Katy sat on the leather seat by the TARDIS console, playing with the fraying hem of her nurse's uniform, doing all she could to remain calm. She had been so stupid. The TARDIS had called to her, all but begged her to reach out and assimilate part of the vortex energy that made it tick. And like an idiot, she had done so. She had saved the Doctor's life. For what? She could have stolen the TARDIS for herself, flown away from Earth, and started anew, and now she was stuck jumping through time. Rose had been right. No one was supposed to take on that amount of energy, and it seemed like she was paying for it now. Had been for years. She sighed when she realised, she had picked apart some string from her blue scrubs, feeling someone come to sit beside her.
"I'm never going to be able to go back there, am I? The hospital?" Katy asked.
"No" The Doctor responded, softly.
"How long does it last? Before I jump again?" Katy questioned.
"It's never the same. Sometimes only a few hours, other times it can be days. We've been trying to increase your molecular density to—" The Doctor began, but she cut him off with a scoff.
"What year is it?" Katy pushed, as the Doctor grew uncharacteristically quiet.
"What year is it?" Katy insisted, this time turning to the Doctor's companion, Amy, who had been silent so far.
"2010" Amy replied, as Katy froze, looking like all the breath had been stolen from her lungs.
"...Three years. I've been having to do this for three years" Katy murmured, in disbelief.
"More like four really..." The Doctor trailed off, when he saw the angry look Katy gave him.
"Oh, it's not so bad. We went to Venice last week, that was...well, there was the danger and running...but apart from that, it was good. Mostly good" Amy tried to reassure the other woman.
"And I travel with you? Both of you?" Katy inquired.
"And Rory" Amy added, as Katy's forehead wrinkled.
"Who the fuck is Rory?" Katy asked.
"Hello!" A man suddenly announced, walking up the steps to the console, and waving his hand toward her.
"My boyfriend" Amy grinned, throwing her arm around his shoulder.
"Fiancé" Rory corrected, as Amy gave a curt nod.
"Fiancé" Amy clarified.
Katy shook her head, pushing herself to her feet, barely listening to what they had to say now. Three...no, four years. She had spent so long just wanting the truth of who she was, and now she had it. And it had ruined her. How could she have a life like this? What was the point? She walked past Amy and Rory, walking toward the viewing screen of the wall, able to see the bright stars the TARDIS flew by as they drifted through space. It was comforting somehow.
"Rio!" The Doctor suddenly announced, as Katy turned to him with confusion etched over her features.
"It's your first proper adventure in the TARDIS. Let's make it a good one, eh?" The Doctor suggested.
"Rio, on Earth right? Not somewhere that they have dog heads, or the sky screams?" Amy pushed.
"Have a little faith, Pond. In fact, think of this as an early Wedding present" The Doctor grinned, as Amy and Rory shared a look.
"He's totally gonna' take us to the wrong Rio" Amy whispered to her fiancé, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the console room, presumedly to get changed.
As the Doctor inserted the coordinates to their new destination, his eyes continuously flickered over to Katy's, whose gaze was still firmly on the viewing screen. He hadn't seen her at this point in her timeline for a while now. She looked so young. So unsure. She didn't even know him yet. Not really.
"Thank you" The Doctor called out to her, as she turned back to him once more.
"For what?" She frowned.
"You saved my life" The Doctor stated, remembering how the Judoon had been about to kill him.
They would have shot him again during his regeneration. The Time Lord's would have been at an end. He supposed the Katy back then might have enjoyed that.
"I guess this new regeneration of yours remembers a thing called gratitude" Katy pointed out, beginning to walk up the steps to the console.
"I was angry back then. You killed those Judoon. You didn't even think twice about it" The Doctor went on, as she pursed her lips.
"It was kill or be killed. I thought a Time Lord of all people would understand that" Katy scoffed, as the Doctor gave her a sad look.
"It will get better, you know. All that anger you feel. It gets better" The Doctor told her.
"Right. I suppose you think you make me a better person or something, huh?" Katy muttered, bitterly.
"No. But they do" The Doctor stated, confusing her yet again.
"Amy and Rory?" Katy asked, finding it a little hard to believe, as the Doctor nodded.
"And the other people we meet. You can try to fight against it, Katy, but they'll change you. Humans always do" The Doctor said, with a small smile.
"...I want the future" Katy announced, as the Doctor's brow furrowed.
"It's my first trip, right? I want the future then" Katy insisted, turning around to sit back down on the leather seat by the console, crossing her arms.
"Easy. Let's say...2020-ish" The Doctor replied, beginning to press the buttons on the typewriter on the console.
"Bit of fixer-upper, isn't she?" Katy pointed out to the typewriter the Doctor had welded onto the console.
"Says the girl who made a quantum forcefield from a radio" The Doctor mocked.
"At least my device was...sleek" Katy retorted, as the Doctor gave her a mock gasp of hurt, stroking part of the console.
"Don't listen to her, girl" The Doctor whispered.
"Did you just stroke—" Katy began, but the Doctor cut her off quickly.
"No. No, of course not" The Doctor murmured, refusing to turn back to her.
"Sexual harassment" Katy exclaimed, under her breath, as the Doctor turned to gape at her.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right retort, his cheeks turning redder by the second, much to Katy's amusement. He raised his finger toward her, letting out a groan, before he twisted back around.
"You're blushing" She teased, as the Doctor reached up to touch his flushed cheeks.
"I am not" He retorted, making her snort.
"Totally are" Katy insisted, rising to her feet, and coming to slide in next to him by the console.
"Am not!" He grumbled, causing her grin to widen.
The TARDIS was lurching to the side a moment later, as the pair were almost thrown to the ground. Katy was surprised when the Doctor reached out to grab her arm, attempting to steady her. His eyes flickered down to his hand a moment later, quickly retracting it, and straightening his bowtie as if nothing happened. Katy gave a subtle shake of her head, cursing herself for joking around with the man. As far as she could see, he was the reason for everything going wrong in her life. Well, maybe that was a little dramatic, but still...it was nice to finally have someone to blame.
"Are we here?" Amy called out, reappearing in shorts and a jacket, Rory close by her side.
"Are all your companions' pretty girls too young to know better?" Katy suggested, as the Doctor pursed her lips.
"Wha...no! Look at Rory!" The Doctor responded, ushering toward where Rory was standing awkwardly.
"Alright. Pretty humans, too young to know better" Katy smirked, as the Doctor rolled his eyes and began ushering the group toward the TARDIS doors.
"Behold, Rio!" The Doctor announced, swinging the TARDIS doors open, as cold wind blew past them.
Katy's brow furrowed as she saw instead of a sunny beach they were met with a dreary graveyard, rainclouds circling above them. The group left the warmth of the TARDIS, as Amy shook her head, clearly disappointed.
"Easy, huh?" Katy teased, as the Doctor gave her an unamused look.
"Ooo, feel that, though. What's that?" The Doctor exclaimed, jumping up and down on the spot.
"Ground feels strange...just me. Wait. That's weird" The Doctor murmured, as Amy pulled her jacket further over her shoulders.
"Is he always this in denial when he gets our destination wrong?" Katy scoffed, earning a nod from Amy.
"Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We're in the wrong place. Doctor, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio...We are not stopping here" Amy insisted, as Katy herself began to feel a chill through her thin nursing scrubs.
"Exactly. There's nothing the least bit interesting...here..." Katy trailed off, eyes narrowing when she spotted a patch of blue grass next to a grave.
"You were saying?" The Doctor grinned, ripping up some of the blue grass to inspect it on his hand.
"It's still not Rio" Katy complained, as the Doctor licked his finger, holding it up in the air.
"Hmm. Let's see. South Wales...2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot" The Doctor shrugged, as Amy spotted something strange on the other side of the valley.
"Why are those people waving at us?" Amy inquired, as they saw two people trying to grab their attention.
"Can't be...it is! It's you two!" The Doctor gaped, bringing a pair of binoculars out of his jacket, and taking a closer look at the newcomers.
"No, we're here. How can we be up there?" Rory pointed out, as Katy grabbed the binoculars from the Doctor and found he was right.
A slightly older Amy and Rory were waving back at them, almost with smiles on their faces. Katy could tell the expression was forced, having plastered a fake smile on her own face too many times. Katy's frown deepened when she saw Amy appeared to have tear tracks on her cheeks, clearly upset by something.
"Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine. Humans, you're so nostalgic" The Doctor exclaimed.
"We're still together in ten years?" Amy mumbled, eyebrows raised.
"No need to sound so surprised" Rory huffed.
"Hey, let's go and talk to them. We can say hi to future us. How cool is that?" Amy giggled, as Katy gave her a look of disbelief.
"Er, no, best not. Really best not. These things get complicated very quickly—" The Doctor started, as Katy cut him off.
"You haven't told them about the dangers of crossing their own timeline?" Katy gaped, as the Doctor averted his eyes.
"Oh look! Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing" The Doctor went on, quickly changing the subject, spotting a large structure in the distance.
"We're not going to have a look, are we?" Amy groaned.
"Let's go and have a look. Come on, you lot, let's see what they're doing" The Doctor grinned, reaching for Katy's hand, in what seemed like an instinctive gesture.
He stopped the movement just an inch away from Katy's hand, shaking his head quickly before he began to rush down the hill. Katy followed behind him, forehead wrinkled in confusion. Were they actually friends in the future?
"So, is this what you do then? Find something that looks out of place and stick your nose in?" Katy inquired, as they neared the large mining equipment, coming to a metal fence.
"And run. Trust me, there will be lots of running" The Doctor informed her.
"And you bring them along for, what? Human shields?" Katy suggested, as the Doctor let out a long sigh.
"You don't think very much of me yet, do you?" The Doctor replied, as she shrugged.
"I'm assuming the feelings mutual" Katy stated.
"I think the world of you, Katy. I always have" The Doctor confessed, bringing out his a device from his pocket and pointing it toward the lock on the metal gate.
Katy flinched at the lock suddenly sparked before opening a second later, as she stayed in amazement at the Doctor's sonic...
"Is that a screwdriver?" Katy laughed.
"Sonic screwdriver" The Doctor replied, holding the device up, and pressing a kiss to it.
"Compensating for something?" Katy teased, as he shone the device toward her.
"Stop" He complained, despite the amusement in his own eyes.
"Breaking and entering already?" Amy called over to them, rushing closer.
"Where's Rory?" The Doctor inquired.
"Putting my ring in a safe place. Spoilsport" Amy sighed.
"Oh, and they say romance is dead" Katy murmured, pushing the metal gate open.
The security around the mining site was disturbingly lacking, as even the back door to the main building wasn't locked. Even the security cameras didn't seem to be in operation. Something felt off, that was sure. The Doctor led them down numerous corridors, vents spreading through the ceilings above them.
"What about now? Can you feel it now?" The Doctor asked, as both she and Amy shook her head.
"It's ten years in the future. Maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels" Amy suggested.
"Good thought, but no, it doesn't. Hear that, drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass..." The Doctor trailed off, placing a few blades of the grass against his tongue, before spitting it back out.
"Oh, please. Have you always been this disgusting?" Amy giggled.
"No, that's recent. What's in...here? Hello!" The Doctor announced, smiling at a woman as they entered a larger room, computer equipment set up at all ends.
"Who are you? What're you doing here? And what're you two wearing?" The woman frowned at them, as Katy remembered she was still wearing her nursing scrubs.
"I dressed for Rio" Amy grumbled.
"And he kidnapped me" Katy added, gesturing to the Doctor, who nudged her in the stomach.
"Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science. New Ministry, quite big, just merged. It's lot of responsibility on our shoulders. Don't like to talk about it. What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, rushing over to look at the computer screens.
The two began to converse over the strange readings on the screen, but Katy was far more interested in the strange patch of Earth in the middle of the room. She picked up some of the soil in her hand, finding it felt much finer than it should have. Another thing that didn't make sense. She spared a glance over her shoulder as a stranger entered, middle-aged with white hair. Not a threat, she deemed quickly.
"Where's your boyfriend at?" Katy asked Amy, who was leaning against a nearby drill.
"Hmm?" She frowned, not paying attention.
"Rory" Katy clarified.
"Oh, he'll catch up in a minute" Amy shrugged, not appearing concerned about her fiancé's whereabouts.
"Right. You all need to get out of here very fast" The Doctor announced, tapping on Katy's shoulder, gesturing for her to move away from the soil.
"Why?" The woman asked.
"What's your name?" The Doctor inquired.
"Nasreen Chaudhry" The woman responded, placing a hand on her hip, growing tired of the Doctors questions.
"Look at the screens, Nasreen. Look at your readings. It's moving" The Doctor informed her, as Katy took a closer look at the screen, finding he was right.
The earth beneath them was shifting in a way that certainly wasn't natural.
"Doctor, this steam, is that a good thing?" Amy questioned, watching as steam began coming out of the earth.
"Shouldn't think so. It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting. The ground, the soil, the earth, moving. But how? Why?" The Doctor muttered, as confused as the rest of them for once.
"Earthquake?" Amy suggested, as the ground beneath them shook violently.
"Doubt it, because it's only happening under this room" The Doctor stated, his brows drawn together.
All of a sudden, the ground shook again, as more holes of earth appeared as if the ground was collapsing beneath them. The Doctor jumped over one of the holes to stand close beside Katy, whose eyes were wide, wondering if the ground was about to swallow them whole.
"It knows we're here. It's attacking. The ground's attacking us" The Doctor announced, as if he could hear her own thoughts.
"No, no that's not possible!" Nasreen insisted, in a desperate tone.
"Under the circumstances, I'd suggest...run!" The Doctor ordered, grabbing Katy's hand and pulling her away as more holes opened up all around them.
He kept his vice-like grip on her hand until they made it to the safety of the other side of the room, only turning when they heard a shout behind them. The older man's foot had become stuck, as the soil beneath him appeared to begin tugging him down.
"Tony!" Nasreen screeched.
"Stay back, Amy! Stay away from the earth!" The Doctor warned, as Amy's eyes darted between him and Tony.
A moment later, she was jumping over one of the holes, and crouching down beside Tony, despite what the Doctor had said. She grabbed his arm and began trying to wrench him free when the floor collapsed underneath her feet, causing her to let out a cry. The Doctor and Katy were both racing forward, as Amy started quickly sinking into the ground.
"Doctor, the ground's got my legs!" Amy shouted, as the Doctor crouched down to grab her hand, trying to stop her descent.
"I've got you" The Doctor exclaimed, seeing how Nasreen managed to pull Tony free out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't let go" Amy pleaded, as her eyes connected with the Doctor's.
"Never" He replied, grabbing onto her with both hands.
"Your drill, shut it down. Go. Now!" Katy yelled at Nasreen and Tony, hoping it would somehow stop what was happening.
"Can you get me out?" Amy questioned, as Katy turned back to the young girl.
"Amy, try and stay calm. If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand" The Doctor pushed, having to put all his strength into keeping a hold of her.
"I'm not going to let you go" The Doctor protested, when Amy's legs were suddenly tugged further into the ground, and his grip failed.
Katy was surging forward instantly, grabbing onto Amy's other hand, helping to stop her descent. She began pulling at her arm, causing Amy to let out a screech, pain ripping down her shoulder.
"No, no, don't. Your rip her arm off" The Doctor warned, reaching out for Amy's other hand.
"What the hell do you want me to do then?!" Katy cried, in a panic.
"I can't hold on!" Amy exclaimed, as she was dragged down to her neck.
"What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there" Amy mumbled, tears beginning to well in her eyes.
"Amy, concentrate. Don't you give up" The Doctor told her, feeling her hand beginning to slip through his fingers.
"Tell Rory..." Amy trailed off, with a sob, as she was slowly pulled under.
"No. Amy! Amy, no! No, no, no!" The Doctor cried, as she disappeared under the soil.
Katy kept her grip on Amy's hand until even that was gone, a panicked sound leaving her own lips. She watched as the Doctor desperately began digging in the soil as if he could somehow get her back. Dozens of emotions flashed over the Doctor's face...sorrow, guilt, anger. Katy didn't realise Time Lords were truly capable of feeling so much.
"No! No, no...NO!" The Doctor yelled, slamming his hands on the floor, before he jumped to his feet, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.
He looked in despair at the readings the sonic gave, seeing Amy was now nowhere to be seen. She was gone. He had lost her. He blinked a few times, inhaling sharply as Katy thought he was close to tears. He then looked down at her, the hurt back on his features.
"Don't say it. Just don't" The Doctor shook his head, scrunching his eyes shut, as Katy stood up.
"...It wasn't your fault" Katy exclaimed, before she realised what she was saying.
"There was nothing you could have done" Katy went on, as the Doctor's eyes slowly opened, giving her a sad nod.
For some odd reason, Katy found herself wanting to reach out to take his hand, surprised at how much she hated the devastated look on his face. Katy's mind suddenly went to Rory, as she ran a hand through her hair. She barely knew the pair, but...no one deserved to die like that.
"Where is she?" Nasreen called out, as Katy realised they had finally turned the drill off.
"She's gone. The ground took her" The Doctor murmured.
"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling? Doctor, that is ridiculous" Nasreen complained, having listened to the Doctor's ramblings for the last few minutes.
"I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right...Oh, of course. It's bio-programming" The Doctor sighed, having scanned the earth again.
"Bio-programming? That's an actual thing? I thought it was just a theory" Katy frowned.
"Oh, it's clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future and not here. What's it doing here?" The Doctor explained.
"You're not making any sense, man" Tony complained.
"Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack to stop you drilling. Okay, so we find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Amy. We can get her back. Shush, shush, shush. Have I gone mad? I've gone mad" The Doctor went on, noticing something odd.
"You say that like it's a new thing" Katy scoffed.
"Shush, shush. Silence. Absolute silence" The Doctor insisted, placing his finger against Katy's lips to stop her from talking.
She raised an eyebrow at his action, causing him to quickly pull his hand back, running a hand through his hair, his cheeks growing just a hint of red once again. Katy opened her mouth to question him when she noticed she could hear a strange sound coming from the ground.
"You've stopped the drill, right?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes" Nasreen sighed, crossing her arms.
"So, why can I still hear drilling" Katy pointed out, as the Doctor kneeled to the ground, placing his ear to the floor.
"That's not possible" Mack gaped, despite now being able to hear the sound himself.
"Oh no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen complained, as the Doctor jumped to his feet, flashing the computers with his sonic screwdriver.
"Hacking into your records. Probe reports, samples, sensors. Good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation. Let's have a look. So, we are here and this is your drill hole. Twenty-one point zero zero nine kilometres. Well done" The Doctor congratulated.
"Thank you. It's taken us a long time...We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years" Nasreen told them, as Katy shook her head.
"You see something weird and think, oh, you know what would be a good idea, let's grab a nice big drill and start slicing through the earth? What could go wrong?" Katy said sarcastically.
"You're starting to sound like me" The Doctor grinned, causing her to roll her eyes.
"Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down" The Doctor announced, as the screen showed a group of new tunnels.
"What are they?" Nasreen asked, pointing to three dots glowing on the screen.
"Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?" The Doctor asked.
"Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in. Not easy now with the pandemic and all—" Tony stated, as the Doctor cut him off.
"Grab this equipment and follow me" The Doctor ordered, shutting the lid of the computer.
"Why? What're we doing?" Nasreen replied.
"That noise isn't a drill, it's transport. Three of them, thirty kilometres down. Rate of speed looks about a hundred and fifty kilometres an hour. Should be here in ooo, quite soon. Twelve minutes. Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now" The Doctor announced, as Katy rushed to grab the other computer, following him without another word.
"Who are you, anyway? How can you know all this?" Tony called after them, as they rushed back to the small village, away from the mining station.
All of a sudden, red lightning erupted all over the sky, in the form of a dome. Surrounding them completely. Katy muttered a curse under her breath, knowing an energy barricade when she saw one. They were well and truly fucked.
"No, no, no" The Doctor sighed, bringing a catapult out of his jacket and firing a nearby rock into the shield.
It hit the barricade and was vapourised in a split second, causing the Doctor to groan. He knew the situation was as hopeless as Katy did.
"Where the hell were you keeping that?" Katy scoffed, as he pushed the catapult back into his jacket.
"Bigger on the inside. Kind of like you" The Doctor grinned, making her snort.
"Doctor, something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people" Rory called over to them, followed by a middle-aged woman and child.
"Not now, Rory. Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in" The Doctor murmured, trying to form a plan in his mind.
"Okay, what about the Tardis?" Rory suggested, as the Doctor shook his head.
"Er, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes" The Doctor stated.
"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory inquired, glancing at his watch.
"We're trapped, and something's burrowing towards the surface" Nasreen informed them, but Rory's mind was stuck on something far more important.
"Where's Amy?" Rory realised, looking around for his fiancé.
"Get everyone inside the church. Rory, I'll get her back" The Doctor exclaimed, grabbing the computer equipment and ushering the group forward.
"What do you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?" Rory insisted, not moving.
"She was taken. Into the Earth" The Doctor confessed, having a hard time meeting Rory's eyes.
"How? Why didn't you stop it?" Rory pushed.
"I tried. I promise, I tried" The Doctor sighed, as Rory glared at him.
"Well, you should've tried harder!" Rory shouted, squaring up to his friend.
"There was nothing anyone could have done, Rory. Not even you" Katy told him, placing herself in between the two, coming to the Doctor's defence without even realising it.
"I'll find Amy. I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me" The Doctor all but pleaded, as Rory shook his head, but reluctantly began to follow the others.
The Doctor was surprised when Katy suddenly reached out to grab his arm, pulling him back, an angry expression on his face. She seemed to be singing his praises a second ago, but now?
"Why did you say that? You can't promise him anything! She could be dead for all you know!" Katy pointed out.
"Will it help to tell him that?" The Doctor retorted.
"Lying to him certainly won't" Katy muttered, releasing her grip on his arm.
"Hey. I wasn't just saying that to him. I need you by my side, Katy. You've got my back, right?" The Doctor asked, his eyes boring into hers, with an emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on.
For the second time that day, she truly began to question what their relationship was in the future. How could things change so much that the Doctor would look at her like...that?