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Chapter Text

31st December 2007

Conrad never got to see fireworks up close. His mum hated the bangs and so it was a miracle that she had even agreed to take him down to the South Bank that year to see the celebrations into 2008 with the rest of the London crowds.

She had gotten drunk though. She always got drunk when she didn’t want to be somewhere, or even when she really didn’t want to be looking after Conrad. That’s what he told himself as he snuck away from the crowds while she was busy with another glass of free champagne, waiting with the crowd for the countdown to midnight.

That’s when he saw it.

A large blue box appeared seemingly out of nowhere, evidently a trick of the light by the way it seemed to fade into existence. It was marked with Police lettering, supposedly making it seem official but if the figures who stepped out were police officers, they were clearly meant to be undercover and plain clothes (but not very subtle about it).

The man was wearing a long brown coat and a beanie and he was holding some big instrument, all silver and metallic, and he was laughing. “Ha ha ha ha! Okay!” He was crying out loud.

A woman followed him out of the box, watching the man crouch down and set up the instrument. Conrad didn’t consider at this moment how two people could have fit in such a tiny cubicle. “Did we make it?” The woman asked. She was also wearing a long coat, though hers was yellow, and she was pairing hers with a multicoloured scarf that hung loose down her front. She was pretty, he noticed.

“Definitely Earth,” the man replied, “definitely London.”

“Yeah, got that,” the woman said, “but definitely when?”

The man was admiring the instrument in front of him with curiosity. “I am working it out, Bel,” he paused and leaned forward and picked something up off the ground. “Look! Look! I have found 50p. We are winning!”

The woman — Bel — rolled her eyes at the man’s distraction. “Can you try and focus, please? We need to get home—” she paused and Conrad realised she had finally noticed him standing there. “Oh, hello.”

The man looked up, noticing Conrad now too. He smiled. “What is your name?”

“Conrad,” he replied.

The man stood up and his smile turned into a proper grin “Conrad, I am the Doctor, and this is Belinda Chandra,” he said kindly.

Belinda stepped forward, crouching before Conrad in much the same way one of his teachers at school would before speaking to him. “Er, weird question, what year is this? Please say it’s 2025. 2024?” She was looking at him with a pleading expression and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. “Does the year start with a 20?” She asked then, hoping more than pleading then.

“It’s 2007,” he said, biting back the urge to say, ‘for another minute.’

The instrument the Doctor had been setting up suddenly beeped. Conrad peered around him to look at the instrument on the cobbles again, watching as the Doctor moved to inspect whatever it was it was telling him. “Oh, New Years,” he mused, “oh, I love it! All those hopes and possibilities, huh?”

He then moved back towards Conrad and held out his hand. “Conrad, I think this is meant for you,” he said and he could see that the Doctor was holding out a fifty pence piece.

“Why?”

The Doctor smiled and waved his arms wide. “‘Cause it’s your lucky day!” He exclaimed cheerfully.

Belinda was more concerned. “Where are your parents?” She asked him, evidently having noticed in a way the Doctor hadn’t that he was an 8 year old kid on his own at midnight.

“Mum’s watching the fireworks,” he replied simply.

“Shall we get you to her?”

But Conrad was quicker and had snatched the 50p from the Doctor’s outstretched fingers and ran off, barely able to hear the woman’s slightly disappointed “or not” before he ran back to his mum.

“Happy New Year!” The Doctor called to him as he went. Conrad was too busy running back to his mum to take any notice, pushing through the crowds until he found her. “Mum! Mum, Mum, come and see!” He exclaimed.

The woman who responded to him looked completely bored and unimpressed with him. That was his mum, alright. Conrad tried not to let it get to him. “There’s a box, a blue box that came out of nowhere, with a Doctor and a Belinda Chandra.”

“How many times, Conrad?” His mum said, “enough with the lies.”

“It’s not a lie,” he protested defiantly and held up the 50 pence piece, “look!”

His mum sighed and smacked him round the head, almost making him drop the coin. He was lucky enough that he clenched his fist at the right moment and his physical proof of having seen the box and the Doctor and Belinda was still with him.

“You’re spoiling my night!” She hissed.

Conrad winced.

18 Years Later

“I was eight years old when I first saw that police box, and I’ve followed stories of that box ever since,” he explained, years later, “interviewed eyewitnesses all across the globe, but this week, I’ve found someone who knows its secrets.”

Conrad was an adult now. It was 18 years later and he was sitting in a small office in front of a microphone — a rather rudimentary podcast setup — and there was a young woman sitting across from him. She was listening to him curiously. “In fact, she’s even been inside it, and I’m going to ask her to introduce herself,” he finished and smiled at his guest, giving her a cue to speak into the microphone in front of her.

She smiled back and spoke. “Hello, everyone. My name is Ruby Sunday.”

Chapter Text

“2007 was the first time I saw that blue box but fast forward 17 years and it happened again,” Conrad was telling the listeners, “last year.”

He remembered the event like it was yesterday. He was walking home with a takeaway coffee, as he usually did, when he heard a crash from within the old shopping centre. It was the shopping centre in town that had been closed down and scheduled for demolition and most people wouldn’t think much of a crash inside a construction site but for some reason, Conrad wanted to know what it was.

Thank God he did because further down the alley to the service entrance, he saw that blue box again. It was the same one, the same paintwork, the same slightly-too-large windows and the phone compartment that didn’t open. He reached out to the door handle when he heard a crash again — a crash followed by a loud shrieking noise. “Only this time, things got crazier,” he reported.

As Conrad entered the shopping centre and ventured inside one former clothing store in particular, he knew it was a creepy place. Shop window dummies were draped in plastic sheeting and posters were plastered to the shop windows… and there was that hideous shrieking noise again. He darted round just as something whooshed past him, leaving a horrid green slime on his neck.

He followed the direction of where the thing had gone, watching a shop mannequin standing at the top of the escalator when a scaled, four-legged creature with glowing red eyes crept into view. It was barely more than a shadow but it made the hairs on his nape stand on end. He was terrified.

Conrad decided to hide and darted behind a shelving unit when he heard a whirring noise and voices. This time, they were distinctly human voices.

“POW!” A man was exclaiming.

“Where’s the Shreek?” A female voice asked.

“Zapped it back into its hive,” the man replied, “man, that was lucky!”

Conrad watched from his hiding place as a man and a woman came down the escalator stairs. His eyes widened when he recognised the man as the Doctor but the woman wasn’t Belinda Chandra.

“No, disgusting is what it was,” the woman complained and Conrad squinted as he watched her hold her neck to one side for her friend’s inspection. “Please, please, tell me I wasn’t just peed on.”

“No,” the Doctor replied, “no, no, no, no, no, don’t worry, it’s er… it’s more like vomit.”

Conrad touched his fingers to his own neck, disgusted when he saw green gulch when his fingers came away.

“The pheromone gets absorbed into your blood,” the Doctor was explaining, “and marks you as future prey.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “Wait. What?”

“Cool, right?” The Doctor said, ignoring her disturbed expression. He took a vial of glowing red liquid out of his coat pocket. “But this neutralises the pheromone.”

“Oh,” the woman said, “do I drink it?”

The Doctor nodded and grinned at her as she took the vial and unscrewed the top. “Tastes like candyfloss.”

She shrugged and downed the vial and at the exact same time as the Doctor broke out into laughter, she choked. Evidently, it didn’t taste like candyfloss. “You are such a liar!” She cried, smacking his arm and following him to the exit of the shopping centre.

Once they had left, the Doctor was still laughing, Conrad stood up from his hiding place and watched where they had gone. “Yeah, but at least you can’t get tracked by the Shreek anymore,” he heard the Doctor say in between giggles.

“Yeah, but anyone else can track me,” the woman moaned, “this green stuff stinks!”

“Honey, you are reeking—” the Doctor said and then checked himself and grinned. “You are Shreeking!”

Outside, the Doctor and Ruby were laughing together as they made their way back to the TARDIS. Ruby wiped the fur trim of her jacket, grossed out by the slime there. “Urgh, don’t look!” She said, catching the Doctor staring at her pitiful efforts.

“Oh, babes,” the Doctor said, “take a lie down. That antidote is gonna knock you out for about eight hours.”

“Yeah, I could do with a rest,” she agreed, “‘cause life with you is mad! I mean, half an hour ago, we were hanging out with the Beatles!”

“I know, right?” The Doctor said as he stepped up to the doors of the police box, unlocking and pushing the door open.

“I miss them,” Ruby said with a smile.

She was about to follow the Doctor into the TARDIS when she heard a click. She turned to where it had come from, frowning when she saw nothing amiss. “Hello?” She called.

Little did she know, Conrad had taken a sneaky photo of her stepping up to the TARDIS and was presently hiding behind a fence.

She shrugged when no one replied and turned back to the TARDIS, stepping inside. “Oh, and John Lennon owes me a piano lesson!” She exclaimed as the door closed behind her.

A year later, she had shown up on his doorstep, that very same photograph — now labelled “have you seen this woman?” across the image — on her own mobile. She waved ‘hello’ with her lit up phone.

“…So the last thing I expected was to land you on my podcast this morning,” he said, like a giddy fanboy, “I have so many questions.”

Ruby smiled. “Well, I’m 20 years old and I’m from Manchester. I live in London with my mum and gran. And I’ve got another mum now, Louise, but that’s a… long story. And also a new dad, but that’s an even longer story. Christmas just gone, that was mad. That was… a lot,” she explained, trying not to think about it too much.

Conrad was eager to know more, he was leaning forward ever so slightly as she spoke. “So, how did you end up in that shop last year, with this Doctor and his police box? ‘Cause I am such a fan. I mean, who is he?”

“Look, I can’t go into specifics,” Ruby said quietly.

“Oh…” Conrad seemed a little disappointed by that.

“But the Doctor’s my best friend,” she added, knowing she could reveal that much, at least. “We used to travel together. And that day in the shop, we were looking for… something.”

That was the exciting part. “Yes! Aliens!” He exclaimed, and clearly his depth perception wasn’t as good as he thought it was because as he reached out, his hand collided and knocked over his coffee cup. Ruby jumped as he realised and he scooped up the offending takeaway cup and grabbed a cloth quickly, soaking up the liquid before it reached any of the cables, or her. “Oh! Sorry!” He said quickly, ashamed, but he was gratified by Ruby’s kind smile. “Yes, er… aliens, right?”

“Aliens are real,” Ruby said, changing the subject from his faux pas, “we all know that.”

Conrad nodded. “But some trolls online say UNIT, all this talk of monsters, is just a cover story for something else,” he suggested.

“Well, maybe they’re afraid of the truth,” Ruby said calmly, as if she was prepared for this question, “and there’s no reason to be scared. I mean, the people at UNIT are amazing, doing good work. Keeping us safe.”

He tilted his head to one side. “Like the Doctor?”

“Like the Doctor.”

“I’ve been trying to get UNIT on my podcast for years,” he said casually as he gathered his things and pulled on his coat. “No one ever returns my calls.”

Ruby could tell he was genuinely disappointed. “Oh, look, it’s not you. They’re just… busy,” she tried, but still making it abundantly clear that there was only so much that she could say about UNIT.

.He nodded. Then, changing the subject, said, “so, do you live round here, or—?”

“West,” she replied, “Notting Hill.”

“‘Cause there's a great little cafe around the corner, if you have time for a quick one,” he suggested, gesturing out the door.

Was he asking her out? Ruby’s eyes widened.  “Oh!”

“I mean…” he started, realising how that could have sounded, the alternate meaning other than a coffee. He didn’t want her to get the wrong impression, he knew that sometimes men made assumptions about women, especially when amiable acquaintances were being formed.

“Now? No…” Ruby started. 

“Coffee, obviously,” he clarified, hoping the awkwardness might settle if he made his intentions on day one abundantly clear. God, why was he so awkward with her?

“Coffee?” She asked, as if surprised, or maybe checking it wasn’t another euphemism.

“Or…”

“Well—”

“Or tea, or just…”

Bless him, Ruby thought and then he dropped his paperwork. She ducked down and started to help him scoop up rolled up posters for his Lucky Day with Conrad Clark podcast. She met his gaze and gave him a smile. “Coffee sounds great,” she said as she handed him a poster.

Chapter Text

When they had reached the cafe, it had been remarkably quick to get seated and Conrad had wanted to know more about the creature he had seen a year ago. Ruby had been showing him a video of the beast – the Shreek – on her phone.

“The teeth on that…” Conrad breathed, watching as it snarled on the recording.

“Mm,” Ruby agreed, “the Shreek live in a pocket dimension and once a year, they leave their hive to hunt and somehow, one of them made it to Earth.”

“That day I first saw you,” he said, filling in the gaps himself.

She nodded. “Yeah, but this is the footage from last night. So it came back to the same location one year later,” she said, her voice solemn, “which means a year ago, it marked its prey and now it’s hunting you, and if UNIT hadn’t captured it, it’d be here by now.”

“And then what?” He asked, frowning as he watched her lock the screen of her phone, switching off the recording and pushing the device into her back pocket.

She sighed, both hands on the table as she readied herself for a speech. “It’d wait ‘til night. First thing you’d notice is the lights. The Shreek’s background radiation messes with electricity. Then it’d show itself,” she said, and Conrad felt a chill down his spine, it felt as if everything she was saying was really happening. “Just a glimpse,” she continued, “just enough to get your heart racing. It’d have you trapped. Take its time breaking in. It enjoys the hunt. Feeds off fear. It wants you scared, and running, pumping with adrenaline.”

“Why?” He asked and he noticed how quiet his voice came out.

She shrugged. “Because it likes the taste.”

Again, he felt a chill on his shoulder, the hairs on his nape rising like the Shreek was right behind him in that exact moment, but he breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of the bell over the cafe door that broke the spell. “You tell a good story,” he said, relieved to hear his voice sounding normal again.

Ruby chuckled. “Yeah, well, lucky for you, there’s a happy ending,” she said and dug into the pocket of her waistcoat and pulled out a vial of orange liquid. The not-tasting-like-candyfloss-antidote. “Drink it tonight, and it blocks the Shreek from tracking you.”

He took the vial from her, trying not to get distracted by the light brush of their fingers as the exchange took place. “So that day I saw you, the Doctor saved your life?” He asked, gesturing with the vial.

“Yeah, well, he did that a lot,” she replied with a smile, “to be fair, I saved his a few times.”

Conrad smiled back. “When I was a kid, meeting him’s what got me into strange tech and UFOs. It inspired the podcast,” he explained, “oh, and he gave me this. I’ve kept it all these years.” Ruby watched as he pulled a chain out from under his button-down and noticed as a 50 pence piece hung from the centre, a small hole drilled into the top. She smiled and leaned forward, her fingers brushing against the coin. “Oh, wow,” she breathed, seriously impressed.

Conrad was watching her instead. “He said it was my lucky day,” he said, referencing how he had named his podcast, “but I think he was wrong–”

Ruby glanced up.

“–I think that’s today.”

For a moment, they just gazed at one another, frozen in a moment until his eyeline glanced down – just for a moment – towards her lips. It was barely a second but then the moment was broken. Ruby sat back, suddenly, possibly freaked by the sudden change in the atmosphere.

“Er… Take the antidote before bed,” she said, trying not to wince at the word ‘bed’, “because it’ll make you sleepy.”

Conrad nodded and chuckled. “On one condition,” he said, “you let me buy you dinner.”

Her eyes widened, surprised, and she laughed heartily . “Ah…” she started.

“Or we both buy dinner,” he corrected.

“I wasn’t…”

“If that’s too old-fashioned,” he said, “just we… we, you know, we eat it…” Why was he being so awkward with her? Was he that into this woman that he couldn’t even ask her out without being a total dunce?

“Okay, cool,” she said, and he hoped she wasn’t just pitying him, but then again…

“...together,” he finished quietly.

“Right,” Ruby said with a nod, “yeah, okay.”

Ruby didn’t want a fuss to be made about this. She knew what her mum would be like if she knew she was going on a date. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t a date. Ruby wasn’t calling it a date… was she? It was dinner. She saved this guy’s life, gave him the antidote and sure, he seemed nice but he was still practically a stranger and that wasn’t really her style. It was dinner.

Just dinner.

“Ta-ra, then,” she said, subtly, as she crept from her room, wearing a simple maxi dress with a white T-Shirt underneath. She moved over to the coat hooks for her leather blazer, the same one she had worn earlier for the podcast interview. See, she wasn’t making a massive effort, she was just… looking nice for dinner.

“Hold on!” Carla called from Cherry’s bedroom, “I promised Louise a photo.”

Ruby sighed, turning away as she took the jacket from the hooks and tossed it on. “Why?”

Her mum appeared in the hallway, her smartphone in her hand and held landscape, as if ready to take a photo. “Let me be excited,” she said, as if it was completely reasonable, “you haven’t had a boyfriend for ages. Smile.”

She wanted to say that Conrad wasn’t her boyfriend and likely never would be but what would be the point in engaging in a debate over something so trivial? “Okay,” she said, resigned, “just not the…flash.”

The moment she said ‘flash’, Carla’s mobile phone’s flash went off, coating Ruby’s already pale complexion in a white light that would surely make any photo of her look absolutely terrible and definitely not send-able to her birth mother.

“Yeah, maybe not,” Carla mused, looking at the photo’s result with a bite of her lip, “let’s try again.” She held up her phone and clicked a few buttons, ready to go again.

“And he’s not my boyfriend,” Ruby insisted, “it’s just a date.” It’s not even that, she thought to herself but decided not to say it.

“Smile!” Carla said as the shutter clicked and an actually nice photo was taken, “yeah, okay, but you’re getting on with your life, that’s what’s important. Moving on.”

From the Doctor were the loud unspoken words and Ruby knew how much of a juxtaposition that thought was. She smiled shyly, politely, not wanting to contradict such a statement.

Luckily, she wouldn’t have to, as, as always, her grandmother interrupted. “Conrad Clark,” she said from her bed, “how unuh spell him name?” She called. Ruby sighed and moved past her mum and entered her grandmother’s bedroom, Carla close behind her.

“Conrad Clark. I wonder if him on de Instagram,” Cherry said, iPad in her lap as she clicked away.

“Gran, he’s nice and he’s normal,” she said and made a point to look at her mum to make sure she knew she was talking to her too. “And it’s no big deal, okay?” She moved forward to press a gentle kiss to Cherry’s cheek.

“Clark with no E, and if you scroll down, he’s got his shirt off,” Carla hissed and Cherry giggled.

“Mum!” Ruby said, whipping her head round, scandalised.

“Oh, don’t pretend you haven’t looked,” Carla said, her natural accent coming through in a slightly-snappier tone.

She had but it hadn’t been like that. She had just been curious if he had social media and she had presumed he had – she had been right – because of the podcast. Yeah, she had seen the shirtless pics but she hadn’t lingered and she certainly hadn’t liked anything. Sure, Conrad was one of those conventionally attractive guys and she would have had to be a blind fool not to admit it but did she care all that much? Not really. He was nice and that was the main thing in her mind, but to prevent herself from being further scandalised by the two women twice and thrice her age, she quickly made an exit.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh and went to the door, “I’m going to be late. Bye!”

Conrad and Ruby are in the restaurant, laughing. Ruby has been telling him how embarrassing her mum and gran were earlier that night.

“Your gran sounds hilarious,” Conrad said with a wide smile.

“Oh, my family is mad,” Ruby agreed and then, “I asked you about yours last week and you changed the subject.”

He smiled politely. “It was just me and my mum, growing up,” he said calmly, as if it was old news now, “she died, liver cancer. I’ve never really talked about it.”

Ruby reached forward. “You can talk to me,” she said softly.

Conrad reached towards her. “Sorry,” he said, “I’m sorry I’m not as cool as the Doctor.”

She laughed. “No. No, you… you’re nice. You’re,” she paused, trying to think of the right word and just smiled when she thought of the simplest and yet the perfect word. “...lovely. And that’s what I need right now.”

“Was he your boyfriend?” He asked, curiously.

She laughed and it wasn’t mean, but it was a shock, as if the idea was inconceivable. “No!” she cried out, still laughing, “God, no. If he was here, he’d be flirting with you.”

“Oh,” he said, surprised, “Don’t think I’d notice. You know, I was eight when I first saw that police box.”

“The TARDIS,” she said, the name just slipping out but in that moment, she wasn’t mad at herself for letting it slip.

“TARDIS?” He asked.

“Oh, it’s the most incredible thing you’ll ever see in your entire life, and I’ve seen incredible things,” she said, rather animated now, “stuff I never really get to talk about, so I sometimes feel like I’m about to explode.”

Conrad laughed and reached forward again, placing his hand over hers and lacing their fingers together. “Well, please don’t, I’m… I’m enjoying this.”

It was dark by the time they left the restaurant. Conrad had insisted on walking her home and in a good enough mood and after a nice enough evening, she had gracefully let him play the chivalrous gentleman and do just that. They kept chatting though. “You know, I’ve told you things that I haven’t told anyone,” she said suddenly, “I mean, I’ve tried, but my friends all think I’m mad. Like, properly having a breakdown.”

Conrad paused his steps and turned to her. “Well, I don’t think that,” he said, as he carefully took her hands in his and looked from their hands, up towards her face. “I think… you’re amazing.” His voice was soft and Ruby couldn’t help but smile and she definitely didn’t miss the way his gaze flicked to her lips this time and frankly, she was watching his too.

They seemed to be on the same page at that moment and as if time stood still, when it was just them, they leaned towards one another and slowly, gently, their lips met and they kissed.

Chapter Text

“Rubes?” Louise called from the kitchen, “how many dates is this now?”

“I’m not counting!” Ruby called back from her bedroom as she finished getting herself ready to leave.

“Five,” Carla whispered, leaning over to Louise, "it's five.”

“Is it?” Louise asked with a grin.

“Why’re you making such a fuss?” Ruby sighed as she entered the kitchen, moving around the table as she checked that she had everything she needed.

“We’re just pleased!” Carla defended hastily. “We think you need this.”

Ruby needed to leave. She didn’t want to consider what that meant. “Okay, right,” she said, kissing her mums’ cheeks, and reaching her gran to do the same, “I will see you on Monday.”

“Have a lovely weekend, sweetheart,” Louise said with a little wave.

“Okay,” she added, leaning down to kiss Cherry’s cheek.

Her grandmother grasped her wrist before she could move away. “Ah, ah! And be very careful!” She said, her voice rushed, “I have been to English villages. I got looks.”

Ruby frowned. “I don’t think Conrad’s friends are like that, Gran,” she said, reassuringly.

Carla reached over and touched Cherry’s shoulder and said to Ruby, “she just watched The Wicker Man.”

Ruby eased her wrist free. “Okay, I can’t be doing this right now,” she said, “I love you. Bye.” And she left.

“Love you,” Cherry whispered sincerely, watching as Ruby left the flat. Carla sighed, watching the door close and turned to Louise. “Do you know, she’s not mentioned the Doctor in weeks. Not for weeks!”

The bus journey was long, but mostly uneventful and it was quarter past three in the afternoon by the time she arrived and met Conrad at the stop. He took her bags and smiled, greeting her kindly. After five dates, he was still as lovely as he had been on the first day.

“…and I had to get out quickly but bless them, I think I have to let them have their fun,” she said, laughing, “but, oh I tell you what, you’d think I’d never had a relationship the way they’re carrying on.”

She kept walking and it took a short moment to realise Conrad had stopped. She turned to him and frowned, “what?”

He smiled. “You said relationship,” he said, “am I your boyfriend?” He moved forward and faced her, a goofy grinning growing on his expression. He looked rather cute, actually.

She couldn’t help but smile back and teasingly, she took the lapels of his jacket in her fists and pulled him towards her. “Well, let’s just see how this weekend goes,” she said, giving him a small smirk.

He watched her curiously and then laughed. “I’m your boyfriend,” he said, taking her words as confirmation. He walked off, a spring in his step and she laughed with him, about to move forward to meet his pace when an electrical surge made her pause. She looked up, frowning as she noticed the ticker that told people when the next buses were arriving was flickering.

She wanted to assume it was just an outlier. She wanted to shrug it off as a localised electrical issue. She wanted to believe that it probably was just a localised issue. God, did she want that, but she couldn’t help but worry it was something else.

But it couldn’t be… Conrad took the antidote. He promised he would, and even joked he would if he took her to dinner and they went to dinner. So, of course he took the antidote. It was nothing, but a thought in the back of her mind wouldn’t shut up.

“Come on!” Conrad’s voice cut through her wandering thoughts, “we’ll miss happy hour. And I am happy!”

“Are you now?” She asked, ignoring her worries and forced herself to smile. She was going to enjoy this weekend. She jogged forward to catch up with him.

It was only a short time until they had met up with Conrad’s friends and the whole group were making their way across the village green, to the pub.

“I met Sparky when he rewired my kitchen,” he was telling her, having her arm looped through his.

“Before he moved to the middle of nowhere,” another – Jack – piped up.

“Oh, but it’s gorgeous!” Ruby defended with a smile.

“The best thing about this village,” Sparky said once they were in the pub, drinks half-finished and chatter alive with interest, “Alfie’s home brew. Your round, Rubes,” he added, making a ‘cheers’ gesture with his empty glass.

Conrad started, “oh no, I’ll er…”

But Ruby was already standing, “no, no, no, it’s fine, I’ll get it,” she said with a smile.

“I’ll give you a hand,” a girl, maybe a little older than she was, Elsa she had said her name was, said and stood with Ruby, walking her to the bar.

“Oh, thanks,” Ruby replied gratefully.

Ruby rested her arms on the counter and patiently waited her turn to be served as Elsa positioned herself next to her. She leaned in close. “Conrad’s been keeping us apart, didn’t want us to embarrass him,” she whispered, as if it was a big secret, “that means he really likes you. He talks about you all the time.”

“Really?” Ruby asked, interested now, “tell me everything.” She grinned a rather cheeky smile.

Before Elsa could, however, the bar owner Alfie was standing in front of them.”Er, what you having, girls?” He asked.

“Er, hiya,” Ruby said, looking up, “yeah, just the same again, please.”

Suddenly the lights started to flicker. Just like they had when she had been at the bus stop. It was probably just a coincidence, right? She frowned.

“Urgh, not again,” Elsa moaned.

Ruby looked at her curiously. “This happened at the bus stop,” she mused, mainly to herself, rather than to anyone else.

“Oh, the generator’s supposed to kick in,” Alfie said, looking up at the flickering lights, “that’s weird.”

Ruby watched him for a moment. There was no harm in making a few enquiries to be sure, was there? Then she could be sure she was just overreacting. “Er,” she started, then tapped Elsa’s arm to get her attention. “I’m just going to make a quick call, okay?” She asked and moved away from the bar and out of the fire exit in the corner before either of them had a chance to respond. She didn’t even spare a backward glance to Conrad back at the table as she made her way outside and fished inside the pocket of her cargo pants for her phone and dialled Mel’s desk number at the Penguin.

She was surprised when it was Kate, not Mel, who picked up but she welcomed it all the same as she stood outside the pub in the dark and the cold, an orange lamp stood over her that occasionally flickered.

“There’s no quantum echo at that location,” Kate was telling her, “hang on, I’ll check the National Grid.”

“Sorry, Kate,” Ruby said, because she was certain the Commander-in-Chief of UNIT was probably busy if she was working this late. “I didn’t even mean to bother you, I was after Mel.”

“Oh, no bother,” Kate replied, "always got time for you. Mel’s on her way to Sydney, there’s something strange happening in the harbour."

“Oh,” Ruby said, because this was a surprise. “Are you on your own?”

“Yeah, I like working late,” she replied. Little did Ruby know but Kate wasn’t alone and also working late, was Colonel Christofer Ibrahim. He and Kate had struck up a companionship recently but they had been keeping it on the down-low – no one wanted to be accused of fraternisation if it came out. She smiled as he placed a cup of tea down on her desk and went again.

“Have you… heard from,” Ruby said, her voice cutting through the quiet moment at the Penguin, “him, lately?”

Kate blinked. “The Doctor?” She stuttered slightly, “no, not for ages.” She looked at her monitor screen, watching and waiting until it came through with the results. “Okay, there’s no faults showing. Must be a localised issue. If you’re still worried, I can have a team there in 30 minutes,” she said, offering assistance.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Ruby said, trying to shrug off any feelings of unease. Coincidence, see? It was all just a coincidence.

Kate suddenly leaned forward and picked up the receiver, taking Ruby’s call off speaker. “Ruby, we’ve got the Shreek locked away, and if your friend took the antidote,” Kate said suddenly, “he’s fine. Do you think, maybe, with everything you’ve been through…”

“That I’m paranoid?” Ruby asked, cutting her off.

“That you’re… on edge, all the time,” Kate said instead.

“Yeah… yeah, maybe you’re right,” Ruby conceded with a defeated sigh.

“Try and relax,” she said, her tone every bit like a mother. “Enjoy your night.”

Ruby said, “okay, thanks, Kate. And sorry again. Bye.” She clicked the hang up button and watched the screen go black. In the reflection of the dark screen, the lights above her flickered again and she looked up to watch them, her expression pensive… then, she shook her head, took a deep breath and moved back into the pub.

Kate had left her desk and decided to go down to the cells at the very bottom of the tower. She found one and keyed a 4-digit code – 9102 – into the panel by the side. The numbers changed to reflect the word SHREEK on the digital display.

“Just checking you’re still with us,” she mused, speaking towards the round glass window in the door to the cell. A light flickers from within, not unlike what Ruby had been seeing in the village. Kate tapped on the window to get the creature’s attention. “Hello?” She called gently.

The Shreek raged at the door, banging and crashing from within. Kate nods, allowing herself a small smile. All secure.

Back in the pub, Ruby crept back in through the fire exit from whence she had gone through to make the call. Conrad looked up, as if he was attuned to her location already. Her expression was quiet, sad even, and she only said a soft, “hey,” as she sat down next to him again.

“Everything okay?” He asked gently, one arm loosely around her shoulders as it rested on the back rest of their little booth.

“Yeah, yeah, all good,” she replied, shrugging off her earlier edge.

“Hey,” he said, tilting his head to the side to look at her better. “Boyfriend, remember?”

She looked at him for several moments, as if contemplating whether she should – or could – tell him everything. Then, seemingly seeing a genuine concern across his expression, she nodded in agreement. Boyfriend, remember? “I think I’m in shock,” she whispered, barely above a breath and only audible for him. “Like… PTSD? Because what happened last year was just not… normal.”

Conrad nodded gently, a quiet sigh for her to continue.

“I mean, I fought gods. Like, actual gods. And I was eaten by a double bass, and kidnapped by goblins,” she said, tears forming in her eyes as she stared off into space. “I dangled on a rope ladder above London and I watched the world turn to dust… and it’s just like… every day is like, fight or flight…” she paused, taking a deep breath and really really trying not to cry. “And I’m just waiting for something to go wrong,” she whispered.

“Nothing’s going wrong while I’m here, alright?” He said and brought his hand to her shoulders, bringing her a little closer into an embrace. Their foreheads touched and, instinctively, he pressed his lips to her brow in a gentle kiss. Ruby just mused a quiet, “mm-hmm,” and relished the embrace he was offering her.

Chapter Text

“So, tell us about UNIT,” Elsa said, as she brought the drinks over and placed one in front of Conrad. “All the stuff you couldn’t say on the podcast.”

Conrad sighed. “Just leave it, Elsa.”

The lights flickered again and this time, they went out completely. Ruby sat up from their little cocooned embrace and frowned.

“Alfie!” Elsa shouted at the bar owner.

Alfie replied, “sorry, don’t know what’s going on.” He glanced towards his assistant and then back to Elsa. “Not my fault, where’s Sparky?”

Elsa said, “I think he’s in the loo.”

“Oh, well, I’ll check,” Conrad said and slid out of the booth. Ruby started a little, the loss of his warmth a sudden reawakening.

He barely reached the bar when there was a horrific scream, it sounded as though it may have come from the loos but it could have very easily come from outside. By all accounts, however, it was blood-curdling.

“What was that?” Derek, an older man sat at the bar, asked, panic rising.

“What the hell was that?”

An older woman, Ruby didn’t know her name, came into the pub through the fire exit, carrying her dog in her arms. “Lock the door! Lock the door!” She was screaming, “there’s something out there, like the Devil himself! All teeth!” She held the dog closer to her breast and stroked through his fur as she added, “Biscuit got the fright of his life.”

Ruby, Elsa and Jack ran to the window and squinting through the dark, she tried to make out what it was. There was a screech and a scratch and a roar and then a beast reared up onto a car. Ruby’s eyes almost bugged out of her head, her jaw dropping. It was a Shreek. “Oh, my god,” she breathed.

“There’s another one!” Elsa shouted from behind her.

“I’ll call the police,” Alfie said from the bar, already in motion.

“Sparky’s not here,” Conrad said. Ruby and Elsa turned to him, fearfully, he was coming back out of the men’s loos.

“So where is he?”

“I don’t know,” he said to Elsa and then stepped towards Ruby. “Ruby, I didn’t take the antidote… I’m so sorry. I wanted to be brave, like the Doctor.”

Ruby was frozen. When Conrad reached out to take her hand, she shrugged him off. She was staring at him in shock, how could he do this? “You have no idea what you’ve done,” she whispered, bitterness seeping into her tone.

“Everything he was, I can be,” he insisted, leaning closer, “I’m not afraid.”

She backed away. “You should be.”

Ruby was outside, round the back, and on the phone.

“...but the Shreek’s here,” Shirley said over the phone’s speaker.

“Well, then there’s more of them,” Ruby replied simply, “they’re in the village right now.”

“We’re on our way,” Kate said, then issuing a command to her team, “divert the nearest ground crew to Colson village. We’ll take the helicopter.”

“I need an analyst,” Shirley was saying in the distance, “Jordan, with me.”

Ruby entered the pub again, breathing coming as naturally as possible. What would the Doctor do? Assume control. “Everyone just stay inside. Call your friends, your family, and just tell them to stay indoors, alright?” She said, clearly and commanding.

“Sorry, love,” Derek said, interrupting her, “who put you in charge?”

She spun round to face him. Be the Doctor. “Or go and get some fresh air, big man, see what happens,” she said, tauntingly. He shut up. Good, she thought to herself.

“Sparky’s not answering,” Elsa said from the window, holding her phone in her hand, “what if he was out there? What if that thing’s got him?”

“Okay…” she sighed, “Lock the door behind me.”

She moved to make an exit but Conrad stood in her way, wielding a cricket bat. “I’m coming,” he said, “this is my fault.”

“No,” Ruby said firmly, “they’re after you! And once they’re done tearing you to pieces, the Shreek could wipe out this entire village. Just stay here.” She wasn’t going to let him go with her, put himself and everyone in danger and so, without giving him a chance to respond, she walked right past him and out of the pub.

The moon was full over the village green and the quiet darkness of the English village would have been enough to send anyone into a feeling of the uncanny. Ruby had seen far worse than a dark English village but staking out a Shreek while she was in one? Well, with a fire iron clutched in hand, she stalked slowly and carefully, keeping close to the wall of the pub as she went. It was the only source of light that wasn’t an ominously flickering street lamp.

“Okay,” she said to herself, “just me this time… and talking to myself, that’s very Doctor.”

A snap of a twig and she rushed back, pressing her back up against the stone wall of the pub. It was covered in greenery and she felt the tickley brush of the shrub against her bare neck. She blew out her cheeks. “Oh, and right about now, I’d be telling him to shut up!” She said, scolding her inner feelings of fear and dread. “Okay…”

She adjusted her grip on the fire iron and stepped away from the wall, arming herself clear.

The phone box nearest to her started to flicker from within and she felt her heart in her mouth. Badum. Badum. Badum.

Something touched her!

She jumped, spinning around, moving the iron forward, ready to strike… Conrad.

“Wha-? You… Oh!” She lowered the iron quickly and grabbed his shoulder with her free hand, catching her breath. He had the cricket bat and was crouching next to her. “Get back inside!” She hissed.

But he was shaking his head. “No,” he said vehemently, “it’s gone wrong and it’s my fault and I don’t want you dealing with this on your own.”

Her eyes widened at the stupidity of this man. Couldn’t he see she could handle this? That she had done this stuff before? “No, no, no,” she said quickly, her voice tinged with annoyance. “This isn’t a game, Conrad! We’re in serious danger. You are in danger!”

“Look!” He said and pulled his 50 pence piece on a chain out from under his shirt. He held it out to her. “We’re a team. Like you and the Doctor. We can fix this.”

She reached out slowly and touched the coin between her thumb and forefinger. She looked from it, up to meet his gaze.

“Where’s Sparky?” He asked, as if confirming he wasn’t going to go back inside the pub without her.

She sighed and gestured for him to follow her along the path parallel with the green.

SHRIEK!

She looked quickly at the source of the sound, her gaze fixed on a tree near them. She walked over slowly and noticed a hat. Lifting it, she saw the words ‘Sparky’s Electrics’ written across the front. A little further on, still under the shadow of the tree, they saw a trainer. Sparky’s shoe.

She looked back at Conrad, her expression sorrowful.

“We’re too late,” he whispered sadly. “This is all because of me.”

She wanted to comfort him but before she could, she was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps. She turned quickly and just noticed a Shreek clamber onto the roof of a car a little way off. Its red eyes glowed in the night and it shrieked once more, noticing them.

“Come on! Come on!” She screamed and pulled him to run in the opposite direction, back towards the pub.

UNIT did not take long to arrive after Ruby’s message. A convoy of vans and helicopters made their way into the village, parking on the green and one by one, officers unloaded. The charge was headed by Kate, naturally, and Shirley was close behind, being guided by a young analyst.

The officers moved into position to surround the immediate area.

“Where are they?” Shirley asked, her gaze focused on the analyst with the iPad next to her.

“I don’t know,” the analyst, Jordan, said, “their readings are cloaked.”

Kate nodded and signalled to the gaggle of people coming out of the pub. At the front of which was Ruby and Conrad. “Get those civilians inside,” she ordered two officers.

“Kate!” Ruby said, running over, “there’s two of them, at least.”

“They’ve got my friend,” Conrad piped up.

“I want the Shreek alive,” Kate said, turning to Colonel Ibrahim. “We need to understand how they got here.”

“Quantum ghosting’s at zero,” Jordan said, “none of this makes sense!”

Shirley sighed and snatched the iPad out of his hands. “Oh, just give me that!”

“On me!” Christofer called to his men. “Now, go!” Officers split off and surrounded the area, keeping civilians out and the Shreek inside. He stopped for a moment, pointing at a car. “Eyes on! Set weapons to stun!”

Ruby turned to Conrad and his friends before stepping in front of them. “Get behind us, now!” She hissed urgently.

“Prepare to fire!” Christofer called.

Ruby squinted into the darkness. “Wait a minute,” she said, holding up a hand. The Shreek stood up. “They’re not Shreek.” Then what were they?

She frowned as she watched the two ‘Shreek’ pull their heads off. Masks. They were costumes. What is happening?

The men were laughing and then she could see. Sparky. And Jack!

“Ha!” Sparky held up his phone and pressed play, the sound of the Shreek loud through his speakers. “Got you. You idiots.”

“How’d we do, boss?”

Ruby was taken aback. Who were they-? She followed their gaze and turned slowly. Conrad was looking confused ahead of him, head tilted to the side out of curiosity but then his features smoothed out and he straightened his head and said, “nailed it.”

She blinked. Did she mishear him?

“Conrad, what’s he talking about?” She asked, hoping she was wrong.

Elsa had got her phone out and had it pointed at her for her reaction. She was laughing. Conrad walked past her, unzipped his jacket and revealed a grey T-Shirt emblazoned with a logo that read ‘<|Think Tank|>’.

Ruby stepped forward and reached out to push Elsa’s phone away from her. “Conrad, what are they talking about?” She asked and when he didn’t immediately respond, added with a raised voice. “What the hell is going on?”

He finally turned to her and the rest of UNIT. “We are Think Tank,” he announced, proud, “exposing the lies perpetuated by UNIT.” He turned to her more squarely. “By you. And we're live-streaming so don’t get trigger-happy.”

“This isn’t funny,” Ruby tried, stepping forward.

Conrad evidently didn’t agree as he just laughed at her. “I’ve had to listen to your stories for weeks now. Put up with your insecurity and vanity,” he retorted, “listen to your tedious piano solos and get smothered in lip gloss. It has been a chore to get to know you.” He stepped forward. “But now it’s all worth it.”

Kate turned to Elsa. “Put that phone down.”

“Or what?” Elsa challenged, “going to arrest me, eh? This is censorship! Touch us and we’ll sue! We will bankrupt you.”

Ruby was so focused on Conrad that she barely registered Sparky sidling up to her and whispering “boo!” in her ear. She jumped and clutched her heart with her hand.

“You’ve made a very big, very dangerous mistake tonight, Conrad,” Kate said, taking over when seeing how quiet Ruby had become.

He turned to her now. “You don’t even remember me, do you?” He asked her and then turned to the crowd with their phones out. “The only monsters out here are UNIT. Lying to the public! Spending our money! Hiding in your tower and doing, what? Huh? Doing what?”

Ruby searched within herself to find her voice, tears in her eyes as she did so, to say, “protecting people like you,” she said.

“Oh, they can’t stop lying!” He cried out, advancing on her, arms outstretched and fingers clawed. She lurched back a pace. “There are no Shreek. No Cybermen, no Sycorax, no Yetis in the Underground!” He exclaimed. “Here! Look!”

He took one of the fake Shreek heads from Sparky and held it up to a camera. “Look! They’re stooges and actors, and special effects paid for using taxpayers’ money, to keep us scared, to hide their real agenda!”

Shirley moved forward. “The threat to this planet is real,” she snarled, and Conrad rolled his eyes at her. “If you want evidence, I’ve got plenty of it, so you can…”

“This one’s collecting benefits,” he said, cutting her off, pointing at her. On his cameras, he was an able bodied man pointing at a disabled woman, singling her out and his crowd was eating it up. Ruby gasped. “Stealing our taxes,” he continued, “while she lies to us. But the lies stop today. There are people all over the world watching this. Sharing, reposting. Demanding the truth. They’re using you! All of you!” He paused and turned to Kate, who just narrowed her eyes at him. “For her dirty work.”

Enough is enough. “You think UNIT can’t handle a few reject cosplayers?” She asked, deliberately provoking him. “Because that’s all you are, Conrad.”

He glared at her. “You’ve gifted me this moment, Ruby Sunday,” he walked towards her, casual-like with his hands in his pockets and the way he said her name was filled with nothing but contempt. “Is that even your name, by the way?”

Her lips twitched.

“Because it’s ridiculous.”

She tried not to let him see her reaction, see her heart break in real time. She trusted him. She told him things she hadn’t told anyone and he had laid it all out like it was nothing. Like she was nothing.

Kate saw her small form and took over. “Arrest them,” she ordered.

Christofer ordered his men forward and took Conrad on himself. “Right. Let’s go,” he said to his officers. “Move them out.”

Conrad was laughing.

“Don’t touch me!” Sparky said, “they’re spying on us and lying about it!”

“Yeah, go on! Arrest us! Cowards!” Elsa said as she was pulled away.

“Are you getting this on camera?” He asked his goons, and then to Ruby as he walked past her, “see you round, Ruby.”

She couldn’t even look at him, her tears threatened to fall and she felt her heart shattering. She trusted him, she may have even let herself love him and he did this.

When he was far away, she finally let herself break down, barely registering Kate and Shirley talking in the distance before Shirley moved over to her and helped her into a UNIT SUV to take her home.

She didn’t say much to her mum when she got home. Just, “not now, I just want to go to bed” before moving into her room, shutting the door and letting her emotions out. Tears fell down her cheeks, her back pressed up against the door as she hugged her knees. She felt used and betrayed and hurt and like every negative emotion was stabbing her heart. Most of all though she felt angry and her grief and hurt was fuelling that.

This wasn’t over. She knew that much and she would get back at Conrad Clark and he would regret everything he had done to her that night.

Chapter Text

“Fascism on the streets of Britain tonight. An innocent podcaster is in custody after a harmless stunt in the British village of Colson…”

“Clark was held for 24 hours on charges of civil unrest, but released after public protests and a social media backlash.”

“Everyone is taking their masks off. I mean, who’s next? Jonathan Ross? Apparently, that is not a mask.”

Conrad was enjoying all of this. This was exactly what he had aimed to do with Think Tank, to expose the lies and the tricks from the organisations that claimed to be protecting them. A part of him did wonder where he had begun with this and it always looped back to the Doctor. When he had met the man, and Belinda, he had been gaslighted by his mum so much that he had stopped believing a time traveller like the Doctor could even exist. The coin had served well for a number of years to remind him that that encounter was real but then again, magicians did tricks with coins all the time.

That was who the Doctor was in his corrupted mind. A street magician and a master of the sleight of hand.

When he had met Ruby, seen her a year earlier and then met her in person, there was finally someone who could have convinced him that the Doctor was real and that what he had seen at the age of eight was real. But to be honest, his plan had progressed too far. He had used Think Tank to track down Ruby Sunday and get her to trust him enough to tell him things about the Doctor.

Mad things, mind you. I mean, goblins and coincidences and gods? The world turning to dust? That didn’t happen.

Those 24 hours in UNIT’s holding cell for the crime of civil unrest had hardened his soul into steel. He had grown soft with Ruby, felt bad for her a bit, wondered if he could have even recruited her. It had seemed plausible, given how traumatised the Doctor had clearly made her but she would never have given up on him.

Toxic relationship, that was. The Doctor was manipulating her just as much as he was manipulating everyone else. UNIT was just too far lost and using that manipulation to spin the Doctor’s lies further and further.

Or so, that’s what Conrad believed and as such, that’s what Think Tank believed.

“You took a big risk,” Alex Jones asked over the TV, when he went on the One Show. “We can see on the video, there are soldiers literally pointing their guns at you.”

“That’s how they suppress us.”

Ruby was watching the interview, her mums on either side of her as she let emotions flow out of her. She could no longer contain the tears that his betrayal and hurt had caused her. She was heartbroken. Not just that, she was broken by the shame of trusting him, of loving him, even a bit. “With fear,” Conrad’s voice continued on the television. “Meanwhile, they’re working against us.”

After his interview on the One Show, he had gained even more support and membership with Think Tank, so when he went onto Instagram Live to issue a new command, he felt risky and powerful.

“So, today,” he announced to his thousands of followers, “I am naming and shaming every person employed by UNIT. Their names and addresses are on the screen right now. Every one of them is spying on you and lying about it. So, let’s turn the tables. It’s time to act.”

Rhys Cook, 31 Museum Court, Kensington

Caroline Moon, 1 Brockwell Drive, Walthamstow

Depesh Singh, 4a Thomas Street, Staines

Dipika Patel, 31 Manor Park View, Basingstoke

Elizabeth Dennis, 37 Riverside Place, Brentwood

Henry Stewart, 4 Clockwork Place, Woking

Mollie Vickers, 73 Acer Gardens, Northampton

Julian Winters, 4 Dryden Gardens, Wickford…

And so it continued.

When Ruby’s name had appeared (Ruby Sunday, 3 Minto Road, Notting Hill), many of Conrad’s followers had recognised her from the video as the ex-girlfriend he outed. As such, within two days, UNIT soldiers and SUVs were making their way to Minto Road to get her and her family out and into a safe house. She struggled through the throng of protesters, guarded by one UNIT officer as they escorted her into the car.

Echoes of the protesters rang in her ears, even as the door shut. “Liar! You people should be ashamed!” One shouted.

“Where’s your mum, Ruby? Abandoned you again, has she?” Another yelled. That one stung.

The driver up front, once the UNIT soldier was in the passenger seat, spoke over the noise, “your family are en route to the safe house. HQ wants you at the tower.”

She nodded slowly then jumped as something hit the window. She looked over, seeing the remnants of an egg on the glass that was her only protection from the horde outside. She winced as she watched the crowd pass as the car drove off.

“Conrad Clark has hit a nerve. He’s appealing to the disaffected youth and they are listening,” Trinity Wells reported on her show.

“Guys, they are wasting our taxes…”

“Have you seen this? Conrad Clark takes down the establishment using a plot twist from Scooby-Doo.”

“...12 helicopters…”

“Yo, this guy is a legend!”

“...and machineguns…”

“He’s my hero.”

“Taking on the army?”

“...and for what?”

“That’s a choice.”

The car pulled to a halt as more protestors cluttered the streets, spilling into the road. Ruby recognised the frontman of this crowd to be Sparky. He had a Think Tank hat and T-Shirt, though his was navy blue unlike Conrad’s grey, and he was speaking into a megaphone. “There she is!” He was slightly muffled through the tinted windows of the car but she still heard him through the megaphone. “UNIT lies! UNIT spies!” He chanted, and the crowd echoed him.

“People are now questioning the UK Government’s contributions to UNIT’s overheads.” Trinity Wells used to be a newsreader, now her daytime show was attracting all audiences and right now, she was attracting Conrad’s followers. “I mean, they are debating it in Parliament.”

Chapter Text

“Eight years ago, Conrad applied to work here,” Shirley explained, handing an iPad with a record for Conrad Clark lit up on the screen. Ruby held it in both hands, shocked. “Kate even interviewed him. This is a grudge dressed up as a youth movement.”

Oh how she wished it could only be that, Ruby thought. “No, it’s more than that,” she said, shaking her head, "it's about power. And this is giving him a voice, right? I mean, he’s been craving attention his whole life and his mother practically ignored him ‘til the day she died.”

Shirley sighed and shook her head sadly. “His mother’s not dead,” she said and took the iPad from Ruby, clicking a few buttons before giving it back. “Moira Clark lives in the South of France. Nice villa, paid for by Conrad. Meanwhile, he’s raking it in. 80,000 paid subscribers, he owns three properties, and, of course, he’s a tax dodger.”

Ruby lowered the iPad, defeated.

Kate’s voice cut through the throng and she was grateful not to be left with her thoughts for too long. “...why is that containment cube outside?” She was asking Christofer.

“Orders to have the payload transferred to Geneva. Our security status has been downgraded,” he replied.

“Oh, this is getting way out of hand,” she said, and Ruby could tell she wanted to put her head in her hands but as always, Kate was the picture of cool, collected professionalism. She looked at Ruby, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Ruby nodded, barely perceptibly. Was she okay? Physically, sure, mentally…? That was another issue to address.

“How was Whitehall?” Shirley asked.

Kate sighed. “Cabinet only care about their jobs,” she explained, “if there’s enough pressure, they’ll fold, support a full inventory of UNIT premises.”

“But if your tech goes public…” Ruby started.

Kate nodded. “Yeah, imagine what happens when a dictator gets access to a time window, or a transduction drive,” she confirmed. Ruby shivered inwardly. “Our technology could tear the world apart,” she added, then turned to Christofer, “are local agents all safe?”

“Everyone accounted for,” he confirmed.

“How did Conrad get a staff list?” Ruby asked, glancing around, her gaze falling on the monitors on various desks, then to the Vlinx, then to the large screens broadcasting Conrad’s interviews.

“We’re working on the assumption he has someone on the inside,” Kate said and moved over to the nearest desk.

Meanwhile, Jordan Lang was several floors downstairs, nearing reception, and messing with the security doors. A guard lay on the ground near him, tasered, and he moved through the security door to the external doors.

“I’ve cleared a path to the lift, but we need to move quick,” he said into an earpiece.

“The Vlinx is running live intercept on all personnel. Phones, emails, the works, looking for any links to Conrad Clark,” Shirley said from her monitor.

“DEEP SCAN AT 90 PERCENT.” The Vlinx reported.

“Encode the results,” ordered Kate, “this screen only.”

Christofer rushed over. “We’ve got a problem.”

Conrad had made his way into UNIT tower, his acolyte out of sight of the security cameras. The screen in the tower shows the others that he has taken a semi-automatic gun from a fallen guard who lies at his feet.

“What are you doing?” Jordan asked, “this is a stunt, we don’t need weapons.” He moved forward to take the gun from him but Conrad is bigger, taller and stronger and easily overpowers him. The gun goes off and Jordan drops.

Jordan was unseen to those in the Ops Room but they now knew that Conrad was inside and clearly, making his way towards them at the top. Kate refocused on the monitor with the scan results. “That confirms it, I need those results,” she said.

“RESULTS COLLATED. TWO SUBJECTS IDENTIFIED.” The Vlinx announced. “SUBJECT ONE, RUBY SUNDAY.”

“Yeah, well, skip that,” she said with a scornful glance at her ID photo on the screen.

“SUBJECT TWO, JORDAN LANG.”

“Jordan?” Shirley asked, surprised. She leaned forward to look through Jordan’s staff profile, encrypted. She does some digging. “There’s layers of bounced VPNs, shadow accounts, false identities,” she revealed.

Kate leaned forward too. "Follows dozens of radical blogs. Subscription to Albion TV, revisionist podcasts… it’s an echo chamber of disinformation.”

Ruby stuffed her hands into the pocket of her suit trousers. “Well, where is he now?”

Christofer pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Attention all units. Does anyone have eyes on Jordan Lang? All units, locate Jordan Lang.”

Conrad entered the lift and strapped the gun to him, just as Ibrahim’s call was being broadcast through both Jordan and the fallen guard’s earpieces. “...All units, all units…”

Jordan’s hand twitched and the lift doors closed, ascending and taking Conrad with it.

Shirley, at the back of the Ops Room, reconvened with Ruby and Kate. “Ground staff report shots fired, and someone’s in the lifts,” she reported.

“I need you to authorise a deadlock seal of this level immediately,” Christofer said, turning to Kate.

“Kate!” Ruby said loudly.

“How many?” Kate asked Shirley, “are they armed?”

“Cams are down, but scans indicate one male, aged 20-25.”

“Yeah, it’s Conrad,” Ruby said, as if it was obvious.

“Stop the lift,” Christofer said to an analyst on another bench.

Kate raised a hand. “No, wait. Let him come.”

Ruby was aghast. “What?”

“He might be armed,” Christofer said, “that man has singlehandedly undermined everything we work for. We need to finish this.” He moved towards the side of the room, rallying his officers. “Defensive positions!”

The lift opened. As Conrad stepped out, looking around, he could see the faces watching back at him. He saw Kate, and Shirley, and Ibrahim and then, moving around from behind Kate, he saw Ruby. Her gaze was fixed on him, daggers in her eyes but also something else too. She was apprehensive, fearful even, perhaps. He had a gun.

Ruby noticed the gun first, then she saw what was strapped to his chest. Based on how things had gone down in the village, she had to guess it was a camera.

Kate ordered her soldiers. “Hold your fire. Do not shoot.”

“Wise words,” Conrad said, as he stepped forward, holding the semi-automatic close to him. “‘Cause the world is watching you right now.” For effect, he tapped the top of his bodycam, so that they knew exactly what the world was seeing.

“Drop the gun, Conrad,” Kate said.

“Drop it now!” Christofer had his own gun strapped to him and set to stun, ready to fire if needed to.

“I don’t take orders from traitors!” Conrad snapped and raised his gun to match Christofer. “And that’s what you are. All of you.”

Ruby tried, “Conrad, this has to stop.”

He tilted his head to look at her and smirked. He saw the little girl, forever ago abandoned and now abandoned and traumatised by the Doctor. “Go play with your imaginary goblins, I’m exposing the truth,” he said, patronisingly.

“You’re not, though,” she argued, determined not to let his words get to her. “This isn’t about a cause. It’s grandstanding and ego. You’re a lying little boy that can’t bear to be called out!”

To that, he turned his gun squarely at her. She gaped at him.

“Don’t you dare point a gun at her!” Kate exclaimed and immediately stepped in front of her, putting herself in the line of Conrad’s gunfire instead. “You were right, Conrad. I didn’t remember you, so I checked my notes from that interview eight years ago, and do you know what I wrote?”

He said nothing.

Shirley whispered quietly up at her, “I’d throw in a compliment.”

“The three words that summed you up?” Kate asked, provoking him, taunting him. “Don’t trust him.”

Conrad swallowed a dry laugh. “Mm, ha. You think you’re so superior. Up in your tower, looking down on us,” he sneered.

“Keeping you safe,” Kate emphasised.

“I want a confession, on camera,” he said and tapped his bodycam again. “Admit to the lies. Show us the monster costumes. Show us the tech that you’re hiding, that we paid for.”

Ruby scoffed. “You’re deluded.”

He sneered, “the grown-ups are talking!” he said, punctuating each word with a patronising nod of his head and turned back to Kate. “Come on, Commander-in-Chief. Admit. Or are you a coward…” he paused, knowing the next words would hit. “...like your father was?”

Kate just raised an eyebrow. “You should be very careful what you say about my father.”

“His only legacy was a pack of lies,” he continued, digging a metaphorical hole to stand in.

“He was a hundred times the man you are,” she said calmly, “and that gun is UNIT issue. So where’s Jordan Lang?”

Conrad shrugged. “Who?”

Christofer stepped towards her. “He’s been shot. Ground team are rushing him to the infirmary,” he clarified.

Kate was shocked. “You shot someone to get in here?”

“It’s nothing to do with me,” Conrad said, so nonplussed that he was even more terrifying than he was on the television.

“A man’s life is hanging in the balance and you’re not even sorry,” Kate said, and it wasn’t posed as a question.

“Maybe you shot him,” Conrad pointed out, “or he was an actor. Or he never existed. So come on. Confess!” He looked at Ruby again, finally giving her the attention she deserved in all of this. “Alright, let’s start with your best friend. Where’s the Doctor and his box of tricks?”

She smiled. “Oh, you’re so lucky he’s not here,” she said, charmingly.

“She’s telling the truth,” Kate interjected and he watched as she walked over to a monitor and pushed a few buttons. He followed her movements with his gun and she didn’t seem at all fazed by it. “And actually, I’m glad he’s not here. Because he would’ve stopped me.”

Conrad smirked, condescendingly, at her. “Oh,” he said, “from what?”

“From showing you and your followers what we’re protecting them from,” she said and she pressed in a code on the computer. At the same time, the hangar doors that led to the helipad, where the containment cube was situated currently, unlocked. “The truth, Conrad. As requested.”

Conrad turned round to face the helipad, seeing the box with its red lights all around it within the space. “What’s that?”

“Conrad, get out,” Ruby urged. “It’s hunting you!”

“What’s in there?” He asked and she could hear the fear enter his voice. It was already having its effect on him.

The lights on the containment cube flashed from red to green and the door clicked to UNLOCKED.

Chapter Text

“Everyone, stay well back,” Kate ordered to her team, and to Conrad, “it’s coming, Conrad. And it’s after you.”

He whipped his head round, away from the cube and back to Kate. “You’re bluffing!”

“It can feel your heartbeat. Smell the blood in your veins. So I’m wondering,” she continued, unfazed by the emotions he was feeling. The traitorous anger, the fear of the creature. It was what she wanted him to experience at that moment. “How committed are you to the lies you’ve told?” She asked and almost on cue, the lights in the Ops Room shut down. The emergency generator booted up, giving them the red emergency lighting and the screens behind them all were glitching, frozen on Conrad’s face doing his interviews and spreading his lies. It was poetic, really.

“What do you truly believe?” Kate shouted over the emergency noise, the creaking of the containment cube as it opened, the breeze buffeting into the room from the open hangar doors.

“ALERT! ALERT! POWER INSTABILITY. EMERGENCY MODE ACTIVATED!” The Vlinx reported but no one took notice of him.

From within the containment cube, a creature was grabbing the edges of the doors. It’s dark skin, long nails, gripping the edges of the door as it clambered out. Everyone could see now that it was the Shreek, the one that had marked Conrad over a year ago and had been contained in UNIT to save him. The very same one that was hunting him. Conrad gave into his fear and ran for the lift but the doors were sealed, the power drain had put it out of action. He was entirely at their mercy.

“Leave him,” Kate ordered, as a few soldiers moved forward, “stay back.”

“Let me out! Let me out!” Conrad was shouting.

“OPS ROOM COMPROMISED!” The Vlinx confirmed.

“It’s in the vent space,” Christofer said, pointing his rifle at the ventilation in the ceiling.

“EVACUATE. EVACUATE.” But no one was taking notice of the Vlinx, even as it lowered itself into the floor on its hydraulic station.

“Where’s it gone?” Ruby asked, looking around the room, frantically.

“How do I get out? Tell me how to get out!” Conrad interrupted, his voice a frantic yell.

Kate, cool and collected as ever, replied very simply. “You don’t. All cameras, live transmission to Conrad’s social media. We’re locked down, Conrad.”

Christofer had several of his officers with him around the perimeter of the room, they were attempting to secure the vents. “Those vents lead outside,” he said to Kate.

“It won’t leave,” she said calmly, “not while he’s here.”

Ruby turned to her, aghast. “We’ve got to get him out!” She despised the man but she didn’t want to have his death on her hands and if the Shreek got to him, that’s precisely what would happen.

Conrad aimed his gun upwards, shooting at shadows in the ceiling. There was no aim and he shot exactly like what he was - a scared man with zero weapons training. He wasn’t UNIT material, by any stretch, but he would hurt someone else if he wasn’t careful and in his fear… he wasn’t being careful.

“Everyone, get back!” Christofer yelled.

“Kate, we have to help him,” Ruby pleaded.

In that exact moment, the Shreek crashed through the vents and landed in the Ops Room. Conrad shot at it but the gun fired nothing - he had wasted all of his bullets shooting at shadows. The Shreek focused its eyes right on him, it had found its target.

“Shoot it!” Conrad yelled. “Help me! Help me!”

The Shreek ran towards him, shrieking and determined to get to its prey. It knocked the gun from his hands and screeched into his face. “Please! Please, stop it!” He yelled.

Ruby could barely watch but she would, she had to plead more with Kate, she had to do anything. It was going to kill him and she wouldn’t let that happen. If the Doctor was here… What would the Doctor do? Doctor! Help us!

“You told us, it’s not real,” Kate was monologuing. She had let his taunts get to her, she had let his entire campaign against her and UNIT get to her and now she was going to let the thing kill him.

“Kate, do something,” Shirley said, her voice quiet but urgent.

Kate ignored her. “What’s behind your mask, Conrad? An angry little man who put the safety of this country at risk, everything my father ever worked for, for personal gain,” she said, her voice cold and uncaring. “For a lie.”

Conrad was pressed up against one of the desks, the Shreek looming over him and baring its teeth. Ruby squinted through the dark emergency lights, the crashed ceiling and debris, to watch the events unfold before her. She watched the fear and the adrenaline run through him and the Shreek was lapping it up, tasting it, preparing him for its feast.

“Alright! Okay!” Conrad yelled, almost sobbing at this point. “I lied! I lied about everything! Just make it stop, please! Please! Help me!”

Shirley grabbed a device from her desk, switching it on, handing it quickly to Ruby who took the device and ran over to Conrad and the Shreek. She grabbed the creature by the collar as if it was a naughty pet and jammed the device into its neck. It was a taser, the electricity shooting through the Shreek’s body, running thousands of volts through it before causing it to faint and collapse by her feet. She sighed, deactivated the device and looked over at Conrad, looking at him as if to say you’re a fool.

He met her gaze, taking deep breaths as he read the message in her eyes. “Thank you,” he breathed.

Her lips turned in disgust and she leaned forward slightly to place a well-punctuated, “go to hell,” into his face before stalking off and joining Kate and Shirley once more. She turned to him, standing tall and unfazed by any further attacks he might choose to throw her way - because he would, despite the fact that she had saved his life.

He stood up slowly, cautiously watching them and when he was up straight and facing them, glancing at the fainted creature beside him, he laughed. He pointed at the unconscious creature as if it was a joke and not been the cause of his close-quarters with death a mere few moments ago. “Least your special effects are improving,” he teased.

Karma was instantaneous and the Shreek awoke and latched Conrad’s arms into its powerful jaws, biting down hard. Conrad yelled in pain as the lower half of his arm was bitten clean off.

Chapter Text

A few hours later, cleanup was still in progress. Everyone was still kind of shaken after the night’s events. “SHREEK TRANSFER IN PROGRESS,” the Vlinx reported as a helicopter removed the now-resecured containment cube from the helipad for its relocation to Geneva.

Christofer walked over to Kate. “Latest from the hospital. Conrad will live, and Jordan Lang’s out of the ICU,” he updated her.

“Good,” she said simply, not giving anything away.

He sighed, rubbing his eye before continuing, “last night, went way too far,” he said, half-scolding her, “Geneva will want…”

“Like you said,” she cut him off, “he’ll live.”

Shirley was at her desk and she turned to Ruby, a little way away from her. “Hmm, things are looking up,” she reported, “‘I Stand With UNIT’ is a hashtag. So is ‘Hot Taser Lady’. Do they mean you or me?” She smiled and Ruby giggled at the craziness the night had ended with. It was all surface-level though, for within her own mind, her thoughts were rattling and overlapping and not giving her barely a moment to breathe, let alone think freely.

Her expression turned solemn then, as she mulled over the events of the previous few days. How much trust she had had in Conrad, only for him to betray her like that, everything that had happened… what she had told him in confidence and how she felt overall in the time since returning to Earth and leaving the TARDIS. She had trusted him and he had taken hold of what she had told him, her insecurities, and thrown them back in her face like throwing down a cake someone had lovingly made and stomping on it right in front of their eyes. He didn’t care about her and she was realising now, he never had.

But what she was also realising was that this chasm that had opened up. Between Conrad, and the disappointment earlier in the year with Will, had made her realise just how much she missed the Doctor and the times they had shared - the negatives and the results of her mental health issues, be damned. Without him, it seemed the dangers were free to push into her memory, her mind’s eye, and take root as if he was the one keeping the dangers at bay, saving her life in the process.

She considered that for a moment. Who was the Doctor, really, to her?

“You okay?” Kate’s voice cut through her thoughts, the older woman’s hand touching her shoulder gently. Ruby looked up at her. She could lie, but where would that have got her?

She hesitated, but then thought better of it and shook her head. “No,” she whispered, “I don’t think I am. ‘Cause I see it now, I’ve just been stuck in limbo, waiting for… the Doctor, for the end of the world and I just don’t know how to get any better.”

Kate’s expression was solemn too, but understanding, as if she had seen this happen before.

“It’s like,” Ruby continued, “everything I’ve seen, the good and the bad… I just need some time to get my head around it. Away from everyone. Somewhere new. On my own.”

Kate nodded gently. “Of course you do,” she replied, “and when you’re ready… if you’re ready to talk, you call me.”

Ruby smiled sadly, “yeah.”

Kate moved forward and brought her into an embrace and Ruby relished the chance she had to unload that tension, already feeling a weight start to leave her shoulders as she held onto Kate. Then, they parted and smiled at one another and Kate moved away.

Shirley wheeled away from her desk, moving past Ruby, but dropping a comment in the process. “You’ve already got two mums,” she said teasingly, “what, do you collect them?”

Ruby laughed at that, watching as Shirley moved away and it felt good to laugh. A genuine laugh with people who cared for her, genuinely. She schooled her features and faced the front of the room again, taking a deep breath. Yeah, she needed to be alone. But when she was ready, she’d get in touch with Kate, and maybe Mel… maybe that stage, further down the line, could use the help of others who knew the Doctor’s life as intimately as she now did.