"Seriously? Oh Doctor….to save her soul?" Missy studied the doctor's expression hard, barely able to believe what he was about to do. Of course she had a backup plan, but he didn't know that. After everything they'd lost and seen and done was this really all it took for him to pull the trigger on her; the orders of his latest silly little human pet?
She quickly ran to a spot between two gravestones where she could easily hide her vortex manipulator. If he was really going to do this, she was sure as hell going to make him believe it and give him as much guilt to pay for it as she possibly could too.
"But who my dear will save yours? Say something nice….Please?"
"You win."
"I know."
Missy closed her eyes and teleported in a flash of blue light a split second before she could be hit. A familiar whirring sound suddenly surrounded her and she opened her eyes to find herself back in the sleek black control room of her tardis.
She stared blankly into space for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened. How dare he do this to her? She started pacing the floor absentmindedly; anger, hurt, and jealous all bubbling furiously inside her. After everything they'd been through together? How could he possibly even consider letting it end like that?
She stamped her foot against the metal grate of the floor and suddenly found herself unable to hold back her anger. She burst into a fit of white hot rage and began smashing up the console of her tardis; hitting out at every switch, button and lever she could get her hands on, not knowing that elsewhere in the universe the doctor had just been doing the exact same thing. Her tardis engine emitted a pained whining noise in protest of the attack but Missy barely heard it. All she could hear was the doctor's last words to her playing over and over in her head, and all she could see was his face as he held her own weapon against her.
She kicked at the control panel with all of her strength and then screamed in pain as the sharp metal edge collided with her foot. Tears formed in her eyes and her anger was suddenly replaced with despair. Her legs seemed to give way beneath her and she fell to the floor in an exhausted heap, her long skirt spread out around her as she held on to the console for support and finally allowed herself to cry.
Missy hugged her knees to her chest and gently rocked back and forth in an attempt to calm herself down but it didn't do much good. Now that she had let the first tears fall they weren't going to stop; as years of frustration and rejection pent up inside of her were finally released.
She sobbed for what felt like hours, her heartbreaking cries echoing through the vast emptiness of the tardis so loudly that she almost didn't hear the doors being opened behind her by the only other person in the universe who had a key.
Almost.
She froze for a moment as she heard the footsteps, angry with herself for being found like this and extremely relived that she at least had her back to the door. She attempted to compose herself, but no matter how many desperate gasps of air she took she just couldn't seem to steady her breathing.
The Doctor stood awkwardly in the doorway. He had been expecting to find her her angry; stomping about in a rage and possibly already plotting some horrific revenge of some kind. But not this. Never this.
For a moment he half wondered if he should just turn straight back around and leave, feeling that he was definitely invading her privacy. But then of course he knew her well enough to know that if she had wanted him to leave then he would have already found himself several billion light years away within seconds of stepping foot through the doors.
So she wanted him to stay.
He nervously moved towards her, inwardly cursing himself for not having the vaguest idea how to properly deal with these situations. He slowly knelt down next her, not knowing exactly what to do but at the same time feeling he really must do something. Her sobbing was more muffled now as though she was trying to contain it, but although she had her back to him he could still see her shoulders shaking with every breath she took.
Comforting anyone had always been a struggle for the doctor in this new body, but hearing her cry like this was more than enough to override his every default instinct and reach out to her. He tentatively placed his hand on her shoulder and Missy flinched at the sudden contact, but she didn't move away as he was expecting her to.
They both stayed perfectly still like this for a moment, neither really certain of what to do next. The Doctor edged slightly closer to her, the urge to just hold her tight in his arms overwhelming him yet he still fought against it. Missy meanwhile couldn't understand why she wasn't pushing him away. She should be angry; she should be making sarcastic remarks and wreaking hell across the universe just to get his attention. Except now she had his attention. And she didn't know what to do with it.
"Missy." He whispered softly through the silence, causing sudden fresh tears to form in her eyes. She'd never heard him say her name laced with so much kindness before, and she was suddenly unable to restrain herself any longer. She swiftly turned on the spot and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder as she finally allowed him to properly hear her cry. The Doctor was shocked for a moment, but almost instantly found himself returning the embrace, which only made her sob harder and him hold her tighter.
He rubbed her back gently as he felt her tears soaking through his shirt, the distressing sound of her sobbing almost too much for him to bear. She clung to his jacket tightly as though she were scared he might disappear at any moment, hardly daring to believe that any of this was real.
Never trust a hug. It's just another way to hide your face.
The Doctor glanced down at her head buried in his shoulder and realised he couldn't let her hide anymore. Not after this. He waited several moments for her sobs to subside before gently gripping her shoulders and pulling her back from the comfort of his arms to meet her gaze; not wanting to let go of her but at the same time knowing he needed to just see her and for her to see him.
Missy couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes at first, still hating herself for being seen weak like this. She stared angrily down at the flooring panel they were sitting on as she furiously tried to blink away any more tears that threatened to fall.
The Doctor hesitated for a moment, not wanting to rush her, before gently placing one hand under her chin and carefully lifting her face up to his. He couldn't help noticing how strangely defenceless she looked; so different to the woman he had seen sauntering around the graveyard only hours before. Her bold blue eyes appeared softer now that they glistened with tears, and sections of her usually immaculate pinned hair fell loosely around her face.
In another display of unusual tenderness the doctor found himself softly tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear and gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. Missy gasped in response at being shown such a rare affection from the man who had earlier been apparantly willing to kill her just to satisfy his lovesick human. She stared deeply into his eyes and he in return stared into hers. A million things he wanted to say to her raced through the doctor's head in that moment, but when he opened his mouth to speak he found only two words came out.
"I'm sorry."
Missy's eyes filled with an unexpected empathy, and she nodded in return. The Doctor knew this was her way of saying she was sorry too; words he knew she'd long since forgotten how to say but it didn't matter. He knew she meant them and in that moment that was good enough for him.
"Stay with me," Missy whispered, "please?"
The Doctor said nothing, but gave her a soft smile and lent back against the tardis console to allow her to rest her head against his shoulders again. He wrapped his arms around her and she nestled closer to him, contently listening to his breathing and the soft rhythm of their heartbeats until eventually she drifted into a peaceful sleep.