"So you're tellin' me that the Doctor's always been a troublemaker?" Rose asked, pulling all the dry ingredients necessary to bake cupcakes. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
Rian laughed while pulling out the wet ingredients and setting them on the counter.
"He got in so much trouble in the early years, but that's because he didn't know how to avoid getting caught yet. As we got older, he started to plan out his pranks, but luckily, most of the time he left me out of them. I always hated breaking the rules, not wanting to disappoint anyone, especially my parents," she explained while mixing the wet ingredients together as Rose did the dry.
"So how did you two stay friends so long if you were basically opposites?" Rose asked, pulling out a stand mixer.
"Just because I didn't like getting in trouble doesn't mean we were opposites. We're pretty similar, it just takes time to notice. Once you get us started on something, you won't hear silence for ages, it always drove our families insane," she trailed, getting lost in old memories. She shook her head and continued mixing. "While we initially became friends while running from the Untempered Schism, it was our love of the Earth that we really bonded with one another," Rian explained, glancing at Rose with a smile.
Rose listened to her words intently, and could barely contain a grin herself at the emotion Rian put behind her words. She could hear it in the way Rian spoke of the Doctor, she obviously had some sort of romantic feelings for him before they got separated.
"Do you… Do you remember being Victoria?" Rose asked hesitant, unsure if the question would upset her friend. Perhaps she would be able to learn more about their past relationships.
Rian stopped the mixer and looked over at Rose with a gentle, yet sad smile. "Victoria… is a part of who I am. I remember all of her thoughts, I remember what she saw, I remember how she felt. And I know that I'm not the friend you've known for so long…"
She reached out and placed her hand lightly on Rose's arm. "You were her best friend, well, in my mind, you are my best friend, other than the Doctor of course. It will take time, but I hope that you'll still consider me, her, one of your closest friends."
Rose began to tear up at Rian's gentle words and shook her head. "I know you're… It just…"
It had been a week since Victoria had opened her watch, and Rose was trying her hardest to get to know Rian, to understand that while technically one and the same, they were different people. It had been hard for her when the Doctor regenerated in front of her, and she knew more now than she did then.
Rose didn't want to insult Rian, make her think that she'd rather have Victoria around. And she was trying her hardest. But by god, was it hard sometimes. She missed the nights where they'd watch terrible horror movies and laugh until the Doctor came knocking on their door to tell them to be quiet before joining them. Right now, she wished she could just talk to Victoria herself and get advice from her.
Rose had grown accustomed to Victoria's habits, like when she was nervous she would tug at the strings on her jacket or fiddle with her hands. But Rian, she was different from Victoria, yet so similar. Rian was rambunctious, much like the Doctor. But there was a difference between the two. There was a sadness in the Doctor's eyes, a darkness that could be heard in his words and actions, one that he didn't try to hide. But when she looked at Rian, Rose could see it too, but the redhead was remarkably good at hiding how she was feeling.
"It's just a lot to get used to," Rose offered, sniffling slightly.
Reaching into her pocket, Rian pulled out a small package of tissues and handed it to the blonde. "How about we finish these cupcakes and then go see what the Doctor has planned for us today?"
"I think that sounds great," Rose grinned. "Oh shoot, we forgot to preheat the oven."
"Oops," Rian muttered, quickly heating the oven, followed by Rose laughing deeply beside her.
Rian danced around the console, piloting the TARDIS as the Doctor watched her from the side with a grin.
Today, they decided, would be the first real adventure for Rian, and the Doctor was very excited about this trip.
"How'd I do?" she asked, flipping a lever as to park the TARDIS. Rose sat on the captain seat, watching the two curiously.
He walked to the doors as pulled them open, having to stop himself before he walked into a metal gate. "Ah," he muttered in surprise before walking back in, causing Rose to laugh a bit.
"You need to turn her ninety degrees to the east," he said, leaning against the wall.
"Gah, so close," she grumbled, flying around the console to correct her mistake.
"It's alright," he reassured her. "It's been a while. It'll take some time."
"Alright, here we go!" Rian announced, looping her arm through Rose's as she walked away from the console.
"Ah!" the Doctor grinned as they walked on a street. A few feet from the TARDIS, tacked onto a wall, was a Shayne Ward poster, which drew Rose's attention.
"So, near future, yeah?" she asked, looking over at Rian.
"He had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped," Rian said, nodding over at the Doctor who was walking beside Rose.
"Thirtieth Olympia," the Doctor told Rose as they walked under a banner with the words 'London 2012'.
A smile immediately made its way onto her face and she looped her arm through his. "No way! Why didn't I think of this, that's great! Ah!"
"Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about... wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood about, begging... no, wait a minute... that was Club Med," he joked, nudging Rose while he and Rian laughed. "Just in time for the opening doo dah - ceremony... tonight, I thought you'd like that. Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch... lovely chap, what was his name?"
"John Mark," Rian offered offhandedly as Rose pulled her towards a pole with a missing poster hanging off of it.
"Of course!" he exclaimed with a grin. "Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet."
"Doctor," Rose called out, trying to get his attention.
"And in those days, everybody had a tea party to go to," he continued, showing no signs of having heard her.
"Doctor," she tried again, a bit louder.
"Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top?" he asked, causing Rian to grin at Rose cheekily.
"I told you he liked the ball bearings," she told the blonde, who rolled her eyes playfully.
"Theta, you should come look at this," Rian finally called out to him, getting his attention.
"Did you know those things?" he asked, walking over to look at the poster.
"Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius," he said, shaking his head slightly before reading the poster.
"What's taking them, do you think?" he asked, looking around the area, Rian doing the same.
"Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold...? Is something reducing the temperature...?"
Rose read over the paper again. "It says they all went missing this week. Why would a person do something like this?"
He looked back at Rose, contemplating her words. "What makes you think it's a person?"
The Doctor closed his eyes, trying to feel for the children's energy. Hesitantly, Rian did the same, unsure if you would feel it, but was surprised she could feel a subtle pulse.
"Doctor, over here!" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him with her as she followed the pulse.
It continued to get stronger and stronger until they stood in front of a child's football goal. They both held out their hands and were surprised by the sensation.
They looked at each other, giggling as the energy tickled their hands.
As they inspected the grassy area, a middle-aged man approached them with a frown. "What's your game?"
"My... um... Snakes and Ladders? Quite good at... Squash. Reasonable," the Doctor said while the man glared at him. "I'm... being facetious, aren't I?" he asked, looking over at Rian. "There's no call for it, sorry."
"I'm gonna call the police if you don't answer my question. I'm not gonna ask again. What's your game?" he glared between the two Time Lords, beginning to approach them.
The Doctor grabbed Rian's hand, stepping a bit in front of her as they backed away from the man.
"Sir, we ARE police officers. We both have our badges, we can prove it, I swear," Rian pleaded, nudging the Doctor to pull out his psychic paper.
The man didn't budge though, not believing a word she was saying, pointing angrily at the two. "We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look - or sound - like any of them."
Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor noticed Rose standing by council worker and pointed at her. "See, look! I've got a colleague! Lewis."
Rose nodded along, unimpressed by the Doctor's lie, but winked nonetheless.
"Well, she looks less like a copper than you two do," the man, shaking his head.
"Training. New recruit. It was either that or hairdressing, so…" he trailed off, finally finding the psychic paper and flashing it at the man."Voila!"
"What are you going to do?" a black, middle aged woman asked, her arms wrapped around her chest tightly.
"The police have knocked on every door - no clues, no leads, nothing," an old woman said, but the man shook his head.
"Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do-" he tried to tell the woman, but she cut him off.
"Dale Hixon in your garden, playing with your Tommy, and then…!" she said waved her hands around, trying to mimic a disappearance. "Right in front of me, like he was never there! There's no need to look any further than this street. It's right here amongst us."
"Why don't we-" the Doctor tried to interject, but was just talked over.
"Why don't we start with him?" a woman said, pointing at the council worker, causing Rian to fix her with a glare. "There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night."
"Fixing things up for the Olympics!" The man tried to defend himself, but only made the neighbors more upset.
"Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it!" the middle-aged man pointed at him.
"I'm of the opinion that all we've gotta do is just-" he tried to say, but was once again cut off.
"You don't- what you just said, that's slander!" the council man said indignantly.
"I don't care what it is!" the woman exclaimed, glaring at him.
"Maybe we all just need to-" Rian tried to calm the group, but was promptly ignored.
"Maybe you could do the fingers on the lips trick?" Rian offered, looking over at as the humans continued to argue.
"Eh, do you think it'd work?" he asked, a look of uncertainty crossing his face.
"You never know," she shrugged, causing Rose to give them an odd look.
"Fingers on lips!" the Doctor yelled, placing his finger on his lip as if to shush someone.
Rian quickly followed suit as the Doctor fixed a glare at the whole group until they did as told. The Doctor gave Rose a pointed look as well when she didn't raise her finger up. She slowly raised her finger, looking somewhat awkward as she did.
"In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" the Doctor asked, looking around at the group, waiting for an answer.
The old woman moved her finger a little, wanting to answer his question. "Er... can I...?"
Rian nodded at her as the Doctor gestured for her to talk.
"Look around you... this was a safe street 'til it came. It's not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers - maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?" she asked pleadingly as Rose glanced up at the house behind the woman, causing the mother to run towards the house.
"Did you see it?" the Doctor asked, nodding up at the window.
"The little girl? I hope nothing is wrong with her," Rian said as the woman went inside.
"Come on," he said, turning towards Rose as the rest of the group walked away. "Let's look around."
Rose and Rian stood to the side, watching the Doctor sniff around the middle-aged man's house. While Rose was watching, somewhat weirded out, Rian was grinning at his odd movements.
"Do you need a hanky?" Rose asked with a slight grimace.
"Can you smell it?" he asked, mainly to Rose, knowing the Rian had picked up on the scent ages ago. Rose sniffed hesitantly, barely picking up on the smell.
"Metal," Rian said, bounding over to stand by the Doctor.
"Oooh," Rose grinned as the Doctor waved at the man who was watching was from the window.
"Come on," Rian said, looping her arm through Rose's so they could walk together beside the Doctor.
"Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other," he stopped for a moment, and he cast a look over at Rian, both of them beginning to feel the tickle from earlier. "Whoa, there it goes again!" he said, holding out his hand to show the two girls. "Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand."
Rose took another deep breath, trying to get the scent again. "And there's that smell... it's like an um... a burnt fuse plug or something."
"It's the residual energy, it's coming from where the children disappear," Rian explained.
"Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this," the Doctor finished, sending a small grin towards the redhead.
"Come on, you two," Rose said, trying to urge the two to move while shaking her head.
The Doctor walked ahead of the girls who were idly chatting as they continued down the road.
"Aren't you a beautiful boy?!" Rose called out, moving to pet an orange cat.
"Awe, how cute. You're beautiful," Rian, stroking its head lightly.
"Thanks! I'm experimenting with back-combing," the Doctor beamed, glad that they had noticed. Or so he thought, finally realizing that they were talking about the cat.
"I do love your hair," Rian told him after a moment, sensing the disappointment coming off of him in waves. He smiled at her appreciatively, before giving the cat another distasteful look.
"I used to have one like you," Rose continued with a grin before looking back at the Doctor. "What?"
"No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it," he grimaced at the thought.
"I think cats are adorable," Rian argued as the cat ran into a cardboard book.
The Doctor rolled his eyes playfully while nudging the Time Lady. "Well of course you do. You think everything is adorable."
"Doctor! Rian!" Rose called out, catching their attention. They raced over to where the blonde was standing to see what was happening.
However, the two took a step back as the metallic scent hit them hard. "Oh my," Rian muttered, waving her hand in front of her nose to try and get the smell to go away.
"Iron residue. Blimey! That takes some doing!" he said, flipping the box over. "Just to snatch a living organism out of space/time. This baby is just like,'I'm 'avin' some of that' - I'm impressed."
"So the cat's been transported?" Rose asked.
"It can harness huge reserves of ionic power," the Doctor explained. "We need to find the source of that power. Find the source and you will find... whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see," he said, slapping Rose's shoulder lightly while gesturing to keep an eye out. "Keep 'em peeled, Lewis. Come on, Rian."
"Somethings wrong," Rian muttered as they were trying to locate the source.
"Yeah, you're right," the Doctor said slowly, looking around.
Rian sniffed the air and stiffened as she felt the strength increase near where they had come from.
"Doctor! This way!" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back the way they came.
As they ran, they could hear the sound of a distant crash, which worried Rian, who thought it could be Rose.
"Rose!" Rian called out, seeing Rose lying on the ground with a black ball of scribbles hovering over top of her.
"Stay still!" the Doctor yelled, pulling out his sonic and pointing it at the ball.
"Okey dokey?" he asked, standing over and offering his hand.
"Yeah, cheers," she reassured the two, slightly out of breath.
"No prob," he said, and Rose pulled the two Time Lords into a quick hug.
"I'll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is," he said, moving the ball around Rose's hand with his sonic. "'Cos I haven't got the foggiest."
"Well, I can tell you you've just killed it," Rose said, but Rian shook her head.
"It was never living. It's being animated by the energy. Whatever energy that's taking all those poor children," Rian explained as the Doctor threw the ball up in the air.
"That is so dinky! The Go-Anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket... makes friends, impresses the boss... breaks the ice at parties…" the Doctor said with a grin before placing the ball in his pocket.
Rian looped her arm through the Doctor's as the group laughed on their way back to the TARDIS.
"Could he not just have done this with the sonic?" Rose asked Rian quietly from their spot by the console.
She shook her head with a smile as the Doctor placed the small black ball into the console. "He wouldn't get as detailed a report if he just did that."
"Oh - hi ho, here we go. Let's have a look," he said, him and Rian reading the Gallifreyan symbols.
"Get out of here," he breathed, surprised by the readings.
"Wait really?" Rian said, looking at the ball curiously.
"What's it say?" Rose asked, a bit put off by not being able to read the screen.
"It's graphite! Basically the same material as an HB pencil," Rian explained as the Doctor pulled a pencil out of his pocket and used the eraser on the ball.
"I was attacked by a... pencil scribble?" Rose clarified, and Rian nodded.
"Scribble creature," he said, taking a sniff of the ball. He held it out to both girls and let them take a smell as well. "Brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But... why make a scribble creature?!"
"Maybe it was a mistake... I mean, you scribble over something when you wanna get rid of it. Like a um... like a drawing. Like a... a child's drawing," Rose said with gasp, and Rian pointed at her, catching on. "You said it was in the street."
"Probably," he nodded.
"The girl," she said, excited to have figured it out. Rian grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her close, proud of the girl for figuring it out.
"Of course!"
"Something about her gave me the creeps... even her own mum looked scared of her," Rose said, thinking back on the girl.
"Look at you," Rian nudged Rose, who blushed a bit.
"Are you deducting?" the Doctor asked, looking at Rose with a grin.
"I think I am," she nodded, giving him a conspiratorial look.
"Copper's hunch?" the Doctor asked with a grin.
"Permission to follow up, Sarge?" Rose asked, causing the three to burst into laughter.
Rose reached up and knocked on the door as they stood outside of the woman's house.
"Maybe this will go more smoothly than it did with the Connollys," Rian said offhandedly, looking at the exterior of the house.
"You really had to go and say that," the Doctor moaned, looking back at her. "You've jinxed us."
Rian rolled her eyes at that. "I did no such thi-" she was cut off by the door opening.
The three of them fixed giant friendly smiles onto their faces to greet the woman at the door.
"Hello! I'm the Doctor, this is Rian and this Rose. Can we see your daughter?" the Doctor asked, getting straight to the point, causing the woman to look at him as if he were mad.
"No. You can't," she said, shaking her head at the trio.
"Okay! Bye!" the Doctor said, the smile never dropping as they turned around and began walking away.
"Why?" she called out after a moment, causing the three to turn back around. "Why do you want to see Chloe?"
"Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought - well, we thought - that she might like to give us a hand," the Doctor explained.
"Sorry to bother you," Rose said, nodding at her.
"Again, really sorry. We'll be on our way," Rian said, and the three turned around and continued walking.
The woman held herself tightly, contemplating calling them back when her desperation hit its peak. "Wait!"
They turned around once more, and they were greeted with the face of a helpless mother. "Can you help her?"
The Doctor smiled gently. "Yes, I can."
She looked at them for a bit longer before opening the door wider for them to walk in.
She led them into the living room where Rose took a seat on the couch. She had to dodge the Doctor's coat as he flung it at her.
On the tv, which was on the other side of the room, was the news coverage of the Olympic torchbearer.
"She stays in her room, most of the time. I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone," the woman explained.
"Where's her dad?" Rian asked gently, not wanting to offend the woman.
"He died a year ago," she said, and Rose sent her a sympathetic look.
"I'm sorry," she told the woman, but she shook her head.
"You wouldn't be if you'd known him," she trailed off, which made Rose look away uncomfortably.
"Well!" he said, changing the direction of the conversation. "Let's go say hi!"
"I should check on her first... she might be asleep," she told the Doctor hesitantly.
"Why are you afraid of her, Trish?" he asked, looking at her curiously.
"I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid," Trish said, looking between the Doctor and Rian, trying to convince them.
"I'm sure she is," the Doctor told her.
"She's never been in trouble at school... you should see her report from last year. As and Bs," she said, a proud smile appearing on her face. She smiled at Rose who smiled back.
"Can I use your loo?" she asked, waiting for Trish to agree.
As she went upstairs, the Doctor and Rian watched her closely.
"She's in the choir. She's singing in an old folks home. Any mum would be proud," she smiled. "You know... I want you to know these things before you see her, Doctor. Because right now, she's not herself."
"We'll help her as best as we can," Rian told her gently, trying to appease the worried mother.
"She's in the kitchen," she said after a moment, nodding back behind her.
Without a word, Rian slid her arm through the Doctor's, and together they walked to the kitchen.
He popped his head around the corner quickly before fully entering the room, pulling Rian with him. "All right, there?"
Chloe was standing at the fridge, drinking some of the milk before placing it back in its place.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor," he told her, leaning against the table while Rian leaned against him. "And I'm Rian."
"I'm Chloe Webber," she introduced herself.
"How're you doing, Chloe Webber?" he asked.
"I'm busy. I'm making something. Aren't I, mum?" she said, turning towards Trish.
But Trish ignored her daughter's words. "And like I said, she's not been sleeping."
"But you've been drawing, though. I'm rubbish. Stick men are about my limit. Can do this, though?" the Doctor asked, lifting his hand and doing the 'live long and prosper' sign. Rian lifted her hand and tried to do it, but she couldn't get her fingers to stay apart.
"Can you do that?" he asked her again, even though her face was void of emotion.
"They don't stop moaning," she said after a moment, taking the Doctor and Rian back.
"Chloe…" Trish trailed off in horror.
"I try to help them, but they don't stop moaning," Chloe continued, ignoring her mum.
"Who don't?" he asked, dropping his hand.
"We can be together," she said, staring the Doctor straight in the eyes.
"Sweetheart," Trish tried to hug Chloe, but the girl flinched away.
"Don't touch me, mum," Chloe snapped, and the Doctor glanced over at Trish who was looking at him, full of worry.
"I'm busy… Doctor, Rian," she said, leaving the room.
"Oh, come on, Chloe! Don't be a spoil sport!" he said, following after her. "What's the big project? I'm dying to know! What're you making up there?"
"Doctor! Rian!" Rose screamed, causing the two to run up the stairs.
As they ran into Chloe's room, they saw Rose's staring into the closet. But the closet was glowing red, with a deep voice growling from within. Rian grabbed Rose backward while the Doctor slammed the door shut.
"Look at it," Rose said, but both of them shook their head.
"No, ta," the Doctor told her before pulling Rian with him to go look at the drawings on the wall, taking his glasses out of his pocket in the process.
"Those drawings must be of all the missing children. Look, there's the orange cat from earlier," Rian said, glancing down at the desk where a handful of drawings were littered to see the image of an orange cat.
"You're right…" he agreed, analyzing the pictures. He picked up an orange piece of paper that had the image of a girl on it. He moved it around, trying to figure out how the drawing had anything to do with disappearances.
"We need to stay together. And then it'll be all right," Chloe said, causing Trish to pull her close, even as she flinched away from her touch.
"Trish, the drawings - have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?" Rose asked, causing Trish to glare at her coldly.
"Who gave you permission to come into her room? Get out of my house," Trish demanded.
"Tell us about the drawings, Chloe," the Doctor said, placing the drawing back down.
"I don't wanna hear any more of this," Trish said, leveling the Doctor a look.
"But that drawing of her dad... I heard a voice. He spoke," Rose tried to tell the mother.
She shook her head and gestured at the pictures around the room. "He's dead. And these - they're kids pictures. Now get out!"
"Chloe has a power. And I don't know how, but she used it to take Danny Edwards. Dale Hicks - she's using it to snatch the kids," Rose explained.
"Get out," she demanded, but Rose looked at her pleadingly.
"Have you seen those drawings move?" she asked, but Trish denied it.
"Trish…" Rian said gently. "You have. Out of the corner of your eye."
"No," she said, turning to look at the redhead.
"And you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain?" the Doctor added to Rian's statement, moving closer to Trish. "You dismiss it, right? And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it's never spoken of, ever ag-"
"She's a child-" Trish cut him off.
"And you're terrified of her. But there's no one to turn to, because who's gonna believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except us," he said, staring right at her.
"Who are you?" she asked, close to tears.
"We're help."
"What are you doing?" Rian called out, giving the Doctor an incredulous look.
As he stuck his fingers into the jar of marmalade, he noticed the look his best friend was giving him. He closed the jar and placed it behind him while sucking the jam off of his fingers.
"Those pictures - they're alive. She's drawing people and they end up in her pictures," Rose explained.
"Ionic energy. Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kind of holding-pen made up of ionic power," the Doctor said.
"And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?" Rose asked, getting her a look from Trish.
"How many times do I have to tell you? He's dead," she told Rose adamantly.
"Well, he's got a very loud voice for a dead bloke," Rose said in disbelief.
"Maybe… if living things become drawings, then drawings could become real," Rian suggested, looking over to the Doctor.
He nodded while dramatically shivering, causing Rose to flinch in surprise.
"Chloe's real dad is dead, but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That's the dad she's drawn and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world," the Doctor said.
"She always got the worst of it when he was alive," she said after a moment, regret in her voice.
"Doctor, how can a twelve-year-old girl be doing any of this?" Rose asked, looking at the Doctor nervously.
"Let's find out," he announced, walking out of the kitchen to go talk to Chloe.
As they walked into Chloe's room, Rian's arm had found itself entangled with Rose's, standing close to the blonde.
"Is this your new thing?" Rose asked the girl quietly as the Doctor stood in front of Chloe who was sitting cross-legged on the bed.
"Sorry?" Rian looked over at Rose in confusion.
"The arm thing?" she nodded down at their looped arms, causing Rian to blink.
"Oh… I guess it is," she said, surprised, not having really noticed she did it.
From her spot, Chloe lifted her hand and showed off the 'live long and prosper' sign to the Doctor.
"Nice one," he nodded, impressed that she could do it.
He knelt down in front of her and gently gripped her head, his fingers on her temples. After a moment, her eyes rolled back into her head, and he laid her gently onto her back.
"I can't let him do this-" Trish tried to walk closer to the bed, but both Rian and Rose reached out to stop her.
"Trust him. She'll be okay," Rian told her gently, nodding towards the Doctor and Chloe.
"Now we can talk," the Doctor said, standing up to look at Chloe.
"I want Chloe. Wake her up. I want Chloe," she said, her voice in a deep whisper.
"Who are you?" he asked, but the Isolus didn't answer.
"I want Chloe Webber!" she demanded.
"What've you done to my little girl?" Trish asked, upset, and scared for her daughter.
"There's something inside of her," Rian whispered, somewhat sensing what the Doctor was thinking.
"I'm speaking to you. The entity that is using this human child. I request parley in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation," he said, walking around the bed, all while looking at the girl curiously.
"I don't care about shadows or parley," the Isolus denied him.
"So what do you care about?" the Doctor asked, his hands finding their way into his pockets.
"I want my friends," the girl said, causing the Doctor to kneel closer to her.
"You're lonely, I know. Identify yourself," he said gently.
"I am one of many. I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey. A thousand of your lifetimes. But now I am alone. I hate it. It's not fair. And I hate it!" she said, beginning to get worked up, causing her eyes snapping open.
"Name yourself," he demanded.
"Isolus," she told him, causing both him and Rian to gasp.
"Oh, of course," Rian breathed out, looking at the girl sadly.
"You're Isolus," the Doctor said, giving Chloe the same look Rian was. "Of courses."
"Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family," the Isolus explained, beginning to draw on a sheet of paper that was next to her.
"What's that?" Trish asked, moving to get a better look.
"The Isolus Mother, drifting in Deep Space," he explained, standing up. "See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores. Her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotions, but when they're cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other, is what sustains them. They need to be together. They cannot be alone."
"Our journey is long," the Isolus added, continuing with her drawing.
"The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up," the Doctor said, looking over at the trio standing on the other side of the room.
"Thousands of years just floating through space... poor things - don't they go mad with boredom?" Rose asked.
"We play," the Isolus said.
"You… play?" she asked, confused, while the Doctor said down next to Chloe.
"Mm. While they travel, they play games. They use their ionic power to literally create make-believe worlds in which to play," he told her, and Rose nodded, catching on.
"In-flight entertainment."
"Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off each other's love. Without it, they're lost," he said, glancing up at Rian briefly before addressing Chloe. "Why did you come to Earth?"
"We were too close," she told the Doctor, ripping the paper off the pad to begin another drawing.
"That's a solar flare from your sun. Would've made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods," the Doctor said, staring at the drawing intently.
"Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there. And I cannot reach them. So alone," the Isolus whispered.
"Your pod crashed... where is it?" he asked her softly.
"My pod was drawn to heat… And I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me. Alone. She needed me. And I her," she explained to the Doctor while he stroked her hair.
"You empathized with her. You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you," he said softly, and Rian's grip on Rose's arm tightened.
"I want my family. It's not fair," the Isolus told him.
"I understand. You wanna make a family. But you can't stay in this child. It's wrong. You can't steal any more friends for yourself," he told her.
"I am alone," she said, causing a thumping noise to come from the closet.
"I'm coming to hurt you," a male voice growled.
Chloe began to shake and convulse in fear as the voice spoke.
"I'm coming," the voice threatened.
"Trish, how do you calm her?" the Doctor asked, quickly to turn towards her.
"What?" Trish cried out, overwhelmed by everything happening.
"When she has nightmares, what do you do?" the Doctor asked again.
"I…" she trailed off.
"What do you do?" he asked again, more urgently this time.
Trish shook her head, trying to wrap her head around the moment. "I sing to her."
"Then start singing," he said, urging her over to take his spot.
He stood with Rose and Rian as Trish began singing. The three of them watched the closet door while Trish sang 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree."
After a few verses, the banging and the voice stopped, and Chloe found herself asleep in her mother's arms as she sobbed.
They stood back, watching the scene in front of them sadly. The Doctor's hand found Rian's and gripped it tightly, both of them understanding of how the Isolus felt.
Without a word, Trish stood up slowly and left Chloe to rest, leading us down to the living area.
"Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper. When he'd had a drink. The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free," she explained, beginning to collect all the pencils strewn around the room.
Rose reached down and collected a few off the coffee table and handed it to the woman.
"I thought it was over," Trish said, shaking her head.
"Did you talk to her about it?" Rose asked, taking a seat on the couch.
"I didn't want to," Trish said, which made Rian frown slightly.
"But... maybe that's why Chloe feels so alone. 'Cos she has all these terrible dreams about her dad, but she can't talk to you about them," Rose told Trish lightly.
"Her and the Isolus... two lonely kids who need each other," the Doctor said, and Rian tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand.
"And it won't stop, will it, Doctor? It'll just keep pulling kids in," Rose said, looking back towards the Doctor.
"It wants to be loved," Rian said softly. "It's trying to make up for the lose of its family."
"How big was it's family?" Rose asked, somewhat hesitantly.
"Oh, say around… four billion?" the Doctor offered, shocking Trish and Rose.
Reaching for his coat on the couch, he caught Rose's eyes and nodded to the door, telling her it was time they left.
"Thank you for having us, Trish," Rian thanked the woman as they walked to the door. Trish nodded at the trio, closing the door behind them without another word.
"We need that pod," the Doctor said, shrugging his coat on.
"It crashed - won't it be destroyed?" Rose asked.
"It's attracted to heat. Hopefully, it found a heat source to keep itself in a good enough state to leave," Rian told her, but Rose was glancing up at Chloe's window.
"It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature that the TARDIS can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus," the Doctor said, leading the way back to the TARDIS.
"We can scan for the same trace we picked up from the scribble creature. Just need to widen the field a bit," he explained, pulling out his key and unlocking the door.
Rian and the Doctor shuffled around the TARDIS, collecting pieces to build a device while Rose watched curiously from captain's seat.
"You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?" Rose asked as the Doctor ushered her off the seat so he could work.
"I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own," he told Rose, sharing a brief look with Rian before looking pointedly at Rose's hand. " Give me the stina magnetic erm...thing in your left hand!"
"Sounds like you're on its side," Rose said, looking between the two.
"We sympathize," Rian explained, looking at his work over her shoulder.
"The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people," Rose said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"It's a child! That's why it went to Chloe, two lonely mixed up kids," he said, blowing into the device.
"Hmm... feels to me like a temper tantrum because it can't get its own way," Rose said, and Rian frowned at her words.
"It's scared! Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot," he said, looking up at Rian expectantly.
She handed him the dot while Rose grimaced. "Yes! And I know what kids can be like. Right little... terrors."
"Gum," the Doctor said, holding out his hand in front of Rose expectantly. She spit her chewing gum into his hand, while Rian blanched at the sight.
"I've got cousins. Kids can't have it all their own way. That's part of being a family," Rose said while the Doctor placed the gum on the device.
"What about trying to understand them?" Rian asked, and the Doctor nodded in agreement.
"Easy for you to say. You don't have kids," Rose said with a grin.
Rian looked away, a sad look passing across her face as she thought about her time on Gallifrey.
"I was a father once," the Doctor said hesitantly, watching Rian carefully as both kept their thoughts shielded from one another.
"Were you two…?" Rose asked, flinching slightly as they both looked away from each other. She could tell there was something between the two Time Lords, and she knew they had loved each other when Rian was Victoria. But she could also see that there was something else, the emotions on both of their faces told her enough.
"I think we're there!" both of them stood up and walked around the console, ignoring her question. "Fear. Loneliness. They're the big ones, Rose. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy."
"There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe," the Doctor told Rose. Rian looked around the console to the blonde and gave examples. "Warp drive... wormhole refractors…"
"You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold," he said, nudging Rian in the shoulder when he noticed Rose holding her hand out.
He reached out and grabbed her hand with a smile.
Rose laughed, shaking her head. "No! Look, I'm pointing!"
The Doctor and Rian looked at the screen and shared a grin. There was a map of the neighborhood on the screen, and there was a flashing white dot, signifying where the pod was. "It's the pod! It's in the street! Everything's coming up Doctor!"
Rian grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her out of the TARDIS, the Doctor close behind.
"Are you okay?" she asked the blonde.
Rose nodded and looked up at Rian. "Yeah… I guess, I don't know. It's just… you and the Doctor were in love when you were a human, so I was expecting you two to be in love the moment you opened your watch."
Rian looked back at the Doctor who was locking the door to the TARDIS. "It's a bit complicated, Rose…"
"We can talk once we save the Isolus," Rose said, acknowledging that now wasn't the time.
"Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gulls egg. Very light," the Doctor said, walking about a foot behind the girls.
"So these pods - they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah?" Rose asked, looking over at Rian who nodded.
"So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?" she asked when a crash sounded behind them.
They both turned around to see the Doctor and the TARDIS missing, and the device he had made was lying broken on the ground.
"Doctor!" Rian called out, rushing over to the broken device. "Theta?"
"Doctor?" Rose asked, looking at the area in shock.
"Come on," Rian said, her voice hard. She ran back to Chloe's house, Rose following behind, surprised by the change in Rian's composure.
"Trish!" Rian called out, knocking frantically on the door.
When she opened the door, the two girls walked past her and up to Chloe's room.
Rian immediately went over to the girl and grabbed the paper she was drawing on, her hearts breaking as she looked at the image of the Doctor and the TARDIS.
"Leave me alone! I want to be with Chloe Webber! I love Chloe Webber!" the Isolus told Rian, who was staring her deep in the eyes.
"By taking the Doctor, you've taken away my friend," she stressed, looking at the picture of the Doctor. "Without him, I'm so lonely. We just got each other back, and you've taken him."
"Bring him back, now," Rose said, looking over Rian's shoulder at Chloe.
"No," Chloe refused, and Rian closed her eyes tightly.
"Don't you realize what you've done? He was trying to help you, now bring him back!" Rose demanded, beginning to grow frantic at the loss of the Doctor.
"Rose, calm down," Rian said softly, taking a deep breath as if she were talking to herself as well.
"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" the Isolus said, and Rose slouched.
"I know. We know," she said, glancing back at an emotionally conflicted Rian.
"Doctor, if you can hear me, we're gonna get you out of there. We'll find the pod," she said, looking at the paper before looking at Trish. "Don't leave her alone, no matter what."
As they left the house, Rose looked at Rian out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't quite sure what to expect from the redhead, seeing as this is the first time this had happened since she'd awakened.
"Did you see it?" she couldn't help but ask, and Rian turned around with a confused look.
"See what?"
"Chloe… she had started to draw you too, but hadn't finished," she said quietly as they approached the council man, Kel, who was smoothing out the road. Rian looked over at her, but Rose couldn't pick out the emotion that was present in her eyes.
Roes shook her head, now wasn't the time to distract Rian. She knelt down to talk to him. "Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?"
"I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship I did this one!" Kel said, not truly listening to Rose.
"Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that - think back six days," she said, biting her lip as Kel thought it through.
"Six days… When I was laying this the first time round!" he said, causing Rian to grin.
"Rose, the tar!" Rian exclaimed, and Rose stood up with a grin.
"Hot fresh tar, six days ago," she said to herself, running over to the van.
"Ay, that's a council van. Out," Kel said, trailing behind Rian.
"Ah-ha!" Rose called out, giddy as she found a pickaxe in the van.
"Whoa, wait, wait, wait, you just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No don't, wait - put the axe back in the van, that's my van, gimme the axe," Kel said, trying to grab the object from Rose, but Rian stepped in front of him.
"No, wait!" Kel cried out as Rose swung the axe into the tarmac. "No! Stop!"
Rose ignored him, swinging repeatedly at the ground.
"You just took a council axe - from a council van - and now you're digging up a council road! I'm reporting you to the council!" Kel said, outraged by the two girls' behavior.
Rian dropped down next to Rose and helped pick apart the pieces, looking for the ship.
"There it is!" Rian exclaimed, and Rose grabbed it and pulled it out gently.
"It went for the hottest thing in the street. Your tar!" Rose grinned, holding it out for Rian to look at.
"What is it?" Kel asked, not following what was happening in the slightest.
"It's a spaceship! Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid," she said, looking at it before getting up and running back to Trish's house, grabbing Rian as she went.
"Trish, we found it!" Rian called out, barging into the house.
"I don't know what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board," Rose confessed, but her eyes grew wide as she realized that Trish was alone downstairs. "Hang on, I told you not to leave her!"
Rian's eyes were stuck on the tv, however, as the large crowd of fans disappeared from the stands.
"I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go digging up-" Kel was cut off by Rian who jabbed her finger towards the tv.
"The crowd has vanished! Er- um... they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Er... um... right in front of my eyes. Um... it's impossible! Bob, can we join you, um, in the box?" the commentator asked as the footage cut to an empty box. "Bob? Not you too, Bob?"
"There's not enough people that the Isolus can think of that would be enough," Rian said, turning around and running up the stairs to Chloe's room.
"Chloe, open the door!" she said, trying to turn the knob.
"Chloe?" Trish called out, worry filling her voice.
"We found your ship!" Rose called out but didn't get a response.
"Chloe!" Trish called out again, but Rose shook her head.
She pushed the others out of the way and raised the pickaxe up, prepared to start knocking down the door. Rian grabbed Trish's arm and pulled her back to stand out of the way of the flying wood.
Rose reached through the hole, knocking down the chair Chloe had placed and opened the door.
"I'm coming to hurt you," the dark, sinister voice of Chloe's father growled from within the closet, the doors shaking.
"Chloe!" they all rushed into the room to see Chloe drawing a picture of the Earth on her wall.
"Chloe, you can't!" Rian pleaded, taking a few steps forward when the closet began to shaking harder.
"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair," the Isolus said, stopping Rian in her tracks.
"Look, we've got you're pod," Rose said, holding it out to show the girl.
"The pod is dead," she said, shaking her head.
"It needs heat," Rose tried to tell the girl.
"It needs more than that," the Isolus said, and Rian touched Rose's shoulder.
"Remember what the Doctor said earlier? It needs love too," she said, plucking it out of Rose's hand to stare at it.
"I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved," Kel said, walking into the room. And so did that one!" he said, pointing at the picture of the Doctor and the TARDIS.
Next to the Doctor was an image of the Olympic torch, and Rian slapped herself as she caught on.
"Oh, of course. Rose, stay here and make sure nothing happens!" she told the blonde before running out of the house.
Earlier on the news, it had mentioned that the torchbearer would be running through the neighborhood. It was now or never.
She scanned the giant crowd, trying to find a way through to the front. She pushed her way through, barely avoiding the police officer standing to the side.
As she got to the front, she saw the torchbearer getting closer, and she closed her eyes and kissed it gently before throwing the ship into the air.
Rian watched with a grin as the ship covered in the area before being drawn into the Olympic torch. As the pod entered the flames, the torchbearer stumbled for a moment but continued to run.
She pushed her way back out of the crowd to see Kel standing there, a lost expression on his face. She pulled into a side-armed hug with a smile.
"You did it! What did you do?" he asked, but Rian shook her head. Out of the corner of her, she could see figures begin to appear, looking around, confused.
"Doctor?" she called out, hoping that he also reappeared.
"Ooh, that was odd," he told her with a laugh, and she let out a breath of relief.
"You know, the torchbearer was looking a little worn down when I saw him. Maybe you should see if you could help him," Rian told him innocently, knowing all too well that the Doctor wanted to run with the Olympic Torch.
He didn't respond after that, but Rian wasn't worried, knowing that he was safe.
However, what did worry her was the realization that the drawings were coming back to life, which very well could include Chloe's father.
Rian took off back towards the house to see Rose banging on the door to the house.
"Rose!" she called out, seeing a red glow coming through the glass on the door.
"Sing again! Chloe, sing!" Rose called out, and Rian followed suit. Together, they tried to encourage the family, and let out a breath of relief when they could no longer hear the words of Chloe's father, but instead the sound of the mother and daughter laughing together.
"I have a feeling we should watch the news right now," Rian said with a small smile, nudging Rose as Kel approached them.
The Time Lady pulled out her sonic and unlocked the door. They entered the house to see Chloe sitting with Trish watching the news.
"Just look at this! Utterly incredibly scenes at the Olympics stadium - eighty thousand athletes and spectators, they disappeared - they've come back!" the reporter said. "They've returned. They've reappeared. It's quite incredible. Bob, this will certainly…"
Rose shook her head and looked at Rian, tears in her eyes. "Eighty thousand people, so where's the Doctor...?" she asked.
"Just keep watching," she said, nodding to the screen, knowing the Doctor was about to make an appearance.
"The torch bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier which seemed to strike him... erm, maybe he's injured... he's definitely in trouble," the commentator said as the torchbearer collapsed onto the ground. "Does this mean that the Olympic Dream is dead?"
Rian grinned to herself, hearing the Doctor exclaim to her how he was actually holding the Olympic torch as the news coverage turned their attention to him.
"Did you know?" Rose asked, looking over to see the smile on the redhead's face.
"Maybe…" she trailed off, looping her arm through Rose's, resting her head on her shoulder.
"There's a mystery man - he's picked up the flame... we've no idea who he is... erm... he's carrying the flame, yes! He's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him. There's a mystery
man - he's picked up the flame... we've no idea who he is... erm... he's carrying the flame, yes! He's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him," the man said, and Rose squeezed her arm, glad to see the Doctor safe and sound.
"It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope. And it's courage. And it's love," the commentator said, and on the screen, they could all see the Doctor place the torch into the Flame.
He turned to the crowd and cheered along with the eight-thousand people in the crowd.
"That it is," Rian said with a smile, looking up at Rose who grinned back, her tongue poking through.
"Bye, Chloe, Trish, Kel," the two girls waved, leaving the house in smiles.
"Ooh, why don't we surprise the Doctor with the cupcakes," Rose suggested as they walked aimlessly.
"If we're quick," she trailed off, laughing as she almost fell from the force of Rose pulling her towards the TARDIS.
They had been quick, grabbing one cupcake for the Doctor and one for Rian, who ate it on their way back towards Trish's house.
"Oh, there he is!" Rose said and quickly ran up behind him, leaving Rian to walk alone while eating her cupcake.
"Cake?" Rose asked, catching his attention. She held out the cupcake, adorned with ball bearings, just as he liked.
"Mm. I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat - masterpiece!" he said, taking a bite into it.
"Rian said you'd say that," she said as the redhead caught up to them.
"We put them on just for you," she said, some frosting on the tip of her nose from taking a bite.
Rose threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "Ooh, I thought I'd lost you."
"Nah! Not on a night like this! This is a night for lost things being found. Come on!" he said, reaching out as swiping the frosting off of Rian's nose and eating it.
Rian stood between the two as they walked back to the TARDIS, her arms wrapped with theirs.
"What now?" Rose asked, looking across to the Doctor.
"I wanna go to the games! What we came for!" he gave both of them a good grin.
"Go on - give me a clue - which events do we do well in?" Rose asked, and Rian and the Doctor shared a look.
"Well, I will tell you this: Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put," he said around a bite of the cupcake.
"Liar, we both know that Poland wins," she said, causing him to flick her ear lightly.
"Spoil sport," he said and she laughed at that, getting an odd look from Rose.
"You know what; they keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will," Rose said with a grin, unaware of where the Doctor's mind went.
"Never say never ever," he said, casting her a serious look.
"Nah. We'll always be okay, you, me, Rian," she said confidently, but looked over to see the Doctor look up at the sky. "Don't you reckon?"
"Something in the air. Something's coming," he said, looking over at Rian who nodded slightly, also feeling it.
"What?" Rose asked, noticing the exchange.
"A storm's approaching," he said, causing Rose to shiver nervously as they walked into the TARDIS.
Later that evening, after having watched a day's worth of games and Rose fast asleep in her room, the Doctor and Rian were sitting in the library in front of the fireplace, cups of tea in each of their hands.
"Your parents told me you were dead. They came to me and said that you had died on Skaro, just weeks after I had just heard from you" he told her quietly, to the point where she had to strain to hear him. "So tell me, please, what happened?"
"I was still working with the Academy as a history professor when the war began," she said, watching the flame dance around the logs. "I was recruited by the war council to be a researcher, to look at old wars records and give statistics and offer techniques that worked before."
She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, trying to find her words. "They decided that the records in Arcadia weren't enough, and they had learned that the Daleks were keeping valuable information locked away on Skaro. So… they sent me on a recon mission to retrieve the records."
"They sent you to Skaro? That's basically a suicide mission," he exclaimed, and she let out a humorless laugh.
"Oh, trust me, it was. My parents fought against me going," she explained, finally meeting his eyes. "My lack of training mixed with the radioactive air almost got me killed within minutes. But, I managed to find the records, but the mission went sideways almost immediately after. I barely managed to escape and crash-landed in my parent's home."
She had hidden it well, but he had seen it in her eyes the past few days. The war broke everyone, it tore people down until there was nothing left. Rian had always tried to see the best in everything, she was always the more positive one of the pair, yet he could see the pain behind her smile.
"They were horrified by the sight of me, I was barely able to stand up, let alone walk. It was obvious I was about to regenerate, but they couldn't stand to see me go back to the council to be sent on more missions, and honestly, I couldn't either. So, while I was regenerating, I used the chameleon circuit," she told him quietly, taking a sip of her tea.
"Rian, you could have died," he said, having been listening to her words intently.
"But I didn't," she said, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. They took me to Cardiff, 1992, and left me at an Orphanage, knowing that I'd be safer growing up human than continuing to fight in the war."
She took a deep breath, pulling her hand out of it to turn back towards the fire. "They needed the council to believe I was dead, so you needed to believe I was dead."
"It killed me to know that you were dead," he told her after a brief moment of silence. "I always wished I had been able to see you one last time, to talk to you."
This drew Rian's attention, and she looked at him with a small frown. "Was something wrong?"
"There were a lot of things that I regretted," he told her, placing his cup on the coffee table, taking a deep breath while doing so. "But the thing I regretted the most was never telling you that I loved you."
Rian stared at him in shock, but couldn't stop her hearts from picking up speed. "You… loved me?" she barely got out.
"I loved you when we were in the Academy, and I love you now," he admitted, looking at her with such an intense gaze she felt dizzy.
"Why didn't you ever say?" she asked him, inching her face closer to his.
"I wanted to travel and you wanted to stay on Gallifrey. I… didn't think it'd be fair for either of us," he told her, and she looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. "And by the time I came back, I didn't think I stood a chance anymore."
"I loved you when we were younger too," she choked back her tears.
"I love you now, Theta," she said, moving her hands to grip his face gently. "And Victoria loved you so much. When I opened my watch, I could feel just how much she loved you. That love combined with mine, I never stood a chance."
He stared at her, a dopey smile growing on his face as they gazed at each other. He leaned in, close enough that she could feel his breath tickle her cheek.
"Neither did I," he whispered, before closing the distance between the two.
Hello, everyone! I found this chapter super fun to write since you got to meet Rian better! I'm really excited to explore her and the Doctor's relationship from here on out (especially since I love writing fluff). I'm really proud of this chapter, it's the longest I've ever written (11k+). A big thank you to Matheoriel Artemis for proofing this chapter for me! I hope you all really enjoy this chapter, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. I appreciate all the follows, favorites, and reviews I've been getting. Thank you all so much. Once again, I don't own Doctor Who, just Rian!
Don't forget to check out the Tumblr page I've created for this story at historical-love-series ! I'll post updates, what I picture characters to wear, Q/A, and basically anything Doctor Who! Also check out my other story, Historical Love - Behind the Scenes. I'll post fluffy one-shots and anything in between.
Now, onto the reviews!:
NicoleR85 - I hope you like Rian! I've been super excited to introduce her into the story. I hope you like this chapter!