Hiya!
Hopefully everyone's winter has been going great so far! Don't worry, spring is just around the corner. Though if you live somewhere where it's in the warmer season, just going to say now that I'm jealous. lol ;)
So, without further delay, here's the newest chapter!
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Chapter 34: Down with the Ship
There was no realization on Wanda's end of her wandering through time again. Gone from the medical bay, she arrived within a small enclosed area. A loud fog horn blared from outside, sounding off in arrival. The distant clanking of dishes and chatting of people could be heard as well, along with the symphony of a small orchestra playing. But none of that was noticed by Wanda. She could barely register anything at all from the shock she had received. All she could do was stand there, with her mouth hanging open while staring at the same spot the computer from the medical bay had been. The results repeated over and over again through her mind. That same image of what was inside of her. The large, bright word flashing across the screen.
Positive. She was positive for—
"Nice nightie. Like the pinstripes."
Wanda jumped, startled out of her thoughts so much that she let out a small squeak. Spinning around with her eyes wide, she stared in alarm at Ten who stood just outside of the TARDIS within the small cupboard the ship had arrived in.
"I didn't do it!" Wanda replied back in a panic. The Doctor blinked, frowning as he arched a brow at this response she gave him.
"What didn't you do?" he questioned curiously. Her face lit up bright red as her eyes widened even more.
"N-nothing. Nothing. I did nothing," Wanda babbled on rapidly, gesturing her hands around awkwardly. "I mean, heh, why would I think I did anything if I did nothing? Can't have done something if I've done nothing. Had to have done something. Which, I mean, nothing was done. So, I'm totally fine. Completely good. In fact, I-I . . ." She trailed off, scratching her head lightly in embarrassment, realizing that she was talking in a hurried, stuttering mess. "Sorry. I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
"Just a bit," the Doctor chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. He stepped up towards her, looking her up and down. He took in her nightie and the robe around her, finding it funny on how she had wandered somewhere in her nightwear. That did not happen often. "So . . . where have you been to?"
"Just—just the future. Been hanging around Eleven . . . and stuff," Wanda told him, tugging on her long hair from behind her back as she felt nervous being around the Doctor (any version of him) at the moment.
He arched a brow once more, appearing curious now in how odd she was acting. "Oh? What kind of stuff? Came across anything interesting lately?"
Well . . . it was interesting all right. That was certain. Wanda felt panicked, knowing that . . . that she could not say what exactly the 'stuff' had been. She fidgeted on her feet, giving him a wary smile. "Spoilers."
"Aww. Always with the 'spoilers,'" he whined.
Wanda giggled at the playful pout he gave her, feeling her edginess fade away as she then became aware of her surroundings. Blinking in surprise, she glanced around them, raising her brows. "Where are we?" The fog horn made her jump from the sudden blaring of the shrill sound. "Are we on a ship?"
The Doctor snorted, shaking his head. "You hadn't noticed?"
Wanda pouted, sticking her tongue at him with a small smile. "I was distracted." Her smile faltered as she stared at the Doctor. He smiled in return, keeping an eased expression on his face. But the smile did not reach his eyes. Instead, as she stared into the soft brown irises of his, she saw a deep sadness that seemed to swirl within him. She instantly became worried, stepping up to him and touching his arm in concern. "What's wrong?"
He blinked, surprised by her sudden question. All he could think was: How did she know? "What?"
"Something's wrong," she said, nodding her head as if giving her final conclusion. "Tell me what happened. Was it serious? Were you hurt? Did someone else get hurt? Which companion is with you? Are they—." Wanda sucked in a sharp breath when she saw a Titanic lifebelt hanging on the wall behind the TARDIS. Oh. Oh no. With hearts sinking in realization, she stared back at the Doctor, seeing the wavering brown eyes. "Oh, Theta. You've just been from the Year That Never Was, haven't you?"
She meant to hug him in comfort. But instead, he grabbed her and yanked her into his chest, crushing her in a tight grip as she felt him shaking. He kept petting at her head as if she were the one crying against his shoulder instead. As though she were the one whispering 'I'm so sorry' over and over again into his ear. Then, after he was finished with his mournful whispers, he began kissing her. Stiffening, the only thing she could do was gently stroke his cheeks as he gave her the most desperate kiss. The most grieving kiss. The most desolate kiss. He had never kissed her like this before. And now, one of the days she dreaded the most, made her feel terrified in what was to come when the Master's reign arrived.
"T-Theta?" she stuttered when the Doctor suddenly began kissing down her neck.
"Please," he whispered in a plea. "I've missed you. I've missed you so much. Please." He pulled back, grabbing her hand and placing it to his chest, allowing her to feel his rapid beating hearts. She felt a rush of their bond like he was pushing full force for them to feel connected to each other. She swayed on the spot as she felt his mind wrap around her own, clinging to her in every way he could. He stared at her in desperation, looking ready to beg, but seemed unsure of what exactly he was begging for in the first place.
She had not hoped for it to be true. But it seemed as though the hint that Martha had given her during the Sontaran cloning mishap had been true after all. She would be separate from the Doctor for a whole year. An entire year without her Theta, her husband. The very idea was unthinkable to her. She had never been away from him for more than a day or two. His very presence gave her meaning in life, kept her comforted in knowing she would never truly be alone. And in knowing she returned the favour, kept him company and allowed him some peace from the loneliness of his long life, gave her purpose. How could she possibly live a year without being there by his side and keeping him happy? Then all that torture, pain, and suffering he would have to endure through an entire year. How could she not be there to ease his pain? She needed to be there for him. But then, she needed to be there for Martha's walk around the world, too. What could she do? Wanda did not know how to handle what was to come for that dreadful year.
Staring at him for a moment longer, she slowly entwined their fingers together that was against his chest still. Pulling up his hand towards her, she moved it so she could kiss his wrist in a gentle touch. She heard him sucking in a sharp breath, squeezing her fingers in the hold they shared. Looking at him once more, she held a small, sad, smile.
"Anything for you, my Theta," she whispered quietly. Stepping up to him, she stood on her tiptoes as she gave him another deep kiss, thumbing his cheek and wishing to convey all her love for him through their shared embrace. Pulling away with a small smack, their lips stayed touching as the Doctor leaned with her when she moved away, not wanting to stop. Wanda breathed a sigh against his lips. She allowed a brief possibility go through her mind as she checked over the status of the day ahead for them. "We only have an hour."
"Plenty of time, then," murmured the Doctor. He swiftly picked Wanda up into his arms, allowing her to snuggle against him as he made fast strides back into the TARDIS. Never wanting to ever let his Wanderer go.
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The two Time Lords stepped out of the TARDIS exactly an hour later. The Doctor adjusted his black bow tie on his tuxedo and sort of smoothed his messy hair down to look more presentable. Wanda checked over her flowing evergreen dress, making certain that it held the right look of the period the cruise ship was going for. The same period clothing as the real Titanic from Earth had. She had even put up her long hair into a messy bun, hoping to look the part. She glanced down as she felt the Doctor suddenly grip her hand tightly again. Still holding onto her as though at any moment she would be gone. Or that he might just fall apart on them both. Squeezing his hand, another kiss on his wrist was given by Wanda as she felt her hearts weep for him. That year . . . it had been so awful for him. And to be separated for so long . . . alone . . . She wondered if this was what caused later Doctors to be so protective of her and edgy when she was not around in the future for so long. Perhaps he always feared another year without her again. That was why he took being apart for too long so badly.
He gave her a smile, letting her know that he was okay. He would be fine now that she was here and they had their time together. She matched the warm smile, nodding to him. They walked out of the cupboard together, going into the main event/party of the cruise ship. The theme was definitely early 20th century Christmas on Earth Titanic as the festivities were everywhere. Christmas trees and decorations had been placed all over the ship. Earth Christmas music was being sung and played on the large stage within the main ballroom. People either danced merely on the dance floor, chatted away on the sidelines, sipped on wine and champagne, or delightfully enjoyed the Christmas servings that the waiters and waitresses were handing out.
"Want to dance?" the Doctor asked Wanda, spinning her around as they came closer to the dance floor. He grinned eagerly, excited to have a chance to dance again with the Time Lady. They rarely had a chance to do so. Wanda giggled as the Time Lord suddenly dipped her, wiggling his brows suggestively.
"We don't have time at the moment. You know that," she told him. She let out a squeal as he gave her a spin, bowing her back and giving her light kisses all over her face while she giggled in delight.
"Come on, it's Christmas! You love Christmas!" he said merrily, giving her a coy grin. "Best time of the year for merriment, joy, love." He kissed her neck sensually, hoping that they could go running off back into the TARDIS. Wanda scoffed and pushed his face away, standing more upright and trying to ignore her fluttering hearts. He was acting much more . . . cheeky than usual. Which was strange since Ten was never one to show such blatant affections. Especially out in public. Then again, from the way he had acted earlier . . . Once more she felt dread from the waiting year ahead for her.
"Maybe some other time, sweetie. We need to focus on getting some answers on this ship, don't you agree?" she replied, patting his arm as he pouted like a child.
"Aww. You take the fun out of everything," he whined. But he held her hand all the same as they began walking through the many travellers on the cruise ship, knowing that she was right and they needed to know more about this so-called 'Titanic.'
He was surprised that he did not notice them before when he spotted them next. The large, golden, robotic, angel statues standing all around, wearing white robes, gloves, held their hands as if in a prayer and even had halos over their heads. There were countless of these angels all around, making him raise a brow as to why they were here in the first place. Walking closer to one, he felt wary of the angel as the pure black eyes stared back at him. Why would anyone make a robot with pure black eyes? That was just creepy.
"Evening. Passenger fifty-seven," the Doctor said to the angelic robot once the two Time Lords had stepped closer to it. He gave a smile of pretend embarrassment. "Terrible memory. Remind me—uh, you would be . . . "
"Information," the robot chimed. "Heavenly Host, supplying tourist information." The Time Lord nodded lightly, glancing with Wanda next to him. She raised a brow, shrugging.
"Good, so, um, tell me—'cause I'm an idiot—where are we from?" the Doctor questioned the Heavenly Host.
"Information," the robot chimed again. "The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures." Wanda waved her hand at the angel, gaining its attention.
"So, hi, passenger fifty-eight here, um, the name Titanic, who thought up of that?" Wanda questioned the Heavenly Host.
"Information. It was chosen as the most famous of the planet Earth," the robot spoke with another chime.
"Did they tell you why it was famous?" the Doctor asked, highly skeptical that anyone would choose that name and not know the story behind the name. Did the person merely find the name under famous occurrences on Earth and did not even bother of looking up why exactly the Titanic was famous to begin with?
"Information—all designations are chosen by Mr. Max Capricorn, president of M-Max—Max—Max—Max—." The two Time Lords blinked and glanced at each other in uncertainty as the robotic figure in front of them began to malfunction. Its voice going high-pitched with it constantly jerking its head in a repeated motion. Beginning to pull out his sonic screwdriver, ready to help repair the robot, the Doctor blinked when a steward suddenly came up to them.
The steward smiled awkwardly at the couple, assuring them that it was nothing. Just a software malfunction. The steward then had his fellows help him take the robotic angel away, off for repairs. Wanda glanced at the Doctor, seeing how he shrugged and seemed to take this excuse fine.
"Don't you think that was odd? They acted rather nervous about that Heavenly Host going glitchy," she said casually as possible as they strolled hand-in-hand through the ballroom, walking amongst the rest of the passengers.
"I'm sure they just don't like the passengers see anything going wrong," the Doctor replied, dismissing the occurrence all together. "Those style of robotics, they malfunction all the time. I'm surprised they are even using them. Since the electrical software and programming the Hosts run on are known to be easily hacked and corrupted." Wanda hummed, nodding her head slowly as she stared at him, seeing the clear signs of him trying to avoid investigating further.
"You're doing it again," she stated with an exasperated sigh.
The Doctor frowned, blinking at her as he felt confused by this statement. "Doing what again?"
"Acting like you don't want to look into the danger signs, trying to pretend everything is fine and hoping to avoid a deadly adventure. But then you're secretly wanting to rush off and find out what exactly is going on, getting yourself into trouble like you normally love doing." Wanda raised a brow at him, eyeing the Time Lord. "You're trying to pretend like there isn't something suspicious happening here."
"Well . . . Can't we just have a normal day for once? Why does everything have to end with—with death?" He faltered, swallowing heavily as he stared at her. They had both stopped in the middle of the large group of guests, gazing at each other. Wanda looked at him curiously, wondering why he stared at her as if he were seeing misery itself before him. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard again. "Everything always ends with death for us. Even from the very beginning. And I wish I could help you forget it all. I'm so sorry you have to remember any of that at."
"Huh?" Now she truly was baffled. What was he talking about? Unless . . .
Their attention was caught when they heard shattering glass and angry yelling. Peeking around a group of passengers, they noticed a waitress with curly blonde hair looking ashamed as she blushed and glanced down repeatedly at the silver carrying tray she had been holding only a moment ago. The waitress appeared to have accidentally dropped it in her rush to serve the passengers. In front of her was a businessman, with communicator in hand that appeared similar to that of a mobile phone, and the front of his 20th-century tuxedo damp from the drinks that had been spilled on him.
"For Tov's sake, look where you're going," the businessman spat at the waitress. Recognizing the man, Wanda narrowed her eyes, feeling her left eye twitch slightly as her temper flared. She remembered him. It was Rickston Slade, an egotistical, heartless businessman who only cared for himself. Even when watching him on the show Wanda remembered being annoyed and ireful during every second the man spoke. And that had been First Wanda, an incarnation who hardly ever became cross with someone and it took quite a lot to get her angry at all. Current her, however, was an entirely different story.
"This jacket's a genuine Earth antique," Rickston continued to rant at the blonde waitress.
"I'm sorry, sir," the waitress mumbled, looking even more embarrassed now. She quickly crouched down, trying to clean up the mess that had occurred.
"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart," barked Rickston in disgust, gazing at the waitress as if she were a piece of trash to him. "Staffed by idiots—no wonder Max Capricorn's going down the drain."
"Oi!" snapped Wanda as she marched away from the Doctor, storming right up to Rickston. The businessman blinked in shock as the short blonde stood right up to him, jabbing a sharp finger into his chest. "Didn't your mother teach you how to be polite? Apologize, you arse."
"Excuse me?" Rickston scoffed, giving Wanda the same look of disgust as he did to the waitress. "Why do I have to apologize?"
"'Cause I saw what happened," Wanda disputed crossly, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at the man. "You were blabbing away on that phone of yours and walked right into her. If you were actually looking where you were going—."
Rickston interrupted her as his face grew red. "I did no such thing! And I will not tolerate being talked down to by some half-witted tramp, who's clearly only here because she's some rich man's plaything."
Before Wanda could retort to this, balling up her fist to shake it as a warning at Rickston, someone stepped in between the two. She blinked, staring at the Doctor's ridged back as he faced the businessman. She watched as Rickston looked baffled for a second, before backing up with fear in his eyes from the way the Doctor stared at him.
"Leave. Now," the Time Lord growled, his voice low, dark, with deep authority within his tone. Rickston did not wait to be told twice as he hurriedly retreated. Wanda blinked again as the Doctor turned back around, smiling away merrily. She wondered what his expression had been to have Rickston reaction in such a frightened way. Had it been the infamous Oncoming Storm gaze?
"Careful. There we go," the Doctor said lightly as he crouched down, picking up some pieces of broken glass on the ground from the champagne glasses that had slipped earlier. Wanda crouched down as well, helping the Time Lord and waitress. The blonde waitress stared at the two in shock from the way the blonde girl had defended her so boldly, and how they both were helping with such kind smiles on their faces. That was the first smile she had received since joining the cruise.
"Thank you, sir, ma'am. I can manage," the waitress said quickly, trying to gather the pieces from them as she felt even more embarrassed to have passengers feel the need to help her.
"We never said that you couldn't," Wanda replied warmly, giving the waitress a beaming smile. An excited spark went through her as she suddenly recognized the waitress. It was Astrid Peth. A wonderful woman from Sto who's only dream was to travel amongst the stars. The Time Lady felt giddy in meeting her.
"I'm the Doctor, by the way. And this is the Wanderer," the Doctor introduced politely, smiling away as he waved hand to Wanda.
"Just Wanda for short," Wanda said, grinning happily. "It's a lot easier to say when you're on the run." Astrid looked between the two, finding them both rather funny, but in a good way. She smiled back as well.
"Astrid. Astrid Peth," replied the waitress, nodding politely.
"Nice to meet you, Astrid," the Doctor responded, giving a wider smile. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas!" Wanda agreed with excited, feeling her usual giddiness for the holiday sparking up once again. Seriously, she could not help herself when it came to this special day. It was just so much fun! Well . . . besides the bad Christmases, of course. Which, now that she thought about it, this would be one of those days. A small look of disappointment and sadness appeared over her face, going unnoticed by the other two.
"Merry Christmas," Astrid said, smiling even more now. Looking down, she began picking up the rest of the glass pieces. "You both enjoying the cruise?" The two Time Lords gave the other a glance, raising their brows.
"Um, yeah, I suppose. I don't know," the Doctor mumbled, shrugging lightly.
"It was enjoyable until that prat came along," Wanda grumbled, putting some of the last broken pieces onto Astrid's silver tray. "I mean really. That was just rude. Well, I mean, there's rude, then there's just plain obnoxious, detestable behaviour. Someone should tell his mother. Give him a good scolding and ear pinching until he learns his lesson." Astrid snorted while the Doctor chortled. Wanda pouted cutely. "What's so funny?"
"You," the Doctor said, chortling even more as Wanda bumped her hip playfully against him once the three had stood up again.
"I'm guessing you two are together, then?" Astrid asked them curiously, noticing how the two sort of leaned against the other, holding hands once they had stood again.
"Yep," the Doctor said with a pop at the 'p.' "You could say 'life partners,' I suppose. Or significant other. Or lovers." He suddenly frowned in thought. "Not sure what to call it. I like life partners, but . . . doesn't ring right. Life partners. Life. Partners. Nope, not good enough. I need to look up something better. Maybe—oi, what are you laughing at?" He pouted at the giggling Time Lady next to him. Wanda winked at him, holding her hand up to her mouth to try and quell her giggles.
"You," she said through her giggles. The Doctor pouted more while Wanda leaned up and kissed his cheek, giggling away even more. Astrid laughed as quietly as she could, smiling at the couple.
"So, long way from home—planet Sto," remarked the Doctor, clearly his throat as he tried changing the subject.
Astrid shrugged, replying, "Doesn't feel that different. I spent three years working at the Spaceport Diner. Travelled all the way here, and I'm still waiting on tables." She walked around the two, beginning to pick up empty dishes from the table nearby. They followed after her, knowing she still wanted to talk with them but was trying to stay busy with work as well.
"No shore leave?" the Doctor asked curiously.
"We're not allowed. They can't afford the insurance," Astrid explained, smiling sadly. Clear sign of great wanting of exploring and seeing new sights was shown on her face as she gazed longingly out of a portside window, staring out to the stars far away and the Earth just below the ship. "I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars, and I always dreamt of—." She cut herself off quickly as she blushed, realizing she was blurting out her deepest secret to a couple of complete strangers. "It sounds daft."
"You dreamt of another sky—new sun . . .," the Doctor said for the young woman.
"New stars, new ground, new life . . .," Wanda spoke with her Doctor. They smiled at each other, knowing they both held similar dreams.
"A whole universe teeming with life," the Doctor finished. "Why stand still when there's all that life out there?" Astrid gazed off distantly, looking as though she were lost in a sea of dreams floating within her mind. Shaking her head hurriedly, she cleared her throat as she smiled at the two.
"S-so, you travel a lot?" she questioned them.
"All the time, just for fun," the Doctor told her, smiling brightly as he and Wanda entwined their fingers together. Then his smile dropped as he had a second thought on this statement. "Well, that's the plan. Never quite works."
"Never," Wanda agreed, shaking her head as she held a cheeky smile. "We can't stay away from trouble."
"Or trouble can't stay away from us," the Doctor muttered, pulling at the bow tie around his neck. He knew he should not have worn this outfit. Always the same thing whenever he stepped into a tux. Trouble around every corner.
"Must be rich, though," Astrid commented.
"Haven't got a penny on us," the Doctor admitted to the waitress, smirking slyly. He then lowered his voice. "We're stowaways." Astrid's eyes widened, staring at the two in disbelief.
"Kidding," she said.
The Doctor and Wanda shook their heads, speaking together. "Seriously."
Astrid laughed, grinning at the two in delight. "How'd you get on board?"
"Accident—we've got this sort of ship thing. I was just rebuilding her, left the defenses down, bumped into the Titanic—here we are." The Doctor glanced around at the dancing and chatting passengers around them. "Bit of a party. We thought, 'why not?'" Wanda hummed, nodding her head slowly. This was mostly true. They had also decided to come here after she had explained to the Doctor that they were needed here to help others. And neither could never say 'no' when it came to helping others.
"I should report you," Astrid said in a more serious tone.
"You should," Wanda agreed, nodding slowly with a serious expression. The two women looked at each other for a moment before each busted up in giggles.
"I'll get you both a drink . . . on the house," she whispered to them, winking as she moved to go get them said drinks.
"Ah, none for me, thanks," Wanda told Astrid, grinning meekly. "I'm, uh . . . currently unable to drink. Not feeling so well, and . . . well, you know." She shrugged, hoping the woman would buy it. Astrid smiled and nodded, moving onwards to fetch their drinks. The Doctor looked at Wanda, raising a brow and staring in concern.
"You're not feeling well? You should have said something," he spoke to her, lifting a hand to feel at her forehead. He hummed as he noticed she did not feel warm, but her forehead was a bit clammy and sweaty. Then it hit him, recalling when she had told him that she had been sick for a while in the future. Was this during a moment of her sickness? Wanda batted his hand away as she squeezed the other that still held onto her own.
"I'm fine. Just a bit queasy is all," she assured him. It was true. Her stomach was doing flips at the moment. Feeling woozy with her tummy on edge again. Just as she has been experiencing for a while now. And then those off headaches of hers. Not quite like the ones she would get from looking into possibilities. But still pretty bad. Then, she also still felt rather tired. Even though she had gotten more than enough sleep recently. All the more signs of her being . . . Nope! Nope, not going to think it. Nope.
She gulped, glancing warily at the Doctor as he started to pull her along towards a table where a couple sat. Going to talk to them after noticing the group of passengers laughing and jeering at the couple who were not wearing 20th century Earth attire. Instead, the two were in bright purple, western outfits. The one woman seemed embarrassed as the other passengers laughed at them. But the man smiled and patted his wife's hand, ushering away any embarrassment.
"Something's tickled them," the Doctor commented as the two Time Lords joined the table, smiling kindly at the couple. Wanda beamed as her mind clicked again into remembering who she was meeting. It was Foon Van Hoff and Morvin Van Hoff. A wonderful couple, who were married and had joined the cruise because they had won tickets from a contest. Something which the rich of the ship looked down upon.
"They told us it was fancy dress," Foon explained to the Doctor, not even batting an eye at the new arrivals who had joined their table. Both she and her husband smiled in welcoming. "Very funny, I'm sure."
"They're just picking on us because we haven't paid," Morvin noted to his wife, patting her hand again as he hoped to keep her happy. He then looked to the Doctor and Wanda. "We won our tickets in a competition."
Foon nodded, going on about how she had won it from naming certain names of a television show from Sto. The Doctor began discussing the show with her, laughing as they went into the over-the-top acting from a certain character. Wanda stopped paying attention as she eyed a plate of buffalo wings on the table in front of her. Rubbing at her stomach, she felt the pang of hunger strike her. Even though Time Lords do not need to eat that often and she had only just eaten a few hours ago, it felt as though the more she stared the hungrier she became. And it was odd, considering it was barbeque. She did not even like that sort of thing. It always gave her a funny taste in her mouth.
"Are you hungry?" Foon offered kindly, nodding to the plate of wings in front of Wanda. "You can have some if you'd like."
"No, I shouldn't," Wanda mumbled. But before she could control herself, she was already reaching for a wing and was chowing down. She ate one, two, three . . . seven, in record time. Groaning in satisfaction with each bite. "You never realize how much you're starving until you begin eating."
"You really must have been hungry," Foon noted, nodding her head.
"Help yourself to as much as you want," Morvin nodded, offering Wanda another plate. The Doctor frowned as he watched Wanda scarf up the wings, puzzled by her behaviour.
"You're eating wings? I thought you hated those," he commented lightly. Wanda stopped in mid-bite, glancing at him while trying not to show her nervous expression.
"I can change my tastes, can't I?" she countered with a small pout, trying to fake being insulted by the Doctor. The Time Lord shrugged, seeming to take her behaviour as being typical Third Wanda stuff. Wanda let out a small breath of relief, biting into another wing before grabbing a napkin and wiping off her hands and face of any mess. How was she going to tell him? She placed a hand over her stomach, feeling it settle somewhat. But she still felt jumpy in her nerves from the shock. How was she going to tell anyone? Tell them that she was . . . she was . . .
Rude laughter brought her out of her thoughts. Looking over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes as the group of passengers continued on laughing at Foon and Morvin. At the same time, after giving each other a knowing look, the Doctor and Wanda discreetly pulled out their sonics, aiming the tools at the group's table. The champagne bottles they were ready to open suddenly flew the corks away, spraying all at the table.
Foon and Morvin laughed, clapping their hands in appreciation and amusement to what the Time Lords had done. Deeming that the new couple were new friends, Foon and Morvin offered the two Time Lords to join them when the next group of passengers were to go visit Earth below. Just as they made this offer, the announcement went over the intercom, calling for passengers with the right tickets to make their way for transport to Earth. Watching as Foon, Morvin, and the Doctor made their way from the table, Wanda hurriedly finished off the last wing, downed a glass of water, wiped off her face, and ran after the three. The Doctor hung back, holding out his hand for her as she walked up to him, entangling their fingers together in a tight hold.
Wanda spotted her in a corner, appearing uncertain if she should deliver the drinks she had promised. Smiling kindly at Astrid, Wanda skipped forward when letting go of the Doctor's hand, grabbing the tray from the waitress, setting said tray on a nearby table before linking their arms together.
"Come on, girlie. Time to go see that new sky," the Time Lady said merrily, pulling the confused looking Astrid along. Astrid glanced next to her, seeing how the Doctor bounced in step beside her.
"I really shouldn't. I'll get sacked," Astrid told them in a hushed tone, wary of acting out in her job. It would not be pleasant to be fired in mid-voyage. She feared that her bosses might even throw her out onto Earth, leaving her there forever. Seeing a new world was one thing. But being stuck there, on a strange planet, never to return to home, seemed like the unthinkable to her.
"Nah, you won't. You're always safe with us. Promise. And trust me, you don't want to miss this for anything," Wanda told the young woman, giving Astrid a wink.
They arrived with the rest of the group, ready for exploring Earth below. The Doctor waved his psychic paper, earning their own teleport bracelets from Mr. Copper, the man in charge of teaching the guests about Earth customs when it came to Christmas and showing them around on the planet below. Wanda could not help but giggle when Mr. Copper began explaining Christmas tradition to the people from Sto. Everything from humans worshiping Santa with claws to eating the people of Turkey was just too hilarious in Wanda's mind. Seriously, who thought that was what humans actually did?
Before she realized it, they had already transported in the middle of the Doctor trying to warn Mr. Copper about the presence of Bannakaffalatta, a very small, red-skinned alien with spiked fringes on his head. The Time Lord had been trying to tell Mr. Copper and the others that Bannakaffalatta would most likely scare any humans who would see him while shopping on Christmas Eve. But when seeing the deserted, empty street of shopping areas in London, the Doctor could only stare around the silent night in disbelief.
"It should be full," muttered the Doctor under his breath, alarmed by the sight of no one being around. "It should be busy. Something's wrong."
"They're just all away on holiday," Wanda assured the Doctor, patting his arm lightly.
"Wanda, this isn't funny. Something's really, really wrong," the Doctor countered, shaking his head as he thought she was trying to be funny.
"I'm serious. They're all actually on holiday," replied Wanda, nodding her head as she tried getting the Doctor to understand what she meant. "Pretty much everyone in London decided to leave because of Christmas becoming somewhat dangerous. I mean, just look at our track record for Christmases. The only one who stayed behind was the Queen. That, and Wilf. Now shush, don't ruin her moment." Wanda nodded to Astrid, making the Doctor stare at the blonde waitress as they watched the woman's clear expression of awe and wonder as she stared around at the street they stood upon. Her eyes lit up in amazement as her mouth hung open in her wide smile of joy. The smile that spoke of pure happiness.
"It's beautiful," Astrid said, her voice just above a breathy whisper. She turned slowly around, taking it all in. Blinking in puzzlement, the Doctor looked around as well.
"Really? Do you think so? It's just a street," he responded skeptically, not really seeing how anyone could find such a plain street to be a breathtaking sight. If he remembered right, Sto looked just about the same. "The pyramids are beautiful and . . . New Zealand."
"Does everything have to be big and grand for you, Spaceman?" scoffed Wanda, punching him in the arm, making him pout.
"What? I was just saying there's better things to see," he mumbled, rubbing at his arm as he gazed sourly at the empty street around them.
"But it's a different planet," Astrid said, spinning around as she took everything in. "I'm standing on a different planet. T-T-There's concrete." She pointed at the black road underneath their feet. "And—and shops—alien shops—real alien shops!" She waved her hands excitedly at all the closed shops around them. She jumped and spun around, making her waitress skirt twirl. Pointing upwards as she took in the sky. "Look, no stars in the sky." She then began sniffing the air, beaming at the smell of polluted air. "And it smells. It stinks! Oh, this is amazing! Thank you!" Astrid ran up to the couple, giving them the biggest hug ever as she jumped for joy. The Doctor grinned merrily while Wanda giggled and jumped for joy along with Astrid. The two women sort of held hands as they bounced up and down, laughing away.
"Told you that you didn't want to miss this," Wanda giggled. Glancing over across the street, she saw the newsstand sitting on the corner, with Wilf wearing his red winter hat while watching the news on a small telly. Beaming with excitement, the Time Lady skipped across the street, hoping right up to the stand. "Hi, Wilf! How's your Christmas been so far?" Wilf, who leaned back in surprise to see a sudden beaming blonde girl, blinked for a moment as he stared at Wanda in question.
"Sorry, do I know you?" he asked her curiously.
"Not yet," Wanda told him, smiling away brightly at him. "I'm an acquaintance with your granddaughter."
"Oh?" Wilf smiled kindly, reaching forward to shake Wanda's hand. "Well, I'm always happy to meet my granddaughter's friends." After both Wanda and Wilf shook hands, he sat back in his chair, staring curiously at her and the other two standing close behind. "What are you doing out here? Isn't safe, is it? Being London at Christmas, all them aliens are bound to show up again."
"What do you mean?" the Doctor began to ask, curious as to what was going on in London, why everyone feared to be around the place, and why Wanda seemed to know the elderly man so well. But before any of them could talk any longer, the three on the street were hurriedly teleported away and were brought back onto the Titanic.
Wanda frowned in disappointment as the passengers who had gone travelling to Earth began to complain about being pulled away so quickly. A steward came up, apologizing to the guests while giving the blame on a power fluctuation. After the steward had left, and Astrid hugged the Doctor and Wanda once last time before going off to work, Wanda grabbed the Doctor's hand and steered him over to a nearby porthole.
"Look, Doctor, we only have a few minutes to go now," Wanda told him hurriedly. "We need to try and warn everyone. If we can just skip hacking into the ship's systems—."
"What do you mean? What's going on?" the Doctor questioned, pondering on what she was trying to tell him. Grabbing the Time Lord's chin, she directed his gaze out of the porthole to look off into dark space. The distant glowing perked up the Doctor's interest, making him step closer to the window. "Now, that can't be right." He pulled out his glasses, placing them on as he stared at the meteoroids heading towards them, trying to think as to why the rocks were steering in such an odd, curved course. "It's like they're being pulled in." Moving quick over to a nearby picture frame with a constant ad running in showing Max Capricorn himself, there were quick movements in the Doctor hacking into the ship's systems once he had pulled the frame from the wall.
Wanda went to him quickly, tugging on his sleeve. "There's no time for that. I can already tell you that the shields are down and the meteoroid storm is heading right for us."
"I just want to double check," the Doctor muttered as he pulled apart different wires. The picture ad glitched for a moment before changing to show the ship's operating systems. The large, flashing, red words of warning in the shield's offline and the meteoroids coming in fast made the Doctor's eyes widened.
Bouncing nervously on her feet, Wanda went to go over to the stage, ready to grab the microphone from the singer and announce the incoming meteoroids to the passengers. She heard the Doctor shouting into the intercom system, trying to warn the Captain. But soon other stewards grabbed the Time Lord and began dragging him away. All the while, the Doctor hollered at everyone to run to safety, warning them of the incoming meteoroids. Wanda pinched her thumb, changing course to run after her Doctor. She knew there was no saving everyone on this day. But seeing Foon, Morvin, Mr. Copper, Rickston, Bannakaffalatta, and Astrid heading in the same direction as the Doctor gave her some peace of mind that at least some would survive this day. Even the egoistical Rickston surviving would be fine with her. Sure, he may be an arse, but Wanda would never truly wish death upon anyone.
She had just reached the same secluded corridor where the stewards were dragging the Doctor and everyone else when disaster finally struck. Screaming pierced the air as the ship roared from the impact of the large meteoroids. Everything shook, erupting into fire and sparks as the ship tore apart. Wanda let out a screech as she was flung across the way, slamming into the wall of entangled pipes and other mechanics. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her stomach, keeping up her own means of protection for the tiny and precious cargo within. She curled up into herself, making certain to keep her stomach protected as the whole ship did a spin. Everything spun, making it hard for Wanda to tell which way was up or down. All she knew was that she had to keep holding her stomach by any means necessary.
Finally, she fell hard to the metal floor as the ship stopped rocking. Everything went still, quiet. Only the sounds of the creaking, groaning ship and electrical sparks made a sound. Then, whimpering began to echo down the corridor. Wanda could tell it was Foon crying. She then heard Morvin trying to comfort his wife.
"Wanda?! Wanda!"
Someone was heard stomping rapidly down the broken corridor, making their way towards her direction. She heard grunting as someone moved something or another. It was only until she felt the weight lift off of her did she realize that pipes had fallen on top of her. Still, she held herself into a tight ball, with arms wrapped strongly around her stomach.
"Wanda? Come on, Wanda, open your eyes," she heard Ten pleading as he cupped her face. Wanda snapped her eyes open, shocked that they had been closed to begin with. She let out a shaky breath as the Doctor stared down at her in worriment. He pulled her up to him, hugging her in a strong grip. "Are you all right?"
"F-fine. Are you okay?" she asked, stroking the side of his face while quickly looking him over, making certain he was indeed fine. She then began to giggle lightly. "Oh, look, you're still wearing the 'I'm being clever' glasses." The Doctor smiled, kissing her forehead after taking off the glasses and placing them back into his suit jacket.
"I'm always okay," he assured her to her earlier question. Taking her hand, he gently helped her up, letting her lean against him as she wobbled on her feet. He began gazing around, taking in the small fires around them and the rest of the destruction surrounding them. "Bad name for a ship. Either that or this suit is really unlucky."
"Nope. That's just our usual luck," Wanda chuckled under her breath, shaking her head as she let out her hair from the messy bun. Her hand then swiftly came up and slapped over her mouth as a wave of nausea swept through her. She repeatedly tried gulping, to ease her sickness away. But it was only making her feel worse. "Oh, those wings are not agreeing with me."
The Doctor blinked, unsure on what Wanda was trying to say with her hand muffling her voice. "What?"
Wanda did not have a chance to respond as the sickness won over her. Turning around so she would not hit the Doctor, she bent over a broken railing, heaving greatly. The coughing would not stop as she groaned, pressing a hand into her unsettled stomach, letting the queasiness pass. She felt two hands patting at her back, rubbing in soothing motions. Gulping and wiping her mouth, she turned back around, staring sheepishly at the concerned looking Doctor and Astrid.
"Sorry," Wanda mumbled, blushing as she felt embarrassed to have become so sick so easily. Why did this keep happening to her? Oh . . . Right, that.
"It's all right. You really did eat too many wings," the Doctor said, waving a hand in dismissal to Wanda's embarrassment. With an argument breaking out down the corridor, the Doctor went off to settle everyone down from yelling at the surviving steward in rage. Anger in a dire situation was never a good thing.
Wanda continued to rub at her stomach, unsure on what she should do about her indiscriminate sickness. It came out of nowhere during many points. Perhaps it truly was stress during extremely tense situations that caused it? Either way, she would have to gain some sort of control over herself so that way she would not bother the Doctor by it. Or cause levels of concern. Or make it so he or others might know that she was . . .
"You're pregnant, aren't you?"
Wanda tensed, eyes going wide as she stared at Astrid in alarm. The blonde woman smiled kindly in return, giving the Time Lady a knowing gaze.
"H-How did you know?" Wanda asked in a whisper, keeping her voice hushed so that there was no chance of anyone else hearing. Though, they were far enough away that she doubted anyone would hear. But then again, the Doctor had great hearing to begin with.
"I had a friend once who used to do the same thing when she was pregnant," Astrid commented, nodding towards Wanda rubbing her stomach in gentle caresses. Blushing, Wanda hurriedly dropped her hand away. Astrid smiled even more. "She'd always get sick whenever she went through too much stress. And kept looking at her husband with side glances, nervous about breaking the news to him."
"Is it . . . is it really that noticeable?" Wanda replied, speechless on what to say. Had it really been that obvious?
Astrid chuckled, shaking her head lightly. "Well, I wasn't for certain at first. But when you've dealt with a friend being pregnant three times, you learn to notice the signs. And the refusing a free drink sort of tipped me off as well." She scooted closer to Wanda, smiling in excitement for sharing the happy news. "So, when did you find out?"
Wanda smiled meekly, replying, "Just a few hours ago."
There was a soft, hushed, squeal given by Astrid, giggling as well in delight. "Oh! How far along are you?"
Wanda hummed, trying to remember what the medical bay diagnosis had told her. "About two months. A little over."
Astrid beamed again for a second before looking concerned, glancing down at the Doctor. The two blondes watched as the Time Lord checked over an injured Mr. Copper, every so often throwing sharp comments at Rickston who was still yelling at the one surviving stewards. Foon and Morvin were just sitting together next to Mr. Copper, keeping each other calm with loving affections. Looking back at Wanda, Astrid raised a brow. "So when are you going to tell him?"
Tugging at the back of her long locks, the Time Lady could only continue to stare at the Doctor, wondering the same thing. "I'm not sure. I can't tell him now. It'll just make him more worried, and it's too risky to have him getting overemotional. It won't be good for any of us if he gets like that." Sighing heavily, Wanda let her hair go as she distracted herself by dusting off her torn dress. Darn. There were rips everywhere. She would have to fix that later. "I guess . . . after today. Or—or maybe later than that. I really don't know how to tell him. I mean, it's not like we planned this. But, now that I think about it, we didn't plan against it, either. Didn't even think about using protection, which, now that I look back, was silly on our part. Not—not that I'm regretting what's—what's happened from us not thinking about it. But I'm still worried. It will cause him to be in a constant overemotional and stressed state. Not something I want. And our lives aren't exactly the best for having a child around. It's entirely too dangerous for adults, let alone a child. Then there's me constantly wandering everywhere, and the Doctor constantly being a magnet for trouble. How are we going to manage raising and protecting our child? Will he even want a child to be a part of our time travelling family? What if he doesn't want to be a father? Though, technically, he was . . . is, a father. There's Jenny. But she was already grown up when she was born, so that doesn't necessarily count. Will he not like having to take time aside to raise a child again? And what if it's too early for him and everything? I mean—no wait, sorry, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
"Um," Astrid responded, blinking quite a bit as she tried wrapping her mind around all the rapid talking Wanda had done, "I'd say." Shaking her head, Astrid ended up patting Wanda's back as she gave a small smile of encouragement. "Look . . . I'm not all that sure on what exactly you're worrying or talking about, but trust me, I'm certain the Doctor will be fine with you two having a kid together. He seems like the type to love kids, at least. Though . . . I really shouldn't talk since I've only just met the two of you." The waitress frowned, suddenly appearing uncertain by her comforting a woman she barely knew. "I don't even know what planet you're from. Or what species you are."
Wanda shrugged, uncertain herself on what she should tell Astrid. "It's . . . It's complicated. Let's just leave it at that." Only noticing for a brief second before her eyes went wide in realizing the steward was leaving the group, going over to a near hatch to open it. Apparently checking to see if he could get to the bridge where the Captain would be. "Oh no. Brace yourself, Astrid."
Wanda grabbed the railing behind her and made the blonde next to her do the same just before the blast of air began blowing around them, trying to suck them out into space from the open hatch the steward had tried going through. The steward was sucked right out into space, dying instantly. Everyone else were lucky enough to have been far enough away from the hatch to have had time to grab onto something. Keeping themselves from following the same fate as the poor steward. Wanda watched from her dangling position the Doctor letting himself fall towards one of the ship's control panels. The Time Lord grabbed onto the edge of a beam, pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his suit jacket, and aimed it at the panel. The computer system beeped and all fell to the floor as the air settled once more. Space no longer trying to yank them into death as the oxygen field had been stabilized.
"Everyone all right?" the Doctor asked immediately as everyone sort of either lay where they had fallen or were trying to get themselves up. Checking over everyone with a quick glance, the Doctor looked for his Wanderer, seeing her standing up cautiously, but smiling and giving him a thumb's up. He smiled in return, starting to walk over to her to make certain she was indeed fine.
"What an idiot," Rickston spoke up in disgust, dusting himself off from the floor, fixing his suit to continue looking proper. "Can Max Capricorn hire anyone with at least some intelligence?" The Doctor halted in his steps, staring at Rickston in disbelief. Did he just hear Rickston right? How could anyone talk like that after another had lost their life? Foon, Morvin, Bannakaffalatta, and Mr. Copper all looked taken back as well. Wanda and Astrid both held deeply offended and angered expressions, walking over to stand next to the Doctor as they faced Rickston squarely.
"Oi, shut it!" Wanda barked at the businessman.
"The steward just died," Astrid retorted in spite. Rickston showed them all a snide smile.
"Then he's a dead idiot," he bit back. Eye twitching like mad, fists clenched together with their knuckles going white, Wanda's face grew red from the anger that built up. And all she could see was the red haze in her vision as she stared at that hateful man across from her.
"Doctor, hold me back," she growled in a low tone as she gritted her teeth harshly. Blinking, the Doctor looked at Wanda in confusion.
"What?" he responded. Then he saw the eye twitching in crazed fashion and her red face, fists clenched to her sides. Uh-oh. He acted fast as the short blonde launched herself at Rickston. The Doctor grabbed Wanda around the waist, pulling her back as she clawed at the air, kicking her legs as the Time Lord behind her lifted her up. Her bright red face a clear sign to match her rage as she glared heatedly at Rickston.
"Let me at him! I swear, I'm going to knock his lights out!" she snarled in her fury. Rickston backed away, pressing his back into the piping behind him as he stared at the small blonde in alarm. The others were dumbfounded, not ever expecting such a small woman to have such a temper.
"Wanda, calm down," the Doctor warned the Time Lady, holding her tight to his chest as he hoped to settle her anger. Wanda just growled more, pointing a harsh finger at Rickston as her anger continued to boil.
"After this day is over, I'm punching you. And that's a promise," she barked at Rickston. The businessman across from her rolled his eyes, giving the Doctor a sneer as he ignored Wanda completely, believing her to be nothing more than a lunatic.
"Learn to control your tramp," Rickston told the Doctor, having a nasty smirk on his face. All grew dead silent as they stared at Rickston. Astrid's mouth fell open in shock while the other survivors held great expressions of disbelief. Wanda felt her eye twitching more, opening her own mouth to throw back a nasty retort at the stupid man. But then she was surprised when the Doctor suddenly pushed her into Astrid's arms.
"Astrid, hold Wanda, would you?" said the Time Lord very calmly, holding no emotion in his voice. Astrid gripped the Time Lady's arm as instructed. Both Wanda and Astrid (even the others) were unsure on what the Doctor was doing. Next thing anyone knew, the Doctor had Rickston up in the air by his shirt, slamming the businessman into the wall with a mighty force. Rickston looked as though he blacked out for a second before jerking awake to stare in terror at the furious Time Lord holding him. The Doctor's eyes glared darkly as he stared the man down. "Call my wife a 'tramp' one more time and I'll do more damage than she ever would. Do I make myself clear?"
Rickston could only nod as he gulped, the Oncoming Storm eyes sending the man into a fearful state. The Doctor jerked Rickston one more time before letting him go. Then the Time Lord turned around to face the others, holding an even gaze with everyone.
"Now, just stay, all of you. I have to check something," he told them, turning and walking down the corridor away from them as he went to investigate the still open hatch. Glancing at the rest of the survivors, Wanda quickly went after him, wanting to help investigate. As well as possible ask him a few questions. Standing beside her Time Lord, gazing out to the debris of the ship floating around just outside in the vacuum of space, she could not help but glance at him repeatedly as she raised a brow in interest.
"Well . . . you're more emotional than usual," she commented lightly.
"I'm not going to tolerate someone like that. They can insult me all they want, but when they start throwing horrid remarks onto you . . .," the Doctor said, his voice rumbling with his anger before letting out a frustrated breath. Rubbing an exasperated hand through his hair, messing up his brown locks, he looked to Wanda next to him as he gave a small wiry smile. "Guess I might have gotten carried away with my anger. Think I'm starting to pick that up from you, Miss Temper." Wanda snorted shaking her head as she felt embarrassed to have lost her temper so badly back there. But then again, she still wanted to punch Rickston to no end. Glancing at the Doctor once more, she held a cheeky grin as she recalled what he had called her when snapping at Rickston.
"So, I'm your wife now, am I?" she remarked, snickering as the Doctor blinked rapidly.
"Huh?" he replied, appearing bewildered by her question.
"You called me your wife when you told Rickston off. Did I miss a memo and we're married now?" Wanda giggled as the Doctor's mouth opened and closed just as rapid as his blinking, seeming speechless.
Finally, the Doctor cleared his throat. "S-sorry. Slip of the tongue. Meant to say 'partner.' Won't happen again. Who wants to get married anyway? Not me. Nope. Not married to anyone. Especially not you."
Wanda stopped giggling, arching a brow high at this statement as she placed her hands on her hips. "Oh? So I'm not marriage material, then? Is that it?"
The Doctor felt sudden alarm as he realized what he had rudely said without meaning to. "No—no! I meant . . . Well, by what I said was . . . Of—of course I'd love to marry . . ." He cleared his throat quickly, looking back out to the debris of the ship as a red tint formed on his face. "So—TARDIS. Have to find our TARDIS. We'll be able to get everyone out that way."
Rolling her eyes, Wanda snorted and bumped him playfully with her hip. "I love you, idiot." Grabbing his hand, she threaded their fingers together as she gazed back out to the open door once more. Her light humour faded instantly when a passing body floated by. Hearts twisting with sadness, she let out a solemn sigh. "How many?"
The Doctor squeezed her hand in comfort. "Don't think about it. Focus on—."
"Us being alive. I know." She gripped his hand more firmly, straightening as she readied herself. "If you're wondering where the TARDIS is, she's already falling to Earth. She was throw into adrift from the meteoroid crash and homed in on the planet. We're on our own in finding a way out of here."
"Like the usual, then," the Doctor muttered under his breath. Turning, he walked over to a near intercom system, ready to contact the bridge.
Wanda and the others sat back as the Doctor made connections with Midshipman Frame. The young man told them of the terrible actions the Captain had done, lowering the shields on purpose and allowing the meteoroids to hit them in the first place. After calming Frame down from his woes by what had happened, the Doctor had the young man check the state of the engines. When seeing the nuclear storm drives cycling down, both concluded on the one thing. The ship would lose orbit and the Earth below would perish in the wake of the ship's crash. All life on Earth, gone. There was quick order from the Doctor, telling Frame to feed the core with the engine's containment field. A temporary fix until the Time Lord himself managed to get to the bridge to settle the situation more properly.
"We're gonna die," Foon spoke up in horror after the Doctor finished instructing Frame.
"Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?" Mr. Copper asked hurriedly, greatly unnerved in the idea of all of this occurring because of the actions of another. Everyone began talking at once, panicking as they realized what sort of fate will become of them with the ship crashing to Earth. Rolling her eyes, Wanda brought up her fingers and gave a sharp whistle. Everyone went quiet instantly, looking to the Time Lady.
"We're going to be fine," Wanda told them all evenly, smiling in reassurance. "I promise." Nodding her head to the Doctor, "Now, listen to him. He'll explain what we're going to do. Right, Spaceman?"
"Right," the Doctor replied, nodding firmly as he directed his sole attention onto the survivors. "First things first—one, we are gonna climb through this ship. 'B'—No, two, we're gonna reach the bridge. Three, or 'C,' we're gonna save the Titanic. And coming in a very low four, or 'D,' or that little 'iv' in brackets they use in footnotes—why? Right, then, follow me." Turning around in tight formation, there were fast steps made by the Doctor as he began to hurry off. But then the Time Lord halted when Rickston voiced his snide remarks.
"Hang on a minute," Rickston said with a scoff, staring at the Doctor in disbelief for giving them all such orders. Still angry with both the Doctor and Wanda for making him look like a fool. "Who put you in charge? And who the hell are you, anyway?" Wanda threw a sharp glare at the businessman while the Doctor turned back around, marching closer to the group as he held an expression that spoke of authority and power.
"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred-three years old, and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below," the Time Lord said, voice showing great strength, wisdom, and power beyond any of them could imagine. He held an even gaze with them all for a moment, seeing the awe on their expressions as he threw a sharp eye onto Rickston once more. "You got a problem with that?" Rickston shook his head quickly, averting his eyes as if unsettled by staring at the Doctor. Smirking, the Time Lord stood straighter, ready for action again. "You coming, Wanderer?"
"Right behind you, sweetie," Wanda said cheerfully as she skipped over and took his hand. Completely proud and moved by the speech he had given. Her love for him soaring even higher.
The Doctor grinned brightly, giving his love's hand a squeeze. "In that case, Allons-y!"
XxXxXxXx
I think we all saw it coming with Wanda being pregnant. Wasn't much of a mystery there. lol ;) Though the Doctor being very defensive over her is always fun. Can't wait until the next chapter! I really hope you all enjoyed the story in where it's heading. Let me know in a review in what you thought. I always love hearing from you all. :D
Reviewers:
bored411: Hope you enjoyed her reaction. I'm sure it was no surprise in what she found out. ;) As for the Day of Sorrow . . . I'll just say spoilers for now. Keeping my fingers crossed that you enjoyed the new update! Take care!
Tina And Maxwell: So, was it on the money in what you thought Wanda found out? ;) Can't wait to see what you think of it!
lautaro94: I know what you mean. But don't worry, the story will most definitely go a different route than that. As warned in the very first part of the story, things are not as they seem. Though, if you end up not liking where the rest of the story goes, I am truly sorry. I hope that it was a good read until then at least. Thank you for giving the story a chance and giving it a read. I truly appreciate that. :) I hope you have a wonderful day!
FictionalBoysAreBetter: Yep! I'm so happy you enjoyed Sexy with Wanda. :) Truthfully, I'm very much dreading that day, too. I'm really worried about how all readers will feel about it. :( I will say this, though, it is with the Master. But that's all I can say for now. I'm great! Thanks for asking. :) Glad to hear that you're doing all right. I was worried for the longest time that it was annoying. I know it had been annoying during the second part of the story, so I worked to be better in this part. I'm glad to see that things are better in this last part. :) Yep, we will! But not until much later from now. Can't wait to see you again! Hope you enjoyed the newest update!
Momochan77: Agreed! It did seem perfect for Wanda. So glad that part made you smile. I'm always happy when the story gives others joy. :) See you soon!
Spoilers darling: Aww, thank you so much! That means the world to me! :) I'm just so happy that the story has brought you so much joy through it all. I truly hope that you will continue to enjoy the story throughout the rest to come. Yep! Wanda is indeed pregnant. Yay! So glad you're already happy for it all. :D Unfortunately, I regret to say that the ending to this story has already been written in stone by this point. No need to apologize at all! You're perfectly fine. :) You are always welcome to say whatever you wish in a review. I welcome all suggestions and thoughts any reader wishes to give. I truly wish you the best of days/nights to come and hope to see you again for the future! I would love to hear from you again and to see what you think of the rest of the story. Take care! :)
Whovianeverlark17: So glad you enjoyed the chapter! I think a lot of people didn't want to touch on the elephant in the (womb) room. lol ;) Oh yes, definitely a reason for what that day is called . . . Not looking forward to it to be honest. But I hope you'll like it all in the end. :) Until next time!
singingKatelyn: Well, might have to wait on that reaction from the Doctor. lol ;) Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter. Have a wonderful day! And I hope the re-read was good if you did go back to the first part. :)
X-Lisa-Anne-X: lol Aren't I a stinker. ;) I always do seem to love those cliffhangers. haha.
heroherondaletotherescue: Woo! Glad you enjoyed it all. Depends on which Doctor I think when it comes to knowing about Wanda's little surprise. ;) So glad you're feeling much better now. I'm doing great, thank you for asking. Hope to see you again soon! Take care!
All The Stories Are True 24601: Glad to help with any and all information you wish on it! I've studied the subject for years, so if you ever need help just let me know and I'm more than willing to be there for you. :) Don't mind my apologises, I tend to do that a lot. haha. Glad you enjoyed that small touch. I thought it wouldn't go over well, but I'm happy to see that many readers enjoyed it. :) Hope school has been going well and to see you again for the next time!
Guest(a): Yay! So glad you liked it. :) Don't mind me, I just love leaving things hanging on that cliff. lol ;)
Authora97: Welp, nothing to be concerned about now. Just a little baby growing. That's all. ;) Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
alwaystherereading: Woo! I'm so happy to get to your favorite episode! It's one of mine, too. :) Glad you enjoyed how it went on in the story. For now, I think I'll leave off from saying anything else. Too afraid I might give a spoiler away if I say more. ;) Well, the Doctor hasn't really been keeping it a secret. He just has to let time play out as it will for her. If he says things too soon, it would mean messing with time and creating something bad to happen. Don't want that to happen to Wanda and the baby now do we? Hope your day/night is going fantastic and to see you again soon!
deadflowerseverymorning: No worries, everything will be revealed soon enough. :) Though I really hope you'll like it once it does. I'm really nervous on how everyone will like it once it gets to the end of the story. Keeping my fingers crossed until then. Thank you for the lovely review! Can't wait to see what you think of the new chapter. :)
QuirkyKim: Me, either. lol ;) Hope you enjoyed it at least!
Guest(b): Hmm . . . I think I'll just say spoilers for now. Sorry. But thank you so much for your lovely words! That means so much to me. :) I really hope that you liked the newest chapter.
Guest(c): Well, she's definitely pregnant. :)
Crystal-star-Tyler: Yep! XD So excited in what you think about it!
NerdWithAPencil: lol You'd be 100% correct there! Don't have any money on me. How about a new chapter instead? ;) I'm so happy to hear that the story brings you so much joy! I hope it continues throughout the rest. :) Can't wait to see you again the future! Take care!
normandy1701: Oh, don't worry about keeping your thoughts secret. You're always welcome to share whatever thoughts you wish to say with this story. :) Hope you enjoyed the new chapter and the reveal of Wanda's pregnancy!
LegendsOfTime: lol She most definitely is. ;)
Starcrest129: Oh, yes. It was most definitely one of those moments where everyone but the main character knows what's going on. It's always fun with these moments because then you're just excited in waiting for the moment when they finally realize it. ;) Wanda always does miss the obvious, doesn't she? haha.
Once again, thank you everyone for reviewing! The story has gotten so many lately, it just warms my heart. You all are always amazing!
~Tinker~