Twelve years.
Twelve years had passed by for Amelia Pond. The more Renata thought about it, the more terrible she felt. She made a promise to that little girl that it would only take them 5 minutes to come back to her.
"O...kay…" Amelia pushed her orangey hair behind her shoulders. "You don't...you don't have to cry or anything…"
"It's been 12 years," Renata bit her lower lip, her eyes shining with genuine tears. "I have never been that late."
"It's true, she's never been late for anything in her life," the Doctor agreed. Of course Renata would feel a massive amount of guilt for something that was truly an accident. He felt guilty too but he wouldn't beat himself up over it, not when it hadn't been in his control. "And you know what? You hit me with a cricket bat."
Amelia rolled her eyes and continued to walk away. "12 years!"
The Doctor grabbed Renata's hand and followed after Amelia. "A cricket bat!"
Amelia scoffed. He thought that was bad? He only got a blip of the anger she had simmered for 12 years. "12 years and four psychiatrists."
"Four?" Renata gave her a strange look, making Amelia feel somewhat conscious about the reason behind the number.
"...I kept biting them."
"Why?"
"They said you weren't real!"
"And you thought biting them was the appropriate solution!?"
"Hey!" Amelia only stopped to point at Renata, though the abruptness nearly made her poke an eye out. "Twelve years!"
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
They had made it to a small park in the town and now the message was blaring at them through an ice cream truck.
"No, no, no, come on…what? We're being staked out by an ice-cream van?" Amelia frowned at the perfectly normal ice cream van she visited all the time. They could not be related to anything alien.
"What's that!?" the Doctor marched over to the van where the vendor was hitting the radio the message was coming out from. "Why are you playing that?"
"It's supposed to be Claire De Lune!"
"Stop hitting it," Renata made a face as she took the radio from him, though not a second later the Doctor had snatched it out of her hands. He missed her brief glare as he listened to the message closer.
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
He would then notice the same message broadcasting in a jogger's mp3 player and then from a few cellphones. Little by little, the message had reached everyone via technology.
"Doctor, what's happening?" Amelia saw everyone's confused faces as they tried making sense about why their technology had stopped working. Instead of answering, the Doctor raced towards the nearest house.
"Doctor!" Renata called for him as she followed, though when he leaped over a white fence she refused to do the same. "Honestly — there's a door!"
Amelia zipped by and took Renata by the arm towards the front of the house. When they reached the house, they found the Doctor had already made himself comfortable by surfing through the television channels.
An elderly woman sat on the couch and was watching him go through every channel. "I was just about to phone. It's on every channel." She smiled upon seeing Amelia. "Hello, Amy, dear. Are you a policewoman now?"
Amelia unconsciously tugged on her skirt. "Well, sometimes."
"I thought you were a nurse."
"I can be a nurse."
"Or, actually, a nun."
"People like to kiss nuns? At parties? Why are humans so weird?" Renata crinkled her nose at the last bit. Amelia jabbed her elbow into Renata's side, making it clear that she didn't want to hear anymore of those questions.
"Amy, who are your friends?" the elder woman asked after studying the Doctor and Renata. She was sure she'd never seen them before.
"Who's Amy?" the Doctor looked away from the TV screen to see the elder woman looking at Amelia. "You were Amelia."
"Yeah, and now I'm Amy." Amy Pond was a huge step up from the little girl who'd been picked on nonstop because of who she believed in.
"Amelia Pond—that was a great name," Renata was gazing at Amy sadly, wondering if the name change had also been a result from their tardiness.
Amy brushed them both off with a roll of her eyes. "Bit fairy tale."
The elder woman had slightly pulled the Doctor back to see his face. "I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before."
The Doctor shook his head. "Not me. Brand-new face…" He moved his face just to make a point. "First time on."
"You look like a child, stop that," Renata said, though she was smiling from amusement.
He smirked. "Yeah? Make me."
Renata froze for a mere second before a blush overtook her face. Oh, this him was going to be a huge flirt and far bolder. She didn't know that was possible. How she would get used to it, she had no idea.
"Why is that on the TV too?" Amy unknowingly pulled Renata out of her thoughts. She had moved around the living room to see the television. The same message was broadcasting from there too.
The Doctor left the television and went for a radio on a window table. With the sonic's help, he heard the same message there too but in different languages. "OK, so it's everywhere, in every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world." He put the radio down and opened up the window, sticking his head out to look up at the sky.
"What's up there?" Amy stepped towards him but at the last moment decided against it. What if there was some alien about to shoot them? "What are you looking for?"
The Doctor hadn't heard her questions as he was making his own calculations. Eventually, he shut the window and turned back to the room. "Okay, planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core...they're going to need a 40% fission blast."
A young man with a computer bag around his shoulders walked into the house and was of course confused to find to strangers in his home. The Doctor barely paid him attention but did acknowledge him in a rather odd manner.
"But they'll have to power up first, won't they?" He had walked up to the man who was far taller than him. Despite this, the man only blinked at the Doctor while he rambled on. "So assuming a medium-sized starship, that's 20 minutes. What do you think, 20 minutes?" the Doctor had to stand on his very tippy toes just to see the man eye to eye. "Yeah, 20 minutes. We've got 20 minutes."
"20 minutes to what?" Amy had done her best to follow everything the Doctor had said but she felt like it hadn't even been said in proper English!
Realization struck the young man suddenly. "Are you the Doctor?"
At that question, the elder woman finally got it as well. "Oh, he is, isn't he? He's the Doctor!"
Renata ignored the hullabaloo as she crossed the room to take the Doctor's arm and turn him to her. "We've got 20 minutes and zero contacts right now."
"Well, it's like you said, hasn't ever stopped us before," he smiled at her.
"Yes, but I meant you!" He was the one who always did the big, unexpected things that would solve everything. She was just along for the ride.
"I can't believe it, Amy, you were telling the truth," the elder woman was still laughing away on the couch, much to Amy's embarrassment. "It's the Raggedy Doctor. All those cartoons you did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor, it's him."
"And that's the Butterfly Mother!" the young man pointed at Renata, now getting Renata's attention. "Never mind the Mother of Dragons - you're the Mother of Butterflies!"
"The what?" Renata unconsciously gripped the Doctor's arm. She flipped her head back to him. "He called me the what?"
"Fitting name," the Doctor said in bemusement. He took a few strands of her dark hair out of her face then bopped her nose. He headed back for the television that now had the same huge eye Amy once saw in her bedroom. "They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the planet. Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship and it's going to incinerate the planet. 20 minutes to the end of the world."
Amy nearly keeled over.
~0~
The Doctor led the way back to the town's park hopes of finding something a bit more useful than a normal house. Renata was right, they had no contacts right now and they didn't have time to waste!
"What is this place? Where are we?" he asked after making it back to the rather boring, quiet park.
"Leadworth," Any said, but she doubted either of them would recognize such a quaint town. She wouldn't blame them.
"Where's the rest of it?"
Yup, there it was. Any rolled her eyes. "This is it!"
"I like it," Renata said but Amy wasn't sure if she was saying it to be nice or if she actually meant it. Renata wasn't lying, though. She looked around the small town with a smile. It seemed so peaceful and it seemed like everyone would know everyone. She could see little shops lining the streets around the park and she had no doubt that most of them were owned by the very residents of the town. "Very homey."
"That's a word for it," Amy let her eyebrows raise upwards. She'd almost forgotten how Renata was, and even then she wasn't that sure because she'd only met Renata for like 2 hours! But at first glance, the Time Lady had seemed like a woman who could fit perfectly with one of those family shows from the olden days. Somebody very proper.
"Is there an airport?" the Doctor asked after making his own conclusions of the town.
"No."
"A nuclear power station?"
"Uh, no."
"Even a little one?"
Amy's expression asked him why they would have something like that in a small town. "No!"
"Nearest city?"
"Gloucester, half an hour by car."
"That's too long even if we called in UNIT," Renata sighed. "20 minutes!"
"Do we have a car?" the Doctor expended his last try, but once again Amy told him no. "Well, that's good! Fantastic, that is. 20 minutes to save the world and I've got a post office. And it's shut! What is that?" He had found a small pond to the left of the park and for some reason stormed towards it.
Amy couldn't understand why that would suddenly be so interesting and after checking for Renata's reaction, Amy concluded she wasn't alone. "It's a duck pond."
The Doctor had leaned very close to the pond that Renata had to grab his arm in case he lost his balance. "Why aren't there any ducks?"
"I don't know. There's never any ducks."
"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" Renata was the one to ask this time. That bit was curious. Why name something a specific way if it didn't make sense?
Amy didn't see it that way. She folded her arms with exasperation. "It just is. Is it important, the duck pond?"
The Doctor yelped and nearly fell into the pond had Renata been holding onto his arm. She used his grip on his arm to help him sit on the ground. "I'm not ready, I'm not done yet," he groaned and clutched his chest. Like last time, he needed some time to calm his body through the regeneration process, but he was on the clock!
Renata wanted to do something to help him stand but a process like this truly was individual. She could only stand by him. She scooted closer to him, putting her hand over his hand that clutched his chest. "I'm here," she said what she thought would be useless for him but he leaned on her side for comfort. Renata was surprised but she welcomed it fast.
Suddenly, the sky started darkening up and Amy knew that it couldn't be night time already. "What's happening? Why's the sky getting dark?"
Renata and the Doctor looked up at the sky, not even having to shield their eyes from the sky. There was no sun anymore, it was behind a grey shade. It only lasted for a few seconds before the day returned to normal.
"So what's wrong with the sun?" Amy frowned and looked down at the pair on the ground.
"Nothing. You're looking at it through a force-field," the Doctor said. Renata was helping him stand up. "They've sealed off your upper atmosphere, now they're getting ready to boil the planet."
Renata sighed loudly when she noticed all the humans in the park were taking pictures and videos of the sky instead of doing the sensible thing and running home. "Oh, why are humans so…" she was about to finish the sentence with the word 'stupid' but she caught herself in time after glancing at Amy staring at the sky. "They should be home instead of going crazy on their phones."
"This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind-up," Amy decided it was the only option that didn't make her feel scared out of her mind. She wouldn't give the sky another glance.
"Why would we wind you up?" the Doctor gave her a strange, almost offended glance.
"You told me you had a time machine."
"And you believed us."
"Then I grew up."
"Oh, you never want to do that," the Doctor gave a shake of his head and if he was going to add on then Renata didn't allow him. She had covered his mouth and took over in the conversation.
"It's nice to grow up but it doesn't mean you have to stop believing," Renata said. "Plus, I don't lie—" she winced at herself. That wasn't true and she knew it. "Well, I try not to lie anymore."
The Doctor pushed Renata's hand off his mouth. "Wait, hang on!" He abruptly flapped his arms so that he almost smacked Renata's head. She threw him a glare for such a messy movement but he was none the wiser. "I missed it!" He smacked his forehead enough to make Renata wonder if it would leave a mark on his skin. "I saw it and I missed it." And another smack!
Renata seized his hand and forced it to his side. "Stop that! Seriously, cricket bat and two smacks? Should I just help along and hit you too!?"
"I saw something!" he insisted and because he did, Renata grabbed his other hand in case he got the same idea.
"Then just tell us before you put yourself into a coma!"
The Doctor shut his eyes and stayed silent. There was something he knew that he missed and he just needed to think about it again. Humans were everywhere in the park, taking pictures…
There was a woman near the phone box looking up. Parents by the swing-set snapping pictures of the sky. And one nurse who following Amy's steps. His phone was on another person, never the sky.
Renata slowly let go of his hands when she was sure that he wasn't in danger of himself. She checked the clock on a nearby building and saw their time was getting shorter. Uh, Doctor, our 20 minutes?"
"20 minutes, the planet burns," the Doctor opened his eyes and looked at Amy. "Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me."
Amy held his stare with an expression that easily switched from stoic to anger. "No!"
That wasn't the answer that he was expecting. "I'm sorry?"
"No!" Amy grabbed him by the tie, ignoring his and Renata's cries, as she dragged the Doctor to a nearby car.
"Amy, are you out of your mind!?" Renata shouted in vain at the ginger.
Amy had slammed the Doctor's tie into the car door and made sure it stayed locked with the remote.
"Amy, I am going to need my car back," the driver of the car told her rather nervously since she looked angry as hell.
"Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee," Amy's response came out sharply but she was always looking at the Doctor.
"Amy, this is ridiculous!" the Doctor yelled at her but she wasn't budging.
"Who are you?" Amy yelled right back at him.
"You know who I am!"
"No, really, who are you?" Amy threw the question out for him and Renata as well.
"Oh for God's sake," Renata shook her head. "Amy, the world's about to end in 20 minutes and there are some people we are especially interested in saving!" She was sure that somewhere her best friend, Martha Jones, was going crazy trying to figure out a way to help UNIT. Captain Jack, if he was back on Earth, would surely be doing the same. And Donna? Renata's heart ached for their lost friend. She must be terrified out of her mind.
"Amy, catch!" the Doctor tossed an apple to Amy. She barely caught it but when she did, she was mighty confused to find the apple in her palm. "I'm the Doctor, that's Renata. We're time travelers. Everything we told you 12 years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go now, everything you've ever known is over."
Amy wouldn't look at the apple yet. She leveled the Doctor's gaze. "I don't believe you."
"Amy, please," Renata sighed as she moved beside the woman. "We didn't lie. We got it wrong, yes, but we didn't lie. Check the apple." Amy gazed at the apple briefly then back to Renata. The Time Lady sighed again. "I meant turn it over."
With eyebrows slightly furrowed, Amy brought the apple back to her eyes. She turned it over and found the butterfly carving she first saw on it when she was seven. It was still fresh as the day Renata gave it to her.
"We try to get it right," Renata insisted in a low whisper. "Please?"
Amy's eyes flickered to the Doctor who seemed just as hopeful as Renata that she would believe them. Renata's gaze was more intense than the Doctor's but at the same time, it compelled Amy to feel like everything would be okay. She didn't know why Renata had such a look but it made Amy shift.
"Fine, what do we do?" Amy unlocked the car door and the Doctor quickly scrambled away from it.
"Stop that nurse!" He ran straight towards the nurse in the park. "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"
The nurse was stunned to have his phone snatched, even more so when he saw Amy behind the strange man and beside a woman he didn't know. "Amy?"
"Hi! Oh, this is Rory, he's a... friend," Amy nervously looked between the aliens and completely missed Rory's indignant huff.
"Boyfriend!"
"Kind of boyfriend!"
"Amy!"
"I'm confused, how do you have a 'kind of' boyfriend?" Renata genuinely wanted to know the answer because up until now she had never heard the term. Amy, however, didn't seem interested in explaining.
The Doctor gave Rory a not-so-gentle shake from the shoulders. "Man and dog, why?"
It was then that Rory realized why Amy was around these strangers. He looked the Doctor over, especially the ruggedness of his clothes. "Oh, my God, it's him! The doctor. The Raggedy Doctor!" His eyes flickered to Renata and the flower dress on her. "You're the Mother of Butterflies!"
"Yeah, they came back," Amy sighed, trying her best not to look so embarrassed.
"But they were a story. It was a game!"
The Doctor grabbed Rory by the shirt, pulling him face to face. "Man and dog—why? Tell me now!"
Rory blinked with the harsh pull but he answered nonetheless. "Sorry. Because he can't be there. Because he's…"
"...in a hospital, in a coma," they ended up speaking in unison.
Rory wasn't sure if he should be relieved that somebody finally believed him on the matter, or if he should be afraid.
"Knew it. Multi-form, you see?" the Doctor let go of Rory and turned to the women. "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a live feed, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind."
And at that moment, the creature - the man and dog - snarled at them.
"Prisoner Zero," Renata sucked in a breath.
Rory's eyes might as well have been dinner plates. He kept changing gazes between the man and dog then to Renata and Amy and finally to the Doctor. "What, there's a Prisoner Zero too?"
"Yes," Amy answered just before they heard an electrical buzzing in the sky.
Everyone looked up as a huge spaceship flew across the sky. It stopped right above the park and showcased its famous one eye that would swivel back and forth.
"What's it doing?" Rory asked, terrified.
The Doctor whipped out his sonic to point at the sky. "See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver." He made a show of activating the sonic at the right moment and scared everyone even more when the street lights shattered, car alarms blared and sirens wailed.
Renata closed her eyes with a small sigh. That was one way to get everyone's attention. She did open her eyes when she heard a fire truck and the angry yells from firemen. They were chasing the truck that was running on its own.
"Oh, that was just going too far!" Renata turned to the Doctor, madly gesturing at the fire truck running down the street.
"I didn't mean to do that," the Doctor made a face and winced - as did everyone else - when they heard the truck crash.
Prisoner Zero barked at them but before it could move a step towards them, the Doctor redirected the sonic at a phone box nearby and made it explode. A few seconds later, the sonic itself sparked and fizzled between his fingers. The Doctor yelped and threw the sonic to the ground.
"No, no, no, don't do that!"
"Oh no," Renata watched the ship take leave without even eyeing Prisoner Zero.
"No, come back, he's here! Come back!" the Doctor called after the ship in vain. "He's here, Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…"
"Not so much anymore," Renata lowered his flapping arms and pointed at Prisoner Zero who was turning into pure mist.
"It just went down the drain…" Amy made a face as they all watched the remnants of the creature disappear through the ground.
"Well, of course it did," the Doctor groaned. They'd been so close and like always...so far.
"Well, what do we do now?"
"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, 17 minutes! Come on, think. Think!"
"Stop!" Renata grabbed his hand just inches from his forehead. "Seriously," she lowered it between them. "Please don't hit yourself." They needed his mind completely unharmed for what was to come.
"So that thing, that hid in my house for 12 years?" Amy finally tore her gaze from the drain.
"Multi-forms can live for millennia. 12 years is a pit-stop," the Doctor explained as he took his hand back from Renata, though he had to tug twice for her to let him go.
"So how come you two show up again on the same day that lot does? The same minute?"
"Well, it's not our fault," Renata argued weakly as she brought her arms over her chest. "Yes, they followed us to get to him but...I mean...one of these days they were bound to come anyways."
"What?" Rory blinked at her.
"Now, sport, give me your phone," the Doctor held his hand out for Rory's cellphone, but Rory was too out of it to notice on the first try.
"How can they be real?" Rory was looking specifically at Amy, wondering how the hell she was so calm with everything that was going on. "They were never real."
The Doctor grew impatient and waved his hand in front of Rory's face. "Phone, now, give me!"
Rory had no idea what he wanted from it but he handed his phone over and continued going off. "They were just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him!"
Renata looked between the two humans with bemusement. "Really?"
Amy felt her face reddened and before Rory could say what she dressed up as, she asked the Doctor what he was looking for.
"These aren't coma patients; they're all the multi-form. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero!"
"But he had a dog, though. There's a dog in a coma?"
"The coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog. Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him—" the Doctor jerked a thumb at Rory, missing Rory's indignant huff, "—the good-looking one!"
"He doesn't mean that," Renata tried stepping in but Amy made it worse.
"Jeff?" she asked right on the spot.
"Oh, thanks!" Rory exclaimed.
"Doesn't mean it," Renata tried again with a nervous smile.
"He had a laptop in his bag, a laptop. Big bag, big laptop, I need Jeff's laptop!" the Doctor went on without ever noticing his rudeness. "You two—" he said for Amy and Rory, "—get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done." He promptly reached over for Renata's hand and yanked her away.
They returned to Jeff's home, barging inside without so much of a knock. Renata couldn't stand for that, no matter how much she tried. She skidded to a stop in the living room where Jeff's grandmother sat. "Really sorry about that."
"Hey!" Jeff cried from his room.
Renata jumped and nervously smiled at the grandmother again. "Sorry!" She ran into the room and saw the Doctor basically fighting Jeff for the laptop. "Oh Doctor, this is too much even for you!"
The Doctor won the fight and took a seat at the edge of the bed, patting the empty spot beside him. "C'mon—blimey!" He motioned Renata to stay right where she was. "Get a girlfriend, Jeff."
The door behind Renata opened up to let the grandmother in. "What are you doing?" she curiously asked the trio.
"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big video conference call!" the Doctor explained in a rush while he madly typed on the laptop. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me."
"Being so modest, aren't we?" Renata smiled and got a smirk in return. She walked over to the bed and sat next to him just as his callers answered.
"Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore!"
"Ooh, I like Patrick Moore," Jeff's grandmother might have inched a few steps towards them.
Renata chuckled while the Doctor promised to get her his number.
"You can't just hack in on a call like that!" Jeff exclaimed as he got off his bed.
"Oh trust me, this isn't even a quarter of what he can do," Renata shook her head. She had stories beyond his dreams about the things the Doctor could do.
The Doctor was more than ready with his psychic paper to answer the initial questions of who he was and what he wanted. He had about fifteen minutes left!
"Hello. I know, you should switch me off. But before you do, watch this!" he dropped his psychic paper on Renata's lap then started to type again. "Fermat's Theorem, the proof, and I mean the real one, never seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault, I slept in. Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie - why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and a joke. Look at your screens. Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention!" The Doctor knew he had them on his hook. He glanced at Renata just to make sure they were on the same page and found her staring at him instead. Initially, he was confused why she was smiling like...that. It was familiar but it took him a few seconds to remember when she smiled like that. In his defense, the last time she had a smile like that was in her first incarnation and she had a face that went red incredibly easily, even easier than this current one.
She was enthralled with him. She leaned close to him, widening her smile. She'd forgotten what it felt like to be so close to him while he did that. Whenever the Doctor got into his 'I'm a genius' mode, Renata was unashamedly attracted to him. He was just so incredibly intelligent. Renata honestly thought he was the smartest man alive. It wasn't news for her, not since the first time she saw it back on Gallifrey, but it was one thing knowing it and seeing it. She loved seeing it.
There was a tingle that started down her spine that was soon followed by the dozens of butterflies in her stomach (ironically). It made her puddy in his arms. Her last incarnation had been too worried about the Doctor finding out who she was that she barely had moments to really let herself feel things for him again. The little she allowed was always pushed away to the deepest end of her mind and hearts. And when the Doctor had found out who she was, she'd fallen ill. She was dying and she couldn't think about anything else other than saying goodbye. She didn't exactly know what they were right now, but she wouldn't fight it this time. There was a warmth in her body that brought her closer to the Doctor and she would finally let it be.
"I forgot you could do that," she said breathlessly, saving something else she wanted to do for later.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her but she didn't say anymore. His gaze lowered to her lips since she was biting her lower lip pretty hard. "Interesting…" He took notes for later when they weren't in the middle of saving the world. From now on, he would be using anything at his advantage.
~ 0 ~
Within five minutes, the Doctor had concocted a whole plan for the humans to follow. He'd gone back and forth between the laptop and Rory's cellphone whilst talking at light-speed to the humans on video call.
"Sir, what are you doing?" one of the men from the computer screen asked after the Doctor spent a significant amount of time on the cellphone.
"I'm writing a computer virus. Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. Why am I writing it on a phone?" the Doctor raised a finger for a few seconds. "Never mind, you'll find out. OK, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish - whatever you've got. Any questions?"
"Who was your lady friend?"
The Doctor deadpanned the man on the screen. "Patrick, behave!"
Renata laughed softly beside him while Jeff's grandmother beamed.
"What does this virus do?" another man inquired.
"It's a reset command, that's all. It resets counters, it gets in the wifi and resets every counter it can find. Clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time. But, yeah, I could be lying, why should you trust me? I'll let my best man explain." The Doctor waited for Jeff to cut in but for some reason the human stayed silent and away from them.
Renata raised an eyebrow at Jeff. "Uh, Jeff, that would be you."
Jeff genuinely looked confused to learn that. "What?"
The Doctor had closed the laptop but Renata made a motion for him to stay put. She got up from the bed and moved over to Jeff. "Listen I know you're scared and I honestly would be a little concerned if you weren't but this is your your moment. It's sort of like, uh, this is a moment where you're trying to get investors. Right?"
"Uh...not...sure if that's the way I'd put it," Jeff said slowly, glancing at the Doctor and his grandmother for some clarification.
The Doctor seemed to be smiling but not at him. He was nodding at Renata, encouraging her to keep going. It was a sight watching her try to relate to humans. At least now she was trying. Her last incarnation, while helpful, didn't seem very interested in that. She'd wanted to fix the problem and then move on without making much of an attempt to get to know humans. The only time she expressed interest was the day she met Gabby. Though she was a bit rocky...she'd get it with time.
Renata was aware that her comparison didn't entirely fit with the current situation so she tried re-wording it. "I used to be somebody who would have to persuade people to invest in my foundation, so I'd have to put myself out there and give one hell of a show. That's what you need to do right now and afterwards those guys—" she made a nod at the laptop, "—will be offering you any job you want."
"How do I get them to do that?" Jeff turned another glance on the laptop, now more interested in the idea.
Renata put her hands on his shoulders and fixated a smile on the man. "You have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. Old news to me."
"But I've never done that…"
"Put yourself out there!" she exclaimed and turned him for the Doctor and the laptop. "This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."
"But why me?" Jeff asked as the Doctor sat him down on the bed and handed him his laptop.
"It's your bedroom!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Now go, go, go!" He grabbed Renata's arm and headed out the room, though stopped abruptly and turned back. "Oh, and delete your internet history!"
Renata raised an eyebrow at him when he came out of the room again. "What?"
"Nothing. Oh, and great job back there!" he pulled down the living room and out the door.
"For what? All I did was just talk!" Renata laughed out of confusion.
"Words mean everything!" the Doctor turned abruptly once they were out on the street again, making Renata bump into him.
"You certainly did that as well back there," Renata said and suddenly found her lower lip was a chewing gum. "I just...helped a bit in the end."
"You were amazing," the Doctor stepped closer to her. He couldn't help but let his gaze linger on her lips.
"Uuh...Amelia - I mean Amy, she-she's probably waiting…" Renata nervously moved around him and studied the street for any way to get around. Alright, maybe her body needed a bit more time to adjust her...feelings. She couldn't possibly revert back to her school-girl ways from her first incarnation. "We need to find a way to get to the hospital."
The Doctor rejoined her and studied the nearly empty sidewalk. "I...may have an idea…"
Renata turned her head at him to see the wide smirk on his face. "Ah, so that'll be your mischievous face. Duly noted."
The Doctor once again yanked her down the street.
~ 0 ~
When Amy called them, they were nearly to the hospital. Renata refused to accept that stealing the fire truck had been a good idea.
"It was irresponsible!"
The Doctor didn't seem to agree as he happily drove down the road. "Oh, c'mon, Gabby would have loved this!"
"Oh sure, teach her to steal why don't you!?"
"I'm not stealing, I'm borrowing! Plus, look!" he reached for a specific button beside the wheel and turned on the fire engine. "Yeah!"
Renata rolled her eyes and looked out the window, but she found it was hard not to crack a smile. She knew he was right: Gabby would love this bit.
A short moment later, Amy called them again only this time she was more distressed. Prisoner Zero had found them in the building and had chased her and Rory into a coma ward.
"Listen, which window are you?" the Doctor asked but because of the fire engine, Amy hadn't heard.
"Oh for God's sake!" Renata reached over to turn them off. "Amy, which window are you!?"
"First floor on the left, fourth from the end!" Amy managed to answer before screaming.
"Amy!?" the two aliens simultaneously called but they only heard warbled voices, one belonging to neither her nor Rory.
"It must be Prisoner Zero," Renata ended the call. "Now what?"
"We do what every human does: we text!"
"Text?" Renata crinkled her nose. "A Time Lady does not...text."
The Doctor laughed. "Just tell her to duck!"
Renata wasn't even sure how to do such a thing. She never actually paid attention to Gabby when she tried giving her lessons back on Zhe's gallery. It'd been one of the many things Gabby would try to distract her with while she battled her illness. Since Martha liked to call every now and then, Gabby thought it was a good idea to learn to text. Plus, she thought it was fairly ridiculous that such an intelligent Time Lady didn't know how to do such a basic task.
The Doctor had successfully crashed the right hospital window so that its ladder shattered the glass of it. "Out! Out! Go!" he tried ushering Renata to the ladder first but she wasn't having it.
"I'm wearing a dress!" she argued, motioning him to take the lead.
"Oi! I'm not like that!"
"Just go!"
The Doctor groaned but went ahead first. He wouldn't ever be like that but she was overly shy anyways. Why argue over something so petty? When the two climbed into the coma ward, they found Amy and Rory standing in the middle of the room while a woman with two little girls stood at the entrance.
"Right! Hello! Are we late?" the Doctor didn't exactly wait for the answer as he went on. "No, three minutes to go. So still time!"
"Time for what, Time Lord?" the woman titled her head.
"Oh, so you know things," Renata snapped. "Doesn't mean it'll get you out of this. Take your disguise off and save these humans from further despair."
"Not happening," Prisoner Zero smiled sarcastically. "The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."
"OK. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again - just leave!" the Doctor exclaimed. At this point, he would take anything because time was now running on 2 minutes.
"I did not open the crack."
"Well somebody did and I'm willing to bet we know who it was," Renata mumbled so that only the Doctor could hear. "The Master and Rassilon."
Fair guess, the Doctor thought.
But Prisoner Zero seemed to know more than what they thought. "The cracks in the skin of the universe - don't you know where they came from?" A great big smirk spread across the woman's face, teasing the pair for their lack of knowledge. "You don't, do you?"
The little girls started laughing as they chanted, "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know. The Vortex Butterfly doesn't even know!"
Renata's eyebrows furrowed together at the name once used at her 'rebirth' on the Crucible. She thought after the Daleks and the Reality Bomb, she'd never hear that name again. "Hold on—"
"Doesn't know, doesn't know!" the girls laughed for another minute before the woman spoke again, much more serious.
"The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."
The Doctor lost interest when they heard a clicking noise. His eyes flickered to the clock on the wall flashing '0:00' at them. "And we're off! Look at that. Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team is working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?" the Doctor pulled out Rory's cell phone from his pocket, giving it a triumphant wave in the air. "The source, by the way, is right here. Oh! And I think they just found us!"
"The Atraxi are limited," Prisoner Zero said, remaining totally calm. "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."
"Sorry, do you think we're stupid?" Renata made a face, almost offended. "Of course we planned for that - rather Rory planned for that." She glanced back at the man in question who even pointing at himself to confirm she meant him. Renata chuckled. "Well done Rory."
The Doctor once again waved the phone in the air. "Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is - no TARDIS, no screwdriver - two minutes to spare!" He cheered with his arms out, spinning around. "Who da man?"
Renata made a face at him, not even needing to say it for him to know she begged him never to do that again. She reached over to lower his arms to his sides. "Gabriella would've laughed at you."
"Yeah, she would've," he mumbled and thanked the Gods that Gabby wasn't around right now.
"Then I shall take a new form," Prisoner Zero said smugly.
"Please," Renata scoffed. "It takes months to form that kind of psychic link."
"And I've had years."
A bright light took over the woman's body at the same time Amy collapsed to the floor.
"Amy?" the Doctor called as he and Renata rushed to the woman. "You've got to hold on. Amy! Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please!"
"You need to let her go!" Renata glanced back at Prisoner Zero only to see a much more different disguise. "Oh dear."
"Doctor?" Rory blinked fast once he saw the new disguise.
The Doctor followed their gaze to see Prisoner Zero had turned into a young man. "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"
Rory threw him an incredulous look."It's you!"
"Me?" the Doctor made a face and quickly glanced at Renata."Is that what I look like?" She gave him the confirming nod.
"You mean you don't know!?" Rory almost shouted with exasperation. How could he not know what he looked like!? What kind of crazy was that!?
"It's been a busy day," Renata supplied with the briefest explanation.
"Why me, though?" the Doctor asked with genuine confusion. "You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"
"I'm not," Prisoner Zero answered but it hadn't been through the Doctor's mouth. Amy's seven year old self moved from behind him. "Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."
"Oh hey that's not fair!: Renata scowled. "And you're one to talk considering you're a convict!"
"No, no," the Doctor gazed down at Amy. There was something else he was missing again. She could have dreamed of anything right now, probably something happier than what the situation was, but she chose him. "Oh! She's dreaming about me cos she can hear me!" he carefully cupped her face and called to her. "Amy, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see? Remember you went inside. We tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy…dream about what you saw."
"No! No!" Prisoner Zero started to cry out as the shifting began once again. "No!"
"Well done Amy," Renata smiled proudly of the unconscious girl. "Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?"
Prisoner Zero was immediately captured with the shining light from the window.
'Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained.'
"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall," Prisoner Zero said his last words before disappearing.
"Oh no," Renata gritted her teeth with anger. "They are not going to pull that on us! I don't think so!" She swiped the cellphone from the Doctor's hand - he'd been about to use it again - and put her fingers to work. "You and Gabriella might just be proud of me right now!" She flashed the Doctor a quick little smile before returning her focus on the phone.
"The sun - it's back to normal, right?" Rory was relieved to the sky returning to normal through the window. And even better that Amy was waking up. "Amy? Are you OK? Are you with us?"
"What happened?" Amy asked slowly, still a bit hazed.
"They did it," Rory nodded to the pair who were suddenly very close to each other. Renata was still working the phone. "The Doctor and Renata did it!"
"Not quite yet," Renata called before asking the Doctor something in a hushed manner.
Amy and Rory both heard a 'Write in...make sure those numbers…'
"What are you doing?" Amy raised an eyebrow at them once she sat up.
"Tracking the signal back! And the Doctor's sort of filling in the gaps for me," Renata sent another quick smile at the Doctor. She knew her way around things as well but there was always a little something she hadn't come across yet. "And sorry in advance, Rory."
"For what?"
"The phone bill! Promise UNIT will reimburse you for that!" Renata winked at him before putting the phone against her ear. She cleared her throat and the next time she spoke her voice was no longer sweet and kind. It was hard and sharp. "This is Renata and you may not know me but that's okay because I know the Shadow Proclamation pretty well. Article 57, ring a bell?" She paused but of course there would be no response. "This is a fully established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? The idea that you could get away with it is laughable! Get your sorry behinds back here now or so help me…" There was another pause she took, a brief one as she considered if she really wanted to say her next words. And she decided: Why the hell not? It didn't mean anything wrong because she wasn't bad. She wouldn't hurt people like other versions of her in parallel universes had. "You lot, back here now or you'll have the Vortex Butterfly on you. See you in 30 seconds and not a second more!" She promptly ended the call and tossed the phone to Rory. "Seriously, though, UNIT will reimburse you for that." She then faced the Doctor who was looking more or less fascinated with her.
He had never been more attracted to her than right now. She had just ordered an entire prison ward to come back - under a specific deadline - and she had a new authoritative voice that made him shudder. If things weren't such a crunch time, he might have kissed her there and then.
"You going to stand there or come help me put these people back in their spots?" Renata smirked. She wanted to believe she had made him feel exactly the way he had done to her earlier. "We gotta get to the roof!" She laughed and dragged him out of the room with her, leaving a mighty confused Rory and Amy behind.
"No, no, wait! We can't!" the Doctor stopped them down the hallway. Amy had scurried after them, leading Rory to do the same.
"Where are you going?" she asked the pair.
"To change!" the Doctor made a quick turn into a different hallway.
"What? Doctor!" Renata went after him with a groan. "I said 30 seconds! That went for all of you!"
"I'm quick, don't worry," he had found a changing room and was already searching through one rack. "If we're saving the world I'm going to need a decent shirt! Not fair you got your quick change!"
Renata looked down at her flower dress that, truthfully, could use a good wash now. It still smelled like chlorine water from the swimming pool mishap. Still, it would do just fine until she could get into the TARDIS. "Well, fine! Just hurry!"
"To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!" he spun around trying to find something else in another rack.
"Sorry, I am so confused here," Rory rushed into the room with Amy. "You just summoned aliens back to Earth!"
"Yeah, never really done that before - quite a rush really!" Renata's face definitely said so. She giggled even, making the Doctor pause for a moment just as he was about to change shirts.
Rory didn't seem that happy about it. "But they're actual aliens! Deadly aliens, aliens of death and - now he's taking his clothes off!"
"Turn your back if it embarrasses you!"
"A door, Doctor! Seriously! Nothing bad happens if you use a door!"" Renata groaned as she turned away from him, ignoring the warmth in her face. She might have seen a bit of his back and that was enough to make her wonder what it might be like to press her hands against his skin.
"Amy, you're not going to turn around!?" Rory's incredulous question brought Renata out of her thoughts.
She blushed even more for realizing what she'd been thinking about and decided to put her attention on Amy. "Yeah, you are!" She turned the young woman around, shooting her a little look for trying that. What was Amy thinking!?
The group arrived on the rooftop in 27 seconds, but it was only because Renata forced the Doctor out before he could finalize his outfit. She compromised by letting him bring along a mess of ties around his neck. He'd choose on the way.
"On time, perfect," Renata spat at the waiting Atraxi ship at the end of the rooftop. Soon as she and the Doctor were in its vicinity, it scanned them.
"You are not of this world."
"What was your first clue?" Renata cocked her head to the side. "And the fact that we're not from Earth shouldn't be the reason you came back. You should come back because you did something wrong. You broke the law. Count your lucky stars I haven't phoned the Shadow Proclamation to shut you down."
"We took necessary measures," the Atraxi argued but only angered Renata more.
"No, you really didn't!"
"Why don't we think about it in this way?" the Doctor tossed a few ties over his shoulders, letting them hit Amy and Rory behind. "Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" The Atraxi delayed the answer. "Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. IS this world a threat?"
After projecting a series of holograms showing the Earth's history, the Atraxi finally answered. "No."
"Second question, are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" Renata decided to add since she knew the answer would further prove their point.
"No."
"One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here." The Doctor once more threw a few more ties behind him. He found one color that suited his fancy, all in the meanwhile the Atraxi went through the course of his enemies landing on Earth. "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is...what happened to them?"
The Atraxi went through every incarnation of the Doctor as it found that he was responsible for ending every single battle.
Just as the Doctor finished putting on his new tie - a bow tie! - he noticed that at the end of the hologram, it showed Renata's previous incarnation but it had been no ordinary moment in her life. Her spectacle as the Vortex Butterfly on the Crucible had certainly gotten around because that's the moment the Atraxi chose to show.
Renata was astonished that they would include her. She'd only meant to call them back and scold them. It was what she did best. She suddenly felt the Doctor's hand slip into hers. He gave her an encouraging nod to speak out, say what she wanted to finally end all this.
Renata took in a breath as she looked at the Atraxi again. "You've seen what we can do and don't think that I would hesitate to bring the wings out if you ever try to do something like this to Earth again. I suggest run. You wouldn't want the Doctor and the Vortex Butterfly after you."
There was no need to go on, for the Atraxi ship had taken off in a second. Amy and Rory broke into laughter to see their world completely safe again!
Renata ended up laughing as well after it truly donned on her what she'd done. She turned to the Doctor, pointed at herself. "Did I just—"
"Yes, you did, and you were amazing!" the Doctor leaned closer to her but suddenly felt something burning in his pocket. He hissed and pulled away from Renata. He dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key that was glowing.
"Oh, she's done," Renata gasped. She gave the Doctor a nod and the two were off on a chase for the TARDIS. Renata laughed as they hurried down the street and even across several lawns. She would never do that but she was too gleeful to stop.
They returned to Amy's backyard where the TARDIS stood. Straightaway, they could see the box had even given herself a new shade of dark blue.
"OK! What have you got for us this time?" the Doctor stopped in front of the doors, exchanging curious eyes with Renata. She was anxious to see what the TARDIS would look like now. "Ready?" he asked her.
"Mhm!"
He opened the doors for them and walked in at the same time. They were immediately blinded by the bright orange and gold exterior. It seemed more spacious than the last one since now they could see the bright staircase leading up to the second floor. The console was on a raised dais with a glass floor that allowed them to look below to the wires.
"Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!" the Doctor laughed and wondered what Renata thought about it.
Her dark eyes were still widened but there was a grin marking her face. "I've never seen such a more...elegant console room!" The TARDIS hummed as if she was thanking Renata for the compliment. Renata laughed and made her way up to the console, because now there were even small glass steps leading up to it. "Seriously, well done!"
"Trip to the moon to stabilize her!" the Doctor reminded her as he started moving around the console, pressing the new buttons.
"And I don't see a mallet anywhere nearby," Renata genuinely went around the console searching its lower drawers for any mallet. "Guess she finally got rid of that!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes and stopped by the new lever. "So funny. Would you like to hang on?"
"I wouldn't have to if you drove correctly. You can't drive a TARDIS nor a fire truck, what am I going to do with you?"
"I can think of a few ideas," he flashed a smirk then pulled the lever.
The TARDIS rumbled as it took off.
"We should go get Gabriella," Renata said as soon as the TARDIS went still. "I think it's about time she came back permanently in the TARDIS...if that's okay with you, of course. Your TARDIS and all."
"Renée, it's ours," the Doctor said. "I've said this countless times before but I suppose we weren't really in sync in our last bodies."
Renata thought that was an understatement. "It's not like we made it easy on each other, especially me. I'm sorry."
"Stop," he said suddenly, startling her with the quickness he had said it too. "No more apologizing. You've done that over and over, as have I. I forgive you. I really do. I forgive you for keeping your identity a secret. And most importantly, that night on Gallifrey? The night that's been a nightmare for us...I understand why you said no to me."
Renata's arms couldn't seem to find the right way to move as he went on with their past mistakes. "If I could go back to that night where you asked me to run away with you...I would have."
There was a certainty that the Doctor heard and it made his hearts swell. She hadn't been sure about that in her last body. He asked her to run away with him on the eve of his wedding to another woman and when she said no, it shattered him. Even when he learned that she said no because of her blackmailing sister...it still broke him. It was single-handedly the most painful moment of his lives. Now to hear her say that she would choose him over everyone...that brought a closure that he didn't know he needed.
"You...are you sure?" He moved around the console until he stood in front of her. "I get that I asked too much of you. You had to leave your family...your foundation...your people…"
"You were my everything back then. I-I should have trusted that you could take care of yourself, that my sister couldn't actually hurt you. And I should have been braver. But you...you have never stopped being the love of my life. I am 758 years old and in all that time I never really learned to love anyone else like I loved you. And it's not like I didn't try. Elek was sweet and I did love him but our marriage never gave me the same rush I had when I was with you."
"That's exactly how I felt," the Doctor told her with a small smile. "It's funny how that works. Centuries can pass but the feelings are still there, raw as if it was still the first day I realized I loved you."
Renata matched his smile with her own. She looked down out of shyness and embarrassment. "So...so what happens now?"
"Well...I think...if you'd like...we're both at a place where we can start again?" the Doctor was thinking about it himself. There were no more lies, no more anger, no more illnesses and no more need of saving the world. Everything was good and calm. It was exactly what his last incarnation told her on the day that he had to leave her with Zhe. He wanted to be with her but at that time he was still too angry with her for lying to him. There were too many things between them that needed to be solved. But that was in the past. He didn't hold onto that anger now; all he wanted was her.
Renata raised her head at him, revealing a nervous tint in her eyes. "You think we can do that? It's been so much time, so many things happening. Do you think we could work this time?" It seemed so surreal to even think about them actually working after centuries of their first attempt.
"I will definitely put my best efforts," he chuckled, though that wouldn't distract her from his own nervousness.
"It's just...I don't really know how to do that anymore," she admitted. "I never thought that I would make it here. I didn't think I would regenerate. Plus, I thought that I wanted to die. I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm sort of rusty at this 'being in a relationship thing'."
"Darling, so am I."
Renata's scoff was hard enough to make the Doctor wince. "Please! You've snogged more people than I can count! And that was just in your last body!"
"Oi! It's not like I planned it!"
"No but you certainly didn't seem to mind!"
"Well none of that matters because the only one I want to kiss from here on out is you."
Renata blinked at him and smiled pretty fast. There was that warmth in her face again. "Really?"
"Yes. I've been wanting to kiss you all day today, especially when you made that call to the Atraxi. Talk about sexy!"
Renata's eyes widened all over again. "Doctor!" She playfully hit him on the chest while he laughed. He could see her reddened face which made it all the more funny.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her steady in front of him. "So what do you say? Shall we try again?"
Renata met his gaze slowly. The redness in her face had died down and all that was left now was a softened expression. After centuries of lies and denial, she was really getting a second chance with him? He must be mad if he truly wanted to her of all people, but then again she was just as mad for wanting him. They were polar opposites from the start! She was seen as a law abiding Time Lady and he had no idea what a law was. On the other hand, he loved travelling and he practically knew everything about the galaxies and she was still learning. Plus, he always had a way of doing things that she just didn't agree with. But that also drove her madly in love with him.
It was the same for the Doctor. He saw her as the pinnacle of what a Time Lady should be, everyone who knew her on Gallifrey thought the same. She was always elegant and graceful and so proper. She was always kind to whoever she met; she literally could not be rude to anyone. How could he not fall in love with her? Yes sometimes her law abiding trait irritated him and sometimes they did bicker over their different views on the rules, but he couldn't think of another person he'd want to bicker with. She was it for him.
"I would like to start over," Renata whispered. "I would definitely like to try again."
A huge grin took over the Doctor's face. "Run away with me?"
Renata laughed. The same question that once began their centuries-long torture was now the start of what could be their genuine happiness together. "Anywhere you want," she leaned on him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. That was the answer they should have had centuries ago. They should have been free. Better late than never.
"Our first stop is to Gabby but...there's one thing I'd like to do first," the Doctor lowered his head so that they were mere inches from each other's faces.
Renata had half an idea of what he was going to say but she was too enthralled with their closeness. I actually get to have this now, she made the realization seconds later. "What?"
"I said I've been wanting to kiss you all day today and now we're alone...in a TARDIS where interruptions are not possible…"
"Mm, that's not quite true. We have been interrupted before even when we were inside—"
The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her and went ahead to kiss her. She could possibly ramble on for hours about everything that could go wrong, or everything that had gone wrong before.
Renata now welcomed being cut off. She would much rather kiss him too. She'd been wanting to do that all day just like him. She brought her hands to his arms, gripping them while he pressed his hands against her back. It was like an endless loop, whenever he pressed against her back, she would grip his arms. It was impossible to be any closer but they continued to search for ways.
Renata pulled away for a moment - it really would be just for a moment because she was not done - and looked the Doctor over. She hadn't really looked at him with everything that happened.
His style had drastically changed. Suits were abandoned for something a bit more classic, at least in her opinion. She could appreciate the dark brown tweed jacket - though she knew for a fact Gabby would have a few comments about that - but she would have some questions on the bow tie.
"What is it?" the Doctor asked her after a while of watching her study him.
She raised her gaze off his clothes and met his new green eyes. "I like this you."
The Doctor laughed. "Well, that's good to know. I like you too, darling."
Renata smiled along with him. She slid her arms up and around his neck. "Did we have a midlife crisis?" She referred to the fact that now both of them wore far younger faces than their last bodies. "I've never had one before."
"I think we just wanted to start fresh," the Doctor's answer was a viable one. She would take it. "Do you want to go pick up Gabby now?"
Renata titled her head and hummed. "Yes…" the Doctor made a move towards the console but she tightened her grip around him. "But after we do more of…" She brushed her lips over his, giving him a tantalizing smile.
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh...right, right...I'd like that. I'd definitely like—"
Renata pressed her lips against his. She wouldn't let him get away so quick, not after all that they dealt with. Look at me being so bold, she commended herself.
The Doctor's hands once against found her back and pressed against it. The fabric of her dress was far too thin as he first noticed when they climbed out of the TARDIS in Amy's backyard. Now he had the full proof and he loved it. Eventually, one of his hands traveled up to the back of Renata's neck to keep her right against him. They were moving their lips in a sweet sync in the first minutes but after getting over it - because it had been centuries of longing - they started moving into a more rough type of kiss. They needed each other. They wouldn't realize to want extent that might be just yet but the seed was still there and it was being planted right now.
Renata gasped when the Doctor hoisted her up on the edge of the console. She laughed out of surprise, making a face that told him she'd never done anything like that, which only made him smirk. With him, she'd be able to do anything she wanted. There would be no more rules binding her.
They resumed their kiss, quickly finding their level of heat again. If they were more aware, they would've realized how easy it had been to reconnect; to re-establish the same intensity they once had centuries ago. One new thing Renata found truly pleasant was the fact she could hold onto the Doctor's hair. It was longer. She would love doing that from now on, she just hoped that the Doctor could find something about her that he liked too.
He had.
But he would keep that with him for a bit longer.
Author's Note:
These idiots are finally together after 93757620 years! So excited for you guys to see them like this! Fair warning, it'll be like a rollercoaster. Next chapter, we'll have Gabby back and finish up a loose string from the last story. After that is when we'll get to The Beast Below.
Soo, if you follow me on tumblr then perhaps you've seen one of my latest posts that I unfortunately tested positive for COVID. My quarantine is back and since I'm going to be spending a lot of time on my own, I might just use this time to go back to drafts and try to write some more. However, it might also explain a possible lack of updating. Who knows, it's still new and I haven't really felt any symptoms. I'm hoping it'll stay that way but with this damn thing, who knows.
P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"
Reviews from the PREVIOUS STORY that I couldn't answer until now:
silverhawk88: Thanks so much. I love those stories too but I don't know if I'll ever be able to write one of those (although one DW OC i'm currently drafting does a little bit of jumping but not because she's trapped or anything. It's actually a chase ;).
savethemadscientist: I loved writing their stand-off. It was a long time coming and the Assessor had. it. COMING.
The Time Lord Oracle: It's so funny, I started thinking of this question in like an AU and I honestly believe they would be arguing like half the time. Of course 9 has his soft moments but I think his personality would clash a lot with Renata's initial personality (when we met her in 1913).
brmngirl: Thanks for sticking by even when the bugs got in xD.
Reviews from the PREVIOUS chapter:
doctorsgirl262: Thanks so much!
silverhawk88: Their relationship starts out so cute (The Beast Below is actually a really important chapter for them). They'll definitely have their ups and downs but overall, they'll be fun. Ah yes, the last incarnation bit. It'll come up eventually but I haven't decided in what chapter to put it in. It's something that I know the Doctor wouldn't keep from Renata, especially as their relationship progresses.
The Time Lord Oracle: OOOh they'll be FUN to write for. It's hilarious because you just know that 11 will get on Renata's last nerves sometimes.
savethemadscientist: Thank you! I thought that being who Renata is, she would feel ten times worse than the Doctor for being 12 years late. She'd be far too guilty for her not to hug Amy and basically have a breakdown.
lexicaruso: Thank you so much! It always means a lot to hear my writing is getting better. And trust me, right now I want as much distractions as I can get so I'll be trying to write more.