DOCTOR WHO
''HARD TO RESIST''
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
The cool and crisp air conditioning of the TARDIS stirred Missy as she tossed and turned in the makeshift hammock attached between two sides of a book case on the upper decks.
The outer doors opened and Nardole stepped in with a plate full of the sort of flavours associated with a full English breakfast, beans, toast, eggs, as well as some cereal.
''Breakfast'' Nardole replied.
Missy rubbed her eyes gently and blinked a few times, she spun out of the hammock and landed on her feet, wildly darting down the stairs excitedly to greet him.
Nardole gave her a glass of milk as she grabbed a spoon and aimed it towards the bowl of cereal. Missy looked at it as if it were an alien substance
''I'm sorry, what's that?'' she asked
''Milk'' Nardole replied, trying to keep the evident tension between him and her to a bare minimum.
''If it's been up a cow, I'm not interested'' Missy responded.
''You're just going to eat that with none of this in it?'' Nardole replied. To prove him right, Missy tucked in.
''Also, try burning the bread a little more'' Missy said, tossing the toast back at him.
Nardole picked the battered pieces of bread up and walked back towards the doors as The Doctor came in.
''She wants to burn toast, make sure you don't burn bridges'' he said to his friend before exiting the box.
Missy stared up at The Doctor, the weight of her world slowly got lighter.
''Morning'' replied The Doctor
''Hi'' said Missy, straightening her hair ever so briefly.
''I wanted to ask you something'' he said.
''Ask anything, everything, please, I'll be compliant'' she said.
''A lifetime ago...several lifetimes, the Time Lords put something in your head, a link between them and here...it's what drove you mad''
''What of it?'' asked Missy.
''Missy I need to know, before we can begin anything...I need to know if it's still there, in the background, tucked within the garden of the mind, does that weed linger?''
Missy steadily walked towards The Doctor, she held out her hands and urged him to hold them.
The Doctor was hesitant, but eventually reached out, Missy grabbed them as they came towards her and yanked one towards the vicinity of her chest, putting his hand to it.
''Can't you tell?'' she said, fluttering slightly at the touch.
The Doctor held back signs of clear certainty, he wanted to know in a more Earthly convention, he wanted to take his enemy at her word, to channel her heartbeats with feeling, not the sensations she was trying to provide him with this motion.
'Please Missy...this isn't something I can just sense, this isn't an emotion, this is a vow...I made my promise a long time ago, as you made a promise to me, the promise of friendship in exchange for a guarantee of personal security, until you were ready to provide security for others...we're vast approaching that day, but in order to move forward we have to be assured. The drums, can you hear them?''
''I've tried not to dance to their tune'' Missy replied.
''A try is not what assures me, you must never dance to those beats again'' replied The Doctor.
''I gave you your answer, it's not what you want to hear, but it's what you need to hear. You need this more than I...you need a try, the effort should enough to spur you on to the next step''
''You're trying to make me risk it all on something that isn't tangible''
''Since when was something like hope not tangible?'' Missy asked.
''Remember what I told you over in Scotland'' replied The Doctor
''I do, and I find your resistance ever so futile'' said Missy, stroking The Doctor's face gently with her right hand.
The Doctor gently reached out with his left hand and took Missy's hand in his own, he clasped it and removed it from his frail cheek.
''Futile or not, it is my only defence against you. I don't champion the obstruction of hope, but you are the embodiment of that at the worst of times. In mind and soul, you must finally break those barriers down. A good try is one thing, passing the exam with flying colours is another''
''Then test me'' said Missy.
''I intend to''
Missy backed away from The Doctor and resumed her breakfast.
''Don't suppose I could trouble you for The Times can I?'' she asked, referring to a daily newspaper The Doctor regularly collected, usually always a day ahead of everyone else.
The Doctor walked back towards the TARDIS doors
''Change with the times first, then you can look forward to tomorrow''
Missy ate more of her dry cereal. The Doctor popped back in with one more snap comeback
''A good try though'' he said, and aimed his screwdriver at the TARDIS console, it glowed brightly and the audio speakers in the time and space vessel came alive with the sound of ''When The Going Gets Tough'' by Billy Ocean.
Missy smiled as he left, and tucked back into her breakfast, mouthing the lyrics of the song without taking the time to sing.
Within her head, she found herself locked in an embrace with a tall, lean man with a rubbish beard and a four beat rhythm to his magic method.
He was ever so hard to resist.