Last Two

They emerged into a large corridor with a vault door at the end. "Right, vault," the Doctor said, nodding as they stepped up to it. "That's clear. What's not clear is what we do now."

Clara glanced at the Time Lords. She was very used to the Doctor looked more emotional than Adelaide and now was no different. "Hey. You okay?"

"No, we're amnesiacs robbing a bank. Why would we be okay?"

"Because Saibra..."

"Saibra is dead, we are alive," Adelaide said, speaking simply. "Sometimes, it's necessary to prioritize."

"Oh," Psi scoffed, "is that why he calls himself the Doctor and you hang around with him? The professional detachment."

"For your information, I am a scientist in my own right." Adelaide didn't look at him. "Emotional detachment is a necessity of the profession."

The Doctor nodded. "When we're done here, by all means, you go and find yourself a shoulder to cry on. You'll probably need that. Till then, what you need is us." The Time Lords stepped forward without another word, moving to investigate the vault.

Clara watched them leave. "Underneath it all, they're not really like that."

Psi looked at her. "It's very obvious that you've been with the two of them for a while."

"Why?"

"Because you are really good at excuses."

"I've learned from the best." She nodded at Adelaide. "When she's not stressed, she tends to be the one who manages his rudeness."

"She's not rude herself?"

"Compared to him?"

"Another gift from the Architect!" the Doctor called, stepping out from the alcove near the vault. "Shall we unwrap it?" He bent down, opening it to reveal a card and a small device, which Psi plugged himself into.

The download seemed to hurt a bit, but once it was finished he stepped into the alcove while Clara studied the card. "Right, the system looks like it's time-delayed. There are twenty-four lock codes I need to break."

Clara glanced down the tunnel when there was a growl. "It's coming. We're trapped."

"Psi, how long?"

He shrugged. "As long as it takes."

Adelaide nodded. "It's locked on to one of our thought trails."

"We have to split up, minimize the brain signals." The Doctor and Adelaide nodded at each other before stepping back, preparing to run.

"What happened to your professional detachment?" Psi said, holding out a hand. The Doctor didn't speak as he handed him one of the atomic shredders.

Clara's eyes widened. "No. No!"

"In case it finds me. It's my choice."

"You don't use that, okay? Promise me."

Psi made no such promise. "Time to run." He knelt down to begin his work, and the Time Lords and Clara hurried out into the main part of the corridor.

"Separate," the Doctor ordered and they hurried off in opposite directions.

They could hear the Teller shuffling along the tunnels trying to find them. It was moving slowly, no doubt at least slightly confused, but they knew it would lock onto one of them.

The Time Lords just hoped it would be one of them first.

It wasn't.

Clara's scream made them all turn, even Psi, who ran from the computer.

"Clara!" the Doctor shouted from something, trying to find her.

"Come on!" Psi shouted suddenly, echoing down the halls. "Come and find me! Every thief and villain in one big cocktail. I am so guilty! Every famous burglar in history is hiding in this bank right now in one body. Come and feast! Clara? For what it's worth, and it might not be worth much, when your whole life flashes in front of you, you see people you love and people missing you. Well, I see no one." Psi screamed as he finished, the Teller roaring, and the trio of time travelers ran back to the vault just as the countdown ended.

"Three, two, one...failed. Vault unlocking failed."

Clara tried to move the wheel on the front of the door, but it didn't move. "It's not opening. Psi. He died for nothing."

The Doctor hurried over to the alcove, using his sonic. "Multiple locks. Last one still in place." He turned to a panel, opening it. "Atomic seal." He looked up at Adelaide. "Unbreakable, even for us."

She frowned. "The Architect would know that. He wouldn't bring us all this way for nothing."

"And get two people killed," Clara added.

"There must be some logic."

The human shook her head. "Some logic?"

"Something..." Adelaide closed her eyes, thinking, when there was suddenly thunder from outside. "A storm." Her eyes opened. "The storm's tripping the system."

"How would he know when a storm would hit?"

The Doctor's eyes widened, pointing at Adelaide and laughing. "Of course! Stupid, stupid Doctor. Of course, of course!"

"Of course, what?" Clara looked between them.

"Whoever the Architect is, they're in the future," Adelaide explained. "This is a time travel heist."

"We've been sent back in time to the exact moment of the storm, to be in exactly the right place when it hits," the Doctor moved to stand beside either of them before the vault door, "because that's the only time the bank is vulnerable."

"Vault unlocked," the computer announced and the door swung open.

The Doctor grinned. "The bank is now open."

"Vault unlocked."

He glanced at Clara. "Come on." They all stepped inside, finding a golden vault filled with safety deposit boxes. "It explains why we're not here in the TARDIS.

"Sorry, what?"

"The solar disruption would have made navigation impossible. The one time the bank is vulnerable is the one time we can't just land."

Clara looked down at the card from the case. "The code..." she stepped forward. "The code that was in the last case. Look. 'Tech'."

"Technology 251," the Doctor nodded. "Find it."

They split up to search, Clara ending up being the one to announce "Tech!"

Once they found 251, they thankfully didn't need any sort of key to open it. Inside was what appeared to be a syringe. "That's a neophyte circuit," Adelaide said. "Only ever seen it in a textbook."

"I've only ever seen one once before," the Doctor nodded. "It can reboot any system, replace any lost data."

"Psi," Clara nodded. "That's what he came for, his reward."

"So what did Saibra come for?"

They searched for ORG 339, the next series, and found a small bottle inside. "Gene suppressant," Adelaide said.

"She wanted to be normal."

The Doctor shrugged. "Everyone has a weakness. So the big question is this. What did we come for?" he looked to Adelaide, but thankfully the Time Lady was saved from answering by Clara reading off the next series of letters.

She did not want to admit what weakness the Architect could have used to entice her to rob a bank.

"PV," Clara read.

"Private vault." The Doctor looked away from Adelaide. "Karabraxos's own fortune?" He stepped around a corner only to come face to face with the Teller.

|C-S|

Two guards brought the trio to the very nice office, one Adelaide was honestly envious of, of the ginger woman from before. The Teller stood to the side, a fact the three of them were trying hard to ignore.

"Intruders are most welcome," the woman smiled at them. "They remind us that the bank is impregnable. It's good for morale to have a few of you scattered about the place, preferably on view." She gestured to the monitors, which showed a collection of the Teller's victims. "Are you ready for your close-up? If you're thinking of ways to escape, the Teller will know before you've even made a move. You'll never be bothered by all that thinking again."

The Doctor eyed the Teller. "Useful species."

"Last of its kind, and we've signed an exclusive deal."

The Doctor shrugged. "Must be noisy inside its head. Painful to listen to so much chatter, so many secrets. Must drive it wild. How can you force it to obey?"

"Oh," the woman smirked, "everything has a price tag, I think you'll find." She looked up as there was thunder again. "The storm's getting worse. The customers are leaving. Director Karabraxos will be concerned. Our jobs will be on the line."

"You're scared."

The woman nodded. "Oh, I'm terrified. I have the disadvantage of knowing Karabraxos personally."

Adelaide allowed herself a small frown as she considered the woman. "If you don't like your boss, why stay?"

She shrugged. "My face fits." She stood from her desk. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must take the Teller to its hibernation. You two, dispose of our guests." She and the Teller left together.

The guards turned to the three of them, forcing them back against the wall. "Don't do this," the Doctor tried. "I'm having a very bad day, and I do not want to be pushed around."

"You're wrong," the un-helmeted guard said.

"Wrong?"

"It's not that bad a day. And you're both being very slow."

The Doctor looked down as the guards started to undo their restraints. "Why are you undoing our handcuffs?" the un-helmeted guard transformed with a shiver into Saibra. "Saibra?"

"It looked like death," the other, Psi, pulled off his helmet. "It was actually a teleporter."

The moment she could, Clara rushed forward to hug Psi. "Oh my God."

"You are such a bad influence," Adelaide mumbled.

"Oh, don't try and pretend that you would have noticed without me," the Doctor scoffed.

Adelaide just raised her eyebrows, with made the other three laugh. "Good, eh?" Psi nodded. "You think we're dead, so the Teller thinks we're dead, and we play the creature at his own mind games."

"There's a ship in orbit then?"

Psi nodded. "Takes you right there. Oh, and there's this big blue box. Is that yours?"

The Doctor grinned. "Well, this is good, I suppose. You'll be able to resume the mission."

"Gene suppressant," Adelaide gave Saibra the small bottle. "Antidote for your condition."

"Memory giver," the Doctor did the same for Psi. "All your yesterdays." Both took it, looking down in slight wonder. "There you go. Job done, paid in full. Clever old Architect."

"Very clever," Saibra nodded. "Still hate him though."

"Me too," Adelaide said. "Clever is my job."

The Doctor smiled. "How rude of him."

"How were you paid?"

The Doctor shrugged. "We don't know. There's something in the private vault."

|C-S|

It was much quicker to reach the lower levels the second time, as Psi was more certain of the organization of the bank. "What's that?" the Doctor nodded at a pipe near the private vault that he hadn't noticed the first time around.

"Supply line. It's the only oxygen down to the private vault. There's another one for water, for basic life support."

Clara frowned. "What, for a private vault?"

"Someone likes to hang out with their wealth."

The Doctor opened a grate to the side, allowing them access to the private vault. It was far more ornate inside than one might have expected for a vault, filled with various treasures that the Time Lords both recognized and didn't.

"Director Karabraxos?" the Doctor said, walking up to a desk and the chair behind it, which was facing away from them. "Excuse us, but we've come to rob you. So if you want to put your hands above your head, or..."

The chair spun, revealing that the inhabitant was the ginger woman from before, though she was dressed differently. Her hands were up in a clearly mocking way. "Or?" She smirked. "You didn't bring any weapons. That's a bit of an oversight." She pressed a button on her desk. "Security, Karabraxos here."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "You're Karabraxos?"

She held up a finger. "One moment."

A monitor turned on, revealing the actual woman from before. "Director Karabraxos, is there a problem?"

"Intruders in the private vault. Send me the Teller. I want to find out how they got in, and then I want to wipe their memories."

"You have clones," Adelaide nodded.

Karabraxos sighed. "It's the only way to control my own security. I have a clone in every facility." She glanced at the screen again. "Get on it right away."

"Yes, of course."

"And then hand in your credentials. You're fired, with immediate effect."

"But please, I've been in your service..."

"Ever since the last one let me down and I was forced to kill it," Karabraxos waved a hand. "I can't quite believe that you're putting me through this again." The monitor cut off and Karabraxos sat back, sighing. "My clone. And yet she doesn't even protest. Pale imitation, really." She chuckled. "I should sue."

Clara gasped. "You're killing her? You just said..."

"Fired?" Karabraxos laughed. "I put all of the used clones into the incinerator. Can't have too many of moi scattered around."

"Sorry," Psi raised his eyebrows, "you don't get on with your own clone?"

"She hates her own clones," the Doctor corrected. "She burns her own clones. Frankly, you're a career break for the right therapist." His eyes widened. "Shut up. Everybody, just, just...shut up!"

Karabraxos laughed. "And what is this display now, as amusing as you are?"

"Shut up! Just shut up, shut up, shut up, shutetty up up up!" he spun to Saibra. "What...what did you say? What did you say? What did you say about your own eyes? De-shut up. Say it again."

Saibra glanced at Adelaide. "How can you trust someone if they look back at you out of your own eyes?"

"I know one thing about the Architect. What is it that I know about the Architect? I know one thing. Something that I've known from the very start."

"You hate him?" Adelaide offered.

He pointed at her. "I hate him! He's overbearing, he's manipulative, he likes to think that he's very clever. I hate him!" He spun, hitting a nearby gong. "I hate the Architect!"

"What in the name of sanity is going on in this room now?" Karabraxos asked.

"We're getting sanity judgment from the self-burner," the Doctor laughed.

Adelaide stepped forward, looking far more contained than the Doctor. "Do you mind if I borrow a bit of paper?" She grabbed one instead of waiting.

"And what are you doing now?"

"I'm giving you our telephone number. Our special one."

"Why?"

Adelaide folded it, writing a message on the outside, before passing it to Karabraxos. "I believe you shall have a reason to call us in the future."

The whole building actually shook that time when there was thunder, the lights flickering. "Oh, that was a big one, wasn't it?" the Doctor said, him and Adelaide moving to stand together for a moment. "I think that your bank is about to close for good, Karabraxos. If I was you, I'd get going. Don't mind us," he waved a hand, "we'll just stay here and burn." Karabraxos didn't look like she liked the idea, but once more alarms started to go off she hurried over to a small bag and started to pack. "Hard to know what to take," the Doctor called. "The greatest treasures of the universe in just one suitcase."

The building shook again and Clara stepped up to the Time Lords. "Doctor, Adelaide, what's the plan? Is there a plan?"

"We can use the shredders and get us back to the ship," Saibra said.

"They're not shredders, they're teleports, and that's not the most interesting thing about them."

"So what is?"

"There were seven," Adelaide said, turning to look at Karabraxos again as the woman, with a vase under an arm, hurried to the doors. "Remember, feel free to give us a call."

"Doors opening."

Karabraxos shook her head. "You'll be dead."

"Yeah, you'll be old," the Doctor nodded. "We'll get on famously." His and Adelaide's hands drifted towards each other. "You'll be old and full of regret for the things that you can't change." He made a phone gesture as the doors shut.

Psi turned to the Time Lords. "What the hell is going on?"

"Are you remembering?" Clara tried.

"No, not a thing. But we're understanding."

"What? What is it? What are you understanding?"

"We're not sure yet. We need our memory back. And I think there's only one way to do that."

"Which would be?"

"Soup." The lift opened and the Teller entered. "Hello, big man." The Doctor stepped forward, away from Adelaide. "Peckish?"

Adelaide had to dig her nails into her palms to stop herself from doing anything. She and the Doctor hadn't discussed what they were going to do, what he was going to do, but she knew that, at the moment, the only way to get past the mental block was to use the Teller's ability. That didn't mean she was happy about it – especially because she wanted to be the one who knew what had happened – but she knew it had to happen.

The Teller trapped the Doctor, forcing him to his knees from the pain. Clara surged forward, but Adelaide grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. "He needs to do this."

"It will kill him!"

"Time Lords are naturally psychic creatures, we know how to deal with mind-reading aliens," Adelaide said, though she was fairly certain her voice was revealing a bit more of her nervousness than she normally would have liked.

"That's it, that's it," the Doctor said, his face screwed up from the pain. "There are so many memories in here. Feast on them. Tuck in. Big scarf, bow tie, bit embarrassing, Adelaide didn't really like it. What do you think of the new look? I was hoping for minimalism, but I think I came up with magician and Adelaide has yet to complain, so that's lovely. In the last few days, there's been a block. Can you see the block? Tell me why we're here. Show me why we're here. Show me!"

He gasped, eyes widening as he remembered.

It had been Karabraxos. An old Karabraxos, a dying Karabraxos, that Adelaide had spoken to on the phone.

|C-S|

"We need to take a detour," Adelaide said, replacing the phone and looking at the Doctor. "We've been given a job."

"A job?"

She opened the TARDIS door, leading the way inside. "We need to rob a bank."

"What?" Clara gasped.

Adelaide quickly typed on the monitor, explaining exactly what Karabraxos had said to the other two.

There was no question about what they would do after that.

Adelaide searched for people to help them and the Doctor made the plan as she worked. They decided on two other humans, a mutant human and an augmented one, before the Doctor went out to collect the DNA of the man whose identity they'd be using.

Then off to collect the two humans and to explain exactly what they would be getting themselves into.

It wasn't that hard for them to agree on it being the Doctor who would adopt the role of the 'Architect', the mysterious figure who would give them their mission. He was far more theatrical than her and the one who had actually made the plan they were going with.

Though it had been her thought process that had helped them predict exactly what the two of them would decide to do once told to rob a bank with their memories wiped.

|C-S|

The Doctor gasped as the Teller released him, letting him fall back. "Did you see why we came?" he asked it, also explaining to Adelaide. "Why we're here? We had to delete our own memories, otherwise you'd have known, and then she'd have known, because you were mentally linked. But she's gone now. They've all gone. They have no power over you now. You can do exactly what you want to do now. Exactly what you've always wanted to do."

The Teller stepped up to a large safe in the back of the room, unlocking it. "It knows the combination," Psi gasped.

"It was liked to Karabraxos," Adelaide nodded, the Doctor pointing at her.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Clara asked as the Doctor stood. "That thing killed people."

"Well so might you, to protect everything you loved." The safe swung open, revealing a second of the Teller's species that cried out when it saw the Teller before it. "There she is!" the Doctor cheered. "Not the last of its species. The last two." He took Adelaide's hand as Psi rushed forward to unchain the other alien. "A miracle."

"I thought I was the only miracle you've ever seen," Adelaide said, smiling.

The Doctor just kissed her hand for that, smiling as well.

"Exit strategy," Saibra called, nodding. "We've got seven shredders."

"Exactly. This wasn't a bank heist. It never was. It was a rescue mission for a whole species. Flesh and blood, the last currency." The lights flickered and the Doctor stepped forward, holding out a shredder to the Teller. "Time to go home. What do you think of that, big man?"

The Teller roared.

|C-S|

The Time Lords managed to find the quietest and most isolated planet they could for the two aliens. "So much mental traffic in the universe," the Doctor said, watching them walk away together. "Solitude is the only peace." He squeezed Adelaide's hand, beyond thankful that the Time Lady was there. That she was with him.

That he was not alone and neither was she.

That they'd never be alone again.

|C-S|

"Gioffree Borgia, mucho scary hombre," the Doctor was saying, using his chopsticks to accent his story, "says to me, 'what do you think of our Leaning Tower of Pisa?' I say," he leaned sideways, "'it looks okay to me.'"

The whole TARDIS burst into laughter, the members of the bank heist team scattered around the console with Chinese food. Adelaide and the Doctor had been attempting to outdo each other with the best story about their adventures before they'd met, though the Doctor was almost automatically the victor due to his far better storytelling ability. That didn't stop Adelaide from trying, especially with Clara helping when she recognized a story that Adelaide had told her before.

That had made the Doctor pout about the fact the girls were teaming up on him, which just made Psi and Saibra laugh even harder.

In the end, it was declared a tie and they all re-gathered to say goodbye. "If you ever need help with another bank heist," Psi offered, shaking the Doctor's hand and then Adelaide's before turning to give Clara a hug.

"Yeah," Clara laughed, "it's not really their area."

"How do you know I don't rob banks?" Adelaide said with a mock frown.

"Stealing is impolite?" Psi offered, making Adelaide laugh and the Doctor give him a phone gesture. He stepped out of the TARDIS and the Time Lords hurried to pilot Saibra home.

Once they'd landed, Saibra gave the Doctor a hug. "See? I don't have your face now."

Adelaide sighed. "He does miss that."

Saibra shook her head. "Oh, shut up." She gave the woman a quick hug before leaving the TARDIS, waving to Clara as she left.

Now, all they had to do was get Clara back home in time for her date. They made quick work of it that time. "7:12," the Doctor read out, "local time, as promised. Go and enjoy yourself. Don't do anything Adelaide wouldn't do."

Clara raised her eyebrows, walking back towards the door. "It's a date." She paused. "You know, I've just realized...I'm going out for another meal now."

The Doctor waved a hand. "Don't worry. Calories consumed on the TARDIS have no lasting effect."

Clara's eyes widened. "What? Are you kidding?"

"Of course I'm kidding. It's a time machine, not a miracle worker." The Doctor waved towards the door. "Bye, bye."

"See you. Don't rob any banks."

He grinned. "Don't rob any banks what?"

"Without me."

Adelaide nodded at her. "Of course not, assistant."

Clara gave a small bow and left the TARDIS.

The Doctor leaned against the console. "Robbing a bank," he said out loud. "Robbing a whole bank. Beat that for a date." He looked to where Adelaide was standing, across the console from him, and grinned.

He loved it when she smiled.

A/N: A happy conclusion for the Time Lords this time :)