The Doctor's Mother, Part 2
"It's gone!" the Doctor called as he and the Hatter ran back into the main room of the spaceship, finding Idris sitting on the edge of the grating, while Uncle and Auntie were fiddling around with a pile of junk across from her. The Hatter tried hard to ignore them, unable to look at them without feeling ill.
"Eaten?" Idris asked in alarm, looking up to them.
"No, it disappeared," the Hatter told her, sighing heavily as she watched the Doctor start to pace, looking frustrated, "I don't believe it was eaten," she continued thoughtfully, "It seemed more like someone had hijacked it, though I can't imagine what the point would be doing that to an empty TARDIS," she frowned, shaking her head.
"It's time for us both to go, and keep together," Auntie remarked suddenly, catching their attention, pulling an old blanket around her shoulders as Uncle did the same beside her.
The Doctor frowned at them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, go?" he repeated, stepping over to them, "What do you mean, 'go?' Where are you going?"
"And how are you supposed to be leaving?" the Hatter asked, eyeing them both closely. There was no way they were getting this spaceship moving anywhere and she hadn't noticed anything else outside that they could use to get off the asteroid.
"Well, we're dying, my loves," Auntie replied, quite causal and calm about the whole thing as she hobbled over towards a couple of boxes that where piled up on the other side of the room, taking a seat on one of them. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look, both glancing back to see a matching puzzled expression of Idris's face, "It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off," she finished cheerfully.
"I'm against it," Uncle admitted, sighing slightly as he followed her, "But…" he trailed off, shrugging as if that was the end of it and there was nothing more that could be done.
"It's your faults, isn't it, sweets?" she pointed to the Time Lords, "'Cos you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on 'em if there's none more coming, can he?"
Uncle took a seat in a fold-up chair beside her, "So now he's off to your Universe to find more TARDISes," he added.
The Hatter frowned slightly, thinking of only one other TARDIS out there that House might be able to find, though the thought made her shiver. Besides, if she hadn't been able to find her old TARDIS, surely the House wouldn't have any more luck then she had? Well, she hoped so for her TARDISes sake, "He's going to be very disappointed," she lied, keeping her voice level, avoiding the Doctor's eye, "There aren't any left".
"Oh, it'll think of something," Auntie said, smiling knowingly, when her eyes rolled back into her head and she suddenly fell sideways, unmoving.
The Doctor and the Hatter blinked, staring at her in shock before the Doctor dashed over to her, flashing his sonic over her body as he scanned her.
"Actually…" Uncle rose from his chair, hardly seeming to even notice Auntie, "I feel fine…" and he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
"Blimey!" the Hatter exclaimed, hurrying over to kneel beside the man, checking his pulse, but there was nothing. He was dead.
"Not dead!" the Doctor shouted, jumping over Uncle's body and coming to land beside the Time Lady, waving his arms around at the body, "You can't just die!"
"Apparently, they can," the Time Lady muttered grimly, struggling for a moment to pull herself back up onto her feet, brushing dirt off her tight covered knees.
"We need to go to where I landed, quickly," Idris called to them, staring off into space, completely ignoring everything else that was going on before her.
The Doctor sighed, frustrated, "Why?" he asked, huffing slightly as he turned around to face her properly.
"Because we are there in three minutes," she informed them, standing, "We need to go…now…" she took off running towards the door, only to stumble suddenly, grabbing at her side, "Ow!" she cried out painfully.
"What is it?" the Hatter moved closer to her, looking worried and alarmed as she reached out to place a steady hand on her shoulder, "What is it?"
Idris, grimacing and clutching her side, turned back around to look at them, "Roughly how long do these bodies last?"
The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver back out of his pocket and flashed it at her, scanning before he checked the results. He looked back up to her, his eyes widening, "You're dying," he said softly.
The Hatter closed her eyes, nodding as she put a hand on his arm, "Of course, I should have known," she nodded, her eyes opening to look sadly at the woman before them, feeling her hearts breaking for her, "A TARDIS can't live inside a flesh body for very long. It's slowly killing it, bit by bit".
"I could blow the casing in no time," Idris agreed, snatching the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's hands as he continued to stare at her numbly, sadness filling his eyes as he grabbed the Hatter's hand, "No, stop it," she told him sternly, seeing his reaction, "And you, too," she fixed the Hatter with a sharp look, "Don't get emotional…hmm," she smiled very slightly, "That's what the orangey girl says. You're the Doctor and the Hatter…" she held the sonic screwdriver back out to the Doctor, "Focus".
"On what?" the Doctor shook his head, still staring at her, "How? I'm a madman with a box, without a box!" he snatched the sonic from her, slipping it inside his pocket, "I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the Universe on a stupid old junkyard!" he shouted up at the ceiling.
"Hang on…" the Hatter gasped, her eyes widening in realisation, growing excited.
"You've had a clever thought, haven't you?" Idris looked at her eagerly.
She grinned at her, glancing at the Doctor, "I do believe I have, and you're wrong, sweetheart…" she paused, considering it, "Well, not completely wrong, but not completely right either".
"Hatter," the Doctor cut in, giving her a small, amused smile. This regeneration did tend to have a mouth that ran away with her at times.
"Right," she blushed slightly, returning the smile, "Sorry. Anyway…" she cleared her throat, glancing at Idris, her eyebrows raised, "This isn't just a junkyard, don't you see?"
"I don't…" he began, when he stopped as it suddenly hit him what she was getting out, "…Oh!" he grinned, his eyes brightening, "It's not a junkyard".
Idris looked backwards and forwards between them, curious, "What is it then?" she asked.
"It's a TARDIS junkyard!" the Hatter cried, grinning broadly.
"Come on!" the Doctor told them, clapping as he grabbed the Time Lady's hand, pulling her along with him as they began to run for the doorway, moving past Idris. He stopped suddenly and spun back around to face Idris, almost making the brunet slam straight into him, but luckily she was more then used to his habit of just coming to a sudden stop after centuries of running down hallways with him, and managed to quickly side-step him, turning back around. He frowned slightly at Idris, "Oh, sorry, uh, do you have a name?" he asked her, realising that he had no idea exactly what they should call her now.
"Seven hundred years, finally he asks," Idris rolled her eyes, looking at the Hatter.
The Hatter smiled faintly, amused as she cast the Doctor a fond look, "Well, in his defence, it has been quite tricky to ask you before now," she remarked, imagining trying to ask the TARDIS Time Rotor what it would prefer to be called. Somehow, she highly doubted they would really make much sense of it, even if the TARDIS did reply, "Still, it's a very valued question," she nodded, looking back to the other woman, curious, "What should we call you?"
"I think you both call me…" she smirked at them both, looking rather pleased with herself, "…Sexy?"
The Time Lords blinked, exchanging a quick, slightly embarrassed look as the Doctor turned back to her, blushing, "…only when we're alone," he muttered, casting a hurried look behind him, as if checking to make sure that no one had snuck up behind them and heard.
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, looking back and forth between the two rather pink Time Lords, "We are alone," she reminded them.
"Right you are," the Hatter agreed, nodding at her as some of the warmth in her cheeks began to fade, much to her relief. Oh, if Amy and Rory were here they would never hear the end of it. She flashed her a bright smile, suddenly feeling the urge to hug her, but she managed to resist, "And it is truly wonderful," she said sincerely.
The Doctor smiled at them both, taking the Hatter's hand before looking back to Idris, "Come on then, Sexy, dear!" he grabbed Idris's hand with his free one and took off running again, heading out the door.
They made their way back out of the spaceship and out into the junkyard, the Doctor letting go of Idris and the Hatter's hands to retrieve his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, flashing it around, scanning the area as he moved ahead of the girls. He jogged up a small hill and came to a stop, staring out over the ledge as the two women caught up to him.
"Blimey," the Hatter breathed, her eyes widening slightly as she took in the sight before her, of thousands, possibly even more, crashed and badly damaged ships that were scattered for as far as her eyes could see through the gloom and fog, each one once a TARDIS. The sight brought a wave of sadness that washed over her, at the sight of so many beautiful ships now damaged well beyond repair and with their owners long since gone. Her uncle's TARDIS would be down there, she realised with a start, somewhere, and she wouldn't even be able to recognise it.
"A valley of half eaten TARDISes," the Doctor commented, his eyes bright with excitement, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I'm thinking that all my sisters are dead," Idris said quietly, "That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses".
"Oh, I am so sorry!" the Hatter gasped, her head snapping around to look at her, horrified and ashamed that she hadn't even made the connection, that she hadn't even considered how it would look to Idris. She reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder as the Doctor winced, looking slightly guilty, "How insensitive of me…of us both," she added quickly, glancing at the Doctor.
The Doctor shifted slightly awkwardly, "Ah, sorry, no," he began, hastily looking at Idris, who was smiling very faintly at the brunet, "I wasn't thinking that…"
"No," Idris agreed, looking back out over the valley of her fallen sisters, "You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models," she looked back to him, meeting his eyes, "And you don't care that it's impossible".
The Hatter gave her a small smile, "Nothing is ever impossible, you just have to try harder and be smarter to prove everyone wrong," she replied, winking, "Which is basically our motto".
He returned the smile, unable to deny that they did tend to live by that motto almost on a daily basses, "And Rory and Amy need us," he said, growing serious as he glanced back to Idris, "So yeah, we're going to build a TARDIS".
"I must say, this is going to be rather fun," the brunet remarked, rubbing her hands together, quite excited at the prospect of a brand new challenge of building a whole new console out of bits and pieces from other TARDIS models. She hadn't tried anything like it before, which only made it all the more exciting for her.
His smile widened as he grabbed her hand, quickly planting a kiss on her knuckles before they both turned on their heels and ran back down the hill, Idris following close behind them.
….
The Time Lords and Idris had quickly set to work making a start on building the console, managing to piece together the base of the console and two wall panels, but they were still missing the Time Rotor and actual control panels, scavenging from several different TARDISes that they had found to be in quite a good condition, considering how long they had no doubt spent scattered around the junkyard.
Idris stood a short distance away from where they were building the console, carefully examining a small circuit that she had plucked out of a pile of junk, tapping it with her finger as she eyed it, while the Hatter was busy kneeling on the edge of the console, piecing together one of the control panels. It almost felt like she was putting a puzzle together, a very complicated and slightly more fun puzzle that was a bit more befitting her Time Lady mind, though she did have to admit that she found some of those five thousand piece puzzles tricky, not that she would be telling the Doctor that anytime soon. Speaking of the Doctor, he was attempting to pull another large wall panel along behind him with a couple of cables over his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he used all of his strength to try and move the heavy slab of metal. The Hatter glanced over to him and sighed slightly, wishing she could help him, but she had to be very careful in her current condition to not strain herself.
"Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter…" Idris called over to the Doctor.
"Yes, yes!" he rolled his eyes slightly, sounding mildly annoyed as he continued trying to drag the wall panel, "I have actually rebuilt the TARDIS before, you know. I know what I'm doing!"
"Occasionally," the Hatter remarked quietly, amused.
Idris raised her eyebrows at him, not looking the slightest bit impressed, "You're like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom," she said, turning the circuit around in her hands, "And you never read the instructions".
"I always read the instructions!"
The Hatter burst out laughing, earning a mock offended look from the Doctor, "Only after I tell you to or can stop you from throwing the manual into a supernova," she paused, glancing at Idris with a small sigh, "Ah, sorry about that last part, I only left the room to make us a cup of tea and come back to find him throwing the last TARDIS manual out the door".
He huffed, pointing an accusing finger at her, "You're supposed to be on my side, Hatter!"
She simply looked at Idris, giving her a look that practically begged her to prove her point. Idris smiled very slightly and looked back over to the Doctor, "There's a sign on my front door," she began, pointing a finger at him, "You have been walking past it for seven hundred years, what does it say?"
"That's not instructions," he shook his head, scoffing slightly.
"There's an instruction at the bottom, what does it say?"
"Pull to open".
"Yes," Idris nodded, sounding as if she was talking to a child. The Hatter grinned, quite enjoying watching how easy it was for Idris to stir the Doctor up, just like she could, "And what do you do?"
"I push!" he shouted, growing more annoyed, and it was very clear that the Hatter wasn't going to be any help as she sat there with a big smile on her face, looking as if she was loving every minute of it. Typical, he ought to have known that she and his TARDIS would gang up on him; they had even before the TARDIS had found herself stuck inside a flesh body.
"Every single time," she sighed tiredly, closing her eyes in exasperation, "Seven hundred years, police box doors open out the way," she opened her eyes and made an opening gesture with her hands, "The Hatter's never had an issue opening them correctly".
The Doctor threw the cables down on the ground, spinning around on his heels, and marched over to Idris, "I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!" he snapped.
"Your front doors?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows, "Have you any idea how childish that sounds?"
He turned around and walked away from her, shaking his head, "You are not my mother!"
"And you are not my child," Idris said calmly as the Hatter's smile faded, sitting up straighter as she eyed the Doctor, wondering whether she ought to step in and take him aside to calm down a little bit.
"You know…" he whirled back around to face her, "Since we're talking, with mouths…" he held up his hand and mimicked a chattering mouth as he walked back over to her, "Not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, YOU…" he pointed at her, making Idris lean back slightly, "Have never been very reliable".
"Oh, what happened to the teasing?" the Hatter sighed, looking back and forth between the two, feeling the air around the Doctor grow slightly tenser. He never had an issue with her teasing him, but that could have been because they had known each other for so long and had always had that playful, light teasing banter that went on between them.
Idris raised her eyebrows at him, "And you have?"
"You didn't always take me where I wanted to go," he argued, waving his hand at her, before he turned and began to move away from her, back over towards the wall panel, roughly adjusting his blazer as he went.
"No," she agreed, watching him go, "But I always took you where you needed to go!"
The Hatter blinked, startled as she realised that Idris was right. Despite all the mistaken stops and adventures that they had had over the years, most of them had resulted in something good happening, such as saving a planet or people that they wouldn't have otherwise have even known were in danger if they hadn't found themselves accidently in that situation. And yes, while there had been many horrible things that had also come from such unexpected adventures, one shining moment that, while still so very painful to her, was also something she would always be eternally grateful for the TARDIS for taking them on that trip.
"Jenny," she breathed, her head snapping back up to looking directly at Idris, who turned slightly to look back to her, "If you hadn't taken us to Messaline, we would never have created Jenny," the Doctor came to a sudden stop, his back to facing them, before he slowly began to turn back to face them, his eyes meeting the Time Lady's, "I would never have realised how much I missed being a mother," she continued, her eyes widening as she placed a hand on her bump, because without Jenny, she probably would never have even dreamed of ever becoming a mother again. Jenny, their brilliant, beautiful daughter who they lost far too soon, was really the person who had made her even start to consider the possibility of ever even having children with the Doctor.
"You did…" the Doctor said slowly, a small smile crossing his face as he glanced at Idris, before his own eyes widened in realisation, "And the Hatter!" he pointed across to her.
The Time Lady blinked, confused, "What about me?"
"If I hadn't landed in that exact park at that very moment in 2012, I would never have found you!" he told her, his smile widening into a grin as the brunet gasped, catching on to what he meant. It was true, he and Rose had been travelling to 2015 when they landed in that park and found her, human and completely unaware of her true self. He had always just assumed that it had been a miracle, after all, what were the chances of him having actually found her just like that? No, this made complete sense now; it had been down to his TARDIS taking him to where he needed to go, just like she always did.
Idris smiled at them, "My thief needed his smiley," she said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world, "And smiley needed her sweetheart".
The Hatter stood and quickly threw her arms around Idris, "Thank you, Sexy," she whispered in her ear, pulling back from her, realising that she and the Doctor owed far more to the TARDIS then they had ever known. She probably would have died as a human, married her human boyfriend and had a family with him, never knowing anything different, leaving the Doctor alone in the Universe, no doubt travelling with Amy and Rory and going on all of the adventures that they had gone on without her. It broke her hearts to imagine how much more pain he would have gone through if he hadn't found her.
The Doctor's smile grew even brighter as he watched them, "Look at us, talking!" he exclaimed excitedly, rushing back over to them, "Wouldn't it be amazing if we could talk, even when you're stuck inside the box?" he said to Idris.
"You know I'm not constructed that way," Idris frowned at him, shaking her head, "I exist across all space and time, and you two talk and…run around and…bring home strays…" she suddenly stopped talking as she gasped, half collapsing with a groan of pain. The Doctor quickly grabbed her and steadied her, half supporting her as the Hatter wrapped her arm around the woman's waist.
"What happened?" the Hatter asked worriedly, eyeing her carefully, though she already had a pretty good idea of just what might have caused her t collapse.
"One of the kidneys has already failed," she informed them, very calm and unconcerned. She shook her head, ignoring how concerned and alarmed both Time Lords were looking at her, neither of them having let her go yet, "It doesn't matter," she dismissed, "We need to finish assembling the console".
"Using a console without a proper shell…" the Doctor commented, whistling warily as he cast a quick look at the Hatter, "It's not going to be safe…"
"This body has about eighteen minutes to live," she cut across him before the Hatter could respond, "The Universe we're in will reach Absolute Zero in three house," she fixed them both with a firm look, "Safe is relative".
The Hatter sighed heavily and nodded, "She's right," she gave the Doctor a quick look, "We have no other choice here and besides, it won't have any impact upon our child, just might make me a little green for a while," she tried to smile, reaching forward to place a comforting hand on his arm when he still didn't look entirely pleased, "It's no more dangerous for me then most of the things we already get up to".
The Doctor eyed her for a moment before reluctantly nodded, turning around and walking back over to where he had left the wall panel, "Then we need to get a move on. Eh, old girl?" he remarked, grabbing the cables and getting back to work pulling the panel.
The Hatter glanced at Idris, a concerned frown crossing her face as the noticed the other woman touch her side. She put a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling at her softly, hoping that it hid just how worried she truly felt for her as Idris looked back to her, returning the smile, before returning back to their own tasks.
…
It wasn't long before they had a partly built TARDIS console constructed in the middle of the junkyard with two walls panels meeting in a corner around the back of the console, while the Hatter had managed to finish building a completely new, slightly shabby and mismatched console that she was just finishing using a spanner that she had in her jacket pocket to tighten a few bolts, though they were still missing the Time Rotor. The Doctor had disappeared a few minutes ago to find their missing Time Rotor, leaving the Hatter and Idris behind.
The Hatter glanced over to the other woman as Idris frowned thoughtfully at the console, "I know it's probably a silly question, but why do you call me 'smiley?'" she asked curiously, finishing tightening the bolt and tossing the spanner in the air, absently catching it.
"Because you're always smiling," Idris told her, looking at her fondly, "And you make my thief smile".
"Well, I try," she replied, unable to stop her grin from spreading across her face.
The Doctor finally returned from out of the gloom, carrying a large cylinder shaped piece of equipment on his shoulder. Their new Time Rotor.
Idris glanced over to him as she turned and began to make her way over to nearby pile of junk, just to see if there might be anything of use hidden away amongst it, "You'll need to install the Time Rotor!" she called to him.
"How is this going to make it through the Rift?" the Doctor wondered aloud as he made his way over to the console.
"Useless…" Idris muttered, tossing bits of old equipment over her shoulder as she went through a pile of junk.
The Doctor began to carefully lower the Time Rotor into place in the middle of the console as the Hatter reached forward to help him twist it into place, "Okay, we're almost finished," the Hatter announced brightly as the Rotor locked into place. She straightened and rubbed her hands together, running her eyes around the console, checking that she hadn't forgotten anything, "We're got the thrust diffuser here…" she pointed out one of the dials.
The Doctor nodded, moving around to the other side of the console, "Eh, retroscope," he remarked, reaching up to adjust one of the controls that looked like a bathroom mirror, before looking down at the control panel beneath the mirror, "Blue thingy…"
The Hatter rolled her eyes, reaching around to lightly smack his arm, "That's called the blue stabilisers," she told him, ignoring his mock yelp of pain as he began rubbing his arm, knowing perfectly well that she hadn't hurt him in the slightest, "Something that we're desperately going to need this time around, so don't think for a moment that I'm just going to ignore all of your poor driving habits, sweetheart," she fixed him with a sharp, pointed look, "The brakes are off this time, cool noise or not".
He sighed, slightly disappointed, "Yes, dear".
"Do you ever wonder why I chose you all those years ago?" Idris asked suddenly, absently examining a wire coat hanger.
"I chose you," he corrected her, glancing at the Hatter, thinking back to that day so long ago, "The Hatter wanted to take a peek inside one of the original battle TARDISes, but you were the only one that was unlocked".
"Of course I was," Idris smiled slightly, turning around and walking back over towards them, "I wanted to see the Universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away," the Doctor and the Hatter came to stand beside her as she eyed him, "And you were the only one mad enough".
"And able to," the Hatter frowned slightly. She would have left Gallifrey and run off with the Doctor and Susan in a heartbeat when he had first asked her to, but it just hadn't been possible for her. She had her children that still needed her, she would never have been able to just leave them behind, not when they were still in school and classed as kids, and even after they had left school, she had still found it painful to think that she would be leaving them behind to go off world, regardless of whether or not they might not have been speaking at the time.
"Right!" the Doctor clapped his hands, looking back over to the console, admiring their handiwork, "Perfect. Look at that," he smiled widely, waving his hand at the console, "What could possibly go wrong?"
"Oh, no…" the Time Lady groaned, closing her eyes in exasperation.
One of the dials popped off the console, clattering loudly against the metal floor as it hit it. Idris frowned slightly and tilted her head curiously.
"Okay, that wasn't my fault," the brunet said quickly, her eyes snapping open as the Doctor began to turn in her direction. He raised his eyebrows at her, accusing, "Fine," she sighed heavily, nodding as she blushed faintly, "Yes, it is a little my fault, but it's easily fixed," she looked around hurriedly and spotted a couple of red velvet ropes that looked as if they belonged in an old movie theatre sitting in a pile of junk. She jogged over to them and grabbed the ropes, leading the way back over to the console and handed the Doctor and Idris a rope each, Idris hooking the wire coat hanging up on the mirror before the three of them set to work securing the ropes around themselves and the console to act like a seatbelts.
"Right, okay," the Doctor began, straightening from connecting the rope up to the console, "Let's go. Follow that TARDIS!" he reached forward and tried to start up the TARDIS, but the engine hummed for a moment before powering down again, sparking slightly. Idris hardly seemed to notice, her attention entirely focused on her own reflection in the mirror as she touched her cheeks, moving them around and scrunching them up, "Oh, come on!" he complained loudly as the Hatter frowned deeply, "There's Rift energy everywhere!"
The Time Lady pattered the side of the Time Rotor, "You can do it," she tried encouraging it, "Come on, you clever thing," she reached across the controls and began pushing buttons, just trying to get it to power up again, but nothing seemed to work.
"Okay…" the Doctor moved around to the other side of the console, twisting a dial, "Diverting all power to thrust…let's be having ya!" he grabbed a crank on the controls and began winding it quickly, when the console suddenly sparked, making the Time Lords flitch, "Ah!" he cried, hurrying back around the console, "No, no, no, no!"
Idris blinked, looking at him, startled, "What's wrong?" she asked, sounding mildly curious.
The Hatter sighed heavily, frowning at the console, "It's not holding the charge," she told her, running a hand down her face, "We can't even get the engine to start".
"There's no power!" the Doctor glared at the console, before looking back to Idris, only to find her staring at her own reflection again, pulling on her lip, "Will you…" he put his hand over the mirror, blocking her view as he shook his head, "We've got nothing…" he breathed, realising that they had no way of saving Amy and Rory now. Their plan had failed.
Idris slowly smiled at him, "Oh, my beautiful idiot," she said fondly, making the Hatter look at her in surprise, "You have what you've always had," he glanced at the Hatter, before his eyes drifted back over to Idris, "You've got me," she raised her middle finger up to her mouth and kissed it, her eyes glowing golden with energy that seemed to flow out of her finger tip as she reached out and touched it against the Time Rotor.
Immediately, the Rotor lit up and began to move up and down as the all too familiar sound of the engine's wheezing and grinding started up. The Hatter broke into a large, delighted smile, feeling the urge to hug the other woman, but before she could even make a move to, the console jolted them slightly and suddenly, a golden haze like a large, swirling bubble appeared around them, forcing them to quickly cling on to the console as they disappeared out of the junkyard in a brilliant flash of yellow light and crackling energy.
They hurtled through the Rift, surrounded by the golden energy, just managing to make out stars as they flew with such enormous speed that it almost seemed impossible to think that they were to actually managing to do this without a proper casing, but so far the two wall panels seemed to be holding up well. The Hatter laughed, her hair whipping around her face, her hat safely tucked away inside her jacket pocket.
"Whoo-hoo!" the Doctor cheered, grinning broadly, loving every minute of the wind in his hair and the exhilarating feeling of travelling so fast.
"We've locked on to them!" Idris called over all the noise of the engines and wind, checking the readings on the console as the Time Lords forced themselves to focus on flying the makeshift TARDIS, rather than enjoying the ride.
The Hatter reached around the console, pulling a lever, "Amy and Rory are going to need to lower the shields enough for us to phase inside!" she remarked, raising her voice as she twisted a dial.
"Can you get a message to Amy?" the Doctor asked Idris, flicking a switch, "The telepathic circuits are online!"
"Which one's Amy?" Idris questioned, frowning slightly, "The pretty one?"
The Time Lady blinked slightly, glancing at the Doctor, before shrugging as she looked back over to Idris, "I guess so!" she shouted back to her, not entirely sure how she ought to have answered that question. Beauty was such a tricky thing, on Earth Amy would be considered to be quite pretty, she supposed, while on some planets Rory would be considered to be handsome, and on some neither of them would be. It was like with Time Lords, psychical beauty was far less important than a person's mind and intelligence or social standing.
Idris nodded and put her hands on either side of the Time Rotor, closing her eyes, focusing on reaching out with her mind. Her eyes flew open as she made the mental connection, looking up at the mirror, "Hello, pretty!" she said brightly over the link.
"What the hell is that?" Rory's voice came over the telepathic circuits, sounding clear despite the wind and background noise.
The Hatter moved around to peer over Idri's shoulder to see Rory's face in the mirror, his eyes closed and seeming to be frowning, looking as if he was halfway up a ladder, "Ah, hello!" she called cheerfully to him, smiling, "Not to worry, this is just a telepathic message…"
The Doctor frowned as he looked around the Time Rotor, catching sight of Rory's face, "No, that's Rory!" he told Idris, shaking his head, before he hurried back around to the controls.
"Just as long as the message gets across!" the Hatter said, moving back around to her own side of the console, "That's all that matters, sweetheart!"
"You have to go to the old control room," Idris instructed Rory, ignoring the Time Lords, "I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there, use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields".
The Doctor popped his head around the mirror again, pointing at Rory doubtfully, "The pretty one?" he remarked, throwing Idris a look, before he moved back to the controls.
The Time Lady gave him a light, scolding look, "Be nice, Doctor".
Idris, once again, ignored him, "You'll have about twelve seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix," she explained to Rory, "I'll send you the pass key when you get there. Good luck!" she finished, pulling her hand away from the Time Rotor, ending the connection.
"How's he going to be able to take down the shields anyway?" the Doctor asked, frowning over to Idris, "The House is in the control room!"
"I directed him to one of the old control rooms!" she informed him.
"There aren't any old control rooms! They were all deleted or remodelled!"
"I achieve them, for neatness!" the Hatter blinked in surprise, not having known that little bit of information, "I've got about thirty now!"
"But I've only changed the desktop…what, a dozen times?"
"So far, yes!" Idris agreed, smirking at him.
"You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet!"
"You can't!
"Doctor, time and space are even more her playground then it is ours!" the Hatter called to him, shaking her head at his still slightly confused and surprised expression, "She's a TARDIS, nothing is ever linear for her, it's all happening all at once for her…" she winced, casting Idris a sympathetic look, realising just what that must feel like, "Ouch, and I thought being a Time Lady could be a pain".
…
"Looks like we're catching up!" the Time Lady shouted after a while, grinning broadly as, in the distance, she caught sight of a blue police box that they were very quickly nearing.
"Keep going!" the Doctor urged, smiling widely as he looked back over to Idris, "You're doing it, you sexy thing!"
"See, you do call me that!" Idris commented, returning the smile, "Is it my name?"
"You bet it's your name!"
"Whoo!" she cheered as the Hatter laughed, before quickly focusing back on the controls. Idris placed her hands on the Time Rotor again and closed her eyes, managing to send Rory the passwords: crimson, eleven, delight, petrichor. Suddenly, the console jolted and she was sent stumbling backwards into the wall behind her, losing the connection once more.
The Hatter kept a tight hold onto the edge of the console as she checked the readings on the controls, breaking into a bright, delighted smile as, after a moment, a small green light began blinking up at her, just what they had been waiting for, "Yes, they did it!" she cried, laughing again, "The shields are down!" she quickly looked back over to Idris, "You had better warn them to get out of the way!"
She nodded and moved back towards the controls, placing her hands back against the Rotor, closing her eyes as she brought Rory up again on the mirror, his expression slightly pained, "We're coming through!" she told him, opening her eyes to look at his faint image in the mirror, "Get out of the way or you'll be atomised!"
"Where are you coming through?" Rory's voice rang out over all the wind.
"I don't know!" she replied calmly.
"Oh, great, thanks!"
Idris, missing his sarcasm, pulled back from the Rotor, cutting the connection as the time machine flew even closer to the TARDIS, practically right on the back of the blue box's heels, which was a very good thing because it was started to become harder and harder to keep their TARDIS from tossing them around to violently. The Hatter winced slightly as she closed her eyes briefly; feeling a wave of nausea start to wash over her, desperately hoping that they could reach solid, unmoving ground very soon.
"It's not going to hold!" Idris shouted as the console sparked, smoke billowing up around them.
"Just a bit longer!" the Hatter ground out, clinging on for dear life.
The Doctor reached across the controls and pulled a lever, and suddenly they found themselves materialising in a swirl of golden energy in the Tenth Doctor's old console room, while Amy and Rory hid behind a Y-shaped column. As they landed and the energy faded, they toppled onto the floor of their makeshift TARDIS, the Hatter groaning slightly, her hair looking wild and as if it hadn't been brushed in a month with the amount of tangles in it, most of it covering her face.
"Oh, I don't feel well…" the Time Lady groaned, roughly pushing her hair off her face, her eyes closed tightly as her cheeks looked very pale. The Doctor, looking quite windswept himself, rubbed her back soothingly with a concerned look.
"Doctor!" Amy called, grinning as she peered around the column to see them, "Hatter!" she ran over to them, but stopped herself from hugging them, noticing how sickly and green the brunet looked as she remained sitting on the floor with the Doctor, her eyes closed tightly, "Are you alright, Hatter?" she asked worriedly.
"Fine, fine," she waved her off, quickly closing her mouth again.
"She's, ah, feeling a bit sick," the Doctor told Amy, "Motion sickness, she's very sensitive at the moment," he stood and held out his hand to the Hatter, who, after a long moment, took his offered hand and allowed him to pull her upright. While she did still feel quite sickly, on the positive side she hadn't been psychically ill yet and could actually open her eyes now without feeling dizzy.
She weakly gave Amy and Rory a small smile, wiggling her fingers at them in an attempt at a cheerful wave, "Hello, you two," she greeted them, "What a welcome relief it is to see you two safe and well again".
"Oh, not good," Idris moaned from behind them, catching all of their attention as she tried to climb onto her feet, looking almost as pale as the Hatter had, "Not good at all…" the Doctor rushed back over to her, grabbing her arm, helping her to stand as the Hatter eyed her worriedly. She frowned, shaking her head, "How do you walk around in these things?"
The Doctor gently helped her to sit down on the edge of the makeshift TARDIS, the Hatter quickly moving to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her, "We're not quite there yet," he said to her, "Just hold on," he straightened and looked back over to Amy and Rory, who were staring at them, "Ah, Amy, this is…" he glanced back over to Idris and back to them, "She's my TARDIS. Except she's a woman," he pointed back to her as something sparked on the makeshift console behind them, "She's a woman, and she's my TARDIS," he broke into a broad, slightly stunned smile.
Amy's eyes widened, "She…she's the TARDIS?" she pointed at Idris, shocked.
"And she's a woman," he nodded, growing even more excited, "She's a woman and she's the TARDIS".
The Hatter smiled softly at him, shaking her head fondly, "You are adorable," she remarked.
Amy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, pointing at him, "Did you wish really hard?"
"Shut up," the Doctor muttered, blushing slightly at the implication, glancing warily back to the Hatter and Idris, "Not like that".
The Time Lady laughed, giving Amy a approving look as she helped Idris to stand, keeping a hand on her arm to help steady her, "Hello," Idris said to Amy and Rory, slightly breathless, "I'm…Sexy".
"Oh…" he groaned, glancing at Idris as the Hatter smiled, amused. Amy and Rory smirked at him as he looked back to them, pointing sternly, "Still, shut up".
"The environment has been breached," House's voice suddenly sounded throughout the room as the lights around the room and walls turned green. They all lost their smiles, "Nephew, kill them…"
Amy and Rory stared, looking around the room urgently for the Ood, "Where's Nephew?" Rory asked, still looking around.
"He was standing right where you materialised…" Amy remarked, frowning as she pointed over to where the makeshift TARDIS was.
"Oh, I see," the Hatter sighed slightly, glancing almost sadly at the time machine behind her, "He's been redistributed, then".
Rory looked back to her quickly, "Meaning what?"
"We are all currently breathing him," she informed them grimly.
Amy and Rory grimaced in disgust, Amy quickly covering her mouth and nose, "Oh, come on…" she complained.
"Another Ood we failed to save," the Doctor said sadly, exchanging a look with the Hatter.
"Doctor, Hatter, I did not expect you," House commented, sounding mildly surprised.
"Well, that's us all over, isn't it?" he called to him, clapping his hands as he moved around the darkened console that his last two regenerations had been so fond of, "Lovely, old, unexpected us".
"The big question is, now you're here…how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity…"
They all collapsed onto the ground as if an unseen forced had pressed down on all of them, their faces scrunched up with pain as the Hatter wrapped her arms around her stomach, when the presser was suddenly lifted and they slowly pulled themselves back up, Idris's legs giving way beneath her and sending her crashing back down onto the floor with a groan of pain. Rory and the Hatter moved to her side straight away, gently rolling her onto her back, the brunet moving her head into her lap.
"Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke…" House continued.
They all began gasping as the air was suddenly sucked out of the room, grabbing at their throats, desperately trying to catch their breath as their lungs started burning with the need for oxygen. Even the Doctor and the Hatter were gasping and chocking, feeling like the air had been pulled from their very lungs.
"You really don't want to do that!" the Doctor managed to chock out, grasping at his throat, his eyes widening as he stared fearfully across the room to the Hatter.
The air returned, leaving them gasping and panting, feeling exhausted.
"Why shouldn't I just kill you now?" House asked them.
"Because…" the Hatter began, panting as she touched her throat and stomach worriedly, but she could sense that the child was fine and she could feel a very small kick, though she wasn't sure how much longer that would last if House kept torturing them like this, "If we're dead, we can't help you".
The Doctor quickly moved around to her side, still breathless as he took her hand and helped her to stand, wrapping his arm around her waist when she wobbled unsteadily, "Listen to your engines," he urged House as Rory checked Idris's pulse, now cradling her head in his lap, "Just listen to them…you don't have the thrust and you know it".
"We're your only hope of getting out of your little bubble Universe through the Rift, and into our Universe," the Time Lady breathed, leaning a hand against the console, feeling slightly comforted by the old, familiar design of the room, "You need us".
"And ours is the one with the food in," the Doctor added as Idris whispered something to Rory, looking very weak and pale, "You just have to promise not to kill us," he went on, looking up at the ceiling, "That's all, just promise".
Amy stared at them, "You can't be serious," she shook her head, unable to believe that they were actually going to help House get to their Universe.
"We're very serious," he told her, meeting her eyes, "I'm sure it's an entity of its word".
"Hatter!" Rory called, a hint of panic in his voice, making them quickly look back over to see him cradling Idris in his arms, "She's burning up. She's asking to water".
The Time Lords hurried over to her side, kneeling down beside her as the Hatter took her hand, giving her a soft, gentle smile, "Shh, it's okay," she tried soothing her, feeling her eyes prickle with tears as she realised just how weak she had grown. Her eighteen minutes were very nearly up.
"Hey," the Doctor said gently, cupping Idris's cheek, inwardly wincing at how warm her skin felt, "Hang in there, old girl," he tried to smile at her, "Not long now. It'll be over soon".
"I always liked it when you call me old girl," Idris breathed, staring up at his face, her voice weak and her breathing slightly struggle laboured.
"Shh," the Hatter murmured, forcing back tears, feeling her hearts breaking as she tightened her grip on Idris's hand, "Don't talk, save your strength".
"You want me to give my word?" House cut in, catching their attention, "Easy, I promise".
The Doctor exchanged a look with the Time Lady, "Fine," he agreed, "Okay, we trust you".
"You'll just have to delete about…oh, thirty percent of the TARDIS rooms," the brunet instructed House, looking up at the ceiling, not letting go of Idris's hand, "Doing that will free up enough thrust power to make you through the Rift and into our Universe," she glanced at the Doctor, taking a deep breath as he nodded very slightly, giving her a small smile, "Activate subroutine Sigma nine".
"Why would you tell me this?" House questioned, sounding suspicious.
The Doctor stood, "Because we want to get back to our Universe as badly as you do," he replied, holding up his hands, "And we're nice".
"Yes, I can delete rooms…" Rory looked up, alarmed, "And I can also rid myself of vermin, if I delete this room first…" Amy and Rory looked fearfully to the Time Lords, their eyes widening as the Doctor and the Hatter's expression remained completely unchanged, "Thank you, Doctor, Hatter. Very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lords. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris".
A bright light filled the room, blinding them all as they disappeared…
….
The light faded and they all found themselves back in the main control room that was glowing green, in the exact same positions that they had been in when they had been deleted from the old control room, Rory and the Hatter kneeling beside Idris, while Amy crouched a short distance away from them as the Doctor stood beside the console.
"Yes, I mean, you could do that," the Doctor called, calmly lowering his arm from his eyes, having been shielding his eyes against the bright glare of the light, "But it just won't work".
"It's a fail safe," the Hatter explained, looking up at the ceiling as Amy and Rory blinked, staring around in surprise, "Something that was programmed into the very data core of the computer, which basically makes it impossible for any living thing to be deleted from a room and are, instead, safely deposited into the main control room".
"But thanks for the lift," he said cheerfully as the Time Lady stood, moving to his side.
"We are in your Universe now," House informed them as Idris pulled Rory down slightly, whispering something to him, "Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere," the Doctor walked around the console, making his way back around to the Hatter, "Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords".
"Fear me," the Doctor told him, serious, "I've killed them all".
"And I built the weapon that made it possible," the Hatter cut in, swallowing the pain and bitterness that saying those words brought to her, keeping her expression void of any emotions.
"I don't understand," Rory frowned at Idris, shaking his head, "There isn't a forest in here".
"Yeah, you're right," the Doctor continued, raising his voice slightly, "You've completely won. Oh, you could kill us oodles of really inventive ways," he glanced quickly at the Hatter, but her eyes were focused on Idris, looking very concerned, "But before you do kill us allow me, my wife, and friends Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an…" he grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her up onto her feet, "Absolutely worthy opponent," he began clapping with the Hatter, nudging Amy's side.
Amy, slightly confused, joined in clapping, "Congratulations?"
The Hatter swallowed thickly, feeling her eyes prickle slightly as she watched Idris's eyes slip closed. She glanced at the Doctor and gave him a grim, small nod.
"Yep, you've defeated us," he continued, trying hard to ignore the stab of pain that he felt as he and the brunet stopped clapping, Amy frowning slightly at them both, "Me and my lovely friends here, and last but definitely not least, the TARDIS Matrix herself…" he held out a hand towards Idris, "A living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body".
"Look at her, House," the Time Lady said, her voice growing colder, struggling to keep her anger under control, "Just look at her".
"Doctor, Hatter…" Rory called to them, looking quite pale, still cradling Idris's limp head in his lap, "She's stopped breathing".
"Enough," House told them, his voice rumbling through the room as Amy moved to kneel beside Rory, "That is enough".
"Enough?" the Hatter repeated, this time not even bothering to keep her anger from her voice, glaring furiously at the ceiling as the Doctor moved around the console, "No, don't you dare, don't you dare say that, because this…" she pointed back to Idris's body, feeling herself start to shake, "This will never be enough for what you have done, for the crimes and cruelty that you have inflicted upon innocent people, people who we cared about!" she shouted, unable to stop herself, simply to angry and upset after everything that they had gone through and learnt throughout the day.
The Doctor stepped back around to her side, taking her hand, "You forced the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room!" he glared up at the ceiling, just as furious as the brunet, "A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS Matrix and live. Look at her body, House," he tried, gesturing over to Idris.
"And you think I should mourn her?" House asked, sounding close to laughing at the mere suggestion.
"No," he said, his voice growing dangerously soft, "We think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room," Idris shifted slightly and opened her mouth, and with her last breathe, released the golden energy out from herself as Amy and Rory leaned back, their eyes widening in shock, "You took her from her home!" he went on, "But now she's back in the box again".
The Hatter broke into a large smile, holding out her arms, "And now she's finally free again," she laughed, turning slightly to watch as the golden energy poured out of the Idris and streamed back into the console, swirling through the equipment and engines, lighting the controls up with the bright yellow light.
"No!" House cried, groaning painfully, "Doctor, Hatter stop this! Argh!" he shouted as the energy began to swirl around the room, "Stop this now!"
"Oh, look at my girl!" the Doctor cheered; grinning proudly as he watched the energy, "Look at her go!" he grabbed the Hatter's hand and twirled her around, both laughing in delight, "Bigger on the inside!"
"Do you see it now?" the Hatter called, not letting go of his hand, "Do you understand your mistake?"
"Make her stop!" House begged, pained.
"That's your problem…" the Doctor continued, ignoring him.
"Argh!"
"Size of a planet, but inside you are just so small…"
"Make it stop!"
Idris slumped back down onto her side, the light fading from her as the body finally died.
"Finish him off, girl," the Doctor ordered, he and the Hatter turning away to look at the console as the golden light disappeared, the room growing dark once more.
"Ow! Don't do this! Argh!"
The Hatter closed her eyes, hanging her head, "You brought this on yourself," she said quietly as House's final cries and pleading died, a small part of her feeling slightly guilty and ashamed for what they had done.
Amy and Rory blinked, looking down in surprise to find that Idris's body had disappeared, when a golden glow appeared on the stairs behind the Time Lords, catching their attention, "Doctor…" a voice called out, echoing slightly, "Hatter…" slowly, the Doctor and the Hatter turned around to see a ghost-like image of Idris standing before them, glowing, "Are you there? It's so dark in here".
The Time Lady gave the Doctor a small, comforting smile as she squeezed his hand as they moved closer to Idris, "We're here," he assured her, trying to give her a smile.
"We will always be here," the Hatter told her gently.
Idris looked down towards them, seeming to be following the sound of their voices rather than actually seeing them as she gave them a small smile, "I've been looking for a word," she said, her eye moving to rest on the Doctor, "A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now".
"What word?" he asked softly.
"Alive," she breathed, her smile widening, "I'm alive".
"Alive isn't sad," he frowned, shaking his head as tears sprung up in his eyes, and he clutched onto the Hatter's hand even tighter.
"It's sad when it's over. I'll always be here, but this is when we talked, and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you…"
He nodded and looked down, already guessing the answer, "Goodbye…"
"No," she said, taking a deep breath as he looked back up to her in surprise, "I just wanted to say…hello," she paused, tears filling her eyes as she struggled to keep her composer, "Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you," she smiled tearfully at him, sniffing slightly as she looked over to the Hatter, who was silently crying, "And hello, Hatter. I am so very glad to have reunited your both again".
"Please…" the Doctor whispered, so close to completely breaking down that he felt for certain that he would have done so already if it wasn't for the Hatter's comforting hand in his, reminding him that she was still there with him. He shook his head, staring up at her, "I don't want you to…" Idris smiled at them sadly and began to lean back as the Hatter gently pulled him back from her, realising what was about to happen, "Please…" he pleaded, his hearts breaking.
The golden light returned and seemed to envelope Idris as the sound of the TARDIS wheezing noise echoed around them. A ghostly, 'I love you…' whisper drifted over them as they could only watch as on as Idris completely disappeared before them, leaving the Doctor and the Hatter standing in the exact same spot, both with tears running down their cheeks as slowly, the Doctor turned to look heartbrokenly at the Hatter.
"Come here, sweetheart," the Hatter murmured, sniffing as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly to her as he instantly buried his head into her neck. She rubbed his back as she simply held him, trying desperately to comfort him when they were both still so devastated.
…
The Doctor was sitting in the harness beneath the glass flooring of the console, toying with a few of the wires that hung down all around him, while the Hatter stood a short distance away from him, keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't accidently blow anything up while she helped, the two of them wearing a pair of tinted goggles.
"How's it going under there?" Rory called down through the floor, watching them work as Amy knelt on the floor, a stethoscope in her ears to hear them.
Something sparked and the Hatter sighed, shooting the Doctor a quick, pointed look that he returned with a slightly sheepish smile, "Well enough," she called back to them, rolling her eyes fondly as she pulled her goggles down to hang loosely around her neck, "Just as long as someone does as I tell him to do, everything ought to be fine".
"So perfectly, then," the Doctor flashed her a grin.
"You're lucky I find you so adorable, sweetheart," she said dryly, but she couldn't stop the smile from crossing her face. She shook her head and looked back up through the floor to the humans, "We're just putting a firewall around the Matrix, ought to be finished in a tick".
"Are you going to be make her talk again?" Amy asked, looking down at them seriously.
"Can't," the Doctor replied, glancing at the Hatter, who sighed heavily, "Neither of us can".
Rory walked down the steps, frowning at them over the railing at them, "Why not?"
"Spacey wacey, isn't it?" Amy guessed.
"Well, actually," the Doctor began, eyeing the end of one of the wires, "It's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleven dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then…" Rory grabbed two of the wires and touched them together, causing them to spark violently. He quickly let the wires go, his eyes widening slightly as the Time Lords both flinched, the Time Lady giving him a scolding look as she quickly moved to check the wires, "Yes!" he exclaimed, throwing Rory an annoyed look, "It's spacey wacey!" he pulled his goggles down to dangle around his neck.
"Sorry," Rory said hurriedly, still looking slightly alarmed as he looked back and forth between the Time Lords, the Hatter tutting under her breath as she examined the wires. He cleared his throat, "Uh, at the end, she was talking. She kept repeating something," he shook his head, "I don't know what it meant".
The Hatter glanced up at him, curious, "What did she say?"
"'The only water in the forest is the river'. She said we'd need to know that someday. It doesn't make sense, does it?"
"Not yet," Doctor agreed, fiddling with a small fuse box on the central poll connected directly into the console.
The Time Lady frowned thoughtfully, thinking it over, before she sighed and shook her head, not making any more sense over it then the Doctor or Rory had. She looked back up to Rory, eyeing him, "Is everything alright, Rory?" she asked him, concerned as she noticed that he looked slightly glum.
He looked back up to her, "No," he admitted, sighing heavily as the Doctor straightened, looking over to him in concern, too, "I watched her die. I should let it get to me, but it still does…" Amy walked down the stairs, taking a seat on one of the steps, looking over the railing, "I'm a nurse".
"Letting it get to you," the Doctor remarked, absently scratching the back of his head with a tool, before pointing with it across to Rory, "Do you know what that's called? Being alive," he smiled faintly, "Best thing there is. Being alive right now, that's all that counts".
The Hatter smiled, reaching across to pat his arm, "Well said, sweetheart," she said cheerfully, and he kissed her cheek before taking a seat back in the harness. She looked back to Amy and Rory, "We won't be much longer, just a few more minutes and we'll be ready to take off".
"The Eye of Orion's restful, if you like restful," he continued happily, grabbing one of the wires and examining it as he rambled on, "I can never get the hang of restful…"
"It's also quite good for when you're feeling sick," the brunet added, still smiling, "All that fresh, clean air, just what you need when you're feeling a bit green. Plus, the scenery is lovely".
"What do you think, dear?" he glanced up at the Hatter, before reaching over to lightly pat the central poll, "What about you, old girl?" he grinned, swinging slightly in the harness as he pulled a bright yellow cloth from out of his pocket, carefully cleaning one of the wires, "Where shall we take the kids this time?"
"Look at you two," Amy commented, smiling, shaking her head as she watched the two Time Lords cooing over the TARDIS, "It's always you two and her, isn't it, long after the rest of us have gone. A boy and girl, off to see the Universe with their box".
"Well, you say that as if it's a bad thing," he looked back over to her, breaking into a smile, "But honestly, it's the best thing there is…" he paused, his smile softening as he glanced over to the Hatter, "Well, second best thing".
The Hatter smiled, but her smile dimmed as something sparked violently. She sighed, throwing him a quick look, "Well, that ruined the moment," she muttered, before turning back to Amy and Rory, "I'm afraid that House deleted all the bedrooms, so we'll have to make you a new one".
Rory leaned closer to Amy, whispering something to her for a moment, "Okay," Amy nodded, raising her voice as she looked back over to them, "Er, this time could we lose the bunk beds?" she asked hopefully.
The Time Lady blinked, throwing the Doctor a surprised look, "You actually gave them bunk beds?" she said, staring at him as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "A married couple and you gave them bunk beds?"
"Bunk beds are cool!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking slightly offended that none of them seemed to see just how 'cool' they were, not even the Hatter, which was slightly surprising since he would have expected her to love the idea with her childlike love of things. He had even considered putting them in their room, but judging by her expression, that might not be the best idea to even try mentioning, "A bed with a ladder!" he continued, trying to get them to see it, "You can't beat that!"
"Oh, I think I could think of something that's better," she leaned towards him, her voice low, smirking slyly at him, "And believe me, sweetheart, having an ordinary bed for two is all you need," she winked.
The Doctor's eyes widened as he stared back at her, a blush creeping across his cheeks, unable to take his eyes off hers as she continued to smiling wickedly back at him. He swallowed, hard, "Alright," he said after a while, his voice sounding higher than normal, "No bunk beds, who needs a bed with a ladder anyway?"
"Exactly my thinking," she straightened and turned back around to face Amy and Rory, Rory seeming to be very interested in his own shoelaces, while Amy was grinning back at her, "I believe you'll find your room by going up those stairs…" she pointed back up towards the console above them, "And just keep going until you find it. If you want anything altered, just tell me and I'll fix it".
He cleared his throat, still feeling quite warm under his collar as he tried desperately to pull his gaze off the back of the Hatter's head, "Off you pop," he told them, pulling his goggles back on and forcing himself to turn back to his work.
Amy and Rory began to stand, heading off up the stairs, but Rory paused and looked back to them, "Doctor, Hatter, do you have a room?" he asked curiously. Amy rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him along after her back up the stairs, leaving the Time Lords to their work.
The Doctor grabbed two of the wires and touched them together, causing yet another large explosion that hurriedly made the Hatter shield her eyes from the light.
"Doctor!"
"Ah, sorry, dear…"
….
The Doctor rubbed his hands together as he made his way back up the steps from beneath the console, tossing the yellow cloth onto the controls, and pausing to cast his eyes around the room in search of the Time Lady, who had crept away a few minutes ago while he had been busy putting the final pieces of the firewall together. It didn't take him long before he caught sight of her, standing in the open doorway, looking out into space, a light breeze blowing her hair. He made his way over towards her, stepping down the steps and across to stand beside her in the doorway.
The Hatter sighed heavily after a moment, "He didn't deserve this fate," she said softly, and he noticed that she was cradling one of the distress boxes in her hands, "None of them did".
"No," he agreed, his voice growing just as quiet, "They didn't," he reached out and took her hand, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles as he looked back up to her face, "Are you okay?"
"Sad," she replied, smiling weakly, "He was my favourite uncle, the only adult who ever treated me like a child when I was young, not a protégée. I'll always be thankfully for that, for how whenever he would visit, he would make me feel like a was a just an ordinary little girl," she laughed slightly, glancing at him, "It sounds silly…"
"Not at all," he shook his head, returning her smile, "It's understandable. You never got the chance to have a childhood, not even a Gallifreyan one, of course having someone treat you like a child would have meant so much to you".
She turned and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as he hugged her back just as tight, before they pulled apart and he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. She reached up and fondly pattered his cheek with her free hand, before letting go of him and moving back towards the edge of the doorway. She lifted the box up to her mouth, closing her eyes, "Goodbye, Uncle Emory," she whispered, and used her thumbnail to undo the clasp on the edge of the cube, watching as a streak of brilliant white light flew out of the cube and out into space. She closed the now darkened cube and tucked it away inside her jacket pocket, "It's not a Gallifreyan memorial," she remarked, "But I think he would have liked it all the same".
"I wouldn't ask for anything less if it was me," the Doctor said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
She made a slight face, giving him a look, "Let's not tempt fate, shall we, sweetheart?"
"Ah…good point, dear".
She reached forward and grabbed the doorhandles, shutting them as she and the Doctor turned, making their way back up to the console. The Doctor reached into his pocket and flashed it at the controls, before tossing it into the air and catching it again, tucking it away back into his pocket.
"Are you there?" he asked, leaning his hands against the console, his eyes roaming around the room, "Can you hear me?" nothing happened and he sighed, lowering his head, "Oh, I'm silly old…" he trailed off.
The Hatter put a comforting hand on his arm, "Never mind," she said, trying to make herself sound bright and cheerful, looking over the console, "Let's go to the Eye of Orion…or wherever else we might need to go, old girl".
Suddenly, a lever pulled itself down beside the Hatter, and the sound of the engines started up with a jolt, forcing them to grab hold of the console before they could be thrown off balance. They looked at each other and burst out laughing, delighted as they began running around the controls, hitting buttons and switches as they went.
Finally finished! I can't believe it's taken me this long when this is possibly my favourite episode of season 6, but in my defence it is the last few weeks of school before the summer holidays, so things have been busy lately. Also, has anyone watched Class yet? Mrs Quill has got to be my favourite character, she has some of the best lines and it was wonderful to see Twelve again after nearly a year of not getting any more new episodes.
Next chapter, the Doctor and the Hatter dress up, Amy catches them out…again, and ice cream. I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought. Please review :)