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.

12. Death in Heaven

Death in Heaven

The Doctor and Professor stared around them in horror as the Cybermen came to a rest throughout the square, surrounding them, putting all the unknowing humans in danger…putting their CHILDREN in danger! The only consolation they could see was that their twins were still very much asleep, having cried themselves out from their debate about names and a fun meeting with River. That was the only good point in the entire situation was that their children might sleep through it. They were going to have to rework their thoughts on how to keep the children safe when things like this happened. They didn't want to leave the children in the TARDIS every single time they stepped out of it, but equally they didn't want to put their children in danger, not like this.

"You're the Master?" the Professor looked over at the woman who was grinning ear to ear, standing proudly with her hands on her hips before the Cybers.

"What, slowing down, Professor?" Missy taunted.

The Professor's expression just hardened, whipping out her blaster from her jacket to point it at the woman again, Missy still looking unconcerned as it was aimed between her eyes and started to power up.

"No!" the Doctor lunged forward, pulled out of his shock to grab his wife's hand and throw her arm into the air as she truly fired the gun, THAT did seem to startle Missy that the woman had actually been ready and willing to shoot her dead, "Professor!"

"I warned you," she looked at the Doctor, "I TOLD you what I was going to do the next time I saw him," she struggled with him, trying to move her arm without jostling their children too much, "I told you I was going to shoot him before he could kill me again. I am NOT dying again!"

"You're not going to die at all," the Doctor promised, "Never again, I won't allow it. No one is harming you or our children, not ever, not while I'm alive. Now put the blaster down!"

"No!" she continued to struggle, "Just…let me…"

"You are not killing someone in front of your children," the Doctor huffed, managing to pry the blaster out of her hand, quickly putting it in his never-ending pockets and stepping back, "You're not killing anyone with our son strapped to your front."

"Then I will trade you him for my blaster," she said, dead serious.

"You're not killing him…er, her…" he shook his head, glancing at Missy, actually considering how truly confusing that was to switch genders like that. He was actually hoping that never happened to him or the Professor, as natural as it was…it would be rather odd to look at his children and be able to breast feed or for the Professor to try and explain how she gave birth to them as a man…

"Ooh thanks love," Missy laughed at the Professor shooting her a glare, "Glad to know you care so much."

"I don't," the Doctor said, making Missy pout, "You killed my Bonded, twice, I'd be more than happy to give her her blaster back and step aside with popcorn watching her take you down if it wasn't for our son."

"Yes, you always did pick her," Missy sneered at the Professor, irritation heavy in her voice, "From the moment you met her it went from the Doctor and the Master to the Doctor and the Professor and all that mooning!" she huffed, crossing her arms, "If I hadn't sworn to see her miserable I would have pushed you two together myself!"

"Well that makes sense," the Professor grumbled, "I always thought you had a vendetta against me in school."

"You stole MY best mate!" Missy huffed, actually stomping her foot at that petulantly, "And then Bonded to him and married him and now those little monstrosities," she sneered at the children, she didn't care, she really didn't that the Doctor had gotten married and had children…she just hated that it was the Professor he'd done it with, the woman had taken EVERYTHING from her, more importantly the Doctor, and those little babes were just more proof that her best friend would never be so again, he'd always be the Professor's, HER Bonded and HER husband and father to HER children and it was a betrayal! It was the ultimate betrayal, that he'd turn his back on his best friend just for some pretty face, "Still…" she smirked suddenly, putting them on edge, "Suppose I should thank the wee one then…" she took a single step towards them, but the Doctor pulled the Professor back behind him, and for once he wasn't sure whose protection it was for.

"Take another step towards her," the Doctor threatened, "And I'll use her blaster myself."

Missy rolled her eyes at his dramatics, knowing he'd never actually do it, rivals, enemies, archenemies, whatever they were, they HAD been friends first, as close as brothers, and that would always be his downfall in the end, sentiment, "Fine. I won't then," she laughed, "Ooh but my boys…" she looked around at the Cybers, proud, even more so when the humans didn't even seem to realize the danger of them, just walking up and past the Cybers, taking pictures of them as though they were some sort of publicity stunt. She laughed to herself and pulled her flat hat off her head, tossing it onto the ground upside down, "Photos with the big metal men!" she began to shout, making the Doctor and Professor look over at her, "One pound," she seemed rather impressed with the several pound notes that were tossed into the hat almost instantly, "Oh, honey!" she looked up at the humans, observing the selfies being taken with the Cybers, the group photos, "Ooh!" she held up a finger as though something had struck her and pulled a small hand held device from her pocket, not even bothering to saunter over to the other Time Lords, just turning it around to show them a small monitor in it, flicking through the images to various live feeds from around the world, "New York. Paris. Rome. Marrakesh. Brisbane. Glasgow. Everywhere," she grinned at the images of the Cybers standing around in focal points, the humans gathering nearer to them with every passing minute, "Anywhere. Me and my boys. We're going viral!"

"Hello," a voice called from the side and the Professor blinked, seeing the young girl they'd met when the Zygons had tried to invade, Kate's assistant, rushing over to them, having forgone the scarf she'd been wearing last time in favor of a button up shirt and a bowtie, still with her thick glasses though, "Would you like me to take a picture? Sorry, selfies are never as good, are they? And you're having a lovely moment. Hang on!" she reached out and quickly grabbed the device right out of Missy's hand, the Professor and Doctor reaching out to grab the woman's arms as she tried to step towards the girl and take it back.

"Nice bow tie," the Doctor commented to the girl.

She smiled, "Bow ties are cool," she said simply, a meaningful look in her eyes, "Big smiles," she held up the handheld device, "And…now!" she quickly moved back as every single human in the area whipped out guns and weapons from their pockets and jackets and packs and purses, even more UNIT soldiers rushing out from the buildings and alleyways to surround the Cybers.

"Move, move, move!" the orders were shouted, "Stand by. Surround target. Hold back!"

"I DID think they were a bit too calm," the Professor murmured to the Doctor as they realized it truly was every single human that had pulled a weapon, "After the last few times the Cybers got involved on Earth, they would have been running away screaming."

The Doctor had to nod at that, even after the Torchwood Ghost shift they would have, what with the metal men trying to kidnap children and invade the homes of the people, no one would trust a Cyber or want to get that close to take a selfie, "Clever ruse, Kate," he called, seeing the blonde scientific head of UNIT heading for them, her arms behind her back and a wide grin on her face at his praise.

"Afternoon," she greeted, moving to stand before Missy, "You've picked a lovely day for it. My, don't you look shiny," she smirked at the Doctor and Professor, "Trying to set a new fashion trend?" her gaze flickered to the babies strapped to their fronts, noting to put that in the files about them.

"We just might," the Professor joked, "And, as the Fashion Police…" she nodded to Missy pointedly, making Missy roll her eyes at the slight against her wardrobe.

"The woman," Kate agreed, giving her soldiers a signal.

"Yes, ma'am," one of the men saluted, before stepping over to the Time Lords with another man, each grabbing Missy's arm and stepping away with her to the side.

Kate nodded at that and looked at the Professor, "Would you?" she politely gestured around at the gathered Cybermen.

"Oh, no, please, go on," the Professor returned the gesture back to Kate.

"Kate Stewart," she introduced, speaking to the gathered metal men, "Divorcee, mother of two, keen gardener, outstanding bridge player. Also Chief Scientific Officer, Unified Intelligence Taskforce, who currently have you surrounded."

"Human weaponry is not effective against Cyber technology," one of the Cybers declared.

"Sorry, you left this behind on one of your previous attempts," and with that, she threw the object she'd been carrying behind her back to the ground at the Cyber's feet…an old-fashioned Cyberman head, giving the Professor an inquiring look.

"Couldn't have done it better myself," she nodded her approval, carefully elbowing the Doctor in the ribs when he scoffed at that remark, all too aware she HAD done better on more than a few occasions.

"So," Kate clapped, focusing back on the Cybers before her, "Now that I have your attention, welcome to the only planet in the universe where we get to say this," she nodded at the Doctor, "He's on the payroll."

"Am I?" the Doctor asked, amused.

"You still haven't handed in your resignation," the Professor agreed.

"How much?" he looked at Kate.

The woman just smirked, playing along, "Shush," she turned to the Cybers, moving her hands behind her back once more, "Any questions?"

Instead of answering, the Cybermen merely moved in unison, curling their hands into a fist and slamming them against the circular disc in the middle of their chests, stomping their feet on the ground to activate the rockets in their boots, making Missy smile.

"Back, back, everyone, back!" one of the soldiers called as the Cybers began to rise in the air, shooting up into the clouds, out of sight, before the humans could move.

"Oh my god!" Kate's assistant gasped, making them turn to her to see she wasn't looking at the sky, but at the dome of Saint Paul's which was now peeling back and opening like a satellite dish, "Is it supposed to do that? Is that new?"

"No," the Professor answered, "And yes."

"There's going to be mass panic," Kate looked at the Time Lords, "Everyone in London can see that!" they might have been able to close down the area they were in, but that dome was visible from farther away than they could secure this much.

"And that as well," the Professor grew serious as Cybermen began to jet out of the open dome as well.

"Hush, I'm trying to count," the Doctor murmured, squinting at the Cybers shooting up to the clouds.

"87, I think," Kate's assistant offered, shrugging when they looked at her, "OCD."

"91," the Professor corrected when Missy opened her mouth to do the same, earning a glare from the woman, "Academic," she added with a pointed look at Missy, as though telling the woman that, for how much her old incarnations had tried to appear smart, the Master had never been accepted into the Academic Program.

"How could Saint Paul's be full of 91 Cybermen and nobody noticed?" Kate shook her head.

"Dimensional engineering. One space folded inside another."

"Bigger on the inside," the Doctor nodded, "Easy if you're a Time Lord," he shot Missy a look as the woman just smirked.

"Mostly deploying south," the Professor observed, "A smaller number east. And one straight up."

"So 91 isn't a coincidence?" Kate's assistant inquired.

"Of course it isn't," the Doctor scoffed, turning to take the small handheld device from the girl.

"Professor?" Kate turned to the woman, "91?"

"91 areas of significant population density in the British Isles," the Professor stated, starting to sway absently, feeling her son starting to stir against her and glancing at the boy's sister to see her starting to squirm against the Doctor's chest. That was one thing about their children, what one did the other was often near doing as well. She had to smile as the Doctor brought his hand down to rub the girl's back, "Which means one Cyberman for every city and major town. It's happening everywhere, Kate, all over the world, right now."

And that was never a good thing, ever.

"Sweet planet, this," Missy sighed, "I think I might keep it."

Kate ignored her, focusing on the other Time Lords, "One Cyberman per city. What could they hope to accomplish?"

"Look!" Kate's assistant called, pointing into the air, at the lone Cyber that had flown straight into the air as it self-destructed.

"Has it exploded?"

"More than that," Missy laughed, "Cybermen don't just blow themselves up for no good reason, dear. They're not human."

"If it's not exploding, what's it doing?" the Doctor turned to frown at Missy.

"Pollinating," she grinned dangerously, "Falling like rain into the cracks of the Earth. The dead are coming home, Doctor. All shiny and new. In 24 hours the human race as you know it will cease to exist."

"What are you doing?" he demanded, wanting badly to stalk over to the woman, only the child moving against him prevented him from getting that close, "Explain. Tell us now!"

Before the woman could even retort, one of the UNIT soldiers fired a small dart at her neck, making her stumble and collapse to her knees, "Oh! That was nice. Must do it again…" and slump into the arms of the men that had restrained her, unconscious.

"Aspirin?" the Professor glanced at Kate.

"No," she shook her head, "Mild sedative."

"Good," the Professor nodded, "If anyone's going to be injecting her with aspirin, I'll be me."

"No one's doing anything to her," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "We needed to talk to her. We need her awake!"

Kate looked over at the Professor a moment, the woman hesitating a moment before nodding, "Give me her," she stepped over to him, taking their daughter out of the papoose, "Your shouting is waking her up," she muttered, carefully cradling the girl to her opposite side a moment, swaying more, turning to Kate, "Would you like to hold her?"

"Oh…I um…" but Kate didn't get a moment to really answer as the Professor carefully deposited the girl in Kate's arms and turned abck to the Doctor.

"You didn't take her out because she was fussing, did you?" he sighed.

"Fraid not," the Professor shook her head.

"Well go on then," he waved her on, knowing there was something else she wanted to do that she didn't want their daughter near.

"Sorry," she apologized, before quickly reaching out and chopping him at the junction of his neck and shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap. She sighed and shook her head, turning to Kate, "I'd rather not have to do that again, so wherever you want to take him that you don't want him kicking up a fuss the whole way there for, you ought to take him there now."

Kate nodded in understanding, gesturing to two other soldiers to go and heft the Doctor up, "I didn't expect you to do that," she murmured to the Time Lady.

"I don't like doing it, but I wasn't about to let you inject him with something I haven't been privy to the components of," she warned Kate with a meaningful look, "I do have to admit…" she flexed her hand, looking at it, "It DID make me feel a bit more normal though."

Kate glanced around, before looking at her assistant, nodding at the baby in her arms questioningly, "May I?"

"Carefully," she told Kate, who nodded and passed the baby girl to her assistant, the girl immediately cooing at the little baby.

Kate quickly pulled out her mobile and held it to her ear, "The first protocol is implemented," she reported, "We're good to go…"

"Kate," the Professor called, making her look at her a moment, "Whoever that is, tell them to guard the graveyards."

Kate nodded and did just that, turning to lead them off as the Professor walked right beside the woman holding her daughter.

"Guard the graveyards?" the girl frowned.

"'The dead are coming home,''" she repeated what Missy had said, "Where do you humans put most of your dead?" she glanced at the girl who nodded.

Whatever Missy was planning…it had something to do with a graveyard.

~8~

The Professor stood before the Doctor in an aircraft hanger, lightly stroking his cheek as he laid across two large crates off to the side, her eyes on the TARDIS as it was lifted into the air by a handful of men trying to get it into a jet. She was sitting on the edge of the crates, holding his hand in one hand, trying to lightly wake him with the other. She smiled slightly when she heard him groan and move to press one of his hands to his shoulder, "You need to stop doing that," he muttered.

She let out a light chuckle at that, "You need to stop getting so worked up about things," she countered, "If you'd just let Kate explain their plan instead of starting to rant about the Master…Missy…I wouldn't have had to knock you out."

He sighed and squeezed the hand holding his, using it to help leverage himself up to sit, looking around at the jet and the hanger they were in, the UNIT personnel rushing about, "And what IS the plan?"

"According to Kate," she began, "In the event of an alien incursion on this scale, protocols are in place that our cooperation is to be ensured at all costs. You have to admit, you do have a bit of an unreliability theme going."

"Only with the humans," he countered, "I'm never unreliable with you."

She smiled, "For which I'm glad," she remarked, "But we're to be brought here, to their command area, to help them deal with the invasion, whatever it may be."

He scoffed at that, "Brought here," he muttered, "Does she think her father would've listened to that?"

"I'm fairly certain he wrote those protocols," the Professor informed him, amused.

The Doctor's eyes followed Missy as she was wheeled past them, towards the cargo bay of the jet, strapped up to a box trolley, her head dangling down, still unconscious from whatever the humans had given her.

"She'll live," the Professor told him, "Kate gave me the reading of the substance, non-leathal. To Time Lords at least. Though we DO have to speak of that little kiss she gave you."

"Must we?" he groaned, rubbing his hand down his face.

"She kissed you."

"And I hated it."

"Someone who isn't me, kissed you."

"So you should make up for that," he glanced at her, "Come on, give us a peck," he tapped his cheek.

She rolled her eyes at him, "The Master kissed you," she started to smirk at that, "I always DID wonder if there was something more going on than…"

"No," he grimaced, not at the thought of a relationship like that, but at it being the Master, he was very much in love with his wife, his Bonded, and any thought of anyone, man or woman kissing him or feeling that sort of feeling for him…it didn't sit right with him.

"And yet you didn't let me kill her, twice," the Professor reminded him.

"Because he was the only one with the information on what was going on," he countered, "Any other time, when this is all over, go ahead," he waved his hand.

He knew he shouldn't say that, that the Master (or Missy) was the last of their kind with them, that they should protect each other. But he couldn't get past the fact that the last two times he'd met the Master, his wife had died for it. That would never ever sit well with him and never be something he could ever forgive or forget. He would not force her to look into the eyes of her tormenter and know that he was walking away, free, somewhere instead of being dealt the just punishments for going though with his various plans and breaking so many of Gallifrey's laws. He just…he hadn't wanted the children to…

"Where are the children?" he turned to her suddenly, realizing that his papoose and her sling were gone as were the children.

"In the TARDIS," she reassured him quickly, gesturing to the box, "I don't want them anywhere near Missy or the Cybers till we have this resolved. Mother will keep them safe and we can check on them any time we want."

"Good, good," he nodded, now that they knew what they were facing, he didn't want them anywhere near the insane Time Lord/Lady either, "And Clara?"

"I've requested Kate send a team to extract her from Saint Paul's," she helped him off the crate, "The moment she's found, they're to bring her here."

"Right," he nodded again, squeezing her hand once more, looking at the jet, "Shall we see what the humans are up to then?" he turned his arm so it was extended to her instead of his hand, allowing her to take it as they walked to the jet, moving up the steps as the UNIT soldiers saluted them, making the Doctor roll his eyes even as the Professor gave them small salutes in return.

The main room of the jet was almost office-like in design. It had a long conference table in the middle, carpet, chairs on either side of it, with monitors on the wall…and a rather large portrait of the Brigadier in the other end of the small room, hanging on a wall with a few lights around it and flowers.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked as they looked around at it, seeing Kate's assistant and another man of Indian descent in the back, "Cloudbase?"

"You mean the Valiant?" Kate called, stepping into the room after them.

"Cloudbase was Thunderbirds," her assistant remarked.

"Too conspicuous," Kate agreed, "We need your location concealed, not advertised. And…we didn't think that you or the Professor would appreciate being back on the ship after the events that occurred last time."

"You're right," the Professor smiled at her, "Thank you Kate."

Kate nodded, "From now on you're moving targets."

"We see you're bringing Daddy along, too," the Doctor nodded at the portrait, "That's very sweet."

"Oh you wish our daughter will be like that when she's old enough to travel on her own," the Professor nudged him.

"Which will be never," he determined, "She's too young!"

"Even if our son goes with her?"

He scoffed, "As though you'd let your little boy go running off anywhere."

"True," she murmured, "If he's anything like you, best not to let him out of my sight for fear of all the trouble he'll get into."

"Ha ha," the Doctor muttered dryly.

"And this is Colonel Ahmed," Kate introduced, knowing how the two of them could get if no one stopped them talking to each other and the situation was really very dire at the moment.

"Sir!" the Indian man gave a prim salute, "Ma'am!"

"Colonel," the Professor saluted back.

"Oh, don't do that," the Doctor waved him off at the same time, "You look like you're self-concussing, which would explain all of military history, now I think about it."

"Privileged to meet you," the man's tone was a little less respectful than it had originally been upon salute.

"Love your outfit, Colonel Ahmed," he eyed the man's rather traditional military garb, "Are you in the Scouts? Are you a Man Scout? I didn't know they had those…"

"Ignore him," the Professor muttered, walking away to a small sideboard with some refreshments, "He gets like this when he hasn't had a good cuppa in a few hours," and began busying herself with making him one to drink, the Doctor moving to her side, sliding his arm around her as he watched her work.

"It was Captain Scarlet," Ahmed added after a moment.

"Sorry?" Kate's assistant frowned.

"Not Thunderbirds."

"Oh God, so it was!"

"My confidence is growing every minute," the Doctor mumbled to the Professor, overhearing them.

"Well, we're here," she remarked, just as quietly, "So it should."

"The President is onboard," Kate's voice drifted over to them, making the Doctor look at her in curiosity.

"The President?" he scoffed, "We don't want Americans bobbing around the place. They'll only start praying!"

"Not the President of America, sir," Ahmed corrected lightly, "The President of Earth."

The Doctor took the cup that the Professor offered him and a small bowl of sugar cubes, moving to sit at the head of the table and lump them into his coffee while the Professor made her own drink, two of them now that she could have caffeine again, "There isn't one."

"There is now."

"The incursion protocols have been agreed internationally," Kate told him, "In the event of full-scale invasion, an Earth President is inducted immediately, with complete authority over every nation state. There was only one practical candidate."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that, "That's your answer for everything, isn't it? Vote for an idiot."

The Professor snorted, "I find that very insulting," she told him, turning to lean against the small sideboard, smirking at him over her cup, "And you're in my seat."

He blinked a moment, before starting to smile, "Madame President?"

She have him an over dramatic nod of the head, "At your service."

He laughed at that, "Finally, they do something clever," he stood up and gave an equally over dramatic gesture to the head chair for her to sit, laughing when she sat down primly on it.

Kate shook her head at them, explaining what she had to the Professor earlier to the Doctor, "So long as you're on this plane, the Professor is the Commander in Chief of every army on Earth. Every world leader is currently awaiting her instructions. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the human race. Any questions?"

"Yes," the Professor turned to her husband, "Mr. Vice-President?"

He chuckled at that, "At your service," he leaned in to kiss the top of her head, "Already know you'll be a better President than I was."

"Well, I didn't accidently assassinate someone to get the job," she muttered jokingly, "That's already a step up."

"Oh bring THAT up," he muttered.

"This is your captain speaking," a voice came over the speakers, cutting into whatever the Professor might have retorted with, "Please prepare for take-off!"

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood before Missy, both looking remarkably similar with their dark clothing and crossed arms and hard expressions, or at least that was what Kate's assistant thought as she observed them out the corner of her eye from where she was working in the cargo hold where the TARDIS was also being kept, sitting at a small desk with some equipment set up. Two guards were behind Missy, their weapons ready should they be needed. Yet it was the Time Lord that were truly the more intimidating.

"Why are you still alive?" the Professor asked the moment Missy began to come around and blink at them, standing tied to the box dolley, her arms behind her, handcuffed.

"The Doctor saved me," Missy smirked, trying to bait her.

"We saved Gallifrey," the Doctor defended.

"Yes, Gallifrey too, I suppose," she rolled her eyes, "There's always collateral damage with you and me. It's our Paris," she smiled, before sending a vicious smirk at the Professor, "Unless we're talking about you during the War, then…" she let out a low whistle at the damage she'd managed to inflict with the other Academics.

The smirk soon fell though when the Doctor took a small step towards the Professor, feeling a flash of emotion at what Missy had brought up. She wasn't as emotional as she had been during her pregnancy at the mention of the War and what she'd been, but she was still very much against thinking about it.

"Gallifrey's lost in another dimension," he stated.

"Yes and no."

"Meaning?" the Professor shook her head.

Missy let out a little huff, "Yes, it's in another dimension. No, it's not lost."

"You know where it is?" the Doctor eyed her.

"Yep!" she beamed, "You know the best part about knowing?" she opened her mouth to answer.

When the Professor did instead, "Not telling us," she stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You're so predictable. I expected better of you as a woman."

Missy glared at her for that.

"Madame President," Ahmed's voice called over one of the speakers, "We're ready for you up here."

"A moment," the Professor called back to them.

The two of them remained where they were, the Doctor studying Missy with a frown, "Remember all those years when all you wanted to do was to rule the world?" he nodded at the Professor, "She didn't even have to lift a finger."

"Yes, yes," Missy pouted, "I know, I know, you'd give her the world, you'd give her the stars, you'd give her anything if she just smiled at you and…"

"What?" the Professor nearly snorted, only to see that there actually appeared to be a faint flush creeping up the Doctor's neck at Missy's words, "Husband?" she gave him an expectant look.

He muttered something under his breath.

"He never stopped talking about you," Missy muttered, "Every hour of every day for centuries," she let out a disgusted noise, "And the books of poetry! Urg."

The Professor really did try to keep the smirk off her face, "Poetry?"

"Ok, moment's up, wife," the Doctor reached out to take the Professor's hand, turning to lead her away from Missy and back towards the stairs near Kate's assistant, mortified that it had been brought up. For one brief moment he'd forgotten that the Master had been his roommate throughout their time at the Academy.

"What are you working on, dear?" the Professor paused by the girl as they went, seeing her tinkering with the handheld device that Missy had been using.

"Oh!" the girl jumped, seeming surprised they were talking to her, "Er, it's her little device thingy. I thought there might be useful information on it," she turned to them, hesitating a moment, her gaze flickering to Missy before she whispered, "Who is she?"

"You'd never believe us if we told you," the Doctor deadpanned.

"'Cos I thought she might be the Master," the girl continued quietly, "Regenerated into female form? Your childhood friend, responsible for a number of previous incursions…"

"That was fairly quick," the Doctor remarked, looking at the girl intently, impressed, making the Professor smile.

"We do have files on all our ex-prime ministers," the girl shrugged, playing off her assessment, "She wasn't even the worst."

The Professor eyed the girl as she trailed off, "What is it?"

She hesitated a moment, "There's…there's something nobody's talking about."

"Which is?"

"The clouds caused by the exploding Cybermen," she began, thinking of how the sky had darkened, how the clouds had gathered in the exact place that it had burst apart, "They haven't dispersed. They're still there. In fact, they've expanded and are covering almost all the land masses. We're all looking at the graveyards. Maybe we should be looking up? What do you think?"

"All of time and space?" the Doctor offered.

"Sorry?" the girl blinked.

"Just something for your bucket list," he gave her a genuine smile, taking the Professor's hand as she winked at the girl before they headed out, chuckling to themselves as they heard her quickly using her asthma inhaler as they left.

~8~

The Professor sat at the head chair of the conference table in the main room of the jet, leaning forward, her elbows resting on it, her hands clasped, chin resting on it, the Doctor standing behind her with his hands on the back of her chair, the two of them watching a news feed intently, listening to the reports coming from all over the world.

"Localized rain in the cemeteries has resulted in what can only be described as disturbances to the soil," a news reporter was saying, "Extraordinary eyewitness accounts are claiming that silver creatures are climbing from the graves…"

"Cybers," the Professor frowned at the image that played of Cybermen digging themselves out of the graves and to solid ground. But…instead of going on the military mission they expected, the robots just seemed to be wandering and standing around.

"These scenes are being repeated everywhere," Kate turned to the Time Lords from where she was standing beside the monitor, "Every cemetery, every mortuary, every funeral home, every hospital, the dead are returning to life…as Cybermen."

"The public are being advised to stay away from all cemeteries…"

"We've done heat scans of some of the cemeteries and, in each case, only a handful of Cybermen have so far emerged. But every individual burial site is active."

"Active?" Ahmed frowned.

"Hatching," the Doctor corrected.

"And more will be coming," the Professor sighed, "Potentially millions."

"So the rain caused all that in just a few hours?" Ahmed shook his head.

"It wasn't rain, Man Scout," the Doctor corrected once more, rolling his eyes at how slow the humans were.

"Think of it as pollen," the Professor offered.

"Cyber-pollen."

"Every tiny particle of a Cyberman contains the plans to make another Cyberman."

"All it has to do is to make a contact with compatible living organic matter and bang! Full conversion."

"But…if they have learned how to convert the dead…" she trailed off, looking at the Doctor, the plan working out in their minds.

"That's what she was doing!"

"That's what 3W was for."

"She creates an all-new paranoia among the super-rich about dying."

"Exploits the wealth and the mortal remains of vulnerable humans so she can create a whole new race of Cybermen."

"Cybermen who can recruit corpses," the Doctor rubbed his forehead, glancing at Ahmed, "Throw away your guns, Man Scout, it's all over."

"It's not easy to win a war against an enemy that can weaponize the dead," the Professor frowned, looking over at Ahmed when no one said anything more…only to see the man frowning at the two of them, "What?"

"Do you two do that a lot?" he had to ask, looking between them for how they'd spoken just then, how effortlessly they'd switched off.

"Yes," the Doctor said simply, as though it should be obvious that they'd be so close.

"What are the attack reports?" the Professor got them back to task, "Are they even attacking?" she frowned at the monitor of the news feed, paused in the image of the Cybers just standing around the cemeteries.

"No," Ahmed shook his head, "They're not attacking, apart from isolated incidents. They're just…wandering about."

"They're newborns," the Doctor murmured, "Give them time. Why were you there this morning?" he glanced at Kate, "Why were you already attacking?"

"Been investigating 3W for a while, then we got a tip-off," Kate nodded.

"From a woman with a Scottish accent," Ahmed added.

The Professor rolled her eyes, "Arrogant narcissistic idiot," the Professor muttered, looking at another image on another monitor of Missy in the cargo hold, "Can't play to the gallery unless there's a gallery."

Missy had called them in, had sent the tip herself, to be able to show off.

"Dead bodies don't have minds, of course," the Doctor remarked, "But she's been upgrading dying minds to a hard drive for a long time."

"So she upgrades the hardware, and then she updates the software," the Professor nodded, agreeing.

Kate, however, seemed lost, "What do you mean, a long time? How long?"

"Well, she must have a TARDIS somewhere," the Doctor shrugged, "So as long as she likes. The past, the future…"

"How long, Doctor?" Kate's voice took a hard, demanding edge.

"We can't be sure Katherine," the Professor fired right back, her voice more chastising, as though telling her not to take that tone with them, making the Doctor smirk at the maternal tone she'd taken to counter, "For all we know, it could be for however long the human race has had a concept of an afterlife."

"Turns out the afterlife is real," the Doctor nodded, "And it's emptying. Every graveyard on planet Earth is about to burst its banks."

The Professor stood up, turning to the Doctor as they moved to head out of the room once more, now that they knew more about what Missy was planning, they needed to speak to the woman again. But the plane began to swerve slightly, a light above the cockpit door coming on for them to find a seat and strap in due to turbulence.

"Madame President…" Kate began, but the Doctor cleared his throat loudly, making Kate roll her eyes, "And Mr. Vice-President," she added, "You need to get back in your seats."

"Kate," the Professor sighed, turning to her, "As much as I love Earth, I'd rather be president over my own people before I be your president, and I do NOT want to ever be a Gallifreyan President," she told the woman, "Don't keep calling me it, I don't want an army behind me or complete power over the people of earth."

"And stop saluting," the Doctor rolled his eyes when Ahmed saluted in acceptance of her request, only to frown when something out one of the windows caught his eye, leading him and the Professor over to it, peering out, "People keep saluting," he mumbled, distracted, "The Professor might return it, but I'm never going to salute back."

The Professor shook her head at that, he'd done so in the past.

"Do you know," Kate gave him a small shake of her head, a faint smile on her lips, " That was always my dad's big ambition, to get you to salute him just once."

"He should've asked," he leaned over to the side, squinting out at the clouds.

"What are you looking at?"

"The clouds," the Professor answered, "They're still there."

"So what else have they got?" the Doctor asked…only to jump backwards a moment later when a Cyberman appeared in the window.

The Professor hardly reacted, though there was a minute tensing of her body at the sight before she slowly backed away, "My blaster, husband, if you don't mind," she held out her hand to him and he quickly returned the blaster to her.

'No shooting the Master till we stop this though,' he made her promise, 'He's always got something else up his sleeve, we can't risk him taking it to his grave with him.'

'Fine,' she huffed in his mind, pursing her lips.

"Oh, dear Lord!" Kate gasped as she caught sight to what had startled the Doctor.

"There's a Cyberman out there on the fuselage," the Professor told Kate.

"But on the plus side, it's not turbulence," the Doctor added.

The Professor looked over at the monitor of the small cargo hold and her eyes widened, "She's out!"

The Doctor's head snapped over to see that Missy was nowhere on the monitor, not even attached to the box trolley any longer, "Who let her out?" he demanded, before turning to follow his wife out of the room as she dashed for the cargo hold, the two of them hurrying down the stairs and through the small corridors till they reached the last set of stairs down into it, using their hands on the walls to keep from falling over as the plane began to swerve more and more, becoming a very difficult ride due to the Cybermen that they were sure were swarming the plane.

They made it to the cargo hold in record time, rushing in, heading for the TARDIS because that was the only think of interest they could imagine Missy going for…only to stop when the Doctor stepped on something. He looked down to see glasses lying on the ground, familiar glasses, the ones Kate's assistant had been wearing last time they saw her and picked them up, looking around. But the girl wasn't there…and neither were the two guards who had been watching Missy.

"Come out!" the Professor shouted, her blaster aimed at the TARDIS, "NOW!"

The Doctor stepped beside the Professor, his hand braced on the desk beside him to help him keep his balance at the rough ride, the Professor managing to keep her balance effortlessly, her grip on her blaster steady as Missy stepped out from behind the box.

"Oh," she smirked, seeing the glasses in the Doctor's hand, "She was really scared," she taunted them with the girl's last moments at her hand, "It's classic. Have you got any more friends I can play with?" she pushed a button on a sort of cuff on her wrist and the plane suddenly swerved once more, nearly throwing the Doctor to the ground. Missy pouted seeing the Professor still stable, "Oh you're no fun," she huffed, "Well, go on, ask me."

"Shut up!" the Doctor shouted at the taunts, trying to stabilize himself, they could hear the jet struggling to keep flying now, the storm raging outside.

"Ask me!" Missy stomped her foot, her hand on the TARDIS to keep from falling over herself, though she was enjoying the fierce rocking of the ship far more than them, "Come on, you know you want to. You want to know what my plan is. You'll be surprised. I've got a gift for you. A great gift, one better than even your dear little wife could ever give you," she threw a snide look at the Professor who only tightened her grip on the blaster, "You know, I've been up and down your timeline," she looked back at the Doctor, "Meeting all those silly people who died to keep you alive. And you know what I worked out? What you really need."

"I only need the Professor," he told Missy, not seeing a shred of the person who had once been his friend in the woman, not a single shred. And it was true, if Missy died right then and there, his world wouldn't end, he'd go on living, just as he had done the last two times the man had died. So long as he had the Professor by his side, he could handle anything.

"No," Missy rolled her eyes, "That's NOT what you need. You don't NEED her."

"Then what is?" the Doctor scoffed.

"You need ME," she stated, "You need to know that you're just like me!" she looked to the side and started to laugh when the TARDIS phone began to ring, "Oh, and now it begins. Doctor, I do believe you're on call. Miss Oswald expects," she gestured at the box, "Who else but the girl who's got your number? Whoops!"

"You?" the Professor shook her head, staring at Missy for her implication that she had been the 'woman in the shop' that had given Clara the number to the TARDIS, "It was you?"

"Computer helpline, love," Missy put on a cockney accent, "That's the one. Best helpline in the universe."

"You put us all together?" the Doctor frowned, utterly confused.

"I kept you together," Missy informed him, "That silly little advert in the paper?" she smirked, seeing the recognition in the Doctor's eyes for that event just after he'd regenerated.

"Why?"

"'Cos she's perfect, innit?" Missy laughed, "The control freak, the man who should never be controlled, and the woman that was far too controlled," she smirked at them, "The perfect little family, aren't you? You two and your precious granddaughter," they tensed at that, at how Missy knew that and was implying she'd known for quite a while who Clara was to them, "You'd go to hell if she asked. And she would," she nodded at the door, "The phone's ringing, Doctor. Can you hear that?" she put a hand to her ear, "Now that is the sound of your chain being yanked, you always were a sucker for children, especially that granddaughter of yours, Susan was it?" she grinned darkly as the Doctor glared at her, "She had you wrapped around her little finger just like Miss Oswald," she trailed a finger along the edge of the TARDIS, "Just like your dear sweet daughter will…"

"You touch a single hair on my children's head," the Professor threatened, "And I will end you before you can blink."

"You'd best answer that," Missy started to stumble back from the TARDIS, allowing the Doctor closer, to open the instruction panel and take the phone out, ignoring the Professor's threat, starting to mimic Clara, "Help me, Doctor. Help me. Help me, Professor! Oh boo hoo…"

The Doctor quickly answered the phone, putting it to his ear, the Professor able to hear her even in the shaking room, having made her way to his side, her gaze trained on Missy, her blaster unwavering, guarding his back as he spoke to their granddaughter, "Clara?"

"With Danny," was all Clara responded with.

"Danny's dead, Clara," he gave the Professor a pointed look for that, both of them knowing what must have happened.

"Not yet. Not quite. But he wants to be."

"Is that…crying?" the Professor called to him.

He frowned, but pressed the phone closer to his ear, hearing it now, "Clara?"

"He's a Cyberman," Clara replied, "Danny's a Cyberman. And he's crying. He feels it. He's in pain. He's crying."

"She can't!" the Professor gasped, realizing what Clara wanted to do, the pain in Clara's voice, she wanted Danny's pain to stop, all her talk about emotions…she must be looking for the inhibitor that would block them.

"Clara, don't do it," the Doctor agreed, warning her away from that, "Just don't do it!"

But Clara ignored him, "It's in his chest. He says it's an inhibitor. It can delete emotion or something…"

"We know what it does!"

"Clara," the Professor managed to lean over to shout into the phone, "If you turn it on he'll become a Cyberman!"

"He's already a Cyberman," Clara argued.

"Not yet, he isn't."

"He's hurting because I hurt him and he wants it to stop."

"Stop the pain and he'll kill you," the Professor told her, sounding far too much like she knew exactly what she was talking about. And she did, block the pain and you could handle anything, you could do things you didn't think you'd ever be capable of, no matter how good or bad that might be.

"Look," Clara huffed, "Are you going to help me, because I can't do this alone?"

"We're not going to help you commit suicide!" the Doctor shouted.

"Look, the TARDIS can home in on this call, right? Either you help me, or you leave me alone."

"Clara…" the Doctor sighed, but only a click sounded, "Clara?" he threw the phone away, "She ended the call!"

"Doctor!" Kate's voice reached them, the blonde woman struggling to get down into the cargo hold with them as the plane tilted and turned, "The Cybermen are in. The plane's going down!"

"Oh, great," Missy smiled, "It's the daughter one. Do you like her?" she glanced at the Time Lords, "I like her."

"Don't!" the Professor shouted.

But it was too late, Missy pressed her wrist control, making the jet veer to the side, sending the aliens falling int a set of netting and cargo straps, grabbing onto them for balance just as Missy pressed another control, causing the cargo hatch to open mid-flight.

"Kate!" the Professor screamed, the Doctor grabbing onto her for more security as the suction began to increase, Kate flying out the opening and into the storm below.

"Why did you do that?" the Doctor glared at Missy, "You didn't have to do that!"

"Well your pretty little wife's reflexes were too quick," Missy pouted, though her gaze was hard on the Professor, as though blaming her for having grabbed on so quickly and not getting sucked out as well, "And look at you, holding onto HER," she sneered, "Being so selfish," she sighed, "But you know, I'm going to miss her, too. In fact, you know what? Just for that, I'm leaving. Boys," she lifted her wrist device to her mouth, "Blow up this plane and, I don't know, Belgium, yeah? Kill some Belgians. Might as well. They're not even French. Bye!" she waved at them, disappearing in a flash of blue light, a teleport, leaving the two Time Lords hanging there by the straps of the cargo hold.

"Let go on my count!" the Professor shouted, hearing a grinding noise in the jet, knowing that it was Missy's Cybers starting to get to engine, "It's going to blow in seconds!" the Doctor gripped her hand tightly and nodded, "3…2…1…now!" she cried, the two of them letting go, letting themselves be sucked out of the hatch opening only moments before the ship exploded, the two of them having been sucked far enough away to not be harmed by the flames or shrapnel.

"TARDIS!" the Doctor pointed, seeing the TARDIS was equally unharmed and now falling for the earth. They knew the children would be alright, the gravity within would compensate, make it level, so much so it wouldn't even cause a flutter in the twins' stomachs. And when it hit the ground, it's natural stability and structure would keep the children from being harmed…but they didn't want to take that chance, they wanted to get in and fly the ship away.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key, holding it before him for the Professor to see. She nodded and quickly stuck her arms as close to her body as they could be, throwing her legs together and rocketing off towards the falling TARDIS, the Doctor doing the exact same as they fell, only moving a single arm when they were near enough to reach out for the box. The Professor managed to grab the handles of them, using it to haul herself closer and hold out a hand to the Doctor to pull him closer with the key. He managed to get it in the slot, twisting it, the two of them pushing the doors open and sliding into the box, the gravity orienting around them to allow them to stand and run to the console, managing to reach the controls just in time to send the box soaring up into the air instead of sunken into the ground.

They were safe, their children were safe, the TARDIS was safe, there was just one more factor of the equation they had to see to.

Clara.

~8~

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a cemetery, having homed in on the phone call just as Clara had requested, the two Time Lords running out to see Clara standing before a Cyberman whose faceplate was missing, revealing a very pale Danny Pink inside the metal suit. His face was on the cusp of starting to decay, bits of metal protruding into his skin from the cyber parts, but that wasn't what was worrying them, it was that Clara had the central disc of his chestplate off and was clearly trying to turn the inhibitor of his emotions off.

"Clara, don't!" the Doctor shouted as they ran for her, being sure to shut the doors to the TARDIS behind them, the children inside and, likely, Missy lurking about somewhere nearby.

"Help me," Clara turned to them, tears in her eyes, not even seeming to notice the other Cybermen that were gathered around her, just…waiting.

"If you do what you're trying to do, if you succeed, he will snap you," the Doctor warned.

"No," Clara shook his head.

"Then he will step over your broken body and break another and another and another. He will never stop."

Danny turned to them, his face set in a hard expression, "I will not harm her!" he said, with such conviction that the Professor actually frowned at him, hearing something in his voice, seeing it in his eyes…something she had seen in her own a very long time ago.

"Maths, maths, maths," the Doctor shook his head at Danny.

"Sir," Danny inclined his head slightly, not quite mocking but just on the cusp of it…but the man was literally dead and being forced to retain his mind in a decaying body, if he was snippy with them, they could hardly fault him.

"I had a friend once," the Doctor explained, "We ran together when I was little. And I thought we were the same. But when we grew up, we weren't. When we grew up, I realized I…I was different than he was," he looked at the Professor, "I realized there was someone else I was meant to run with, someone else I was the same as, in a much better way," he looked at the two humans again, "But in doing that I hurt my friend and now she's trying to tear the world apart, and I can't run fast enough to hold it together, not even the Professor could," he swallowed, "The difference is this," he put his hand over his left heart, not sure if Danny knew about the two-heart thing or not.

"Pain is a gift," the Professor spoke quietly, "Without the capacity for pain, we can't feel the hurt we inflict."

"Are you telling me seriously, for real, that you can?" Danny frowned at them.

"That we can what?" the Professor shook her head, "Feel pain? Of course we can. Can tell you that from experience? Yes, I can do that too. That we've hurt people before? Who hasn't? Which would you like to elaborate on, Daniel Pink?"

The Doctor was sure he would have snorted at her tone if the situation hadn't been so dire, if the situation wasn't about to grow infinitely worse as they noticed the dark storm clouds gathering thicker above them, the thunder rumbling louder than normal for Earth.

The Professor took a breath, noticing the same and looked at Danny, "Danny, we need you to tell us what the clouds are going to do? What's the plan?"

"How would I know?" Danny shook his head.

"You're part of a hive mind now."

"Presumably that's how you found Clara," the Doctor added, "Just look."

Danny took a breath and tried, his face scrunching in concentration, "I can't see much…"

"Look harder."

Danny shook his head at the Doctor, "So this is who the Doctor is," he mumbled, "The blood-soaked old general back in action…"

"No," the Professor straightened, "That would be ME," she told him, more confident than she had ever been in dealing with the man and his complaints of them and criticisms than before. She wasn't some blubbering mess crammed full of hormones and bad memories and the knowledge that she was carrying lives she probably didn't deserve to have after all she'd done inside her. Now…right now she was a rather cross old soldier whose husband was being unfairly targeted by a boy she'd thought she'd gotten through to before, "You want blood-soaked, you look at me. I killed more people than the Doctor ever has, and not all of them adults. You want an old general? That's me too, I out rank him, I gave HIM orders," she really didn't, she hadn't ever been allowed to see him during the war save once on accident, but she could have, she was that high of rank compared to him, "Everything that my husband became, the soldier you think he is, all of that, he did for ME. He did it to find me in the middle of a war, to get back to me, to try and protect me and save me. Why did YOU become a soldier, Danny?"

Danny fell silent at that, "I wanted to protect people."

"HE wanted to protect ME," she gave him a firm nod, telling him this was the LAST conversation they were going to have about this, it ended now.

Danny gave her a short nod at that as well, whether he fully understood everything she was saying, whether he could even imagine the magnitude of the hellish war they'd fought in on Gallifrey, it didn't matter, he at least understood the meaning behind it, "I can't see properly," Danny swallowed, "Because this needs activating," his arm jerked robotically to rest above the inhibitor, "If you want to know what's coming, you have to switch it on. All of those beautiful speeches will have to disappear in the face of a tactical advantage."

"Don't they always," the Professor countered, "Danny…it's not just that we need to know. It's that what you know can save everyone else. It can save Clara."

Danny's eyes traveled to Clara, to the girl he loved, standing before him in tears. He wanted so badly to be angry at the Time Lords, to remark about how they were using him as a tool, how they didn't care about him if it got them their information. But he couldn't, because he would willingly give it to them if it meant keeping Clara safe. He closed his eyes at that, the Professor's words in the TARDIS coming back to him. He'd been so set to believe that they wouldn't care about Clara, that they'd sooner leave her for dead than risk saving her over each other.

And that was where he was wrong, wasn't he? He hadn't seen the two apart, the Doctor and the Professor, they were a package deal, they came and went and worked together. They'd never allow the other to be in danger in the first place…which meant that yes, they WOULD protect Clara, with their lives. They were doing it now, they were working together to save not just the world, but Clara too. They could have gone anywhere, to any friend they'd lost in the past, asked THEM what they were asking him, because surely Clara wasn't the first to travel with them, she wasn't the first to be in danger and…she wasn't the first that could have died. They had to have others to go to…and they chose here and now, they chose to come there for Clara, to protect her from him.

"You need to know," Danny agreed, opening his eyes, "I want to tell you," he looked at Clara meaningfully for that.

Clara took a shaky breath and turned to the Time Lords, "Give me the screwdriver."

"No," the Doctor shook his head.

"Clara…" the Professor breathed, neither of them wanting to do it, not wanting Clara to have to be the one to do this, to 'kill' Danny completely.

Clara just held out her hand to them.

"We can't let you do this Clara," the Professor warned as the Doctor took the sonic out, fully prepared to do it himself.

"And I won't let you be the ones to do this either," Clara sniffled, "I don't…I don't want you to be the last that…" she closed her eyes shut tight, trying to stifle her tears.

The Time Lords looked at each other, understanding. She didn't want THEM to be the last thing the real Danny Pink saw. She wanted it to be her, for him to be able to look into the eyes of someone he loved, who loved him, so he could die with some semblance of peace. And wasn't that just how they both hoped they would go (in the very FAR and DISTANT future), with the one they loved beside them, holding their hand as they passed.

The Doctor let out a breath and stepped closer, placing the sonic in Clara's outstretched hand, curling her fingers around it.

"Thank you," Clara breathed, her eyes snapping open to look at him, clutching the sonic to her chest, "Just point and think, yeah?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Ok," she swallowed, stepping away from them and moving to stand before Danny, "I wasn't very good at it, but I did love you."

Danny gave her the smallest of smiles, "I love you too."

"I'm never going to say that again."

"Me neither."

Clara sucked in a breath at that, knowing that his meaning would be far more final than her own, because she knew Danny…he would want her to love again, he would want her to not close herself off to that, he'd want her to be happy, he knew that she was saying she'd never say it to HIM again, "Ready?"

"Yeah," he breathed.

Clara held up a shaking hand, tears falling from her eyes that she couldn't stop, "I feel like I'm killing you."

"I'm already dead," he shook his head, "You're here this time at least."

"Goodbye, Danny," she whispered, her voice trembling.

He gave her a smile, "Goodbye, Clara," he murmured, staring into her eyes as she took a breath and flicked the sonic on.

Clara's heart broke as she saw the expression on Danny's face fade to a blank one, devoid of any emotion, just staring ahead, hollow. She turned around a moment, sucking in a sob, before she shook her head and turned right back to him, stepping closer and hugging him.

"Clara, no!" the Doctor tried to rush to her, to pull her away, "Step away! He's activating!"

But the Professor grabbed his arm, stopping him, "He's activating," she agreed, "But he won't hurt her," she looked at him, "He WON'T."

"You can't know that," he looked frantically between Danny and Clara and his wife.

"I can, actually," the Professor she looked at him meaningfully, "The Pandorica," she reminded him quietly, "Do you remember what I said, at Amy and Rory's wedding?"

"That you'd never have been able to fight the thing in the box and win if it was me," he recalled, "Because you wouldn't ever fight me. You wouldn't ever hurt me."

"Not even during the War, not even at my worst could I EVER bring myself to hurt you like that," she smiled sadly at the memory of the war, "I was no better than a Cyberman then, worse probably, but seeing you..." she shook her head, "Not even then would I be able to hurt you," she glanced at Danny, "And neither will he," cleared her throat, moving her hand to hold his, facing Danny, knowing that time was truly of the essence, "Cyber-Unit Daniel Pink," she called, trying to ignore the flinch Clara gave at that, but she had to sound as authoritative as possible, "Report: what are the clouds going to do?"

"The rain will fall again," Danny stated, his voice as empty as his eyes, flat, monotone, "All humanity will die."

"And rise again as Cybermen," the Doctor frowned.

"Correct."

"How do we stop it?"

"We cannot be stopped."

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask another question when there was a zapping sound to the side, making them look over to see Missy had teleported herself in, floating to the ground with an anti-grav adapted umbrella a-la Mary Poppins, truly living up to her appearance as a rather sinister one, "Oh, that was brilliant!" she clapped for them the moment she was on the ground, "Oh, I love the telly here, but did you see that? Oh, Clara, you poor thing," she tsked the girl, but Clara looked away, "You must feel like death. Let me pop away the pain…" she lifted her handheld device that she'd nicked back from Kate's assistant, starting to tap it when she hissed, snapping her hand away when a blast went shooting past her, striking her hand, forcing her to drop the device and stumble back, glaring daggers at the Professor who had pulled her blaster.

"Don't even THINK about it," the Professor threatened, her blaster raised.

The Doctor lunged forward and quickly grabbed the device, turning to toss it away from Missy.

"Hmm," she hummed, "Seems I'm just getting a bit carried away. It's your friends," she told the Doctor as though sharing a secret, "They're so more-ish. Hmm?" the Professor's eyes didn't even flicker to Clara as she saw the girl pick up the handheld from the corner of her eye, slipping it into her pocket before hugging Danny again, sending the mental image to the Doctor who gave the briefest of nods, "Oh, stop looking all cross-pants," Missy pouted at the Doctor, "I'm here to give you a gift. Could you at least try and be excited?"

"What gift?" the Doctor glared.

Missy beamed at that, lifting her wrist device to her mouth, "Cyberdears!" she called, and all around them the Cybermen snapped to attention, "Look at Mummy!" they shifted, "Raise your arms," and proceeded to do exactly as she commanded, well…all except one, "Lower your arms. Raise your right. Lower your right. Turn on the spot. There are exits at the front and rear of the aircraft. Please follow the lights up the aisle," she laughed as the metal men did a stewardess's motions, "You see?" she turned back to the other Time Lords, "The power to slaughter whole worlds at a time, then make them do a safety briefing," her gaze drifted to the Professor, "Sound familiar, puppet?"

The Professor's eyes narrowed at that, knowing that the woman was all too aware of just what the Academics had done during the war.

"Everyone who ever lived, man, woman and child," Missy smirked, "Is now at my command. An indestructible army to rage across the universe! The more they kill, the more they recruit. Happy birthday!" she cheered, only to blink moments later, "Oh! You didn't know, did you? It's lucky one of us remembers these things. Surprised your dear little wife didn't," she smirked.

"Because we're time travelers," the Professor reminded her, "His birthday passed, for us, weeks ago," as though she would ever forget her Bonded's birthday!

"Ooh," Missy pouted, but didn't seem put off her stride at all, just ambling up to the Doctor who took an instinctive step away, more towards the Professor. Missy rolled her eyes at the woman and her blaster, sighing as she pulled her wrist control off her wrist…and tossed it to the Doctor, dropping into a small curtsy as he caught it.

"Doctor," the Cybermen around them all spoke, bowing their heads to him…as their new leader.

"Tiny bit pleased?" Missy gave him a mock-hopeful smile, "Oh," she rolled waved him off, "Go on, crack a smile. I want to see if your eyebrows drop off…"

"All of this?" the Doctor shook his head at that, "All of it, just to give me an army?"

"Well, I don't need one, do I?" she shrugged, "Armies are for people who think they're right. And nobody thinks they're righter than you. Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill."

"I don't want an army!"

"Well, that's the trouble!" Missy countered as though she were speaking to a child, "Yes, you do! You've always wanted one! Why else did you marry the best weapon our people ever created?" she snorted, before falling sad at a thought, "Ooh, I suppose you don't even NEED an army with her at your side, do you?"

"That is NOT who or what I am," the Professor nearly growled at the woman, "That is not what I am anymore. That's not what I was ever meant to be."

"And yet you are now," Missy laughed, "You are what the Time Lords made you, just as I am…Ooh," she grimaced this time, "Perhaps WE are more alike than the Doctor and I are…not sure if I'm flattered or disgusted by that…"

"Stop it!" the Doctor cut in, "Just…stop it! Stop all of this!"

"Would that I could, darling," Missy sighed, not sounding like she wanted to stop it at all, "There's only way you can stop these clouds from opening up and killing all your little pets down here. Conquer the universe," she smiled, "Show a bad girl how it's done," she dipped into a lower curtsy for that.

"Why are you doing this?" the Doctor shook his head at Missy, trying to wrap his head around all of this. Why anyone would think he needed or wanted an army, why they'd think he'd want to conquer anything. All he'd ever tried to do was HELP people, heal them, make them better, not hurt them or enslave them! And if Missy thought that was who he truly was, then she had never been the true friend she claimed she felt she was, the friend that would have been spited by his love for the Professor.

"Because I need you to know we're not so different," Missy huffed, "I need my friend back!"

"You lost your friend when you got my Bonded shot!" the Doctor snapped, "You lost your friend when you poisoned her! Every wedge you tried to drive between the Professor and I, all it did was drive US further away. YOU were the one that pushed ME away."

"And now I'm making up for that! Every battle, every war, every invasion. From now on, you decide the outcome. What's the matter?" she smirked, "Don't you trust yourself?"

The Doctor looked down at that, thinking about that question…did he trust himself? He had asked Clara once if he was a good man. Danny saw him as nothing but an officer overseeing his little pawns. If Clara, their Clara, couldn't tell him if he was a good man, then was he? He wasn't a hero, he was a good Dalek, he was the Oncoming Storm, he was the Destroyer of Worlds and…

"I trust him," the Professor's voice cut through his darkening thoughts, "Because I know him, hearts and soul, the madman and his box, the Doctor with his sonic, the man who heals could never command an army."

The Doctor looked over at her for that, a wide smile starting to spread across his face, "I love you," he told her, reaching out to tug her closer, startling her into lowering her blaster arm when he kissed her quickly, "I love you so much," he gave her a quick peck, "Thank you," he kissed her forehead, and then pointed at Missy, "Thank you too! I really didn't know," he began, starting to make his way forward, into the middle of all of them, "I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes," he shrugged at the Professor, pointing at her with a wink, "Thank you!" before rounding on Missy once more, "I am not a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero…"

"Debatable," the Professor coughed.

But he waved her off, still on a roll, "And I'm definitely not an officer. Do you know what I am? I am an idiot!"

"Non-debatable."

"With a box and a screwdriver and a fantastic wife and brilliant children," he spun around, making his way back to the Professor, "Just passing through, helping out, learning," he grinned at her for the last word, dropping his arm around her shoulders, "I don't need an army. I never have, because you're right, I've got my wife, but even more…WE've got them," he gestured around, vaguely at Clara, indicating his companions, "Always them."

"The humans?" Missy sneered, "There's nothing special about them!"

"Nothing special about you either," the Professor muttered, growing louder a moment later, "After all this time, you really are still SO bone dead stupid! You just keep missing it don't you?"

"Missing what?" Missy glared, recalling the last time, how they'd said that because a guard was one inch taller than she had been.

"Love," the Professor said.

"It's not an emotion," the Doctor agreed, "Love is a promise!"

"And that man over there," she nodded at Danny as he stood there, in an opposite direction to the other Cybers, his arm around Clara instead of frozen where Missy's last command had left them, "He will NEVER hurt her."

She knew it, she had seen it in his eyes, the same look she always had in her own, that blank, indifferent mask, but the way there was a spark, just one single little glimmer of a spark when he looked at Clara…she'd seen that same glimmer in her own eyes just after she'd left the Doctor in the war, she'd seen it in her reflection. That robotic, hollow warrior look…had the tiniest of glimmers in it.

"Maths!" the Doctor shouted, "Catch!" and tossed Danny the wrist control, Danny reaching out without looking to catch it.

"You see," the Professor turned to Missy, smirking, "Bone dead stupid, because you didn't notice."

"While you were doing all your silly orders," the Doctor rolled his eyes at that, "While you were showing off, there was one soldier not obeying."

"No, that's wrong," Missy looked between them and Danny, "That's impossible!"

"The rain will not fall," Danny declared, letting go of Clara as he put the wrist control on, striding towards Missy with the gait only a Cyberman could have.

"Oh?" Missy scoffed, but the Time Lords could tell she was shaken, "Why won't it?"

"The clouds will burn."

"And who'll burn them?"

"I will burn them."

"How?" she snorted.

"I will burn," Danny stated.

Missy rolled her eyes at that, relaxing, "One burning Cyberman is hardly going to save the planet."

"Correct," Danny agreed, lifting his wrist to his mouth, "Attention!" he called into it, the Cybers around him springing to attention once more, "This is not a good day," he turned his back on Missy to face them, to speak to them, "This is Earth's darkest hour. And look at you miserable lot. We are the Fallen. But today, we shall rise. The army of the dead will save the land of the living. This is not the order of a general, nor the whim of a lunatic…"

"Excuse me?" Missy huffed, offended.

But Danny ignored her, "This is a promise. The promise of a soldier!" he lowered his wrist slowly and turned to Clara, "You will sleep safe tonight," he promised her, stomping his feet on the ground to ignite the rockets from beneath them, rising into the air as the other Cybers followed suit. He held Clara's gaze for as long as he could, flying higher and higher into the air, knowing that all the other Cybers all over the world were doing the same, obeying his command,

They watched him go, rising higher and higher, into the darkest parts of the cloud, the Professor moving beside Clara and putting an arm around her, squeezing her tightly as they waited, feeling the girl shaking beside her. When an explosion went off, a fire racing across the sky, much like when the Sontarans had tried to convert the air, burning off the clouds and letting sunlight through, the Professor turned Clara to her, hugging her tightly as the girl flinched at the image, at the realization that Danny was...gone, he was really gone this time...and he'd done it to save her.

They were silent for a long while, the Professor just holding Clara, offering as much comfort as she could while the Doctor kept Missy in sight, till Clara sniffled and took a deep breath, stepping back from the Professor, wiping under her eyes quickly, "Well," she swallowed hard, her voice growing tense, yet oddly hollow as well, "The clouds have all gone."

"Yes, burned up," the Doctor nodded, "Totally burnt. Burnt to noth…" he winced as the Professor gave him a sharp jab in the side, Danny had been up there, "Sorry."

"10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2," Missy murmured, making them look over at her.

"The old coordinates to Gallifrey," the Professor frowned, shaking her head, not sure what that meant.

"The current coordinates of Gallifrey," Missy corrected with a sigh, looking at her nails as though they were the most interesting thing in the world at the moment, "It's returned to its original location. Didn't you ever think to look?"

"You are lying," the Doctor's eyes narrowed.

"We can…" Missy began, "We can go together, just…" she grimaced, "The three of us…and the kiddies. Just like the old days."

"You'd be clapped in irons," the Doctor warned, reminding her of when they'd been on the Valiant, how she'd rather have died than been their prisoner.

"If you like," Missy frowned.

How times had changed.

"I'm assuming you'll remember those coordinates?" Clara asked, stepping up, holding the device she'd taken from Missy and holding it out against the woman.

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "No, don't you dare…"

"I won't let you, Clara," the Professor warned.

"Old friend, is she?" Clara kept her gaze on Missy, her eyes filling with angry tears, her hands shaking, "If you have ever let this creature live, everything that happened today, is on you," she warned them, "All of it, on you. And you're not going to let her live again."

"Clara," the Professor sighed, moving to Clara's side and reaching out to put a hand on Clara's arm, not pushing it down, but showing that was her desire for her to lower it, "I'm not letting you kill her," she told her gently, "We never said we were letting her live."

Clara's gaze snapped to her, "Really?"

"Killing infects you," the Professor told her, applying just a light pressure, making Clara lower her arms, "After a while…" she shook her head, "I won't let that happen to you. I'm…I've killed so many, innocent and guilty alike, one more, one monster, won't harm me. She killed me twice before Clara, and I swore that if I ever saw her again, I'd kill her before she could do me in a third time," she took the device from Clara's hand, tossing it to the Doctor.

"You're…you're really going to…" she swallowed hard.

"Murder isn't against my programming," the Professor murmured.

"Against either of ours," the Doctor spoke, making the Professor look back, to see he was holding the device up himself…aimed at Missy.

"Doctor…"

"Us together," he gave her a deep look, "She killed YOU, she threatened our children, our friends on Earth. I will never let you go through that alone again," he swore to her, reminding her of the age old promises he'd made her.

The Professor nodded and stepped to his side, raising her blaster at Missy as well.

Missy swallowed hard, looking between them, seeming to realize just HOW badly she had gone about this, just how far away she had pushed her once-friend, that he would do this, that he would join the Professor in holding arms against him, that he would actually be willing to go through with killing her this time compared to so many before, "Say something nice," she spoke, her voice a mere broken whisper, "Please?"

The Doctor nodded solemnly, knowing he could offer this one single consolation to someone who had once been as close to him as a brother, "You win."

Missy smiled, "I know," she whispered.

The Doctor and Professor looked at each other before nodding, powering up their weapons…

When another bolt of energy flew past them, striking Miss in a flash of blue light, appearing to disintegrate her.

They spun around, seeing one single Cyberman standing in the distance between two headstones. They waited, their weapons ready in case it decided to attack them as well…but all it did was point to something to its left and lower its arm.

The Time Lords frowned, but turned and hurried in that direction, moving among the rocks and monuments and bushes, trying to find what the Cyber had indicated to.

"Over here!" Clara called and they rushed to her side to see her kneeling on the ground beside Kate Stewart who was sprawled out before her.

"Kate," the Doctor gasped.

The Professor moved to her side and quickly touched her neck, nearly sagging in relief, "She's alive," she confirmed to the Doctor, "Breathing as well, just knocked out."

"But how?" the Doctor shook his head, "She fell out of a plane!"

"The Cyber," the Professor moved to her feet again, looking past him, "The Cyberman," she nodded to the lone metal man that was still standing there, watching them, "It must have caught her."

"She's talking about her dad," Clara looked up at them from her place beside Kate, half leaning over to listen as the woman murmured quietly.

"Of course," the Doctor let out a breath at that, nodding to himself, starting to smile at the Cyberman, "The Earth's darkest hour and mine, where else would you be?"

The Professor smiled and joined the Doctor in a salute to the Cyberman that could only be Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

"Thank you," the Doctor mouthed to the metal man who gave a nod in return.

"That'll be you one day," the Professor murmured as the Cyber stomped his feet and took off into the sky on his rocket boots.

"Shooting off into the sky on a rocket?" the Doctor watched him go.

"Watching over your little girl," she reached out and took his hand, "Even when she's a grown woman."

He snorted at that, "You'll be just as bad with our little boy," he told her, "Probably worse."

She smiled at that, nodding to herself, "Probably."

~8~

"Clara," the Professor smiled as she and the Doctor stepped into the café that Clara had asked to meet them in. After the incident with the Cybers, Clara had wanted a bit of time to herself, to just process everything, time alone without aliens or metal men or infected rain, to just...find herself and mourn properly as she hadn't he first time Danny had died.

"Oh, how are my sweet little cousins!?" Clara beamed, getting up to coo at the small infants as they sat in their dual pram as the Doctor pushed it over to the table Clara was at.

"Nice to see you too," the Doctor deadpanned, sitting down beside the Professor across from her.

Clara would have thought he was irritated, had it not been for the smile on his face as he looked as his children just blinking up at her with wide eyes.

"They're remarkably well behaved," Clara murmured at the silent babies, reaching out to tickle their stomachs, letting them grab at her hands and play with her fingers as she glanced at their parents.

"In public," the Professor rolled her eyes, "Inside the TARDIS they're right terrors, I think mum's about to rip her hair out…if she had hair."

"But she loves them," the Doctor shrugged, "Little actors the pair of them."

"They sure are," Clara muttered, "Leia and Leto skipped out," she informed them, "It's summer hols now, they've left. I spoke to the headmaster, they're not coming back next year. Suppose they realized we knew," she shrugged a bit sadly.

She hadn't been in the right frame of mind to speak to the two after Danny had…well, she'd intended to. She was going to seek them out after the Time Lord confirmed that the two really WERE the Time Tots sitting before her. She'd called up Danny in the meanwhile, having felt confident from her talk with her grandparents to tell him the full truth…and then the accident happened. She hadn't even thought of the grown-twins. And by the time they'd gotten the Cyber situation sorted, the hols were beginning and that was it. The twins were gone and she didn't know how to contact them.

But it was alright, she supposed, she doubted they'd say much or stick around that long anyway, they WERE the Doctor's children after all.

"We got your message," the Doctor offered after a moment.

"Two weeks late," she reminded them.

"Not bad, considering," the Professor nodded to the side, at the Doctor, indicating he'd piloted this trip.

"Improving," Clara would agree.

"So…you've got news for us?" the Doctor started to smile.

"News?" Clara blinked.

The Doctor nodded down at her wrist, where she was wearing Missy's control bracelet, "He figured it out then? Maths figured out there was a way home?"

They'd given Danny the bracelet, knowing that the Nethersphere was still active, that his mind was still somewhere in the data cloud it had created. There would be enough residual power to restore one person, whoever the holder of the bracelet decided on. It had to be Danny, it had to be. How else would Clara have gotten the bracelet back unless Danny used it?

"Yeah," Clara swallowed hard, "Yeah, he did."

The Professor's smile dimmed at that, looking at Clara questioningly, but the girl just shook her head.

"Oh, good old Maths," the Doctor grinned, turning to look at his children, "Don't worry," he told them as they peered up at him, "We'll get you into Recreational Mathematics soon enough," he nodded, "Maths and medicine and P.E. and…"

"And how about we teach them to walk, talk, and use their potty first, husband," the Professor cut in with a small laugh.

"Yes," he nodded, a slight wince to it, "Could do without all those nappies…"

"Listen," Clara interrupted gently, "There's…there's something that I have to tell you two and, er, it's not good news so just, just listen, ok?"

"Ok," the Professor nodded.

"But we know," the Doctor added.

"Sorry?" Clara frowned.

"We know exactly what you've got to tell us."

"You do?" her gaze flickered to the Professor and back to the Doctor, looking between the two of them. If they really knew…why was he smiling?

"You and Danny are together now," he continued, "That's great. That's how it should be. But the old family and the blue box, that's never going to fit in," he nodded, understanding, "So no more flying around. No more lying."

Clara winced at that, making the Professor frown, "Ok, no, that's not exactly…"

"It's fine," the Doctor reached out and took the Professor's hand. They'd talked about this, about this decision, but his wife still seemed very reluctant to go with it.

"No, it's not fine," Clara shook her head, "It…it really isn't fine!"

"We've found Gallifrey," he told her.

THAT got Clara to stop for a moment, to stare at them with wide eyes, "Wow!" she breathed, shaking her head in shock, "Oh, my God!"

"We entered the coordinates, just like she said. And we found Gallifrey. For once, she wasn't lying."

The Professor looked at her children for that, that was a lie. They HAD put the coordinates in, they'd gone there…but Gallifrey hadn't been there, at all. Not even their scans for other dimensional frequencies registered the planet either.

The Master/Missy, she HAD won, because they'd believed her for a split second, they believed she'd told them the truth…and she'd died knowing she hadn't, knowing she'd given them false hope and that it would crush them later, and that they wouldn't be able to do a thing about it against her.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Clara stared at them.

"Go home," the Professor answered, willing to answer something like that. She didn't want to lie to Clara, she didn't want Clara to lie to them either, but the Doctor was adamant that Clara should stay on Earth, that all of this had happened because just as much as Clara hadn't wanted to give up her life with them, she hadn't wanted to give up her life on Earth either. They were making the choice easier for her, allowing her to have her normalcy, to have her planet…because they didn't have theirs. So…they'd go back to the TARDIS, to their home, and go from there.

"Ok," Clara swallowed.

"Gallifrey can be a good place," the Doctor spoke, a wistful note in his voice that Clara missed, "We can help make it that," he squeezed the Professor's hand.

"Well…Gran might…"

"Shut up!" the Doctor mock-huffed at her.

"You won't just steal a TARDIS and run away?" Clara teased.

The Doctor looked at the Professor and smiled, "No, not this time," he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it, "Never again. I'm not going to run away from my home ever again," he promised her, making the Professor smile at that.

He wasn't lying, she knew, he had no intentions of ever leaving her or their children, nor would she ever let him.

"Never again," Clara repeated gently, looking out the window at the TARDIS sitting on the walk just outside the café, hearing more in his words than he intended, that he wasn't planning to come back to Earth.

"It's a long commute," the Doctor shrugged, "And I'm not going to crate my children back and forth through that, need to get them settled, given them stability," he never would have thought he'd ever say that he needed stability in his life, but…it was true, his children changed things, in a good way. He actually found himself wanting some nice, calm places to go with them, to be able to spend time with his children as they grew, without worrying his head off that they were going to be in danger or harmed, "So," he shook his head and turned back to Clara, "You know, we thought, with you and Danny…"

"Yeah," Clara cleared her throat, "Me and Danny. Me and Danny, we are…" she forced a smile, "We are going to be fine. Don't you worry. You go home. Go home. Go be a king or something."

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "I might do that…"

"Oh don't feed his ego," the Professor mock-moaned, nudging him, "I'd rather our children climb over the TARDIS chairs than their father's enormous head."

"Tell you what," Clara gave a laugh at that, "Seeing as it's goodbye, shall we break a habit?"

"What?" the Doctor looked at her, "What habit?"

"Hug," Clara smirked.

"I hug!" he defended, "I hug all the time."

"Human hug," the Professor pointed out, "You hug me and the children all the time, you don't hug humans. Go on," she nudged him, "Give her a hug for all of us."

SHE hugged Clara quite a bit and the children were too small to truly do so. The Doctor, on the other hand, rarely did it, it would mean more coming from him.

He sighed, "Why not," he muttered, getting up, "Within reason," he pointed warningly at Clara as she beamed and stood as well, "Come on, you're on the clock," he opened his arms.

"Fair enough," Clara stepped closer and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as the Professor watched with a smile, using her foot to gently push the pram back and forth as the children stated to fuss a bit at their father's and cousin's (auntie's?) attention being pulled away from them.

"Why don't you like hugging, Doctor?" Clara asked him quietly.

"Never trust a hug," he said.

"Why not?"

"It's a way to hide your face," the Professor told her.

Clara closed her eyes at that, "Yeah," she agreed, before slowly pulling away, "So…this is it then?" she looked between them.

The Professor could only nod sadly, standing up as the Doctor moved towards the pram, turning it to lead the way out of the café. She moved to Clara's side, linking her arm with Clara to walk with her behind the Doctor, following him towards the TARDIS.

"Can I…" Clara began as the Professor stepped up to the doors to unlock them, making her pause and look over at her, "Travelling with you two," she smiled at them, "It made me feel really special. And…and being accepted into your family, as granddaughter or cousin or aunt," she laughed a bit at the end, tears in her eyes, "Whatever I am…thank you. Thank you for all of it. Thank you for making me feel special."

"Thank you for exactly the same," the Doctor smiled at her, turning to push the pram into the TARDIS as the Professor lingered in the door way.

"Clara," she reached out and took Clara's hand as the girl turned to walk away, not wanting to have to watch the box disappear, "You still have our number," she reminded her, "If…the day ever comes where you want to tell me the truth," she gave her a pointed look, that she knew Clara was lying to them, hiding something from them, but not pushing her to say as it was clearly a very difficult thing for her to express, "Just call. Even if we never travel together again, I will ALWAYS be there for you, whenever you need an ear, I'm there. Just call, ok?"

"Yeah," Clara swallowed hard, her voice breaking at that. She squeezed the woman's hand tightly once before she let go and stepped back, giving the Professor a wave as she shut the door, the box disappearing moments later.

~8~

"They asleep?" the Professor looked up from where she was sitting on the armchair of the console room, a book in hand as the Doctor stepped back in, coming to squish beside her on it, wrapping his arms around her.

"I don't know why you insist I put them to bed," he remarked.

"Because you love it," she nudged him.

"I do," he agreed, he loved being able to tuck his son and daughter in at night. The Professor loved waking them, seeing their little eyes squinting with sleep and being so needy for her, for food and for changes and dressing. He liked caring for them, she liked being needed.

The Professor turned and closed her book, A Christmas Carol, before leaning her head on his shoulder, "Do you think we did the right thing, with Clara?"

The Doctor let out a breath, his hand absently running through her hair, "I don't know," he admitted, "But we had to give her her best chance at a normal life. All our travels…it already robbed it from her. This is our last gift to her."

The Professor nodded, snuggling closer, the two of them falling silent, starting to drift off themselves at the soft humming of the TARDIS around them…

When someone knocked on the door.

"Was that a…" the Doctor began, when the knock happened again.

"Where did you land us?" the Professor looked at him.

"I didn't," the Doctor frowned.

"Hello?!" a voice called from the other side of the door, a man's voice, a bit jovial sounding, "Doctor? Professor? Come on you two, you know it can't end like that. Hmm? We need to get this sorted and quickly. She's not alright, you know. And neither are you. I'm coming in!"

The Doctor and Professor were on their feet in an instant as the doors actually opened, something that shouldn't have been possible as they made sure to lock them every time they entered now that the children were in the TARDIS. They couldn't help but stare as a man in a bright red suit with white fir edges stepped in, pink cheeked, white of beard, with small glasses on, black boots and a big velvet sack in his hand, shaking off snowflakes.

"Ah, there you are!" he cheered, "I knew I'd get round to you two eventually. Now," he huffed, his hand coming to rest on his tubby stomach, "Stop gawping, and tell me…what do you want for Christmas?"

The Time Lords looked at each other a moment before focusing back on the man before them, "…Jeff?" the Professor eyed him.

The man just laughed, "Sorry dear, but no…I'm Santa Claus," before finishing it off with a hearty, "Ho, ho, ho!"

A/N: Just one more chapter left! I can't believe we're at the end of Proffy's story for Series 8! But we'll soon be into Evy's after ;) I really wanted Danny to have moved past his issue with the 'soldier' past of the Time Lords, but I feel like, in death, he might be a bit less at peace with it all :( I also wanted so sort of show the Professor come full circle with dealing with him, likely how she would have if she'd not been pregnant at the time in the first round. But also to offer him some peace in his second death, that she meant what she said, Clara would be protected :)

I hope it was believable with the Doctor and Missy at the end, him taking arms against her. I feel like, in the last two times he met the Master, the first was so sudden when he died and then the second time he seemed to give his life for them...here the Doctor's very much more attached to the Professor, she's the mother of his children, his wife, his Bonded, and now he's being faced not just with a former friend-turned enemy but with the person that had killed her twice, he wouldn't risk it a third time any more than she would. AND Missy didn't seem fond of his children, which would make them targets as well. He had to protect his family :(

Some notes on reviews...

I'm sorry if you feel the story is 'fucking terrible' but I understand that not everyone will like a story or OC and that's perfectly fine :) To each his/her own :) I'll never fault anyone that wants to stop reading a story because their interest has drifted or they're just not feeling it and, really, I think people should read the stories that they enjoy instead of forcing themselves to read something they're not into :) I hope you find those stories and I wish you an enjoyable time reading them :)

I don't think there'll be any mentions of a three-way for Evy since it IS her brother/sister that would just be very wrong :/ (unless I misinterpreted and you meant three-way in another sense?) There probably won't ever be mentions of things like that in my stories either, now that I think about it, unless it's a line from an actual episode dialogue, not just because I like to keep private things behind closed doors but also that I believe things like that should only be shared between two people, just my opinion ;)