{"We should go on vacation."}
"I'm just saying, we should go on vacation." I spoke with a shrug as Theta bought the candy egg from the man. He lets out a small laugh as he grabs my hand and leads me towards the signal. "An we will, after this." I sighed again, "Look, we've been hanging with Martha and Mickey for a while. They are babysitting Fay so we can spend time together, I love our daughter but you can at least give me a vacation." I muttered looking away from him with a small pout, he chuckled lowly coming to a stop. He pulled me around to face him, "Let's have a few more adventures, pick up Fay, then go. Ok? I promise, My Nora." I almost swooned when he spoke my name in our language. He really knew how to push my buttons, "Fine. Follow that ding machine of yours."
He let out a laugh, giving me a heavy kiss before pulling me towards the bus. We make our way inside, Theta using his physic paper to mess with the machine. "You're just in time, mate." The doors close behind us, and the bus moves off. I find a seat next to the window, giving Theta the outside seat where he could talk to the woman across from him. He smiles politely which she seemed to ignore and offers her a piece of his chocolate egg. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, this is my lovely Kate. Happy Easter." He grins widely as she looks at him in utter annoyance causing me to snort back a laugh.
This would be interesting.
"The funny thing is, I don't often do Easter. I can never find it. It's always at a different time. Although I remember the original. Between you and me, what really happened was." His machine beeps, "Oh. Sorry, hold on to that for me. Actually, go on, have it. Finish it. It's full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth." He hands her the egg before he produces a hand-held gizmo which has lit up. I watched him with a small smile as he cocked his head at it. "Ah. Oh, we've got excitation. I'm picking up something very strange." He puts it up to his ear with a frown. "I know the feeling." The woman muttered in annoyance causing me to roll my eyes.
"Rhondium particles, that's what I'm looking for. This thing detects them. Look, this should to round, that little dish there." Theta rambles causing me to smile at him as I watched the man I love. "Right now, a way out would come in pretty handy. Can you detect me one of those?" The dark haired woman spoke sarcastically with an eye roll, "Ah, the little dish is going round." Theta pointed out in shock as his ding machine started up as we continued towards a underground tunnel. "Fascinating." She spoke dryly as I watched the machine with a frown, Theta's face turning more concerned and confused by the second. "And round. Whoa." It suddenly fritzed out, the blonde woman in front brushes the sparks off her hair. "Excuse me. Do you mind?" She asked in annoyance as she spun to face us. "Sorry. That was my little dish."
"Can't you turn that thing off?" The dark haired woman hissed as she leaned over with a glare. "What was your name?" I asked with a frown, I wasn't sure if I liked her or not. "Christina." She spoke with a frown, "Christina, hold on tight. Everyone, hold on!" There is a sudden jolt and everyone is thrown around. Theta immediately braces me as the bus violently vibrates and clangs. "Oh, the voices. The voices. They're screaming." Windows break and sparks fly. "What's going on?" A bright light floods the bus then more jolting. The bus has stopped. Golden light shines in, everyone slowly gets up, my eyes widening at the sight before me. "D." I spoke as I tapped his arm, gaining his attention from his machine. He quickly jumps up and goes outside, followed by Christina and I. "End of the line. Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton." The orange sands go stretch to the horizon. "Why do I feel like I'm in a Vin Diesel movie?" I muttered out as I looked across the bright sandy barren desert.
"We should get out. Even if that's the Sahara, we can't stay on board this thing."
"I'm not going out there. They're still calling. All around us. The voices are crying."
"What voices, sweetheart?"
"The dead. We're surrounded by the dead."
Most of us end up off the bus to look around, my eyes squinting at the bright light. "It's impossible. There are three suns. Three of them." A woman from behind me breathed out in shock. A young dark skinned man suddenly spoke up? "Like when all those planets were up in the sky." I looked towards him with a raised eyebrow before making short eye contact with Theta.
"But it was Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?" She breathed back, "Oh, man, we're on another world." The bus driver cleared his throat as he looked at his half decent bus. "It's still intact, though. Not as bad as it looks, and the chassis's still holding together. My boss is going to murder me." He whined out, "Can you still drive it?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh no, no, no. The wheels are stuck. Look at them, they're never going to budge."
I hummed lowly, I may be able to clear a way. It would take a bit out of me, as if he knew what I was thinking, Theta cleared his throat. I looked towards him with a frown as he shook his head causing me to pout. He wanted to stay, that's the only reason. He huffed and shook his head, before reaching into his pocket to pull out a pair of sunglasses. My eyes widened as I gapped at him, "You've had my sunglasses this whole time. I've been looking for them for weeks since we went to that beach planet." He shrugged as if he was innocent as I smacked his shoulder lightly. "Ass." I muttered lowly, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Christina gets a pair of sunglasses from her rucksack. "Ready for every emergency." Theta sonics his spectacle lenses black before bending down to examine the sand grains.
"Me too." He smirks at me causing me to huff with a small chuckle. "And what's your name?" I scoffed, we already told her our names. "I'm the Doctor, this is my Kate." She placed a hand on her hip with a raised eyebrow. "Name, not rank." She smirked, "The Doctor." He insisted, "Surname?" I growled in annoyance, did we really have time for this? "The Doctor."
"You're called the Doctor?"
"Yes, I am."
"That's not a name. That's a psychological condition."
"Funny sort of sand, this. There's a trace of something else." He brings it up to taste it when I speak up, "You put that in your mouth, you won't get any from me for a month." He paused slowly looking up at me to see if I was bluffing or not, I wasn't. "Gah. Not good." He grumbled as he drops the sand before scanning it with his sonic instead. "Well, it wouldn't be. It's sand." Christina mutters in slight annoyance, "Really? A whole month? Never mind." He shakes his head before standing up with a frown. "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked him as I looked around, my senses not picking up anything near by. "Hold on a minute. I saw you, mate. You had that thing, that machine. Did you make this happen?"
"Oh, humans on buses, always blaming me. Look, look, if you must know, I was tracking a hole in the fabric of reality. Call it a hobby. But it was a tiny little hole. No danger to anyone. Suddenly it gets big, and we drive right through it." Theta explained to the group of humans, "But then where is it? There's nothing. There's just sand." The driver asked with a scoff, "All right. You want proof? We drove through this." He throws a handful of sand into the air and a wibbly thing appears. "And that's?" Christina paused looking towards us. "A door. A door in space." I explained to her, "So what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home? We can get to London through there?" I shook my head with a frown, "The bus came through, but we can't." I told him, "Well then, what are we waiting for?" The driver runs towards the wibbly thing. "No, no, don't." Theta shouted in shock, the man paused as we all hoped he would listen. "I'm going home, mate!" Then he ran for it. "I said don't." I shout in panic, my eyes starting to glow but I was to slow. The driver enters the wibbly thing and screams. We see him burn briefly and his smoking bones totter out of the tunnel before collapsing. My shoulders sagged in despair, damnit. I needed to be faster and this heat wasn't helping my body, on Gallifrey we had days like these but I was always locked inside where it was cooler. Theta was probably used to this, some Timelady I am. "He was a skeleton, man. He was bones. Just bones."
"It was the bus. Look at the damage. That was the bus protecting us. Great big box of metal." I spoke as Theta smiled an patted the side of it. "Rather like a Faraday cage?" Christina muttered in confusion, "Like in a thunderstorm, yeah? Safest place is inside a car, because the metal conducts the lightning right through. We did it in school." A boy pointed out with a small smile. "But if we can only travel back inside the bus? A Faraday cage needs to be closed. That thing's been ripped wide open." She raised an eyebrow, "Well, slightly different dynamics with a wormhole. There's enough metal to make it work, I think. I hope." I snorted at the man I loved as he clicked his tongue and winked at me. "Then we have to drive five tons of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, and we've got nothing but our bare hands. Correct?"
"I'd say nine and a half tons, but the point still stands, yes." I told her, "Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline. Which starts with appointing a leader." She looked smug, like she thought she deserved it. "Yes. At last. Kate! You-" She interrupted him with a smirk. "Well, thank goodness you've got me. Everyone do exactly as I say. Inside the bus immediately." I scoffed with an eye roll as she shot him a flirty look. "Is it safe in there?" The boy asked with a frown, "I don't think anything's safe any more, but if it's a choice between baking in there or roasting out here, I'd say baking is slower. Come on. All of you. Right now. And you too, mister." I teased gently pointing at him with a smile. He smirked back with a cock of his own eyebrow in amusement. "Yes, ma'am." He purred gently as we moved in, he hand coping a quick feel causing me to yelp and turn back to stick my tongue. He growled lowly and playfully before we moved inside the less hot tub can.
"Point five. The crucial thing is, do not panic. Quite apart from anything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels. We don't need to add any more. Point six. Team identification. Names. I'm Christina. This man is apparently the Doctor." I rolled my eyes as she ignored me, my brain finally catching up with her statement. I wasn't even listening to the first half, "Hello. This is my lovely Kate." Boy was I glad Fay was not here, it was to hot for my babygirl. "And you?" She spun to the boy, "Nathan." He cleared his throat. "I'm Barclay."
"Angela. Angela Whittaker."
"My name's Louis. Everyone calls me Lou. And this is Carmen."
"Excellent. Memorise those names. There might be a test. Point seven. Assessment and application of knowledge. Over to you, the Doctor." She spun around, slinking down into the seat across from us. "I thought you were in charge." I growled out with an eyeroll, "I am. And a good leader utilises her strength. You two seem to be the brainbox. So, start boxing." She snipped back, "Right. So, the wormhole. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident." Theta explained to the group, "No, it wasn't. That thing, the doorway? Someone made it for a reason." Carmen made an excellent point and impressed me greatly. "How do you know?" I asked her, "She's got a gift. Ever since she was a little girl, she can just tell things. We do the lottery twice a week." Her husband smiled at her causing her to smile back, I smiled as well at the sight of the couple. Theta's arms coming around my waist to pull me back into his chest. "You don't look like millionaires." Christina muttered, eyeing them as if to scan her next heist. I wasn't stupid, I knew exactly what was in the black bag of hers. "No, but we win ten pounds. Every week, twice a week, ten pounds. Don't tell me that's not a gift."
"Tell me, Carmen. How many fingers am I holding up?" He has his hand behind my back. "Three." He changes it, "Four." I jumped slightly as he dragged his finger along my spine as he hummed in satisfaction. "Very good. Low level psychic ability, exacerbated by an alien sun. What can you see, Carmen? Tell me, what's out there?" I asked her, trying to concentrate on something other than him. What has gotten into him? "Something, something is coming. Riding on the wind, and shining." He stopped, his curiosity peaked. "What is it?" We spoke together, "Death. Death is coming." She breathed out, a long silence ringing throughout the bus.
"We're going to die."
"I knew it, man. I said so."
"We can't die out here. No one's going to find us."
"This isn't exactly helping."
"You can shut up too. We're not your soldiers."
I snorted lowly causing her to glare at me. "That's not doing any good." She snipped, "Quiet." Lou snarled back,
"Will we be bones, like the bus driver?" Nathan asked. "Stop whimpering, all of you." She snarled in annoyance, causing me to sigh with an eyeroll. "All right now, stop it. Everyone, stop it! Angela, look at me. Angela? Angela? Answer me one question, Angela. That's it. At me, at me. There we go. Angela, just answer me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?" Theta tried to calm everyone as he moved forward with me. "Doesn't matter now, does it?" Angela breathed out with a shake of her head.
"Answer the question." I told her with a frown, "Just home." She shrugged, "And what's home?" Theta asked, "Me and Mike. And Suzanne. That's my daughter. She's eighteen." She explained as she cried. "Suzanne. Good. What about you?" He turned to Barclay who shrugged, Theta came to sit behind me again after getting up to confront Angela. "Don't know. Going round Tina's." He muttered, "Who's Tina? Your girlfriend?" I asked him, "Not yet." He smiled shyly causing Theta to chuckle, his eyes shining as he began to rub my arms again. "Good boy. What about you, Nathan?"
"Bit strapped for cash. I lost my job last week. I was going to stay in and watch TV." Nathan shrugged, "Brilliant. And you two?" Theta turned to the married couple. "I was going to cook." Lou smiled at his wife, "It's his turn tonight. Then I clear up." She looked at him with a smile of her own. "What's for tea?" I asked them, my curiosity peaked as well, my stomach grumbled in hunger. "Chops. Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special." He uttered out with a shake of his head. "Oh, that's special, Lou. That is so special. Chops and gravy, mmm. What about you, Christina?" I scoffed with a grumble as Theta bumped me. "I was going so far away." She smirked smugly, "Far away. Chops and gravy. Watching TV. Mike and Suzanne and poor old Tina."
"Hey."
"Just think of them. Because that planet out there, all three suns, wormholes and alien sand, that planet is nothing. You hear me? Nothing, compared to all those things waiting for you. Food and home and people. Hold on to that, because we're going to get there. I promise. I'm going to get you home."
Nathan and Barclay fetch seats from the bus. "Here we go." I sigh slightly as I pull my jacket off, throwing it to the side on a broken window frame. Theta licked his lips as he watched me, I smirked back as he cleared his throat and turned to the boys with a smile. "That's my boys. See, we lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole, like duckboards, and we reverse into it." They got to work as Christina rolled her eyes, moving towards Theta with a smirk. "Let some air out of the tyres. Just a little bit. It spreads the weight of the bus, gives you more grip against the sand." I spoke up causing her to pause and turn to me with a glare. "Oh, that's good, my love!" He smiled brightly as I smiled back, "Yeah, but those wheels go deep." Barclay muttered with a frown. "Then start digging." Theta snipped back sarcastically with a smirk.
"With what?"
"With this."
She takes a spade from her rucksack, Theta rolls his eyes before he hands it to Barclay. "Got anything else in there?" Theta muttered with a frown, "Try that. It might help with the seats." He pulls out an axe before handing it to Nathan. "Thanks." The boy muttered with a smirk, "I can't find the keys." Angela shouted from inside, after climbing back in. "Oh no, buses don't have keys. There's a master switch, then it's one button to start, the other one to stop." I explained to her. "Right. Hold on. Oh, I've got it. Here we go. Hold tight. Ding, ding." She starts the engine. Graunching sounds come from it so she turns it off. "Ooo, that doesn't sound too good."
Theta, Christina and I take a look at the smoking engine at the back. "Oh, never mind losing half the top deck. You know what's worse? Sand. Tiny little grains of sand. The engine's clogged up." I snorted lightly with a shake of my head at his complaint. "Anyone know mechanics?" I asked turning to the group, "Me. I did a two week NVQ at the garage. Never finished it, but.." Barclay shrugged off causing Theta to smile widely at the man and pat him on the back. "Off you go, then. Try stripping the air filter. Fast as you can. Back in two ticks." He grabs my hand and pulls me away, "Wait a minute. You're the man with all the answers. I'm not letting you out of my sight." I sighed with an eye-roll as she trailed behind us. "Easier if you left that backpack behind." Theta grumbled with a frown as he looked around. "Where I go, it goes." She smirked smugly causing me to scoff. "A backpack with a spade and an axe. Christina, who's going so far away, and yet scared by the sound of a siren. Who are you?" I asked with a bit of a snip and we continued further onwards.
"You can talk. Let's just say we're three equal mysteries." Christina smiled up at him with doe eyes, "We make quite a trio." I muttered sarcastically with a sigh, I really wanted my daughter right now. Theta gripped my hand causing me to look up at him, he watched me with a small sad smile as a purr erupted from his chest. I knew he missed her too. It was hard for both of us, but I knew we would be in danger for a while so we asked Martha to watch her. Until we had time to go without trouble, she had to stay away from us for now. After Donna, and the worlds. We just didn't want to risk it anymore.
"We don't make any sort of trip, thank you very much. Come on then. Tell me. If Carmen's right, if that wormhole's not an accident, then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?" Theta looked towards her with a sigh, her questions interrupting our moments. "I don't know, but every single instinct of ours is telling us to get off this planet right now." I spoke up, Theta nodding along with me in agreement. "And do you think we can?" She asked us, "I live in hope." Theta muttered dryly with a scoff, "That must be nice. It's Christina de Souza. To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza." I raised an eyebrow, "Ooo, that's handy, because I'm a Lord and Kate here is a Lady as well." Christina scoffed at his statement. "Seriously? The Lord of where?"
"It's quite a big estate." I snorted as I bumped him lightly causing him to wrap his arm around my waist with a smile. "No, but there's something more about you. That device you were carrying, and the wormhole. Like you knew. And the way you stride around this place, like..." She paused with a frown, "Like?" I asked back in retaliation, "Like you're not quite.." Theta sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Anyway, come on. Allons-y." We crest another dune, "Ah, don't like the look of that." He muttered lowly with a pout. The horizon is hazy causing me to sigh with a grunt, the planet smelled off death and I couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched. The reason Fay wasn't with us, not for that last few adventures is because I've been having dreams. Dreams of Cyberman like Christmas, dreams of death, and water monsters, dreams of our ending. We just wanted her to be safe for most of it all, she may be our child and she may run into danger later on in life but she is still just a baby.
"Storm clouds. Must be hundreds of miles away." Christina mutters, causing me to break out of my thoughts. "But getting closer." Theta and I muttered together as my eyes started to glow, something was coming. In the storm. "If that's a sand storm, we'll get ripped to shreds." Christina spoke with a frown, "It's a storm." Theta starts looking towards me as my eyes change back, "But who says it's sand?" I finished causing her to frown at me before we turn back and quickly make our way back to the group.
We rush into the bus, where the husband and wife still sat. "Closer, and closer, and closer." She muttered as I moved towards her, "Let me see." I muttered taking her hands and flinching in slight pain. She did feel it. She could see them, however faded they were she still could see them. Shit. "Where is it?" Theta broke my concentration looking for the boy's phone. "There. There on the seat." I spoke up, pointing to where Barclay's mobile phone sat. "You're hardly going to get a signal. We're on another planet." Christina scoffed with an eye roll as she placed her hands on her hips. Theta frowns with a tsk before he sonics the phone into unlimited roaming.
"Oh, just watch me. Right. Now, bit of hush, thank you. Except Kate. My love. Got to remember the number, very important number." He types in the number causing me to chuckle, "Wrong one hunny," I started only to be interrupted by a greeting."Hello, Pizza Geronimo?" He sighs placing a kiss on my forehead as I spoke to him gently. "And again. Its seven six, not six seven. There you go, baby." He perked up at my nickname for him with a cocky smirk as he nestled into the seats. "This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Please select one of the following four options. If you want to.." Theta growled in annoyance, "Oh, I hate these things." His eye twitched slightly causing me to snort. Christina scoffed as she watched us with a frown, "If you keep your finger pressed on zero, you get through to a real person. I saw it on Watchdog." Angela smiled at the two of us. "Thank you, Angela."
"UNIT helpline. Which department would you like?" Everyone looked shocked, "Listen, it's the Doctor. It's me." There was a long pause before a woman spoke up, "Doctor? This is Captain Erisa Magambo. Might I say, sir..." She salutes. "It's an honour." Theta squinted his eyes in annoyance as he clicked his tongue. "Did you just salute?" I looked away with a silent laugh, and he calls me the psychic. "No." She paused, "Erisa, it's about the bus. HQ said you're at the tunnel, yeah?" I spoke up causing her to gasp, "Madam Kate, it's a honor. A real pleasure to speak with you!" I blushed slightly as Theta glared at the phone with a pout before Erisa cleared her throat. "And where are you?" She asked us with a more refined gentle tone. "We're on the bus. But apart from that, not a clue, except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous." Theta explained to her, she hummed over the speaker. "A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?"
"No, and we're not going to, but I'm stuck. I haven't got the Tardis, and I need to analyse that wormhole." Theta grunted as he rubbed his eye, "We have a scientific advisor on site. Doctor Malcolm Taylor. Just the man you need. He's a genius." Theta rolled his eyes with a scoff, "Oh, is he? We'll see about that." He mused lightly as he winked at me. "It's the Doctor." We heard her tell a man over the phone. "No, I'm all right now, thanks. It was just a bit of a sore throat. Although I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice." There was a short pause, "It's the Doctor." She holds out the mobile phone. "Do you mean 'the Doctor' Doctor?" He gasped in shock, I let out a small laugh causing Theta to glare playfully and pull me onto his lap. "I know. We all want to meet him one day, but we all know what that day will bring."
"I can hear everything you're saying."
"Hello, Doctor? Oh, my goodness!"
"Yes, I am. Hello, Malcolm."
"The Doctor. Cor blimey. I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you. I mean, I've read all the files."
"Really? What was your favourite, the giant robot? No, no, hold on. Let's sort out that wormhole. Excuse me."
"On speakerphone, please. I don't want anyone keeping secrets." We heard the commander speak through the phone. Theta moved towards the front where he sat in the drivers seat and pulled me back into his lap so the others wouldn't hear. My eyes glowed when I spotted Christina coming up, a shield appeared keeping her from coming closer and listening in. "Malcolm, something's not making sense here. I've got a storm and a wormhole, and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full range analysis of that wormhole. The whole thing." Theta grumbled with a frown, "Well, I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator. I thought it could measure the energy signature." Taylor responded back with an excited voice. "No. No, no, no, no, no. That'll never work. Listen." I snipped through the phone, "It's quite extraordinary, though. I'm measuring an oscillation of fifteen Malcolms per second." We both frowned together, "Fifteen what?" We spoke at the same time in confusion. "Fifteen Malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm."
"You named a unit of measurement after yourself?" I asked raising an eyebrow, I spotted Christina frowning and trying to move closer only to hit the shield causing me to snort. "Well, it didn't do Mister Watt any harm. Furthermore, one hundred Malcolms equals a Bernard." Theta chuckled lowly both of us entertained with Christina running into the shield. "And who's that your dad?" Theta asked turning our attention back. "Don't be ridiculous. That's Quatermass." He scoffed at us with attitude, "Right. Fine. But before I die of old age, which in my case would be quite an achievement, so congratulations on that is there anyone else I can talk to?" Theta asked the man, his voice full of sarcasm as I smacked him upside the head. "No, no, no, no, but listen. I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image."
"You did what?" Theta and I asked together with shocked looks, "Is that wrong?" He asked like a child looking for his parent's acceptance. "No. Malcolm, that's brilliant. So you can actually measure the wormhole. Okay. I admit that is genius." He gasped over the phone, "The Doctor called me a genius." He breathed out, "I know. I heard." Erisa muttered lowly with annoyance in her voice. "Now, run a capacity scan. I need a full report. Call me back when you've done it. And Malcolm? You're my new best friend." He laughed excitedly at Theta's acceptance. "And you're mine too, sir." Taylor spoke happily, I released my shield causing Christina to fall forward after leaning on it. "Barclay, I'm holding on to this." Theta spoke up as he moved to stand up, "Hey, you'd better bring it back." Theta and I leave the bus with Christina still following us like a lost puppy. Nathan is still patiently trying to dig out the wheels.
Theta starts taking pictures of the sandstorm that was making its way to us. "Send this back to Earth. See if Malcolm can analyse the storm." Theta spoke to us with a frown as we stared at the storm. It was glittering. "There's something in those clouds. Something shining. Look." Christina points causing him to frown, I noticed it as well. "Like metal. Why would there be metal in a storm?" Theta mutters back, with a huff. I suddenly gasped, my eyes shining as I took on Carmen's feelings. "So fast and strong. They ride the storm. They are the storm." Theta frowned looking towards me as he grabbed my hands, "But what are they? My love?" My eyes stopped glowing as I stared in him the eyes. "They devour." I whispered back out of breath before I began to hear clicking. Christina could here it as well, "Did you hear something?" She asked looking toward us. "Hold on. Busy." Theta continued to stare me down but I shook my head, "She's right. There was a noise, like a sort of. Something is watching us." I breathed out as I turned to face the direction of the noise, Thera turns with me as well as Christina. She gasped in shock, "Doctor." An alien is standing on the skyline.
"There's something new." I muttered.
The alien, a biped with an insect head, chitters and points a weapon. Theta replies in clicks and chitters. "That's wait. I shout wait, people usually wait." I rolled my eyes in exasperation at my lover. "You speak the language?" Christina asked looking shocked at the fact, although I'm not surprised she still didn't know what was blocking her back at the bus. "Every language." He chitters, "That's begging for mercy."The alien gestures with its weapon. "That means move." I stated causing her to nod. "These fly things, they must be responsible. They brought us here." We are taken further out to a wreck in the desert, "No, no, no, no, no. Look at the ship. It's a wreck. They crashed, just like us."
"Oh, but this place is freezing." I rolled my eyes in annoyance at her complaints. "Mmm. The hull's made of photafine steel. Turns cold when it's hot. Boiling desert outside, freezing ship inside. Since I met you, Christina, we've been through all the extremes." Theta explained causing her to smirk flirtatiously at him, "That's how I like things, extreme." She purred out in smugness. "Oh, this is beautiful. Intact, it must have been magnificent. A proper streamlined deep spacer." Theta mused happily as he happily looked our the ship, it was beautifully designed but our ship was way better. "I'll remember that as I'm being slowly tortured. At least I'm bleeding on the floor of a really well designed spaceship." She snipped sarcastically,
as two aliens chitter at us. One of them touches a round purple device on his overall. "Oh, right, good. Yes. Hello. That's a telepathic translator. He can understand us."
"Still sounds like gibberish to me." Christina mutters with a frown, "That's what I said. He can understand us. It doesn't work the other way round." Theta continues to translate, "You will suffer for your crimes, etcetera. You have committed an act of violence against the Tritovore race. Tritovores. They're called Tritovores. You came here in the two hundred to destroy us. Sorry, what's the two hundred?" Theta looked confused as I grabbed his hand, "It's the bus. Number two hundred. They mean the bus." I explained to him with a small smile.
"Oh. No, look, I think you're making the same mistake Christina did. I'm the Doctor, by the way, and this is Christina. The Honourable Lady Christina. At least I hope she's honourable. We got pulled through that wormhole. The two hundred doesn't look like that normally. It's broken, just the same as you."
The alien lowers his weapon, "What are they doing?" Christina asked with a frown in confusion. "They believe me." Theta shrugs like it wasn't a big deal, "What, as simple as that?" Christina scoffs with a shake of her head. "I've got a very honest face. And the translator says I'm telling the truth. Plus the face. Right. So, first things first. There's a very strange storm heading our way. Can you send out a probe? Oh, they've lost power. Hmm, the crash knocked the mainline crystallography out of synch. But if I can jiggle it back." He kicks the machine and it comes to life. "I thank you. Yes, I am. Frequently. Okey doke, let's launch that probe." Theta puts on his specs as we look at an image that zooms in to the planet. Theta and I shoot each other a look, "The Scorpion Nebula. We're on the other side of the universe. Just what you wanted. So far away. The planet of San Helios."
"And that's us? We're on another world."
"We have been for quite a while."
"I know, but seeing it like that."
"It's good, isn't it?"
"Wonderful."
"The Tritovores were going to trade with San Helios. Population of one hundred billion. Plenty of waste matter for them to absorb." Theta explained with a smile towards me, "By waste matter, you mean?" She started to look disgusted as Theta nodded with her. "They feed off what others leave behind from their behind, if you see what I mean. It's perfectly natural. They are flies." He shrugged as he pulled me into him. "Charming. Just remind me never to kiss them." Christina muttered lowly, "San Helios City." I spoke with a nod. "That's amazing. But you've seen this sort of thing before, haven't you?" She asked us with a frown, "Thousands of times." Theta and I spoke together. "That Lordship of yours. The Lord and Lady of where, exactly?" She watched us with a deep frown, her body slightly moving towards Theta causing me to roll my eyes. "Of Time. I come from a race of people called Time Lords/Time Ladys." She stared at us in shock, "You're an alien?" She looked between us before she continued to stare Theta down who looked uncomfortable at the idea. "Yeah. But you don't have to kiss me either." She smirked at the thought causing me to scoff.
"You look human." She purred gently, "You look Time Lord. Anyway." He moved away awkwardly as I glared at her. "So if that's San Helios, all we need to do is find that city. They can help us." She changed the subject looking away from us, "I don't think it's that simple. We're in the city right now." I explained to her as I crossed my arms. "But it's sand. That first image, the temples and things, what's that then, ancient history?" The alien chitters. "The image was taken last year." Theta spoke up, "It became a desert in one year?" She asked us in confusion. "I said there was something in the sand. The city, the oceans, the mountains, the wildlife, and a hundred billion people turned to sand. All those voices in Carmen's head. She and my love Kate are hearing them die." He explained gently, "But I've got sand in my hair. That's dead people. Oh, that's disgusting. Oh."
"Something destroyed the whole of San Helois." I told her causing her to frown. "Yes, but in my hair." The phone rings as I scoffed at her statement with a shake of my head. Theta answered, putting it on speak again. "Malcolm, tell me the bad news." Theta spoke up, "Oh, you are clever. It is bad news. It's the wormhole, Doctor. It's getting bigger. We've gone way past One hundred Bernards. I haven't invented a name for that." I snorted lowly as I shook my head. "How can it get bigger by itself?" Theta asked in confusion, "Well, that's why I'm phoning. You'll work it out, if I know you, sir." Taylor explained over the phone, "Doctor, we estimate the circumference of your invisible wormhole is now four miles heading upwards. I've grounded all flights above London. We can't risk anyone else falling through." Theta and I nodded along in agreement. "Good work, both of you." I told them over the phone.
"But I have to know. Does that wormhole constitute a danger to this planet?" The phone beeps, "Oh, sorry. Call waiting. Got to go." He switches over, "Yeah?" He answered confused. "Doctor, it's Nathan. We got those duckboard things down, but..." Nathan sighed, "It's my fault." Angela speaks up over the phone. "No, it's not. Don't say that." Nathan demanded at her with a sigh. "Why, what's happened?" I asked snatching the phone from Theta. "We kept on turning the engine, but, we're out of petrol. Used it all up. Even if we can get those wheels out this bus is never going to move." I sighed pinching the brick of my nose as I turned to look at him. He nodded as he grabbed my hand, "You promised you'd get us home. Doctor?Are you still there?" Christina was pacing as Theta moved towards the computer when it started to beep.
The aliens clicked turning towards us to explain, "It's the probe. It's reached the storm." Theta explained to Christine since she was the only one who didn't understand what they were saying. "And what's he saying?"
She asked coming over as she crossed her arms. "It's not a storm." An image of stingrays flying through the air. "It's a swarm. Millions of them." Christina gasped in shock and disbelief, "Billions. Oh, we've lost the probe. I think it got eaten. Everything on this planet gets eaten." Theta explained with a frown, "How far away is that swarm?" Christina asked looking between us. "A hundred miles. But at that speed, it'll be here in twenty minutes. No, no, no, they're not just coming for us. They want the wormhole." I explained.
"They're heading for Earth?"
"Show the analysis. Incredible. They swarm out of a wormhole, strip the planet bare, then move on to the next world. Start the life cycle all over again."
"So, they make the wormholes?"
"They must do."
"But how? They don't exactly look like technicians. And if the wormhole belongs to them, why are they a hundred miles away?" She asked us, with a frown on her face. "Because they need to be? No, that's bonkers. Hang on. Yes. Oh, do you see? Billions of them, flying in formation, all around the planet. Round and round and round, faster and faster and faster, till they generate a rupture in space. The speed of them, and the numbers, and the size, all of that rips the wormhole into existence." Theta, Christina and I watched the screen. "And the wormhole's getting bigger?" She frowned as she continued to stare at the screen. Theta and I had pulled away to look at one another, "Because they're getting closer." I spoke up with a sigh, "But how do they get through? Because that wormhole's a killer. We've seen it."
"No, no, no, look. See the exoskeleton." Theta points at the the screen, "Metal?" Christina asked with a cock of her head. "They've got bones of metal. They eat metal and extrude it into the exoskeleton. So their velocity makes the wormhole, then their body makes it safe. Perfect design." He explained with an excited smile, "Those things are going to turn the entire Earth into a desert. So why exactly are you smiling?" She asked looking at him with a frown. He cleared his throat as he pulled off his specs. "Worse it gets, the more I love it." She smirked as she leaned in once again, "Me too." She breathed out causing me to pull him towards me and away from her. "The thing is, love, you're missing the obvious. We came here through the wormhole, yes? But our Tritovore friends didn't. They came here to trade with San Helios. Therefore, the question is, why did they crash?" I spoke out loud with a frown as I crossed my arms, "Ah, good question. What a team. Like she said, why did you crash?" The Tritovores take us to a large hole in the spaceship. "Oh, yes. Gravity well. Look, goes all the way down to the engine. So what happened? He says the drive system stalled. Ten miles up, they fell out of the sky. But what caused that?" Theta looked at the ships remains.
"Which means no idea." Christina mutters with an eye roll, "Yeah. But wait a minute. That's a crystal nucleus down there, yes? And it looks like it survived the crash. If the crystal's intact? Oh, yes. That's better than diesel." He laughs as he picks me up to spin me around. "What, you can use the crystal to move the bus?" She asked looking between us, "I think so. The spaceship's a write-off, but the two hundred's small enough." I explained as Theta put me down. "How does a crystal drive a bus?" Christina asked, "In a super clever outer-spacey way. Just trust me. There's the crystal! It's fallen to the bottom of the well. Have you got access shafts? All frozen? Well, maybe I can open them. Ah! Internal comms. Put that on." Theta hands Christina a bluetooth unit. "You stay here. Keep an eye on the shaft. Tell me if anything happens." Christina sits at the edge of the gravity well and looks down as Theta and I run back through the spaceship. "If I can use that sunlight to start the automatic maintenance. Christina? If you see a panel opening in that shaft, let me know." We continued moving, "Nothing yet." She responded over the Bluetooth.
"Anything now?"
"Afraid not." Theta connects various cables together. "Any sign of movement?" He asked again, "Nope." She responded back, I could practically hear the smirk in her voice. "How's that?" She's not even looking down the shaft to check. "Nothing." She continues causing him to sigh, "Any result?" She has her pulley rigged up. "Not a dickie bird. So let me get this right. You need that crystal? Then consider it done." He paused as I rolled my eyes in annoyance. She was really starting to piss me up. "Why, what do you mean? Christina? Christina!" He shouts over the Bluetooth comm causing me to roll my eyes. "The aristocracy survives for a reason. We're ready for anything." Christina dives into the shaft just as we runs in after her. "No!" He sonics her pulley to stop, "Come on. Come on, come on, come on. That's better." Always the spoil sport, he just had to stop her. "I decide when I stop, thank you." She snipped back, sharing the same thoughts as me. "You're about to hit the security grid. Look." Oops. Lots of energy crackling across the shaft.
"Excellent. So what do I do?"
"Try the big red button."
The security grid goes out, "Well done." She flirts causing me to sigh, "Now come back up. I can do that." Theta snips in annoyance. "Oh, don't you wish." She purrs, "Slowly. An stop flirting with my man." I snapped in annoyance, Christina continues down head first silently. "Quite the mystery, aren't you? Lady Christina de Souza, carrying a winch in her bag." I scoffed at him as I turned away, "No stranger than you, spaceman." I speak up before her causing his eyes to shine brightly as he smiled back at me. "Spaceman?" Christina questions in confusion. "We had this friend, once. She called me spaceman. Was Kate's best friend." She paused for a moment,
"And was she right? Do you zoom about the place in a rocket?" She asked us, "Well, a little blue box. Travels in more than space. It can journey through time, Christina. Oh, the places I've been. World War One. Creation of the universe. End of the universe. The war between China and Japan. And the Court of King Athelstan in 924 AD." He takes the stolen goblet out of her rucksack. "But I don't remember you being there. So what are you doing with this?" I scoffed with a shake of my head. "Excuse me. A gentleman never goes through a lady's possessions." She flirts with a smirk, causing Theta to roll his eyes. "It's the Cup of Athelstan, given to the first King of Britain as a coronation gift from Hywel, King of the Welsh. But it's been held in the International Gallery for two hundred years, which makes you, Lady Christina, a thief."
"I like to think I liberated it."
"Don't tell me you need the money."
"Daddy lost everything. Invested his fortune in the Icelandic banks."
"No, no, no, no, no. If you're short of cash, you rob a bank. Stealing this? That's a lifestyle."
"I take it you disapprove?"
"Absolutely. Except. That little blue box, I stole it from my own people and their princess too."
"Good boy. You were right. We're quite a pair." A roar sounds, "What the blazes was that?" She asked with a gasp as we spun towards the sound.
"We never did find out why the ship crashed. Christina, I think you should come back up." Theta looks towards me as I frowned, "Too late. I can see it." She speaks back. "Careful. Slowly. Have you got an open-vent system?"The Tritovore chitters, "I thought so." Theta nodded back as we looked back down the shaft. "What does that mean?"
"It's like when birds fly into the engines of an aircraft." Christina is within touching distance of the crystal when she sees a steel stingray through the girders. "One of the creatures." She speaks up, "It got trapped in the vents, caused the crash. Christina, get out." I spoke up with a glare, "It's not moving. I think it's injured." Why do humans never listen? "No, it's dormant because it's so cold down there, but your body heat is raising the temperature." Theta explained to her. "I tend to have that effect. Almost there." We rolled our eyes as we could practically hear the smirk in her voice. "Not just the crystal. I need the whole bed, the plate thing." There was a long pause, "I've got it!" Theta sonics the pulley to pull her up fast, just as the stingray moves. "Come on, come on. Come on, come on, come on, come on. It's going to eat its way up." Christina reactivates the security grid on her way past and the stingray gets zapped. Christina returns to the top of the shaft. "That's it, that's it, that's it. I've got you. Come on." We take off towards the front of the ship.
"Commander? Mission complete. Now, we've got to get back to the two hundred, all of us. Oh, don't be so daft. A captain can leave his ship, if there's a bus standing by."Bang. "What the hell was that? Is this place safe? It's the creature. It's not dead." Christina panics as she looks between us, "Maybe you didn't hit just one of them. If you hit a swarm?" I asked with a shrug. "Do you mean if there's more on board?" She snipped slightly with a smirk causing me to glare. "This ship's built inside a metal sleeve. They can move through the infrastructure, all around us. And those things wake up hungry. Commander, you've got to come with us right now." I told her with a growl in annoyance, she ignores me. "Come back to Earth. We'll find you a home." I continued, "And that's the word of a lady. Come on." One of the Tritovores goes to a control panel. The stingray appears causing my eyes to glow as it explodes, The Commander raises his weapon. "No, don't." Theta shouts, as another one appears. My eyes glow as I kill that one too. "There's nothing we can do. Run!" We rush out, my body coming to a stop causing Theta to stop, "Kate!" He shouts in worry as I raise my hands. The gold and white from my hands surround the ship, "Fly. Fly again. Live on." And it does. I had repaired it.
Letting out a shout of excitement, Theta laughs with me as he grabs my hand. "I'll love you later for that. Let's go. No more time." Taylor phones Theta as he is running down a dune. "Not now, Malcolm!" Christina almost trips down a dune as we continued onwards and Theta hangs up. We finally making it to the bus, "At last. Where've you been?" Nathan asks in horror, "Get inside. Get them sitting down. Now then, let's have a look."
"So what does that crystal do?"
"Oh, nothing. Don't need the crystal." He throws it away, "Oh, I risked my life for that." She glared harshly at him, as I snorted. "No, no. You risked your life for these. The clamps." They magnetically attach to the wheels. "One there. One there. One there. And one there." Christina continued to follow us around, "But what are the clamps for? Do they turn the wheels?" She asked with a scoff. "Yeah, something like that. I just need to fix this. Have you got a hammer in that bag?" Theta asked, "Funnily enough." She laughed as she moved for her bag. "Phone, phone. Press redial." Theta fixes the rest of the crystal assembly to the steering wheel. "Malcolm, it's me." Theta started off only to be interrupted, "I'm ready." Taylor cheered from the other side. "Ready for what?" I asked back, "I don't know. You tell me." I rolled my eyes as I threw my hands up in exasperation. "I'm going to try to get back. But listen, there might be something following us. You need to close the wormhole."
"Would that be a compressed burst of feedback on a Counter-oscillation, perchance?" Taylor asked hesitantly, "Oh, Malcolm, you're brilliant." Theta cheered in excitement. "Coming from you, sir, that means the world." Taylor laughs in excitement. "Doctor, what sort of something? That wormhole is now measuring ten miles and growing. I need to know the exact nature of the threat." Erisa explains with a frown in her voice. "Sorry, got to go." He hangs up the phone, "Oh, it's not compatible. Bus, spaceship, spaceship, bus. I need to weld the two systems together." He explained to everyone, "And how do you do that?" She asked us, "I need something non-corrosive. Something malleable. Something ductile. Something gold." We slowly turned to look at her causing her eyes to widen in shock. "Oh no you don't." She laughs pulling it closer to her chest and shaking her head. "Christina, what is it worth now?" I asked with an eye roll, "Hey, hey, use this." His wristwatch, I scoffed with a laugh as Theta rolled his eyes.
"I said gold."
"It is gold."
"Oh, they saw you coming. Christina."
Barclay returns to his seat, and Christina reluctantly takes the Cup from her rucksack. "It's over a thousand years old, worth eighteen million pounds. Promise me you'll be careful." She stares him down as I smirked, "I promise." Theta takes the hammer to the Cup. "I hate you." I smirked smugly, as Theta grabbed the comm to speak with the people in the back. "This is your driver speaking. Hold on tight." He smirked at me with a wink, "But what for? What's he doing?" Barclays shouts in shock, "Do as he says. What are you doing?" Christina demands as she sits down herself. Theta fires up the bus, "Come on. That's it. You can do it, you beauty. One last trip." The bus rises out of the sand and into the air. "Ah, you are so kidding me." Barclay shouts in fear, "We're flying. It's flying." Nathan laughs in excitement. "He's flying the bus." Lou breathed out, "It's a miracle." Angela cheered with everyone else. "Anti-gravity clamps. Didn't I say? Round we go." Carmen looks behind us, "Doctor, they're coming." The swarm is close behind them.
"Do you think this thing will survive the journey back?"
"Only one way to find out. Next stop."
"Planet Earth!" The bus dives into the wormhole, closely followed by the swarm. Everyone is screaming as it shakes, then comes out of the tunnel and up into the air." Barclay cheered excitedly, "It's London!" He pointed in front of us. "We're back home." Angels breathed out in happiness, "He did it. He did it!" The first of the stingrays come through fallowing close behind us. The army starts firing to protect us from the swarm that had been coming up on our ass. "Malcolm, close that wormhole." I demanded as I snatched the radio up to my lips. "Yes, sir. My pleasure, sir. Ma'am. I mean ma'am." I snorted lowly with an eye roll. "He's hung up on you." Theta grumbled with a pout. Malcolm hits F8 and sparks fly, "Oh, no, no. No." Something goes bang and he gets thrown backwards. He gets an extinguisher to put out the resulting fire. "Malcolm!" Theta snatches the radio back as he steers around. "Not now, I'm busy."
"He's hung up on me." He redials, "Malcolm, listen to me. I need that signal. We've got billions of those things about to fly through." Malcom sighs, "Well, what do I do?" He asks with a frown in his voice. "Loop it back through the integrator, and keep the signal ramping up."
"But by how much?"
"Five hundred Bernards. Do it now!" Theta shouted as we bounced around for a minute. Yes!" The wormhole collapses at both ends, a rocket takes down a stingray. "Doctor, it's coming for us." Nathan shouted in fear, "Oh no, you don't." Theta turns the bus, hitting the last stingray before we finally stopped for good. "Did I say I hated you? I was lying." She went into kiss Theta but he moved back as I grabbed her hands to pull her away. "That's my job. Nice try though." I spoke before grabbing Theta by his lapels and pulling him into a deep kiss causing him to growl into it as the passengers applaud. We both pull away smiling as everyone watches us with smiles on their faces.
"Do not stand forward of this point. Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your final destination. Welcome home, the mighty two hundred." Theta lands the bus, and UNIT applauds. The passengers disembark, "Welcome back. If you could step away from the bus, just to be safe. As fast as you can, thank you. It's standard procedure. We need to screen you and then you'll all be taken to debriefing." Theta flashes his psychic paper. "We don't count." He winks at me causing me to chuckle with a shake of my head. "No, but Doctor?" Christina stops beside us, "With me, thank you." A soldier comes up to lead us forward. "Doctor." Theta smiles, "You must be Malcolm." Malcolm hugs Theta, "Oh. Oh. I love you. I love you. I love you." He then turns towards me, his eyes lighting up even more as he moves forward. Theta steps in front of him, "Don't. Just don't." He grumbled with a frown causing me to purr gently in his head. My hand slipping into his as I press myself against him. "To your station, Doctor Taylor." Commander Magambo snipped in annoyance.
"Yes, ma'am. I love you." He smiles at me with a awkward laugh, "Doctor, I salute you whether you like it or not. Now, I take it we're safe from those things?" She looked between us with a frown, "They'll start again. Generate a new doorway. It's not their fault, it's their natural life cycle. But I'll see if I can nudge the wormholes on to uninhabited planets. Closer to home, Captain. Those two lads. Very good in a crisis. Nathan needs a job, Barclay's good with engines. You could do a lot worse. Privates Nathan and Barclay, UNIT's finest." Theta shrugged with a sigh. "I'll see what I can do. And I've got something for you." The Tardis is being unloaded from a truck causing us both to smile. "Better than a bus, any day. Hello." Theta smiles down at me before he looks back up at her. "Found in the gardens of Buckingham Palace." She spoke as we walked towards the Tardis. Our home. "Oh, she doesn't mind." I muttered in response, now all I needed was my babygirl. "Now, I've got three dead alien stingrays to clear up. I don't suppose you fancy helping with the paperwork?"
"Not a chance."
"Till we meet again, Doctor."
"I hope so." Angela phones home, "I said I'm back, Suzanne. I'm home. They didn't even know I was gone." The Geiger counter registers on Christina. "That's quite enough of that."
"Been a while since everybody lived, hasn't it Theta?"
He smiles at me as he grabs my hand before Christina runs up to us. "She is not getting away this time." A man shouts in anger, "Little blue box, just like you said. Right then. Off we go. Come on, Doctor, show me the stars." She purrs as she pulls at his lapels causing me to raise an eyebrow in response. "No." I spoke, her head snapped towards me, "What?" She glared in annoyance as she crossed her arms. "She said no." Theta snipped back, "But I saved your life. And you saved mine." She looked at him with doe eyes causing me to roll mine, "So?" Theta snapped, "We're surrounded by police. I'll go to prison." She snapped glaring at me, "Yeah." He nodded but didn't care much. "But you were right. It's not about the money. I only steal things for the adventure, and today with you. I want more days like this. I want every day to be like this. We're made for each other. You said so yourself. The perfect team. Why not?" Theta scoffed and shook his head, "People have travelled with me and I've lost them. Lost them all. Never again.
Plus, I think you know the other reason, believe me we've had enough issues with someone lusting after me."
"Lady Christina de Souza. Oh, I have waited a long time to say this. I am arresting you on suspicion of theft. You do not have to say anything, etcetera, etcetera. Dennison, take her away." Christina leaves in handcuffs. "Kate? Doctor? You take care now." We both smiled at the woman who gave us a half sad one in return. "You too. Chops and gravy, lovely." Theta murmured gently, "No, but you be careful. Because your song is ending, sir. You too, ma'am." She looked between us with a pointed look. "What do you mean?" Theta asked as his hand gripped mine tightly and he started gently shaking. I knew it was coming, I could feel it. "It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor? Oh, but then he will knock four times and you both will fall. His hands will be stained with her blood." She walks away leaving us breathless and slightly shaking.
Just as Christina is about to be put into a police car, the Doctor sonics her handcuffs. She gets in one side and straight out the other. "Oi!" An officer shouted, "Stop that woman! Stop that woman! Stop her. Don't just stand there, stop her." Christina runs onto the bus and shuts the doors.
"Open the door. I'll add resisting arrest."
"I'd step back, if I were you."
"I'm charging you too. Aiding and abetting." He pointed towards us causing Theta and I to smirk smugly. "Yes. I'll just step inside this police box and arrest myself and Kate." He winked at me causing me to snort as we moved back to the Tardis. "Out, now." Christina starts the bus, and up it goes. "No! Come back!" Theta let's put a breath of relief, "I'm glad that's over. Let's go." He grumbled grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall. "Where?" I asked with a smirk, he shot me a fake glare. "You know where." I giggled as I followed after him with a giddy smile on my face.
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Sorry about the late ass update, I've been super super busy and have had no motivation for writing right now.
Thank you all for the love and support, please before more patience with me for the other chapters.
10,378 Words
