Nomad Chapter 4, a doctor who fanfic

These chapters get longer and longer! Still, this one felt rushed to me. But I'm proud of it, it was a lot of fun to write! The Doctor is the sort of character I could write endlessly. Thank you always for the kind words, and as always, I hope you enjoy!

- Three Years Later -

The Nephilim moved through space without urgency, matching the lethargic mood within. Captain Fayden Amorisha was resting on her elbows on her console, her fingers buried in her locks and an empty bottle of something rolling around at her feet. "Married, Dayna. The bastard was married."

"Ewwww," Her former first mate's voice crackled over the com, edged with disgust and sympathy, "He dated you for six months and failed to mention that little detail?"

"Don't they always?" Fayden sighed, "Anyway, not the reason I called…"

"Sure," Dayna's voice betrayed the fact that she was smirking, "Admit it, you miss having another girl to commiserate with on that ship."

"Guilty," Fayden allowed with a small smile, "Frank is pretty close though. But anyway, business," She took a deep breath, sitting up straighter, "I'll need the expense reports for the last month, but I hardly need to remind you of that. Also, the insurance information for that bloke whose merch got eaten on your ship last week."

"You know I had no idea we had an infestation, right?" Dayna whined, and Fayden nodded, as if her dear blue friend were still in the room with her.

"Ranx infestations happen all the time," Fayden assured her, "Especially in older ships like yours, you just had the bad luck of getting the customer from hell. It'll blow over."

"Thanks Boss Lady," Dayna replied, and Fayden smiled again. "I'm sending you the lists now, then I have a drop to make. I'll catch you later, Captain. And shoot the bastard if you ever see him again."

"Will do. Later." Fayden switched off her com, and sat back in her seat, rubbing her temples to work out her hangover-induced headache. It had been a good long while since she'd last indulged in a night of drinking. But then, it had also been a long time since she'd indulged in a relationship, and having it end so messily was definitely cause for inebriation. Thus she and Frank (now her best mate) had gotten drunk the night before. And nice as that had been, Fayden was still the head of a growing shipping company, and it wasn't exactly comforting for customers to see the Captain sloshed.

The cargo experiment was still small and personable, but as was inevitable with most successful enterprises, it had grown. She now had three ships flying aside from The Nephilim, one run and piloted by Dayna. Things were going well for Fayden, but she wouldn't be one to say that her life was complete. She never stopped searching for those pieces of home, even as they got harder and harder to find. And she was still leading an uphill battle against those who wished to put that colony on Edgit. In fact at the moment, having just completed a run, she was on her way back to her home base of Mareshka to make some nice loud complaints.

"Captain," Frank's voice over the com broke Fayden from her mental meandering, "We've uh, got a bit of a situation down here in the cargo bay…" Fayden frowned, punching a button and leaning down to speak into her end of the ship-board com.

"Did we miss something while we were unloading?" She asked, perplexed.

"No, but we seem to have picked up a hitchhiker…"

As she walked down the hall from the console room toward the wide open cargo bay of her ship, Fayden could hear the faint traces of what seemed to be a rather agitated conversation echoed up to her. "That's what I'm saying, you didn't pick me up," A voice was trying to explain to Frank, "Rather I just sort of…kind of…dropped in."

Fayden stopped short for a second, not quite believing her ears. It was a hard voice to forget, especially considering the turn her life had taken after she'd first heard it. She grinned, running the rest of the way to the cargo hold. "No WAY!" She cried, leaning over the metal rail and looking down into the mostly-empty hold. In the corner stood a large blue wooden box that certainly hadn't been there when they took off. And in front of that box, arguing with her very confused first mate, was a familiar face in a familiar brown suit to match the familiar voice. He glanced upward, toward where she stood on the metal landing, and his expression swiftly changed from exasperated to delighted.

"Fayden!" He cried, "Goodness, almost didn't recognize you. Cleanliness looks good on you!"

"Doctor!" Fayden laughed, taking the metal steps three at a time down to the smooth, well-worn metal floor. "How the hell did you get in my cargo hold?!"

"Exactly what I've been trying to explain to your charming first mate," The Doctor sighed, and a perplexed Frank simply looked lost, "I just dropped in!" He said this with an almost forced, carefree manner, and even through her surprise and confusion, Fayden noticed that he seemed a little older than he had the last time she'd seen him. And not as if seven years had passed, on the contrary, physically he looked almost exactly the same. It seemed more as if a lot had happened to him though, and recently. For the first time, she noticed how old his eyes were.

"You're not a Time Agent, are you?" Fayden asked suspiciously, eying his wrist, "I've known a few, they've got a bad habit of 'dropping in' as well."

"Ugh, no!" The Doctor looked affronted, and then added, as if to himself, "51st Century Isop Galaxy though, so much easier to explain these kinds of things, thank the rift. Nope, Fay, I'm just a bit…wandery right now." He said, vaguely, waving his hands around a bit, "Time, dimensions…"

"…Enough explanation for me, I suppose," Fayden said after a beat, reaching out and taking his hand, giving it a shake, "This is my first mate Frank, Frank, this is Doctor…" She realized, not for the first time, that she didn't know his real name.

"Just The Doctor, hullo, properly!" The Doctor supplied brightly, shaking Frank's hand as well.

"Good to meet you, properly," Frank replied, still quite obviously confused, "So, we're okay with the random bloke in a suit teleporting into our cargo bay with a big box then?"

"The Doctor is a good friend," Fayden told him, smiling, "Without him, I wouldn't have this ship."

"I noticed this, this is yours?" The Doctor looked around, approvingly, "Owner AND Captain of a cargo ship? Brilliant!"

"Oh," Realization dawned on Frank's face, and he looked at his boss, "Is this the famous bloke who bought you breakfast?!"

"Actually it was Rose who bought you the breakfast, I was just a bystander," The Doctor corrected him, and Fayden noticed a bit of sadness in his eyes as he did. She looked around,

"Goddess yes, Rose!" She exclaimed, "I never got to thank her for all she did for me, is she with you?"

"Ah, no, not as such," The Doctor said slowly, still trying to keep up that perky lilt to his voice, "We parted ways, few weeks ago actually. Met a better man, I'm afraid." Fayden's expression changed, trying to reconcile this information with the image she'd had in her brain for years, of the two of them walking hand-in-hand through the markets of Mareshka.

"I'm sorry…"

"Nah, it's all right, it's good!" He said brightly, though his eyes seemed hollow, "Deserved far better than me anyway! What she did for you? Classic, wonderfully human Rose. I'm just a bum wandering the cosmos. So how are you? How's life, how's the universe?"

Fayden tilted her head to the side, knowing there had to be more to it than that, it was as clear as day. But the fact remained, she still barely knew the pair who'd rescued her from the street. It was a story she could wait to hear. "Come on up to the console," She invited, "I'll make us some tea and we can catch up…"

Sitting at the console, flying through space, The Doctor asked Fayden and Frank a myriad of questions about her business, utterly delighted at her success. Fayden was more than happy to tell him all about their adventures, indeed she had thought about it often in the past, of someday letting The Doctor and Rose Tyler know just how much good they'd done for her, and in turn everyone she'd ever employed. Still, she had a lot of questions of her own waiting in the wings. They'd spent the first time they'd met talking all about her as well, this time Fayden wanted to know about him, the mysterious man and his mysterious companion who'd given her a leg up. She got her chance when Frank took his leave, going down to check on the engines while they were still an hour out of Mareshka.

"So," Fayden took a deep breath, sitting back in her chair, arms crossed. Across from her, occupying the second chair, The Doctor looked at her with his most innocent-looking expression. "You haven't aged a day. I mean, I know people are living a while these days, but I definitely don't look twenty-two anymore, while you even have the same suit on that you did the last time I saw you."

"I told you," The Doctor said lightly, "Time, dimensions, only been two years of my life since I saw you last…"

"Yeah yeah," Fayden rolled her eyes, grinning. "But I've never heard of someone using a vortex manipulator in a big wooden box. And don't think I missed that Rose didn't know what Death Bringers were, when they were all over the news fifteen years ago, in every galaxy I'd heard of. Especially around Earth. Which meant she'd either lived under a rock, or was out of her time, and I know for a fact the Time Agency had laws about taking people out of their time. So you're either a rogue Time Agent, or something else entirely."

"You are a clever one," The Doctor smiled, "I spotted it the first time we met, and it's still there. You notice things, so many human beings just don't notice things. Donna noticed things…" He trailed off, then sighed dramatically, "Oh all right, so I'm not exactly a um, conventional time traveler? It's sort of um…well, more like a species trait, really."

Fayden just looked at him, confused, trying to puzzle that bit out. Slowly though, the crease in her forehead smoothed as pieces fit together in her brain, and realization dawned on her face. Her jaw dropped. "No!" The Doctor said nothing, "You can't be!" He crossed his arms, mirroring her position, and still said nothing, "You're really a T…?"

"In the flesh," He cut in, coughing, "Nothing to go crazy over. Just a homeless bum floating in space. Albeit a brilliant homeless bum. Well," He corrected himself, "Not quite homeless. Early 21st Century Earth sort of took me in out of the cold, you might say. S'where I met Rose."

Fayden finally shut her mouth, shaking her head. Well, she'd seen many, many strange things in her relatively short lifetime, a real live honest-to-goodness Time Lord wasn't such a stretch. Still, she gave herself another moment or two to wrap her head around it before she spoke again, "So what did happen to her? To Rose?"

"Exactly what I said happened." The Doctor replied, as if this were the most ridiculous question ever asked. Fayden of course was not fooled, and her expression made this clear, "All right so I left out a few details, but essentially…" His voice lost it's jovial edge, in fact he sounded as if he were tired of putting on that show, "We were…apart for a while. And then she met a better man. Had to convince her he was better, 'course," His tone was dull, "He's a lot like me. Bit scary, really. But he's human. He can give her what I never could."

Fayden had to wonder at that, not sure what could top traveling through time. Not that it was her first choice in life, but the Rose she'd seen had seemed so happy where she was. However, as old childhood stories returned to her, Fayden remembered another supposed myth about the Time Lords, the Mythic beings. "Oh," She murmured, "Rose is human. So…human lifespan. I heard that your people did live an awfully long time…"

"Lucky us," The Doctor murmured. "So yes, I'm on my own for the moment, just floating about. I'm glad I bumped into this century though, love the 51st century. I once made way for a banana grove in the 51st century." It wasn't said in his put-on upbeat tone, but a far more genuine, quiet contentment. "What's ahead for you, Captain A-mor-isssha?" He smiled.

"Actually, speaking of those pesky Death Bringers," Fayden got a little more animated again, "We're heading back to our home base on Mareshka, but I won't be getting much rest. I've spent the last three years trying to convince the planet counsel and the Colonization Collective not to build a colony on Edgit and I've secured a meeting this afternoon with one of the top planning board members."

"Wait…what?!" The Doctor practically shouted, "What IDIOT thought that was a good idea?!"

"Exactly what I've spent the last three years trying to find out." Fayden replied, glad to see him so riled up, "I've got to ask you Doctor, you implied that you were there when the creatures were defeated. How…?"

"A very focused sonic wave," The Doctor responded, all alert and all business now, sitting up straight, "We figured out, my traveling companion at the time and I, that they were connected by a telepathic field made by the Queen, one that allowed them to teleport and even share nutrition. What terrors they fed on, nourished the Queen. Whatever planet she wanted them to be on, they were. We figured that if we wiped out their home nest, and their Queen, the rest would starve and die without the telepathic connection to her. So we did, and they did," He said simply, "Not a trace of them left. But," He shook his head, "I couldn't shake it, couldn't shake the feeling that there was still something left on that moon. We scoured it before we left…never found a thing."

"I've done the same," Fayden said, shuddering, "I keep forcing myself to go back to that moon, to find some tangible thing to prove that they're still there, other than the cold chill in my gut. Nothing. All I can do to pressure people not to settle there is to point out the toxins in the air, the lack of resources."

"But it's so obviously a wasteland, even without it's history!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Fayden laughed, humorlessly.

"Exactly!" She agreed, "It's so blindingly obvious! But even so, even if I look a colony planner straight in the face and think I've convinced them to see reason, a month later the proposal to start building is put back on the table."

"Oh I'm coming with you tonight, then." The Doctor informed her resolutely, a new liveliness to his posture, "Something smells all wrong about all of it." Fayden looked at him thoughtfully, her head tilting.

"So is that what you do?" She asked, "Universal Do-Gooder?"

"Well, got all this time and no home planet, gotta do something." He smirked, "Better than being a universal…not…do-gooder? Blimey that's awful."

"Point taken though," Fayden laughed, and then paused, eying her new passenger, as he got lost in some thought or another, "A lot's happened to you too, hasn't it?" She asked, "Since we last met?"

There was a long pause. Then, "It's…been a pretty rough couple of years."

Yet another long pause. "Well," Fayden said slowly, "I know I'm not as old as you probably are, but I do know something about having a rough couple of years," The Doctor looked at her, quietly intrigued. "Eventually they end. And a couple of good ones start."

He actually smiled at that, though his eyes were still dark and still so very, very old. "Quite right."

"Ahh!" The Doctor exclaimed, taking a deep breath once he'd set his feet on the ground of Mareshka, just outside of the ship, "The pungent aroma of a commerce planet! Lovely!"

"I suppose, if smog is your thing!" Frank said brightly, turning to the Captain, "Right, I'm off to get dinner with Rami and the kids, sure you won't join us?"

"Important meeting, fate of the galaxy, you know how it is," Fayden apologized. "We've got a week off before the next job though, we'll meet up later, yeah?"

"Definitely, let me know how it goes," Frank offered his hand to The Doctor again, who gave it a firm shake, "Doctor, wonderful to finally meet you. Look after my meal ticket."

"Will do!" The Doctor promised, and Frank took his leave. "Family man?"

"Very much so," Fayden grinned, "Five kids, ages 9 to 22. I think they're coming up on their 25th anniversary, too."

"And people say romance is dead by the 51st century," The Doctor smiled, and Fayden laughed.

"It is," She corrected him, pulling on her leather jacket against the cool of early autumn on Mareshka, "Frank and Rami just don't know any better. Frank's spent most of their relationship working on cargo ships. I bet you 50 credits the day he retires, they finally realize how inconvenient living with another person is."

"Well well, aren't we bitter and scorned."

"Nah," Fayden shook her head, punching in codes to lock up her ship, "Well, not really. Mostly just jealous. My love life was forever hexed when I was 16. But enough of about that!" She started walking toward the city proper, away from the docks with The Doctor at her side, looking just as purposeful, "I've got a counsel member to yell at."

"What do you know about this counsel member?" The Doctor asked conversationally, as they made their way through the more pristine side of the city. Fayden walked with a swift, long stride, and while he had no trouble matching it, it still caught The Doctor unawares. He'd traveled with many strong women in the past, true, but very few he'd categorize as 'scary amazon'. Aside from maybe Martha, post-Valiant.

"She wasn't anything special a few years ago," Fayden shrugged, "Just another bench warmer on the planet counsel. After her husband died though, she suddenly threw herself into work and ended up in charge of the Colonization Collective."

"Interesting," The Doctor murmured, "Any reason she'd be particularly fond of the Rhone area?"

"None that I've been able to figure out," Fayden grumbled, as they approached the glass doors of an especially classy looking establishment, "And trust me, I have all but stalked this woman, trying to figure her out. She's a really boring open book."

"We'll see about that," Her companion mused. Entering the building, they walked through a massive, sterile lobby toward a front desk. The Doctor took in the white walls, the high ceiling, and the universal crest of the Colonization Collective set behind the front desk, and did not get a warm and fuzzy feeling.

"Colonization has gotten less hands on in recent centuries, I see." He said, very quietly. Fayden nodded.

"Everything becomes a business, if it gets popular enough," She responded, also very quietly, "Even saying 'screw the system!' and finding your own planet to populate in your own special way. Afternoon!" She called brightly, once the woman in the suit behind the desk, "I'm Captain Fayden Amorisha, I have an appointment with Councilwoman Troy."

"Yes, you're early," The woman glanced at The Doctor, "And this is?"

"Her legal council," The Doctor flashed what Fayden thought to be a badge, a bit too quickly for her to catch, but it seemed to impress the secretary, whose eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Right then, I'll show you to her office," The secretary stood, walking away from her desk. Fayden and The Doctor followed as directed. Fayden frowned, leaning sideways to whisper at her cohort,

"Did you just flash psychic paper at the secretary?"

"I LOVE the 51st Century!"

Councilwoman Troy's office was on one of the topmost floors of the building, with wide glass walls overlooking the city. It almost seemed out of place, really, too pristine and too modern and too monochromatic for the bustling, diverse melting pot of human and alien cultures below. It gave Fayden the creeps, as most uniform living spaces tended to do. To her it almost felt like a cage, even without her prejudice against mainstream society.

"Councilwoman Troy," Fayden said by way of greeting, extending a hand to the middle-aged woman who occupied the room. She was nondescript in almost every way, of normal height, normal looks, with normal dark hair pinned back from her face. If there was anything notable about her, it was that she was a bit too slim than was healthy. The smile she gave Fayden was very tight. Her eyes were hard to read.

"Captain Amorisha," She greeted in a warm tone, "Please, call me Caroline." Caroline Troy turned her head, taking note of The Doctor. Fayden noticed he was keeping his distance, standing far behind her. "And you've brought a lawyer, I hear?"

"John Smith, nice to meet you!" The Doctor said brightly, hands in his pockets, not moving forward.

"And you," The niceties out of the way, Caroline sighed, "I must admit Captain, I've not the fondest regards for you. My efforts to supply those who wish to leave this planet with a good home keep being met with roadblocks, everything from signed petitions to sign-toting protesters…"

"I'm, sorry," Fayden blinked a few times, shaking her head, feeling a slight twinge of guilt. She brushed it off though, concentrating, "But I have to know, honestly, why Edgit? Why? There are thousands of better, uninhabited places in this galaxy open for cost-effective colonization, why are you pushing so hard for Edgit?"

"Why are you pushing so hard back?" Caroline asked in turn, her voice soothing, "Technology advances every day, and Edgit is close!" Her smile widened, "We could have the air cleared, the soil enriched, there would be farms covering that moon providing a clean home for thousands of families…"

"Per…perhaps. The air would be receptive to filtering…" Fayden did feel rather assured, she had to admit. But she winced, not letting herself be sidetracked. Behind her, The Doctor was watching her reactions intently. Caroline seemed to have forgotten about him, her eyes fixed on Fayden, "But the Death Bringers!" Fayden forced out, "They were there, they're still there! I feel their presence every time I come near to Rhone, the same presence I felt as a small child. They. Are. There!"

"It's natural to feel this way," Caroline went on, soothingly, "You are from Robeck, The Boeshane Peninsula, I know this. You saw terrible things, it's perfectly natural to fear their return. But they will not return!" She laughed lightly, "It is childhood superstition. We can make this place a haven, once such superstitions are put aside…"

"Put aside…" Fayden murmured, blinking her eyes slowly, "Just supersti…NO!" She screamed, grasping her head in both hands, "NO! Nonono!" She collapsed on the floor, and The Doctor rushed forward, checking her pulse. Carolina took a deep breath, smelling the air, and shot away from him with a shriek.

"Oh you, you are good!" The Doctor called out, as Caroline backed away from him as far as she could, flush against the glass windows. He continued to check Fayden, who was fighting against the suggestions in her mind, but was otherwise fine. "But you see her? She's better!"

"Doctorrrr!" Caroline hissed.

"Queen." He greeted back evenly. She growled, enraged.

"I see you are of many faces! But what sort of thing is she?!"

"Human, pure and simple!" The Doctor shrugged, watching Fayden carefully as she stopped muttering, her breathing evening out, "But you see, you picked the wrong human to use mind manipulation on. Or rather, to suggest that particular suggestion to. She lost her childhood, and you're trying to tell her that those who destroyed it are really gone." He grinned, "Like trying to convince me to adopt a pet Dalek and name him Cuddles."

"It matters not!" The Queen hissed, "I will revenge myself upon you both! I will raise my army from the blackness, and we will devour this galaxy and all of it's…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, heard the speech before the last time, remember?" The Doctor interrupted, bored. Next to him, Fayden was shakily standing to her feet, "But if you're so high and mighty, why are you shrinking away from me, eh?" He reached into his jacket, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. The thing that had taken control of Caroline Troy let out another shriek, and her body suddenly gave a great jerk, and then slumped to the floor.

Dazedly, Fayden stared at the person on the floor. The Doctor hurried to Caroline Troy's side, finding her unconscious but physically unharmed. "That was…?"

"Queen of the Death Bringers, yep," The Doctor nodded, standing once he was sure that the woman who'd been taken over by the consciousness of the beast would be fine. He reached back, running his hand through his hair and looking utterly perplexed. "You know we really need to find out what their proper name is, 'Death Bringers' is just awful. Like awful, awful science fiction that doesn't want to commit…"

"I thought," She swallowed, "I thought you said you destroyed her?"

"I did!" The Doctor assured her, "Well, I destroyed her body. But clearly not her consciousness. But what?!" He started pacing, frustrated, "I set off a sonic wave on that moon, and her consciousness survived. I threaten it with a sonic screwdriver and she jumps ship?!"

"Maybe that's what she did the last time?" Fayden suggested, leaning against Caroline's desk for support. The Doctor looked at her sharply. "Maybe if a body dies while her brain is in it, her consciousness dies too. So she jumped ship."

"…How come you get to come to conclusions faster?! You just had your head invaded!" The Doctor scoffed, but he was grinning. Fayden turned her head, giving him a mock glare.

"You're rather rude, you know that?"

"I've heard that actually," He nodded, and then went back into thinking mode. "So we've scared her out of one body in power, but she'll find another. She didn't jump into either of us, so from what I understand of body snatchers, there must be a place where her consciousness is resting…know of any particularly creepy rocks floating around in this galaxy?"

An hour later found them in The Nephilim nearing Rhone's orbit with a vengeance. "There's nothing here, though." Fayden was maintaining, "I've combed this moon a thousand times, there's literally nothing on it except rocks, the abandoned nest, and construction equipment."

"There has to be something to maintain her here," The Doctor insisted, "Otherwise it's just a rock, with the kind of influence she has she could have picked any moon or planet in this galaxy, but she still wants this one, so it has to be here. Especially for her to have lived so long, what's it been, almost 20 years?"

"About that," Fayden nodded, "But people were still finding abandoned nests of theirs, some with people still alive in them as recently as five years ago."

"Renewable food source," He said grimly, "Her kind lived off of the specific, unbridled energy produced by the absolute suffering of sentient beings. That must be what fed her consciousness, even after all the physical creatures were dead, human beings kept on suffering, hidden away to starve or," He swallowed, "Well, chained to a rock in the middle of nowhere, will to survive and all that, what would you be forced to eat?" Fayden shuddered. She didn't want to think of it. Some of those people had been her neighbors. One of them, somewhere, had been her father.

"Still, who's to say she didn't just jump into another politician?" Fayden asked, trying to mask her dread at going to Edgit. She would go, of course, she'd never backed down in the past, but for some reason going back now felt worse than any other time. "She might be back on Mareshka right now, wrecking havoc."

"I doubt it," The Doctor shook his head, "No, if she's desperate, she could have jumped into one of us…didn't you tell me that Caroline Troy's husband died a few years ago?" Fayden nodded, "Perhaps that was the doorway to her mind…utmost suffering. She was vulnerable, and she was in a position of some power."

"Makes sense," Fayden agreed, "From my stalking her, I did find out that after his death she took an extensive leave from her city duties. Leave that included being hospitalized for a suicide attempt."

"Warm and cuddly, Death Bringers," The Doctor muttered, as Fayden brought them down onto the surface of Edgit.

"How long has it looked like this?" The Doctor frowned as they stepped out onto the moon's surface. He was looking up through his specs at the green, noxious fumes above which made up the upper atmosphere, churning above them.

"For the past three years I've been coming here, anyway," She told him, wrinkling her nose inside of her helmet, "It's worse today though. I can smell it. I've never been able to smell it through my air filters."

"That's it then!" The Doctor cried, practically jumping up and down, turning and resting his hands on Fayden's shoulders, "Fay, when I left this place, the air was as cold and clear and colorless as any other breathable atmosphere! Have you ever examined the air here closely?!"

"Er, no," Fayden admitted, "We always figured, if it looked like ammonia and methane, smelled like ammonia and methane…"

"Not just ammonia and methane this time, Boss Lady!" He said brightly, taking a deep breath of the stinking air, "Oh she talks a big talk, but the Queen is defenseless, with a great disguise. She's masked it with methane, but taste that special tang of brain waves, Captain!"

"I'll take your word for it!" Fayden laughed, out of relief. She was feeling the burgeoning of hope. She knew where her enemy was, now. And she knew she wasn't going crazy, with all those times she could have sworn those empty, cruel eyes and black wings were surrounding her, watching her. They had been.

The two of them hurried back onto the ship, The Doctor rushing from the airlock to the cargo hold, pulling off his helmet. "What have you got in here for chemicals?!" He asked, breathless, and Fayden mentally stumbled, trying to go through the list of stuffs Frank kept stocked, "Better question!" The Doctor corrected himself, "You're one for social causes now, eh?" Fayden laughed, and nodded, "Good! Now, think, what would be the most spectacularly effective way to burn a great big gaping hole into an ozone layer, given what you've got on board? Er, without destroying your fine ship in the process?"

Fayden, still laughing at the sheer ridiculousness and brilliance of it all, thought fast, "Well," She cleared her throat, "I could mix up a cocktail of fuel cells and engine cleaners, dump it out the back once I break atmo, lower the containment field to just above suicidal, and then put the engines on full burn?" She suggested, "I mean, not saying you can't light a match down there, but the air does contain methane. Enough juice and enough unbridled heat…"

"Excellent, should work!" The Doctor said brightly, "But not yet!" He ran to his great blue box…his TARDIS, Fayden corrected herself, she'd gotten that lesson in time travel on the way over from Mareshka…and made to duck inside, "Get everything ready and then wait, I'll link in to your com system and give you the go-ahead, should it come to that."

"Wait…what?" Fayden shook her head, "We just figured out how to BURN her, where are you going and why would I wait?" The Doctor slowed his hyperactivity, pausing at the doors of the TARDIS.

"Fayden," He said slowly, walking back towards her across the cargo bay, "I have to talk to her first. I've got to give her a choice. She's a sentient being, and as such…"

"As such nothing!" Fayden growled, also stepping forward, staring him down, "She's their Queen! She can bring them back, bring them all back! And then what?!" She was shouting now, right in his face, but The Doctor remained calm, "Before you know it every poor person on a poor world is suffering, calling out, feeding their cruelty and not one fucking person comes to help! NOT ONE!"

"I did," The Doctor responded, calmly, and the rest of Fayden's words died on her tongue. "I've given her this choice before, Fay. You can guess how she chose last time." He reached out for her shoulders once more, giving them a squeeze through her flight suit, "I know, believe me, believe me, I know." He swallowed, "But they kill to sustain, to cause suffering, with no mercy. And you are nothing like them. Neither was I. Which is why we'll give them a choice first."

After a moment, Fayden nodded, looking down at her feet, feeling like a child. Thirty years old, and her feelings had not changed from when she was eight. She would murder the monsters from her nightmares, without a second thought. But he was right. She was better than they were. She always would be. "Right," Fayden took a deep breath, "Well let's not waste any time then…" The Doctor smiled, gently.

"Good girl." He turned back toward the TARDIS, and Fayden turned toward the engine room, then paused.

"Doctor," She called, and he turned just at the doors, inquisitive. Fayden shook her head, rubbing her forehead, "It's…actually nothing important. But," She looked at him, head tilted to the side, "You call me Fay. Nobody's called me Fay, not my whole life, except for one other person. And now you."

"Huh," The Doctor replied thoughtfully, as if just realizing this, "I suppose I do. Never really thought about it." He waffled, "Well, other than it just sounding natural?"

"Right." Fayden shook it off, laughing, "Sorry, back to work…"

Fayden had barely started tossing chemicals together in the cargo bay, when she heard the crackle of the com over her head. She'd turned it on all over the ship, so that she could follow The Doctor's parlay with The Queen as she rushed about, getting everything ready. She heard the engines of the TARDIS as it materialized in front of the nest, which seemed the most obvious place to address The Queen's consciousness. "Hullo, me again, anyone home?" The Doctor called out, his voice a welcome comfort over the com as Fayden put on her helmet again, against the fumes of the fuel cells.

"Dooooctoooooor…" The slinking, rasping voice of The Queen replied, and Fayden shivered, "We have stood here before…"

"That we have," The Doctor responded sternly, "You're a clever ol' girl, I'll give you that. Had me fooled. Well, almost anyway."

"If you're here to offer me leniency," The Queen hissed, "I shall only laugh. Why should I do dealings with the man who failed to make good on his promise to destroy me last time?"

Meanwhile, Fayden had finished mixing the volatile components, and was now working to turn off the filters and pressure valves in the ship-board waste system. She would then pour the mixture into the pipes, ready to be dumped out the back when she took flight.

"You're trapped, Queen," The Doctor informed her, still in that firm, unwavering tone. Fayden had to commend him for that, The Queen's voice was still sending constant chills down her own spine, "There's nobody on this rock but you, me, and a woman who's just aching to watch you be punished in a great, green, smelly cloud. Nowhere to go. Release your hold on this place or I swear, you will be burned off of this rock for good."

Having finished pouring the deadly mixture into her own ship's systems, Fayden tore off her helmet and ran full speed toward the console room. She fell into her chair, breathless, listening.

"This is mine," The Queen shrieked, "I entered here, I am here, I will bring my children back from the gates of death here! I will cover this galaxy with darkness, I will feed off of it's people's agony, I will…"

"Right, right, right," The Doctor sighed heavily, dramatically, and Fayden actually laughed outloud, her nerves strung tight, "Well, can't say I didn't try. Blimey I hate reasoning with sullen clouds…" The TARDIS engines could be heard again, dematerializing below, and coming into existence again in the Nephilim's cargo hold. "Hit it!" The Doctor called, running up toward the console as the clouds outside started to boil, the air to tingle, the ship to shake, slightly. "Fay?"

Fayden was staring out through the glass, out at the green fumes, unseeing. Her cheeks were damp, but otherwise her body was motionless, her hand frozen over the lever that would send them into auto-takeoff. 'They all leave you,' The Doctor looked wildly around the room, hearing the seductive voice of the Queen directing all of her power onto Fayden. 'Every single one. Let me in, you will feel us all, you will have all…'

"No, no, NO!" The Doctor shouted, kneeling at Fayden's side, "You're not getting inside of her! She's too strong for you to break, even now her clever mind is fighting you!"

'Everyone has their pain,' That delicious, warm hum went on, heedless in Fayden's ears, 'I take it away. I devour it. I make good of it! Let me fill you, child of Boeshane,' She whispered, 'Orphan, friendless, loveless, I can make you the vessel of a Queen…'

"Fay!" The Doctor grasped her frozen hand tightly, trying to lock on to her vacant stare with his intense glare, "It's a lie, you know it is! A weaker human would have fallen for it instantly, but you're not weak!"

"Doc…Doctor…" Fayden's lips moved, seemingly with Herculean effort, "She's…I can't…"

'Everyone should be allowed to be weak,' The inviting whisper maintained earnestly, 'You, Fayden Amorisha. Abandoned by every man who ever touched you. Left by friends, family, lovers…'

"Fay, you know better!" The Doctor insisted sharply, now grasping her shoulders and giving them a shake, "I know you've had a hard go of it, but I also know for a fact that you're not alone. Remember today? Sitting right here, with me and Frank, talking about all you've done these recent years? Remember Frank?

"Frank…Dayna…" A smile forced its way onto her lips, as more tears fell, "My best friends…"

'Mother, Father,' The voice was no longer whispering seductively. It was shouting too, desperately trying to match The Doctor's ferocity, 'The girl with braids, the man in the sand, the lover with the lying tongue, the day the sky broke apart….' Fayden let out a long groan, dipping her head forward, rocking from side to side.

"Don't let her in." The Doctor was pleading now, still clutching her shoulders as she rocked, his own eyes rather damp. "Don't let her have your pain. It's yours. Yours and yours alone." Fayden's head lolled backwards, her eyes confused. "I know it hurts, really, truly I do Fay," He said gently, "But it's YOURS. And mine is mine. My family's gone as well." He admitted, "And I just lost Rose again. And one of the best friends I'd had in a long time. But that's mine. I hold them in me. Would you really let the agony of losing your parents feed the very monster who killed them?"

A hideous, bone-chilling scream filled the console at that moment, as the final wall protecting Fayden's mind slammed shut, and the Consciousness realized that she was truly, and completely trapped on Edgit. Fayden gasped, lurching forward, The Doctor catching her before she smashed her head on the console. She reached out, pulled the lever, and they were bursting off of the surface.

"Lowering engine containment fields," Fayden rasped, as they broke through the writhing green clouds, and the ship started shaking violently. In the chair to her left, The Doctor looked on with a wide grin, "Emptying fuel cells," She pulled another lever, releasing the waste, "And…full burn!" She shouted, and The Nephilim burst forward again, leaving a fiery wake that caught the fuel, setting it ablaze just on the edge of the atmosphere. A moment's pause…and the air of Edgit was suddenly nothing but a blazing inferno across the surface.

Fayden leaned forward, watching as the clouds of gasses that had housed the consciousness burned into nothingness, taking their host with them. Just before the fires died, one last scream echoed inside of their heads, and the ghost of an image flashed through the sky…beating wings, empty eyes, terrible, snatching claws…and was gone. The ship stopped shaking. The sky was empty but for the stars. The universe was quiet.

"Fuck," Fayden fell back in her chair, her arms and legs limp, as The Doctor turned his head, grinning.

"Fayden Amorisha," He stated, "You're a piece of work, you are."

"I do have my moments." She grinned back, before wincing, letting out a groan, "Ugh, the bitch left me with a wretched headache, though."

On Mareshka it was a cool, clear night. Despite the lights and the pollution, one could still see bit of the sky, and the brightly glowing autumn moons. You'd never guess that the universe had just narrowly escaped yet another barrage of abuse. But perhaps that was best, Fayden mused, as she and The Doctor stepped outside of the air lock and back onto the docks. She was going to keep this one to herself. Her own private point of pride. Well, her and The Doctor's.

"You were brilliant," He told her as they stood looking up at the night sky, he in his suit and trainers, she in her leather and boots. Fayden shook her head.

"Says the last of a Mythic race," She smirked, "I was pretty spectacular thought." She turned and looked at him, smiling, "So how long will you be in town for? I'd love for you to meet Dayna, and the rest of my crew…"

"Well," The Doctor sighed, tearing his eyes away from the sky, "Actually, I've got to be on my way," He confessed, rather reluctantly. Once again, Fayden noticed that tired look in his eyes, "Noticed that the TARDIS could use a refuel, so it'll be back to Earth for a bit, say hullo to some friends, and then…" He trailed off, and shrugged, forcing a smile, "Who knows? Almost always a surprise. Never stop moving for long, me."

"Ah, I see," Fayden nodded slowly, "But you're alone now, yeah?"

"For now, yeah," The Doctor said lightly, looking around, anywhere but her face, "Works for me. Still," He amended, "Like I said, you were brilliant back there. And clever, you are fearsome clever. Could always come along for a spin or two…" He said it casually, but Fayden didn't miss the hopeful tone. For as much as he'd been an enigma the first time she'd met him, he was an open book at the moment. He didn't fancy being alone. And she hadn't forgotten what he'd said in the console, about losing Rose…and apparently his best friend as well.

She laughed at the prospect also, of her flying through time and space like some ruddy no-good Time Agent. But then again, this was different, very different, "Oh…" She sighed, "I don't think other times, other galaxies are really my domain," She answered slowly, "I mean, I have a business here and all, and people who depend on me…not to mention I'm still on that dumb, blind personal pilgrimage," She swallowed, "Trying to put home together."

"Right, of course, sorry, what was I thinking?" The Doctor said quickly, lightly, looking away from her again. Fayden grinned.

"But!" She stopped him before he could apologize more, "If you'll recall, I also have a week without jobs ahead of me." He looked up again, "And suddenly no social causes to keep me busy. And did I hear you say you were heading for Earth?" A grin slowly spread across The Doctor's face.

"Not just any old Earth," He corrected, bouncing slightly on his heels, "21st Century Earth! Gorgeous, wild, great chips, you'll love it."

"Tempting…" Fayden crossed her arms, enjoying where this was going, her adventurous, curious nature getting the best of her and letting her get excited, "But you should know, I've had some abysmal luck when it comes to traveling with straight men." Especially ones fresh from a breakup, she mentally tagged on.

"My interest in your company is purely platonic, nothing but a gentleman, upon my word," The Doctor vowed, crossing his heart in an awkward and completely incorrect manner, "Fairly certain you could break any man who got fresh in half anyway."

"You know me so well already. Right then!" Fayden agreed, offering her arm. The Doctor took it like a self-proclaimed gentleman, and Fayden moved back toward the airlock, "I'll send a message to Frank, lock this baby up, and then you, Doctor, can show me how the box works."

"Captain Amorisha, prepare to have your knot-covered mind blown…"

Author's Notes: Hmm, wonder what shennanagans could possibly go down in Early 21st Century-Earth? I'm going to have fun with the next chapter! Also, I have criminal amounts of love for you all.