Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to my 3rd OC/Doctor pairing story. This is the second story of the 'Home Saga' involving my Time Lady OC Renata and the (now) 11th Doctor. I recommend that you go back to the first story "The Beginning of Everything" listed on my porfile for a better understanding of Renata's history and her story with the Doctor. Now this story will be a rewrite of Season 5 and some canon Doctor Who comic stories as well as my own original chapters. This story will also feature a canon Latinx Doctor Who comic companion, Gabby Gonzalez. She is NOT my creation.
Fair warning: I do disregard aspects of the series to make it fit my story.
Renata's current visual reference looks like the actress Livia Brito with dark brown (almost black) hair and dark brown eyes.
Gabby's fancast actress is Victoria Moroles with light skin, dark brown hair and dark eyes.
Couple of fun things: Renata's and the Doctor's main theme song is "Home" by Gabrielle Aplin. Renata's personal theme song is Butterfly by Luna Mae. (There's a specific playlist for them on my tumblr profile saiilorstars ).
Renata had never seen a more disastrous regeneration unfold. Of course only the Doctor could make that happen. She shouldn't even be surprised. It was only a matter of time until one of his regenerations caused the TARDIS to nearly explode. She furiously ran around the console, trying to calm the box without getting her hands burned in the process. Parts of the console room were still in flames and where was the culprit!?
"DOCTOR!" Renata's yell could almost go above the thuds and sparks from the lit console.
"Busy!" the newly regenerated Doctor called back only to have Renata snap.
"No you're not! You're…" she trailed off after poking her head around the console to see the Doctor pulling himself back inside the box.
"You left me dangling out there!" He exclaimed, flapping a hand at the open doors. The TARDIS had lurched to the side, throwing him out like a ragdoll.
Renata's dark eyes widened indignantly. She huffed and stepped away — or stumbled away because of the bouncy ride — from the console. "I did not! I'm trying to fix your mess! You can't even regenerate properly!"
Now it was the Doctor's turn to be offended. "What!? Excuse me for not dying the right way!"
Renata stalked over to him, intending on pulling him away from the doors that he irresponsibly left open as well. "The TARDIS needs to land so it can properly repair itself but I can't do that because—oh no!" She had gasped at something past him out the door. The Doctor whirled around to see them about to hit Big Ben. He used his sonic screwdriver to pull them to the side, a rather harsh turn that sent them both flying.
Only this time it sent the Doctor away from the doors and Renata out the doors.
"Renata!" the Doctor panicked. Oh, if he killed her, she would definitely kill him.
Like him, Renata had managed to hold onto the edge of the entrance. Now she dangled and was terrified for her lives. "GET ME UP! I HATE HEIGHTS!" she cried.
The Doctor scrambled to the doorway and looked down at her. He felt absolutely terrible because this wasn't the first time she was in this situation. She had her eyes screwed shut and her hands gripping the TARDIS as much as she could.
"You need to stop doing this to me!" she shouted when she felt his hands grab her arms. Last time she dangled from a terribly high height was on the first day she met Donna Noble in the Adipose building, and just like then she screamed for help now.
"Up you go!" the Doctor pulled her up and into the TARDIS. She was far too terrified and wrapped her arms around his neck as if he would stop her from falling again. Despite her clinging to him, the Doctor managed to shut the doors behind them.
The TARDIS continued to spin and lurch, throwing the two against the door. Renata's back hit the door with a thud and because she still held onto the Doctor, she brought him with her. Now she was locked between him and the door.
Despite their situation, the Doctor still found time to smile at her. "Hello," he greeted her for the first time since regenerating.
She was right, he hadn't regenerated properly. All the physical injuries he sustained in his previous incarnation carried over and it meant that the regeneration process had to work twice as hard to heal everything. The poor TARDIS never stood a chance and Renata had to work hard to keep them alive. There'd been no time to say hello and make sure she was alright. He would take these few seconds to do at least one of those two things.
Renata froze under that new gaze of his; she swallowed out of nervousness. Though he had a younger face, his emerald green eyes still held all the love and intensity he confessed before regenerating. It was still enough to calm her in the midst of a scary situation. But the TARDIS shook them again, reminding her pilots that she needed help or else they were all goners. The pair headed — a bit zig-zag from all the lurches — towards the console. They had to stop it before somebody got hurt. As it was, there was somebody below them who was asking for help from a higher power...the only higher power a seven year old could think of.
Little Amelia Pond didn't know what else to do with the ugly crack on her bedroom wall. It didn't look right and it didn't sound right either. Cracks shouldn't be making sounds. That's why she was scared of it. If it was a normal crack like her aunt Sharon told her it was, then she wouldn't hear noises from it.
Santa Claus had to help. She was just so sorry that she was waking him up during Easter. But just as she was once again asking for his help, she heard a crash in her backyard yard. Her ginger hair whipped to the side when she made the quick turn. She dashed to her window and looked below to see a dark blue box on the ground. She didn't understand power a lot, but she thought if Santa sent them then it must mean it was good enough to help her with the crack. Now she just had to be brave enough to go see it up close.
She grabbed her red jacket and the first shoes she saw - a pair of wellies - then ran out of her room. She ran as fast as she could down the stairs, thinking if she delayed then the box would disappear and she would be back to step one with the crack. She had just made it into the yard when the doors of the box flung open. The grappling hook that was thrown out and latched onto her lawn roller stopped her for a moment. What kind of box did that? Then she saw hands grabbing onto the edge of the box. A man's head popped out first, revealing incredibly wet hair.
"Can I have an apple?" he asked as soon as he met the girl's gaze. That was the first thing that his mind had thought of after such a ride. It was odd what regeneration did. "All I can think about - apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving. That's new - never had cravings before!"
Amelia swore she heard somebody screaming from inside the box. She was sure when the man flinched and looked below to respond to whatever had spoken inside the box.
"Sorry, love," he climbed out of the box then reached for something inside — somebody inside.
Amelia blinked when he pulled out a dark-haired woman from the box. Like him, she was soaking wet. "Are you okay?" the question blurted from Amelia's mouth.
"No! I am not!" Renata answered without even looking at the girl. She didn't even register that the Doctor hadn't been the one to ask the question. She wouldn't straddle the TARDIS like the Doctor was, she wanted to step on actual ground. She wanted to confirm that she was no longer dangling in the air.
"It is freezing out here! Where are we!?" Renata hugged herself wet body and began to look around. With such a landing, she didn't have the opportunity to see where the TARDIS had deposited them in. All she saw was water from the swimming pool.
They were in a garden, probably a backyard, that could honestly use some work. The grass was unkempt which meant somebody had neglected to give it a proper mowing. There were abandoned tools to one side — she winced when she realized that they had inadvertently smashed the shed — and then a park bench that could use some cleaning. Finally, she saw a swing set…
Oh. Renata glanced at the girl, eyes wide when she finally realized there was a child present. A child had asked her if she was alright and she'd been so rude. "So sorry," she quickly apologized. "Uh...bit off my rocker thanks to…" she threw a sharp look at the Doctor who couldn't seem bothered. His grin was a sign alright.
Amelia looked between them and wondered how Santa thought they were capable of helping her. Then again, if they were this strange then perhaps they were the right ones to handle a strange crack with noise. "Seriously, are you okay?"
"We just had a fall," the Doctor said, patting the TARDIS under him. "All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."
"Yes, my library is ruined now," Renata came back to the box and peered inside, though as soon as she did she pulled away. It was an outright mess in there. "And Gabriella's going to be furious that her art room is basically nonexistent."
The Doctor winced. Up until now, their companion Gabriella Gonzalez hadn't ever been properly angry with him, so he was really hoping that he could keep that streak when they went back to pick her up.
Amelia hadn't understood what they were saying, but she could still make sense of what she saw. "You're soaking wet."
"Yes, we are," Renata glared at the Doctor again. She hugged herself and cursed the dress she wore.
"Yeah, you are," the Doctor repeated but he wasn't so upset like she was. He was staring at her with a growing smirk.
Renata blinked when she finally caught on to the fact he was checking her out. Her pretty flower-patterned dress was hugging her body in just the right way. He was loving the fact he could see her curves, her new curves that she would otherwise probably never show.
Her face went mad red, probably almost the shade of Amelia's hair. She turned away in an attempt to focus on Amelia, but there was a tingling feeling running up her backside. You are not going to do that right here, she scolded herself. But she may have sneaked a glance at the Doctor. He was still staring at her appreciatively.
Renata bit her lower lip and forced herself to pay attention to Amelia for real this time. "I am so sorry for the mess we've made here. I, uh, can tell that you've worked hard to keep this...garden clean…"
Amelia smiled in amusement when Renata had to practically force herself to finish that sentence after checking out the garden again. "Nobody takes care of the garden. But how come you're wet?"
"We were, uh, in the swimming pool," Renata walked back to the TARDIS, discreetly pinching the Doctor's arm. When the man yelped she smiled sweetly at him. He needed a good snap back to reality.
"You said you were in the library," Amelia reminded after she herself thought over the last statements the pair had made.
"That's because my library is now ruined as well because the swimming pool is inside it," Renata folded her arms again.
"Are you police?"
That question was enough to reel the pair in. They stared at the little girl who shifted on her feet, anxiously waiting for their answer.
"Why? Did you call the police?" the Doctor asked her.
"Not exactly, but I did want help. Did you come about the crack in my wall?"
"A crack?" Renata repeated, giving the girl a strange look for her question when suddenly the Doctor yelped in pain, falling to the ground.
"Agh!" the Doctor pulled himself up but was only able to kneel in the meantime.
Renata was at his side in a second, trying to ease his lingering pain. "You haven't regenerated properly thanks to the little old flight we had."
"Are you all right, mister?" Amelia asked, staying right where she was. Usually adults didn't want kids around when one of them was sick. Plus, the dark haired woman seemed to be on it.
"No, I'm fine, it's OK. This is all perfectly norm…" the Doctor trailed off and had the urge to open his mouth. When he did, regeneration energy drifted out.
Renata sighed. "Yup, definitely wrong. You'll need to rest."
"Did you?" the Doctor asked. By his calculations, it'd been about two days since she regenerated and he didn't see her taking a rest. She rolled her eyes at his weak attempt to argue.
"Who are you?" Amelia couldn't help herself from asking. They were so strange, especially the man.
"By the time we finish explaining, you'd be an adult," Renata offered the girl a soft smile.
"And to be fair, I'm still cooking," the Doctor was proud to announce. That was the one good thing he could remember from each regeneration: the thought of who this incarnation would turn out to be. What would he like? What wouldn't he like? What would his personality be like?
"Are you afraid?" Renata asked the child.
"No, it just looks a bit weird…" Amelia's gaze lingered on the Doctor as if he would release more energy.
"Well, that's good to hear, but I was talking about the crack you mentioned."
The answer was evident before Amelia even answered. She looked over her shoulder up to her bedroom. "Yes."
The Doctor jumped from the ground, missing Renata worriedly trying to stop him from doing anything else. "Well, then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor, this is Renata. Do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off."
"Doctor…" Renata tried stopping him again but she was too late. He'd walked straight into a tree. She gasped at the terrible smack she heard. That's the last thing he needed!
The Doctor had fallen to the ground on his back, a terrible headache soon to come. When he opened his eyes, he saw Renata already with him while Amelia stood behind his head. "Early days. Steering's a bit off," he excused himself but winced with Renata's scoff.
"Think it's more than just early days," she mumbled as she helped him stand up. Though before she completely let him go, she grabbed his head and pulled him closer to inspect any scratches or cuts on his face. She ignored - or rather did her best to ignore - the Doctor's following eyes on her.
"What's your verdict, my nurse?" he asked her quietly.
She blushed and let him go. "You're fine. But do me a favor and try not to crash into anything else. I will need you when I go back for Gabriella. Don't want to explain to her how you died once more by running into a door."
The Doctor grinned. "Yes, ma'am."
~0~
Amelia had brought the pair into her house, an action that Renata wasn't sure how to feel about. Did nobody teach this child never let strangers into her house? Amelia came into the kitchen with two towels for them to dry up. Renata gratefully took hers while the Doctor practically snatched his distractedly. He was busy studying the solitary kitchen.
"If you're a doctor, why does your box say "Police"?" Amelia asked him before glancing at Renata. "Are you a policewoman?"
"More like his caretaker," Renata dried her hair and flashed a smirk at the frowning Doctor.
"Lies," he promptly said. "Where's my apple?"
Amelia went off to the fridge and hid her smile when Renata scolded him for not saying 'please'. She came back with an apple in hand but once the Doctor took only one bite, he spit out in disgust.
"That's disgusting. What is that?" he wiped the lingering remains off apple from his lips.
Renata was frowning at him for that bit. "You've been asking nonstop for an apple - what do you think she gave you?"
The Doctor heard her, he did, but he also heard his taste buds and they did not approve. "Apples are rubbish. I hate apples."
Amelia could not understand how easily he could change his mind. "You said you loved them."
"No, no, I love yogurt! Yogurt's my favorite. Give me yogurt!" the Doctor rubbed his hands together at the thought of creamy yogurt.
Beside him, Renata watched Amelia run back to the fridge to get the yogurt. Just like before, Amelia returned with what the Doctor asked.
"Thank you," Renata was about to take the container so Amelia could get a cup but neither ever got the chance. The Doctor snatched the container from Amelia's hand and ripped the container off to pour a massive amount into his mouth.
Renata gaped that it almost looked like her mouth would hit the floor. "Doctor!"
The Doctor spit the yogurt out as well. "Ugh! I hate yogurt, it's just stuff with bits in!"
"You said it was your favorite!" Amelia frowned. Some of the yogurt was on her wellies!
"Doctor, you are being very rude right now!" Renata was so close to smacking him. This was too much, even for him!
"What? New mouth, new rules!" He sloppily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Renata shuddered.
Amelia chuckled. Renata looked incredibly funny right now.
"It's like eating after cleaning your teeth, everything tastes wro—agh!" the Doctor insisted but Renata grabbed him by the tie of his shirt and pulled him up to her.
"Stop making up stupid excuses and—" But the Doctor had another fit, ending whatever threat she'd been about to make. Renata let him go with a gasp. "Are you okay!?"
"What's wrong with him?" Amelia watched Renata lean the Doctor against the cabinets behind them. One moment he was arguing and the next he was sick? That didn't make sense.
"Oh, he, uh, just has—" Renata meant to construct a good reason that wouldn't scare Amelia off, but the Doctor had a very different idea in mind.
"Wrong with me? It's not my fault!" the Doctor exclaimed as he got off the wall. "Why can't you give me decent food? You're Scottish - fry something!"
"Doctor!" Renata scolded him while Amelia once again went to the fridge. "You don't have to, sweetheart!" she quickly told the girl but she was already pulling out a pan.
Amelia was a quick cook and in five minutes she presented the Doctor with two strips of bacon.
"Ah! Bacon!" the Doctor, to his credit, did look excited about this one.
However Renata wasn't very fond of the scent she got from it. I guess this incarnation won't like bacon, she concluded.
The Doctor agreed. He took one bite from a strip and spit it right out. "That's bacon. Are you trying to poison me?" he shot an accusing look at Amelia.
This time the girl took it a challenge. There had to be something this man would like and she would find out.
Meanwhile, Renata was close to steaming. "You are being incredibly rude!" she hissed at the Doctor as Amelia brought baked beans to them. "She's a child making food for you!"
"Well let's see if this is it!" the Doctor said. "Plus, you need to eat as well. When's the last time you ate since you regenerated?"
Renata rolled her eyes. Truth be told she didn't remember when she last ate. Things had escalated pretty fast after returning to Earth and finding the Master.
"Ah, you see, beans!" the Doctor happily exclaimed when Amelia came around with a plate. He took a spoonful of it and immediately decided she'd gotten it wrong again. He spit it back out on the plate and marched to the sink to throw it all away. "Beans are evil. Bad, bad beans!"
Amelia made a face and glanced at Renata. "What does he like?"
"At this point...not living!" Because with the glare she had on the Doctor, he might have just met his end.
Amelia sucked in a sharp breath and marched towards the cabinet. Her next attempt was simple. Maybe he was a simple man who liked simple food.
"Bread and butter. Now you're talking!" the Doctor rubbed his hands together as he prepared to eat.
This time, he thought it was so bad that the contents shouldn't even stay inside the house. He stormed towards the backdoor and threw the plate out. "And stay out!" he yelled as if it would really come back.
Amelia was frowning by this point.
"You are about to die again," Renata warned him when he returned. "She's done making food for you!"
"I just need something!" the Doctor argued as he went for the fridge.
Amelia followed him, offering other things she had in the fridge. "We've got some carrots?"
The Doctor scoffed. "Carrots? Are you insane? No, wait, hang on!" He flung open the freezer and searched through the contents. "I know what I need. I need... I need... I need…" He concluded that he needed two items that, if it wasn't for him, would never see each other. "Fish fingers and custard."
Both Renata and Amelia crinkled their noses with disgust. The Doctor happily went ahead with his odd creation.
"This time I get to make dinner for you," he proudly said to Renata when they sat down.
Renata tried her best not to look so disgusted at the bright yellow liquid inside the bowl. "Um...thanks?" Part of her laughed because he was actually trying to make dinner for her, but he'd chosen such a wrong combination. "You're so proud, aren't you?"
The Doctor dipped his fish finger into the bowl, eyes practically dazzling as he saw the gooey custard spill back into the bowl. He took a big bite and hummed with approval. "Good!"
Amelia chuckled from her spot. She'd chosen ice cream as her midnight meal.
"Oh, you are leaving quite an impression," Renata propped an elbow on the table to rest her cheek against her hand. The Doctor smiled proudly. He thought he was making a good one.
"Have some," he picked up a fish finger for her.
"Look Doctor, I appreciate your intention but...that does not look appetizing," Renata chuckled at it.
"But it's good!"
"Fish fingers and custard? I don't think so," Renata playfully rolled her eyes. The Doctor dipped the fish finger into the custard bowl as she went on. "I think I'll just grab an apple or something but you will not have me trying—" the Doctor had popped a fish finger into her mouth. Her eyes widened in alarm, quickly flashing anger at him. "Doc…"
"Ah! Chew!" the Doctor pointed at her with a wagging finger. "You always say you chew your food and swallow before talking at the table."
"That's what aunt Sharon says," Amelia said.
"See, Renata is very fond of routines and rules so I hope she wouldn't break them because it's her," the Doctor set a very smug smile on the Time Lady.
She returned the gesture with a sarcastic smile, but she started to chew to get rid of the foul combination. And then suddenly...she cocked her head and began chewing slower. When it came time to swallow, it wasn't forced at all.
"Well?" the Doctor asked, even though he had already assumed her opinion changed on the meal.
"Uuh...that was...that was actually kind of good," Renata said slowly as she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact. "That can't be right. It shouldn't work!"
"The oddest things sometimes work," the Doctor reached over with a thumb to clear off a lingering spot of custard on her lips. "Sound familiar?"
Renata blushed. "You think you're so smart, don't you?"
"I like to think I'm a genius," the Doctor said as he returned to his bowl.
"You are so modest," Renata sighed and reached for another fish finger, completely ignoring the Doctor's smug smile widening. She wouldn't hear the end of this one, she knew! She checked on the little girl who, up until now, hadn't shown any trauma from everything they'd put her through. "What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked when she realized they hadn't even asked her yet. They were there, sitting at her table, eating her food, and they didn't even bother asking her what her name was!
"Amelia Pond," the girl said.
"Ah, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairy tale," the Doctor said, making the girl smile a bit wider. Everyone always seemed to pick on her for her odd name, but what could she do about it?
"Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" Renata asked. She didn't even know where they were because of the TARDIS' crashing.
"No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish," Amelia crinkled her nose as if she'd only just moved in yesterday.
"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs?" the Doctor leaned a bit in his chair to catch sight of the stairs. Up until now, no one had come down to check on them. "Thought we'd have woken them by now."
"Oh, what would make you think that?" Renata sarcastically asked him. "You screaming at a plate of beans? Or how about the big old box crashing in the garden?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, we'll fix that for them."
"The least we could do," Renata mumbled.
"I don't actually have a mum and dad. Just an aunt," Amelia answered when she thought they were done bickering again.
"We don't even have an aunt," the Doctor said, giving her a wink.
"You're lucky!"
Renata gave an odd look at the girl. "Why would you say something like that? Is your aunt not nice?"
Amelia didn't answer right away, but Renata could tell the girl was upset by something. "She's nice, but...she's not here, is she?"
Renata hummed as she looked around. "Right. Of course she wouldn't be here. She really leaves you alone?"
"I'm not scared," Amelia raised her head up high, making the pair of Time Lords smile.
"Ooh, we know," the Doctor said. "You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man and woman fall out of box, man and woman eat fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?"
"What?"
"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."
Renata agreed with a silent nod. And if she was guessing, Amelia must have told her aunt about this crack but the aunt hadn't listened. Amelia must be terrified and yet the aunt still left her alone!?
~ 0 ~
Amelia brought the Doctor up to her bedroom when they were done with dinner. Renata had insisted on washing everything before she could join them. How could they have dinner in someone else's home and not clean up after themselves? So, the Doctor began examining the crack on the wall by himself. At first glance, it did look like any ordinary crack. He might have even turned away if he'd only looked at it for a few seconds.
"You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen," he murmured as he worked along the crack.
"How are we doing?" Renata walked in a few minutes later and dropped an apple into Amelia's hand. "No seven year old should have ice cream at midnight. Have one."
Amelia scrunched her face at the apple she now held, though she did smile when she saw a carving of a butterfly on it. "How'd you do that?"
Renata smiled secretively as she bent down in front of the girl. "You want to know a secret? I'm like the Mother of butterflies." She turned her palm around and let golden energy rise from her skin, gently swirling until they formed miniature butterflies."
Amelia's green eyes expanded to the point of bulging from her head. She was enchanted with the butterflies flying around her. "That's so cool!"
Renata chuckled. "You think so? You want to know another secret?" Amelia nodded excitedly. Renata leaned a little closer and whispered, "I just learned how to do that downstairs."
The Doctor looked from the crack to see the sight. He smiled softly at the two. Renata was just so good with children, with people in general, that it seemed like no matter what incarnation she was in, this was a part of her core personality.
Renata straightened up on her feet and turned to the Doctor, catching him in his act of staring. She raised an eyebrow at him, questioning why he was wasting time, but he just continued to smile at her. Before she could blush again - she was beginning to think that this body would be doing that a lot easier now - Renata cleared her throat and walked up to the wall. "So, have we got anything on this menacing crack?"
"Uh, sort of…" the Doctor gave the crack all of his attention now. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing - where's the drought coming from?"
"Let's find out," Renata reached for her sonic screwdriver in her dress' pocket and aimed it at the wall. The Doctor took the chance to scoot closer to her, letting his chin rest on her shoulder while she took in the readings. Renata concentrated really hard on the sonic and not the sensation she was feeling from his closeness. "Interesting…"
"What?" Amelia wanted to get closer but she still was kind of afraid of the crack.
"Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey!" the Doctor thought that was the perfect explanation. He moved away from Renata and stopped at the start of the crack. "You know what the crack is? It's a crack, clearly." He began to run his fingers along the crack, bringing him back to where Renata stood. "I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, 'cos the crack isn't in the wall."
"Where is it, then?" Amelia made a face. Half of his words weren't making sense, but she was pretty sure that the thing on her wall looked like a crack.
"It's everywhere," Renata said quietly, her face growing more grim by the second. "In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. And that is not right. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together...right here in the wall of your bedroom. How could that happen?" she glanced at the Doctor for some ideas, not that she didn't have her own.
Her first assumption was that this was a direct consequence of the Master and the Time Lords breaking out of the Time Lock. There was too much tampering with that time period, from both sides, that perhaps Time itself finally had enough.
"Sometimes, can you hear…" the Doctor actually meant to think this but since he said out loud, Amelia quickly jumped in with the answer.
"A voice!? Yes!"
Both aliens paused to look back at the anxious girl. It was clear that she'd been waiting for somebody to believe her.
The Doctor reached for a glass of water on the nightstand. He chucked the water to the side and pressed its rim against the wall. Soon as he put his ear against the end of the glass, he heard an echoing voice on the other side.
'Prisoner Zero has escaped'
The Doctor stepped away, nose crinkling as he repeated what he heard. "Prisoner Zero?"
Amelia once again jumped in. "Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I heard!" She wasn't the only one hearing the voices now! If they believed it then it meant things would finally get fixed. "What does it mean?"
"Be subtle," Renata whispered to the Doctor. This was still a child they were dealing with and they shouldn't terrify her.
Of course that's what Renata thought, because despite her warning the Doctor still went ahead and answered with the blunt truth. "It means that, on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner." Renata rubbed her forehead wearily. So that incarnation also had a loud mouth. Great. "You might need a better wall," the Doctor concluded as he went for the desk nearby. He pulled it away so that the wall was free of any furniture. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or…" Renata once again made an attempt to remind him Amelia was still a child. This time it seemed like he got it. "You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"
"Yes," Amelia nodded with a roll of her eyes. That was so annoying.
"Everything's going to be fine."
Amelia's face fell flat.
Renata shut her eyes for a moment, wondering which one of his lines was worse.
"Renée?" the Doctor called to her, in the process letting it be known that he would still be using that nickname for her as well. He was holding his hand out for her.
"Yeah, alright," the Time Lady moved up beside him and took his hand. Funny, it seemed to slip in so easily with his. Renata then glanced back to where Amelia stood and did the same like the Doctor. "Amelia?"
The girl grinned when Renata offered her other hand to her. She moved around the bed and took Renata's hand.
"Alright then, let's get this big, bad wall shut!" the Doctor held his sonic to the crack.
Amelia turned her head at the sonic when it started making that whirring noise. Renata's sonic hadn't made that noise, she wondered why the Doctor's did. Amelia soon forgot about that detail when a bright light started shining through the crack. It was opening! While Amelia shielded her eyes, Renata squinted hers to see prison cells on the other side. Her hand squeezed Amelia's when she realized that the child had been sleeping next to a prison, an alien prison.
'Prisoner Zero has escaped,' a voice announced on a loop. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'
The Doctor took a step towards the crack, hoping to end things without much trouble. "Hello?" At the second call, a giant blue eye surprised him and the others.
"What's that?" Amelia frowned at the creature. It kept swiveling its eyeball at them.
Before either Time Lord answered, a ball of light shot out from the crack and struck the Doctor. He landed against the bed just as the crack sealed up.
"Doctor, are you alright!?" Renata let go of Amelia's hand - though she ushered the girl away from the crack - and rushed to the Doctor.
He was getting back on his feet with a bit of struggle. The regeneration was still going. "There. You see, told you it would close. Good as new."
Amelia wasn't sure if she was supposed to be relieved or scared. But at least the crack was gone. "What was that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?"
"No. I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message." The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper from his pant's pocket. "Psychic paper, takes a lovely little message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' But why tell us?"
Renata dreaded the answer as she glanced back at the wall. "Because maybe this is where he escaped through…" If the crack truly was what they thought it was, then this was a weak point in Time. Anything could get through if it tried.
"But he couldn't have. We'd know!" the Doctor argued initially. They would have noticed something like that.
"No, we wouldn't," Renata said calmly to him. "It's like you said. I just regenerated 2 days ago and I haven't slept or ate since before and you just regenerated an hour ago. We're not functioning the right way."
The Doctor would concede with that point, several points. "Brand-new me, nothing works yet," he mumbled with annoyance as he headed out of the room. "Still, I feel like there's something I'm missing…" he stopped by the staircase banister and thought, "...in the corner...of my eye." He and Renata jumped at the sound of the cloister bell ringing.
"Oh, great," Renata sighed while the Doctor broke into a race for the TARDIS. She and Amelia hurried after him into the backyard.
"We've got to get back in there!" The Doctor exclaimed as he came up to the TARDIS. "The engines are phasing, it's going to burn!"
Amelia couldn't quite see that happening since it was just a box. "But... it's just a box! How can a box have engines?"
The Doctor struggled to free the grappling hook while Renata hurried to gather the rope around them. "That's because it's not a box. It's a time machine, sweetheart," Renata explained as she returned to the Doctor's side with the role in her arms.
Amelia blinked at her then checked the box again. "What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?"
"It's his, not mine," Renata gave a nod at the Doctor. "Mine wouldn't have landed like this."
"Oh!" the Doctor stopped working altogether to frown at Renata. "It's not like I planned this! I didn't see you doing a better job!"
"What!?" Renata dropped the rope with an indignant cry. "Your spasm of regeneration didn't exactly give me the time! Honestly, I have never seen a messier regeneration!"
Amelia's head once again turned from Renata to the Doctor as each of them took their turn responding to the other's comment. She smiled, though, when Renata sprouted golden butterfly wings. It definitely halted the argument.
"So...that's a thing now?" the Doctor was just as surprised as Amelia. He eyed the admittedly beautiful golden butterfly wings that were made out of pure Vortex and Osiran power. To Amelia, it looked more like fairy dust (Renata just needed to be blonde to be like Tinkerbell!). Bright, golden sparkle dust!
Renata was mortified to see them back. She looked over her shoulder with a loud groan. "Go away!" She shouted at them as if they actually had ears.
The Doctor chuckled at her. "C'mon my beautiful butterfly," he tugged her towards him by the hand. "We really have to get the TARDIS stabilized. I think a 5 minute hop into the future should do it."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Renata forgot about the silky argument and gathered up the rope she let fall.
Amelia watched the two work together like they hadn't been arguing a minute ago. It was rather funny. They were funny. Nothing around her was ever funny. She always spent most of her time alone. Who could she be funny with? Definitely not aunt Sharon. "Can I come?" she asked the two after they'd looped the rope through the door handle.
"Not safe in here, not yet," the Doctor told her, making her hopeful smile falter.
Renata walked over to the girl with a soft smile. "Listen, it'll just be 5 minutes and then we'll be back, right Doctor?"
"Absolutely!" he gave a thumbs up in the air.
"People always say that," Amelia frowned.
The Doctor walked over as well and looked her in the eyes. "Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me, I'm the Doctor. And, if you want extra assurance, that's why I have Renata."
Amelia's hope returned. "Really?"
"Have you ever seen a star in outer space?" Renata asked her and couldn't help chuckle at Amelia's widened eyes. She really did have big eyes. "Start picking a constellation. We'll work out permission with your aunt after." She had quite a few words to exchange with that Aunt of hers who just left her on her own.
The Doctor led Renata back to the TARDIS. They climbed over the edge again and, with one last look at Amelia, they jumped inside.
"Geronimo!" Amelia heard the Doctor's scream before the TARDIS doors closed. A few seconds later, the box disappeared into thin air.
Amelia continued to grin and hope for their return as she ran back home to collect her things. She had no idea what she would need to see a star in outer space but she would be very prepared!
~0~
The TARDIS returned to the same spot as before, but its inhabitants wouldn't notice straightaway something truly important. Renata came out of the TARDIS first - shoved out by the Doctor - coughing from the smoke billowing out of the box.
"We've got to let her repair!" Renata said in the midst of her coughing. The Doctor could only nod for a moment as he got over his coughing. "It's day time…" Renata realized as she looked up at the clear, blue sky. "Oh my God...it's day time! We told her 5 minutes — Amelia!" She raced into the house with the Doctor right behind her.
They hollered for Amelia to get out of the house. For this one moment, Renata would forget her rules about breaking in for the sake of Amelia's well being. They went directly to the one door they couldn't catch before but this time the sonic wasn't working.
"Is she at school!?" Renata tried to guess with the most logical idea. If it were that then at least she would be safe.
The Doctor struggled with the door but stopped when he heard a loud smack behind. He spun around and barely got a second to see Renata on the floor before he too was whacked across the head.
The next time they came to, the pair found themselves handcuffed to a radiator. A female police officer in a short skirt stood off to the side, speaking into her radio.
"White male and female, mid-20s, breaking and entering. Send me some back-up, I've got them restrained." The woman shot the pair a glare. "Oi, you! Sit still."
"Cricket bat. I'm getting cricket bat!" the Doctor felt the throb where the bat had hit him, but he was more angry at the fact Renata had also gotten the hit.
"Call me crazy but I think…" Renata paused to scrunch her face at the lingering pain she felt on the back of her head, "I think that was some uncalled police brutality." She tried moving her hand and found she was handcuffed to the same handcuff the Doctor was. "Oh, really?"
The Doctor nodded over at the policewoman. "I don't carry handcuffs, love!"
"You were breaking and entering," the policewoman said in a manner that would leave clear she used the appropriate amount of force against them.
Renata gasped with offence. "I have never broken into a place! Usually he—" she pointed at the Doctor with her free hand, "—is the one that drags me into it! My record with the authorities is clean!"
The Doctor stared at her with a flat expression. "Thanks, dear. Really appreciate your defense right now." His voice suddenly turned into a shout that startled the police woman but not Renata. "I literally died 2 hours ago and some woman just hit me with a cricket bat! You're not even going to mention that fact!?"
"What do you want me to do about it!? Kiss it and make it better!?"
The Doctor opened his mouth to snap when he suddenly tilted his head with consideration of the proposal. "Actually yes, that would make it so much better." Renata rolled her eyes but she turned her head away to hide her smile.
The police woman banged a hand against the staircase banister to get their attention back. "Do you want to shut up now? I've got back-up on the way! You both broke in!"
"But what are you doing here? Where's Amelia?" the Doctor asked, or rather demanded. He doubted this was the aunt Sharon that Amelia mentioned.
The police woman tilted her head at them. "Amelia Pond?"
"Adorable little Scottish girl," Renata said. "Where is she? We promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing." She craned her head up at the window where the sun was shining was through. "I suppose we must have gone a bit far. Perhaps a day? Has something happened to her?"
The officer folded her arms, seeming like she was enjoying their momentary panic. "Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time."
"How long?" the Doctor dared to ask. Renata had assumed they'd been late by a day but if turned out to be more, he wasn't sure Renata could take it.
"Six months."
Renata gasped. "No, no, no! We can't be six months late! We said five minutes. We promised!"
The police woman turned away with zero interest in their guilt.
"What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?" the Doctor now demanded from her.
"Sarge, it's me again," the police woman spoke in a hurried, hushed tone into her radio "Hurry it up, this guy knows something about Amelia Pond."
"What!?" Renata fully panicked now. Why would the police woman say something like that? Had something happened to Amelia!? What if she got hurt while waiting for them to come back!? Had she wandered off into the streets on her own to search for them!?
"Renée? Calm down," the Doctor struggled to move his cuffed hand closer to hers. He could see her beginning to panic and he wanted nothing more than to ease her. His free hand was the one to finally touch her face. "This face will be easier to read." He noted her widened eyes and the way her light skin paled up a bit.
"We told her 5 minutes and now something might have happened to her," Renata whispered. She directed her eyes to the police woman. "Please, you have to tell us what happened to Amelia? Is she missing?"
The police woman seemed to shift under those soft eyes of Renata. The Time Lady was so concerned, her voice cracking as if tears would roll down her face anytime soon. "Well…"
"Look, we need to speak to whoever lives in this house now," the Doctor cut in sharply. "And I'd like some information on Amelia Pond as well."
"I live here," the police woman snapped.
"But you're the police!"
"Yes, and this is where I live. You got a problem with that?!"
"I've got a problem with the fact you're keeping your mouth shut about Amelia!" snapped Renata. "So here's a little something for you, dear, how many rooms you got in this house?"
The police woman rolled her eyes. They were just trying to have her, weren't they?
"How many rooms?" Renata repeated the question, her tone growing harder by the second. "On this floor. How many rooms on this floor? Can you count them for us?"
"Why?"
"Because it will change your life," the Doctor left it at that. She didn't know what was living next door to her and once she realized it, she'd be in for the shock of her lives.
The woman decided to humor them. So she turned around and started counting the doors. "Five. One, two, three, four, five."
"Wrong," snapped Renata, making the police woman flinch. She sounded like a teacher.
"Six," the Doctor said, softer than Renata but it wasn't like he didn't understand her current feelings.
"Six?" the woman shook her head. "What do you take me-"
"Just look!" Renata insisted.
"Look where?"
"Exactly where you don't want to look," the Doctor told her, nodding at something behind her. "Where you never want to look, the corner of your eye. Look behind you."
The police woman sighed and turned where he was pointing to. She was about to chalk them off as crazy when she finally realized they were right. There was a door right there. "That's...that is not possible. How's that possible?"
"There's a perception filter round the door," the Doctor began to explain. "Sensed it the last time I was here. Should've seen it."
"But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even noticed."
"That's because the filter stops you," Renata told her. "Something came a while ago to hide. It's still hiding. You need to uncuff us now!" She yanked on the handcuffs, hissing each time the metal dug into her skin.
"I don't have the key. I lost it." Because she was walking towards the door, she missed Renata's and the Doctor's dumbfounded faces.
"How can you have lost it?!" Renata shouted in outrage. She yanked on the handcuffs again, ignoring the Doctor's cry for her to stop doing that.
"Hey you! Stay away from that door!" the Doctor shouted at the police woman who was just going straight for it. "Do not touch that door! Listen to me! Do not open that-" the woman turned the knob and effectively opened the door. "Why does no one ever listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?" He met Renata's gaze and saw her teasing smile. "Again?" he asked, disheartened over the problem repeating itself in a brand new incarnation.
Renata laughed. "I think that's just part of your personality, my dear."
The Doctor would've smiled more if he hadn't remembered the police woman wandering into the forbidden room at the end of the hallway. "Hey!"
"Sonic!" Renata exclaimed. "Mine must have dropped with that tumultuous TARDIS trip!"
The Doctor came up short with his own sonic. "My screwdriver, where is it?"
"Oh, great!" Renata rolled her eyes. Maybe her luck was beginning to change into something similar as his. That wasn't good at all!
"Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?" the Doctor continued searching his pockets to no avail.
"There's nothing here!" the police woman called from inside the room.
"And who told you that it would let you see it!?" Renata snapped. She tried turning her body to where she would be able to see a bit into the room, but the only thing she did was lean on the Doctor too close.
"Seriously, you could keep doing that," he wasn't at all shy to say.
Renata paused to give him a sharp look. "Well, this new you certainly has no problem flirting."
"I said I learned my lesson last time," he said, referring to his last words before regenerating. He was done wasting time with Renata and because he knew how shy she was, he would be the bold one (not that he ever had a problem with that). He would be the one to flirt with her, do the touching until she learned how to come out of her shell - or cocoon, given her butterfly abilities - and do the same. Renata was too used to hiding herself, hiding her feelings and not expressing how she felt at moments. It was the way she was raised on Gallifrey and after 11 regenerations, it would be a hard habit to break, but not impossible.
"You said silver, blue at the end?" the police woman's call cut into the pair's moment. They looked at the open doorway and saw she was way too inside.
"My screwdriver, yeah…" the Doctor said slowly.
"It's here!"
"Must have rolled under the door," Renata reasoned but the police woman said a very interesting response.
"Yeah. Must have," the policewoman said. "And then it must have jumped up on the table…"
"Get out of there!" the Doctor yelled frantically.
Renata started yanking on the cuffs again. That policewoman really was naive to think she was safe and sound in that room. She frantically pulled and pulled, feeling desperate as the Doctor vainlessly called to the woman to get out. Suddenly, her golden energy tangled around the cuffs, snapping them in two. "Ha!" Renata laughed, totally surprised but loving the fact she could do that. The Doctor was stunned but he would take whatever worked right now. Without thinking, she grabbed the cuff still around the Doctor's wrist and watched as once more the energy wrapped around it to break it.
"Loving it!" the Doctor exclaimed and scrambled up to his feet. Just as he helped Renata up, they heard the police woman scream from the room.
The police woman ran out of the room, terrified by whatever she saw in there. The Doctor marched over the rest of the space between them and snatched his sonic from her. "Give me that!" He used it to lock the bedroom door.
"Will that door hold it?" the police woman asked them, still slightly out of breath from bolting. The creature had stared her in the face!
"Oh, yeah, yeah, course! It's an inter-dimensional multi-form from outer-space - they're all terrified of wood!" the Doctor sarcastically snapped.
A bright light flashed around the edges of the door.
"What's that? What's it doing?"
"It doesn't matter, just go!" Renata ushered the woman towards the staircase. "Your back-up's coming, we'll be fine."
The woman spun around, forcing Renata back. "There is no back-up!"
"What? But we heard you on the radio, you called for back-up!"
"I was pretending. It's a pretend radio!"
"What!? Impersonating a police woman is a crime!"
The woman rolled her eyes. "I'm a kissogram!" she pulled her hat off and revealed her bright ginger hair that fell over one shoulder.
Renata was stunned but then a new thought popped in. "What's a kissogram?"
At that moment, the door of the room fell down to reveal a man in blue overalls holding a leash to a very large Rottweiler.
The ginger woman blinked at them. She had no idea how those two got into her room, but they at least seemed harmless. "But it's just…"
"No, it isn't. Look at the faces," the Doctor knew what the woman had been thinking and urged her to pay better attention.
The man was growling and barking instead of the dog.
The woman couldn't take it. "What? I'm sorry, but what!?"
"It's all one creature. One creature disguised as two! Now you really must go!" Renata tried turning the woman away, missing the way the man and the dog turned their head at them.
"Are you kidding!? I'm not leaving that there! In my house!"
"I am curious how it's pulling that psychic link if it needs a live feed," the Doctor admitted while he continued to study the man and dog. "How did you fix that?" He got a snarl as a response, followed by a threatening step towards them.
Renata yanked him back. "Please don't question the enemy when it can kill us! Am I also going to have to constantly repeat that in this regeneration!?"
"Well, I won't lie…" the Doctor swayed his head, figuring this was just another core personality trait for him.
'Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. 'The human residence is surrounded.'
The ginger woman's eyes widened in alarm. She spun around trying to find the source of the voice until Renata stopped her. Good thing she did because the woman was near dizzy. "What's that?"
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
"Okay, now we run!" the Doctor ushered Renata and the woman down the stairs. He used the sonic to lock the house door, hoping that would buy them some time.
Renata studied the woman while the Doctor made sure the door was actually locked. His sonic was acting a bit wonky. "Seriously, what's a kissogram?" She eyed the odd uniform, bobbing her head side to side. "And does it always involve short skirts?"
The ginger woman gave her a look. "Seriously?"
Renata innocently shrugged. She had only lived on Earth from 1913 to 1969 and the one year in the modern world that she spent with the Master against her will — she was mostly locked away. She didn't have a lot of time to truly get to know the humans in modern times.
"I go to parties and kiss people!"
Renata cocked her head to one side. "And you get paid for that?"
"Yes!"
Renata considered what that must be like and she soon crinkled her nose when she decided that would not be a job she would be interested in. "And the costume is from these parties?"
"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid!"
"Makes sense," Renata concluded. The Doctor finally got some handle on the sonic and yanked her and the woman away from the house.
"What's going on? Tell me! Tell me!" the woman rightfully demanded as they crossed the yard towards the TARDIS.
"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?"
The woman flipped her head to Renata, but the Time Lady confirmed the story with a nod. "Sort of it, sorry."
The Doctor groaned at the TARDIS who wouldn't open her doors. "No, no, don't do that, not now! It's still rebuilding, not letting us in!"
"Well what'd you expect after the number we put her through?" Renata gave the TARDIS and sympathetic glance. "We'll just have to make do until she's ready."
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
The Doctor flapped an arm at the house behind them. "We need the TARDIS! How can we stop them if I don't have the TARDIS!?"
"Never stopped you before," Renata smiled at him. The Doctor stopped fussing with the TARDIS to meet her smiling gaze.
The woman groaned at them and grabbed each of the pair's arms. "Come on!"
The Doctor would've let her take them to the street had he not seen the new-looking shed on the side of the garden. "No, wait, hang on, wait, wait, wait. The shed!" he got loose from the woman's hold and rushed up to the shed. Renata blinked at the sight of it as well. "We destroyed that shed last time we were here, smashed it to pieces!"
"So there's a new one. Let's go!" the woman tried pulling Renata with her but now the Time Lady was suspicious as well. She pried the woman's hand off her wrist and studied the shed.
"It might be new but it's also old," Renata said as she noticed the darkened spots of the shed's wood. The Doctor ran a hand down the wood. "It could be—" she stopped mid-word when the Doctor licked his finger to taste the wood. Renata scrunched her face, eyes shutting close. "Doctor—"
"12 years!" the Doctor whirled around with the right answer, stunning Renata in the process. He marched back to them, specifically to the ginger woman. "We're not six months late, we're 12 years late!"
"It's been 12 years," Renata felt her stomach churn wondering how angry little Amelia must have been with them. They broke their promise to her!
Meanwhile, the woman seemed more nervous than a few seconds ago. "He's coming!" she made a nod at the house still in danger of being incinerated.
"You said six months. Why did you say six months?" Renata got right in her face, demanding to hear the truth. She knew that the woman was hiding something. She knew the way people kept secrets because that had been her main job not too long ago.
"We've got to!" the woman insisted but Renata grabbed her arm tightly. The woman knew something about Amelia, what with those big eyes—
"The big eyes…" Renata whispered with her own wide eyes.
The woman only stared at her, mildly confused, but otherwise still nervous. "Look, we've got to go!"
"Not until you tell us!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Why did you say six months?"
The woman's thin eyebrows furrowed together as pain flashed across her face. "Why did you say five minutes?!" she shouted at both of them, pulling her arm out of Renata's hold.
"What?" the Doctor practically froze in his spot, only moving his head to see Renata staring sadly at the woman.
"She has the same big eyes," she told him. "Amelia's big eyes."
The woman, who was indeed Amelia, glared at her. "They are not big! C'mon!" She led the way out of the house, figuring if they wanted to continue with the conversation they would follow her into the street.
"You're Amelia!?" the Doctor was right behind the woman, forcing her to stop just to look at her again.
"You're late!" hissed Amelia and continued to walk.
"You were a little girl," Renata did her best to keep up with Amelia's fast pace. "Amelia Pond!"
"I'm Amelia and you're late!" Amelia hissed directly at Renata's face, eyes blazing with anger. "Five minutes my a—"
"I'm so sorry!" Renata threw her arms around the woman, hugging her tight.
Amelia had been expecting anything but that. Her big, green eyes flickered all around while she awkwardly stood there being hugged. She met the Doctor's gaze who was smiling softly at Renata.
"We didn't mean to be late! I'm never late!" Renata pulled away from Amelia, looking her over one more time. She was a complete adult now! Renata sighed and brought a hand to her forehead, letting her fingers dig through her black hair. "Amelia, I am so sorry. We really did mean to come back but the TARDIS is just…" She trailed off and shook her head, deciding that Amelia probably wasn't interested in excuses. She'd been wronged and she was rightfully upset. "No excuses. We're sorry. I did think of a star for you, though. I thought the Big Dipper might have been good. It's a popular one amongst the humans. I'm sorry."
Amelia arched a confused eyebrow at the Time Lady. She looked so guilty that it made Amelia feel like she was wrong for being so angry. How did Renata make that happen!? She glanced at the Doctor and while he looked pretty guilty himself, it was nothing compared to Renata. She was horrified.
Amelia wondered for the first time in 12 years, who really are these two aliens? She spent all her life imagining them in adventures that now that she had them actually in front of her, she had to rewrite everything she knew about them. Who was the Doctor? And who was Renata?
Author's Note:
And there's our first chapter! I am SUPER excited to move onto this story (I think some of yall may have noticed before). We've already seen a glimpse of what Amy thinks of the Time Lords and how they see her, specifically Renata. Their relationship will be a little more complicated because of Ren's drive to maintain the rules buuuut we'll see how it goes ;)
P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"