#the doctor: *explodes and regenerates completely and is in fact not dead*

[udonnedtonoo]

I like to think that Sutekh gets his hopes up every time he sees a near-death Doctor and that they'll *finally* be his, but gets fooled by the regeneration Every Time

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

The Inevitable End of Year Awards, 2022 Edition

It would be fair to say that 2022 got off to a flatulent yet anaemic start back in Ye Olde January and has since sign-waved between extremes of joyless and joyful like a sherry-addled schizophrenic telling you his life story at a Xmas party that just won’t fucking end, finally ending on a weirdly positive note. So, with that in mind and before the New Year bursts all over us like a faulty condom, let us roll up our sleeves and ferret through the detritus of the year in the hope of finding the purest diamonds and filthiest sludge-nuggets, so we can drape medals about them and call it an awards ceremony. Let’s rock and roll, fuckeroos!

The Feyd-Rautha Award for Having One Job and Not Fucking Doing It… … Goes to Vladimir Putin, who gave himself the job of conquering the Ukraine and, despite having the military resources of an immense, wealthy country, a police state and a fully-subjugated media at his disposal, failed miserably. The war in Ukraine continues with no sign of Russia actually achieving anything. A bit’s been annexed- sort of- but Ukraine remains resolute and it’s highly probably that Russia’s ailing dictator will die before completing the job that he obviously intended to be his legacy. The stupid fucking twat.

The Suspicious Package that’s Actually a Present Award for Nicest Surprise… … Goes to the film Bullet Train, which looked like nothing more than a good laugh from the adverts but turned out to be a legitimately perfect film, utterly flawless in narrative construction and characterisation… that also happened to be a really good laugh. Any film that has Brad Pitt singing the praises of fate and smart toilets while two hit men bicker about Thomas the Tank Engine has got to be worth the price of admission… and maybe a little dance.

The Patrick Stewart Painting a Naked Beethoven Award for Special Services to High Culture… … Goes to another film, The Northman, which dared to ask ‘what if Hamlet and Beowulf were the same person’. It was a beautiful, meditative experience that reflected on the intersection between heroism and madness in pre-modern mythology… that also found time for fart jokes with Willem Dafoe and a big, epic sword-fight in front of an exploding volcano. I swear this is a real movie. I didn’t just neck a load of tramadol and hallucinate it while staring at an ant-farm. Go on, Google it. It’s real!

The Suspiciously Abrupt Bathroom Break Award for Shortest Tenure… Goes to spittle-spraying, plate-faced, xenophobic freak, Liz Truss, who clawed her way to the position of Tory Prime Minister but lasted about as long as a fast-food restaurant called Jimmy’s Shit and Chip Salmonella Palace. She was promptly replaced by a urinary condition in a suit who somehow contrived to be worse than her, despite the fact that that should have been physically impossible.

The Joker Shooting a Chat-Show Host Dead Award for Most Satisfying Moment… … Goes to the Doctor’s regeneration into previous, beloved Doctor Who star David Tennant shortly after the announcement that previous, beloved show-runner Russel T. Davis was being brought back to write and run the show again. The BBC is constitutionally capable of just saying ‘sorry, we fucked up’, but this does read as the closest possible equivalent. After a painfully ill-advised gender-flip, some lore-wrecking bullshit, an episode where the Doctor shilled for an evil mega-corp and a long-winded, multi-episode trudge through the colourful world of queer-baiting, the BBC seems to have finally realised that the last few years were a mistake. Will this lesson stay learned? Probably not. We’re talking about people who keep making the same crime drama every year and just calling it different names. Object permanence is not the Beeb’s strong-suit… but it’s still incredibly, viscerally satisfying to see a blustering, half-witted, incestuous institution forced into a U-turn, however temporary it might later end up being.

The Pluggity McPlugface Award for Best New Work of Fiction… … Goes to Enlightenment for All!, a brand new short story published by left-wing magazine Culture Matters and available to download for free, right now. Taking place across 20,000 years and charting a multi-generational effort to uncover the secret of enlightenment itself, it’s already being hailed as an important work of outsider ‘gypsy futurism’ by a certain internationally-respected poet WHO I AM IN NO WAY ADMITTING BEING RELATED TO. Oh, did I not mention? I’m the author! I wrote it! I am a proper published author, and this one story is set to be followed by a whole book in the New Year! Take a moment to let that sink in: I have a story available through one of Britain’s leading leftist magazines and a book of short stories slated to come out through the same soon. Once again: for all the squalidness of modern society, my life is fucking awesome.

The Garth Meringue Award for Abject Terror… … Goes to Smile, which- like Bullet Train- is a fucking perfect movie… albeit measured by a different metric. In this case, the metric for success is the number of ruined trousers associated with the media artefact’s existence, which has got to be well into the millions by now. This is neither the time nor place for a review, but Smile terrified me in a way that few films every have. Its capacity to induce fear is truly awe-inspiring… as its related capacity to ruin trousers.

The Special Award for Taking the Piss Like a Fucking Sewer System… … Goes to the recent rises in gas and electric prices. The UK’s price rises are among the highest on the European continent, because the people in charge of this country’s energy policies are craven, witless morons who have cheerfully privatised the energy sector while failing to arrange alternate sources of power at the state level. As a result, heating a home is now a slightly more expensive endeavour than just fucking off and starting a new life... ON THE MOON!

The Beige Flake in an Unflavoured Ice-Cream Award for Existing… … Goes to tepid new Marvel telly-show, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which has a fucking amazing title and contains one of Marvel Comics’ most beloved female characters… yet arrived to the resounding sound of ‘meh’. I never watched it myself, but I feel comfortable including it in my end of year round-up because, er, neither did anyone else. Why? Well, a combination of dodgy effects, formulaic episodes and one scene in which poor old Bruce Banner gets an ear-bashing from the title character that the fans just weren’t standing for. And that’s it: something that should have been a hilarious, weird odyssey through Marvel’s lesser-known catalogue arrived ended up making almost zero impression on the shape of popular culture. Pity really- but something from Marvel making so little impression is actually, weirdly impressive in itself. If they reverse-engineer the properties that made it so forgettable, they could render them down to a paint and use it disguise fucking military aircraft carriers.

The Salvador Dali Riding a Neon Zebra Through a Sky Made of Pancakes Award for Sheer Fucking Weirdness… … Goes to Everything Everywhere All at Once, a pseudo-comedy about the multiverse, divergent timelines, dildos, pinatas, family drama, rocks with googly eyes and putting everything on a bagel so that it collapses in on itself and becomes a reality-consuming singularity. It’s a great movie with a brilliantly talented actress and comedian in the leading roll. I realise I’ve done a lot of media mentions in this end of year round-up, but I feel like it’s important to praise films like this. If we don’t shine a light on quality, we end up with dreck. Good, original films and telly are rare, especially in a world where everything is a copy of some pre-existing IP, transcribed and adjusted and mutated until its no longer recognisable as itself. We live in a world where Jeff Bezos can buy the right to Lord of the Rings lore just so he can wipe his bald, pointless cock on it and where all of pop culture is dominated by a single, soulless corporation. When smaller creators with original ideas do something great, we should shine a light on it. So I am. Well done this film.

The ‘What, Really?’ Award for Unexpected Good News… … Goes to the news that James Gunn is going to be put in charge of the DC cinematic universe, which is unexpected and good- the two criteria for shockingly underwhelming award.

The Wonderful Fucking Timing Award… … Is the last award of the entry and goes to my car- or former car- which chose the week before Xmas to break down irreparably, leaking oil, petrol and water all at the same time while the engine misfired systematically. I loved that old motor, but its timing was always somewhat on the spectacular side. And so we end our awards ceremony on a personal and profoundly trivial note. So it goes.

And that was 2022. It averaged out to be pretty okay and now its ending to make way for 2023, which promises to be the latest in a long line of years. Until then (and the inevitable New Years Resolutions blog), bye.

[melancholydreadfuldream]

deep end of a dream

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Reader & Ganger!Doctor x reader

Summary: You were in love with the Doctor but unfortunately the Doctor couldn't make up his mind between his feeling for you and for River. When an accident resulting in creation of another Doctor, will that be the answer everyone is hoping for?

Warning: ooc, angst, plot holes as usual, dark!doctor, etc. You have been warned.

More warning: English is not my first language so beware of the headache you will receive upon reading this.

    "Y-you are leaving the Tardis? Where are you going?"

  He smiled as he show you a vortex manipulator. "Cheap time travel but this will do. I can go anywhere anytime."

  "B-but..." You felt unwillingness to part with him. 

  "Two doctors in one Tardis? That could never work out." The ganger Doctor turned stabilized said. "I can't stay here." He took a step toward you, taking one of your hands in his. "I was hoping you would come with me."

  Your mouth dropped open in shock.

  "I mean I know I'm not the real Doctor..."

  "You are the Doctor." You insisted.

  He smiled solemnly. "You told him before that you are leaving him...leaving the Tardis."

  You did say that to the original Doctor before he took you and the Ponds to the flesh factory. You are done waiting for him, waiting for a man who could never love you properly. 

  "Come with me." The ganger Doctor pleaded.

  You didn't know what to say.

 7777

  You have been with the Doctor longer than any other companion. You first met the Doctor in his tenth incarnation while he was with Rose. You soon fell in love with the Doctor but has to endure heartbreak as he only has eyes for Rose. After losing Rose, the Doctor dropped you at home and didn't come back for you for a long while. He said you are better off without him. You pleaded him to let you stay but he cruelly ignored you.

  You met the Doctor on board of the valiant courtesy of the Master. The Master somehow found out about your feeling for the Doctor and use it against you and the Doctor. You were there as a hostage and as the Master's plaything. He likes to rub it that the Doctor doesn't love you. He basically outed your pathetic feeling for the Doctor.

  It was a very long and painful year. You were forced to watch as the Master torture the Doctor, regressed him into a sort of aged creature and put him in a cage as added humiliation. You met Jack, an immortal and a former companion of the Doctor. He was a hostage as well and his fate is worst than you. The Master likes to be variable in his method of torture. And yet, Jack is brave and still laughed in face of repeated tortures and deaths.

  Then you met Martha, the woman who walked the Earth, the storyteller, the one who saved the Doctor and the world. Like you, Martha was in love with the Doctor but the Doctor still hung up on Rose. After time is reset, Martha decided to stop travelling with the Doctor. 

  The Doctor apologized to you for getting you involved with his mess. You were sure he would turn you away again but instead he asked you to travel again with him and like the besotted fool you are, you agreed. But the two of you never talked about the elephant in the room which is your outed feeling for the Doctor. Both of you pretended that it didn't happen. But it was hard for you, traveling with the Doctor, interacting with him, discovering his many adorable quirk that made your feeling for him strengthen.

  Eventually, Donna joined you and the Doctor. She recognized your feeling for the Doctor immediately and she is being supportive of you despite you telling her about your love rival, Rose.

  During one of your routine adventure with Doctor and Donna, you met River Song. River seemed to know who you are and acted as if you and her are friends despite you have no idea who she is. You got jealous at how River confidently talked and keep up with the Doctor. You and Donna got uploaded inside CAL. After the Doctor saved everyone, you learned that River is dead and you felt guilty for being jealous of her before. That woman died to save everyone.

  Donna often likes to push you and the Doctor together. During a visit at Midnight, Donna pushes you to take a trip with the Doctor instead of spending time at the spa with her. You got under thrall of an unknown creature that possessed another passenger and the Doctor had to save you from it while stopping the rest of the passengers from trying to have you thrown out of the cabin.

  He kissed you and took the infection off you, rendering himself under the creature's thrall. You tried to save him too but it was futile. You tried to calm down everyone but it was like all of them has lost their rational mind. When you both finally survived the creature, you could only hugged each other in relief. You cried and accidentally tell him that you love him. But he was too distracted to respond.

  Many things happened so fast after that. Earth got stolen and Rose come back. So you and the Doctor never got a chance to talk about it. You don't know whether to feel sad or relief, after all, knowing your feeling is unrequited. It hurts watching the Doctor and Rose reunited. You could see how much they love each other through their interaction.

  Then, metacrisis Doctor Donna happened. After saving the universe, the Doctor left Rose and Metacrisis Doctor back on the paralel universe. You and the Doctor had to say goodbye to Donna whose memory got erased. You insisted of staying with the Doctor. You can't bear to let him be alone. Luckily, he didn't fight you about staying.

  He was lonely still. You weren't enough for him. You know this. It hurts. You let him use you. He soaked in your love for him.

  You stayed with him through his regeneration into the bow-tied man that you will eventually love too. Inside the crashing Tardis, you fell into the swimming pool and got a concussion for it. The newly-regenerated Doctor is very worried for you.

  You were wary of the new Doctor but he was very affectionate with you. He fussed over you. He treated your head wound. You eventually accepted that he is still the Doctor you know, just a little bit difference, well, a lot difference.

  The Doctor invited Amy to board the Tardis. You and Amy get along alright. She notices immediately about your feeling for the Doctor. You are wondering if you are really bad to keep your feeling a secret if anyone could know immediately.

  This version of the Doctor really is too affectionate. He loves hugging or taking your hand in his firmly. Sometimes you could almost believe he is flirting with you. But, of course, the Doctor remained vague regarding your relationship. You might be making a mistake by staying. As you expected, the more you know this new Doctor, the more your feeling for him grow even more, one might say it was like a cancer.

  You and the Doctor met River again. Your heart is broken again when you heard the Doctor confirmed Amy's teasing that River is indeed his future wife. But the threat of the weeping angels distracted you enough from letting yourself drown in misery.

  River is very nice with you, still saying that you and her are friends. When you two are alone, you decided to ask whether she is really married to the Doctor. She only gave you a really annoyingly vague answer.

  You are done. You wanted to leave the Doctor. You will not stay and pined for a married man. But River seemed to figure out your line of thinking and pleaded you to stay. She said the Doctor need you and that someday you will have to save the Doctor. You don't know if she is lying however you have no choice but to stay in case she really is saying the truth.

  Afterward you tried to keep your distant with the Doctor. Both the Doctor and Amy noticed. Amy tried to comfort you, knowing your reasoning.

  Rory eventually joined inside the Tardis too. It's getting kind of crowded in the Tardis but you didn't mind. You also get along nice with Rory.

  While the Doctor and Amy are kind a bit reckless, you and Rory become their voice of reason...somewhat. You would even said you and Rory are probably the sane ones. The Doctor and Amy would jump and greet dangers together while laughing a bit like maniac. They often ganged up against you and Rory, calling you both the boring ones.

  7777

  "The Doctor is a selfish old man. You will be waiting for a long time for him, poor little (name)." The Dream Lord had mocked you. "And he will let you wait for him instead of letting you go. He is that cruel."

  You hated that everyone seemed to know your feeling for the Doctor. 

  "You are right, little (name), he is like a cancer. You better run before he takes over you completely." He said.

  He is reading your mind. How can he be reading your mind like this?

  "But I suppose, it was already too late for you, eh?"

  When they finally defeated the Dream Lord, you can't help but wonder if the Doctor can read other people's mind after he admitted that the Dream Lord is in fact a darker version of himself.

  7777

  Tears falling from your cheeks as you watched the somewhat weary Doctor sitting inside Pandorica, readying himself to fly toward the exploding Tardis.

  River had explained that when he did that, he will be erased from time. You can't accept that but it is not like your opinion matters to him. 

  The Doctor looked a bit sad when you said that to him. "You always matters to me and I do listen to you but in this case, you know it is the only way."

  You wiped your tears furiously. "River said you can't come back...that you will be trapped on the wrong side... We would have never met at all." You whispered with a crack in your voice as more tears falling from your cheeks.

  He smiled as he put a hand over your cheek. "Oh, my dearest (name)...I'm sorry...It seemed that I always ended up hurting you..."

  You blinked at him in confusion before you realized he was talking about your feeling for him. You tried to smile. "It's alright, Doctor, I know you don't feel the same for me. I'm just glad that you let me stay. Being with you..."

  "...is hurting you and yet you stays with me through everything..." The Doctor cut in. He looked at you with a sad look. "I don't deserve you."

  You shook your head at that. "Don't say that. It was my choice to stay with you. You show me the wonder of the universe and more. I would always be grateful for that. I love you, Doctor, I'm not sorry that I do and...you shouldn't either. I don't regret you so please don't..." You trailed.

  He smiled as he drew you closer and kissed your forehead. "Live a good life, my (name), find your happiness no matter what happen..." He murmured to you.

  You left him and told Amy to go to the Doctor.

  "People fall out of the world sometimes, but they- they always leave traces, little things you can't quite account for. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely, and, if something can be remembered, it can come back." You heard him says that to Amy.

  River stood by your side. She was staring at the Doctor and Amy with a solemn look. Her eyes are glassy.

  "It will be alright. He will come back." You said to her suddenly. You don't know why you said that. Maybe your faith in the Doctor is still strong, making you believe that he will overcome this and you need to share that faith with those who love him as you do.

  River looked surprised at your words. She smiled kindly at you and took one of your hand in hers.

  The world exploded and rebooted. Everything felt like it was spiraled out of your control. When you come to, you were sitting in your favorite park bench with a book in your hands. You blinked as you tried to shake off the feeling of loss and grief within your heart but you have no idea why you felt like that.

  As you stared blankly at space, you heard the wheezing sound of the Tardis. At first, you are confused as you no longer recognized that sound. Then the blue box appeared a few feet away from you and your memory started to return. You dropped your book as you stood up and walked cautiously toward the box.

  The Doctor, dressed in a suit and a top hat, walked out of the Tardis. "Come on, (name), we will miss Amy and Rory's wedding." He said.

  "Doctor?" You whispered. 

  He smiled brightly at you.

  You walked toward him and tentatively touched his arms as if wanting to make sure he is real. Tears filled your eyes once more and you hugged him tight. He hugged you back, rubbed your back in gesture of comfort before he pulled you inside the Tardis.

  He explained to you how Amy brought him back just as he predicted. He had just been crashing the Pond's reception and he was trying to move the Tardis out of the ballroom for space. It was then he come back for you.

  As you got out of the Tardis and into the ballroom with the Doctor, Amy grinned and pulled you into a hug.  "I'm so glad you are here, (name)." she said.

  You smiled at both Amy and Rory. You complimented her. She looked beautiful in her wedding dress. The two of you had a good laugh when you both saw how the Doctor danced a giraffe dance with the kids. 

  You smiled fondly as you watched Amy and Rory danced together. You are glad that they have got their happy ending.

  The Doctor stood beside you with a fond smile. "2000 years. The boy who waited." He said.

  You noticed River outside the windows, smiling and then leaving. You told the Doctor that you saw her and the Doctor goes to her, saying something about having to return her diary to her. You watched him go with a somewhat bittersweet smile.

  7777

  The Doctor invited you to watch his death in Lake Silencio. How can he be this cruel? Both you and Amy can't cope, seeing his painful death. Rory and River are the ones who still did as the Doctor told, still wanting to complete the mission given to them.

  Then a younger version of the Doctor appeared before you screwing your mind even more. River explained it to you and the Ponds regarding the Doctor and the rule of time. She made you and the Ponds swore never to tell the Doctor about his death back in Lake Silencio.

  In America, you have another talk with River. She insinuated that the Doctor has feeling for both you and River. But you already know that the Doctor would never pick you so why are you still insist to stay with him? Are you really this foolish? He is stringing you along just like the Dream Lord said. Are you this pathetic that you will let him do that forever?

  You made up your mind about leaving the Doctor and the Tardis. It was time you stop waiting for a man who would never love you properly. You felt a bit guilty about leaving the Ponds to deal with the upcoming death of the Doctor but you found you no longer can stand be around him anymore. 

  You told the Doctor about leaving. He look like a sad kicked puppy much to your guilt. He convinced you to stay until he can give you a proper last hurrah.

  Next thing you know, there are two Doctors, one of them is a ganger. You tried to keep your distance from both Doctors. You thought it was the only way for you to leave, stop caring for the Doctor, harden your heart. But you found you couldn't ignore the Doctor especially in the face of death so when the original Doctor decided to let the ganger Doctor stay behind to die, your mind just flashed back into that dreadful day at Lake Silencio and you just 'nope' so bad as you lost your marble and forced the ganger Doctor to come on board of the Tardis.

  Of course you know, the ganger Doctor is just that, a ganger but the original Doctor is the one who treated the ganger as something more and now he's just gonna let him die? The Doctor is the one who said a ganger has all their counterpart's memories. The ganger Doctor is essentially the Doctor too, so how can you let him die?

  You pleaded like crazy with the ganger Doctor not to sacrifice himself. The ganger Doctor tried to get you to go with the original Doctor, telling you that your Doctor is safe with you but there is no reasoning with you. He eventually relents when you gave him ultimatum to get inside the Tardis or you stay here with him and die together. Deep down, you were yelling at your stupidity but you could only feel relieved when he finally surrender to your wish for him to stay alive.

  You heard the Doctor telling all the gangers on board of the Tardis about how the energy inside the time ship will stabilized them and made them a real person. You wondered if the ganger Doctor is a full Time Lord or become a human but you didn't ask, still in somewhat shock state. You wondered what the original Doctor must think of you and how the ganger Doctor will fit in the Tardis. Maybe you messed this up but you could hardly regret the Doctor, any Doctor, for long.

  There is no time to concern with the issue of ganger Doctor though when both Doctors finally revealed the truth about Amy being a ganger too.

  7777

  After rescuing Amy and losing baby Melody and to finding out River is Melody, you could finally have time to yourself. You wondered if leaving the Doctor is still something you wanted. 

  River is on board of the Tardis and shamelessly flirted with both Doctors. 

  You snorted to yourself. What were you thinking? Now that there are two Doctors, one of them will choose you? How stupid you can be? There is part of you who now wonder which Doctor died in that Lake Silencio, the original or the ganger? You wondered if your motive of rescuing ganger Doctor is as shallow as hoping one of them will pick you or as cruel as to have replacement Doctor to face death in Lake Silencio. But it was hardly your problem now. You decided you still have to leave.

  That's when the ganger Doctor come to you with his proposition. "Come with me, (name)." He pleaded.

  Your mouth dropped open in shock. "W-why?"

  He smiled. "I am alive because of you. Is it a wonder I would like to spend the rest of my life with you?"

  "B-but..." You wanted to ask him about River but your mind stop you short. That was probably not a nice thing to ask. Of course, River will get to be with the original. The Doctor and River Song in the Tardis. You were always the spare and now it seemed this Doctor is too. 

  He looked insecure now. "I understand if you didn't want to. I just want a chance to be the man that you deserve."

  Without thinking, you pulled him closer and kissed him. As you broke the kiss, he stared at you solemnly before suddenly burst into adorable giggle which in turn make you smile.

  7777

  The ganger Doctor switched his name into John Noble. You smiled at his chosen surname in honor of Donna Noble. 

  You and John traveled the universe every time you can but it was limited due to the limited ability of the vortex manipulator. He was working on making a better and safer version of vortex manipulator though.

  You both picked a place to be called home since you both got no Tardis as home-base. He made your dream house, a small cottage with white picket fence and he even got you a dog. 

  "How did you even get all of this?" You asked.

  "I am still technically the Doctor, you know. I have friends in high place." He said as he made a motion with his hands.

  You laughed as you hugged your new pet companion. You and John had a funny banter about naming the dog. John insisted that he speaks dog and the dog wanted to be called some silly, really long name.

  7777

  You eventually married John. It was hard at first as you were still riddled with insecurity, believing that he will somehow grew tired of you and left on his own. He had assured you many times that he would never abandon you. He murmured about how he can hardly believe that the other Doctor actually let you go with him. You asked him what he is talking about but he distracted you with hug and kisses. You eventually believe him and accepted his marriage proposal.

  "I wanted to grow old with you." He told you.

  That honestly the nicest thing the Doctor ever said to you, well, technically it wasn't really the Doctor who said it. it was John. Suddenly your mind flashed back into Rose and metacrisis Doctor. Were the two of you similar to them in some way?

  You have a happy marriage with John. There were some up and down. He, in some way, is the Doctor so naturally he can't quite cope to stay in one place too long. Sometimes he took you to sightseeing and have your own adventure which thankfully does not include some deathly crisis. Sometimes he goes on his own, those days are hard for you, worrying he will not come back for you.

  One day, he returned home injured. He was not alone. Jack Harkness is with him. You were surprised to see him again and really scared upon seeing the injured John. Apparently someone thought John is the Doctor and attempted to kill him. Had it not for Jack, he would have died. Thankfully, his injury is not fatal. In fact, one might say, he is quite lucky. You know John still have some Time Lord qualities in him, he can't regenerate but he has a somewhat rapid healing ability.

  Tears fell on your cheeks as you repeatedly punched John in his arms much to his dismay. "You are grounded forever, you jerk!" You yelled.

  Jack is amused as he watched your interaction with John before the smile slide off his face. "You two need to hid. The world, right now, is against the Doctor and John having his face will not help his case."

  "What do you mean? What happened?" You demanded.

  Jack and John exchanged a look with each other.

  "It's the Doctor." Jack said grimly. "He did something."

  "Did what? What are you talking about?" You asked suddenly feeling scared on top of all the confusion.

  "He is not the Doctor we used to know any longer, (name). He's changed. And I didn't mean he regenerated and has a change of personality again. I mean, he's changed." John said.

  You stared at John. "You met him?"

  John shook his head. "I didn't. But I saw the trail of destruction he left behind." He said grimly.

  You stared blankly at your husband. "I'm sorry, did you just say a trail of destruction?"

  John and Jack nodded somberly at you.

  "No, you're wrong. We are talking about the Doctor here. He is not..."

  "You don't know the Doctor as much as you think you do, (name)." John replied.

  "But... John, you believe that the Doctor...you are capable of this...??"

  "Well..." John laughed harshly. "...we didn't get the name oncoming storm for nothing you know..."

  You shook your head. "No. Something must have happened to him. Maybe someone controlled his mind. He would not do whatever it is you think he did." You stubbornly said.

  "(name)..." John called out with a sigh.

  "No!" You left your husband and Jack as you went into the garden. 

  You walked back and forth as you tried to come to term with what John had said. You picked up your smartphone and your fingers hovered over the Doctor's Tardis number. You bit your lips and you called him on your phone.

  John suddenly pulled your phone out of your hand and smashed it into the ground.

  "John, what the hell!!" You were angry but when you saw his expression which is a mixture of anger and fear, you become speechless.

  Jack entered the garden and told the both of you to run before the Doctor come for you both.

  John nodded grimly as he grabbed his vortex manipulator and sonic screwdriver before turning to you and said, "I know you are afraid, (name) but you have to trust me. Please trust me." He cupped your face as he is pleading for you to believe him.

  "I do trust you, John." You replied.

  "Then you have to believe me. The Doctor is dangerous. He's a changed. And now we need to run before he came for us."

  "He would not hurt us!" You said, almost offended.

  John look saddened. "Maybe before. Now, I'm not so sure."

  What could possibly happened to the Doctor? You were very curious but also very afraid especially as you watched John loses his cool with each passing moments.

  7777

  You went on the run with John. He had used perception filter on the both of you. The people of the whole world is afraid of the Doctor but also they were trying to kill him. Since John had his face and everything, people might targeted him or might try to use him against the Doctor. He does has his memories. He could be a threat but mostly to the Doctor. As you realized this, you are very afraid for John.

  While on the run, you started to find out exactly what you feared that the Doctor has somehow turned evil and has set many planet on the course of destruction. You wanted to cry. What happened to the Doctor for him to change this much? John had told you about a prophecy of the Valeyard, a version of the Doctor turned evil, and now it seemed the prophecy is finally here.

  You are scared, wondering if your life with John will ever be safe again. There were a few times, people are able to see past the perception filter and that few times almost cost John his life. You almost hated the Doctor for putting you and John in deep end like this.

  You and John eventually found a safe place to stay. Each night you hugged him tight, afraid that you will lose him for good.

  7777

  You put out the grocery on the table at the small house you and John rented. You thought this day would come and goes as usual (it wasn't good but slightly okay) but of course the universe seemed to conspire against your happiness because as you went into the living room, you saw the Tardis. You gasped, feeling like someone just punch you in the gut.

  "Hello, my dearest (name)."

  You slowly turned around to face the Doctor. He was wearing a dark purple suit. His eyes looked weary but he was smiling at you like an old friend. "D-Doctor..."

  "You looked good. John has taken a good care of you." He said with approval.

  "John, where is he? What did you do to him?" You demanded.

  "John is safe...for now."

  You flinched at that. "W-what do you want, Doctor?"

  He smiled as he walked toward you. His hand hovered over your cheek before settling to touch your hair instead. "I miss my best friend. Just pop up for a visit."

  You are shaking and he noticed it. 

  He smiled in amusement but his eyes looked sad. "Seemed like you have heard some stories about me then..."

  You took a step back away from him. "Please just leave me and John alone."

  "I would if I could, dearest (name), but John had to go against me after everything I did for him." The Doctor said with disdain. "Gave him my first face and then he dare to go up against me?"

  "W-what?"

  The Doctor hummed. "I guess you didn't know."

  "Know what?"

  "That John has been aiding the resistance against me."

  You froze. John never told you that. He was always with you most of the time. How can he be aiding the resistance? But then again, part of you are not really surprised. John is the Doctor, after all, at least the part of the Doctor that is good. Is it a wonder that he will try to save the world from his other self? But you also want to slap him silly for putting himself in danger.

  "Don't hurt him." You begged. "Please don't hurt him."

  The Doctor tiled his head, observing you. "You love him." He sighed. "I guess you do since you left me and married the man."

  You flinched again at what he is insinuating. "You had your chance. You choose River. He choose me."

  "I know."

  "Doctor, what happened to you?"

  The Doctor laughed harshly. "Life, I guess. I lost the Ponds and I send River to the library a long time ago. Got a new companion. Clara Oswald. That impossible girl. You would have love her, (name), always keeping me on my toes, just like River." He looked sad now. "Always saving me, just like River. She splintered herself, you know, just to save my life. Having to be reborn again and again and died for the Doctor. I saved the original but I lost her again."

  "What happened to her?" You asked. 

  "They took her from me and made it impossible for me to save her. I made them pay for what they did." He said with a faraway look on his face. "I've lost so much." He whispered sadly. "No more." He added grimly before turning his intense gaze on you.

  You flinched under his gaze.

  "Come with me."

  "W-what?"

  "I need you, (name). You have always been there for me before. I hurt you so many times, ignoring your feeling for me, taking you for granted...and now I can’t stand be apart from you any longer."

  You shook your head. "N-no. I can't be with you. I'm with John now."

  He looked sad when you said that and then a darker expression crossed his features. "You are happy with a cheap copy?" He laughed mockingly at you.

  You glared at him. "He's not a cheap copy! He is a better man than you are!"

  The Doctor laughed again and stopped short. "I know."

  You stared at him in confusion with the way he acted. He said something cruel and the next he looked remorseful.

  "I would have like for you to come quietly with me. I guess I have no choice." He said as he pulled a sonic screwdriver at you.

  You recognized the sonic screwdriver as John's. You felt sudden fear for John. "What did you do? Doctor, what did you do to him?"

  He snapped his fingers as the Tardis door suddenly opened. "Go ahead. He's in there."

  You were hesitate at first but at the mention of John,  you quickly went inside. You saw John on the Tardis floor, groaning in pain. "John!" You called out as you bend your knees near him. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Tears started to fell from your cheeks again.

  "(name), run..." John whispered at you.

  The Doctor went inside the Tardis but remaining standing on the doorway. He gazed at both you and John flatly.

  "What did you do to him?" You demanded.

  "Oh, I just reverse him. Your husband will turn into a yogurt again soon." The Doctor chuckled cruelly. "Funny that, yogurt..."

  "Stop it! Just stop it! What do you want?!" You yelled.

  "I told you what I want, (name)."

  "What could you possibly want from me? Why are you doing this?"

  He hummed. "You were always so loyal to me, (name). Back when I was sand-shoes, he treated you badly and still you stayed throughout his remaining life. You also stayed for me despite having a hard time to accept that I am still the Doctor, despite knowing what River is to me. That's why I allowed you to save him. That's why I allowed you to leave me for him. You deserve better." He said as he moved toward you, kneeling before you and cupped your face. "The first face this face saw... You are very dear to me, (name). I thought I could give you the same thing sand-shoes gave Rose. But now I realized I couldn't just let you go." He sighed. "The Dream Lord is right to warn you, (name), should have run from me. And now, I can't just let you go any longer."

  "Doctor, please...don't do this."

  The Doctor released you and stand up moving away from you. "So, I'm going to give you a choice, stay with me and I save your yogurt husband or refused me and well, he's yogurt...but I will still take you with me anyway." He chuckled. "Not much a choice I guess."

  You glared hatefully at him. You turned to John in sorrow. "Fine. You win. Save him and I will go with you. But you have to leave him alone. No turning him back into a ganger."

  "Deal." The Doctor grinned boyishly at you. You used to love that grin but now all you felt is hollow. He raised a hand toward you.

  "Please let me say goodbye to him first."

  He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Make it quick."

  John groaned as the Doctor sonic-ed him into a stable condition. "(name), what did you do?"

  "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." You whispered to him. "I have to go with him."

  John's eyes widened in fear. "No, (name), he is not himself. He is dangerous."

  "I know, I have no choice. He will turned you back into a ganger otherwise. Can he really do that?"

  John nodded in forlorn. "Unfortunately we are smart enough to do that."

  The Doctor snorted at that.

  You glared at him, demanding privacy and to your surprise, he did leave. You turned back to John. "At this rate, you have to become the Doctor that the world needs, John. He told me about the resistance."

  "I'm sorry. I was careless. He found out."

  You shook your head. "Then you have to be better, John. You have to. You are so much more than him." You said as you caressed his cheek lovingly. "I love you."

  John pulled you close and kissed you.

  "Alright, that's enough." The Doctor said.

  You reluctantly stood up and leave John to stand by the Doctor's side. You glanced at the Doctor. "Give me your words that you will not harm him ever again."

  "I promise as long as you stay with me, John Noble will be safe."

  You watched as the Doctor moved around the console, readying the Tardis for take off, leaving John behind.

  7777

  He acted too hard to be like the way it was before, pretending to be the Doctor and his companion traveling the universe, except the universe hates him now. And to you, he was no longer your friend or the man you used to loved. You yearned to be with John but you know you can't. 

  He started acting like he was John. He took you on a date night, gave you chocolate and flowers. You played along to his whims, dressed in his chosen dress, dance with him and let him kiss you. Thankfully, he didn't demand you to have sex with him. You couldn't cope otherwise. But he made you sleep in the same bed as him in a room he choose to be yours and his now.

  He took you out sightseeing so many times. He even took you to a villain gala. You didn't even know that was a thing. You felt sick how the guests of that ball greeted the Doctor as if he is the star of the show or something. It was there you first met Missy. The Doctor introduced her to you and told you that Missy is actually Mistress, another name for the Master. You can hardly believe that the Doctor is actually in a good speaking term with the Master, the man that used to torture the previous Doctor back on the Valiant during the year that never was.

  Missy recognized you and predictably mocked you and your situation. You were furious when you learned she is the reason why John got caught by the Doctor. But it's not like you can do anything to her. You were mad and you left the Doctor's side. You refused to be taken to this sort of party. Despite angry at you for disobeying, he agreed not to take you to a villain gala again.

  "I meant I know you are always so attached with your pets, Doctor, but this is ridiculous. Sooner or later, you will lose her too, she is only human after all." You heard Missy said to the Doctor.

  The dark expression that crossed his feature made you really, really nervous.

  7777

  You pleaded the Doctor not to force immortality on you but he ignored you. 

  With the help of Missy, the Doctor got his hand on a drug or some technology that can prolong your life. He insisted to make you immortal just like Jack. He said he didn't want to lose you. He said he won't let anyone take you from him. Honestly, he made you very afraid.

  And then he took you to a planet called Trenzalore where he released Gallifrey upon the universe. He didn't care that the planet got burn in the fight between Gallifrey and its enemies. With the help of the Doctor, if you can even called him that anymore, Gallifrey won. The Doctor was given a new set of regeneration as a reward from Rassilion. He thanked him for the reward and then proceed to kill him, proclaiming himself as the new president of Gallifrey.

  After getting what he wanted from Gallifrey, he left the planet alone and took you back into the Tardis.

  You couldn't believe him. He just do all those cruel things without blinking, not an ounce of remorse in him. Was the Doctor truly lost forever? And this man, he still claimed to be the Doctor, undoing the real Doctor's life work by turning everything upside down and burn down everything good. He found glee in soiling the name 'Doctor'.

  And yet what it is with his obsession with you? He never care about you to that point before. Missy eventually explained what being the first face an incarnation saw meant. You finally got what you wanted, a special place in the Doctor's hearts, but why does it has to be like this?

  Missy offered you a way to escape but you were suspicious about her intention. "Frankly I don't care whether you stay with the Doctor or not as long as you and him continue to provide me with entertainment. Sure, I could help you escape him without him ever knowing I help you. But you should know, he would never stop searching for you if you do. He would even burn planet after planet just to get to you. It would be fun to watch, well, for me anyway." She said.

  How can you tried to escape when the price of freedom is other planet and its people dying because of you? You are not a martyr but even so you are not that selfish. And so you stayed by his side, trying your best to rein him in when possible. You learned he is willing to be merciful in your presence. You took full advantage of it in hope to save some.

  You thought of John. He was your only hope. You hope he could somehow save the world but if he can't, you can only hope he will be okay wherever he is. As you thought of your immortality, you couldn't help but cry. You were supposed to grow old with John. You don't even know how many years has passed since last you saw him.

  7777

  Hope resurfaced within you when you heard news about John being active in resistance, outsmarting the Doctor in his scheme. You only found out because the Doctor lost his marble after being outsmarted by John. 

  "I should have turn him back into a yogurt..." He said begrudgingly.

  You glared at him. "You made a promise to me, don't you dare break it."

  "Given the chance, you would have run back to him, wouldn't you? Perhaps I should make sure that you won't have anyone to return to but me." He said with a cruel smirk.

  "I am here with you as you wanted. Don't you dare harm John."

  "Fine, I won't." He said but the look in his eyes made you suspicious.

  "You are not allowed to scheme against him!"

  "Oh, my dearest (name), don't you worry about me hurting that yogurt husband of yours. I won't need to lift a finger against him. I know someone who would very much like to do it." He said. "She has always hated my old-self. She would probably have as much fun as me to rile him up. John Noble, the stand-in Doctor."

  You realized he was talking about Missy. You froze in fear. "No, make her stop."

  "No one can stop Missy once she set her eyes on something. She has always been stubborn especially when it comes to me." He said with a smirk. "But, hey, don't worry, John is basically me, right? He will do fine."

  "I hate you." You said.

  His smirk faltered.

  You turned around and left him in the console room.

  7777

  You were forced to watch another planet he conquered just because of boredom. He proclaimed himself as King and you his Queen. It was all very stupid, in your opinion. He made you wear a stupid crown proclaiming that crowns are cool. When he said that, you just remembered the old Doctor who kept telling everyone how bow-ties or fezzes are cool. It made you miss the Doctor terribly.

  This version of the Doctor, once in a while, made you wondered if the old Doctor still resides within him deep inside but then whenever he did, he would started acting up and did something horrible to someone else as if making up for showing weakness.

  You were once attacked by a member of resistance. You thought they hope to hurt the Doctor by killing you. But by then, you were already turned as an immortal by the Doctor. The Doctor was so furious and there is nothing you can do to make him show mercy. He lets loose the oncoming storm toward those who conspire against him in retaliation. After that, once you were both at your room, he would hug you tight and won't let go as if he is fearing that you will disappear. It made you think how lonely and sad he must be. You hugged him back. 

  He tricked you into marrying him, dangling the fate of a planet to do it. "I'm going to give you something that John didn't." You were very confused with what he meant. "I'm going to give you my name."

  Your eyes widened in shock. River is the only one who know his name before. Why is he doing this? What was the point? You were very frustrated. "John Noble is the only name that matter to me." You said.

  He ignored you, forcing you instead to follow some Gallifreyan ritual.

  "Smile for the camera, dearest (name)." The Doctor whispered to you. "I'm sure that yogurt husband of yours is watching us got married live."

  You recoiled from him but he made a firm grab of you to keep in position as he finished the ritual.

  You heard Missy made a quip about how cruel the Doctor is to you. Well, duh. But apparently, she meant the ritual because the ritual forced a mental bond to form between you and the Doctor. You might be immortal but you were not made for a mental bond.

  "She will learn to adapt with it." You heard the Doctor said. "We have forever to do it."

  Honestly you hated these mental bond. You have no privacy even in your own mind. He likes to invade your mind and take a look of your memories. You screamed at him to leave you alone. You wanted to cry. You are losing your mind and he know it. Thankfully he relents and left your mind alone for the most part.

  7777

  One day, while the Doctor is out with Missy, John appeared on board the Tardis and he gave you a small gemstone and told you to hold it close on your person. He said he knew what the Doctor did to you and that gemstone could stop him from invading your mind, blocking him so to speak.

  You were happy to see him but also scared. He told you not to worry about him. He said he went back to Gallifrey and now he is as much as a real Time Lord as the Doctor. He said the Doctor can no longer turned him into a ganger so you need not to worry anymore. You can come home with him.

  At first you are reluctant, worrying about what Missy had said about the Doctor never stop looking for you if you escape and will burn everything in his path in order to get to you. You are also worry for John himself should the Doctor figure out wherever you escaped to.

  But John make a convincing argument and so you took his hand and left the Tardis.

  Only to find out John is not real. It was always the Doctor, trying to test your devotion and you failed the test.

  "You wanted to see John so much? Fine, I will let you see him." The Doctor said angrily.

  The Tardis landed somewhere. The Doctor pulled you harshly outside where he forced you to see a gravestone. John's name is craved on the gravestone.

  You were shocked to say the least. With a trembling fingers, you touched the carving of his name on the gravestone.

  "I didn't harm him, if that is what your thinking. Missy didn't either. He died. The people he fought for turned against him and killed him."

  "No, you are lying!"

  "Am I? You are welcome to investigate his death, (name). You know Jack Harkness, don't you? I'm sure he will help you with your investigation. Once you satisfy your curiosity, come and find me." The Doctor said.

  7777

  You were furious. The Doctor didn't lie. They did turned against John. They killed him. The best part of the Doctor, and they thoughtlessly killed him. And now the world is doomed forever with the Doctor that no longer quite the Savior. Frankly, right now you no longer care about the fate of these people.

  You walked absentmindedly toward the coordinate of the Tardis which your darling husband helpfully put into your mind. 

  The Doctor watched you as you entered the Tardis. "Welcome home, (name)."

  "I'm home..." You replied blankly.

       A/N: I have no idea what I write here. I was desperate to produce a new dw fanfic since I only have a day left of holiday before going back to work, hoping not to waste my time just imagining and no writing, I finally able to write this. I watched a few of my favorite dw episodes and my mind ended up get stuck in the idea of ganger!doctor hence this happened. 

I hope you likes this story and if you do, please kindly drop comment and more. Honestly I'm so nervous about posting this.

I would like to say thanks to those who follow my blog and has drop a like/comment/reblog to all of my past stories. Thank you so much for making me so happy. Stay awesome, everyone!

[saiilorstars]

The Beginning of Everything

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Female OC x 10th Doctor

(OC Face claim: Marjorie de Sousa)

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Ch. 8: Pompeii and Home

Chapter Summary: The Doctor and Renata take Donna to her first trip in the TARDIS to the past! Unfortunately, Pompeii brings up a lot of morality questions that leaves Donna wondering if the Doctor is really like she imagined. Plus, it gives Donna the opportunity to decide what kind of companion Renata is.

The Doctor pushed aside a tattered curtain to reveal a street full of market stalls with people, dressed in ancient clothing, walking in-between. "Ancient Rome," he happily introduced to Renata and Donna. "Well, not to them, obviously. To all intents and purposes right now... this is brand new Rome."

Donna was ecstatic of the sight. "Oh my God, it's... it's so Roman! This is fantastic!" she surprised the Doctor with a big hug. "I'm here... in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome." She pulled away and walked a bit ahead. "This is just weird. I mean, everyone here is dead."

Renata blinked. "I don't...think you should go telling them that. Humans get very upset when you mention their comically short lifespan-"

"-oh, but I should watch what I say around humans?" the Doctor was giving her a disapproving, yet completely amused, glance.

"Oh my God, Donna I am so sorry!" Renata realized how rude she'd been and wanted to apologize for it, but she saw that Donna hadn't even heard her comment. She was too entranced with the new environment.

"Hold on a minute," Donna suddenly frowned, "That sign over there is in English. Are you having me on?" she turned sideways, throwing accusing looks at the aliens. "Are we in Epcot?"

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor swore. "That's the TARDIS translation circuits. Just makes it look like English... speech as well. You're talking Latin right now."

Initially, Donna didn't believe it. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Renata was close to laughing.

Donna thought about it for a minute then laughed. "I just said 'seriously' in Latin. What if I said something in actual Latin? Like 'veni, vidi, vici'? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said 'veni, vidi, vici' to that lot, what would it sound like?"

The Doctor tried to search for an honest answer but he wasn't able to find one and pouted. "I'm not sure - you have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"

Donna smirked, pointing at him. "I'm gonna try it."

"Doctor, stop her, it's not a good idea," Renata shook his arm a bit. "She could cause a fight! She could get hurt! She could-"

"Nah," the Doctor shrugged off her concerns. He was fairly interested in what would result from Donna's quest anyways. Renata frowned at how irresponsible that was but she wasn't remotely surprised by it.

"Hello, sweetheart." the stallholder that Donna approached greeted her kindly. "What can I get for you, my love?"

Donna pretended to look at the fruit in front of her before saying, "Veni, vidi, vici."

"Huh?" the Stallholder raised an eyebrow. "Sorry? Me no speak Celtic. No can do, missy."

"Yeah," Donna turned on her heels and walked back to the awaiting aliens. "What does he mean 'Celtic'?"

"Welsh," the Doctor replied. "You sound Welsh. There we are. That's something."

Renata shook his head at his casualness. "That could have gone completely wrong, you know!" she walked between him and Donna. "Donna could have said something offensive without knowing and then what would have happened? Being a woman-"

"Bit of a stickler, aren't we?" Donna nudged her on the side, smirking when Renata pursed her lips. It was clear as water that it wasn't the first time Renata heard something similar.

Because, in fact, she had heard it before…

"And don't you see, instead of making them all work so monotonously we could alternate them so that each gets a turn to do a different part!" a young Doctor finished explaining his new idea for Zuriah.

The young Time Lady stood just in front of him, with arms crossed, and pursed lips. "You have no authority to give me ideas. You're here to help me with the plans that already exist, remember?"

The Doctor, was at this point, accustomed to her common cold stances. "Zuriah, it's just a way to keep your co-workers upbeat and alive. You don't have to be such a stickler all the time!"

Zuriah's eyes widened, her arms dropping to her sides. "What was that? That word? It's Earth language I know it is. What's it mean?" because clearly he had such a negative connotation on it.

"That you don't know how to have fun!" the Doctor didn't hesitate to clarify. "In fact, you suck the fun out of everything!"

Zuriah breathed harder, doing her best - as she was always trained - to keep her anger from showing. But the Doctor smirking right at her didn't help at all. He enjoyed it.

"Something on your mind, dear Zuriah?" he leaned forwards, getting in her face.

Zuriah was close to smacking him - my God she needed to control herself. "You're...you're going to make me regenerate out of pure stress," she responded in a low mutter before she decided to work in another area. It was the only way she could keep herself in check.

The Doctor's smirk only widened after she left. He actually enjoyed getting that face she always made when she was close to exploding. He could tell a mile off that she was trained to remain that high class Time Lady society would regard her as after graduating. The way she scrunched her face and balled her fists were like fuel for his game. He loved it.

His smirk faded a little bit after thinking that. He loved it? He turned sideways and watched as Zuriah went around setting up for the activity they would be doing later.

Donna stopped by an intersection to look up at an interesting mountain. "I'm not an expert, but there are Seven Hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they only got one?"

The Doctor followed her gaze up to the one mountain in the distant and became pensive. He didn't have much time to do so when the ground under them shook like an earthquake.

"Here we go again!" they heard one of the vendors cry out to the others. Every vendor did what they could so their merchandise wouldn't be ruined.

"Wait a minute!" Donna gasped. "One mountain... with smoke... which makes this…"

"Pompeii," Renata breathed in nervously, and outright terrified. "Doctor-" she turned on him, "-we're in Pompeii... and it's Volcano Day!"

The Doctor was horrified in return, eyes stuck on that one mountain. Renata wasn't going to let him just stare like an idiot.

"We have to go! We can't stay here!" she moved around him and pulled on his arm to follow her. "Donna, c'mon!"

The three hurried back in the same direction they'd come in through. When they arrived at the place where the TARDIS was meant to be, they came to shocking sight of nothing.

"You're kidding," Renata sighed deeply, thinking that of course it would be something that would happen to them.

"Don't tell me the TARDIS is gone…" Donna put a hand on her forehead.

"Okay," the Doctor found it easy to comply.

"Where is it then?"

"You told us not to tell you."

Donna let her hand drop from her head, frowning at his sarcasm. "Don't get clever in Latin!"

"Stop arguing!" Renata turned around to the market stands. "Maybe one of them saw something."

"Good idea," the Doctor rushed up to the closest stand. "Um...excuse me! Excuse me! There was a box-big, blue box. Big, blue, wooden box...just over there. Where's it gone?"

"Sold it, didn't I?" the vendor smugly responded.

The Doctor's face was stunned. "But... it wasn't yours to sell."

"It was on my patch, wasn't it? I got 15 sesterce for it. Lovely jubbly."

"He did what now!?" Renata had heard the last bit and, outraged, stalked up beside the Doctor. "Why would you sell something that wasn't yours!? I'll have the authorities on you-" she was in the middle of pointing a sharpened nail at him when the Doctor pulled her away.

"Renée!" he held her back for a moment to get an important answer out of the vendor. "Who did you sell it to?"

"Old Caecilius," the vendor replied, beedy eyes on the feisty blonde still glaring at him. "Look... if you want to argue, why don't you take it up with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa can't miss it."

"We can't argue with an innocent man who was conned!" Renata exclaimed, starting again with her scolds. "You had no right! I'm going to make sure you pay to the fullest extent-"

"Let's go!" the Doctor forcibly pulled her away from the stall.

"Let me go!" Renata fought against his arms while they started heading for Caecilius' place, Donna just beside the Doctor.

The Doctor was reluctant to let go thinking she might go back to the vendor and continue shouting at him. "You can't argue the way you are," he warned.

"I know!"

Slowly, he retracted his arms from her until she just pushed them away from her. With a huff, she straightened her blouse and looked back.

They split up thinking it was better to find the needed address quicker. When they got back together at an intersection, they found someone was not on the same page.

"Ha! I've got it! Foss Street, this way!" the Doctor nodded for a street they were to go in through.

"No, I've found this big sort of amphitheatre I think…" Donna revealed, slightly breathless from the running she had to do in order to find the place. "We can start there. We can get everyone together. Then maybe they've got a great, big bell or something we could ring…?" she looked around. "Have they invented bells yet?"

"I don't think a bell is useful in this situation," Renata made a face.

"We need it to warn everyone!" Donna exclaimed. "To start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?"

It was then that both aliens realized what Donna was trying to do. Both went deadly serious.

"It's 79 AD, 23 of August which makes Volcano Day tomorrow," the Doctor was the one to answer.

"Plenty of time. We can get everyone out easy!" Donna beamed.

"Yeah, Donna, but...we can't," Renata said, trying to gesture them it was time to keep moving.

Brief confusion flashed through Donna's face but it went away almost as quick as it had come. "But that's what you do," she looked at the Doctor. "You're the Doctor. You save people."

"But not this time," the Doctor continued with a gravely serious tone. "Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens happens. There is no stopping it."

Donna just didn't accept that. "Says who?"

"Says the race that was built around time," Renata answered rather sourly. "Hence Time Lord and Time Lady."

"Listen time lady," Donna threw the title like nothing, "Titles are nothing. Donna-" she pointed at herself, "-human, and I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself."

"You stand in the marketplace and announce the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer!" the Doctor reached over for her. "Now, come on. TARDIS, we are getting out of here."

But Donna yanked her hand from his. "Well, I just might have something to say about that, spaceman!"

"Oh, I bet you will!" the Doctor pointed the way in which they would be talking.

~ 0 ~

On their way into the villa, the ground began to shake again. The family inside had gone to their appointed places to keep their most valuables from falling to pieces. There was one bust, however, that would have completely shattered if the Doctor hadn't caught it in time.

"There you go," the Doctor handed the bust back to Caecilus himself who then put the bust on its podium.

"Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor."

"Oh, that's me," the Doctor pointed at himself. From behind he could practically hear Renata rolling her eyes for lying again. The Doctor leaned to shake Caecilius' hand. "We're visitors. Hello."

"Who are you?"

"I am... Spartacus."

"Really?" came Renata's sour question. She stepped up beside the Doctor, glaring in annoyance.

This time, however, the Doctor would get back at her. "And so is she," he pointed at her.

Renata's mouth fell open.

"Mr and Mrs Spartacus?" Caecilius wondered.

Backfire. Backfire. Backfire. The Doctor quickly shook his head. "Oh no, we're not married."

"N-n-n-n-n-no!" Renata sputtered out, face as red as a tomato. "Never!"

Donna took notice of that and made a mental note to go back on that. "Cousins," she supplied for them all. "We're all cousins."

"Well, anyways, I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade," Caecilius informed the trio.

"And that trade would be?" the Doctor inquired.

"Marble. Lucius Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man."

"Is that like a motto?" Renata thought about. "Catchy."

"We're marble inspectors," the Doctor declared and took out the psychic paper to prove his words.

Caecilius' wife, Metella, gasped. "By the gods of commerce, an inspection." Not wasting a minute, she took the a cup of wine from her youngest son, Quintus. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologize for my son." She hurried to drop the contents of the cup into the pool of the room.

"Oi!" Quintus clearly didn't agree with the norms expected of them.

"This is my good wife, Metella," Caecilius properly introduced. "I- I must confess, we're not prepared for a-"

"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor began to take a look around the room in hopes of finding his TARDIS. "I- I'm sure you've got nothing to hide. Although, frankly, that…" he felt relieved to find his box unharmed and unopened, "...object... rather looks like wood to me."

"Oh," Renata was also relieved to see the TARDIS and followed the Doctor after it.

"I told you to get rid of it!" Metella hissed at her husband, evidently on the fence of his newest purchase.

"I only bought it today," Caecilius briefly explained.

"Ah, well. Caveat emptor," the Doctor turned around.

"Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely."

"I'm sure it's fine but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection."

"Although," Donna cut in, rather suspiciously Renata noted, "while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?"

Renata sighed, shaking her head. The Doctor was not pleased to find Donna had yet to desist in her idea. "I don't know what you mean, Spartacus."

"Oh, this lovely family, mother and father and son... Don't you think they should get out of town?"

Caecilus stared at the ginger, confused. "Why should we do that?"

Renata rubbed her forehead. This was why she was always weary of humans. They thought they knew what was best when in reality they knew next to nothing! Donna had no intentions of harming but if she kept it up she would do more bad than the good she strove for. Honestly, sometimes, she had no idea what the Doctor saw in humans that had him so...fascinated with them.

"Well, the volcano for starters," Donna sarcastically said.

"What?" Caecilius had tried following but the last word stumped him.

"Volcano," Donna repeated for him.

"What-ano?"

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep?"

"Oh my God," Renata decided enough was enough. "Excuse us, really. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." With a widened, fake smile, she turned away from the family and dragged both Donna and the Doctor with her to the small side room with the shrine. "Donna, you can't just go and do this! There are rules! Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet."

The Doctor sprinkled water on the frieze of the Gods, completely agreeing with Renata. "The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow."

Donna narrowed her eyes on the two. "Oh great. They can learn a new word... when they die!"

"Donna, stop it-"

"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flyin' around with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy…" Donna jerked a thumb in Quintus' direction, "...how old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death."

"And that's our fault?" Renata scowled.

"Right now, yes!"

"Donna, you don't understand this, okay? It's not-"

A servant, Rhombus, entered the room to announce the newest visitor. "Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the city government."

The trip turned in time to see an older man striding into the room, brokering brimming with confidence that borderline into smugness. "Lucius, my pleasure as always."

Metella ushered her son to be polite. "Quintus, stand up."

"A rare and great honor, sir, for you to come to my house," Caecilius happily went to greet Lucius, holding a hand out to shake but the man ignored it.

"The birds are flying north... and the wind is in the west."

Caecilius did not want to be rude and say he did not understand. "Right. Absolutely. That's good, is it?"

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow," Lucius continued, a total smug look forming on his face.

"There now, Metella, have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius turned to his wife.

"Never. It's an honor," Metella praised.

Renata almost rolled her eyes at the family. She knew the game all too well. When you're in the presence of noble families, you always have to feed their egos. It was such a boring game and a frustrating one, but Renata had been trained since she was small to do it.

"Pardon me, sir, I have guests," Caecilius motioned to the three travelers. "This is Spartacus, and, uh, Spartacus, and…"

"We'll be kind and stop you," Renata said out of pity for the man who was doing his best to keep it together.

"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind," Lucius began with another round of knowledgeable words, but he had met his match with the Doctor.

"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark," the Time Lord delivered within the next second.

"Ah! What is the dark other than an omen of the sun?"

"I concede that every sun must set…"

"Ha!" Lucius said all too quick.

"...and yet the son of the father must also rise," the Doctor finished rather proudly.

"Damn. Very clever, sir," Lucius conceded. "Evidently a man of learning."

"Oh yes, but don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo," the Doctor waved it off and winced when Renata reminded that 'status quo' had not been introduced yet.

"We'll be off in a minute," Renata assured Caecilius and Lucius politely. She pointed the Doctor to the TARDIS and the man started leading the way.

"I'm not going," Donna hissed at them.

The Doctor turned around to face the ginger's angry look. "You've got to."

"Well I'm not!"

"Donna!" Renata sighed, frustrated that Donna was being so stubborn.

"And here it is…" Caecilius' voice drew them to the man who had just revealed some sort of squares piece of marble...bearing intricate, almost tech-like, designs. "Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?" he anxiously awaited for Lucius' response.

"As the rain pleases the soil."

"D-Doctor, what are you-" Renata whispered frantically when the Doctor went back to the men. Did he not see they had to leave!?

"Oh now that's... different," the Doctor came by the marble piece, ready to get some investigating on. "Who designed that then?"

"My lord Lucius was very specific," Caecilius said, still proud of his work.

The Doctor only got more suspicious and glanced at Lucius. "Where'd you get the pattern?"

"On the rain and mist and wind."

Renata and Donna had also come back, although the latter was more glad than the former. "Well that looks like a circuit," Donna remarked.

"Made of stone…" the Doctor carefully passed a finger down the marble.

"Do you mean you just dreamt that up?" Renata suspiciously eyes Lucius, her mind already alerting that this was not possible.

"That is my job... as City Augur," Lucius declared smugly.

"What's that then, like the mayor?" Donna scrunched her nose in confusion.

"Oh, ah, you must excuse my friend. She's from... Barcelona," the Doctor excused lamely and took Donna aside to explain quietly. "This is an age of superstition... of official superstition. The augur is paid by the city to tell the future. "The wind will blow from the west." That's the equivalent of the 10:00 news."

A pale, young brunette woman, presumably the daughter of the family, Evelina, came into the room. Her stance was languid, and her face distant. "They're laughing at us," she pointed an accusing finger at the travelers. "Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us."

Renata panicked and looked at the girl, although momentarily surprised of Evelina's sickish appearance. "N-n-n-no, we meant no offence. Really!"

Metella rushed to her daughter in hopes of remedying Evelina's imprudence. "I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapors."

Quintus was horrified to see the state of his sister. "By the gods, Mother! What have you been doing to her?"

"Not now, Quintus," Caecilius shushed his son.

"But she's sick. Just look at her!"

Lucius stared at Evelina, unimpressed. "I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift."

"Oh, she's been promised to the Sybiline Sisterhood," Metella proudly said. "They say she has remarkable visions."

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull," Lucius flatly said, still unimpressed. "Only the men folk have the capacity for true perception."

Renata's eyebrows raised and she almost gaped but quickly shut her mouth. Donna saw that and frowned at such passiveness. Well, she owned none of that. "I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate!" she warned Lucius. Soon after, the ground quaked.

"The mountain god marks your words. I'd be careful if I were you," Lucius motioned to their state.

"Consuming the vapors, you say?" the Doctor glanced at Evelina with a mild degree of concern. The girl really looked like she might pass out at any moment.

"They give me strength," the girl raised her head, evidently trying to make herself appear stronger than she actually was.

"It doesn't look like it to me."

"Is that your opinion... as a doctor?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Doctor," Evelina simply said. "That's your name."

The trio of travelers shared the same bewildered expressions.

"How did you know that?" the Doctor inquired.

"And you," Evelina's eyes flickered to Donna, "you call yourself noble. And your name-" she addressed Renata, "-is hidden behind another. Your rebirth will not be enough to hide."

"Now then Evelina, don't be rude," Metella gently pulled on Evelina's arm towards the hallways but Evelina pulled her arm and remained where she was.

"No, no, no. Let her talk," the Doctor was honestly curious of what else the girl would say. Renata, honestly, wished the girl would shut up before she said anything else about her.

"You three come from so far away," Evelina continued to say.

Lucius unceremoniously interjected. "A female soothsayer in inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries."

"Oh, not this time, Lucius. I reckon you've been out-soothsaid," the Doctor glanced back at the irritated man.

"Is that so... man from Gallifrey?" Lucius responded smugly, knowing that he was correct.

"What?" the Doctor stepped back, stunned of the correct vision.

"Strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?"

"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna inched closer to the aliens.

Lucius narrowed his eyes on her. "And you, daughter of... London."

Donna gasped. "How does he know that?"

"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth."

"But that's impossible!"

"Doctor, she is returning," Lucius warned.

The Doctor suspiciously stared. "Who is? Who's she?"

But Lucius was not finished. "And you, Daughter of London... you have something on your back."

"Hey! Enough!" Renata shouted, but instigated visions of her next.

"You cannot hide forever. Your name will rise again through the galaxies, like a butterfly-"

"Stop it!" Renata yelled, horrified.

"But your names are false," Evelina continued the streak of visions, forcing both aliens to turn yet again. "Your real names are hidden. It burns in the stars of the cascade of Medusa herself. You are a lord, sir. And you are a lady. A lord and lady... of time…" She stopped to take a breath but fainted out of her fragile state.

"Evelina!" Metella exclaimed.

~0~

Evelina remained unconscious for the rest of the day. She was taken to her room where her mother would keep watch on her. When Renata and Donna walked into the room, Metella was lightly soothing one of Evelina's arms.

Feeling the women's presence, Metella tried to excuse her daughter's behavior from earlier. "She didn't mean to be rude. She's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her…"

Renata lightly gasped when Metella unwrapped the cloth she had around Evelina's arm. Donna tried not to stare like she was horrified.

"What's wrong with her arm?" the ginger asked.

"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night," Metella sighed and left the cloth on the night stand. Renata began to study the 'irritation' and moved around the bed to get a closer look. "Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?"

"Not a doctor, but…" Renata mumbled and gently touched Evelina's arm, thinking she would have to go through various thinking stages to come up with a decent answer. When her fingers touched the irritated skin, however, she found it to be such an easy answer, and yet a very confusing one at that. "It's stone."

Donna had a face that said she couldn't believe it. Renata couldn't blame her.

"Scuse me," Renata mumbled again and headed out the room. This was not normal - it was Pompeii! Oh there was something going on and she had a hunch that the Doctor was already ahead.

She went in search of the Doctor to inform him of Evelina's situation but came up short when she saw the empty main room. She did see, however, that the hypocaust was missing its grill. "He definitely got started," she slowly walked up to the hypocaust but stopped midway when she heard her shoes crunching over something on the floor. Looking down, she saw various particles on the floor like they had burst through something. Her eyebrows knitted together as they looked from the floor to the hypocaust. Bending down, she picked one of the particles up and discovered it was a rock. Her mind wandered back to Evelina and her arm and deduced they were related. If Evelina was 'consuming' the vapors then she was consuming more things than she thought.

She dared to believe that the Doctor was still around and decided to give one last check up. When she found no such Time Lord, she groaned inwardly and headed back for Evelina's room. She would say that she was surprised that the Doctor had gone off God knew where without her...but that was a lie. It was so like the Doctor.

Coming into Evelina's room, Renata stopped short at the sight of Evelina - now awake - laughing as Donna posed in a new purple gown of the era. "What - how long was I gone!?" Renata took a double-take.

"Long!" Donna passed one drape of her gown over her shoulder. "Where did you go?"

"To get the Doctor, where else?" Renata sighed, passing a hand through her hair. "But of course, being who he is, he's gone."

"You've known him for a long time, then?" Donna curiously wondered and didn't fail to notice how alarmed Renata became.

"No, not at all! Anyways, what's going on here?" Renata turned to Evelina, missing Donna's sharp look on her. "Are you feeling better?" she asked Evelina.

"Yes, thank you," the girl nodded, smiling.

"And...I see you were playing dress up…?" Renata's gaze drifted to Donna's choice of attire.

Donna beamed. "We could get you into one, can't we?" she glanced at Evelina.

"What!?" Renata exclaimed.

"We can!" Evelina agreed happily, getting off her bed to go retrieve a second dress.

"N-n-n-n-n-no that's fine!" Renata tried stopping the girl but Donna overpowered her with a louder voice.

"Yes! Go get one!"

And despite Renata's constant protests, she was forced into a bright, red gown with golden hemlines. She huffed as Donna stepped back from her with a laugh, clearly loving her work.

"Having fun there, Donna?" Renata asked flatly, eyes slightly glowering.

"A bit, yeah," Donna nodded, unable to stop herself from laughing one more time. Renata's eyes narrowed completely this time. "Oh c'mon, live a little!" she playfully hit Renata's arm.

"A bit hard to do when we're in Pompeii, breaking all the rules established to keep this point stable."

Donna blinked rapidly, still partly amused by the blonde. "You take everything so...serious. You're nothing like the Doctor, I tell you," Renata sighed and turned away, hoping that Evelina would come back into the room at any moment. There it is again, thought Donna. There was such reluctance against the Doctor whenever she brought it up and she couldn't understand why. Why did Renata act like he was some big, delicate topic? There was nothing delicate about the Doctor….right?

Evelina finally returned to the room, making Renata's prayers worthwhile. "You look wonderful," she praised Renata's new appearance kindly.

"Thank you," Renata politely responded.

"Nice to see you laugh," Donna remarked at the girl. "What do you do in old Pompeii, then... girls your age? You got... mates? Do you go hangin' about 'round the shops? T.K. Maximus?"

Evelina walked over to her bed and took a seat at the edge. "I'm promised to the sisterhood for the rest of my life."

Renata suddenly empathize with the girl. "You get any choice in that?" her stark, soft voice surprised Donna. There was something in it that indicated Renata had gone through something similar.

"It's not my decision," Evelina said so casually, like it wasn't a problem. "I have the gift of sight. The sisters chose for me."

Renata shook her head, and Donna heard her mumble 'not my decision' under her breath. Renata couldn't remember how many times she had heard that famous line from her family.

If it was in regards to the Academy, it wasn't her decision.

If it was who she needed to befriend, it wasn't her decision.

If it was what elective subjects she was going to take, it wasn't her decision.

If it was downright to who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with...it wasn't her decision.

All her lives she had been told that many things weren't for her to decide on, but when she finally met someone who wanted her to choose for herself...she didn't. And that was probably what angered her more. She'd been trained all her life to follow the norms and rules that when the time came to make the most important decision of her life, she wasn't capable of doing it.

"What can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna's dangerous question pulled Renata to the present.

Evelina made nothing of it. "Is tomorrow special?"

"You tell me. What do you see?" Donna moved towards the bed, ignoring Renata's hisses for her to stay put.

Evelina followed the game without knowing. She covered her eyes, revealing a set of painted eyes on the backs of her hands. "The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all." She dropped her hands on her laps and smiled.

"Look... don't tell the Doctor I said anything 'cause he'll kill me…" Donna began and Renata groaned from behind.

"Donna! You're not supposed to!"

"I have to try!" Donna snapped and settled with Evelina, ignoring the girl's confused face. "I've got a prophecy too!"

At those words, Evelina raised her hands to cover her eyes again, making Donna believe she was just trying not to listen.

"Evelina, I'm sorry, but you've got to hear me out. Evelina, can you hear me? Listen!"

"There is only one prophecy!"

"Donna, stop it!" Renata began to scold but there was no stopping Donna.

"But everything I'm about to say to you is true. I swear. Just listen to me. Tomorrow, that mountain is going to explode. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks... tons and tons of it and... this whole town is gonna get buried!"

"That's not true!" Evelina argued, still with her eyes covered.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everyone's gonna die. Even if you don't believe me, just tell your family to get out of town... just for one day, just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out! Just leave Pompeii!"

"This is false prophecy!" Evelina declared, lowering her hands to reveal a glare underneath.

She breaks contact with the sisters.

"ENOUGH!" Renata couldn't see Donna making things worse but she wasn't going to wait and be proven wrong. She stalked over and grasped Donna by the arm. "We are leaving!"

"Oi! Oi! Oi!" Donna yanked her arm from Renata's grip midway down the hallway. "You are not my mother!"

"Well I might as well be!" Renata whirled around, furious beyond belief. "What you did in there was wrong!"

"Wrong?" Donna repeated, incredulous. "What? Saving these people is wrong now?"

"Unfortunately, yes! And not because I don't want to but because we can't. There are rules-"

"Oh to hell with your rules! Is that all you do? Remind the rules?"

"Yes!" Renata exclaimed, equally as frustrated as Donna. "It's who I am, actually. You'll have to get used to it."

"I can't get used to the idea of letting people die. The Doctor is supposed to save people-"

"He's not actually. That's just a job he gave himself but he doesn't have to do anything."

Donna took a breath and calmed, giving Renata a long stare. "You don't strike me as a woman who doesn't care. The Doctor wouldn't have brought you along if you didn't care about saving people."

Renata rubbed her face. "Donna, I understand what you're trying to do but...these rules I'm talking about? They're important and no one should mess with them. Not you. Not me. Not the Doctor. They're there so that people can continue to live through the years-"

"But these people-"

"-I wish could survive but they won't. And if you can't go by these important rules...maybe this isn't what you should be doing," Renata hated that she sounded so bluntly rude and cruel. There was just nothing to do. The best solution was to simply avoid places like these so that one wouldn't have to see it. It was forceful bliss.

~0~

After an eventful outing, the Doctor came running back to the villa...with the ground shaking more than ever.

"What is it? What's that noise?" Metella ran into the main room with Caecilius.

"Doesn't sound like Vesuvius," Caecilius looked around, lost.

"Caecilius! All of you, get out!" the Doctor urgently motioned.

Renata and Donna ran into the place, both surprised but Renata quickly solving the mystery. "Doctor, what did you do!?"

"I think we're being followed!" the Doctor ignored her question. Renata screamed, however, when the grille over the hypocaust was blown into the air. "Just get out!" the Doctor waved a hand for them to listen and follow. He moved over and started ushering out the people he could.

But...when the ground cracked and a loud growl filled the room...everyone stopped. A creature of mixed stone and magma pushed its way up the hypocaust.

"The gods are with us," Evelina breathed, horrified.

"Water!" the Doctor shouted to the rest. "We need water! Quintus, all of you, get water! Donna! Renata-"

"Yes, okay!" Renata hurried along with Donna and Quintus, along with a servant.

Another servant who remained, Rhombus, was entranced with the creature and stepped forwards. "Blessed are we to see the gods."

The creature, in return, breathed fire like a Dragon and burned the servant to ash. Before it could do the same to the others, the Doctor advanced next with his hands out in a nonthreatening manner. "Talk to me! That's all I want! Talk to me. Tell me who you are. Don't hurt these people!"

As the others began returning with water, Donna was captured by red-robed women. The dropped bucket splashed water and got on Renata's shoes. It made the blonde look up and see Donna being taken by strangers.

"Donna!" she dropped the bucket she was carrying and hurried to save Donna. Her attempt was futile as another robed woman grabbed her from behind and took her along.

Meanwhile, the Doctor continued brokering peace between them and the creature. "Talk to me. I'm the Doctor. Tell me who you are."

But the creature didn't listen and prepared to burn him to ashes as well. Quintus and a servant arrived in time with urns of water which they threw directly at the creature. It froze and crumbled into pieces.

"What was it?" Caecilius could only blink after the chaos stopped.

"Carapace of stone... held together by internal magma," the Doctor calmed and turned around, calming. "Not too difficult to stop. But I reckon that's just a foot soldier."

Metella shook her head, wearily looking on. "Doctor... or whatever your name is... you bring bad luck in this house."

The Doctor didn't care and clapped a hand on Quintus' shoulder. "I thought your son was brilliant. Aren't you going to thank him?"

Quintus stared at him in shock that he would actually say those words. Soon though, he had his mother hugging him.

"Still... guess there are aliens at work in Pompeii and it's a good thing we stayed," the Doctor remarked, and immediately could hear Renata's scolds of the rules again.

He froze.

There was no scolding.

Not even on why he had disappeared from the house for a while. "Renata?" he spun around in a circle to find the Time Lady but she wasn't there. And then he saw that Donna was missing too. "Donna!"

~0~

Renata was not happy.

Tied up to a sacrificial altar, she turned her head to the side where Donna was also lying. "See, this is why we follow the rules!"

Donna rolled her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me. We're about to be sacrificed and all you can think of are the bloody rules!?"

"You fed these women what they think is a false prophecy!" Renata exclaimed, juggling her hands tied above her in another futile attempt to break free. "Had you kept quiet like the Doctor and I told you, none of this would have happened!"

"You're such a mom!"

One of the red-robed women in the place, Spurrina, approached the altar with a dagger. "You will be silent!"

Donna still did not falter. "You might have eyes on the back of your hands but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I finish with you! Let us... go!"

"This prattling will cease... forever," Spurrina raised the dagger to plunge it down on Donna.

"Oh, that'll be the day," the Doctor's voice stopped it all. He casually leaned against a pillar.

Spurrina turned fiercely, as did the rest of the sisters. "No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sybil."

"Oh, that's all right, just us girls," the Doctor mocked a high-pitched voice and started for them. "Do you know, I met the Sibyl once. Hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance a tarantella. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. She said, 'I know'. Well, she would."

"If you're done telling your ridiculous story…" Renata's sharpened voice made him wince.

"You all right there?" he asked both women.

"Oh, never better," Donna sarcastically replied.

"I like the togas…" he pulled out his sonic and used it on the ropes to get them free.

"Quit your sarcasm and get us out of here," Renata scolded.

"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor hurried up and broke them both free.

"What magic is this?" Spurrina demanded, although partially awed with the sonic.

The Doctor just gave the sonic a little flip between his fingers and put it away. "Let me tell you about the Sibyl... the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, eh? On the blade of a knife?"

"Yes... a knife that now welcomes you!" Spurrina once again threatened with the knife.

"Show me this man," a croaky voice stopped her. Automatically, all the sisters turned to face the curtain hiding a figure and knelt down.

"High Priestess, the stranger would defy us!" Spurrina argued.

"Let me see. This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake."

"Oh okay, but ignore my presence then," Renata couldn't help say.

"Calm down, you've only barely started travelling," the Doctor comforted her then stepped towards the curtain with her and Donna. "Ah, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The gods whisper to me," the High Priestess answered.

"Oh, they've done far more than that. Ah, might I beg audience, look upon the High Priestess?"

The curtains shielding her parted and revealed the High Priestess sitting on her bed, her body nearly converted to stone.

Donna gaped. "Oh my God! What's happened to you?" Renata nudged her on the side for her outburst, although she was a bit on edge too.

"The heavens have blessed me," the High Priestess meant as an explanation.

The Doctor was the only one who kept it completely together. "If I might…" he motioned he wanted to step closer and received an approving raised arm. He walked up the small steps up to the woman and examined her stoned skin. "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary."

"And who told you that?" Renata suspiciously inquired, preferring to stay where she was in case it was seemed disrespectful.

"The voices."

"It's the same condition on Evelina's arm," Renata's eyes trailed the woman's stone figure.

"Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?" Donna realized and turned to the other sisters.

Spurrina approached her with her sleeve pulled back of her arm which was also bearing bits of stone. "The blessings are manifold."

"They're stone," Renata still couldn't get over it. "At Caecilius' hypocaust-" she looked at the Doctor inquisitively, "-there was small bits of stone."

"Yeah," the Doctor confirmed and returned to her and Donna. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"

Renata sighed. "You just brought up the future word again - volcano?" the Doctor winced at the truth behind the words.

"This word…" the High Priestess called again, "...this image in your mind, this "volcano", what is that?"

"More to the point, why don't you know about it?" the Doctor asked, knowing that whatever was blocking the vision of the great volcano was probably not human. "Who are you?"

"High Priestess of the Sibyline."

"No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you," the Doctor clarified himself. "The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust in the lungs... taking over the flesh and turning it into... what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible."

"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are!"

And so they did.

"We... are... awakening!" the High Priestess' voice suddenly echoed with others.

"The voice of the gods!" Spurrina made the mistake as did the rest of the sisters.

"Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power." they all chanted.

"By the Shadow Proclamation rules, they have to identify themselves if they're inhabiting another species' body," Renata whispered to the Doctor.

"My friend is right," the Doctor nodded. "So name yourself! Planet of origin, galactic coordinates, species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation."

"We... are... rising!" the echoing voices repeated.

"We demand your name!" Renata stepped forwards. "Tell us your name this instant!"

The High Priestess pulled her hood down and revealed her stone-like face. "Pyrovile!"

"Pyrovile. Pyrovile," the sisters chanted behind, in the dark of what the name actually meant.

Donna stepped closer to her friends. "What's a Pyrovile?"

"Well, that's a Pyrovile... growing inside her," Renata explained, swallowing hard when she remembered the hypocaust incident. "She's at the halfway stage."

"Well, and that turns into?"

"That thing in the villa, that was an adult Pyrovile," the Doctor answered, missing her gaping reaction.

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor," the High Priestess declared.

"I warn you... I'm armed," the Doctor whipped out a pistol. "Renata, Donna, get that grille open."

Renata was stuck on the oddly colored pistol in his hand. "What are...?"

"Just…" the Doctor nodded for her to go. Renata shook her head and went along with Donna. "What are the Pyrovile doing here?" he then asked.

"We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast we were rendered into dust."

"Right. Creatures of stone shatter on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?"

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

The Doctor tried making sense of it all. "Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourself, but why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts."

"Yeah, okay, fine. You force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that. Yeah, but... seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time," the Doctor left it clear this was just impossible. "Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

"Doctor!" called Renata. "We've got it!" she and Donna had pulled the grill off the nearest hypocaust

"Now get down!" the Doctor inched closer to them, still aiming his pistol at the High Priestess.

Donna did a double take at the hypocaust. "What, down there?"

"Yes, down there!" the Doctor shouted. Renata then began to help Donna get in. "Why can't this lot predict the volcano? Why is it being hidden?" that was the last thing he couldn't understand.

"Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless," Spurrina gasped when she saw the truth.

"Yeah, but it's got a sting!" the Doctor promised right before shooting said water pistol at the High Priestess, causing her to moan as it stung her body. "Get down there!" he urgently said for Renata who'd remained above watching.

Startled, and frankly a bit scared, she dropped into the opening on the first call. Donna was already waiting for then in the hot cavern.

"You used a water pistol on her!?" Renata incredulously asked after the Doctor came through.

"It was that or a sonic!"

"Water pistol!?"

The Doctor's face scrunched up, his turn to be incredulous. "I'm sorry, are you disappointed!?"

Donna inwardly groaned. "Oi! Where are we going now?"

"Into the volcano," the Doctor nodded to the path ahead.

"No way…"

"Yes way," he twirled the pistol around his fingers.

"You are unbelievable," Renata declared, a hint of a smile drawing across her lips.

They wasted no time hurrying down the tunnels towards Vesuvius.

"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right? For you to stop it?" Donna had to ask after reviewing all the information the Doctor had gotten.

"Still part of history," the Doctor regretted to answer.

Donna huffed. "Well, I'm history too. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?"

"It's the rules Donna," Renata said but Donna groaned, so fed up with that word.

"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux," the Doctor explained for the ginger. "Pompeii is fixed."

"How do you know which is which?"

The Doctor stopped walking for a moment, his face hardening. Renata shook her head, gritting her teeth together.

"Because that's what our kind does...did," her face softened. "It used to be seen as a gift...for us to be able to see how the universe turned, see what is, what was...what could be, what must not." She sighed. "At least, that's what my sister used to say." This time, the Doctor was the one to stare in surprise. This was the first time Renata spoke about her family. "She was part of the higher council and she was in charge of making sure the rules were kept in check, whether it was our regeneration cycles or time itself. That's why I'm a 'stickler' for rules," she lightly smiled at them both. "Everyone's...gone...but it's up to the Doctor and I to make sure time stays the way it should be."

Donna couldn't accept that no matter how 'proper' it sounded. "How many people died?" she went in another direction, once again forcing them to stop.

"Stop it!" the Doctor called.

"Doctor!" Donna shouted. "How many people died?"

The Doctor straightened, jaw clenching. "...twenty thousand."

Donna's eyes widened, and the incredulous expression etched itself across her face. "Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand? And you think that's all right, do you?"

"Who said we thought it was right!?" Renata snapped.

But they heard the screech of a Pyrovile nearby. "They know we're here! Come on!" the Doctor hurried, and with no choice Donna followed.

They ran down the rest of the tunnels, actively avoiding pockets of flame. They entered a great cavern.

"It's the heart of Vesuvius," the Doctor said quietly as they watched Pyroviles freely walking about from a distance. "We're right inside the mountain."

"There's tons of 'em," Donna said, horrified.

Renata squinted her eyes as she caught something interesting below. "Doctor, what's that thing over there?" she pointed.

He followed her gaze and when he couldn't see it well, he pulled out a small, collapsible telescope. He saw the interior of a ship and realized it was the Pyroviles'. "That's how they arrived... or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?"

"But why do they need a volcano?" Donna continued to misunderstand, unknowingly that her friends were already putting pieces together. "Maybe... it erupts and they launch themselves back in space or something."

"No, it's worse that that…" Renata mumbled.

Donna had to disagree there. "How can it be worse?" But a Pyrovile roaring cut her off. "It's getting closer!"

"Heathens!" Lucius positioned himself at a higher cavern, looking directly down at the trio. "Defilers! They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods!"

"Come on!" the Doctor pulled Renata and Donna into a hasty run across the cavern floor.

When Renata saw where his direction was leading, she nearly stopped midway. "We can't go in there!"

"We can't go back!"

"Crush them! Burn them!" Lucius ordered the Pyroviles below. One of them rose right in front of the trio, menacingly.

"We're so done for…" Renata gulped at the gigantic monster. Fortunately, the Doctor disagreed.

He had used his water pistol again and successfully shooed the Pyrovile away enough for them to continue running.

"There is nowhere to run, Doctor…" Lucius began just as the Doctor stopped by the front of the pod.

"Now then, Lucius. My lord Pyrovillian... don't get yourselves in a lava," the Doctor so cleverly said, or so he thought. He noticed Renata's and Donna's blank faces. "In a lava... no?"

"No," Donna answered bluntly.

"No," he then agreed and looked up at Lucius again. "But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish... once this new race of creatures is complete... then what?"

"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself, an almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilization," Lucius had no problem answering, believing they would he dead any second now as another Pyrovile made its way for them.

"But if you've crashed... and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?" Donna couldn't find a reasonable explanation for their stay in a primitive human civilization.

"The heaven of Pyrovillia is gone."

This caught Renata's attention as it wasn't the first time it had come up. "What do you mean 'gone'? Where's it gone?"

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost," Lucius gave no more recount on that, much to Renata's disappointment. "But there is heat enough in this world for our new species to rise."

"Yeah, I should warn you, it's 70% water out there," the Doctor swayed his head.

"Water can boil and everything will burn, Doctor!"

The Doctor put his water pistol away and with a straight face said, "Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you, that's all I needed to know. Renée! Donna!" he pushed both women into the pod and quickly got in himself, making sure to lock them in with the sonic.

"Uuuuh…" Renata's mouth-open stare at the door didn't need words to explain what she was thinking.

"You just trapped us!" Donna went with the old fashion scold. She sighed when the Doctor gave no care for that. "Little bit hot."

"See, the energy converted takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix which wields Pyrovile to human," the Doctor began to babble what he'd learned, being it part of his thinking process. "Now it's complete, they can convert millions."

"Well, can you change it... with these controls?" Donna pointed to the panel of controls beside him.

"'Course I can, but don't you see?" the Doctor gestured with both hands. "That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano." Donna's eyebrows knitted together, confused yet slowly realizing what he meant. "Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're gonna use it to take over the world."

"But you can change it back," Donna said, though more for her assurance than for his.

"And by averting the system we make the volcano blow all the Pyrovile up…" Renata slowly said, her eyes shining with looking tears as she realized herself too.

"We destroy Pompeii."

"It's Pompeii or the world," the Doctor left it in simpler terms.

"Oh my God," Donna had never felt so sick then at that moment.

"If Pompeii is destroyed, then it's not just history, it's me," the Doctor straightened, forcing himself to accept the truth. "I make it happen."

"No," Renata shook her head, turning to the panel too, "We would."

"Ren…" the Doctor hesitated to let her in.

"What do you think my whole speech of us being left in charge of time was for? To sound pretty and smart? No," Renata said strongly. "You and I are the l-last…" she just couldn't say it out loud, "...there's no one left," she corrected, "...and so we are at a 50/50 democracy. I vote yes. That makes it 100%."

The Doctor put his hand over hers on the control panel, his face expressing all his gratitude for this.

Donna could not take seeing them so willing to accept this awful fate. "But the Pyrovile are made of rock. Maybe they can't be blown up."

With no other choice, the Doctor began averting the system. "Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it." He stopped, his eyes flickering to Renata and Donna. "Certainly not us."

"Never mind us," Donna said the words Renata was thinking of.

The Doctor put his hands on the lever that was waiting to be pulled and activate Vesuvius. "Push this lever and it's all over. Twenty thousand people."

With shaky hands, Renata placed hers over his. "There is nothing we can do. It's our job."

The Doctor knew she was trying to make it a little better but it worked for neither. She was just as scared as he was, and just as guilty as him. Worst of all, neither was able to exert the force needed to pull the lever down. Donna saw their unwillingness and reached across, placing her hands over Renata's. They all exchanged looks, accepting this was what needed to happen.

And so, they pressed down.

It started off a cycle of events. They were blasted into the air inside the pod as the mountain began to spew out molten lava. The trio tumbled about inside until the pod came to a full stop. The Doctor, being nearest to the door, reached to open it.

"It was an escape pod!" he breathed, not able to believe he had this much luck. He reached into the pod to help Renata and Donna get out.

"Your luck is enviable!" Renata laughed.

The Doctor found a laugh too and took her hand and Donna's to get out of there. Their run had to be faster than the lava threatening to gobble them up. By the time they returned to the town, ash was already invading the town. It was hard getting through the people without falling down. While the Doctor and Renata did their best to get through, Donna stopped for a moment in hopes of saving at least some people.

"Don't! Don't go to the beach! Don't go to the beach, go to the hills!" she tried stopping some people but no one would. "Listen to me! Don't go to the beach, it's not safe! Listen to me...!" she gave up and turned, spotting a little boy on his own sobbing. "Come here!" she rushed to help him but a woman came over and snatched him away.

"Give him to me!"

Donna resigned and stood, crying with nothing else to do.

The Doctor came back for her eventually. "Come on!"

Together, they ran the rest of the way to Caecilius' villa where the TARDIS was (hopefully) still standing. Caecilius and his family were huddled at the corner of the main room when they arrived at the villa.

"Gods save us, Doctor!" Caecilius begged.

The Doctor stared at the family but his mind warned him this was not meant to be. Even Renata had faltered from her cold, logical view. She was, by default, a mother hen. But the Doctor pulled her for the TARDIS.

"You can't! Doctor, you can't!" Donna shouted, running after them. The Doctor was already preparing them to leave the place as fast as possible. "You can't just leave them!"

"Don't you think I've done enough? History's back in place and everyone dies," the Doctor snapped and sarcastically swayed his head.

"You've got to go back!" Donna was crying. "Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back!"

But the Doctor released the brake and started to finally dematerialize. While he showed no emotion, Renata was biting her lip so as to not cry.

"It's not fair," Donna said as a last resort.

"No, it's not," both time lords agreed.

"But your own planet, it burned…"

Renata closed her eyes, stifling a sob.

The Doctor snapped his head up to meet Donna's accusing look. "That's just it. Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't. I can never go back! I can't! I just... can't!"

Donna could accept that, but she could not let everyone. "Just someone. Please," she went in another direction. "Not the whole town. Just save someone."

The Doctor paused, unsure of that request. He looked down at Renata who surprised him with a face full of tears.

"I think it's important that we do," Renata mumbled.

And so, succumbing to the one request, they returned to save one family from Vesuvius.

~0~

On the hills overlooking what was left of Pompeii stood Caecilius and his family, with the Doctor, Renata and Donna beside. The family was eternally grateful for the travelers' return but mortified to see what was left of their home.

"It is never forgotten, Caecilius. Oh time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade, but one day... Pompeii will be found again…" the Doctor promised, "...in thousands of years... and everyone will remember you."

"What about you, Evelina?" Donna stepped around to where Evelina stood. "Can you see anything?"

Evelina shook her head. "The visions have gone."

Renata came up on Evelina's other side. "The explosion was so powerful, it cracked open a rift in time. Just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore…" she smiled softly, "You're free."

And for some reason, the Doctor and Donna detected that her words had a double, important meaning.

"But tell me... who are you, Doctor... with your words... and your temple containing such size within?" Metella couldn't help feel grateful yet overly terrified of this man.

"Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone," the Doctor warned.

"The great go Vulcan must be enraged. It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of…" Caecilius paused for the right word to come to mind, "...volcano. All those people…"

As the group of travelers slipped away, the family hugged each other.

~0~

When he didn't see Renata busy making her usual dinner, the Doctor honestly worried. If there was one thing he learned about Renata in the short time they traveled together it was that Renata needed some routine to function. It didn't matter if it was as small as having coffee in the morning or something bigger like dinner each night...she just needed something. The Doctor hadn't been one for routines that didn't involve spontaneous adventures, but he was truly committed to helping Renata keep her way of functioning. If Renata wasn't making her dinner it meant there was something troubling going on. He needed to find her.

Thankfully, the TARDIS had taken a liking to Renata and was much more amiable in helping the Doctor find her. After going down one corridor, the stopped after passing by the library and getting a glimpse of blonde. As he returned and walked into the room, he started to realize that the small noises he was hearing was in fact Renata's crying. He cautiously approached the couch she sat on, getting closer looks of a journal in her arms.

"Renée?"

She gasped, clearly startled, and slammed her journal shut. Quickly wiping her tears off her face, she pushed herself up. "I-I''ll get started on that dinner." She knew she'd spent too much time in there remembering everything and that the Doctor would eventually come looking for her. But she couldn't help it. Her little spills of her backstory were bringing up memories she didn't want. This time, it was more focused on her family.

"Hey, that's not what I came for," the Doctor went around the couch, showing he was only going to sit her down again. She was very protective over that journal in her hands and he wasn't about to give her reason to doubt him. "What's wrong?"

Renata bit her lip, uncertain if the smart move would be to leave or just to explain briefly what was going on. That was what her head said...her hearts on the other hand...were aching for some warm comfort.

"Renata?" the Doctor asked again. "Look, I know visiting Pompeii must have open up some things about...home…"

There was a flash of stupor on Renata's face. "You know?"

"Of course. Being the culprit it's...it's impossible," the Doctor breathed, sighing deeply afterwards.

Renata looked at him for a while. "H-how long...has it been...for you?" it was a question she had never thought of in the time she'd met him again.

The Doctor got to thinking for a moment. "Um...about...about a year and a half I think. You?"

Renata shook her head, bitterly smiling. "About 55 years now. Yet I'm more affected than you, go figure. Today, I thought more about my family than I would have liked. It crushes my hearts that I can't ever see them again."

The Doctor never felt more guilt than at that moment. He always felt guilty about destroying his home, but having a Time Lady in front of him, crying and missing the home he destroyed was...indescribable.

"Can I tell you something?" Renata whispered, her voice frail.

"Sure, anything."

Renata's fingers gripped her journal as a fierce determination took her over. "I would do anything to get Gallifrey back." The Doctor blinked, so stunned that he couldn't make up words for the first couple of seconds. "I know what I said back in 1914 but...living here with you...remembering our home...I miss it. I miss the skies, I miss my family - however dysfunctional we were they were mine - and I miss my job. I want it back. I want it all back."

The Doctor had never seen Renata so...livid about something, and much less about this. He felt a terrible ping in his chest as he considered the probability of Renata ever getting her wish. He had made sure of that, after all.

[carrietrekkie]

Firelight - Part II                              Let´s try Starfleet.

Hey!

Here is part 2/4! This time a little bit more from Pikes perspective! I hope you all enjoy it!

Part I  Fire and Ice

We left the transporter room and reached the sick bay in a few minutes. Surprisingly, we met Dr. Culber, in view of the many injured from the station, he seemed to help out.

"Captain Pike!" "He turned to us, took Pike's other arm and together we put him on a bed. "What happened?" He walked away to get bandages and a tricorder. "We were overturned and unfortunately a steel beam got in the way of his landing." I unzipped Pike's jacket and helped him to undress. "Lie down." "Yeah, that sounds good." He sank down on the cushions. Meanwhile, he was a little pale around the nose. "Here." Culber handed me some compresses. "Thanks." I gently pushed it onto the wound and Pike flinched imperceptibly. Culber began to examine his head while I started to wipe the blood from his face. "What about the station?"

"Captain, you have a capable crew to take care of it." Culber grinned at me, I gladly replied. "You should take care of yourself for five minutes." He looked at his ads. "Okay, that looks good. No bleeding, no injuries, no concussion, the blow just knocked you out for a moment. "He put down the tricorder and picked up a skin regenerator, before he put it on, he looked at me.

"Do you want to give it a try?" "Really?" I looked at the doctor, then at the device in his hand. "Yes, of course." I let go of the compresses and went to the other side of the bed. "I'll show you how." Culber gave me the regenerator. "I'm not asked?" Pike followed me with his eyes. "Don´t worry, I'll stop her from doing anything nonsense with your head."

 The device was a bit bigger and heavier than a permanent marker and I had to keep it that way as well. Culber explained the speed I had to hold and the button I had to press. I held the device just above Pike's skin, then activated the regenerator and began to guide it over his forehead. He squinted up, which didn´t necessarily make my nerves calm. "That looks good. Just keep going, I'll be right back. "Culber hurried to another injured who was just ushered in.

"Wait, what?" My eyes darted after him, then back to the task he had assigned me. Now Pike looked really suspicious.

"Don´t look like that!" I tried not to look at him. "How am I supposed to look?" He started to grin. "Hey, don´t move!" I reached the end of the wound and switched off the regenerator after it closed. "Okay." Just now I did realize how much I had been tensing up around the instrument.

Pike raised a hand and stroked the now-healed skin. "I'll look at it later, but my head is still up." "I can change that, too." I looked at him maliciously as he wanted to get up. "What do you think you are doing?" I crossed my arms. "I have to go to the bridge." He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. "The station has just exploded, I'm very sure despite the bump."

"Well, we can´t change that anyway." I grabbed his jacket, that stopped him first. "That's why I'm pretty sure, when Dr. Culber comes back, he order you to take a break for today. " He grinned at me. "I keep the bet."

"Okay, Captain." Culber stepped back to us, pulled out a hypospray, and then looked at Pike. "Against the headache." He injected it and then looked at him. "You should take a break for today. The evacuation is complete, there are no dead to complain and all injured will get through." He answered my question in advance. "Do you make sure he keeps his feet still?"

"Me?" I pointed to me for support. "I don´t know if I see myself capable for that." "I'm still in attendance." Pike got up from the bed. "And I can take care of myself." "Don´t try to make a fool of yourself." Culber smiled at me, then Pike. "I want to see you again tonight." Then he went to look after his other patients.

Pike looked at me, then reached out to grab his jacket from me. "I think it´s done." I turned it so that he could see the bloodstains. "But not everything is yours." "You should change, too." He pointed to my smeared clothes. "Yes, it looks like that." We smiled at each other, then left the sick bay and made our way to our quarters.

"May I ask you something?" "Of course." I looked at him. "What did you do in your time? I mean professionally. " "I had just finished paramedic training, previously I was a surgical nurse." I smiled at him. "So you knew what you were doing." A smile crept around his lips. "Eh, no. I just reacted. "I stopped. "I have never experienced something like that." "Nevertheless, you saved his life." Pike looked at me, I prefer to ground. "Maybe this would be something for you?" "I should work in the sick bay?" "Why not?" He put a hand behind my back and we walked on. "That seems to lie to you."

"I don´t know." I shrugged my shoulders.  "There is so much to learn here, I feel like I'm missing so much when I'm committed to something and I don´t always want to look like I don´t know what's going on." "You underestimate yourself. You barely stand out. "A crew member walked by and looked at us with wide eyes. This displeased Pikes claim of just a huge damper. I grinned at him. "Do you want to reconsider that?" He cleared his throat.  “I would also be staring if I would see us like this. I looked down at myself. "Yeah, okay, we look like we bathed in blood."

"I know you like showering with water, but you'd better put it down with the sound shower." He pointed to my glued hair, I glanced at my braid, not wanting to know what the rest of me looked like. "Works better." "Good to know." We reached my quarters. "Do you know what's missing on this incredibly cool and awesome spaceship?" "No, but I think you'll tell me right away." "A bathtub." Pike laughed. "Or isn´t that done anymore in the 23century?” "Not at all." He raised his eyebrows. "Anyway, I don´t want to watch how all the dirt swims around in front of me." I opened the door. "You owe me another piece of cake." "I didn´t forget. Let's say in two hours at the mess hall? " "That should be done. Don´t forget to report to Dr. Culber again."

“I knew you would say that.”

“Another point for you.”

We said goodbye and I hurried to get into the bathroom. I took off the bloody uniform and threw it into the laundry shaft, my jacket would be useless anyway. I turned it and pulled the badge down. But it was Chris jacket, I had forgotten that I still had it in my hand, but since it also looked like they were swimming through blood, I also threw it away and put the badge so that I would not forget it later. For a moment, I was tempted to take a shower with water, but the thought of how the blood drained from my body made me gasp for a moment, so I took Pike's advice to heart and stepped under the sound shower. It felt strange when the warm impulses swept over me and carried away all the dirt and blood. In fact, it was a pretty good feeling, it would probably have been impossible to do with water. So I just stood there for five minutes, feeling the warmth that had now spread through the cabin, then turned on the water and closed my eyes. It did so well, and scared away the last few dark thoughts still haunting my head. I almost forgot that the whole mess had just happened because Leland wanted to talk to me. But we didn´t think that the whole station would fly around our ears. I turned the sound shower on for a moment and was dry in a few seconds, then I got dressed and reached for a fresh T-shirt. Going out, I tied my hair back and put the badge in my pocket. A strange noise grabbed my attention for a moment, but there were enough and constantly new ones on this ship. I looked for my communicator and activated it.

"Zimmer at Pike." I pulled some fresh boots out of the closet. "Pike here." "I still have your badge if you were searching for it. Your jacket was over." "I wondered where I forgot it." I could hear the shower running. “I didn´t want to bother you. See you soon!." I hung up, trying to dispel the thought of Christopher Pike standing in the shower. Unsuccessful. Instead, he made me smile all over my face.

"Hello Cathrin." I jumped up and stared into the face of someone dressed all in black, a phaser in her hand and a bad look on her face. "Who are you, what the hell are you doing in my quarters?" "I think we have a date." Before I could do anything, something hit me in the face and threw me to the ground. I gasped and tasted blood. When I looked down, I could see blood dripping on the carpet. Curiously enough, the thought of that the shower was for the barrel, was the last thing that flashed through my mind when something hit me again and drove me into unconsciousness.

XXXXXX

The dull feeling in his head reminded him that he was supposed to take a break, but the captain he was had driven him to the bridge. He wanted to have at least a brief update on the situation before taking care of himself. The station had actually fallen victim to their age. The three large docked spaceships had been too much for the outdated power lines and had led to an overload in the main energy core. As he already knew, all the crew members had survived and were now on the cargo ship, which would take them to the nearest starbase.

Leland's ship had disappeared, but Owo couldn´t tell if it was gone or camouflaged, and that was just what made him nervous. Leland had changed since their days at the academy, that had made the conversation an hour ago even more clearer. Chris didn´t want to imagine what would have been happened if had he not accompanied Cathrin, surely it would have taken an unpleasant turn for her. He thanked the bridge crew and handed the commando to Commander Saru for the rest of the day, then set off as ordered to report to the infirmary. The calm that surrounded him in the turbolift, along with the unexpectedly free afternoon, allowed him to calm down his thoughts the first time since days and he caught himself smiling as he remembered the moment he had Cathrin in his arms. It had felt so damn good and when she had asked him not to let her go, he could no longer ignore the butterflies in his stomach, his feelings for her. Chris had almost forgotten what it felt like to do more than serve Starfleet. He was starving for love and affection and he was tired of fighting it. The first time he had become aware of this, was on Talos, Vina would never have been able to get so close to him if he had not sealed himself off like this.

What had come closest to a date in the last five years had been a dinner with a lieutenant, he had only engaged in because Una had not stopped bothering him. To say it ended in a series of embarrassing moments would be grossly understated. He reached the infirmary, after all the injured had been brought to the cargo ship, it was pleasantly quiet here. Dr. Culber was still here and Pike was glad the doctor was working again. The constant doing nothing had done his situation not well.

"Captain." He nodded at him to sit on the bed in front of him. "I have to admit, I actually expected to have to get you out of your quarters." "Then I'm happy that I've exceeded your expectations." "What's the head doing?" Culber pulled out a small lamp and checked Pike's pupil reaction. "It doesn´t really hurt, but it's not pleasant." Chris stroked the spot where the cut had been. "I'll give you some painkillers for tonight." Culber finished his investigation with a quick scan of the brain. "Your values ​​look good, you should be back on the dam tomorrow, Sir." "Thanks Doc!" Chris leaned on the bed. "Do you have a moment?" "Of course." "How much time does Cathrin spend here?" Culber's face was captured by a broad grin. "She past every now and then, looks on, asks, she knows her way around, even if she tries to cover it up." The doctor raised a hand. "I could use her well here, but I think she's not ready to make a final decision. She spends a lot of time with Tilly." "I know." Pike slid back from the treatment bed to his feet. "She practices with her for the commando training program and she's good at it." Let's try Starfleet.

These were Cathrin's words when she had asked him to join the participants in the program. He could remember exactly how she had tried her best to cover up her insecurity. She had no idea what awaited her, what she was getting into and yet, there was this twinkle in her eyes, the way she wore the uniform that Stamets had just given her and the smile that told him that she would not be getting down so fast.

 A throat cleared him from his thoughts. "It's none of my business, Captain." Culber glanced around, then at the captain and Pike immediately wondered what he had done. "You both should find out what that is between you." "I beg your pardon?" "Ohh Christopher." The doctor patted his shoulder briefly. "Think well if you want to lie." Culber raised an eyebrow. "I studied psychology for a couple of semesters. And most of all, you shouldn´t lie to yourselves. " But before Chris could answer, Ensign Tilly jogged into the infirmary. Seeking, she looked around before she turned to the captain. "Are you feeling better, Sir?" "Everything is all right again, thanks." He smiled at her. "Can we help you?" "I'm looking for Cathrin, she's not in her quarters and well, she's not with you either." Tilly pushed a nervous grin behind. "Sir." "All right." Pike frowned. "Did you try to reach her via the comm?" "A few times, but you know that she always forgets her communicator."

“Yes.” Apart from that, a bad feeling spread in him. "Chris, what are you thinking about?" Culber looked at him. "Nothing good." He pulled out his communicator. "Pike on bridge." "Sir?" "Owosekun can you tell me where Ms. Zimmer is right now?"

The information took a few seconds longer than he was used to by the OPS officers. He closed his eyes as she finally spoke again. "Sir, she is not on board!" Tilly teared her eyes. "What?" "But I can see a faint transporter signature in their quarters."

"Captain Pike!" Ash Tyler stormed to the infirmary. "Sir, we have a problem!" "If I'm right, you have a problem!" Pike felt himself getting angry, and unfortunately, his anger would hit the Section 31 liaison officer, again. Bad Timing following that man. "Okay, gentlemen." Culber pushed between the two men. "This is the infirmary, so get it together!" "Tyler if I find out that you are behind it!" "Sir, I'm not here to argue with you and yes, this time I can even understand why you are mad at me but we should really get together and for the protocol, I have nothing to do with it!" "Let's say I believe you." Pike took a deep breath. "Where is she?"

Tyler's answer was a mystery, but Chris understood immediately what he was getting at. "It´s one of Leland's agents, there are interrogators within Section 31, and aspiring agents are always on the lookout for a way to move up quickly, regardless of casualties or Starfleet regulations." "Tilly to the bridge, say I'm on Shuttle 1 with Agent Tyler. We're leaving Discovery." "Sir, what should I tell Commander Saru where you go?"

Pike exchanged glances with Tyler, a mute agreement in both men's eyes. The knowledge that they would break the law, more than that, they would revert to direct orders from the High Command, and in that case it was punishable by death. "It's better if he don´t know it."

[rosencrypt]

I saw Doctor Who! Semi-liveblog under the cut:

- Ah, here are the descendants of that expedition upship they mentioned last episode. How did the Cyber patients get here?

- OK, so why don't the farm people chain up the Cyber patients further from the house? Or lock them in a vault, or chuck them underwater or smth

- you can't have a cyberman story without a good ol' base under siege

- John Simm is SO MUCH BETTER when he's not having to shout about drums and be Wacky or Manic every 5 minutes. Just shows what a wasted opportunity those RTD Master episodes were :/

- Oh huh, I didn't think we were going to get an explanation for Simm being around. Raises a few more questions about just why Gallifrey's reappearance was so badly handled, tho

- does the Conscience of Marinus REALLY count as an instance of the Cybermen, Moffat? Actually, I just did some research into this - apparently there are some comics and novels that suggest two or more out of Mondas, Planet 14, and Marinus are actually the same place. The Doctor lists them separately here, though, so presumably that’s not what Moffat’s talking about. He’s probably just making something up. Which, to be fair, is what they did with Planet 14 in The Invasion

- Burning? Is that a Planet of Fire reference? I don't remember the Master being drowned or stabbed tho

- oh no, call back to Last of the Time Lords. Why would you do that :(

- I'm loving Missy's chaotic nature here. She’s so Red

- being rescued from Cybermen via rope ladder from a tall building? Yay, Invasion reference! :)

- noo, why is Bill back now. I have nothing against her, but does cyber conversion mean ANYTHING these days? Also,if she’s grabbed the ladder, shouldn’t that just have torn it off rather than holding back the whole shuttle

- Awww, Nardole did a cute thing

- 2-week time skip? why??? Stop doing that Moffat. I know you love randomly skipping over things, but in this case would there be any difference at all if you didn’t? as far as I can see the only thing this accomplishes is that you don’t have to show the Doctor explaining anything to the locals and you can have Nardole ordering people around with no explanation, at the cost of killing any sense of urgency. I don’t think that’s a fair trade, tbh, and I’d have enjoyed seeing the Masters maybe try to take command of the farms or smth

- Right, so Bill is still perfectly cogent and cyber conversion actually DOES mean less than nothing. great. way to completely defang the Cybermen, Moffat

- It’s been 2 weeks and the Doctor STILL hasn’t been to see Bill? she's just spent 10 years waiting for you, the least you could do is say hi

- oh right, so Cyberbill HASN'T actually been de-cybertised. That’s something at least. Nice callback to Dalek Clara there too

- oh, jelly babies again. Where did he get them? What purpose does this bit serve? It’s just a reference for reference’s sake, and it’s not even a clever subtle reference, since 4′s taste for jelly babies is so extremely well-known

- I feel this scene would be a lot more effective if we were actually seeing Cyberbill. Also, why hasn't the conversion brainwashing thing worked on her, anyway? If she hasn’t been de-cybertised, why is she being all independent and emotion-feeling?

- "You are..so strong" well even more so now, Doctor

- srsly?? she's just resisting through force of will? that's...disappointing. it was bullshit in the monk episodes and it doesn’t make any more senes here

- "You can't be angry any more" - like, you literally are incapable of anger. or should be. how are you doing that? maybe these ones just haven't got around to removing their emotions yet

- yay, Simm is still a horrible misogynist. What a useful and necessary character trait

- "They come after the children" oh, are we going to be seeing Cyberbabies? that's grim

- "less to throw away" - so what, they're putting doing the Davies thing of putting the brains into ready-made cyber bodies? That's very disappointing, and also at odds with the gradual transformation body-horror we saw in the last episode.

- OK, Simm, we know you hate women, you can find some other characteristics now. For a species/civilisation supposedly above petty gender concerns, he seems remarkably not

- how fast does time move on the farm floor relative to the city one? it should take days/weeks/etc. for the Cybermen to travel from the city, which if nothing else gives the defenders plenty of time between waves to prepare

- Right, so the Doctor is defending a settlement from technologically-advanced invaders. This is. A bit similar to Time of the Doctor, tbh

- if the Cybermen have 'evolved', why do they have both old and new Cybermen forms?

- oh the child has a name. Good to know.

- Cybermen with rocket-boots is still a stupid idea, but I'll concede that in this one shot it looks OK

- What do you mean, you don't know what you see in him?? Don’t lie, you've always been just as interested, Simm.

- Eh, are you SURE the Master's going to die, Doctor? For all the times they've done it so far, I wouldn't expect it to stick

- Oh obviously she leaves, so she can come back later and save him

- Urgh, back to 'upgrading' :P what happened to “we will survive”?

- So what, the Doctor doesn't like guns, but he's fine with explosives? Bit of a mixed message there, eh?

- are the Cybermen going to actually do anything here? It’s difficult to be afraid of them when we see them being constantly blown up

- Why is it the Masters so scared of a few Cybermen, anyway? They're smart enough to have taken control of the whole ship in minutes.

- Oh, the other woman has a name too

- "Down to the cellar", you mean, closer to the Cybermen? Somebody didn't think this through. For that matter, why are the Cybermen emerging so far from the house? They can arrive literally wherever, so shouldn’t they be coming up through the floorboards?

- Isn't looking after a load of humans pretty much what you've been doing since, like, forever, Doctor?

- "Oh great, so SHE's allowed to explode!" Nardole continues to be the best, especially since the Masters were sidelined

- Speaking of whom...she's going to force his regeneration, isn't she? Bye bye, Simm. We hardly knew you (in an actual decent story that DIDN'T require you to go ON and ON about those goDdAMN dRUUmMms)

- Oh, they're not going to...GOOD, I was so worried Bill was going to profess her love for the Doctor

- More of this 'oh welcome to being a woman' stuff. You know, the more you harp on about gender, Moffat, the more your insistence that it's no big thing is POINTEDLY BELIED.

- "I will never stand with the Doctor!" -what?? you do that all the time. Hell, you stood with 10 in End of Time

- "Don't try to regenerate!" I'm very much not a fan of the New Series (and esp. Moffat) take on regeneration as a voluntary thing/special attack/etc. I'll concede it's a nice thematic story point, tho - even when the Master isn't just literally shot in the back by themself, they're always sabotaging themself with reckless ambition. Oh, it makes an interesting contrast to the Master's previous obsession with survival (...except when the plot dictated otherwise, as in the fantastically OOC 'regeneration suppression' thing in Last of the Time Lords), tho. A characteristic they share with the Cybermen, in fact. Someone should maybe write a story featuring both of them, with that as one of the themes.

- Actually, come to think of it, that's a central conflict of Doctor Who - most of the villainous/antagonistic factions are fundamentally scared of death and obsessed with their own survival and superiority (the Master, Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians/Sea Devils), in contrast with the Doctor, who accepts his mortality and acts in the spirit of cooperation rather than competition

- Why is the Doctor crowing about his previous victories over the Cybermen here? This lot have nothing to do with them. Is he just trying to confuse them by talking about planets they’ve never heard of?

- Shouldn't that helmet blast have bypassed regeneration? Being shot like 3 times should have killed him outright.

- Aww, does that mean Missy is dead too? Eh, they've survived worse

- 10 minutes left. Wonder where they'll go from here

- What even happened to Bill? She's going to come and carry him to the TARDIS, I assume

- Oh, Bill's girlfriend came back! That's nice. Now she gets to go to space lesbian heaven. Sort of like Clara and whatshername. Is that the series' first on-screen wlw kiss?

- This whole tears thing doesn't make a huge amount of sense, but sure, let's go with it. How did Heather and Bill get into the TARDIS, tho

- if Heather is the ur-pilot, she should go and crew that Silence ship from The Lodger. NO I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN, MOFFAT

- So how does this tie into the bookends in the snow? If he's already unconscious, is he going to get his second wind?

- ah, so he is.

- What do you mean, you don't want to change again?? Like, sure Capaldi, stick around as long as you can, please, but I do think the Doctor is making a bit much of this. It’s like 10 and 11 all over again :P

- Oh, hello David Bradley! Nice to see you again. No idea how this fits into your timeline, tho. This scene doesn’t match up with any of your stories, especially not The 10th Planet.

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Watching Oxygen for the first time

(A bit late, but still, spoilers)

-”Space, the final frontier.”

-REALLY DOCTOR

-YOU HAD TO OPEN THE EPISODE WITH A STAR TREK QUOTE DIDN’T YOU

-IT’S NOT EVEN YOUR OWN FRANCHISE

-well at least the rest of the lines are different

-This reminds me of the movie Gravity

-Okay, if there’s something I did learn from that sorta-scientifically-incorrect movie, it’s that you NEVER EVER pant in space. You end up spending too much oxygen.

what the?

hELL?!?!

FUCK NO WHY

-Okay, lemme just add ‘space zombies’ to the list of horrrible things we have seen so far in Series 10 alone.

Omfg he drew a rocket

-”So how does space kill you?”

-”Don’t hold your breath or your lungs will explode.”  Didn’t Arthur Dent hole his breath or do I need to re-read the book

Oh, he was drawing a skull, oh that’s clever

-Please don’t let it be foreshadowing

-”What’s this got to do with crop rotation?”  “I don’t know, space is great, isn’t it?”

So I think it was pretty much confirmed that Missy is going to be in next week’s episode, which makes me think that it’s pretty much her who’s in that vault.

-”Too much between you and the outside and you might as well stay home. To really feel it, you need the space equivalent of a wafer-thin sleeping bag and a leaky two-man tent.“ “Got any reviews?“ "What?” "You know, like for restaurants. Waiter was a bit handsy, lasagne gave me "Two stars.” "Strangely, no.”

-Maybe the Doctor should be the Campsite Reviewer of the universe when he retires.

-*alarm noises*  “That’s my theme tune. Otherwise known as a distress call.”

-Hahaha, silly Doctor. That’s not your theme tune.

-Your theme tune doesn’t go beep beep beep, it goes dooooweeedoooooooo.

-Either that or the BBC should use the beeping sound as the intro for the next episode.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

-BUSTED!!

-”I saw through your cunning ruse.”

Rule #1: The Doctor lies.

-Soooo how big is the Tardis’s big-enough-for-a-stroll air shell, exactly? Like one step forward after a certain distance, then you could suddenly run out of air?

-”Space doors are supposed to go shk-shk, not urrrrr.“

I love Series 10 dialogue so much

-Have I told you how much I love Series 10 dialogue

Ah yes the plastic human taxidermy

“Sooooo... Back to the Tardis?”

-Love that part

-The corpse is starting to get to me

-THIRTY SIX DEAD?!

-”OkAY thennnn back to the TARDIS, LoVELy in there, nIcE and cOZY”

-Please don’t let this be Silence in the Library the Sequel

b O N K

a A  A A  A A

l o l

-”Do people ever hit you?”  “Well, only when I’m talking.”

-OH SHIT THEY’RE EXPELLING THE FUCKING OXYGEN

-Why did the Tardis door close though

-Was it to stop additional air escaping from the Tardis

h a i r

*Doomsday flashbacks*

Wouldn’t the Tardis get stuck in the doorway though

-”The Tardis is on the other side of that.”  ”Yes, I was really hoping that someone would state the obvious.“  “Vacuum behind it, can’t open it.”  “Oh, you’re on a roll.”

-”Nothing to worry about.”  “Really?”  “Yes, not for several minutes.”

wHAT THE FUCK

-How did it pull the sonic screwdriver towards it?

-7256403 0 days since you last broke your sonic

-”What if you’re wrong?”  “Well, we’ll be horribly murdered!”

“Walking Dead: Into Space”

-I find myself breathing along with them.

-One thing good about me is that even when I become aware of my breathing, I can divert my attention to something else and become unaware again fairly quickly.

-”Great, we rescued a racist.”

-But if the employees get paid by oxygen, wouldn’t they just go look for another job that actually pays them where they can breathe freely?

-Or are they pushed to the extreme where they’re forced to work or suffocate and doesn’t have any alternative

-THE FUDGE D’YOU MEAN, FAULT IDENTIFIED

-WHAT THE HECK, ARE THEY BREAKING IN

-Every single Series 10 episode so far was a nightmare in some way and so is this one

-They’re really putting in every

-”Please remain calm while your central nervous system is disabled.”  LIKE HECK YEAH I’D BE SO FUCKING CALM IF I WAS BEING BRUTALLY MURDERED BY A SPACESUIT, WHAT A CALMING SENSATION OF DEATH AND ELECTRICITY

-”Don’t throw up in helmet then. Check.”

-...shit?

-SHIT?!?!

-BILL?!??!!?!11one!!?!

-BILL NO DON’T YOU DARE DIE ON ME

-YOU’RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON YET BILL

-BILL!!!!!!

-WTF IS GOING ON

-DID THE DOCTOR TAKE OFF HIS HELMET

-WHAT THE EVER LOVING SHI-EEEET

Ah, delicious irony.

-”He died?”  ”He should have done. I don't know how he survived.”  Timelord powers

-Too early for regeneration, yes? Please?

-”He’s in Section Twelve.”  HA GET IT BECAUSE HE’S THE TWELFTH DOCTOR

DAFUQ

-”You’re blind.”  “Oh, that explains the bruised shins.”

-WHAT

-WHY

-TEMPORARY MY ASS  (I got spoiler’d on Tumblr, really, too bad. Could’ve been a good plot twist for me)

-”I think I've got some spare eyes somewhere. They're from a lizard, but I'm sure they'll fit.”

-(How did they do the blurry eye effect? Did they use contact lenses?”

-”What’s happening?”  “Guess.”

-”Great, i get fined for dying.”

Please give the owl his sight back.

-SHIT NO??? IS BILL DEAD?? I THOUGHT SHE LIVED?!?!?!

-Kudos to Peter Capaldi for that blind acting

-Something bad always happens when the Doctor is in a spacesuit.

-Once, he got possessed by an angry planet, shot fire from his eyes and had to be put in a freezer.

-Then, he almost messed up a timeline by pulling a Martian team out of their supposed time of death.

-The other time, he fell from way outside of the atmosphere in a spacesuit, he was okay but had his helmet on backwards.

-He also had something to do with the moon that was actually a giant egg.

-”Are you of your mind?”  "Er, yes, completely, but that's not a recent thing.”

-This is a suicidal plan. And especially more suicidal than his normal plans. It’s really dark...

Oh my god...

-(At least the team gets to live.)

YAAAASSS

How did they do that, again? Also, I thought his eyes were blue?

-I’m just gonna lie to myself and think he can see again

-At least it looks normal again

-”The universe is your crrrustacean.”

-What does that even mean

-”Promise me you’ll be loud.”

-Why is he wearing shades

-”Doctor, why are you suddenly wearing shades all the time all of a sudden?”  “Oh, I just thought it would be cool. I’m definitely still not blind.”

-”You need to be here, and you need to be READY if that door ever opens!”  You mean there’s a chance of whoever/whatever is inside it breaking out?!

-”What if you came back injured or sick? You really think our friend down there won't know that? Won't sense it?“  Whoever’s down there is connected to the Doctor in some way (obviously.)

-99.9% of theories suggest - no, INSIST - it’s Missy down there but I’m still open for all possibilities

-”LOOK AT ME!”  “Nardole, I can't. I really can't! I can't look at anything ever again. I'm still blind.”

-*sobs quietly*

-Okay, that line was delivered really well, and I love how they blacked out the screen when he said “I’m still blind,” as if the viewers themselves went blind as well.

-BUT IMAGINE THE ‘OH SHIT’S I’D HAVE WRITTEN IF I WAS UNAWARE OF THIS FACT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING

-IMAGINE THE PLOT TWIST HITTING ME LIKE A COLD SODA HITS YOUR THROAT

-DAMMIT

-Welp, still looking forward to the next episode (which, I think, comes out later today or tomorrow, depending on time zones.)

[titleknown]

TITLEWave Character Re-Imaginings...

Welp, in the tradition of @dimetrodone I decided I might as well write up copyrighted fictional characters as how they’d exist in my TITLEWave setting.

But, as both a challenge and a proof-of-why-it-needs-to-happen, I’ll be restricting it to copyrighted characters from 1960 and earlier ala my idea of 56 or Bust. Because WHY THE HECK NOT?!

Past the break, because this is gettin loooooong.

Astro Boy- Essentially one of the earliest robots establishing a lot of the groundwork both AI and construction-wise for the androids of TITLEWave, despite his dubious origins as the product of a deranged scientist trying to recreate his lost son Astro’s ended up kind of an icon. So much of what he’s done laid the groundwork for what few rights robots had in this setting, and there’s even some minor religions amongst synthetics in this setting in his name

But, when the world needed him, he vanished. And robot rights backslid, often attributed in large part to a world without his influence. Only to reappear decades later, with no memory of where he had been; except for being trapped in some strange; dark place. And now, having upgraded thanks to years of interest on a bank account set up under his long-dead adoptive father’s name, he works as he always has to try to set the world right, to bring the balance between machines and humans.

Of course, while there are many who profit off the exploitation of sentient machines and present him with a handshake in front but a dagger behind their backs, there are also plenty of new allies for Astro, given the fact that he’s a living legend amongst the robotic community, and there’re a lot of people who’ve been inspired to their own heroism by him

Godzilla- Essentially created less from acts of massive war violence as much as years of societal violence, on a huge New Jersey industrial company town dedicated to the repurposing of nuclear materials and chemical waste into useful products, in a process both grueling; dehumanising and lethally toxic for those on the bottom and a nightmare of crunchtime working conditions for those doing the engineering/research. Said process became essentially automated more and more; leaving more and more people out of work and creating a massive underclass; located right by the heavily polluted coastline.

The problem started when they tried to “purge” said underclass, at first via subtler means by neglect cranking up the pollution levels to unsustainable limits, then by more blatant means, such as experimental toxins and random police experimental-gassings. And, this further added to the primordial nightmare-soup to the point where company scientist Doctor Serizawa tried to raise the alarm about the unsettling; violent biological mutations his research team found in there. To no avail. And then, one night, during the largest gassing raids in historyu; The Midway Street Massacre, the creature came.

Serizawa did eventually destroy it with the Oxygen Destroyer, and sacrifice himself to do so, though millions of lives were lost including several of the company’s highest executives. Curiously, most of the attacks by the creature were centered on the wealthiest areas of the city, much to their chagrin.

But, the story diverges from the fact that, when company scientists came to inspect things, they found the creature’s flesh was growing back onto its bones. And, then they had the alledgedly-brilliant idea to bring it onto land and cyborgize the regeneration creature. This went as well as you’d expect.

The escaped creature now wanders the country, less vicious than its original appearance and now treated more like a natural disaster than a kill-this-abomination-now-level threat. One wonders what goes through its head. Those who have made mental contact with it seem to indicate a creature that is lonely, and in pain. Because like those others living in where it was created, it too is a victim in its own way.

And, there are worrying signs from that original company, because not only do they still posess tissue samples of the creature’s cells, but also there are whispers of whole new strains of creatures they found mutated from the results of the Oxygen Destroyer….

Gandalf/Sauron- A wandering robot that looks superficially like some cheap carnival animatronic of an old man, only to reveal incredibly powerful technology beneath his surface; if it even is technology as we know it. He’s a wise mentor-type to heroic types he finds, but he has an agenda of his own as well.

It involves stopping a similar; but more powerful machine called Sauron, whose original body was destroyed, but who lives on in fragments of his corpus and AI cores; in particular one TITLE-like divice simply known as The Ring.

Nobody really knows where they came from, when asked Gandalf says he simply answers to “A higher authority”

Rick Blaine- Or, rather, Rikki Blaine. Formerly an uninvolved bystander for years running her bar in a place that was essentially a waypoint for those trying to escape from various nightmarish megacorp-owned city states, she finally was spurred to involvement after an old flame of his came with her leftist freedom-fighter husband, which ultimately ended not only in heris aiding in their escape; but also him finding a reason to live; and skimming off a high-level megacorp official to her cause too.

Now she runs an organization called the “Casablanca Foundation” to help people escape not just from Megacorp-states but also the places that are megacorp-states in all but name; or even just generally bad situations. If you know who to call, you can find her.

Bugs Bunny- Called by many nicknames including “the abortion of this age” and “the rough beast Yeats spoke of,” nobody knows where the fuck Bugs Bunnycame from. The best guess of most is that it’s a confluence of multiple biological and parapsychological factors ending up affecting one normal North American rabbit. It is also theorized they came from Brooklyn due to their distinctive accent.

Bugs is essentially an incredibly powerful humanoid lapine organism, unable to permanently die even when flattened; exploded; burned; eaten; chopped to bits; ectcetera, and with remarkable abilities of mental power despite his screwball attitude towards life; with the ability to defy the laws of physics without conscious thought and bar-none high-level abilities of spacial reasoning and behavioral prediction. And able to disguise themselves better than you’d think.

Originally they were much more terrifyingly chaotic, but nowadays they have rules they seem to follow. Namely; no retribution unless either they are provoked or somebody they like gets hurt and no killing. Other than that, if you piss them off there will be hell to pay.

Though, if you can get on their good side (Which is easier than most people think) they can be a jovial; steadfast friend (Albeit one with an often overly-massive ego with a tendency to be overly cocky and quick to fight) and a powerful ally. And, as you can guess by my use of pronouns, they happen to be genderfluid. Because Bugs Bunny

Superman- Despite a more neon 80s-tacular costume, complete with badass bounty-hunter-y mask, he’s still fundamentally Superman, helping people against problems too great for mortal people. He’s the only “proper” superhero in this setting in fact; and while everyone wonders what his real agenda is, nobody suspects that he’s just as genuine as he seems, a Jewish guy from the sticks who happened to be found in a crashed rocketship by a couple of farmers who’s trying to bring Tikkum Olam to the world. Though his reporting is more for television, he still works to report the news of the world at the Daily Star webcast.

Of course, there are a few differences. Like the fact that underneath his human appearance is an anatomy that is far off from human, with him only looking human thanks to the “rebirthing machine” in that original ship that altered him; and in fact perhaps other Kryptonians still out there; into the appearance of the planet’s dominant species.

And, there’s also the fact; with the research into the strange crystal technology linked to his planet and its lethally radioactive corrupted form known as Kryptonite, he’s found that they weren’t quite restricted to one planet. In fact, they were an interplanetary civilization, leaping across solar systems. And then, all at once, they were destroyed. But he’s never been able to find an answer as to by who or by what, or why seemingly relatively so relatively few of them were able to escape. And the few leads bring up disquieting possibilities...

You may ask, why not make expies just like these descriptions?

And I probably will do that in the future with these ideas. But; thing is; there’s power in legacies. There’s power in Superman being a shining neon light in this vicious future, there’s power in Astro Boy coming to set right what has fallen apart in his absence, there is power in Godzilla as the wrath of societal violence, and so-on.

And, while I agree with the truth that even if things are public domain they need to be treated with respect, that’s an argument I’d say for the public domain rather than against it.

Also, if you want to support further content like this, maybe throw a few bucks my way on my Patreon! This was actually decided from two ideas via a poll for those five-dollar donors, and there’ll probably be more in the future...

[chasingthecosmos]

Three Hearts to Own

Fandom: Doctor Who Rating: G Pairing: The Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Chapters: 8/12 Read on AO3 here.

A (sort of) season re-write centering around the Doctor’s touch telepathy and the many ways that it makes his life difficult while he attempts to move on from the loss of Rose Tyler. This work is based around Seasons 3 & 4 and the Tenth Doctor. It’s the final entry in the “A Hand to Hold” series, but it can also be read as a stand-alone. The first four or five chapters will just be short excerpts from the Doctor’s time away from Rose, but there will be a Journey’s End fix-it and a happily ever after at the end. Tags will be updated as I go. Chapters will vary in length.

Chapter Seven: The Stolen Earth (Part Two)

The Doctor was burning - but instead of being consumed in flames and fire, he found that it was more like being cast into a pit of darkness. There were voices echoing all around him, but he couldn't focus enough to make any sort of sense out of them. As always, it seemed that he was surrounded by words and words and words and so little time ...

There was only a single, guiding light through it all, though she remained impossibly, terribly far away. "You can't ..." she insisted. Her voice was a desperate, choked whisper, but the authority and the command behind her words were impossible to ignore. "Not now, I came all this way ..."

The Doctor blinked, but his eyes remained completely unseeing to the world around him. His precious, guiding light flared brighter though, ushering him forward as the darkness around him faded away in defeat and was suddenly drowned out by her shining, golden glow.

"It's starting ..."

He wasn't sure where this new voice came from - in fact, he wasn't even entirely sure if it was real, but he felt the truth behind the words immediately. Something was swelling up inside of him, bursting with energy and preparing to explode and destroy everything in its wake. He couldn't have stopped it even if he wanted to - and oh, he did. The Doctor didn't want this - didn't want to change, didn't want to die, didn't want to put Rose through this all over again ...

"Here we go! Good luck, Doctor!"

"Oh, no, you don't ..."

The light flared again and finally there was the flame and fire that he had been missing.

I'm sorry, so sorry, it's too late, I ran out of time again, always, always too slow, too late ... his mind cried out desperately as the burning heat of regeneration energy surged through every fiber of his being and threatened to rewrite him completely.

You can't - don't you dare. This voice the Doctor was almost certain had not been spoke out loud, but he knew that it wasn't coming from his own mind, either. Not this time ... it insisted.

But despite the obstinate tone of the stranger's voice (was it a stranger? It sounded so hauntingly, achingly familiar ...), fate refused to be altered as timelines tightened around the Doctor's neck like a noose and began to choke him.

I'm regenerating ... the Doctor cried out in warning as his mind desperately attempted to hang onto his last few rational thoughts before the detonator that was his regeneration could tick down to zero.

This thought seemed to prompt a vicious, wordless growl that vibrated in the back of the Doctor's head and transformed into a scream that was oddly reminiscent of an eerie, echoing wolf howl. It was so loud that it very nearly threatened to split his skull in two with the force of it, but in a sudden flash of golden light, all of the pain and fire and screams were gone and the Doctor was suddenly in his right mind again.

He blinked hard as he attempted to make sense of the vision that was now standing before him - a familiar blonde figure glowing so brightly that he had to squint in order to be able to see her. Jack and Donna were standing just beyond her, their arms thrown around each other in fear as they stared on at the spectacle before them in wide-eyed horror.

The Doctor opened his mouth to begin to ask what was going on, when the glowing light suddenly seemed to dissipate and slowly fade into the skin of the woman before him. He gasped so hard that he nearly choked as he was instantly able to make out the wide, dazed eyes of Rose Tyler.

"Rose!" he breathed as he rushed forward and caught her under her arms before her knees could give out and send her crashing into the TARDIS grating below her feet. "Rose, what have you done?" he demanded as he quickly looked over her limp, faintly-glowing features.

Doctor ...? It took him a moment to realize that her voice was coming from inside of his own head, and not directly from her lips. He tightened the grip that he had around her waist as he desperately felt out the edges of her consciousness in his mind. It seemed that she had somehow managed to reestablish their telepathic connection sometime during his fit of unconsciousness.

However, the Doctor had very little time to celebrate the return of his bondmate and the pleasant, full feeling that she had returned to his head and his hearts as he was quickly reminded of the fact that he was meant to be dead.

"What the hell was that?" Donna demanded, instantly breaking the tense silence that had fallen throughout the TARDIS console room as she took the initiative to voice the question that they were all thinking.

"Rose," the Doctor called out again, completely ignoring his friend as he brought a hand up to his bondmate's cheek and tentatively let his fingers run across the lingering glow that was still glittering off of her pale skin. "Rose, can you hear me?" Her wide brown eyes were blinking unseeingly up at the ceiling above him and her lips were slightly parted as she quietly gasped for breath.

Burning, burning, flame and ash, destroying, rewriting, creating, enduring, forever and ever and ever into eternity, time and space and running with no end ...

Hush, love, the Doctor silently soothed her racing thoughts as he closed his eyes and leaned down to press his forehead to hers. Come back to me. You came all this way, don't leave me now.

"Doctor ..." This time, her words were spoken out loud, though they remained little more than a rough whisper between them. The Doctor leaned back slightly to get a better look at her and was pleased to note that her eyes looked slightly less clouded as she blinked and focused back on him once more. "Doctor, what happened?"

"Are you alright?" he asked in breathless concern as she attempted to sit up and immediately winced in pain and fell back into the supportive embrace of his arms once more.

"Seriously, though, is no one going to explain what that was?" Donna insisted loudly from the other side of the room. When the Doctor finally spared her a glance, he could see that she had relinquished her desperate hold on Jack and was currently glaring daggers in the Doctor's direction, her hands placed stubbornly on her hips as she awaited an explanation. The rogue American time agent next to her wasn't looking at him at all, though - he was staring at Rose with wide, apprehensive eyes, as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"Doctor!" Rose cried suddenly, as though she had just realized that he was there. Her hands were immediately framing either side of his face as her surprised joy rushed like warm water through his thoughts. "You ... look the same!" she breathed in wondrous disbelief. "You didn't change! You're still you!"

"Right ..." the Doctor muttered curiously as he glanced quickly down at his old brown suit and then met Rose's warm, pleased gaze once more. "Still me. Any idea how that happened?" he asked her pointedly. "I mean, not to be morbid or anything, but the last thing I remember, I was dying ..."

"I stopped it!" Rose exclaimed eagerly. However, as soon as the words sprang from her mouth, her expression began to fall and her eyes took on a distant look as she furrowed her brows in thought. "I can't believe it worked ... I actually stopped it ..."

"And ... how did you do that?" the Doctor prompted her, his tone pitching up in concern as he watched her face go through at least five different expressions in the span of about three seconds. Through their bond, he could feel her thoughts racing in a way that he had never experienced before, and he immediately began to grow wary.

It worked, it worked, it worked! her thoughts sang out happily in his head, completely heedless of his tentative nervousness. Waited so long for you, for this, for us. Watched and waited and now it's finally here at last ...

What is it? What's here? the Doctor asked insistently as he attempted to reach out and calm her turbulent, frenzied thoughts.

Rose flashed him a wide, manic grin that he wasn't entirely accustomed to seeing on her soft features as her thoughts answered eagerly, Eternity!