"It's gone!" the Doctor called as he and Azezela ran back into the main room of the buildings, finding Idris sitting on the edge of the grating, while Uncle and Auntie were fiddling around with a pile of junk across from her.
"Eaten?" Idris asked in alarm, looking up to them.
"No, it left." The Doctor said sighing deeply. "Not eaten, hi-jacked." He shook his head.
"But why?" Azezela queried leaning up against one of the walls.
"It's time for us both to go, and keep together," Auntie remarked suddenly, catching their attention, pulling an old blanket around her shoulders as Uncle did the same beside her.
The Doctor frowned at them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, go?" he repeated, stepping over to them, "What do you mean, 'go?' Where are you going?"
"Well, we're dying, my loves," Auntie replied, quite causal and calm about the whole thing as she hobbled over towards a couple of boxes that where piled up on the other side of the room, taking a seat on one of them. The Doctor and Azezela exchanged a look, and she nodded, they were both dying. The doctor glanced and saw a puzzled expression of Idris's face, "It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off," she finished cheerfully.
"I'm against it," Uncle admitted, sighing slightly as he followed her, "But..." he trailed off, shrugging as if that was the end of it and there was nothing more that could be done.
"It's your faults, isn't it, sweets?" she pointed to the Doctor, "'Cos you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on 'em if there's none more coming, can he?"
Uncle took a seat in a fold-up chair beside her, "So now he's off to your Universe to find more TARDISes," he added.
"It won't." The Doctor said shaking his head sadly "there is none left."
"Oh, it'll think of something," Auntie said, smiling knowingly, when her eyes rolled back into her head and she suddenly fell sideways, unmoving.
The Doctor blinked, staring at her in shock before the Doctor dashed over to her, flashing his sonic over her body as he scanned her.
"Actually..." Uncle rose from his chair, hardly seeming to even notice Auntie, "I feel fine..." and he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
"They're dead." Azezela said simply looking at them more than a little confused.
"Not dead!" the Doctor shouted, jumping over Uncle's body, waving his arms around at the body, "You can't just die"
"Well apparently they can." Azezela said looking at them with curiosity.
"We need to go to where I landed, quickly," Idris called to them, staring off into space, completely ignoring everything else that was going on before her.
The Doctor sighed, frustrated, "Why?" he asked, huffing slightly as he turned around to face her properly.
"Because we are there in three minutes," she informed them, standing, "We need to go...now..." she took off running towards the door, only to stumble suddenly, grabbing at her side, "Ow!" she cried out painfully. Idris, grimacing and clutching her side, turned back around to look at them, "Roughly how long do these bodies last?"
The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver back out of his pocket and flashed it at her, scanning before he checked the results. He looked back up to her, his eyes widening.
"You're dying." Azezela said approaching her and letting her lean on her.
"of course, I'm dying." Idris said leaning on Azezela. "I don't belong in a flesh body." Iris sighed before calling "I could blow the casing in no time," Idris agreed, snatching the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's hands as he continued to stare at her numbly, sadness filling his eyes, "No, stop it," she told him sternly, seeing his reaction, "Don't get emotional...hmm," she smiled very slightly, "That's what the orangey girl says. You're the Doctor..." she held the sonic screwdriver back out to the Doctor, "Focus".
"On what?" the Doctor shook his head, still staring at her, "How? I'm a madman with a box, without a box!" he snatched the sonic from her, slipping it inside his pocket, "I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the Universe on a stupid old junkyard!" he shouted up at the ceiling. "ooo." He said looking around excitedly.
"Ooo what?" Idris said tilting her head curiously at him.
"I'm not."
"Not what?" Azezela asked quite confused.
he grinned, his eyes brightening, "It's not a junkyard".
Idris looked backwards and forwards between them, curious, "What is it then?" she asked.
"It's a TARDIS junkyard!" the Doctor cried, grinning broadly, before beginning to rush off grabbing both their hands. "Come on!" Then he stopped and looked at Idris. "Oh, sorry. Do you have a name?" He asked.
"Seven hundred years, finally he asks," Idris rolled her eyes.
"But what do I call you?"
Idris thought, "I think you call me Sexy." She said with a grin before saying, "Zela calls me sweetie."
"...only when we're alone," he muttered, casting a hurried look behind him, as if checking to make sure that no one had snuck up behind them and heard.
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, looking at the Doctor and the smirking Azezela, "We are alone," she reminded them.
"Come on then, Sexy, dear!" he grabbed Idris's hand with his free one and took off running again, heading out the door.
They made their way back out of the spaceship and out into the junkyard, the Doctor letting go of Their hands to retrieve his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, flashing it around, scanning the area as he moved ahead of the girls. He jogged up a small hill and came to a stop, staring out over the ledge as the two women caught up to him.
Azezela's eyes widened slightly as she took in the sight before her, of thousands, possibly even more, crashed and badly damaged ships that were scattered for as far as her eyes could see through the gloom and fog, each one once a TARDIS. The sight brought a wave of sadness that washed over her, at the sight of so many beautiful ships now damaged well beyond repair and with their owners long since gone. "So much Death." She muttered squeezing The Doctors hand.
"A valley of half-eaten TARDIS'," the Doctor commented, his eyes bright with excitement, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I'm thinking that all my sisters are dead," Idris said quietly, "That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses".
The Doctor shifted slightly awkwardly, "Ah, sorry, no," he began, hastily looking at Idris, who was smiling very faintly at the brunet, "I wasn't thinking that..."
"No," Idris agreed, looking back out over the valley of her fallen sisters, "You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models," she looked back to him, meeting his eyes, "And you don't care that it's impossible".
"It's not impossible as long as we are alive, And Rory and Amy need us," he said, growing serious as he glanced back to Idris, "So yeah, we're going to build a TARDIS".
...
The Doctor and Idris had quickly set to work making a start on building the console, managing to piece together the base of the console and two wall panels, but they were still missing the Time Rotor and actual control panels, scavenging from several different TARDISes that they had found to be in quite a good condition, considering how long they had no doubt spent scattered around the junkyard.
Azezela was sat to the side watching as they built the Tardis and listened interested as they spoke about what they were doing.
Idris stood a short distance away from where they were building the console, carefully examining a small circuit that she had plucked out of a pile of junk, tapping it with her finger as she eyed it. The Doctor was attempting to pull another large wall panel along behind him with a couple of cables over his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he used all of his strength to try and move the heavy slab of metal.
"I can put that in place for you." Azezela said before lifting it with a wave of a hand and moving it over closer to where they were building the Tardis.
"You shouldn't have done that Zela!" The Doctor said worriedly. "You need that magic to stay alive, you can't just use it to move stuff."
"If your plan works, I'll be fine." Azezela said not bothering to tell him how weak she was feeling at the moment, but she was sure it'd be okay. "There is more important stuff to be focusing on."
"Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter..." Idris called over to the Doctor.
"Yes, yes!" he rolled his eyes slightly, sounding mildly annoyed as he rushed over to pull up the wall, "I have actually rebuilt the TARDIS before, you know. I know what I'm doing!"
Idris raised her eyebrows at him, not looking the slightest bit impressed, "You're like a nine-year-old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom," she said, turning the circuit around in her hands, "And you never read the instructions".
"I always read the instructions!"
Idris smiled very slightly and looked back over to the Doctor, "There's a sign on my front door," she began, pointing a finger at him, "You have been walking past it for seven hundred years, what does it say?"
"That's not instructions," he shook his head, scoffing slightly.
"There's an instruction at the bottom, what does it say?"
"Pull to open".
"Yes," Idris nodded, sounding as if she was talking to a child. Azezela grinned, quite enjoying watching how easy it was for Idris to stir the Doctor up, "And what do you do?"
"I push!" he shouted, growing more annoyed.
"Every single time," she sighed tiredly, closing her eyes in exasperation, "Seven hundred years, police box doors open out the way," she opened her eyes and made an opening gesture with her hands
The Doctor span around on his heels, and marched over to Idris, "I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!" he snapped.
"Your front doors?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows, "Have you any idea how childish that sounds?"
He turned around and walked away from her, shaking his head, "You are not my mother!"
"And you are not my child," Idris said calmly just looking at him.
"You know..." he whirled back around to face her, "Since we're talking, with mouths..." he held up his hand and mimicked a chattering mouth as he walked back over to her, "Not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, YOU..." he pointed at her, making Idris lean back slightly, "Have never been very reliable". Azezela was now looking between them as though it was a tennis match with a small frown wondering if she should intervene or not.
Idris raised her eyebrows at him, "And you have?"
"You didn't always take me where I wanted to go," he argued, waving his hand at her, before he turned and began to move away from her, back over towards the controls, roughly adjusting his blazer as he went.
"No," she agreed, watching him go, "But I always took you where you needed to go!"
The doctor paused in realisation. "You did. Look at us, talking!" he exclaimed excitedly, rushing back over to them, "Wouldn't it be amazing if we could talk, even when you're stuck inside the box?" he said to Idris.
"You know I'm not constructed that way," Idris frowned at him, shaking her head, "I exist across all space and time, and you two talk and... run around and... bring home strays..." she suddenly stopped talking as she gasped, half collapsing with a groan of pain. The Doctor quickly grabbed her and steadied her, half supporting her as Azezela approached them looking over her.
"Your kidneys are failing, I'm afraid you don't have much time left sweetie." Azezela told her sadly.
she dismissed that idea, simply saying. "We need to finish assembling the console".
"Using a console without a proper shell..." the Doctor commented, looking quickly to Azezela, "It's not going to be safe..."
"I'll be fine." Azezela dismisses, waving him off easily.
"This body has about eighteen minutes to live," Idris told them simply, "The Universe we're in will reach Absolute Zero in three hours," she fixed them both with a firm look, "Safe is relative".
"Then we need to get a move on. Eh, old girl?" he remarked, going back to putting up the wall.
Azezela glanced at Idris, a concerned frown crossing her face as the noticed the other woman touch her side. She put a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling at her softly, hoping that it hid just how worried she truly felt for her as Idris looked back to her, returning the smile, before returning back to their own tasks.
...
It wasn't long before they had a partly built TARDIS console constructed in the middle of the junkyard with two walls panels meeting in a corner around the back of the console, with a completely new, slightly shabby and mismatched console.
The Doctor finally returned from out of the gloom, carrying a large cylinder-shaped piece of equipment on his shoulder. Their new Time Rotor.
Idris glanced over to him as she turned and began to make her way over to nearby pile of junk, just to see if there might be anything of use hidden away amongst it, "You'll need to install the Time Rotor!" she called to him.
"How is this going to make it through the Rift?" the Doctor wondered aloud as he made his way over to the console. "Okay, we're almost finished," the Doctor announced brightly as the Rotor locked into place, straightened and rubbed her hands together, running his eyes around the console, checking that she hadn't forgotten anything, "We're got the thrust diffuser here..." The Doctor nodded, moving around to the other side of the console, "Eh, retro scope," he remarked, reaching up to adjust one of the controls that looked like a bathroom mirror, before looking down at the control panel beneath the mirror, "Blue thingy..."
"Do you ever wonder why I chose you all those years ago?" Idris asked suddenly, absently examining a wire coat hanger.
"I chose you," he corrected her, thinking back to that day. "You were unlocked."
"Of course, I was," Idris smiled slightly, turning around and walking back over towards him, Azezela following behind, "I wanted to see the Universe, so I stole a Time lord, and I ran away," the Doctor came to stand beside her as she eyed him, "And you were the only one mad enough".
"Right!" the Doctor clapped his hands, looking back over to the console, admiring their handiwork, "Perfect. Look at that," he smiled widely, waving his hand at the console, "What could possibly go wrong?"
One of the dials popped off the console, clattering loudly against the metal floor as it hit it. Idris frowned slightly and tilted her head curiously. "That's fine." The Doctor said waving it off. "That always happens. No, hang on. Wait." He jogged over to them and grabbed the ropes, leading the way back over to the console and handed Azezela and Idris a rope each, Idris hooking the wire coat hanging up on the mirror before the three of them set to work securing the ropes around themselves and the console to act like a seatbelt.
"Right, okay," the Doctor began, straightening from connecting the rope up to the console, "Let's go. Follow that TARDIS!" he reached forward and tried to start up the TARDIS, but the engine hummed for a moment before powering down again, sparking slightly. Idris hardly seemed to notice, her attention entirely focused on her own reflection in the mirror as she touched her cheeks, moving them around and scrunching them up, "Oh, come on!" he complained loudly, "There's Rift energy everywhere! You can do it." He encouraged. "Okay, diverting all power to thrust. Let's be having you." he grabbed a crank on the controls and began winding it quickly, when the console suddenly sparked, making the Doctor flitch, "Ah!" he cried, hurrying back around the console, "No, no, no, no!"
Idris blinked, looking at him, startled, "What's wrong?" she asked, sounding mildly curious.
The Doctor sighed heavily, frowning at the console, "It's not holding the charge," he told her, running a hand down his face, "We can't even get the engine to start. There's no power!" the Doctor glared at the console, before looking back to Idris, only to find her staring at her own reflection again, pulling on her lip, "Will you..." he put his hand over the mirror, blocking her view as he shook his head, "We've got nothing..." he breathed, realising that they had no way of saving Amy and Rory now. Their plan had failed. Azezela looked at what they were doing curiously as while she could fly the Tardis, she couldn't build one like this.
Idris slowly smiled at him, "Oh, my beautiful idiot," she said fondly, "You have what you've always had, you've got me," she raised her middle finger up to her mouth and kissed it, her eyes glowing golden with energy that seemed to flow out of her fingertips as she reached out and touched it against the Time Rotor.
Immediately, the Rotor lit up and began to move up and down as the all too familiar sound of the engine's wheezing and grinding started up. Zela broke into a large, delighted smile, feeling the urge to hug the other woman, but before she could even make a move to, the console jolted them slightly and suddenly, a golden haze like a large, swirling bubble appeared around them, forcing them to quickly cling on to the console as they disappeared out of the junkyard in a brilliant flash of yellow light and crackling energy.
They hurtled through the Rift, surrounded by the golden energy, just managing to make out stars as they flew with such enormous speed that it almost seemed impossible to think that they were to actually manage to do this without a proper casing, but so far, the two wall panels seemed to be holding up.
"Whoo-hoo!" the Doctor cheered, grinning broadly, loving every minute of the wind in his hair and the exhilarating feeling of travelling so fast.
"We've locked on to them!" Idris called over all the noise of the engines and wind, checking the readings on the console as the Doctor forced himself to focus on flying the makeshift TARDIS, rather than enjoying the ride. "They'll have to lower the shields when I'm close enough to phase inside."
"Can you get a message to Amy?" the Doctor asked Idris, flicking a switch, "The telepathic circuits are online!"
"Which one's Amy?" Idris questioned, frowning slightly, "The pretty one?"
"Yes, I guess." Azezela called loudly over the sound of the Tardis flying.
Idris nodded and put her hands on either side of the Time Rotor, closing her eyes, focusing on reaching out with her mind. Her eyes flew open as she made the mental connection, looking up at the mirror, "Hello, pretty!" she said brightly over the link.
"What the hell is that?" Rory's voice came over the telepathic circuits, sounding clear despite the wind and background noise.
"Don't worry, telepathic massaging." The Doctor said before frowning as he looked around the Time Rotor, catching sight of Rory's face, "No, that's Rory!" he told Idris, shaking his head, before he hurried back around to the controls.
"You have to go to the old control room," Idris instructed Rory, ignoring the Doctor, "I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there, use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields".
The Doctor popped his head around the mirror again, pointing at Rory doubtfully, "The pretty one?" he remarked, throwing Idris a look, before he moved back to the controls.
Idris, once again, ignored him, "You'll have about twelve seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix," she explained to Rory, "I'll send you the pass key when you get there. Good luck!" she finished, pulling her hand away from the Time Rotor, ending the connection.
"How's he going to be able to take down the shields anyway?" the Doctor asked, frowning over to Idris, "The House is in the control room!"
"I directed him to one of the old control rooms!" she informed him.
"There aren't any old control rooms! They were all deleted or remodelled!"
"I achieve them, for neatness! I've got about thirty now!"
"But I've only changed the desktop...what, a dozen times?"
"So far, yes!" Idris agreed, smirking at him.
"You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet!"
"You can't!" Idris shouting making Azezela laugh with a grin.
...
"Keep going!" the Doctor urged, smiling widely as he looked back over to Idris, "You're doing it, you sexy thing!"
"See, you do call me that!" Idris commented, returning the smile, "Is it my name?"
"You bet it's your name!"
"Whoo!" she cheered. Idris placed her hands on the Time Rotor again and closed her eyes, managing to send Rory the passwords: crimson, eleven, delight, petrichor. Suddenly, the console jolted, and she was sent stumbling backwards into the wall behind her, losing the connection once more.
"they did it!" she cried, happily, "The shields are down!" she quickly said,
She moved back towards the controls, placing her hands back against the Rotor, closing her eyes as she brought Rory up again on the mirror, his expression slightly pained, "We're coming through!" she told him, opening her eyes to look at his faint image in the mirror, "Get out of the way or you'll be atomised!"
"Where are you coming through?" Rory's voice rang out over all the wind.
"I don't know!" she replied calmly.
"Oh, great, thanks!"
Idris, missing his sarcasm, pulled back from the Rotor, cutting the connection as the time machine flew even closer to the TARDIS, practically right on the back of the blue box's heels, which was a very good thing because it was started to become harder and harder to keep their TARDIS from tossing them around to violently. Azezela fell back only just managing to grip on and not hit her head.
"It's not going to hold!" Idris shouted as the console sparked, smoke billowing up around them.
The Doctor reached across the controls and pulled a lever, and suddenly they found themselves materialising in a swirl of golden energy in the Tenth Doctor's old console room, while Amy and Rory hid behind a Y-shaped column. As they landed and the energy faded, they toppled onto the floor of their makeshift TARDIS, Azezela groaning slightly, her curly hair looking wild and as if it hadn't been brushed in a month with the number of tangles in it, most of it covering her face, as she fell to the floor.
"Doctor." Amy called grinning as she rushed forwards towards them. As The doctor helped up Azezela. "Zela."
"Oh, not good," Idris moaned from behind them, catching all of their attention as she tried to climb onto her feet, "Not good at all..." the Doctor rushed back over to her, grabbing her arm, helping her to stand. She frowned, shaking her head, "How do you walk around in these things?"
The Doctor gently helped her to sit down on the edge of the makeshift TARDIS, Azezela quickly moving to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her, "We're not quite there yet," he said to her, "Just hold on," he straightened and looked back over to Amy and Rory, who were staring at them, "Ah, Amy, this is..." he glanced back over to Idris and back to them, "She's my TARDIS. Except she's a woman," he pointed back to her as something sparked on the makeshift console behind them, "She's a woman, and she's my TARDIS," he broke into a broad, slightly stunned smile.
Amy's eyes widened, "She...she's the TARDIS?" she pointed at Idris, shocked.
"And she's a woman," he nodded, growing even more excited, "She's a woman and she's the TARDIS".
Amy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, pointing at him, "Did you wish really hard?"
"Shut up," the Doctor muttered, blushing slightly at the implication, glancing warily back to Idris, "Not like that".
"Hello," Idris said to Amy and Rory, slightly breathless, "I'm...Sexy".
"Oh..." he groaned, glancing at Idris as Azezela smirked, amused. Amy and Rory smirked at him as he looked back to them, pointing sternly, "Still, shut up".
"The environment has been breached," House's voice suddenly sounded throughout the room as the lights around the room and walls turned green. They all lost their smiles, "Nephew, kill them..."
Amy and Rory stared, looking around the room urgently for the Ood, "Where's Nephew?" Rory asked, still looking around.
"He was standing right where you materialised..." Amy remarked, frowning as she pointed over to where the makeshift TARDIS was.
"Oh, I see," the doctor sighed slightly, Azezela glanced almost sadly at the time machine behind her, "He's been redistributed, then".
Rory looked back to her quickly, "Meaning what?"
"We are all currently breathing him," he informed them grimly.
Amy and Rory grimaced in disgust, Amy quickly covering her mouth and nose, "Oh, come on..." she complained.
"Another Ood I failed to save," the Doctor said sadly.
"Doctor, I did not expect you," House commented, sounding mildly surprised.
"Well, that's us all over, isn't it?" he called to him, clapping his hands as he moved around the darkened console that his last two regenerations had been so fond of, "Lovely, old, unexpected us".
"The big question is, now you're here...how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity..."
They all collapsed onto the ground as if an unseen forced had pressed down on all of them, their faces scrunched up, when the presser was suddenly lifted and they slowly pulled themselves back up, Idris's legs giving way beneath her and sending her crashing back down onto the floor with a groan of pain. Rory moved to her and Azezela's side straight away, gently rolling her onto her back, her head on Zela's lap.
"Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke..." House continued.
They all began gasping as the air was suddenly sucked out of the room, grabbing at their throats, desperately trying to catch their breath as their lungs started burning with the need for oxygen. Even the Doctor were gasping and chocking.
"You really don't want to do that!" the Doctor managed to choke out, grasping at his throat.
The air returned, leaving them gasping and panting, feeling exhausted.
"Why shouldn't I just kill you now?" House asked them.
"Because..." the Doctor began, panting as he touched her throat, "If we're dead, we can't help you. Listen to your engines," he urged House as Rory checked Idris's pulse, now cradling her head in his lap, as, as weak as Azezela was she was struggling to get her breath back, as technically they were still outside the universe. "Just listen to them...you don't have the thrust and you know it. We're your only hope of getting out of your little bubble Universe through the Rift, and into our Universe," the Doctor breathed, leaning a hand against the console, "You need us and ours is the one with the food in," the Doctor added as Idris whispered something to Rory, looking very weak and pale, "You just have to promise not to kill us," he went on, looking up at the ceiling, "That's all, just promise".
Amy stared at them, "You can't be serious," she shook her head, unable to believe that he was actually going to help House get to their Universe.
"We're very serious," he told her, meeting her eyes, "I'm sure it's an entity of its word".
"Doctor,". Rory called, a hint of panic in his voice, making him quickly look back over to see him cradling Idris in his arms, Azezela comforting her as much as she could, "She's burning up. She's asking to water".
He hurried over to her side, realising just how weak she had grown. Her eighteen minutes were very nearly up.
"Hey," the Doctor said gently, cupping Idris's cheek, inwardly wincing at how warm her skin felt, "Hang in there, old girl," he tried to smile at her, "Not long now. It'll be over soon".
"I always liked it when you call me old girl," Idris breathed, staring up at his face, her voice weak and her breathing slightly struggle laboured.
"You want me to give my word?" House cut in, catching their attention, "Easy, I promise".
"Fine," he agreed, "Okay, I trust you. You'll just have to delete about...oh, thirty percent of the TARDIS rooms," he instructed House, looking up at the ceiling, "Doing that will free up enough thrust power to make you through the Rift and into our Universe," he sighed slightly, "Activate subroutine Sigma nine".
"Why would you tell me this?" House questioned, sounding suspicious.
The Doctor stood, "Because we want to get back to our Universe as badly as you do," he replied, holding up his hands, "And I'm nice".
"Yes, I can delete rooms..." Rory looked up, alarmed, "And I can also rid myself of vermin, if I delete this room first..." Amy and Rory looked fearfully to the Time Lord, their eyes widening as the Doctor's expression remained completely unchanged, "Thank you, Doctor. Very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lord. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris".
A bright light filled the room, blinding them all as they disappeared...
...
The light faded and they all found themselves back in the main control room that was glowing green, in the exact same positions that they had been in when they had been deleted from the old control room, Rory and Azezela beside Idris, while Amy crouched a short distance away from them as the Doctor stood beside the console.
"Yes. I mean, you could do that," he agreed lowering his arm from his eyes. "but it just won't work." He shook his head. "Hardwired fail safe." Amy and Rory blinked around in surprise "Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room. But thanks for the lift." He grinned.
"We are in your Universe now," House informed them as Idris pulled Rory down slightly, whispering something to him, "Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere," the Doctor walked around the console, making his way to Azezela who had collapsed to the floor gasping as they re-entered their universe, as magic filled her again, "Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords".
"Fear me," the Doctor told him, serious, "I've killed them all".
"I don't understand," Rory frowned at Idris, shaking his head, "There isn't a forest in here".
"Yeah, you're right," the Doctor continued, raising his voice slightly, "You've completely won. Oh, you could kill us oodles of really inventive ways," he glanced down at where Idris lay, "But before you do kill us allow me, and my friends Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an..." he grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her up onto her feet, "Absolutely worthy opponent," he began clapping, nudging Amy's side.
Amy, slightly confused, joined in clapping, "Congratulations?"
"Yep, you've defeated us," he continued, trying hard to ignore the stab of pain that he felt, Amy frowning slightly at them both, "Me and my lovely friends here, and last but definitely not least, the TARDIS Matrix herself..." he held out a hand towards Idris, "A living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body. Look at her, House," the Doctor said, voice growing colder, struggling to keep his anger under control, "Just look at her".
"Doctor..." Rory called to him, looking quite pale, still cradling Idris's limp head in his lap, "She's stopped breathing".
"Enough," House told them, his voice rumbling through the room as Amy moved to kneel beside Rory, "That is enough". As Azezela who had finally caught her breath leant down and kissed her cheek before muttering something in her ear.
"No. It's never enough." The doctors shook his head. "You forced the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room!" he glared up at the ceiling furious, "A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS Matrix and live. Look at her body, House," he tried, gesturing over to Idris
"And you think I should mourn her?" House asked, sounding close to laughing at the mere suggestion.
"No," he said, his voice growing dangerously soft, "We think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room," Idris shifted slightly and opened her mouth, and with her last breathe, released the golden energy out from herself as Amy and Rory leaned back, their eyes widening in shock, Azezela was grinning with happiness, "You took her from her home!" he went on, "But now she's back in the box again and she's free."
No!" House cried, groaning painfully, "Doctor, stop this! Argh!" he shouted as the energy began to swirl around the room, "Stop this now!"
"Oh, look at my girl!" the Doctor cheered; grinning proudly as he watched the energy, "Look at her go!" he grabbed Azezela pulling her up into a hug, "Bigger on the inside!"
"Do you see it now?" Azezela grinned
"Make her stop!" House begged, pained.
"That's your problem..." the Doctor continued, ignoring him.
"Argh!"
"Size of a planet, but inside you are just so small..."
"Make it stop!"
Idris slumped back down onto her side, the light fading from her as the body finally died.
"Finish him off, girl," the Doctor ordered, turning away to look at the console as the golden light disappeared, the room growing dark once more.
"Ow! Don't do this! Argh!"
Amy and Rory blinked, looking down in surprise to find that Idris's body had disappeared, when a golden glow appeared on the stairs behind the Doctor, catching their attention, "Doctor..." a voice called out, echoing slightly, slowly, the Doctor turned around to see a ghost-like image of Idris standing before them, glowing, "Are you there? It's so dark in here".
Azezela squeezed the Doctors hand in comfort, "I'm here," he assured her, trying to give her a smile.
Idris looked down towards him, seeming to be following the sound of his voice rather than actually seeing him as she gave them a small smile, "I've been looking for a word," she said, her eye moving to rest on the Doctor, "A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now".
"What word?" he asked softly.
"Alive," she breathed, her smile widening, "I'm alive".
"Alive isn't sad," he frowned, shaking his head.
"It's sad when it's over. I'll always be here, but this is when we talked, and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you..."
He nodded and looked down, already guessing the answer, "Goodbye..."
"No," she said, taking a deep breath as he looked back up to her in surprise, "I just wanted to say...hello," she paused, tears filling her eyes as she struggled to keep her composer, "Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you," she smiled tearfully at him, sniffing slightly, "It's so very, very nice to meet you and Zela."
"Please..." the Doctor whispered, so close to completely breaking down, he jumped when Azezela gripped his hand in hers reminding him that she will always be there for him no matter what happens. He shook his head, staring up at her, "I don't want you to..." Idris smiled at them sadly and began to lean back, "Please..." he pleaded, his hearts breaking.
"Oh Love." Azezela said pulling the Doctor into her arms in a big hug.
...
The Doctor was sitting in the harness beneath the glass flooring of the console, toying with a few of the wires that hung down all around him, while Azezela sat on the stairs watching him sadly.
"How's it going under there?" Rory called down through the floor, watching them work as Amy knelt on the floor, a stethoscope in her ears to hear them.
"Just putting a firewall around the Matrix. Almost done." The Doctor told them as he messed with a few of the wires.
"Are you going to be make her talk again?" Amy asked, looking down at them seriously.
"Can't," the Doctor replied, glancing at Azezela, who smiled sadly, before looking back to the wires.
Rory walked down the steps, frowning at them over the railing at them, "Why not?"
"Spacey wacey, isn't it?" Amy guessed.
"Well, actually," the Doctor began, eyeing the end of one of the wires, "It's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleven dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then..." Rory grabbed two of the wires and touched them together, causing them to spark violently. He quickly let the wires go, his eyes widening slightly as the Doctor flinched, "Yes!" he exclaimed, throwing Rory an annoyed look, "It's spacey wacey!" he pulled his goggles down to dangle around his neck.
"Sorry," Rory said hurriedly, still looking slightly alarmed. He cleared his throat, "Uh, at the end, she was talking. She kept repeating something," he shook his head, "I don't know what it meant".
Azezela glanced up at him, curious, "What did she say?"
"'The only water in the forest is the river'. She said we'd need to know that someday. It doesn't make sense, does it?"
"Not yet" Doctor agreed, fiddling with a small fuse box on the central poll connected directly into the console. Then he looked over to a now quieter Rory, "You okay?" He asked curiously.
"No," he admitted, sighing heavily as the Doctor straightened, looking over to him in concern, "I watched her die. I should let it get to me, but it still does..." Amy walked down the stairs, taking a seat on one of the steps, looking over the railing, "I'm a nurse".
"Letting it get to you," the Doctor remarked, absently scratching the back of his head with a tool, before pointing with it across to Rory, "Do you know what that's called? Being alive," he smiled faintly, "Best thing there is. Being alive right now, that's all that counts". He looked back up to the wires he was working on. "Nearly finished. Two more minutes, then we're off. The Eye of Orion's restful, if you like restful. I can never really get the hang of restful. What do you think, dear?" he grinned, swinging slightly in the harness as he pulled a bright yellow cloth from out of his pocket, carefully cleaning one of the wires, "Where shall we take the kids this time?"
"Look at you pair," Amy commented, smiling, shaking her head as she watched the two Time Lords cooing over the TARDIS, "It's always you and her, isn't it, long after the rest of us have gone. A boy and his box, off to see the Universe".
"Well, you say that as if it's a bad thing," he looked back over to her, breaking into a smile, "But honestly, it's the best thing there is..." He looked over to them then. "The House deleted all the bedrooms. I should probably make you two a new bedroom. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He smiled at them.
Rory leaned closer to Amy, whispering something to her for a moment, "Okay," Amy nodded, raising her voice as she looked back over to them, "Er, Doctor, this time could we lose the bunk beds?" she asked hopefully, making Azezela chuckle.
"You gave a married couple bunk beds." Azezela asked looking at him amused.
"Bunk beds are cool!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking slightly offended that none of them seemed to see just how 'cool' they were, "A bed with a ladder!" he continued, trying to get them to see it, "You can't beat that!"
"Sure, I guess." Azezela said conceding to that point with a slightly tilted head and a smirk. "But ladders can get in the way. A normal bed is better for two to enjoy their time, don't you think." She winked at him.
The Doctor looked at her curiously, before realising what she was saying and smirking. "Well, I guess that's a good point. It's your room. Out those stairs, keep walking till you find it. Off you pop."
Amy and Rory began to stand, heading off up the stairs, but Rory paused and looked back to them, "Doctor, do you have a room?" he asked curiously. Amy rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him along after her back up the stairs, leaving the Doctor to his work, with Azezela watching with a smirk on her face.
"Zela what are you thinking?" The Doctor said a while after, looking at her curiously.
Azezela stood and approached him. "Why do you ask?" She said moving forwards in her dress.
"I'm curious." The Doctor said bringing his hands to his lap as if trying to hide something.
She perched on his lap feeling what he was trying to hide against her hip. "I was thinking, about you, me and River." She said before biting his ear.
"Oh really." The doctors said making her bit her bottom lip before kissing him deeply.
"Yes." She said simply as she kissed and bit at his jaw as her hands trailed down his chest, "I want to play." She muttered in his ear.
The Doctor grinned at her. "What do you want to do?" He said in a sexy voice.
She then slid off his lap onto the floor.
...
The Doctor rubbed his hands together as he made his way back up the steps from beneath the console, tossing the yellow cloth onto the controls, and pausing to casting his eyes around the room
Are you there?" he asked, leaning his hands against the console, his eyes roaming around the room, "Can you hear me?" nothing happened, and he sighed, lowering his head, "Oh, I'm silly old..." he trailed off.
Azezela put a comforting hand on his arm, "Never mind," she said, trying to make herself sound bright and cheerful, looking over the console. "I'm sure she can still hear us even if she can't talk, she can still communicate."
"Yeah, your right." The Doctor told her, before he sighed. "Let's go to the Eye of Orion...or wherever else we might need to go, old girl".
Suddenly, a lever pulled itself down, and the sound of the engines started up with a jolt, forcing them to grab hold of the console before they could be thrown off balance. They looked at each other and burst out laughing, delighted as he began running around the controls, hitting buttons and switches as they went. They flew better than ever with the Tardis' help and two pilots being better than just one.