The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 68
A/N: This is the aftermath of the hell of the chapter we had last time around, but also one of my favourite episodes with 11 as well.
Warnings: Sexual Content, Language, Dark Themes.
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS: Psychedelic
When the Doctor woke up the next morning, he was alarmed to find himself alone in the bed. It was only when he could hear the water running from his shower that he finally managed to relax, the worry that Rhea had skipped out on him the morning after disintegrating.
He threw the covers off his bare body and slid out, his feet falling onto the floor. He stalked around the bed, unabashed by his nakedness, and made his way into the ensuite, ignoring the way that the cold tiles sent a chill shooting straight up his legs. The noise of the water gushing out of the taps in the shower grew louder and he could see the silhouette of her damp, flushed body through the saturated shower glass. He watched her sway under the spray of the water, the droplets of water clinging to her skin, as she hummed under her breath.
"And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight. You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night. And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might." Rhea crooned under her breath, her hands trailing down her soft, damp body.
She spun on her feet, a bar of soap clutched in her hand, sensing the presence of someone behind her. She felt herself relax and a smile form on her face when she saw the reverent eyes of the Doctor standing just outside the shower. Her smile widened.
"Good morning," She said, gently, her eyes raking down his bare body, pausing at the awakening flesh between his legs. "Would you like to join me?" She breathed, leaning against the glass, letting her hip arch provocatively, her eyes burning a dark gaze in the Doctor's.
She trailed her fingers down the line of the side of her body, pausing on the curve of her hip, and she bit her lower lip, her eyes flashing, wickedly.
The Doctor's voice was a low rumble in her ear and his brown eyes darkened. It were times like this that she marvelled at the spectacular and minute differences between the molten-eyed sex god – that had thoroughly rocked her world last night – and the sweet-smiling eccentric goofball he was every day – the one that made her insides warm with every wide-toothed grin he gave her.
"How could I resist an invitation like that?" The Doctor growled and stepped inside the shower, his body immediately warming under the force of the spray of the water.
She suddenly had the urge to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him again, needed to kiss him again, and so she did. The kiss was startling for her in its intensity as Rhea's mouth danced unintelligible confessions into his, the Doctor matching hers with a questioning tongue, his hands slipping against the dampness of her skin to curve around her lithe waist. Rhea groaned into his mouth and she masked a heavy loss-lamenting sigh, knowing that the peace that last night and this morning brought her will soon disappear.
But it doesn't have to end now, does it?
Rhea pulled away from him first and pulled the rolls of her wet curls from his hands, undoing each tangle before moving it back over her shoulder. She tipped her head back under the spray, turning her back on him, her bare back a portrait of scars and burns and tattoos and the slivers of red where he had marked her the night before around her hips. His hand ran down the honey-sweet skin, slick and soapy, fingers landing at the small of her back as he crowded her in against the wall, turning her to face him because he couldn't bare not to see those moss-green eyes looking up at him, boldly and unforgiving.
Her wet skin was pressed against his, her arms draped over his shoulder and her head tucked under his chin, his hands splaying across the small of her back, holding her firmly against him. Her ear was pressed against his slightly muscled chest, able to hear the thump-thump of his two hearts. After a few minutes of just standing there, swaying under the water, Rhea reached out and shut off the tap, breaking away from him and donning a completely different mask, ashamed to know that she had let herself be so unprotected in his arms. She shook her head and leaned up on her toes, leaving a line of warm kisses from the edge of his jaw across to the corner of his mouth, leaving a warm yet sincere kiss on his lips.
They both stepped out of the shower, the Doctor slightly terrified by the sudden distance between them, and he handed her a fluffy white towel, which she then wrapped around her body, tucking it inside her cleavage, the slopes of her breasts peeking out. He wrapped his own around his waist and followed her back into the bedroom, watching as she pulled on her terrycloth robe, which the Doctor had tossed into a corner of the room last night, haphazardly.
"I'm just gonna go and make some breakfast." Rhea said, quietly. "I'm sure Martha's worried about us."
She turned on her feet to move out of the room, but didn't register the force with which the Doctor suddenly grabbed her and pushed her back until her back was pressed up against the wall, her hands pinned on either side of her body, beside her waist.
"Doctor!" Rhea exclaimed, the shock drawing the cry from her more than any pain or discomfort.
She had no doubt that if she truly wanted to, she could rip his lungs from his ribcage.
He pinned her wrists together and with his other hand, reached down and undid the tie of her robe, parting the soft, woolly fabric and exposing the contours of her skin to the cool air and his dark gaze, his eyes lingering on the inviting, damp-but-not-just-from-the-shower flesh between her thighs. He marvelled at the handprints and finger marks that adorned the supple insides of her thighs and felt a moment of male pride mixed with shame at that primal reaction.
"Never turn your back on me, lovely girl." The Doctor leaned in, her thighs spreading of their own according and allowing him to press his hips against hers. She rocked against him, subtly, and bit her lip, that familiar thump of lust beginning in her ribcage. "Or I'll turn you over my knee."
Rhea tipped her head back, exposing a hickey-ridden neck. "Maybe I want you to, Doctor." She said, breathlessly, and wondered what it would take from her to make him put his hands on her like that.
His knee jutted between her thighs, spreading her legs out against the wall. His teeth skimmed her neck.
"Doctor…" She whined, reluctantly.
"I want you to touch yourself." He said, simply, and dropped his hands, expecting her to keep herself pinned against the wall by her own strength.
Rhea bit her lip. It wasn't the first time that she had put on a show for one of her lovers – most significantly, Damian hadn't been able to take his eyes off her while she brought herself to the edge again and again. But this was different. This was the Doctor asking her. The same Doctor who had confessed his love for her the night before. She didn't know how to act around him now. She had settled for a night of no-consequences, mind-blowing, toe-curling lovemaking – even if the word made her cringe just the slightest; no one had ever made love to her before. The Doctor had made love to her last night. He had been the sweetest and the most thorough and clever lover she had ever had. He had brought her pleasure in ways she didn't even think possible and she hadn't even felt that undercurrent of shame or humiliation that use came along with any of her orgasms for the past eleven years.
There was no way in hell she could pretend as if he meant nothing to her now. She was too far-gone for that. But she was also smart enough to know that it would end sooner or later. She had to be just a passing fancy for the Doctor, until he realised that he could and would do better than some trigger-happy, damaged-beyond-repair, baggage-wielding psychologist from San Francisco. And for some reason, she had also resolved to take scraps from him, the one thing she had sworn to never do. But she couldn't help but believe that the Doctor was worth taking scraps from. He was everything she had once wanted in life and now she had him. Was it so awful that she was willing to take whatever he offered her? Wasn't that contentment she had curled close to her chest the night before, with his arms around her, worth the pain she would inevitably feel when he walked away from her the way everyone else had?
Rhea's right hand slid between her legs, fingers dipping as her thumb rubbed, her thighs lurching forwards. "Like this?"
The Doctor hummed in agreement, watching her with lust-blown dark eyes as she brought herself to the edge slowly.
He moved in close. "I understand this is hard for you, Rhea," He said, firmly. "But I know you want this too; you can run from me all you like, but we belong here, like this," He tipped her head up to meet his intense gaze.
Rhea had nothing to say to that – fury may have blotched inside her at some point at his audacity, but it was nothing compared to salacity of what he was making (could it really be making if she was oh-so willing?) her do.
Instead, she twisted a nipple between her thumb and index finger roughly, just the way she liked it. He took in her damp, flushed buttermilk-smooth skin, dark wet curls, her hand between her thighs and her head thrown back, that lovely, lush-red mouth of hers parted in a moan.
Schiele would have used her as a model if he could have.
"Don't come," The Doctor ordered, suddenly. "I want you at the edge and aching, do you understand me?"
Rhea mewled and nodded her assent, gasping out another moan as her fingers weaved through slick flesh. "Yes."
"Good girl," The Doctor growled.
Here was his strong, independent, stubborn, beautiful girl standing here, listening to his orders without a single protest.
"Fuck, Rhea…"
Rhea's eyes almost rolled back into her head when she heard the profanity slip from his lips.
He doesn't deserve this from her. She was so much more beautiful, more talented, more experienced, more deserving than he was. She had been forged in fire, fierce and deliberate, sultry and smooth, decent and unfaltering. But here they were, against the wall of her bedroom with her hand between her thighs at his bidding, his forehead against hers, and moments away from completion.
Rhea slowed her pace, just slightly, when she felt that sharp, unyielding wave settle at every slick rub.
"No, lovely, keep going." He demanded, hoarsely.
His tone was unyielding, an order that she knew she would obey.
"But I'll come." It was practically a whine.
"Well, you don't get to," The Doctor retorted.
She hitched in a breath, her fingers firm and moving on her clit the way she liked (and by that tongue on his lip, she guessed he did too). She could already feel the muscles deep inside her moving, opening, convulsing.
This was the sexiest experience she had ever had.
"Hell," The Doctor hissed, suddenly, pitching down and kissing her deeply on the mouth.
He pulled her arms away from her body. He broke the kiss to catch her green eyes in his. He took her right hand in his and suckled her fingers, deliberately, catching the taste of her.
"Doctor?" It was a desperate, confused question.
He smiled, wryly. "I don't have the same self-control as you, unfortunately,"
He sank to the floor in front of her, and propped up one of her legs over his shoulder, opening her wide for him. One of her hands weaved into his thick, dark hair, in anticipation of what was to come.
He kissed her sweetly on her clit, marvelling at the red flush that had taken over that part of her body. He groaned at her taste and opened his mouth wide enough over her cunt, before his tongue tentatively licked, invoking a low moan. His hands anchored her rocking hips and the Doctor circled his tongue over the throbbing bundle of nerves.
"Doctor?" She panted.
He chuckled, moving away slightly, and looked up at her with a wet mouth and wanting eyes and saw her looming over him, trembling, damp and aching.
"Come," He ordered.
Rhea's hips lurched at the command and she pitched right over the edge, one hand pulling insistently in his hair and the other smacking at the wall, as her eyes rolled back in her head. The Doctor curved his hands around her thighs, pulling her in and kept his face pressed against her cunt, his tongue licking slowly as she convulsed brutally around him.
She looked down and saw him looking at her like that and she held his hand like she never wanted to let it go again.
The Doctor and Martha walked into the kitchen to find Rhea finish frying something on the stove, dressed in a simple, full-sleeved pale blue chiffon dress that went past her knees, her wet hair was loose down her back. Her face was flushed from the heat, the tips of her hair starting to curl wildly as they dried from the humidity, and her eyes were bright as they focused on the contents of the saucepan.
She swung around, hearing the sound of their footsteps behind her, her eyes narrowing with interest as she noticed the somewhat softer look in Martha's dark eyes.
"Everything okay?" She asked, cautiously.
The Doctor and Martha exchanged a look – it was clear they had talked.
"Everything's good," Martha said, reassuringly.
"Awesome," Rhea winked in solidarity, making the other woman grin brightly at her.
"So, what are you making anyway, Rhea?" Martha moved over to the stove, peeking over Rhea's shoulder.
Rhea hummed, tossing the saucepan in the air. "It's called dosa," She explained. "It's like a savoury pancake. And I made some potato curry to go inside, which makes it a masala dosa." She turned to the table top and gestured to overflowing table of food that she had managed to prepare, just the slightest bit smugly. The Doctor reared back in shock and could feel his stomach rumble as his eyes feasted on everything that Rhea had managed to cook for the three of them. "I made a few other things. There's cinnamon sugar biscotti, bomboloni, poha, which is like spicy rice, bread pakora, oh, and some dhokla-"
"Rhea, you're aware that there's only three of us, right?" The Doctor said, slowly.
Rhea flushed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I kinda went overboard, didn't I?" She said, sheepishly, turning the stove off and sliding the dosa onto a plate. "In my defence, good sex makes me really hungry." She smirked.
The Doctor flushed and Martha raised an eyebrow at them.
Martha clapped her hands. "I'm just gonna ignore that first bit. And it all looks so good. Let's eat." She said, eagerly.
Rhea nodded, emphatically, and lifted the plate onto her wrist, balancing it carefully. Just as she was about to place it on the table in the middle of the kitchen, she cried out in pain, her hands fisting in her hair as the heels of her hands pressed determinedly against her temple. In the same moment, the Doctor was right at her side, wrapping an arm around her waist and keeping her steady against him.
"My head." Rhea whimpered. "It hurts."
She looked down at her hands and saw they were glowing a brilliant white, the light that she had so easily forgotten. She had forgotten how much it hurt to do her time-jumping thing. Her head felt as if someone was repeatedly stabbing her in the eye with an ice pick. She could feel her skin burning as the light grew louder and brighter, her eyes closing out of some unwilling reflex as the light started to singe her eyes. The heels of her hands started to thump against her head, a part of her hoping that if she created some new, artificial pain, it would detract from the throbbing that was currently wracking her skull.
Her hands reached out blindly, desperately searching for someone or something to hold onto. The hand around her waist disappeared and was replaced by someone with just slightly thicker arms. She was suddenly tucked under the chin of someone shorter than the Doctor she had just been with and his hands were holding onto her waist, keeping her up against him. She burrowed into her chest, feeling the pain in her start to dissipate, while her skin grew cool to the touch. It was only when she blearily opened her eyes that she registered the fact that she was standing in the console room of a TARDIS she hadn't seen in awhile.
She bit her lip and looked up, hesitantly, seeing worried grey eyes locked onto her. She felt his hands weave and stroke through her hair and his hands bunch up her dress at her waist. She felt her shoulders relax and she cursed herself for the uncertainty that sprung up inside her.
It occurred to her that she had absolutely no idea how to act around this Doctor.
With the Doctor she had just been with, she could fool herself with the idea that some sort of relationship – she resisted the urge to grimace at the thought – still existed between them. With her biker boy, she had to be doubly careful until she could ascertain if he was okay with her doing sexual things like kissing him and touching him – and, well, fucking him. But this Doctor was a wild card.
She licked her dry lips and watched with interest as his eyes flashed from her eyes down to her lips, his gaze intent of the movement of her tongue on wet, red flesh. She smirked to herself.
Gotcha.
"Hey, you." She purred, leaning up on her toes and kissing him on the corner of his mouth.
The Doctor cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing from the innocent yet albeit seductive gesture. "Hey, you." He said, weakly, his hands not straying from her waist, instead tracing little circles on the curve of her hip.
Her tongue poked out of her teeth as her smile widened. "Miss me, honey?" She waggled her eyebrows.
The Doctor nodded, quickly. "Definitely." He leaned down and kiss her forehead.
Rhea pouted, her lower lip jutting out enticingly, and the Doctor had to stamp down on every reflex he had not to swoop down and kiss the adorable pout off her lips.
"Is that all I get as a welcome?" She raised an eyebrow.
The Doctor pursed his lips, the flush on his cheeks only deepening. "What would you like?" He asked, weaving his fingers through her dark curls.
Rhea grinned up at him, endeared by the adorable bashfulness that made this Doctor her mystery man. And now she had a chance to ruffle those perfect feathers of his. She twirled circles on his chest, feeling the muscles convulse under her ministrations, hiding her smug smile to herself.
Rhea leaned on her toes and her lips pressed, gently, against his and that was all the invitation he needed. His hands tightened around her waist and his thumb stroked against the skin on the underside of her breast. His hand slid beneath the fabric of her dress, ignoring the way her rings and bracelet poked and prodded at his skin. Rhea returned the favour by wrapping her arms around his neck, her hands finding their way into his hair, pulling him further into her arms. He wasted no time with gentleness and instead kissed her hard and fast, giving her no time to take a breath or to pull away. She rewarded him with a slip of her tongue, as she tugged him against her, almost as if she were trying to mould them as one being. Another soft moan escaped her and he lost all of his control.
Faster than her eye could catch, the Doctor grabbed her by the waist, picked her up and deposited her, roughly, on the edge of the console. He got to work, attacking her neck with his lips and teeth, desperately trying to mark her as his, and then pulled her hips flush against his, her legs on either side of him, as he rocked against her out of the fury of his lust. They both groaned at the contact they just couldn't seem to get enough of. As his tongue made its way down her neck to her collarbone, laving the skin as he went, he committed the sight of her to his memory, resolving to visit this moment in his dreams for the rest of his existence.
It was pure heaven. The sweetness of her tongue against his and her skin on his tongue was bliss. He couldn't resist nipping at her collarbone, not hard enough to break her skin, not even hard enough to bruise, but enough to send her mewling, as her hands curled in his longish hair. He smirked, smugly, and slid his hands up from her waist, caressing the sides of her breasts, gently. Rhea gritted her teeth and responded by wrapping her legs around his waist and locking her ankles together, pulling him as close as she possibly could. The grinding motion of her legs and hips drew a desperate growl from him, and he hardened instantly, while Rhea relished in her ability to draw this sort of reaction from a usually eccentric and innocent-looking man.
"Doctor." She breathed and took his lips again with renewed passion.
Yes. He growled. This was what he needed to hear for the rest of his life. The quiet rasping of his name on her lips.
He pressed against her harder, almost tipping her back against the controls, ignoring the flashing lights around them as the TARDIS objected to the way that her thief and Golden Girl were treating her console, despite her absolute adoration for the two.
The Doctor debated sliding her dress up to her waist and unbuttoning his pants and taking her right then and there, when they heard large and heavy footsteps from behind them, shocking them both out of their passion-induced haze.
"Oh, dear Lord. Seriously? On the console?" Clara shouted, her hands falling to her hips as she glared at them. "Don't you both ever get sick of shagging like rabbits?"
Rhea rolled her eyes and untangled herself from the Doctor, despite his protests, and jumped down from the console. "Oh, don't pout, Barbie Doll. You're just mad that you're not getting some and I've got a hot alien warming my bed." She smirked.
The Doctor smirked at her, proudly, and winked, practically preening at her compliment, while Clara grimaced and gagged.
"Like I would want the Doctor warming my bed." She scowled. She glared up at the time rotor. "Don't think I don't know what you've been doing." She hissed.
Rhea made sure to keep herself half-wrapped around the Doctor as she raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, now?"
"She hid my bedroom. Again." Clara threw her hands up in the air. She waggled her finger at the console and the time rotor flashed a deep blue, warningly. "And she keeps looking at me funny." She shrugged.
Rhea extracted herself from the Doctor and dodged his sweet albeit tempting attempts to pull her back into his arms again. She made her way, slowly, over to Clara and placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders, the skirts of her dress swishing about her knees.
"Honey, I hope you know that she's a time machine." She said, slowly, as if she were talking to a small child. "She can't look at you funny."
Clara shrugged her arms off and scowled at Rhea, making her grin at the absolute put-out expression on her face. "Oh, take her side, why don't you? You always do." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Rhea rolled her eyes and looked back at the Doctor. "I don't always take her side, do I?" She asked, curiously.
The Doctor nodded, emphatically. "You always do. It's actually quite annoying, if I think about it. I can't ever seem to win an argument with the two of you ganging up on me." He said, miserably.
Rhea rolled her eyes and smacked him up over the head. "Don't be such a baby." She chided, gently. She rubbed his cheek with her fingers, fondly. "If you didn't have the two of us ganging up on you, then where would you be?" She asked.
The Doctor smiled and beamed down at her. "Nowhere I would want to be." He said, sincerely, and leaned down to kiss her, gently, on the lips, feeling her smile into his mouth.
Clara rolled her eyes and started to walk around the console, her arms crossed over her chest. The Doctor frowned at her, and grabbed Rhea by the hand, following Clara eagerly, trying to persuade her to give the TARDIS a second chance.
"You said…" The Doctor trailed off.
Clara rolled her eyes. "I know what I said. I was the one who said it."
"You said it was looking at you strangely." Rhea said, slowly.
Clara shrugged. "I was tired. Overwrought. I didn't mean it. It's an appliance. It does a job." She said, more to reassure herself than anything.
"It's a pretty cool appliance." The Doctor tapped on the console, indignantly. "We're not talking cheese-grater here!"
Rhea scowled. "And she's not just a machine." She glared at Clara. "She's a living… you know." She was slightly unsure of how to finish that sentence. "She's sentient, Barbie Doll." She looked up at the time rotor and glared, while the TARDIS flashed, innocently, as though knowing what Rhea was about to say. "And if she really is doing what you say she's doing, then she knows exactly what she's doing." She waggled her finger much like a mother to an errant child. "I don't know if we've talked about this, but you've got to cut it out, gorgeous." She shook her head.
Clara rolled her eyes. "You're not getting me to talk to your ship. That's properly bonkers." She said, matter-of-factly.
The Doctor pouted and stroked the console, lovingly, as if the TARDIS was personally offended by Clara's words. "It's okay, it's okay." He said, soothingly.
Clara smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves."
"Hey, I'm standing right here." Rhea threw her hands up in the air.
"No offence." Clara said, offhandedly, waving her off.
"It's important to me you get along. We could leave you alone together." The Doctor said, cheerfully.
Clara paused and raised an eyebrow. "Now you're creeping me out."
The Doctor smiled, an idea occurring to him. "Take the wheel... not the wheel. I'll make it easy, shut it down to basic mode for you." He started to work a few switches on the console.
Clara raised an eyebrow, her hands on her hips. "Basic!" She called out, indignantly. "'Cause I'm a girl?" She leaned on the console next to him, challengingly.
"No." The Doctor said, adamantly.
He started to smirk when Clara turned her eyes away from him, but wiped it off his face the second that Rhea raised an defiant eyebrow, smiling at him in a way that said that if he continued to smirk, she may punch him this time.
The Doctor nodded, obediently, and mollified her with a kiss to the forehead, catching Rhea by surprise, not used to such an affectionate and meaningful gesture spontaneously. No one had ever touched her like that except for the Doctor. With every man she had been with, they had all expected more from her with just a kiss. They expected her to get down on her knees and spread her legs for them. And Damian, he had only ever touched her out of a desire to subjugate and to humiliate and degrade, not out of genuine emotion. Maybe once he had, but not towards the end of their marriage.
The Doctor turned a key on the console and pulled Rhea back with them, taking a step back.
Clara was beaming, enjoying the lesson that Rhea was giving, despite the Doctor's frequent suggestions, which Rhea glared at him for until he zipped his lips and started to sulk. Clara flipped a switch and the TARDIS went pitch dark, the three of them barely able to see what was around them.
Clara looked up at the ceiling, her face transforming into an expression of worry. "What have I done?" She asked, hesitantly.
The lights at the top of the time rotor started to flash red.
The Doctor jumped to his feet "Er… okay." He said, dumbly, scratching his head as he wracked his brain for what might have gone wrong with the TARDIS.
Rhea rushed over to the console, frantically pulling on levers and flipping up switches.
The Doctor moved to another section of the console and looked at the screen that displays their location. As he stared, the screen started cracking, Rhea storming over to join him,
Rhea looked at the Doctor, worriedly. "Doctor?" She said, softly.
The Doctor flicked numerous switches on the console. "All the electrical impulses are jammed. I can't get the shields back up." He grunted as he pushed on a lever. "She's completely vulnerable." He muttered.
Clara held up her hands in a 'surrender' position. "I swear I just touched it." She said, defensively.
Rhea grabbed onto the lever and she and the Doctor succeeded in moving it. However, sparks flew from the console and the TARDIS lurched, throwing the Doctor, Rhea and Clara backwards. The Doctor grabbed onto Rhea's arms, steadying her and checking her over for any injuries, and made his way back to the console, Rhea right at his side.
"Magnetic hobble-field. We're flying right into it. Rhea, Clara, stay by me!" He shouted.
Clara gripped the side of the console and looked at the Doctor and Rhea, desperately. "Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this." She begged.
"Oh, yes. Big friendly button." The Doctor said, reassuringly.
Rhea scowled. "You're lying." She accused.
The Doctor paused. "How do you always know that?" He asked, amazed.
"Is he trying to stop me freaking out?" Clara said, weakly, her nails digging into the console. She slipped and Rhea grabbed her, pulling the younger, smaller girl to her side.
"Is it working?" The Doctor asked, hesitantly.
"Not so much." Clara shook her head, smiling tightly.
A small, cylindrical device rolled across the grill and into their view. Clara frowned and crouched down as carefully as she could. She picked it up, weighing it in her palm, and the heat from the device burnt something on her hand, making her drop it with a gasp.
Suddenly, there was another explosion and the Doctor and Rhea were thrown back from the console with a yell and shriek.
The TARDIS was lying on an angle atop a pile of wires and other pieces of salvage. A dark-skinned man was holding a large sledgehammer and the other seemed seems to have a saw of some type.
"Crack it open." The man with the saw ordered.
The man with the sledgehammer climbed up to the TARDIS and stomped on the door with his foot. He then used the sledgehammer, hoping that the sheer brute force would open the box. When that didn't work, he tried a laser that was in his hand.
The man shook his head. "It's doing nothing."
"Use the thermo-charge and blast it." The man with the saw threw the device to the man who was beside the TARDIS.
The man set the device on the TARDIS.
A third man ran over. "No! No! No! Wait..." He placed a hand on the TARDIS. "It's like she's alive. She's... she's suffering. I can feel it. I can feel it." He murmured.
The first man rolled his eyes. "That's just robot-rant."
"No, Gregor, he's right. Looks like there's a broken fuel line." The second man said, thoughtfully.
"All right. All right, put it back. No salvage today, boys. Open the bay doors." Gregor turned on his feet.
They scrambled back down to the floor beside Gregor, before the third man spotted something, stopping the other two.
"Wait!" He shouted.
The third man walked towards the pile of wires and waved the other two over. His android eye zoomed in on a pair of legs that were sticking out.
"Somebody's under that thing. The crew were still on board when we dragged her in." The android man murmured.
Gregor's eyes widened and his eyes ran wild. He ushered the others out. "We did nothing. If anyone asks, that ship was already busted. You got that?" He said, sharply. He turned to the android man, glaring. "And you, make sure you keep your oily-mouth shut." He said, warningly.
The Doctor snuck up on Gregor and leaned into his ear. "It's rude to whisper." He said, offhandedly. All three spun around, turning wary eyes onto the Doctor. The Doctor grinned, pleased at the way he had managed to surprise them. "Hi. I'm the Doctor." He shook the second man's hand. "And you are...?" He leaned down and read the nametag on the man's jacket. "Van Baalen and..." He turned and shook Gregor's hand, reading his nametag as well. "Van Baalen. Van Baalen and Van Baalen. That's going to get confusing later." He mused.
"We found you drifting." Gregor said, nervously.
"Your ship was junked-up pretty bad." The second man said.
The Doctor smirked, viciously. "What broke my ship was a magno-grab." He whispered, holding up the device that had rolled across the floor of the console room. "Found this remote in your pocket. Eh? What are the chances? Outlawed in most galaxies. This little beastie can disable whole vessels unless you have shield oscillators," His eyes widened and he smacked himself on the forehead. "Which Rhea turned off so that Clara could fly..."
His eyes widened, throwing the remote back and forth in his hands. "Damn it!" He cursed. "Rhea!" He called out and rounded on the remains of the salvage, his eyes searching desperately for long, lean legs in a blue dress. "Rhea! Where is she?" He looked around. "Clara!" He called out, hopefully. He spun around. "Two girls. About so high. One of them feisty, the other also feisty, but taller and wearing dark lipstick." He mused. He swallowed hard, looking back at the TARDIS with a look of fear on his face. "She… they're still in the TARDIS." He breathed, horrified.
The Doctor stared to run for the TARDIS but the android man held him back.
"No, wait, your pod is leaking fuel. If they're still in there, they're dead." The android man said, mournfully.
The Doctor tensed, his blood chilling as ice flowed right through them. He couldn't lose Rhea. He wouldn't lose her. In her mind, they had just begun and he'd be damned if she died before she experienced everything that they had been through.
He shook his head. "You don't know my Rhea. A fuel leak couldn't kill my girl." He swore. "She's so much stronger than that." The Doctor turned around and looked inside the lockers, his mind racing as his mind only registered one thing.
He had to get Rhea back.
"Ah. Respirators." He muttered, heading for the lockers.
"We can open the doors for a split second, reach in and grab them." Gregor offered.
The Doctor grabbed the respirators and headed back to the TARDIS. "Trust me, we can't. Now, please, help me get her out." He said, darkly.
"I'm telling you, they fried..."
"Shut it, tin-mouth!" Gregor snapped at the android man. He turned to the Doctor, an interested look forming on his face. "What sort of fee are we talking?" He asked, curiously.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes, resisting the urge to bodily grab the man and throw him into the TARDIS. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, tugging furiously at the strands and trying to control himself.
"If you help me get them out, you get the machine, all the scrap, eh?" He growled without hesitation, knowing that the TARDIS would agree to the terms if it meant saving Rhea's life.
The second man shook his head. "It's not worth the risk. Four feet of metal? Nah."
"What if I can guarantee you the best haul you've ever had?" The Doctor said, desperately, his skin starting to itch with every passing minute that he didn't know where Rhea was.
"Bram, open the bay doors." Gregor ordered.
Bram and Gregor started to walk away.
The Doctor hissed out of his clenched teeth. "No, no, please, stop! Listen, listen. Right behind those doors is the salvage of a lifetime." He said, darkly.
The corridor was littered with debris, glowing red under emergency lights. Wires were hanging haphazardly from the ceiling. Some were live and sparking all around them. Rhea's eyes snapped open and she jumped to her feet, ignoring her momentary dizziness as she got used to where the she was. She could hear the desperate and frantic hums of the TARDIS blaring in her mind.
"I'm fine, gorgeous." She said, reassuringly, looking around. "Hell, you look awful." The TARDIS sounded as if she were offended. "Don't worry, gorgeous, I'm sure the Doctor can fix you right up." She said, sweetly.
She guessed that she was somewhere in the TARDIS and there was something really wrong with the sentient time machine. She looked around and her eyes widened when she saw Clara lying under a large piece of metal.
"Whoa," She called out and rushed over, tossing the piece of metal off the young girl, pulling her to her feet. Clara wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug and Rhea pulled away, concernedly. "You okay, Barbie Doll? No broken ribs? No bleeding?" She asked, worriedly.
Clara patted her arm, reassuringly. "I'm fine, Rhea."
Rhea pursed her lips and looked forward at the looming corridor. "Doctor?" She called out, hoping that the eccentric, bow-tie wearing alien would come rushing down the corridor, exclaiming about something. "Doctor, don't play games!" She growled.
"Where is he, Rhea?" Clara asked, carefully.
Rhea clucked her tongue and her eyes narrowed. "I have absolutely no fucking clue." She gritted her teeth. "But I don't intend to die here waiting for him."
"Where are we, anyway?" Clara asked, looking around, sceptically.
"We're somewhere in the TARDIS." She said, grimly. "There was that turbulence and something happened. We must have hurtled through the TARDIS."
Rhea frowned, hearing the sound of the cloister bell in the background. Clara looked down at her hand from where she burned it on the device and saw marks. She blew on it to cool it, a gesture that drew Rhea's attention. Rhea frowned and grabbed Clara's wrist, gently. She looked over her palm saw the burn marks on it, frowning at what seemed to be backwards English words, 'big friendly button'.
"Come on." Rhea said, tersely, dragging Clara down the corridor to a closed door with a red light flashing, ominously, above it.
"Now, a red flashing light usually means something bad." Rhea mused.
"Like 'get out of here fast'? Or possibly, 'whatever you do, don't open this door'." Clara said, nervously.
Rhea clucked her tongue. "Your guess is as good as mine." She purred.
Rhea bit her lip and reached out, pressing the button the right side of the door. The door opened and an explosion rocked the entire corridor.
"Well, there's your answer." Rhea muttered.
Clara nodded. "Bad decision."
Rhea and Clara ran down the corridor to escape the fire that loomed over them from behind. They stopped to a halt and found themselves in another corridor that was clear of any debris. They ducked through another doorway and Rhea closed it behind them, carefully. She turned around and frowned, something on the wall catching her eye. She stalked forwards, Clara joining her side, both of gazing at the long scratch marks that seemed to have been indented into the opposing wall. Rhea pursed her lips and lifted her right hand to it, lining up the scratches with her fingers, observing how they seemed to match to the very millimetre of her limbs, the nail marks even the same.
The men were putting on gear for their exploration within the TARDIS. The Doctor and Tricky were at the lockers while Gregor and Bram walked away.
"Hey, are we really going to risk it? That thing is spewing poison. We should blow it back into space." Bram said, worriedly.
"Get your gear." Gregor ordered.
Bram scowled. "Hey! I don't take orders from my kid brother." He snarled.
Gregor smirked. "Don't try and form sentences, all right? Stick to what you do best." He tapped Bram on the check, condescendingly, before leaving.
Bram walked back to the lockers, incensed, past the Doctor, who had witnessed the exchange with interest. The Doctor watched as Tricky got his gear.
"Tell me, since when does an android need a blast suit and a respirator?" The Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Flesh coating, same as us. He'd burn up." Bram said, quickly, shifting his eyes somewhere else.
Tricky shrugged. "No fear, no hate, no pain."
Tricky placed the respirator over his nose and mouth and followed Bram. The Doctor slipped on his respirator and went over to the TARDIS. He stood on the ledge and jammed the key into the lock.
"'Salvage of a lifetime?'" Gregor smirked.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I feel pretty confident I can deliver on that. There we go."
The Doctor slammed his foot against the doors to the TARDIS, kicking the door opened, and smoke billowed out, filling the air. The men slipped on their goggles and switched on their torches.
The Doctor jumped inside first. Even though the TARDIS looked as thought it was lying on its side from the outside, it was not reflected inside.
"I don't get it. I thought she was lying on her side." Gregor frowned in confusion, looking up.
"The TARDIS is special. She has her own gravity. I'd explain if I had some charts and a board pen." The Doctor shrugged, nonchalantly, moving over to the console.
Tricky swallowed hard. "It's... it's bigger..."
"On the inside. Do you know, I get that a lot." The Doctor grinned to himself.
Bram's eyes widened. "Whoa. Awesome!"
The Doctor nodded, approvingly. "Well put. Whoa and awesome." He flicked a switch and all of the smoke that was streaming through the console room was sucked into the vents. "Safe to breathe." He told them and everyone removed their respirators.
"Okay. Now. The last thing I remember, you were right here." The Doctor muttered, moving over to the exact location where Rhea had been standing, and he scanned the empty space with his sonic screwdriver. "Come on, Rhea, talk to me." He whispered, desperately.
"How big is this baby?" Bram asked, curiously, looking around.
"Picture the biggest ship you've ever seen. Are you picturing it?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah."
"Good. Now forget it. This ship is infinite." The Doctor walked over to the console and started using the controls.
"It could take you hours to find the girls." Gregor pointed out.
"Days!" The Doctor snarled, slamming his hands down furiously on the console. "Plus the whole place is toxic. She-she-" The Doctor stammered, running his hands through his hair. "She could be dead by the time I reach her. So, here's the mission. We're going to find her in one hour." He said, coldly, rounding on them.
"We?" Gregor scoffed in derision.
"You're my guys for this." The Doctor smirked.
"That wasn't the deal." Gregor shook his head.
"'Tis now." The Doctor shrugged.
"What makes you think we'll help?" Gregor asked, annoyed.
The Doctor grinned and flipped two levers, a countdown flashing on the screen.
He smiled a dark smile; one that promised that he would deliver what he was about to say. His eyes flashed and turned hard. "I just activated the TARDIS self-destruct system. One hour until this ship blows." He said, coldly.
Bram's eyes widened and he ran for the door, but it slammed shut before he could throw himself out of the TARDIS. The TARDIS.
The Doctor shook his head. "Don't try to leave. The TARDIS is in lockdown. I'll open those doors when Rhea and Clara are by my side."
"You crazy lunatic!" Bram shouted.
The Doctor shrugged, rounding on Bram. "My ship, my rules!" He snapped, glaring, making the men freeze at just how serious the strange man was.
"You-you'll kill us all. And the girl." Gregor stammered, shaking her head, finding it difficult to meet the eyes of the man who had nothing to lose and so much more to gain.
"If Rhea dies before we find her, then you will die as well. Because the doors only open for myself and Rhea, and if she dies, I won't open the doors." The Doctor said, darkly, his nonchalance at killing them all making them fear him all the more. "They're going to die if you don't help me. Don't get into a spaceship with a madman." He rolled his eyes, as if that were the most basic rule in the universe. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that?" He asked, innocently.
The men ran to the door, trying to force it open.
"Okay. A little gentle persuasion. Say 30 minutes." The Doctor smirked, flicking some switches and pressing a button, the countdown changing to thirty minutes.
"She'll die even quicker now!" Bram pointed out.
The Doctor shrugged. "We all perform better under pressure. Anybody want to go for 15 minutes?" His finger hovered over the button.
Bram's eyes widened. "Whoa!"
"Whoa!"
"It's your own time you're wasting. Salvage of a lifetime. You meant the ship. I meant Rhea and Clara." The Doctor said, a hard look entering his eyes.
A/N: So, a little Oncoming Storm Doctor we're seeing here. He really doesn't act well when he doesn't know where Rhea is, does he? I hope you guys like the smut in the beginning. I like writing a dominant Doctor, it's fun and I love writing Rhea's reactions during sex with the Doctor. I hope you guys like the way I'm characterising the relationship post-coitus between 11 and Rhea and 10 and Rhea. I can't wait for the next chapter because we'll have some more emotional moments where Rhea confesses exactly what she's feeling now that she's slept with the Doctor.
Dosa – like a savoury pancake. A masala dosa is stuffed with spicy potatoes.
Biscotti – twice-baked biscuits.
Bomboloni – doughnut filled with cream.
Poha – spicy flattened rice with vegetables.
Pakora – like vegetable fritters.
Dhokla – like a fluffy cake made from rice and chickpeas.
The song that Rhea was humming the shower was Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon.
Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to review!
Reviews:
grapejuice101: I'm so glad it's begun as well. As for the Master, he's definitely coming up.
NicoleR85: Oh, my God, so am I! It'll definitely have consequences on her relationship with the Doctor; they're going to be a bit sweeter in their interactions now.
tw2000: You got that right!
Arashi – IV of V: John was definitely jealous and competing. For him, he didn't quite accept that he was the Doctor, so the Doctor was still just some other guy macking on his wife. And the Doctor, well, remember for him, while he has all these years of Rhea being with him, because she's not yet with him, he just felt like maybe she preferred being with John because he's human and he could've given her a normal life. He's very thrown by this version of Rhea, because she reacts in ways he doesn't always expect her to. And at the end of the day, both of them were just really insecure. But thanks for reviewing!
Leelee77: Thank you so much!
Mikki18: I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
amxliapond: Yeah, I thought I'd tortured you guys enough for a lifetime (more than three years in the making on top of it). And you're so sweet. I swear, if I actually ever end up publishing anything, I'll let you know! Unfortunately, we only had some light making out with 11 this time, but I'm sure we'll get some heavy stuff sooner or later.
SporkGender: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Believe me, writing Rhea's reaction to the Doctor's I love you was like my favourite part of that chapter. It's kind of a weird scene because you're aware the Doctor has had sex with Rhea before (not as John, but as the Doctor), but as far as Rhea's concerned, this is her first time with the Doctor, so hopefully I did that justice. Thank you so much for your review!
annabethnotannie: Yeah, I can't wait for some 9 either, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ImsebastianstandButter: Thank you!
LovableAmethyst129: Yeah, Rhea's definitely frustrating at times, but she has given an inch now!
The bunny always dies first: Yeah, it was pretty good, wasn't it?
Kissyfur85: Oh, I totally would too and I can't wait to write some 12. Unfortunately, I want Rhea to get to know the Doctors she's already acquainted with before she meets a new one, so it might be awhile before I do a 12 episode, even though I really want to.
LookAliveSunshine03: Yeah, she's not completely convinced just yet, but she'll get there. Eventually.
Something: He'll be showing up in a few chapters, I promise.
Avalanet: Thank you so much!