First off, let me apologize on the delay. I've always tried to stick to my upload schedule of a new chapter every 4 days. Obviously, that didn't happen this time. Real life got in the way. I started a new semester at university and it's already eating up all my free time. So, instead of every four days, I will be doing my best to upload every week instead.

Also, this chapter is pretty huge. Measuring in at just over 12,000 words. Hopefully that makes up for the delay?

There is another sex scene at the end of this chapter. You can skip it if you don't want to read it, but it does have some information to flesh out my version of Gallifreyans so -shrug-

There isn't a whole lot of known information about Gallifreyans in general floating around. I'm doing my best to work with the information I can find, smudging the edges where the information is scarce.

I did have someone express confusion over a Doctor in a specific chapter. I do try to point out an easy to notice distinguishing characteristic so you have a frame of reference for who she's jumped to, but on the other hand I'm kind of writing them ambiguous as well. This is because Mabel doesn't really care that the Doctor has different faces. It's become so normal for her that she only really notices the wardrobe changes.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

~RainingCoffee

My eyes slowly opened, I still felt somewhat fuzzy but not as bad as last night. Squinting at the ceiling and trying to ignore my aching hands, I became aware of a weight on my lower body. Looking down, the top of the Doctor's head comes into view.

I shifted my arms, lifting them up and studying the glowing green gloves on my hands. I vaguely remember the Doctor saying something about how something would turn clear when it was finished. I guess it wasn't finished yet.

I gently brought my hands down on the Doctor's back. He shifts, I can feel his awareness sharpen. "Sorry." I whisper. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

He hums in response. "Nah, that's alright."

I laugh quietly. "You must have given me the good stuff last night. Everything is still a little floaty."

Playfulness blooms in from his side of the connection. "Oh yes, maybe too much."

"What do you mean?" I squint at him.

"Your internal dialogue became your outside dialogue." He tells me.

I groan. "Oh no. What did I say?"

"Well, apparently the fact I can hold you up with one arm is hot." The Doctor says. I flush in embarrassment, but he's not finished. "You think I'm cool and you like this face because I'm sassy." He looks up at me, a smirk on his lips. "You also hate fish fingers and custard, celery is not supposed to go on a piece of clothing, Donna Noble is the queen of the world, and you think Rose should wear less eyeliner."

I'm surprised that my face hasn't caught on fire, it certainly feels hot enough to do so. The Doctor just laughs at me. I try to throw my arm over my face to hide it, but he catches it, stopping it from moving to far.

"I'm very glad you're here Mabel." He tells me, laughter fading into something more solemn. "Thank you."

Confused, I tilt my head. "Of course I'd be here. I don't know where else I'd be."

He braces himself on his arms, leaning back into a sitting position. "Oh, you'll understand one day."

I go to respond, but the familiar feeling of heat building stops me. The Doctor's face falls as I start to glow. I reach over, cupping his cheek. "It's okay hun. Remember what I told you. You'll be seeing a lot of me in the future."

His slowly growing smile is the last thing I see before my whole world goes white.

I reappear, my body crashing down onto what feels like rocks. Cursing, I curl into a ball around my stinging hands.

"Mabel!" I hear the Doctor yell. It sounds like I jumped to the one who wears a bow tie.

"Oww." I open one eye to confirm what I heard. Yep. His gangly limbs are the same as ever.

The Doctor reaches my side, his hands flail over my body like he doesn't know what he can touch.

I reach out, ignoring the pain in my hand, and grab onto his bow tie. Using that as leverage, I pull his face down until it's right in front of mine. "You!"

"Me?" The Doctor squeaks. "Mabel, please, you're hurt."

"I'm so furious with you!" I yell right into his face. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

He looks bewildered, his body is contorted at a strange angle by my hold on him. "What are you talking about?"

"You made me jump. You told me you loved me and then you sent me away! Do you have any idea of how that made me feel?" My eyes fill with tears, but I bite my cheek to make them recede. My voice falls into a harsh whisper. "I've told you this before. But I'll repeat it as many times as I need to. Maybe one day it will get through your thick skull. I choose to stand beside you. That is 'my' choice. It isn't yours. You have no right to send me away." I release his bow tie, my hand simply refuses to grip it anymore. "You idiotic, bumbling fool."

The Doctor's face softens, turning fond. "Oh Mabel. Braveheart Mabel. I'm sorry I worried you." He clasps my hands in his, pressing a kiss to them. I frown down at his head.

He keeps his head bowed over our hands. The glow of regeneration starts emanating from them, my hands tingling in response. He releases my hands and I see that the gloves have gone clear. "There. Good as new." The Doctor tells me, voice soft.

Momentarily distracted from my anger, I flex my fingers amazed that there's no pain. "Doctor, how did you do that?"

The Doctor sits back on his heels. "This body is still fresh. Haven't had it for long now." He shrugs. "I have excess energy to burn."

Somebody clears a throat behind us. The Doctor jumps and moves to get to his feet, but I've finally realized what kind of position I'm in. My hands fly to his hips. "Don't move." I whisper.

"What?" The Doctor asks, confused. "Why?"

I look down at myself, then back up at him. The only thing I had on was the oversized shirt the Doctor had dressed me in the previous night. When I grabbed his bowtie I pulled him between my legs, and the shirt got pushed up. If he were to move, then anybody behind him would get a front row show to my crotch. And I wasn't wearing any underwear.

"Oh." A smile tugs at the Doctor's lips. He scoots back a bit, keeping his body between mine and the other people while helping me stand up.

Once standing, I turn my attention to the two people standing behind the Doctor. One is a woman with amazing curls who's giving us an indulgent look. The other is a very familiar looking Amelia Pond.

It's been over a year since the last time I've seen her. "Amelia!" I exclaim, pleased.

Her less than pleased face becomes even more displeased. "Don't call me that." She snaps.

I put my hands up, taken aback. "Okay Amy." I send a wave of confusion to the Doctor. He responds with exasperation.

The woman with the curls walks forward and folds me into a hug. "Oh, Mabel. It's very good to see you. I was hoping you'd pop in."

Bewildered, I pat her on the back. "Hello."

She pulls back, looking confused. "What's the mater with you?"

The Doctor steps up behind me. "River." He hesitates. "This is her first time meeting you."

The woman's eyes close for a second, but not before I see the look of pain in them. By the time she reopens them, there is nothing but a kind smile on her face. "The name is River Song." She introduces herself. "We are going to be great friends in your future."

I smile back, still a little uncertain.

Amy breaks the tension. "So, what caused it to crash?" She asks, nodding towards the giant spaceship on top of the cliff we were beside.

I honestly have no idea how I had managed to miss it in the first place, it was on fire for god's sake.

River turns to look at it. "Not me."

The Doctor shakes his head. "Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift. No survivors."

"A phase shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them." River says, pursing her lips.

"About what?" The Doctor asks her.

River ignores him. "Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries."

Amy sidles up to the Doctor. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

He smiles wryly while he gestures to River. "Amy Pond, Professor River Song."

River gasps., turning to look at him. "I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I? How exciting." Looking back at the temple, she presses a button on the device she has in her hands. "Spoilers!"

She's sassy. I look over at the Doctor with a smirk. He sends me a grimace. Oh, I think River and I am going to get along just fine.

Amy lowers her voice. "Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum." The Doctor brings a finger up to Amy's lips, trying to shush her.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum. The Home Box of a category four starliner and sooner or later, him." River informs Amy, turning back to look at her. "It's how he keeps score."

Laughing, Amy walks up to where River is. "I know."

River shares a smirk with her. "It's hilarious, isn't it?"

The Doctor paces away, then back. He frowns, sending a look of concern at River. "I'm nobody's taxi service." He tells River, pointing a finger in her face. "I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship."

"And you are so wrong." River laughs before turning serious. "There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." The Doctor stills. River looks at me. "Now he's listening."

River's communicator beeps and she brings it up to her ear. "You lot in orbit yet?" She says into it, walking away for some privacy. "Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." She raises her voice. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor pulls his sonic out, using it on her device from afar.

Amy waggles her shoulders as she comes over. "Ooo, Doctor, you sonicked her."

Disgust crosses the Doctor's face, and comes through over the connection. "Pond, please don't. Just, no."

Conversation apparently over, River makes her way back over to us. She pulls out a Tardis blue book. "We have a minute. Shall we? Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

Oh, I get it. She has a diary just like me. I perk up. "Wait, does this mean you jump around like I do?" I ask her.

River shakes her head at me. "No Mabel, I don't. I'm sorry. We just never seem to meet in the right order."

I deflate a bit.

Amy looks confused. "What's the book?"

"Stay away from it." The Doctor tells her.

"What is it though?" She asks him.

"Her diary." He states matter of factly.

"Our diary." River corrects.

He frowns. "Her past, mine and Mabel's future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."

In the distance four dust tornadoes pick up. Men appear through the tornadoes. They are dressed in camo and are armed with guns.

One steps forward. "You promised me an army, Doctor Song."

"No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor, and that's Mabel Falkov.

The man's face goes slack for a second, before he recovers, holding out a hand to introduce himself. The Doctor shakes it, then I do. "Father Octavian, Sirs. Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation." He must notice the blank looks on our faces. "Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

She looks over at us. "What do you two know of the Weeping Angels?"

The Doctor's head immediately snaps to her.

"Ah." River says. "You've heard of them then."

"Not to interrupt or anything." I say, shifting uncomfortably. My hand tries to pull the hem of the shirt down more. It barely manages to cover past my butt and it's windy. "I'm just going to pop into that box over there for a moment and put some clothes on."

Father Octavian nods, turning to speak with River. I turn and head to the Tardis, picking my way carefully over the rocks. I'm only one slip away from flashing everyone.

I make my way to our shared room. The first thing I do is go to the bathroom, heading over to the sink and removing the gloves, then rinsing the goo off.

After I finish that, I finally get a chance to look at myself in the mirror for the first time that day. My face is washed out, hair going every which way. The shirt really is large on me, the neck is so big that it falls over one shoulder. I make a face at myself. Ugh.

"Beautiful." The Doctor says from the doorway.

I look over and wrinkle my nose at him. "Meh."

He laughs, sauntering over and placing his arms on the sink around me. We are both looking at the mirror from this position. I lean back into his frame. "See." He tells me, his head dropping down to rest on the top of mine. "Beautiful."

"I desperately need a shower." I say in a deadpan. "And my glasses."

The Doctor tilts his head to the side. "Nope, not seeing it."

I roll my eyes, elbowing him gently. "You're such a sap."

He grins, his whole face lighting up. "Yep, that's me. I'm a professional sap."

"Alright. That's enough." I tell him, shooing him out of the room. "Time for me to take a shower, and for you to go do something else."

His smile persists, even as I shove him out of the room. That man. He can be quite flattering sometimes. I go back over to the mirror and frown at my reflection. Where before I had looked washed out, now I looked alive. My eyes were lit up and my cheeks were flushed from his words.

Ugh, when had I become so sappy myself?

One shower, a new pair of clothes, and a frantic search for my glasses later, I was ready to face the world.

As soon as I step into the corridor though, I know I'm not in the same Tardis. I look down at my hands in suspicion. Did I jump? I hadn't even felt it this time.

The Tardis tugs me, directing me towards the console room. I pout up at her, but follow her directions.

"Where is it?" I hear an unfamiliar woman ask.

"Ice world." The Doctor, or the person I'm assuming is the Doctor, responds. "A space trading colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos. Space travelers stop there for supplies. I've been picking up a faint tracking signal for some time. I think there's something interesting going on there, Mel."

I round the corner, taking in the white console room and the people in it. Yes, I do believe that he was the Doctor. I have a faint recollection of meeting him once before, that question mark vest is unmistakable.

The Doctor notices me first. "Mabel!"

I walk over, leaning up and pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Hello sweetheart."

He beams, leaning in for another kiss.

I pull back, not wanting to give his companion a show. The Doctor seems confused. I feel his attention sharpen. He leans back and contemplates me.

"Oh my, look at you." His smile turns giddy. "You're so young Mabel."

My face falls into unimpressed lines. I'm really getting sick and tired of him calling me young in the way someone would call out an unfinished book. "I can go hide somewhere till an older version of me pops in, if that would be more to your liking?"

The Doctor rolls his eyes. "No, No. Don't pout dearrr, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"Doctor?" His companion speaks up. "This is Mabel?"

"Yep, that's me." I wave at her, pushing my annoyance away. Holding out a hand for her to shake, I continue. "This will be the first time meeting you from my perspective."

She smiles at me, shaking my hand. I can tell she's a little thrown off by my statement but she's rolling with it like a champ. "I'm Mel." She tells me.

I look between the Doctor and Mel. "So what are we doing today?"

"Ah." The Doctor jumps in. "Tracking signal on Ice World. We're going to check it out." He presses some buttons and the Tardis makes the sound of materialization.

I exchange a look of excitement with Mel. This is my first trip with this Doctor and I'm really looking forward to it.

Mel heads towards the door. The Doctor grabs his hat and then puts his hand on the small of my back to direct me out.

"A freezer center? How boring." Mel complains.

"Oh, trust not appearances, Mel." The Doctor tells her. "You never know what might be lurking in the freezer chests. Think gothic."

The Doctor ends up leading us up to a little café. "Three of your best strawberry milkshakes, if you please." He tells a man behind the counter.

We go over to a table and sit down to wait for our drinks.

"The mistake's in your wallet, not my arithmetic." A very familiar voice says from behind me.

"Do you take Asteroid Express?" A man responds.

"Glitz!" The Doctor exclaims. Mel echoing him.

I turn around to see Ace taking the man called Glitz's card and heading over to the counter.

Glitz looks around in a suspicious manner. "What? No, never heard of him."

Mel goes over to his table and sits next to him. "It's us, Mel, Mabel and the Doctor. You haven't forgotten us, have you, Glitz?"

"Shush. Keep your voice down. No, of course I haven't forgotten you." He points at Mel and then turns to the Doctor. "Mel, and the Doc." He pauses. "Here, you're not the Doctor." Glitz looks over at me. "And you're not Mabel."

The Doctors face falls into a sulky expression. "We've regenerated. The difference is purely perceptual."

Glitz looks unconvinced for a second, but then his face turns hopeful. "Here, you couldn't do us a favour, could you? You see, I'm in a spot of bother."

Ace rounds the table, bringing us our drinks. "Thank you." I say, smiling up at her.

"What's this, Glitz? Not another one of your dodgy deals backfired?" The Doctor laughs.

"No, no, nothing like that, straight up. Fact is, I'm on a mission of highly philanthropic nature." He tells us.

Mel leans in. "What's that?"

"It means it's beneficial to mankind." Glitz explains.

I roll my eyes, leaning back in my chair. "We know what philanthropic means. She was asking what mission you were talking about."

Glitz leans forward. "I have been entrusted to deliver certain secret documents which nefarious unnamed parties would stop at nothing to grasp within their own grubby digits."

"You mean-" The Doctor starts

"-They'd kill you." Mel finishes.

Three people walk up behind Glitz. One steps forward, a woman, and taps him of the shoulder. "Sabalom Glitz, we've been looking for you."

Mel immediately stands up, her fists clenched. "Leave him alone. If you kill him, you kill us too."

The Doctor throws out a hand to calm Mel down. "Er, steady on there, Mel."

"What are you talking about?" The woman asks her.

"Oh, he's told us everything, about how you tried to stop him delivering secret documents-" Mel starts, but gets interrupted.

"Shush." Glitz hushes her.

The woman looks over at Glitz. "Becoming quite a story-teller, aren't we, Glitz? I'm afraid you also seem to be a victim of Mister Glitz's cavalier attitude toward facts."

"Glitz." The Doctor scolds.

I'm not even surprised. Glitz has rubbed me the wrong way since I first saw him.

"I'm not interested in any secret documents which Mister Glitz may or may not possess. I am more concerned with the hundred crowns he took from my employer, Mister Kane, under false pretenses." The woman tells us.

Glitz raises a hand. "That was highest quality merchandise."

The woman raises an eyebrow. "A space freighter full of deep frozen fruit which turned out to be rotten."

"Oh, a bit on the ripe side, maybe." Glitz tries.

"They were putrefying, Glitz." She responds.

Glitz laughs uncomfortably. "A little past their prime, perhaps."

The woman obviously isn't buying it. "And Mister Kane does not run Ice world to subsidize crooks like yourself. The hundred crowns, please."

Perhaps the Doctor is tuning in to how annoyed I am getting, or if he is getting annoyed himself, but he chimes in. "I think you'd better pay back the money, Glitz."

"I can't." He mutters.

I cross my arms. "And why not?"

Glitz looks shifty. "Well, you see, there was this game of cards. I got well damaged."

"What about the hundred and two crowns you sold your crew for?" This woman isn't giving him an inch, good for her.

"Sold your crew?" Mel exclaims.

"Well, the mutinous rabble. They tried to take command of my spacecraft. I relieved myself of them for seventeen crowns a piece. Rather more than they were worth, I think." Glitz laughs.

The Doctor turns back to Glitz, picking up the book he had started to read earlier.

The woman looks frustrated. "The money."

Glitz shrugs. "Gone the way of all organic matter, I'm afraid. Down the tube."

"In that case, we're confiscating your spacecraft." She tells him.

"The Nosferatu? You can't do that." Glitz exclaims.

The woman raises an eyebrow at him. "You have seventy two hours to find one hundred crowns or you lose your spacecraft."

Glitz looks upset. "But it's my livelihood."

The woman doesn't look like she cares. She leaves, taking the two other workers with her.

Glitz looks at the Doctors back. "Doctor, you've got to help me."

"You've only got yourself to blame." The Doctor informs him.

"Mabel, what about you. Can you help me?" Glitz asks me.

I smile, more a barring of teeth than any show of happiness. "And why should I do that? All I've heard of you is that you sell your own crew for profit and try to con people with dodgy deals."

His mouth flaps open, but nothing comes out. I stand up, pushing my chair back in politely, then walk back over to my seat next to the Doctor.

"Temper, temper." The Doctor murmurs out of the corner of his mouth. I doubt anyone else could hear it.

My shoulders twitch in response.

He grabs my strawberry milkshake and places it in front of me. I take a deep breath, letting out all the tension I've been holding. Scooting my chair closer to the Doctor, I lean my shoulder against his. "Sorry sweetheart. I don't know why I'm so grumpy today."

The Doctor looks up from his book, smiling at me. He grabs my hand from the table and presses a kiss to my knuckles, chuckling at my blush in response.

Mel comes back over from talking with Glitz, huffing.

We all sip at our milkshakes in silence. Ace stomps away from a guy at the bar. "Hope the dragon gets you in the night."

"Dragon?" Mel asks. "What dragon?"

Ace sits down at our table. "It's just a legend. There's supposed to be a terrifying dragon living in the ice passages underneath Ice world."

Ah, of course. Explains why he would want to come here in the first place.

Mel looks over at the Doctor. "I knew there must be a reason why you brought us here." He smiles, mischievous. "You want to see the dragon, don't you."

"Oh really, Mel, it's fascinating." The Doctor tells her. "Travelers claim to have seen it throughout the centuries but there's never been any proof."

Mel nods. "Like the Lock Ness monster."

"Lochh." The Doctor emphasizes.

"Och!" Mel rolls her eyes.

Ace leans in across the table. "You're going to go looking for the dragon?"

The Doctor leans in towards her. "Absolutely."

"Oh, cool. Can I come too?" She asks him.

The Doctor considers Ace. "Won't you get into trouble with your boss?"

Ace shakes her head. "Oh, I'm fed up with being a waitress. Oh, go on, Professor, let me come too."

"Well, I don't see why not." He tells her.

"Ace!" She exclaims. "And can we search for the treasure, too?"

A spike of interest from the Doctor spills over. "Treasure?"

"Yeah. The dragon's supposed to be guarding a fabulous treasure." Ace explains.

Glitz, who's been eavesdropping on us, laughs. "Treasure? What treasure? You don't want to go believing in myths and legends, Doctor."

Mel snaps her head over in Glitz's direction. "Who asked you? We're not talking to you."

"No, if you want my opinion, all this talk of treasure and dragons, it's all a load of old spacedust." Glitz ignores her.

I raise an eyebrow, my bad mood returning like it had never gone in the first place. "Nobody asked for your opinion."

Ace narrows her eyes at him. She gets up and walks over to him, grabbing a piece of folded paper from his hands. "Well, if you're so convinced it's all rubbish, why have you been burning holes in this treasure map for the last two days?"

"Map?" The Doctor perks up.

"Yeah." Ace confirms, placing in front of the Doctor.

The Doctor unfolds the paper, spreading it out so everyone can see it. "Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating."

Mel scoffs. "Looks like something from a jumble sale to me."

"Oi!" Glitz says, annoyed. "There's nothing snide about this document."

Ace rolls her eyes. "You don't want to believe nothing you get from him, Professor. He probably bought two hundred of them in a job lot."

"Do you mind? This is the real McCoy, this is. It comes from an unimpeachable source." Glitz insists.

"What's that, then?" Ace asks, leaning in and smiling at him skeptically.

"That means it is beyond r-" Glitz starts, but I cut him off by placing my hand over his mouth.

"She knows what unimpeachable means you sanctimonious airbag." His mouth opens, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "If that tongue touches my hand, you'll have bigger things to worry about than your ship being confiscated."

Glitz closes his mouth. "Thank you." I say, removing my hand from his mouth. "Now what makes you so certain that this map is real?"

"Because I acquired it from a man of character and distinction." He insists.

"How?" Mel asks him.

Glitz looks around, shifting uncomfortably. "I won it in er, a chess match."

"You won it playing cards." Mel slumps in disappointment. "Doctor, it's a waste of time. He won it in a card game."

"An honest transaction." Glitz says, pointing to the map. "The man was desperate not to lose this map, so I know it's something very, very tasty."

"It shows the lower levels of Ice world." The Doctor tells us. I can feel his interest humming under my skin.

"No one goes down there anymore." Ace informs us. "Too dangerous."

"The Ice Garden." The Doctor points on the map. "The Singing Trees."

"But like the girl says, Doctor, it's too dangerous." Glitz tells him.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Glitz?" The Doctor asks him.

Glitz looks at the Doctor in disbelief. "What, do you want to go here, the Lake of Oblivion?" He says, gesturing at the map.

The Doctor perks up. "Where?"

"Depth of Eternal Darkness? Dragonfire? I should stop at home, if I were you Doctor." Glitz finishes, taking a drink from his glass.

I smile internally, Oh Glitz. You were trying to get the Doctor to back off, but you've only made him more interested.

Ace scans the map. "Cor, this sounds brill."

"My sentiments precisely." The Doctor says, scanning her with keen eyes. "What's your name, incidentally?"

Ace smiles. "Everyone calls me Ace."

"Oh, how do you do." The Doctor says, tipping his hat. "I'm the Doctor, this is Mabel and this is our friend Mel." He tells her, gesturing to each person in turn.

"Hello Ace." I smile at her. The last time I hadn't got a chance to really talk with her or anything, so I'm interested to get to know her.

"And we're really going to go looking for dragons?" Ace asks, hopeful.

Glitz shakes his head. "Too risky if you ask me."

"Nonsense, Glitz." The Doctor says, standing up and folding the map up so he can take it. "Time for a quick adventure then back for tea."

"Ace!" Ace exclaims.

"That's the spirit, Doctor." Mel tells him, smiling.

"Hang about!" Glitz protests, standing up as well. "You can't go without me, that's my map." He says, taking it back from the Doctor. "And I don't want these girls coming along, either."

Ace's face becomes angry. "What?"

"It's too dangerous." Glitz explains.

Ace looks over at the Doctor. "Professor!"

Glitz continues. "And since it's my map."

Ace cuts him off. "Right, you male chauvinist bilge bag, just you wait." She tells him, stalking off.

The Doctor watches her go. He makes a face of disappointment. "And I was so looking forward to meeting a dragon."

Mel sighs. "Oh, it's all right, Doctor, you go on ahead. I'll wait here. And if Glitz burns his fingers in the dragon's fire, then it serves him right."

"It's just you and me, then, Doctor." Glitz says to the Doctor.

"Hold on." I chime. "I'm coming with you two."

Glitz frown at me. "No you aren't. I said no girls."

I raise an eyebrow at him. The Doctor grabs my arm and pulls me off to the side. "Perhaps you should stay here." He states.

"What?" I ask him in disbelief. Turning my awareness to his side of the connection, I can tell he is serious.

"Glitz won't let me have the map if you come along." The Doctor continues. "You can stay up here and watch over Mel."

I blink at him. Wow, he's actually serious. I make sure nothing I'm feeling is being reflected in the connection.

"Yeah." I tell him, voice flat. Pulling back from him, I continue. "Go ahead."

The Doctor winces. Lowering his voice, he leans in. "I'll make it up to you later."

I raise an eyebrow. "Mmhm. It better be good."

He smirks at me, and I get a burst of his intention from the connection.

Rolling my eyes, I shoo him off. As soon as he leaves my line of sight, my pleasant smile drops into a scowl. I check the barrier I put up around my side of the connection. He should only be able to feel the loop of emotions I've put up as a front.

I head over to Mel. "I'm going to follow them. Want to come along?"

"No. I'll stay here." She decides.

I shrug. Whatever floats her boat. I wait another thirty seconds, then head out the door that the Doctor and Glitz walked out of earlier. I'm not entirely sure which way they went, but I bet if I wander, I'll run into them sooner or later.

So I wander. No one stops me, which is surprising. But the real trouble starts when I find the entrance to the lower levels. There is no one there. Which is strange. I would imagine that if there really was something dangerous in the lower levels you would have someone watching the entrance to it at all times.

It feels like a trap, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, I hurry over and sidle through the doors before anyone can show up to stop me.

There is no way to tell which way the two of them went. But there is something. Something at the edge of my consciousness pulling me in a particular direction. It's not the Doctor. It's different from his particular brand of mental energy, or whatever you would call it.

I hesitate, but the presence doesn't feel hostile. Only lonely.

Ugh, if this goes bad the Doctor will so mad. But you know what? He had purposely left me out earlier. The Doctor is smart, I know he had that map memorized the second he saw it. The Doctor hadn't needed Glitz and his map to find the dragon. He had just wanted me to stay up on the upper levels so he could go check it out himself. So fuck it.

I follow the path the presence tugs me along. It takes me past guards, through security ducts, and in through a bulkhead door. Then I get my first look at what brought me here in the first place. It's somewhat humanoid in body shape from the waist down. Though it is covered in what looks to be a hard shell casing. Its head looks like the heads of the aliens in the movie 'Independence Day'.

"Hello there." I say to it. "Are you the dragon then?"

Awareness blooms. Not words but a sharing of concepts. Duty. Loneliness. Exhaustion. Tears rise in my eyes, and I head over to the dragon, placing a hand on it's shoulder and sharing my own emotions in return.

The Dragon trills. There is a sense of gratefulness. It starts to head in a direction, pausing and looking back at me. I think it wants me to follow it.

The dragon walks out of the room we are in, heading down a corridor. The more we move in that direction, the more the ever present hum of the Doctor gets louder.

Soon I can even make out words. "-pt in cases of overwhelming hatred or anger." The Doctor is lecturing.

"I remember how you always had the best of our pickings." An unfamiliar voice says.

"I don't recall." Glitz chimes in uncomfortably.

The same voice from before continues. "I remember. I remember how you sold our entire crew to Kane to be frozen as mercenaries."

We round the corner and take in the scene. In front of us is Glitz, the Doctor, Mel, and Ace, and there is a man advancing on them.

Glitz shakes his head, backing away. "Oh now, come on, old son, don't go jumping to conclusions."

"I thought he was a friend of yours." Ace accuses.

"More of an acquaintance, actually." Glitz admits.

The Man raises a gun, and the dragon fires off a laser, hitting the man. Mel shrieks in fear. Everyone turns around to see where the laser came from.

"Mabel!" The Doctor exclaims. I was right, he's not very happy.

"Yes, that's my name." I raise an eyebrow. Taking a step forward, I gesture back at the dragon. "And this is the dragon that everyone has been talking about."

Mel steps out from behind the Doctor. "It's friendly."

The dragon gestures for us to follow it, then walks towards a doorway with ice flowers on it. I follow, I want to see where it's taking us.

"It wants us to go with it, Professor." Ace says.

"Yes." The Doctor's less than pleased voice comes from behind me. "Well, let's see what our new friend wants to show us, shall we?"

The dragon leads us to a beautiful room. Crystal shelfs come up from the floor and what looks to be mineral deposits on the ceiling like icicles. There is a faint humming resonating around the room.

I pause in awe. Setting aside my frustration, I take down the loop I set up earlier and share the feeling with the Doctor.

The Doctor sighs, there is a low level of frustration coming from his side of the connection, but the second I take down the loop it disappears. He steps forward, linking our hands and smiling at me.

"This is beautiful Doctor." Mel gasps.

Ace looks around. "Here, I can hear singing. Where's it coming from, Professor?"

The Doctor points to the dragon. "I think he wants us to watch."

The dragon fires off a laser beam at a crystal. A hologram of a woman appears.

I can feel the light bulb clicking on in the Doctors head. "Ah, so that's what this is all about, a polydimensional scanning imager. And I bet the creature's using itself as the energy source."

The hologram opens its mouth and begins to talk. "Planetary archives, criminal history segment ninety three twelve oh three. Two of the most vicious examples of the criminal mentality have been the leaders of the notorious Kane-Xana gang. Until its demise, this gang carried out systematic violence and extortion unequalled in its brutality." The hologram flickers, becoming a man. Probably the person she is talking about. "In view of the sheer evil of his crimes, Kane is to be exiled from the planet Proamon and never allowed to return home." The picture of Kane reverts back to the woman. "He will be banished to the barren planet of Svartos, which has a permanently frozen dark side on which he can survive."

There is a pause, the woman gathers herself. "Kane's partner, the woman Xana." Here the hologram flickers to a picture of another woman, probably Xana herself. "killed herself during the final siege of the gang's headquarters to avoid being arrested and tried for her crimes." The hologram fades away.

"Fascinating." The Doctor murmurs.

Mel frowns. "Well, that explains about Kane, but where does the creature come from?"

"And what about the fabulous treasure? Is this it?" Glitz gestures to the room.

The Doctor shakes his head. "Oh, no, no. We might be deep beneath Ice world, but Kane could find his way here easily enough. No, the treasure's got to be somewhere else, somewhere beyond Kane's reach. What does he fear most?"

Ace looks over at the Doctor. "Heat. It'll kill him."

"Precisely." The Doctor tells her, pleased. "And what better way of protecting the real treasure than to leave a fire-breathing dragon to guard it? What better protection than if the dragon is the treasure."

"The creature is the treasure?" Mel asks.

The Doctor walks up to the dragon. "Am I right? Are you the one that everyone's looking for, treasure?"

"Yes." I say, tears welling up in my eyes again. The remembered sensation of the dragons loneliness is heartbreaking in its intensity. "You're right."

The top of the dragon's head splits open into three sections. A crystal rises up, sparking electricity.

"It must be worth a fortune." Glitz sounds as though he's just won the lottery.

That's it. I whirl around, lunging for Glitz, but the Doctor catches me around the waist before I can.

"Hang about!" Glitz cries. "Control your wife Doctor!"

I make a renewed attempt to get to him. "Another comment like that, and I'm tempted to let her do to you what she wants to do." The Doctor growls in frustration. "Mabel, stop fighting me."

Something in his tone of voice breaks through the fog that's descended over my thoughts. I let my body go limp in his arms. "Doctor." I murmur, resting my head against the side of his.

The Doctor shifts, skin sliding against mine. Awareness peaks, he poses a silent question. I open up, sharing what the dragon shared with me earlier, sharing my frustration. Understanding blooms, a quiet apology is offered. I accept, offering an apology of my own. Not that there is anything for him to apologize for, I'm the one who has been having wild mood swings all day.

He cups my cheek with his hand, turning my head and kissing me gently. Someone behind us clears their throat, but the Doctor ignores it, finishing the kiss.

The Doctor releases his hold on me, though his hand trails down and clasps mine tight. He directs his attention to Glitz. "No, you have to look past the gold and the gemstone, Glitz. Look at the fire inside. A source of intense optical energy. Look at it through Kane's eyes. See it as an evil mind would see it."

"I'm beginning to feel a rather cosy warm sensation in my money pouch." Glitz responds.

"Lay one finger on the dragon, bilge bag, and I'll rivet your kneecaps together." Ace threatens Glitz.

"We've got to stop Kane from finding the creature." Mel says.

The dragon lowers the crystal, closing its head back up.

"There's something not right. Can't put my finger. Proamon. Proamon." The Doctor muses.

Mel takes a step towards us. "Well, the hologram said that Proamon was Kane's home planet."

He frowns. "Yes, but where have I heard of it before? I mean, where was it? Was it in the past or is it in the future?"

Glitz sighs. "Is any of this important, Doctor?"

"Is a grain of sand important, Glitz?" The Doctor snaps. "I must go back and consult my star charts on the Tardis."

Ace lights up. "Your spacecraft? Brill!"

"But there isn't time, Doctor." Mel tells him.

"No need to perambulate back to Ice world, Doctor." Glitz chimes in. "These passages have their own star charts. The Ice Garden. I found it, remember?"

"A primitive star chart. Missing constellations, orbital calculations, I imagine." He scoffs, before contemplating it properly. "Ah yes, I would like to see this."

"Ice garden?" Ace asks, expectation in her voice.

The Doctor looks at her. "Er, you stay here. I shan't be long."

"The Doctor's right. You girls stay here until the Doctor and I get back." Glitz says, male superiority in his voice.

Ace scowls at him. "Bilge bag."

I send a look to the Doctor, one I hope clearly indicates the fact that he better deal with this or I will, and he isn't going to stop me this time.

"Now, now, now, now, now." The Doctor says to Glitz. "You stay here with them. They can look after you so you don't get into any trouble, Glitz."

"Do what?" Glitz asks skeptically. "Behave, Doctor."

The Doctor's Scottish brogue becomes thicker as his frustration mounts. "Don't argue! The three of you are safer together."

Mel walks over and rests an arm on Glitz shoulder, smiling smugly.

I tug on the Doctor's hand, following the dragon out of the room. We follow after it for a bit, before the Doctor drops my hand and pulls out the map. "They always mark north and south on these things, never backwards and forwards." He mutters.

The dragon pauses, turning towards us and gesturing towards the map. "Tell you what, you seem to know where you're going. Why don't we just trust to your sense of direction?" I say, nudging the Doctor.

The Doctor holds the map out for the dragon, and the dragon takes it. It surveys the map for second, before taking off down a side corridor.

After a few minutes, we enter another room. There are no mineral deposits here, but there is a twinkling star chart on the wall.

The Doctor walks over, fascinated. "Silver bells and cockle shells, and ice gardens all in a row. Extraordinary. This must be a solar system. There's a large red star with small orbiting planets. Constellations, yes, but that one's too high up. They're all slightly out of position. This star chart's no use any more." He looks over at the dragon. "You've been here for a long time. Two thousand years? Longer?"

The dragon doesn't answer. It stares at us, then on some sort of sign that we can't see, it moves towards the doorway.

The Doctor and I exchange a look, heading after it. There are sounds of footsteps in the hall. The dragon starts firing at the people out there. I grab the Doctor's hand again, and he uses it to pull me behind the dragon and down the hall.

"Doctor!" I hiss, craning my head to keep the dragon in my view.

"We can't help it from here, but I have an idea." He responds.

I frown at him, but allow him to continue to pull me down the hall. We keep up the fast pace until we re-enter the room that we left Mel, Ace and Glitz in earlier.

"Mabel, Doctor!" Mel exclaims.

Ace frowns. "Well Mabel does start with an M but that wasn't what I had spied." She catches site of us. "Professor, Mabel!"

"Where's Glitz?" The Doctor asks them.

Mel looks away. "He's gone back to his spacecraft."

He purses his lips in frustration. "We've got to hurry. We might be able to stop Kane and save the creature."

We hurry through the lower levels, eventually reaching the catwalks which indicates we are close to the top.

"Back to the Tardis." The Doctor states.

Mel whirls around. "But what about the creature? We've got to save it."

"The creature will always be under threat from Kane, unless we can convince him that his star charts are hopelessly wrong." He tells her. "Then we might be able to put an end to all this."

Ace puts a hand on Mel's arm. "This isn't another wind up, is it? I mean, I really am going to see your spacecraft, aren't I?"

"Just c'mon!" Mel tells her.

Several minutes, and many worryingly empty hallways later, we make our way back into the freezer center that we arrived at in the first place.

"What are we doing here? I thought we were going to see your spacecraft." Ace says suspiciously.

Mel looks at her. "This is our spacecraft."

Ace scoffs. "I'm not stupid."

"Just come on!" Mel says in exasperation, pulling Ace into the Tardis.

The Doctor had already entered the doors, he went in as soon as we got here. I, on the other hand, scan the room we had parked in.

It was weird that no one was here.

The Doctor rushes out of the doors. "I don't like this." I tell him.

He purses his lips, looking around as well. "Me either."

Mel and Ace come out of the Tardis, closing the door after them. Ace has that wide eyed look that most people have after seeing the Tardis for the first time. I spare a moment in our mad rush down the corridors to smile at her.

Ace smiles back, stepping through a bulkhead door. "Here, this is a shortcut to my quarters."

"Later, Ace. We're in a hurry." The Doctor chides.

"No, it's all right. You go on ahead. It's just I don't feel properly dressed without a couple of cans of Nitro. I'll catch you up." Ace tells us.

The Doctor looks up at her in frustration. "Come on, Mabel, Mel. We're wasting valuable time."

Mel follows the Doctor, but I look back at Ace. "If we miss each other, we'll come find you okay!"

Ace nods, taking off up the stairs. I hurry to catch up to the Doctor and Mel. It doesn't take us long to reach the lower levels. The fact that there still isn't anyone around is making me more and more suspicious.

Mel rounds a corner, the Doctor and I sliding in after her. She gasps. "The creature, it's dead! They've killed it."

The dragon is laying on the floor, two ice world workers on the floor next to it.

"Yes." The Doctor murmurs, brushing my shoulder with his. "But it had a final surprise for anyone who wanted to try and interfere with it. A huge energy surge when its head was disconnected."

"What shall we do with it now?" Mel asks us.

I reach the dragon, kneeling down next to it's prone form. The Doctor kneels down next to me, reaching into the dragon's head and removing the crystal.

"We'll finish its job for it, and put an end to all this death and destruction." The Doctor tells her. His voice is full of cold intent.

"Doctor." I murmur. "Ace never caught up with us."

"I've been to her room!" Mel tells us. "I can lead the way."

The Doctor frowns, but doesn't protest.

We hurry down the corridors once more. "Y'know, I feel like all we've been doing is running from one place to another today."

Mel laughs. "Good exercise."

"Meh." I respond, skeptically.

Mel goes to the front, leading us to the residential section. There is a door open in the distance, and she runs right into it. "Ace!"

Only Ace isn't the one in the room. It's Glitz.

"Hey, you nicked it!" Glitz laughs, pointing at the crystal in the Doctor's hand.

"Where's Ace?" Mel asks him.

Glitz shakes his head. "I don't know."

"This is not good enough." The Doctor snaps, frustrated. I lay a hand on his back, sending him a wave of calm. He takes a deep breath, releasing it and letting some of the tension bleed from his body.

"Well, she wasn't with me." Glitz tells him, sounding bewildered.

Mel frowns, looking worried. "Come on, we've got to find her." She says, grabbing the crystal from the Doctor's hands then immediately turning and rushing from the room.

The Doctor and I turn to follow her. Glitz mutters lowly. "You lost her." The Doctor whirls around, a look of anger on his face.

Glitz looks away, but the Doctor continues his stare. "Ace, Doctor." I remind him. He blinks, breaking the tension.

"Yes, you're right." The Doctor agrees, turning and heading for the door himself.

I spare a look at Glitz. "Congratulations. You just lost the best ally in the room."

Glitz clenches his jaw. He very clearly wants to say something, but he holds his tongue. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

"Mabel!" The Doctor's impatient voice calls me from the hallway.

"Coming dear." I respond, walking out the doorway myself. Glitz's footsteps follow me.

There is a noise from the ceiling. The sound of an intercom clicking on. A male voice starts speaking. "Doctor? Glitz?" It starts. "I know you can hear me. I'd like to propose a transaction. My very final transaction before I leave Svartos. The Dragonfire for the girl. Bring me the Dragonfire and you can have the girl. Special closing down sale, you might call it. But hurry, while stocks last." The man who is most probably Kane, finishes.

The Doctor taps his umbrella handle against his lips, thinking.

"I think he means it, Doctor." Glitz declares.

"Oh, no doubt." The Doctor agrees.

Mel shakes her head. "But we can't give him the treasure."

"What other choice do we have?" I ask her. "The dragon is dead now, but Ace isn't. We could still save her."

Mel slumps, upset. I understand, but at the same time I can't allow myself to feel the same at the moment. There is still work to be done.

I look around at everyone. "Does anyone know where Kane might be now?"

"Most probably, the central control room." The Doctor responds.

"I know where it is." Glitz chimes in, not looking pleased. "I can take us there."

We follow Glitz, hurrying down the corridors as fast as we dare. All of us are aware that Ace's life hangs in the balance.

"Through here." Glitz gestures to a door.

The Doctor and I walk through without hesitation, Mel and Glitz following behind us.

Kane is in the center of the room, holding Ace's arms behind her. "At last, after three thousand years. Bring it here." He demands.

"Three thousand years, eh?" The Doctor starts. "Long enough for an entire civilization to have come and gone."

Kane looks at the Doctor. "Are you some kind of idiot?"

"You know, for someone who's had the patience to wait around for three thousand years, you seem to be in rather a hurrrry suddenly." The Doctor tells Kane, trilling the r.

Glitz looks confused. "What's all this three thousand years?"

"Three thousand years since you were exiled here from Proamon, along with the dragon." I continue for the Doctor.

Kane looks between the two of us. "Who are you?"

The Doctor tilts his head. "Just travelers."

"What do you know about Proamon?" Kane asks us, voice defensive.

I hear Mel take a step forward. "We all know. The creature showed us on the hologram."

Kane clenches his jaw, shaking his head. "Oh, the archives. I should have destroyed them."

"No, no, no, you should keep them for souvenir value, along with the Ice Garden." The Doctor suggests.

"Why was the creature doing time as well?" Glitz asks.

"The biomechanoid was my jailor." Kane answers. "Look around you. The controls laying dead, waiting for an energy source. The Dragonfire is that energy source."

I narrow my eyes at Kane. "And you need that energy source to leave."

Kane smiles. "They thought they could imprison me on this wretched planet by implanting the power source inside the creature. They shall learn of their folly."

I bare my teeth in response. "And so they created a living creature to keep you prisoner."

"There were times when I ached for death." Kane states. "I considered journeying round from the cold dark side of Svartos to the sun blistered surface on the other side, where I would quickly die. Now, with the Dragonfire, I have the power to return to Proamon and exact my revenge." He nods at Mel. "You, girl. Bring me the Dragonfire."

"No. I'm not going to lift a finger to help you." Mel tells Kane.

A look of fear crosses Ace's face. "Melanie?" Ace turns her head to look up at Kane. "Don't listen to her. She doesn't mean it." Looking back at us, she pleads. "Give him the treasure. I'm sixteen, I'm too young to be freeze dried."

Glitz is the first to move. "Come on, Mel. This is no time to be fastidious."

Mel looks over at the Doctor. "Doctor?"

The Doctor turns back towards Kane. "Look, let me explain."

Kane releases Ace's arm, but immediately holds his bare hands towards her face. Ace screams, looking at Kane in fear. I take a step forward, but the Doctor takes a firm hold on the back of my shirt, stopping me. "You're wasting my time. The Dragonfire is mine now. You can either give it to me alive or I shall take it from your dead bodies." Kane states.

"Well that kind of logic is inescapable." The Doctor muses.

Kane gestures towards the console to the side of us. "Place it in the circuit."

Mel hesitates. I look over at her, nodding. She frowns, but rushes to do as he says. As soon as Mel places the crystal on the top of the console, Kane starts pressing buttons.

Ace takes the opportunity and rushes over to us, crashing into me and clutching my arm. I smooth a hand down her back. Only sixteen years old and caught up in all of this. My eyes catch the Doctor's. I can tell he is as pleased about it as I am.

The crystal starts arching with electricity. A hum starts, building in intensity as the seconds pass.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Mel asks, looking around in fear.

"It sounds like a starflight drive." The Doctor states, leaning against the console. He seems unconcerned with the situation now that Ace's life is no longer in danger.

"Starflight drive?" Glitz asks skeptically. "It can't be."

The room shakes, causing everyone to stumble, before it evens out.

"This is a spacecraft. The whole colony's a spacecraft!" Glitz exclaims.

"My hour of vengeance-" Kane starts, but the Doctor interrupts him.

"Vengeance on whom, Kane?" He asks. "You're too late."

"All your mercenaries are dead." Mel chimes in.

Kane is unconcerned. "I can soon find more."

"But where will you find another home planet?" The Doctor asks.

"You're talking in riddles, Doctor. Proamon is my home planet." Kane frowns.

The Doctor takes a step closer the Kane. "Was your home planet. Take a look at your navigational equipment. It's fully operative now."

Kane presses a button on the console, studying a monitor "There must be something wrong."

"Sadly not. Your planet, your people, your entire race were destroyed one thousand years after you were exiled." The Doctor explains.

"No. No, it's not possible." Kane denies.

Taking his umbrella, the Doctor points at the star chart that Kane had pulled up. "Look at the sun of Proamon. When you left, it was a cold red giant surrounded by freezing planets."

Kane looks again, shaking his head. "There's nothing there but a neutron star."

The Doctor forges ahead. There is no sympathy in his expression. "Your sun turned supernova two thousand years ago, and all its planets were engulfed in the explosion. Your people were annihilated, your planet obliterated. You're too late, Kane, for your revenge. You have no home. Time has flowed by."

"No. No! It shall not be!" Kane declares. He presses a button on the console then walks over toward a window whose sun shield is raising.

"Danger, unfiltered sunlight." An alarm sounds.

The light is blinding. "What's he doing? It's scorching." Glitz exclaims. The sound of Kane screaming is all around us.

The Doctor leaves our side, hurrying to the console and pressing a button. The sun filter rises. The only thing left of Kane is a pile of clothing left of the floor.

I thought I would feel like justice had been served. The man who ordered the murder of the dragon was dead. But it wasn't like that at all. The only thing I feel is sadness. Sadness for the dragon, who was created to imprison Kane. The dragon who endured thousands of years of loneliness, who's only thought was to fulfill its duty. And even sadness for Kane. A man who was so devastated by the fact his planet and people were destroyed that he committed suicide.

The Doctor places an arm around my shoulders, and I lean into him.

At some point, the Doctor starts leading me back to the Tardis. "Go." He shooes me inside. "Run a bath, get comfortable. I'll finish up here."

I want to argue but in all honesty, I don't feel like dealing with people right now. Leaning up, I kiss the corner of his mouth in thanks. "When you finish everything up, you should come join me."

The Doctor's lips slowly lift into a soft, genuine smile. He leans down, cupping my cheek with his palm and kissing me thoroughly.

By the time he pulls back, my breathing is rough. His pupils are dilated, all his impressive awareness focused only on me.

My tongue flicks out to wet my lips and the Doctor's eyes follow the motion. Feeling pleased at his reaction, I head to the Tardis, turning around at the doorway. "Don't take too long, okay?"

The Doctor inclines his head. I smile at him, and this time I actually go inside the Tardis.

"Hey old girl." I whisper, trailing my fingers along her console. The Tardis hums a greeting, lights dimming and then coming back up.

Now, it's time to go take a bath. I head in the direction of our room, the old girl taking an easy on me and only making me walk down three corridors. I enter the room and flop down on the bed. It would be very easy to just go to sleep like this.

The Tardis flickers her lights at me in protest. "Alright, Alright." I grumble, getting up reluctantly.

My clothes get left on the floor, and I pad into the bathroom naked. Everything is fine until I focus on the bathtub. My body breaks out in a cold sweat, and it suddenly becomes hard to breath.

The Tardis chimes, the bathtub starts filling with water. The sight of the steam coming off the top allows me to unfreeze my body. This isn't going to be like before. When the Doctor had to drop my body temperature and the water had been so cold it hurt.

I hesitantly walk closer to the water, kneeling once I get over to it and dipping my hand in. It feels amazing. The tension fades from my back.

There are several containers around the tub that I hadn't noticed before. Bubble bath maybe? I open the tops, smelling each one and finally settling on one that smells like fresh air on a rainy day. As soon as the liquid hits the hot water, bubbles start to form. It was bubble bath after all.

I slip into the water, my muscles instantly relaxing. There's a ledge along the side. I shift around until I'm comfortable, then close my eyes and let myself daydream as I wait for the Doctor.

Some time later, I hear the door open. A smile plays along my lips, and I look over at him with a smile.

The Doctor is distracted. "Mel decided to stay behind."

I wrinkle my nose. "With Glitz?" He nods. "Well hopefully that works out okay."

The Doctor hums, slipping into the water next to me. He reaches out, encouraging me to cuddle up to him.

"What about Ace?" I ask him.

"She'll be traveling with us for a bit." He tells me, hand stroking my shoulder. "But you already knew that."

I smile wryly. "Yeah, I was kind of obvious about it wasn't I?"

The Doctor taps me on the nose. "Maybe a little."

Twisting around, I straddle him. His hands come up to my hips to steady me. "I do have a question though." He hums in response. "About something that Glitz said earlier." I continue.

The Doctor freezes, hands clenching at my hips. "Ah, Spoilerrrs?" I laugh, amused at the panic on his face.

He grumbles, pulling me closer and trying to smother his face in my shoulder. My hand comes up to ruffle his curls. "Sorry, Sorry." I say to him, voice high pitched with humor. "It's just nice to have it confirmed."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asks, lips brushing along my skin.

"Well a girl wonders, y'know?" My breath hitches as he nips the hickey his future self will one day leave on me. "You send out mixed signals sometimes."

The Doctor winces. "Backtracking to much."

"Yeah." I murmur, using my grip on his hair to gently tug his head back. His breathing stutters, eyes dilating in anticipation.

I bring our mouths together, exploring. Using the connection to find the spots he likes the most, I focus on those areas. This is a whole new Doctor to get used to and I want to make sure that I make it good for him.

He allows me to control the kiss, his enjoyment evident in how his arousal starts to harden under my ass. I pull back from the kiss, nipping his lip. The Doctor groans.

Placing a hand on my lower back, he encourages me to arch. This pushes my breasts up into his face, which he immediately takes advantage of. His hand cups one breast, rolling the nipple with his finger. He catches the other one with his mouth, delivering a sharp nip with his teeth.

I gasp, not sure if I wanted to pull away or push further into his mouth. The Doctor soothes his tongue over the sting, and I melt down into the caress. He begins to suck on my nipple, tugging the other one simultaneously.

"Doctor." I moan. Each suck and tug combination is sending a bolt of liquid right to my core. My hands smooth down his shoulders, following the outline of his muscles.

The Doctor pulls his mouth from my skin. "Mabel." He murmurs, voice gravely. His pupils are blown wide open. "You smell so good." The Doctor trails his hand down my stomach.

I whimper. He leans up, catching the sound with his own mouth. This time there is no slow exploration. He dominates the kiss, hand tilting my head to where he wants it to be. Every spot he touches is driving me crazy.

"Doctor." I gasp, pulling away from the kiss.

He smirks, shifting and rubbing his sex against mine. Teasing.

Well, two can play at that game. I already have a hand on his shoulder, so I use that to give him one firm stroke form his hairline to the tops of his shoulders.

The Doctor's hips stutter into mine, a gasp of his own bursting forth. "Not fair." He pants, voice a whole register lower than normal. The Doctor grinds against me, the head of his arousal brushing over my clit.

"Fuckkk." I mouth into his shoulder. "Doctor, stop teasing."

The Doctor hums, fingers trailing down and testing my readiness. One finger dips in, then two. I clench around them, ready and wanting. He pulls back, and I whine in disapproval. He shushes me, fingers finding my center once again with three fingers this time. I shift, somewhat uncomfortable. The stretch burns, but it is quickly fading. The Doctor carefully scissors his fingers, preparing me.

I reach down and cup his sex. It's a heavy bulk in the palm of my hand. His breathing stutters as I give it an exploratory pump. It's not all the different from what a human man would have. A little wider maybe, with what feels to be ridges along the length. I'm sure it will feel amazing.

With my hand, I tug on the short hairs at the base of his neck. Reaching into the connection, I fling it as open as I can make it go. A feedback loop snaps into place immediately. Our bodies arching into each other with urgency.

My fingers dip down, swirling patterns into the back of his neck, driving our need higher. The Doctor pulls his fingers back from my core, a rumbling growl starting to vibrate from his chest. He reaches down and directs his length to my center, tip sliding through my slick.

I arch my hips towards him, frustrated with all the foreplay. The tip of him slips inside, my inner muscles clenching around it. The Doctor hisses, hips juddering forward and sinking in another two inches before he stops himself.

"Mabel." He rasps, his voice wrecked. The rumbling in his chest is getting louder.

I can feel his body shaking from the effort it takes to hold back. "Doctor, please."

He groans, kissing me. It tastes like surrender. I hook my legs around his hips driving myself onto him the rest of the way.

"Doctor!" I cry out into his mouth. There is a small hint of pain from the stretch, but I'm so aroused that it just adds to the pleasure.

He rocks his hip forward with small grinding motions, helping my body get used to the stretch.

Our pleasure spirals into each other's. I feel the pleasure from the feeling of him rocking into me, but I also feel his pleasure from being the one pushing into the tight heat.

The Doctor grabs my ass, pulling me farther into the cradle of his hips. His other hand comes up to grip the back of my neck. He continues the small thrusts.

It feels as though he is hitting all of my pleasure spots all at once. The tension winds tighter, I am so very close.

"Doctor," I moan. "Doctor, please."

The Doctor's hand tightens its grip on my ass, steadying my hips. He continues his thrusts, a steady beat.

The pressure builds, and he squeezes the back of my neck hard. My body clamps down on his, his hips stuttering in response.

The connection expands. Pulling the both of us into oblivion. Stars align, the blackness of space lighting up in response to our joining.

I blink slowly, my brain rebooting. The Doctor's hand is playing with the short strands of hair at the base of my neck. The rumbling in his chest has calmed, more of a purr than the roar it had been earlier. "The rumbles are new." I mumble into his skin.

The Doctor's body shakes with laughter. "Rumbles, she says." He presses a kiss to the side of my head. "It was your first time. Well, first time with me."

I open my mouth to ask him to clarify, but my hips choose that moment to cramp. A little punched out noise leaves my lips as I try to curl up as much as possible. Which isn't much, seeing as he is still in me, and I'm on his lap. The Doctor makes a wordless noise, curling his body around mine and adjusting my head so that it's right against his chest.

The vibrations of the rumbling in his chest is soothing. Realization blooms, I suddenly understand that the rumbling is for my comfort. "You knew?"

"Not until I kissed you by the Tardis." The Doctor admits. "Your hormone levels gave you away." He shifts, slipping out of me. I make a noise of disappointment. The Doctor shushes me, turning my body so I'm leaning against his chest.

"Why would my hormone levels give away whether or not I've had penetrative sex with you before?" I ask him, confused.

The Doctor smoothes a hand down my arm. "Hmm. That has to do with your unique situation and the physiology of Gallifreyans."

He shifts, reaching over the edge of the tub for a washcloth, pouring soap on it. The Doctor starts washing along my arms, continuing his story. "Immense strain was placed on your body when you unconsciously adjusted yourself as close to human norms as you physically could. What you thought was monthly cycles was your body reacting to the strain. Your body was disposing of eggs, but it was doing so because your body was so overheated the eggs were being rejected. That was why your cycles were so sporadic and painful."

I turn my head to look at him, interested to see how this topic ties in with the other topic. The Doctor moves the washcloth along my ribs, cleaning my torso now. "Gallifreyans generally experience sexual maturity around their early thirties. Your body was forced into a parody of it at a much earlier age, and never got the chance to properly produce the hormones that sexual maturity would cause it to produce. That is, until your physiology was returned to normal." He shifts me to the bench next to him, picking up my legs and gently wiping the washcloth along those as well. "I couldn't smell the change on you, but when we kissed I could taste it. The only reason that would happen is if your physiology shifted recently."

Frowning, I take the washcloth from him and load it back up with soap. Then I start wiping it along the lines of his arms, echoing the pattern he used to clean me. "I still don't understand how that would tell you that this was the first time we had sex."

I can feel the Doctor's confusion, he turns around to face me, interrupting me as I try to wash his back. "How would I be able to have sex with you before you were producing the proper hormones?"

"Bear with me here." I say to him. "I'm still trying to figure all of this stuff out. So you're saying that before I produced the hormones that told people I was sexually mature, no Gallifreyan would be able to have sex with me in return?"

"Corrrect." He tells me, the trill becoming pronounced the more upset he gets. "My body wouldn't have responded to you physically until you started producing them."

Huh, that was handy. I kiss him, trying to soothe the upset that my question caused. "Thanks for telling me about this stuff. You're right, it hasn't been all that long since my physiology was reverted back to normal. I have no clue what to expect. Something always seems to come up and no one is able to explain anything."

The Doctor melts, stiff body relaxing into mine once again. "I forget sometimes that you don't automatically know these things."

We finish cleaning up quickly after that, drying off and getting into comfortable clothes. I find my journal sitting on my desk, and send a silent thank you up to the Tardis for making sure I got the version that I needed.

Pulling out a pen, I contemplate the adventures that I've been on the last few days, wondering where to start.

Rosealyn - Yep! I really enjoyed writing that scene.

Bekka G - Thank you for your review. I've worked hard to try and make Mabel her own character. Just like you say, it's all to common for someone to write a story with an oc insert and just copy and paste everything, never giving them their own personality. And honestly, I didn't plan the 9th Doctor in the 9th chapter. I hadn't even noticed until you said anything!

Gabumon7 - You commented on the 5th chapter. I wrote the 8th Doctor in that one.

Excluded . Desda - Hello there, thank you for your kind words!