Wales, 2006
"You have no bloody right to pull me from this mission, Marius!" Ember hissed into a mobile, her eyes darting to the closed door of her mother's office. She didn't know how long until Blon – or Margret as she preferred to be called while 'dressed' – was going to be, and she'd rather wish the person on the other end of the call would remember that she was working.
"I have every right to, Mistress Ashlen ," a man stated on the other end of the line, his tone firm, "And I am putting the call in to terminate the Yr Heliwr Project. Ma'am Korvarian is requesting you're presence back at the Home."
Grinding her teeth together, the platinum blonde resisted the urge to say the overly descriptive words that were appearing in her mind about her handler. "And what of Him?" she asked, her amber eyes falling onto the photo she had been holding the day before when she had run into that odd American.
"He will no longer be your conc-."
Ember threw the phone across the room, watching it hit the wall with an unsatisfying thud as anger and disbelief coursed through her veins. For over a year she had been working to get back into Ma'am Korvarian's good graces after her stupid stunt that had her letting the Time Lord slip through her fingers, and now Marius wanted her to just forget the mission she had been preparing all her life for like it was unnecessary homework?!
"Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her," an awfully cheery voice sounded from outside the office Ember was sitting in, and the platinum blonde froze, her heated blood turning cold at the familiar Northern tones. "Just the Doctor."
"Oh, no, no, no. This can't be happening," she muttered as she almost launched herself out of the chair. She couldn't be caught in here – and most certainly not by him.
"Tell her exactly that," the Doctor continued from outside the office, and the platinum blonde felt as though her heart had stopped when she heard Idris' voice reply with a confirmation.
"Hold on a tick..."
Not a second later, the door to the office opened and the man in question stepped inside – only to pause when he spotted Ember.
"Close the door, you idiot," the teenager hissed and the man was quick to comply. "Why is he looking for my mother?"
"He said he was just a friend," Idris replied before shaking his head, "And I'm sorry, but where is the Mayor? I thought she was in here having her lunch."
"Did you tell him that?" Ember quickly questioned, her eyes falling onto the tea tray that she had thought to get rid of when she had first entered the office. When Idris nodded, a smile lifted the teenager's lips as she hastily added, "Distract him," before pushing the man back towards the door.
Idris stumbled before managing to right himself, just in time to see Ember grab the entire tea tray and throw it at the ground, causing it to crash and shards of porcelain to scatter in every direction. He didn't waste a moment in exiting the room, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow as he watched the man hastily return, looking far more flustered than he had been prior to entering the office.
The man even opened the door as little as possible before squeezing through it and shutting it firmly behind him!
"The Lord Mayor says thank you fo-for popping by... she'd love to have a chat, but, um... she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week...?"
"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" the Time Lord interjected.
"I, uh... yes?"
The Doctor nodded, if a bit smugly to himself, before pushing passed the man and into the office. "Wait!" he called, dashing across the room when it wasn't the Mayor he spotted hightailing it out of the window, but the same platinum blonde that had threatened to kill him the year before.
As she leapt through the open window and onto the balcony on the other side – a hand firmly planted on each side of the windowsill, Ember's eyes glowed as a whispered word passed her lips. The moment she was landing on the other side and clear of the window, it slammed shut all on its own; successfully locking the Doctor inside.
Giving the man a small wave, all the while smirking at him, the teenager climbed over the side of the balcony and onto the scaffolding, ignoring the ruckus that the Doctor was creating as he tried to get the window to reopen. A chuckle escaped her lips when she swore she heard him curse, though a frown was quick to appear on her face when she heard what he had to say next.
"Ember is heading North..."
Inside Town Hall: Corridor Two
"On my way," Rose's voice stated over Jack's manipulator, and the man shook his head as he got his mind to return to the task he had to do.
"Over an out!" he stated before rushing off, hoping to catch the woman before she could escape.
Outside Town Hall
Ember looked upwards when she heard the window finally give way to the Doctor's attempts, though just shook her head at him when his head appeared over the balcony to see where she was. "Too late!" she called up to him as she hopped off the bottom of the scaffolding, the grin returning to her lips.
"Ember, I just want to talk!" the Doctor shouted back as he begun to climb onto the scaffolding, but the platinum blonde was already off again.
She hadn't made it very far before she realised her escape route was blocked by a somewhat familiar blonde, though as she rolled her eyes, Ember turned and headed in the other direction – only to come to a stop when she found the same man that had spoken to her the day before running straight for her.
"Ember!" the American called, and the platinum blonde blinked, noticing something off about the man.
Something... missing?
Rounding back the way she had originally come from; Ember felt her heart begin to pick up when she spotted the Doctor climbing his way down the scaffolding; a smirk stealing its way upon her lips and her eyes flashing in delight at the idea of being cornered. It had been far too long since Ember had been involved in anything like this, and the prospect of getting caught by the very man she had been trained to kill had an unknown feeling settling in Ember's stomach.
A feeling that she didn't think was all bad.
"Ember, just stop!" the Time Lord called, though the platinum blonde was already off once more, heading towards the only exit that was still available to her as she revealed a small band around her wrist.
"Who's was on Exit Four?!" Jack's voice could be heard as she got further away from the trio, though she paid him no mind as she begun to activate her teleport, knowing that despite having far easier ways to escape, it wasn't as conventional when anyone could be watching.
Up on the Mayor's balcony, Idris was looking down at the scene below in disbelief. He had no idea as to why such a group were after the Mayor's daughter, but he knew that he needed to try and do something to help her.
He turned to head back through the window, only for something hard and blunt to hit the side of his head, knocking him clean out. And as his body crumpled to the floor, a man with slicked-back, black hair stepped over his prone form and approached the edge so he could turn his obsidian gaze down to the scene below, placing the rifle he had just the butt end of onto the railing before him.
His left hand moved unconsciously to rub his right shoulder as he watched the blonde being slowly boxed in below, a frown tugging at his lips as memories flashed across his eyes of himself being in a very similar position before he shook his head to clear it.
Picking up the rifle, the blacket readied his specialised weapon, and the moment he saw the platinum blonde dash towards the only exit that remained open through the scope, he opened fire.
The moment her teleporter activated around her wrist, Ember let out a cry and stumbled as a shot rang through the air.
A hand flew to her side as it suddenly blossomed with pain, even as she managed to turn towards the direction the round had come from in disbelief, her eyes meeting those of the shocked Doctor before a flash of light drew her gaze upwards.
Before she was ripped away by her teleporter, confusion flickered across Ember's eyes when she spotted who was standing on the balcony above.
Jack had his blaster out the moment he heard the gunshot, despite knowing that it was virtually useless. But as he felt as though his heart had stopped when the platinum blonde stumbled, letting out a cry of pain, he didn't care.
It seemed that he wasn't the only one who felt that way, as the Doctor was already rushing towards Ember – right before she vanished with a flash of blinding light.
"Where did it come from?" the American asked as he looked around, his blaster still held at the ready as he quickly approached the Time Lord, "Did anyone see?"
"N-no," Mickey stuttered, and Rose just shook her head; both starting at the spatter of blood that was beginning to stain the spot where Ember had disappeared.
"Come on," the Doctor grumbled as he pulled out his sonic and begun scanning the air where the blonde had been standing; the blue tip lighting up as it buzzed away.
"Doctor!" Jack suddenly called, and the man in questions' head snapped to the American when he heard Jack's tone, only to find that he was staring back up towards the balcony the Doctor had first seen the blonde.
Following the other man's gaze, a frown appeared on the Doctor's face when he spotted a raven-haired man straightening from behind a modified, one-handed rifle. He swore a he could see a smirk flicker across the man's face before both he and the gun vanished the same way Ember had gone.
"Who was that?" Rose finally managed to ask, though she got no response from anyone; the Doctor and Jack still staring up to the balcony the unknown male had been standing while Mickey just looked just as confused as she did.
"That son of a bitch!" Ember exclaimed as she reappeared in a small room, barely managing to keep her feet under her. A hiss escaped her lips as her side flared in pain, protesting against her choice of transport even if she hadn't known someone was going to bloody shoot her!
"And here I thought we agreed not to get blood on the carpet," a familiar voice spoke up, and it had the platinum blonde pulling a dagger from the hidden sheath under her coat and rounding on the owner.
"What are you doing here, Mels?" Ember demanded, ignoring how the pain in her side flared even more at her actions as she pointed the tip of her dagger-come-sword at the dark-haired young woman.
Mels raised her hands and took a step away from Ember – and the tip of the sword that was uncomfortably close to her throat – clearly trying to the blonde that she meant no harm, although made certain to keep Ember in her own line of sight, unsure as to what surprises the platinum blonde may have up her sleeves – both figuratively and literally.
"I'm not here to hurt you," she told the dagger-wielding young woman, and her words had Ember scoffing.
"Yeah, and I'm just dropping off some presents for Father Christmas," she retorted, her eyes narrowing on Mels. "Marius just called to alert me of my job's termination, only to try and shoot me dead not minutes later while I was being chased down by the Doctor and his merry band of travellers.
"Marius shot you?"
Both eyebrows on Mels face tried to reach her hairline, and Ember almost believed how genuine she looked.
"Oh, don't act so surprised, Mels," the blonde snapped snidely, "What are you even doing here? Got offered to finish the job if Marius failed to kill me? Or did you volunteer again?"
Mels opened her mouth to deny Embers allegations, but Ember shook her head and took a step back, lowering the dagger. The blonde's expression turned weary; a hand still clutched at her side.
"Do you know what, I don't want to hear it. Tell Korvarian... Tell her that if I see any of you again – even in a chanced meeting in the street – I won't hesitate to put a round between your eyes."
With those words said, Ember turned on her heel and headed for the door as she tucked her dagger away. She had no idea as to where she was going, but Ember knew that she wasn't going to be returning to this hide-out for a while.
Not until she knew what Marius and Korvarian's game plan was at least.
She didn't see the way Mels form shimmered behind her as the young woman withdrew a weapon from a holster strapped to her back.
Nor did she see the way the woman's eyes seemed to glow like twin suns.
No!
The moment Mels pulled the trigger, all Ember knew was darkness.
"Sorry, Hunter," the woman said as she lowered her weapon and re-holstered it. Approaching the fallen blonde, she let her shimmer fall away, revealing that she wasn't in fact a woman at all. And as the newly-revealed brunet knelt beside Ember, there was a sadness in his amber gaze that no amount of occluding could hide.
"But you said it yourself," he continued far more softly as he brushed a strand of platinum blonde hair from Ember's face with a gentleness that one would only offer to their lover, "Even I can't change what's to come."
Placing a soft kiss upon Ember's forehead, the brunet begun to mutter something under his breath. He closed his eyes as he spoke the last of the spell the young woman with him would one day create, and a tear rolled down his cheek when he felt her warming presence leave him.
"I'm sorry, Nighvirz."