The Vampires of Venice
"She tried to kiss you?"
"Yes."
"She tried to KISS you?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"What?"
"Did you kiss her?"
"What? No! Never! Not ever! Never ever."
"Good."
"No, no, put the blaster down…"
"Why?"
"You can't kill Rory's fiancé before we find him."
"That's just it, she's RORY's fiancé, you are MY husband. She shouldn't be kissing you. No, any fiancé should not be kissing a married am. No, NO ONE should kiss a married man. No one is allowed to kiss MY husband but me!"
"It's really not that big a deal…"
"Not that big a deal? Theta how would you feel if someone tried to kiss me."
"..."
"Well?"
"...I'd rip their head off and toss it in a black hole."
"So why can't I blast Amy?"
"Because it meant nothing to me."
"I need a better reason than that."
"But it really meant nothing though Kata. If anyone, other than you, ever tried to kiss me, it would mean literally NOTHING to me. Because they aren't you. You are the only one who can make my hearts speed up and my head go fuzzy and my tongue get all tied up, and believe me, that is not an easy thing to do to yours truly. But you do it effortlessly, without even trying, because you are the only one my hearts beat for, the only one my mind thinks about, and the only one my tongue…well…you get the idea…" he shot her a saucy smirk.
"…"
"So?"
"…you still owe me that kiss for fixing the teleporter."
He laughed and gave her one that actually left them both quite breathless when he pulled away, "Better?"
"Yes, I suppose…" she sighed, "Let's go find Rory."
~8~
"Out!" the men at Rory's stag party shouted as the cake with the stripper was pushed in, "Out! Out!"
Suddenly…
The Professor popped out of the top of the cake, looking around a moment, before spotting Rory behind her. The men fell quiet, just knowing this was not the stripper, for one, she was far too clothed.
"Rory!" she smiled, seeing him.
"Professor!" the Doctor shouted as he ran into the room from a side door, moving in front of her and holding his arms out, as though to block the men from looking at her. She just rolled her eyes and shoved him a bit to the side, putting her elbow on his shoulder.
"I'm glad we found you Rory," she told him, "For a moment I thought I'd burst out of the wrong cake like this one here," she nodded at the Doctor.
"That reminds me," the Doctor nodded, "There's a girl outside in a bikini. Could someone let her in, give her a jumper? Lucy. Lovely girl. Diabetic. Now, then, Rory, we need to talk about your fiancé. She tried to kiss me."
Everyone gasped.
"Which I'm not too fond of by the way," the Professor added, "He's MY husband."
The men's mouths dropped open, whether from how a man in a tweed jacket and bow tie could get a girl like her or from the fact Rory's fiancé tried to kiss a married man, no one knew.
"Tell you what, though," the Doctor tried to lighten the mood, "You're a lucky man, I bet she'd be a great kisser."
"I've still got my blaster Doctor," she warned him quietly.
He frowned as someone dropped their glass, "Funny how you can say something in your head and it SOUNDS fine..."
The Professor just shook her head and hopped out of the cake, walking over to Rory, "Come along Williams, lots to do," she grabbed his arm and led the poor, stunned man out of the room.
"Oi!" the Doctor shouted as the men stared after her, "Eyes off my wife!" but then they turned to stare at him and he squirmed, uncomfortable, "Um...I should...yeah..." and ran out after them.
~8~
The Doctor sat in a hanging harness under the TARDIS console, welding, while the Professor stood by the console with his sonic, fixing a few wires. Amy paced on the steps to the halls, watching as Rory looked around in awe.
"Oh," the Doctor was saying, "The life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. We've seen it devour relationships and plans..." Rory looked down nervously as the TARDIS experienced a small explosion, "Oh! It's meant to do that."
"In what Universe is any part of the TARDIS ever meant to explode?" the Professor asked him, before looking at Rory, "It's not by the way."
The Doctor amusedly rolled his eyes and got back to work, "Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it WILL tear you apart. So...we're sending you somewhere. Together."
"Whoa!" Amy stepped over, "What, like a date?"
"Anywhere you want, any time you want," he nodded, hopping out of the harness and walking up the steps to join the Professor at the console, "One condition, it has to be amazing."
"There's…the Moulin Rouge in 1890," the Professor suggested.
"Or the first Olympic Games."
"Think of it as a WEDDING," she looked pointedly at Amy, "Present."
"Because, frankly, it's either this or tokens," the Doctor cut in, trying to relieve the tension. The Professor was still rather cross with him for not letting her blast a hole in Amy, but she was even more cross with Amy. She wasn't entirely comfortable around Amy anymore. He knew why, she'd been trying to believe that the girl would grow out of her fascination with him, but the fact she had willingly tried to seduce a married man rubbed her the wrong way. It rubbed him the wrong way as well, just the thought of any man ever attempting the same thing with the Professor...his hands began clenching into fists...
He shook his head from his thoughts and looked at Rory, seeing he still seemed stunned, "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" he headed up the stairs, "Tiny box, huge room inside. What's that about? Let us explain."
"It's another dimension," Rory remarked.
"It's basically another dimen..." the Professor began but stopped when Rory spoke, she smiled, "What did you say?"
He looked at her, shrugging, "After Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories. FTL travel, parallel Universes..."
"You are a brilliant man Rory Williams," she laughed.
The Doctor though, pouted, "I like the bit when someone says, 'It's bigger on the inside!' I always look forward to that."
The Professor looked at him before sighing and nudging Rory. He looked at her a moment before nodding, "Oh, um, it's bigger on the inside?"
The Doctor sighed, "It'll do for now."
"So, this date," Amy cut in, "I'm kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?"
"How about somewhere...romantic?" the Doctor asked, casting a quick glance at the Professor a moment, before setting the TARDIS in motion.
~8~
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and onto a busy market.
The Professor stepped out as well, looking around a moment, "Venice?"
She knew what he was doing. Venice was, by far, her favorite place to visit on planet Earth. This trip was just as much about getting back on her good side as it was sending Rory and Amy out on a romantic trip. And though she was loath to admit it…it was working. It was hard to stay mad at him in Venice and he knew it.
"Venice!" he threw his arms out, excited and a bit hopeful, "Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city. Preposterous city!" he grinned as Rory and Amy stepped out and looked around, amazed, "Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding...constantly...just beautiful! Like you," he kissed the Professor quickly, taking her unbound hand and pulling her closer, into a psuedo-waltz, holding her as close as he could, knowing another thing that would earn him points with her was dancing with her, "Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Oh, that reminds me…" he checked his watch, "1580. That's alright. Casanova doesn't get born for 145 years," he quickly spun the Professor and kissed her hand as she turned back to him from the spin before glancing at Amy and Rory, "Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken."
"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory frowned.
"Long story…"
"They had a bet," the Professor waved it off equally, they had both agreed and sworn never to speak of it.
The Doctor grinned at her as he lead them off towards one of the paths, just as an official looking man in black stepped out in front of them, blocking their way up a few stairs, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."
The Doctor held up the psychic paper, "There you go, fella," the official took it, "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."
The man's eyes widened and he bowed deeply at the two of them, "I am so sorry, your Highnesses. I didn't realize..."
The Doctor plucked the paper back, "No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"
"Checking for aliens, visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."
"Oh, that's nice, see where you bring me?" Amy slapped the Doctor's arm, "The plague!"
"Don't worry, Viscountess," he bowed to her and Amy nodded, "No, we're under quarantine here, no one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri!" he pointed to the crest on the box he was carrying.
"How interesting," the Professor remarked, "I heard the plague died out years ago."
"Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."
"Did she, now?"
The Doctor and Professor exchanged a curious and suspicious look before walking on.
Rory took the paper and looked at it, "According to this, I am your eunuch!"
"Oh, yeah, I'll explain later," Amy smiled at him as they ran after the aliens.
"Who are we Rory?" the Professor called, not having gotten a chance to glimpse the paper.
"Um, the King and Queen of Belgium," he read.
The Professor looked at the Doctor, "What, again?"
He smiled at her, moving to tuck her arm in his, "I thought it would be best to return to a happier time."
She raised an eyebrow, "And that happier time was when I was scared out of my mind climbing a TV pylon in 1953 to fight off a face stealing monster with Rose breathing down my back and staking her claim to you?"
He winced as Rory and Amy exchanged a look, "Right…forgot about that bit."
She sighed and kissed his cheek anyway, "It's the thought that counts."
"So…you're not cross with me?"
"Oh, I'm still very cross, but not entirely at you though," she glanced at Amy who let out a nervous laugh, "And I suppose I'm less cross than I was," now that she had calmed down from wanting to literally blast a hole in Amy, she could see how he was right to stop her because, in all actuality, she probably would have blasted Amy if she got the chance. This version of her, it seemed, was far more possessive of the Doctor. She glanced at him, "You braved the risk of Casanova to take me back to Venice," she gave him a small smile, "Very sweet of you."
He smiled at her softly and leaned over, nuzzling the side of her head, "I'd brave anything for you," he whispered in her ear, reaching out to tilt her head slightly, giving her a peck on the mouth.
They came to the canal, standing by a wall, and looking across it to where a procession of girls in white dresses and veils were walking past, spectators joining them to watch.
Just then an older black man ran forward, "What do you want?" they could hear a woman demand.
"Where's my Isabella?" the man cried as he lifted the veils and looked for someone.
"What are you doing? Get away from there!"
"Isabella? Isabella!" he cheered, finding a girl who looked similar to him, clearly his daughter, "It's me!"
The girl in question just shied away from him as another girl came forward and hissed at him, two fangs in her mouth that the Doctor and Professor could see even from there. The man fell to the ground.
"Girls, come along!" the woman called.
The girls turned and began their procession again when a young man stepped on the man's chest, keeping him down, "She's gone," he sneered before leaving in swirl of his cloak.
"Isabella!" the man struggled, "It's me!"
The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look as guards lifted the man up and shoved him away, before rushing off, leaving Amy and Rory behind.
~8~
The Doctor leapt onto the bottom step of a stairway as the father they'd seen before walked along the passage of the streets before them.
"Who were those girls?" he called out.
The man stopped and looked back at them, "I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."
"Our first day here," he stepped down to stand beside the Professor, "Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion…"
"So, why are you trying to get her out?" the Professor finished.
"Something happens in there," he told them seriously, "Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face...like an animal."
The Doctor put his arm around the man's shoulder and looked at the Professor, "I think it's time we met this Signora Calvierri don't you?"
"Oh yes," she nodded, smiling.
~8~
Isabella's father, whom they learned was Guido, approached the grounds of the Calvierri school while the two of them waited along the canal for their chance.
"You have my daughter!" Guido shouted at the guards, "Isabella!"
"You're not coming in, stop there!" one of the guards threatened, "We've told you..."
Guido moved to the side, making the guards turn so they could sneak along the side of the canal to a side gate, "You have my daughter. Isabella! I demand you let me see my daughter."
The Doctor pulled out the sonic and flashed the gate, opening it.
"Isabella! It's me! It's your father."
"I'll arrest you..." the guard stepped towards him.
"Isabella!" he watched as the Doctor and Professor snuck inside and made it through a doorway at the top of some stairs before turning to go.
They ran down the stone steps to a chamber under the school and looked around at the dimly lit room. The Doctor spotted a mirror on the wall and walked over, smirking at his reflection, "Hello, handsome," he straightened his bow tie and checked his teeth before kissing the side of the Professor's head quickly, "And hello beautiful!"
She laughed a bit when…
"Who are you?" a chorus of voices asked. They spun around to see a handful of young women, pale, in white dressing gowns, standing before them.
They glanced back at the mirror where they weren't visible and back a few times.
"How are you doing that?" the Professor frowned.
"We...are...loving it though!" the Doctor grinned and even the Professor had to admit she was very excited by this mystery, "You're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter."
"Will be shorter," she corrected.
"I'll ask you again," the girls spoke as one, "Who are you?"
"Why don't you check THIS out?" he held out his wallet.
The Professor leaned forward, looking at the thing in his hands, an ID photo of his original incarnation, "Library card."
He pulled back and examined it, putting it away quickly, "Of course, it's with..."
"Rory."
"He's..."
"With Amy."
"I need the spare," he sighed before looking at the girls once more, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in..." he glanced back at the mirror before turning to the Professor, "Are you thinking what I think I'm thinking?"
"But the city," the Professor eyed the girls, answering his question as well, "Why shut down the city? Unless..."
"Leave now or we shall call for the steward...if you are lucky," the girls warned.
"Ooh!" the Doctor started to back away as the girls hissed and bared their fangs, advancing. He grabbed the Professor's arm to keep her from going for her blaster, even though she seemed much better at not doing that, as they ran to the doorway and stairs. He stopped and spun to face the girls, "Tell me the whole plan," they just kept advancing, "One day that might work…"
"Ha!" the Professor scoffed.
"Listen," he backed up the stairs as he spoke to the girls, "We would love to stay here. This whole thing..."
"We're both just thrilled," she nodded, meaning it, though still backing away.
"Oh, this is Christmas!"
The Professor grabbed his arm and pulled him up the stairs after her as the girls hissed, unwilling to follow them into the daylight.
They ran across the canal when they suddenly crashed into Amy.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "Professor!"
"We just met some vampires!" the Doctor said.
"We just saw a vampire!" Amy spoke and then they both started talking at once, voices overlapping.
"And creepy girls and everything," he nodded.
"Vampires!" Amy cheered and they jumped up and down excitedly when Rory ran up.
"We think we just saw a vampire," Rory breathed.
"Yeah, yeah, we know," the Doctor nodded, "Amy was just telling us."
"Yeah!" Amy grinned, "The Doctor and Professor actually went to their house."
"Oh…" Rory nodded, "Right. Well..."
"Ok, so..." the Doctor slapped Rory's cheeks lightly.
"First, we need to get back in there," the Professor nodded, grinning.
"What?" Rory exclaimed.
"How do we do that?" Amy asked.
"Back in where?"
"Come and meet our new friend," the Professor linked her arm with the Doctor and they walked off.
~8~
They sat in Guido's house that night with a map of Venice laid out on his table. The Doctor and Professor were looking over it as Amy walked around the room, Rory sitting back on some barrels, unsure what he should be doing.
"As you saw, there's no clear way in," Guido remarked, "The house of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."
"You need someone on the inside," Amy nodded.
"No," the Doctor looked up.
"You don't even know what I was going to say!"
"We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in," the Professor stated.
"Oh…" Amy cleared her throat, this was, now that she thought about it, the first time the Professor had spoken to her in response to something she said, and the way she had spoken, so flatly...the woman couldn't be very happy. She knew, she could tell, from the moment the Doctor and Professor had entered the console room once more to get Rory that the Doctor had told her what had happened. She should have expected it really, the Doctor and Professor, from what she saw, had a very open relationship, they were honest with each other and she'd been daft to think the Professor wouldn't know, that the Doctor wouldn't tell her the truth. The look the Professor had given her...or not given her...it was almost like she was trying her best not to look at her. Her silence, it actually made her feel worse than the Doctor's words. She shook her head, mumbling quietly, "So you know what I was going to say."
"Are you insane?" Rory frowned.
"We don't have another option."
"He said no, Amy. Listen to him."
"There is another option," Guido pointed towards Rory, "I work at the arsenal. We build the warships for the navy."
The Professor walked over and ran a finger along the edge of one of the barrels, picking up traces, "Gunpowder," she nodded.
The Doctor let out a whistle, "Most people just nick stationery from where they work," Rory slowly slid off the barrel and backed away…into a dead rabbit hanging from a hook, "Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive…"
"Unless it comes to me," the Professor added, bumping his hip a bit as she walked over, "And I've got no problem with both…within reason."
"What do you suggest, then?" Guido asked, seeing the Doctor shake his head at her fondly, "We wait until they turn her into an animal?" he turned and angrily poked the fire.
"I'll be there three, four hours tops," Amy tried again.
"No, no, no, no, no, no," the Doctor sighed, "It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go," he sat back on a bed against the wall, his head in his hands before sitting back, "But we have to know. We go together. Say you're my daughter."
"What?" Rory exclaimed, "Don't listen to him!"
"Your daughter?" Amy laughed, "You look about nine."
"Brother, then."
"Too weird. Fiancé."
"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé," Rory frowned.
"And he's MY husband," the Professor actually glared at her.
Amy winced, it had slipped out before she could stop herself, "No. No, you're both right. Sorry."
"Thank you," Rory nodded.
"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor," she blinked, glancing at the Professor, "They've seen you too..."
"I have my ways," the Professor shrugged, turning to look at the map again. The Doctor opened his mouth, glad she'd given him a way to go as well, but she cut him off, "Ways the Doctor has yet to master."
He pouted.
Amy nodded, just a bit confused, and turned to Rory, "You should do it."
"Me?" Rory pointed at himself.
"Yeah! You can be my brother," she playfully rubbed his head.
"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's ok?"
"Actually, I thought you WERE her fiancé," Guido looked at the Doctor.
"Yeah, that's not helping," the Doctor remarked, glancing warily at the Professor who was frowning in thought.
"This whole thing is mental!" Rory sighed, "They're VAMPIRES, for God's sake."
"We hope," the Professor remarked.
"So if they're not vampires..." Amy frowned.
"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire?" the Doctor wondered.
"Could be any number of things…" the Professor murmured, her frown deepening.
The Doctor looked at her a moment, "What is it?"
"This whole plan…" she shook her head, "It's only half of a good plan."
"What's the other half?"
"I go in. Not Amy."
"No."
"Yes," she rolled her eyes, "Because Amy's had so much experience dealing with aliens, fighting them off, and defending herself," the Doctor looked at her, "Fine, then I go with her."
"No."
"Doctor," she put her hands on her hips, "You are trying to get back on my good side, so don't argue with me. I want to go. So I'm going."
He looked at her a moment, before sighing, "Fine."
She smiled, and moved to the bed, sitting beside him and giving him a kiss, he smiled as well. He was one step closer to her being not cross with him.
~8~
Amy and the Professor stood on either side of Rory as they presented themselves to Rosanna Calvierri. Rory was dressed in Guido's clothes while the girls wore some simple skirts and blouses of Isabella's, the Professor with her hair down, half blocking her face, her cast hidden in the sleeves of her blouse with only her fingers peeking out so she wouldn't be recognized, shifting her entire posture and body language to a timid young girl. It was astounding how much body language and appearance played in recognition.
"So, basically, both of our parents are dead from getting the plague," Rory remarked, "I'm a gondola...driver...so...money's a bit tight...so having my sisters go to your school for special people would be brilliant. Cheers."
The young man they had seen stomping on Guido walked over and strolled around Amy to examine her, "Have we met?"
"I've just got one of those faces…"
"I wasn't talking to you."
"She's got the same face...which is because she's my sister!"
"Carlo, explain yourself," Rosanna turned to a servant of hers, "Why have you brought me this imbecile?"
"Signora, they have references from the King of Sweden," Carlo replied.
"What? Let me see," she held out her hand and Rory gave her the psychic paper, the Professor watching her intently through her hair, her eyes narrowing as the woman stared at the paper, startled, "Well, now I can see what got my steward so excited…" she handed it back, "What say you, Francesco? Do you like them?"
Francesco walked to his mother from circling the Professor, "Oh, I do, mother. I do."
"Then we would be delighted to accept them. Say goodbye to your sister and cousin."
Rory and Amy gripped each other's hands before Carlo ushered Rory away.
"Tell uncle...Doctor..." Amy called, "We'll see you both pretty soon, ok?" Rory nodded, "We'll be fine."
"A-Amy!" Rory shouted fearfully as the door closed.
The Professor tugged Amy closer to her, away from Francesco who had begun to bare his fangs at the ginger, nearly salivating. But with her move he seemed to snap out of it and stepped back.
~8~
Carlo led them through the school, the other girls watching them as they headed up. The Professor was thankful that the room under the school had been so dimly lit and her clothes so different now, none of the girls seemed to recognize her.
"There are clothes on the bed," Carlo led them to a small room, "Get changed and wait here."
"Blimey," Amy murmured as she looked at the large room, "This is private education, then?"
The girls started to mill out, leaving only one, a dark skinned girl, sitting on a bed.
"Hey," Amy walked over, "Hello. I'm Amy, this is the Professor, what's your name?"
"Isabella," she replied.
"We're going to get you out of here," the Professor told her, "But we need you to tell us what's going on. What is this place? What are they doing?"
"They, um...they come at night. They gather around my bed and they take me to a room...with this green light and a chair with...with straps, as if for a surgeon."
"What happens in there?" she frowned.
"I wake up here. And the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax."
A bell tolled and Amy looked around warily, the Professor deep in thought, narrowing down her list of aliens.
~8~
The Doctor and Rory sat in Guido's gondola as the man, now dressed in Rory's clothes, guided them along the canal towards the school, "She'll be fine," the Doctor promised Rory.
"You can promise me that, can you?" he nearly snapped, so worried about Amy.
The Doctor sighed, "I had this Companion once, Rose her name was. Our enemies attacked and we had to open this doorway to the Void, the uh, space between worlds," he swallowed hard, recalling the whole incident, what would later happen because of it, "The Professor promised me that Rose would be ok, that she'd protect her, even though Rose hadn't been the kindest person to her," he looked at Rory solemnly, "She nearly got sucked in so that Rose wouldn't. So yes, I can promise you that. Because no matter what, the Professor will protect Amy, despite everything that's happened."
Rory looked at him a moment longer, seeing the truth in his eyes, and nodded.
~8~
Amy and the Professor made their way down a staircase that night, dressed in white gowns the school had provided. Amy had a lamp in her hand while the Professor had her blaster out and ready.
"Why did you want to go with me?" Amy asked her quietly. She knew the woman was likely fuming about what she'd done, she couldn't fathom a reason why...
"Did you really think I'd let you go wandering into an infestation of unidentified hostile aliens without any protection?"
"You wanted to protect me?" she nodded, "W-why?"
"You're the Doctor's Companion," she shrugged, "You're Rory's fiancé, and, for a time, I thought you were my friend as well."
Amy winced before reaching out to put a hand on the Professor's arm, stopping her, "I am your friend, or…at least, I'd like to be again," the Professor stared at her, "I'm really sorry I did what I did, or tried to do what I did. I just…he's the Doctor..."
"Yes, he is," the Professor nodded, understanding what the girl was trying to say, he was an incredible man, "But Amy…you need to realize that while he is the Doctor, he's also MY Doctor. My Bonded. My husband."
"I know," she nodded, swallowing hard, "And I'm sorry. Really, truly, I am," having Rory there had given her a shock, reminded her of exactly what she had nearly thrown away, nearly ruined. Because, in the end, Rory was still there, despite knowing she'd tried to kiss another man. He loved her, she knew that, and she would have never forgiven herself for breaking the heart of such a good man in such a way.
The Professor looked at her a long while. She could see the guilt in the girl's face, the shame, the embarrassment, she truly was sorry. Perhaps not entirely over the Doctor, but sorry about her attempt to kiss him and come between them.
"Ok," she nodded, "Friends."
Amy looked up, shocked and hopeful, "You mean it?"
She nodded again, "Just…don't do it again, yeah?"
"Yeah, yes, of course!" she nodded vigorously.
"And, just so we're absolutely clear," the Professor began, "If this ever does happen again..." she leaned forward a bit, serious, "There is nowhere you could run that I wouldn't find you," Amy swallowed, "Understood?"
She nodded quickly, "Perfectly."
"Alright then," she smiled, reassured that Amy would keep her distance from now on, and just slightly pleased with herself for having intimidated the girl a tad more, "Let's go let our boys in."
Amy laughed, if a bit tensely, and nodded, the Professor leading them off, down the darkened corridors.
~8~
"We're here," Guido called as he led the gondola up. The Doctor grabbed a lit torch off the wall as he stepped out, opening the creaking gate and heading off, Rory following after.
"Right," the Doctor nodded, "Ok, I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back..."
"What happened?" Rory cut in as they walked on, "Between you and Amy? You said she tried to kiss you…"
The Doctor stopped just outside a wooden door and looked at him, "NOW? You want to do this NOW?" he headed up the steps to the door.
"I have a right to know. I'm getting married in 430 years."
"I had to wait almost 900 years to marry the Professor," the Doctor laughed, "You can wait a few more hours mate."
~8~
Amy walked over to the covered well in the center of the courtyard, passing the lamp to the Professor who put her blaster away and held it so Amy could see what she was doing. Amy released the bar locking the grate in place and smiled. They turned to head back inside when Carlo stepped out from a doorway with Francesco and a few of the girls.
~8~
"She was frightened," the Doctor tried to explain as they walked along a narrow passage, "The Professor was…slightly frightened, I was very frightened, but we survived, and the relief of it...and so she tried to kiss me."
"She tried to?"
"Tried," he nodded, "I wouldn't do that to the Professor."
"You love her."
"More than anything."
"I know the feeling," Rory sighed, thinking of Amy.
The Doctor turned to him, "Rory...Rory, she tried to kiss me because I was there. It would have been you," he tapped him on the chest, "It SHOULD have been you."
"Yeah."
"Exactly. That's why I brought you here," there was a strong gust of wind, blowing out the torch, "Can we go and see the vampires now, please?"
~8~
Amy gasped as Carlo forced her down the stairs into an underground chamber, the Professor allowing herself to be pulled along by Francesco, knowing that they were being taken to the 'green room' and that more of her questions would be answered there.
"Control yourself, child!" Carlo snapped at Amy as he spotted Rosanna and some other girls waiting for them.
"Get your hands off me!" Amy shouted.
"Psychic paper," Rosanna smirked, "Did you really think that would work on me?"
There was a hum of power and the chamber flooded with green light.
~8~
The Doctor pushed the grate at the top of the well open and climbed out, using Rory as a ladder, "Push..." he whispered, managing to scramble out before reaching in and helping Rory out as well, "Come on. There we are," he looked around, hissing, "Professor! Amy! Where're you? I can't see a thing."
"Just as well I brought this, then," Rory pulled out a small pencil torch.
The Doctor simply pulled out a large florescent bulb, "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight."
"Yours is bigger than mine."
"Let's not go there."
~8~
Rosanna circled the girls as they were held back, "Where are you from? Did you fall through the chasm?"
"Mother this is pointless," Francesco told her, "Let's just start the process."
"Hold your tongue, Francesco! I need to know what these girls are doing in a world of savages with psychic paper," two of the girls brought forward an old wooden chair with wrist straps, "Who are you with? I scarcely believe your idiot brother sent you," one of the girls set a hook into an eye socket above the chair, "What are you doing in MY school?" and another attached an IV bag to the hook.
"Ok, I'll tell you," Amy glared, "I'm from Ofsted."
She laughed, "Put her in the chair first. Keep the other one back!"
Carlo shoved Amy into the chair, the girls hurrying to fasten the straps as she struggled. Francesco pulled the Professor back, locking his arms around her from behind, holding her as she grabbed as his arms, struggling to get out of his hold.
"No!" Amy shifted, "Get your hands off me!"
"Oh, make sport of me, will you?" Rosanna glared, "Tease me as if I were your dog? Well, this dog has a bite, girl," she hissed, revealing her fangs.
"Professor!"
Rosanna leaned in to bite her…
"Stop!" the Professor snapped forcefully.
~8~
"If we cancel now, we lose the deposit on the village hall, the salsa band..." Rory sighed. The Doctor turned and opened a chest near a wall to reveal a skeleton, "What happened to them?"
"They've had all the moisture taken out of them."
~8~
Rosanna turned and hissed at the Professor but she didn't seem at all scared as she glared right back, "I said stop."
"And who are you to tell me what I am to do?" Rosanna demanded, moving to stand before her.
She smirked, "I'm the Professor, and I have quite a few lessons to teach you."
Rosanna laughed, "And what might those be?"
~8~
"That's what vampires do, right?" Rory frowned, "They drink your blood and replace it with their own."
"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies."
"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"
"Maybe not everyone survives the process."
Rory stormed off in frustration before turning back to the Doctor, "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."
"Who are you?" a chorus of girls asked, appearing in the archways around them.
The Doctor grabbed the ultraviolet light and held it up, "We should run. Run!" he pushed Rory off and they ran from the courtyard.
~8~
"A lesson for a lesson," the Professor remarked, "Teach me about what is happening here and I'll teach you a little something in return."
Rosanna eyed her a moment, having no idea what sort of species these girls, for clearly they had to be aliens, could be, she could learn so much. She smirked, "First, we drink you until you're dry. Then...we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until, one morning, you awake and your humanity is a dream...now faded."
"Or you die," Francesco chuckled in her ear, making her tense, disgusted, "That can happen."
"Those who survive will find 10,000 husbands waiting for them in the water."
"I've already got a husband," the Professor remarked, "And she's engaged."
Rosanna smirked, "Was that your lesson? Pitiful really."
"Oh no," she shook her head, "You see, my lesson was…always tie up your prisoners."
Rosanna had only started to frown when the Professor threw herself up, using Francesco as leverage to kick the woman square in the chest, knocking her down. As soon as her feet hit the ground she threw her right leg back, leaning forward just a bit, and hit Francesco in the back of the head with her foot, jolting him enough to let her go, she grabbed his arm and spun around, twisting it and kicking his legs out from the back of his knees, shoving him to the floor as well.
She grabbed her blaster as Rosanna turned to hiss at her and fired at the woman's misshapen hip, causing an electrical charge to race through her. Her image flickered to an insect-like creature with a fish's head and fangs before it returned to its human setting.
Rosanna hissed again and pushed herself to her feet, racing away as Francesco scrambled after her, the Professor firing at them as they ducked out the door.
"Cab for the Professor and Amy Pond?" they heard the Doctor shout from the hallway.
The Professor ran to Amy's side and began to undo the straps, not willing to try blasting them, when Isabella appeared, helping her with the other one.
"She tried to bite me!" Amy shouted.
"This rescue plan, not exactly watertight, is it?" they heard Rosanna ask.
"Ha ha!" the Doctor shouted, triumphant as they ran into the corridor to see him holding the ultraviolet light, keeping everyone else back.
"Rory!" Amy shouted.
"Amy!" he breathed, relieved.
"Quickly, through here!" Isabella led them back into the room, the group following her as the girls gave chase.
"They're not vampires!" Amy shouted as they ran after Isabella.
"What?" the Doctor flashed the sonic on a door, opening it for them to run through.
"We saw them, we saw her. They're not vampires. They're aliens!"
"Classic!" he chuckled.
"That's GOOD news?" Rory shook his head, "What is wrong with you people?"
"So much Rory," the Professor replied, "I don't even know where to begin."
The Doctor quickly urged them on down the passage, "Come on, move!" they ran off, the Doctor brandishing the light as a weapon as Francesco and the girls caught up to them, the Professor firing a few blasts back as well, "Keep moving! Come on, guys," they ran on, the girls now the only ones following them.
Isabella pushed open a door and ushered them out, down the stairs towards the canal, where Guido was waiting.
"Quickly!" she shouted, "Get out. Quick!" she moved to follow but the sunlight stopped her, burning her. She quickly put her hands up to block her eyes, stumbling back.
"Oh..." the Doctor ran back to try and help her, "Come on, run!"
"She can't!" the Professor joined him, they ran to the door as Isabella was dragged back inside by the girls who were using her as a shield so the Professor couldn't use her blaster against them.
She ran to the door, pounding on it when an electrified field went up on it. She grimaced at the jolt but bore it, stumbling back and into the Doctor's arm, still conscious though pained. She grit her teeth, waiting for it to subside, breathing heavily as he held her close.
They looked back at Guido who looked down at the ground, knowing he'd just lost his only chance at getting his daughter back.
~8~
Rosanna walked into her throne room, only to find the Professor sitting on her throne in her typical garb, one leg crossed over the other, casual, as the Doctor stood beside her, his arm resting on the top of it.
"Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you?" the Professor asked, "Sister of the Water."
Rosanna eyed her a moment before glancing at the Doctor, "Let me guess, the true owner of the psychic paper. Then I take it you're refugees, like me?"
"We'll make you a deal," the Doctor cut in, "An answer for an answer," Rosanna glanced at the Professor at the familiar offer but nodded nonetheless, "You're using a perception filter."
"It doesn't change your features," the Professor added, "But manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you."
"But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with."
"So leaves it blank...hence no reflection."
"Your question?" she eyed them both.
"Why can we see your big teeth?" he asked.
She laughed, "Self-preservation overrides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain."
"Where's Isabella?"
"My turn. Where are you from?"
"Gallifrey," the Professor replied.
"You should be in a museum. Or in a mausoleum."
"Why are you here?"
"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"
"Wedding present," the Doctor answered, "The Silence?"
"There were cracks. Some were tiny...some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people and through others we saw silence...and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us...and Saturnyne was lost."
"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark II?"
"And you can help me," she eyed the Doctor appraisingly, "We can build a new society here, as others have. What do you say?"
"I say eyes off my husband," the Professor remarked warningly, tensing, not at all happy with how openly the woman was eyeing him.
The Doctor nodded and walked over to the older woman, "Where's Isabella?"
"Isabella?" Rosanna frowned.
"The girl who saved us," the Professor replied.
"Oh, deserters must be executed. Any general will tell you that. I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose."
"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you?" he nearly smirked, "I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish. Think of the children. And my wife seems rather eager to try shotgun fishing, doesn't she?"
Rosanna looked past the Doctor to see the Professor was now standing, checking her blaster.
"Carlo!" she shouted and the man ran in, "You're right," she told them, "We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while YOU philosophize."
"This ends today," the Professor told her, putting her blaster away as she walked up to the Doctor's side, "We will tear down the house of Calvierri, stone by stone."
Carlo moved to grab the Professor when the Doctor glared, "Take your hands off her, Carlo," he threatened. Carlo quickly stepped back at the venom in his voice. He was not about to let anyone touch her, having sensed her disgust and discomfort when Francesco had held her back in the green room. He turned and held out a hand to the Professor who took it and they walked to the door. He stopped a moment and turned back, "And you know why this will end? You didn't know Isabella's name."
And with that, they turned and walked out.
"Open the gates!" Carlo called from the window as they strode past the guards and out to the paths along the canal.
~8~
The Doctor stood, pacing in Guido's house, very agitated, "We need to think. Come on brain, think, think. Think!" he plopped down at the table, Amy and the Professor on one side, Rory and Guido on the other, "Think!"
The Professor rested her elbows on the table, her chin on her clasped hands, pensive.
"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun," Amy remarked.
He put his hand over her mouth, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."
"It's the school thing I don't understand," Rory frowned.
He put his other hand over Rory's mouth, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."
"I say we take the fight to them," Guido pounded the table.
"Ah, ah, ah!" the Doctor looked over.
"What?"
"Ah!" he nodded at Rory who rolled his eyes and put his hand over Guido's mouth. The Doctor nodded and looked at the Professor, he'd never tell her but he did his best thinking when he looked at her, "Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time, and end up here, then she closes off the city and, one by one, changes people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. Then what?"
"They come from the sea," she murmured, "They can't survive forever on land, so she's got to do something about that. Can't have all her experiments dying on her," she nodded slowly, "She's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable..."
"She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race, he forced Amy and Rory's heads to nod, "Bend the heavens...bend...the heavens..."
"She's going to sink Venice!" they both shouted at once, before adding, "I win! No, I win!"
"She's...she's going to sink Venice?" Guido pulled Rory's hand off his mouth.
"And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed," the Doctor nodded.
"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory shook his head, "You need...blokes."
"She's got blokes," the Professor remarked.
"Where?" the Doctor looked at her.
"In the canal. She said, 'There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water.' Clearly only the male offspring have survived the journey here."
He grimaced as the Professor crinkled her nose, "She's got 10,000 children swimming in the canals, waiting for mum to make them some compatible girlfriends. Ew…I mean, I've been around a bit, but, really, that's...that's...ew," there was a loud banging upstairs and they all looked up, "The people upstairs are very noisy."
"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido said grimly.
"Knew you were going to say that," the Professor sighed.
"Did anyone else know he was going to say that?" the Doctor nodded and looked around.
The wood creaked above them, someone walking across the floor.
"Is it the vampires?" Rory asked.
"Like we said, they're not vampires," the Doctor corrected, "Fish from space."
There was a thump and the sound of glass breaking as the converted girls appeared in the window, trying to get in. They jumped up quickly, startled. The Professor grabbed the ultraviolet light, holding it at the girls, keeping them back.
"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory gaped.
The Doctor flashed the sonic at the girls, revealing their true insect-fish forms.
"What's happened to them?" Guido gasped.
"There's nothing left of them," the Professor frowned, "They've been fully converted."
"Blimey," the Doctor eyed them, "Fish from space have never been so...buxom."
"Buxom?" the Professor turned to him with an eyebrow raised.
"Nothing compared to you dear."
"Doctor!" she shouted, her face flushing with embarassment.
His eyes widened as he realized what he'd said, a blush creeping up his neck as well, "Ok!" he switched off the sonic and grabbed her arm, "Move. Come on."
They ran down the stairs, Amy and Rory first, the Doctor and Professor ushering them down as Guido followed behind.
"Give me the lamp!" Guido grabbed it, flashing behind him to stop the girls from following the group as they ran outside.
"Go, go, go, guys!" the Doctor shouted as Amy and Rory ran out, "Keep moving, go, go, go!"
Guido stopped in the doorway, shutting it and locking it, keeping the Doctor and Professor out, "Stay away from the door!"
The Doctor turned and pounded on it, "No! Guido! What are you doing? We're not leaving you! What are you doing?" he tried the sonic but it didn't work, the wood too warped to open regardless, "Guido!"
The Professor's eyes widened, realizing what Guido was going to do with a house full of gunpowder and grabbed the Doctor's arm, pulling him away. They ran, getting thrown to the ground as the house exploded behind them.
They quickly picked themselves up and looked back as Amy and Rory ran over to them, people screaming and shouting in the streets as well. They looked up to see a small storm starting to brew.
"Rosanna's initiating the final phase," the Professor realized.
"We need to stop her!" Amy shouted, turning to run, "Come on!"
"No, no," the Doctor shook his head, "Get back to the TARDIS."
"You can't stop her on your own."
"We don't discuss this!" he snapped, "We tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?"
Amy stormed off.
"Thank you," Rory told him earnestly, before rushing off after Amy.
"Yeah...you're welcome," he mumbled.
"Doctor…" the Professor put a hand on his shoulder, "What was that about?" he looked at her and she saw the memory of what Rory had said flash across his mind, "Oh…Rory does know I can be more dangerous than you at times, right?"
He let out a playful scoff, "I am the Oncoming Storm you know."
"Yes," she rolled her eyes, equally as playful, "And now I'm Mrs. Oncoming Storm."
He started to smile when the people began screaming again, "Finish this later?" he asked.
"Always," she nodded and they dashed off.
~8~
The two Time Lords ran into the Calvierri throne room, walking straight to the chair, the Professor pulling off the back to reveal alien circuitry, having scanned it earlier when she sat on it. The Doctor pulled out the sonic and started to try to short circuit it.
"You're too late," Rosanna called, entering the room, "Such determination...just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and the woman who made it all possible. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."
"The girls have gone, Rosanna," the Doctor told her.
"You're lying."
"Shouldn't we be dead?" the Professor countered. Rosanna seemed to realize that and stormed away.
"Rosanna, please, help us," the Doctor called, "There are 200,000 people in this city."
"So save them," she spat, leaving.
They looked at the throne, "It's locked," the Doctor told her.
"She must have a secondary hub," the Professor remarked, "If we find it, we can try to divert the power from here to there and shut that one down."
He nodded and they ran out of the room, finding some stairs and running up as far as they could, following the beeping from the sonic. The Doctor looked up, pointing the sonic up as the beeping increased. They looked at each other and ran back to the throne room just as Amy and Rory entered from the side.
"Get out!" the Doctor shouted at them.
"We need to stabilize the storm," the Professor ran to the throne.
"We're not leaving either of you," Rory called.
"Right," the Doctor scoffed, walking towards them, "So one minute it's, 'You make people a danger to themselves,' the next it's, 'We're not leaving you!' But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets..."
The ground shook, throwing them to the floor as some of the ceiling started to fall around them.
"What was that?" Rory looked up.
"Nothing," the Doctor said, standing, while the Professor said, "Bit of an earthquake."
"An earthquake?" Amy shook her head.
"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes," she shrugged, moving back to the chair to look closer at the circuitry.
"But don't worry about them," the Doctor waved their fear off.
"No?" Rory tensed, feeling like there would be some sort of 'but' coming.
"No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake."
And there it was.
The Professor walked over to them, "Rosanna's throne is the control hub."
The Doctor nodded, "But she's locked the program."
"So you two need to tear out every single wire and circuit in it."
"Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything."
"We need it to shut down and reroute the control to the secondary hub."
"Which will also be the generator for the storm."
Rory eyed them a moment before looking at Amy, "Do they do that a lot?"
"Oh yeah," she nodded.
"Good luck," the Professor smiled at them as she and the Doctor ran back to the stairs of the bell tower and up them as far as they could go before the ringing got to them. They covered their ears and continued on until they could reach the bottom of the bells, grabbing onto the clappers.
"Shut up!" the Doctor shouted, "Shut up," he sighed as it stilled, "That's better!"
"Doctor," the Professor called, moving to an archway, "Do exactly as I do!"
She moved to climb onto the railing, gripping the column as the rain poured down, the storm increasing, and began to climb up it, the Doctor repeating and mimicking her holds and maneuvers. He made sure to keep right on her, glancing at her concerned, wondering if this might just be the one regeneration that wasn't afraid of heights.
They climbed up to the top, using a cable that ran from a giant sphere at the pinnacle of the tower and pulled themselves up to it. They tore open the top to reveal the storm's controls. The Professor examined it closely to see how to stop it. She watched as a small toggle spun around the bottom, covered by another part of the device from her position, but open by the Doctor.
"The toggle!" she pointed.
He reached forward and flipped it off. The rain immediately stopped and the clouds cleared, the birds coming out to sing. He grinned widely and closed the sphere, looking down at the street with a little wave.
"You did it!" they heard Rory shout.
The Professor turned to smile down when a painful fear gripped her hearts and she clenched her eyes shut, grabbing onto the sphere for dear life.
The Doctor looked over at her with a small, understanding smile on his face as he maneuvered himself around the sphere to her side, putting an arm around her to calm her before he could start to help her make her way down.
He was a bit concerned to be honest though, she'd rushed up the bell tower so quickly she hadn't even noticed the height till it was too late…and it wasn't just that, she'd been doing more things like it recently...that usually wasn't like her…rushing into things with almost no plan, usually that was him…
~8~
Rosanna, still appearing human, walked on a small platform extending over the canal to the edge of the water, standing there in her white under dress when the Doctor and Professor found her.
"Rosanna!" the Professor shouted.
"One city to save an entire species," she murmured, "Was that so much to ask?"
They slowly approached her, the Doctor reaching out, "We told you, you can't go back and change time."
"You mourn but you live," the Professor nodded.
"We know, Rosanna, we did it."
"We still are."
She just turned to look at them, "Tell me, Doctor...Professor...can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race? Remember us. Dream of us."
And with that, she fell back into the water which bubbled fiercely as the aliens within attacked, thinking her human.
"No..." the Doctor lunged forward, "No!"
But it was too late.
~8~
The small quartet walked through the market as the townsfolk cleaned up after the storm, just heading back to the TARDIS.
"Now, then, what about you two, eh?" the Doctor smiled, his hand in the Professor's, "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."
"Oh!" the Professor laughed, "Can I be a bridesmaid?"
"It's fine," Rory sighed, "Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've..."
"Stay…" Amy cut in, "With us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."
"Fine with me," the Doctor shrugged.
"I'd love it," the Professor smiled.
"Yeah?" Rory grinned, looking at them, "Yes, I would like that."
"Nice one," Amy kissed him, "I will pop the kettle on," she unlocked the TARDIS and opened the door, before turning to the Professor, "Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship and we got our boys. My work here is done," she turned and strutted in, closing the door behind her.
Rory scoffed with a look at the Doctor, "We are not their boys."
"Excuse me?" the Professor raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we are," the Doctor told him, putting an arm around the Professor's shoulders.
Rory had to begrudgingly agree, "Yeah, we are," before stepping into the TARDIS as well.
The Professor moved to head in after him when the Doctor tugged her back, "Kata…"
"Yeah?" she looked at him.
"Two things…first, are you still cross with me and Amy?"
She blinked, a bit surprised, she'd actually forgotten all about it during the turmoil of the last few hours, "No," he breathed as sigh of relief, "And the second?"
"I just wanted to ask…if you were alright?"
"I'm fine."
"No, I just mean…these last few adventures," he began, carefully wording his question, "You've just plowed right in there, headfirst into danger…facing the Daleks, going down a ladder into a pit of Angels, and now this…jumping at the chance to go to a school of alien fish…I just wanted to ask if you were ok?"
She knew what he was asking, if she was trying to compensate for something or put on a brave front. Acting rash and, by rights, very stupid compared to her previous personalities, as a way to try and hide something.
She smiled at him and pulled him down for a very deep kiss, touched at his concern for her. She pulled away, her hand that had cupped his cheek stroking it gently, "I'm fine Theta, I just…I feel like this is the first body I've truly enjoyed since…"
"Since?"
"Since, well…my original self."
He blinked, "You must have had a few good ones…"
She shook her head with a sad smile, pulling away a bit, "My last one was pretty much an emotionless soldier, the one before that was terrified nearly all the time, before that I was tortured by Krillitanes, before that, well that one I really only had 20 hours in between the regeneration and when the Krillitanes attacked. As you know, the previous one was a cold warrior, before that I was forced through training, before that one I was very logical, work driven, very cut off, I threw myself into my work so I wouldn't have to deal with thinking and worrying about you. The one before that was just, so angry…all the time, furious with you actually, for leaving me alone, for not taking me with you, for…abandoning me…"
"Kata…"
"No, I know you didn't abandon me," she cut in, "But that incarnation was just…angry at everything. Before that I was depressed and alone and withdrawn because you'd just left and suddenly it was like everything that was good about Gallifrey, about my life, was...gone. I lost my best friend, my love, and I had no way to reach you since you were blocking just about all transmissions from Gallifrey. I pretty much just wasted away," she laughed, just slightly bitter, "Pining away after you," she looked at him, "And you know my first incarnation, it will always be my favorite because…it was the one I met you in."
He looked at her, forcing back his tears at her description of her lives. While his regenerations had been vastly different from each other, he had found things he enjoyed in them, ways to cope, things to distract him, people to help him heal and work at things he didn't like…she hadn't.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her.
She smiled, "It's alright," she took his hand, "It's in the past and all we have is the present and the future. And…" she looked at him, thoughtful, "I like who I am now, very much. I like that I can tell you I love you so easily," he smiled at her, "And take your hand whenever I want," he squeezed her hand, "And kiss you as much as I'd like," he dropped a little kiss on her nose, making her laugh, "I'm rather enjoying the present, so I can't wait to see what the future holds."
This one was far more optimistic as well, so much so he couldn't help but smile at her, "I suppose your future will look much better once we get this sodden mess off your hand," he laughed, looking at the soggy cast, plaster and water truly did not mix well.
"Actually..." she started to smirk, "I think I might know something that would make my future look much better than just getting this cast off..."
He looked at her, confused, "What?"
She just reached up and slowly began to undo his bow tie, using the ends of it to tug him closer, kissing him again, much more passionately as she wound her arms around his neck. She pulled back quite a few moments later, when they were both breathless, "Can't you guess what yet?" she whispered, her hands trailing over her shoulders to his shirt collar, absently unbuttoning the first two buttons, a suggestive look in her eyes.
His eyes widened as he swallowed hard, "We need to get this cast off, now!" he quickly took her hand and pulled her, giggling, back into the TARDIS, neither of them noticing the silence that had surrounded them.
~8~
The Professor walked into the console room later that night, a wide grin on her face, flexing her hand, finally free from the cast, and stopped short, stunned by the sight before her. Rory was sitting in the doorway of the TARDIS, just looking out at the stars as they drifted in space. She could tell from his body language, and her own experience when she needed to sit there, that he was upset over something.
She smiled at the thought that perhaps, for once, she could be the one who helped another when it came to that door and moved over to him.
"Hello Rory," she smiled, sitting beside him.
"Hi," he gave her a small smile of his own.
"I'm glad you decided to stay," she told him, looking out at the stars.
"Well…you and the Doctor wanted me to."
"AMY wanted you too as well," she reminded him.
"Yeah…" he sighed, trailing a bit. She was silent, knowing he would talk when he was ready, "But…I can't help but feel like…it's only because she feels guilty about what happened or like I'm just a way to distract her from the Doctor. No offense," he added quickly.
She eyed him a moment, "You don't think she might just simply want you here?"
He let out a scoffing laugh, "I knew from the moment I met Amy when I was seven that she was the one for me. I listened to all her stories about you and the Doctor," he hesitated a moment, "Mainly the Doctor," she nodded, not seeming upset so he continued, "I played her games, I didn't fuss about her being a kiss-o-gram, I trained to be a nurse so I could one day be a doctor just like she always talked about…just because of Amy," he sighed, "But…I always felt like she didn't even notice or like she was just using me as a replacement for THE Doctor, a filler till he came back," he shook his head, "I just don't know anymore."
She nodded slowly, completely understanding, "You feel like you're second best in her eyes."
"Yeah. I mean, who can compare to the Doctor?"
"I know how you feel," she sighed, looking out, "I wasn't the Doctor's first wife."
Rory looked at her, shocked, "You weren't?"
"It was actually my cousin, Mayra."
"Your cousin?"
"The Doctor and I…we're idiots, the pair of us. Complete and utter idiots."
"I'm lost."
"We loved each other for centuries on Gallifrey, and when we graduated from our school, the Academy, we were going to tell each other. But he found out I had been invited to return to school as an Academic, that's what I am, a person who returned for more education among other things. Had I accepted we couldn't have had a relationship," Rory nodded, slowly following along, "The Doctor took it upon himself to try and turn his attention elsewhere so he wouldn't be tempted to try and talk me out of going and met my cousin. She came to me, asking for help in what she could do to make him more interested in courting her and, stupid me, I helped her, basically pushed him into her arms and ended up in the Academy again," she sighed, "They got married, had a child, and separated later on. And then the Doctor left me there to explore the galaxies, more because he thought I'd be mad at him for leaving Mayra than anything."
"What happened?" Rory frowned, "You two ended up together."
"There was a war and we both fought in it," she explained, "I had created a device that could seal a planet in a sort of bubble that locked it away in time, 'The Moment' it was called, and the Doctor used it to seal our planet away, trapping the Time Lords and Daleks, our enemies, inside to perish. The war…it would have spread Rory, to every corner of the Universe if he hadn't stopped it. I had escaped only hours before he did that and was captured by these other aliens that tortured me for information. The Doctor found me and rescued me…but…" she swallowed hard, "He had another Companion, Rose," he nodded, recalling the Doctor had mentioned Rose before, "And…she loved him, as all his Companions do. And I think he loved her as well," Rory's eyes widened, "Again, I stayed out of the way, thinking he preferred her to me…I spent so many years, centuries really, thinking I was second best, to Mayra, and then to Rose…only to find out later that he actually loved me all that time."
She waited a few moments for it all to sink in before continuing, "She may not show it now Rory, or possibly even realize how much she does love you, but I know she does. Love is patient. And believe me, I had to wait a little more than 890 years before I found out the Doctor loved me," she laughed a bit, "Be thankful humans only last about 90 years because she'll definitely realize it before then," she got up a moment later, "Probably sooner than you think."
"You think?" he looked at her, hope in his eyes.
She nodded, "I do."
He smiled, "Thank you."
A/N: I was so torn between ending this chapter with the Doctor and Professor running back into the TARDIS (I hope you liked that little suggestive scene. It wasn't too out of nowhere was it?) but I also really wanted to add in a Professor/Rory bonding moment like with Mickey before Amy's Choice. I really believe the Professor can relate more to him and Mickey than the Doctor's other Companions, to Rory even though he and Amy will be like both their Companions. The three of them, at some point, felt they were second best.
And now we've learned a bit more about the Professor and her previous incarnations. Poor, poor her, she just hasn't seemed to catch a break till now. But I'm glad she has, everything she's endured has made her what she is today, I think she's pretty...fantastic)
I hope the little possessive 'MY husband' remarks and the small confrontation were ok. I feel like, this Professor wouldn't just sit back like she did at first with Rose, but then again, she wouldn't exactly be as forceful and truly threatening as her last incarnation (again with Rose), that she'd be more of a mix. She would definitely say something to Amy but she wouldn't flat out start screaming at her or attacking her, a little threat here and there can do wonders. And I feel like the Professor would be just a bit annoyed at the Doctor for stopping her blasting Amy (especially when he would have thrown someone into a black hole) making her cross with the both of them.
I also I tried to add the Flesh and Stone/The Vampires of Venice crossover scene, but, I don't know if I was just too close to what I'd written, but I just couldn't seem to make it work with the opening of this chapter But here's a hint of the next chapter to make up for that, we get a flashback!