Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
A/N: I went back and edited a portion of the previous chapter, to try and stay true to the timeline. The trouble with this episode is that because they go back in time, it's hard to line up what the past and future versions of them are doing simultaneously. Sorry if things don't line up, I've done my best but as I say, it's tricky to figure out what's happening when.
Before the Flood – Part Three
O'Donnell and Bennett couldn't have imagined how difficult it would be, to lie hidden behind barrels, knowing that someone was about to die and they could do nothing to stop it. It wasn't long before Prentis returned from taking readings; they saw him enter the TARDIS, heard the blood-curdling roar drown out his screams, and watched the Fisher King heave the stasis chamber out of the chamber and leave the craft, heading towards the church. "We don't have long" the Corsair said grimly, getting to his feet and pulling them up as well.
/
The Doctor and Romana gripped each other's hands tightly, stumbling backwards against the chamber as the Fisher King loomed over them. "Time Lords" he hissed contemptuously, his stale breath reeking, "Cowardly, vain curators who suddenly remembered they had teeth and became the most warlike race in the galaxy. But you two!" he snarled, glaring down at them, "You are curious. You have both seen the words. I can hear them tick inside you. But you are still locked in your history. Still slavishly protecting Time. Willing to die rather than change a word of the future".
/
Emily, Clara and Cass came to an intersection; unsure of which way the other two would have gone, Clara began to head down the right hand corridor, whilst Cass turned left. Emily rolled her eyes – so much for not splitting up – and called, "This way, Clara". The two of them caught up with Cass, and walked on either side of her. Emily took the lead, knowing that she could follow the faint mental trace to Flavia and therefore Lunn. Unbeknownst to any of them, Moran's ghost was trailing them, hefting a large fireman's axe over his shoulder and being deathly silent.
/
"You will both be strong beacons" the Fisher King growled, wondering, "How many ghosts can I make of you?" He stepped back and turned, taking a few steps away from them.
"You and the Tivolians have quite a lot in common" Romana commented, hoping her nerves weren't betrayed in her voice, "You're both willing to do whatever it takes to survive. The difference being that the Tivolians will surrender and submit to anyone, whilst you hijack the dead and create electromagnetic projections of them. Not sure which method I prefer more, to be honest".
"Yes, it's remarkable, really" the Doctor agreed, "That will to endure. That refusal to ever cease. It's extraordinary. And it makes a fella think. Because you know what? If all I have to do to survive is tweak the future a bit, what's stopping me?" he asked rhetorically, before answering himself, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the ripple effect. Maybe it will mean that the universe will be ruled by cats or something, in the future.
"But the way I see it, even a ghastly future is better than no future at all. You robbed those people of their deaths, made them nothing more than a message in a bottle. You violated something more important than Time. You bent the rules of life and death. So we are putting things straight. Here, now, this is where your story ends" he declared firmly. The Fisher King glared at them and growled; they stood their ground and stared right back.
/
Unbeknownst to anyone in the Drum, the stasis chamber lying in the hangar began to open. Flavia and Lunn, of course, were preoccupied with trying to escape the mess hall. Somehow the ghosts had managed to deadlock the door, rendering Flavia's sonic all but useless. "I swear, I really need to have this upgraded" she grumbled, hitting the sonic against her palm. Perhaps she could ask the Corsair… A sudden, unpleasant sensation made her stiffen. "Oh, dear…Lunn, I don't mean to alarm you, but I have a feeling our friends have left the Cage".
"How can you tell?"
"We all have an underlying minor psychic connection and I can sense Emily approaching" Flavia explained in a rather deadpan tone, "I rather doubt Clara and Cass wouldn't have noticed her leave".
Lunn's eyes widened in alarm; in his panic he attempted to prise the door open with his bare hands. "We have to get out of here!"
"Working on it" Flavia muttered, trying once more to sonic the door open…despite it so far proving fruitless.
/
Cass and Clara followed Emily, as she in turn sensed Flavia's presence…but she wasn't the only one sensing a presence. Years of deafness had made Cass more aware of her surroundings than ever, and she could not shake the feeling that they were being watched, followed…every time she'd looked over her shoulder before now, she'd seen nothing, but the feeling still lingered...up ahead, Emily peeked round a corner and quickly pulled back.
"Pritchard and Prentis are there" she whispered to the others, peeking out again to see what the two ghosts were doing…not much, actually, they just stood there swaying on the spot.
"What about Moran?" Clara hissed in reply. Emily simply shook her head; he wasn't there. Cass frowned in suspicion…if Prentis and Pritchard were there, but Moran wasn't, and she'd felt like they were being watched – she quickly turned, and screamed at the sight of Moran hefting an axe above his head, poised to strike. He slammed the huge blade down right where Clara had been standing, had she not leapt out of the way at the last second. Her heartbeat racing a mile a minute, all Clara could do was shout, "RUN!"
She and Cass dodged past either side of Moran; Emily leapt over the axe embedded in the floor and dashed after them. "This way!" cried Emily, ducking down a corridor she knew would lead them back to the mess hall Lunn and Flavia were trapped in. When she looked over her shoulder to check her friends were following, she saw Pritchard and Prentis join Moran in stalking towards them. At least this means none of them are waiting to ambush us she thought, to look on the bright side.
/
The Fisher King had heard enough; these Time Lords were mere irritations compared to his might, and they would soon join the ranks of his ghostly beacons. "There is nothing you can do" he asserted, aiming his weapon at the Doctor and Romana, prepared to end them and this pathetic excuse for a resistance.
"We've already done it" the Doctor informed him calmly, "The words have gone. We got rid of them. That future we saw, none of that will happen now".
"The message will never be embedded into anyone's subconscious, no-one will be killed, and your armada will never arrive".
"That's the thing about knowing you're going to die; you've got nothing left to lose" the Doctor finished triumphantly. The Fisher King snarled; he had to ensure the symbols were still there, that they were bluffing as he suspected…he knew of the Time Lord's dedication to preserving time. Angered by this delay, he shoved Romana into the Doctor's arms and swiftly strode away, up the stairs to the upper level. "Romana, are you alright?" the Doctor asked, concerned, as he helped her to her feet.
"Yes; come on, we don't have much time" she reminded him, turning to the stasis chamber. She really hoped that the Corsair, Bennett and O'Donnell were getting back to the TARDIS, and that Clara and Emily were safe…
/
At that moment, more or less, Clara and Emily were running up to a deadlocked door. Emily pulled out her sonic and flashed the lock, unaware of the deadlock seal; but doing so at the same time as Flavia overwhelmed the seal, and the door shot open. "Come on, we need to – guys, you can hug later!" Emily protested impatiently, as Lunn and Cass embraced, relieved to see each other alive and well.
The ghosts of Moran, Prentis and Pritchard appeared from around the far corner, approaching them down one corridor…the five of them made to run down the other, only for the ghost of the Doctor to step out of the wall, blocking their escape route. "What do we do?" Lunn demanded, looking between the Doctor and the three other ghosts, "We're trapped!"
"Well, the Doctor's ghost isn't armed" Clara pointed out.
"Yeah, but those three are, and they're between us and the Cage!" Lunn pointed out. Just then, one of the phones in his hands started ringing.
Emily snatched it from him and slapped it to her ear. "Mum?" she asked urgently, and then said "Mum says go to the hangar or the bridge. Which is nearer?"
Lunn quickly signed out 'hangar, bridge, nearer?' to Cass, who thought for a moment and then beckoned for them to follow, leading them right through the Doctor's ghost and towards the hangar. Emily heard her mum hang up and lowered her phone; she hoped her mother was okay.
/
The Fisher King marched into the spaceship, ignoring the body of the Tivolian lying on the slab, and turned to the bulkhead. The four symbols were still engraved on its surface, ready to infect all who observed them… "The Time Lords lied" he growled, frustrated. He turned, his heavy cloak sweeping behind his towering form, and stalked out of the craft. He would find those Time Lords, hunt them down and make examples of them…but he was distracted from his bloodthirsty quest by a sudden explosion, up at the top of that dam…
For a moment he could only stare at the cracking dam, wondering how the Time Lords had found time to plant an explosive up there…but the Fisher King quickly came to his senses and hurried back to the ship. He would have to escape and bring his armada to this backwater planet himself. It occurred to him that the Time Lord he'd first encountered, the one with the blaster, had perhaps not died as he'd initially believed – but the man would be no threat now, undoubtedly injured and nowhere to be seen.
Alas, the Fisher King's hubris would be his undoing. He powered up the spacecraft, raised the ramp up and prepared for take-off…but then he went to disengage the gravitational controls, to allow the craft to rise and escape Earth's gravity with little energy wasted. That was when he discovered the Corsair's sabotage; both the thrusters and anti-gravs were disabled, the wires and cables cut, and one of the engines wasn't even firing. The Fisher King gave a roar of frustration and stormed out of the craft. He would make these Time Lords pay.
He ran, not marched, towards the church, to the buildings where he knew their time machine must be. He'd blast open the door and slaughter them inside if he had to, but they would not snatch his victory from him at this final hour! As he approached the church, or warehouse, he saw that Time Lady dragging the stasis chamber out into the open. He ran towards her, but a second explosion sent him stumbling and made her look up. She lowered the chamber and then ran for her life, pursued by the Fisher King.
A hand reached out of thin air, grabbed her outstretched one and pulled her into an invisible craft. The Fisher King skidded to a halt and roared in anger and hate; he rushed towards the space he'd seen the Time Lady disappear, intending to tear his way into the time machine. He was knocked back by the temporal breeze as the craft dematerialised, and by the time he'd hefted himself to his feet, it was too late. The lake water crashed down from the now crumbled dam, flooding the valley…the Fisher King roared once more, arms outstretched, as the wall of water slammed into him and swept him away.
/
The five trapped in the Drum ran into the main hangar, Cass leading the way. The ghosts pursuing them walked past the door moments after it slid closed…hopefully, the ghosts would keep out. That hope was short lived when the first three ghosts returned and moved through the door, advancing menacingly on them. "Back, get back" Clara urged them, nudging Emily back towards…the stasis chamber, which started to clunk and hiss out steam.
Lunn, Emily, Flavia and Clara spun around, looking between the ghosts and the chamber. Lunn tugged Cass around as well; they looked back and forth, once more trapped between a ghostly rock and a hard place. The three ghosts paused, staring at each of them in turn as if trying to figure out which one to attack first. Emily eyes widened as she turned back to the stasis chamber, finally sensing a very familiar presence within…at last, the countdown ended, and the lid sprang open, to reveal none other than –
"Dad!" cried Emily, delighted, rushing over to help her father climb out of the stasis chamber. She wrapped her arms around his waist and happily declared, "I knew it! I knew you wouldn't die!"
He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and with his other hand, adjusted his sonic sunglasses, staring through them at the ghosts. The ghosts flickered and disappeared from view. "How did you"- Clara started to ask, but the Doctor pulled away from the hug and declared, "Follow me".
He led them back to the bridge, where the TARDIS was waiting for them. The Corsair emerged from the time machine, holding up his sonic and a thumbs-up. The Doctor tossed him the sonic sunglasses and then moved to pull Romana, who had stepped out behind the Corsair, into a deep kiss. "Give me a break" he murmured when he pulled back, "I haven't done that in a hundred and thirty nine years".
"Does one of you want to explain what's going on?" Clara inquired, although she was pleased to see all the reunions. "Those ghosts are still out there, you know!"
"Not for long" the Corsair announced, flicking a switch on the control panel. He'd attached the sonic sunglasses to his screwdriver, and stuck the screwdriver in a port – now, a guttural roar emanated throughout the base.
"What is that?" asked Lunn.
"Mr Ugly" O'Donnell replied, much to his bewilderment. The Doctor pointed at the CCTV footage of the Faraday Cage, where his 'ghost' was standing, mouth open, roaring loudly…and the ghosts were responding, moving towards the noise. "It's the roar of their master" he explained, "The Fisher King. Recorded on the Corsair's sonic and combined with a holographic projection from the glasses". They watched as the four ghosts entered the Cage, walking through the flickering 'ghost' Doctor. The real one remotely closed the doors from the bridge, trapping the ghosts inside.
There was a few moments of silence, and then Clara asked, "So, wait…your ghost was a hologram the whole time?"
"Projected from my glasses. Like the one we made of Lunn to lure the ghosts into the Faraday cage. With a soupçon of artificial intelligence, and a few pre-recorded phrases thrown in. As soon as you brought me and the chamber on board, it connected with the base's Wi-Fi and Bob's your uncle, you've got a ghost Doctor." the Doctor explained, removing them and the sonic from the port, tossing the sonic back to the Corsair.
He caught it deftly in one hand, twirled it in his fingers and looked over at Flavia. "So how did you manage whilst we were gone, V?"
"Quite well, actually…apart from your hologram releasing the ghosts so they could steal our phones" she replied, giving the Doctor a pointed look. It promptly went ignored, as he beckoned Emily over and put the sonic sunglasses on her, instructing her to "Stay still. I think you all owe my daughter an apology".
"What, why?" asked Clara, frowning in bewilderment.
"She told you my ghost wasn't like the others and you didn't believe her".
"Neither did you, dad" Emily pointed out, not accusingly, "But I honestly don't care. I'm just glad you're okay".
"So, what are the ghosts?" asked Lunn.
"Electromagnetic projections that were out of sync with the base's day mode, hence why they only came out at night" Romana explained, just as the Doctor removed the sonic glasses. "We just need to erase the memory of the symbols from all our minds, so there's no danger of any of us…accidentally summoning an army of Fisher Kings" she explained, taking the glasses from her husband and putting them on herself.
/
It wasn't long before everyone had their minds cleared of the symbols – "Though you might find you've lost a couple of other memories too. You know, like people you went to school with, or previous addresses or how to drink liquids" the Doctor warned them.
Bennett asked, "What will happen to the ghosts?" He was still all too aware that O'Donnell could have been one of them; if she'd tried to help the Corsair, if the Fisher King hadn't left to do…something, he still wasn't clear on what exactly had happened back in the abandoned base. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, reminding himself that she was still there.
"We've contacted UNIT" explained the Corsair, "They'll remove the Cage with the ghosts and send it into orbit. Away from the Earth's magnetic field, the ghosts will just fade away".
"And they'll destroy the spaceship, so the writing can't affect anyone else" Romana added.
"Good riddance, I say" O'Donnell announced, before grinning and throwing an arm around Bennett's shoulders, "By the way, guess what? Mason and I are dating now!" She turned her head and kissed him on the cheek, prompting a soppy, blushing grin to appear on his face.
"Wow, congratulations" Lunn smiled at them; Cass tapped his shoulder and signed something out to him. "Err…Cass says, 'It's about time'" he explained for the benefit of everyone else, and they all chuckled. Bennett shrugged and just said, "Well, I realised that sometimes you just have to go for it. There's no point in wasting time, because things can change in an instant and then it's too late".
"You've got to grab the chance when it comes" O'Donnell agreed, "If you like someone, you should just tell them and see what happens, instead of never telling them and regretting it later" she advised…eyeing the Corsair as she did so.
"Speaking of which…Lunn, can you translate something to Cass for me?"
"Of course" he agreed, with an inquisitive look.
"Tell her…tell her that you're in love with her and that you always have been".
"What?" Lunn's mouth dropped open in shock. Cass noticed and frowned in bewilderment, nudging him to ask what was wrong. A suddenly flustered Lunn looked between her, Bennett and O'Donnell, who was giving him a thumbs-up. He swallowed nervously and relayed the message to Cass; at first she seemed confused, looking between him and Bennett. "Oh, God, no. I was just passing on what he said. Please, don't feel"- Lunn's hasty attempt at a verbal retreat soon ended when Cass pulled him into a kiss.
"Huh…good thing she felt the same way" Emily remarked.
"Yeah" the Corsair glanced at Flavia, "I guess some people are just lucky that way".
/
Later, a rescue sub had come to pick up the Drum's crew and the Time Quintet, along with Clara were back on board the TARDIS. Clara said curiously, "Here's what I don't understand. You guys did change the future. You stopped the Fisher King from returning".
"The Fisher King had been dead for a hundred and fifty years before we even got here" the Doctor replied, "But once we went back, we became part of events. But here's the thing. The messages my ghost gave, they weren't for you; they were for us. That list – it started with the order people died in, until it reached the Corsair, but you and Emily being the next names on the list meant I couldn't take the risk that the Corsair surviving was just a fluke. Romana and I recorded the phrases whilst we were sneaking to the church".
"Is that why your ghost said 'the chamber will open tonight'?" asked Emily, "To tell yourself to get in the stasis chamber and set it to open today?"
"Exactly" the Doctor nodded, giving her a proud smile.
"Clever" Flavia admitted, "But really, you could have saved us all a lot of trouble if you hadn't had your ghost release the others from the Cage".
"I didn't have a choice, Flavia…am I supposed to apologise?" he asked Romana genuinely; she just smiled and shook her head fondly at him.
"How do you mean?" Clara frowned in bewilderment.
"Think about it. I programmed my ghost to say and do those things because that's what you lot told me it was saying and doing. I only created the ghost hologram in the first place because I knew it was there. I was reverse engineering the narrative".
Flavia blinked in surprise, as the penny dropped, and admitted "Okay, fair enough. I suppose you didn't have a choice".
"I still don't get it" Clara said, confused.
"Put it this way, then; when did I first have those ideas, Clara?"
"Well, it must have been…" she trailed off as the realisation hit her. "Wow".
"Exactly" the Doctor smiled mysteriously, "Who composed Beethoven's Fifth?"
"Beethoven, I'm guessing" the Corsair snarked, breaking the moment and making them chuckle. He rubbed his head and declared "Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to take care of".
/
Ten minutes later, the Corsair sighed in relief as the bone regenerator finished its job. The Fisher King had shoved him into the wall harder than he'd let on; a tiny, hairline crack had appeared on the left hand side of his skull. At first he'd been too dazed by the concussion to feel the pain, and then the TARDIS had provided painkillers which numbed it to the point he could focus – which he was grateful for, and he'd made a mental note to clean out the thermo-couplings as a thank you.
It was all taken care of now, and no-one would be the wiser. He set the medical equipment back where he'd found it and made his way to his bedroom, flopping down on the king sized mattress with a huff. "What a day…well, actually, I suppose it was pretty par for the course. I mean, we almost died, so that's nothing new" he noted idly. He had a habit of talking to himself when he was alone in his room…or as he preferred to think of it, expressing his thoughts aloud.
"I can't believe O'Donnell thought I'm into someone. As if. This Time Lord is one hundred percent unattached, a lone wolf, utterly….oh, who am I kidding?" he scoffed, looking over at the photo frames hanging up on the wall. Most were just of particularly pretty explosions or high tech weaponry he'd taken a shine to…but three in particular, reminded him of what he'd gained lately.
The first was a photo of him with one arm around Amy Pond and the other holding Melody, with River standing on her 'twin' sister's other side, and Rory besides his wife. The second was of the Time Quartet, before Emily hadn't been born, and they weren't even posing, Amy had just snapped the picture whilst they were in the console room. The third picture was a proper 'family portrait', taken back when the Doctor was still in his last incarnation and Emily was just a little tyke.
In each of the last two pictures, he was standing next to or near Flavia. When they took pictures like this, it only made sense for the Doctor to stand beside Romana but he didn't need to stand next to Flavia. He didn't need to partner up with her on adventures, either…it was just that the Doctor always wanted to go with Romana, which was only fair, so he and Flavia were paired up by default.
"It's not like she needs protecting or anything" he told himself, "I just like teasing her…getting on her nerves…making her blush…ugh. What am I saying? I'm not into Flavia. Okay, maybe a bit – she is pretty hot. Especially when she lets her hair down, literally, and she's quit being a stick in the mud by now..." he heaved a sigh and muttered, "There's no point dwelling on it, it's not like she'd even consider me and her being…I need a shower" he decided, heaving himself off the bed.
Afterwards, he went to get a drink from the kitchen; something ice cold and preferably alcoholic. Of course he would walk into the same kitchen as Flavia, just as she was reaching up to a shelf. Her white tank top slid up, revealing a lightly tanned midriff, and her ebony hair dangled in damp, curling strands around her shoulders, and he focused very hard on the back of her head because of course she would have her back to him…then she turned round and started when she noticed him, nearly dropping the jar of tea bags she was holding.
"Oh! Don't do that" she chided, with a small laugh, "I need to hang a bell on you".
"If you want" he countered cheerfully, walking over to the fridge and peering inside. Damn it, they were out of beer…he'd make do with a Coke. "Nice top" he added, snapping the tab and taking a sip of carbonated goodness.
Flavia glanced down at her top. "Oh, it's just…I mean, that adventure was rather stressful, you know, so I was just going to go to…uh…"
"Wait…were you about to say 'go to bed'?" the Corsair asked, smirking, "I gotta admit, I never took you for the type to sleep in a tank top".
"I'm not! I mean – that is – I just threw it on. It was just there, so…oh, honestly, I don't know why I'm explaining myself to you".
"No, please, continue, it's fascinating" he grinned at her, "In fact, why don't you give me a demonstration?"
He is so infuriating sometimes Flavia grumbled to herself, trying and failing to hide the blush that was flooding her face with crimson. Well, two can play at that game. "You know, Lunn said the most outrageous thing earlier" she remarked casually, refusing to look directly at him.
"Oh, yeah? What was that?"
"He asked if you were attracted to me" she replied…and to be honest, she took immense satisfaction in seeing the way he spluttered on his Coke. It was about time he was the one getting flustered…
"How'd he"- the Corsair cut himself off quickly.
"Oh, I don't know how he got that impression" she shrugged, "You know what humans are like, they see links between everything. I told him there was nothing between us".
"Yeah…you know, O'Donnell thought I was into someone. Just cos I said I don't go after people who aren't interested".
"Did she? What a coincidence. Is that why she kept glancing at you, when she and Bennett were talking about taking opportunities and not regretting anything?"
"You noticed?" he asked, surprised…then he face-palmed when he realised what he'd just said.
"I'm rather observant, apparently" she remarked drily…but then she eyed him curiously, a sudden suspicious thought hitting her. "Corsair, be honest…back on Skaro, when we nearly…well, when we thought we were about to get killed, you were going to tell me I was pretty…was that actually what you were going to say?"
"Err…honest, you said? Okay…" he hesitated, but…maybe O'Donnell was right. Maybe he should just get this over with… "I err, I was actually going to say…I always thought you were hot. Hot and err…well…this would be so much easier if it wasn't you I was talking to".
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing! I just meant – I mean, we're friends, right, so it's awkward. I can ask complete strangers if they wanna get it on cos I'm never gonna see them again, but you're…always…around…"
By now, Flavia was frowning slightly in bewilderment. "Are you…saying you are attracted to me?" she asked, "And you want to…but you…Corsair, we've been living under the same roof…in a manner of speaking…for over five centuries now. Why haven't you ever brought this up before?"
"I did! I mean, I tried, but you always brushed it off as a joke or we were too busy – and besides, like I said, it's awkward".
"Well, yes, but…all that flirting and teasing…why didn't you just ask me?"
"Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
"That would be nice, yes!"
"You would have said 'no'!" he snapped, "In fact, you would have run for the hills! I mean, granted, at first I had other things on my mind, but you were so stiff back then - that was not a Freudian slip, I just meant… you were proper. You wore smart clothes and kept your hair tied back, and kept trying to act like the Chancellor you used to be…I told you, I don't hit on women who aren't interested, and I've known the whole time that there's not an icicle in hell's chance that someone like you would ever want to sleep with someone like me!"
At this point Flavia was staring at him, mouth agape. "I…I…"
The Corsair scoffed bitterly. I knew she'd be revolted… "I spelled it out for you, just like you asked. Are you happy now?" he asked sarcastically, turning on his heel and heading towards the door.
"I…wait! Corsair!" she called after him, but he ignored her, heading back to his room. He really wasn't in the mood for getting rejected tonight…or ever, really.
Flavia didn't pursue him; she just slid into a seat at the table and dropped her head into her hands. What do I do now?
/
A/N: Yeah…thought it was time the whole Corsair-Flavia thing got a bit of actual development instead of minor hints. I'm just as interested as you guys to see how this plays out, but I think I could get used to writing tsundere Corsair.