Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun shone outside, another beautiful day in North Carolina. The view from the gym’s windows was stunning as warm sunlight streamed in through the large windows. Not that the heat bothered the gym’s inhabitants. The AC certainly took care of them in that regard, allowing them to work out in the sweltering heat without overheating.

“Excellent, we’re making good progress Mrs. Jax,” the blonde spoke warmly to her client, ending their scheduled session. 

The plus-sized woman grunted as she put down her weights, before turning to her personal trainer with an amused smile before pouting and rolling her eyes in faux annoyance. “Come on Charlotte, we’re friends. Loosen up, you don’t need to speak to me so formally.”

Charlotte Flair smiled back; they’d had this exact conversation many times over the past few weeks, and she expected it to be repeated more times in the future. “As you are well aware by now, I am a professional. I treat all of my clients equally.” Charlotte looked around to ensure none of her other clients or employees were nearby before leaning an inch closer to her client. “But now that our weekly session is over Nia, I’ll see you and Alexa this weekend.”

“I’ll see you later girl,” Nia responded in a purposefully slightly higher-pitched tone than her regular speaking voice, adding in a wink for comic effect, one of the many endearing qualities of the large woman’s personality. 

A quiet chuckle escaped from Charlotte’s lips as she watched her client- no, friend - leave. She smoothed her tank top and leggings to double check she still looked presentable, ran a hand to smooth her long blonde hair, before walking out of the room and down the hallway, in the direction of the gym’s receptionist. 

She looked around with pride at the populated gym. The business was her pride and joy; the crowning achievement of her life. There had been many whispers the day her father had relinquished sole ownership of Flair Gym to her. Whispers that she would never be able to fill his shoes. Voices that posited the gym would die within a matter of months under certain mismanagement from an inexperienced heir.

It had been a rocky first couple of years, there was no doubt about it. Despite growing up around her father’s business, she had never initially dreamed of it being passed down to her. But in the end, she’d proved them all wrong. Flair Gym was thriving. In fact, it had never been more successful. 

Approaching the desk, she took note of the receptionist’s immaculate clothing, her hair swept back in a perfect bun, glasses perched on the bridge of her nose without a hint of being askew. Charlotte took pride in this. Even her employees projected a professional image. Combined with her professional yet kind attitude to her clients, her gym had a strong reputation for professionalism.

“Hey Dana, has my next client arrived yet?” the tall blonde asked the shorter blonde seated behind the computer. Though Charlotte insisted on a strictly professional attitude when dealing with her clients and while in the proximity of gymgoers, she maintained a much looser attitude when speaking privately to her employees. 

The receptionist took a second to smooth out her already meticulous blouse before answering the query. “No Mrs. Flair, though Mr. Sabbatelli isn’t scheduled until 4:15.”

Charlotte briefly glanced at the clock, realising that she had approximately ten minutes to spare. Looking back toward Dana, she realised that she had to try, yet again, to put the nervous receptionist at ease. 

“Please Dana, I don’t know how many times I have to ask you this, but call me Charlotte. I may be your boss, but I’m still just an ordinary person. By all means, refer to me as ‘Mrs. Flair’ if a client is around, but if it’s just you and me, we’re just two women talking.” Finishing her plea, Charlotte made sure to shoot a reassuring smile as the exclamation point. She hoped that would be enough to finally allow the younger woman to relax.

“Sorry Mrs. Flai- I mean, Charlotte. I guess I just get anxious when talking to people in authority.” Dana responded while looking down, a nervous tick Charlotte often observed while having this conversation. 

“Yeah, I get that,” Charlotte spoke with understanding, empathising with the young, eager receptionist, trying her hardest to relate to her. “Look, I might sign your cheques, but believe it or not, I was an employee once too. And that experience taught me how not to treat your employees.” Charlotte shuddered at the brief memory, recalling a miserable job she’d held at a time in which she’d vowed to become entirely self-reliant, before mentally shoving it back to where it usually lay dormant and looking back up at Dana Brooke. “The point is, the clients love you. I wouldn’t be able to run this place without you. So unless you screw up repeatedly in a major way, you don’t have anything to worry about. Okay?” Charlotte’s lips curved upward one more time to ensure her point was made, pearly white teeth on show, smile as radiant as the sun outside.

Dana finally seemed to get the message. “Thank you Charlotte, I’ll try to be more relaxed.” In an effort to physically communicate this, Dana let her shoulders relax, her posture immediately appearing looser.

“Glad to hear it,” Charlotte couldn’t help but grin at the satisfaction of finally getting through to the apprehensive receptionist. “I’m going to head to my office, could you give me a buzz when Mr. Dansereau arrives?”

“Sure thing…Charlotte,” Dana replied with a momentary pause, evidently still getting used to the new sense of informality between employer and employee.

Turning around to hide her grin at the unintentional humour, the tall blonde walked towards her office. Perhaps she could use these scant few minutes remaining to finally down some coffee to get her through her last few clients.

Turning the door handle, Charlotte entered her immaculate looking office and sat down in her perfectly adjusted office chair. The room looked pristine, not a speck of dirt or dust in sight. She didn’t hire a cleaner for this; she routinely polished the room herself. After all, why waste money hiring someone else to do it when she was perfectly capable of performing the task herself? Charlotte firmly believed in making a good impression on her clients, whether it be their first or tenth impression. To this end, she always ensured that her office be kept spotless. Of course this meant that every working day began hours before the gym opened, but she was okay with sacrificing personal enjoyment for professional success. Some of her personal friends jokingly accused Charlotte of being excessively anal when it came to her work life, but deep down, she knew they were speaking the truth. She was indeed meticulous, and proud of it. 

But lately, she couldn’t deny that she had been wondering if it had all been worth it. Whether she was right to have fully devoted herself to her career, instead of getting out there and being more relaxed in her life. For so many years now, perhaps for the thirty-three years she’d been alive, she’d been so uptight, doing whatever it took to ensure that her gym ran perfectly, like clockwork. Skipping out on family events, social gathering, sacrificing hours of sleep and personal enjoyment, doing whatever it took. Had it all been worth it? That was something that Charlotte Flair was still contemplating, and she suspected she was likely to keep pondering over it for some time.

Closing her eyes, she supposed she had time to shut her eyes for a minute or two. She didn’t notice as a vivid blue beam of light shone down through her ceiling and wrapped around her body. As she quickly fell asleep, she didn’t realise that when she woke up, she would no longer be inside her office. Indeed, she would no longer even be on Earth.

“Mrs. Flair? Mr. Sabbatelli is here for his appointment,” Dana Brooke’s business-like tone buzzed through the intercom. “Mrs. Flair?” No response. “Mrs. Flair?” She tried again, only to be met with a cold silence.  The only reminder of her boss’ previous presence in her office was the desk chair, swivelling from the jolt created by the teleportation of Charlotte Flair.

Chapter Text

Another satisfying work day had come to an end. The empty corridors were long since devoid of students, with only the staff remaining behind to finish their end of the day tasks. In an office, Bayley was packing her things up for the walk home.

In the process of gathering up her water bottle from her desk, she accidentally knocked her desk label over. “God damnit,” she hissed under her breath before picking it back up and straightening it, so that the shining letters were legible for all to see: “Bayley Martinez - Guidance Counsellor - San Jose High School”.

A purveyor of mirth and with the bubbly, kind personality to boot, Bayley had always loved nothing more than to help other people. As a child, that had manifested itself by helping out fellow students being bullied or in any kind of trouble she could help out with. Or failing that, any situation in which she could lend an attentive ear or a comforting hug to help make that person’s day even the smallest bit better.

As an adult, the compassionate Latina spent her days helping to guide the next generation. 

Bayley looked around her office with a smile before exiting the room. She locked the door behind her and took off in the direction of home. Sticking her headphones in, she selected her playlist and hit play. A grin curved her lips as Pressure by Paramore began to play.

As the leaves crunched beneath her shoes, the sound of birds twittering all around barely audible thanks to the music in her ears, Bayley reflected on another pleasant day.

Hand on heart, Bayley loved her job. All of her life, even as a child, she’d wanted to help fix other people’s problems. Throughout her adolescence and into adulthood, she always stepped in to mediate any conflict that arose in her vicinity, whether she was asked to or not. If someone she knew had a problem in their life, she’d do whatever it took to come up with a solution. Many people mistook her bubbly personality and affable demeanour for weakness; a target to pick on. Those who made that mistake seldom did so again. Despite Bayley’s tendency to see the good in everyone, she had no qualms about defending herself if push came to shove, though she’d always try to calm the situation before it came to that. 

The benevolent brunette, newly turned thirty, always wore her hair in a side ponytail. Some of the students mocked this particular quirk behind her back: a fact she was well aware of, but that never bothered her. Even the school’s most diabolical bullies would never dare openly mock the level-headed Latina, whose presence radiated an aura of compliance.

While she was proud of the reputation for compassion and peaceful conflict resolution she’d carefully cultivated in her tenure, Bayley couldn’t help but feel like there was more to be done on a larger scale. Helping temper young minds and resolve conflict was a job she was happy to do her part in, but there was a nagging part in the deepest recesses of her mind that she could be making a bigger impact on the world, rather than confining herself to a single high school in one city of one country.

Muffled voices from a nearby clearing garnered Bayley’s attention, audible even over the sound of her music. Something was clearly going on, and there was no way Bayley could ignore it. She pulled the earbuds out, allowing the voices to be heard perfectly clearly.

“Get off me!” a female voice shrieked, shaky with fear. It sounded somewhat familiar.

“What are you gonna do?” another voice, smug and husky, taunted in reply. “Give it to me, or we’ll see how you like having your arm snapped.”

Despite the anger coursing through her veins at the sickening hostile situation, Bayley forced herself to take a breath to calm herself. Composed, it was time to sort this situation out. She took her bag off and set it down, readying herself to resolve another conflict.

Stepping through the clearing, Bayley was met with the sight of two women struggling over a bag. It was clear that the petite blonde clutching it was in the process of being mugged, and the taller and muscular woman trying to yank it away was the assailant.

It seemed that Bayley had picked an opportune moment. Another second and the poor victim would have lost the tug of war. As it was, Bayley’s appearance had distracted the mugger, her face a snarl as she turned her head to glare viciously.

“What’s going on here?” Bayley decided to open with. One thing she’d learned dealing with teenagers was that it was always best to open with a neutral question, rather than starting off with accusations. Open hostility always just worsened the situation.

“Mind your own business and fuck off,” the assailant growled.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Bayley countered, and the mugger seemed to still with shock at the guts on full display. “It looks to me that you’re trying to steal her bag. I’d suggest you let go.”

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you call the cops when both of your arms are broken.”

“If you leave now, I won’t have to. Is it really worth it, getting yourself into trouble like this? Come on Shayna, surely you’ve changed since high school?” 

The bullying young woman’s expression momentarily turned to shock at the very idea of the guidance counselor at her old high school remembering her. With years having elapsed since she graduated, and dozens upon dozens of new students since, it was surprising that a troublemaker such as her would prove to be so memorable. To Bayley of course, she didn’t even have to think about it. She remembered every face, every name she’d encountered in her career. Even the troublemakers.

“A criminal record is only going to mess your life up. Just stop and think about that. I don’t want you to throw your future away, when you can be far more than this. Trust me, and let go of Candice.”

The words seemed to resonate within the surly young woman. After some clear thinking, plain as day on her furrowed brow, Shayna reluctantly released her grip, taking a step back from Candice.

Bayley’s eyes lit up, a warm and sympathetic smile curving her lips as she directed it at the woman she’d talked down. A woman she had talked sense into.

“Good, thank you Shayna. Now please, apologise to Candice.”

“Are you serious?” Shayna grunted, her disapproval of such an idea clear.

“Look, I know it’s not a fun thing to do, admitting you were in the wrong. But the only way to feel better after making a mistake is to do your best to correct it.” Bayley advised, determined to help the troubled young woman see sense and stop treading down the wrong path. “You hurt Candice. Not just now, but several times in high school. I know, because of how many times she came to me. You might not regret your behaviour today, but some day you will. And what happens if you don’t have the chance to be forgiven? It’ll eat you up.”

Before her very eyes, Bayley could see Shayna taking her advice, thinking it through. A few moments later, it manifested into Shayna extending a hand. A hand which Candice initially eyed with suspicion, but eventually decided to take.

Bayley beamed as the two young women finally made peace. She’d witnessed Shayna’s bullying in high school, which never seemed to end. But now, it finally seemed she’d matured enough to take the hint and turn it around. Though she was too modest to openly acknowledge it aloud, Bayley knew deep down that it was thanks to her efforts and negotiation tactics.

Despite the exchange being awkward in all respects, the atmosphere lifted enough to became neutral. A far cry from the hostility brimming in the air when Bayley had intervened. After Shayna bid them goodbye and left the clearing, Bayley released the breath she’d been holding. Truthfully, she had been concerned about her wellbeing when she decided to step in. Despite the authority she used to hold over her, Shayna had the demeanour of a shark. But the day she ignored a clear cry for help was the day she stopped being Bayley. She couldn’t let her own fear stop her from helping each others when she could make a difference.

“Miss Martinez?” the small voice from behind her called out.

“Candice!” she greeted her former student with warmth. One who she had helped a few times while at school. Here she was, a few years removed from Candice’s graduation, still helping out her old students. Her eyes shone with concern as she looked for any sign of injury from the initial struggle. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, she just scared me, that’s all. Thank you for saving me.”

“Anytime,” Bayley smiled warmly, eyes sparkling with compassion. 

“I gotta run, she already made me late for work as it is,” Candice frowned, the annoyance and disappointment for having to leave without a proper chance to catch up with someone she had looked up to evident.

“Of course, don’t let me keep you,” Bayley nodded. 

The two women bid goodbye, and Bayley stood alone in the clearing. With a shake of her head, Bayley walked over to where she’d set her bag down, bending over to pick it back up.

Distracted by this task, she did not notice the electric blue vortex of light shine down through the trees, wrapping itself around her body. Bayley blinked, and when she opened her eyes a millisecond later, she’d soon discover that she was no longer in the park; in fact she would no longer be on earth.

Chapter Text

The doors to the hotel lobby slid open, allowing the slender young woman to step through. Her electric blue hair was swaying around her face, the smile on her face so radiant that it threatened to envelop the bright ceiling lights. Her footsteps thudded softly as she strode down the polished marble floor, a pep in her step that had never left during the duration of her stay. Sasha Banks was thoroughly enjoying her trip to Tokyo, Japan.

As a blogger who loved to travel and document her adventures, Sasha relished the chance to experience other cultures. Her heart found a specific fondness for Asian cultures. Japanese, Korean, Chinese, she just adored this part of the world. That was the reason she adored her job so much; it gave her the opportunity to experience what she loved, provided she recount her experiences online. That was a very small price to pay for the euphoria she was rewarded with in the process.

Throughout the entirety of her life, even since she was small, Sasha Banks had desperately desired to get out there and see the world. Unfortunately that dream hadn’t been possible at the time as a child, but now as an adult, she took full privilege in the capability she now had. She was living the life she never had as an adolescent. 

There were no two ways about it, her childhood had been steeped in poverty. Her mom had had to work two jobs just to support them. Everyday possessions for many other kids like new toys or clothing had been a luxury for herself as a child. Vacations had simply been out of the question.

Now that she had grown up and made something of herself through a string of crappy jobs and saving every penny she earned herself, Sasha was able to simply enjoy life and all the wonderful sights the world had to offer.

Her blog didn’t bring in enough income to fully supplement these trips, however. In the time she spent in the city she called home, she worked at a dog shelter. As far as Sasha was concerned, she just loved life. Across both of her jobs, she indulged in her biggest passions. Travelling to experience the wonders of the world, and playing with as many of the fluffy animals as her heart could take without bursting with joy. She knew she wasn’t supposed to play favourites, but her heart always swelled with more elation than she felt possible whenever she spent time around one of the shelter’s residents, a Corgi named Ryu.

Sure, she didn’t mind spending time at her home of Boston, Massachusetts (especially when it came to her days among her four-legged friends), but the rest of the world had so much out there. So many more sights to see, so much more to experience. Staying in one place without ever leaving would not satisfy her adventurous spirit. Days at a time she could cope with, but months? Forget about it; she’d go stir crazy. Fortunately for Sasha, her employer, Summer Rae, was also one of her closest friends, allowing Sasha unprecedented flexibility.

Although her itinerary for the trip included a vast array of Japanese culture, she particularly relished the opportunity to indulge in two of her favourite forms of entertainment: anime and K-pop. The previous day, she’d been given a tour of the Toei Animation headquarters, home to many of her favourite anime, including one of her particular favourites: Sailor Moon. But as interesting and captivating as she’d found that experience, it was surpassed by the live musical performance she was returning from: a concert for one of her favourite bands: Big Bang.

As she pressed the button to call the elevator, and took a moment to adjust her glasses, Sasha noticed how wide she was smiling in the reflective surface. A wide open-mouthed grin showing off her white pearly teeth. She couldn’t hide the smile even if she wanted to. Her heart was filled to the brim with pure elation. It was weeks like these that reminded her why she never thought of these sojourns as business trips, but more like vacations. When most people thought of a “business trip”, they probably visualised walking around in a suit, spending hours in meetings with a translator on hand. Not Sasha. Instead they consisted of her living her life to the fullest, appreciating every brand new experience.

The elevator doors pinged open. Sasha hesitated before seeing if the room had an occupant, which it did. Fortunately for her, it was someone she was familiar with.

“Sasha-chan!” the Japanese woman exclaimed excitedly.

“Asuka!” Sasha couldn’t help but beam back at bumping into one of the friends she’d made across her travels.

An accomplished martial artist, the undefeated “Empress of Tomorrow” had been interviewed by Sasha a few times over the years, and the two women had quickly developed a friendship. Every time Sasha ventured to Japan, Asuka Urai would always make time for Sasha, whether strictly business or for social reasons. It was a working relationship that proved very beneficial for Sasha, with Asuka capable of opening doors which would be otherwise closed. And furthermore, as a native of Japan, Asuka offered plenty of helpful advice for her American friend.

‘Friends’ was a relative term in Sasha’s eyes. While she held a certain amount of affection towards the people she’d met and spent a good deal of enjoyable time with, Sasha Banks trusted nobody. She’d learnt from an early age that the only person she could truly rely on was herself. She’d seen that firsthand from her mother’s struggle to raise her alone after her absent father had abandoned them. The only way she’d built herself into the boss she considered herself to be today was by trusting nobody but herself.

The two friends shared a brief hug before parting. “You didn’t tell me you were staying here!” Sasha stated, her tone filled with warmth.

Asuka paused to gather her thoughts before responding. “You, not, tell me, you here, either,” she replied in broken English. Sasha couldn’t help but beam at the progress Asuka was making. One of the many facets of their friendship was that Sasha helped Asuka out with her English, with Sasha more than happy to repay Asuka back for the unprecedented access she’d afforded her. With the success Asuka had experienced in her career, international eyes had begun to look in her direction, and an English-speaking capability would help greatly. Just as Asuka had helped Sasha’s career, Sasha had in return helped Asuka’s.

“I’m in town for a couple more days, we should hang out,” Sasha suggested, eager to spend time with her older friend before heading back to familiar shores.

Asuka’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “I give you call?”

Sasha chuckled with happiness. “Can’t wait!”

The two friends bid each other goodnight as Asuka departed for her destination, and Sasha stepped inside the elevator. She pressed the button for her floor, the elevator doors sliding shut as the capsule began to ascend. The young woman sighed with pure contentment. Growing up, she’d never dreamed that she could feel so fulfilled. Though admittedly, she was starting to run out of new things to experience. By this point, she’d travelled to almost every country in the world. The few she hadn’t was more out of choice for her personal safety. Each country she’d been to, she’d filled her time trying everything on offer. She only wished there was more to explore. Uncharted territory, places brand new to her eyes. 

This didn’t exactly negate the experiences she did have. Far from it. This particular trip to Tokyo was perhaps her favourite vacation to date.

As much fun as she’d had thought, she was truly exhausted. So exhausted in fact, that when she closed her eyes for a few seconds, the subtle motion of the elevator allowed her to begin to drift off to sleep standing up. In her semi-conscious state, her mind didn’t register the blue beam of light, its colour not too far off from her hair, shoot through the ceiling and envelop her body inside the elevator. When the elevator reached her floor, the doors pinged open to reveal nobody inside. Sasha Banks was no longer in the elevator, the hotel, or even on this earth.

Chapter Text

The ginger woman gasped as the fire began to surround her, the heat beginning to cause her skin to glisten with sweat. Seeing no other option, she stood firmly before breaking into a sprint down the hotel corridor, her shoes thudding loudly against the carpet. Raising her arms to protect her face, she leapt through the air and dove through the glass window, the dangerous surface shattering into hundreds of fragments upon impact. Her trajectory carried her over to the following rooftop. She landed safely on her feet, her momentum causing her to curl herself into a ball before rolling forward. 

She couldn’t help but allow a grin of relief to spread across her face, her quick breathing causing her breath to puff the strands of orange hair across her eyeline like a pendulum. Against all odds, she’d survived the deadly assassination attempt. They’d blown up the entire hotel just to try to claim her life. But she had defied them, her survival instincts kicking in. As pleased as she was with her own quick thinking, and grateful for the continued ability to breathe unhindered, she had to keep moving. She couldn’t stop and rest, even for a second. Her enemies would soon discover that she had survived. They would look for her, but they wouldn’t find her. Not if she could help it.

“And, CUT!” the director bellowed to the film crew, his Irish lilt coming through his voice. The redhead rose from her position, a slight smile emerging from the satisfaction with her performance. And with that, the production had come to an end. The past six months of filming had been trying, but it had all finally come to an end, and the actor/stuntwoman could relax.

The director clapped her on the back as the rest of the crew began to frantically rush around them. “Fantastic job Becks! It came out great in the rushes, and it’ll look breath-taking after post.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to butter me up, Finn,” Becky smirked at her close friend. 

Finn Balor laughed as he raised his hands in mock surrender. “No lass, I’m just acknowledging a job done exceptionally well. Every glass ceiling we have, you shatter it. Or in this case, a glass window.”

The two friends shared a laugh at the obvious joke. “It did look good, didn’t it?” Becky asked for reassurance, cocking her eyebrow and angling her head ever so slightly to the side. She took immense pride in her work. The Irish woman desperately desired to be acknowledged as the best in the industry, and the only way to do that was through hard work. If something didn’t look right in her performance, she needed to know.

Finn smiled in response. “Just as we planned.”

With the reassurance, Becky exhaled a sigh of relief. She always put pressure on herself to deliver, to warrant the reputation she’d carved out for herself. She was happy to report that she did almost every time, and this was another occurrence. 

“You’ll be coming to the wrap party tonight, yeah?” the bearded man asked Becky as she started to shrug on her leather jacket. 

“The opportunity to get hammered and spread more of my hilarious jokes?” Becky gasped in faux offense at the notion that she would consider giving it a miss. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Come on Becks, your jokes aren’t that good,” Finn said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Both of them knew that his statement didn’t have a hint of sincerity in it.

Becky visibly flinched and gasped loudly for comic effect. “How dare you; my jokes are hilarious! An’ what kind of a party would it be if it didn’t have puns?”

“A better one?” Finn teased, his grin growing wider the more exaggerated Becky’s faux offense became. “If yer gonna tell yer jokes, it’s probably best you don’t show up at all.”

Much to Finn’s surprise, Becky actually stopped her mocked outrage. She stood there, hands trembling, her bottom lip wobbling, seamlessly transitioning to genuine-looking upset. Tears began to roll down her cheek, and Finn instantly began to console her. He did tease her a lot, perhaps their banter sometimes got to her more than she let on.

“Lass, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ 

“I…just…” Becky began, trying her best to communicate effectively through the sobs beginning to wrack her body. Finn grew even more perplexed as she began to rifle through her jacket pocket. Finn watched her hand, growing even more confused by the second. To his bewilderment, Becky’s hand dragged out of her pocket to reveal an orange. Following the movement of her hand as she raised it to her face, his eyes tracked up to see Becky flashing him a mischievous grin, the only hint left of her crying being the wet lines running down from her eyes.

“Orange you glad I’m such a good actor?” Becky burst into laughter. No matter how many times she tricked her friend into stumbling into a joke, he never seemed to learn.

“Fer feck sake lass!” Finn found it impossible to be mad at Becky for her deception, joining in the laughter with a chuckle. “Do you seriously just carry around an orange just to make puns?”

“That, and they’re a good source of citrus,” Becky deadpanned. She tossed the orange to Balor, who caught it effortlessly.

“Tricks like that will get you uninvited to the wrap party,” Finn warned with as much seriousness as he could muster. Unfortunately for him, there was a reason he was a director and not an actor.

“Oh come on,” Becky protested, walking over towards an inanimate prop. “We’re gonna have a whale of a time!” she punned, wildly gesturing to the animatronic whale head prop which had been used in a scene earlier that day.

Their time was cut short as a runner called Finn’s attention. “I’d better get going,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb while smiling bittersweetly; the two close friends enjoyed each other’s company so much it was always a shame when they were forced to part. Even so, both were dedicated to their respective jobs and relished throwing themselves into their work. If that dedication meant cutting socialising time short, then so be it. “I’ll see you tonight at 8?”

“Of course Finny boy, as long as you’re still awake that is?” she said, poking fun at Finn’s dedication to his career often coming at the cost of sleep.

“Ah you know me, I’m an extra-ordinary man who does extraordinary things,” Finn grinned.

“You certainly are extra,” Becky shot back in jest, bouncing her eyebrows, Finn unable to stifle a laugh at the clear hypocrisy on display.

The two friends said their goodbyes before Finn headed back to set, and Becky clambered astride her motorbike, speeding from the filming location in the direction of her apartment in Orlando.

As she zipped down the roads which led to her destination, Becky reflected on her journey to get to where she was today.

From the moment she had learned how to walk, going back to her upbringing in Dublin, Ireland, Becky had been a daredevil. Whether she was practising parkour or driving off ramps on her bike during her childhood and teen years, Becky had risked her physical health for the sheer thrill of it. To her, there was nothing more exciting and exhilarating than the pure adrenaline generated from putting her body on the line for a calculated risk. It was this addiction to thrill-seeking that had drawn her to a career as a stuntwoman. Climbing up the ranks of the television and film industries, the fiery-haired Irish woman had dazzled casts and crews around the world with her precisely calculated stunts always resulting in fantastical results. Whether they needed her to act as a body double in a spectacular character action, or to add to the carnage as an extra, Becky Lynch was a name that could always be relied upon to deliver.

Before long, Becky’s magnetic personality drew the eye of a fellow Irishman, the acclaimed director Finn Balor. Seeing more potential in her beside risking her physical health, Finn had pushed her to try out as an actor. As he’d expected, Becky had taken to her new role with flying colours. Today, Becky was regularly cast in increasingly important roles, always insisting on performing all of her own stunts. While this combination of roles somewhat reduced the risk to her physical health, it still allowed her to fulfil her adrenaline-junky needs. 

As she continued to reminisce, Becky approached her apartment’s empty parking area. She slowed to a stop before turning the key, the sound of her bike’s engine fading to silence. Remaining seated, the Irishwoman sighed peacefully, with just a hint of wistfulness. Truth be told, she thoroughly enjoyed her life. She was content – mostly. While she was lucky enough to enjoy a steady stream of work in a job she was thrilled to do, work that she was proud of accomplishing to a high standard, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps she wanted just a little bit more physical risk to fulfil her adrenaline-based needs. Sporadic stunt work was all well and good, but that was the trouble with having genuine friends in her line of work. They looked out for her physical wellbeing, to the point of putting their foot down when she refused to, steadily cutting down her stunts to preserve her health. 

Becky chuckled softly to herself at this thought. She did recognise how lucky she was to have genuine friends looking out for her, even if it meant saving her from herself. 

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Becky rolled up the sleeve of her leather jacket, checking her watch. A smile crossed her face as she realised she had time to get in a couple hours nap before she had to think about getting ready for the wrap party later that night.

Her pupils still focused on the clock hands of the watch, Becky paid no attention to the dazzling electric blue light shining down from the sky, engulfing her body, before it zapped out of sight. When the flash of light dispersed, Becky was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, Becky Lynch was no longer on the planet. Like a good few characters she’d played over the years, Becky appeared to have been abducted by aliens. Unless she found a way home soon, she was going to miss her wrap party.

Chapter Text

If she didn’t know better, Charlotte would think someone was drilling into her skull. At least, that’s what the persistent headache felt like. As though someone had trapped her head in a vice, taken the construction tool and activated it, the sharp metal twisting and turning as it burrowed into the deep inner reaches of her brain. 

The air felt much cooler than she was used to, not to mention the faint constant hum in the background: a hum like that of a car engine. Where was she? Even with her eyes shut, Charlotte could tell that her current environment was nothing like her gym.

Her gym! That was it! The last thing she remembered was sitting back and closing her eyes in her office back at her gym. So how did she get here, wherever here was? Had someone broken into her office and kidnapped her? Was this a dream? And if it was the former, would her clients sever their business relationship due to her unplanned absence?

No, it was no use thinking like that. First things first, she had to find out what had happened to her.

It was at that point that Charlotte realised that aside from the persistent engine hum, she could hear two shrill voices coming from the space directly around her. In her current state, she couldn't make out what the voices were saying, but it sounded like they were bickering. At her degraded rate of consciousness, it was as though she was trying to listen to voices underwater, all words sounding distant and muffled. She put all of her focus into concentrating on forcing her brain to cooperate with her ears.

"...not like your skinny body needs much room, shorty." 

Was that an Irish accent?

"You can talk, you're not exactly that tall yourself. Anyway, we'd all have a lot more space if we weren't all squashed in this cell with this blonde giant." 

Okay, that voice was definitely American, possibly a Boston accent? They were in a cell? Hold on, 'blonde giant'? Were these strangers talking about her?!

With far more effort than she ever thought would be necessary, Charlotte slowly opened her eyes. 

"Ah, the princess is awake. How is your highness?"

There it was, that Irish accent again. Only now with her eyes open, blurred vision slowly beginning to clear, she could put a face to the voice. Staring right ahead at her was a woman with fiery orange hair, a chiselled jaw, her mouth pulled into a mischievous smirk. 

Behind the woman however, Charlotte could clearly see a metal mesh-like structure surrounding them, though her still foggy vision prevented her from seeing much further beyond. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, the same mesh was behind her as well. She didn’t need to turn to assume that they were enclosed in the same structure. Looking down at her wrists and ankles, she was relived to find that she was free of restraints. Even if she was locked in a cell, at least she wasn’t chained or handcuffed.

"Y'know, if we're sticking with royalty, I prefer 'Queen'," Charlotte huffed, the words slightly mumbled, her mouth still waking up.

"Having gangly limbs doesn't make you a queen, sweetheart."

Turning to her left, Charlotte looked into the eyes of a comparatively diminutive woman with caramel coloured skin, who couldn't be much over five feet tall, give or take a few inches. By far the most striking thing about her, even when factoring the accusatory glare pointed in her direction, was the woman's vivid electric blue hair. Clearly these two mystery strangers were big fans of hair dye products.

"Well excuse me for my genetics," Charlotte retorted angrily, the blue-haired Bostonian beginning to grate on her nerves with her confrontational hostile attitude.

"Yeah, come on lass, it's not her fault you came up a little short," the Irishwoman guffawed loudly at the obvious pun. 

"Again with the short jokes," the blue-haired woman rolled her eyes, uncrossing her arms to jab a finger in the fiery ginger's direction. "You can't have more than two inches on me!"

"Quite the small fuse on you, eh lass?". 

Even in her groggy state, Charlotte couldn't help but have a hint of a grin tugging at the corners of her lips at the Irishwoman's audacity. If the blue-haired woman lost her temper and decided to lash out, there would be no way to escape out of the confined space they were all trapped in, as the perpetually irritated blue-haired woman alluded to earlier. Yet the redhead continued to taunt her. Either she lacked the intelligence to think about the consequences of her actions, or she just didn't care. Speaking of being trapped in a confined space, she should really look around and see where they are. At least she wasn’t claustrophobic, or she’d have a real problem. While they weren’t packed together so tightly that their limbs were forced to be in contact, they still didn’t have much in the way of personal space.

Besides that, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Charlotte’s mind that she’d seen the redhead somewhere before. She looked very familiar, yet she just couldn’t place it. There was no time to dwell on that though, she had bigger problems. Namely, figuring out where she was and getting the hell out.

"Calm down lass, don't take it so seriously. Unless you want to wake up Miss Side Ponytail over there," the ginger woman thumbed over to Charlotte's right.

"Or maybe 'Miss Side Ponytail' has been awake all this time listening to you two bicker like children?"

The fiery redhead and the irritable blue-haired woman exchanged dumbfounded looks, having seemingly forgotten about their fellow two cell occupants in their verbal sparring with each other. Especially the one whom the other three women had wrongly assumed had yet to regain consciousness the entire time.

They watched as the brunette opened her eyes sleepily, a subtle smirk on her face from her deception. She had a kindly face, and seemed to be the most calm of the four. Whereas the redheaded Irishwoman seemed to have a constant pout, and the blue-haired Bostonian bore a seemingly permanent scowl, this third woman wore a smiling, warm expression, her eyes twinkling with kindness. Was it a façade, naivety, or was this woman just genuinely the happiest person alive, Charlotte wondered.

“Well now that we’re all awake, I think it’s time for introductions,” the Irishwoman suggested. Charlotte certainly saw sense in it. They were all locked up together, apparently, they may as well become familiar with each other if they wanted to work together to escape. “I’m Becky,” the redhead continued, gesturing towards herself. “This lovely little brat to my right is Sasha,” Becky wrapped her arm around the blue-haired woman’s shoulder, to which Sasha immediately forcibly shrugged off and recoiled from.

“Hey, fuck you,” Sasha responded, an irritable venom coating her words.

“Maybe after we escape, love,” Becky teased flirtatiously, wiggling her eyebrows in Sasha’s direction, causing the irritable woman to scoff in disgust.

“You’d legit be insanely lucky to even get a smile out of me, so if you think-” Sasha began, her voice raising with each word as she launched into what was sure to be an aggressive retort, her face contorted in anger. Fortunately for the eardrums of the cell’s other occupants, she was interrupted before she could really get going.

“I’m Bayley,” the fourth woman piped up, purposefully inserting herself as a buffer to stop Becky and Sasha from bickering further. Despite her kind face, it was clear that Bayley had had enough, and shrewdly interrupted at the most opportune moment. The calculated decision paid off, for Becky and Sasha immediately shut up at the interruption.

Moments of silence stretched by. Charlotte looked up, only to see the other three staring at her. Momentarily perplexed by this, realisation suddenly dawned on her. They were waiting for her to introduce herself.

“Does her royal highness have a name?” Becky piped up, the mischievous glint still shining in her eyes, as though her life depended on it. “Wanna make sure I’m addressing a queen by her proper title, y’know?”

“Charlotte. Why do you keep addressing me like that?” she responded, bemusement evident in her tone with irritation beginning to creep across her features.

“Oh I don’t know, perhaps it’s got something to do with the way you’re sat, as though perched atop a throne, waiting for us to bow down?” came the redhead’s response, eyebrows narrowed in a challenging smirk.

“Now that the leprechaun mentions it, you do look like you think you’re better than us,” Sasha butted in.

“Hey!” the so-called “leprechaun” exclaimed.

Becoming self-conscious all of a sudden, Charlotte began to see what the others were getting at. While they were all sat with a slight slouch, slumped against the cell, Charlotte’s back was perfectly straight against the metal without even a hint of curvature. Hardly her fault that she knew how to take meticulous care of her body. Otherwise what kind of personal trainer would she be?

“Well excuse me for having good posture!” Charlotte spat back. She had no idea why the other two were being so rude and forming unfair assumptions about her, but it was beginning to piss her off.

“Okay okay,” Bayley intervened. The other three immediately silenced at the sound of her voice. She wasn’t physically intimidating by any means, quite the opposite. But there was something about her tone that captivated them, demanding their attention as though it was of grave importance. “If you three want to tear each other apart, can it at least wait until we bust out of here?”

“Where even is ‘here’,” Charlotte inquired.

“We’re locked in here with you,” Sasha reminded her. The blue-haired woman’s eyes were narrowed in an irritated frown, as though Charlotte had asked the stupidest question imaginable. “Why would you expect us to know?”

Charlotte sighed in exasperation while bringing the palms of her hands to cover her face in irritation, the ends of her fingers pressing against her temple. Of all the people to be locked in a cell with, why did it have to be these women? One couldn’t go a single sentence without lashing out, and the other cracked jokes as if her life depended on it, failing to grasp the gravity of the situation. The only reasonable one was Bayley, who had barely spoken by this point, waiting for Becky and Sasha to grow tired of bickering. But at least when Bayley did speak, she actually said something of value, unlike the two immature hair dye enthusiasts.

Realising that none of her fellow prisoners knew any better than she did, Charlotte resolved to work that out for herself. Retracting her hands from her face, she turned around to peer between the metal mesh. 

Although she could see beyond the structure confining them, the area beyond was dimly lit. She could just barely make out the dark grey walls, though she wondered if they only looked that colour because of the darkness filling the room like a dark cloud on a stormy day. Whoever their captors were, they clearly didn’t think much to giving them clear vision of the cell’s exterior. Focusing her eyes by peering around each side of the cage, she surmised that the structure took up the middle of the room, with dirty iron walls in the distance on each side of the room.

If she didn’t know any better she’d think she they were being held in a dungeon. However, there was a constant faint vibration as though they were on a plane. And if she listened carefully, there was the faint hum of engines coming from afar. So were they in the air? What kind of plane was this?

She spotted the outline of a door in the wall opposite the cell door. The outline wasn’t rectangular like a regular interior door but curved at the top. It clearly wasn’t wooden either; instead it was a sheet of light grey metal, with a zig-zag pattern in the middle, as though cut into the door.

Charlotte’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rattling metal behind her. Turning to inspect the source of the noise, the blonde was met with the sight of the Irishwoman repeatedly barging her shoulder into the cage wall.

“Becky, you’re not going to break through,” Charlotte sighed.

“Maybe you couldn’t. But you don’t have my boulder shoulders,” Becky responded while flipping her orange hair out of her line of vision, shrugging said shoulders to accentuate them.

“Whoever captured us managed to do it discreetly,” Bayley countered, “you really think they’d risk all that by putting us in a flimsy cell we could break out of that easily?”

“Well observed,” boomed a disembodied voice in an English accent, sounding as though it emanated from an overhead speaker. The sound of sliding metal was heard, and the women turned towards the door in time to see the both sides of the zig-zag pattern retract, revealing three men wearing suits. The men walked to the edge of the cell in formation, one in front of the other two, the other two flanking him while bringing up the rear.

“We wouldn’t risk losing our new pilots,” the man seemingly in charge spoke, the same voice that had come through the speaker moments ago, a deep but dulcet tone. His expression was one of menace, his eyes narrowed, mouth curled wickedly. The way he looked at them reminded Sasha of someone looking at caged animals in a zoo, taking malicious satisfaction in their imprisonment.

“Pilots?” Sasha scoffed. “I don’t know about these three, but I certainly don’t know how to fly a plane.”

“Oh, you poor, primitive human,” he replied condescendingly, looking at her as though he was talking down to a child. “We have no need for any useless knowledge in your miniscule brain.”

“Then how’d ya expect us to fly this plane, ya dope?” Becky retorted angrily, the Irish lilt in her voice becoming more evident the more impassioned she got. Her question was punctuated by rattling the cage aggressively.

“How fascinating!” The tone dripped with venom, both words pronounced. “Even while caged and utterly defeated you still try to fight back.” He turned to his companions; glee etched onto his features. “The true mark of a primitive race.”

“Get in here and I’ll show you how primitive I can be!” the fiery Irishwoman challenged angrily.

“This one will need to be sedated,” the male leader turned to the man on his right. The man nodded in acknowledgement, reaching into his inside pocket. Producing a syringe, he advanced towards the cell door, as though he was a hunter stalking his cornered prey. He crept closer and closer. The way Becky continued to struggle against the wall to escape her confinement, he wouldn’t even need to open the door to plunge the cold needle into her skin.

“Stop!” Bayley bellowed. Her tone betrayed the fact that she was clearly frightened. Not for herself, but for what they had planned for an unconscious Becky. Though she had only just met the women, and hadn’t necessarily gotten along yet, the possible scenarios for what they had planned was not something she wished for the redhead to experience. “You brought us here for a reason. You say you need us to pilot this plane, but none of us know how. But even if we did, that knowledge would be irrelevant to you?” she questioned, working the situation out in her head as she spoke. Her diplomacy skills were on full display, with her tone being far more civil than Sasha and Becky’s had been. “Just tell us what you want us to do.”

“Ah, a sensible human,” the leader smiled, relieved to have found one of their prisoners more compliant than the rest.

“Stop talking like that, you freakin’ little weirdo!” Becky interjected, pushing her face up against the cell mesh while rattling the structure, like a caged and enraged animal desperately trying to claw at their antagonist. Clearly the threat of sedation hadn’t quietened her resolve.

Bayley turned to Becky and hissed “Dude, shut up for a minute!” She couldn’t blame Becky for being so riled up of course. It was only natural for certain personalities to fight their way as hard as they could out of an unpleasant situation. Hell, Bayley wanted nothing more than to escape too. But it would be easier to do so if she could understand what these men wanted with them. These continued outbursts were getting them nowhere. Becky for her part listened, calming down a fraction. Though Bayley suspected that was more her being taken aback by Bayley daring to demand her silence.

A sly smile crossed the face of the man in charge. “A wise decision.”

“Don’t try to pacify me with false praise,” Bayley retorted. Her facial features remained peaceful, but her words had a bitter undertone, and her eyes burned with intensity. 

The other three prisoners had to pick their jaws up off the floor, each instantly gaining a measure of respect for the stoic Latina. Here they were, prisoners locked up god knows where, confronted by three exceedingly creepy and unfriendly men, and she had the courage to stand up to them. While Becky had appeared to be doing just that, deep down she knew it was more a defence mechanism, putting up a front to disguise her fear. Yet if Bayley was scared, she was doing an exceptional job of hiding it. She was standing up to them, refusing to back down. Diplomatic, yes. But her voice never quivered, sounding as firm as could be. Everything pointed towards a fierce intelligence burning within the brunette. If the others had to guess, Bayley appeared to be playing the obedient prisoner without hope, right up until an opportunity to escape presented itself.

For the tinniest fraction of a second, an animalistic snarl flickered the features of their captors at Bayley’s defiant retort. The scowls quickly flitted back to a neutral expression, the transformation happening in the blink of an eye. 

“Now that we understand each other, would it be too much to ask for your name?” Bayley continued.

“I am Brother Bezar,” the male leader answered, a look of superiority etched across his features at imparting the knowledge.

For the second time in as many seconds, the other three women were gobsmacked by Bayley’s ability to remain so calm and collected in the face of despair. Not only that, but she’d managed to coax some information out of their captors without so much as raising her voice. Of course, simply knowing the leader’s name wouldn’t help them too much, but it signified a small victory by allowing the balance of power to shift infinitesimally.

“You will come with us,” Bezar said in a silky-smooth voice, smiling. But this wasn’t a kind smile. It was a sinister smile, an undertone of knowing how helpless their prisoners truly were, with hidden elation at the fact that they didn’t know exactly how much trouble they were in yet.

He motioned to one of his subordinates, who retrieved a keycard from his pocket and flashed it against the cell door’s control. A high-pitched beep sounded, and the dull sound of the metal lock shifting to unlock itself could be heard.

The four women remained stood in place expectedly, waiting for their oppressors to make their next move.

“But I feel I must warn you,” Bezar continued, his tone oozing with menace, “it would be foolish to attempt to escape. Especially once you see our true form.”

A cloud of smoke billowed from each of the mens’ mouths. It swirled around them and enveloped their bodies, shrouding them like a cloak, keeping them hidden from view.

The smoke began to clear, and what the collective womens’ eyes bore witness to truly terrified them.  Where once humans had stood, there was no trace of the humanoid forms they had once occupied. In their place stood three towering bat-like creatures, leathery skin a shade of light brown. Each of the creatures had two wings protruding from their back. All three unfurled said wings almost simultaneously, in near-perfect sync with each other. Charlotte estimated that each wing had to be four feet long at least.

Their piercing red eyes bore into the soul of each woman, unnerving them to their core. The creatures’ long faces extended down to their mouths. Even while closed, a multitude of jagged teeth were visible. But perhaps the most alarming physical feature about these demonic-looking creatures were the pointy yellow claws at the end of their fingers, like a deadly version of a human fingernail.

Sasha, Becky and Charlotte could do nothing but stand there, mouths gaped wide open in a silent scream, frozen to the spot with terror. Even Bayley allowed her fear to overtake her. The creatures opened their mouths and released a terrifying inhuman shriek, saliva dripping from their open mouths. The smoke returned, coming up through their throats, hiding their bodies from sight once more. When it parted, the three were once again in human form, allowing the women to relax ever so slightly. While they would never forget the nightmarish image they had just bore witness to, they were no longer crippled with fear now that it was no longer in front of them.

“Now, do we all understand each other?” Bezar asked threateningly, a twisted smirk etched devilishly across his face. He knew they were absolutely helpless against their deadly true form; their razor-sharp claws and teeth would rip them apart in an instant. The question wasn’t asked because the alien cared one way or the other. It was asked simply to taunt them.

The four women for their part, didn’t open their mouths to answer verbally. Nor did they nod in affirmation. They didn’t want to give this creature the satisfaction of knowing just how scared they truly were, though their scent was probably rife with fear. Instead they just stood impassively, trying not to let the full extent of their emotions show through their expression or body language. Understandably however, the intent was met with only mixed results.

“Good,” the creature retorted in lieu of a verbalised response, deciding that their silence was enough of an acknowledgement. “You will come with us. There’s no use in trying to escape, as we just demonstrated.”

One of Bezar’s subordinates reached out and pulled the cell door open before stepping aside to allow the prisoners to exit the cage. The width of the door only allowed them to do so in single file. Once they were all out, the three disguised aliens moved to put themselves in formation. Bezar and one of his guards stood at the top of the formation, with each woman ordered to remain in single file behind. The other guard took up the rear, constantly watching the prisoners in case they tried anything. Likewise, Bezar and the guard at the front were there to prevent the exact same thing. With their backs to them, the women would have stood a much better chance of taking out their oppressors if there was just one at the front. Hence why there were two.

The group of seven began to walk out of the metal door the aliens had entered through. As the women moved down the corridor, they took note of the dark, dingy feel to it. The lights were exceedingly dim, barely allowing them to see at all. Metal pipes ran along the walls, presumably carrying power along the length of the craft. Although they’d previously presumed the vehicle they were inside to be an airplane, now with the disturbing reveal of the true nature of their captors, they weren’t so sure anymore.

That late revision was proven before their very eyes as the doors to the room at the end of the corridor slid open as they approached. Inside stood a dirty, large, metallic rectangular console, standing four feet or so off the floor, with a wide variety of buttons and levers dotted across its surface. Dotted all around in a semi-circle behind the console stood numerous panels, all with large handprints embedded. Only they weren’t human handprints, no. These handprints bore an uncanny resemblance to the hands of the creatures before them, in that brief moment of terror in which they revealed their alien forms.

But the interfaces weren’t what grabbed their attention the most. At the end of the room beyond the console was a gigantic glass window. On the other side of the window? A seemingly unending black void, with stars twinkling all around, though a sphere could be seen in the distance, blue and green just barely visible. At this point, it was blindingly obvious that they weren’t being held on a plane. They were in space. 

“Holy…shit,” Sasha gasped, striding forward towards the window. Evidently she had momentarily forgotten her current status as prisoner, her gaze lost in the wonder on display before her.

“Shorty…” Becky hissed quietly in warning, noticing their captors advancing in pursuit of the wayward prisoner.

Just as she as she approached closer, Sasha yelped in surprise as she suddenly felt herself forcefully yanked back. Her captor wheeled her back around, coming face-to-face with Brother Bezar. 

“You will not do anything unless we tell you to do so,” the nefarious alien snarled before clearing the scowl off his face before turning to regard all four of the women. “And now, you will get into those chairs.”

Bezar motioned towards the end of the control deck where the large window showcasing the outside space stood. What the women had failed to notice were four metal chairs placed around the window. Two on the left side of the window and two of the right side of the room. They weren’t ordinary chairs, they looked more like dental chairs. What really set them apart were wires running up the chair, all connecting to a helmet perched a foot above the chair, looking like it was ready to be raised. The helmet itself was a design with just the basic skeleton of the top of a human head, with various holes running throughout, not unlike a bicycle helmet. Clearly the purpose was merely to just fit around a human head, not to cover it entirely.

“Nah, those chairs look a bit shite,” Becky retorted with a tiny grin tugging on her lips, defiance clear as day. “I’ve been told to work on my posture,” she winked at Charlotte, “so I think I’ll stay standing, but cheers for the offer.” 

Bezar growled at the disobedient prisoner, looking ready to explode in fury.

“Remind us, why should we do anything you say?” Charlotte spoke up, finally finding her voice in the shocking events the four abducted women had been put through. The question was not spoken out of spite or coated in sarcasm, but was a genuine question. Though they had already been intimidated minutes before, she still wanted confirmation before judging whether to mount an escape attempt.

Bezar immediately calmed and smirked at her, the evil glint in his eye indicating just how much he was relishing reminding the poor women of their brutal capabilities.

“Either you sit in those chairs of your own free will, or we will place you there by force. The choice is yours.” If the smirk on Bezar’s face was threatening before, now it was borderline sadistic. It was as though he was begging the women to try to make things difficult for themselves.

“But you need us alive,” Bayley piped up, her tone as diplomatic as ever, despite the anger coursing inside of her at their present predicament.

The sadistic smile was turned to regard the brunette, softening slightly, having since deducted that Bayley was more reasonable than the other three, and therefore far more likely to bend to their will through the power of words rather than intimidated. “You are correct, we do need you alive. However, that doesn’t mean to say that we necessarily need you unharmed. As long as you still breathe and your brain is still active, that is all we need.” The unspoken insinuation of physical harm seemed to incite the man further. His eyes didn’t just have a hint of menace, they were almost glowing with glee at the very idea.

Seeing no other option, three of the four women sighed in exasperation, trying their best not to shake with panic. As brave as they might be, they were smart enough to know that they wouldn’t stand a chance against those horrifically sharp claws the human forms hid. Against their will, they knew they had no choice but to comply, lest they risk being torn apart almost to the point of death. And so it was with great reluctance that they walked over to the chairs and got up, in the halfway point between sitting and laying down that the style of chair provided.  

Of course, there was one of the prisoners who made no attempt to move. And glancing back, there was really no surprise who it was.

“Becky!” Bayley hissed at the motionless woman, still remaining on the exact same spot she had been since entering the room.

“But-“ the ginger Irishwoman started, before being cut off.

“Please, just trust me,” Bayley pleaded, her eyes sparkling with urgency. They may have been complete strangers until an hour ago, but they were all imprisoned together. If the foul aliens felt they had enough excuse, she knew they would have no qualms inflicting torture upon the redhead, as they had only just strongly implied. And right now, Becky was on the cusp of giving them that excuse. She couldn’t bear to allow that to happen.

Becky huffed, and Bayley felt relief wash over her as the problematic woman finally strode over to the remaining vacant chair. She wasn’t doing it gracefully though, an artificial swagger in her step. She’d studied the woman long enough now to know it was all a front. Deep down, the woman was just as terrified as the rest of them.

As the last woman settled into her chair, Bezar walked over to the centre console and pulled down a lever. The helmets above each chair lowered, settling and securing on each woman’s skull. The metal was cold to the touch, the cool contact on the skin causing each woman to involuntarily gasp.

Brother Bezar turned to his companions. “Our time has come, my brothers. Today we shall journey onward.”

Shifting back towards the console, Bezar flicked a switch, causing hidden metal restraints to shoot upwards out of the sides of the chairs and fasten around each woman’s wrists before snapping down in place.

“What the fook?!” Becky yelped in surprise. While the other three women didn’t voice a verbal outburst, they struggled against the restrains nonetheless – to no avail.

“Now, this is going to hurt,” Bezar flashed a wicked grin at the four women, knowing full well the effect of what he was about to do would have on their brains.

“No no, please,” Charlotte begged, suddenly overcome with fear at the unknown.

“You don’t have to do this!” Bayley tried to reason, though even she knew it was futile.

“Get this off of me right now!” Sasha yelled in panic, rattling the restraints in a desperate attempt to shift them, but they wouldn’t budge.

“I’M GOIN’ A SLAP THE HEADS OFFA ALL’A YOU DOPES!!” Becky bellowed, her Irish lilt coming out stronger than ever before in her white-hot fury. She forcefully thrashed as much as the restraints would allow her to, but it made no difference.

Each of the four women continued to individually protest, the sadistic creatures watching in amusement, Bezar’s finger hovering above the switch he planned to activate. The voices overlapped as each woman’s respective panic rose even higher. But then something unexpected happened to break every person in the room into stunned silence. 

A high pitched, warbly, pulsating sound sounded throughout the room, growing louder and more frantic. Loose objects scattered about the room began to fly around as an intense wind blew around the control room. But that made no sense, they were aboard a spaceship. The sound was then joined by an artificial wheezing, groaning, almost grating noise. Charlotte, Becky, Sasha and Bayley darted their eyes around the room, trying to locate the source of the mysterious sounds. And then they saw it. 

In one of the far corners of the room, a tall blue box materialised into view before their eyes, despite the space being empty just a second before. The wall behind it was still visible, the strange object semi-transparent at best. The box then faded out of view before it could turn from transparent to opaque. The groaning noise grew louder and more pronounced as the box returned before fading out, and then fading in again. 

This pattern continued for several seconds, the materialisation and prompt dematerialisation occurring in synchronisation with the mechanical thrumming rising and falling, rising and falling, over and over again. The wind picked up ferocity as the groaning sound continued to climb. Each time the object returned, it became ever so slightly less transparent and more opaque. Even in this transparent form, a lantern could be seen at the top of the object, shining with brilliant white light as the box materialised, the light fading as it dematerialised, before returning in full force for the next materialisation. As the women watched, each lost somewhere in between bewilderment and amazement at the fantastical sight, the object materialised for the final time before stopping. A single thumping noise, almost like a single bang against a bass drum sounded to signify this. The object was now a fully opaque, solid object.

Now that the blue box had fully materialised into the room, the onlookers could get a much closer look at it. It was rectangular, a similar basic shape and size to a telephone booth. Only it was taller, perhaps around ten feet or so. Most baffling of all, it looked as though it was made of wood, painted a striking shade of dark blue. A door handle could be seen on the right-hand side, indicating that they were currently looking at the doors to open the bizarre object. 

Square panels were indented running up almost the entire length of the box, four panels on the left-hand side, four on the right-hand side. Most of these indented panels were without defining characteristics, but not all. Halfway up on one side, a panel was painted white, with lettering inscribed, though they were currently too far away to read it. Above the white panel on both sides of the front doors, were sectioned panes of glass, two rows of three. Glancing above the windows, a black strip ran across the entire length of the front of the object, with words inscribed. Unlike the smaller lettering further down, these were large enough to read: “POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX”. 

What on earth did those letters mean? It was written in English, so had this come from Earth? How could the police possibly have advanced technology such as this? The very idea that the police went into space was a preposterous notion. Yet here the letters were. Was there a space police now?

The unanswered questions and fantastical sight continued to keep the four women’s heads spinning. And even more questions came to mind as they heard the sound of wood squeaking. One of the doors to the box was pulled open from the inside, and a man stepped forth from within.

“Ah, hello there!” The man spoke to the room with a clear English accent. Each word was spoken clearly with precision, no hint of a defining regional accent. As he spoke, he strode farther into the room as though he owned it, a grin across his face. But unlike their alien captors, his grin oozed calm rather than anything malicious. The stranger radiated an air of being entirely in control of the situation he had just stumbled into. But how could he? Was this all an act to lure the women into a false sense of security to prevent their struggles?

His dark brown hair was styled in a quiff, combed to the side at the front, flopping down towards the top of one eye. “Oh look, you’re holding some humans captive!” he spoke to the disguised alien creatures, in an enthusiastic tone that implied glee, pointing over to the four women still bonded to the metal chairs. The man’s grin slowly turned to a subtle frown. “Nothing says brave like kidnapping four innocent women.”

The women just continued staring at the man in bewilderment. Here he was, a seemingly ordinary man, and he had the gall to make sarcastic comments to the terrifying monsters hidden in human form. As far as Charlotte was concerned, there were three possibilities. Either he was completely ignorant of their true nature, a fool, or a madman.

But if the man’s attitude was striking enough, it was nothing compared to his attire. Dressed in a tweed jacket, braces could be seen underneath his jacket atop a white shirt. But completing the look was a burgundy bowtie. If this man was from present day Earth, then clearly his fashion ideals were not.

“You’d know all about that, Doctor,” Bezar retorted with a confident smirk, as though he was taking glee from having this man storm in and interrupt whatever he had planned. His eyes told a different story. While the smirk still tugged at his lips, his eyes burned with what looked like hatred, and a malicious desire to inflict torment. “You butchered my brothers and flew for the stars!” he spat, his voice raising, his smirk finally curling into a scowl.

“Your brothers?” the man identified as Doctor asked, eyebrows arched slightly in confusion.

“Brother Lassar,” Bezar growled, a slight fury coating his tone.

“Brother Lassar? Rings a bell…” the man trailed off, as though deep in thought.

“Excuse us, is this a private conversation, or can any of us jump in?” Becky interrupted the pair, her previous anger turned to a mixture of amusement and annoyance. She switched her focus to stare at the ridiculous stranger. “And who the hell are you?”

“Rebecca Lynch!” the man answered back, wheeling round to regard her with a grin, as though in recognition.

“Rebecca?” Sasha scoffed in mockery at Becky’s expense, continuing their earlier back and forth. Confined to the chair, Becky could do little more than glare in retaliation.

“You were brilliant in that one film where you flipped over the motorbike handles!” the man praised with great enthusiasm, speaking animatedly as though he were a child on a sugar rush, before suddenly stopping with a frown. “Or have you not done that one yet?” He waited for a second before flapping his hands up. “Doesn’t matter! I’m the Doctor.”

The Doctor looked as if he was about to say more before closing his mouth and opening it again in a silent ‘o’ shape, as though comprehension had just dawned on him.

“Brother Lassar? Of course, you’re Krillitanes!” the Doctor gasped in realisation, a smile across his face at having solved the puzzle in his own memory. The smile quickly dropped as another thought occurred to him. “This is a bit awkward now, isn’t it?”

“Nothing awkward here, Doctor,” Bezar answered, a devilish smile, looking as though it was intended as a taunt. “I’ll avenge the loss of my brothers and we’ll carry out our plan.”

“Ah yes, your brothers who fed on the staff and pupils at Deffry Vale.” The Doctor voice’s voice did not raise in volume, but grew more bitter at the reference to past events as though in judgement. “Tell me, what’s this plan of yours?”

“Why should we just give you the answers? You’re such a pompous individual, Doctor. Show me how clever you are, and work it out.”

The Doctor raised his head, his hazel-green eyes glistening as though the challenge woke something up in him. He stood in thought for a second before wheeling to point at the four women, or rather the chairs they sat in, snapping his fingers in their direction. “Those look like your standard spatial warp programmers to me. Telepathic devices, allowing one’s will to set a course across space.” 

Sasha, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky all remained silent as they watched this strange man known only as the Doctor speak excitedly, seemingly enjoying explaining the situation. He gestured wildly as he talked, seemingly unable to stay still.

“But why? Why abduct humans? This ship looks in perfectly working order. You could just program a course yourselves ordinarily without the need for those programmers. Why do you need them?”

Bezar’s face fell at the barrage of questions. Everything he’d known about the Doctor from Brother Lassar’s reports were all true. He’d underestimated the Doctor, and it was only a matter of time until he worked out the answers.

“We…had no other choice.” For the first time, Bezar’s voice didn’t sound as though he was fully in control of the situation.

“But you-“ the Doctor started, but then closed his mouth again. His eyes widened as realisation washed over him. “Ho ho, I get it,” he laughed, clapping his hands together, “this is rich! The controls don’t respond to you, do they? Isomorphic, they should respond only to you, but they don’t. You’ve changed your body structure so much since this ship was built, it no longer recognises you as Krillitanes.”

The Doctor then turned to regard the four women. “That’s the problems with Krillitanes, you see. They wage war on other lifeforms, cherry-picking and absorbing the best bits from the people they destroy.”

“Is that really something we needed to know?” Sasha asked, frustration evident in her voice.

“Not really, I just wanted to involve you in the conversation,” the Doctor grinned reassuringly. The gesture actually worked to calm all four women down somewhat. Though they were still afraid and confused, the man with his dark brown hair flopping about emanated warmth, and they felt a strange pull to trust him. After all, what did they really have to lose?

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand though. Why these four women particularly? What’s so special about them?” the Doctor resumed his questioning to the Krillitane leader.

“They want to escape,” Bezar answered. The Doctor furrowed his brow as he continued to listen. “The parameters were adjusted to select four humans from Earth who wanted to travel, who wished to achieve far more than their mundane lives could offer. We want to escape this wretched sector of space, and we will use their minds to do so.”

“While frying their brains in the process!” the Doctor’s outrage and disgust was palpable in his tone, though one look at his face revealed that he was trying to keep his anger contained.

“WHAT?!” all four women shouted out simultaneously, all taken aback by this startling new reveal. Not only was there a tone of overwhelming fear, but distinct anger mixed in. Only natural of course, nobody would be happy to discover that they were in very grave danger.

“Enough talk, our odyssey begins,” Bezar said, growing tired of the prolonged disruption to his plans. His finger hovered around the switch, the glint in his eyes betraying his eagerness to pull it down and sacrifice the innocent women for his nefarious purposes.

“WAIT!” the Doctor shouted to take Bezar’s attention away from what he planned to do. “You don’t have to do this. I can take you anywhere you want.” One of the Doctor’s palms was raised flat in the air around his chest in Bezar’s direction, while the other hand pointed towards the restrained women. He was not pleading with his words, but with his body language too, urging the aliens to stop. “Just let these humans go.”

“And put myself in the debt of a Time Lord? I think not!” Bezar snarled.

The Doctor’s eyelids dropped, closing in frustration. They slowly opened again a second later, boring a hole into the back of Bezar’s head, who had since turned back towards the command console, making the mistake of turning his back on the Doctor. “Well then, you brought this on yourself.” Quick as lightning, before Bezar had time to turn his attention back to the Doctor, the mysterious bowtie wearing man reached inside his tweed jacket inside pocket and flung a small object at the feet of the Krillitanes.

A high-pitched electronic squeal emanated, and there was a stunning flash of electric blue light, almost blinding the eyes of the room’s occupants. When their vision returned to normal, the women looked over and saw the three aliens rooted to the spot. Only, they were no longer in human disguise, they were back to their towering bat-like alien form. They scratched at the air with their sharp claws, howling in anger, and tiny yellow sparks dropped to the ground from where they clawed into the air. It was as though they were surrounded by a forcefield preventing them from breaking free from their current standing.

Charlotte’s attention was snapped back as she noticed the Doctor beside her, retrieving a cylindrical handheld device from his top pocket. He pointed the strange apparatus at the metal restraints trapping her wrists in place. Though she couldn’t get a good look at it, she did see a green light emit from the device. A whirring high-pitched electronic noise emitted from the gadget, and the metal restraints parted, sliding back into the chair, allowing her free movement once again.

Without a word, the Doctor quickly dashed off to do the same for the other three women. Charlotte swung her legs over the chair and made an effort to stand, but something prevented her from doing so, tugging her back down to the chair, pulling at her hair.

She hastened a quick glance over her shoulder, and the cool touch of metal on the top of her head enlightened her as to what was stopping her from leaving. The helmet was still attached to her head. The Doctor had freed her from the restraints, but not the helmet keeping her plugged in.

Looking around her, the other women had similar experiences. Unfortunately for them, the Doctor had failed to notice, dashing off back towards the blue box he’d arrived in. “Come on, let’s get out of-AGH!!” the Doctor exclaimed in shock as he felt something stop him in his tracks and pull him back several inches. Something pointed forcefully grabbed hold of his jacket, a sharp claw scratching up against his back, threatening to carve into his flesh. In his rush to escape, he hadn’t noticed Bezar break free of the forcefield.

“I think not, Doctor!” Now that he was now in bat form, his voice sounded amplified, an animalistic growl adding to the malevolent tone. “For centuries you’ve guarded humanity. I can’t think of a more fitting end for you than to stand and watch as these humans burn before your eyes, helpless to save them, moments before being torn apart!”

The tearing of fabric was audible as the Doctor’s body was yanked around to face the trapped women. His glistening eyes were filled with a multitude of emotions. Fear, regret, anger, remorse, sadness, all were reflected in the dark brown-green pools. Bezar spoke the truth; the Doctor was truly helpless to do anything to stop it.

It was in that moment that Bayley made a decision. They’d sat back and listened intently to the bizarre conversation for the past several minutes, taking in every detail. It was like they were flies on the wall, no attention paid to their presence, just listening in to a back and forth that made little sense to them. Most importantly of all, the Doctor had explained how the helmets they were plugged into worked, and Bezar had made no move to debunk it. A bitter smirk grew across her features. The Krillitanes wanted to go on a journey? She’d ensure it would be one they’d never forget.

A sharp thud echoed around the room as the lever was thrown, and the ship immediately lurched forward. Becky, Bayley, Sasha and Charlotte all had to grip desperately onto the chairs, as the ship vibrated with movement. The stars shifted in the glass window, confirming that they were now travelling throughout space with great speed. But they had no time to revel in that.

A throbbing pain began to build inside each woman’s head. The pain accelerated with every passing second. The sensation was as though someone was digging inside their brain, scooping out every bit of information contained inside, until they found exactly what they were looking for.

They couldn’t help but repeatedly cry out and grit their teeth, groaning in pain. The more seconds that passed, the more pain inside their brain, and therefore the more they screamed in agony.

Bayley tried her best to block out the pain, remaining as calm as humanly possible, urging her mind to focus on one specific image. She desperately hoped the others had the intelligence and wherewithal to do the same. She focused on the most dangerous place she could think of at such short notice.

As the spaceship zipped past stars at frightening speed, one globe zoomed dead ahead, seemingly expanding in size as the vessel drew closer. It appeared to churn with a deadly but dazzling fire of red, orange, and yellow. A maelstrom of boiling heat.

A high-pitched electronic warble sounded throughout the room, sounding like an alarm.

“What?!” Bezar spat, his eyes glowing with fury, lips curled in a furious glare.

The temperature of the room suddenly began to steadily climb, and a dark red light flooded the room, the alarm warble sounding more desperate and frantic the longer it sounded.

Released from Bezar’s hold, the Doctor shot a proud grin over to the women. Although their pain was not abating, their actions spurred them on.

As the temperature rose higher and higher, beginning to reach uncomfortable levels, sticky sweat beginning to coat skin, the room began to shake, as though the ship itself was desperately trying to break free from its perilous course destination, but to no avail.

“And that’s why you never let me explain!” the Doctor gleefully taunted the sinister alien, grinning madly with relief. “I told you: you brought it on yourself.”

A loud crackle sounded as sparks began to fly from the console, the heat evidently wreaking havoc on the ship. Bezar flinched momentarily, but continued desperately scratching away at various controls, hysterically trying to do anything to change course.

“You told them that you were going to use their thoughts to take you across space, but you didn’t count on them turning that against you, did you?” the Doctor bellowed above the increasing noise. The blaring alarm, the terrified shrieks of the Krillitane guards, and rattle of the spaceship, all made it necessary to speak in raised voices to be heard.

“And now, you are being flung right into the heart of the Sun!” the Doctor pointed at the view outside the windows, the Sun now enormous to the point of being all they could see. He turned back to Bezar. “Not the ideal holiday destination, I know. I hope you packed sunscreen.”

The Doctor’s verbal reprimanding was interrupted by a panicked and pained voice. “Enough talk, get us out of here!” Sasha screeched, clearly the pain and fear was becoming too much to bear, a sentiment shared by her three fellow prisoners.

“Sorry!” the Doctor raised his hands as he skidded towards the chairs, stopping to catch himself on a nearby control panel as his feet became unsteadied by a quake rocking the ship. The Doctor then began to set to work using his handheld cylindrical gadget to free the helmets’ grasps on their heads.

Dust and rubble began to fall from the ceiling, chunks of metal raining down. Fortunately the ceiling hadn’t begun disintegrating at the section of the room which housed the four chairs, but it was only a matter of time. There was a palpable sense of urgency as the Doctor scrambled to free the four women. Two particularly large chunks collapsed right on top of the two Krillitane guards, crushing them beneath the weight, surprised screeches being heard momentarily before being subsequently silenced. The only captor remaining was now Brother Bezar.

Turning in realisation at his brothers’ fate, Bezar turned back to the women and the Doctor with unbridled fury, his red eyes burning with rage, mouth opening to emit a piercing shriek, sharp long teeth on full display. He flapped his wings, propelling him into the air, flying with increasing speed towards them. So far Charlotte and Bayley were free, the Doctor still working to free Becky while Sasha remained trapped.

Thinking fast, Charlotte spotted a chunk of metal debris near her feet. While guaranteed to be heavy, it looked light enough for her to be capable of picking it up, while sure to stop anyone in their tracks if thrown at them. The sound of wings flapping drew closer, the malevolent alien flying towards her with intent to harm. Groaning as she struggled to pick up the debris, she drew every reserve of physical strength she had, launching the chunk of metal right at the advancing Krillitane. The chunk hit Bezar square in the face. Blood trickled from the gash between his eyes, as his prone body fell to the floor with an audible thump.

By the time Charlotte had taken care of the impending danger, the Doctor had managed to unlock the helmets grasp on Sasha, each of the women now freed from their shackles before it had the chance to burn their minds. “RIGHT, NOW, INTO THAT BLUE BOX!” the Doctor shouted above the chaotic noise surrounding the ship’s continued descent into the Sun. The temperature had now reached unbearable levels, leaving them all feeling light-headed. Though they were sure the helmets had some level of responsibility for that, the rising temperature did not help.

Rubble continued to rain down from the ceiling as they reached the large blue object the Doctor had arrived in. Pushing the doors open, the Doctor dashed inside, waiting for the four women to do the same before closing them. 

When the women stumbled their way inside, they were left dumbfounded in shock by the breath-taking sight they saw before their very eyes. If they thought their experience was crazy before, now it was downright insane.

Chapter Text

There hadn’t been a crazier day in the lives of Charlotte Flair, Bayley Martinez, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Even the most insane days in each of their lives put together wouldn’t even come close to the pure insanity they’d just been through – and were currently still experiencing.

Not only had the four women been plucked out of their individual locations on Earth and beamed up to an alien spaceship, but they’d been confronted by their alien bat captors masquerading in human forms. And then they’d been strapped into chairs fitted with telepathic programmers, their subjugators intending to burn their brains out to use them to pilot their stranded spacecraft.

All of that was crazy enough as it was. But then a blue box had materialised out of nowhere, a man stepping forth to introduce himself as the Doctor, scolding their alien captors known as the Krillitane. 

The stranger known as the Doctor had strutted as though he owned the place, showing no fear and openly mocking the terrifying bat-like aliens. He’d cracked jokes with the air of someone who was entirely in control of the situation. He was either a man with a fierce intelligence, or a complete fool. Given his choice of attire – a tweed jacket and a bowtie – there was considerable evidence of the latter.

Everything seemed to be looking up for the confused and afraid women. The Doctor had contained the Krillitanes in a forcefield and set about freeing them from their bonds, when disaster had struck. The head Krillitane had broken free, restrained the Doctor, and started the process of using the four women’s minds to pilot the ship, with the dire consequence of burning their brains in the process.

Fortunately, the information cleverly extracted over the prior conversation allowed Becky, Sasha, Bayley and Charlotte to turn the tables on their captors. The Krillitanes had wanted to leave. The imprisoned women would make sure that it was a journey they’d never forget. Focusing their combined mental strength to send the spacecraft into the heart of the Sun, chaos ensued as the temperature soared. This had allowed the Doctor to escape and free the bound women, the lone surviving Krillitane helpless to change course as the ship started to break apart due to the external forces.

Just as they were ready to make their escape, it looked as though they might come to an untimely end after all. Through the smoke, the surviving Krillitane leader took flight, threatening to use his vicious claws to tear the would-be escapees apart. Charlotte had had the strength and wherewithal to pick up a chunk of fallen metal and hurl it at the approaching creature, incapacitating him.

Leaving Brother Bezar to his arguably well-deserved fate, the four women ran with the Doctor into his blue box, but what they saw made all of what had happened beforehand seem relatively sane.

“What the-“

The wonderment contained in those two words from Sasha Banks could not have been any more palpable. So stunned by what she saw, Sasha couldn’t even finish that question with more colourful language.

The other three women jostled past a motionless Sasha, whose eyes were drinking in every single impossible detail of the room they’d entered. As they all clapped eyes on it, Becky, Charlotte and Bayley were left just as speechless, looking around in awe.

They’d assumed that the five of them would be crammed inside of a small wooden box, packed in like sardines. After all, a small blue box was what the Doctor had arrived in. But they couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead they’d been faced with an impossible sight. The room they’d crossed the threshold of was huge! Of all the insanity they’d been put through today, this was easily the icing on the cake. There was simply no way such a room could be so much bigger on the inside. 

From rough calculations of her eyes, Bayley estimated the room they were standing in alone was easily ten times as large as the exterior. And that’s not including the doorway below them at the end of the room with the beginnings of a corridor that led beyond. A gentle hum echoed around the spacious room, the sound emitting an aura of calm.

“I know! I know! Just hang on a minute.”

As soon as he’d dashed inside, the Doctor had skidded to a halt at a structure that dominated the room, sitting at the dead centre. The structure was a hexagon of metal panels. From what they could see at their current distance, each individual control panel was filled with a different variety of levers and switches. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they were currently standing in a spaceship of some kind, and the hexagonal structure was the console used to pilot the ship.

A circular glass tube ran from below the hexagonal console to up above it. A multitude of thin glass tubes were encased in the much thicker glass. These inner tubes emitted a teal glow leaning more to green than blue. The intense light was bright enough to see, but not bright enough to properly illuminate the entirety of the room, giving off a mood lighting vibe.

The Doctor snapped his fingers, and the doors slammed shut behind them, making the four bewildered women jump at the sudden noise. Turning back to the Doctor, they watched him pull a sturdy-looking lever, and that’s when the calmness of the room changed. The room suddenly seemed to shudder, causing the women to stumble at the unexpected turbulence, gripping the metal railings beside them at the entryway to steady themselves. The thin inner tubes inside the larger tube began to rise and fall. And then they heard it once more. The same grinding, warbling, whooshing sound they’d heard as the object had materialised earlier.

Looking up, they noticed that the thick glass tube led up to expand outwards in metal, the circular shape not unlike the end of a French horn. At the very top, the shape was rounded off by a variety of mysterious symbols running along the edges. The peculiar symbols were unlike anything any of them had ever seen before. They didn’t match any known language.

Those same edges rotated around as the inner tubes continued to rise and fall, spinning around like helicopter blades.

“What’s happening?” Charlotte called out amid the frenetic energy inside the room.

“We’re in flight!” the Doctor shouted back. If the childish glee wasn’t evident enough on his face, it was in his tone. Becky had a sneaking suspicion that the man had been through this same experience hundreds of times before, if not more. However, it was the thrill of giving this experience to the four women for the first time that induced his glee. It was not completely unlike her stunt work, she mused. Although she’d ran stunts hundreds of times before, she always got an extra thrill and a certain sense of pride when she knew someone was watching her work for the very first time.

“You mean this box can fly?!” Bayley shouted in stunned surprise.

“Well how else did you think I was going to get you out of there?” he called back. “Wave a wand and magic you back to Earth?”

“I thought we’d fly back on something more…conventional,” Bayley retorted. “Not a tiny pod that looks like it’s made of wood.”

“Oi! She’ll get upset if you talk about her like that!”

At first Bayley chuckled at the joke, but then the warning look from the Doctor gave her pause. “Surely you’re not serious?” A nod told her he was. “You’re telling me this spaceship is alive?!”

“Not conscious in the way you and I know it, but the TARDIS is sentient,” he confirmed. “She’s the one who pointed me in your direction by the way, so I’d be more complimentary if I were you.”

Before Bayley could respond, a thud - not unlike a bass drum - echoed around the room, and everything steadied down to the same neutral state the room had been when they’d entered. No turbulence, and the centre console was still again. 

The return of calm to the room allowed the women to look closer around the room. The in-flight turbulence had unintentionally jolted them further into the room, where they could now get a closer look. The control portion of the room was in fact on a circular platform surrounded by the same metal railing they’d had to grip earlier to keep themselves upright. Now they could see stairs leading down, where they could see that the centre console went right down to the metal floor below. They could also see the doorway they’d glimpsed earlier, devoid of an actual door, leading to a corridor.

On the platform they were currently standing on, steam hissed out from vents around their feet. But the large centre console wasn’t the only object on the platform. There was also a metallic chair placed next to a rectangular panel, which they assumed was a secondary control panel. But it was far beyond them to understand the controls and mechanics of the ship. All they could do was trust this eccentric madman that had crashed into their lives.

Looking further around the room, they could not only see the stairs leading down below, but also stairs leading up to a balcony that surrounded the entire circumference of the room. Illuminated blue discs lined the walls going around the room. Above the illuminated circles, lights danced around in a clockwise fashion around the room.

It was bizarre stepping through the doors of the wooden blue box into a metallic room that was bigger on the inside. But bizarre didn’t even seem to cut it. There was no word in the English language to sum up just how crazy the day’s events had been.

“So!” the Doctor clapped his hands to get their attention. “First things first: no, you are not going mad. Yes, you are standing in a ship that’s bigger on the inside than the outside.”

Charlotte gasped involuntarily in shock. She didn’t think her own internal feelings had been showing so clearly outwardly. She had indeed been questioning her own sanity. But how could one not? Kidnapped by aliens, that was crazy, but somewhat plausible. But standing in a spaceship that was bigger on the inside than the outside? That was pushing it. But she was still considering the possibility that she’d been overdoing things at work, and this was all a crazy fever dream.

“But, how?” Bayley asked inquisitively.

“It’s dimensionally transcendental.” Fully expecting the blank looks the explanation was met with, the Doctor didn’t waste much time explaining further, gesturing with his hands animatedly as he spoke. “Basically, the inside is located in a different dimension to the outside.”

“Who are you?” Sasha finally managed to ask, finding her tongue once her brain had finally begun to slow down and process the new information.

“I’m the Doctor.” The casual way he repeated this already known information seemed to be brushing them off, but at least one of the women wouldn’t be deterred so easily.

“No, but really, who are you?” Bayley asked, firmness blazing in her eyes. She wanted answers, and she wouldn’t stop asking until she got them. “Those, that thing in there,” she stumbled, clearly still having taken a toll from the ordeal. “He called you a ‘Time Lord’. But what does that mean?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but Charlotte interjected. “You called us ‘humans’ in there, like you’re not one of us. So who are you really, Doctor? After all we’ve been through today, I think we deserve to know.” She now shared the same steely glint in her eyes as Bayley; a burning desire to get answers. Now that the source of their fear had been removed, their resolve had returned in full force.

The Doctor sighed, admitting defeat. He straightened his bowtie before launching into an explanation. “Well done.” The smile reached his eyes, making clear that his words were genuine rather than sarcastic. “You’ve earned answers from those deductions alone.”

He stepped away from the console and forward towards the group of four women, ensuring that he gave them his undivided attention.

“I’m not human. I’m an alien. I’ve lived for 1,000 years now, give or take. I’m not entirely sure, it’s hard to keep track when you’re a time traveller.” Although he didn’t laugh, it was clear that that last part was at least partially flippant, something that seemed to be a recurring theme. “The TARDIS, or Time and Relative Dimensions in Space if you want the long version, is mine. I fly around the universe, seeking all the amazing, wonderful things it has to offer. Oh, I’ve also got two hearts and I hate pears. Any questions?”

Three of the women remained stood in stunned silence, mouths hanging open in shock, their minds processing the impossible information. All except Becky, who was still scanning the room in childish wonderment, still enraptured by the preposterous sight.

“Holy shit!!”

“Oi! Don’t swear!” the Doctor quickly chided the Irishwoman, pointing as an exclamation point. She glared back at the rebuke.

Sasha raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? You’re a 1,000-year-old alien who travels through time, fighting terrifying aliens, and you can’t handle a bit of profanity?”

“Oh of course I can handle it, I just don’t approve.” The Doctor purposefully slowed his words down towards the end, making his position on the matter perfectly clear. “And that’s something you’ll just have to understand, if you decide to accept my offer.”

Bayley was the first to question, “What offer?” 

“All of time and all of space. It’s all just sitting there, waiting to be explored. For most people, events occur just the once, and then it’s over. But not for me. Travel with me, and I can take you anywhere and everywhere. Any time, past, present, or future.” His voice was firm, but threatening to burst with enthusiasm. The grin on his face betrayed just how much he loved his lifestyle, and delighted in sharing it with others. “All of time and all of space. Everything that ever happened, or ever will.”

“Why us?” Charlotte demanded to know. “If what you’re saying is true, and I still need to see it to believe it, you could pick anybody. Why us four in particular?”

“Do I need to have a reason?”

“Everybody always has a reason,” she retorted with a cynical huff.

“Do I look like everybody?”

“Yes.”

The curt response once again displayed their tenacity, one of the many qualities he was beginning to admire about the four women the longer he spent with them. He’d always made a point of only inviting the people to join him with the right qualities. Stubbornness, while often annoying, was one such crucial quality.

“Look, I didn’t arrive there with the intention of asking you all to join me. I thought I’d just whiz in, save you innocent humans from the Krillitane and then just pop you back on Earth. Now, I can still do that, if that’s what you want.” His mouth then softened into a smile. “But you four showed me something. Intelligence, courage in the face of overwhelming fear, and initiative. All qualities that I value. You didn’t need me to tell you that how to get out of that situation, you worked that out on your own.” His voice then suddenly rose slightly in volume, as though praise deserved to be heard loud and clear. “And none of you could have pulled it off singlehandedly; it took all four of you to realise it. You were all intelligent enough to work it out on your own.” He took a second to exhale and shake his head before continuing on. “Bezar might have taken you for his nefarious purposes, but he wasn’t wrong about you four wanting to leave, was he?”

All four women shook their heads in confirmation. Becky wanted more thrills, more adrenaline than she could ever get on a film set. Charlotte wanted to get out there and explore life instead of focusing single-mindedly on her career. Sasha wanted new experiences, after having already travelled the world. And Bayley just wanted to help others. And she sensed that travelling space and time would fulfil that desire more than a single high school.

“You all want more out of life, and I’m just the alien to give it to you.” He looked at them expectedly, waiting for a response. None came readily, the four women content to keep him waiting, still contemplating if they should trust the word of a relative stranger. This sounded too good to be true.

“Why should we trust you?” Sasha finally voiced, levelling him with a cynical stare, folding her arms for extra emphasis. “For all we know, you’re just a madman with a box.”

Full of surprises, the Doctor responded to the thinly veiled insult with a smirk. “There’s something you’ve got to understand about me, because one day your life could depend on it. I am definitely a madman with a box.”

The smiles and chuckles from each of the four in response – even Sasha - was all the confirmation he needed.

“So, Sasha Banks, Bayley Martinez, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair,” he listed off all their names, leaving a pause as though he was about to ask the most important question in the whole universe. “All of time and space; where do you want to start?”

Chapter Text

Hello all! That's right, this story is finally back and ready to continue! When, you might ask? I'll get to that in a moment. For now, please enjoy watching a video trailer I put together to showcase this story: https://youtu.be/KUfqWzSUuDw

Now, how about a reveal of the upcoming chapter titles and adventure synopses?

Chapters 8/9 - Incursion of the Cybermen

For his four new companions’ first trip out, the Doctor selects an exotic alien destination. Unfortunately, his new friends learn just how unreliable the TARDIS can be when they find themselves somewhere else entirely: a human space freighter on the verge of being boarded by metal men.

Chapters 10/11 - Assassins in the Palace

Summoned to Victorian London by old friends, the Doctor and his new companions find themselves brought before Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, where they learn of a string of disappearances within. Amid reports of stone statues, a horrified Doctor becomes more overprotective of his new friends than ever.

Chapters 12/13 - The Dark Order

Becky, Sasha, Bayley and Charlotte finally explore their first alien planet. But not is all as it seems. There is a nefarious cult at work, and a creature stalking them from the shadows. Wills are about to be tested, and truths will be revealed at the hands of the sinister cult. No matter what, they must not let him in.

Chapter 14 - Nightmares and Shenanigans

Coping with trauma and facing fears one late night aboard the TARDIS, two of the companions bond over the horrors of their previous adventures and internal anguish, only to find that the other members of the crew were bonding on an adventure of their own.

Chapters 15/16 - The Sontaran Invasion

Spotting an invasion fleet headed for Earth, Team TARDIS head down to warn them. They find one of their friends behaving suspiciously, the reason becoming clear the moment the invaders breach the Earth’s atmosphere. Amid the threat of the Sontaran Empire, Strax will be forced to make an impossible choice.

Chapters 17/18 - Homecoming

Worried that Sasha, Becky, Charlotte and Bayley may be losing sight of what is important, the Doctor insists that they return home for a short time to keep in touch with their old lives, though Bayley chooses to remain. In each of their lives, something is clearly amiss. Unbeknownst to them, friends close to each of the women have been selected for augmentation. Discovering too late, the Doctor and Bayley rush to the rescue. There will be grave consequences, with not all of them escaping their possessed friends unscathed.

Chapter 19 - Flashback

With one of his companions severely injured, the Doctor vows to bring an early end to their adventures before they can come to further harm under his inability to keep them safe. Facing strong resistance to the idea, the Doctor is coaxed into telling a traumatic tale from his past. One which explains his overprotective nature. The final tale of Amy Pond and Rory Williams.

Chapters 20-21 - The Abandoned Ship

Picking up an electronic distress signal, the Doctor and friends are bewildered to step onto an abandoned 19th century ship in the middle of the ocean. With no crew in sight or explanation for the anachronism, the TARDIS crew are soon separated, with one of the companions growing too despondent to act in the face of her recent, crippling injury. Can they save their friends from aquatic, prehistoric hijackers before it’s too late?

Chapter 22 - Message of Deceit

Following a desperate distress call, the TARDIS team rush to the rescue, only to find the 23rd century human colony perfectly safe and under no visible threat. Suddenly finding the colony besieged by a familiar foe, can the Doctor and the Horsewomen escape the deadly trap?

Chapter 23 - The Siege of Thoraxi

With one of their friends abducted, the Doctor and his remaining companions give chase, materialising on the planet Thoraxi, subjugated by the alien mercenaries who abducted his companion. His friends inspire  a revolution, but will it be enough to mount a successful rescue?

Chapter 24 -  Assistance of the Daleks

With the trail running cold on the search for their kidnapped friend, the TARDIS is hijacked and brought to a ship belonging to one of the Doctor’s oldest and deadliest enemies: the Daleks. There is an opportunity to be seized despite the deadly threat. Can they resume the search for their missing friend?

Chapters 25/26 - End Game

In the finale, everything comes to a head. Preparing to finally reunite with their stolen friend, the master manipulator behind every single one of their adventures and the conspirator behind their friend’s abduction is revealed. Can they escape the clutches of the Doctor’s oldest enemy and save their friend?

As you can tell from the list above, a good amount of the adventurers are two parters. In the latter portion of the story, the story heats up to necessitate shorter adventurers as hinted at. Chapter titles and synopses are subject to change.

I hope that was enough to start the hype train rolling! When can you read the continuation of this story, you might ask? I've been hard at work, toiling away on this story for almost two years now, and it is ready! I am happy to announce that at least one new chapter will be uploaded every single week, starting either next week or the week after! I'm aiming preferably to start uploading from Monday 2nd of August. But if I don't manage to meet that deadline, I'll make sure it begins on the 9th.

While you wait, I would also like to mention that the existing chapters have received some improvements. Chapter 2 (Bayley's Introduction) has been completely overhauled. I always felt that introduction was particularly boring. And so I have reinvented a different setting and events for it. Chapter 3 (Sasha's Introduction) has had a little bit more added to create a darker backstory. If you're a returning reader (and thank you so much for coming back after such a long hiatus!!), I would recommend re-reading them both for the new changes and to reacquaint yourself with the story.

If you're a new reader, welcome aboard!

If you have any feedback at all, whether that's to give any thoughts on the trailer, the chapter titles, the synopses, or just to express your feelings on seeing this story finally return, I'd love to read them in the comments below! I'm excited to continue this story, and I'm looking forward to reading what you make of it!

Chapter Text

“First trip out, what do you want to see first?” the Doctor asked his four new companions, moments after they had accepted his offer. All of time and space. Everything that ever happened or ever will. And it was theirs to explore, just waiting.

But how do you answer a question like that with no context of the true depths of all of time and space? An untold number of planets, a universe teeming with more life than any of the four women had dreamt possible until today. There was no way any of the four women would pinpoint a specific time or place beyond the realm of their experiences as their first destination. The Doctor knew that very well. Over a thousand years of travelling time and space, even he hadn’t seen absolutely everything the universe had to offer. He was their guide, and already had a few ideas in mind. But nevertheless, his curiosity had been piqued by the potential responses.

The four women were deep in thought for a moment, the wheels in their brains turning clear as day on their brows furrowed deep in concentration. The four of them gazed out across the railings of the outer ring and down towards the TARDIS console, as though the glowing teal central column would give them the answers they sought.

“I want to see an alien planet,” Sasha answered first.

“Forget the destination, I wanna meet an alien!” Becky followed up.

Bayley and Charlotte nodded in agreement with both answers. The Doctor grinned, the two suggestions coalescing as a perfect first trip out.

Alien planet? Easy, there were millions to choose from.

Alien race? Even more so, the universe was populated with so much life a new unit of measurement would need to be invented in the human language to possibly count all of them.

Put them together? Bob’s your uncle.

“I know just the perfect place for your first trip out,” the Doctor announced, a proud grin on his face.

“Where?” Sasha and Becky both asked in unison, instantly exchanging looks of irritation with each other.

The Doctor continued dashing about the console, pulling levers and flicking various switches. “The Tiaanamat Market. Great biiiig marketplace on an asteroid orbiting Akhaten, just teeming with alien lifeforms.” He stopped to look up at the four women watching his every move. “Oh, you are going to love it!” His overexcited grin proved infectious, although the four women still seemed somewhat apprehensive, as though they were waiting for the Doctor’s undivided attention. Something that didn’t go unnoticed. “Any questions?”

“Is this box really made of wood?” came a voice spoken behind a flurry of blue hair as Sasha whipped her head around, worry furrowing her brow at the idea of travelling through time and space in such a fragile-looking craft.

“Does this place have a bathroom?” Charlotte asked, ever the practical one.

“Are we going to be run into more monsters like those giant bats?” was Bayley’s question, concern dancing in her eyes after a narrow brush with death. Not that the element of danger would put her off. She just wanted to be very clear on what to expect.

“Is there free quinoa?” came the final - perhaps less pressing - question with a tell-tale Irish lilt. Bayley and Charlotte looked at Becky pointedly, whilst Sasha shook her head with a disdainful scoff, as though Becky was the class clown. As far as Sasha was concerned, she was.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at the sudden barrage of rapid-fire questions. “No. Yes. Yes,” he answered, pointing a finger at each woman in turn as he answered their respective questions. “And Becky, why would I be giving out quinoa?” He sounded and looked as bewildered as the others felt, which was not a common feeling for the Time Lord.

The Irish woman shrugged. “Why wouldn’t you? Honestly, you bring us on this trip, and you don’t have in-flight meals?” She tutted.

“I’m not even sure I know what quinoa is,” the Doctor admitted. Becky gasped and took a step back, as though horrified at this revelation.

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Ugh, do you always have to be this dramatic?”

“Pity you didn’t ask yerself that question when you dyed yer hair, smurf.”

“Oh!" Sasha scoffed with derision, “That’s rich coming from Ron Weasley’s Irish cousin!”

The two women then began to bicker back and forth with more snide remarks incessantly, the barbs growing even more vicious.

“-really the best you can come up with?” Becky’s retort cut in amid the attempts of their fellow passengers to break it up.

“Guys? Guys?” the Doctor tried unsuccessfully to stop the pair.

“-not the one asking dumbass questions,” Sasha continued the argument, despite the Doctor’s protests.

Charlotte watched the train wreck unfold, burying her head in her hands. The promised adventure of time and space was something which she was genuinely excited to experience, feeling as though it was exactly what she needed to broaden her horizons. But if it came at the cost of having to stomach two stubborn, hard-headed, incredibly argumentative people, then perhaps it wasn’t worth it after all.

“QUIET!!” a commanding voice suddenly bellowed, everyone turning around to look at the source of the noise: Bayley. The side ponytailed Latina stood firmly, looking disappointedly at Becky and Sasha. If she wanted to deal with such immature disputes, she may as well have stayed working at her school.

“Thank you,” the Doctor smiled at Bayley, before turning to frown at the two women who had suddenly grown silent. He didn’t look mad. Just disappointed. “Look, I didn’t invite you two to join me just so that you could argue until the end of time. If that’s what you’re here for, I’ll take you back to Earth right now.” The two brash women could no longer meet his gaze, looking every bit like scolded schoolchildren. The Doctor’s expression then turned back to an exuberant grin, the argument quashed for now. “Good. Now, the Tiaanamat Market!”

The Doctor dashed off back to the TARDIS console, continuing to plot their course after the distraction. Bayley took the opportunity to get to know the two outspoken women further and convince them to reconcile their differences before it became a serious issue. At this point, she had high hopes that it was just initial nerves and culture shock manifesting, that it was something they simply need to get out of their systems. Even if it wasn’t that simple, she would be damned if she didn’t at least try to help.

“Isn’t one of you going to apologise?” she directed to both of them.

Sasha scoffed in disgust as though at the very concept, while Becky raised an eyebrow. “What for, lass?”

“Are you kidding me?” Charlotte intervened, deciding that now was the time to get involved. They’d been rescued from death at alien hands. And now, not even five minutes into the start of their new adventure together and the pair were already bickering again like children.

“Oh, what do you want King Charles?” Sasha snapped, her tone cold and uninviting.

“Calm down Sasha, we’re only trying to help,” Bayley said, eager to cool the situation down before it escalated.

“And who the hell do you think you are?” Sasha whirled around, her eyes making her displeasure clear. “Your whole look is ridiculous. I mean what are you, a kindergarten teacher?” she sniped scornfully, gesturing to Bayley’s side-ponytail as the main offending article.

“High school guidance counsellor, actually,” Bayley retorted, her demeanour making clear that she wasn’t going to be a pushover for this woman’s petty behaviour. She’d dealt with plenty of hot-headed loudmouths in her time. Though she had a feeling there was more to Sasha than that, the lessons learnt in handling them were very much applicable.

“Well go and guide someone else, okay? I don’t need your help. And if I did, I damn sure wouldn’t ask you.” Annoyed with the situation, Sasha turned and walked down the stairs to more closely watch the Doctor. Bayley watched her storm off, full of confusion as to why the woman had behaved in such a manner with the barest of provocation.

It just didn’t make any sense. They’d all endured a terrifying ordeal together and survived it together. Why was Sasha so intent on being so rude to people who she really should be bonding with? Especially now that they’d all signed up as travel companions for the foreseeable future. The least she could do was not behave like a brat with a major attitude problem, dumping her toxic hostility all over the rest of them.

Bayley’s increasingly frustrated thoughts were shoved to one side as she noticed her other companions sidle up beside her. “Never mind her lass,” Becky said to try to comfort Bayley. Not that she really needed it. “I like the side pony, makes you unique. How many lasses do you see at our age rocking one?” Bayley smiled at the compliment, appreciating the Irish woman’s softer side when she wasn’t locked in a battle of insults with Sasha. After the confrontation she had just had, Bayley certainly welcomed a far more complimentary conversation.

“What’s her problem?” Charlotte gestured over to the blue-haired woman below them. Sasha was now making pleasant conversation with the Doctor, fully engaged as he explained the controls to her. The change in her demeanour was like night and day - the studious and enjoyable smile she was sporting was a complete 180 from the contemptuous scowl and biting insults just a few moments earlier. It was like watching a different person entirely. It was clear there was a far better side of Sasha there behind the walls she was keeping firmly up. Why she refused to even given the slightest peek through to the three of them - snarling them away at every turn - was a mystery. As was the fact that she was regarding the Doctor far more pleasantly, not extending to him the same vitriol the rest of them were subjected to.

“I think she’s just a bit out of her depth. Give her time, I’m sure she’ll come around,” Bayley suggested. She wanted to believe her own words, based on no evidence, just hope. “Not that your teasing helped,” she threw a dirty look at Becky.

The redhead threw up her hands in mock surrender. “Hey, she started it.”

“Yes, but did you have to act like a child?” Charlotte chided, her patience with both Becky and Sasha wearing thin.

“Now listen here ya blonde freakin’ amazon. Just because yer built like a brick shi-“ Becky started saying before the very atmosphere of the room began to vibrate, the rising and falling noise of the ship’s engines echoing all around as the central column rose and fell in sync inside the circular glass tube of the hexagonal central console. The alien symbol embellished metal structure above the console was going around and around, whirling around like helicopter blades, sending lights dancing around the room. The TARDIS was in flight.

A deep boom like that of a bass drum echoed around the space at the same moment the turbulence stopped, the room still again. They had arrived.

“Now ladies, if you’ve quite finished what was undoubtedly a riveting conversation, how’d you like to see something unlike anything you have ever seen before?” The Doctor’s grin was full of glee, evidently excited with the knowledge that his new companions were going to be left stunned with wonderment at an alien sight. While the three women had been distracted, the Doctor had discarded his ruined tweed jacket - clawed apart while escaping the Krillitane - replacing it with a dark purple frock coat.

The Doctor then took off running towards the TARDIS doors. He clutched the interior handle before turning his back to the closed doors, looking at the four women following him with enthusiasm, suddenly stopping in their tracks at the halted movement. “Are you ready? Your first alien planet. Waiting just outside these doors. Like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” He paused and smiled. “I promise you, it’s going to be-”

“Oh, just open them already!” all four women said more or less concurrently, excited eagerness permeating the air to completely evaporate any tension that might have lingered. This - their first voyage to an alien world - was far more important than any argument. The Doctor’s eyes danced with mischief as he grinned. It was only fair that he teased them a little bit. He whirled round and pulled the doors open in one fluid motion, stepping outside. “I give you, the Tiaanamat-“

He suddenly halted in his grand introduction, his flourishing arm slowly falling back down to his side. The four women followed eagerly, too excited for their first alien world to notice. But as soon as they stepped outside the box, they realised why he had suddenly grown silent. They weren’t looking at a wonderous market in an alien landscape, full of alien life forms shopping and bartering for exotic goods. They were looking at an empty metal corridor, a dark blue light bathing the area. The faint hum and vibration of engines reverberated all around. “Hang on, this isn’t right.”

“You’re telling us!” Becky chuckled. “No chance you meant that this marketplace was microscopic? Only, I don’t see one anywhere.”

“What gives?” Sasha huffed petulantly. “You promised me a brand-new world!”

“Okay, so I might have got it a bit wrong. But think of it like this: I’m taking you on the scenic route.”

Sasha hummed in acknowledgement, shrugging her shoulders. Either way, this was a brand new experience. As long as they eventually wound up basking in the light of an alien sun on some exotic foreign planet, she could afford to dawdle a few moments longer.

The Doctor then pulled out his circular device, flicking his wrist to extend the metal claws on the end before activating it. The tip emitted a green light, while a high-pitched buzzing reverberated around the space.

“What is that thing?” Bayley asked, full of curiosity. It had been an instrumental gadget in freeing them from the Krillitane’s clutches, but the Doctor had yet to explain exactly what it was - less so name it.

“It’s my Sonic Screwdriver. Just scanning to see where we are.”

“A screwdriver…that scans?” Sasha snorted with a teasing smile full of amusement at the absurdity. “What, a literal scanner wasn’t flash enough for you?”

“Don’t listen to the rude lady,” the Doctor whispered to his gadget, as though he were speaking to a beloved pet. The action earned him a few raised eyebrows among his companions. Whether he was being deliberately absurd for comedic effect or genuinely held affection for an inanimate object wasn’t apparent in the early stages of their companionship. It was hard to tell with the Doctor.

“Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks it needs to be even louder?” Becky asked.

“’Even louder’?” Charlotte snorted. “I think you’re using screwdrivers wrong.”

Becky’s retort was caught in her throat as the Doctor got his in first. “Well yes, it did start off as the basic function, using sonic waves to vibrate the screw enough out of place. But you know how it is. You start off building a screwdriver and suddenly you realise how useful it would be if it could detect heartbeats, turn the lights on, hack an ATM, and it just builds from there.”

The Doctor continued to scan as his companions looked at him with bewilderment at his ridiculous statement - already beginning to notice it was a common trend for the Time Lord.

As his beloved Sonic Screwdriver was beginning to pick up on, they were not the only life forms aboard the ship the TARDIS had materialised on. And the occupants had taken notice of the five strangers aboard their vessel.

The scuffing of boots started down the end of the corridor, the source of the noise growing louder as it came closer. A group of guards in unusual clothing rounded the corner, continuing their march towards them. They came to a stop before aiming their guns at them. Guns which were unlike any weapon the women had ever seen.

“Uhh, Doctor?” Charlotte asked, her tone warbling with worry.

Completely distracted by the buzzing of his Sonic Screwdriver, the Doctor had failed to notice the guards’ approach. He frowned before putting his device back into his inside jacket pocket, before wearing a smile on his face and striding closer towards them, seemingly without fear. “Ah, hello there! Sorry to intrude on your ship like this, got the coordinates a bit wrong I’m afraid. Not to worry, we’ll be on our way. Come along, gang.”

The Doctor started guiding Sasha and Becky back towards the TARDIS, only to stop in his tracks at the sound of the guns being cocked. The Doctor slowly turned around to face the futuristic guards, evidently taking more care.

“You will come with us to the bridge,” one of them commanded. “Now get moving!”

He motioned for the five strangers to position themselves in the middle of the squad. After watching the Doctor hold his hands up in surrender, the four women in his care followed suit.

“…and make sure those warp engines are functioning normally.”

The hustle and bustle of the ship’s bridge was made immediately apparent the moment in which the five prisoners were marched into it. Several people were at work, some seated at control stations, some checking machinery built into the walls. Their uniforms reinforced the fact that they were at some point in the future, not looking like any material the four women were used to.

“Ma’am,” one of the guards saluted. “Those five stowaways.”

“Very well,” a short haired brunette woman turned to face them, her uniform decorated with various medals, wearing all red instead of the black of her subordinates. She walked until she was inches away from the group, hands clasped behind her back. “What are you five doing aboard my ship?”

“Hang on a minute, stowaways?” the Doctor questioned. “No-no-no, I see the misunderstanding here. We’re not stowaways. I materialised my ship on board by accident. We were heading for the Tiaanamat market.”

“That’s seventy-six light years away. And teleporting aboard a category six vessel is illegal.” The captain then gestured to the guards who had brought them in. “Keep a close watch on them. If they move, shoot them.”

“Oh, humans and your bureaucracy. Thirty-sixth century, nothing changes,” the Doctor groaned, making his disdain perfectly clear even as he complied. “Captain…Melethil,” he said, pausing to read the name badge on the collar. “You can see past this, yeah? We’re just travellers, it was an honest mistake. Let us go back to the box we arrived in, and we’ll be out of your hair.” A smile was added in as further persuasion but was ultimately unsuccessful.

“You will stay here until we can turn you into the authorities on our next docking cycle. I don’t know who you are or what you represent. And I have no reason to trust a word you’re saying. For all I know, you could be saboteurs.”

“Would a saboteur really be wearing such ridiculous clothes?” Sasha piped up, motioning to the Doctor’s frock coat and bow tie.

“Yes, exactly!” the Doctor readily agreed, before turning to point a finger at Sasha with an offended frown, delayed realisation washing over him. Sasha smirked back at him cheekily.

“As true as that may be, that doesn’t change anything.”

The Doctor groaned as Captain Melethil walked off to attend to her duties, leaving the five travellers under armed guard.

“I suppose we’re going to be here for a while,” Becky said with an air of flippancy as she sat down on a chair behind her. “May as well get comfy.”

The rest of them followed suit. At least if they had to wait around, they had chairs to sit on.

Silence hung in the air over them for a few moments, the four new companions not quite sure what to make of the experience. Eventually, curiosity became too much.

“So, thirty-sixth century huh?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah, 3546 to be exact. You lot have spread over several galaxies by this point. Interstellar travel is pretty routine by now.”

“Doctor, what’s that?” Bayley asked, pointing over towards a curiously large device on the other side of the room. It was in two parts. One was a large rectangular box with a retractable slot. A metallic tube was connected, leading to a large funnel hanging high above, pointed towards the rest of the room.

“Oh that? It’s a Mark 26 Air Cleanser. Common appliance in this period. You can find them on any spaceship like you’d find a dishwasher in any kitchen in your time. Typically used to spread a cure for infection in enclosed areas. You see that drawer?” He gestured to the retractable slot. “Pop anything into there and it’ll be broken down into particles and dispersed through the air. The machinery in the box replicates it down to the last atom, so you can keep pumping out as much as you need.”

The four women felt themselves hanging onto the Doctor’s every word, even for something as mundane as explaining a piece of futuristic machinery. The charismatic man certainly had a magnetic quality. “As you can imagine, very easy to use for things more nefarious than medicine. That’s why you’ll only find them on governmentally-regulated spaceships such as this one. And even then they can still be abused.”

The five prisoners continued their various conversations for a while. They were more or less left alone by the ship’s crew, aside from the guards keeping a close watch on them. A couple of hours into their trip, a high-pitched beep sounded at the captain’s console.

“What’s that, an incoming message?” the Doctor called out, leaning forward to get a closer look.

“Be quiet!” Captain Melethil snapped back before flicking a switch, bringing the communication on screen.

A metallic head filled the screen. A dull grey face, with dark holes where eyes should be, and a horizontal slit where a mouth would be. The eye holes had a slight extension at a corner of each eye hole, like a teardrop. Handlebars shot upward at each side, connecting at the top of the sleek metal head.

Its mouth slit lit up in a shining bright blue, and the metal man began to speak. “The eleventh Cyber Legion demands entry.” The voice was monotone and synthetic, giving it a modulated sound. Not even the barest hint of emotion was contained within the voice. “You will open your airlock or you will be deleted.”

The air immediately changed the moment the metal man had appeared on-screen. Previously busy crew members all stopped in their tracks. Now that the image had faded, the tension in the air was palpable. The bridge was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

“No-no-no-no-no-no-no,” the Doctor murmured under his breath. Fear was evident in his tone, something that his four companions hadn’t heard before. It seemed uncharacteristic of the man who’d been so full of confidence since the moment they’d met him. He hadn’t faltered in the slightest when staring down the Krillitane. Now he looked like he wanted nothing more than to run.

“What’s so scary about a tin robot?” Becky scoffed. The moment the Doctor turned to look her, she wilted under his rebuking gaze, as though she’d made light of a very serious issue.

“It’s not a ‘tin robot,” the Doctor explained, his voice steady despite the panic in his eyes. “It’s a Cyberman.”

“And a Cyberman is bad, I’m assuming?” Charlotte asked, trying to tread carefully.

“Think how bad things could possibly be and quadruple it forty-six times over. Then you’ll get an idea of how bad they are.” The Doctor’s tone was not reassuring.

“Yes, but what is a ‘Cyberman’?” Sasha asked.

“And why do they look like a prototype Ironman?” Becky interjected, clearly having not learnt her lesson in tact at all. The fact that nobody wasted time acknowledging her attempt to inject some humour into what appeared to be a despondent predicament got the message across.

“The Cybermen used to be just like us until they took away all of their emotions,” the Doctor explained. “Now they exist to convert the rest of the universe to be just like them, and kill those who refuse.”

“Can’t we reason with them?” Bayley asked earnestly, her optimism showing, as well as her naivety. “I mean, if they used be to just like us, surely they’ll listen?”

“Oh Bayley, I love your attitude.” The Doctor gave her a watery smile which soon drooped into a frown. “And I wish that were possible. But no. The Cybermen refuse to accept any need that isn’t their own. To them, emotions are an affliction. And they’re coming to ‘save’ us from it.”

The grim reality of the situation began to set in. If the Doctor - who had bantered with the threatening Krillitanes without any hesitation - was worried, then there must be cause for concern. His four new companions may not have known him for long, but they knew enough to take his words seriously.

“Captain Melethil,” the Doctor suddenly leapt from his seat and crossed the bridge towards the captain who was busy relaying orders to her crew members. The guards focused on the Doctor followed, with one trying in vain to order him to remain seated. The fact that the armed guard posed an entirely insignificant threat compared to the Cybermen certainly spoke volumes. “I must insist that you let us go immediately.” His tone was firm but not overbearing.

“Not a chance, Doctor.” Her expression was stern, leaving no room for argument. “Stowaways or not, you will help us fight the Cybermen.”

“I’ll gladly help, but please, at least let the four women I arrived with go back to my ship. It’s their first trip out you see, and I have a duty of care-”

“Doctor, I need every person on board this ship to mount a defence. I’m sorry, but you and your friends are no exception. On this ship, we survive or fall together.”

“Yes, but they’re not fighters!” he protested. It was clear from the captain’s expression that his arguments were all in vain. “You wouldn’t ask a civilian to fight, would you?”

“Look around you!" Captain Melethil gestured to the gaggle of crew members rushing about the armoury. It was plain as day from the palpable fear in the air, the uneasiness with which guns were wielded, the panicked expressions on her crew member's faces that the Doctor's words were far off the mark. "Neither are most of my crew. Only a small number are trained in combat. But when it comes to the Cybermen, everyone fights. Otherwise, there’s no stopping them from turning your friends to become like them. That’s my final word, Doctor.”

As Captain Melethil walked away to issue further orders to her crew, the Doctor turned away with a look of frustration as he walked back to his companions.

“Tryin’ ta get rid of us already?” Becky asked the Doctor as soon as he was in earshot, clearly not pleased at what she had overheard.

“No, of course not.”

“Then why were you just trying to send us away?” Charlotte piped up.

“Look, I asked you join me because I thought I’d be showing you exciting new cultures, and brand new worlds. But this?” He gestured to the control room. “This is far too dangerous and it’s too soon. If you’re still here when the Cybermen invade this ship, anything could happen to you. They are one of my oldest and deadliest enemies, and I don’t want to put you all in such grave danger.” His solemn look was one of pain as he regarded each of them, as much as he tried to hide it.

“You’ve got a way out of this, haven’t you?” Sasha asked, her voice meek with hope. “You didn’t bat an eye against the Krillitane-“

“Heh, bat,” Becky interjected with a chuckle, unable to resist a pun no matter the situation at the mention of the hulking creatures resembling giant bats in appearance. She received a hard elbow to the ribs from Bayley, a silent urge to keep her mouth shut as the rest simply ignored her foolishness.

“-Surely a metal man shouldn’t be a problem?” Sasha continued.

This line of questioning brought renewed focus back to the Doctor, his dejected eyes sparkling again. “Oh, I’ll come up with a plan. Just you wait and see.” He tapped the blue-haired woman’s nose lightly before turning around on the spot, walking a short distance away. “Can’t wait to work one out myself,” he whispered to himself under his breath.

Charlotte decided to make herself useful, walking over to the busy woman in command. “Excuse me, Captain. If the Cybermen are coming, can’t we just, oh I don’t know, not let them in?”

“You’ve never come across Cybermen, have you?” Charlotte shook her head. “Their weaponry is far more advanced than ours. If we don’t let them in, they’ll just cut their losses and blast us apart. If we open the airlock, we’ll at least have a chance of stopping them when they get there.”

For the following twelve minutes, everyone was on high alert. There was an unspoken knowledge that this could be the end for everyone on board. But that didn’t deter anyone from preparing for the metallic monsters on their way. There was a hustle and bustle as the ship’s armoury was emptied, with every technician and pilot made ready for battle. Even Becky, Charlotte, Bayley and Sasha had guns thrust into their hands.

A wry smile crossed Becky’s face as she turned the weapon over in her hands. “A bit different from a prop gun.”

Meanwhile Charlotte tried to curl her fingers awkwardly around the gun, clearly having never had to hold one before. Sasha had a look of determination about her, as though she was hellbent on proving herself with this responsibility to protect themselves. On the other hand, the brunette Latina looked repulsed by the weapon of destruction given to her, holding it at arm’s length away from her.

“Er, no, actually,” the Doctor refused to accept the gun offered to him, looking at the object with disgust, refusing to even touch the offending instrument of destruction. “Unless you have one in a different colour, I’ll have to politely decline. Doesn’t match my bowtie.”

“You will fight, or I’ll shoot you myself,” the captain threatened, and the scowl she gave made it clear that she wouldn’t hesitate to make good on her wood.

The bowtie-wearing man reluctantly grabbed hold of the weapon, though his distaste for it was clear as day.

“Never thought I’d be holding a gun from over a thousand years in the future when I woke up this morning,” Sasha commented as she examined her weapon more closely, twisting and turning the metal chamber.

“Just make sure yer aiming it at the right people, eh lass?” Becky said, her tone somewhat flippant, narrowing her eyebrows in challenge. “With yer behaviour so far, I wouldn’t put it past you to shoot us out of spite.”

“Don’t make any stupid puns, and there won’t be any danger of that,” Sasha warned back in an icier tone than necessary. “In fact, if you could not say anything at all, that would be even better.”

Choosing to ignore the bickering, Bayley turned to the Doctor. “Uh, we won’t need to actually use these, will we?”

The Doctor fixed her with a sad smile. “I hope it doesn’t come to that. But don’t worry, I have a plan. When I tell you, do exactly as I say.”

“They’re here!” one of the crew announced. The live feed from one of the security cameras on-screen showed the metal men marching down a corridor. In the distance, the pounding of their boots echoed, marching closer and closer to the bridge, heralding their doom.

After a tense pause, the locked door beeped, unlocking from the outside. Firepower was not necessary to gain entrance. In a species of cyborg so intrinsically linked with technology, opening an electronic lock was child's play to them. The interior door slid open, and the Cybermen marched impassively into the ship's bridge.

They looked every bit as imposing as the loud stomping of their feet and subsequent hiss of their joints made from afar. Roughly the same shape as a human, their entire body looked like a suit of armour, every edge perfect and smoothly defined, as though created en mass in a factory from a perfected design. Instead of flesh for hands they had gauntlets, the cables connecting their interior together visible in the gaps exposing joints. There was a single pipe running down the length of each upper arm and the side of each leg down to the knee. The whole body was the exact same shade of grey, creating true uniformity in each of the several metal men who had marched onto the bridge. Each stood six feet tall, all exactly the same size down to the exact inch. A large round disc jutted out in the centre of each chest, a large “C” visible.

“What’s that, ‘C’ for Cyberman?” Becky jokingly whispered under her breath.

One of the Cybermen stood out from the rest, the handlebars on his head black instead of grey. Unlike the rest of the Cybermen, there was a transparent window on the upper portion of his face, exposing a white brain looking dried up. The rest of the Cybermen stood still in formation upon entering the room, while he turned towards Captain Melethil.

“Why does that one look different to the rest?” Charlotte whispered to the Doctor.

“That’s a Cyber Leader,” he answered.

“You will follow us back to our vessel.” The voice held exactly the same deep, flat tone as the Cyberman in the video message, utterly devoid of emotion.

“And what will you do with us if we do?” the captain asked, her grip on her gun tightening despite an obvious effort to remain calm.

“You will be converted to Cyberform.”

“And if we refuse?”

“Then you are rogue elements."

"And what happens then?"

"Then you will be deleted.” The cold words were spoken simply as though they were a matter of fact. As though it was a logical deduction to end lives if they refused to comply, rather than a terrifying choice of tyrants. A choice which wasn't theirs to take.

“Can’t you just let us be?” There was a bite to the captain’s tone, asking even though she knew the answer would not offer any comfort.

“Negative. You need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear.” Although the words might seem comforting on the surface, in reality they were anything but.

“I see.” The captain then turned to look at the rest of her crew. “OPEN FIRE!” she yelled.

Unfortunately, Captain Melethil wasn’t able to get out of the way quick enough. The Cyber Leader extended an open palmed gauntlet towards her, grabbing hold with a vice-like grip. Electricity shot through the woman’s body, rippling with visible blue energy on the surface of the skin. A blood curdling scream of agony tore from her throat, serving as a shocking reminder to the four women. A journey expected to be a pleasant adventure had turned out to be fraught with grave danger. As the Doctor’s companions watched with horror, the final jolts racked Captain Melethil’s body before she collapsed into a heap. Her wide open eyes were frozen with eternal horror, never to blink again. She was dead.

“Don’t shoot!” the Doctor hissed towards his companions. Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley and Becky all complied, ducking behind crates placed as barricades, looking on as the rest of the crew fired vividly green lasers towards the Cybermen. Unfortunately, their metal bodies proved resistant, bouncing the energy bolts off to the walls and ceiling, some of them even finding their way back towards the humans shooting at them.

If that wasn’t enough, the emotionless metal men raised their arms, a gun barrel extending up from a hidden compartment in their right forearm. Red lasers shot out without warning, decimating the unprepared crew from afar. It was a bloodbath, several of the crew members screaming in agony as the energy of their lasers racked their bodies with pain, destroying their internal organs.

Despite the loss of their captain and initial slaughter, the valiant crew held the defence, fighting on, taking cover behind the crates strategically placed as barricades to avoid being hit by the Cybermen’s laser bolts. The four, terrified women were more or less helpless as the battle raged on. Although they were hiding behind crates, there was still a low - yet very real - possibility that they could be caught in the crossfire. With every shot that ricocheted off their cover, they could feel the heat in close proximity to their bodies, much too close for comfort, causing them to yelp and shift in place reflexively. At that point, all they could do was continue to keep themselves as safe as relatively possible and hope the ship's crew were able to stave off the metal invaders.

Although most of the shots from the crew’s energy rifles simply bounced off the Cybermen’s impervious armour, they proved the metal tyrants were not invincible. One of the security guards yelled out instructions, and all of the defenders concentrated their fire on one Cyberman in particular. The iron giants had not moved, overconfident in their superiority and content to simply stand and fire as the shots bounced off them, considering it little more than a battle of attrition.

Six of the crew fired directly at a single Cyberman simultaneously. The sudden influx of energy was far too much for its previously untouchable metal suit of armour to handle. The cyborg let out a electric cry as the concentrated fire blasted right through it’s chest unit, leaving a sizzling large, round hole which revealed a charred mess of internal cables and wiring. With such important internal components critically damaged, the Cyberman was unable to continue functioning. The living metal suit slammed to the floor with an echoing clunk. They had managed to kill a Cyberman.

If they were human, the Cybermen’s next step could have been said to be retaliation. But emotionless beings as they were, it was nothing more than simple cold, hard logic driving their next move. The initial thrill of success was quickly halted as the security guard who had engineered the concurrent strike was the Cyberman’s prime target, soon taken out in the midst of celebration to put an early end to the taste of success. With the defence’s strongest ringleader now felled, all hope for repelling the Cybermen died with her.

Within a matter of minutes, the casualties continued to rack up, without any more Cybermen lost. The ship’s crew count plummeted, most having now been terminated in the fight to escape the grim fate planned for them. Despite the valiant effort, the invaders were just too strong to resist.

Amidst the scattered corpses, the fetid stench of death and burning flesh hanging in the air, a handful of surviving crew members and the five TARDIS travellers were all who were left standing against the iron might of the Cybermen.

Chapter Text

The skirmish continued between the Cybermen and the space freighter defenders. Though their numbers were dwindling at far too rapid a pace for survival to be a possibility, the crew continued to fight on against the cold, heartless invaders. Despite the furious battle raging on around them, there were five who had yet to fire a single shot.

“Stop your firing!” the Doctor bellowed over the death cries and discharge of energy weapons. 

Few took heed of his words initially, the defenders continuing to resist and return fire at the stoic silver giants. As the war raged on, Sasha yelped out in shock as a stray laser bolt landed mere inches away from her. Close beside her, Bayley held her hands clamped firmly over her ears, whimpering at the terrifyingly perilous situation they’d found themselves in.

“Listen!” the Doctor yelled over the din of energy bolt discharge and agonised death cries. “Stop shooting and you might have a chance!”

“You want them to just give up and hand themselves over?!” Sasha shouted over to the Doctor in disbelief, disapproval at the very idea evident in her tone.

“Of course not!” the Doctor shouted back in answer. “But their firepower is no match for the Cybermen. Surrendering will buy us time to get them and us out of this. Can’t stop the Cybemen if we’re all shot dead before we have that chance!”

Huddled beside each other behind the same crate barricade, a gap of open space separating them from the other three, Becky and Charlotte had managed to hide unscathed. For a brief moment, Becky’s eyes had darted around, seemingly desperately searching for an escape route. When it was clear that none existed, her whole body trembled. But when she turned to clap eyes on her fellow companion, that’s when her limbs steadied, mask slipped back on.

Charlotte was sitting so still she could almost be mistaken for a statue. But her pupils were dilated inside eyes thrown wide open. Rivulet of sweat continued to run down her face, so much so that Becky became genuinely concerned Charlotte’s body was emptying its salt levels. Her breath came in puffs so frequent  Becky jokingly wondered if she was trying to set a universal record for most breaths per minute.

It was clear for Becky to see that Charlotte was in the middle of a panic attack. In the short time she’d known her, Becky had never seen the tall, buff woman look so small. The lights might have been on, but whoever was home was under extreme emotional distress. Luckily for her, Becky had a key to try to unlock the metaphorical door. She only hoped it would fit.

“Hey Charlotte,” Becky said softly as she gently reached to hold Charlotte’s hands, “look at me.” The words seemed to reach Charlotte, who finally blinked and snapped her head round to look at Becky. “Just breathe. The Doctor will get us out of this. You with me?”

It took a few seconds, but eventually Charlotte swallowed thickly and nodded. Through Becky’s coaching, the scared woman managed to bring her breathing back down to a healthier level, with Becky smiling in encouragement. A far more coherent Charlotte managed to send a small, grateful smile back, despite her surprise at the nurturing side of the brash Irishwoman she had not previously seen. Although the fighting continued around them, both women felt safer, with the distraction of helping Charlotte helping to settle Becky’s own nerves as well.

“The Cybermen will kill you, unless you put your weapons down right now!” the Doctor bellowed over the continued cacophony of carnage.

 
As they continued to be killed one by one, the few survivors gradually realised that resistance was futile. The more the Doctor urged the surviving crew members to halt fire and put down their weapons, the more of them listened. The battle slowly died down until it was just the Doctor, his four companions and a handful of surrendering technicians standing before the impassive Cybermen.

Metal boots pounded against the floor as the Cyber Leader marched towards the Doctor. To his credit, none of the worry he’d previously shown was evident on his face as he stared down the emotionless cyborg. 

“You are of superior intelligence.” The monotone words of the Cyber Leader were stated more matter-of-factly than directed as a compliment. 

“Thanks mate, but it’s not really the time for social niceties.”

“You will be upgraded.”

“’Fraid not big fella,” the Doctor dismissed as he turned and walked a few steps away. He was seemingly unable to stand still, even under the threat of death. “Much as I’d love to slip on a shiny new suit, I’m not exactly compatible.” The Doctor stopped in place, turning on his heel to face the Cyber Leader again. “Go on, scan me.”

An electric blue light shone out of the Cyber Leader’s chest piece in a cone of light, descending down the Doctor’s body before ascending once again and then disappearing.

“Scan confirmed. You are the Doctor.”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“You are not compatible. You will be deleted.” Never before had a robotic voice sounded so terrifying by being so plain. The words chilled the four women to the bone, exacerbated by the sight of the Cybermen advancing towards the Doctor.

“Doctor!” Sasha shouted out with a terrified quiver, while Charlotte stood frozen to the spot in terror. Becky’s eyes darted about frantically for a solution, while Bayley just looked resigned to devastation.

“No wait-wait, I can help!” the Doctor frantically shouted in desperation. To everyone’s relief, the Cyber Leader held up a metal fist to signal a halt to his subordinates.

“How would you assist?”

“Oh, in a myriad of ways,” the Doctor said. It was obvious from the tense look in his eyes that he was stalling. Luckily an idea popped into his brain, his eyes widening a fraction of an inch. “If you’re boarding passing human ships, then that must mean things aren’t going so well for you, yeah? Cyber War not going so well, eh? You’d only go to this much trouble if you were desperate, when you aren’t strong enough, so you need to convert some humans to add to your army. 

“So!” the Doctor walked off and clapped his hands together. “The question is: what can I do for you?” He then turned back towards the Cybermen with a look of confidence. Just like that, the Doctor was in control of the situation. “Keep us alive, and I’ll help you in any way that I can to keep you going, without needing to find people to convert.”

A stony silence fell over the room, the only sound being the humming of the ships’ engines as time seemed to stand still. The five travellers all held their breath in equal measure, wondering whether the Cyber Leader’s answer would bring relief or death.

“Your request is compatible.”

“Ah,” the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. You really should pick up a dictionary some time though. Frankly, you lot would be much less of a bore to listen to if you had anything to say which didn’t include ‘compatible’ or ‘deleted’. Expand your horizons, that’s what I always say.”

Completely ignoring the flippant suggestion, the Cyber Leader turned to his subordinates, gesturing a gauntlet toward the rest of the room’s occupants. “Take these personnel for upgrading.”

“Wait, no!” the Doctor protested as the silver giants began to grab hold of any of the surviving crew members within reach, iron grips forcing them out of the control room and down the corridor. The Doctor’s objection did not deter the Cybermen in the slightest as the emotionless cyborgs herded the ship’s crew like lambs to the slaughter. 

The Cyber Leader and a Cyberman aside, that left just five in the room. 

“Take them too,” the Cyber Leader motioned his order towards the four terrified women.

“Doctor!” Sasha shouted in fright, the closest Cyberman marching towards them, his cold metal gaze fixed on her. The foreboding stomping of its boots echoing around the room caused her heart rate to soar, knowing that it was coming for her.

“Leave that woman alone!” the Doctor called out, but still the Cyberman marched closer. It grabbed Sasha by the shoulders, the crushing hold too strong for her to wriggle free no matter how much she tried. “Let her go!” Still the Cyberman continued pushing her towards the door. Desperately, he frantically shouted out, “I won’t help you if you take her!”

“Cease.” The Cyber Leader finally gave the order, silence falling over the room once again as the Cyberman’s thudding stomps came to a stop, as did the forced dragging of Sasha’s shoes. The tense atmosphere was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was rooted to the spot, watching on with bated breath, not quite sure of what to do next.

“There we go, that’s better,” the Doctor uttered. “Those four have to stay with me. You want my help? Those are my terms.”

There was a pause before the Cyber Leader spoke. A dreadful wait that seemed to stretch for eons, each of the women and the Doctor collectively holding their breath as they waited for the judgement call. 

“Your terms have been accepted.” The Cyber Leader turned to the other Cybermen. “Guard them.” The Cyber Leader then marched away to the ship controls. After inputting some data into the ship’s computer bank and bringing a fist up to his heart of steel, the Cyber Leader seemingly started speaking to himself. “We have secured access to the human craft...”

“What’s it doing?” Charlotte asked.

“Communicating with Cyber Command? Having a midlife crisis? I don’t know,” the Doctor replied flippantly before lowering his voice to a whisper. “Either way, we need a plan.”

“You mean you don’t have one?” Becky arched her eyebrow.

“Step one: stop the Cybermen from killing us. Step two: come up with a plan to stop the Cybermen. Step two is still a work in progress, but I’m open to suggestions.”

“They’re living creatures, aren’t they? Not just mindless robots?” Bayley asked, getting a nod from the Doctor. “Is negotiation really out of the question? You said they only serve their own needs, well is there anything we can offer them? Something to reason with?”

“Oh Bayley, if it were that simple, I wouldn’t have had to keep finding ways of stopping them for the past six hundred years.” The sudden reflection on his past seemed to make the Doctor’s eyes sag, as though weighed down by his millennium-long life. It only lasted for a second, and he was back to his youthful look. “There are very few things in the universe that can stop the Cybermen, and reason is not one of them.”

“So what can then?” Becky’s expression hardened. “They must have a weakness, and you sound like you know ‘em well enough to know what they are.”

“Cleaning fluid, which I suspect none of you are carrying in your pockets. Or…” the Doctor’s expression subtly lifted up, as though hope was surging through his veins. “Gold.”

“Gold?” Bayley questioned, eyebrow cocked in confusion as though such an ordinary metal would be capable of damaging creatures which were encased in technologically advanced metallic bodies.

“Yes! Get gold inside a cyber suit, and it wreaks havoc!” The Doctor’s voice and expression picked up in excitement, a plan forming in his mind. “Any of you got any gold on you?”

“Sorry, I must ‘ave left me stash of gold in me other pants,” Becky joked, though her voice had a clear shake to it. Even she knew how dire the situation was, at complete odds with her cheeky personality.

“Will this work?” Charlotte reached around her wrist and then held up a gold watch, a big smile spreading across the Doctor’s face.

“Why am I not surprised?” Sasha scoffed, her voice still somewhat shaky, that quality negating her snark.

“Oh Charlotte, you beauty!” the Doctor breathed in relief, eyes focused entirely on the golden object offered rather than Charlotte herself. He took the watch and a plan began to form in his head.

“Am I missing something?” Becky asked. “How is a watch going to bring down these Ironmen?” She was immediately shot a glare by Sasha, a silent reprimand to take the situation seriously. As was becoming an evident habit, she chose to ignore it.

“You’re forgetting one thing, Rebecca,” the Doctor nodded his head in the direction of the Air Cleanser. “If we can just put the watch in and fire it up, the Cybermen would be incapacitated for about a minute.”

“And what do we do when they become un-incapacitated?” Bayley asked, spotting the obvious flaw in the plan.

“Oh, that’s for future us to worry about. You have to live in the present.” The Doctor then then turned to the shortest member of the group, one who still had a tense look in her eyes. “Sasha, I need you to take it for us.”

“Why me?” Sasha frowned. “You know how to work the machine.”

“Because you’re the smallest. We can keep you hidden, giving you time to make your way over. It’s dead easy, just pop the watch in the slot, press the big red button, and bob’s your uncle.” 

Sasha focused on her shoes and swallowed down the dread in her throat before looking back up, a renewed focus of determination in her eyes, her stubborn desire to succeed smothering her fear. “I got this.”

The Doctor smiled back with pride at the woman for stepping up in spite of her fear. “Get behind us, and move when we do.”

Charlotte, Becky and Bayley all formed up beside the Doctor, forming a wall of flesh to cover the blue-haired woman behind them. 

In what might look humorous under less threatening circumstances, the four began shuffling sideways, all the while covering Sasha, who was doing her best to remain hidden as they progressed towards the Air Cleanser. 

“What is the purpose of this movement?” the Cyberman guarding them demanded.

“Oh you know, just stretching our legs,” the Doctor answered as though it was the most obvious answer imaginable. “These bones of ours do get tired when we’re stood idle for too long. Can you remember what it was like when you had tendons instead of being stuck in that metal suit?

“This information is irrelevant. You will cease.” Despite the warning, they kept moving. “Desist, or you will be deleted.”

That brought them to a halt, still a few feet away from the Air Cleanser. At least they were much closer to the device now. They just needed to keep the Cyberman distracted for long enough. 

“Y’know, forbidding exercise is against human rights,” the Doctor argued, putting on a front to react as believably outraged as possible to keep the Cyberman’s focus on him. That alone allowed Sasha to creep further towards her goal, unnoticed.

“You are not human.” The Cyberman missed the sight of Sasha tiptoeing closer to the machine.

“I know. So if I were human, I’d be very cross right now!”

“What is the relevancy of this shape?”

“’This shape’?” Becky snorted. 

Hidden from view, Sasha was now close enough to operate the machinery.

“Typical Cyber brains, just as full of logic as they lack in imagination. He thinks I mean an actual cross rather than being cross.”

“Scanning object.” The mechanical voice emanated from the Air Cleanser after Sasha placed the watch inside. Taken aback by her unintentionally blown cover, a gasp escaped her mouth as she whirled back around to lock eyes with the Cyberman, now focused solely on her.

“Move away from that device.” Finally, the Cyberman had spotted Sasha. Fear sprouted in her chest, those uncaring, cold black voids for eyes focused solely on her. The iron stare warning her that unless she complied immediately, she would be considered eligible for deletion. A mechanical whirring revealed its laser blaster to aim squarely at her, but it was too late. 

“Sasha, now!” the Doctor urged.

She slammed the palm of her hand onto the button without hesitation, and a loud hum sound filled the room as the machine powered up, building in tone until it became shrill. 

“You have endangered Cyber units, you will be deleted!”

Sasha ducked just in time with a surprised gasp as the Cyberman fired a laser bolt towards her, impacting on the wall in the space where her head had been a second earlier. She used her adrenaline to fuel her on, running back towards the Doctor, dodging every laser shot at her. Her feinting kept her alive long enough for the gold to take effect, tiny gold particles beginning to fill the air.

As minuscule fragments of gold drifted in close proximity, the Cyberman suddenly stopped his firing. He reached his metal gauntlets up to grasp at his head, letting out a mechanical, buzzing groan of pain. His head and shoulders constantly jerked about, clearly failing to operate normally as the gold atoms invaded his Cyber suit, clogging up his internal systems. The Cyber Leader across the room - up until that moment too consumed in his communication to Cyber Command to detect the serious danger - started to do the same, bringing his communications with Cyber Command to a halt.

“You lot! Cover your mouths!” the Doctor shouted over the sound of the Cybermen’s low-pitched modulated screams at his companions. He ran over to a cupboard, pulling out respirators. He selected five before bringing them back over. “Put these on!” Nobody needed telling twice. “Now, find something to grab onto, and hold tight!”

The four women didn’t waste time questioning - they just did it - trusting the bow-tie wearing alien who’d already saved their lives hours beforehand. The man just radiated an air of trustworthiness, and that was still very much present.

The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver from his inside pocket, flicking it open. He pointed it towards the ship’s controls, and an alarm blared throughout the ship.

“Warning! Airlocks opening!”

“Hold tight!” the Doctor bellowed, just before they were all subjected to the most forceful pull they’d ever experienced. The airlocks had all been opened across the freighter, and now they were battling the violent outrush of air, trying to push them out with it. Fortunately, this effect was lessened by the ship’s systems protecting them. But it was still an incredibly uncomfortable experience, which took all of their focus to stay held onto the handles and bolted down objects they’d managed to latch onto. Bayley’s love of hugging proved very useful, arms tightly wrapped around a portion of a control terminal, access panel handles conveniently placed to allow her fingers to slip through for extra grip, rendering her very secure. All they could hear was the rush of wind hurtling throughout the room.

The Cybermen didn’t have this same protection. Despite their much heavier bodies, the violent outrush of air was too much to withstand, sending them flying through the air, pushing them down the corridor towards the open airlocks and ejecting them into space. All that could be seen of the Cybermen were masses of grey flying far too quickly to save themselves, mechanical screams drowned out by the rushing wind. 

“Say hi to Tony Stark for me!” Becky yelled at a Cyberman flying directly past her, out and into space.

The security cameras on the bridge showed the exact same sight, Cybermen flying throughout the various corridors, the majority being pulled out of their own ship.

“That’s the downside of linking up technologies!” the Doctor yelled out in explanation. Whether it was purely to himself or to his companions was unclear. “They opened the door for me to send a signal through, opening all of the Cyberships’ airlocks too!"

“But Doctor, what about the crew taken to the Cybership?” Bayley shouted.

“Don’t worry, they’re safer than we are!” the Doctor called back. “That’s the double edged sword of inescapable restraints, I shouldn’t wonder!”

They’d been withstanding the assault by the air for close to a minute, and all four women’s fingers were beginning to slip. Becky’s initially gleeful whooping at the adrenaline rush had faded away, the normally hyperactive woman focusing all her energy on simply keeping a firm grip. Even Charlotte – physically the strongest member of the group – couldn’t hold on for much longer.

And much to her horror, one of them was on the verge of slipping.

A terrified scream filled the air as one of the women lost her hold, being sent tumbling through the air. The rest turned in alarm to see a messy flurry of blue hair and tumbling limbs flying closer towards the exit, air pushing it’s way out into space threatening to send her out of the bridge and down the corridor towards the nearest airlock.

“I’ve got you!” Bayley let go of one hand, shooting out to grab Sasha’s arm, jerking her back and preventing her from falling further. A clearly terrified Sasha continued to hyperventilate at the near-death experience, though she caught her breath enough to look up with a mixture of shock and disbelief at being saved at Bayley’s hands. In that moment, Sasha knew she had been wrong about the woman holding her life in the balance - free to make the choice to keep holding her safe or let go. With the painfully tight grip Bayley’s hand was holding her arm with - nails digging in so tightly it hurt - it was clear that Bayley was not letting her go towards an untimely demise. Despite every fibre of her being screaming to wiggle her way free, to not give into blind trust, Sasha didn't resist.

“Doctor, we can’t hold on much longer!” Charlotte bellowed across the noise of rushing air.

It was at that point that he realised exactly what peril they were all in. He couldn’t risk endangering his new friends, even if all the Cybermen hadn’t been pulled out yet. Without hesitation, he pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the console, the buzzing drowned out by the chaotic gale. 

“Airlocks closing!” the ship’s onboard computer announced. The second the airlocks clanged shut, the frenetic energy in the room instantly evaporated. The five adventurers fell to the floor, having previously been suspended in the air by the outrush of wind. 

With the sound of rushing wind and panicked cries no longer filling the air, the entire bridge became eerily silent - conspicuous for the absence of the crew who should still have been at the helm - save for the quick, loud breaths of each traveller getting their heightened breathing and pounding heart back under control following the terrifying experience. 

As Charlotte and Becky were busy picking themselves up, Sasha turned to Bayley with a timidly grateful look.

“Thank you,” Sasha said quietly, almost in a whisper, a tone of grateful embarrassment. Bayley nodded with a small smile in acknowledgment. 

There was an air of victory in the control room, a palpable gratefulness for surviving the mass ejection.

Unfortunately, the short-lived moment of triumph would prove to be short-lived.

Just as the four women had dusted themselves off, the room gave a violent lurch, sending them into chaos again. This time caused by turbulence rather than a violent outrush. The air, briefly settled, became frenzied once again as the room shuddered and continued on a downward trajectory.

“What’s happening?” Becky shouted over the ship’s warning alarm blaring through the room again. 

The Doctor dashed towards the ship’s navigation and it instantly became clear. “This ship was drifting for too long!” he shouted back over the noise. “With no crew to operate the controls, it came too close to the orbit of the planet below! Opening the airlocks gave it the final push, and now we’re caught in its gravitational pull! Out of the frying pan and into the fire!”

“Can’t you stop it?” Charlotte yelled over the awful din.

“I’ll do what I can, but I need you to go fetch the crew! Head towards the Cybership, they should have been kept safe while awaiting conversion!”

The four women wasted no time in running towards the exit and down the corridor, their mission of the highest urgency. They skidded their way into the Cybership, bringing them to a halt as they found the crew. Each one of them was held on a metal frame, hooked up into wires in front of pods, presumably waiting to be wheeled inside for conversion. Luckily they were all still alive and unconverted, but there was one problem. They were all heavily sedated, lost in the depths of unconsciousness.

“Hey! Wakey wakey! Can’t be sleepin’ on the job!” Becky tapped fervently on the face of one, but there was no response. There was no way they’d be able to wake them up in time to pilot the ship. 

But that was not the immediate threat.

An ominous, dreadful stomping echoed closer until a familiar foe entered the room.

“One of them survived!” Charlotte gasped. As much as she should move out of the way, her legs didn’t seem to want to respond. She was frozen in place, the Cyberman’s boots pounding on the steel floor as he marched threateningly towards her, arm outstretching, ready to make contact and transfer a lethal dose of electricity through her veins.

“Don’t just stand there gawpin’, get movin’!” Becky grabbed her hand and suddenly the lock on Charlotte’s legs expired, allowing her to move with Becky, the pair running away from the slowly approaching silver giant.

Seeking a potentially easier target, the Cyberman turned and began advancing towards Bayley.

Bayley, who was too laser-focused on pressing buttons in a fruitless attempt to unlock the sleeping crewmember’s restraints, to notice the cyborg with hostile intentions marching her way.

“Bayley!” Sasha cried out, warning her saviour just in time for her to dodge out of the way of the Cyberman’s gauntleted fist.

Instead, the metal gauntlet kept going, inadvertently colliding and punching through the control panel. A buzzing, electronically modulated screech pierced their ears as the Cyberman shook violently, a sudden influx of energy overloading his internal systems. An electronic whine built in pitch until the Cyberman’s head exploded, sending shards of metal flying in all directions. Fortunately, all four women managed to remain unscathed, remnants of the Cyberman’s head strewn all across the room, headless body slamming onto the floor. 

As they stepped tentatively back towards the now critically damaged control panel, now sparking dangerously, Charlotte couldn’t help but notice with disgust that there appeared to be tiny pieces of white and grey organic matter scattered on the floor along with the metal. The longer she studied them, the more she was sure of exactly what they were: tiny chunks of the former human’s brain.

She fought the urge to gag at the disturbing sight.

As Becky tried her best to try in vain to use brute strength to force the sedated prisoners’ restraints apart, Bayley felt Sasha bump her shoulder roughly into hers to get her attention.

“Now we’re even,” Sasha stated plainly, a semblance of her usual brusqueness returning. Before Bayley had the chance to take it any further and challenge her, Sasha strode out of the room and out of sight.

Just when she thought they were finally making some progress, Sasha had put them two steps back. Just like that, the rising sun beginning to send warm rays their way had set again before its time, plunging them back into uncomfortable darkness.

Of course to Sasha, Bayley saving her life had been an action made in selfish hope of being repaid down the line.  If only Sasha had given her the chance to explain how wrong her assumption was.

To some people, Sasha’s ridiculously cynical attitude would put them off, push them too far until they fell, any hope of trust plunging off the quickly eroding cliff of their relationship.

But not Bayley.

If anything, Sasha brushing her off only made her more determined. She would prove to Sasha that she was there to have her back for real, not to collect favours. Whatever assumptions Sasha had made of Bayley, she would prove them not only unfair but also that they couldn’t be any further from the truth.

Sighing in disappointment, Bayley turned back to the other two, who were still inspecting the damage. The severely damaged control panel was a mess. A fist shaped hole gaped open, exposing frayed wires and bent metal.

“It’s totally kaput,” Becky observed astutely. As if in confirmation, another shower of sparks chose that moment to escape the inner workings of the punched wide open control panel. The three women yelped as they all jumped backward out of harm’s way.

“So what do we do now?” Charlotte asked, panic and frustration knotting her brow at their failure to free and wake the crew up. “Now who’s going to stop us from plummeting down to our deaths?”

“I don’t know,” Bayley said. “But we’d better hope the Doc has a backup plan.”

Admitting defeat, the women rushed their way back to the bridge.

“I told you to fetch the crew!” the Doctor shouted upon seeing them return alone.

“They’re all asleep, don’t think they’ll be much help!” Becky answered back.

“Oh, fine! Of all the times for a power nap!” The Doctor then grabbed hold of a joystick with both hands, pulling it with all his might to steer the ship. He then turned to look at his companions. “Well don’t just stand there! I need your help landing this thing!”

“Us?” Charlotte widened her eyes in surprise, as though he was asking the impossible. 

“We can’t fly a spaceship!” Bayley argued.

“Of course you can! Either you try with the chance of success, or we’ll crash and die horribly anyway! What’s it going to be? You can do this, I know you can! I wouldn’t have invited you all if I didn’t know each of you had what it takes! Trust me.” Something in the Doctor’s voice and expression gave them a boost of confidence, as though he truly believed in the ability of each of the four women. He grinned as he saw each of them realise what was at stake: which was exactly why they had to try. Their expressions changed from panic to determination, just as he knew they would. He then motioned over to four vacant control stations, all with their own set of controls. “Get a move on!”

Sasha, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky each hastened towards a control station. No matter what, they would give it a shot. They would either land this ship or die trying. At least then they had a chance to avert disaster.

The Doctor bellowed out instructions to each of them as he continued to press buttons and pull levers on the master controls. The turbulence gradually decreased. Though it was still somewhat present, the ship was responding to their operation of the controls. All four women were in disbelief even as they continued following the Doctor’s direction. They were flying a spaceship! Whether it was dumb luck or they were much more capable than they gave themselves credit for, they were actually getting the situation back under control!

In the window at the front of the bridge, they watched the planet loom closer as they approached, the ship exterior surrounded by a wave of flame on entry.

“Geronimo!” the Doctor shouted out, seeming to be caught up in excitement, despite the present danger and good chance of a crash landing.

“We’re going to crash!” Sasha yelled, her voice panicked at the shaking of the room, the ship plummeting down towards the planet’s surface without any sign of slowing down.

“Don’t worry! I can fix that!” the Doctor shouted back, stumbling towards another control panel with an astonishing lack of grace - even given the turbulent state of the room.

He pulled down a switch, and the ship’s AI voice boomed through the room. “Guided landing system engaged.”

The room lurched again as they began their descent, the spaceship seeming to stabilise precious moments before they touched the ground. It righted itself just in time to reduce speed dramatically, slowly descending for a relatively smooth landing. Against all odds, they were actually succeeding in landing the ship. It wasn’t the smoothest ride, but it was smooth enough for them to touch down on the surface of the planet without more than a shudder, and everything became still. All was calm, save for the adrenaline pumping through each woman’s veins like rocket fuel.

“We-we did it!” Charlotte gasped in disbelief.

“We flew a freakin’ spaceship!” Becky exclaimed with glee. 

“That’s how you land a spaceship, like a boss!” Sasha whooped as Bayley cheered, punching the air triumphantly.

A cloud of abject joy surrounding all four women, any previous tension forgotten for the time being.

“Excellent work, well done all!” the Doctor beamed at all four of them, eyes shining with pride. “You were brilliant!” he looked at Bayley. “You were brilliant!” his gaze moved to Sasha. “You were brilliant!” he directed at Charlotte. “And you were brilliant!” he said to Becky. The Doctor then rubbed his hands together. “Now, shall we take a look outside?”

Sunlight greeted the five travellers as they stepped foot outside the ship, their feet planting into sand. In the distance they could see a shining city, looking busy even from so far away. But as for their current location? They’d landed on a beach which sprawled for miles, the sand beneath their feet a beautiful shade of yellow, unlike any beach on earth. The sea was a clear teal, lapping at the beach’s edge. Looking up, the sky was a dazzling and comforting shade of pink. They were definitely not on Earth anymore.

“So, your first alien planet!” the Doctor announced. “Not exactly where I was aiming for, but a nice enough place all the same.”

“Oh Doctor, it’s beautiful!” Sasha exclaimed, her eyes still taking in the beauty around her, pupils shining with wonderment. She’d thought Earth was beautiful, but this new planet shattered those illusions and raised the bar higher than it could ever reach. Adrenaline, terror-fuelled escapades with the Cybermen and Krillitane aside, this was really what she wanted to travel for. To see sights like this.

“Can we stay for a bit?” Bayley asked, enjoying the warmth of an alien sun shining on her skin.

The Doctor squatted down to pick up a lump of sand, watching as it ran through his fingers back towards the ground. Then, much to his four companions’ disgust, he placed a fingertip-full onto his tongue.

“Feelin’ a bit peckish there, Doctor?” Becky asked, failing to contain her amusement at the absurd display. “Surely you must have food in the TARDIS?”

“Ew, that’s gross!” Sasha added.

“And sciencey!” the Doctor retorted. “The composition of the ground can tell you a lot, you know. For example, I can tell from the taste of this sand that there’s no radioactive isotopes or chronon particles around here. It’s just perfectly ordinary, harmless, basic sand. Which means yes; I suppose we can stay for a bit.” He then straightened up before hurrying back inside the ship. None of the four women followed him, enjoying the wondrous sight far too much to be curious about what he was up to.

While Becky and Charlotte engaged in excited chatter, marvelling at the alien environment together, Bayley sidled up until she was stood shoulder to shoulder with her other companion.

“Was it everything you were hoping for?” Bayley asked the women beside her, gazing lovingly at the horizon.

For just a second, Bayley saw the mask slip, walls crumbling down to reveal the true person within. A vulnerable look of complete delight at the wondrous sight before her. The typically brash woman had never looked so carefree.

But like breath on a mirror, it was too elusive to catch, gone in a moment.

“Yes,” Sasha answered simply, schooling her features into something more neutral, her euphoria dimming now that she was in conversation with Bayley.

Straight away, Bayley tried to think of anything she could possibly say to get that side of Sasha Banks back out again. For just a moment, it had been so precious and beautiful seeing Sasha’s dazzling smile, eyes drinking everything in. 

But first things first, she needed to address the elephant in the room.

“Sasha, about what happened back there…I didn’t have any ulterior motives when I saved you, okay?”

Sasha’s eyes darkened, an unkind frown creasing her brow in judgement. “I don’t believe you.”

“Trust me, I-“

“And why should I trust you? Because you say so?” Every word was spat like venom, turning the conversation sour as quickly as it had started. “Newsflash sweetheart, it’ll take more than that to convince me.” Bayley exhaled sharply as Sasha jabbed an accusatory finger into her chest.

“Sasha, I saved you because I didn’t want to see you get hurt. We’re all together on this crazy ride, and we need to have each other’s back. It’s really that simple. Why are you acting like this?”

“Oh, it’s that simple, right?” Sasha’s voice dripped with mockery. “To put my trust in complete strangers?”

“I get it, you’re a cynic-“

“No,” Sasha snapped, angry eyes narrowed. “You don’t get it. I don’t care how naïve you are, I’m not letting you save my life and hang it over my head whenever there’s something you want from me. I’m my own boss, and I’ll control my own destiny.”

“Sasha-“

“Voila!” the Doctor interrupted timely, emerging from the TARDIS with multiple folded up sun loungers in hand. 

Bayley closed her eyes, exhaling with frustration. It really felt like the universe didn’t want her and Sasha to be friends. By the time she opened her eyes again, she was looking at Sasha's back.

So much for making progress.

She turned back to the scene around her after hearing some grunting and banging, to see the Doctor trying to wrestle an uncooperative sun lounger.

“Need some help there?” Becky asked through poorly stifled laughter.

“I’ve got it, thank you,” the Doctor denied, despite the clear answer being the complete opposite. “They’re just faulty, got them in an airlock sale. Now I know why they were so cheap! All because I nearly passed them up, now they’re having their revenge for not being my first pick.”

“Vengeful furniture?” Becky snorted. “I play make believe and dodge explosions for a livin’, an’ even I think that’s unbelievable.”

“It’s more likely than you think,” the Doctor retorted. “Just be glad they’re not made of plastic.”

“Here, let me,” Charlotte stepped in, a gentle push on the Doctor’s shoulder nudging him out of the way. With one simple tug, the sun lounger snapped into the correct position, joining the rest of the already set-up loungers. 

Charlotte smirked at the now pouting Doctor, who shrugged his shoulders. “Yes, well I got it most of the way there.”

“Not even slightly.”

Despite the four women initially chuckling at the Doctor’s expense, he couldn’t help but smile at his four new friends. He would let them have this moment. Hopefully the first of many (specifically enjoying each other’s company on an alien planet, and not bruising his ego).

The five travellers laid down to enjoy the tranquillity, basking in the warmth. A detour with the Cybermen aside, they’d finally got to experience their first alien planet.

Definitely worth the wait.

If this first trip was anything to go by, life with the Doctor was fraught with danger, but moments like these were ones to live for.

Chapter Text

It had taken longer than he had liked, but the Doctor had managed to coax them all from the exciting, exotic landscape of an alien planet and back into the TARDIS. While they weren’t exactly on a schedule, the local atmosphere was due to be bombarded with dangerously high levels of solar radiation at night. He’d rather not allow his four companions to be exposed if he could help it. That would be rather negligent.

“Could we not have stayed a bit longer?” Sasha whined, a childish pout across her lips. 

“Most certainly not!” the Doctor answered. “There are a hundred billion planets out there, a hundred billion sights to see. Why stop at one when we can go see them all?”

“So we are going to see more?” Becky cut in, a grin stretching wide across her face.

“Yes,” he grinned. “In fact, I know exactly where we’re going next. You’ve had a trip into the future, why don’t I take you to-“

The Doctor cut himself off with a surprised gasp, his hand instinctively touching the left side of his abdomen as though he’d been burned by an invisible spark. His companions watched with concern as he reached into his inside coat pocket, pulling out a leather wallet.

“Actually, change of plans,” he called out after flipping it open and staring at the contents.

“So, where are we actually going?” Charlotte asked.

The Doctor looked up at them, holding up and turning around the leather wallet so they could see a message writing itself on a blank piece of paper inside, in an elegant scrawl.

“Doctor,

Your services are needed, old friend. An urgent matter has arisen for which the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

- Madame Vastra”

“We’re going to London, 1889,” he announced.

Bayley blinked lamely, her mind scrambling playing catch-up. The Doctor had just casually mentioned their destination as though they were simply jetting off to California. But no, they were about to time travel over a hundred years into the past to Victorian Britain. She was still struggling to adjust to this strange new life she was leading. And although she was too busy focusing on her own internal thought process to notice the reactions of the others, they were all similarly flabbergasted.

“1889….we’re going to 1889?!” Becky asked, excitement dancing across her face.

“Oh good, Olivia Twist can be reunited with her people,” Sasha commented dryly.

“I don’t think we can bring her,” Becky gestured to the antagonistic blue-haired Bostonian. “I’m not sure what the Victorians will make of a smurf. On the other hand, she’ll be perfect if there’s a circus in town.” A self-satisfied smirk crossed her lips, crossing her arms smugly.

Sasha sneered before opening her mouth, only to be interrupted before she could make an undoubtedly witty retort.

“Oi you two, stop it,” the Doctor sighed, although he was unable to hide a tiny smirk from the bickering. He only hoped it would develop into good-natured banter once they’d had time to acclimatise, rather than the mean-spirited remarks they currently were. For the moment, he’d tolerate them as beginner’s nerves until they got used to being around each other. “None of you can go anyway.”

“What?” Sasha exclaimed, whirling around with obvious displeasure written across her face.

“Not dressed like that anyway.”

“So what do you propose we do about that then?” Charlotte asked.

“Go pick something from the TARDIS wardrobe, all of you. Go through that door, down the corridor, take the fourth left, second right, up three flights of stairs, past the swimming pool, first door on the left before the library. And don’t take too long!” He grinned as he watched the four women shuffle off to follow the convoluted directions. He had deliberately neglected to mention the elevator in the first corridor which would take them straight up to the wardrobe room. 

After all, it was about the journey - not the destination.

The five travellers exited the TARDIS, the women now clad in traditional Victorian corsets and dresses. All except for Becky, who insisted on wearing a waistcoat and suit styled from the era. The Doctor had swapped out his purple frock coat for a maroon one in a similar style, except it had black collars made from sheep fur. His attire was completed with a black top hat. When Becky had asked if he was going to pull a rabbit out of it, his answer had been to tell her to get a move on.

As they emerged from the blue box, they found two women waiting for them. One of whom was dressed in a black coat and hat, whereas the other had her face hidden by a veil. Although her shape was humanoid, her face didn’t quite look like the right colour for human skin. And that wasn’t just down to the veil.

The Doctor did not seem at all concerned to see them, instead looking as though he had been fully expecting them, a wide smile stretching across his face like being reunited with an old friend.

“Vastra! Jenny!” the Doctor beamed.

“Doctor!” the shorter of the two replied warmly in an unmistakable Cockney accent, before flickering her gaze towards the four women trailing behind him. “Who are they?” 

“Oh yes, introductions-“ the Doctor started, before the veiled woman spoke up.

“I’m afraid time is of the essence,” the woman spoke in a voice which sounded vaguely Scottish with a rich English quality to it. “Follow me, we can exchange pleasantries on the way.”

“On the way to where?” he asked, even as he followed the two into the waiting carriage, his four companions trailing behind.

“All in good time, Doctor.”

As she poked her head inside to enter, Charlotte let out a loud gasp in shock at the creature sitting inside. He was roughly the shape of a short man, though his chest was noticeably wide. But that was not the strangest thing about him. His bald head was round and squat, bearing an uncanny likeness to a potato - a comparison not helped by his brown skin. It looked tough, like leather.

“Ah Doctor, you’ve brought some boys to use as bait!” the potato spoke as everyone filed in, the carriage proving somewhat cramped, now that all eight of them were inside. The Doctor and his three old friends were seated on one side, while his four new friends sat on the seats opposite them. “Excellent tactical strategy!”

“Strax, ‘ow many times?” Jenny sighed exasperatedly. “Do we need another lesson on genders?”

“But this one is wearing a suit!” the one they now knew as Strax pointed at Becky, revealing an alien hand with three fingers. “He is clearly a lad,” he declared with a proud nod of his head, as though he’d worked out a particularly difficult conundrum.

“Well now we know the real reason for the Irish potato famine,” Becky’s eyes narrowed teasingly at Strax. “The potatoes decided to put on a suit and move to London.”

Vastra cleared her throat and quickly spoke to avoid any further insults. “You must excuse our friend, he’s still struggling to comprehend more than one gender.”

“That’s what happens when you’re bred from a clone batch of millions,” the Doctor added, fully expecting the taken aback expressions of his companions at the information.

“Doctor, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting your new friends,” Vastra’s gaze flitted over to the four women sitting opposite them.

“Ah yes, sorry. Vastra, Jenny, Strax. Meet Becky, Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley,” he introduced, pointing to each in turn. 

“I see you moved on,” Vastra said. Even through the haziness of her silk veil, they could still see her brows raise. As his companions looked at the Doctor, they saw pain flicker across his features before he made an effort to stamp it out.

“What did you call me for?” the Doctor hastily changed the subject. “This better be important; we had to cancel our plans for the day,” he joked. Of course the statement was facetious. The wonderful part of having a time machine meant that almost nothing was time-sensitive.

Vastra hesitated for a second, before evidently deciding it was best to not pry any further. “Believe me Doctor, I would not have contacted you if it wasn’t of the highest urgency. Once we get there, I’ll leave our contact to explain. And then you’ll know exactly why your services are needed.”

“So where are we going?” Charlotte asked.

“My, your new friends are impatient, aren’t they Doctor?” Vastra chuckled before turning to face Charlotte. “You’ll see when we get there.”

“So we’d best sit back and enjoy the ride then, eh?” the Doctor asked. Vastra nodded. “So,” he continued, clapping his hands together before turning to face Strax, Vastra and Jenny. “What have you lot been up to?”

Jenny opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the boisterous potato-like Strax on the other side of Vastra. “I have declared war on the Moon!” he announced excitedly. Vastra, Jenny and the Doctor all groaned in reaction, while the four newcomers just sat back and enjoyed watching the situation play out with great amusement. “We shall conquer it, for the glory of the Sontaran Empire!”

“Strax, I keep telling ya, no one lives on the Moon!” Jenny sighed in exasperation. 

“Precisely my lad!” Strax countered. “That’s exactly what they want us to think! 

“Who?” the Doctor asked, ignoring the side glance from Vastra warning him against indulging Strax further.

“Moonites,” Strax explained. “It’s the best tactical form of camouflage I’ve ever seen! So good nobody believes they exist!”

“Word to the wise,” the Doctor turned to face his four companions. “Don’t ever get killed in battle and subsequently resurrected, or you’ll end up like ‘im,” he nodded towards Strax. Sasha was unable to help herself chuckling.

“Sir, kindly do not discuss my injuries in front of enemy girls. It’s embarrassing.”

The carriage drew to a halt. As they all disembarked, Strax put a shawl around his head to disguise his alien visage. The four women collectively gasped at the sprawling building standing tall and proud before them.

A landmark instantly recognisable around the globe.

“Is this what I think it is?” Sasha gaped as she stared in wonder at the enormous palace.

“No, of course it isn’t. Unless you think it’s Buckingham Palace. In which case, yes it is,” the Doctor answered.

An elderly gentleman accompanied by two guards approached them. “The detectives of Paternoster Row, I presume? We were only expecting four.”

“This case will require more than four, I assure you,” Vastra explained. “If her Majesty still requires our help, then she will need all of us.”

“Wait here,” the steward commanded before taking off into the palace.

“’Her Majesty’?” Bayley breathed. “Does that mean-“

“Yes, it does,” Vastra answered. “Prepare yourselves to meet Queen Victoria.”

“Oh good, King Charles can meet her predecessors,” Sasha sniped at Charlotte, whose perfect posture immediately tensed at the jab.

“Oi, stop it now,” the Doctor hissed, now approaching levels of genuine irritation. “You can’t be doing this when we get in there.” The two women deflated immediately at the rebuke, picking up on the seriousness of the situation, and the fact that they were about to be in the presence of such an important historical figure, living and in the flesh. Of course, they were all too focused to notice Becky bouncing her eyebrows to herself in challenge at the Doctor’s words.

The steward returned a few minutes later. “Your request has been granted. Her Majesty will see you now.”

The display of decadence in the gilded halls was astounding. Velvet red carpets lined the corridor to the throne room, candles burning to light their way. Sasha had to fight the urge to take something as a souvenir, as she usually would on her travels. 

The spacious throne room captured their rapt attention even more so than the hallways leading to it. Everything looked meticulously clean. Seated on a glorious throne was the woman herself in the flesh. Queen Victoria.

“The Paternoster Row detectives, your Majesty,” the steward announced, bowing.

Their footsteps echoed around the room as they approached, the rotund old woman for whom the era was named after watching them closely as they neared.

“Your Majesty,” Madame Vastra bowed her head, though her body language showed her reluctance to be doing so.

“Ma’am, it is truly an honour to be invited,” Jenny added, with far more enthusiasm, a genuine look of awe across her face.

“Word of your exploits have reached my ears,” Queen Victoria. “I thank you for defending my empire against distant invaders who threaten it.” Though none of the guards would pick up on the subtext, it was obvious to those involved that she was referring to the extra-terrestrial threats.

“Just doing our duty, your Majesty,” Jenny nervously chuckled.

“I see there are an overabundance of guests. Who are these five you’ve brought to my palace?” Queen Victoria asked.

“Of course, ma’am,” Vastra said before gesturing towards the Doctor. “This is-“

“John Smith, your Majesty!” the Doctor quickly butted in with a bow, before turning to his companions. “And these four ladies are my assistants,” he said, before introducing each of them by name.

“’Assistant’?” Becky snorted quietly, while Sasha raised her eyebrows at him. The Doctor turned and hushed them quietly to not draw attention.

“Now your Majesty, what seems to be the problem?” the Doctor asked.

“There have been…strange disappearances throughout the palace,” Queen Victoria explained. “Guards and guests alike vanishing in places where they oughtn’t. Closed rooms with no forced entry, disappearances mid-conversation when one turns one’s back.”

“Is there anything else that might prove suspicious?” he questioned further.

“There have been sightings. It hardly seems like a cause for concern, but every time someone vanishes, a statue is reported in the palace. Statues that I don’t recall commissioning. Statues made of stone.”

The Doctor’s eyes immediately went wide. Not with shock, but with fear. Almost too low to be heard, the others only just managed to catch the Doctor whispering “no-no, not again,” under his breath.

“Now you understand why your expertise was required, old friend,” Madame Vastra leaned in to tell the Doctor. Their eyes met, and Vastra seemed prepared for the sudden change to the Doctor’s demeanour. 

“And-and-and these statues disappear again themselves, yes?” the Doctor stumbled, visibly panicked.

“Indeed. It would appear you are the expert promised unto me. Do you know what these strange occurrences mean?” Queen Victoria asked.

“Yes,” the Doctor breathed. “And it means we are all in terrible danger.” Forcing a smile onto his lips that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes, he took a few steps backward. “Your Majesty, please excuse us a moment to discuss your problem.” He then turned to Vastra, the rest of the group following him to speak quietly in a huddle. “Take them back to the TARDIS.” He motioned to his four companions.

“What, and miss all the fun?” Becky interjected, her cheeky expression dimming as the Doctor’s horrified gaze was turned towards her. Looking into his eyes, raging maelstroms of fear and pain, made it immediately clear how badly she’d misjudged the situation, snapping her parted lips shut from the grin she had been sporting.

“What she’s trying to say is that we’re not going anywhere,” Sasha spoke up. “We only just got here, and I’m damn sure going to stick around.”

“No, you don’t understand,” the Doctor replied urgently.

“Then tell us,” said Charlotte. “How can disappearances and stone statues go together?”

“I’ll-I’ll explain later,” the Doctor stuttered, his gesturing hands shaking with anxiety. “But right now, we don’t have the time. And if we’re not careful, none of us will, ever again. So please, go with Vastra and wait for me in the TARDIS.”

“I’ve never backed down from anybody,” Bayley said. “And I’m especially not going to now.”

“Listen,” the Doctor hissed to all four of them. “This is not fun and games. It doesn’t even come close. There are days we can go places to enjoy ourselves, totally risk-free. No scratch that, mostly risk-free. This is not one of them. It’s far too dangerous to let you stay here a moment longer. I know I promised you adventures worth living for, but this? Not turning back when you have the chance? This is how they go. I made a terrible mistake bringing you here.”

A loud and emphasized clearing of the throat brought their attention back to the royal throne. It was only then that the Doctor realised he had raised his voice, thick with emotion, so much so that it had reached her ears. “It hardly matters, Mr. Smith,” Queen Victoria interrupted, standing to give herself some extra height from her pedestal. “I decree that nobody be allowed to enter or leave the palace until this matter is resolved. You are all staying to solve this case.”

The Doctor’s hearts sunk like rocks in a pond. 

“Are you going to tell us about these stone statues then?” Charlotte questioned after they’d left the throne room and had been shown to a drawing room. Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax had all been shown to their rooms, leaving the Doctor, Becky, Charlotte, Sasha and Bayley.

“They’re Angels,” the Doctor answered.

“Queen Vickie didn’t mention halos,” Becky teased.

“No, they’re called Weeping Angels. They’re old, impossibly old. They’ve been around almost as long as the universe, and that’s saying something. And that’s because they’ve got the most perfect defence mechanism the universe has ever seen. The exact nanosecond any living thing claps eyes on them,” the Doctor paused to snap his fingers, “they turn to stone.”

“That doesn’t sound comfortable for them,” Sasha arched her eyebrows.

“Will you take this seriously, please?” he huffed. Although he didn’t raise his voice, it was laced with so much desperate emotion, that any further comments were left unsaid.

A tense silence blanketed the room, with no one eager to make further comment. When they’d landed in Victorian London, it had all been fun and games. Now, after learning how grave the threat was - the threat they had been prevented from escaping - it had been made clear that this was no place for levity. At this early point in their relationship with the Doctor, even Becky felt it was best to tiptoe on eggshells tonight.

“What makes them so dangerous then?” Bayley broke the uncomfortable quiet.

“If you get touched by a Weeping Angel, they send you back into the past. Make you live to death, absorbing the energy of any time you would have spent. That is what they feed off, and that is why we need to starve them. And you four staying here, that gives them four extra food supplies. Four extra lives to feast on.”

“Or four pairs of helping hands,” Charlotte suggested.

“No!” the Doctor said suddenly, his eyes flying wide open before deepening into a frown at the very idea. “I’m going to find a way to get you out of here, while I deal with this.”

“Why are you trying so hard to send us away?” Becky asked.

“You bring us along for a trip through time and space, and already you don’t want us around?” Sasha added. “You did it with the Cybermen, and you’re already doing it again. If you regret inviting us, just say so.”

“No no, it’s not that,” he insisted before plopping down onto a chair, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand. As his hands fell away to reveal his eyes, the weight of his inner turmoil gave those old eyes a quality that almost made those orbs appear nearer to his biological age than his physical age. Silence fell over them once again, as they waited for him to continue. “Life with me is dangerous. It always is, I will never deny that. But there are different levels of risk, and this one is just too big. It’s too soon.”

“Too soon for what?” Bayley asked.

“The Weeping Angels take and take and take. That’s what they do. They’ve already taken from me, and I don’t want them to take you. They’re deadly enough even for someone with years of TARDIS trips under their belt, but you four? You’ve only just begun, and I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“Well it’s a good thing you didn’t drag us along then,” Sasha said. “Doctor, I came willingly.” She whipped her blue hair around to look at her three fellow companions. “We all did.” Becky, Charlotte and Bayley all nodded in agreement, faces stoic in their decision to stay and help. “If anything happens, that’s on us. Not you.”

Any further argument was quashed as soon as Vastra entered the room.

“Doctor, have you any theories as to what the Weeping Angels are doing here?” Vastra asked.

Right away the Doctor’s expression changed, the hurt and worry in his eyes dissipating as his mind was allowed to focus on the task at hand, rather than the consequences.

“Well if they wanted somewhere to hide and feed, the nineteenth century is as good a place as any that came before it. The world is not developed enough yet to be capable of fighting them. There’s nothing on this Earth that can harm them. And with the palace teeming with guards and visitors, they have an ever-replenishing food source. In other words, perfect for an Angel.”

“So how do we stop them?” Charlotte asked.

The Doctor turned to fix her with a frown. “I told you. All of you.” He looked to face each of them in turn. “We don’t do anything. I will go and find them, work out a way to stop them, and I’ll have you all back in your own time. It was unbelievably stupid of me to bring you along; I should never have put you in danger like this.”

Before they had a chance to protest, the Doctor walked out of the room, leaving his four companions gobsmacked.

“What the hell is his problem?” Sasha asked with a wild wave of her arm towards his retreating figure down the end of the corridor, anger flashing dangerously in her eyes.

“You mustn’t take it personally,” Vastra said. “As devoid of sense as he is behaving right now, there is good reason for it. He suffered losses. Losses which hurt him. I fear he is too afraid of it happening again, that he’s allowing it to cloud his judgment. The Doctor always needs assistants, especially when he’s at his most vulnerable. Right now, pushing you away is the worst thing he can do.”

“And is Jenny your assistant?” Charlotte asked, curiosity brimming within her.

“Good heavens, no,” Vastra replied before adding simply, “She is my wife.”

“Well I didn’t come along so I could sit, nice and safe and dull,” Becky said. She turned to face the other three. “Did you?”

All three of them firmly voiced their objections.

“Then tell me, why did each of you decide to join the Doctor in his travels?” Vastra asked, a look of curiosity with the undertone of judgement behind it. As though this was a test for each of them to pass.

“I came to help people,” Bayley answered first. “Helping out others always has some kind of risk behind it, and that’s never stopped me before.”

Vastra’s eyes then shifted to Charlotte, who shifted her weight uncomfortably for a second under her intense gaze. “I joined the Doctor because I wanted to discover what I was missing in life. I’ve always played it safe, sticking to perfecting what I know instead of broadening my horizons. Now I realise that for all my success, I haven’t lived life to the fullest, and I plan on changing that.” Only too late did Charlotte realise she had been bragging without realising it, seeing the dirty, judgemental glares thrown her way by Sasha and Becky.

“Travelling is what I’m passionate about, since I was a little girl,” Sasha said after tearing her eyes from Charlotte. “There’s not really much on Earth I haven’t explored. But the universe? All of time and space? That’s an adventure that’ll keep me going for a lifetime.”

“And you?” Vastra looked to Becky.

“I came to be a part of something greater, to keep my blood pumping on the thrill that this kind of life can give me. So if the Doctor thinks he’s gonna keep us at arms length, he’s got another thing comin’.”

Vastra chuckled. “Well then, it would seem you have all decided to come along for the right reasons. Exploration, betterment of oneself, providing aid to those in need, excitement. All excellent reasons to join the Doctor. If he trusts you, then so do I. Though I trust that you’ll listen to him when needed, I fear that at this time it is not wisdom guiding his hand.”

It was at that moment that all four of them realised with shock that Vastra had lifted her veil, and saw a lizard-like face covered in green scales looking back at them.

The Doctor crept down the decadent hallway, his Sonic Screwdriver buzzing all the way, scanning for any alien activity. Catching sight of the steward, he turned it off and tucked it back into his inside pocket. Best not attract suspicion, given that the Queen was likely keeping a close eye on them.

“Good evening sir,” the gravelly voiced steward greeted as he approached.

“Ah steward, just the man I was looking for!” the Doctor replied cheerily. “Nice and tidy this place is, much less of a mess than the last time I was here.”

“You’ve been invited to Buckingham Palace before, sir?”

“Oh yes, dozens of times over the years!” the Doctor answered enthusiastically. “Place will be even cleaner under Liz Two.” The steward looked perplexed at the nonsensical claim. “So Mr. Steward, where was the last disappearance? 

“That would be the library in the North Wing, sir.”

“Lovely, thank you for your help. Keep on stewarding!” the Doctor called as he immediately took off, a man with a purpose. He had a library to investigate.

“Mad fellow,” the Steward muttered under his breath, shaking his head at the ridiculous man now completely out of sight.

Upon entering the large library containing rows upon rows of bookcases, the Doctor had immediately gotten started looking for anything suspicious. Hidden switches to expose a hidden staircase, removing books looking even a fraction of an inch out of place. Every mystery trope. But there was nothing. It was just an ordinary library, with nothing suspicious about it. In a word: boring!

He was just looking beneath a table when he heard the grand wooden door creak open. Grinning as he assumed he had finally managed to trigger something, he was dismayed when he looked up to see his four companions walk in through the main door. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I told you all to stay put!”

“Yeah, well we didn’t listen,” Sasha fired back. 

“We’re here to help, Doctor,” Charlotte said. “So let us.”

“No!” the Doctor said sharply. He stepped closer towards them, raising a finger to gesture with his words. “I told you, I can’t keep you safe if you stick with me. Not here. Not now.”

“And we’re telling you that danger isn’t going to turn us away,” Bayley said. “Life is dangerous, but that’s never stopped me before.”

“But this isn’t crossing the road to go to and from work, day in, day out!” the Doctor started raising his voice. “This is risky, proper risky. If they get a hold of you, I won’t be able to get you back. You’ll be forced to live trapped in the past, forever. And with all the time energy spilt over London, I won’t even be able to come get you in the TARDIS. I won’t go through that again, I won’t!”

“’Again’?” Charlotte titled her head in question.

“Never mind that.” the Doctor quickly turned away, and the others could swear they saw him raise a finger to wipe the skin around his eye. He then turned back to them. “What’s important is that-“

“Oh Doctor, just stop talking, because we’re not goin’ anywhere,” Becky said defiantly. “Me, blondie, ponytail and the blueberry are helpin’ ya, and we’re not takin’ no for an answer.” If she felt Sasha’s furious scowl burn a hole through her, Becky didn’t mention it. “So tell us where to start.”

It was clear the Doctor was starting to realise he was fighting a losing battle. He had had an inkling of the four women's’ courage when he had rescued them from the Krillitane, but now it was rearing its head in full force. They were always brave. But bravery didn’t always equate to survival.

“Ah, fine,” he sighed, finally understanding that he had been fighting a losing battle. “We’re going to have to put together a list of every sighting, so we know where to look. With most of the palace asleep, that’ll have to wait until morning. Until then, I suggest we all get some rest.”

“Before we do, can I just ask why you didn’t mention the fact that yer friend is a freakin’ lizard?!” Becky exclaimed.

“Oh Vastra, she trusted you enough to lift her veil, did she? I always tell her I choose my friends with great care, there’s no need for the veil around you lot.”

“But what is she?” Sasha asked.

“She’s a Silurian. They ruled the Earth millions of years ago. Most of them are still asleep beneath the Earth’s surface, hibernating for a catastrophe that never came. Vastra is one of the very few awakened after humans evolved.”

“So you’re friends with a lizard and a potato?” Becky asked. “What about Jenny, is she secretly a Martian in disguise?”

“No, Jenny is perfectly human. And honestly, if the Martians ever hear the constant assumptions you humans make, they’ll be very offended.”

While his friends rethought any potential quips about Martians, the Doctor continued searching the room for anything that might give them a clue as to where the Weeping Angels were hiding out.

Charlotte was just stood there, minding her own business, when she felt someone roughly tap her shoulder. She whirled around, scowl of annoyance on her face to meet a grinning Becky. 

“Psstt, let’s go lookin’ for these stone statues,” the Irishwoman whispered.

“You really don’t need to say ‘psstt’ when you’ve already got my attention,” Charlotte whispered back.

“Agree to disagree. You comin’ or what?”

“Absolutely not!” Charlotte hissed, volume raising enough to earn raised eyebrows from Sasha across the room, and a panicked signal from Becky to lower her voice. “You heard the Doctor. Why do you think I would ever want to go hunting for something so dangerous?”

“Because you want to,” Becky grinned impishly.

“I very much dispute that assertion,” Charlotte retorted, brow creased in a frown as she crossed her arms to send a very clear message.

“C’mon lass, you really think we’re in much danger from a lump of stone?” 

“I don’t know Becky! And guess what? You don’t either! So can you get over yourself for one goddamn second and take this seriously?” At this point, Charlotte wasn’t even trying to keep her voice down. If Becky was so intent on putting herself in unnecessary danger, then she was damn sure going to make sure anyone knew who was in a position to stop her.

Charlotte rolled her eyes as Becky only pouted at her words. “Y’know Charlie, you’d be a lot more fun if you lightened up and took that stick out yer arse. Life’s too short to take so seriously.” Becky bounced her eyebrows as Charlotte opened her mouth in surprise at Becky’s continued and wholly inappropriate levity. “I’ll grab an axe, must be one somewhere. If we bump into these angels, we’ve got a way to stop them-“

“A way to stop who?” the Doctor suddenly interjected louder than necessary, making both women jump in fright. 

“I-uh-we thought-“ Charlotte stammered, trying to think of a possible excuse. Even as she did, she realised how ludicrous she was being. She was a grown ass woman. So why did she feel like she was a child tattling on another? And why was she now trying to find an excuse to cover Becky with, rather than reporting her inconceivably reckless plan? It’s not like she owed Becky anything. Yet something in Charlotte felt that maybe there was some merit to the cheeky woman’s words.

Fortunately for her, Becky had absolutely no shame. “I was tryin’ to coax Charlie here into helping me go find these angels. Get them before they can get us, y’know-“

The Doctor’s face fell into a disappointed frown. Not mad. Just disappointed.

“No. You won’t go looking for any Weeping Angels.” There was a firmness to his tone that would have silenced most. But Becky wasn’t most.

“But-“

“No!” the Doctor repeated, louder this time. “You don’t understand how dangerous they are, Rebecca. You’ve got to be on your guard at all times, because if you don’t, then that’s when they get you. And wandering off to find them all on your own is a one way ticket to being trapped in the past, forever. We’re all going to stick together. You want to keep on travelling with me, those are my terms. I won’t let you put yourself at risk like that.”

Before a finally silent Becky had a chance to argue, the Doctor walked off, his disappointed frown never leaving his face. For once, Becky seemed to have finally grasped the gravity of the situation. Whether it was that or the insinuation of further insubordination leading to her being kicked off the TARDIS, Becky didn’t want to risk it.

Drowning out the conversation entirely, the view from the window caught Bayley’s attention. She walked over to it, staring at the view of the opposite side of the palace. In one of the windows in her sight, she spotted a lone grey figure, which she was certain had not been there when they had first entered. She watched it for several seconds, only to realise what was so unnatural about it. There was no movement.

“Doctor, is that a Weeping Angel?” she pointed to the lone figure, standing as still as a statue.

He dashed over, eager to make quick progress to get them out of there. His expression instantly took on a ambivalent tone. Relief that they had already gotten a lead on their foe. Yet a deep-rooted reluctance to encounter his old enemy. “Yes, yes it is.”

“Why is it smiling?” she asked. Even from this distance, she could still make out the curved upturn of its stone mouth, palms outstretched.

“They know we’re here. And now they’ll be coming for us.”

Chapter Text

Sunlight streamed in through the gap in the curtains as the morning light filtered in. The inhabitants of Buckingham Palace gradually stirred, all ready to be questioned throughout the day.

Bayley stretched out her limbs lazily like a cat as she awoke. She’d barely been awake for a minute before she heard knuckles tapping on the door to the room she’d been allocated. It wasn’t just a standard knock though. It was far louder than it had any right to be at this godforsaken early hour of the morning, and doggedly persistent too. She had a guess as to who it belonged to.

“Oi ponytail!” she heard a familiar Irish voice call through the door, confirming her suspicions. “Brekkie is served in the drawing room!”

Bayley had half a mind to block out the noise by pulling the pillow over her ears, if she didn't have such strong suspicions that it would only prompt even more infuriating knocking.

“When we find these Weeping Angels, what do we do with them?” Charlotte asked as she scraped butter over her toast. 

“We do a thing,” the Doctor supplied unhelpfully.

“A thing?” Sasha questioned with arched eyebrows. “You mean you don’t have a plan?”

“Well a thing is like a plan. Only less solid,” the Doctor defended with undeserved conviction. Eyes trained on the conversation at hand, his distracted hands proceeded to scrape the teaspoon of sugar across his toast, before picking his butter knife up and swirling it around in his cup of tea.

“You really have no idea, do you?” Charlotte asked.

“Not yet,” he admitted, “But I will do, once I can get more of an idea of where they are and why they’re here.”

“Surely we can reason with them?” Bayley asked. “If they need a food source, can’t you take them somewhere to feed without harming anybody?”

Becky snorted. “Reason…with statues, lass?”

“No, I’m afraid that’s not possible Bayley,” the Doctor answered sadly. “The Angels are said to be the loneliest creatures in the whole universe. The lonely assassins, they used to call them. Communication is not something that has ever worked before. Everyone who has tried were trapped back in the past to feed on. They don’t care about the people they displace in the past like lone refugees, all they care is that they can feed on the time energy of the lives left unlived. Single-handed tyranny. And that is what makes them so dangerous.”

He then turned to the orange-haired woman beside him. “And Becky, you really should take this seriously.”

“It’s not often I agree with a troll doll,” Sasha said, earning a glare from Becky. “But really Doctor, stone statues coming to life? That’s legit crazy.”

“No, they’re not actually made of stone,” the Doctor explained. “They’re quantum-locked; they only turn to stone when they’re seen by another living being. So here are two things to remember. Rule number one: Don’t blink. Rule number two: don’t go wandering off.”

Charlotte remained quiet throughout the discussions. She honestly didn’t know which side of the fence she fell on. Should she be afraid of these things as the Doctor made it clear they should be? Or like Becky and Sasha, was the idea of killer stone statues too preposterous to believe? 

She was distracted by the sound of the Doctor gagging with distaste after taking a swig of his tea. “Oh dearie me, I’d forgotten how dreadful Victorian tea is.”

None of his companions said anything about his own error, which he had so blatantly failed to notice.

After breakfast, the five travellers had agreed to begin searching the palace. As reluctant as the Doctor had been to split them up, time was running out. There would simply not be enough time to search such a vast palace in only one group. 

Charlotte had immediately insisted on remaining with the Doctor, citing her lack of preparedness for this situation. There was no better guide than the Doctor as far as she was concerned. 

Sasha on the other hand, had insisted on journeying apart from the rest of her companions. Of course, the Doctor had been immediately - and profusely - dismissive of the idea. There was no way he would allow her to venture by herself in a palace, out of her time, surrounded both by strangers and deadly aliens whose main purpose here was catching people wandering on their lonesome. It had been a lengthy and heated debate, with Sasha insisting on proving her worth. In her words, how was she supposed to become an experienced time traveller without a proper opportunity to prove what she was capable of? Being handled with kid gloves was not something she appreciated.

Eventually, the Doctor had acquiesced to allowing Sasha to venture with Vastra and Jenny, trusting her care in their capable hands.

Bayley however, was grouped with Becky and Strax. 

Strax was not a problem.

The Irish woman however, she was certainly trouble.

She constantly switched direction on a whim, making their search for potential Weeping Angel hideouts less conclusive. 

Worse than that, they were now down to a party of two. It was only now that Bayley realised that perhaps Becky’s constantly changing direction were deliberate attempts to lose Strax.

Much to Bayley’s chagrin, it had worked.

“Becky!” Bayley hissed as she finally caught up to the orange-haired woman, spotting her sneaking off to an area that was definitely off-limits. 

In another part of the palace, there was an important meeting taking place. Unbeknownst to either of the people attending, one of the most recent guests was lurking where she shouldn’t.

“Ma’am,” bowed the man before the Queen, taking her outstretched hand to kiss.

“Prime Minister,” Queen Victoria uttered before sitting down, the man following suit. “So tell me, what is the latest on-“

The two were interrupted by a commotion from outside. A few seconds later the doors burst open, one of John Smith’s assistants bursting in.

“Oops, sorry yer Majesty,” the flame-haired woman did a poor imitation of a courtesy. Queen Victoria couldn’t help but notice the grin curving her lips, as though her interruption was no accident. “Thought we saw an Angel come this way, so I thought I’d better check it out. Y’know, bein’ a great detective an’ all. Call me Becky Holmes!” 

Another of the assistants came running in behind her. The one with her hair in a most peculiar fashion – a side ponytail – grabbed the first woman by her arm and began trying to drag her away.

“I am so sorry for this Your Majesty, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,” the side ponytailed girl said apologetically, her cheeks tinged red with embarrassment.

The doors to the room closed once more. The Queen and the Prime Minister could hear the two women arguing in hushed tones all the way down the corridor until the unwanted intrusion faded away.

Charlotte was lost.

She had been walking side-by-side with the Doctor when she thought she’d heard a noise. Turning her head to stare at the wall from where her ears had pinpointed the source of the noise, she couldn’t see any reason for it. The lavishly decorated wall extended the length of the long corridor, without a door in sight.

When she’d turned back around, the Doctor was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly finding herself isolated, Charlotte didn’t feel so safe anymore.

“Doctor!” Charlotte called as she stood alone in the empty hallway.

Much to her chagrin, nobody appeared. Charlotte’s heart began to pound in her ears, fear growing in her chest.

“Becky!"

No answer.

 
“Sasha?”

The silence was deafening.

“Bayley?” 

Her voice grew progressively more timid as she began to realise her position. If none of the others were nearby and one of those killer stone statues happened to appear…

Charlotte shook her head to clear the worry from her mind. There was no way that-

She gasped as she looked over her shoulder to find exactly what she had been worrying about. A stone statue stood at the end of the corridor. 

Despite its inanimate status, it felt like it was staring right at her. As though it had come for her, just waiting for the moment to make its move. 

Just waiting for her to blink.

Charlotte turned away, steeling herself for a second. She breathed in and out deeply to calm herself. Her nerves steadied and she turned around fully, only for fear to almost cause her to leap out of her skin.

The statue was no longer at the end of the corridor, but only a foot away. It was no longer looking neutral, mouth open to reveal sharp stone fangs, fingers outstretched in claws which if they were organic rather than stone, likely would have been ready to slice through her.

Charlotte exclaimed in shock, involuntarily flinching away harshly from the terrifying sight. She was only a few corridors away from their drawing room. She could make it back. All she had to do was to not blink.

She started backing away, slowly at first but then increasing in speed. Still the statue remained frozen in place, just like the Doctor had said. When she felt confident she was far enough away, she turned and broke into a run, desperate to make it back to relative safety. At least if she could find the Doctor, he’d know what to do.

Charlotte chanced a glance over her shoulder, only to gasp in terror as she realised the statue was pursuing her. It was frozen again of course, but only as long as she maintained eye contact. Something impossible to do while running. But she reasoned that with her long legs and peak physical condition, she should be able to easily outrun it. That’s why she turned back to focus on where she was running to. Something that would prove to not be in her own self-interest.

She’d ran a few more paces when she looked behind her again, to find something disturbing. The statue was much closer than it had been last time. If anything, she wasn’t outrunning it at all. 

It was gaining on her. 

She wasn’t sure she’d be able to reach the communal drawing room in time.

Charlotte turned back, focusing her energy on her sprint rather than what she was running from. She began to feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She knew it was coming for her and she wasn’t going to make it. Perhaps it had been dangerous to stay here. She should have listened to the Doctor and snuck out to the TARDIS, just like he had doggedly insisted on. Because it felt like right now, her time was up.

“Charlotte!” a familiar voice called out as she rounded the corner, almost literally bumping into the Doctor. Her eyes searched his as she stopped and caught her breath, noticing that his eyes were focused over her shoulder the entire time.

His eyes were wide with fear, mouth puffing deep breaths of air. When Charlotte turned, she saw exactly why. The stone statue’s arm was extended towards her, claws a matter of inches away from her back. If the Doctor hadn’t arrived at that precise moment, she could have been trapped back in the past.

“You found one,” the Doctor gasped. He took out his Sonic Screwdriver and began scanning the Weeping Angel, the familiar buzzing echoing around the hallway.

“That-that was close,” Charlotte wheezed, catching her breath from her brush with death.

“What were you doing by yourself, eh?” the Doctor asked, his tone carrying a hint of disapproval. “I thought I told you to not go wandering off?”

“I wouldn’t have to if everyone else hadn’t done so already!” Charlotte protested. “I’m just as much at risk in that room as I am out here anyway.”

“Fair point,” the Doctor conceded, gesturing to Charlotte with his Sonic, inadvertently shining the green light in her eyes. Something she protested about with a grunt and a blink as she whipped her head out of the way. “Oops, sorry,” he whispered. He then turned back to the statue, both of them flinching backward upon realising that it had managed to move again in the split second they’d been distracted. “At least now we’ve bumped into big fella here, we can try to work out where they might be coming from.”

They were then interrupted by footsteps. Upon turning around, they saw that it was the steward. “Excuse me Doctor, miss,” he bowed. “Her Majesty has called for your presence in the throne room.”

“Not now!” the Doctor tilted his head towards where the Angel stood. “Got a lead.”

“I’m afraid her Majesty insists, sir.”

The Doctor groaned. He turned around, only to raise his eyebrows in shock. The Angel was gone.

Having been allowed a short while to find their companions, they were confused to find Becky retreat back into her room after being told about their private audience. 

“Becky!” the Doctor called after knocking on the door. “What are you doing?”

“Getting changed!” they heard Becky call from behind the closed door. “If we’re going to meet with the Queen again, I need to make sure I look my best!”

“Hurry up, eh?” the Doctor called. “We’ve only got,” he raised the underside of his wrist to check his watch, “six minutes.”

“Ah-ha!” they heard Becky shout triumphantly to herself from inside the closed room.

“Are you sure we can’t go without her?” Sasha asked. “I think they’ve already got a court jester. They don’t need another one.”

“Will you two ever get along?” Bayley asked, her voice giving away how tired she was of the persistent conflict between Becky and Sasha.

“Are you ever going to stop looking like a child?” Sasha sniped back, nodding to her side ponytail.

Before any further arguing could ensue, the latch of the door clicked, the wooden door swinging open. And what they saw astounded each of them in equal measure.

Decked in the most garish dress possible, Becky stood proudly, hands on her hips. But if they thought what she was wearing from the neck down was bad, by far the most offending feature was the hat.

It was the most appalling monstrosity imaginable. Five peacock plumes of entirely different colours protruded from the brim. Yellow, blue, green, red and orange meshed together to create a complete eyesore.

If Becky had been planning to enter a most distasteful costume contest, she’d be a shoe-in for first place.

Charlotte and Bayley exchanged quizzical looks. Meanwhile, the Doctor didn’t seem affected by the outlandish sight.

Having kept a hand pressed against her lips, Sasha couldn’t hold back the tide threatening to break. Pulling her hand away, she began to roar with laughter. It took several moments for her laughter to gradually subside, having to stop and clutch her stomach. “Oh man, you look ridiculous!”

“Yer just jealous you don’t look as regal as me,” Becky fired back with a decidedly poor attempt at a royal pose, not even a single hint of shame or regret in her voice or on her face. Instead, she still looked just as pleased with herself as ever.

“Regal? Yeah, sure,” Sasha retorted mockingly. “’Tasteless’ is actually how I’d describe it. Just a bit of facepaint and a red nose, and you’ll look just as much of a clown as you are.”

They were mercifully spared any further barbs by a knock on the door.

“The Queen will see you now,” the rich voice of the Steward called.

“What on earth are you wearing, girl?” the Queen asked in horror, catching sight of Becky as they were introduced. All eight of them were in attendance.

“Oh, this old thing?” Becky snorted as she smoothed down her outfit. “I think it looks splendid, don’t you think, your Majesty?” She had put on a purposefully English accent. Not pronounced enough to be mistaken for an earnest attempt to blend in, but convincing enough for the Queen to miss her mischievous attempt of mockery. 

“I think it looks like an eyesore that I should have had my servants throw away years ago,” the Queen said.

“Forgive me ma’am,” Becky bowed. “But do you not find it…amusing?” she bounced her eyebrows.

Tired annoyance flickered across Queen Victoria’s eyes, as though this was a ridiculous attempt a previous guest had tried before. She restrained herself, schooling her features back into neutrality.

“It hardly matters,” she dismissed before turning her gaze to Madame Vastra. “I trust you have made progress on the matter of which we spoke?”

“Indeed ma’am,” Vastra answered. “Another statue was sighted on the corridor along the west wing rooms. We’ve spoken to a good deal of the palace residents, and it would appear that most of the statues have been seen on that side of the palace. Once we have the full details to confirm, we can begin searching for their hiding place.”

They had been searching for hours, but no results had yet been yielded. Searching behind tapestries, paintings, checking for hidden doors. But they were getting nowhere. None of the places they had searched indicated a hiding place for the Weeping Angels. It was increasingly looking like a dead end. 

The five of them: the Doctor, Bayley, Sasha, Charlotte and Becky, were currently searching a very long hallway on the west wing of the palace, while Vastra, Jenny and Strax were searching the rooms further down.

“How have we not gotten anywhere yet?” Charlotte huffed.

“Did your royal ass not realise we’re in a palace, sweetheart?” Sasha ridiculed. “They do tend to be big.”

“I think what Charlotte is trying to say,” Bayley interrupted in an attempt to placate them before the frustratingly needless argument had the chance to escalate. “Is that we should have found something by now.”

“Well we are nothing if not thorough. This is where most of them were spotted,” the Doctor countered. “Guys, we will find them. Just keep looking.”

There was a clatter from the other side of the hall, where Becky had unwittingly tripped over her feet. To catch herself, Becky put her hand on the wall, only to be shocked when it felt like her hand touched a wooden doorknob, rather than the tapestry her eyes saw.

“Uh, Doctor?” she called, motioning for him to come over when she had attracted his attention. “Think I’ve found something.”

“What is it?” he asked after he sidled up to her. “Looks like your typical, boring palace tapestry to me. I tell you, if they’d asked me to decorate the place, the place would look far more fun-”

“No,” she interrupted, the matter too pressing to allow his rant. “I put my hand on it to steady myself, but it feels like wood. Go on, feel it.”

The Doctor did just that, his eyes widening and gasping as his palm flattened solidly against a surface that appeared to be made of fabric - something that wouldn’t allow his hand to lie so flat if appearances weren’t deceiving. “Oh Becky!” he exclaimed. “I think your wonderful clumsiness has found where they’re hiding.”

Although none of them could see the door, they all felt it when they brushed their hands against the surface.

“How can there be a door there if we can’t see it?” Bayley asked.

“Perception filter,” the Doctor explained. “Tricks your mind into believing there’s nothing there. Not always perfect though. In this case it’s only managed to trick our sight rather than touch. Now then, let’s have a look, eh?” 

The Doctor felt around for the handle, pushing the door open. Before, they had been looking at a tapestry. But now, they saw the façade shimmer away before their eyes, watching as the wooden door materialised into view to replace the space.

Although they were expecting it, that didn’t stop them gasping as the door swung open to reveal several Weeping Angels inside, all of them frozen in the direction of the door.

“I’m sorry, we did knock,” the Doctor joked. “You look a little…petrified to see us.”

Only Becky giggled at the pun, while the rest stared down the Weeping Angels.

“Doctor, why are they even hiding away in here?” Charlotte asked. “Of all the rooms in the palace, what’s so special about this room?”

The Doctor took a moment to look around, before turning back. “Do you notice what this room has none of? Something that there are a good deal of around the rest of the palace?” A few beats passed, none of the companions looking any the wiser. “Come on guys, I know human brains are slow, but you should have got it by now,” he sighed. “Another way for them to be seen, without any other living things present?”

“Mirrors?” Sasha suggested.

“Bingo!” the Doctor snapped his fingers in her direction. “Judging by how old this room’s décor is compared to the rest of Buckingham Palace, they’ve been holed up in here for a while.”

“Doctor!” Vastra called from outside. “What have you found?” She stopped as she stepped inside to see that they had found the hiding place of the Weeping Angels.

Strax’s potato-like visage appeared as he stepped in. “You’ve found them! Shall I go fetch my grenades?”

“Strax, you can’t just blow up Buckingham Palace!” the Doctor protested in exasperation. “No, we need to make sure they’re stopped without risking bringing the monarchy to a premature end.”

“Oh, I see…” Strax trailed. “In that case, I suggest digging an acid pit!”

“Strax, no! This will take more than Sontaran warfare to sort out. First we need to-“

A strange scuffling sound brought the Doctor’s attention around. The upside of having so many eyes in the same room was being afforded the luxury of temporarily taking his eyes off the Weeping Angels without consequence. 

When he turned around, he noticed a truly bizarre sight. Becky Lynch pouring a black powder out of a bag onto one of the left-most Weeping Angels.

Her gleeful pouring was interrupted as the Doctor dashed over, clamping a hold over hers to stop. Becky’s awed expression clamped her mouth shut as she glared at the man stopping her.

“Rebecca Lynch, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“What does it look like?” she countered with an expressive flourish. “Gettin’ rid of this statue. Yer welcome.”

“Is that gunpowder?” he asked with distaste.

“Yep!” she answered simply with a grin, looking very proud of herself. Far prouder than she had any right to be.

“You can’t blow up a Weeping Angel!”

“Why not? Would solve tha problem here.”

“She’s quite right. Most problems in life can be solved with explosions.” Strax interrupted before turning to Becky with a nod of respect. “You would do quite well on Sontar, lad.”

“Thank you, Mr Potato Head.”

“Don’t encourage her!” the Doctor hissed at Strax before turning back to reprimand Becky. “It’s a not a controlled explosion stunt on one of your films, you know! They’re highly advanced lifeforms with a survival defense mechanism way in advance of anything humans will ever evolve. Do you really think a little bit of gunpowder is capable of destroying them?”

“Nothin’ ventured, nothin’ gained.”

Becky’s disagreement with the Doctor’s reprimanding was momentarily paused after a deep sigh from one woman in particular.

“Somethin’ botherin’ ya Charlie?” she bounced her eyebrows at Charlotte.

“I swear, you are going to be the death of us at this rate.”

“More like I’m gonna be the death of these angels. Have you seen ‘em? They’re stone cold with fear at the sight o’ me!”

Amidst the groans given by every other person in the room, the Doctor proceeded with his next question. “Where on earth did you even get gunpowder?”

“Well, that’s a very funny story! You know, for a palace, their armoury has very poor guards.”

The Doctor wasted no time in confiscating the rest of her pilfered gunpowder, ensuring not only that it was returned, but also to mention in no uncertain terms the hole in palace security.

In accordance with the Doctor’s plan, an assortment of mirrors were brought to the room. A mirror for every Angel. That way, they’d be trapped in their stone forms forever, their sight being their very own undoing. Following his advice, the room was bricked up, where the Weeping Angels would be forever trapped in their quantum lock, sealed away where they could never displace anyone in time ever again.

“It was a real pleasure, your Majesty,” Jenny bowed before Queen Victoria as they bid their farewells.

“Yeah, it was a blast!” Becky added enthusiastically, a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

Jenny and the Queen fixed her with quizzical looks, as though she had said something that didn’t quite make sense in the way she’d used her words.

“I thank you for solving this case.” Queen Victoria then turned to the Doctor. “But you, Mr. Smith. There is something…familiar about you. Are you sure we have not met before?”

“No ma’am. You have never seen this face before,” he replied with a knowing smile, as though he was telling her something factually accurate, yet at the same time omitting a slight detail which would otherwise complicate matters.

“For the sake of us all, I hope I never have to again. I’d prefer not to have this sort of crisis arising again.”

“Until the next time, Doctor,” Vastra said as they were making their goodbyes. “And you four keep him out of trouble!” she called to the four women.

“Kind of a big ask,” Sasha chuckled. “We’re not miracle workers.”

“Oi!” the Doctor exclaimed as he realised he was being insulted, pointing an accusatory finger at his giggling quartet of companions. “In the TARDIS, now.”

Once the majority of their party had made it back into their respective modes of transport - Becky, Sasha, Bayley and Charlotte in the TARDIS, Jenny and Strax in the waiting carriage - it was just the Doctor and Vastra left. 

“Doctor, I am glad you’ve picked up some new friends. It’s been too long since-“

“No,” the Doctor immediately butted in with a pained, firm stare, pointer finger gesturing with a very clear signal. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Of course not, my apologies Doctor,” Vastra shook her head shamefully. “Especially not after encountering Weeping Angels again-”

“Vastra…” the Doctor growled in warning. It was clear that he was determined to keep the painful memories buried. Vastra digging up the past was far from what he wanted.

Vastra exhaled air from her nose, turning her head in discomfort before turning it back. “Well in any case, you look like their company is doing you a world of good. And if I may say so Doctor, I think you’ve chosen well.”

The Doctor hummed, nodding in acknowledged agreement. It’s not that he really needed his friend’s approval. But he appreciated it nonetheless. Vastra had always a good judge of character. He had already chosen carefully, but this was further proof.

His new friends were proving their worth in spades. Inviting Sasha Banks, Bayley Martinez, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair on a journey throughout time and space with him had been a definite beneficial move for all involved. 

As he bid Vastra farewell and pushed the TARDIS doors open, he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before he lost them too.

The sweet sound of laughter from inside the TARDIS snapped him out of his more melancholic thoughts. He straightened his bow tie before pushing the doors open, a smile spread on his face as he observed Becky and Bayley engaged in a lively conversation, with Charlotte a quiet observer, fully enraptured as Becky regaled them with a riveting tale from her life as a stunt actor. Though Sasha was stood a good distance from the other three, arms crossed in a nonplussed gesture while she listened, the Doctor could see from his viewpoint the tiny smile tugging on her lips as she failed to hide her true emotions.

For now, he would live in the moment, enjoying every blood-pumping, fun-filled, rip-roaring adventure he could take them on. With any luck, it would be one of the first of many.

Chapter Text

The man knew he was being watched. He could feel it, the chill creeping up, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 

He gasped as he heard a spine-chilling growl rumble in the darkness. It couldn’t have been more than several feet away.

He looked fearfully around, but could not see anyone. Despite his apprehension, he continued walking down the market, which was deserted at this time of night.

He heard the unnerving growling again, this time closer. And worse, this time there were two distinct growls rather than just one. 

Chancing a glance, he found no one. But he was sure he saw a dark silhouette shifting in the shadows. He paused, slowly turning on the spot. But it was just him, all alone. 

“Is there anybody there?” 

He cursed himself under his breath for the futile attempt. Of course there was nobody there. It was a stupid idea; if anybody was following him, they clearly didn’t want to be seen. The chance of them announcing themselves was next to zero.

He turned back around and hastily continued walking, with far more urgency. An idea occurred to him, one that he spent a few moments silently deliberating. It was either going to turn out worthwhile, or could end horribly. But it was worth a try. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply and counted under his breath.

On the count of ‘three’, he whirled around as quick as he could, his eyes widening with fear as he finally caught sight of the creatures stalking him. He screamed as his three assailants let forth a terrifying cacophony of inhuman screeches, launching themselves at him. He continued to scream until his body went limp, and his body was dragged away.

The following day, as the sun shone high above the hustle and bustle of the market, no trace of the previous night’s struggle was apparent to any of the various people scampering around the market stalls. Neither was a sudden appearance of an inconspicuous blue box, the wooden doors pulled back to reveal five awestruck faces.

“Oh my goodness,” Sasha gasped softly with wonderment as her feet carried her to the threshold of the TARDIS.

“Is this…” Charlotte trailed off, her towering height allowing her to see even from behind Sasha.

“Doctor, you did it!” Sasha squealed with pure joy at the wonderful sight that greeted them as they emerged from the TARDIS.

“Bit slow, but I told you I’d get you there in the end,” the Doctor’s grin grew brighter, looking as though his companions’ excitement was feeding his.

Before them was an undoubtedly alien city. The spiral buildings were unlike any architecture seen on Earth, reaching high into the dazzling teal sky. Some ended in points, some were rounded purple domes. All of them looked majestic.

On the street level though, they had landed on what appeared to be something akin to a high street on Earth. A variety of aliens meandered around, going about their daily business. Almost all of them appeared to be the same lifeform, roughly human in shape, but with bright red skin.

“Oh my god, are those oranges?!” Becky exclaimed far too loudly for Charlotte’s ears as she spotted the wares of a nearby market stand. Before anyone could interject, Becky dashed over, nodding nonchalantly at the merchant before picking up the round orange object. 

It was lucky that there was a sign on the stall that gave Becky a free pass for stealing one, the overexcited woman momentarily forgetting the concept of having to pay for an item. But there was something out of place. 

“Hold on, why is that sign in English?” Bayley asked as she pointed to the sign reading ‘One free sample per customer’. "We're in an alien marketplace on an alien world, and the signs are in English."

“That’s the TARDIS telepathic circuits,” the Doctor explained. “Translates for you, both written and spoken. And before you ask, yes, even Celtic.”

Becky bit into what she assumed was an orange, and almost instantly screwed up her face in distaste. She was so repulsed that she spat her mouthful back out in disgust. They were definitely not oranges.

The merchant roared with laughter at Becky’s reaction to his wares. “Not to your taste, miss?”

“That’s disgustin’!” Becky grimaced. “What is that?”

“Grumphin,” he answered. “Grown fresh this morning. Not to everyone’s taste, and apparently not yours.”

“So he’s not speaking English?” Charlotte asked, gesturing to the merchant as they watched the exchange from a few feet away.

“Nope, he’s speaking Celdrush,” the Doctor answered.

“But won’t he notice Miss Tomato Hair isn’t speaking his language back to him?” Sasha asked, apparently unable to keep from adding in an insult when it came to referring to Becky, even when the Irish woman was too distracted fervently scrubbing the taste off her tongue to notice.

“No, the translation matrix also applies to anyone we interact with. Would make for a lot of stilted and awkward conversations otherwise.”

Sasha smirked as Becky slumped back over to them with a pout, the sour taste clearly still coating her tongue. “Enjoy that, did you?” she asked sarcastically, an amused smirk curving her mouth.

“That was absolutely-“ Becky started.

“’Discoostin’?” Sasha interrupted with a pronounced mockery of Becky’s accent.

“Now now, lets take a look around,” the Doctor wisely suggested before they could get into another verbal spat.

They spent the next hour walking further into the city, taking in the sights of their first alien planet. As they each looked around with unrestrained wonder, marvelling at the experience, they could feel the Doctor watching them, his bright smile looking as though he was living vicariously through them, feeling the fresh experience, despite that this was far from his first alien planet. With the life he’d led, zooming around the universe for a millennia, it probably wasn’t even his thousandth.

A piece of parchment affixed to the side of a shop window begged for Bayley’s attention, and she obliged, stepping away to examine it. As she got closer, she saw it was an advertisement, with the words 'Join the Dark Order’ in big, bold letters.

“These things are all around,” Charlotte observed as she stood beside Bayley.

“Yes,” the Doctor said, all of them beginning to crowd around. “Probably nothing for us to be concerned about though.”

“The Dark Order…doesn’t sound like the friendliest lads,” Becky noted.

Suddenly a screen from inside the display window - not unlike a television except for the fact that it was spherical – flickered into life, showing one of the red skinned aliens dressed in a spotlessly clean suit. He strode towards the camera, the background a dusty desert. In the video, the sky was flying past at an astronomical speed, as though accelerated through time.

“Are you tired of being overlooked?” the suited alien asked the viewer. He extended his arms. “Maybe you’ve been unappreciated? Do you feel as though you’re always alone?” 

Though the words sounded comforting, there was something slightly off about the presenter’s body language.

“Together, we can change all of that. Experience freedom like you’ve never felt before. Before you can find yourself, you must lose yourself. By joining us, you’ll become part of something bigger. You’ll gain strength, confidence. We will be your friends. Your biggest supporters.”

The screen then morphed back to the man in the desert. Except now there were four clones on either side. “Because we believe there’s strength in numbers,” they all spoke in unison, resulting in a creepy, distorted echo.

“Think of us as that exclusive club you’ve always wanted to be a part of. Open your mind and stop losing all the time. We will help you become just like one of us. That is our promise. So stop living in chaos, and bring in new order to your life. And join us. Join the Dark Order.”

“Call us now, and we will find you.” As those chilling words were delivered, the screen shifted for a split second as though it was a technical glitch, at which point the alien’s face was replaced by a scaly, black and dark green visage. The image was not present long enough to make out distinct details, but it was implanted in their minds long enough to make them uncomfortable.

“What was that?” Sasha asked, horror etched on her face.

“I don’t know. Something not right, not right at all,” the Doctor answered, his mouth open in concern before he shook his head and promptly closed it, turning back to his companions. “Could be nothing though. You have spooky trailers for scary films on Earth. This could be more of the same.”

“In that case, we need to find out the nearest cinema,” Becky suggested, bouncing excitedly. “Looks hilarious!”

“No thank you very much,” the Doctor replied, a mixture of distaste and apprehension knitting his brow. “We need to-“

“Aw, is somebody a big scaredy-cat?” Becky teased. “Can fight big bats, ironmen, and statues, but can’t sit through a horror movie?”

“No!” the Doctor protested, before raising a finger. “Well, actually maybe.” His eyebrows raised as he landed on a firm answer. “Yes, absolutely, yes; They’re awfully scary!”

“You’d legit be the kind of person to watch from behind the couch,” Sasha suggested.

“Yes!” the Doctor agreed with a shameless grin at the thought. “That sounds like a lovely spot to watch a horror film. Actually no, preferably face tucked into somebody else’s shoulder, that sounds very comforting. Exactly what you need when watching a horror film. Trust me, travelling with me, there are enough horrors lurking around the darkest corners of the universe. No need for horror films. I’d much rather watch something with Charlie Chaplin in, or definitely some Star Wars.”

He then made the motion of swinging an invisible lightsaber, mimicking the “schvrmm” sound effect as he did so. While Charlotte quirked an eyebrow, the rest of them were in varied levels of amusement, with Sasha in particular having a big grin plastered to her face. Before she had the chance to engage in an impromptu lightsaber duel with the Doctor, Bayley interrupted.

“Except if this is to promote a movie, I didn’t spot a title or release date anywhere,” Bayley pointed out, getting them back on track. “That seemed more like a propaganda campaign.”

“You might be right,” the Doctor pondered for a moment until a flicker of movement caught his attention. “S’cuse me!” he called out as another of the red-skinned aliens passed by. “Hello there, sorry for interrupting. What’s all this Dark Order business?” He pointed to the poster.

The alien’s features shifted. Subtle, but enough to notice the tension settle itself. “You don’t know?” she asked.

“We’re tourists, only arrived today. We were in the middle of doing touristy things - admiring the views, tasting the food, definitely sticking to the designated areas - when we noticed them everywhere. So what is it?”

She furrowed her brow in concern. “Well in that case, I’d advise you to not loiter around after nightfall. It’s dangerous to be out at night.”

“Oh really? That’s a shame, we had plans to toast marshmallows on a roaring campfire under the moonlight,” he grinned facetiously before furrowing his brow to a more serious demeanour. “But we’ll take your advice. Why’s it dangerous though?”

“There have been disappearances. Did your travel guide not communicate this to you?”

“No sorry, that’s my mistake. Never like to do my research, spoils the surprise. So how many have gone missing so far?”

“Hard to say, but at least one every other night.”

“Any idea what happened to them?”

“No. But they started at the same time the Dark Order began recruiting.”

Something moved just out of view, Charlotte catching sight of it in the corner of her eye. She looked just in time to see it shift in the shadows, which had been cast by one of the tall buildings. Something was watching them, and now it was hiding. She felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach, a nagging sense that something was dreadfully wrong.

“Right. Thank you for the advice, we’ll bear it in mind.” Charlotte tuned her ears back into the conversation as the Doctor thanked the alien.

“Doctor,” Charlotte turned to him. “I just saw somebody watching us from the shadows. Over there,” she pointed.

Wasting no time, he dashed towards the area she’d indicated, but it came as no surprise to find nobody there. 

“Look!” he gestured down to the blue grass, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver and buzzing it at a particularly trampled part, in the shape of footprints. “Somebody was definitely here.” He stopped his Sonic, flicking his wrist up to look into the tip as though he might divine some crucial information from it, only to be disappointed. “There is definitely something not right here, and we should probably leave right now.” He then turned to his companions with a cheeky grin. “Let’s go poke it with a stick.”

“Why don’t we split up?” Becky suggested a few minutes later, after they’d summarised the scant scraps of information they had gathered so far, and formulated a plan. “Can cover more ground that way, get to the bottom of these spooky lads quicker an’ enjoy eating anything except those not oranges.”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the Doctor said firmly, clearly hoping that there would be no debate. However, it appeared he had chosen his companions too well, because he was going to be sorely disappointed.

“Come on Doctor, it’s a big, alien city,” Sasha countered. “If we can’t solve this quick, we might end up on the disappearance list. King Charles saw someone watching us, and I’m damn sure that’s not a good thing.”

“All the more reason for us to stick together,” the Doctor said, worry lines forming on his forehead.

“All the while more innocent people could be picked off,” Bayley spoke up, her tone laced with the contempt she felt for whoever was behind the string of disappearances.

“Hmmphh…alright then,” the Doctor conceded with a grimace that made it clear he was not happy about it, wagging his finger. “But we’re not splitting up into any more than two groups. Bayley, Sasha and Becky, you three question that street over there on the left. Me and Charlotte will question that street over there on the right.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Sasha intervened. “I’m not hanging around with the Annoying Orange over there. And who is honestly going to take a woman dressed like a child seriously?” she sniped, gesturing to Becky and Bayley respectively.

Tensions rose again in the air. At the beginning of their adventures, it had been hoped that it was fostered due to nerves among a lack of familiarity. But now, after having spent several days together, there was simply no excuse for them not getting along. It was clear just from the energy radiating in the air that the Doctor was at his wits end for dealing with Sasha’s instigational attitude. And it was clear from the faces of the other three women that they were soon approaching their limits for putting up with her completely unnecessary hostility.

“Good, ‘cos I don’t want Cookie Monster either,” Becky insulted back, while Bayley settled for shaking her head at Sasha in disapproval.

“Fine, you can stick with me then Sasha,” the Doctor sighed at the infuriatingly petulant antagonistic attitude the two persistently took with each other. “Charlotte, you go with Becky and Bayley.”

Having drawn the metaphorical short straw (and losing the rock paper scissors battle that Becky had doggedly insisted on), Charlotte was first up for knocking on doors. “Um, hi,” Charlotte said awkwardly, fiddling anxiously with her hair after it swung open to reveal a short man. “We’re uh, trying to find out who’s behind the recent disappearances. Would you know-“

The door was promptly slammed back in her face, leaving Charlotte to grunt in frustration. She had no problem interacting with clients, almost all of them being total strangers without any significant awkwardness. But this, investigating what appeared to be a cult on an alien world? It was plain for all to see that she was not cut out for that.

“Hello there!” the Doctor said as the door opened to reveal a portly man with blue hair growing from his chin. “We’re investigating the disappearances in the city,” he said while flashing up his leather wallet.

“Oh yes, of course, Chief Inspector,” the man answered. “I’m afraid I cannot tell you much, but I can tell you that Miss Silver four doors down is the sister of one of the victims. You’ll probably find out more from her.”

“Thank you. The department appreciates your assistance,” the Doctor said.

“Terrible business, terrible business,” he said with a shake of his head. “I hope you get to the bottom of it.”

After the door closed, Sasha finally asked about the object she’d been curious about. “What’s the deal with that leather wallet? How come he called you ‘Chief Inspector’?”

“Oh this old thing?” the Doctor answered, flashing the now open leather wallet to reveal paper in an interior compartment. The paper was blank. “Psychic paper. I can think whatever identification I think might allow us access or authority, and that’s what they’ll see. Saves a lot of time. Otherwise whole planets would be blown to smithereens before anyone let me in.”

“I think that says something about your charm," Sasha teased before giggling at the Doctor's playfully hurt, wide open mouthed expression. "No really, sounds very handy.”

“Yes, it is quite useful. 'Specially if you don't have astonishingly blue hair as a talking point." He grinned at Sasha's surprised yet impressed reaction, not expecting to be given as good as she gave. "It’s also how I got Vastra’s message, if you remember.” Something in the Doctor’s expression shifted then, as though on the cusp on something uncomfortable. There was an elephant in the room, and it was better to deal with it sooner rather than later. “Now listen Sasha, would it be terribly rude of me to ask that you at least try to get along with the others?”

Sasha’s eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms in a firm gesture. “Yes, it would.”

“In that case, I’ll just have to be rude then, can’t be helped. Come on Sasha, they’re good people. I wouldn’t have invited them - and you - along if that wasn’t the case. Just give them a chance. That’s all I’m asking. You don’t snap at me like you do them. Why?”

“I trust you. I don’t trust them.”

“But why?”

“Because…” Sasha started before trailing off, features straining with difficulty to put her reasons into words. She eventually settled for closing her mouth and shaking her head, frustration radiating from her. “You wouldn’t get it.”

The Doctor’s features softened, sensing that Sasha was struggling to express herself. The Doctor tended to have a kind look on his face most of the time, but now more so than ever as he tried to empathise with his companion’s plight. “Help me understand then, Sasha. Talk to me. I can’t resolve this tension unless you work with me.”

Despite a brief moment of looking like she might be considering the Doctor’s offer, Sasha let out an annoyed huff before walking off. “Come on, we should keep on investigating. Miss Silver’s house was four doors down, right?”

Despite his disappointment, the Doctor knew that her words rung true. Time was running out. He would have chance to try to continue making progress with the uncomfortable air between his companions once they were back on board the TARDIS.

“Hi! I hope you’re having a pleasant evening,” Bayley greeted warmly to the woman who opened the metal door. The house was a peculiar shape, a dome. “We’re investigating the disappearances around town, and we were wondering if you knew anything about them?”

“No sorry, I can’t help you,” the woman replied in a hurry before she promptly closed the door, leaving Becky, Bayley and Charlotte to exchange looks of frustration. 

It was beginning to look like the whole neighbourhood had been terrorised into a refusal to help investigators. If even Bayley's amiable, cheerful charm couldn't help them make any headway, what could?

“Alright, you can handle this next one,” the Doctor told Sasha as they walked down to the house indicated to be Miss Silver’s.

“Wait, why do I have to do this one?” Sasha asked. "You know what you're doing. I-"

“Because this is what travelling with me is like. There's no guidebook or Investigating for Dummies. Go on, get stuck in. It’s either this or Boston. What will Sasha Banks choose?”

Sasha pouted for a moment before nodding. “Fine.”

“Ah-ha, gotcha,” the Doctor grinned. "Or if you'd prefer, we can talk about your feelings and I'll handle the investigating.

Sasha promptly walked up to knock rapidly on the door, but not before shooting the Doctor a dirty look.

“Oh, hi there!” Becky grinned in pleasant surprise at the young girl who answered the door, kneeling down to meet her at eye level. 

“Sorry, I’ve been told not to talk to strangers,” the alien child answered as she tried to close the door.

Becky quickly spoke again, the child’s listening halting her movement. “Quite right too, whoever told you that is smart.” Becky ensured she kept a warm smile on her face, in hopes it would prove reassuring. “But I just want to ask you one question: How do you plan a party in space? Do you know?” The little girl shook her head. “You plan-et!”

The child giggled along with Becky at the pun, the big smile on her face a clear indication that Becky had won her trust with the joke.

“Is yer ma or da in?” Becky asked.

“Your voice is funny,” the young girl giggled, prompting Charlotte and Bayley to laugh along at Becky’s expense. The Irishwoman pouted as the child turned to scamper away. “Mom, there’s some funny people at the door!” they heard her call.

Several moments later, the trio had found themselves having been invited inside after explaining themselves. As it turns out, the house belonged to the young girl’s parents. One of whom was one of the victims. It was clear straight away that the mother - left on her own to support their child in the wake of the father’s disappearance - was desperate for anyone to help find him.

“So he wasn’t happy?” Bayley asked, having taken charge of the conversation while Charlotte watched, completely out of her element. Meanwhile Becky had gladly accepted the young girl’s challenge to tell her as many jokes as she could, keeping her giggling in the background and distracted from the macabre adult conversation.

“No. Since Colt got laid off at work, he’d come home and stare into space most nights. Not quite there. That’s when he saw one of the advertisements. Join the Dark Order,” she scoffed. “Told me about it, said he might need to leave. And that’s when he ran off. Haven’t heard a word from him in two weeks. Leaving me to bring up our daughter alone.” The hurt and anger was evident in her voice. “I’d normally be able to stay strong, if it weren’t for those…things I keep seeing following me around.”

“Things, Mrs. Cabana?” Charlotte asked, leaning forward to integrate herself into the conversation.

“I don’t know what they are or where they came from. At first I thought I was going mad, imagining them. Until others started reporting seeing them too. They stay in the shadows, keeping away to stop me from getting a closer look at them.” She noticed the recognition flitting in Charlotte’s eyes and leaned forward towards her. “You’ve seen them too, haven’t you?”

Charlotte nodded. “I got a glimpse of one earlier.”

“Then I fear it’s already too late. Once you see one, you start to see them everywhere.” The fear and look of utter desperation began to make her lips wobble as she turned to look between Charlotte and Bayley. “Please, find my husband. I don’t know if he’s staying away of his own volition, or whether he’s being kept away from us. But I know he’s still out there somewhere.”

The five members of Team TARDIS met up soon thereafter, exchanging everything they had learnt from the two families of the missing. Colt Cabana and John Silver were only two names among many. While Colt Cabana’s wife had implored Becky, Bayley and Charlotte to find her husband, John Silver’s sister had made clear to Sasha and the Doctor that she had given up hope, assuming that he was long gone.

“So what, they spread these advertisements around town, wait for people to give them a call and then take them?” Charlotte asked for clarification.

“Yes, but that’s not all,” the Doctor answered. “This recruitment, it’s not random. It’s specifically targeted, to draw in anyone feeling disillusioned with society, or unhappy with their lot in life. Not exactly the Samaritans.”

“So how do we find these people?” Bayley asked.

“Well it’s not clear whether these people need to be found. For all we know, they could be having a really big party where everyone is happy as larry. Assuming that larry is really happy,” the Doctor rambled. “But either way, in the increasingly likely event that this is something more sinister than that, now we’ve got something to do.”

“We do?” Sasha questioned, eyebrow arched in confusion.

“Yes, try to keep up, Banks,” the Doctor chided good-naturedly. “Those creatures only started appearing after people started disappearing. We find them, we find the missing people.”

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Charlotte asked.

“You said you saw something watching us earlier?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes, but I couldn’t get a good look at it.”

“Chances are that was one of them. And if they watched us once, they’ll probably try looking for us again.”

Their conversation was interrupted by an apparition suddenly appearing beside a crate on the street corner. Getting closer to it, they realised that it was being generated by a small, sleek black cube on top of the crate. They recognised the transparent, pale blue apparition as the presenter from the Dark Order commercial they’d watched on the spherical television earlier.

“Are you tired of being overlooked?” the suited alien asked them just like he had earlier, predictably extending his arms. “Maybe you’ve been unappreciated? Do you feel as though you’re always alone?” 

“Oh, I hate repeats,” the Doctor mused aloud.

“Together, we can change all of that. Experience freedom like you’ve never felt before. Before you can find yourself, you must lose yourself. By joining us, you’ll become part of something bigger. You’ll gain strength, confidence. We will be your friends. Your biggest supporters.”

The playing of the holo-advert had dulled their ears to the sound of approaching footsteps, flesh slapping against the cobblestone pavement. Except it wasn’t just footsteps, but something else. By the time the advertisement was drawing to its end, the five travellers heard the nearing sounds too late.

The holo-TV spat out eight clones of the transparent figure. “Because we believe there’s strength in numbers,” they all spoke in unison, resulting in a creepy, distorted echo.

Turning around, they saw several nightmarish creatures stalking towards them. But they were moving towards them in a disturbing manner. Not just moving on their feet, but on their hands now in a constant crouch, pushing off the ground with both their feet and the palms of their hands to move closer towards them. Their movement was accompanied by low giggling that sent shivers down their spine. 

Sasha, Becky, the Doctor, Charlotte and Bayley all moved so they were standing back to back. The nightmarish creatures had surrounded them on all sides, forming a circle around them. 

The Doctor produced his Sonic Screwdriver, activating it and waving it as though it was a deadly weapon. The ruse seemed to work, causing the scaly beasts to whimper and flinch back whenever it was pointed in their direction.

“Ha! Not so terrifying now, are you?” he taunted. “Stay back!” he thrust his Sonic in the direction of one who’d grown bolder, immediately forcing him back. “Now talk to me, what are you?” 

Seemingly giving up, the horde of creatures turned and crawled away, retreating up the street and through the alleys until they were out of sight. 

“Yeah, and stay out!” Becky called out jokingly after them.

“If a buzzing green light is going to scare them off, they’re pathetic,” Sasha crossed her arms.

“Oi, the Sonic is a powerful tool!” the Doctor said, clearly taking offense at her dig. “But it’s a shame they didn’t stick around. With any luck, we’ll bump into them again.”

“Wait a minute, you want to get cornered by them again?!” Charlotte exclaimed in shock. 

“Well nothing happened just now. I’d say they’re not much of a threat, just there to scare the locals when they’re isolated. Nothing we can’t handle!”

“So long as we ‘ave you and yer magic wand, we’re safe from a group of Gollums?” Becky teased.

“Hey, we’re Team TARDIS!” the Doctor proclaimed. “We can handle anything!”

The five continued walking through the streets, following the path as they had been doing for the past thirty minutes. It wasn’t clear where they were going, and any attempt to ask the Doctor exactly where they were heading was met with flippancy. 

More disturbingly, each of the four women could feel the hair on the back of their neck standing on end.

They were being watched.

“I don’t want us to panic, but I think we’re being followed,” Bayley said.

“Yeah, big fella has been following us for about twenty-six minutes now,” the Doctor said casually, “Roughly.”

“You mean you’ve noticed someone stalking us for half an hour, and you didn’t say anything?” Sasha hissed in outrage.

“Of course I didn’t notice someone stalking us half an hour ago!” the Doctor scoffed. “I noticed someone stalking us twenty-seven minutes ago.”

“Doctor…” Sasha growled.

“Alright yes,” he threw his hands up. “But he hasn’t made a move on us yet, and look at us,” he gestured to all five of them. “We’re all okay. So all things considered, I don’t see anything to worry about.”

“Hold on, that’s the one I saw earlier!” Charlotte gasped as she turned to look, seeing the familiar silhouette. Now that she’d seen the scaly creatures born of nightmares up close, she found that their stalker bore a startling resemblance to them. But unlike them, he was still walking, rather than crawling. She didn’t have long to ponder at that, as he darted behind a building after realising she’d spotted him.

“Yes, I was hoping that’s the chap,” the Doctor said. “But notice what’s different about him yet?”

“He’s hiding instead of coming straight at us like that group earlier,” Charlotte answered.

“Exactly!” the Doctor grinned. “Those ones that tried cornering us earlier were easily scared off, but that one seems more intelligent, hiding rather than running away. I think once we convince him we’re not going to hurt him, he might be more receptive than the ones we met earlier.”

“I’d hardly call being cornered by them ‘meeting them’,” Sasha argued.

“Semantics,” the Doctor huffed. “But I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere at this rate if we wait for him to come to us. Poor thing is clearly too scared to introduce himself. Let’s save him the trouble.”

Going along with the Doctor’s suggestion, the five of them held their breath as they hid along the side of a building. With the mystery stalker hiding every time he was spotted, it was unlikely he would come to them. They’d have to make him unwittingly come straight to them. That was why they had ducked beside the building, and stood backs to the wall instead of continuing down the side alley as the strange anomaly would no doubt expect.

The Doctor looked at his companions, and raised a finger to his lips. All four women understood the silent message as they heard footsteps quickly scampering closer.

“Hello!” the Doctor greeted warmly as a scaly head poked around the corner. The stalker immediately whimpered with wide eyes upon realising the trap, jumping backwards and hiding around the other side of the wall. “Hey hey, it’s okay,” the Doctor said as he slowly walked around the side, hands out in front of his chest with palms towards the terrified stalker in a calming gesture. “We’re not going to hurt you. We just want to talk.”

“Why would you want to talk to me?” he said in a surprisingly human sounding voice, unlike the nightmarish cackling of its kin. “I’m a monster.”

“We’ll be the judge of that,” the Doctor said, voice caught halfway between seriousness and light-heartedness. “You’ve had plenty of chances to report us back to your Dark Order buddies, but you didn’t. Why is that?”

“I’m…not one of them,” he said, slowly as though the simple act of speaking was taxing.

“Then who are you?” the Doctor asked, a small reassuring smile on his face.

“My name is…was…Colt. Colt…Cabana,” he spoke, drawing out his words as though he was struggling to recall them.

“Colt Cabana?” the Doctor repeated in an amused tone, dropping his humour-filled grin at the disapproving look shot by Bayley. “That’s a brilliant name.” A frown appeared on his face. “What do you mean, ‘was’?”

“Hold on, Colt Cabana?” Charlotte asked, remembering the familiar name, eyes widening as comprehension dawned on her. “You’re one of the missing!”

Colt nodded sadly. “That’s right. I…I was down on my luck, depressed. I saw the Dark Order recruitment ads all around town, and it felt like they were calling out to me. So I called them. That’s when-” he paused, shaking his head as though he was reliving a nightmare. He collected himself, swallowing before looking back up at them. “That’s when they found me.”

“What happens when they find you?” the Doctor pressed.

“They came to me, a big guy wearing some kind of mask. Another guy, slim with no hair on his head and a beard. They gave me…a necklace.”

“I take it wasn’t just jewellery as a joining incentive?” Becky joked.

Colt shook his head. “They told me it would allow me to hear the truth. So I put it on…and right away…I heard them.”

“Heard who?” Charlotte asked.

“Everyone.”

“What do you mean?” the Doctor asked with a frown.

“I heard the voices of everyone around me, without moving their mouths. Ridiculing me, taunting me, making jokes about every single thing about me. The way I looked, the way I dressed. People I knew, people I’d never met before.”

“That’s horrible,” Bayley whispered, her eyes shining with sadness.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. It was both a curse and a blessing.”

“How could that be a blessing?” Becky asked, in a rare moment of seriousness. Even she understood that his predicament was not one to make light of.

“Because I heard the truth,” Colt explained. “What everyone really thought about me. The truth is often a bitter pill to swallow, but at least it can be trusted.” A deep frown furrowed his scaly brow. “But that doesn’t make it any easier. If I thought I was sad before, that was nothing to how I felt afterwards. So I did what I thought was the only sane option I had left. I sought out the Dark Order. I still wish I hadn’t.”

“Did you find them?” Sasha asked, unable to stop herself instead of letting him tell his story unprompted.

“I did,” Colt nodded. “Instead of welcoming me with open arms like they said they would, I was restrained by those minions. Strapped up and forced to watch as another…” he trailed off in thought, as though reaching for a word that might prove somewhat accurate, “…applicant went through the conversion process.” He closed his eyes tight, shaking his head as he relived the painful memory. “I watched as they killed her. Dead on the slab after her body convulsed, her motionless eyes staring back at me. Her skin had changed, from red flesh to dark green scales. Dead…at first.”

“At first?” the Doctor asked, worry lines creasing his brow.

“They zapped her corpse again, and then she was alive once more. Only this time…she was different. Her eyes darted around, as though she was a wild animal. She lunged at me, until they pulled her back and calmed her down. But that’s when I found out I was next.”

“I’m assuming things didn’t go to plan?” the Doctor asked.

Colt shook his head in confirmation. “The machinery overloaded while I was halfway through. My body had transformed, but I still felt free will. I wasn’t lost to animalistic urges like she had been. I managed to escape, but there was a cost.”

“What cost?” Charlotte asked, crouching down to look closer into his eyes, a sympathetic expression on her face.

“I’m an outcast. Even more so than I already was. If anyone sees me, they’d either run in terror or try to kill me. But not just that…my mind is not whole.”

“What do you mean?” Sasha asked.

“I’m not the same Colt I was. It’s hard…every day trying to hang on. My mind wants to follow, to give in and become one of them. I keep fighting, but I can feel myself losing the battle.”

“In what way?” Bayley asked.

“There are times where I feel nothing but hate, a need to lash out at whoever I see. That’s why I try to keep my distance, no matter how desperate I am to see my family again. I can feel a pull. Back to them.”

“Got to give it to them, that’s one hell of a conditioning system,” the Doctor thought aloud. “They seek out maligned people and drive them to hate by emptying them of any positive thoughts around them. Ooh, that’s clever.” The Doctor almost sounded impressed, something that did not sit right with one person in particular.

“Hey!” Bayley snapped, face tinged with anger at the Doctor’s insensitivity. “We are not giving them brownie points for being evil geniuses.”

“Oh Bayley, only by understanding them can we work out how to stop them,” the Doctor countered, causing her to snap her mouth shut. He turned to face Colt again. “So,” he clapped his hands together to gain everybody’s attention. “Colt, we need you to show us where the Dark Order parties.”

Colt shook his head fiercely, black pupils filling with inky fear.

“Where they live,” the Doctor corrected himself, believing potentially unfamiliar vocabulary to be the problem.

Another sharp head shake.

“Convalesces?”

It was clear by the look of sheer horror on Colt’s face that lack of understanding wasn’t the problem at all.

“No, I can’t,” Colt’s voice trembled with terror. “I won’t.” He looked down to the floor, his body beginning to rock back and forth. 

“Why not?” Charlotte asked. When she didn’t get an answer, she gently placed a hand on his forearm, snapping his attention to her. She gave him a smile. “Hey, it’s okay.”

That seemed to work to calm him down enough to speak again. “I can’t go back to…to…to….him.”

“Does ‘him’ have a name?” the Doctor asked. Colt’s head shook wildly.

“I only saw him once. And that’s when I ran.” Colt took a moment to collect himself enough to deliver a final warning. “No matter what…you must never let him in.”

A series of blood-curdling shrieks then filled the air, echoing closer and closer.

“They’re here,” Colt gasped in horror before jumping to his feet and taking off. 

“Colt no, don’t run!” the Doctor shouted before giving chase. In his haste, he neglected to ensure that his four companions were right behind him. Something he wouldn’t realise until it was too late.

“Doctor, wait!” Bayley yelled before her vision was consumed by a horde of the Dark Order minions, forming a tight wall between them and the way Colt and the Doctor had run.

“This way!” Charlotte called, taking off the only way not currently blocked off by the minions. She ran away from the street towards the nearby forest.

The other three followed the tall athletic blonde, her long legs carrying her away to freedom. Or so she thought. 

She was forced to stop short as she rounded a tree, a Dark Order minion waiting for her. The other three skidded to an abrupt halt behind her. The pause allowed more of the minions to pour in from every direction, until they were surrounded once again.

They were trapped, and there was no way out.

“Oh, you have got to be freakin’ kidding me!” Becky exclaimed as the minions encircled them. There were far too many for them to fight and survive.

“What do we do now?” Charlotte asked, her voice trembling with fear as the four women moved closer in on each other.

“You guys could always throw yourself in as bait so I can escape?” Sasha supplied unhelpfully, though her snark was nullified somewhat by the fearful shake in her voice.

“Hey, Sonic the Bitchhog!” Becky turned her attention to Sasha. “Screw you!”

There was no time for crossed words, not when the devilish creatures were crawling closer and closer. The four women were surrounded once again. Only this time, they didn’t have a Sonic Screwdriver to scare them off with. The unsettling, ghoulish Dark Order minions swarmed them, outnumbering them twenty to four. And more and more were approaching.

“Get off of me!” Sasha yelled as the minions got close enough to grab her. She kicked out at the ones scrambling towards her, a sick cracking sound ringing out as her knee made brutal contact with one of them in the face, sending it crumbling to the ground.

Charlotte threw a hard fist at one of the creatures which made a grab for her. While that one in particular stumbled away, clutching its face while screeching in pain, three more moved close enough to hold her arms still and twist them up her back. While Charlotte roared in a combination of fury, fear and pain at the rough bend of her arms, the numbers game had caught up to them. They were done for. 

“Hey! Get yer hands offa me ya spooky little weirdos!” Becky shouted, trying to jerk her arms free of the scaly claws maintaining a firm hold, to no success.

Backed up against a tree, Bayley ducked and dove out of the way, desperately pleading with them to stop. When that didn’t work, she threw an elbow. Unfortunately, she’d wasted too much time in trying to negotiate. They’d gotten close enough to block her elbow, grabbing it out of harms way before it could connected with any of them.

All four of them were now restrained. Despite how much they struggled, still trying to fight their way out of their trapped predicament, the minions were simply too numerous to let me escape. Each of the four women were being held by at least six minions each, with more close by to ensure they could not break free. Their protests were muffled as cloth bags were yanked down over each of their heads, encasing them in darkness.

Against the strength in numbers and bound in the dark, the four women were helpless to resist as they were dragged away.

Chapter Text

The Doctor knew he’d made a terrible mistake. In a lapse of judgment, he’d allowed himself to lose sight of what was important. Instead of choosing to keep his companions safe from the horde of nightmarish creepers cornering them, he’d chosen to run off after the only anomaly they’d found: a creeper with only a partial conversion. And even that seemed to have been foolish to the extreme.

“Stupid old Doctor!” the Doctor cursed himself in a whisper. “How monumentally stupid can I possibly get?”

Colt was certainly a master of hide and seek. Despite having had him in plain sight, the friendly - yet traumatised - man had managed to evade him, using the cover of darkness.

And as he continued looking around, the Doctor had not only lost the only one who could help him find his companions, but it was his fault that they needed rescuing. 

In a moment, everything had gone from hopeful to disastrous on every level.

He was just about to give up hope of finding the elusive Colt Cabana, when his keen ears picked up the sound of a tin can being knocked in an adjacent alley. 

“Colt!” the Doctor hissed as he rounded the corner, finding the very man he’d been searching for, on the verge of running off again. “Please, don’t run. I need your help. Now more than ever.”

“I can’t,” Colt shook his head. “I can’t go back there. Not if it means going anywhere near…him again.”

“Look, Colt, I understand. Really I do,” the Doctor said softly, sliding down to sit beside the crouched man. The Doctor clapped Colt on the back as he sat. Lukcily, it seemed to help to reassure him. At least, enough to stay and listen. 

“When things are tough, life has a way of getting you down. But you know, when you’ve been brought low, the only place to go is up. Now, I understand that you’re scared, and that’s okay. That’s good. It’s how you know what you’re doing matters. But my friends are in terrible danger. And unless you help me find where they were taken…” he trailed off, trying to shut off the myriad of horrifying possibilities playing out in his mind. “I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen to them. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not going to be good.

The Doctor paused, mental images of potential scenarios flitting through his mind. All leading to the same, tragic end for his friends. But as he wasted no time in reminding himself, now was not the time for ‘what ifs’. He would save them. No ‘ifs’ about it. There was no chance he would let anything happen to them. They were in his care, and he would never forgive himself if he let anything happen to them due to his own carelessness.  With renewed focus, he turned to give his full attention to Colt.

“What they did to you was horrific, and should never have happened. But time is running out, and you know exactly where the Dark Order’s camp is. My friends shouldn’t even be here. I was selfish enough to bring them. I couldn’t guarantee their safety and I can’t guarantee yours. But please, help me save them.”

“But Doctor, it’s too late-“

“And once this is over, we can see about undoing what they did to you.”

Any further protests died on Colt’s mutated lips. The newfound light shining in the survivor’s eyes was unmistakable. A light that hadn’t been present before.

Hope.

Sasha had no idea how long her tired limbs had been dragged along for the ride against her will, her assailants prodding and forcing her along. She’d heard the muffled protests of the others, their shoes dragging across the ground alongside hers. Her arms screamed out in protest from being handled so roughly.

Eventually she came to a stop, her abductors no longer forcing her along. She stumbled to catch herself, yet the tight grip of scaly claws on her forearms prevented her from falling completely.

Her eyes struggled to adjust after the bag was pulled from her head, her vision swimming. She blinked, and made out the burning torchlight around the camp.

“Strap them in,” called a gruff voice. Sasha felt herself roughly shoved until her back slammed against a metal apparatus. The cackling creepers swarmed around her, forcing metal restraints to clamp over her wrists and ankles.

She turned her head to see her companions suffering the same fate.

“Hey gang!” Becky grinned from the end as she turned to look at the rest of them, despite the smile not reaching her eyes. “If we’re all gonna be horribly murdered, at least we can do it together.”

“God, give me strength to deal with her bullshit,” Sasha hissed through clenched teeth.

“Hey, they even let Dory in!” Becky teased, a familiar smirk settling over her features.

“Screw you, Nemo!” Sasha shot back with vitriol. “You’re just as big of a clown as the fish.”

“Silence!” the same gruff voice roared from earlier. They all turned to see the voice’s owner. A true mountain of a man, with a long, dark beard stretching from below his nose down to his chest. Dressed in an elaborate white trench coat, they could see that his fingers ended in tremendously sharp-looking claws. He towered over his subordinates on either side. 

To his left stood a shorter, yet imposing bald man with a not - quite as impressive - beard, a strange symbol tattooed on his face.

To the giant’s right stood a smaller man in height, but not in girth. His squat stature was imposing, and he wore a mask on his head, the same colour as the skin of the creepers. These two accomplices would appear to be the same men that Colt had mentioned originally approaching him.

“You have been gathered here today, for acceptance into the Dark Order,” the tall man boomed, his voice reverberating around the clearing. “I am the Exalted One, and soon you shall join the ranks of those who brought you here,” he jeered.

“I ain’t joinin’ nothin’ until you tell me about the welcome package!” Becky shouted as she struggled, rattling her restraints to no avail.

“Your welcome package, Ms. Lynch-“ he started with a disturbing calmness.

“How’d you know my name?” Becky demanded.

“-is to achieve acceptance!” the Exalted One continued as though his spiel hadn’t been interrupted. He turned to look at each of them. “Ms. Martinez, Ms. Flair, Ms. Banks. You have all been selected.”

“I don’t remember signing up for this,” Sasha sassed.

“Enough insolence!” he raised his voice before bringing it back down again, unnervingly so. “It is the destiny of all to join the Dark Order,” he said, spreading his arms wide and tilting his head to look at the sky.

“Bit pompous,” Charlotte whispered. Her comment was met with a chuckle from Becky and a judgemental eyebrow raise from Sasha.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Sasha hissed. Their attention was drawn to the Exalted One, who had begun a deep, rumbling laughter at the exchange. “What’s so funny?” Sasha asked.

“Dissension in the ranks already.” He narrowed his eyes menacingly. “But I wonder how much worse it would get if you could really hear what each of you thinks of the other?”

The Exalted One nodded to his two accomplices, and each of them presented a pair of necklaces in plain view. The implications were made immediately known, each of the four women’s faces turning to horror as they realised what those necklaces were. They were the exact same necklaces which Colt Cabana had described as being both a blessing and a curse.

“You can’t mean-” Bayley asked, voice trembling.

“Oh, I see you already recognise them!” the Exalted One chuckled. “How clever of you!” Condescension dripped from his every word. “Then you don’t need me to explain what they do? That they’ll allow you to hear each other’s darkest, truest thoughts like poison from their very mouths?” The words were posed as questions, but it was clear from the gleam in his eyes that he was enjoying taunting them further. 

“No-no, get it away from me!” Charlotte cried out as the taller of the two subordinates inched closer, extending the pendant. Her struggles got her nowhere, the metal restrains biting further into her flesh the more she tried to wiggle her limbs free. She was helpless as her head was jerked roughly forward and the necklace slipped over.

Sasha was having the same experience, except she was thrashing far more wildly. She struggled so fiercely that the girthier alien summoned a creeper just to keep her still, in order to slip the necklace around her neck.

They all struggled, but it was for naught. All four of them ended up with a necklace around their neck, pendant resting against their chest.

“Now!” the Exalted One snapped loudly to get their attention. He bore a sadistic smile. “If any of you were naïve enough to think each of you did any more than tolerate one another, I hope you can handle the truth. I can see it in your eyes. You loathe one another! And now, the time has come to reveal the truth.” 

It was only then that they realised he was holding a black rectangle, bearing physical similarities to a lighter. On the top was a red button. It wouldn’t take much to work out what the device was.

He stabbed a claw down onto the trigger button, and instantly each of the women felt a split-second implosion of pain in their minds. Adrenaline suddenly kicked in, like they’d each drank an entire jar of coffee.

“Holy shit, what the heck did big guy give us?” they each heard Becky’s recognisable voice in their minds. But they looked at her quizzically, seeing her mouth unmoving, beside a small parting of the lips to allow short, quick breaths in and out. Definitely not enough motion for such clear speech, unless she was secretly a world-class ventriloquist. “That’s one way to wake a lass up!” It was then that Becky turned her head to see the others staring at her. “What’s ponytail starin’ at me for?” was clearly aimed at Bayley.

“Becky, we can hear you,” Charlotte cleared up in the telepathic conversation. “Did you not listen to what he said these necklaces were?”

“Honestly lass, my brain is occupied comin’ up with killer puns.”

“Too bad they’re wasted then. Your jokes are the worst,” Sasha sniped, sounding just as judgemental and scathing as she did aloud. “I can think of a million better uses for your single brain cell-”

“Guys, we do NOT have time for this!” Bayley’s rational voice cut in. “We need to come up with a plan for getting out of here.”

Their telepathic conversation was cut short by the Exalted One. “Now that you’ve had time to adjust, now is time to apply the truth!” His claw stabbed down at a button on the side of the trigger unit.

The split-second of pain was felt in their minds once more, except this time it felt more than an explosion than an implosion.

“Hear how much each of you hates the other!” the Exalted One taunted.

They all expected the very worst. Their adventures so far had not only been fraught with danger from nefarious creatures, but there had been another antagonist, ever-present: each other.

Despite repeated urging, the tense atmosphere between the four relative strangers had only been exacerbated with time. While Bayley and Charlotte had not exactly traded any crossed words, their relationship was awkward at best. 

With friendships not having formed in the time they’d spent together, the dangerous adventures they’d spent together, it would only make sense for their truest thoughts to reveal a strong dislike between the four stubborn women. Suspicions definitely were redundant when it came to Becky and Sasha - whose barbs had only grown more scathing over time.

Sasha in particular, seemed to hold an irrational level of disdain for each of the other three. It seemed almost a foregone conclusion that Sasha would have some strong words of hatred for the three women she begrudgingly joined the TARDIS alongside.

That is why Becky, Charlotte and Bayley were all shocked beyond words they could formulate in their minds when they heard Sasha’s voice in their head. “I don’t actually dislike any of you. Not even Becky.” Her voice sounded small and insecure, unlike the confident and brash woman she had presented herself as. Sasha herself looked surprised, as though she didn’t mean to think that. But true to the nature of the device around her neck, she couldn’t stop herself from pouring out her soul. 

“I have trust issues. Past experiences of being let down taught me that the only person I can rely on is myself. Everyone is going to stab me in the back eventually, so I put up walls to protect myself. And then I try to get there first. I poke, push, and prod everyone I meet until they prove me right. I’ve kept at it because you guys have kept on proving me wrong.” They heard Sasha let out a bitter chuckle. “Messed up, I know. But I hate talking about my feelings. And it’s better that way than putting my trust in the wrong person and ending up hurt.” 

She then turned to look into Bayley’s eyes. “Especially you. You’re exactly the kind of person I wished I could be, before life forced me to become hard. You’re too good to be true. So, I’ve got to test you to make sure it isn’t.”

“But Sasha,” Bayley’s calm, soft voice spoke in their minds. “Now that you can hear my thoughts, you know that’s not the case.”

“I do. Just know that I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you. All of you. Now I know the truth.” Sasha’s voice sounded choked up, quivering with raw emotion. So soft it was almost a whisper. It was clear that now she’d started, she couldn’t stop. It wasn’t her choice to broadcast her purest thoughts, but Sasha couldn’t help but feel like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

The others noticed Sasha’s eyes shining with tears threatening to be shed. Unbeknownst to them, the Exalted One was watching them closely, and mistook Sasha’s falling tears for successfully drawing the darkness out of her for the others to hear. He pointed the remote to Charlotte, and her time had come.

“You all think I’m arrogant and uptight,” Charlotte’s voice echoed in the minds of the other three. “But I’m not. Not intentionally. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. But, I am envious of the three of you. I want to be fun and carefree like you are. Especially you Becky, you’re never scared, even when I’m terrified out of my freaking mind. I want to be as fearless as you are. You guys take risks without a second thought. I’ve never been that way. But I want to be. I’m working on it.”

“If you think I’m not scared, yer dead wrong,” Becky’s dulcet tones rung in their heads. “Tha’s why I make jokes all the time. To keep the atmosphere nice an’ light to keep me distracted. Because this life, it’s bloody terrifyin’! But I wouldn’t have it any other way. An’ if you guys see me as the fool, then so be it.” She then turned to face the blue-haired Bostonian. “Sasha, yer freakin’ annoying.” Her lips then curved in a smile. “But in a fun way.” Sasha chuckled through the lump in her throat, sharing a small smile of her own.

“See?” the Exalted One’s voice boomed, pointing a claw between the pair. “The Dark Order is all about bonding over shared malice towards others!” 

Another incorrection assumption, but none of the women were going to let on. For the final “victim”, Bayley was last up.

“I look at you guys,” she spoke in the minds of the other three. “And I wish I could be as bold as you three. I’ve always tried to see the good in everyone, but this just proves that it doesn’t always work out. I couldn’t negotiate with the Cybermen, the Weeping Angels, and it doesn’t look like I can here either. You three are such badasses, and I want to be more like that. Less naïve, capable of doing what needs to be done to keep the universe safe. Because as I’m finding out, resolving conflict between workplace bullies is a lot less risky than murderous aliens.”

With their hearts unwittingly poured out to one another, all four women turned to share looks of understanding. It had taken a while, but now they knew what each other truly felt. It would be a heartfelt moment, if it weren’t for the fact that they were still strapped in, and about to be drained for some nefarious purpose. If this was to be the end, at least they knew that there was no true resentment between them.

Their attention was snapped by murmurings from the assorted Dark Order creepers.

“Let him in!” 

The chant grew and grew, every member in unison, from the minions to the Exalted One. 

“Let him in!”

The air began to crackle and thrum with building energy. It soon became more like a scene straight out of a horror movie, as the women saw a blue light pulled from the chests of various Dark Order minions, towards an empty archway opposite them. 

“Let him in!”

As they began to individually slump motionless to the floor, it became clear rather quickly what was happening; they were having the life force sucked out of them to feed the gate. And entirely willingly, it seemed. Every Dark Order member had their arms outstretched, cackling with a look of mad glee on their face.

“Let him in!”

Even the mighty Exalted One was no exception, finally falling as the last surviving Dark Order member in the camp. 

There was an almighty crack reverberating around the clearing, and they watched as the empty archway exploded into a swirling nebula of energy. A deep purple, with hints of blue and hints of red. The blood red quickly overtook to become the dominant colour, swallowing the purples and blues.

“LET ME IN!” The growling voice rumbled loudly around the clearing, seemingly emanating from the archway itself.

A sharp gasp escaped Charlotte’s mouth as a clenched fist stuck its way from the swirling mass, materialising from nowhere. On the back of the blackened skin was the word ‘Hurt’. A second fist punched through to join, this time with the word ‘Heal’ tattooed.

The face that peered through was born straight from a nightmare. His blood red eyes were sunken, though appeared to be staring right into their souls. The skin around the eyes and going down the sides of his head down to his Cheshire Cat grin was black, with a blood red outline. The rest of his face was bone white. Everything about him screamed evil, down to the exceedingly sharp point of his nose, like it had been whittled down that way. His knotted, dirty strands of yellowed hair fell down around his head, sprouting like tentacles.

Black, spiky boots slammed down to crush the leaves as his full body stepped fully from the portal. He wore pinstriped back and red trousers, like a sinister clown. A black tank top covered his wide torso, exposing the rough, jagged bone white skin of his neck and a portion of his upper chest. The ensemble was capped off by a long black leather jacket, the pointed coattails swishing around as he stalked menacingly towards them.

It wasn’t a normal walk. The evil creature had his neck tilted to the side, hunched forward as he stepped closer. He slowly extended a hand out to them, fingers all pushed together with the thumb outstretched, as though he was ready to wrap his hand around their throats.

Without speaking a single word, the nefarious monster was powerful enough to reduce them to horrified silence, watching his every movement yet feeling powerless to act. It was as if he’d captured them under some kind of spell, compelling them to remain still as much as every fibre of their being screamed out to escape.

“If this is how we’re goin’ ta go, at least we’re goin’ together,” Becky’s voice sounded in their head, deadly serious. “Fer what it’s worth, I couldn’t ‘ave chosen a better group ‘o lasses to die with.”

No sooner had the words been heard, than the sinister being was jerked back, crying out in the most terrifying way possible. It was as though he was in pain. But how?

The air he had been knocked back from shimmered, as though he had slammed into some kind of forcefield. The grin that formed across their faces at the sight of their enemy weakened quickly fell as he shook it off, advancing again. This time he managed to get past the forcefield, only a couple of feet away from them.

‘"uys, I think I’ve got it!” Charlotte’s voice sounded hurriedly, as though she was trying to get it across as quickly as possible, with the demonic being approaching. “Quick, think positive thoughts!”

“Like what?” The quiver in Sasha’s voice betrayed her panic.

“About each other!” Charlotte quickly explained. “Don’t you get it? As soon as Becky thought about being glad to die alongside us, he was pushed back! If I’m right, he can’t get to us while we’re thinking them.”

A nefarious hand inched closer, so close the word “Hurt” was right in front of Bayley’s eyes. Fingertips stretched closer towards her throat, so close that the frightened woman began to softly whimper.

“Bayley, I like your side ponytail!” Sasha quickly thought, desperate to think of anything that might stop the fiendish monster. “You’re not childish for wearing it, you’re brave for not caring what others might think!”

The monster roared as if in pain, this time taking his head in both of his hands while his body was yanked backwards by an unseen force. He came to a stop several feet away before straightening up and continuing his terrifying march.

The four women exchanged glances, now fully understanding what needed to be done.

“Becky, I love your jokes, the stupider the better!” Charlotte said telepathically. “They help keep me calm.”

The demonic creature was clearly struggling. He was now taking significantly longer to move his legs, as though bogged down by some unseen weight. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be stopping him from trying. The twisted being kept moving towards them.

Bayley was next, looking at the blue-haired woman beside her. “Your passion for life is inspiring Sasha, and makes me want to be more adventurous.” 

The evil creature roared, now rooted in place and unable to proceed.

“Charlotte, yer built like a freakin’ amazon!” Becky proclaimed, causing the blonde to chuckle both in her mind and out loud. “But you got the brains to think yer way out of any situation, and we wouldn’t be doin’ this without you.”

This time the demonic entity shrieked in pain, bowing his head to clutch at the top, tugging at the knotted, dirty strands of hair.

Amid the sounds, the sound of rapidly approaching, thudding footsteps grew louder. The crunching of leaves and snapping of twigs sounded like someone was hurrying towards them.

Right on cue, the familiar form of the Doctor came into view, accompanied by Colt Cabana. The Doctor’s purple frock coat swished as he skidded to a stop, the metal chain of the pocket watch on his waistcoat jingling.

“Ladies, you’re all alright!” he exclaimed, sighing with relief before turning to look at the monstrous being currently being held in place by something unseen, his relieved grin falling. “Oh, sorry to interrupt your feast, but I’m here to let you know that these four,” he gestured behind him, “are not on the menu.”

He pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver from his inside pocket and flicked it open before pointing it at the devilish creature.

“Now, back into the wormhole you climbed out of,” the Doctor said in a threateningly low voice before activating his trusty device, the familiar buzzing reverberating around the clearing.

The fiendish demon bellowed as he was pushed back by the invisible forcefield, dirty hair flying about in the wind, the Sonic working to increase the power of the pushback. As his hulking body reached the frames of the archway, he grabbed onto the sides, grip tightening. 

But it was not enough. 

He roared again as the force became too great, sending him back into the abyss, his body disappearing before them.

The Doctor didn’t stop there, tracing the shape of the archway with the Sonic. The swirling mass collapsed in on itself before producing a white flash of light, and then it was gone. The archway was just an empty frame once more.

“What are you four doing standing about?” the Doctor chided playfully as he rushed back to them, using his Sonic to undo their metal restraints. “Come on!”

After all four women were released from their bonds, something happened that had never happened before. Overwhelmed by their brush with death, and now safe in the knowledge that they each truly cared for one another, their enlightenment brought them together in a group hug. They were just happy to be alive.

Completely oblivious, the Doctor had strode a few paces until he noticed his companions were not following, skidding to a halt. 

“Come on, what are you- oh, you’re having a moment, aren’t you?”

The Doctor couldn’t help but grin at the sight in front of him, happy to just stand and see the bonds developing before his eyes. 

“We did it,” Charlotte whispered softly to the three women she was sharing the group embrace with.

It was all over.

The menace which had plagued the city had been vanquished, and the people would now be safe to walk the streets at night again. Safe from the threat of being stalked by ghoulish creatures waiting to serve them up to the fiendish entity who was now banished from returning. 

While the Doctor could not reverse Colt’s physical conversion, he was able to break the mental connection to the Dark Order’s vile, insidious propaganda. No longer would he feel the pull to return to them. He was free, now with the option of safely returning to family life.

But taking that vital step was proving to be a mental block for him.

“I can’t,” Colt shook his head as the Doctor encouraged him to take the final few steps up to his own front door. 

“Why not?” Becky challenged.

“Look at me,” Colt gestured to his scaled skin - a physical attribute he did not previously have. “I’m a monster.”

“That’s not true at all,” Sasha said. “No, the real monsters were the Dark Order.”

“She won’t want to see me. Not like this,” Colt dismissed. “Neither of them.”

“Trust me,” Bayley placed a gentle hand on his arm in reassurance. “They’re desperate to have you back. Sure, they might take some getting used to what you look like now. But that won’t matter.”

“Go on,”  Charlotte nodded towards the house with an encouraging smile. “You can do it.”

True to their advice, Colt’s wife was indeed pleased to be reunited with her husband. Despite initially dropping her jaw in shock, she soon yanked him into a loving embrace, thrilled to have him back. And the joy of child and parent reuniting served as a stark reminder of pure moments which the five women were privileged to witness on alien planets such as this one.

Back on board the TARDIS, the Doctor was busy in the bowels of the ship, tending to the inner workings of what made the blue box go. This left the four women in the control room, talking openly for the first time.

“…and when he was pushed back, did you see the look on his face? Who knew an all-powerful, spooky demonic cult leader could look so scared?” 

Roaring laughter soon filled the room at the shared triumphant memory. It wasn’t that the face of mockery that Becky pulled to accompany her assessment of the terrifying entity they’d managed to vanquish was particularly hilarious. No, the laughter was more an expression of how full of joy they were to not only have survived, but survived together. When they had first stepped foot on that planet, none of them had expected the experience to bring them closer together than any of them had thought possible. Genuine care for one another was in the air, for the very first time since they’d joined the Doctor on his travels.

“You know what today made me realise?” Bayley asked after the laughter had died down.

“What?” Sasha asked, for the first time speaking to the Latina without a single hint of disdain. Instead of her usual scowl, she was smiling. 

“That we need to start trusting each other. We’re all on this crazy ride together, and today proved that if we’re united, nothing can stop us.”

“Agreed, but let’s get one thing straight,” Sasha replied, her expression hardening. 

“What’s that lass?” Becky asked with curiosity.

“We are not friends,” Sasha said definitively, cutting a single finger through the air to illustrate her point.

“No,” Becky agreed without the slightest bit of resistance.

“But I’m going to try to be,” Sasha said, extending her palm into the centre of the space between the four women. One by one, each joined hers in the circle. A non-verbal agreement to be a united front on their dangerous adventures. 

Gaining an understanding of how each of them felt both about themselves and each other had opened their eyes to the truth, parting the clouds of tension which had sullied their judgment. If that day had taught them anything, together they were unstoppable.

Chapter Text

She was back in the clutches of the Dark Order.

It was happening again.

Just when she thought she was out of the woods, she’d been caught and dragged back to that nefarious forest clearing, strapped once again to the cold steel of the metal frame biting at her wrists, the nightmarish forms of the Dark Order creepers cackling and crawling away. 

As she looked up, she found that it wasn’t the Exalted One “welcoming” them into the Dark Order. Instead, it was a woman from her past.

Except, she wasn’t exactly as Sasha remembered. She was twisted.

Alexa Bliss. A woman who Sasha had made the mistake of letting her guard down for after years of hesitant trust, reminding her with a particularly painful lesson that she should never trust anyone but herself ever again.

She had seemed perfectly pleasant when Sasha had met her. With a bubbly personality and affable nature, Alexa had drawn her in, seemingly eager to make friends with Sasha. Just when Sasha let her guard down enough for her to worm her way in, that’s when the petite woman showed her true colours, the snake that she was. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. She set about sabotaging Sasha’s relatively few friendships and ended up almost costing Sasha her job at the dog shelter.

Sasha had learned that day that it was not worth letting anyone else in again. She built up her emotional walls, encasing herself in a cocoon radiating doubt and self-reliance to keep anyone from daring to look inside.

But now, Alexa looked completely different to how she did in Sasha’s memories. Instead of the long blonde hair ending with blue tips, her hair was tied up in pigtails, with pink strands trailing down. She didn’t seem to be spending quite as much time in a tanning salon anymore, taking on a much paler hue. 

But her eyes were the biggest shock. They looked sunken in, rings of cracked, black skin all around both sockets. Her pupils were solid white, devoid of any other colour. The end result was something inhuman and bone-shakingly terrifying.

It was all capped off with a menacing, twisted grin. The demonic Bliss threw her head back and opened her mouth wide as she began to cackle, insanity taking over.

The wormhole burst back into life, a swirling, terrifying mix of ethereal purples and blues, once again eaten up by red. A blood red which once again spat out the demonic form, that evil monster who had found her again. Clad in familiar red and black pinstriped trousers, dirty blonde dreadlocks like tendrils, face bone white with a blood red outlined Cheshire Cat grin.

As Alexa’s demented cackles continued to pierce Sasha’s ears, she struggled to free herself from her restraints, to no avail. That Fiend continued to reach his blackened hand towards her, determined to make her one of his mindless minions.

In the midst of her struggle, Sasha turned her head to the side to be met with a horrifying sight.

Unmoving, faces pale in the absence of life were the unmistakable corpses of her fellow companions. Bayley, Becky and Charlotte, all tied to their restraints. Lifeless.

“You killed them,” the demon’s voice growled in accusation. “They trusted you to help them, but you couldn’t trust them enough to work together.”

She could see the word “Hurt” etched into his scorched skin on the back of his hand, outstretching its claws toward her, the nightmarish fiend stalker closer and closer towards her.

“LET ME IN!” the monster growled, as the demoness Bliss’ cackles continued to fill the air. Sasha tried and tried to free herself, reaching the very limits of her terror.

But she could not escape.

“No! No!”

Sasha awoke a gasping, sweating mess. It took a good few seconds of panicked breaths until she looked around her bedroom, her sleep-addled mind finally calming down enough to recognise she wasn’t any danger. She was safe and sound aboard the TARDIS.

Yet after a nightmare like that, sleep was far from where she wanted to drift.

Sasha threw off the covers, wrinkling her nose at the way her sleep clothes clung to her skin, damp with sweat. She was definitely in need of a shower before she dared sleep again.

Putting on a pair of fluffy slippers, Sasha promptly left her bedroom and made her way down the TARDIS corridor. She breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the empty control room, the room feeling large enough to hold all of her sorrows and insecurities. The general background hum of the working, frankly wonderful time machine worked as a point of familiarity to soothe her racing heart. The beautiful blue-green glow shining from the central column to project all around was a sight for sore eyes.

Sasha walked up the stairs towards the central console, the gentle glow from the central column beckoning her closer. As soon as she reached it, she bent down, resting her sweaty forehead against the soothingly cold metal panel. She exhaled a long breath, relieved to be back with comfortable familiarity. 

“Can’t sleep?”

Sasha jumped back up and out of her skin when she turned to find that she was followed. Damn, just when she thought she’d gotten her nerves back under control.

“Bayley? What are you doing up?”

“I heard you get up in a panic, so I thought I’d check on you.”

“Not as stealthy as I thought, huh?” Sasha joked with a tiny smile.

“Not tonight, Banks,” Bayley chuckled before her expression turned back to one of utter sympathy, brows knitted together with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Why?”

Bayley looked stunned by the simple question, brow furrowed in perplexion. “Why…what?”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I, and that’s exactly my point.”

Sasha took a moment to turn away, groaning with mental discomfort at the very thought of putting what she was thinking into words. It was definitely going to be uncomfortable to speak. But it was the only way for Bayley to understand exactly why she had to ask. She was just going to have to be honest and open, as much as the very idea filled her with revulsion.

“I was nothing but mean to you since the moment we met. I was a bitch, okay? How are you being so nice to me right now? Is there something you want from me? Is that it? Because-“

Bayley placed firm yet comforting hands on Sasha’s shoulders, forcing the panicking woman to focus on her. The gesture worked to halt her spiral. “Sasha, breathe.” 

Bayley coached the younger woman back to a calmer place, taking long, deep breaths in and out, measured until Sasha’s breathing petered out to something far more resembling normality.

Eventually, Bayley spoke again. “Have you already forgotten that I’ve been inside your head?”

“Well no, but-“

“And by the same token, you’ve been in mine. You know there’s no ulterior motive I’m hiding from you. I’m being nice to you because I’ve heard from your own thoughts what kind of person you are. Yeah, you were rude as hell, and you’ve definitely got some groveling to do to fix that.” Bayley grinned cheekily at Sasha, a display of levity which helped greatly in lighting the atmosphere. But beyond that, the fact that Bayley was catering specifically to make her feel better helped convince Sasha of her sincerity. 

“But underneath that harsh exterior, there’s a good person buried under all that bravado. I only hoped before, but now I know she’s there. You just have to let her out instead of locking her away. Be the real you.” 

By this point, Sasha’s eyes glittered with emotion, unshed tears beginning to form at the heartfelt words from a woman who had no requirement to be so kind to her, yet was doing so anyway, out of the goodness of her own heart. A heart which Sasha now knew was one hundred percent pure.

Sasha sniffled, looking away to hide just how touched she was. As good as her acting skills were, there would be no concealing just how much Bayley’s unwarranted care was affecting her. 

Getting her emotions back in check, Sasha turned to find Bayley looking expectantly at her. It occurred to her how far Bayley’s kindness extended, waiting patiently until Sasha was ready to continue.

“Have I mentioned how much I hate how wise you are?” Sasha chuckled shakily after a loud sniffle, her eyes shining with tears, a deliberate attempt to lighten the mood and tone the emotional vulnerability down.

“Mhm, I think I can stand to hear you say how wise I am some more.” Bayley grinned. “And right now, it seems like you’re desperately in need of a hug,” Bayley smiled, opening her arms wide in an open, warm gesture.

“Ew dude, no. I’m all sweaty and gross,” Sasha protested, crinkling her nose in disgust as she could feel the dampness radiating off the pores of her skin. “Trust me, you don’t want to hug me right now.”

“On the outside, yeah you are,” Bayley said, eliciting a giggle from Sasha. “But not on the inside. And that’s what counts. So c’mere.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Sasha stepped forward to accept the embrace. With the few inches of height difference Bayley had on the smaller woman, Sasha rested her chin on Bayley’s shoulder, resulting in some of the sweat dampening her mess of blue hair transferring onto the side of Bayley’s face. Yet if the eager hugger had a problem with that, she didn’t show it.

It had been a long time since Sasha had let someone hug her so intimately, allowing herself to sink into the arms of another without holding her cards close to her chest. Usually if she (often reluctantly) accepted a hug, it was a quick affair, pulling away eagerly at the earliest opportunity. But no, she just stayed there happily for several seconds, the two women comforting one another in a moment of raw vulnerability on a rare occasion of downtime. An interlude in their adventures. Life aboard the TARDIS was crazy, one adrenaline-fuelled, fear-stricken - yet thrilling - adventure after the next. But here and now, they were just two young women, taking the first steps towards what was sure to be a lasting friendship.

It didn’t take long for Sasha to realise one thing though.

‘Holy crap, she’s like a furnace!”

Apparently, Bayley’s emotional warmth translated to physical body heat. Now she knew her secret.

Just as Sasha was feeling comfortable, she felt Bayley’s head begin to move. To answer her confusion, she felt Bayley start to rub her now sweat-sodden cheek against Sasha’s.

“Ew dude, gross!”

Despite her legitimate disgust at having her own body sweat returned back to her, Sasha couldn’t help but chuckle, diminishing the offended nature of her words.

“Now we’re even, dude. Consider it your punishment for being ‘a bitch’. Your words, not mine,” Bayley beamed, and Sasha couldn’t help but grin back, the two devolving into fits of giggles at the childish, light-hearted exchange. 

As the two continued to cackle madly away, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company and antics, they were interrupted as the TARDIS door burst open suddenly. They were shocked to see Charlotte burst through the doors first, followed narrowly by Becky, before eventually the Doctor ran back inside his ship, snapping the doors shut with a click of his fingers. All three were grinning like idiots. 

“I won!!” Charlotte exclaimed, throwing both arms straight up triumphantly bef0re letting loose an obnoxious, exuberant “Wooo!!!” right in Becky’s pouting face. 

“No fair lass! I told ya, it’s yer legs giving you an unfair advantage.”

Bayley cleared her throat as loudly as she could manage, causing both of them to jump out of their skin, turning and freezing up as they met Sasha and Bayley’s narrowed eyes, finally having noticed their friends already up and having watched their return. A return from an adventure to which they had failed to invite them. Caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Suddenly the atmosphere became far heavier and uncomfortably quiet.

The Doctor, Becky and Charlotte all looked away guiltily. The Doctor decided to take out and wipe his Sonic Screwdriver clean, while Charlotte suddenly decided that the floor was the most interesting thing to ever exist. As for Becky, she had suddenly developed a whole new fascination for the wall.

“Where the hell have you been?” Sasha demanded.

“And why are you not in bed?” Bayley followed up, ignoring the pitying gaze shot her way by Sasha. 

‘What’s next?’ Sasha thought as she rolled her eyes, ‘making sure they drank enough water?’ After a brief second, she shook the scathing thoughts out of her mind. Bayley was her friend now. She had to force herself to be less judgemental.

“We uhh, were sleepwalkin’?” Becky answered lamely, making it apparent to anyone with a working brain cell that even she wasn’t convinced.

“You were having adventures without us?” Bayley surmised. By the narrowing of her eyes, she was annoyed.

“No!” the Doctor interrupted. “Not adventures. Not really.” He scratched the hair on the back of his head, a nervous and guilty tic if Bayley had ever seen one. “More like…shenanigans. Errand-filled shenanigans really.”

“Did you not think that I-“ Sasha stopped herself, catching herself as she realised she didn’t have to look out purely for herself anymore. Not when she had a friend alongside her. She looked across to Bayley with a smile. “We might want to come along on shenanigans too?”

“Of course! It’s just-well…” the Doctor trailed off as he searched for any possible answer that might excuse the pair being left out of the night’s events.

Luckily for them, Bayley was feeling particularly merciful as she sighed to interrupt him. “Go on, just tell us what you guys got up to. Then we can decide just how mad at you we are.”

Twenty minutes earlier…

“Come on Charlie, jump!” Becky called out.

“Stop calling me that!” the tall blonde snapped, growing tired of Becky’s repeated, uncalled-for nicknames and verbal jabs. Yet, it was charming in her own way.

“If you dare to take the leap, I just might think about it.”

“You’re supposed to be helping me, not taking every chance you have to piss me off!”

“I am helping. So if you wanna take a swing at me, you’ll have ta get ta me first.”

“Don’t look Charlotte, and jump!” the Doctor supplied, somewhat unhelpfully.

“Oh yeah, and I’m supposed to make it across a CHASM OF LAVA WITH MY EYES CLOSED?!” Charlotte snapped, her trepidation getting better of her.

“Of course not! That would be silly. Jump and then open them,” the Doctor answered, somehow managing to be even less helpful than he already was.

The three of them: Charlotte, Becky and the Doctor were currently on a late night adventure. When Charlotte asked if they should invite Sasha and Bayley, Becky disagreed, citing a need for their friends to catch up on beauty sleep.

Charlotte mused what a mercy it was that Bayley and Sasha weren’t around to hear that.

The whole trip was Becky’s idea. The pair had been hanging out, learning more about each other, enjoying each other’s individual quirks and company. With everything they’d been through the previous day with the Dark Order, hearing each other’s honest opinions about each other, one thing had become crystal clear: they needed to start trusting each other. 

And that started with developing a lasting friendship, confiding in each other and having each other’s back.

One thing they kept coming back to was Charlotte’s confession to the other three. How she yearned to be as brave and daring as Becky. 

Becky took that as her personal mission to make a reality.

Following a consultation with the Doctor, he thought it was a terrific idea and took them to the planet of Scorpius, a planet with seventy-three volcanos. While none were scheduled to erupt in the area and time zone the Doctor chose to land at (and he went both back and forward in time just to double check), the land was made up of charred rock in a perpetual state of breaking up, a sea of lava churning in the gaps between. 

According to Becky, this was the perfect place to test Charlotte’s fears - by giving her a risky situation in which to push herself, with a healthy dose of danger to give the adrenaline rush which served as fuel for Becky.

Because of the state of the rocky surface, they were constantly breaking up into individual platforms, drifting away on the lava streams soon after breaking up from their parent chunks. 

The result was a natural obstacle course, with plenty of opportunities to practice death defying leaps from rocky platform to rocky platform, trying to make the jump before they drifted too far apart.

Of course if they did manage to mistime their jumps, stumble or the platform simply erroded away, they had a sea of boiling lava waiting to dissolve their bodies. 

“So much for a duty of care!” Charlotte had remarked.

“It’ll be fine, gotta keep you on your toes. Would be terrible with cold feet,” the Doctor had answered flippantly, flapping his hands about as he spoke with all the fervour of a puppy on a sugar rush. Becky had roared with laughter at his joke, something which Charlotte had rolled her eyes at. “Don’t worry, I’ve covered the whole area in gravity pockets. If you fall in, you’ll be kept safe long enough for us to get you out. There’s no danger here.” Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, it’s 98% safe.” Charlotte had raised her eyebrows at him, prompting the Doctor to reconsider. “74% safe…roughly.”

“Charlotte trust me, it’ll be a piece of cake. Ooh, I could go for some cake actually. I don’t know why people say it’s a ‘piece of cake’. Why can’t it be a ‘piece of quinoa’? Quinoa is great-“

“Becky?”

“Yes Charlie?”

“Focus.”

“Right, yeah-“

“Geronimo!!” Both Becky and Charlotte had turned to see the tails of the Doctor’s purple frock coat swish just as he took the running leap, screaming one of his favourite words as he made the jump, successfully landing on the next platform.

Using her reflexes developed and honed to perfection in her career as a stunt actor, Becky had been next to take the leap, clearing the gap and landing with ease, making it look like nothing.

And that brought them back to the present, with both Becky and the Doctor doing their best to will Charlotte on, persuade her to push her fears to one side and take the leap, across a chasm yawning ever-wider the longer she hesitated.

“Seems ta me you don’t really want to be dashingly daring like me,” Becky called across, throwing in a hair flip for good measure. “Guess you’ll be keepin’ that stick up yer arse after all.”

That did it. Her mind cast her back to every time in her life she’d ever been told no. Every time she’d heard whispers that she wasn’t good enough. Murmurs from her father’s confidants that she would never be able keep the family business afloat the day she took over. Every single time she had risen to the occasion, proving her doubters wrong as a very personal ‘fuck you’. This time would be no different.

The change in Charlotte was rapid, quickly switching from fearful and out of her element, to one severely ticked off woman. She was suddenly overcome with a burst of laser-focus, her now confident, cold eyes glaring at Becky. Setting her jaw, she stood back before putting her long, muscled legs to good use, taking a run-up before leaping. Her stubborn pride allowed her to push beyond what she previously thought possible, clearing a significantly greater distance than either the Doctor or Becky. As Becky watched, mouth wide open with wonderful surprise, she privately decided that there was no way she could have cleared that gap. 

As soon as Charlotte’s feet hit the ground, she looked up to find her furious glare melt away at the sight and sound of both Becky and the Doctor whooping and cheering her on with great enthusiasm. Both looked proud of her, sharing big cheesy grins, beaming at her. Despite realising she had been manipulated, her anger melted away.

“You did it!!” Becky exclaimed. “I knew you had it in you. You just needed me to bring it out of you.”

“Oh no,” Charlotte scoffed with a chuckle on her breath. “You are so not taking credit for this.”

Becky’s pout was so comical that even Charlotte couldn’t keep up her façade of annoyance, a chuckle escaping her lips. “C’mon Charlotte, throw me a bone. I could have easily jumped twice as far if I’d been born with those legs.”

“Dude, don’t blame me for being genetically superior,” Charlotte smirked.

“We’ll see who’s better. Bet I can make it back to the TARDIS before you.”

“Is this a competition anyone can join in on, or-“ the Doctor began, raising a finger that seemed to go unnoticed.

“You’re on!” Charlotte declared to Becky with a cool, confident smirk. The two sped off to leap their way back to the lump of rock on which the TARDIS stood, significantly further away now thanks to the perpetual breaking up of the land. The two allowed their iron-willed competitiveness to drive them forward, yelling light-hearted jabs of encouragement at each other, leaving the Doctor standing alone looking like a kicked puppy.

“You guys were jumping over lava for fun?!” Bayley exclaimed in disapproval. “What on earth is wrong with you?”

“Yeah!” Sasha piped in to back up her new friend. “How dare you not invite us; that sounds fun as hell!” Sasha was too fixed on lamenting missing out on such an exciting activity to notice the side glance of confused disapproval from Bayley. Apparently they had conflicting views on personal safety. “What were you thinking?!”

“Honestly lass, we were thinking you wanted to catch up on yer beauty sleep,” Becky answered with a shrug of her shoulders. Charlotte’s face fell, mortified at Becky putting her foot in her mouth yet again. From the look on Becky’s face, she thought it was an honest answer, clearly not thinking through the insulting implications.

“Mind rephrasing that before I rearrange your face to make sure you need to do the same?” Sasha took a threatening step forward, scowl set on her face directed solely at Becky.

Becky finally realised her slip-up too late, realisation dawning on her face. She raised her hands up to chest-level, palms facing outward in a placating gesture. “Hold up Sasha, I didn’t mean it like that.” She fidgeted with her fingers, clearly uncomfortable with a clearly pissed off Sasha invading her personal space.

Sasha stopped her advance, though her glare didn’t dissipate. Her piercing brown eyes, normally still pools, transformed into burning pits of anger. The display of anger was enough for Becky to take a clumsy step back, by this point having learned that provoking an already pissed off Sasha was not worth the fallout, especially now that she knew enough about her heart to know there was a reason she’d kept it guarded.

Sasha continued staring a hole right through Becky for a few more seconds until her face finally relaxed, a split second before she began to laugh, loud and very proud of herself.

Becky was puzzled for a couple of seconds, watching Sasha quizzically, before her brain caught up to her. “Oh, you were just messin’ with me?” Sasha was too busy cackling away at making Becky squirm uncomfortably to answer. 

“Ho boy,” Sasha finally spoke after she managed to get her laughter under control, wiping tears away from her eyes. “Totally worth it for the look on your face. Maybe next time you’ll think to invite us first.”

“You little shi-“

“Shouldn’t you lot be going back to bed now?” the Doctor hurriedly and loudly interjected, eager to overlay his voice to avoid hearing Becky’s full retort. Knowing full well what he was doing, his companions made the mutual, and silent, decision to ignore him.

“Can’t say you didn’t deserve that,” Charlotte found herself snickering to Becky, only to immediately find the fourth member of their team loudly clearing her throat while looking directly at her.

“It’s not like you’re any better,” Bayley retorted. “Don’t act like you tried inviting us either.”

“Dude, I did!” Charlotte protested, starting to get flustered now that the torch of accusation was being shone on her. 

Sasha was ready to turn the teasing on Charlotte. But ever since the rest of their motley crew had returned, she couldn’t help but notice there was something different in Charlotte’s eyes. A subtle, yet noticeable shift. No longer were they swimming in anxiety. Now they were focused, dancing with life. Sasha hadn’t taken the time to look at Charlotte long enough to realise just how striking her eyes were, emerald pools drawing her in like-

“Something on my face, Banks?”

Now it was Sasha’s turn to be flustered, having not realised how long she’d spent staring at the tall, muscled blonde. Yet, unlike Charlotte, she made a quick recovery. She curved her lips into a smirk. “Just looking at what a cheater looks like. Becky was right, you definitely had an unfair advantage with those legs.”

The TARDIS console room quickly devolved into a flurry of light-hearted jabs, shared raucous laughter echoing all around the room, and pleasant conversation filling the atmosphere with a warmth which all of them grabbed onto, wrapping it around themselves like a blanket. It was a far cry from the tense atmosphere of the previous week, threatening to explode at any and every moment. Now, the five TARDIS travellers revelled in each other’s company, enjoying poking fun at each other and taking it in return, amid honest, open conversation. None of them went back to bed for several hours, enjoying each other’s company far too much for sleep to be a better option.

Two things were for sure. One: the path to friendship was well on its way to being paved.

And two: Becky and Charlotte knew to never neglect to invite Sasha or Bayley on any midnight adventures ever again.

Chapter Text

The sweet sounds of shared laughter filled the vast control room, the five travellers basking in the joyous atmosphere.

Life on board the TARDIS had become far more enjoyable since their encounter with the Dark Order. The temporary ability to hear each other’s feelings about each other might have sounded like a curse beforehand - but it turned out to be the greatest blessing they could have had.

The newfound sense of camaraderie and bonds being formed - unhindered by self-constructed emotional walls - flowed easily, building with ease the more time they spent really getting to know each other. Now that there were no longer any negative and ill-informed preconceptions to act as hindrances, they could simply enjoy each other’s company.

And that’s exactly what they had been doing.

Whether it was Sasha and Becky stealing spacebikes to race each other on a planet millions of lightyears away from Earth, or Charlotte and Bayley successfully negotiating peace with Ice Warriors in the early nineteenth century (Bayley couldn’t be more thrilled she’d finally found a species open to peaceful resolutions, the grin didn’t leave her face for a full twenty-four hours), the past week had been the highlight of their life aboard the TARDIS so far. The ice had thawed, giving way to warm rays of friendship shining in the distance, now an attainable goal to work towards, rather than the intangible pipe dream it had been a week prior.

But right now, the five of them were laughing and joking together in the TARDIS console room, thoroughly enjoying the amusing recount of a past adventure the Doctor had been regaling them with.

A beep sounded all of a sudden to interrupt the jolly banter, doggedly persistent and sounding more urgent the longer it went unattended.

“What’s that?” the Doctor muttered to himself as he swung the monitor around on the console to face him. After flicking a few switches and prodding a couple of buttons, the Doctor’s eyebrows narrowed in surprise at what he saw.

“Doctor, what is it?” Charlotte asked as she went to join him.

“You look at it and tell me,” the Doctor answered as she stood beside him. “What do you suppose that is?” He pointed to the screen. 

From what Charlotte could make out, there appeared to be a sphere on the monitor. A recognisable blue and green globe. However, above the planet were dozens of blinking tiny dots, moving in formation down towards it. 

“It looks like a fleet of ships on their way to Earth,” Charlotte answered, turning to the Doctor with a horrified expression. “Please tell me I’m way off here.”

“Unfortunately you’re bang on,” the Doctor answered. “But, the thing about having a time machine is, we can spoil the surprise.” A grin spread across his face. “Shall we go and warn them?”

The familiar architecture of Victorian London came into view as the five disembarked from the TARDIS. The sounds of the hustle and bustle of the city’s citizens was all around them. Just another ordinary day, ordinary people going about their daily lives as though nothing was wrong. Completely unaware of the impending alien invasion. 

“This is where they want to attack?” Bayley questioned.

“Yes,” the Doctor answered. “Doesn’t look like they’ve prepped for an invasion, have they?”

“What is with aliens and Victorian England?” Sasha questioned. “What’s so special about a bunch of nineteenth century Brits?”

“Yer just jealous they’re not botherin’ with America,” Becky teased, this time with a friendly smile on her face rather than one brimming with antagonism. 

“I don’t see them trying to take over Ireland either, Lucky Charms,” Sasha bit back, a smirk settling over her features.

It was a very refreshing change of pace for all five travellers. From the moment they’d met, the relationship between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch had been tenuous at best. At worst, a powder keg waiting to explode. Now that each woman’s honest, truthful soul had been revealed, it was clear that a healthy bond of respect had begun to form. Whereas before, the possibility of camaraderie between the pair had been as fertile as dead soil, now hope had sprung, sowing the seeds that could now lead to friendship. The very feeling of the air between the two was no longer tense, full of vitriol. But relaxed, brimming with playfulness.

“Where are we going, Doctor?” Bayley asked.

“Impending alien invasion, no clear warning signs of infiltration. Best stay on the safe side though, keep our ears to the ground. Which is why we’re going to see our friends. The best detective gang I know,” the Doctor replied cryptically.

“You mean we’re going to see Sherlock Holmes?!” Becky squeaked excitedly.

They came to a stop at a black door on a street opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Doctor used the knocker to announce their presence, waiting for it to be pulled open. He looked surprised to see a familiar face when it opened.

Much to Becky’s chagrin, it was decidedly not Sherlock Holmes.

Instead, the Doctor had brought them to Paternoster Row, apparently here to see Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax; the trio who they had investigated Weeping Angels in Buckingham Palace alongside. Standing at the door, a smile on her lips that didn’t quite reach her eyes, was Jenny.

“Jenny?” the Doctor asked, brow knitted in confusion. “Why are you answering the door and not Strax?”

“Delighted to see you too Doctor,” Jenny didn’t miss a beat with her bright smile, holding back the obvious offence. “Rest of us not worth talking to?”

“No no, I didn’t mean it like that. Of course I’m happy to see you!” the Doctor rushed to correct his poor wording. “I just- it’s always Strax answering the door.”

“I know,” Jenny failed to hide her sad smile. “Listen Doctor, you’d best come in. It’s good that you’ve come. Madame would like to see you in private. You’re right, things are not quite right lately.”

Jenny stood back as she held the door open, nodding in greeting at the five travellers walking in past her before she closed and locked the door.

“Doctor!” Vastra was just as shocked to see her friend before her as Jenny brought their five guests in. “What a pleasant surprise, the Goddess must have known we’d have need of you, old friend.”

The first time they’d met the reptilian woman back at Buckingham Palace, it had been a shock to say the least. Now though, with slightly more experience under their belt and the second time being around the Silurian, it was with a casual air of nonchalance that the Doctor’s four companions sidled into the room. Seeing Vastra seated in a wicker chair, surrounded by plants and sipping what appeared to be a glass of red wine, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Vastra’s eyes flickered with recognition as she laid eyes on the four women joining them. “I see you’ve kept your friends safe,” she smiled at the Doctor before turning her gaze to the friends in question. “How pleased I am to see you all again in good health.”

“Nice to see you again too, reptile lady,” Becky replied with a cheeky smirk. “Can I get some wine too?”

“Oh, this?” Vastra turned to her glass of red liquid before chuckling. “This is not red wine.”

“Then what-“

“Look, we can take drink orders later,” the Doctor interrupted, his haste to get back to the original topic evident. “You needed me?”

“Yes,” Vastra said, a worried frown forming on her scaled face. “Doctor, Strax has been behaving very strangely as of late.”

“Strange?” the Doctor asked. “Vastra, that’s his normal behaviour,” he chuckled, but soon stopped when he realised that there wasn’t a trace of humour in his friend’s face. “’Strange’ in what way?”

“He’s been…withdrawn,” Vastra answered. “Wholly serious without a trace of his usually ridiculous self.”

“Doctor, we’re concerned,” Jenny added, a glance at her wife in understanding that she’d be less inclined to communicate her feelings.

“Where is he right now?” the Doctor asked, now entirely preoccupied with this new development, forgetting the reason they came here.

“I believe he is in the cellar,” Vastra answered. “He spends most of his time down there now, seldom joining us.”

“Any clues as to why?”

“None.”

The Doctor turned on his heel and dashed off in the direction of the cellar, clearly eager to understand and potentially solve whatever had befallen their friend.

Meanwhile, the women remained behind. While the Doctor might have absentmindedly forgotten to discuss their whole reason for visiting, his friends had not.

“While I have no qualms reacquainting ourselves with one another,” Vastra spoke to get their attention. “I am curious as to the purpose behind your visit. The Doctor doesn’t do social calls. I suspect there is a reason you are here.”

“You’re right,” Bayley nodded. “We spotted an alien fleet on their way to Earth and-“

“Bleedin’ ‘ell, and he couldn’t ‘ave led with that?!” Jenny exclaimed, fear clearly beginning to grip her if her wide eyes was anything to go by.

“Stay calm, my dear,” Vastra placed a hand on her wife’s arm, clearly working as a soothing gesture. “I’m sure the Doctor would have mentioned it straight away if he thought it was a clear and present danger. He certainly has a flair for the dramatic-“

Becky’s eyes lit up, opening her mouth as she thumbed over to Charlotte, clearly unable to pass up the opportunity to point out the accidental and definitely not intentional pun despite the serious situation. Before she could say anything, she was caught with an elbow to her stomach. “Don’t you dare,” Sasha hissed. Becky promptly snapped her mouth shut.

Vastra continued to speak, completely failing to notice. “After all, with the TARDIS it could be weeks away. Did he happen to mention the timeframe of which the ships are scheduled to arrive?”

“No, he didn’t,” Charlotte shook her head.

“Hmm,” Vastra hummed to herself in thought as she leaned further back into her chair, steepling her fingers together in thought.

“Sounds like we might not ‘ave a lotta time then,” Jenny added.

“Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?” Bayley asked. “Anything which might hint at the invaders?”

“Nothing to indicate alien interference,” Vastra answered. “No more than usual.”

“Hold on ma’am,” Jenny interjected, face lighting up as the cogs in her brain began to spin. “There’s that matchstick factory on the outskirts what opened back up again four month back. It’s a queer business, I ain’t noticed no one ever going in or out since. And everyone I know what went there to get a job got no answer. Like there was nobody there.”

“Sounds like it’s worth investigating,” Sasha suggested. The eager glean in Vastra’s eyes was all the agreement she needed.

From the top of the stairs leading down to the dimly lit basement, the Doctor could see Strax with his back to them. He seemed to be staring down at something in his clawed hands, but they were too far away to see what it was. 

Typically for his life in Victorian London, Strax wore his butler uniform at all times, unless the need for battle arose. However, he was quite clearly stood in his dark blue battle suit - standard issue for all Sontarans - as though he was ready for war. Something was definitely wrong.

“Strax?” the Doctor called out tentatively.

“Sir,” Strax grunted, even rougher and more dismissive than normal. ‘Grumpy’ didn’t cover it.

“How is my favourite psychotic potato dwarf?” the Doctor asked lightly.

“Your mockery of me is not appreciated Doctor,” Strax replied gruffly. “Not today.”

Right away, the Doctor could sense just how low Strax had fallen. Usually he brushed off any playful jabs sent his way, whether returned with his own quips or a complete refusal to acknowledge them.

Outright rejecting them was something worrying indeed. And besides that, he’d never heard Strax address him as “Doctor” before.

“Strax, tell me,” the Doctor said as he approached slowly, a sympathetic frown across his face. “What’s the matter?”

“Sir?” Strax asked, evidently not understanding the phrase.

“I know you’re not your normal self. What’s happened, what are you not telling me?”

“I am quite well,” Strax insisted, a little too quickly. “Do not concern yourselves with me.”

“Oh come off it Strax,” the Doctor’s frown deepened. “Of all your military virtues, you never could quite master deception.”

“You dare insult my honour?!” Strax was filled with rage for a second before visibly sagging, his shoulders slumping. The Doctor had seen right through him. 

The conversation was briefly interrupted as the six women entered the basement. One look told Strax he was surrounded. In his tactical mind, he knew the only option out was surrender.

“Bah, there is little point keeping up this pretense. Just leave me be. Take your associates and leave this primitive planet. Before it is too late.”

“Too late? Too late for what?” the Doctor asked with a great deal of confusion. “Strax, what do you-“

The conversation came to a premature halt as there was a sudden shake, rocking the room and shattering all the glass in the building.

“Bloomin’ ‘ell!” Jenny yelled amid the chaotic cacophony of destruction before it came to a stop almost as quickly as it had began. “Was that an earthquake?”

“No, that’s the shockwave of a craft entering the Earth’s atmosphere,” the Doctor answered, eyes widening with surprise. “I thought we’d have more time than this.”

As the Doctor rushed up the stairs, he just about caught Strax mutter, “They’re here.”

Throwing open the front door, the Doctor looked up to see a wide array of alien ships dotting the sky above London. His heart sank as he recognised the familiar fleet of warships. 

“Oh Strax,” the Doctor murmured softly to himself, recognising immediately the reason behind his friend’s behaviour.

It was a fleet of Sontaran assault ships hovering above London; a populous cloud of spherical vessels heralding their doom.

No wonder Strax had been behaving so strangely. It all made sense now. Unfortunately, this was a puzzle which didn’t have a satisfying conclusion.

“…you mean you knew this whole time?” the Doctor heard Vastra’s voice raise and bristle with anger as he proceeded down the steps back to the basement. “And you never once thought to tell us?” 

“I received communication from Sontaran High Command three days ago,” Strax explained. “They informed me that the forty-second fleet would be coming to subjugate Earth and would require my report.”

“You mean you’ve been a spy this whole time?” Jenny demanded, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice. “This whole time, we thought you were our friend!”

“’Friend’?” Strax mimicked. “You are all alien scum!” He paused, his scowl softening. “But alien scum that I’ve grown to call comrades.”

“And herein lies our quandary,” the Doctor said, surprising everyone after keeping quiet. “I think now I understand why you didn’t tell us about it, Strax. Your own kind are coming, and you find yourself torn between us and them, right?”

“Your deduction is correct, sir,” Strax replied glumly. “How could I tell you this, when I’d be compelled to choose?”

“An impossible choice,” the Doctor surmised before clapping a hand on Strax’s shoulder pad. “But one I think we can help you with.”

Strax shrugged off the Doctor’s hand with force, a gesture speaking louder than words. He turned to fix the Doctor with a scowl. “I do not require your assistance, sir.” That last word was delivered with contempt, uncharacteristic for the normally jovial Sontaran towards the Doctor.

“Strax, I hope you’re being very careful about what choice you make,” the Doctor warned.

Like a moody teenager, Strax grunted in disgust before marching away up the stairs and out of the basement.

“Is this as terrible as you’re making it seem?” Bayley asked nervously. “I mean, Strax isn’t all that bad. Are the rest of his people not like him?”

“Oh it is bad Bayley. Very, very bad. So bad it makes crocs look good. Strax isn’t a typical Sontaran you see, he’s an anomaly. The only Sontaran in the universe to have friends. His people have no mercy, no pity. They’re bred for one purpose: war. You’ve heard Strax, war is all he thinks about. But it’s mostly harmless, or directed to prevent worse bloodshed and protect humanity. But if he chooses to re-join his people in the conquest of Earth…” the Doctor trailed off as his mind considered the possibility. 

“Let me guess, there’s no negotiating with them?” Bayley asked, a sad quality to her tone as though she already knew the answer.

“No, I shouldn’t think so,” the Doctor replied. “Sorry, that seems to be a common trend. I promise, negotiation does work sometimes.”

“Come on, they must be open to some sort of arrangement?” Charlotte questioned. “Strax is our friend. If its possible for one Sontaran to form friendship, then surely his kind must be open to some sort of peace?”

“No-no, Strax has always been different. They’d call him a defect if they knew who he truly was. I’d say he’s the product of evolution. Sontarans are warmongers. Bred for battle in clone batches of millions, they’re barely an hour old before they’re shipped off to the frontlines. That’s it; that’s their lives. War and only war. The only time they would have negotiate is if we had anything of strategic importance to offer them, which we don’t,“ the Doctor answered before pausing, eyes widening as though he’d just had a brilliant idea. “But maybe…maybe Strax can.”

The seven of them found Strax in the drawing room, bouncing a grenade between his hands.

“Strax,” the Doctor started cautiously. “Look, I know what a dilemma you’re dealing with here. I’ve had to deal with this before, having to choose between my own people and the safety of countless innocents. I know just how difficult a choice it is to make.”

“And what did you choose, Doctor?” Strax asked, seeming engaged for the first time in the conversation since they had arrived.

“In the end I had to stop the Time Lords from destroying the Universe. And I think you have a similar choice here Strax, old buddy, old pal. Because the Sontarans are coming, and they’re going to conquer the Earth, killing as many innocents as they want, because they can. What if Vastra and Jenny are among them, eh? You care for them Strax, I know you do.”

“Caring is an affront to Sontaran purity,” Strax stated, although it sounded hollow, as though it was perfectly recited without any feeling behind it. 

There was a knock at the door. Jenny left to answer it.

“That’s not a denial,” the Doctor quirked his mouth into a small smile. “Eh? Come on buddy, we need you.”

“The Sontaran Empire needs my report,” Strax countered. “If I betray them, I will lose my honour.”

“Oh, on the contrary,” the Doctor shook his head with a smile as he clapped a hand onto Strax’s shoulder pad, a newfound opening offered unwittingly by his old friend. “You’ll be more honourable to this planet than any Sontaran who ever lived.”

Strax pondered that for a moment, opening his mouth to speak when Jenny returned, interrupting his decision. “We’d best get a move on. The Detective Inspector just came by to say that one of the ships has landed. In Hyde Park.”

“What about the factory?” Becky asked. It definitely sounded like a point of interest. An apparent running factory from the outside not actually producing anything? A loud red flag if she ever saw one. 

“What factory?” the Doctor asked.

“A matchstick factory billowing smoke all day long without ever producing a single match,” Vastra answered. “If my suspicions are correct, it could be a scouting outpost.”

“Hmm, sounds fishy. Actually scrap that, you’ve already said it’s a matchstick factory, not a fish factory. Would be very odd if it smelt of fish,” the Doctor rambled in a clear ploy to play for time. It was obvious by the eager look on his companions faces what they wanted to do. And there was no chance he’d allow it.

“Alright, so we’ll go check it out-“ 

“Absolutely not, Rebecca!” he stated firmly. “There is no way you’re going off alone in the middle of an alien invasion. No, I’ll be keeping you safe-“

“If we wanted safe, we’d just hide in the TARDIS,” Sasha countered, and for once the Doctor was rendered speechless, snapping his mouth open. He resembled a snapping turtle as he repeatedly opened and promptly closed his mouth over and over again, raising a pointer finger before letting it fall. Clearly, he was unable to formulate an adequate counter-argument to that.

“Doctor, I think you underestimate your friends,” Vastra interrupted. “Time is short. Much as I admire you old friend, you can’t waste it playing the overprotective guardian. Myself and Jenny will keep them safe, while you and Strax confront the landing party. We have two fronts; dividing our efforts is the only course available to us.”

It was a sensible plan. Much as he hated to go along with it and put his friends in a dangerous situation, he couldn’t think of a better plan when the clock was ticking and the invasion was already underway. And when it came down to it, he would trust Vastra and Jenny with his own life. Putting the safety of his friends in their capable hands was something he could trust them, hand on hearts.

There had indeed been little time to waste. No sooner had Vastra’s party departed, they saw smoke begin to rise from the direction of Hyde Park. The sooner they could investigate the suspicious factory, the better.

“Are you sure they’ll be alright?” a clearly worried Bayley asked.

“It’ll be alright,” Sasha answered with an encouraging smile. “You know the Doc, he’s always one step ahead.”

“She’s quite right. As much of a fool as he can be at times, the Doctor is the most resourceful person one can be,” Vastra backed up, lending further faith in the matter. Somehow, Sasha’s reassurance proved to be the most comforting for Bayley.

Bayley returned Sasha’s smile, worries abating for the moment. It was surprising in the best way possible how helpful Sasha’s presence could be, now that there was trust. All that time, and the real Sasha had been locked behind her self-built walls. She’d always had a hint of being a positive presence. That much had been evident by the way she’d regarded the Doctor with respect and banter, in stark contrast to the disdain and thinly-veiled insults she’d subjected her fellow travellers with. All it had needed was breaking down her walls to see the honest, genuine Sasha Banks. Now that they had, Bayley only regretted not getting to her sooner. While they still had quite some way to go in repairing the damage Sasha had caused through her hostile barbs until they could be best friends the way she knew in her heart they were destined to be, it was clear that Sasha was making the effort to be better. And Bayley couldn’t ask for much more than that.

The four of them were currently riding in a carriage towards the factory they were preparing to investigate for any signs of Sontaran activity. In order to soothe the Doctor’s worries, Becky and Charlotte had volunteered to stick with him.

While Bayley had immediately agreed to go with Jenny, Vastra and Sasha, her blue-haired friend had been hesitant. Bayley insisted that Vastra and Jenny go ready the carriage, confident that she could talk Sasha round. 

“What’s the problem Sasha?” Bayley had asked. “After what we’ve been through, do you still not trust me?”

Sasha scoffed, and Bayley could see the tiny shift in her eyes that told her there was more than she was letting on. “I never said that.”

“Then what’s the problem? If you’re uncomfortable around me now that I’ve been in your head-“

“Oh god no,” Sasha suddenly interjected, eyes wide with realisation of how she’d accidentally pushed Bayley to misinterpret. “I have no problem spending time with you.” Sasha then coughed awkwardly, rubbing a hand down her arm with body language that could only be described as shy, something uncharacteristic until that point for the normally brash woman. “In fact, I was kinda hoping we could be friends,” she mumbled.

“Great, I’d love that!” Bayley beamed, waiting for Sasha’s smile to appear before she frowned again. “So why don’t you want to come with us?”

“Look, you, me, Charlotte, Becky, the Doctor. We’ve been through a lot together already. And yeah, Vastra and Jenny helped us out at Buck Palace with the Weeping Angels. But, I still can’t bring myself to trust them. Trusting them to have my back, it’s a lot to ask.”

It was then that Bayley finally understood Sasha’s hesitancy. Luckily, she had an argument to remedy that.

“I get it. Trust is scary. But we’re the Doc’s friends. You trust him, don’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“And he trusts them. Isn’t that enough?”

Sasha exhaled, puffing a strand of blue hair that had fallen. “I guess so, when you put it like that.”

“Good,” Bayley grinned a deliberately goofy smile that prompted a chuckle from Sasha, any awkward tension evaporating. “I know it’s hard for you Sash, I get that. But you should let people in more. You’ll find people will surprise you if you give them the chance.”

“Trust me, I’ve learned that plenty already from you,” Sasha’s eyes sparkled with warmth at the sincere statement. Bayley extended her hand and Sasha took it. The two new friends walked out to the carriage, trusting in each other.

The carriage hit a bump in the road, jostling Bayley out of the memory she’d had roughly twenty minutes prior. She grunted at the uncomfortable motion, silently cursing such an archaic way of travelling. Time travel problems.

“We’re here,” Vastra announced to the pair sitting opposite herself and her wife. The carriage came to a stop and the four disembarked. Before them was what looked to be a fully functioning Victorian factory. A sprawling building made entirely of brick with tall, protruding chimneys belching smoke into the sky.

“It looks like it’s operational,” Bayley mused aloud.

“But not a soul in sight,” Jenny added. “A busy factory like this, you’d expect to see someone around.”

As they investigated around the factory for a couple of minutes, they found just how right she was. There was nobody they could see through the windows, and not a single person to be seen around the whole premises. 

“You two, stay close,” Madame Vastra flickered her eyes to Sasha and Bayley, the pair nodding in agreement. 

After breaking and entering, danger permeated the air as they saw just what lay in wait for them inside.

Despite looking like a fully operating factory from the outside, the same could not be said for the inside.

Not a single piece of factory machinery could be seen inside. But that did not mean it was empty.

Instead, they saw a few scattered work benches. As they moved closer to examine them, steps slow with caution, they saw that not only were the controls built into the work benches far ahead of their time, but they looked alien in origin. As Vastra pushed a button experimentally, a monitor rose from inside the workbench, showing a live feed of Oxford Street, the general public scrambling in panic amidst the Sontaran ships hanging above London.

A flick of the buttons switched the view to various areas around London. St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the River Thames. The views went on and on, with notes of their strategic importance scrolling on-screen.

“They’ve been surveying London?” Sasha posited, putting the pieces together. She watched as Vastra put three gloved fingers into a three-fingered Sontaran hand interface on the desk. The live feed switched to a recorded video of a Sontaran commander, his potato-like visage sneering into the camera.

“Report #2970. Intel gathered suggests that London is an ideal staging ground to commence our subjugation of Earth. It appears to be one of the human’s most powerful bases on this wretched planet. If we were to conquer it first, the rest of the world would follow with record haste. The transportation systems and military might are primitive, weak and will offer little to no resistance. Soon, Earth will belong to the Sontaran Empire! Report ends. For the glory of Sontar!” he barked before saluting a gauntleted fist to his chest, the video cutting to black with the end of the message.

“What does this mean?” Bayley asked, turning to see a visibly upset Jenny, hurt more than the rest of them at the fate of her city.

“It means that they are far more prepared than we bargained for,” Vastra answered before flicking her eyes around the rest of the factory floor. “It doesn’t look like they’re still occupying, but we must search the building to make sure.”

They heard the screams and shouts of panic long before their carriage reached the landing site. And as soon as the park came into view in the windows, they could see what was causing it.

A single Sontaran drop pod had landed in the middle of the green grass, the door open. On the green stood a lone Sontaran, laser rifle in hand. His menacing laughter filled the air to join the screams, as he fired at every passer-by in sight with deadly precision. Bodies already littered the surrounding pavement, and more were joining with every laser fired.

It was clear to see the sick satisfaction he was getting from gunning down innocents, his potato-headed face twisted with malevolent glee. Unlike Strax’s dark blue body suit, this Sontaran was wearing a combination of black and silver.

“Right Strax, first we need to-“ the Doctor turned to his left, only to pause in bemusement when he saw the seat was empty, the carriage door of his side wide open.

“Stop! That is an order!” the Doctor heard Strax yell to the other Sontaran, who promptly ceased his fire and looked at Strax with a look of recognition. He looked pleased to see him.

The Doctor sighed with annoyance at Strax going ahead, ruining the frankly brilliant plan he was still forming the beginnings of. It was still a work in progress, but it was going to be absolutely smashing when he had finished thinking it up, thank you very much. He disembarked, Becky and Charlotte following closely behind him.

“Commander Strax!” the Sontaran bellowed, his voice deeper and gruffer than Strax’s. “I am Commander Snarg.” He bowed. “Snarg the Eliminator! It pleases me to find you, as we ready to commence the attack! While we wait, join me in crushing these pathetic weak-bodied humans!”

“Oh, what is it with Sontarans and starting their names with ‘s’?” the Doctor joked to his friends gathered in the background, blending in amongst those who dared to watch the Sontaran confrontation. “Step one: get cloned. Step two: find a name beginning with ‘s’.”

“Not the time, Doctor,” Charlotte hissed.

“It’s always the time, if you can make it.”

“Don’t listen to ‘er Doctor, nice one,” Becky giggled. Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, while the Doctor and Becky shared a high five, looking far prouder of themselves than they had any reasonable right to be.

“This is not war!” Strax shouted back at Snarg, distate seeping into his voice.

“No, you’re right. This isn’t war, this is sport!” Snarg retorted, cackling as though he had just delivered a punchline to a deliberate joke set up by Strax. It was clear he did not yet understand that Strax didn’t want the humans dead at all. “See how they run like slimebait from a speelfox!”

“Would you not prefer to make ready for the final attack from the safety of the fleet?” Strax asked, evidently trying to come up with any excuse to halt the bloodshed.

Unfortunately, Snarg didn’t take the bait.

“And miss the opportunity to test the mettle of these cattle?” Snarg retorted. “No Commander Strax, I came here to retrieve you from this miserable world. And now, we can conquer this wretched planet, for the glory of the Sontaran Empire!”

At this point, the Doctor could no longer idly stand by and watch. Strax was clearly not getting through. It was time for a new strategy. He stepped forward into plain sight.

“Commander Snarg, please! There is no need for this!” the Doctor shouted. “You want to subjugate Earth? Fine, we can deal with that later. But until you plan to attack, leave these people alone!” 

“Bah! It is a coward’s notion. What is life without war?” Snarg retorted. “There is no safety in the face of the forty-second Sontaran fleet. And it is fitting that you, the great enemy of the Sontarans, should appear, Doctor! Now I can have the glory of defeating you in single combat, all to myself.”

“Stand down, Commander Snarg,” Strax urged.

“You are not my superior, Commander Strax,” Snarg snarled. “If I didn’t know better, I would almost think you had betrayed the Sontaran Empire to side with these miserable inferiors. Either you desist attempting to delay the inevitable, or I shall report your defection to our superiors.”

Snarg pulled up his gun and took aim at the Doctor, a shrill whine indicating that the weapon was locked and loaded.

“Make your choice, Commander Strax. Stand with your people and conquer this pathetic planet, or be obliterated by the might of the Sontaran Empire!”

At that point Strax’s expression was unreadable, none of them were able to make out what he was thinking. 

He had a choice to make. His new life filled with friends and the Earth as his adopted home, or his old one conquering the universe as a proud member of the Sontaran Empire.

All eyes were on Strax as Charlotte, Becky and the Doctor watched with bated breath.

Chapter Text

The two Sontarans were locked in a standoff in Hyde Park. 

On one hand was Strax. The rogue Sontaran, who had spent years solving cases along with his human and Silurian friends.

Stood opposite him, gauss rifle aimed straight at Strax was Commander Snarg, the first ground troop of the Sontaran Empire’s invasion of Earth.

Strax had a choice to make. His friends, or his own people.

As it turned out, he wouldn’t need to decide after all. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he heard a distinctly familiar voice behind him.

“I think you’ll find the Earth is defended!” Vastra roared, entering the fray to offer herself as bait. 

The Doctor turned to see Bayley, Sasha and Jenny running up to join him, the four evidently having made their way back to rejoin them from their factory investigation.

Flicking his gaze back to Vastra, he noticed her ploy had worked in attracting the Sontaran’s attention. If she could just keep him distracted long enough…

Commander Snarg turned his aim to her, firing off a laser blast. Vastra got one of the blades she was wielding up just in time. The alien metal proved far more defensive than any sword made on Earth, bouncing the laser bolt right off. Fortunately, her distraction did the trick. Snarg had turned around just enough for the Doctor to be able to drive his fist into an opening on the neck collar of the Sontaran’s armour. Snarg gasped before collapsing to the ground.

“What did you do?” Becky asked, an impressed look on her face at the display of violence. It was a bold move, uncharacteristic of the typically pacifist Time Lord.

“OW!” the Doctor shouted as he shook his hand in the air in an attempt to negate the pain. “Just gave ‘im a whack in the probic vent. He’ll be fine, just knocked out.” He then turned to his four friends, recently returned. The release of the breath he’d been holding didn’t go unnoticed. “Ah good, you’re all alright! Go on then, what did you find? Real factory or Sontaran hideout?”

“The latter, I’m afraid,” Madame Vastra answered, confirming his suspicions. “Quite abandoned, but full of intelligence. Doctor, they’ve been scouting London for months. They know it’s weak points, it’s defensive capabilities. Resisting their invasion is going to take a lot more than the human race can currently offer. Do you have a plan?”  

The Doctor did his best to look offended. “Of course I have a plan!” In lieu of proceeding to detail his plan, he walked over to Strax, who was still staring into space. “Strax, we need your help.”

“My help?” Strax looked up.

“Yes. No one knows the Sontarans quite like you do. Putting your expertise to good use is the key to defeating this little invasion of theirs. You’ve lived on Earth for the past few years. You know they’ve no hope of resisting a fully fledged Sontaran invasion. This is where you show them. You show them why you are the single greatest Sontaran who ever lived.”

“But the Sontaran Empire-“

“You are part of the Sontaran Empire, yes. Just as I was a Time Lord. I still am. But just as I am not the same Doctor I once was, you are a new breed of Sontaran. A Sontaran with friends. But not just friends. Family. Think of Jenny. Think of Vastra. Think of the lady who sells the sherbet you like so much on Drury Lane. The Earth is your home now, Strax. Are you really going to let your people burn it?”

Strax looked conflicted, as though his dilemma was inescapable. “Doctor, I know what you want me to do. But my clone batch was bred to act for the glory of the Sontaran Empire. It’s all I know. If I were to stand against my people, I would be disgraced.”

“Hey, Strax,” Sasha said softly. “I know how it feels, being scared to make a choice.”

“Don’t be ridiculous my boy,” Strax reprimanded, a sliver of his usual self shining through. “It is not possible for Sontarans to feel fear.”

“But you do,” Sasha said. “Because you’re not like the others. You’re something more. From what I’ve heard about your people, all they seek to do is to destroy. You can seek to protect your friends. Your family. Your home.”

“You make a fine speech,” Strax finally said. “Were we not on the same side, I’d look forward to obliterating you on the battlefield for the glory of the Sontaran Empire.” Sasha looked utterly (and quite rightfully) bewildered, looking to the Doctor for help. He proved less than helpful, supplying only a shrug of his shoulders. Sasha heard Strax grunt, turning back to him. “You’re right. The Earth is my home. And I will defend it.”

A great rumbling sounded from overhead. Several spheres - identical to the one Commander Snarg arrived in - dropped down, landing in Hyde Park. 

“What do we do now?” Bayley asked worriedly, realising that they were right in the middle of an invasion force.

Each of the twelve Sontaran drop pods opened, with a Sontaran stepping forth from each. Each Sontaran looked identical in their black and military grey battle suits, their heads covered with silver helmets.

“There’s nothing for it. Run!” the Doctor answered. The Doctor, Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha, Becky, Vastra and Jenny all took off, running back towards Paternoster Row. But there was one member of their party who chose to stay behind.

“It’s a massacre!” Jenny exclaimed in horror as she watched the scene unfold from an upstairs window. A regiment of troops had been called in to stave off the attacking Sontaran troops, but it was a suicide mission.

“Technologically advanced aliens against a few hundred men with nothing more than muskets? That was never a battle they could ever win,” the Doctor replied grimly. “That’s like a toddler attacking an adult with a pea shooter.”

As the extremely one-sided battle ensued, they watched as hundreds of men were gunned down, without there appearing to be a single Sontaran casualty among the dozen who had been deployed. The battle had only started a matter of minutes ago, yet it appeared to be almost over. 

“Is there nothing we can do?” Bayley asked, her tone heart-wrenching at the grave sight of so many losing their lives, shattered as easily as glass.

The Doctor’s silence spoke volumes more than words ever could.

“Hold on, what’s that?” Charlotte pointed towards a particular section of the park.

As they saw before their eyes, the unthinkable happened. One by one, the Sontarans began to fall by gunfire aimed from behind their own lines. One of them was turning on the others. Before any of them could realise what was happening, the attacking Sontaran force had been wiped out, leaving one standing alone.

“Wait a minute, I recognise that armour!” the Doctor exclaimed with a grin. Recognising the dark blue battle suit, they’d found out where Strax’s true allegiance laid.

With the Sontaran attack battalion eliminated, Strax knew he would have to do something before his superiors grew suspicious. He walked towards Commander Snarg’s empty drop pod, firing his gun at the still unconscious body lying beside it on the way to ensure that the commanding Sontaran was dead.

It had been quite some time since Strax had been inside a Sontaran drop pod, but he found it a very familiar experience. All the levers and buttons were exactly where they had been in his own drop pod. 

With a flick of a few buttons and switches, Strax watched as the screen fizzed into life, the toad-like visage of a fellow Sontaran filling the screen. The single diamond on the right hand side of the collar identified him as holding the rank of Lieutenant.

“You are not Commander Snarg. Identify yourself,” the gruff Sontaran Lieutenant demanded.

“Commander Snarg fell in battle,” Strax informed. “As the highest ranking Sontaran present, I, Commander Strax, claim leadership of the forty-second Sontaran fleet.”

“Ah, the lost Sontaran,” the lieutenant mused. “Lieutenant Fieff at your service, sir.” Fieff bowed. 

“I order you to redirect the fleet towards a different target,” Strax commanded.

“Sir?” Fieff questioned.

“The Earth and Humans are not the primary objective.”

“But General Tragg-“

“You will not question your superiors, Lieutenant Fieff,” Strax spat with the rank with disdain. “Unless you wish to be court-martialled.” Fieff appeared to shrink under the thinly veiled threat.

“Sir,” Fieff said, fully cowed.

“Say you’re sorry,” Strax said, holding back his humour to remain impassive, despite his insides filling with laughter ready to burst. If he got his way, he was about to make history. The first Sontaran to ever say those words. What great fun he was having.

“Sir?” Fieff asked, dumbfounded by the order.

“I ordered you to apologise to me, Lieutenant Fieff.”

Fieff appeared to consider for a moment, before bowing. “I am sorry, Commander Strax.”

“Excellent!” Strax exclaimed, unable to fight the gleeful grin breaking across his face with the self-indulgence. “My purpose on Earth was to monitor and study the Moon for a tactical advantage. The time has come for an invasion, Lieutenant Fieff!”

“The Moon, sir?” Fieff questioned.

“Indeed. The Moonites who live there are a threat to the Sontaran Empire. Re-direct the fleet. We must wage war and crush these pathetic insects! See to it.”

“Sontar-ha!” Lieutenant Fieff saluted his chest before the screen faded to black.

“Strax!” the Sontaran in question turned at the calling of his name to see his friends racing towards him. 

“Sir,” Strax directed towards the Doctor. He grimaced and groaned as the Doctor grabbed him into a hug. “Sir, kindly do not embrace me during combat.”

“You stayed. You chose,” Vastra said with a smile.

“The Earth, wretched as it may be, is my home now,” Strax answered. “As much as this betrayal impugns the honour of my clone batch, I could not abandon my…friends.” Strax struggled with the term, it feeling alien on his tongue.

“But what did you do?” Charlotte asked.

“I informed the fleet that the Earth was never our primary target. The Moonites are of much greater strategic value.”

“Oh Strax, all this time I just thought you were being silly,” Jenny said. “But really you were coming up with a red herring.”

“A ‘red herring’? What is that?” Strax said. “Can I destroy it?” he exclaimed excitedly.

As the others basked in the victory, Charlotte came to a realisation. 

“But wait. The Sontarans are going to fly to the Moon, and sooner or later they’re going to realise that there is no such thing as Moonites,” Charlotte said. “What are we going to do when they realise they’ve been duped?”

“She’s right,” the Doctor agreed. “We’re going to need a plan. But what have we got?"

Unbeknownst to the Doctor as he was too busy thinking aloud, Strax's expression morphed into one of grim determination, an idea clearly slotting into his mind. He plodded over to the empty Sontaran drop sphere, ignoring Jenny and Madame Vastra as they called out to him. Clearly whatever plan he had, it was not one he was looking for approval, whatever it was.

"Doctor?" Bayley tried to get his attention, but the madman with a box was too distracted by his own thought process to hear her.

"A Sontaran fleet, armed to the teeth with technologically advanced weaponry capable of blowing the Earth to smithereens, what can a bunch of nineteenth century humans do to combat that? Maybe Torchwood can help," the Doctor rambled to himself, referencing the organisation formed by Queen Victoria with the aim of combatting alien threats (the Doctor included). "No, they won't have scavenged enough alien tech just yet."

By now, Becky had joined in Vastra and Jenny's attempts to get through to Strax, walking up to him. "Oi potato, what're you up to?" She frowned as she received no response, though she knew Strax heard her.

"Doctor," Charlotte tried to interrupt. "I really think you should-"

"Not now Charlotte, I'm thinking," the Doctor dismissed, pausing before his face lit up as he continued scheming to himself. "Hang on, maybe we can- no, wait, that'll never work. Forget that, that's a rubbish plan. Damnit!"

Sasha was at her wit's end for the Doctor's boneheaded dismissal and his complete obliviousness to Strax, who by now had gotten inside the pod and started pressing buttons, refusing to speak to any of them. She'd had enough, and she was going to get through to the Doctor and make him listen, no matter what. 

"Ooh, I know! We can-“ the Doctor started, only to be cut off as Sasha walked in front of him, getting on her tiptoes to place her hands roughly on his shoulders, glaring up at him.

"Doctor, stop being dumb and listen to us! Something is up with Strax, you gotta-"

They were all distracted as the door to Commander Snarg’s drop pod slammed shut, and that’s when the Doctor finally realised Strax was gone.

The Doctor rushed and pounded on the door. “Strax! What are you doing?”

The engines of the drop pod roared into life, causing the Doctor to jump back before he was vaporised.

The sphere rose up into the sky, a cloud of exhaust fumes blanketing the green from underneath.

“What do we do now?” Becky asked.

“TARDIS!” the Doctor exclaimed in answer before running off again, the others following.

As they were just a few streets away from where they’d parked the blue box, the sound of multiple spherical vessels roaring overhead before landing close by stopped the group in their tracks. They watched with horror as the Sontaran scout party landed a mere few hundred yards away from where the TARDIS had landed.

Now they had four ruthless, battle-trained alien soldiers bred for war standing between them and the TARDIS.

“No biggie,” the Doctor vocalised aloud. 

A metallic shing attracted the Doctor’s attention. He turned to watch both Jenny and Vastra pulling twin swords out of their scabbards.

As much as he loathed the use of weapons, he could accept that this was the only way to ensure their survival. That was paramount - keeping his friend’s safe from warmongers licking their lips in gleeful anticipation of bringing about their end.

The four Sontarans fired off rounds of their laser rifles. With all the grace of a choreographed dance, the Silurian and her wife parried the laser bolts with their swords, sending them hurtling back their way. One unlucky Sontaran caught one right in the face, collapsing to the ground with smoke pluming from the fatal blow.

“Oi snake lady, chuck me a sword!” Becky shouted out.

“No, Becky!” the Doctor cried out, instinctively extending an arm to stop her. She had the head start though, escaping his overprotective grasp and running closer towards Vastra and Jenny. 

A brief appraisal was all that was needed for Vastra to nod her head with a chuckle. She threw her arm up, releasing her grip as she did so. One of her twin swords sailed through the air, sunlight glinting off the blade. Vastra brought her attention back just in time, bringing her remaining sword up to block a gauntleted fist thrown her way. By now, they were too close range for guns to be a worthwhile weapon.

Becky leapt up into the air, catching the sword. The Doctor, Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha watched in horror as Becky ran straight at the only Sontaran not currently engaged in combat with Jenny or Vastra.

The Irishwoman used her quick reflexes - honed to perfection through her career as a stuntwoman - to feint away from the laser bolts fired her way, although some were close calls. One even managed to singe a few hairs from her ends.

As she got close enough, Becky decided to go for a particularly daring move. One which could easily get her killed. But to her, it was worth the risk.

She dropped to the ground, sliding between the Sontaran’s legs. Her agility and unconventional attack form gave her the element of surprise. She had caught her opponent unawares. And that gave her the opportunity to jump to her feet. With a mighty roar, she pulled back and drove her sword right into the Sontaran’s probic vent. The act felled her enemy before he even had the chance to fully turn around.

She did it.

Becky Lynch, stuntwoman and now intergalactic adventurer - had won a swordfight with a supersoldier alien.

Somehow, she didn’t see this coming in her future when she was a wee nipper.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t given time to bask in her glory.

Unnoticed by any of them, one of the fallen Sontarans had had time to unclip a grenade before he expired, dropping it right into the centre of the bridge. With all of the scout party eliminated, Vastra and Jenny had rushed right back to the Doctor’s side.

But Becky had not.

“Becky…” the Doctor breathed in horror, eyes wide as he realised too late what was about to happen.

“Becky, get back here!” Charlotte cried out, voice shaken with panic.

"C'mon Chucky, get over here!" Sasha called, a quiver to her tone.

Seven voices all cried out her name in unison, all sharing various tones of distress for their friend. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Becky had only moved a single step when the grenade detonated.

A plume of smoke obscured the view between both Becky and her friends. Debris of concrete showered the air, the small portion of the street caught up in the explosion.

Fearing the worst, the cries of “Becky” became more distraught.

Like a miracle, they heard the sounds of coughing before the smoke finally began to clear.

Although her face was covered in a layer of soot, a couple of superficial cuts across her cheek from stray chunks of debris, Becky looked like she’d gotten incredibly lucky.

The street, however, was not so lucky.

The grenade seemed to have exploded into the ground rather than across it. Despite Becky being safe and sound, a great hole had been blown into the street, the yawning chasm separated her from her friends.

Worst of all, it was still growing. Chunks of paved stone continued to drop down, the hole eating away. 

Further disaster then struck. The initial explosion had caused a chain reaction. The foundations of the street had been adversely affected, cracks shooting up the street. The whole section of street moved beneath her feet, with Becky having to raise her arms to her sides in order to keep herself balanced against the jolt.

Becky turned in horror to watch the whole street falling away around her. Behind and around her, more holes were being created. Before long, she was left on a single isolated platform. A platform being quickly eroded away. If she didn’t act quickly, she’d be cast down into the hungry earth too.

Becky took one glance and realised the horrible truth.

It was too far to jump.

Performing stunts always carried an element of risk. Becky had never had a problem leaping into danger before. The difference between then and now though, was that there was no safety net. Performing stunts, there was usually a harness, people ready to stop the stunt and scramble to help protect her if anything went wrong. Even the previous week on her, Charlotte's and the Doctor's midnight shenanigans, the Doctor had installed gravity pockets if the worst came to pass.

But here and now, there was nothing to keep her safe if she didn't make it.

“Becky, you’re okay!” the Doctor exclaimed, a smile of relief spreading across his face. “Come on then, we’ve got to get to the TARDIS.” The teasing was evident in his tone, mischief sparkling in his eyes.

“I can’t.”

“Well of course you can!”

“I can’t jump that far.”

“How do you know if you don’t try?”

“You can do it Becky!” Bayley shouted in encouragement. 

“The only way you’ll be a bigger pain in my ass is if you don’t make it,” Sasha shouted over. Unlike any time she’d remarked anything similar before, there was a genuine shake of fear in her voice. Scared of losing someone she was finally getting along with after far too long. By now, she had realised the perfect way to push her new friend’s buttons. 

Luckily it worked, stubborn hope flared up in Becky’s eyes, motivation returning to her. But as soon as it came, self-doubt flared up. The chasm had only grown larger, and she could tell she’d already missed her chance. She liked to take risks, but she could see the chance of success was minimal.

“C’mon Becky, you have to survive, the world needs you!” the Doctor cried, the fear of losing his companion flashing in his glistening eyes. “Who else is going to take the leading role in Guardians of the Galaxy 5 if you’re not there to take it?”

Something in Becky snapped back into place, smothering her fear. That one promise of the future - whether having any truth behind it or not - was enough to push her over the edge. It was time to take the leap.

Taking as many steps back as she dared, Becky took a run-up before leaping across the chasm, just as the ground she had stood upon a split second before fell into the gaping abyss.

Inches away from the edge from where her friends eagerly awaited her landing, Becky’s eyes widened in horror as she realised she was falling short of her goal.

She wasn’t going to make it.

Just as she began falling down into the darkness, a floor of hard concrete ready to greet her, she heard a metallic clink before rope coiled itself around her, jerking her to a stop in the air. She looked up to see Jenny with an arm pointed towards her, the length of rope coming from a device attached to her wrist. Her friends wasted no time in helping to pull the length of rope, bringing her to safety. 

Once she was close enough, Becky gripped the edge of the street still left standing, feeling several pairs of arms helping to pull her up.

She was safe.

Once the fear of her untimely end left her, adrenaline surged through Becky once again.

She had faced a Sontaran in single combat and won. A Sontaran who had come to help his kin take over the world.

Becky couldn’t help herself from shooting her arms up towards the sky and letting loose a loud, exuberant whoop.

“I’m a guardian of the galaxy!!”

The destruction of the street had resulted in an unfortunately longer route to the TARDIS. With no time left to lose, they had scrambled towards the blue box, eager to find out where Strax had gone.

The six of them scrambled through the open TARDIS door, the Doctor snapping his fingers to close the door behind them. They could see that he was busy at the console, fervently flicking switches, inputting information and tapping on the monitor attached to the console.

“Doctor, are you going to explain what you’re doing?” Charlotte asked.

“All Sontaran drop pods are outfitted with communication systems,” the Doctor explained frantically as he worked. “If I can find just the right frequency, I can patch through to Strax, find out what he’s up to. Aha!” The monitor fizzled into life, Strax appearing on screen, the turbulence of the ship causing Strax and his surroundings to shake constantly.

“Doctor?” Strax questioned.

“Strax, what in the name of sanity are you doing?” Vastra demanded, getting closer to the monitor for a clear view.

“If I allow the Sontaran fleet to go unchallenged, sooner or later they will return and annihilate Earth,” Strax explained. “The only way to prevent that eventuality is to destroy them.” His voice was matter-of-factly, unnervingly calm.

“Strax, no!” Jenny cried out, realising what that meant.

“Strax, please listen to me, don’t do this,” the Doctor said. “We can think of another way.”

“There is no other way.”

“You don’t have to do this, you don’t have to throw your life away.”

“It’s quite alright sir. I’ve had a good life. I’m nearly fourteen. There is no greater glory than to die in the thrill of combat. I think I will enjoy it better this time, knowing what it is I am protecting.”

“It’s not just that,” the Doctor continued. “As if losing you wouldn’t be terrible enough as it is, killing them all?” he said with a disgusted frown on his face. “I can’t allow you to commit genocide on our behalf.”

“Didn’t you do the same, Doctor?” Strax countered, and instantly the Doctor’s face fell. “Wipe out your own people to prevent them from committing further atrocities?” The Doctor’s sudden silence spoke louder than his words ever could. “Yes, Doctor. They must be stopped, for the sake of our planet.”

Before another word could be spoken, Strax reached for a control and the screen went back to the screensaver of a green galaxy.

“What’s happened?” Sasha asked. “Where did he go?”

“He um,” the Doctor shook his head, attempting to restore neutrality to his expression. “He cut the video link.”

“Well what now?” Becky asked.

“Nothing. He’s made his choice,” the Doctor answered, unusually committed.

“But there must be something we can do!” Bayley said.

“Tried that, and if you hadn’t noticed, there was no changing his mind,” the Doctor sighed. “Sontaran Drop Pods are totally resistant to being taken under control by another ship. Completely TARDIS-proof. There is nothing we can do.”

“Well, can we at least see what’s going on?” Jenny asked. “Just to make sure he gets out alive?”

The Doctor looked hesitant, but eventually gave in to the request. “Uh yeah, sure,” he murmured quietly. He began adjusting switches until the Sontaran fleet was visible on the monitor.

There was a contingent of ships. In the centre was one large spaceship. It was far larger than the rest, a long cylindrical shape with protruding legs at the top and bottom. Hundreds of Sontaran Drop pods surrounded the structure in formation, ready to deploy on the surface of the moon.

In the distance they could see one ship hurtling towards them, seemingly growing in size the closer it came, until it was clear whose it was. Strax’s ship.

The main Sontaran battle ship opened a hatch, tiny compared to the sheer size of the ship. Strax’s ship flew inside, the hatch closing behind it.

‘Ah, Commander Strax! How good of you to join us on the eve of battle,” a Sontaran voice came through on the TARDIS speakers.

“Where’s that coming from?” Sasha asked. 

“Strax’s battle suit,” the Doctor explained. “He wants us to listen. I’ll turn it off, we don’t need to hear this.” He rushed to the controls before Vastra placed a firm hand on his to stop him.

“Don’t you dare.”

The sounds of a laser weapon being discharged crackled through the speakers, followed by guttural Sontaran death groans.

The TARDIS travellers exchanged horrified glances as they heard death cry after death cry, laser after laser. A cacophony of battle cries and gunfire emanated from the TARDIS speakers.

And then, all went quiet.

It was deafening. 

“Strax?” the Doctor asked after tapping into the correct frequency to send. “Are you there?”

“Self-destruct initiated,” the ship’s computer echoed through the speakers.

“No,” Vastra’s eyes widened. “No!” she yelled, this time louder and far more distraught.

There was an almighty bang, and they saw the ship begin to splinter apart, the two halves separating as they gradually disintegrated. A colossal explosion rippled from the ship, the fireball engulfing the spherical Sontaran drop pods nearby, until there was nothing in space but floating debris, there to rot forevermore. A whole fleet, burned up in a matter of seconds.

“Strax?” the Doctor tried. “Come in buddy, come in!” When no answer came, he tried to keep his cool but failed, yelling incoherently and slamming his palms down onto the TARDIS console.

“Maybe…maybe he managed to escape?” Bayley suggested. In the absence of confirmation of Strax’s demise, no one objected.

They watched and waited, but there was no sign of any survivors. The Sontaran fleet had been destroyed. And with it, their friend who had sacrificed himself to save the Earth.

In one house on Paternoster Row, there was a mournful air of sorrow. The curious butler of that house - a startling sight to all who called upon the Paternoster Detectives - seemed to have disappeared during the recent alien invasion. All who had knocked on the door in the day since had been totally ignored, as though the butler’s grieving friends had lost the heart to solve crimes.

In truth, the seven people inside the house were dealing with the tragic situation in their own various ways. Hope clung to life, yet was being slowly smothered by the implications of uncertainty. 

“We don’t know for sure that he’s dead,” Bayley said from her place at the table.

“It’s been over a day now,” the Doctor answered. “I always tell people to cling to hope, but in this case…” he trailed off. “I think we know what happened. We don’t need to wait for a body to know that he is-“

“Don’t say it,” Vastra interrupted, the hurt and anger flashing across her face. “He could have survived.”

“Listen, I would love to be able to say otherwise. But an explosion that size, that wiped out the whole fleet? Nothing could have survived that. I think we just have to accept the fact that he’s…” the Doctor paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Gone.”

At the same moment, Sasha was staring out the window. Despite how short a time she’d spent with the trio, she’d found Strax a consistent source of amusement since they’d met on the way to Buckingham Palace. The thought of him being truly gone and its emotional impact was not one she cared to share openly. As she subtly wiped a silent, lone tear from her eye, thankful that nobody could see her face, she caught view of something falling from the sky.

“Guys! Hey!” Sasha called to gain their attention. The others joined her from where she was looking out the window. “What’s that?” She pointed to a small object, distant in the sky, until it finally grew large enough to make out.

“A Sontaran Drop Pod!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“One of them survived!” Jenny added, her tone filled with hope.

The seven of them rushed out, just in time to watch the Drop Pod crash straight in front of the house, sending fragments of pavement scattering towards them in a dust cloud.

The door to the Sontaran Drop Pod slowly creaked open a bit, but not all the way. A dark blue gauntlet snaked its way from the inside to prise the door open.  A Sontaran stumbled out, and it was instantly recognisable just who it was.

“Strax!” Vasta exclaimed. “You’re alive!”

Before he had chance to respond, the visibly bruised Sontaran was quickly assaulted by a barrage of limbs wrapping themselves around him. Jenny, Vastra and the Doctor all engulfing him in a hug. 

“Kindly do not asphyxiate me,” Strax complained, earning laughter from all present.

“But how? How did you survive?” the Doctor asked after pulling away, his voice breaking with emotion, the watery smile giving away just how overwhelmed he was.

“I set the self-destruct on a timer and escaped in my ship,” Strax explained. “Unfortunately I misjudged the ferocity of the resulting explosion, and my ship was caught up enough in the blast to send it veering off course. Fortunately I was able to repair the ship just enough to get me here. Otherwise I would have made a landing more befitting of a Sontaran,” he turned, gesturing to the sphere, which was continuing to spark from where it had crash landed.

“Oof, you’ve got some battle scars there,” the Doctor pointed to him. Now that they were looking at him more closely, they could see what a toll the experience had taken on him. His battle suit was dented in several places. It was not only bruises that littered his head, but dozens of tiny cuts.

“Ah, every Sontaran wears battle scars with pride!” Strax said proudly.

They laughed and turned back into the house, joyous for having their favourite Sontaran back in one piece.

Chapter Text

“Now, how would you all like to pop back home for tea?” the Doctor asked, the question taking them all off-guard.

It had been a couple of weeks since the Sontaran invasion. Having fended off the might of the Sontaran Empire - successfully saving history no less - they had rewarded themselves with some truly relaxing destinations. 

It had started off with business as usual. They’d started with Disney World - the planet - in which the character actors greeting vistors around the sprawling theme park metropolis were suspiciously girthy. Surprise-surprise, it turned out that was because they were really Slitheen - a criminal family of hulking green aliens compressing themselves down to fit into skinsuits of the people they’d murdered - planning on using the theme park planet as their new business venture until Team TARDIS put a stop to their nefarious scheme. 

Finally, the Leisure Palace - a sprawling spa resort on a shining planet called Midnight - proved to be the tranquil repose they were searching for. In fact, it had taken both Becky and Sasha to quite literally drag Charlotte away from the facilities. 

Almost a month removed from their encounter with the Dark Order, it was incredible just how far the four had come in terms of their bonds with one another, going from awkward at best and hostile at worst, to inseparable. They might not have been friends for long, but already they felt like a family, with dynamics quickly establishing.

Becky and Sasha were the impulsive ones, daring each other to goof off around every historical figure they met, and eager to jump through fire if it meant reaching their goal quicker. Charlotte and Bayley were the calm, pragmatic ones, often hanging back and putting their heads together to present solutions while Sasha and Becky ran headfirst into danger - with Bayley and Charlotte usually later feeling responsible for apologising to anyone their friends rubbed the wrong way.

Bayley and Sasha bonded over a shared love of comic books and coffee. Bayley’s heart was big enough to accommodate its own special place for Sasha, never growing tired of the excitement sparking in Sasha’s eyes every time Bayley agreed to watch anime with her in the TARDIS cinema. Whereas Sasha would listen with awe to just about anything Bayley had to say, especially to every tale Bayley told about her career helping struggling kids. On the nights Bayley just wanted to talk, Sasha would gladly stay up to talk to her for hours, increasingly treasuring every interaction she had with the woman who had seemed too pure to be true, now quickly becoming her best friend.

Becky and Charlotte’s friendship was like fire and ice. Becky was quite often a hyperactive, rambling ball of excitement and puns. Whereas Charlotte was more stern and reserved. Somehow, the two polar opposite personalities meshed perfectly. Charlotte cooled Becky down in situations where she was being overly reckless, and Becky’s intoxicating fire warmed the bashful blonde up to living in the moment. In their downtime on the TARDIS, Becky’s puns kept Charlotte giggling well into the early hours of the morning, while Charlotte would always be Becky’s workout buddy in the TARDIS gym and splash her with water in the swimming pool when Becky proved too annoying. Little by little, Becky was coaxing a wilder side out of Charlotte, and Charlotte was step-by-step helping Becky take better care of herself.

Bayley and Becky’s friendship was that of two women committed to not taking life too seriously and putting their all into enjoying every second. Cheesy dad jokes were aplenty whenever the two of them felt like being especially infuriating to the other two women. Even worse when the Doctor decided to join in. Secretly though, they knew Sasha and Charlotte were amused at their antics, even if neither showed it. 

Charlotte and Sasha were more complicated, seemingly having little in common. Charlotte was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, whereas Sasha struggled with poverty throughout her childhood. Yet, Sasha was the one with a chip on her shoulder the size of Boston, whereas Charlotte did her best to try to fit in, eager to change her whole outlook on life now that she knew how much there was to see, and how tiny every single life truly was in the grand scheme of the universe. Yet somehow, the two women with vastly different backgrounds held a mutual respect for what the other had gone through. They admired each other’s tenacity - Sasha for scratching and clawing for everything she held in life, Charlotte for working so damn hard to prove everybody wrong. They loved poking fun at each other, the barbs never turning to cheapshots. Just light-hearted teasing to lighten the mood. Becky might have put the work in to coax Charlotte out of her shell and loosen up, but Charlotte awarded a good deal of the credit to Sasha as well.

If Charlotte ever admitted to Sasha just how extraordinarily similar she felt her and Becky were, she was pretty sure Sasha would find the earliest opportunity to push Charlotte into the TARDIS swimming pool.

Yet even with their developing friendship, the two women were sometimes strangely bashful around each other. And if they weren’t careful, pretty soon the others were going to catch on the way both of them snuck quick glances whenever the other wasn’t looking.

Right now though, Bayley, Sasha, Charlotte and the Doctor were enjoying each other’s company in the console room. Becky had decided to take the time to explore deeper into the TARDIS, accepting the Doctor’s “challenge” to discover parts of the TARDIS even he had not ventured to - despite how vehemently he had made clear that it was never a challenge.

Back in the present, the Doctor’s inquiring about going "home for tea" had them puzzled.

“Ew, tea?” Sasha questioned. “I’m a coffee girl myself.”

“Yeah, can’t say I’m a tea drinker either,” Bayley agreed. “Nothing better to get you going in the morning than a hot cup of coffee.”

“Right?” Sasha flashed an enthusiastic grin.

“Oh, I like tea!” Charlotte spoke up.

“No,” the Doctor chuckled. “Not the drink, but more of an expression. Sorry, I’m used to travelling mostly with British friends, I forget you have a different vocabulary. I meant I think you should all go back, spend time with your friends and families.”

“Why?” Sasha asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. Dread’s cold hands were already clutching her heart with an icy grip. After all the wonderful, terrifying, adrenaline-fueling escapades they’d experienced, surely the Doctor wasn’t going to cut them off now?  

“This life, it’s dazzling,” the Doctor started to explain. “It’s all running about, saving civilisations, meeting Queen Vicky, and certainly not joining a creepy cult. You know, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. It’s easy to lose yourself, to forget that you had a whole other life. It’s important to never lose sight of that. Never forget what’s really important.”

“Okay,” Sasha shrugged her shoulders. She could see his point. Now that she thought about it, she realised that she hadn’t thought, even once, about a single thing waiting for her back on Earth since that fateful day she had leapt aboard the TARDIS with gusto. “You can drop me off at my hotel. I already had plans before I was abducted by scary bat aliens.”

The Doctor pointed at her, snapping his fingers before dashing to set the controls in preparation to materialise at Sasha’s destination.

“So this is the day I left? Charlotte asked as she looked tentatively out of the TARDIS doors into her office.

“Yep,” the Doctor answered confidently.

“You’re sure?” Charlotte asked, earning a scoff from Becky at her inability to just accept the Doctor’s words at face value.

“Same day, same hour, same minute, same quintillionth of a second.”

“Okay, thanks Doctor. I’ll see you all shortly.” Charlotte finally took a step outside, shutting the door behind her and watching with awe as she watched the TARDIS flash in and out of existence, scattering the papers about her office before it faded from view entirely.

Charlotte sighed in relief to be back in familiar territory, running a hand along the familiarity of her wooden desk. She suddenly remembered with horror that she hadn’t been done with clients on the day she’d been plucked from her life by alien claws. Deciding it was time to get back to business, Charlotte headed out of the door into the reception area.

“Hey Dana,” Charlotte called, happy to see her favourite assistant for the first time in two months (if that was even the case; it was difficult to tell time accurate aboard the TARDIS, ironically enough). Her smile fell as she registered the look of stunned shock on the face of Dana Brooke.

“Charlotte?” she gasped, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

After saying goodbye to Charlotte at her gym, the Doctor looked up from the console at the two companions still on-board.

“Right, where can I drop you off Becky?”

“There’s a wrap party I was planning on goin’ to.”

“Ooh, a rap party!” the Doctor grinned. “I’ll dust off my backwards-cap and jewellery, I’ve been known to spit a few rhymes in my time.”

After Becky cleared up the confusion, the Doctor was very dismayed to discover that it wasn’t exactly what he had envisioned.

“Here we are-“ the Doctor announced as he pulled open the TARDIS doors and stepped outside, only for there to be an almighty bang, the explosion sending him, Becky and Bayley hurtling to the ground, the trio shouting and screaming in shock.

But then there was nothing. The Doctor, Bayley and Becky waited and looked up in confusion to see no more immediate threat. Instead, a crowd of onlookers stood, watching them with stunned bemusement. There were high-end film cameras set up all around, with film crew members stood around holding boom microphones.

“AND CUT!!” bellowed a very familiar voice. One with an Irish lilt. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOIN’? WHO THE FECK BROUGHT A STUPID BLUE BOX ONTO MY SET?!” the voice roared, unfiltered anger seeping through.

“Finn!” Becky grinned, happy to see her friend bounding over toward them, though her smile faltered when she realised he was striding with angry steps, rather than excited ones.

“Becky?” Finn scowled, as though he was actually displeased to see one of his closest friends. Though given that their materialisation had messed up his scene, she supposed that had to be the reason behind his anger.

Becky squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. There was something unusual about him.

Finn’s scowl then slowly melted into a grin, turning back into the man she recognised. “Becky!” 

Finn then punched her playfully, but with more force than she felt was necessary. “Ow!” Becky gasped and rubbed her sore shoulder.

“What happened to you lass? We were all worried about you!” 

“Don’t be so clingy Finny, not the first time I’ve been late to a party.”

“Party? Lass, that was a week ago! I swear, you’d lose yer own head if I weren’t here.”

“A week?” Her eyebrows raised accusatory, turning to look with at the Doctor, who offered her an apologetic shrug.

“Oops,” was all he offered quietly, followed by a mouthed ‘Sorry!’

“I suppose I have you to thank for screwing up my shot?” Finn asked, Becky’s silence acting as confirmation. “Well as punishment, you can stay and watch the rest of the takes. You better have a good explanation for leavin’ me to drink all the Guinness.”

“Sure,” Becky agreed. She turned to the Doctor and Bayley. “I’ll catch you guys later, yeah?”

“We’ll see you later,” Bayley pulled Becky into a quick hug before separating.

“Just remember, call the TARDIS when you want picking up,” the Doctor called as the two walked off.

“Alright, so,” the Doctor clapped his hands together. “Where can I drop you off, Bayley?”

“Actually Doctor, I’d prefer to stay with you, if you don’t mind,” Bayley answered.

He considered her request for a moment. “Okay, if you’re sure that’s what you want?”

“It is,” she answered before sucking in a breath of air and exhaling. “So, where are we off to in the meantime?”

“In the meantime, you can help me make some adjustments to the TARDIS flight systems,” he answered with a grin, relishing the sight of Bayley’s face dropping at the reveal that they would be doing something so mundane instead of having more adventures. 

Suddenly she felt like perhaps she should have agreed to visit her own loved ones.

Sasha strode into the gym, the familiar odours of sweat and body spray hanging in the air. She’d been here a few times in the past, but it usually seemed far busier. It felt like a ghost town right now, having yet to bump into anyone else. Even the front reception desk was empty.

Any worries immediately dissipated when she opened the door to the main gym area, seeing the familiar head of green and pink hair she’d been looking for.

She watched as Asuka peppered the punch-bag with a dizzying series of punches and kicks, every single one hitting their mark with devastating effect. In fact, the deflated punching bag seemed ready to collapse, the metal chain attached to the ceiling groaning and creaking in protest. Sasha thought that odd, the gym was usually far more up to date with maintenance.

“Asuka!” she called out warmly. The woman’s barrage of strikes immediately halted, the Japanese MMA superstar turning to meet her with a look of equal glee.

“Sasha-chan!” she gasped with elated surprise before tearing off her gloves and bounding over to her. The two wrapped each other in a quick hug by way of greeting before separating. “Where you go? Hotel staff say you not there?”

Sasha looked back at her in confusion, until a thought occurred to her. ‘Damnit Doctor!’ she cursed inside her own head. ‘You couldn’t get me back at the right time?’

“Sorry Asuka, something came up,” Sasha replied with an apologetic smile. “But I’m here now. You got time?”

“Give five minutes, yes?” Asuka asked happily. With Sasha nodding in agreement, she turned and walked out the door.

Left by herself while she waited for her friend, Sasha took a moment to reflect on the insane past few weeks she’d had. From being abducted by aliens and almost having her brain fried, nearly being made into a metal man, meeting Queen Victoria, being captured by a creepy cult, to rejoicing in the survival of a potato-dwarf-like friend, it had been a weird past month. And here she was, dropped back into her normal day-to-day life, like nothing had happened. But something had happened. She had changed. She wasn’t the same Sasha Banks, growing tired of the same old-same old, who had been taken from the planet. She had a whole new lease on life, having discovered there were more wonders in the universe she could ever hope to fully explore. She wondered if Asuka had changed herself in that time at all.

As she pondered on that, she noticed just how warped the punching bag was. She recalled Asuka proudly boasting about purchasing it only a few weeks ago. Surely it couldn’t have been worn out in that length of time?

Movement flickered out of the corner of her eye. A shape moving in the outer corridor, visible through the windows. Looking more closely at the long shaggy black hair on one side, the other side shaved, she recognised who it was. Only, there was something different to him. His arm was bound in a sling.

“Shinsuke!” she called out. He looked up at her with a pleased look of recognition. Sasha waved him inside, pulling the door open for him.

“Sasha-chan, what brings you here?” he asked, his Japanese accent pronounced, but with a significantly better grasp of English than Asuka.

“Just catching up,” Sasha answered. “What did you do to your arm?” She gestured to his sling.

“Oh, I-“ Sasha waited for an answer, only to see his look transform to one of horror as he looked at someone standing behind her.

Sasha turned her head to see that Asuka had returned, and she looked completely unaffected by Shinsuke’s reaction. Hearing the sound of thudding footsteps, Sasha turned back to see Shinsuke sprinting up the corridor away from them.

“What was that about?” Sasha asked as she turned to Asuka.

Asuka merely shrugged.

“Five thousand per week?” Becky repeated, stunned at the outrageous figure, as her close friend nodded back at her. “Finn, you could have got me for a lot less.

“Aye, but she won’t be drinkin’ the whole United States’ supply of Guinness at the wrap party now, will she?” Finn responded cheekily. “It balances out to be a lot cheaper than castin’ you.” He shrugged.

Becky placed a hand over her heart and pouted. “Finn, if yer not careful, people might start think you care about the health of me liver.”

A young runner walked over to them tentatively, holding a steaming cup in his hand. “Excuse me sir, here’s your coffee order.”

“Finally, you took yer sweet time. You got me black?”

“Uhhh, n-no sir,” the young man stuttered. “I got you a mocha.”

Finn’s face instantly turned into a furious scowl. He raised one hand and slapped the bottom of the cup, sending it careening into the runner’s face, splattering piping hot coffee up into the air. Thankfully, the now terrified young man managed to dodge most of the dangerously hot liquid, but enough of it managed to land and stain his clothes.

Finn stalked closer towards him with a terrifyingly slow speed. “What the fuck do you think yer doin’, messing up MY coffee order? Get out of here.” Although his tone was quiet, it was dangerously low, the anger seeping through like a powder keg. Volatile and ready to blow.

“But I-“ the runner started.

“GET OUT!” Finn roared, jerking a finger towards the film set’s exit.

The runner scrambled towards it, clearly eager to evade the irate director’s wrath.

To say that Becky was horrified by her friend’s actions was an understatement. They’d known each other a long time, and she had never known him to be so aggressive and bullying towards another person. It took her a few moments to close her mouth, though she couldn’t seem to unwiden her eyes.

“Finn, what was that?” she demanded, keeping her tone purposefully low.

“The lad can’t get one simple thing right, he don’t deserve to be here,” Finn replied nonchalantly, in a way that made he clear he felt no shame towards the incident.

“No Finn, that was you being an arsehole,” Becky said, her voice taking on an angry tone. “That was completely unacceptable. When did you become this person?”

“You wanna survive in this business, you’ve gotta shape up,” Finn crossed his arms, as though that was an appropriate answer.

“No, the Finn I know would never treat someone like that.” Becky’s voice shook, barely holding her anger back. “Let me know when you’re done being a dick.”

Becky then stormed off, unable to look at her friend and his completely unrepentant expression anymore.

Bayley was bored. There was no doubt about it. She picked up and twirled the wrench in her hand for the twenty-eighth time. The wrench which the Doctor had insisted was a ‘zero-grav wrench’’, but she could still feel all the weight of a dull, ordinary wrench in her fist.

“…and that was how we finally escaped from being trapped inside a psychically expanded dolls house in an empathetic alien boy’s wardrobe of horrors!” Bayley finally tuned the Doctor back in, only to realise perhaps she should have kept him tuned out after all. “Bayley, are you even listening to me?” he called up from where he was bent over an open hatch down below, tending to the inner workings of the console. Bayley continued to watch him from above, looking at each through the glass floor that separated them.

“Hmm?” Bayley snapped her head down to look at him. “Oh yeah, uh, that story was amazing Doctor!” she mustered just enough enthusiasm to hope she’d managed to fake it successfully. 

It’s not that the Doctor’s tales were boring. Far from it. But there was only so much she could take with constant side-tracking, the Doctor taking minutes at a time to concentrate on fixing the wiring, often distracting him completely to the point of launching into recounting an entirely different adventure halfway through the previous one. His tangents were interesting, but impossible to follow.

She also hadn’t failed to notice that the Doctor never specified who exactly he was talking about when he mentioned the friends he’d been travelling with at the time. Only referring to them as “her”, “she” or “him”. One time he’d slipped up by giving away “Pond”, but he’d not made that mistake again.

Bayley ultimately decided that for her own sanity, it was safer to remain in her own head, than to listen to the million different directions of the Doctor’s.

“Y’know, I’m being brilliantly impressive down here. If you can’t manage to pretend to listen, what’s the point of having you?” His voice was light enough to let her know he was only teasing.

“Doctor, I can’t help it if you can’t finish a single story without spinning off into five different tangents partway through,” Bayley defended. “How do you expect me to keep engaged if you’re just rambling?”

“Rambling?” the Doctor huffed, offense seeping into his tone. “Do I ramble?” he wondered quietly to himself. “Well listen, because this next story is going to be a doozy. It all started when-“

Bayley mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to the universe when a sudden beeping from the console interrupted what was likely to be an assortment of disjointed volumes of past adventures jumbled together into an incoherent mess.

“Doctor, what’s that?” she asked as he bounded up the stairs to look at the console monitor. 

“Energy signatures,” he answered, tapping a finger sharply on the screen. The picture on-screen - a hollow green globe representing the Earth – shuddered before three red dots began to pulsate at three different positions around the globe. Two in North America, with the third in what Bayley recognised as being Japan.

“Doctor, those blinking dots look like they’re coming from-“

“Roughly where we dropped Sasha, Charlotte and Becky off? Yeah, they do, don’t they?” He turned back to it, though Bayley could see the subtle hint of worry lines creeping onto his brow. “Let me just fine-tune it a little, make sure our friends aren’t in immediate danger.”

Bayley watched as he twisted a circular control around, and their suspicions were made clear, as the TARDIS zoomed in on each dot to give a more precise location.

Osaka, Japan. 

Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Orlando, Florida.

“We need to look into this,” the Doctor said, the worry radiating in his voice.

To say that Charlotte was horrified at Dana’s revelation that she’d been missing for the past week was an understatement. That meant a week of missed appointments. A whole week of having her reputation sullied.

Charlotte had always prided herself on being a consummate professional, always fulfilling every single obligation she set up for herself. Had she failed to attend so many appointments before she’d travelled with the Doctor, it would have been enough to completely sap her spirits.

Yet, she found herself strangely feeling disconnected and nonchalant about the whole thing. She hadn’t intended on being taken from her workplace, zoomed up into an alien spaceship. It was hardly her fault that she was now travelling with an alien with an inability to control his own ship with precision. 

But those were just excuses. The real development was that Charlotte honestly couldn’t say that this was where she was at anymore. The Doctor had told her to not lose sight of what was important. But hand on her heart, she didn’t think her gym, her business, her pride and joy, was at the centre of her life anymore. She’d found that there was far more to life than she could ever have imagined the last time she’d sat in her office. Suddenly, working as a personal trainer and teaching classes didn’t seem anywhere near as important anymore. She’d changed.

As she was stuck in her own mind, Charlotte just about registered the noise of the door being pushed open.

“Hey girl!” she heard a familiar, warm greeting.

“Nia!” Charlotte returned the greeting with a smile at her friend.

The plus-sized woman strode over. Charlotte gasped as she was pulled into a bone-crushing hug, the woman’s wide arms squeezing with the strength of an anaconda on steroids. Charlotte tried to return the hug, only to feel her chest being crushed.

“You’re back!” Nia said, but Charlotte found herself too constricted to speak immediately.

“Ni-a-“ Charlotte wheezed. “Can’t…breathe...”

“Oh hush Flair, you do exaggerate,” Nia replied unbothered, clearly with no idea of the very real pain she was putting her friend through.

Charlotte gasped as she felt the muscles in her back begin to ache with tension. “Please…get…off.”

Nia finally pulled back, mercifully releasing her from the over-enthusiastic embrace. Charlotte coughed and wheezed, and only then did Nia realise that her friend hadn’t been joking.

“Oh Charlotte, I’m so sorry,” she apologised sheepishly.

Charlotte waved her arm away. “It’s okay. You just gotta be careful of your own strength. When did you get so strong? And how did you know I was back?”

“I’ve not stopped training since you’ve been away,” Nia replied happily, either eager to accept the subject change or all too happy to talk about herself. “Dana called to let me know you were back, and I was wondering if you had time for a session today?”

“Yeah, of course,” Charlotte said, finally managing to get her voice back under control. “I’m thinking we start you off on the treadmill, sound good?”

“Yeah,” Nia nodded. 

Roughly half an hour later, Charlotte was finding herself very surprised. Nia had been running on the treadmill on the fastest setting, on the highest incline, and she showed no signs of slowing down. The woman wasn’t usually capable of keeping up on the higher settings, but twenty minutes in and she wasn’t so much as breaking a sweat.

“Wow, look at you!” Charlotte cheered her on, trying to keep the shock out of her voice, as though this wasn’t a borderline superhuman feat, considering Nia wasn’t exactly a world-class athlete. Her cardio was good enough, but nowhere near the levels she was displaying today.

“Impressed?” Nia turned to ask, without so much as a tremor in her voice.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Charlotte laughed nervously. Something clearly wasn’t quite right here. But she couldn’t be sure just yet. “I think you’ve ran enough for the moment, let’s move on.”

“But I can keep going-“ Nia started.

“Oh, I’m sure you can.” Charlotte then narrowed her eyebrows in a teasing challenge. “But let’s see how strong you really are.”

After moving onto weights, Nia quickly proved that she had grown just as strong as she had grown agile in the past week. She was already strong before, but she surpassed her usual weight limit within minutes, insisting that Charlotte add on heavier weights.

250lbs, 300lbs, 350lbs, 400lbs, 500lbs. The barbell weight kept going up and up at Nia’s insistence, and she continued to squat low right to the ground, without even a hint of a struggle on her face.

All the while Charlotte watched with an increasing look of shock on her face. But at this point she wasn’t impressed. She was concerned. This was not normal. And as she’d found abundantly clear since her travels began, anything out of the ordinary tended to have consequences. This was troubling.

Sasha continued walking down the hallways of the Osaka gym. She’d long since finished her friendly catch-up with Asuka, but now she had someone else to find. The entire time she was chatting with Asuka, she couldn’t get Shinsuke’s odd behaviour out of her mind. She knew when something didn’t feel right, and this was one such occasion.

Checking locker room after locker room, office after office, she was running of hiding places to find Shinsuke. He was a typically eccentric man, but his demeanour the moment he’d seen Asuka - the pale look as all colour drained from his face - it was all terribly wrong.

Sasha walked past an open door, but stopped when she registered that she’d caught a glimpse of someone inside. Walking back, she was relieved when she found it was the man she’d been searching for.

“Shin?” she asked tentatively as she pushed the door open by the tips of her fingers, the wooden door creaking as it moved purposefully slowly, giving Shinsuke ample opportunity to close the door. Thankfully, he made no move, though his eyes continued to dart around anxiously.

“Shinsuke…hey…” Sasha whispered softly as she took a seat opposite him and leaned forward. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry. No speak English,” he replied, his accent purposefully exaggerated to cloud the words. He then promptly turned away to hide his face, resulting in Sasha adopting a frown. She recognised that tactic. Frankly she was insulted that he’d tried to use it on her.

“Come on Shin, I know you,” Sasha tried again, offense inviting anger into her tone with a scowl. “We’re friends, I’m not some random English-speaking reporter asking a question you don’t feel like answering.” She watched as he turned back, his mask slipping away into a familiar, cheeky, red mouthguard-tinted grin. “So I’m going to ask you again. What happened to make you so afraid of Asuka?”

“Well played Sasha,” he eventually answered after a short silence. “Asuka hurt me.”

“I gathered,” Sasha nodded, nodding her head to his sling. “But you two have hurt each other when sparring plenty of times over the years and not run terrified from each other like the way I saw you do today. So tell me exactly what happened.”

“You really want to know?” she asked, infuriating Sasha further with his lack of being forthcoming. 

“Of course I want to know!” she said, raising her voice, sighing as she saw the man’s grin return. He was enjoying frustrating her.

“Okay, I’ll tell you,” he finally offered. “We were sparring last week. Asuka got big fight coming, so I wanted to help her prepare. She grab my arm, put me in armbar. But she-she not let go.” Shinsuke’s voice began to warble towards the end, any light-hearted demeanour long since vanished without a trace. He shook his head, blinking his eyes. “She had this crazy look in her eyes,” he continued, gesturing towards his own. “Like she was a wild animal. There was a snap, but she still not let go. She not let go until Coach Bloom start pulling her off.”

Long after Shinsuke had finished his explanation and promptly left, Sasha still remained sat in the chair, lost in thought. Despite her reputation for being a fierce fighter, Sasha had never known Asuka to purposefully cripple an opponent in a sparring session. But worse still, to do it with as much glee as Shinsuke had described, it was most unlike her friend. Appalled didn’t even begin to cover how Sasha felt about the prospect. That was not the Asuka she knew.

The Doctor stuck his head out of the TARDIS, with Bayley following behind him.

“You sure we’ve got the right place?” Bayley asked, looking around at the room bathed in darkness, without any signs of life.

“I folded back the signal, and this is where she pointed me. So yeah, this is it.”

“Could do with some lights, I’ll try to find the switch,” Bayley said before she started fumbling around in the dark, trying to feel the walls with her hands.

A whirring noise sounded. Bayley was startled for a split second before the green light of the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver shone in the dark to bathe his face in an emerald glow. The room then erupted into light, with Bayley having to shield her eyes from the onslaught until they adjusted to the new levels of brightness.

They were stood in a vast space, made entirely of metal as far as the eye could see. The room was nondescript to the point of dullness, just metallic grey on the steel mesh that made up the floor, and simple grey walls. The ceiling was much the same, except for the fluorescent tiled squares to act as the light source.

“Looks like a space station,” the Doctor said as he looked around, seemingly unaffected by the sudden change in light, causing Bayley to briefly wonder if he had space eyes.

As Bayley turned around, her eyes fell upon what looked to be a row of metal bars. Cages built into the walls, looking very much like jail cells. Except there was something you wouldn’t expect to see in a perfectly functional jail cell.

“Uh, Doctor?” she asked to get his attention, motioning over to what she had seen.

“Oh, a prison ship!” the Doctor exclaimed excitedly with the discovery.

“Doesn’t look big enough to be a prison,” Bayley titled her head in confusion.

“Well I say prison ship, but this is really just a transporter, the type of ship they use to get the convicts to Stormcage, the Lunar Penal Colony, Shada, or anywhere else they imprison criminals across the galaxy. No matter what the civilization is, there will always be outcasts to lock away.”

Having blown through his explanation, the Doctor’s face fell when he realised that Bayley had been pointing at the gaping holes in each of the three cell doors, likely large enough for the occupants to escape.

“Looks like they got out early,” the Doctor quipped. “But probably not for good behaviour.”

“Who is supposed to be in those cells?” Bayley asked. “And why aren’t there any guards?

“Good questions, and I don’t know.” the Doctor replied before rubbing his hands together. “Shall we take a peek?”

The Doctor then walked over to the blank monitor on the wall beside the first cell. Placing a hand over the screen, he pulled back for the words to be visible on-screen.

“Prisoner: The Demon King.”

Bayley walked over to the cell on the far right, copying the Doctor’s actions.

“Prisoner: The Irresistible Force.”

The middle cell was the last to reveal the occupant that was supposed to still be behind its bars. The Doctor put his hand over its screen again, revealing the title of the entity seemingly long-since gone.

“Prisoner: The Empress.”

“Is this something we need to look into?” Bayley asked. 

“Probably not. They sound like a nice bunch, they’ll probably be fine roaming about the universe. I know what the box says Bayley, but we’re not the police. It’s not our business if a few inmates decide they’ve had enough,” the Doctor answered. “But just to be on the safe side, I’d best be checking the ship’s computer just to make sure they’re not responsible for the energy signals from Earth.”

The moment the Doctor turned towards the ship’s computer terminal, the interior was bathed in a red light. An ear-splitting electronic screech sounded, causing Bayley to cry out and cover her ears, only letting go after the Doctor had managed to use his Sonic to cut out the painfully shrill noise.

“Doctor, what on earth was that?”

The Doctor took a moment to answer, the light-hearted expression on his face gone, replaced by something more akin to worry. 

“That sounded to me like an activation signal.”

Chapter Text

700lbs strong, and Nia was still squatting the barbell with ease. Charlotte was wondering when it was going to end. There had to be some limitations to her friend’s newfound super strength, yet it didn’t seem to be in sight.

“Wow Nia, when did you get so strong?” Charlotte asked from where she stood behind her larger friend, assessing her form. Though her voice sounded as though she was speaking in awe, Charlotte's mind was screaming alarm bells. Something was very wrong for Nia to suddenly gain such superhuman strength all of a sudden. She only hoped she'd be able to work out what it was before anything nefarious revealed itself. Her adventures with the Doctor had certainly given her the tools to judge such insane situations far more clearly.

Before she could respond, a piercingly shrill, electronic note screamed throughout the gym. Charlotte cried out in pain, clutching her ears. Though her vision was clouded by her throbbing head, she could make out the rest of the gym-goers quickly filtering out to escape the abominable din.

The noise mercifully stopped, allowing Charlotte to release the tight clamp of her hands over her ears. As she straightened up, she noticed that Nia didn’t appear to have moved an inch, as though the eardrum-destroying tone hadn’t affected her.

But as she stared at the form of her friend, Charlotte’s mouth fell open as she realised something. Nia appeared to be growing before her very eyes! Already wide arms grew larger and far more toned, her shoulders more pronounced.

As soon as Nia’s inexplicable growth grew to a stop, Charlotte would guess she was at least an extra foot taller. The woman turned around, and Charlotte saw the full extent. Her exposed stomach, which just moments ago had been lacking in definition, was now home to the ridges of a six pack. She could now see just how well defined her arms were from this angle.

But it was looking up into her face where Charlotte saw the most startling change. Eyes that usually looked full of warmth were now as cold and lacking in emotion as the ice caps. In contrast, her lips curled into a smirk that reeked of arrogance.

“When she made me strong.” Her voice was not what Charlotte recognised. It was using the same vocal cords, but it sounded as though somebody had turned the bass all the way up. It was far deeper and more amplified, sounding as though it was bouncing off the walls to create an echo effect. “Now nobody can resist me!”

Charlotte was completely unprepared for the shove given by her friend, taking her by surprise. But what was more surprising than the push itself was the sheer force behind it. Charlotte felt herself flung across the room, feeling as though she’d been hit by a car.

She crashed to the ground on the opposite side of the room in a heap, groaning in pain as she clutched her arm, having landed on it awkwardly.

“Nia-what?” Charlotte gasped as she watched her friend turn and pick up an 800lbs barbell before turning back to her. As if in slow motion, Charlotte watched in horror as Nia held it high above her arms, pulling her arms back before shooting them forward and releasing the exceptionally heavy weighted bar. 

With a newfound burst of adrenaline, Charlotte managed to shoot to her feet just in time to dodge out of the way of Nia’s instrument of death, which crashed through the full length mirror where Charlotte had been crumpled just a few inches to the left.

Thinking quickly on her feet, Charlotte sprinted out the door, slamming it shut behind her and locking it.

“Miss Flair, what was that noise?” Dana asked in concern as she made her way over to Charlotte. There was a pause before she was given an answer, Charlotte preoccupying herself by stacking as much furniture against the door as was in immediate reach, as a makeshift barricade.

“Come on, we gotta get out of here,” Charlotte gasped before grabbing Dana’s hand and pulling her to the exit.

Becky was none the wiser when it came to working out her friend’s obnoxious behaviour as she trudged up the set backlot to find him.

She’d received a text a short while after their confrontation, promising to apologise in person if she’d meet him in his trailer. Despite her misgivings, she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps that particular runner had been a troublesome thorn in his side and Finn had had enough of his pranks? Becky almost immediately dismissed that thought. Even if that were true - given that it was purely speculation on her part - that was still no excuse for the despicable treatment given by her friend.

She found Finn’s trailer, easily the biggest and most expensive looking one on the lot. Tapping the back of her knuckles on the door, it quickly opened to reveal her friend, if she could still call him that after his unforgiveable behaviour.

“Becky, I’m glad you came. Come in, lass,” Finn stood to the side, waving her in. Becky didn’t give him so much as a grunt, shoving her way past him inside, to sit on his couch.

Finn took a seat on the couch opposite her, looking down at his hands for a few moments, refusing to meet her eyes. Becky crossed her arms as she waited.

“I’m not sure that sayin’ ‘I’m sorry’ will even begin to cover it,” Finn started.

“No,” Becky responded curtly. “It won’t. But it’s a start.” She uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. “All these years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen ya treat someone else as disgustin’ly as I saw you treat that poor lad today. What’s gotten into you?”

“Aye, you’d like to know, wouldn’t ya?” Finn retorted with unreserved bitterness, causing Becky to frown in confusion.

“Well o’course I would, that’s why I asked!”

“You mean you haven’t seen him?” Finn asked, deepening the mystery.

“Seen who?” Becky was further confounded.

“The Prince,” Finn answered enigmatically, saying the words almost in veneration. “The Fomhóraigh who became king. He’s a’comin’.”

“Oh okay,” Becky laughed bitterly. “You want to play silly buggers, that’s fine. Clearly I don’t know who you are anymore.”

She stood and made to leave, only for Finn to shoot up and grab her arm. “Don’t you see, lass? There’s no escapin’ him.” Lost in the anger of the moment, Becky barely registered how his voice had already begun to change, sounding deeper and more guttural.

Becky jerked her arm away, causing him to lose his grip. When she next looked into his eyes, she was horrified at what she saw.

His blue eyes faded into black. The inky dark began to spread, consuming his entire irises until finally his eyes were pools of darkness.

“The Demon King has come,” Finn’s now inhuman demonic voice echoed throughout the trailer.

Becky was rooted to the spot, mouth hung open in horror as she watched Finn’s body transform. His suit was torn to shreds as his physique shifted, until before her stood a hulking man, covered from head to toe in strange designs, written in an alien language. his face was now as black as a starless night, with white and red lines shooting up his chin. His short, jet black hair had been covered with a black headdress, with black and red braids dangling down. Tattoos now adorned the majority of his torso and his left leg. The one on his leg was of a great orange eye, surrounded by cracked earth.

Becky finally regained enough sense to bolt towards the closed door. She’d barely gotten close enough to reach for the handle when she looked over her shoulder, seeing Finn quickly whip his arm up, the palm of his hand outstretched towards the door. Tendrils snaked forward beneath the skin of his arm before shooting out from his fingers. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The malevolent tendrils slammed into Becky, causing her to yelp in pain as they pinned her against the door. Her breathing quickly became more restricted as the tendrils snaked up her body, focused on their journey towards her neck. 

She was even more terrified as she looked up, seeing Finn watching her intently, twisting the palm of his hand around. As his sinister hand moved, so did the tendrils.

He was directing them.

The sick irony of the twisted situation would have surely been something to make a pun out of, if Becky wasn’t already terrified and distraught enough that one of her best friends - possessed or not - was trying to kill her.

The tendrils were now mere inches away from her throat, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Becky struggled, but managed to snake her arm out towards the kitchen counter beside her. Her fingers scrabbled to latch onto what she was looking for, but eventually her hand closed around the cool, wooden handle. 

With a shout of desperation, Becky raised her arm up and brought it down, watching the knife slice through the tendrils. The entity formerly known as Finn roared out as though in pain, pulling the damaged tendrils back into himself, releasing their latch on the door.

Becky threw it open and ran outside faster than she ever had before, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. She was just about to take off when she heard the window shatter beside her, glass shards falling at her feet. She felt something slimy slide around her ankle. She looked down, recognising the tendril. Becky didn’t have any time to panic or formulate an escape before she felt her world shift. The terrified Irishwoman was being dragged upside down back through the window.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

“Hey Asuka!” Sasha called bluntly as she walked up to her, the familiar head of green and pink hair turning away from her conversation with the tall, well-built bald man whom Sasha recognised as Coach Bloom.

“Sasha-chan!” Asuka greeted warmly, seeming not to pick up on the layer of disapproval in Sasha’s tone. 

“I know what you did to Shinsuke,” Sasha said, deciding to rip that particular band-aid off straight away.

Coach Bloom took that as his cue to walk away, leaving Asuka and Sasha alone in the hallway. For a long time, Sasha just waited for Asuka to speak. She refused to lower her stare, not allowing her friend’s grin to pacify her. She needed answers. Until eventually, Asuka spoke.

“Shinsuke got what he deserved when he chose to fight me,” Asuka finally uttered, and Sasha found herself taken aback by how calmly and matter-of-factly she spoke her words.

“Breaking his arm in a sparring session? I know you Asuka, and I know you’d never intentionally hurt anyone if you weren’t in a fight. Damnit Asuka, Shinsuke is your friend!” Sasha hissed.

“The Empress makes no apologies,” Asuka said, her words coming out hissed, like a snake slinging venom. Her mouth curled into a sadistic grin, appalling Sasha further. “Many more limbs will snap if anyone stands in my way.” It was only then that Sasha picked up on the fact that Asuka’s voice sounded different, but was too shocked to do anything but watch in shock as something happened on her friend’s face straight from a horror movie.

Sasha was aghast as green liquid began to trickle from Asuka’s eyes, down her face like poisonous tears. They streaked down her cheeks, but didn’t pour straight down. They split into different streams, changing direction to paint a sinister yet distinctive pattern across her cheeks. The lines ended up gnarly and twisted, like mangled tree branches.

Stuck in place with fear, Sasha watched as Asuka’s lips turned green too, the same liquid pouring down to create an almost identical pattern on her chin. She watched as Asuka then closed her mouth and her cheeks swelled. This finally unlocked her ability to move, managing to dodge just in time as Asuka spat the same green viscous liquid at her. Squealing in shock, Sasha watched as the pool of liquid sizzled on the wall, burning away at the surface. Sasha couldn’t be more relieved she had managed to evade the corrosive venom…almost. Her adrenaline levels were so high, she didn’t register the fact that a few drops of the venom had splattered onto her right forearm, burning away the top few layers of skin.

She turned to look at whatever her friend had turned into, to see her close her mouth and fill her cheeks again. With all the will in the world, Sasha turned and ran as fast as her legs could carry her up the corridor, trying to get as far away from the creature possessing her friend as she could.

Purposefully zig-zagging to escape the burning liquid being continuously spat at her by the chasing Asuka, Sasha ran and ran, too focused on survival to even think about the burn in her legs or on her arm as she continued to run around the building. Corridor after corridor, pulling open door after door, she couldn’t seem to find the exit in her haste to escape.

Her valiant escape attempt came to an abrupt end as she slammed her body against a locked door. 

“Saassha-chaan,” she heard Asuka call tauntingly with a hiss, deliberately stretching out the vowels. Sasha turned to find the familiar form of her affected friend standing in the doorway at the other end of the corridor, the harsh sunlight from the window blocking out everything that wasn’t Asuka’s newly devilish form.

Sasha frantically searched for an exit somewhere between Asuka’s body and hers, looking for any side door. But there was nothing, just one long stretch of corridor, an opening blocked off by Asuka, and a door she couldn’t get to open without the key. She’d hit a dead end. And now, it looked like her time was up.

She tried wrenching the door open again, but the lock refused to give, only managing to rattle the handles. Hearing footsteps thud behind her, Sasha turned and pushed her back flush against the door. She sagged as she watched a confident Asuka stalk towards her, a grin on her face she’d seen many times in her fights, but to the nth degree. She looked more like a predator having cornered her prey, getting ready to sink her deadly claws in.

But that’s when Sasha spotted a red cylinder attached to the wall out of the corner of her eye, and a lightbulb lit up in her mind. As quickly as she could, she reached for the fire extinguisher, pulled off the nozzle and activated it in Asuka’s direction, coating the woman in foam.

An agonised screech was torn from Asuka’s throat as the icy foam assaulted her, distracting her from her prey as she flailed around, trying to wipe the foam off her face as though it burned.

Seeing the opening, Sasha took the opportunity of the incapacitated Empress to run past her, now with a firm plan in mind of getting to the exit.

“Got it!” the Doctor exclaimed triumphantly as he managed to unlock the clamps keeping the system’s interior workings a secret. Pulling away the maintenance hatch, he began to fiddle with the tangled mess of multi-coloured cables inside, his fingers frantic. 

“Red wire? Blue wire?” Bayley offered, hoping to be helpful.

“That’s really not helping,” the Doctor replied, shining his Sonic Screwdriver over the main control box the cables were feeding into, the familiar buzzing echoing in the confined space. “These cables are triple bonded.”

“Meaning?” Bayley asked.

“Meaning you’d need a hedge trimmer to even have a hope of getting through one.” He turned to face Bayley. “Don’t suppose you’re a garden enthusiast?”

“No, I must have left my hedge trimmer in my other pants,” Bayley chuckled. “Can’t we just cut the signal out? You know, turn it off?”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do, but this isn’t working!” he began raising his voice, curling his fingers at the control box in a frustrated gesture, as though it was personally offending him. “Deadlock-sealed, so I can’t do anything to stop it.”

“Alright, so if we can’t block it out, can’t we replace it with something else?” Bayley asked.

“Replace it with something else?” the Doctor repeated in a disgusted tone, as though Bayley had suggested something ridiculous. “Replace it with something else?” She watched as he shook his head, but he stopped mid-shake when his eyes landed on what looked to be similar to a USB port on the terminal, labelled with the words “Universal Connector Slot” above it. He turned to her, eyes dancing with excitement. “We can replace it with something else!”

The Doctor then extended his hand to her. “Give me your phone.”

“Not sure this is the right time to call someone,” she scoffed as she handed her phone over anyway. He then held it in one hand, pointing and using his Sonic Screwdriver on it in the other. “Hey, what are you doing?” Bayley asked, getting slightly concerned that she might have to buy another after this was over.

“Giving you internet access wherever we go, just making sure its strong enough for this.”

“For what?”

“Hold on,” he said before digging around in his frock coat inside pockets. Rooting around, he pulled out several objects and shoved them into Bayley’s hands. An egg-timer, an assortment of paper clips, what looked to be a cross between a fork, a spoon and a knife, coins that Bayley didn’t recognise. Yet even after the Doctor had emptied those pockets, he still hadn’t found what he was looking for.

“A-ha!” the Doctor exclaimed as he finally pulled a USB cable out of a trouser pocket. After plugging the cable into both the phone and the USB port, Bayley watched him open the Spotify app.

“You really think right now is the best time to jam out?” Bayley asked.

“Oh I would love some Beethoven right now. Lovely fella, bit shy. But no, we need to be quick, so I’ll settle for yours.”

The Doctor pressed play on Bayley’s most recent playlist, and the familiar tune of Paramore blasted through the speakers.

Bayley started humming along happily.

“Yeah, not the best, but it’ll do,” the Doctor teased with a smirk and a shrug, earning a glare from Bayley. “At least that should cancel out the activation signal, replace it with…whatever this is.”

Bayley found it hard to keep up her faux mad pout at the Doctor’s cheeky grin.

The crowd gathered outside gasped as the heavy main entrance doors to the gym buckled under the weight of the monster Charlotte had previously known as Nia Jax. Right now, she didn’t have a clue what had happened to her friend, but she knew that whoever - or whatever - was inhabiting her super-sized body, rippling with muscles, was not her.

As the monstrous woman repeatedly crashed her shoulder against the door in an attempt to break it open, the barricade keeping it firmly closed was not so firm anymore. More and more of it began to break away under the sheer force of the fiercely powerful body. 

“That door isn’t going to hold much longer!” Dana shrieked with worry. Charlotte couldn’t blame her for freaking out. Inside, she was too. But she was making a concerted effort to stay strong. If her adventures with the Doctor had taught her anything, it was that hiding her fear was paramount when it came to saving others. If she allowed herself to feel the fear she was barely holding at bay, everybody would panic instead of trusting her. She’d only just managed to get her gym-goers to follow her out instead of cowering in terror like some had been doing. Her gym, her friend, her responsibility.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as the doors finally burst open. At the sight of the towering eight foot tall monster straightening herself to her full height after ducking to exit the building, all the people around Charlotte screamed with terror before scattering, running off in every conceivable direction. At least, any direction that wasn’t towards the beast in the form of Nia Jax.

‘So much for keeping it together,’ Charlotte thought mirthlessly to herself. With no one to stay strong for anymore – not even Dana – her façade fell. With all the feeling in her legs choosing this moment to take a vacation, Charlotte was rooted to the spot in abject terror. 

Chills ran down her spine as Nia strode over towards her. With a confident smirk giving way to arrogance, the monstrous woman knew that she had Charlotte trapped, taking her sweet time and enjoying the moment. 

With Nia just a couple yards away, Charlotte braced herself for the worst. She watched Nia come to a stop before shooting a muscled arm out.

Charlotte choked as she felt the fist grasp and tighten around her neck. Her feet left the floor as her entire body was lifted up by one hand. This was it. This was how her life would come to an end. 

‘I think we have an emergency’

Barely holding onto the riverbank of consciousness as her energy sapped away, Charlotte thought she hallucinated the tune of a song she’d heard before. It wasn’t until she felt the hold around her throat suddenly release and her body fall, crumpling to the floor, that she realised something miraculous was happening.

As she reached a hand to massage her bruised neck, Charlotte watched as Nia dwindled in size before her eyes, a scream ripping from her throat. It started off sounding deep, bassy and monstrous, but slowly transitioned into a far more familiar cadence. The bulging muscles in her arms sank back into her skin. Her stomach’s six pack faded away, replaced by pudgy flesh. Nia’s entire body shrank in both height and width, until she was back to her six foot, three hundred pounds self. The scream ended. She swayed for a moment, before her eyes slammed shut and she collapsed to the ground.

Despite the feeling that she should probably check on her now restored friend, Charlotte took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. The nightmare was finally over, and she was safe again.

Dangled upside down, Becky grunted as she felt her back forcibly slammed against the outside of the trailer. 

The Demon King – now possessing her friend Finn Balor – still had his tendrils tightly gripping her ankle. Instead of dragging her back in through the window as she feared would be the case, the creature seemed content to be bashing her against the outside, knowing she had no way of escaping the crushing grip.

Try as she might, Becky couldn’t escape. The hold was too strong, and the knife she’d previously used to slash the tendrils, she’d stupidly abandoned inside the trailer. All she could hope for was that the creature would let her go.

“Ow!” Becky shouted as her back crashed into the wall of the trailer once more. She was lucky that she was an experienced stuntwoman, and was aware enough to keep her head tucked. But as much as she liked to joke that she had boulder shoulders, she knew that her body wouldn’t be able to withstand much more of this. It was time for a different tactic.

“Did’ja hear about the demon who threw some shoes into the hellfire?” Becky shouted towards the broken window. “He wanted to watch their soles burn!”

She waited a moment, hoping that the self-proclaimed Demon King would grow irritated enough at her joke to lose focus and make a mistake. Instead, her plan backfired.

Becky screamed out in agony as she felt the malevolent tendril around her leg tighten, squeezing like an anaconda trying to crush her leg. And that’s when it happened.

The moment she both felt and heard the snap of her own bones breaking, Becky was too overwhelmed with the all-consuming wave of agony to remain conscious, and felt herself slip into sleep’s inviting arms. As her tormented senses faded away, Becky failed to register the tendril releasing its hold and snaking away back through the window. By the time she hit the ground, she was unconscious.

Running towards the exit, Sasha finally felt exhaustion creeping into her. Tiredness was setting into her limbs, the burn and ache of muscles reaching their limits. Not only that, but there was a curious sting on her forearm that she hadn’t yet checked on. She’d been running around the gym for a good while, only briefly stopping to incapacitate Asuka. But sooner or later, she knew that the Empress would catch up.

Thankfully the main doors were now in sight. All she had to do was keep running towards them, and she would be safe.

It was completely unexpected - not to mention unfitting of the life or death situation - to hear upbeat rock music blare throughout the corridor. A track Bayley had insisted on playing for her on more than one occasion, the two friends doing their best to make each other laugh with hilariously awful dancing one night aboard the TARDIS.

‘This is an emergency’

‘Oh great!’ Sasha spoke sarcastically aloud. ‘Now she wants to play Paramore over the PA system! What the fuck is going on?!’

As she turned to see if Asuka was hot on her heels, Sasha saw something that she did not expect. Through a window to an adjacent corridor, she saw Asuka clutching her head, her mouth open in a silent scream. What gave Sasha pause though, was the fact that she could see the green liquid decorating her cheeks rising back up into her eyes, like a waterfall in reverse.

Sasha skidded to a stop, now at a mental crossroads. She was so close to escape. But it looked like whatever had been affecting her friend was now over. Did she dare go over to check on Asuka? The sound of a familiar wheezing, groaning noise echoing around the building helped her came to a decision.

Rounding the corner, Sasha saw Bayley crouched, checking on the now unconscious Asuka, not a single trace of green liquid on her face. Bayley stood back up the moment she saw Sasha.

“Sasha!” the Doctor greeted from behind the side-ponytailed Latina. “Are you okay?”

Instead of answering, Sasha finally felt the gravity of the situation catch up with her and made a beeline for her best friend. She’d been moments from death. If she had failed to move an inch to the left when Asuka spat the corrosive poison at her…

Bayley gasped in surprise as she felt Sasha collide with her, the shorter woman burying her face in her shoulder. It didn’t take long for the brunette to melt into the hug, rubbing circles in Sasha’s back to soothe the visibly distraught Bostonian. 

“Okay, that’s both a no and a yes,” the Doctor said under his breath. 

Sasha finally recovered enough strength to let go of Bayley, sniffling as she looked down at Asuka. If the two noticed the tears streaming uncontrollably down her face, they didn’t say anything.

Bayley gasped as she caught sight of the burnt patch of skin on Sasha’s right forearm, grabbing hold to examine it. “Sasha, what happened?” 

“I don’t even know,“ Sasha gasped, her face one of complete shock as she took in the injury she hadn’t even realised she’d had. “Fuck!” she hissed sharply through clenched teeth as the pain began to suddenly set in, adrenaline ebbing away now that she wasn’t focusing solely on escaping her death anymore.

“Sorry,” Bayley apologised with a look of sympathetic concern, wrongly assuming that she’d caused the sudden wave of pain. Sasha waved her off with her healthy arm before looking down at Asuka again.

“Is she-” Sasha asked, her mind still too busy hurtling at a thousand miles per hour with the possible outcomes of the close-call of a situation to finish the question.

“She’s back to normal now, yes,” the Doctor answered. “We blocked out the signal keeping them here, so they were sucked back into space like toxin from a lesion!”

“Um, pretty sure the saying is ‘poison from a wound’,” Bayley challenged, chuckling at the Doctor.

“Oh, you lot are so linear,” the Doctor retorted. Sasha was thankful for the exchange, giving her the time to pull herself back together.

“Easy for you to say,” Sasha shot back.

“Right,” the Doctor clapped his hands together. “Let’s go get the others.”

When the TARDIS materialised, Charlotte was still knelt over Nia’s now prone form, her friend’s face - formerly twisted with sick glee - now serene with sleep. Stuck in her own head from the terrifying experience that hit closer to home than her extra-terrestrial adventures, she only just barely reacted to the appearance of the blue box.

“Charlotte!” Sasha called, feeling strangely protective over the tall blonde, seeing that Charlotte looked exactly the same that Sasha felt. Confused, hurt, and downright terrified.

“Are you okay?” Bayley asked, freezing the question on Sasha’s lips before she had chance to ask. Bayley opened her arms to Charlotte in invitation. The taller woman accepted the embrace, tucking her head in the crook of Bayley’s shoulder. Charlotte lifted her head to look into Sasha’s eyes, and the two shared a look that went unnoticed by the Doctor and Bayley.

The Doctor finished scanning Nia’s limp form with his Sonic. “No traces of Anamorphaldehype. Looks like she’s back to being a perfectly ordinary, boring human being.” He punctuated the sentence with a flip of his Sonic, catching it and placing it back in his inside coat pocket.

“Anamorph-what?” Charlotte asked as her and Bayley separated. 

“Oh sorry, did I not explain? That’s the race of people who were inhabiting your friends’ bodies. Typically mischievous beings, they’re usually found in prisons across the universe. That is, when they’re not wreaking havoc as part of the Trickster’s Brigade. So best not reply to any of their scam emails.”

“I’d like to think I’m pretty open-minded Doctor, but half of the time I think you just make it up on the spot,” Bayley said.

The Doctor opened his mouth as though her words had cut deep. “Bayley! I’ll have you know my explanations are all completely rooted in absolute truth.” He paused. “With days off.”

Sasha walked over to Charlotte, who by that point had been disconnected from the frivolous conversation, staring at the exterior of her gym.

“You good?” Sasha nudged Charlotte.

Charlotte tried to reply, but the words got stuck in her throat. She blinked before trying again. “Yeah. It’s just…gonna take a while to get that fixed,” she nodded to the shattered door with the twisted frame, and all of the damage caused inside.

Strangely enough, she didn’t feel too upset about the destruction of her pride and joy. Her gym used to be her crowning achievement - the biggest accomplishment in her life. She used to say that if anything ever happened to it, she would be devastated beyond comprehension.

But now, standing and looking at the shattered ruins, that wasn’t the case anymore.

Instead, she just felt a sense of annoyance. As though having her life’s work destroyed was a mere inconvenience rather than a miserable low point in her life as she would have expected.

Right now, she was speaking about the damage as though she was on autopilot. As though she expected those were the words she was meant to say, rather than how she actually felt. She simply couldn’t give a damn. Not when she’d discovered a far better way of living her life. Travelling with the Doctor, Sasha, Bayley and Becky for the past couple of months - or however long it had actually been - had given Charlotte more joy than she’d felt in half a dozen years trapped behind a desk. Even if at the time, carrying on her family’s legacy had felt like a matter of survival.

Yet she was beginning to realise that her business was no longer any sort of priority to her.

Sasha scoffed in disbelief. “Charlotte, really? Y’know sometimes, you can be a typical blonde.”

“Excuse me?” Charlotte asked, offense tinting her tone with outrage.

“Look around!” Sasha waved her arms around their immediate vicinity. The crowds of people were beginning to disperse. Onlookers who were walking away without so much as a scrape. “Nobody got hurt. You’re alive, you’re safe. Focus on that. Not your damn property damage!”

Sasha couldn’t be more right. Charlotte had felt it. But up until now, she hadn’t felt it would be right of her to dismiss the loss of her business without proper mourning. Now, she felt free to do so.

Charlotte nodded. “You’re right. It used to be the most important thing in my life.” She then turned to Sasha with a shy smile. “But not anymore.”

Charlotte was beginning to realise was that although her newfound family each brought immeasurable joy to her life, one of them meant more to her than she could understand right now. There was just something about Sasha Banks which drew her attention whenever she was around her. In a room-full of people, her eyes were naturally drawn to her. Not just what was on the outside, but on the inside too. She was smart, she was funny, she was brave, she was-

“Charlotte, I-“ Sasha started before being interrupted by the Doctor calling for their attention.

“Oi, you two!” Both women turned to glare at him for interrupting the moment. “Get a move on, eh? We’ve still got to pick up Becky, and I promised I’d get her home by ten.”

“So, what happens to those alien convicts now?” Charlotte asked after the Doctor had explained the situation to her. “Surely you can’t expect them to stay on board a ship with cells that are busted wide open?”

“I don’t know, they could have learned to be upstanding moral members of society through their time on Earth,” the Doctor joked. “But just to be on the safe side, I sent a signal through to the ship’s wardens. They should have already beamed aboard by the time the prisoners were pulled back. They’ll be able to contain them again. Only this time, they should be more heavily guarded.”

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand Doctor,” Bayley said. “Six billion people on Earth, all of them to choose from, and it picks our friends? That’s more than a bit suspicious.”

“Were we targeted?” Sasha added, revulsion in her tone at the idea.

“I don’t know, it does seem that way doesn’t it?” the Doctor answered. “It could just be a coincidence. Life is full of coincidences, otherwise they wouldn’t need a name.”

“What even happened to them?” Sasha asked the question that had been on her mind since the oddly timed dissolution of whatever had possessed her friend. “I heard music playing, and then Asuka became herself again.”

“The harmonic resonance disrupted the signals being projected to Earth, cutting them out to replace them from music chosen from Bayley’s personal collection-“ the Doctor began to explain his more scientific explanation, which was swiftly interrupted.

“They were defeated by Paramore!” Bayley proclaimed triumphantly, a cheesy yet gleeful grin across her face.

Sasha giggled at her wonderfully goofy best friend's exuberant response. "God bless Hayley Williams."

A deep thud then reverberated around the TARDIS, the in-flight ambience coming to an end as the time rotor came to a standstill. 

“Right, let’s go get our favourite Irish friend,” the Doctor said before striding towards the doors. 

As the other three followed behind, they came to a stop as the Doctor froze upon pulling open the TARDIS doors, his body immediately tensing up.

“Becky?” they heard him gasp, and each of them knew that something was terribly wrong. He then rushed over to what looked to be a motionless body on the ground. As the Doctor moved over to it, it allowed the others a better view of what had shocked him so. And that’s when they realised with horror that the body on the floor was someone they knew. 

It was Becky.

The top of her orange hair was tinged red with blood. But that wasn’t the worst of it. A pool of blood was still being trickled into from somewhere on her lower half. And as they saw the extent of her injuries, that’s when Bayley immediately emptied her stomach contents on the ground.

Becky’s left leg was bent at a disgustingly awkward angle. Judging by the sheer amount of blood, it was clear that bone had penetrated her skin to a sickening degree. She’d come off lucky if it was only broken.

“No-no-no-no-no-no-no,” they heard the Doctor whisper under his breath as he examined her body, trying to discern whether or not they had been too late.

Sasha gagged before covering her mouth to swallow the vomit back down as she turned away from the disturbing sight.

Just about managing to hold it together, Charlotte was nonetheless white as a sheet. “She’s not-“ she asked, unable to entertain the idea long enough to finish the question.

“No, she’s breathing,” the Doctor answered the obvious question after pulling his fingers away from her pulse point. “But we need to get her inside.”

“I’ve got her,” Charlotte said, making a concerted effort to invoke as much strength into her voice. Without taking no for an answer, she bent down, hoisting Becky up. She took extra care as she gingerly slipped an arm beneath Becky’s damaged leg, the other arm coiling underneath her head. Thankfully, the head wound looked minor, just a scrape from where she had collided with the floor.

“Get her into the TARDIS. I’ve just got to check she’s not in any more danger,” the Doctor said, nodding over to the trailer next to them with a smashed window. Clearly the two were connected, and whatever had harmed Becky could still be in there.

The Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to unlock the door, peering cautiously inside. The room looked a mess, with damage to the wall and possessions scattered all around the floor. It was clear that Becky had put up a fight.

Looking around, that’s when the Doctor’s eyes fell on the man he’d left Becky with earlier that day. That director, Finn Balor. Her friend. He was slumped onto the couch, fast asleep, but without anything indicating he was still possessed. Suddenly the idea that this wasn’t mere coincidence was gnawing away at the Doctor. 

Deciding to file that away as something to worry about later, the Doctor turned and hastened towards the TARDIS. He had a friend to take care of.

The three women were lost for words as they all sat beside the still unconscious fourth woman. Becky looked to be in very bad shape indeed, complexion even paler than it normally was. 

The Doctor had left to fetch something from deeper within the TARDIS, requesting that they stay to watch over her. And they did so without a second thought, all worrying in silence over the fate of their friend. They’d had to get used to each other’s company pretty quickly since their adventures began. At the beginning, uncomfortable tension had been frequently volatile, with countless insults and sniping permeating the atmosphere. That was, until mutual respect had blossomed thanks to their encounter with the Dark Order. Bonds of friendship had been forged into an unbreakable family unit. There was nothing any of them wouldn’t do to protect each other.

Now, the thought of losing one of their own was unbearable. 

Becky was still breathing as she slept, her chest rising and falling. But without a miracle, she might not ever walk on that leg again, assuming the blood loss hadn’t been too great.

The sound of scuffling drew the three conscious women’s attention. They turned to see the Doctor stumbling through the doorway into the main control room. But it looked like he was wrestling with a very large piece of furniture.

The object was rectangular, a clinically pristine shade of white, taller by the Doctor by a clear foot, and wider than an average human body. The way he was having to waddle while holding it looked like he was trying to dance with it. It would have been comical, were it not for the sad state of affairs.

Bayley shot up and ran over to help him with it, the two quickly transitioning into a more regular mode of transporting it, with the object now horizontal, with Bayley holding one end, and the Doctor on the other.

“I probably should have asked you to fetch it with me, shouldn’t I?” the Doctor mused.

“Yeah, but that’s not what’s important. Clearly this is, so what is it?” Bayley replied as they set the object down beside Becky, who had still yet to awaken.

“It’s a Fusomatic,” the Doctor explained. “Medical device from the twenty-fourth century. Looks a bit like a Zero Cabinet to me,” he murmured before looking back up to his companions. “We need to get her inside it.”

Without hesitation, Charlotte and Bayley wordlessly and gingerly worked to pick Becky up together, gently lowering her body into the Fusomatic.

Unfortunately, they weren’t careful enough. A slight knock on the edge of the box caused the redhead to wake with a scream of agony. The scream was guttural, torn from deep within her. It pierced not only her friends’ eardrums, but their souls. 

“Becky! Becky!” the Doctor snapped to get her attention. “Hey hey, look at me,” he said more softly as he managed to get her slightly under control, her screams decreasing in intensity as she registered the faces of her friends around her, simmering down into rapid panting before finally coming to a stop as she realised she was safely back on board the TARDIS.

The Doctor pulled a syringe from his pocket before stabbing it into her arm, pushing down on the needle to inject something into her veins.

“Ow!”

“What was that?” Sasha questioned.

“Industrial-strength painkiller. Should stop her feeling it until it’s done repairing.”

“Feelin’ what? Repairin’ what?” Becky managed to finally croak, her voice hoarse. Looking down at herself, that’s when she saw it. 

A shrill yelp of revulsion was released from Becky as she saw her damaged leg, bone sticking out at the knee. Her face took on a sickly expression, sweat now emanating from her pores. Her lips quivered at the sight before she found the strength to tear her gaze away.

“Hey, I know it looks bad, but we’re going to get you all fixed up,” the Doctor said softly, giving her a watery smile of reassurance that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Instead, his eyes burned with an intense emotion. Sorrow? Fury? It was difficult to discern exactly what the Doctor felt at times.

“How? My leg is completely ruined,” Becky replied bitterly. “Either this isn’t real, or ‘Doctor’ isn’t just a title you use to make yerself sound clever.”

“Yes, your leg is ruined, but we have this,” the Doctor replied, tapping on the sides of the box that Becky was now inside. “This old thing will heal your leg, repairing both bone and skin. But you’ve got to stay absolutely still.” His face then took on a solemn expression as he fixed Becky with a firm stare. “You got that Becky? You can’t move a muscle, otherwise it could go horribly wrong, and we don’t want that.”

“For how long?” Becky asked.

“Twenty-four hours, give or take.”

“Twenty-four hours?” Becky repeated in dismay before furrowing her brow. “But what if I need to eat or go to the toilet?”

“There’s a bag inside the box if you need to go, and I can get you a straw,” the Doctor answered matter-of-factly. “I think we’ve got some tins of soup in the fourth kitchen.”

Becky screwed her face up, grimacing in disgust. “Okay, I wasn’t actually expectin’ you to answer that.”

The Doctor then stood up and turned his back on the other four. “Once we’ve got you sorted though, I think it’s time I took you all home. For good.”

The resounding shock from this unexpected revelation from all four women was palpable.

Chapter Text

“What?!” the four women all exclaimed more or less at the same time, each of their tones in equal disbelief to the Doctor’s abrupt announcement.

The Doctor turned back to face them, and that was when they saw the troubled storm breaking across his face. A building hurricane of pain, regret, and overwhelming sadness. “This life…it’s too dangerous.” He waved an arm towards Becky sat inside the Fusomatic, her mangled leg to serve as a cautionary tale for him to hold tight for future reference if he ever had the whim to invite anybody else aboard the TARDIS. “Just look what happened today.”

“But I’m going to be fine?” Becky asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You said I would be!”

The Doctor walked closer to them. “Yes, you will be. But what happens next time, eh? Humans…you’re too fragile. Travelling with a spaceman in a box, anything could happen to you, and never has the danger been clearer than it was today. You came away lucky this time, but sooner or later that luck will run out. It always does, and it never gets easier.”

“What never gets easier?” Sasha challenged; frustration evident in her voice.

“Losing the ones you care about,” the Doctor swallowed harshly, the bitter words scratchy as though he had to force them up his throat. 

He then sat down, leaning against the base of the TARDIS console. Moments passed in silence, the four women waiting for him to continue. 

Eventually the hand over his face slid away. “Inviting you aboard, it’s always easy to tempt you. I offer you all of time and space, I might as well be giving a kid the keys to a sweetshop. You’ll take as much as you can find. But sooner or later - usually sooner - you’ll bite off more than you can chew.”

He then jumped to his feet, striding over to them with an authoritative pointer finger held up. “That’s why I’ve got to stop it before it stops you.”

“Doctor-“ Bayley started before he continued.

“I’ve got a duty of care, and a track record of failing. It was unbelievably stupid of me to bring you along. I’m a daft old man, but it’s not too late to fix that mistake.”

“Oh is that what we are?” Sasha demanded with outrage; her voice was thick with anger. “A mistake?”

“What? No! No, of course not,” the Doctor clarified the misunderstanding quickly. “But it was a mistake to invite you along, knowing the danger that came with it. I need to keep you safe, and that’s what I’m going to do. An ordinary life might be dull, but at least you know there’s a good chance of keeping it going for a good long while.”

“Alright, that’s it,” Becky said. “If I weren’t confined to this box, I’d be comin’ over there ta slap the head off yer shoulders.”

“Don’t worry Becky,” Sasha said, glaring furiously at the Doctor. “If he doesn’t start making sense soon, I’ve got you covered.” She took an angry step further, her shoulders bristling with anger, lip curled in disgust. “Look, I can't speak for the other three, but I know what I got myself into. I signed up for this.”

“Exactly,” Charlotte agreed as she stepped beside her blue-haired friend. “You didn’t drag us along; we came willingly.”

The Doctor was clearly getting frustrated, his speech going from gentle and soft to frantic and more argumentative, his quiff shaking with his voice. “Don’t you see? It doesn’t matter how or why you got here, what matters is you could end up getting hurt, like Becky did today, if not worse!” The bitter, disdainful edge in his tone was clear. But the disdain was not directed at his companions. They had been nothing short of the exemplary in his eyes. Instead, it was far more internal. At this point his friends knew him so well that he didn't need to say it. They knew he blamed himself. 

“But at the end of the day, it’s our decision,” Bayley interjected, fixing the Doctor with a firm stare.

The Doctor huffed in frustration before turning away.

Bayley took a step closer. “You’ve been over-protective ever since we joined up. Now I don’t know much, but I do know from what Vastra told us that it wasn’t always that way,” Bayley said, referencing the conversation they’d shared with the reptilian Silurian back in Buckingham Palace.

“That’s right,” Charlotte nodded, the Doctor’s words creeping back into her mind. She’d always meant to bring them up, but there had always been a distraction. Now seemed like the perfect time. “You said ‘not again’ when you found out that the Weeping Angels were terrorising Buckingham Palace with us locked inside. Why? What did you mean by that?”

“I think something happened with them in the past,” Sasha said after the Doctor failed to answer. “Something that’s still affecting you, clouding your judgement. Y’know, we might have a better chance of surviving if you didn’t try to keep us on a leash.”

“Oh yes, so you can fling yourself into harm’s way?” the Doctor asked sarcastically, with a tinge of bitterness. He was clearly frustrated that none of them were getting it.

After all, he was doing it for them. He knew they would never willingly leave their newfound life, so he had to be the bad guy. Why wouldn’t they listen, when he only had their safety in mind?

Yet the frustration he was feeling paled next to the four women’s combined anger at having something taken away from them that was not the Doctor’s to take. He might have offered this life to them, but they had each willingly taken it from the palm of his hand. 

But even so, they realised there was something deeper driving the Doctor’s boneheaded overprotectiveness. Something had happened to cause it. They just had to discover what it was.

“Okay, I can tell it’s still affecting you,” Bayley said tentatively. “But maybe if you tell us what happened, we can help.”

“What good will talking about it do? It’s not going to bring them back!” the Doctor finally snapped, chest rising and falling with barely restrained hurt and fury.

“Okay, now you’ve got to tell us,” Becky said. 

Sasha walked over to the Doctor, her eyes now shimmering with concern in contrast to the burning anger she had regarded him with earlier. “Look, if you tell us, it could help us avoid certain mistakes. Then you won’t have to be so worried over us.”

The Doctor sighed. “Don’t you get it? I’m over eleven hundred years old, they were far from the first I’ve lost. It happens over and over and over again, and the only way to break the cycle is to travel alone.” He turned his back and walked away again.

“That sounds like a pretty lonely life,” Charlotte spoke. “Aren’t you all about living life to the fullest? You can’t do that if you hide away inside your box.”

The Doctor slowly turned back around, the look on his face betraying how much the words had resonated with him, his own adventurous lifestyle thrown back in his face. They waited for him to speak, and eventually he sighed, the frown on his face gradually dissipating.

“You really want to know what happened?”

They all nodded and murmured in the affirmative.

He sighed, knowing that as much as his companions were desperate to hear the tale, it would be painful for him to relive.

“I was travelling with my two best friends at the time. Amelia Pond and Rory Williams. We’d been trapped in 1930s New York by the Weeping Angels, until they managed to create a paradox powerful enough to escape back to 2012. We were safe, all was right with the world again. Unfortunately, the Weeping Angels hadn’t finished taking…”

“Doctor!” 

He heard the voice call out his name from outside the TARDIS. He’d heard his voice called out by Amy countless times in the past, but he’d never heard it with as much desperation and fear as he’d heard it just then. When she was under emotional stress, that’s when her Scottish accent really leapt out, and it was stronger than he’d ever heard it.

Rushing out of the TARDIS as quickly as he could, filled with concern and dread for what could be happening to his best friend, he weaved out of the way to see what the tense form of Amy Pond was focused on. When he saw it, he exclaimed and came to a stop, his blood running cold. 

A Weeping Angel, one hand frozen in the midst of curling, with the other pointed right at them. 

Looking around out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor quickly realised what was amiss. Rory was nowhere in sight. And with a Weeping Angel after them with revenge in mind, it was easy to work out that he’d been zapped back in time.

“Where the hell did that come from?” his wife - River Song - asked with horror; the fear clear in her voice.

Keeping his eyes firmly locked onto the Weeping Angel, the Doctor retrieved his Sonic Screwdriver, scanning for energy signals to determine just how powerful this Angel still was – and how afraid they should be.

“It’s a survivor,” the Doctor explained as he got a reading. “Very weak - but keep your eyes on it.”

“Where’s Rory?” Amy demanded, her voice sounding on the verge of breaking, trying to hold back the tide that threatened to spill over should the truth be confirmed.

The Doctor crept closer - as carefully as he dared towards the Angel - trying to work out a plan to escape. It was only when he was mere inches away from the Weeping Angel, that a certain gravestone caught his eye. Turning his head to get a closer look, any potential escape plan went out the window as he read the words that both revealed and sealed Rory’s fate.

‘IN LOVING MEMORY
RORY ARTHUR WILLIAMS
AGED 82’

The Weeping Angels had finally got their victim. Not even killing off the Angels by causing a powerful enough paradox to poison their food source had been enough. This one had escaped, and now Rory had already lived his life, stuck in the past until the day he’d died. Earlier that day the Doctor had reminded Amy that time can’t be rewritten once you’ve read it, and this was no different. What was, simply had to be.

Turning slowly back to his best friend, he was filled with soul-wrenching sadness for his best friend. She’d just lost her husband, and he wasn’t sure there was anything he could say to adequately comfort her. But he was going to try.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor said solemnly, his gaze still fixed on the grave until he gained enough courage to look up into her face, where she was evidently still struggling to process what had just happened. The wind was blowing her red hair back fiercely, but she continued to stare unflinchingly at the Weeping Angel. Her glassy eyes betrayed the fact that really, she was looking at nothing in particular while her mind struggled to play catch-up. “Amelia, I’m so, so sorry.” 

“No,” Amy shook her head with a sniffle. “No, we can just go get ‘im in the TARDIS. One more paradox-“

“Would rip New York apart and I-“ the Doctor interrupted, shaking his head.

“That’s not true, I don’t believe you,” Amy said, and the vulnerability in her soft voice broke his hearts. 

“Mother, it’s true,” River backed him up, her voice close to cracking. The Doctor could see that the normally energetic, unflappable woman was affected. Though she was an expert at keeping her emotions in check, he could see that even she was holding back her tears.

A tense, uncomfortable silence stretched between the three of them. Four, if counting the currently quantum-locked Weeping Angel.

The Doctor’s brow was furrowed with deep concern and mourning on the part of Amy. Right now, he hadn’t fully processed the fact that he’d lost Rory too, there was time for that later. Right now, Amelia needed someone to be there for her, and that was him. He’d expected that Amy would want to find some way of bringing her husband back. Of course she would. He couldn’t blame her for that. But it simply wasn’t possible, no matter how much either of them wanted it to be. Oh, how he wished there was a way.

But there wasn’t.

He watched Amy’s face carefully, noting the way her lips quivered, panicked breaths flowing from them. The last thing he expected her to do was to start shifting closer towards the Angel.

“Amy?” he asked, yet she still kept inching closer uninterrupted. “What are you doing?”

“That gravestone - Rory’s - there’s room for one more name isn’t there?” she asked, mercifully coming to a stop, although the implications of her question gave him far more reason to worry.

“What are you talking about?” the Doctor refused to answer, walking away. 

He tried to grab her hand, but she refused to allow herself to be moved. Nothing was taking her away from her husband ever again. Not even the Doctor. 

“Back away from the Angel. Come back to the TARDIS, we’ll figure something out!” His voice shook with anguish, almost as much as the arm he’d raised to gesture with.

His desperate attempt to dissuade her from what she planned to do next failed to convince her, stepping a foot closer to the stone figure who’d cruelly ripped her husband away from her.

“The Angel-would it send me back to the same time-to him?” Amy asked, hope forming in her voice to keep it strong. The Doctor always believed hope was a positive force, but he’d never wanted someone to lose hope like he did at that moment. There were simply too many variables to be worth considering it as a possibility.

“I don’t know, nobody knows.” His arm quickly shot up as Amy started to shift closer to the malevolent being again, but she was now out of his reach to save if either of them took their eyes off the stone creature.

“But it’s my best shot, yeah?” Amy asked, her voice growing stronger with the belief that she’d be reunited with the love of her life.

“No!” the Doctor protested vehemently.

“Doctor, shut up!” River’s voice diverted his attention. “Yes, yes it is!” she proclaimed enthusiastically, in firm belief that this risk was the best choice for her mother.

“Amy-“ the Doctor started, only to be cut off.

“Well then, I just have to blink, right?” Amy asked, her voice of firm conviction. Her choice had already been made.

“No!” the Doctor shouted, voice tremulous with fear and panic for what his best friend was about to do, a decision that carried far too much risk.

“It’ll be fine, I know it will. I’ll-I’ll be with him, like I should be.” Amy stammered between sniffles. “Me and Rory, together.”

Lost for words and with no conceivable choice in mind, the Doctor could do nothing but look around helplessly as he scrabbled for some kind of alternative that might coax her back from the brink she was threatening to topple over.

“Melody?” Amy asked, reaching out her hand behind her, with River stepping forward to take it. The entire time she didn’t tear her eyes from the Weeping Angel. She had to make her final goodbyes before allowing it to take her.

“Stop it!” the Doctor pleaded desperately, his hands shaking as he gesticulated towards the two people he was closest to at this point in his life. One of whom he was about to lose forever, unless he could manage to convince her. “Just-just stop it!”

“You look after him,” Amy said to her daughter, her voice cracking terribly under the emotional distress she was currently under, though her courage did not waver. It was clear that there would be no talking her out of it. “And you be a good girl and you look after him.”

River kissed the back of her mother’s hand before letting it drop back to her side. She’d never been good at goodbyes, and it felt to her that in this case, the action would speak louder than any words she could say. 

“You are creating fixed time,” the Doctor warned, slowing his words to really drive the point home. “I will never be able to see you again.” The emotion he was feeling was almost too great, reducing his voice to a growl.

“I’ll be fine,” Amy reassured him, her voice now full of optimism. This was her last chance to reunite with her stolen husband, and she was taking it. “I’ll be with him.”

“Amy, please,” the Doctor begged amid her choked sobs. “Just come back into the TARDIS. Come along Pond, please!” There were entire armies who would do whatever it took to reduce the Doctor to pleading. Amy Pond was managing to do it better than any of them.

Amy openly wept as she lingered, stretching out these last few moments with her childhood hero, her best friend, for as long as humanely possible. But she knew that eventually she’d have to find the strength to turn away and say goodbye.

“Raggedy man,” Amy started, sucking in a breath before finally tearing her gaze from the Weeping Angel, deliberately positioning herself to block off anyone else from staring at the Angel, while turning her back to look at the Doctor for the very last time. “Goodbye!”

Time almost seemed to run in slow motion as the Weeping Angel was finally allowed to end the quantum-lock without anyone looking at it. Amy disappeared before his very eyes. The image of her distorted in a nanosecond as the Angel touched her, zapping her back into the past. And then she was gone. No more Amelia Pond.

Over 12,00 years old, the Doctor had never felt pain as acutely as he did in that very moment. His open mouth quivered as he cast his eyes down at the headstone to see a brand-new name etched on there, that also happened to have been there for a very long time.

‘AND HIS LOVING WIFE
AMELIA WILLIAMS
AGED 87’

“No!” the Doctor exclaimed, his voice filled with unrestrained pain.

Unable to take it anymore, he looked down, tears falling to splatter on the grassy ground. He held his face in his hands before letting loose a harrowing cry filled with grief, his entire head shaking with its intensity. 

Even as he straightened back up, he couldn’t stop his mouth from quivering, the tears from falling, his features from being distorted into a devastated frown to form lines across his face. He only barely felt River moving to place a comforting hand on his upper back.

Amy was gone, in the most punishingly bittersweet way possible. She had been reunited with the man who she loved with all her heart, but she had been wrenched out of the Doctor’s life.

He’d lost his best friend. And as magical and wonderful as the TARDIS was, there was nothing it could do to ever allow him to see her again. He was cut off from Amy forever.

As the Doctor finished his emotional tale, there was not a dry eye in sight. It had affected each of them to varying degrees, the Doctor himself most of all. A silence hung thick and heavy in the air.

In an exceptionally rare occurrence, none of his companions quite knew how to respond after such an enthrallingly intimate story. It was like they were treading somewhere incredibly private, and so they had to take the utmost care. This wasn’t another adrenaline-pumping tale of saving a planet from a nefarious race. It was the story of how the Doctor had lost his best friends. And now that they’d heard it, it began to explain his behaviour.

When they had faced the Weeping Angels in Buckingham Palace, they now knew the Doctor had been reliving Amy and Rory’s fate. Every situation putting them in danger, the Doctor had been seeing their gravestones.

“D’you see now?” the Doctor finally broke the silence. “I lost the last people I travelled with, and it was all my fault. I’m the one who put them in danger. Just by being selfish enough and lonely enough to bring them with me. I told myself I never would again, but I did. I brought you four along and look what happened.” He waved to Becky’s mangled leg, Charlotte’s bruised neck, Sasha’s burnt forearm before casting his eyes down to the floor.

He was in the midst of harshly blinking the pain away when he heard the thud of footsteps slowly walking towards him echo. He looked up to see Bayley standing before him, Sasha and Charlotte not far behind. The Latina slowly reached out to place a hand gently on his arm.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Listen to me Doctor. What happened to Rory and Amy, that’s not on you.”

“Well of course it is-“ he started to protest before Sasha had something to say about it.

“No, it’s not,” Sasha argued assertively. “Amy and Rory made their choice, right?” She waited for him to nod. “Well so did we.”

“Exactly,” Charlotte interjected. “We all agreed to join you. We all stepped into this crazy blue box of our own free will. No matter what happens to us Doctor, just remember. It was our choice.”

“You can’t blame yerself,” Becky added from her place inside the box on the other end of the room. She’d been conspicuous by her quietness since the tale.

“Okay?” Sasha asked the Doctor firmly, the look in her eyes begging him to see sense.

“I really don't think-“ the Doctor started, the sorrowful look in his eyes betraying the fact that he wasn’t going to say anything in the affirmative.

“Okay?!” Sasha tried again, this time her voice far more forceful. She wasn’t taking no for an answer. She would not allow the Doctor to get away with his irrationally cautious plan to take them back home. Experiencing all the wonders of the universe beyond their wildest imaginings, and then having it ripped away from them would be beyond cruel. Despite how kind the Doctor thought he was being.

“Okay!” the Doctor conceded, throwing his hands up. “But I really think-“

A beeping tone suddenly sounded from the TARDIS console. The Doctor dashed up the stairs to check, Sasha and Charlotte following close behind. Bayley instead decided to stay on the lower level with Becky.

“What is it, Doctor?” Sasha asked as the tone grew increasingly impatient for their attention.

“A distress signal,” he answered, before a grin slowly spread across his face. “Shall we go and investigate?”

Chapter Text

The Doctor, Charlotte and Sasha stepped out of the TARDIS to the location of the distress signal they had picked up. However, it was immediately clear that the Doctor’s magnificent timeship, as incredible as it was, must have been mistaken. They had been brought to a boat that couldn’t have been built any later than the nineteenth century.

“This is a joke, right?” Sasha laughed as she looked around, gesturing with her bandaged right arm covering the acidic burn spat at her from the alien-possessed Asuka a couple of hours ago. “This sent out a distress call?”

“Oi, don’t knock it!” the Doctor scolded her light-heartedly. “But you’re right, it does seem a bit out of place. It’s like finding an electric toaster in the Middle Ages. Now, that was awkward to explain to Henry Four. Try explaining the concept of electricity to someone who thinks the height of sophistication is a rotating bookmark.”

“Where are the crew?” Charlotte asked as they looked around, making the sensible decision to bypass that ridiculous anecdote entirely. 

That was the split second on which it dawned on them. A ship this size, it was only to be expected that there would be a sizeable crew manning the sails. But the top deck was completely devoid of life.

“Maybe they fancied a nice swim?” the Doctor suggested, his hopeful expression slipping at the unconvinced looks given by the two women. “I don’t know.”

He pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and scanned around the ship as they strode across it, the thud of footsteps on wood echoing around the empty space.

“But we’re in the middle of the ocean!” Sasha exclaimed as she came to a stop at one edge of the ship, peering out above the wooden railing. “They must have gone somewhere.”

“Exactly, but where?” the Doctor replied, still holding his scanning Sonic Screwdriver aloft.

“I don’t suppose they decided to ditch this one for a couple of speedboats?” Charlotte suggested.

“No, it’s 1862,” the Doctor answered. “A few decades out for that to be a possibility.” He flipped his Sonic in the air before catching it and putting it back in his inside pocket. “Well ladies, doesn’t look like there’s anything going on up ‘ere. Shall we see if they’ve got a party going below deck?”

“You mean the quietest party in history?” Sasha said facetiously. She was right, with the only noise being the soft sound of water lapping against the boat’s hull. It was so quiet on the boat that you could hear a pin drop, if there had been any of the crew around to drop it.

“Hey, just because it’s a stereotype, doesn’t mean that all sailors are loud,” the Doctor deflected before heading down the stairs leading to the lower deck.

Bayley sighed as she watched her three friends walk out of view on the monitor, leaving her with just a view of the empty ship.

With Becky temporarily crippled and confined to the Fusomatic, Bayley had chosen to stay behind to keep her company. It wouldn’t have been fair to Becky if she had been left all alone.

Though they had only been alone for all of five minutes, Bayley was already beginning to grow concerned about her friend. Usually, Becky would spend every scant moment of silence filling it with terrible jokes and corny puns. Dad jokes were one of the biggest things they'd bonded over. No conversation would be complete between Team TARDIS without Sasha asking where to find the trash can, only for Becky to remark that it had, "bin and gone," (Becky had had to explain British terminology first). Or Bayley asking the Doctor if he knew which country's capital was growing the fastest, only to answer her own question with "Ireland, every day it's Dublin," loud enough to easily reach Becky's ears.

But so far, nothing. She was sure she was overthinking it though, perhaps Becky was just exhausted after her traumatic ordeal.

“Are you comfortable Becks?” Bayley asked for the third time.

Becky grunted in response, and Bayley couldn’t help but notice the scowl etched on her face. So much for not overthinking it.

Below deck, it was a similar story to above deck - not a single person in sight. But on the plus side, there weren’t any corpses waiting for them as a macabre surprise either. 

However, there were an assortment of cabins to search through. That gave Charlotte an idea, a strong desire to spend some alone time with one person in particular spinning the cogs in her mind.

“Hey, why don’t we split up to look through these?” she asked.

“Why? You getting bored of us already?” Sasha teased with a teasing smirk, so cocky that Charlotte's brain short-circuited, unable to think of an answer which didn't reveal the fact that she just wanted an excuse to spend more time with her.

The Doctor however, was happy to entertain the idea. “Good idea Charlotte. The sooner we find out what happened here, the sooner we can know if it’s something we should be worried about.” 

He then proceeded to lick his pointer finger before sticking it up in the air, an act which simultaneously confused and weirded out the pair.

“Nope, no trace of errant particles in the air, should be safe enough,” he explained before clapping his hands together, turning and pointing towards portside. “I’ll take this end, you two go starboard.”

“Hold on, why do you get to go it alone while we have to stick together?” Sasha asked, her playful expression betraying the offence taken.

“Well, you’re only human,” he replied with a cheeky grin, deliberately choosing not to reveal the real reason why he thought it was best the two women pair off together. “In the case of there being something nasty waiting to leap out at us, Time Lords are far more resilient.”

“First off, I thought we agreed you’d quit being so overprotective?” Sasha reminded him sternly, holding the firm expression before morphing into something more light-hearted. “And secondly, I hope when you talk about being resilient, that doesn’t mean your choice of tie,” she snarked. 

“Right yes sorry, I’ll go find some blue dye for my hair right away ma’am,” he joked back with a mock salute, delighting in the banter and the shocked look of faux hurt on Sasha’s face before dashing away down the corridor. 

After turning to walk into the nearest room, Charlotte moved close to Sasha and nudged her with her elbow. “So what do you think happened to the crew?”

“Pfft, I don’t know,” Sasha replied. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Oh come on, you’re telling me you’ve got nothing going on in there,” Charlotte said as she reached down to tap Sasha’s forehead, the smaller woman grimacing up at her smiling face.

“I think you just wanted an excuse to lord your height over me.”

Charlotte laughed. “Oh Sasha, if that’s all I wanted, I’d just have to stand next to you.”

The pout given by Sasha filled Charlotte with breathy laughter, continuing as she pulled out a torch and made her way across the room to investigate. As she shone the light on one end of the room, she saw the crew’s bunks. The sheets were messy. Not necessarily the signs of a struggle, it looked like they simply hadn’t been made.

“Well this is a waste,” Sasha observed as she gestured to a table in the middle of the room, shining a torch on the plate. As Charlotte came closer, she saw that it was full of food, practically untouched.

Their two main findings deepened the mystery. They were on an abandoned ship, with plates of stale, yet practically untouched food, and unmade beds. It was as if the crew had simply upped and left.

“Okay, this officially makes no sense,” Sasha stated after a moment of pondering. “If you’re gonna go somewhere, why would you leave food behind? It’s not like you can just grab a loaf of bread out of the ocean.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they got attacked by some kind of giant sea squid?” Charlotte posited. 

“A giant sea squid?” Sasha questioned, her eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Sure, why don’t we point fingers at Godzilla while we’re at it?”

“Well why the hell not?” Charlotte retorted, throwing up her hands. “We’ve fought stone statues, metal men, potato people, yet now a sea squid is out of the question?”

“Well if it does turn out to be a sea squid, you’ll finally meet someone with as long arms and legs as you,” Sasha teased with a smirk.

“You’re infuriating, you know that?” Charlotte asked, at complete odds with the goofy smile stretching across her face.

“That’s why you like me,” Sasha retorted with a grin of her own.

The two then lapsed into an awkward silence, both growing awkward beneath the thinly veiled flirting. Charlotte reminded herself of the intimate look her and Sasha had shared earlier that day after rescuing her. A look that spoke volumes without a single word said.

“Listen Charlotte, I’ve got something I want to say-“ Sasha started awkwardly.

Time seemed to stretch between one moment and the next, a gap yawning open as Charlotte's mind spun into overdrive.

What could Sasha be about to say? Was she about to give a new theory? Bemoan her lack of height? Admit she was attracted to Charlotte? Or just tell her how annoying she was?

Sasha didn't have time to get her words out before they were interrupted by the Doctor knocking loudly on the door, startling both women and taking them completely out of the moment.

“Ahoy, me hearties!” the Doctor greeted. Charlotte clasped a hand over her mouth while Sasha burst out laughing at the pirate hat now on top of his head.

“Okay first of all, where did you get? And secondly, why?” Charlotte asked, somehow managing to keep the hilarity out of her tone as she titled her head towards the fashion disaster barely managing to fit most of the Doctor's hair in.

“Found it in the captain’s quarters, seemed a shame to let it go to waste. Every hat deserves to be worn,” the Doctor answered solemnly, as though it was a very serious subject.

“Did you find anything?” Sasha asked after she’d finally recovered, though her voice still contained hints of a giggle.

“Yes!” the Doctor beamed proudly. “I found a flat cap, three pieces of spare parchment, a quill pen and a-“ His face then fell at the reprimanding looks shot by the pair. “Oh, you meant anything to explain the missing crew? No, not really. Doesn’t look like there’s anything here, so I suppose we’ll just have to accept that they went for a swim. Let’s get back to the TARDIS, see how Becky and Bayley are doing, eh?”

He then left, his receding footsteps echoing in the silence left. Charlotte and Sasha glanced at each other, sharing looks as if to say that the moment was now ruined.

“So what did you want to say?” Charlotte tried, even though she knew it was no longer the right time, if Sasha was indeed about to broach the subject she hoped she had been on the cusp of.

“Oh, it was nothing. Never mind,” Sasha dismissed before quickly following after the Doctor. Left alone in the room, Charlotte sighed with disappointment and frustration before following.

Aboard the TARDIS, the atmosphere - which had been pleasant enough immediately prior to the Doctor, Sasha and Charlotte leaving - had rapidly deteriorated. Bayley had tried to keep Becky’s spirits up, frequently checking that she was comfortable, trying to make conversation with her. But the redhead had remained aloof. Bayley had been lucky any time she had gotten a response that was more than a grunt. The frown had not left her face, like it was permanently etched on her features. Even more worrying was the fact that her stare appeared vacant, like she wasn’t actually looking at what was in front of her. More like it was just where her eyeline happened to be resting.

Several minutes of tense silence had stretched by, and Bayley couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you sure you’re warm enough Becks?” Bayley asked, and she could practically feel the immediate wave of disdain radiating from the woman. “I can go turn the heating up if you want-“

“Fer the hundredth time Bayley, I’m fine!” Becky snapped tersely. “Quit botherin’ me!”

Now Bayley knew there was definitely something going on with her friend. Becky had even admitted to them in the past that she made jokes to cope with uncomfortable situations. Being deliberately rude was something new, and most unlike Becky. And that scared Bayley more than any nefarious alien they’d faced yet.

“What is going on with you Becky?” Bayley asked. As much as her voice wanted to shake, she made a conceited effort to keep it level, and her pointed look just as firm. “This isn’t you, there is something bothering you. Talk to me.”

“Yer right, there is somethin’ botherin’ me,” Becky finally admitted with a sad frown before glaring fiercely at Bayley. “You.”

“Becky, I’m trying to help you and be understanding here,” Bayley asserted. “So the least you could do is not be an asshole about it.”

Instead of responding, Becky huffed loudly through her nose before turning away again, staring a furious hole through the wall she was facing.

Silence stretched between them once again. This time though, it felt even more hostile than it had before.

A second sweep of the upper decks had revealed nothing. With no further clues, the three travellers just had to concede that it was a mystery, with no evidence of foul play.

“Can’t we just go back in time and find out what happened for ourselves? Stop it from happening?” Sasha suggested.

“No, that would create a paradox,” the Doctor explained. “We’d only be travelling here because we already knew they disappeared. If we did even the slightest thing to change that, it would wreak havoc on the timelines.”

“So that’s it then? We’re just going to go?” Charlotte questioned as the Doctor started walking towards the TARDIS.

“Yes,” the Doctor answered simply as he stopped and turned to face her. “We’ve had a look around, there doesn’t appear to be any signs of anything alien.”

“And that still doesn’t seem suspicious to you?” Sasha asked.

“Y’know, you lot always like to find patterns and conspiracy theories in whatever isn’t actually there. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. Maybe they did just go for a swim and didn’t make it back. Not everything has to be like the Mary Celeste.”

“Wait, what? So that was definitely aliens?” Sasha exclaimed with a mixture of shock and a thrill of having one of history’s greatest mysteries solved.

“Well of course it was! What did you think it was, a big sea monster rose up and politely asked them to abandon ship?” the Doctor asked in jest, with Sasha and Charlotte exchanging surprised looks at the striking similarity to their theory earlier. “No, it was the Daleks that scared ‘em off.”

“What’s a Dalek?” Charlotte asked, eyebrows raised in confusion at the alien term.

“Trust me, just hope you’ll never have to find out,” the Doctor replied, a deadly serious look suddenly on his face amid the light-hearted banter. 

He then turned and started walking towards the TARDIS again, now walking towards it from the opposite side from which they’d originally set off to explore it. Because of that, none of them had noticed the trip wire until now, with the Doctor’s foot inches away. “No, I think we’re perfectly safe-“

“Doctor!” both Sasha and Charlotte yelled at the same time as they finally noticed the booby trap. Unfortunately, they were too slow to catch it, and the Doctor’s foot was in motion to connect and activate the deadly trap.

“Wha-“ was all the Doctor managed to get out before Charlotte grabbed hold of him from behind, pulling him back as he unknowingly set off the trap. They were lucky that Charlotte had such quick reflexes, managing to pull him out of harm’s way to safety just in time. All three of them dove to the ground, propelled along by the explosive force.

As they all panted in the aftermath, their attention was drawn by a familiar wheezing, groaning noise. Getting back up, they watched in horror as they saw the TARDIS blinking in and out of existence. 

“No! No-no-no-no!” the Doctor called out as he frantically dashed towards the TARDIS, but it was too late.

By the time he got there, the TARDIS had vanished entirely.

“What just happened?” Sasha asked with shock. “Did Bayley just pilot the TARDIS?”

“No, that’s not what happened,” the Doctor replied, before smacking his own forehead with the palm of his hand.

Bayley was frustrated. She was never one to let it get the best of her, but on this occasion, she was well and truly stumped for what to do about it.

Becky had proven to be so obtusely hostile; Bayley had left her alone since the last, heated words they’d exchanged. If exchanged was even the right word. Slinging bile sounded more appropriate. If Becky wanted to sulk and stew in her own mind, she would give her the space to do so. She just had to hope that Becky would come back her senses and open up eventually. Trying to coax it out of her clearly hadn’t worked.

She turned to look at Becky again, unsurprised to find her still staring vacantly at the wall. She couldn’t help but wonder what on earth was going on in the Irish woman’s head.

“If ya take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Becky’s facetious words suddenly snapped Bayley out of her own mind, completely unaware that Becky knew she’d been staring at her.

“Listen Becky-“

Bayley’s words were brought to a premature halt as the room suddenly jolted, as though being rocked by an earthquake. ‘Are timequakes a thing?’ Bayley thought to herself as she gripped onto a rail to steady herself. The cacophony of sounds heard whenever the TARDIS was in flight sounded: the wheezing and groaning, the rising and falling of the time rotor, the helicopter-like spinning of the Gallifreyan blades.

“What did you do?” Becky yelled in an overly aggressive manner, clearly placing blame on the Latina.

“Me? I didn’t do anything!” Bayley shouted back, fighting to stay in place during the in-flight turbulence.

And then suddenly everything came to a merciful stop, the room still and quiet once again, save for the background hum of the TARDIS and the quick breaths of both women. Neither of whom with any clue what had just happened.

“Okay, so if you know that wasn’t Bayley flying the TARDIS, mind telling us what it was?” Sasha asked, hands on her hips, expression set in a suspicious frown towards the Doctor.

“I reset the-“ the Doctor mumbled, the last part becoming incoherent.

“You reset the what?” Charlotte pressed.

“I reset the HADS,” the Doctor answered, this time perfectly audible.

“And the HADS would be…?” Sasha asked.

“The Hostile Action Displacement System,” the Doctor explained. “If the TARDIS thinks its under attack, be that time winds, laser weapons, or a good old-fashioned explosion, it relocates.”

“Oh lord,” Sasha sighed, turning away, choosing to take a moment to calm herself before she combusted with anger in the Doctor's face.

“Relocates to where?” Charlotte asked, eyebrows narrowed.

“I don’t know, it could be anywhere!” the Doctor answered, clearly flustered.

“So you’re saying we’re stuck on an abandoned ship in the nineteenth century, and our ride decided to leave us stranded?” Sasha simplified their quandary.

“Well it sounds a lot worse when you say it like that!” the Doctor protested before withering slightly under her judgemental gaze. “Don’t worry, it’ll turn up!”

“With everything we’ve been through, why didn’t this happen before?” Charlotte asked after the thought occurred to her.

“I was just tinkering around a bit with Bayley when you lot were hanging out on Earth, thought I’d turn it back on to make sure it still worked,” he answered. “Seemed like a good idea at the time…” he trailed off somewhat shamefully after having realised his folly.

A muffled buzzing suddenly sounded from inside his coat, sounding increasingly insistent. With a relieved grin, he pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out of his coat and flicked it up, gazing intently into the green glowing tip as though he alone could discern details unapparent to anyone else.

“I’ve found the TARDIS!” the Doctor exclaimed gleefully. No sooner had he announced it, his face fell.

“Where is it then?” Sasha asked, irritation creeping into her features at the inevitable bad news.

“Well there’s good news and then there’s bad news.”

“Doctor, just give it to us straight,” Charlotte sighed.

“Okay, good news: it’s relatively close, considering the size of the Earth. Bad news: it’s still five hundred and thirty-nine miles away.”

To say Sasha and Charlotte were displeased at this revelation would be an understatement. Noticing the looks of discontent on both women’s faces, he was quick to try some form of damage control.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” he asked, mouth starting to tilt into a cheeky grin.

“That you’re the world’s worst driver?” Sasha snarked.

“No!” the Doctor replied, looking hurt at the insult. Mischief burned in his eyes as he raised his eyebrows. “We’re gonna sail this ship to rescue the TARDIS!”

Sasha and Charlotte both shared looks of interest at the prospect.

Though the TARDIS had settled, Becky’s mind clearly hadn’t. Her eyes were still glassed over. At least now she’d stopped staring furiously at the wall. Instead she was gazing with a look of deep, miserable contemplation, in far more of a frown than a scowl. Honestly, Bayley didn’t know which was worse.

“Becky, please tell me what’s going on with you,” Bayley pleaded eventually after spending a long time deliberating by the console.

“Why do you care?” Becky retorted, but there wasn’t the same bite she’d had earlier. She sounded far more like someone who had lost hope than someone with boundless anger.

“Becky,” Bayley sighed sadly, walking over to Becky. She slowly eased herself down until she was sat in front of the Fusomatic, facing Becky. She reached out to grab her hand, slowly to give the redhead plenty of time to pull away. But she didn’t. Bayley raised her head back to look at Becky, and the Irish woman looked befuddled. “I care because you’re my friend,” she said softly. “I’m worried about you. I need you to talk to me, so I can know that everything is okay. And if everything is not okay, then at least then I can start figuring out how to help you.”

Becky scoffed, jerking her hand out of Bayley’s grasp and turning away. For a few moments, in which time seemed to stretch infinitely, Bayley thought she’d ruined any chance of Becky opening up to her. But then the redhead turned back, her eyes softer.

“I’ve always been a thrill seeker,” Becky started. “I guess you could say I’m an adrenaline junky. I’ve always looked for the next thrill, my next burst of adrenaline, anything that made me feel truly alive. When I was younger, that came from doing stunts on my BMX, skateboarding. Stupid stuff that earned me a lot of scars.” 

She paused. 

“And then when I grew up, that transitioned into being a stuntwoman. Fight scenes, horseback riding, explosions. All that kind of stuff, you know? But as I started to put myself out there more, I became an actor as well as a stuntwoman. The more I showed who I was, the less stunts I was allowed to do. For me own good, they said.” 

She looked up into Bayley’s eyes. “But I missed it. Like, really missed it. I was just coastin’ along a bit. But then I found myself locked in a cage with you, Charlotte and Sasha. And as we escaped the Krillitane’s ship, that’s when I found it again. Who needs to act out danger when we have the real thing?” she joked mirthlessly. 

“I thought I was havin’ the time of my life,” she continued. “But then, this happened.” She pointed down to her mangled leg, still bent at an awkward angle. Her tone was laced with disgust, as though having her leg snapped was an insult rather than an injury. “And I realised, I’ve been a fool me entire life!”

“What?” Becky whispered with shock. “Becky, why would you think that?”

“Because I’m the dope who put myself in a situation where this could happen,” Becky said glumly. “I knew it was goin’ to be dangerous. I just didn’t care. But now, I do.” She waited for several seconds before mustering up the courage to look Bayley dead in the eyes. “An’ I’m wonderin’ if these adventures are worth the risk.”

--

Sailing the abandoned ship was going well.

Well, if you ignored the fact that none of them were qualified to crew a boat. Despite the Doctor’s assurances that it would be just like flying the TARDIS - of which neither Sasha nor Charlotte had had a hand in - they hadn’t crashed into anything yet. Which was always a plus. The Doctor had boasted about single-handedly sailing a boat through the Bermuda Triangle in an effort to boost their confidence in him.

Despite this, they had both contested his motion to be named as their captain. Somehow, the pirate hat did not swing the vote in his favour.

For the past hour or so, they had gotten to grips with working as a team. Once they’d gotten the basics down through a combination of general knowledge, the Doctor’s experience and good old self-teaching, they were having a lot of fun.

It was going swimmingly.

In the distance, a large rock loomed. If they didn’t turn to avoid it, they were on a collision course. Good thing the slow speed of the nineteenth century ship meant they still had plenty of time.

Charlotte heard grunting and turned to see Sasha struggling to turn the ship’s wheel.

“Need a hand?” Charlotte asked, trying hard to stifle a laugh at how much cuter Sasha looked than usual with her face screwed up deep in concentration. She was trying to turn it with all of the strength in her arms, but it wasn’t enough.

“No, I got it, it’s just very, very stuck,” Sasha defended. She went back to trying, but it was no good. Despite her inherently stubborn iron willpower and above average strength for her diminutive size, she was still unable to turn it.

“Move over, I’ll get it going,” Charlotte insisted, lightly pushing Sasha out of the way. Despite how little strength the amazonian woman put behind it, Sasha was shoved to the side. Truthfully, she let herself be moved, eager to see how the stronger woman would fare, how her muscles would bulge under the effort for Sasha to feast her eyes on. But Charlotte didn’t need to know that.

Charlotte had expected to be able to immediately turn it, but she was surprised when the wooden wheel proved to be stubbornly resistant. Even using all the strength in her arms, she couldn’t turn it either.

So much for impressing Sasha.

Sasha fixed her with a look that screamed ‘I told you so’. 

“See? Not even a freakish Amazon like you can-“

With a heavy grunt and an extra show of force, Charlotte finally managed to turn the wheel, and it seemed to turn normally as one would expect after that. She turned to Sasha with a self-satisfied smirk. “You were saying?”

Sasha took a moment to pick her jaw up off the floor, snapping her open mouth shut before opening it again as an idea came to her. “I vote we call this ship the TARDIS,” Sasha suggested in a clear act of deflection.

“This heap of wood?” Charlotte cocked her eyebrows. “Not exactly capable of time travel, is it?”

“Of course you would be thinking so small, King Charles,” Sasha teased. “No, I think this boat should be called: ‘Totally a Rescuing, Dated & Inept Ship’”.

Charlotte chuckled. “Just go man the sails, Banks.”

“Aye aye captain!” Sasha gave a mock salute, smiling when Charlotte chuckled at the adorably goofy sight.

Sasha started scampering up the rigging, when she felt Charlotte’s eyes still on her, looking up from down below. She stopped climbing and looked down, to see Charlotte quickly avert her eyes. Sneaky, but not sneaky enough.

“Do you want to keep your eyes focused on our destination and not my ass?” Sasha said with a teasing smirk on her lips.

Charlotte’s cheeks immediately flushed red with embarrassment, her eyebrows shooting up. “No-no, I wasn’t-“ Sasha began giggling. “Shut up!” Charlotte exclaimed, her flustered state only seeming to egg Sasha on more. “I was looking at the sky to make sure which direction the wind was blowing!” Charlotte protested. Even she knew it was a pathetically weak defence, but it was the best she could come up with on the spot.

“Uh-huh,” Sasha replied dubiously before continuing her ascent to the crow’s nest.

After Becky’s revelation that she was considering abandoning their adventures, Bayley was stunned. The two friends had sat in contemplative silence for several moments. But Bayley knew she had to say something, and it had to be good. She was shocked, yes. But lost for words? No. She was just trying to figure out the most honest way to inspire Becky back to her former self. Because this glum, downcast, broken woman in front of her was not the Becky she knew.

“I know it’s difficult to be positive right now,” Bayley finally spoke up to disturb the silence. “You’ve just had your leg crushed by an alien possessing your friend. That would be tough on anyone. But listen Becky,” she said, pausing and waiting for Becky to look her way until she was certain she had her friend’s undivided attention.

“It’s okay to be scared. I’m scared, we’re all scared. But we keep going. You’ve managed to keep going all this time, I don’t see why this should stop you now. You’ve admitted that you’ve been a thrill seeker your entire life. That’s just who you are. And I know that if you were to leave this life behind, you’d regret it for the rest of yours. As long as you’re smart and careful, I think you’ll be okay. Stay sharp, think smart, and we can get through anything. Okay?” she shot Becky a reassuring smile.

Becky stayed silent for several moments as she mulled it over. Eventually she nodded, and for the first time she didn’t have a scowl or a frown crumpling up her face, but the tiniest glimmer in her eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips. “Stay sharp, think smart,” she repeated.

Bayley was so overwhelmed with joy after getting through to Becky, that she couldn’t stop herself from reaching forward and scooping Becky up in a hug.

A piercing yell of pain was screamed into Bayley’s shoulder, causing her to instantly jump back in shock. In the moment, she had completely forgotten that Becky was confined to the Fusomatic and had to remain absolutely still for it to fix her leg. Bayley’s movement had jostled her enough to cause a severe wave of agony to crash through her body, so painful that it almost sent her back into unconsciousness. 

With a concentrated effort, Becky clamped her teeth together to silence her agonised screams and used her hands to gingerly shift her leg back into it’s prior position. Even as carefully as she was doing so, her eyes almost rolled back into her head with the amount of pain she was causing to herself by doing so. It was clear that the painkiller the Doctor had dosed her with wasn’t long-lasting.

Bayley moved to help her, and Becky shot a hand up to stop her, as quickly as she dared without disturbing her leg. “Don’t!” she commanded with a harsh bite to her tone, and Bayley froze. “Don’t you dare touch me again.” 

Her voice was in such a threateningly low growl that it rocked Bayley to her core, to have someone she’d grown close to speak to her like she was her worst enemy. She knew Becky wasn’t thinking straight; it was her pain manifesting as anger towards anything and everything. But that didn’t mean it didn’t sting.

“But Becky, I’m just trying to help-“

“I think you’ve done enough!” Becky snapped with venom in her tone. Her voice wasn’t loud, but sharp like a dagger stabbing itself into Bayley’s heart.

The two remained staring at each other for a couple minutes of tense silence. Becky once again scowling with fury, Bayley staring with a frown made up of hurt and frustration combined.

“Don’t you see?” Becky finally spoke to break the spell of quiet. “This is exactly why it’s best I leave this life behind. My body is so broken that you can’t even touch me.” Her anger had petered out but it had been replaced by bitterness. Somehow, she’d preferred it when Becky had been angry.

One touch had put them back at square one.

“Ahoy me hearties!” the Doctor called to get Sasha’s and Charlotte’s attention. “You’ve made a mighty fine crew. And shiver me timbers, it looks like we’re on the right track to find the TARDIS.”

“How badly have you always wanted to be a pirate?” Sasha asked.

“Quite a while actually, and I think I’m now qualified,” the Doctor grinned. “Look, I’ve got the hat for it!” he pointed to the pirate hat adorning his head. “But we’ve set the ship on the right course. I think we should take another look below deck, see if there are any clues we’ve missed it. It’s gonna take a few hours to get there anyway, might as well pass the time. You can never be too thorough.”

The three descended down below deck again, Sasha and Charlotte trailing behind the Doctor, having their own conversation in hushed whispers.

“So we agree then?” Charlotte whispered. “The hat has got to go.”

“As soon as a storm breaks, I’m throwing it in the ocean and blaming it on the wind,” Sasha replied with a cheeky little grin.

“Ladies!” the Doctor said as he stopped and turned on his heel. “I know the hat looks great and all, but you don’t have to whisper about it. Now, I think the first place we should check again is-“

The three were interrupted as they felt the ship begin to turn of its own accord. The ship lurched, forcing the three passengers/crew to stumble until they managed to catch their footing. 

“What was that?” Charlotte asked, worry lines creasing her brow.

“I don’t know, but it didn’t feel good,” the Doctor replied before dashing back up the stairs, Sasha and Charlotte quickly following.

The moment he stood back on deck, the Doctor was shocked to see that the ship had completely changed direction. He ran over to the ship’s wheel and began trying to turn it, only to find that it was locked in place once again, and no amount of forcing could make it budge.

“What’s that noise?” Sasha asked as she heard the beeping in her ears, sounding not too dissimilar to a sonar pinging.

“Sonic beacon,” the Doctor shouted, grunting again as he tried to unsuccessfully turn the wheel again to change their course. “It’s taken over, pulling us into that cave.” 

Charlotte looked over, to see that they were indeed sailing ever closer to a large cave opening. One that looked very damp, but more importantly, very dark and decidedly not their planned destination.

“Let Charlotte try, she managed to unlock it before!” Sasha called out to the Doctor. He moved over in agreement, giving Charlotte space to swoop in. 

Charlotte wrapped her hands around the spokes of the wheel. She took a deep breath before turning it with all her might.

But nothing happened. She tried again. The wheel did not move.

After several more tries and a lot of groaning, Charlotte released her grip. 

The wheel would not move. It was locked, they were being pulled into a cavern, and all they could do now was wait to see who had taken over their ship and why.

Chapter Text

The three travellers watched helplessly as the ship was steered into the cave, guided in by the sonic beacon. They went from being bathed in the afternoon sun, to shrouded in the natural dark of the cavern with a complete absence of light. The air was thick and humid, an immediate contrast to the open sea. 

In silence, all that they could hear was the gentle lapping of the water against the boat’s bow as they listened eagerly for any sounds to indicate danger.

Even in the inky darkness inside the cavern, Sasha felt a larger hand wrap slender fingers around her own, gripping tightly.

“Charlotte,” Sasha hissed. “I know this is just a little bit terrifying. But you don’t need to hold my hand.”

“I’m not holding your hand!” the blonde hissed back, and Sasha was perplexed as her ears picked up the voice as coming too far a distance away to be within hand’s reach.

“Sorry, that’s me actually,” the Doctor said from right next to Sasha, making her jump in surprise. “I thought you might need reassuring.” Even without being able to see his expression, Sasha could picture the look he had whenever he was desperately trying to convince them of a lie.

“Jeez, can you not just use your magic wand as a flashlight?” Sasha asked.

“Says someone with a torch in her pocket,” he replied, and she could practically feel the smugness radiating from his retort. But that was second to the embarrassment she felt at forgetting such a simple thing. The whole time they’d spent drifting into the pitch-black cavern, they could have actually had something to illuminate their way.

“Damnit,” Sasha hissed to herself as the object slipped from her grasp, the torch clattering to the floor. After fumbling around for it in the dark with no luck, she decided to call it quits. On such a vast, still moving boat, it could have rolled anywhere, and she’d rather not stumble around blindly when there was the very real risk of falling off the ship. She’d just have to accept that there was no way of seeing it now.

But then a beam of light created a spotlight on the wooden flooring near her, and she saw her torch inches away from her foot. Looking up to find the source, she saw Charlotte shining her own torch to cast it, her smug expression meeting Sasha’s eyes, which went wide with surprise. Sasha felt an emotion she didn’t want to name just yet bloom deep within her, time seeming like it was standing still as her tall, gorgeous friend continued to look at her in that way. Sasha’s brain short-circuited as she found the confident look intoxicating, too entrancing to look away from. She’d already realised just how attractive the chiselled amazon was, but combined with the recent self-confidence she was projecting? Her mind began to race with thoughts straying away from friendship, wondering what it would be like if the two were alone and-

“This thing doesn’t have infinite battery life you know,” Charlotte teased to break Sasha out of her less than innocent thoughts. Sasha hadn’t realised that she’d been staring, but quickly snapped herself out of it, bending down and retrieving her own torch. There was no time for that now.

“Any idea who dragged us in here?” Sasha asked the Doctor.

“There are about five hundred thousand, eight hundred and ninety-two lifeforms I’ve encountered who are capable of sonic technology,” he responded. “So no, it doesn’t narrow it down at all. But I can feel the boat coming to a stop. So with any luck, we should be able to ask them.”

He was right, the ship was indeed slowing down without the open air to keep the ship sailing. Before long, it came to a complete stop. As they looked around, using their torches to illuminate the dark, dank cave, one thing became quickly apparent. They were stranded.

All around them lay water. Deep water by the looks of it, and certainly enough to keep the ship afloat. They could see rocky walls in the distance in front of them, to the left and to the right. Behind them, they couldn’t even see the light source which they knew was at the cave mouth. That told them just how deep into the cavern they were.

“So what do we do now?” Sasha asked. Charlotte tried tugging on the ship wheel again, but it was still hopeless locked in place.

“Whoever wanted us here clearly doesn’t want us to leave. That sounds to me like an invitation,” the Doctor replied. “All we’ve got to do now is wait for our hosts to show up.”

“But-“ Charlotte started before being promptly shushed by the Doctor, who held a pointer finger up.

The sound of water being disturbed came from within the cave, and close by too, by the sounds of it. The sound grew louder and more energetic as it neared until it was joined by the sound of wet feet slapping the wooden deck, mere feet away from them.

None of them had time to see their assailants before they were promptly knocked unconscious, their prone bodies dragged off the ship and beneath the water’s icy cold embrace.

Becky and Bayley had barely said a word to each other since Becky had reaffirmed that leaving the life of travelling throughout time and space behind was best for her. 

The Irish woman had said it with such feeling behind the words, that Bayley believed she really meant it. She supposed she couldn’t blame her for feeling that way, given that their last escapade had almost cost Becky her leg. 

But at the same time, Bayley knew that just wasn’t true to Becky’s lifestyle, to leave it all behind. When she’d managed to convince her differently an hour earlier, it had only been temporary. One more painful experience later, and Becky’s recent pessimistic outlook returned with a vengeance to burn even brighter, this time strong enough to combust the bonds of friendship between them.

It was a struggle for Bayley to reconcile the woman sat mere feet away from her with the woman she’d travelled, laughed and ran alongside the past few weeks. Becky was always the one to keep the spirits up on board the TARDIS, to keep them going despite situations which were often gloomy. The Doctor always delivered in that department, but Becky just had a special gift for goofiness which surpassed even his.

Now though, Becky was even more full of bitterness than Sasha had been when they’d first met. From glass half-full to glass practically empty, Bayley had never seen such a radical change in personality. 

She kept trying to think of things she could say to Becky, to inspire her and lift her spirits. But each time, she remembered just how stubborn she was. The Irish woman had proven to be relentlessly hard-headed. While that had benefitted them in the past, now it was working against them both. And now, with that same stubbornness using angst to fuel her? It would be almost impossible to bring Becky’s old self back. So until she had a truly Nobel prize-winning speech mapped out in her head, she’d continue sitting and thinking in silence, observing Becky having the most vicious staring contest with the wall.

Becky wasn’t the only thing that was worrying the Latina though. It had been a couple of hours since their friends had left the TARDIS, and they were only supposed to be checking out a distress call. As aware as Bayley was with the fact that supposed simple errands usually turned out to be elongated adventures when it came to life on board the TARDIS, she was growing increasingly concerned that something might have happened to the Doctor, Charlotte and Sasha.

“They’ve been a while, huh?” Bayley called out to Becky from across the TARDIS console. She got no response.

“Becky?” she tried calling out again. The Irish woman didn’t move at all, as though she hadn’t heard her.

Bayley walked around the console to kneel down in front of Becky. Blocking her view of the wall had finally snapped her out of her sojourn in her own mind. “Huh?” Becky mumbled, confused as to why Bayley was staring at her.

“I said they’ve been a while, don’t you think?” Bayley repeated calmly.

Becky shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. What are you asking me for?”

Bayley didn’t have the energy to argue with Becky anymore, choosing instead to shake her head in annoyance with a sigh before getting back to her feet and walking towards the doors. Even if her friends weren’t in trouble, she’d still go see what was taking them so long.

The moment Bayley threw open the doors, she exclaimed in shock as her eyes widened, taking in the sight before her. 

They weren’t on a boat anymore. 

The Doctor’s vision swam as he tried to open his eyes, unable to keep his head from lolling as he slowly regained consciousness. Before long, his brain jolted with enough activity to shock him back into full consciousness. He could feel the thick subterranean air around him, stuffy and acutely making him aware that they had been dragged far below the surface.

He tried to move his arms, only to find that their movement was restricted, and his movement had caused something metallic to jangle. 

Looking up confirmed his suspicions – he was chained up. It was dark, but he could make out the bars in front of him.

He groaned with derision at the familiar experience of being locked up. At this point it happened so often, some might misconstrue it as a lifestyle. He’d escaped enough handcuffs – manufactured by human hands or otherwise – to call himself Harry Houdini. He’d met Houdini a few times. Good old Harry was still more impressive than he’d ever been.

Realising he was getting off track, he forced himself to turn his head, to make sure he was still with his companions. Thankfully there they were, looking right at him.

“Oh good, you’re awake now,” Charlotte deadpanned.

“Is it a Time Lord-y thing to laze around?” Sasha accused with amusement. “You took your sweet time coming to.”

“I hope you spent less time snarking about and more time coming up with an escape plan,” the Doctor retorted. “Can’t always rely on me y’know.”

“Oh trust me, we know,” Sasha smirked smugly, causing the Doctor to open his mouth in offense.

“Oi!” 

“Guys!” Charlotte hissed, snapping the two’s attention. “We can rib each other later. Right now, we’ve got to get out of here.”

“You’re right, sorry,” the Doctor conceded as he began pulling on the shackles. He grunted with exertion until he was red in the face, before he gave up. “No, these chains are too tight. Can’t even use Houdini’s signature trick, they’re too good for that.”

Their struggles to escape were halted with the sound of a door swinging open. They each shifted in place as their jailers stepped webbed feet forth to reveal themselves.

Although they were bipedal, the slimy, brown-skinned amphibious creatures couldn’t look any more like walking, upright fish. Shuffling inside, they revealed the elongated blackened fins sticking out on either side of their heads. Their eyes were large and round, exactly like a fish’s. With squat noses, they each had a mouth that stretched almost the entire length of their face, descending down into thick necks wide and ridged, looking like gills. 

They each wore netting around them that came down to their knees, the mesh so close together that it resembled chainmail. White belts were worn tightly around their waists, although they each had a spherical object attached to them of the same colour.

“Reptilia sapiens,” the Doctor greeted them in recognition, taking his companions aback.

“Thisssss one knowssss of ussss,” one of the creatures spoke to one of its fellows, although hissing would be a more accurate term. His speech was slow, unnervingly so. It was also warbling and husky.

“This one has a name, you know,” the Doctor interjected. “I’m the Doctor, that’s Sasha and that’s Charlotte,” he pointed out his friends. 

“Fetch the commander,” one of the creatures waved off one of the others. They all left the room again, and the three travellers were left alone.

“Who were they?” Charlotte asked. “And you know them?”

“Yes, I’ve had a couple run-ins with them in the past,” he answered.

“And did those run-ins go well?”

“Not particularly.”

“That’s very comforting,” Charlotte sassed.

“Looked a little bit like Vastra to me,” Sasha pointed out.

“Yes, well they are aquatic cousins of the Silurians. Though it’s not a name they’ve adopted themselves, they’ve been referred to as Sea Devils before. They ruled the Earth at the exact same time as Homo Reptilia, living in underwater caves. Like the one we’re in right now. Personally, I think all that time living in isolation from the rest of the world has made them antisocial. No wonder they’re always so easy to incite into war whenever a submarine dives too deep. Hermits always want interlopers off their front lawn.”

“But we’re not in water,” Sasha pointed out, confused.

“No, but they do like to build their bases around water. Like right now, I can tell from the harmonic resonance that beyond this wall,” he swung his chained body so that he could tap on the cave wall in their cell, as much of a hassle and clearly not worth the effort the Doctor put into it as that was, “is water. And lots of it.”

They were interrupted by the door swinging open again. This time the two Sea Devils from before returned. However this time, they stepped aside to reveal a third Sea Devil having come among them. One that was larger and more muscular. It had to be assumed that this one was their Chief.

The Sea Devil Chief and the Doctor stared each other down for a few moments, looking as though they were sizing each other up. Eventually, the Chief broke the silence.

“How can an ape know of usss?” he hissed.

“Because I am not an ape. And I’ve encountered your kind before,” the Doctor answered.

“Another tribe sssurvived?” the Chief asked, and his hiss sounded hopeful.

The Doctor took his time answering, as though pondering how best to proceed. Eventually, he settled for a downcast look. “Yes,” he said solemnly. “But they attacked the humans and didn’t survive. I’m sorry.”

The Sea Devil Chief snarled furiously at the information. He reached towards the white sphere on his belt, pulling half of it off to reveal that it was actually a holster for its gun. The gun half that was now being brandished dangerously in his hand. The white semi-circle shaped gun with circular grey ridges was aimed squarely at the Doctor, a clear message if ever they saw one. 

The creature deliberately jerked the gun a few inches to the right before shooting. The Doctor ducked, the weaponry scorching a circular pattern into the cave wall beside him. As blatant a warning shot as could possibly be.

“Listen!” the Doctor shouted. “You have every right to be upset, but shooting me won’t change anything! I can help you avoid making the same mistakes!”

“Missstakesss were made?” the Sea Devil Chief asked in a demanding tone. Although his tone was still an angry hiss, at least he wasn’t shooting anymore.

“Yes, and I hope it’s not already too late,” the Doctor answered, whispering the latter part mostly to himself. “For starters, do you know anything about the missing crew from a human vessel? The one you captured us from?”

“The apesss were taken as captivesss,” the Chief answered. He was concerningly nonchalant. 

“But why?” the Doctor asked. “Why did you take them prisoner? Did you never consider simply talking to them?”

“We needed to find out the humans’ weaknessess,” the Chief answered. “Their defences, everything we needed to know to retake the surface world and its oceans.”

The Chief gestured one of his wicked claws to one of the Sea Devil guards. Following the guard’s line of sight, they noticed his gaze was fixed towards a switch on the wall. With the flick of the switch, light was thrown onto an adjacent cell, to grant them a most macabre sight.

Sasha and Charlotte gasped in horror as they looked upon the gory bodies of several men hanging in chains from the wall. Each of their corpses were covered in a litany of wounds, from burn marks, to abrasions, to gaping holes. It was clear from the lack of movement from any that they were certainly dead. It felt like they were in a museum exhibit of torture, full of mannequins depicting death. But it wasn’t. Those were real, recently deceased human remains, with several pools of deep red blood beginning to dry beneath them.

Feeling faint ran rampant between Sasha and Charlotte as they fought to keep the bile in their stomachs at the sight, for which ‘disturbing’ felt like an inadequate adjective.

The Doctor turned his look of abject disgust to the Sea Devils. The intense fury burning in his eyes was unlike anything Sasha or Charlotte had seen on his face.

“You know, I really thought there was a chance here,” the Doctor spoke, his voice low and full of anger. “But even I find it difficult to look past this. You didn’t simply kill these innocent humans; you’ve torn them apart.”

“We had to know their constitution’s strengths and weaknesses,” the Chief explained without a trace of remorse. “Fortunately, we have all the information we need. Your execution will be much quicker.”

The Sea Devils then promptly left, leaving Sasha and Charlotte to stare at the Doctor with absolute terror.

Bayley sighed as she stood overlooking the cliffs. Having ventured outside the TARDIS to explore their new location, she was dismayed to find that the TARDIS had materialised on top of a plateau on an island, with no sight of the boat they’d previously been on. 

As the salty scent of the sea air filled her nostrils, she looked down over the cliffside to watch the waves continuously crash against the rocks at least a couple of hundred feet below. 

Having walked all around the plateau, Bayley had deduced one soul-crushing fact: there was no way off the island, unless she wanted to leap to her death. They were stuck, marooned without the Doctor to fly them away.

But that also raised the question of why they were marooned. What had happened to the Doctor? Were they in trouble, waiting on her and Becky to rescue them? The prospect was too much of a possibility for her to dismiss. It had been a couple of hours since they’d seen each other, and the Doctor, Sasha and Charlotte were only supposed to explore the boat. 

Stepping back into the TARDIS, Bayley began to look over the TARDIS controls. She’d watched the Doctor pilot the ship dozens of times by now. Yet, she didn’t have the slightest clue how any of it worked. ‘Why couldn’t I have asked when I still had the chance?’ Bayley thought bitterly to herself.

Frustrated, Bayley looked over the console at Becky. Her friend was still frowning at the wall, stuck in her own personal pity parade.

“Becky, do you know how to fly the TARDIS?” Bayley tried.

“Nope.”

“Do you want to try and help me?”

“What’s the point in that?”

By this point, Bayley had had enough. She was sympathetic to her friend’s plight of course. But there was simply no time for her brooding. Their friends could be in grave danger, and Becky was still smarting over her damaged leg. As much as she had a right to be upset, their friends needed them right now. Both of them.

“Look Becky, if you want to sulk like a petulant child, then be my guest!” Bayley spoke harshly, snapping Becky’s attention immediately at her complete shift in tone. “But right now, our friends are out there. They need our help. And it would be a lot easier if you’d stop being deliberately difficult and actually give enough of a damn to help me!”

Becky’s mouth hung open at the stern talking to. But even before she said a word, Bayley could see the gears begin to turn once again in her friend’s mind. The glassed over look in her eyes was replaced by a look far more firm. Her frown morphed into a look of renewed determination. She wasn’t sure how much help she could be, given that she couldn’t move from her position inside the Fusomatic, still busy fixing her severely damaged leg. But she would try.

“You’re right,” Becky agreed. “Let’s save our friends.”

As if the ship herself had been listening into their conversation, there was electronic ping from the console. As the two women looked, they saw a lever wobble back and forth, as though the TARDIS was directing them towards it. Becky and Bayley exchanged puzzled looks, before glancing back to the console. It seemed they wouldn’t need to work it out themselves after all.

The three travellers did not have to wait long before the Sea Devils returned. Only this time there were not three, but six. All holding their guns in hand, aimed at the three prisoners.

The five marched inside the room until they came to a stop, turning on their webbed heels in formation before the cage bars. 

“You are hereby sentenced to execution!” the Chief Sea Devil announced from his place watching behind the five-foot soldiers.

“Oh come on, isn’t this a little overkill?” the Doctor argued. “Six of you against three of us, hardly fair is it?”

“You’re arguing about fair when they’re literally going to kill us?” Sasha hissed.

“Silence, apes!” the Chief exclaimed with a sharp hiss. “The firing squad will make sure your deaths are quick, on the eve of conquest.”

“Conquest? Oh believe you me, you’ve got your work cut out. One tiny Reptilia Sapiens colony against a whole planet-full of humans? Is that a war you really want to start?” the Doctor argued. It was clear from the indignant hiss that his words were not well received.

“You think we fear the apes?”

“No. I think you underestimate them. This doesn’t have to happen, you know. You can leave them alone and continue living here. It’s a cozy little base down here you’ve got it, isn’t it guys?” He turned to Sasha and Charlotte, his sparkling eyes begging them to go along with it.

“Oh yeah, very snug,” Charlotte agreed.

“Would totally camp down here,” Sasha added.

The Doctor turned his grin back to the Sea Devil commander. “You see? Nobody has to die.”

“You think we do not see through your lies? The humans killed our brethren. Now we will wipe them out. You will be the first example.”

“Okay, I see your mind is fairly closed, what else should I expect from a fish, unless your name is Jim. But before you kill us, let me die a happy man. Because there’s one thing I’m not getting, and I’d hate to drag this out until I figure it out. Tell me, why did you lure us here with your distress call?” 

The Doctor was surprised at the blank stares he was met with from the reptiles. Not the blank stare of someone concealing their true intentions. But the genuine stare of not having any idea what the madman without a box was rambling about. 

“Oh come on, no need to be coy about it now. We’ll be dead in two minutes-“

“Uh, no we won’t,” Sasha interjected, shutting up as soon as the Doctor turned to give her a pointed look to stay quiet.

“-so there’s no need for any secrecy. Come on, that’s a nineteenth century boat up there. The humans don’t have advanced enough technology to project such a sophisticated distress call in this time zone. It’s gotta have been you.”

“We know nothing of any distress call.”

The Doctor’s mouth hung open, growing more worried that perhaps he had been manipulated. He had been around the block (and half the known universe) enough times to be a master at studying body language. And everything in the commander’s poise, tone and eyes were agreeing one thing. He was telling the truth. 

But if that was the case…who lured them here?

“Enough waiting!” the Sea Devil commander hissed. “Tomorrow we will attack, and the humans will never know-”

A warbling sound rose in the prison, the air beginning to thrum with energy. Wind picked up inside the cavernous base, blowing hair and dust alike as it whipped the stagnant subterranean air about. 

“What is this?” the Chief demanded, looking around for the source of the disturbance, but finding nothing.

The warbling grew in both pitch and volume, before being accompanied by a very familiar wheezing and groaning sound. A noise that the three travellers had never been more grateful and overwhelmed with joy to hear.

But the blue box didn’t appear. The Doctor furrowed his brow with concern. What had happened to his marvellous ship?

An enormous, crashing sound loud enough to shatter glass gave him the answer. At the exact same time, a massive hole was forcibly burst into the cave wall opposite their cell, sending debris of rocks crashing everywhere. The Sea Devils took the brunt of the impact, the majority of the rock chunks striking each of them. The three prisoners went mostly unharmed, thanks to both the Sea Devils’ bodies and the cell bars. 

As they tentatively lifted their heads from being ducked into their shoulders to protect themselves from the carnage, the Doctor, Sasha and Charlotte looked up to see all of the Sea Devils on the floor, rendered unconscious. But standing proud, like the rescue ship that she was, the TARDIS. And that was when they realised that the hole made in the wall was suspiciously police box shaped.

The door to the blue box was pulled open, and Bayley dashed out. Sasha, Charlotte and the Doctor’s faces lit up in relief at the sight of their friend. 

“There you are!” Bayley smiled. She spotted the Sonic Screwdriver attached to the wall, apparently confiscated upon arrival. Grabbing it, she hastily unlocked the cell and set to work on freeing her friends. 

“Oh Bayley, you are magnificent!” the Doctor said by way of thanks.

“Thanks Doc, but there’s no time; we gotta move!” Bayley responded. And that’s when it dawned on them that they could still hear the sounds of rock collapsing all around them.

“What’s happening?” Charlotte questioned.

“The TARDIS must have weakened the structural integrity of the base by collapsing the wall,” the Doctor posited. He jumped to his feet. “I think it’s time to leave, don’t you?”

Neither Sasha nor Charlotte needed telling twice, hastening to escape in the direction of the wondrous blue box waiting to transport them away to safety.

The four dashed inside the TARDIS, narrowly avoiding a collapsing fragment of rock. A moment later, the wheezing, groaning noise filled the space again, the blue box dematerialising as the Sea Devil base continued to be buried underneath tons of rock, seconds before the ceiling collapsed in the spot where the blue box had stood.

Having narrowly escaped their execution, the three caught their breaths now that they were back in safety.

“I know they were about to kill you all and everything,” Bayley said. “But did we really have to leave the rockfall to wipe them all out?”

“Oh no, don’t worry, the rockfall won’t have killed them,” the Doctor reassured her. “Not all of them, at least. The execution squad, maybe.” He paused to look down at the floor. “I regret that I could not save them.” Sighing deep with regret, he snapped his head back up to look back at his friends, having taken the moment to mourn. “It’ll just mean that the survivors will be buried inside their own base. Shouldn’t take them more than uhh,” he paused, bringing his wrist up to check his watch, “a couple of decades to dig themselves out. Which should have given them ample time to reconsider.”

When the Doctor’s face fell, going silent for several seconds as, it was clear that he was deep in conflicted thoughts. With the Doctor looking down to stare back into his own reflection in the currently switched off TARDIS monitor, Charlotte walked carefully over to his side, as Becky, Sasha and Bayley were engaged in an enthusiastic conversation. She could tell from the worry lines furrowing his brow that her friend was incredibly concerned with the recent development.

“You’re still worried about that distress call, aren’t you?”

“I am, yes. I think someone wanted us to be there to be captured by the Sea Devils. The crew wouldn’t have set that trip wire to activate the TARDIS HADS. Someone knew what they were doing. Your friend was specifically targeted back on Earth. Why? Somebody is manipulating us, Charlotte. And sooner or later, one of their plans might succeed.”

“I’m not worried, Doctor. Do you know why?” The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, stopping when Charlotte clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Because we have you. It doesn’t matter who is trying to get to us, I know you’re smarter than them. And besides that, I think the four of us are strong enough to stay alive.”

The Doctor could only respond with a smile at his companion, proud of her recently-discovered confidence, paying off in spades. It was inspiring, seeing the timid woman blossom into a confident daredevil, far more trusting not only in herself, but in her friends.

A few feet away from the two friends’ serious conversation, their other friends were still chatting excitedly.

“That was really impressive dude,” Sasha grinned with pride at Bayley. “How did you learn to fly the TARDIS?”

“Oh, it wasn’t just me,” she flickered her eyes over to Becky, who responded with a small smile. “But really, the TARDIS showed us how. I guess he isn’t insane,” she nodded to the Doctor. “She really is sentient.”

“Well of course she is, do you lot never listen to me?” the Doctor responded, all sense of solemnity gone, before looking over to Becky. “Rebecca, what did I say to you about keeping perfectly still? You’ve moved!” he said with a frown of disapproval. “Honestly, how do you expect this thing to fix your leg if you keep moving out of place?”

Becky and Bayley exchanged grins before Becky looked back at the Doctor. “It was worth it.”

The Doctor sighed. “You do realise what this means though don’t you? No more adventures until we’ve sorted your leg out.” 

The other three women groaned.

“Doctor, c’mon-“

“No, I’m going to have to keep my eye on you,” the Doctor said, his firm tone echoing with finality.

Luckily for Becky, she had four friends to keep her spirits up, with not a single one of them going to their bedrooms that night, resolving to spend the night hanging out with their injured, temporarily confined friend in the TARDIS console room. 

She didn’t have any time to brood when the dad jokes wouldn’t stop spilling out of Bayley’s mouth, catered to make her laugh more than the rest of them, amid her excited babble of the part Becky played in helping to fly the TARDIS, asking the right questions for where to find the right levers to pull, the correct buttons to push to pilot the magnificent, sentient time ship.

She couldn’t feel sorry for herself when she kept catching Sasha and Charlotte making heart eyes at each other, the two women feeling a mutual sense attraction in the air but not feeling the moment was right to act on it.

Nor did she want to do anything but listen with rapt attention to the retellings of previous, hilarious and thrilling adventures the Doctor told with the captivating energy of a master storyteller, even if he got muddled up and told events in an entirely non-linear order. “Time travel isn’t linear!” he insisted after Charlotte pointed out that fact.

Becky knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. She couldn’t even contemplate being anywhere else. Not when Sasha and Bayley were playfully arguing with each other, squealing with intensity and deliberately bumping shoulders to distract each other in a heated game of Mario Kart which the Doctor had projected onto the wall. Not when Charlotte was giggling along at their antics, adding to the banter when she “accidentally” walked in front of the projection a couple of times at particularly crucial moments (especially when Bayley was about to cross the finish line). Not when the Doctor was cheering both women on without bias, supplying unhelpful advice to win the race. 

“Get the banana, bananas are good!”

“Doctor, I’m not close enough to hit her!”

“Yeah, she’ll definitely lose if she wastes time going for it.”

“Doesn’t matter. Everyone is a winner as long as you have a banana.”

Surrounded by the family she'd chosen, life aboard the TARDIS was something Becky wondered how she ever considered giving it up.

Chapter Text

“Where’ve you been?” the Doctor asked Becky as soon as he spotted her walk through the doorway on the lower floor of the TARDIS control room. 

“Oh, I decided to go find the lost city of Atlantis,” Becky answered, pointing to her still damp hair.

“Did you really?” the Doctor asked, seemingly not picking up the sarcastic edge to Becky’s tone. “What did you think? Been a while since I last visited. They do some excellent sausage rolls. That is, if you don’t mind them being a bit soggy.”

“No, of course I didn’t,” Becky shook her head dismissively with a laugh. “Did a few lengths in the swimming pool. Had to test it out to make sure it’s back to normal.” She gestured down to her freshly repaired leg. Her stint in the Fusomatic had fully healed her leg, everything back in place with only a jagged scar to serve as reminder of its previously shattered form. A big, unsightly scratch aside, nobody would be able to tell that just a week ago, she’d had broken bone bursting out of her skin. It had looked fine for five days now, but the Doctor had insisted she rest it just to make sure there were no complications. Five days of being stuck in bed and no adventures; she was going stir-crazy. On the plus side, her companions had stood with her in solidarity. As much as she was sure it killed the Doctor, none of them had left the TARDIS in all that time. To her knowledge.

“And it was all okay, no problems with it?” the Doctor asked with genuine concern. “No cramping, stabbing pains, wound reopening?”

“Nah, good as new. All A-okay,” Becky replied, giving the Doctor an okay hand gesture to emphasise her point in her trademark goofy way. “Does that mean I’m cleared for adventures again?”

“Well as a Doctor, I might be inclined to suggest that we keep you in overnight,” he said with a teasing smile.

“Oh please, yer not a Doctor Doctor,” Becky said.

“I’ll have you know I have my degree somewhere aboard the TARDIS. Unless I accidentally deleted it or threw it in a supernova.”

“You?” Becky snickered.

“Why is that so funny?” the Doctor raised his eyebrows. “I’d be brilliant at being a student. In fact-”

Their banter was interrupted by a beeping noise coming from the TARDIS console. Unlike the last distress call, the beeping had more of a humming quality, as though it was waiting on standby for them.

“This isn’t going to be another boat situation, is it?” Becky groaned.

“No, I don’t think so. Could you go grab the others?” the Doctor asked.

With a nod, Becky descended the stairs, leaving through the doorway and going down the TARDIS corridors to do just that.

Left alone in the console room, the Doctor pressed play, and the words ‘Distress Call Message Waiting’ faded away, replaced by a static-filled video recording. Although the static kept cutting in and out of the screen, the Doctor could make out someone talking frantically, though the visual was never clear enough to adequately make out their facial features.

“Under attack-“ the call was momentarily cut out by static again before the picture returned. “…terrestrials.” More static. “…end help.” That was as much as the Doctor could make out before the message was terminated, leaving him intrigued enough to follow it up. If someone contacted the TARDIS asking for help, he could never refuse it. Even with the sense of foreboding he was currently feeling.

But that could be put aside when he could hear his friends bantering away.

“I totally had you beat, dude!” he heard Bayley’s voice echo closer as four pairs of footsteps approached.

“You did not!” Sasha’s voice protested petulantly.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Bayley retorted, bouncing her eyebrows to make Sasha giggle.

“You’re lucky we got called away, or I so would have sunk your battleship,” Sasha insisted, continuing to argue light-heartedly.

“Is that a new euphemism, or…?” Becky trailed off.

“No,” Charlotte answered, unable to wipe the fond small smile off her face, despite her look of faux annoyance with the pair. “These two children were literally playing the most intense game of battleships I’ve ever been around for. Complete with sound effects and communication between the fleet.”

“Hey, how was I supposed to know Sasha had a sub hiding in sector B12 if I didn’t send a scout ship to do recon?” Bayley protested, a cheeky grin widening on Becky’s lips, dancing mischievously in her eyes.

“Please say the whole word next time,” Charlotte sighed with exasperation.

“What? Reconnaissance?” Sasha smirked smugly, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly in a challenge, just daring Charlotte to spell it out in front of the Doctor.

“What’s going on, Doctor?” Charlotte turned to the man in question, changing the subject in such a transparent manner her thought process may as well be glass. She didn't care how see-through her topic change was; she simply couldn't keep looking at Sasha when she was smirking at her like that, with the corners of her lips tugged up to create the cutest laughter lines she'd ever seen. Otherwise she might not be able to focus on keeping her mind out of the gutter it liked to fall into whenever she basked in the blue-haired woman's intoxicating presence.

“Nice sidetrack,” Charlotte’s abrupt change in topic invited a sarcastic murmur from Sasha.

“Whatever it is, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Any more suspense and I think these two goofs would come to blows.”

“You’re just jealous of the connection Sash and I share,” Bayley teased with a smirk. “Better watch out, or I’ll steal your girl.”

Sasha, who at that point had been sticking her tongue out at Charlotte, suddenly tensed up, cheeks flushing and eyes snapping wide open as she stood there, tongue lolling stupidly in her still open mouth as she froze up, panicking at the joke that hit closer to home than she was ready for.

Charlotte was similarly dumbfounded, but managed to stumble out a clumsy comeback before the silence stretched too comfortably. “Uhh yeah, sure I am.” She tried to inject sarcasm into her tone, but couldn’t help but feel yearning in the pit of her stomach for the ease Sasha and Bayley had in being themselves around each other. Those two were seldom seriously together whenever they hung out together, always laughing, joking and goofing off together. She was sure her and Sasha would get there eventually. They just hadn’t yet.

“Pfft, I’m nobody’s girl,” Sasha recovered spectacularly with her trademark false bravado, managing to hide her nervousness far better than Charlotte had. She was too busy looking at Bayley to notice the way Charlotte’s tight-lipped nervous smile drooped slightly at her remark.

Bayley sighed. It hadn’t been the earnest attempt to play matchmaker, but she had hoped for a better result than that. She just wanted her two friends to be happy together, but she was smart enough to know trying to force it would get them nowhere. She’d already interfered more than she knew she should do with that joke alone.

Of course, Sasha and Bayley didn’t quite have the same type of sexual tension charging the air between them.

“A distress call,” the Doctor answered, interrupting the awkward moment to bring them back to why he’d called them all in there. “Beaming straight to the TARDIS. I’m not sure when we became the hotline for help, but who could possibly say no?”

“We could,” Sasha interjected. Spotting the disappointed frown begin to appear on the Doctor’s face, she made sure to explain her point, before it deepened. “Doctor, have you forgotten last week with the Sea Devils? A distress call lured us there, and we would have been dissected too if it weren’t for Becky and Bay.”

“Ah, I’m glad you remember my heroic rescue,” Becky grinned. “Cheers, boss.”

“I got you, Becks,” Sasha smiled back at her friend before getting back to her serious point. “Come on Doc, think about this for a sec.”

“Sasha's right,” Charlotte agreed, missing the bashful smile Sasha couldn’t help but show. “Two distress calls in a week? And that day we went back to our lives, to find our friends mutate into murderous psychopaths? We’re being targeted, Doctor. We gotta play it safe. Who knows what we’re walking into?”

“You know me, I’m normally eager to help out,” Bayley added. “But this sounds like too big of a risk Doctor, even to me.”

“Trust me, I’ve thought about it, and it almost certainly is a trap. There have been far too many coincidences lately, we’d be beyond stupid to not consider the possibility,” the Doctor conceded. “But if there is just one tiny chance that its genuine, that people out there need our help, I can’t not go check it out. What’s the point in exploring all of time and space if we don’t help those in need? Think about how you’d feel if this is for real, and we just let those in need die, when we could have saved them.” 

He looked to his companions, his speech evidently moving them all in agreement. Risk be damned, a distress call was a distress call. Who better to answer it, if not them?

“Come on guys, we’re Team TARDIS!” the Doctor said encouragingly, the four women nodding in agreement as he adjusted his bow tie. “This is how we roll. We can be smart about this. If someone is making a trap for us, we’ll show them up and walk straight into it. It’s the last thing they’ll be expecting.”

“Ummmm-” Bayley raised a pointer finger up, trying to figure out how exactly to explain the Doctor’s logical error.

“Don't even bother,” Charlotte said to her, placing a comforting hand on the shorter woman’s shoulder.

“Okay, we trust you Doctor,” Sasha said, taking a place beside him at the console. 

“And yer right,” Becky said, sporting a confident grin. “If any dopes are out there thick enough to mess with us, we’ll make their trap blow up in their faces.”

“What is this place?” Charlotte asked as the five travellers emerged from the blue box.

“And when are we?” Sasha added.

The architecture was strangely conformative. The row of houses looked identical, with flat roofs, and a narrow square shape. There was a looming dome shaped building in the distance. As they looked around, they could only see humans, with no sign of alien lifeforms. The entire landscape looked dusty.

“Sagaratus. It’s a human colony on Venus. 2nd of July, 2247,” the Doctor answered.

“But I thought Venus was too harsh to be liveable?” Bayley asked.

“Oh in your time, certainly,” the Doctor answered. “But that’s the beauty of terraforming. You can make any hostile planet - whether its besieged by time winds, dozens of super volcanos, or a really big and angry but ultimately misunderstood fish monster - an option to live on.”

“I’m sorry, that last part?” Sasha cocked her head in amusement.

“Just let it go,” Charlotte sighed. “Doctor, why do all the buildings look identical? What is this, flatpack houses?”

“Yes,” the Doctor answered. “More or less. Standardised colony, constructed and then shipped over. IKEA for planets.”

“Excuse me!” a guard called over to them as she approached. She was dressed in what looked like riot gear, dark grey, wearing a helmet with the visor up. “Identification, please.”

“No need for that, not even going to pretend this time,” the Doctor replied. “We’re here to see the Governor.”

“What is your business here?” the guard asked.

“Why, to answer your distress call of course,” the Doctor answered, as though it was plain as day. Something not reflected by the confusion all across the guard’s face.

“Distress call?”

“What distress call?” the Governor asked in a gruff voice after they’d been marched to his office.

The office itself was modestly sized, located within the large dome building they’d spotted from afar earlier. The decorations weren’t too garish, and the office felt more for practicality than to satiate an ego.

The man looking at them across his sloping metal desk was middle-aged, with a bald head and a grey goatee. Despite his position of power behind the safety of a desk, the man was built like a tank, muscles stretching his sleeveless shirt. The bronze bar on the desk identified him as “Governor Goldberg”.

“The distress call you sent out,” the Doctor answered. “Our ship picked it up, thought we’d pop over and help you out.”

“I assure you, no distress call has been sent out,” Goldberg responded. 

“So you’ve had no troubles here at all?” the Doctor asked, his eyes narrowing in confusion. 

“None whatsoever,” the Governor answered. “Things couldn’t be running more smoothly. Sooner or later we’ll need to expand, given how prosperous our little settlement has been.”

“Now that’s odd,” the Doctor murmured. He wasn’t just talking about the distress call that didn’t seem to have actually happened. But there was something familiar about the Governor. Something that he couldn’t quite place.

“Odd?” Governor Goldberg asked.

The Doctor turned his confused frown into a reassuring smile. “Nothing, I’m sure it was just an error on my ship’s part.” He stood up. “Pleasure to meet you Governor Goldberg,” he extended his hand, the two shaking hands before the Doctor released his grip and made to leave. Just before he reached the door, he paused and turned back on the spot. “But tell me, have we met before?”

“No, I don’t recall seeing you before in my life,” Goldberg answered.

“Interesting,” the Doctor pondered. “Perhaps it’s just Deja vu.”

“Déjà vu?” Becky asked after they’d left the office. “How could it be déjà vu if you’ve never met before?”

“Oh Becky, forget the rulebook when you’re a time traveller,” the Doctor answered. “Everything goes out the window. Forward, backward, you can remember in either direction.”

“Are we going to leave now then?” Charlotte asked.

“Leave?” the Doctor stopped in place to whirl round, a frown on his face. “No no no no. Something is very not right here. Which means we’ll be sticking around for a bit longer.”

It didn’t take long until the Doctor suggested they split up. He had a sense that something was off with Governor Goldberg, and decided it was better for them to try to discern if there was anything to lend credence to that theory. With such a sizeable colony, it made sense for the five of them to divvy up and question the town’s residents. They had agreed that Becky would go north, Sasha would go south, Charlotte would go east, and Bayley would go west. Meanwhile, the Doctor would go along the perimeter. 

Charlotte surprised herself with how easy it was for her to set off on her own and begin introducing herself. She was far-removed from the awkward traveller she’d been in a similar situation when they’d encountered the Dark Order.

Within no time at all, the five travellers were building up their individual pictures of the colony. Keeping in contact with their phones, they ascertained that the town was a successful and peaceful one, managing to carve out a prosperous life on Venus. Despite having guards posted at every entrance, they simply hadn’t been needed so far. There were no local life forms around who had tried attacking them, and no extra-terrestrial visitors either. Every resident knew they were on this world together, and so there wasn’t too much trouble there, aside from the occasional petty crime.

Governor Goldberg was said to be a decent leader. Every single stumbling block they’d faced, he’d found a way to conquer. Although some residents were more complimentary than others, there wasn’t really anything said about him to set off any red flags. He seemed to be an ordinary human leader doing his best. 

So why did the Doctor continue to have a nagging feeling about him? He knew he’d seen him somewhere before. But he was still no closer to placing it.

The Doctor, Charlotte and Becky met in the town square when they’d had enough, although Sasha and Bayley were running a little late carrying out their individual investigations.

“If there’s nothing suspicious about him, then is there anything really keeping us here?” Becky questioned. “Maybe he is just an ordinary man, and that feeling you’ve got is just Time Lord weirdo stuff?”

“Could be. But something has felt off since the moment we arrived. I know I’ve seen the Guv’nor before, I just don’t know how or when.”

“Does it matter?” Charlotte asked. “We came and answered the fake distress call. Nothing is amiss. The longer we hang around here, the longer we could playing right into the hands of whoever lured us here. Doctor, I have a bad feeling about this, and I haven’t been able to shake it.”

The Doctor sighed before admitting defeat. “Fine, you’re right. Everything seems to be alright here, I suppose there’s no real reason to stay. We’ll wait for Bayley and Sasha and then we’ll be off.”

A sudden explosion caught them off guard, the resulting shockwave reverberating enough to quake the ground they stood on. In the distance, a plume of thick black smoke rose, billowing up to fill the atmosphere, a macabre sign that disaster had struck unexpectedly. And it came from one direction only. The south gate. Where one of their friends had been assigned to investigate.

“What was that?” Charlotte raised her voice in panic. 

“That came from the southern entrance,” the Doctor said in horror. “Sasha!”

“SASHA!!” Charlotte screamed, eyes wide with terror, her voice distraught at the potential fallout. Becky looked equally horrified, mouth gaped open, frozen in a silent scream. 

It couldn’t be. There was no way they were lured here just for one of their own to be caught in an explosion.

The three took off at speed towards the location of the blast, registering the blaring of the alarm ringing around the entire town to signify a security breach.

Sasha had been feet away when the southern gate exploded in a heap of rubble and smoking embers. Not only had it put a stop to her plan to question the guards on duty, but it made it clear that the colony was under attack.

The guards who survived the initial bomb shot at their mystery assailants, though Sasha couldn’t see who they were shooting at from her hiding place behind the side of a building. As brave as she was, she didn’t have a single weapon on her. And the rate at which the attackers were gunning down the soldiers with ease was terrifying. She watched with revulsion as one by one, the guards were struck dead by streams of electricity, shot like bullets from a gun.

Abdomen rapidly expanding and contracting with her panicked breaths, Sasha looked away for an escape route. Though at this point it seemed like they were only being attacked from one direction, she had not been in the town long enough to know exactly how to navigate it.

She was just about to turn and run when she made the mistake of looking back around, only to jump back in horror when one of the attackers was waiting for her only a few feet away. 

The alien was something straight out of a horror story. At least seven feet tall, it towered over Sasha. Dressed in a wrinkled black suit, with a white shirt and black tie beneath its jacket, it was roughly human in shape, though it was impossible not to notice that its hand was made up of one thumb and three disturbingly long fingers, the two either side easily twice the length of a human finger, whilst the middle one was three times the size.

However, the monstrous visage was by far the most startling thing about its appearance. The skin was a sickening shade of grey, and balloon-head was the most accurate description she could come up with to describe its head shape. It was bulbous at the top, with sunken eye sockets containing inky black irises, wrinkles covering the skin. Appearing to have only have two tiny slits for a nose, its mouth was more of a round orifice. 

“Sasha Banks,” the alien spoke. Its voice was deep, roaring and guttural with a subtle hissing quality. “You will send a message to the Doctor.”

“M-m-message?” Sasha stuttered, filled with fear at the monster before her. “Who are-“

“Tell the Doctor,” the creature commanded as it stalked closer towards her.

“Tell him what?” Sasha narrowed her eyes, finding that she was regaining her confidence with the insinuation that the creatures wanted her to live. “And how do you know who I am?”

Before it could answer, there was a zapping noise from behind the monster. It roared in pain before collapsing to the ground. As Sasha looked around the corner, she saw a guard standing with his gun aimed.

“This way, ma’am,” he called out, and Sasha didn’t need telling twice.

She was so focused on running, that it didn’t occur to her that she couldn’t remember what she was running from.

Unease and a grave feeling of dread filled the Doctor as he saw the smouldering southern gate in the distance. Human bodies littered the ground around it, but there was no sign of any other lifeforms.

On the plus side, none of the corpses were that of their friend.

“Doctor, you don’t think-“ Charlotte started, her shaky voice so full of worry that she didn't dare finish the unthinkable thought.

“No, not a chance,” the Doctor replied, their minds filled with the same dreadful possibility. “Until we discover otherwise, Sasha is still out there. We need to find her.”

It was at that point that a head of familiar blue hair skidded into view, accompanied by a guard bearing a gun.

“Sasha!” Becky gasped, as Charlotte simultaneously sighed with relief, releasing the breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. It was only now that the horror of the unknown had passed, that it really sunk in. If they hadn’t been able to find Sasha, she didn’t know what she’d do.

“There you are!” the Doctor exclaimed. 

“Guys, we need to get out of here!” Sasha said with ragged breaths. “We’re under attack from-“ And then the words died in Sasha’s throat, coming to a disturbing realisation.

“Yes? You’ve seen who they are?” the Doctor pressed.

“No,” Sasha answered. She had no idea why she had started to insinuate she knew who the attackers were, and she couldn’t remember why she was running. When she thought back to just two minutes ago, there was nothing. She remembered the gate exploding, seeing the guards struck down, and then being rescued by one of the survivors. She still had no clue who their attackers were. But she had this nagging feeling that there was something she was supposed to be telling the Doctor, but no clue what it was.

“Alright, well let’s get somewhere defensible,” the Doctor suggested before turning to the guard. “Can you get us to the big domey building safely?”

“Yes, it’s this way,” the guard answered before leading them there.

“But Doctor, what about Bayley?” Sasha asked.

“She was on the closest entrance to the dome. I’m sure she’ll have had the sense to keep herself safe.”

“But what if she didn’t? We can’t just leave her!” Sasha replied with a mixture of worry and anger.

“Of course we won’t!” the Doctor looked insulted at the insinuation of leaving one of his friends behind. “We’ll check there first. If she isn’t there, then we’ll look for her.”

“What on Venus is going on out there?” Governor Goldberg demanded after the four travellers and the guard slipped into the office, slamming the door shut behind them. The sound of gunfire and shouting still echoed from outside.

The Doctor’s hunch proved to be absolutely correct, and they were all extremely relieved to find Bayley inside the office, holding a gun for her own protection.

“Bayley!” Sasha squealed before launching herself at her friend, Bayley eagerly wrapping her arms around her best friend. Resting her chin on Sasha’s shoulder, Bayley made eye contact with her other two friends. Bayley and Charlotte communicated with a silent head nod to affirm to her tall friend that she was indeed okay, while she returned Becky’s thumbs up. She felt Sasha sag deeper into her, sensing there was more than simple concern burdening her tense friend.

As the two women hugged, the Doctor walked over to the Governor. 

“Do you know who is attacking you?”

“No, and I can’t raise most of my guards on the comms systems.”

The comms system suddenly crackled into life, a female voice bleeding through the static.

“Governor, there’s too many of them! We’re being overwhelmed!”

Goldberg snatched the device up, activating the send button. “Fall back to the Dome!”

“We’re pinned down, I don’t think there’s a way out of-“

The voice suddenly transformed into a blood-curdling scream at the same time a zap of electricity sounded, and then there was nothing. Just static.

“Blayze?” Goldberg spoke uneasily into the device. “Private Blayze? Blayze!”

There was nothing. Goldberg’s face contorted into fury before he pressed a few more buttons on the comms device. “All units! Withdraw to the Dome!”

“Is this place defensible?” the Doctor asked Governor Goldberg.

“It’s the most secure building in the colony,” the Governor answered. 

“Then I suppose we’d better prepare for a siege,” the Doctor said.

“Can’t we just make a break for the TARDIS?” Charlotte suggested, as the five hid behind an overturned table as a makeshift barricade.

“We don’t know how many of them are out there, or what they are,” the Doctor replied. “It’s too risky. And besides which, I have the feeling that I’m forgetting something.”

That resonated with something in Sasha’s mind. She thought once again back to the moment in which she was rescued. It was though there was some kind of impenetrable blockade in the road of her mind, shrouding something in secrecy. Something which she was unable to unlock.

The sound of pounding footsteps broke her out of her reverie. A contingent of guards ran into the Dome, joining those who had already retreated inside. 

Except one was not so lucky. The last guard never made it to the doorway, screaming as he was zapped from behind with electricity. As the Doctor slowly raised his head enough to see, he was stunned with horror at what he saw.

“Silents,” he gasped as though in recognition at one of the monstrous creatures.

Sasha raised her head too, and the memory of her earlier encounter flooded her senses, rendering her mesmerised on the spot.

She remembered.

The Silent’s mouth stretched open to resemble a gaping maw, and the air around it began to crackle with electricity, as though it was drawing power.

“Get down!” the Doctor yelled, and Charlotte had to forcibly pull Sasha back down, just in time before the electricity snaked towards them, blasting the wall behind them.

The Silent roared in agony, flailing to the ground after a guard shot a laser bolt at it. In the distance they could see a group of several Silents stalking towards them.

“We need to close that door!” Charlotte shouted. Within moments she heard a switch being flicked from the Governor’s office behind them, and the front door slammed shut.

“Good thinking Charlotte, that’ll buy us some time,” the Doctor responded.

“Buy us time from what?” Becky asked in confusion.

“From the Silence,” the Doctor answered. “You’ve forgotten what they look like already haven’t you?”

“How can I forget them if I’ve never seen them?” Becky asked.

“Because that’s what they do. They edit themselves out of your memory the moment you turn away. Repeated exposure makes it easier for you to hold on for longer, but even I’m not immune. I’ve encountered them a few times before, but even I couldn’t tell you what they look like right now.”

“What kind of planet would make creatures like that?” Bayley asked.

“They’re actually genetically-engineered priests for the Church of the Papal Mainframe. Specifically for confession, so anyone confessing their sins would forget after they’re done. Handy system if used as intended. Except a sect of the church went rogue, and it seems this bunch here are part of the Silence. ‘Silence Will Fall’ is their mantra, and unfortunately they take that part quite literally when it comes to eliminating anyone standing in their way.”

“No chance they just want us to go to church then?” Becky joked, interrupted by a loud crash.

The door bulged inward, clearly taking some impact from the outside. “That door won’t hold them much longer!” the Doctor warned, turning behind him to look at Goldberg. “Governor, we need to get out of here!”

The Doctor could see the mournful look on Governor Goldberg’s face. With barely a dozen survivors, it was clear that most of the guards had been wiped out. The colony had gone from a bright, prosperous future to utter decimation in one hour. He watched as the well-built man’s hand shook, reaching for the communicator.

“Sagaratus to Earth, we are under attack!” A chill shot through the Doctor’s spine as realisation flooded his entire body. 

He knew he’d heard that voice before. 

It was the exact same voice he’d heard in the TARDIS from the distress call that led them here, now clear and unencumbered by static.

“Unknown extra-terrestrials, request that you send help immediately!”

It was a trap, after all. Like fools, they had walked right into it, and they’d fallen for the surprise invasion too late to consider how they were going to dig themselves out of the trap.

“I knew I recognised his voice,” the Doctor murmured under his breath.

“Doctor?” Bayley asked with a frown. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid I made a terrible mistake in bringing us here. We walked right into it,” he answered.

“Walked right into what?” Becky asked.

“This. It’s a trap. Somebody transmitted the Governor’s distress call to the TARDIS at an earlier point in time, to ensure that we’d be here when the Silence attacked.”

A mixture of surprise and shock tinted each of the four companions’ features. The Doctor had always seemed to be one step ahead of his enemies. To discover that he had been played like that was a shock to the system.

But just because they’d fallen into the hole, didn’t mean they couldn’t dig themselves back out.

“Well, even the best laid traps don’t always go to plan,” Becky said defiantly. 

“Exactly,” Charlotte agreed. “So lets make sure we don’t play into their hands.”

The door exploded behind them into a shower of splintered wooden fragments as the Silents burst their way in. 

The five TARDIS travellers kept their heads down as they listened to the battle taking place mere feet away from them. Laser bolts, electrical surges, human screams and Silent roars alike. It was a diabolical cacophony of combat.

A short - yet violent - minute later, it was all over. All of the sounds had died down to an eerie silence, uncertain tension running rampant in the air. The battle was over, but it was not clear which side had won. They were simply going to have to poke their heads out of the relative safety hidden behind the makeshift barricade, and into the potential, deadly line of fire to take a look.

The five cautiously raised their heads slowly above the upturned table barricade. Five pairs of eyes widened in horror to find that a single Silent had survived. It raised its abnormally long fingers towards them, drawing its power with blue electricity crackling around it, mouth stretched wide open to release an intimidating screech. 

The sounds of an energy gun blast came unexpectedly from behind them, and the lone Silent was struck right in the chest, sending it sprawling to the ground, unmoving. The TARDIS team looked back, to see the Governor aiming a large energy rifle.

“Who’s next?” Goldberg snarled, his pent-up adrenaline letting itself out as he forcefully exhaled, his body brimming with intensity as he readied for more of the nefarious aliens to make their way into his line of fire. Gunsmoke swirling around him, he seemed like the human form of a fire-breathing dragon, seeming to have no problem breathing the smoke straight back out again.

“Thanks for the save, Guv’nor,” the Doctor said, nodding with appreciation. “But without a door to hold them, there’s nothing stopping them from storming this place. We need to get out of here.”

“No, there’s another option,” Goldberg stated. “There’s a button on the wall-“

“There’s more coming!” Becky warned, pointing through the gaping hole in the doorway.

She was right. Five more of the Silence were incoming, filling them with horror.

Sasha’s eyes flickered to the right of the doorway, noticing a button on the wall marked “Emergency Lockdown”. That had to be what the Governor was about to suggest.

Without losing another second, Sasha leapt over the table, ignoring her friends’ shouts as she made a beeline for the main entrance. The Silence were just inches away from the doorway when she reached it, slamming the palm of her hand over the button.

There was a loud beep booming throughout the dome as, “Emergency Lockdown in progress,” was announced by a disembodied voice. A sheet of sturdy metal slid down over the doorway, sealing them inside.

Sasha turned around triumphantly with her hands on her hips, smiling at the others. Her four friends looked at her in relief, proud of her for taking a risk that paid off. But their victory would be short-lived.

An ear-shattering explosion reverberated to the left of the main hall, shrouding the entire room in a cloud of dust and leaving ears ringing in its wake. Even though they couldn’t see, they could hear Sasha screaming in fear. The haze of debris settled enough for them to see four monstrous figures dragging a struggling Sasha through the newly made enormous hole. 

They weren’t the Silence. 

But they were familiar to the Doctor.

Hulking bipedal figures with the faces of gorillas, long dark hair and barrel chests, Sasha almost looked the size of a child by comparison. 

“Get off of me!” Sasha yelled, though they could hear the fearful panic quivering in her voice.

She was helpless to resist their superior strength, hoisted up by her arms, carried forcibly away.

“Sasha!” the Doctor shouted as he tried to give chase. If his companions weren’t so incapacitated, he was undoubtedly certain that they would be doing the same.

Unfortunately, the sheer force of the concussive blast had temporarily debilitated Bayley, Charlotte and Becky, rendering them too disorientated from the blast to do anything but watch, affecting them in a way from which the Time Lord didn’t appear to suffer. Each of them were frozen in stunned silence as their ears rang and their vision swam, focusing in and out like an insecure photographer. 

It was over too quickly, happening in the blink of an eye. Just as the Doctor made it to the hole from which the kidnappers made entry, he saw the door to their spaceship slam closed, their ship clearly parked for the sole purpose of a grab and run. 

“Sasha!” he shouted again, his yell a desperate cocktail of fear and anger as he tried in vain to unlock the airlock with his Sonic. Like they knew exactly what he was doing, the Doctor had no choice but to leap back as the ship’s engines roared into life. Within moments, the spaceship launched into the sky, taking Sasha away, leaving the Doctor, Becky, Charlotte and Bayley in an atmosphere of desolation, standing amidst the debris of the hole blown into the wall, a tiny, fast-moving speck in the sky the only reminder that their friend had been snatched away by uncaring mercenaries.

She was gone.

The trap had succeeded.

Chapter Text

Sasha was scared. Really scared. Not “did I forget to turn the oven off?” scared. But truly terrified for her life.

The ape-like creature in front of her grunted as it forcibly pushed her arm into, cold biting metal restraints above her head from where she had been pushed against the wall. Sasha whimpered in fear and tried her best not to breathe in the rotten stench from the ape’s mouth.

“Wh-who are you?” Sasha tried to keep her voice as firm as possible. Not so easy when you’re half scared to death. “I-if I give a banana will you let me go?”

She cried out as the perpetually scowling ape in front of her screwed his ugly visage up even more before viciously backhanding her across the face. She could feel the coppery tang of blood on her tongue, her cheek stinging from the impact. She couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes shut.

“Is the prisoner secure?” one of the apes questioned in a deep, booming voice, shocking Sasha. The voice wasn’t exactly eloquent, spoken in an almost grunt. Either way, it was not what she had expected. Not only could these absolutely terrifying apes fly a spaceship, but they could talk. Somehow, Sasha only just realised at that point that one of those things should be more of a shock than the other.

There were six of the ape creatures aboard, four of them seated at control stations around the walls of the cabin, while two stood looking at her with contempt.

“Yes, Commander,” the first ape replied.

“Good,” the second ape said. “She must not be allowed to escape. He made that very clear.”

‘He?’ Sasha wondered to herself. But as she reminded herself, that wasn’t top of her list for things to worry about.

First, she had to get out of here and back to her friends.

Hidden away from the other two aboard the TARDIS, Becky found Bayley by herself in the bowels of the TARDIS, a good distance from the control room. The Latina was stood all on her own, her back to the Irish woman.

They hadn’t long returned, using the newly blasted open side entrance to escape from the Dome and find their way back to the blue box, evading the Silents who remained. It didn’t take long for the Doctor and Becky to notice Bayley having wordlessly wandered off down the TARDIS corridors shortly after they were in flight, trailing behind the spaceship holding Sasha and her kidnappers.

“Bay?” Becky called out tentatively. The Latina’s body stiffening was enough to tell Becky just how badly she was struggling to cope.

Becky walked slowly towards Bayley until she was standing by her side. She was considerate enough to not look the woman dead-on, knowing that right now none of them were faring well in the wake of their friend’s abduction. All of them would be hard-pressed to not break down and let their vulnerable side show. Much easier done when there wasn’t the risk of someone looking at them.

“How are you doing?” Becky asked after a few moments of silence. It was a dumb question, even she knew that. She was well aware that none of them were doing well. But right now, she didn’t know what to say.

“How do you think I’m doing?” Bayley retorted, a bitter edge to her tone that Becky hadn’t heard before.

“I know, I know,” Becky conceded. “Stupid question.”

“Yes. It was,” Bayley agreed, taking Becky aback by how cold her voice was, a stark departure to her usually cheerful demeanour.

“We’re going to get her back, you know?” Becky said. 

Bayley then turned to face Becky, and Becky saw a side of Bayley she hadn’t seen before.

Although her eyes shone with tears, the tracks of wetness clear down her face, Bayley’s expression was that of a deep frown.

“Oh, Bayley,” Becky whispered as she pulled the woman into a hug. Instead of reciprocating, Bayley’s body went as stiff as a board. What shocked Becky even more was when the woman with an affinity for hugging pushed her away.

“No Becky,” Bayley spat. “No more hugs.”

“What?” Becky gasped. “But-“

“No,” Bayley said, her voice unshakably firm. “That’s not who I am anymore.”

“Bay, I know we’re shook up right now. We all are, but I promise you, we are going to rescue-“

“This would never have happened if we hadn’t fallen into their trap,” Bayley cut her off, her sternly spoken words surprising Becky into silence. “You remember how when we first joined the Doctor, I always suggested negotiating, no matter how dangerous?”

“Yes,” Becky answered, understanding that it was best if she heard Bayley out and let her get out whatever was running through her hurting mind. Bayley had given her the time to speak what was bothering her when she had been crippled, and of course she was going to extend the same courtesy. Not because it was owed, but because the people she loved deserved no less than understanding. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her friends.

“I always tried to see the best in people. Well now I’ve learnt just how naïve I was. How wrong I was.”

Becky frowned, disbelief at the implication behind her friend’s words. “But Bayley, what happened to Sasha is not on you.”

“It’s on all of us!” Bayley snapped. “We answered a distress call and look what happened. They preyed on our foolishness, and we played right into their trap, like sheep. Sasha is only a prisoner now because we were idiots!”

“But Bayley, we couldn’t have known-“

“No, you’re right. We didn’t know,” Bayley replied sadly before steeling her gaze, her irises burning fiercely with determination. “But here’s what I do know: I’m done playing nice.”

If Bayley was surprised by Becky no longer protesting, she didn’t show it. Instead, the Irish woman hardened her features, nodding in agreement. “Me too. From this point on, jokes and hugs go out the window. One way or another, we’re going to rescue Sasha. And we’re gonna make sure there’s not a damn thing those gorilla dopes can do about it.”

“Charlotte?” 

The woman in question could hear her name being called, but it was echoey, like she was underwater. She’d been drowning in the darkest recesses of her own mind for so long, it was no wonder.

“Charlotte!” 

The Doctor’s face was right in front of hers, brow furrowed and eyes shining with concern.

“Uhh, yeah?” she managed to get out, her voice hoarse and scratchy.

“Hey,” he said softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, as though he could see the emotional turmoil in her mind. “We’re going to get her back. I would tell you not to worry, but only a fool would say that. No one who’s worth rescuing isn’t worth worrying about.”

He then left to go check something on the TARDIS console, leaving Charlotte to her thoughts once more. Despite the firm declaration that they were going to rescue her, Charlotte couldn’t help but feel remorse. And not just because her friend was all alone, held captive by thuggish creatures. But because there were things she wished she’d said to Sasha while she still had the chance. And if they were unable to rescue the woman she’d grown fond of, she feared she would never get the chance. 

There had been plenty of opportunities she could have gone for when the woman she loved was safe and by her side, whether they were shooting hoops in the TARDIS leisure centre, one-upping each other in playful banter, laughing together as they goaded Becky to fit “just one more” marshmallow in her mouth, confiding each other’s not so dissimilar fears and insecurities in the late hours after they’d both had too much to drink, or pushing each other in literally anything they did, their dual competitive nature shining through. If only she hadn’t been so much of a coward, she could have known what it was like to truly be with Sasha Banks. What she’d give for more time with the enigmatic shining star of a woman, even if it was to hear one more teasing joke about the silver spoon in her mouth.

“So, it looks like their ship is on course for the planet Sigma Taul, but I just want to wait a bit to make sure.” The Doctor’s voice was garbled again. 

He must have noticed she wasn’t paying attention, because he knelt down in front of her again. 

“Charlotte, I know this is hard. But if this is going to work, if we’re going to save Sasha, then she’ll need us. All of us. We’ve got to stay focused and remember why we’re going to rescue her.” He stood, extending his hand to Charlotte, who accepted and allowed him to pull her to her feet. “Because she is someone worth rescuing.”

It was with a renewed focus that Charlotte sharpened her features, a glint of determination in her eyes. “You’re right. Sasha is worth saving. And we’re going to get her back,” Charlotte stated, now sounding more like it was a fact than a promise. There was no way she would allow herself to fail her again.

“Aha, good!” the Doctor’s face lit up with a grin before he dashed back to the console.

“Okay, so remind me again who those brutes who took her are?” Charlotte asked.

“The Ogrons? An evolution of apes from a barren planet similar to Earth in some aspects, where they emerged as the dominant lifeform. Not exactly the brains of the operation, they’re usually mercenaries for hire, if you need some muscle. So whoever sent them to abduct Sasha wanted her for a specific purpose. Ogrons are too simple-minded to make plans of their own, somebody paid them to take her.”

“That’s better than them wanting to take anyone at random, isn’t it? That must mean they want to keep her alive, right?” Charlotte asked hopefully.

“That’s right,” the Doctor said with a small, reassuring smile. “Keep hope alive and hold onto it, Charlotte. And whatever you do, do not let go. As long as we don’t discover otherwise, she’s still out there. All we’ve got to do is get to her.”

“So that definitely wasn’t random?” Charlotte asked.

“It most certainly was not, or I’ll eat my hat,” the Doctor said before frowning as he realised he was not in fact wearing one. “Or I’ll eat somebody’s hat. No, I think that Silent attack was just a diversion. A trap to keep us occupied so they could swoop in and swipe Sasha.”

“But why?” Charlotte asked. “That’s what I don’t understand. Why would an army of mercenary gorillas want to kidnap Sasha?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, a solemn look overtaking his face and voice. “But we’re going to find out. And the sooner we can rescue Sasha, the sooner you two can finally tell each other how you feel, yeah?” The Doctor’s face slipped into an encouraging grin, a stark comparison to the mortified look creasing Charlotte’s face.

“Wait, you knew?!” her voice squeaked uncharacteristically high, feeling more caught out than she ever had in her life. Like she’d gone to painstaking lengths to keep a secret, only to find that it had got out without her knowledge, beyond her control.

“Oh, Charlotte…” he smiled, voice both full of warmth and teasing of how oblivious she’d been. The Doctor cocked his head to the side as he fixed her with an empathetic look for everything she was going through. “I’m over twelve hundred years old, I’ve been round the block a few times. Stood and watched them build the block, in fact. Forget what they say about watching paint dry, watching construction work is so far beyond dull that it deserves its own-“

“Getting slightly off-track here…”

“Yes! Of course, sorry! Point is: I know what love looks like. I see it in both of your eyes, the way you look at each other like she’s your everything. Like you can see a whole universe existing in each other’s gaze where nothing else matters if it means the two of you are together. Everybody knows. Me, Bayley and Becky even have a pool going.”

“You…WHAT?!”

“Oops,” the Doctor said sheepishly in the face of Charlotte’s annoyed scowl. “Is that something I should have kept a secret?”

She had no idea how long she’d been kept there, chained to the wall of the big gorillas’ spaceship. Minutes, hours. All Sasha knew was that her limbs carried a dull ache, yearning to be stretched. But she couldn’t. She’d already tried yanking her arms out of the cold metallic restraints keeping her prisoner, only to be silenced by another angry, stinging strike to her face by one of the hulking creatures. She was already getting really tired of being their punching bag the moment she did anything to remind them of her presence. Almost as tired as she was terrified.

The only thing stopping her terror from overtaking her entirely was her belief that her friends were going to rescue her. They wouldn’t just abandon her to her fate. She knew they were resourceful enough to find a way to save her. And that faith was keeping her going.

She missed them already. The Doctor, with his big floppy hair, ridiculous bow-tie (which was decidedly uncool, despite how many times he tried to claim the opposite), his unflappably optimistic attitude and infectiously charismatic personality. Bayley, with her childish side ponytail (although Sasha would never admit that she’d actually grown to like it), and her unwavering need to help others that never failed to warm Sasha’s heart. Even Becky, with her eyesore of hair colour choice (no, of course Sasha didn’t see the hypocrisy there) and her unrelenting goofy disposition which Sasha always loved bouncing off. 

But most of all, she missed Charlotte. That wonderful blonde amazon with guns that would put an army to shame had infiltrated her heart effortlessly, probably without realising it. Sasha wasn’t one to offer her emotions freely. The more she kept locked firmly away - sometimes a secret even to herself - the better. But Charlotte was someone she could actually consider opening up to. She had given the matter some thought, and was very close to making a decision when fate had cruelly snatched her away. No, not fate. A bunch of walking, talking gorillas with guns. And a spaceship.

Sasha was jolted from her thoughts as their spacecraft landed, the whole room quaking with a loud crash before settling. But ‘landed’ wasn’t really being accurate. No, a ‘soft’ crash landing would be far more accurate. She supposed these gorillas weren’t quite as intelligent as their ability to fly a spaceship struck her as being. For once she was actually grateful for her restraints, preventing her from being thrown around. A courtesy not extended to her captors, a couple of the gorillas being sent sprawling from their seats by the bumpy landing. Sasha certainly felt a little bit of vindication to see them bounced around helplessly, barrel chests smacking into each other.

The gorillas all filed out from the opening door of the spaceship, grunting among each other. And that’s when Sasha realised, her eyes widening in shock as the last one exited the ship. They were just going to leave her behind, all alone to rot in an empty spaceship!

“Hey!” Sasha shouted after them, their hulking backs all she could see of them. “You can’t just leave me!”

One of them finally turned and strode over to her with plodding steps. His features contorted into a sadistic snarl. “You will stay until we move.”

With that explanation, the gorilla-like beast turned and left. As he stepped outside the spaceship, the hatch began to close.

“No-no-no-no-no-” Sasha called out desperately and fearfully until the hatch closed fully with a dull clang that echoed around the space, leaving her all alone in total darkness, the ship powering down with nobody inside except their chained prisoner.

“Ah, there you are!” the Doctor called out as Becky and Bayley returned to the TARDIS console room together. 

If the new looks of gritty determination and focused frowns on both women’s faces wasn’t enough, Charlotte found herself stunned by Bayley’s abrupt change in hair style. Gone was the side ponytail which had proven to be defining characteristic for the Latina. In its place was a far more ordinary hairstyle, her black hair cut shorter and let down. If that wasn’t a message that this was a different side to the normally smiling woman who was now closer to scowling, then Charlotte didn’t know what was.

“New hair?” the Doctor asked, tilting his head in question at Bayley.

“More practical,” Bayley answered simply and succinctly. “I don’t have time to tie it up if it comes loose when we need to stay on their heels.” She then narrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her nose up in a look closer to a scowl. “Besides that, its time to grow up.”

“Oh Bayley, you never want to do that,” the Doctor sighed, as though he wasn’t sure he liked this stark change in demeanour.

“Have you found them yet?” Bayley asked, finding any discussion about her change in appearance personality trivial and inconsequential. None of that mattered when they had a best friend to rescue, as she walked over to look at the monitor. 

“Yes. They jumped time tracks, but they landed on this planet-”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Becky cried, bounding over to the doors and pulling them open with great enthusiasm. “Let’s go get our smurf-”

“No Becky wait!” the Doctor shouted, running after her.

As Bayley and Charlotte followed out of the TARDIS, they soon found themselves brought to a grinding halt, all staring down a contingent of aliens surrounding the blue box on all sides.

The race surrounding them were all humanoid, and could roughly pass as human if it weren’t for the garishly blue skin and pointed horns jutting out of the top of the skullcaps they all wore. Each one of them also wielded a pistol pointed at the four adventurers. With the odds outnumbered the TARDIS travellers sixteen to four, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

As each of the aliens pulled back the safety on their guns with an echoing clink, Becky, Charlotte and Bayley followed the Doctor’s lead of putting their hands up in surrender.

“Take us to your leader,” the Doctor requested. One of the aliens grunted, gesturing with his pistol to a gap in the forest’s edge. The two closest to Charlotte and Bayley respectively shoved them forward, indicating that it was time for them to be marched away. “I always love saying that,” the Doctor grinned under his breath to his three companions, who did not share his childish enthusiasm for being captured.

Dozens of minutes later, they had been marched to the village of the people who they had stumbled upon. During which time the Doctor had explained that the blue-skinned aliens were known as Thoraxians, a resourceful civilisation native to the planet Thoraxi - a name which Becky had immediately dismissed as unimaginative - yet with a few settlements on other planets.

They’d all been bundled into the village Chief’s tent to await judgment, forced to stand and wait for him. Despite the Doctor’s insistence that the Thoraxians were unlikely to bring them harm, his companions shared their reservations. They were all beginning to grow antsy, the longer they were forced to wait.

“Enough with this!” Bayley hissed. “Lets rush the guard so we can escape.”

“No, certainly not!” the Doctor immediately shut her down. “We got ourselves captured for a reason, we’re not going to squander the opportunity to find out more about what the Ogrons are doing here.”

“And the longer we wait here, the less chance we have to rescue Sasha,” Becky growled. “We’re sittin’ dopes right now.”

“Look, what’s got into you lot?” the Doctor asked. “I know this is a tense situation right now, and we’re all anxious to save Sasha, but-”

“Exactly. We need to get after her ASA-freaking-P, and you want us to play prisoners? For what?” Charlotte couldn’t let herself hold back. 

“Don’t you trust me?” the Doctor retorted, immediately silencing any further protests. Because when it came down to it, none of them could say they didn’t trust him. You didn’t willingly travel across all of time and space with someone for so long if the trust wasn’t there. “I promise you, this is crucial to rescuing-”

They were interrupted by the arrival of the Thoraxian Chief. The guards stood to attention upon his entrance, the Commander in charge of the scout party who had found the remnants of Team TARDIS immediately greeting him.

“Chief Severn, how did negotiations go?” the commander asked.

“They want seventy-eight umbas of Imba for the next shipment,” Chief Severn sighed, rubbing the horns jutting from his head. It was easy to detect the tension in his voice. 

After Becky, Charlotte and Bayley shot the Doctor confused looks, he whispered a translation. “They’re talking about a shipment of ore.” 

“As if the Ogrons hadn’t already bled us dry enough,” Chief Severn continued with a grumble. He then snapped his head up, finally noticing the four being held captive in his tent. His eyes wandered over them, silently assessing them. “Are these the ones you came across, Commander Dunne?”

“Yes Chief, we found them in the Zingar Woods.”

“Tell me, what brings you to Sigma Taul, outlanders?” 

“We’re tracking an Ogron ship. They captured a good friend of ours,” the Doctor explained. “But it sounds like you’ve got your hands full with them already. We’re here to help.”

“Yes, we did see an Ogron ship dock in their fortress earlier today.”

“How much earlier?” Charlotte asked.

“About sixteen eraxns ago.”

Becky let out a frustrated scoff. “Why isn’t the TARDIS translating half of what they’re sayin’?” she whispered to the Doctor.

“You can’t expect every single race across the universe to use the same units of measurement, can you?” he retorted. “Y’know, for a race that currently only occupies a single planet, you don’t half think the universe revolves around you.” He then turned to look back at Chief Severn. “So you’re saying you spotted the Ogron ship just under seven hours ago?”

The curt nod shattered something inside Charlotte. Seven hours. Seven hours Sasha had been left alone, captured by aggressive intergalactic apes. Her heart broke just thinking about the limitless and terrifying possibilities the woman had been exposed to.

“And where can we find this fortress?” the Doctor asked.

Chief Severn scoffed derisively. “For what purpose?”

“Well, to rescue our friend, of course!”

“Then you’re a fool. Your friend is as good as dead in the hands of those bumbling sadists. What they lack in intelligence, they more than make up for in brute strength.”

“And I suspect you know that firsthand?” the Doctor probed for information. After several seconds, Chief Severn sighed before nodding, the worry lines permanently etched across his brow betraying the exhausting past between the two races.

“We were supposed to establish a colony when we landed on this planet. We were making good progress. Until the Ogrons arrived. They strong-armed us into handing over our resources if we wanted to survive. Look around you,” Chief Severn waved his arm around the tent. “We’re having to live like primitives, every scrap of metal given to live another day. Now my people mine the surrounding area for the Ogrons. If we don’t, we’ll be wiped out. They have the weapons and forces to do it.”

“Have you considered standing up to them?” the Doctor asked as carefully as he could, trying to voice the question as non-judgmentally as he could.

“One of my men tried that once. Commander Bate. You know what they did to him?” Chief Severn answered, pain and anger beginning to creep into his voice. “They executed him. Publicly. After that, any thought of rebellion was quashed.”

“But the Ogrons are thick, if you just fight smart, you could-”

“No!” Chief Severn immediately roared, his mighty mustache shaking with fury. He took a few moments to calm himself before speaking with a strained tone. “We’ve survived this long because we’re useful. The moment we stop is the moment in which they execute us all.”

“And don’t you think that there will come a time where they’ve got all the Imbas they need?” the Doctor posited. Chief Severn was clearly flabbergasted. “The moment they have what they need, you’ll be on the chopping block, and they won’t hesitate to swing the blade. So you can either be their obedient slaves until the day they decide to get rid of you, or you could fight back, cast off the chains of oppression for a chance at freedom.”

“You mean, an assault on their base?” Commander Dunne piped up.

“What? No-no, that’s not what I meant-” the Doctor started before being interrupted.

“Yes!” Bayley spoke up without hesitation, much to the Doctor’s surprise.

“Bayley-” the Doctor started, a hint of disapproval in his voice.

“No, she’s right, Doctor,” Becky replied. “What better chance to win their freedom than to attack the Ogrons with everything they’ve got? All or nothin’.”

The Doctor shook his head. “No, it’s too risky. And reckless. It could work, but at what cost, eh? There are far more subtle ways to go about a rebellion.” He wagged his finger.

“By which time Sasha could be dead,” Charlotte pointed out, and the internal war waging within his mind was soon clear on his face with a deep frown. The dilemma of morality between risking the lives of the Thoraxians and the need to fulfill his duty of care by saving Sasha. Time was running short. A fact that every single one of them were well aware of. Thankfully, the choice was taken out of his hands.

“It is indeed risky. But it is a risk we will take,” Chief Severn declared, much to the relief of Charlotte, Becky and Bayley. “We’ve bided our time long enough. Just surviving is not enough. I don’t know who this Sasha you speak of is, but we’ve lost too many friends to the Ogrons. We won’t let them take yours. Time is indeed running short. Just like your friend could be killed at any moment, so could we. It is time we took the fight to them.”

She could have been there for a matter of days or hours. She didn’t really know. As it turned out, it was really difficult to calculate the passage of time when you were locked inside an empty spaceship in pitch black darkness, without so much as a single pulsating LED to light her way. Given that she couldn’t hear much from outside, she could only assume the walls were that thick, cutting her off from the outside world in every possible way. There was no way she was going anywhere, and there was nothing she could do but be alone with her ever-desperate thoughts.

There wasn’t a single inch of Sasha’s body that didn’t ache. Wrists still firmly cuffed to the wall above her head, she’d lost feeling in her arms. Her ankles throbbed as the metal restraints continued to dig into her flesh. She had a terrible crick in her neck from having to keep it either held up or drooped down to her chest. Her back was aching excruciatingly painfully from the amount of times she’d banged it against the wall in her countless, fruitless attempts to break free of her chains, it was sure to be bruised at this point. That is, if she ever managed to get out of her current predicament to check.

Simply being abandoned was a form of torture in itself. With nothing to do but worry about her immediate future, count the seconds, and try to ignore her body screaming for a far more comfortable position that didn’t seem to be coming anytime soon, Sasha needed a distraction. Right now, she’d even take those foul-smelling apes with advanced intelligence coming back, just for some form of company. Even if she could still feel the sting on her cheeks from when one had backhanded her several times for daring to speak, damaging the skin to the point where a cut had opened up.

The only thing keeping her going (other than the fact she could literally do nothing else) was clinging to hope that sooner or later her friends would rescue her. 

They would. 

Wouldn’t they?

“Ready?” the Doctor asked.

He, Becky, Charlotte, Bayley, Chief Severn, Commander Dunne and a cohort of Thoraxians were huddled together, taking shelter in the charred remnants of a Thoraxian village, razed soon after the Ogrons arrived. 

With the plan firmly set in motion, the Doctor had agreed to accompany the Thoraxians on their attack on the Ogron base. Although he refused to go so far as to take up arms, he had agreed to go with the attack party, using his Sonic Screwdriver to open doors which otherwise would prove to be a hindrance.

Of course, there was never going to be anything he could say to talk his companions out of jumping at the chance to rescue Sasha, no matter how foolhardy it seemed to be. This wasn’t what the Doctor had planned for when he suggested rebelling against the Ogrons, but he’d have to make it work as best as he could, with minimal casualties. As unlikely as that seemed, attacking such a strong foe as the Ogrons.

Chief Severn nodded. With the go-ahead, Commander Dunne motioned for his troops to advance.

The plan was simple. They would use the Ogron’s aggression against them. Causing a distraction via the sudden appearance of Thoraxian troops at the northern entrance, those same Thoraxians would then hide, prompting the Ogron guards to open the gate and chase after them. Once the Thoraxians had incapacitated the Ogrons, they would be free to march on the still open northern gate, which the Ogrons were arrogant or absent-minded enough to leave open. “Nobody ever said the Ogrons have an abundance of brain cells,” the Doctor had pointed out.

Working just as intended, leaving half a dozen Ogron corpses outside the walls, the Thoraxians, along with the Doctor, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky, marched on the Ogron fortress, managing to slip inside just in time for it to crash firmly shut behind them, the Ogrons finally catching onto what they were up to.

Fortunately, the way the Ogrons had built their fortress meant that it looked very straightforward to navigate. No map needed. However, there were still a significant number of locked doors in the way. Luckily, that’s where the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver came in handy.

A foghorn like alarm blared throughout the fortress, followed by commanding shouts in the distance.

“Alright, give me a minute,” the Doctor said as they reached the first door barring their way. He pulled out his Sonic and directed it at the panel with ridiculously large hand indentations. The gadget buzzed and moments later the door began to slide open.

Unfortunately, the opening door greeted them with a formation of armed Ogrons between them and the next door. Ogrons with a sick look of sadistic glee twisting their already ugly, squat faces at having caught them.

“Take cover!” the Doctor yelled to his companions, who all followed his quick thinking and hid themselves around the door’s wall, leaving the Thoraxians to stand and engage fire with the Ogrons.

It was a lightshow of grave proportions in the middle of the street, blue and red flashing and clashing, a cacophony of laser bolts being fired, agonised yells and impact sounds of the walls taking damage (mostly from the Ogrons’ poorly aimed shots).

“Aim for the head!” the Doctor yelled, somewhat unhelpfully. 

“What do you think we’re doing?” Commander Dunne roared.

“The forehead, its the weakest spot on their entire body!”

As loathe as he was to encourage killing, the Doctor realised there was no other way. The Ogrons wouldn’t hesitate to destroy them, and so self-defence was the only way to stay alive. It was with great regret that he watched the Ogrons fall in larger numbers after imparting the strategic information.

Although several Thoraxians lay dead when the skirmish was over, the Ogron scout party had been dispatched, allowing them to press onward.

“Oi, what do you think you’re doing?” the Doctor reprimanded his companions, who had all had the same idea of grabbing a gun each from a dead Ogron.

“Doctor, right now I don’t give a damn about your ‘no guns’ policy,” Bayley answered, the bite in her tone making it crystal clear that there would be budging her on this. “We’ll need some firepower if we’re going to get Sasha back.”

“Okay,” the Doctor nodded, surprising the three women by how easily he was giving in without argument. Even he knew what was at stake. “Just this once, I’ll let it slide. Only until we get Sasha back, okay?”

“Doctor,” Chief Severn interrupted, motioning for them to push forward.

“Yes, sorry, quite right,” the Doctor said before turning back to follow the Thoraxians, his companions in tow.

It didn’t take them long to reach the next door, but this one would prove to be even more fatal than the last.

The moment the door slid open, a red laser shot out and struck Chief Severn in the chest, sending the Thoraxian leader crumpling to the ground, choking on the blood coming up from his throat.

“Severn!” Commander Dunne cried out and stooped to the ground to tend to his wounds, which were undoubtedly fatal. There was no getting him out of this. His time as chief was setting. 

The Doctor looked up and saw the formation of Ogrons. But they weren’t firing at them. They were all grinning, something which made their squat faces even more unpleasant to look at. Some weren’t even looking at the Thoraxians, but behind them. Turning his head, that’s when the Doctor realised just how much trouble they were in.

Another platoon of Ogrons were advancing from behind them. The two groups had trapped them in a pincer, caught between a rock and a hard place. 

“There’s no way out of this, is there?” Charlotte asked, worry laced in her tone.

“No, but I’m not gonna let these dopes kill me without a fight,” Becky answered, brandishing her stolen Ogron pistol before aiming it.

The two Ogron forces were continuing to advance, getting closer and closer. They outnumbered them two to one. This very well could be the end; a rescue attempt gone horrifically wrong.

And that’s when the Doctor’s eyes fell on a smaller side door on the wall to their right. They’d have to go in single-file, but it was an escape route - exactly what they needed right now.

Unlocking the door with his Sonic, the Doctor quickly ushered them all inside. When the Ogrons realised that they were slipping away, their arrogant smirks turned to aggravated scowls, and they began to barrel towards them. Unfortunately it would prove to be too late, the Doctor closing and locking the door with his Sonic behind them. The Ogrons pounded their fists on the door, but it was too late. They’d managed to escape them.

“Phew, that was a close one, eh?” the Doctor commented before placing a hand on the shoulder of a clearly troubled Commander Dunne, who looked to be frozen in place. “Look, I know this is a very hard thing to ask, and there will plenty of time to mourn him later, but right now we need to keep moving.”

Dunne narrowed his eyes. “I know, Doctor. Believe you me, there won’t be an Ogron left alive on this planet by nightfall.”

The assortment of Thoraxians, humans and a Time Lord continued to stride down the path to take them to the southern part of the fortress. The Thoraxians looked even more focused than they did at the beginning of the assault, emboldened by the death of their chief. A death they would make sure to avenge.

They turned a corner, and the Doctor’s, Becky’s, Charlotte’s and Bayley’s faces all lit up at the sight of the spaceport in the distance, a familiar Ogron ship still docked.

There was still time.

Sasha was really beginning to feel the effects of solitary confinement. Her stomach growled, her throat was so parched that her tongue felt like sandpaper. Her face was hidden behind a curtain of matted blue hair, tangled with sweat from overexerting herself in her fruitless attempts to break free.

She was dimly aware of the sounds of what sounded like fighting outside, the faint sounds of lasers being fired and shouts. If she was still aware enough, she’d realise that it was the first time she’d been able to hear anything at all from outside the spaceship that was her prison. But she’d been left alone without nourishment for so long, she was only just managing to cling onto consciousness, though she could feel it wasn’t long before she couldn’t hold on any longer.

“The Doctor will save me,” Sasha whispered to no one in particular, her voice hoarse. “The Doctor will save me,” she repeated. “The Doctor will-”

The sudden opening of the ship’s hatch brought harsh sunlight that stung Sasha’s eyes closed, the glare too much for her to handle after what felt like days alone in the dark. She was brought back into a fuller consciousness as she heard the frantic thudding of heavy boots on the metal grating of the ship’s floor in front of her. Cracking open one eye cautiously, she saw the large gorilla monsters running back into their ship, fear guiding their feet.

“Get us out of here!” one of the creatures directed at his crew. The panic in his voice brought renewed focus back into Sasha. Was she finally going to be rescued from the clutches of these stinking beasts?

The sound of ship’s engines firing up and turbulence making it clear the ship was entering flight once again gave her stomach the sensation of a rock dropping to the ocean floor. Fate was clearly not so kind.

“What’s happenin-” Sasha tried to ask with a scratchy voice before being immediately backhanded so viciously that she finally gave into sleep’s embrace.

“Almost there!” the Doctor shouted as they continued to run towards the space-dock. The Ogrons had managed to break through the locked door, and they were chasing them. 

“Up there!” Commander Dunne pointed towards an unattended turret. The implication was immediately clear. He was planning to turn the Ogron’s defences on themselves. 

The plan turned out to be a sound one, the Ogrons falling like dominoes as the turret’s immensely powerful firepower decimated them. Within minutes, the defending Ogrons had cleared out. Victory appeared to be theirs.

Except that was the problem with forcing the Ogrons to retreat. How else would they escape, if not in the ship they arrived in?

“Doctor!” Charlotte shouted, pointing towards the spaceship sitting a few hundred yards away. A spaceship which they could all hear its engines roar into life.

“NO!” the Doctor yelled as they watched the ship take off, a devastated cry of torment tearing from his throat as his friend’s prison shot up into the sky, steadily appearing smaller as it flew further away, journeying up to meet the stars in the setting sky, escaping into the vast inky darkness of space.

They had managed to slip away, Sasha still within their grasp.

The air brimmed with tense failure for a few awfully silent moments, the palpable sense of loss building until it reached a boiling point.

“FUCK!” Bayley screamed a guttural howl that echoed around the surrounding valleys, throwing her stolen gun so hard to the ground that it shattered into several pieces, both actions wholly uncharacteristic of the normally bubbly woman. None of her companions had ever heard her curse before. And yet, it was not surprising at all. Bayley had been changing ever since they’d lost Sasha, unable to contain the anger within her any longer, allowing it to rise to motivate her in a way pacifism never had.

Charlotte sank to her knees, heart-wrenching sobs spilling from her mouth as her whole body shook, wracked with pain at coming so close, yet ending up just as far away from saving Sasha. Tears spilled forth to stain the grass, drenching it in sorrow.

The Irish woman didn’t show her emotions as vocally as the others, eye twitching and clenched fists shaking uncontrollably by her side, not reacting at all as her nails dug into the palms of her hands enough to break skin, angry red droplets escaping. Becky’s bottom lip quivered with a silent fury as she stared unblinking at the retreating, now tiny form of the spaceship in the sky, watching its every move like a hawk. 

Despite the Thoraxians overthrowing their Ogron masters, failure burned in the pit of shame within the Doctor. The Ogrons had escaped with Sasha still at their mercy. The chase wasn’t over yet, but hope’s formerly bright light was beginning to fade. If he wasn’t careful and didn’t come up with a plan soon, Sasha would become yet another friend he had failed to save. What good was a duty of care if he couldn’t back it up when the time came?

The fact of the matter was that despite inspiring a revolution to cast off the shackles of one oppressed planet, they were no closer to rescuing her.

But despite the momentary flicker, the flame of hope sprung back to life inside his mind. This wasn’t over, and the spaceship would leave a trail for them to follow. There was no way they were giving up. They would save Sasha or die trying.

The game was still afoot.

The Doctor’s face hardened into a resolute glare at the steadily shrinking dot in the sky. “We’re coming for you, Sasha,” he whispered into the cold air. A promise that he knew she couldn’t hear, but one he was unequivocally certain she’d feel. Blowing out a breath to steady himself, his features narrowed again as he turned to speak. “Come on,” he directed at his remaining companions.

Inexplicably so, each of the three women recovered from their grief, shoving it aside for the moment in favour of action. A blotchy-eyed Charlotte rose to her feet, furious fire in her eyes burning away the tears. Becky snapped her face away from the spaceship in the sky, by now too far away to see, gaze laser-focused on the task at hand. Bayley blinked away her hot, rage-filled tears away, jaw set with firm conviction. 

The unflinching firmness in the Doctor’s voice had brought them back from the pits of despair and back into action. Never had two syllables sounded so determined, inspiring them to march back into the TARDIS. There was no time to waste.

They had a friend to save.

Chapter Text

As they continued to sit in silence, the background hum of the TARDIS seemed only to serve as a reminder of their failure. A TARDIS with no enthusiastic conversation, no light-hearted banter between a certain blue-haired Bostonian and another member of their team. A team which had originally been a collection of complete strangers, who never seemed to get along. Along the way, true bonds of mutual care, respect and trust between one another had formed, to the point where there was nothing in the universe any of them wouldn’t do for each other.

With one of the five still missing, taken prisoner by alien savages, there was a profound sense of loss in the air. Even with the determination that they would save Sasha. The burst of adrenaline driving them forward after they’d left Thoraxi had petered out, fading the longer they continued to search for where their friend was being held, to the point where the flames of hope had begun to die down once more. The fact that they’d inexplicably lost all trace of the Ogron spaceship - the TARDIS failing to track it - certainly put a damper on morale.

“Any sign yet?” Becky asked the Doctor. It was just the two of them in the console room. Charlotte and Bayley had sought alone time the moment they’d returned to the TARDIS following their failure on Thoraxi. Time to to reflect, plan and digest the horrible situation they’d found themselves in.

The Doctor had been pushing buttons, pulling levers and adjusting the monitor settings for a long while now. It had been made crystal clear that the Doctor had been severely affected. The man who loved to talk, concentrating fiercely in total silence. If that didn't let on to his companions just how dire the situation was, they knew now.

But he wasn’t the only one affected. Each of them had changed profoundly in the short time since Sasha’s abduction. Bayley had adopted a much more cold demeanour, swearing off her formerly diplomatic ways. Charlotte had become a woman of action, acting with seemingly little left to lose. As for Becky herself, she cared little for jokes - which used to be one of her quirkiest and fondest habits. Much like Bayley had stated, her time for fun and games was over.

However, now was not time to reflect. They had to act, yet the Doctor had not divulged exactly what he was doing, darting around the TARDIS console. Becky couldn’t take the tense silence any longer.

“No, no sign of the Ogron ship,” the Doctor finally answered after a long beat of continued silence. He sounded tired, deflated like a balloon, further reinforced as he brought a hand up to rub at his temples. When he eventually removed his hand, Becky could see the exhausted frustration in his old eyes, for a brief moment showing the weight of over a thousand years, shining with remorse. The brief moment of weakness evaporated, restoring the energy as he prepared to vent. “But it doesn’t make sense! They were right there, there is no way they should have managed to slip away that easy without a trace. Usually there’s some sort of trail to follow, but they just vanished! Whoever is employing them is smart, and intent on not letting us follow.”

“Well keep at it, yeah? Thoraxi was only a setback. We’re not giving up on her yet. They can’t run away from us forever. We’re gonna come back around and make them regret the day they took ‘er.” Becky placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I’m gonna go check on the others.”

“Knock knock,” Becky joked weakly with a tight-lipped smile as she leaned on the doorframe of Charlotte’s open bedroom door. Even laid on her side with her back to the door, the tension in Charlotte’s shoulders was evident. Curled up into herself, she’d never seen the freakishly tall woman ever look so small. 

“Have we found them yet?” Charlotte croaked, her voice even more husky than usual. 

“Uh, no,” Becky answered, hating the fact that she didn’t have good news. Sasha’s abduction was hard on all of them, but for Charlotte even more so. Although they all had an idea of why that was, none of them had thought it would be a good time to bring it up. “But we’re still lookin’,” Becky continued as she walked carefully across the room, slowly taking a seat on the end of Charlotte’s bed to allow ample time for Charlotte to ask her to leave if that was what she needed. “It’s only a matter o’ time Charlie, we’re gonna find ‘em. We’ll get ‘er back.”

Becky didn’t know who she was trying to convince harder: herself or Charlotte. Clearly, Charlotte didn’t entirely buy it. That much was clear in the deep frown on her normally smooth facial features as she sat up, drying wet lines formed down her cheeks from puffy eyes. But the tiny upcurve at the corners of her mouth told Becky that she appreciated the attempt.

“She might not have time, Becks,” Charlotte retorted quietly with a sad shake of her head. “Every second in their clutches is another second she could be closer to...to...to...” Charlotte stopped then, unable to form the word. Both women knew very clearly what she was hinting at. 

“Closer to bein’ rescued?” Becky tried a weak attempt at humour, a smile on her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. Either way, Charlotte seemed to take it better than she expected, her eyebrows straightening out again after having been furrowed since the moment Becky had entered the room. “No, I know, but what can we do? Until the Doctor tracks down the Ogron ship, we have no choice but to wait.”

“There are things I wanted to say to her,” Charlotte broke the silence that had fallen over them. “About how I feel about her.”

“Garish blue hair an’ all?” Becky joked good naturedly, smiling as Charlotte reacted with a chuckle.

“It suited her,” Charlotte nodded sadly. Becky opened her mouth to speak when Charlotte’s face suddenly transformed into a stoic mask of determination, mouth set straight, her eyes burning not with grief, but with firm conviction. “No, scratch that. It suits her. She’s not gone, and we are going to get her back.” Charlotte then rose to her feet, her tall stature making itself evident once again, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. She blinked before looking down at Becky. “And when we find her, I’m going to tell her exactly how I feel about her.”

THUMP

The Doctor didn’t even bother to cry out in pain despite the pain shooting through his right hand. Served him right for getting angry enough to punch the TARDIS console in the first place. Just like it served him right for losing yet another friend. Another friend he failed to save under his duty of care. It was hopeless.

“Not now!” the Doctor chided himself. “I’ve got to find and save her. Then I can beat myself up.” At this point he didn’t particularly care about the fact that he was talking to himself aloud in the console room. A console room that felt far too large in the absence of his quad of companions. He’d been talking to himself for over a thousand years. Why break the habit of a lifetime?

He’d scanned several hundred light years in every conceivable direction the Ogron ship could have sped off in. Yet there was no trace. How could that be? Whatever cloaking device had been used to hide the ship from the TARDIS scanners was very impressive, he had to give them that much. There was no way the Ogrons were using it themselves, it had to be their employers. But who were they? And what did they want with Sasha?

He had a litany of questions, and no answers. And with time running out to save Sasha, he didn’t have the time to figure it out.

"Time."

The germ of an idea took root, a puzzle piece floating into his brain.

"Time…"

He was so close now, on the right tracks and approaching the destination of enlightenment. 

“TIME!” the Doctor shouted out as he suddenly realised the obvious answer that had been staring him in the face the entire time, the sudden burst of inspiration exploding in his mind, hitting with the ferocity of a supernova. The Ogrons might not be sophisticated enough to develop time travel capabilities, but he’d already established that their latest employer was powerful and intelligent. Chances were that they had access to time travel, and had pulled the Ogron ship into another point in time to make it appear they had disappeared without a trace, done so subtly and with so much raw power behind it that even the TARDIS couldn't detect the trail.

He was just about to start scanning through the time vortex when the entire control room lurched as though it was falling before jerking to a complete standstill almost as soon as it had started. The incandescent teal light glowing from the TARDIS console cut out, leaving the room in semi-darkness and unnervingly quiet, the normal background hum of the TARDIS so inconspicuous in normal day-to-day life that its sudden absence felt out of place. After steadying himself on a railing, the Doctor darted towards the central console, his anger and worry about losing control of his ship at such a vital time hurrying him to find out. The cheek of it!

To his horror, all of the controls were unresponsive, no matter how many buttons he pushed or how many calculations he inputted into the internal systems. Something had stolen control of his TARDIS. This couldn’t possibly happen at a worse time.

But just when all seemed quiet, the room was suddenly bathed in a dark, blood red glow, a warning beep notifying the Doctor on-screen that the TARDIS had been disabled. Seconds later, the room became a chaotic, frenetic environment. The whole room shook with turbulence, as though they were being dragged through space, whatever was pulling them having no regard for the occupants. Sparks flew dangerously from various portions of the console, the TARDIS fighting back against whoever or whatever was currently controlling it.

“What’s happening?” Bayley yelled as she stumbled through the archway into the dark console room, catching herself on the doorway. She was soon followed by Becky and Charlotte, the two friends holding hands tightly to keep steady and not trip up in the dark.

“Something has taken over the TARDIS!” the Doctor shouted over the fizz of bright sparks flying from the console, illuminating the room for the mere blink of an eye . “She’s been temporarily disabled by a temporal loop. They’re pulling us in!”

“Pulling us where?” Becky shouted.

"And who?" Charlotte added.

“Into their ship, at a guess! I don't know!” the Doctor yelled back. He grabbed hold of a joystick-like lever and tried to push it upward, but it remained stubbornly in place, like it had been superglued and covered with duct-tape. After groaning in effort, he eventually abandoned the idea of taking back control. There was nothing to do but wait to see who had dared to trap his TARDIS in their gravity beam.

Several moments later, the turbulence ceased. Left in the semi-darkness, they were all standing in place, unsure of what to do next.

“Doctor-” Charlotte started.

“Shh!” he hushed her, bringing a finger to his lips.

Though they scowled back at him, they all remained quiet. The Doctor was about to try to get the TARDIS back up and running again when he heard a familiar, grating voice from outside the TARDIS.

“Scan detects Time Lord inside.”

“Exterminate the Doctor!”

The Doctor’s blood ran cold at the familiar voice of his oldest enemies. Sooner or later, he always had to encounter the most hateful lifeform in the universe.

Looking on the bright side, at least Sasha wouldn’t have the misfortune of encountering them.

“Doctor, who are they?” Becky whispered.

“Daleks,” the Doctor answered, and all three women blanched at the tone of his voice. A mixture of fear, anger and hatred. A combination they’d never heard him use before.

“I take it they’re not friends?” Bayley asked.

“No,” he answered simply. “They are very much not friends. They are my oldest and deadliest enemies, their only goal is to exterminate the rest of the universe to become the supreme beings. It all makes sense now!” He raised his hands and clenched his fingers in self-frustration. That’s two unbelievably simple explanations that took far long to reach his brain today.

“It does?” Charlotte cocked her head to the side.

“Yes, the Daleks have employed the Ogrons in the past as extra muscle to do their dirty work. They have time travel capability, no wonder the Ogrons managed to slip away!” He then quickly whirled round to fix his companions with a grin that felt entirely out of place after being entrapped by his worst enemy, the same grin they knew meant he had spotted an opportunity to exploit. “Which means we’re one step closer to finding Sasha.” He then clapped his hands together. “Come on, we’ve been invited! Let’s not keep our hosts waiting.”

In the instant they stepped outside the TARDIS, the three women took in the physical appearances of the row of Daleks facing them. 

They were made up of bronze armour, looking like small tanks. Yet the shape was not dissimilar to a pepper pot or salt shaker.

Somewhere between five and six feet tall, the rounded battle armour had three distinct sections. The bottom section was divided into strips, an assortment of spheres organised in perfectly horizontal fashion.

The middle section was comprised of various slats bolted on, but by far the most prominent attraction were the two protuberances in the middle. On the left was what looked like a sink plunger. On the right was a gunstick, with a wide cylinder in the middle, and various narrow cylinders running up to join the hole at the end.

The top section ended in a dome. On both sides were what looked to be lanterns. But in the middle was an eyestick, glowing bright blue as it looked at them, giving them a feeling of dread.

Despite that, Becky couldn’t help her first thought that they looked a far-cry from what she’d imagined, the Doctor speaking about them as though they were the most terrible thing in all of creation. She expected such monstrous creatures to look more…intimidating. But with their dome ending at about her height, the only sign of life being the illuminated eye stalk, she could only think that these dopes must have something more to them than mere physical appearance.

“Exterminate!”
“Exterminate!”
“Exterminate!”

The four travellers were immediately met with the chorus of high-pitched, stilted, robotic battle cries, the lanterns on their domes flashing in time to their speech, accompanied by the blast of the energy gunstick protruding from their casings. Instead of resulting in their untimely deaths, the blue energy projectiles were absorbed by a shimmering wall of energy inches away from where they stood.

“I know we’re late to the party, but that doesn’t mean you have to shoot at us,” the Doctor joked, the Daleks staring blankly at the intruders who were still very much alive.

“Explain!” one of the Daleks demanded of the Doctor.

“Well, since you Daleks always have this habit of trying to exterminate me, I thought it would be useful to install an anti-Dalek forcefield around the TARDIS. Had the idea after I adapted an extrapolator when I flew off to meet the Emperor. Worked so well then, I thought it was worth sticking around. Just in case one of you decides to try assassinating me the moment I land. Nobody knows more than me that there will always be Daleks around. You lot are like psychotic cockroaches. Survive anything.”

“And um, how much range does this anti-Dalek forcefield have?” Becky whispered lowly in the Doctor’s ear.

“Uh, best make sure you stay in place,” the Doctor whispered back, not exactly filling her with confidence.

Looking around the room, it was clear they were on a spaceship of some kind, the hum of engines tangible in the air. The room was bright enough to see the main features, for example the controls on the control panels dotted around, but not exactly well lit, but what they could see seemed to be an extension of the Daleks themselves, the bronze walls made up of thousands of similar spheres as were housed on the bottom section of every Dalek casing. 

It was clear it was a room built for function, rather than aesthetic. 

“So best have a better plan next time you try to exterminate me, suckers!” the Doctor raised his voice at the Daleks again, a clear reference to the sucker-like protuberances at the Daleks. The Doctor laughed at his own pun, and seemed disheartened when he turned around, realising that none of his companions were laughing with him.

After looking at Becky too long, she reluctantly gave him the high five he’d raised his hand to silently ask for, though he was too busy turning to look at Charlotte and Bayley to notice the shame on the Irish woman’s face at tarnishing the high five for such a poor joke.

“Guys, come on. Suckers!” the Doctor repeated at the other two women, only to be met with continued looks of disinterest. “Honestly, my comedy is wasted on you two,” he sighed.

“Save your jokes for after we’ve saved Sasha,” Bayley snapped brusquely, her pent-up internal pain manifesting in the form of lashing out at her tone-deaf friend. The Doctor seemed to understand fully. That was on him, and he had to agree. Now was not the time to joke around.

Especially not if they were as ruthless and dangerous as the Doctor’s initial reaction had implied. The way he’d spoken about them, she’d never heard that in his voice. 

Hatred. 

Pure, unfiltered loathing for the creatures who had pulled them into their ship. And if they were capable of trapping the TARDIS, a highly advanced timeship upon which Bayley had always felt safe and secure, they clearly had awesome power.

And as Bayley was rapidly finding out more and more since opening her eyes to the godforsaken truth, the only way to get power in this universe was by eliminating others. 

Even without her recent mental metamorphosis, she would never have extended the courtesy of negotiation to such creatures, so heinous that they had the Doctor speaking with vitriol. 

“What even are they, robots?” Charlotte asked, her inquisitive, knowledge-hungry nature strong even in a predicament.

“No. Think of a trigger-happy squid stuck in a tank. Except it’s not like that, forget the squids.”

“Well if its that simple, let’s just-“ Charlotte began. The moment she planted one foot forward, the Doctor shot his hands forward to drag her back in place. She had been unburdened by fear, the only thought on her mind rescuing Sasha, no matter who stood in their way. Quite honestly, she’d had enough of fear crippling her mind. It was time to do whatever it took, and to hell with any menacing aliens in their way with hostile intent. 

But one look into the Doctor’s wide eyes - a deep-set frown on his face and mouth hanging open at her reckless impulse - told Charlotte she had just been on the precipice of inviting her own death.

“No!” he breathed. “You mustn't take another step out of the anti-Dalek forcefield, or they’ll exterminate you in a heartbeat.”

“Doctor, we’ve wasted enough time here-“

“Charlotte, its great that you’ve found your confidence. I really mean that. But now is not the time to test it. You need to be very, very careful when it comes to the Daleks. One more step out of forcefield range and they won’t hesitate to shoot you dead.”

Despite initially looking ready to argue when he had initially pulled her back, the Doctor’s words seemed to sink in, to the point where Charlotte’s scowl had dissipated into a look of grave understanding, the horrified look on the Doctor’s face and the firm, unwavering quality to his voice persuading her to proceed with the utmost caution. She communicated her understanding with a nod, and the Doctor’s face relaxed with a small smile of relief. 

The Doctor then put a serious look back on his face as he turned back to face the Daleks.

“So come on then, why did you lot bring me here? And don’t tell me it’s just so you could exterminate me, we both know there’s enough firepower on this ship to blast the TARDIS out of the galaxy.”

Instead of being given answers, the Doctor was met with silence.

“Really?” the Doctor raised his eyebrows. “You mean you lot dragged us here for absolutely no reason at all?”

“You will be exterminated!” one of the Daleks grated.

“Yes, but we’ve already established that you can’t, dear,” the Doctor replied flippantly before reaching into his coat pocket and retrieving his Sonic Screwdriver, flicking it open before scanning, the buzz reverberating around the Dalek spaceship.

“What is the purpose of your sonic device activation?” a Dalek barked in a harsh, deep, grating metallic voice. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” the Doctor replied before nonchalantly turning off his Sonic, flipping it in his hand before catching it and putting it back into his coat pocket. “So what’s your next trick, eh? You’ve got us here, but you know what I really don’t understand?” He paused, staring down one of the Daleks’ eyestalks. “Why did you hire the Ogrons to kidnap Sasha Banks?”

“We did not.”

The adrenaline fuelling the Doctor came to a complete stop, freezing inside his veins. He had expected the Daleks to taunt him, lord the fact that they had kidnapped one of his close friends over him. Denying it was something new. 

Above all else, the Daleks were honest, brutally so. If they wanted to exterminate someone - which was far more often the case than not - they’d make their intent known with fervour. The Doctor didn’t want to believe them, but logically he knew they would take the credit if they were behind it.

“You what?” he narrowed his eyes, taking a step closer. “No-no-no, I know you used the Ogrons to kidnap her. And for what, eh? What purpose could you possibly have to take her?”

“Daleks have not utilised Ogrons for many centuries, Doctor,” a Dalek replied. There was an undertone of smugness in it’s tone. One of the few emotions the Daleks still possessed. “We have no knowledge of the location of your companion.”

“Ah-ha! So you do know that she’s his companion!” Becky blurted out before she could stop herself.

“Daleks always update information concerning the Doctor, Rebecca Lynch” another Dalek answered, much to the surprise of Becky.

“You-you know who I am?”

“Yes. We know who you are,” the Dalek replied flatly.

“Anyway, getting us back on track,” the Doctor interrupted. “So if you know her, then you also know where the Ogrons took her?”

“The Daleks will not assist you, Doctor.”

“No? I thought not, but it was worth a try. Let me guess-”

“We will exterminate you!” the Dalek interrupted, the Doctor mouthing along as though he’d heard it thousands of times before. In fact, he had.

“Okay, can’t give you any points for originality fellas. Look, we’re at a stalemate,” the Doctor said. “You can’t breach my anti-Dalek forcefield, and you’re not giving me the information I need. So let’s say we-”

The Doctor’s next words were drowned out by a colossal explosion on a distant part of the ship, ringing in the ears of the Doctor, Becky, Bayley and Charlotte. The ship instantly quaked, the explosion rocking both them and the Daleks, and a high-pitched alarm began to blare throughout the ship.

“What is this? Explain! Explain! Explain!” one of the Daleks barked metallically, turning to face its subordinates.

“Ship under attack!” one of the Daleks answered, its voice higher in pitch as though in distress.