A/N: I'm back! Hello! Going to keep this short, there's an A/N at the end of the chapter that talks more about what happened, posting order, and update schedule. Just wanted to start with how happy I am to be back and posting ;) Now, onto the chapter!
~8~
The Caretaker, the Dinner Lady, and the TA: Deep Cover
Tailor was quite sure her father did this on purpose, she really was. No one could really have such bad luck as to end up chained to a pair of ornately carved pillars and left to die in the middle of a desert-like environment, with twin suns beating down on them and surrounded by sand piranhas.
And yet, here they were.
Though she did firmly maintain that he did it on purpose, somewhat. It WAS his fault, though he didn't seem to quite realize it yet. He had been rather insulting to the primitive species that lived on the planet within the cool caves of the sharp, rocky outcrops that shot out of the sands. The problem with this version of him, she'd come to realize, was that, unlike his last few selves where he was at least slightly aware of when he was being insulting, this one didn't seem to have that skill. He genuinely thought he was just commenting on something or pointing out a fact…when he was just being SO rude while doing it.
There was only so much her mother could do to smooth things out and not even her mother had enough good luck to counter her father ALL the time.
She let out a breath, a forceful one, trying to brush a bit of hair that had fallen in front of her face away without the use of her hands, as she too was chained to a pillar. Her and the Doctor on one, Angel and Clara on the other.
"There's no way out of this," Clara lamented, "We're going to die here."
"Seriously should start a pot or something for every time a companion thought we were going to die," Tailor mumbled, with just a hint of 'teenage tude,' but she was tired and hot and there was sand everywhere. Literally everywhere. She'd need three showers after this and she was sure she'd STILL find it.
"We'll be fine, Clara," Angel reassured her, though she was a bit distracted, her gaze on the distant figures of the natives as they made their way across the dunes and towards the outcroppings.
"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "We'll be fine if you just pass me the vibro-cutters."
"They're in my pocket," Clara told him.
"Come on then, pass them to me."
"In my other jacket. At home."
"Why have you got two jackets? Is one of them faulty?"
"Says the man who had no less than 11 tweed jackets," Angel laughed.
"And how would she even get them to you, dad?" Tailor added, "If they were in her pocket, she wouldn't be able to reach them," she jiggled the cuffs around their wrists for emphasis.
"We're going to starve to death out here," Clara huffed.
"We're not going to stave," Angel replied, squinting against the sun, wanting to be sure the natives were well and truly gone now.
"The sand piranhas will get us long before that," the Doctor agreed.
"Not helping!" Clara shot him a glare…only to blink when, a moment later, a spark of gold flashed on their cuffs, releasing them. She frowned, rubbing her wrist as she turned to Angel, "Hold on, the cuffs WEREN'T Vortex proof?"
"Course they weren't," the Doctor rolled his eyes, absently putting an arm around Angel's shoulders as she began inspecting their wrists for any chafing to heal, "Who said they were Vortex proof?"
"YOU did," Clara glared at him.
"Rule one, Aunt Clara," Tailor reminded her, letting out a breath of relief as her mother healed the discomfort in her wrists.
"We couldn't have the natives realize we could escape or they never would have left," the Doctor shrugged in response to the unasked 'why?' just waiting on Clara's tongue.
"Hate you," Clara muttered under her breath as a faint wheezing began to sound, signaling the TARDIS had homed in on her pilots.
"Aunt Idris isn't gonna be happy either," Tailor mused, when they'd been pulled away from the TARDIS the natives had been crying out to burn the old box as an offering to their gods, proof of their devotion against 'the false ones' as they'd said. Poor MK9 was going to be rather peeved at HER, she'd had to leave the poor metal dog inside as this species was very, very primitive, and they hadn't wanted to frighten them with too much high-tech like a talking dog.
Still, she wouldn't be surprised if the box gave the Doctor quite a rough flight after this.
~8~
Clara's smile was very tense as she rushed into the pub she was meeting Danny Pink at. The TARDIS HAD been quite cross with the Doctor and had seemed to refuse to go anywhere the man wanted till he apologized, which just made her feel like she was going to be SO late to meet with Danny even though Angel had reassured her they'd landed right on time.
"Hiya!" she called, leaning in to kiss him quickly, "Sorry I'm late."
"You're not," he reassured her, doing his level best not to gape at her, but unable to stop himself from commenting, "You're brown. You're very brown. You weren't that brown this morning."
Clara's smile just grew even more tense at the reminder, who knew twin suns would make you tan twice as fast as normal? She hadn't anticipated that and now she really could understand if the Doctor confused her with Strax she really was far too tan, "Spray tan," she offered, the first thing she could think of, "Had a coupon. It went very wrong apparently..."
"No!" Danny said quickly, "You...you look good. You always look beautiful, Clara. I was just...surprised."
Thankfully Danny was a decent bloke and let it drop after that.
~8~
Clara very much wanted to be annoyed and irritated with the Time Lords when they popped up in her flat as she was about to head out to meet with Danny a week later, but seeing how utterly excited Tailor was and how eager she was to share this trip with her 'Aunt' well, she couldn't say no to that face.
"Fish people!" Tailor cheered, her head sticking out of the TARDIS doors, the Doctor right beside her, grinning as well.
Clara could just make out Angel past them at the console, "What are they like?"
"Fish," a small, squeaking robotic voice answered just as the Doctor opened his mouth to reply, MK9 rolling towards the door to assist his mistress, earning an eyeroll from the Doctor, "And people."
"Come and see!" Tailor nearly squealed as she reached out to take Clara's hand and tug her into the box.
~8~
Apparently fish and people could be quite vicious. Which probably had something to do with how the Doctor had been commenting that his favorite food in his last incarnation (as he hadn't tried enough to have a favorite food in this one yet) had been fish fingers and custard. The fun, good times they'd been having with the fish people, who were quite fascinated with Angel and Tailor's hair, had quickly spiraled into them running for their lives to get back to the TARDIS. Angel hadn't felt right using the Vortex against them, as even the smallest bit of heat could significantly burn them and it was all a massive misunderstanding because, no, the Doctor was NOT about to try and eat them all.
The Fish People had expelled the TARDIS from one of the air pockets it was being kept in, sending it floating towards the ocean floor and forcing them to dive for it and get in before their air ran out. Though MK9 had been most helpful as a small propeller had popped out from under him, helping speed him and Tailor, who had grabbed onto him, to the box.
The Doctor and Angel had been slipping around the console while Tailor checked over MK9 to make sure the water hadn't damaged his circuits, trying to get them away so much that it had been a worse trip than the desert and, despite Angel's best efforts, she'd landed two minutes late to Danny waiting outside her flat in a taxi and he was about to head up and check on her. She'd quickly waved off Angel's offer to use the Vortex to dry her off (which she was now regretting because no matter how warm it might be outside at any time, running out soaking wet was going to make anything feel chilly) and dashed down her stairs, nearly hurling herself into the taxi beside Danny.
"How's you?" she asked, trying to blink past the salt water trying to drip into her eyes.
"Evening," Danny greeted, "Nice frock. It's a bit wet."
"Freak shower."
"Is that seaweed?" he reached out to pull a strand of it from her hair.
"I said freak!" she tried to defend, really, really regretting not letting Angel dry her off.
~8~
Clara was quite sure she would have been far more terrified of this trip, of the lasers being shot at them by soldiers giving chase, if it hadn't been for the reassuring golden glow she could just make out shining from behind them as a shield to protect them and for the small metal dog readily firing lasers right back at their attackers as they went.
"How much further?" Clara gasped.
"TARDIS has got to be round this corner," the Doctor answered, only for them to dash around the corner to see nothing but another corridor.
"Three more and a set of stairs," Angel told him, "I can teleport us to Sissy and…"
"Oh come on, mum," Tailor called, positively beaming, "Love the running!"
The Doctor chuckled, smiling, reminded of Jenny, when he turned around a corner and automatically ducked down as a row of soldiers came from another hall and fired at him, though Angel had gotten a shield up with plenty of time, "Tell you what I don't love," he grumbled, "Soldiers. Don't you hate soldiers?"
"Yeah," Clara huffed.
"Some aren't so bad," Angel defended, "They're just protecting their princess!"
"Yeah, because SOMEONE told them she'd be dead in a month!" Clara glared at the Doctor.
"I didn't say DEAD," he muttered, "I said her reign would END."
"Same thing to them, dad," Tailor remarked.
Angel just shook her head, if only the woman's guard had let the Doctor finish speaking, they'd have found out it was because the woman would abdicate and usher in a democracy so that she could marry the man she loved and better the lives of her people. The Doctor just had…a very blunt way of saying things that were easily misinterpreted unless one spoke Doctor. The poor guards had taken it as a threat to their princess.
"Just keep running!" the Doctor called to them, Angel moving ahead to lead them to the TARDIS while MK9 took up the rear with his lasers.
~8~
Clara was still panting as she stepped out of the TARDIS, that was far more running than she had ever done during one of their adventures. She felt sore all over and dead tired and just wanted to curl into bed for a nice long sleep…when there was a knock on the door. She bit back the groan that wanted to escape and pulled open the door, just barely managing not to sag or start crying at the sight of Danny…in running gear.
"Oh, yeah," she recalled, almost slapping herself. She HAD told Angel about her planned meeting with Danny before the adventure had started, it seemed the girl had well and truly gotten her back just in time as she'd promised before they'd flown off, "Danny. Hiya."
"Morning," he beamed at her, "Ready to run?"
The smile she gave him was the most rigid, forced thing she'd ever done, "Mhmm."
~8~
Clara had lost all track of time by the time she made it back to her bedroom after her run with Danny, completely drenched in sweat and so out of breath she felt like she was going to pass out or be sick or both.
Too much running, way WAY too much running.
"I can't keep doing this," she gasped to herself, "I can't do it," before she swallowed and shook her head, her eyes closed as she forced herself to fight it, "Yes, I can, I can do it, of course I can do it. I've got it all under control."
She had to have, the Time Lords and Danny? Both were far too important to her to give up.
~8~
"I don't know," Tailor was saying as she stood between her father and mother, looking at the information coming up in Gallifreyan under a blinking red light on their scanner showing East London, "Should we really bring it into a school?"
"It'll be after it's closed," the Doctor remarked, "No one there, completely empty."
"It should work," Angel agreed, "I don't feel like any of the students will be in danger. So long as the school is well and truly empty, it should be fine."
"If you say so," Tailor wasn't doubting her, it was just…her mother had said she couldn't see everything, and there was just something unsettling about bringing any sort of danger anywhere remotely close to a children's school. But she could see the point her father had been trying to make, it really was the best and only place they could do this and do it safely for everyone involved.
And, really, with both her parents there AND her, what could possibly go wrong?
The moment that thought filtered through her mind she regretted thinking it, that was usually when it all started going wrong for her father, when he asked that.
But she could hope she had enough of her mother in her for it to not matter. After all, their adventure hadn't even started yet!
"Should we tell Aunt Clara?" she asked out loud instead.
"No," the Doctor said simply, easily.
"But it's her school."
"Yes. And she'll especially want to be there to make sure nothing happens because of that."
Angel sighed, not agreeing with the Doctor's decision, but understanding where he was coming from and why he wanted to keep things quiet, "This is one of those rare times, Kitta, where it really IS too dangerous to have a human around, no matter how impossibly brilliant she is."
Tailor felt a small smile grow on her face when she saw her father nodding along solemnly, seriously. Her parents did the best they could to protect their companions, their family, when an adventure turned out far more dangerous than they thought it would. But that was when they had no choice, because they didn't expect it, it just happened, and they had to be on top of things and keep everyone safe.
It was another thing entirely to know it was going to be dangerous going in, truly and deadly dangerous, and take a companion into the middle of it. This alien they were going to be facing, neutralizing, it was so dangerous her parents would rather keep Clara as far away from it as possible, for her own safety.
It made her smile because she knew her father struggled lately with relating to Clara as his sister, to expressing his care for her. But here he was, agreeing, because he didn't ever want Clara to be hurt. And, if she was being honest, she was a little tickled to think that her parents were letting HER help them. It meant they thought she could handle it, as a Time Lady, that she was ready. Oh she didn't doubt for a moment that her parents would be right by her side, probably with her sandwiched between them the entire time or handcuffed to her father or something like that. (She had a momentary thought of those poor children parents put on a leash in public and shook her head to dispel it.) But they were letting her help and that meant the world to her.
She was also half sure they were probably going to keep her far away from the actual danger, but the fact that they were trusting her with the knowledge of their plan and the enemy they were going to face spoke volumes to her.
Though, speaking of the devil, they all looked over when the doors to the TARDIS opened and Clara herself stepped in from her sitting room where the TARDIS had been parked.
Just because her parents didn't plan to drag Clara into the middle of all this didn't mean they were just going to disappear with no warning.
"So, where we off to?" Clara smiled, but Angel's own smile grew sad and understanding at the sight of it. Clara looked and sounded so tired and strained, stretched would probably be the word, spread too thin.
"Clara, you look lovely today," the Doctor said, her weariness actually seeming to register with him though he made an effort to be considerate, "Have you had a wash?"
Mostly considerate.
"Why are you being nice?" Clara asked, automatically on the defensive now.
"Because it works on you. Listen…"
"My love," Angel cut on with a light tap to his chest with the back of her hand, "Why don't you and Tailor get the coordinates in place. I'd like to talk to Clara."
The Doctor seemed confused as to why he couldn't just tell her there was no trip because they had a thing to do, but shrugged and went to do as his Mate had asked. And if he studiously ignored the snorting laugh Tailor gave at how easily he'd given up at Angel's request, no one said anything.
Angel shook her head at that, this Doctor certainly was taking some getting used to. He would fight and bicker and insult everyone under the numerous suns, refuse to follow any order. But have his Mate or Daughter ask him something and he was whipped, as the humans said.
She moved over to Clara and linked her arm with hers, leading her back towards the doors.
"Where are we going?" Clara asked, glancing back at the two Time Lords moving around the console, the Doctor exaggeratedly stepping over MK9 as the dog rolled around the base of the controls. She nearly laughed at how it appeared that Tailor was actually correcting a few things the Doctor was doing as the old box groaned gratefully around them.
"YOU are going back to bed," Angel told her with a gentle laugh, "After a nice long soak in the tub. And then you are going to have a wonderful day at Coal Hill followed by a lovely dinner with dear Mr. Pink."
Clara flushed at the mention of Danny, a good flush. A bit embarrassed, but touched, and also pleased, with a bit of anticipation. Danny hadn't said anything about a dinner, so it was a surprise.
"What about you?" Clara asked as they reached the doors, Angel opening one to the sitting room but not pushing her out.
"Oh, don't worry about us," Angel waved it off, "It's us that are worried about you."
Clara gave her a look.
"Alright, it's ME that's worried about you," Angel amended, "Tailor, too, a bit."
Clara rolled her eyes at how the Doctor was even more oblivious than the last him.
"I'm fine," she insisted, "Really. And if you've got a trip planned, don't let me ruin it just cos I'm a bit tired."
This time Angel gave her the look.
"Alright, more than a bit."
Angel laughed, "You can't fool a psychic, Clara," she reminded her, rubbing the woman's arms as she crossed them with a huff, "You've been going back and forth between here and Earth and it's got to be taking a toll. It did with Amy and Rory and we tried to pop in weeks or months between trips, not every week. And I'm guessing Mr. Pink is starting to get a bit worried too."
"How do you…" Clara began, before groaning and rubbing her head. She really MUST be tired, she was about to ask ANGEL of all people how she knew.
Angel smiled, "It's not easy to live this life alone," she remarked gently, thinking about Rose and Martha and Donna and how they kept their travels secret and how much it ended up affecting them and their families. Rose and that terrible year she'd missed, what it did to Jackie. Martha and the mere days and how it made her family a target. Donna and how her mother treated her all because she didn't know the wonderful things her daughter was off doing.
Rose had come back unchanged to a changed world. Martha had come back a changed woman to a world that hadn't even gone past 48 hours. Donna unable to talk about how she'd changed because her mother would never see a different woman.
Every companion was always so isolated, because they felt like they couldn't share their experiences. It was why she had been so pleased when Mickey and Rory had come to travel along. It was hard to travel this life alone, everything was always easier and better when it was shared. And she just had this feeling that Clara was doing what Amy and Rory had, not talking about it with the people who mattered to her.
It was what so many companions had done in the past, not talked about it. And it always seemed like the people they didn't speak to were the ones who got hurt worst in the end. She didn't want that to happen to Clara and Danny.
That and Clara just seemed so stressed and tired and living two lives was never easy.
Living two lives usually meant at least one of them got hurt in the end, more often than not both, and there was no need for it to be like that.
"And until Mr. Pink knows about your life," Angel continued, not needing to ask if Clara had told the man or not yet, Clara wouldn't be going to such lengths to endure both lives if she wasn't still trying to keep one of them a secret, "I am going to be concerned about it all I like," she playfully stuck her nose in the air for effect, earning a laugh from Clara, "Seriously though," she turned to the woman, "You're exhausted and I don't have to be an empathic psychic to know it. Take some time, Clara. It's alright to miss a trip or two if you need time to just relax. We can handle ourselves just fine."
"Where are you going?" Clara asked, though she was nodding and agreeing with Angel's assessment.
"Undercover!" the Doctor cheered, coming over to them while Tailor crouched down to speak with MK9, "Deep cover."
Clara snorted, "Can you do deep cover?" she could vaguely recall something about a Chameleon Arch that could assist Time Lords with a super deep cover, but she couldn't see any of the Time Lords being willing to use it now.
"What do you mean?" the Doctor frowned, on the cusp of being offended.
"Have you seen you?"
"Of course I can do deep cover."
"Where?" Clara asked with a giggle, "The Magic Circle?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes and gestured to the door, "We'll see you when we see you."
"And when's that?" Clara asked, looking to Angel, "Upp bupp bupp," she held up a finger to the Doctor as he opened his mouth, "Wasn't talking to you."
He rolled his eyes again and moved back to the console where it appeared Tailor and MK9 were getting into a bit of a tiff.
Angel shook her head, "Soon," she told Clara, crossing her hearts in promise.
Clara gave her a pleased nod and stepped out of the TARDIS, actually smiling when the box began to fade away with a wheeze. It might be nice, skipping this one trip. Everyone needed a vacation every once in a while.
And, if Angel was to be believed, and she usually was, then she had a cute outfit to plan out for tomorrow night.
~8~
Clara took a deep, happy breath as she walked towards the school, feeling energized and relaxed in a way she hadn't for quite a while. Leave it to Angel to know exactly what she needed, a nice night to herself, a good soak, and a peaceful night's sleep. And, having an idea that a dinner with Danny would be coming was an added bonus.
She was in such a good mood that she didn't even feel like shouting at the school boys she saw playing football over near the playground of the school where they really shouldn't be.
Other teachers, though, were not in such a light disposition and she could hear them shouting at the boys to move.
"Morning, Mr. Pink," Courtney, one of their more…interesting…students greeted as he reached the front entrance just as Clara did.
"Morning, Courtney," he returned, before doing his best not to beam at Clara when he saw her, only managing to keep it down to a very bright smile, "And good morning, Miss Oswald."
"Morning, Mr. Pink," she gave him a nod, heading into the school as he held the door open for her, studiously ignoring the giggling she could hear the girls near the entrance making, "Do they know?" she muttered to him as they walked tensely down the hall.
It wasn't that they were trying to hide their growing relationship, it was just children were nosy gossips and they'd never get any work done with the students being even more distracted than they were now. That, and they were trying to keep it professional while they were at their jobs.
"Possibly," he sighed, "They're children. It's like they've got minds of their own. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, course I'm ok," she looked at him, a bit confused, "Why wouldn't I be ok?"
"I dunno," he shrugged, "Every time I see you, it's like you're…"
"What?"
"In a rush. In a state. In a space helmet, one time."
"Sorry. Er, I was…um…helping my niece with a project," she spouted the first thing to come to mind. She really needed to work on cover stories to questions earlier than when they were being asked.
"You have a niece?" Danny blinked at that, never having heard her talk about anyone in her family past her father and gran. He honestly had no idea she even had a sibling.
"Yeah…" Clara cleared her throat, "Anyway, project's done, so I'm all yours."
Danny opened his mouth to ask more, truly very curious as to her family, if it was a sister or a brother, what her niece was like, but caught himself. He had gotten really touchy when she'd brought up his past, his original name of Rupert reminding him of being in a children's home with no family to speak of. Maybe it was like that, maybe she'd lost her sibling and her niece lived with her other parent. Maybe it was a touchy subject Clara didn't want to talk about.
He could respect that.
She hadn't pried into his past as a soldier, he wouldn't ask after her family.
Instead, he offered her a smile, "You're all mine then?"
Clara let out a relieved breath that he didn't latch onto her slip, and smiled in return, "Mhmm, the next few days are all about you. I promise."
She leaned in, momentarily forgetting where she was, about to give him a kiss…when the sound of giggling reached her from a small group of pupils at the end of the hall, and pulled away with a flush.
~8~
If Clara hadn't been so used to the Doctor droning on and on and on about wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff that made no sense to her unless she really focused on her Time Lady or Time Agent memories, she was quite sure she would have fallen asleep when the staff meeting droned on and on. Thankfully she could see the clock counting down closer to when school was about to begin so she knew the man going over all their plans for the school would be finishing fairly soon.
"Which means, Jo, you'll have to cover for 8/4M in L3," the man, Armitage, seemed about to wrap up, "Hold on, there is just a few more things. We should all wish congratulations to Ms. Detrick," he smiled, "As some of you may have heard through the grapevine, she is one of the lucky few who've just won the lottery so she's left us. As such we've got a quick last minute temp filling in for her. And, in less joyous news, Atif's off sick, so we've got a newbie filling in for him as well. I did ask them to come along for a quick greeting before…" he trailed off as there was a light knock on the door, "Ah, that should be them," he beamed, moving to open the door…
And the Doctor, dressed in brown coveralls, holding a broom, stepped in. Angel was beside him, wearing a blue dress that went to her knees and a white apron over it.
Clara wasn't sure if she should be happy or worried that Tailor had followed them in as well, dressed in a simple white button up shirt and black skirt that went to her knees, black flats and glasses she vaguely recalled seeing the Doctor's 10th self wearing perched on her nose.
Tailor being there could mean one of two things, that what they were there for was not dangerous at all and so she was tagging along with her parents…or that it was so dangerous the safest place for her was right next to them.
She was going to kill them.
"Hello," the Doctor greeted, "I'm the new caretaker. John Smith," he smiled, winding an arm around Angel's shoulders, "And my lovely wife, Angela."
"Nice to meet you all," Angel stepped up to shake everyone's hands, "I'll be in the kitchens!" it was a bit odd, to the other teachers how excited the woman sounded over that.
"And I'm Taylor," Tailor added, "They home-school me so I'm tagging along," she smiled, "I'm going to be assisting Miss Oswald and Mr. Pink's classes today."
"Can never have too much help," Danny smiled warmly at them, moving to shake the Doctor's hand after having done so with Angel, "Welcome to Coal Hill, Mr. Smith."
"Thanks," the Doctor grinned, "Yes, John Smith's the name. But, you know, here's a thing. Most people just call me the Doctor," his grin morphed into a smirk when he caught sight of Clara and winked, "So, if anybody needs me, just, you know, give me a shout. I'll be in the storeroom just getting the lie of the land."
Tailor did her best not to laugh as the staff began to leave but the Doctor just kept rambling on.
"Yes, no body's taking any notice at all. Absolutely good news because it means I must be coming across just as an absolutely boring human being like you," he trailed off a bit when Clara mouthed 'what are you doing here?!' to them. He just gestured her through the door, shutting it after she passed, "See?" he turned to his daughter, "Deep cover. Deep cover."
Angel could only shake her head at him with a fond smile.
~8~
Danny glanced at Clara as they walked down the hall towards an assembly that was about to take place. She was quite tense, appeared rather startled and a bit angry, while constantly looking over her shoulder back at the lounge.
"Do you know them?" he asked, a little curious.
"Know who?" Clara countered, a jump in her voice.
"The Smiths," he remarked, "That Doctor bloke."
"Never seen them before in my life."
"Bit intense looking he is," Danny mused, "The girls seem sweet enough, but did you see those eyebrows?" he chuckled, before it faded, realizing something, "Did he wink at you?"
"No, I think that was just a sort of general wink, you know? He winked at everybody. It was a general welcoming wink. Ah, I have, er…" she began to pat herself down, "Left some markings…. Assembly. Chop-chop. Off you pop," she urged him on even as she turned and headed back towards the lounge, "Catch you in a bit. Excuse me."
Clara tried not to run, and liked to think she managed to 'hasten' towards the room in a non-suspicious manner. Though the way she burst through the door in time to see the Doctor crumble a paper and shove it in his pocket before shutting it and locking it behind her probably did little to help that.
"Aunt Clara!" Tailor cheered, hurrying over to hug the woman.
"Hello Tailor," Clara hugged her, but shot the Doctor and Angel a look over her shoulder.
"So, you recognized us, then," the Doctor realized.
Clara crossed her arms, unimpressed, "You're wearing a different coat and Tailor's got a pair of glasses on. It's not much of a disguise."
"But it is A disguise," the Doctor countered, "And you saw straight through that."
"As she should," Angel quipped, "She's family after all. She's as brilliant as her brother," she offered Clara a wink for that.
"Deep cover in my school?" Clara began tapping her foot in impatience, "Why? Where's Atif, what have you done with him? Did Nancy really win the lottery?"
"Yes, an adventure, sick, hypnotized, and yes," Angel answered in order.
"Hypnotized?"
"He's fine."
"He thinks he's got the flu," the Doctor nodded, "Also a flying car and three wives. It's going to be a rude awakening."
"Is it aliens?" Clara cut in, sensing a ramble about to come, "Oh, my God, is that why you're here? Are there aliens?"
"It's assembly," the Doctor spoke before Angel or Tailor could. They had all agreed not to tell Clara everything, for her own safety, because, truly, this really WAS a very dangerous and delicate situation and they just wanted her to be out of it. Seeing her getting worked up and alarmed was probably going to eat at his Mate and Daughter, bless their gentle hearts, and they'd spill every detail of it to her. So it fell to him to be the buffer and stand strong, "You'd better get going. Go and worship something."
"Are there aliens in this school?" Clara held firm, shoving down the broom he'd begun poking her with as he tried to guide her to the door.
"Listen, it's lovely talking to you, but we've really got to get on. We've all got a lot to do. I'm a caretaker now. Look, I've got a brush."
"And I'm going to be a dinner lady," Angel smiled, still sounding far too pleased.
"Good for you," Clara deadpanned, before looking at the three of them, "Now, I really need to know, is there an alien in this school?"
"3," Tailor told her, gesturing to her parents and her. She was a bit disappointed she hadn't been able to bring MK9 along. But if they were at least trying to blend in with humans, a futuristic robotic dog would not help that. He'd been quite peeved about it, wanting to tag along to protect his mistress. But they'd negotiated with the dog, he was in the TARDIS and running scans to keep them updated on the situation.
"Us," the Doctor nodded, "Now, go. The walls need sponging and there's a sinister puddle."
But Clara shook her head, refusing to move, "You can't do this. You cannot pass yourself off as a real person among actual people."
"He's done it before," Angel remarked.
"Yeah!" Tailor chimed in, excited to see one of her childhood stories playing out before her eyes, "Dad's worked in a school loads of times!"
"Like with Rose," Angel nodded, "He was the physics teacher," she had been in the library that time while Rose got to be a dinner lady. Now it was her turn.
"Though...he DID blow up the school..."
"What?!" Clara demanded.
"But there was also the lovely school in the early 1900s," Angel tried to reassure her, "He taught history then."
"Yeah, he didn't blow that one up, Aunt Clara," Tailor agreed, "He just blew up a spaceship in a field next to it."
"The Rattigan Academy too."
"That one he blew up the atmosphere..."
"Yeah, not making me feel better," Clara informed them.
"Really though, Aunt Clara, it's fine," Tailor reached out to take her hand, "This is your job, dad won't blow it up or anything. He's learned not to do that since he blew up Aunt Rose's."
"This is just proving to me that he can't do it," Clara deadpanned.
"Oi!" the Doctor frowned, "I lived among otters once for a month. Well, I sulked. Angel and I, we had this big fight..."
"Oh, that was NOT a fight," Angel snorted, recalling the time when she'd told the Doctor that she agreed with the TARDIS and how it referred to Rory as 'the Pretty One.' He hadn't been happy she'd thought Rory was 'prettier' than him, though she'd told him repeatedly that she thought HE was handsomer. Hadn't been good enough and he'd gone on a sulk about it.
"Human beings are not otters!" Clara shouted at the same time.
"Exactly," the Doctor agreed with Clara, "It'll be even easier."
"Ok, right," Clara huffed, turning to Angel and taking her hand. She should have just done this right off the bat, "Angel, one question: are the kids safe?"
And, of course, because she had chosen to ask Angel this time, it was the one time the Doctor finally answered, "No. Nobody is safe. But soon the answer will be yes, everybody is safe, if you let us get on."
Angel shook her head as Clara glared at him, "Yes, Clara," she told the woman, squeezing her hand to draw her attention back, "The children are safe and they will stay safe. We're on top of it all and nothing will hurt them while we can help it. The best thing to do is go on like you don't know us. If you draw attention to us, other teachers will notice things, and THEN we'll have a problem."
"Ok, fine," Clara let out a long breath, knowing it had to be true because Angel didn't lie.
"Yes, now, pretend you don't know us," the Doctor cut in, shooing her out of the room, "Stay out of our way. The less you know, the better. We'll explain it all later. Go and sing with the otters."
Clara rolled her eyes at him, "I hate you," she huffed under her breath as she strode out.
"That's fine. That's a perfectly normal reaction."
"Really shouldn't be dad," Tailor shook her head at him, patting him on the arm as she went to follow Clara, she was supposed to assist with her class.
Angel reached out, a hand on the Doctor's arm, to lean in and kiss his cheek before she, too, followed her daughter out of the room, heading for the kitchens. There was a lot to do to get lunch ready for the school and she'd better get a start on it.
She paused though as she passed a wall with what looked like lipstick on it, stepping back to see one of the students had written 'Ozzie loves the Squaddie' on it in the makeup. She tilted her head, eyeing it a moment...
...the sun beat down on the desert-like environment, Danny Pink ducked behind a car in tan camouflage, throwing a grenade over it...
...gunshots went off everywhere, Danny braced against a wall beside a door, turning just enough to push it open and fire his gun inside...
...Danny moved to the doorway, looking in, horrified at who he saw within, sinking to his knees in tears...
She let out a breath, blinking as the vision faded, "Oh, Rupert..." she breathed, knowing that what she'd seen was Danny Pink's past. Clara hadn't told her much about her 'mystery man' but she gleamed enough from brief snippets of visions and feelings, piecing it together from past adventures and just paying attention to the woman and what she said...and didn't say.
That poor man.
She had seen the guilt in the Doctor over what he thought he'd done to Gallifrey, and he had had numerous thoughts and convictions and things he told himself to try and cope with it all.
But Danny wasn't the Doctor.
And the Doctor had discovered everything he thought he'd done was wrong, and that Gallifrey lived, it was back, he had saved it.
Danny didn't have that chance.
And he was in such pain.
She had felt it so strongly when she'd shaken his hand. He hid it under smiles and and a quiet demeanor, but he was hurting badly from what had happened. His past haunted him as much as the Doctor's had, and no one deserved to live that way.
With that in mind, Angel reached out to touch the wall, a faint waft of gold drifting out from her fingertips, erasing the markings as they went till the wall was cleared and blank once more.
If 'Ozzie loved the Squaddie' then maybe the Squaddie loved her in return, and if they made each other happy, then they deserved to BE happy without other people teasing them about it.
She smiled and nodded, turning to continue to the kitchens, even more plans forming in her mind as she went.
~8~
On a quiet street just outside a rather old building, two schoolboys were set up just outside the wrought iron gates of the building, playing a video game.
"Basically, you've to get that guy on the block and stop that other one shooting him," one of the boys was explaining to the other, "It's so sick."
"I…I got that guy," the other scoffed, "That was, like, six months ago. You actually have to do is flick it that way."
"Nah, but I'm saying…"
Their fun was interrupted by a Community Support Officer that had noticed them loitering and was heading over to them, "You Coal Hill kids?"
"Yeah? So what if we are?"
"Then get to Coal Hill."
The second boy shook his head, "We've got a free period, mate."
"You want me to take your names?"
The boy sighed, "Come on. This is unfair, mate."
The officer shook his head as the two boys headed off back towards their school, when something rattled on the other side of the gate, nearly making him jump out of his skin. He huffed, glaring into the darkness of the building, "Always come in threes," he muttered, before shouting out, "Oi! I know you're in there."
He quickly opened the gate and stepped past, having a bit more of a struggle with the old piece of iron that was keeping the main door to the building shut. He tossed the bar aside and headed in, calling out, "Hello? I'm a police officer. There's no point hiding. Do you hear me? Come on, kiddo."
Instead of a child's voice, however, a deep, mechanical tone spoke out, "5 stop intruder. 5 stop intruder."
He rolled his eyes, kids these days with their blasted game boxes, "Turn your game off. It's time for school. Come on. Stop messing about!" he leaned over slightly, shining his torch light in the direction he'd heard the grumbling…
Only to freeze when something that was very much NOT a child came trundling out of the dark.
It looked like a robot of some sort sitting on top of a giant bauble that had four spider-like legs sticking out of it. Even worse, there were no hands he could see but what was clearly some sort of weapon lashed onto its arms.
"Problem solution: destroy," it stated, aiming one of its arms at him.
The scream only barely left his throat before the monster attacked, bullets ripping through him, tearing the human to pieces and leaving nothing but a smoking, severed hand on the ground.
~8~
Angel shivered slightly as she straightened up in the kitchen where she was working, a frosting bag in her hand, cupcakes set up before her. She looked over her shoulder, out the window, a deep frown growing on her face.
'We'll stop it,' the Doctor's voice spoke in her mind, knowing she had likely sensed the latest victim of the alien they were tracking, they had long since figured out what her shivering out of nowhere meant, 'I promise. No one else will be hurt. Not a single child.'
Angel swallowed and took a breath, nodding her head, trusting her Mate.
~8~
Clara could not keep the pleased grin off her face even if she wanted to. Never before had she EVER seen her class so engrossed in a book before. It was usually like pulling teeth to get them to just pay attention when she talked let alone actually follow along with the books she tried to teach them about.
She shouldn't have put it past Tailor though.
The girl was sitting in front of the class, reading to them, putting on different accents and personas for each character from the book. The girl seemed truly SO excited about the story and eager to share it that it seemed to have spread to her students, they were actually leaning forward in their seats and grinning.
For a moment, she considered if it might actually be something going on, something Tailor was doing. She had seen Angel at work, swore up and down the girl had to have some sort of magical ability beyond the Vortex to manage the things she did. Now, knowing Angel was an empathic psychic, she had, at times, wondered if Angel might be able to influence other people's emotions instead of just reading them. She hadn't seen anything really like that though, and Tailor hadn't displayed the same level of foresight or sensations as Angel had. So the girl, even if she might one day be an empathic psychic like her mother, there was no sign of it now.
It was just her natural charm getting the students as wrapped up in the book as she was.
She honestly hadn't been sure how this would go. She hadn't planned for anyone assisting her class today and had to come up with something for the girl to do.
A small part of her dreaded it though. For as much Angel's daughter as Tailor was, she was also the Doctor's daughter too and things always seemed to go wrong when he popped up. She shouldn't have worried though, she gave Tailor the most basic duty, to read. No way to muck that up or start some sort of intergalactic incident.
"'Though unheard by Lydia," Tailor read on, "Was caught by Elizabeth, and as it assured her that Darcy was not…"
The sound of a squeaking chair cut into her reading, seeming to shock the rest of the class out of their listening when they saw Clara had abruptly stood from behind her desk.
It was only Tailor, who was facing the class as well, who could see that it was because her father had popped up in the window, having climbed a ladder to the back of the classroom.
"You alright, Miss Oswald?" one of the male students asked.
"Yes, Kelvin, I'm fine," Clara gave them a tense smile, gesturing to Tailor's books, "You carry on."
Tailor gave her a hesitant nod and began to read to the class again, hoping to distract them once more while her Aunt went to speak to her father, "'Every feeling of displeasure against the former was so sharpened…'"
Clara, careful now to avoid any other noises, placed a chair next to the window and stood on it to speak to the Doctor.
"Can I help you, Mr. Smith?" she nearly hissed at him. If he wanted to go on some sort of secret mission and drag Angel and Tailor into not telling her what it was (and she HAD prodded the girl about it before class), then that was his business, but he was NOT going to disrupt her class and her teaching.
She had worked too hard to keep her professional life separate from her personal life for it to barge its way into her professional life now.
"Wrong," he said, seeming to just keep his voice on the cusp of quietness at the last moment, having gotten a sharp, reprimanding look from his daughter as she read.
Really, he hadn't meant to pop up or interrupt, or point out an inaccuracy on Clara's board, it was just…he heard his daughter reading and how was a father to resist peeking in?
"I'm sorry?" Clara cut through his thoughts.
"On the board," he jerked his head towards it, "Wrong. Wrong."
Clara glanced back at the quote she had written on the board, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife' - Jane Austen, 1797, and back at the Doctor, shaking her head, "Oh, no, no, no, no. You don't do this. You are the caretaker, this is not what you do."
"Just taking care…"
"Not your area!" Clara hissed, barely keeping quieter than Tailor's reading.
"Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in 1796."
Clara had to thank whatever powers that be were out there that Tailor had managed to enrapture the class once more, none of the children even seemed to notice the conversation going on behind them. The last thing she wanted was to have this argument in front of her entire class.
"Not in 1797," the Doctor continued, taking her silence as her asking for more reason, "Because she didn't have the time. She was so busy doing all…"
"Oh, what?" Clara snapped in a hiss, "I suppose she was your bezzie mate, was she? And you went on holidays together and then you got kidnapped by Boggons from space and then you all formed a band and met Buddy Holly."
The Doctor blinked at her, "No, I read the book to Tailor when she was younger," he said simply, "There's a bio at the back."
Clara's jaw clenched though she didn't know if it was more from the fact that she'd apparently put information that was incorrect according to the biography on the board or that Tailor had known and not said anything.
"Get down," she said instead, nodding at the ladder.
The Doctor gave her a small smile in counter, "Boggons?"
"Go!" she huffed, spinning around when the bell rang to signal the end of class, Tailor closing the book lightly, though given how the girl was staring past her shoulder she could only assume that the Doctor was STILL there, "Right, that's it," she called to the class as she moved back to the front, "Now, everyone thank Miss Smith for a job well done."
"Thank you, Miss Smith," the class said as one.
Clara smiled, "Now, off you pop. Get going. See you all in a couple of days. Thanks very much."
"Miss, what about our homework?" Kelvin called out as the class began to gather their things.
"Who asks for homework?" Clara scoffed…only for Tailor to put her hand in the air, "Should have known," she muttered, shaking her head fondly.
Tailor laughed and stood up, moving to the back of the room and hopping onto the chair Clara had left, the Doctor still leaning half into the room with his arms crossed over the edge of the window. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, "Jane finished writing the book in 1797," she remarked, making sure Clara could hear her in the emptying room, stopping her from erasing what she'd originally written on the board, "So the date still applies."
The Doctor let out a laugh, shaking his head as he began to climb down the ladder again.
"Thanks," Clara spoke, moving to give Tailor a hug from the side, before the two women turned to head out of the room. She had a free period next, but she knew Danny had been scheduled for lunch duty and would be heading there shortly. Just enough time to introduce the two to prepare for the Maths class.
~8~
The Doctor stood in the corner of a courtyard garden wedged in the middle of the school, working on a junction cabinet as two male teachers spoke with him. One was a vaguely familiar black man, the other bore a striking resemblance to his last incarnation, floppy hair and bowtie and all. He glanced over when he saw his daughter and Clara entering the other side of the yard, only to get stopped by another male student.
"Miss Oswald…" the boy began.
"Hello, Tobias, can't really stop," Clara offered apologetically, knowing time was short before Danny would leave…but also, now that she saw the man speaking with the Doctor, wanting to get over there even more quickly and try to stop the Doctor from either insulting the man or blurting things out he didn't need to know about…or both at the same time.
"I'm in the football team against Durrants on Thursday. Sorry, but can I go early from English Thursday afternoon?"
"Tobias, you can do whatever you want," Clara tried to push the child gently to the side, though she felt just a brief respite when Tailor caught sight of her father at the same time and hurried off to hug him. Tailor, at least, would be able to keep the Doctor from being too rude.
"Ah, Clara, can I grab a quick word?" the headmaster spoke as he stepped up to her.
"Actually, I, er yes…" she sighed, not about to brush one of her bosses aside.
"Two weeks Saturday, the fete, can I put you down for tombola and the raffle? James H. can't cover it now. His wife's going into hospital. Hip replacement. Constant agony."
"Great," Clara cut in, before wincing, "No, awful. That's terrible. Awful. I hope she'll be ok. Er, I'll do anything. Anything. Ok, bye," she hurried past him…only for the infamous Courtney to cut into her way.
"Miss Oswald, Katie Sharps says I pulled her hair in Biology."
"Courtney, you are big enough to look after yourself. Next class, jog on, I need to talk to Mr. Pink."
Courtney shorted as she rushed off, "Ozzie loves the Squaddie," she muttered.
Clara stopped and turned to face her, "What was that?"
Courtney's eyes widened and she quickly dashed away with a "Nothing!"
"Of course, Danny Pink here is your man, Mr. Smith," the teacher in the bowtie, Adrian, was speaking to the Doctor as Clara neared, not wanting to interrupt but also really wanting to, "Five years' military experience, sergeant, here and Afghan, so electrics, boilers, if you need a hand, give him a shout."
The Doctor barely contained a smile, not at what the man was saying, but at how his daughter was fighting the good fight to contain her giggles, clearly having noticed the similar fashion sense this man had to his last self. Though, given that he could see Clara picking up a watering can from a girl and using it to get nearer instead of just joining the conversation, she could have been giggling from that as well.
"I…I've helped Atif with a couple of things," Danny said modestly.
"I'm sure I won't need you, Sergeant," the Doctor reassured them, "Fully qualified."
"It always does that," Tailor defended when the cabinet he was working on sparked suddenly.
"You best get back to your PE class," the Doctor nodded, focusing on the box.
"Dad, he teaches Maths," Tailor reminded him, "I'm going to assist with a class after lunch!"
"Ah, right, yes, yes, so he does," he mused.
Adrian opened his mouth to say something else when the sound of glass breaking reached them and he sighed, hurrying away, "Mohammed, put that down!"
"How does that work?" the Doctor asked, "What if the kids have questions?"
"About what?" Danny turned to him.
"Maths."
"I answer them," he said simply, not understanding, "I'm a maths teacher."
"But he said you were a soldier."
"Yeah. I was a soldier, now I'm a maths teacher."
"Same way someone could be a soldier, and then a Doctor," Tailor nudged her father in the side.
The Doctor nodded along to that, it made more sense when his daughter put it that way, but it still left out something else, "But what about all the PE?"
"I don't teach PE," Danny reminded, "I'm not a PE teacher."
"But don't you help the kids exercise sometimes?" Tailor asked, now getting her father's constant questioning about PE. Her mother had mentioned something Clara had told her about a Cadet Corps or something, how a Mr. Pink led them in exercises and what not. Clearly her father had absorbed that bit of information but not the rest of it, how Mr. Pink was a Maths teacher as well.
"Oh!" Danny got it as well, nodding, assuming they'd heard about it through the school grapevine, "Yeah, a bit. I helped start the Coal Hill Cadets. It's just a bit of fun for the kids, something to do before classes, little drills and such."
"Er, excuse me. Mr. Pink," Clara cut in, seeing the Doctor about to open his mouth and not wanting to hear what he might say, "I think lunch is about to start."
"Yes, you better run along, Sergeant," the Doctor agreed, "That ball isn't going to kick itself, is it?"
"It's…it's not a PE period…" Danny began, but shook his head when the Doctor went back to the cabinet. He sighed, turning to Tailor instead, "Stop round my classroom after this period and we'll go over some of my plans for today's class. Sound alright?"
Tailor nodded, watching as Danny walked off to get lunch period sorted.
Clara waited till he'd disappeared through the doors and back into the building before she turned to the two Time Lords, "So, Pink? The name remind you of anything?"
She'd talked to Angel a bit more about her 'Mysterious Mr. Pink' as Angel liked to call him. Tailor always seemed to be off with the Doctor doing something or another whenever Angel would bring him up or check on how things were going.
"Yeah," the Doctor deadpanned, "The color."
"Hold on," Tailor frowned, "The colonel. Orson Pink…"
"The guy we met at the end of the universe," Clara nodded.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor considered it, "Ok, yeah. Same name, doesn't look anything like him though."
Tailor snorted, "Looks very like him, dad."
"Does he?" he glanced at his daughter, "Didn't notice."
Clara snorted this time, "You don't notice anyone that's not Angel or Tailor."
Honestly, it would be worrying how true that was if she hadn't known about the trauma and stress the man had gone through in his last body. Being forced to not-notice his Mate and then, by extension, not noticing about his daughter growing within her? His Mate and Daughter being captured and regenerating because of that lack of care?
It made all the sense in the world why he only seemed to notice them now. In his mind, he had a lot to make up for.
"Nothing wrong with that," the Doctor shrugged off her words, placing a device with three green lights into the cabinet and locking it up.
"What was that?" Clara caught sight of the device, "What are you doing? What…what's in there?"
Instead of answering, the Doctor spun around to face her, "So, is he here then?"
"Is who here?" Clara asked, momentarily thrown by the change in topic.
"The one that you keep going on serious dates with."
Tailor could only shake her head fondly at how truly oblivious her father was. She recognized Mr. Pink from the restaurant way back when her father had been afraid of 'the thing under the bed' and Clara got caught up in it. There was no real saying that Clara had continued to see the man after that, or even after their last adventure, until Clara officially introduced them to her boyfriend that is.
"If he is, are you going to start talking like a normal human being?" Clara countered, not feeling like giving him an answer after he didn't give her one.
He rolled his eyes at that, "I promise I won't. I'm being nice."
"Doctor…"
"Clara!" Adrian was back, hurrying up to them, "Got this period free, yes?"
"No," she answered promptly, before groaning inwardly, knowing Adrian would only ask if he already knew the answer, "Yes."
"Great. Shakespeare!"
"Sorry, what?" she turned to him fully, "Adrian?"
"Oh, I see," the Doctor murmured.
Tailor frowned, glancing at her father, how he was starting to grin and glance between Clara and Adrian. Before it dawned on her what was happening and what he thought. Clearly, he was under the impression that Adrian was Clara's mystery man.
She was very tempted to correct him that it was a higher chance of being Mr. Pink…but it was so rare that her father was ever wrong about something it was much too much fun to watch.
"You see what?" Clara gave him an odd look.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Excuse me," Adrian spoke, offering the Doctor an apologetic smile, "We have to talk about 'The Tempest.'"
"Oh, I love that play!" Tailor beamed, hurrying after Clara and Adrian as they began to head inside the building once more, pulling a small notepad out of her pocket to take some notes about how humans taught.
"In light of the changes to the sixth form Shakespeare module blah-de-blah," Adrian was saying.
"Yes, sorry, of course," Clara nodded, making an effort to pay attention…only to stop short when they saw that the Doctor and Tailor had followed them. Tailor, it made sense as she was still technically assisting Clara for the morning till Mr. Pink was teaching in the afternoon. But the Doctor…
"Yes, yes, no, of course, of course, yes," the Doctor seemed to realize it was HIM they were staring at, "Don't mind this old man. You two kids just pop off together."
"Why are you talking like an idiot?" Clara whispered to him as Adrian began to walk again.
"I'm a caretaker," he shooed her on, "Don't mind me," Clara shook her head, going after Adrian with Tailor as he shook his head, fond, "Oh, Clara."
Tailor had to bite her lip, hearing her father, it really was going to be quite amusing to watch him fumble through this.
"What we have to get across," Adrian continued, leading them around a corner, "I feel, is that fascinating enigma of its not-finishedness."
"Mmm," Clara hummed along, "Yes, good point, Ade."
Tailor, who was dutifully following Clara through the halls and taking notes about the discussion between her and Adrian, slowed as she passed a group of students heading the opposite way. She blinked a moment, feeling an odd sensation, and turned to look at them again. Her eyes widened as one of the girls chatting with another behind the larger group caught her eye and she called out to her, completely stunned to see her there when, last she heard, she and her mother should still be in Ealing not Shoreditch.
"Skye?"
A/N: Skye who? I think you know ;) ;) And if Skye is there...her mother can't be far behind, can she? ;) ;) AND with parents night approaching...well, I think you can guess ;) ;)
On other notes, to those who don't follow my Captain America story, I'm back! :D I'm SO sorry it took so long :( I had a note up on my tumblr a couple weeks ago about what's been going on but for anyone who doesn't frequent that site, the last time I tried to get back to posting, I ended up swapping the part time job I managed to get to working in a bank (pro tip if you are in America on the east coast and really need benefits but can only maintain a part time job, TD Bank offers benefits to part-timers) and very soon after that got another job at a transit company so my work week between the two was Monday through Saturday, from like 5am till 7 pm, which didn't give much time to write since I had to get things ready for the next day and eat and sleep, and Sundays sometimes meant working at another branch if they needed help or catching up on things for the week :( BUT! One of the jobs offered me full time close to the start of February so I just had to make it two more weeks before things calmed down and I would have a steadier 9-5 sort of job :) I have evenings and weekends back now! :D
What that means for posting is that I'm going to start slow and aim for posting a chapter 2x a week, I'm not sure if it will be specific days or just when I can get one up, so far it seems like Tuesdays and Fridays are the better days, but I'm going to push for updates twice a week. If I can manage that I might move it up to two chapters of a main story and one of a spinoff or AU. The plan is basically to finish Give Me Liberty, which I did, and then do 1 episode (3 chapters) for this story, finishing up Lyssa and Hook's story from OUAT, doing another episode for Angel, finishing Menna and Aragorn's current story for LOTR, another episode of Angel, finish up Sadie's DW story, another episode of Angel, finish Claire and Sheldon's BBT story, and then finish the rest of Angel's story. And when I say 'story' I mean just the current open-unfinished story, not their entire series. Once I get all the open-stories complete, I'll evaluate where I am and work out what stories will come next. So it's going to be slow going, but I'm hoping to gain momentum as I get more used to the hours and flow of the full time position ;)
So once this episode is finished, it'll be a week or two before another chapter is posted as I'm going to finish Calm Before the Storm ;)
Now, onto this story lol :)
I am SO excited to do this episode, especially because of Danny, which is weird because this is usually the episode it all falls apart for Clara so I'm really looking forward to getting to more of his scenes to see what may happen with Angel and Tailor there :) I've got A LOT planned for this story :) Angel's already got a sense of him off Clara (he must be something rather special to catch Clara's eye) and now she's got more of a glimpse into his past (as an adult, not as Rupert), but will that be enough for Danny to cool his jets and not yell at the Time Family? We'll have to wait and see ;)
I debated what to have Angel be in this episode, and I felt like Dinner Lady worked because of a sort of echo back to Rose, given how Rose featured into the 50th anniversary story for Angel ;) And Tailor, I couldn't see her tagging along with her father when she has the chance to see her Aunt Clara in action :)
Some notes on reviews...
I agree, 10 to 11 was still very 'humans are amazing!' so it makes the change to 12 more striking, sort of like 9 to 10 but in reverse lol :) I noticed the stereotype with the Doctor too, especially in Series 1, where, I think, almost every single episode was on Earth or near Earth or involving Earth so I think that sort of set the tone for him coming across as only saving Earth :( There are things I liked in Moffat's era and RTD, and things that could have been better. I feel like RTD set a lot of really great ground work, psychologically, for the Doctor with the war and survivor's guilt and then Moffat sort of just reversed all of it, which I didn't like much. But I did come to love 11 and seeing his range of emotions and situations :)
It would be nice, I agree, Tailor definitely wants that little sibling, but it'll be up to the Universe if that happens. I think part of Angel looks at it as, it hasn't happened all through our time on Christmas or before, and she bargained for one or the other with the Universe (the Doctor's memories or her child's life), and got both...so maybe the Universe has already given her all it can? :/ We'll have to wait and see. I CAN say though that I do have an AU planned where the Doctor remembers Angel in Series 5-6 so we will, eventually, get to see him doing all those lovely moments with her there at least ;) Oh I am planning a lot for the moment where the Doctor meets the entire family again with his new face, some surprises in store for them lol :) It may be a while before I get to Proffy and Evy for the next series. I want to finish this story for Angel, then catch Mac, Judge, and Sadie up through this series as well, and then I'll circle back to the Professor for the next series. I can't say when that will be just yet though. If I manage to keep updating as I hope, I'm might possibly be able to get through Mac by the end of this year (maybe, I'm not sure which stories I'll update after I finish my open-stories yet), so maybe sometime in 2021? I'll definitely post something on tumblr when I get closer to that point though ;)
I can't honestly say about 13 just yet. I've fallen SO behind on DW :( I haven't even gotten through Billie yet so I've only seen clips of 13. I agree, it was bound to happen at some point, I'm hoping once I see 13 I'll have a better idea of how I feel and which direction I want to go. I've really struggled to get into Moffat's era around mid-11, 12 is hard and it kills me to admit I found myself losing interest in DW the more I tried to watch 12 :( Capaldi is an incredible actor and he did everything he could with the writing/stories given to him, it's just not resonating with me as much as 10 or early 11, or even 9 did. For a moment, I was actually ready to end the stories with 11 regenerating, but gave 12 a chance, and then was like maybe 12 should be the last? I'm hoping once I get through the rest of 12 and start seeing 13 it might restore my love for DW and I can pick it up and keep going. So I can't really say how I feel just yet :/
Yup, the story is still in progress ;) I hope you'll like what's coming!
I'm very excited for Danny to really meet Angel (not Mrs. Smith lol). And Dean! Oh, I really want to get to his OC too. SO many stories, so little time! lol :D
Awww, I'm SO glad you're enjoying Angel :') I'm definitely going to continue the series, it just too a little too long to get back to :)
Thank you! I thoroughly enjoy every cuppa I get to share with readers (I literally do make a physical cup of tea each time I get a notification lol). Dad-Mode Doctor, we have not seen the last of him ;) He's definitely older than he lets on, I really think he can't remember how old he is any more, which is very heartbreaking to think on :( I've given up trying to figure out how old he is too lol :) I really love that Angel does that too, hugs people, especially now that the Doctor's not much a hugger :') It's like, sometimes all you really need is just one good hug to really help and she's more than happy to oblige :) Her hugs are Goldilock hugs, not too much, not too little, juuuussst right ;)
Update, yup ;) I'm baaaaack :)
