a/n: firefox was being an ass and I lost all of the edits that I did : ( but I re did them, because I wanted to get this chapter out tonight. I hope you enjoy and I apologise for any gramma or spelling or whatever mistakes, once again I am doing this at 3 in the morning, like an idiot ….

Anyway ! have a happy Christmas or a good holiday !
Hopefully see you all before the new year xx

-x-

It wasn't long before the night air seemed to clear Ana's brain. The breeze against her skin was cooling and she gave a heavy sigh, as her head tilted backward, and her eyes slid shut. She had missed her, more than she would like to have admitted, considering there was no way she would change how her life had ended up. But she couldn't help but let her mind wander, a little more than she would have liked. Arms crossed over her chest, as green eyes opened and stared up at the dark sky, it was rather hard to see most of the stars, but Ana knew they were up there - hell she had been up there herself, not that long ago.

Though, she couldn't help but worry that by her coming back to Earth, back to her timeline that something major was going to happen back on Deep Space Nine - either between the Klingons and Star Fleet or the Dominion and the rest of the galaxy. Then there was also the worry of the Cardassian's as well, there was a lot of things that could go wrong in the 24th century, she knew that they could look after themselves, but she knew that a part of her would feel like she had just betrayed them all by disappearing suddenly.

Ana shook her head with a rough sigh, letting her head tilt downward. You seriously have to calm down, she thought to herself as her arms fell back down to her sides, fingers gripping some of the loose fabric of her pants. Staring intently at the ground, Ana stood in silence for a little while, well as much silence as there was in this part of the city. There was the occasional car passing by, sometimes they would blow their horn and Ana couldn't help but imagine the passengers and driver in them were complaining about the other car. There was also the murmurs of people walking by, the footpath down the end of the alleyway, that seemed to carry their voices, but she knew that most of the noise was coming from inside the warehouse, The Doctor certainly hadn't changed in the way that shespoke. Rather loudly with a hint of smugness to her voice. Though, Ana was kinda grateful that The Doctor seemed to be the same as the previous regenerations.

The bubbliness that she had witnessed already reminded her so much of The Doctor's eleventh body (that it kind of hurt sometimes) - he was a lot more childlike, somehow even when mourning the loss of Donna and The Master, he covered it up with humour and innocence. But Ana knew him, she knew that there was so much more to The Doctor. The way she rambled and spoke a million miles a minute reminded her so much of the tenth regeneration. The brown-eyed Doctor that … she … well - who didn't have a crush on The Doctor once in their lifetime. She was glad that she had grown out of that.

Possibly.

It was the sudden tug against her heart that caused her to remember the worst but most wonderful time of her life. Having her first son during the Year that Never Was, was something of a traumatic experience. The Master was a right bastard and she had wanted to kill him on more than one occasion during her stay on the Valiant, but well - she couldn't fault him for the way he … looked after her. She hated that fact, but well, the best midwives and doctors had been flown in to look after her. Ana knew that it had to have been an ulterior motive on the Time Lord's part (and fuck yeah it was) but she had to thank him in the end.

Her hand was already on the move before her brain told her what it was doing. She missed Ethan dearly, her son who just so happened to end up being a doctor - Of course, it would be the one thing that she wouldn't have pressured him into being and yet, he ended up becoming the best cardiac surgeon in Illinois. Ana snorted lightly and looked down at her phone, green eyes focused on the set photo she had for his contact. It most certainly wasn't a picture Ana had taken herself, Facebook was rather helping tool when looking for someone and god, she sounded ten times creepier that way. His eyes were the same blue as his father's and Ana's stomach twisted, the sick feeling appeared at the back of her throat - back in the day when everything seemed so much simpler, she thought she could have made it work but then they happened and The Order of The Silence kidnapped Ethan when he was only a baby and she never saw her son again.

Though, one fateful adventure that had led them to Chicago in 2016, she had run into him, though he had no clue as to who she was. But Ana - Ana knew instantly. Dark hair and blue eyes, taller than her by a couple of inches and was already in doctor mode, making sure that she hadn't been hurt when she had practically fallen on her ass. It had been the worst time of her life, but it eventually worked out in the end, until Ethan kinda resented her for not coming to save him when he had been a child.

Maybe those memories were better off forgotten.

Though, that was a story for another time.

Snapping out of her thoughts as the noise behind her got louder, Ana pressed the call button, placing her phone against her ear - she then wrapped her free arm around her stomach. This was the part that always made her nervous, whether or not he would pick up or if he'd just let her fill up his voicemail with desperate pleas. Time zones usually got away from her when Ana moved back and forth between timelines, so she hoped that it was at least early in Chicago. But the phone kept on ringing and ringing and eventually, Ana moved her arm and placed her hand against her forehead.

"Hey, this is Connor - I'm busy but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." The beep of the answering machine was all too familiar, and Ana squared her shoulders.

"Hey … Connor, it's me. Ana, I'm back in town, just thought we could catch up sometime. Okay, bye." Ana knew that it would be a risky move if she used his proper name, especially since he had started seeing someone, but Connor seemed unnatural and Ana hated saying it. Sighing once more the brunette pulled her phone away from her ear and locked it, before placing the device up to her lips. Staring off into the distance, Ana almost forgot where she was.

Well, all you have to know at the moment was that Ana and Ethan have a long way to go on making up. She loved him so much that it hurt to let him go, but she knew that hanging around would only make the strain on their relationship worse. God, she missed him.

"Ana?" the voice of the young police officer broke Ana out of the train of thought that was going nowhere, and the Lieutenant turned around to face Yaz. Raising a brow, the younger woman stepped out from the massive doorway and made her way over to the brunette. "You alright?"

Ana only realised a little too late that she had been crying, she probably started sometime between calling Ethan and thinking about whether or not he wanted nothing to do with her. Ana started slightly, as she raised a hand to brush away the tears from underneath her eyes. Yaz watched her intently, suddenly wondering once again who this person even was. She seemed … sad. "Uh, yeah yeah of course." she gave a rather unconvincing smile, but Yaz seemed to accept it. "What's going on?"

"We're headed up to the roof," she started jabbing her thumb over her shoulder. "One of Graham's mates found the weird black orb thingy." It was Ana's turn to frown as she followed her inside. It was slightly convenient that the orb was directly above them, but Ana was glad - she didn't really want to pile back into the Volvo again.

"Black orb?" The Australian questioned and Yaz couldn't help the smile spread across her face.

"Right, you weren't on the train."

"No, I wasn't. Though, I guess I wish I was. Seemed like you lot had a party." Yaz snorted, and they made their way to the fire escape door - which Ana assumed led up to the roof, everyone else was already missing.

"Oh, it was a lot scarier than a rager, mate." Ana laughed, Yaz pushed against the door and stepped into the back alley, Ana following suite - there they spotted Grace and Ryan next to the ladder, holding bits and pieces, that Ana was certain The Doctor had given them. Ryan seemed to be holding a car battery, while Grace had a rather nice-looking electric drill.

"The Doctor's already up there," Ryan commented once he noticed Ana. "She also made this really weird screwdriver thing." Ana couldn't help the grin that crossed her lips.

"She honestly made the sonic?" the question left her lips before she flung herself over to the ladder and started to pull herself upwards. "You know, she still continues to amaze me. Even if I've known her for ten years."

"Ten years?" she heard Yaz exclaim below her. "How old are ya?"

"Oi!" Ana looked down over her shoulder and noticed Yaz just under her. "You know you don't ask a lady her age." However, her grin remained on her lips, as she turned back to continue up the ladder. "Almost forty."

"Forty!" That was Ryan.

"Yeah, there was a certain run-in with the TARDIS, she wasn't happy with me there. Plus, an alternate reality and 23rd-century medicine. Doctor McCoy certainly knew how to keep me healthy." She winced at the memory of every single hypospray Bones had injected her with. The future, even though they had eradicated a lot of viruses and diseases, still propped up with a bunch of new ones to fill in the gaps. Before any of the teenagers could question her further, Ana made it over the lip of the ladder and came to stand on the roof and faced … the black orb thingy. "Holy crap, that's huge."

"That it is." The Doctor replied, striding past her. "Still don't really know what it is, but I have my sonic now." The Doctor paused and turned to face Ana. "What do you think?" the blonde presented the sonic screwdriver to her companion and Ana scrunched her nose. "Oh, you don't like it?"

The pout that fell on The Doctor's lips caused Ana to step forward, as Yaz had made it to the top, and she grinned at the Time Lord. "No, no I love it," she replied. "Silver still is in fashion." The pout on The Doctor's lips pulled upwards into a smile then.

"It stays in fashion for quite some time." She mumbled, turning back to doing whatever it was she was doing before Ana had arrived. "Until the 32nd century. Bad decade for silver lovers." the blonde let herself be distracted by the black orb, as Ryan and Grace managed to catch up. So there they were, the five of them standing just behind The Doctor, who seemed to know what she was doing. "Hi." she greeted the orb. "Us again."

They all set off in different directions seemingly knowing what they had to do - setting up for what Ana assumed was to figure out what the thing in front of them was. The Doctor clamped one of the crocodile clip's to the fire escape, that was joined to the car battery Ryan had been carrying. "Now!" the blonde called and Grace surged forward with the electric drill, zapping it. It moved for a couple of more seconds before it lost all its power and crumpled to the floor.

Ana scrunched up her nose and stepped forward, moving closer to the once floating orb, coming to stand next to Grace and Graham. It just looked like a bunch of loose wires now. Nothing was powering it. Ryan laughed, a wide grin on his face.

"Get in!" he shouted, moving closer to it. "It actually worked!"

The Doctor looked mildly offended. "Of course, it worked. I'm not an amateur." She retorted, and Ana snorted. The six of them all gathered around the once floating orb, now a bundle of noodles and stared down at it. The Doctor squatted. "Overloaded its socket, stunned it for a bit." She started. "Not sure for how long though. Best be quick." Reaching into her pocket and pulling out her sonic, The Doctor started to use the screwdriver on the thing and Ana couldn't help the grin that crossed her face when she watched it in action. God, she had missed that device. "And thank you to Kevin the bus driver for location intel."

"See? Always ask a bus driver." Graham seemed proud by that. Ana couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips.

"Half organic, half machine." The sonic stilled whirred until it stopped, and The Doctor brought the device closer to her face. "Wait." she then frowned as she read the information the sonic had just given her before she stood up and looked down at the orb instead. "It's a Gathering Coil." A squint of her eyes. "No, dozens of Gathering Coils." She bent down again. "These tentacle-y things, they're creatures which gather information." and it was then that Ana winced, shuffling away from Grace and making her way over to the Time Lord. Ana squatted as well next to her and squinted at the jumble of black ... noodles.

"God, they're nothing like the … snakes, are they?" Ana questioned, her voice quiet as she kept her eyes purposefully away from The Doctor's face. Who in turn looked at her companion, a frown creasing her brow - until the memory came back to her. Their time on Skaro and how they got there in the first place. The Doctor knew that Ana could handle almost anything - had been through everything, but when it came to snakes - they were a completely different story. While her previous incarnation had trouble with expressing his emotions and dealing with comforting others, she knew that he had wanted to help her through it - especially considering she had almost thrown up twice on their ride to the planet. Clara had been the one to calm her down. In the end, the Time Lord shook her head - continuing to watch Ana, whose face scrunched upwards even more.

"Not snakes, though they may look similar, these guys have been lashed together and augmented into one super-creature." The Doctor finally let her eyes move away from Ana and back towards the mass of coils. "But Why? What data are they gathering?" When she felt the Time Lord's gaze off of her face, Ana snuck a peek at the blonde. "Unless…" she trailed off into thought, Ana stood back up and shoved her arms across her chest.

"So that's an alien species?" Yaz tried to guess and The Doctor stood up as well, almost falling against the brunette next to her.

"Not really." She replied, straightening herself out. "More of a semi-species. Weaponised biotech."

"And I instantly am filed with much less confidence," Ana mumbled, and The Doctor shushed her.

"You said there were two aliens in battle." Yaz continued.

"You're right. I did, but now I think I'm wrong and I'm trying to catch up with what that might mean." The Doctor scratched at her head and Ana wanted to tell her it just meant that she was still regenerating - the more delicate and inside bits that is. She was just glad that the Time Lord didn't seem to be fainting every couple of minutes like the last few of times. That hadn't exactly been the most exciting of hours - especially with the world under threat both times. "If I can access the data it's gathered." The Doctor leaned forward and pressed the sonic into the coils before an image of a man appeared in holographic light, albeit rather staticky.

"Woah," Ana muttered.

"It's Karl from the train." This goddamn train …. That was when movement over Yaz's shoulder caught Ana's attention. Green eyes lifted, and her breath seemed to leave her stomach. Her hand reached out and caught hold of The Doctor's tattered sleeve.

"Karl's the data. That's what it was gathering on the train." She tugged at it, but the Time Lord seemed too invested in staring at the coils and the conversation. Green eyes squinted at the figure that seemed to stand twice her height and had paused to watch them for a couple of seconds. Ana tugged at The Doctor's sleeve again.

"Doctor..."

"Which one of you shall I kill first?" Its voice was deep and malelike and Ana tugged against The Doctor's sleeve once more.

"Yep, I see it now," She mumbled. "I'm voting none of us." The Doctor called out, pulling Ana's grip off of her sleeve. The blonde wanted to take her companion's hand in her own, but The Doctor wanted her behind her - wanted them all behind her. Out of harm's way. "Get behind me now." Ana made her way forward, wanting to stand next to The Doctor, but Yaz grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back. "Stop right there. Come any further and we'll blast whatever that thing is." a slightly hollowed threat, but the tall figure didn't know that.

"You're interfering in things you don't understand."

"Yeah, well, we all need a hobby." Ana snorted.

"You're not human." The figure said, and Ana let her head tilt to the side, it wasn't exactly easy to figure that out. Many would assume that The Doctor was just weird and not … well, not human. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm…" Then the Time Lord trailed off, her face scrunched up and she let out a massive groan, falling backward slightly before straightening up once more. "Oh, it's gone again. I had it a minute ago." Ana suddenly realised that … the regeneration was just as painful as the last time - just, she was able to keep most of her memories intact. Ana then pulled her wrist away from Yaz, who gave her a look, but the brunette ignored it and made her way forward once more. She wasn't about to let The Doctor, who really had no idea who she was facing this … thing alone. So, she came up just behind her and let her hand curl around the fabric of at the back of The Doctor's jacket, letting the Time Lord know that she was there. "So annoying. Same question back at you. No, in fact, before that, because it's really bugging me, actually not bugging me, offending me." The Doctor stood straighter then - shuffling forward, but still, keeping herself between the humans and the … being. "Why the teeth? Bad enough you kill, why take a tooth from the victim?"

The figure before them then reached for its mask. The mechanics of its armour hissed and the facepiece came away, revealing a humanoid creature … with - teeth stuck in his skin.

"Oh … fucking hell," Ana mumbled, as she pushed her forehead into The Doctor's back, suddenly trying to get the image out of her head. They sorta look like Jem'Hadar on steroids, Ana thought, before she straightened up and winced once more as she had to focus forwards.

"A Stenza warrior wears his conquests. You may tell your children you were once privileged to encounter Tzim-Sha of the Stenza." Ana suddenly felt The Doctor stiffen in front of you.

"Tim Shaw?" she called, and Ana couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. Oh my god, she's gonna get us all killed, and not for the first time.

"Tzim-Sha." The alien corrected with a hint of confusion in its voice. Somehow, not used to someone not recognising his name. Ana tugged on the back of The Doctor's jacket before she let go and came to stand next to the Time Lord instead.

"Tim Shaw." The Doctor was just being a little shit at this moment.

"Tzim-Sha!" Its voice held annoyance now at being mocked. "Soon to be leader of the Stenza warrior race, conquerors of the Nine Systems."

"When you say soon to be leader, what are you now, the office junior?" Ana let her eyes slide shut with a sigh before she nudged The Doctor in the side.

"Eh? No, don't wind him up." Graham spoke Ana's thoughts.

"Tonight is my challenge. Trace and obtain the selected human trophy." Ana's eyes snapped open and her hand reached out, fingers searching for The Doctor's.

"It's a hunt." Her voice was stern, sand Ana could tell by the clenching of her jaw, she was not happy. "You're on a hunt."

"Well done. Your tiny mind must be burning with such effort." The Stenza were apparently massive assholes. The Doctor turned her head and looked at Ana, her brows creased.

"Did he just say I had a small mind?" Ana couldn't help the twitch of her lips though. It was then that she felt the familiar warmth of The Doctor's hand. Green eyes flickered down and Ana gave a heavy sigh of relief as The Doctor wrapped her slender hand around Ana's, fingers intertwining, gripping onto her as if she was her lifeboat.

"The challenge is simple. Our leaders randomly designate a selected human. I'm sent here, alone, no weapons, no assistance. I must locate and obtain the trophy and return home with it, victorious."

"Holy crap, they're Predators." Ana cut in and the toothy alien gave her a glared and the Australian cleared her throat and gripped onto The Doctor's hand tighter than before.

"By doing this," Tim Shaw continued. "I ascend to leader. This is the ritual of the Stenza." After he had finished his explanation, the air was tense and cold and silent. Until Yaz spoke up.

"And it's happened before. Rahul's sister." The Doctor's grip tightened around Ana's hand as well. Her eyes grew stern and she was tittering on the edge, just shy of letting The Oncoming Storm out, but she was trying her to keep her cool.

"Earth is not a hunting ground."

"Access was granted."

"No, it wasn't," Ryan butted in. "It was a misunderstanding. Access revoked as of now, by me."

"Just to pick up on one thing." The Doctor continued. "You don't mind, do you? You said the rules were no weapons, no assistance." And suddenly Ana's face broke out into a grin.

Oh, you are so busted, Tim Shaw.

"Correct."

"How did you kill them? What caused the ice burns?"

"We Stenza live at temperatures far below this planet, one touch of my cold skin will kill a human."

"Well - that's just a Mister Freeze rip off."

"Ana…" The Doctor looked at her companion and the brunette cleared her throat once more.

"Sorry."

"So, this super-powered Gathering Coil," The Doctor pointed behind her. "Right here, you're not meant to have it, are you?"

"The creature is irrelevant." Its voice had gotten harder. The Doctor must have struck a nerve.

"I don't think it is. I think you smuggled it ahead of you." Ana watched as the Stenza shifted in his spot and his eyes harden. Brows raised on the brunette's face - god super busted. "I think it located the randomly designated human for you. I think you broke the rules. Some leader you're going to make. Tim Shaw is a big blue cheat!"

It was at this moment that Ana wished she was back home. The creature raised his hand, it glowing a bright white with cold energy.

"God, you gotta stop poking at aliens that could kill us," Ana muttered as The Doctor pulled her behind her once more and they both stepped out of the way of the alien.

"Okay, fine, have it." All six of them moved away from Tim Shaw, as he stepped over to the coils and crouched down, holding its hands over the bunch of noodles - Ana watched in slight amazement, as the energy that once held the coils in the air, flowed into the Stenza.

"What's it doing?" Ryan asked.

"Total transference." The Doctor replied, watching as the Stenza finished and stood up - turning to face them. "If you've finished, let's be really clear. You're not taking any human from Earth tonight." Ana stood closer to The Doctor once more. "Leave now or we're going to stop you."

"It's kind of our thing you know," Ana added, but Tim Shaw didn't care, he flashed what appeared to be a smirk at them.

"Good luck." it managed to get out before he turned to the side and crouched - before disappearing in a flash of bright white light. Ana squinted and growled softly.

"Well - that's just cheating again!" She complained, The Doctor nodded her head as she turned to face the other humans.

"Short range teleport!"

"Where have they gone?" Yaz questioned.

"To hunt."

"Hunt who?" Ryan put his two cents in and Ana winced, pulling her hand out of The Doctors.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Karl," Ana spoke up and everyone looked at her. She raised a brow once again. "It's easy, that's what the information held right? Karl's face?" The Doctor's face broke out into a massive grin and she surged forward - placing her hands on either side of Ana's face and pressed a kiss against the brunette's forehead.

"Bear, you are still a genius." The blonde exclaimed before she pulled away and Ana flushed a bright red. God - she hadn't received praise like that in years. She forgot how awkward it was when she did it in public. "Grace, can you drive us again?"

Ryan's grandmother let a smile cross her lips and nodded her head. "Of course, I can, love."

"Great - Let's get a shift on then." The Doctor spun on her heels and started to make her way back over to the ladder before she stopped and turned back around. "Does that sound right?" Ana shook her head, as a huffed laugh escaped her lips. "I like that - Shift on." The Doctor then disappeared over the ladder and the humans were left to look between each other.

"Alright, let's go you four," Grace spoke up and followed after The Doctor. Yaz and Ryan shared a look and followed after her before Graham moved as well, after a heavy sigh, like he still couldn't believe he was going along with all of this. Which just left Ana standing on top of the roof alone.

"Ana!" The Doctor called after her. "Hurry up!" Ana rolled her eyes, but there was this feeling in the pit of her stomach like something was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good. She didn't know what it was yet but well … her gut had never failed her before. The Lieutenant shook her head though and made her way over to the ladder.

"Coming!"