The Doctor felt a cold fury ripple through him after hearing what happened to his actual wife. The only thing that kept him mildly controlled was that Minerva wasn't dead. She was out cold somewhere - something they would still pay for - but she was alive. It would allow him to focus on the situation he and Osgood found themselves.

"You're going to be sorry," he promised the Zygon impersonating Minerva.

"Am I?" Bonnie-Minerva mused for a moment as she intended on a second fire since she missed the first time. "I don't think what you plan to do is going to actually carry through."

"Oh, no, before I can get to you my wife will. She's not big on Zygons you see - little disagreement we had on Earth about two years ago. Oh, maybe you remember," the Doctor paced back and forth in the plane lounge room. Osgood had her face practically glued to the window to check for the next missile. "Also, because Zygons have never impersonated a Moontsay I'm sure there's a couple of glitches you haven't accounted for. Isn't that right, darling?"

"I don't know what you mean," Bonnie-Minerva prepared to launch again.

"That 'darling' wasn't for you, Zygella," the Doctor snapped, leaving it clear. "Darling...help your poor idiot, please?"

Because somewhere...oh somewhere...the real Minerva was interfering with Bonnie's plans already.

~ 0 ~

The real Minerva found herself in a living quarters that was most certainly not hers. She assumed it was part of the fact her idea of 'home' wasn't exactly one place like most humans usually tended to think of. Hers was a random room with hues of blue ice serving as walls. The sleeping gown she found herself in was, surprisingly, accurate, but not comforting.

She sat in front of the television giving her access to the view of the Zygon impersonating her. The Zygon actually thought she would get away with killing her husband just like that. "Idiot," she spat and got up from the coffee table. She walked up to the television and let the Zygon prepare her second launch. With a simple tilt of her head, Minerva had changed the screen - which was presumably the Zygon's eyes - and the direction of the missile. Once again, the Zygon missed.

"C'mon, Doctor, do me proud…" Minerva backed up to see the Zygon going for the third launch. This was only a temporary fix. She could only do so much from where she was at.

She had given the Doctor approximately 30 seconds to come up with a good old fashion excuse, which was pretty good considering his reputation.

~ 0 ~

By the time the plane was actually hit, the Doctor and Osgood were already on their way down with parachutes. Osgood pulled the parachute harness off her first and frantically searched for the Doctor afterwards. They landed on the coast of a beach and she hoped to God that the man managed to survive like he always did. Eventually, the Doctor had already taken his harness off and was beginning to walk about.

"Any questions?" he said when Osgood came to him.

"Why do you have a Union Jack parachute?"

"Er, camouflage."

"Camouflage?"

"Yes, we're in Britain. Oh, your specs are broken. I'll fix them. You can wear mine, they're sonic."

Osgood took the sonic sunglasses from him and eyed them curiously. "Sonic specs? Isn't that a bit pointless? Like a visual hearing aid?"

"What's wrong with pointless? I once invented an invisible watch. Spot the design flaw. Minerva gave me hell for that one…" he trailed off for a moment. His stomach knotted into dozens of knots when he remembered his wife was still lost somewhere. "You wouldn't happen to know where Zygons keep their live connections hidden at, would you?" Osgood slipped on the specs. "Don't look at my browser history."

"Woah!" went the woman not a second alter.

"Yeah, Elias likes to internet surf for a lot of kiddie songs. They're a bit fun sometimes," the Doctor shrugged and started walking. "Now the live links...where would they keep them?"

"If you're looking for your wife then I doubt you'll find her," Osgood walked behind him. "They have dozens of sites. It'd be impossible to find the right site and then find the right pod."

"Impossible is my middle name."

"Yeah, I doubt it is," Osgood mumbled. "We should focus on the Zygon that tried to kill us."

"I can't focus until my wife is here. She's the reason we're alive right now, just so you know."

"What? How?"

"Zygons have never taken the form of a Moontsay - they don't tend to take forms of any creatures that have abilities like they do nor mine. Too many lives, too many memories to keep in that head. It's just not easy."

"But if they took Minerva's…?"

"They bargained for more than they thought. Minerva hasn't regenerated a lot but she's lived for a very long time. She has billions and billions of memories - imagine trying sifting through those?"

"Would not want to," Osgood admitted.

"Zygella here thought she would get away with killing us but I bet somewhere through the link my Minerva acted and helped us."

"I would definitely like to thank her…"

"We will. I doubt that'll be the last time Minerva tries to contact this world. My wife's clever, you know."

Osgood gave a light smile. "Yes, I've heard. Cold Case 304?"

"Don't mention that around her," the Doctor stepped into a regular street. If there was anything Minerva detested, it was the period she spent as one of UNIT's alien cases. The Doctor himself hated that damn case. In UNIT's defence, they were just trying to investigate an odd alien case that had popped up. They didn't know it was Minerva until later on...it just didn't make Minerva feel any better about herself back then. She didn't want to become UNIT's personal lab rat nor prisoner. She hadn't done anything wrong.

"Okay, then, let's switch subjects," Osgood suggested. "Why would the Zygons want to destroy the ceasefire?"

"Don't think of them as rational," the Doctor took the bait happily. "They're different. They don't care about human beings, they don't care about their own people. They think the rest of Zygonkind are traitors. It's a splinter group," and as soon as he finished, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and saw it was a message from an unknown caller but a previously registered one.

"Is that her?" Osgood caught sight of it. "Your wife that's not your wife?"

"The Zygon who probably thinks she got away with hurting her and killing us," the Doctor opened up the message.

I'm awake. Call now.

"What does that mean? A political awakening?" Osgood waited for the Doctor to explain. He probably understood its meaning.

"I think my dear wife is reaching out to me," the Doctor felt a blip of relief to know she was okay in the sense that she could pull these sorts of stunts. "She's trying to take control and I think she has a plan brewing." Without a second though, he re-dialed the number and pressed the phone to his ear.

"What - you're calling her?" Osgood has a moment of panic. "We're supposed to be dead!"

"Ah, that would have never lasted," the Doctor shrugged and kept walking down the street.

"You're dead," was the first thing he heard from the other line.

"Yes, well, I'm dead now, and I think I might be a bit more dead in a minute," the Doctor spotted some suspicious looking policemen in a car not too far from them. "What's your plan, Zygella?"

"I don't have a plan," Bonnie-Minerva responded cooly.

"Come on, you don't invade planets without having kind of plan. That's why they're called planets, to remind you to plan it?" the Doctor pulled the phone from his ear and turned the conversation into a live chat. "Hey, hey! That's good! Pun-tastic. Doctor Pun-tastic! Oh, come on, that was a good one, Zygella!"

The impersonation of his wife turned out to be a master at using Minerva's scowl on him. "Don't call me Zygella. My name's Bonnie." As she said that, her left eye suddenly winked.

The Doctor noticed it. "And you're winking at me."

"I am not winking at you. Where is the Osgood box?" but Bonnie-Minerva winked again.

"You do know what winking means? You're sending out some very mixed messages here. You know I'm over two thousand years old? I'm old enough to be your Messiah! Not to mention the fact that I am happily married with a son! And one day hopefully with a daughter too!"

Bonnie-Minerva growled. "I am not winking at you! Where is the box?"

The Doctor began to suspect the winking was truly not from the Zygons but in fact from the real Minerva. "Osgood, we need some wheels. The van!" Osgood hurried first to the nearest van since she had the sonic glasses. "Setting 137!"

"Okay. Non-verbal communication," he settled back with the Zygons on the line. "I assume that you never bothered to learn Morse code. My Minerva knew it like the back of her hand."

Bonnie-Minerva was not there for games. "Tell me!" she ordered.

"Okay, we'll have to try something else. Twenty questions," the Doctor countered. "Where's your pod? Is it in a tunnel? Is it in London?"

Bonnie-Minerva felt her eyelids begin to twitch, giving the answers to the questions. She quickly covered her eyes but it was too late.

"Thank you, darling!" the Doctor exclaimed. "We're coming to get you, alright, Minerva? In the meantime, do whatever you have to do to keep her out of your head and memories."

"Memories?" Bonnie-Minerva repeated but still didn't let her eyes be uncovered. "What memories? What has she got?"

The Doctor ignored her and finished off his talk with his real wife by saying, "Don't tell her where the Osgood box is, and above all, don't tell her what it is."

He finished the call and got into the van with Osgood. The woman stared at him curiously while he turned the ignition on.

"Obviously, the Zygon could hear that…"

"Obviously," the Doctor agreed.

"So she's going to poke around inside Minerva's mind, looking for answers."

"Dangerous place that is," the Doctor hummed. "At this point I wish luck to the Zygon."

Osgood blinked behind the sonic specs. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile before."

Indeed the Doctor did have a crazy smile on his face. "Dazzling, isn't it?"

There was a ping from the phone the Doctor used to talk with the Zygon. He shipped it out and chucked it to Osgood. "I was tracking the phone the Zygon was using. Where is it?"

Osgood read the scan results. "A shopping centre, south London."

"Ah, London. Perpetual city, cradle of culture, here we come!" the Doctor made a dramatic turn down the street to head for the city.

"It looks like she posted a video link, though…" Osgood pressed 'play' on the attached video.

It was a man running around crazily with what looked like the suckers usually on Zygons.

"This is the same place Bonnie texted from," Osgood looked up from the video. "We need to hurry."

~0~

The real Minerva was once again sitting on the coffee table in front of the television serving as a vision into the real world. Her lips twitched into a smile when the screen suddenly came to life and Bonnie the Zygon - wearing her face - stood on the other side.

"Ah, there you are," Minerva crossed a leg over the other. "I was wondering when we were going to have a little chat." She curiously studied her own face and realized she was glad she could never have a double. "It's so weird seeing your own face. I mean, I've seen other 'me's but they never had the same face. Although, maybe that's weirder? I don't know-"

"I could erase your mind," Bonnie warned, not liking the air of superiority Minerva wore despite the disadvantage she was in. The woman had the audacity to keep rambling on like they were having coffee.

A loud scoff escaped through Minerva's lips. "You like jokes, Bonnie?" her face cleared of any amusement as she leaned forwards. "Let me show you my joke."

She closed her eyes and focused. Bonnie stumbled back when a wave of power - that wasn't hers - hit her. She was forced into changing back into a Zygon for a second then was released from Minerva's hold.

Minerva opened her eyes and smirked. "See, I can be funny too."

"I want those memories!" Bonnie got into the screen.

Minerva crinkled her nose. "Is that really how I look when I scowl? Might have to stop doing that." Before Bonnie repeated herself, Minerva added on, "And you're wasting your time. My memories are mine. You want them? You'll have to persuade me."

Bonnie inhaled with annoyance. "I can make you tell me."

"Actually, you can't," Minerva said. "Because the only leverage you have is my husband, and let's be honest he's not an easy catch. My son isn't on this world and my human family's identity you don't have access to."

"I can kill you," Bonnie said as a last resort.

"Go on, then," Minerva scoffed, gesturing with a hand for Bonnie to go ahead and do it. "I have like 9 regenerations left. How much time you have?"

"You think you're calling my bluff?"

"No, I know very well you could do it, but I also know you wouldn't. I'm your last resort to get the Osgood box. Kill me and you don't have a clue of what to do after." Bonnie looked to the side, obviously wanting to avoid having to admit to that. Minerva got up from the table and smirked down at the television. "Let me tell you how this is going to work," she bent down in front of the screen. "You're going to get there because I allow it, because I want to let you in."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "You want me to get in?"

"Obviously," Minerva didn't hesitate to reply. "We're not going to solve things from this stance are we?"

"But the Doctor forbade you to let me-"

"Yes, well, my husband says a lot of things," Minerva shrugged. "Do you want to know where the headquarters are?"

Bonnie studied Minerva's face for a moment. "This could be a trap."

"That'd be up to you dear. Do you want to know or not?"

"...yes…"

"Under the Tower of London."

"Where specifically?"

"Where else you idiot? The Black Archive."

"Ah, yes. The dark little storage facility for forbidden alien tech, where this all began. Who has access to it?"

"Well since the Doctor and myself sealed it up after the last time your kind went A-wall, we didn't want UNIT interfering with the ceasefire. So, who do you think still has access to it?"

"You, the Doctor, the Osgoods, obviously," Bonnie swayed her head ad she listed candidates.

"Smart cookie," Minerva mocked.

"Now how do I get in? Is it a key? Or a code? No, a pass. A key code? Give it to me now."

"Excuse you," Minerva drawled, lowering her gaze. "My son is only 4 years old and he knows how to ask for things in a much kinder manner."

Bonnie's patience was thinning. "How do I get in?"

"The door is keyed to body prints, genius. Did you really think a key would be our choice?"

Bonnie raised her palm and mused. "And since I'm you I already have have access to it."

Minerva sarcastically clapped for her. "You're good at this game."

"And what am I going to find? What's in the Osgood box?"

"My husband is fond of pressing buttons here and there - what do you think is in there?"

"What do the buttons do?"

"Well, a whole bunch of hullabaloo but I believe the one you're interested in is the one that will transmit a signal to unmask every Zygon on the planet for up to an hour."

"That is exactly what I am interested in," Bonnie smiled evilly. "Mass panic followed by war. Every Zygon on our side at a stroke."

Minerva boredly stared at the woman. "Twenty million Zygons against seven billion humans. That's not a war you can win, you know?"

"Then we will die in the fire, instead of living in chains."

"I think you should speak for yourself. Most of your own kind don't want that."

"Then it's time we stopped giving them a choice."

Minerva sighed and put her hands together. "It's time you asked the most important question."

"Which is?"

"Oh, you know what it is."

"Why's it called an Osgood box?"

"I'm not telling you, because when you get to the Black Archive, you'll find out for yourself. And when you do, you're going to want to speak to me again."

"Really?"

"Mhm. I'd bet my 8 lives on it," Minerva smirked.

~0~

The Doctor and Osgood had followed up on the ping locating Bonnie's last known site. It was a grocery store, and a closed one with eerie silence.

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked Osgood behind him, trying to make small talk again until they found something interesting.

"Osgood."

"No, no, no. Your first name?"

"What's your first name?" Osgood countered with.

"Basil."

Osgood knew that was a damn lie but she gave her own name nonetheless, to keep things going. "Petronella."

The Doctor made a face hidden to her. "Let's just, er, stick with what we had. I need to ask you, because it's important, because it might matter."

"What's important?"

"Which one are you? Human or Zygon?"

Osgood grew tired of that question and thankfully she wouldn't have to repeat herself because they heard noises of someone. Something definitely squelched in a distance.

"We can help you…" the Doctor saw the same man from before who had led them into the department store in the first place.

"I-it wasn't me," the man's figure finally came into view. His entire body was seemingly trying to either be human or Zygon but couldn't decide. "They attacked me. They saw me. I had to!"

The Doctor immedaitely knew that Bonnie had messed with the Zygon's ability to transform. "It's okay, it's okay, it's ok-"

"A commander came. She turned me back! Argh!" the man struggled to stay on his feet.

"We can hyelp you," Osgood followed the Doctor's words. "We can help you."

"I'm not sure…" the man unintentionally burst some electricity their way and ran off.

The Doctor and Osgood quickly followed.

"I can't help you just now but-" the Doctor was subjected to some grazing of electricity from the man but that didn't stop him.

"Why?" the man staggered against a wall. "I was happy like this. I was happy here."

"I understand," the Doctor said kindly. These were the people he wanted to keep out of harm's way. The Zygon masquerading as his wife had no bloody idea what she was doing, or maybe she did and she just didn't care.

"I can't change, I can't hide…"

"Let us help you," Osgood insisted but the man wouldn't agree.

"No! You're Truth or Consequences!"

"We're not. We're really not," Osgood promised him.

The man seemed to sprout a couple more Zygon suckers along his face. "I'm not part of your fight. I never wanted to fight anyone, I just wanted to live here. Why can't I just live?"

"We're on your side!"

"I'm not on anyone's side. This is my home!"

"Listen, we're not them," the Doctor tried to clarify.

"I can't go back now. You've taken my life!" the man held his hand up, palm facing his own face. "They will kill me."

"No! No!" the Doctor tried to stop him but the man electrified himself and thus killed himself. "There it is, Osgood. There's their plan…"

Osgood shivered at the sight of the ash pile on the floor and turned away. There was no point in staying there anymore.

"Unmask everyone, provoke fear, paranoia, provoke a war," the Doctor continued.

Suddenly, Liv popped in with a finger in front of her lips. "Don't say anything," she warned him, only visible to him apparently. "Kate and Clara are pretending to be Zygons alright? Don't blow their covers."

"Doctor?" Osgood waited for him to keep going but then saw Kate and Clara walking in with more 'UNIT' soldiers behind them.

The Doctor glanced at Liv questionably but the blonde woman upheld her statement. He had no choice but to follow.

"Doctor," Kate spoke in her usual voice.

The Doctor did what was asked of him and went on like nothing. "Kate! Clara! Are you alright?"

Kate and Clara pretended to be confused, even going as far as exchanging glances with each other.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Clara responded.

"It's just I'd heard otherwise."

"We're fine, Doctor, we know where the Zygon command center is," Kate said. "And we know where Minerva's pod is. We can take you there."

Liv nodded the Doctor to go on. "It's okay."

"Well...how very convenient, because that's just exactly what we're looking for," the Time Lord flashed a small 'relieved' smile.

~ 0 ~

Bonnie-Minerva strolled down the dark corridor leading up to the Black Archive. "And here it is, the Black Archive. Oh, I do like being you, Minerva. Although I do regret not being able to conjure up those icy powers of yours. That could have come in handy."

Behind her, two Zygons in the form of humans were wheeling in Minerva's pod.

Bonnie-Minerva waved her hand in front of the lightpad beside the door and was satisfied to see it opening so easily for her. She walked in with the Zygons behind.

"Normalize," she gave them the order. The two 'humans' transformed back into their original Zygon shapes.

"Well, Minerva, I think you're reaching the end of your…" she had begun to say, smugly, until she walked straight into the middle of the room of where a table was...and the Osgood box…

...and a second Osgood box.

Her teeth grinded together but before she could release some of that anger, her cellphone went off. Without looking at the caller, she answered. "What?"

"The Doctor is here," Kate announced on the other line.

"Don't kill him. We need him alive," Bonnie could not believe her words.

"What for?"

"Because I just found out why it's called an Osgood box," Bonnie laid eyes on the blue box set across the red box on the table. "There's two of them."

"Two Osgoods, two boxes. Operation Double," she heard the Doctor say in the background. "What did you expect?"

"What's in them, Doctor? Tell me. Now!"

"One box normalises all the Zygons-"

"And the other?"

"Destroys them."

"Which is which?"

"Ah, that would be telling."

Bonnie lost her patience and whirled around to the other two Zygons in the room. She gave an angry nod at them who then ripped the top part of Minerva's pod off and pulled Minerva herself out of it. The blonde woman gasped when she finally woke up and breathed in the air. That was a way to wake her up!

"Took you long enough!" Minerva growled and wiped some of the Zygon membranes off her arms. She'd need a really good shower after all this. The Zygons took custody of her and brought her forwards.

"Which box normalizes the Zygons, Doctor? Tell me, or she dies," Bonnie said once more into the phone.

"No, this is war. You pull the trigger you pay the price," responded the Doctor, not at all concerned with the threat. The Zygon continued to bite more than what she could handle with Minerva.

"Kill her," Bonnie didn't hesitate to say.

Minerva rolled her eyes and raised her hands. "Freeze," she said and ice blasted from her palms to the Zygons behind her. "Wanna try that again, sweetheart?" she looked at Bonnie.

"That's not going to hold them forever," Bonnie turned to her direction again.

"No, and then I'll just do it over again...and again...and again…" Minerva's voice grew louder, "...because do you know what I am right now? Angry. I am very angry and the only reason why you-" she pointed at Bonnie, "-are still standing - with my face, mind you - is because you have a lesson to learn here."

"Is that so?" Bonnie acted like Minerva's words and expressions weren't getting to her, but she did take a step back when she saw Minerva's hands glowing blue again.

"Mhm. You're a like a child, a child who needs to learn, and I am going to help you," Minerva raised a glowing blue hand to the table and destroyed the cellphone Bonnie had left there.

"What did you do that for?" Bonnie blinked rapidly.

"To end connections between you and your clan and to hurry up my husband." Minerva smirked. "Shall we start the lesson?"

~ 0 ~

Back in the tunnels with the human pods, Kate had finally disposed of the Zygons pretending to be their soldiers.

"How did you survive?" the Doctor asked her and Clara curiously. "Not that I minded, I just...I'd like to know."

"She is an excellent shot," Clara jerked a thumb in Kate's direction.

"Five rounds rapid," Kate nodded her head.

Liv was now visible for all of them to see. "It was better if they pretended to be Zygons instead of saying that they were them."

"Nearly didn't buy me, though," Clara frowned.

"But they did," Liv said with gratitude.

Kate dropped the Zygon communicator on the ground and crushed it with her shoe.

"Is this the lot, then?" asked the Doctor.

"No, there are plenty more of them. They were the nearest," Kate laid eyes on Osgood. "You are you?"

"I'm me," Osgood reassured.

"But human or Zygon?"

"Me."

Kate wasn't going to waste time asking the question again. "So, what are we dealing with?"

"Twenty million Zygons about to be unmasked. You don't know whether they are human or not. And you can't fight them, not with soldiers," the Doctor shook his head. "And Minerva can't hold them off for long."

"Which leads me to a very big question…"

"Oh, I was really hoping that it wouldn't."

"The Zee-67, Sullivan's gas, the gas that kills the Zygons. You took it."

"Well, you know how it is. Daddy knows best," the Doctor turned away from them to begin heading back. "I know what you all would do with it."

"Doctor…" Clara went after him, "That gas thing. What's it do?"

Kate caught up with them swiftly and answered for her. " If I remember rightly, it causes a chain reaction in the atmosphere. Turns every Zygon on Earth inside out."

"Woah," Liv went wide-eyed. "Please tell me that's not what you put into that second Osgood box?"

"Of course it is," Kate said again, making it sound like it was an obvious tactic.

"You can't activate that!" Clara exclaimed but Kate didn't acknowledge her.

"To save the world I can."

"Let me negotiate peace. You can't commit mass murder," the Doctor told the woman. "The boxes are safeguards for both species. You agreed to that."

Kate frowned. "I never agreed to that."

"Yes, you did, then I wiped your memory," the Doctor said plainly, ignoring Kate's shocked face. "And you agreed to that, too. But that's why there were two Osgoods to police the ceasefire. One human and one Zygon, to keep the secrets and keep the peace."

Kate could understand the measures and the safeguards and everything else, but it had all failed and now it was time to act. "I'm sorry, Doctor. Truly. But the peace is failing already."

~ 0 ~

In her anger, Bonnie the Zygon had opened up both boxes on the table since Minerva kept talking nonsense (from Bonnie's perspective). Both boxes were decorated with Gallifreyan symbols and held two buttons labelled 'Truth" and the other "Consequences".

"You can't win," Minerva sat at the center of the table, watching Bonnie walk between one end to the other. "The system is literally created so that you can't win."

Meanwhile, the Zygons Minerva had frozen were beginning to crack. For Bonnie, it meant she wouldn't be outnumbered anymore. "I don't care!" the Zygon basically screamed but Minerva laughed.

"That's a mature response!"

Bonnie stopped at the end of the table with a blue box. "Can you stop using your sarcasm on me?"

"I live with a 2000 year old and a 4 year old...both male. I kind of have to talk this way to survive," Minerva hopped off the table and turned around. "But do you know what? You don't have to listen to all that, you just have to listen to what I'm saying about this. The boxes? Bonnie, you don't have to do it. We can take the boxes away and we can forgive, we can forget. The ceasefire will stand."

Bonnie lowered her gaze that darkened within the second. "No," she muttered.

Minerva rubbed her forehead tiredly. They heard the door opening and a second alter Kate strode in first, making a direct beeline for the red box. She knew which box was which.

"Minerva?" the Doctor came in sprinting with Clara and Liv behind. His gaze flickered between the two identical versions of his wife.

"If I was human I would slap you for not recognizing me," Minerva chuckled and went to hug him. "They get so caught up with that."

The Doctor held her tight and kissed her hair repeatedly. Before he could ask how it happened, she allowed him into her mind to see what led her to Earth without him in the first place and how she was tricked by the little girl-turned-Zygon. It'd been a clever trick, specifically detailed for her.

"Doctor, which of these buttons do I press? Doctor, which one?" Kate faced the red box determinantly. "Truth or consequences?"

"That's the human box?" Bonnie quickly rushed for the blue box. "Meaning this has got to be the Zygon box.

"Way to go Kate," Minerva turned back, disapprovingly glaring at Kate. "I was working on something."

"Truth or consequences?" Bonnie's sharpened voice cut through them.

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Make your mind up time!" the Doctor exclaimed and stopped by Kate. "One of those buttons will destroy the Zygons, release the imbecile's gas. The other one detonates the nuclear warhead under the Black Archive. It'll destroy everyone in London." He then ran to where Bonnie was. "Bonnie. Bonnie, sweetheart! One of those buttons will unmask every Zygon in the world. The other one cancels their ability to change form. It'll make them human beings for ever."

Bonnie seemed disgruntled with the news. Her lips pursed together and her eyes flickered from one box to the other. They literally looked identical!

"I told you, you couldn't win," Minerva said but in a softer voice than previously used. "There are safeguards beyond safeguards."

"Had to," the Doctor shrugged. "I did this on a very important day for me and this ceasefire will stand."

"This is wrong," Bonnie's voice shook.

"No, it's not."

"You are responsible for all the violence. All of the suffering."

The Doctor stood tall against the accusations of the woman, but he had to admit it was rather something to be receiving them from someone who looked identical to his wife. On some level, he envisioned this was sort of what he probably deserved to hear so very long ago from his Minerva when the Time War was going on.

"No, he's not," Minerva spoke up for him, sensing him getting distant. "He didn't make the choice you're making right now. That's all on you."

"You're taking pleasure in all this. You two engineered this situation. This is your fault."

"How the hell is our fault?" Minerva frowned. "We're not the one threatening billions of people on this planet."

"I had to do what I've done-"

"So did we."

Bonnie faltered but she spoke through it. "We've been treated like cattle."

"So what," shrugged the Doctor.

"We've been left to fend for ourselves."

"So's everyone."

"It's not fair."

"Funny, I didn't realize we were speaking to our four year old," Minerva crossed her arms. "That's his favorite comeback when he doesn't get what he wants."

"The things don't equate," Bonnie growled.

"These things have happened, Zygella. They are facts," the Doctor spoke slowly for her to hopefully understand. "You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you. You're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle?"

"Why should we?"

"What is it that you actually want?"

Bonnie's eyes flickered to the frozen Zygons behind them, then to the Doctor, then to Minerva...and finally the box in front of her. "War."

"Right, and when this war is over, when you have a homeland free from humans, what do you think it's going to be like?" the Doctor waited for Bonnie to speak but she never did. "Have you thought about it? Have you given it any consideration? Because you're very close to getting what you want. What's it going to be like? Paint us a picture. Are you going to live in houses? Do you want people to go to work? Will there be holidays? Oh! Will there be music? Do you think people will be allowed to play violins? Who's going to make the violins? Well?"

Bonnie truly seemed like a child the way she shifted back and forth without any answer to the questions. It was frustrating!

"Oh, you don't actually know, do you?" the Doctor feigned surprise. "Because, like every other tantruming child in history, Bonnie, you don't actually know what you want. So, let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?"

Now for that one Bonnie knew the answer. "We'll win."

"Oh, will you? Well, maybe, maybe you will win! But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning. So, come on. Break the cycle."

"Why are you still talking?" Bonnie seemed tired of it all but she still had her hands firmly gripping the box's edge. "All you two do is talk."

"Haven't you realized it yet?" Minerva dropped her arms to her sides. "Talking is our specialty - his more than mine," she motioned to the Doctor. "We talk because we would like you to see."

Bonnie smirked and stared at the box. "Do you know what I see? A box. A box with everything I need. A fifty percent chance."

"For us too," Kate straightened up and held her hand above the buttons. Bonnie followed in suit.

Liv appeared at the center of the table, her head whipping in both directions. "You have got to be kidding me." The Doctor couldn't have spoken the best, truer words and no one was listening to him! The one time they should, their ears were clogged!

"Are we really going to play the game of chance?" Clara gaped at the pair. "Seriously? This is how we determine the fate of our species?"

"Fingers on buzzers ladies," Liv played along as the hose. "Take it from someone who already died - it's not fun."

"This isn't a game!" Kate snapped at her like it was suddenly all on Liv.

"No, it's not a game," Minerva agreed, gaining her attention. "If you ever got the idea that it was, then…"

"Why are you doing this?" Bonnie asked, eyes glued to the box in front of her.

"Yes, I'd quite like to know that, too. You set this up," Kate glared at the Doctor and Minerva. "Why?"

"Because it's not a game, Kate," the Doctor said simply. "This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered!" Minerva knew that he was no longer talking theoretically. He was talking of what he had already seen, what he had already been a part of. And despite it being thousands of years ago, his pain was still raw. "How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk!" his voice reverbated throughout the room. He was desperate for them to finally hear him and put an end to the chaos.

Minerva put a hand on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. With a softness in her voice, she added on, "We are simply asking you to think, Bonnie. Just do that: think. And do you know why? Because it's all just a pretty word for changing your mind."

The thought seemed to infuriate Bonnie. "I will not change my mind."

"Then you will die stupid," Minerva rolled her eyes. "Alternatively, you could step away from that box, you can walk right out of that door and you could stand your revolution down."

"No!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I'm not stopping this. I started it. I will not stop it. You think they'll let me go, after what I've done?"

"You're all the same, you screaming kids," the Doctor shook his head. "You know that? Look at me, I'm unforgivable. Well, here's the unforeseeable. I forgive you. After all you've done, I forgive you."

"You don't understand. You will never understand."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me?" he even glanced at Minerva to make sure he was hearing right. "Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war? This funny little thing?" a dark shadow took over his expression and words. "This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine. And when I close my eyes I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight till it burns your hand, and you say this. No one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will have to feel this pain. Not on my watch!"

There was a silence that made everyone uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable because it was the truth. A truth that no one really thought about and a truth that no one should have to think about.

There was a light sound as Kate closed the lid of the red box. She stepped back, face contorted with nothing but guilt. "I'm sorry…"

"Thank you," Minerva said truthfully to the woman. Afterwards, all heads turned on Bonnie.

"Well?" the Doctor waited.

Bonnie couldn't seem to say something proper. She looked up at the red box at the end of the table then the one back at her. So much words, so many words…

They just wouldn't stop talking.

She licked her lips and raised her head when a new realization struck her. Words. Not actions. They hadn't taken any actions with her. They'd only talked. "It's empty, isn't it?" she asked in almost monotonous tone. "Both boxes. There's nothing in them. Just buttons."

Minerva began to smile, and the Doctor honestly felt some relief this was finally nearing an end.

"It's hell, isn't it?" the Doctor stepped forwards. "No one should have to think like that. And no one will. Not on our watch." He stopped just in front of her and smiled. "Gotcha."

Bonnie wouldn't smile. She looked past the others and saw that no one held the contempt she deserved. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because you have a disadvantage, Zygella. I know that face," the Doctor would have bopped her on the nose had he not remembered who she was.

"This is all very well, but we know the boxes are empty now. We can't forget that," Kate motioned to the boxes on the table.

"Kate, you've said that about fifteen times already," Minerva smiled at her.

The Doctor sonicked the memory filter up on the ceiling, causing a great outburst of electricity. A couple minutes later, Osgood and Clara leaned an unconscious Kate against a rack of shelves, along with the other two Zygons accompanying Bonnie.

"You didn't wipe my memory," Bonnie commented after she closed the lid of the blue box.

"No, just Kate's," the Doctor agreed. "And your little friends' of course. When they wake up, they won't remember what you've done. It'll be our secret."

"You're going to protect me?"

Osgood walked over with a warm smile. "You're one of us now, whether you like it, or not."

"I don't understand how you could just forgive me…" Bonnie looked at the rest to see how they were acting. One moment they could be 'forgiving her' and the next they might be attacking her.

"Because I've been where you have," the Doctor said. "There was another box. I was going to press another button. I was going to wipe out all of my own kind, man, woman and child. I was so sure I was right."

"What happened?"

"The same thing that happened to you. I let my Clever Girl get inside my head," the Doctor smiled a dazzling smile. "Trust me. She doesn't leave."

'I will never leave,' Minerva spoke softly in his mind and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

~ 0 ~

In a sunny afternoon, the group of travelers with Osgood headed for the TARDIS left in a park. The world continued to spin, not knowing what had been about to happen. Life moved on.

"The TARDIS," Osgood placed a palm on the blue box and examined it. "What does it stand for?"

"What? You're kidding me?" the Doctor incredulously stared at her waiting for her to just say it was a joke. "Surely you know that?"

Osgood sheepishly shrugged. "Well, I've heard a couple of different versions."

The Doctor glanced at Minerva, still disbelieving it. The blonde shrugged her shoulders and motioned him to explain. "I made it up from the initials. It stands for Totally And Radically Driving In Space."

"Oh," Minerva clicked her tongue. "Somewhere your granddaughter Susan is getting ready to come for you."

The Doctor smiled a little then focused on Osgood. "Do you want to come? All of the future, all of history, and all of the universe?"

"More than anything," Osgood admitted but it was no secret to anyone. She glanced at the box one more time before shaking her head. "But I think I have to stay. I've got a couple of boxes of my own to keep an eye on. And a world to keep safe."

"Spoken like a true peacemaker," Mineva pointed at her.

From inside the TARDIS they heard the phone begin to ring. Minerva opened the door and poked her head inside. "Must be the Monsoon. Elias is probably getting fussy."

"You psychic now too?" Clara mused as she walked in with Liv.

"No, I just know my boy. Could you get that for us, please?"

Clara nodded and went to go take the call. Minerva then shut the door and leaned on it, smiling knowingly at her husband.

"What?" he eyed her suspiciously.

"Nothing…" she raised her hands.

The Doctor knew he was about to walk into whatever she had cooked up for them, but he didn't care. "I need to know," he faced Osgood. "Which one are you?"

"I'm Osgood," the brunette replied calmly.

"Human or Zygon?"

"I'll answer that question one day. Do you know when day that will be?"

Before the Doctor could answer, a second replication of Osgood appeared behind the first. The Doctor stepped back, not hearing his wife's chuckle behind.

"But I don't, I don't. How, how?"

"Oh, think it through, Doctor," the first Osgood said slowly.

"Well, it wouldn't be right, would it?"

"To carry on using Minerva's face," went the other.

"You bet," Minerva nodded warningly for them not to even try such a thing.

"When there's a vacancy…" said the first Osgood.

"Not to mention-" Minerva leaned away from the TARDIS, "-the fact you could never pull this-" she pointed at her own face, "-face off." The Doctor turned to her, accusing her for the little prank. Minerva simply winked.

"Zygella?" the Doctor glanced at the second Osgood.

"Osgood!"

"But which one of you-"

"Osgood!" went the two women again.

"It doesn't matter which of us is which," the first Osgood said kindly.

"All that matters is that Osgood lives," finished her duplicate.

"And nothing's going to stop us!"

"You're a credit to your species, Petronella Osgood," the Doctor lightly smiled.

"No, Basil."

"We're a credit to both of them."

"Oh, and you should know. I'm a very big fan," the Doctor departed with those words, very sure of himself.

~ 0 ~

Elias was gripping his known teddy bear in his small bed while his grandfather attempted to read him a story before he was meant to go to sleep.

"I don't want to go to sleep, grandpa," the little boy reiterated for the fifth time. "Mommy and Daddy aren't here."

Mayar put the book down and stared at his grandson with a fond smile. He could see bits of Minerva in the boy even when it such small things like these. "You know, when your mother was small, she didn't like going to bed on time either."

"What happened then?"

"Your grandparents - your mother's parents - told her she had to go to sleep. No bedtime stories at all."

Elias' eyes widened in alarm. "No bedtime stories?" he repeated incredulously.

"None at all," Mayar said.

"Poor Mommy," Elias held his teddy bear closer to him. The door to his bedroom suddenly opened and Elias was happy to see that it was his parents coming in. "You're back!" he threw the covers off him and jumped off his bed.

"Oh, there's my baby boy!" Minerva held him tight, feeling like it had been forever since she last held him. "I've missed you like you wouldn't believe it!"

"You took long," Elias pouted at her and the Doctor.

"Your mother got into trouble, El. And guess who had to go save her?" the Doctor sarcastically said, ignoring the incredulous stare he was getting from Minerva.

"You did?" Elias answered innocently.

"Exactly," the Doctor took his small hand and started leading him out of the bedroom, giving Mayar a wave of goodbye in the process.

"What happened?" Elias began to ask and of course the Doctor was all in favor of story telling.

Minerva shook her head behind them. Before she could leave as well, Mayar called to her.

"Grandfather, really, about the Earth stuff, it's all fine," she said, mistaking his interest for their latest adventure.

"No, it's not that, um...I've collected some of the elders…"

Minerva glanced out into the hallway and saw the Doctor and Elias were busily heading for the TARDIS. "What is it?" she then asked quietly.

"I don't have much but...I did do some digging on the Legend? I thought it was gibberish but I guess our ancestors were really worried about it."

"How worried?" Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they thought it meant the end and destruction of our dear original counterparts."

Minerva gaped. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you know what these Elders tended to think about," Mayar tried not to put so much importance on those opinions for Minerva's sake. "They grew up in a time where Moontsays and Time Lords were at each other's necks. Somewhere - we're not sure from which planet - there came a story that someday...something...would be created...that would destroy one of our planets…"

"Oh, that's...that's just perfect," Minerva rubbed her face, revealing how tired she was of the day.

Mayar sighed and pulled her hands from her face. "Let me continue looking into it, okay? These were just the first round. There's plenty more to do. Go on and rest - looks like you need it."

Minerva could not agree more. She kissed her grandfather on the cheek and went to find the Doctor and Elias. Of course the two were busy doing story time of a pg-rated Zygon invasion when she found them in the console.

"And what did you think happened to Mommy?" Elias was waiting for the Doctor to finish telling him. His big, green eyes were blinking fast with curiosity.

'Doctor, you can't tell him you thought I was dead,' Minerva warned him telepathically. "Children don't like death.'

'I am not that THAT big of an idiot,' came the Doctor's defense. He held Elias closer to him on the chair the two were sharing and answered the question. "I thought...she was hurt...very hurt…"

Elias then glanced at his mother just to see if she was looking better than what his father was describing. "Mommy, are you hurt now?"

"Nope, sweetheart. I'm all better," Minerva walked over. "I was fine, really. I think your Daddy is just overreacting."

"Overreacting?" the Doctor repeated, sounded completely indignant. "That was the longest month of my life!"

"Month?" Minerva laughed, throwing her head back. "Doctor, you couldn't have thought I was...hurt…" she said for Elias' sake, "...for like...two, maybe five minutes."

"As the Time Lord of this family, I will be the judge of time," the Doctor said, plain and simple.

Minerva smiled kindly and leaned down to kiss him. "Never again," she promised him.

~ 0 ~

When Elias was finally put to bed, though not after hearing the entire story of the Zygon invasion, Minerva decided now was as good a time as ever to tell the Doctor what she'd been working on at the Monsoon. She started from the beginning with her growing concern about the recurring theme of hybrids following them as of late. She explained all the work she'd found on the Monsoon but that it could all just be gibberish as her grandfather had said.

"So, what do you think?" she bit her index nail after completing the entire story. The Doctor hadn't interrupted her once and that said a lot. "Am I being paranoid? Or am I not being paranoid enough?"

The Doctor bobbed his head and let a hand lean against the console. "In my experience, we can never be paranoid enough. I can't remember ever hearing about that myth..." He had heard a lot of things about Gallifrey, but he would definitely remember something about a hybrid.

"Like I said, it could just be fake..."

"If you firmly believed that then you wouldn't have your worried face on," the Doctor pointed at her significantly scrunched features. "You think this is important so we're going to treat it as such. I especially don't like the idea of our son being the center of it all."

"Imagine me?" huffed Minerva. "My baby boy was not born to destroy worlds. He's the opposite. He's meant to be the symbol of peace. He's half of two species that hate each other but...he can show everyone that it's not supposed to be like that."

The Doctor slowly pulled her to him and wiped a few tears that were managing to sneak up on her eyes. "He'll do all of that and more, just you wait. But in the meantime, we'll keep our eyes peeled for anything that's a bit strange."

"What if somebody thinks it's real and they think that it's Elias? They'll want to hurt him..."

"Over my dead bodies will they touch our boy," the Doctor said, his tone dropping to a low darkness. Absolutely no one would come for Elias. "And if this Hybrid exists, and it's someone we can find, then we'll make sure they come to no harm as well."

"Maybe we should start looking possible candidates, then. Just to be safe," Minerva's suggestion sounded like a good idea to the Doctor.

He gave an approving nod. As Minerva turned for the console, he moved her body back. "After we get some rest."

"But I thought...?"

"You were literally kidnapped by Zygons and I was almost blown up. I would like a few hours where I can just hold my wife. Is that too much to ask?"

A smile wormed across Minerva's face. That sounded like a lovely idea. "Lead the way, Martian."

The Doctor grinned and swooped down to kiss her. He then pulled her into the corridor, firmly believing his feet were running as fast as they could.

Author's Note:

Ah the Hybrid arc. So complex and yet so simple at the same time. Wait till you see how it ends here! ;)

P. S: I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk! I drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.