The ship had been hurtling through deep space for almost two hours now, and the initial rush of adrenaline had long since worn off of the three passengers sat inside the holding area of the spacecraft. The Doctor rested his chin on his hands and inspected the floor beneath them, while Missy propped her feet up and leant against the wall of the ship, occasionally breaking into bursts of song. Clara sat opposite them, and the Doctor suddenly noticed that she was fidgeting in her seat uncomfortably.
"Why are you doing that?" He half-whispered to her curiously.
Clara's cheeks flushed a slightly darker shade of pink, "I err…I need to use the bathroom." She ignored the short eruption of giggling now coming from Missy's direction.
"You want to have a bath…now?" The Doctor responded, his face the picture of confusion.
"No!" Clara exclaimed, exasperated. She intensified her stare in attempt to get him to understand without explicitly spelling it out. A second later, the penny dropped.
"OH!" He slammed his hand against the bench in realisation before calling out, "SARFF!"
The seal of the holding area door suddenly opened noisily and Colony Sarff glided in.
"Would you mind escorting my young friend to the facilities?" He motioned towards Clara who hastily rose to her feet. A hissing sound filled the air as Sarff looked her slowly up and down before allowing her to follow him out.
"Humans eh?" Missy called after Sarff, "Such a weak bladdered bunch…" Her laughter was met with no response as the door resealed itself, leaving the Doctor and Missy alone.
The room fell silent besides the gentle hum of the engine as the pair fiercely avoided eye contact, both determined not to be the first to speak. Several moments passed before the Doctor reluctantly cleared his throat, knowing the stubbornness of the woman sat beside him all too well to realise if he didn't break the silence, then nobody would.
"So…Not dead then…"
Missy grinned and slowly turned her head teasingly towards him, "Did you think for even a moment that I would be?"
He decided not to answer that. It was true, he had seen her hide the vortex manipulator on her wrist behind the gravestones in the cemetery. He had noticed the distinct flash of teleportation swallow up her body a split second before the cyberman's disintegration beam could hit her. He had chosen to ignore it all and let her live. But then of course he just had to give himself away...
"Although you knew I wasn't, didn't you hun?" Missy taunted, guessing exactly what he was thinking. "Because otherwise, you wouldn't have sent me this."
She wriggled one of her hands free from the snake binds and reached into her pocket for the confession dial, throwing it up into the air and deftly catching it again.
"Do you think you could possibly stop throwing that thing around it really is quite important. And put your hands behind your back again unless you want them to realise their security measures are less than effective and have them tie you up in something a little more secure?"
Missy rolled her eyes with a smirk, "you should be so lucky..." but bound her hands behind her back again all the same.
An oddly comfortable silence fell before either of them spoke again.
"Sooooo…" Missy began, clicking her heels together, "Aren't you going to ask me?"
The Doctor's eyebrows shifted even further down his face into a frown, "Ask you what?"
She mimicked his frown and tutted in her usual sing-song voice, "Now, don't pretend that you're not dying to ask me because I know yoooou are!"
He stared at her in silence, not willing to play this game again. He deliberately turned his head away from her and determinedly looked back out of the window, to which Missy rolled her eyes and gave a dramatic sigh.
"Fine, fine, you don't want to talk that's fine because I'll just go back to singing shall I? The acoustics in here are perfect anyway, you know we should start a band you and me, now you've got your little guitar. And yes, Clara can join us too I wouldn't want you think I'm leaving out your little pet, tell me, how do you think she'll feel about playing the triangle?"
"I don't know that rather depends on how you feel about shutting up!"
Missy faked an offended gasp, but the playful smile never left her lips. The Doctor could feel her eyes burning into the back of his head as she began to sing her way through several octaves, and he sighed in exasperation.
"Okay, okay." He eventually turned to face her again in defeat, "If you insist, I will ask you once and once only…Why did you do it?"
"Why did I do what?"
"Missy!" He shot her a warning look, his patience wearing thin. "Why did you lie to me about the coordinates?"
She held his gaze and exhaled slowly before eventually giving her answer. "I had to."
The Doctor stared at her intently and she instinctively went to move closer to him before the restraints on her hands pulled her back, "Don't you see?" she breathed, the usual mockery in her voice replaced with a pleading trace of sadness, "It was the only way I could be sure you'd come back for me and…and I've missed you."
As those last three words fell from her lips the doctor felt his hearts sink deeper into his chest and he found himself fighting back an overwhelming urge to reach out and hold her right there and then. The moment seemed to linger forever before he spoke again.
"So, do you…do you know the real coordinates?" He stammered, unsure whether he really wanted to hear the answer. Missy hesitated.
"I can't tell you…You'll go looking without me. And don't try and tell me you won't because you've already proved that you would. And we have to go together. You and me. Home."
The Doctor shook his head not knowing what to say, and Missy desperately tried again.
"We could now if you want? Right now. Just us. You don't have to die tomorrow, I can re-route this ship in a second. I'll kill the driver and we can just-"
"No!" He interrupted suddenly, "No more killing, not this time."
She rolled her eyes as though she'd just been mildly inconvenienced. "Fine, if it makes you feel better I'll just stun the driver."
"I mean it Missy," he warned, "absolutely nobody on this ship is dying under any circumstances do you understand?"
"Except you." She retorted, doing her best to mask the fear in her voice. The doctor heard it anyway and felt the guilt wash over him.
"I have to do this." He sighed.
Missy turned away, hiding the sadness in her eyes but nodded her head in understanding. "I know."
A heavy silence filled the room once again as the two sat staring out in opposite directions, lost deep in thought. It was broken several moments later by Clara's returning footsteps echoing down the corridor outside and heading back towards them. Just before the door's seal was opened and Clara could re-enter, Missy heard the Doctor's voice again. A barely audible mumble only just loud enough for her and her alone to hear;
"I've missed you too."