Relict

by LizzeXX

12/OC -Time Lady- The Doctor and his Bonded, the Professor, have escaped Tenzalore with their lives, new regeneration cycles, and their unborn child surviving their 'Fall.' But with the Promised Land being sought and another woman vying for the Doctor's attention in the Nethersphere, what will become of the Time Lords? What of their child? Or…children? Ninth in the Academic Series.

3. Robot of Sherwood

Robot of Sherwood

The Professor was leaning against a railing up on the top level of the console room, her arms crossed over her stomach as she watched the Doctor working out some Gallifreyan mathematics on the chalkboard that had appeared there when the TARDIS revised itself. She shook her head, watching what he was doing. He was trying to keep track of dates and times after his stint on Christmas. His memory had gone a bit near the end and he was trying to calculate her exact expectancy date. Being a doctor and all, he should have been able to determine when her 'due date' was but he hadn't actually thought about it till now. It was rather hard to pick a date when, in a time machine, that date could be tomorrow on accident. But he was trying to work out hours and days in general so that they had an idea of when she would pop.

There were a few tallymarks on the side of it, he was keeping track of days by 24 hour intervals now, trying to keep in mind how long it was for them, compared to Clara. It seemed like they were almost making it 4 weeks before they found Clara again. Right now she was about 3 months pregnant or just a bit less, 12 weeks so far and showing more. Her shirt wasn't quite a loose dress so it was starting to tug, making the bump visible when she turned a certain way or stretched. The Doctor kept glancing over at her, his brows all furrowed as he did more calculations on the board. They were trying not to let on to Clara just how much time passed for them between trips for her. While it might be days for her, even months, or back to hours, it was weeks for them.

She kept trying to get the Doctor to visit Clara more often, but he seemed to be procrastinating it, it was odd. With the Ponds, he'd always been so eager to go see them, same for Clara before he regenerated. Every Wednesday for the girl became every few hours for them. She was starting to question if it was just the adventures that he was after since they still had plenty of that even without Clara. It really was odd to see him acting like this, acting like he'd rather it just be the two of them and Clara was an afterthought.

But she caught glimpses into his head, from time to time, and…well, it really WAS like that. He'd spent so long without her that he wanted to make up for all that lost time, he wanted it to be just them for as long as possible. But Clara WAS like a granddaughter to them and she'd hit a point where she missed the girl and, even without needing to be asked, the Doctor would take the TARDIS to go visit Clara, prepare for another adventure, just to appease her. It was sweet that he did it without question, without needing to be requested, he really was trying his hardest to make this an easy pregnancy for her, to make her happy and comfortable. And she knew it was because he still felt guilt for Christmas. He'd been trying to protect her in sending her away, keep her and their child from being caught in a war, keep their son or daughter from being raised in the middle of a battlefield. But it had killed both of them for him to do it. He'd been parted from her and she'd been without him and both had missed the other.

He wanted to make up for that, to show her he wasn't going to let her go again, wasn't going to be parted from her like that again. He wanted all the time in the world, which they had, to be with her, just the two of them. Clara HAD become an afterthought to him, which did upset her at times. She tried to remember that he'd been alone for centuries, that perhaps he'd gotten his fill of humans, that maybe being so close to the Time Lords but so far away from all of them had made him crave being near her even more. There were so many possibilities, and she was trying to just accept it, to go along with it for him, because he had suffered centuries alone while she'd had Clara and it had only been hours for her. She couldn't expect him to feel the same about Clara after all that separation, she was honestly surprised he felt the same about HER after all that.

Well, not exactly the same, it seemed like all his focus has been put on her and protecting her, making sure she and their child were alright, much like his intention had been on Trenzalore. He'd failed, in the end, she remembered, he'd had to see her hit by a Dalek and dying, he'd tried so hard to protect her from the end they both knew they'd face on Trenzalore, tried to avoid that future, but it happened nonetheless. He wasn't going to risk it this time…and neither was she.

She winced, reaching up a hand to rub the center of her chest.

"What is it?" the Doctor turned to her instantly at the move.

"Hearts burn," she gave him a reassuring smile. She'd noticed it had started a bit recently, her chest would get an uncomfortable sensation near her hearts.

"Here," he reached into his pocket and tossed her a banana.

"A banana?" she lifted an eyebrow at that.

"Bananas are…"

"Good?" she laughed.

He smirked, "Full of potassium," he corrected, "You're probably hungry," he nodded at the fruit, "Have a healthy snack."

"Doctor's orders?" she joked, starting to peel it.

"Oh yes," he nodded, watching till she started eating it before turning back to the board, eyeing his calculations and then nodding to himself, placing the chalk down before he made his way over to her, leaning on the railing beside her, ignoring the squeaking of his leather armchair a bit below them that Clara was sliding back and forth on in boredom, "What do you think?" he crossed his arms and looked over at his wife.

"Hmm…" she hummed, "I think we've pulled Clara into enough adventures," she swallowed a bite, "Let's let her pick the next trip."

"Ooh," he grimaced, "Do we have to? She'll pick a boring one."

"You don't know that."

"She's one of the pudding brains!"

"She's OUR pudding brain."

"You know I CAN hear you," Clara called up to them, but they didn't look back down.

"She's our granddaughter too," the Professor nudged him, "We should trust that she'll pick a good one by now. Or…" she challenged him, "Are you saying you haven't taught her well?"

The Doctor's lips pursed at that, but he spun around, his hands on the railing as he looked down at Clara, "Take a punt," he called to her.

"What?" Clara blinked up at him.

"Your choice. Wherever, whenever, anywhere in time and space."

The Professor turned as well, half the banana gone, "Anywhere at all," she added.

Clara bit her lip, "Well," she turned coyly in the chair, seeming almost shy to say it, "There is something…someone that I've always wanted to meet. But I know what you'll say."

"Try us," the Doctor challenged.

"You'll say he's made up, that there is no such thing…"

"Go on."

"It's…" she took a breath, "It's Robin Hood."

"Robin Hood?" both Time Lords repeated.

Clara pushed off the chair and hurried up the stairs towards them, "Yeah. I love that story. I've always loved it, ever since I was little."

"Robin Hood," the Professor repeated once more, "The heroic outlaw, who robs from the rich and gives to the poor."

"Yeah."

"He's made up," the Doctor deadpanned, "There's no such thing."

"You see?!" Clara pointed at him accusingly.

"Old-fashioned heroes only exist in old-fashioned story books, Clara."

"And what about you two?" she scoffed.

"Us?" the Professor shook her head.

"Yeah, you," Clara rolled her eyes, "You two stop bad things happening every minute of every day. That sounds pretty heroic to me."

The Professor nearly snorted at that, "Clara, you haven't heard the half of it, and not all of it is good," she sighed, "Trust me, to some people…our stories aren't those of heroes."

"You are to me," Clara offered.

"We're not heroes either," the Doctor shook his head, "Well…I'M not," he reached out to the Professor, "YOU though," he told her, "You're my hero."

"And you're mine," the Professor smiled, "Quite literally," she remarked, "Do you remember the first time you saw me after the War?"

He hummed at that, nodding, his eyes looking at the wall over her shoulder in memory, "I just saved you from the Krillitanes…"

"See," the Professor reached up to pluck a part of the banana off instead, "MY hero," and held it up to the Doctor to eat as well.

"I think you saved me first," the Doctor countered, "Just seeing you again," he shook his head, "Realizing who you were…that saved me from…everything."

Every bad emotion, every negative thought, every dark wish…every bit of abuse that the War had left on him, every scar, just…having HER back had saved his soul. It had haunted him, for so long, thinking that she'd died in the War, having her back in his life…it was like he could breathe again, to have another of his people alive was a miracle, to have HER back…it was more than he deserved.

"And we'll keep saving each other," the Professor promised, "We've got the rest of our lives."

Clara had to smile at that, "Still in the room," she reminded them.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that and gave the Professor a look that clearly said 'THIS is why I want us alone,' before he looked at Clara, "We really aren't heroes to anyone else Clara, or we shouldn't be. We're just passing the time. Hey, what about Mars?"

"What?!" Clara frowned.

"The Ice Warrior Hives!"

"You said it was my choice," Clara huffed.

"And the last time we dealt with an Ice Warrior, he nearly blew up a submarine and started a war," the Professor reminded him.

"Ok, the Tumescent Arrows of the Half-Light?" the Doctor offered, "Those girls can hold their drink."

"Doctor," Clara sighed.

"Can't drink, husband dear," the Professor reminded him, gesturing at her stomach, "Unless you meant YOU drink and get smashed again and need me to carry you out of the bar in a fireman's hold…"

"No," the Doctor frowned at that, "No heavy lifting for you."

"Heavy?" she scoffed, poking him as he started to make his way down the stairs towards the controls, "You're almost as much a twig as your 10th self was."

"We probably weigh the same," he commented.

"Are you calling me FAT?" she put her hands on her hips, knowing she was heavier with the baby in her, that she was eating more and gaining weight and for him to comment that THEY weighed the same instead of just saying that he was not as skinny as his 10th self, it HAD to mean he thought SHE was heavier than his 10th self.

"No!" he shouted, "No, no, no," he took her hands, "I meant that I am heavier than he was, and if you weigh the same as me it is a very healthy weight and I am very pleased about it."

The Professor's eyes narrowed at him, "Nice save."

He smiled, "I still think the Tumescent Arrows would be good, they fracture fifteen different levels of reality simultaneously. I think I've got a Polaroid somewhere…"

"Doctor!" Clara shouted, standing on the steps, actually stomping her foot at that, "My choice. Robin Hood. Show me."

The Doctor blinked at that and looked at the Professor, "Did she just stomp her foot?"

The Professor nodded, "She's on the verge of a tantrum, I'd say."

"Must get it from your side of the family."

"Oi!"

"Mayra," was ALL he had to say for her to actually nod at that, her cousin was very…cross when she didn't get her way.

She sighed, "Come on, let's give her 'Robin Hood.'"

"Very well," he muttered, moving to the console and helping her put in coordinates.

"Earth. England. Sherwood Forest," the Professor murmured, "Let's say around…1190AD."

"But you'll only be disappointed!" the Doctor called up to Clara as the girl grinned and dashed up the stairs towards the halls, shouting something about needing to get changed, leaving them to their piloting. He shook his head and looked at the Professor, "Not going to dress for the times?"

She considered it a moment before shaking her head, "Not really ever was much of that, was I?" she thought back to some other trips. she'd never really been overly eager to dress for the times, for a mission yes (Donna was quite crafty when she was trying to convince her to dress up), but she'd always really preferred her own clothing. Well, sometimes she'd dress up more to try and get the Doctor to blush but...she just...

She was pregnant.

And she knew the sorts of dresses the TARDIS had in stock, they were all clinchy and tuggy and would just make her stomach more visible and well...she wasn't used to NOT being a lean, mean fighting machine, as the humans would call it. She'd always been thin, toned, lean, mostly from her dancing in her spare time, and then her training and she just...wasn't used to actually having weight on her. Looking down at her stomach and actually seeing it start to poke out threw her for a loop. She wasn't sure how she should feel about her body, she knew the Doctor was LOVING it, seeing her getting bigger, could hardly keep his hand off her stomach, but she just...it was weird and she wasn't used to it. She wasn't sure if she ever really would be. Over 1000 years of being one body type, and then to be all soft and mushy and bulging was...well, she wasn't sure.

"You'd look lovely," the Doctor commented, giving her a look that told her he knew exactly where her thoughts had gone.

She smiled at him a bit, "I prefer these," she gestured at her current outfit, "More me."

He nodded, but walked around the console to her, reaching out a hand to rest on her stomach, "The bigger you get, Kata, means the stronger our child is," he reminded her.

She nodded at that, "I know," she swallowed, "And I want it to be big and strong..." she winced, "Well, not TOO big," she really would rather it not be a 20 pound baby she'd have to somehow get out of her body...and SHE would have to do it because the Doctor would either be going too frantic to handle a scalpel, or have one of his hands broken by her squeezing it, or be passed out...one of the three, so it would be up to her to do the hard work.

The Doctor chuckled softly at that, leaning in to give her a kiss, "Come on," he tugged her to the back, having reached out to pull a lever down and set them to land, "Let's have a snack, you and me, while Clara picks out a dress. Should take her a few hours."

The Professor hummed at that, "I could do with some custard."

"Custard it is."

"And some sardines."

"Whatever you want, wife," he smiled at her, making her grin and walk more briskly beside her.

Maybe he'd even try some sardines and custard, it was just another type of fish wasn't it and his last experiment with a type of fish and custard had worked out rather well.

~8~

Sardines and custard did NOT mix well, it appeared, or so the Professor would guess given by the slightly green color on the Doctor's cheeks as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into Sherwood Forest. SHE had thought they were delicious, he'd tried one and gone all green, pushing his portion over to her for her to enjoy…and then insisted on her brushing her teeth after as her breath did smell like sardines and even SHE was getting nauseous at the smell. She'd asked him if that was normal, to be THAT sensitive to smells, to be that ill that quickly, this early in a pregnancy, but he'd just gotten flustered and told her that he honestly wasn't sure. Mayra had been a right disaster from the moment she realized she was pregnant to the birth, had actually scared him away quite a few times and made it clear she blamed him for that and to stay away from her…and then, the next hour, she'd be a sobbing wreck begging him to come hug her, only to start shouting at him moments later.

He'd actually feared for his life with that woman.

Which had made her laugh to hear and remind him that SHE, unlike her cousin, had a blaster on her at all times and he really should fear for his life more with her than he had with Mayra. But he'd pulled her into his arms and reminded her of what she'd said when the Ponds had gotten married, that she would never hurt him, that she could stop him doing things, but that she'd never hurt him. And he trusted her, he trusted himself as well, that no matter how upset or angry she got at him during the pregnancy, that he'd be able to soothe her. They always had been able to, to shout at each other and confront each other and feel safe in the knowledge that they weren't going to hurt the other.

The Professor inhaled deeply as they looked around. The forest was warm, the sun shining, the smell of pine and flowers reaching her, along with the crispness of water from the stream just a few feet away. There was a large log fallen across the stream, like a bridge, with birds singing above them, and everything just beautiful.

The Doctor, however, wasn't taking that in but was more looking around for something and rolling his eyes, "No damsels in distress, no pretty castles, no such thing as Robin Hood."

The Professor reached out quickly, snatching something that was flying towards the TARDIS in her hand and holding up an arrow for him to see.

"Good catch milady!" a voice called from ahead of them.

They looked over to see a man with light brown, almost reddish hair step out from behind a tree across the stream, dressed entirely in green, with a finely trimmed moustache and beard, a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back.

The Professor blinked at him, "Robin Hood?"

"You called?" the man winked, causally making his way towards them, but leaving the bow and quiver against the tree he'd been behind, "Very, very nicely done with the box, sir. I saw a Turk perform something very similar at Nottingham Fayre. It's a trick with mirrors, no doubt?"

"A trick?" the Doctor scoffed.

"A good jest. Ha, ha!"

"This is not a trick," the Doctor's eyes narrowed in offense, "This is a TARDIS!"

"Our TARDIS," the Professor added.

'Robin Hood' merely laughed at that, quite heartily, "Whatever it is, you bony rascal, I'm afraid I must relieve you and your exquisite lady of it."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed at that, "That's MY WIFE you're talking about."

Robin just smirked, "But you do not deny she is exquisite."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that, "Of course not, have you SEEN her?" he gestured at the Professor beside him, making her blush slightly and shake her head to try and stop the flush spreading.

"You can't have our TARDIS though," the Professor added, "It's our property."

"Well, don't you know all property is theft to Robin Hood?" the man hopped onto the middle of the log, throwing his arms out a moment before placing his fists on his hips, striking a pose with his nose in the air.

"You're not serious," the Professor started to laugh, this was just too ridiculous. The man was so over the top he had to be some random bloke who was having a laugh.

"I'm many things, milady," the man winked, grinning widely when the Doctor's expression grew more scowl-like, "But I'm never that. Robin Hood laughs in the face of all. Ha, ha, ha!" he laughed for extra effect.

"And do people ever punch you in the face when you do that?" the Doctor half-growled. It wasn't that he had an issue with people talking to the Professor, they could talk to her, fine…but this man…he got the distinct impression that he didn't know how to talk to a woman, but that his only method of conversation involved flirting and he would NOT have that, not with his wife, not with his Kata.

'Calm down,' the Professor put a hand on his arm, 'The only man I want flirting with me is you, Theta.'

"Not as yet," Robin answered cockily.

"Lucky we're here then, isn't it?" the Doctor countered, "Because I guarantee you if I fail, my wife won't."

They could see the man open his mouth to reply, the Professor's eyes narrowing as she saw the hints of some sort of scoff coming, like the man highly doubted SHE could punch him or even land a hit, but then his eyes widened considerably and started to stare past them. They looked back to see Clara hurrying out of the TARDIS, her head down as she kept an eye on her feet, trying not to trip over the gown she'd selected. It was an orangey-red gown that went down to her feet, made of a velvet-like material. The neckline was scooped and round, with long cut-away sleeves and a small belt around her waist. She'd also adopted a small headdress, like a strand of a circlet with a small charm held up in place on the center of her forehead.

'Thank god,' the Doctor muttered in the Professor's head, making her look over to see him smirking at how Robin was staring at Clara.

The Professor blinked at that before she rolled her eyes and shook her head, realizing that he was actually HAPPY that Clara was there now…because it would distract Robin. Which was, she supposed, a good thing. If the man had kept up trying to flirt with her, the Doctor would have probably dropped him in a supernova and then what would happen to the Robin Hood legend?

"Might be a little bit much," Clara was tugging at the sides of her dress to lift up the hem, allowing her over to them without falling on her face, "But what do you reckon?" she put her hands on her hips and showed off the gown.

"By all the saints," Robin called breathlessly, interrupting their commentary on her attire, "Are there any more in there?"

Clara looked over, reaching out to the Professor's arm as she stepped in between the two Time Lords, gaping at the man in green standing there on the log, "Is that…"

"No," the Doctor answered promptly.

"We're not entirely sure," the Professor admitted, making the Doctor look at her, "He WAS based on a real man," she reminded the Doctor.

"Oh, my God," Clara gasped, before grinning, getting more excited, "Oh, my God! It is, isn't it? You found him. You actually found Robin Hood!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes as Clara started to get all giggly and grinny, "That is not Robin Hood."

"Well then," Robin began to walk more to the edge of the bridge, towards them, "Who, sir, is about to relieve you and your divine wife of your magic box?" he pulled his sword from his belt, holding it up at the Doctor with a grin.

The Professor reached out and grabbed the Doctor's hand as he began to walk towards the fallen log, "Let me?" she asked with a grin of her own.

"No," he shook his head.

"Please?"

"No."

The Professor frowned at that, before a thought struck her, "I wonder if it still works…"

"If what still works?" he looked at her, confused.

The Professor just smirked a moment before schooling her features into the saddest expression Clara had ever seen, her eyes wide and blinking, staring up at him earnestly. It looked odd to her, to see that expression on such an older face as the Professor's, but whatever it was…it was working.

"Fine," the Doctor huffed.

"What do you know," she beamed, "Sad eyes always works."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that, "Yes, yes, you and your sad eyes," he grumbled under his breath, "I should be too old for that to work."

"It works because you love me," she reminded him, "As long as you love me, you won't be able to bear seeing me sad."

"Then I am forever doomed to fall prey to them," he let out a mock-sigh at that, though the corners of his lips quirked up, "I'll always love you, wife."

The Professor leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, "The feeling is mutual husband," she reached into his jacket and quickly pulled out a rather large spoon, "What do you think?" she held it up.

He laughed at that, "Robin Hood vs. the Spoon? Now that'll be a legend he won't be boasting about."

"Ooh but all legend is based in fact," she started to step backwards towards a very confused Robin.

But the Doctor reached out and took her free hand, "Be careful," he gave her a meaningful look, telling her that if there was even a doubt, even a hint that she was about to be hurt, that he would step in without a second thought.

The Professor stepped closer to him once more, pulling her blaster out and handing it to him, "Be patient," she reminded him with a look, turning to go only to spin around again, "HAS your aim improved at all?"

The Doctor just rolled his eyes at that, making her laugh as she approached Robin, Clara hurrying over to the Doctor's side, "Is she really gonna duel Robin Hood with a…a spoon?"

"Well I wasn't going to give her the fork or the knife," the Doctor muttered, "She'd kill him with both."

Clara blinked, "You really don't think she'd find some way to kill him with a spoon?"

The Doctor considered that a moment, "Right…"

Clara shook her head, crossing her arms as they turned to watch.

"Sorry Hood," the Professor hopped onto the end of the bridge, making Robin frown and move back, his sword lowered, "But if you want that box, you have to go through ME first."

"But you are a woman!" Robin shook his head, "I cannot fight you."

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes, her grip on the spoon tightening, "Afraid I'll beat you?"

"It would be dishonorable!"

"Yes, because thieving is honorable," she quipped, shaking her head, "I can tell you now, nobody, in this universe or the next, has beaten me in a duel yet."

She didn't mention River, River was an exception, she'd taught the girl herself, and…to be honest, it WAS true, no one had yet beaten THIS incarnation of her.

"And believe you me, I once dueled a 2,000 year old Roman soldier with short swords."

Robin seemed a bit befuddled by that remark, "I cannot fight you, milady, you are unarmed."

The Professor held up her spoon, "I'm armed enough."

"That is a spoon," he told her, as though she didn't already know it.

"Yes, and I very much think I can best you without it, but I thought I might try to at least give you a chance of an advantage."

Robin's eyes narrowed at that, seeing a challenge in her eyes, "If you are that determined to lose…"

The Professor just smirked, "En garde?"

Robin quickly lifted his sword and she lunged.

"Ever see a ballerina in battle, Clara?" the Doctor asked as he and Clara watched on, observing as the two traded lunges and thrusts and swipes and parries, Clara inordinately shocked (and yet not quite surprised) to see that the spoon was actually faring quite well against the sword. She could see it, even now, that Robin was actually starting to get more into the fight, steadily trying more and more, starting to really fight back, but the Professor was just sort of going through it, seemingly with an ease about her that was frustrating Robin.

"No…" Clara shook her head.

"You're about to."

And just as he spoke, the Professor lifted onto her toes, spinning around, just to the side of Robin as the man tried to lunge at her once more, smacking him on the back of the head with the spoon.

"Ow!" the man winced, rubbing his head.

"Is she gonna be ill?" Clara frowned, "that spin and her nausea and…"

"Hopefully not," the Doctor answered, not entirely sure, but the Professor was smiling, seeming too caught up in the fight to realize that she'd likely just made herself dizzy or should have. He let out a long breath, "She's had a fair bit of experience focusing on just the battle and ignoring what her body tells her though."

"Is that why you didn't want her to fight?"

"I never wanted her to fight," he murmured, though his lips quirked up as the Professor managed to catch Robin's arm, stepping her foot behind him and using him as leverage to move herself around him and behind him, kicking him in the backside enough to stumble off the log.

"Oh, you…" Robin scrambled up, on one end of the log, with the Professor standing in the middle, his sword up and ready.

The Professor just looked at him, gesturing for him to come at her. Robin ran forward but the Professor used her right hand, holding the spoon, to swing down against his arm, pushing the blade away from her and twisting her body so that her front was to his back, using her other hand to shove him…right off the side of the log and into the stream.

The Professor tossed the spoon in her hand and turned to make her way off the log, finding herself in the Doctor's arms before she even stepped off it, Clara hurrying past to try and find Robin in the stream.

"Well done," the Doctor whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"I need that," the Professor admitted to him, hugging him back.

She really had. She knew that she'd be slowing down soon, eventually her pregnancy would make it so she'd have trouble just standing from a sitting position, or moving or sleeping. She wouldn't be able to do this in a few months, she wouldn't be able to fight like that and she needed to make the most of it while she could. She knew there was no REAL danger, even with Robin having a sword, he'd made it clear he hadn't wanted to fight her to start with, he wouldn't have attacked her to kill but more to disarm. She and the baby were safe from that sort of harm and she just…she needed to know that, for now, she could still protect the Doctor and herself and Clara.

"You always will be able to," the Doctor murmured, catching her thoughts as he pulled away, taking the spoon from her and placing her blaster back into her hand, "You're the better shot, always were."

She smiled, nodding at that, putting her blaster back in her coat pocket, it was true…with the blaster in hand she'd still be able to protect them, even at a distance…and it would ease the Doctor's mind more for her to be farther away from danger and taking it out than up close.

She opened her mouth to thank him when a small squeal sounded behind them and they turned to see Robin pop up out of the water, startling Clara to the point where she nearly stumbled back and into the stream herself had Robin not hopped up to catch her arm, starting to laugh along with Clara at the close call, the Time Lords just shaking their heads at it all.

~8~

The Doctor had never known someone to be bested in battle and then decide to invite said besters to their secret hideout as friends…well, except the Sontarans, but he was fairly certain that Robin…or whoever it was that was parading around as him, was NOT a Sontaran. He hadn't wanted to go with the man once he'd dried off and invited them to meet his friends, but Clara had been star struck by the man and followed him off without a moment's hesitation, which had meant that they had to follow along. The Professor was more curious than he was, how Robin could exist. They both knew he was based on an actual historical figure, but to find that this was apparently really and actually happening was something else. Yes, most legends were based in fact, but they hadn't quite thought THIS would be the fact part of it.

The 'secret hideout' however wasn't all that secret or much of a hideout in the Time Lords' opinion. It was a small shallow cave that was just below the treeline in a narrow gully. It was actually quite easy to find, it wasn't even trying to remain hidden which made the Professor fear for the mental state of the supposed 'Sheriff of Nottingham' should he exist as well, that the man was having SUCH a hard time finding a place this easy to spot.

Robin smiled as he saw a small group of men gathered around the cave, around a small fire that was also creating smoke up to the sky which made it easier to find as well, and hurried ahead of the trio, "Let me introduce you to my men. This is Will Scarlet," he patted the back of a young man, "He is a cheeky rogue with a good sword arm and a slippery tongue."

"My ladies," Will gave them a deep bow…only for the Doctor to pluck a hair out of the boy's head and start to sonic it, "Argh! What do you want with my hair?"

"Well, it's realistic, I'll give you that," the Doctor muttered, seeing the reading.

The Professor reached out and took the hair, scanning it with her own processes, "That's because it's actually real," she told him, brushing her fingers together to let the hair fall to the ground, "Flesh and blood people."

"And this is Friar Tuck," Robin shook his head at them, focusing on Clara who was watching and paying attention with rapture, gesturing to a portly man in a monk's robe, "Aptly named for the amount of grub he tucks into."

"You skinny blackguard," Tuck huffed as the others laughed heartily, stepping forward…only to nearly fall on his face, "What are you doing?!" he turned to look behind him.

The Doctor popped up, holding one of Tuck's sandals in his hand, "This isn't a real sandal."

"Yes, it is," Tuck tried to grab it back, but the Doctor tossed it to the Professor.

"Urg," she grimaced at the smell, turning her face away and into the crook of her other elbow, throwing it back to Tuck, "It's real."

"This…er," Robin frowned at them, a little put off by their antics, and gestured to another young man with a lute in his hand, "Is Alan-a-Dale. He's a master of the lute, whose music brightens up these dark days."

"Strangers you are welcome here, in Sherwood's bonny glade…" the boy began to sing to them, strumming on the lute, only to cry, "Ow!" a moment later when the Doctor stabbed him in the arm with some sort of needle.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the Doctor waved them off, hurrying back to the Professor's side, "Blood analysis. Oh…" he frowned, scanning it with the sonic, "All those diseases. If you were real, you'd be dead in six months…"

"I am real."

"Doctor…" the Professor shook her head at him, reaching out to take his face in her hands, "They ARE real people," she told him slowly, "Ok?" she nodded, making him nod as well, "Trust me. I maybe old, by my skills are still good as ever as I just proved in beating Robin Hood with a spoon."

"Beating who with a what?" the men turned to Robin.

Robin just coughed and cleared his throat, "And this is John Little!" he turned to a very large man standing to the side, making Clara gape up at the size of the man, "Called Little John. He's my loyal companion in many an adventure…" he laughed loudly as the man stepped to the side and man that reminded Clara of Porridge in stature leapt forward with his arms out, clearly meaning HE was John Little.

"Oh!" Clara laughed at that.

"Works every time," Will grinned.

Bur Clara just looked around at the group, so awed by them, "Oh, I cannot believe this. You…you really are Robin Hood and his Merry Men!"

"Aye!" Robin nodded, "That is an apt description. What say you, lads?"

"Aye!" they cheered with a raucous laugh.

"Congratulations Clara," the Professor patted her on the shoulder, "You've just given the Merry Men their title."

"Did I!?" Clara stared at her, completely stunned at that.

"I like that," Robin nodded, "The Merry Men!" he cheered once more, making the other men throw their heads back and laugh.

The Professor nodded slowly at that, moving her hand to her head, it was…a bit irritating really, their laughing, how much they were laughing, how loudly they were…it was starting to give her a migraine.

"Stop laughing!" the Doctor snapped with a huff, moving to the Professor's side, seeing her actions and expression, knowing that the men were starting to upset her or at least make her head hurt, "Why are you always doing that? Are you all simple or something? I'm going to need this…" he turned and grabbed a goblet, tossing away the contents.

"For what?" Robin frowned.

"If you haven't noticed," the Doctor gave him a narrowed eyed look, "My wife is with child," he gestured to the Professor, making her roll her eyes and cross her arms self-consciously as every single eye turned towards her, "And I'd like to give her a glass of water," he held the goblet up to Robin to take and fill.

"With…child?" Robin seemed to go a bit green at that as he gaped at the Professor.

"And STILL able to hand your backside to you," the Professor snapped, not wanting them to keep staring at her like she was some sort of delicate flower or that she was something that needed to be handled lightly, like she was fragile or weak.

She'd noticed that her temper tended to spike when people did that, when they looked at her like her pregnancy or her being a woman made her weak.

She took a breath to try and calm down, she knew that stress could be bad for a baby, for a pregnancy and, while she knew that there was likely little chance her snapping just then did any damage, she just…she didn't want to risk it. She was trying. Sometimes she reacted first, did something before she thought better of it for the baby's sake, but she was trying. Like with the fight with Robin, she'd wanted to do it, been determined to do it, but now looking back at it she was starting to feel like she shouldn't have.

And she hated that, second guessing herself. She hadn't been like that since her 9th self, and it was disconcerting that she was like it now, but instead of a forethought it was an afterthought. Was she always going to be like that? Or was it just the pregnancy? Was she going to do something with her baby and then, hours later, wonder if she'd made the right choice? She hoped it was just the pregnancy, being that worrisome about things she'd already done would drive her mad.

"Water," the Doctor pressed the goblet into Robin's chest, "Now."

Robin nodded, glancing at the Professor once more, before shaking his head and going to a small barrel where they kept their water, ladling some into the goblet for the woman and bringing it back to her.

"Everything ok?" Clara was asking the Time Lords as the Doctor turned the Professor to him and massaged her temples.

"Just…trying to work out how they're real," the Doctor muttered, "They're not holograms, that much is obvious. Could be a theme park from the future. Or we might be inside a miniscope. Or they could be clones…yes…" he nodded, lifting the Professor's chin so she could look at him, "Clones?"

The Professor sighed, "It IS possible, it might be how they come up as real, as flesh and blood," she doubted it though, she was truly starting to think this WAS Robin Hood, but the Doctor seemed keen not to have it so.

"Milady," Robin held out the goblet to the Professor, but the Doctor took it, quickly scanning it with the sonic before handing it to the Professor to drink once he was sure it was safe. Robin shook his head and glanced at Clara, "Your friend seems not quite of the real world."

"No," Clara sighed, "No, he's not really. Not most of the time. The Professor's better at it than he is at the moment though," she shook her head and turned to him, "Dark days?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You said that these were dark days. What did you mean?"

"King Richard is away on crusade, my lady," Will offered, "His tyrant of a brother rules instead."

"And the Sheriff. Cos there is a sheriff, right?"

"Aye," Alan frowned, "It is indeed this jackal of the princes who seeks to oppress us forever more."

"Or six months in your case," the Doctor muttered, recalling the diseases that Alan had.

"It is a shame to dwell on murky thoughts when there is such beauty here," Robin tried to smile at Clara, making sure to keep his gaze on the young woman when the Doctor shot him a glare for daring to glance at the Professor as well.

"Why are you so sad?" Clara looked at the man.

Robin plastered on a false smile, "Why do you think me sad?"

"Because you laugh too much," the Professor told him, reaching out to take the Doctor's hand as she took a sip of the water. They had been the same, in their last incarnations, always happy and running about and flirting…and, before they'd discovered Gallifrey survived, they both knew it was because they felt such sorrow. They needed something to focus on, the good memories, each other, to keep them above water, to keep them from drowning in their dark thoughts.

Often, the happiest people on the outside, were the saddest inside but didn't want others to worry about them as well.

Robin sighed, "You know, I do not live this outlaw life by choice," he looked at the three of them, "You see before you Robert…"

"Earl of Loxley," the Professor and Clara stated, both familiar with the Robin Hood legend, Clara as it was one of her favorite stories as a child, the Professor as she could recall two children that she and the Doctor had been around for a short while that were obsessed with the story as well.

"I er," Robin cleared his throat, "I had my lands and titles stripped from me. I dared to speak out against Prince John. But I lost the thing most dear to me."

"Maid Marian?" Clara guessed.

"You know her?!" Robin's eyes widened.

"We knew YOU," the Professor pointed out.

Robin nodded, "It was Marian who told me that I must stand up and be counted. But…I was afraid. Now this green canopy is my palace and the rough ground my feather bed," he gestured around, "Maybe one day I will return home, but until that day. Until that day, it is beholden on me to be the man Marian wanted, to be a hero for those this tyrant sheriff slaughters."

"What time is it, Mr. Hood?" the Doctor asked suddenly.

"Somewhat after noon," Robin frowned at the change in subject.

"Autumn," the Professor answered, knowing what he'd been asking, and knowing why he'd cut into the story so quickly.

It was a bit too familiar to him, to the memories of the war. The Doctor had taken a potion by the Sisters of Karn, had turned into a Warrior because he wanted to be a hero for HER, he wanted to protect her from the War, he wanted to be the man she'd always thought he was, her hero. Hearing the man speaking of it was too much for the Doctor to think of at the moment, because she could see in his mind he had had ample time on Christmas to think about every mistake he'd ever made in his life, every time he called himself a hero when he really had only barely helped. He couldn't see himself as a hero any longer.

Well, she would just have to change that.

Bedtime stories were meant to be tales of dashing heroes and strong princesses, and how was she going to be able to tell their child their stories if the Doctor didn't see himself as the hero of it?

"It's very green hereabouts," the Doctor murmured, looking about as Robin was called over to his men once more, "Very sunny."

"So?" Clara shook her head, not following.

"Have you been to Nottingham?" the Doctor asked her.

"Climate change?"

"It's 1190," the Professor added.

"You must excuse me," Robin called as he made his way back over, "The Sheriff has issued a proclamation and tomorrow there is to be a contest to find the best archer in the land. And the bounty…it's an arrow made of pure gold."

"No!" Clara gasped, "Don't, don't go. It's a trap!"

"Well, of course it is!" Robin grinned, walking backwards towards his men, "But a contest to find the best archer in the land? There is no contest."

"Unless you're laughing," the Professor called to the Merry Men as they started to boom their laughter again, "Because Robin is NOT the best archer, then there's no reason to laugh, is there?"

"How can you be so sure he is not the real thing?" Clara asked them quietly.

"Because he can't be," the Doctor insisted.

"It…IS strange," the Professor had to agree, "Not…not impossible, but it is odd."

"When did you stop believing in everything?" Clara scoffed, looking more at the Doctor than the Professor.

"When did you start believing in impossible heroes?" he countered.

"Don't you know?" Clara gave him a look, before shaking her head, "In a way, it's rather sweet."

The Doctor just rolled his eyes and picked up an apple, biting into it before scanning it, nodding to himself before he handed it to the Professor to munch on.

~8~

"I think we're late," the Professor remarked as she and the Doctor headed through a small archway under a castle towards the courtyard in the middle where the archery contest was being held. They'd spent the night in the TARDIS working on a small project, allowing Clara the chance to 'camp out' with the Merry Men as she requested, though they parked the TARDIS closer and had the monitor up the entire time, watching her sleep incase any of the men decided to be less honorable than Robin promised they'd be. Well, promised and then begged when the Professor nearly broke his finger in getting him to swear on his life that Clara would be safe with him and the other men. But he'd promised and that was the main part. And, from what they saw, Clara had been just fine, the other men giving her blankets and a bedroll and something to rest her head on and keeping a respectable (distant) distance between where they were sleeping and where she was.

Now though, it appeared the contest was nearly over, it was down to the Sheriff and 'Tom the Tinker' which they knew was Robin in just a wide-brimmed hat…which really was making the Professor concerned for the intelligence of the time if they couldn't work out that it was Robin just because of the hat. The targets were set up farther back than they normally should have been, one with a bulls eye and with another arrow that had split it down the middle, likely fired by Robin.

They could see Robin walking towards the herald of the tournament, the golden arrow resting on a pillow in the herald's hand...and so the Doctor grabbed a bow from a nearby collection of bows and fired his own arrow, with black, green, and red feathers on the end at the target, splitting Robin's arrow in two.

"I'm the Doctor!" the Doctor shouted as the crowd looked over at him, "My skills as a bowman speak for themselves. I claim my reward," he looked at the Herald who knelt down and offered up the pillow with the golden arrow. The Doctor picked it up and frowned, "What do you think?" he held it up to the Professor to touch, "A mere bauble?" she shrugged at it, they never had been much for gold, save the wedding bands they wore on their fingers, so he tossed it to the side, towards where they could see the Merry Men standing, "I want something else."

"Name it," the Sheriff called, rising to stand beside the herald.

"Enlightenment," the Doctor began…only for Robin to pull another arrow and fire it at the target, splitting the Doctor's arrow in two, sending the crowd wild with applause.

The Professor reached into her pocket and pulled out a second arrow, handing it to the startled Doctor, "I thought you could do with a spare," she gave him a smile, nodding at the target.

He grinned, readying the arrow and sending it flying, but not at the target, instead off of a guard's armor, off a castle wall, and towards the target and splitting Robin's.

Of course, Robin could not be outdone and fired his own, closing his eyes and looking away, sending it flying true towards the target.

"Enough of this," the Professor huffed, feeling a lack of patience rise in her, they just came for answers and Robin just couldn't seem to let it go for a moment. She pulled the Doctor's sonic out of his pocket and flashed it at the target, triggering a device in the feathered end of their arrow, causing the target to explode.

"I take it that was an upgrade," the Doctor whispered to her, knowing that HIS arrow hadn't had that effect built in.

"Me and explosives," she smiled, hoping to see a blush rise at the mention of how he used to feel about that.

But he just smirked and winked at her.

"Fascinating," the Sheriff called, before pointing at the Time Lords, "Seize them!"

A handful of knights ran over, drawing their swords just as Clara reached them from where she'd been watching with the Merry Men, looking around before she grabbed a rather old halberd from a rack, one that was meant more for display than use, and tried to swing it down on the knights…but even for a display it was too heavy for her to lift.

"Clara, what are you doing?!" the Professor shouted, "Put that down!"

"I'm fine," Clara tried to wave it off, "I take Year Seven for after school Tae Kwon Do."

"Don't worry," Robin grinned, "I'll save you."

"We don't need saving," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Least of all does she," he nodded at the Professor.

"We really are just fine, Hood," the Professor agreed.

"Fear not!" Robin ignored them, "For I am Robin!" he pulled his hat off, revealing himself, the Professor starting to feel exasperated when she saw the Sheriff actually stumble back as though he were truly shocked that it was Robin, really…what was the average intelligence for people of this time period? She had no idea now, "Robin Hood!" the man elaborated, turning to pull his sword out and swing it at a knight…only for the entire arm of it to fall off, its shoulder sparking.

The Professor reached out and picked the arm up, eyeing it, ignoring the cries of 'Witchery!' that was rising from the crowd, "Robot," she looked up at the knight in question as the visor flipped open, revealing a metal face…not Cyber like, not like a Cyberman exactly, but like an actual face but metal. There was a cross cut out in its forehead with a purple light shining through it.

"Now we're getting somewhere," the Doctor grinned even as he reached out and pulled the Professor back to him.

"Take them," the Sheriff ordered, "Kill the rest. Kill them all!"

The robots turned and began to fire energy bolts of purple light from their foreheads, striking out at the crowd, a few approaching them, closing in on the small quartet.

"He surrenders!" the Doctor shouted, holding up his hands to try and get the robots to stop.

"What?!" Robin demanded, but the Professor just reached out and chapped his arm at the elbow, forcing him to drop his sword and grip his arm in pain, "What did you do that for!? I had them on the run!"

"They were walking towards us," Clara countered, "They still are…" she muttered as the four of them were closed in on.

"Flee, lads, flee!" Robin shouted to his men, urging them to go, "Live to fight another day!"

The Sheriff grinned as he turned to them, "To the dungeons with all of them!"

Clara glanced at the Time Lords, frowning when she saw the Professor and Doctor allowing themselves to be restrained by the robots, knowing they could break out if they wanted to, "What are you up to?"

"Quickest way to find out anybody's plans," the Doctor began, "Get yourself captured."

"Because then they think you're not a threat if they could capture you," the Professor nodded, "And if you're not a threat, then there's nothing you can do even if you know their plans."

~8~

"Ooh yeah, that's nice!" the Doctor shouted as the jailer turned to leave the cell that they'd found themselves in, all four of them sitting against stakes that were driven into the ground, sitting with their arms chained behind them and through hoops on the floor, Robin and Clara on either end with the Doctor and Professor in the middle, the Professor between the two men, "Chain up a pregnant woman in a dark, dank, cold dungeon."

The Professor just rolled her eyes and let her head thump back against the thick spike behind her, catching sight of the moonlight drifting in through the cross-shaped window, if the Doctor was going to bring up her pregnancy every single time or use it as some sort of defense she was going to tape his mouth shut.

"Splendid," Robin muttered at their current situation, "Enchained."
"Yep," Clara agreed.

"Trussed up like turkey-cocks. Thanks to your friends."

"Shut it, Hoodie," the Doctor huffed, "We saved your life."

"I had the situation well in hand."

The Professor opened her mouth to counter that no, he really hadn't, when the Doctor continued, "Long-haired ninny versus robot killer knights? I know where I'd put my money. On my WIFE."

"If your wife had not betrayed me, I would have been triumphant!"

"Oi, wife sitting RIGHT here," the Professor cut in, "And wife can speak for herself, thank you," she looked at Robin, "You would have been a little puff of smoke and ashes."

"See!" the Doctor declared.

"Ha," Robin scoffed.

"You'd have been floating around in tiny little laughing bits in people's goblets," the Doctor added.

"Balderdash. Ha!"

"Oh, right, here we go," the Doctor rolled his eyes as Robin began to truly laugh, "It's laughing time."

"Well, you amuse me, grey old man."

"Guard!" the Doctor looked at the shut door, "He's laughing again! You can't keep me locked up with a laughing person."

"Oh, I find that…I find that quite funny. Do you know, I feel another laugh coming on. A-ha-ha-ha!"

The Professor bowed her head, closing her eyes as Robin laughed even louder, more forcibly, the sound echoing around the room and starting to grate her nerves. Not that the Doctor shouting helped either.

"Guards!" he snapped, making the Professor wince at the volume of it from right beside her, "I cannot remain in this cell. Execute me now."

"You heard him. Execute the old fool."

"No, hang on. Execute him."

"I do not fear death, so execute away."

"Execute him. I'd like to see if his head keeps laughing when you chop it off!"

"Oh, Robin Hood always laughs in the face of death!" and added another laugh for good measure.

"Yes, rolling around the floor laughing, I would pay good money to see that."

"Guard!"

"Guard!"

"Guard!"

"Guard!"

"GUARD!"

"GUARD!"

"IF YOU TWO DON'T SHUT IT I WILL KILL THE BOTH OF YOU!" the Professor snapped, more loudly and more irately than Clara or the Doctor had EVER heard her. She shot both men a glare for it, able to really only see both of them, though she could hear Clara snort and laugh on the other side of the Doctor.

"Right on Granny," Clara called.

The Professor took a very deep breath, letting it out through her nose, "Now…my head is pounding, my bum is sore, I have to use the loo, this is really a rather uncomfortable position and not even my training is letting me block the two of you out," she gave them another glare, "So, I would appreciate it, I really would, if you both could STOP talking and let me think enough to get a way out of this worked out!"

"Sorry," the Doctor muttered.

"Apologies, milady," Robin bowed his head.

"I have to ask," Clara called over as the Professor tried to calm down and soothe her headache, "Do either of you understand, in any way at all, that there isn't actually a guard out there?"

"What?" the two men called.

"I used my ears," Clara rolled her eyes at them, "I heard him walking away. There is NO guard outside that door," she turned to give the Doctor a look, "So you basically just irritated your wife for nothing. Good luck with that gramps."

"You know," Robin remarked, "I did, in fact, know there wasn't a guard out there."

"No, you didn't," the Doctor turned to retort only to be met with a glare from the Professor that had the rest of it dying on his lips.

Clara sighed, "The Doctor and Robin Hood locked up in a cellar. Is this seriously the best that you two can do?" she let her head roll to the side, "You're determined to starve to death in here squabbling."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Robin stuck up his nose, "I'd last a lot longer than this desiccated man-crone."

"Really?" the Doctor scoffed.

"Really."

"Well, you know what? I think you'll find I have a certain genetic advantage…"

"You're starting again," the Professor cut in, "I will not tell you children again to stop it! This is not a competition about who can die slower!"

"It would definitely be me, though, wouldn't it?" he tried to smile at her.

The Professor gave him a firm look at that, "No talk of anyone dying, ANY of you," she looked between the two men, "Understood?"

"Gran?" Clara called, knowing that calling the Professor that would help calm her down a bit, "Have you got that plan worked out yet?"

"I have a plan," the Doctor offered.

"I too have a plan," Robin agreed.

The Professor took a breath, "I'm going to regret this…but Robin, what's your plan?"

"Why him first?" the Doctor frowned.

"Rough draft comes before the masterpiece."

The Doctor grinned at that, till Clara tugged on the chain between them, making him look at her, "You know that means YOUR plan is a rough draft too if she wants to hear both of you before revealing hers."

The Doctor actually pouted at that.

"Robin?" the Professor looked at him.

"I am…biding my time," Robin answered.

"Right," she rolled her eyes, "Husband?" she rolled her head to him, adding, when he opened his mouth, "And do keep in mind that the Sheriff stole your sonic."

The Doctor's mouth closed with a thump just as the door to the cell opened.

"See?" Robin smiled, "There was a guard. There was guard listening the whole time, I knew it!" he cheered, starting with the laughing again, "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"You realize it is possible to WALK back to the cell, yes?" the Professor shot him a look.

"The Sheriff himself commanded me to find out which of you is the true ringleader," the man, a scrawny looking fellow with no teeth and rather dirty hair and clothes stood before them.

"For interrogating," the Professor nodded, "Not a surprise."

"Excellent," Robin puffed out his chest, "He will get nothing from me!"

"No, no, no, no. no," the Doctor shook his head, "He will get nothing from me, because interrogation, that's where I always turn the tables. You see, that's my plan."

The Professor scoffed, "You never turn the tables when I'M the one interrogating you."

"That's because you cheat."

"I do not cheat, you're just not as strong as you think you are when I try to be persuasive."

"I am too!"

"Sad eyes?"

The Doctor's lips pursed, "See, cheating!"

"Oh just hurry up and take me to him!" Robin cut in, rolling his eyes at them, how they managed to do a flirty thing while in a jail cell was lost on him.

"No!" the Doctor turned back to the guard, "No, chop-chop, come on."

But instead, the man just moved over to Clara and unchained her.

"Seriously?" Clara blinked at that, being led towards the door.

"Clara's not the leader," the Professor told the guard.

"What are you doing?" Robin demanded.

"Don't be ridiculous!" the Doctor shouted, but the door just slammed shut and locked behind them.

"Quick!" Robin turned to the Professor, "Be sick!"

"What?" the Professor gave him a look.

"Beat your breast. Moan. Groan as though twenty devils possessed your guts!"

"I'm pregnant not possessed!"

"It'll call the guard back!"

"The guard is gone," she shook her head, "He won't be back till he's given Clara to the Sheriff."

"Then we'll have time to build up the act."

"I'm not acting more ill than I already am, that's not the plan."

"Well it's MY plan," Robin argued.

"Well, if it's your plan, you moan," the Doctor fired back as the Professor wiggled slightly in her chains.

"No, no," Robin shook his head, "No, it won't work. How about YOU moan then," he tried to lean forward and look at the Doctor.

"Why?"

"Oh, because you're clearly more advanced in years and you have a sickly aspect to you."

"I have a what?"

"You're as pale as milk. It's the way with Scots. They're strangers to vegetables."

"I'm not moaning. You moan!"

"Fine," Robin huffed, "If you want something doing…"

But before he could even move to do so, a hand ended up pressed against his mouth, cutting off his moans.

"What the devil…" Robin mumbled from behind the hand that he now saw was connected to the Professor's arm, the woman free of her chains, "How…"

"I told you, I actually have a plan," the Professor smirked, pulling her hand away and shifting onto her knees, turning around to work her other hand out of the manacles that had bound it before hurrying to the door and pulling a ring of keys off a small peg in the wall. She hurried over to the Doctor, starting to unlock his chains.

"Why him first?" Robin frowned.

"Husband," the Professor gestured at the Doctor, then to herself, "Wife," before she looked at Robin, "Who do YOU think I'd help first?"

"Do we have to help him second?" the Doctor frowned at that, "He could do with a lesson in humility, spend a night in jail…"

"He could be useful," the Professor shook her head, "And if we leave him, there's no saying he'd want to help us later, honor or not," she moved over to Robin and began to unlock his chains.

"How DID you do it though?" Robin shook his head, rubbing his wrists as he stood, the Doctor helping the Professor up.

"I have…a lot of experience breaking out of manacles of sorts," the Professor shrugged.

But the Doctor just picked up her hands and placed a kiss at the base of her thumb, knowing what her trick was to slide out of handcuffs and the like, "I hate when you do that," he mumbled to her.

"It's a necessary pain," she shrugged, "Much like I will be feeling in a few months," she reminded him, "Now come on," she looked at them, "We need to find Clara," she turned and headed towards the doors.

"Well, that's a bright side to all this," Robin murmured to the Doctor.

"That Clara didn't see her rescue us?" the Doctor guessed.

"Aye."

The Doctor scoffed, "Oh she already knows," he warned the man, patting Robin on the shoulder before following after his wife as she snuck out into the hall. And it was true, Clara would, naturally, assume that the Professor had gotten them out of all this, especially with how they'd been squabbling just then.

Robin grinned and went after them, laughing loudly when they reached the empty hall…

Only for the Professor to put her hand over his mouth again, "This requires stealth and silence," she gave him a pointed look, "You laugh again I knock you out and drag you after us."

Robin opened his mouth to say something but the Doctor shook his head, "She really will."

"Now, come on," she turned and led the way down the hall in the direction she'd heard the guard depart before.

~8~

The small rescue party had just come up a set of stairs, hoping to get to a high point in the castle to be able to see where they were and get a better idea of where Clara might be, the Professor wanting an idea of the layout of the castle as it had slipped her mind to actually check for it before they'd gone to the archery competition. It was odd, thinking back on it, she had always been the one that wanted to look into the layout of things before stepping out of the TARDIS, it had been her thing in her last self, but this time she'd just left…well, that wasn't true, she'd been thinking about churros, for some reason, perhaps because they reminded her of arrows, for some reason, and she was considering where to get the best ones would be as they were leaving. It wasn't even till now that she realized she hadn't looked up the layout of the castle and she was silently cursing herself for it. It wasn't that she thought that they'd end up jailed and would need to know it, but she should have been prepared. Knowing the Doctor this was something that would have likely happened, them being jailed, she should have prepared more she really should have and now, because she hadn't, they were wasting time to get to Clara.

She'd noticed she was a bit more easily distracted lately, the more she grew in the pregnancy, the less she was paying attention to things or the more things slipped her mind. She didn't like it, her mind was something she prided herself on. It had been something that had impressed the Doctor when they'd been on Gallifrey. She was by no means the smartest Time Lord, there were loads smarter than her, before the War, just like the Doctor was not the smartest Time Lord either. But she WAS smarter than him on a good day, he admitted it multiple times, he liked that about her, liked that it gave him a challenge and something to strive for to keep up with her. He always said that he could never think as fast as her, that she was the plan-maker, making them up at the drop of a hate. But lately she'd been slowing down, her mind switching from serious thought to if they had any chocolate, her plans taking longer to form.

She knew it would only be temporary, or hoped it would be, but for now it was irritating her. She REALLY hoped that it would be temporary and just because of the pregnancy. That was the worst thing about regenerating while pregnant, she didn't know if this was the personality and way she was now or if it was just the pregnancy that was making her so. She wouldn't be able to know for a long time, for about 6 more months, whether this WAS her or if it was just the pregnant her.

'Whatever you you are, Kata,' she heard in her mind and glanced over at the Doctor, 'I will love you regardless.'

She smiled at that, he'd really already proven that in finding himself able to love her soldier-self, her war-self, and not look at her differently, but it was nice to know and have it reaffirmed, 'Likewise,' she offered, 'No matter what man you regenerate into, I will love you t…what's that?'

She could hear the Doctor chuckle in her mind at how her attention had shifted, but soon his laughter died away as he too saw what she had. There, just a few feet away was a metal door that looked far too out of place for that century or age, the metal itself even looked odd to them and they found themselves walking over to it slowly, Robin frowning but following as though sensing there was something wrong about it all if they were both suddenly so quiet and focused.

The Doctor pushed open the door to reveal the room was very, VERY advanced, much too advanced for the Sheriff or Sherwood Forest. It was a wide room, with a control console set up before them, a monitor set in it, with a glowing hemisphere at the end of it.

"At last," the Doctor smiled, "Something real. No more fairy tales."

"What is this place?" Robin frowned, looking around at the room, his eyes wide at the advanced technology that surrounded them.

"A spaceship," the Professor answered, "29th century."

"Data banks, data banks, data banks," the Doctor began to look for them, "Where was this ship headed?"

"Doctor," the Professor called, moving over to a monitor set in the console, seeing it blink at the Doctor's question. She frowned as she saw the details flying across the screen, "The Promised Land? Again?"

"Like the Half-Faced Man," the Doctor nodded, reading the information, "But more sophisticated. It disguised itself as a twelfth century castle."

The Professor pushed a button and a diagram began, showing a graphic image of the ship landing in the forest, the tip of it facing upwards to the sky, like a rocket about to launch…or a central keep, "It merged into the culture," she mumbled, "To blend in so no one notices."

"That explains the robot knights," the Doctor nodded.

"And look here, at the engines," the Professor pointed, "They're damaged."

"They're leaking radiation into the local atmosphere, creating a temporary climate of staggering benevolence…"

Robin shook his head, "Do you two do that often?"

"Do what?" they both asked distractedly, their concentration on the monitor.

"Talk like…" he shook his head, "Never mind. What's this staggering benevolence?"

"I told you," the Doctor huffed, "It's too sunny. It's too green. And there is even an evil sheriff to oppress the locals. This explains everything, even you," he glanced at Robin.

But the man seemed genuinely confused, "It does?"

"Well, what does every oppressed peasant workforce need? The illusion of hope. Some silly story to get them through the day, lull them into docility, and keep them working. Ship's data banks," he reached out and tapped a button on it, revealing it was FULL of the Robin Hood legends, every version of them, it appeared, "Full of every myth and legend you could hope for, including Robin Hood, "Isn't it time you came clean with us? And tell us how you tricked the Professor because that shouldn't be possible," he glanced at his wife as she frowned at the data, before he focused on the man again, "You're not real and you know it. Look at you. Perfect eyes, perfect teeth. Nobody has a jawline like that. You're as much a part of what is happening here as the Sheriff and his metal knights. You're a robot."

"I don't think he…" the Professor turned around.

But Robin was too outraged to let her finish, "You dare to accuse me of collusion with that villain, the Sheriff?"

"I dare," the Doctor nodded, crossing his arms though he moved closer to the Professor as though to protect her if the man's prime directive began to kick in again.

"You false-tongued knave! You…"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off when the door behind them was blown off its hinges by the robotic knights, "Oh wonderful," the Professor huffed, the Doctor stepping before her as the Sheriff entered with Clara in his grasp, the robotic knights following him.

"Surrender, outlaw!" the Sheriff demanded.

"Very good," the Doctor began to clap, making the Professor roll her eyes at him.

"Kill him," the Sheriff turned to his knights, "Kill Robin Hood."

"You can drop all that stuff now, Sheriff."

"It's not an act Doctor," the Professor tried to explain, but it appeared he truly thought that the robots had somehow found a way to trick her scanning ability.

"He is not what you think he is Clara," the Doctor told the girl as he pointed at Robin, "This is all play-acting."

"We can't just let them kill him!" Clara hissed.

"You're not fooling anyone, Sheriff," the Doctor took a step towards the man, only for one of the knights to take it as an advance and send a blast from its forehead, causing him to stumble back, the Professor hurrying to stabilize him, though Robin was knocked off his feet to the side.

Clara managed to tug herself out of the Sheriff's hold in the confusion and rush to Robin's side, trying to block the next attack against him…only for Robin to leap to his feet and grab her around the waist, backing her up to the window, "What the hell are you doing?!" she gasped.

"Surviving," he answered, looking at the Time Lords before letting himself fall out the window with Clara.

The Doctor and Professor ran over to the window, looking down to see them land in the moat, but not resurface.

"Yeah," the Sheriff muttered behind them, not sounding at all remorseful about what happened, "Sorry about the girl. Such a pretty thing. What a queen she would have made…"

The Time Lords nearly sagged in relief when they saw Robin resurfacing near the edge of the moat moments later, Clara in his arms as he got her out of the waters.

"Prof…" the Doctor turned to her.

But she gave him such a glare he didn't dare continue, "If you are about to ask me to jump out a window THIS high up and into a moat…I WILL slap you," she threatened.

"Right," he winced, recalling her fear of heights. It wasn't too bad when she was on stable ground, but to actually jump out the window would be too much to ask of anyone with that sort of fear…and that was on top of her being pregnant and that was just the most ridiculous thing he could have ever asked her to do just then, "Sorry…"

"You're stuck with me, husband," she whispered to him, "For the rest of your lives."

He smiled, "I don't think it's quite 'being stuck,' wife," he gave her a quick kiss to the forehead before he turned to the Sheriff, "Why don't you stop pretending? You and your fancy robots. We get it. We understand."

"Oh, so you too know my plans?" the Sheriff frowned.

The Professor felt herself smile at that, realizing that Clara must have been able to trick the Sheriff into revealing his plans as well if he was saying 'too,' but she shook her head and gestured around, "Your databanks said you're plundering the country for gold. And there's only one reason you'd be doing that. To create a matrix of gold to repair the engine circuitry."

"This is the scheme the Mechanicals have devised," the Sheriff admitted, which really was starting to make the Professor quite concerned for the intelligence of the peoples of this time if the man gave up that information so quickly and easily, "Soon this skyship will depart. Destination, London. There I will obliterate the King and take my rightful place as ruler of this sceptred isle."

"It won't work," the Doctor scoffed, "There's not a chance. We've seen the instruments. There's been too much damage. You are stoking up a gigantic bomb!"

"Shush," the Sheriff gestured at them, a knight stepping beside them and knocking the Doctor out.

"Oi!" the Professor jumped back from an attack aimed at her.

"And YOU…" the Sheriff glared, "Will go willingly or we'll dispose of the old one."

"Just bring up the age gap," she muttered to herself, but allowed a knight to grab her arm and lead her out after the Doctor who was draped over the shoulder of another robot.

Well, at least if she was conscious she could use her eyes and be able to think, and…with the Doctor asleep…maybe she'd be able to think of a plan without interruption.

~8~

The Professor was sitting beside the Doctor, his head resting in her lap as she watched the robot-knights walking around a dark, cavernous part of the castle, carrying gold circuit boards this way and that, various other people having been taken as slaves and workers shuffling about to complete their work.

"Engine capacity at forty eight percent," one of the knights was reporting, "Engine capacity at forty eight percent."

"Come on, husband," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair, his hands resting on his stomach, having been freed from the manacles that he'd originally been put in, with all the tools lying about it was easier to pop them open, "Time to wake up," she let her fingers drift over his forehead, using a bit of their mental bond to snap him to wakefulness.

The Doctor nearly shot up as he scrambled awake, "What?" he looked around, "What?! What…" he turned to her, "What did they say?!"

"48%," she told him solemnly, "It's not enough," she agreed with the way his eyes widened in horror at that, "It'll never make orbit."

He looked up, able to hear a mechanical whir echoing from somewhere down the way, loud enough to be heard above the moaning and groaning of the people being worked to death around them, "That's the engines, building in power," he realized, "Stupid, stupid Sheriff."

"My thoughts exactly," the Professor nodded, starting to smile, "Shall we stop him?"

"Stop him?" a voice called from the side, making them look over to see a young woman in a dirty gown had overheard them, "What…what exactly is the sheriff planning?"

The Time Lords looked at each other before motioning her over, "The sheriff's trying to repair a ship that was promised to take him and these metal-knights," the Professor gestured around, "To another place. But their ship is damaged and they need the gold to fix it."

The woman was silent, "I think I understand you. The Sheriff's using the gold to replace something."

"That's the principle," the Doctor nodded, "But he's a moron. If he tries to fly this ship, it'll explode and wipe out half the country. So…" he turned to the Professor, "What do we need? What do you need me to do? What's your plan?"

The Professor nodded, glad that she'd waited till she'd had a set plan in mind before waking him, "We need something that can reflect the lasers of those robots," she turned to the young woman, "Something polished, something gold would be best but anything reflective. Then we need to surround them and, when they try to fight back, we use the reflections to send their blasts back at them. Spread the word."

The woman nodded and turned to hurry through the tunnels.

"Is it really that simple?" the Doctor blinked as he moved to sit beside his wife, both of them moving their hands behind them, making it seem like they were still chained, trying to buy some time for the woman to spread the word before the robots noticed them.

"You always overthink everything," the Professor smiled at him.

"Well, not everything," he looked at her softly before turning his head to rest his temple to the top of hers, "I never overthought how I feel about you."

She closed her eyes a moment, "I'm glad. It probably would have taken us even longer to get here if you had."

"What, sitting in a prison in Sherwood Forest with a Sheriff trying to help robots and relying on Robin Hood to save us?"

"Married, Bonded, and about to have a child," she corrected.

"Oh," he nodded, smiling, "True."

~8~

The Time Lords looked up as a robot-knight approached them, looking down at them as it scanned them, "You are fit for labor," it declared, turning its head to the young woman that they'd spoken to before, the girl having come to inform them that everyone was ready and waiting for the signal, "Stand aside while this peasant unit is freed."

"Ooh, but see…I'm afraid you're a little late," the Professor stated.

"Explain."

"We're already free!" the Doctor shouted, the two of them pulling their hands out from behind their back to reveal that their wrists were unbound.

The robot began to power up its purple light, but the Professor grabbed a small gold tray she'd been sitting on that the woman had given them as she scrambled to her knees, blasting the laser right back at the robot, sending it stumbling back, its head exploding.

"See," the Professor looked at the Doctor as he jumped to his feet and held out a hand to help her up, "Simple works."

"Hopefully it keeps doing it," the Doctor remarked as more robots began to gather, having heard and seen the one be destroyed.

But as he looked around, the various people that had been used and abused held up their own reflective items, plates and trays and even shields at times, using them, following the Professor's example, to bounce the blasts back towards the robots. He watched carefully, leading the Professor and the girl with him through the rooms, watching as the robots were destroyed till there was only one left, "Everyone, the last one!" he called and the last robot was swarmed, surrounded by people.

It tried to fire at them, but the blast bounced off of all their reflective surfaces, building in power with each hit, before it finally shot back at the robot itself, making the entire thing explode instead.

"Right, now out!" the Professor turned to the people as they began to cheer instead of flee, "Out, out! Get out quickly! Go!"

The young woman ran over to them even as the others fled the rooms, "You've saved us all, clever ones," she beamed at them, pulling them both in to hug them tightly, "Thank you."

"Go!" the Professor urged her off before she and the Doctor turned and ran further into the facility, trying to find the main chambers, the control rooms.

"Engine capacity at eighty two percent!" they heard as they sped into a room to see that the Sheriff was there with a robot of his own, the melting room for the vats of gold, having run in there from getting reports that they were attacking, that the robot force was dwindling.

"You are indeed rather ingenious," the Sheriff called down to them, "But do you really think your peasants' revolt can stop me?"

"I rather think you're the revolting one around here," the Doctor quipped, before grimacing, "I'm bantering. I'm bantering," he seemed a bit put off from that.

"Sheriff, listen to us," the Professor tried to get them back on track, swallowing hard as the heat of the room was starting to get to her and make her feel a bit light headed, tried to push past that to keep talking, "You don't have enough gold content to seal the engine breach. If you try and take off, you'll wipe out half of England."

"Liar!" the man sneered, "From my sky vessel, I shall rule omnipotent!"

"You pudding-headed primitive," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Shut down the engines! What you're doing will alter the course of history!"

But that only served to make the Sheriff grin, "I sincerely hope so, or I wouldn't be bothering."

"Oh just listen to us!" the Professor huffed, "It doesn't have to end like this. Just shut it all down!"

"And return Clara to us, and we'll do what we can," the Doctor agreed.

"I don't have Clara," the man informed them.

"Robin's one of yours!"

"What did you say?"

"He's one of your tin-headed puppets, just like these brutes here."

"Robin Hood is not one of mine."

"He's not a robot Doctor," the Professor agreed.

"Of course he is," he argued, looking more at the Professor than the Sheriff, if he was going to debate this with someone, it would be someone with 27 very clever brains instead of one made of pudding, "He's a robot, created by those robot knights."

"Why would they make someone to oppose them?"

"To pacify the locals?" he shrugged, "Give them false hope. He's the opiate of the masses."

"Yes, and to create a rebellion against them?" she shook her head, "That makes no sense. Why would they risk that?"

"But…" the Doctor blinked, starting to realize that, even if he was trying to believe Robin was a robot…it really did make no logical sense that the robots would create someone to fight against them instead of control him, "He can't be. He's not real. He's a legend!"

"And what are we?" the Professor asked him quietly, "To the different species? Aren't WE legends too? And yet here we are," she took his hand, "WE are real."

"You had better be," Clara's voice called down to them, making them look up, shocked, to see her and Robin standing in the gallery above them.

Robin let out another laugh before he stuck his dagger into a wall hanging beside him, gripping Clara tightly around the waist, before he let it slide them down to the ground, safe and sound.

Robin released her to run over to the Time Lords as he spun to face the Sheriff, "My men have taken the castle!"

"No!" the Sheriff hissed, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Now," Robin grinned, pointing his sword up at the man, "I'm going to take you."

The Sheriff looked at the two knights that were stationed on either side of him, "This one's all mine," he muttered, pressing a button on an amulet dangling around his neck, shutting the two robots down as he started to make his way over to Robin, "What do you say, outlaw? A final reckoning?"

"Oh, yes," Robin lifted his sword.

"Clara," the Professor smiled as the woman reached them, hugging her tightly, "Are you ok?"

"Fine, yeah," she nodded.

"Good," the Doctor gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder, making Clara roll her eyes at how he avoided hugging her, "We don't have long."

Clara gasped when, moments later, the keep began to shake, a rumbling noise sounding, "What's that?"

"The whole castle's about to blow," the Doctor told her.

"Meanwhile two men are duking it out on the crossbeams," the Professor pointed up to where Robin and the Sheriff, somehow, had gotten up onto the beams above them, both men fighting with their swords, clearly baiting each other even as they went.

"Oh!" Clara's hands moved to her mouth when she saw the Sheriff manage to land a slash at Robin's arm, making him drop his sword and scramble to pull his dagger out again.

Robin glanced down at them, seeing him watching him, before he winked, looking a little closer at the vat beneath him and taking a few steps back on the beam. He looked up, focusing on the Sheriff and gestured the man to come at him.

The Sheriff ran for him, lunging, but Robin, in a move similar to the Professor, used his dagger to shove the blade away from him, using the momentum and the move to turn himself and his free hand to push the Sheriff off the beam, falling down towards the vat of molten gold. Robin watched the man fall for a moment before turning away as he hit the liquid, hurrying over to a rope and using it to get himself down to the ground.

"Sorry," he managed a grin at the trio as Clara ran over to hug him and check on him, "Was that, er…was that showing off?"

"That was amazing!" Clara breathed, only for the castle to start to shake again, the stones above them crumbling, the ceiling coming apart and dropping rock and masonry around them.

"Run!" the Doctor took the Professor's hand, her free hand moving to her stomach as they turned to flee, "Come on, run!"

They hurried across the room, into a small tunnel, running through it towards the light at the end and into the courtyard.

"There!" the Professor pointed across towards the moat, leading the way towards it as they rushed across it and towards the forest where they could see the Merry Men waiting for their leader. They only slowed to a stop when they heard a cracking noise behind them and turned to see the ship, the keep, taking off into the sky, "It's never going to make it, there's not enough gold."

"It'll never make it into orbit," the Doctor agreed, before starting to pat his pockets and look around, "Where is it? Where did it go?"

"Where did what go?" Clara gasped from her run.

"The golden arrow!"

"Tuck!" Robin rounded on his men.

"You took it?" the Doctor frowned as the portly man hurried over with it in hand.

"Of course we did," the man nodded, "We're robbers."

"YOU are a priest," the Professor pointed out.

"Doctor, what are you suggesting?" Clara looked at the man as he examined the arrow.

"Golden arrow," he muttered, "It might just be enough gold content to get the ship into orbit and out of harm's way," he turned and grabbed a bow off the ground, handing them out to Robin.

"No," Robin shook his head, "It has to be you. My arm is injured," he gestured at the arm he was gripping, the cut from the Sheriff preventing him from using the force he knew he'd need.

The Doctor nodded and turned, trying to get the arrow onto the bowstring…and failing miserably.

"You're good at this," Clara hissed at him, "I saw you. You won the tournament!"

"He cheated," the Professor sighed, "We made a special arrow with a homing device."

"Oh, brilliant," Clara rolled her eyes, "Right, let me have it…" she reached out and took the bow from the Doctor.

"You?" he scoffed, "You do Tae Kwon Do. That's not the same thing as this!"

"I wasn't talking about me," Clara snatched the arrow out of his hand as well and turned to the Professor, "He always said you were the better shot," she reminded the woman.

The Professor looked at it, "I haven't used a bow and arrow since we stopped those lizards…" she mumbled to the Doctor.

"Just like riding a bicycle," the Doctor encouraged.

The Professor took a breath and notched the arrow, pulling the string back and aiming carefully, turning slightly to take into account the wind and the effect of the ship's thrusters, before releasing it a moment later.

They watched as the arrow sailed up towards the ship, striking it right in the middle of an engine roundel, causing it to blast up faster, giving it just enough of a push to get into orbit before it exploded.

"One awful day in Nottingham, Brave Robin Hood was in a jam," Alan began to sing as the Merry Men cheered, Clara and Robin hugging as the Doctor did the same to his wife, "The arrow flew it true as…" he pouted when Will pulled the lute out of his hand.

"Give it a rest, Alan," Will rolled his eyes.

"Give me my lute Will!"

Clara shook her head at them and looked at the Doctor, standing behind the Professor, his arms wound around her from the back, his hands resting on her stomach, his chin just barely resting on her shoulder as he turned his head to rest his forehead to her temple, smiling into her neck. She reached over and whacked him lightly on the arm, getting his attention, "Still not keen on the laughing thing?" she had to ask.

"No," he shook his head.

The Professor sighed, "Oh go on, ONE last time."

Clara and Robin laughed loudly, the Merry Men joining in as the Time Lords just smiled, the Doctor closing his eyes and tugging her closer, swaying her side to side.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood near the TARDIS, resting against the side of it as they watched Robin give Clara an archery lesson of her own, the man getting a bit too touchy feely for them to feel comfortable leaving or not keeping their eyes trained on him. Clara didn't seem to mind AT ALL, but the Professor could see the Doctor's eyes narrow more, his lip curl into a small growl as though just waiting for the man to make another advance on Clara so he could storm over there and punch him. She had to laugh to herself at his reaction, he was so set on her, so keen to say that he didn't want Clara around if it meant he lost time with her…but there he was, with his over protective grandfather eyes locked on the small not-couple a few feet away.

"It could be worse," the Professor murmured as she saw his fists clench when Clara gave Robin a kiss on the cheek.

"I doubt that," he muttered, a bite in his words but not directed at her.

The Professor smirked, "It could be Jenny."

THAT got the Doctor to pull his gaze away from Clara and Robin and over to her, "I mean…she DID get a proposal from an emperor, imagine if she'd been here as well?"

"I don't even want to think of that," he paled considerably, glancing back at the TARDIS doors as though debating if he should head in right now and call up their daughter and see how she was doing…make sure she hadn't accidently gotten engaged or married without him knowing.

"I can tell you exactly what would happen."

"Ooh don't…" he nearly whined.

But she just laughed, "She'd have punched him in the face."

The Doctor considered that, "Your daughter," he muttered, "Entirely yours."

She had to smile at that, recalling that event with Jenny's 'birth,' how she looked and acted and sounded SO MUCH like her but was literally only the Doctor's daughter. He kept saying that entire time that Jenny had to be her daughter somehow, she HAD to be, because it really was scary how similar they were in act and thought and appearance.

"Half mine," she corrected, nudging him.

He looked at her for that, starting to smile as well though the color hadn't returned to his face, "And what about you?" he asked, nodding towards Robin and Clara as the girl started to head back to them, "What would you do?"

"Well…given that I am a married woman and pregnant," she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "It's a good thing he didn't even try, otherwise Marian would be very cross that there would be no future prospect of children for them."

The Doctor let out a barking laugh at that, making Clara and Robin smile as they drew near, not having a clue why he was in such a good mood now, but relieved he didn't seem all glarey at Robin any longer.

"Feeling better?" Clara asked the Doctor, waiting till he nodded, "Good," she stepped closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek, reaching out to squeeze the Professor's arm before heading into the TARDIS, leaving the Time Lords to speak with Robin alone.

"So, is it true?" Robin looked at them.

"Is what true?" the Professor countered.

"That in the future I am forgotten as a real man? I am but a legend?"

"I'm afraid it is," the Doctor nodded.

"Hmm," Robin paused to consider that, before deciding it was seemingly something he was happy with, "Good. History is a burden. Stories can make us fly."

"I'm still having a little trouble believing yours, I'm afraid," the Doctor admitted, even with the Professor vouching that the man really was flesh and blood and not a robot.

"Is it so hard to credit?" Robin tilted his head, "That a man born into wealth and privilege should find the plight of the oppressed and weak too much to bear..."

"No," the Professor shook her head, leaning over to wind her arm through the Doctor's, "I don't think it is at all."

"Because, one night, it would move him to steal a TARDIS?" Robin smirked even as the Time Lords frowned at that, "Fly among the stars, fighting the good fight with the most lovely of loves beside him," he nodded, holding up a hand to stop them asking, "Clara told me your stories."

"She should not have told you any of that," the Doctor actually glared at that.

It was a linger, he knew, from trying to erase them from history, from all that effort put into removing themselves from stories. He could remember how he'd failed at even that, how Solomon had nearly taken the Professor away, how the knowledge of them had been harvested from Tasha to be used against them. He didn't want anyone to know, he didn't want anyone in any era, real or legend, to know about them, not like this. The more people who knew, the more danger he and the Professor were in and he would NOT have that.

If Clara was going to go blabbing all their secrets and stories to others then he would make sure she was not around other people to blab it to, even if that meant he set her on Earth and left her there. He would not have her put the Professor in danger and…

'Calm down, Theta,' the Professor called in his mind, 'She didn't mean any harm…'

'But harm could still come from it,' he reasoned, 'She should have been more careful!'

'Then we'll talk to her about it,' she told him, 'We'll give her a warning.'

'No,' he minutely shook his head, 'No, I'm not giving some pudding brain a second chance! Not when it's YOUR life and safety on the line!'

'Good thing she's not just some pudding brain then,' the Professor countered, 'She is our granddaughter and she won't say another word to anyone if we ask her not to.'

She reached up and rubbed his arm, trying to comfort him, feeling how angry he was that Clara had told Robin anything, wanting to calm him. He really was…very protective of her now, especially more since she was pregnant. He didn't care about the humans the same way, it was almost like he was…distanced of them, apathetic in a way. She supposed she could understand, centuries on one planet, being forced to watch human after human be born, grow old, and die, over and over and over and realize that their lives would end regardless of anything he could do, because they withered and decayed where the Time Lords continued. It was almost like he saw it as just a natural course of things that he was just too tired to interfere with any longer. Being on Christmas had affected him more than she thought if he'd reached that point.

"Well, once the story started, she could hardly stop herself," Robin laughed, not seeming to notice their tension, "You two are her heroes, I think."

"I'M not a hero," the Doctor argued.

"I'm not either," the Professor agreed, giving the Doctor a pointed look, he wanted to play that game, so would she.

"Well, neither am I," Robin smiled, "But if we keep pretending to be?" he gave a small laugh, "Perhaps others will be heroes in our name. Perhaps we will both be stories. And may those stories never end," he held out a hand to the Doctor, shaking his, "Goodbye, Doctor, Time Lord of Gallifrey."

"Goodbye, Robin, Earl of Loxley."

He turned to the Professor holding out hand to her, "Goodbye, Professor," he took it, "Time Lady of Gallifrey," and moved to kiss it…only for the Doctor to reach out and take her hand back, giving him a narrowed eyed look for his attempt.

The Professor shook her head at them, "Goodbye, Hood," she offered, "Outlaw of Sherwood Forest."

Robin laughed at that, "And remember, I'm just as real as you are," he gave them a wink before slowly stepping back, bowing to them.

The Professor gave him a small salute as the Doctor opened the door to allow them into the TARDIS, Clara waiting for them at the console.

"Admit it," she smirked, "You like him."

"Not as much as the Doctor," the Professor patted the man's arm, moving around the console.

"I like him well enough," the Doctor sighed, "I'm leaving him a present, aren't I?" he reached out and pulled a lever, making the TARDIS start to dematerialize, but not before moving the monitor around to the two women, allowing Clara to watch as they disappeared, revealing Maid Marian standing there, Robin and his love reuniting in a tight embrace before the image faded away, leaving Clara grinning widely.

"Right then," Clara patted the console, "I need to change out of this," she tugged at her dress, hiking it up before hurrying off up the stairs.

"What do you think?" the Doctor looked at the Professor, "Robin Hood."

"Hmm..." she hummed, stepping over to him, putting her arms around his neck, "Not quite as much a hero as another legend I know of," she smiled up at him.

He just leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss for that, pleased that, even when confronted with an actual hero...HE was still HER hero.

A/N: So, as it turns out, our internet router has reached the end of its life :( THAT was why the internet kept going weird yesterday and then again today. But my mom and I went to get a new one and it's all hooked in and it seems to be working just fine :) So hopefully this won't happen tomorrow lol :) I'm going to give a few hours between this chapter and posting my OUAT chapter, about 3-4 hours, as a sort of little test to make sure the router is still going to work. Last night it started fritzing again about 2 hours after it started working :(

I was SO tempted to have Robin flirt with the Professor in this chapter, but I felt like the second he knew she was married and pregnant (or even just married) he'd back off because that's not the honorable thing to do ;) I can say though that it may not be much a problem for him when we get to Evy though };) I also wanted the Professor to be able to get some action in before she ends up a bit too big to do much ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup, Angel will continue too :) I'll be updating all my stories one after the other for Series 8 :) Angel should be mid-December :)

The Professor was about 8 weeks along in the last chapter, and is 12 weeks in this one, so about 3 months :) I've got big plans for the Doctor and his reaction to the kiddies :)

I definitely plan to do the Cas/OC :) I sort of have an idea in my head for who the OC is, but I feel like it might be a bit of a cliché so I'm just waiting to see if anything else pops in my head for him :) I'm glad you're excited for it and the other stories though ^-^

The family could be alive :) I sort of feel, as bad as it is, that they aren't :( Just because I can't see the Doctor being willing to use the Moment if his family was alive. Like I think he would have saved them first or gotten them off-world before trapping them on the planet sort of thing. But there's always hope :)

Oh I've definitely got everything planned out to be very different for each series :) I'm glad you're excited for the other TLs, I feel like there are different episodes that are my favorite based on different series, but I am very much looking forward to all of them with 'Jeff' :)

The difference between the Professor and other soldiers will DEFINITELY come up when we really get to Danny ;) The way that the Doctor was a little upset about how he might not be the Professor's hero here will be mirror later with her being a soldier and triggered by Danny :)

I did a fair bit of research for pregnancy with Evy and used it for Angel and then for the Professor too :) For the Professor it's definitely partly because she's so used to be in control of herself, but it's also that right now she has NO idea it's twins, so she's thinking it's a normal if just a bit more extreme pregnancy, but when she finds out its twins it makes more sense to her ;) I'm glad you like my version of 12 so far :)

Oh god, if Rose was in the episode she'd be unbearable in the next series, till she eventually got a talking to and maybe backed off. She wouldn't understand what Bonding is and what it truly means for a long time }:)

The Doctor was definitely a bit jealous that Robin is an actual hero where his own title is sort of conflicted through different species, being a mighty warrior or a doctor and so on :( I was tempted to have the Sheriff take the Professor with Clara, but it was just too funny to have the Professor stuck in the middle of the Doctor/Robin squabbling :)

Thanks! I went back and fixed it :) And thank you, we're very happy the surgery went well too :)