"Ok." Bill blinked, seeing the frozen Thames below and not Bristol University or even the Doctors office as they were supposed to be going, "I have questions." The Doctor held up a finger as he moved back to the console, Bill following as Raven shut the doors to keep the cold out, "You never said we could travel to parallel worlds!"
"You see snow on the river thames and you assume it's a parallel world?" Raven raised an eyebrow at her.
"What else could it be?" Bill countered, "thats london, with snow."
Ravens raised her eyebrows even more before just turning her back on the girl. If she wasn't able to even think about time travel then she wouldn't say anything. Was London really that lacking in snow that she never even thought she would see the river Thames frozen? She guessed she could understand Bills reasoning, the UK rarely got snow, actual proper snow, usually it was ash from breaking ships in the atmosphere or the Doctor having fun and using the TARDIS to make it snow.
"We're on the Thames." The Doctor explained "The last great Frost Fair. 1814, February 4th."
"Hang on, why aren't we home?" Bill frowned, "Can't you steer this thing?"
"I told you. You don't steer the TARDIS, you reason with it."
"How?"
"Unsuccessfully, most of the time."
"Doctor, vault." Raven reminded him as he set the TARDIS in motion.
"She's a bad girl, this one. Always looking for trouble."
"Doctor..." Raven sighed, just knowing he wasn't taking them back to the university. He was just moving them off the frozen Thames. He wanted to show Bill the past. The girl had seen the future and now was the perfect time to see the past, without Nardole annoying them.
Bill moved back outside, expecting to be back in modern day Bristol only to find they had simply moved from the frozen river and onto a bridge, "Whoa."
"Last day before the thaw." The Doctor said, "Thought I'd better find a more reliable parking spot."
"Wait, you want to go out there?"
"You don't?"
"I want to go back to the university." Raven crossed her arms, but the Doctor ignored her.
"It's 1814." Bill stated. "Melanin. Slavery is still totally a thing."
"Yes, so it is." The Doctor nodded slowly. He hadn't thought about that.
"It might be, like, dangerous out there."
"Definitely dangerous."
"I'll deck any racist bastard you so much as looks at you in the wrong way." Raven remarked.
"Really?" Bill blinked.
"Or poison them. Depends. My mood is constantly changing. May want to get physical, may not."
"Are you sick?" The Doctor frowned at her, resting his hand in her forehead, "not dying are you? I think that's the most caring thing you've ever said, to anyone ever."
"I will claw your eyes out." She warned.
"Nah you won't!" He grinned.
"So, how do we stay out of trouble?" Bill shook her head.
"Well, I'm not the right person to ask."
"Ok, when you go somewhere dangerous, what do you take?"
"First door on the left, second right, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on the left."
"What's there?"
"The wardrobe. Pick a dress."
"So the TARDIS has dresses and likes a bit of trouble? Yeah, I think I'm low-key in love with her."
"Me too."
Bill smirked at him before heading off following his direction.
"Raven."
"No."
"I'm putting a suit on to." He rolled his eyes at her bluntness.
"Don't care."
"We had a deal."
"Don't care."
He rolled his eyes before grabbing her in one swift movement and throwing her over his shoulder, heading down the wardrobe with her kicking and screaming. He'll regret this later but for now he did enjoy annoying her.
~.~
They stepped out of the TARDIS again, now dressed for the times with Bill wearing a pale dress under a large winter coat with a feather in her now pinned up hair. The Doctor has simply just changed his coat and put on a top hat.
"That is not dressed for the times," Raven grumbled, glaring at the Doctor as she followed them out. Of course, like always when she refused to dress up for the time period, the TARDIS refused to let her out until she was wearing something.
"You probably look fine." He rolled his eyes at her.
She mumbled under her breath. She had put on an empire waist dress for the time, cream in colour decorated with blue and red flowers, and a short red Spencer jacket of the times over it, a bonnet on her head, tied under her neck with a blue ribbon with a small black tied string bag, just in case she needed anything from her pockets. Unlike Bill, she didn't need a thick coat to keep warm in the freezing temperatures but knew the other humans would question and stare if she walked around in short sleeves.
"We had a deal." She complained.
"Doesn't anyone ever notice the TARDIS?" Bill cut in before the Doctor could speak and no doubt start bantering again.
The Doctor scoffed at that, "Your species hardly notices anything."
"So, what are the rules?"
"Rules?"
"Yeah. Travelling to the past, there's got to be rules. If I step on a butterfly, it could send ripples through time that mean I'm not even born in the first place and I could just disappear."
"Why would you step on a butterfly?" Raven shook her head.
"It could be accidentally."
"Well, watch where you're walking then."
"Definitely." The Doctor nodded slowly, "I mean, that's what happened to Pete."
"Pete?" Bill frowned.
"Your friend, Pete. He was standing there a moment ago, but he stepped on a butterfly and now you don't even remember him."
Bill stared at him, starting to believe him until Raven snorted and she realised it was just a joke. They were both really mean! "Shut up!" She whacked his arm, "I'm being serious!"
"Yeah, so was Pete." The Doctor joked.
"You know what I mean. Every choice I make in this moment, here and now, could change the whole future."
"Exactly like every other day of your life. The only thing to do is to stop worrying about it."
"Hmm. Ok. If you say so."
"Pete's stopped worrying."
"Chestnuts, sir?" A man called as they passed his hut. Shrugging, the Doctor handed the man a few coins in his coat pocket for a bag of chestnuts.
"Come to the Frost Fair, miss." A little girl in rags held out a flyer to Bill, "Only a sixpence, miss."
"Oh, my God..." Bill breathed.
"You're not stepping on a butterfly," Raven murmured, "you're just taking a flyer."
The Doctor handed the girl the chestnuts and set his top hat on her head, "It's just time travel." He muttered to Bill as she looked worried, "Don't overthink it."
"Is that what you said to Pete?" She smirked.
"Who's Pete?"
They headed down the snowy steps to the frozen river where more sellers were, men yelling about their entertainments and gifts. The Doctor handed sixpence each for entry, as Bill handed over her flyer, picking up the hem of her dress as she cautiously stepped on the snow covered ice.
"Yeah, no big deal." She breathed, "Just walking on the Thames! I hope you realise I'm going to try everything. Everything."
"You'll regret that." Raven smirked, hearing the calls for tasty pig cheek and Lapland mutton and sheep hearts. She laughed as Bill looked green.
"Yeah. Maybe not everything."
Raven patted her arm, seeing the Doctor had found a food stall he liked and brought whatever the hell it was cooked on a skewer.
"Oh, go on. Try this, at least." The Doctor urged.
Bill grimaced but took a bite only to spit it back out, "Urgh!"
"It's my favourite." The Doctor took another bite, seeming to enjoy it.
"Your favourite? You've been here before?"
"I haven't." Raven said.
"I've been a few times." The Doctor nodded. "Ooh, I know what you will like, Raven." The Doctor pulled her off to another stall he recognised with Bill following. He brought here cups of some sort of warm liquid for them each to have. "Try it." He thrusted them a cup each.
Raven hesitated a moment, lifting the cup to her nose to sniff, it smelt alright, and it was warm. She took a sip, it had a slight kick to it but it was certainly not bad. "Hmm." Her little nod seemed to be enough for Bill to taste it, "What is it?"
"It's like gin and wine mixed together, served hot."
She took another sip, bigger this time, "I do like alcohol."
"Told you so."
They walked off, enjoying their drinks, stumbling into a crowd of onlookers watching a sword-swallowed before a small wrestling match.
"Get in!" Bill cheered.
"Of course, it's not really wrestling unless it's in zero gravity." The Doctor said.
"Seriously?"
"With tentacles...And magic spells."
They walked on again, Bill looking around at all the locals, noticing how ethnically diverse London was even in this time.
"Interesting." She mused.
"What is?"
"Regency England. Bit more black than they show in the movies."
"So was Jesus." The Doctor sighed, "History's a whitewash."
~.~
They had moved on to try out some of the entertainment and games, Bill having won a skittles game. Of course, trying to prove to Bill that time wasn't that complicated and the future would change from a few cheap tricks, he had nicked another top hat from an unsuspecting gentleman.
Of course, Raven had gotten hungry so they moved on to a pie tent, the man having a little game to let customers toss a penny for a free pie as they called it correctly. The Doctor had accused him of cheating. Of course trying to defend himself the Doctor had claimed he was a thief himself only to get kicked out, sliding across the ice.
"Having fun?" Raven asked as she finished her pie.
"I said in theory." He muttered, "Honestly, some people. More pie?"
"Thank you." Raven smiled, taking the pie he had hidden in his coat pocket.
"Are there side-effects to time travel?" Bill questioned, "Like, physical symptoms?"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you see lights under the ice."
"Ok, so you've seen the lights."
"Of course."
"What lights?" Raven blinked.
Bill hit the Doctor on the arm, "Well, why didn't you say something?"
"Well, you're enjoying yourself." He defended, "I assumed we'd get to work eventually."
"Now, are these lights electric or organic?"
"Organic lights?"
"Bioluminescence. Fireflies, glow-worms."
"Please, sir." A young dark girl walked over to them in a large ragged shawl, holding a dog collar and lead, "Have you seen my dog? He was right here, but then I looked away and he..."
"It's ok, we'll help." Bill smiled seeing the girl close to tears, "Um, what does he look like?"
"He's small and brown and ever so soft."
"Are you sure of that?" The Doctor frowned, suspicious seeing that on the large collar was a bit of white fur, "That collar's for a big dog. With long white hair. Nice con, though. Respect."
"My bag!" Raven gasped, having been distracted by the girl seeing hadn't noticed a young boy in a red hat sneak up behind them, easily grabbing her bag as she had it lightly hooked over her pinky finger. "Hey!" She yelled as the boy sprinted off, the girl quickly following him having conned them and stolen her bag, probably assuming there was money and gold in there. "Give that back!" She ran after them, the Doctor quickly frollowing her knowing that if the stuff in that bag got left her that could change the future.
"What have you got in that bag that's so important?" Bill asked as they gave chase.
"Personal stuff. And I want it back." They were forced to stop as a group of acrobats did their stunts and by the time they got past the two children were gone. "No, no, no! Where did they go?"
"There they are!" The Doctor pointed, seeing them sneaking out of a nearby tent and ran after them again, further away from the main attractions.
They could only watch as the green lights from under the ice circled around the boy, the ice cracking and the boy fell in, his arm holding Ravens bag aloft as the Doctor cautiously made his way closer as the boys arm began to sink as well, grabbing the bag before it disappeared under the water, the crack closing up.
"There we go."
"Thank you." Raven whispered as she took her bag back of the Doctor, clutching it tight in her hands. That was too close.
Bill blinked back tears prickling in her eyes as she watched them. They had just seen that boy get dragged under the river, stuck down in the freezing cold, dead. And all the pair of them seemed to care about was that bag of Ravens, a bag she was pretty sure she had seen an identical one in the wardrobe, "Save him."
"I can't." The Doctor shook his head, "he's gone."
"Do something and save him."
"I'm sorry about your friend," the Doctor called to the girl, "but the danger isn't over yet. There must be more of you living rough here. Tell me where."
"So, you can take us to the Magistrate?" The girl scoffed, keeping the tough girl act up despite having just seen her friend die.
"No, of course not. We're not here to arrest you, we're here to help. And if you show me where you live, we can do that."
"One of your friends has gone!" She took off into the mist as the Doctor looked around for Bill, seeing she too had run off.
She had asked about the rules, rule 1 was don't wander off. The most important rule, the one everyone broke.
~.~
They had wandered around the fair, looking for Bill, finding her sat on a barrel under a bridge, crying.
"How did you find me?" She wiped her eyes.
"Get used to that question." The Doctor muttered.
"Oh, clever. Yeah, very clever."
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" She repeated, bitterly, "Seriously, what's wrong? I've never seen anyone die before."
"A few hours ago, we were standing in a garden full of dead people." Raven reminded her.
"That was different."
"How so?"
"They were dead already." She glared at her.
"Morally and practically, that is not a useful distinction." The Doctor told her, "Unlearn it."
"Don't tell me what to think." She turned her glare to him.
"I'm your teacher. Telling you things is what I do."
"Yeah? Tell me this. You've seen people die before, yeah?"
"Of course." He nodded.
"You still care?"
"Of course I care."
"How many?"
"How many what?"
"If you care so much, tell me how many people you've seen die?"
"I don't know." He murmured.
"Ok. How many before you lost count?"
"I care, Bill, but I move on."
"Yeah? How quickly?"
"It's not me you're angry with."
"Have you ever killed anyone?" Bill stood and got right on his face, searching his eyes for any lies, "There's a look in your eyes sometimes that makes me wonder. Have you?"
"There are situations when the options available are limited." He remarked carefully.
"Not what I asked."
"Sometimes the choices are very..."
"That's not what I asked!"
"Yes." Raven stated bluntly.
"No." The Doctor looked at her as even Bill turned to her. "She hasn't."
"But you have?" Bill swallowed at that.
"Yes."
"How many?" He didn't answer, "Don't tell me." She scoffed, "You've moved on."
"You know what happens if I don't move on? More people die. There are kids living rough near here. They may well be next on the menu. Do you want to help me? Do you want to stand here stamping your foot? Because let me tell you something. I'm 2000 years old, and I have never had the time for the luxury of outrage."
They turned heat the girl from earlier standing there, having been listening in, "What do you mean, on the menu?"
~.~
After a simple explanation that there was something under the water eating people when no one was looking, and the girl, Kitty, actually believing them (if only because she had lost her friend) she had led them to her hideout, shelter for the rest of the street urchins without homes or families. They had met the other urchins, recognising one of the little girls in the Doctors top hat, the one who gave Bill the flyer, realising they helped to lure people to the Frost Fair.
The Doctor had fed them some of the pie had he stolen earlier, if only to distract them from asking where the other boy was. And of course the Doctor had a soft side with children, especially those with nothing and so they settled down for a few hours. Keeping the fire burning, the children warm and fed while the Doctor read a book to the younger lot.
After seeing the Doctors softer side, Bill had moved on from her anger of him not remembering those who had died before him, because of him.
But they still didn't know just why the Frost Fair was where it was, and question the kids on your hired them to draw people on the ice. They knew they were looking for a man with a tattoo of a ship on his hand.
"So, what's easier to find?" Bill asked.
"Conjecture." The Doctor replied, "There's something frozen under the Thames and it's eating people. Proposal. We need to get a closer look it."
"So the plan..." Raven frowned, "your idea of a plan is to get eaten isn't it?"
He grinned at her, "oh yeah."
Bill pursed her lips as she looked into the cart the Doctor had acquired, full of brass and leather clothing, "Is this stuff safe?"
"Potentially."
"Potentially? What does potentially mean?"
"Safe, with a frisson of excitement."
"Right, but we're not going to be like completely defenceless down there, though?"
"No, no, no, no. Well yes. But don't worry about it."
"Why not? What have you got up your sleeve? Oh, my God! Have you been holding out on me? Do you have, like, magical, alien powers?" Neither answered, the pair just rolling their eyes, "What, was that an impolite question?"
~.~
They returned that night once everyone had gone home, dressed in diving equipment, each holding a lantern to see.
"Why do we need diving suits on top of the ice?" Bill asked as they walked over the empty river.
"If we're lucky, the lights will come and take us under." The Doctor remarked, "Whatever they are, they're clever. When they went after the boy, they waited until he was away from the crowds, by himself." He walked off, wandering around the ice as Bill followed, not liking the idea of getting sent under the ice. There was also the problem that she could barely hear him, if she got taken would he realise before it was too late. "The question is, how?"
Raven groaned as she walked off, finding the green light circling around her. Of course, typical. "Doctor!" She shouted, but the diving helmets cut off most of their voices, they could barely hear each other. She threw her lantern at the back of his head as the ice beneath her cracked. He turned to see her fall, the air hose uncoiling rapidly as she sank, running into the hole only for it to close up before he reached it.
"Now what?" Bill huffed.
Raven grunted as she sank to the bottom of the river, squinted in the darkness seeing a large, possibly primeval, angler fish circling above her, a set of heavy chains holding the enormous creature down. She gagged as it belched, torn up pieces of red hat worn by the young urchin boy floating out of its mouth.
~.~
"Raven!" The Doctor shouted as he and Bill ran over to the dock where the man from the pie tent was fish through a hole in the ice, said hole that Raven used to climb back up.
"Honestly should have known it would come for me." She grunted as she pulled herself up, taking the Doctors offered hand to get her to her feet.
"Sorry." He muttered.
With Ravens track record they should have known she would have been dragged down, but he had wandered away from her, too late to jump down with her.
The pie man, knowing nothing else to do, simply ran off.
"I know you!" The Doctor called after him, removing his helmet, "You're the cheat! I love your work!"
"That things down there." Raven swallowed, removing her own helmet, "it's trapped down there, manmade chains keeping it at bay. It's lonely and lost. A prisoner."
"That guy." Bill frowned after him, "He said he caught the fish himself. I bought pie off that guy. Fish pie!"
"Oh, hello." The Doctor picked up a small angler fish from the mans bucket, "Aren't you magnificent?"
"I ate that pie. I liked that pie."
"Not the point." Raven huffed, "there is a great big angler fish, likely from the prehistoric era or somewhere."
"Definitely not carnivores." The Doctor frowned, "Which means you're cooperating with the creature, providing for it. What do you get in return, hmm? What did it take for you to evolve into that?"
"The creature, do you reckon that's what's making London so cold?" Bill suggested.
"Very possibly."
"What kind of alien messes with the weather?"
"What makes you think it's alien?" Raven rounded on her.
"Of course it's alien."
"Yet someone is keeping it in chain!"
"And perhaps our friend here can answer that." The Doctor remarked, walking off to find the pie man hiding behind a barrel on the wharf side.
"Who are you?" He demanded, "What do you want with me?"
"The coin trick. Just tell me how to do it, please! Ow," he huffed as Raven pinched his arm, "you're right, not the time. Have you ever seen a man around here with a tattoo of a ship? What's that face? Is that a no or are you against tattoos? I'm against tattoos, too, I think that we are bonding."
"We're stood by the docks, and you just asked me if I've ever seen a man with a tattoo of a ship."
"Exactly."
"Fair point." Bill nodded.
"What point?"
"Look, forget the tattoos. Have you seen anyone acting suspiciously since the freeze?"
"Well, there's the dredgers." The man muttered, hoping to give them what they wanted so that they'd leave him alone.
"The dredgers?" Raven repeated.
"There's a workhouse upriver. They have men out there patrolling all hours."
The next morning the trio peered over the spiked wall of the dredgers workhouse, watching the workers move large and heavily looking black bricks.
"What are they dredging for?" Bill frowned.
"Let's find out." The Doctor replied.
"How are we getting in?" He held up his psychic paper, "You work for the palace?
"Haven't had that one in a while."
~.~
"This way." Raven led them off to where she had seen the gate, flashing her sonic on it to unlock it and they headed in, either everyone was too busy working and just didn't care as they easily walked around, until one man- likely the boss considering he was dressed nicely and not covered in muck- yelled over to them, noticing they didn't belong.
"Oi!" He shouted, storming over, "How'd you get through here?"
"Ah ha!" The Doctor grinned, "At last, someone in authority." He held the psychic paper to the man, "Oh, I do apologise, sir. Does Lord Sutcliffe know you're here?"
"Does Lord Sutcliffe know we're here?" The Doctor repeated quietly, "Does Lord Sutcliffe know we're here?"
"Lord Sutcliffe insisted we come." Bill nodded.
"Hmm. Oh, that Lord Sutcliffe, yes. There's no arguing with Sutcliffe when he puts his foot down. You'd better show us around."
The man nodded, "Follow me, sir." He led them off, passing the workers with their moves covered to block the smell from the dark mud they were forming into brick mounds.
"Why all the fuss?" Bill questioned, "It's just mud from the river, isn't it?"
"Mud is one word for it." Raven muttered.
"Is this even the right place? The creature's almost a mile away."
"The creatures head."
"What?" Bill looked at her, sniffing a mould, only to gag and drop it.
"It was a big fish."
"I assume we're now at the other end." The Doctor agreed. "These men, why do we trust them?"
"Hired them all myself, sir." The man turned to them.
"Why do we trust you?" Raven smiled sweetly.
"Ma'am?"
The Doctor leaned closer to the man so the workers wouldn't be able to eavesdrop, "You understand how important this is, yes? It is imperative that no one discovers where the stuff goes when it leaves here."
"Oh, I know that, sir. We use unmarked carts."
"Are they ever followed?"
"Oh no, sir."
"Have you checked this personally?"
"Oh yes, sir."
"All the way to Hampton?"
"No, to the steel mill, sir."
"Hampton is code for the steel mill."
"Code, sir?" The man frowned.
"Yes. Yes, we need to use code otherwise anyone could walk in here and get you blabbing like a fool."
"That's a good point, sir."
"Now, these men, what do they know of this material?" The Doctor asked.
"No more than I do, sir."
"Yes, but you are someone who knows more than he tells."
"I'm not one to speculate."
"But you can't help it because you're a man of intelligence."
"They won't let us smoke in here, so I assume it's fuel. Fuel for the furnaces, sir."
"Excellent reasoning. Lord Sutcliffe appreciates an enquiring mind."
"Well, I keep my ear to the ground, you know."
"And what is the ground saying these days?"
"That this stuff burns a thousand times longer than coal?"
"Very good."
"Hotter, too. Hotter than they can measure."
"Excellent! First class."
"I'm right, aren't I, sir?"
"Oh, there's no stopping you. You keep this up, you won't be working in this yard for very long."
"Oh, you think not?" The man asked, trying not to look to proud of himself.
"I can almost guarantee it." The Doctor nodded.
"You know what else they say? They say it even burns under water."
"No shit..." Bill breathed.
~.~
They had easily gotten the address for this Lord Sutcliffe Manor House from the worker man they had spoken too. The Doctor showing the manservant his psychic paper, not telling either girls what cover he used as the man led them into a very nice dining room, waiting for Lord Sutcliffe to meet them.
They needed to know where the man started seeing how he had a large, possibly alien, maybe not, creature under the Thames eating people. They needed to know which planet he was from.
"So, you think Sutcliffe is an alien?" Bill asked as the Doctor fondled with an orderly sat on the table, adjusting it to the correct positions.
"Possibly." He nodded.
"Because the creature is an alien."
"It certainly appears to be producing fuel suitable for interstellar travel. Either way, I need you two to leave the talking to me."
"Why?" Bill frowned.
"Because this is still regency England." Raven sighed, "We are both girls, and our places are apparently on the arms of men." She scoffed at he down words, hating that idea, "and you're black"
"And you have a temper." The Doctor added to her.
"Oh ok, well, I lost it a tiny bit." Bill shrugged him off, slumping down in the chair.
"You're about to meet a man, alien or otherwise, for whom human beings are raw material. Who grinds up children for profit. What we are here for is one thing. Information. We get that with diplomacy and tact. Charm, if necessary."
"Ok, I get it."
"Always remember. Passion fights, but reason wins."
A man with nearly combed hair, wearing a blue pants suit, walked in holding the psychic paper, "Doctor Disco, from the Fairford Club!" He greeted, "Obviously, one aspires to membership, but to actually be considered for..." he gaze landed on Bill sat in his chair, "Who, who let this creature in here? On your feet, girl, in the presence of your betters."
Raven narrowed her eyes at him, rummaging through her bag only for the Doctor to tap Sutcliffe in the shoulder and punch him in the face. "Well," she blinked as the man crumbled to the floor, "that's one way to do it."
"He's human." The Doctor shook out the pain in his hand from the hard punch, "31 years of age. Low on iron."
"Yeah, that was pretty convincing racism for an extra-terrestrial." Bill muttered.
"Are you alright?" Raven glanced at her.
"Yeah."
"Oh, hello." The Doctor smiled brightly as Sutcliffe's men entered, all looking annoyed and strong seeing Lord Sutcliffe on the ground, "Can I just say, this is very unlike me. I don't normally do this."
"He was aiming for charming." Raven explained, her hand still in her bag.
"Basically."
The men- without speaking- grabbed them and tied their hands behind their backs as Sutcliffe moaned and got back to his feet, rubbing his jaw.
"Hey!" Raven snatched her bag back as one of the men moved to take it from her, "on your life, think again."
"Well, you're not from the Fairford Club." Sutcliffe muttered.
"The creature in the river," the Doctor got straight to the point now being friendly and charming was out the window, "where did it come from?"
"Who the devil are you people?" The man demanded.
"Where did it come from?"
"Nowhere! It's always been there. The secret's been passed down in the family since, I don't know when. As far back as records go."
"Do you keep record of how many and the names of those it has killed?" Raven inquired
"Please." The man scoffed, "People know the ice is dangerous, yet they will insist on their festivities. That's hardly my fault."
Raven twitched, the man holding her shifting to prevent her trying to escape, "The biggest Frost Fair in decades, that's all down to you."
"It is?" Bill glanced at her.
"The man holding me has a tattoo on his left hand."
"How do you notice that?"
"Because I'm not an idiot like that one." She jerked her head to the Doctor.
"And that's not all, is it?" The Doctor continued, ignoring Ravens dig at him, "The circus performers, the elephant, that's all you."
"I made the most of the situation." Sutcliffe shrugged, "It's the first proper freeze it's caused in years."
"Why?" Bill shook her head, "Production down, huh? Not enough people dying?"
"Girl, you show the ignorance of all your kind. Without that beast, my mills would rely on coal mines, and men die in coal mines all the time."
"I preferred it when you were alien." The Doctor stated.
"When I was what?"
"Well, that explained the lack of humanity. What makes you so sure that your life is worth more than those people out there on the ice? Is it the money? The accident of birth that puts you inside the big, fancy house?"
"I help move this country forward. I move this Empire forward."
"Human progress isn't measured by industry, it's measured by the value you place on a life. An unimportant life. A life without privilege. The boy who died on the river, that boy's value is your value. That's what defines an age. That's what defines a species."
"What a beautiful speech. The rhythm and, and vocabulary, quite outstanding. It's enough to move anyone with an ounce of compassion. So, it's really not your day, is it? If they know about the beast, then others must, too. We bring the plan forward."
"When, sir?" One of the henchmen asked.
"Now!" He ordered, "In daylight."
~.~
They had been shoved in a carriage, the blinds down so no passing onlookers saw they were tied up in there, Bill mocking the Doctor for his outrage, if he had just kept to charming they wouldn't be in this mess, and of course the Doctor complained about her being smug. He was the smug one, Raven was the cocky one, and Bill was the impressed companion.
They had been shoved in the fireworks tent, tied to a pole, with a clear few of the barrels of gun powder, Bill, trying to stay hopeful, suggested it could be run. But they knew it was gunpowder. Part of Sutcliffe's plan, a fireworks show gone awry, breaking the ice and feeding the creature on the river, the city left to mourn those who drowned.
Trying to help get them out, Bill had screamed until she couldn't no longer, but of course no one could hear them over the entertainment outside.
"Raven." The Doctor muttered.
She rummaged through her bag with her foot, emptying a few of the contents.
"Is now really the time?" Bill huffed, seeing the collection of make up spreading out before them.
"There is always a time for make up." Raven responded, rolling the tube of lipstick with her foot, to her knees, wiggling the top off and aiming it at the ropes to free them. "I enjoy being a girl." She smiled, brushing dust and straw of her dress as she stood up.
The Doctor frowned, noticing the green lights moving towards them under the ice, "Huh? Oh, hello!" He flashed his sonic at them, watching them follow it.
"How are you doing that?" Bill frowned.
"Er. Sonic screwdriver. It makes a noise. That's how the fish choose a victim. That's how they know they've isolated someone on the ice."
"Er better question. Why are you doing that?"
"Just, just a little more." The lights sped off outside and a moment later one of the henchmen ran in seeing them free.
"What are you...? Give me that!" The man snatched the screwdriver, the lights circling around him, "What the...?"
"Turn it off." The Doctor instructed, "There's a button on the side." The man scrambled to find the off switch, "Here! Give it here!" He tossed it to the Doctor just as the ice below his feet broke, "Afraid it has a knack to it." And the hole sealed up after him, "Bill. Miss Potts?" The Doctor turned to her seeing she was staring at them hole, "I need you with me. Things to do, Bill. Decisions to make. What are we going to do about Tiny?"
She snapped her gaze from the hole to him at that, "Tiny?"
"Stupid name." Raven mumbled.
"The creature. The loch-less monster. The not-so-little mermaid. Are we just going to leave her down there?"
"We can't set her free." Bill countered, "She could burst up out of the water and eat a hundred people right off of Southbank! She could eat half of London!"
"She may just swim away." Raven countered, "somewhere away from screaming humans."
"So, what do you want to do, Bill?" The Doctor asked her.
"We already know the answers. Why are you even asking?"
"I don't know the answers. Only idiots know the answers. But if your future is built on the suffering of that creature, what's your future worth?"
"Why is it up to me?"
"Because it can't be up to Raven or I. Your people, your planet. I serve at the pleasure of the human race, and right now, that's you. Give me an order. Not long till noon. I need an order."
She hesitated, she didn't want to be the person who gave the order that killed everyone at the fair, but it was unfair to leave the creature trapped down there, it had already been trapped for decades, and the way Raven spoke about it in chains, she had never expected to see that expression on the girls face.
"Save her." She whispered.
He nodded, "Raven and I'll take care of this. You get everyone off the ice."
"How?"
"Maybe if you didn't scream in here you'd have saved your energy to yell that the ice was breaking." Raven joked.
~.~
"Why am I the one getting sent down again?" Raven frowned as the Doctor fixed the airtime to her driving suit.
"Because you're the strongest swimmer." He answered.
"Flattery doesn't suit you."
"And you know where Tiny is down there."
"Still a stupid name."
"Just get down there and I'll pass you the barrels, just keep them fastened to the chains."
"Right." She nodded, dropping down the fishing hole and under the darkness to the bottom of the river, using her torch to see the way as the Doctor gradually dropped the barrels of rum down.
"You good?" He asked as he helped her back up to the surface again.
"All done." She smiled, pulling off her helmet.
"Brilliant. You are brilliant."
"I know."
"And cocky."
They saw Bill helping to get everyone off the ice, using to urchin children to speed up time, hurrying off the ice themselves as Sutcliffe pushed the lever down on his generator, only for nothing to happen. Well, nothing to happen above the ice as down below the chains broke away. A scaly dorsal fin breaking the ice, sending Sutcliffe into the ice water below as the ice continued to break apart.
"Doctor!" Bill cried running to them, to the docks, still on the ice as it broke away, "Raven!"
"Bill!" He gasped, reaching down as she jumped and grabbed her hand, struggled to pull her up as the ice below cracked.
"You did it!" She cheered as Raven grabbed her other hand to help pull her up seeing the Doctor struggling, "She's free! Go! Where will she go?"
"Somewhere cold, I imagine." The Doctor said as they watched her swim past.
"Hopefully, she's smart enough to avoid you lot now." Raven added.
"What if she isn't?" Bill wondered, "What if we just like doomed Greenland?"
The Doctor paused, "I'll check in on Greenland."
"How long is she?!" Bill gushed as she continued to swim past only to splash them with the cold water with a flick of a flipper.
"That big apparently." Raven sighed, closing her eyes to prevent the water dripping in them.
"Can you hear that?" Bill breathed hearing a faint murmuring hum as she swam off.
~.~
Despite for the mans age and the time period, Lord Sutcliffe had yet to be wed and had no children for his house and wealth to be given to after his unfortunate death when the river Thames thawed. The Doctor had very cleverly sorted through the mans will and testimony leaving it to one of the boys in Kitty's group so that the children would never again grow hungry or freeze out in the cold, having inherited the house and wealth of the Sutcliffe family.
"We must have changed something, right?" Bill frowned down at her phone as they materialised back in the office before Nardole had arrived with the tea, "I mean, people saw a monster in the Thames," she looked up, looking around the office, "Well, it doesn't look any different."
"Good." Raven nodded, "means Nardole hasn't touched anything."
As if on cue, the man opened the door with his back, holding a tea tray in his hands, "All right. There you go. There's your tea. I put a bit of coffee in it, as well, just to give it some flavour."
"You put coffee in my tea?" Raven stared at him, her eyes narrowing.
He ignored her, or for his own sake just didn't hear her, "See, it's much better when you stick to your oath." He set the tray on the desk noticing the regency clothes, "Oh sir, no. This is unacceptable. This is beyond unacceptable. This is naughty."
"Language." The Doctor didn't looks up as he shifted through some papers on his desk.
"You put coffee in my tea?" Raven repeated.
"I don't get it." Bill frowned, "London, 1814. Monster, sea creature, serpent, really, really big fish. Nothing."
"Sir, you said you wouldn't be going off-world." Nardole glared at him.
"Do these look like off-world clothes to you?" The Doctor countered, gesturing to the clearly humans clothes.
"But, sir, you said you'd be coming back to your office!"
"Look, here I am. I'm in my office. I'm drinking my tea, in my specially chosen tea clothes."
"Tea that has coffee in it." Raven was still caught on that. "What is wrong with you?"
"I don't understand." Boll shook her head, "How could it not have been headline news?"
"Never underestimate the collective human ability to overlook the inexplicable. Also, the Frost Fair involved a lot of day drinking. May I?" He took her phone, searching through it, "You can always rely upon the papers to miss a headline."
"'Lord Sutcliffe drowns in snap thaw.'" Bill read the old news article, "'Shock as steel fortune is passed to street urchin!'"
"Sir." Nardole cut in, "We need to talk. Your oath."
"Give us a coin."
"What?"
"The new Lord Sutcliffe was found starving on London's streets." Bill continued. "The inheritance was contested, everyone got super mad, blah, blah, blah, Urchin boy deemed legitimate. Oh my God, it worked! You did it. You saved them."
"You did." The Doctor corrected, "You gave the order, boss."
"Ma'am." Nardole huffed, turning to Raven as the Doctor ignored him.
"Coffee in my tea!" She looked at him, "be thankful I'm not docking you pay for that."
"You don't pay me enough anyway." He grumbled as he left.
~.~
"I didn't ask to be re-assembled, did I?" Nardole muttered to himself as he checked in the vaults security. Only to jump back at the knocking on the doors. "Knocking. What was that about? No one's going to open the door, just because you're knocking!" The knocking continued, "Oh, getting cocky now, are you? Why? What do you think you know? What has he told you? Because, yeah, he may have a little friend now and, yeah, he may be a little bit distracted but I tell you something, I'm still here. And as long as I'm still here, you are going nowhere!" He whimpered as the banging continued, turning to scamper off only to give a yelp as he always ran into Raven, standing there out of the regency dress and in her usual jeans and coat, carrying boxes of pizza.
"No ma'am." He shook his head, seeing there was enough food for at least two people, "I can't allow this ma'am."
"Leave." She ordered quietly, "now."
"Ma'am, I..."
"Now, Nardole."
Sensing the dark tone in her voice Nardole nodded and ran off.
Raven waited until sure he was gone before knocking on the door, "Hey! I brought pizza, freshly made from Italy. I went to that place you went on about, in Naples in the 18th century. I said your name and got it for free. What's better than free food?" Her grin falter at the silence on the other side. "Come on, don't make me eat it all by myself! I mean I will, I'm not sharing it with Nardole or the Doctor, I want to eat with you. Please?"
She bit her lip, waiting, before she felt a shift from the other side and grinned, unlocking the doors.
SaLaX: Im glad you like it :) and Raven will regenerate eventually, but i wont say when ;)