There's nothing left of them," Renata said sadly. They were gone with no way of returning.

"They've been fully converted," the Doctor agreed with a nod and then after a moment's thought he added, "Blimey, fish from space have never been so... buxom."

"Because that's going to make things better for you!" Gabby genuinely concluded that all men, whether human or alien, were just that clueless.

Well, Renata was glaring at the Doctor for his little remark. "GO!" She suddenly yelled and started pushing people towards the stairs. "Doctor, coat!" she yelled again when they left the stairs.

He understood and swept his coat from where he'd left it, throwing it over Isabella in preparation for the outside. "Go, go!" he ushered the girl with Gabby. Amy and Rory helped them towards the door.

"What are you doing!?" Renata stopped when Guido did by the barrels of explosives.

"They need to be stopped!"

"By exploding them!?"

"They're not gonna stop, are they!?"

Renata stopped and looked back at the staircase. She could hear the rumbling of the girls.

"We have to stop them," Guido insisted and looked at the Doctor for his help. They couldn't let the girls keep terrorizing them or anyone else.

"This is your house," Renata said as a last resort, but she hadn't said it very argumentatively in the first place.

"Doesn't matter. I've got Isabella now. Home isn't a place, you know?" Guido was fast at working even when he was saying meaningful words.

"We know," the Doctor said quietly, making Renata look over to him. He was already staring at her. "My home isn't a place either." Renata felt the air leave her when he grabbed her hand. He gave it the gentlest of strokes before running for the door. "Guido, c'mon!" he called back.

"Dad!" Isabella exclaimed, trying to make her way back into the house. Gabby was doing a good job holding her back.

Guido dropped a candle near the explosives and ran for his life. Soon as he was out, the Doctor ran them all away from the house before it would explode. It still threw the group to the ground but they were unharmed. Not a second later did lightning strike the darkening sky.

"Rosanna's initiating the final phase," Renata picked herself up and listened to the clamoring of people on the street.

"We need to stop her. Come on!" Amy said, about to leave when Renata said a very sharp 'no'. She turned around to see the Time Lady shaking her head. "What?"

"You need to get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, coming up behind Renata. "All of you."

"Is that really necessary?" Gabby frowned. She didn't like the idea very much either.

"Absolutely," Renata nodded. "No more people getting hurt. Too many girls have been lost already."

"But you can't stop her on your own!" Amy exclaimed.

"With all due respect Amy, we've been doing fine before you." Truly, Renata felt just a bit of twinge for her harsh words when Amy's eyes widened.

"Get back to the TARDIS, all of you!" the Doctor exclaimed and glanced at Guido and Isabella. He was trying to cover Isabella as much as he could, never knowing when the dark clouds would disappear to let the sun back out. "And take them too!" He told Gabby.

"Fine," Gabby relented if only to get them to safety. "But if that woman tries anything, let the Vortex Butterfly have her ass."

"Gabriella," Renata shook her head.

"I mean it!" Gabby ushered Guido and Isabella to follow.

"Amy, you too!" the Doctor snapped when the ginger had remained back. Rory clearly wanted to go as well but since Amy wasn't moving, neither was he.

"But—"

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?"

Amy couldn't believe both of them were sending her away like a child. She was not a child, dammit! Why must they insist on seeing her like one? She stormed off, leaving Rory to truly thank the Time Lords for what they did.

~ 0 ~

When they returned to the school, Renata went directly to the throne. She almost rolled her eyes when they discovered the circuitry behind it. It was so predictable and a tiny bit conceited.

"You're too late. Such determination... just to save one city," Rosana walked into the room, smirking at the two. "Hard to believe you let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"Renata didn't do anything like that," the Doctor said, to clear the air at least. He would not have anyone thinking that Renata did what he had to Gallifrey.

"Rosanna, this is over," Renata hurried down the steps of the dais."The girls have gone."

"You're lying," scowled Rosana.

"Then wouldn't we be dead?"

The realization struck Rosana in seconds but for all she wanted to say, she held her head high and turned to leave.

"Rosana!" called the Doctor. "Help us please. There are 200,000 people in this city."

"So save them," she said sourly.

Renata felt a whole new wave of anger hit her. She shouted after Rosana. "You know, I never got to be a Mother but I still try to save any children in danger that I come across but you...you're fine with killing them."

Rosana turned around with more or less fury as Renata. "You killed them! You did! I was trying to save them—"

"By killing someone else's children!? How is that any better!?"

Rosana had no answer at that moment. With one swift move, she was out of the room again.

Renata took a moment to calm her breathing down. She turned to the Doctor with tears in her eyes. "I didn't want to hurt the girls," she said, as if he was accusing her of the same thing.

"I know that, of course I know that," the Doctor came around the chair and hurried over to her. "Renata, you can be angry with me all you want but it doesn't change the fact that I know you. I know who you are." She let him take her hands in his, actually relishing with the light squeeze he gave them. "Let's save this city, alright? No more children are going to die."

Renata swallowed down that bile she was sure was part of her tears trying to come out. "Okay."

They went back to the throne to work on shutting down whatever Rosanna had started. A few minutes later, Amy and Rory showed up.

"Get out!" the Doctor exclaimed. "We need to stabilise the storm!"

"We're not leaving you!" It was Rory who said it this time, making the Doctor scoff with incredulity.

"Right," he stopped working, something Renata glared at him for, and stormed over to the two. "So one minute it's, "You make people a danger to themselves," the next it's, "We're not leaving you!" But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets…" The ground shook the three to the ground. Renata held onto the throne to avoid the same fate.

"At least tell me Gabby's still in the TARDIS!" she called.

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed. She presumed it anyways.

"Uh, what was that?" Rory asked as he helped Amy stand up.

"Nothing. Bit of an earthquake," the Doctor dismissed it only for Amy to question him even more.

"Forget about it!" snapped Renata. "You'll be more worried when the city actually sinks!"

The Doctor hurried back to her side to keep working on the throne, though there wasn't much they were doing to it anyways. It wasn't where they would get everything done. They had to divide and conquer. "Alright, Amy, Rory, come here!" The two hurried over. "So, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator."

"What are you going to do?" asked Amy.

"Gonna go check that bell," he answered and rushed off with Renata.

The two hurried outside to the balcony where the bell was tolling incredibly loud. They managed as best as they could to keep working on the second set of circuitry connecting the throne to the main control.

"What are you doing!?" Renata called when the Doctor hurried closer to the toiling bells, his hands clapped over his ears.

"I can't take the noise!"

"Oh, but you live to create noise!"

The Doctor's face went flat for a few seconds, though he did make a note that her sarcasm was back. He could work with that. He ignored the rest of her calls when he started climbing the bells. All Renata knew was that he could fall just like he did the last time he decided to climb something huge, only last time involved the prehistoric times and the ground was covered with mushy snow and not hard cement like it was now.

She focused on the wires instead, hoping to get them finished so he could come down quicker. He did, however, get the bells to stop toiling which did make a huge difference. He came back down with a smug grin.

"Shut up!" she warned before he started. "Help me pull! These cables are really stuck!" Not to mention the pouring rain was making it harder for her hands not to slip off.

"We need to go directly to the source," he declared and, knowing the types of shouts he was about to get, got onto the rail to climb up yet again.

"GET DOWN!" she jumped from the ground but soon regretted her shout when it nearly made him slip. "Oh my God, please just get down!" she called in a much quieter but still frantic manner. "Let me do it!"

"Out of your mind, you are! That's my job!" He sent her a wink, keeping her still for a second.

Renata swallowed incredibly hard as she watched him climb even higher. It was just like the last time. He was trying to do something for them and she had her hearts in her mouth with fear. She peered down to see it was a long way to the ground. He could not fall. She'd jump to catch him.

The Doctor did his best to keep a grip when he reached the top of the sphere at the pinnacle. He opened the sphere up and was relieved to see he'd finally found the main controlling device inside. If he shut that thing down, the storm would be no more.

"Doctor, did you find it?" Renata called from below. "Please be careful!"

He smiled to himself while he kept searching. She still very much cared about him. Hope was very clear right now. As soon as this was over, he was going to try and talk to her again. He just needed to finish this.

He searched like mad for a way to end the storm and to his delight, it almost made him laugh really, he found one simple toggle switch in the middle. With one flip, the storm was no more. He soon heard the cheers and clapping from below and, in his excitement, he waved down at them.

"DOCTOR!" He flinched with Renata's scream. Funny how her new incarnation still had the same scary scream.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna silently walked the way to the canal where her sons remained. She kept trying to turn off the perception filter around but the device was dead by then. She yanked off her gloves and pulled her dress off to be left in her chemise. The closer she got to the water, the more it bubbled.

"Rosanna, you need to stop," Renata's voice froze her for a mere second before the woman looked back at her and the Doctor.

"One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask? You, who care so much about 'children' and whatnot."

"I am sorry for the loss of your children but you had no right to steal someone else's."

"You said you were almost a Mother once?"

Renata nodded slightly. "I never got to meet them. Didn't know if it was going to be a girl or a boy."

"And yet you carry yourself like a Mother, when the reality is you never were one. Maybe that was a good thing."

Renata pursed her lips together. "I didn't mean…"

"Rosana, stop!" the Doctor called when the woman inched closer to the edge. "You can't go back and change time. You mourn but you live. I know, Rosanna, I did it. We both did."

Rosanna shook her head. "Tell me, Doctor... can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race? You, Marchioness, watch my children die off...Remember us. Dream of us." She let herself fall into the water where the last of her sons would end her life.

Renata's eyes filled with tears and turned to the Doctor, where he would hold her and remain for a few minutes.

~ 0 ~

With the storm gone, there was only cleaning to do afterwards. Gabby caught up with the group after being tasked to bring Guido and Isabella to a new home they'd oh-so-luckily won.

In a lottery.

Gabby laughed at the Doctor's sheer cluelessness but it always warmed her heart when he pulled these stunts for people. Isabella would soon be back to normal and then they could live happily in their new home.

"Alright you two you," the Doctor called to Amy and Rory who did seem far happier than when they first arrived. Maybe the trip wasn't a total loss. "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."

"Best not," Gabby mumbled to him on her way to the TARDIS. Those jokes were still on hold as far as he knew.

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me," Rory said suddenly. He wasn't quite accustomed to this type of life. One moment, he was sure that all he wanted was for Amy to stay away from the Doctor because he was dangerous...but then a moment later he himself wanted to go help. It was like an invisible urge he wasn't yet sure how it worked. "I'll just say you've…"

"Stay…with us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay," Amy smiled at him as she came closer to his side. It could do well for her mind to finally get things cleared up once and for all.

"Wow, this place just gets bigger huh?" Gabby laughed. So far, she loved Rory. She would definitely be good friends with him with the time.

"Fine with me," the Doctor said and spared a glance at Renata. She was keeping her distance again but upon being called, she came closer to them.

"Of course Rory," she smiled at the man sweetly. It was a smile that hadn't come up in a while, making the Doctor just a tad jealous of Rory at that moment. "And yes Gabby, it does keep getting bigger."

"Long way from where we started," Gabby said with a saddened smile. If only Donna could see them now. She would love it. Of course, Donna would love it even more if she could figure out a way to get Renata and the Doctor back to talking. Time was they would each take their half and make the two Time Lords fix their problems in the end. Now...now it was just her. She had to figure out a way to do it. "Rory, you want to see the swimming pool?" Gabby suddenly asked. "I bet Amy told you how it got lost, huh?"

Rory nodded. "Oh yeah. Talked about it for hours."

"Hey," frowned Amy.

Gabby laughed. "C'mon!" She reached for the TARDIS doors and opened them up, ushering the two in, then pointed a warning finger at the Doctor and Renata. "I am not letting you in until you talk to each other and I mean really talk. No more screaming, no more being cryptic—"she sent a direct look at Renata, because Gabby was sure that the woman was doing that bit again, "—and just...just talk, alright? Amy and Rory are doing well so I think...I think you can too." She pleaded to them with a tiny, almost minuscule smile, to heed her words. She disappeared in the TARDIS shortly afterwards.

It wasn't the place the Doctor envisioned for his talk with Renata but he would take whatever opportunity arose. He turned around and saw Renata had already put distance between them again. She had her arms folded over her chest, tightly enough to appear more like she was hugging herself rather than putting on a stance. She wasn't looking at him.

"Renata, Gabby's right. If Amy and Rory can work through a relationship of a few years I think we can do the same."

Renata's eyes darted to him in a snap. "Our relationship hasn't exactly been great from the start. Or did you forget that 700 year gap between then and now?"

"How could I? But really, what's the point in bringing out all the bad stuff that's already happened? You're clinging to all the bad parts!"

"Someone has to be realistic!"

"About what!?"

"About the fact that we always end up hurting each other! I love you, yes, but what if this is just destined to end in heartbreak again?"

"It's not—"

"How do you know!?" Renata practically screamed frantically. This time, however, she paid no attention to the gazes of the onlookers. "How do you know it's not going to end like the first time?"

The Doctor remained totally calm, an eerie calm that Renata silently questioned how it was possible. Wasn't he afraid of the same thing? Didn't he ever think about how things could end between them again? It terrified Renata. She didn't think she could handle that again.

"Because I have no intention of letting you go," the Doctor finally answered her, looking matter-of-factly. "Never again." Renata blinked. He looked like he had all the answers, he definitely felt like he did.

"Renata," the Doctor came closer to her and before she would even think of backing away, he wrapped an arm around her waist, "Last time we did this, things were so different. We were on Gallifrey, our heads filled with all these customs and rules — you more than I, let's be honest." Renata rolled her eyes. "We were so young. You weren't even out of the Academy. I, personally, had no idea what the hell I was doing. I mean, you know, more than what it is now. Last time, I was too much of a coward to come back for you. We argued, you told me to leave you even when you didn't mean it, but I still did it. I left you, I ran away, and I never looked back. I'm not doing that again. You screaming at me is a cover up for what you actually feel. It's always been how you operate. You grew up learning how to bottle up your feelings and keep quiet. And you don't get it, Renata..." the Doctor managed a small chuckle, "You still don't get it. You don't have to do that anymore. You don't have to be cryptic or hide how you feel. If there's something bothering you, tell me what it is. You won't get in trouble. Tell me what you're thinking. Tell me everything that's running in your head right now."

Renata nervously licked her lips. She couldn't meet his waiting gaze right away but at least she was making the effort to. The Doctor took that as a good sign. He wouldn't expect her to pour all her feelings out on the first try. It was a centuries-old battle that would last for a while. Little by little, he would help her change that habit of hers.

"It's hard," Renata admitted with tears in her eyes, her voice strained even then.

The Doctor brought his hands to Renata's cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears rolling down her face. "I know. I know it's hard—"

"No, you don't know," Renata shook her head, sniffling, "Because you've never struggled to talk to people. You always say what you want, whenever you want—"

"And that usually lands me in trouble," the Doctor reminded her for the sake of bringing a little humor to her right now.

"But you always have the courage to say what you want," Renata reiterated how different they were. "You were the one who confessed first. All those years ago, you said it first. You told me how you felt. Doctor, if you hadn't, I would've never said anything. I can say what needs to be said, but never what I want to say. Look how long it took me to tell you who I was when you and Martha found me? I hate myself for that — I hate that I can't tell you and even more that I end up lashing out instead like it's your fault that I'm so incompetent."

"None of that, please. You're not incompetent," the Doctor said, pressing a kiss on Renata's forehead, "Some people are naturally more shy, quieter, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not asking you to stop being neither of those. I just want you to know that you don't have to keep things bottled up inside. The way you grew up has played a huge role in the way you express yourself, yes, but it doesn't mean that you're 'incompetent'. You built a whole Foundation on Gallifrey, expanded it because you knew how to use your words in the right way."

"That's business, Doctor," Renata whispered, "I'm good at business, but everything else..."

"So let's take it step by step," the Doctor offered her, "It's going to take a while but we have all the time in the world. We can start right now."

"I don't know..." Renata sniffed, "It's frightening telling you..."

"Gala, talk to me," the Doctor spoke to her in their native tongue, cupping her face. With that, her eyes immediately locked with his. "Tell me what's wrong. You can do it. I'm here, listening."

Renata's eyes started looking around their immediate area. She was not used to being so open about a relationship, much less talking about it. It just felt wrong — like she was doing something that was wrong.

The Doctor leaned over and pressed another kiss on her temple. His lips lingered on the spot, wanting to be close and comforting for her. "I'm here," was all he said, implying that she could take as long as she needed to and he would stay right there with her.

Renata's eyes closed with his presence so close to her. She did love him. She loved him so much and it pained her to be so challenging for him. She wished she could be as carefree as others were, but there was just something inside her that didn't allow it. But if she didn't learn how to let go, even just a bit, she ran the danger of losing the Doctor. She couldn't let that happen. "I'm...I'm afraid..." She brought her hands up to the Doctor's arms, perhaps gripping them a bit tightly but he never said a thing about it. "I'm afraid that we won't work again. I'm...afraid that just like the first time...something is going to tear us apart."

"What's going to tear us apart?" the Doctor asked her, leaning back from her enough to meet her gaze.

"My sister did it first," Renata reminded him, "And now...now there's Amy..."

The Doctor chuckled. "Amy got confused but she's harmless, trust me. Plus, she didn't even know that we were together. What happened was insignificant."

"She's not the only one," Renata felt ridiculous the way her tears seemed to stream down her face. She wasn't used to making such a spectacle.

"Well who else is there?"

"...River Song. She's made it very clear that she knows you in the future—"

"There is a clear difference between knowing someone and...knowing someone," the Doctor said, even shivering at the assumption Renata was making. "I have zero interest in doing the latter and not quite fond of the former either, if I'm being honest."

"You can say all that stuff but what can you really do to fight the future? Because, despite her behavior, River has made very good points about me. Points that I can't argue against. She says I'm a fraud, and I am. I'm a liar. I lied to you for so long. I'm not this golden, dainty butterfly you want to see me as."

"I never saw you as a 'dainty butterfly'," the Doctor was puzzled with that assumption. Where did she ever get that from? "I never expect you to be dainty. You're Renata. You're actually very scary when you want to be. And all that stuff that happened between us...Renata, you have to let it go. I don't mean that you have to forget it, I mean...it's just time to move on. It was horrible, and painful, but it happened and we can't change it. I'm sorry. You can't let River Song dangle that in your face. She has no business talking about it. She draws power from that when you let it get to you."

"But what she says is true, I've hurt you too much."

"And I think I hurt you just as much. Darling I'm not saying we're perfect doves, but I love you like you wouldn't believe. So I beg you, let me take you on a date. Let me show you how much I love you and how I will never stop."

Renata's eyes twinkled with tears but her lips were twitching into a smile. "Can I show you that I love you too?"

"I definitely wouldn't mind," he smiled with her. He had taken hold of her hand and raised it between them, intertwining them with his. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and brought their bodies together. "This is good. This is the first time you've talked to me like this. Are you okay?"

Renata nodded slowly. "Yeah, just...feels weird," shes admitted, chuckling through her tears.

"It'll get easier with time, I promise. You don't have to talk to the whole world. I can do that for the both of us...just...always know that you can talk to me okay?"

Renata nodded again, this time truly intending on following through.

"Does that mean we're okay now?"

"I don't know if we'll ever be okay like we want to be, but I really cannot see myself living without you," Renata whispered. "I can't do that anymore. But...please try to keep other people from kissing you. It literally hurts my hearts knowing your lips were on someone else's."

"She kissed me," the Doctor reminded her, but he understood what she was trying to say. He didn't want to picture anyone else trying to kiss Renata either, much less that her lips had been pressed to others that weren't his. "But it'll never happen again. Now, can I kiss you?"

Renata pursed her lips together. He was waiting for her to answer, being patient and yet their closeness hadn't factored in as a disadvantage for her. Of course she'd want him to kiss her. She lost herself every time he was close to her. Right now was no exception. She began to nod, very lightly, but it was enough to draw the Doctor in.

She watched him close the gap between them and when his lips had finally pressed against hers, she kissed him too. She pulled her hand out of his - momentarily worrying the Doctor that it still wasn't enough - and grabbed his jacket's lapels instead, gripping them tightly as if he were going to run off on her. If it was up to the Doctor, he'd gladly let her hold onto him for all of eternity. He didn't want to be without her ever again.

---

Author's Note:

I looooved writing this episode. I really wanted to show that Renata is not your typical "bold, always speaks her mind" Time Lady that I feel like I've made my other DW OCs. And it's funny because Renata is technically the first Time Lady OC I've written and I just decided to go down this road with her. Like she said, she's very good with words when it's concerning business but not when it comes to talking for herself. Basically, she sucks at it - badly. And it's just another reminder of how different she is from the Doctor. They're stark opposites but they feed off each other and aid each other where they need it. I don't know, I think that makes for a good realistic relationship. My previous OCs have been that they're both intelligent/bold or they're both so chaotic. I wanted this one to be different. And I can't wait to show you the next OC I have planned for this show too. She's a-coming ;)

P.S. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 14: A Date for the Books

Renata had never felt so out of place. She turned and turned in front of a long-view mirror and as much as she liked the dress Gabby had helped pick out for her, it just didn't feel right.

"I don't know about this, Gabriella. I'm 758, I don't think it's appropriate for me to wear something like this."

Gabby came up behind the Time Lady and looked her over, snorting. "No, I think it's fine. And while you look like you're 758, you've got a young face on. Plus, who the hell cares? It's a free world, you can wear whatever you want, and this dress makes you look hot!"

"I'm not sure I like that," Renata brought a hand up to her hair. She'd put it in one of those tight buns she always wore in her last incarnation but even that didn't feel right.

Gabby had found a precious white dress that reached down to Renata's ankles. It had knitted colorful flowers going along the hemline. It was sleeveless, leaving only two thin straps over the shoulders. It was nice up until Renata realized the scandalous plunging v-neckline it had. Gabby argued that it wasn't exaggerated but Renata was pretty sure that a dress should not have an open slit that almost reached her belly button. Gabby tried to compromise by adding a necklace that had a choker-style with one long line going down the slit of the dress.

Renata still wasn't buying it. "I need to change," she ultimately decided and stalked back to the millions of the clothes the wardrobe had.

Gabby groaned and stomped after her. "But why? You look so hot! The Doctor would never get over it!"

"I don't feel comfortable in it," Renata shrugged. "It's...well...I don't know. I'm just not used to it." She stopped walking and turned around, offering Gabby a soft smile. "I really appreciate you helping me with this whole date but I don't think this is for me. I can't, uh, how do you say it? 'Pull it off?'"

Gabby laughed while Renata went back to search for a different dress. "You can pull off anything! You're Renata!"

Renata scoffed. "You say that like it's supposed to mean something good."

"I'm sure it means a thousand words to the Doctor...and others," Gabby set her hands on her hips, smirking all of a sudden. "Bet River Song remembers it too."

Renata stopped at the mention of the woman. It reminded her that she had a pending conversation with Gabby. Now was as good a time as ever. "Gabriella, I'd like a word with you concerning Dr. Song."

Gabby made a face. "You really want to talk about that woman before you go on your date?"

Renata abandoned the racks of clothes and walked back to Gabby. "Not so much about her but you...and her."

Gabby scoffed. "That makes it better." Renata took her back to the vanity desk where they both sat down. "What do you want to talk about then?" Gabby asked.

"Well, you," Renata sighed. She smiled at Gabby in a sort of grateful way but Gabby was sure there was a bit of sadness in it too. "I understand that you and I...we have become like family and it's in one's nature to defend family but...I don't think you need to go that far when River is around."

Gabby looked at her as if she was crazy. "What? You have met River, right? You've seen the way she acts! I've seen the way she acts! I've met her 3 times already and she's just horrible!"

"She does have a difficult personality—"

"No," Gabby snapped. "You're not going to sugarcoat how terrible she is, especially when it comes to how she acts around you. She's plain mean, Renata, and she has no regard for your feelings."

"Be that as it may, I don't like the way you act when she's around. I really appreciate how much you want to defend me but I do not like the person you become when you're around River." Renata sighed. She needed to explain this well or else Gabby might take it the wrong way. "You're this sweet, adventurous young woman but when River showed up this last time...you turned into this competitive, snappy woman."

Gabby frowned. "I was trying to defend you since you won't do it!"

"What?" Now it was Renata's turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, c'mon, Ren! You're so passive-aggressive that you just let River walk all over you! I stick up for you because you're my family, yes, but also because if you don't do it then someone's got to! The Doctor's too oblivious for this kind of stuff so it's up to me!"

"Gabriella, what on Earth are you talk—"

"Renata," Gabby took Renata's hands into hers and gripped them tightly, getting Renata's silence for the moment, "You're not good with confrontation. You've said it yourself. I respect that you don't like to fight anyways, but sometimes...sometimes you have to. When you meet people like River Song, you need to defend yourself. River's made it perfectly clear that she hates you - and me - and she'll keep on saying all the stuff because she knows that you won't say anything. You won't get mad at her and you won't snap at her. You're giving her the power to act the way she does."

Renata suddenly thought back to the Doctor's words about River. She gave River power over her because of the secret she kept from the Doctor. It still hurt her and when River kept mentioning it, she just let it happen, thus hurting herself all over again. "Perhaps you're right in some aspects…"

"I am!" Gabby nodded. "River takes the shots because you won't do anything about it."

"That may well be but I still do not like how you act in return," Renata said, now taking Gabby's hands so that she could grip them. "I'm afraid that one day your hatred for River will make you do something you might regret."

"Like what?" Gabby scoffed. "Smacking her? Because she already tried doing that to me, remember? And why hasn't she done it again? Because she knows that I'll respond."

"But must it be so harshly? So...so brash?"

Gabby took in a deep breath. "Oh boy. Okay, look, maybe I do go a little overboard but you also realize that you aren't doing the right thing either? You can't let people walk over you, Renata. You need to change."

Renata pursed her lips together. It wasn't the first time she heard those words. Change.. She was centuries old, she had lived a certain way and to change at this point in her life was a very difficult thing to do. "I'm not sure I can do that, Gabriella. The Doctor says he'd help me change little parts of myself for the better, but...what if I can't? What if I'm just destined to stay as a boring ole, uptight Time Lady? Maybe River takes her shots because she knows that she's better. She's very adventurous, spontaneous…"

"Yeah, and a liar, manipulative and did I mention rude?" Gabby rolled her eyes. "No. When I say change, I don't mean to change because who you are isn't enough. I mean, everyone changes...but you've never really had that luxury, huh?" She watched Renata shift in her chair. Obviously not.

Renata had grown up following the rules to the last detail. Her family offered no room for change, no room for any abnormality. When she was hiding her identity from the Doctor, she couldn't afford to change and let it slip who she was. She had lived a very long life and yet she hadn't changed one bit. To have the freedom to actually change bits about herself must be frightening...and confusing.

"You don't have to change things about yourself that you don't want to," Gabby clarified first before going on about anything else. "Because I, personally, love you the way you are. I know Martha does too and I for sure know what the Doctor thinks. But now, Renata, you have the freedom to look at yourself and decide what you want to change, if you want to change something about yourself. My advice, the only advice I have, is to maybe add a little more backbone to your personality. Get some snaps, because if you don't then River will never stop trying to hurt you."

"I'm afraid that I've already hurt her and that's why she's always so cross with me," Renata admitted. She decided long ago that she had hurt River in the future so much and that's why River hated her.

"It does not matter," Gabby snapped. "Because you - this you - has not done anything to her and I highly doubt that you did something terrible to her. That's just not you. She's jealous because the Doctor loves you and not her. That is not a reason to hate someone."

Renata would like to believe Gabby's words but who knew what the future had in store for them? For all they knew, River could absolutely be right to hate her.

"Ren, please just say that you'll at least try to stand up for yourself every now and then," Gabby said, deciding to start with baby steps. She couldn't expect Renata to make full formed snaps and comebacks in one day. "You don't deserve to have anyone treat you the way River has."

Renata took in a breath and ultimately nodded. "Okay, but if I agree to this then I also want you to try to not be so...rude in return. Don't let River suck you in and please don't start with her either."

Gabby looked away. "Someone's gotta do it."

"No," Renata pulled her hands out of Gabby's and reached for her head, gently turning Gabby's gaze back to her. "You don't have to fight my battles. You shouldn't hate someone because they hate me."

"She hates me too, Ren," Gabby said, thinking it was pretty obvious.

"Please don't let that hatred turn you into someone harsh and mean," Renata said softly. "I wouldn't be able to bear it."

Gabby sighed. She couldn't say 'no' to that, right? Renata was looking at her with adoration and fondness, just like she would always do to her and Donna. She was such a Mom and she didn't even realize it. "Fine, I will try," Gabby said after a moment. "But I swear to God if she tries getting close to the Doctor I will have to make a response."

Renata playfully rolled her eyes. "No, you won't. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself. Now c'mon, I really have to find another dress."

"Do we really have to change that?" Gabby got up after Renata. "It's really beautiful."

"Yeah, but...it doesn't feel right," Renata concluded and went in search of another dress. Gabby took her loss with her head held high and helped Renata find something different.

Eventually, Renata found a satin cream-colored dress with a flared skirt that went down to her knees. It was sleeveless with thin straps with a higher draped neckline. Renata came up to the mirror again and nodded at her new change. She even found open-toed shoes with straps that tied arond her calves.

"You do look nice," Gabby admitted in the end. "But if I can just change one thing…" She put on her best, pleading smile that Renata had no choice but to allow her to make that itty-bitty change.

Gabby stepped behind Renata and undid the tight bun locking away all her hair. She patted Renata's hair down and spread it around, leaving some over her shoulders. She stepped around to grab a hair clip off the vanity desk. She smiled knowing it the TARDIS purposely made it appear. It was a golden butterfly hair clip. She clipped a part of Renata's hair from her left side so that it wasn't all over her face.

"Ta-da!" She exclaimed when she was finished. "I have to say, it's still weird that you had this bright blonde hair months ago and now it's almost black."

Renata smiled as she gazed into the mirror. "It does look rather nice this way, huh?"

"Yes! Those tight buns are fine when you're cooking but sometimes it's okay to let it hang loose," Gabby grinned and stared at the mirror. "I think my little Time Lady is ready for her first date ever." Renata rolled her eyes when Gabby proceeded to make a dramatic 'awww'.

"Go make sure the Doctor leaves you, Amy and Rory on the right planet," Renata ushered her towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Gabby waved her off and started walking on her own. She stopped by the doorway and called back to Renata. "Hey, I am happy you guys are finally doing this. You deserve it."

Renata smiled softly at her. "Thank you Gabriella."

~0~

"Hey," Gabby found the Doctor aimlessly wandering around the console. "Where's Amy and Rory?"

"Ah, I just set them up on their next date!" He grinned. "And don't worry, I won't make you late for your class with Zhe."

Gabby chuckled. "Thanks. Renata's almost done. I do have to inform you that I had her in this gorgeous, sexy dress and she refused to stay in it. I think you would've had fun with it."

The Doctor did his best not to show how that affected him but once he heard Gabby's laughter he knew that he'd failed. Instead of arguing with her, he sent right to her Zhe's gallery and shut the TARDIS doors on her. Now he would just have to stop wondering what that dress looked like…

Although, once he saw the dress Renata actually wore, he thought she looked just as amazing as she would've with the other dress. She even had her hair down! It felt like ages since she last let her hair hang freely like that. He wasn't opposed to her usual hair buns but something about leaving her hair down made things more fun! He could play with one of her wavy curls, stroke her hair altogether - well, he hadn't actually done that yet but if he did, he knew it would give him the best feeling ever - and most of all, she looked a bit more...whimsical.

"Is everyone gone, then?" Renata came to stand beside him at the console. He'd been staring at her for a rather long time now and it was making her body all warm.

"Hm?" The Doctor blinked. He had to get back to the present! It'd be much better if he actually went on the date rather than imagine it. "Right, yes, yes they are! All the little humans have been properly sent off to their babysitters: Gabby with Zhe and Amy and Rory with a good ole friend of mine."

Renata laughed. "You make them sound like they're our children."

"Well, people have remarked that you and Gabby look alike…" He trailed off as she laughed again. "What? You know it's true."

"I think that we should just go on that date," she turned to face him, biting her lower lip. "We've never actually been on a proper date so I may be a little anxious."

"As am I," the Doctor assured her. All their old secret meetings had been just that: secret meetings. They used to sneak into the Academy so he could show her things and it almost always ended with them running to avoid getting caught. While fun, they were not actual dates. He would've loved to have taken Renata out, or better yet to have had the opportunity to 'court' her. The practice was hardly done on Gallifrey but there were a few families who allowed their children to get to know their betrotheds before marrying them. Renata had done it with her late husband. Being able to spend time with Renata in public would've been his absolute dream.

A few centuries later, but we're finally here, he concluded. And he would not waste it.

~ 0 ~

Renata didn't know whether to laugh or not when she stepped out of the TARDIS to see a very busy beach-side with so many stalls and activities that it seemed to go on and on forever. "The beach…"

The Doctor nervously glanced at her. She hadn't said it so loudly which could mean that this wasn't the best place for them. "If you don't like it we could go somewhe—"

"I didn't say anything, did I?" She turned to him, tilting her head to the side. "Pretty sure I didn't. Relax, Doctor." She rested her hand over his arm, rubbing it up and down until she felt his body unstiffen form his pole-like stance. I'm nervous, you're nervous, let's just...take it easy." Easier said than done for her. She lived to make things complicated. "Tell me, where are we? And does it come with a fan?" There was heat in the air, nearly humid, which was making her regret leaving her hair down. She had no idea how the Doctor was keeping up with that jacket of his.

"Well, it's a small beachside kingdom," the Doctor started explaining and little by little would lose some of that lingering nervousness. "I believe there's a Queen this time - I haven't visited in ages - and they literally spend all their time like life's some big carnival."

Renata side-glanced him then, her lips very closely forming a laugh. "Oh, and what would you know about that, huh?"

"Oh, shut up." He rolled his eyes at her. She laughed and suddenly the ice had been broken. "Bilandia, that's where we are."

Renata gasped when she heard the name. "Is it really?"

A long time ago the young Doctor droned on and on about the world of Bilandia where the people had fun from sunrise to sunset. It was his type of world and he vowed that one day he would go, and even take Renata - who was then Zuriah - with him. At that time, she had laughed at him because she could never visit a place with no structure or responsibilities. He would argue that there was structure and responsibilities but that it wasn't heavily drilled into them like Gallifrey did with them. The people of Bilandia were always cheery and carefree, spending most of their time making up games and friendly competitions. Rumor had it that not one person from Bilandia would frown.

"You actually came here?" Renata asked the Doctor after they started walking towards the stalls. He nodded at her again. "You did what you said you would…" That was just like him. If he said he would visit a place, no matter how far it was, he would end up doing it. "Good for you," she smiled at him. "I admire that in you. Always did back at home. You had all these plans and you always did them. Even the stupid ones."

"Thanks love," he sent her a sarcastic look for her last words.

She made an apologetic face because that's not what she was intending on doing. "Sorry, sorry, I...I can't get this right, can I? Words have never come easy to me."

The Doctor surprised her with a kiss on her cheek. "It's okay if you're not good with words. I will always understand what you mean to say."

Renata's hearts fluttered at his familiar words.

---

Renata swallowed and pulled her finger from his hand. He was smiling so stupidly at her, full of genuine care for her. "Fine!" she relented for that case only. "You don't ever pull that on me again because it's selfish! You're selfish!" she was letting her emotions take her over and that was not good. She felt like a child, really, shouting and almost crying. "I scold you, I say things I don't mean, I make your life impossibly difficult but it is my unfortunate way of saying that I do care! I'm selfish too because I want you to take it and know what I actually mean!" Oh my god she had definitely sounded like him with his rambling.

The Doctor was sure that if he showed a smile it would be rude but he was fairly amused at her innocence. He only slightly chuckled and yanked Renata into a hug, surprising her in the process. "You think I didn't know that already? If you had actually hated me, you would've left a long time ago. Renée, contrary to the popular belief that I am a clueless idiot—"

"Which you are…" Renata blurted and scrunched her eyes shut. "Sorry."

The Doctor laughed again. "I do know what actual hate looks like, and it's not in you. It's okay if you're not good with words. I will always understand what you mean to say.'

---

She had possibly screamed till his ears could pop and yet in the end he still knew what she was trying to say. How could he do that? Not even her late husband had that talent and God knew he could've used it.

"It's so odd how we work," she sighed. Her arm curled around his once they entered the aisle of stalls. "I'm just sorry I'm so difficult, and I'm sorry I can't control it."

"Difficult?" The Doctor side-glanced her with a smile that seemed to struggle not to show.

Renata shook her head. "You know what I mean. I bet your life would've been a lot easier if you hadn't picked ME me." The Doctor had to come to a stop in order to listen to her wrong logic. "You could've had someone with the same passion for adventure and, you know, breaking the rules. But instead...you decided you wanted me."

"Well,you could've been with someone who wasn't an entire rule breaker, who actually followed routines and the rules...and yet you decided you wanted to be with me," the Doctor lowered his head to hers, wearing a playful smile across his face. "Why'd you do that?"

Renata pursed her lips, staying silent. She saw what he was trying to do and it was quite genius, really; very him. It was the same question she posed to him.

"Well?" The Doctor asked again, clearly enjoying the struggle she was in. She always put herself down and it was high time it stopped.

"I just meant…" Renata trailed off, his big ole smile was making it difficult to keep making her point. "Doctor, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" He asked innocently, even stuffing his hands into his pockets for dramatic effect. "I only raised another question that you haven't answered."

"You know what I meant!"

"Yes, yes I did and you know that my answer would be the same as yours."

Renata's eyes lowered to the sand serving as ground. "I love you because you're you," she said quietly. She felt his finger slip under her chin, raising her gaze up to his.

"I love you because you're you," he told her with the same sincerity. There couldn't be anyone else.

Renata smiled lightly at him. "But what about someone who actually knows how to have fun?" She played with the buttons of his shirt.

"Oh, you can have fun. We just have to put some training into it."

"What?"

The Doctor pulled her hand off him and kissed the back of it. "I'm going to teach you how to have a full day of fun. No responsibilities - well maybe just one."

"What would that be?"

"You'd have to kiss me every 10 minutes - well, 7 minutes. No, wait, 3 minutes...actually…" He had started swaying his head as he tried coming up with the right, reasonable, schedule when Renata grabbed the sides of his heads to kiss him. Or maybe we could just do this every two seconds, the Doctor thought that was his best idea.

Renata pulled away from him, drawing in air as soon as she could. "You want to show me around?"

"Yes ma'am," the Doctor nodded, his expression too fascinated to comprehend what had just happened. It was strange being able to actually get a surprise kiss from Renata, after such a long time of hiding and then there being nothing between them for centuries, and each time it happened he couldn't stop it.

Bilandia truly was set on the beachside and Renata thought it was incredibly beautiful. The people weren't for much fancy things - yet something else Renata could get behind on - and so their homes were constructed to sustain only the most basic things. According to the Doctor, they hardly ever spent time at home anyways. They only returned to sleep.

"It's a party planet — you brought me to a party planet," Renata joked with a laugh. It sounded like his planet, though.

"No, I brought you to a fun planet," the Doctor corrected and purposely stopped them in front of a vendor with a small cart in front of him. He was selling what looked like flavored icicles.

"How is he selling icicles?" Renata fanned her face with her hand. The heat had turned her face slightly red already.

"They're pretty intelligent people, Renata. They do have freezers," the Doctor said just as he handed Renata a scrunchie for her hair. She beamed at it and thanked him with a kiss on his cheek. He then moved up to the vendor to get them some of those icicles.

While she did enjoy leaving her hair down for today, the heat was too much for her long hair. She thanked the stars that this incarnation had given her shorter hair than the last time because if she still had her truly long blonde hair, she would've lost it. By the time she picked it up into a tight bun again, the Doctor had returned to her side holding two sharp icicles in his hands. One was a baby blue, resembling a real icicle, and the other was white.

"I'm afraid you'll poke your eye out with those," she said with true fear on her face. One moment he might be making a joke and then the next he loses an eye!

The Doctor chose to ignore her and held out the white icicle. "Coconut?"

Renata shrugged and took it from him. She'd never had one of those but she was curious about them. The vendor did seem to have a lot of business. "How do I…?" She stopped upon seeing the Doctor taking a giant bite out of his. She actually flinched at the loud, harsh crackling sound his icicle gave. "How could you do that!?" She shrieked.

The Doctor had no idea why she was reacting like that. He'd only taken a bite. "What?" He asked in-between munces.

She continued staring at him with widened eyes but seeing that he wasn't understanding her made her have to physically explain why what she saw was plain horrible. "You just bit through ice! You just…" She shuddered. "No, you can't do that."

"Yes you can, watch." The Doctor was about to take another bite when she yelled for him to stop, actually snatching away his icicle. "Hey! That's mine!"

"I will not give this back until you decide to eat like a normal person!" She moved his icicle behind her back.

"You're being ridiculous," he huffed and went to reach around her for his icicle.

"No!" She turned with him. "Didn't that hurt your teeth?"

"No!"

Renata groaned. She shouldn't even be surprised. "Look," she promptly licked her icicle and immediately tasted coconut. "Mm, that's good…"

With her distraction, the Doctor was able to reach behind her to take his icicle back. He looked directly at her with a grin before taking another bite out of the icicle.

"DOCTOR!"

~ 0 ~

When Renata was able to get past the Doctor's odd way of eating icicles, he started taking her around the beachside to show her the truly fun parts. She was amazed by the sight of a man who performed fire tricks but her hearts nearly stopped when the Doctor volunteered to be a part of the tricks. The performer was a professional, she was sure, but it still scared her half to death when flames literally danced above the Doctor's head. All he did was grin at her and point to the flames. He truly saw no danger.

She got her laughter back when he found them another spot to spend time at and it involved arts and crafts. She still retained her first incarnation's knack for crafting skills while the Doctor...struggled. He still had fun with whatever he tried to make - because as much as she loved him she couldn't figure out what he made - and even showed it off. She thought it'd been incredibly sweet to give up his craft to a young boy who hadn't stopped complimenting it since the Doctor finished.

"I would've given it to you," he said once they started heading somewhere new.

"It's alright, I think that boy is going to have a lot of fun playing with it," she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're too sweet, you know."

"Speaking of sweet, how's about we try that!?" He yanked her towards a sweet-smelling stand that, admittedly, did look interesting. It was decorated with all pink and fluffs of white clouds rising from it.

The vendor was a young man with olive-toned skin and bright yellow eyes. He smiled at the pair when they approached the stall and held out a stick to them with a bright pink bread that had purple spots on it. "Welcome, would you like a taste?"

"What, it's free?" Renata curiously asked, her hand already reaching to take the stick. It smelled pretty nice and they hadn't exactly had lunch yet. Of course starting lunch dessert wasn't the best of ideas. Oh God, the Doctor's rubbing off on me already.

"It's sample-hour miss!" The vendor grinned and urged her to try it.

Renata glanced at the Doctor, offering him some first. He shook his head and, like the vendor, urged her to give it a taste. She finally took a small bite of the bread and was quite intrigued by the taste. "It's...different," she remarked in-between her chewing. It tasted something like cotton candy but...there was something behind it...something kind of sour. "I don't know if it's for me," she smiled apologetically to the vendor.

"Do not worry, one taste is all you need," he assured her as he took back the remaining bread.

"Still, sorry about that waste," Renata smiled at him. She didn't like doing that one bit but she couldn't see herself continuing to eat that. Perhaps the very first her would've been more accustomed to eating things she didn't like solely because it would be rude but...Now that she had been cooking for the Doctor and their companions for a long time now, she was a little braver.

"Thank you," the Doctor told the vendor and continued on their way.

"You don't think he's mad, do you?" Renata asked, suddenly her lower lip becoming attached to her teeth.

The Doctor chuckled at her. "Course not. That's the point of samples, Renée."

Renata sighed, deciding that he was right. She was doing that thing where she over thought things and then made herself miserable. It was yet something else she needed to work on.

Having heard some of those thoughts, the Doctor stopped walking and turned to her, kissing her out of the blue. "You really have got to stop overthinking so much," he murmured against her lips. "I promise you that the vendor is just fine."

She nodded fervently, trying her best to really take his words. "I know you're right...I will try."

The Doctor took that as a win. Her trying meant she actually wanted it and that alone was good. He didn't ever want to see her do things solely because it was 'expected' of her. Nothing was expected of her - alright, maybe expecting her to act how she wanted was technically something.

"Can we go try something else?" Renata asked him, once again wanting it. She was actually having fun and was excited about it. She wasn't being entirely boring! And it was fun! Who knew!?

The Doctor loved to hear it. "Of course." He gave her another kiss first. Then, off they went again.

It was a bit of a struggle to forget all about the sample trying with the amount of people they saw walking by who were trying the same thing. For them it seemed entirely normal that bread was sour. It even made the Doctor laugh how much Renata went on about it. He only managed to calm her down when they found a proper meal stand.

"Why is it also served on a stick?" She grumbled one last time when they handed her yet another stick with what looked like chicken.

"Because it's easier to eat on a stick when you're on the go," the Doctor shook his head at her. It was hard not to laugh sometimes. The things he found usual might as well have been blasphemy for her. As a show that he was saying the truth, he bit into his chicken and motioned how easy it was.

With a sigh, she did the same. She was either so hungry that it tasted amazing, or it was actually amazing. Either way, she loved the tangy lemon zest it had.

"Okay, how about we try the rock climbing wall?" The Doctor's eyes practically shined with excitement at the idea.

Renata, on the other hand, dreaded an accident involving his fall to his death. "Why don't we try something more calm?" She suggested, much to his disappointment. She laughed at his pouty face. "We did just eat, dear. We should take it easy."

"Yeah, I guess…" the Doctor promised himself that they would still try it out later on.

"Ooh," Renata suddenly stopped, bringing a hand up to the side of her head.

"Are you okay?" The Doctor watched her repeatedly rub her temples. Her thoughts were getting a little scrambled too. That was concerning.

"I don't...I don't know…" Renata had her face scrunched up, her fingers working tirelessly to sooth her temples.

The Doctor was about to pull her hands down to see for himself when he heard a young girl's cry. He, and Renata, saw that the girl was crying for her mother to listen but the mother was in the same state as Renata. She was rubbing her temples, her face scrunched. As the Doctor looked around, he noticed there were many people in the same predicament. Something was going on but it wasn't affecting everyone, including him.

He panicked. Renata was being affected and he didn't know what it was! He turned back to the Time Lady and immediately attempted to find out what was bothering her. His fingers had just grazed her skin when he was bombarded with a series of images in his head.

"Arg!" He recoiled from Renata.

It didn't appear like Renata had even felt his attempt to help her. She kept seeing all her memories flashing before her, being pushed aside it seemed, to allow for something new to take over.

"Renata!" She heard the Doctor's call but it sounded so far away like they were standing on opposite mountains. Little did she realize he was actually right in front of her, yelling for her to snap out of it. He didn't want to outright shake her but seeing her get more and more lost was making him reconsider his reluctance.

Suddenly, Renata - as well as the other people affected - dropped her hands to her sides and raised her head. As soon as the Doctor met her gaze, he knew she wasn't there anymore. Her eyes were blank, her mind the same. The Doctor felt nothing with their telepathic connection. It was as if somebody had flicked a switch and turned off everything that made Renata herself.

The same had happened to the others. There was a widespread panic as those unaffected tried to snap their loved ones out of the trance. The Doctor chose to skip that futile strategy and went right to the scanning. He scanned Renata - who hadn't even flinched with the sonic's bright light in her face - and quickly looked at the results.

"You know what's wrong, huh?" The Doctor flinched at the sudden voice beside him. He glanced at his right and saw a teenage girl, a dark brunette, staring expectantly at him. "Well, what's that thing of yours saying?" She asked again.

The Doctor wouldn't even bother. He studied the results again and shook his head. "The frontal lobe of the brain has been turned off or...or hijacked. And that's...that's impressive cos my friend—" He winced, that was nowhere near what Renata was to him. "My...my Renée is one special woman." To hijack a Time Lady's mind was nearly impossible and yet someone seemed to have done it, along with other people's.

"Hey! Look!" The girl shook the Doctor's arm to make him see that those affected were walking away.

"Renata!" The Doctor jumped and chased after the woman, leaving the girl to follow him. "Renée, c'mon! Snap out of this!" He put himself in front of Renata but it wasn't enough. She shoved him to the side and kept moving.

"My Mom's doing the same thing," the girl sighed and gestured to a woman amongst the group who was dressed quite nicely.

The Doctor recognized the royal green robes the woman wore and gasped, his eyes snapping to the young girl. "Your Mum's the Queen!?"

The girl nodded her head. "I'm Princess Malina, but just call me Malina and please tell me you know what's going on!?"

"Somebody's taken control of them," the Doctor turned to see Renata disappearing in the midst of the group. "I-I don't know who or what but…"

"I bet I know who it is," Malina interrupted him, her arms folding over her chest. She was scowling. "There's been this rebellious group lately wanting to dethrone Mom."

"Where can I find this group?"

"No, they're good hiders. No one's been able to find them."

"Well I say that at least one of them has got to be around here somewhere and I'm going to find them," the Doctor had joined Malina in scowling but the girl could straightaway see a darkness flash in his eyes.

"I'm helping," she declared after a moment. Just as the Doctor looked at her, she added, "I'm the Princess, you can't tell me 'no'."

"Guess not," he rolled his eyes playfully.

~ 0 ~

After practically begging most of the unaffected to stay out of the way, the Doctor and Malina sought to first find the affected people. They had to have gone somewhere and according to Malina there was a specific spot that might be it. So, he followed the teenager through the beachside and decided to ask her the questions that one would naturally be curious about in a situation like this. How Malina and her Mother were even at the beachside central was beyond him. The last time he visited, the King had always remained in his own palace.

"Mom loves the people and their daily routines," Malina shrugged. "I got used to it. Plus, it's kind of fun. But this has never happened before. Someone got extra bold."

"And extra stupid," the Doctor grumbled. They decided to take Renata away from him, while on their date, and there was hell to pay.

"We're getting them back," Malina glanced at him, her eyes full of determination. "My Mom is the Queen and she's coming back. Same for your wife."

The Doctor was red in the face in mere seconds. "Not my wife! Not my wife!"

Malina gave him a strange look. "Alright...sorry, didn't know it wasn't going to go there."

"Well, it's not that I wouldn't want to - God knows that was always a dream - but not right now, at least I think not right now…" He trailed off upon catching Malina's widening smirk. "I'm shutting up now."

Malina laughed at him. "Okay." She motioned him to keep following her. She led him towards the outskirts of the beach side where sure enough they saw the affected group. The Doctor scanned the group for Renata and was relieved to see Renata was still amongst them and not completely lost.

Malina forced him to hide behind the last building before the outskirts began. They poked their heads out (one over the other) and noticed that the group was carrying stuff in and out of a cave.

The Doctor soon spotted a high tech machine right in the middle. The group was bringing in old wood planks and were setting it against the machine, creating a pseudo campfire in the process.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the machine.

Malina sighed. She didn't sound very surprised to see it. "That was stolen a few days ago. It's the backup generator to our kingdom's power supply. If that goes, then it'll be easier for the rebellion to take down the kingdom. All they have to do is just blast the regular power generator and that's it. Why are they going through so much trouble by using our people for this?"

The Doctor could answer that straightaway. "Because would you take down your own people if they're innocent? Especially if your own leader is amongst them?"

Malina was outright horrified. "That's terrible! I have to get my Mom out of there!" She was already on her way out of hiding when the Doctor scrambled to yank her back by the collars of her dress. "Hey! Hey! Let me go!"

"Shhh!" He frantically gestured to be quiet. "You go out there and you might get all hypnotized next! You want to get your Mother back? Help me!"

Malina huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine, what's your plan?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, instigating a glare from the teenager. "But I will have one! First, I would like to know how these people were affected and how others weren't. There has to be something about them in common. Although between them and my Renata, I'm not sure what it is."

"What makes her so special besides the fact you're in love with her?" Malina all but snapped at him.

"She's a Time Lady which means her biology and physiology is all different, quite unique as there is no one else like her except for me and I haven't been affected, have I?"

"Jury's still out on that one…"

The Doctor's face fell flat at her sarcasm. "Let's just compare, shall we?"

Malina agreed. "Okay, my Mom's unique too cos she's the Queen. She doesn't do everything that the others do."

"What did she do today?"

"Um, she danced. She did arts and crafts. Uh...she tried samples…"

"Dancing can't be it. Renée doesn't do a lot of that and she certainly didn't do it today…"

"What kind of person doesn't dance?" Malina made a face.

"Oi! I didn't say she doesn't dance. She's just shy!"

Malina rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, so not the dancing. What about the arts and crafts?"

"Nah, I did that stuff too."

"Okay, well, what about the samples?"

The Doctor suddenly remembered Renata's experience with the sour bread sample. "Did your mother try the bread sample?"

"Yeah, but she didn't like it. She said it was too sour. She also tried the cotton candy, the squash—"

"My Renée didn't try any of that stuff, just that sour bread."

"So...what? We're thinking something was in the bread?"

The Doctor hated to do it but he ran away from the site, leaving Renata in the process. He had to get back to the bread vendor and see what was in that bread! Malina scurried after him and followed him to the stall. Coincidentally, the vendor was nowhere to be seen.

"You think the vendor is behind it?" Malina watched the Doctor ransack the entire stall, throwing things to the side and one nearly at her had she not ducked in time. She threw him a glare for his carelessness but he didn't notice. He was on a mission and nothing was going to distract him.

"Well, he's not here and he was very insistent on us trying his bread," the Doctor muttered.

"But my Mom just happened to come here…"

"Then he got lucky. Either way, he got a lot of people to try the bread, didn't he?" Just as the Doctor had asked, he spotted a pile of tiny silver devices in the very corner of the stall's shelves. "Hello…" He stuck a hand all the way in, making Malina wonder if he lived to make himself look like an idiot, and pulled out a handful of the devices.

"What are those?" Malina leaned forwards to see the pile in his palm.

With a quick scan of the sonic, the Doctor had found the source of the mind control. "These are so tiny that anyone would swallow them without even noticing." He stuck one between his teeth to test out the device's hardness and realized that while it couldn't be dented, it was fairly easy to slip down the throat. Renata hadn't even noticed it. She was too focused on the sourness of the bread…

"Oh," he blinked in realization.

Malina was in the dark about his thoughts and his widened eyes didn't exactly give her much to go on by. "What?"

"The bread was sour. Your Mum mentioned it to you and that's what we're not that to me. It was the first thing she noticed because it was the most prominent characteristic about the bread. If they're so focused on what the bread tastes like they're not going to notice one device flipping through. That is subtle genius."

Malina didn't see it the same way. She was horrified by what he had said. "It's intoxication! My Mother and your girlfriend ingested that. Everyone who was affected did! That means they are literally walking around with... A piece of technology inside their stomachs!"

The Doctor set a comforting hand on the teenager's shoulder. "Not to worry. A lot of people have technology inside their bodies. That's not the dangerous part. All we have to do is interrupt the signal that's controlling them. And I'm guessing that it has to be somewhere around that generator."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that the vendor is also there. If I was about to make a huge statement, I'd want to be there front and center."

~0~

The Doctor and Malina snuck their way back to the site of the brainwashed people. They had gathered up a lot more wood to set fire. The Doctor, however, was no longer focused on the big ole machine in the middle (something Malina scolded him for). He reasoned with her that if they interrupted the signal then they wouldn't really need to stop the people from burning down the power generator because they wouldn't want to burn it down anyways. It made a lot of sense but Malina didn't initially see it.

"Where would it even be?" She hissed. Her eyes were following her Mother who had just emerged from the cave with a new pile of wood in her arms. It's sick and her to see her mother act like a puppet for God knows who.

Before the Doctor could answer, they heard someone yelling. They quickly sought to find the source of the noise and didn't have to look for long because the vendor of the sour bread had appeared. He no longer donned the vendor uniform of a baker. He instead wore loose clothing that was marked with a weapon belt. The Doctor very quickly spotted the blaster residing at his waist.

"Let's go! Let's go!" He yelled at the brainwashed people. "We don't have all day!" He pulled out a small device with a few buttons over it. One press of it caused a good chunk of people to cry out in pain.

The Doctor's jaw clenched. It was electrical shocks. And Renata had been amongst the affected.

"N-n-n-no! What are you doing!?" Malina had to use all of her strength to hold him back. "You'll get us caught! Then she'll really be a goner!"

The Doctor wrestled free from her grip but he did listen. Plus, the vendor had seemingly noticed Renata. She was glowing golden.

"You're not a local," the man mused. He reached to touch her face, something that nearly brought the Doctor out of hiding again. "What are you? State your name and origin now."

Renata obeyed without a moment's thought. "Renata, Gallifrey."

"Never heard of it. Why are you glowing?"

"I do not know."

"Yes, you do! Now tell me! Or I'll just dispose of you. I don't need nuisances."

"Doctor!" Malina whimpered when she once again had to restrain him from running out there. "Please!"

The vendor got right in Renata's blank face. "What are you?" He repeated, his tone now hard with suspicion.

"I do not know. The Vortex Butterfly has unforeseen effects," she answered.

"Vortex Butterfly?" The vendor laughed. "I heard that name once. They said you have the power to kill anyone. That's why they're so afraid of you. But lookie here, I got you and without even trying. Aren't I clever?" His hand curled over her chin as he gave it a little sway.

Meanwhile, Malina continued to struggle keeping the Doctor at bay. He couldn't take seeing that arrogant man keep touching Renata like she was a doll. If she'd been in her right senses, she would've smacked him away already. But she wasn't around, so it was up to him to ward off all dangers.

"Doctor, you'll get us caught!" Malina cried.

"Doesn't matter! He's holding the signal device in his hand! And he needs to get his other bloody hand off her!" The Doctor finally pried Malina's hands off him and rushed forwards. "Get the hell away from her!"

The vendor spun around to see the furious Doctor storming towards them. "Who the hell are you!?" The Doctor said nothing but his darkened face spoke volumes. The vendor knew there was trouble and how best to resolve it. "Stop him!" He ordered Renata who immediately brandished a glowing golden hand.

The Doctor skidded to a stop "Renée, don't!"

Renata didn't blink at his voice. Swirls of golden butterflies emanated from her hand, forcing the Doctor to jump to the side.

From their hiding spot, Malina deeply sighed watching the Time Lady throw continuous energy at the Doctor. "Who saw that coming?" She got up from the ground and decided to make her move too.

"Renata, stop!" The Doctor had to hide behind the pile of wood a few times.

"Yeah, she won't be doing anything until I tell her to," the vendor laughed mirthlessly at the sight.

"What the hell do you want with them anyways!?" The Doctor angrily tried coming back to the man but Renata was ruthless in her attacks, and quite constant too. There were miniscule gaps between her attacks so he couldn't find a moment to either punch the vendor straight across the face - because he REALLY really wanted to do that - nor find a way to interrupt the signal. Finally, he decided on the simplest of plans, which he would profusely apologize to Renata for later.

He made a run directly for Renata, avoiding as best as he could her angry fires, until he rammed her to ground. He thanked the stars that the ground was still sandy to cushion her fall.

"I'm really sorry Renée, I'll make it up to you later!" He planted a kiss on her forehead and scrambled to get up. The vendor was glaring at him but the Doctor noticed the cautious steps he was taking back. "Here's the chance you get - the only one you'll get - to stop everything and leave."

The vendor smirked. "I will do no such thing. It's time that this kingdom finally come to its senses."

"Yeah, and what would that be?"

"It's time to dethrone her Majesty," the vendo sarcastically gestured towards the Queen who was currently setting a new plank of wood down.

"Why? Last time I heard, she was doing a good job. Everyone seems happy!"

"I don't want a Queen in charge!"

"Oh, well, as long as you're being rational," the Doctor rolled his eyes. He happened to spot Malina trying to sneak her way through the crowd. The brainwashed people took no notice of her and the vendor was too busy with him to catch her.

Malina met his eyes and nodded to the pile of wood she was nearing. With one smirk, the Doctor knew what she planned to do. He couldn't say he didn't want to do it either.

So, he cleared his throat and did what he did best: talk. The vendor couldn't turn around even the slightest or he would catch Malina. "So, uh, who exactly are you? I'm talking names."

The vendor smirked. It seemed like he'd been waiting to be asked. "I'm Reagan, the leader of the rebellion. You're definitely not from around here, huh? Are you like her?" His dark eyes flickered to Renata's unconscious figure on the ground. His smirk widened as the Doctor's glower formed once again. "Oh, are you with her? Definitely have to be like her then."

"I'm the Doctor and you've made a terrible mistake."

Recognition flashed across Reagan's face just like it had when Renata named herself. "I scored myself two of you? Ah, if the Silence could see me now. Sorry to say, I'm keeping the little butterfly. She's kinda cute."

The Doctor balled his fists on his side, only keeping himself restrained because Malina was approaching him. "Sorry, she's taken. Plus, to her, you're a whining child."

Reagan scowled. "How dare—"

Malina smacked the wooden plank on the back of his neck. She laughed when the man collapsed on the ground. 'That's for my Mother!" The Doctor rushed forwards to swipe the brainwashing device before Reagan came to. Malina watched him intently as he sonicked the device. "Can you interrupt the signal?"

The Doctor didn't answer her. He focused entirely on the signal that was broadcasting pretty strongly. There were so many people connected to the one device and he didn't want anything to go wrong when it disconnected from their minds. Suddenly, there was a loud wail like a siren that erupted from the device.

Malina clapped her hands over her ears, yelling over it, "What's happening!?" She looked around and saw all the brainwashed people freezing in their spots. They were groaning in pain. "Doctor, what's happening to them!?"

"Almost got it!" He promised her. There was a just pesky firewall that was preventing the whole mind signal from completely dissolving.

"But they're in pain!"

"I know, just…"

"My Mom's in pain!"

The Doctor tried hurrying up as fast as he could. He'd never heard his sonic's whir so loud and constant before. He felt his air return to his lungs when the device finally short-circuited. He hissed and let the device drop to the ground.

He spun around to see the people finally coming out of their brainwashed state. He grinned but soon ran to Renata when she started waking up. "Renée!"

"My head is spinning!" She let out a groan for the ones she missed when she was unconscious. "All of my thoughts were in fast mode or something…"

"I got you now," the Doctor helped her to stand slowly.

"Don't you always?" She smiled at him despite being wobbly on her feet.

The Doctor looked her over with heavy relief knowing that she would be fine. His hand found her back and pressed her to him for a tight hug. Renata didn't understand much of what happened but she felt his necessity to hold her for at least a moment. Their telepathic connection was coming back slowly but surely. It honestly frightened the Doctor how accustomed he was to having Renata's mind with his. He spent such a long time being alone and having nothing to connect to and suddenly he spent a few months connected with Renata and losing it for just a few hours drove him mad.

"You actually did it!"

He heard Malina's laughter behind him. He only let Renata go the sufficient amount in order to turn around, but his arm stayed around Renata's waist. Malina was coming towards them with her mother, the Queen, beside her.

"Who's that, Doctor?" Renata naturally asked him when the young teenager came up to them like nothing.

"A friend," he shrugged.

"When did that happen!?"

"When you were brainwashed."

"When I was what!?" Renata was horrified and as much as she tried remembering, she just couldn't. One moment her head was hurting and then suddenly she was waking up on the ground.

"Your Majesty," the Doctor gave a slight bow and once Renata heard him she did the whole bow, resulting in her immediate dizziness.

"Woah…" She stumbled a bit so the Doctor tightened his grip around her.

Malina laughed. "She's funny."

"My Renée is all sorts of things," the Doctor proudly said, planting a kiss on Renata's cheek.

"My daughter tells me you are responsible for saving us," the Queen spoke up. She looked just as frazzled as Renata.

"Well, it was a team effort," the Doctor said, meeting Malina's gaze. "Your daughter was the one who knocked Reagan out so I could get the device from him."

The Queen glanced over her shoulder to the unconscious man on the ground. "Yes, how unfortunate that this happened. My daughter said you were out-of-world visitors. You should let us thank you."

"It's really not necessary," the Doctor shook his head. "I think Renata and I would just like to be on our way."

Malina saw his subtle dejectedness when he said that, the implications it had. "Mom, they were on a date," she said, much to the Time Lord's embarrassment. "And it got ruined. I think I know how to thank them."

"Oh God whatever it is, it's not necessary," Renata reiterated the Doctor's words.

Malina grinned. "I think it is!"

"Quite right," the Queen agreed with a firm nod. There was nothing to say after that no matter how flustered Renata was.

The same flusteredness followed her for the hours to come. The Doctor had suggested she take a quick break in the TARDIS while he made sure that there were no more of those brainwashing signals. She offered to help but the last thing he wanted was for the signal to reactivate her. It made total sense, she just wasn't all that for it.

Outside, the Doctor was more than flustered when he was able to see what Malina and her mother had done for them. It was night when Malina finally allowed for the two to see the place.

"Whaddya think?" Malina anxiously waited for their responses, though she was getting a pretty good feeling just by their faces.

The area was secluded so there would be absolutely no interruptions from anyone nor anything. There was a wooden platform set up on the sandy ground with four pillars. Twinkling lights wrapped around each of the pillars. They could see the table was already set up with a few plates and glasses. An unlit campfire had been set up across from it.

"It's pretty simple but I thought it might be good," Malina started speaking when neither Time Lord said anything for a good while. "I even had the ingredients for smores left by the campfire."

"Smores?" Renata repeated, her face scrunching. "What's a smore?"

Malina gawked and quickly looked at the Doctor, silently asking him if she was serious. He just nodded with a bemused smile. "Oh please show her what smores are! Please! They're the most delicious snacks ever! Humans got that right!"

Renata shrugged. "Okay," she said because she would rather agree than start a whole argument over a snack.

Malina could tell what Renata did and once again looked at the Doctor for some help. "How does this work?" She gestured between the two.

He smirked. "Very interestingly."

"Doctor," Renata scolded with a blush on her face.

"Right, okay," Malina preferred to move on. "Do you like the place? My Mom made sure to get only the best."

"It's wonderful. Thank you Malina," the Doctor smiled at her.

"Really," Renata added. "We didn't need any of this."

"It's the best we could do for the Doctor and the Vortex Butterfly," Malina made a huge gesture like those titles held a big importance, and they just might. "Mom says anytime you want to come around, you're definitely getting the royal treatment." With that, Malina left with the guards waiting for her.

"She's a nice one," Renata remarked when they were finally alone. She glanced at him with the same questioning glance as before. "Where'd you pick her up?"

She'd been nudging him to tell her what had happened. She was aware that her mind had been taken over but the Doctor assured her that nothing terrible had transpired while her mind was shut off. He didn't feel the need to explain that she'd tried attacking him. That would just cause her an unbearable guilt that was totally unnecessary. He knew that in her right mind, she would never do something like that.

So, instead of answering her question, the Doctor decided to do something else. He only heard her light yelp when he grabbed her body and dipped her to land a kiss on her lips.

Renata was blinking wide from surprise but her mouth was curving into a laughter, prompting the Doctor to believe she was more amused than annoyed. "What was that!?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I saw it in a movie Gabbs showed me. Thought it looked cool. Was it cool?" Panic bloomed over his face thinking it might have been the complete opposite of what he had intended. Renata finally laughed though, ending such thoughts.

"That was certainly different but I'm...not opposed to it…" She blushed at her admission. There was a rush she got from that little action that she wouldn't mind feeling more times.

The Doctor beamed. "Perfect! Because I plan on kissing you as much as I can! By surprise too!" He brought her back up, relishing in her second laugh.

"Okay!" She was quite red in her face, something the Doctor loved to see.

The Doctor then turned her around so they would face the beach. Even though it was night, the moon provided the perfect light reflecting off the crashing waves. "Do you wanna know a secret about these beaches?"

"Sure," Renata nodded.

"Well, I can't tell you about it...I have to show you!" There was a brief mischievous glint in the Doctor's eyes that Renata missed. She only felt the sharp pull of his hand towards the beach when he darted for it.

"Doctor, hold on!" She cried but he was far too excited to run straight first into the water. She shut her eyes before he would head her into it and not a second later did she feel the terribly cold water crashing over her. She naturally screamed but instead of helping her, she just heard the Doctor's laugh. Her eyes snapped open to glare. The water was up to her waist and he was just laughing at her!? "What the hell!?"

"Renée, look at yourself!" He gestured to her body.

With a frown she did and realized that while she felt the coldness, she wasn't wet. Her entire body remained dry. "I'm not…"

"The water doesn't actually wet you!"

"But it's so cold!" Renata hugged herself, bracing herself for the incoming wave.

The Doctor laughed again and moved in front of her to block the wave. She only felt droplets of it. "It's real water with real effects. I thought it'd be a nice surprise."

Renata dropped her arms on her sides to glare up at him. "I was not happy!"

"Not even right now when I'm heroically taking the waves for you?" He smirked at her.

Renata rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable!"

"I like to think that I am," he said far too proudly for her liking. It was probably one of the most accurate descriptions about him.

She ended up smiling. "Yes, you really are," she ultimately agreed with him. She gripped his arms (the waves were still going hard and she was rocking a bit) and used that hold to lean up and kiss him. She meant it to be a simple kiss but she was pleasantly surprised when the Doctor pulled her closer.

Little by little, the coldness of the water faded away. Every now and then remnants of salt would sneak up in their kiss, but it wasn't like they minded. Their arms were wrapped around each other so tight that even when the waves were hard enough to rock them, they didn't break apart. The only thing that happened after a while was the Doctor's confidence rising enough to let his hand wander up to Renata's hair and slowly pull her strands until her entire bun fell apart. Renata remembered him doing the same thing the first time they kissed in their last incarnations so she suspected it would be his favorite thing to do no matter what incarnation he was in. It was okay, she didn't mind, he could do it whenever he wanted. It was riveting to feel his fingers maneuvering through her hair.

It was only when Renata heard a deep howl that she pulled away. "What was that!?"

The Doctor didn't share her fear. He chuckled and set her not wet hair down. "Nothing. Just a party going on somewhere."

"That's a party!?" Renata gaped. It sounded like an outright mess.

The Doctor laughed. "Yes."

"Oh God no!"

The Doctor would've laughed more but he ran the risk of irritating her and that wasn't on his to-do list today. "Would you like to go have some smores?"

"Smores? Dessert before dinner?" Renata made her usual disapproving face.

"C'mon Renée, you'll love them!" The Doctor grabbed her hand and led her out of the water. Renata was still amazed that they made it out flatout dry.

"How many times did you come here before?" She curiously asked him when they reached the campsite. She had taken a seat over the lone log while the Doctor rummaged through the smores ingredients Malina promised them. He'd gotten the crackers and chocolates out and now he was putting the marshmallows on their sticks.

When Renata had asked him her question, he shot her a smile. "Plenty. My first time here? I couldn't have been more than 500. Probably one of the first places I came to after I left Gallifrey."

Renata's expression softened. "Was it really?"

"Yes. We said we would go one day and I wanted to see it for the both of us."

"And what did you think about it?"

"Doesn't matter," the Doctor shrugged in an attempt to look casual. He didn't want to tell her how sad he'd gotten when he stepped out into the kingdom of Velandia. It was one of their places they joked about coming to one day and he did the stupid thing of actually believing things would work out for them on Gallifrey. He thought that one day they would go together.

Well, they kind of did. He smiled at that. She was right there with him, waiting to try smores. It was truly something he never thought would happen after the terrible night they "broke up". He couldn't be more thankful for this miracle.

Renata watched him silently slide in a marshmallow onto the second stick. He looked so at home making those things. It was always fascinating to her how he got these types of notions that no one on Gallifrey would ever think of, much less do. And he knew how to do it. Sure, lots of times he just winged it but there were more times like these with you exactly what it was doing. I was just wondering about him. He just knew how to do things.

"Ready?" The Doctor took a seat next to her and held out her marshmallow.

Reluctantly, Renata grabbed the stick. "Is everything on a stick here?"

"No, love. This is actually how humans do a campfire."

Renata's face was extremely doubtful. "Why on earth would they do that?"

"Because it's fun. Try it." For show, the Doctor moved his stick towards the fire and motioned Renata to do the same.

Once again, reluctantly, Renata followed. "This is so weird," she chuckled. Her marshmallow was melting accordingly. "Then what happens?"

"Once the marshmallow gets all squishy, we put that into the sandwich and voila, there's your smore!"

Renata eyed the unfinished sandwiches on the plates. "This is so weird…"

"Look Renée, I know this wasn't the date you had in mind so next time I'll pick something better than smores. I promise."

Renata smiled softly at him. "I can't think of a more appropriate date than this one, darling." She laughed at his puzzled face. "What did you expect? Something normal?"

"So...you're not upset about today?"

"Well, I'm not so thrilled I can't remember 2 hours of my life but I know that you saved me and all those other people. That's my Doctor." She leaned her head against his arm. "That's all I need."

"You sure?" He looked down at her.

"Absolutely." She tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "It's what I wanted from the beginning. You and I together, doing whatever we wanted. I just never thought we'd have the freedom to."

"Me neither," he admitted. The rules were always behind them, forcing them apart, that now that they were gone...it felt weird. He actually had Renata - Zuriah - sitting with him, making smores. The past him would've never believed it.

Renata could guess what he was thinking. She snaked her free arm around his neck to bring his head closer to hers. She pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you for my wonderful date." Before the Doctor could say anything, she left a few kisses going down the side of his neck. She giggled when he stiffened then looked up with a cheeky smile (something beyond her). "And that's for saving me...as well as for whatever I did to you during those 2 hours."

The Doctor awkwardly cleared his throat while he desperately tried to keep hold of his marshmallow on a stick. It was shaking far too much. "I didn't—"

"I know I did something to you," Renata gave him a look. "You shut out those 2 hours from your mind. Sneaky."

"Renée…"

"C'mon, show me how to eat these mores!"

The Doctor smiled at her. She was far too adorable sometimes. "Smores, love. They're called smores."

"Right!" Renata laughed and pulled her marshmallow away from the fire. It did look kind of appetizing. Maybe if she could just…

"Renée, what are you doing!?" The Doctor had caught her red handed biting into her squishy marshmallow. He was at a cross between laughing at her wide-eyed face or laughing at the idea that she actually went ahead and did something like that. He chose both.

"It's actually good…" She said in-between chews.

"Who could've seen that coming?" The Doctor laughed one more time before reaching over and taking a bite of her marshmallow.

Renata was not okay with that. His bite had basically taken her entire marshmallow. "DOCTOR!"

---

Author's Note:

And that, ladies and gents, was their first ever date! Next chapter is one of my favorites of this fic. It's a long awaited closure for Gabby and what she's been dealing with on the side, as well as some reflecting for the rest of our crew! Can't wait for you guys to read it ;)

P.S. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

Chapter 15: Fantasy Land

"Renata? Renata, you've overslept! Wake up!"

Somebody laughed but Renata felt too groggy to make it out right now.

"Renata, I know you're tired but I don't think you would like to fall behind on your schedule. You'd hate it, actually. You're all about routines, after all. Wake up already!"

Renata sat upright on a bed suddenly, her eyes blinking fast to clear up her blurry vision. Soon she found the man who was talking to her and she almost fell out of her bed from shock...and fear.

A tall man with dirty blonde hair, neatly parted, was smiling at her so sweetly...like he always did. "Sometimes I wonder how much time you actually put into these routines of yours…"

"Elek…" Renata said breathlessly. She could feel her hearts pounding in her chest. "How are you...?" This couldn't be possible. He couldn't be here with her.

And yet, Elek chuckled softly at her. "I think you slept pretty hard again. You're so confused. Didn't have another dream did you?"

"Dream?" Renata tilted her head slightly. When she said the word, she got a faint image of a man and a blue box — a TARDIS. As quickly as it came, it left.

"Gala?" Elek called to her gently. His hand cupped the side of her face. "Maybe you should lie back down and rest for a bit more."

"I'm fine…" Renata said slowly, sounding like she wasn't truly sure if that was the case. She started hearing a chirping noise...birds. They were...chirping. "Elek, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I'm not sure, a-a bird…"

"What's a bird?"

Renata blinked and the bird chirping faded away, leaving her in a moment of daze.

~ 0 ~

"Honestly, Asgari, can't you let it go?" The Doctor groaned as he strode down a hallway with a brunette woman hot on his trail.

She was outraged and the fact that the Doctor kept walking away from her only made her angrier. "No!" She shouted so hard that the Doctor winced into a stop. "You just got up and left and I had no idea where you were!"

"I just went out for a bit," he turned to face her and internally sighed. He honestly lost count how many times his wife got angry with him per day. "I was going to come back!"

"With you, I never know!" She huffed. "I never know anything about you and what you're gonna do!"

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled under his breath. Years of marriage had gone by for them and yet Asgari still felt like a stranger to him no matter how hard they tried to make things work. Not even the birth of their first child brought them closer.

Asgari shook her head at her husband. "I just want to know that if I need you, you'll be here."

"Of course I'll be," the Doctor said. He wasn't that terrible that he'd leave her behind to her own luck.

Asgari didn't seem so convinced and the Doctor thought it was fair. He'd just woken up that morning with a need - an urgency - for air. Asgari had been fast asleep and their daughter slept soundly in the next room. As much as the Doctor looked on at their daughter, he couldn't make the suffocation go away. He needed to leave the house for a bit. 'A bit', however, turned into hours. Asgari woke up and freaked, understandably.

"You should be," Asgari told him quietly, the disappointment flooding her simple three words. With one last look between them, she left him.

The Doctor thought it best to follow her to try and work it out but he started hearing a funny noise in the air. If he was correct, and he usually was, it sounded like Earth birds chirping…

He yawned. Maybe he should've stayed in bed…

~ 0 ~

"RORY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y!" Amy yelled at the top of her lungs, clutching her very pregnant belly. "It's starting!"

Rory had only just arrived home to hear his wife crying out for him. He left his bike to fall on the ground and hurried inside the house. "Ah. OK, OK!" However by the time he found Amy, she was sitting down in the kitchen with a bowl of batter in front of her...not looking like she was in labor as she had said only seconds ago. "False alarm," she shrugged. "What?" Rory blinked at her, confused.

"False alarm!"

"What!?"

Amy let her wooden spoon drop into the bowl as she huffed. "Well, I don't know what it feels like. I've never had a baby before." She couldn't help it if she kept repeating the false labor thing several times. It was her first child; she was clueless.

"So, when's the Doctor and Renata stopping by?" Rory moved on before Amy yelled at him. He came over to peek into the bowl and stuck a finger into the batter, much to Amy's annoyance.

She swatted his hand away and when he refused, she grabbed the wooden spoon to threaten his hand with. "I don't know," she shrugged. "Renata said tomorrow but you know with the Doctor's piloting skills…"

"Noo," Rory sarcastically said. He ended up taking the wooden spoon from Amy to fully taste the batter. "Well, he better get it right if he doesn't want to get on Gabby's bad side. She's coming in today."

Indeed Gabby would be coming to Leadworth for a visit since the Doctor and Renata promised that they would stop by. Gabby showed up a few hours later and, much to their delight, so did their Time Lords. The TARDIS appeared in their cottage's front yard and out popped the alien pair.

"Oh dear," Renata stepped out to see the flowers the TARDIS had ruined. "We've crushed your flowers."

Rory agreed. "Oh, Amy will kill you."

Renata made a face, making Gabby chuckle. "I should stop letting the Doctor land us. He makes messes as soon as we get somewhere."

The Doctor shot her a look for her comment. "Not on purpose!"

Renata playfully rolled her eyes at him and moved on to hug Rory and then Gabby. "It's so nice to see you all."

"I know, nice to see you too," Gabby hugged her back tightly then moved onto the Doctor. "How come you guys don't stop by more often?"

"Gabriella, I thought we went over this: the Doctor's piloting skills!"

"Oi!" the Doctor once again shot Renata a look. "You're getting too carried away!"

"Where's Amy?" Renata asked, looking around curiously. She figured that the TARDIS' loud landing noises would have brought Amy out like a magnet.

"She'll need a bit longer," Rory jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the cottage's entrance.

"Whenever you're ready, Amy," called the Doctor, promptly ignoring Renata's 'Don't be rude' remark. He was much more interested in Amy's new protruding stomach. "Oh, wahey! Wahey. You've swallowed a planet!"

"Doctor!" Renata couldn't believe her ears...actually, she could because it was him. Still, it wouldn't mean that she would stand for it. "She's pregnant!" She beamed at the sight of Amy. "Oh my goodness, you're pregnant!"

Amy laughed and received her hug. "Yup. Pregnant."

"You're huge!" The Doctor exclaimed, either ignoring Renata's scold for it or simply not hearing her in all his awe.

Amy shook her head at both of them. Neither had changed a bit and that was just fine. "Yeah, I'm pregnant!"

It still somehow did not click for the Doctor. "Look at you. When worlds collide!"

"Wow," Gabby was truly amazed how he was regarded as one of the most intelligent beings in the universe and yet...he did this.

"Oh, look at you both. Five years later and you haven't changed a bit!" He went on and hugged Amy. "Apart from age and size."

"Doctor!" Renata huffed. "For the love of God!"

He stared at Amy until they all literally saw a spark in his eyes that came just before he asked, "Are you pregnant?"

Amy shook her head at him and started back for the cottage, prompting Rory to follow.

"You really haven't changed," Gabby laughed as she followed too.

"What?" The Doctor was left asking until Renata turned him towards her. "What I do?"

The Time Lady smiled at him. "You're unbelievable."

When the group was all settled, they decided to take a stroll through Leadworth. Gabby had only been in the town for Amy's and Rory's wedding so she wanted to see what else was around.

"Ah, Leadworth. Vibrant as ever," the Doctor said, clearly a strain due to its significant small size.

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually," Rory smiled proudly, "We've gone slightly upmarket."

"Where is everyone?"

"This is busy," Amy gestured to the very few people in the street. "OK, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy. Loads of people here live well into their 90s."

"I like it," Renata said, unsurprisingly for the others. Of course she would love the quaint towns like Leadworth. "I think it's a good place to live in and start a family."

Amy eventually slowed down until she had to take a rest on a bench. "Sorry," she apologized and rubbed her stomach.

"Don't be, it's normal," Renata said and sat down next to her. "Girl or boy?" She asked with as much curiosity as Amy's blood relatives had whenever they got into the same discussion.

"Don't know," Amy shrugged. "It's going to be a surprise."

"Oh, how nice," Renata beamed and looked at the others, specifically at the Doctor. "We are going to be here on time when this child comes." He playfully rolled his eyes at her but agreed he'd like to be there as well.

"I want to be here too," Gabby nodded. "I'm going to be an aunt! Are there names yet?"

"A few, but that's a surprise too," Rory said, sharing a knowing smile with Amy. They clearly had a name in mind.

"Alright," Gabby shrugged and turned away to get a better look at the town. There really were hardly any people on the street. "So, um, what exactly do you do here?"

"A lot," Rory said defensively, as if Gabby was already viewing Leadworth like the Doctor had: a small, boring town.

"Like what?"

"We relax...we live, we listen to the birds."

"Yeah, see, birds. Those are nice," Amy agreed somewhat as they started hearing the faint chirp of a birdsong.

"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days."

The birdsong started getting louder.

"Uh...my head…" Renata rubbed her temples. Maybe she was exaggerating but the chirping sounded way too loud.

"Oh, blimey. My head's a bit, ooh…" The Doctor said with a scrunched face. "No, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good...old... days."

Everyone had drifted into a sleep.

~ 0 ~

Gabby continuously giggled as she and Donna watched the tenth incarnated Renata and the tenth Doctor go back and forth in their little bickering session. They walked behind the pair down a street filled with cheerful celebrating humans.

"Doctor, I cannot believe you are this ridiculous," Renata huffed at the Doctor who had stopped at a stall to try on a classic funny hat.

"What? You don't like it?" He asked, tilting his head.

"No! Stop being a child and get us back to the TARDIS!"

He didn't wince with her scream but he didn't looked pleased to find that she was upset with their destination. "It's a simple celebration, Renée, have some fun."

"I don't like it," Renata shook her head.

"Well, Gabby and Donna sure do!" The Doctor returned the hat to its proper place. "Don't we, ladies?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, bring us into your argument. No thanks!" She promptly grabbed Gabby's arm and walked down a few stalls ahead. "Oh those two will be the death of me!" It was her turn to huff. "You know very well that they argue because they're attracted to each other."

Gabby agreed with a light chuckle. "I know."

"Maybe we should help them. Give 'em little nudges," Donna smirked. "Whaddya say?"

"I say that Renata will kill us but…" Gabby stopped walking and turned to face Donna. "We're the best duo they've got so let's go for it!"

Donna laughed and high-fived Gabby. They really were the best duo together. They returned to the bickering Time Lords to break them apart by suggesting that they go find somewhere to eat. Little did they know that they would be searching for a romantic spot for them.

Gabby was in charge of finding the spot while Donna bided some time for them. She had just turned down the corner when she heard a significantly loud bird chirping somewhere. She stopped and looked up at the sky. It was as normal as any Earth sky.

But then she felt so tired.

She yawned and brought a hand to her mouth to cover it up. Her eyes felt quite heavy suddenly...like she wanted a nap…

~ 0 ~

"I had a terrible nightmare…" the Doctor was saying to Renata when Amy, Rory and Gabby joined them in the console room.

"Me too," Renata was pale as she recalled her own dream. She hadn't dreamt about Elek in years, and that was just before she had met the Doctor again in 1969. Now suddenly she was dreaming that she was back on Gallifrey, married to Elek...

"Yeah, don't ask," the Doctor scrunched his face. He wasn't prepared to talk about Asgari again. He himself didn't like what he dreamt about as it made him beyond guilty remembering that he wasn't the best husband that Asgari deserved.

"You guys had bad dreams too?" Amy was rubbing her flat stomach as if she really was pregnant like she had been in her dream.

"What? Seriously? You guys too?" Gabby looked around and saw everyone, except for Rory, wore similar pale faces. She felt sick to her stomach and it wasn't because of the dream with Donna...but more to the fact that it was another reminder how she had failed recently to keep their endeavors on Renata and the Doctor safe.

"I had a dream but it wasn't a nightmare," Rory shrugged and glanced at Amy. "We were married."

The Doctor took note of the silent, but flashy, red lights on the console. That was unusual. "What's wrong with the console?"

Amy arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, in a little village."

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant…" Rory trailed off when he realized that Amy knew exactly what he was talking about...as if she had the same dream.

"Yeah, I was huge. I was a boat!"

"You guys had the same dream?" Gabby quickly looked at the Doctor and Renata. "What did you dream about?"

The question kept them both silent.

"Okay…" Gabby cleared her throat, figuring she might as well go first. "I dreamt with you guys, but the previous you guys...and Donna." She looked down momentarily. Even if the dream had been a short one, it made her miss Donna like crazy again.

"You guys were there too," Amy suddenly remembered and pointed at the Time Lords. "But these current versions, not the last ones like Gabby's dream."

"Were we in any of your dreams?" Rory curiously wondered since it seemed like they were crossing dreams.

"No," Renata said quickly, and the Doctor agreed a few seconds later. "I was on Gallifrey...with my late husband." She waited to hear the Doctor's reaction but instead he admitted that his dream involved his own late wife.

"I haven't dreamed about Asgari in centuries," he confessed. "But it felt real."

"So did mine," Renata confessed. Everything about Elek had been accurate down the same way he used to laugh.

"I don't understand what's going on but I know that something's going on," Gabby declared and blew out some air. "Did you all hear the birds chirping in the end?" There was a collective nod amongst them. "Oh yeah, something's going on!"

"Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track…" the Doctor tried to say but even he didn't look convinced of his own words. "Forget it, we're back to reality now."

Amy stiffened. "Doctor, if we're back to reality how come I can still hear birds?"

"She's right," Renata whispered and turned to him, eyes filled with fear. "I hear it too."

They even felt the same tiredness as the first time just before everything went dark.

~ 0 ~

Renata blinked and she was back with Elek, having a calm breakfast together. She swallowed hard. "Elek…"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor blinked to find himself watching his young daughter fast asleep in her room. There was a terrible pit in his stomach now…

~ 0 ~

"Rory," Amy reached for Rory's hand and grabbed it tightly, "I'm scared."

"I know," he nodded in agreement.

While they had woken up from the chirping noise, their versions of the Doctor, Renata and Gabby acted like nothing had happened.

~ 0 ~

When they had been all pulled back into the same world in the TARDIS, they did a quick relay of what their world had done in the few minutes they'd been apart.

"We're looking at the park again," Amy and Rory had told them together.

"But there's ducks this time," Rory pointed out for the sake of adding more details to that world. He wanted to believe that maybe that other world really was theirs. Why wouldn't it be? It was lovely, calm and he and Amy were together and starting a family. It was just...amazing.

Gabby was slightly less hopeful. "Donna and I...we're planning again," she said quietly. "You and the Doctor...we're trying to push you together."

"Oh," Renata scratched the side of her head. "That, uh, that sounds right."

"Mhm," Gabby nodded. "That's what we used to do," she whispered. Was it wrong to hope - just a tiny bit - that the other world was the real one? The other world had Donna with all her memories. They were still friends and travelling together with the Doctor and Renata - their small space family. It was all so great...like it used to be once.

"What about you two?" Amy asked the silent Time Lords. She noticed that there was some reluctance from both of them to describe their worlds. "What are you doing right now?"

Renata swallowed hard. "Elek and I had breakfast together. He's going to work...I'm going to my foundation." Whether or not she wanted to, her gaze landed on the Doctor.

Knowing all eyes were on him to share, he did so, albeit quietly. "Just...just watching my daughter sleep."

Renata's hand flew to her stomach then. She had to swallow another thick lump in her throat.

A warm smile spread across the Doctor's face. Whether or not that world was real, that was his daughter. His firstborn. "It's like we're living the life we would've had if the war never happened."

"Yeah," Renata agreed with her gaze anywhere but him. She still saw, from the corner of her eye, that the Doctor had moved away from her, trying to work the controls again but if he was being honest, he was doing it to put some distance between them again. She felt it and she...may have agreed. Everything was fuzzy, reality wasn't clear. She, like him, had the guilty suspicion that maybe, just maybe, this reality wasn't theirs and they were truly meant to be on Gallifrey with their respective spouses.

They shouldn't be acting like anything beyond friends.

"So what do we do?" Amy once again pushed for some answers. "You said the TARDIS was dead, what do we do to get it back?"

"I don't know," the Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I don't - I have no idea what's going on. Everything's off, sensors, core power. We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere. Someone, something, is overriding my controls."

"What could be so powerful to do that?" Gabby was wide-eyed with the news. In her long time travelling with them, she had never known anything to be able to do that. The Daleks in the Crucible were a different story. Plus, the only Daleks in the universe were mere scavengers right now. They couldn't be behind all this.

"Well, that took a while!" A new man's voice startled the group. They all quickly got in the same spot and turned to see the short man standing across them. He was rather familiar but no one could pinpoint how yet. It could be the similar clothing. "Honestly, I'd heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm. Him in the bow tie." His eyes flickered then to Renata, his smile stretching widely. "Oh, and the Vortex Butterfly. Who could forget about you? Certainly not that one." He jerked a thumb at the Doctor, and for the briefest moments his eyes had shifted over to Amy.

"How did you get into my TARDIS?" The Doctor stepped in front of the group, eyes narrowing on the stranger. "What are you?"

"What shall we call me? Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord."

"I prefer intruder," Renata moved up to stand beside the Doctor, though she still couldn't bring herself to look at him. "You're trespassing."

"One could say so have you," he grinned. "But in other ways."

Renata's face paled. "What are you—?"

"Don't play stupid, Butterfly. I am in the past, the present - I am in everyone's head," the man made sure to look at every single one of them. "All of you carry secrets and guilt that you're too afraid to confess to."

"That's called being a human," Gabby tried to say but the man scoffed harshly, making her wince.

"No, that's what we call a terrible being."

The Doctor had reached for something inside his pocket and chucked it at the Dream Lord. Unlike everyone else who was surprised to see the thing go through the man, the Doctor wasn't. "Interesting…"

"I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord - it's in the name, isn't it? Spooky, not quite there." The Dream Lord disappeared and reappeared behind them, making them spin around to face him again. "And yet, very much here."

"You said in our heads," Rory pointed out. He was messing with them in their minds?

"Anyone want to take a guess what that is?" The Doctor made a gesture for anyone to try it out.

Amy was eager to answer first. "Um. Dream Lord. He creates dreams."

"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks."

"And what about the gooseberry here, does he get a guess?" The Dream Lord nodded over to Rory who immediately jumped at the insult.

"Listen, mate, if anyone's the gooseberry around here, it's the Doctor."

The Dream Lord snorted. "There's a delusion I'm not responsible for."

"No, he is," Rory insisted, ignoring the Doctor's offended expression. "Isn't he, Amy?"

"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out. Choose, even. That's one guilt," the Dream Lord grinned at the ginger.

Amy was now the center of attention and how she wished she wasn't. "I have chosen," she argued.

"Right," the Dream Lord said before glancing at Renata. "She would know though. After all, she was in the same position once upon a time. Got any tips on how not to screw it up?"

Renata breathed rather quickly in that moment. "Stop." Her voice had been a whisper. She felt her stomach twisting when she got to wondering how deeply this man knew her, of the Doctor, and their friends.

"None of you can fool me," the Dream Lord began, his voice cold as he once again gave each of the travelers a sharp look. "I see your minds, I see your thoughts. Oh...and I do see dreams. My dear Amy, when I say that you need to choose it's because I know you need to choose. I've seen your dreams. Some of them twice, Amy. Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."

"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" The Doctor cut him off before he went any further.

"Me? Oh, you're on shaky ground."

"Am I?"

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop. The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student... I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are. Where was I?"

"Being a pain in the ass," Gabby was quick to answer. "What the hell are you? Because right now, you're looking like a parasite."

"Did Donna tell you that?" The Dream Lord sent her a big ole smile as she paled. "Oh, right, she can't anymore...because of you…"

"Leave her alone!" Renata snapped, but the man laughed.

"And here comes Mama Butterfly to save you. It's ironic, isn't it, Gabriella?" The man set his hands on his hips. "She's helped so much and yet..what did you do in return?"

Gabby's fell silent with her terrible guilt gnawing at her. She failed Renata, and Donna; that's what she had done. Renata always helped her, always looked after her as if she really was like a daughter to her and when the time came...she wasn't able to help Renata. In the Crucible, instead of helping Renata put an end to the Daleks, she got all weak and needy. When Donna had been so close to that severed hand, she wasn't able to stop her. She let the meta-crisis happen and lost Donna.

"Here's your challenge," the Dream Lord made a dramatic, long pause. "Each of you have been placed in a different world, only problem is I can't remember which one's the real one...can you?" He shot them a smirk. "Could be this one, where you're all together…" His eyes met the Doctor's and Renata's. "Or could it be one of the other worlds? On Gallifrey? Maybe the humans aren't real. Or perhaps it's still 2009 and Donna Noble is still travelling with you. Decide."

"And if we don't play along?" asked Renata defiantly.

"Then you're stuck forever going between different worlds. Each time you jump, though, you'll get weaker. Oh, and I might have thrown in a bit of a danger in some worlds."

"This time I wasn't the one to ask," the Doctor mumbled to her and earned a whack on the side.

The chirping noise alerted them that they would be jumping worlds again.

"Doctor, what do we do?" Amy covered her ears but then realized she wouldn't be able to hear the Doctor's answer. "Doctor!"

"Try to keep your eyes open for something that doesn't make sense!"

"Uh, that's going to be hard!" Rory gestured to the Doctor first in his long list of things that didn't make sense. "We're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside, with a bow tie-wearing alien, a woman who sprouts butterfly wings, a girl who does the same thing…"

"Right, we get it, thanks," Renata muttered. "Just simple things! Sometimes we just…" She trailed off when the chirping became too loud for her. "...simple...just...simple things…"

"Ren? Ren!" The Doctor caught her slumping body and met her gaze one last time before her world went dark.

~ 0 ~

"Renata, you have to be more careful," Elek was holding the Time Lady in his arms. It took Renata a few minutes to realize they were right in front of the door; Elek was leaving for work but not anymore. "I love that being clumsy is an endearing part of your personality but right now it is the utmost importance that you take it easy."

"Clumsy?" Renata tried pulling herself away from him but he had such a firm grip around her that it was futile to try. "I'm not...I've never been clumsy."

That didn't make sense. "Try to keep your eyes open for something that doesn't make sense!"

At the Doctor's voice, Renata felt a series of chills run through her body. The Doctor. She loved im - had once loved him. That was in her past...wasn't it?

"Renata, I think you should go lay down again," Elek resolved that this was the best, and safest, option for Renata. "You're starting to worry me. The pregnancy is taking a toll on you."

Renata's hands came to rest on her stomach. She hadn't noticed it straightaway but she'd learned soon enough from Elek that she was pregnant. With no war, she was able to keep her pregnancy going. Her unborn child once again lived inside her.

"Oh God…" Her voice was shaky enough without her body deciding to join her in trembles. She was pregnant? Or she wasn't? She was with the Doctor, in the TARDIS - their TARDIS — as he once told her...if he had ever told her.

~ 0 ~

"You can't just keep watching your daughter and pretend like nothing's wrong," Asgari was beside the Doctor, keeping her tone quiet so their daughter, who remained asleep, wouldn't wake.

"Believe me, I'm not pretending," the Doctor took in a deep breath. He couldn't tear his eyes off his child no matter how much he tried. If this was all fake, then the illusions were so real...and if it was fake, then it was cruel.

Asgari shook her head. "You know, sometimes I wish we hadn't gotten married at all. I feel like we got along better before we were forced to marry."

The Doctor kept quiet but he silently agreed on that. Asgari was a lovely woman, when she had been his friend. She was a bit snarky, but it made her challenging personality all the more fun. They had bickering rounds when they were 'engaged' and those were fun, but that was it. It never compared to what he felt when he bickered with Renata, when he was so close to her ginger, freckled face. Asgari was beautiful but Renata was simply breathtaking.

But had their story truly ended the night before his wedding?

Did he never meet her again?

His hearts ached with both love and guilt. Love for his Renée, and guilt for Asgari and their children.

~ 0 ~

"I don't like being near to them," Amy whispered to Rory as they watched their versions of the Doctor, Renata and Gabby try a swingset. "They might not be real."

Rory couldn't help the scoff that escaped his lips. "Why would you think that? Why would you think that this world isn't real?"

"C'mon Rory," Amy turned to him, "Is this...is this really what we want our future to be like?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"I just feel like we could have more than…"

"A family?"

Amy fell silent. It only made Rory feel worse. How come he always ended up on this side of the path and Amy was stuck on the other one? He didn't feel like he demanded much, but it always seemed that way for Amy.

"Do you not want this?" He asked her, quieter as if anyone was listening in. "I thought you'd chosen me, not him."

Amy smiled at him. "You are always so insecure!"

Her nonchalant attitude wouldn't change the topic this time. "You ran off with another man!" He huffed.

"Not in that way! And Renata was there too, and Gabby!"

"Yet it didn't make much of a difference in the end, did it?" Rory's snap was a hard blow but one that he felt had to be made. It wasn't fair that Amy kept acting as if nothing happened because it did happen.

Amy looked down guiltily. "I said I was sorry."

"Yeah, but did you mean it?" Rory waited for her to answer but as it seemed, Amy was more troubled than previously thought.

~ 0 ~

"Oh this place is amazing!" Donna beamed at the lovely restaurant Gabby had found for them. It was like an old fashioned place with red brick walls, wooden tables and a pretty loud band playing in the corner.

Gabby only nodded as she kept looking at Donna and then the Doctor and then Renata. She couldn't get over the fact that this might all be fake, a plain farce.

The Doctor sure seemed to love the place. "It's great!"

Renata, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. "Does it have to be so loud?"

"They're just playing a gig," Donna shrugged. "They'll be off soon enough, you'll see. Go find us a table, hmm?" She glanced at the Time Lords with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah, alright. C'mon, Renée!" The Doctor offered her his arm and though Renata still didn't seem to like the place, she linked her arm with his.

"Let's see what we can do to push them together," Donna immediately told Gabby when they were gone. She pulled the girl towards the counter and called for the first employee that passed by.

Gabby watched and listened as Donna explained the situation to the employee. She smiled at Donna's determination to make things as romantic as possible for their friends. It was truly like nothing had changed. No doubt they would get into so much trouble from Renata if they were caught but it never mattered to them. They were the duo, the wing women, of the Time Lords and they had to do whatever they could to make them open their eyes.

---

Author's Note:

I split this episode up because it was more than 14k in the end lmao. I actually had so much fun with this au because it's gonna give closure the doctor, ren and Gabby (and of course Amy/Rory) from their trauma in the previous fic. And truthfully, I think they all deserve their final goodbyes in the next chapter, you'll see ;)

As always, I have an Fanfic/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)

Chapter 16: To Let Them Go

"It's really cold. Have you got any warm clothing?" Amy rubbed her arms endlessly to spark some heat within her. They had continued jumping from reality to reality, still having no idea which was one true. The TARDIS was ice cold now without power.

"What does it matter if we're cold?" snapped the Doctor. He was working at the console trying to bring up some power but there was absolutely nothing to work with. He felt Renata's hand touch his arm and with one look from her, he knew he'd rudely snapped at Amy. She hadn't deserved that. "Sorry," he sighed and rubbed his face.

"Amy, why don't you try the little room behind you," Renata suggested and made a nod towards the room down the staircase. "There should be some warm stuff down there."

"Thanks," Amy said quickly and hurried off with Rory.

"Are you guys okay?" Gabby asked the Time Lords when it was just them. "I mean I know that there's this weird thing going on but I...I get the feeling that you guys don't want to…" She didn't finish her sentence but she made a gesture towards the gap of space between Renata and the Doctor.

"Nothing to worry about, Gabbs," the Doctor put on a smile for her. "Go get something warm for yourself."

Gabby felt like maybe if she left, it would give them a chance to talk. Plus, she kind of was a little cold. Thanks to her new DNA, she wasn't as susceptible to extreme temperatures as a regular human but she was still affected a little.

"We need to do something," Renata said to the Doctor as she started for the opposite side of the console. "We can last a little longer in the cold but not them. And, of course, none of us will be able to survive a cold star."

The Doctor watched her cautiously as he went to a specific part of the console which then made Renata reposition herself at another side. "We can make a generator," he spoke quietly.

"Good," Renata nodded. He rummaged through the compartments, taking out several miscellaneous things. Renata stared at him without saying a word. Her eyes were studying every feature of his, trying to find something - a clue - that would tell her whether or not he was real. It shamed her to realize her hearts yearned for him despite not knowing which world was real. If this was a fake world, then the Dream Lord was cruel and she was still a cheater. She had Elek and she was still fantasizing about the Doctor. But if it was the real one...she was actually with the Doctor. She had started a relationship with him. That was riveting.

"Ren?"

Renata blinked. The Doctor was standing across from her but with a small contraption in front of him. He worked fast.

"Renata, I need your help," he said again. He was holding out a loose wire and needed her help to attach it while he worked on the other side of the device.

"Right…" Renata pushed herself to walk to his side, albeit slowly. She swallowed hard once she stood beside him, close enough to touch him.

"I'm sorry," he said when she had taken hold of the wire and he got back to work. "I know it's hard right now."

"Not knowing whether or not you're real?"

He stopped working and looked at her. There was a sad twinkle in her eyes that made him want to throw everything aside and hold her until she felt better. It was awful that she made a point, though. She might not be real right now, she could just be an illusion. Everything around them could be false and he could actually still be on Gallifrey...fighting with Asgari...watching their children grow up…

It made his hearts ache - what's more it made him ache for Renata. He had all these memories of her from both worlds and he wasn't sure which one was real. He loved her in both worlds and he wondered if she still loved him when they weren't sure if they were together.

"I'm real," he said to her.

"Yeah, but are we?" Renata pursed her lips together. "In my other world, I'm living with my husband...and I'm pregnant." The Doctor froze entirely. She placed her hand over her stomach. "I'm pregnant with my child. I'm supposed to be married."

The Doctor moved around the console and in two strides he was in front of her. "And here we're together. You wouldn't want that?"

"Well, I…" Renata felt like her air had left her lungs having him so close to her. "I'm not...it's all so confusing."

"The external environment is," he agreed, "But I'm asking you about the inside. Your feelings. Do you love me?"

Renata bit on her bottom lip the moment the question was asked. There was a raging 'YES!' that screamed within her. It was both scary that it was that strong and yet...eye-opening that her hearts were so sure of her feelings.

"Renée?" The Doctor touched her arms and she instantly felt chills run down her body. At the same time, the Doctor felt sparks under his palms. There was an insane desire to lean closer to her face and...and…

"Can I get some space please?" Renata's whisper pulled him out of his thoughts. He had actually gotten close to her face while he was thinking about how he wanted to get closer. Funny how things worked.

"Sorry," he mumbled and let her go. As soon as he did, Renata hugged herself. She was missing his touch already and that alone was guilty enough. "I'm just confused," the Doctor admitted to her. "That other world feels real but I...I don't want it to be real."

Renata met his look with surprise. "But your daughter is there. Don't you want to be there with her?"

"I love my daughter, but I'm pretty sure that she's gone." And that was another thing that stumped the Doctor. If he thought that the other world was false, shouldn't that break whatever power was holding him to that world?

"Are we any close to figuring this stuff out?" Amy led Rory and Gabby behind her, all bundled up in odd clothes. Their presence pushed the Time Lords into their working stride. They couldn't waste time trying to figure out if they were still in love with each other.

"Ah, Rory, wind," the Doctor handed Amy an attached wire, motioning her to head for the monitor. "Attach this to the monitor, please."

"I was promised amazing worlds. Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitchen wind-up device," Rory was eyeing the machine with distaste.

"It's a generator, actually," Renata told him. "Please wind."

"It's not enough," Gabby shivered in her spot, repeatedly rubbing her arms to create some more heat for herself.

"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" Rory asked the Time Lords. "Why us?"

Before anyone answered, the monitor flashed to life and showed the group they were near a starscape.

"Where are we?" Amy asked once the Doctor and Renata moved in behind her to see for themselves.

"We're in trouble," the Doctor said with a resignation that of course this would happen.

"What is that?"

"It's a cold star," Renata breathed in at the sight. The Doctor dashed for the doors to see it in person and subjected the entire room to a bright, blinding light. "Doctor, close that!" Renata scolded him.

"Okay, so a cold star means we're in trouble?" Rory waited for a more detailed explanation on how that worked.

"That's why we're freezing. It's not a malfunction," the Doctor returned to the console. "We're drifting towards a cold sun."

"The Dream Lord said there would be danger in some worlds," Gabby remembered, swallowing hard. "This must be one of them."

"This must be the dream," Amy said immediately, a ghost of a smile tracing her lips. "There is no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."

"And it is," Renata gestured to the monitor. "It's just burning cold."

"Is that even possible?" Rory made a face.

Renata hated to only be able to shrug her shoulders. She looked at the Doctor but even he was puzzled. It wasn't something they'd faced before.

Rory figured out that neither of them knew the answer to his question so, like Amy, he dared to believe that they were finding a solution. "Okay, so if this is something you haven't seen before does that mean this is a dream? One of the other worlds is real?"

"I don't know," the Doctor huffed. "But I'd say we've got about 14 minutes until we crash. But that's not a problem."

"What is then?" Gabby asked, her voice full of dread.

"Because we'll have frozen to death."

Renata covered her face. He really could've put that into better words.

"Stay calm. Don't get sucked into it, because this just might be the battle we have to lose." The Doctor had pulled out a stethoscope to use on the console.

Rory snorted at him. "Oh, this is so you, isn't it?"

The Doctor paused to meet the man's glare. "What?"

"What a weird new star, 14 minutes left to live and only one man to save the day. I just wanted a nice village and a family!"

"Oh dear Doctor," the Dream Lord appeared behind the Doctor. "Dissent in the ranks. There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away, he let down his friends and—"

"Shut up," snapped Renata through gritted teeth, but all she got was the attention shifted on her.

"And the prim-trim Time Lady who did everything so wrong. Question is, have you repaired everything? Or are you still living in sin?"

Renata pursed her lips together. Sin. "I don't know, honestly..." she confessed. There were times where, as happy as she was, she still wondered if she was truly absolved from all her mistakes in the past. Sins. She was always raised to do the right thing, — the thing expected of her. Make no mistakes, be the best. It was hard being truly happy when that lingered in the back of her head.

While in her thoughts, Renata noticed that the Dream Lord had frozen in his spot, caught in a moment that apparently did not affect anyone else.

"What's—?" Gabby had just started to ask when the Dream Lord came back to life again.

"Best figure it out then," he picked up where he left off with Renata. "Or not."

And the birdsong started again.

~ 0 ~

Renata was having a difficult time deciding whether or not this Gallifrey was real. The way Elek held was so real, how could she ever decide it was fake? Everything was the way it used to be.

You're living in sin, reminded the annoying voice in her head. She bit her lower lip as she watched her husband beside her on the couch, completely immersed into a book. Because she 'hadn't been feeling well, he decided to stay with her for the day. He had one arm wrapped around her waist, letting his hand rest over her stomach. Every now and then, he would press a kiss to her hair and whisper something sweet to her.

It was just all nice and sweet...or so it felt like it. Renata felt her stomach twist and churn each time Elek paid her any attention. She was his wife and yet her mind was thinking about the Doctor and where he was. Her hearts ached for him and that alone made her feel terrible.

Oh God, I love him, she let her eyes close. She was still so completely in love with that man and it pained her to admit it. Her husband was right there for God's sake and she couldn't stop thinking about the Doctor.

Renata glanced at Elek and not a second later did he meet her gaze. He smiled at her and reached to cup the side of her face. "What is it?" He asked her as if he already knew something was bothering her.

The real Elek would do that too. Renata bit her lower lip. "Are you happy with me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Do you think you would've been happy if you hadn't married me?" Renata knew what she was trying to get from that question, she was just that sneaky that she was able to cover it up with a similar question. If Elek hadn't been forced into the arranged marriage with her, could he have had a better wife than her?

"Where's this coming from?" Elek lifted an eyebrow at her. "Should we try to rest again?"

Before he started moving, Renata gripped his arm around her to keep him still. "Just...just thinking."

"Well stop thinking those thoughts. I'm happiest with you," he leaned forwards to her, bringing his arm from around her. His book was abandoned on his other side as he cupped Renata's face with both hands. "And our child, of course. I love you."

Renata swallowed hard when he moved to kiss her. Guilt was flooding her. Oh God, I'm terrible, she concluded. Suddenly, Elek froze like a statue. For a moment, Renata thought she had said it out loud...but she hadn't. Whatever froze Elek vanished a moment later and he was able to kiss her.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor stormed down a hallway picking things up and tossing them to the side. He was ignoring half of what Asgari was yelling at him. It had to be about his rude behavior again and how he was mistreating their things, but he was on a mission. He knew, he was absolutely sure that this world wasn't real. He remembered what life with Asgari was; there was no way in hell that he could've ever stayed with her for all of his lives.

This was the fake world but it wasn't disappearing like he thought it would once he made his firm decision. That meant something else had to be done in order to break the illusion, but what? He thought maybe there was something hidden in the house, hence the careless picking and tossing of things.

"Would you please stop throwing my things!?" Asgari shrieked when one vase nearly hit her head.

"Just stop it! Stop it!" The Doctor whirled around abruptly, making her crash into him. "I know you're not real!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Asgari looked at him like he had finally lost it. If she was in on the game, she was acting perfectly.

"This world is not real," the Doctor glowered at her, coming nose-to-nose with her. "Quit playing. How do I get out?"

"What are you talking about?"

The Doctor turned away from her. "It's all done here!" He shouted for the Dream Lord to hear. "I know who you are, I know what you are, and I want to get out of here so we can have a chat!"

"Keep it down!" Asgari grabbed his arm to stop him from walking. "You're going to wake up your dau-"

"Don't finish that," the Doctor snapped, yanking his arm out of her grip. "My daughter is dead and I wish nothing more than to bring her back, but this is not it. A cheap illusion of her is more heartbreak."

"You're acting crazy—"

"I know it's my fault everything went wrong between us, Asgari, but I can't do this," he swallowed hard. He expected Asgari to continue pestering him for an explanation but instead he was met with silence. When he met her eyes, he noticed that she had frozen in her spot. "What is that?" He remembered the brief moment the Dream Lord had done something similar but why? Why had it happen?

~ 0 ~

"This has to be the real world," Rory told Amy as they walked along the solitary street of Leadworth. "It's all nice."

"I feel it in both places," Amy admitted.

"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."

"Not really me, though, is it? Would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad amateur dramatics society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma!"

Rory looked at Amy with such a sigh. "You really can't see us living a tranquil life?" He asked in a way that made it clear that if she said 'no' then it would mean she had never thought about living a life with him at all.

With Rory, it was either all in or nothing. Maybe that's why she was more afraid than she led on. It was scary committing to something as big as marriage and everything it implied. Travelling with the Doctor and Renata was easier to do. If she was running for her life, then there were less moments to commit to something huge like marriage. Was it right? Probably not. Was she doing it? Hell yeah.

"Oh," she heard Rory. He had stopped walking, leaving her a few steps ahead. She followed his gaze to a group of elderly people across from them, staring at them like zombies.

Amy had the sense to backtrack her steps until she stood by Rory again. "Why aren't they moving?" She asked him in a whisper. "They're just...staring."

"Hello peasants," the Dream Lord's voice startled the pair. He had flashed in between them and the elderly people. "What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS."

Amy felt Rory take her hand, squeezing it tightly like he was reminding her that she wasn't alone. That was also Rory. A part of her wanted to smile had it not been for the situation.

"Oh, trying to comfort the wife?" The Dream Lord sent a specific smirk towards Amy. "But I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"

Amy frowned. "Shut up! Just shut up and leave me alone."

"But listen, you're in there. Loves a redhead, the Doctor! Has he told you that Renata's first incarnation was a redhead? And we all know what happened there." He gave a suggestive wink.

"Shut up," Amy snapped. "I don't...I don't care."

"Right. Evade the guilt, why don't you? Make yourself feel better, justify yourself," the Dream Lord glowered at Amy in a familiar manner. It startled Amy for a moment. "It's what we do, right?"

Amy swallowed hard. She suddenly gripped Rory's hand tighter.

"This is the danger in this world," Rory pulled Amy back when the elderly people started walking towards them.

Both of them nearly gagged when one of the elders opened their mouth to reveal a big ole eye inside.

"Aliens," Amy quickly assumed.

"Trying to kill us," Rory chimed in.

"Run?"

"Oh yeah."

They turned around and did just that, leaving a laughing Dream Lord behind.

~ 0 ~

"Look at them," Donna sighed contently as she and Gabby watched the 10th Doctor and 10th Renata awkwardly try some of the samples the waiters had brought by their table.

Gabby stood beside Donna, both waiting for their drinks at the counter. She was nervously biting her index nail as they watched the entire thing unfold. Everything looked so normal and real.

"I think with one final nudge, they'll finally kiss or something," Donna chuckled. "That would be hilarious but our team's efforts would have finally given fruit."

"Because we're the best team," Gabby finished in a quiet whisper.

"Exactly," Donna agreed with a proud smile.

"We really were," Gabby said. "Are. I don't know."

"You alright?"

Gabby shook her head. "No, far from it actually."

Donna gently turned the girl around. Her competitive expression was gone and in its place was a concerned look. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Don't try that with me Gabby," said Donna sternly. "I know you. You can tell me anything, you know."

"I know," Gabby agreed nostalgically. She wished she could still hear Donna say that from time to time. When they were in the TARDIS and she didn't get something or when she was trying to win Renata over, Donna was always there to listen and help her. "You have no idea how much I miss that. Or...or I think I miss it. I don't know if this is real."

"If what's real?" Donna said, confused.

"You," Gabby said. "I miss you Donna. I have memories that...that don't include you anymore because I lost you, we lost you. And I feel awful having new memories without you." Because even now, as confused as she was, she could vividly remember the adventures she had with Renata, the Doctor, Amy and Rory. None of them included Donna anymore.

"Oh, but I'm not going anywhere," Donna waved it off, even chuckling about it. "I'm going to travel with you guys forever."

Tears welled in Gabby's eyes upon hearing the familiar words. "Yeah, y-you said that," she choked the words out before the tears overtook her. The memories in her head were starting to overtake her.

"Oh, oh, don't do that," Donna quickly took her into a hug. "Ren's going to think I made you cry."

Gabby hugged her friend tightly, whether it was real or not she was hugging Donna again. "I really miss you, Donna!"

"But I'm right here," Donna insisted, patting Gabby's back.

"Are you? Because I think I lost you a long time ago. I remember that we traveled to the early days of Earth, we met and fought a God, we met Agatha Christie...we tried our best to help the Doctor and Renata sort their feelings out. We bonded a lot...you helped me find my way in the TARDIS, became my friend...and when the time came to help you, I wasn't able to do it." Gabby pulled away from Donna and instead of meeting her puzzled look, Donna seemed to be understanding every word Gabby was saying. "I should have been able to help you and keep you away from that severed hand. If I had, then you would still have been with us. You would've been there to help us find Ren a cure; you would have been there to help me kick River Song's ass when she flirted with the Doctor; you would have been there to see me unveil my first artwork in front of" — Gabby laughed through her tears — "a whole crowd of aliens in Zhe's gallery. But best of all you would have been there with us every second after our two dumbass time lords regenerated. We would've been together - our little space family."

"But I'm not," Donna said, her expression stoic. "Because you didn't help me."

"I didn't," Gabby nodded to herself. "But it wasn't my fault, and I know that my Donna would have told me that. You have accusation in your eyes, in your voice. You can't be my Donna. Time has passed and my Donna has moved on but I'm still there in the TARDIS...watching you take in that energy...I never left that moment, even if I tried lying to myself about moving on. But my Donna would want me to keep going — for the both of us — and who knows, in this impossible world...we may meet again. For now, I think it's time to say goodbye...somehow. And I think this is as close as I'll ever get."

"Goodbye?" Donna raised an eyebrow at the girl.

Gabby nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "Goodbye Donna. Thank you for being with me when I needed you; for being my first friend in space. I hope you live well as I will try to do the same. You may have forgotten about me but I swear that I won't ever forget you."

And right before Gabby's eyes, Donna started disintegrating...as was everything else around her.

~ 0 ~

The group re-awoke inside the TARDIS, coming to find that the entire interior was now covered with snow and ice. Even their bodies had been frosted.

"Ah, it's colder," Amy clutched her blanket over her.

"Alright, we all need to agree which world is the real one," the Doctor immediately said as he buttoned up his jacket.

"Where's Gabriella?" Renata had noticed that Gabby hadn't appeared with them this time. She jumped from the floor, nearly slipping with the iciness under them. "Gabriella!"

"Don't bother," the Dream Lord appeared by the staircase. "She won," he muttered, clearly upset by the matter.

"Won?" Renata lifted an eyebrow at him. "What does that mean?"

"It means she figured it out. Smart girl that one."

"So where is she?" Rory looked around cautiously.

"Back in the real world," the Doctor said. He was beginning to realize which world was the real one and it just made him angrier. He moved beside Renata, putting a hand over her arm. "It means she's safe."

Renata met his gaze and nodded with him. "But are we?" Her eyes flickered to Amy and Rory who apparently hadn't had much luck unlike Gabby. "We can't let anything happen to them."

"I know." Without thinking, the Doctor wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her to his side. Renata didn't even notice when she leaned her head against him. It just came automatically to her.

"Oh so dramatic," the Dream Lord swayed his head. "We're on a clock, people. Nine minutes until impact. Best get the conversation moving and I've been meaning to have a word with Amy."

"Oh, no! Not her!" Rory blocked the way to his finance.

"Yeah, you're not quite threatening," the Dream Lord shook his head at him. "Not like the tall, dark hero over there, huh?" He made a nod towards the Doctor but this time the latter was too focused on keeping Renata warm that he didn't even hear.

Renata smiled softly when he put his coat over hers. It was freezing and he was just making it worse for him, but he didn't seem to care. His eyes were locked on hers and for a moment Renata forgot they were in mortal danger. It was just him and her, like they often wished it could be.

I love you, she thought again. She absolutely did. Guilt or not…

"Guilt or not…" she whispered, her eyes widening when it struck her.

"Ren…?" The Doctor barely got her name out when she shook his arm.

"Guilt! That's what this is about! We're guilty! We're all guilty!"

"Oh no, you're going to ruin the game," scowled the Dream Lord. "Time to go, sinful girl!"

Renata soon heard the birdsong in her ears. "Doctor, Doctor...it's…" Her body slumped forwards but the Doctor managed to catch her.

"I'm here, I'm here!" He fully supported her but he couldn't stop the birdsong from affecting her. He could only listen to her last words.

"You're guilty...we've always been guilty...Asgari...Elek…" Renata's eyes fell shut as she once again jumped worlds.

"What was she talking about?" Amy soon demanded when the Doctor carefully laid Renata's body on the floor. "Guilt?"

"Time to go for you two as well!" The Dream pointed at the Doctor and Rory. "Can't have you ruining it!"

"Wait, no, no!" Rory clapped his hands over his ears when the bird song started.

The Doctor knew it was futile to fight against it. He glared at the Dream Lord as his body was forced down from weariness. "You're going down," he promised. He would lay next to Renata until the 'game' was over.

"Rory, Doctor, don't leave me," Amy was at a loss when it was just her and the Dream Lord.

The man was smirking away. "Amy, we're going to have fun aren't we? Poor Amy. He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologizes."

Amy followed his gaze towards the Doctor. "He doesn't have to."

"That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not-to-be-trusted me." Amy glared even when he disappeared to reappear on a chair wearing a lounging robe. This was all just a game to him. "Anything could happen."

"Who are you and what do you want?" She was tired of hearing that question without a proper answer.

"I'm your conscience," the Dream Lord made a sarcastic wave of his hands. Once more he disappeared and reappeared in front of her, wearing his normal clothes again. "I know everything that goes on in that head - in all of your heads. And you're one of the worst."

"I am not," Amy tried to argue but it came out as a weak defense.

"Now, which one of these men would you really choose? Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero. Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?"

"Stop it!" Amy demanded. No one would insult Rory like that.

"Oh, defend him as if you've been doing that this whole time - oh wait," the Dream Lord clapped his hands together. "You haven't. What have you been doing exactly? That's right, you keep fantasizing about a man that's not even yours. You wished the woman he actually looks at wasn't even around. And the human? You wish she wasn't around either."

Amy looked down with guilt. Maybe she had thought about that a few times. Her face scrunched. God, she was horrible. Renata had been nothing but kind to her from the start. As a child, she became like a pseudo mother taking care of her because she was scared. As a grown-up, she continued with the same streak. Even when she didn't deserve it, Renata was still kind to her and looked out for her. Gabby even welcomed her in the beginning, taking her under her wing on their first trip together.

"Got choices to make, don't you?" The Dream Lord's voice had become about a thousand times more annoying suddenly.

"Shut up!" Amy growled. "Just shut up! I know I'm terrible! I'm a very terrible person! I don't need you making me see it because I know it!" She waited for the Dream Lord to mock her or at the very least insult her but he did nothing. Actually, he was kind of frozen. "What?" Amy rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, more than what she already was anyways. The man was completely frozen in his spot, like a true statue. "What's going on—?"

The Dream Lord blinked and suddenly he was moving again. "Time to sleep again."

"Wait, what-" Amy heard the bird song start. "No, no," she wagged a finger at him, trying her best not to collapse on the floor out of 'exhaustion' like the Doctor and Rory had. "You froze - I did something, didn't I? I did! I…"

"Sleepy time," she heard the Dream Lord say before her eyes fell shut.

~ 0 ~

Renata had jumped off the couch the moment she was 'awake'. Elek was dumbfounded but she wouldn't stop over that. "This is my own type of hell," she sighed, gazing at him sadly.

"What are you talking about?" Elek got up from the couch and the moment he did, Renata backtracked several steps away.

Renata swallowed hard as her hands came to rest over her stomach. "I've been thrown back into the worst parts of my life. I'm pregnant with a child that will never take their first breath. I'm married to a man that I love but never the way he deserves. I'm stuck in a life of lies, creating more and more lies until I'm just drowning forever."

"Renata, what are you talking about?" Elek took a few quick strides to stand in front of her.

"You and I," she looked him in his perfectly clear eyes, the same eyes that used to offer her endless love. "I failed you, Elek. I failed you from the start and I never had the courage to fix it. I made you believe that I was the perfect wife when I was far from it. You did not deserve that. And I know that I can never fix what happened but I have to move on. I have to let this guilt go, otherwise I'm going to drown and then...what would be the point in me surviving all the horrible stuff that happened? I loved you Elek, I only wished that I could've loved you like you deserved. But to do that, my past would've had to have been erased."

"Now I'm living a new life, with the man I have always loved...and I'm happy with him. I'm sorry that it couldn't be you. I tried so hard to make it work but I failed. Two hearts..." she smiled to herself, "...and the Doctor claimed both. I have to choose to believe that you're somewhere better now, in peace...with our child somewhere. But I'm still here, and I have a lot of lives to live, so...I'm going to try and do that now. For real this time. I'm going to let you go, Elek. I have to. And I hope that wherever you are now that you can forgive me for my mistakes."

She couldn't keep bottling up the guilt that stirred inside her. That's what the Dream Lord wanted from her, what he wanted from them all. The guilt that sat in her hearts was a terrible disease that would never allow her to be truly happy. If the Dream Lord had his way, she would continue living in this fake world until the guilt killed her. When the world went dark around her, she took with her the face of her husband disintegrating and finally reaching well deserved peace.

~0~

Guilt. Renata had said something about that, hadn't she? The Doctor couldn't stop thinking about it. There was something he was missing and it was staring him in the face! It would be easier to concentrate if Asgari wasn't shouting at him from behind.

"You're terrible! You've always been terrible!" She was busy shouting, unknowingly laying the groundwork for the Doctor's realization.

"I know…"

"You're a terrible husband and a terrible father! You were never here!"

"I know!" He spun around to face her angry face. He blinked. Oh. "I'm...I was terrible," he whispered.

"Yes you are!" Asgari hissed. "You're here but you're never here! You're not here with us!"

"Yeah," he slowly came to agree with her. His eyes met hers. She was angry but there was also a glimmer he couldn't ignore. "I was a terrible husband to you, and not much of a better father to our children. You didn't deserve that. Oh Asgari…" He reached to touch her face, feeling her flinch right as he did it. "You had all the opportunities in the world, and I took them away from you. I married you and under the pretense that maybe we could construct something close to a real marriage but I never followed through. I couldn't. I was in love with someone else. There was never any hope for us. That was on me, it was always on me. I'm sorry." As he expected, Asgari froze in her spot, not even blinking.

It was the truth he always held close to his heart. He said he loved his children despite practically hating their mother, but that was only half true. He never hated Asgari. He hated the arguments they had because she was always right. She always had a right to be angry with him. She was the pillar of the family because he was there but never actually there. He forced her to step up and be the best parent she could be because he was always thinking of someone else, of being somewhere else. And that was horrific of him.

"You deserved so much better than me, Asgari," he nodded. "You and our children. I'm so sorry I failed you all."

As the Doctor withdrew his hand from her cheek, she began disintegrating as did the rest of the world around him.

~0~

Rory was cradling Amy's head in his lap when she finally woke up. They were in the nursery of their cottage. Amy couldn't remember how she'd gotten there but Rory told her he had brought her in on his own.

Amy took him into a hug as he tried to warn her about some possible bruises on her body. "I don't care," she shushed him. She was such a terrible person and he continued being so good to her. "Thank you," she pulled away from him, cupping his face, "You've always been the best to me and I was never appreciative of it."

"What—" Rory started when something crashed through the windows.

Amy yelped upon seeing a statue land on the floor. "What the hell was that!?"

"The elderly people! The aliens!" Rory scrambled up from the floor, motioning Amy to stay down. "They've been chasing us down, remember? Our versions of the Doctor, Renata and Gabby are a no-show!"

"Rory, stay back, please!" Amy reached for him but he was too far gone. "I need you here with me." Never had she spoken true words. "Rory, I need you."

Rory had come up to the window just as one of the elders appeared on the other side. They were trying to climb up. She shot green mist at him and it actually hurt. He stumbled backwards with a hand over his chest.

"Rory!" Amy shrieked when he fell down. she hurried to him.

"No! I'm not ready," Rory wheezed in pain.

Amy was in tears. She had wasted her chance hadn't she? She held him close to her. "Stay, please."

"Look after our baby," he said, dissolving a second later.

Amy watched the dust fall through her fingers. "No. No. Come back!"

But he was gone. Suddenly, she got flashes of the first night she ran away in the TARDIS and willingly decided to leave him behind. How could she do something like that? Rory loved her and she paid him in such a terrible way. She was afraid of committing to the whole life thing but she had never stopped to think about what life would be without Rory.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her hand coming to rest over the pile of dust in front of her. "What did I do? What did I do!?"

A whole life without Rory wasn't appealing in the least. The whole universe could be at her feet and it would change a damn thing. Rory wouldn't be there seeing it all with her. How could she ever think that she could be without him?

"I love you, I do love you," she mumbled to herself, "it just took me forever to love you like you deserve. I'm so sorry, Rory!" Tears blurred her vision as she began to cry.

Behind her, the elderly woman had climbed in and was about to touch her when she came to a stop, frozen. Amy looked up from the dust to see the walls dissolving away. She didn't quite understand what was going on but she felt that she had done whatever it was that she was supposed to do to get herself out of there, and maybe...just maybe, she might get a second chance.

~0~

The TARDIS was back to its warm orange glow. Since Gabby was the first one to wake up in the true world, she had everyone encased in a tight hug as soon as they woke up. She was ecstatic to find them all okay and that they had realized what they had to do to get out of the crazy illusions they were thrown into.

"I don't get it, what happened?" Rory felt like he was the one who understood the least. Everything had gone dark suddenly for him.

"That happened," Renata was eyeing something in the Doctor's palm, quite disgruntled with it. Everyone crowded around them to see six glittering bits in his hand.

"What is that?" Amy frowned at it.

"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava," said the Doctor. "Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us."

"It's a parasite that feeds on the guilt of people, the darkness inside of us all," Renata explained in much simpler terms. "Usually wouldn't go for humans. Seeing as each of us had our own guilt hidden away, you have a lot to sustain itself on."

"Not me," Rory said with a light shrug. "At least...I don't think so? Truthfully, I think this whole thing just made me see that a small town isn't really what I want right now...maybe the travelling thing isn't that bad."

"You are one of a kind, Rory Williams," Renata smiled at him. "We're lucky to have you with us." Her words seemed to do a lot for Rory as he smiled contently.

"So what about the Dream Lord?" asked Gabby. "Did we dream him up to? Or was he like the toy you get with the happy meal? Just comes with it?"

"The Dream Lord was an amalgamation of all of us. It just took the appearance of the oldest one in the room," the Doctor smiled sourly. "I'm 907."

"757," Renata shrugged. "But once you faced your guilt, once you admit it out in the open, the illusions had to go away."

"It knew about us specifically though," Gabby said, biting her lower lip. "It was able to construct such a real world for me. It had Donna, just the way she used to be. It definitely brought back my guilt."

"Guilt for what, Gabriella?" Renata had been disheartened to realize that Gabby felt such a load of guilt over something that she had been sucked into the illusions as well. What could've been that strong to make her feel that way?

Gabby smiled sadly. "I always felt that if I had just been a tiny bit faster then maybe Donna wouldn't have gone through that metacrisis and she would still be here."

"But that's not on you. It was an accident."

"I know, but we were such a happy little space family. I felt like I ruined it because I couldn't save her. But…" Gabby met Amy's and Rory's gazes, "...we're not alone. I think we've made some very good friends."

"Well, you could've had one better friend," Amy sighed. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry for everything." She curled her hand around Rory's, tears fresh in her eyes. Lucky for her that he was always the forgiving kind. He kissed their interlocked hands, silently assuring that everything would be fine from now on. "And Renata…"

"It's alright," the Time Lady said, offering her a warm smile. "I think I may know a thing or two about picking between men. At least you made the right choice. Back in my day... I could have made a better one." She looked up to the Doctor, trying to start an apology right there.

I'm sorry, she told him. I should've been braver to say something.

The Doctor leaned down to kiss her temple. We're going to be okay. That was a promise.

~0~

Later on would find the two Time Lords sitting together in their makeshift room of Gallifrey. They had taken a seat on the mushy grass overlooking the citadel. There had been no words exchanged for a good while and for once the Doctor hadn't been anxious to break it. He hadn't shifted at all like he was itching to do something. Renata took a silent notice of it and truly appreciated it. There was just a mutual desire for a peaceful quietness after such a day.

Their companions had naturally recused themselves for some well deserved rest a while back. Even Gabby, who was sleeping less than a regular human would, had opted for a nap. They craved some time alone, some time to think about what happened. And for Renata and the Doctor, that 'time alone' was really some time together...alone.

"Do you think they found peace?" Renata suddenly asked him, breaking the silence between them. He side-glanced her with a questioning glint in his eyes. She met his gaze and elaborated while her eyes slowly lowered to the grass. "Elek and Asgari. Do you think that they found peace wherever they are now? We did them so much harm that I can't imagine the world would be so cruel to them by not letting them rest in peace."

"They were good people," the Doctor said, not an ounce of him doubted that. "We just didn't know how to treat them well."

"Is it wrong for me to feel like it's not entirely our fault?" Even as the words left Renata's lips, she felt a deep disgust with herself for daring to think that was true. "It's terrible, I know, but I just can't help but feel that if the laws had been different...if the rules had been different, maybe we could have been braver and just been together. That way Elek and Asgari would've been free to find people who loved them the way they deserved. Or am I just that terribly arrogant?"

"You? Arrogant? Never," the Doctor snorted at the absurdity he was hearing. "I completely understand what you mean and I think you're right. Everything was against us, Renée. We didn't make the best of choices but we didn't have a lot of choices to begin with. But you're not a bad person. You're far from that." He scooted himself closer to her side, wrapping an arm around her waist and cautiously waiting for her to say something about it.

She didn't.

She leaned her body against his. She needed that warmth from him right now. "I want to be happy," she declared. "I want to do the whole thing. Being together and making it clear to everyone around us that...we are for each other."

"You just described my perfect world," the Doctor said, and relished in her lighthearted giggle. He kissed the top of her head and rested his cheek over it. "Forever."

---

A/N:

And there we go, everyone's said goodbye to their past. I actually kind of teared up with some of the lines. Donna has always been my favorite companion and I was just so devastated with her ending in s4. And now Ren and the Doctor can finally move on and just try to be happy (before shit comes for them again, you know)

As always, I have an Fanfic/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)

Chapter 17: The Time Ripper

A/N: Disclaimer: This chapter's plotline is from Doctor Who's comic stories. Most of the dialogue is directly written from the comic. The plot is NOT mine.

---

"Victorian London, Victorian London, you know the last time we were here there was a huge giant Cyberman we destroyed, right?" Gabby patted down her checkered green Victorian dress on their way into the console. The Doctor had heard the last bit of her statement followed by Renata's sharp response.

"What?

The Doctor turned from the console in time to see Renata leading the humans in, her expression twisting with outrage.

"There was a what?" She quickly met his eyes and stalked up to him. "Is that the Cyberman you were talking about a while back?"

"U-uh, well...maybe…" The Doctor scratched the back of his head, briefly shooting a glare at Gabby. Explaining the full details of that trip wasn't exactly on his to do list today.

"You just couldn't stop yourself from getting into trouble while I was gone, huh?" Renata shook her head at him. The smile tugging at her lips helped the Doctor relax. She wasn't killing him today.

"Well, that's why I need you around," he cleverly came up with.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not your babysitter."

"No, you're way better," he swiftly turned her around to the others. He took great notice of her Victorian dress in the process. She was regal and stunning as usual.

"Umm, Doctor, is that supposed to be happening?" Rory's voice, unfortunately, dragged the Doctor back to the present. He was motioning to the flashing light on the console.

"Ah, nothing to worry about," the Doctor slipped from Renata's side and had Rory follow him. "Use the egg whisk!"

Rory blinked at the instruction, his head briefly glancing at Amy to make sure he'd heard right. She gave him the confirming nod. "Uh, right, the...the egg whisk."

"Kryon radiation," the Doctor's words pulled Renata's attention. He was at the monitor reading the reasons behind the warning light.

"Are you sure?" She lifted an eyebrow at him.

"That's what the TARDIS says…"

"Let me guess, something alien?" Amy folded her arms over her chest. There had to be a record for the shortest amount of time it took their trips to go haywire. There just had to be one!

Renata said nothing but she hitched the side of her dress and pulled out her sonic from her side pocket. "Well, it sure seems like it. Let's go see what it is." Her expression was far too much like the Doctor's. It left Amy gawking.

The Doctor, despite not seeing Renata's face, was positively beaming. "Did you hear that? My Renée wants to go investigate!" He pulled out his own sonic and dashed after her.

"Lovesick moron," Gabby shook her head, though a part of her was just as happy as the Doctor. Little by little Renata was beginning to let loose.

The trio of humans soon ventured into the dark Victorian street on the other side of the doors. The Doctor and Renata were each holding the sonics in the air, truly investigating together.

"It is Kryon radiation," Renata hummed with interest. "It shouldn't be, but it is. What's it doing here?"

"Why would it even be here?" The Doctor lowered his sonic to take a closer look at the reading. "This is a sleep Victorian street."

"That doesn't look very 'sleepy' to me," Gabby's voice drew the pair's attention. She was pointing at the end of the street where a group of people had gathered. "Looks very awake to me, doesn't it?"

"Oh dear," Renata blinked at the sight. She recognized the formal attire of policemen at work. "Alright, I think we should head back and think about our options…"

"Sorry sir, going to have to stop you there!" She heard the unfamiliar voice of a man and it was only then that she saw the Doctor going towards the stranger. The policeman was trying to hold him back.

"Doctor!" Renata hissed. "One of these days I'm going to make him wait and come up with a proper plan!" She stomped under her dress.

"I'd love to see that," Gabby shared a laugh with Amy. Rory was the only one who thought Renata's annoyance was well placed and not a joking matter. How could the Doctor just walk into a human issue like that?

Renata eventually led the humans towards the spot. They were allowed in at the call of the Doctor's. He was already up to the part where he lies to get the information.

"You could have waited for me," she whisper-hissed when she was at his side.

"Sorry darling, sometimes I just can't help myself," he shrugged. His playful innocence died the moment they got a glimpse of what had driven all the attention.

A woman's corpse laid on the ground with the worst types of lacerations on her body. Behind them, Gabby and Amy swallowed roughly. Rory was more or less used to the scenes from the hospital but this wasn't something nice to look at either. It tugged at his nurse heart seeing the poor woman liked that.

"Her throat was cut," the Doctor noted the deep red gash across the woman's neck. "She died pretty much instantly I reckon. What do you think, Rory?"

Rory blinked at the call of his name. Amy and Gabby shifted so that he could go up to the Time Lords, something that made him absolutely nervous. It was like he'd been sent up to his parents to explain himself. Renata certainly played the part of a mother, he'd come to realize.

"Um, why are you asking me?" He asked in a much more cracking voice than he would've liked. "You're the Doctor here!"

"Yes, but you're the nurse and you've been practicing medicine far more recently than I have."

"He's right Rory," Renata said just as Rory opened his mouth to no doubt argue with him. "I was nowhere near medicine. I was a, um, what would you call it? Event planner? I ran a charity and right now that's not what the situation calls for. It needs a man who's been around patients. So, what do you see?"

Rory swallowed nervously. His eyes fixated on the corpse and did his best to give the right information. "W-well, she's dead — we can see that. Um, the wound was made by something sharp — of course it was Rory, that's a stupid statement."

Renata placed a hand on his arm, stopping him from insulting himself any further. "Rory, you're being too hard on yourself."

He nodded and tried to really think. There was nothing really outstanding on the corpse, at least not with the naked eye. He sniffed. "Actually, there's a funny smell…"

"Breath mints, they're in her hand," the Doctor nodded to the lost bag of mints on the ground, said mints sprawled on the ground.

"No, I know there's a funny smell," Rory insisted, making the Doctor take another whiff. Everyone else did the same.

"Mm, it's something else…" the Doctor started again, "Almost like there should be a smell...but there isn't."

"Doctor," Renata tugged at his sleeve. She had noticed a man at the end of the street seemingly coming towards them. Her sonic was twinkling just as it had when it read off the Kryon radiation. "He's emitting the same radiation signals."

"You're right," the Doctor said after noticing her sonic. "It's not what they're emanating from, but who! Be back in a minute, following a lead!"

"Oh no you don't!" Renata immediately grabbed his arm when he intended on running off. "I'm coming with you this time! I've gotta teach you not to leave me behind!"

"Leave you behind? Never!" He swooped forwards to plant a kiss on her lips then yanked her in the direction of the man, barely giving her time to register everything.

"What about us!?" Gabby called after them and her answer came in the form of the psychic paper. The Doctor had thrown it at her. "Well, he's extra rude today!"

"What exactly are we supposed to do without them?" Rory huffed at the sight of the disappearing Time Lords. "We're in Victorian London! In the past!"

"Calm down Rory, we got this," Gabby promised him and waved the psychic paper. "We just make up lies. Renata hates it but it's literally how we get through these things. I can't exactly go up to people and say 'Hi, I'm Gabby and I'm from the future. Also, my DNA was altered and I have super powers'. Can you imagine how that would go?"

"Give me!" Amy snatched the psychic paper from her, all too eager to see what new identity she would adopt for the case. "I'm thinking detective!"

"I'm thinking it's Victorian London which means no female detectives!" Gabby shot Amy a 'duh' look.

"And who were you again?" One of the policemen came up to the group.

Amy whirled around with the psychic paper in hand. "I'm Miss Marple!"

Gabby snorted beside her and snatched the psychic paper from her, ready to give herself her own alter ego like Amy. Perhaps they would stretch the truth just a bit more today. "I'm Nancy Drew!" Amy did double-take at her and got a wink in return. She was keeping Nancy Drew. "Oh, and he's— " she nodded back at Rory, "—Inspector...Clouiseau?"

Rory would have shaken his head at both women for their playful games at such a horrendous time. "We're with C.S.I. … London?" He was beginning to see why Renata complained about the lying part. It was hard coming up with them on the spot and much more to uphold the lies.

~ 0 ~

Renata and the Doctor ran as fast as they could after the strange man, though Renata felt she was at a huge disadvantage wearing her Victorian dress.

"We just want to talk!" The Doctor called to the man in vain. "Why don't people want to stop and talk anymore?"

"You barely want to do that!" Renata huffed at him.

"Well, if it's with you, always!"

"Why are you flirting with me today more than normal?"

The Doctor beamed. "Ah, so you've noticed! Good, I was beginning to get worried!"

Despite her best efforts not to do it, her lips curved into a flushed smile. It was at that moment that the Doctor got an advantage and caught the stranger's tailcoat.

"You seem to have a lot of Kryon radiation and that's a bit strange as it comes from the Matrua Nebula! I was just wondering if you could—" But the Doctor recoiled when the stranger's appearance flashed from a human man into a green alien resembling a fish's head with land claws.

All Renata saw was the Doctor's body landing on the ground with a hard thud and the green creature scurrying away. "Doctor, what the — are you alright!?" She bent down beside him and helped him sit upright.

"I think so," he said and verbally counted his fingers to make sure that none of them had been bitten away.

"You know what that looked like, right?" Renata pulled him up to his feet and adjusted her dress. This running wasn't precisely what she had in mind when she put it on. "That was a Shimmer. Haven't seen those in a while…"

The Doctor gave a solemn nod of agreement. He reached for her hand and gripped it. "Would you like to go back, Renée? Clearly this isn't a human and I don't quite like the idea of having you near a reptile killer."

Renata shifted her hand so that she was able to squeeze his. "Where you go, I go. We made that promise and I intend to see it through."

The Doctor smiled at her. He led the way down the street in a hasty sprint. They had to catch up to the creature before it did anymore harm.

~ 0 ~

"You seriously went with 'Nancy Drew'?" Rory was looking at Gabby like the woman had lost it giving out that famous name to the policemen.

"I don't see you giving Amy crap for using Miss Marple," Gabby snorted, folding her arms. "And you know, I actually met Agatha Christie" Her expression went grim for a moment as she thought back to those days again. She inwardly sighed. God, she really missed Donna still but no longer would she be guilty about things that weren't in her control. The best she could do now was move on and live as happy as she could be. That's what Donna would've wanted.

"Amy, are you alright?" Gabby heard Rory enquiring and looked over to the ginger who was still staring at the corpse. It wasn't a pretty sight at all but there was something else on Amy's face, something quizzical. "You seem a bit distracted…"

"There's somthing about this murder, I just can't put my finger on it," Amy mumbled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Things seemed familiar but how could they be? She hadn't been around any other murders…

"Make way for Sir Charles Warren!" One of the policemen announced as an older man in a suit and black tophat came forward. The mustached man only stopped when a reporter demanded details of the latest murder.

"Act sharp guys, looks like he's the boss," Gabby told the others in a hushed voice.

Warren had sent the reporter away and soon was asking about the case and then the trio's presence. With an elbow into Rory's side, he took up the lead and presented themselves.

"City police, eh?" Warren read off the psychic paper. "Well this is Metropolitan police territory! We don't need your kind here thank you! Can I see your identification?" Rory nervously produced the psychic paper to the man's face. As soon as Warren caught a glimpse of it, his entire demeanor changed into a welcoming one. "My apologies, my Lord! I wasn't told that you would be here! Lewis, this is the Earl of Upper Leadworth!" He called to the other man that had first announced him. Rory barely blinked when Warren took the psychic paper from him to show Lewis. "He's believed to be the inspiration for Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes!"

Rory had no idea what the hell was going on and it showed when he glanced at Amy and Gabby helplessly. He was much less amused to find them almost laughing at his reaction. He only looked away when the men started calling to him again. He had to switch back to the lying mode. "Yes, um, hello! Didn't mean to tread on any toes, happened to be in the area and, wkek, you know! These are my assistants, Miss Marple—" his arm gestured towards Amy then shifted to Gabby, — "and Miss Drew."

"Oh, of course!" Amy snapped her fingers suddenly. "Jack the Ripper! I remember this at school! Lizzie Stride…" Her eyes lowered to the corpse. "This is the night of the double murder!"

"You wanna look a little less happy about that?" Gabby was staring incredulously at the ginger.

Even Rory was at a loss of what to say on his fiance's behalf. None of it stopped Amy from continuing on. "It was 45 minutes later when the second body was found — Mitre Square!" She hurried to the closest policeman and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. "We can still save her! How do we get to Mitre Square from here?"

"She's lost it," Gabby scowled. It was even worse when the policeman answered Amy's question and gave her the directions she was looking for.

She bolted from the spot.

Gabby dashed after her, yelling for Rory to stay put as another policeman followed them. They needed to strategically split up and since Amy had taken a stupid lead, she would have to follow.

"Amy, you have to stop!" She cried in vain as the ginger kept going. Even the policeman was trying to stop them without success.

Amy was determined to reach the site of the second murder and to her luck, she did. She came to a skidded stop when she saw a green creature standing over a woman's body on the ground. Before she opened her mouth, whether to shout at it or scream, who knew, the creature fired something at her. She clapped a hand at the side of her neck.

"What was that!?"

In a few seconds, her limbs started going numb.

"I can't feel my legs, I can't...I can't move! My v…"

Her voice was drying up as well. Her legs started buckling and at the worst time ever because the creature was coming towards her. She would have liked to scream but her voice was gone. Just as it would reach her, something gold flashed across her.

"Away from her!" Renata had produced a barrier that, truthfully, was costing her quite the energy. She was still working hard to develop these strange powers of hers but she would be damned if she didn't try to use them to protect her friends.

Behind her, the Doctor swooped Amy away from the immediate area and helped her sit on the ground. Whatever Amy was trying to say, the Doctor didn't wait for it as he instead turned to now get Renata away from the creature. He brandished his sonic towards it. "The thing about lizards is that their tympanic membranes are close to the skin! It means that you, my dear, can't help but hear everything incredibly loud!" With a smirk, he flicked his sonic and it produced a loud, eerie noise in the air.

The creature screeched and fell back, allowing Renata to lower the shield. She fell to her knees with a heavy breath but soon had the Doctor at her side.

"Renée, are you alright?" He tried helping her stand but it was too soon for her.

"A-Amy…" She flapped a hand backwards, gesturing towards Amy.

"But…"

"Amy!"

The Doctor cursed her selflessness, though in another moment he would admire it to the fullest extent, and hurried to Amy. She was in and out of consciousness and he soon realized why.

"Dart to the neck. Try not to talk for a moment. It's some kind of muscle relaxant! All we have to do is find out what the creature used…" He trailed off when he realized that the creature was long gone. "Well, that's not good."

"Amy!" Gabby's voice soon carried in seconds before she and the rest of the cops arrived. "Oh God, what happened?" She looked between the trio with a dreadful eye. "I told her not to go but did she listen, noo."

"It's the Ripper!" One of the policemen pointed at the Doctor, having taken a quick scan of the area and made the easiest assumption.

Gabby sent him a scrunched-face glance. "Seriously? We're not doing that." She had barely said the words when the rest of the cops tackled the Doctor to the ground.

Renata wobbled on her feet when she tried turning around. "Hey! Get off of him right this instant!"

They ignored her the first time and instead kept making the wrong assumptions. "He said he was a doctor! We should have guessed!"

Another cop had found the Doctor's sonic. "Is this your weapon? Were you going to kill Miss Marple the same way as the others!?"

"Miss who?" The Doctor lifted an eyebrow at the man, quite calm despite his situation.

Renata huffed and stomped her way towards the men. "Let him go this instant or so help me I will hurt you so badly that you'll be the ones in need of a doctor!"

One of the policemen had stood up to face her. "Ma'am, you are—?"

Renata got right in his face with the angriest eyes she could produce. "I said," she gritted her teeth together, "let him go! That woman is our friend. We arrived together on the scene! Feel free to corroborate that with the first officers we met behind the Metropolitan lines. If you don't and you continue harassing him, I will make sure that your superiors know of your terribly embarrassing mistake. Can't have that, can we?" She flashed the man the sweetest of smiles contrasting her blazing eyes.

The policeman had the good sense to step back.

The Doctor smirked from the ground when the policemen left him alone.

Wipe that smirk off your face right now, he heard the scolding voice of Renata in his mind. It had the opposite effects.

I like this commanding version of you. Now he loved the effect his words had on her. As tall and commanding as she was, her face blushed a deep red that would've been noticed by the others if it had been daylight.

"What is going on?" demanded a new man. All the eyes went to the arrival of another man with Rory at his side.

"We thought we had the Ripper, sir!" The policeman Renata threatened was quick to say and pointed at her, something the Doctor glared at him for. "But this woman is interfering!"

"Seriously, how are you cops?" Gabby frowned at the whole group of policemen agreeing with the man. "You're so incompetent."

"What's happened to Amy?" Rory quickly rushed to Amy's side. She was stirring awake from all the mess.

"Paralyzing dart, she'll be fine in a bit!" The Doctor managed to call as the policemen tried dragging him away.

"Stop this instant!" Renata yelled over the commotion, proving she had the highest voice in the group.

"Alright, alright, let's take a moment here," the man that'd come with Rory finally spoke up.

"But he's the Ripper!" One of the policemen insisted, holding up the Doctor's sonic in the air. "He was going to slice the woman with this!"

The man seemed unimpressed. "With that? A pointy stick? What is this man, a wizard?"

Before Renata could even warn him not to, the Doctor grinned. "Well actually, some people have regarded me as one!"

Renata facepalmed. How was this the most intelligent man in the world? Luckily, no one seemed to take his words literally.

"As far as I've been told, that woman is one of his assistants. Of course he'd be kneeling next to her! Wouldn't you do the same?"

The policeman reluctantly let go of the Doctor. The Time Lord fixed his jacket and swiped his sonic back.

"I rather like the man," he announced and stopped by Renata's side. He cupped her face for a moment, eyes searching for any type of physical injury on her from the energy she expelled.

She didn't say anything but curled her hand around his that rested over her cheek. Her eyes willed him to meet hers. She afforded him a light smile. She was perfectly fine. That was enough for the Doctor to be able to move on.

He turned to the man responsible for easing the situation. "I like this man," he grinned. "Good job, Rory. I wondered where you'd wandered off."

He completely missed Rory's scrunched face. He hadn't wandered away, the Doctor had. Did he just forget that?

"Inspector Abberling," the man introduced himself and shook hands with the Doctor.

"Doctor, Renata," Rory stepped closer to the Time Lords, "he can't see anything on your paper."

"Really?" Renata mused on the implications of what that meant for the man. "I've never met a human who couldn't."

"Means he's a genius!" The Doctor beamed. "Same happened with Shakespeare and Ptolemy! No, wait...that was a sheet of paper. Doesn't count."

Renata put a hand over his arm, smiling at him while he went back and forth with that story. "Please, let's move on."

Abberling found the Doctor as bemusing as anyone else typically would upon first meeting him. He listened to the Doctor review, out loud, what had happened so far as everyone else had missed out.

"This isn't a man! It's a creature! Talon fingers, some kind of leecher, possibly minerals from the deceased's body! That might be why there was a lack of smell, Rory."

"Right…" Rory nodded, trying to act as if he'd understood the connection with that bit of explanation even when he so clearly hadn't. Who would? Even Gabby was looking as puzzled as he was. She'd traveled with the Time Lords for a long time now and if she still didn't get them, then it meant he wasn't doing half bad.

"He's wearing a shimmer suit," Renata said, her eyes lingering on Gabby. Something sparked in the girl's eyes.

"Oh! Like those Vinvocci you met!" Gabby wondered if those same cacti people were now terrorizing Victorian London. It didn't sound like them.

"Okay, what is that?" Amy arched an eyebrow at them.

"It's like an all-in-one disguise kit for aliens that don't look human and it's drenched in Kryon radiation, which means that it's from the Matrua Nebula," the Doctor explained. They started heading back to where the first corpse was.

"What does that mean?" Amy still didn't understand and neither did Rory, nor Gabby for that matter.

"There are two species in that area," Renata started and since she had used simple vocabulary, it gave their companions hope that she would help them understand better. "The Ju'wes and the Re'nar. Either of these races could be our culprit. They were always known to have problems with each other, always getting into trouble and blaming each other for blowing things up." Renata glanced at the trio with a look only a scolding mother could hold. "Absolute children."

The three humans had to look down as if they were the ones in trouble. Without realizing it, they all silently agreed that perhaps Renata would be able to stop those two races from arguing if they placed her in the middle. With the look she had on...anybody would stop dead in their tracks.

As soon as the group reached the site of the corpse, the Doctor took another study of it. Now that he knew what he was looking for, it was easier to draw conclusions. "The peritoneal lining has been cut through, a kidney and the adrenal gland are missing."

Renata came beside him and bent down as much as she could in her dress. "They wanted the Adrenal Medula, where all the stimulants to help you fight or flight are made."

"So...so that's what these things are looking for?" Gabby made a face. That definitely didn't sound like the Vinvocci.

"The Adrenal Medulla is where your body makes adrenaline," the Doctor started, pushing himself up to his feet, "Think of the rush of extra strength or the energy you get when you're scared. It all gets made in that."

"But then why is it choosing to drag the death out?" She peered around his body to the corpse. "It sliced and cut this woman. Why bother?"

"Because it needs the victim to be afraid, terrified," the Doctor said grimly. "The more he does, the more terrified the victim is...and the tastier they are."

Gabby was utterly repulsed. Renata quickly straightened on her feet and took the girl away from the corpse. She would rather the humans not keep looking at the corpse.

~ 0 ~

Inspector Abberline had taken the group to his study in the New Scotland Yard to go over the case.

"Jack the Ripper, I remember reading about him in school," Amy was telling the group once they were alone to 'rest for a bit'. As if they could actually rest with a murderer on the loose. "Wasn't it someone from the Royal Family, though?"

"You've been watching too many movies, Amy," the Doctor gave the ginger a look. "Too many flights of fancy. That said, the fact that he's really a shape-changing alien doesn't seem that far-fetched compared to that."

"I remember the Ripper murders—wasn't there one more, though?" asked Rory. "Mary somebody? We could tell her and save her."

"Oh no, we can't do that," Renata shook her head, subjecting herself to the same crazed looks from him and Amy.

"What do you mean 'doesn't work like that'?" Amy was soon to gain outrage at the situation. "You mean you'll just let her die?"

"Don't give me that look," snapped the Time Lady. "I don't know about this murderer but I get the feeling that he was big in Earth history—"

"He is," the Doctor grimly confirmed. "Every victim is a static point in space and time. They can't be altered."

"History can't be changed," Renata said.

This still wasn't good enough for Amy. "But you chased him! If you'd caught him, what would have happened then?"

"Amy, we chased him before we knew what the true nature of the event was," Renata pointed out.

"And if you note, Amy, he got away," the Doctor said, making Amy roll her eyes. "Time takes care of some things on its own. Poor Mary has to die—that much I know. But she was the Ripper's last victim. Which means that after he kills her—he's mine."

Gabby's face scrunched. "I don't think that sounds any better."

"Inspector Clouseau!" One of the police offers flung the door open. "Come quick! We've found a clue and a message from the Ripper!"

An ominous atmosphere fell over the group. They returned to the streets and were led up to a building that indeed held a message for them.

'The Ju'wes are not the men. We will be blamed for nothing.'

"What does it mean?" Abberline hoped to get some answers from the group because so far, his people had nothing.

"The Ju'wes on Earth?" Renata whispered to the Doctor, ow more confused than ever. "Why here?"

"What is it?" Gabby asked the pair of Time Lords. "What does the message mean?"

"It means that I was right. It was the Ju'wes or someone who wants us to think so," the Doctor sighed, bringing a hand to the back of his neck to rub. This was about to get even more complicated.

"Think?" Rory caught onto the key word.

Before the Doctor could explain, another man came roaring onto the site. "What are you doing, man!? You want to start a riot? Clean the message off right away!"

"But sir, we haven't been able to take a picture yet!" Abberline exclaimed. "In an hour or so, it'll be light enough and then—"

"I didn't say 'do it in a couple of hours', I said do it now!"

The two men went back and forth with each other, their voices getting louder with each minute that passed by.

"Oh God, this is a waste of time," Renata glanced at the Doctor.

He nodded in agreement. "Come on, we'll not find anything else here tonight." He made a turn and held his arm out for Renata to take. She curled her arm around his and together led their companions away from the scene. "Going on Ju'wes physiology, the Ripper has feasted enough for a few weeks. We need to prepare for when he returns, not chase where he's been."

They returned to the TARDIS to skip those weeks but Amy wasn't having it.

"So what, we're just going to leave Mary to die!?"

"Amy, we've been over this," Renata sent an irritated look in Amy's direction. "Don't you understand? What would happen if we were to intervene and save this Mary?"

"Well—" Amy began but Renata cut her off with a sharp voice.

"Catastrophe, Amelia Pond!" Amy flinched and so did Rory and Gabby on her behalf. Renata didn't look the least bit fazed by her hard attitude. "Reality would change. The Ripper's victims may increase because he couldn't kill this woman."

"But what if we stopped him before he killed her? Then he wouldn't be able to kill elsewhere! Then Mary would live!"

Renata's jaw tightened. Wasn't Amy listening to her? "But what if Mary then gave birth to someone not meant to exist? Another Hitler, for example?"

"Anything could happen every time you walk out of the TARDIS door!"

"Amelia Pond, stop this!" Renata spun around to the Doctor, gesturing for him to make a comment or something that would help Amy see the reality of the situation.

"She's got a point, Renata," Rory said and immediately heard Gabby sighing 'don't help' on the side. "You and the Doctor interfere all the time with Earth's history. Why is this any different?"

"Because we don't like interfering with history!" The Doctor snapped. "Usually something non-linear is affecting it and I'm returning everything to its original state. With this, however, the Ripper killings are the original state, alien or no alien. It's supposed to happen."

Amy was shaking her head fervently.

"Without Mary's death to emphasize their mistakes, the metropolitan and city police wouldn't end up working together. All of London would be changed. But what we can do—" The Doctor came to an abrupt stop after looking up and finding no such Pond in the room.

"Where did she go!?" Gabby dreaded the answer.

Renata was absolutely furious with the girl. "Oh my goodness! She's going to do something reckless after we told her not to!" She pointed a finger at the Doctor. "She cannot travel like this, Doctor," she said as she stormed out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor said nothing but the look on his face was more or less the same anger as Renata's. There was only so much they could let slide from their companions and right now, Amy was pushing it.

~ 0 ~

The Ju'Wes decided to make its presence known to the Doctor and Renata when they split up to find Amy. Though it was a blatant attempt to scare them — since neither of them were harmed — the creature revealed its true intentions. He was not a Ju'Wes, but a Re'Nar instead and he would make sure that the Ripper's murders were blamed on the Ju'Wes.

"This keeps getting worse and worse," Renata huffed on their way back to the Scotland Yard offices. "I hope that Rory and Gabriella were able to find Amy before she does anything stupid. Honestly, the nerve of that girl—"

The Doctor slipped his hand around hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You can't let this cloud your head right now."

"How are you so calm about this?"

"She's not the first companion to do something like this. Remember Donna?"

"How could I forget her," Renata said in a whisper and sighed. "But...I just can't tolerate someone who doesn't listen."

"Well…" The Doctor sent her a teasing smile that, despite her best efforts not to, made her relax a bit.

"Shush," she wagged a finger at him with her free hand. "This is just different. Amy blatantly disregarded my words as if I didn't know what I was talking about. And it's not the first time she tries to do something stupid. Either she learns, or she needs to leave, Doctor. Donna learned."

The Doctor nodded.

Together, they reached the offices and found Charles Warren working. He was thoroughly surprised when he noticed he was no longer alone in the room.

"Hat the devil!? Don't you know how to knock?" He eyed the strange gold device the Doctor held in his hand. It was glowing. "I could have been handling sensitive information here!"

"Really, sir Charles? Or are you just worried that someone might see your real face?" The Doctor raised the sonic in the air, letting it whirr. "A lot of Kryon radiation around you, sir Charles. I should have guessed when you demanded the sign to be removed."

"Why?" the man sneered, "So Gallifreyans could claim jurisdiction over my prey? I don't think so, Doctor."

"So you knew who we were from the start," Renata noted. "You're an imposter. Where's the real Charles Warren? Have you hurt him?"

"He's having a nice long holiday while I take his form."

That honestly surprised both Time Lords. At least they knew that the real human was safe and sound.

"So let me guess, you're using Warren's position to help with hunting the Ripper," the Doctor put his sonic away. "What is he? An escaped Re'Nar?"

Another note of surprise was the fact that Warren didn't attempt to avoid the answers. Someone asked, and he answered. "During the war, many terrible things were done. And at the end of it, we atoned for our sins. Mac'Atyde — that's who you know as the Ripper — didn't." He moved towards a table for a drink. "He enjoyed what he had become. And he hunted for more sport. He had to be stopped. I had to stop him." He turned around and offered the pair two glasses. "Here. Dandelion and Burdock. Anyway, we fought in deep space, but both ships fell through a Temporal Eddy. He crash-landed here. I followed. By the time I found him, he'd already killed once. To gain intelligence on the case, I took this form, put the real sir Charles in a safe place."

"This is one big outer-space chase," Renata sighed. "And the humans are caught in the middle."

"I'm from the future," Warren said. "I know Earth's history, how the Ripper's murders end. I'm aware of cause and effect. I'll keep on him until the last murder, then I'll retire 'Warren', let the real one return, and slip into the shadows."

"And what about when you catch him?" the Doctor asked. "Execution? Or take him to trial?"

"That's where you come in. Both our ships were destroyed and neither are capable of time travel. Why else do you think I let your human friend work on the case?"

"Yeah, let's not tell him that bit," the Doctor mumbled. Renata elbowed him on the side. "What?" She shook her head at him. "The Ripper strikes again in 5 weeks, we'll see you then, sir Charles."

"But know this," Renata settled a sharp look on the man, "if you try to play us, trick us, in any way...you will go down." Her eyes flashed a dangerous gold. "Earth is not a playground."

~ 0 ~

As the Time Lords found the TARDIS again, they saw their companions returning as well.

"Found her before she could cause any trouble?" The Doctor asked, keeping his eyes off the ginger in question.

"Kind of," Rory shrugged. Gabby snorted. Amy had been able to warn Mary about the Ripper but the woman hadn't believed it. They would keep it to themselves since it didn't do any change to the time line.

"Hey! Stop talking like I'm not even here!" Amy exclaimed.

"You, Amelia Pond," Renata's eyes narrowed on the woman, "shouldn't even talk right now. Your tenure in the TARDIS is in jeopardy and don't even give me that look of shock, not when you know exactly what you did to warrant such a consequence!"

Amy wouldn't try to do any look, much less try to argue. She knew exactly what she'd done but only now was realizing that those consequences could be mighty.

"Doctor! Inspector Clouseau! What are you doing?" Abberline approached the group.

"Hi Abberline, glad you got my note," the Doctor sauntered up to the TARDIS and unlocked it. "Look, I'm going to be quite blunt here. You're going to see some strange things but please know that we're on your side. Be back here on November the 8th at 9 p.,. Bring some men, got that?"

"Strange things?" Abberline noticed the rest of the group filing behind the Doctor as if they were all going to crowd into the blue box.

"Just stay right there and you'll see what I mean," the Doctor promised and went inside the TARDIS first.

"So, what's the plan?" Gabby asked them first thing inside.

"Nothing happens for the next month, so I thought we'd jump a few weeks and catch the Ripper on his last murder," the Doctor went straight to the console.

"So we're letting Mary die, still?" Amy couldn't help the disappointment that crossed her face. As angry as she knew Renata was, she still had a little hope that maybe she would get past it and do something for someone innocent.

"Actually, no," the Doctor left her dumbfounded. He worked the console to move them towards the weeks into November. "We're going to save her. Abberline's men will join us as we wait for the Ripper to strike and then when he does — we've got him!"

"What?" Amy quickly looked over to Renata, waiting to see what the Time Lady had to say.

Renata would not look at her. "We need to go," she headed for the doors after the TARDIS landed. As soon as she stepped out, she came face to face with Abberline and his group of men behind him. "Evening gentlemen."

"I...I can't believe my eyes!" Abberline said with his wide, blinking eyes.

"Oh trust me, inspector Abberline," the Doctor stepped out beside Renata, "A materializing blue box is nothing compared to what you'll see later."

For the rest of the evening, the group and the policemen would wait for the Ripper to show up. Outside of the last victim's home, the travelers separated in two groups while Abberline directed his men around the other streets. Hours ticked by with nothing to show and even when dawn came by, everything remained still.

At 10 a.m, one of the police officers cried murder. Mary Kelley had been murdered instead of Mary Warner.

"But you said Mary Warner was the next victim!" Abberline stood in front of the Time Lords with a helpless face.

"She was," the Doctor insisted. "I don't understand—" He and Renata suddenly paused in their spots.

"What's going on?" Rory approached the pair in time to see the sight. Each of them were clutching their heads, groaning in pain.

"We can feel Time altering," Renata scrunched her face. She had never been one for Earth history but when something as big as the Ripper's timeline was changing, she was bound to feel the massive effect.

"Mary Kelly was the fifth Ripper victim, not Warner!" The Doctor raised his head up to get some air. "What did Amy do!?"

"Nothing!" Rory exclaimed but soon realized it wasn't entirely true. Amy had gotten a chance to warn that Mary. Maybe she decided to believe Amy after all. "I mean...she spoke to two women. She tried to warn them but they laughed her off."

Renata dropped her hands to her side with a growl. "The universe has changed because of Amy's words and with the change, the present is fluid again! We don't know what happens next with the Ripper. Thanks to Amy, he could kill again and be anywhere."

"I-I don't think she realized," Rory said, knowing full well this is exactly what Renata had warned Amy about.

"Where's Amy and Gabby?" the Doctor asked. He checked their immediate area but didn't see either girl.

"They split up…" Rory trailed off shortly when he realized what he'd said. Oh God.

~ 0 ~

Gabby struggled against the binds around her wrists and the gag in her mouth. She would've shot Amy the death glare had they not been already getting one from the Re'Nar itself.

"Don't worry ladies, I've already eaten. You're going to be a message. A bloodied, battered, incredibly dead one. A message that says 'The Ripper still lives and now he kills purely for fun!'

~ 0 ~

White Chapel, 2011.

With two companions missing and the Ripper still on the loose, the Time Lords and Rory hopped into the future to see exactly what they were dealing with. History was still changing which made it impossible for the Doctor and Renata to 'see it' in their minds just yet. They needed to see it from a human's perspective. They visited the only spot possible for such an answer: the Ripper tour.

An old man was in the middle of the tour, listing off the Ripper's known victims when they heard key names. "...Catherine Eddows, Mary Kelly, Amelia Maple, Nancy Drew, Mary Warner—"

"Amy used 'Miss Marple' and Gabby used 'Nancy Drew' as their names," Rory swallowed a big lump in his throat.

The noise that came out of Renata's mouth was nothing human, nor alien for that matter. She nearly fell back if the Doctor hadn't caught her. "Not Gabriella! Poor Amy!" As mad as she was with the girl, she never wanted anything to happen to Amy.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on! Mary Warner was the original fifth and final victim. That can't be a coincidence!" The Doctor waved a hand for the tour man to stop. "Exactly when and where did Amelia and Nancy die? How close after Mary Kelly was it?"

"They were found following the night with the body of Mary Warner, in a yard on the junction of Hanbury Street and Brick Lane!" The tour man answered then raised a finger at the trio. "Unlike the others, these three were murdered elsewhere and then brought to this place of resting. Nobody has ever understood why!"

"Oh wait till I get my hands on that creature!" Renata curled her hands into fists. She spun around to head back into the TARDIS but Rory was already halfway there. He was getting his fiance back one way or another!

"Right then," the Doctor was last in the TARDIS, "If the girls were found the following night, that means they're going to be murdered tonight!"

"But why tonight?" Rory watched the Time Lords work fervently around the console. "Why not tomorrow night? Or next week? Seriously, why not just go back to the previous day and stop Amy from even leaving the TARDIS?"

"Oh, another bad idea!" Renata shook her head, her tone sharp with disapproval. Rory suspected that she hadn't even meant it for him specifically.

"It's cause and effect, Rory," the Doctor explained. "You know how it works. Look what's happened with Mary Kelly! We're part of history now. It has to happen—"

"It's Amy, Doctor!" Rory exclaimed. "It's Amy—"

"ENOUGH!" Renata's loud roar silenced the human in his spot. She was livid now and it was definitely directed at him this time. "I have had it with you humans disregarding our words like we didn't even say anything in the first place! We explicitly told Amy not to do anything but she did whatever the hell she wanted anyways!"

Rory side-glanced the Doctor for his help but it seemed like this time Renata was taking the reigns. "So you won't save Amy because she made a mistake?" Rory winced at Renata's humorless laugh.

"You still don't get it," she rolled her eyes. "Of course we'll try to save Amy because she's our friend. That's the point. She's reckless and we're expected to clean up her mess, thus giving her the illusion that'll always be like this." She looked Rory in the eyes, challenging him to say it was otherwise. Of course, he wouldn't. "It won't always be like this, Rory." Her words were the last words spoken until they returned to Victorian London.

~ 0 ~

Neither Amy nor Gabby could figure out where they were. The best they could guess was a cellar of some sort.

"This is awful," Gabby sighed after another round of struggles to free herself. The cellar was cluttered with all types of metal scraps. She was sure some of them were actual weapons but she couldn't get anything closer.

Amy kept staring at Mary Kelly lying unconscious across from them. It seemed like her words hadn't mattered in the end. She was still going to die anyway.

"Here we are," the Re'Nar stomped its way towards them. The look of disgust was the same in the girls' expressions. The green creature resembled a huge walking fish with big sharp shark teeth. "I have a score to settle with your Doctor. I'll leave your broken bodies for him to find and then I'll take his time craft. Are you scared yet? Mmm, smell those pheromones. You smell so good I could just eat you."

"If you had wanted to eat us, you would've done it earlier," Amy frowned. "You said it before too."

"Right, but what about her?" The creature nodded its head towards Mary Kelly. "The woman you spoke with in the Ten Bells. The woman you told to run from me."

Gabby swung her head in Amy's direction. "Way to go, Amy." The ginger ducked her head in response. With a sigh, Gabby shifted her gaze towards Mary. "Why isn't she moving? What have you done with her?"

"The same as I once did to your friend," the Re'Nar said. "She has the Nerve Agent running through her body, paralyzing her. However, your bodies shake off the toxins faster than expected, and I dare not overdose your systems. For I want you to feel everything I do to you. I want you to be terrified beyond mortal comprehension. You will be my tastiest meal ever and the Time Lords will know. Contemplate your fate," it turned to leave the cellar. "It will scare you more and that pleases me. I will be back tonight."

"Mary!" Amy called as soon as the creature was gone. "Are you alright? Can you move? Can you hear me?"

Mary had opened her eyes and though she spoke slowly, she did manage to speak. "I can speak but I can't move a muscle below my neck! It's the Ripper, isn't it? What manner of demon is it? We're going to die, aren't we?"

"No, we're not," Gabby glanced behind her shoulder to her bound wrists. She'd been trying to conjure up her abilities to slice through the rags. She had to get it right.

~ 0 ~

"I still don't know how this thing works, Doctor, whether it's smoke and mirrors or dark magics…" Abberline couldn't take his eyes off the TARDIS. "But I'm certainly glad you're on our side...you are, aren't you?"

"Indeed we are," the Doctor nodded affirmatively. "And now we know what the Ripper plans for tonight!"

Renata stepped out of the TARDIS wearing normal clothes now. She thought it was best to wear pants than a Victorian London gown for what was to come. "There's a tripple murder tonight, gentlemen. Three bodies."

"Amy, Gabby and Mary, we've got 12 hours to find them," Rory said quickly, hoping to get the search started now.

"Where's sir Charles?" asked the Doctor. "He should have been here by now."

"Sir Charles Warren? He's off the case!" Abberline said. "He resigned yesterday. There's nobody leading the Ripper case now, just us."

"Don't be so sure of that, Abberline," Sir Charles himself approached the group. "There are more people hunting this man than you could ever imagine."

"Sir Charles!" Abberline blinked at the sight of the man. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Well, technically, he's not seeing you now, is he sir Charles?" the Doctor smirked. "Want to show our Mister Abberline the truth?"

The man seemingly nodded and changed forms right before their eyes. Abberline audibly gasped when he saw the large creature in front of him.

"The real sir Charles Warren is somewhere safe until the Ripper is caught," the Ju'Wes explained to the stunned human. "Once I have him, we will return to my homeworld where he'll stand trial for these and so many other war crimes."

"We need sketch artists to copy these pictures," Renata came up to Abberline with two photographs of Amy and Gabby. "We're treating them as kidnaps. Spread them around. By the way, who's in charge now?"

"Well technically, as someone who's not linked to Metropolitan or City Police...the current head of the Ripper task force is you, Inspector Clouseau," Abberline left Rory utterly dumbfounded.

Renata and the Doctor sent simultaneous looks in Rory's way. "Well Rory, please do something," Renata handed him the pictures of the girls.

"Right," Rory nodded. He looked between the pictures and Abberline then held them out for him. "I'd like these pictures copied."

The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done! Always knew you had it in you. Quite a promotion! Now everyone, stay here for a moment, I have something that might help!" He let go of Rory and hurried into the TARDIS.

"What's he doing?" Rory asked Renata.

"Admittedly, it's a pretty good plan," the Time Lady shrugged.

The Doctor returned wearing a metal contraption around his chest. Just the sight of him wearing it with that stupid grin of his made Renata question her feelings for him.

"Since the Re'Nar has Kryon energy that we can sometimes track, and Amy and Gabby both have the same energy signatures from the TARDIS travels, we can use this!" The Doctor patted the metal mirrors sticking out around him. "The People-Finder-Upper-Tracker Thing! Not a great name, but early days. C'mon! Let's fund us a Ripper!"

Renata sighed as he marched on. "Please look a little less excited, sweetheart?"

~ 0 ~

Mary Kelly groaned in her struggle to move. She cried out for someone to help her until the Re'Nar came stomping in.

"Will you shut up!? Or do I have to use more Nerve Agent!?" It crossed the room towards Mary only to be hit by a strike of purple butterflies.

"Now Amy!" Gabby pulled her hands back just as Amy used one of the scrap metals to emit a high-pitch noise.

"The Doctor did say you'd hear louder than we do," Amy smirked as the creature was forced to run out of the room.

"Aaaaaand now we run too!" Gabby rushed towards Mary. "That noise will only keep it away for so long!"

"What...what was that?" Mary groggily stared at Gabby as the two girls helped her up. "With the—with the butterflies…?"

"Just a trick," Gabby made a face at Amy. They didn't want to further traumatize poor Mary by going into the elaborate details of the Cosmic Butterfly.

~ 0 ~

The search party went on for hours in the streets. The Doctor used his device around him to get a better read on the girls. Renata tried to act on her Vortex Butterfly abilities to see if the connection between her and Gabby was still active. They hadn't tried it since it happened on the Crucible but they were aware that the connection had weakened since then.

"I should be able to find her but I...I can't really feel her," Renata sighed.

"We'll find them," the Doctor assured her. He reached out to rub a hand down her back. "We always do."

Renata nodded, trying to convince herself that they would. It was like she told Rory, they didn't always get to save everyone.

"Inspector Clouseau!" Abberline called from a distance. Rory sprinted towards the man, prompting the Time Lords to follow. "This man thinks he's seen your friends! Finch street off Brick Lane!"

"That's North of here," the Doctor hummed, still neck deep in his device. "Let me adjust the dial, spin the cogs...yes! There's definitely some Kryon radiation that way!"

"Then let's go!" Renata motioned the men to lead them that way.

They ran towards the street and the closer they got, the more noises they started to hear. It sounded like screams and roaring.

"That house has a massive amount of Kryon radiation!" The Doctor pointed to a two-story home across the street. "He must have parts of his ship there!"

Not a minute after declaring that, the girls and Mary Kelly burst from the door.

"Help! Help!" Amy pulled Mary with her while Gabby pushed them to the side. The Re'Nar jumped out of the door, ready to attack the group when the Ju'Wes—in its true form—attacked first.

"Give it up, Mac'Atyde!" It roared against the green creature. "I'm here to take you back before you kill again!"

"Take me back?" Mac'Atyde screeched. "And how do you plan to do that? We're hundreds of years before the war! I can't believe you sided with the Time Lords! You'll use their device to counteract mine!"

"Shouldn't we do something?" Abberline's head kept switching back and forth between the two creatures.

"...it wasn't a freak temporal Eddy that sent us here! I created a time portal, and I intend to open it again," the Mac'Atyde was arguing. "All of London will be sucked through into dead space! The most terrifying thing ever and the Ju'West will be blamed! The Re'Nar will win before the war even starts!"

"There's a big portal of doom somewhere in this house," the Doctor pulled off his device around him.

"It must be in the cellar!" Gabby said quickly. "It's where he had us!"

"C'mon," Renata helped the Doctor take off the device once and for all. The two creatures had begun fighting behind them.

The two hurried into the house, down to the cellar as Gabby instructed them. It didn't take much searching to find the device the Re'Nar spoke about. It was set to the corner and was glowing.

"That looks like it'll be going off any moment now," Renata dreaded to be right. She eyed the strange device standing on its four legs. If anything, it looked like a camera.

The Doctor sonicked the device and hated the results. "I can't turn it off—it's already started! All I can do is reduce the effect, localize it...but I don't have a suitable focus source!"

"Doctor, yes you do," Renata smiled lightly. "One of your ridiculous devices as usual."

The Doctor beamed. "Of course!" He jumped to his feet and grabbed her face to plant a kiss on her. "Genius!"

"O-okay," Renata blinked and yelped when the Doctor pulled her down in front of the device.

~ 0 ~

"No more killing!" roared the Ju'Wes as it tackled Mac'Atyde to the ground.

They clawed at each other with all their might, drawing blood on occasion. No human dared to get in the way for fear of losing a limb in the process. They only stopped when a bright yellow light emerged from the building. The Doctor and Renata were holding onto the device as a portal swirled into existence.

"Mac'Atyde! Stop now or we'll make sure you can never go home!" The Doctor called out to the creature.

"You fool! My ship was destroyed!" Mac'Atyde said. "Through that portal is empty space—I'd die! I can never go home anyway!"

"Do you really want to know how we beat the Re'Nar?" asked the Ju'Wes. "It's very simple, you know. We were willing to do the one thing that you weren't."

"And that was?" sneered Mac'Atyde.

"Sacrifice!" The Ju'Wes threw himself onto Mac'Atyde and then yanked him towards the portal. It snapped shut behind them.

"Where did they go?" Abberline swallowed hard at the leftovers of the site. "Tell me the Ripper hasn't escaped."

"Yeah, 'escape' isn't exactly what I'd call it," Renata sighed as she and the Doctor lowered the device to the ground. "On the other side of this portal is the depths of space. No spaceship, no suit. Instant death, Abberline, is what awaited them."

"What happens now?" asked Amy, her eyes flickering from the Time Lords to Abberline. "I mean, the Ripper is dead…"

"Yes but I can't prove it, can I?" Abberline smiled tightly. No, he wouldn't be able to prove it at all. "We'll continue the investigation and let it slowly fade away. With no more killings, Tom Bullen and his paper won't have anything to scare people with. The Ripper will be forgotten."

"Oh, it'll never be forgotten, Inspector Abberline," the Doctor said grimly as he reached for Renata's hand.

~ 0 ~

When it was time to return home, the first thing they did was check the time lines. There were no records of any of the travelers in any book. Something notable was the fact that Mary Kelly ended up dying one year after they left.

"So time basically healed itself," Amy said, scratching her cheek as she cautiously glanced over to Renata.

The Time Lady eventually met her gaze but once she did, Amy wished she hadn't. Renata's eyes were stone cold. "Don't you dare say everything turned out fine, Amelia Pond," her voice was cold to match. "The anger and disappointment that I feel for you right now is beyond me."

"I know I did something bad—"

"No, you don't, because you're about to excuse yourself right now with some poor line." Renata folded her arms over her chest. "I don't need nor want to know what you thought was right because the fact is you didn't know. You don't. You chose to ignore what I said, what the Doctor said, and then everyone just expected us to come save you when it blew up in your face!"

Amy ducked her head. She honestly felt like a child being scolded except Renata wasn't her mother and this situation wasn't what a child would get scolded for. She had messed with Time itself.

Renata shook her head at Amy. "You do that again and I swear that I will drop you back on Earth myself, do you understand?"

Amy had no choice but to simply nod. She couldn't afford to say something else that would set Renata off again. She met Renata's gaze for only a second before the Time Lady turned and stormed out of the room.

"I messed up bad," Amy's admission came in a quiet whisper. By that point, the Doctor had gone after Renata without supporting her nor defending Amy.

"Yeah, you kind of did," Gabby agreeing with Amy earned her a sharp look from Rory.

"That doesn't help," he said and walked over to Amy's side.

"You guys still don't get it," Gabby folded her arms over her chest. "If you want to stick around, you need to get it."

"What, like you've never made mistakes?" Amy bitterly asked.

"Of course I have! That's why I'm trying to tell you how things are! Look," Gabby walked up to the two. "my DNA may be all screwed up so that I'm part of a Cosmic entity or something but at my root, at my core, I am still a human. I know exactly what thoughts and feelings you guys have when we go to places like the one we just went to because I had them too. Of course I'd love to save everybody but the reality is we'd be doing more harm than good. Unfortunately, our Time Lords are in charge of making the choices that aren't pretty. They feel terrible enough. We shouldn't make things worse by mucking it up even more for them."

"So we let people die?" Even as Amy said it she still couldn't stomach it.

Gabby nodded. "The ones that Time dictates. Otherwise...I'm sorry but you won't be able to travel." She rested a hand on Amy's shoulder, offering her support despite the rocky air between them. It was something tricky to deal with but eventually, Amy would have to.

---

A/N:

Thanks to everyone who left comments on the last chapter! Like I said before, the dream lord episode was definitely one of my fave to write because, yes, everyone finally got some well needed closure!

P.S. As always, I have an Fanfic/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of The Home Saga