Watching the Doctor

by RedRobyn2

The Doctor is stranded in prison, dealing with the revelations of the Timeless Child and the memories of her time travelling, all alone. Until the Tardis decides enough is enough and gathers her and some of her more recent companions to help her deal with her past and make some amends by watching her adventures. Characters watch the show, set after Timeless Child/Pre-Resolution.

16. The Doctor's Wife

Hello everyone!

Here's the next chapter, another highly anticipated one - The Doctor's Wife.

There was no Jenny, despite some people asking for her as I wrote this quickly and I don't know how to characterise her, but that doesn't mean she (or others) won't show up later.

So three quick notes; one I mention a 13 comic (where she meets the Corsair, it's worth a read honestly but it's not needed for the story), two - the next episode is till up in the air so keep your suggestions coming at the minute it is likely to be School Reunion. Three - there is no chapter next week! I have two exams, a weekend long virtual event that I am helping to run and work so I would die if I had to write a chapter too, after that though university finishes so it is just work occupying me giving me spare time to write longer (and better chapters). So to reiterate - NO CHAPTER NEXT WEEK, which gives you more time to let me know what you want to see (I do keep a note).

So as always, please enjoy and thank you for reading!

Let me know what you think, I love your comments!

Robyn

---

The screen turned blank and the words 'The Doctor's Wife' appeared. Almost as one most of the room immediately turned to face River who had turned to the Doctor. River had mentally decided to keep a close eye on the Doctor this video – there was no way she was okay after the events of the last video.

"Is this about River?" Amy asked, eager to see her daughter on screen more. It wasn't often that she'd heard about River and the Doctor's adventures and these videos gave them so many opportunities to see everything in a new way.

"Maybe? Probably? But the titles haven't always been as obvious as they appear to be." The Doctor shrugged, she wasn't quite sure what to expect, even if it was about River that still left lots of things it could be about. Their wedding? The Pandorica? Their first meeting (from her perspective)? She was sincerely hoping it wasn't any of those, she was hoping for a nice, calm video after the mess and trauma of the last one.

"I guess we'll have to just watch and see." River suggested, knowing the way the Doctor's thoughts were likely about to spiral and wanting to stop it before it started. The group turned back to the screen expectantly, as always stuck between curious and apprehensive about what the video would show. They couldn't deny they were curious to know more about River and they were always curious about the Doctor – which was one of the few good things about these videos, they learnt some interesting things about the Doctor's past and adventures (as well as themselves).

[Spaceship]

(A young woman is led in by an older woman. She speaks to a man wearing a tattered Confederate Army uniform.)
IDRIS: Will it be me, Uncle?

"Wait, that's Sexy." Rory said, frowning at the screen. He glanced at his wife and the Doctor, the only two who knew exactly what he was talking about. The rest of the group watched confused upon seeing the Tardis' human body, which no one had explained yet.

"No, they mentioned Uncle. I think this is about House." Amy frowned worried, that hadn't exactly been fond memories - their time in the Tardis while House ran it especially had been nightmare fuel for years.

"I think Amy's right." The Doctor added her own thoughts. Maybe this wasn't anything about River at all, maybe it was about the Tardis. The rest of the room watched the exchange, becoming more confused every second the trio spoke.

"Is anyone going to explain for the rest of us?" Jack raised an eyebrow, mostly at the Doctor who was closest to him.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory exchanged a look before the Doctor answered. "This will explain why the Tardis appears like she does here." The room all looked like they wanted more answers but none of the trio looked like they were willing to give any so they settled with facing the screen, even more curious about his video.

UNCLE: Yes, it's going to be you. I only wish I could go in your place, Idris. Nah, I don't, because it's really going to hurt.
(An Ood with glowing green eyes appears behind Idris.)

"An Ood?" Rose and Donna both asked confused, although they had different reactions. Rose looked a bit nervous, her own experience with Ood's not positive, while Donna looked concerned, her experience with Ood's had been about freeing them from slavery.

"Yes." The Doctor muttered; eyes dark. Her own experience of Oods was a mixed bag but this Ood did not leave her with any nice memories. This whole adventure had been terrifying and horrible - she'd gotten so much hope when she'd gotten the Corsair's box but it had all ended like it normally did, terrible. The group gave her concerned looks but were wise enough not to ask questions.

IDRIS: It's starting. What will happen?
AUNTIE: Oh. Er, Nephew will drain your mind and your soul from your body and leave your body empty.

"He'll what?!" Martha exclaimed. The rest of the group had perked up concerned about the casual sentence.

"Just watch." The Doctor answered.

(Idris goes up onto a platform with a bit of alien tech dangling around the place. The Ood holds Idris' head.)
IDRIS: I'm scared.
AUNTIE: I expect so, dear. But soon you'll have a new soul. There'll be a Time Lord coming.

"They know you're coming." River leaned forward, holding the Doctor's hand tightly. It was rarely good when they were expecting the Doctor.

"No." The Doctor shook her head. "Not me. Just a Time Lord, no one specific."

That earned her even more concerned looks, the Master especially had narrowed his eyes at her suddenly a lot more apprehensive about everything. It was never a good thing when the Time Lords came up.

[Tardis]

DOCTOR: And then we discovered it wasn't the Robot King after all, it was the real one. Fortunately, I was able to re-attach the head.
RORY: Do you believe any of this stuff?
AMY: I was there.

"Ah, you're still pretty new to travelling with them then?" Rose asked, smiling at the pair. She was curious to see what was going to happen this video, especially with the mention of the Tardis.

"No, I'd been travelling for a while. Not as long as Amy but still a while." Rory answered while Amy grinned.

"Oh, you're just still sane then." Martha corrected with her own grin. That made Rory and several others across the room laugh.

DOCTOR: Oh, it's the warning lights. I'm getting rid of those. They never stop.

"They never stop because everyone needs a warning about your driving!" Jack laughed alongside the rest of the room while the Doctor's protests fell on deaf ears.

RORY: Hey. You're still thinking about it, aren't you?
AMY: Oh, shush. We saw him die.
RORY: Yeah, two hundred years in the future.

AMY: Yes, but it's still going to happen.

"You what?!"

"But how?!"

"What are you talking about?!"

Several people burst out at once, glancing between the screen, the pair in the room and the Doctor (who avoided anyone's eyes, instead looking at the floor). River frowned., squeezing the Doctor's hand to remind herself she hadn't actually killed her wife.

Rory and Amy shared their own glance before turning to the group who were watching confused and concerned. Finally, Amy answered; "The Doctor faked their death for a while because of a long-complicated mess. We witnessed it then met a younger version of the Doctor, so had to keep it all a secret thinking that he was going to die in his future."

Rory interjected with an almost offhanded comment. "He did die the first time he just changed things so it wasn't him that died once he figured out an actual plan."

Neither comment reassured the group, all of them glancing at the Doctor for more answers but the way she was still glaring at the floor, that wasn't going to happen. Instead, River spoke up, "Let's keep watching for the minute. If that mess is important the Tardis will show us later." The group reluctantly turned back to the screen, making note of the comments in the back of their minds.

(Rat tat a tat tat on the Tardis door.)
AMY: What was that?
DOCTOR: The door. It knocked.
RORY: Right. We are in deep space.
DOCTOR: Very, very deep.

"That's not good." Yaz muttered, glancing at the Doctor uncertain. "Right?"

"There isn't much that can survive deep space, let alone knock on the Tardis door." River glanced worriedly at the Doctor. She was confused by the title as she was now sure she had nothing to do with the video, but being told it had to do with the Tardis did make some sense. The Tardis was the Doctor's oldest companion and friend, their only constant in their long existence. River couldn't deny she was eager to see the pair interact and to see more of her parent's adventures with the Doctor – she'd been told some stories but these videos were a whole different way of seeing everything and had been very illuminating so far.

No one missed the glance Amy, Rory and the Doctor shared. It was the Doctor who answered, "In this case it isn't so much a who but a what and it wasn't inherently dangerous." Everyone could read through the lines; it wasn't inherently dangerous but it didn't mean it hadn't led to something dangerous, and these videos usually showed plenty of dangerous situations.

(Shave and a haircut, two bits.)
DOCTOR: And somebody's knocking.
(The Doctor opens the doors. A small glowing box is outside.)

"A hypercube?" The Master asked, eyes locked onto the Doctor while the rest of the group watched the interaction confused.

"Yes." The Doctor answered shortly.

"But Gallifrey would still be in the Time Lock." The Master pressed for answers. He was the only one aware of what those little cubes meant (bar Amy and Rory who had learnt during this mess) and he knew the Time Lords couldn't have gotten a message to the Doctor in his current time line (due to the Time Lock) but there was a small collection or rogue Time Lords of which the Doctor was either friends with or enemies with (with the Doctor there is no in between).

"Yes." The Doctor stated, unwilling to give any more answers. The Master (and everyone else) would just have to watch and see.

DOCTOR: Oh, come here. Come here, you scrumptious little beauty.
(The box flies inside and ends up hitting the Doctor on the chest.)

The room had relaxed at seeing the invader was just a glow-y box and at the Doctor's excitement to see it, but the Master's knowledge of it had shaken their confidence slightly. The Master's acknowledgment likely meant it had to do with Gallifrey, and that was never a good thing as these videos had been showing.

RORY: A box?
AMY: Doctor, what is it?
DOCTOR: I've got mail. Time Lord emergency messaging system. In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space. Anyway, there's a living Time Lord still out there, and it's one of the good ones.

"Cool, like psychic emails." Bill grinned. She always enjoyed seeing more alien tech and species.

"Kinda? Yes? But, not really?" The Doctor shrugged; it wasn't a terrible comparison.

"Wait what do you mean a living Time Lord?" Ryan asked, he and the rest of the fam had the least amount of context for the time line concerning the Time War.

The Doctor sighed, knowing she would have to answer as it was going to come up several times in this video. "Yes, for me this was after the Time War but before the first video we saw. I thought Gallifrey was destroyed but it was just trapped in the Time Lock. Either way there should have been no other Time Lords around." The mention of the Time War sobered the group, especially those that had travelled with the Doctor after the Time War but before Clara.

RORY: You said there weren't any other Time Lords left.
DOCTOR: There are no Time Lords left anywhere in the universe. But the universe isn't where we're going. See that snake?

Several people had shot up at the mention of another universe. "Where are you going then?" Rose asked, eyes not leaving the Doctor who met her gaze full of understanding.

"A side universe. I'm sure I explained it, did I?" She glanced at Amy and Rory, mostly in avoidance, the pair nodded. "It wasn't like your world." She finished quietly, answering the question that she knew Rose was actually asking.

The Doctor could feel the Master's annoyance leaking through their mental bond, being the only one to know the Corsair officially (her current fam had briefly met a version of the Corsair during an adventure but they hadn't had much time to really get to know them) and therefore aware of the Doctor's friendship with them. She didn't encourage him with any kind of response.

(The Ourobouros, the snake swallowing its own tail.)
DOCTOR: The mark of the Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooo, she was a bad girl.

"They were a friend then?" Clara asked softly, reading between the lines of her first Doctor, it had been a while but she was still capable of it.

The Doctor smiled back sadly. "One of the best." The nostalgic, bittersweet tone gave away the Corsair's ultimate fate hadn't been good.

(Things go Bang!)
RORY: Oh, what is happening?
DOCTOR: We're leaving the universe.
AMY: How can you leave the universe?

"Surprisingly easily." Mickey snorted, being an almost expert on universe travels after his time on the other world. His comment drew some questioning looks but they let it go aware that if it was relevant it would be shown and far too eager to know what this video would show them.

DOCTOR: With enormous difficulty. Right now I'm burning up Tardis rooms to give us some welly. Goodbye, swimming pool. Goodbye, scullery. Sayonara, squash court seven.
(Whoosh, thump, crash, then all is still and silent.)

The group watched the screen as the noise continued on screen, shooting the Doctor glances at the mention of the Tardis rooms – they could never tell how truthful the Doctor was when it came to the Tardis rooms.

AMY: Okay, okay. Where are we?
DOCTOR: Outside the universe, where we've never, ever been.

"What do you mean outside the universe?" Martha asked bewildered, like most of the room. "Are you in another universe?"

"No, not another universe, just outside ours." The Doctor answered a bit elusively, all too aware that wasn't much of an explanation but far too focused on the events of the video.

"That really doesn't answer my question." Martha narrowed her eyes at the Doctor but let the video continue knowing with the Doctor in this mood she wouldn't get any answers now.

(The lights go out in the Tardis.)
RORY: Is that meant to be happening?
DOCTOR: The power, it's draining. Everything's draining. But it can't. That's, that's impossible.

The tension and panic in the room heightened, the power draining out of the Tardis was never a good thing and with the trio now being outside their own universe it left them no way home. The Doctor, Amy and Rory shared a glance aware that it was in fact not impossible, it was very possible and had happened more than once.

RORY: What is that?
DOCTOR: It's as if the Matrix, the soul of the Tardis, has just vanished. Where would it go?
(Idris gasps and sits up again. A little golden energy comes out of her mouth, to the accompaniment of the Tardis sound.)

"What?!" Half the room exclaimed upon seeing the familiar face of the Tardis and the regeneration energy. It would certainly explain the Tardis' appearance but it also explained nothing in terms of how it happened or why (as they were finding was the usual with these videos).

The Doctor was just grinning at the screen upon seeing the Tardis in a body again, if there was one small silver lining to this dark cloud of a horrible mess, it was being able to actually talk with the Tardis. None of the trio that had experienced the mess actually answered any of the questioning glance the rest of the group was giving them.

[Junkyard]

(To the rear of a large crashed spaceship.)
AMY: So what kind of trouble's your friend in?
DOCTOR: He was in a bind. A bit of a pickle. Sort of distressed.

"So, you don't actually know." River raised an eyebrow at her wife, who confused her by glancing at Amy before laughing.

AMY: Ah, you can't just say you don't know.

"Ah." The Doctor's response now made more sense. Apparently, despite her upbringing, she was still quite like her mother (or it was just the case of they were all used to the Doctor's nonsense, maybe a mix of the pair).

"To be fair." The Doctor shrugged. "The Corsair is an expert at finding trouble."

"Worse than you?" Jack asked with a cheeky grin, to which the Doctor couldn't find an answer as the rest of the group chuckled.

RORY: But what is this place? The scrap yard at the end of the universe?
DOCTOR: Not end of, outside of.
RORY: How we can we be outside the universe? The universe is everything.

"I'm with Rory on this one. What are you going on about, Doc?" Graham asked, this talk about outside of their universe was confusing him (and several others).

"Just watch Graham, I'm about to explain." The Doctor answered with a small smile. "I think anyway."

DOCTOR: Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside.
RORY: Okay.
DOCTOR: Well, it's nothing like that. Completely drained. Look at her.

"I hate it when you do that." Rory muttered, earning some commiserating nods.

AMY: Wait. So we're in a tiny bubble universe, sticking to the side of the bigger bubble universe?
DOCTOR: Yeah. No. But if it helps, yes. This place is full of rift energy. She'll probably refuel just by being here. Now, this place. What do we think, eh? Gravity's almost Earth normal, air's breathable, but it smells like
AMY: Armpits.
DOCTOR: Armpits.

"So, side bubble universe. Of course, because our lives are just that weird." Donna bemoaned, shaking her head at the continued nonsense that occurred around the Doctor.

"But where does all that stuff come from?" Bill asked, head tilted to the side like a curious puppy. The Doctor grinned wildly in response and wave to the screen.

RORY: What about all this stuff? Where did this come from?
DOCTOR: Well, there's a rift. Now and then stuff gets sucked through it. Not a bubble, a plughole. The universe has a plughole and we've just fallen down it.

"That does not sound promising." Martha declared to which the trio shook their heads earning some sighs, it seems they were never going to see any nice adventures without trouble.

IDRIS: Thief! Thief! You're my thief!
AUNTIE: She's dangerous. Guard yourselves.
(Idris runs up to the Doctor.)
IDRIS: Look at you. Goodbye. No, not goodbye, what's the other one?
(Idris kisses the Doctor.)

The group watched the Tardis in Idris' body stuck between confused and entertained, especially at seeing the trio's reactions on screen as they had no idea what had happened with the Tardis' consciousness. The trio in the room however were caught on the Tardis' words, she'd met them with a goodbye and left them with a hello.

UNCLE: Watch out. Careful. Keep back from her. Welcome, strangers. Lovely. Sorry about the mad person.

"We're all mad here." Clara muttered with a small smile, it was certainly true for the people in the room, you had to be to deal with everything they saw.

DOCTOR: Why am I a thief? What have I stolen?

"What haven't you stolen over the years?" The Master snorted degradingly from his corner, eyes dark and locked on the Doctor who refused to meet his gaze. The room all shot him annoyed glances before silently agreeing to ignore him again.

IDRIS: Me. You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me. Oh tenses are difficult, aren't they?

"When it comes to time travel, yes." Amy grinned; it was nice to see Sexy again although the rest of this mess had given her nightmares. They all struggled with tenses at some point during their travels.

AUNTIE: Oh. Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head. They call me Auntie.
UNCLE: And I'm Uncle. I'm everybody's Uncle. Just keep back from this one. She bites!
IDRIS: Do I? Excellent.
(Idris bites the Doctor's ear.)
DOCTOR: Ow! Ow!

The group practically burst out in cackles at seeing the Tardis in a human body bite the Doctor. The Tardis was acting fairly mad but it did seem on character from their experience of her as a time machine. The Doctor pouted, rubbing her ear in phantom pain but couldn't stop the small smile breaking across her face as she got to see Idris again.

IDRIS: Biting's excellent. It's like kissing, only there's a winner.

River, Jack and the Master all grinned wider at that comment, unnoticed by each other (and everyone else, only the Doctor saw all three light up at that comment, she made a promise to herself to never mention how similar the three looked in that moment. None would like the comparison). The three of them were the ones who knew and loved the Tardis the best outside of her.

UNCLE: So sorry. She's doolally.
IDRIS: No, I'm not doolally. I'm, I'm. It's on the tip of my tongue. I've just had a new idea about kissing. Come here, you.
AUNTIE: No, Idris, no.
IDRIS: Oh, but now you're angry. No, you're not. You will be angry. The little boxes will make you angry.

The sudden turn of atmosphere startled the rest of the group who were watching still mixed between entrained and confused by the mess (it seemed a semi-permanent state when it came to these videos at this point).

Amy and Rory however, the ones who understood the Tardis' comment, glanced concerned at the Doctor who was glaring at the floor, before sharing a glance between them – this video was going to be a roller-coaster. The Master narrowed his eyes at the Tardis' words, not missing the way the Doctor was glaring at the floor or the anger-grief-fury-betrayal-sadness coming across their mental link, this was not going to end well.

DOCTOR: Sorry? The little what? Boxes?
IDRIS: Oh, ho, no. Your chin is hilarious. It means the smell of dust after rain.
RORY: What does?
IDRIS: Petrichor.
RORY: But I didn't ask.

"I mean you kinda just did." Rose pointed out to which Rory considered before shrugging. He hadn't meant it then but it had saved them later. There were a few chuckles at the comment about the Doctor's chin.

IDRIS: Not yet. But you will.
AUNTIE: No, no, Idris. I think you should have a rest.
IDRIS: Rest. Yes, yes. Good idea. I'll just see if there's an off switch.
(Idris collapses.)

"Is she okay?" Yaz asked, watching the screen concerned with the way Idris had just collapsed.

"She was fine." The Doctor answered, eyes never leaving the screen. She was determined to fully enjoy her time seeing the Tardis in human form again, even if it was on screen.

UNCLE: Is that it? She dead now. So sad.
RORY: No, she's still breathing.
UNCLE: Nephew, take Idris somewhere she can not bite people.
(Nephew is the Ood.)

"They're creepy." Bill muttered, referring to Auntie, Uncle and Nephew. No one disagreed, Amy and Rory couldn't hide a shiver.

DOCTOR: Oh, hello!
AMY: Doctor, what is that?
DOCTOR: Oh, no, it's all right. It's an Ood. Oods are good. Love an Ood. Hello, Ood. Can't you talk? Oh, I see. It's damaged. May I? It might just be on the wrong frequency.

"That was not a good Ood." Rory declared, not even caring about spoiling the video.

"He was not." The Doctor agreed, while the rest of the group shared concerned looks at the trio.

AUNTIE: Nephew was broken when he came here. Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us.

"Ominous." Donna raised an eyebrow at the screen but found no answer from anyone.

CORSAIR [OC]: If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. Tell them that I am still alive. I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet.
(Behind the message is a lot of other voices trying to speak at the same time.)

The Master's head shot to face the Doctor upon hearing so many other voices, dread crawling across his hearts (he may hate Time Lords but they were still superior to most of the universe including these creatures on this rock). "How is that possible?"

"How is what possible?" Jack glanced between the screen, Doctor and Master.

"Just watch." The Doctor answered, scowling darkly.

RORY: What was that? Was that him?
DOCTOR: No, no. It's picking up something else. But that's, that's not possible. That's, that's. Who else is here? Tell me. Show me. Show me.

The room watched concerned as the Doctor became more frantic. When they got like this, demanding answers without giving explanations it was rarely anything good. It didn't help they were all still in the dark about the voice, with only their own suspicions as answers.

AUNTIE: Just what you see. Just the four of us, and the House. Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?
DOCTOR: The House? What's the House?
AUNTIE: House is all around you, my sweets. You are standing on him. This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?
RORY: Meet him?
DOCTOR: I'd love to.

"We would not." Amy took back the Doctor's answer for them. House was not someone anyone wanted to meet. The group was catching onto the tense atmosphere and hatred that Amy, Rory and the Doctor had for this mysterious House, and they were getting more and more concerned about where this video was leading. River was especially worried, despite knowing the group got out of it, it was still her family in danger.

UNCLE: This way. Come, please. Come.
AMY: What's wrong? What were those voices?
DOCTOR: Time Lords. It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of Time Lords.

The Doctor scowled darkly at the screen, oh the little boxes had made her furious, all that hope built up only to be toppled like a tower. She was ignoring the eyes on her, unwilling to give any answers and unable to without giving into the anger. She could feel the Master prodding at their mental link, more interested and involved in this video due to the continuous mention of Time Lords, but she couldn't give him any answers, not now.

[Brig]

(Idris is in a barred chamber. Nephew stands guard.)
IDRIS: I'm, I'm. Big word, sad word. Why is that word so sad? No. Will be sad. Will be sad.

The Doctor's expression went from angry to grieving so quickly anyone watching might have gotten whiplash. Amy and Rory's expressions had also gotten sadder, aware of how the Tardis' final moments as a human had affected the Doctor.

[Spaceship]

UNCLE: Come. Come, come. You can see the House and he can look at you, and he
(They lead the Doctor to the device where Idris had her soul drained and replaced. The Doctor looks down the grating on the floor.)
DOCTOR: I see. This asteroid is sentient.

"A sentient asteroid?" Martha raised her eyebrows. "I shouldn't even be surprised at this point."

"Well, the name House makes more sense at least." Nardole's comment got glances from the rest of the room but no comments, it was true but they were all getting the feeling House wasn't friendly.

AUNTIE: We walk on his back, breathe his air, eat his food.
AMY: Smell its armpits.

That got a few snorts, glad to see the companion's humour was another constant in the face of unknown and dangerous situations.

(House speaks through Uncle and Auntie as if they are marionettes. It is a nice, refined voice.)
HOUSE [OC]: And do my will. You are most welcome, travellers.
AMY: Doctor, that voice. That's the asteroid talking?

"Oh great, it's talking now." Clara announced, her own thoughts going straight to Akhaten, another planet sized monster. House was giving everyone the creeps, the voice only making it worse.

DOCTOR: Yes. So you're like a sea urchin. Hard outer surface, that's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside, that's you.
HOUSE [OC]: That is correct, Time Lord.
DOCTOR: Ah. So you've met Time Lords before?
HOUSE [OC]: Many travellers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break.
DOCTOR: So there are Time Lords here, then?
HOUSE [OC]: Not any more, but there have been many Tardises on my back in days gone by.

"That does not sound good." Rose's eyes dart between the screen and the Doctor. It was rarely good when things recognised the Doctor as a Time Lord. "Where do they go after he 'repairs them'" She put emphasis on the last words to express her scepticism.

Amy, Rory and the Doctor shared a glance having a silent conversation about how much to share, eventually they decided on an answer and spoke in sync. "Spoilers."

DOCTOR: Well, there won't be any more after us. Last Time Lord. Last Tardis.

The Doctor closed their eyes, mentally smacking themselves for that comment. She'd been so careless and it had almost cost them everything; almost gotten Amy and Rory killed, almost destroyed the Tardis and set House free into their universe.

HOUSE [OC]: A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest, feed, if you will.
RORY: We're not actually going to stay here, are we?
DOCTOR: Well, it seems like a friendly planet. Literally. Mind if we poke around a bit?
AUNTIE: You can look all you want. Go. Look. (to Amy) House loves you.
DOCTOR: Come on then, gang. We're just going to, er, see the sights.

"What sights?" Ryan asked only to receive no answer. The group was watching the silent conversation happening between the trio they were watching on screen – clearly whatever was going on with House and the Tardis was bad but they had a feeling they wouldn't get any answers if they asked.

The trio in question were ruminating on House's words. His intentions seemed so much more obvious now that they knew, but that was the curse of hindsight.

[Brig]

IDRIS: Are there a see zero that ito emo we. Ah! What was that? Do fish have fingers? Like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike. What am I saying? Why am I saying that? Thief? Where's my thief? Thief!

The group watched Idris utter nonsense, before calling for the Doctor confused. They still had no idea how or why she was in a human body but it clearly had something to do with House.

[Corridor]

IDRIS [OC]: Thief!
DOCTOR: Shush, shush, shush.
RORY: So, as soon as the Tardis is refuelled, we go, yeah?
DOCTOR: No. There are Time Lords here. I heard them and they need me.

The Doctor went back to mentally hitting themselves; if they had just left like Rory had suggested they ay have gotten away in time – actually no there was still the issue of the Tardis being in Idris. Still, she shot Rory an apologetic look, like usual he'd been the voice of reason buts he'd been so focussed on something else. On this occasion it was the Corsair's message and the potential to find other Time Lords – she'd been so desperate to find anyone, to know she hadn't killed them all and it had almost gotten them killed.

AMY: You told me about your people, and you told me what you did.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, but if they're like the Corsair, they're good one and I can save them.
AMY: And then tell them you destroyed the others?
DOCTOR: I can explain. Tell them why I had to.
AMY: You want to be forgiven.
DOCTOR: Don't we all?

The room watched the exchange uncomfortable, aware that it had meant to be a private conversation but unable to ignore it. It had layers of meaning, especially now that they knew the Doctor hadn't destroyed them and knowing what Gallifrey had done to the Doctor before the Master ultimately destroyed them.

The Doctor just scowled at the floor, she'd been so desperate for forgiveness, or really, just to find anyone else like her. The Master's 'death' had only made it worse, being able to see the Corsair would have fulfilled so many of her hopes and wishes, to just have a friend back. Instead, she'd been devastated and infuriated and almost ended up dead alongside Amy, Rory and the Tardis. River, sensing her wife's spiralling thoughts, squeezed her hand tightly to offer comfort and reassurance in the place of words as she didn't know if she could say anything to help at the moment.

AMY: What do you need from me?
DOCTOR: My screwdriver. I left it in the Tardis. It's in my jacket.
RORY: You're wearing your jacket.
DOCTOR: My other jacket.
RORY: You have two of those?

"He had a wardrobe full of them." River grinned at her dad, sometimes it was weird seeing them so young, from what she knew this was from before she was born but after Lake Silencio and therefor before they knew who she was which had always been a bittersweet experience for her. She got the joy of seeing them alive but it was tinged with the knowledge that they didn't really know her.

"That definitely explains somethings." Donna snorted. The group had all turned assessing and judging looks on the Doctor who squirmed under the attention.

Amy and Rory were both scowling at the Doctor, unnoticed by the group due to the distraction form River's words. The reason they were in danger from House was because the Doctor had tried to keep them safe, but it was also the only reason they had escaped back into their universe, still they didn't like the Doctor's underhanded way of getting rid of them.

AMY: Okay, I'll get it. But Doctor, listen to me. Don't get emotional because that's when you make mistakes.

The room glanced between Amy and the Doctor assessing. They could tell she'd been travelling with the Doctor awhile to already be aware of that – an emotional Doctor was very dangerous but, as Amy said, more prone to mistakes and missing things.

(She throws him her mobile phone.)
DOCTOR: Yes, boss.
AMY: I'll call you from the Tardis. Rory, look after him.
DOCTOR: Rory, look after her.
RORY: Yeah.

Rory received commiserating and pitying looks from most of the room, as he was stuck between Amy and the Doctor. They could tell he wasn't so much following the Doctor's orders but wanting to look after his wife. River couldn't help but grin at her parent's dynamic, it was so similar to them as kids that she couldn't help but feel nostalgic. Amy shot him a quick scowl for following her but couldn't find it in herself to be truly angry – she'd been glad for the company and help on the Tardis.

[Junkyard]

AMY: I told you to look after him.
RORY: He'll be fine. He's a Time Lord.
AMY: It's just what they're called. It doesn't mean he actually knows what he's doing.

The group burst out laughing at the accuracy of Amy's statement while the Doctor tried to protest. The Doctor did try to hide behind her species (potential species/former species?) name as an assurance they knew what they were doing fairly frequently.

"The secret with the Doctor is that they rarely if ever know what they're doing." Jack grinned.

"Oi!"

(They go into the Tardis, which is then surrounded by neon green gas.)

"That's not good." The happier, relaxed atmosphere vanished upon seeing the ominous green gas circling the Tardis.

[Tardis]

(Amy phones the Doctor.)
AMY: Hey, we're here. Screwdriver's in your jacket, yeah?

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: Yeah, it's around somewhere. Have a good look.
(He has it in his hand, and uses it to lock the Tardis door remotely.)

"You tricked them!" Martha accused as the rest of the companions whirled to face the Doctor who looked unapologetic.

The Doctor just sighed under all the accusing eyes, "Something was very wrong and I wanted them somewhere safe but knew Amy would never just go if she knew." Her expression never wavered, daring them to tell her she was wrong to try and keep them safe (not that it had worked but the group didn't know that yet).

"Of course, I wouldn't. You need someone to keep you from doing something stupid." Amy declared; eyes narrowed at the Doctor. She understood perfectly what the Doctor had been trying to do but it had been her choice to travel with them and it was her choice to stay with them through danger, but that was always something the Doctor had struggled with.

The Doctor had no answer for that so the video continued.

[Tardis]

AMY: Did you do that?
RORY: I didn't do anything. Right. Jacket.

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: Come on. Where are you? Now, where are you all? Where are you?
(He pulls back a curtain to a small alcove.)
DOCTOR: Well, they can't all be in here.

The dread was building in the pit of everyone's stomachs. They knew the Doctor wasn't going to find any Time Lords but were terrified of what they were going to find instead. The Master was sitting back straight, unmoving with his eyes locked on the screen, he may hate Gallifrey but the Time Lords were still his species and they were superior to this House.

(There are indistinct voices nearby. He opens a small cupboard and finds at least 10 of those message boxes all chattering away.)
MAN [OC]: Please do you read me.
WOMAN [OC]: Structural integrity failure. Damage to dimensional stabiliser.
MAN 2: If you can hear, come and help.

"Oh god." Rose muttered, hands up to cover her mouth as shock, horror and pity swirled in her stomach for the Doctor. To think you had found friends only to find their graveyard was horrifying, and only made worse with their knowledge of what the Doctor had gone through and their knowledge that they were the last at the moment. Their hope had been raised high only to crash through the floor.

(Uncle and Auntie come up behind him.)
DOCTOR: Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection. Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here, but this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help from the long dead. How many Time Lords have you lured here the way you lured me, and what happened to them all?

The real horror of the situation was settling into the group as they watched the Doctor's expression darken in fury. Unnoticed by the room, the Master's expression was mimicking the Doctor's at the new knowledge of what had befallen some of their kind.

"Doctor." River muttered, squeezing her wife's hand to try and get a response. It worked, as the Doctor finally met her wife's eyes – a swirling storm of pain and fury clear in her own eyes. "I'm so sorry." Her words were quite but earnest. The Doctor nodded her understanding but remained silent, still brewing in her grief for these unnamed Time Lords, the only one she could name was the Corsair and that had been painful enough.

AUNTIE: House, House is kind and he is wise.
DOCTOR: House repairs you when you break. Yes, I know. But how does he mend you? You've got the eyes of a twenty year old.
UNCLE: Thank you.
DOCTOR: No. Oh, no, I mean it literally. Your eyes are thirty years younger than the rest of you. Your ears don't match, your right arm is two inches longer than you're left, and how's your dancing? Because you've got two left feet. Patchwork people. You've been repaired and patched up so often, I doubt there's anything left of what used to be you. I had an umbrella like you once.

The room's eyes widened at the realisation of what the Doctor was an was not saying. The fate of all those Time Lords were becoming more and more apparent and even more horrifying.

(Auntie's forearm has a snake tattoo.)
AUNTIE: Oh, now, it's been a great arm for me, this.
DOCTOR: Corsair.
AUNTIE: He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he, Uncle?
UNCLE: Big fellow.
AUNTIE: I got the arm and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys.
UNCLE: Kidneys.

The group started glancing worriedly at the Doctor. This was one of their friends the pair were discussing having killed so casually, there was no way the Doctor was okay after that and it also meant the Doctor was even more dangerous than normal – their emotions clouding their normal control.

Amy and Rory kept glancing between the screen and the Doctor, in some ways they were glad they hadn't been there to hear or see this in person, not that their own adventure had been nice (it had been terrifying) but they wouldn't have known how to offer the Doctor comfort or advise, and they would have lost the Tardis and been trapped there.

DOCTOR: You gave me hope, and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me. Basically, run!
UNCLE: Poor old Time Lord. Too late. House is too clever.
(Auntie and Uncle leave. The phone rings.)

"Too late?" River mumbled, eyes darting between her parent, wife and screen. She had a sinking feeling she knew what was going to happen and there seemed to be no good ending. She was gripping the Doctor's hand tightly now, mainly to comfort herself but also to ground the Doctor.

The Doctor wasn't quite as furious as she was on screen (as the Doctor knew the fate of all of them) but seeing what had happened to all those Time Lords, and the Corsair especially, had only fanned the flames that seemed to be her constant anger in this regeneration.

[Tardis]

AMY: No sonic screwdriver. Also the doors seemed to have locked behind us. Rory thinks there's a perfectly innocent explanation, but I think you lied to us.

"It took you a bit of time." Martha said, not unkindly, just a bit surprised. From what they'd seen Amy was smart to the Doctor's schemes and she'd expected her to catch onto this one quicker.

"I was being optimistic." Amy shrugged.

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: Time Lord stuff. Needed you out of the way.

[Tardis]

AMY: What, we're not good enough

[Corridor]

AMY [OC]: For your smart new friends?
DOCTOR: The boxes will make you angry. How could she know?

The Doctor's words caused a series of realisations in the rest of the room – how had Idris known? The Doctor however was watching Amy and Rory. Amy offered a small apologetic look for the comment – it had been a bit mean especially knowing what she knew now but he'd still tricked and locked them in the Tardis.

The Doctor's expression softened and she offered her own apology back, for taking away their choices more than trying to keep them safe (she would never apologise for that). Tabs settled, the three offered each other commiserating looks knowing all too well what was still to be shown.

[Tardis]

AMY: Doctor, what are you talking about?

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: Stay put. Stay exactly where you are.

[Tardis]

AMY: We don't have much choice.

[Brig]

DOCTOR: How did you know about the boxes? You said they'd make me angry. How did you know?
IDRIS: Ah, it's my thief.
DOCTOR: Who are you?
IDRIS: It's about time.

"Are you finally going to get answers?" Clara asked, as usual they never got answers till near the end and they were all eager for any kind of answers at the moment. Not that Clara and the Tardis had ever really gotten along (due to the Tardis's view of time and Clara's bad decisions made during grief) but they did agree on the Doctor which was normally enough.

"Yes." The Doctor stated, before scrunching her face up in though. "No. Maybe?" She settled on to the frustrations of the entire group.

[Tardis]

(The gas is working its way up the side of the Tardis.)
AMY: He's not trusting us and he's being emotional. This is bad. This is very, very bad.
RORY: Yeah, I think it probably is.
AMY: Sometimes I hate being right.

"I'm allowed to be emotional." The Doctor protested, facing Amy.

"You are, but only where one of us can supervise you and stop you making bad decisions." Amy answered back, eyebrows raised in a dare of her to challenge the truth of her statement.

"She's right, Sweetie." River added in.

"Don't you start. You're biased towards your mother."

"No, I just know you. Anyone else here would agree." River shot back at the Doctor's grumbled.

The married couple turned to the rest of the room expectantly. The group answered with a series of nods which made River smirk triumphantly at her wife who scowled.

[Brig]

DOCTOR: I don't understand. Who are you?

The group blinked confused for a moment before realisation settled. "You didn't know that was the Tardis." Yaz declared.

"No." The Doctor shook her head. "From our perspective she had just disappeared. We didn't know she'd been put in a human body." The Doctor explained.

IDRIS: Do you not know me? Just because they put me in here?
DOCTOR: They said you were dangerous.
IDRIS: Not the cage, stupid. In here. They put me in here. I'm the. Oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go (Tardis sound)

"How can she still make that sound?" Bill asked curious. It wasn't exactly a sound you could make with a human tongue – not that she'd tried, she definitely had never tried, what are you talking about?

"The same way she can still see time lines." The Doctor answered evasively, which usually meant she didn't know but didn't want to admit that.

DOCTOR: The Tardis?
IDRIS: Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Yes, that's it. Names are funny. It's me. I'm the Tardis.
DOCTOR: No, you're not. You're a bitey, mad lady. The Tardis is up and downy stuff in a big blue box.

"Brilliant descriptions Doctor. Truly stunning." Rose rolled her eyes at the Doctor who just grinned.

IDRIS: Yes, that's me. A Type Forty Tardis. I was already a museum piece when you were young, and the first time you touched my console you said
DOCTOR: I said you were the most beautiful thing I had ever known.
IDRIS: And then you stole me. And I stole you.

"You're such a nerd." Donna laughed at the Doctor's protests at her comment. The rest of the room joined in with the laughter, drowning out her protests. Even the Master was snickering quietly in his corner, more out of insulting the Doctor than anything, he didn't like the reminder of how the Doctor had run away from Gallifrey the first time (more importantly how she ran from him).

DOCTOR: I borrowed you.

"You do know you're supposed to return something you borrow, right?" Martha sighed exasperated at the Doctor who conveniently avoided everyone's gaze.

IDRIS: Borrowing implies the intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever give you back?
DOCTOR: You're the Tardis?
IDRIS: Yes.
DOCTOR: My Tardis?
IDRIS: My Doctor. Oh. We have now reached the point in the conversation where you open the lock.
(The Doctor sonicks open the cage.)

"This is adorable and all, but you're wasting time." Jack said, eyes glancing between the trio – he hadn't forgotten the ominous green smoke. He loved the Tardis, and seeing her interact with the Doctor like this was truly something special but he couldn't forget the danger they were in. The glance the trio shared in answer to his words only served to concern him more.

IDRIS: Are all people like this?
DOCTOR: Like what?
IDRIS: So much bigger on the inside. I'm, oh, what is that word? It's so big, so complicated. It's so sad.

The group had grinned at the familiar comment, unable to deny the joy it brought to hear the Tardis say that about them rather then how it usually went where they say it about the Tardis.

DOCTOR: But why? Why pull the living soul from a Tardis and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?
IDRIS: Oh, it doesn't want me.
DOCTOR: How do you know?
IDRIS: House eats Tardises.

"It eats Tardises!?" Clara exclaimed, voicing the startled thought of most of the group. They hadn't been expecting House to be friendly or want anything good but eating the Tardis was something else entirely.

"Yes." The Doctor answered shortly, expression darkening again at the reminder of how close they had gotten. The Master was pressing against the mental link again, likely glad he hadn't ever fallen for the same trap she had, she didn't let him in or provide him with any answers. He would just have to wait and see like everyone else.

DOCTOR: House what? What do you mean?
IDRIS: I don't know. It's something I heard you say.
DOCTOR: When?
IDRIS: In the future.
DOCTOR: House eats Tardises?

"Self-fulfilling prophecies. Or in this case words." River mused. It made sense with how the Tardis could see time lines and always took them where they needed to go. It was about as helpful as it was confusing. Her comment did earn them a smile from the Doctor though.

IDRIS: There you go. What are fish fingers?
DOCTOR: When do I say that?
IDRIS: Any second.
DOCTOR: Of course. House feeds on rift energy and Tardises are bursting with it. And not raw, all lovely and cooked. Processed food. Mmm, fish fingers.

"Rift energy? Like the rift in Cardiff?" Jack realised worriedly. He was suddenly very glad House lived outside their universe; they had enough trouble in Cardiff without sentient Tardis-eating asteroids adding to it.

"Yes." The Doctor confirmed his worries with an understanding look.

IDRIS: Do fish have fingers?
DOCTOR: But you can't eat a Tardis. it would destroy you. Unless, unless
IDRIS: Unless you deleted the Tardis Matrix first.
DOCTOR: So it deleted you.
IDRIS: But House can't just delete a Tardis' consciousness. That would blow a hole in the universe. So he pulls out the Matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and then it feeds off the remaining Artron energy. Oh. You were about to say all that. I don't suppose you have to now.

"So that explains the why but not the how." Martha said, worry gnawing away as the danger just spiralled from bad to worse.

"Wait. Amy and Rory are in the Tardis!" Bill pointed out, shooting up in her seat.

"The green smoke." Ryan realised. The tension in the room reached new heights with the pair's statements – Amy and Rory were suddenly facing their own danger with no way out.

DOCTOR: I sent Amy and Rory in there. They'll be eaten. Amy! Amy? Rory? Get the hell out of there.

[Tardis]

AMY; Doctor, something's wrong.

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: It's House. He's after the Tardis. Just get out both of you.

[Tardis]

AMY: We can't. You locked the door, remember?

[Junkyard]

DOCTOR: But I've unlocked it.

[Tardis]

AMY: You stupid well haven't.

"It's locked you in already." Rose said, eyes widening as she glanced between the group in person and on screen to remind them that they were all safe with them here. Amy and Rory nodded; they'd come to the same realisation pretty quickly after the Doctor said he'd unlocked it. They were holding each other close, the memories about what to come already haunting them.

(The Cloister Bell starts to toll and a wind blows through.)
AMY: Doctor, I don't like this.

"None of us do."

[Junkyard]

(The Doctor tries the screwdriver again, and snaps his fingers.)
DOCTOR: Open!

[Tardis]

AMY: Doctor?

[Junkyard]

DOCTOR: Open this door!

[Tardis]

AMY: Rory, hold my hand.

[Junkyard]

DOCTOR: Amy. Rory!
(The Tardis dematerialises. The Doctor tries the phone again.)
DOCTOR: Amy? Amy, can you hear me? (no) Okay, right. I don't, I really don't know what to do. That's a new feeling.

The tension in the room reached a new height upon seeing the group separated and the Doctor panicking. Amy and Rory were trapped in the Tardis with House and no escape while the Doctor was stranded outside the universe with only the Tardis in a human body.

Amy and Rory couldn't help but feel relived to see the Doctor in such a state about their situation, they knew he cared about them (and still did) but it was another thing to see him so worked up and panicking about them.

[Tardis]

(The Tardis is hurtling towards a Rift.)
RORY: Listen, whatever happens, at least we're together. And we're in the Tardis, so we're safe.
AMY: Yeah.
HOUSE [OC]: You're half right. I mean, you are in the Tardis. What a great adventure. I should have done this half a million years ago. So, Amy, Rory, why shouldn't I just kill you now?

"Why didn't he?" Graham asked, earing a range of confused looks causing him to explain. "It seems to me he could have done this any time, so why hasn't House left before?"

The room was stuck in thought, faces scrunching up, as they mentally debated that. It was Yaz that offered the first answer, "Didn't he Doctor say she was the last, yeah? So, House would want to find out it that was true, find a new source of food, you know?"

The group collectively turned to the Doctor for answers or confirmation but she just waved to the screen with a cryptic smile for their deduction skills. The group turned back to the screen at the Doctor's suggestion eager to find out how Amy and Rory had gotten out of this situation.

[Spaceship]

DOCTOR: It's gone.
IDRIS: Eaten?
DOCTOR: No, it left. Not eaten, hi-jacked. But why?
AUNTIE: It's time for us both to go, and keep together.
DOCTOR: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Go? What do you mean, go? Where are you going?
AUNTIE: Well, we're dying, my love. It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off.

"They're dying?" Donna asked.

"House isn't repairing them anymore." Clara suggested, earning a nod from the Doctor for her theory. The group couldn't say they were going to grieve them – Auntie and Uncle were patchwork people made out of the dead.

UNCLE: I'm against it.
AUNTIE: It's your fault, isn't it, sweets? Because you told House it was the last Tardis. House can't feed on them if there's none more coming, can he?
UNCLE: So now he's off to your universe to find more Tardises.
DOCTOR: It won't.
AUNTIE: Oh, it'll think of something.

"Cardiff." Jack repeated, more worried now that he knew House could get into their own universe. He knew the Doctor had dealt with it, she had to have to be here, but still it was scary how close things could get.

"And all the other similar sources of Artron energy. Even Gallifrey could have been at risk." The Doctor nodded; the scope of damage House could have caused was even bigger than she'd first thought it would be.

(Auntie collapses.)
UNCLE: Actually, I feel fine.
(Then he drops.)
DOCTOR: Not dead. You can't just die!

"I think you'll find they can, Doctor." The Master declared vindictively; he was craving the attention the Doctor had been consistently denying him. It wasn't like he cared about those humans – they were made up of Time Lords and deserved to die just for that. To his frustration the Doctor ignored him, eyes never leaving the screen and mental link shut up tight.

IDRIS: We need to go to where I landed, Doctor, quickly.
DOCTOR: Why?
IDRIS: Because we are there in three minutes. We need to go now. Ow. Roughly how long do these bodies last?
DOCTOR: You're dying.

"Her human body can't contain the Tardis." Donna muttered, that was far too familiar – only for her it had been a Time Lord consciousness. The concerned glance the Doctor shot her was brushed off with a weak smile, she wasn't wanting to discuss it.

IDRIS: Yes, of course I'm dying. I don't belong in a flesh body. I could blow the casing in no time. No, stop it. Don't get emotional. Hmm. That's what the orangey girl says. You're the Doctor. Focus.

"Orangey girl?" Amy protested, head shifting around the room as if the Tardis would appear. Amy glared at the people who started snickering at the name, including her husband, daughter and the Doctor.

DOCTOR: On what? How? I'm a madman with a box, without a box. I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard. Ooo.

"You've got a plan." Rose grinned, relaxing slightly. The Doctor having a plan was good, it may not work the way it was intended too but it would give them a start. The Doctor grinned back, still proud of her accomplishments in the junkyard.

IDRIS: Ooo what?
DOCTOR: I'm not.
IDRIS: Not what?
DOCTOR: Because it's not a junkyard. Don't you see? It's not a junkyard.
IDRIS: What is it then?
DOCTOR: It's a Tardis junkyard. Come on! Oh, sorry. Do you have a name?

"You could use the parts to make your own Tardis, or at least Tardis-like capsule." Jack came to the same realisation, also perking up with a clear plan ahead. If there was one thing the Doctor was good at it was making things out of junk.

IDRIS: Seven hundred years, finally he asks.

"Seven hundred years?" Bill asked curiously. The rest of the group had also honed in on the Tardis' words, curious as ever about the Doctor's age and time line.

"Or there about. "The Doctor started with a shrug. "I was only about 900-odd back then, nearly a thousand, and it was a couple of centuries before I actually left Gallifrey." She tried to explain. The group had watched her with narrow eyes but thankfully accepted her explanation.

DOCTOR: But what do I call you?
IDRIS: I think you call me Sexy.
DOCTOR: Only when we're alone.
IDRIS: We are alone.
DOCTOR: Oh. Come on then, Sexy.

The group burst out laughing at the pair on screen, that certainly explained Amy's comment at the start of their time in the room. The Doctor had turned red but didn't even bother protesting the comment – it wouldn't do her any good at this point.

[House]

HOUSE [OC]: Corridors. I have corridors. So much to learn about my new home. But you haven't answered my question, children.
RORY: Er, question?
HOUSE [OC]: You remember. Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you both now?
AMY: Well, because. Rory, why?

"Ugh, why did I let you come up with the reason." Amy bemoaned, teasing her husband but also semi-serious.

"Eh, because you were panicking?" Rory answered back. He had also been panicking and it really showed on screen.

RORY: Because killing us quickly wouldn't be any fun. And you need fun, don't you? That's what Uncle and Auntie were for, wasn't it? Someone to make suffer. I had a PE teacher just like you. You need to be entertained, and killing us quickly wouldn't be entertainment.
HOUSE [OC]: So entertain me. Run.

"Dad." River started almost disbelieving. "Did you just ask to be tortured?"

"Maybe?" Rory answered. "But what else was I supposed to say?" He tried to argue.

"Good point." River acquiesced with a teasing smile.

[Junkyard]

DOCTOR: A valley of half eaten Tardises. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
IDRIS: I'm thinking that all of my sisters are dead. That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses.

"That's a no then." Nardole muttered and was promptly ignored. The rest of the group was too focussed on the reminder of so many Tardises, sentient Tardises, being destroyed, eaten and abandoned while their pilots were used as spare pieces. It could have easily of been the Doctor too, and any of the companions with them at the time – it was just unlucky the message had arrived during their travels with Amy and Rory (or luckily?).

DOCTOR: Ah. Sorry. No, I wasn't thinking that.
IDRIS: No. You were thinking you could build a working Tardis console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models. And you don't care that it's impossible.
DOCTOR: It's not impossible as long as we're alive. Rory and Amy need me. So yeah, we're going to build a Tardis.

"You were very excited about that, weren't you?" Martha teased, seeing the familiar light in the Doctor's eyes upon being given the chance to build something new, something challenging.

"Yes. Would have been better without the imminent danger but-." She shrugged as she trailed off in place of a better answer.

[Tardis corridor]

HOUSE [OC]: So are we having fun yet? I'm rather enjoying the sensation of having you running around inside me.
(Amy nearly falls down a perpendicular corridor.)
HOUSE [OC]: I've turned off the corridor anti-gravs, so do be careful.
AMY: Come on.
(They edge their way around the hole and keep running.)

"Like rats in a maze." The Master smirked, earning glares from the group but not even a glance from the Doctor, whose attention was what he really wanted.

[Junkyard]

IDRIS: Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, I have actually rebuilt a Tardis before, you know. I know what I'm doing.
IDRIS: You're like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom. And you never read the instructions.
DOCTOR: I always read the instructions.
IDRIS: There's a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for seven hundred years. What does it say?

The room was entertained by the pair's interactions (that was something that never changed despite either Time Lord or Tardis' appearance) it was only shadowed by the danger Amy and Rory were in.

The group were stuck thinking about what the Tardis was saying about instructions, slowly, one by one, they came to the same realisation – signified by a wide grin and chuckle – as they remembered what the doors said. The Doctor looked like she couldn't decide whether to protests or savour the time on screen with Idris.

DOCTOR: That's not instructions.
IDRIS: There's an instruction at the bottom. What does it say?
DOCTOR: Pull to open.
IDRIS: Yes. And what do you do?
DOCTOR: I push.
IDRIS: Every single time. Seven hundred years. Police Box doors open out the way.

The group was outright laughing now. Although they were all guilty of the same thing, they waved that thought away with the excuse that they were just copying the Doctor. It really was a treat to watch the Doctor and Tardis interact in a way they could actually hear the Tardis' words – usually they were stuck with vague feelings and noises or lights, the Doctor was the only one who could relay understand her in a different way.

DOCTOR: I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want.
IDRIS: Your front doors? Have you any idea how childish that sounds?
DOCTOR: You are not my mother.
IDRIS: And you are not my child.

And that was the thing, wasn't it? The relationship between the Doctor and Tardis was older than any of them (bar maybe the Master) and it couldn't be described in simple terms – they were a pair undeniably, but not a pair in any sort of way that human descriptions fitted. But it worked for the two of them, always had. It didn't need to be verbalised like it was on screen for any of them to know that, but it was just a bonus.

DOCTOR: You know, since we're talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you have never been very reliable.
IDRIS: And you have?
DOCTOR: You didn't always take me where I wanted to go.
IDRIS: No, but I always took you where you needed to go.

"Which is usually into danger and trouble." River raised an eyebrow at the roof, as if the Tardis was watching (which who knows, could be the case).

The Doctor just grinned, "And you wouldn't like it any other way."

DOCTOR: You did. Look at us talking. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could always talk, even when you're stuck inside the box?
IDRIS: You know I'm not constructed that way. I exist across all space and time, and you talk and run around and bring home strays.

"Strays? Hey!" Amy protested, arms crossed, she hadn't forgotten the Tardis' earlier name for her.

The rest of the group were stuck between laughing and being annoyed too, they couldn't deny it was a bit like that – some more than others.

(Idris buckles at the knees. The Doctor catches her.)
DOCTOR: You okay?
IDRIS: One of the kidneys has already failed. It doesn't matter. We need to finish assembling the console.
DOCTOR: Using a console without a proper shell. It's not going to be safe.
IDRIS: This body has about eighteen minutes left to live. The universe we're in will reach Absolute Zero in three hours. Safe is relative.
DOCTOR: Then we need to get a move on. Eh, old girl?

"Lovely, a time limit too. Just what you need." Clara sighed, shaking her head. Just when things got bad, of course, they had to get worse.

"When is anything we do safe?" Donna snorted, gaining nods of agreement form the group. Still, flying the Doctor's built console didn't sound fun. Martha and Jack both had the same thought of using the vortex manipulator at the end of the universe to get back before the Year That Never Happened.

[Tardis corridor]

(A bulkhead slams shut, separating Amy and Rory.)
RORY: No! Amy!
AMY: No!
RORY: Amy.
RORY [OC]: Amy? Amy? Amy?
(Rory is sitting at the other end of the corridor.)
AMY: Rory?
RORY: Where have you been?
AMY: I stepped through that door and it came down here.
RORY: But you've been hours.
AMY: No, I haven't. It's House, and it's messing with the Tardis. Come on, back this way.
(And a bulkhead slams shut, separating them again.)
RORY: No!
AMY: No! Oh.

The group watched, growing more and more horrified as the couple were separated and time shifted. Said couple, were holding each other tight as if to guard against the memories while River watched them concerned. Neither her parents or the Doctor had ever told her the details of this adventure - simply mentioning the Tardis had spent some time in a human body. Having seen what she'd seen, she could understand why, but that didn't stop her being concerned.

The Doctor was also focussed on the pair, they'd never gone into any details of their time with House in control, and it only made the guilt gnawing away at her heart worse. She'd trapped them in there with House and not arrived quick enough to protect them from this. As if sensing her train of thought, Amy shot her a glare, daring the Doctor to blame herself for this mess.

[Junkyard]

(The console is almost complete.)
IDRIS: You'll need to install the time rotor.
(He does.)
DOCTOR: How is this going to make it through the rift? How? We're almost done. Thrust diffuser? Er, retroscope. Blue thingy.
(Idris examines a wire coat hanger.)

"Did you actually know what you were doing?" Rose asked, with narrowed eyes.

"Yes!" The Doctor announced, before reconsidering. "Mostly… I knew enough."

"Does she ever?" Mickey snorted, not unkindly. The Doctor shot a mock glare at the man who gave a teasing smile back.

IDRIS: Do you ever wonder why I chose you all those years ago?
DOCTOR: I chose you. You were unlocked.
IDRIS: Of course I was. I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away. And you were the only one mad enough.

"You stole each other." Bill grinned. "That's adorable." By the rest of the group's grins, it seemed they agreed. The Doctor practically preened at the comment.

DOCTOR: Right. Perfect. Look at that. What could possibly go wrong?

"No, Doctor. You never say that." Ryan moaned. The rest of the group also shot the Doctor accusing looks while the Doctor just smiled a bit sheepish – she'd been far too caught up in the moment.

(A piece falls off the console.)
DOCTOR: That's fine. That always happens. No, hang on. Wait.
(He gets a couple of pieces of red rope with hooks on the ends.)

Amy and Rory shared a glance, suddenly very glad they hadn't been stuck on the asteroid and had to travel via the Doctor's cobbled together console – it didn't look particularly safe but the Doctor's inventions rarely did, they did, however, usually work.

[Tardis corridor]

(An old bearded man is crouching by a stanchion.)
RORY: Amy?
AMY: Oh, my God. Rory?
RORY: You left me. How could you do that? How could you leave me?
AMY: How long have you been here?
RORY: Two thousand years I waited for you. You did it to me again.

"Again?" Yaz asked, hesitant but curiosity winning out in the end. The few that hadn't caught the word (mostly due to the focus on poor Rory's state) glanced first at the young woman before fixing their gaze son Rory and Amy.

Amy, Rory, the Doctor and River shared a glance and silent conversation, unsure how much to actually say as opening that can of worms would open a whole other set and lead to almost endless questions they weren't prepared to answer.

"Long story." Rory finally settled on. "Literally, long. I'm sure we'll be shown at some point." The group looked like they were almost bursting with questions but they remained silent in favour of finding out how the trio got out of the mess on screen.

AMY: I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. Rory, what are you doing?
RORY: They come for me at night. Every single night, they come for me and they hurt me. Amy, they hurt me over and over and over and over
AMY: Rory.
RORY: How could you leave me? How could you do that to me?
(Amy backs away, and a bulkhead shuts, separating them.)

"I'm sorry." Rory muttered to his wife quietly. He didn't remember this really; he'd experienced similar but in reverse with Amy being the one abandoned and aging - something that the Two Streams Facility had only made worse later. Still, he was sorry Amy had had to go through this alone.

"So am I, but it was House to blame. Not you, Stupid Face." Amy muttered back, determined to lay the blame where it really belonged. It had been horrifying at the time (and afterwards – it had fuelled nightmares for quite some time) but she knew better now – they were the boy and girl who waited and they would always be together.

[Junkyard]

(The ropes are safety lines.)
DOCTOR: Right. Okay, let's go. Follow that Tardis.
(Nothing happens.)

"Well, that's anticlimactic." Donna said, glancing concerned at Amy and Rory. The longer It took the Doctor to work the console, the longer they were at House's mercy and the shorter time the Tardis had in the human body.

DOCTOR: Oh no, come on. There's rift energy everywhere. You can do it. Okay, diverting all power to thrust. Let's be having you.
(Bang, sparks.)
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no.
IDRIS: What's wrong?
DOCTOR: It can't hold the charge. It can't even start. There's no power. I've got nothing.
IDRIS: Oh, my beautiful idiot. You have what you've always had. You've got me.
(Idris kisses her finger, and transfers golden energy to the console. They dematerialise.)

The group smiled softly at the screen as the Doctor and Idris finally dematerialise in their make-shift console. It was bittersweet, their interactions, as they knew the Tardis wouldn't last in the human body and they needed to savour the time they had together like this.

[Tardis corridor]

(Hate Amy Kill Amy Die Amy is written on the wall in blood. A decayed corpse is lying around the corner.)
AMY: No! No! Rory, I'm so, so sorry.
RORY: Amy?
(The corpse and graffiti disappear.)
RORY: It's messing with our heads. Come on, run.

"It's like a horror movie." Bill muttered. "Why are our lives constantly swinging between horror movie and action movie?"

"Don't forget the moments of rom-com or historic thriller." Yaz added with a grin, she hadn't had much time to speak with the other young woman yet, but she made a mental note to do so soon.

"Or the sci-fi/fantasy elements." Ryan tried to inject, but his comment drew Yaz's attention.

"Ryan, we travel through time with an alien, it's constantly sci-fi." She argued. Graham decided to interrupt before the pair dissolved into the argument that he could practically see brewing.

"Right, our lives are a bad movie plot. Let's move on, alright cockles?" Both Ryan and Yaz shrugged their agreement and turned back to the screen to let it continue to play.

[Rift]

DOCTOR: Whoo hoo!
IDRIS: We've locked on to them. They'll have to lower the shields when I'm close enough to phase inside.
DOCTOR: Can you get a message to Amy? The telepathic circuits are online.
IDRIS: Which one's Amy? The pretty one?

Amy's grumbles and crossed arms mixed with Rory's grin told the group that the 'pretty one' was in fact not Amy. The good news of being able to catch up with House though left them in a good mood for the first time since the danger had really hit off.

[Ladder]

(Rory gets a headache.)
RORY: Argh.
AMY: Rory, what's wrong?
RORY: It's like I'm getting a message.
IDRIS: Hello, Pretty.

The room burst out laughing as the Tardis contacted Rory, confirming their theories about the 'pretty one', Amy's mock pout made it all the better.

"The Tardis did really like you, Rory." The Doctor mused with a smile.

"Wait, does the Tardis have favourites?" Rose asked, suddenly excited by the thought. The rest of the group also had stopped their laughter in favour of this new train of conversation.

"Yes, well she likes some more, hates others and is fairly neutral to most. It depends how you act towards her mostly." The Doctor asked, a bit bewilder by the room's attention on this matter -she'd thought it had been obvious in the way the Tardis catered to them.

"Who is her favourite? Who doesn't she like?" Mickey asked, curious despite himself.

"Her favourite is River, as she's a child of the Tardis. Part of a long story, don't ask." The Doctor added upon seeing several open their mouths to question her words. "She also quite likes Rory, as you can see. She liked Susan of course, and she quite liked Donna and Bill, Ryan too, I think. She hates Clara, because of something Clara did later in our time lines. She liked Jack but not so much after … well, he became a fixed point, but she's gotten used to him again. She also distrusted Charlie for some reason." The Doctor answered, almost absentmindedly.

None of the room wanted to question the unknown names, aware they were likely to be sensitive topics. Those she named as the Tardis liking were grinning widely, while those she hated just pouted or sighed (Jack and Clara respectively). Having had their curiosity sated they let the video continue, eager to know how the group escaped. It took a few more minutes for the Doctor to properly tune back in, lost in old memories – there were several people she hadn't even mentioned.

RORY: What the hell is that?
DOCTOR: Don't worry. Telepathic messaging. No, that's Rory.

There were a few more outburst of chuckles at seeing the Doctor butt into the telepathic message only to find Rory.

IDRIS: You have to go to the old control room. I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields.
DOCTOR: The pretty one?

"You're really hung up on that?" Rory sighed, unable to hide a bit of his embarrassment at the title. Amy had spent months teasing him and he wasn't happy with its reappearance.

"It's not like I can normally understand her nicknames for you, usually its just general feelings." The Doctor argued with a shrug, to which Rory surrendered. Things were making more sense with the context – he hadn't known Idris was the Tardis when she'd contacted him.

IDRIS: You'll have about twelve seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix. I'll send you the pass key when you get there. Good luck.
AMY: What was that?
RORY: It was that woman. That mad woman and the Doctor.
AMY: The Doctor?
RORY: We have to keep going.

"Right, you didn't know that was the Tardis." Martha realised, with an understanding nod.

"No, makes a lot more sense now." Rory admitted.

[Rift]

DOCTOR: How's he going to be able to take down the shields anyway? The House is in the control room.
IDRIS: I directed him to one of the old control rooms.
DOCTOR: There aren't any old control rooms. They were all deleted or remodelled.
IDRIS: I archive them, for neatness. I've got about thirty now.
DOCTOR: But I've only changed the desktop, what, a dozen times?
IDRIS: So far, yes.
DOCTOR: You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet.
IDRIS: You can't.

The room grinned at the screen – as ever, entertained by the pair's interactions – but they also couldn't deny they were curious about those other control rooms. In their minds it meant the Doctor survived long enough to have need of at least 30, which was a reassurance that they survived even against the odds.

The Doctor's thoughts, however, went down a different road. In the video with Ruth (her apparently) the Tardis had also been present – had she been the Tardis' original pilot before she'd been put in the museum that (what she'd thought was) her first face had stolen? It would make sense the connection they'd felt and the Tardis may not have known and if she did, she didn't have a way to communicate it to her. It might explain the other rooms, or it could be a mix of the two theories – she could never be sure with time travel.

[Tardis corridor]

AMY: What happened to the lights?
RORY: The lights are fine. Oh, it's messing with our heads again. Okay, stay there a second.
AMY: What is it? What?
RORY: Just hang on.
AMY: Don't leave me. I can hardly see, you idiot.
(Rory goes round the corner into a bright light.)

"Definitely getting horror movie vibes." Bill declared with wary eyes at the screen. She felt the weight of the room's eyes on her before she realised what she had said. "Erm, sorry?" She aimed at Rory and Amy who just shrugged it off, it was very horror movie like seeing it from this perspective.

RORY [OC]: Argh.
AMY: Rory? Rory?
RORY [OC]: It's okay, I'm fine. Come towards my voice.

"That's not you. You left." Clara said rather pointlessly, glancing worriedly between the screen and the pair in the room. Rory just nodded with a frown before waving at the screen.

AMY: What happened? Where are you?
RORY [OC]: I just banged my head. Just keep coming. Reach out your hand.
(Amy walks past Rory lying unconscious on the floor and touches the Ood's tentacles. She screams, the lights come up and Rory comes to her.)
RORY: This way. Come on, run!

"Not a nice Ood at all." Donna muttered, glad that the Ood she'd met with the Doctor hadn't been like Nephew. Rose shivered in her seat; mind stuck on her own bad experiences with Ood.

[Rift]

DOCTOR: Keep going. You're doing it, you sexy thing.
IDRIS: See, you do call me that. Is it my name?
DOCTOR: You bet it's your name.
IDRIS: Whoo!

"No, don't encourage him." River sighed at the ceiling, earning an annoyed protest from the Doctor.

[Tardis corridor]

AMY: I can see now, Rory. I can see.
RORY: It was the Ood thing, the Nephew and it's still coming.
AMY: I know. So where is this place?
(They come to a dead end.)

"Great, a dead end." Yaz threw her hands up in the air in frustration, things just seemed to get bad again as soon as something good happened.

RORY: This is where she told me to go. She said she'd send me the pass key. Ow!
IDRIS + RORY: Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor.
AMY: Petrichor?

"The Tardis mentioned that earlier." Jack mentioned, face deep in thought.

Rory and Amy smiled before waving at the screen in syn to the room's frustrations.

RORY: What do I do? Do I say it? Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor. I said it.
AMY: Petrichor. Petrichor.
RORY: I said it.

"The Tardis is telepathic, saying it is hardly going to accomplish anything." The Master smirked in his corner, tone degrading. The room made a silent agreement to follow the Doctor's lead and ignore him.

AMY: Petrichor. She told you what it meant. The smell of wet dust, remember? So, oh, it's the meaning, not the word.
RORY: The meaning of what?
AMY: The Tardis interface is telepathic. You don't say it, you think it.
(The Ood is at the far end of the corridor.)

"You might want to think fast." Ryan muttered.

RORY: It's coming.
AMY: Quiet. Crimson. Eleven. Delight. The smell of dust after rain. Crimson, eleven, delight, the smell of dust after rain. Crimson, eleven, delight, the smell of dust after rain.
(Amy pictures a flat, a birthday cake, her wedding, a raindrop falling into dust. The door opens.)

"Yes." Several people muttered, edging towards the edge of their seats in apprehension and anticipation of what was to come next. Things were all coming to a ahead but they still had to get the Doctor onto the Tardis, get the Tardis back where she belonged and get rid of House.

[Tardis]

AMY: What is this place? Another control room?
RORY: Right, shields. Got it.

"That's the control room from when you were Ears and Pinstripes." Rose pointed out with a small grin, despite the danger, it was good to see the familiar control room. The Doctor just smiled softly.

[Rift]

IDRIS: They did it. Shields down.

[Tardis]

HOUSE [OC]: How did you find this place? It's not on my internal schematics. I had hoped you two could join Nephew as my servants. But you two are nothing but trouble. Nephew, kill them.
(Rory gets another painful telepathic message.)
IDRIS: We're coming through. Get out of the way or you'll be atomised.
RORY: Where are you coming through?
IDRIS: I don't know.
RORY: Oh, great. Thanks.

"Love the clear instructions." Donna snorted, that was just typical with the Doctor and the Tardis, but this time even the Tardis didn't know where they would land. It wasn't like the odds were good, especially with the threat of atomisation – they'd have to be very lucky, and seeing as they were in the room with them, clearly they had been.

[Rift]

(The console is closing on the Tardis.)
IDRIS: It's not going to hold.

"It's got to." Several people practically begged.

[Tardis]

RORY: Hold on.
(The console materialises in a shower of sparks.)
AMY: Doctor.
IDRIS: Not good. Not good at all. How do you walk around in these things?
DOCTOR: We're not quite there yet. Just hold on. Amy, this is, well, she's my Tardis. Except she's a woman. She's a woman, and she's my Tardis.
AMY: She's the Tardis?
DOCTOR: And she's a woman. She's a woman and she's the Tardis.

"Are you going to say anything else or keep going on about that?" Clara teased, all too aware of how excited he cold get in that regeneration, especially with how he was with the Tardis. The Doctor just grinned wildly in response.

AMY: Did you wish really hard?
DOCTOR: Shut up. Not like that.
IDRIS: Hello. I'm Sexy.
DOCTOR: Oh. Still shut up.

The group burst out laughing at that despite the tension, the interaction between the Tardis and the Doctor could always entertain them, especially when you added Amy and Rory into the mix.

HOUSE [OC]: The environment has been breached. Nephew, kill them all.
RORY: Where's Nephew?
AMY: He was standing right where you materialised.
DOCTOR: Ah. Well, he must have been redistributed.
RORY: Meaning what?
DOCTOR: You're breathing him.
AMY: Oh, come on.
DOCTOR: Another Ood I failed to save.

"I don't really think he wanted saving, Doc." Graham tried to comfort the Doctor in the room who looked conflicted – at the time she hadn't known what Nephew had done to Amy and Rory, but he had still been enslaved in some way. The rest of the group couldn't bring themselves to really mourn Nephew, they were more relieved that was one less threat to have to worry about, even if the whole thing had been regrettable. Nephew hadn't exactly been likable but he hadn't been a raging monster.

HOUSE [OC]: Doctor. I did not expect you.
DOCTOR: Well, that's me all over, isn't it? Lovely old unexpected me.
HOUSE [OC]: The big question is, now you're here, how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity.
(They get pulled to the floor for a few seconds.)
HOUSE [OC]: Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke.

"Lovely, lets spin the wheel of death." River muttered, her hand twitching. She really wised she had a gun, and the ability to shoot House so she could get revenge for the grief he'd put her parents and wife through. She hated having to sit here and being able to do nothing while House threatened and hurt them, even if it was all in the past.

DOCTOR: You really don't want to do that.
HOUSE [OC]: Why shouldn't I just kill you now?
DOCTOR: Because then I won't be able to help you. Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don't have the thrust and you know it. Right now I'm your only hope for getting out of your little bubble through the rift, and into my universe. And mine's the one with the food in.

"Good, you do actually have something to bargain with." Jack said, it was also good to know House hadn't actually made it through to their universe (at least yet). It was also very nice to know the Doctor had some form of plan, even if it was to just delay until they came up with an actual plan (as was commonly the way). Like River he hated having to sit here and watch his friends get hurt while being unable to do anything, it didn't matter that it was all in the past - he was a man of action and had failed too many people to be comfortable sitting around and doing nothing.

IDRIS: Water, water.
DOCTOR: You just have to promise not to kill us. That's all, just promise.
AMY; You can't be serious.
DOCTOR: I'm very serious. I'm sure it's an entity of its word.

"I doubt that." Martha said, arms crossed. She was sincerely hoping the Doctor had a better plan than that.

RORY: Doctor, she's burning up. She's asking for water.
DOCTOR: Hey. Hang in there, old girl. Not long now. It'll be over soon.
IDRIS: I always liked it when you call me old girl.

The tension in the room was rising again at seeing the whole group now in terrible danger with no clear path out of it, and the Tardis essentially dying in front of them.

HOUSE [OC]: You want me to give my word? Easy. I promise.
DOCTOR: Fine. Okay. I trust you. Just delete, oh er, thirty percent of the Tardis rooms, you'll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate subroutine Sigma nine.
HOUSE [OC]: Why would you tell me this?
DOCTOR: Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do. And I'm nice.

"And you have a plan?" It was meant to be a statement but Bill's words came out more like a hopeful plea. The Doctor's smug smile reassured her (and the rest of the group who were watching the interaction) for once.

HOUSE [OC]: Yes. I can delete rooms. And I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Doctor. Very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lord. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris.

"No!" Most of the group shouted at the sudden 'death' of everyone as the room was deleted. They glanced frantically at the trio in the room with them, completely unsure how they had survived. River and the Master were the only ones with any idea of the group's survival, and both were giving the Doctor approving looks (unnoticed by the other).

The Doctor let out a short laugh at their concern (which earned her a couple glares and scowls) "Just watch, it's all okay." Reluctantly, with several more glances at the trio, the room turned back to the screen to watch the end of the video.

(Bright light. The Tardis returns to normal space with an empty console room. Then the four of them appear.)
DOCTOR: Yes. I mean, you could do that, but it just won't work. Hardwired fail safe. Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room. But thanks for the lift.

"You're so smug." Donna groaned, alongside most of the group, although they all had small smiles at seeing the groups survival and the typical Doctor behaviour.

"I'm allowed to be. I just outsmarted a sentient Tardis-eating asteroid." The Doctor shot back with a smirk, and that wasn't a sentence you heard every day.

HOUSE [OC]: We are in your universe now, Doctor. Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords.
DOCTOR: Fear me. I've killed all of them.

The room shivered, tension and temperature plummeting at both the comment and careless delivery by the Doctor on screen. It may bot have been actually true but it wasn't like the Doctor was incapable of doing just that. The Doctor just glared at herself on screen, she'd been so sure of everything and now she was sure of nothing and she wasn't sure which was worse.

(Idris is still telepathically telling Rory stuff.)
RORY: I don't understand. There isn't a forest in here.

"A forest? What kinda crazy stuff is she muttering to you?" Rose blinked, now utterly confused. Everything the Tardis said had made sense at some point, but how could a forest be relevant?

Amy, Rory and the Doctor shared a knowing glance, while River watched them with narrowed eyes, she had her suspicions. The rest of the group was left completely in the dark.

DOCTOR: Yeah, you're right. You've completely won. Oh, you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways, but before you do kill us allow me and friends Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an absolutely worthy opponent.
AMY: Congratulations.

"You have no idea what he's talking about do you?" Martha chuckled with a smile, aimed at Amy specifically.

"None at all, but I've learnt to go along with his crazy plans." Amy chuckled too, giving a matching smile back to Martha.

"Hey!" The Doctor protested the description of her plans, while both women laughed.

DOCTOR: Yep, you've defeated us. Me and my lovely friends here, and last but definitely not least, the Tardis Matrix herself, a living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body. And look at her.
RORY: Doctor, she's stopped breathing.

The room was silent, leaning forward in their seats as things really reached the climax of the video. They thought they could tell where it was all going but t was still frightening to hear the Tardis had stopped breathing in her human body.

HOUSE [OC]: Enough. That is enough.
DOCTOR: No. It's never enough. You forced the Tardis into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room. A flesh body can't hold the Tardis Matrix and live. Look at her body, House.
HOUSE [OC]: And you think I should mourn her?
DOCTOR: No. I think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room. You took her from her home. But now she's back in the box again, and she's free.
(The golden energy streams from Idris into the console then out again and through the Tardis.)

The group cheered upon seeing the Tardis return to her real place in the console. Now that she was back where she belonged, House had no chance – he was on the Tardis' home turf now. The Doctor couldn't help but smile sadly at the screen – she was glad the Tardis was back where she belonged but she had enjoyed being able to actually talk with the Tardis using mouths and words rather than feelings and noises/lights.

HOUSE [OC]: No. Doctor, stop this. Argh! Stop this now.
DOCTOR: Oh, look at my girl. Look at her go. Bigger on the inside. You see, House?
HOUSE [OC]: Make her stop.
DOCTOR: That's your problem. Size of a planet, but inside you are just so small.
HOUSE [OC]: Make it stop.
DOCTOR: Finish him off, girl.
HOUSE [OC]: Ow. Don't do this! Argh!

The group cheered again at seeing (or rather hearing) House get destroyed by the Tardis – that was one less threat in the universe, House couldn't kill anymore Time Lords or Tardises.

(Golden Idris is standing on the stairs.)
IDRIS: Doctor, are you there? It's so very dark in here.

The mood dipped again, they'd gotten so excited upon seeing House defeated and the Tardis returned to her rightful place that they'd forgotten that the Doctor would likely be upset at mot being able to talk with her anymore. Her words about the dark were depressing after such victory.

DOCTOR: I'm here.
IDRIS: I've been looking for a word. A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now.
DOCTOR: What word?
IDRIS: Alive. I'm alive.
DOCTOR: Alive isn't sad.
IDRIS: It's sad when it's over. I'll always be here, but this is when we talked, and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you.

The group watched entranced at the final words shared between the Doctor and the Tardis' human form. It was certainly a bittersweet scene, that made their hearts sad for the Doctor who seemed to lose everyone they loved in some way.

DOCTOR: Goodbye?
IDRIS: No. I just wanted to say hello. Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you.
DOCTOR: Please. I don't want you to. Please.

The group purposely avoided looking at the Doctor no matter how much they wanted too – again, it had seemed like such a private scene and they gotten to see it anyway. It was yet another loss for the Doctor which came just after the reminder of her daughter's loss (slash possible not loss, or maybe more metaphorical lost state across the universe rather than to death).

River moved closer to her wife, squeezing her hand in comfort and mummering reassurances into her ear as the Doctor's whole expression was sadly gazing at the screen where it had pause just before Idris disappeared for the last time.

(Idris dematerialises.)
DOCTOR: Where?
(Later, the Doctor is doing some work below the console.)
RORY: How's it going under there?
DOCTOR: Just putting a firewall around the Matrix. Almost done.

"I feel like that is something you should have done earlier." Graham pointed out with a raised eyebrow in a classic grandfatherly expression.

"I didn't exactly know that it was posiible for her to be put in a human body!" The Doctor protested.

"Internet safety, Doctor. It's important." Ryan and Yaz grinned teasingly while the Doctor just looked more confused (and Bill laughed quietly).

AMY: Are you going to make her talk again?
DOCTOR: I can't.
RORY: Why not?
AMY: Spacey wacey, isn't it?
DOCTOR: Well, actually, it's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleventh dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then. Yes, it's spacey wacey.

"Glad for the simplification for us that don't speak nerd." Donna smiled at the Doctor who gave a mocked betrayed look back at Donna. It seemed all her companions were teaming up against her now, there was no chance for her now.

RORY: Sorry. At the end, she was talking. She kept repeating something. I don't know what it meant.
DOCTOR: What did she say?
RORY: The only water in the forest is the river. She said we'd need to know that someday. It doesn't make sense, does it?

Amy, Rory and the Doctor shared another glance, full of deep meaning that no one understood bar River who was glancing almost frantically between the group – that certainly clarified a few things.

"Anyone going to clarify for the class?" Clara asked the group with a raised eyebrow; she glance at River briefly having the feeling it was something to do with her base don the way she was watching the group (and the word river was another big clue).

"Long story, and not relevant here for any of you." The Doctor answered purposely vague, it was the truth too. What happened with River wasn't relevant to the rest of the group, and it wouldn't be unless the Tardis decided to show it (which was likely the way the videos were going).

Several people looked like they were tempted to argue but Amy glared them into submission while Rory and the Doctor avoided everyone's eyes.

DOCTOR: Not yet. You okay?
RORY: No. I watched her die. I shouldn't let it get to me, but it still does. I'm a nurse.

"I know how you feel." Martha muttered; a sad smile aimed at Rory. "It always affects you when you can't help them." Rory nodded at Martha, solidifying a mental note to talk to the actual medical doctor later on and maybe even compare some notes.

DOCTOR: Letting it get to you. You know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now, that's all that counts. Nearly finished. Two more minutes, then we're off. The Eye of Orion's restful, if you like restful. I can never really get the hang of restful. What do you think, dear? Where shall we take the kids this time?
AMY: Look at you pair. It's always you and her, isn't it, long after the rest of us have gone. A boy and his box, off to see the universe.

The group smiled at Amy's words all aware of how true it was, before all of them and after all of them there would always be the Doctor in the Tardis travelling the universe. Rory nodded slightly at the Doctor thankful for the acknowledgment and reassurance in regards to his feelings, even if they did quickly change the topic afterwards.

DOCTOR: Well, you say that as if it's a bad thing. But honestly, it's the best thing there is. The House deleted all the bedrooms. I should probably make you two a new bedroom. You'd like that, wouldn't you?
AMY: Okay. Er, Doctor, this time could we lose the bunk beds?

"You had bunk beds?" Jack grinned; a very suggestive undertone clear in his words. Amy winked in answer while Rory groaned, putting his head in his hands to hide his red face. River glanced between her parents seeking confirmation in their expressions, she wasn't sure she wanted to know when she had been conceived but clearly, she had her answer. Maybe this video was about her in some way – between the mention of her (water I the forest) and the abandonment of bunk beds. In one time line (her own personal one) her existence started here.

DOCTOR: No. Bunk beds are cool. A bed with a ladder. You can't beat that. It's your room. Out those stairs, keep walking till you find it. Off you pop.
RORY: Doctor, do you have a room?

"She does but she doesn't let anyone near it." River raised an eyebrow at her wife, any time they'd spent together had been in spare rooms or her own room. No one had seen the Doctor's room in the Tardis as far as the group was concerned. The Doctor purposely avoided the Mater's eyes knowing the smug smirk that would be happily lying across his face - he was the only one who had ever seen her room, mainly due to the number of personal items and photographs (and photograph equivalents) in her room form her days on Gallifrey. It was nothing against River herself, it was just a habit at this point and the Tardis rarely provided her with her own room when others were around.

(Amy pulls Rory away. Later, the Doctor's work is finished.)
DOCTOR: Are you there? Can you hear me? Oh, I'm a silly old. Okay. The Eye of Orion, or wherever we need to go.
(Levers move on their own.)
DOCTOR: Ha ha! Whoo hoo.

The group smiled happy to se the Doctor back in a better mood and the Tardis respond in the way they were more used too, even though the interaction now had a touch of bitter-sweetness about it having watched them speak to each other using actual words. The Doctor smiled softly at the screen, this more than anything was proof for the Tardis being sentient, none of her companions could deny it after having seen that (not that any of them doubted it really anymore – they'd all travelled long enough to get used to the Tardis' quirks).

After several minutes of quite contemplation of the video, the Doctor clapped her hands together to get the group's attention. Upon seeing the eyes focussed on her she started speaking, "So, do we want to do on more video then have a break?"

The group glanced at each other before nodding or shrugging their agreement/indifference. Upon receiving no actual protest or arguments she smiled before turning back to the screen, ready to see what they would be shown next.