The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 69
A/N: Each time I look at this document and read the words 'Chapter 70', I almost can't believe I reached this stage and am still going strong. I can't believe so many people are interested in this story! Anyway, here's the second part to Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. I wonder if the Doctor will get to Rhea in time.
Warnings: Sexual Content, Language, Dark Themes etc.
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS: Voyager
"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.
Rhea frowned, hearing a low growl coming from one end of the corridor. She cursed under her breath and grabbed a startled Clara by the wrist and tugged her into the nearest room, which happened to be a storage room. Rhea closed the door behind them and she and Clara strode into the room.
Rhea stilled and her lips parted with shock as she caught sight of some of the items that made up the room. What really surprised her was that she recognised more than a few of them. On the many shelves that adorned the walls, she could see a bottle of her father's favourite whiskey, her mother's Bible, the Glock with which her uncle had taught her to shoot when she was a little girl, various necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other pieces of jewellery that she remembered from her grandmother's jewellery box and her nonna's recipe book. And those were just memories of her old life.
There were memories of her new life – the one she had with the Doctor – sitting on those shelves as well. She could see the Barbie doll from their stint in that Russian submarine, a bio-damper, the pearl necklace the Doctor gave her after their time with Shakespeare, a gas-mask and a laser spanner, not to mention a number of other things that cluttered the shelves.
But what was in the middle of the room startled her beyond shock and surprise. In the middle of a room stood a cot. It was a pretty cot, made of intricate woodwork in walnut, with mobile of stars and moons hanging over the front. Rhea's hand trembled as she ran a hand along the frame of the crib, swallowing hard.
Further in the room, Clara picked up a miniature, haphazardly painted version of the TARDIS, spinning it around in the air before putting it back on the table. She picked up an umbrella and a magnifying glass, tossing it around in her hands before placing it back where she found them. A smile curled on her pale, pink lips as she took a pair of cheerleading pom-poms in her hands and turned to Rhea, raising an eyebrow.
"You were a cheerleader?" She said, incredulously.
Rhea stroked a hand against the curve of her lean, swan-like neck, and shrugged, nonchalantly. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a cheerleader." She said, flippantly.
Clara rolled her eyes.
Typical Rhea.
Rhea suddenly stopped in her tracks, her limbs seizing up as she sensed that they were no longer alone in the room. Her eyes narrowed, observing every inch of the darkened storage room, until her eyes landed on a shadowy figure in one corner with eerily glowing red eyes. Rhea tensed and grabbed Clara by the shoulder, pulling her out of the room in a swoop.
The Doctor was leading the other three down one of the corridors, his sonic screwdriver held in front of him. Gregor lagged in the back with his hand-held scanner clutched in his palms.
"Report. What's on board this thing?" Gregor muttered.
"Dynomorphic generators, conceptual geometer, beam synthesiser, orthogonal engine filters."
Gregor rushed up to the other three. "Guys, guys, look. I think we should split up. It's our best chance of finding the girls. You know it is." He looked at his brothers, meaningfully.
The Doctor checked his watch. His eyes hardened. "Don't touch a thing. The TARDIS will get huffy if you mess. And my Rhea will kill you in the most painful way possible." He said, darkly.
Gregor turned to Tricky. "Keep in radio contact, all right?"
Tricky nodded and left with the Doctor, leaving Gregor and Bram alone in the corridor.
Gregor turned to Bram. "Get back to the console. Strip it apart. All right?" He muttered.
Both of the brothers split up.
Rhea and Clara ran through the corridors, being chased after by the same creature they had heard growling earlier. It was ossified, one of its hands stuck to its face as the bone hardened around it. As they ran from it, they passed by the massive observatory with a spectacularly large telescope and the swimming pool that seemed fit for an Olympic swimmer. They ran through an open door and Rhea found themselves in the library.
She and Clara ducked behind a shelf bearing a large number of flasks. Rhea grabbed Clara's wrist and turned it over, exposing her palm to her gaze, seeing letters form on her burned hand. Clara winced at the slightly tight grip and blew on the scorch marks on her skin, looking up distractedly. She stepped forwards, stunned, a smirk curling on Rhea's lips as she observed the awe that washed over Clara.
"Now that's just showing off." Clara muttered, finally realising that she was in a large library consisting of five ornate levels, each filled to the brim with shelves of books upon books.
"Come on, Barbie doll, don't tell me you haven't been in the library before." Rhea waggled her eyebrows.
Gregor entered one of the rooms in the TARDIS. In front of him, hanging from the centre, were tendrils that looked to be both organic and metallic, glowing crystals sticking to a few of them, almost like the metallic version of a tree. Gregor's eyes widened.
"I don't understand. Give me a price tag." Gregor said, annoyed, to his scanner.
"Incalculable."
Gregor frowned in confusion. "What?"
"More valuable than the total sum of any currency. Living metal. Bespoke engineering. Whatever machine you require, this system will build it."
Gregor put the scanner away. He looked around, carefully, making sure that no one was nearby and edged his way towards one of the crystals hanging from the ceiling. He placed his hands on it and the glow dimmed to utter darkness. He picked up the laser and began to cut away at the tendrils that were connecting the crystal to the ceiling. The Doctor ran in, at that moment, followed by Tricky and Gregor lowered the laser.
"No! No, no. Stop! Please! Don't!" The Doctor shouted, desperately. "Don't touch it. Please. She won't let you touch it. I can feel a TARDIS tantrum coming on." His fingers stroked one of the crystals, tenderly, as if he were trying to the soothe the TARDIS.
Gregor looked around in wonder and confusion. "What the hell is this place?" He asked, incredulously.
"Architectural Reconfiguration System. It reconstructs particles according to your needs." The Doctor explained, grimly.
"A machine that makes machines?" Gregor said in disbelief.
"Yes. Basically." The Doctor shrugged, his eyes looking over Tricky thoughtfully for a moment before they swept over Gregor.
Gregor picked up the laser once more, intent of removing one of the crystals to take with him.
"What are you doing?" Tricky growled.
"No, no, don't!" The Doctor roared. "Don't! If you walk out of here with that circuit, the TARDIS will try to stop you! Now, listen to me. Look, the clock is ticking. We must find Rhea and Clara!"
The Doctor stretched out one of his hands, slowly, but before he could touch the salvage man, Gregor yanked the crystal free. The other crystals dimmed for a moment before flickering back on. A high-pitch whine that echoed throughout the air caused the Doctor and Tricky to cover their ears and flinch away from the sound. Gregor buried the crystal into his pack and headed for the door, at least the place where the door had been.
"What the...?" Tricky mumbled, walking over to his brother. "Where's the door gone?" He asked, disbelievingly.
The Doctor snorted, feeling as though Rhea's penchant for sarcasm was rushing at him in this moment. He did love the way his Golden Girl talked back to anyone who dared to underestimate her. "Ever see a spaceship get ugly?"
Tricky shook his head. "This isn't happening." His eyes searched the rest of the room, looking for a way out.
"She won't relinquish it. Her basic genetic material." The Doctor growled low in his throat, his eyes flashing threateningly, feeling a rush of anger at the thought of anyone daring to steal from his TARDIS.
Rassilon knew what Rhea would do to these men when she found out. She always had her blaster hidden somewhere on her body. She'd make it slow and painful. She was trained in the best way to make pain last. He didn't approve, but there were times when Rhea wouldn't stop even when he begged her to.
Sometimes drawing pain was her addiction, and it was difficult to stop an addict from getting their fix.
Gregor paused. "Torch it." He ordered, throwing a device at Tricky, who caught it, obviously hesitating. Gregor growled. "I said, torch it!"
"Can't you feel it, Gregor? The ship's in torment, like it's a living thing. You can't hurt it." Tricky said, earnestly.
Gregor rolled his eyes and activated the device, approaching the wall as he did so. The door appeared and slid open.
"What's the matter, TARDIS? Scared to fight me?" Gregor said, mockingly, striding out and being followed by Tricky
The Doctor paused, staring out into the corridor, before proceeding out of the room as well.
A book on a stand caught Rhea's attention and she walked towards it, not before making sure that Clara's attention was otherwise occupied by what the library had to offer. She bit her lip as she read the title – The History of the Time War – her skin warming. Her hand hesitated as it approached the hardback cover, but then she opened it, turning a few pages. Her eyes changed dramatically as she read whatever her gaze fell on, her breath catching in her throat, leaning in as she read.
She frowned, the hair on the back of her neck standing up at end when she heard the distant sound of growling. She cursed under her breath and grabbed Clara, both of the ducking behind a bookshelf as the creature entered the room. Rhea and Clara crawled over to another row of shelves, desperately trying to dodge the strange creature. On one of the shelves above them were bottles containing a book called the Encyclopaedia Gallifreyae. Rhea motioned for Clara to remain utterly still and peeked out from behind the bookshelf, seeing the creature get closer and closer to where they were hiding. Clara shifted in her crouched position, fear etched on her pale face, and knocking one of the bottles on the shelf loose, it falling to the floor and breaking into shards of glass. Whispers started to flow from the spilled bottle and Rhea hissed, she and Clara trying their hardest to fan it away. The creature came closer and then ran past them. Rhea, after making sure that the creature was quite a distance away, grabbed Clara by the hand and ran back out the way they came in.
The Doctor led Gregor and Tricky through the numerous corridors, all of them soon ending up in the same intersection.
"It's the same. It's just the same." Tricky said, frustrated.
The Doctor frowned, looking around. "It's diverting us, spinning a maze around us. We will never reach Rhea or Clara in time." He growled, irritated.
Gregor glared at the Doctor and took the right corridor.
"Hey! Hey!" The Doctor shouted after him.
He and Tricky followed Gregor and entered the same spot from the left.
Tricky shook his head. "It's just the same, again." He said, pointedly.
The Doctor's brow furrowed. "No point in building walls. You'll just know how to smash them down. It's found other ways of controlling you. Smart bunch, Time Lords. No dress sense, dreadful hats, but smart." He said, emphatically. He turned to Gregor, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "If you want to get out of here, let that circuit go. It is creating a labyrinth." He said, darkly.
Tricky pulled out his radio. "Bram? Bram? Can you hear me?" He called out, fear colouring his voice.
"So, you and the Doctor, huh?" Clara waggled her eyebrows, nudging Rhea in the side.
Rhea rolled her eyes and an unwilling smile curled on her lips. "Shouldn't you already know that?"
"Well, yes, but I'd like to see if we're on the same page." Clara explained, smirking. "You know, because that's so hard to come by."
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "And what page is that?"
"Well, you look just as jumpy as ever," Clara grinned. "So, this has to be early in your relationship, am I right?"
Rhea dragged her teeth over her lower lips, biting down on the soft flesh. "It's… complicated." She grimaced. "Technically, it's the morning after."
Clara's eyes widened. "So, the two of you just shagged for the first time last night?"
"Well," Rhea drawled, smirking to herself, remembering everything she and John Smith had gotten up to during their time in Farringham. "It was the first time between the Doctor and I."
Clara frowned in confusion. "Who else is there?"
"Like I said, complicated." Rhea said, simply.
"So, that's why you've been all moody today." Clara said, knowingly.
Rhea licked her lips. "I have not." She argued.
"Yes, you have, Rhea." Clara said, wryly. "You've been alternating between kissing the hell out of him and making a break for it."
Rhea swallowed hard, the pain naked on her dark skin. "I'll break his heart." She swore, her skin feeling cool to the touch as her fingers ran over the inside of her wrist.
"Maybe he'll break yours." Clara said, gently.
Rhea tensed, all colour and emotion draining away from her face and building back into a blank mask, her face completely expressionless as if she had learnt to specifically make herself seem emotionless, but knowing Rhea and what she had been through and what had been taught to her, that had probably happened, and Clara knew she wouldn't be able to break into that fortress. Rhea never let anyone in unless she wanted to, and even that came with a list of rules as to which topics should never be broached – what she did in between her divorce and meeting the Doctor for the first time, the whole length of her marriage, her husband and most especially, her relationship with the Doctor. They were off limits for everyone, Clara didn't even think the Doctor knew half of the things that went on in Rhea's head. She didn't think she could ever meet anyone more private than Doctor Sunehri Adwani.
"No one breaks my heart." She said, coldly.
And she walked ahead, leaving Clara thoughtful and alone in the corridor.
Rhea and Clara both grinned as they found themselves in the console room, their earlier argument forgotten. The lights on the time rotor were dimmed, conspicuously, everything looking just as it should.
Clara giggled, much to Rhea's amusement. "Oh, thank you." She spun around and clasped her hands, throwing her arms around Rhea in a tight hug. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She muttered, furiously. She laughed and ran up to the console and kissed it. "Ah! Mwah!"
Rhea frowned, looking around. She looked around at the console, finding the room a bit strange to her tastes. There was nothing of the warmth she usually received from the TARDIS when she was in the console room. There was no humming, no sweet song in her head, no tingling when her fingers fell upon the console, nothing from the sentient machine who had become so much a part of herself. But what struck her as odd and incredibly suspicious was the fact that the door that they had come through had mysteriously disappeared in less than a minute.
"The door's gone." Rhea growled and Clara turned around. She walked over to where the door should be, Clara hot on her heels.
"Where did it go?" Clara asked, worriedly. She spun on her feet, glaring up at the time rotor. "You can't do this!" She yelled at the TARDIS.
"Clara, stop!" Rhea said, sharply. She frowned, thoughtfully. "There's something wrong here. The TARDIS isn't working the way she should be. She'd never do this to us… unless there was something wrong." Her eyes widened. "Something must have happened to her when we crashed." She said, grimly.
Tricky was waiting for a response from Bram with baited breath, his anxiety only increasing with every moment that passed without word. The Doctor growled under his breath and pulled out the sonic screwdriver, beginning to scan ahead.
"Channel's dead." He muttered. "We've got to help him. Gregor, do something. Do something!" Tricky shouted at his brother.
"It's too late." Gregor shook his head. "He's gone! Let's just worry about the salvage!"
Tricky snarled and shoved Gregor hard in the chest, sending him stumbling back a few steps. "You care more about the circuit than you do about him!" He roared.
The Doctor rushed back to the two brothers and pulled them apart by the scruff of their necks.
"Your concern for your brother is really touching." The Doctor said, lowly, his disapproval showing clearly in his blue-grey eyes. "The android is more cut up about it than you. Now, will you two stop bickering and listen! There is something else down there." He growled, starting to scan again.
"We've got to get out of here! Gregor, give it back. Give it back to her." Tricky hissed, reaching for the crystal that was currently in the backpack.
"What are you doing?" Gregor snarled and slammed Tricky against the wall, spit flying from his mouth with the extent of his anger. "You're always on the side of the machines!" He accused.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and had the errant thought that Rhea was truly the best person to fix these sorts of situations. "Fellas!" He said, coldly, drawing their attention. "Multiple life forms on board the TARDIS with us." He backed up until he was level with the others. "I am getting a massive signal." He said, pointedly.
"Where are they?" Tricky asked, curiously.
The Doctor frowned, reading the results off his sonic screwdriver. "Oh, you're not going to like the answer." He muttered. "About two steps away. One step."
All three slowly turned around and screamed in fright as they saw the terrifying creature, burnt beyond repair. The creature seemed to be the scorched remains of two things fused together. It reached for them and growled, threateningly.
"Gregor, look out!" The Doctor called out, warningly. "Careful! Gregor!" Gregory ran down the opposite end of the corridor. The Doctor hissed out of his clenched teeth, annoyed. "No! We have to stay together." He gritted his teeth in frustration, his skin itching as more time passed and Rhea wasn't by his side yet. "Come on. Tricky, run!" He shouted and Tricky raced away. His eyes softened as he looked up the creature. "I'm sorry." He said, apologetically, running after Tricky.
Rhea and Clara made their way down a red-lit corridor until they found themselves in the console room all over again.
"Son of a bitch." Rhea hissed.
Clara pointed at the entrance and she and Rhea left again, both of them looking puzzled. They walked through the console room entrance and down another corridor, pointedly opposite to the one they had just come through. They turned around a corner and found themselves back in the console room.
"This is not fucking funny!" Rhea snapped up at the console room.
Clara huffed and grabbed Rhea, both of them running back out the same way. They stopped in the middle of the corridor and Clara scratched their head, before they ran down another corridor, which led them right back to the console room again. They ran into the room and they both rushed up to the steps to the console.
Clara planted her hands on the rim of the console and looked up at the time rotor with confusion. "Why are you doing this?" She asked, quietly.
Tricky and the Doctor entered the console room, finding it completely devoid of life.
"Back where we started." Tricky grumbled.
The Doctor looked up at the time rotor, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "No." He said, determinedly. "It's an echo." He ran up the console, his eyes running over all the knobs and levers. "The console room is the safest place on the ship." He explained, circling the console slowly. "It can replicate itself any number of times. It's trying to protect us." He said, grimly, looking up at the gauzy blue chamber that fell from the ceiling.
"Because I tried to give back the circuit?" Tricky asked.
The Doctor cracked a smile "Team TARDIS." He patted him on the face, affectionately.
The Doctor started to fiddle with the controls and knocked a piece loose off the console.
Rhea and Clara were sitting disconsolate on the edge of the railing, and Rhea looked up, watching as a piece fell from the console.
"Where did... where did that go?" Tricky stammered, seeing the piece completely disappear.
The Doctor pursed his lips, looking around. "There's more than one echo room." He explained. His eyes widened as he saw a shadow move and pointed at it. "Hey, look, look!" He exclaimed.
Rhea walked slowly around the console, while Clara sat despondent on the rim.
The Doctor grinned, his smile stretched across his jaw. "The TARDIS has got Rhea and Clara safe. She'd never let anything happen to her favourite girl." He crowed. "That was my Rhea. That was her there." He kissed his fingers and pressed them against the cool glass of the time rotor. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He crooned.
"Why can't we see her?" Tricky frowned.
"It's like a light switch. Two positions. Flickering at super-infinite speeds. We're only together for a brief second." The Doctor explained, hurriedly.
Rhea backed away, slowly, grabbing Clara away and dragging her along with, sensing something strange in the console room.
"Shh." The Doctor hissed.
Clara gasped and Rhea hissed out of clenched teeth.
The Doctor walked slowly around the console, swallowing hard when he heard the sharp noise of Rhea's hiss and Clara's trembling voice in the midst of a gasp.
"I can hear her." He murmured.
"Okay," Rhea muttered. "Time to go, I think."
She grabbed Clara by the shoulder and the two women backed away towards the stairs.
The Doctor remained as still as a statue in an attempt to listen for Rhea or Clara.
Rhea spun around in time to see Clara slam her hand on a button beside the entrance to the console room, the door swinging open.
"No, don't!" Rhea shouted.
Clara screamed, the burnt creature making its appearance in the doorway. It rushed at them and Rhea grabbed Clara by the scruff of the neck, yanking her away before the creature could touch her. Rhea backed away, pulling Clara along with her as she ran up to the console.
The Doctor heard Clara's scream and Rhea's muffled curse, flushing at the salty words that spilled from Rhea's mouth.
"They let it in." The Doctor's eyes widened. "She's let it in!" He shouted, his fingers working at the controls as fear rushed at him, his limbs tensing unwillingly.
Rhea cursed under her breath, making sure that the console was between her and Clara and the creature, the creature mimicking their movements.
The Doctor worked the controls on the console.
"Ah... if I can just isolate their position, I can nudge the alternation… reach in and grab her." The Doctor muttered.
Rhea stilled as Clara tilted her head and the creature copied her action.
She turned to Clara. "Would you mind if I just shot it?" She asked, curiously.
"Console room, echo imprint of the original."
The Doctor and Tricky turned around to see Gregor directly behind them, his hand-held scanner clutched in his palms.
"You're coming with me. I need you to get me out of here." Gregor growled at the Doctor.
The Doctor rolled his eyes at his show of machismo and simply used the sonic screwdriver on the scanner, taking control over it.
"Scanning for female human."
Before Rhea could pull her gun from where it was holstered against her thigh, the creature charged at them and they found themselves backed against the wall where the door should be. Rhea gritted her teeth and let herself relax, taking into account everything she knew. She had the option of pulling the gun on the creature and shooting it to kingdom come, but the creature had the advantage as it was currently backing them into a corner. And she had never used her gun in the TARDIS, except in the training room. Especially in the current state of the time machine, she had no idea how the TARDIS would react to her using her alpha-meson blaster in the console room. Not to mention, Clara was burrowed behind her. If she used her gun and the TARDIS reacted badly, then there was also the chance that Clara would be hurt. Usually, she wouldn't mind such a casualty, but she had become quite fond of the brash, slightly egotistical and somewhat self-preserving nanny and she didn't want the girl hurt.
At least, not at her hands, where the Doctor could blame her.
Gregor walked around with the scanner in his hands.
"Scanning for female human."
The creature slowly approached Rhea and Clara, steam rising from its hand.
Gregor walked around with the scanner.
"Unidentified human."
The Doctor snatched the computer from Gregor.
"It doesn't know San Francisco."
Tricky frowned. "What?" He asked, confused.
"It doesn't know Bohemian." The Doctor explained, quickly. "Yes!" He exclaimed, his blue-grey eyes lighting up. "It's found Rhea! It's found them. They're right there."
The Doctor flashed the sonic screwdriver at the wall and a distorted, transparent image of Rhea and Clara, pressed against the wall, started to come through.
Rhea gritted her teeth and curled her arms around Clara's small form, making sure that the younger woman was behind her, as the creature came towards them, Clara screaming as it did so.
The Doctor tossed the sonic screwdriver into his other hand and stretched his hand out, grabbing onto Rhea's slim one, which was at her side, pulling her and Clara free, by the tight grip Rhea had on Clara. Rhea shrieked in surprise as she was suddenly thrust into the Doctor's arms, Clara leaning on the railing for support as she unsuccessfully tried to regain her breath. Rhea pulled away, spinning around just once, taking deep breaths as she forced herself to calm down.
"It's all right, Rhea." The Doctor said, soothingly, pulling the wound-up woman back into his arms. "I'm so, so sorry, Dimples. Please, please forgive me…" He begged, his hands running over her cheeks, as he placed sweet, loving kisses on her eyelids, cheeks and lips.
Rhea rolled her eyes and swung her tight fist, socking him hard in the shoulder, turning on her feet and walking away.
"Ow!" The Doctor exclaimed, rubbing his sore shoulder, ignoring the stinging pain. "Okay, so we're not doing kissing," He grumbled, looking very much put-out at not being able to have his golden girl in his arms. "I get that now."
Rhea rolled her eyes and threw her arms around his neck, yanking his head down and crushing his mouth against hers in a heart-stopped, jaw-dropping kiss that sent tingles coursing through every inch of her body and definitely would leave her as nothing more than a puddle of sated sweetness if she continued. A fire burned in her stomach as she whimpered into his mouth, the Doctor's lips working over hers in a way that defied everything she knew about this Doctor, his hands tightening around her pelvis that would probably leave delicious bruises on her skin.
And she would touch them the next day and smile.
Oh, hell, if I keep doing this, I'll end up screwing him on the damn floor.
With a muffled curse, she broke away, ignoring the blushes of the salvage men and Clara, and stormed away.
"What do you keep in here?!" Clara shouted, once she had.
Rhea nodded, furiously. "You mind telling me why you've got zombies running around this place? Because I sure as hell didn't sign up for a re-enactment of Dawn of the Dead." She snarled, her hands falling onto her hips as her eyes narrowed, threateningly.
Clara wagged her finger at him, agreeing with everything Rhea had just said. "Good guys do not have zombie creatures. Rule one. Basic storytelling."
Rhea's hand lashed out and she punched for a second time in the arm, glaring icily at him.
"Not in front of the guests." The Doctor said, warningly, much like a husband would to a wife who was embarrassing him.
Rhea spun on her feet to look at the two strange men that accompanied the Doctor, and Tricky gave a little wave.
"Who are they?" Rhea narrowed her eyes, advancing on them.
"Friends." The Doctor said, adamantly. Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Well, people who aren't trying to kill us, so I don't need punching again!" He warned, backing away with his hands held out in front of him.
"Well, those kinds of people are hard to come by." Rhea said, spitefully, spinning on her feet to walk off and join Clara in leaning against the railing.
"All right, all right… a deal's a deal." Gregor said, pointedly. "You got the girls back. Now, cancel the self-destruct." He ordered.
"Ah. Ah." The Doctor cracked a smile, rocking back on his heels, as Rhea straightened. "You know," He clapped a hand on Gregor's shoulder. "I've got to tell you, I won't be needing you in my quiz team." He chuckled.
Gregor frowned. "What?"
The Doctor shrugged. "There is no self-destruct." He punched Gregor, lightly. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Had you going, though, boys, didn't I?" He grinned, sheepishly, giving Gregor a noogie. "I just wiggled a few buttons." He smirked, stroking the controls on the console. "The old wiggly-button trick. And the face. You've got to do the face." His voice lowered to a grim whisper. "'Save them or we all die.' I thought I rushed it a bit, but..." He grinned, proudly, looking over at Rhea. "Aren't you proud of me, Dimples? I can lie just as good as you." He rocked back on his heels.
Tricky scowled in disbelief. "So, you're telling us we're safe?" He said, incredulously.
"Ish." The Doctor shrugged. "Apart from the monsters and the TARDIS reinventing the architecture every five minutes."
"Oh, yeah, because that's not unsafe at all." Rhea said, sarcastically.
"I can fix it, Dimples." The Doctor protested. He sighed, looking at the salvage men. "Guys, don't worry, the countdown's a fake." He said, slowly. "Look, just give me just a second. I'll turn it off." He reassured, flicking switches on the console. "I only made it look as though the engine was actually exploding."
An alarm went off and Rhea frowned, moving over to the console. The Doctor's eyes widened.
"Ah." He winced, reading the flashing screen. He looked up, hesitantly. "That's not good. Okay, don't panic, or maybe panic." He huffed.
Rhea advanced on him, dangerously. "Something you want to share with the rest of us?" She asked, coldly.
"It appears the engine is damaged." The Doctor said, hesitantly, gesturing to the images he brought up on the monitor. "We're in trouble, Rhea, Clara. Proper trouble. It needs fixing or we're toast." He murmured, seriously.
The Doctor grabbed Rhea's wrist and tugged her away from the console, running down to the first level of the console room, pulling Rhea along with him.
"So, now would be a good time to use that big friendly button, right?" Clara called out as she, Tricky and Gregor ran after them.
"Yeah, sorry, I should have had one built in." The Doctor said, sheepishly, flashing his sonic screwdriver at a hexagonal panel on the wall.
"Where are we going?" Tricky asked.
The panel fell inward.
"Detour." The Doctor muttered and knelt in front of the open panel. "The centre of the TARDIS."
The Doctor led the way with the sonic screwdriver held out in front of him, down a green-lit corridor. Rhea and Clara walked closely behind him, followed by Gregor and Tricky. A shadow passed the corridor in front of them and Rhea grabbed the back of the Doctor's waistcoat, pulling him and turning around to hush the others, motioning for them to press themselves against the wall.
"Shush." Clara murmured. "Something's in here."
Tricky frowned. "Those... things. They've followed us."
Rhea frowned up at the Doctor, her eyes narrowed. "Doctor, what are they?" She asked, carefully. "What aren't you telling me?"
The Doctor leaned into her, his blue-grey eyes boring into her moss green ones. "Trust me." He said, grimly. "Some things you don't want to know." He lowered his voice. "Promise me you won't shoot them." He said, quietly.
One of the creatures passed behind them in a blur.
"They're on the move again!" Gregor exclaimed.
"Run! Move, move!" The Doctor shouted, pulling Rhea along the corridors as they ran.
Clara stopped in her tracks when she realised that she was on her own.
"Rhea?" She called out, hesitantly. "Doctor?" She backed away. "Doctor? Rhea?" She shook her head. "Again!" She hissed to herself.
Clara continued on and stopped at an intersection between corridors. She spun around, unable to decide which way to go. She looked down at her burned hand and frowned, the letters seeming to be a little clearer. She looked up and saw an image of herself stride down the corridor in front of her.
"I know what I said. I was the one who said it."
"You said it was looking at you funny."
Clara licked her dry lips when she heard Rhea's voice. She spun on her feet and made to go the other way, seeing herself all over again.
"Now you're creeping me out."
All Clara could do was stare.
"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this?"
Clara backed away and headed down another corridor. She gasped when saw the Doctor standing in the middle of the corridor, looking thoughtful.
"Oh, thank God. Doctor, what's going on?" She waved her hand in front of his face when he didn't acknowledge her. "Say something."
The Doctor and Rhea rushed up behind her.
"Clara, stop." He pointed at his duplicate. "Don't touch it. There's a rupture in time somewhere on-board the ship. A small tear in the fabric of the continuum. It must have happened when the TARDIS was pulled in by the salvage vessel." The Doctor took Rhea's and Clara's hands and pulled them along. "The TARDIS is leaking."
Rhea frowned. "Leaking what?"
"The past. The three of us. Everything we've done, everything we've said. Recent history. It's not real, it's a memory." The Doctor said, grimly.
"This is fifty shades of fucked up." Rhea said, shaking her head, running her hand through her dark curls.
They stopped in their tracks when they saw one of the creatures hovering in front of them.
"What about this?" Clara whispered.
Rhea licked her lips. "Oh, something tells me this one's real." She hissed under her breath.
The Doctor pushed Rhea and Clara ahead of him as they ran away, the creature chasing them.
"She's right onto us." The Doctor growled.
Rhea stopped. "She?" She asked with incredulity.
The Doctor closed his eyes. "Rhea, don't ask me anymore." He pleaded.
The Doctor yanked her by the hand and pulled Rhea and Clara into a small alcove to the side. They pressed themselves against the wall behind a girder as the creature paused. On the opposite side, a past version of the Doctor, Rhea and Clara walked down the corridor.
"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."
"No offence."
"It's important to me you get along…"
The creature chose to follow the past selves. The Doctor, Rhea and Clara stepped out from their hiding place. There was a groaning sound and the Doctor and Rhea looked up at the ceiling, nervously.
"What's that noise?" Clara asked, hesitantly.
"We're right under the primary fuel cells." The Doctor said, grimly.
"I'm gonna need more information than that." Rhea said, coldly.
"The… uh… fuel has spilled out. So the rods will be exposed. Means they'll cool..." The Doctor trailed off.
"And start to warp." Rhea finished, darkly.
The Doctor nodded. "And start to warp. Maybe even..."
Rhea turned to glare at him. "I hate you so hard."
"Maybe even break apart." The Doctor winced.
A large rod broke through the ceiling and shot down at an angel directly in front of them, a scream spilling from Clara's throat as they backed away, cautiously.
"Run?" Clara offered.
The Doctor nodded. "I'm liking how you're thinking."
"Yeah." Clara nodded.
The three turned and ran down the corridor behind them, ducking and dodging rods as they shot through the walls. They made their way down the long tunnels until they came upon the horrifying sight of Tricky impaled through his shoulder by one of the rods and Gregor, frantically, trying to pull it free.
"Cut it off. Just cut my arm off." Tricky said, hoarsely.
"No!" Gregor shouted.
"It's the quickest way to release me. No fear, no hate, no pain. I can get a new one. Disposable parts; just do it. It won't hurt me." Tricky's voice changed into a digitised pitch.
"Tricky, you don't understand." Gregor said, gently.
"I'm an android. Cut me!" Tricky protested.
"You made it through." Clara whispered.
"What's the matter with you? Why won't you cut me?" Tricky stared at his brother with confusion as the Doctor tried to help Gregor.
The Doctor tensed. "Tell him." He ordered, letting go off the metal rod.
Tricky frowned. "Tell me what?"
"You can't, can you?" The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. "You're a coward." He spat. "You won't save him, but you're scared to tell him why." He hissed.
"What's he going on about?"
"Robots don't need blast suits. They don't need respirators. They don't get frightened of monsters in the dark." The Doctor said, coldly.
"What's he talking about?"
The Doctor shone the sonic screwdriver in Tricky's eyes. "Two bionic eyes and a synthetic voice box." He placed a hand on Tricky's uninjured shoulder. "But you, my friend, are human. Flesh and blood."
Tricky simply stared at Gregor, hurt and lost, as his eyes dawned with confused realisation.
"It was a joke." Gregor said, lamely.
"Wha...?" Tricky whispered.
"It was just a stupid joke. We did it to relieve the boredom." Gregor winced
"Well, it was very funny. They lied to you. Changed your identity. Just to provide some in-flight entertainment!" The Doctor snarled.
"That's sick." Rhea hissed out, disgusted.
"I'm sorry. You're human, Tricky."
"Cut the metal. Cut the metal!" The Doctor clapped his hands. "Go!" He shouted.
Gregor picked up his laser and started to cut at the rod, sparks flying everywhere.
The Doctor led them down the hall, while Tricky staggered along at the back, his arm bandaged. The Doctor looked through the round window in the door to the engine room.
"Where are we?" Rhea asked, curiously.
"Power source. Right, you lot, wait here. I'll check it's safe. We can only survive for a minute or two in there." The Doctor explained.
Rhea pursed her lips and tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. "Quick question… what happens if we stay longer?" She asked, tersely.
"Our cells will liquefy and our skin will start to burn." The Doctor said, nonchalantly.
Rhea groaned, tipping her head back and running her hands down her face. "Oh, God, my life's like a fucking Stephen King novel." She grumbled.
Clara grimaced. "I always feel so good after we've spoken." She said, dryly.
"Marvellous. Keep this door shut." The Doctor ordered, swinging open the door to the engine room.
"That will not be a problem." Clara said, adamantly, as the door closed behind him.
The Doctor looked around and took a few breaths as he got his bearings in the sweltering room.
Rhea and Clara were leaning against the wall by the door. Gregor was diagonally across the corridor from them and Tricky was leaning against the wall a little way down from Clara and Rhea. Gregor held the computer up and it scanned Rhea.
"San Francisco. Bohemian."
"Hey, what the hell?" Rhea threw her hands up in the air. "I am not a Bohemian." She grumbled.
"Yes, you are." Clara snorted. "Have you seen you?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're the poster girl for the Summer of Love, Rhea." She said, pointedly.
"I am not!" Rhea said, adamantly. She fell silent. "Okay, I can see your point." She muttered. She glared at Gregor. "What the hell is that thing?"
"Intelligent sensor." Gregor explained.
"Ever pointed that thing at yourself, Gregor?" Tricky said, angrily, spitting out his fury. "What would it see? What sort of person does this to another human? Made them believe they're made of metal!" He snarled, his eyes flashing as he grabbed Gregor by the arm and spun him around, bodily. "Who am I?" He asked, coldly.
Gregor tore off the patch on his sleeve and handed it to Tricky. Tricky looked at it and walked to the end of the hall.
The Doctor ran across the catwalk to the far door while using his sonic screwdriver. It unlocked and the Doctor tugged on it and it finally opened, him looking up.
"My mouthy little kid brother." Gregor murmured.
Tricky rounded on him. "Why... why can't I remember?"
Gregor swallowed hard. "Salvage accident. There was a big explosion. You lost your sight, voice and your memory."
"And you... you thought of a way you could have some fun with me?" Tricky said, incredulously, walking closer to his brother. "I just wanted a brother beside me."
"You were always the smart one, Tricky. He wanted you to take over. He made you captain." Gregor said, quietly.
"He?" Tricky said, confused.
"Dad."
"I don't... remember him." Tricky stammered.
The Doctor ran back across the catwalk.
"You did this to me, just to be captain of a heap of junk." Tricky snarled.
He charged at his brother but before he could lay a hand on Gregor, Rhea shoved herself in between them and planted her hands square on their chest, pushing them apart.
"Hey, cut it out!" Rhea snarled.
The Doctor appeared out of nowhere and pulled Tricky away from his brother. "Tricky, listen to me. Ask yourself why he couldn't cut you up. He has just one tiny scrap of decency left in him. You just helped him find that, okay?" He rounded on Gregor, his voice lowering dangerously. "Now, you. Don't ever forget this." He said, coldly.
The Doctor held the door open to the fuel room for everyone else.
"Okay, move, move, move." The Doctor said, urgently.
The others stopped and looked up as the Doctor moved along the railing, all of their jaws dropping when they saw exactly what powered the TARDIS. It was like a massive ball of flame suspended in the air. Rhea bit her lip, her eyes shining with awe as she took a good look at the artificial black hole, her fingers pressed against her mouth. It was like staring into a sun.
The Doctor's hands slid around Rhea's waist, his chin leaning on her shoulder, his nose brushing her collarbone.
"The Eye of Harmony. Exploding star in the act of becoming a black hole. Time Lord engineering… you rip the star from its orbit, suspend it in a permanent state of decay. This way." He motioned to the other end of the fuel room with his arm. "Quickly."
Tricky and Gregor followed the Doctor, Gregor helping his brother across, while Rhea and Clara chose to stare at the Eye of Harmony for just a little bit longer. The Doctor opened the far door and his eyes widened as he found that one of the creatures was standing there. He slammed the door closed and Gregor helped him in keeping it shut. They ran back to the other side and Gregor opened the door to find that another creature was there, and he slammed it shut.
"There's no way out. We're trapped." Gregor huffed.
The Doctor ran for the other door, but as he passed by Rhea, she yanked him back by the scruff of his waistcoat.
"You're going to tell me now!" Rhea snarled. "If we're going to die in here, tell me what they are." She grabbed his arm, forcefully.
The Doctor gritted his teeth. "I can't." He pleaded with soft blue-grey eyes.
"Tell me! There's no reason for secrets now, bow-tie boy." Rhea said, coldly
The Doctor's hands cupped her face, his fingers sliding over her cheeks and the sides of her face, his thumb stroking over her cheekbones. "Secrets protect us. Secrets make us safe." He said, grimly.
Rhea shoved his arms away, the Doctor's face softening with hurt. "We're not safe!" She protested.
Gregor used the scanner on one of the creatures as it pounded on the door.
"Sensor detects animal DNA, human core element. Calculating data. Calculating data."
The Doctor's eyes widening, hearing the computer's voice, and ran over.
"No, no. Turn it off!" The Doctor shouted.
"San Francisco. Bohemian. Identifiable substance. Rhea."
Rhea stopped in her tracks, feeling the whole world still around her. Her eyes widened, comically, and her hands started to shake at her sides, her lips parting as she looked at the Doctor with incredulity. The Doctor turned slowly to look at Rhea, pain and shame etched on his angular face, as Gregor and Tricky headed back to the other door.
"That's me." Rhea said, blankly, taking a few slow steps towards the Doctor.
"I'm so sorry." The Doctor whispered.
Rhea cocked her head and looked through the window. "I'm going to burn in here." She whispered. "We all are."
"It isn't just the past leaking out through the time rift." The Doctor said, grimly. "It's the future." He turned to a terror-stricken Clara. "Listen," He cupped her face. "I brought you here to keep you safe, but it happened again. You died again."
Clara's eyes widened. "What do you mean 'again'?" She asked, incredulously.
The Doctor ran a hand over his face and hair, looking completely wrecked by Rhea's and Clara's words. The Doctor took his hand from his face and stared at it, remembering that one of the creatures had its hand fused to its face. Tricky and Gregor stood side-by-side at the door and one of the creatures was made of two joined together at the side.
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Hang on. As long as we interrupt the timeline, this can't happen." He ran to the other door and forcefully pushed the brothers apart. "Don't touch each other, otherwise the future will reassert itself." He ordered.
He pulled them all to the centre of the catwalk as the creatures pushed through the door, one of them grabbing Gregor's pack as the Doctor and Rhea helped Tricky.
"Gregor! Gregor, let go of the circuit." The Doctor shouted.
"Just let it go!" Tricky screamed.
"Gregor!" Rhea called out.
"Gregor!" Tricky growled.
Gregor slipped out of the pack and backed away to the others. Tricky took a swing at the creature and it fell over the rail, falling into an abyss to its death. They rushed towards the door and pulled away when the twin creature appeared at the door. They ran towards the other and the last two creatures managed to punch a hand through the window. They grouped in the middle of the catwalk.
"Okay. Er... er..." The Doctor stammered, completely at a loss for words.
Tricky went at the creature with a crowbar, managing to land a solid hit. When it was down low, he kicked it off the rail, making it fall into the abyss. Tricky nearly fell off himself, holding onto the ledge for dear life, when Gregor went to help him.
"Tricky!" Gregor shouted.
The Doctor, Rhea and Clara looked back.
"Don't touch him, or time will reassert itself." The Doctor said, warningly.
Gregor helped Tricky back onto the catwalk, but they soon became fused together and turned into the creature. They came after the Doctor, Rhea and Clara, who ran out the other door and closed it behind them.
The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to lock the door.
"The engine room. The heart of the TARDIS." The Doctor explained.
He took Clara and Rhea by the hands and led them through another door. They went through the door and nearly fell off a cliff edge, finding themselves on a rocky ledge overlooking nothing they could see from their vantage point.
"We're outside." Clara looked around, confused.
"No, we're still in the TARDIS." The Doctor corrected.
"There's no way across." Rhea pointed out.
"No. Okay, you're right." The Doctor sighed.
"So what do we do? Time for a plan. Do you have a plan?" Clara asked the Doctor and Rhea, quickly.
"Well, no. No plan, sorry." The Doctor said, simply.
"If you don't have a plan, we're dead!" Clara snapped.
The Doctor rounded on Clara. "Yes, we are. So, just tell us." He said, coolly.
Rhea frowned and looked at the Doctor with barely-concealed confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Clara's brow furrowed. "Tell you what?"
"Well, there's no point now, we're about to die, so just tell us who you are." The Doctor said, coldly, advancing on a puzzled Clara.
"You know who I am." Clara said, slowly.
"No, I don't! I look at you every single day, and I don't understand a thing about you." The Doctor snarled. "Why do I keep running into you?" He headed back for the door.
"Doctor, you invited her." Rhea said, slowly, taking a step in front of Clara, protectively.
The Doctor stormed back over to them. "Before that. We met her in the Dalek Asylum. There was a girl in a shipwreck, and she died saving our lives. And she was her." He snapped at Rhea.
"Spoilers." Rhea said, warningly. "And she couldn't have been."
"Victorian London. There was a governess who was a barmaid, and we fought the Great Intelligence together, she died, and it was my fault, and she was you." The Doctor snarled at Clara.
"You're scaring me." Clara whispered, grabbing onto the back of Rhea's dress, feeling Rhea's slim hands stroke over her fingers in a soothing gesture.
No matter how mad the Doctor seemed in this moment, she knew that Rhea would never stop defending her.
"What are you, eh? Are you a trick, a trap?" The Doctor growled
"That's enough, Doctor!" Rhea said, sharply, making sure she was standing in between him and Clara.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Clara shouted.
She backed away from both the Doctor and Rhea and stumbled back, almost falling off the edge. Rhea's eyes widened and she grabbed onto Clara, shoving her into the Doctor's arms before she could fall off. The Doctor gripped her in a huge hug, her holding him back and gasping for breath.
"All right. All right." The Doctor pulled away from Clara, a slow smile curling on his lips. "You really don't, do you?" He said, softly.
"I think I'm more scared of you right now than anything else on that TARDIS." Clara whispered.
"You're just Clara, aren't you?" The Doctor beamed.
He laughed as he touched Clara's face and pinched her cheeks much like he would a child, taking her into another hug.
"Okay. I don't know what the hell this is about, but the hug is really nice." Clara sighed.
He pulled away from her and advanced on Rhea, his arms sliding around her waist as if it were the easiest thing in the world and kissing her square on the forehead. His hands rubbed down her arms, soothing her.
"Sorry, Dimples." He murmured against her forehead. "Didn't mean to scare you."
Rhea cleared her throat, leaning up and kissing him softly on the lips. "I'm fine."
A seductive smile spread across her face and the Doctor knew that Rhea had once again closed herself off.
"We're not going to die here. This isn't real! It's a snarl." The Doctor knelt down, picked up one of the rocks and threw it over the edge.
"What?" Rhea frowned.
"What does a wounded animal do? It tries to scare everyone away. We're close to the engine. The TARDIS is snarling at us, trying to frighten us off. We need to jump." The Doctor explained.
"You're mad." Clara said, slowly.
The Doctor turned to Rhea, a pout on his face. "Am I mad, Rhea?"
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me as a psychologist or your… whatever?" She said, awkwardly.
The Doctor paused. "Which one is cheaper?"
Rhea rolled her eyes. "Well, from what I've observed, I think you're absolutely insane." She said, simply. She leaned on her toes and straightened his bow tie in an uncharacteristically domestic move for her, leaning up and kissing the curve of his jaw, gently. "But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." She whispered, conspiratorially.
The Doctor kissed her on the mouth and turned to Clara, who was watching their sweet moment with a great degree of fondness clear on her face. "We'll cross a portal to the engine."
The Doctor clapped his hands and he, Rhea and Clara backed up to the door.
"How can you be so sure?" Clara asked, curiously.
"Well, I can't." The Doctor shrugged.
"You've got to be kidding me." Rhea groaned.
The Doctor wagged his finger at her. "Hey, now, Rhea, I've piloted this ship for over nine-hundred years and you've hardly had to help me." Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, you help me sometimes." He amended. "Trust me this one time, please." Rhea snorted and the Doctor cracked a smile, her derision at his statement proving that she did put her trust in him. "Okay. Okay. As well as all the other times. Ready? Geronimo." He murmured.
All three took off in a run and leapt off the cliff to land in a white room. Suspended throughout the room were pieces of machinery and the Doctor, Rhea and Clara walked through it.
"The heart of the TARDIS. The engine, it's already exploded. It must have been the collision with the salvage ship." The Doctor explained.
"We're not dead." Clara pointed out.
"She wrapped her hands around the force. Froze it." The Doctor murmured.
"So, the TARDIS is all right?" Rhea asked, worriedly, her fear for the time-ship showing in her bright green eyes.
She didn't have many people she loved in the world, and much of that had soured over the past decade, but she knew she loved the magnificent time machine, the only constant, other than the Doctor, in her life.
"Temporary fix. Eventually, this whole place will erupt. There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been there for us, taken care of us. And now it's my turn and I don't know what to do. It... it just..." The Doctor shook his head, despondent, and Rhea reached over to take his hand, squeezing gently.
Clara came up and took the Doctor's other hand in hers. The Doctor frowned, feeling the burns and looked at her palm.
A smile began to quirk up at the corners of his lips. "Oh, Clara. Oh. You are beautiful." He murmured.
"Hey!" Rhea protested.
"Not as beautiful as you." The Doctor said, reassuringly. He turned to Clara and shrugged. "No offence."
The Doctor looked down at Clara's hand and blinked when he saw the words 'big friendly button' burnt onto her hand.
The Doctor cupped Clara's face. "Beautiful fragile human skin." He raised her palm to his lips and kissed it, softly. "Like parchment. Thank you." He took out his sonic screwdriver and flashed it. "The rift in time. All the memories leaking out. I need to find the moment we crashed. I need to find..." The Doctor smirked. "The music."
Music began to fill the room.
The Doctor took Rhea and Clara by the hand and ran from the room. They entered the console room using the sonic screwdriver to guide them. The Doctor spotted a glowing crack in the wall under the console and walked over to it.
"The time rift. Recent past. Possible future." The Doctor murmured.
"What are you going to do?" Rhea asked, worriedly.
The Doctor had found the remote for the Magno-Grab and used the sonic screwdriver to write on it.
"Rewrite today, I hope. I've thrown this through the rift before. I need to make sure this time. Going to take it in there myself. There might be a certain amount of yelling." The Doctor explained, hurriedly.
"It's going to hurt?" Rhea asked, nervously.
"Things that end your life often do that." The Doctor shrugged, heading for the rift.
"Wait! All those things you said. How we've met before. How I died..." Clara trailed off.
The Doctor sighed and walked back over to Clara. "Clara, don't worry. You'll forget. Time mends us. It can mend anything." He said, earnestly, chancing a look at Rhea, who licked her lips at the intensity of his gaze.
Not me. Rhea thought, mournfully.
"I don't want to forget. Not all of it." Clara shook her head.
"The library." Rhea said, suddenly, knowing that she would forget the moment the Doctor went into the rift. "I saw it. You were mentioned in a book."
The Doctor tensed. "I'm mentioned in a lot of books." He said, loftily, heading back over to the rift.
"I know what your name is." Rhea said, challengingly.
The Doctor huffed and hurried back over, swooping down and crushing his lips to hers. He pulled away, stroking his fingertips down her hair
"If I rewrite today, you won't remember. You won't go looking for my name." The Doctor said, grimly. He leaned in, making sure Clara wouldn't hear. "Not now. Just trust me. I will tell you what my name is in the right time." He murmured.
"And when is that?" Rhea raised an eyebrow.
A sad, weary smile curved on his lips. "Spoilers, Dimples." He murmured.
Rhea pouted. "You'll still have secrets. I hate it when you keep things from me."
The Doctor patted her on the cheek, kissing her on the forehead. "Better that way." He said, earnestly.
The Doctor hesitated before the rift, tensing up, and then stepped into it. He screamed in agony before disappearing from Rhea's and Clara's view.
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.
The future Doctor reached through the rift and called out to his past self who had been knocked against the rail.
"Doctor. Doctor." The past Doctor stared at him as if he were the devil himself. "I'm from your future. We haven't got long. It's a reset dial." The future Doctor said, quickly.
The future Doctor dissipated into air and the device fell from his hand and rolled across the floor. Clara picked it up and it burnt her hand, the device falling to the floor out of reflex.
"No! No!" The Doctor shouted.
Rhea dove to catch it, her instincts reacting to the sudden shout. She tossed the device to the Doctor, who looked at the device and laughed as he reads it.
"Big friendly button." The Doctor muttered, laughing and pressing the button.
The Doctor was polishing the centre column, while Rhea was leaning on the railing, reading a book, as Clara entered, having changed and showered. She leaned against the console.
"I feel exhausted. I feel..."
"We've lived two days instead of just one?" Rhea murmured, never taking her eyes off her book.
Clara frowned. "Why would you say that?" She asked.
Rhea shrugged, looking up and watching the Doctor work the controls on the console. "I have great instincts and something about this strikes me as wrong." She said, loftily. She shook her head. "But don't worry about that."
"Do you feel safe?" The Doctor asked, suddenly.
"Of course." Clara said, adamantly.
"No," Rhea said, simply, a smile curving on her lipstick-stained lips. "But that has nothing to do with you." She said, grimly.
The Doctor spun around to face the two women. "Give me a number out of ten. Ten being whoo-hoo, one being aarrrggh!" He grimaced.
"You're being weird." Clara said, slowly.
"I need to know if you both feel safe. I need to know... you're not afraid." The Doctor said, earnestly, coming to stand beside Rhea.
"Of?" Rhea raised an eyebrow.
"The future. Running away with a spaceman in a box. Anything could happen to you." The Doctor said, pointedly.
Rhea smirked and jumped to her feet. She leaned up on her toes and she kissed him on the corner of his mouth. "That's what I'm counting on, honey." She whispered. "Push the button, baby."
She left and Clara chose to follow her.
The Doctor smiled, ducking his head down, and tossed the cloth onto the console with a hook shot. He then pulled the dematerialization lever.
The Doctor was striding down the corridor, when someone grabbed a hold of the collar of his waistcoat and hauled him away, their hands slamming against his shoulders and pinning him against the wall.
"What are you doing?!" The Doctor squeaked, his hands planting against the wall in the little alcove he had found himself in.
"It occurred to me, that with our change in relationship status from 'friends' to 'two people who have feelings for each other and have sex', we can finally have 'we're still alive' sex." Rhea said, sweetly. "And you have to admit that with our adventures, it's kinda been a long time coming." She said, pointedly, leaning in and kissing the curve of his jaw seductively.
"Um, you… you sure about that?" The Doctor stammered, the scent of Rhea's perfume – sweet jasmine – clouding his senses briefly as she leaned into him, registering only the darkness of her eyes as they veiled with lust, the crimson of her lipstick against her caramel-coloured skin and the scrape of her nails down his chest. "I mean, as much as I would like to – and I really would – maybe this isn't the best place for it. You know, I just got new pillows that you're going to love. They're all soft and satiny and-"
Rhea rolled her eyes and slid to her knees in front of him, her head tipping back and a coy smile curving the corners of her lips. The Doctor's mouth opened and closed a few times as he thought of exactly what to say, a flush working its way up her neck. Her fingers slid against the waistband of his trousers, her nails sneaking under the material of his shirt and scraping the skin of his stomach. They deftly undid the button at the top and pulled down the zipper. Rhea smiled to herself, biting her lip to stem the laughter when she saw the array of Barbie dolls on his boxer shorts. She looked up at him, her teeth digging into her lower lip as it curved into a smile, waggling her eyebrows. Her eyes dragged down the length of his body, settling on his pelvis as she licked her lips, her eyes darkening to black. The Doctor's lips parted from above her, staring down at her with curious and expecting blue-grey eyes that were focused on the way her tongue ran over her lips, wetting the luscious, red flesh.
Her voice lowered to a dark croon. "I have spent every waking moment since I met you denying every impulse in me that has screamed throw you down on the floor and fuck you stupid. So, I plan on making up for lost time and rocking your world, indefinitely." A slow, seductive smile curled on her dark red lips. "You have absolutely no idea how much I've dreamed of sucking you off." She purred.
Her fingers hooked in the front of his boxer shorts and slid them down a few inches, exposing the hard length of his cock. Rhea's stomach clenched and she licked her lips, whimpering slightly. She had always loved sucking a man off. She supposed, if she were psychoanalysing herself (which she was fully qualified to do), it was because her sex life, up until this moment, had primarily featured control. She had lost any control over her sexuality during her relationship with Damian, and had sunk to the depths of whisking away strangers in bars to the nearest alley and spreading her legs for them to gain some remnants of control she had lost.
But this was a kind of high she had never experienced. Maybe it was because she had never had actual feelings for any of the men she had slept with. Kneeling in front of the Doctor did things to her libido and her heart that she didn't want to acknowledge. At least, not yet.
Rhea swallowed hard and licked her lips. She shuffled closer on her knees and her tongue slid out between her teeth, licking the tip of him, sucking in his salty taste. Her fingers curled around the base of his cock and she sucked the tip into her mouth. Her tongue traced all sorts of complex patterns over his quivering flesh and her jaw dropped, swallowing him as deeply as she could, her lips grazing the base of his cock.
The Doctor looked down at her, knowing that she was teasing him. She was so good at teasing him. She was made for teasing him. Her mouth felt like warm velvet and it gave him an odd, yet familiar thrill to see her red, red lips wrapped around his cock, taking it into her mouth as if they were born to be this for each other. The Doctor gasped out in shock and pleasure, the breath leaving him momentarily before his respiratory bypass kicked in. His lean hands slid into her hand, tugging at her curls as her lips moved over him. His skin was humming and his cheeks flushed from heat and arousal. Her sweet mouth was intent of stripping away his sanity – if any of that was left after twelve centuries. Every little shift of her lips, the precise pressure of the suction of her mouth and the writhing of her tongue was designed to drive him absolutely mad.
Rhea looked up at him, feeling a stab of pride at seeing the Doctor standing above her, his eyelids heavy, eyes rolled back into his head, mouth hanging open loosely, nails buried into the wall, his hand firmly in her hair. His breathing was rapid and the Doctor could hear the tremble of his hearts pounding in his ears.
Please, Rhea, beautiful Rhea, don't ever, ever stop what you're doing.
That was what the Doctor wanted to say, but her teeth grazed over the length of his cock and the Doctor yelped, his head tipping back, and all the words left his mouth, his lips mouthing unintelligible prayers and pleadings.
Her lips closed around him, sliding her mouth down and sucking hard so it felt hotter and slicker than anything else he had ever known and in that split moment, he could feel it welling up inside him, beginning to pulse through him and it was the most exquisite heat he had ever felt, every square inch of him consumed by uncontrolled nerves and electricity and tingling and suddenly, he was coming hard. He looked down to where she still had her lips around him and letting himself watch even as a deep groan tore from his throat. And her lips pulled off, a wet sound resounding through the corridor and making it all the better, only a second and he held himself as still as he can, watching as his hips tilted in her direction, the last of his orgasm ebbing away, leaving only the pulse of pleasure, and now she was truly marked as his because his come was dripping from her lips, down her neck, between her breasts.
Rhea jumped to her feet and the Doctor observed the way her dark curls, messy and twisted, resembled a dark halo in all directions. Her cheeks were flushed, her mouth moist, her lipstick – once impeccable – now stained, deliciously, across her mouth, and probably still tasting of him. Her hands curved around her neck, pushing her hair off her shoulders and down her back, her dark green eyes never leaving his own slack ones. Her fingers, deftly, slid the zipper of her dress down, letting the pale blue chiffon fall to her feet, leaving her in only a purple lace bra and matching panties.
She bit her lip and took a step away from him, gracing his dishevelled form with a challenging look.
"What just happened?" The Doctor stammered, holding onto the wall for dear life as the aftershocks continued to course right through him.
Rhea smiled, satisfied, dipping one of her fingers in the slickness left on the curve of her breasts and lewdly licking it off. "I think I just gave you the most spectacular blowjob you have ever had." She said, proudly, her green eyes twinkling.
The Doctor chuckled, shuddering slightly. "I have had spectacular blowjobs before, my darling."
Rhea pouted. "Oh, yeah? From who?" She asked, just the slightest tinge of jealousy colouring her voice.
The Doctor clucked his tongue. "From you, of course? Who else could it be?" He asked, shaking his head.
Rhea smiled, gently, practically preening. "That's what I thought." She muttered. She gestured to her decked-out-in-lace body, open to his unashamed, lustful gaze. "Don't tell me you're planning on being selfish?" Rhea raised an eyebrow.
The Doctor swallowed hard, his throat dry, and shook his head, furiously. His hands reached for her, curving around her waist. His head dipped down and his lips graced the long, lean curve of her neck, her head tipping back as a moan tore from her throat. Her hands planted on his chest and she shoved herself away from him, spinning around and stalking away. She tucked a curl behind her ear and looked back at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Well, I plan on christening every inch of this place, except for the console room," Rhea's hand stroked down the wall. "Only 'cause I don't trust her not to watch, and I'm still not sure whether I have a problem with that or not." She smirked. "But everywhere else is fair game." She purred. "What do you say?"
Anything seductive she may have wanted to say were ripped away from her as the Doctor swung her up into his arms and carried her partially naked, laughing form away down the corridor, intent on making every inch of this TARDIS their own in every way imaginable.
A/N: Hope you guys liked the extra long chapter! I do that sometimes. So, I've decided a new approach to my A/Ns:
1. The Doctor's name. I had to change it a bit around. Clara's definitely The Impossible Girl but she doesn't know what the Doctor's name is. But Rhea found out… much earlier than she was supposed to. And the Doctor will tell her and I already know when it'll happen as well.
2. I hope you guys liked the smut at the end of the chapter. I've been wanting to write a frazzled 11 gets a blowjob from a seductive Rhea for a very long time and I hope I did it justice.
Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter and don't forget to drop me a line!
Reviews:
NicoleR85: I hope you liked Rhea's reaction in this chapter!
deathb4beauty: I can promise you there'll be plenty of smut in the future!
KindaSpaceyButNotReally: Thank you so much! It's always nice to hear it when people appreciate that about Rhea, because the biggest reason I wanted to write this story in the first place (aside from writing a much more adult, real take on the whole jumping through timelines trope) is that there aren't many (if any, because I'm not sure) non-white OCs in this fandom or any fandom, I guess. I mean, especially Indian OCs, which sucks, because we make up 1/7th of the world's population and that's in India alone. Plus, as you can probably tell, I'm Indian, so my ability to relate to other OCs is limited beyond the fact that I too haven't met the Doctor. So, I thought Rhea would be a good foray into a culture that doesn't get much airtime outside our own cinema/TV industry. Plus, Deepika Padukone is like super hot and I love her to pieces. And I'm really glad you like my author's notes – I know they can be a little all over the place, but they're probably an honest picture of who I am as a person. There is definitely marital drama in Rhea's past and it certainly wasn't pretty at all. And there's always gonna be a warning for sexual innuendos and language, because, hey, it's Rhea. And there'll definitely be more Hindi, cause you know, she speaks it to her relatives and sometimes she reverts back to it.
grapejuice101: Rhea's encounter with the Master is not going to be pretty, I can assure you that. As for Classic Who, I haven't actually watched a lot of them, so if I do them in the future, it'll definitely be after I finish New Who. And my favourite Classic Doctor is probably 4, but I like 8 too, so it's kind of hard to choose. And I will be doing 12, not for a little while, because Rhea's still getting used to the 3 Doctors she has met and I don't want to overwhelm her just yet and Robots of Sherwood will be nice – I can just imagine Rhea and Clara being so fed up with the Doctor and Robin and being like guys, we can totally do this on our own, why don't you just stay here in the dungeon?