A/N: I'm back baby! Woo! :D I'm going to keep this A/N short and just let you know there may be quite a doozy of a note at the end, but I'll be talking about why it took me a while to get back, my plans for updating going forward, and a few small little things ;)

~8~

Into the Dalek: Rusty

"Ooh, I missed this!" Tailor cheered as she stood at the console, helping her parents fly the TARDIS, she had feared that she might have gotten rusty during the time she'd been away from the old box, but she was very relieved to see that she still had it, and…if she happened to miss something, her Aunt Idris was always very willing and ready to flip a switch for her.

Angel smiled over at her daughter, seeing the young girl just beaming as she worked her section of the controls. She couldn't help but observe the young girl, noting that she had evidently raided the wardrobe just as her father had, the two of them taking care this time to help each other select an outfit to surprise HER much like she and Tailor had done when the girl was younger and they'd both regenerated. She was back in her white and blue stripped poncho and boots, but the Doctor had selected a more casual suit. Black slacks, a black jacket with a red lining on the inside, and a white button up shirt. She was a little saddened that he had decided to refrain from any sort of tie this time, but he had just told her that ties just seemed too old, too much like the last hims and he wanted a fresh start. There was a stigma now, on both ties, just regular ones or even bowties, that made him hesitant to wear them. One tie represented a man that had broken promises to her, another a man that had forgotten her, he wanted to go back to a man that had rescued her, saved her, always been there for her no matter what, would give his life for her, as he had. So no tie this time.

She glanced down at his hand on the 'zig-zag plotter' as he loved to call it, and couldn't help the sigh from escaping her though she had a sad smile on her face, shaking her head as she thought on it. That was something he had kept despite it being a symbol for the last two hims as well. She'd been horrified to see his hand scarred so soon after regenerating. While the tie was a symbol of the two men and how they'd, somehow, failed her, the scarring was, he'd explained, more a promise to himself, like the Corsair's tattoo, he didn't feel like HIM without the scars on his knuckles, because they were something unique to the two of them, to their Mating and relationship. He had gotten those scars saving her, had gotten them in his rage at forgetting her, he wanted them with him always, a reminder and a warning to himself of what he had and what he had nearly lost. She was saddened to think it meant he would likely injure himself each and every new incarnation now, but she couldn't refuse him this.

He was like a martyr in a way, suffering even now, even after she'd forgiven him for something that wasn't even his fault. He understood, of course, that there was no helping an impulse given by the Silence, but he still felt badly that he had hurt her, that she had been hurt and a large part of it was due to him. If this was his way of coping with what had happened, she would let him do it.

She felt her smile grow more genuine as she looked at their daughter once more, it seemed like only yesterday she was wearing her little dress and giggling as the family presented her with a miniature K9, the little robotic dog was resting at her feet as she piloted, having been trapped in the TARDIS while they'd been dealing with Charlotte and the half-faced man. Now her daughter was centuries older, and with growing up she now had a new style sense. It had been rather limited in Christmas, despite the centuries going by, the styles of the little town hadn't changed much from their Victorian themes. Tailor had branched out now, and this her seemed to have taken a little style tip from Clara.

Tailor was wearing a long shirt, similar to the dress Clara had been wearing when they first met her and dealt with the robots sucking people into the wi-fi. It was a deep green color, long sleeved, but more like a long, fitted tunic, than a dress. It went just to her mid thighs, hanging a bit lower in the back. She had stayed away from leggings and selected a pair of brown skinny jeans, wearing white converse, just like her father's 10th incarnation had. She could see, when Tailor moved to the side a bit or leaned over, a hint of pink peeking out from her shoes, she had selected pink shoelaces, to match the bowtie necklace she still wore. Her hair was down, hanging freely, parted in the middle, her eyes were just sparkling with joy.

"As did we," Angel finally spoke, reaching over to pat the rotor, "We missed you old girl."

The Doctor let out a low chuckle as the box hummed back happily, even HE could tell that the box was trying to say she missed them too. He was quite glad she wasn't cross with him for essentially abandoning her, it couldn't be helped and it was the safer option. It seemed once the TARDIS realized he had regenerated, that he had basically died, she had calmed down about it.

"Yes, it's good to be home," he nodded, though his expression started to grow more serious when he caught sight of a red flashing light near the monitor, "Now, what do we have here…"

Angel and Tailor glanced at each other a moment, before moving to the Doctor's side, looking at what the scanners had picked up. A small space fighter was dodging asteroids and lasers fired at it.

"Those lasers," the Doctor tensed, after centuries of battling against them, he could recognize Dalek tech anywhere.

"They're being hunted," Tailor breathed, frowning.

Angel, however, just smiled, "Well then, we had best save the day."

~8~

"Aristotle!" a young black woman shouted as she tried to frantically pilot the space fighter, dodging asteroids as she went, glancing at the man sitting beside her, gravely injured and unconscious, "This is Wasp Delta, do you hear me?" she let out a frustrated groan at the silence that answered her and turned to reach out to the man beside her, calling, "Stay with me, Kai. Stay with me, please," before she had to put her hands back on the controls as the Daleks blasted at her, "Aristotle! We have been hit. Major damage. Aristotle!" she gasped as a ship flew over her, "Aristotle! The enemy are right on top of us!" she could feel her eyes filling with tears as she saw a laser powering up, aimed right at them. She reached out to grab the man's hand, "I'm sorry," she breathed.

"Exterminate!" came over the comms., and she closed her eyes tightly for the blast to come…

"Quickly!"

The woman's eyes snapped open, gaping as she saw she was not in her ship any longer but an odd room, before her mind caught up to her and she looked to the left at the sound of a distinctly NOT Dalek voice right beside her, to see an older woman with strawberry blonde hair rushing to the side of the man in her grip.

"Kai!" the woman gasped as the boy half fell over, having gone from sitting up to having no seat beneath him, falling to the ground as she struggled to lie him flat.

"Doctor!" the strawberry blonde woman called out again.

"We couldn't save the ship, mum," another girl, just as blonde, but younger, responded from a console, an older man frantically moving around.

"And now we've got to get out," the man grumbled, "The Daleks are locking on us," he glanced over, "We've got this, Angel, you take care of him."

The blonde woman, Angel, nodded, moving to kneel before Kai, her hands reaching for his chest.

"Oi!" the woman nearly leapt forward, glaring, "What are you doing!?"

"Trying to save him," Angel looked her in the eye, "Please, let me."

The woman looked down at the boy as he struggled to breathe, his head lulling to the side, and nodded. Anything that could save her brother she would do, no matter if it meant letting some strange woman touch him in some odd spaceship.

Angel gave her a reassuring smile, looking back down at the young man, holding her hands over his chest where the worst of his wounds were, a soft golden glow drifting out of her and seeping into him.

"Don't be alarmed if you feel a bit sick," the other blonde, the girl, called as she moved to sit next to her, reaching out to take her hand, "I'm Tailor."

"Um…Journey," the woman offered, her attention turning back to her brother, "That's Kai."

"Nice to meet you, Journey," Angel glanced up, "And you as well, Kai, though I wish it had been under better circumstances," she winced as the boy groaned, but the color was coming back to his face, he was breathing easier.

Journey nearly sobbed at the sight of the wounds closing, healing, at whatever that Angel woman was doing, but she held it in, she was a soldier damn it! She had to be stronger than this…but instead, all that came out, wasn't a demand for information at gunpoint as she knew she ought to do, but a quiet, "How did we get here?"

"That was me!" Tailor smiled, beamed more like it, very proud of herself, "I set the TARDIS, that's our ship, down in your ship, right around the two of you, just before your ship exploded. Dad said that I could only materialize around one of you, but mum helped me and we got you both!"

"I should know by now not to bet against a psychic," the Doctor mumbled behind them, piloting the box away from the worst of the Dalek attack, "And you're very welcome!"

Journey winced, "Thank you."

Tailor just rolled her eyes, "Ignore him, dad gets rude when he's cranky," she leaned in, "Daleks make him very cranky…" she glanced at the boy lying on the ground, nearly completely healed now, "He'll be cranky till mum's done helping your brother and can calm him down."

"I am not cranky," the Doctor huffed.

Tailor just gave Journey a sly smile, mouthing 'SO cranky.'

"There," Angel's voice pulled Journey back to her brother, not even realizing she hadn't quite told them the man was her brother yet they all seemed to think it, "He'll be just fine," she pulled back, the glowing stopping, "But he'll be very exhausted. Best let him rest," she eyed Journey, "Is there anything else we can do to help?"

Journey blinked, shaking her head, startled out of her relief that her brother was going to live and remembering she really was a soldier, "Yes. I'm Lieutenant Journey Blue of the Combined Galactic Resistance. I demand you take us back to our command ship, the Aristotle, which is currently located…"

"No," the Doctor's voice cut in as he walked over, not sitting down, but standing beside Angel, his arms crossed, a frown on his face, his eyes nearly narrowed at her, "Not like that."

Journey just glared up at him, pushing herself to her feet, "You WILL take us back to our command ship, which is currently positioned…"

"No, no," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Come on. Not like that. Not like that. Get it right!"

Tailor tugged on Journey's arm, "Manners," she whispered helpfully. For as rude as her father was to practically everyone else, he absolutely hated when others were rude to them, or more so to her or her mother.

Journey took a frustrated breath, "Will you take us back to our ship? Please?"

"Of course," Angel stood, the Doctor holding out a hand without her asking to help her up, "We need to get your brother somewhere more secure to rest, and in an infirmary more prepared to treat humans," she nodded, moving to the console.

"The Aristotle's the big fella parked in the asteroid belt, yeah?" the Doctor called, following his Mate.

"It's shielded," Journey warned.

"Not to Aunt Idris," Tailor grinned, getting up and joining her parents, "She can go anywhere. She's amazing like that," she patted the rotor as the box hummed proudly around her.

Journey could only stand there and look on, completely flabbergasted at the turn of events.

~8~

It didn't take much for the TARDIS to break through the shielding around the Aristotle, something Journey felt she should bring up to their commander. If one ship could so easily get through then it was only a matter of time before the Daleks could. Though she was quite sure the Daleks would not be as subtle as the Doctor, as she'd been introduced, or the others were in settling down in a small corner of the Medical section…in a bright blue Police Telephone box. The Daleks would have to be nutters to fly around in something like that.

Which DID make her wonder about the Doctor's sanity if THAT was his spaceship…

Journey was the first one out, Kai's arm draped over her shoulder as she staggered to support him, refusing Angel's offer of assistance. The woman had saved her brother, she knew that, but HOW she had done it still left her wary and careful. She wouldn't trust anyone else with her brother but herself.

"It's smaller on the outside," Journey murmured as she took a single moment to observe the blue box before calling over two passing soldiers to help her with her brother.

The Doctor just huffed at her choice of words, "It's a bit more exciting when you go the other way."

"Hold on," Tailor frowned, observing the room, "This isn't a battleship," she realized, pointing to a symbol on the walls, "Medical insignia. It's a hospital!"

"Unfortunately not all hospitals are good," Angel murmured sadly, her mind drifting back to New Earth and a handful of other hospitals that held sinister secrets. Oh she really hoped this wasn't going to be one of those trips. She'd had enough life endangerment to last the rest of her lives, but she knew it would be too much to hope that they might get a nice, quiet, safe trip when the Doctor was around.

She was just tired though, it had been…a very long last few 900 years. They were entitled to some rest.

"We don't need hospitals now," another man in a uniform strode over, a beard growing on his face, "The Daleks don't leave any wounded, and we don't take any prisoners."

"Sir, Kai," Journey turned to him, "He was…" she hesitated to speak, not entirely sure HOW to describe what had happened. If she said that her brother had been nearly killed, wounded, and was miraculously healed by an Angel…he'd have her sectioned, "He was hurt. Knocked out."

"He was lucky," the man glanced over at the two soldiers hauling Kai off, "Not many are."

"Yes, yes he was," the Doctor nodded, "But, what else would you expect with Angel here," he placed an arm around Angel's shoulders, "My Mate, my good luck charm."

Angel shook her head fondly at him, "We were able to help is all," she said modestly, making Tailor smile at her mother for that.

Tailor couldn't help but add a small laugh as well, even if it was under her breath. She'd heard stories of how her mother had tried to work out why she had the Vortex inside her, why the TARDIS had given it to her before Aunt Idris had been able to actually TELL her. She really couldn't understand how it had taken her parents so long to realize the reason. Her mother was modest and humble, she didn't want for power and she would never abuse it. The true symbol of someone who deserved power was a person who didn't want it. Even now, her mother could be praised, heralded as a goddess, but she brushed it off. What's more, she gave credit where it was due. It wasn't JUST her that helped Kai and Journey, it was all three of them, and she made sure that it was known.

If she could be half the person her mother was, she'd consider herself a good person…well, she could only be half the person her mother was…she WAS half Doctor too and his ego could rival the moons of Jupiter.

"Thank you," the general turned to the trio, a genuine tone in his voice, a care that spoke of more than just a man in command of soldiers.

Angel seemed to notice that instantly, "Your nephew will be just fine," she reassured him, startling the man a moment though he glanced at Journey as though just assuming she'd mentioned his connection to the siblings.

"And you're welcome," the Doctor added.

"We do wish we could have done more," Tailor's smile turned into a small frown, "But," she looked at her parents, "Maybe we could help now?"

The Doctor stiffened at that, clearly not keen to stay around the Daleks longer than he had to.

"They are OUR enemy," Angel agreed, looking at her Mate with understanding. And she did, understand his hesitance. If they stayed, they would all be in danger and that was the last thing he wanted…but the Daleks were waging this war against the Universe because of the Time Lords and the War and all the other times they had failed to truly stop them. They owed it to the humans to help.

The Doctor let out a long breath, "If we must," he gave in, the corners of his lips quirking into a smile at the wide grins his daughter and Mate bestowed upon him for his agreement.

He was truly doomed wasn't he if he couldn't say no to either of them.

"As tempting as that is," the general rolled his eyes as though he didn't see what help they could be, "The security of this base is absolute. So we're going to kill you."

"Well that's rude," Tailor muttered.

"No," Angel shook her head even as the soldiers that had accompanied the general raised their guns, "I don't think you will."

"Oh and why not?" the man narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms.

Angel eyed him for a moment, before her gaze drifted past him towards a hallway. She must have looked down it for a while for the general turned, tense, and glanced down it as well, his gaze flickering to Journey as he turned back to them.

Angel blinked and looked at him once more, "My Mate is a doctor," she stated, "Say what you will about this not being a hospital any longer, you have a patient. It's ill…it's…" she frowned, trying to place what she felt.

"Bad," Tailor offered, getting a feeling of goosebumps on her arms.

"Yes…" Angel answered slowly, but it wasn't quite the right feeling. It felt bad but also wrong at the same time…

"Uncle," Journey looked at the general, "If they can tell us how it got to be how it is, maybe we can use that."

The general huffed after a moment, "Follow me," he turned on his heel and briskly walked off, expecting the others to follow.

"Why does a hospital need a doctor?" the Doctor asked Angel quietly as they walked, Tailor just before them.

He must not have been quiet enough for the general answered, "The Aristotle wasn't always hidden. The Daleks got here before us."

The Doctor was sorely tempted to remark that he wasn't asking the man but held his tongue. The expression on Angel, and even Tailor's face, made him uneasy. It was like they were hesitant, but curious, Angel though seemed conflicted the farther away they got from the TARDIS.

'What is it?' he asked her quietly in her mind.

'I don't know,' she murmured back, 'It…I'm not sure I want to know what made this…patient…ill, or if it even is ill…and if it's not ill, I think it will just make everything harder.'

He frowned at that, for Angel not to want to know what was wrong with it it must be serious.

"You don't like soldiers much, do you?" Journey observed the Doctor, noting how tense he was, how he kept Angel close to his side, his gaze fixed on his daughter though his eyes darted to the numerous soldiers around them as though sizing them up as a threat.

"You don't need to be liked," he stated, "You've got all the guns."

Tailor snorted a bit at that, "All the guns in the universe wouldn't help them against mum."

The Doctor's lip quirked up in a smirk, "One 'nice to meet you' and that smile you've got, Angel, and they wouldn't be able to harm a single hair on your head."

Angel rolled her eyes though she knew that he'd said it just because they couldn't exactly talk about how powerful the Vortex was or that it was inside her while surrounded by soldiers. She didn't want to appear as a hostile threat.

'It's true though,' the Doctor's words echoed in her head, leaning over to press a quick kiss to her temple. He wasn't as openly affectionate as his last self had been, or even the one before that, but he tried to show his care for her as much as he could. Even if it was 'him' or the new him at least, he didn't want to let who he'd become take away from the love he felt for her inside him. And if that meant an oddly placed kiss or two here and there, he'd do it happily. He never wanted her to question his love for her ever again.

Their attention was pulled back when the general slowed, having led them through corridor after corridor until they reached a door marked '078' with two guards sanding before it.

"Is that a moleculon nanoscaler!?" Tailor shouted, not having noticed the general slowing down and practically bumping into him as she caught sight of what appeared to be a large, clear, plastic tube with benches inside it off to the other side of the room.

"You know what it does, then?" Journey seemed surprised

"It's in the name, isn't it?" Tailor blinked at the woman simply, "Makes molecules small, shrinks things basically."

"What's the medical application, though?" the Doctor challenged her, "Do you use it to shrink the surgeons so they can climb inside the patients?"

Tailor shrugged, "I guess so."

"Fantastic idea for a movie. Terrible idea for a proctologist."

Angel shook her head at him, "I think it's already a movie," she remarked, searching her memory and vaguely recalling Rory mentioning it once after the Teselecta incident.

"Are WE going to be miniaturized?" Tailor looked over at the general.

"HE might," the man nodded at the Doctor, "He's the doctor isn't he?"

"I don't go anywhere, full size or miniature, without my girls," the Doctor frowned at the man, daring him to separate him from his Mate and Daughter just for his patient.

"We're his nurses," Tailor said proudly.

Angel's smile grew a bit sad at that, nostalgic, as she thought of a particular nurse that had been a large part of their lives. Good old Rory, she had been right when she'd felt that a nurse would be her next companion. He had been an amazing person and a wonderful human being, one of the best companions she'd ever had, granted she'd only had 2 so far, but it didn't matter. Her companions were always in her hearts.

It made her curious who her next companion would be though, if she might even want to take on another one. Rory had left such a big hole in her hearts when he and Amy left, just as big a one that Mickey did. One hole for each heart, could she handle a third one?

"I don't care who you are so long as you can tell us about this patient," the general deadpanned, turning to open the door to the room.

A single blue light was shining in the darkness within…an all too familiar light to the Doctor and Angel, a light that they had both seen right at the start of their adventures together, Angel in her captivity, and the Doctor when he went to see Van Statten's pet.

A Dalek eye stalk.

The trio of Time Lords were too stunned to speak even as the lights came on to give a better look at a Dalek that looked frighteningly similar to the one that had been locked up with Angel.

"Doctor?" its raspy voice called as it tugged itself forward weakly, cables and wires holding it back...

~8~

Clara Oswald couldn't help but smile in amusement as she watched a group of young boys wearing shirts reading 'Coal Hill Cadet Corps' doing some exercises in the playground of the school. She wasn't sure at the moment if she was more amused by the sight of the children 'training' or the man training them. Daniel Pink was the new Maths teacher, she hadn't been introduced officially to him yet, but everyone seemed to know the new man around. He was a tall man, very fit, dark skinned, with short, nearly buzzed, hair and a very neat, equally short beard. He was standing before the students, his hands behind his back in a rather militant fashion while he addressed them.

"Atten-shun!" he called as the children scrambled to get into the right position, "Look at you lot. I've never seen such a miserable bunch. What are you, children?"

"Yes, sir!" a boy called out.

Pink stepped before the boy, eyeing him, "You think you're funny, Fleming?"

"Yes, sir."

The man couldn't help but smile at that, "Alright, me too," he looked up as the bell rang, "Dis-missed!" he ordered and the boys ran off to get ready for classes, leaving Clara to smile at them as she followed them in.

~8~

Danny Pink's day had not started off well.

Well, that wasn't entirely true, he'd gotten a smile from Clara Oswald, one of the English teachers at the school that he may or may not have taken a fancy to from the moment he saw her, while she was watching him with the Cadets.

That had been a great start to the day…

Only it hadn't stayed that way. One of the secretary's had made a few innuendos about his weekend, and made it quite clear she didn't believe him at all that he was 'just reading' the entire time. Then a boy in his class had asked him if he'd ever killed a man, being that almost the entire school knew he was in the army before teaching. He'd tried to play it off that, he was at war, he was a soldier, there were other soldiers around that weren't his allies and to understand the implication in that. But the boy just wouldn't let up and had gone on to ask if he'd ever killed someone that wasn't a soldier.

He may or may not have let a tear slip as the class filed out of the room.

Because the awful truth was that…he had.

To make matters even worse from having to remember the agonizingly painful memory of a mistake he'd made that haunted his every waking moment since it happened…

He'd made an utter fool out of himself in front of Clara.

It had almost been a good moment, the headmaster had finally introduced him to Clara, officially, but then gone on to joke about his 'reputation,' as though he even had one, as a lady-killer. She had tried to joke with him about the Cadets, how he'd called it a bit of fun but she'd not seen the fun in teaching children to shoot people. He'd tried to defend that he was NOT teaching that, just trying to build some moral character in the kids.

She'd made a joke about shooting someone and then having a cry afterwards and he knew she was joking, but the memory of the class, and how the students loved to gossip had him basically getting defensive about it and, when he'd realized she really had no idea what had happened in his class earlier, frantically backpedaling to try and keep her from hearing about how he'd cried in front of his students.

To make matters worse, she'd asked him about going to a retirement party for one of the other teachers. He'd said no. She'd asked him to change his mind. He'd said no.

And WHY did he say no? What could he possibly have to do that was more exciting and worthwhile than spending time with Clara when she was making it clear that she might actually want to spend time with him too?

Reading.

He'd actually SAID that. That he had reading to do. His brain had come up with that excuse and reasoned that it was a good one and his mouth had blurted it out.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath as he practically fell into the chair of his classroom, "I wasn't going, but I am now, because you're going to be there, and suddenly it seems like the best idea ever. Actually, now that you mention it, seems like the best plan ever. Thank you. Thank you!" he huffed, letting his head fall forward to bang down on his desk, repeatedly.

"Ahem," a voice cleared from beside him and he looked over to see Clara standing in the doorway, an amused smile on her face once more, "Is the wooden sound you or…or the desk?"

He winced at that, "How long have you been there?"

She snorted adorably at his embarrassment, "Longer than you would like."

"Ok," he moved to drop his head back onto the desk, absolutely mortified.

Clara's smile turned equal parts sympathetic and coy, "Are you going to look that terrified when you take me out for a drink?"

Danny sat bolt upright at that, "I…I absolutely promise I won't."

Clara nodded at that, good, "Play your cards right and you might," she gave him a wink and turned to leave the classroom, a pleased smile on her face at how relieved and happy Danny appeared as well.

She turned around a corner, glancing up and down the hall before stepping into a supply cupboard she'd been instructed, via a phone call from Angel, to visit after classes were over...and nearly fell back into the hall as she almost walked into the TARDIS as it sat right within the door's path. She rolled her eyes at the parking job, debating who it had been to land the box there this time. Knowing the awkward size of the cupboard and how the TARDIS barely fit, it would be the Doctor. But, then again, given the awkward size of the cupboard and how the TARDIS barely fit, only Angel would be able to pilot it there to actually FIT.

Maybe it was both of them, she mused as she pushed the doors open and strode in.

"You know, I love a little vacation as much as the next person," she called, moving up towards the console to the three Time Lords as they moved about to fly off, "But three weeks is an awful long time to not get a phone call," she looked more pointedly at Angel and Tailor for that.

"The Doctor fried the wires," Angel answered with an apologetic smile, "I managed to reconnect them, but they're off by an 18 day margin and we're in a bit of a rush, couldn't jump back further to make the call closer to when we last saw you."

Clara was tempted to frown at that in concern before her curiosity piqued, "What was so important that you couldn't...right," she nodded to herself answering the question, "You'd be crossing timelines to do it," she joined them.

"Why are you smiling?" the Doctor answered instead, eyeing her oddly.

Clara blinked, "Was I?"

"You were," Tailor grinned at her aunt.

"No, I wasn't," Clara denied it.

"You were smiling at nothing," Tailor teased.

"I'd almost say you were in love, but to be honest…" the Doctor began.

"Honest?" Clara did frown this time, not sure she liked where he was heading.

"You're not a young woman anymore."

Ok, very much did not like where he'd just gone.

"Yes, I am," Clara defended.

"Well, you don't look it."

"I do look it!"

Angel reached out and gently placed a hand on the Doctor's mouth to keep him from insulting Clara more, "You look lovely, Clara," Angel reassured her, "And whoever has you smiling, he's likely smiling even wider because it's you."

Clara couldn't help but blush at that, pleased, before shaking her head, not really wanting to get into the topic of why she was smiling or who made her, even though, judging by the look Angel was giving her, she had a fairly strong feeling about it already, "So what was so important?" she repeated.

"We need something from you," the Doctor straightened, pulling Angel's hand away from his mouth with a small kiss to the palm of it as he lowered it, "I need the truth."

Clara nearly rolled her eyes at how he'd avoided the question again, "Ok. What is it?"

The Doctor hesitated.

"Dad's a bit…scared," Tailor offered instead.

"I'll have you know, I am not scared," the Doctor grumbled, "I'm terrified."

Tailor shook her head in amusement at that, as though being terrified was better.

"Of what?" Clara looked at Angel and Tailor for that, because the only thing she could think of that could make him terrified was something being dangerous to them.

"The answer to my next question," the Doctor began, twining his fingers with Angel's, gripping her hand, "Tailor and Angel are too close, they're too biased," he added, answering Clara's next question of why he was asking HER instead of his daughter or Mate, "So your answer must be honest and cold and considered, without kindness or restraint. Clara, be my pal and tell me...am I a good man?"

"I…" Clara hesitated a moment, "You've only just regenerated," she said by way of explanation for her next words, "I don't actually really know the sort of man you are yet."

She knew the sort of man she thought he was, she knew he could never be a BAD man, but that was also based on the last him she knew, not the current him. And there were many variations of 'good' that he could be. He could be good with his family and terrible with his friends, or good with aliens and terrible with humans, there were so many different ways to be good, she couldn't say with certainty which good he was just yet.

"Neither do I," the Doctor sighed, "And as much as my lovely Mate vouches for the man I am," he gave Angel a kind smile, "I think it's one of those things I must discover for myself."

"And then I get to say 'mum told you so' when he finds out mum was right," Tailor added with a cheeky grin that made her father roll his eyes playfully at her.

"Ok," Clara said slowly, "But do you need to find that out right now? I mean, do you need me for it? I have plans…"

"I'll pilot you back," Angel offered.

Clara looked at her a moment for that, reading between the lines of what Angel was saying. For Angel to offer to pilot back…it meant they really needed Clara to come with them for this, if Angel thought she was needed too…well she wasn't going to abandon the Time Lords now.

"Where are we going?" she asked instead.

"Into darkness," was all the Doctor said before the TARDIS took off.

~8~

The Time Lords had stood before the chained Dalek's door of the Aristotle, silently observing the mutant.

"Doctor," it wheezed.

Angel inhaled deeply at its recognition of only the Doctor, squeezing his hand as he'd refused to let go of hers, both of them thankful it hadn't recognized their daughter though she knew he was also thankful it hadn't recognized her either.

"How do you know who I am?" the Doctor demanded.

"He doesn't," the general stated, "We promised him medical assistance."

"Are you my doctor?" the Dalek called

"We found it floating in space," Journey added.

"We thought it was deactivated, so we tried to disassemble it," the general informed them.

"And didn't know there was something living inside it," Angel murmured, her voice so quiet that the Doctor squeezed her hand again as Tailor put a hand on her shoulder, knowing where her mother's mind had gone. To Van Statten's reaction when he'd realized there was something inside the metaltron too.

"Not till it started screaming," Journey stated, making Angel wince as another memory, a phantom sound, echoed in her mind. She couldn't count the number of times she'd fallen asleep or woken to the sounds of the Dalek screaming.

"Help me," this Dalek begged, sounding so much like the other one.

"Why would I do that?" the Doctor nearly sneered at it, "Why would any living creature help you?"

"Daleks will die!"

"Die all you like," he waved it off, actually pleased with that consequence, "Not my problem."

"Daleks must be destroyed!"

THAT, however, was a consequence he was not expecting and, judging by Angel's expression, neither was she.

"Did it just say…" Tailor frowned at the pepperpot.

"Daleks must be destroyed," Angel repeated quietly, sounding quite confused to even say it as well.

"All Daleks must die!" the Dalek before them started to screech, straining against its chains as though it wanted to go right out there and attack the Daleks itself, which it very well did, "I will destroy the Daleks. Destroy the Daleks. Destroy the Daleks!"

"Well…" Angel murmured, "That I did NOT see coming…"

A/N:I am SO happy to be back! Or at least I'm going to try and be. It will be really slow going with updates, but I'm going to try and update a story at least 3 times a week, with a focus on the currently in-progress ones: Calm Before the Storm, Intercession, New Beginnings, The Relationship Expansion, and Thief in the Night. So three of those stories should be updated a week and I'll do my best to rotate them, one after the other. If I can manage, I'm also going to try to get up the movie-stories caught up too, so Thor/Athena, Loki/Kona, Kirk/Victoria, Spock/Cora, and even introduce a Captain America OC for Steve, and try to get Sherlock/Leena squared away if I can ;)

There's a few posts up on my tumblr regarding why I wasn't able to post or be online much even after my last posts on tumblr promising to be updating again. Long story short, the cafe I worked at ended up being without a manager for quite a while so it was basically me and one other girl running the show. We finally did get a manager near the end of last year, but she was not really the best fit. I don't want to say she was incompetent, but after the learning curve excuses wore off (it just isn't realistic that after 4 months she still didn't know what soups got water and what got milk) we started to realize that was truly the case. The other girl I worked with left after the manager made it almost impossible for them to work together, and it was just me for a while after, and I was doing almost everything the manager was supposed to be doing in terms of running the cafe. It got to be way too much stress and anxiety, especially because I would usually end up fixing things the manager was doing wrong (repeatedly and after I'd walked her through how to do it correctly a number of times) and I finally had to leave. I've been using the last month to really recuperate and get back to a good place with my anxiety and health and focus on things that make me happy and calm like my writing. I was expecting that, with a manager around, the stress I felt building up would have gone down and I could focus more on writing, but she just made everything worse and there went my writing plans :(

But I'm back now and, while I won't be updating every day, I will still be trying for 3x a week, probably aiming for Monday/Wednesday/Friday. The spin-off stories will be on hold for a while, probably just updated every so often when I can squeeze them in, but not on the days they used to be uploaded :( Still, I really want to get back to my posting and I'm going to start off slow and steady and see how it goes from there :) I want to try and rotate the stories and not just focus on one while leaving the rest to wait.

I just want to say I'm so sorry for it being so long since I've posted last, and I really cannot wait to get back to some sort of regular updating schedule :) I hope you all will like what's coming up for Angel (and Lyssa and Sadie and Claire, and Menna, and Kona, Cora, Victoria, Athena, Leena and...Steve's OC lol).

For anyone that wants a nice little throwback, I've also started reposting some of my older work on AO3, still under LizzeXX, I'll be putting a link on my profile soon but there's one up on my tumblr. So far I've just cracked Proffy's first story. I'll admit I AM a little worried about plagiarism since it's easier to copy things off of AO3 than FF, so if anyone who is a fan of AO3 or even here on FF, if you notice my work appearing again with new OC names, just drop me a message for me to check it out. I'm really hoping it'll be different and that my stories will be safe, but I've learned not to get my hopes up too far when it comes to plagiarism :/

Some notes on reviews...

I can't say much about what Tailor will get up to in Sherwood, spoilers! ;) But she'll definitely be picking up a bit of her father's adventurous/snarky/heroic side. I think we saw a lot of Angel in little Ayla, but she's older now, and starting to take after her father more ;) As for Jack and the gang, of course they have to pop up! They need to meet the new Doctor! So far Jack and Clara are the only ones who have seen older Tailor so that's something else the family needs to be introduced to ;) But I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! :D

Oh Missy is going to be interesting ;) I really love that about Angel too, she's just so sweet and shows a sort of softer side to things, you don't always have to be badass or super clever to make a difference, just being a good person can be all that you need :) That and a little boost of the Vortex lol. And I agree, I got SO excited whenever older companions appeared in the show, I didn't want to lose that 'surprise' joy in the stories and Angel is very determined to keep her family together :) Angel definitely was aware of the loop going on in the exploding TARDIS yup. Oh dad-mode Doctor gives me life :D I actually have a conversation written up where Tailor brings up just that fact, that whoever she maybe one day might want to court would have to face down the Doctor for his permission and it might just send all of her prospects running for the hills lol, just have to find a good place to put it ;) I'm starting to get more excited for the TLs in series 9, mostly because of the kids and the little changes I have in store ;) I'm going to be updating much slower than normal to try and keep a better balance of life and work and writing so I hope it'll stick this time :) The Doctor definitely won't be pleased to see any incarnation of River, that's for sure, but some of it will depend on where she is in her timeline, closer to the end where she's sort of finally understanding it's never gonna happen, or earlier where she's still semi-psychotic? ;) I'm definitely going to be building up to the possessive quality of the Doctor, we're going to see some protectiveness and some sort of 'they're the center of my Universe' moments where he sort of disregards other people in favor of his Mate and daughter, so it'll be really great to get to Robin and the others :)

I love Angel and her drive to just not let others hurt :) But oh yes, Tailor and her teenage moments :D A lot of the Doctor in dad-mode and Angel trying to work out what she should be doing as a mother since the Doctor at least had some kind of experience with children on Gallfrey :) I can say you've nailed some on the head and gotten very close to others, but I won't say which ones ;) ...though I will say Tailor will not be pleased if she does happen to get grounded one day ;) ;) WWTW2 stands for Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Part 2, it'll be the sort of 'sequel' to my first DW crossover for Angel, Evy, and Proffy where they all meet again while the Doctors are ALL on their 11th selves because the first story just wasn't confusing enough lol ;) I'm sorry I worried you, too! :( It's been a while since I've posted, a lot has happened and fallen through and changed, but I'm back now and ready to get back to the stories ;) I definitely felt jinxed for a while, it was like every time I got my hopes up to be back something did come up and set me back :/ But I'm trying to give myself more of a 'conservative' posting schedule so if I fall behind at any point it won't be as bad as when I've fallen behind in the past and I'd have a better chance of catching up ;)

I agonized over letting Tailor 'wander off' after the Doctor. I didn't want her to go and Angel was just like this wise old mum, inwardly screaming, praying it'll be ok, mentally threatening the Doctor if anything happens to Tailor, and also really really hoping that the 'feeling' she was getting that Tailor would be fine was actually a real feeling and not wishful thinking :) There will be a few other moments where Tailor will want to (or just go to) wander off and they will certainly be reminded of her kidnapping :'( There's still a lot to heal there, but in that moment, I think they were feeling more like it was less likely to happen in Victorian London and she really WAS following the Doctor very closely and no matter the regeneration, he would always put his daughter first no matter how mad he's gone :) It's sort of easier for them to 'let' her go off when they KNOW she's going and where and that one parent will be with her, but there'll definitely some 'wandering off' moments where she sort of does her own thing and the Time Parents are not pleased to come ;)

That was something I like exploring with Clara in the different stories, her reaction to 12. She has such different experiences and memories to work with in the different series that I feel like we get to see more sides of her. Here she's lived life as a Time Lady and a Time Agent and has better access to her memories of them, so she's more familiar with the concept of regenerating :) Also, Angel and Tailor are also very aware of how jarring it can be and are going to do what they can to reassure her as well :) I understand the concern with River, she's another character that I love to examine what she could be like with changes in her history and how the Time Ladies might affect her personality. She's absolutely wonderful with Evy's story, truly like family to them, literally IS family to the Doctor and Mac, adopted family to Proffy, sort of a begrudging respectful rivalry with the Judge, and so many other possibilities to come :) Angel is definitely more fragile than the other TLs, but that's not always a bad thing, people are like that. I'm like that, I get very upset very easily over sometimes the smallest and stupidest things and I get overwhelmed sometimes to a point where I can't finish working a shift or need to be somewhere else. I like to explore some human qualities in the TLs, there are people out there who are extremely sensitive and need a gentler approach, who are empathetic and compassionate to a point of feeling for others and getting upset easily, and I like to think Angel is a small look into that. The OCs may be fictional, but there's always someone out there like that :)

I'm ok! I'm so sorry that I worried you :( A lot of things went on and changed and fell through and I've had to make some changes and leave my job to try and get back to a better place. But I think I'm finally getting there and being back and writing has really started to help so much, so I'm planning to stick around for a while more ;)

That is an AMAZING plot twist! :D I absolutely love it :D I could definitely see something like that happening :) Or even when Kona is given her gift of sight, she's able to look into her past lives too and recall a time on Gallifrey where she had a sister and wow, that was a really awesome mini-fic, I'm tearing up that was just lovely :') Thank you so much!

Sorry for the delay! I'm definitely back to updating, it may just be a bit slower than I'd have hoped :/ I'm glad you've enjoyed the twists so far :) I really like how fanfiction gives the opportunity to explore different sides of things and new potentials for 'what if's :) But I agree, for all the travel with the Doctor and 'learning' Rose seemed to not think things through. Like when she told Donna she had to 'die' to set the timelines right, she could have given her something, a bunch of tacks and nails, anything to cause the traffic jam instead of her stepping into traffic :( I still also somewhat believe that the dimensional cannon she was helping work on was what first weakened the walls of the universe and let the Daleks out of the Time Lock, but that's just my theory ;)

Lol, Missy is River 2.0, and the Doctor will have no patience for any of that nonsense ;)

I'm back! I'm back and ready to post ;)