Present time
A smirk spread across red lips, a hood hiding a face from the other side of the room as her beady eyes spotted the Doctor. It was time. In one giant leap, she cleared the table, hand grasping the Doctor's hat and head towards the door. She'd planned for far too long for anything to go wrong. The Doctor glanced up as his hat was taken from his head. It wasn't the first time but he wasn't bothered, he just gave a simple shrug, before finishing off his tea. As she flew across the room, her hand dug into her pocket for her handmade Sonic Screwdriver and aimed at the remaining angels outside. "Thought you got rid of me did you?!" The girl's Irish accent rang out in the snow muffled street, a laugh that would have been classed as manic pierced the silence as the stone Angels crumpled.
The Doctor paused at the door; a poster had caught his attention.
'Don't Blink. Blink and you're dead!'
The words imprinted under a familiar quote and face. His face. The Doctor shook his head and walked out of the café and unaware of what was unfolding before him.
Another angel went in to attack only to fall to worthless dust. The sonic was raised in the air, the girl smirked. "Do you never give up?" The Angels were stone for the time being, their fanged teeth bared, their horrific features visible. "No? Well don't complain when you're dust… you gave me fifty years and fifty years I had! GERONIMO!" The blue tip became bright, the high sound whirr echoing out across the street. Finally it fell silent, ash piles here and there now drifting off into the wind.
The sonic danced between the girl's slender fingers a she strolled over to the Doctor's side, her Irish accent pulling him from thought. "That poster holds an awful picture right? Mind you I had to get the message across somehow but that still a fail." Her eyes peered out from under the hood at the man. "That man was brilliant though, absolutely fantastic to figure out that the angels only responded to sight." The Doctor paused and glanced down at the girl, "You made them?" His eyes narrowed at her, how would she know of him? However the girl nodded, almost grinning. "Ha, lousy!" The Doctor shoved past her, the girl huffing at this as she followed him to the box. "Doctor, still a grumpy madman then?" Her bare feet lightly and nimble padded along, her hands hidden behind her back. "Mind you the posters weren't for you, they were for me and yet again I don't ever pay attention."
The sonic was still stuck in her hand, scanning the area. The Doctor swung round and grabbed her by the collar of her cloak before ramming the stranger against the TARDIS. "I don't know who you are and I really do not care, I also don't know how you know me but who I was and who I am now are two very different things. I've changed! Now leave!" The girl gasped at the reaction from the Doctor. It was something of violence but of desperation in a way. As the man slipped into his blue box, she straightened out her cloak, picking up the sonic that fell from her hand when the Doctor rammed her against the TARDIS.
The lock clicked behind the man as he disappeared into his home. Her hand pressed against the door, "Are you not even a little curious? Not even wondering?" She called out to him as she stood outside. "Mind you, it's funny how emotions rule your hearts to the point that it makes you so blind that you barely recognise your own daughter." A soft chuckle escaped her as she leaned against the door. Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor had found himself scoffing at the comment. For one, his daughter was English and he was damn sure that was an Irish accent, secondly she was long gone so no, he was refusing to believe it was her. "I might have asked a while ago but I told you… I've changed." It was as if he was trying to lie to himself, to brainwash himself and replace his own mind with that of an old, bitter man's. He rested his head against the door, his hand pressed to it also.
Ella pulled back her hood and sighed softly, the tears had dried up so right now all she was feeling a little down. "It's a shame because…" She paused mid sentence, even after fifty years alone, fifty years to learn so much and here she was, still not a clue to her own father. "Amy would be disappointed that you threw away the last person who was willing to stand by your side." She pulled her hand from the outside of the door and turned away, unaware that her father had perked up, wondering if she should just get back to her own time stream and never find him again. The Doctor had other ideas though. Suddenly he realised something, It'd hurt to think about it, but looking back on it he'd hurt someone he'd loved. He was lost, so lost. Now the pain and the anger toward the universe were gone. It was now directed toward himself, just like it was in Manhattan. He got too emotional, made too many mistakes. He threw the door open, partially hanging out. "Don't go…"
Have you ever stood there, when someone told you to not go and wondered what you should do now because you never planned that far ahead. Well Ella felt like that right now. Her bare feet was barely acknowledging the snow beneath them as she stood there in dead silence. For a moment the wind breezed through her ever long locks, the wavy curls flicking as they did while she closed her eyes and smiled, a tear on her cheek. To whatever god was listening, to whatever star stole her wish, Ella thanked them silently. "I didn't want to Doctor but you forced me to leave… you broke my hearts." Her Irish accent slipped away and left nothing more than her raw and original voice being spoken. The Doctor shuffled out of the box to be near her, "And mine have been broken countless times. I'm still hurting and I'll never be the same but… you don't deserve me pushing you away." Oh god he wanted to reach out to her, to hold her and love her. "I'll try to… move on because she'd have wanted that but it's just so hard." His voice wavered as he spoke, silent tears slipping down his cheeks.
The sonic danced between her fingers; the blue light that emitted from the end was now out. "I know it's hard, a feeling you can't bypass but wish everyday that you could but as you said… I guess they kind of break my heart." Ella reached up and brushed away her tears with her fingertips. Her father watched her with sad eyes, not knowing what to say to fix her broken hearts. The Doctor still thought the universe was better off without him, to keep the pain at bay, but he couldn't stand to see her like that. Despite the horrors and the wonders that he had seen, nothing was as horrible as realising that he had practically cast out the only family he had. He swore that he'd never let her turn out like him no matter how much her mannerisms were similar to his own, so breaking her hearts like he had was the first strike against his own promise.
Ella felt the rush of air pass by again, her head raised to see the stars twinkle above and seeing the dark shroud the blue that there was before. "It's ok and I understand. Amy was a brilliant woman, the girl seared onto you hearts because she was the first face you saw with this face." Her fingers reached up and pulled her hood up once more to hide herself from the world and her father. Ella was glad that he was finally hearing her out. "She had a good life Doctor, because of you. Set your mind on that, the fact you gave her something rather than what you couldn't do to save her." Her sonic lit up in her hand, the final scan complete and safe.
Ella tucked it away in her cloak and took a deep breath in order to prepare herself for what was next. The Doctor grimaced out of pain every time with the guilt he felt but with every word his daughter spoke, his expression softened. Ella was right, understanding the sense behind his daughter's words but saving Amy and Rory was what got him here but seeing her preparing to leave made him ask something he may not have done before hand, "I know Ella but there is something I want to ask… where are you going?" Ella turned to him, her bare feet turning in the snow to face her father, her hood covering her face. "Leaving Doctor because last I checked you had told me to." Incredible, after everything and she could have saved herself fifty years in hell if she had mentioned the Ponds sooner. "Goodnight Doctor, I wish you the best." With a kind smile passed his way followed by a nod, Ella turned away.
This was a shock to the Doctor's system because it seemed no one listened to him and of all the people, his daughter was listening and he found this amusing to the point that he chuckled. "You really think I'd leave my daughter alone on…" he pulled back his sleeve to look at his watch. "… Christmas, well Christmas Eve but you know who cares, so if you take one more ruddy step then I'll drag you home myself." And then something happened for the first time in months. He smiled that ancient madman smile. Ella though, she had felt her hearts stop and her mind raced like a rollercoaster as he lungs filled up with air that she struggled to breathe out again.
"Drag me?" Ella murmured now finding that she wanted to look at her father, to see if he really meant it but before she did she added, "Doctor… now that would be something to see." Her lips curled up into a smile but it was not like her father's mad one or like her mother's flirty one, it was just an original Starky girl, soft grin. The Doctor could really see now that his daughter was his and no one could change that. His eyebrows raised, his head tipped forward a little as he chuckled again. "What, you don't think I could?" It was as if she healed that broken rift in his heart, taking his pain and locking it away and for once he was happy. Ella scrunched up her nose in thought as she laughed a little, the offer seemed tempting to witness. "I don't think you could unless of course, you take earlier into account.
The Doctor stepped close behind her, placing his hands upon Ella's shoulders and turned her too him. It was so good to see those kind eyes of hers staring up at him. His fingers reached up and pulled back her hood, her brown locks falling out from underneath. "Come on you, get inside, even for me it's freezing out here and you have no shoes." The girl wiggled her toes in the snow and laughed, "I didn't even notice the cold."
The Doctor laughed at her comment, yup she was mad. He kissed her forehead, like he used to and smiled. "My mad little Pond," He pulled her into a tight hug before grabbing her hand and pulling her into the TARDIS.
The TARDIS was warm and quite frankly Ella secretly was glad to be inside now. The cloak came off at the same time as her father pulled off his purple coat. A wash of green flew through the air to the railing nearby, the cloak falling upon it neatly as Ella glanced down at her red dress. It was now more torn than it had been and was still short from where she last tore it. Her toes wiggled again; almost blue from the cold they had suffered. The Doctor made his way to the console, catching sight of his daughter's attire and frowned. "Get changed, wardrobe is around somewhere. I got rid of a few things but it's still about." Ella furrowed her brow as she fiddled with the ripped hem of her dress before strolling up the ramp to the console.
"Change? If I was to change then I'd done so ages ago plus I've grown attached to it." She stopped short of the console and blinked. "It took you a few hours to change everything?" She tilted her head a little, squinting at the circular design that swirled above them. The Doctor was still angry though even if it was a little angry. The colours were gone; the darkness was now his friend rather than his enemy. "Y-yea, sure."
Ella's gaze snapped to her father in shock before pacing round the console, fingertips brushing against the edge and mumbled to herself. "It's ok, I'll figure something out." The girl cooed over it as if it were a person. She reached the bottom of the stairs and leaned against the wall to look at her father. "Doctor, please don't tear yourself up over it. I should know, I've been there," Maybe not the right thing to say right now but Ella could see he was doing just that.
Typical Doctor though, he bit back in an instant, he should have just listened but he couldn't help himself. "I can do whatever I like, thanks. I've had my hearts ripped apart enough thanks. And I even swore that nothing would happen. And I broke that promise. No. I will not simply get over it. I broke a promise to a good friend promising to protect them. So, no, do not tell me you know how it feels. You might have lost someone, but that's nothing compared to knowing it was my fault," His fist slammed into the console before he swung round to face her and bared his teeth a little.
The girl narrowed her eyes at her father, arms folded across her chest, "I never told you to get over it, I never said you broke a promise because I know you did. All you ever do is promise the impossible Doctor…" Her voice never wavered once, never broke or clogged with tears, it stayed soft. "…But do not assume that I've never been crippled by my own guilt like you have!"
Her father did not like her back chatting, so he snarled, "I have learned. I learned the universe is better off without me. People don't get hurt that way. It's better like this. I've had enough."
The silence between them was a tense one, staring each other down like cats in a fight. "Fine let the universe suffer and burn up, there are other's willing to save it, well most of them." Ella went to carry on but her pocket of her dress began to burn, spreading like wildfire before she realised that it was her sonic. Tugging it out and fiddling with it to get the right readings, her father had turned away to mutter curses at the console.
Finally the sonic settled in her hands, "…But Doctor I am not asking you to do anything, some people have to give up eventually right?" The TARDIS groaned in response to the Doctor foul mutterings towards it. This groan typically made Ella feel sick to hear so she waltzed over to her father's side and began to tap away furiously at the scanner. "No, there's something else!" Again the box moaned a low moan, "Oi! If you're going to be like that!" Ella hit a button and then glanced back up at the screen. "I know he's being a grumpy man and no, he doesn't mean it, he won't get rid of you." Ella's gaze fell on her father for a moment while he raised a brow at her. "I never said I was getting rid of it! I still need a place to live, just no more travelling. Ever." The Doctor could tell himself that all day everyday if he wanted but it wasn't true and even Ella knew that by the way she scoffed. "Other words, you'll stand here for an eternity and waste away. Shame maybe the Doctor might let me have you instead?" The girl smirked before rushing round the console, the scanner in tow as she tried to figure out the problem with the box.
The Doctor decided to let her get on with and disappeared back down the hall, "Don't bother with her, she's just angry. Like me, what a surprise!" The sarcasm in his voice made Ella smirk even more so now, "Talk about change of hearts." Ella fiddled with some buttons here and there, pulled a lever or two until the box moaned once more. "Look T, if I could cheer him up I would…" She paused, a very smart thought exploding in her brain. "I think I might be able to get Amy to give the Doctor a good kicking," She whirled on the spot only to be snarled at by her father.
"Ha! You think that'll work do you? Try sending the TARDIS somewhere in her time stream. She doesn't cooperate. If you want to burn New York and deal with the guilt, go right ahead. Then you might understand." He stood in the doorway, like de ja vu all over again and honestly the girl didn't care. "Thought you left the room?" Ella turned back to her work, studying the symbols on the scanner. The Doctor narrowed his eyes, it was clear Ella was up to something. "Mind you when do you ever not eaves drop? But hey, like I said to you all those years ago, I'd do just about anything to see you smile again, and burning New York to crisp won't bother me in the slightest. I had fifty years of dealing with despair you left me with; one more thing cannot hurt me." Ella didn't even look at him once as she spoke, just took mental notes from the screen.
That one cut deep, if it were really a knife to his chest then it'd have sliced through bone and flesh before its tip finally pierced one of the Doctor hearts. He didn't show it though. "Why do you keep saying years later, years ago?!" He came so close to her as Ella turned to face him, clearly unimpressed. "Why? So you finally got the hint then?!" Ella hissed back at him, two could play at this game. "While you went on a mope trip to the café after kicking me out I was stolen from this era! Thrown back with nothing more than my freaking dress! Fifty years to learn everything and HERE I AM!" Her voice was loud, trembling a little.
The message should be clear now that she wasn't giving up. "Now if you do not mind, make yourself useful and find my glasses for me. Might be a bit cracked but they're the only pair I had and my eyesight is terrible as of now." The scanner bleeped, Ella reached up and gave it a whack. "Don't think about it TARDIS, I know how you work now." Her father stared at her once more, "Find them yourself." He mumbled, stalking off again and away from the mad chaos his daughter was creating.
Now Ella found that rather rude but she couldn't say much as her sonic whirred in her pocket once more. She pulled it out, eyes narrowed at it before they widened in unpleasant shock. This was not good. In seconds Ella was tugging three levers down at the same time which gave the box a violent shake. "Nothing like a bit of town tearing." Ella mumbled as it lurched once more and nearly forcing the poor girl off her feet. Ore buttons were being pushed and pulled, the box quaking even more in a fight against Ella herself. "Please! You have to do this because I've been called there!"
The Doctor was flung into a wall, his head nearly taking a bashing as he felt the cold of the wall against his skin. "What the hell is that kid doing now?!" Just couldn't leave her alone for a second without her trying to destroy something or someone. He gave out a low growl, making his way back to the main room on unsteady legs. "What are you doing?! Turn it off!" He walked in to find Ella prancing around the console, squinting at the controls then at the scanner screen.
"Ah-ha!" The girl exclaimed, quite clearly not listening to her father once more. Another violent shake rattled the pair's bones as a vortex wrapped itself around the blue box. "Love a loophole!" Ella screamed with a laugh and hitting the console abruptly. Her father was also slammed against the main console, trying to get round to the scanner and when he did he grasped it before giving it a few bashes to see what was going on. "What have you done?!" Ella tutted at her father as she slapped his hand away in order to do her work, "No peeking! Leave me to work Doctor." Her hands instantly grabbed the console for support as the TARDIS hit turbulence. Her free hand reached for more levers, a smirk growing on her lips. "Just what I thought!" Ella glanced up at the scanner screen, the TARDIS in a small circling vortex. "My boys are so smart!"
The Doctor fell back against the outer panelling, frowning as usual as he watched his daughter cling onto the main console while they were flung through quite the vicious vortex. "What did you do? Just tell me!" He flailed a hand at her, Ella shaking her head and huffing. "Like I said if you can't wait five freaking minutes..." Being slammed into a railing silenced her, her head smashing into a railing and cutting her forehead open. "Damn it!" Ella began to crawl over to the scanner, pulling out her sonic. "Boy's you better be telling me what the hell is going on down there!" Her father came up behind her, tapping at buttons to get a better look, "Boys?! What are doing?!" Ella grabbed her sonic and tucked it behind her ear, like you would a pencil in some aspects. "Don't touch!" Ella bumped her father out of the way with her hip. "Boys what the hells are you playing at? I thought it was all sorted?!" Ella was now furious to why this wasn't going to plan, she honestly thought she'd timed it right.
"Ma'am there is a ginger haired girl who has found us and is now trying to reverse the time rift." It was a female voice, Ella was a little surprised her father hadn't recognised it in an instant. "Amy! Damn it, leave the thing alone. You break it then we can't land and we'll rip apart time!" For a split second the Doctor stood there in complete awe of what his daughter was doing until he finally caught on and began to flip out at her, "No. NO! You are going to destroy reality! If you keep this up the engines will phase, the planet will shatter. And I'm not going to save them. You can live with the guilt of destroying an entire planet. Have that weight on your shoulders. Trust me, it's not a life you want to live. You will burn more than New York!" Again he was trying to guilt trip her, make her realise what could happen but of course Ella had had enough of this.
Her hand swung around and grabbed her father before pinning him to the console. "Listen here you outrageously grumpy git! I didn't waste fifty freaking years in this hideous dress and bare feet only to screw everything up so I suggest you shut up and hold on tight... this is going to get bumpy." Her fingers unclamped from the Doctor's collar before storming around the console to keep the engines from phasing out on her. Just like her father she was hissing and seething, abundance of curses leaving her lips as the TARDIS fought so hard against Ella's actions. "Boys, Fire up the back up engines! I need them running in case the first set blow. That small square of land is the only spot we can land and if we fail on this... then it's going to be my fault." And it would be her fault entirely if it failed.
The crackly voice responded in a flash. "Ma'am, we can do that for you, just keep her steady" Ella smirked, yanking a lever down. "Just you watch me boys. Just remember if this goes all so horribly wrong, I am so, so sorry... but I will do all I can to save everyone" And in that moment, promising the impossible just like her father, she glanced at him seeing that he had heard her do this. "And I mean it, no lies, no impossible promises… because for once... I have a plan…"
Sparks flew over Ella, the Doctor scrambling to her side and practically shouting at her. "A plan?! What plan, what are you even doing damn it?!" Ella refused to answer though as she concentrated on handling the TARDIS, forcing it to hold steady within the vortex. Her eyes trailed up to the Doctor's for a second, "Do you not ever shut up?!" Before her father could reply, Ella was dancing over broken glass with her bare feet, avoiding loose wires and other odds and ends, trying to miss being burnt by sparks. Once back to her father's side once more, Ella stared up at him and spoke through gritted teeth, "Like I said Doctor, I didn't waste my fifty years, I used them well." Her hand slammed down atop of a button, a scowl on her face as she passed her father. "How long until landing boys?!"
"Seconds Ma'am so I suggest you hold on!"
Ella glanced at her father, "Like I said, I would rip the world apart for you but I found a slight loophole. The TARDIS left a small imprint on earth in this time stream making it safe enough to land there without ripping apart New York." With another lever being pulled down, Ella turned away from her father, "Like I said… love a loophole."
He was wide eyed and practically stunned into oblivion by his daughter. He rushed to the scanner that was now out of Ella's reach and began to read the readings upon it. "...that is almost impossible! Wha- how?!" He glued his eyes to the screen as he jerked back and forth, a hand grasping the console for dear life.
"...One little imprint. Huh, the box can only do this once. You try sending it back to that time anymore after this...but it worked! Blimey, I don't know what you did, but it's actually working!" Oh how excited he was, how amazed and scared and all round amazed by this situation as he flew backwards as Ella hit the last switch a half grin on her lips, landing the box with precision. "Of course it worked you fool," Ella winked at the Doctor as she pulled her sonic from behind her ear. "Boys… make sure she'll stay tethered to her spot, can't have her stranded can we?" An instant reply came through the intercom, crackling like mad as Ella held her hand out to her father, "Shall we then Doctor?"
He stared at her, wanting to laugh at her actions but said nothing of it. He was a little pissed that he hadn't thought of it himself, oh look, there was his huge ego once more! He ignored his daughter's hand and furrowed his brow. "Let's get your silly show over with. No way had you managed this." Ella rolled her eyes and replied in a rather sarcastic voice, "Well at least put a freaking smile on your face!" Ella stormed off towards the doors and flung them open, wishing her father would be grateful of what the girl had done for him. All he could do was huff and walk on after her.
As the doors swung open, she was met by a Sontaran and a human looking man. The Doctor was a tad surprised that they were about but he shook away the thought as he stepped out into the snow laden street behind Ella. "My boys!" She grasped them tightly in a rather manly hug. "Where's the Silurian and her wife?" Ella grinned at them, letting go of the pair and stepping back. "She was working from home ma'am… you know how she gets." The Sontaran held a rather stony expression but all the same a small smile managed to creep on his face. "Ah I see, well you mentioned Pond was here, where is she?!" Ella was far too excited for this as the human lad gestured to the girl over on the steps.
At the mention of Amy, the Doctor's gaze wandered over to the girl upon the steps, her soft ginger hair falling at her shoulder and that mischievous gaze peering back at him. "Pond…" He murmured, tears stinging his eyes as he took a step closer because in all honesty he never thought he'd see the girl again. A grin cracked across his lips once more. Ella was already at Amy's side, offering a hand to the girl before tugging her to her feet and wrapping her arms around Amy. "Hey grandma," Amy held Ella closely, eyes flicking up at her raggedy man. "When you said you were going to return, I thought you were as mad as your father," Ella laughed at this comment because she knew that a matter of fact that it was true. "And do I pass with flying colours?" The girls stepped back from each other, both grinning. "Yes you did," Amy replied, "Yes… so much so."
The Doctor stood there in awe, so numb but yet so happy. It was like trying to contain so much excitement and he knew that he was already failing but hey… he didn't care. Amy stood before him, "Hey raggedy man." It was music to his ears, hearing those words once more. The Doctor was still for a moment, staring at before rushing at her and wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I never thought I'd see you again." Amy laughed, nearly being slammed to the floor by the Doctor and instantly hugged him back but there was something she needed to say to him.
Amy let go of him and hit him in the arm. "You're an idiot for sending her away!" She gestured to Ella who was standing there, an innocent smile on her face, "You have an amazing daughter there." The Doctor flinched at the hit and rubbed his arm a little but still smiled at Amy. "I know! I know, she really is amazing and I'm…" He spun to face Ella, "I'm sorry kid. You're everything to me, you really are and I should have listened to my mad daughter in the first place." He grabbed Ella and planted a kiss right on her forehead before letting go and placing an arm around his daughter and glanced up at Amy. "So… erm, how are you?"
Amy was rather amused at her raggedy man, "Well I was doing perfectly fine until she dropped out of the sky and onto my car…" She nodded to Ella who in return blushed a little. "… then suddenly she is talking about a Doctor and that it's her father then BAM… you're here too… Just like the good old day's right?" Of Course Amy was still not impressed with the Doctor's attitude and he could see that. "I guess it is," He chuckled softly, a smile on his lips. "I think we should get some tea," Amy finally asked as she glanced between the pair of them.
Ella nodded enthusiastically where as the Doctor grinned, "I'd be delighted to but first I have to get something first." He grinned, running back into the TARDIS and rushing back to one of the rooms. He laughed to himself as he rummaged through an old box, pulling out something that he hadn't worn in a long, long time. He wrapped it around his neck and tied it perfectly before rushing out "...wouldn't be cool without my bowtie now would, I?" He beamed as he looked between the two and straightened his bow. Possibly the best Christmas present ever.