Benny woke up with an aching head and an intense feeling of familiarity. Which probably wasn't good, because what little she could remember of last night- was that she fell asleep in a bar. If she woke up in a hospital bed it'd at least make sense, but taking in her surroundings, she realized where she really was.
How the hell did she get here?
Her apartment in the Braxiatel Collection's staff block was pretty much exactly how she'd left it before running off with the alternate Doctor again, aside from having no leftover food and empty bottles- likely called to be tidied up by Joseph. It'd been over a year since she'd been back ho- no, not home. Just- the Collection. Benny didn't really live anywhere, because there wasn't really anywhere left she belonged.
She promised to come back though- it was just a little earlier than planned.
The sun streaming through the window got in Bernice's eyes and she groaned, tossing and turning in the all too comfortable bed. Her holowatch vibrated on the bedside table, and curiosity got the best of her. If anything would give her knowledge of how she ended up on planetoid KS-159 again, this thing would have it.
Snatching it up and flicking it on, the first thing that came up were her messages. The Doctor had informed her once it connected to this device, that it was a trans-temporal data link created by the Time Lords, and also likely a potential cause for the universe to collapse. How fun.
But she looked it over anyway, expression slowly growing worse at every word.
"Nothing there, nothing- oh. That's... yeesh. Oh Goddess no-"
Scrolling through, she came to the startling realization of some of some of the things she'd said last night. And it wasn't pretty. Had she really run into the Master, and then just kissed him, just to be a spiteful contrarian? ...It wouldn't surprise her, honestly.
What she'd said to the friend who'd kindly given her a lift and put her safely to bed though... After that, Benny really couldn't bring herself to get up other than suddenly lurching over the bucket and ejecting the remaining contents of her stomach.
"I'm never recovering from this, am I?"
She answered her own question. "...Probably not."
There were a few other Doctors on the link, she could gather. Past and future incarnations, possibly a few alternatives like the one she was travelling with now too. And evidently with the state of things, apparently chatting up and down the timestreams wasn't an irregular occurrence. Perhaps somebody there would have a bit of advice.
Working up the courage to say something, she activated speech-to-text and recited her question with the clearest diction her sludged brain could handle. "I have the worst hangover. Probably should have expected that. What the bloody hell did I do last night? What I'm looking at is quite frankly a bit concerning."
A Doctor it looked like- definitely one she hadn't seen before though, which luckily meant future, presumably- gave her the first response. Just a simple 'Hello!'
"Hello, Doctor," she greeted wearily.
'How are you- apart from hungover?'
She really had no idea how to answer that. Her brain felt like it had been filled with marbles bouncing around like they were in a maraca, and she'd potentially kissed the Master, but she was also off of Betelgeuse IV in a safe and comfortable place where she could wait out all of the many other problems, if nothing else. So, she answered his question with another question. "Did I really tell Brax that?"
'Tell Brax what?'
Bernice put her head in her hands. She really, really had wanted to take this to her grave. But she put it the most casually she possibly could.
"Oh, you know. That I've slept with you. Past you."
The answer she got, unluckily for her, was not from the Doctor. Instead, speak of the devil- it was from Braxiatel himself.
'Unfortunately you did.'
"FUCK..."
She could practically feel his immeasurable disappointment emanating through the very channel itself. At this very moment the one thing Benny wished she could do was shrivel up and die.
'I forgive you... This time.'
She breathed a sigh of relief, but still switched it to screen mode and stuck her head under the covers in embarrassment. Muffled, but decipherable, she murmured, "Goddess, thank you..."
'I am probably going to have to regenerate to get rid of that mental image though...'
To wind him up just a little bit, her reassurance was very much intentionally half-baked. "I won't do it again. Ever. Probably."
'You won't. I'm here to keep you from making terrible life choices now.'
"Thanks, Irving," surprisingly, at this she smiled. Of all the things she didn't want was for Braxiatel trying to take control of her life again. But it was just a little calming, knowing he was there, watching over things. A little like a guardian angel.
'Any time, Bernice.'
She flicked it off. Finally with the assurance that whatever she did wasn't too regrettable, Benny realized that she was getting really rather famished. She could grab an instant bite from the food replicator, but that wasn't enough right now. Real food from a real restaurant, perhaps one of the shops here would be good.
Sniffing herself and deciding she was clean enough, she started looking for changes of clothes. When the other Bernice had left the Collection for good, everything got consolidated back into her old rooms. So there were an awful lot of clothes Benny really hadn't even seen for ages, let alone worn.
Would any of these actually fit?
Not perfect, but she made do. While Bernice certainly wasn't planning on a dig today- she didn't even know what day today was, not only because she was disoriented and hungover, but because she'd almost certainly travelled through time to get here. That didn't stop her from getting her tie, button-up, and khaki jacket and shorts.
Tying her hair back, she looked almost young. Well, definitely more like she did when she was younger. There was just a little grey, and crow's feet by her eyes. It had taken a long time to get past the confidence issues she had with her body. But now, after all this time, she'd adjusted to it. The thing not changing much through thick and thin definitely helped matters. Benny looked great for roughly 63. Aside from those small things, appearing barely middle-aged.
Dumping out and cleaning the bucket from earlier, she swung open the door and hummed to herself as she vacated the staff apartments. There was a cafe nearby, perhaps a bit of breakfast with its excellently rich coffee would help out with what remained of her migraine.
It was a nice day out for a stroll- not that it wasn't always a nice day on the precisely climate-controlled asteroid. Late summer or early autumn, Benny gathered from the taste of the breeze.
It was only a short walk to Cafe Vosta, a large coffee shop with a welcoming atmosphere. Bev and Adrian especially used to hang out here, but they'd left the Collection for bigger and better things, both versions of them. It was a bittersweet place, but so was coffee. It fit, like everything around here did.
Taking two cups for herself, extra hot and dark, along with a bacon sandwich, Benny sat by the window and stared out. Bernice frowned and sighed as she stared off into space. She didn't belong here, not anymore. There was a reason she left when things got as close to resembling fixed as was possible on this temporal knot. Most events and people connected to it were roughly a hundred years earlier than they'd been originally, either that, or the more distinct and likely possibility was they'd accidentally changed the human calendar at some point, and just pushed some of what happened in the 27th century back. Bernice was just out of place.
But thinking about it too much screwed with her brain, and it was already frazzled enough from the alcohol yesterday, so all Benny did was take a long swig of the coffee and a large bite of the bacon croissant.
"Bernice Summerfield, you are going to have to get your life in order one day," she muttered under gritted teeth.
In boredom and morbid curiosity though, Benny flicked her holowatch back on. She was going to check the news, but evidently fate had other, far more infuriating plans, because the trans-temporal link was still open, and the first message on it was from Brax of all people.
Lacking context, all that she got from it was 'I have already laid a trap for Jason.'
Her eyes widened, and all she could say was, "Nononononono..."
While he no longer loved her in this version of history, the whole reason- or at least one of the main ones she agreed to this deal, was Jason being safe. Was Brax breaking that promise as soon as the problems were gone and he could get away with it?
In a rush of fury, she shouted out. "Irving bloody Braxiatel, if you do it again so help me you'll regenerate into someone actually visibly different!"
But her concerns were immediately quelled.
'Benny, relax... It's just a bucket of water over the door.'
The explanation was far more innocent than she expected, frankly. Enough so that it sounded like it was probably a lie. It was almost disappointing, and while what she said wasn't completely genuine, it certainly wasn't what Bernice planned to say.
"Oh. Thank the goddess."
She paused for a second, looking over her options. The best one, she considered, was joining in.
"You know what? I'll help. Don't want things to go all murdery. I trust you and I don't at the same time, Brax. You're amazing at making people feel conflicted."
'It's a natural talent of mine- the conflicted feelings, not the murder. Well... also the murder.'
She wasn't actually quite sure if he was joking. Which really only proved their point. Even fixing things with Braxiatel didn't always go great- after roughly thirty years, she still had no idea whose side he was on. Or if he was actually even on anyone's side at all.
"At least you're being honest about this. Even if you aren't about a lot of things," she finally said, but not quite believing her own statement.
'Of course. If I was honest about everything, you'd get bored of me.'
He wasn't completely wrong about that though. She turned it off for a bit and waited a while to answer, wanting to finish breakfast and at least get back to her apartment first.
The last drops of coffee washed the bacon grease down her throat and Benny offered a satisfied sigh. She kept thinking about what Brax was doing over the channel- should she really agree to it? Not sure, she got up, tipped the server, and left.
At home, she struggled with her key before finally falling inside. Bernice threw off her shoes and immediately fell back into the plush duvet. She called back over to him personally this time, making it a holomeet instead. The answer, as usual, was near disturbingly fast.
"...So, when are we starting? I've still got the bucket you gave me last night, back here in my room. Thanks, by the way. Don't worry, I've cleaned it-"
He gave a thin smile and rolled his eyes playfully. "Bernice, you didn't have to go to all that trouble just for Jason. But we can start whenever you like. I have the ice on hand already."
Goddess, it was good to actually hear his voice, see him moving and lively, even if it was just in hologram form. She hadn't in a long while. Well, not outside memories, recordings, or her own imagination and dreams. Not that she'd mention any of those things out loud to anyone. Ever.
"It's nice seeing you again, Brax. And... thanks for last night."
"You're welcome, Benny. You're my best friend. I'm here when you need me- now about that bucket?"
Benny got back up from the bed, took the bucket, and stepped into the kitchen. This was certainly less of a mess than she remembered- the porters probably washed the dishes and tossed the food to avoid a new sentient species evolving from the remains of Bernice's attempts at cooking. And honestly, that was almost certainly the right call.
Running cold water from the tap, it took a good while for the level to reach anywhere near the top. And by the time it did, she was shaking a bit at quite how much it weighed now.
"Alright. It's filled. And no, I didn't clean it for Jason. I'm just not leaving biohazards around my house-" she said with the air of confidence belonging to someone remotely hygienic in regards to their surroundings.
"Well, yes, that does make more sense. Now we just pick a door he walks through often."
She was already on that part, out the door and on the way to the other side of the building, being careful to avoid splashing water everywhere.
"I'll pick the lock to his room and call him over. Meet me at Jason's flat."
He nodded before she paused the holomeet so Brax wouldn't get the rather nauseating view of her hip bouncing across a sideways landscape.
The door to Jason's flat was one of few that used an old-fashioned lock and key. He was from quite far in the past, after all. Tiny things like this she knew gave him a bit of comfort in this time period. Unfortunately for him though, Benny was really quite good at picking locks, especially old ones. Pulling out a bobby pin and credit chip, she tensioned the barrel, and in no time at all, clicked all the pins into place.
One turn on the handle was all it took, and she was in his home.
Unpausing the holomeet, Braxiatel was clearly walking on his way there, but she caught him combing his hand through his hair. At it, she giggled, just a bit. But a devilish smirk played across her lips. "Brax, I'm in. Now get me that ice."
"I knew there was a reason you're my favourite- ice incoming."
If holomeets were in full colour, Braxiatel would have seen that she flushed a bit at the compliment. But, nonchalantly, she waited for him, water beside her.
A few minutes later, he arrived, carrying a bag of ice. As always he looked perfectly put together, and she missed him dearly. She ran up and hugged him. It startled Brax a bit, making him nearly drop the bag, but he let it simmer briefly before gently pushing away. He smiled fondly. "I missed you too, Bernice."
Cutting the bag of ice open, Benny poured its contents into the bucket. Stepping into the apartment, they got to work trying to prop it over the door. Braxiatel was tall enough, and while it did risk getting his suit wet, he agreed to put it up there. He hoisted it up, and very precariously rested it on top.
She glanced away from him briefly, not even more than a few seconds.
"I've texted him, now we just hide and wait."
Irving nodded silently. Crouching behind one of the sofas together, they heard creaking as Jason shook himself awake and shuffled around to get clothes.
She called out to him again, pounding on the wall and shouting. "Jason, Jason! We need you now!"
She could tell he was definitely hurrying now, thinking it was some kind of emergency. He emerged from his room in just boxers and a dressing gown, rushing for the door.
Jason realized it was already open... but just a second too late. A large plastic bucket filled with over a gallon of icy water clattered down spilling itself over him- "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-" ...and landing on his head. "Goddammit! Ugh- shit... Brax! -Benny?!"
The two partners in crime popped out of their hiding spot, snickering just a little at first, but quickly falling into a total fit of cackling. Bernice offered Braxiatel a shaky hand, and he gave her a (quite unusual for him) high-five.
Jason was furious, there was practically smoke coming out of his ears. Promptly, he kicked the both of them out of his apartment. They glanced at one another, grinning devilishly. If Brax still had a moustache, he'd certainly be twirling it right about now. Bernice would be too, if that was appealing at all. They were clowns, the both of them. Perfectly respectable people separately... most of the time- losing all of that the instant they met each other's company. Even more so if Jason Kane was somehow involved.
"Ha ha! The look on his face- honestly. Goddess- I need to calm down..." she'd run out of breath laughing.
"There's a reason that one's a classic, Benny."
Maybe she did belong here after all. That was a nice thought.
