PozzyP here! I've setteled into a regular update pattern of tuesdays and fridays for those interested but I'm not sure how time zones affect all that. Anyway please enjoy and review. Thanks to 'I am Red Bull' for the support with this, giving me the drive to continue with this and check out his story in this genre if you haven't already done so.

It was quite a while before Princess Bubblegum returned to the lab after getting changed into another one of her countless pink dresses. During this time the Doctor had had the opportunity to wander around what was left of the place and make his way through the numerous empty pizza boxes and coffee cups in the hope of learning more about his recent destination.

What had caught his attention, however, hadn't been the piles of notes on entanglement theory or advanced cloning (for he mastered all of that and more a long time ago), it was one of Bubblegum's undamaged laptops that he had quite easily hacked into.

From across the room the princess managed to open the door and sneak back in unobserved in the hope of analysing the Doctor's behaviour and decide (in the most scientific way possible) what kind of a person he was. From within her pocket she took out, what looked like, a thin metallic pen with a red light at the end.

It was the same device she had used on Braco to determine his cognitive state when speaking to her and she thought she could do the same thing with the man who was still rifling through her digitized experiment notes. No sooner had she pressed the button the device exploded within her pink palmed hand and in that brief instant she saw the horror before the device gave out. The rage of a Timelord. The efforts he had gone to, to do the right thing.

"I wouldn't use that kind of thing around me if I were you", the Doctor said casually while still typing on the laptop. "Over 1000 years of memories. I've had quite a lot to go on so I set up a complete psychic block the second I saw you pull out that device."

"But how? How did you know I had it? You were facing away from me when I entered." She said, sounding frustrated and annoyed.

"Was I? I saw your reflection in the screen I'm reading. And why did you use such a device in the first place? I thought we were hitting it off pretty well." Bubblegum was now feeling very embarrassed to not only be scanning the only person who had ever understood her but also had been caught doing it.

"I'm sorry, Doctor", she sighed guiltily. "It's just that I wanted to be absolutely sure that I could trust you. I haven't exactly had a track record on that front so I decided to use my science to try to work you out. Please forgive me." Bubblegum was taken completely by surprise at his reply.

"I suppose you're right to have tried to understand me better. I wouldn't need people to trust me so much if always told them the truth. Of course it's always for their own safety but I still feel bad about it and before you ask, I don't forgive you." The princess was saddened by this. The one time she thought she had found a friend and she had to ruin it. The Doctor, noticing her low morale, continued.

"I don't forgive you. I commend you." Her eyes lit back up at his statement. "I commend you for being the first person in a long time to try to understand me in the most scientific way possible. You deserve a pat on the back. After all, if science can't solve a problem what can, eh?" Bubblegum smiled another smile of real gratitude to him before coming across a snag.

"How come you were able to destroy my device with just your thought's alone. That should be completely impossible."

"It's just one of the perks of being a Timelord I suppose." Noticing her perplexed expression he added quickly, "Oh that's what my race is called by the way. Yes, we have slight psionic abilities that enable us to mentally block and transfer memories to external sources. Quite useful when you think about it."

"So that's why you and Marceline have differing reactions to the emoti-reader…you see she's also over 1000 years old but she just gets annoyed when I use it on her and doesn't exhibit the same feelings despite having the same amount of memories as you". She said matter-of-factly but the colour drained from her face as she realized what she had just let slip. The doctor turned to face her slowly.

"When I was listening to you earlier you said that there was no one else you could connect to because of your age and yet it seems to me this Marceline character is the perfect person. Why didn't you mention her?" The Doctor looked expectantly over to the princess who was now shaking.

"Well, look, you see, er, ummm." Her normally pretty face was contorted in thought in an effort to find a decent answer. The fact was she didn't know why she didn't mention Marceline earlier. "…It's complicated. You wouldn't understand", she said at length though was frightened he would figure it out with his amazing brain processing speed.

"I highly doubt that", he said, all interest in the computer lost. "Just from your body language alone I can guess that you two were… involved together. Not exactly friends but it wasn't a fully-fledged relationship." She flinched when he said relationship. "Hmmm. OF COURSE. Yes, brilliant oh sorry did I startle you? Brain just went bang from the all the connections I just made." He said while waving his arms in the air.

"You did something. Something she thought was unforgivable at the time but over the years has learned to accept. But that's not it though is it?" The princess shook her head, again overwhelmed by his accuracy and understanding without even her even saying anything to help him.

"Although you're on good terms now there's still tension because neither of you have formally apologized yet. Am I right?" She nodded again and looked down at the floor. "Look I'm sorry for doing these things but I just want you to hear it from somebody else so you can understand it better yourself. I'm just trying to help you because that's what I do. The man who makes people better."

"No it's ok, Doctor, I understand. You don't have to feel as if you should apologize for helping. Because of you I now know what I did was wrong and only you could have helped me see that."

"See that kind of mentality will get you nowhere, trust me. I only helped you to see but it was you who was doing all the hard work. Learn to take credit for your own actions."

"I could say the same to you, Doctor." Bubblegum said smiling. He was taken slightly aback at this remark but couldn't help but admire the princess's spirit. After several awkward moments of quiet it was him who broke the silence.

"I forgot to ask earlier, why is the anti-spontaneous combustion serum so important you."

"Not just to me but to my whole kingdom", was the solemn reply she gave. "You see due to our physiology, when a candy a person gets scared our bodies release several chemicals at once to try to calm them down but when mixed in the correct proportions it creates a volatile mixture that combusts immediately. We've had countless deaths over the past few years so I decided to create a cure for it. And I was so close as well, until you crashed in here and broke it," she said with an accusatory tone to her high pitched voice."

"Heh heh, oops. Um well allow me to fix it for you as penance for my crimes", he said while bowing.

"You….want to recreate the serum?" She said incredulously.

"Yes!"

"Without having or knowing where any of the ingredients and chemicals can be found."

"Yes!"

"Without knowing how to use any of the equipment in this room, and with half of it destroyed due to your machine landing here?"

"Yes!"

"And without having the slightest idea about…"

"Are you just going to stand there and criticize me for things I haven't done yet."

"Destroying my lab and equipment don't count?" She said, annoyed.

"Aside from those things, which I will undoubtedly replace before I leave."

"You're leaving. Oh." Princess Bubblegum sounded deflated.

"Everybody leaves in the end. Even me, especially me, but live in the moment. Remember what I told you. Right this experiment of yours let's see here." He exclaimed, going from serious to playful in a matter of seconds.

"Does he have some form of bi-polar I wonder? Quick mood swings is definitely a check." Before she could ponder further she found herself under the scrutiny of the mysterious metallic glow stick again which he taken out."

"Hm." He said aloud, inspecting the device after the green light had faded. He flicked his wrist and it extended out which startled the princess. "Basic humanoid shape with 75% solid organic material and 25% a slightly viscous combination of various organic liquids. But what are you made of though at a cellular level?" It wasn't the fact that he could deduce her building blocks from a small stick of metal that confused Bubblegum it was where it had come from.

"There's no way that whole stick could have fitted in to his pocket. Does it fold up? Maybe his pockets are bigger on the inside." She thought.

"Ah yes here we go", he was now in full swing and had become excited by what he saw on the sonic screwdriver. "Your solid material is a simply brilliant fusion of crystalline sugar molecules and proteins with an elastic super polymer which allows you to support yourself without the need for a proper skeletal system but allows you free movement in all directions. Fascinating. The liquid part appears to be just a dilute solution of dissolved sugars in water. That's nice knowing there's water here 'cause I was feeling slightly thirsty. Right I've got everything I need to recreate your serum, are you sure you want me to?"

"Yes, yes please Doctor. It would mean the world to me, but how on earth did you extract all that information from me?" She asked him and in return he showed her the device.

"It's called the sonic screwdriver. I'd be lost without it", he smiled whilst tapping it against the table. "Performs scans, hacks electronic systems and, most importantly, opens doors. I works by emitting sound waves that…". His explanation was cut off by Bubblegum.

"…that set up a resonance pattern in the object which vibrates at just the right frequency to perform a variety of different tasks," she finished for him. It was his turn to be shocked.

"How did you…? I thought you said you didn't understa…", but he was cut off once again.

"Snap!" She said and the Doctor's eyes widened as princess Bubblegum pulled out a metallic looking candy cane with purple light at the end.

"But that's a sonic screwdriver! A real actual working sonic screwdriver!" He nearly fell over from shock.

"I prefer the term "sonorous" to sonic but I guess you're right. Meet the sonic candycane. It's only a prototype but it still functions as well as I had hoped. The reason I was so surprised at your version is that mine can only perform basic functions such as opening doors at the minute and I would never have guessed it had the potential to break down the atomic structure of living organisms. I only created it to give to Finn so he could open doors more easily on his adventures. I'm not too fond of the "smash everything approach" he likes to use but now that I know the potential it has I'll create another for myself." When the Doctor finally recovered from the shock of seeing another working screwdriver he gathered all his remaining strength to say,

"You've impressed me. Downright honest to god impressed me and not many people can do that." She blushed at his words. "Now it's my turn. Not only am I going to recreate your experiment but I'm also going to do it in under 5 minutes."

"Now really, Doctor. I know you're a genius and all that but even if you had all the relevant components, which you don't I might add, there's simply not enough time for you to perfect it. Sorry but consider me unimpressed." She said with a smile.

"You want to bet on that?" He returned with a daring grin. "Not enough time? I'm good with time yes I am good with time." He punctuated each of his last words with a sharp rap on the table with his screwdriver (which Bubblegum thought might damage it).

"You'll never do it." She reiterated, though now feeling slightly less confident. He just kept on grinning which made her feel even less confident.

"Start the clock Miss Bubblegum." And with that he dashed off towards the big blue box that had been standing forgotten in the corner, opened it (Bubblegum was surprised to see that no smoke came out when he did, after all it was only so big), and went inside. Bubblegum's timer had only passed the minute mark when he reappeared with a whole assortment of different things and one of them appeared to be some sort of circular biscuit with a jam heart in the middle.

He was already midway through mixing things in a bowl when he walked out and it was a miracle he didn't drop any of the countless things he was holding while he kept on stirring. She observed him haphazardly throwing the chemicals he had into the big mixing bowl while singing about someone called "Billie Jean" and she wondered who she was. After another three minutes she began to get hopeful he would lose his bet and go over time but no sooner had she thought that she realized he was down to his last ingredient. The circular jam biscuit which he then proceeded to crumble with his fingers and drop in to the bowl. After doing this a wide grin appeared across his face and he yelled.

"STOP THE TIMER! How did I do?" He said still grinning.

"I-I don't believe it." Bubblegum stuttered. "4 minutes and 51 seconds. This doesn't prove anything though." She quickly added, looking over at the now brightly glowing orange liquid which was still in the bowl. "Hand it here please." He complied and handed over the bowl. "How does it work sorry?" She said after realizing she had no idea what to do with the strange mixture.

"Just drink about oh so much." He gestured with his hands, with his ridiculous grin still plastered onto his features. "Wait hold on how ARE you going to test this? I mean you said yourself you're your species only combusts in times of extreme fear. How do you aim to achieve this?" He pondered.

"Oh that's easy, Doctor", she relied before drinking about a quarter of the contents of the bowl. "You're going to scare me."

"Eh, what?" was the only answer he got.

"Before my emoti-reader was destroyed by cognitive feedback, for the briefest of seconds I saw inside your mind. And it scared me. You said you were able to transfer memories so give it a shot. Scare me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa hang on there, princess, there's a reason your device blew up. My past isn't to be taken lightly and it haunts me every day of my life. All the things I've done in the name of the Doctor. Are you sure you want to see it?"

"For my people, I will do anything." He admired her spirit but was still uneasy.

"This process isn't exactly the safest one in the entire universe I should warn you." He said in attempt to dissuade her.

"You told me to trust you and I do. I have complete faith in your abilities, Doctor." The old man sighed and held out his hands,

"Take my hands." Bubblegum did as requested and was surprised by the warmth that flowed through them. "Clear your mind. Let all your troubles melt away into nothing. Close your eyes and just be content to be. Just be." He placed his hands on her temples and instructed her to do the same to him. She did and when she had he said one last thing.

"I'm going to open the doorway now but please understand that once it is open it is open from both ends. I'll be able see just as much into your mind as you will into mine. Are you ok with that?" She nodded calmly, eyes still closed. "All right princess. Prepare yourself and please forgive me for what I am about to do." And without another word he lifted his mental barrier and the flood gates opened. Bubblegum's rosy face became contorted in pain as she saw the visions that had caused pain to the loneliest man in the universe.

"This is your last chance, General. Leave this planet or I'll use the device." Bubblegum found her consciousness looking down on a scene on what appeared to be some sort of space ship. There were several thousand figures in battle armour facing a man in a brown suit and tie with spiky brown hair. Although she had never met him before she instinctively knew him as the Doctor.

"Then do it you coward", shouted their leader, a creature whose smooth brown features resembled that of a potato. "We are not afraid of death. We are Sontarans. Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" They began to chant. The man in the suit looked out across the ranks and looked up towards the ceiling before attempting to press the button but before he could there was a flash of light and where he had been standing there was a boy of no more than 18.

"Sontar-ha!" He cried before pressing down on the button. The pain the Doctor faced in coming to terms with an innocent boy's sacrifice scarred him for life…and Bubblegum could feel it.

The scene shifted again to what looked like an underground cave with a plethora of plant life. The man in the suit was there again and he was talking to a group of, what looked like, human soldiers and bi-pedal fish. He turned towards a girl of around 19 and started talking to her and Bubblegum could see that he was, for once, happy.

But, alas, it was not to be as one of the human males who was kneeling on the floor drew his weapon and fired at the brown suited man. In the instant before, however, the woman had pushed him out of the way and taken the shot for him. She lay dying in his arms and Bubblegum felt everything he was feeling. Rage, anger and sadness were just some of the things she could feel coursing through her veins like fire. When the girl had died he stood up and walked over to the man who had committed the crime. He raised his gun and instead of firing said:

"I never would. Never." The passion behind those words nearly overwhelmed Bubblegum's spirit before the scene changed for the last time. She wasn't even sure where she was now as the smoke was so thick she was near blind. What she could make out thought was burning. So much burning and destruction. The fire and smoke filled her vision and threatened to drown her in a sea of near infinite chaos. The smoke cleared enough for her to see countless stone structures that littered the area with rubble.

The buildings that were standing had broken glass and the roads were littered with the bodies of the innocent. Bubblegum's spirit could only stare at the destruction around her in horror. Who had done this? Why had they done this? The smoke cleared even more and what remained of a great glass dome could been seen in the distance with several saucer shaped discs floating around it, firing projectiles of energy at it.

Though the air was still thick with smoke, Bubblegum thought she could make out a figure walking towards her. Every muscle in her body was telling her to run but she was paralysed with fear. Her soft pink hairs stood on end as he came closer and closer and closer. He wore a simple brown leather coat and trousers that had been soiled with the burden of war. As he came ever closer through the swirling fog she could just make out his weather beaten face and cold dead eyes that had seen too much. When he stepped into view he said only one thing which chilled princess Bubblegum right to the core.

"No more."

This chapter will be the last to focus solely on PB and the Doctor and in the next chapter Finn and Jake make their first appearance. Check out my deviantart page for a larger version of the cover artwork for this story (Hint: it may shed light on the upcoming plot the story will follow.)

art/An-adventure-time-in-time-and-space-Molten-steel-462175675

Till the next one, PozzyP out!