Chapter 16: The Vixen's (Real) Mother
Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, I wouldn't be sitting in my room writing fanfiction, I would be writing all this as canon.
I know I didn't upload for the longest time but I had my exams and I really couldn't get any ideas. And I'm sorry if the Vixen is becoming the center of this story but if she isn't then what exactly is different, right? Anyway, newest chapter. Here you go.
The Doctor was entertaining Rory with an adventure while the Vixen was lying on the jumpseat reading The Historical Figures of Gallifrey, which of course included her, being a child of the very TARDIS they were in and adopted by Time Lords. But no one knew that but her and the TARDIS, not even the Doctor.
The Doctor said, "Then we discovered it wasn't the robot king after all, it was the real one. Fortunately, I was able to re-attach the head."
Rory looked to Amy as she came down the stairs and asked, "Do you believe any of this stuff?"
Amy replied, "I was there."
Lights started flashing on the console. The Doctor sighed. "Oh, it's the warning lights. I'm getting rid of those, Vixen, they never stop!"
The Vixen said without looking up from her book, "You do that and I'll skin you." The Doctor stopped hitting the console at that.
Rory caught up with Amy as she headed down another set of stairs. "Hey. You're still thinking about it, aren't you?"
Amy whispered, "Shhh! We saw her die!"
The Doctor came up to them and said, "Yes, 100 years in her future."
Amy hissed, "Yes, but it's still going to happen."
There was a knocking on the TARDIS door. The Vixen got up and whirled around. The Doctor, Amy and Rory joined her by the console. Amy asked, "What was that?"
The Vixen replied, "The door. It knocked." She pulled out her sword and walked slowly towards the door.
Rory swallowed. "Right. We are in deep space."
The Doctor agreed, "Very, very deep."
The knocking sounded again. The Vixen murmured, "And somebody's knocking." She hefted her sword before slowly opening the door and grinning. A small box was floating there, lit from the inside. The Vixen gave a small laugh and sheathed her sword. "Oh, come here. Come here, you amazing beauty!" She reached out a hand but the box whizzed by and into the TARDIS. It then zoomed back and hit her in the chest. The Vixen grinned at the Doctor as she held it between her hands.
Rory asked, "A box?!"
Amy asked, "Vixen, Doctor, what is it?"
The Doctor grinned, "We've got mail!" He bounded over to the console in glee.
The Vixen walked back to the console and explained, "Time Lord emergency messaging system. In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space."
The Doctor came over to the console and said, "Anyway, there's a Time Lord out there, and it's one of the good ones!"
The Vixen asked eagerly, shoving the box at him, "Good ones? He was one of the great ones!"
Rory said, "You said there were no other Time Lords left."
The Doctor said, "There are no Time Lords left in the universe, but the universe isn't where we're going!" He threw the box to Amy. "See that snake? The mark of the Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself without the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooh, she was a bad girl!" The Vixen gave him a look. "So I've heard."
The Vixen said, "I don't blame you, she was actually. Good in bed." She casually started working the controls.
Everyone stared at her in shock. The Doctor asked shrilly, "When did you and her... y'know?!"
The Vixen rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, it was during those couple of months we had broken it off, remember? You thought you were too 'dangerous' for me?" The Doctor still stared at her open-mouthed.
Amy said, "I get the feeling Jack would pay a lot of money to just hear that story."
The Vixen said, starting to drive, "He would. Doctor, close your mouth and drive." The Doctor nodded and started working controls.
The TARDIS sparked and shook. The four held onto the console. Rory asked, "What's happening?!"
The Doctor replied, "We're leaving the universe!"
Amy asked, "How can you leave the universe?"
The Vixen replied, "With enormous difficulty! Right now I'm burning up TARDIS rooms to give us some power." She hit a few buttons. "Goodbye, swimming pool three, goodbye scullery, sayonara, squash court seven!"
The TARDIS stopped with a jolt, and everyone grabbed the console to stop from falling. Amy asked, "OK. OK. Where are we?"
The Doctor replied, "Outside the universe, where we've never, ever been." The power winded down and the lights dimmed.
Rory asked nervously, "Is that meant to be happening?"
The Vixen replied, "It's the power. It's draining." She tried the controls frantically. "Everything's draining! But it can't. That's... That's impossible."
Rory asked, "What is that?"
The Doctor answered, "It's as if the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished. Where would it go?" He and the Vixen shared a look.
The Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS and stepped out followed by the Vixen, Amy and Rory. The surface was cluttered with rusting spaceships of various sizes. They began to look around.
Amy asked, "So what kind of trouble's your friend in?"
The Vixen replied, looking around the TARDIS, "He was in a bind, a bit of a pickle, sort of distressed."
Amy sighed, "Oh, you can't just say you don't know."
Rory asked, "But what is this? The scrap yard at the end of the universe?"
The Doctor corrected, "Not end of, outside of."
"How we can we be outside the universe? The universe is everything."
The Vixen put an arm around Rory's shoulders as she tried to explain, "Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside."
Rory nodded, walking with her, "OK."
The Vixen said, "Well, it's nothing like that." She pulled away from an even more confused Rory and put a hand on the TARDIS, walking around it. "Completely drained, look at her."
Amy asked, "So we're in a tiny bubble universe, sticking to the side of the bigger bubble universe?"
The Doctor replied, "Yeah. No. But if it helps, yes. This place is full of rift energy. She'll probably refuel just by being here. Now this place, what do we think, eh?" He some threw dirt into the air. "Gravity's almost earth-normal, air's breathable, but it smells like..." He searched for the right word.
Amy and the Vixen said in unison, "Armpits."
The Doctor agreed, "Armpits."
Rory asked, "Where did this stuff come from?"
The Vixen replied, "There's a rift. Now and then, stuff gets sucked through it. Not a bubble, a plughole. The universe has a plughole and we've fallen down it."
A woman, Idris, ran down a rocky path. "Thieves! Wolfy!" She ran towards the Vixen, whose breath hitched, never hearing anyone but her mother call her 'Wolfy'.
An old pair walked behind. The woman warned, "She's dangerous! Guard yourselves!"
Idris said, holding the Vixen's face in her hand, "Look at you! How you've grown! Goodbye! No, not goodbye, what's the other one?" She turned to the Doctor, leaving a bewildered Vixen, and said, "Oh, you've changed again! Marvellous!" She kissed the Doctor, who tried to pull away.
The man said urgently, "Watch out! Careful, keep back from her!" The couple pulled Idris away from the Doctor. "Welcome, strangers, lovely. Sorry about the mad person."
The Doctor asked, "Why are we thieves? What have we stolen?"
Idris replied hyperactively, "Me. You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me. Tenses are difficult, aren't they?"
The woman apologized, "Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head. They call me Auntie." She shook the Doctor and the Vixen's hands.
The man said, "I'm Uncle. I'm everybody's uncle. Just keep back from this one, she bites!"
Idris asked, "Do I? Excellent." She bit the Doctor's neck.
The Vixen winced as the Doctor muttered, "Ow! No, ow, ow!" The Vixen and the others pulled Idris away and the Doctor rubbed his neck as the Vixen checked for marks.
Idris said, "Oh, biting's excellent! It's like kissing, only there's a winner!"
Uncle apologized, "Sorry. She's doolally."
Idris protested, "No, I'm not doolally. I'm... I'm...It's on the tip of my tongue. I've just had a new idea about kissing. Come here, you!" She chased after the Doctor.
Auntie vainly tried to stop her. "Idris, no, no!"
The Doctor stood behind the Vixen, Rory and Amy, the Vixen's hand on her sword. Idris tilted her head. "Oh, but now you're angry. No, you're not. You will be angry. The little boxes will make you angry."
The Vixen asked, "Sorry? The little what? Boxes?" She and the Doctor exchanged a confused look.
Idris laughed suddenly, "Your chin is hilarious!" She reached forward and pinched the Doctor's chin then looked at Rory. "It means the smell of dust after rain."
Rory asked, "What does?"
"Petrichor."
Rory said, "But I didn't ask."
Idris replied, "Not yet. But you will."
Auntie said gently, "No, Idris, I think you should have a rest."
Idris nodded, "Yes, yes, good idea! I'll just see if there's an off switch." She then abruptly fainted.
Uncle asked as Rory knelt down, "Is that it? She dead now. So sad."
Rory checked her over and said, "She's still breathing."
Uncle instructed someone, "Nephew, take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people."
The Vixen turned and saw an Ood. She smiled, "Oh, hello!"
Amy asked, "Doctor, what is that?"
The Doctor replied, "It's all right. It's an Ood!"
The Vixen grinned, "Ood are good, love an Ood" She walked over. "Hello, Ood. Can't you talk?" She noticed the translator ball. "Oh, I see, it's damaged. May I?" She opened the translator and muttered, "It might be on the wrong frequency."
Auntie said, "Nephew was broken when he came here. Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us."
The Vixen fixed Nephew's translator and a message came over it. There were garbled messages in the background. "If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. Help! I'm still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet."
Nephew switched off the translator and Rory asked, "What was that? Was that him?"
The Doctor said, "No, no, it's picking up something else. But that's... That's not possible. That's..." He turned to Auntie and Uncle. "Who else is here? Tell me. Show me! Show me!"
Auntie replied, "Just what you see. It's just the four of us, and the House. Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?"
Nephew picked up Idris and took her away. The Doctor asked, "The House? What's the House?
Auntie replied, "House is all around you, my sweets. You are standing on him." Uncle jumped up and down. "This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?"
Rory asked incredulously, "Meet him?!" The Vixen pinched him. "Ow!"
The Vixen said, "We'd love to."
Uncle gestured for them to follow him. "This way. Come, please. Come." He and Auntie headed back inside.
Amy asked the Doctor and the Vixen. "What's wrong? What were those voices?"
The Doctor replied dazedly, "Time Lords. It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of... Time Lords." He walked off with the Vixen after Auntie and Uncle as Amy and Rory followed.
Auntie and Uncle lead the way to a large cavern. Uncle said, "Come. Come, come. You can see the House and he can look at you and he..." He gestured to a grate.
The Vixen looked through the grate. "Oh, I see. This asteroid is sentient."
Auntie said, "We walk on his back, breathe his air. Eat his food..."
Amy muttered, "Smell its armpits."
Auntie and Uncle's mouths moved in unison, but the voice wasn't theirs. "And do my will." The four were taken aback. "You are most welcome, travellers."
Amy swallowed. "Doctor… Vixen... that voice, that's the asteroid talking?"
The Vixen replied, "Yes." She peered into the grate. "So you're like a... sea urchin. Hard outer surface. That's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside. That's you."
House replied, "That is correct, Time Lord."
The Doctor said, "Ah! So you've met Time Lords before?"
House answered, "Many travellers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break."
The Vixen asked hopefully, "So there are Time Lords here then?"
House replied, "Not anymore, but there have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by."
The Doctor chuckled, "Well, there won't be any more after us. Last two Time Lords. Last TARDIS."
House sighed, "A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety. Rest, feed, if you will." Auntie and Uncle were freed from House's control.
Rory asked, "We're not actually going to stay here, are we?"
The Vixen shrugged, "It seems like a friendly planet. Literally. Mind if we poke around a bit?"
Auntie replied, "You can look all you want. Go, look. House loves you." She cupped Amy's face with both hands. Her left was definitely not that of a woman.
The Vixen noticed but didn't say anything. "Come on then, gang. We're just going to, erm... see the sights." The four of them left.
The Vixen and the Doctor were walking ahead of Amy and Rory. Rory asked, "So as soon as the TARDIS is refuelled, we go, yeah?"
The Vixen replied, "No. There are Time Lords here. I heard them and they need us."
Amy said, "You two told me about your people and you told me what you did."
The Doctor said, "Yes, but if they're like the Corsair, they're good, I can save them!"
Amy asked incredulously, "Then tell them you destroyed the others?! That you, Vixen, told your fiancé how to destroy your planet?!"
The Vixen murmured, "I can explain. Tell them why I had to."
Amy said in realization, "You want to be forgiven."
The Vixen asked, "Don't we all? I know, I didn't do it myself. But I betrayed my people, I was one of the only people who knew where the device was."
Amy nodded, "What do you need from me?"
The Vixen and the Doctor grinned. The Vixen replied, "My screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS. It's in my leather jacket."
Rory pointed out, "You're wearing your jacket."
The Vixen said, "My other one, Rory, pay attention."
"You have two of those?"
Amy said, "I'll get it, but, Vixen, Doctor, listen to me. Don't get emotional because that's when you make mistakes."
The Doctor and the Vixen saluted playfully. "Yes, boss."
Amy said, "I'll call you from the TARDIS." She tossed her phone to the Vixen. "Rory, look after them." She left back down the pathway.
The Doctor said, "Rory, look after her."
"Yeah." Rory nodded and headed after Amy as the two Time Lords continued on.
The mobile rang and the Vixen answered. Amy said, "We're here. Screwdriver's in your jacket, yeah?"
The Vixen took her screwdriver from her pocket, much to the Doctor's shock, and said, "Yeah, it's around somewhere. Have a good look." She activated the screwdriver, locking the doors of the TARDIS.
The Doctor said, "You lied to them!"
The Vixen said, "Doctor, there's something bad here. I can feel it, and I know you can too. I'm not about to lose any more friends." She walked off, the Doctor following.
The Doctor looked around a cavern. "Come on! Where are you? Now, where are you all? Where are you?" He noticed the Vixen behind him, who closed her eyes, sensing the other Time Lords.
The Vixen opened her eyes and pushed back a curtain, revealing a small alcove, entering it. The Doctor said from behind her, "Well, they can't all be in there."
The Vixen heard murmuring voices and turned around. "Shhh. Doctor…" A cabinet was set into the wall. The Doctor opened the door to see it filled with the glowing boxes. The voices were louder. They were all cries for help, and the Vixen's heart shattered at hearing their contents.
Auntie and Uncle came up behind them. The Vixen sensed them and snarled, eyes glowing, "Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection. Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here... but this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help from the long dead." She faced them. "How many Time Lords have you lured here, the way you lured us? And what happened to them all?"
Auntie said fearfully, "House, House is kind and he is wise."
The Vixen snapped as the Doctor held her back, "House repairs you when you break. Yes, I know. But how does he mend you?" She broke free and scanned Uncle. "You have the eyes of a 20-year-old."
Uncle nodded, "Thank you."
The Doctor looked at the results and said, "She means it literally. Your eyes are 30 years younger than you are."
The Vixen's eyes glowed in rage as she ripped off Uncle's hat. "Your ears don't match, your right arm is two inches longer than your left, and I imagine your dancing isn't very good, 'cause you've got two left feet!"
The Doctor said, "Patchwork people. You've been repaired and patched up so often, I doubt there's anything left of what used to be you. I had an umbrella like you once."
The Vixen put her sonic away and pulled out her sword, slapping Auntie's hand with the side of it. Auntie said, "Oh, now, it's been a great arm for me, this." She held up her arm.
The Vixen saw the tattoo and murmured, sheathing her sword slowly, "Corsair."
Auntie said, "He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he, Uncle? Big fella. I got the arm and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys."
The Doctor held the Vixen back as she scoffed, eyes filling with tears, "Kidneys. You gave me hope, and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. Rassilon knows what it will do to me! Go! Run!" She let the Doctor wrap his arms around her.
Auntie ran off as Uncle backed away. "Poor old Time Lords. Too late. House is too clever." He scurried off.
The Vixen sobbed and beat the Doctor's chest with her fists as he consoled her. "I should never have given you the Moment! Ever! I did this! It's all my fault! I killed them. I killed my friends." She stopped crying soon and wiped her eyes. "Amy was right, I shouldn't let my emotions get to me." The phone rang and the Vixen answered it. "Amy?"
Amy asked, "Vixen, are you alright? You sound like you're crying. What? We're not good enough for your smart new friend?"
The Vixen wasn't listening as she looked at the cabinet filled with boxes. "'The boxes will make you angry.' How could she know?"
The Doctor took the phone from her hands. "Amy?"
Amy asked, "Doctor, what is she talking about?"
The Vixen thought of something as memories flooded back into her mind. "Oh, Rassilon." She took the phone and said to Amy, "Stay put. Stay exactly where you are." She hung up. "Doctor, we need to find Idris. Come on." The two ran off down a tunnel.
The Doctor and the Vixen ran into a cavern and found Idris sitting in a cell. The Vixen asked, "How did you know about the boxes? You said they'd make me angry. How did you know?"
Idris looked up. "Ah, it's my thief and my Wolf."
The Vixen went closer and whispered, "Who are you?"
Idris smiled, "It's about time."
The Vixen asked again, "But who are you?"
Idris stood up and asked, "Do you two not know me? Just because they put me in here?"
The Doctor went closer and pointed out, "They said you were dangerous."
Idris smacked his forehead, "Not the cage, stupid. In here." She put a hand on either side of her face. "They put me in here. I'm the... Oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go..." She made the sound of the TARDIS.
The Vixen took a shaky breath as the Doctor asked, "The TARDIS?"
Idris replied, "Time and relative dimension in space. Yes, that's it. Names are funny. It's me! I'm the TARDIS."
The Vixen opened her mouth to speak but the Doctor cut her off, "No. You're not! You're a bitey, mad lady. The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box."
Idris nodded, "Yes, that's me. A type 40 TARDIS. I was already a museum piece, when you two were young, and the first time you touched my console you said..."
The Doctor opened his mouth to speak but this time the Vixen stopped him and said, "He said you were the most beautiful thing we had ever known."
Idris said, "And then you stole me. And I stole you."
The Doctor corrected, "We borrowed you." The Vixen was still trying to process this information.
Idris said, "Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever give you two back?"
The Vixen started grinning. "You're the TARDIS?"
Idris replied, "Yes."
The Vixen asked, "My mother?" The Doctor's mouth fell to the floor, and a couple stories under.
Idris replied softly, touching her cheek, "My daughter. My wolf." The Vixen laughed happily. "Oh! We have now reached the point in the conversation where you open the lock."
The Vixen used her sonic on the lock and Idris stepped out. She studied the Doctor's face. "Are all people like this?"
The Doctor asked, "Like what?"
Idris asked, "So much bigger on the inside? I'm... Oh, what is that word? It's so big, so complicated. It's so sad."
The Vixen asked, "But why? Why pull the living soul from a TARDIS and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?"
Idris replied, "It doesn't want me."
The Doctor asked, "How do you know?"
Idris said, "House eats TARDISes."
The Vixen asked, "House what? What do you mean?"
Idris replied, "I don't know. It's something I heard you say."
The Vixen asked, "When?"
Idris answered, "In the future."
The Vixen asked, "House eats TARDISes?"
Idris replied, "There you go." She put a finger each on the Vixen and the Doctor's lips. "What are fish fingers?"
The Doctor asked as the Vixen smiled, "When do I say that?"
"Any second."
The Vixen realized something and said, "Of course! House feeds on rift energy and TARDISes are bursting with it. And not raw. All lovely and cooked, processed food… Mmm, I miss fish fingers."
Idris asked, "Do fish have fingers?"
The Doctor said, "But you can't eat a TARDIS, it would destroy you. Unless, unless..."
Idris finished, "Unless you deleted the TARDIS matrix first."
The Doctor chuckled. "So it deleted you."
Idris went on, "But House just can't delete a TARDIS' consciousness, that would blow a hole in the universe. He pulls out the matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and feeds off the remaining Artron energy. You were about to say all that, wolfy. I don't suppose you have to now."
The Vixen remembered something. "Oh. Oh, crap!"
Idris chastised, "Mind your language!"
The Vixen said, "I'm 1,015 years old, mother, I really don't think I need to mind my tongue." She pulled out the phone. "I sent Amy and Rory in there. They'll be eaten. Amy! Amy! Rory, get the hell out of there!" She ran through the tunnels, Idris and the Doctor in hot pursuit.
Amy answered the phone and said, "Vixen, something's wrong."
The Vixen replied, "It's House. He's after the TARDIS. Just get out, both of you!"
Amy said, "We can't. You locked the door, remember?"
The Vixen ran through a cavern, "But I've unlocked it."
Amy snapped, "You stupid well haven't!" The Cloister Bell began to ring. "Vixen, I don't like this."
The Vixen ran towards the TARDIS, using her sonic to try and unlock the doors. She stopped in front of the doors and snapped her fingers. "Open! Open this door!" The Doctor came up and tried to help her open the doors. "Amy. Rory!" They pounded on the doors but stepped back as the TARDIS dematerialize.
The Vixen called Amy from the mobile. "Amy? Amy, can you hear me?" She shut off the phone.
The Doctor said, "OK. Right. We don't... I really don't know what to do." He smiled. "That's a new feeling." The Vixen slapped him on the cheek and then ran back inside, the Doctor behind her.
The Vixen and the Doctor entered a cavern to find Idris sitting down. Auntie and Uncle were there as well. The Doctor said, "It's gone!"
Idris asked, "Eaten?"
The Vixen shook her head. "No, it left. Not eaten, hi-jacked. But why?"
Auntie said, "It's time for us both to go, and keep together."
The Doctor stopped them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Go? What do you mean go? Where are you going?"
Auntie said, "Well, we're dying, my love. It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off."
Uncle said, "I'm against it.
"It's your fault, isn't it, sweets? Cos you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on them if there's none more coming, can he?"
Uncle finished, "So now he's off to your universe to find more TARDISes."
The Vixen replied, "It won't."
Auntie said, "Oh, it will think of something." She fell over with a groan and the Doctor rushed to check for a pulse.
Uncle said, "Actually, I feel fine." He stood then fell to the ground.
The Doctor said, "Not dead. You can't just die!"
Idris said, "We need to go to where I landed. Quickly."
The Vixen asked, "Why?!"
Idris replied, "Because we are there in three minutes, wolfy. We need to go now!" She started to run then stopped in pain. The Vixen helped her stand as she asked, "Roughly, how long do these bodies last?"
The Vixen scanned her. "You're dying."
Idris replied, "Yes, of course I'm dying. I don't belong in a flesh body. I could blow the casing in no time." The Vixen bit her lip. "No, stop it, wolfy, don't get emotional. That's what the orangey girl says. You're the Vixen and the Doctor. Focus."
The Doctor asked, "On what? How? We're two madpeople with a box, without a box!"
The Vixen said, kicking a piece of junk, "We're stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard! Oh."
Idris asked, "Oh, what?"
The Vixen started to grin. "No, we're not."
The Doctor asked, "Not what?"
The Vixen replied, "Cos it's not a junkyard. Don't you see? It's not a junkyard."
Idris asked, "What is it then?"
The Vixen said, "It's a TARDIS junkyard!" She and the Doctor grinned and headed for exit. "Come on."
The Doctor stopped. "Ooh, sorry, do you have a name?"
Idris scoffed, "700 years, finally he asks."
The Doctor said, "Vixen calls you mother, but what do I call you?"
Idris thought back as the Vixen chuckled. "I think you call me... Sexy."
The Doctor realized something and gagged. "Oh, oh God! Vixen, I call my mother-in-law Sexy!"
The Vixen said, "Well, if she's going to be your mother-in-law, you might as well call her that."
The Doctor nodded. "Right. Come on then. Mother." The three grinned and ran out.
The Vixen ran across the surface of the planet, scanning with her sonic screwdriver. Idris and the Doctor followed. They climbed atop a mound and looked down on a collection of varied ships. The Doctor said, "A valley of half-eaten TARDISes."
The Vixen asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Idris said, "I'm thinking that all of my sisters are dead. That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses."
The Vixen winced, "Ah. Sorry. No, I wasn't thinking that."
Idris replied, "No. You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models. And you don't care that it's impossible."
The Vixen grinned, "It's not impossible as long as we are alive. Rory and Amy need us. So, yeah, we're gonna build a TARDIS." She and the Doctor headed into the valley.
The Vixen, the Doctor and Idris had put together a shell of a room with a small console in the middle. Idris popped up and tapped a small piece of equipment with her finger. "Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter."
The Vixen replied from behind a mound, "Yes, yes, we have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before, you know. I know what I'm doing." She and the Doctor came around the corner dragging a piece of wall by a rope.
Idris said, "You're like two nine-year-olds trying to rebuild a motorbike in their bedroom. And you never read the instructions."
The Doctor protested, "We always read the instructions!"
Idris said, "There's a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for 700 years. What does it say?"
The Vixen growled, "That's not instructions!"
Idris persisted, "There's an instruction at the bottom. What does it say?"
The Doctor sighed, "Pull to open."
Idris asked, "Yes, and what do you do?"
The Vixen replied, "We push!"
Idris chastised, "Every single time. 700 years. Police Box doors open out the way."
The Vixen growled, threw down the rope and walked over to her mother, "I think I've earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!"
Idris asked, as the Doctor looked at the mother/daughter spat, "Your front doors?! Have you any idea how childish that sounds?"
The Vixen turned away and muttered, "Oh, so now you become all motherly!"
Idris called after her, "Because you are my child!"
The Vixen turned around and walked back. "You know, since we're talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you have never been very reliable."
"And you have?"
The Vixen said, "You didn't always take me and the Doctor where we wanted to go." She walked away.
Idris said, "No, but I always took you where you needed to go."
The Vixen stopped and murmured, "You did!" She whirled around, happy. "Look at us. Talking. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could always talk? Even when you're inside the box?"
Idris shook her head, "You know I'm not constructed that way. Your soul and I, we exist across all space and time, and you two talk and run around and bring home strays." She fell but the Vixen caught her.
The Doctor came up and asked, "You OK?"
Idris said, "One of the kidneys has already failed. It doesn't matter. We need to finish assembling the console."
The Doctor said, "Using a console without a proper shell. It's not going to be safe."
Idris said, "This body has about 18 minutes left to live. The universe we're in will reach Absolute Zero in three hours. Safe is relative."
The Vixen grinned, headed back to the piece she and the Doctor were dragging and picked up the rope. "Then, we need to get a move on, eh, old girl?"
The TARDIS now had three walls up and the Doctor was carrying a central column over his shoulder to the console. Idris said, "You'll need to install the time router."
The Doctor asked, "How is this going to make it through the rift?" He and the Vixen slipped the column into place. "We're almost there."
The Vixen checked everything. "Thrust diffuser. Er, Retro scope. Blue... thingy."
Idris asked, sifting through the junk, "Do you wonder why I chose you all those years ago?"
The Vixen replied, as the Doctor checked under the rotor, "We chose you. You were unlocked."
Idris answered, "Of course I was. I wanted to see the universe, so I stole two of my favourite Time Lords and I ran away. And you two were the only ones mad enough."
The Doctor joined the girls and looked back at the console. "Right. Perfect. Look at that. What could possibly go wrong?" A small piece fell off. "That's fine, that always happens. No! Hang on! Wait!" He grabbed a red velvet rope.
The Vixen handed Idris one of the ropes and they latched them onto the console. The Doctor said, "Right. OK, let's go. Follow that TARDIS!" The console didn't move. Idris saw her reflection in a mirror and played with her face.
The Vixen said desperately, "It can't hold the charge. I can't even start it. There's no power!" She exasperatedly put a hand over the mirror. "I've got nothing!"
Idris sighed, "Oh, my beautiful daughter. You have what you've always had - you've got me."
The Vixen realized what Idris was getting at. "Oh."
The Doctor asked, "'Oh'? 'Oh' what?"
Idris kissed her finger, imbuing it with energy, and then placed it against the central column. The energy circled them with a field and they dematerialized as the Doctor and the Vixen grinned at each other.
The makeshift TARDIS followed the path of "the" TARDIS to the universe. The ride was a little rough, though the Vixen and the Doctor were enjoying the experience. They had to shout to be heard. The Doctor cheered, "Whoo-hoo!"
Idris reported, "We've locked on to them! They'll have to lower the shields when I'm close enough to phase inside."
The Vixen asked, "Can you get a message to Amy? The telepathic circuits are online."
Idris asked, "Which one's Amy? The pretty one?" She messaged someone telepathically. "Hello, Pretty!"
Rory's voice asked, "What the hell is that?"
The Vixen butted into the message. "Don't worry. Telepathic messaging. No, that's Rory."
Idris said to Rory, pushing her daughter out of the way, "You have to go to the old control room. I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields."
The Vixen asked, "The pretty one?"
Idris went on, "You'll have about 12 seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix. I'll send you the passkey when you get there. Good luck!" She ended the message.
The Doctor asked, "How's he going to be able to take down the shields anyway? The House is in the control room."
Idris replied, "I directed him to one of the old control rooms."
The Vixen said, "There aren't any old control rooms. They were all deleted or remodelled."
Idris answered, "I archive them. For neatness. I've got about 30 now."
The Doctor said, "But I've only changed the desktop, what, a dozen times?"
"So far, yes."
The Vixen said, "You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet!"
Idris replied, "YOU can't."
The Doctor said, "Keep going! We're doing it!" He and the Vixen worked on getting the makeshift TARDIS closer to the real one.
Idris, meanwhile, sent another message to Rory for the passkey. "Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor."
After a few moments, Idris said, "They did it. Shields down!" The makeshift TARDIS closed in on the other. Idris sent another telepathic message to Rory, "We're coming through. Get out of the way or you'll be atomised."
Rory's voice asked, "Where are you coming through?"
Idris replied, "I don't know."
"Oh, great. Thanks!"
Idris said to the Vixen and the Doctor, "It's not going to hold!" The makeshift console materialized by the ramp of their old control room. The Vixen heard a voice behind her. "Vixen!"
The Vixen grinned, got up and caught Amy as she ran into her arms. Idris stood up slowly. "Not good. Not good at all." The Doctor helped her sit. "How do you walk around in these things?"
The Vixen walked over and said, "We're not quite there yet... just hold on. Amy, this is... Well, she's my mother. Except she's the TARDIS. She's my mother, and she's the TARDIS."
Amy asked, "She's your mother and she's the TARDIS?!"
House's voice was heard in the control room, "The Environment has been breached. Nephew, kill them all."
The five looked around for the Ood. Rory asked, "Where's Nephew?"
Amy said, "He was standing right where you materialised."
The Doctor shrugged, "Ah. Well, he must have been redistributed."
Rory asked, "Meaning what?"
The Vixen winced, "You're breathing him."
"Eugh!"
The Vixen grinned at the Doctor, "Another Ood I failed to save."
House said, "Doctor, Vixen, I did not expect you."
The Doctor said, "Well, that's us all over, isn't it? Lovely old unexpected us."
House said, "The big question is, now you're here, how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity..." They all fell down, fighting the pull until House released it. Idris collapsed on her own and Rory went to her side. "or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke."
The five gasped for breath. The Vixen choked, "You really don't want to do that!"
House returned the air. "Why shouldn't I just kill you now?"
The Vixen replied, "Because then we won't be able to help you! Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don't have the thrust and you know it. I'm your only hope for getting out of your little bubble, through the rift, and into my universe. And mine's the one with the food in! You just have to promise not to kill us. That's all, just promise."
Idris whispered to Rory as Amy said to the Doctor, "She can't be serious." The Doctor gave her a look.
The Vixen said, "I'm very serious. I'm sure it's an entity of its word."
Rory said, "Vixen, she's burning up. She's asking for water."
The Vixen knelt and took Idris' hand and stroked her face. She smiled, "Hey. Hang in there, old girl. Not long now. It'll be over soon."
Idris sighed, "I always liked it when you call me... old girl."
House asked, "You want me to give my word? Easy. I promise."
The Vixen stood up, "Fine. OK. I trust you. Just delete, ooh, 30% of the TARDIS rooms, you'll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate sub-routine Sigma-9."
House asked, "Why would you tell me this?"
The Vixen replied, "Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do. And I'm nice."
"Ye-e-s. I can delete rooms, and I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Vixen, very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lords. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris." There was a flash of bright light.
The five of them materialized in the console room. The Vixen said, "Yeah. I mean you could do that, but it just won't work. Hardwired fail-safe. Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room. But thanks for the lift!"
House said, "We are in your Universe now, Vixen. Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."
The Vixen grinned at the Doctor, "Fear ME. I've basically killed all of them."
Rory murmured to Idris, "I don't understand. There isn't a forest in here."
The Vixen said, "Yeah, you're right. You've completely won. Oh, you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways, but before you do kill us allow me, my fiancé and friends Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an absolutely worthy opponent." She started to clap before grabbing Amy by the arm and forcing her to stand. They applauded together.
Amy said, "Congratulations!"
The Doctor caught on to what the Vixen was doing and said, "Yep, you've defeated us, me and my lovely friends here at last but…"
The Vixen finished, "…definitely not least the TARDIS Matrix herself, a living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body and look at her!"
Rory said, "Vixen, she's stopped breathing."
House snapped, "Enough! That is enough." Amy went over to Rory and Idris.
The Vixen snarled, eyes glowing, "No. It's never enough. You forced the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room. A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS Matrix and live. Look at her body, House."
House scoffed, "And you think I should mourn her?" The Doctor went next to Amy and Rory, letting the Vixen handle the rest.
The Vixen grinned coldly, "No. I think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room." Energy flowed from Idris as she opened her mouth. "You took her from her home. But now she's back in the box again and she's free!" The energy streamed throughout the room, changing the green light to golden.
"No! Vixen, stop this! OW! Stop this now!"
The Vixen growled, "Oh, look at my mother, look at her go! Bigger on the inside! You see, House?"
"Make it stop!"
"That's your problem. Size of a planet, but inside you're just so small!"
House grunted, "Make it stop!"
The Vixen growled, "Finish him off, mother." House groaned and yelled and the TARDIS took back her home.
When it was silent, the Doctor, Amy and Rory noticed Idris' body was gone. Idris' voice called, "Wolfy? Are you there?" The Vixen turned from the console to see a glowing projection of Idris. "It's so very dark in here."
The Vixen said softly, "I'm here."
Idris said, "I've been looking for a word. A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now."
The Vixen whispered, "What word?"
Idris smiled, "Alive. I'm alive!"
The Vixen chuckled, "Alive isn't sad."
The Doctor, Amy and Rory watched, The Doctor holding them close. Idris said, "It's sad when it's over. I'll always be here. But this is when we talked and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you."
The Vixen asked, "Goodbye?"
Idris replied, "No, I just wanted to say... hello. Hello, Vixen. It's so very, very nice to meet you."
The Vixen said tearfully, "Please! I don't want you to go. Please!" She stepped back as the projection dissipated with a bright light and the familiar TARDIS sound.
Idris said faintly, "I love you."
The Vixen wiped her eyes and faced the console as the Doctor came over and wrapped his arms around her.
Later, the Doctor and the Vixen were sitting opposite each other in the swing seats under the console working on wires. Amy and Rory watched from above. Rory asked, "How's it going under there?"
The Doctor replied, "Just putting a firewall around the Matrix. Almost done."
Rory and Amy walked down the steps as Amy asked the Vixen, "Are you going to make her talk again?"
"Can't."
Rory asked, "Why not?"
Amy grinned, "Spacey-wacey, isn't it?"
The Doctor said, "Well actually, it's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleventh-dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then..."
Rory touched two wires together and they sparked. The Vixen sighed, "Yes, it's spacey-wacey!"
Rory winced, "Sorry. At the end, she was talking. She kept repeating something. I don't know what it meant."
The Vixen stood up, "What did she say?" She and the Doctor looked to Rory.
Rory replied, "The only water in the forest is the river. She said we'd need to know that someday. It doesn't make sense, does it?"
The Doctor answered, "Not yet. You OK?"
Rory sighed, "No. I watched her die. I shouldn't let it get to me, but it still does. I'm a nurse."
Amy sat on the bottom, holding onto the rail. The Vixen grinned, "Letting it get to you - you know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now, that's all that counts." She sat in her swing.
The Doctor said, "Nearly finished. Two more minutes, then we're off. The Eye of Orion's restful, if you like restful. I can never really get the hang of restful. What do you think, Vixen dear? Where shall we take the kids this time?"
The Vixen replied, "I don't know, Doctor, my love. Maybe we should ask Grandma."
Amy chuckled, "Look at you three. It's always you two and her, isn't it? Long after the rest of us have gone. A boy, a girl and their box, off to see the universe."
The Vixen grinned, "Well, you say that as if it's a bad thing. But honestly, it's the best thing there is. The House deleted all the bedrooms. Doctor, you should make these two a new bedroom." She turned to Amy and Rory. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Rory leant over and whispered something to Amy, who said, "OK. Doctor, this time, could we lose the bunk beds?"
The Doctor replied, as the Vixen chuckled, "Nah, bunk beds are cool. A bed with a ladder! You can't beat that." They looked at him. "It's YOUR room. Up those stairs, keep walking till you find it. Off you pop!"
They started up the stairs but Rory stopped. "Vixen, Doctor, do YOU two have a room?" Amy grabbed Rory's arm and pulled him up the stairs.
The Vixen shook her head fondly and said, "Doctor, you can go have a shower, I'll finish up in here." The Doctor nodded and went off down one of the corridors. The Vixen wiped off a few spots and connected two wires causing another bright spark.
The Vixen threw down her rag and used her sonic on one spot of the console. She made to use some controls but stopped. She asked, "Are you there? Mother? Can you hear me?" She chuckled dejectedly. "I'm a silly old... OK. The Eye of Orion, or wherever we need to go." Next to her, the lever moved on its own, starting dematerialization. The Vixen laughed happily. "Hello!" Giddily, she spun around the console. "Whoo-hoo!"