Emend

by loulouflowerpower

11/OC-Time Lady. For centuries the Doctor and the Hatter have lived with the belief that the way the Time War ended was simple, but what a shock they're in for when holes in time open and they come face-to-face with their past lives. The Zygons, the Moment, and a toddler...the next great adventure awaits, but can Gallifrey be saved?

2. Chapter 2 The Summons

The Summons

It's funny how the most seemingly ordinary day can become the most incredible of days...or maybe that was just every other day when you were the Doctor and the Hatter, they did have a tendency to somehow make a day take a sharp left turn into completely nuts, running for your life, saving the Universe, and possibly being possessed by something, all part of the possible risk...or it could be as ordinary as going for a picnic on some moon. Anything was possible, the Hatter liked to think she was game for everything to happen...but she had to admit, looking back, even the events that were about to unfold today couldn't possibly have occurred to her. If they had...she probably would have had an extra cup of tea during breakfast.

Clara was on her way, she would be arriving at any point, and the Hatter had to admit...she was delighted to see the girl again. They'd spent quite a bit of time together, all of them, travelling about the place, having small, slightly less exciting adventures, but it had been just what they had all needed. Clara was still settling back into her life, but with the now added complication of the fact that she now had certain memories of past lives spinning around her head to keep her company. She didn't have full memories from all of her lives, her human brain couldn't handle that much information, but she had enough memories and snippets of knowledge from her past lives that she had been able to form a picture of what aspects of her past lives had been...most specifically, her time on Gallifrey, which seems to have been the life she remembered most clearly, probably due to her having been a Time Lady in that life. It added a new dynamic to her relationship with the Time Lords and the Hatter was thrilled. Of course, she knew that Clara wasn't Os, not really, but sometimes Clara would come out with something that only Os would have known, and it was like she had her back. Just briefly.

"Clara's late, Mummy," Astra complained as she lay on her stomach on a blanket that had been stretched out across the console floor, her legs kicked up behind her head and her ankles crossed. She was pouting slightly as she looked up from the scientific paper she had been very diligently reading, one of Albert Einstein's, as a matter of fact.

"She probably just had a bit of a ride, Astra," Jen remarked with a small shrug, not glancing up from where she was looking over the console controls carefully, a small frown of concentration curving her brow. The controls had been covered in quite a number of neon green coloured sticky notes, while she had the notepad in one hand and a black pen in the other, "This buttons the invisibility activation, isn't it?" she pointed with the end of her pen to a small, blue button that sat on the control panel before her.

The Hatter moved around the controls to peer over her shoulder, wincing very slightly, "Er...not quite," she said lightly, "That would be the manual light switch for the lower level of the console..."

She groaned and immediately moved to scribble onto the notepad 'Light Switch, Lower Level,' "How do you remember all of this stuff?" she grumbled slightly, pulling the sticky note off and carefully placing it down onto the button, not pressing quite too hard.

"You'll get there, Jen," the Doctor called encouragingly from where he was sitting on the floor next to Astra, though he had his legs crossed beneath him and a book on Quantum Mechanics held between his hands, Amy's old glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He flashed Jen a brilliant grin from over the top of his book, "Took me ages to figure it all out, kept accidently turning the radio on when I went to open the doors, back when I used to use a lever for that sort of thing..."

The Hatter gave him a knowing, fond smirk, "So that's why you went the manual way of opening the doors," she said with a teasing tone lacing her words, making him immediately wince and blush faintly under her look, "I did wonder..."

He cleared his throat and hastily redirected his gaze back to his open page, "No, no, I just...thought it was a bit more dramatic," he muttered, not very convincingly, "I mean, flicking a switch and opening doors...what's that all about, hey? Not very dramatic".

Jen lifted an eyebrow and looked to the Hatter, "That sounds pretty dramatic to me," she said with a mildly puzzled frown, evidently not fully catching on, "I mean, if it's the difference between opening a door and having doors automatically open for you..."

"Ignore him, my darling," the Hatter told her with a small, amused look, noticing how the Doctor's blush only seem to deepen, lifting his book up just a little bit higher. She shook her head and placed a hand on Jen's back, "You just keep focusing on your revision. I'm afraid that I will have to take points for you attempting to use a light switch midflight, unless, of course, the scenario requires you to turn on or off lights, which it could very well," she gave her a mock stern look, while Jen smiled at her, watching her with amused eyes, "Don't think I won't be throwing something like that in during your test".

"Didn't Borusa try to pull that one over you?" the Doctor said without glancing up from his book, flickering ideally to the next page, "Tried to trick you into turning the loudspeaker on midflight?"

She sighed, almost fondly as she casually leant one hip against the edge of the console panel, looking thoughtful, "Ah, good old Borusa," she commented lightly, "Excellent teacher, not a half bad politician, terrible friend..." she frowned lightly, glancing over to the Doctor, "I always thought he would have been better off sticking to being a teacher, like...Dumbledore!" she gasped and the Doctor's eyes widened, clicking his fingers as he turned to point at her.

"Yes, exactly! Just like Dumbledore!"

"He was our Dumbledore," she shook her head slowly, smiling faintly.

Jen frowned blankly, looking between them, "I'm lost?"

"Oh, yes, of course," the Doctor nodded, giving Jen a small smile, "You've been in Victorian London, you wouldn't have a clue who Dumbledore is. Well, he's..."

"Oh, no, I know who Dumbledore is, Dad, but who's Borusa?"

The Hatter went to answer, when the distant roar of a motorbike sounded and they all looked towards the closed doors. Astra immediately broke into an excited grin and dropped her paper to clap.

"Clara's here!" she cheered, jumping up to start to running towards the doors, eager to see her, "Clara's here, Clara's here...!"

The Doctor hastily reached out and grabbed the back of pink, skirted overalls, catching the back strap before she could take more than a few steps forward, just as the sound of the bike's horn beeping rang out, growing closer and closer to the TARDIS. He pulled Astra back towards him gently, making the overly excited two and a half year old huff, but reluctantly concede to being pulled to a stop by him, her sparkling, rainbow trainers glittering in the light.

"Not so fast, my little star," he warned her with a light, but stern tone, keeping his finger hooked around the strap, just in case. Astra did have a habit of being rather...single minded, when she got excited, leading to her possibly placing herself in harm's way.

"I'll get the door," Jen said brightly, grinning as she rounded the console, quickly running her eyes over the many notes she had placed, until she found the note for the door lever. Her parents might not use it anymore, but it was still there, and she as very proud of herself for having located it amidst the sea of controls as she reached out and pulled the lever, watching proudly as the doors immediately sprung open.

"Good job, Jen," the Hatter laughed in delight, leaning around the Time Rotor to give her a high five, which the blonde excitedly returned, grinning widely.

The roar of the motorbike grew ever louder, just before the bike itself came speeding straight through the open doors, Clara sitting astride it with a large biker helmet and a leather jacket over a red and white polka-dot dress. She pulled the bike to a sharp stop, just before she could hit the controls, and grinned widely as she turned the motor off and jumped off the bike, swiftly slipping her helmet off and shaking out her hair. She lifted an eyebrow around the room, waiting for someone to obviously say something about her dramatic entrance...the Hatter and Jen remained utterly silent, looking at her, while the Doctor pretended to read his book, while still keeping Astra in place.

"Draft," the Doctor called casually, without so much as glancing up.

Clara smiled brightly, a flicker of excitement in her eyes as she looked over to the Hatter, who gave her an encouraging grin and nodded to her. She lifted one, gloved hand up and clicked her fingers, instantly causing the doors to shut with a snap behind her. The Hatter grinned and clapped lightly, making the girl smile wider. The TARDIS had become rather fonder of Clara since the truth had been revealed and she had saved the Doctor and the Hatter's lives. The Time Lady wasn't completely sure why, specifically, if it was simply because she had saved their lives and family, or if it was also a little something to do with Clara also being something of a niece to them now...even though she wasn't a Time Lady. It was all rather complicated, but the Hatter and Clara had had a talk, and they had both agreed that while they might not technically be related, Clara did view the Hatter as her family and likewise for the Hatter. It was still a little complicated to understand what that fully meant, but the Hatter was just delighted that Clara didn't feel awkward or weird about it. That was the main thing she had been concerned about.

"Excellent work, Clara," she nodded to the girl, giving her an approving wink and bright smile, "The old girl truly has warmed up to you".

"Yeah, finally," Clara grinned, laughing slightly as she stepped around her bike to affectionately pat the console, "Hey, Jen," she lifted her hand up to Jen, who smiled and leaned around the Time Rotor to high five her in return, before both girls bumped fists and broke away with wiggling their fingers together, Jen laughing slightly.

"Nice ride," Jen commented, eyeing up the red motorbike with a curious, almost eager flicker in her eyes.

"Don't even think about it, missy," the Doctor warned without looking up from his page, still, though his tone was stern. Clara laughed.

Jen rolled her eyes and huffed slightly in exasperation, "You sound just like Mum," she complained, throwing her mother a slightly disgruntled glare, though it held no heat to it.

"Perhaps because we're in complete agreement," the Hatter said with a pointed look at her, though her lips were lifted slightly and her gaze was warm, "After all, none of us have quite forgotten just how well you attempting to drive a car went..."

"That light post wasn't there when I looked, I swear!"

"It didn't just magically appear in front of us, Jen-Jen," Clara pointed out with a teasing grin, making Jen huff again and scowl deeply, her baby blue eyes moving from her parents to Clara with a look of almost betrayal on her face. The Hatter had to resist the urge to inform her that pouting like that made her look about the same age as Astra. Speaking of the Time Tot...

"Clara!" Astra cried, positively jumping up and down on the spot down, "Clara! Clara!"

Clara immediately spun around and broke into a grin, "Astra!" she cheered, sounding almost as excited as the toddler. The Doctor released his hold on the strap of her overalls and Astra positively threw herself at Clara, who easily reached down to hoist Astra up into her arms, hugging her tightly as she spun slightly on the spot, "You're getting so big!"

Astra giggled as she hugged her back tightly, peering proudly into her face, "Daddy says I've grown a whole inch!" she declared, all but puffing out her little chest at her achievement.

"A whole inch, huh?" she grinned, "That's so cool! That's from eating all those veggies, you know," she laughed as Astra immediately screwed up her face in disgust and shook her head firmly. She playfully tickled her stomach to make her stop pouting, sending the Time Tot into peals of laughter again, before looking brightly back to the Hatter and glancing over to the Doctor, "So, what's in the plans today?" she asked eagerly.

The Doctor snapped his book shut and looked up to her, lifting an eyebrow, "Fancy a week in ancient Mesopotamia followed by future Mars?" he suggested with an almost professional air about him, as if they were discussing a business transaction...not that the Doctor or the Hatter would really have a clue how that actually sounded.

She considered him thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes very slightly, "Will there be cocktails?"

"On the moon, in fact," the Hatter said with a small smile, matching her professional, serious tone, "But...only after Astra has gone to bed and Jen's strictly alcohol free..."

"Hey!" Jen immediately protested, scowling as she crossed her arms across her chest, giving her mother another disgruntled look, "I'm not a child!"

"You're six years old, Jen," the Doctor reminded her pointedly, moving to pull himself up onto his feet and slipping his book absently into his pocket, "And don't talk back to your mother. She knows best".

Clara looked as if she was barely holding back a laugh, eyeing Jen from the corner of her eye as the blonde huffed and dropped her gaze to the control panel in front of her, looking very much like a sulking child. She cleared her throat and turned back to the Time Lady, giving her a firm, serious nod.

"The moon'll do," she remarked lightly.

There was a brief moment as the two elder Time Lords and Clara simply looked at each other, maintaining the air of seriousness...before the Hatter suddenly broke into giggles and her lips stretched into a broad, delighted grin as she practically skipped around the consol, her arms already open wide. Clara laughed, too, and hastily placed Astra back down onto the floor, straightening in time to meet the tight, warm embrace from the Time Lady, who laughed as she squeezed her tightly, almost knocking her hat askew.

"It's good to see you, Clara!" she said brightly, pulling back from her.

"You too, Hatter," she replied happily, just before she was swept up by the Doctor, making her grin as she wrapped her arms around him. He picked her up from the floor, her feet dangling several inches off the floor, before he finally settled her again and released her, giving her an excited grin.

"How's the new job?" he asked her, giving her playful look, wrapping his arm around the Hatter's waist, "Teach anything good?"

"No. Learn anything?"

"With the Hatter around..." he shot the Time Lady pressed against his side a slow, tender smile, his gaze full of warmth and affection as he eyed her, "Always".

"Eww," Clara and Jen groaned in unison, pulling disgusted faces. They looked at each other in delight as they realised what they had done, and grinned. Jen moved around the console to high five her again...

Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted and a loud, metal clatter sounded from above them, causing them all to jump slightly and immediately look upwards. The words 'Alert TARDIS Interference Detected' began flashing across the monitor screen. The Hatter automatically grabbed Astra and hastily moved around the room to hurriedly place her into her seat, securing her into place, while a sudden whooshing sensation washed over her, much like the sensation of being suddenly lifted. A loud creaking noise sounded through the air above them and Jen quickly moved to brace herself against the nearest control panel, looking around the room with wide eyes.

"I don't understand," she shook her head, looking rather alarmed, "Where not in flight, are we?"

"No, we're not," the Doctor replied, throwing a quick frown towards the still Time Rotor, "The engines aren't even going".

"So what's happening, then?" Clara looked quickly between the Doctor and Hatter, looking rather worried.

"Let's see!" the Hatter easily swayed along with the swinging motion that the time machine seemed to be doing, much like the movement of being below decks of a large ship in a storm...or while midflight, she thought. She grabbed the monitor screen on the controls, swinging it around to face her as she hit a button on the controls, bringing up a live feed of the outside world...her eyebrows rose. Sky, that's all she could see, the fluffy, grey and white clouds..., "We're being airlifted," she frowned, looking back over to the Doctor and Clara, "Literally, picked up and airlifted, probably by a chopper".

The Doctor's eyes widened, "What?" he turned and immediately dashed for the doors, Clara blinking but moving to follow him.

"Who would want to do that, though?" Jen asked, frowning as she looked around the Time Rotor to the Hatter, giving her a confused look.

The Hatter gave her a faintly amused, if mildly exasperated look, "UNIT would," she said with a small sigh, shaking her head lightly, her gaze travelling back over to the door, where the Doctor was partly leaning out of...it made her just a little nervous, knowing how clumsy he could be, at the best of times, but she trusted his reflexes. Sort of.

The Doctor seemed to grapple for something just outside of the door, before he pulled back slightly, holding a phone receiver in his hand, the phone hidden behind the compartment with the instructions written across the panel. He held it up to her ear, the wind blowing his hair all about as he remained standing just on the edge of the open doors.

"Hello, there!" he called, suddenly, his tone sounding rather annoyed, though pleasantly cheerful, considering, "This is the Doctor speaking. Is Kate Stewart about to have a chat with?"

"I'm going to pop it on the speaker system, so we can all hear," the Hatter commented as she reached out to flick a set of switches, smiling faintly to herself as she noticed Jen watching her with keen eyes. She was quite determined to learn how to fly the old girl, without cheating, like River had...though, that had been an emergency situation.

There was silence through the speakers for a long moment, muffled, distant running noise sounding through the speakers with almost wheezing breathing following, as if the carrier of the phone was running...

"Excuse me!" a slightly muffled, excited, young sounded voice suddenly came over the line, "Ma'am! Ma'am!"

"The ravens are looking a bit sluggish," the calm voice of Kate Stewart spoke, sounding thoughtful, though distant. Evidently, she had yet to take the phone, "Tell Malcolm they need new batteries".

"It's him. Sorry, it's your personal phone, but, well, I recognise the ring tone. It's him, them, isn't it?"

A loud, wheezing, gasping noise sounded and the Hatter winced. That sounded rather horrible to have to deal with.

"Inhaler," Kate said firmly, though almost absently, "Doctor, Hatter, hello," her voice came through the speakers clearly, having seemingly lifted the phone up to her ear now, "We found the TARDIS in a field. I'm having it brought in".

"No kidding!" the Doctor shouted back over the line, forced to raise his voice, just to be heard over the loud sound of the helicopters blades above them, not to mention the wind blowing in his face. He peered further over the edge of the box, making the Hatter laugh slightly.

"Where are you?" she asked in confusion, which the Doctor replied by lifting the phone receiver up in the air, towards the helicopter, "Oh, my God!" she gasped, then, sounding quite mortified, "Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry. We had no idea you were still in there! Come on..."

Suddenly, the TARDIS swerved sharply, or rather the chopper flying it seemed to suddenly swerve off into a different direction. The Doctor yelped and briefly wobbled on the spot, before falling straight out of the open door, dropping the phone in the process.

"Doctor!" Clara shouted, her eyes widening, while Astra immediately began laughing in delight.

"Dad!" Jen cried at the same time, both girls instantly dashing forward, towards the doors, where the Doctor was just barely holding on, somehow having managed to hook his ankles onto the edge of the door...the girls quickly took a foot each, trying to keep him from falling completely, while the phone swung dangerously close to whacking his head as it swung, midair.

"Doctor, can you hear me?" Kate's voice called over the speakers, making the Hatter laugh, switching her attention from the monitor screen to what was going on over by the doors.

"How are you being so calm, Mum?" Jen shook her head in disbelief, throwing her a quick look back over her shoulder from where she was kneeling on the ground, her hands clamped tightly around the Doctor's left ankle, keeping him from falling to what could only be his death...likely.

The Hatter smiled knowingly and shrugged lightly, "Your father has excellent reflexes, Jen," she said lightly, far from concerned. Well, she was a little concerned, but she trusted in the Doctor's ability to hang on for a little while longer. It wasn't as if it was the first time he'd been in a situation like this one, besides, Clara and Jen had his ankles, he wasn't in any immediate danger.

"Ow!" the Doctor's voice cut through the air, making her grin. Something told her he had just been smacked by the phone...

"I don't think he can hear me..." Kate sighed to someone else on her end...likely the same, slightly wheezy girl that had handed her the phone.

The Hatter adjusted the camera angle on the monitor screen so that it was pointed down towards the Doctor, showing him struggling briefly to try and grab the swinging phone receiver, before he finally managed to snatch it. He scowled deeply, though his eyes were already silted from the intense wind blowing directly into his face as he lifted it up to his ear.

"Next time, would it kill you to knock?" he shouted over the phone, sounding quite cross.

"I'm having you taken directly to the scene..." the Hatter lifted an eyebrow, seeing a glimpse of the River Thames below them as they flew right over the very heart of London, "Doctor, hello, are you okay? Hatter, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, suddenly, before pressing the phone back to his ear, "I'm just going to pop you on hold...!"

"You might want to let go, girls," the Hatter called over towards the doorway, smiling faintly as she watched the monitor screen, trying to deduce just where Kate might be dropping them off at...the Tower of London? No...they should have been starting to descend by now, if that was the case.

Clara and Jen looked back to each other in confusion, until the Doctor attempted to tug his feet free from them. They let go, Jen very slightly more reluctantly then Clara was, frowning faintly...but she trusted her mum's judgment and if she said it was okay, then, it must be alright. The Doctor pulled his feet completely free and did almost a summersault midair as he began to fall, reaching up to grasp two small slots that seemed to be hidden in the bottom of the TARDIS, using them to keep himself from falling as they flew on over the city. Jen broke into a grin, her eyes lighting up in wonder as she and Clara rose to their feet, looking out through the doors. On they flew, slowly beginning to fly lower and lower, until they came to Trafalgar Square, which they circled briefly, before slowly drifting down towards the ground.

Kate Stewart stood waiting for them, watching as they approached by the base of the stairs leading up to the National Gallery. She clutched the collar of her black coat close to her neck as the chopper swept a chilly wind up around her, while a young woman stood by her side, dressed in white lab coat and with a rather familiar, multi-coloured scarf wrapped around her neck. They stood out quite a bit from the UNIT soldiers that stood by them. Members of the public had also gathered to watch what was going on, standing behind metal barriers that had been constructed around the edges of the Square, keeping them back. The pilot brought the TARDIS to a hover a meter above the ground and the Doctor dropped, landing with only a slight stumble.

"Atten-shun!" one of the UNIT soldier's shouted, and immediately all of the soldiers lined up behind Kate straightened rigidly and stomped their feet together in a salute, each one carrying a large gun across their chests.

The Doctor straightened proudly, too, and lifted his hand up to his forehead, saluting them in return...the Hatter, who had collected up Astra from her seat and joined Clara and Jen in the doorway, gave him a slightly puzzled, amused look. He blinked slightly in confusion at his own actions, holding the pose with a deep, bewildered frown.

"Why am I saluting?" he asked himself, shaking his head as he dropped the salute.

"Your past self would be ashamed, sweetheart," the Hatter commented with a teasing grin, easily jumping the few inches between the TARDIS and the ground, while the helicopter slowly began to settle the time machine down with great care. She walked over to his side, Astra on her hip, and gave him a wink, "Personally, I found it rather...attractive".

He immediately brightened and looked at her with a slow smile spreading across his lips, "Yeah?" he asked her, attempting and failing to sound smooth and flirty...instead, it came out rather more flirty and eager, though the Hatter found that, in itself, rather charming, "Well..." he straightened himself, puffing out his chest slightly and reaching up to run a hand through his hair, smoothing it back, his gaze on her, "Maybe I should do it more often, then..."

"Do you have to do the flirty thing now?" Jen moaned slightly as she jumped down from the still hovering TARDIS, moving to stand on her father's other side, "There's soldiers here, shouldn't that kind of be the main focus here?" she gave them a slightly, almost teenager like scowl, muttering from the corner of her mouth, "It's embarrassing".

The Hatter gave her an amused look, "Parents are supposed to be embarrassing, my darling," she told her, giving her a playful wink, "It's a part of the job description".

"Doctor, Hatter..." Kate spoke up, stepping forward to them with a warm, if rather sheepish smile as they instantly turned their attention to her, "As Chief Scientific Officer, may I extend the official apologies of UNIT..."

"Kate Lethbridge Stewart," the Doctor cut across her firmly, lifting his index finger up to point at her, "A word to the wise. As I'm sure your father told you...the Hatter and I don't like being picked up".

There was a brief moment of silence as his words lingered in the air, the Hatter slowly frowning and turning to give him a mildly puzzled look, while he slowly lowered his finger, looking oddly awkward. Jen eyed Kate curiously, while Clara nodded slowly and smirked, looking far less thrown as she came to join them.

"That probably sounded better in his head," Clara commented lightly, still smiling slightly with an amused expression.

The Hatter gave the Doctor a fond look and shook her head in amusement, "It always does, doesn't it, sweetheart?" she pattered his arm with the arm not holding Astra to her hip, the toddler seemed far more interested in peering at the multi-coloured scarf worn by the young, dark haired woman in the lab coat, standing by Kate's side. Probably because she'd seen a very similar sort of scarf in the wardrobe before. She turned and flashed Kate a bright grin, "It's lovely to see you again, kitty kat..." she winked at her, which only caused Kate to smile embarrassedly and flush lightly, shooting the brunet girl beside her a slightly warning look, "You'll remember Astra, of course..." she turned and smiled proudly at Astra.

Astra gave Kate a large grin, "Hello," she greeted brightly as Kate gave her a warm smile.

"Hello, Astra," Kate said to her, her expression softening, "Why...haven't you grown".

"My daddy says I'm going to be as tall as Clara soon," she declared with a great deal of pride, for a two and a half year old.

"To be fair, that isn't exactly very hard..." Jen muttered with a cheeky grin towards Clara, who returned her look with a mock glare and playfully whacked her upper arm, which Jen easily dodged with a wink worthy of her mother.

"And this is Jen," the Doctor added with an amused look as he observed the girls. And to think, there had once been a time when he might have feared that Jen and Clara wouldn't get along, turns out he was completely wrong to be worried. Those two had hit it off very well, since they had spent time around each other, though largely they seemed to have bonded over embarrassing stories and teasing himself and the Hatter, but if it meant that they were getting along, he was okay with that. He reached out and draped his arm around Jen's shoulders, pulling her closer into his side, giving her a grin, "Our eldest daughter".

Kate blinked, her lips parting in confusion, "Your eldest daughter..." she began slowly, her eyes darting from the Hatter, to the Doctor, and then to Jen, frowning.

"It's a long story," the Hatter cut in hastily, still smiling broadly, "But not one that is nearly as pressing to discuss as why you decided to pluck us, quite literally, out of the blue and had us brought to Trafalgar Square in broad daylight," she lifted an eyebrow, her lips still lifted, but her tone growing a touch more concerned as she eyed Kate closely, "What's going on, Kate?"

Kate straightened very slightly, her expression growing a touch grimmer, "I'm acting on instructions direct from the throne," she explained, turning slightly towards the girl beside her, who instantly slipped a yellowed, thick looking envelop from her pocket and handed it to her. She held the envelope out towards the Doctor and Hatter, who frowned, eyeing it, "Sealed orders from her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the First".

"The Queen?" Clara repeated sharply, looking quickly back to the envelope as the Doctor slowly reached out to take it from Kate, turning it over to reveal a red, wax seal sealing it shut. It had Queen Elizabeth the First's seal, alright. She frowned and shook her head in disbelief, "The First? Sorry, Elizabeth the First?"

"Her credentials are inside," Kate nodded, and the Doctor immediately began to break the wax seal, "Ah, no," she stopped him quickly, making his glance back up to her, finding her pointing back over her shoulder towards the front of the National Gallery, "Inside".

The Hatter looked at the Doctor with a small frown, which he returned, looking slightly suspicious himself. This whole thing just seemed...odd and confusing, it made the Hatter suddenly wonder if they ought to duck away for a tick and leave Astra behind somewhere else for this adventure, while trying and likely failing to try and convince Jen to go back to her Victorian era life with Vastra and her gang, just until they could sort out...whatever this was. But they didn't, instead the Hatter lowered Astra down onto the ground to stand on her own feet, keeping her hand firmly in hers. She found her gaze being pulled back to the girl with the Fourth Doctor's scarf wrapped around her neck, smiling fondly at the sight...though, it was rather confusing how she had come to possess one that looked so strikingly similar, right down to the same pattern, which was impressive, unless one had studied the real, original scarf in person. She would almost dare to say it was the original scarf...

"That scarf..." her gaze lingered on it, before moving up to rest curiously on the youthful, eager face of the woman wearing it, a pair of thick, black glasses on her face..., "Excellent choice," she winked at her, making the girl instantly grin in delight, "Have you ever considered trying out a hat, too?"

The girl shyly reached into her lab coat, which had rather deep pockets, and slipped a small, folded red beret from it, one that looked startling similar to the one the Hatter's Fifth body had worn.

"Love it," the Doctor said with a slightly lingering gaze on the hat, before glancing sideways at the Hatter...who was struggling not to show how thrown she was. She almost felt as if their personal wardrobe had be raided, not in any sort of intrusive way, just...it was a little odd.

The Hatter cleared her throat and gave the girl a warm smile, before turning to start heading for the stairs leading towards the gallery, the Doctor looping his arm around hers, while Astra kept her hand in her other hand. Clara and Jen trailed along after them, exchanging slightly puzzled looks as they went, but the Time Lady expected that there was a logical explanation for how some random, UNIT scientist could have come across clothing that matched perfectly clothing she and the Doctor had once worn in previous bodies. There always was.

"Atten-shun!" one of the soldier's called out loudly as they climbed the steps towards the gallery, and instantly all of the soldiers standing guard on the front of the building saluted, "I want a secure perimeter around the gallery..."

"They're really pulling out all the stops," Jen commented with a small frown as they neared the large front doors of the grand building, where two heavily armed guards stood, waiting to open them for them to enter.

"Something's certainly got them rattled, yes," the Hatter agreed, looking troubled as she glanced sideways at the Doctor.

They entered the gallery, which had been utterly deserted of the usual tourists and school groups that one might have ordinarily expected to find walking its many halls. Kate and the other brunet girl soon caught up to them and directed them to the stairs, though she fell back to walk behind them as they made their way through the gallery. The Hatter couldn't help puzzling over just what it was that Liz had left for them...they hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms, or at least she hadn't thought they had, given that Liz had tried to chop off their heads the last time they had encountered her. She sincerely hoped this wasn't just one great big, centuries old revenge plan. That would be rather disappointing. Jen curiously took in each and every exhibit that they passed, her eyes soaking it all in, but she didn't slow her pace, keeping up with her parents and Clara. The Hatter made a mental note to make sure that they brought her back here, later, just so she could see everything properly. Art might not be her special skill, but it could be Jen's and she knew that the Doctor had always been a wonderful artist. He'd probably get a real thrill out of showing off his artistic knowledge to Jen.

"Did you know her?" Clara looked curiously between the Time Lords as they walked, her eyes eager, "Elizabeth the First?"

The Doctor's lips briefly pressed into a tight line, "Unified Intelligence Task Force," he said instead of answering her question, holding the envelop aloft in his hand, not looped around the Hatter's elbow.

The Hatter shot him a knowing look, which he steadily pretended not to notice, keeping his gaze firmly ahead of himself. Of course, his cheeks flushed very slightly, giving him away. Clara frowned and looked between them, slightly more closely; even Jen turned her baby blue eyes from the closet painting to give them a slightly suspicious look.

"Sorry?" Clara questioned.

"This lot," he continued, clearing his throat, "UNIT. They investigate alien stuff. Anything alien".

"What, like you?"

"Not exactly," the Hatter smiled slowly, glancing around the Doctor to her, "Technically, we're still employed by them".

Two guards ahead of them swung open a set of double doors, revealing another very large, brightly lit space beyond, but this one seemed to be the one they were destined for. A very large object seemed to be sitting in the middle of the room, covered over by a big, white dust sheet, but it was easy to tell that it was a painting. The Time Lady eyed it curiously as they crossed the threshold.

"You and Dad actually have a proper job?" Jen asked curiously, blinking as she looked to her parents in surprise, while Clara stared at them, though not without falling out of step with them.

"Yeah, like a real, proper, actual job?" Clara nodded slowly, sounding highly dubious about the whole idea.

"Why shouldn't we have a job?" the Doctor shot Clara a slightly offended look, before casting Jen a stern look, both girls simply eyeing them with varying degrees of disbelief, "We'd be brilliant at having a job".

"Well, I was brilliant at my job," the Hatter cut in with a cheeky smile, playfully nudging his side, "I seem to recall you managing to avoid ever writing a single report, back in the old days..." he blushed slightly and opened his mouth to try and defend himself, but she simply shrugged, "All you used to do was tinker around with the TARDIS console and twist my arm into going on drives in Bessie".

"You can't be serious," Clara scoffed, smiling as she shook her head at them, as if it was just another one of the Hatter's jokes, "You two don't have a job".

"We do!" the Doctor insisted instantly, giving her a slightly pouty frown, probably because Clara was so obviously dubious about the idea, while Jen seemed more intrigued then anything, "This is our job," he gestured around them, "We're doing it now".

"You never have a job".

"It's just one of many, Clara," the Time Lady remarked with a small smile, amused by how little confidence Clara seemed to have in their ability to hold down employment...to be fair, she could completely see why, though the Doctor seemed to be taking it a little personally. She glanced at Jen and then down to Astra, skipping along beside her, holding her hand loosely as she went. They had many jobs, just as they had many names...personally; she thought that 'Mum' and 'Dad' were their most prized jobs and titles. They were certainly the ones she felt most proud of.

They came to a stop just a foot away from the covered painting and their little group lapsed into silence, looking curiously at the blank, white sheet covering the painting beneath it, held on a large stand. The painting itself was very large, both in width and height, easily taller than the Doctor. And then...they uncovered it. The Hatter felt as if all the air had been sucked from her very lungs, her hearts leaping into her throat, which instantly grew as dry as any desert, while her stomach plummeted through the ground. It was such a visceral reaction to something and she wasn't the only one. The Doctor instantly froze and all the colour drained completely from his cheeks, while Clara's eyes widened and Jen blinked rapidly, staring at the revealed painting in disbelief and confusion. Astra frowned and tugged at the Hatter's hand, though she barely noticed.

"Mummy?" her little voice barely broke through the thundering sound of her own hearts in her ears, big green eyes peering up at her with a worried expression, "What's wrong, Mummy? Daddy?"

Neither of them could seem to find words to speak, not even to provide reassurance to Astra that everything was alright...because it was very much not right at all. The Hatter tried to swallow, but her mouth and throat was completely dry and a lump had formed in her throat, almost chocking her...this wasn't possible. The painting seemed to mock her, shades of dark reds and oranges, angry and volatile, stretched out across canvas. It was an oil painting of a city with great, spiralling bronze and gold buildings stretching far into the orange, blackened and smoke filled sky, while smaller, but no less alien spires littered the foreground. The city was being attacked, flames spewing into the air from the largest spire in the very centre of the image, while other buildings had been captured in paint on the brink or in the process of collapsing. You could almost feel the heat coming off the canvas, almost sense the fear and doom of a falling city and empire coming off it in waves. And the despair...it was almost suffocating.

"Elisabeth's credentials," Kate said quietly, her gaze on the Doctor and the Hatter, a look of almost remorse on her face.

"But..." Clara shook her head slowly, her eyes wide, "But that's not possible".

"I don't understand," Jen said slowly, not taking her gaze from off the painting, her forehead creased in confusion, "That's...that's the Citadel, isn't it?" she dragged her eyes off the painting, finally, and turned to look at her parents...her expression instantly grew alarmed, seeing how pale they both looked. She reached out towards her father, who was closest to her, "Dad, Mum..."

The Doctor instantly grasped her hand, though his eyes remained fixed to the painting, a haunted, frightened look in his eyes, "No more," he breathed, barely above a whisper.

"That's the title," Kate remarked softly, her eyes darting between them, almost warily.

"Yes," the Hatter said in almost a chocked voice, "I assure you...we know".

She hesitated very slightly, "Also known as Gallifrey Falls".

"This painting doesn't belong here," the Doctor said roughly, his voice sharp, though soft as he glared at the canvas, an almost wild look in his eyes now. He squeezed Jen's hand tightly, while the Hatter almost seemed to be leaning against his side, as if her knees were too weak to take her full weight right now, "Not in this time or place".

"Obviously," Clara murmured, her lips slightly parted as she continued to gaze at the painting. She might not fully comprehend what she was seeing...but she knew, to a degree, a vague idea of what it meant, she felt almost a faint sense of pain deep in her chest, like looking back upon a photo of a relative you lost when you were very little. Distant, but still present. The horror she felt, though, that was very much real and current.

"It's Acardia," the Hatter said in a whisper, her voice shaking very slightly, her cheeks having taken on an almost grey pallor, "Gallifrey's second city...this was her fall..." she hesitated, swallowing thickly, "And the day my sister died".

"Hatter," the Doctor said quietly, turning his head finally to look at her tenderly, worry in his eyes.

"You had a sister?" Jen looked at her with big, concerned eyes.

"Once upon a time...yeah," she nodded, sighing heavily as she gazed at the painting, not seeming to see anything else but it. She had always imagined what Acardia must have looked like on that day...this was exactly what she had imagined, but also so much worse, "We...didn't get along, not for most of our lives. But she was my sister".

Clara slowly began to edge towards the painting, eyeing it closely, "How is it doing that?" she asked, as a moment of silence lapsed, "How is that possible? It's an oil painting..." she reached out towards the canvas, seeing how the image literally seemed to bend and expand, but yet it was a flat piece of canvas. She felt it, just by touching the tips of her fingers against it, "...in 3D".

"Time Lord art," the Doctor told her, watching her taking it in with a curious look of wonder on her face, "Bigger on the inside. A slice of real time, frozen".

"Elizabeth told us where to find it," Kate explained, eyeing the Time Lords closely, "And it's significance".

The Hatter closed her eyes tightly and opened them, turning her gaze to the Doctor, her eyes roaming his face gently, full of concern. He slowly dragged his eyes off the painting to look back to her, his expression haunted and guarded, but yet full of so much pain. He licked his lips and lowered his eyes from her, edging forward just slightly so that their foreheads were touching, the Hatter's eyes flickering slowly shut.

"Mum, Dad..." Jen's voice caused them to pull apart, finding her looking between them with an almost frightened look written across her face. It made the Hatter's hearts clench, seeing it, "Are you alright? What's going on?"

The Doctor swallowed, looking back towards the painting, "He was there," he said softly, just above a whisper.

"Who was?" Clara asked, frowning at him.

"Me," he whispered, staring at the painting with an almost fearful flicker, "The other me. The one I don't talk about".

They never spoke about him, that other Doctor, the Hatter thought absently as she looked carefully into the Doctor's face, her hearts hurting for him, seeing him suffering like this. It was bad enough for her, but for him? It would be like relieving so many of his old nightmares, all over again, nightmares he still had, even today, though not like he used to. This would be bringing them all back for him, and worse still, things that he actively avoided ever discussing. He wasn't very keen on talking about it to the Hatter, at least not acknowledging it, though they spoke of that time, never did he speak of himself at that stage. She understood. She didn't avoid speaking of her own past, but she didn't like to consider that the woman had been her, either; she was somehow separate from herself, the woman who had made the Moment.

"I don't understand..."

The Doctor sighed heavily, his eyes darting to the Hatter, "We've had so many faces, many lives," he said quietly, swallowing as he looked back to the painting, "I don't admit to all of them..."

"And some I chose not to consider as me," the Hatter added, her expression grim.

"There's one life I've tried very hard to forget," he went on, grimacing as a dark look crossed his face, staring straight at the painting, "He was the Doctor who fought in the Time War, and that..." he lifted his eyebrows pointedly at the painting, "...was the day he killed them all".

"The day she...I helped you to do it," the Time Lady breathed, tightening her hold on Astra's little hand, just the feel of her and the Doctor, Clara and Jen's presence by their sides...it grounded her. Reminded her that she had come through from those dark days when she had spiralled into such a pit of grief and pain that she would have done anything...including using the Moment herself, though she never did. The temptation had been there, the desire to do it...the will to do it, and that was not the Hatter. That sort of inclination had nothing to do with the Hatter, not the woman she was or strived to be. She swallowed thickly, drawing in a deep breath, "The final day of the Time War".

"The war to end all wars between our people and the Daleks," his voice grew darker, harder, harsher, "And in that battle there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other, a man who would commit a crime that would silence the Universe. And that man...was me".

...

The Drylands were as desolate as one would imagine from the name, the Warrior, as he utterly refused to go by any other name...found it to be perfect. Perfect for how isolated it was, how empty, how barren. There was no life out here any longer, the Gallifreyan's who had once resided in this part of Gallifrey, had long since been forced into the mainland, back into society that they hated, forced into the fight they had resisted joining and those who still refused, had faced punishment under Rassilon's orders. Few had taken that punishment. He hadn't expected to ever return to this place, he had been forced to come here as a child, barely seven years old...he remembered crying himself to sleep every night for six months, begging his mother and father in letters to allow him to go home, that he would be a good little boy and behave himself, anything if it meant he could go home.

It had been his father's idea of attempting to force him to behave, to learn proper manners, to be respectful and more like the son his father had expected. More like his big brother had been. He had never been a normal child, even by Gallifreyan standards, and his father had thought that by sending him away to join the other children in the Drylands who didn't quite fit in, that it might help him, somehow. The logic was still lost on him, even now. Most of those children had been orphaned, most children from very poor families who could never hope to go to the Academy...those children usually ended up in the military, and perhaps his father thought that he would have been better suited for that life, but the Warrior knew he was meant for the Academy. And he had done well there, not academically, perhaps, but it was where he had met her...

The Hatter.

His hearts clenched thinking of her and he took that pain, that grief and agony that bubbled up inside his chest, took it and clenched it into a tight, round ball and drove it deep, deep down into himself. It was like trying to control lava, it hurt, but he had to do it, it allowed him to keep pushing forward through the orange dust and sand that covered the ground, though his hand shook as it kept the bag with the Moment safely held within it over his shoulder. He pressed on. The sun was hot and fierce over head, his mouth dry, his eyes red and sore...on he continued, forcing himself to place one heavy boot in front of the next, to carry his burden and pain onwards. She should be by his side right now, but she wasn't, her choice...he had respected her choice, loath as he was to have done so.

Why did he not turn around and force her to come with him? Why? Every step further away from his TARDIS made him want to turn around and go back to her. He didn't, he didn't understand it, he wanted her to live and be with him...but he also didn't want her to hate him forever, and taking away her choice, this choice, would surely result in that. Besides, he wasn't the Doctor any longer, not the man she knew or had befriended, he was someone else, he'd never be that man again. She might have refused to accept that, but in his hearts he knew he wasn't that man. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted her to remember her as the Doctor, rather than come to know who he was now, even if it agonised him to not prevent the woman he loved from dying.

He loved her so much...enough to let her go, knowing that he was forever lost to her.

"Time Lords of Gallifrey, Daleks of Skaro..." he found himself speaking to himself, if only to try and fill in the void, if only to ease some of the silence, "I serve notice on you all. Too long I have stayed my hand. No more. Today you leave me no choice. Today, this war will end. No more. No more..."

He sighed heavily through his parted lips, coming to a stop on something of a sandy hill, looking out across the sight of a familiar, aged, wooden barn that stood far into the distance ahead of him. His thoughts weighed on him, his hearts ached, and a pit of despair and almost overwhelming grief threatened to wash over him entirely...but he couldn't let it, not yet. His hearts may be breaking, but he knew this must be done...the Hatter had known it must be done, her blessing, though making this no easier, was the last thing he clung to, keeping him going. He gazed out towards the barn and felt his throat chock with emotion. He had never expected to return to this place, he remembered how it had been something of a safe-place for him as a boy, set apart from the other children who teased him. Now he was back, about to end his very heart and soul, for the sake of the Universe.

It wasn't fair. However, it had to be done.

On he walked, for what almost felt like hours, each step heavier then the next, until he came to the old, leaning door of the barn. It wasn't locked and he pushed it open with a gentle creak, stepping inside the open space, filled with sunlight streaming in through the cracks of the wooden boards, planet foliage and dirt covering the floor. It seemed to have become something of a dumping place since he had been a child, or perhaps it had always been that, just of a different kind. His eyes swept the room, objects hidden beneath dirty sheets, lumpy sack's piled in the corners, old farming equipment, rusted and long since disused, left behind for time to consume. The small loft that he had once claimed as his own as a boy had been torn down, but his eyes still lingered on the spot at the end of the room. It still smelt the same, like dust and wood and dirt.

He carried his own sack over to the middle of the room and gently placed it down onto the ground, bending down to untie the rope binding it closed. He tried not to think of how this was the last piece of the Hatter he had, but he still couldn't help a sense of awe from washing over him as the bindings and fabric fell away, revealing the beautiful, elaborately designed box that was the Moment. He touched it gently, running a hand over the curve of the top and some of the internal gears began to turn and click. He touched the top one and flinched back as it turned at his touch. He frowned; eyeing the box...now that he thought about it, the Hatter never had explained exactly how to start the Moment, just that it was a living thing...whatever that means. She had been oddly vague, he realised, he hadn't thought to question her more.

"How...how do you work?" he murmured to himself, frowning as he examined each side of the box, gently turning it over, "Why is there never a big red button?"

A light, crunching sound and light footsteps sounded, his head snapping up in surprise and alarm, looking over towards the door. There shouldn't be anyone in this part of Gallifrey, not any longer...had he been followed? He couldn't imagine how, he had been very careful, though perhaps his visit to the Hatter hadn't gone as unnoticed as he had thought. He rose from his crouch and moved to the door, unlocking the old, wooden latch and sticking his head outside...there was no one to be seen and no more footsteps filled the air, but he was positive he had heard something.

"Hello?" he called out, narrowing his eyes against the harsh glare of the sun, "Is somebody there?"

"I wouldn't worry yourself, Theta," a gentle, soft voice spoke from behind him, making him instantly freeze in place, his hearts leaping in his chest. That voice...it held a lightness to it, almost teasing and all so familiar, "You have much larger concerns in here to be fretting over presently".

The Warrior whirled around, barely allowing himself to imagine for a second, but there she was, peering up at him with those big blue, lovely eyes of hers, still so youthful and innocent as they regarded him, a teasing smile lifting the soft curve of her lips. She looked as if she was barely out of school, her long, black hair tied back into a braid that draped to the middle of her back and tied with a dark blue ribbon, while her dress was simple in design, coloured in a deep, royal blue with a high waistline and long, billowing sleeves. She was perched casually on top of the Moment, her ankles crossed as her short legs stretched out before her, revealing a pair of golden, flat shoes. His mouth went utterly dry.

"Ariana," he breathed in wonder, unable to do anything more than gape at her. He imagined he probably looked quite idiotic.

She smiled, though it was almost wistful, "Not quite".

He blinked and inhaled sharply, recalling the Hatter's words, how she had warned him that the Moment was almost a living being, that it was sentient, to an extent. He swallowed, hard, and looked back to the woman with the visage of the girl he had fallen in love with, his expression growing cool and guarded. It wasn't Ariana, that girl was long gone, just as Theta Sigma was long since lost to the battle and bloodshed he'd been forced to endure.

"You're the Moment," he said slowly, his voice hardening.

The Moment's smile widened and her eyes sparkled playfully, "What do you think of my face?" she lifted an eyebrow and looked down at herself, lightly plucking at a pleat of her skirt, "I had so many options to chose from, of course, your past and future is hardly lacking in that regard, but this one did seem to be floating around that big, dusty old head of yours quite a bit..."

The Warrior struggled not to flinch, settling on adverting his gaze from her, his expression darkening, "I don't have a future," he corrected her firmly, feeling his hearts sinking...no future, no time, no Hatter...he'd always imagined that they would be together, in the end, and his cowardice had always prevented him from saying the words.

"Beg to differ," she smirked knowingly at him, making his gaze instantly snap back up to her, scowling in annoyance. He went to open his mouth, but she simply continued on, almost cheerfully, "So, tell me...how come you parked so far away?" she lifted an eyebrow and titled her head, eyeing him curiously, though there was still a strange, knowing glint in her eyes, as if she already knew the answer. She leaned slightly towards him, her voice dropping to a teasing whisper, "Were you ashamed that she might be watching, Doctor-dear?"

"Who?"

"The TARDIS, of course, silly," the Moment laughed, winking at him, "You just kept on walking, for miles and miles and miles, just to get here, when you could have parked right here," she fixed him with another, disconcerting smirk, "Makes a girl wonder...why bother? Surely it wasn't for the cardio".

He frowned at her, though he glanced away from her after a moment, "I was thinking," he replied, slightly shortly.

"I know," she grinned cheekily, making him look at her sharply, confusion filling his features.

"You know?"

Her gaze, then, was so soft, it was almost tender as she considered him, enough to almost make his hearts hurt, "I know everything," she said softly, making him frown again, eyeing her. She slowly rose from the box and walked closer to him, barely five feet tall, but she had the same sort of presence about her that the First Hatter had carried. She peered up into his face, big blue eyes, full of understanding and sadness, "No more..." she breathed, sighing grimly, "No more suffering, no more pain, no more bloodshed, no more children dying..."

"Stop it," he cut across her sharply, swallowing thickly, "Just...stop it".

She paused, eyeing him gently, "After everything you've done and witnessed," she said slowly, barely above a whisper, "It's still the thought of innocent children that gets to you the most, isn't it, Doctor? For the innocent lives that will be impacted, unless someone stands up and does something".

"Don't call me that," the Warrior shook his head, giving her a weak glare; "I am not the Doctor".

"Yes, you are," she smiled, tilting her head as she regarded him, almost as if she was examining him, "Only the Doctor would have the hearts to do something like this...only the Doctor could do it".

He shook his head firmly, refusing to believe it, because the old him, the old Doctor, would never have done something like this. This was a crime, worse than anything he could have done or thought himself capable of, it broke every single promise and vowel he had ever made. The real Doctor would never consider genocide, not for a second, let alone be ready to carry it through. But here he was, pushed to his limit, forced to do what must be done, but not in the name of the Doctor, for he was not that man. The box gave a loud clicking noise and his eyes darted to it, hastily moving around the corporal Moment to peer at the box warily.

"It's activating..." he murmured, more to himself than anything else, feeling a tight knot of anxiety and fear inside of him. He could still turn back now...

"Yes, you could," the Moment said softly, making his head snap back up to find her peering intently at him, her gaze horribly knowing and full of sympathy. She brought her hands together down the front of her skirts, gazing at him closely, "There is still a chance to turn back now, Doctor, you haven't pulled the trigger yet..." she paused, her expression growing heavy and grim, her gaze full of warning, "I beg you to reconsider it, in fact".

The Warrior swallowed thickly, straightening to turn back around to face her, barely able to stomach meeting those so very sad eyes, "I told you..." he almost had to force the words to leave his lips, his voice barely above a whisper, "I'm not the Doctor any longer".

She eyed him, almost curiously, though her gaze remained heavy, "And yet, that name lingers in your very thoughts constantly," she said quietly.

"It shouldn't. I've been fighting this war for a long time. I've lost the right to be the Doctor".

"And now you are the only one capable of finally putting a stop to all of this bloodshed. What a terrible, horrible burden that must be".

He looked away from her, his expression briefly twisting in despair, "Yes..." he breathed, looking briefly nauseated, and for one moment he thought he might very well be ill, but he was growing used to the sensation. He supposed that was another part of the price he must pay, "Yes, it is," he licked his dry lips and brought his gaze back up to her, finding her considering him with a frown, "If you've been inside my head, then you know what I've seen," he continued, slightly roughly, "The suffering. Every moment in time and space is burning. It must end..." he hesitated, setting his resolve, tightening his jaw, "And I intend to end it the only way I can".

The Moment nodded slowly, not seeming to be in anyway surprised or startled by his words, just...sad, "And you'll use me to do it," she sighed, almost warily, "Killing them all, Daleks and Time Lords alike, destroying Gallifrey and everything that inhabits it..." she paused, her gaze growing suddenly sharper, "Including your beloved Hatter, your first and most enduring love. Are you truly prepared to sacrifice her, Doctor? Gallifrey, your people, your soul...all of that, I see in your hearts, you're willing to sacrifice for the sake of the rest of the Universe, but can you really kill her, too?"

No...the word, though not spoken aloud, immediately screamed in his mind, and his hearts clenched tightly in his chests and the air in his very lungs seemed to completely disappear. The Hatter was the one last good thing left, the Time Lords had been damaged and corrupted by power and bloodshed, so many of them had been more than willing to blindly follow Rassilon and his madness, and as for his soul? He wondered if he hadn't already lost or damaged that beyond repair centuries ago, for all the other terrible deeds he had committed in the Doctor's name, let alone in the name of the Warrior. But she had also made her own choice; she had chosen to remain behind, knowing what it meant for her. And perhaps, like him, she was also damaged from the war, from losing so much herself, losing her children had shattered her and she had never seemed the same again, perhaps she thought it would bring her peace. It wouldn't bring him any peace, not even trying to tell himself that, but it was her choice. He had to respect it...for the sake of the friendship they had, for the love he had for her, for the children they once were, he owed her that.

"It must be this way," he said, realising that the Moment was waiting, watching him with those intent, sharp eyes that seemed to see straight through him, much like the Hatter, but somehow even more frighteningly knowing.

She sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging, almost in disappointment and she looked away from him, "Of course, I could help you to archive your goal," she told him with a heavy, weighty sigh again, frowning faintly as she fixed him with another sharp, thoughtful stare, "But it will cost you dearly, there will be consequences for you, surely you know that? Even worse consequences then you have perhaps come to consider yet".

"I have no desire to survive this".

"And so that will be your punishment," the Moment replied instantly, her expression growing hard, almost cool, almost calculating, "If you truly go through with this, Theta Sigma, then that shall be the consequences you will face for kill them all, for destroying your home, your people, yourself...your love," she stepped forward until she was standing directly before him again, titling her head very slightly, gaze fixed on his face, softening, "You live, alone, the last of your kind".

The Warrior nodded slowly, "I promised that I would," he lightly shrugged, his expression grim, "It's my last promise to her. I intend to keep it".

"How many children are there on Gallifrey?"

He blinked, almost reeling back from her at the sudden change, the sharp, almost angry expression that suddenly filled her features, the cutting, icy edge to her tone. The change in her demeanour was so sudden and different; it was as if he was facing a different woman.

"Excuse me?" he frowned, utterly thrown.

"Right now, tell me how many children there are on Gallifrey?" she repeated, her tone almost dangerous, her eyes narrowing as she moved too slowly circle him, forcing him to turn to keep her in his line of sight, "Tell me, Doctor, Warrior, Theta Sigma...whatever name you choose to go by today or in the next, how many children are on this planet that you are about to burn?"

The Warrior flinched at the bluntness of her words, it would have been better if she had slapped him; it had certainly felt like a blow. His forehead crinkled and he licked his lips warily, slowly turning to match her, "I don't know," he admitted.

She stopped and stared at him grimly for a long moment, "There will come a day when you will," she warned him, for it felt like a warning to him, her expression still cold, but yet...soft, almost sympathetic, "A day when you find yourself needing to know, for the sake of your own sanity...and you will count them, on one terrible night you will know, Doctor. And I'm sorry, so very sorry...but it will break you," she paused, considering him as he swallowed, hard, "I could show you, if you would like, what that will do to you? The men you will become..."

The Warrior frowned warily at her, her tone taking on an odd lightness, almost teasing tone that hardly suited the current topic. She gave him a knowing smirk.

"Now, now, there's no need to be afraid," she told him, turning her back on him with a flip of her skirts and her braided hair, walking a few steps away from him, "If you're going to do something, you ought to fully understands the risks of doing so..." she looked up and, suddenly, a large, spinning, whirring portal opened up in thin air, sending a gust of wind to ruffle their clothing and hair, "I'm opening time windows for you into your future, allowing you a sneaky peek into what you will become, Doctor. Let's see just what you make of your future...and what they make of you".

They stared up at the shimming portal; the Warriro was an apprehensive frown across his face...before something dark crimson came flying out of the portal, landing on the dirty floor just at their feet. There was a moment of silence as they looked down at the fez that had fell through, the Moment blinking in confusion.

"Huh," she said slowly, eyeing it, "Now that isn't any way to treat a hat".

...

The Hatter swallowed thickly, unable to bring herself to take her eyes off the painting before her. She could almost smell the smoke rising up from the canvases before her; almost taste the fear and terror that lingered in the air of Gallifrey. It was just a painting, but it was so accurately painted, a moment out of time from the most terrible, awful day that one could imagine. It brought back every single memory of the war that she had managed to push down, deep, deep down. She glanced at the Doctor from the corner of her eye and her hearts positively hurt from the haunted look in his gaze, staring at the painting with a silent, heartbroken look deep in his eyes. She just wanted to take it all away, cover his eye and hold him in her arms, until the images were wiped from the forefront of their minds. But there were questions that needed to be asked and answered, they needed to know how this was even possible, why they had been brought here...if there was a bigger plan at play here, they needed to know. Then, after that, they could comfort one another, but only once they knew just what was at risk.

"But the Time War's over," Clara shook her head, looking over to Kate with a deep, troubled frown, "Why have you brought us here to look at a painting?"

"The painting only serves as Elizabeth's credentials," Kate explained, looking still slightly warily between the Doctor and the Hatter, "Proof that the letter is from her. It's not why you're here".

Clara and Jen both looked to the Doctor and the Hatter, Elizabeth's sealed letter still held loosely in the Doctor's hand. The Hatter looked to him, too, her expression concerned, but determined, attempting to put on the best brave and confident face that she could, not just for his sake or even hers, but for Jen, for Astra, even for Clara. She was truly shaken by what this could all mean; any mention of the Time War now, after centuries of having barely having any echoes of the Time War reaching them, seemed horribly worrying. The Doctor met her eyes, licking his lips as he held her gaze for a long moment, and she could see that he felt the exact same way. He was troubled and frightened, but he still moved to snap the wax seal on the envelope, only breaking his gaze from her to unfold the letter. Instantly, he frowned.

"What does it say?" Jen asked, watching him with big, worried eyes.

The Doctor grimaced slightly, before sighing, "'My dearest love,'" he began, his tone sounding rather flat and his cheeks flushed a light, embarrassed pink. He kept his eyes firmly on the loopy, elaborate writing, even as he felt the eyes of every single one of them on him, the Hatter's the most weighty of all, "'I hope the painting known as Gallifrey Falls will serve as proof that it is your Elizabeth who writes to you now. You will recall that you and the Lady Hattie pledged yourselves to the safety of my kingdom. In this capacity I have appointed you as curator of the Under Gallery, where deadly danger to England is locked away. Should any disturbance occur within its walls, it is my wish that you and the Lady Hattie should be summoned. God speed, gentle...'" he hesitated, again, grimacing.

"Say it, Doctor," the Hatter rolled her eyes in exasperation.

He winced, "...husband,'" he finished, hastily.

"Husband?" Jen blinked, looking startled as she stared between the Hatter, who looked curiously caught between exasperation and amusement, and the Doctor, who looked as if he was attempting to cringe back in on himself in embarrassment.

"Long story," he muttered uncomfortably, clearing his throat as he flipped the letter in half, shoving it back into his coat pocket.

"Such a wonderful way to spend a honeymoon," the Hatter said lightly, giving him a knowing, slightly narrowed eyed glare, which instantly made his cheeks redden.

"I didn't mean to marry her, Hatter!"

"You never do, sweetheart," she shook her head, while Jen and Clara exchanged a quick look, "Fake ceremony or not, but that is hardly the point presently..." she turned her gaze to Kate, her expression growing concerned, "Exactly what has happened, Kate?"

Kate briefly bit her bottom lip, "Easier to show you," she replied, turning on her heel to start walking away, over towards an open doorway that led out of the room, though a side door.

The Doctor looked at the Hatter, who frowned, casting another linger look towards the painting. When she looked at it without the shock of the painting even existing, without the pain and horror of what it stirred up inside of her...it looked familiar to her. Something about it seemed to niggle at something in the back of her mind, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she glanced sideways at the Doctor again. He had always been rather talented at art, all throughout his regenerations it had been a talent he had seemed to retain, even if some bodies had been more inclined towards painting then others. Could it be...? Possibly. Still, she squeezed his hand and kept her suspicions to herself as she and the Doctor turned to follow Kate, Astra trotting along beside the Time Lady, while Clara and Jen hastily moved to trail after them. A phone began trilling as they neared the door and man in a white lab coat fished a phone from his pocket, lifting it up to his ear.

"McGillop," the man said over the line, causing the Hatter to glance back over her shoulder to him. Funny time to be getting a phone call...instantly, he seemed to freeze and frown deeply in confusion, "But that's not possible. I was just..."

The rest of his words were faded out as they moved further away from him and the room, but it made the Hatter curious. As she originally thought, curious time to be getting a phone call, and whoever was on the other end seemed to have thrown the man, but she supposed she'd find out later, if it was of any great importance, though her instincts told her it was. They followed Kate on through the gallery, leading them down to a floor below, taking a set of stairs that were hidden behind a thick, metal door. The air felt a touch cooler and older down here. Kate rounded a corner and they soon found themselves stepping into a smaller room, several armed guards standing around the edges of the room. The second they stepped over the threshold, a thick, metal door began sliding down over the doorway, sealing the room, but that wasn't what made the Doctor and the Hatter stop short, but rather the very large painting that stood in the middle of the room.

It was a painting depicting Queen Elizabeth the First, looking out from the canvas with a soft smile across her lips, decked out in many jewels, a crown, and a large ruffled collar of the era. For a painting of a queen of the time, it was curiously relaxed, though still rather formal for today's time. Standing beside her was a man that looked very much like the Tenth Doctor, spiky brown hair and sharp features included, dressed in clothing of the time period, which the Hatter most assuredly couldn't recall that version of the Doctor ever wearing...she couldn't imagine him wearing it, quite honestly. The Time Lady frowned, eyeing the painting, before glancing at the Doctor...who groaned and shut his eyes, looking almost pained with embarrassment.

"I don't remember you sitting for this, sweetheart," she said, though she was far more curious, then exasperated. The Doctor had stuck by her side the entire time during that trip, they were on their honeymoon, after all, it still baffled her how Elizabeth had failed to realise that, but she had. Somehow.

"I didn't," the Doctor sighed heavily, shaking his head as he slowly opened his eyes to look darkly at the picture, "She must have commissioned it after we left...she was obsessed, I'm telling you, dear!"

The Time Lady gave him a look, "How wonderful for your ego," she said sarcastically.

"So it really is Elizabeth the First?" Clara peered up at the painting, frowning as she glanced at the Doctor, eyeing him slightly, "You guys were...close?"

"Not exactly," the Doctor grimaced.

"Close enough to marry her, somehow," Jen pointed out.

He winced and looked back to the Time Lady, who had her eyebrows raised at him, "It was a long time ago..."

...

It was 1569 and the Tenth Hatter had to say...when she had suggested that she and the Doctor take a little trip to the Elizabethan era as a part of their honeymoon tour, her brand new husband finding himself Queen Elizabeth the First's new favourite, was not in any way a part of her plan. She'd thought maybe a nice trip to the Court to amuse themselves with the dancing of the era would be fun, hopefully even rather romantic, instead it had taken a rather different turn. She should have known, nothing they ever did turned out how they expected it, and discovering that the Queen may have very well have been kidnapped by Zygons was just one thing that no one could have guessed. Well, she faintly hoped she had been kidnapped, it might explain why she was suddenly besotted with the Doctor. However, hopefully today would finally solve the truth and they would be able to stop the Zygon and save the real Queen, and then go about the rest of their honeymoon as planned. After all, no one could be this oblivious?...Right?

Never mind the fact that she probably could have been.

"Allons-y!" the Tenth Doctor cheered as he sent the white horse he was riding galloping out of the open TARDIS doors, straight out into the large, open field by the coast, while Elizabeth sat behind him, giggling rather girlishly with her arms tightly wrapped around him from behind.

The Tenth Hatter shook her head in wonder, urging her chestnut brown horse to trot out from the time machine after them. It was frankly rather startling how girly the formidable, legendary Queen that had started a Golden Era for England had become since setting eyes on the Doctor. She was on her damn honeymoon right now and you didn't see her giggling and falling all over the Doctor whenever he opened his mouth, she hadn't turned into a puddle of goo just because the Doctor smiled at her. Not that she was jealous, of course not, she was a Time Lady. Time Ladies simply didn't do that...it was rather annoying, though. The Tenth Doctor brought his horse to a gentle stop, turning it to face the TARDIS once again. He flashed the Time Lady a grin and she rolled her eyes playfully. It would help matters, slightly, if the Doctor didn't find it so bloody amusing that the Queen, Zygon or not, happened to have a thing for him.

"There you go, your Majesty," he called over his shoulder brightly, still smiling happily, "What did we tell you? Bigger on the inside".

"The door isn't," Elizabeth remarked, smiling as she seemed to curl herself even more snugly around him, her chin resting on his shoulder, "You nearly took my head off," she laughed slightly and lifted her eyebrows as he glanced at her, though a little awkwardly, "It's normally me who does that".

The Tenth Doctor's smile slipped very slightly and he awkwardly tried to lean back from her...though she only seemed to tighten her hold around his stomach, making him actually wince, which he hastily covered up by laughing very uncomfortably. The Tenth Hatter sighed inwardly and briefly rolled her eyes skyward, she supposed that she could take one small amusement out of this: The Doctor at least seemed to dislike being physically attached to the Queen. The downside was that it was obviously making him uncomfortable, which did take most of the humour of it.

"Picnic!" the Time Lady suggested loudly, making the Queen blink and look at her in confusion, almost as if she had forgotten she had joined them...she wasn't entirely sure what lie the Doctor had fed her about why he simply had to have the Hatter join them, but it had apparently worked. She wasn't completely sure he hadn't used hypnosis though that was far more the old Master's style of doing things. She brought her horse over towards the pair, giving the copper haired woman a wide, warm smile, which was only very slightly tense, "I think this ought to make for a perfect spot for a picnic, your Majesty".

Lizzie was very slightly thrown by it all...though the second the Doctor insisted that it was just the best location possible, curiously the Queen was quick to agree. Big shocker. She didn't exactly move to help them set out the blankets and pillows that they dragged from the TARDIS, laying them out on the grass a short distance away from where they had left the horses tethered, before setting out the food that they had grabbed from the castle kitchens. Once it was all set out, they sat down to enjoy their picnic, Elizabeth looked rather upset to find the Doctor's lap suddenly full of a plate of fruit, when she had moved to seemingly rest her head in his lap...he had smiled innocently at her and absently popped a grape into his mouth, acting as if he hadn't noticed a thing. The Hatter barely held back a laugh, hastily slipping a raspberry tart into her mouth before she could make a sound that might give the game away. It didn't hit the same spot as her jelly baby's did, but it was very sweet and would pose less of an interest from the Queen.

"Tell me, Doctor," Elizabeth sighed with a dreamy, content little smile on her face as she peered at him from beneath her eyelashes, holding a cup of wine in a golden goblet in one hand, "Why I'm wasting my time on you," she smirked, all but winking at him, "I have wars to plan".

"You have a picnic to eat," the Doctor replied with a shrug, popping another grape into his mouth. His eyes brightened and he looked to the Hatter, "Mm, you've got to try these, Hatter," he told her brightly, twisting another grape from off the vine and leaning towards the blonde, giving her a smile as he moved to almost feed it to her...

"Oh, yes," the Hatter hastily plucked the grape out of his fingers, just as he came close to her face, her eyes wide. She gave him a sharp, pointed look and threw a glance towards Lizzie, reminding him that he shouldn't be acting to cosy towards her, if he wished for them to continue their intelligence on the Zygon possibly posing as the Queen. She popped it into her mouth as he mouthed a quick 'Sorry' to her, seemingly brought back to their main goal...which, unfortunately, meant acting rather unattached towards one another.

Elizabeth sighed, lowering her goblet to give the Doctor another, almost simpering smile, "You could help me, Doctor," she suggested with a sly, hopeful tone.

He shrugged again, eating another grape, "Well, I'm helping you eat the picnic".

She eyed him closely, "But you have a stomach for war," she reached out and brushed her finger against the side of his face, making him instantly freeze, before he could properly brace himself. She didn't seem to notice, still peering at him, while the Hatter inwardly sighed...only she would have to deal with another woman flirting with her new husband during her honeymoon, "This face has seen conflict, it's as clear as day".

"Oh, I've seen conflict like you wouldn't believe," he admitted grimly, his expression instantly darkening, his gaze growing heavy. The Hatter discreetly moved her hand across the blanket, concealed behind a cushion, and covered his hand as it lay on the ground between them, squeezing it. His eyes darted to her and she could practically feel him trying to express his affection to her, his thumb running over her knuckles. He sighed, then, and shook his head, "But is wasn't this face," he looked back to the Queen, his eyes narrowing as he eyed her...until he suddenly jolted forward, moving to climb back onto his feet, "But never mind that, your Majesty! Up on your feet!" he straightened and turned to gesture for Lizzie to stand, not even moving to help her, "Up, up!"

"How dare you?" Elizabeth exclaimed, giving him a rather indignant frown, "I'm the Queen of England!" she reached up to grasp his hand, which he allowed, pulling her up onto her feet.

"Well, we're not exactly English," the Hatter remarked light, smoothly moving to stand, eyeing the Queen with a slightly wary frown. Her reaction, or lack of reaction, rather, was very telling..., "So, technically...you're not our Queen," she shrugged, causing the woman to turn to stare at her, looking baffled.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this, but..." the Doctor shook his head, frowning to himself as he suddenly knelt before Elizabeth, instantly pulling her attention back to him, still holding her hand as he looked up to her, "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

The way he asked it...he couldn't have sounded any more flat or blunt; there was no great ceremony to it, no lightening of his tone, no smile or affection on his face. It was like watching a very badly acted theatre production. It was nothing like how he had proposed to her, she remembered how sweet he had been, how nervous, how utterly thrilled he was when she had accepted. It brought a smile to the Hatter's lips, just thinking about it. She really did love that man.

"Oh, my dear, sweet love," Elizabeth breathed in delight, breaking into a wide smile, "Of course I will..." she moved to step closer to him, reaching out a hand to stroke his cheek.

"Ah!" the Doctor shouted, jumping up suddenly and springing back from her, before she had a chance to touch him, "Gotcha!"

"My love?" she blinked, startled.

"One..." he placed his hands behind his back as the Hatter moved to stand by his side, her gaze sharp and watchful on Lizzie, "The real Elizabeth would never have accepted my marriage proposal," he began listing off, while Elizabeth positively gaped at him in disbelief, "Two, the real Elizabeth would notice when I just casually mentioned having a different face. But then the real Elizabeth isn't a shape-shifting alien from outer space. And..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large, very confusing, thrown together looking device, almost shoving it into her face, just as it gave a small ding. He grinned, "Ding!"

"What's that?"

"It's a rather complicated device..." the Hatter paused, frowning thoughtfully, "Well, not overly complicated, I suppose. Just a little something I chucked together while the horses were being saddled," she shrugged, almost dismissively and looked thoughtfully to the device in the Doctor's hand, "It's very handy in detecting the presence of shape-shifter DNA..."

"Ooh, don't forget microwaving frozen dinners from up to twenty feet away," the Doctor reminded her excitedly, giving her a grin as he draped his arm around her waist, looking fondly at the device in his other hand. She blushed slightly, "And downloading comics from the future..."

"You have an addiction, sweetheart," the Time Lady laughed, kissing his cheek, her lips lingering on his skin...

"My love, I do not understand," Elizabeth shook her head, frowning deeply as she looked between them, a rather cross expression quickly filling her cheeks and turning them rather pink, "And I do not recall that you and the Lady Hattie were quite so familiar".

The Doctor fixed her with a dark, narrowed eyed glare, "I'm not your love, I'm hers..." he nodded towards the Hatter with a proud glint in his eyes, "And yes, you do understand," he leaned slightly closer towards her, "You're a Zygon".

She stared at him, looking utterly baffled, "A Zygon?" she repeated, truly sounding clueless.

"Oh, stop it," he rolled his eyes in exasperation, straightening again, "It's over. A Zygon, yes. Big red rubbery thing covered in suckers..."

"Not the most attractive thing the Universe..." the Hatter paused, suddenly looking rather thoughtful as she tilted her head to the side, "Well, I suppose, subjectively it's not the most awful looking thing, curiously rather good kissers..." she cleared her throat and grimaced as the Doctor immediately looked at her sharply, lifting an eyebrow. She coughed, embarrassedly, "I did say subjectively, right? I mean, it was only once and it was an emergency situation...and I...don't want to talk about it," she finished firmly, her cheeks bright red.

"You're beautiful when you're all embarrassed," the Doctor grinned cheekily, planting a quick kiss to her cheek, which only made her blush harder, before he turned back to Elizabeth, fixing her with a suddenly rather stern glare, "Think the real Queen of England would just decide to share her throne with any old handsome bloke in a tight suit, just cos he's got amazing hair and a nice horse?" he smirked and winked at the Hatter as he spoke, making the Time Lady fondly shake her head at him.

Elizabeth suddenly gasped, her attention seemingly completely fixed on something over their shoulder. She didn't even seem to be listening. The Hatter slowly lost her amused expression, frowning as she turned to look over her shoulder, only for her eyes to widen.

"Um, sweetheart?" she cleared her throat, grimacing slightly, "I think we made a little, tiny, mistake..."

The Doctor looked at her sharply, worry and alarm briefly crossing his features as he turned around to follow her gaze. Where once his white horse had stood, tethered to a tree by the Hatter's own brown horse, now stood a very real, hissing Zygon. It glared at them from several feet away from them, almost rearing back, as if readying to lurch itself at them as its transformation back to its proper, red, sucker covered form. He blinked, his lips parting,

"Oh," he breathed, looking back to Elizabeth, who stared at the alien in horror, "It was the horse..." his eyes widened, then, his head snapping around to the Time Lady, "I just proposed to the real Queen Elizabeth...I'm going to be King!"

"No, you blood well am not!" the Hatter shot him a stern glare, grabbing his hand, and then Elizabeth's, "Come on, run!"

They took off running, Elizabeth barely managing not to trip over her heavily skirted, elaborate dress, while being dragged along behind the Hatter and the Doctor, over towards were an old ruin of what might have once have been a small castle or manor sat.

"You're not jealous, are you, Hatter?"

"Time Lady's do not get jealous, Doctor!" she huffed, not even bothering to throw him a glare over her shoulder, for even suggesting such a thing.

"What's happening?" Elizabeth demanded as she kept up with the Time Lords, throwing frightened, confused looks back over her shoulder, towards the Zygon.

"We're being attacked by a shape-shifting alien from outer space!" the Doctor replied over his shoulder, sounding perfectly casual, as if it ought to be a perfectly normal thing for Elizabeth to experience every day, "Formerly disguised as my horse!"

She threw him a confused look as they ran, "What does that mean?"

"It means we're going to need a new horse!"

The Hatter laughed at that, not caring if she possibly seemed quite mad, to be fair, she didn't exactly have to try very hard to come off as being mad. She was wearing a rainbow bowtie and bracers, paired with army green, which had earned her some very shocked looks during this trip, but that was just a part of life. She had to duck slightly to go through the low, stone archway of the ruin, pulling the Doctor and Elizabeth along behind her. Elizabeth pulled herself free to flatten herself against the wall on the left side of the archway, while the Doctor and the Hatter stepped off to the right side, peering carefully around the edge of the archway, watching as the Zygon went running off. It seemed to be heading towards the tree line that made up a very large forest, just a short distance away from the field and the ruin. Curiously, it didn't seem to be going after them, but why, the Hatter wasn't entirely sure.

"Where's it going?" Elizabeth asked nervously, looking around the corner of the archway, watching the creature running off.

"It's nothing that you need to worry about, your Majesty," the Hatter told her, giving her a bracing smile, "The Doctor and I...well, this is kind of our thing. You just need to run," she gave her a slightly grim smile, her expression growing almost wary, "We'll sort this mess out, you just focus on getting yourself somewhere safe. Your people need you".

And history seriously couldn't deal with one of the most iconic Queens in human history getting killed, several decades too early.

"Very well, Lady Hattie," Elizabeth said very gravely, nodding, "I shall trust in your word, but you must ensure that my beloved returns swiftly and safely to me..." she turned her attention to the Doctor, reaching out to grasp his face between her hands, causing the Doctor to freeze up and his eyes to widen in alarm, "I need you alive, my love, for our wedding day!"

She kissed him, right on the lips, making the Doctor practically chock as he struggled to try and pull himself free from her grasp, though the Queen didn't seem to notice as she almost as quickly released him from the passionate embrace, giving him one last simpering, love stuck look, before turning on her heel and dashing off away from the ruin...the Doctor grimaced and began frantically wiping his lips with the back of his hand. The Hatter sighed heavily, closing her eyes in exasperation.

"Seriously?" she groaned, "It's supposed to be our honeymoon...only you would get engaged to another woman on your own honeymoon, Doctor!"

"It was just a trick, Hatter!" the Doctor immediately tried to defend himself, though he hardly seemed to be enjoying himself. He looked really quite miserably, actually, scowling deeply, "I only proposed to her to see how she'd react, who would think the real Elizabeth would be so keen on me?"

"Stop," she held up a hand, fixing him a sharp glare, eye narrowed and full of warning, "Let's deal with one inconvenience at a time today, Doctor...your impending marriage to the Virgin Queen will just have to wait until later".

He winced, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck, "So much for history," he sighed, before shaking his head and giving the Hatter a sheepish grin as he reached out to take her hand...she playfully pretended to give him an annoyed look, though there was no heat behind it as she accepted his hand, allowing him to turn and pull her alongside him as they ducked back through the archway.

They took a moment to gather their bearings, once they were back in the open of the field, the Hatter scanning the area quickly with her eyes, but the Zygon was gone and Elizabeth had disappeared, too. The Doctor slipped the DNA tracer from his pocket and briefly shook it with an impatient huff, before it dinged, a small dial on the device spinning and turning to point straight towards the tree line of the forest. They immediately took off running in that direction, slipping and sliding slightly on the way down the somewhat steep slope that lead down to the trees, but soon they were dodging trees and jumping over roots in their hast to follow the beeping of the device, moving deeper and deeper into the forest, until, suddenly, the beeping began beeping very intensely and they came to a skidding halt, the Time Lady almost tripping over a small rock.

"Whoa!" the Doctor eyed the device, his eyes lightening up eagerly, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" he slowly turned to face a very large rabbit that sat peacefully on an old tree stump just a few feet away from them, big floppy ears and a large, sweet face, covered in smoky brown fur as it lightly nibbled on something. It seemed to blissfully ignore their interest as the Time Lords stared at it, the Doctor's eyes narrowing intently on it, "Oh, very clever..."

The Hatter, however, was eyeing the rabbit slightly more dubiously, "Um, sweetheart..." she began warily, not entirely convinced. That rabbit just seemed far too casual and blissfully ignorant to her eyes, but the Doctor seemed to be on yet another one of his rolls.

"Whatever you've got planned, forget it," he stepped closer to the rabbit, glaring down at it dangerously. The Hatter sighed and shook her head lightly, "I'm the Doctor and she's the Hatter. We're nine hundred and four years old. We're from the planet of Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous," he stepped closer to the rabbit, who continued to utterly ignore his near rant, while the Hatter reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, though her lips trembled from the effort not to laugh, "I am the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, and you...are basically just a rabbit, aren't you?" he sighed, coming to kneel beside the stump, his 'Dangerous' aura instantly disappearing.

"Yeah, sweetheart," the Time Lady nodded, laughing as he practically pouted at the rabbit, seeming very slightly put off, now that his great speech had been ruined, "Yeah, just a rabbit".

"You could have told me, Hatter!" he exclaimed, straightening to fix her with a mock glare.

She grinned, "But where would the fun be in that?" she stepped closer to him and pressed her lips to his cheeks, her kiss lingering for far longer than just a sweet kiss on the cheek normally would, and when she pulled away, he had his eyes closed with a soft smile playing across his lips. She smiled almost as tenderly, "Besides, I loved your little speech, sweetheart. Very dashing hero and all that".

His eyes opened and he reached out to take her hand, bringing it up to press a feather light kiss to her knuckles, "We should never have left the TARDIS," he sighed against her skin, making her laugh and a shiver run down her spin, though she tried not to show it as his eyes flicked up to her face.

"You ought to be careful, Doctor. I don't think you're bride-to-be would like hearing you say that".

He groaned and closed his eyes in despair, "I should have known you'd throw that back at me".

"For the rest of our lives, always, Doctor".

He gave her a mock glare, but before he had a chance to respond, the device gave another sharp ding and they instantly looked at it. He held it up and the small dial turned sharply, pointing off through the forest ahead of them, and they were off...

"Doctor!" Elizabeth's voice rang out suddenly, coming from the same direction, sounding quite frightened.

They found her, just through a thick patch of trees further ahead of them, lying on her side on the leaf strewn ground of a small clearing area. She seemed to be utterly alone as they immediately ran towards her, jumping over a low hanging tree branch as they went.

"Elizabeth!" the Hatter called as they neared her, her eyes wide with concern, "Are you alright?"

She slowly sat up as they finally reached her, her eyes full of alarm, but she seemed otherwise unharmed, though shaken, "That thing!" she gasped, accepting the Doctor's offered hands to help her up from the ground, "Explain what it is. What does it want of us?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," the Doctor replied as he let go of her hands, speaking rather calmly, "Probably just your planet".

The Hatter grimaced slightly, giving him a slightly scolding glance, "You seriously could have phrased that better, Doctor," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Doctor, Lady Hattie..." a familiar voice spoke, making them instantly look up. It was a second Elizabeth, standing several feet away from them, looking perfectly composed. She wasn't even out of breath! She narrowed her eyes on the first Elizabeth, who gaped at her in disbelief, "Step away from her," she ordered them, while the Time Lords did step back, looking from Elizabeth to Elizabeth, "That's not me. That's the creature".

"How is that possible?" the first Elizabeth gasped, her eyes wide in shock, "She's me. She's me!"

The Doctor hastily lifted the device, frowning thoughtfully as he aimed it towards the second Elizabeth, trying to get a clear reading off her, then to the first, just trying to determine which one was the real one. The Hatter looked between both Queens, utterly lost as to which was which...unlike with the rabbit, she found herself completely unable to determine the true Lizzie. They were just so perfectly alike.

"I am indeed me," the second Elizabeth said with as much dignity as one might expect the legendary Queen to have, walking casually closer towards her twin with a cool, prideful look in her eyes, "A compliment that cannot be extended to yourself".

"Extraordinary," the first Queen shook her head in wonder, slowly turning to start circling the other, the second Elizabeth mimicking her, "The creature has captured my exact likeness. This is exceptional!"

"Exceptional? A Queen would call it impertinent".

"A Queen would feel compelled to admire the skill of the execution, before arranging one".

"It's not working," the Doctor growled in frustration, roughly shaking the device, before glaring at it. He shot the Hatter a quick, hopeful glance, "Hatter, please tell me you've noticed something clever and completely impossible, that only you would notice?"

The Hatter continued to stare at the two Queens, facing one another now, "That was quite the sentence, Doctor," she said, though rather absently, frowning deeply with a look of concentration on her face, "But I honestly can't tell them apart. They're just...way too alike".

The second Elizabeth lifted her eyebrows, eyeing her copy with narrowed eyes, "One might surmise that the creature would learn quickly to protect itself from any simple means of detection," she remarked without taking her gaze off the first Queen.

"Clearly you understand the creature better than I," the first Elizabeth said quickly back, giving her a small, almost condescending smile, "But then, you have the advantage".

"Ooh," the Hatter blinked, her eyebrows lifting in a surprised, faintly approving look, "That was a good one..."

"Hatter," the Doctor began, casting her a glance from the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, there was a loud, whooshing sound and the Time Lords looked up, only for their eyes to widen at the sight of a spinning, swirling vortex tunnel that appeared in the sky just above the clearing, aimed right at the heart of it. It seemed to be quite empty...at least for now, but it immediately made the Hatter's hearts leap in alarm, because nothing possibly good could come from this. What else was going to happen today? Zygons, the Virgin Queen with a crush on the Doctor...it was shaping up to be a very interesting adventure, far more interesting then she had actually hoped for, which is saying something.

"Back, both of you, now!" the Doctor immediately jumped into action, gesturing for both Elizabeth's to get behind him as he hurried forward, moving to stand beneath of the opening of the vortex, peering warily up at it as he eyed it.

"A time fissure," the Hatter groaned in exasperation, coming to stand beside him, ignoring the sharp, worried look he sent her way. She frowned up at the vortex, eyeing it closely, "Just what we needed to add to today's mess, a lovely little tear in the fabric of reality that could have anything come flying through at any given moment..."

She had barely finished speaking, when something dark red and small did come flying out of the tunnel, landing at their feet. She blinked, her lips parting, while the Doctor frowned deeply down at the object.

"Hatter..." he said slowly, "Did you order a fez, by any chance?"

...

The Eleventh Hatter had to admit...at least the painting of the Tenth Doctor was a very good likeness of how he looked, though that was hardly the main matter of concern here. She tried to think back on that trip, remembered bits and pieces of their time at Elizabeth's court, how they had gone there for a feast just so that they could dance and enjoy each other's company, they hadn't meant to become mixed up with Elizabeth, but then...something else had happened. Alien related something, but the finer details eluded her. She remembered that the Doctor got married to Elizabeth, a fake marriage due to the priest not even being a real priest; mainly she remembered it because it was rather annoying to her and the Doctor had found the whole ordeal rather awkward, too, but the rest of the adventure was curiously glossed over, even in her own memories. That hardly boded well.

Kate walked closer to the painting and grasped the left side of the huge, thick wooden frame, looking back over her shoulder to them, "This way," she told them, calmly swinging the portrait open, revealing a hidden passageway that seemed to go deeper beneath the ground.

"Ooh," the Hatter grinned, looking excitedly to the Doctor, "Secret door hidden behind a painting...love it".

The Doctor gave her a warm smile, her comment managing to drag him from his staring at the painting, "Maybe we should do that in our bedroom, dear," he commented.

"Yes! Excellent idea, sweetheart, who wouldn't want a secret door over their bedroom?"

"Doctor, Hatter..." Kate cleared her throat, casting them a glance over her shoulder. They instantly fell silent, looking curiously at the darkened passageway that stood behind the hidden door, "Welcome to the Under Gallery," she turned and walked forward, leading them through the doorway and down a small set of stairs, the ground covered in a thick layer of sand. The lights turned on the second they sensed movement, revealing that the passageway was lined by several statue, each covered by sheets, hiding them from view, "This is where Elizabeth the First kept all art she deemed dangerous for public consumption".

"How is art dangerous?" Jen asked with a confused frown, trailing behind her parents, throwing the covered statue a slightly baffled look.

"Depends what the art depicts," the Doctor said warily, frowning as he glanced down at the floor, eyeing the sand with a thoughtful frown. He paused to bend down and picked up a scoop of sand in his hand, letting it run through his fingers as he peered at it intently, "Stone dust".

"Stone dust, hey?" the Hatter lifted an eyebrow, dropping her gaze to the floor, allowing the toe of her left, bright yellow Oxford to lightly kick at some of the sand. Her gaze trailed slowly up to the statures that lined the passageway, covered by sheets, suspicion niggling the back of her mind, but only a minor suspicion. She glanced back to the Doctor, catching his eye as he looked up to her, exchanging a quick look...yes, it was something to keep in mind.

"Don't like, Mummy," Astra scowled up at the covered statures, edging closer to the Hatter's legs.

"Shh, darling," she hushed her gently, giving her a comforting smile, "It's alright, Astra. It's just a bit of sand and statures..."

Statures that may or may not be as they seem, but there was no need to tell the toddler that part.

Kate, frowning, turned back around and walked back over to them, looking quickly between them, "Is it important?" she asked them.

The Doctor frowned deeper, shooting the sand another thoughtful look as it swiftly ran through his fingers, "In twelve hundred years I've never stepped in anything that wasn't," he commented with a serious look up at Kate.

"Yet another thing that likely sounded better in his head," the Hatter said, after a brief pause. She heard someone give a breathy, almost wheezy laugh and turned around, back towards the door to find the young woman with the lab coat and the Fourth Doctor's scarf wrapped around her neck, lingering by the door. She immediately attempted to look as if she hadn't been listening, making the Time Lady smile, amused, "Hello, there!" she called cheerfully to the girl, who looked up, startled, her eyes widening and a blush immediately filling her cheeks as she realised she was being addressed directly by the Hatter, "Yes, you..." she laughed, waving to her with her hand not held by Astra, "I take it you're a scientist?"

"Oh, er," the young woman broke in a wide, though shy smile and instantly moved to step up into the hidden passageway, moving to join them, "Well, er, yes..."

"Excellent, love a scientist," the Time Lady paused, considering that, "As long as you're a good scientist, not a baddie one...I've met way too many of that sort. Horribly disappointing, but..." she grimaced as she noticed Clara giving her a pointed, tense smile, and hastily gave the young woman an apologetic grin, "Anyway, I'm sure you're just lovely. What's your name?"

The girl stared at her, looking rather dazed, though she was grinning widely, "Yes," she said, nodding, and the Hatter continued smiling at her, waiting to give her a moment...she seemed as if she needed one, which was just a little flattering. Even the best of us could get ourselves a little star struck.

"Good," the Doctor said brightly, winking at the girl, "I've always wanted to meet someone called Yes".

The Hatter laughed and shook her head, lightly nudging his side as the girl blinked slightly, "I apologise for his utterly poor, but hilarious dad joke," she said to the girl in a mock whisper, throwing the Doctor a cheeky wink of her own, "Could you possibly do us a favour?" she smiled at the girl, taking pity on her as she continued to gape very slightly, "Take a sample of this sand and do an analyse on it, please. That would be ever so helpful..."

"And I want a report in triplicate," the Doctor added quickly, smiling excitedly as he pointed at the girl, "With lots of graphs and diagrams and complicated sums on my desk, tomorrow morning, ASAP, pronto, L.O.L. See?" he turned to point at Clara and Jen, giving them a proud grin as Clara simply smiled back at him, trying not to laugh, "Job," he clicked his fingers, pointing to Kate, "Do either of us have a desk?"

Kate looked briefly confused, "No," she replied, and he immediately turned to the young girl, pointing at her.

"And I want a desk. Two, actually".

The girl gaped at him in complete loss for words, her lips opening and closing, but no sound leaving her mouth.

"Get a team," Kate instructed her, seemingly seeing her utterly lost, "Analyse the stone dust," she turned on her heel and began to walk back down the passageway, Clara and Jen moving to follow her, while the Time Lords lingered behind a moment to give the girl a smile, before following. A wheezy sound came from behind them and Kate quickly threw a look back over her shoulder, "Inhaler!"

The Hatter smiled to herself, keeping her laughter to herself as she heard the gentle hiss of an inhaler being used by the girl behind them. What a sweet, young lady, she'd love to have a better chat with her a bit later, try and get her out of her shell a little bit. They continued walking through the passageways of the Under Gallery, soon finding themselves being led down a dimly lit corridor with several display cases lining one side of the hallway, while paintings hung on the opposite wall. One display case happened to hold a fez and the Doctor, naturally, seemed to instantly notice it, his face positively lighting up in pure delight as he doubled back and edged closer, peering through the glass with a grin.

"Ooh, look, dear!" he cheered, stabbing at the glass.

The Hatter laughed, edging closer, "Oh, go on, Doctor," she told him brightly, playfully nudging him forward. She dropped her voice to a low whisper, her smile growing wider as she leant closer to his ear, "You know you want to..." she practically sung.

"You're a bad, bad influence, dear," he grinned, glancing sideways at her.

"You love it, sweetheart".

"I love everything about you, dear," he replied instantly, making her roll her eyes fondly and laugh at his quick response, which was far to smoothly delivered. He grabbed the glass casing and lifted it off the display, before grabbing the fez and swiftly placing it on his head. He turned and held out his hands towards the Hatter and Astra, as if to say 'What do you think?'

"Very, very handsome, Daddy," Astra declared proudly, smiling toothily up at him, swinging her mother's arm.

"Yes, very nice, Doctor," the Hatter agreed, giving him an approving grin.

"Oh, no..." Clara sighed, drawing their attention over to her. She had paused further up the hallway, having been looking at some of the other art, when she had seemingly caught sight of the Doctor. She was smiling, though, looking amused as she eyed the fez, "You know, someday, you could just walk past a fez".

The Doctor clicked his fingers and grinned cheekily, "Never gonna happen," he replied, shaking his head as he took the Hatter's hand and strolled past Clara.

They made their way down to the end of the passageway, which opened up into another rather large room, the walls white and covered with several very large paintings. They all seemed to be landscapes, one featuring a desert plain, while another seemed to show a field surrounded by mountains in the distance. Curiously, however, all the glass from the paintings had been shattered, littering the floor. The Hatter frowned and picked up Astra, settling the toddler on her hip, just in case the Time Tot decided to become a little to curious about the very sharp glass shards for her own safety.

"As you instructed," another scientist was speaking quietly to Kate as they entered, "Nothing has been touched".

Kate nodded to the man, who turned and left the room, and she turned to face the Time Lords as they edged closer to the paintings, eyeing them curiously, "This is why we called you in," she sighed, gesturing to the paintings.

"This is Time Lord art again, right?" Jen asked as she frowned at the pictures, "It's 3D again".

"Possibly," the Hatter said slowly, narrowing her eyes, though more so down at the shattered glass on the floor, then the paintings themselves, "Time Lords aren't the only civilisation to use 3D art..."

"Interesting, isn't it, dear?" the Doctor frowned deeply, also looking down at the glass, and then back up to the paintings.

"Very".

"The broken glass?" Clara asked looked at them quickly, following their gazes.

"No, where it's broken from," the Doctor shook his head, moving to bend down and carefully pick up a shard of glass from off the floor, holding it up towards the painting they stood before, "Look at the shatter pattern. The glass on all of these paintings has been broken from the inside," he tossed the shard back onto the floor, shattering it again.

"As you can see, all the paintings are landscapes," Kate said with a gesture around at the paintings, holding a tablet in one hand, "No figures of any kind".

The Hatter grimaced, glancing sideways at her, "Why do I suddenly dread that there once was?"

She gave her a grim look, "Because you'd be right, Hatter," she held the tablet out towards her, and the Time Lady took it, frowning as she saw a blurry figure painted onto the canvas of the desert landscape, looking rather large and bulky, but with no details to it. The figure was very much absent from the real painting.

Clara looked from the tablet to the painting, her eyes widening, "Something's got out of the paintings," she realised, alarmed.

"That's...creepy," Jen commented with a grimace, running her eyes across each painting, "And, by the look of it, more the just one, if each painting contained at least one, if not more, figures...possibly dangerous figures, too," she blinked slowly, "Which seems likely, given everything".

Kate sighed heavily, "This whole place has been searched," she informed them, perhaps noticing the way that the Doctor suddenly tensed at the idea, "There's nothing here that shouldn't be, and nothing's got out..."

Suddenly, a loud hissing sound filled the room, almost like static, and the Doctor and the Hatter immediately spun around, looking up to see a spinning, swirling vortex open up in the corner of the room. Kate immediately backed back from it, looking alarmed, but the Doctor and the Hatter groaned, exchanging almost exasperated looks.

"Seriously, today?" the Time Lady huffed slightly, rolling her eyes, "Like we haven't got enough on already?"

"Oh, no," the Doctor moaned, almost pouting up at the vortex, "Not now".

"What is it?" Clara asked hurriedly, blinking slightly at their reactions.

"No, not now," he continued to complain, sounding more whiny as he barely spared Clara a glance, practically huffing at the vortex, "We're busy!"

"I suppose it's a bit hard to schedule these sorts of things," the Hatter sighed, shaking her head, "Jen..." she turned to Jen, giving her a small, almost tiered smile, "Would you be a dear and please babysit Astra for a little bit?"

Jen immediately reached out to take Astra into her own arms, the Time Tot giving the vortex a confused little frown, while her big sister looked worriedly between her parents, "Is this something dangerous?" she asked in a slight rush, "Shouldn't we be helping you to...I don't know, do something?"

"It'll be fine, darling," the Time Lady reassured her gently, giving her a smile and a pat on the arm, "We've got it handled..." she hesitated, frowning faintly, glancing sideways at the Doctor, "Well, I vaguely think we do".

"Is it to do with the paintings?" Kate questioned, eyeing the vortex nervously.

"No, no," the Doctor told her immediately, shaking his head, watching the vortex closely, "This is different..." he glanced at the Hatter, who met his eyes, "I remember this...almost remember..."

The Hatter suddenly gasped, pointing at him, more accurately, up to his fez, "Of course!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening, something close to excitement filling her eyes, "The fez, this is the fez! It's our cue, sweetheart!"

The Doctor grinned and reached up to whip the fez off his head, getting ready to throw it...only to pause, shooting her a slightly raised eyebrow look, "Are you actually giving me permission to throw a hat, Hatter?" he asked her, sounding curiously amused, for the situation.

She rolled her eyes and lightly whacked his arm, "Oh, just get on with it".

He laughed and chucked the fez towards the vortex, watching briefly as it was swallowed up and consumed by it, disappearing from sight. He grabbed the Hatter's hand, next, and together they began running towards the vortex, not even hesitating.

"Geronimo!" he cried as they went.

"Behave yourselves!" the Hatter called back over her shoulder, grinning widely all the while.

"Doctor!" Clara shouted, moving to rush after them, alarmed, "Hatter!"

"Mum, Dad!" Jen yelled after them, her eyes widening with worry, clutching Astra tighter to herself.

Kate grabbed Clara's arm, pulling her back, "Wait!" she cried, stopping her from throwing herself in after the Time Lords.

The Doctor and the Hatter reached the vortex and, just like the fez, were immediately swallowed up the swirling vortex, disappearing from sight...

Finally finished! Blimey, it took me ages longer then I was expecting, I keep getting distracted by the Sims 2 and 4. I can't wait till we bring the Doctor's and Hatter's all together, I've been waiting ages for this. It's going to be so much fun :)

I hope you guys liked it, I apologise for the wait. Let me know what you thought, please review :)

Guest Reviews:

Guest 15: One hundred percent would the Hatter be a threat to the Seventh Doctor's plans, so yeah, I could so see him trying to discreetly ditch her in a place where he knew she was safe, fully intending to come back and pick her up, once he'd finished doing his thing. The Hatter, however, I can also imagine would consider this to be a possibility and would plan ahead. I kind of see there relationship being a bit like that at that stage, the Doctor does something to try and get her out of his hair, then the Hatter does something to completely force her presence. I could see it becoming quite comedic. It's so sad to think of him dying alone, but given what I've heard of Seven, I can understand it.

Guest 4: I very dearly hope we do see Chris back, I think there is a slim chance, given that he has kind of returned to Doctor Who in recent years, even though I never thought he would. I really hope he will, anyway. If he does, it'll probably just be a brief moment on screen, but even that would be great to see.

Guest 16 (The End is Where We Start From): Very true. All of the Doctor's have killed, well, most. I remember the shock of seeing Four snapped some blokes neck in one episode. Still kind of not over that one.

Guest (1, The End is Where We Start From): Possibly, not sure. I may write some Big Finish adventures, I may not, or I may just take the characters and toy with them. I'm really not sure.

Guest 11 (The End IS Where We Start From): Ooh, now, that's an idea. I'll have to keep that in mind, thank you for the suggestion :)

Guest (2, The End is Where We Start From): Yep, Hatter is in her last body...but the series is not ending any time soon. I still have plans.

Guest 13 (The End is Where We Start From): I am rather curious about the Valeyard, I mean, I only really know what we learnt about him from the show, which was hardly anything, so to learn more about him through Big Finish is very interesting to me.