Discovering nothing

A/N A little idea I had for an episode set after Eve of the Daleks, got quite a few ideas for these so there might be a couple. A little bit based on the movie Passengers (2016) but not a crossover.

Asterix V star-ship, interstellar space, 3445 AD

There was a whirring and a churning that rocked the control room, until the TARDIS crashed down onto some sort of metal. Yaz looked over at the Doctor to check she was alright before looking to Dan who gave her a knowing glance in reply and smiled. The Doctor paced around for a while, she had been trying to find a good place for her and Yaz to talk, after the debacle at New Year they hadn't found a single suitable place to sit and chat. Likely the TARDIS' messing. Reading the scanners through the slight headache left by the crash, she thought she'd found a suitable ship - a colony ship headed for a new homestead, every colonist still in hibernation and would therefore not be around to distract her with a problem. However, the scanners indicated the ship had sent out a distress signal, little things were failing, but nothing major so time for a talk seemed promising.

Yaz was the first to open the doors, as she peered out the Doctor leaned over her shoulder into what appeared to be a leisure lobby. The Doctor licked the tip of her finger and raised it to the air like she was checking the direction of the wind. "Aha," she declared, "35th century, human colony ship - everyone's still asleep. This is pretty safe." She finished, stepping past Yaz and having a quick scan of the monitors as a basic troubleshoot. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary so she ushered Dan and Yaz out of the TARDIS. Only to realise they were right behind her and wandering through the endless grey ship.

"I'll just go and have a look down this hallway." Dan said, he had been aching for an opportunity to leave the other two alone. Other than the selfish note that it was nice to get some time to himself, he wanted them to talk. The night before he'd seen Yaz on the steps of the control room, up half the night. She said she couldn't sleep - he knew she was waiting for the Doctor to wake up (because yes occasionally, she does have a standing-up catnap). She was watching the blonde time-lord lean against a broom as she half-snored half-grunted through her sleep. Each snore made Yaz's face perk up, her eyes sparked, tiny red fireworks behind her eyes. He'd given her shoulder a squeeze then left for bed himself, his new room kitted with single bunk screwed to the wall.

Before he walked away down the hall he gave Yaz a look that told her not to come after him, despite her natural instinct to. "Don't get lost scouse!" She shouted, smiling and looking back at the Doctor who hadn't noticed their bantering at all. Yaz tip-toed over and attempted to gently lay a hand on her shoulder, but the Doctor jumped. She was on edge and the tension had wound her up into a tight coil, her muscles under strain and a gentle tap she normally wouldn't react to had her flinching. She turned to look at Yaz's now apologetic face and softened.

"Sorry Yaz, maybe I'm a little more jumpy than usual." She said, straightening to her full height and looking Yaz square in the face. And maybe taking a little too long when her gaze landed on Yaz's firework brown eyes.

"It's only me." She whispers back far too softly. But she wasn't exactly sure how far down the corridor Dan had gotten and even though they talked about this now, there was something about the way the Doctor was looking at her that she didn't want to share this moment. Her hand came to rest on the Doctor's arm but after what could've only been a millisecond the Doctor's mind was on other things and she moved away starting to scan the next set of controls.

"There's something wrong with the- the um..." The Doctor hesitated, she stopped looking at the controls for a second and looked up. She saw Yaz's disappointed face and sighed, she knew they had to talk, she'd been avoiding it for too long now. "Yaz." She started, her voice small and afraid, she didn't know how her friend would react, she didn't know what Yaz was feeling. Whether talking about her past would relieve her or just give her more questions. Would Yaz accept her, would she still like her if she knew everything that she was and had been. Things she herself didn't even know. For so long she hadn't risked it because it was easier to be friends, easier to just pretend there was nothing growing between them, no intimate bond between them that ached every time Yaz looked at her. Eyes like fireworks.

"We need to talk." Yaz interrupted her, laying out bare what she knew the Doctor was thinking. She avoided the Doctor's eyes as she took a step forward, her hands outstretched as she explained. "You said you wanted to tell me everything." She said softly, her hands clammy and her throat restricting. She didn't want to cry but this was the first moment she'd had to stop and think and talk in years. Four years Yaz thought, four years of waiting and wondering and trying to save the Earth all so she could see the Doctor again. And here they were - alive, because they'd defeated the Flux. But now they had this time to sit and talk and suddenly the tears were building in her lids as intense emotion overwhelmed her. A salty tear streaked down her cheek. "Doctor..."