"You're human! You wouldn't dare to shoot!" Baines smirked.
Violet matched it. "Want to find out?"
"Oh, even as a human- she's full of fire!" He taunted her.
"Yeah, and holding a gun. Let's have a party!" She said sarcastically, gesturing at the weapon in her hand, still pointed at Baines.
He scoffed. "I call your bluff, human."
"Bad move." She stated and shot the ceiling, causing plaster to fall down over the Family. "Don't provoke me. You know exactly who I am and what I'm capable of. Leave!"
"But you're human!" He laughed.
"Doesn't that scare you to death? Because you see, humans act on instinct. If someone was threatening my friends, I might just pull the trigger. Who knows- it could hit you. Want to risk it?" She questioned darkly.
He stared at her for a second before putting down the gun pointed at John, and Jenny released Martha.
Violet nodded. "Smart. Martha, get everyone away!" She yelled, and the woman did so and pulled away John, who looked completely bewildered.
"Alright." Violet looked around quickly. "Just the five of us then. Got any party games? We could play a round of Twister- although I doubt that's been invented yet." She thought out loud, buying some time. When she was certain everyone would be away from the building, she took her guns from Mr Clarke and pointed it at the Family generally. "It's been lovely- really- but I think I should get going now. You can have this," She threw the gun at them. "Never been a fan... Bye!" She retreated to the door, narrowly avoiding a shot in her direction.
She ran outside, where she saw Martha and John standing. "I told you to get away!" She groaned, pulling the two with her as she ran past them.
They arrived at the school, and John started ringing a bell as soon as they were inside.
"What are you doing?" Violet demanded.
"Maybe one man can't fight them, but this school teaches us to stand together." He told her before shouting. "Take arms! Take arms!"
"You can't! They're just boys!" She argued.
"Martha wants me to fight, so I will." He told her. "Enemy at the door! Take arms!" He moved into another room, where boys were already loading guns and gathering ammuntion. "Maintain position over the stable yard." He told them.
"They'll get themselves killed!"
He stopped in front of her. "They're cadets, Violet. They are trained to defend the King and all his properties." He said, looking at her pleadingly.
She looked away, glaring at the floor. "Trained to kill." She muttered, fiddling with the dainty bracelet she still wore on her wrist. John noticed her facial expression and winced at all the sorrow and guilt that hadn't been there before. He was about to ask her what was wrong, when the headmaster came bounding in.
"What in thunder's name is this? Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments for each and every one of you, could someone explain very simply and immediately exactly what is going on?" He demanded, enraged.
John went to him. "Headmaster, I have to report the school is under attack."
"Really? Is that so?" He looked around, before adding quietly, "Perhaps you and I should have a word in private."
"I promise you, sir. I was in the village with Miss Stewart. It's Baines, sir, Jeremy Baines and Mr Clark from Oakham Farm. They've gone mad, sir- they've got guns. They've already murdered people in the village, I saw it happen!" He explained, ignoring the fact that the headmaster thought he had gone mad.
The headmaster reluctantly looked at Violet. "Miss Stewart, is that so?"
She hesitated in answering, because she knew that he would take the same actions as John, but nodded anyway. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
"Murder on our own soil?" He asked for confirmation.
"Yes, sir."
"Perhaps you did well then, Mr Smith." The man said in approval. "What makes you think the danger's coming here?"
After seeing him stutter nervously, Violet stepped in again. "We were threatened, sir, and they said they were coming here." She almost-lied smoothly.
"Very well. You boys, remain on guard. Mr Snell, telephone the police. Mr Philips, with me- we shall investigate." He ordered, heading out of the room.
Violet blocked his way. "You're walking into your death." She said lowly.
"Miss Stewart, you may have been invited to this school on rather unusual circumstances, but you are still a woman and I expect you to remember your place in society." The man sneered before moving past her.
She sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Martha, we need that watch. Can you go find it, please?" She asked, and- for once- the woman obeyed.
John moved to a window which over-looked the courtyard and watched Baines talk to the headmaster and Mr Philips. He heard the boy use words similiar to the ones Violet had used when she saw the boys shooting, and saw Baines kill Mr Philips.
He looked down in respect and fear, visibly gulping, and Violet went over to him. She put a hand on his arm, calming him a little. He gave her a small but grateful smile, just as the headmaster came scurrying inside.
"Mr Philips has been murdered, Mr Smith. Can you tell me why?" He announced, his eyes accusing.
"Honestly, sir, I have no idea." John said genuinely. "And the telephone line's been disconnected. We're on our own."
The headmaster gave him another stern look before backing down. "If we have to make a fight of it, then make a fight we shall. Hutchinson, we'll build a barricade within the courtyards, fortify the entrances, build our defences. Gentlemen, in the name of the King, we shall stand against them."
"Yes, sir!" The boys called out, going off to fulfill their so-called duty. John helped them for a bit before talking to Violet, who stood watching everything silently.
"It's not safe for you to be here." He told her qietly.
"Safer for me than it is for you." She stated, looking back at the door. "Where is Martha with that watch?" She muttered.
"She said that the dreams were true. Does that mean that I'm him... The Doctor?" He asked.
"Yes." She said simply.
"But you want him to come back." He stated.
She nodded. "Terribly."
"But what about me?" He questioned, begging her with his eyes. "I'd just disappear, wouldn't I?"
She gave him a grim look before nodding again. "You're technically him- but yes. He'll take back his body."
"Do you want me to go? I thought we might have..." He trailed off, upset at knowing that the woman he had started to care for so deeply in such a short amount of time, wanted to get rid of him.
"I don't want you to go, I just need Theta back." She smiled sadly. John wasn't accustomed to that. Violet was such a carefree and happy character- the pain in her eyes seemed wrong. Was that all the Time Lord Violet was?
"What about me, though? Don't I mean anything to you?" He pleaded.
"I'm sorry, John, but at the end of the day... You're not real. You're a fraction of Theta, a whisper of his mind." She told him, making his single heart break brutally.
He cupped her face gently, looking deeply into her eyes. "When I kissed you- was that not real?"
"John..." She looked at a boy who was carrying a machine gun outside. "You can't let those boys fight. Neither he nor you could possibly want this. You're better than that." It was her turn to plead, and John nearly gave up.
He turned to look at the door before kissing her swiftly. "What choice do I have?" He mumbled before running off.
Violet stared after him for a second, disbelief on her features. When she snapped out of it, she ran after him, finding him in the courtyard with the rest of the school. The boys were lined up in front of sandbags like they had been for their lessons, machine guns trained on the wooden main doors. There was a visible pounding on them, threatening to crash through the weak material.
Her gaze sifted over them, seeing boys with tears in their eyes. They were terrified- maybe not of death, but of who they might become because of it.
"Fire!" The headmaster commanded as the doors broke, revealing masses of living scarecrows. The boys started shooting, but the creatures continued to progress forward. Violet went to move to John, who was standing behind the boys with a gun in his hands.
"You're a good man, John." She whispered, persuading him enough to drop the weapon.
He looked at her, long and hard, before saying in the same tone, "Not good enough for you."
She gave him a pained look as the headmaster shouted, "Cease fire!"
They watched him announce that the creatures were straw and saw the relief in the boys' eyes, making John see that Violet was right. A young girl suddenly appeared in the arch where the door had previously stood.
"You, child- come out of the way." The headmaster called upon seeing her. "Come into the school, you don't know who's out there. It's the Cartwright girl, isn't it?" He beckoned her over. "Come here. Come to me."
"Mr Rocastle, please. Don't go near her." Martha pleaded.
He gave her a glare. "You were told to be quiet."
"Listen to me, she's part of it! Violet, tell him!" She gave the woman a look.
She nodded. "She was there, sir. You should stay back."
"She was with Baines in the village." John said after a moment's hesitation.
"Mr Smith, I've seen many strange sights this night, but there is no cause on God's earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle, sir." The headmaster reprimanded. "Come with me." He told the girl.
"You're funny." She stated.
He nodded, "That's right. Now take my hand."
"So funny." She repeated while pulling something out of her coat and swiftly shooting the headmaster- dissolving him into atoms. "Now who's going to shoot me- any of you, really?" She called out to the boys.
John looked over at Violet before glancing at the scared boys. "Put down your guns." He ordered.
"But sir, the Headmaster-" Hutchinson started.
"I'll not see this happen. Not anymore." He vowed. "You will retreat in an orderly fashion back through the school. Hutchinson, lead the way."
"But sir-"
"I said, lead the way." He said in a firmer tone of voice.
Baines stepped behind the little girl, pointing his gun. "Go on, then, run!" He shouted sinisterly, shooting at the boys.
They screamed in terror as they retreated into the school, followed by the reanimated scarecrows. John, Violet and Martha ran inside as well, telling the boys not to go into the village and to move faster.
"We have to leave!" Martha yelled over the screams.
"Not until we get the boys out." John disagreed, pushing a couple of kids in the direction of a side door.
He turned to the women. "Now, I insist- the pair of you just go. If there are any more boys inside, I'll find them." He opened a door, but slammed it shut on seeing the animated scarecrows standing behind it.
Violet frowned. "I think we'll have to retreat, John. There's nothing we can do at the moment."
Martha nodded in agreement, pulling John out of the school and into the courtyard. They all looked back at the scarecrows slowly but surely approaching them and sprinted off in order to escape them.
The three ran along the outline of the woods hurriedly, but were stopped by the sound of Mr Clark.
"Doctor! Unnamed!" He sang. "Come back, Doctor! Come home! Come and claim your prize!" He was standing before the TARDIS with scarecrows guarding it, looking smug. They continued to call out to the Time Lords as they stared from behind the cover of the trees.
"You recognise it, don't you?" Martha asked John softly, seeing his expression.
"Come out, Doctor! Come to us!" Jenny called out again, making him snap out of his daze.
"I've never seen it in my life." He said stubbornly.
"Do you remember its name?" Martha tried again, and Violet sighed.
"I'm so sorry, John, but that's the TARDIS. The blue box you and the human Violet dreamt about." She told him.
"I'm not... I'm John Smith. That's all I want to be.- John Smith, with his life and his job and his love. Why can't I be John Smith? Isn't he a good man?" He asked desperately, his voice breaking.
"He is." She stated lowly.
"Then why can't I stay?" He questioned, giving Violet a heartbreakingly sad look. "We could be together."
She returned it with a smile that matched in sadness. "Because you're human and you're good. A good man that has never done any wrong in his life... You've never felt pain."
"Why is that bad?"
She laughed bitterly. "Because I'm too selfish to want to be alone."
"You shouldn't have to be." He said softly, giving her a loving smile.
Ignoring Martha completely, she stepped up to him and put a hand on his cheek. "Then come back to me." She whispered.
He stared into her dark eyes, seeing the pain and guilt that swam in them but also discovering a deep care and devotion he hadn't seen before- even Violet herself was shocked.
"You love him?" He asked.
"Possibly."
A feeling of jealousy and relief overcame him at the same time. "Does he love you?"
"He lost someone he loves- I think it's too early for him to let her go." She said distantly, remembering his pain as she gazed over to the TARDIS again. "We have to move, we're not safe here." She stated, running away from the Family and leaving John and Martha to follow.
They ran for a while before Martha turned down a road. "This way, I think I know somewhere we can hide." She informed them.
"We've got to keep going!" John exclaimed, his breathing slightly laboured due to his single heart.
"Just listen to me!" She ordered. Violet nodded at John and got him to follow her to a little cottage. It stood abandoned on an otherwise deserted road, no lights burning.
"Here we are- it should be empty." Martha explained.
"Who lives here?" Violet asked as she picked the lock of the front door with one of Martha's hair pins- since she didn't wear any herself.
When the door opened, they stepped inside and she went over to put a hand on a pot of tea.
"The Cartwrights." Martha answered her previous question. "The little girl from school was Lucy Cartwright- her parents are most likely dead."
John nodded blandly and sat down on a chair. "I must go to them before anyone else dies." He said, and Violet surpressed a smile. Even as a human, he was ever the noble man.
"You can't just hand yourself over!" Martha argued before sighing. "We need that watch..."
"You're this Doctor's companion!" John pointed out fiercely. "Can't do something? What exactly do you do for him? Why does he need you?"
She glanced at Violet, but looked away as soon as she said, "Because he's lonely."
John had followed her gaze and seemed to sense the tension between the two. "Is he?" He asked. "Doesn't he have-"
He was cut off by a knock on the door, and they all swiveled around to face it.
"What if it's them?" John asked fearfully.
"I'm not an expert, but I don't think scarecrows knock." Martha said sarcastically, walking to open the door.
Timothy Latimer stood behind it. "I brought you this." He said quietly, holding out John's fob watch.
"Violet." It whispered, and the woman in question stepped forward to take it into her hand, smiling when she felt the presence of a Time Lord in her head.
She went over to John and showed it to him. "Hold it."
"I won't." He refused.
"Please, just hold it." She pleaded.
"It told me to find you." Latimer spoke up. "It wants to be held."
"You've had this watch all this time? Why didn't you return it?" Martha asked, a little annoyed.
"Because it was waiting... and because I was scared of the Doctor." He confessed.
"Why?"
"Because I've seen him." He paused, looking at Violet and adding, "Both of them. They're like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and she's storm in the heart of the sun."
"Stop it." John ordered weakly, but he went on while Violet just bowed her head.
"They're ancient and forever. They burns at the centre of time and they can see the turn of the universe."
"Stop! I said stop it."
"And they're wonderful." Timothy smiled slightly. "They're destined for eachother, a perfect match." At that, even John smiled, ignoring the feeling from earlier- the odd mix of envy and happiness.
Out of the blue, though, and explosion fell outside.
"What the hell?" Martha gasped.
"They're destroying the village." Violet said quietly, feeling guilty.
John saw this- felt it too- and picked up the fob watch.
"Are you sure?" She asked, knowing what a hard decision it must be for him.
"Come closer."
"Can you hear it?" Latimer asked.
"Closer. Closer."
"I think he's asleep." John thought out loud. "Waiting to awaken."
"Why did he speak to me?" Timothy questioned curiously.
The Doctor's normal voice, full of a certain confidence and liveliness, came from John. "Oh, low-level telepathic field. You were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram causing-" He stopped and took a breath. "Is that how he talks?" John's voice returned.
"That's him!" Martha exclaimed excitedly. "All you have to do is open it and he's back."
"You knew this all along and yet you watched while Violet and I..." He trailed off.
"I didn't know how to stop you! He gave me a list of things to watch out for, but that wasn't included." She said, sobering up.
"Falling in love? That didn't even occur to him?" He asked incredulously.
"No." She mumbled.
"Then what sort of man is that?" John demanded.
Violet sighed. "I told you- he had only just lost someone. He wasn't ready to be in another relationship, nor think about being in one."
Another bomb fell, that time nearer to the house. "It's getting closer." Latimer announced.
John looked at the watch in his hands, and his face suddenly brightened. "I should have thought of it before- I can give them this. Just the watch! Then they can leave and I can stay as I am!" He said.
"You can't do that!" Martha cried.
"If they want the Doctor, they can have him." His face darkened.
"You can't do that to me." Violet whispered, her eyes shining with almost-tears.
He turned to her, his eyes filled with concern as he saw her expression. "What do you mean?"
"Me and him- Him and I- we're the last, John." She said, a deep pain stinging her single heart. "We're the only Time Lords left... We only have each other."
"What am I supposed to do?!" He yelled- suddenly jealous- shocking her as well as the two others in the room.
Violet addressed them, her eyes still trained on John. "Martha, Timothy, would you leave us alone, please?"
They look between the two, Martha reluctant to leave them, before they went to stand before the door and watch the terrors the bombing was causing. Martha hugged Timothy to her side, seeing the younger boy scared.
Inside, John and Violet sat next to each other, the former holding his fob watch while the latter kept hers in her bag.
"You have to, John. I'm sorry, I truly am, but you have to." She told him softly.
He looked at her seriously. "He won't love you."
"He's not ready to love anyone again." She said firmly.
"It was real. I wasn't- I really thought..." He stammered, confused and scared, looking down at the watch again.
"Let me see." She held out her hand, so he put the watch in it. When the watch touched both of their hands, images flashed through both of their minds. Their wedding, their children, walking through a park with them, and eventually John's peaceful death in his bed.
"Did you see?" He asked urgently.
She nodded, a sadness overtaking her. "Yes, I did." She held the watch, felt it reach out to her and smiled softly.
"We could have that." John stated, making her look up at him.
"No, we can't." She knelt down before the bench he sat on, taking one of his hands and putting it to her cheek, only to have him pull it away after a second, burning from the scalding heat. "This body can't take the memories- I'm burning it up." She told him gently.
"Why? If this Doctor is so much more important than me- why bother?" He asked remorsefully.
"Because you're brilliant, just like he is." She said simply and genuinely.
He stared at her for a second, his mind proccessing her words, before he pulled her to him, giving her a last, passionate kiss.
Violet and the Doctor barged into the Family's ship rather unelegantly, and they turned to look at the Time Lords.
"Just," The Doctor started, lurching and hitting a few buttons as he scramble back into a standing position. "Just stop the bombardment. That's all I'm asking. I'll do anything you want, just stop." He begged.
"Say please." Baines commanded with a smirk.
"Please."
Jenny gave them a look. "Wait a minute," She inhaled deeply. "Still human."
"Now I can't- I can't pretend to understand, not for a second, but I want you to know that I'm innocent in all this. He made me John Smith- It's not like I had any control over it." The Doctor said while Violet leaned against some controls, also pressing buttons.
"They didn't just make themselves human, they made themselves idiots!" Jenny stated with a grin on her face.
Baines snorted. "Same thing, isn't it?"
Violet interrupted their banter. "I don't care about the Doctor and the Unnamed, or whatever you call her! I'm just human, and I want my family and friends left alone. You can have this." She held out her fob watch, and Baines took the Doctor's as he did the same.
"At last." He sighed before reaching out and grabbing him by his jacket. "Don't think that saved your life. Family of Mine, now we shall have the lives of a Time Lord." He told the three others around him and opened the watches.
"It's empty!" Baines exclaimed after a moment.
Violet looked at him, confused. "Well, where's it gone?"
"You tell me." He glared, throwing them their watches back.
As she caught it, Violet grinned. "Oh, I think the explanation might be: you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection- little bit like ventriloquism of the nose. It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy. But it has got to be said- I don't like the looks of that hydroconometre. It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through the retrostabilisers feeding back into the primary heat converter." She rambled in her normal voice, bewildering the Family.
The Doctor nodded as he looked at the hydroconometre, "'Cause if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let ua press all those buttons. But, in fairness, we'll will give you one word of advice." He said, looking at Violet.
"Run!" They both yelled, taking off. They ran across the field, trying to get as far away from the ship as possible before it exploded. The Family, who had followed their lead, lay on the ground a bit further back, and the Time Lords towered over them with identically solemn looks on their faces.
"You wanted forever. Remember that."
"So..." The Doctor started. Martha had gone to sleep after they had said goodbye to Timothy and gone to his rememberance service, so he and Violet were left alone with the awkward tension that had built up between them.
"Yes?" Her head snapped up, her eyes focusing on him rather than her bracelet.
"I just..." He cleared his throat before changing his mind, saying, "Never mind, actually."
Violet nodded, not knowing what to say- she knew they were both thinking about their human versions' relationship but didn't know how to act on it.
"I'm going to go get some sleep. You should, too." She said softly.
He was about to deny it, but when he saw the pleading look on her face, he caved. "I will." He promised, taking her hand and tugging her into the TARDIS' corridors. The rooms had shifted and the only door that stood before them was the white one to Violet's room, making her sigh.
"What's all this about?" She asked the TARDIS out loud. The machine hummed, the sound resembling somewhat to a mother's caring laughter.
"You know he needs to sleep- let him go to his room!" She said in an annoyed tone, but received only a stubborn hum in return.
The Doctor smirked slightly. "Looks like she agrees with me- I'm not tired."
"No, she doesn't." She turned to face him, putting a hand on his cheek. "You are tired, Theta."
"I have nowhere to sleep." He countered, making the white, elegant door in front of them swing open, revealing Violet's room.
They both turned to look at it, and she smiled a little. "The TARDIS has spoken." She pulled him into her room. "You can sleep here, if she's going to be so damn stubborn."
They entered the plain room, the Doctor looking around in amazement- he hadn't seen her bedroom before. It was understated, the walls a light blue and a large bed in the centre of it. There were a few other pieces of furniture standing, but he took a lot more interest in her walls, which were covered in pieces of paper.
Equations, drawings, music sheets and writing, Circular and Old High Gallifreyan among it. His eyes trailed over everything, reading it quickly but stopping to evaluate the drawings. There was a sketch of him and Rose, which surprised him.
"Did you draw that?" He asked.
She glanced at the image and nodded. "Yeah."
He thought back to what Violet had said to John about him still loving Rose. "I... I don't love her anymore." He stammered weakly.
She smiled at him sadly. "Yes, you do."
He stared at her for a second, thinking about his memoried with her as a human and nodded in slight agreement before nervously saying, "I think that... maybe... I'm ready to move on now, though."
Violet grinned slightly. "I'm going to change, so... Make yourself at home, I guess." She said before walking into the ajoined bathroom, leaving him to look around some more.
He looked over the drawings again, seeing drawings of people he couldn't put names to and monsters he knew all too well. There was everything and anything on her walls, but what intrigued him most were the pictures of planets that were no longer in the sky.
"Those must be the ones she-"
"Murdered in cold blood, yes." Violet interrupted his murmur, making him jump. She had changed into some pyjama shorts and a tank top, and was leaning against her bathroom door, watching him.
"It's not your fault." He stated firmly after the initial shock.
"It's funny how we keep telling each other that but don't even consider believing it..." She mused, raising an eyebrow as she took in his figure, still dressed in his suit and tie. "Are you going to sleep in that?"
He looked down at his clothes, a nervous blush forming on his cheeks. "What else am I supposed to sleep in?"
Violet gave him a grin and walked to her wardrobe, pulling out a pair of pyjama bottoms and throwing them at him. "The TARDIS may be incredibly headstong, but she's not going to try and make you strangle yourself." She teased, pulling at his tie.
He gave her a pointed look but Violet just laughed, shooing him into the bathroom before she she settled down in her bed. She waited for only a few moments before the Doctor came back out, moving to lie next to her.
They were in silence for a bit, neither of them knowing what to do, but Violet ended up shifting closer to him in search for his familiar warmth.
He spoke up after a while. "Violet?"
"Hm?" Was all she let out, too comfortable to be bothered to speak. He chuckled a little before his body suddenly hovered over hers. His gaze burned into her hers intensly, and she found herself left breathless by what she saw in his eyes.
She smiled, giving him the 'OK' to move down to kiss her. It was desperate and almost instinctual as Violet ran her fingers through his already messy hair, enjoying the sparks that ignited in her skin as he moved a hand to her hip.
Love. She saw love in his eyes, tainted with only care and adoration, and when they came up for air, she grinned.
"Hello." She said hoarsely, making him laugh.
"Hello." He agreed, resting his forehead on hers. "I don't think we can go back from this."
"I don't think I want to." She replied when she regained her composure, a teasing smile on her newly-tender lips.
"So where does that leave us?" He asked.
"Well," Violet began. "If we can't go back... All we can do is go forward, can't we?"
The Doctor grinned, kissing her once more. "Forward it is."