A/N: Important-ish question in the A/N at the bottom ;)
~8~
Cold War: Not Vegas
A large submarine made its way through the rough waters under the ice near the North Pole, sinking further down as it went about its drills. The crew within rushed to get their appointed tasks accomplished, knowing what to do, but needing it to be done quicker.
"Signal is genuine," a man called over the radio, "Signal is genuine. Zero bravo..."
The captain and his second in command, a man named Stepashin, stood on the bridge, inserting their control keys into a slot on the control panel before them, unlocking two nuclear missiles on the side of the sub.
"Prepare to launch nuclear weapons," the captain called.
"Aye, sir!" one of the crew rushed to do that.
"Moscow confirming launch sequence," the man called over the radio again.
The captain took a breath and held his hand over the launch button, the button that would end all and start hell, "The Firebird stands ready to serve."
"For the motherland," Stepashin nodded, a grim determination in his eyes.
The captain swallowed, "For the motherland," he agreed, resting his hand on the button, about to push it…when a voice started singing 'Vienna' by Ultravox, an old man bobbing his head to it as he entered the room, listening to it on his walkman.
"'This means nothing to me," the old man grinned as he sang along, "Oh, Vienna…'" and then he noticed the captain and Stepashin staring at him and blinked, "Have I interrupted something?"
The captain sighed, "We were about to blow up the world, Professor."
"Again?" the man scoffed, pulling down his earphones to smile, "Ultravox!" he tapped his player, "I bloody love 'em. Got a friend who sends me the tapes."
The captain rolled his eyes and headed to the radio for the sub, "This is the captain. Drill abandoned. All hands, stand down. Repeat, drill abandoned."
"With respect, sir, we must run it again," Stepashin reminded him.
"Tomorrow," the captain waved him off, leaning over to examine some instruments.
"Comrade Captain, the NATO exercises..."
"Saber-rattling."
"I don't think so."
"Oh, you don't think so?" the man scoffed.
His second was quite the dedicated soldier, but sometimes he got a bit too narrow-minded about things. He wanted things done just so, exactly according to the book, and while the book was essential to their way of life, sometimes the manual left things to be desired. He had often considered, when Stepashin got going, that it would be best to take the manual and fire it out a torpedo slot, just so the man would stop quoting it and using it as a weapon to argue his point. He needed to remember...he was NOT the captain, and he was not the captain for a reason.
"Sir," Stepashin's jaw tensed, "American aggression gets more intolerable by the day. We must run the drill again!"
"Tomorrow," the captain repeated with a note of finality to him, waiting till Stepashin turned and left the bridge before he looked at the professor, "Did you have your specimen stowed ok?"
"Yeah," the professor shrugged, "Piotr's looking after it."
"Well, at least we have something to show for our little hunting expedition. What is it? A mammoth?"
"Probably," the professor shrugged, to be honest, he had no bloody idea what it was that they'd found in the ice, but it was definitely some sort of creature frozen in it, and it was worth investigating.
~8~
Down in the hold, a young man stood before a large chunk of ice, a lighter in his hand, "What are you, Milaya Moya?" the boy wondered, "Professor wants you thawed out back in Moscow, but..." he smiled, "Life's too short to wait."
He lit a blowtorch and began to wave it across the ice, slowly starting to melt it, frowning when he started to hear a rumbling and cracking noise, as though the ice were starting to break from the inside. He stopped, stepping back when he saw something move inside the ice. Suddenly a hand broke through it, grabbing him by the throat with an armor covered hand as the creature within growled…
~8~
The crew was in a panic as something started to attack them, some sort of monster in a suit of large armor, something that had started to come from the hold where they knew the ice and the thing inside it had been kept. The crew that had faced it down first called over the radios, warning the others of the danger within. They were all in a panic as the creature killed its way through them, blasting them with some sort of laser, causing dents and small ruptures to appear in the walls of the sub, compromising its integrity, allow water to enter.
"Ah!" one of the crew screamed as it went after him, "Get away! Alarm! Alarm!"
~8~
In the bridge, the water was slowly flooding, filling the room as the crew wrestled with the controls, trying to keep the sub from sinking amidst the blaring alarms, "Hold the bridge, port side!" Stepashin ordered.
"Evasive maneuvers!" the captain shouted.
"Descending to 200 meters!" one of the crewmen warned.
"We're under attack!" another reported over the radio.
"210!"
They looked up as the hull creaked, the pressure building as they continued to fall down into the ocean, deeper and deeper, "Bring her up, bring her up!" the captain cried.
"It's no good, sir!"
The captain looked around frantically, trying to think of something to do…when he heard an odd wheezing noise sound above the alarms and the shouting of the crew…and then, right before his eyes, a blue police telephone box appeared in the middle of the bridge.
The doors to the box were thrown open and the Doctor, wearing sunglasses along with his normal attire, stepped out, holding Ayla's hand, "Viva Las Vegas!" he cheered…only for the sub to tilt in its descent, sending him toppling out of the box and against the control panel of the sub, twisting so that Ayla, who had gotten pulled along with him, fell in front of him, him blocking her fall.
Clara and Angel stumbled out of the box as well from the sudden change, falling through a wave of water pouring from the ceiling on top of them, making them a bit chilled given their outfits. While Clara had opted for a short white/silver dress with no sleeves, Angel had gone for a more strapless dress, one that was red with white leaf-like patterns in it, her hair down for the most part but with the top of it combed back and clipped back, little white flats on. Ayla though seemed to be mimicking Clara a bit more on this trip with her own outfit of a dark purple sleevelss dress, but with a tiny black shrug over it that had a white butterfly pinned to it and a small black mary jane shoes. Her hair was hanging but with two small butterfly clips on the tops of her head on either side.
They stumbled out, the doors of the TARDIS shutting behind them as they landed on either side of the Doctor.
"Intruders on the bridge!" Stepashin cried.
"Who the hell are you?" the captain spat over the blaring.
The Doctor just took his sunglasses off as Clara winced at the chill, "Not Vegas then?"
"No," the Doctor agreed, "No, this is much better!" he pushed his hair, now soaking wet, from his face, grinning.
"A sinking submarine?"
"It's a Soviet submarine!" Ayla told her, cheering, she hadn't met many Russians yet.
Angel winced at the sound of the alarms and the fear practically radiating off the crew and the fact that it was sinking and…tried to breathe, tried to calm down. She could feel the Vortex swirling inside her and threatening to come out. She closed her eyes, starting to pant, trying to keep it down. The crew were already suspicious enough of how they'd appeared, if she let the Vortex out…they'd never let them go and…she didn't want to be poked and prodded and dissected ever again.
"Break out sidearms!" Stepashin ordered, "Restrain them!"
But most of the crew ignored him, focusing instead on the sinking of their ship and the threat of their own lives first, "410," the crew member continued to report, "420! Turbines still not responding!"
"They've got to!" the captain gasped.
The Doctor looked at Angel, seeing her struggling to keep the Vortex down and took her hand, his thumb stroking over her knuckles in an attempt to calm her and reassure her, though the shouting of the crew was NOT helping them any. He grabbed the sonic with his free hand and flashed it around, needing to find some way to keep the ship from sinking entirely at least, "Ah!" he cheered, "Sideways momentum! You've still got sideways momentum!"
"What?"
"You can go sideways!" Ayla tried to tell the captain, as though it should be obvious, which it really should have been, what else could 'sideways' momentum mean?
The Doctor pointed at her and then him, "Your 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!" Stepashin shouted as two crew members finally reacted and grabbed the Doctor's arm, another trying to take Angel's arm, only to pull back with a snap of his hand, feeling her arm was warm, too warm, almost burning but left no mark on his skin.
"Just listen to him, for God's sake!" Clara yelled, reaching out to pull Ayla closer to her, seeing Angel struggling to control herself while the Doctor worked on trying to get the sub to safety.
"Geographical anomaly to starboard," the Doctor told them, "Probably an underwater ridge."
"How do you know this?" the captain shook his head, he couldn't risk it, if the man was wrong, the entire crew really would die.
"Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it."
"Do it!" Ayla huffed, stomping her foot, "Daddy's never wrong! …except for when he's wrong."
The Doctor couldn't help but laugh at that. He had his good days and his bad days, surprisingly...well, not really THAT surprisingly...more good days now that he had both his girls back and fighting fit again.
"600 meters, sir," the young boy called, "610..."
"Or this thing is going to implode!" the Doctor told him seriously, pulling his daughter back against him, letting the man known with that silent gesture that he was NOT wrong, that he would be risking his daughter's life by making some sort of random guess at all this.
The captain hesitated for only a moment, glancing between the Doctor and Ayla, before nodding, "Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers!"
"Sir?" the young crew member turned to look at him.
"Now!" he ordered.
"You're going to let this madman give the orders?" Stepashin gaped at the captain.
"That's really rude!" Ayla told the man, pointing at him as she tried to keep her balance, Clara having taken the Doctor's place once more in trying to hold her steady so that the Doctor could look after her mother, the human found it rather amusing how the girl had perfect balance in the shaking and jolting TARDIS but lacked it in the sinking sub, "You shouldn't name call!"
"Lateral thrust!" the captain ignored him as well, giving the command.
"Aye, sir!" the young man nodded, turning to help the crew do just that, the Doctor sonicing along, helping them navigate, "660...680..."
The ship jolted as the sub landed, more like crashed, onto the ridge, stilling, everyone holding their breath a moment longer to make sure they were safe, before letting out that breath when they remained steady.
The Doctor smiled, kissing Angel's forehead as he felt the Vortex settling in her as well, now that the danger had passed. He really…didn't know what kept triggering the Vortex in her like that. They faced dangers all the time, he didn't understand why some set her off and others didn't. It was like there was no rhyme or reason behind it, there was no pattern he could see, it just...happened. And it worried him that it was still so random, that he wasn't finding some sort of trigger or anything about it that could help. It was really frustrating to be 'the Doctor' and not be able to help his Mate. Especially when she had helped him SO much without even trying.
"Descent arrested at...700 meters," the young man told them.
The captain eyed the Doctor, "It seems we owe you our lives...whoever you are."
"I'll hold you to that," the Doctor murmured, not taking his eyes off of Angel, "Might come in handy!"
Unfortunately, the second in command was less grateful, "Search them," Stepashin ordered, but the crew hesitated, "Yes, I know, they're women and a child. But the enemy's tricks know no bounds. Now search them!"
The Doctor frowned as he was pulled up with Angel, the crew being, thankfully, more gentle to Ayla and seeming wary of actually searching her unlike they were with the adults. They were pushed back against a pole in the middle of the bridge, the Doctor starting to get patted down first.
"Eh?" he squirmed, "Ooh!"
"Are we going to be ok?" Clara asked them.
"Of course we will," Angel nodded, reaching up to rub her head, still a bit...fuzzy and throbbing from trying to restrain the Vortex for that short while.
"Is that a lie?"
"No," Ayla laughed, seeming perfectly calm despite the situation, "Mummy doesn't lie, that's rule 2!"
Clara blinked, "What's rule 1 then?"
"Daddy lies all the time," Ayla recited, "Then rule 3 is that he doesn't lie to mummy. But the most important rule is not to wander off."
Clara shook her head, completely confused but going with it for the moment, "Right so…where are we exactly? When are we?"
"A very dangerous time, Clara," the Doctor answered, "East and west standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion. Lots of itchy fingers on the button."
"Isn't it always like that?"
"I suppose," Angel had to agree, there were always enemies trying to start a war…the Sontarans being a prime example of it.
That was what she loved about travelling with the Doctor, preventing those wars, keeping all those people from dying. She always hated war and death, the Time War had been a nightmare come true, forcing her to see nothing but that all around her for...too long. It was her opinion that peace could always be brokered, somehow, though she knew it was likely never going to be the case when Daleks or Cybermen got involved. But those were the most stubborn creatures in the Universe! Even Sontarans could be negotiated with at times and they were the most war-driven race out there.
Still, she knew humans were FAR more open to the idea of peace, even if they didn't realize it. Sometimes it just took a small nudge in the right direction for both sides to come to an understanding. She liked to think that the Universe was an ulimately peaceful place, that there didn't need to be war for people to get what they want, that trade and respect could lead to wonderful things. It was why she'd hated the War so much, all that death and destruction, all the...the children...crying. She knew why the Doctor was never able to handle children crying like that, not only because he was, had been, and is a father, but because of the War, because of everyone that had been lost, man, woman, and child.
She closed her eyes, taking Ayla's hand, her mind drifting to all those children who had died, all the children who had been harmed and forced to fight and...scared. She would never ever let that happen to Ayla, not ever, she would never let her daughter become a soldier, she would never let her fight in a blood-filled war, and she would never ever put her in danger like that. Not ever. The Time War was over and, if she had anything at all to say about it, another war of such magnitude would NEVER happen. She wouldn't let it. Somehow...she just wouldn't.
"But there are flash points and this is one," the Doctor added, pulling Angel from her thoughts, "Hair, shoulder pads, nukes. It's the '80s. Everything's bigger! Oi!" he frowned as things were pulled from his pockets, a Barbie doll, some twine, his sonic… "I'd like a receipt, please," he tried to grab the sonic back.
But the captain just took it from the crewman and eyed it, "What is this?"
The Doctor opened his mouth to answer when the sub creaked and tilted, Clara falling over as she lost her balance, falling to the side, "Clara!" the Doctor reached for her, but Clara hit her head, falling under the water…
"Sissy no!" Angel cried as the TARDIS disappeared before their very eyes as well…
~8~
"Clara!" Ayla cheered as she saw Clara slowly starting to wake up, sitting against the wall in one of the halls of the sub, one of the crew's jackets around her, "Are you alright?"
"Oh…" Clara winced, rubbing her head, "What happened?"
"You hit your head," Ayla told her simply, before moving to kiss her forehead like her parents always kissed her booboos, "Is it better?" she stared at Clara, wide-eyed, expectant.
Clara laughed, "Much, thanks."
"Captain, we didn't know the type of your ship out here..." the Doctor was speaking, him and Angel standing before the captain, the man with the rest of his crew behind him, Angel wearing the Doctor's jacket as her dress was strapless and the water was cold.
"Yeah, well, that's till the rescue ship comes," the captain countered.
"It's not coming," Angel told him.
"Which means the sinking isn't just a coincidence then, is it?" the man glared, "Who are you?!"
Ayla reached out and helped Clara stand, Angel glancing over when she saw the move, "Clara you alright?" she headed over to her.
"Yeah," Clara winced, rubbing her head, "Head hurts a bit."
"I thought it was better!" Ayla blinked up at her.
Clara offered her an apologetic smile, "It is, loads better, but still a bit tender," she corrected, even though it hurt quite badly.
"Here, let me," Angel whispered, glancing at the Doctor who nodded, starting to speak to keep the crew distracted.
"Alright, Captain, alright," the Doctor said, a bit louder than necessary so that the whole crew would look at him and not Angel as a faint golden light travelled from her hand into Clara's head, healing her bump, "You know what? Just this once, no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be Earth ambassadors. I'm the Doctor, those girls are my Mate, Angel, and our daughter, Ayla, and our friend, Clara, we're time travelers," he glanced at them, "You ok now Clara?"
"Yeah," she nodded, smiling at Angel, "Thanks."
"Time travelers?" the captain shook his head.
"You saw a blue box appear in the middle of your ship," Angel reminded them, looking over from where she was standing with Clara and Ayla, "You can't tell me you didn't notice. Stepashin certainly did."
"How do you know my name?" Stepashin eyed her warily.
Angel smiled, it was staring to become a sort of running question with her, much like 'Doctor Who' when they asked her how she knew things and she just replied, "I'm psychic," she told them.
The Doctor smiled, he loved it when she did that. It had taken him SO long to get her to that point where she had accepted her abilities, where she stopped countering him to calling her a precog or a psychic or a Visionary, it was just…amazing to see her finally embracing her abilities, or her vision at least. The Vortex was severely frightening her at the moment with how uncontrollable it was becoming, but she was still there still using it when she could, still fighting for control and not giving in.
Ayla though, nodded, "You saw us pop up," she pointed to the captain.
"I didn't," the professor remarked, having been elsewhere in the sub, trying to help trap the creature that had been after them. He'd managed to lock it in one part of the ship, but he wasn't sure how long it would last and had been coming to tell the captain...only to see him there with four others he didn't recall being part of the crew...especially not a little girl.
"Your problem mate, not mine!" the Doctor said.
"Daddy that's rude!" Ayla poked him, only for him to laugh and scoop her up, making the crew stare at him oddly, here he was, trapped in a sinking submarine, with his family, with his daughter, and the man was just smiling and laughing with the girl.
"We were sinking..." Clara turned to Angel.
"We were, yes," she nodded.
"What happened?"
Angel laughed, "We stopped."
"No, what happened to the TARDIS, I mean?" Clara frowned, "I remember you shouting at it…er, her," she corrected, recalling what Ayla had said about doing that, referring to the ship as a person, which the box did seem to like as she always hummed whenever she called the old box 'girl' or something.
"Well," Angel put her arm around Clara's shoulder, "You see, the Doctor decided to…"
"Never mind that," the Doctor cut in, "Listen..." he turned back to the captain, "Captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?"
"You're right," the captain agreed, "Maybe I can save a little oxygen by having you all shot?!"
"That wouldn't help at all," Angel called, trying to remain calm as the Doctor glared at him for his threat, pulling their attention over to her and Clara, "The thing that attacked you," she began, "You're going to need our help."
"And what does it matter how we arrived?" Clara agreed, "The important thing is to get..." she trailed off, frowning when she spotted something down the hall…a creature in big armor walking towards them, Angel stiffening as she saw it, "…out."
Ayla frowned, seeing her mother inching closer to her and the Doctor and looked over his shoulder to see the creature drawing nearer…and poked the Doctor in the cheek to get his attention.
"Exactly!" the Doctor pointed at Clara, snapping his fingers, "Number one priority, not suffocating!" he patted the captain's chest.
"Daddy…" Ayla poked him again.
"Eh?" the Doctor asked as the crew started to back away, not noticing Angel was now beside him or that Ayla was poking him, "Ah, oh, thank you! Finally, seeing sense! Now, what sort of state is the sub in?"
"Daddy," Ayla grabbed his nose instead and used it to turn his head to face her, "Stop talking."
"What is it sweetheart?" he asked her, his voice nasally and high from the pinch of his nose.
Ayla just turned his head more to look over his shoulder at the large reptilian creature peering at him from its helmet, hissing at them and leapt back, beside Angel as they faced the creature, "Ah..." he nodded, "It never rains but it pours."
"It floods," Angel murmured, "Ice water…" she added.
"We were drilling for oil in the ice," the professor told them, "I thought I'd found a mammoth."
"I don't think that's a mammoth," Ayla eyed it, she'd never seen that particular alien before, not in her lessons at least. Oh that was wonderful! She loved learning about new things!
"No," the professor agreed.
"What is it, then?" Clara whispered to them as she came to stand with them, seeing that they seemed to recognize it.
"It's an Ice Warrior," the Doctor answered, setting Ayla down and moving her behind him, "A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back."
"A Martian?" the captain nearly laughed, "You can't be serious."
"I'm always serious."
"Liar," Angel remarked.
"With days off," he conceded.
"Doctor!" Clara hissed at him.
"It'll be alright Clara," Angel told her, "We just need to keep calm," she glanced at the crew, "The men are a bit frightened."
"They're frightened?!" Clara scoffed, "I'm frightened!"
"There's no deed to be," the Doctor turned to her, "If we all stay calm and…"
Before he could even finish one of the men ran past him and aimed his gun at the Ice Warrior, who lifted his weapon as well. But before either could fire, Angel snapped her finger and the young soldier dropped his gun as it sparked gold, the slight electric charge making him drop it.
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor moved in front of the man, holding up his hands to keep the Ice Warrior from firing at him, and also hoping to distract the crew from what Angel had done, hoping they hadn't noticed, "Please, please, wait! Just...there's no need for this! Just hear me out! You're confused, disoriented, of course you are. You've been lying dormant in the ice for...for how long?" he looked at Angel.
"5,000 years," she answered promptly.
"How did you know that?" the professor asked.
Angel glanced at him, "I told you, I really AM psychic."
"That's a hell of a nap," the Doctor agreed, "Can't blame you if you've got out of the wrong side of bed. Nobody here wants to hurt you," he crossed his hearts, "Please, just…um…"
"How about your name?" Angel offered, trying to keep it polite and calm, "I'm Angel…"
"My Mate," the Doctor cut in.
"Nice to meet you," Angel had to laugh at that, "This is Clara and Ayla and…"
"What're you talking about?" the captain interrupted before she could introduce the Doctor, "It has a name?"
"Of course it has a name," the Doctor rolled his eyes at the man for interrupting Angel, "And a rank. This is a soldier. And it deserves our respect."
"This is madness. That is a monster!"
"He's no more a monster than humans are," Ayla countered, "And humans are the best!"
"Skaldak," the Ice Warrior stated…and the Doctor immediately stiffened, his eyes wide as he turned to the Ice Warrior once more.
"What did you say?" he breathed, alarming all the others with the slight…fear in his voice.
"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak."
Angel felt the air leave her lungs at that...
...the Doctor stopped short outside a doorway, looking down at the mutilated corpse of Stepashin within...
'...Martian law decrees that the people of this planet are forfeit...'
...clawed hands shot out in the dark, latching onto the professor's face, the old man tensing as the nails dug in...
Angel shook her head, looking at the Ice Warrior in alarm at what he'd do...
The Doctor blinked, just...staring at him, before shutting his eyes and shaking his head, "Oh, no…"
It appeared one of the soldiers took his tone to mean that Skaldak was a threat and struck the creature from behind with a cattle prod, making him shudder and hiss before collapsing to the ground, unconscious, electrocuted.
"Stepashin!" Angel cried, seeing who it was, startled that she hadn't seen THAT coming given what else she'd seen, "What are you doing!?"
That future...it hadn't happened yet. There was still a chance to change it, to keep Skaldak from attacking everyone like it appeared he was doing in her vision...but now those hopes were dashed by the boy's rash actions. Skaldak, she knew, would wake and want revenge on those who attacked him. Martians, from what she knew, were a proud and war-like race, he would not stop till his revenge had been enacted for the slight against him. And she knew Stepashin would be his first target as he was the first to attack and 'best' him.
The Doctor lunged forward and snatched the prod from him, "You idiot!" he cried as Skaldak fell to the ground, "You...idiot! Grand Marshal Skaldak…"
"You...know him?" Clara shook her head, even Ayla looked confused.
"Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste, vanquisher of the Phobos heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced."
"So what do we do now?" the captain asked.
The Doctor looked at the warrior on the ground, knowing exactly what the thing would do when it woke up, not even needing to be Angel, not even having needed her to share her vision with him, to know…and he was NOT going to risk his daughter to the Martian's rage or expose her to that brutality, "Lock. Him. Up!"
~8~
In the torpedo room, Skaldak was being chained to a series of pipes running along the wall, growling at the two crew members tasked with restraining him, "Is it true?" he rasped.
"True?" one of the young men, the one from the bridge that had reported the sub's status to the captain asked.
"I slept for 5,000 years?"
"Er, that's what the professor says."
"5,000 years!" Skaldak growled loudly, before bowing his head, the crew members backing away and leaving, sealing him into the room, not sure what he'd do next.
~8~
Angel sat on a small crate, Ayla on her lap, her arms around her daughter as they watched the Doctor pacing, Clara and the captain standing, watching him as the professor and Stepashin stood more in the back. It didn't take a psychic to know that something about who that particular Ice Warrior was was bothering the Doctor.
"The Ice Warriors have a different creed," the Doctor explained to them, "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."
"Was that really necessary my love?" Angel asked, having covered Ayla's ears just in time, the girl might be over 100 but there were some things she didn't believe Ayla needed to hear just yet. If it were possible, she wanted to wait till Ayla had hit about 600, when they tended to stop aging, which meant she was a full adult by their people's standards, to get into things like that.
"Very nice," Clara had to agree, rolling her eyes, "He sounds lovely."
"An...Ice Warrior?" the captain frowned, "Explain."
"There isn't time!" the Doctor shouted.
"Always waste time when you don't have any," Ayla recited, "You mustn't break your own rules daddy," she pointed at him.
He sighed, nodding, that was not a lesson he wanted to teach his daughter, "Martian reptile known as the Ice Warrior. When Mars turned cold they had to adapt. 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."
"Like with the cattle prod thing?" Clara guessed.
He pointed at her, "Like that cattle prod thing. Bit of a design flaw, I've always wondered why they never sorted it."
"Is he that dangerous?"
"Ice Warriors normally aren't," Angel sighed, "But I get the feeling this one will be," she looked at the Doctor, "Especially if the others of his kind don't come for him."
He tensed, knowing what she was speaking of, to think you were the last of your species…it was a heavy burden. He had done things, desperate things, foolish things, things he never would have done if he hadn't lost hope that the others were out there. He did things he regretted, but…he hadn't had a will to live till he'd met Angel again. He'd been desperate and he hadn't cared what happened to him, what did it matter if he died? Then the Time Lords would have been all gone and there was no point, so he'd lived recklessly, not caring if anything happened to him.
Oh how the times had changed.
Well, he supposed that came from finding things to live for. And he'd found five when he never thought he would find even a hint of one. His companions, his family, the TARDIS, his daughter, and his Mate, the five reasons to keep going, the five best reasons in the Universe.
And Skaldak...he may believe he lost all of them.
~8~
Deep in the torpedo room, Skaldak growled, "Find me, my brothers, if you are still out there," he whispered, "Find me!" he looked down at his armor, a light starting to blink within it, a beeping noise carrying from it as he prayed his distress call would be heard.
A/N: Dilemma that I could really use opinions on regarding the 50th :) No spoilers, the only spoiler is something probably everyone guessed at, that it's the 10th Doctor from the 10-specials and not Series 2 that appears in the 50th. Sort of long, but really important to the 50th for the stories :/
So...my issue...I really don't know what to do about placement. What I mean by that is...
Looking at the Doctor (and Time Ladies) from Series 2 (where we all sort of thought the 50th might take them from at first) and in the 10-specials, I feel like I'd REALLY want to place 10 (and the real Rose) from Series 2 and use them instead of 10 during the specials. My reasons being, in general...for a shock value for Evy, in that 10 has a Link, a son, his son has a Link, etc. For the shock value for 10 (pre-School Reunion) that the Professor is alive, or even (post-School Reunion) hope for Proffy herself that she'll recover from the war and Krillitanes. For the progression of Angel, to see herself at her start with 10 and realize how far she's come.
Equally though, I could see 10 being from the 10-specials for Evy in that HE would still have a shock that he has a son and his son has a Link and his War-Self would have a shock that another of their kind survived and that she's his Link. For Proffy in that we see a change in her soldier-self to her new self and also a shock for the War-Doctor that his beloved Kata is alive. For Angel in...well, I really can't see one for her except her 11th self finding out she has a daughter and having 12th Angel give 11th Angel words of hope without giving away the Doctor's amnesia.
So you can see how torn I am in where to place the 10th Doctor and his respective Time Ladies. I won't say what I'll decide to do, but any opinion at all would be most welcomed :) I know I should probably stick to the actual timeline of the 50th, but I feel like I would LOVE to do the Doctor (and TLs) from the 2nd Series for Evy/Proffy/Angel and then for future stories actually follow the 50th in 10 being from the 10-specials, but...at the same time, I feel like you all might find it redundant to do all of my current OCs at Series 2 even if I'd be following the 50th for future ones :/
The Doctor from Series 2 would also feature the real Rose being there, fyi, for a reason I can't say beyond just the fact that she's with 10 in Series 2. So we'd have confrontation with Proffy, and J disliking her for Evy, and Ayla meeting Aunt Rose for Angel. And a few resolution moments to make up for it.
So please let me know your opinions. I don't think I've given away any major spoilers in terms of events for the 50th for the TLs since the reactions would probably be what you're all expecting anyway. But I'm just really torn and confused. I do NOT want to write an AU version of the 50th for each of the current TLs just to do a 'what if it was series 2 instead' thing since I'd be rewriting the 50th anyway when I get to the AU versions of their series too, I'd really rather have just one go of it this time around. :/
So let me know if you'd prefer (or be ok with) the 10 and Rose from Series 2, whether for all the 3 TLs or even just a particular TL or 2, or if you'd rather I stick to the 50th and how it happened. If you do prefer 10 and Rose in Series 2 for Proffy though, if you could also add whether you'd like her Pre or Post School Reunion that would be wonderful.
I just feel like I might need a bit of outside perspective for this. I think I got SO attached to the idea of 10 and Rose in Series 2 and how all the TLs would react to their future selves (because that really was such a key moment for all of them in terms of their beginnings) that I'm having trouble getting myself to see them in the 10-specials instead :(
Some notes on reviews...
The nightmares have actually been happening after every episode since the beginning, not after 3 or 4, it's happening after 3 or 4 chapters though, that hasn't changed :) And I did warn at the start of the story, given the title of this particular story, that it would be ongoing through most of it so nope, not going to end soon, the Doctor's still got quite a bit of guilt to sort through :) I can't say if it will be a progression, the nightmares are triggered by events from the prior episode so it's not that they're steadily getting worse, which might be more scary for him, not knowing what sort of nightmare is coming next. But he will be talking to Angel more and, when you think about it, at some point or another the Doctor probably did get a 'doctorate' in psychology too, he could be his own shrink :)
Lol, that's ok, I definitely get life getting in the way :) I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story so far :)
I can say that the Rosalie chapter was originally meant to take place at the end of Closing Time, with Angel 'seeing' an alternate timeline, but decided to make it just a nightmare...can't say about the others though }:) I definitely felt for Angel there, especially to know it was real and, I think it shows how strong she is to really know herself well enough to know what she can and can't handle at that point, to know she has to alter her own memories to be able to stay with the Doctor :( But at least it all worked out in the end :)
I'm good, how are you? :) I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter :)
I saw the documentary too, I cried at the end, it was just...perfect :')
I haven't read Divergent no, I actually haven't had time to read lately which makes me sad :( I have SO many books that I've bought but school sucks up the little free time that I do have :( Divergent is on my list though :)
I watched the 50th live streamed through combom (excellent website to find live streams for) AND combom also has 2 links (so far) to DOWNLOAD the 50th! ^-^ Within like 5 hours I had the 50th playing over and over again ;)
Lol, I'm glad you're excited for Proffy's portion :) I'm not going to be doing a WWTW version, no, each Time Lady will get her own individual version of the 50th :) Hence the 'Revelations' for Proffy and 'Past Meets Future' for Evy and it won't blend in the future either ;)
Oh the forgetfulness makes me feel like Moffat was secretly reading my stories (much like the Gunslinger and Proffy and then Hide and Psychics lol) but that'll be a BIG part of Angel's version ;) I definitely have ideas, maybe a bit to many though :)
I can say we'll be seeing 10 again before the 50th };)