This is my first attempt at writing Twissy, but hopefully not my last. I just love their dynamic. Rated T for later chapters (which are already written).

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, unfortunately.

The Doctor and Clara stumbled into the TARDIS, breathless, yet they didn't stop running until they reached the console. Hastily, the Doctor punched in coordinates before pulling the lever that would take them away from the Sontarans that had been pursuing them.

"Right," Clara managed to sputter between breaths. "Remind me never to question the customs of Sontar again."

The Doctor leaned against the console to steady himself. "That seems like something that should have been obvious," he glared.

Still, Clara couldn't help but smile. She knew the Doctor loved adventure as much as she did, and all the running and hiding and escaping were just perks that came with the job.

"Well," she began, "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted after all that. I'll see you in the morning." At this, she turned and began to head toward her room in the TARDIS.

The Doctor muttered some parting words, but was much more focused on making the proper adjustments to ensure that their location wouldn't change overnight. Having just pulled the final lever, he was about to retire to his room as well, when a sudden noise stopped him dead in his tracks.

Clara must have heard the sound too, as she now rushed back into the console room, confusion evident on her face. "Was that a knock?"

He wasn't entirely sure how to answer. The noise had, in fact, sounded like someone had knocked on the door—a quick, four knock pattern—yet, he knew this to be impossible. "Y-yes?" he answered, drawing out the word so that it portrayed just how unsure he actually was.

"I thought you usually park somewhere in the middle of space during the night."

"I do… and we are."

By this point, all eyes were glued to the doors, as if waiting for something to force entry. It wouldn't have been the first impossible thing to happen that day. They stood there for several moments, simply watching and listening. However, it was Clara who eventually broke the silence.

"Doctor, don't you think you should answer it?"

"What, why me? Why don't you go answer it?"

She shrugged. "Well, for one thing, it is your TARDIS."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. She had a point. "Fine, but just… prepare yourself. Anything that's out there could be very dangerous. And don't say I didn't warn you."

Slowly, he edged his way to the door, approaching it as if it held some wild animal. When he was close enough to touch it, he carefully undid the latch and pushed it open.

The first thing to hit him was shock. He had expected to see the vast expanse of space, not another TARDIS parked alongside his, so close that you could easily step from one to the other.

The second thing to hit him was pure fear, because the woman standing in front of him was none other than the Mistress. She looked exactly as she had the last time he'd seen her, in the graveyard: Victorian dress, purple jacket, hair piled atop her head. This time, however, she seemed to be missing the hat and umbrella. Her expression held that same crooked smile, but there was something different about it; something was… off. Her eyes didn't betray any devious intent or evil plans. They were wide and bright, clearer than he had ever seen them.

"Hello!" she said, stepping into his TARDIS and closing the door.

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Clara beat him to it. "No. No, no, no! Doctor, the last time we saw her, I told you to get rid of her. That woman—that monster—shouldn't be alive! I don't know how she can be here or why, but Danny's blood is on her hands, and right now, I don't give a damn about your moral code."

Missy's face, rather than showing mock joy, was a mask of confusion and—was it possible?—pain. "I-I'm sorry, have we met?"

Clara looked at her in shock. "Are you serious?" she scoffed.

However, when Missy simply nodded, Clara found herself unable to speak. There were so many things she wanted to say to this woman, but now they all fought for her attention at once, forming a jumble of emotion in her mind.

It was the Doctor's turn to speak up. "She's right," he said, indicating Clara. "I don't care who you are, you've killed millions of people, whole planets!" Now, his voice got dangerously low, and his words came out as a growl. "And I don't play games when it comes to one planet in particular. You knew those coordinates to Gallifrey were false, and you sent me there anyway. It is very, very dangerous for you to be standing this close to me now."

Missy's expression didn't falter for one second. She looked more like a confused child than the Queen of Evil. "Gallifrey? I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

The Doctor, stunned as he was, found that he was only able to say one thing: "What?"

"I don't know what either of you mean. The only thing I remember is waking up in that machine," she said, pointing to the door, where her TARDIS was probably still parked. "I don't know how I got there or where I came from, but I pulled the lever and it brought me here."

Clara rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh, give me a –"

"Hold on," the Doctor cut her off, holding up one hand and never taking his eyes off Missy. "You say you don't remember anything. Do you know who you are?" His tone wasn't quite trusting, as he knew better than to fall for any of Missy's tricks. Still, he had to be sure.

She shook her head 'no,' but then paused for a moment, obviously concentrating very hard on something. "Am I the Doctor?" she asked earnestly. "For some reason, that name keeps repeating itself over and over in my head: Doctor, Doctor, Doctor."

The Doctor seemed to relax slightly at this, finding it almost humorous. "No," he sighed. "No, that's me. I'm the Doctor. Your name is –" Here, he tripped up, unsure of how to answer. If she truly didn't remember who she was, then he wouldn't be the one to tell her that she was a power-hungry psychopath who liked to pretend she was Master of the universe. Finally, he settled on, "Your name is Missy."

"Missy," she said, her eyes brightening at the sound of her own name. "I like that. Is it short for anything?"

"No," the Doctor answered, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Just Missy."

From behind him, Clara was beginning to get restless. "Doctor, I meant what I said about getting rid of her."

Now, he turned towards her, stepping close enough that Missy couldn't clearly hear their conversation. "What am I supposed to do, just throw her back into her TARDIS and fly away?"

"That would be a start, yeah."

"Clara, I can't do that. It's possible she might have amnesia. I'm not going to abandon her if she needs my help."

"And what's the alternative? Letting her kill you?"

"She won't kill me if she can't even remember who I am, who she is."

"Okay," Clara said, folding her arms in defiance. "Look me in the eye and tell me that you know this isn't a trick, that she's not dangerous."

The Doctor's shoulders sank. "I can't."

"Well then," she said, taking his arm and leading him up the stairs to the console, "until you can, drop me off at home. If you decide to get rid of this maniac, you know where to find me."

Reluctantly, he did as she commanded. And after he'd dematerialized from in front of her home, he turned to Missy. "Alright, it's just you and me." His voice was gentle, but dark, as he was still uneasy about her current situation. "It's just Koschei and Thete. You can tell me the truth."

"I already told you," she sighed in exasperation. "I don't remember anything before coming here."

He eyed her suspiciously. "But you remembered my name?"

"Yes." She said the word with awe, as if it impressed even her. "You must have been very important to me." At this, she stepped closer to him, until only a few inches separated them.

The Doctor cleared his throat, trying not to fall victim to the soft blue eyes that stared up at him in wonder. "I'm sure I was, in a manner of speaking." His voice was low, practically a whisper.

He wanted so badly to reach out and touch her, to cup her face in his hands and kiss her ever so gently, just as he had in the graveyard. He wanted to pull her into his arms and envelop her in warmth, promising that everything would be okay, that he would fix her. She was his oldest and closest friend, and he would always fix her. However, a little voice in some far corner of his mind was holding him back. Instead, he settled for simply taking her hand in his and rubbing slow, reassuring circles into her soft skin.

Suddenly, Missy's eyes began to flutter, and she collapsed into him. "Missy? Missy, are you okay?" the Doctor called urgently, laying her on the floor to examine her. A quick check of her vital signs told him that she was completely fine, only sleeping. He supposed that the shock of this whole situation must have exhausted her.

Carefully, he took her up into his arms and carried her into one of the TARDIS's many spare rooms, where he laid her gently on the bed. After removing her jacket and boots, he pulled the covers up around her, nice and snug. Maybe it was the way she looked so peaceful now, or maybe he was actually starting to trust her, but for whatever reason, he placed a soft kiss to her forehead before turning to leave the room.

"Sleep well," he whispered, closing the door.


Missy couldn't help but smile to herself after she heard the Doctor leave. So far, it had all been too easy for her. Fake amnesia, check. Gain entrance to the TARDIS, check. Earn the Doctor's trust, well, she was working on it. And at this rate, it would only be a matter of time. After all, she knew he could never resist a cry for help. That was his weakness. No matter how many people she killed or how many planets she destroyed, all she had to do was ask for his help, and he would come running.

Not that she had a problem with that. In fact, she rather enjoyed it, because deep down, they were still the same children who had chased each other through the red fields of Gallifrey. And she was determined to get her friend back. Giving him an army wasn't the only way to prove to him that they were the same. Now she would show him once and for all.