Author's Note: Thanks for all the amazing support and feedback, kind readers! This will be the last proper chapter, but there is an epilogue to come.

The scooter sped towards the diner; Bill riding pillion, holding fast to Ozzy. Ozzy raised a hand (did she just click her fingers, Bill wondered) and the diner door opened immediately. Bill couldn't stop herself from shrieking as the scooter zoomed straight in, and came to a screeching halt right in front of the door which led to the mysterious back room.

Bill climbed off the bike, legs stiff from the ride and trepidation. When she removed her helmet, she heard noises: roaring, flapping, coming from the alleyway behind the diner.

"Is that the-?"

Ozzy shook her hair out. "No time to explain. Follow me. She paused, grasping the door handle. "Actually. Might want to brace yourself. This is gonna be a bit of a shock. You probably think this is just a little room at the back, right? Well in fact…" She pulled open the door and motioned for Bill to go through.

Bill gasped. The room was stark, and white, and… She turned to Ozzy, eyes sparkling.

"It's bigger on the inside."

"Well, yes. It is. But why do you not sound more amazed?"

Bill scarcely heard her. She was taking it in: the hexagonal console, the time rotor (currently unmoving), the roundels on the walls. "Oh," she breathed, a feeling of rapture rising within her. "It's a Tardis!"

Now it was Ozzy's turn to gasp. "How do you know what a Tardis is?"

"How do you even have a Tardis?" countered Bill. "Hang on, are you a Time Lady?"

"How do you know what a Time Lady is?"

"Or a Time Lady that used to be a Time Lord? Did you… oh, what's the word? Rejig? Reset? Oh, I know - regenerate!"

"How do you know what regeneration is?"

"How did you even get this Tardis?"

"Are you going to keep answering every question of mine with a question of your own?" snapped Ozzy.

"Are you going to tell me properly what's going on?" said Bill.

"That was another question!"

The two women faced off, eyes narrowed. There was a pause. Then, simultaneously, both women asked:

"Have you met the Doctor?"

They both inhaled sharply, as they realised the significance of that question. Bill's mind whirled. So, Ozzy had met the Doctor! Had she travelled with him? For how long? Why wasn't she with him anymore? Did she know where he was now? Looking into Ozzy's eyes, she saw her own confusion and wonder reflected back.

There was a heavy thump against the back wall, shaking the diner. The roaring intensified. The funny remote control-type device, Bill noticed, was in Ozzy's jacket pocket and vibrating like crazy.

"Right," said Ozzy. "Conversation postponed. We've got to hurry."

She thrust a coil of hose into Bill's arms, and grabbed the butterfly net and cat carrier. She sprinted back out to the diner, Bill on her heels.

"Screw that end into the tap," ordered Ozzy, pointing at the kitchen sink. "Is that nozzle off? Good." She turned on the tap. "Let's go." She led the way out of the diner, to the alley. Bill followed, unrolling the hose as she went.

Unlike the previous time, it was a clear night. The alley smelt of rubbish and smoke. Bill looked up to see the alien – a large, bat-like creature – soaring above, silhouetted against the full moon.

"It'll swoop any second," warned Ozzy. "And when it does, twist that nozzle and give it a blast. Don't stop until I say."

"Okay," replied Bill, feeling her heart pound. Ozzy opened the car carrier, and held her butterfly net at the ready. The creature must have sensed them, smelt them, because it hung motionless in the air for an instant, then with a screech, dived straight for them.

"Get ready!" shouted Ozzy.

Bill gripped the hose, which felt as full and heavy as a snake. The alien sped closer, closer, closer. Bill could see its teeth; jagged and gleaming. A spurt of flame erupted from its nostrils – she felt the heat on her face, felt her eyebrows singe. Bill twisted the nozzle, and the pent-up water sprayed from the hose, catching the alien square in the face, and drenching the fire.

"Keep going!" yelled Ozzy. The pressure from the water was gradually wearing the creature down. It flapped its wings feebly, then seemingly exhausted, gave up and plummeted towards the ground.

"Okay, turn it off!"

Bill twisted the nozzle, and Ozzy darted forward. She caught the creature with the butterfly net seconds before it hit the ground, and with an aplomb that would have made a lacrosse player proud, lobbed it into the open cat carrier.

She slammed the door shut and nodded at Bill. "Nice work."

Bill grinned back. "Team effort. What is that thing?"

Ozzy held the car carrier up. Confined and sodden, the alien looked almost cute. It was calm now; its pink eyes were half closed, and trails of steam wafted gently from its pig-like snout.

"A Chirophorta. From the planet Kreipp," replied Ozzy. "They have a taste for canine flesh."

"You mean – dogs."

Ozzy nodded. "When I heard about all the missing dogs, I suspected it might have been a Chirophorta. Probably got here through a rift – maybe the one in Cardiff. Found its way across the Severn River, and landed up here. Figured I should do something about it."

"So that was why you bought Missy."

"Yeah. For bait. But I never meant for her to get eaten. Guess this one couldn't help himself. Chirophorta love older dogs. Apparently, they taste better with age. Rather like champagne."

Bill shuddered.

Ozzy said nothing more as they walked back to the diner, Bill coiling up the hose as they went. Once back in the Tardis, and a damp blanket placed over the cat carrier ("That'll keep him settled and moist for now," said Ozzy), Bill rounded on her.

"Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Everything. Who you are. How you got this Tardis. How you know the Doctor."

Ozzy shrugged. "He and I go back a long time. We travelled everywhere together. Saw some amazing places."

Bill moved to the other side of the console. Something inside her did not care for Ozzy's casual, possessive tone.

"Yeah, well. I travelled with him too. Had some crazy adventures."

"Yes, it's usually like that with the Doctor," said Ozzy (so patronizing! thought Bill). "Time and space travel isn't for everyone. Some people just can't handle it."

"Oh, I could handle it!" Bill knew she was getting defensive, but couldn't help herself. "I helped free a giant creature from below the Thames. Found the missing Ninth Legion. Saved the world from a bunch of bloody space monks!"

"Ever meet a Dalek?"

"Yeah!" said Bill, remembering those pepper-pot things from her first adventure with the Doctor.

"I met an Ice Warrior once. On a submarine in 1983."

"I met one too. On Mars in 1872."

"I met Jane Austen. And Robin Hood."

"He doesn't even exist!"

"I've seen a Mummy on the Orient Express."

"I've seen zombies on a space station!"

The two women circled around the console, always keeping equal distance from each other.

"I've met his past faces," said Ozzy. "Watched him regenerate."

"Oh. Did you boss him to death?"

"I was his 'Impossible Girl'."

"Yeah, I can believe that," said Bill.

"I threw myself into the Doctor's timestream."

"I was trapped on a spaceship for over a decade."

"I'm going to be killed by a raven."

That pulled Bill up short. "How does that even happen?"

"Very painfully, apparently."

"Oh," said Bill in a small voice. Then – "If it's any consolation, I was once converted into a Cyberman. Still hate the sound of buzz saws."

"Wow," said Ozzy, hushed. "Guess that makes us even."

After a moment's pause, they both burst out laughing.

"So," said Bill. "This Tardis…?"

"The Doctor and I stole it from Gallifrey. When we had to… stop travelling together, I reconfigured it to look like a diner. Only the stupid chameleon circuit broke. Common problem with these Type 40s."

"So why are you here? I mean, in Bristol. You mentioned something about being stuck here."

"Yep. Got clipped by a solar flare while travelling through the De Wickcliffe Belt which damaged the Borgar valve. Had to make an emergency landing somewhere." She paused. "I chose Earth, twenty-first century. Old habits, and all that." She fiddled with the silent console, disconsolately. "Can't go anywhere 'til I get a new one. God knows how – it's not like going to the supermarket and picking one off the shelves."

Bill frowned. "Can it be fixed?"

Ozzy shook her head. "Got burnt to a crisp."

"Okay. Well, maybe we could find another part, somehow. Or else, half the parts in the Doctor's Tardis were organic. We might maybe even be able to grow a new part!"

Ozzy quirked an eyebrow. "We? We? Almost makes it sound like you think we're a team."

Bill felt herself blushing. The memories of the previous night came flooding back. The kiss. Ozzy pulling away. She was being presumptuous. Just because Ozzy had needed her help tonight, didn't mean that Ozzy wanted her around permanently.

"Yeah. Sorry. Got carried away. I didn't mean-"

To her astonishment, Ozzy walked purposefully around the console and rested her hands lightly on Bill's hips.

"For what it's worth, I think we make a pretty good team."

"Yeah?" said Bill, trying not to sound too pleased. No need to stoke Ozzy's ego even further.

"We can't go anywhere at the moment. But I'm hoping you can stick around."

"Hmm," said Bill, pretending to think. "I'll need to check my schedule."

"Good. Because you're rostered on for tomorrow's lunchtime shift. Who else am I going to get to cook the chips?"

Bill opened her mouth to remonstrate, then – seeing the twinkle in Ozzy's eye – realised she was joking.

"Ozzy," began Bill, but Ozzy stopped her, with a finger to Bill's lips.

"You know what? Call me Clara."

"Clara," began Bill, trying the name for the first time. She still had so many questions to ask, so many stories she wanted to share. But as Clara was now kissing her, and pulling her closer, and her own arms were twining around Clara's neck, she supposed that talking could wait.