Thank you all who read the last chapter! This chapter was supposed to be longer, but the whole Taragrea IV arc changed so much, it's now the same length as the other chapters.
Trigger warning for this story arc: Mentions and acts of Kidnapping/Slavery; tl;dr's will be available at the end of each chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any affiliated books
She was up and on her feet in an instant, the Doctor racing out of the room with her after him.
The streets were chaos, she still had that stupid flower pin in her hair, and people were laying, stunned, in the streets. "Doctor, why aren't they moving?" She demanded. "The explosion was blocks away!"
"They must be a species prone to shock," he answered, turning to her. "You need to get as many shock kits from the TARDIS as possible, without drawing attention to yourself. Today is the day the Riots start."
She wanted to ask what riots, but one of the aliens groaned, making her glance at them before looking back at the Doctor and nodding. He offered her a familiar key, which she took. "I'll be back as soon as possible," she promised.
When she was doing her best to traverse the rubble, a far too familiar bag in hand, an arm extended out in front of her, forcing her to stop or break the person's arm. It was a pale skin tone, and as she followed it to the owner, she saw the less than impressed face of the 8th Doctor.
"Now, madam, I don't know why you're looting, but I recommend putting it back before I contact the local authorities." He said, and she snorted.
"You mean the same authorities who were willing to sell me off into slavery until they realized I'm married?" she snarked. "I'm helping my companion, he's a doctor. I was told to get shock kits."
"And, what, you just knew they were in there?"
"Yes, Doctor," she grounded out, making him jolt back. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd actually like to make sure those downed aliens don't die." He lowered his arm but motioned for her to continue, and she had a feeling he'd follow her.
9, as it was, was almost struggling with some kangaroo-like aliens, but he brightened as she knelt beside him. "Wonderful, you're here. Durarians are infamously bad at handling shock."
"So these will be helpful then," she pulled out five kits but paused when the Doctor hesitated in taking one. Setting the offered box down, she reached out, grabbing his arm. "Doctor?"
"Durarians went extinct in the first decade of the Time War," he finally said. "All information of them were wiped out aside from what they looked like."
"My xenobiology isn't that good, and I studied human biology, not animals," she frowned. "So what, we just sit back and let them die?"
"If we could wake one up, they might be able to help, but I don't know the extent of their wounds." she turned to look at him, and he held up a dying sonic. "The batteries are locked in the console."
"Which requires power to open?" she assumed, before pausing, and turning towards- "Give me another minute."
Across the street at the other intersection was 8, who was tending to non-lethal wounds. He seemed to perk up once he saw her going to her. "Hello again miss…?"
"Chloe," she said. "We need you over with the Durarians. The version of you that I travel with, he has no knowledge of them because they were wiped out of time, but you're from before then."
"Should you be telling me this?"
"Most likely not, but there are five innocent people dying in the street." She leveled her gaze with him and raised a challenging brow. "Are you a Doctor or not?"
His face broke into a grin. "I think I'll quite look forward to traveling with you, Miss Chloe." She just shrugged, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards 9, who glanced up at them and…
"Brilliant," he breathed, pulling her into a hug and spinning before letting her go and turning to his past self. "Right, the explosion happened 23.6 minutes ago, and the Durarians were found fifteen minutes ago exactly."
"Which means I only have ten minutes to save all five." 8 finished before flashing her a grin and wink. "Watch and learn."
With a laugh, she saw 9 scowl. "And now I realize why he never got more than a movie. Us poor fans wouldn't survive," she joked. "I'm going to go finish what he was doing over there. Try not to strangle yourself."
Everyone at the reception had gone back to their respective timelines when the explosion happened, except for the Doctors and their companions at the time, so she gratefully took one of the slices of cake that 13 had given her and was about to eat it when someone sat down beside her.
"Usually, it's tradition to wait until the bride and groom have eaten the first bite," 8 said in amusement, making her snort.
"Oh, trust me, I'm pretty sure the groom has had some," she joked. "In any case, here's the bride, taking the first bite." she wanted to laugh at his look, but with a mouth full of cake, she just shook her head.
"Well, I must say then, congratulations. I never saw myself as traveling with married companions." he mused aloud.
"Oh, no, the wedding was a ruse, I think," she told him. "It was either I got married or sold off into slavery, all because I looked human, was female, and had curly hair."
"What planet is this?" He asked with a frown.
"Taragrea IV. 35th century," she said. "We're apparently just starting in the Riots, but I never got a chance to ask."
"Hmm… 35th century Taragrea IV…" the Time Lord closed his eyes, brows furrowed until he snapped his fingers and looked at him. "The Slavery Revolts! It started in the late 35th century, and extended all the way to the 37th."
"That's horrible," she murmured.
"War always is," he agreed. "Why are you here then? One would think we would've left the second I got you back into safety."
"A secondary Chronotron Inhibitor is busted," she answered. "Our spare is lost in a storage room as well. There's a part here that'll be on market in about three months from now."
8 winced. "And why did I bring a human here of all places then?"
"Oh, that's easy. I'm not human," she answered. "Well, not physically. I'm a type of golem, made by Gallifreyan technology. I have a human mind and stuff, but that's mainly because if I wasn't transferred over into this body, I would've died." She then paused and pointed at him with her fork. "You'll have to lock that, sorry. You'll find you're going to have to lock away a lot of memories of me if you stick around."
"A very tempting offer, Miss Chloe," he said, and she was aware he was leaning forward. "This husband of yours, is he a jealous man?"
"It's hard to say," she answered, knowing she was full-on lying through her teeth. "I think, he wouldn't be if I were happy?" At least that bit was true.
"And… are you?"
"Doctor, are you trying to tempt me away from the you I travel with?" she asked in a joking tone, but from how 10 and 11 were tense, she wouldn't be surprised if he were.
"Merely curious, as your timeline is just simply tangled in mine." She paused at his voice, looking at him with squinted eyes.
"And nothing to do with the fact that this body is more empathetic than you let on?"
He just smiled. "And you would know this how Miss Nightingale?" She never told him her last name. How did he know that?
"An answer for an answer, then. I'm from the Alpha universe. How did you know my last name?"
"A simple glance at your younger timeline. Something about sounding make believe?" She couldn't stop her grin as she looked away. When she dared to glance back, she could see that his own cheeks were a little pink. "I see," he murmured. "So, your husband-"
"I don't know what you're going to say, but I recommend you don't," she cut in, but he shook his head.
"Did he tell you anything?" she hesitated, but nodded, suddenly aware of his smug grin.
"We went under a truth field immediately after," she protested, glancing down at the table, but it even sounded weak to her. Suddenly, she felt a hand gently touching her cheek, and when she glanced up, she saw 8 looking at her, a bit sadly.
"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have told you what I did," he murmured, and she slowly became aware of how close they were leaning to one another. "I do not begin to know what caused me to regenerate into such a dour man, but if it meant meeting and knowing you, I would gladly do it."
"You don't even know me," she whispered.
"I know enough," he reminded her. "Empathetic, remember? His shields were severely low until he realized what regeneration I was."
"You probably shouldn't be telling me this," she countered, and he had a playful grin.
"Think of it as payback for the no doubt numerous times you tell me these things." His nose bumped against hers, and she felt her breath hitch.
"What's going on here then?"
Jolting back, she glanced up at 9 with wide eyes. "I… I don't know," she stammered out, and his defensive stance loosened just a little, nodding to her before turning to 8, who looked smug.
"We have three rules for this," he began. "No touching. No speaking of future events. No seducing companions."
"That's a rule?" She asked in aghast but got hushed instead.
"From what I've seen, you've broken two rules already," 8 noted, and she thought back and-
Holy shit they had touched. She hadn't even noticed in her rush to get him to the Durarians. "Circumstances called for it," 9 replied. "Stay away from Chloe."
"Doctor!" She stood up and crossed her arms. "Why are you being so rude?"
"I thought you would've known already,"
"That your different faces don't always get along? I think everyone knows that. But this? I think this goes beyond not getting along."
"Perhaps it is best if I should go," 8 stood up and half bowed to her. "Farewell, Miss Nightingale."
As he left, she turned back to 9. "Did Marloon ever come back?"
"No," he answered, a grim look on his face. "I think the explosion and her disappearance are connected."
"We need to find her, and quick," she agreed. "Clara's echoes… once their duty is fulfilled, they don't last long, Doctor."
After another hour or so of looking before being forced to abide by the curfew, heading back to Marloon's place, where there was no sign of the alien woman anywhere.
So, she resigned herself in trying to at least cook the thing the woman had showed her the night before while the Doctor was doing… something at the table, but judging by his aggravated faces he was pulling, the dying sonic wasn't helping at all. "This marks how many times we could've done with a spare?" she asked.
"Wouldn't you rather be out there with pretty boy?"
Rolling her eyes, she turned off the heat. "No, Doctor," she answered, picking up a knife and slicing what she prayed was the right type of meat.
"You could go, possibly be better off. Time is in flux,"
"All the times I've heard that turned out to be bad," she reminded him. "Why are you trying to get me to leave, Doctor? Do you not want me to be your companion anymore?" It hurt her to ask, but she had to because if he said yes, she'd back away. She'd hate herself for it, but she'd leave-
"I'd prefer you stay," he quickly answered. "Sides, I think Rose would kill me if I made you leave."
She shook her head. "Rose knows better than to do that. Most likely, she'd just slap you." He let out a sound of agreement before setting the screwdriver down. She contemplated letting the silence go on between them, before sighing and turning off the stove. She didn't feel comfortable cooking things without help. "Order out?"
"Suppose." she nodded and started to head towards the living room, pausing when he spoke next. "He'll be lingering, for a couple more days, in case you change your mind."
"Why are you insisting on having me go away?" she snapped, turning around to glare at him. "Why? Is it because he was friendly towards me?"
"Well, you certainly made an impression on him," the Doctor snarked, standing up and leaning on the table with his hands. "And you weren't leaning away."
"Are you jealous? Because I might've kissed a past regeneration?"
This was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. "So you would've if I hadn't come in?"
"Oh, for-" she stormed up to him, jabbing him in the chest. "Why do you care so much? I don't know what you said to me, and believe it or not, I'm not dumb enough to even try and think you said what you want me to think you said. There's no way-"
"One of the questions was if I shared my name," he cut in, making her stop immediately. "But I get it. You'd rather be with a pretty boy than with some big-eared idiot."
She stared at him before scoffing and shaking her head. "You are an idiot," she agreed, before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down, pressing her lips on his. It was brief, if a little angry, and she let go of him immediately once she realized what she had done, blushing and looking away. "I-I'm sorry. I shou-"
He cut her off, with his own kiss that had her stumbling back until she hit the wall, bringing her arms up and around his neck. He deepened the kiss, lifting up her right leg over his hip, causing her to moan. His other hand cupped her face, fingertip grazing her temple, and she broke the kiss, leaning into his touch. He pressed his forehead against hers, breathing heavily, and she glanced up at him with hooded eyes. She went to open her mouth, but shivered, feeling something wash over her.
"I'm not sorry," she admitted. "I have been waiting to do that for so long." unwrapping one of her arms, she echoed his hand placement and felt herself melt a bit as he leaned into her touch as well.
"Since I saw you in Albian," he murmured. "Especially after you said no."
"It practically killed me, denying that. 'Cause I knew what was going to happen,"
"Why this face?" he asked, making her smile.
"You are kind, brave, and soulful. You carry the weight of the worlds that were lost in the war, yet you put on a brave face and smile when there's someone scared. You do your best to ensure everyone lives, and when they don't, you remember them. You're fresh from the war, yes, but it's that experience that makes your choices and reactions that much more amazing. You've had every right to be bitter, to try and claim something for yourself, but you don't. You stay kind. You stay the Doctor. That's why this face is one of my favorites." she paused before her grin grew a bit wider. "Doesn't hurt that your smile is perfect either."
"Why did I not meet you sooner, Chloe Nightingale?"
"It might have something to do with why I didn't exist until seven or so years ago?" she snarked, her breath hitching a bit as the arm holding up her leg went down her thigh, to her back and squeezed her, pushing her towards her enough to have their noses bump. "Can we say we're both idiots?" she whispered.
"The dumbest," he shot back, and they kissed again.
TL;DR - Riots are in the streets, and Marloon is still missing. Chloe and 8 have met and flirted, and Chloe has officially had her first kiss with 9!
If you see something wrong, have a question, or just want to let me know what you think, please, leave a comment!