Chapter Text
“I still don’t see why it wanted it.”, Ryan grumbled, kicking a rock as they traipsed through the woods.
“How would we know, the important thing is to get the sonic back before that creature causes anyone any more harm.” Yaz was sure that her tone was probably too harsh, but Ryan had been complaining ever since they split from the Doctor, and it was grating her nerves. Upon exiting the TARDIS for their latest exploration, this time of a planet called Flotanique which was said to have some of the most beautiful plants in the known universe, the fam had been accosted. A small, hunched creature, covered in a mixture of wrinkled skin and sparse fur had jumped from a branch, knocking down the Doctor (who had been scanning the area with her sonic) and making off with the device. Yaz had rushed her aid, whilst the boys had made an effort to halt the thing but it was too quick.
And now they had split up, after a warning from the Doctor to be cautious, and had been trudging through greenery for the best part of an hour.
“If you ask me” uttered Graham, breaking the silence, “I don’t know that we’re gonna find the blighter. Probably slipped off to some hidey-hole or summat.”
“The Doctor asked us to look, though, so we should keep going.”
Yaz wasn’t sure why she was so obsessed with finding the sonic. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Realistically it was because of her stupid, massive crush on the alien woman who had crashed so dramatically into her life. There was still so much she didn’t know about the Doctor, and yet the woman had this way of making her feel safe, had a smile that lit up any room, and was incredibly beautiful. The fact that she was a massive nerd and incredibly awkward had only sealed the deal, rendering Yaz completely under her spell. Of course, she tried her best to be subtle, but it was hard when the Doctor so frequently complimented her and initiated physical contact, grabbing her hand at nearly every opportunity. There were even times when Yaz wondered if the woman might not share her feelings. However then the Doctor would go and do something incredibly clever and brave and stupid, and Yaz would be reminded of how inferior she was to this wonderful person, immediately dismissing the notion from her mind.
This train of thought was taking a melancholic turn, but Yaz was startled out of it as the group came upon a clearing bisected by a sparkling river. Spanning this were about five different sets of stepping stones, some mossy, all in various states of decline. The overall effect was that Yaz felt as though she had stumbled upon something out of ‘The Hobbit’, something unreal and magical. By the intakes of breath from the boys she guessed that they were feeling similar sentiments.
“It’s beautiful”, breathed Ryan.
“Absolutely.” Replied Graham. “The Doc really wasn’t kidding about this place.”
Yaz nodded slowly, then began to scramble down the steep banks of the river until she could sit by its edge, the toes of her trainers mere centimetres away from the shimmering water. After a moment Ryan came to stand nearby.
“The bit I don’t get…” he mused thoughtfully, “is why so many?”
“Maybe some are replacements for older ones?” said Graham.
“Yeah I guess.”
The boys walked a little ways away and continued chatting, but Yaz tuned them out, focusing on the sounds of the rapidly rushing water. This meant that she was not fully on her guard when the creature from earlier pounced on her from the top of the bank and sent her flying hard into the water.
For such a small beast, the thing packed a punch. Yaz felt a sharp wave of pain hit her as she collided with the water and then the river bed. She hauled herself back up, spluttering, and turned to face her assailant. Blinking the water out of her eyes she could see that Ryan and Graham were facing off with it, and that the creature held in its left paw the Doctor’s sonic. By now, Yaz had recovered from the initial shock of her plunge, but as she waded out she became aware that she was unusually cold. She had only been partially submerged, having landed in the shallow edge, and yet she felt a deep chill beginning to permeate through her clothing and into her bones, as though someone had shoved ice down her clothes. Pushing the issue to the back of her mind she scrambled up the banks to help Ryan and Graham.
The creature was irritatingly swift, dodging and weaving around the three humans’ attempts to relieve it of its prize. Yaz could feel herself slowing, partly because she was getting tired and partly because of the chill inside her, which was slowly increasing in a disquieting manner. The stand-off got to a point where the fam had formed a triangle around the beast, Ryan and Graham facing the river and Yaz with her back to it, all three of them hopping around like children playing a game of ‘It’. Finally they had it trapped, as the three of them inched closer and closer. Or so they thought. Before any of them could react, the creature reached out a wrinkly paw and shoved Yaz hard in the chest. It really was strong, and Yaz felt herself sail off the high bank and land hard in the water below. Her last thought was an expletive as she landed once more in the freezing blue, and as her head connected hard with a stepping stone. As her vision swam, she saw the creature high-tailing it into the forest, and three figures rushing in her direction. She let her eyes droop closed.
“Yaz! Yaz love, can you hear me?”
Graham’s voice sounded anxious, and with a great effort Yaz blinked her eyes open. The sky was blinding, and she fought the urge to screw them shut once more. Then silhouettes appeared against the sky, and she became aware that she was lying on her back, with her friends watching over her.
“Yaz y’hit y’head on the stones. D’ya know where y’are?”
Ryan’s voice sounded far away, but Yaz was pulled sharply back to reality when another voice spoke. A voice that wasn’t northern, closer to cockney in fact.
“Yaz, is it? Can you keep your eyes open for me please? I’m just gunna scan you with the sonic, okay?”
The familiar whirring then commenced, in which time Yaz took the opportunity to scan the stranger with her eyes. From what she could see, he was tall and thin, and his hair was stuck up in odd spiky tufts, as though it had been hurriedly styled. Oddly for a forest planet, he appeared to be wearing a pinstriped suit.
The sonic bleeped, announcing the end of the scan and the man tutted before pocketing the device. However he didn’t divulge the result, and the boys noticed the action.
“Oi, that’s not yours mate. How d’ya know how to use it anyways?”, said Ryan.
“Doesn’t matter, can’t tell you. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. Might mess something up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean then?”, queried Graham.
“Look, I really can’t explain, but we have more important things to deal with, like your friend here.”
The man spoke fast, as though his brain were formulating words at a hundred miles per hour.
He stepped back over to Yaz on this last, who throughout the exchange had been fighting to stay present as a growing iciness overtook her limbs and a headache began to weigh on her.
“Can you at least give us your name?”, asked Ryan.
The man paused for a second, as though weighing the question. “John. John Smith.” He then turned his attention back to Yaz, still flat on her back in the dirt. “Can you stand?”
Yaz nodded weakly as confirmation, and pushed herself to her feet. As she did, her head pounded and her vision swam, and she found herself leaning against John, who was supporting her under her forearms. He pulled her close to his chest, and she let herself take deep breaths, focusing on stabilising herself. Had she been less preoccupied, she might have become aware of the dual heartbeat that thumped under his shirt. As it was, she was devoting all her energy to not throwing up on said shirt. Dimly, she mused that this was an odd position to adopt with a stranger. Yet, she found she quite liked being against him. For some reason, unbeknownst to herself, she found that she trusted this man implicitly.
“Do you think you can walk?”
Yaz didn’t respond to the question, as she had clocked a sticky sensation on the back of her head. She reached clumsily behind her, and her fingers returned coated in her own blood. She felt herself gasp audibly.
“It’s okay. You’re okay Yaz. I’m going to carry you.”
With a lot more strength than she would have thought such a slim man could possess, John lifted Yaz into his arms bridal style, before setting off into the woods, back the way they came.
On the journey, Yaz did her best to remain cognizant, her curiosity at the situation warring with her bodily sensations.
She heard Ryan and Graham ask John various questions, such as who he was, where he came from, and how he knew where he was going. All were deflected.
At last, a familiar blue box faded into view, and Yaz breathed a sigh of relief. Her head was now pounding, not eased by John’s footfalls, and she had started to shiver uncontrollably. John stopped outside the door, and gently lowered her to the ground.
“Now listen. I can’t go in because it could rip the universe apart. Not to be dramatic or anything. Although I do love a little bit of drama. Anyways. You get her in safe and tell the Doctor that she has a mild head injury, and is hypothermic from this planet’s decreased water temperatures. Make sure she’s safe. Oh, and I nearly forgot, here’s the sonic back.” He deposited the item into the palm of a very confused Graham, who opened his mouth to speak. “No, don’t say anything. I mustn’t have any foreknowledge. Spoilers, you know. It was very nice to meet you lot. Au revoir!” At that, he turned and disappeared off into the woodland.
Yaz could feel her body shutting down as she was unceremoniously heaved through the TARDIS doors. The last thing she remembered was the warm glow of the interior and a flash of blonde hair passing over her.
When she awoke, it was in her own room on the TARDIS, tucked under her own duvet, with the lights dimmed to a sort of twilight. For a moment she was bemused, before the memories came rushing back. Instinctively she reached behind her and felt the roughness of gauze under her head. A snuffling noise then caught her attention, and she turned her head. Curled up in an armchair by the bed was the Doctor, fast asleep, with her beautiful blonde hair fully obscuring her face. Yaz decided to let her rest, as she knew that the Doctor struggled with that. She revelled in the feeling of being warm once again, after the excruciating cold the river had brought on. She shifted slightly and felt her muscles twinge. Probably from all the shivering. However she let out a slight gasp as she did this, and evidently the Doctor was a light sleeper.
“...Yaz?”
The Doctor’s voice was slurred with sleep, and as she sat up and rubbed her eyes Yaz thought she might just be the most adorable thing in the universe. She had to quickly squash that thought, though, as the Doctor moved to sit on the edge of the bed, taking Yaz’s hand. Her skin was as soft as ever, and-
“How’re ya feeling?”, the Doctor asked tenderly.
“Alright. Not 100% but much better than I was. Thank you.”
At that the Doctor made a modest gesture, shying away.
“Can’t have a universe wi’ no Yaz, had t’get ya sorted out right away. In anycase, it seems you’ve got some mystery man t’thank fer that. ‘Boys told me ‘bout that, but not in any detail.”
“Yeah it were well weird. But…”
“What?”
Yaz gingerly propped herself up on her elbows. “I dunno. I had the strangest sense about hime. Like he were someone I could trust implicitly. Although his hair were a right mess.” At that the Doctor laughed and Yaz smiled softly. “Maybe it were his weird way of talkin’ though. Going on about wobbly-timey summat. You know, in some ways he reminded me of- What?”
The Doctor’s mouth had dropped open, her eyes wide, causing Yaz to falter in her speech.
“Was it… Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey…what he said?”
“Yeah it were! Howd’ya know that?”
The other woman ignored the question. “Did he give you his name, Yaz. This is important.”
“John Smith. I don’t under-”
“Oh my stars, I remember it! That were a proper nasty fall you took there.”
“Doctor what on Earth are y’on about? How can you remember it, y’weren’t even there!”
“Oh but I was. John Smith were the name I used to use when I were a bloke.”
Yaz lay there, stunned into silence. Of course, she knew that her Doctor was not the only version of the Doctor that there had been. She had mentioned being a white-haired Scotsman mere moments before they met. However, the real-world implications of this, that she could meet a past Doctor, had never occurred to her. But it explained why she had felt so at ease around him. She groaned a little internally at having told her Doctor that. Real subtle. Totally didn’t scream unrequited crush.
“Yaz…?”
She turned to look at the Doctor, who was gazing at her with a slight furrow to her brow.
“What?”
“You liked him? I mean, me. That version of me?”
The Doctor sounded small, more insecure than Yaz had ever heard her.
“Yeah. Makes sense I mean, ‘cos he were you. I think I’d love every version of you.”
Immediately, Yaz realised what she’d admitted. The Doctor’s eyes widened and Yaz covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t bear to see any of the pity that would surely be evident on the Doctor’s face. A moment passed, and then Yaz felt gentle fingers pry her own away from her face. She still didn’t look at the Doctor.
“D’ya really mean that?”
The other woman’s voice was low and serious, and Yaz finally let herself look at her, only to realise that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.
The Doctor continued, “I haven’t always been the way I am now though, Yaz. Y’have to understand that. I am not a good person. I have done awful, unspeakable things. I-”
And Yaz couldn’t bear how the Doctor’s face crumpled as she trailed off. She sat fully up, ignoring her body’s complaints, and took the Doctor’s hands in hers. “I don’t care. I love you, this you. I love all of you, as mad as that may be.” As she spoke, she stared into the Doctor’s eyes almost defiantly. The other woman stared back wide eyed at her, and said nothing.
Then, in one swift move, the Doctor closed the gap between them. Her lips were warm and soft, and Yaz felt all her aches and pains melt away. The Doctor pulled back, her eyes flicking between Yaz’s own, searching for…something. Yaz had no words, just the intense need for more contact, so she reached out to cup the Doctor’s jaw, pulling her back in. Clearly this confirmed something for the other woman, who returned this second kiss with passion, swiping her tongue across Yaz’s lips, who gladly permitted it entry into her mouth. The Doctor tasted like nothing earthly, and Yaz felt drunk on the sensations. She dropped her hand to the other woman's waist, the one on her face coming up to caress the back of her head.
Yaz was sure she had never felt anything like this. She just wanted everything this wonderful woman could give her. And it was clear that the Doctor was willing to give her the universe.