So some sad news. Today (July 24th, 2020) around 6:21 am, Tiger passed away. He was 16 and loved very much.

Thank you for the review, it means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

Chloe had only gotten a few blocks away when an arm linked up around hers in a grip that was painful, making her grimace as she debated on who she'd see if she glanced up. Would it be Missy or a pissed off Doctor?

Glancing around, she risked glancing, and the man gave her a grin that, to anyone else, would seem playfully flirtatious, but to her, it was as if the world had ended, because instead of the familiar brown eyes 10 was supposed to have, he sported blood-curling red eyes.

"Hello, Songbird. You're quite the elusive one." Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt like sandpaper as she swallowed thickly, unsure what to say, other than note that she was, once again, being called Songbird. "What, no hello's or greetings? You've lost manners."

"Valeyard," she finally choked out as the world went dark and his grin grew.

When she woke up, she could feel the TARDIS screaming in agony, fear, and anger as she realized she was tied to the console, the Valeyard sitting on the jumpseat with his feet on one of the console panels. "What did you do to me?" She demanded, voice hoarse as if she had been screaming.

"Oh, just ensuring you didn't run off like last time," he replied with such nonchalance it sickened her.

"Why do you exist?"

He snapped the book he had in his hands shut, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Now that is a very rude question, little Birdie. Why does anyone exist? Why do you exist?"

"I was brought here," she spat out. "You were forced into being. What made life so horrible, you decided to be so angry about it, it had to carry into regeneration?"

"I lost everything," he snarled. "I sacrificed everything, and for what? Those fucking stupid apes went and killed themselves looking in the vortex."

He's… angry about Bad Wolf? She thought, unsure what to do. But why the 'they', unless…

"You're not from this world, but the one you came from, you had multiple companions you sent back instead of just Rose," she murmured.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Valeyard said, his tone so sarcastic is hurt. "I was too soft, last face. I should've left them to die."

"Jack and Rose," she breathed. "You sent Jack back when he should've stayed."

"Stop," he snapped. "No more talking, Songbird. Rumor of the multiverse says you're from the Alpha Universe, which means you have knowledge I want."

"Oh, fuck off," she groaned before she could stop herself. "Unless you want to become the Doctor again, I'm not telling you shit." A hand was suddenly crushing her jaw, forcing her to look up as her eyes watered in pain.

"Final warning," he hissed. "Unless you want your tongue cut out. Do not speak until spoken too, ape."

When he let go of her face, she didn't say anything, instead glaring at him with a heavy heart as he calmly began to walk around the console.

Knowing what Valeyard would and could do, it didn't do any justice to what he had done, and not in the good way. Chloe saw through watery eyes a scorched Earth, charred skeletons of men, women and children all around, their placements telling her that they had been fleeing when the Earth burned. Her ears rung as the Valeyard tugged on the chains she was tied to, and she stumbled after him, desperately trying to look for any signs of life under the new, blood-red sky.

"You won't find anything, Songbird," he said. "I killed everything here to begin anew."

She wanted to ask if he had found the Pandorica or Missy's box, but she didn't want to tell him about Amy or Missy. Not the Valeyard, at least. But, then again, would Pandorica hold Amy? Would Missy exist? Her heart ached at the thought, but she saw something out of the corner of her eye, something that had her wanting to sob.

There, sprayed on one of the ruined walls, were two worlds that filled her with hope. Bad Wolf.

She hadn't realized they stopped until Valeyard let an annoyed noise sound. "So you know what that wretched phrasing is then. Tell me," he demanded, and she just grinned sadly.

"It means hope isn't lost," she said.

"Hope," he scoffed. "Is a lie. It's a fool's dream."

There were a few humans left, she found out later as they stopped in what used to be Trafalgar Square, the survivors having set up an ambush with electric nets set to the maximum. Valeyard went down, and she was left to awkwardly stare that the shocked humans. "Erm," she began. "Hi?"

"Miss'll want to see this," one human spoke up, and she twisted her neck to see Clara Oswald staring back.

"Miss?" she asked, brows furrowing. They didn't answer, instead picking up the chain she was on and the group as a whole gave her a curious look. "I was just walking down the street in my dimension when he came and knocked me out. Seems pretty insistent that I know stuff."

"We better move," Clara said, and Chloe quickly followed. She did her best to keep her eyes down, trying not to look at the dead as they came to a halt in front of Coal Hill, the brunette turning to her. "What's your name then?"

"Chloe," she answered quietly. "Chloe Nightingale." She watched the woman's face carefully, looking for any sign of recognition, but there was nothing.

"Well then," she said. "I'm sorry this happened, Miss Nightingale." Grabbing her wrist (not the chain or the shackle, but her wrist) she led her inside, where she saw children, men, and women of all ages peeking out of the repurposed classrooms.

Finally, they came to a stop in front of one of the rooms, and the door opened to reveal-

"Valeyard kidnapped her," Clara told her. "We can't get the chains off."

"No," The Master mused, looking right at the redhead. "The only one who can break those is Miss Songbird herself." Chloe furrowed her brows, glancing between Missy and her hands before reaching over and doing her best to yank the cuff off. It resisted for about three seconds before snapping, making her blink and look back at Missy.

"Please tell me you know what the everloving fuck went wrong in this dimension," she begged.

The Time Lady looked over her before nodding to Clara in dismissal. "Come in," she replied. "We have much to discuss."

In the end, she had guessed correctly that he had sent Jack and Rose back, but she hadn't guessed why.

"They both looked into the heart?" she murmured. "The delay it would've caused, using two pilots, they would've gotten there-"

"Just as the Doctor set off the Delta Wave," Missy finished. "They were still alive, and with the heart in their heads…"

"The Doctor killed them and almost killed the TARDIS," she assumed, but Missy shook her head.

"He was angry, desperate, and holding off regeneration. He jumped back and stole it from his past self just as he sealed the two inside. Reapers came, but by the time they found the TARDIS, the Doctor was gone, and in his place was their commander. The man, Jack, he only knew that Valeyard was dangerous and tried to take him out. It got him killed instead. Rose Tyler jumped into the vortex to get away from him."

"Damnit," she muttered. "This apparently wasn't his first time trying to get me. He said earlier I had run away, multiple times in fact."

"So you must be someone of interest in your world then," she noted, making Chloe shrug.

"I've traveled with the Doctor a couple of times," she replied. "I'm more of a… static companion? Our timelines don't really match up just yet."

"You're a companion who has seen multiple regenerations, as well as being a living construct," she mused. "What caused you to change species, I wonder? An accident? Experiment? One of the ones from the War, perhaps?"

Grimacing, she looked down at her hands, unsure what to say. This Missy, she was nice, and so much like the redeemed one her world was going to have, but… she was still the Master. "There was… an accident that sent me through dimensions. I landed in the one I now consider my home, and the Doctor saved me because he remembered me telling him that he saved me."

"Please, he would've saved you regardless," she scoffed, and Chloe would've severely inclined to agree if she didn't know the full details. "My theory is that you know far more than you should, especially concerning the Doctor and Valeyard. You're from a subversion of the Alpha Universe,"

Chloe wanted to wince but instead remained still, doing her best to keep her face blank. "I don't want to talk about it," she said, but her tone shook, and Missy's eyes widened before she laughed.

"Oh, you're from the Alpha Universe! You must know all about me then, no wonder you're so tense. Don't worry, Songbird. As much as I want to rule the universe, I can't exactly do it if it's all destroyed, now can I? Besides, I've grown… fond of these little humans."

The redhead couldn't sense any lying, and it made her relax and grin. "My name isn't Songbird, Missy. It's Chloe Nightingale, and it's really nice to meet this version of you."

"You're certain you can stop this?" Missy demanded once again as Chloe finished strapping herself into the makeshift time travel harness Donna had used in Turn Left. "You only have once chance."

"I have to stop this," she said. "Because if I don't, that means not only does this world burn, but also the two I come from, and the ones they're connected to. It has to be me, Missy. The Doctor can't know you're alive yet, and my presence can be explained by Valeyard."

There was a brief silence, with Missy glazing at the others, who nodded and left as Chloe couldn't look at her directly. "You're breaking," she noted.

"The one time I meet this version of you out of order and she has to be erased because the timeline is wrong," she finally choked out. "It'll be centuries before you exist in my world. I… I'll be dead by then. There's a prophecy, in that world. The Silence will fall and the Songbird will die. I-I don't want to die," a sob ripped out of her throat as Missy awkwardly patted her on her shoulder.

"I doubt it's as easy as that," she offered. "And that won't be for years for you anyway. Make the most of them, and never regret any of it."

"Thank you… Koschei," the Time Lady jolted at her name before she gave this sad grin.

"You're welcome, Chloe Nightingale."

Once the door was shut and Chloe was alone, she took a deep breath and pressed the activation button.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" She heard 9's voice as a wave of vertigo washed over her, leaving her swaying from side to side.

"Doc, she doesn't look good," Jack's voice said from beside her, forcing her to shake her head.

"Where did she come from?" Rose asked, and she was finally able to open her eyes.

"W-Warning," she whispered.

"You're giving us a warning? For what, saving the world?" Jack scoffed, but she shook her head and regretted it. "Whoa, easy. Did you time travel without a vortex manipulator or something?"

"No, that design, that's Time Lord engineering," the Doctor noted, his voice growing cold. "What are you doing with that."

"I-I need to warn you," she tried again, looking directly at the Doctor. "Valeyard… he's coming… he's coming for them." The Time Lord paled, taking a step back as Rose tilted her head.

"Valeyard? Whose that then?"

"Me," the Doctor answered. "Or, rather, an evil version of me. How did you get that information?"

"I'm… I'm a companion in a different dimension. He took me from that world and brought me over here. I need to stop him from existing; I need to stop him from getting the TARDIS."

"You don't actually believe this," Jack scoffed, but the Doctor didn't look so convinced, so she stepped forward.

"Look at my memories if you must, but the Delta Wave," she nodded towards the bundle of wires.

"Right, I'll believe you, for now," he said, and began to usher Jack and Rose towards the Tardis, but she grasped Jack's shirt.

"Hey, what the-!"

"He can't go," she said. "It's a fixed point that Jack remains on the station."

"Go?" Rose asked, starting to head back towards the TARDIS doors as the Doctor glanced between them before sonicking the doors shut and sending the ship away.

"Go down to 499," she told the man, who was glaring at her. "You'll be ok, I promise."

As he left, there was a ripple from behind her, and something brushed her neck, making her shiver, but as she turned, nothing was there. Shrugging, she glanced down at her hands, all but weeping as she started to vanish. "He's going to die, isn't he?" The Doctor asked, and she glanced at him sadly.

"Jack won't be the same," she agreed. "But he'll live, and he'll be so fantastic. And you will be too, Doctor."

"Who are you?"

She paused, glancing around. "The others called me Songbird. Maybe there's some truth in it after all."

She got Rose's passport from her room and hid it in the spare bedroom's closet, pulling out the postcards she had been writing over the years. Of course, she had to edit certain things, but in the end, once a month, Jackie got a postcard from "Rose", describing her travels.

Perhaps the hardest bit of her wait was that in the second week after Valeyard had kidnapped her, she woke up from a nightmare and saw someone standing at her feet. She had thrown the box in self-defense before switching on the lamp to show 11 holding his head and the music box shattered on the floor.

She had apologized so much, she was pretty sure he was sick of hearing her voice by the time he had left, the broken pieces in his hands.

So, to fill the void of what sleep used to do, she found herself in Hub 3 more and more. Owen and Sato found it funny, and despite the jokes Jack made, he did his best to get her back to her apartment to "spend time with Jackie", who was admittedly still sad that Rose had left with only just a phone call.

Then, of course, one day, Owen called in sick (Chloe had snorted; they all knew he was hungover) and Sato actually was sick, which left her and Suzie the next ones in line for any alien dissections.

Wouldn't you know what happened not even an hour after she officially began her shift?

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