A/N: Check my pinterest for Diana's outfit! Otherwise, enjoy the story. I am still going through the stage of not being able to properly write or have any inspiration, so I apologize if it shows. I got stuck halfway through the chapter, but I pulled through. Eventually.

I woke up early the next morning to Jenny knocking at my door. She me that the TARDIS had been found and delivered to the house only minutes ago, and she recommended that I find an appropriate outfit to wear before I went out into the city. Jenny accompanied me into the TARDIS wardrobe to help me find a something to wear and help me put it on.

Once I was dressed, Jenny gave me a map of the city and a small purse to carry it in. "I don't know where the Doctor might be, but maybe this will help. At least you won't get lost."

I accepted the map with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Jenny," I answered with a sigh.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Vastra wanted me to ask if you had any way of communicating with us. She would've done all this herself, but she's a bit busy at the moment with the Camberwell child poisoner. She's interrogating him."

"Oh. Oh, um, okay." I scratched the back of my neck as I thought. "Well, I have my phone."

"You don't have anything else?" Jenny wondered.

"I don't think so-"

The TARDIS whirred overhead and opened the wardrobe door. Jenny looked to me in confusion and I stared back at her. The ship whirred again and flashed the lights in the hallway outside.

"Is the TARDIS trying to communicate with us?" Jenny asked.

I nodded and stepped into the adjoining hallway. "I think so. I just… I'm not sure what she's trying to say."

Jenny and I were led via flashing lights to the console room, where the ship had made a small, wooden box appear on the console. I opened the box and found what looked like a set of five earpieces.

"What are those?" Jenny asked as she looked over my shoulder.

I picked one up and fitted it into my ear. "I think they're earpieces. Like, communicators," I explained as I passed one earpiece to Jenny.

Jenny stuck it inside her ear and then looked into the box. "There's three others," she noted.

"For Vastra, Clara, and Strax maybe?"

"Most likely." She smiled and gratefully patted the ship's console. "Thank you, TARDIS. I'll give these to the others so you have more time to look for the Doctor. And if you should get yourself into trouble, then just say the safe word."

"What's the safe word?" I asked.

Jenny looked curiously at me, as if she was surprised I didn't know the answer. "Geronimo."

"Oh. Right," I chuckled. "What else would it be?"

I started for the door and Jenny followed behind me. We stepped outside together and then I closed the doors behind me with a sigh.

"Thanks, Jenny." I checked my purse for my map and phone, then pulled the earpiece out and dropped it inside. I'd put it in once I found the Doctor so I could let the others know. "Looks like I'm off then. Wish me luck."

"I know you'll find him. He can't have gone very far."

"Excuse me, ma'am? Have you seen a fairly tall Scottish man with gray hair?"

The woman I had spoken to raised an eyebrow at me. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, it's just… my grandfather. My, um, grandfather ran away last night," I said slowly, hoping that the lie was plausible enough to be trusted. "He's been sick recently and he disappeared last night. I was just wondering if maybe you had seen him."

The woman looked me up and down before letting out a little 'humph'. "I have not seen any sort of Scottish man," she answered haughtily before walking off with her nose in the air.`

"Gee, thanks," I mumbled.

A man behind me whistled, drawing my attention. I turned towards the sound and spotted a middle-aged man in dirty street clothes. He nodded once at me and gestured for me to come closer.

"I saw a man in a nigh'shir' less 'n an 'alf 'our ago," he told me. "Tall, gray 'air."

"Really? Where? Could you show me?"

The man pointed across the street to an alleyway. " 'e went down there, love. Mutterin' under 'is breath like a madman."

I smiled in relief and patted the man on the shoulder. "Thank you so, so much," I breathed before turning and darting across the street.

The alleyway the man had pointed to was set around a corner between two tall, brick buildings. It was dirty and smelly and the ground was littered with trash. To one side was a small cart full of sacks and with a cracked wheel and on the other side was a group of large, wooden barrels and a few crates. At the far end of the alleyway was a man in a dirty nightshirt leaning over a pile of ragged sacks and old food.

"Doctor!" I cried.

The Time Lord whirled around to face me when I called his name. I smiled and rushed forward, pulling him into a tight embrace with a laugh.

"Oh, Theta, you're alright," I breathed against his chest. When I inhaled, however, I started coughing when I finally noticed the strong odor reeking from the Time Lord's clothes. "Oh, God."

"What's wrong?" he asked as he looked down at me.

"Can't you smell that?" I asked between coughs.

The Doctor nodded and glanced around the alleyway. "It keeps following me," he muttered.

I sighed and lightly ran a hand up and down the Doctor's arm. He looked over his shoulder at the pile of trash he'd been digging around in earlier. "Hey, um, why don't you come with me?" I suggested. "I'll take you back home."

"Home?" he repeated, the word drawing his attention and making him look at me again.

I smiled and nodded. "Home. Back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor stared down at me in silence. He raised one hand to my face and ran his fingers down my cheek. "I know you," he whispered.

"You'll remember," I assured him with another smile. "Just give it time."

The Doctor furrowed his brows and turned away from me. He stepped towards the heap of trash by his feet and started rummaging through it again. Beneath a metal can of trash, which he emptied and then tossed aside, and a few half full sacks was a large, cracked mirror.

"Theta? What are you doing?" I asked as I peeked over his shoulder.

The Doctor leaned over the mirror and wiped it clean with the sleeve of his nightshirt. I walked up behind him and gently said his name again. He stared down at his reflection, completely ignoring me until I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Bitey!" he said as he turned to face me.

"What?"

"The air," he explained with a grabby hand motion, "it's bitey. It's wet and… and bitey."

A cold breeze drifted through the alleyway, causing both of us to shiver. The Doctor grimaced and his teeth chattered slightly. "You're cold," I realized. "You mean it's cold."

"That's right. It's cold," he repeated. "It's cold, I knew it was a thing."

I put my hands on both of the Time Lord's arms and rubbed them in an attempt to warm him up a little. Since he was just in a pair of long underwear and a nightshirt, it wasn't a surprise that he was cold even with his superior Time Lord biology.

"Why don't we go back to the TARDIS? It'll be warm there. Jenny and Vastra found it and brought it to their house. We can go inside and get you a bath and then you can rest some more."

"No. No, no, no. I don't need rest, I need… I need clothes."

"Well, there's clothes back on the T-"

"No, I need clothes," the Doctor said again. "That's what I need. And a big, long scarf… No, no, no. Moved on from that. Looked stupid," he finally muttered.

I sighed and gently patted the Doctor on his arms. "Theta, will you please just listen to me? You need to get some rest." The Doctor pulled out of my arms and walked towards the mirror. "Please, just come back with me."

"Have you seen this face before?" he asked, suddenly turning on the spot to stare at me.

"Uh…" I chewed thoughtfully on my bottom lip as I looked into the Doctor's eyes. I wasn't sure if he meant if I had seen him in his future, as Caecilius, or as John Frobisher. "Yes…?"

"You have? Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes, I've seen it before, Doctor."

"That's curious because I'm sure that I have, too," he answered. "You know, I never know where the faces come from. They just pop up. Zap! Faces like this one."

"Well-"

"Come on, look at it!" he exclaimed as he jumped forward to grab hold of my arm. He tugged me over to the mirror and made me look at his reflection. "Have a look, come on. See?"

"Yes, I see. But it's just a reflection."

"No, look, it's covered in lines," he said firmly as he gestured to the wrinkles on his reflection. "But I didn't do the frowning. Who frowned me this face?"

"Who frowned-? Theta, they're wrinkles. And don't worry about them. They're fine."

"But she…" The Doctor shook his head and made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. "She didn't… she didn't like them."

Clara, I realized. He means Clara doesn't like his wrinkles.

Frustration bubbled up in my chest when I realized what the Doctor meant. It made me angry that Clara's remarks had already made him so self-conscious when he had only had his new body for less than a day.

"Hey. Look at me," I said softly, placing my hand on the Doctor's cheek to guide his face towards mine. "It doesn't matter what anyone thinks. Okay? Your wrinkles are wonderful. It doesn't matter what Clara thinks about them."

The Doctor's eyes were flitting back and forth across my face as I spoke. He leaned forward slightly, his eyebrows moving up and down slightly. Then he suddenly pulled away and looked back at his reflection. I sighed and took a step back while he stared into the mirror.

"You okay?" I wondered.

Still looking at the mirror, the Doctor replied, "Do you ever look in the mirror and think I've seen that face before?"

I smiled. "Yes, but I didn't just regenerate."

The Time Lord raised his eyebrows at me. "Really? Well, when do you think that exactly?"

"Every time I look in the mirror."

"Oh. Oh, yes, fair enough," the Doctor mumbled. "Good point. My face is fresh on, though."

"Yes, I know," I sighed.

The Doctor continued to stare at his reflection. "Why this one? Why did I choose this face? It's like I'm trying to tell myself something." He turned back to me and shook his head in confusion. "Like I'm trying to make a point. But what is so important that I can't just tell myself what I'm thinking?"

I gazed up at the Doctor as he spoke. I didn't know how to answer his question, I only had an idea and it was a vague idea at that.

"I'm not just being rhetorical here," the Doctor exclaimed. "You can join in."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me if you like it?"

"Like what?"

"My face!"

"Of course I like it. Why wouldn't I?"

The Doctor sighed in exasperation. "I don't know. I don't like it. I mean, it's all right up until the eyebrows. Then it just goes haywire. Look at the eyebrows!" he exclaimed as he began wiggling them. "These are attack eyebrows. You could take bottle tops off with these!"

I couldn't help it; I burst into laughter. The Time Lord watched me curiously, probably wondering what had amused me so much.

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered through my giggles. I held up a finger to signal that he should wait. "I'm sorry, that was just… really funny."

"It's not funny," the Doctor scoffed. "Look at them! They're cross! They're crosser than the rest of my face. They're independently cross."

"Are they?"

"They probably want to cede from the rest of my face and set up their own independent state of eyebrows. That's Scot!" he suddenly shouted. "I am Scottish. I've gone Scottish!"

"Uh, yes, you have."

"No, see, that's good." He suddenly let out a string of 'oh's that gradually went lower in octaves. "It's good I'm Scottish. I'm Scottish. I am… Scottish. I can complain about things, I can really complain about things."

I raised a single eyebrow at the Time Lord. "Are you okay?"

"I'm Scottish! And I'm cold," he added as an afterthought.

"Me too. So let's go back to the TARDIS."

"No, wait. Wait." The Doctor pointed a finger at me and shook his head, then ran back to the mirror. "Shut up. Shut up, shut up. I missed something. It was here, it was here. What was it I saw? What did I see?"

He began rifling through the trash until he found a disposed newspaper. He picked it up and then ran back to me, pointing at one of the headlines.

"This is what I saw," he whispered in my ear. "Spontaneous combustion."

The paper read: Fourth case of spontaneous combustion. The death of Margaret Roberts occurred on Friday, outside her home address in London, in what the police are describing as a curious case of spontaneous combustion. She was aged 68 years.

I took the paper and looked over it again. "Spontaneous combustion? But, that's just like the dinosaur," I said as I looked up at him.

The Time Lord nodded and grinned. "Yes."

"So it's murder."

"Maybe. Probably. Almost definitely."

"Who would murder innocent people by lighting them on fire and then kill a dinosaur?" I wondered.

The Doctor shrugged and answered, "I don't know, but I probably blame the English."

"Good thing I'm not English, then."

The Doctor insisted on investigating the murders as well as finding a coat to keep himself warm, but refused to go back to the TARDIS. I had to go along with him since I couldn't risk losing him again and he wouldn't listen to anything I suggested. As we walked along the sidewalk, I glanced over the newspaper that the Doctor had shown me earlier. On the outside page was a small advert that caught my eye immediately.

"Doctor?"

"Hm?"

"Look." I grabbed the Time Lord by the elbow and pulled him to a stop. "I think Clara sent us a message."

He pulled the newspaper out of my hands to inspect it himself. The advert read: Impossible Girl - Lunch on the other side?

"I remember!" the Doctor shouted as he looked up from the paper.

"You do?"

"Yes!"

A few people gave us strange looks as they walked by, but I ignored them.

"Okay. What do you remember?"

"Impossible," he muttered. "Impossible… girl. My Impossible Girl."

"You remember Clara?"

He nodded and smiled faintly. "My Clara," he whispered as he stared off into space.

A pang of jealousy burst to life in my chest, but I quickly stamped it out. The Doctor needs you, I reprimanded myself. Forget about Clara and her stupid crush. Focus on him. Help him.

"So, um, do you… do you remember anything else?" I wondered, trying to keep my tone neutral.

"Yes."

"Really?" I asked hopefully. "What?"

The Doctor suddenly rolled up his sleeve and pointed to a watch clasped around his wrist that I had failed to notice before. "I have a watch," he said excitedly.

"I see that."

"It's my favorite."

"Okay…"

He then looked back down at the paper and turned it over a few times. "Where am I supposed to go?"

"Huh?"

"For lunch. Where am I supposed to go? There's no address."

I yanked the paper away from the Time Lord and looked at the advert again. "There's not? How are we supposed to find her if there's no address?"

"It's a guessing game."

"No, it's not a guessing game," I sighed. "Clara wouldn't do that… I don't think."

The Doctor grabbed the paper again and flipped it over, running his forefinger down the page. I leaned against his shoulder and watched in curious silence. He pulled the page apart from the rest of the paper and flipped it back and forth.

"Okay, what are you doing?"

"It says on the other side."

"So? Why are you flipping the paper back and-?" I gasped when I realized what the Doctor was trying to do. "On the other side of the page!"

The Doctor smiled and nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. "You're catching on quick," he praised.

We both turned the paper over at the same time and looked at the spot on the page where the Impossible Girl advert was. There was another advert for a restaurant on the same spot as Clara's advert: Mancini's Family Restaurant, the Best Dinner in London.

"Right. We have to find the restaurant."

I looked up at the Doctor and shook my head. "But we don't know where it is. I have a map, but it doesn't have restaurants on it."

"Actually, never mind that."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm still cold."

"You know, there's probably clothes back on the TARDIS," I suggested.

The Doctor only shook his head. "Look, there's a man," he said, pointing at a beggar on across the street. "I like his coat."

"Theta, no," I said firmly.

"Oh, phfft."

The Time Lord took off running across the street, his nightshirt flapping in the breeze. He narrowly dodged a few carriages and nearly tripped over the curb as he stepped onto the sidewalk. I looked both ways and then dashed across the semi-busy street.

"Okay, you are never doing that again," I snapped breathlessly.

The Doctor was already speaking to the beggar and fingering his watch. He started to unhook it from his wrist and then waved it in front of the other man with an exasperated expression.

"Give me your coat," he demanded.

The beggar took one look at the watch before snatching it out of the Doctor's hand. He then shrugged off his coat and handed it to the Doctor.

"Alright, now your gloves."

"Theta!"

"You said you wanted the coat!" the older man insisted.

"Yeah, well now I want your gloves too." He waved his hands impatiently. "Come on, come on, I haven't got all day!"

The beggar mumbled grumpily under his breath, but tugged his fingerless gloves off and handed them to the Doctor. The Time Lord in question smiled and pulled the items on one by one.

"Now, tell us where this restaurant is," the Doctor said, snatching the newspaper out of my hands to show the man. "This one. Mancini's. Where is it?"

"Four blocks tha' way," the beggar replied, pointing to our far left. " 's righ' off Tower Bridge Road."

"Thank you," I interjected, pulling the Doctor away by his arm. "Very much. You've been really helpful. Have a good day."

I turned the Doctor around and pushed him in the direction the man had gestured to. The Time Lord grumbled under his breath, but let me guide him down the sidewalk with my arm linked through his. We walked in silence for a block or two before the Doctor suddenly cried out and stopped in his tracks.

"What?" I asked worriedly. "What is it?"

The Time Lord suddenly turned towards me and grabbed me by the shoulders, exclaiming with a grin, "Diana, I remember!"

"Wait. You do?" I asked softly.

"Yes," he answered, bending his knees slightly so his eyes were level with mine.

I smiled and tilted my head to the side as I regarded the man before me. He was watching me expectantly and seemed confused when I didn't speak at first. I slowly extended an arm and lightly touched his chest.

"You said my name."

His hands slid from my shoulders and hung by his sides instead. "Yeah, so?"

"So you remembered," I answered as I leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Welcome back."

The Doctor grinned and suddenly grasped my left hand. A shiver ran up my arm at his touch and in that one moment, it was just the two of us together. I squeezed his hand and looked up at him expectantly.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let's go find our Impossible Girl."

"Look, she's right there! See?" the Doctor whispered as he looked through the window.

I came up beside the Doctor and peered through the glass, spotting Clara sitting at one of the tables at the back. Her gaze trained on something across the room and she kept fiddling with the folded newspaper in her hands. Turning back to the Doctor, I grabbed his hand and pulled him after me inside the restaurant. Clara was still staring at something on the other side of the room, so I tugged the Doctor after me and guided him to the table. I pointed to the empty spot in the booth by Clara and told the Doctor to sit there, then I released his hand and sat down at the chair across the table from both of them. Clara spotted me as I sat down and turned so she was facing me.

"Hello."

I nodded politely at the teacher. "Hello," I answered.

"You forgot to put your earpiece in."

I groaned and nodded when I realized that I had indeed forgotten about it. "Damn. Sorry," I sighed.

"Just put it in now," she replied. "Vastra and Jenny and Strax are all waiting for the word in case something goes wrong."

Clara suddenly furrowed her brows and then slowly turned her head to the side so she could see the Doctor. She coughed and waved a folded newspaper in front of her nose as she stared at the Time Lord. I chuckled, having already gotten used to the Doctor's smell, and reached inside my purse for the earpiece to slip it in.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked.

Clara scoffed. "I don't know. Maybe the smell?"

"I know. It's everywhere," he replied, the true meaning of her words going right over his head.

I smiled and ducked my head so neither one would see it. Clara sighed and set her newspaper down on the table. "Where did you get that coat?" she asked.

The Doctor glanced at me, silently begging me to help him with an appropriate answer. I shook my head and leaned back in my seat. "Why don't you tell her, Doctor?"

"Er, I bought it," he said slowly, coughing slightly.

Clara raised an eyebrow. "From where?"

"Eh, a shop?"

"No," Clara scolded.

The Doctor grimaced and looked away, biting at his thumbnail. He thought for a moment and then mumbled to himself, "Might have been a tramp."

Clara leaned forward slightly in an attempt to make eye contact with the Time Lord. "You don't have any money."

The Doctor tilted his head back and gazed at the ceiling. "Uh…, I had a watch," he finally answered.

"No!" Clara whined in disappointment. "That watch was beautiful."

I sighed and nodded in agreement with Clara's statement. "I told him not to, but would he listen?"

"It was my favorite," the Doctor sighed.

Clara's brows furrowed together in confusion. "You swapped your favorite watch for that coat? That's maybe not a good deal," she told him.

The Doctor groaned and ran his hands down his face. "Well, I was in a hurry. There was this terrible smell and-"

"Okay," Clara interrupted in a frustrated voice.

The Doctor stared at Clara for a moment before suddenly smiling and chuckling. But Clara shook her head and gestured for him to stop.

"No. No, don't," she snapped. "Don't. Don't- Don't smile. I will smile first and then you know it's safe to smile."

"Are you cross with me?" the Time Lord questioned.

"I am not cross," Clara grumbled. "But if I was cross it would be your fault and… Yes, I am cross."

"I guessed that," the Doctor replied smartly.

"I am extremely cross."

The Doctor had managed to get worked up in the span of a few sentences. "And if I hadn't changed my face, would you be cross?" he asked grumpily.

"I would be cross if I wasn't cross!"

"Why?" the Doctor and I asked in unison.

"Why?" Clara repeated. Her voice had gotten progressively louder, so she quickly leaned back in he seat and calmed herself before answering. She turned to the Doctor and picked up the newspaper. "An ordinary person wants to meet someone that they know very well for lunch. What do they do?"

The Doctor glanced at me in confusion. Why was Clara asking that if it was her message? "Well, they probably get in touch and suggest lunch," he answered slowly.

"Mm hm. Okay, so what sort of person would put a cryptic note in-in a newspaper advert?" Clara wondered.

"Well, I wouldn't like to say," the Doctor said softly.

"Oh, go on, do say," Clara urged.

I interjected then. "Um, why are you asking this exactly?" I asked the schoolteacher.

"Because I want to hear his answer."

The Doctor and I shared another confused look, but the Time Lord eventually answered. "Well, I would say that that person would be an egomaniac, needy, game-player sort of person," he admitted.

"Theta!" I scolded firmly.

Clara didn't seem phased by my tone. She smiled and nodded before looking back at her newspaper. "Ah, thank you. Well, at least that hasn't changed."

The Doctor smiled faintly and nodded. "And I don't suppose it ever will," he whispered.

"No, I don't suppose it will, either," Clara replied with a smile.

I was extremely confused. Why was Clara pleased that the Doctor had called her an 'egomaniac, needy, game-player'? Why had she thanked him for admitting that? My thoughts were cut short when I saw the Doctor lean across the table and gently rest his hand on top of Clara's.

"Clara, honestly," the Time Lord began in a gentle tone, "I don't want you to change."

I hadn't been jealous the night before when Clara admitted her feelings for the Doctor. Frustrated and hurt, of course, but not jealous because I knew the Doctor was married to me. But when I saw the Doctor lean in close to the other woman and speak to her in a low, sincere tone of voice, I felt my heart sink to my stomach. I had to look away.

"It was no bother, really," the Time Lord continued. "We saw your advert, we figured it out. I'm happy to play your game."

"No. No, no, no. I didn't place the ad, you placed the ad," Clara said quickly.

I looked up from the table to stare at Clara in shock. The Doctor shook his head in disagreement.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you placed the ad, I figured it out." Clara picked up the paper and thrust it into the Doctor's line of vision. "Impossible Girl, see? Lunch."

The Doctor shook his head again. "No, look. That is a message from the Impossible Girl," he said firmly, taking the paper and pointing at Clara's ad.

"For the Impossible Girl," Clara trailed off.

The Doctor looked to me, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Ooo," he hummed with a smile.

Clara furrowed her brows in confusion. "Huh."

I leaned forward to pick the newspaper up and look at the ad again. "But if it wasn't any of us, then who was it?" I questioned. "Who else would know that you're the Impossible Girl?"

"So it wasn't you?" Clara asked.

"Of course not," I scoffed. "I'm nowhere smart enough to think up something like this."

Clara suddenly gasped. "Hang on!" She turned to face the Doctor and glared at him. "Egomaniac, needy, game-player?"

The Doctor was looking out at the restaurant, searching for something. "This could be a trap," he whispered.

"That was me?" Clara snapped.

"Never mind that," the Time Lord said dismissively.

"Yes, I am minding that."

The small purse tied around my wrist suddenly began buzzing. I reached into the bag and pulled out my phone to see that someone was calling me. "Can you excuse me for a minute?" I asked the pair, waving my phone in the air so they could see it.

Clara glanced at me and nodded. "Yeah, go ahead," she mumbled.

"Where are you going?" the Doctor asked.

"Phone call," I answered quickly as I stood up. "Be right back."

I hurried outside and pulled the earpiece out of my ear and cupped it in my free hand. "Um, hello?" I asked softly as I answered the phone, trying to be as discreet about it so passers-by wouldn't notice the technology I was using.

"Hello again, love," Missy sang into the phone.

I was surprised to be receiving a call from the woman, but was somewhat pleased to hear the familiar voice. "Oh. Missy, hi," I replied with a smile. "What's up?"

Missy scoffed. "You never called me back!" she exclaimed, her tone suggesting the answer to my question was obvious.

"I- What?" I thought back to our last conversation and remembered that I had promised to call the woman again. "Oh."

"Ah, she remembers."

I laughed slightly in embarrassment and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Look, the last few days have been… difficult. I completely forgot. Actually, I'm really sorry, but I'm actually in the middle of something right now."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Uh…" I glanced over my shoulder and through the window of the restaurant where the Doctor and Clara were arguing in hushed tones. "It's… a thing," I mumbled as the Doctor pulled a hair out of Clara's head.

"A thing?" the woman on the phone repeated incredulously.

"Yeah. An important thing. And I should really be going," I said quickly when I saw the Doctor pull another hair from Clara's head.

"Are you alright?" Missy asked with a laugh.

My tone changed from awkward and rushed to impatient and just a little rude. "Missy, I'm fine, but I really have to go. I'm sorry, but the Doctor needs me right now."

"I see." Missy let out a breath and I could tell that she was upset. "Then I'll just have to let you go."

"I'm sorry, but I'll call you back at some point okay? I promise. I just really need to go."

"Fine," she said shortly. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

I lowered the phone and quickly pressed the earpiece back into my ear. I managed to hear the end of the conversation between Clara and the Doctor as I turned back to the window.

"We could just casually stroll out of here, like we've changed our minds," Clara told the Doctor.

"Clara?" I asked as I peered through the window. "Everything okay in there?"

"Not really, no," she answered in a whisper.

She and the Doctor both stood up and started to walk around the table. The other customers in the restaurant stood up and faced them. I gasped and tried to look around the people at Clara.

"Clara, what's going on?" I asked worriedly.

The only response I got was Clara's slightly labored breathing. I heard her take a few steps forward and then stop when the others in the restaurant step closer to her and the Doctor.

"Clara," I repeated. "What is happening?"

"I don't think they want us to leave," the schoolteacher whispered. I could just see her head through the crowd inside and she turned towards the Doctor. "We could take another look at the menu," she suggested.

The Doctor mumbled in agreement and I could see them both turn and sit down again. As they did so, the others in the restaurant sat back down and resumed eating.

"Clara, hang on a sec. I'm gonna come back in."

"Diana, no!" she shout-whispered.

The Doctor glanced to the window when he heard Clara say my name. I met his eyes for a moment and then stepped away from the window so I could go back inside. I had just grabbed the door handle when the Doctor's voice sounded in my ear.

"Diana, get out of here," he ordered.

"Doctor? How are you-?"

"Listen to me," he interjected. "I want you to go. Clara and I can't leave, but there's no reason to put you in danger as well."

I hurried back to the window and saw the Doctor whispering behind his hand. Clara was staring worriedly at him and I could see her fidgeting with the newspaper on the table.

"No, look, it's… it's fine. Vastra and Jenny a-and Strax can hear all of this," I told the Doctor. "They're probably on their way now. It's fine."

"No," the Time Lord repeated firmly. "Stay outside and wait for them to arrive."

"But Theta, what about the two of you?"

"We'll be fine. Just stay outside. Promise me, Diana."

"But-"

"Promise me!"

I pressed my palm against the window and nodded at the Doctor. "A-alright. I promise," I whispered.

"What are they?" I heard Clara ask.

The Doctor kept his gaze locked on mine through the window when he answered. "I don't know. But don't worry, because that's not the question. The question is, what is this restaurant?"

"Okay, what is this restaurant?" Clara asked as I said, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," he answered. "To both of you."

The two picked up their menus and glanced over them as a waiter walked over to their table. I watched in silence at first, but there was something off about the waiter. He was extremely pale and moved almost robotically, like the other people in the restaurant.

"Uh, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked up and spotted the waiter. "Er, no sausages?" he wondered as he looked between the man and the menu. "And there's… there's no pictures either. Do you have a children's menu?"

The waiter lifted his arm and pointed something at the Doctor, as if he was scanning him. "Theta?" I asked worriedly. "What's going on in there?"

"Any specials?" the Doctor asked the waiter, ignoring my question completely.

"Liver," the waiter answered robotically.

The Doctor grimaced. "I don't like liver."

"Spleen," the waiter continued. "Brain stem. Eyes."

"I don't think he's talking about the menu, Doctor," I whispered under my breath.

Clara looked up from her menu at the waiter. "Mm, is there a lot of demand for those?" she wondered.

"I don't think that's what's on the menu," the Doctor said as the waiter turned to Clara. "I think we are the menu. Glad you got that phone call, Diana?"

"You have no idea," I mumbled.

The waiter was examining Clara with, from what I could tell, seemed to be a pen. "Lungs. Skin," he said.

The Doctor suddenly reached up and grabbed at the man's face. "Excuse me," he said to pardon his behavior, ripping the man's face off.

I shrieked and jumped away from the window in shock, causing several people to stare at me. "Doctor, what the hell?"

"Can you not do that again please?" he requested as he looked at the face in his hands.

"Is it… a robot?" I asked as I peered through the window at the waiter.

"Okay. Robot in a mask," I heard Clara say.

"It's a face," the Doctor said under his breath.

I saw Clara lean in close to him to look at it. "Yeah, it's very convincing," she noted.

The Doctor placed the face against Clara's and she kept it there as if it was a mask. "No, it's a face," he repeated.

"Oh God!" I yelped, feeling a sick feeling in my stomach when I realized he meant it was a real, human face.

Clara cried out and tossed the face onto the floor. The waiter, who had been standing there in silence until that moment, finally spoke up.

"Yes," he said simply.

The Doctor looked up at the robot in confusion. "Yes, what?"

"Yes, we have a children's menu."

The Doctor and Clara both cried out in alarm when metal arms flew out of the seats in the both and clasped around their bodies, keeping them from escaping or even moving. I cried the Doctor's name and banged my hands against the window in a panic.

"Diana, whatever you do, do not come after us alone!" the Doctor ordered.

"Doctor-"

"Stay there and wait for the others!"

I started to respond when the booth suddenly descended into the ground and disappeared from view. I called his name again and again, terrified that he was dead or unconscious when he didn't respond at first. Then I heard him say to Clara, "You've got to admire their efficiency."

"Really?" I exclaimed. "You've been kidnapped and that's what you're choosing to focus on?"

The connection with the Doctor crackled and it was hard to hear some of what he was saying. Suddenly, Vastra's voice sounded through the earpiece and I jumped in surprise.

"Diana, can you hear me?" the Silurian asked.

I stepped away from the window and nodded, pressing a hand against my other ear so I could hear her better. "Yeah, I can hear you. Where are you?"

"Jenny, Strax, and I are on our way as we speak."

"Oh, thank God," I sighed in relief. "We've got robots."

Jenny spoke up then. "We've called the authorities and they're on their way as well," she assured me. "They'll be able to keep any civilians out of the restaurant."

"Good," I replied. "From what I could tell, the robots here are murdering innocent customers and taking different organs from the bodies."

"Yes, we know," Vastra replied.

"We heard enough to understand what's happening," Jenny added.

"And Diana?"

"Yes, Vastra?"

The Silurian sighed heavily. "Do as the Doctor said. Please. Do not go after him or you may be killed."

"Almost definitely," the Doctor suddenly said, his voice crackling slightly.

I gasped and clapped a hand over my mouth. "Theta!" I cried happily. "You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive," he responded flippantly.

"The connection went out," I explained. "I thought something had happened to you."

"It did go out. But I sonicked the earpiece."

"Wait, so you escaped?"

"Eh… Yes and no," the Time Lord mumbled.

"Doctor?" Vastra interjected. "My apologies for interrupting, but is there anyway out?"

"Not that I can tell so far," he answered. "There's a bunch of robots down here beneath the restaurant."

"Are they dangerous?" Vastra asked.

"Dormant. Most likely. Although I'm really just hoping at this point," he admitted.

I could hear Clara's voice in the background. "So, is it these guys that killed the dinosaur?" she questioned.

"Well, if they're harvesting organs, a dinosaur would have some great stuff," the Doctor told her.

"Why would robots need organs?" Vastra and Jenny wondered.

I could hear Clara ask the Doctor the same question, and then add, "Burke and Hare from space?"

The Doctor chuckled. "No, but that's a good theory. Droids harvesting spare parts. That rings a bell," he added to himself.

There was silence after that and I felt my chest tighten in panic. "Doctor?" I called. "Doctor, are you okay?"

He took a breath and then whispered, "Captain, my Captain."

"Uh, I'm sorry?"

"There's a robot," the Time Lord explained. "He's the captain of the ship that crashed here, most likely."

"Wait, there's a ship?" Jenny suddenly asked.

"Yeah. These robots didn't just come here from the next town over, they crashed here. Probably a few centuries ago. They let the city build up around them and then started harvesting people for spare parts."

"Spare parts?" I repeated hesitantly.

The Doctor hummed in agreement. "Yes. This robot, the one that's most likely in charge, he a collection of various human parts. Nothing on him matches, not even the hands."

I wrinkled my nose and mumbled a disgusted, "Eew."

"So, is he a cyborg?" Clara wondered.

"Not your normal cyborg. This isn't a man turning himself into a robot. This is a robot turning himself into a man, piece by piece."

Clara gasped. "That's what the restaurant's for!"

"Well, it would need a constant supply of spare parts. You can tan skin, but organs rot." I could hear light shuffling and guessed the Doctor was probably inspecting the robot he was looking at. "Some of that metalwork looks Roman," he added as an afterthought.

"Metalwork?" I echoed in confusion.

"Wonder how long it's been around, how much of the original is even left? The eyeballs look very fresh, though."

"Oh, Doctor," I groaned. "That's gross."

Suddenly, there was a lot of noise that made the input from the Doctor's earpiece go fuzzy. I pulled it out of my ear and blew on it, thinking maybe there was some dust or earwax in it that had made the connection go bad. But when I put the device back in my ear, the feed was still cutting in and out.

"Doctor?" I called. "Doctor, can you hear me? Vastra, Jenny, can you hear him at all?"

"Not a thing," Vastra replied.

"What happened?" Jenny questioned.

I shoo my head and began pacing back and forth in front of the restaurant doors. "I have no idea," I answered. "But I have a really bad feeling about this."

The Doctor's voice suddenly came in clear. "I've seen this before," he muttered under his breath. "I'm missing something."

"Doctor!"

Clara echoed my exclamation and I could just make out the sound of feet pattering against a metal floor.

"It's the brand new head, rebooting," he said to himself.

Clara's voice was in my ear, which meant she was close to the Doctor's ear as well. "Come on," she shout-whispered as the sound of more running reached my ears.

"I've seen this before!" the Doctor insisted.

"Oh, hurry up," the schoolteacher urged impatiently. "Get out!"

I heard the Doctor stumble forward and then the sound of a metal door slamming shut echoed in the earpiece. I froze in my steps; that sound never meant anything good.

"Doctor?" Vastra called.

"Doctor? Doctor, what's going on?" I asked.

Clara called the Time Lord's name as well and I could her skin slapping against metal. "Quickly!" she cried desperately as the sonic screwdriver whirred in the background.

"Sorry, too slow," the Doctor said, the sonic going silent. "There's no point in them catching us both."

"Doctor," I repeated, "what is going on in there?"

"Well, give me the screwdriver!" Clara whispered forcefully.

"I might need it," the alien countered.

I heard another tiny slam of metal against metal, then the sound of feet slapping against metal. Someone was running and it sounded like the Doctor.

"Doctor!" Clara called, her voice breaking slightly. "Doctor, come back!"

"Are you leaving her?" I snapped incredulously. "Theta Sigma, you go back for her this instant!"

I could just hear Clara's final cry as the Doctor seemed to grow farther and farther away from her: "What would Diana think-?" Her question was suddenly cut off and terror filled my heart.

"Doctor!" I shouted, not caring that people on the sidewalk were staring at me like I was insane.

Vastra and Jenny were calling the Time Lord's name as well, begging that he explain what was going on. Only a minute later, my ear was filled with loud static. I cried out in disbelief and shook my head.

"Diana?" Vastra asked over the earpiece. "Diana, are you still there? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I-… I can hear you," I breathed.

Jenny spoke up then. "We're almost there. Don't go inside yet!"

"I-I won't," I replied emotionlessly.

Vastra's carriage arrived only minutes later and Vastra and her wife quickly jumped out as Strax pulled the carriage to a halt. Vastra went straight to the window to look inside at the robots, who were all still pretending to be eating. Jenny hurried to my side and made sure I was alright.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I sighed in response.

Jenny glanced at Vastra and the two shared a worried glance. "We're going to go inside and take care of those robots. You stay out here and watch the door for us. We'll let you in when it's safe."

I nodded and offered the woman a lopsided smile. "Okay."

Strax jumped down from the driver's seat and pulled a gun out from beneath his cloak. "We shall destroy these robot scum!" he exclaimed proudly, excitement shining in his eyes.

"Jenny, Strax, follow me!" Vastra ordered as she drew her sword.

Jenny drew her sword as well and the three rushed into the restaurant, the door slamming shut behind them. I looked through the window to see them easily defeating the robots. Jenny and Vastra's swords flew through the air with ease and the robots fell at their feet as the married couple passed.

Jenny stepped outside less than five minutes later and waved me in with a smile. "It's safe now," she told me.

I stepped back inside the restaurant, my gaze falling across the dozens of robots strewn across the floor. Vastra and Strax were standing by the shaft that the Doctor and Clara disappeared through. I stepped over the lifeless bodies of the robots to stand beside Vastra and Strax.

"Well?" I asked softly.

Vastra glanced at me from the corner of her eye as she sheathed her sword. "We need to find a way down in case Clara or the Doctor require our help."

"Are you going down this way?"

"If there is no other way." She turned and pointed to Strax, then Jenny. "Strax, you search the west end of the building for any way to the subterranean level. Jenny, you have the east end."

The two ran off to opposite ends of the restaurant while Vastra and I stayed put. She pulled a knife out from its spot strapped to her back and extended it to me, handle first.

"I want you to stay here if we are called to the Doctor's aide," the Silurian informed me. "The authorities are on their way. You will direct them in here, show them what has happened, and explain to them that no civilians are allowed in or near this building. Do you understand?"

I took the knife and slowly looked up into Vastra's eyes. "Yes," I answered seriously.

"Until then, I want you to keep out of sight. Only use that knife if absolutely necessary. I do not want you to be injured."

Loud static suddenly sounded in my ears for at least the third time that day. I could hear what I guessed was the sound of someone being dragged across the floor, but couldn't distinguish anything else. Vastra and I shared a worried look; we were both concerned for Clara's safety since the Doctor had abandoned her.

I pressed my free hand to my other ear to block out any noise. "Doctor? T-Theta, can you hear me?" I stammered nervously.

Silence.

Jenny rushed back into the room and Strax hurried in a few moments later. "Did anything happen?" Jenny wondered. "I thought I heard-"

"Nothing yet," Vastra interjected with a shake of her head. "But we should prepare to descend soon. Did either of you find another way down?"

Strax raised a hand and looked very proud of himself. "I have located the stairs!" he announced.

Vastra nodded. "Good. Jenny?"

"Nothing that I could see. What about in here?"

"We haven't looked yet," Vastra replied. "I was giving Diana instructions for when the police arrive."

"Let's start, then. There might be a trapdoor or something."

"All of you, look for any cracks in the floor. They could mean a trapdoor of some kind. Maybe search for levers or some kind of machinery that might open a hidden door."

I rushed across the room to the front door, searching for any levers that a robot waiter might have hidden in the walls. Vastra started preparing things for the descent into the lower level of the restaurant while Strax searched the floor and Jenny searched the walls by the shaft.

Jenny suddenly let out a gasp and I turned around to see what had excited her. "I think I found something," she announced. "It's a lever, but I don't know what it goes to."

Vastra walked over to her wife, a long sheath of white fabric wrapped around her waist. "Jenny, behind me. Strax, Diana, stay close to the walls," she ordered.

I held my breath and watched as Vastra pulled the lever. Two half-circle doors opened effortlessly in the floor to form one large hole. I approached the opening a little uncertainly, afraid that maybe it was a trap or it might open further and make us all fall through.

Looking down through the opening, I could see a man sitting in some sort of energy-powered chair that was connected to a lot of tangled cables. Approaching the middle of the room was a tall, bald man in a suit who was dragging an unconscious Clara in his arms.

I let out a relieved breath when I saw that Clara was apparently unharmed, but Vastra made a quick silencing motion with her hand. I clapped a hand over my mouth and took a step back, realizing that I might have already given our position away. Vastra then pushed the lever to its original position and let the trapdoors close again.

"That was incredibly close," she whispered. "It's a wonder they didn't hear us."

"Why do we not attack now?" Strax asked.

"Because we do not have a full grasp of the situation yet. And it was agreed between all of us that Clara say the code word if she needed our help. Seeing as she hasn't said it yet-"

"But she's in trouble!" Jenny exclaimed. "We should go in now before she gets hurt."

"No," Vastra replied with a shake of her head. "We wait. We prepare ourselves and then we wait."

"What do you need to prepare?" I questioned.

"This," Vastra answered as she pulled a bundle of white cloth from a pouch at her waist. "We often use these as a means of descending quickly."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the fabric wrapped around Vastra's waist. "Often?" I repeated slowly.

"Yes. Now, Diana, since we shall most likely be leaping down there to Clara's aide very soon, I will need your help with the door. Can you do that?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, sure. Pull the lever when we hear cries for help. Not a problem."

Jenny and Vastra both smiled. "Good. Thank you. Now then, Jenny, let me help you…"

A few minutes later, Jenny was fully ready to jump into the fray with her wife. Strax stood by the edge of the closed trapdoors with his gun drawn and ready to fire. I had already taken my position by the lever when my earpiece crackled with static again.

"Guys, is your earpiece going static-y?"

"Yeah, mine's pretty loud," Jenny replied with a wince.

I adjusted my earpiece so it wasn't shooting the sound so directly into my ear. Then I heard a woman gasp and I hoped it was Clara waking up.

"Where is the other one?" a man asked with a robotic voice asked suddenly. "There was another. Where is he? Where is the other? You will tell us, or you will be destroyed."

"What did you say?" Clara asked, making me breath another sigh of relief when I realized she was okay.

"You will tell us," the (assumed) robot repeated.

"Yeah, I know. Or what?"

"You will die."

There was a light shuffling of clothing and shoes tapping against the floor. Then Clara spoke again, he voice brave and defiant. "Go on, then. Do it. I'm not going to answer any of your questions, so you have to do it. You have to kill me. Threats don't work unless you deliver."

"Clara, what are you doing?" I whispered to myself.

"You will tell us where the other one is," the robot demanded.

Clara's voice had turned smug. "Nope."

"You will be destroyed."

"Destroy me, then. And if you don't, then I'm not going to believe a single threat you make from now on. Of course, if I'm dead, then I can't tell you where the other one went then. You need to keep this place down here a secret, don't ya?" Clara chuckled. "Never start with your final sanction. You've got nowhere to go but backwards."

The robot was silent for a few moments before it replied again. "Humans feel pain," it said simply.

Clara laughed then. "Ah. Bigger threat to smaller threat. See what I mean? Backwards."

"The information can be extracted by means of your suffering."

"Are you trying to scare me?" Clara asked, her voice trembling. " 'Cause I'm already bloody terrified of dying. And I'll endure a lot of pain for a very long time before I give up the information that's keeping me alive. How long have you got?"

The sound clockwork reached my ears and I heard Clara's breath falter.

"All you can offer me is my life. What you can't do is threaten it. You can negotiate…" She trailed off, her voice wavering and almost breaking. More whirring clockwork reached my ears and then I heard what sound like a flame igniting. "Okay, okay, okay. Okay, yes, yes, yes," Clara sobbed. "I'm crying and it's just because I am very frightened of you. If you know anything about human beings, that means you're in a lot trouble!"

"We will not negotiate," the robot answered.

"You don't have a choice," Clara snapped. "I tell you what. I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

"We will not answer questions."

Clara seemed to ignore the threatening tone to the robot's voice. "We'll take turns. I'll go first. Why did you kill the dinosaur?"

"We will not answer questions," the robot repeated.

But Clara was persistent and unafraid. "Why'd you kill the dinosaur?"

"We will not answer questions!"

"Then you might as well kill me, because I'm not talking again till you do."

Clara fell silent and all I could hear was the whirring of clockwork in the background. For a few long seconds I couldn't hear anything else until the robot finally decided to answer Clara's question.

"Within the optic nerve of the dinosaur is material of use to our computer systems."

I could hear Clara gasp a little. "You burned a whole dinosaur for a spare part? No. No, wait, hang on. You know what's in a dinosaur's optic nerve, which means you've seen them before."

The robot avoided her question and instead asked, "Where is the other one?"

"How long have you been rebuilding yourselves?" the schoolteacher asked incredulously. "Look at the state of you. Is there any real you left? What's the point?"

"We will reach the Promised Land," the robot finally answered.

"The what? The Promised Land? What's that?" Clara wondered.

"The Promised Land, Clara," I whispered. "Heaven. He means heaven."

"Where is the other one?" the robot repeated.

"Why is a robot looking for heaven?" I wondered as I looked to Vastra and Jenny. "I thought robots didn't have emotions o-or souls."

The robot repeated his question, to which Clara replied, "I don't know. But I know where he will be. Where he will always be. If the Doctor is still the Doctor, he will have my back."

There was a pause and I heard Clara stifle a sob. Despite our argument the previous day, I wanted more than anything to help her then. She was scared and alone and trying her best to be brave. And I knew she was probably going to be hurt or killed if we didn't do something soon.

"I'm right, aren't I? Go on. Please, please, God, say I'm right," she whispered desperately.

I could hear the rushing of people moving quickly, Clara gasping in relief and stumbling over something, and the Doctor taking a deep breath. My heart leapt to my throat and I felt both relieved and surprised to hear him address the robot.

"Hello, hello, rubbish robots from the dawn of time. Thank you for all the gratuitous information." He chuckled and I could hear him start pacing. "Five foot one and crying. You never stood a chance."

The sound of the sonic buzzing echoed loudly in my ear and then the lights overhead faltered for a moment.

"This is your power source," the Doctor began, "and feeble though it is, I can use it to blow this whole room if I see one thing that I don't like. And that includes karaoke and mime, so take no chances. See, Clara? That's how you disguise yourself as a droid."

"Yeah, well, I didn't have a lot of time," the woman snapped. I guessed that the Doctor had left Clara to disguise himself, but couldn't be sure. "I'd been suddenly abandoned!"

"Yeah, sorry. Well no, actually, I'm not. You're brilliant on adrenaline! And you are out of your depth, sir," the Time Lord said to the robot. "Never try and control a control freak."

"I am not a control freak!" Clara practically shrieked.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied sarcastically.

"Doctor, not really the time!" I sighed in frustration, thinking the earpiece was in Clara's ear.

"It's always the time for sarcasm, Diana," he replied smugly.

I didn't get to respond because the robot suddenly asked, "Why are you here?"

"Why did you invite us?" the Doctor countered. "The message. In the paper. That was you, wasn't it?"

When everyone fell silent, I gently breathed the Doctor's name. "What happened? Why is everyone quiet?"

"Oh," he sighed.

" 'Oh' what?"

"I hate being wrong in public," he mumbled. "Everybody forget that happened. Clara, say the word."

"What word?" she asked.

"They'd never send you in here without a word," he told her.

I could almost see the stubborn expression on her face. "I don't want to say it."

"I've guessed it already," the Time Lord sighed in response.

"Geronimo," they both said together.

I immediately pulled the lever down, making Vastra and Jenny descend into the level below the restaurant. I ran to the edge of the trapdoor and watched in awe as they landed flawlessly and unsheathed their swords together.

"Remain still," Vastra ordered, "and lay down your weapons in the name of the British Empire!"

Strax suddenly leapt after them, an extra piece of white fabric caught around his ankle. He let out a panicked cry as he fell and then landed with a thud.

"Strax," Vastra sighed in exasperation.

"Sorry," he muttered, obviously embarrassed.

Jenny shook her head. "I've told you before. Take the stairs!"

"Oh, look," the Doctor sighed in a not-so impressed tone. "The cavalry." He glanced up and spotted me at the edge of the trapdoor. I smiled and waved. "And the wife."

"Girlfriend," I reminded him.

The robot suddenly stepped forward, approaching the Doctor with an active flamethrower protruding from its right arm. "I burned an ancient, beautiful creature for one inch of optic nerve. What do you think you can accomplish, little man?" the robot spat.

"What do you?" the Doctor countered. He glanced to the side and nodded, pushing Clara behind him. "Vastra?"

Vastra rushed forward and blocked the robot's flamethrower with her sword. "The establishment upstairs has been disabled with maximum prejudice, and the authorities summoned," she said as she struggled against the robot's strength.

Clara grabbed the Doctor's arm. "Hang on, she called the police? We never do that. We should start!" she insisted.

The Doctor looked back at the robot. "You see? Destroy us if you will, they're still going to close your restaurant." He paused when everyone turned to stare incredulously at him. "That was going to sound better."

"Then we will destroy you!" the robot declared.

A few robots stepped into view and swords protruded from their forearms.

The Doctor looked around in panic and pushed Clara back again as he retreated a few paces. "No, you won't,' he said hopefully. "You're logical. You have restraint. You killed to survive. You're not a murderer."

"He's not a what?" Clara cried. "This is a slaughterhouse!"

"And how does that make it different from any other restaurant? You weren't vegetarian the last time I checked. This is over!" he said in reference to the robot. "Killing us won't change that. What would be the point?"

"To find the Promised Land," the robot replied.

"You're millions of years old. It's time you knew, there isn't one!"

"I am in search of paradise."

"Yeah, well, me too. I'm not going to make it either," the Time lord retorted with a shrug.

I felt my heart twist painfully at the Doctor's self-deprecating remark, but couldn't dwell on it because the robot suddenly shoved Vastra to the side and smacked the Doctor across the face with his flamethrower. The Doctor cried out and fell onto his side in the middle of the room, his sonic screwdriver falling out of his coat pocket.

"Doctor!" I cried in time with Clara as the schoolteacher hurried to his side and helped him up.

The robot took the chance to move towards the both at the base of the shaft the Doctor and Clara had disappeared down earlier. "I will leave in the escape capsule. Destroy where necessary," he ordered the other robots.

"Escape capsule?" Vastra repeated. "This ship is millions of years old. It'll never fly!"

"It has been repaired," the robot told her as he sat down in the booth.

Clara looked at him in confusion. "What with?"

"You," was the robot's only response.

"Defensive positions, everyone!" Strax shouted as he held his gun defensively in front of him.

"Doctor!" Clara exclaimed as the robot started to ascend the shaft. "He's getting away!"

I looked around the room for the Doctor, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Your friend is intelligent," the robot told Clara. "He'll know better than to follow me."

When I realized the robot was coming up the shaft rather quickly, I began racing around the room in a blind panic as I searched for a hiding spot. I spotted a corner near the front doors that was covered with the drapes from the window and raced across the room, throwing myself behind the drapes with a gasp as my knife slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.

I couldn't see anything and the air was must and dusty, but I could hear most of what was happening below the restaurant. I heard the restaurant doors fly open and then footsteps. I was barely able to see the outline of two people through the heavy drapes.

"Dear Lord, what has she landed us with this time?" one of the men breathed in shock.

The booth ascended fully up the shaft and stopped with a loud squeak. I heard the same clockwork whirring and then the robot spoke.

"The restaurant is closed," it said as I heard a flame being ignited.

The two men who had entered gave strangled cries of terror and ran outside. As the doors slammed shut, I heard the Doctor's breath in my earpiece mingled with the sounds of a struggle from beneath restaurant. A gush of air made the drapes hiding me stir slightly and I wondered if the robot had found me.

But when I heard the robot's voice, it was far across the room and nowhere near me. "What are you doing?" the robot asked.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the Doctor's voice, and rested my head against the wall. "I've got the horrible feeling I'm going to have to kill you," the Time Lord said softly. "I thought you might appreciate a drink first. I know I would."

"Theta?" I whispered after a moment.

"Hush," he replied under his breath as a loud grinding sounded through the restaurant. "Fifty first century, right?" he asked the robot. "Time travelling spaceship crashed in the past. You're trying to get home the long way round."

"I go to the Promised Land," the robot answered.

"So you keep saying." A pause. "Okay, so your restaurant is made out of your old ship. But you're wasting your time. It can't ever fly."

"The escape pod is viable," the robot responded.

"How? You can't patch up a spaceship with human remains. You know, this really is ringing a bell," he added to himself.

Sounds familiar too, I thought to myself as the building shook violently. I could still hear the Paternoster Gang fighting the other robots beneath us, so I quickly took the earpiece out and stuffed it into my purse. I needed to focus on what was happening up here.

"Okay, that's clever. How are you powering it?"

"Skin."

"What?" I breathed in confusion.

I could hear the Doctor walk across the room and my breath caught. I didn't want him to go too far away because this robot business was truly scaring me. I fell against the wall as the building shook again. It felt like the restaurant was being lifted into the air somehow, though I couldn't understand how.

"SS Marie Antoinette," the Doctor said. "Out of control repair droids cannibalizing human beings. I know that this is familiar, but I just can't seem to place it."

"How would you kill me?" the robot asked.

"Sister ship of the Madame De Pompadour," the Doctor mumbled. I peeked around the edge of the drapes to see him walking backwards with the robot advancing on him, his hands flapping at his sides. There was a small device in his right hand with tiny writing on it. "Nope, not getting it."

"Clockwork droids!" I gasped as I hid behind the drapes again.

"How would you kill me?" the robot repeated.

"Why don't you have a drink first?" the Time Lord wondered. "It's only human."

"I am not human."

"Neither am I."

I managed to see the shape of the Doctor pass in front of me then walk to a table nearby. He sat down and leaned forward as the robot copied his actions.

"What do you think of the view?" the Time Lord asked of his counterpart.

"I do not think of it."

"I don't think of it. I don't. Droids and apostrophes, I could write a book," he sighed. "Except you are barely a droid any more. There's more human in you than machine. So tell me, what do you think of the view?"

The legs of a chair scraped across the floor and the robot seemed to walk a few paces away. "It is beautiful."

The Doctor stood up as well, that much I could tell for sure through the drapes. "No, it isn't. It's just far away. Everything looks too small. I prefer it down there. Everything is huge. Everything is so important. Every detail, every moment, every life clung to."

"How could you kill me?" the robot asked again.

"For the same reason that you're asking me that question: because you don't really want to carry on. What'll happen to the other droids when you die? You're the control node, aren't you? Presumably they'll deactivate."

"I will not die," the robot insisted. "I will reach the Promised Land."

"There isn't any Promised Land! This is just-… It's a superstition that you have picked up from all the humanity you've stuffed inside yourself!"

"I am not dead."

"You are a broom." That really could've come out better, Doctor, I thought to myself as I peeked around the drapes again. "Question. You take a broom, you replace the handle, and then later you replace the brush, and you do that over and over again. Is it still the same broom? Answer? No, of course it isn't. But you can still sweep the floor. Which is not strictly relevant, skip that last part," he mumbled. "You have replaced every piece of yourself, mechanical and organic, time and time again. There's not a trace of the original you left. You probably can't even remember where you got that face from."

He picked up a silver platter from one of the tables and held in front of him as the robot approached him. The robot took the platter and held it in front of its face, looking at its reflection. I could see the Doctor doing the same, as if he too was wondering where he'd gotten his new face.

The robot then lowered its arm and tossed the platter aside. "It cannot end," it told the Doctor.

"It has to. You know it does. And there's only one way out."

The Doctor walked across the room to the restaurant doors, throwing them open. I was able to see then that the restaurant was flying in mid-air, as I had first thought. The robot approached the Doctor from behind, his flamethrower-arm raised and alight.

"Self-destruction is against my basic programming," the robot said.

"Doctor!" I cried, seeing that the robot intended to push him out.

The Doctor turned and grabbed the robot's arm while it was distracted by my shout. "Murder is against mine," he snarled, struggling against the robot's strength.

It was obvious that while the Doctor was strong, he was having difficulty fighting the robot off. I rushed out from my hiding place when the Doctor stepped dangerously close to the edge of the doorway. I grabbed hold of the robot's shoulders, trying to pull it away from the Doctor or to at least distract it. It grunted and swiped its arm to the side, the flamethrower portion hitting me hard in the chest.

"Diana, get back!" the Doctor ordered.

I grimaced and pulled harder on the robot's shoulders. I wouldn't let it hurt the Doctor if there was anything I could do to stop it. It suddenly turned and hit me across the temple with the flamethrower. I cried out and fell back, my hands pressed against my throbbing head. I could already feel the familiar sting of a burn forming.

"You are stronger than you look," the robot said to the Doctor a few moments later.

"And I'm hoping you are too. This is over," the Doctor hissed. "Are you capable of admitting that?"

"Do you have it in you to murder me?"

"Those people down there. They're never small to me." The Doctor glanced at me as I leaned against a table for support, his eyes burning with rage. "Don't make assumptions about how far I will go to protect them, because I've already come a very long way. And unlike you, I don't expect to reach the Promised Land."

The robot suddenly pulled away and leaned against the opposite side of the doorway while the Doctor watched in silence. The robot then turned its flamethrower off. I looked at the Doctor, silently asking if it was safe for me to come closer, and he nodded.

The Doctor then sighed and glanced out at London as we flew over it. "You realize, of course, one of us is lying about our basic programming."

The robot nodded. "Yes."

"And I think we both know who that is."

He glanced at me again as I stepped up beside him. The robot watched me and seemed both confused and at peace, or as much as a robot could be. The robot suddenly jumped forward and grabbed onto the Doctor's forearm. I leapt into action, grabbing onto the robot's right arm to try and keep it from activating the flamethrower anywhere near the Doctor's face. The Doctor raised his free arm to push the robot's flamethrower away.

The two suddenly changed positions and I was swung against the doorframe, making me loose my grip on the robot. I grabbed desperately at the door, trying to regain my balance as my feet slid against the tiled floor. But the combination of my palms sweating, my long skirt twirling around my ankles, and the robot ramming into me caused me to loose whatever grip I had managed and fall out of the restaurant with a scream.

"Doctor!"

Only a second later I heard the most beautiful sound in the entire universe: the TARDIS materializing. I looked over my shoulder as the ground whizzed towards me and saw the ship materializing a short distance below me. When I looked back up at the restaurant, I spotted the robot as he fell through the sky and the Doctor watching from above.

Then a streak of blue shot past me and I fell into a deep pool of water. The impact was enough to cloud my mind momentarily and knock the breath right out of me. I gasped as an automatic response and swallowed a large gulp of water. I swam desperately for the surface, my lungs screaming for air.

There was a large splash right behind me and then there were two arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I was tugged to the surface and started coughing and spitting up water. My hands were grasping at the arm around my waist as my rescuer tugged me to the edge of the pool.

"Diana, listen to me," a deep Scottish voice whispered in my ear. "Listen to me. You're alright."

I threw myself onto the edge of the pool and grabbed at the stone lip that encircled it as I continued coughing up water. The Doctor placed a hand on my back and lightly hit me between the shoulders. I gasped for another breath before another coughing attack overwhelmed me.

"It's alright. You're fine now."

"Doctor," I breathed, my voice hoarse and rough. I turned and wrapped one arm around his neck, the other still braced on top of the stone. "Oh God, Doctor."

He exhaled heavily and placed one arm around my waist. "I know," he said softly as he rested his cheek against mine. "I know."

"Hello. I'm Missy. You made it."

The robot sat up and simply stared at the grinning woman.

"Now, I saw you push my girlfriend," the woman continued as she walked over to the robot. "Almost killed her. Not sure how that makes me feel about you, but… you're here now."

"Girl-friend?" the robot repeated haltingly.

Missy guided the robot into his seat and then sat down at her own chair. "Now, the Doctor. Did he push you out of that thing, or did you fall? Couldn't really tell. He can be very mean sometimes. Except to her, of course, because he seems to love her so much…" The woman sighed and shook her head. "I do like his new accent, though. Think I might keep it."

The robot looked around in confusion before glancing back at Missy. "Where am I?" he asked.

Missy made a face that suggested the answer was obvious. "Where do you think you are? Look around you. You made it. The Promised Land. Paradise." She jumped out of her seat and headed for the fountain, twirling her umbrella around. "Welcome to heaven."

With a snap of her jaw, Missy smiled and began to twirl around the fountain as if she were a ballerina. The robot watched in silence as the strange woman danced about. His thoughts were neutral, but pleased that he had finally his desired destination. But Missy's head was abuzz with ideas and memories and hopes. She thought of her own Impossible Girl and her hearts clenched in anticipation. Oh, she had plans.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Hope it was alright. Don't forget to review!