The universe worked in mysterious ways. In ways that Morgan would never quite be able to grasp or fully comprehend. Whenever she had asked her father questions about it, he would never answer clearly, usually adding irrelevant sayings. "Maybe if you ask again, I'll know, third time's the charm". Ironic, seeing as she had had more than three chances to meet the Doctor, and none of them had been "the charm".

Maybe instead of third time's the charm, it was actually the sixth. Or maybe, luck had nothing to do with it.

The sixth opportunity, however, would come on a muggy day full of clouds.

School had just ended, but it seemed Morgan couldn't go home just yet. Danny had another meeting, this time it was a staff meeting so everyone, including Clara, would be there. Unfortunately, that also meant that the teacher's lounge and staff room were currently off-limits to one 16-year-old Morgan.

When Morgan tried to plead with Danny to let her sit in, his response was something along the lines of:

"Just wander around a bit, don't go getting into trouble mind you," or at least that's how Morgan remembered it. It wasn't as if she had been paying very close attention to what he had been saying. Technically, Morgan figured, she could interpret that statement in any way she liked.

Morgan was definitely not going to exploit that.

She would at least refrain from doing anything illegal.

Morgan had explored the school a bit after the meeting had first started but then inevitably gotten a bit bored. The hallways had begun to blend into one another, windows and concrete after windows and concrete. It made her want to bang her head against the lockers in frustration.

There was only so much that one could do in a school.

The meeting was supposed to last 4 hours.

4 hours.

What was she even supposed to do for 4 hours? Morgan doubted she'd even survive that long. She could go out somewhere, maybe grab some ice cream, but there wasn't exactly anyone she could go with. Any possible classmates were all at home, and her dad was still at work. All in all, what had earlier looked like a golden opportunity, now seemed like nothing more than a tedious chore.

So, she turned her mind on autopilot, wandering around instead, letting her legs take her wherever. Before she could really process where she was already headed, she was hit suddenly by the harsh contrast between the stuffy warm air inside and the cool breeze outside.

Morgan inhaled the fresh air with a smile, content just to feel the wind on her face as it gently ruffled her hair.

The schoolyard was deserted, the closest person being a child in the street over, playing on their driveway. She paused, her eyes landing on an intricate wooden bench by the school entrance, pushed up against the wall. It looked slightly cramped, but there didn't seem to be any better option to sit.

She may not have much to do, but being outside was objectively going to be more interesting than being inside. Out here there were no walls to block her view. Somehow, surprisingly, there was also less noise. Perhaps the meeting had been louder than Morgan had previously assumed.

She relaxed her muscles, her eyes tracing the shapes of the clouds as she sat with a smile. The clouds had dissipated, leaving a beautiful clear sky in their wake, deep blue with only a few clouds dotting the sky, all fluffy and bright.

Although it would likely not last long, Morgan opted to relish in the moment's joy.

A few minutes of silence passed before Morgan was startled by someone sitting beside her on the bench. Her stomach curled in at the thought and Morgan turned away in an attempt to ignore them. She didn't know if she had the energy to be perceived at that moment, or to talk. Maybe if she ignored them long enough they would take the hint and leave her alone.

She tried instead to let her thoughts drift back toward the clouds. Smaller and brighter than earlier, merely a shadow or their former selves. If she focused enough on one of them, she could see them moving steadily but slowly across the sky. It was always something that had fascinated her, how if she didn't pay attention, they seemed stagnant, but if she looked just a little closer, they moved. Perhaps there was a deeper meaning there, about life and how one perceived it.

Or maybe they were simply just clouds, and that was how clouds worked.

Morgan flinched as a loud strum broke through the earlier calmness. Perhaps it was quiet, but it felt so loud next to the earlier quiet.

She almost jumped and looked around alarmed. The sound seemed to be coming from an electric guitar, from the person beside her.

Morgan had almost forgotten there was still a person sitting next to her. They, unfortunately, hadn't left yet, so at this point, she should probably acknowledge their presence. Morgan turned to give them a smile or nod or anything. Instead, she froze mid-smile.

This was not a stranger. Well, technically it was. But it also wasn't. Her brain couldn't fully process what she was seeing. Grown-out grey hair, bushy eyebrows, a guitar strung around his shoulder and sunglasses peeking out from where they hung on his coat. It took at least another minute for her to develop a coherent thought.

It was unmistakably and without a shadow of a doubt, the Doctor.

It took every bit of self-control Morgan had to not just walk away at that moment. To not just block the uncomfortable and exhilarating situation from her mind and run. Somehow yet again, she couldn't, she was frozen in place. Why did he have to go sit next to her? Wasn't there some other bench near the school with no Morgan on it?

Somehow it was Morgan who spoke first, despite her frozen state. Awkward silence was worse than having to speak.

"Uh hello," Morgan said unintelligibly, trying to force her contorted expression into a smile. This was not how she pictured this would go. It was as if she had completely forgotten how to speak to people. What should she say next? It would probably be best to introduce herself or ask for his name, despite the fact that she already knew it.

"Who are you?" she asked instead.

Morgan really wished she could just disappear at that moment. She needed to fix this, to repair whatever shambles she was leaving the conversation in. She needed to introduce herself.

"My name is Morgan." Morgan stuck her hand out for him to shake in an effort to regain some semblance of normality.

She wasn't sure if that was even possible given the situation.

The Doctor said nothing for a moment, simply shaking her hand. Somehow that both increased and lessened her stress simultaneously.

"I'm the Doctor," he finally said, with an amused glint in his eye. There it was.

"Doctor Who?" Morgan asked. She hadn't been able to control the urge to say it. It was too good of an opportunity. The Doctor grinned, and Morgan must have had immense amounts of self-control to not roll her eyes at that.

But Morgan had to be careful. She need to remember that she wasn't supposed to know him at all or understand that inside joke. She cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Lovely clouds out right now," Morgan said, the urge to simply disappear growing steadily with each second that passed. Maybe she should just stop talking.

"Morgan I really thought you'd be a bit more perceptive than this!" he continued, rolling the r, Morgan stayed silent, hoping that maybe if she just smiled and nodded she would be able to get through this without seeming like a complete idiot. "Well, can't say I blame you, pudding brain and all," he paused after that as if to emphasize a joke. Was she supposed to laugh? Normally she would, it was an inside joke she quite liked. But it was as if every word had a double meaning now.

Because she didn't know who the Doctor was. She wasn't supposed to.

Also, perceptive, that's what the Doctor had said? What was she supposed to perceive? All Morgan was really sure of was that she didn't want to be perceived right now.

Before Morgan could continue that train of thought, however, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Glasses, sonic sunglasses to be precise. Ones that the Doctor definitely did not have in early series 8, where Morgan assumed the timeline was at that moment.

"You're crossing your own timestream, aren't you? Are you supposed to do that?" Morgan asked before she could fully think through what she was saying. This wasn't the series 8 Doctor, she should have seen that from the start. Guitar? Possibly. But sonic sunglasses?

Wait, she wasn't supposed to know that. She wasn't supposed to know about the Doctor or timestreams. Even if he was from the future, she definitely should not have pointed that out.

"Maybe I am, maybe not, but whose checking," the Doctor replied waving his arms dissmissively.

Why was he so calm about all of this? Morgan wasn't supposed to know any of this. There was only one plausible explanation.

"I take it you know me?" Morgan asked. At first, the only response Morgan got was an eyebrow raise.

"No, I just make a habit of talking to strange pudding brains I don't know," A pause, "yes of course I know you!" the Doctor's Scottish accent intensified just then and his gesturing grew wilder as he stood up.

"But I've never even-" Morgan cut herself off before she could make any more stupid blunders.

"Well of course you haven't met me yet!" the Doctor said, giving no further information. "I'm getting hungry, anything you'd like to eat?"

"I'm not sure," Morgan asked as her stomach adamantly agreed with the Doctor. "Maybe some ice cream?" God this was so surreal. Morgan could barely even register what she was saying at this point.

Morgan stood up shakily to join the Doctor. She wobbled a bit as he started leading her away but soon found her footing again.

"Uh, Doctor, small issue," Morgan said, "I don't have any money on me right now." Morgan tried to point out. And she was certain the Doctor definitely didn't either. The Doctor stopped suddenly breaking his pace. The sudden halt broke Morgan's balance and she had to grasp onto his arm to right herself again. Would it really hurt for him to be consistent in his pacing?

"Ah," he paused, "That may be an issue," another pause as the Doctor began to rummage in his jacket.

"Aha! He exclaimed, "I have brought money!" the Doctor held out a credit card as if it could shatter at any moment. Morgan sighed at that. Since when did the Doctor carry around money?

"I don't believe that you actually brought money." Morgan retorted, snorting at the absurdity. The Doctor, of course, shot Morgan an extremely offended look, spluttering a bit before forming a coherent sentence.

"I do carry money around!" was the Doctor's rebuttal. Morgan rolled her eyes. "Just not my money," he muttered later under his breath," Morgan decided it would be best to ignore that part.

"Have some faith, Morgan."

They started off towards the ice cream place again as Morgan shook her head in exasperation. She shivered a little as a cold gust of wind came from behind. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled with goosebumps. Morgan shivered again, hugging herself tightly. The Doctor glanced at her then, eyeing her lack of coat.

"You have no coat on," the Doctor observed intelligibly. He let out a long overdrawn sigh, "Why do you never bring a coat, Morgan? Soon we'll be stuck on some ice planet with a cool amusement park, but you'll be too busy freezing to death!" His volume rose and his accent thickened as he progressed. Morgan shot the Doctor a glare at that remark but then paused.

The statement was completely absurd. Why would they be going to an amusement park on an ice planet anyway? Why not just go to a non-ice planet?

"Why would we go to an amusement park on an ice planet?" Morgan questioned trying to emphasize the words 'ice planet'. The Doctor, of course, completely ignored her emphasis or just didn't notice.

"Well, because ice planets are cool! Also isn't that what you children do these days? Go to amusement parks on ice planets?" the Doctor continued, and he slowed his pace slightly as she began to lag behind a bit. Morgan shivered again as another gust of wind blew in. A strand of hair flew into her mouth, leaving Morgan sputtering in an attempt to spit it out.

"No? And I'm not a child Doctor, I'm 16 years old!" Morgan cried indignantly. She waved her arms around as if that would emphasize her point.

"No, you're 7," the Doctor insisted. Morgan had to stop in her tracks to properly give him the full extent of her exasperated look. In what universe did Morgan look 7 years old? Did her height really make her look that young? Also, didn't the Doctor call Courtney, who was younger than Morgan mind you, 30 years old? When she was 15? How come now, according to the Doctor now, Morgan was 7?

"No Doctor, I'm 16," Morgan said, rolling her eyes. At that point though, she was no longer really annoyed; it was more playful banter. Although sometimes it was a bit difficult to discern when the Doctor was actually being serious or not.

"You sure? Aren't you a bit too short?" the Doctor asked, indicating her height with his hand. Morgan shot him a glare at that, turning away indignantly. His small smile indicated that he was indeed joking, at least a bit, but it was still annoying.

"I'm not that short Doctor," Morgan bit back.

At this point, the Doctor elected to pull her along with him instead of waiting for her to catch up. This made Morgan stumble again and swear under her breath.

"That's right! Keep your spirits up!" Then the Doctor added, almost as an afterthought. "If you keep shivering, soon you're going to make me start shivering. Here, " Then the Doctor reached into his pocket, rummaged around for a while then pulled out- Her jacket? Morgan blinked.

"That's my jacket."Morgan stuttered dumbly.

"Excellent observational skills," the Doctor said. Morgan grumbled and pulled her beige coat around herself, the fluff immediately blocking out the harshest of the winds.

The Doctor patted her shoulder in consolation as he led her into the small shop. They sat down at one of the seats by the window, with a nice view of the cozy street. It was small, and somehow reminiscent of Clara's coffee shop, but was different and smaller with round tables and couches attached to the walls.

She sat across from the Doctor as he attempted to order them some ice cream. Attempted being the keyword, as he instead ended up on a tangent about Barcelona. Morgan sighed, cutting him off halfway through, attempting to save the waitress from further discussion. The waitress for her part was frowning slightly, with arched brows and sleek black hair. Morgan glanced at her nametag "Freya".

"Sorry about him," Morgan said. The girl for her part seemed indifferent and simply shrugged as she checked her watch. It was probably the end of her shift soon, so if they hurried up with their order she'd be able to get off and fully enjoy the rest of her day.

"He wants vanilla, and I want chocolate" Morgan clarified, shaking her head at the Doctor's thoroughly offended look. He could go on about Barcelona where the dogs had no noses when they weren't trying to order something. The waitress nodded, sending Morgan a relieved thank you, and Morgan gave her a smile as she rushed away to relay their orders.

"What d'you do that for! I thought you liked Barcelona!" the Doctor asked, genuinely confused. Morgan sighed and massaged her temples.

"I do like Barcelona Doctor! But you were scaring that poor waitress half to death!" Morgan cried, exasperated.

"What waitress?" the Doctor asked again, looking around and under the table as if the waitress would somehow be hiding underneath it.

"The waitress that just took our orders? For the ice cream?" Morgan tried, but the Doctor just gave her a blank confused stare. Morgan shook her head. "Ok, then so uh where are you… right now..?" Morgan asked.

"Well, where are you right now?" the Doctor asked instead, avoiding the question. She frowned slightly at that.

"Well, I've been watching Clara closely and from what I can gather, I'm somewhere before you come to the school." Morgan said, then continued to analyze, "I'm not sure if Time Heist has happened yet," Morgan trailed off and turned to the Doctor. He was grinning again

"Oh Time-Heist, that one was a fun one wasn't it?" the Doctor grinned again and continued "I robbed a bank you know? First time, you should try it sometime. Actually, don't do that," the Doctor trailed off, furrowing his eyebrows deep in thought.

Morgan smiled, it would be difficult to figure out if Time Heist had happened yet. Well unless she outright asked Clara, but that wasn't really a viable option. Basically, she'd have to wait until the Caretaker. She'd likely have no choice but to meet the Doctor in that one. Wednesday morning she had English and the Doctor would be literally entering her classroom.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a bowl of ice cream being carefully placed in front of her by the waitress. Morgan grabbed the smooth cool glass bowl and brought it closer to her. She thanked the waitress, who shot her a smile in return, and turned back towards the Doctor.

"So, you still haven't exactly told me where you are yet," Morgan said, taking a spoonful of her ice cream. The Doctor's expression was unreadable as he thought, and took his own spoonful of ice cream as well.

"Well it's a bit complicated, I'm trying to think of something that happened recently that you'd know…" the Doctor trailed off. He avoided her gaze and instead stared intently at his own spoon. Morgan desperately hoped that he wasn't planning on stealing it. He already had a spoon which had even won him a sword fight before. "Oh yes! I've got it!" he exclaimed after a bit, "The Zygon one, you knew the Zygon one right?" the Doctor asked cautiously. The Zygon Invasion/Inversion two-parter? That made sense, especially since the doctor still remembered Clara but had his guitar and sunglasses.

"Yeah, I remember that one," Morgan said with a slight tenseness in her jaw. That one would be a bit complicated wouldn't it? She would have to write it all down and figure out what she was going to have to do for that one later. Assuming she would be doing something. Assuming she would still choose to travel with the Doctor.

"Yes write that one down, and be careful," the Doctor said. Why was he telling her this? There had to be a reason, no matter how subtle.

"What do you mean? Does something happen?" Morgan asked, trying to be as straight to the point as she could. The Doctor, instead of being taken aback, seemed to be expecting her reply and quickly thought up a lame excuse.

"No, I'm just telling you to be careful in general," he sighed, "Take your coat, for example, you need to wear it more often!" a pause, "And listen, yes, you should listen to me more often too, you know I'm very wise." the Doctor continued his tangent despite Morgan beginning to tune him out.

"Doctor, I can take care of myself," Morgan pointed out. The Doctor shook his head but paused, as if assessing the validity of her statement.

"You might be right, but it's always best to be prepared," the Doctor argued, Morgan sighed and had to fight the urge to cross her arms.

"You're one to talk about being prepared. You may be more than 2000 years old Doctor, but just because I'm hundreds of years younger in comparison doesn't make me incompetent,"

"I never said you were incompetent," the Doctor said quietly. Coming from the Doctor "not being incompetent" was high praise.

"Thanks, I guess," Morgan said, shoving another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and licking the excess off of her lips. The cream melted on her tongue, Morgan revelled in the taste. It was the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. Chocolate ice cream was the best. And that was an indisputable fact. Or rather it should be an indisputable fact.

"How are your friends at school doing?" the Doctor tried to ask and Morgan scrunched her nose. Well, did she really have any real friends? Not really, Courtney didn't really count as they didn't really hang out much.

"Well, I don't really have many, unless Courtney counts," Morgan said.

"Courtney? Is that the annoying one?" The Doctor asked, not waiting for Morgan's response, "Isn't she the one that threw up in my TARDIS? I don't really like her." the Doctor finished. Honestly, Courtney wasn't that bad, she was actually pretty nice out of school, she just found teachers a bit annoying. Morgan couldn't exactly blame her. The Doctor was being a bit too harsh on her.

"Courtney's not that bad! Besides," Morgan continued, "Who decided that you get a say in who I hang out with," Morgan snapped, recoiling a little from the table and turning her gaze to the window instead.

"I did!" the Doctor replied as if that was a good enough explanation. Or rather, as if that somehow meant anything.

"Oh what and you're in charge?" Morgan said. ' TARDIS, Timelord, yeah. Donna, Human, No.' her mind helpfully filled in. "I don't even technically know you yet,"

"Really? And you're quoting something aren't you." the Doctor stated.

"No, I'm not," Morgan quickly rebutted, crossing her arms and eyeing him warily. Why would he think that? Was it really that obvious?

"You make a face whenever you quote something," the Doctor added helpfully as the only explanation.

"No, I don't" Morgan snapped, narrowing her eyes at him. The Doctor simply shrugged.

"Suit yourself,"

Morgan's gaze flitted to the window at that moment. She was about to turn back to the Doctor when something caught the corner of her eye. Shit. That wasn't good. Morgan froze, unable to tear her eyes away from the window.

It was Clara.

Clara and Danny. And Morgan was in an ice cream parlour with the Doctor, who Morgan technically had not met yet. If Clara were to find Morgan talking with the Doctor, that would raise many questions that Morgan did not want to answer.

Which meant Morgan needed to hide and make sure Clara did not see her in there.

And she needed to do it right now.

Morgan sat frozen by the window for a few more minutes before gaining her composure. She snapped back into reality, swivelling her head to face the Doctor right as he was about to go on another tangent. She pinned him with her glare or at least attempted to.

It was hard to see straight when her heart was beating so fast.

She needed to calm down. She could not afford to panic right now. Morgan began observing the room in an attempt to calm herself and find a solution.

The Doctor was wearing his normal hoodie-jacket combo of course, there didn't seem to be anything out of place. Morgan squinted harder, her eyes flitting over the room. There were two exits in the ice cream parlour, one in the front and one hidden behind a wall near the back. Morgan made a quick note of that. There had to be something that Morgan was missing. Because if there wasn't, Morgan was not prepared to deal with the consequences.

She never was.

As the Doctor shifted a bit, she caught a glint in the corner of her eye, on his wrist. A watch. But not just any watch, but the invisibility watch from the Caretaker. How awfully convenient.

"Doctor, hand, now," Morgan spoke in broken sentences, motioning for him to give her his hand. She sighed when he raised an eyebrow instead of complying with her request. She wanted to fling a chair across the room. Why could he never just listen when it was important?

"Why d'you need my hand, haven't you got your own hand already?" the Doctor asked but cut himself off. He sat frozen, gaze glued to the window. Morgan took that opportunity to grab at his wrist. The Doctor shot her a glare and began to sputter.

"Doctor, this is important, stop asking questions, and maybe follow your own rules for once." Morgan trailed off as she tried to fumble with the buttons for a bit. How did that stupid watch work? It had looked so easy to work in the show! The Doctor sighed, and snatched his hand back, expertly maneuvering the watch while the waitress went to the back of the shop. Morgan let out a sigh of relief and fell back into her chair as the Doctor disappeared from view.

At least that was one problem solved.

Next issue at hand, getting out of there to avoid Clara entirely. Morgan turned to the empty space where the Doctor had just been.

"Doctor, meet me by the bathrooms and hand me the credit card," she was cut off by a card being shoved hastily in her hands. Morgan grasped onto it and gave the invisible Doctor an awkward smile. Hopefully, she wasn't just smiling at thin air. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to live that down.

She then stood up and made a quick beeline for where the waitress was, quickly tapping the card on the bill, giving the waitress a smile. Clara was almost in direct view of the shop now, if she hurried she might be able to escape.

It was at that exact moment that Clara started walking into the ice cream shop. God, why did she have such terrible timing?

Thankfully she and Danny seemed still oblivious to the going ons inside the shop, still smiling at each other like idiots.

But they weren't looking at her. And that was the important part.

Morgan ducked behind one of the couches and sped to the back entrance just as Clara and Danny were entering. She swung open the back door and was pulled outside abruptly by an invisible hand.

She fell against the wall, taking in deep breaths.

In, out, in, out, in out, in out, in out, in, out, in, out, in out, in out, in out

Her heartbeat finally began to slow. Taking deep breaths, Morgan stood up shakily. They had ended up in a small alleyway, with a few red garbage bins along the side of the brick wall. Morgan let her fingers trace the edge of the rough bricks, looking up to the sky which was now slightly cloudier than before.

Her attention was quickly diverted from the sky back to the alleyway, and she took careful steps along the wall. She glanced around trying to gauge where the Doctor might be. Where had he gone? Her breathing slowed in an attempt to make it as quiet as possible.

There was a car coming in the distance, a siren coming from her right. And there was a slight arrhythmic breathing, slightly off from her own, coming from behind her. Morgan waved aggressively in that direction, hitting an arm.

"Ow!" The Doctor yelled as he quickly undid the watch and reappeared back into view. Morgan turned to walk along the alleyway.

"What was that for?" the Doctor asked, dishevelled and annoyed.

"If you hadn't been invisible, I would've been able to avoid you while I waved," Morgan snapped back. The Doctor didn't grace her with a response.

It was a few more minutes before they reached the sidewalk. They walked relatively silently, allowing all of the worries and thoughts Morgan had tried to bury to emerge once again

She became increasingly aware of the Doctor's presence beside her.

This was decidedly real.

Morgan barely knew what to do, it seemed she had been running on pure adrenaline before, but it had begun to wear off. This was the real Doctor, walking beside her right now. One that had lived countless years and fought countless battles.

"I should probably be heading back now," Morgan said, breaking the silence. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Danny's probably worried out of his mind and Clara's probably expecting me to have been abducted by aliens at this point," Morgan finished, trailing off. The Doctor started nodding in reply.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you must," he paused, "Go home now and do some homework or whatever it is you kids do these days," He paused for a minute as if he was figuring out whether he should say what he was going to say next. "And don't go wandering off getting abducted," the Doctor finished, albeit a bit awkwardly, patting Morgan's head yet again as if to emphasize how much taller he was. Morgan fought the urge to huff and swatted his hand away, giving him a pointed glare. Somehow that only succeeded in making him grin smugly at her.

"Well then, Goodbye Doctor," Morgan waved at him as she went off towards the ice cream shop. She turned one last time only to see a faint blue box disappear in the distance. The faint ringing hung in her head for a while afterwards.

And the final remnants of the TARDIS faded away.

She was in the kitchen again. Sitting on a chair, Danny in the corner, waiting for her father to arrive. Danny had his eyes glued to the entrance, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. In hindsight, maybe she should have brought a watch with her. Or checked her phone while she was out.

Morgan fell forward into her arms, resting her face in her hands and massaging her temples. It wasn't as if Morgan had even been out that long. Besides, didn't Danny say that she could go anywhere she wanted close to the school?

"Danny, I'm sorry I went and wandered off. I lost track of time," Hopefully she would be able to convince him to not let her father know about this. Danny sighed loudly and gave her an exasperated look. Morgan shrunk back a little at that, tugging at a stray curl.

"I know Morgan, but you need to listen more and follow instructions a little-" Danny was cut off suddenly by the slamming of the front door as it opened. Her father stumbled in, drooping as if he was about to pass out, a bunch of papers strewn about in hand.

She didn't have long before her father found out about her escapade, got angry and grounded her. She just had to pray that Danny would not tell him.

"Dinner's in the fridge," he called as he stumbled into the kitchen, "It's ready, all you got to do is heat it up in the microwave." her father ended, breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. "Sorry I won't be able to eat with you today Morgan, we have an event for work tonight, I'm going to go take a shower and then I'll be off again." his tone was tired and defeated. Morgan gave a small frown before quickly masking it with a smile.

Her father sped down the stairs, just stopping to give an acknowledging wave to Danny before he went to take a shower.

A few moments of silence passed. Neither Danny nor Morgan spoke a word.

"Thank you," Morgan whispered with a small smile.

"I should be off now," Danny said.

"Thank you, for not telling him, it really means a lot to me," she gave a genuine smile this time, "I owe you" Danny nodded along as Morgan spoke. She bit her lip trying to gauge his reaction by analyzing his face. He sported a small smile, although it was somewhat exasperated.

"Next time, maybe stay closer to the school?" Morgan nodded, "Also before I forget, Clara told me to remind you to finish your reading questions for English," he said. Morgan's eyes widened.

Shit.

She had completely forgotten about those questions. She began to sprint up the stairs before coming to an abrupt halt. Morgan spun around to face Danny at the bottom of the stairs. She probably needed to say goodbye.

"Bye Danny!" Morgan called down the stairs as he was closing the front door.

"That's Mr. Pink to you!" he called from below and Morgan rolled her eyes. Morgan turned and headed to her room, bouncing on the balls of her feet to give herself extra momentum. She slid into her room with practiced precision, slipping into her desk chair. She fell back and spun once around as her computer turned on.

The light from outside was trickling in at a slower rate now. It was no longer as bright either, developing a more rosey, orange tone.

It would be dark soon.

Morgan should probably get her questions finished before nightfall.

That was a good goal to stick to. Leaning over her computer screen, Morgan created a document for her assignment and copied down all of the questions.

Then of course, since the universe found pleasure in conspiring against Morgan, a bright light flashed before her eyes, followed by a loud pop . Just as she was about to get to work, just when her day was starting to get some semblance of normality. Morgan jumped furling around and grabbed the nearest thing near her that could conceivably be used as a weapon. Somehow, this ended up being a textbook. Heavy and sharp at the edges. if she swung hard enough, it might even be enough to knock someone out.

Poised and about to swing, Morgan finally took in what was behind her. She froze, her heartbeat ricocheting and her breathing becoming laboured. She had to fight to keep her vision focused and not sprint out of that room right at that moment. But her brain was screaming at her. Screaming at her to do something, to run, to disappear to run down the stairs or climb out the window.

A mauve victorian gown complete with an updo and a vortex manipulator. The timelord she was least expecting to see today. And the timelord she was probably fine with never seeing in her life.

She could very well get killed quite easily in the next few minutes if she didn't play her cards right. She couldn't show that she was scared, that would only worsen the predicament. If she acted confident, then it had a tiny chance of actually making her less terrified. And maybe, just maybe, might discourage Missy from immediately pulverizing her.

So Morgan simply did nothing. If she ignored the problem, maybe it would go away. Morgan had homework to do she didn't have time for this. Missy was not only dangerous but ruining her schedule. Those two things, especially in tandem, were not allowed.

"Oh don't be like that poppet," Missy said, taking a few steps dangerously close to Morgan. Morgan tried to stand her ground, digging her heels in and turning away from Missy. Somehow, it still ended up with her stumbling just a little, leaning away from Missy subconsciously.

It was at that moment, as she tried desperately to regulate her erratic heartbeat, that Morgan realized one thing. She was still clutching onto her textbook for dear life, no doubt looking like an idiot.

Missy paused then, apparently noticing this as well.

Morgan stood stock still as Missy leaned forward to rip the textbook out of her hands. What was she even supposed to do? It wasn't as if the textbook would help her anyway.

Missy for her part was entirely undisturbed and began flipping through the textbook pages.

"Well isn't this disappointing. Such elementary material," Missy drawled, sighing dramatically and dropping the textbook carelessly to the ground. Morgan flinched at the sudden loud bang that followed.

Missy sauntered forward nonchalantly. All of sudden, her pace quickened as she clasped Morgan's chin in her hand, yanking her forward with force. It was at that moment that the height difference really dawned on Morgan. It was uncomfortable and made Morgan's skin itch. Her legs twitched, maybe in an attempt to run, yet she was still frozen to the spot. Morgan couldn't do this. Why today? Why ever for that matter? Why when she was just about to finally get something done? And right when she had finally calmed down after her earlier encounter as well.

But she couldn't show that. She couldn't show that she was afraid.

So instead, Morgan crossed her arms and shot Missy a glare. She didn't have time for this.

She wanted to run.

She wanted to be alone.

"No one asked for your opinion. I'm busy, either stay quiet and don't move, or get out." Morgan responded. Maybe Missy would finally decide that her escapade was futile and that she really didn't need to invade Morgan's space like this.

"But I'm bored." Missy drawled, dragging out the bored. Morgan needed to stand her ground. "How about instead, I give you two more options, option one, I kill you then you never have to do homework again!" Missy exclaimed with glee, spinning her umbrella as if this was some exciting development. Morgan fought the urge to shrink back and instead rolled her eyes.

"Option two," Missy continued and Morgan squirmed as Missy wrapped her arm tightly around Morgan's shoulder. Morgan's efforts to escape were to no avail, Missy instead increased her grip. "Option two, is we go take this lovely vortex manipulator and take over a planet, " Missy finished, arm still firmly wrapped around Morgan's shoulder.

"Take over a planet?" Morgan echoed. Taking over a planet did not seem to be particularly enticing. Especially not with Missy, who would likely kill a few people along the way as well.

"Oh right sorry that's not 'good' is it," Missy rolled her eyes, pronouncing the good more like 'gud', a mockery of the Doctor's accent. Morgan didn't bother to grace that with a response. Instead, she sighed. She needed to steer the conversation away from world domination plans. Or anything particularly violent for that matter.

"Where'd you even get that vortex manipulator?" Morgan asked. Missy paused her grip loosening momentarily. Almost enough for Morgan to be free of Missy's grasp. Missy only tightened it further.

"I borrowed it," Missy paused, "Perhaps I should get back soon before eyebrows gets too angry," Missy continued. Judging by Missy's disdain at her fun plans not being "good" and this, Morgan figured she was probably in the vault at that moment. Or rather, that's where she was supposed to be.

How the hell Missy had gotten her hands on a vortex manipulator was another story.

"Vault?" Morgan asked, crossing her arms and finally stumbling away to a relatively comfortable distance from Missy.

"Awfully dull in there," Missy trailed off. Definitely series 10 then. Meaning Missy was supposed to be in the vault. And Morgan was supposed to be doing homework.

It seemed they both weren't doing the things they were supposed to do.

"Well, you should go, and I've got work to do," Morgan decided, trying not to leave any room up for discussion.

"Fine, be boring and awfully dull like," she paused, "like eyebrows," Missy gave an overdramatic sigh.

Before Morgan could even move, Missy was winking a flash of light obscured Morgan's vision. A loud pop was the last indicator that Missy had ever been there.

Wait.

Something else was missing.

Something important.

Something her teacher would kill her for if she lost it. Something that likely costed at least a hundred dollars to replace.

Her textbook was gone. Morgan massaged her temples and fell back into her chair.

Shit. That was not going to be fun to explain to her teacher.

Which meant it was even more imperative that she finished her English homework quickly. Today had been adrenaline-inducing, exciting and also terrifying.

Morgan hoped to god that tomorrow would be better. She desperately needed some space to breathe, some space to collect her thoughts.

Tomorrow was Wednesday.