Meanwhile in the TARDIS

Amy watched the Doctor with curiosity and a small bit of concern as she leaned against the console of the TARDIS, clearly blocking something he was trying to reach for without actually touching her. She rolled her eyes after his fifth attempt at leaning around her to get to the lever and backing away, before she pushed off the console and stepped away, allowing him to reach it.

"Typical bloke," she muttered, "Straight to fixing his motor."

The Doctor made a noise at that, something like a cross between a snort and a scoff, "I am not a typical bloke," he countered, focusing on the console.

Amy hesitated a moment, eyeing him, frowning at his complete concentration on something that wasn't her, the way he was almost forcing himself to look at the controls as though it would give him something to do besides confront her, "Sorry," she spoke hesitantly, "Did I do something wrong cos I'm getting kind of mixed signals here."

"Mixed signals?" this time he scoffed fully as he turned to face her, a deep frown on his face, "How was me pushing you away and telling you to respect your fiancé 'mixed signals?'"

She rolled her eyes at that, "You turned up in the middle of the night, got me out of my bed in my nightie which you then didn't let me change out of for ages, and took me for a spin in your time machine before deciding to yell at me and look as though I punched you or something?" she crossed her arms, "Not that I'm complaining about the first signals," she smirked, thinking about them, "That was like a great big bat signal in the sky, get your coat off the Doctor is in."

The Doctor shook his head, "No," he stated firmly, "It's not like that. That's not what I'm like."

HAD that been the impression he'd given to Amy? He honestly couldn't remember at the moment. His head was still fuzzy, his stomach still fluttering from the connection that had flared to life when the Ambassador had touched his hand. His hearts were still aching at how adamant she had been to keep her distance from him too. It made it very difficult to focus. Add onto that the way his skin now felt like it was literally crawling from when Amy had tried to kiss him…

Now THAT was mixed signals. His insides felt one way from the Ambassador and his outsides felt another from Amy. One was pleasant, so pleasant, the other…very not pleasant indeed.

"Then what are you like?" Amy eyed him.

"I don't know," he tried to shake himself out of his thoughts.

Right now he had to focus on finding Rory and getting him and Amy back together. As much as he hadn't wanted Octavian to join him and the Ambassador (and River) on their trek through the forest, he wanted Rory there. Because Rory would keep Amy away from him. He really did not want to experience what he had with Amy ever again. And he knew, for Rory to propose to Amy, that he was likely only interested in Amy and the Ambassador would be safe from Rory's (likely nonexistent) wandering eye as well. Yes, he should find Rory, right now, get him there and keep Amy busy.

He had a lot to sort out with the Ambassador as it was.

The absolute last thing he wanted was for the Time Lady to get the wrong impression and think he was with Amy or the he and Amy were some sort of together that she was coming in between.

"Gandalf," he supplied, "I'm a space Gandalf, or the little green one in Star Wars," he made a whirring noise that sounded quite a good deal (if he did say so himself) like a lightsaber as he spun in a small circle, mimicking holding one of them.

"You really are not," Amy snorted, "You are a bloke."

"I'm the Doctor," he stated.

"Every room you walk into you laugh at all the men and show off to all the girls."

"Do not."

"What about Rory?"

"Yes, Rory," the Doctor nodded, spinning around to the controls once more, not seeing Amy's flash of disappointment as he turned his back on her again, "We should go find Rory."

"What, so you can show off more?" Amy tried to tease, moving to lean on the side of the console, just a breath away from his hands as they jerked away from her, "You are a bloke and you don't know it," she reached out and grabbed his arm, turning him to face her, "Lucky I am here to help," she leaned in, trying to kiss him, a hand moving to his cheek…

"Stop that!" the Doctor's voice was nearly booming as he jerked out of her hold, stepping back as far from her as he could, "You do not do that again, Amelia Pond."

Amy frowned at that, "You're all frowny face now," she sighed, trying to play it off. She wasn't sure if she was annoyed at his continued disinterest or concerned with his rather volatile reactions to her attempts.

"That is the LAST thing you are here for," the Doctor warned her, "And if you…"

"Then why AM I here?" Amy nearly shouted, unable to reconcile the very different signals she was getting from him.

"...ever try that again," the Doctor continued, ignoring her interruption, his voice growing louder, "I will not hesitate to bring you back to Leadworth and leave you there."

Amy shot him a glare, "Why?!" she yelled, "YOU were the one that took ME away in your time machine! You were the one that came back for me! And you're just going to kick me out because I tried to snog you?!"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed in return, "Yes!"

Amy fell silent at that admission.

"Everything alright?" a voice called out from the side.

The Doctor and Amy's head snapped over to look at the Ambassador as she slowly made her way down the steps from the hall and into the console room.

The Doctor noticed, second, that she had managed to clean up and find some new clothing. Her face was scrubbed clean, her light-red hair hanging freely around her head, revealing it's length and style. It was short, brushing just a little past her shoulders, straighter than he thought it would be with just the ends starting to curl. A part divided her hair right down the middle, though the hair itself appeared layered just slightly, creating something of a face frame around her chin till it reached her shoulders. She was just a little paler than he'd originally thought she was, it appeared a little of her skin tone had been due to the grime, dirt, and sweat from her soldier's uniform (something he was very glad to see she was no longer wearing.

She had changed into a new outfit, a piece or two he recognized from the wardrobe. It was a black turtle-necked jumper, made of a thin breathable fabric, over which hung a blue-green frock coat. It reminded him a little of the pink coat Romana had once worn, but seemed a fair deal more modern than hers had been, darker, bringing out the Ambassador's eyes and contrasting with her hair in a stunning combination. Her pants were a dark blue, a jean-like quality to them. He could see only up to the knee where the rest was hidden in black boots with no heel, laces in the front of them. Hanging from her neck on a long chain was a little pendant he knew was not from the wardrobe, but something that must have been the Ambassador's own, hidden from his view earlier by her uniform. It looked like a sort of earth-style locket, oval in shape, but appearing to be made out of a dark stone instead of some sort of metal.

He found himself looking away from the necklace, recognizing what the locket-like object was, and at the rest of her attire. His hearts beat painfully in his chest when he noticed another addition to her outfit. Gloves. Not as bulky or padded as her uniform had been, a more feminine one, like one might see of humans when the weather was just starting to chill, also in black, making them stand out against the color of the coat.

He honestly had no qualms about the dark colors she was wearing, how somber they felt against the eye, but the gloves…those broke his hearts. Because he knew the only reason she would be wearing it, the only reason she would be so covered up that the only part of her visible was her face, was because he'd pushed her too much, tried to touch her, brush his hand against her skin too much. This was her way of preventing him from managing to try and strengthen their connection. It only worked skin-to-skin during the early stages.

He swallowed hard, for as much as he stared at her clothing choices, that was only the second thing he noticed. The first was how the breath left him just at the sound of her voice, how his entire body felt like sagging in relief of having her back just within sight and hearing of him. He noticed first how instantly he reacted to her just being there, how it calmed him from his rather…pointless fight with Amy. He hadn't been entirely truthful, he likely wouldn't kick her out of the TARDIS, it was just…the connection affecting him, like it had been ever since it formed.

He needed to control it better, for both his sake and Amy's. And if he had any hope of getting the Ambassador to change her obvious views on it, or even to get her to stay, he needed to be better, more in control. He needed to show her it wasn't affecting him as negatively as she thought it would.

He hadn't done a great job of that so far.

"Yes," he let out a small breath, "Everything's fine."

The Ambassador frowned, "Really?" she crossed her arms, "It sounded to me more like hostile negotiations."

The Doctor cracked a smile at that, "Well…"

"What is SHE doing here?" Amy looked at the Doctor, a frown on her face, "I thought we were just giving her a lift, but she's stealing your clothes now?"

"The TARDIS's clothes," the Doctor countered, frowning at Amy. He understood she was cross with him but that was no reason to be rude to the Ambassador, "And she's here because I invited her to stay."

"Trying to replace me already?" Amy bit out harshly.

"With that attitude, it would be more an upgrade," the Ambassador stated, frowning at Amy as well. She had literally had a hand in saving the girl's life and this was the reaction she got for it?

"Hey!" Amy snapped at her, glaring.

"Why ARE you so fond of humans, Doctor?" the Ambassador ignored her to look at the Doctor seeming genuinely curious. It was something well known on Gallifrey, that the Doctor meddled and often took on human companions. It was not something widely viewed as a credit to his character to choose another, rather primitive species, over his own. It was a view she had to say she shared, if Amy was an example of them, why would he put up with them?

"They are actually a decent folk," the Doctor defended weakly, sighing as he looked at Amy, already feeling more at ease now that he wasn't alone with her, "Amy…this is the Ambassador," he introduced, realizing now that Amy likely hadn't actually been able to make heads or tails of what had happened in the Forest, for the most part her eyes had been shut. She'd gotten a glance or two of the Ambassador, but not enough to really connect who and what she was, "A Time Lady."

THAT was enough to have Amy backing off, her eyes wide as she looked at the woman stood before her, still on the stairs, "A…Time Lady?" she frowned, glancing at the Doctor, "But you said you…"

"Yes," he cut in with a wince, "I know what I said, but…she's here."

"How?"

"I fell through a crack in the universe apparently," the Ambassador sighed, stepping off the steps finally and moving closer to them.

"And…she's staying here?" Amy asked the Doctor.

"For now," the Doctor admitted begrudgingly, hoping he sounded more accepting than he felt about the situation.

"I just need time," the Ambassador added, "To process what's happened. That the war's over, that the planet is…" she trailed off, closing her eyes in pain at the memory, though the Doctor could see her trying to hold it in now that she was before a human, "I may leave," she continued, opening her eyes, "I may stay. I don't know yet. It's all so confusing, it's happened so fast and I…" she shook her head, taking a forced breath, "I don't know."

Amy nodded slowly at that, "I'm sorry," she offered the woman after a moment, "For snapping at you. It's…it's been a long day."

The Ambassador nodded at that, even as she sensed Amy wasn't fully apologizing for everything or entirely sincere, but she didn't want to argue right now, she just wanted to have a moment to think. There were things that had to be discussed with the Doctor, and she didn't want Amy hanging around to interrupt or overhear.

"You're um, welcome to stay," Amy added with another glance at the Doctor before she focused on the woman, "Don't let me be what makes you leave."

The Ambassador frowned at that, the way it was phrased was odd and, in her profession, she needed to notice these things. How people phrased things were often very important to determining if trickery was at hand. Amy had told her not to let her be the thing that made her leave. Surely it was meant to be a reassurance to the Doctor, an offer that she would try not to upset her, to make amends for him. But to HER…it just sounded like Amy thought she was already going to leave, but it would have to be for another reason than Amy herself.

"I won't," the Ambassador stated.

"Good," the Doctor clapped a bit, pleased they were getting along now, "I…I hope you'll stay," he told the Ambassador, "It's been far too long since a Time Lady traveled in this old box."

Amy's head whipped around to look at him, "What, she's not the first Time Lady?" she frowned, "Hold on, does that mean I'm not the first human?! Doctor!"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, not sure why that was always such a shock to companions. He was over 900 years old, did they really expect he'd been alone that entire time? "I've had loads of friends, you know chums, pals, mates, buddies, not mates forget mates."

Amy hummed at that, a sly look coming to her face, "And out of all those friends, how many would you say, just out of curiosity, were girls?"

The Doctor scratched the side of his face, nervous, something the Ambassador seemed to notice when he glanced at her for Amy's words, "Some of them I suppose…must have been…"

"Some?" Amy crossed her arms, a feeling tugging at her stomach, not entirely sure why she was doing this, saying this, acting like this. She didn't want to know, honestly, she really didn't. But…at the same time, if she didn't want to know she wasn't the first, perhaps the Time Lady wouldn't either. If she thought there were more than just her in the Doctor's life, if she thought she wasn't all that special (even after the war), maybe she'd be less inclined to stay. Maybe she'd think they were both just the latest in a long line of 'friends' to join him.

"It's hard to tell, it's a gray area…"

"Romana," the Ambassador stated, "That's one," the Doctor looked at her sharply, "It was no secret among Gallifrey that you required a babysitter."

"I did not need a babysitter!" he huffed.

"Under half, over half?" Amy tried to wheedle out of him.

The Doctor fidgeted in place, quite stuck with what he should answer. He could lie, he could make it seem like it really hadn't been as many as it had…but at the same time, he could tell that both Amy and the Ambassador would likely see through him. He didn't want to start off any sort of friendship with the Ambassador with a lie. That would worsen her first impression of him greatly.

"Probably?" he shrugged, "Slightly…little bit over?"

"Hmm, young?" Amy gave a flirt smile.

"Everyone is young compared to a Time Lord," the Ambassador looked at him, confused, not seeming to understand why the girl seemed so set to ask these questions. She had literally been getting cross at the thought of someone else being in the TARDIS just moments ago and now she was so keen to learn about all the others before her?

"I suppose," Amy waved that off easily, focusing on the Doctor, "Hot?"

He nearly clinched at the last word, "No."

The firmness of his answer nearly startled Amy, causing her attention to truly snap over to him from where it had been wandering in her quest to tease the answers out of him. She couldn't help the sting that shot through her when she saw him glance at the Ambassador quickly before he looked away. The Ambassador, however, seemed almost disappointed in his answer.

But that wasn't right, was it?

WHY would the woman be disappointed none of his past companions were attractive?

WHY did she actually care that the Ambassador looked disappointed? The last thing she wanted was to see the woman have any sort of reaction to the news. Because if the woman had looked even as remotely jealous as Amy felt, wouldn't that be a sign that there was something between the Doctor and the Ambassador? That the Time Lady felt something for him?

She wasn't blind, nor was she stupid, her job as a kiss-o-gram gave her a lot of insight into other people, especially when they fancied someone. She'd thought the Doctor fancied her, perhaps she had been blinded by her own desire in that case. But she could see something brewing inside the Doctor, and it had to do with the new Time Lady. It was in the way he looked at her, the way his attention was drawn to her, the way he kept trying to check her reactions, like he was worried what she thought more than anyone else.

She could recognize growing attraction when she saw it, so shouldn't she be pleased the Ambassador seemed quite standoffish against the Doctor?

"I don't believe you," Amy called, feeling a desperation to draw his attention back to her, "This big old machine must have some kind of visual records…"

"No," the Doctor spoke again, though his voice was less defensive and snappish and offended than his last use of the word, "And anyway they're voice locked."

"Oh, voice locked," Amy smirked, glancing at the Ambassador, "So I would just have to say 'show me all visual records of previous TARDIS inhabitants?'"

"No," he shook his head, "No, no, no, I mean voice locked. I would have to say 'show…"

His words were suddenly cut off by the Ambassador's glove-covered hand pressing against his mouth, making him look at her with impossibly wide eyes, his body tense and frozen at the action. It almost appeared as though he were holding his breath too, not daring to make a move lest it jar the Time Lady into removing her hand.

His efforts failed though, for a moment later she pulled her hand away anyway, the woman looking to the side and the floor a moment, as though chastising herself for doing that. The Doctor though couldn't help the soft smile that came over his face, feeling the stinging chill of where Amy had touched him earlier fading, replaced by a gentle warmth. It wasn't anywhere near what he would have felt if the Ambassador had not been wearing gloves, but he could feel the warmth of her hand through it and that was enough to sooth him.

"Clever trap," the Ambassador called to Amy, forcing herself to look at the girl instead of the floor, if only to frown at her, "But it is not your right to trick memories out of a Time Lord."

They had so many and, given that a majority of the Doctor's past acquaintances were human, she doubted all of them were good or had died of mere old age.

It was not right to let Amy, or anyone, trick something the Doctor clearly did not want to discuss or think on out of him. They were HIS memories to share when and if he wished.

"Oi!" the Doctor rounded on Amy, a frown on his face as well, disappointed in her for her trick…and in himself for falling for it so nearly. THIS, this was why he needed to find Rory, to keep Amy's attention off of him, "Right," he shook his head, "That's it. Rory! We're gonna find Rory and we're gonna find him now!"

"Who's Rory?" the Ambassador looked between the two.

Amy offered no definitive answers about that, merely waving the Doctor off with a, "He's at his stag night."

"Stag night?" the Ambassador glanced at the Doctor, not sure what they were talking about. Was it a human thing?

"Party for a groom just before the wedding," the Doctor, thankfully, answered that question, "Rory. Amy's fiancé," he added, "He's at his stag night, of course he is," he mumbled, "Well then," he reached for a lever, "Let's make it a great one!"

The Ambassador nearly slammed into the railing around the console floor as the box jolted violently with takeoff, "Have you never passed your exams?!" she shouted above the noise of the rotor, startled.

The Doctor just sent her a wide grin that was all the answer she need, crying, "Geronimo!" as the box flew off to collect yet another human.

A/N: A little bit of a filler here, but I wanted to show just a little bit more of the Ambassador's style and Amy's reaction/introduction to her. I think with her life on the line, she wasn't paying much attention to who this new person was and genuinely thought she was just someone they were giving a lift to as a fellow survivor. Amy will still have more of a reaction to the Ambassador being a Time Lady once she's actually had time to process what it means, likely if the Ambassador decides to stick around more.

I can say there is a very specific reason the Ambassador chose the outfit she did, not just in how covered up she is that just her face is showing, but a secondary reason we'll see before the story is over ;)

Now here's an interesting question...what will the reaction be to Rory? }:)

And you guys! You made me cry! When I went to check the reviews for the notes section I saw that not only did this story get set for almost 150 alerts, but it has over 100 favorites on just the first chapter! :') I love you all so much you have no idea :'D I really am so glad you seem to be enjoying the story so far :)

Some notes on reviews...

I double checked the first chapter and I don't see any areas where I put 'Angel' instead of 'Ambassador' :/ Is there a specific line? I made sure to find/search all the 'Angel' moments in the chapter and they all appear to be either the Weeping Angels being spoken about/to or Angel Bob himself speaking. If you could point out where I did that (because I could just be reading over it lol) I'll be sure to fix it :)

Oh Sadie will be changing the series in a very unintentionally darker way }:) It's not her fault, she's really going to try to not change things, but the Doctor on the other hand might not make it easy for her };)

Lol, I love the Professor too :) She was my first baby and will always have a special place in my heart :') I can say Sadie's background may end up seeming like a very distant, reversed tale of the Professor in an area or two, but we'll have to wait and see just how that is ;)

Aww thank you! :) I actually did end up published, though it's more a self-published e-book, but I still count it for now :) It's 'Patrapolis' on Amazon (they have a free Kindle App so that people can read ebooks without needing a Kindle) and it's $3.99, by 'Elixabeth Xavier' (which equals to LizzeXX ;))

I'm not a big fan of Twilight either, no worries! I can say it's not quite Imprinting, not in the sense that they become each others' worlds, it's more a connection that can flair to life or fade away but only during key moments ;) We'll find out more about it by, the latest Vincent and the Doctor ;)

Oh I've had Sadie planned for a very, very long time lol :) I think taking time to just edit and post when I can will help keep my plate from feeling too full though, we'll have to wait and see :)

Thank you so much for saying that! :') I really try hard to learn from mistakes or criticisms from prior OCs/series to improve as I go on so hearing that it comes across means so much to me :') We'll find out more about who Sadie is, her life on Gallifrey, very soon. As for how River knows her, how she looks, we may have to wait till Berlin...or even 12(!) to really find out };)

I can say Sadie's fears may be refreshed by Idris }:) The TARDIS is actually quite alarmed, fearful, and concerned about the connection her pilot has to the Ambassador...for slightly selfish reasons, but we'll have to wait till Idris to find out what they are }:)

It was a minor dig to that, but also a few other episodes in SM's era ;) I feel like some just really made no sense at all :/

We'll definitely see Sadie dealing with coming from the middle of a battle to nothing at all :( It'll be hard for her to cope with the sudden loss, even more when she learns the truth of how the planet was destroyed (pre-50th anniversary that is) :( We'll have to wait and see how the Wedding episode might go though ;)

I'm glad you picked up on that! The touching other people thing will be a very big deal for Sadie when she witnesses how he reacts. It IS a consequence of the connection yup. I can say it's not quite on the level of him not being able to touch other people, but it definitely does not feel good for him when he does. There'll be a little more clarity before this particular story is over about how touch feels to the Doctor from when the Ambassador touches him to others, what it actually feels like and what it means ;)

I can say they aren't Mates nope, that's reserved just for Angel ;) I will say that the 'connection' is such a taboo thing on Gallifrey that Time Lords are forbidden to actually speak the name of it (they are only allowed to hear it one time, in a classroom, where they are taught about what it is and that they must avoid it and why). That isn't to say we won't get another name for it, it DOES have translations in other languages, and it will come up what the closest earth-name for it is in just a few chapters ;)