It had been lovely, just the three of them for a little bit. Rose listened to Vincent tell them how he saw the world and was mesmerized. Even if he was coming off as a bit over zealous and pretty eccentric, there was something beautiful in the way he spoke.
It was hearing Amy scream that pulled all three of them out of the cozy bubble of over eager talks on Art and had them running out to the back garden.
"Amy! Rory!" The Doctor called and ran toward the couple that were on the ground, frantically looking around them. "What happened?" He asked them, offering his hand to Rory to get him on his feet. Once settled, both men helped Amy up.
"We were talking when something hit me from behind." Amy replied as she pulled at her skirt, trying to smooth it back out.
Rose listened, hearing something off but unsure how. She looked over at Vincent who turned his head about frantically. She moved toward the others, keeping her eyes on Vincent as she moved.
"It's okay," The Doctor tried to reassure. "It's gone, we're here."
"'S not gone." Rose shook her head, her skin crawling as she noted Vincent raising his hands, his eyes going wide with terror. "Stay behind me. Feel like something coming at you from behind, put me in front of you." She said as she shucked her jacket, handing it to the Doctor.
"Oi, who are you to tell us what to do?" Amy demanded in a shaky voice.
"Just listen to her, Pond." The Doctor partly snapped behind her. "Rose, what's going on, what are you seeing or sensing?"
"Dunno," She said as Vincent started backing away.
"No!" The artist cried out, backing toward a pitchfork.
Rose grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, voice cracking.
She handed him her short sleeved jumper. "Have a feeling it'd be a little ruined in a moment." She said with a huff. He caught her eye, his gaze firmly on hers, and nodded once.
"Why's she stripping?" Amy growled.
Vincent grabbed the wooden pitchfork, and Rose thought she heard something that sounded a bit like a bird. There was an odd smell in the air, too. Like feathers.
"What's he doing?" Amy asked as Vincent started to come toward them, brandishing the gardening took like a weapon.
"I don't know what he's doing." The Doctor said, ignoring Amy's first question.
A beat later, Vincent started to charge at them with a determined look on his face. "Run!" He shouted at them.
"Yeah, that's not a bad idea." The Doctor said. "Amy, Rory, get back. He's having some kind of fit."
"I'm a nurse, I can help," Rory protested.
"All three of you, move, now!" Rose yelled over her shoulder, glimpsing Amy about ready to argue.
"Right, yes, let's do as she says." The Doctor said, turning to the couple and herding them out of the way.
"Oi, just gonna let her boss ya around like that?" Amy asked as he shoved at her.
"As a matter of fact, yes." The Doctor replied, giving her and Rory a good shove.
"Look out!" Vincent called out, and just as the Doctor turned to him, something knocked him into the air and to the ground.
"Doctor!" Rose cried out, charging toward him. The burning pain of her flesh being torn seized her up, halting her progress. Silently crying out in agony, her eyes screwed closed and tears burned. She heard the Doctor vocalize the pain, and frantically cut off their bond.
He huffed, breathed heavy a few times, caught her just before she fell. "I got you." He said.
"Not dying, just hurt." She panted out quickly. She pushed off of him, turning to put herself between him and Vincent as the painter lunged at thin air with his pitchfork. The sickening, wet sound of flesh behind stabbed hit Rose's ears, the air heavy with the sent of iron. There was a noise, faint, like a growl, and then a makeshift scarecrow was knocked over. Bushes in the wooded area seemed compressed, and then Rose sensed that what ever danger was there before had gone.
The pain from her wounds overwhelmed her, weakness from having not been awake that long mixing with it caused her to collapse on her knees.
"Rose?" The Doctor knelt beside her, brushed her hair away from her face and over her other shoulder.
"I'll be okay." She nodded.
"You're a brave woman, standing up to that you can not see. Supposed to be a husband's job to protect his wife." She heard Vincent closer than he'd been before.
She laughed, craning her neck to look up at him. "Bit different, us."
"Can see that." He said, tossing the pitchfork aside and offering his hand to Rose. She took it, and with the Doctor holding on to her waist, she got off the ground and unsteadily to her legs. As her husband retrieved her jumper and jacket, Rory ran over and stood behind her.
"Not bleeding." He noted. "We're going to have to stitch you up, though."
"We'll take care of that inside," The Doctor said, taking one of Rose's arms and looping it over his shoulder. He guided her across the garden, past Amy who stood shocked by the door, and inside to a chair.
After getting her seated backward on the chair, her arms wrapped around the back rest, he set her clothes on the table. The Doctor then reached into his pocket and pulled out … something.
Rose watched as he flicked a dial a couple of times, then pressed a button. The little gold claws opened, a green light shone, and then … the hum. As he moved to hover it over her back, she caught his hand and studied the item in it.
"New screwdriver," She said, chest tightening. It was such a silly thing to get upset about. She handled the new him, the new TARDIS, but the screwdriver was going to throw her for a loop?
"Yes." The Doctor said, looking at it like he hadn't even thought anything of the change. "Last one shorted out, covered in alien goo, completely ruined. Had to make a new one."
"Have had to make new ones before." She reminded him, looking from the green diode of the sonic to the green eyes of the Doctor.
"Rose?" He frowned. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," She shook her head, averting her eyes and running her fingers over the shaft of the new sonic. "'S just that I liked the old one."
"Not the only thing you liked the old version better than, is it?" He asked quietly.
She smirked, chuckling, reopening the bond sending him affection over it. "Don't be daft. 'S just everything changed since I was last awake, didn't expect the sonic to be one of them."
He grinned, turned it back on, and shifted behind her. His fingers gently caressed the untorn skin exposed by the rips in her camisole, and she felt a tingle where his touch lingered.
"Don't need to repair, it's already doing that on its own." He murmured, running the sonic over her back anyway. "Going to see if I can't get a reading on what sort of creature we're dealing with." He said as his hand wandered to the more exposed flesh of her upper back. His fingers curled around her shoulder, caressing, hints of longing coming through their bond. Rose caught an image in his mind before it was tucked away of him bending down to kiss her shoulder and neck. She could almost feel his lips on his skin, phantom sensations from decades of experience lingered where it shouldn't.
"So what exactly happened out there?" Rory asked, snapping her out of her daze and getting her to look at him. He was more focused on the Doctor, glancing back at Vincent as he and Amy came inside.
"We were attacked by the creature," The painter said plainly.
"Yes, but by something only you can see. What did he look like?" The Doctor asked, giving Rose's shoulder a quick squeeze before stepping away toward Vincent.
"I'll show you." He said, looking around quickly and grabbing a painting. Rose sucked her lips in her mouth and bit down as she watched the painter grab a broad brush, dunk it in white, and smeared it over a gorgeous painting of irises.
"Oh, no!" The Doctor grimaced as Amy gasped and Rory's eye brows shot up into his hairline.
"What?" Vincent asked, looking unperturbed if not a bit confused.
"It's just … that was quite good." He sighed, waving a hand at Vincent. "On you go."
As Vincent shrugged and fanned the canvas with broad swings of his arms, Rory came around and stood behind her.
Rose watched him over her shoulder, seeing the curious fascination as his fingers reached for but only hovered over her back. He knelt down beside her, examining her.
"He said you were mostly human," He said quietly, just loud enough for her to know he wasn't merely speaking to himself but still making sure Amy and Vincent wouldn't hear.
"I'm a bit … modified." She said in the same volume.
"Quick healer?"
"Among other things." She shrugged.
Rory nodded, simply accepting this.
"Okay, okay," The Doctor said, and they both turned toward the Time Lord to see Vincent handing him a canvas. "Right, Amy, Rory, stay here with Mister Van Gogh, rest, make sure no invisible monsters make it through the front door."
"And what are you doing?" Amy asked, crossing her arms and glaring.
"Rose and I are going back to the TARDIS a moment." He said, and Rose grabbed her jumper and pulled it on.
"Well then I'm coming with you." Amy said firmly.
"No, you're not. It's dangerous out there. Here you're safe, safe as you can be, and here's where you'll stay."
"Someone's gotta look after you."
"Which is why I'm going." Rose said as she shrugged on her jacket. Amy glared at her. "I'm going to be there to make sure he's alright."
"Did a bang up job of it earlier." Amy countered.
Rose laughed in her chest, shaking her head. "Been looking after him for hundreds of years, mate. Pretty sure I can do it a helluva lot better than you."
"She's right, I'd have been dead thousands of times over if it weren't for Rose, maybe more." The Doctor said in a clear attempt to break the tension and failing as Amy insisted in trying to intimidate Rose. "Anyway, we'll be back. No worries, don't wait up. Or do, what ever tickles your fancy. Something I won't say again, that." He tensed, looked around the room, then headed for the door.
Rose turned to Vincent. "We'll be back in no time." She said kindly, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze, tossing a smile of the same nature over her shoulder to Rory, then walked past Amy without looking at her.
They walked to the TARDIS hand in hand, quiet the whole way, constantly checking over their shoulders for something they couldn't see. She didn't snap her fingers until they were practically at the door step, and then they stepped inside quickly and closed the door the moment they could.
Rose moved up the ramp to the console more out of habit, stopping beside the controls and turning to her husband. "So what's the plan?" She asked, smiling as he smirked at her. She probed their bond, finding he closed it off. "Doctor?"
He set the sketch Vincent gave him on the floor then walked up the ramp slowly, shrugging off his jacket, putting it on a rail as he came toward her. She took him in, realizing he hadn't seen him with his jacket off for a moment before now.
He really wasn't nearly as lean as he was before. His shoulders and chest were much broader, his shirt seemed a bit snug, like he was still dressing with his old body in mind. When he was close enough, Rose reached out and ran her hands up his bracers, looping her arms around his neck when her palms hit his shoulders. His hands came to her hips, curling around them, sliding to the back. A second later he hoisted her up on the console.
"What are you up to?" She asked with a laugh, seeing the dark look she was all too familiar with changing his eyes to an emerald shade as his mouth curled into a wicked grin. "Invisible monster out there, yeah?"
"Course there is, very important that monster. Not nearly as important, however, as making up for not giving you a proper goodbye to my last body. Not the same, I know, but still important to show you that I still love you just as much. Perhaps more this go around because I was forced to live with out you."
"For a week," She teased.
"Yes, a week. A week without your smile, or your laugh, or even you yelling at me. A week, Rose Tyler, is too long to go without you and I need to take a moment, or a few, to make up for lost time."
"Rory and Amy are still out there." She reminded him as he leaned forward until their noses brushed.
"Yes, out there, safe with Vincent, and away from here. No interruptions," He said, low and seductive, and she found she liked how this voice implied things to come. Not like his last body where it was a dark tease from a lover, this was a promise from a partner.
He took his hands off her hips, gliding his fingers lightly up her sides before sliding under her jacket and pushing it off. When her arms were free, she reached up and pushed the bracers off his shoulders. As he looped his arms out of them, her fingers threaded through his hair.
"Lot different." She murmured as he closed his eyes. "Yet the same."
"Regenerated with you on my mind again. Likely will for the rest of my lives. Never be that different than what you're used to."
"Well," She said with a cheeky grin, trailing her hands down his neck, sliding over his chest, resting at the fastener of his trousers. "We'll have to see about that, won't we?"
He shook his head, leaning in and kissing her firmly. As his lips touched hers, he opened their bond, and it wasn't long after that the thought he had about he and her in the console room was being made reality.
~DWDWDW~
It was taking entirely too long for them to come back, in Amy's opinion. Vincent had fallen asleep not long after they'd left, setting up a make shift cot for her and Rory before he passed out. She was laying on one, ignoring the straw poking at her legs and staring at the ceiling. Straining to hear anything at all, she debated for at least the seventh time whether or not she should go out and find the Doctor. Well, Rose too, she supposed, if she had to.
Bolting up, she was resolute in going after him.
"Selfish." She heard Rory say, and she looked down to see he hadn't been asleep beside her like she supposed he was. He turned, met her eye, but had no discernible expression. When she frowned at him, he added, "Maybe they want some time alone?"
Amy snorted. "Bet miss strip tease would want that, wouldn't she?"
Rory pushed himself up, frowning. "Yeah, that did seem weird. Though I think she did it to save her clothes."
"What?" Amy asked, shaking her head.
Rory simply shrugged. "Well, she healed really fast. Her back was scabbed over just before she and the Doctor left. Suppose she probably knew that she could, I dunno, endure the attack better than most and just didn't want to see her jacket destroyed. I imagine it's more comfortable to walk around with mostly intact clothing."
"Whatever," Amy rolled her eyes, though she had to admit that the leather jacket was pretty cute and it would have been a shame to see it destroyed.
She looked to the door, wondering once more what was taking them so long.
"Just leave them be, Amy." Rory said once more.
She shot him a glare before getting to her feet and marching out the door.
~DWDWDW~
"I knew it was here somewhere!" The Doctor called triumphantly from the corridor as Rose lounged in the jumpseat and nursed a cup of tea. She smiled from behind the mug, still feeling blissfully relaxed and completely connected to her husband. She'd felt his joy and triumph just moments before, but she still imagined he wanted to do a big reveal of what ever it was he was trying to find.
He walked up from under the console where he kept some of their miscellaneous storage items holding some sort of wonky device with what looked like a car mirror attached to it. The Doctor himself still looked a bit disheveled, though he didn't dig for very long. It was just that their hasty redressing as they realized time was getting away from them meant his bracers were still hanging at his sides, his shirt barely tucked in properly, and his bow tie was still sitting on the console where it had been tossed aside. His hair was much more side swept now as Rose made an effort to keep it out of his eyes and out of her own face.
When he caught her eye, he grinned devilishly, a touch of smugness to it, but she could feel his own bliss bubbling below the surface.
It had been many years since they last made love with laughter and play in the mix. He was so clumsy in this body that his balance was poor and well … it was probably a good thing there were more jumpseats this time around. And that the floor wasn't grating, because while her elbow still ached from colliding with it, it could have been worse. She teased, and he took every bit of it on the chin and dished out just as well. Exploring the new him was less lustful and more adoring. They'd forgotten that they couldn't just get lost in themselves, and the Doctor sheepishly had admitted that there was a reason he returned to the TARDIS other than for the two of them to reacquaint.
She watched him now as he set up the device and plugged it into the controls. He smiled at her over his shoulder than looked at the mirror and stuck out his tongue.
Rose laughed. "Need to do that?"
"Works best," He replied, catching her eye in the mirror and winking. A couple of dings sounded from the typewriter, and Rose got up to see it printing out images of him. Past hims. Really past hims.
She smiled fondly at the faces as they came off one after another.
"You look at those as if you know them." He commented as he came up beside her.
She quirked an eyebrow. "I'm your wife. I do know them, yeah?"
"Yes, but you don't know them. Not really, not properly. You've never met any of them." He said as the image of his fifth self came off.
"Would they have loved me, too?" She asked, and he looked offended. "I know 's all you," She amended, giving him a light jab in the ribs. "But you change, yeah? I know you've been different each time so just, I dunno." She reached for the top of the long print out, showing him his first self. "Would you have loved me in this body?"
"Would you have loved me?" He countered, taking the sheet from her. "I mean, this me, this one likely would have banished the notion. Still quite Time Lord-y, less rebellious. Stealing the TARDIS, running away with Susan, really as bad as I got. But I didn't understand why she'd want to live with a human, marry one, so I doubt I would have allowed myself to do the same. That, and of course I was still technically in a marriage on Gallifrey. Same goes with the next one, I suppose, but this one." He said as he passed the second and moved to the third. "I was banished from Gallifrey for the first time in this body, exiled to Earth. All ties to Gallifrey were severed, so my union contract with my children's mother would have ended. I was also much more fond of humans, having been stuck on Earth for so long. If you had walked into my life at this point, Rose Tyler, I would have had a hard time keeping my own rules. And that would have been an issue all the way through to," he shifted the paper rapidly through his hands until he stopped at his eighth self. "I broke my own rules on an impulse in his body. If I had met you I would have tossed them out the window in an instant."
She simply hummed in agreement. They didn't talk about it often, and with the thoughts of this "She" lingering in the back of her mind, Rose didn't want to mention the dream state they were in where he was his eighth self.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to the Doctor. "So what is that, exactly?" She asked, pointing to the device.
He beamed. "No idea."
"No?" She countered with a grin.
"Well, I know how it works, of course, obviously, but I don't know what it's called. Was a gift from a strange godmother with bad breath. Sorta just shoved it aside, doubting I'd have ever needed to use it, but here we are, and I'm in need. So, now that it's been calibrated. No, wait, hold on." He took her by the upper arms and guided her in front of the mirror. She giggled in spite of her self. It lasted until her species came up as "Bad Wolf."
"Well that's interesting." He said over her shoulder, resting his head beside hers as the planet and time of origin did come up correctly. "It doesn't consider you human. But you are, totally human. Nearly human, mostly human."
"Modified." Rose said. "'S what we've been calling it, yeah? Maybe when I created myself, I created myself. Gave myself a new classification in the Universe to explain away my immortality."
"Perhaps," He shrugged. "Well, it's calibrated. I trust it's calibrated, it has to be. So lets see what it can tell us about our beastie friend." He said before darting off to collect the sketch from the end of the ramp.
He brought it over and held it in front of the mirror. The machine suggested a parrot, then it suggested a polar bear, followed immediately by an iguana.
The Doctor sighed. "This is the problem with the impressionists, not accurate enough. This would never happen with Gainsborough, or one of those proper painters."
"Insulting professions, now?" Rose teased.
"Well it's not like it's a problem with all humans now, is it?"
"And I do so love when you mock my species."
"According to this, you're not a human." He countered, eyes dancing while his face set in irritation.
"Gonna stick to calling myself one, though." She said as he took the device off the console and pulled a retractable harness from it. "What're you doing?"
He looked down a the device then back to her. "Going to wear it outside, see if I can get a glimpse of our beastie that way."
"Might wanna be properly dressed first, yeah?" She arched a brow, and he looked down at his hanging bracers and untucked shirt.
"Right, yes." He said, placing the device on the nearest jumpseat and went about putting himself together. Rose snatched his bow tie from the console, walking over and draping it around his neck. He paused in his tucking, watching her intently as she went about tying the fabric. She wasn't entirely sure she knew what she was doing, but her brain had been running ahead of her conscious thought, sending signals to her hands and making them deftly tie the fabric in a perfect bow. She straightened it, gave the knot a little pat, and smiled up at him.
Her throat tightened at the reverence in his gaze. After one final tuck, the Doctor reached up and cupped her face with both hands, placing a firm, brief kiss on her lips. "You can't possibly know how much I ached for you to do that."
"Tie your bow tie."
"Yes, tie my bow tie."
"Domestic, much?" She teased, but he didn't laugh.
"Domestic, yes, but we have been, haven't we? May not be the house with the picket fence type, but we are. Married with a daughter, I braid your hair, you tied my ties, we have tea with friends on Sundays and have long, quiet moments in the Vortex that may as well be Saturdays. You have completely domesticated me, Rose Tyler, and yet you haven't. And you know what? I wouldn't change a thing." He said with absolute sincerity.
She got on her toes and kissed his nose. "Good," She said. "Now, let's go find out what our beastie is, yeah?"
He nodded, warm grin still in place as he finished tucking in his shirt. He then strapped the device on positioning it so the mirror was pointing over his shoulder. Rose grabbed his jacket and helped him in it before picking hers up off the floor and shrugging it on. This time when he nodded at her, it a was much more serious. That familiar look of determination snapped into place in an oddly comforting way, and she steeled herself as she followed him out the door.
The brightening sky gave Rose pause, her surprise not only hers.
"Apparently we were in there longer than I anticipated." He said as he looked around.
"Well I did need to be thorough in my inspection," Rose deadpanned, earning smirk from her husband.
"Yes, well, perhaps you can ponder on the results of that inspection later. Stay to my right, out of the mirror."
She nodded, managing to keep the smile threatening to break through from coming out. The Doctor took a couple steps forward, then stopped.
"Whoa, there you are, you poor thing." He cooed. "You brutal, murderous, abandoned thing. Oh, Sweetheart, it's a rarity we have here." He said, glancing at the print out. Hairs on the back of Rose's neck began to rise, and she caught a glimpse of something grotesque in the mirror.
"I think we should run, yeah?" She asked, giving him a gentle nudge.
He glanced at the mirror and Rose could see his eyes widen in the reflection. The Doctor reached back, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along as he took off at a run.
Making sure to keep him ahead of her, she dropped her hand and started knocking things over as they ran. He did as well, everything from bicycles to barrels of produce. Occasionally, Rose would have to jump over a tumbled piece of fruit or avoid stepping on a plate, but the sight of the thing in the mirror, the strange lizard-bird thing, kept her running from seemingly nothing.
The Doctor reached back and grabbed her hand once more before pulling her around the corner. He wrapped his arm around her, muffling her breath in his tweed jacket as she felt him not breathe at all. His fingers dug into her painfully, his hearts pounding in his shaking frame while the fear trickled through their bond.
Feeling him shift, she held her breath and raised her head, catching a glimpse of ginger hair around the corner.
"What the sodden hell are you doing?" She snapped at Amy before she properly rounded the corner, causing her to jump.
"Could ask you the same question," She snapped back, crossing her arms and looking over Rose's shorter form as if sizing her up.
"We were being chased by a creature intent on killing us, a creature who was in just in the alley you're in now. Reason we tell you to stay where it's safe, ya thick …."
"Okay, Sweetheart, I think Amy gets it. No need to insult." The Doctor said behind her, though she didn't pull her eyes away from Amy's. She noted the twitch of a smirk on Amy's lips that barely made an appearance before she focused entirely on the Doctor. "Now, Pond, why did you come after us? You knew it wasn't safe, and we asked, kindly, to stay with Vincent and Rory. Where is Rory, by the way?"
Amy snorted, "Stayed at the cottage. He may have been able to deal with Vincent Van Gogh's snoring, but I couldn't. So what have you been up to all this time?" She asked as the Doctor and Rose started to head toward the cottage, Amy following.
The Doctor's ears turned red, and Rose caught how he recalled their time spent together in pretty clear detail.
"Searching for a thing. This thing, actually. A thing that was given to me and helped me identify our wonderful, deadly creature which could not be seen by the naked eye. Well, can be seen by Vincent's naked eye, of course, but I don't believe he sees things quite the same way we do. More than just an impressionist thing, it's just sorta how his mind works."
"Right." Amy said. "So it took you five hours to find that … thing?" She asked, gesturing to the gizmo strapped to the Doctor's chest.
"Well, no, took me about thirty minutes, maybe forty." The Doctor replied.
"Then what was with the other four and a half hours?" Amy challenged.
"Umm," His ears turned red. "You see, the intention was just to get the thing, but then, well, I hadn't been alone with Rose since she woke up."
"Right." Amy said. "Well, while you two shagged for four and a half hours, apparently, we've been waiting. And not so patient, mind. Kind of rude to leave us there to do what you were doing." She said more to Rose than to the Doctor.
She took a deep breath, pushed herself to be calm, felt the Doctor trying to calm her as well, but she glared daggers in the back of the ginger's head. It had been a very long time since she'd felt animosity towards anyone they traveled with, Martha being the last, but Amy was sure trying to end that century long streak. But that was the thing: Rose was over a hundred years old, had a lot more patience, and was far too secure in her relationship with the Doctor to let Amy really get under her skin.
As they rounded around to the Vincent's home, they found Rory outside waiting, pushing off the wall he was leaning on and coming to meet them.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry. I did tell her to leave you be, that you'd want time alone."
"You were right about that." Amy grumbled, moving past Rory and into the house.
Rory sighed. "I'm sorry," he said again, looking between the Doctor and Rose. "I tried talking to her, but I don't know …."
"It's fine, Rory," The Doctor said, clapping him on the shoulder with a reassuring grin. "No harm done. Well, harm could have been done, I suppose, considering I did tell her to stay and we were chased by the beastie, but either way." He stopped, turning to Rose. "I really do ramble, now, don't I? Worse than simply having a gob, I think."
"Too soon to tell." Rose winked, and the Doctor brightened before stepping inside.
"Okay, I have to ask: he changes, doesn't he?" Rory cut to the chase once they were alone. "He does some sort of thing where he changes himself and you just sort of have to roll with it, don't you?"
Rose chuckled. "Sorta, yeah. First person without knowing the legend of the Time Lords to figure that one out. He does change, he's the third version of him that I've known, really known. He changed just before I went into the coma. Sorta why I might find somethings outta place, or why it might seem like we're getting to know each other."
Rory nodded. "I'm sorry for Amy," He apologized again. "She's had a hard life, and she tends to be a bit possessive over the things."
"Happens." Rose shrugged, and the two moved to sit on the front step. Echoes of Amy and the Doctor came from the back garden, talk of sunflowers and breakfast, but Rose was content to let them have their moment while she got some information from Rory. "She seems to not like me much."
"Well, she did try to kiss your husband, and you are being awfully nice to her." He countered with nonchalance.
"She wouldn't be the first, and to be honest she'll likely not be the last. Had women try to kill me just to have him."
"Seriously?" Rory arched a brow.
"Yeah, don't quite understand it myself. May be fit, but he'd talk for England if you let him. Always like that, for as long as I've known him."
"And that's … over a hundred years." Rory said, though Rose didn't need to reaffirm. "I often wished to be able to love Amy that long, or longer. I asked her to marry me when those pepper pot things tried to take over the Earth, when it moved. Did it properly after, too. With Champagne and flowers, and the whole thing. She seemed happy at the time, but to know she ran off …."
"The first time the Doctor ever told me he loved me was just before we got separated for a year. Told me he'd ask me to marry him one day, waited five years. Asked after we were kidnapped. Never even truly hinted that maybe we could have been more than mates until I was almost lost to the another Universe. Sometimes people run, not 'cause they don't love enough, but because they're scared of how much they do love. Amy, she sorta reminds me of the Doctor early in his last body. Flirty with everyone, drawing attention he didn't mean to. Ask him about France, see the look on his face when you do. He'll grimace, then get sorta dreamy, then become guilty again. But at no point did he stop loving me. He just got scared."
Rory had listened, baring little smirks and snorts here and there, but mostly he seemed thoughtful. She sat patiently with him as he seemed to ponder what it could all mean for he and Amy.
With a deep sigh, he got to his feet and offered Rose a hand to rise up herself. She took it, and the two went inside the cottage without a word.
No one was in the sitting room, or the kitchen, though Rose could see Vincent out the back window, as well as a vast amount of sunflowers in the back garden.
"Should we?" Rory asked, gesturing to the door. Rose shook her head, and he shrugged, taking a seat in the sitting room. As she leaned against the wall, she heard the door in the kitchen open. She could hear the heavy footfall of the two men as the came in to the sitting room.
Vincent glanced around, barely acknowledging either of them before he turned his attention to the Doctor.
He picked up his gizmo, taking a piece of paper from within it and showing it to Vincent.
"That's him," He told the Doctor as he sat in the nearest available chair. "And the eyes - without mercy."
"This is a creature called the Krafayis," The Doctor explained. "They travel in space, they travel as a pack. Scavenging across the universe. Sometimes one of them gets left behind and because they are a brutal race, the others never come back. So, dotted all around the universe are individual, utterly merciless, abandoned Krafayis."
"Who just follow instinct and kill." Rose said. "But can't be simply for sport, must have a reason yeah?"
"Well, they are omnivores. So they could, in theory, hunt for food. But this one is alone, likely frightened, and as a species they panic when alone. Killing not for food, but simply because it can't control itself without the hierarchy it's known since birth. It will likely kill until it is killed, as many of those left behind do. But they usually aren't killed because other creatures can't see them." The Doctor replied.
"But I can," Vincent said thoughtfully.
"Yes, and that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror. So, feeling like painting the church today?" The Doctor asked, leaning back against the wall with a confident air about him.
"What about the monster?" Vincent asked, brow furrowing as he looked at the print out.
"Take my word for it: if you paint it, he will come." The Doctor smirked.
"Did he seriously just paraphrase Field of Dreams?" Rory asked Rose, pointing at the Doctor in confusion.
"Once quoted the Lion King in the middle of an invasion of blood thirst slavers." Rose replied with a shrug.
"Right, okay." Rory said, looking at his lap where his hand fell to. He didn't look up as the back door opened, and more to the point he seemed adamant to not raise his head at all, eyes shifting without likely seeing much.
Rose sensed Amy standing in the entry to the kitchen, and inevitably glanced over to see her standing with her arms crossed, leaning against the door frame, looking at the painter in his chair.
Vincent stood up. "I'll get my things," he said with a nod.
"In your own time. I promise you, we'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow." The Doctor reassured, and a flicker of pain came to Vincent's face before it was perfectly masked behind indifference. He paused to look at Amy before heading upstairs, but neither ginger said a word. When his foot falls were quiet, the Doctor looked to Rose. "I would never ask this of you, Sweetheart, but you are in a unique position yourself."
"My priority is you." She reminded him.
"I know, I do. But we are in the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful …."
"I understand." She said with a nod. "I will look after him, but Doctor."
"Rose."
She pleaded with his name through their bond, and it stopped him from saying what ever he would have vocalized. They stared one another down, though there was no argument nor any telepathic communication between them. Simply a look, from one spouse to another, that translated to something they had known for decades: even if they could, they'd never be able to live without the other.
"Mind sharing with the class?" Amy piped up.
"Nothing to share, Pond." The Doctor looked away first, smiled at Amy before heading up stairs after Vincent.
"So what makes you so special, then? Vincent can see the creature thing. What can you do?" Amy asked, looking at Rose's feet.
"It's more like what I can't do." She replied, looking at Amy until the ginger met her eye reluctantly. "And with any luck, you won't have to find out." Rose then pushed off, heading out the front door to get some air and wait for her husband and the painter to come back down.
~DWDWDW~
Rory had to admit his talk with Rose helped in a small way. Yes, he was walking at the back of their group of five, watching as Amy flirted with Vincent and denied that she was feeling anything less than happy. Sure, he'd been considered second best from the moment he stepped in to the TARDIS, but he took the words Rose had to heart. And watching the centuries old married couple in front of him carrying on with little whispers, hands clasped together like teenagers, he had hope that maybe they could eventually get to that stage.
Not that they would ever get to live to be that old, but the concept of being that close to her at the end of a long life was appealing. He could never kid himself in believing there could ever be anyone else, he was in love from the moment they were seven years old and she was brought to the front of the class to be introduced by the teacher.
"So, just so we're all up to speed on the plan, when the creature returns …."
"Then we shall fight him again?" Vincent asked, stopping them all on the dirt road and turning to look at the Doctor with sad, scared eyes.
Rory kind of wondered what was going on upstairs when he heard the sharp wail pierce the air. Rose had seemed to zone out, and he assumed she was checking on the Doctor and Vincent by the way she tensed up. She relaxed but said nothing, and Amy went up on her own. It was the look on Vincent's face when he came back down behind she and the Doctor that tipped Rory off as to the likely reason Vincent would later commit suicide. He'd seen it a lot in patients in the hospital, particularly those brought in for self harm.
And there it was again, the genius painter battling an inner demon revolving around the certain end of a creature that only he could see, but was also murderous and uncontrollable.
"Well, yes." The Doctor replied. "But last night we were lucky. Amy and Rory could have been killed."
"As could've Rose." Vincent pointed out.
"Well, yes, I suppose. Sorta complicated, that." The Doctor said, hands wringing as he looked at Rose for only a brief moment. "But neither here nor there, this time I will make sure I can see him too."
"Gonna use your gizmo thing then?" Rose asked, gesturing to the device in the Doctor's other hand. Or what ever it was, lorry mirror attached to something that looked more part of a steam punk costume than anything alien or high tech.
"Yes, with you at my side, as always. You'll watch out for Vincent and me."
"And what are we meant to do?" Amy asked, a bit of her fiery spirit in her subtle challenge.
"You and Rory, should stay out of the way." The Doctor said simply.
Rory liked the plan, a good solid plan that should keep them both safe. Stay out of the way, simple enough. He could do that.
But he had a feeling ignited by the sparkle in Amy's eye, the way she simply nodded, that she would not, in fact, stay out of the way. Never could keep out of trouble if it wasn't going to be too much. She'd have likely followed Melody right into a life of crime had she not taken up a modeling job at sixteen.
They walked a short ways before stopping for a funeral procession.
"Oh, it's that poor girl from the village," Vincent noted as Rory came up beside Amy.
"All the more reason we need to put a stop to this." Rose murmured, and the Doctor nodded solemnly.
When the procession passed, and they made to resume their hike, Rory caught Amy's hand and stopped her.
"Please tell me you are at least going to try and stay out of this?" He asked of her.
"He's sending his wife in, how dangerous can it really be?" She shrugged it off and made to leave, but Rory pulled her back.
"She's not entirely human, Amy. I've seen her back, the wounds she got last night from this thing. She was already healing when she and the Doctor left. It's likely that there isn't any evidence of the damage anymore."
"So?"
"So maybe listen to them and let them handle this?" He said, growing more frustrated with the stubborn woman.
She smirked, patted his cheek, and broke away to catch up with Vincent.
Rory watched, sighed, shook his head, and tamped down his urge to scream before jogging to catch up with the group.
~DWDWDW~
There were few things in the Universe Rose hadn't experienced. Watching a brilliant man, revered for his talent thousands of years after he died, paint an image that would one day hang in a museum as a priceless piece was one of them.
As was having to suffer through the Doctor experiencing time moving slowly.
Her mind was filled with his ramblings after Amy had shushed him enough times that he was starting to feel a bit hurt. And when mixed with the nerves he seemed to be feeling, it was likely going to end up with him insulting the entire human race, Vincent (again), or him simply whinging to the point of irritating. So Rose took one for the team, and told him to tell her and only her all the stories he wished to ramble on about.
She was starting to get a headache from the quick, loud, unrelenting chatter in her head.
"There!" Vincent cried out, silencing the Doctor to her great relief and getting the attention of all four of them. He pointed at the church window, exactly where they'd seen the face in the painting. "He's at the window."
"As I thought," The Doctor said, darting for his gizmo and strapping it on to his chest.
"Stay here with Amy and Rory, yeah?" Rose said to Vincent as her husband got ready. "You're too valuable to risk your life."
"I'm not of any value." Vincent said simply.
Rose smiled. "You under estimate yourself." She gave his shoulder a squeeze and went to turn away.
Vincent grabbed her hand, stopping her with a look of panic. "How will you face such a thing? You can't see it, you're unarmed."
"Oh but we are." The Doctor said, coming up to them with the thing strapped to his chest. "With this, a small screwdriver," he smirked at Rose, "And a wolf."
"Confident, you are." Rose countered.
"Faced a lot this last week without you, things I hadn't faced on my own in a long time. I got through those, but barely. Now I have you again, can do anything with you at my side." He then turned to the others. "Stay here." He said in the firm tone everyone ignores. He then took her hand and headed for the church.
It was the kind of quiet inside the empty building that made Rose's heart hammer in her chest. It didn't matter how long she'd been doing this sorta thing, the anticipation of facing something dangerous still shot adrenaline through her veins. Eventually, he let go of her hand as she stared at the mirror. He twisted, trying to get a better look.
"Damn, he's moved." He said in a quiet hush. Turning toward the spot he was trying to find it before.
"Then you stay closer to me just in case the Krafayis' waiting." She said, catching his eyes widening in the mirror surface.
She tensed, turned, and held her ground, knowing it was likely the lizard bird was behind her. Just as she inhaled, she was tossed to the floor with a hard smack.
"Rose!" The Doctor cried out, running toward her only to get tossed back himself.
"Doctor!" Rose heard Amy call, followed by Vincent and Rory calling after her.
She sensed perhaps they were pulling the Krafayis' attention, and panic shot through her. "Oi, you. Yeah you, I know you're there." She said as she inched backwards while facing a spot on the ceiling straight ahead of her. "Can't see you, but I just know. Look at me, I'm a fun thing to play with. Could go on forever, I could. Just leave the rest of 'em alone, yeah?"
She actually heard it roar, and despite knowing she wouldn't stay down for long, she trembled where she stopped, trying to catch her breath.
She hadn't heard anyone leave, but the room on an initial scan was empty except Rory standing absolutely still in the doorway of the church.
"I think I felt it breath on me." He mouthed, and Rose nodded before trying to find her husband and Rory's future wife. She noticed the Doctor's boots below the curtain of the confessional booth, Amy's in the one next to it. A moment later, she peaked around the curtain, meeting Rose's eye fleetingly before ducking back in.
Then she screamed, and pieces of the confessional began breaking away from both sides.
"Hey, are you looking for me, sonny?" Vincent said, looking purposely in the spot above the confessional, thrusting the leg end of a chair toward the spot as if to taunt. "Everyone, behind me."
Rose darted over, but unlike th others, she stood just a bit in front of Vincent as they all backed out the door and into the cool night air.
"I had said behind me, Rose." Vincent partly snapped when they were back outside.
"I'm the one person here we don't have to worry about." She panted.
"Where is he?" The Doctor asked, waving his sonic around.
"Where do you think he is, you idiot? Use your head." Vincent snapped back.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked.
"I'm trying to stun it with crosactic setting." The Doctor snapped back.
"This best not be like you resonating bloody concrete!" Rose growled at him.
"Oi!"
"Duck!" Vincent interrupted their argument, and they all followed Vincent's lead.
"We need to think of a better plan than this." Rory said. "We can't keep just moving about and hoping we don't get mauled."
"And what would you suggest?" The Doctor asked.
"In here." Amy called.
Rose looked over her shoulder, seeing Amy had pulled Rory's hand and dragged him toward the church.
"Go," Rose gestured for the Doctor and Vincent to follow.
"You go, I'll wait here a moment." Vincent said as the Doctor took off.
"No, Vincent, you're too valuable." Rose tried to urge him.
"Protect your friends and your husband." Vincent gripped her shoulder. "The creature is after them anyway, moving around the back."
Rose felt her eyes widen, but she simply nodded. Vincent gave her shoulder a squeeze before letting her go, and she dashed inside the church.
"I know you can understand me," She heard the Doctor say among entering, and she moved as slowly and softly as she could over toward him. "Even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me. I also know that no one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please listen. I also don't belong on this planet, I know what it's like to be alone. If you trust me, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, who knows?" he said to the back wall where there was a loud boom before the window shattered.
Objects began to fly off to the side of the room, fall over seemingly at random.
"Over here, Mate!" Vincent yelled, and Rose turned to see him come inside with an easel.
"Is he coming toward us?" Rose asked Vincent over her shoulder as she noted the Doctor darting behind a column, Rory and Amy hiding behind a casket.
"No," Vincent said a bit confused. "It's moving round the room, feeling it's way around. It's like it's trapped, just moving around the edges of the room."
"I am really stupid." The Doctor said in her mind as he slowly moved toward she and Vincent. "I should have known," He said softly, just loud enough for her and Vincent to hear. "Why does it attack, but never eat its victims? And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? Why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room?"
"It can't see." Vincent murmured.
"It can't see," The Doctor concurred. "Which explains why it had perfect hearing."
"Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us." Vincent remarked with growing panic.
Rose turned to her husband, shoved him out of the way toward Amy and Rory as the couple moved toward them. She turned about to grab Vincent as well, when the same wet squish she heard the night before, followed by a wail of pain unlike anything she'd ever heard before. That same metallic scent filled her nostrils, and she paused. Her eyes fell on the easel suspended in what seemed like mid air, Vincent hanging off of it.
"Let go, I got you." She said, moving underneath him.
He surprisingly didn't argue, letting go and falling toward her. She caught him as his feet touched the ground, steadied him from falling over.
"He wasn't without mercy," Vincent said, voice filled with regret. "He was without sight. I didn't meant that to happen, I only meant to wound it. I never meant …."
"Sometimes we do things we don't mean to." She soothed him, looping her arms around him in a makeshift embrace as the Doctor moved toward where the easel remained suspended but no longer moved around.
The Doctor moved toward it, removing the gizmo strapped to his chest as he did. Tossing it aside, he knelt beside the easel and hesitantly reached out a hand. "He's trying to say something," He said softly.
"What is it?" Vincent asked, moving away from Rose and toward the Doctor.
"I'm having trouble making it out, but I think he's saying, 'I'm afraid.'" He petted the creature. "There, there. It's okay. You aren't alone now." He soothed.
"He was frightened," Vincent said, following the Doctor's movements, looking more distinctly at the creature as he could see it. "He lashed out. Like humans who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me, like the children who throw stones at me." He said sadly.
No one said anything more as the Krafayis let out the occasional moan of pain, growing more and more soft. Rose stayed where she was, letting a tear fall free as she and the Doctor shared grief as one. A hand landed on her shoulder, and she turned to Rory.
"You alright?" He asked as Amy went to the Doctor.
"Been doing this a long time, done some pretty horrible things. But moments like this, when the invasion was stopped but at this sort of cost, when it wasn't really meant to be like this, these are the worst."
"We won," The Doctor agreed solemnly, "but sometimes winning is no fun."
They heard the last, croaking sounding whimper, and then Vincent bowed his head, and the Doctor shook his. The sense of danger passed, and Rose understood without any one needing to say it: the Krafayis had passed on.
~DWDWDW~
"I only wish I had something of real value to give you." Vincent said to the Doctor once they returned to his cottage. They had spent the night under the stars in an open field, hands joined among the five of them, the travelers listening as Vincent described what he saw above them. When the sun came up, they all made the walk with Vincent back to his cottage, and it was upon entering that he immediately snatched up the painting he'd tried to trade for a drink only a couple days ago.
The Doctor giggled gleefully, hands hovering around the sides of the painting. "Oh, no, no, I could never accept such an extraordinary gift."
"Very well," Vincent said, crest fallen. "You are not the first to decline the offer."
"Meeting and knowing you is worth more to us than any painting you could give us." Rose smiled, and Vincent managed a small one as he accepted a small embrace from her.
"You are too kind. Perhaps, maybe, too good for this Doctor of yours as well." He teased a little as she pulled back. "Amy, the blessed, the wonderful." He said, turning to her and pulling her in for an embrace she readily returned. Rose watched as she kissed his cheek, causing the pour male ginger to blush terribly.
"Be good to yourself, and be kind to yourself." She said.
"I'll try my best." Vincent said, turning to Rory. He extended his hand. "You look after this fiery one. If not, I may have to ask the Doctor to return her to me."
"I'll do my best." Rory said, shaking Vincent's hand.
"Doctor, my friend," Vincent boomed, offering the Doctor his hand, clasping it when the Time Lord's met his. "We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well."
The Doctor stepped forward, holding him tightly.
Rose's mind tickled as the Doctor recalled and tried to block how badly he could relate to this painter. She'd known that he often thought of using up his last regenerations one right after another after the Time War, that he wanted his lives to end. She could see he looked to Vincent almost like he was a kindred spirit in that regard, and it hurt him.
How much did she wish he could have seen what his future was going to be like on those dark days. When his nightmares were the worst, Rose often hoped he could. That he'd be a little bad, cross his own time line, see what was waiting for him.
"Oh," The Doctor said in his mind as he pulled back. "Vincent," he said out loud, "I have something I would like to show you, if you'd come back to town with us."
"I could do that, yes." Vincent nodded.
"Excellent, yes. Well then, if you could follow us, you will see that you are right in that there is more to life than normal people imagine."
~DWDWDW~
"You sure this isn't going to do anything, I dunno, reaper worthy?" Rose asked the Doctor quietly as they piloted the TARDIS to the day after they left the Musee D'Orsay.
"It'll be fine." He reassured.
"But the reality that we know …."
"His death is, unfortunately, a fixed point." He said through their bond as Vincent chatter with Rory and Amy about the way the light inside the TARDIS shone like stars, the colors remarkable. She could also hear the TARDIS herself preen in her hum, happy to have such praise given to her. But none of it lightened the heavy weight in her chest. "All we are doing is giving him a gift: knowledge that this isn't all for nothing. That no matter how he thinks now, or what people say, he makes a difference in this world."
Rose nodded as the TARDIS landed with a shudder. The Doctor took her hand, guiding her down the ramp. "Com along, Vinny." He called with a grin, opening the doors and allowing the painter to step out first.
"Where are we?" He asked as she and the Doctor joined him outside.
"Paris, 2010 AD, and this is the mighty Musee D'Orsay." The Doctor said, catching Vincent's eye and holding it. "Home to many of the greatest paintings in history."
"Oh, that's wonderful." Vincent said with complete innocence, eagerly heading for the museum.
"Can he do this?" Rory asked. "Isn't this a really bad idea?"
"It's fine," Amy replied as Rose said, "I trust him."
They entered the same way they had the day before, only this time they did not pass through the Roman sculptures, but around and straight in to the Van Gogh exhibit.
The whole while, Rose watched how Vincent's eyes danced with delight at all the wonders he was seeing. It hadn't even occurred to him, it seemed to read the signs that indicated where they were going, and his lack of knowledge on the destination became evident when they entered the wing dedicated to his work.
Tears sprang to Vincent's eyes, a light smile of disbelief playing at the corners of his lips. Amy went up to him, holding his arm just as the Doctor let go of her hand to approach the same man he asked for information on the church from.
Rose hung back as Amy lead Vincent in, listening to the man go on about how fantastic, revered, and simply great he was. Her heart swelled to see Vincent cry with joy, and when he finally looked up, she smiled at the Doctor.
"Worth it." She told him.
"As I knew it would be."
~DWDWDW~
"This changes everything," Vincent said as he stepped out of the TARDIS and back into the field they traveled through the day before. "I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man." He took a deep breath, looked about with a grin on his face, then it fell to something thoughtful. "I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing."
"Can't change it now," Rose said with a grin, her tongue stuck between her teeth as she stepped out and leaned against the TARDIS.
"No, I can't. And despite the outcome of that pour creature, I can honestly say I wouldn't change anything about these last few days, nor meeting you all."
"It's been a great adventure, and a great honor." The Doctor said as he stepped forward to shake his hand.
"Well, you've turned out to be the first doctor ever to actually make a difference in my life." Vincent said, clasping the Doctor's hand before they both let go. Vincent then reached into his pocket and took out his pipe as he looked about the TARDIS. "The blue of this box, unlike anything I have seen. I wish I could somehow paint it."
"Maybe you will." Rose said, stepping up to the door.
"Maybe." He nodded, stepping back as the Doctor came to the door.
"So long." He said before the both stepped inside, closing the door behind them.
"Imagine there will be hundreds of more paintings now." Amy said with a grin. "We could go back to the gallery, see them all."
The Doctor looked to Rose, guilt in his eyes before he bowed his head and moved to the keyboard. He typed a few things on, then pulled the monitor over. "Come here, Pond." He said sadly, though Amy must not have picked up on it as she skipped over to him. "Take a look."
Rose watched as the light faded from Amy's eyes, and the smile changed to a frown. "No. No, we … we helped, we showed him how good he is, how loved he is."
"It can take a lot to pull even a superior species back from the sort of brink Vincent is on, let alone a human. His outlook may have changed, but in the end he gives in to his pain. His death was a fixed point in time, unable to be altered. Not all things in time can be rewritten."
"Look on the bright side," Rory said, coming around and taking her hand. "You got to meet him."
"Yeah," Amy said, a lot of uncertainty and hesitation in her clasping of his hand.
"Time lines are shifting back in to place." The Doctor said as he watched them with a curious though tight lipped smile. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with this, would you Sweetheart?"
"I may have had a chat with Rory." She confessed, sharing with him the memory of their conversation the previous morning on Vincent's door step.
"How about a cup of tea in the galley, then we can all relax for a bit?" The Doctor suggested. "Amy, you can show Rory the rest of the TARDIS, and Rose and I can …."
"Oi, don't want to know." Amy said, giving Rory's hand a tug and leading him up the stairs and down the corridor.
"Good thing those time lines don't have anything to do with her warming up to me." Rose sighed. "Otherwise, they may never fall in to place."
"I have it on good authority that she sticks around, so I imagine what ever problem she has with you now gets overlooked eventually." The Doctor said as he came over to her and dropped his arm around her shoulders. "But before we get there, tea."
"Yes," She said, leaning against his shoulder. "Tea. Fixes everything, that."
A/N: Sorry! I know it's late. Expect a bit of that for a little bit. Sorry. Really sorry.
But thank you to the readers, favoriters, followers, and reviewers who put up with my very spastic posing schedule as of late.
CupcakeFlake, Antisocial Me, pyro-pixiechik (all in good time), Guest, The True S, micbb, DragonLadyRelena, hotsasukefan, DuShuZhi, Loca8892, Insane-Bookworm-4ever, Darkelvoriplorellion Tyler, AmeliaJane14, TXBadWolf, Dreamcatcher56, PanoramaGirl, Sommerlee, RachaeltheSylph, annabethfan15 (this was one episode I couldn't bare dropping, and it's not even a favorite of mine), thebreezekneeze, Shadow Eclipse, Alasse Amilasse, Fleur24, TheKitchenMistress. Thank you all for leaving word.
Next chapter will be posted within the next week, promise.