Here's where they learn each other's age. And save a planet. The longest one yet! And the last update of this session. Dunno if I'll update more or not.
Trees Within a Giant Whirlpool of Weapons
The TARDIS shook and rattled, the familiar wheezing sound echoing inside the time machine as it materialized. At this rate, Harry thought she'd never stop marveling at it. Or at TARDIS in general. The humming in her mind intensified and she thought it sounded like a thanks. One thing she'd noticed was that she preferred to talk by giving sensations instead of words.
She wasn't sure if the TARDIS could talk in other ways.
"And we're here!", the Doctor said cheerfully grinning at her, stalking towards the doors, "Welcome to your very first planet that's over 90% water. The Ark Molube!"
Just as he said the name he flung them open to reveal bright sunlight and a multitude of noises. Crickets, for one. Some roaring of a waterfall. Birds. His mouth fell open, baffled.
"What?"
They were in the middle of a rainforest. A big one that spread out across the land. At least judging from what they could see from the very sturdy tree branch they were perched upon. With big, really big, trees hiding much of the view. Harry tried to keep a straight face and failed miserably as she started laughing. The Doctor huffed at her. She just cackled.
"Well-", her voice was laced with mirth, "at least it's a rainforest"
The Doctor was already pulled into the mystery as he rushed back to the console, checking everything over.
"We're in the right place. That's odd…", he muttered, "The time is right too. But this is supposed to be an ocean planet!"
"Whoa!", just then Harry's muffled voice came from outside, "You have to see this!"
In just a moment the Doctor was out the door and at the witch's side. The witch's who was kneeling impossibly at the side of the tree branch, somehow anchored to it with the help of magic. She was looking down with awe. The Doctor took the safer approach and laid on his stomach, looking down and blinking in surprise.
"Oh", he said as he looked at the clear water the trees were growing from.
Water that seemed to go deep, deep, deep down. Along with all the tree roots. And tree trunks. Many different sorts of trees here. All of them able to grow in water. He grinned again.
"Told you it was 90% water! Everything else is the plants keeping the planet from deforming!"
Harry hopped to her feet and stood straighter, waving a hand to release the Sticking Charm. Her eyes tracked the sky. She shifted weight from foot to foot, desire to fly overwhelming her.
"Is there any dangerous local life? Above water I mean?", she asked, reaching for her necklace where a miniaturized metal broom always rested.
Oblivious to what was going to happen the Doctor stood too and gave an answer, "No. There's still probably some herbivorous flying creatures though. Could have sharp claws and teeth"
Harriet Engorgio-ed her beloved Thunderstrike, another one of Verde's creations, and tapped her glasses to take a form that would protect her eyes from the winds. She easily threw her hair up in a thick, messy ponytail before rubbing her hands together. Excitement was coursing through her as she flung herself on the broom.
By now the Doctor turned and his eyes widened as they took her in. On a metal broom. Her claims to be a witch rattled in his brain.
"Wait!", he shouted as the girl shot up with amazing speed, the energy used sending a pleasant shiver down his spine. He had so many questions.
She laughed and did a loop de loop only to stop and hover over him, "I'm gonna explore a bit. Will be back in ten minutes!", and she was gone before he could say anything.
He scowled at the blur rushing between trees and branches, farther and farther away from him and the TARDIS. Harry set new meanings to the wandering off thing. And she kept pulling impossible stunts. He wondered if he'd ever not be surprised by her. Well, at least she could take care of herself. That much he'd seen.
Didn't stop the flash of worry.
Tsk. That girl would be the death of him. She'd better be back in ten minutes exactly. Or he'd track her down.
xXXx
Harry was having the time of her life as she flew in a dangerous zigzag close to the speed of sound. It was strange but she could get past the sound barrier too. Which was why the broom was named Thunderstrike and not Lightningstrike. Verde, and everyone in her family, knew how much she loved speed.
She made a sharp upturn and shot straight through the thick and gigantic leaves. This planet's atmosphere probably had way more oxygen than normal.
The girl shivered slightly as the wind pushed past her jacket and cast a wandless Warming Charm. A must have as a traveler. She whooped as she spiraled around a cloud before going for a dive, letting herself drop from the sky in a freefall. Feeling like doing a stunt she spread her arms and legs into a star shape, letting her broom just hang from her right hand.
Just as she was about to hit the treetops she climbed back on and shot off back towards the TARDIS and the Doctor. Blood was rushing through her ears and her lips were stretched in a painfully wide grin. She decided to go a little slower to take in the sights.
White trunks, green leaves, brown and reddish golden trunks, leaves of different shapes and sizes, flowers, alien fruits, vines and moss, bird creatures, colors she didn't know were possible, yellowish sunlight illuminating everything, the smell of freshness… It was breathtakingly beautiful. She once again thanked the Doctor in her mind for taking her to see the universe. Even if it wasn't her own it offered so much to see, so much to do, and gave a feeling of importance as they countered threat after threat. Saved people. Saved worlds. And ecosystems. And many, many other things.
Most of all it finally made her feel free.
Her main secondary was Cloud after all.
Something caught her attention and she made an abrupt stop and turn. There was a whirlpool in the water. A giant whirlpool. It was where that roar of water came from, not a waterfall. She narrowed her eyes at it. The thing felt… ominous. Call it a gut feeling. Her gut feelings were fairly accurate.
She summoned the Cloak of Invisibility and turned herself and whatever she was holding (broom and backpack) invisible. To everything. It had taken only a bit of trying on Reborn's, Verde's and everyone's part to understand it could make anything invisible about her. That's what happened when you were the Hallows' chosen owner.
Time to do some investigating.
But first a patronus to the Doctor. She kind of regretted not being there to see his reaction.
xXXx
It had been seven minutes and thirty-six seconds when a glowing silver stag of concentrated happy and pleasant emotion and magic sauntered into the TARDIS.
The Doctor wanted to forgo the last two minutes and hunt Harriet down to explain its existence. Only the stag started… talking. In Harry's voice. It was a peculiar way to send a message.
"Hi, sorry. Won't be back in ten. I found a giant whirlpool about six kilometers to the left from the TARDIS. Feels ominous. I'm doing some investigation. Oh, and you won't be able to track me. Probably"
And the stag faded, leaving the Doctor to stare at the spot with exasperation and annoyance even as his brain started listing ways to start tracking something that can't be tracked. Oh well. Whirlpool. Ominous feeling whirlpool. Sounded pretty interesting. Still…
"She really doesn't get the 'don't wander off' thing", he murmured as he started piloting the TARDIS nearer the location he'd been given.
Actually he didn't remember if he'd ever said it to her. That might explain some things.
xXXx
She could feel an imprint nearby. An imprint of death. Something dying before their time. Something final. They were the leafless trees. So dry on the planet full of water. There were clear wounds on the trees surrounding the tunnel of water that just spiraled down and down and down. It was deep. Deeper than she'd thought and she shivered at the thought of getting caught in its violent flow.
Harry ignored it for now and looked around, examining the gashes in the tree bark and moss. It was like something big had crashed through. Or shot out from the whirlpool and hit it. She didn't know what she'd prefer. What was worse, almost all of the trees had some damage. Some branches had been cut.
Most were at least two meters thick.
Sighing softly she concentrated on the imprints. They were all surrounding the trees and the whirlpool. Around dead trees.
Hopefully, she wouldn't have to dive there. It gave her a really bad feeling. She wondered if there were alien monsters in the waters. There probably would be with their luck. Their luck. It was funny how fast it became a 'we' thing. The Trouble Magnets. She looked down into the unnerving waters and imagined she saw something dark move under the surface. Then again, it might not be imagination.
A very familiar and welcome wheezing sound came from her right and she looked up to a tree branch. The TARDIS slowly came to view there and the Doctor stepped out with a strange device. He looked around for a bit before locking on to her direction. She was kind of impressed. Annoyance and sternness (mostly just there for show) was radiating off of him.
"Harriet, how did you make a corporeal stag out of positive emotions?", he asked lowly with a tinge of frustration.
She snapped into existence, Cloak gone in an instant as she willed it gone, and grinned as he blinked three times. This was the first time he saw her doing that too. She could almost hear his whirling thoughts as his brilliant brain tried to work out how her newly revealed powers worked. She wasn't going to run out of new tricks anytime soon though.
He scowled at her, "You keep doing that! Stop it!"
"Nope!", she said and flew over to him, dropping down on the branch and casting a Reducio. Her broom was back to necklace size and she attached it to its chain, "You'd get bored"
He tried to stare sternly at the woman before deflating with a sigh.
"Right. What did you find?"
She opened her mouth to answer before freezing and looking down at the water. She summoned her Flames, curling them around her in warning and enhancing her senses with the clarity that filled her mind. Something fast and large shot up and cut the tree's branch from under them. The Doctor yelled for her in alarm and she jumped next to him, reflexes fast as ever. She almost cursed herself for making her broom small again.
"Arresto Momentum!", she murmured and pointed both her wands down. It slowed the branch's decent but it tilted and the TARDIS fell over, plummeting towards the sea.
Harry didn't hesitate and neither did the Doctor. They jumped straight after her, Harry gaining a boost of speed from her Flames. She cast the spell again on the TARDIS and found herself sweating with strain.
It was at times like these she wished the box wasn't so resistant to magic.
She saw the thing shoot up with its mouth wide open. Its sharp teeth flashed in sunlight. A flick of her wand had her friend Banished to the TARDIS' open doors as she turned mid-fall to face the threat. She caught a glimpse of the Doc's wide and horrified eyes as the doors slammed closed, sealing him in. Harry was just glad he was relatively safe in there.
"Ascendio!", and she was lifted high into the air just as the giant sea fish thingy shot under her. It reminded her of a piranha.
The TARDIS fell into the whirlpool and she felt her chest tighten with worry. They would be alright. They had to be.
Another piranha thingy with a very large dorsal fin shot after her as she gathered her Flames to guide herself to a branch. It wasn't high enough. Not really. The wounds kept going to the highest branches and she found herself needing to dodge as another one shot fishbone darts out of its mouth. They were guiding her away from the whirlpool, away from the TARDIS, and she wouldn't have it.
Harry steadied herself and stared at the army of fish head on. Her Flames coiled around her like a snake ready to strike. She let both her wands fall into her hands, Holly one in the right and Elder in the left.
If they wanted a fight, they got one.
xXXx
The Doctor found himself in a freefall inside his beloved ship and cursed Harry for getting him out and leaving herself there. Granted it was a better solution then letting themselves get eaten but did she have to play the hero all the time? Well… not that he himself didn't do that occasionally…
Besides she could handle herself. At least for a while.
…That still didn't stop him from worrying.
Give him a break. She was against a giant piranha and piranha didn't hunt alone! Of course he would be worried no matter how capable she was.
Steely blue eyes were focused as he looked for something to save them. He reached for a floating hatstand that had been in the corner of the console room. Grabbing it he maneuvered himself around and hooked it around a reiling. With fast and precise movements he pulled himself there and started reaching for the controls.
Why did he have to adjust the gravity manipulators today of all days? He blamed it on Potter Luck. Or Team Trouble Magnet. It was inevitable that they came up with names for things that might be putting them in these situations.
He had limited time.
Pushing down a button and pulling a lever he maneuvered around some floating objects as he tried to reach the necessary things for getting into the Time Vortex. He glared at the handbrake he had pushed down just thirteen minutes ago. It was on the other side. Too far away and too little time to get there.
Grabbing the convenient hatstand again he reached out with it and tried to pull it up. Just then an alarm flared, informing him that the stop was too close and time was running out. Gritting his teeth he switched target and hit a series of buttons with the 'stand. Then he threw himself down just in time for the TARDIS' flight mode to activate, covering his head with his arms. She didn't like flight. He made a point of not doing it as long as it could be avoided.
The sudden stop made his insides lurch and twist as gravity righted itself but he was conscious and intact.
Good. Time Lord advantages helped him get up way faster than a human as he rushed around the console to get the stupid handbrake. Only, noises from outside stopped him. He almost wanted to pretend he didn't hear their cries for help because Harry was still up there but he knew she could protect herself.
And he had a time machine.
Banging his hand to the console in frustration he ignored the TARDIS' concerned hum and stalked to the doors.
Harry better be alright up there.
xXXx
She was getting tired. These fish had giants' skin level of magic resistance and a blast of Harmony had almost no effect. Her Flames were pretty much her only defence against the shoal of giant piranha. These didn't seem to possess any intelligence beyond eating and killing. She had to keep above water and in the trees. She also had to get to the whirlpool and soon. Her eyes narrowed as she let her wands snap back into their wrist holsters.
Harry once again unshrunk her broom (her Flame weapon nowadays) and prepared her Seeker reflexes that had evolved into mastery of dodging.
The girl weaved through the jumping Gryffindor colored fish monsters. There were so many but she didn't want to go about killing wildlife even if they proved to be a menace. From what she'd seen of these though, she needed to confirm they belonged on this planet. The damage to those trees… She grimaced, dodging sharp teeth and nudging her Thunderstrike to the right.
Almost there. She needed an extra advantage. So she turned herself invisible and shot up to let two piranha smash together and fall into the waves.
There. A clear route. Harry shot down like lightning as she skillfully avoided scaly mass, bone projectiles, and dorsal fins that were razor sharp from what she'd seen of those branches. Then she flew down the watery rabbit hole just within the speed of sound. Even with all her experience and skill she didn't see the shadow in the whirlpool's wall.
She only had time to widen her eyes in horror as a piranha shot through, a caudal fin digging into her side as her grip on the broom faltered. The Cloak ripped and vanished to heal inside her magic. Stuck in a freefall to who knew where, lots and lots of fish circling her, in pain and probably dying… Yeah. Pretty bad. But her only worry was not getting to the Doctor in time, her only friend in this new and strange universe.
Her Flames surged forth, Sun's yellow bond flaring, and circled the wound while mimicking Reborn's Sun Flames to mend the damage. It wasn't fast enough. It was stupid how Fawkes had only cried enough tears to keep the venom in check. She wouldn't survive this one. Harry's eyes slipped closed as her Holly wand slipped to her right hand. Muttering a familiar incantation and flicking her wrist she enclosed herself into a safe bubble. The Charm her and the Doctor had perfected just a few days… times… ago.
With her momentum it wouldn't do much to keep her from falling but it would protect her from drowning or slamming to the ground too hard. Besides, the freefall might be much more dangerous what with those stupid piranha. She could feel blood loss approaching.
Lightheadedness, headache, pounding heart, shivers… Yeah. She'd die. Again. Not pleasant. Oh, the Doctor was going to flip! She was sorry she hadn't really explained this before. It just… never seemed the time. There wasn't reason to. He'd die way before her anyway. Everyone always died. Or left. Just when she thought they wouldn't.
At least her family didn't leave completely.
And then the bubble hit something and everything went dark.
xXXx
When he opened TARDIS' door he didn't know what to expect.
It wasn't a gigantic wet and mossy root with swirling water walls all around it and a small sized clearly stuck spaceship occupying the middle. The place was about a hundred meters in diameter. Which was a little over half as wide as he thought the whirlpool was. There were people, eight Trees of Cheem, waving for him and calling for help and gesturing for him to come down and quickly.
The reason was apparent as he took in the shadows inside the whirlpool's walls. The piranha things. It was a new species for him. Something he hadn't seen before. Usually that would've been interesting and exciting but right now he was worried. About Harriet and about these people. More about Harry.
But if these people were Trees of Cheem, and they were 'cause he wasn't wrong, they could feel the pain of plants and they wouldn't work right in this situation. Now that he looked closer they really looked a bit pained. All of them.
Still he went back inside and guided his beloved ship down before rushing back out.
"What's going on here!?", he demanded, "My friend's still up there fighting those fish!"
Many looked shocked at that proclamation but one male stepped forward. He was clad in dark blue armor plates, accenting his lighter brown skin- er- bark tone.
"We're stuck here! Going higher than this will make the Shredders jump across the whirlpool and eat us midair!", he told him.
The Doctor looked up and indeed saw a fish jump through the kilometer tall whirlpool and land on the other side of the swirling water. They must be strong to withstand the current. The current that was currently closing in on them. Pretty fast too. He looked around and his eyes narrowed on the ship.
"What's causing the whirlpool?", he asked.
This time a female, quite a young woman from the looks of it, stepped forward, "We're a research group sent to examine why this planet's trees are falling apart. The metal minds let us keep the waters at a distance but they're running out of energy!"
Serious problem. Very serious. Fuel shouldn't be able to sustain this kind of thing for long, especially in a small ship like that. It must have been put there as an emergency solution and not one to be used this deep in the waters. Only it seemed they had to. Those Shredders were most likely the reason for the state of the planet too.
There was no way they had enough power for more than three minutes.
"How long left?", he asked worriedly.
"Just two hundred seconds", a gruffy looking old Cheemian told him.
Not much then. He rushed into the TARDIS, looking for one particular cube he and Harry had been filling with the witch's magic. It was powerful, very powerful. Powerful enough to alter the molecule structures and general universe around them. He shuddered to think about what greedy people would do if they got hold of his friend. Or her blood.
He returned outside with it in hand and demanded, "Show me the power source!"
The Cheemian who had first talked to him started running towards the ship with him but they were stopped by one of the younger trees screaming. Something fell to the ground with nowhere near the speed it should've had and… popped. Like a bubble. But only Harriet could-
The Doctor's blood ran cold and his fingers grew lax as he took in his friend's form, bloodied and pale. She was unconscious and frail looking compared to the strong woman he knew. She looked almost lifeless. Rage almost overtook his mind as he turned to look at the shadows with a furious glare that could scare mountains. He heard the Cheemian inhale in sharp surprise and fear but didn't care.
"Big mistake", he intoned darkly before worry and fear of losing his friend overtook his mind and he rushed to her side.
He scanned her with the sonic screwdriver and almost flinched at the results. Her left side was brutally cut open even as her magic and whatever-the-second-power-was were healing it. They were too slow. His mind said she wouldn't survive this. He had to try.
But if he didn't move now everyone here would be dead. The only place that might be safe was the TARDIS.
"Take her to my ship's medical bay! The first door you come across, put her in the yellow pod", he had faith the TARDIS would move it there and the hum in his head confirmed that, "I'll be there as soon as I can", he barked to the trees who scrambled to obey even as he brushed damp raven-hair from Harriet's delicate and young face. He cursed himself for not going back to her immediately. But then all these people would've died.
"I'll be there", he whispered to Harriet. Or himself. He wasn't sure yet.
Then he tightened his grip on the cube and rushed back to the sympathetic looking tree that immediately led her to their power source. Distangling his mind from all the guilt and sorrow and burning hot fury against Shredders he exhaled and immediately started sonicking things. It only took fifty seconds for the power cube to activate. The cube should hold for twenty-five minutes.
Harry had a lot of power in her.
Harry!
He swallowed as the worry and fear tried to drown him and rushed past the Cheemian whose eyes were so wide and amazed they looked like saucers. It took him less than five seconds to get to the medical bay where the trees were just laying Harriet down into the yellow pod. He was with them the next instant and started pushing buttons with rapid succession.
Something beeped. His teeth clenched as he looked down at her friend's blood level. She'd lost forty-two percent. Four more and she would be-
Refusing to think that thought he got to work with a tube for blood transfusion and shooed the Cheemians away while focusing on closing the wound. He felt anger and guilt rising when he uncovered the torn flesh. Her side was wide open, cut like with a sword. Shredder was definitely an accurate name.
"What are Shredders?", he asked the six others in the med-bay. His voice sounded like a growl.
"They- They're a territorial species of fish that was gene mutated fifty years ago on Tiwa. No emotions, no hunting instincts… Just the need to do damage. A weapon that couldn't be controlled", one especially light barked Cheemian answered haltingly, "Our kind had thought them gone"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed at the explanation. Now the weapons were on this beautiful ocean planet. Destroying trees and natural wildlife alike. The whole planet would become nothing more than a mass of water. And they hurt Harry. Harry who always checked that others were safe before getting herself out. The woman who teased him and went along with his whims. The girl who was lost in the universe that wasn't her own and had reached for him, asking only for his company. Someone to cling to as she was sent adrift into the new world. His friend who had a sparkling mind full of new ideas and power to shape the world itself. Using that to help everyone they came across. To help him with subtle nudges towards living again. Even if she didn't know what had happened.
And now she was badly hurt protecting him.
A storm was brewing behind his eyes and he was going to unleash it on those disgusting abominations. They'd be gone from this planet, from the universe itself, if they really were just weapons meant to kill and destroy.
Something beeped again and his eyes widened as he realized her heart had stopped. Frantically pushing the controls he started the artificial RPG and hoped against all hope that it would work. One minute. Two. Her brain waves showed nothing. The TARDIS' constant hum turned mournful.
She was gone.
Instantly he wanted to scream at the universe for taking yet another good friend away. Yet another life for his. Yet another casualty. Another life on his conscience. He scanned her once again and found that her magic and fire were still there but that didn't mean anything.
Harry was gone.
A hand gently landed on his shoulder and his eyes, full of storming emotion, latched onto the young woman who was clearly trying to comfort him. Pulling himself together somewhat he just swallowed and turned to the six of them. Sorrow, guilt, anger, and absolute fury were stirring in his gut, burning him inside out, but he pushed them aside. These people didn't deserve them.
"The power source-", he choked the word out, remembering Harry's cheerful smile as they completed it, "-doesn't last more than seventeen minutes. Get everyone inside my TARDIS and I'll get you out"
Five of them nodded, respectfully looking at Harriet's broken body, before hurriedly walking to get the rest of their small crew. The woman still by his side searched his eyes, a soft and sad expression on her face, before she nodded and followed her people.
The Doctor watched them go before turning to Harry. His hands were trembling as he leaned down to cup her lax and cold cheeks. He wished she would open her emerald eyes and tell him that it was okay. That she would be fine. But that was just wishful thinking.
Still he stayed. Waiting for just a little bit longer. For a miracle he knew wouldn't happen. It was impossible.
But Harry loved proving him wrong… Right?
xXXx
She once again found herself standing in a white space full of golden lights and barely-there outlines of rocks and trees. It was bright and warm and she let herself sigh before turning to face her family.
"Hello…", she whispered, tears of bittersweet happiness gathering in her eyes.
Skull, the purple haired happy-go-lucky manage, launched himself to her in a hug and a laugh.
"As happy as I am to see you it doesn't inspire me with much confidence", Lal told her as she also moved to embrace her.
Harry chuckled, "Hey, this is only the ninth time I've died. That's a big accomplishment if you know what my life is like"
Reborn bonked her on the head gently.
"You know what our lives were like and we still died only once", he smirked, looking down at her with his fedora sending shadows over his face.
"Ahahaha! The Great Skull-sama died often too!"
"Technically your Cloud Flames just healed you from normally quite life threatening wounds. You died only once", Verde drawled, making Skull pout.
"Don't exaggerate things- kora!", Colonello bonked the Cloud on the head.
"That sounds like you don't", Viper commented idly to Colonello's disgruntlement.
Fon just smiled serenely and looked to Harry with amused eyes. She smiled back so wide it hurt. Then she choked on a sob and everyone surrounded her with their comforting Flames.
"I miss you so much!", she gasped out.
"Oi, oi! Don't cry! You know that we're still here and watching, right?", Lal said with the sort of motherly tone that only emerged with Harry.
She nodded just slightly and Fon joined in to the group hug, motioning for everyone to give her at least a reassuring touch.
"It's not the same. We know. We feel it…", her Storm said gently, "But you've got a new member of our little family waiting for you"
She laughed a little and found that to be true. Very true. The Doctor now had a place in her heart whether he wanted it or not. She just hoped she didn't scare him too badly. Lights surrounded her and she knew she was waking up again.
Harriet let her Flames out to caress everyone else's, smiling broadly. Her Elements seemed to melt under the attention.
"Love you", she whispered before disappearing to the waking world.
xXXx
The Doctor was aware that he should be going. There were only fifteen minutes left. He brushed his thumb across the too-white-and-gray skin before pinching his eyes shut against tears, a shuddering breath leaving him. Then he stood up and walked towards the door.
Only to stop at the near silent whisper his superior hearing picked up.
"Doc…?"
He wanted to turn around. His ears heard a faint but growing heartbeat that might have been his imagination. There was only one person who would call him Doc despite his wishes and he wanted her to be alive. But he was scared because this was impossible. If she was- was like an immortal he should feel it like an unpleasant itch against his skin. Not this- this warm blanket feel his friend gave him.
"I'm so sorry, Doctor. Should've told you…", Harriet's quiet voice echoed in his mind, "I kind of… can't die. Permanently. At least not yet"
At this he whirled around and felt relief crash over him like the whirlpool when it inevitably collapsed. His knees felt weak as he took a step forward, taking in the pale face and green eyes. Emerald green that he had missed these last few minutes. As much as he missed Gallifrey's burnt orange sky and-
…It was funny. It was strange. But he'd let Harry in and she'd just… slotted into place. Like a long lost part of him he didn't know he needed.
"Harriet…?", he whispered like it was the frailest word in existence.
The small smile he got was almost enough to undo all of his tenseness.
"Yeah… It's me. I'm sorry"
And he laughed as he rushed to the pod because those eyes were full of worry for him and not herself which was just so Harry. Her smile got wider as she reached up and took his hand. The squeeze felt a bit weaker than he was used to but her side was all healed. Not a mark except for her bloodied clothes. She stood, ripped cloth sagging a little, but she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her out.
They stayed there for a while, the Doctor's grip around her tightening as he remembered the worry and the rage as he saw Harriet's broken form. They had to get out of the whirlpool. And then deal with the Shredders so they never hurt anyone else ever again.
"Don't do that anymore", he scolded his friend, almost begging but not because Time Lords didn't beg.
She hummed and it was music to his ears, "No promises. This is only the ninth time it's happened though. If you even count that one time"
"Ninth?", he asked, thinking of the coincidence, and started walking towards the console room while carrying her with him. Her feet just dangled off the ground. She was short enough for that, "How old are you again?"
"Sixty-two", and the Doctor really should've considered that her body just didn't age. Really, he should've, "You?"
He paused. There was anxiety in her voice. As if she was afraid of- Oh. She was afraid of living longer than him. Well, no worries there yet. To be fair he didn't know what this implied. He had been afraid of that too. What a dumb secret to keep from each other.
"Me? Around nine hundred, give or take. Time Lords can live millions, if not billions, of years if there's no bigger accidents"
She froze in shock. Then relaxed against him in relief. A chuckle escaped her.
"We're idiots sometimes", she commented.
"Oi! I resemble that!"
"That you do, Doc"
And he'd never liked hearing that nickname more.
xXXx
Harry and the Doctor didn't want to go out of grabbing distance from each other. It was understandable after the scare each of them had had. First Harry worrying about the TARDIS and the Doctor enough to throw herself at a shoal of what amounted to biological weapons. Then the Doctor seeing her die even as he tried to save her.
So now they were both at the TARDIS' controls in orbit around the planet and talking to the Trees of Cheem. Or well, making a plan to save the planet.
"So those Shredders are based on piranha from Earth?", the Doctor asked, fiddling with a switch.
"That is correct", agreed Leah, the young female tree with lighter bark color.
"I don't know the subject as well as our historian but I heard they also have eubrue cells in them. To make their scales harder and resistant to energy", the somewhat-mechanic Chad told them. Though he still called computers metal minds.
"Definitely resistant to energy", Harriet whispered only for the Doctor's ears and he grabbed her hand to reassure himself that she was still there.
"Doctor, they are destroying the trees! They need to be stopped", another male, Eloh, pleaded.
All of their tree companions could feel the plants' pain even if it was weakened from so far away. They also had dampeners for it. His eyes darkened as he pulled out the scanners, the storm that had been brewing flashing in his eyes again.
"Oh, they will be. I'll stop them", he stated darkly, like a promise, and Harry felt a wave of affection for him. He'd clearly been very worried and angry on her behalf. The Cheemians' too.
And now that they'd found out they were destroying the planet it was even more so their business. Whoever put the weapons on Ark Molube should face consequences. Not that they'd found proof of who that was. It could be an accident too, however unlikely.
Biological weapons. Life forms created to be weapons. She felt a bit ill at the thought.
"I don't even know if would be genocide or not to destroy them…", Harry admitted quietly, "After all, I saw them and their eyes. It was like they were empty. Harmony didn't work on them"
The Doctor's hand around hers tightened. There were always hard decisions. He hated hard decisions that had to be done. They were killing life to save other lives. It was a raw wound and one he didn't like to be reminded of. He took a deep breath and turned to Harry.
"Can you make a rune circle? One that projects that petrifying curse on a large area?", he asked.
She nibbled on her bottom lip, mind whirling through the possible time-frame, enormous size of the area, her magic and how much she could push it and her Flames after dying…
"I can make it cover twenty kilometers at maximum in an hour. That is, if I find the base for it from my notes and some special ingredients for a ritual", she said, "It'll be unmovable and I have to do it exactly where we want it"
The Doctor smiled that manic smile she knew meant he had a brilliantly crazy idea, "Fantastic! Remember the Statue of Liberty?"
She knew it. Brilliantly crazy. If she could cover twenty kilometers and they amplified that… They'd petrify almost every fish in the water. They were lucky the planet was pretty small sized. Like, the size of the Moon maybe. At this point she knew the Doctor well enough that he wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't know every friendlier species would survive. That is, if something didn't go wrong.
"How do we recognize what lifeform is what?"
"Let me and TARDIS worry about that. We've got scanners and a sample of DNA. Only good thing in you-", he couldn't say it, not yet, "...getting hurt"
She smiled reassuringly, squeezing his hand back.
"I'll get the portable wards. They can be pretty easily modified to withstand water. Just land us in a space-y spot? Preferably on a root?"
He smiled faintly, "Will do"
And they were off, though not liking having to separate so soon. Their conversation left behind eight very befuddled trees.
xXXx
With the rune circle completed and wards in place they were effectively standing in a bubble of air under the ocean. At the center of planet Ark Molube. The shields kept any unwelcome visitors out thought they circled them furiously, sharp triangular teeth gleaming. Harriet had transfigured the root into marble, startling all of the trees behind her. Surprisingly it didn't hurt them and Harry felt ashamed for not checking first.
She was just thankful it didn't cause pain.
But now the circle was completed, in an hour and ten minutes, and she and the Doctor went about securing the amplifier that ran with a tiny bit of magic and Flames amongst the electricity. And psionic energy. Yeah, they'd kinda tried to combine everything and it worked. Also the other cube Harry had been filling with her magic.
Then they went back a few steps, triple checking everything, before nodding in satisfaction.
They activated it.
Everyone gasped at the surge of power that expanded and expanded from it. Harry felt a shiver at the potency of it even as the Doctor felt the pleasant shift in time it produced. He still marveled at that. Magic and science working together. He thought he'd never see the day.
Harry liked pulling off the impossible. And he liked travel because he came across impossible.
It worked out. Surprisingly well.
Everyone watched in slightly fearful fascination as every Shredder seemed to… freeze and slightly float in the water without moving a muscle. Their black eyes were still as empty as before. As if they really had no other purpose than destroy. The Doctor knew then and there that they were doing the right thing by getting rid of them.
He ushered everyone except Harry into the TARDIS and started working on the scanners. It would take about twenty minutes to get the range to the whole planet to a whole species. That was only possible because every single life form was perfectly still. His witch friend should be ready by then too. The blanketed Petrificus Totalus would last for half an hour so they had time.
Harry worked on another rune circle even as she silently powered the other one. She would be so tired and sick after this. But it would be worth saving the planet. This one would be an amplified blanket effect version of the blasting curse with a selected target because apparently Time Lord technology could do that. She was amazed and a bit terrified of what she and the Doctor could do together with whole of space and time at their fingertips.
Twenty minutes later she was ready but winded, sweat gathering on her forehead from dying, coming back to life, and then creating and powering two of the most powerful rune circles she'd ever created. And she'd created pretty powerful ones. She was very lucky her magic and Flame cores were so large.
And to think she complained about that from time to time.
"Harry?", a concerned voice asked him and she lifted bleary eyes to the Doctor.
She tried to smile, "It's ready… I'll sleep like a log maybe a week straight afterwards but this is so worth it"
The Doctor swallowed and let her lean against him as he half-guided half-carried her to the edge of the circle. He clearly didn't like this and was blaming himself for putting her under so much strain after literally dying. Harriet would have none of it and poked him with her elbow weakly. Her smile was only slightly strained and completely genuine as his eyes moved to hers.
"I'll be fine. And I want to do this. You come up with the craziest and most brilliant plans in history, ya know?"
He still had that slightly shadowed look in his eyes as he searched her expression for falsehood but he nodded with a small smirk forming on his lips.
"Well, let's put this one into action now"
Harriet nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. She linked the two circle's powers together and suddenly guided almost all power from the petrification circle to the blast circle. Focusing on the target in her mind she let the circle take almost all of her magic as she mixed Flames in it too for good measure. Her bonds were helping her slightly under the strain, especially the Rain, Cloud and Sun ones. Tranquility, Propagation and Activation. Good combo for this.
Then she let the circle activate.
This time the power released was thrice as potent as in the last and it knocked everyone to the ground even as it blasted each and every Shredder out into the planet's orbit, freezing them as they came to contact with space.
Harriet almost fell unconscious then and there from the strain. That release of power… she hadn't even known she was capable of something like that. It kind of terrified her. But the Doctor was moving as he grabbed the wards, the cube, and picked her off the ground bridal style. Any other time Harry might or might not have protested.
Right now she was just glad she didn't have to deal with these kinds of situations alone like in her twenties and teens and after she kind of lost her Elements.
The Doctor gently set her down on the jump seat in the TARDIS and started piloting the ship back into space. Harry welcomed the familiar shaking as she struggled to stay awake for a little bit longer. The TARDIS' humming almost put her to sleep though. She pushed the complete and utter tiredness and her pounding head to the back of her mind (mental arts were really handy) and looked out the doors that the Doctor opened. Everyone gasped at the incredibly ridiculous sight of Shredders floating in space, utterly frozen. She struggled to see it over the Cheemians' tall heads.
"Lemme see…", she murmured so quietly only the Doctor heard. He quickly rushed to her, grinning from ear to ear, and picked her up again. This might be the first day she had ever gotten carried by him. Much less three times in a row.
It was kind of nice.
The sight was truly amazing. There, surrounding the planet, were dozens and dozens of Shredders. It looked quite comical and she huffed out a weak laugh.
"They won't hurt anyone 'gain, that's for sure", she slurred.
The Trees of Cheem looked to her with awe, respect and slight fear in their eyes. Just like she saw her deed. Good. Oh, she was so sleepy and her head was killing her. Luckily not literally but she would believe them if someone said it would. Harry's eyes slipped shut and her body went completely lax in the Doctor's hold. She still heard the quiet conversation though would later think it might have been a dream.
"What are we supposed to do with them?", Chad asked, probably to himself.
"Dunno. Are they edible?", the Doctor asked back.
"They should be. At least I've heard rumors", Leah commented.
"Well then. Make a fish market. I'll take Harriet to med-bay to recover and then I'll drop you off. Where do you want to go?"
"O- Oh. Cheem, of course", Cleafy said, as if just snapping out of a trance.
"So many Shredders. How did we survive!?"
The Doctor's grip on her tightened, "Just thank Harry", already walking towards someplace else.
"She's an incredible girl, isn't she?"
"Very powerful. Almost too powerful", Eloh said, respect and awe coloring his voice.
"Either way we're very lucky you two came. Thank y-"
And then she lost consciousness for the second time that day.
xXXx
The Doctor was bored, worried, and tinkering with anything he got his hands on.
It had been a week and two days according to his estimates… Time. In the TARDIS. He'd 'forgotten' to keep track of it and was almost afraid to check it with his senses. But he was pretty sure Harry should have woken up by now. Her magic had been so depleted, as had her… Flames she called them. It had scared him how weak that stunt had left her, even with the cube taking at least half of the strain off of her.
A week and two days. Her… magical core?…had only about a fourth of the amount she'd used to have before. It was still filling up, thankfully. Too slowly in his opinion.
She stirred and the Doctor immediately threw the micro compartment circuit over his shoulder and leaned over. Blue eyes checked her, searching for any discomfort, and snapped to her face the moment her eyelids fluttered open. She shut them right against a headache and the TARDIS immediately decreased the lighting. The Doctor didn't mind with his superior Time Lord senses.
"Harry…?", he whispered, reaching for the fresh glass of water he had filled again every twelve hours or so.
This time her eyes opened much more cautiously, looking over the ceiling before settling on him. They blinked away blurriness before the smallest of smiles spread on her lips. She opened her mouth to say something but it evolved into a cough. He helped her up a little and brought the glass up to her. She eagerly gulped down most of it, letting out a relieved and content sigh.
"Thanks", she croaked out.
"No problem. How do you feel?"
She let out a low chuckle, "Like I've been out for a week"
He nodded, "A week and two days"
She sat up slowly with the Doctor's help and drank the rest of the water too. They were quiet for a moment.
"So", she started, "What happened after we saw the iced fish floating in space?"
And the Doctor easily launched into the story of how he'd brought the Trees of Cheem home. They had been very surprised the trip took only ten seconds. Said to thank her when she woke up. Then Harriet asked what happened to the Shredders.
The Doctor's eyes twinkled mischievously, "It's forever been a mystery where the fish markets got so much fish for twenty years straight"
Harry burst out laughing. It was infectious and the Doctor joined in. It released the tension in his shoulders, the one he'd had ever since he realized what powering two of those monstrous magic circles did to Harry. She flopped to her side on the bed, still giggling and grinned up at him.
"I've had many, many ridiculous things happen to me", she started, "But this is definitely in the top ten!"
The Doctor agreed with that. There were still things to discuss. Like Harry's immortality thing. And maybe his… regeneration. But that could come later. Now it was more important to get Harry back to 100%.
Immortality that didn't involve him cringing away.
Harry was definitely an interesting one.
And for the first time in what seemed like forever, he felt a sliver of hope. One he tried to squash. Because everyone always left him in the end.
But… Harry loved proving him wrong… Maybe. Just maybe…
He took a deep breath and pursed his lips together. Somehow he now had that stupid hope clinging to him. Even after the entire week he'd tried to get rid of it.
Harry watched the war in the Doctor's eyes. A familiar one she still struggled with.
She sighed.
"You know…", she started, swallowing, "I lost my family too"
The Doctor's eyes snapped to her, startled and confused. She smiled bittersweetly.
"I recognize that look. See it in the mirror all the time", she told him. She paused and wondered where to start. Her teens or the times after. The large family she'd made for herself and lost through the years.
"There was a war", she said and now the Doctor flinched and stiffened. Oh. Oh. He'd been in a war too. What more did they have in common? She still continued, "Against a megalomaniacal wizard that styled himself as the Dark Lord Voldemort. My parents fought in it and then I was born at the end of July, 1980. The child of prophecy", she spat the word out, "The one destined to kill him or die trying"
Her friend listened with a stiff posture, eyes narrowed in sympathy and horror as he listened how Harry was raised by relatives who wanted nothing to do with her and then got sent to a school where she was manipulated into becoming the perfect little martyr. How she was a weapon first and a child second, even if she didn't know it until she turned seventeen and saw what her mentor had known. That she was a horcrux.
Dumbledore had planned it all. Her upbringing, how she would face Voldemort again at eleven, the basilisk that's venom still ran through her veins, her getting taught by her parents' old friend, forcing her to attend a deadly tournament… Thought that was most likely just coincidence. More experience for Dumbledore's perfect little weapon. Even how she would gather all the Hallows that could give her a chance to live to kill the Dark Lord.
She told him how she had wanted to die because her friends… her family… everyone was dead.
And now she couldn't. Not until Death let her.
The Doctor gritted his teeth in anger. If Dumbledore had been alive and in this universe he'd have gone to give him a big piece of his mind… This was how Harry had been raised. As a child soldier. One that was supposed to martyr herself for her people. People who had alternated between calling her savior and outright making her a scapegoat.
She'd sacrificed everything and then she'd been nailed as the next rising Dark Lady, the Undesirable Number One. The nineteen-year-old who was hunted down because the ministry was afraid of her power. She hadn't elaborated beyond that, only that she'd gotten involved with the Mafia and Flames straight after. Where she'd met her new family members, the Arcobaleno. The ones who were now also gone because of a bloody trap made for the Vongola, one they had to escape by martyring themselves for the younger generation again.
Then she was summoned. Because Hallows had made her the Mistress of Death.
"But… I think it wasn't really that. I was depressed. I was only living in the loss of my family. So Death probably made it so I got here, a fresh start of sorts…", she told him, voice a bit hoarse from all the talking and emotion. Then she smiled at him, emerald eyes sparkling with affection, "I'm glad it chose to do that. It gave me my newest family member"
It took a second to realize Harriet was talking about him. The Doctor felt his chest tighten, his twin hearts beating a bit faster, as he tried to understand what that meant.
Harry saw him as… family.
She saw him as a part of her mismatched family, the last living member of it by her count. One who would live far longer than anyone she'd met before. Which meant… He wanted to believe she'd never leave, that they'd never get separated. But he knew that was an empty promise. The universe had so many unknown powers in it.
Granted, Harriet was probably one of the most powerful beings in the universe. He was glad she was a good person. Very glad. A smile spread on his lips and he rose to join Harry on the bed, tugging her into a hug she returned just as tightly as him. She would have a place in his chosen family too. The newest member in the long line of friends and companions. All of which were now gone from his life. But she would be a part of his. As long as she wanted it.
"So, Harriet Potter", he said after a moment, "Are you my impossible sister, cousin or niece?"
She let out a short laugh, full of affection.
"Let's just stop at family, 'kay? That's how I've always done it"
He grinned. Sounded nice. He loved how uncomplicated their relationship was. He just hoped it stayed that way. For a long, long time.
xXXx
Okay, maybe I'll update at least one thing after this. I'll see where my muse'll take me. Any ideas?