A/N: Quick note to clear up possible confusion. Professor (capitalized) is the Time Lady and professor (lowercase) is the human professor guy :)
~8~
Cold War
"Oh I can't wait!" the Professor cheered as she and the Doctor ran around the console, Aeon chasing after them as he tended to do whenever they got excited.
"Vegas here we come!" Clara laughed, excited as well, as she watched them work, their enthusiasm just made her all the more excited, she loved that about them. They were so old, she could see it in their eyes, but they had such life in them, such joy, a child-like quality in how they viewed the Universe, it made her just thrilled to travel among it and see its wonders.
"You know, I'm setting the coordinates for just after they opened the infamous 'Elvis Chapel,'" the Doctor winked at the Professor.
She laughed, "You're not seriously asking me to marry you in the 'Elvis Chapel' are you?"
"I thought you were already married?" Clara eyed them.
"Renew our vows?" the Doctor asked the Professor, taking her hand, kissing her wedding band and engagement ring.
"Not in the 'Elvis Chapel,'" the Professor tapped him on the nose, "We got married in Queen Elizabeth's court! We need to renew our vows on the Starship UK or something."
Clara blinked, "You've met Queen Elizabeth?!"
"Met," the Doctor nodded, "Saved her life…"
"And then managed to insult her," the Professor added as the Doctor winced, "She wants to behead both of us now," she laughed as Aeon hissed at that, "Not that I think she'll ever get the chance will she?" she scooped up the kitten, tapping it on its nose as well, "Not with you to protect us eh?"
Aeon mewed happily, nuzzling his head to the side of her finger till she scratched him on the top of the head.
Clara shook her head at them, noticing the Doctor watching the Professor with a soft smile as she cuddled the kitten, when the TARDIS touched down.
"Right, let's go!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing the Professor's hand and pulling her to the doors.
"No, Doctor wait!" the Professor tried to tug herself back, "I didn't get a chance to run the environment checks and…"
He just threw open the doors with a cry of, "Viva Las Vegas!"
Only to fall right out of them as the room they were in, the room that was slowly filling with water, shook.
The Professor managed to keep her footing enough to grab Clara as she half-fell out of the TARDIS too, steadying her as they looked around. The appeared to be in a submarine that was quickly taking on water, it was everywhere, pooling at their feet, shooting out of the walls, falling from the ceiling…not good.
And Aeon didn't seem to be very happy with it either as he hissed at the water pouring onto him. The Professor quickly buttoned up her jacket and tucked him inside, trying to shield him from the water.
"Intruders on the bridge!" a young shipman called.
"Who the hell are you?" an older man, clearly the captain given his uniform, his Soviet uniform, demanded, shouting over the alarms blaring.
The Doctor pulled his sunglasses off and put them in his pocket as the Professor looking around at all the machines going crazy.
"Not Vegas then!" Clara gasped, getting soaked.
"No," the Doctor said.
"Oh this is much better!" the Professor cheered, rushing to the Doctor and kissing him quickly, she had to admit her latest body seemed to love the adventures, to be just as excited as the Doctor for them, and this…oh this was Christmas!
'Oi!' the Doctor pouted, 'That wasn't on your Christmas list!'
If it had been, he'd have gotten them trapped on a sinking submarine ages ago.
She smirked, 'Doesn't have to be, everyday with you is Christmas.'
The Doctor grinned at that and reached out with both hands to push her soaking wet hair out of her face.
"A sinking submarine?" Clara gaped at the Professor.
"A sinking Soviet submarine!" the Doctor corrected.
"Break out side arms!" the young shipman called, "Restrain them!"
"410," another young man reported from the monitors, "420! Turbines still not responding!"
"They've got to!" the captain turned to him.
"Ah!" the Doctor cheered, holding up his sonic, scanning, as he showed the Professor the results.
"Sideways momentum!" she called, her eyes wide as she saw the reading, "You've still got sideways momentum!"
"What?" the captain turned to her.
"A submarine's propellers work independently of the main turbines. You can't stop her going down but you can maneuver the sub laterally! Do it!"
"Get these people off the bridge now!" the young shipman ordered as two men moved to grab the Doctor and Professor.
The Professor rolled her eyes and grabbed a shipman's wrist as soon as his hand was on her, turning and twisting under his arm, pulling it behind him, right up his back, "Really, why do the humans NEVER listen?"
The crew just stared at her, holding one of their men hostage in one hand, another hand clutching her jacket closed more to protect a kitten, acting as though she were just having a normal conversation.
"Just listen to her," Clara called, nearly falling back against some equipment, "For God's sake!"
"Geographical anomaly to starboard," the Doctor added, holding up the sonic, "Probably an underwater ridge."
"How do you know this?" the captain frowned.
"Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it. Do it!"
"600 meters, sir," the young man at the control banks reported, "610..."
"Or this thing is going to implode!" the Professor added as the man before her hissed, her moving his arm more.
"Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers!" the captain ordered.
The man looked back, "Sir?"
"Now!"
"You're going to let these mad people give the orders?" the young shipman gaped.
"Lateral thrust!"
"Aye, sir!" the young man at the controls called, "660...680..."
They all froze, waiting…when the shaking started to lessen, and stop, the submarine's descent stopped. The Doctor smirked and put his sunglasses back on, "You may want to let him go now dear," he added to the Professor.
"Oh!" she laughed, releasing the man, "Sorry."
"Descent arrested at...700 meters," the young man reported.
"It seems we owe you our lives, whoever you are," the captain eyed them as the Doctor put his arm around the Professor's waist.
The Doctor was wearing his typical attire, with his sunglasses on, while Clara had a lovely sleeveless white/grey dress that went to her knees with a flowing skirt. The Professor had, at first, thought to treat the Doctor a bit and gone with a strapless light pink dress with the fabric crossing and tucking in on itself in the front, and a flowing skirt that went to her knees with little pink flats on and her hair up…till she realized she was exposing her legs, her arms and her shoulders and back to the poor man.
His hearts just couldn't take it and he'd openly gaped at her, till she'd swung on her jean jacket to compensate a bit, give him a bit less of a distraction.
Not that it really helped, he was always distracted by her.
"We'll hold you to that," the Professor nodded.
"Might come in handy!" the Doctor agreed.
"Search them," the young shipman, clearly the second-in-command, ordered, "Yes, I know, they're women. Now search them!"
The crew pushed the three of them back against a pole in the middle of the bridge, Aeon hissing at the men for pushing his mistress and master, already in a foul mood because he was wet.
"Eh?" the Doctor shifted as he was searched, "Ooh!"
"Are we going to be ok?" Clara asked them as the crew hesitated to search her.
"Oh, yes," he nodded.
"Is that a lie?"
"Oh yes," the Professor laughed, suddenly grabbing a man's hand as he reached for her dress and pulled his fingers back towards his wrist, driving him to his knees, "Only the Doctor can touch me," she warned him, leaning over to look in his eyes, before glancing at the rest of the crew, "Try it and I'll actually break your fingers instead."
The man winced and pulled his hand away.
"May want to control the violence dear," the Doctor called, though he couldn't help but grin, he really loved how he was the only one allowed to touch her, "Very dangerous time. East and west standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion. Lots of itchy fingers on the button…"
The Professor laughed, "No one's got an itchier trigger finger than me though," she nudged him, "And I'm not about to let them start a war."
"Isn't it always like that?" Clara asked.
"Sort of," the Doctor nodded, "But there are flash points and this is one, hair, shoulder pads, nukes. It's the '80s. Everything's bigger!" he frowned as his pockets were searched, a ball of twine, a Barbie doll, and the sonic pulled out, "I'd like a receipt, please," he moved to grab the sonic.
But the captain took it, "What is this?"
The sub suddenly tilted before he could answer, Clara losing her balance, "Clara!" the Doctor lunged for her.
"Doctor!" she gasped.
"Clara!" the Professor jolted for her, when the TARDIS started to disappear.
"No, no, no, no!" the Doctor turned to it, "No, not now!"
"I told you not to reset the HADS!" the Professor shouted, scooping Aeon out of her jacket and placing him in the Doctor's hands, turning to Clara as she fell to the side, bumping her head on the way down, falling under the water…the Professor rushing after her below the water to get her up again.
~8~
Clara slowly came to, to the sounds of the Doctor and Professor arguing with the captain in one of the darker halls, less water around them now, the Professor's jean jacket over her shoulders with Aeon curled up on her lap though his little eyes were narrowed at the crew that stood with the captain as though guarding her. She smiled and scratched behind the kitten's ears at that, he was just like the Doctor and Professor had been when she first met them, guarding her.
"Captain, we didn't know the type of your ship out here..." the Professor was rolling her eyes, clearly trying to convince the man of something.
"Yeah, well, that's till the rescue ship comes," the captain glared.
"If it comes!" the Doctor scoffed, his arm around the Professor's waist, doing his level best not to look at her in her dress, in her wet dress, not that anything was revealed, the crew would probably be dead if anything was, he'd have killed them for looking at her, but…it was clinging to her more and was making it even harder to concentrate since she'd given Clara her jacket, Clara being in a white dress and all. He had to admit, he did NOT want the crew looking at Clara like that either, ever since the Professor had brought up how old they were and how young Clara was and he'd realized how similar she was to a Susan who might have had the Professor as a grandmother…he'd begun to see the girl as a sort of granddaughter as well.
Which made it his duty to protect her from men that might take advantage of her.
"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it?" the captain looked at them, "Who are you?"
Clara slowly moved to stand, Aeon in her hand as there was still quite a bit of water around them, but at least it wasn't pouring on them anymore. She winced, rubbing her head, her movement of standing distracting the Time Lords enough for the captain to push the Doctor against a wall…
When something pressed to the back of the man's head and started to whirr, "Step away from my husband captain," the Professor said, quite calmly for holding her blaster to the man's head with the startled crew surrounding her, all of them with weapons.
The captain tensed, feeling the weapon, and let go of the Doctor, stepping back, his hands up.
"Thank you," she nodded, lowering her blaster and moving to the Doctor's side, tweaking his bow tie, "You alright?"
He smiled at her, reaching out to touch her face, "Brilliant," he kissed her quickly.
"Now, what should we tell them?" she nodded to the side.
He sighed, "You know what? Just this once, let's try no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be Earth ambassadors…"
She shrugged, "Fine with me."
He grinned, turning to face the captain, his arm around her shoulders, "I'm the Doctor, this is the Professor, and that's Clara, we're time travelers. Clara, you ok?"
"Think so," Clara commented, petting Aeon as the kitten tensed in her hands when the captain had shoved the Doctor back, but luckily the Professor had been quick enough in her draw that the kitten had calmed and not transformed.
"Time travelers?" the captain eyed them, skeptical.
"We arrived here out of thin air," the Professor reminded him, "You saw it."
"I didn't!" an old man in the back of the group called, wearing headphones around his neck.
"Your problem, mate, not ours," the Doctor countered.
"We were sinking..." Clara frowned, trying to remember what happened.
"Yes," the Professor nodded.
"What happened?"
"We sank," the Doctor finished.
"No, what happened to the TARDIS, I mean?"
The Doctor winced, "Never mind that. Listen...captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?"
"You're right," the captain nodded, "Maybe I can save a little oxygen by having you lot shot!"
"Try it and see if I can shoot you faster than you can draw your weapon," the Professor commented offhandedly, wiggling her blaster at him.
"What does it matter how we arrived?" Clara asked, having been warned of how itchy the Professor's trigger finger could be, "The important thing is to get..."
The Doctor pointed at Clara for her effort, smiling at the captain…oblivious to the growling coming from behind him, though the Professor stiffened knowing what it was, recognizing the sound…that and the crew were now staring at them stunned.
"…out," Clara breathed.
"Exactly!" the Doctor cheered, "Number one priority, not suffocating!" he leaned forward to pat the captain's chest, "Eh? Finally, seeing sense! Now, what sort of state is the sub in?"
"Dear?" the Professor called and he looked at her, though she held out a hand at the sputtering and hissing Aeon, signaling to the kitten that it was ok, that everything was under control and there was no danger, she did NOT want her kitten shot by the crew should he turn into a tiger before them, the thing behind them would be more than enough to set them on edge, "I believe an Ice Warrior is behind us."
He blinked, "Really? What's it doing in a submarine?"
She shrugged, "Let's ask it," she smiled, excited, and they spun around to see a large reptilian mouth peeking through from the bottom of a helmet, the rest of the large creature covered in thick, heavy armor.
"Ah..." the Doctor nodded, eyeing it, "It never rains but it pours."
"More like floods," the Professor sighed, putting away her blaster, knowing that having a weapon, or any hostile action being taken, would make the Ice Warrior attack.
"Aeon," she called, in a language the others couldn't recognize. Clara frowned, it wasn't quite the same language she'd heard the woman sing in, "Everything is alright, do not transform."
The Doctor nodded, hearing her command in the language of Clow, the kitten's native language. The Keroberos were mildly telepathic creatures, they could tell when their family was in danger despite not being near them. It meant that the kitten could adapt to the use of Gallifreyan, to understanding it like it naturally understood the language of Clow. However, they tended to use English mostly during their travels and the TARDIS translation circuits helped the kitten understand them and those around them. But right now they did not want the crew to know that the kitten could turn into a tiger and they needed a way to command him not to transform without the others understanding.
"We were drilling for oil in the ice," the old man behind them explained, shrugging off the odd language, they already knew that the three were foreigners, "I thought I'd found a mammoth."
"It's not a mammoth," the Doctor said.
"No."
"What is it, then?" Clara leaned forward, stepping up between them but still behind them, clutching Aeon close, knowing that the kitten could become such a huge cat, made her feel safe, even if he was in his kitten form at the moment.
"It's an Ice Warrior," the Professor repeated, "A native of the planet Mars."
"And we go way back," the Doctor sighed, "Way back."
"A Martian?" the captain scoffed, "You can't be serious."
"I'm always serious," he said, when the Professor snorted, "With days off."
"Oh I love those days," the Professor turned to him, "You being serious is such a downer," she told him.
"What you don't like the frowny, serious face?" the Doctor pulled one, turning to her as well, the humans staring at them for how they were disregarding the monster right behind them.
"Oh I love it," she nodded, "Because then I get to think of ways to turn the frowny face into a very happy one," she smirked suggestively, trailing her finger down the buttons of his shirt, loving how he shivered.
"Yes," he swallowed hard, reaching out to take her hand to stop her, but still holding it, "You have a…very…strong imagination."
"But then again, your playful days are quite fun too," she added, "I love playful you very, very much."
He grinned, tugging her closer, his free hand trailing up her arm, making her shiver this time, "I'm only ever that playful with you," he told her, leaning in to bop his nose to hers a moment, "You make me that happy…"
"Happy happy?" she joked, recalling their trip to New New York.
"More than happy happy, so happy that…"
"Doctor!" Clara shouted, cutting in, "Professor! Monster first, flirting later! Please!"
Really, how DID they manage to DO that?
"Just keeping it light," the Doctor sighed, the moment ruined.
"We need to keep everyone calm," the Professor added, especially Aeon, though, a quick glance at the kitten told her he was much more calm, something about seeing them relaxed around the present threat seemed to reassure him that they didn't think there was a danger, "Not scared. Scared and angry are when people make mistakes."
"They're scared?" Clara scoffed, "I'm scared!"
One of the soldiers came up behind Clara, a gun in hand, aiming it at the Ice Warrior, the Ice Warrior lifting its own weapon at him, when the Professor rolled her eyes and grabbed the man's hand, pushing the gun away with her left hand and bringing her right fist down onto his wrist, getting him to let it go and let her take it. She quickly dismantled it and threw the pieces on either side of her.
"Try that again and I'll break your wrist," the Professor warned as the Ice Warrior lowered his gun, "Doctor?" she looked back, gesturing for him to speak to the Ice Warrior.
He pouted, glancing at the Ice Warrior, "How come I have to talk to him, YOU were in Intergalactic Relations."
"Yes and I'M also a soldier, he'll be more willing to fight me than listen to me," the Professor reminded him, walking back over to him, "And YOU were the one who met them before."
He sighed, "Right right," and turned to the Ice Warrior, "I'm sorry," he told it, "You've been lying dormant in the ice for…for how long?" he looked at her, "How long would you say, Professor?"
"By my reckoning, 5,000 years," the old man called as the Professor went to open her mouth.
They blinked, looking at each other, before turning to him, "You're a professor?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes?" he frowned, confused as to what that had to do with anything.
"Huh," the Professor nodded, "That'll get confusing."
"How so?"
"I'm a Professor too," she shrugged.
"Ah. A professor of what?"
She laughed, "That's almost as bad as Doctor who?" she tapped the Doctor on the nose and looked back at the human professor, "Lots of things."
"What do we do?" the Doctor asked, "We can't call you both Professor…"
The Professor hummed, "Call me Katherine then, been a long time since I got to go by that," she shrugged.
The Doctor smiled, "Katherine Smith," he kissed her wedding ring lightly.
"John Smith," she countered.
"My wife."
"My husband."
"My Bonded."
"MY Bonded."
"My…"
"Seriously!" Clara shouted, "Huge monster with a gun right behind you and you're flirting!"
"Right," the Doctor winced, looking back at the Ice Warrior, it probably wasn't the best idea to ignore the warrior, might be just a bit rude, "5,000 years you've been trapped. That's a hell of a nap. Can't blame you if you've got out of the wrong side of bed. Nobody here wants to hurt you. So please, just…why don't you tell us your name?"
"What're you talking about?" the captain frowned, "It has a name?"
"Of course it has a name," the Professor rolled her eyes, "And a rank," she pointed to a few intricate designs on the alien's armor, "This is a soldier. And he deserves our respect."
"This is madness. That is a monster!"
"Skaldak," the Ice Warrior spoke.
And the Time Lords froze.
"What did you say?" the Professor blinked at it.
"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak."
The Doctor closed his eyes a moment, "Oh, no…"
Skaldak suddenly let out a roar as electricity surged around him, falling face down into the water, revealing the second-in-command behind him, with a cattle prod. Aeon hissing at the sudden attack.
"You idiot!" the Professor glared, "That was Grand Marshal Skaldak! Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste, vanquisher of the Phobos heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced!"
"You...know him?" Clara eyed her, trying to calm the kitten as it struggled in her hold.
"Of course I know him…" the Professor reached out and scratched Aeon behind the ears quickly, soothing the little ball of fur.
The Doctor frowned at her, "You said I was the only one who met them…"
"I know OF him then," she rolled her eyes, "I kept a close eye on you on Gallifrey Doctor," she reminded him, nudging him a bit, "Intergalactic Relations, I could see what was going on anywhere, why do you think I subjected myself to that job in the end? It was the only way I could know where you were and what you were doing. They never let me find you, but I at least knew what was happening."
"But you never came to see me when I came home…"
"They never let me," she smiled sadly at him, reminding him of that, "I tried, I DID try, but every time you were on your way, the High Council would send me across the planet and keep me there, keep the meetings going till you'd left," she looked at him softly, "You really think I'd ever have let you be subjected to a trial alone if I could help it?"
He shook his head at that, she would have been right their beside him, "I always tried to find you when I DID come back," he told her quietly, "I stayed as long as I could before Mayra ended up trying to find me again and talk to me…" he shuddered, "I lived for the hope that I'd see you just once more before I had to leave and it broke my hearts to have to go without you each time…"
She kissed him gently, "It broke my hearts that I couldn't join you, for all my 27 brains I couldn't work out a plan to get around the High Council's eye and see you…"
"Perhaps 28 would have helped," he laughed, pulling her to him to kiss her again…
Clara blinked, glancing down at Skaldak, and them again, "Doctor…Professor, er Katherine…Ice Warrior rotting on the floor?"
But they just kept going…though it seemed to calm down Aeon quite a bit.
The captain looked at Clara, "So what do we do now?"
She sighed, "Wait for them to stop and then come up with a plan."
"And how long will that take," he glanced back at the duo.
Clara shook her head, "I honestly have no idea…"
~8~
It had only taken minutes really, when their respiratory bypass systems, for how strong they were, were FINALLY deprived of air, for them to pull apart and order the crew to chain Skaldak up.
They'd managed to chain him to the pipes of the torpedo room only moments before he began to wake, which made Aeon hiss, before they left the crew to finish the job as they headed to the communications room, the three of them with the captain, second-in-command, and the professor as well. The professor was sitting against the back wall, his headphones around his neck, absently listening to a song over them, smiling and chuckling quietly under his breath as Aeon pawed at his legs and he played with the little kitten. It seemed the kitten had taken to him after finding out he was a professor too.
"The Ice Warriors have a different creed," the Professor was explaining to the captain, "A different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero."
"It was said his enemies honored him so much they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died," the Doctor added.
"Oh, yeah, very nice," Clara grimaced, "He sounds lovely."
"An Ice Warrior?" the captain shook his head, "Explain."
"There isn't time!" the Doctor shouted.
"Try me."
"Fine," the Professor huffed, "Martian reptile known as the Ice Warrior."
"When Mars turned cold they had to adapt," the Doctor continued, Clara face palming, knowing what was coming.
"They're bio-mechanoid cyborgs."
"Built survival armor so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world."
"But an increase in temperature, and the armor goes haywire."
"Which is a bit of a design flaw that I've always wondered why they never sorted."
The captain stared at them, "Do you…"
"Yes!" they shouted, knowing he was going to ask a question they'd heard probably more times than 'Doctor Who?'
"Like with the cattle prod thing?" Clara got them back to point, ignoring their shared speech for the moment.
"Like that cattle prod thing," the Professor nodded.
"Oh, look," the Doctor remarked sarcastically, "You've got us telling you about them and we said there wasn't time!"
"Is he that dangerous?" Clara asked.
"This one is," the Doctor nodded.
"Not as much as me though," the Professor shrugged, "If he tries anything Clara, I'll stop him, don't worry."
Clara just frowned, they made little comments like that all the time and, she didn't know why but, every time they brought up how the Professor was some sort of epic soldier…she couldn't quite believe them…she was just…so nice. Yes, she had a blaster, but the Doctor had a sonic, it as almost the same thing. And yeah, the Professor was good at defending herself, but one of her best mates taught a defense class and she was just as good so it could just be that.
The Professor looked over, hearing a small beeping starting to come from the professor's headphones and frowned, the man didn't seem to notice it, he was far too focused on using his shoelaces to dangle above Aeon, the kitten swiping at them. But she noticed. She glanced at the Doctor, the two of them nodding, recognizing what it was.
"Why are we listening to this nonsense, captain?" the second-in-command demanded, "These people are clearly enemy agents."
"Eh?" Clara frowned.
"Spies, captain!"
"Pretty bad spies, mate. I don't even speak Russian!"
The Doctor tried to shush her while the Professor focused on the beeps, decoding the message.
"What?"
"I don't..." Clara moved to repeat, before realizing something, the Doctor had said it was a Soviet sub and she could understand them, "Am I speaking Russian? How come I'm speaking Russian?"
"Now?" the Doctor scoffed, "We have to do this now?"
"Are they speaking Russian?"
"Seriously? Now?!"
"It's the TARDIS translation matrix," the Professor said, moving over to the professor and taking the headphones, listening to the beeps closer.
"In my opinion, Comrade Captain, this creature is a Western weapon," the second turned to the captain.
"Are they?" Clara continued to ask the Doctor.
"Yes!" the Doctor huffed, "They're Russians!"
"A weapon?" the captain frowned at his second.
"Survival suit," the man nodded, "What is the alternative? The little green man from Mars?"
"Correction," the professor remarked, "It's a big green man from Mars."
"I do not appreciate your levity, professor," the second glared.
"And I don't appreciate your tone, boy," the Professor glared right back, despite knowing he was talking to the other professor.
"Boy?" the man scoffed.
The Professor's eyes narrowed more, "I'm 1202, yes, you ARE a boy."
The man blinked and shook his head, clearly thinking she was lying.
"Why does that not surprise me?" the professor muttered, seeing his disbelieving expression, "Maybe they're telling the truth."
"The truth?" the man nearly sneered.
"Yes. A revolutionary concept, I know."
The Professor laughed, "Oh I like you," she patted the professor on the shoulder, "You know, you're the first professor I've liked in a long time?"
The Doctor frowned, "Really?"
She nodded, "Think about it, professor Lazarus turned into a skeletal scorpion and tried to kill us, I had to stab his eye out with a fire poker just to stop him," the captain and second stiffened at how casually she was talking about that, "Professor Yana turned into the Master and slaughtered half the Earth…then got me shot. We didn't get to know professor Peach much before he was killed by a giant wasp, professor Hobbes submitted to mass hysteria and tried to kill you, professor Bracewell ended up being a Dalek bomb and even though it wasn't his fault still makes me uneasy about it all…"
"And River?"
"She's my goddaughter, not a professor," the Professor remarked with a smile, "Even if she is an archaeologist."
The Doctor laughed, "Fair dos."
"Well thank you," the professor nodded along, scooping Aeon into his lap to pet the kitten, not really believing half of what she said but liking that she liked him, "Us professors must stick together then."
"That we must," she laughed.
"It's essential that we inform Moscow of what we have found!" the second shook his head and turned back to the captain.
"The radio's out of action, in case you hadn't noticed, Stepashin," the captain rolled his eyes.
"They have our last position. They will find us. When they do..."
"Yes?"
"Well, the Cold War won't stay cold forever, captain."
"For God's sake, Stepashin, you're like a stuck record! We have other priorities right now. I want you back on repairs immediately, we need to keep this ship alive. Dismissed," Stepashin just glared at the Doctor and Professor as they eyed him, amused, "Dismissed, Stepashin," the captain repeated.
Stepashin huffed and stormed out of the room.
The Professor rolled her eyes at the man's tantrum and looked at the captain, "All we needed to do was let Skaldak go and he'd have forgotten us. But you've attacked him. You declared war. 'Harm one of us and you harm us all.' That's the ancient Martian code. And he's calling in the troops," she held up the headphones.
"You hear that?" the Doctor gestured at them, "Skaldak's sent out a distress call. He'll bring down the fires of hell just for laying a glove on him!"
"Unless you talk to it?" the captain eyed them.
"We're the only ones who can," the Doctor nodded, reaching out to take the Professor's hand, "Between my history with them and her negotiation skills…"
"No," the captain cut in, "Out of the question. We're not losing you. I'll do it."
"What?" the Doctor scoffed.
"You can talk to it through me."
"Skaldak won't talk to you," the Professor remarked, "You're an enemy soldier!"
"How would he know that?"
"Besides the fact he saw you standing there in the same uniform as the men who electrocuted him and changed him up?" the Professor stated, as though it should be obvious, "A soldier knows another soldier, doesn't he?"
The captain stiffened, but had to relent. He'd been able to tell she was a soldier the moment he saw her, just from how she carried herself.
"He'll smell it on you," the Doctor agreed, "Smell it on you a mile off."
"And he wouldn't smell it on either of you?" he countered.
"Just let us in there before it's too late," the Professor insisted.
"It can't be you or any of your men," the Doctor agreed.
"Well, it can't be you!" the captain glared.
Clara cleared her throat, making them look at her, "Well, there really is only one choice, isn't there? I don't smell of anything...to my knowledge."
The Doctor started to smile and nod, the Professor proud of the girl for offering, before he shook his head, realizing the danger, his hearts giving a little ping at the slight familial protectiveness that flashed in him, she was so young, she shouldn't be facing down an Ice Warrior, and so…he put his foot down, "You? No! No! No way. You're not going in there alone, Clara. Absolutely not! No, no. Never!"
Clara blinked and turned to the Professor, who sighed, "Come on, I'll get you set up."
"Professor!"
"What?" the professor looked up from playing with Aeon, far more amused by the little tiger colored kitten than what the others were talking about.
The Doctor blinked, and corrected, "Katherine!"
Which only made the women laugh.
~8~
The Doctor sat in front of a screen and microphone in the communications room, the Professor having escorted Clara to the torpedo room, waiting outside the door for the girl, should anything happen to her, watching them both through the cameras. He looked down when he felt Aeon pawing at his pants, the Professor had requested he keep the kitten there in case anything went wrong so he wouldn't attack. It was so sweet how the kitten wanted to protect them, but they were both very capable of protecting themselves and the kitten was really more naturally bred to protect children. It had been his way of showing her he believed they'd have them one day.
He smiled and scooped the kitten up, setting Aeon on his lap…only for the kitten to hiss, unable to see anything over the edge of the table. He laughed and picked the kitten up gently by the scruff of the neck to place him on his shoulder on his stomach so he could see the screen. He reached up and petted him as Aeon nuzzled the side of his head in thanks.
He took a breath, seeing the Professor setting up the headset the captain had given them on Clara's head, "Ready, Clara?" he called.
"Yeah," she called back.
He watched as the Professor nodded and opened the door to the torpedo room, allowing Clara in.
"Ok," he began as the door shut behind Clara, a quick flash of the sonic allowing the screen to split, showing him both Clara inside the room and the Professor outside it, "Repeat after me…Grand Marshal Skaldak…" he waited till she did so.
'Don't forget the salute,' the Professor reminded.
"Do the salute just like the Prof...Katherine...showed you," he instructed as she put her right fist to her chest a moment, Skaldak's hiss audible over the speakers.
"Ok?" Clara asked quietly.
"Good," he nodded, "Good. Now, like we rehearsed…Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste...by the moons, I honor thee," he waited a moment, "Good. It's ok, Clara. Go closer," he watched her walk nearer, "Now…Grand Marshal, I'm...we're sorry about this…it's not what you deserve…"
He looked up as the power went out.
"Oh!" Clara swallowed, "Oh, great."
'Kata…' he looked at her section.
'I'm fine Theta, remember the app?'
He smiled, watching as she held up her blaster at the camera, a small light shining up at him. She'd added an app to her blaster, a small light on the top of it, so she was perfectly calm, though Clara looked a little nervous, "Hey, it's ok, Clara," he worked on calming her while she picked up a small torch, "Keep going, remember…you're a long way from home…5,000 years adrift in time. Please, let us help you. You're not our enemy…"
"And yet, I am in chains!" Skaldak countered over the radio, making Aeon hiss at the alien.
"Doctor, what do I say?" Clara breathed.
"Yes, Doctor. What should she say?"
"I think he wants to speak to the organ-grinder, not to the monkey," the professor remarked.
"I heard that!" Clara grumbled.
The Doctor shook his head, hearing the Professor laughing in his mind at Clara being called a monkey, she was about Jenny's age, and he'd called Jenny a monkey too, indirectly of course.
'We should really let Jenny and Clara meet,' the Professor remarked.
He laughed a bit at that, 'Jenny, our daughter, meeting Clara, our granddaughter.'
'Imagine if River, our goddaughter, was there too.'
'We have a lot of daughters.'
'Now you see why I want a son so badly!'
He smiled at that, 'I still want that little you.'
'You've got three little mes running around but I've yet to get a little YOU.'
He nodded, thinking about that. Jenny was just like the soldier Professor, so strong and confident. River was so like her in her knowledge and attentiveness and ability to handle herself. Clara was like her in her sense of adventure and natural care. They really were all like little pieces of a puzzle that made up something of the Professor.
But…that was the thing. They weren't actually hers. Jenny was really the only one that came close, having his DNA, but…she was an echo. That progenation machine had been set for human DNA and when his had been added, it made her more of a hybrid. A far more resilient human, a human with a longer lifespan, but still…human. And she didn't share DNA with the Professor, not that it mattered, the girl was her daughter as far as she was concerned.
But he wanted a child that was truly and completely theirs.
He looked over as Aeon hissed beside him, glaring at the screen and realized he should probably get back to Skaldak, 'What should I tell him?' he wondered to her.
'Remind him this isn't anything he wouldn't have done himself by the customs of Mars,' she answered, sensing an end to that particular conversation, for the moment.
He nodded, "You're restrained until we can trust each other, Skaldak," he called, seeing Clara had lowered the headphones so that Skaldak could hear him speaking, "You would do exactly the same in our position and don't even think about using that sonic weapon Not in the torpedo room."
"I was fleet commander of the Nix Tharsis," Skaldak remarked, "My daughter stood by me. It was her first taste of action. We sang the songs of the old times. The songs of the red snow. 5,000 years, now my daughter will be...dust. Only dust!"
"No, no, no, listen. Your people live on, Skaldak! Scattered all across the Universe. And Mars will rise again, I promise you. Just…let us help you."
'Doctor…' the Professor began.
"I require no help," Skaldak cried.
'What?' he tensed, hearing something else in her voice.
"There will be no help!"
'I'm hearing two people moving in there…but one does NOT sound like its wearing armor…'
His eyes widened, seeing Clara moving closer to the suit, well there was the one person moving at least, "Careful, Clara."
"I'm ok," she waved him off.
"No, listen, Clara, don't get too close!"
"I'm ok! Doctor, something's wrong…"
"I know," he sighed, "Clara…" he began as she reached for the suit, "The armor is empty," she touched it and the helmet fell backwards.
She jumped back, "It's not there! It's gone! It's got out!"
"It is time I learned the measure of my enemies!" Skaldak roared, "And what this vessel is capable of!"
"No, no, no, Skaldak!"
'Kata get in there!'
'Working on it!' she shouted and he saw her struggling with the door in the hallway, 'The power's sealed the door!'
"Harm one of us and you harm us all!" Skaldak declared, "By the moons, this I swear!"
"Clara! Get out of there! Get out!" he leapt up and ran to the doors, pulling Aeon off his shoulder…only for the captain to pull his gun on him, making Aeon hiss, his hair standing up in the process, "I've never seen one do this before!" he held up a hand to the captain, "Actually, I've never seen one out of its armor before."
'I have,' the Professor remarked.
'Really? When?'
'I'll tell you later dear, right now we need to help Clara!'
He nodded and ran for the door as the captain lowered his gun, quickly placing Aeon into his vest to free his hands and keep the kitten safe and as dry as he could, there was water all over the floors and he didn't want the kitten to drown or anything.
"Won't it be more vulnerable out of its shell?" the professor asked, following him.
The Doctor paused, "No, it will be more dangerous," he told them, rushing off, through the halls till he found the Professor outside the torpedo room, the woman with a small blowtorch in her hand as she cut through the automatic lock that had kept the door shut.
"Got it!" she cheered, throwing the door open, only for something to shove her and the Doctor back, Skaldak escaping.
"Clara!" they called, ignoring Skaldak for the moment in their rush to get her out, pulling her through the small round circular door and into the hall and hugging her as the captain and professor ran up.
"I'm ok," she breathed, "Ha ha, I'm ok, I'm ok! Where did he go? How did I do? Was I ok?"
"This wasn't a test, Clara," the Professor laughed, brushing a hair from Clara's face behind her ear.
"I know but..."
"You were great," the Doctor told her, patting her head, "Yeah."
"Really?" she smiled, feeling a flash of happiness for having made them proud. She felt like when she was a little girl and she'd get a high marks on an exam and show her mother, it always ended up on the refrigerator and her mum was so proud, she looked at her just like they were now.
"Really," he promised.
Aeon let out a little squawking mew and the Professor laughed, turning to take the kitten from the Doctor, petting it to reassure it she was ok.
"Doctor, Katherine," the professor called, holding up his headphones, "The signal, it's stopped."
They ran over, listening to hear the beeps had stopped.
"Skaldak got no answer from his Martian brothers," the Professor realized, "He's given up hope."
"Hope of what?" the captain shook his head.
"Being rescued."
"He thinks he's been abandoned," the Doctor nodded, squeezing the Professor's hand, "He's got nothing left to lose."
"But what can he do stuck down here like the rest of us?" the captain continued, "How bad can it be?"
The Professor blinked, "Really? This sub's stuffed with nuclear missiles!"
"It's fat with them!" the Doctor nodded, "What do you think Skaldak's going to do when he finds that out? 'How bad can it be? How bad can it be?'"
"Oh please don't…" the Professor began.
"It couldn't be any worse!" the Doctor finished…
And then the ship shook, sending them flying into the walls, a door flying open sending water pouring in…right over the Professor and Aeon, the girl holding the kitten to her chest as she turned to shield it from the water, though he got a bit wet anyway.
"Every time," the Professor shook her head, looking at the Doctor when the water stopped falling on her, both her and Aeon looking less amused.
"Ok, spoke too soon," he winced.
"Hate you," she muttered.
"No you don't," he smirked back, reaching out to brush a lock of sopping hair out of her face, reaching down to pet Aeon only for the kitten to hiss at him and swipe his little paw at him, NOT happy.
~8~
The captain stood before the crew in the bridge, the Doctor, Professor, professor, and Clara to the side, the Doctor sitting at one of the controls, the Professor beside him, leaning on it with her arms crossed, listening to the man rally his troops, Aeon curled up on the controls beside her, watching the humans.
"Comrades, you know our situation," the captain began, "The reactor is drowned, we are totally reliant on battery power and our air is running out. Rescue is unlikely but we still have a mission to fulfill. If the Doctor and Katherine are right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs. We are expendable, comrades, our world is not. I know I can rely on every one of you to do his duty without fail. That is all."
"Even if a missile did get launched, that wouldn't be...it, would it?" Clara asked them as the men began to prepare.
"'It?'" the Doctor looked up at her.
"End of the world. Game over. I mean, what if they fired one by accident, what would happen then?"
"I told you, Clara. Earth is like a storm waiting to break right now. Both sides baring their teeth, talking up war. It would only take one tiny spark."
"But the world didn't end in 1983, did it? Or I wouldn't be here."
"History's in flux," the Professor explained, "It can be changed. Rewritten," she sighed and got up, walking to the captain, Aeon picking up his head to watch her go, making the Doctor smile at how dedicated that little kitten was to keeping his Bonded safe, "How many of us are left?"
"12," he sighed, "And we can't find Stepashin."
"He's dead," the Professor said.
"What!?"
"Skaldak is loose on your ship, he's your second-in-command, he would NOT disobey an order like meeting here out of spite. Skaldak got to him. We need to split up and comb the sub. One team stays here to guard the bridge."
"That's it?" the captain frowned, still shaken from how bluntly she'd spoken of his second's possible death, "That's the plan?"
"Well, it's either that or we stay here and wait for him to kill us," the Doctor added.
"Ok," the captain sighed and moved to his men to split them up.
"Is it true you've never seen one outside of its shell suit?" Clara asked the Doctor.
"'Shell suit?'" he laughed, she just shrugged, "For an Ice Warrior to leave its armor is the gravest dishonor, Skaldak is desperate."
"It's also a great advantage," the Professor added, absently reaching out to scratch Aeon behind the ears, making him purr, "Without the suit, he's more mobile, agile, quick…" she sighed, scooping Aeon into her arms, petting him as she looked at the Doctor, "The Daleks formed a tentative alliance with the Ice Warriors," the Professor added to the Doctor, "It didn't last long, not when they realized that the Daleks wanted them to operate out of their armor. Only a few agreed, not many of them survived."
Clara frowned, recalling they'd told her about the war on their planet, the companions they'd had, having wanted her to be aware of what had come before her, the Doctor had done that with every Companion after Rose, it seemed he didn't want a repeat of how the woman had treated Sarah Jane, "Why didn't they? Did they die in battle?"
The Professor swallowed, "No…they met me," she shook her head, not wanting to think about those battles, "Skaldak is deadly and we have got to find him before he kills anyone else."
"Will this help?" the professor called, behind them, holding up the sonic.
"Ah!" the Doctor cheered, taking it from him, "You saved it!"
"No, no, it was on the floor with this," he held up the Barbie doll.
"Ah!" he cheered once more, taking the doll and kissing it, "Ah, professor, I could kiss you!"
The professor blinked, "If you insist."
The Professor snorted at the Doctor's blinking, "I most certainly insist," the Professor said as the Doctor looked at her, wide eyed, "That you kiss a professor."
He grinned and pulled her closer, kissing her soundly.
~8~
Clara followed the Doctor and Professor…and professor…down a corridor, the Doctor scanning around with his sonic, the Professor with her blaster out and ready, "Doctor…why do you have a Barbie doll?" she had to ask, it was just…SO odd…
He smiled, "It's not a Barbie doll," he corrected, "It's a Professor doll, er a Katherine doll."
The Professor smiled, "He didn't get to meet many other mes," she added, they'd told Clara about regeneration, in the off chance that they ever ended up regenerating around her, they didn't want her to react like Rose had to the Doctor, they wanted her to be better prepared. And, they supposed, it had something to do with how they were starting to see her almost like family, you didn't keep things from family, "So he made doll versions of them, all of them though…" she reached into his pocket and pulled out the doll, tossing it to Clara, "Meet Me Number 1."
Clara looked down at the blonde doll in her hand, grey eyed, smiling, a book in hand, wearing a simple, three quarter sleeved, red shirt that was tight near the top and flowed out to her thighs, with black pants and black boots over her pants. She blinked and shook her head, handing it back, despite what they'd said, she still thought they were making up the fact that they could change their faces, it was hard to imagine them looking or acting different than they were.
"A better question might be why have they got a cattle prod on a submarine?" the Professor laughed, putting the doll back and patting the Doctor's pocket.
"Polar bears," the professor replied, "We run across them when we're drilling. Can be quite nasty, you know?"
"I'd swap one for an Ice Warrior any day," Clara murmured, "Cuddlier!" she smiled, patting Aeon's head. Since she was wearing the Professor's jacket and it seemed to have 'slipped' the Doctor's mind to offer the Professor his jacket…she secretly thought he was enjoying the sight of her in her bare-shouldered dress…the kitten was nestled in the front of the jacket to avoid the water on the ground.
"Courage, my dear."
The Doctor looked around at one of the switches on a control box and flicked it…
Starting an alarm…
"Doctor!" the Professor shouted as he tried to turn it off, the Professor keeping a lookout in case Skaldak came for the sound.
"I always sing a song," the professor continued, not seeming to mind the blaring alarm.
"What?" Clara looked at him, petting Aeon as he squirmed at the annoying noise.
"To keep my spirits up."
"Yes, that would work...if this was 'Pinocchio.'"
"D'you know 'Hungry like the Wolf?'"
"What?"
"Duran Duran, one of my favorites. Come on!"
"I'm not singing a song!"
"I will!" the Professor laughed, "'I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf…" she sang beautifully, adding a small dance to it, "Strut on the line, it's discord and rhyme, I howl and I whine, I'm after you," she laughed as the Doctor grinned and pulled her into his arms, dancing a small waltz with her as she sang, both of them ignoring the alarm still going off and the Ice Warrior on the loose, "Mouth is alive, all running inside, And I'm hungry like the wolf…'"
Clara shook her head, though she was smiling at them, "Buzzer's still going off Doctor!"
"Right!" the spun the Professor out and turned to the panel, getting the alarm to shut off as a hatch opened in the wall with a rush of air. He stuck his head in and flashed the sonic…only for a groan to sound around them.
"What was that?" Clara breathed.
The Time Lords looked at each other, "Pressure," the Professor answered, "Just pressure."
"We're 700 meters down, remember?" the Doctor agreed.
"Don't worry about it," the professor smiled at her, seeming to have gathered what the others had, "Think of something else," he looked at the Professor, "Can you sing again? 'Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da I am hungry like the wolf.' How about you?" he looked at Clara.
"I'm not singing!" she insisted.
"Don't you know it?"
"'Course I know it. We do it at karaoke. The odd hen night."
"'Karaoke?' 'Hen night?' You speak excellent Russian, my dear, but sometimes I don't understand a word you're talking about."
Clara smiled at that, feeling a bit better…when they heard a snarl, a growl, and a scream.
The Time Lords took off, running down the corridors towards the noises, Aeon hissing behind them, seemingly trying to jump out of Clara's hold as she struggled to keep a grip on the kitten, only to stop short in a small room, the bodies of the crewmen littered around, torn apart. The Doctor closed his eyes at the scene as the Professor frowned, shaking her head.
"Good God!" the professor gasped, staring at the mutilated forms of his crew, "Torn apart. It's a monster. A savage!"
"No," the Professor shook her head, staring at the remains, "Not savage, forensic. He's dismantled them. Skaldak's learning. Learning all about you. Your strengths..." she swallowed, "Your weaknesses..."
The Doctor paused in his scanning of them with the sonic, hearing something else in her voice and stood, looking at her, "Kat…"
She glanced up at him, "Dissection," she gave a sad smile, "No better way to learn about a weapon than to disassemble it, is there?"
"They didn't…" he breathed, his hearts stopping as he worked out just what she was talking about.
She nodded, "Kovarian didn't just test my agility and reactions in Demons Run."
He stared at her, his mouth dropping open at the implication. He knew she'd been experimented on, by their people, her brain cut into, her muscles strengthened, but this?!
"I'm so sorry Kat," he breathed, reaching out to pull her to him, hugging her tightly, feeling anger rising inside him.
She smiled, just hugging him back, "I've been through worse hell than that," she murmured, "It was nothing."
"It was dissection!" he shouted, pulling away, cupping her face with his hands, "They cut you open and poked around inside you and…"
He swallowed hard.
Amy…she hadn't been able to have children, given what Kovarian had done to her on Demons Run…had they…
"No," she reassured him, "They would have wanted a pure Time Lord, they wouldn't have wanted another half, which was all they would have been able to get from just me. They didn't touch that," she told him, "They might have if you hadn't come when you did, tried to see if they could merge actual Time Lord DNA instead of just human plus from the Vortex, but they weren't expecting me to be with Amy when they took us. They weren't prepared for what to do with me. And I would have killed them, shock collar or no, if they dared tried to harvest that. It was mostly to see how different we were on the inside compared to a human, see if any complications might arise in…" she glanced at the humans, "Melody," she used.
He nodded, still angry it had happened to her, but relieved that nothing had been taken from her, nothing had been damaged, and took her hand, "Come on!" he called to the humans as they ran off, letting the sonic guide him, till he stopped, getting a reading, "Stay here," he told Clara as he took the Professor's hand and led her off.
"Ok," Clara called, petting Aeon a bit more, needing to feel safer with the Time Lords about to leave her alone for a moment.
"Stay here! Don't argue!"
"She's not," the Professor told him as she followed him up a ladder.
He paused, "Right. Good!"
The Professor laughed, nudging him on, "I know, a Companion who isn't wandering off, that's a first eh?"
He grinned and they ran down a corridor, around a corner, to another room…following the sonic…only to stop short, seeing a mutilated body on the floor, unrecognizable.
The Professor knelt down and touched the man's ankle, scanning his DNA, "Stepashin."
The Doctor spotted a wallet on the floor and picked it up, opening it to see a woman inside, Stepashin's wife, "Oh, Stepashin."
They looked back, hearing metal rattling and footsteps retreating and followed it, the Doctor with the sonic, the Professor with her blaster, looking up when they heard something fly past them, above them.
"Oh...oh...oh!" the Doctor tried to catch sight of it, "Fast. He's fast..."
"I told you," the Professor nodded as they headed back to Clara, the same direction Skaldak had gone, "Without the armor, he can move anywhere."
They took off running, however, when they heard a gunshot go off and Clara scream and something roar. They raced back into the corridor, down the ladder, when they saw Skaldak grabbing the professor's head, Clara panting, Aeon transformed before her, snarling up at the alien.
"No, please, don't hurt him," Clara begged, "Please!"
"You attacked me!" Skaldak roared, only his red eyes visible, "Martian law decree's that the people of this planet are forfeit. I now have all the information I require. It will take only one missile to begin the process. To end this cold war."
"Grand Marshal," the Doctor tried as they ran down to the corridor again, "There is no need for this. Listen to me..."
"My distress call has not been answered," he cut in, "It will never be answered. My people are dead. They are dust. There is nothing left for me except my revenge!" he growled.
The Professor frowned, hearing a beep start, recognizing it, 'He's activated his armor,' she warned the Doctor.
"There is something left for you, Skaldak," he nodded, both to her and Skaldak, "Mercy."
"Mercy?" Skaldak scoffed.
"What the bloody hell is that thing!?" the captain shouted, running up with a gun, having heard the gunshot as well, to see a tiger standing before his professor who was being threatened by something with green, scaly hands.
"That thing is my kitten!" the Professor huffed at him, "And if you point that gun at him I will kill you."
The captain tensed, sensing that there was a bigger threat than her at the moment, or the tiger, "Then I shall point it elsewhere," he aimed it up at Skaldak, "You must wear that armor for a reason, my friend! Let's see, shall we?"
"No, captain, wait!" the Professor shoved the gun down.
"I will do whatever it takes to defend my world, Katherine."
"Yes, great, fine, good, but we're getting somewhere here," the Doctor countered, "We're negotiating, 'jaw-jaw not war-war.'"
"Churchill?" the professor asked.
"Churchill," the Doctor grinned and pointed at him, looking back at the Professor, "You're right, I like him too."
"Very well, we'll negotiate," the captain nodded, "But from a position of strength!" and aimed the gun at Skaldak again.
"Excellent tactical thinking," Skaldak chuckled, "My congratulations, captain."
"Thank you."
"Unfortunately, your position is not, perhaps, as strong as you might hope!" there was a growl and they looked back to see the armor walking towards them, the chains trailing from its ankles and chest…Skaldak streaking past them and right into the suit, closing it.
"How did it do that?" Clara breathed, staring at the armor as Aeon turned and growled at it, tense.
"Sonic tech, Clara," the Doctor explained, "The song of the Ice Warrior!"
A young crewman who ran in with the captain began to shoot at Skaldak, but the man simply turned and walked away, the Professor jumping forward to disable the man and stop him from the continued attack.
"My world is dead but now there will be a second red planet!" Skaldak cried, "Red with the blood of humanity!"
"Skaldak!" the Doctor rushed after him, "Skaldak! Wait!"
But the warrior just walked on.
"Grand Marshal Skaldak I challenge you!" the Professor shouted, a last ditch effort to stop him, and the Martian did stop, and turn around, "Single combat, by the ancient and sanctified laws, for the planet."
Skaldak started to laugh, "And who are YOU to challenge me?"
"The Professor, of Gallifrey."
"That means nothing to me," he sneered.
She blinked, before starting to laugh, "Oh that is BRILLIANT! You've been trapped beneath the ice for 5,000 years, probably before the Time War even began to stir, you have no idea who I am do you!? Oh that is fantastic! Finally," she smiled at the Doctor, "Someone not terrified or completely awed by my title."
The Doctor nodded, amused at her enthusiastic reaction, "The challenge dear?" he reminded her.
"Right, yes," she turned back to Skaldak, "I am the greatest warrior of my people," she introduced, not really happy with it but knowing it had to be said for the alien to even consider the challenge, "And I challenge you for the planet, do you accept?"
Skaldak eyed her, he'd seen her abilities himself, seen her stop the humans, seen her fire with precision, attack and defend, a soldier always recognized another soldier and she was quite possibly a better one than him.
"No," he growled, turning to move on, he was not about to risk his vengeance being stopped.
She blinked, "Well that's a first too," she pouted, looking at the Doctor, "I was actually looking forward to a little sparring, it's been ages since Rory and I had that duel with short swords…"
He laughed, recalling that, she'd told Rory she'd make it easy for him but Rory had insisted he could handle it…and ended up on his back with her sword at his throat in mere moments. Then he'd insisted that he was going easy on her and really actually fought her…and it took a second more that time. So Amy had started throwing off challenges, like…the Professor with one arm behind her back, the Professor with her legs tied together, the Professor with her eyes closed…all ending in the same result.
"We'll pop in and see the Sontarans," he promised, "See if they can't give you a decent work out."
"Or we could find River," she remarked, "I think I should start her actual training now…"
He nodded.
"Um, shouldn't we stop him?" Clara asked, pointing at where Skaldak had disappeared around a corner.
"Yes!" the Doctor jolted, running after the alien, Aeon bounding after him to keep him safe.
They made it into the control room just as Skaldak stuck wires from his suit into the controls, turning the lights red, "No!" he shouted, "Skaldak! Wait! Wait! Wait!"
"He's arming the warheads!" the captain realized, pointing his gun at the man.
"Where is the honor in condemning billions of innocents to death?" the Doctor tried to reason.
"5,000 years ago Mars was the center of a vast empire," the Professor continued, reaching out to rest her hand on the back of Aeon's neck, silently telling him to stand down, to not attack. She and the Doctor still had a chance to stop him, working with their experience and knowledge to get through to him.
"The jewel of this solar system."
"The people of Earth had only just begun to leave their caves."
"5,000 years isn't such a long time, they're still just frightened children, still primitive."
"Who are you to judge them?"
Skaldak turned to them, not seeming to notice their switch in speech, "I am Skaldak! This planet is forfeit under Martian law."
"Then teach them!" the Professor insisted, "Teach them, Grand Marshal!"
"Show them another way!" the Doctor nodded.
"Show them there is honor in mercy."
"Is this how you want history to remember you? Grand Marshal Skaldak, Destroyer of Earth?"
"Because that's what you'll be if you send those missiles. Not a soldier, a murderer."
"Five billion lives extinguished."
Skaldak just grunted and turned to the controls, ready to push the launch button, Aeon roaring at him, but staying back as his mistress commanded.
"No chance for goodbyes," the Professor called.
"A world snuffed out like a candle flame!"
But Skaldak was unmoved.
The Time Lords looked at each other before they nodded, the Doctor holding up the sonic, "Alright, alright, Skaldak, you leave me no choice. We're Time Lords, Skaldak. We know a bit about sonic technology."
"A threat?" Skaldak turned, "You threaten me, Doctor?"
"No. No, not you..." he swallowed, "All of us."
"He'll blow this sub up before you can even reach that button, Grand Marshal," the Professor warned him, "He'll blow us all to oblivion."
"You would sacrifice yourselves?" the alien eyed them.
"In a heartbeat," the Doctor nodded, turning the sonic red as he held it up, his hand taking the Professor's as she fisted a bit of Aeon's fur to keep the animal calm. Despite it being in a Keroberos's nature to be fiercely protective of its family, to attack the danger to it, they did not want the animal to have to kill anyone if they could help it.
"Mutually assured destruction!" he spun to the button.
"Look him in the eye, Skaldak," the Professor called, "Look ME in the eye and tell me you're capable of doing this," she shook her head, "You can't do it."
"You think I cannot?" Skaldak turned again.
"No," she stated, "Because you're not ME. And you haven't done this before. I have, and I don't see it in you."
Skaldak's helmet opened, revealing his wide, reptilian face, "Which of us shall blink first?"
"Why did you hesitate?" Clara called, stepping beside the Time Lords, "Back there, in the dark. You were going to kill this man, remember?" she gestured at the professor, "I begged you not to and you listened. Why show compassion then, Skaldak, and not now? The Doctor and Professor are right. Billions will die...mothers, sons, fathers...daughters. Remember that last battle, Skaldak? Your daughter...you sang the songs..."
"Of the red snows," he breathed, looking down.
The submarine started shaking, a crunching noise around them.
Clara gasped, "What's happening?!"
"My people live!" Skaldak cried, hearing a faint and familiar buzz over the radio, "They have come for me!"
"We're rising," the captain stared at the gauges beside him, "We're rising!"
"600 meters..." the professor read, "550..."
"We've surfaced," the Doctor cheered moments later, smiling at Skaldak, "Your people have saved us."
"Saved me, not you," he replied.
"Just go, Skaldak," the Professor rolled her eyes, "Please. Go in peace."
Skaldak simply teleported out.
"We did it!" Clara jumped up and down, "We did it!"
"Not yet," the Professor sighed, even Aeon seeming to sense that the danger hadn't passed, remaining in his full size as the Professor stepped up to the controls, glancing back at the Doctor, "It's still armed. A single pulse from that ship..."
He nodded, swallowing hard as he squeezed her hand, holding up the sonic, "I'll destroy us if I have to," he whispered, leaning forward to rest his head to her forehead, "I will destroy us if I have to."
"I know," she whispered, giving him a peck, squeezing his hand, letting him know she wouldn't blame him at all if he did have to.
"Show mercy, Skaldak. Come on, show mercy."
Clara panted a bit, nervous as she watched the Time Lords, knowing that they really would, "Da-da-da-dah I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf…" she sang, looking down as Aeon moved closer to her, nudging her side, trying to comfort her.
A bell went off and the lights switched back to green, the Doctor shutting off the sonic with a beam, "Now we're safe!" he cheered, kissing the Professor deeply in relief.
Someone cleared their throat beside them and they looked over to see Clara, who smiled a moment before jumping forward and hugging them both, the two of them laughing and hugging her tightly in return. The hug lasting quite a while till Aeon, still in his larger size, squirmed between them, clearly wanting to be a part of the love. They laughed and petted him, watching with a smile as the tiger turned back into a kitten and blinked up at them.
"Saved the world then?" Clara asked as she scooped Aeon into her hands, cuddling the kitten.
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded.
"That's what we do?"
"Yeah," the Professor laughed.
~8~
The Doctor, Professor, professor, Clara, and the captain made their way onto the top of the ship, staring out at the icy landscape ahead of them, staring up at the Martian spaceship over them.
"The TARDIS!" Clara gasped, recalling their spaceship at the sight of the other one, "Where's the TARDIS? You never explained."
"Oh, well, don't worry about that," the Doctor tried to wave her off, embarrassed as Aeon, cold, nuzzled a bit into his chest, currently residing in the front of his vest.
"Stop saying that! Where is it?"
"Yes Doctor," the Professor smiled, crossing her arms, amused, "Tell her."
"Yeah, well, I wasn't to know, was I?" he defended.
Clara crossed her arms as well, unconsciously mimicking the Professor, "Know what?"
"I've been tinkering...breaking her in. I'm allowed!"
"No, you're really not," the Professor laughed.
"What did you do?" Clara raised an eyebrow.
"I reset the HADS!" he mumbled.
"Huh?"
"I reset," he said, before mumbling again, "The HADS!"
"The what?"
"The HADS!"
The Professor shook her head, "The Hostile Action Displacement System."
He nodded, "If the TARDIS comes under attack, gunfire, time-winds, the...sea, it...relocates."
"Oh, Doctor," Clara groaned.
"Haven't used it in donkey's years. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Well, never mind, it's bound to turn up somewhere!" the sonic beeped, "Oh! Ha, see, right on cue!" he pulled it out and looked at it, "Brilliant!"
"Brilliant!"
"The TARDIS is at the Pole!" the Doctor began.
"Not far then," Clara nodded and headed for the hatch.
"The South Pole," the Professor added.
Clara stopped, "Ah…"
"Could we have a lift?" the Doctor asked the captain, who just laughed at him with Clara, heading inside with a smiling professor.
The Doctor gave a mock laugh as well, before looking at the Professor, she just saluted the Martian ship and it flew off.
"Well then," the Professor began, smiling at him, "We're at the North Pole…quite a ways to go before we reach the South…"
"Yes, yes, I know," he sighed.
She just tilted his head up with her finger, "I wonder what we can do to pass the time, hmm," she trailed her finger down his throat to his bow tie, fingering it a moment, "Do you think the doors here have knobs dear? With all our running…I didn't notice and I wouldn't want the bow tie to fall off it…"
He stared at her, wide eyed a moment, before grabbing her hand, "Let's find out!"
~8~
The Doctor yawned as he walked through the TARDIS, he'd gone to take a short nap with the Professor after they'd dropped off Clara back at the Maitland home, only to wake a short while later to see her side of the bed was empty, Aeon snoozing on her pillow. Well not really her side. There weren't any sides, they tended to cuddle quite a bit on all sides. He could sense her, feel her, she felt…sad. So he'd gotten up and begun his journey through the TARDIS to find her. He hadn't had to walk all that far really, she was just across the hall, in the little nursery they'd set up, a small room, ready for a baby when (not if) they had one.
He opened the door to see her standing before the little purple cot that Melody/River had once slept in, a small yellow bear with brown eyes and a blue bow tie sitting in it. He really had taken everything that reminded him of her, including the bear he'd made her as her first ever Christmas gift. He'd had to break into her house to get it, but he'd done it. And there it was, ready for their child to play with and cuddle when sleeping…
He stepped over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder, smiling when she wrapped her arms around his, resting back against him.
"You know," she began, "I remember when you first showed me this cot."
He smiled widely at that, he must have scared her, thinking about children when they had only been children at the time.
~/~\~
"Kata!"
She gasped, shooting up on her bed where she'd been reading and literally falling off the side of it from the shock of his sudden entrance.
"Theta!" she huffed, picking herself up, her hearts racing.
He loved doing that, surprising her. He'd sneak up on her when she was studying in the library, put his hands over her eyes and tell her to guess who it was…not that she ever had to guess, he was the only one who did that. He'd come up behind her in the halls and tickle her sides, making her squeal and making everyone look at her for it, but he'd just wrap his arms around her waist and hug her, spinning her around. And he seemed to get a joy out of rushing into her room, her door was hardly ever locked…which she really should consider given that she'd noticed psychopathic tendencies in one of her roommates. But he would burst in, shouting her true name, only when her roommates weren't there, and startle her.
He laughed as he stood there, just watching her get up.
She paused though, looking at him a moment, "What is that?"
He grinned and ran over to her bed, setting down a rather adorable purple cot on it. It was beautifully carved, painted in a crisp purple with gold accents, a small mobile of starts dangling from the top. But…what really got to her…was what he'd painted on the sides of it.
Her name.
Her true name was on one side, while his was on the other.
It was a tradition of sorts among Bonded couples, when they had children, to inscribe their true names on the sides of the baby's cot.
"What is this?" she breathed, staring at it with wide eyes.
"It's a cot."
"I can see that. But…"
"It's OUR cot."
She looked at him, "Our cot?"
He nodded, falling back onto her bed, looking up at her, "We're going to Bond one day Kata, we promised."
"Two years ago," she reminded him, "I'm only 50!"
He shrugged, "So?" before he rolled his eyes and sat up, turning to face her, "I'm not saying we're going to have children NOW Kata. I just…" he smiled a bit, "I like the idea that we'll Bond and…I know we can't really do anything about it now, I know we can't use our true names around others, but…this…this was a way that I could remind myself it'll happen," he looked at her a moment, "It WILL happen, won't it?"
She smiled at his little pout, the slight fear in his eyes that she had changed her mind, as though she ever would.
"Of course it will," she reached out and put a hand to his right heart, him doing the same to hers, their hands meeting in the middle, "We promised."
He beamed, "Brilliant!"
She looked at the cot again, tracing his name, "You'll have to hide this," she reminded him.
"I know," he sighed, he didn't like that. They knew each other's names! That was an incredible thing! And they couldn't even use them half the time.
She smiled as she looked at him, as though sensing where his thoughts had gone. It was…nice how she was able to do that. She always seemed to know what he was thinking even though she couldn't read his mind…
"That's it!" he shouted, jumping up onto the bed, laughing as she jumped at his outburst.
"What's it?" she shook her head.
He just reached out and took her hands, pulling her onto the bed, bouncing, "The mental bond!" he grinned, "We can work on that! It's one of the steps to Bonding, we can do it right now, and then we'll be able to talk to each other! We can use our names all we want and no one will know!" he looked at her, squeezing her hands, "What do you think?"
She looked at him, and down to the cot, and back, "I think that sounds wonderful," she smiled.
"Fantastic!" he laughed, hugging her to him as he bounced on the bed, making her bounce as well.
~/~\~
He smiled at the memory, squeezing her more, "I can't wait till we get to use it," he whispered in her ear, "It's waited long enough."
She nodded, "I was thinking about that, about what you kept saying, about wanting a little me, a daughter."
"Really?" he looked at her.
"Skaldak, his daughter…talking about singing songs with her," she sighed, "And then that adventure to Akhaten, Merry singing…" she looked up at him, "I can't wait till I get to sing a lullaby to our child. Boy…or girl," she added, giving him a peck, "I just want a baby."
He smiled, resting his forehead to hers, "I don't think our child will ever have trouble falling asleep with your beautiful voice lulling them off," he leaned in kissing her deeply before spinning her around, making her laugh as he held her close, front-to-front, starting to sway her, "Will you sing for me Kata?"
She smiled up at him, a soft, loving look in her eyes, "For you Theta, anything," she whispered, before resting her head to his shoulder, singing lightly as he swayed her on.
A/N: Lol, I really wanted to give some sort of explanation for the Barbie doll :) I've got one worked out for Evy (and Angel, if I get to her) as well :) Evy's story is adorable why the Barbie is there :) I hope it wasn't too confusing with two 'professors' there, I tried to do what I did with Angel/Weeping Angels, have one capitalized and the other not.
But as for this chapter, aww, I love when Keta get lost in the moment and flirt :) And the flashback was so sweet :) We'll actually learn more about what the nursery looks like in a later chapter but I wanted to mention it first here. They really, really want that baby don't they? I agree with you, I hope they get it too, but you never know where the characters and plot just...take a story. You can start out planning one thing and, writing it, it changes :( We'll have to see where this story goes :)
OMG! I can't believe it's over in only like 5 days! O.O
Another OMG! Moment...could you imagine if Jenny, River, and Clara WERE ever together in the same place with the Professor...I think the Universe would explode...and the Doctor would probably go mad especially if they were all in the TARDIS, it would be like 5 against 1 :)