The twins and the Singer met with the Doctor outside of the bus works. She glanced down at the weapons the twins took out as they approached. "Don't use them if you don't have to."
"Do you think so little of us?" Rikou said.
"I think I know what I've seen."
"They're fine, Doctor," the Singer interjected. "Let's go." This time, it was she who led the way to the shed from before, though the twins quickly caught up with her.
The family approached the suitcase. The Doctor soniced it open, kneeling down until there was a sound behind them. As the rest of them moved opposite of the sound, the Doctor closed the case and threw it towards the sound as the man fired.
Even without Nella's prophetic abilities, the Doctor's aim was true. The case hit the bolt and vanished.
"Whoops," the Doctor shrugged. "Shame, you just sent all your equipment to goodness knows where. 79th century, judging by the weapon setting, which, by the way, overheat very easily." The man's weapon glowed bright red and he dropped it, wincing. "Cheap and nasty. Now we've even." The twins very obviously put away their weapons. "First things first. Tell me about Stormcage."
"Storm what?"
The Doctor grinned. "Oh, rubbish liar. On your wrist." She nodded towards it. "It's a Stormcage identifier. The most secure prison facility this side of the universe. Not in this time-zone, of course, but I guess that's where the vortex manipulator comes in."
"It's amazing what you can get if you're prepared to work and barter inside that prison."
"Escape or release?" Rikou asked. The twins were stood on either side of the Doctor.
"I did my time. I'm rehabilitated."
"Why were you there?" Nella asked.
"If I tell you, it might color your view of me." Nella raised her eyebrows. "I was young. Nobody got hurt." The man paused. "Well, a few people got killed. A few hundred people. A thousand, tops. Two thousand."
The Doctor nodded. "And it was nasty enough that Stormcage placed a neural restrictor in your brain before releasing you back into the universe."
The man froze, confusion clear. "How can you know that? Who are all of you?"
"Nephew detected something the first time we met, and then it started to make sense, cos we were wondering," the Doctor stepped forward, "you've obviously got a problem with Rosa, why don't you just kill her? But the answer is because you can't. Neural restrictor means you can't kill or injure any living thing. It stops you from doing it, no matter how much you want to try. So even if I do this..." the Doctor grabbed the vortex manipulator off his wrist, dropped it to the ground, and stomped it until it shattered, "smash your vortex manipulator..."
The man surged forward, grabbing the Doctor by the throat and hoisting her into the air. The twins wanted to move, the Singer could tell it without even seeing them, but she held out a hand.
"Yeah, there it is," the Doctor breathed, just able to speak around the man's grip, "kicking in, tied to your brain chemistry." The man dropped her, stumbling back and gripping his head. The Doctor was just grinning. "You can't harm me, as much as you want to. Better be nice to us, cos I'm your best chance of getting out of this time-zone now." The man sneered at her. "Neutered criminal on release and you come here. Why?"
"I'm allowed a hobby," he said, straightening as his pain faded.
"And yours is Rosa Parks?"
"This is where things started to go wrong."
The Doctor raised her eyebrows. "And you think you can put them right?"
The man nodded. "I had a lot of time to think in Stormcage, and I realized tiny actions change the world."
"What's your name?"
"Krasko."
The Doctor made a face. "Don't like it. Listen, Krasko. I'll give you one warning. Go somewhere else, find a beach, read a book, cos you're a criminal who's lost his kit, lost his weapons."
"You think that makes a difference? History changes when tiny things don't go to plan."
"You mean tomorrow. Won't work, not while I'm here."
Krasko shrugged. "Well, let's see." He turned to walk away, leaving his weapon behind.
Without speaking, Nella came forward and picked up Krasko's own weapon. "What ar..." the Doctor started, but Nella didn't pause. She flicked something on the weapon, aimed at Krasko's back, and fired.
The man vanished.
"Problem solved," Nella said, turning to face them. "Don't quite know where I sent him, somewhere random and hopefully out of trouble." She looked towards the Doctor. "And don't give me that face. Were you honestly just going to drop him off back home after this?"
"I hadn't gotten there yet."
"Now you don't have to." Nella tossed the gun to Rikou. "Shall we find the others?"
"You can't just go around shooting people!"
"Technically, he's not dead, just very much out of time." Nella crossed her arms. "Now we don't have to worry about him messing with time anymore. I made sure he went quite far back."
The Doctor's face was cold. "Guns aren't the solution."
"Depends on the problem." Nella shrugged.
"I thought you said you don't shoot first."
Rikou stepped up to his twin's side. "Are we now forgetting the multiple times he tried to shoot at us?"
The Doctor looked to the Singer as if she was the only sane one left, but the Singer only nodded to her twins. "They're right."
"Go back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "All of you."
"Don't you dare give me orders, Doctor." The Singer's voice gained an edge that had the twins looking at her, recognizing it instinctually from their mamaidh's stories.
The Doctor held her gaze. "Please."
"Don't protect me and don't order me." The Singer turned to face the twins. "Let's go."
The twins almost smiled at her. They turned their backs on the Doctor as they walked away together.
They had barely left the building when Rikou nudged the Singer on the shoulder. "I'm sorry that you had to do that."
"My sibling can be a self-righteous idiot in all regenerations."
Rikou paused. "Shall we go shopping to pass the time?"
"It's night time."
"Well, we do have a story to finish." Nella linked her arms with the Singer's. "And then can we please find you new clothing?"
It was difficult to smile after even the briefest fight with the Doctor, but the Singer managed it for her children's sake.
-X-
The three of them waited in the TARDIS for the rest of the group the next night. They'd spent the previous day both shopping – the twins were insistent that the Singer try quite a few different stores before she could be satisfied – and occasionally checking in with what the rest of the group was doing. They did so with the combination of Nella and Rikou's abilities, as the Doctor had blocked her bond with the Singer the moment they walked away.
As such, they were not surprised when the group arrived extremely celebratory, though the Doctor's smile faded for a moment at the sight of the twins and the Singer.
Yasmin frowned at the Singer. "You went shopping?"
The Singer stuck her hands into her pockets. Her clothing was just a pair of high-waisted pants, a belt, and a loose button-up shirt, but it was different than how she had looked before. The twins were quite happy with it in the end. "You had it taken care of, didn't you?"
"It was brilliant," Ryan nodded.
The Doctor came past the Singer, avoiding eye contact, and began to work on the console. "On Monday, the boycotts begin. Across Montgomery, people refuse to use the buses as a response to Rosa's arrest. And in just over a year, on 21st December 1956, segregation on buses in Montgomery was ended."
Ryan smiled, looking relieved. "So it all worked out for her."
"No, life's still hard for Rosa. She loses her job, so does her husband. It's a struggle, but they keep fighting. And in June 1999, Rosa receives the Congressional Medal from President Clinton, the highest award given to any civilian, recognizing her as a living icon for freedom." The TARDIS shook slightly as the Doctor piloted. The Singer turned and stabilized it without asking.
"It took so long, though. Her whole life."
The Doctor pointed at her. "Yes, it did. But she changed the world. In fact, she changed the universe. Look at this." She ran to the TARDIS doors and opened them, revealing the asteroid belt to the humans. "Asteroid 284996. Also known as Rosaparks."
"Didn't know that," Nella mumbled.
Rikou shrugged. "Can't know everything."
"Did you know it?"
Rikou's silence was enough of an answer for Nella, as she laughed.
The rest of the group turned away from the view from the doors. "I mean, that was brilliant and all, but can we actually get home now?" Graham asked.
"Oh, definitely." The Doctor darted back up to the console. "Easy."
"You said that the fifth time," Yasmin said.
The Doctor grinned and flicked the console, setting them into flight again. The humans had just reached them when, even with the Singer and the twins' help, the entire ship seemed to tilt for an extended period of time, making them grab onto the console.
"Nearly there!" the Doctor called.
"Are you sure you've got this under control?" Graham asked.
"Totally. New systems. Just running them in." The ship gave another twist, a final shake, and settled.
The humans looked to the twins, but both Nella and Rikou gestured for them to look out the doors. Yasmin was the first one out, revealing through the open door that they'd landed outside a block of flats. "We're home," she said, slightly disbelievingly. "We're actually home!"
The Doctor joined them at the door. "Yes. Result. See? I told you I'd do it."
Ryan stepped outside as the twins and Singer walked up to the TARDIS door. "We're at Park Hill."
"That's my flat, there," Yasmin pointed.
Ryan turned to her, eyes wide. "Wait, you live at Park Hill? We're just up there." He pointed in his own direction.
Yasmin took out her phone. "And I've got mobile signal again," she cheered. "But no messages."
The Doctor shrugged. "But to be fair, it's only half an hour since you left."
The humans' mouths dropped open. "What, half an hour since we were with you three in that warehouse?"
The Doctor grinned. "Yeah."
"Wow."
The Doctor's face fell, looking between the three humans. "So...I suppose this is it."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it is."
"Got you back. Guess we're done. Nice having you aboard."
"Thanks, Doc," Graham smiled at her. "It's been a blast, truly."
"Please." She flashed him a smile.
"What're you all going to do now?" Yasmin asked, looking between the small family.
"Oh, you know," the Doctor gestured vaguely back both inside the TARDIS and at the Singer and her children. "Back in the box. There's loads to see."
Yasmin furrowed her brow, taking in the distance between the Singer and the Doctor. "The four of you, then? Perfectly fine with that, are you?"
"Yeah, of course," the Doctor said, forcing a smile. Even if it was obvious the Doctor hadn't explained the entire situation with the Singer to the companions, they knew something was off.
"Do you want to come for tea at mine?"
The Doctor's entire body relaxed. "Definitely! Yes, I would. Thanks. I love tea. Tea at Yaz's? Amazing." She turned, looking at the other humans. "Are you coming? Are we all going for tea at Yaz's?"
"She didn't invite us," Ryan pointed out.
"Don't be daft, course you're invited." Yasmin turned to the Singer and the twins. "And so are you three."
"Lovely," Rikou grinned.
Graham held up a hand. "I think I'll nip home first, Yaz. Maybe join you later, if that's all right?"
Ryan stepped closer to him. "Shall I come with you?"
"I'd rather do it alone. Don't go without saying goodbye." He waved at them before leaving, walking off in the direction that Ryan had pointed. The Singer frowned after him. The twins had told her about their adventure finding the Doctor again to give her background on the three humans, and their story had included the fact that Graham's wife, and Ryan's grandmother, had died as a result of what had happened.
She was tempted to offer to go with him, even if her experience with losing spouses was even more abnormal than a wife being killed in an alien attack, but Rikou grabbed her hand. "He'll be alright," Rikou whispered.
The Singer smiled at her son.
A/N: I mean, could the twins really be the twins if they hadn't shot Krasko to solve the problem? Of course, it's very clear that the Doctor very much did not approve...
If you're at all interested in seeing a visual representation of the Singer's most recent fashion choices (when you have twins as fashionable as these two, clothing gets addressed quite quickly :) ) I have just posted a collection of images on my tumblr that are an inspiration to how the Singer currently looks. If only Polyvore still existed!
Also, apologies for the amount of time between chapters. This semester got quite busy quite quickly (curse midterm season in college) so I didn't have a chance to get any writing done for a while.
Notes on reviews:
Purplestan: No worries, I've been busy too! No spoilers, but we will eventually get an answer...
Guest 1: Oh, it definitely is going to be big for the Singer. That episode was a lot to take in, but I already have so many ideas. I mean, I don't think it's weird, I'm just incredibly touched! Thank you so much!
Guest 2: Don't worry, I have a lot of ideas about what's going to be happening with series 12. Only a question of which of many directions I end up taking the story ;)
HannahHandDWfanJones: Thank you! Series 12 will definitely be interesting ;)
