Kim Possible and all related characters are the property of Disney.

Doctor Who and all related characters are the property of the BBC.

This chapter features the Twelfth Doctor.

"He'd better have a good excuse." Kim Possible had her cell phone (or mobile as they called the devices in England) to her ear and listened to the voicemail message of her boyfriend Reed Place.

"It's Reed, leave a message."

Kim growled as she waited for the inevitable beep. "Reed, where are you? We have couples counseling and you're fifteen minutes late!"

It shouldn't have been hard for Reed to get there. The counselor was on the same UNIT campus where he and Kim were both stationed, and where they both lived. "Kim," the counselor, Dr. Ward said, "I get the feeling that we'll have to start without him."

Kim launched the phone finder app on her cell. The app showed that Reed's phone was at their place. "I think we should cancel, Dr. Ward. I need to go see why he's ignoring me."

Kim drove back to the campus's living quarters. She and Reed had been sharing an apartment there for the last couple of years, but the last few months had been rough for them. Kim had recently come back from a long assignment, and it seemed like they couldn't get themselves back on track. The couples counseling was supposed to help them find their way back to each other.

Not that the distance was the only problem they had. It was, however, the only one Reed would admit to. Any time Kim tried to talk to him about his drinking, it didn't go well. At best he'd clam up, at worst it led to such the argument.

Kim ran into the apartment building and dashed up the three flights of stairs to get to their flat. The door was open, and Reed was walking out with a suitcase in each hand. He almost ran headlong into her.

"Reed, what is the stinking sitch here?!" Kim demanded.

"You want me to get your duffel, babe?" a voice from inside the flat asked. A split second later, out came a member of Reed's response team.

"Kim?" she said, clearly surprised. "What… uh… what brings you by?"

Kim glared at the woman. She was a little taller than Kim was, had short black hair, and was muscular whereas Kim herself was slender. She was also under Reed's command. "I live here, Gretchen," Kim growled. "And why are you calling my boyfriend 'babe'?"

"Gretch, you take the duffel, and I'll be along in a minute." Gretchen Heath walked off, and Reed took the suitcases back into the flat. Kim followed him in.

"I guess that tells me exactly what the sitch is," Kim said. "You're her direct superior! That is just asking for trouble! Not to mention the fact that you've so been cheating on me!"

Reed smirked. "Now you know how that loser Stoppable felt."

Kim glared at her soon to be ex-boyfriend. "He's not a loser!" she growled. "And you were hardly an innocent party, Reed. You were the guy I was cheating with!"

"Look, Kim, I'm sorry. I am. I didn't plan this." Kim winced at hearing words she'd said to justify her own infidelity. "Let's face it, in the last four months we've hardly seen each other. You were gone for six weeks."

"I was on assignment in Germany," Kim snarled. "And you were gone for eight weeks when you had to go to Spain."

"The point is," Reed said, "I got lonely, and Gretchen was there." Kim winced again as another of her excuses was used against her. "As for her being my subordinate, well, I won't tell if you don't. And if it does come out, I'll know it was you who blabbed."

"You are so full of it!" Kim exclaimed. "I saw Gretchen getting all flirty with you on that joint mission in Mexico City last year!"

"Yeah, the mission where you had me sidelined!" Reed shouted.

"You were drunk! Again! In fact, your drinking is out of control!"

"My drinking is fine!" he countered. "I have a handle on it!"

"A handle on it?!" Kim asked incredulously. Oh, it is so on! "That's why you almost got kicked out of UNIT eight months ago when you picked that fight with Corporal Cassiday!"

"Like he could take me," Reed said in a smug voice.

"The only reason you didn't get your walking papers was because your 'rents intervened!"

"Hey!" Reed shouted as he pounded his fist on the wall hard enough to rattle the pictures of Kim's family. "You leave my parents out of this!"

"Or what?" Kim demanded. "You'll take another swing at me?"

Reed looked away. "I only did that the one time."

"That was one time too many!" Kim exclaimed.

"I didn't hit you," he growled.

"Only because I blocked it!" she retorted. "You were so drunk you fell on your face! I should have reported you for that! I should have pressed charges against you because of that but I didn't! I justified it! 'He's drunk,' I told myself." She looked away. "Like that was some kind of excuse."

"I said I was sorry! What more do you want?!"

"Reed," Kim said in a softer voice, "you have a problem. I want you to get help."

"I'm fine, Kim," he deflected. "You're the one with the problem. I think you're jealous."

Kim scowled. "How do you figure?"

"Well, you're such a lightweight that you're under the table after one drink."

"You need help, Reed," she said again.

"You don't get to tell me what I need, Kim, you're not my mum!" Reed shouted. "And you're not my girlfriend anymore, either."

With that, he turned his back on Kim, grabbed his bags, and left. He didn't even close the door. Kim was about to do that when her phone rang. "Possible," she said without checking who it was.

"It's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart," was the reply. "I need you to come to the Tower of London for a meeting. I have something to discuss with you."

In the five years that had passed since Kim Possible last encountered the Doctor, much had happened. She had become a lead operative, but for assignments outside of the UK. That was why, when there was a Zygon incursion into UNIT that took three versions of the Doctor to handle, she hadn't been at the Black Archive. She was still angry about having been in Malta when that sitch went down.

When she arrived at the imposing structure that held many threats to not just the planet, but to time itself, Kim was met by a taller woman with blonde hair that hung below her ears. "Operative Possible," she said, extending her hand. "Thank you for coming."

Kim shook the woman's hand. "Chief Lethbridge-Stewart," she said, referring to the woman's title. "What's the sitch?"

"Walk with me," Kate said. She had abbreviated her last name to just Stewart when she first joined UNIT to show people that she wasn't riding on her father, the brigadier's, coattails, but had since reclaimed her full name. Technically, Kate was the chief scientific officer, but she also led the London contingent.

"We have a new assignment for you, Kim," Kate said. "It will require you to relocate, though. Unfortunately, this is more civilian than military, so Sergeant Place will be staying here. I hope that won't be a problem."

"No," Kim said. "He walked out on me this morning instead of attending our counseling session." Kim sighed. "He replaced me."

"Oh dear," Kate said. "Then those rumors about him and Private Heath are true. He's going to be reprimanded by his superiors for drinking on the job. In fact, they should be meeting with him right about now. Ordinarily I'd say having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate could mean the end of his career, but you and I both know how influential his parents are."

"Yeah," Kim said. Harv and Annie Place were beyond rich. "He's gotten away with more than anyone else would have, so why not this?"

"I'm not saying it will happen, just that it might. Getting back on track, your split from Sergeant Place means there are no ties to break in going back to the States."

Kim stopped. "Am I being transferred to the New York branch?"

Kate smiled. "No, Kim, you'll be starting up and leading the Denver, Colorado branch. Congratulations, Chief Possible."

Then next two years were busy ones for Kim, and she used that time wisely. She built up the Denver UNIT division into a force to be reckoned with, and she was even able to make a few tentative inroads to cooperation with a rival agency called Global Justice. The best thing, though, was being only a two-hour drive away from her family.

The Doctors Possible were empty nesters now; the Tweebs were finishing up their doctoral work in mechanical engineering at MIT. The boys had full ride scholarships for their undergrad courses, and thanks to a generous graduation gift from their sister's estranged ex-boyfriend, enough money to go for multiple additional PhDs and still have seed money left over for their experiments. Ann and James were beyond grateful to Ron Stoppable for that.

Kim was home for a weekend visit and had just sat down to dinner with her 'rents. James was almost totally gray now, and her mother was starting to get a few silver streaks. Kim thought it looked good on them and decided then and there to not fight going gray.

"So," Ann said as she set down the pasta bowl, "I heard from the Stoppables that Ron's latest book just made the bestseller's list." She smiled. "The Curse of Destiny. So far, I'm really enjoying it."

Kim nodded. "Even after all these years, he still lives by the motto 'never be normal'."

"That's true," Ann agreed. "His fiancé dumped him, so he wrote another bestseller."

Kim growled. "I know I broke Ron's heart first, but at least I didn't ditch him two months before the wedding." Kim shook her head. "All because she got back together with an ex-boyfriend."

"That poor man has had the worst luck with relationships," James said. When he realized what he said, he looked down. "Sorry, Kimmie-Cub."

Kim pushed her plate away. She wasn't hungry anymore. "No. It's okay. I know that none of this would have happened had I kept my promise to him. All I had to do was not cheat on him, but that was too much to ask of myself."

"What happened between you and Ronald was a long time ago," James said. "You both had to grow up after it, and you did. That having been said, I still don't approve of him just leaving for Japan without even saying goodbye to us. I understand, but I don't like it."

"At least it showed his parents how horrible something like that feels," Ann added. "That whole family is closer now, and they never use the phrase 'this is our way of telling you' anymore."

"They still won't give me the time of day," Kim lamented. "Not even Hana. I didn't think she would remember all that."

"That girl is smart as a whip," James agreed. "She's as much of a prodigy as your brothers."

"Have you read Ron's new book?" Ann had decided to change the subject to something less depressing.

Kim grinned at her mother. "Cover to cover in one night, just like all his others."

"Do you know who Sarah Jane is, Kimmie-Cub?" James said.

"I was wondering that, as well," Ann agreed. "Ron dedicated the book to her, so she has to be special."

Kim gave her parents a sad smile. "Sarah Jane Smith was an investigative reporter in England. She did some reporting on UNIT back in the seventies and eighties. She and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart were friends. She passed away recently."

"Did you know her?" James asked.

"I met her a few times, but I didn't know her too well. I'm not sure how she and Ron first met, but they were friends. I saw pictures from her son's wedding. Ron was in attendance." She smiled. "He looked good."

"You know, Kimmie-Cub," James said, "Ronald's doing a book signing at the Middleton Mall on Saturday. Have you thought of going?"

Kim shook her head. "Too public a place for me to apologize. Besides, I wouldn't want to turn a celebration of his latest novel into a public soap opera."

A hardcover copy of The Curse of Destiny sat on the TARDIS's console. Its owner, a dark-haired woman named Clara Oswald, was giddy. A little too giddy. It was really annoying the Doctor.

This incarnation was proving to be more than a little prickly. He chalked it up to the Scottish accent he now spoke with, and the fact that he looked older than his last self.

He was still tall, but he now had gray hair. He looked to be in his fifties, whereas he had appeared to be in his twenties in his prior regeneration. Well, before spending nine hundred years on a planet called Trenzalore, that is. He wore dark pants, boots, and a black hoody with a black jacket over it.

The TARDIS interior had also changed. The console room was multi-level now, with bookshelves on the higher levels, and even a blackboard. The smaller tubes in the central column of the time rotor were red, and there were red accent lights all through the room. The console itself was again octagonal, and there were additional control panels surrounding the main console.

"You're sure you're all right with taking me to America for a book signing?" Clara asked again.

"For the last time, yes!" the Doctor declared. "Keep it up and I'll play Beethoven's fifth again, speed metal style." He looked over to the guitar and amplifier in the corner. Another quirk of this regeneration was his love of playing the guitar, and he was good at it.

"Okay, fine! No need for an impromptu rock concert."

The Doctor picked up the book and opened it to the author's photo. He smiled when he saw Ron, still freckled and with big ears, but now sporting a pair of horn rimmed glasses. "He's done well for himself."

"Who has?" Clara grabbed the book. "Y'mean him? You know Ron Stoppable?"

"We traveled together a long time ago, shortly before I headed off to the Time War. I told him I expected great things from him. He hasn't disappointed."

Clara's eyes were wide. "Wow. I had no idea you knew him. Ron Stoppable is one of my favorite authors. Are you going to talk to him?"

"Clara," the Doctor said, "for me it's been about thirteen hundred years. That was four faces ago, so it's unlikely that he'll recognize me. Besides, I'm sure the queue to see him will be long enough that he won't have time to reminisce with an old friend."

"Don't you want to see him?"

The Doctor gave Clara a sidelong look. "I try not to look back, you know that. Anyway, I told him I'd probably never see him again when we parted ways. I think I'm a little too different from the Edwardian romantic I was in those days."

"Yeah, now you're a grouchy Scotsman."

Of all the places I could be, Kim thought, this was the last place I expected. She was in the Middleton Mall, outside the bookstore where Ron was doing his signing. There was already a line of people going all the way back to the food court. "Middleton's Own Ron Stoppable!" was emblazoned on a large sign outside the store. Kim smiled. They'd gotten his name right.

Kim wasn't there as an attendee; she was there because of a possible extraterrestrial threat. "Wade are you sure about this?" she said into her Kimunicator. The device was a scaled down variant of the wrist unit she had begun wearing her senior year.

"According to our intel," Dr. Wade Load replied. He was all grown up now and had filled out. He stood over six feet tall and had let his hair grow out. When Kim took command of the Denver branch, she hired him for tech and logistics.

"Why Ron?" she asked. "He's a writer. He is so not dangerous."

"No idea," Wade said. "We're not really even sure who or what's coming, or if Ron really is a target. All we have is an alien ship that was found on the outskirts of town, a missing person who may or may not be related, a creature sighting, and an eyewitness account of said creature demanding to know where Ron Stoppable was. Apparently, the alien in question was told about today's signing, hence why you're here." He went quiet for a moment. "Ron and I… we stayed friendly, but not really friends. He said he didn't want to put me in the middle of you and him."

Kim smiled. "At least you hear from him regularly."

"Yeah. He's sent me autographed first printings of all his books."

"I don't think he'd do that for me after the way things ended," Kim said sadly. "Anyway, this could be a wild alien chase. Keep every set of electronic eyes you have on Ron, just in case."

"Got it," Wade said. "You know, having a full strike team would have been easier."

"We didn't have enough proof of a threat to get the clearances from HQ in London," Kim said. "The only assets I was allowed to use for this investigation were the two of us. Besides, I owe it to Ron to personally make sure he's safe."

Ron was as ready as he'd ever be. Truth be told, he really didn't like doing these events, but they went with him being a bestselling author. He always got nervous when the throngs of people started coming in.

In that regard, he'd really changed from when he was a teenager. Back then he wanted recognition. Then again, he'd been in Kim's shadow for most of his life and was just dying for validation. Now, he almost feared it. It didn't help that his personal life was a topic of conversation, especially his split from his now ex-fiancé, despite the fact that it had been nearly a year since his ex gave him the ring back.

As always, he had Rufus with him. The naked mole rat was in a special chair on the table that Ron would be sitting at. There was also a flat of bottled water, multiple pens, and some cheese snacks for both Ron and Rufus.

Ron took off his glasses, cleaned them off, then put them back on. Then he adjusted the black jacket he wore. Underneath that was his trademark red jersey. His sense of style hadn't changed all that much over the last decade. "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" was his attitude.

The store manager, a younger woman in all black, came up to the table. "You about ready for this, Ron?" She'd done a few of these signings with Ron and could tell when he was getting tense.

"Not really, Gwen," he said. "But once we get started, I should be okay. I just hope my hand doesn't cramp up this time. Carpal tunnel so isn't fun." He flexed his fingers for emphasis.

The advantage of a time machine was the fact that you could get to wherever you wanted whenever you wanted. In theory, anyway. The Doctor had programmed the TARDIS to arrive several hours before the store opened so they could be the first in line. They got there a day and a half early.

"You've been piloting her for how long again?" Clara asked.

"She has a mind of her own," the Doctor said. "You know that. The question is, why are we here so early? She must know something we don't."

Clara rolled her eyes. "When doesn't she?"

They spent the time doing some investigating but didn't find much. All the buzz was about a local boy who made something of himself coming home.

The Doctor sat in the food court, a pair of sunglasses on his face. Only, they weren't sunglasses. He no longer had his sonic screwdriver, so he had incorporated the software architecture and functionality into his shades. He was also able to access the internet on them. Clara came up to the table.

"So much for getting my book signed," she sighed.

"Can't be helped," the Doctor said. He took his glasses off and handed them to Clara. "I had to do a deep dive. It looks like an alien ship was found outside of town. Not only that, but a creature of some sort was reportedly heard demanding to know where Ron Stoppable was. I think we've learned why the TARDIS brought us here earlier than expected."

Clara put the glasses on and read over the story. "Is this from a tabloid?"

"No. I have a back door into the UNIT database. There's a field office in Denver now. They're investigating."

She handed the glasses back to the Doctor. "What kind of ship?"

"No idea. I'd have to take a look at it. Fortunately, I'm still the scientific advisor, so I have full access. I'll need to contact whoever's in charge, though." He put the sonic glasses back on. "Let's see who's talking."

The glasses searched through numerous communication lines; cellphones, landlines in the stores, internet traffic. There was nothing. The Doctor knew it was only a matter of time, or at least he hoped so. "We're on our own for now," he told Clara. "Let go see what we can see."

When Saturday arrived, Clara and the Doctor were not in line for the signing. The Doctor was walking by people, scanning them with the sonic glasses. Nothing unusual was coming up, but then again, the glasses couldn't do a deep scan. It also didn't help that he didn't know what he was looking for. He was about to head back to the food court when he saw Kim Possible. "Well now. The plot thickens." He walked towards her. "Operative Possible." He pulled his sunglasses off.

Kim looked over at the man who was approaching. "If you're here, Doctor, then there is most def something going on. And it's 'Chief Possible' now."

"Congratulations," he said. "I was hoping you'd recognize me."

"Kate Lethbridge-Stewart sends updated pictures of you whenever you regenerate. I assume Clara Oswald is here somewhere."

"You assume correctly. I'm sure you can get your friend Wade to send her a text message and ask her to meet us here."

She got Wade on her Kimunicator. "Did you hear all that?"

"She's already on her way," the genius said.

"Good," the Doctor said. "When Clara arrives, we can compare notes."

"We don't have much," Kim admitted. They were all seated at a table in the middle of the mall, still in visual range of the bookstore.

"That's putting it mildly," Clara agreed.

"A random alien ship on the outskirts of town, a missing person, and a vague threat against a local author," the Doctor said, reiterating what they already knew. He looked over at Clara. "We've gone off of less before."

"The question," Wade said over the Kimunicator, "is what do they want with Ron?"

"If they want anything with him." The Doctor glanced over at the line of people, wondering if whoever it was they were looking for was already there. "They could be after me and are using my old friend as bait."

"Or they could be after me and are using my ex-boyfriend to get to me," Kim said.

Clara's eyes went wide. "Seriously? You two were a thing? I thought that was some random internet rumor started by that Mac Raker bloke." She gave Kim a look. "Wait, does that mean…?"

Kim sighed. "It's true. I cheated on him when I was in England. I'm really grateful that Ron never consented to an interview with that snake."

"If the gossip session is over," the Doctor said, "let's get back to the matter at hand. We don't know who or what we're looking for."

"In the nine months you and Ron traveled together, how many alien races did he encounter?" Kim asked.

"Dozens," was the reply, "most of whom see Ron as a hero."

"What about the Lorwardians?" Wade asked. "They'd want revenge for sure."

"How would they know?" Kim inquired. "It's not like the fight was being broadcast."

"Actually, it was. Warhok's ship was chronicling the invasion and beaming it back via hyperspace transmitter," the Doctor said. "However, towards the end of our travels, Ron and I visited Lorwardia and dissuaded them from seeking vengeance."

"That's a good trick," Kim said. "How did you do that?"

"Ron entered into ritual combat with the Warguard."

Kim and Clara both gave the Doctor wide eyed looks. "The Warguard," Clara said. "Ron fought the entire royal guard? By himself?"

"Not the royal guard," the Doctor replied. "The Warguard are elite imperial soldiers. They were awaiting orders to depart for Earth to launch a revenge invasion. Warhok had been a member. There were three dozen warriors, all heavily armed, and yes, Ron fought them by himself. It wasn't one on one combat, either. Ron fought them all at once. Unarmed. It was a fair fight that way."

Clara was incredulous. "How is that fair?!"

"It's fair," Kim said. She remembered seeing Ron hurl Warmonga and Warhok into their ship.

"After he won, he engaged in winner take all combat with Empress Wargayme. He won. Then he had to survive his reward. After that, Earth was deemed off limits."

Kim had a sinking feeling in her gut. "What do you mean 'survive his reward?' What reward?"

"Wargayme herself was the spoils. Had Ron not," the Doctor cleared his throat, "performed adequately, his life would have been forfeit."

Kim felt her blood pressure rising. How could he? We were still technically together! Then she remembered what she'd been doing with Reed for months. This is how he must have felt. But at least I was with another human being, not some nine foot tall alien Amazon!

"Okay, I'm impressed," Clara said. "Go, Ron! I'm surprised he hasn't had any interspecies liaisons in his science fiction stories."

"We're getting nowhere," Kim said, not wanting to think about Ron in bed with the empress of Lorwardia. "One of us needs to get in line and see if we can talk to him."

Clara looked at the line. "Yeah, not gonna work. They just roped off the end."

"Then I'm out of ideas," Kim said.

The Doctor pulled what looked like a small wallet out of his jacket pocket. "Then it's a good thing I have this. Psychic paper! I can present myself as a journalist wanting an interview."

"Ron is notoriously difficult to nail down for interviews," Wade told them. "He tries to keep his private life private. Besides, his publicists keep him up to date on who he's interviewing with, and he will flat out refuse any interview requests from anyone he doesn't know."

"He does know me, though," the Doctor pointed out.

"You looked a lot different ten years ago," Kim said.

"That is true," the Doctor agreed. "Even my accent is different now."

Kim looked over at the line again and saw a commotion. She stood up. "Uh oh. This so doesn't look good."

A man of average height was forcing himself through the line, displacing those who had been waiting since before the mall opened. The man was nondescript looking, with short brown hair, and wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans.

The Doctor slowly stood up. This man was throwing people around like a child throwing toys. He put the sonic glasses on to scan the newcomer, but it showed nothing out of the ordinary. "I can't be sure," he said a little sarcastically, "but I don't think that gentleman is quite human."

"What is he then?" Clara asked.

"Whatever he is, I think he's the one we've been looking for," Kim said.

Before the Doctor could say anything else, a mall security guard arrived on the scene. "Hey!" he yelled. "That's enough!"

The man expanded and turned a deep red. His body was covered in gruesome looking suckers. "I want Ron Stoppable!" the creature bellowed in a raspy roar.

The guard looked at the creature, then at the can of pepper spray and the taser he was armed with. "Nope!" he yelled and booked it out of there. The rest of the crowd had since gone into a panic, people running and screaming as they fled.

The Doctor looked over at his companions. "It's a Zygon! Kim, go in there and get Ron. Get him to safety! If this is who I think it is, then he's in danger! Clara, get to the TARDIS!"

"Hey! I don't need protecting!"

"Then go with Kim! When you get Ron, get him to the TARDIS. I'll handle the Zygon."

The commotion outside made Ron stand up and take notice. His training, his instincts, and the mystical power coursing through him told him it was time to move. He grabbed Rufus and put his little friend in his pocket. He looked over at Gwen. "Any idea what's going on out there?"

"No, but I don't like the sound of it! I think we should all get out of here." Gwen hopped up on the table Ron had been signing books on. "Attention, everyone! Something's going on outside, we don't know what it is, but I don't think it's safe to stick around!"

The crowd started to get unruly. It was Ron's turn to speak up. "I promise you all, I will come back and sign your books! I'll even do a reading to make it up to you. You have my word! I agree with Gwen, it's not safe!"

Kim and Clara came dashing in. Kim held up her UNIT badge. "Everyone, evacuate immediately!"

"What's going on out there?" one man demanded.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you! Please, evacuate in an orderly fashion!"

The crowd panicked, and the attendees scattered in a chaotic manner.

"Or not," Kim said.

Clara made it to Ron first. "I'm a big fan!" she said.

"Clara! So not the time!" Kim shouted.

"Kim?" Ron scowled a little at his former girlfriend. "What are you doing here?"

"Zygon!" Kim said.

That made Ron's eyes flash blue. "Tolkran?"

"I don't know who that is," Kim told him. "The Doctor is out there right now. Come on! We have to go!"

"The Doctor's here? Booyah!" He ran for the door, the exact opposite direction that Kim and Clara wanted him to go.

"Whoah, Ron, wrong way! The Doctor wants us to get to the TARDIS!" Clara grabbed his arm. "Come on! The Doctor knows what he's doing!"

"Since when?!" Ron asked incredulously.

"You really did travel with him, didn't you?" she asked. "Look, he said to get you to the TARDIS, so that's what we're doing!"

Ron looked to Kim. "Are you on the same page?"

"I don't doubt you could hold your own," Kim said, "but we don't know what the Zygon wants with you."

"Revenge probably. I mean, I did stop him from killing Toshimiru, who then kicked his alien biscuit!"

"Hey! Less talking, more running! The TARDIS is this way!" Clara grabbed Ron's hand and practically dragged him off. It was all Kim could do to not yank the other woman away.

Not the time for jealousy, Possible. Besides which, you so gave up that right a long time ago.

"Oi! You!" the Doctor bellowed. "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, and I don't really care. I know what you are."

The Zygon approached the Time Lord as throngs of people scattered in every conceivable direction. "Really? Then what am I? A monster?"

The Doctor grinned. "A Zygon. And not the only one here. There are a lot of your people on this planet, hiding in plain sight. I can help you."

"And who, exactly, are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

The Zygon howled, "Time Lord! You survived the war! Do you remember me? You locked me up on that prison planet!"

"Tolkran," the Doctor said. His fear was confirmed. "Shada is the one place you shouldn't have escaped from. How did you?"

Tolkran sneered. "You're the Time Lord, you figure out how I escaped the inescapable prison."

Tolkran lunged at the Doctor, but the Time Lord was too fast. He took off running with the shapeshifter hot on his heels. The Doctor wanted to use his sonic glasses to bring part of the mall down on his pursuer, but that would have hurt innocents. Instead, the Doctor ran as fast as he could, and stayed ahead of Tolkran. After a few twists and turns, the Doctor gave him the slip.

Kim, Clara, and Ron burst out the mall's main entrance and ran at full speed to the TARDIS, which was parked on the patch of grass by the parking lot. When Ron saw the blue box, he ran faster. When he reached it, Ron hugged the TARDIS like he would an old friend.

"Am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed.

"Sure, you'll hug an inanimate object, but when you see me, it's 'What are you doing here'?"

"The TARDIS is alive, Kim! And I am really happy to see her."

"You mind moving while I unlock the door?"

Ron moved so Clara could get by him. That's when he noticed that the exterior was a lighter blue, and there was an emblem on one of the doors that said, "St. John Ambulance."

When Ron walked through the door, he marveled at how much the interior had changed. Kim, meanwhile, was losing her grip on reality. "It's bigger on the inside," she said in a disbelieving tone. She already knew this, but to see it was almost too much.

A few moments later, the Doctor dashed through the doors and made a beeline for the console. "Time to go!" He set the controls and threw a lever, making the time rotor move and emit that familiar groaning wheeze.

Ron cautiously approached the gray-haired man. "And you said we'd never see each other again." The Doctor smiled at his old friend, but he also looked uncomfortable. "When you said you look different after a regeneration, you weren't kidding!" Ron really noticed the Doctor's discomfort. "Let me guess, you're not a hugger anymore and you're afraid I'm gonna hug you."

"Basically," the Doctor replied.

"Say no more." Ron backed off, but he took Rufus out of his pocket and set him on the console. The mole rat squeaked happily.

"You see, Clara! That's how you do it! That's how you respect boundaries. Thank you, Ron."

"Is it Tolkran?" Ron asked.

The Doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"Who's Tolkran?" Kim asked.

"It's a long story," the Doctor said. "We're going to Yamanouchi. Part of this is Toshimiru's story, and Sensei needs to know that an ancient threat has returned."

Author's note: I had thought about using the Thirteenth Doctor, but I decided that the Twelfth's more standoffish nature would be more interesting. The Thirteenth Doctor is a warm person, so she would be easier for Ron to find a rapport with. Twelve is going to take some getting used to for Ron.

As for Reed's alcoholism, that's going to be revisited in subsequent chapters. I'm the brother and son of addicts, so I'm not going to be judgmental about anyone in recovery or anyone struggling. Reed's gaslighting and coming close to physical abuse, I'm sorry to say, is based on personal experience.

The name Mac Raker was mentioned in my KP/Transformers mashup. He was a slime ball yellow journalist in that story, too.