With Saints

The Time Lords stepped towards each other just as the plane exploded, freefalling together. The Doctor used the TARDIS key to guide them towards the falling box, managing to get the door open at the awkward angle and up to the console before it collided with anything disastrous. They, as Clara had said they could do, followed the signal to where Clara was, stepping out into a graveyard.

It was full of Cybermen and Clara was standing before one with a missing faceplate, revealing the face of Danny Pink. She'd also removed part of his chest plate, about to do what they couldn't let her.

"Clara, don't!" the Doctor shouted, running forward.

Clara turned to look at them both. "Help me." She really was crying now.

"If you do what you're trying to do, if you succeed, he will snap you."

Clara shook her head. "No."

"Then he will step over your broken body and break another and another and another. He will never stop."

Danny turned to them as well. "I will not harm her!"

But the Doctor only looked back at him. "PE. PE. PE."

"Sir." Danny gave him a small nod.

"I had a friend once," the Doctor began. "We ran together when I was little. And I thought we were the same. But when we grew up, we weren't. Now, she's trying to tear the world apart, and I can't run fast enough to hold it together." He walked forward, putting a hand on Danny's chest. "The difference is this. Pain is a gift. Without the capacity for pain, we can't feel the hurt we inflict."

Danny frowned. "Are you telling me seriously, for real, that you can?"

"Of course I can."

"Then shame on you, Doctor."

Adelaide looked up to the sky as the clouds above rumbled. "Danny, we need you to tell us what are the clouds going to do? What is the plan?"

"How would I know."

"You're part of a hive mind now, I know how it feels." She nodded towards Clara. "I assume that's how you located her. Just look."

Danny concentrated. "I can't see much."

"Look harder."

But he just shook his head. "Clara, watch this. This is who the Doctor and Adelaide are. Watch the blood-soaked old general and the cold-hearted scientist in action. I can't see properly, sir, ma'am, because this needs activating. If you want to know what's coming, you have to switch it on." He smirked as best he could. "And didn't all those beautiful speeches just disappear in the face of a tactical advantage and a logical choice?"

The Doctor looked down, sighing, but Adelaide stared straight. This was how her mind used to work, how she used to want her mind to work.

How she almost thought she wanted her mind to work now.

Emotionless. Logic. Tactical advantages.

No wonder the Time Lords had wanted her to make an army for them. Back then, she would have been a wonderful general.

A pity she'd cared for the soldiers more - at least, that's what she told herself, even though she knew it was a lie.

"We need to know," she whispered. The Doctor nodded, making something in Adelaide off-settle.

She'd thought it was nice, for a little, that the Doctor understood her more. That he'd grasped her way of thinking, that he knew that, sometimes, you had to make sacrifices that you might not mourn in order to reach the end.

But there was a reason that Adelaide had sacrificed herself on Lake Silencio instead of the Doctor.

He was the one who was meant to care. He wasn't supposed to be the one who needed a carer.

Perhaps she had had too much of an influence on him.

"Yes," Danny agreed, his voice matching her level. "Yes, you do."

Clara held out her hand to the Time Lords. "Give me a sonic."

When the Doctor shook his head, Adelaide hated that she felt a moment of relief. "No."

"Just do it, Doctor. Do as you are told."

The Doctor looked back to Danny as he did as Clara requested, passing her his sonic. "Typical officer," Danny scoffed. "Got to keep those hands clean."

The Doctor turned, unable to watch. Adelaide felt as though she couldn't look away. Felt as though she wished that she could just shut off her emotions with a flick of a sonic.

It would make all of this so much easier.

"Just point and think, yeah?" Clara asked her, knowing the Doctor might not answer, not now.

"Yes." Adelaide nodded.

"Okay." Clara raised the sonic, pointing it at Danny's chest. "I wasn't very good at it, but I did love you."

"I love you too."

The tears were worse now. "I'm never going to say that again."

"Me neither."

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

But Clara couldn't do it, not yet. "I feel like I'm killing you."

"I'm already dead. You're here this time at least."

Clara tightened her grip. "Goodbye, Danny."

"Goodbye, Clara."

She activated the sonic. Danny's face went blank and his back straightened. Clara moved to step away, shaking her head, but she turned and hugged him tightly.

"Clara, no!" the Doctor said, rushing forward. "Step away! He's activating! Clara, step away now! Don't..." he stepped into Danny's sight. "Danny, Danny, if you can hear me, if you're still there, what are the clouds going to do?"

"The rain will fall." Danny's voice was flat. "All humanity will die."

"And rise again as Cybermen."

"Correct."

"How do we stop it?"

"We cannot be stopped."

The Doctor moved to speak again but they were interrupted by a sound behind them, turning to see Missy had teleported back, floating to the ground using her umbrella. "Oh, that was brilliant!" she applauded them. "Oh, I love the telly here, but did you see that? Oh, Clara, you poor thing. You must feel like death. Let me pop away the pain." She started to type on her device, but Adelaide surged forward, grabbing it and throwing it away.

"No, Missy," she said, stepping back again.

"Oh, sorry," Missy shrugged, "I'm just getting a bit carried away. It's your friends, they're so more-ish. Hmm?" Clara took the device from the ground, moving back to hugging Danny. Missy, meanwhile, pouted at the Doctor. "Oh, stop looking all cross-pants. I'm here to give you a gift. Could you at least try and be excited?"

"What gift?"

Missy lifted her wrist device, speaking into it. "Cyberdears!" all the Cybermen around them came to attention. "Look at Mummy!" they turned. "Raise your arms." All the Cybermen began to obey her. All but one. "Lower your arms. Raise your right. Lower your right. Turn on the spot. There are exits at the front and rear of the aircraft. Please follow the lights up the aisle." She laughed. "You see, Doctor? The power to slaughter whole worlds at a time, then make them do a safety briefing. Everyone who ever lived – man, woman, and child – is now at my command. An indestructible army to rage across the universe. The more they kill, the more they recruit. Happy birthday!" bit both Time Lords blinked. "Oh! You didn't know, did you? It's lucky one of us remembers these things." She walked forward, taking the Doctor's hand. "Happy birthday Mr. President." She snapped the device onto his wrist and backed away into a curtsey.

All the Cybermen then bowed their heads to him, obeying him. "Doctor."

"Tiny bit pleased?" Missy straightened, waving a hand at him. "Oh, go on, crack a smile. I want to see if your eyebrows drop off."

"All of this...all of it, just to give me an army?"

Missy shrugged. "Well, I don't need one, do I? Armies are for people who think they're right. And nobody thinks they're righter than you! Even Adelaide knows she can do wrong, however much it pains her to admit it. Give a good man firepower and he'll never run out of people to kill."

"I don't want an army!"

"Well, that's the trouble! Yes, you do! You've always wanted one! You made her" she gestured at Adelaide "make one for you! All those people suffering in the Dalek camps? Now you can save them. All those bad guys winning all the wars? Go and get the good guys back."

"Nobody can have that power."

"You will, because you don't have a choice, not like your precious Protector. There's only one way you can stop these clouds from opening up and killing all your little pets down here. Conquer the universe, Mr. President. Show a bad girl how it's done." She dropped into a deep curtsy, head bowed.

The Doctor ripped the bracelet off, striding forward. "Why are you doing this?"

"I need you to know we're not so different! I need my friend back." She looked up at him, hopeful. "Every battle, every war, every invasion. From now on, you decide the outcome. What's the matter, Mr. President? Don't you trust yourself?"

The Doctor looked at her. This was what Adelaide didn't want. This was what Adelaide had never wanted. She didn't want to make choices for people, she didn't want to pick the outcome of wars. She never wanted that power.

He never wanted that power.

"Thank you," he told Missy, speaking gently. "Thank you so much." He blew a kiss towards her, turning to look at Adelaide and Clara again. "I really didn't know. I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes." He paused at Adelaide there, holding out his hands towards her. "Thank you! I am not a good man!" he shrugged. "I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a president. And no," he looked to Danny, "I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am?" he grinned, looking back to Adelaide. "I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver, who loves a very clever woman with a pen. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them." He gestured between Adelaide, Danny, and Clara, though he finished on the human and Cyberman. "Always them. Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise." Danny wrapped his arm around Clara. "And he will never hurt her. PE, catch!" he threw the wrist device at Danny, the man catching it, and he turned back to Missy, whose eyes were wide. "You didn't notice, did you? You haven't been listening to Adelaide. While you were doing all your silly orders, while you were showing off, the one soldier not obeying."

Missy shook her head. "No, that's wrong. That's impossible."

"The rain will not fall," Danny said, releasing Clara as he put on the device and walked towards Missy.

"Oh? Why won't it?"

"The clouds will burn."

"And who'll burn them?"

"I will burn them."

Missy snorted. "How?"

"I will burn."

"One burning Cyberman is hardly going to save the planet."

"Correct." He lifted the bracelet. "Attention!" the Cybermen came to attention again. "This is not a good day. This is Earth's darkest hour. And look at you miserable lot. We are the Fallen. But today, we shall rise. The army of the dead will save the land of the living. This is not the order of a general, nor the whim of a lunatic..."

Missy scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"This is a promise. The promise of a soldier!" he lowered the wrist, looking to Clara. "You will sleep safe tonight." He stomped his feet, all the Cybermen doing the same, before they all flew into the cloud above, burning away the cloud covering the world to reveal the sky beyond.

Clara was silent for a while, looking up at the sky, before she lowered her gaze to the Time Lords again. "Well. The clouds have all gone."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, burned up. Totally burnt. Burnt to nothing." He caught Adelaide's gaze. "Sorry."

"10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2," Missy called, making the Time Lords turn again.

"What did you say?"

"The current coordinates of Gallifrey." Missy picked at her nails. "It's returned to its original location. Didn't you ever think to look?"

"You are lying."

"We can..." Missy looked between them. "We can go together. The three of us. Try something new."

"You'd be clapped in irons."

Missy shrugged. "If you like."

"I'm assuming you'll remember those coordinates?" Clara said, making them turn again. She'd stepped forward again, pointing Missy's device at the woman.

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "No, don't you dare. I won't let you."

"Old friend, is she?" Clara's hand started to shake as she started to cry again. "If you have ever let this creature live, either of you, everything that happened today, is on you. All of it, on you. And you're not going to let her live again."

The Doctor looked to Adelaide before stepping forward. "Clara, all I'm doing is not letting you kill her. I never said I was letting her live."

Clara looked at him. "Really?"

"If that's the only thing that will stop you, yes." He held out a hand and Clara, after a moment of hesitation, gave him the device.

"Seriously," Missy said, stepping back between two graves. "Oh, Doctor...to save her soul? But who, my dear, will save yours? Even your protector can't do that." The Doctor lifted the device, pointing it at her, and Adelaide did nothing to stop him. "Say something nice. Please?"

"You win."

Missy smiled. "I know." She closed her eyes.

The Doctor moved to press the button, so close to it...when something else struck Missy first. They all spun to see one Cyberman who hadn't gone with the rest. It pointed at something among the graves and they all moved towards it, though it was Clara who found it first. "Here!" she called.

It was Kate, lying unconscious on the ground. "Kate," the Doctor gasped, kneeling by her side. "She's breathing! She's alive!" He shook his head. "She can't be here."

"She is." Clara bent down as Kate's lips began to move, the woman saying something.

"She fell out of a plane," Adelaide said, looking up at the Cyberman who'd directed them there. "The Cyberman must have caught her."

Clara looked up. "She's talking about her dad."

The Doctor nodded, letting out a breath. "Of course. The Earth's darkest hour and mine. Where else would you be?" he saluted the Cyberman that had to be the Brigadier. It acknowledged him with a nod before flying into the sky. "Thank you," the Doctor mouthed, watching him.

|C-S|

Clara was already in the café when the Time Lords entered. She was waiting at a table with two seats opposite her, which they took. "Hey," the Doctor said, already taking Adelaide's hand beneath the table.

"Hey."

"We got your message."

Clara lifted her eyebrows. "Two weeks late."

He shrugged. "Not bad."

Clara nodded. "Improving."

Adelaide glanced down at Clara's wrist, where she wore Missy's bracelet. "He figured it out, then?" They'd managed to get into the Nethersphere and find Danny, giving him the bracelet. It had had enough residual power that it should have had enough to restore one person.

Clara blinked. "Yeah." She swallowed. "Yeah, he did."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, good old PE. He'll make a maths teacher yet."

Clara leaned forward. "Listen, Doctor, Adelaide. There's...there's something that I have to tell you and...er...it's not good news so just...just listen, okay?"

But the Doctor nodded. "We know."

"Sorry?"

"We know exactly what you've got to tell us."

"You do?" Clara looked between them.

"You and Danny are together now, that's great. That's how it should be. But the old man, the clever woman, and the blue box, that's never going to fit in. So no more flying around. No more lying."

Clara frowned. "Okay, no, that's not exactly."

"It's fine." The Doctor looked at Adelaide, expecting her to nod, but the Time Lady was still watching Clara.

"No, it's not fine. It...it really isn't fine."

"We've found Gallifrey," the Doctor cut in, making Clara pause.

"Wow! Oh my God..."

"We entered the coordinates, just like she said. And we found Gallifrey. For once, she wasn't lying."

Though Adelaide hated lying – she could deal with not saying the whole truth, but not lying – she did not stop the Doctor.

They'd put in the coordinates, they'd opened the doors, and found nothing. Gallifrey had never been Adelaide's home, she'd never dreamt of returning to it, not as the Doctor had.

Not like he did.

The Doctor wanted forgiveness for what he'd done. He didn't want to be alone.

Adelaide didn't need that. She knew she'd made a mistake, not thinking of the outcome of the war. And maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't mind having the Time Lords back, as much as she hated them, even just to know that she wasn't partly responsible for killing so many innocents.

But to the Doctor, the fact that Missy had lied about this hurt him so much more than it ever would Adelaide.

"So," Clara looked between them again, "what are you going to do now?"

"Go home."

"Okay."

"Gallifrey can be a good place." Only the Doctor spoke. "I can help make it that."

"What," Clara eyed him, "you?"

"Shut up!"

"You won't just steal a TARDIS and run away?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, not this time. Never again."

Clara looked through the window behind them at where they'd left the TARDIS. "Never again."

"It's a long commute," the Doctor shrugged, "so, you know, I thought, with you and Danny..."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Me and Danny. Me and Danny, we are going to be fine. Don't you worry. You go home. Go home. Go be a king or something."

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "I might do that."

"Or queen," she shrugged again, "you know. Whatever."

"Yeah, queen, that would be good too."

"Yeah." Clara sighed. "Tell you what, seeing as it's goodbye, shall we all break a habit?"

The Time Lords frowned in unison, which only served to make Clara smile slightly. "What? What habit?"

"Hug."

The Doctor looked at Adelaide and shrugged. "Why not." He stood, still holding Adelaide's hand, and she followed suit a moment later. "Within reason." He released her hand, not looking like he wanted to, and turned to Clara. "Come on, you're on the clock."

"Fair enough." Clara stood and hugged him. It took the Doctor a moment, but he did return it. Adelaide stayed standing there, never a hugging person. Unless it was the Doctor. Unless they were alone. "Why don't you like hugging?"

"Never trust a hug," he mumbled, knowing it wasn't the reason Adelaide gave, knowing he didn't need to explain that to Clara. "It's just a way to hide your face."

When Clara stepped away from the hug, she took Adelaide's hand, holding it tightly, before she let the Doctor take it again.

Adelaide hadn't said much the entire time, clearly thinking about something, but she always relaxed when the Doctor took her hand. That was something that Clara had noticed about them from the start, even before the Time Lords had admitted their feelings for each other. They were the happiest when alone together.

The trio walked out to the TARDIS together. "Doctor, Adelaide?" she called as they reached the doors to their box, making them turn. "Traveling with you two made me feel really special. Thank you for that. Thank you for making me feel special."

"Thank you for exactly the same."

Together, the Time Lords entered the TARDIS, off to the universe together.

|C-S|

It was the Doctor's turn to be alone at the TARDIS console. Not that he was really alone. Adelaide was in the upper levels looking through the books, but from where he stood he couldn't see her.

She was different after Missy. They still had a difficulty talking to each other, but the Doctor was confident that she would soon. Something had bothered her about the entire affair, but he would figure it out eventually.

He would help her. He would always be there for her.

They were both jolted when there was a knock at the door, Adelaide immediately coming to the railing to look down.

"Coo-ee!" the person called. "Hello? Doctor? Adelaide? You know it can't end like that. Hmm? We need to get this sorted and quickly. She's not alright, you know. And neither are you, either of you. I'm coming in!" The door opened in a flurry of snow, the Time Lords not quite able to see who it was. "Ah, there you are! I knew I'd get round to you two eventually. Now, stop gawping, and tell me." He, Santa Claus himself, grinned. "What do you want for Christmas?"

A/N: Hmm...it almost seems as though Adelaide actually wants the Doctor to be a 'good man'...

So sorry it's been a while since chapters. I had a really busy end of the year and, though I know this year will be busy again, I want to at least get to some kind of endpoint with this series.

Notes on reviews:

Arashi - IV of VI: Thank you for reading :)