The Doctor, Detective, Widow, and Wardrobe (Pt 3)
"Cyril!" Madge gasped as she reached the top of the tower, spotting her children and rushing over to pull them into her arms.
"Mum!" Lily cried out.
"Lily!" she squeezed them both in a moment of relief, before pulling back, firm and scolding now, a tone that had the Doctor stepping back, all too familiar with it from school, "What are you doing? How dare you leave the house?! Cyril, what have I told you about opening your presents early?"
"Sorry, Mummy," Cyril muttered, bowing his head.
"Something like this was bound to happen," she let out a relieved breath though…only to catch sight of the two statues behind her children, "What are those?" she asked.
"Stay away from it," Lily warned her, trying to tug her away, "You have to stay back."
"Mum, why have you got that?" Cyril called out, alarmed, pointing to the band Madge was absently clutching in her hand.
"Madge," the Doctor stepped forward when the woman looked down at it, a bit entranced as it started to glow once more, "Madge, best put it down…"
But Madge just appeared dazed, smiling down at it, "That's beautiful, isn't it?" she ran a hand along the edge, looking up only when the Queen reached her and gently took it from her, "See how it shines!" she gasped when the Queen set the band on her head.
"Sigma!" the Doctor shouted out, hoping to get the Time Lady's attention at the base of the tower.
Just as Madge stood with help from the Queen and moved to sit on the throne, the Detective appeared in the doorway, "So, the harvester's completely destroyed, no surprise there…" she began to say as she entered, "Oh look, I was right," and stuck her tongue out at the Doctor even as she moved to rest her elbow on his shoulder.
"What?" he looked at her, but jumped back when the stars from outside the window began to race towards it, drifting through the walls and flying right at Madge's head to the alarm of everyone but the Detective.
"Or, well, Lewis was right," she amended, as though the life force of the forest wasn't diving into the living human receptacle that was Madge Arwell, "But I agreed with him!"
"What's going on?" Lily gasped, tugging Cyril to her, "What's happening?"
"Honestly, Pippi, I'm wondering about your school marks now, she's taken in the whole forest obviously."
"Oh, this is marvelous," Madge breathed, not seeming strained at all, "Oh, this is really quite wonderful."
"Madge!" the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when the woman spoke, seeming more aware and herself than Cyril had, she appeared quite calm, "Are you alright? Talk to me. Madge, can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can hear you. I'm perfectly fine, thank you."
"Fine?! You've got a whole world inside your head!"
"Lucky," the Detective grumbled, "All I ever got was a Cyberplanner caught in mine," she crossed her arms, "Being connected to 3 million Cybermen, not as much fun as a forest sounds."
"When did this happen?" the Doctor spun to her.
"Well the Master was complaining about that drumming noise again, and I was arguing that there were more annoying things to have to listen to. He didn't believe me…"
"So you plugged your mind into the Cyber Collective!?"
"Only for an hour," she shrugged, "The planner kicked me out. Rude."
The Doctor shook his head, pointing at her, "We're talking about this later, too!" he warned her, before turning to Madge, "Madge, are you sure you're alright?"
Madge hummed in thought, "It's funny, isn't it? One can't imagine being a forest, then suddenly one can. How remarkable!"
"I told you," the Detective rolled her eyes and moved over to the throne, nudging Madge's arm off one of the armrests to sit on it, "Women were stronger, and you weren't right, I was wrong, Lily was too young because Cyril is too young, the only other kind of woman left is…" she pointed at Cyril, who just stared at her, and she sighed, "Mummy!" she huffed.
The Doctor's eyes widened, realizing when she'd said 'exactly' before she hadn't been agreeing with HIM that there had to be another kind of woman left that was 'right' for this, but she was agreeing with Cyril's 'mummy' for who that right woman was, "Oh. Stupid me! Stupid old Doctor! Do you get it, Cyril?" he turned to the kids, "Lily?" but they shook their heads, "Weak and strong, it's a translation. Translated from the base code of nature itself. You and I, Cyril, we're weak. But SHE'S female," he pointed at Madge, "More than female. She's Mum. How else does life ever travel? The MOTHER ship!"
The Detective toppled off the armrest when the room suddenly began to shake and jostle about, the sound of some sort of rocket powering up from beneath the base of the tower, truly revealing it to be a ship of sorts with Madge as the pilot, "You'd think a forest would have a bit more stable a takeoff," she grumbled, pushing herself up to see the others had only stumbled.
"What's happening?" Lily gasped, clutching her brother to protect him.
"No idea," the Doctor began.
"But isn't it brilliant?!" the Detective cheered.
"Do what I do: hold tight and pretend it's a plan!" he hurried the kids over to the sides of the room as the ship took off, flying straight into the sky, but not just that, right into the Vortex.
"WOOHOO!" the Detective cackled madly, over by the window for a front row view, "Theta, look!" she shouted once the ship stabilized slightly.
He hurried over, gaping at the sight before him, "This is...amazing, really," he nodded.
"Where are we?" Cyril called as he and Lily slowly approached.
"Technically, we're not anywhere. We've flown into the time vortex," he let out a breath and turned to the queen statue, "You've got what you wanted...those idiots down there can burn your old home and you'll be safe out here. But these people helped you, and they're in my protection. Now help them. How do we get home?"
"Theta," the Detective sighed, patting his arm, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you've caught the stupid."
"Oi!" he frowned at her.
"It's a NEURAL relay," she reminded him, speaking very slowly, "What does a NEURAL relay operate on?"
"Thought," he answered, "Oh!" he gasped, nodding, "Yes!" and hurried over to Madge, "Madge, you need to think," he told her, "As hard as you can, about home. Just picture it, feel it, and the ship will take us there. But you have to really feel it. Can you do that? Your mind is controlling this vessel. You can fly us all back for Christmas!"
"My head is full of trees, Caretaker," Madge sighed, "Can't YOU fly us home?"
The Doctor gave her a sad smile as he knelt before her, "I don't have a home to think of."
"And he's a rubbish pilot," the Detective added, joining him, though she remained standing, leaning forward slightly to drape her arms over the Doctor's shoulders and rest her chin on his head, "Though, I'm probably worse. Best not trust us with steering anything."
"And," the Doctor continued, absently reaching up to take the Detective's hands, "Between you and me, I'm older than I look, and I can't feel the way you do, not anymore, not about a place," his smile grew a little fonder when the Detective squeezed his hands gently, a moment of shared pain and shared understanding of how there was no one place they could really call home except the TARDIS and it could go anywhere and be anything, it wasn't set in place the way the Earth was for Madge, "And you really need to feel it, Madge. Everything about home you miss, till you can't bear it, till you almost burst."
"Till it hurts," the Detective said bluntly, knowing he was trying to be gentle with the woman, but they truly couldn't afford gentle right now, one wrong move, one wrong thought, on distraction, and Madge and her children might not make it home.
Madge swallowed hard, nodding to herself as she pulled a crumpled up telegram from her pocket, clutching it tightly, "Well, then...home in time for Christmas!" she closed her eyes and let out a small scream, doing her best to think of the Earth, her home, her house…all the while trying not to think of the man who wouldn't be there to make it feel like home again…
"What's happening?" Lily shouted when the room began to shake, worse than before, "Where are we going?"
"Show them!" the Doctor yelled at the statues, the Detective shifting so her hands were on his shoulders now instead, "Show them!" he watched as the queen raised her hand and a few panels above them grew translucent, creating a bigger window to the Vortex they were flying through, "Ha! The time vortex. Your mother is flying a forest through the time vortex. Be a little impressed!"
"We need to keep her on track, Theta," the Detective warned him, for once the one more serious and less excited of the two. Yes, it was all interesting, but once you fly any ship through the Time Vortex it wasn't all that brilliant to fly another ship through it. Boring!
He nodded, turning back to Madge, "What are you going home for? What's pulling you there? Please, try. Please, think."
The Detective frowned, seeing a house, but each time something seemed about to happen, just a little blur on the corner of the memory, it would shift, "No," she shook her head, moving to kneel before Madge, beside the Doctor, "That's not enough, that won't work, Madge…you HAVE to think of him, all of him. Avoiding him means avoiding home."
Madge whimpered and a memory formed of her husband, holding their children as a baby, then him in a military uniform, waving goodbye, "Reg…"
"Daddy!" Cyril cheered.
"My Reg!" Madge started to cry as more and more images of him appeared.
"That's it," the Doctor nodded, "Focus on Reg. Be careful, but focus on him."
"I don't know..."
"How did you meet? You and Reg, tell me how you met."
"He followed me home," Madge sniffled out a laugh when the memory changed to a young man walking a few feet behind her on a path through the edge of the woods, "I worked in the dairy, he always used to follow me home."
"Look at Father!" Lily giggled, "He looks so young!"
"He said he'd keep on following me till I married him! Didn't like to make a scene!"
"Just stay focused," the Doctor urged, "Think of home. This thing, it works psychically...it'll find a signal and lock on…" before he could even finish, the memory changed again to Reg, piloting a ship through a night storm.
"No!" Madge cried out, "No, please, don't show me that! Please, don't show me that!"
"Is that Daddy's plane?" Cyril eyed it.
"Please, I don't want to see that!"
The Detective reached out to grab the woman's hand, "You have to," she told her, "I know what it's like, I do. Home isn't home without the people who make it feel like that. But you HAVE to remember him."
She knew how it felt. She'd never felt more comfortable in her own skin than when she was with the Doctor and the Master, then they started feuding, and that sense of peace went away and even being with one of them wasn't as complete a sense of it even though it was very close. And then the war happened and they both left and she'd spent so long trying to find them again. Because they were all she had left of home, they WERE home. And the Master was away now, one part of home gone for who knew how long till he returned again, but she still had the Doctor, her home with him.
"Not the night he died!" Madge pleaded with her.
"What do you mean...the night he died?" Lily gasped.
"I don't want to see him die! It hurts…"
"Life is pain, Madge," the Detective squeezed her hand, "Anyone who tells you differently is selling something."
"I don't want to watch him die!" Madge sobbed.
"Mummy?" Cyril sniffled, "Is Daddy dead? Mummy!"
Madge could only weep, trying to think of Reg, of anything else about him but his death, even the telegram she received informing her about his death, "Goodbye, my love. Goodbye!"
She let out an agonized scream as the ship flew out of the Vortex and towards the earth…
~8~
Despite the entire situation, as the Doctor slowly woke, he couldn't help the way his lips quirked into a smile when he heard the distinct sound of the Detective snoring nearby. He pried his eyes open to see the ship was…somewhat intact, though it had taken a beating and torn apart in some areas, but he was alive, so was the Detective judging by the sound, and the Arwells, from a quick look around, told him that they were alive. The humans were knocked out by the crash, but appeared unharmed, and the Detective, as always, had fallen asleep. He chuckled to himself and rolled over, shoving her till she startled awake.
"What!" she jerked up, swinging her fists, "What? Oh, right, dozed off there…once you've seen the time vortex, you've seen all time Vortexes…" she yawned but cut off in the middle when she saw the Arwells around them, unconscious, "Ooh, can I?!" she turned to him, excited.
"Sigma…" he sighed, shaking his head.
"It's Christmas, Theta!" she nearly whined, as though it was the proper excuse to use a holiday they didn't even truly celebrate on Gallifrey.
"Fine, fine, go ahead, go ahead," he huffed a laugh.
She beamed and jumped to her feet, and then proceeded to pull two pots from her pocket and clang them together, "Up and at 'em, lazy bones!" she shouted, startling the others awake, "It's Christmas and you're all lying about! There's presents to be had!"
"Everyone ok?" the Doctor asked, moving about the Arwells to help them up once the Detective had gotten distracted by the Queen statue lying off to the side, "Alright there?"
Madge frowned, following the Detective's moves to watch the woman looking at the queen through her magnifying glass, "Are they dead?"
The Time Lady reached out to knock on the queen's head, listening intently, "Nope, just wood. Life force left and all, so I assume you've been deforested?" she eyed Madge.
"Um, yes," Madge nodded, rubbing her head as the Doctor helped her up, "But where is it now?"
"The life force of the whole forest has transmuted itself into a sub-etheric waveband of light, which can exist as a..." the Doctor began.
"Space," the Detective cut in, reaching out to press a hand to his mouth like he so often did to her, "They're floating about in space."
"You got them there," the Doctor spoke, prying the Detective's hand from his mouth, "Well done, Madge."
Madge nodded and looked around, "And where are we?"
"Home! Christmas morning!" the Doctor hurried over to the window to wipe a few condensation off it to reveal the manor house, "We've taken a bit of a short cut. Haven't you always wanted to do that?"
"Mother?" Lily began, hesitant.
Madge tried to smile at her children, opening her arms as she move to them, mistaking the tremor in her daughter's voice for fear, "Look at you. You've been so brave…" but the two children stepped back from her, "You...look, we're home again, see?"
"I think they remember what you blurted out before," the Detective whispered to the woman loudly enough for everyone to hear, the Doctor reaching out to tug her back.
"What did you mean, 'watch him die?'" Lily confirmed that theory, "Where's Father? Where is he? Where's Daddy? Why are you holding a telegram? Well, what does it say?"
"Please, just tell us!" Cyril begged, near tears himself.
"Tell us!"
"I imagine you'd prefer to be alone," the Doctor spoke up, his arm around the Detective though his hand was covering her mouth as she seemed on the verge of re-blurting out what Madge had accidently announced during their trip about just that topic.
"I don't believe anyone would prefer that," Madge sighed, looking to them, "Stay close, please, both of you."
The Detective pointed at herself, "Evnnmh?" she mumbled behind the Doctor's hand.
It earned a tiny chuckle from Madge, "Yes, even you."
"We'll be right outside," the Doctor promised, tugging the Detective away as Madge turned to speak with her children and tell them the hardest thing she ever would have to tell.
"Oh, that is bloody brilliant!" the Detective cheered the moment they stepped outside of the ship, it was a complete and utter wreck, expected given Madge's history driving anything. But that, for once, wasn't what was making her bounce in place and clap her hands excitedly…it was the second, very normal, though quite out of place, plane that had landed just behind the wreck.
"We should…" the Doctor began, gaping at the sight of the man climbing out of the human war plane, turning to the Detective to say they should let Madge know, but she'd already taken off, running back into the ship, "Sigma!" he called after her, knowing, with her temperament, she was likely to burst back into the room shouting what would sound like nonsense and likely end up dragging Madge out of it without explanation and that was probably NOT what the family needed right now.
He'd only gotten halfway up the stairs when his theory was proven right and the Detective was already on her way back down, Madge's arm in hand, the children hurrying after, while going on and on about how many rules of time they may have accidently broken but who cares because…
The Detective half shoved Madge out of the ship the moment they were at the bottom, sending the women stumbling out onto the grass…and face-to-face with her husband standing in front of his plane, looking utterly confused.
"See!" she shouted, "I told you, not-dead, honestly Bridget, lying to your children, and on Christmas! Shame on you."
Madge heard nothing of it, just staring in wonder and mounting hope that she hadn't gone mad, at her husband who headed towards them.
The Doctor chuckled as he caught up with the startled family, Lily and Cyril nearly in shock at the sight, "Madge Arwell," he sighed, "Who flew a whole forest though the time vortex...plus one husband! He did it again, Madge. He followed you home. Look what you can do! Mother Christmas!"
"Madge!" her husband called out, so not a hallucination then, "What am I doing here?"
Madge threw her arms out, beaming, "It's Christmas Day, my love! Where else would you be?"
"Christmas Day? How?"
"We took a short cut," she broke out into tears before running for her husband, her children with her, the three of them nearly toppling Reg over as he tried to catch them all, surprised by how ardent they were being in how happy they were to see him.
"Happy crying," the Doctor murmured, "Humany-wumany."
"That's not a real word," the Detective spoke beside him, eating a Christmas cookie from her pocket, "I think I'll take it," she nudged him with a smile, making him laugh. He threw his arm around her shoulder and they headed back to the house, maybe they could get the mobile stairs working before the family made it back…and they needed to make sure there wasn't a puddle of acid rain leaking out into the carpet from the open present…
~8~
The Time Lords took a minute after setting the house to rights with all their additions, to observe the Arwell family having a private moment, celebrating Christmas while opening presents, before they headed for the attic.
"Here," the Doctor said as they walked up the main stairs, "Merry Christmas," he offered her a box from his pocket, somewhat large and rectangular.
The Detective tore into it, leaving a trail of ripped wrapping paper in her wake, scattered along the floor like breadcrumbs, which made the Doctor laugh as she half yanked the top off the box within, tossing it over her shoulder, pulling the object from within and chucking the box to the side.
"Oh, brilliant!" she beamed, "I love it!" she laughed, hopping on her feet to kiss his cheek…and then proceeding to try and take her shoes off and put the new shoes he'd gotten her on while still walking. It was a testament to how much she really did love his gift that she managed to do it without falling flat on her face, though she did stumble into two side tables and a wall before she managed to do it.
She stomped her foot on the floor, squealing and wiggling in place when her shoes lit up like she'd complained they didn't during the Ganger event. She threw her arms up and hugged him tightly, half winding her legs around his back like a koala.
"I'm NOT carrying you up the attic stairs," he laughed, patting her back, knowing she had over enthusiastically hugged him because she did love the gift…but also to avoid having to walk up stairs. He dropped her lightly back to the ground.
"Fine, fine," she sighed, "This is for you too," she held out a small envelope, "Merry Christmas."
He beamed and quickly tore open the top, smiling even more when a small packet of handmade coupons fell into his palm. A quick flip through it told him he was very much going to enjoy this gift, one in particular, the only one, was 'Coupon for ONE handful of crisps,' which he appreciated, given how the last time he'd tried to take a handful of her crisps had gone…he absently rubbed his hand at the memory of it. There were other things too, like keeping silent for an hour, changing the bulb on the TARDIS, letting him pick the movie, NOT blowing up the planet…all very good choices.
"Thanks," he laughed, giving her a hug from the side since they'd come to the stairs and had to go up them more in a line. They quickly gathered up a few odds and ends and carried them back into the TARDIS, getting the wires back into the console, when they heard someone coming up the stairs and saw Madge enter the attic on the monitor, gaping and pointing at the box in recognition from that night those years ago.
The Doctor chuckled and headed for the doors, stepping out with the Detective to smile at her as she turned her moving finger to him, "Of course! It's you, isn't it? My spaceman angel, with his head on backwards!"
"How do I look the right way round?" he joked, doing a turn for her.
"Funnier."
"Really?" the Detective laughed, "Even without this?" she moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle, making quite a picture for what his spacesuit had looked like with the two crammed into it.
"Oh!" Madge laughed, "I thought you were one of those hunchbacks!" she laughed at herself, "Didn't want to be rude. But it was BOTH of you in there!" she eyed the two of them, "And you came back."
"You made a wish," the Detective shrugged, "Always wanted to try my hand at being the fairy godmother since he called dibs on the good wizard," she nodded at the Doctor.
"You were there for us when we had a bad day," the Doctor agreed, sliding his arm around the Detective's waist, "Always like to return a favor. Got a bit glitchy in the middle there, but it sort of worked out in the end. Story of my life."
"Thank you," Madge stepped forward to hug them both.
"You did it all yourself, Madge Arwell. But thanks for thanking us."
"We very much will take the credit," the Detective added with a laugh, patting the woman's back before she stepped away.
Madge, though, wasn't done, "Now, the last time I saw you, I went back the next day, but the police box had gone."
"Oh, best bit of it!" the Detective beamed.
"Want to see how it's done?" the Doctor got excited too, heading for the TARDIS, both of them just reaching for a door handle when Madge called out.
"No," she stopped them, "I want you to stay for Christmas, please."
"Even me?" the Detective pointed at herself, "Because, I should warn, I HAVE eaten people out of house and home before."
"Even you," she nodded.
"Um, well," the Doctor hesitated, scratching the side of his face, "Things to do, people to see…"
"Of course, yes," Madge seemed to realize something, "Family of your own."
"Well...no, actually..."
"Oh," she nodded, recalling a few things he'd let slip, "Yes, yes, you said no family. Then the two of you," she looked between the Time Lords, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were married."
"Well, that's a first," the Detective mumbled, usually that was the first thing people assumed whenever she and the Doctor were together.
"You must want your privacy…"
"It's not that, no," the Detective, though, now appeared the awkward one.
Madge frowned, eyeing them, perhaps she'd been mistaken in her assumption, "But there must be someone to spend the holidays with, people who love you. Friends..."
"It's a long story," the Doctor sighed, "They all think I'm dead, and they probably think she had a hand in killing me," he nodded his head at the Detective, who had taken to whistling and looking at the ceiling as though it would make her seem innocent in that technicality, from Amy and Rory's perspective it definitely would look like she'd forced it to happen, "Never mind. Anyway, watch my box do its thing. It's really cool, you'll love it."
"No," Madge called out, stopping them a second time, though she crossed her arms as she gave them a firm look, "No one should be alone at Christmas."
"It's fine," the Doctor insisted, "Really, we don't mind," he looked at the Detective, who nodded as she took his hand, "We're really very good at it just being the two of us."
"I'm talking about your friends!" Madge huffed, "You can't let them think that you're dead! Not at Christmas!"
"It's...complicated," the Detective tried, "That's an excuse humans use, yes?"
Madge gave her an unamused look and turned to the Doctor, he seemed the more reasonable, "You must tell them. At once. Off you go."
"Yes, Mum," the Doctor huffed with a small smile, "I'll think about it. Now," he began walking backwards towards the box, "Eyes on the box."
"Oh, Caretaker? What if I require you again?"
"Wishing worked the first time," the Detective called in reminder as she and the Doctor disappeared into the box, hurrying to the console to fly off before Madge undoubtedly called out to them again. They could just make out Reg entering the room on the monitor just as the box fully dematerialized, but that would be on Madge to explain.
"Where are we going?" the Doctor called, when the Detective put in a coordinate, "We were going to talk."
"River may be good at keeping secrets," she began, "But if she's learned anything from me or you she'll find a loophole to the 'not telling people you're not-dead' thing," because, really, the Doctor giving the Teselecta an additional envelope to give to River her first night in Stormcage explaining their grand plan was ridiculous in her opinion, begging for trouble, but he'd felt guilty and thought she should know that she hadn't actually killed anyone and that they'd be popping round to break her out a few times for adventures. SHE had wanted to just pop in and scare the daylights out of the woman and then get her to promise not to say anything. Still, they could at least get one version of that, "I say we pop round for dinner and either scare the bejesus out of them or have a very disappointing let down followed by food to make up for it."
The Doctor reached out to quickly snatch her hand as she moved to pull a lever and send them off, pulling it into both his hands, "Promise me," he began, shifting his one hand to link his pinky with hers, "We WILL talk after this stop," his eyes searched hers, "Promise me, Sigma."
She let out a breath, knowing he was using her own belief that nothing was more binding than a pinky promise against her, and nodded, "I promise, Theta."
He tugged her back when she moved to step away, "No crossies," he gave her a look, releasing her hand with his unhooked one and holding it out to her, palm up.
She huffed, but slapped her other hand into his palm, revealing she HAD crossed her fingers behind her back and uncrossed them now that he could see, "I promise, Theta," she repeated.
He held her gaze a moment longer, searching her mind to ensure she wasn't crossing her toes on him, and nodded, letting go of her hands so she could send them whizzing off through the vortex…
~8~
"You know, I know this is just an excuse to put off talking and not because you actually want to visit," the Doctor muttered as he knocked on the bright blue door of the Pond residence.
The Detective rolled her eyes, "And I know that you know that I know you've wanted to do this since the moment you faked your death but you wouldn't because of those few precious rules you actually do follow," she reached out to pat his arm, she also knew this was likely the ONLY thing that could get him to put off their talk, since he hadn't raged against it or refused it in the console room but only asked to talk after. He wanted this, badly, he just wouldn't admit it, "Good thing I'm here to break them for you."
He shook his head, about to retort, when they heard Amy shouting form within, "If that is more carol singers, I have a water pistol! You don't want to be all wet," she threw open the front door, holding the water pistol out, "…on a night like this," and finished slowly when she saw the man who should be dead standing before her.
"Oh, River told you too!" the Detective complained when Amy didn't immediately either slap her for killing the Doctor or scream at seeing the Doctor, "God, there has to be a more binding oath than the pinky swear somewhere…"
That had been one very specific thing she'd done when she'd spent time with River while the woman had been at University, made her pinky swear to keep any and all secrets she learned about her or the Doctor in her future. That would include the being not-dead thing, she was sure of it.
The Doctor eyed Amy, ignoring the Detective's grumblings for a minute, "Not absolutely sure...how long..."
"Should be two hours…" the Detective remarked, looking at her wrist as though there was a watch there but it was just bare skin. It was just hitting her now that Amy had mentioned carolers that it was December on Earth when she was fairly sure the Doctor had been set to die in April so…quite a few months removed.
"Two years!" Amy huffed, squirting them both with the water pistol, honestly not sure if it was faulty piloting or which one was doing the piloting.
"Ok," the Doctor wiped his face, "Fair point."
"So..." Amy frowned, "You're not dead."
"And a happy New Year!"
"Ok, going to hope River didn't actually tell you and you were somehow clever enough to work it out on your own?" the Detective asked, trying to give River the benefit of the doubt this once…it was Christmas after all and…
"River told us," and Amy crushed that.
"Of course she did, the blabber," the Detective muttered, "Maybe I should duct tape HER mouth shut one day…"
"She's a good girl," Amy defended her daughter, before turning her nose up, "Well? I'm not going to hug first."
"Nor am I," the Doctor stated, mimicking her.
"If I hug first can I go inside and eat?" the Detective deadpanned, "Because I'll kiss you if you want, I'm starving!"
Amy rolled her eyes but stepped to the side so she could enter, hearing a loud 'Thing 1, Merry Christmas, where's the cookies?' from behind her before she faced the Doctor again, the two awkwardly standing there a moment longer, before they grinned and hugged.
"Amy?" Rory called as he made his way towards them, "The Detective's devouring the gingerbread house my dad…" he trailed off, spotting the Doctor as they stopped hugging, "Not dead, then."
"We've done that," Amy waved it off, "We're about to have Christmas dinner. I'm assuming the Detective won't be pried away from the food till it's been eaten, but will you be joining us too?"
"If it's no trouble," the Doctor smiled, "And I can maybe get Sigma away from the food with most of my fingers still attached if it is…"
"There's a place set for both of you," Rory cut in, "And we made extra too."
"But you didn't know we were coming. Why would you set us a place or…"
"Because we always do," Amy rolled her eyes, "It's Christmas, you moron."
Rory laughed as Amy spun around to head inside, likely to try and tempt the Detective away from the little gingerbread house and more towards actual food, to salvage what she could, as he nodded the Doctor in, "Come on," and followed Amy.
The Doctor took a breath, smiling and shaking his head at his companions, taking a moment to savor this…when he hurried in, hearing Amy shouting something about how 'that's not edible!', shutting the door behind him as he went to try and stop the Detective poisoning herself like that one time she nearly did herself in.
~8~
"Sigma," the Doctor cut in, reaching out to grab her hand as she moved to pull a lever the second they were back in the TARDIS after visiting the Ponds, "We need to talk," he tried to keep the hurt out of his voice when she pulled away and crossed her arms, "What River said…"
"She shouldn't have," the Detective cut in, starting to walk around the console, but the Doctor followed her, "She promised she wouldn't say…"
"So she was telling the truth?" he reached out to tug her elbow so she'd face him. The Detective swallowed and looked away a moment, "You love me."
She looked back at him, a little upset and angry now, "Of course I love you, you utter dunce!" she huffed, "Think, very hard, about every interaction I've ever had with you and the Master and think of one single time I ever said I love you to him."
"Well, there was that time he got you that chocolate ice cream when your cycle…"
"That didn't involve food," she cut in, using his own words against him, "I never said those words to him, to anyone, I've only ever said them to you. And you never did or said anything about it. So I thought..."
"I thought you meant as a friend…"
"Yes, I know, I get it," she cut in again, "Look, Theta, River never should have said what she did. I didn't want her to for just that reason."
"Ok, lost," he frowned, "Cheat sheet?"
"I love you, a lot, love you-love you, and you don't, and that's fine…"
"Of course, I love you, too, Sigma."
"As a friend."
"You're not hearing me," he shook his head, "I love you, Sigma."
"As a mate, yeah, I get it," she sighed, rubbing her head, the investigation she'd been running the last near 200 years racing all the evidence of that in front of her mind. Granted it hadn't had a chance to conclude officially, River had butted into that, but it didn't alter the data she'd already gathered that said nothing had changed between them in that time, "You don't have to keep saying it..."
"I think you're in denial," he chuckled, fond as he smiled at her, not sure how he could be more clear about this than he was being.
"That's a river in Africa," she gave him a look, "Last I checked I'm not River or in Africa."
"Not THE Nile," he snorted, "DEnial."
"Oh, well I'm not that either," she replied, starting to fidget, knowing he sometimes made light of things to keep from frightening, worrying, or hurting other people and right now she knew she fell into that last category, "Look," she huffed, "It's fine that you don't love me like that, I get it. I'm…I'm a lot to handle and I'm too erratic and I eat too much and I have no manners or filter and I get you into more trouble than even you would get into and…and I'm not Zaril…"
The Doctor looked away at the mention of his wife. Only those in a triumvirate were to know their true names on Gallifrey, never to reveal it off world. The exception being when one of a triumvirate married one from another triumvirate, that bridge allowed for certain easing of the rules. But even just hearing the name of his wife it...it brought up a small, traitorous voice in his mind that told him what he already knew. That if he'd known the Detective felt this way about him so long ago, he would have been with her and not his wife all along. And there she was, standing before him, doubting herself and his care for her, the bond they shared, it was breaking his hearts...
"You don't like me like that, and I'd really appreciate if you just not actually SAY it to me so I can pretend, so we can both pretend, this never happened and River never said anything, and we can go back to just being best mates."
He eyed her a moment, "Is that what you want? To be just friends?"
"I don't want my hearts broken," she said in a moment of seriousness and vulnerability she only really displayed around him or the Master, because they were her triumvirate and meant to be there for her through everything, if she couldn't be open with them, who could she be? "I don't want anything to come between us! That's why I never said anything before. I pick you, the Master goes off the deep-end that I picked you over him. If I was ever inclined to pick him, you would have been on my case to the end of time about how he's a bad influence and I picked him over you. I'd lose one or both of my friends and I didn't want to be the reason you two fought, more than you already did. And then we graduated and we went on our own ways and you got married and that was it and I knew it, but that doesn't mean I don't still love you, Theta, and I know you don't…"
The Doctor lunged forward and kissed her, far too quickly for either of them to be happy.
The Detective blinked, "You kissed me."
"Yes," he nodded, blinking himself, looking genuinely startled he'd actually managed the guts to have done it this time compared to all the other times he'd chickened out over the centuries.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to?" he smiled with a shrug.
"Why did you want to?"
"Because I love you too," he repeated, "As not-a-friend," he added quickly before she could loop back to her earlier doubts, "I did in school too, but you never gave any sign you felt the same so I never said."
"Oh, don't say that," she groaned, "I don't want to think that we wasted centuries of kissing…"
He chuckled, reaching out to take her hands, "I love you, Sigma. I…I actually thought it was the Master you loved, not me, for a bit. I'm…I'm really glad I was wrong."
"Say that again?"
"I love…"
"No, the other part."
He laughed more heartily now, "I was wrong, and I'm glad."
She looked up at him for a long while, searching his eyes for something, before a small smile began to grow across her face as something struck her. He was looking at her with the exact same look he always had. He was holding her hands the same way he always did. He was speaking with that same fond tone he always used.
Her data hadn't been wrong, she realized it now.
Nothing HAD changed between them.
Because, apparently, it had always been there, it was just that neither of them had recognized it for what it was despite how every other person on every planet they'd ever visited seemed to see it clearly.
"You love me," she breathed, certain of it now.
He nodded, "I do. And I'd very much like to kiss you again."
She laughed, "I'd like that too, though, one note…"
He leaned in and kissed her again before she could say anything, his hand coming up to touch her cheek, tilting her head just so, making the kiss that much better, that much deeper, feeling like he could do this forever, air be damned…
…when the Detective suddenly pulled away with a gasp.
"What?" he frowned, "What is it? Did I do something wrong? I know it's been a while but…"
She shook her head, her hands now flying to her mouth, staring at him with wide eyes, looking both a bit frightened and shocked, "I…you…my…" she took a few deep breaths to try and sort her thoughts, seeming to struggle a little more than normal, in a way he hadn't seen her do in centuries, "Read my mind," she told him, "Right now, read it."
He frowned, but did as she asked, reaching out to touch his mind to hers, greeted by the normal chaotic order of her thoughts.
"Keep doing that," she told him, even as she leaned in to kiss him this time.
It was another three moments (the first where he'd gotten distracted by the kiss, and the second and third when he remembered to keep his mind touching hers) before he realized what she wanted him to see but couldn't express, and pulled back, his own eyes wide.
"I couldn't…" he blinked, letting out a gush of air, "Your mind was quiet."
It was the only way he could describe it, the blankness, the absence of thought, that he'd seen in her head. It was back now, blazing to life but for those three moments...
The Detective's breathing stuttered for a moment, "Is that…" her voice cracked, "Is that what quiet feels like?"
He immediately pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as she started to cry, one of the few times he'd ever seen her do so. This wasn't exactly how he'd hoped his first (and second and third) kiss with her would go, but…it was so much more than that.
Ever since she'd been eight years old, just a child, standing before the Untempered Schism, her mind had never been still or silent or calm. It was a jumbled mess at the worst and somewhat organized chaos at the best. He could still remember how she'd been after seeing the Schism, disjointed, scattered, she hadn't been able to communicate for a long time, coming out in broken thoughts and out of order words. It had taken him and the Master working with her to be able to communicate again. But her mind never ever stopped, even in sleep it kept going. To live all her life, for she could hardly remember what her mind was like before that moment, with her mind in such a state...
And now, for the first time, to experience what true silence was, to feel calmness in her mind, to have her thoughts still and vanish and blank…it was overwhelming.
He didn't care if their first (few) kisses had not gone the way he wanted or hoped, because this revelation, this moment of vulnerability she was sharing with him, was so much more important to him. To be there for her first taste of quiet, even if it had only lasted those brief moments their lips had been touching, it meant the world to him.
He couldn't help the tiny smirk that grew across his face as another thought passed through his own mind, a bit of a smug thought, that HIS kiss had been able to quiet her mind for the first time in her life when he knew she had kissed a few other men she'd courted in the past and never had such an experience with them.
The Detective reached up and flicked his ear with her hand, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Theta," she warned, pulling back, but with a smile on her face, sly and full of trickery, but he got the feeling he would like this trick, "If we want to be sure that's what it is…we should experiment, quite a lot."
He grinned widely at that, oh yes, he liked that trick VERY much.
To be continued…in…Alibi!
A/N: Ok, BUNCH of notes to follow, I'll try to break them into categories and bold them incase you're not interested in reading all of it lol :)
Basic end of chapter notes:
I can't believe the story's over! O.O But I hope you enjoyed the ride so far :D Sigma was so much fun to write and I have some very big plans for Series 7, some serious moments, some ridiculous moments, some exasperating moments, and of course fluff! After going for centuries thinking the other wants to be just a friend, there will be a whole new level to their touches and banter :)
I hope you liked how it all came to pass, their conversation, the trying to put it off till it just couldn't any more, the denials. I think I rewrote that scene at least half a dozen times before it finally felt right to me. One version was too serious, another too fluffy (if that's possible to be too fluffy lol). Another felt more like I was trying to pack too much into it. I stepped back and just looked at it from Sigma and the Doctor's POV and their relationship and history. There would be funny moments, and serious ones, vulnerable moments, but overall I felt more like they'd have it as sort of a conversation than any out right big declarations or speeches. They'd get off track and distracted and be awkward, because that's who they are :) I hope you liked it :)
I like to think their whole way of being is why Sigma was so unsure and so convinced the Doctor didn't return her feelings, because nothing changed. They've always been like this with each other, to the point where all that easy affection just got muddled and they convinced themselves this is just how normal friends act without realizing it wasn't. Like they are friends and that is how they act, therefore it must be only platonic, and it was not lol. But now that they KNOW it, it'll be very interesting to see if anything at all changes ;) Or if the Ponds even notice or see it as business as usual lol :)
I can say we will see some of those coupons Sigma gave him pop up as the series goes ;)
Next story to post:
The next story I'm going to be posting is Sherlock and Leena for Series 4, which should be up on December 1st and take us to the end of the year, with 2021 starting with Piper and Gold for OUAT. I'm not 100 percent sure if I'll be doing this but I MIGHT post 4 teasers for Leena on my tumblr to lead up to her story, not sure yet. But if I do, I'd probably start tomorrow (Saturday) and do one a day for each of the episodes of her story ;)
Next Sigma story:
I feel like Alibi is a fitting title for Series 7, considering the Doctor spends so much of it trying to figure out how Clara was so many places when THE Clara he comes to know was only on earth during those times or not born yet, as far as he knows :)
In terms of this series and when the next story will posted, I honestly can't say :( It WILL be posted, no worries about that. But I'm playing catch up with 5 DW stories and then working on this one and Sadie's and likely introducing 2 more TLs as well in the next year or two. My game plan is to cycle through them, but with the newer TLs in between so we don't just get 5 stories of Series 8, 9, and 10 over and over. Like, the next DW story I post will be Mac Series 8, then TL?, then probably the Judge Series 8, and TL4.5. From that point I'd probably loop around to Proffy series 9, Sadie, Evy Series 9, Sigma, Angel Series 9, TL?, Mac Series 9, TL4.5, and the Judge Series 9, and repeat that pattern. I honestly can't say when Sigma will be back specifically. I'm aiming to do at least 2 DW series a year at the very least, so...maybe...2024. Oh jeez, that feels like forever away :( I'm turning into the Sherlock writers lol, but I really will try to get things rolling in 2021 and keep things on schedule so we can at least not fall behind that aim :)
Sneak Peak:
To make up for that long wait, here's a sneak peek for the next story for Sigma :)
~8~
The Doctor skid to a halt as he reached the source of all the chaos, nearly gaping at the sheer destruction within the room he'd run to. There was smoke everywhere, flames and fires springing up, rubble littered about with various pieces of debris all over the floor.
And there she was, standing in the middle of the room, her back to him…with a welder's mask over her face, a blowtorch in one hand, and a ordinary, if large, screwdriver in her other.
"Seriously?" he huffed, watching as she froze at the sound of his voice, "Where did you even get a blowtorch from!?"
He crossed his arms as she slowly turned, looking every bit like a child who had gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar even if he couldn't see her face through the mask.
A moment later though, she shifted the screwdriver so the pointy end was along her arm and used the handle of it to push the mask up. She gave him a sheepish look for all of a second, before straightening, "In my defense," she began, "I WAS left unsupervised."
~8~
AUs:
Now that talking about the next story for Sigma is done, here's something else I've promised to talk about...AUs! :D
I have 2 AUs in mind for Sigma that I'll be adding to my ever-growing list of DW AUs lol.
1. The Doctor receives Sigma's email nearly when she sends it, and we get Sigma right from Series 1 :) Oh boy, just imagining Rose having to deal with Sigma? O.O And then 9? With her 'darkness' or at least her less-than-moral tendencies? O.O And JACK around Sigma? O.O :)
2. The Doctor discovers Sigma hiding out at the end of the universe, because she's either a little late at finding the Master or she decides to stay with him and help him with his projects even if he doesn't know who she is. Then we get Sigma from late Series 3 on :) Donna and Sigma together anyone? I don't think the Doctor would survive it }:)
Let me know if you'd be interested in any of those little AUs :)
Pairing Name:
And, final announcement, the pairing name! :D
It was super, SUPER close! But the winner, by a single vote, was Thigma! Which will now be the official pairing name for the Doctor and the Detective :)
Quotes/References:
For this chapter there are 2 intentional quotes ;) I'll reveal what they are at the start of the next story though ;)
Quotes from the last chapter:
"Yes. Yes. This is a fertile land and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land! And we will call it…this land!"
"I think we should call it 'your grave!'"
"Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
"Har har har! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die!"
"Oh, no, God! Oh, dear God in heaven!" - Wash from Firefly, this quote was originally in the chapter but was also suggested by E-The-Dragon to be used in the series :)
It was coming out of you like lava! - Bridesmaids
That tiara that you have on the top of your head, it's overkill. Real royals, they don't need to try that hard. - Cat Grant, Supergirl
References from the last chapter:
Tis but a flesh wound - Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Congrats to anyone who spotted them! :)
Ending Notes:
And, just to end...I really have to say thank you guys SO much! Really, I give each and every reader/reviewer/favoriter/follower/ko-fi giver/anythinger a virtual hug because you guys are amazing :) I write for all of you guys and I'm just so touched that you all liked the story and am truly thankful that you're enjoying Sigma :) I'll do my very best to keep it up in the future, because you guys most definitely deserve it. I love you all :')
Some notes on reviews...
I didn't get that part either, with the Angels, it was like the show just forgot that whole moment :/ I feel like we could maybe take it as the image of the angel doesn't become a literal, physical angel, it just gains enough power and life to affect a person if they look at it too long? Idk, I feel like there would have been way more people with Angels trapped in their heads, like in Blink, if it were true :/ Maybe Amy was being affected by the crack in her wall and her mind was more vulnerable to the image of an Angel and it led the Doctor to believe that? Hmm, DW is weird lol :) Very true about Amy though, in the show she very much did take out Kovarian in a similar way. In the story it'll pose some problems and maybe a 'holier than thou' attitude from Amy because she may have wanted to do it and thought about it, but since she didn't actually do it (even if it was because someone else beat her to it), she's going to 'have the moral high ground' over the Detective and it'll definitely create a bit of tense for a short while }:) That's what I thought of too, how very TLTWATW it was, I could definitely see something like that where the Doctor was responsible for 'inspiring' that story with a trip to that world :) That was why Sigma kept calling Cyril Lewis yup ;)
I'm glad you're looking forward to it, I hope you enjoyed their talk ;)