{"Something is coming, my love. And I don't think you'll like me much when it gets here."}
The Tardis materializes in a small park across the road from groups of terraced houses. I frown as I step outside for a moment, the wind blowing gently but there was something else here. I could sense it, Theta leans out behind me with a confused look. "No, Amy, it's definitely not the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta. I think I can see a Ryman's...." There is an explosion, throwing Theta to top of me, I groaned in slight pain at his weight as the Tardis dematerializes. Theta jumped up, pulling me into his chest as we turned towards the Tardis as it disappeared. "Fay?! Amy!" Theta and I shout together as it disappears.
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The Tardis is shaking, and there is a shower of sparks nearby. "Doctor? It's saying we're on Earth. Essex, Colchester." The shaking stops, "Doctor? It's taking off again. Doctor, can you hear me?" Fay watches her with a frown, "I don't think he can."
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After our initial freak out, Theta grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the area. We had been in a park, still in London on earth. By the looks of it, still during the present time. He drags me towards a radio store, where he raids the place for a bluetooth communication device. He uses it to sonic a connection to the Tardis, where he made sure our little girl was safe. While he was talking to Amy, I frowned at the sight of two women standing in front of a ad it looked like. The blonde smiled down at the browned haired woman who laughed. I watched them speak a moment, the blonde pulling the brown haired one into a kiss. My head starting to pound as I flinched back with a hiss. I closed my eyes, gripping my head; suddenly jumping when I felt hands on my shoulders. "Easy, baby." I heard his murmur as my headache immediately dissipates. Taking a breath, I let out a small laugh ; turning to face him with a small smile. "What were you looking at?" He asked gently with a confused look, I turned back to face that direction to see the two women gone. Slowly, I makes my way over to where they were standing; turning my head to the side I was staring at a flatmate wanted ad.
"Perfect! Great job, sweetheart. Now, we have some place to set up while we fix this."
Theta snatches it off the wall and takes off, my head turning towards the direction those woman would have gone in. Why did they seem so familiar?
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The next morning, after collecting money and making a plan while communicating with Fay and Amy; we made our way towards that flat. Theta smiles excitedly as he bounces, pressing the door bell; we wait. "I love you. I love you." A man opens the door, the one who was looking for flatmates. "I love you." I raise an eyebrow as I watched him, Theta smiled brightly. "Well, that's good, because my wife and I are your new lodgers. Do you know, this is going to be easier than I expected." Theta takes the fluffy pink keys from the man, I let out a small laugh with a shake of my head as I grabbed the keys and gave them back to the man. "But I only put the advert up late last night. No way you would've seen it that late. I didn't even put my address." He spoke with a frown and a cock of his head. "Well, aren't you lucky we came along? More lucky than you know. Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur, but frankly I'm an absolute dream." He clicks his tongue and winks at me, I snorted and shook my head.
Theta and I move past the man as we investigate inside with frowns. Upstairs definitely didn't feel right, "Hang on a minute, mate. I don't know if I want you two staying. You could be crazies for all I know." Theta hummed in response as he nodded, looking back at the man. "Yes, quite right. Have some rent." Theta hands Craig a paper take-away bag with lots of twenty pound notes in it. "That's probably quite a lot, isn't it? Looks like a lot. Is it a lot? I can never tell." The lights upstairs are flickering, "Don't spend it all on sweets, unless you like sweets. I like sweets. Ooo." Theta gives Craig a couple of air kisses about six inches from each cheek. "That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it? I'm the Doctor. Well, they call me the Doctor. I don't know why. I call me the Doctor, too. Still don't know why. This is my beautiful wife, Kate. God, you are beautiful. No doubt about it. Can't wait to have you all to myself." Theta babbled on, the man staring at us in slight shock and confusion. I blushed brightly at his words as he paused with a look, staring into space for a moment.
"Craig Owens. Kate? The Doctor?"
"Yep. Who lives upstairs?"
"Just some bloke."
"What's he look like?"
"Normal. He's very quiet."
We all turn towards the door upstairs the sound of a crash, "Usually. Sorry, who are you again? Hello?" Theta ignored him as he moves towards the flat we were supposed to be 'staying' in, Craig following after us with a frown. "Excuse me?" Theta cocks his head as he immediately notices something. I frown, as I too take notice of the black spot on the wall towards the ceiling. "Ah. I suppose that's dry rot?" I asked with a raised eyebrow as I crossed my arms. "Or damp. Or mildew." Craig shrugged as if it was no big deal, "Or none of the above." Theta spoke up this time. "I'll get someone to fix it." Craig stated with a guilty looking wince, like it was his fault. It wasn't. "No, I'll fix it. I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister. No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister. This is the most beautiful parlour I have ever seen." Theta sits on the counter, "You're obviously a man of impeccable taste. We can stay, Craig, can't we? Say we can."
"You haven't even seen the room." Craig muttered with a cock of his head, "The room?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "Your room." Craig spoke up with a nod, "Our room? Oh, yes. Our room. No, not our room. Take us to the room." I smiled at Theta's words as Craig leads us to a room with some eighties decor. "Yeah, this is Mark's old room. He owns the place. Moved out about a month ago. This uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money in the will." Theta and I frowned at one another, it wasn't our doing but it was very convenient. So convenient that it just happened to be in the area of the signal we picked up. The signal keeping the Tardis from landing and staying on earth. "How very convenient. This'll do just right. In fact." Another loud crash from above, Theta tests the air with a damp finger. "No time to lose. I'll take it. Ah you'll want to see my credentials. There."
The psychic paper gets passed behind Theta's back and shown to Craig three times. "National Insurance number. NHS number. References." Craig frowns with a cock of his head. "Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?" He asked, "I'm his special favourite. Are you hungry? I'm hungry." I rolled my eyes with a small laugh and a shake of his head. "I haven't got anything in." We head back to the kitchen, I push Theta with a hiss who grumbles back at me in response. He moves to raid the kitchen, "You've got everything I need for an omelette fines herbes, pour deux. So, who's the girl on the fridge?" A photograph of Craig and Sophie, along with the Vincent van Gogh Self-portrait in Straw Hat postcard. "My friend. Sophie." Craig blushed causing Theta to smirk, "Girlfriend?" I asked gently as I sat on the arm of the couch.
He starts making an omelette, "A friend who is a girl. There's nothing going on." Craig speaks slightly sadden about the notion. "Oh, that's completely normal. Works for some, Kate is mine tho." Craig winced slightly at the thought of liking me, not that I took offense. He was clearly in love with that woman just as I was in love with Theta. "We met at work about a year ago, at the call centre." He explains with a small smile, "Oh really, a communications exchange? That could be handy." I muttered to Theta who threw the egg shells away, coming over to give me a quick kiss before moving back to the stove. "Firm's going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do. I got a plan all worked out. But I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best. Why am I telling you this? I don't even know you." Craig frowns in confusion, we both shrug in response. "Well, I've got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around." Theta winks at me with a smirk, "Right. Where's your stuff?" Craig asked as he looked between us with a frown. "Oh, don't worry, it'll materialise. If all goes to plan."
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The omelettes have been demolished, "Oh, that was incredible. That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?" Craig asked as he leaned back with a full stomach. "Paris, in the eighteenth century. No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? Seventeenth? No, no, no. Twentieth. Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order. A century to cook, I learned so I could take care of my beautiful woman. It was definitely Paris though, I remember the night time activities clearly." He shot me a wink causing me to blush again, quickly he reached over grabbing me and pulling me into his lap. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird? Maybe even a little bit of an over sharing one?" Craig asked with a raised eyebrow, I snorted in response. "They never really stop. Ever been to Paris, Craig?" Theta asked the man with a raised eyebrow, "Nah. I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveller." Craig shook his head with a frown, "I can tell from your sofa." Theta commented, I immediately smacked his chest with a glare. "My sofa?" Craig asked in confusion as I shook my head, trying to keep Theta from continuing. "You're starting to look like it." I groaned in annoyance at the man I love. "Thanks, mate, that's lovely. No, I like it here. I'd miss it, I'd miss..."
"Those keys."
"What?"
"You're sort of fondling them."
"I'm holding them."
"Right."
"Anyway. These, these are your keys."
"We can stay?"
"Yeah, you're weird and you can cook, plus I don't have to worry about you being random woman over. It's good enough for me. Right. Outdoor, front door, your door." Craig shrugged as Thera and I smiled together in excitement, "Our door. Our place. Our gaff. Ha ha! Yes. Me with a key, well another key." He winks at me causing me to laugh, "And listen, Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?" Craig looked between the two of us, we both cocked our head in confusion. "Why would I want that?" Theta asked, Craig let out a small laugh and blushed a little. "Well you're a married couple, if you want some alone time. You know. Just give me a heads up, so I'm not scarred for life." Our eyes widen together as we both blushed, Theta started to squirm slightly before he cleared his throat. "Oh, I will. I'll shout if that happens. Yes. Something like, I was not expecting this! By the way, that. The rot. I've got the strangest feeling we shouldn't touch it."
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I stand beside the bed, shaking my head slightly as Theta jumps on top like a child. He laughs as he stops, hold his hands out for me to take. I smiled as I grabbed them, squealing lightly when he pulls me up with him. We bounced together with smiles for a few moments as we waiting for the connection to sync up to the Tardis. Theta suddenly stops with a small frown, "What wrong, beautiful?" He asked gently, his hand coming to cup the side of my face. I let out a small sigh as I looked up at him, "Something is coming, my love. And I don't think you'll like me much when it gets here." He just shook his head, giving my forehead a kiss. "I will always love you no matter what, you are everything to me. When we Binded, we both took an oath to one another. You have loved me in my darkest and my brightest. I will do the same, that's a promise Nora. No matter the cost, I'm on your side through thick and thin." I let out a sob as he pulled me into a tight hug, he held me for a few minutes before pulling away.
My heart soared like it always does as he pulled me into a deep kiss, this man would be the death of me. Before things could get heated, the device beeped causing Theta to pull away with a small groan. I laughed gently as I pushed him, he stumbled off the bed and grabbed the ear piece as I plopped down on the bed with a bounce. "Earth to Fay, Earth to Pond. Come in, Fay." Theta spoke as he winked at me, "Doctor!" Massive feedback through the earpiece as Amy shouted, Theta flinched with a glare at the wall. Not like he could glare at her. "Sorry." I could hear her speak over earpiece. "Could you not wreck my new earpiece, Pond?" Theta snips in annoyance as we both listened to Fay laugh in the background. "How's the Tardis coping?" Theta asked, there was a quick pause. "See for yourself."
We both wince at the wheezing and groaning sound that came through. A sound that wasn't normal, "Ooo, nasty. She's locked in a materialisation loop, trying to land again but she can't." Theta explained to her with a sigh as he sat down beside me. "Hmm. And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat. So, go upstairs and sort it." Amy demands with a snip, I snorted as Theta pouted at me. "I don't know what it is yet. Anything that can stop the Tardis from landing is big. Scary big." Theta breathed out as he slowly looked towards me with a frown, "Wait. Are you scared?" Amy asked the both of us over the comm, Theta sighs as he stands up again and moves around the room with a frown. "I can't go up there until I know what it is and how to deal with it. And it is vital that this man upstairs doesn't realise who and what I am. So no sonicking. No advanced technology. I can only use this because we're on scramble. To anyone else hearing this conversation, we're talking absolute gibberish. Now all I've got to do is pass as an ordinary human being. Simple. What could possibly go wrong?"
"Have you seen you?" Amy asked causing Fay and I to laugh, "So you're just going to be snide. No helpful hints?" He snipped back in annoyance as he shot me a look. "Hmm. Well, here's one. Bow tie, get rid." She uttered out slowly, "Bow ties are cool. Come on, Amy, I'm a normal bloke. Tell me what normal blokes do." I raise an eyebrow at the man I love, he was far from normal. "They watch telly, they play football. They go down the pub." She gave a few examples over the comm, "I could do those things. I don't, but I could." Bang upstairs, Theta and I both look up with dark looks. "Hang on. Wait, wait, wait. Amy?" The Tardis is going crazy and the hands on the Doctor's alarm clock and wrist watch are going backwards and forwards very rapidly. "Interesting. Localised time loop." I muttered out with a frown as we continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Time distortion. Whatever's happening upstairs is still affecting you." Lights are flashing in the upstairs flat, then suddenly it stops.
"It's stopped. Ish. How about your end?"
"Our end's good."
"So doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?"
"No, no, no, not really. Just keep the zigzag plotter on full. That'll protect you."
There was a short pause before Amy yelps, "Ow." I could hear Fay laughing slightly in the background. "Amy, I said the zigzag plotter." Theta snapped in annoyance at the girl, "I pulled the zigzag plotter." She snipped back sarcastically, "What, you're standing with the door behind you?" Theta asked her as he turned to face me with a exhausted expression. "Yes." She called back, "Okay, take two steps to your right and pull it again." Still the same switch, mind you. I bet Fay was just watching with a highly entertained look. "Now, I must not use the sonic. I've got work to do. Need to pick up a few items." He hangs up on her, turning to face me. "You get some sleep, I'll be back soon." My mouth went to open but I was cut off by a kiss, and like magic he was gone. "Jackass!" I hissed in annoyance before flopping back on the bed.
I sighed as I raised my hand up and began playing with my powers, the red dancing over my fingers. Slowly, everything began to grow dark as my body relaxed.
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The Doctor returns to the terrace with a shopping trolley full of miscellanea. A cat protests, "Shush. Don't get comfortable." He sneaks everything inside, closing the door quietly before turning to face the woman he loves with a small smile. She was out like a light, her mouth barely opened as she slept soundly. He moves over to sit next to her on the bed with a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. I promise." He breathes out as he places a kiss on her forehead before he moves to get to work.
To bad that was a promise he wouldn't be able to keep.
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The next morning, I make my way through the door with coffee in my hands. Craig is waiting for the bathroom, he gives me a look causing me to snort lowly as I hand him his cup. When Theta collected the money for rent, I made sure to snatch a little of it up for us to use. I stand next to Craig listening to Theta who is singing to the tune of La Donna e mobile in the shower. "Ta ra ra boom de ay quanda rilo, something is happening." I shook my head with a smile at his words as Craig knocks on the door again. "Doctor." He calls, "Hello?" Theta responds back, I can just imagine the confusion on his face as he pulls the curtain back a little with his hair a mess. Man I really wish I was in there with him, jerk decided to shower without me. "How long are you going to be in there?"
"Oh, sorry. I like a good soak." There is a banging from upstairs, Craig and I looking up with frowns. "What the hell was that?" He asked me, my eyes glared up at the ceiling. "Nothing good." I muttered lowly, "What did you say?" Theta shouts back; Craig slowly begins to move towards the front door. "I'm just going to go upstairs. See if he's okay." I sighed with a shake of my head, "I don't think that's a good idea." I responded before moving to follow after him. At least with me, I could keep him safe. We make our way upstairs; Craig knocks on the door with a look back at me. I raise an eyebrow with a shrug, a grey haired figure opens the door on the chain. "Yes? Hello?" I could faintly hear a thud from downstairs and immediately knew it was Theta falling. Dork. "Ow." His cry echoed slightly, my concentration was broken by Craig. "It's me from downstairs. I heard a big bang." The man's face continues to be covered by darkness. "Thank you, Craig, but I don't need your help."
Theta, with a towel around his waist, bursts out of the apartment and meets us at the foot of the stairs. He points the toothbrush at the upstairs door and makes it go whirr. I raise an eyebrow at the man I love with a smirk, "What happened, what's going on?" Theta asked looking between us with a frown as he brushes some of his hair out of his face. "Is that my toothbrush?" Craig asks in confusion, "Correct. You spoke to the man upstairs?" We both nodded in response, "Yeah." Craig frowned at Theta with a cock of his head. "What did he look like?" Not real. Didn't feel right either, but I wasn't about to say that with Craig here. "More normal than you do at the moment, mate. What are you doing?" Craig asked with a cock of his head, Theta covers his nipples causing me to snort. "I thought you might be in trouble."
"Thanks. Well, if I ever am, you can come and save me with my toothbrush." Craig's phone rings inside the flat, so he goes to answer it. Theta stares up the stairs, going to turn towards me just as a blonde comes in the front door. "Oh! Hello." She not so subtly checks him out, I groan with an eye roll. "Ah! Hello. The Doctor, this is the love of my life Kate." Fine. I won't be mean. "Right." She laughs gently as she looks towards the door of our flat, "You must be Sophie." Air kisses for a greeting again, he smiles looking between us before he pauses at the look on my face. I raise an eyebrow as I ran my eyes up and down him causing his eyes to widen in realization as Sophie makes her way inside. "Oh. Oh."
We make our way inside to see Craig on the phone, "No, Dom's in Malta. There's nobody around. Hang on a sec. We've got a match today, pub league. We're one down if you fancy it?" Craig asked, looking towards Theta who frowned slightly in confusion. He turned to look at me as I shrugged in response, why not? He's been wanting to blend in, "Pub league. A drinking competition?" Theta turned back to Craig with a confused look. "No, football. Play football." Craig tried to clear up with a small smile, "Football. Football. Yes, blokes play football. I'm good at football, I think." He laughs as he spins towards me happily, I smiled in response at the man I love. His smile making my heart soar, "You've saved my life. I've got somebody. Yeah, all right, I'll see you down there. Hey, Soph." Craig finally turns towards the woman he loved who smiled brightly back. "Hey, I thought I'd come early and meet your new flat mate."
"Do you play, Sophie?"
"No, Soph just stands on the sidelines. She's my mascot."
"I'm your mascot? Mascot?"
"Well, yeah, not my mascot. It's a football match. I can't take a date."
"I didn't say I was your date."
"Neither did I."
"Better get dressed."
"The spare kit's just in the bottom drawer." Craig stated with an awkward laugh, "Bit of a mess." Theta and I make our way to the bedroom, I turned back to the couple. "We might be a minute." I spoke giving them a wink as I pushed Theta into the room who yelped slightly as he landed on the bed. His eyes darkened as I climb on top of him, "We've got thirty minutes at the least, make it count my love." I purred gently as I leaned down to kiss him. He whimpered slightly before he flipped me over on my back, staring down at me with a smirk. "Oh, it's definitely not gonna be thirty minutes. He's gonna have to give us an hour or more." With that he removed his towel and got to work.
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An hour and a half later, Theta was smirking smugly as he puts on the number 11 shirt back to front. He picks up his earpiece and phones Amy and Fay while I get dressed as well. My body definitely feeling lighter than before as Theta smirks at me with a hum as he watches. His eyes glassing over for a split second before she answers. "So, I'm going out. If I hang about the house all the time, him upstairs might get suspicious and notice me." Theta explains over the Bluetooth device, "Football. Okay, well done. That is normal." I heard Amy respond, "Yeah, football. All outdoorsy.
Now, football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?" Amy laughs before she hangs up on him, he looks slightly offended before we make our way to the door. Craig and Sophie had been waiting outside, making us all blush in response. "Well, let's get going then." I muttered as I moved passed everyone out the door.
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"What are you actually called? What's your proper name?" Craig asked as we made our way to the field which wasn't to far from the flat. Actually, it was the same field that the Tardis keeps trying and failing to land on. Just to the right of us, near the trees. "Just call me the Doctor." Theta insisted with a smile, Sophie laughed awkwardly with a small shake of her head. "Yeah." Craig frowned as he too shook his head, "I can't go up to these guys and say hey, this is my new flat mate, he's called the Doctor and this is his wife Kate. The only one with a normal name." Theta looked towards me with a offended look, I snorted back with a shake of my head. "Why not?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "Because it's weird." I shrug as we get to the pitch. "All right, Craig. Soph. All right, mate." A man walks up with a bright smile as Theta immediately perks up. "Hello, I'm Craig's new flat mate. I'm called the Doctor, this is my wife Kate." He does the air kisses which is not well received. "All right, Doctor. I'm Sean. So, where are you strongest?"
"Arms."
"No, he means what position on the field."
"Not sure. The front? The side? Below Kate."
Smack.
"Ow!"
"Are you any good though?"
"Let's find out."
The game is underway, "Yeah, we're going to win." is very nimble, dodging other players whilst dribbling the ball. I bit my lip as I watched him, my own eyes scanning over his body. We really needed to wrap this game up quickly, "That's not bad. Yes! Go!" The females are also watching Theta with lustful looks causing me to roll my eyes. "One two. One two." I watch as Craig calls for it, but he doesn't pass to Craig. As he passed me, he winked. That's why he didn't pass to Craig, he knew what he was doing and he was trying to show off. Jerk. "Go on, Doctor! Go on, Doctor!" Everyone cheered as he made a goal, "Doctor! Doctor! You're brilliant. You're amazing." I raise an eyebrow as Sophie gave Craig a small smile, Theta moving towards me with a proud look. I smile up at him as he pulls me into a hug and spins me around. He soon leans down to kiss me, I moan against his lips with a smile. I love kissing him.
He pulls away with a smile as another match starts, "Come on, Craig. Catch up, mate." One of the guys call out towards Craig who was falling behind. I frown sadly at the man who seemed unable to keep up. "Come on, Craig. Show them what you've got." Craig is about to take the kick when Theta steals it from him and scores again to general rejoicing. I grunted with a shake of my head at the idiot who cheers, but I couldn't help but smile as he turned with his hands up and a wide smile upon his face.
I had a feeling this was the most fun we would both have in a long time.
"Oh yes, I love this game." He cheers happily, "Doctor! Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!" More goals and Craig gets more annoyed. I tense up with a frown as the wind starts to blow, it was happening again. "You are so on the team. Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor. We're going to annihilate them." Theta frowns immediately as he shakes his head, "Annihilate? No. No violence, do you understand me? Not while I'm around. Not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, and you basically meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?" Everyone watches him in confusion as I pinch him lightly on the side. "Yeah." The man uttered out with an awkward look, "Lovely. What sort of time?" Craig opens a can of drink and gets sprayed with the foam. Then it repeats again and again, only the two of us are unaffected by the time displacement. Theta turns towards me and reaching into my pocket, pulling out his Bluetooth. When the hell did he put that in there? He placed it in his ear before grabbing my hand and takes off running.
"Fay? Amy?" Theta calls out as he moves closer to me so I could hear too. "Dad, It's happening again. Worse." Fay immediately responded, our worry growing for our daughter. "What does the scanner say?" I asked them, "A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines." We had ended up in the corner where the Tardis was trying to land. "Yes, yes, it's, it's good. Zigzag plotter. Zigzag plotter, Amy." We hear a bang and two screams, "Fay? Are you there? Fay?! Amy?" There was a long pause, Theta's eyes meeting mine in worry. "Yes. Hello." Both of us let out a breath of relief, "Oh, thank heavens. I thought for a moment the Tardis had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it, lost forever." I smacked his arm, he winced and pouted towards me as I glared in response. "What, you mean that could actually happen? You have got to get me out of here." I sighed as I shook my head before speaking up, "How are the numbers?" I asked her. "All fives."
The time loop has stopped, for now at least. "Fives? Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don't worry. Hang on, okay?" He turns and grabs my hand moving us back towards the flat. "Hey." Amy tries to call out, "I've got some rewiring to do." Theta hangs up on her and we make our way back, leaving the group of people behind. We had more important things to do right now.
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Craig knocks on the bedroom door, I watch as Theta answers holding a traffic cone. "Hello, flat mate." He smiles brightly at the man who awkwardly clears his throat in response. "Hey, man. Er, listen. Er, Sophie's coming round tonight and I was wondering if you could give us some space?" I move from the bed to stand behind Theta. "Oh, don't mind me. You won't even know I'm here." There is a bang upstairs, "That's the idea." He shuts the door in Craig's face and turns to face me. "What?" He asked with a frown at the look on my face as I cross my arms over my chest. "I think that means he wants us to leave." He shakes his head, "Nah. It's fine, beside we have stuff to do." He moves towards his machine with a smile, "Yes, perfect! What a beauty."
Not even five minutes later, Thera was sneaking out of the room causing me to sigh with an eye roll. This man, I swear. Craig and Sophie sat on the couch, talking to one another and laughing. Just before having a moment, Theta pops up from behind the sofa. "Hello." I sigh as the jump apart and I enter the room crossing my arms. "What?" Theta winced at my look as I moved to over to him. "Whoops. Sorry. Don't worry, I wasn't listening. In a world of my own down there." He laughs before letting out a yelp as I pinch his ear and pull him up. "Sorry about him, he snuck out like a little child." I hissed in annoyance as he laughed softly at me, my eyes widened at the sight in his eyes. It made my hearts flutter the way he looked at me so softly, like he was happy I was scolding him. "I thought you were going out?" Craig spoke up as he looked between us with a frown. "Just re-connecting all the electrics. It's a real mess. Where's the on switch for this?" He holds up a normal screwdriver. "They really are their way out, right Kate." Craig laughed awkwardly as I nodded in agreement.
Theta frowned as he looked between us with a pout, "Why are you pouting?" I asked him in our mental connection with a cock of my head as he blushed brightly and looked away. "No, I don't mind. I mean, if you don't mind." Sophie smiled, Craig smiled back. "I don't mind. Why would I mind?" He totally minds. "Then stay. Have a drink with us." I sighed as my shoulders sagged slightly, Theta turns to me with a confused look. "What? Do we have to stay now?" He asked, I shrugged looking towards Craig who gave a stiff smile. "Do you want to stay?" Craig asked stiffly, "I don't mind." Theta smiled with a nod. I felt bad for Craig but at the same time, I didn't because I know Theta loved humans. He loved communicating with them, learning from them, teaching them. It was just him and I wanted to do everything to make him happy. I always have. "Okay." Sophie and I spoke together as he bounced happily. "Great."
A little later, Theta is still working on the wiring loom around his neck. I'm sitting sideways on his lap, out of his way for the most part with a few wires and things around my neck. He practically forced me on top of him even though we both knew I would just be getting in the way of him and his tinkering. "Because life can seem pointless, you know, Doctor. Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same." I closed my eyes and rest my head on the back of the chair we sat in, listening to Sophie rant. "Six billion people. Watching you two at work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from." Theta grumbled lightly causing me to smack his chest. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" He cleared his throat and moves on, ignoring her question. "So then, the call centre. That's no good, then. What do you really want to do?" Theta asked as he shifted slightly, "Don't laugh. I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."
"What's stopping you?"
"She can't. You need loads of qualifications."
"Yeah, true. Plus it's scary. Everyone I know lives round here. Like, Craig got offered a job in London. Better money. He didn't take it."
"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London."
"Well, perhaps that's you, then. Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable, till the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?"
"You think I'd fail?"
"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie. Very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?" I glare at Theta who tries the wine and lets it pour back into the glass from his mouth. He winced as I smacked him on the back of his head again. "Perhaps, in the whole wide universe, a call centre about is where you should be." Sophie scoffed with a frown, "Why are you saying that? That's horrible." She snipped in anger, "Is it true?" I pinched him with a small awkward laugh. "Of course it's not true. I'm not staying in a call centre all my life. I can do anything I want." Theta smirks smugly as I shake my head, he could've been nicer about it. "Oh, yeah. Right. Oh, my God. Did you see what he just did?" Sophie laughed as she got up, excitedly. "No, sorry, what's happening? Are you going to live with monkeys now?" Craig asked watching her with a frown. "It's a big old world, Sophie. Work out what's really keeping you here, eh?" Theta laughed, "I don't know. I don't know."
Sophie is leaving, Craig moving to bid her goodbye as Theta immediately moves towards the room. I yelped slightly when he moved, but soon followed after him. The two of us with cords and gadgets wrapped around us as we moved. Theta has built a serious mega-gizmo. It includes a bicycle wheel, an umbrella, a rotary clothes line, a lamp shade and the bicycle's pedals, with a rake, a broom and an oar as outriggers and the traffic cone on top. "Right. Shield's up. Let's scan."
He sets it spinning and connects with Amy and Fay through the bluetooth device. "What are you getting?" Amy asked over the connection, Theta had the volume up so I could hear as well. "Upstairs. No traces of high technology. Totally normal? No, no, no, no, no, it can't be. It's too normal." He frowned as he looked between me and the gadget.
"Only for you could too normal be a problem. You said we could be lost forever. Just go upstairs." Amy snipped in annoyance, "Without knowing and get myself and Kate killed? Then you really are lost and Fay would be without parents. Why would I do that? If I could just get a look in there. Hold on. Use the data bank. Get me the plans of this building. I want to know its history, the layout, everything. Meanwhile, I shall recruit a spy." Theta and I both frown when we hear a thump within the other room. "Craig." We both spoke together as we nodded at one another.
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Next morning, Theta is carrying a tray, I frown as I watch from the doorway. "Craig? Craig? Breakfast. It's normal. Craig? Craig. Craig, Craig, Craig. I told you not to touch it. Look, what's that?" There is a green line up the inside of Craig's forearm. "It's an unfamiliar and obviously poisonous substance. Oh, I know what'd be really clever, I'll stick my hand in it. Come on, Craig, breathe." Theta hits Craig's chest, Craig gasps and my eyes glow as my energy swirls around him. "Come on, Craig, breathe. Thems are healthy footballer's lungs." Finally, he starts to breath and groans slowly starting to wake up. Theta runs back to the kitchenette and stuffs as many teabags as possible into the commemorative Royal Wedding teapot. "Right, reverse the enzyme decay. Excite the tannin molecules." And pours the super-strong tea straight into Craig's mouth. "I've got to go to work."
Theta and I frown at one another because of the half asleep man. "On no account. You need rest. One more." Theta smirks, "It's the planning meeting. It's important." Craig groans at as he slowly starts to fall asleep once more. "You're important. You're going to be fine, Craig." We both exit the room, Theta with a big smile on his face.
This wasn't going to be good.
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I sat upon the desk as I watched Theta bend underneath, checking something while he spoke to a customer on the phone. Suddenly, Craig comes rushing in like a mad man with a suit and glasses on. "Oh, afternoon." The boss man smiles at him, "I'm so sorry, Michael. I don't know what happened. I've got no excuse." Theta pops up with a raised eyebrow. "I think that's not what my screen is telling me, Mister Lang." He snips lightly gaining Craig's attention, he finally turns to the two of us. "What are they doing here? What are you doing here?" Theta holds up his finger making Craig pause. "If that's your attitude, Mister Lang, please take your custom elsewhere." He makes a nose at the man over the phone, sticking his tongue out as the boss gives him a thumbs up. The only one not happy about it is Craig, "No, no, no, that's one of my best clients." Theta hangs up on the man as Sophie makes her way over; handing me a cup of coffee with a small smile. "Hello, Craig. How are you feeling? Had some time to kill. I was curious. Never worked in an office. Never worked in anywhere." A straining ladle is twitching on the desk.
"You're insane." Craig utters out, "Leave off the Doctor. I love the Doctor. He was brilliant in the planning meeting." Craig's eyes widened in horror as he looks at the two of us. "You went to the planning meeting?" He snaps, "Yes. I was your representative. We don't need Mister Lang any more. Rude Mister Lang." Sophie then hands Theta a coffee as well, "Here you go, and I found some custard creams." Theta smiled at her as he takes the cup and plate. "Sophie, my hero." She turns to Craig with a hopeful smile upon her lips. "Hi, Craig. I went on the web, applied for a wildlife charity thing. They said I could always start as a volunteer straight away. Should I do it?" He wasn't paying much attention though, "Yeah, great. Yeah, good. Go for it." Theta scoffed with a glare, "You look awful. About turn. Bed. Now. Who next? Oh, yes. Hello, Mister Joergensen. Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit." Theta and I watch as he leaves before watching Sophie look after the man sadly.
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A cat is coming down the stairs when we walk through the door. Theta holding it open for me, "Have you been upstairs? Yes?" Theta utters as I bend down to hold the fur baby; it meowed at me with a purr. Theta suddenly snatches him from him, causing me to pout. "You can do it. Show me what's up there? What's behind that door? Try to show me. Oh, but that doesn't make sense. Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good, good. What kind of people?" The cat meows, "People who never came back down. Oh, that's bad. That's very bad." Craig opens the door with a dark glare. "Oh, hello." We both move towards the man who turned back inside. "I can't take this any more. I want you to go. You can have this back and all." He picks up the bag of money and shoves it in Theta's face. "What have I done?" Theta asked, as he snatched the bag with a offended look upon his face. I watched them with a raised eyebrow as I moved to sit on the counter.
"For a start, talking to a cat." Craig snipped with a scoff, "Lots of people talk to cats." I stated causing him to roll his eyes at me. "And everybody loves you, and you're better at football than me, and my job, and now Sophie's all oh, monkeys, monkeys, and then there's that." He leads us to the bedroom and points to the gadget. "It's art. A statement on modern society, Ooo, ain't modern society awful." Theta shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Me and you two, it's not going to work out. You've only been here three days. These have been the three weirdest days of my life." He blew up with a frown on his face. "Your days will get a lot weirder if I go." Theta uttered towards him with a raised eyebrow. "It was good weirdness. It's not, it's bad weird. I can't do this any more." Craig flips with a shake of his head and a heavy sigh. "Craig, we can't leave this place. We're like you, we can't see the point of anywhere else. Madrid? Ha, what a dump. We have to stay." Theta snapped as he pointed between himself and me. "No, you don't. You have to leave." Craig points towards the door.
"We can't go." I insisted with a glare, "Just get out!" Craig yells with a final glare. "Right. Only way. I'm going to show you something, but shush. Really, shush. Oh, I am going to regret this. Okay, right. First, general background." Theta head butts Craig, "Argh. Oh." Craig gasps as he slowly looks between us.
"Ow."
"You're a..."
"Yes."
"And Kate, from...."
"Shush."
"You've got a Tardis." Craig utters out with wide eyes, "Yes. Shush. Eleventh. Right. Okay, specific detail." Another Glasgow kiss, causing them both to groan again in pain. "Argh. You saw my ad in the paper shop window." Theta nods as I watched, completely amused mind you. This was so fun to watch. "Yes, with this right above it. Which is odd, because Amy hasn't written it yet."A note saying Doctor - this one no 79a Aickman Road Amy xx. "Time travel. It can happen." I stated with a shrug, "That's a scanner. You used non-technological technology of Lammasteen!" Craig shouts, Theta immediately slaps his hand over Craig's mouth. "Shut up!" I frowned softly when I felt a change in the air. Something was happening, "Argh." Craig shouts again, breaking my concentration as Theta groans too. "I am never, never doing that ever, ever again." He activates his Bluetooth, "Amy. Fay." Theta calls out, Craig looks between us with wide eyes. "That's Fay, your beautiful daughter. Oh, and Amy Pond." Craig uttered out, "Oh, of course, you can understand us now. Hurrah. Got those plans yet?" Theta asked as he put it on speaker. "Still searching for them." Amy speaks up, "I've worked it out, with psychic help from a cat." There was a short pause, "A cat?" Amy asked with a frown.
"Yes. I know he's got a time engine in the flat upstairs. He's using innocent people to try and launch it. Whenever he does, they get burnt up, hence the stain on your ceiling." Craig gaps as he points to the ceiling, "From the ceiling." He speaks with Theta. "Well done, Craig. And you, Miss Pond, nearly get thrown off into the Vortex. You better keep my daughter safe or else." There was a small pause, "Lovely." A loud crash sounds from upstairs. "People are dying up there? People are dying. People are dying. People are dying."Another time loop, shit. "Amy." She suddenly screamed and Craig breaks free from the loop. "They're being killed." I took off down the hall, "Someone's up there." I yelled out, Theta and Craig following close behind me. "Doctor?" Amy shouts, "Hang on. Craig, come on. Someone's dying up there." They see Sophie's pink key ring in the door. "Sophie. It's Sophie that's dying up there! It's Sophie!"
"Doctor! Argh!"
"Where's Sophie?"
"Wait, wait. Amy?"
"Are you upstairs?"
"Just going in."
"But you can't be upstairs."
"Of course I can be upstairs." Theta snips back in response. "No, I've got the plans. You cannot be upstairs, it's a one-storey building. There is no upstairs." Craig paused looking confused, as we entered the upstairs that looked like the inside of a ship. "What? What?" I raised an eyebrow as I looked around the giant familiar futuristic room. "Oh. Oh, of course. The time engine isn't in the flat, the time engine is the flat. Someone's attempt to build a Tardis." I muttered out as I glared in annoyance at the audacity. "No, there's always been an upstairs."The door they have just come through flickers on and off. "Has there? Think about it." Theta asked with a raised eyebrow, "Yes. No. I don't" Craig frowns in response. "Perception filter. It's more than a disguise. It tricks your memory."
There is a scream, "Sophie! Sophie! Oh, my God, Sophie!" Sophie is being pulled towards the central console by electricity. "Craig." She shouts as he pulls her, trying to keep her off it. Theta trying and failing to use the sonic, "It's controlling her. It's willing her to touch the activator." I shouted over her screams, "That's not going to have her."Sophie's hand is pulled onto a dome shaped control. Theta turns towards me with a desperate look, "Ah, deadlock seal." I nod as my eyes begin to glow, "You've got to do something." Sophie falls back and we frown together. "What? Why's it let her go? So, okay." A man suddenly appears, "You will help me." He spoke robotically, "Right. Stop. Crashed ship, let's see. Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue. Please state the nature of your emergency." An emergency autopilot voice suddenly sounded throughout the room. "The ship has crashed. The crew are dead. A pilot is required."
"You're the emergency crash program. A hologram. What, you've been luring people up here so you can try them out?" The hologram flickers between old man, young man and girl. Clearly the faces of the ones it has killed, "You will help me. You will help me. You will help me." Sophie groans from behind us, "Craig, what is this? Where am I?" She asked with a frown as she looked around in horror. "Hush. Human brains aren't strong enough, they just burn. But you're stupid, though. You just keep trying." Theta rambled on with a frown causing me to chuckle slightly with an eye roll. Moron. "Seventeen people have been tried. Six billion four hundred thousand and twenty six remain." I raised an eyebrow at the being, really it was still trying to continue. "Seriously, what is going on?" Sophie snapped from behind us, "Oh, for goodness sake. The top floor of Craig's building is in reality an alien space ship intent on slaughtering the population of this planet. Any questions? No, good." She stared at him with a confused look before she scoffed. "Yes, I have questions." She snapped causing me to snort in response.
"The correct pilot has now been found." I went to move in front of Theta, only the autopilot system turned towards me. "Yes, I was a bit worried that you were going to say that." Theta uttered out with a wince causing my eyes to widen. Me. "He means you, Mom, doesn't he?" Fay's voice came over the Bluetooth before a sharp and electric energy grabbed ahold of me. I let out a yelp as I was forced to suspend my powers. Shit. This wasn't good at all. It starts to drag me towards the console, Theta letting out a shout as he grabs me. "The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found." I winced slightly at the tug of war my body was being forced too. "What's happening?" Amy shouted, "It's pulling Kate in. She's the new pilot." Theta shouted back as he managed to pull me back a bit before I was yanked forward again. "Could you do it? Could you fly the ship safely?"
I let out a yell as I forced my powers to stay down. It felt like I was being ripped apart, but I couldn't let myself or my powers touch this damn thing. "No, I'm way too much for this ship. My hand touches that panel, the planet doesn't blow up, the whole solar system does. If my powers touch this, the universe will explode and never reset. Everything will be gone." I gasped out in pain, "The correct pilot has been found." It spoke up once more. "No. Worst choice ever, I promise you. Stop this." Theta snaps in anger and worry as he continues to help me fight it. "Doctor? It's getting worse." Amy shouts out through the speaker, "It doesn't want everyone. Craig, it didn't want you." Theta spoke as his eyes widened looking towards the man. "I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him." Craig responded immediately, "It didn't want Sophie before but now it does. What's changed? Argh, Kate. No. No, I gave her the idea of leaving. It's a machine that needs to leave. It wants people who want to escape. And you don't want to leave, Craig. You're Mister Sofa Man."
"Craig, you can shut down the engine. Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay."
"Craig, no."
"Will it work?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Theta huffed out as he pulled my body against his, my hand extremely close to ending the world. "Is that a lie?" Craig asked looking at us with wide eyes as I yelled again. "Of course it's a lie, but its for Kate." Theta snaps in anger, "It's good enough for me. Geronimo! Argh!" Craig puts his hand on the nearest control panel and I am released, Theta and I let out yelps as I fell back on top of him. "Craig!" Sophie shouts as we quickly moved to get up. Smoke is coming off Craig's hand, "Craig, what's keeping you here? Think about everything that makes you want to stay here. Why don't you want to leave?" Theta asked as we ran towards him. "Sophie. I don't want to leave Sophie. I can't leave Sophie. I love Sophie." Craig babbled on with tears in his eyes. "I love you, too, Craig, you idiot." Sophie puts her hand on Craig's, staring at him. "Honestly, do you mean that?" He asked her with wide eyes. "Of course I mean it. Do you mean it?" She asked back with a small nervous smile, "I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"
"Yes." She laughed with tears in her eyes, Fay and I groaned together in annoyance. "What about the monkeys?" Craig asked causing us to sigh in annoyance. "Oh, not now, not again. Craig, the planet's about to burn. For God's sake, kiss the girl." Theta and Amy shout together. Craig and Sophie kiss, and his hand is released from the panel. The Tardis stops shaking, "Doctor? You've done it. Ha ha! You've done it. Oh, now the screen's just zeros. Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes. Big yes." We turned to face the pilot, "Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me." Theta's eyes widened as he grabbed my hand. "Big no." We spoke together in horror, "Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me." Craig and Sophie come up for air. "Did we switch it off?" Theta shook his head with wide eyes, "Emergency shutdown. It's imploding. Everybody out, out, out!" We all rush towards the door. "Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me Help me. Help me. Help me." The four of us run down the stairs and outside. The top floor and roof turn into the Timeship which then flies away, leaving a totally incongruous one story building at the end of an entirely two storey terrace. A man walks by carrying a child.
"Look at them. Didn't they see that? The whole top floor just vanished."
"Perception filter. There never was a top floor."
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Craig and Sophie are snogging on the sofa. We enter the lounge from our now old bedroom, Theta his back discreetly before leaving the keys on the sideboard while I move towards the door. "Oi." We both wince together as we turn to face them. "What, you're trying to sneak off?" Sophie asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, well, you were sort of busy." Theta shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "I want you to keep these." The keys. "Thank you. Because I might pop back soon, have another little stay." He winks at the man who shakes his head in response. "No, you won't. I've been in your head, remember. I still want you to keep them." Theta smiled at the man as I spoke up with a smile of my own. "Thank you, Craig." I stated gently, "Thank you, Kate, Doctor." He responded back with a laugh. "Sophie. Now then. Six billion four hundred thousand and twenty six people in the world. That's the number to beat." She laughs as well. "Yeah." We both leave with easy hearts and happy smiles on our faces.
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"Back in time. You need to go to the paper shop and leave that note for me." Theta uttered out with a smirk as we entered our home. Fay immediately rushing into our arms before Theta snatches her up. "Right little matchmaker, aren't you? Can't you find me a fellow?" Theta paused for a split second before continuing on. "Oh, rectifier's playing up again Hold on. You write the note and I'll change that will." He speaks as he turns to leave, with Fay still in his arms. "You got a pen?" Amy shouted at his back, "Make sure it's a red pen." I watch as Amy goes through his jacket pockets and finds the ring box. She opens it, and remembers a crack in her wall. My eyes glow as her eyes glaze over, something was coming. Something big. Something dark.
And it was going to end everything.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
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Sorry, guys. Been a minute. My inspiration went to shit and I've been busy with work. Ended up in the hospital again but I'm ok.
Anyway, I hope you guys like it!!
Thank you all for the love and support!!!!
Two more episodes until the end of season five.
Oof.
9,780 Words