Doctor Who, Lost Memories: Thrill Seeker [fireandblood & Villain]

Started by fireandblood, January 07, 2013, 07:27:02 PM

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fireandblood

"Firstly," Robin began, but she stopped. For a second, she ran her tongue along her teeth with an almost bemused expression on her face. "New teeth, sorry, weird." Then her eyes narrowed and she stood up from the bed, trying to walk forward. Her feet got tangled up and she fell to her knees, hard. She then sat very huffily back onto her bum before shooting the Doctor an almost conspiratorial look.

"Still getting the balance right," she said, standing again carefully. "Longer legs, wider hips, longer... hair..." She grabbed a lock of her hair and looked at it strangely before replacing it to its original position. "Black. I used to want to dye my hair black, but-" Suddenly, she shouted very loudly, clasping her hands to both sides of her head. Opening her mouth, she watched as a puff of that strange gold light came out and dissipated in the air.

"Anyway," she said, walking carefully forward. "Yes, as I was regenerating I thought mainly of the fact that you seem to like bigger hips in the hope that my new body would be tuned to your desires." Grinning broadly at the Doctor, she placed her hands on said hips, wiggling them a little. The smile faded after a second, however, as she took in the frightened and almost angry expressions on everyone's faces.

"Secondly," she said, soldiering on. "Don't make fun of Strax, I like Strax. Thirdly, how in the world could I be the new leader of the Silence? That makes no sense and you know it. Well, I think so, anyway. Well, maybe. Why do you think that?" She puckered her lips at the Doctor. "Do my new lips look like hers or something? I don't think my voice sounds anything like hers..."

Villain

"Wow...so this is how the others felt when they saw me regenerate," the Doctor spoke with amusement as he watched Robin revel in the changes of her new body before tripping over her own feet. He was surprised that he could laugh at her despite everything that was horribly wrong with their situation. "You know, it is rather funny when its not happening to me."

His laughter died down as Robin clutched her chest and let out a puff of residual regeneration energy. The display seemed to unsettle the Doctor. Clearly it reminded him of exactly what was wrong with their situation.

But as soon as this moment of seriousness had arrived it fled without a second thought as Robin began to tease the Doctor with her new body. A grin spread over his lips as he watched her and he waggled his eyebrows before saying cheekily, "Miss Baker, do you believe I am the type of Time Lord to fall prey to a woman just because she has killer curves? I am a gentlemen I'll have you know!"

"Doctor will you cease this vulgar display!" Madame Vastra hissed again, causing him to bash his head against the bars as he was startled.

"I'm sorry she's a very convincing flirt!" The Doctor exclaimed as he rubbed the spot where his head had collided with the bars.

He listened to Robin finish her list whilst he continued to massage the spot. His face slowly turning grim as she made her case for why she couldn't possibly be the leader of the Silence.

"Robin, your voice sounds exactly like hers," the Doctor spoke gravely, his caramel eyes turning hard as he watched her reaction. "Your voices are perfectly matched. You're the voice that UNIT and Torchwood couldn't locate. I know you may not believe that you're the leader of the Silence, but we have to look at the facts."

"Your voice is the same, you possess psychic powers, the Silent on the TARDIS bowed to you - something that I have never once seen a Silent do and yes, you do have the same lips," the Doctor said before frowning deeply at Robin. "And then there's the message....beware the child of time."

The Doctor paused for a moment before hesitantly asking; "Robin, do you understand whats just happened to you? Do you remember anything about your life before...humanity?"

fireandblood

Robin grinned broadly at Vastra, waggling her eyebrows at the green woman before turning her attention back to the Doctor. A laugh bubbled from her throat, light and airy compared to her speaking voice. This was proving to be a most interesting day for her, dying and then realizing she wasn't human and then regenerating and then being bashed on the head and locked in a prison cell. The thoughts whirled around her head much too quickly and she grabbed at it again, moaning.

"Good lord, Doctor," she said, closing her eyes. "Is this what it's like to be you? It's all sort of... fast and brilliant!" Her eyes flew open again and she smiled even though she was clearly avoiding the Doctor's questions. "Did you notice I'm assimilating your speech patterns? Before, I sounded like a country belle from the south of the USA, and now I sound like a right proper Brit!" Pausing for a second, she considered. "I think it's because you're the last person I thought of before... well, you know."

Further procrastinating, she started to jog in place and jump up and down, throwing her arms out to the side and spinning them in circles. When she was done, she smiled proudly at the Doctor and his friends.

"There, now I'm nice and oriented," she said, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking up and down on her heels. Her smile faded again as she stared out at all of her accusers. A sigh blew through her lips and she started to pace.

"I suppose my voice is the same, I just didn't want to think about it," she said, her voice a little softer. "Because what reason do I have for leading the Silence and putting the Earth up for grabs? I only just now realized I'm not from Earth... Why would I want to put my family and friends in danger? And when would I have had time to? I just regenerated after all!" She threw her arms up in the air, looking exasperated.

"I do understand what's happening to me, I'm a Time Lord and therefore basically a genius after all. As far as memories... Yes, Doctor, I do have one. And it's going to make you very sad but possibly happy at the same time." She leveled her dark blue eyes at him, staring hard. "I remember Romana. She was my mother. When I was a baby, she made me human and dropped my off at the Bakers' house before running back to the Time War." Poking a finger at him, she continued.

"And I know you may not believe me, but if you'll look through my memories again you'll see it's true. I had nothing of a Time Lord life before coming to Earth. But I do remember one more thing. Something that might help you believe that I have no intention of hurting you or any of the wonderful people here." Her gaze turned to everyone outside her cell before she clicked open her locket again. She shook it over the floor, and somehow out dropped two letters and a pen-looking device.

Stooping down, she picked up all of it. On the outside of one letter, a flowing script read "Robin." On the other was the word "Doctor." And as Robin looked at the pen, she smiled a little before tucking it into her pocket. Slowly, she walked forward, before handing him the letter with his name on it.

"My locket is bigger on the inside."

Villain

The Doctor's smile gradually faded from his face as he listened to Robin's rant. It wasn't as if they weren't good points and the suggestion that she was Romana's child was as possible as it was shocking....but he couldn't believe it. He couldn't trust this new woman. Even if she was of the same species as him, even if she was Romana's daughter and even if she was still Robin Baker in a sense, she was also a complete mystery. There was nothing that told the Doctor he could trust this woman, not after the Silence bowed to her, not after witnessing the advert and especially not after his attempt at scanning her head.

"I hope thats true Robin, but it needs to be something good," the Doctor spoke as Robin began to fiddle with her locket. "While you were knocked out I tried to scan your brain, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. Your psychic powers have advanced with your transformation, your mind is guarded by iron walls that I can't possibly break down. The most I could do was catch a quick glimpse...and what I heard terrified me."

A sullen look had formed on the Doctor's face, his gaze had fallen to the floor.

"Robin...I heard-" the Doctor began, but his sentence was interupted by the sound of paper falling to the floor.

The Doctor gave the letter a puzzled look as it was handed to him. Slowly and cautiously he opened it and began to read it. His face could have been made of stone as his eyes trailed over the words. He didn't show any sign of emotion, all he did was stare at the paper with an unyielding blank expression.

Slowly, he folded the letter and pocketed it before pulling out his screwdriver and pressing it to the lock of the door.

"I'm letting her out," the Doctor called back to his friends as the device began to whirr. The sound of seats scrapping against the floor and guns cocking echoed through the room as the door swung open.

"Are you mad?" Gwen cried as she stood up from her seat at the center table, pointing her gun from the Doctor to Robin, unable to decide who was the bigger threat. "That woman might be the leader of the Silence! She might be behind all this because of some weird time travel bollacs and you're just going to let her out?"

The Doctor turned to look over his shoulder at Gwen and the rest of the team. Jenny and Vastra were slowing getting out of their seats and drawing their swords whilst Sky nudged K-9 in the direction of the Doctor as she sat on the stool besides the table.

Surprisingly, Strax was not in a rush to get into the conflict, and was now scratching his bald head with one chubby finger, whilst standing protectively by Harry's side in the far corner of the room.

The Doctor looked to each of them, regarding the weapons they held and the threat they posed before saying one word; "Yes."

The room was silent as the gang gawked at the Doctor with disbelief, which only proceeded to get worse as he stepped in front of the cell, blocking Robin from harm.

"No one going to shoot Robin or cut her down," the Doctor spoke softly. "What you're going to do is put your weapons away and trust me, because if you don't then that means you intend to do me and Robin harm. And if that is your intent then that makes you my enemy and you don't want to be my enemy."

fireandblood

Robin heard everything the Doctor said. For the moment, though, she chose to not reply, thinking that maybe they should save that particular conversation for later. It was, after all, her brain they were talking about. Her expression was guarded yet pleasant as she waited for the Doctor to read his letter.

While he was doing so, she looked down at the one with her name on it. It seemed as though it was calling to her, willing her to open it and learn about her past. A tear leaked from one dark eye and she wiped it away irritably. Resisting her urges, she stuffed the letter into her pocket, to wait for when she was ready to read the information within.

And so she returned to observing. Her new eyes caught much more than her human ones had. The rise and fall of the chests belonging to each individual in the room told her that everyone save Strax was in attack mode... Which puzzled her. Of all people in the room, she would have expected Strax to be the most ready to fight her. Then again, he was created in attack mode, so perhaps his breathing wouldn't accelerate when he was about to strike. Fascinating.

She watched as Gwen's fierce eyes darted between the two Time Lords, wondering whether something would happen or if she would need to intervene. She could see Madame Vastra's fingers twitching, eager to pull out that fearsome sword. Jenny had eyes only for Harry, making sure he was safe with the Sontaran. Sky was gazing at the floor.

And the Doctor. His expression was more stony than she had ever seen it, which was almost more frightening than his anger. She could read nothing in his face, and her breath caught in her throat. What could he be thinking? Suddenly, his sonic screwdriver was pulled from his pocket.

Robin grinned and heaved a sigh of relief as he unlocked her door and pronounced that he was letting her out. Though she still saw that everyone was apparently against this idea, having the Doctor on her side was all that mattered.

"That's a relief," she said in her now-husky voice. "I had no idea what that letter said, so I'm glad it wasn't something that would have made you allow Strax to vaporize me." Looking around, she chuckled, but the laughter died when she caught the still-angry expressions of the humans and other species. Her face grew serious.

"Look. I understand that you don't trust me. Seeing someone not only completely change form but change into something that should be impossible is probably most disconcerting. I wouldn't trust myself either if I were you. Especially not with the... Similarities... Between myself and the person who caused all this mess. I'm going to admit... It might be me. But right now, right here, I am on your side." She looked with earnest at each face individually before leaning close to the Doctor and whispering almost inaudibly in his ear.

"We need to talk."

Villain

"We do," the Doctor said with a nod before taking Robin by the wrist and pulling her out of the entrance to the underground base and over to the van, hopping over pieces of Cybermen as they moved. The van that waited outside now looked as if it had been barbequed and fried repeatedly. More than likely it had been caught in the crossfire of the Cybermen attack.

"There's something you have to understand, Robin," the Doctor spoke as he let go of her wrist and turned to face her. "I mean you no harm. I don't cause fights, I respond to them. Usually I never attack anyone unless they mean to do me or any innocent person harm," the Doctor said sternly before breathing in deep and exhaling slowly.

"But I swear," he began, his voice forming a growl. "If you're some psychotic Time Lord from the later days of the Time War or if you're somehow the Master's or Rassilion's later regeneration or perhaps just the Silence's next vanity project. I will end you." The Doctor's eyes were burning intensly as he watched Robin's face carefully, noting her reaction to the threat. "If you turn out to be a threat after all of this, after putting an entire race into a catatonic state, after offering up this amazing planet as a prize to be won in a silly little war game and after using Robin Baker and Romana against me. I will not hesitate to fight you."

He stepped forwards and leaned in close, his fiery eyes boring into the calm blue of Robin's gaze. "I will make you pay a thousand times over, just like I did with the Wire and Skinrad, the Dalek's and the Toymaker. I will make you regret everything."

The Doctor held the stare for a few seconds more before a smile slowly broke out over his lips. "But...I don't think you are any of those things Robin Baker," he said with amusement before gazing over her slowly. "I think you're just one of those impossible things. Something that defies all logic and crushes all odds. Something that is irrational and cannot be explained no matter how hard you try."

"You know what we call those things Robin?" The Doctor asked before grabbing her by the shoulders and grinning with more delight than a child on Christmas Day. "We call them miracles."

fireandblood

Robin let the Doctor pull her to the van, walking calmly along behind him with a completely neutral expression. At the last moment, she turned back to the group and gave them a reassuring smile before she and the Doctor disappeared from the base. With a deep breath, she brought her eyes up to meet his as he turned to look at her. The fire in his eyes was unmistakable.

With another gulp of air, she tried her best to keep her cool and not let her face betray her fear. Robin had seen this look in the Doctor's eyes before... This anger, this seriousness, this threatening glare that he had now. But it was the first time any of these emotions had ever been directed toward her. It made her sad, to see him this cross with her... When all she had done was become something that he should have wanted.

Still, though, she kept her calm as he stared into her eyes. The deep blue held no trace of her anxiety, only revealing tranquility and the happiness she felt anytime her Doctor was near. Then, however, he started to smile. And when that happened, Robin sighed, her eyes closing, and smiled back. When he had finished speaking, she opened them again, and he would be able to see that tears were threatening to spill over.

"Okay Doctor," she began, still getting used to the deeper sound of her voice. Though she could hear its resemblance to the woman's in the advert, it held none of the menacing undertone they had heard in that person's message. Hopefully that was a good thing. "I have a couple things to tell you and then five very important questions to ask." She looked into his golden eyes, grinning widely.

"Now, as far as I know, I am not an incarnation of some psychotic Time Lord, Master or Rassilon or otherwise. I'm just Robin, human Robin who was changed by Romana as a baby. But hear me on this." Her eyes grew more serious, and her face stern. "In my present state of mind, as simply Robin... If I were to turn out to be any of those things... Well I, here and now, am telling  you that I would want you to make me pay. What's being done here is horrible and I absolutely hate it and want it to end. And if it turns out that I actually do have to die for that... Well, you know." The grin returned then.

"Also... HOW FLIPPING COOL IS THIS?" Her voice grew to an excited pitch and her eyes shone. "I'm a damn Time Lord!" For a moment, she danced in place, still looking a little lanky and uncoordinated. After she finished, she continued smiling at him and calmed down a little.

"Now... for the important questions." Her expression took on a tinge of worry, but she soon pushed it back and replaced her pleasant look. "One. What was in the letter that made you let me out?" Her questions were burning inside her, needing to be answered and soon.

"Two. What do I look like?" The tone implied a question of whether or not she was attractive. "I can feel that I'm taller, I know I have black hair... As you said before I have bigger hips... But what do I really look like? It seems like a silly question but I want to know. From your perspective."

"Three. What did you hear inside my head?" This particular question scared her a little, for she had seen the Doctor's expression when mentioning it and it didn't bode well.

"Four. If I tried, could I lift those 'iron walls' you talked about and let you see in my head? I want everyone to trust me, Doctor, and I know they won't unless you can somehow prove to them that I don't mean them any harm." Then, the grin widened, and she held her arms out.

"Five. And this, Doctor, is the most important question of them all... Can I have a hug?"

Villain

The Doctor listened patiently to her responses and problems, the smile on his face growing a little brighter every minute. After she was finished he didn't hesitate to step forwards and pull her into a tight hug that took her off her feet.

"After saying exactly what I was hoping you would say you can have one of these," he said before twirling on the spot with her in his arms before setting her down onto the ground and beaming at her with delight. "And to answer your first question, yes, it is flipping cool. Bizarre, horrifying, shocking and amazing, but also flipping cool."

He let go of her shoulders and stepped back scratching his chin as he thought over her other questions. His apprehension seemed to have faded away and now he looked over her curiously, wrapped in deep thought. "Those walls that surround your head are a reflex. Your powers seem to be driven by a certain amount of instinct. It may take a while for you to learn how to drop them......but that won't be necessary, because I know what's inside your head."

He crossed his arms over his chest and grimaced at Robin. It looked as if he was bracing himself, much like a regular Doctor would before he broke terrible news to an unfortunate patient.

"What I heard in your head is something called the Eternal Code. You wouldn't know anything about it even with your memories intact, because it happened during the Time War," the Doctor explained, his voice sounding as hollow as it always did when he mentioned the foulest war in history. "The Eternal Code is a Time Lords version of Enigma Machines, specially encrypted telepathic messages that even the Daleks couldn't decode, because they could only be heard by Time Lords and decoding the messages required the use of a TARDIS."

"At some point during our travels the message was sent to you. The chameleon arch, the device that turned you from a Time Lord to a human, couldn't suppress the power of your telepathy, so it leaked over into your human form, giving just enough power to pick up the signal. But your head couldn't make sense of it. Instead it came out as an irritating beeping," the Doctor explained whilst indicating to her forehead with his fingers. "Now that you're a Time Lord the message is buried quietly in the back of your head, but once you get within range of a TARDIS it will activate and continue to repeat until its extracted through the TARDIS's own psychic force."

"So can understand why I am afraid Robin. The Eternal Code was an invention from the Time War. It could mean that something worse is on the horizon. Perhaps it could mean that the Time War isn't over and that soon it may spill into this world," the Doctor said, sounding more crestfallen by the minute.

The worry was evident in his eyes. He didn't need to explain why that would be so bad, the reason was obvious.

If the Time War leaked into their world, everything would die.

fireandblood

Robin squeezed her eyes shut and hugged the Doctor tightly as he spun her around, lifting her off the ground like a child. When he set her down, she beamed at him, her smile bright and her eyes dancing with merriment. It was the reaction she'd hoped for... No more of the apprehension and fear that had greeted her when she'd been changed.

Her face grew thoughtful as he began to speak. Then it became a little more grim as he spoke of what he had seen inside her mind. The Eternal Code... He was right, she had no idea what it was. Even with all this new knowledge in her mind, she had no idea of the things that had gone on during the Time War, since she'd been brought to Earth at the start of it. As she thought, she twisted a strand of black hair around her finger over and over.

Then, she had to look away as he implied that her going near a TARDIS again could potentially bring the Time War to the Earth. What was the point in being a Time Lord if you couldn't travel through time and space? And even if the Eternal Code didn't bring back the Time War, it could be something different that the code would bring. Perhaps not quite so terrible, but bad enough all the same. Robin sighed. She hadn't been a normal human... and now she couldn't even be a normal Time Lord.

After a few seconds, she straightened, smiling brightly at the Doctor.

"That settles it then!" she said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'll just never go near a TARDIS again!" She then gave him a stern look. "By the way, you skipped two of my questions, you sly devil you."

Villain

"Don't be stupid. Of course you're going near the TARDIS again," the Doctor protested before walking past Robin with a shake of his head. "I can't just leave you by yourself wandering around. I'm already run ragged by keeping track of one cheeky Time Lord woman, I don't have the patience for two."

"Not to mention I'm as fascinated by what the message in your head says as I am terrified by it," the Doctor said before looking back at Robin over his shoulder and winking at her. "You're not getting away from me again Miss Baker."

"Besides, if I let you go gallivanting off then an old friend of mine would be very angry," the Doctor added before shrugging innocently. "According to the letter she said that if anything happened to you she would break a tennis bat over my head and kick me into a black hole before throwing my shoes into an imploding dwarf star."

"As for how you look...." The Doctor began before he turned back to Robin. He looked her up and down and then circled her once before sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Well...you're not bad to look at."

"You've got black hair, I'm a fan of black hair. And you've got blue eyes, which is nice because I'm also a fan of blue as you can tell by the coat," the Doctor said before gesturing to his duffel coat with a small shrug.

"As for the rest of you..." the Doctor began, his eyes drifting downwards. For a moment the Doctor just stared, looking rather oblivious as he struggled for the right words. "Well...you know...its...your....yeah!" He mumbled, his fingers making slight gestures to Robin's body before he turned on the spot and marched back towards the base.

"Just...keep it up," the Doctor awkwardly called back to her as he walked away at a brisk pace.

fireandblood

The whole time the Doctor spoke, Robin's grin grew wider and brighter. Here he was again, her Doctor, cheeky and awkward and brilliant. A laugh escaped her as he explained what Romana had said in her letter. One finger drifted down to the pocket which contained Robin's own letter. She wondered what it would say... She was almost too scared to read it.

But of course, she would.

As the Doctor studied her, Robin placed her hands on her hips, jutting one out to the side jauntily. The laughter in her eyes danced madly as he awkwardly tried to describe what she looked like. Robin had, of course, seen herself in a mirror before leaving the cell... She just wanted to see the Doctor squirm. It was oh so much fun, his squirming.

When he walked away, she jogged and caught up to him, slapping his bum before flouncing off in front of him, hips swaying. She reached the door and turned back, leaning against the frame and waiting for him.

"Oh I'll keep it up," she said conspiratorially. "Especially if you get all flustered like this when you look at me." One blue eye closed in a wink before she followed him back into the bunker.

"Now tell me, Doctor, why do I have the sudden urge to wear boots and get a tattoo?"

Villain

The Doctor let out a high pitched yelp as he backside was slapped and stared after Robin with an astonished look on his roughly shaven face. For the first time in a long while, the Doctor suddenly felt a little self conscious about the fuzz on his face and the length of his shaggy hair. Paranoid urges to visit a barbers shop flooded into his head as he watched Robin strut before him.

A lump seemed to form in his throat as he watched his once innocent companion's hips sway before she leaned against the door frame and winked at him with a smile that could have rivaled the Devil's.

"You behave yourself girl," the Doctor said as he past, waggling his finger at her like a teacher telling off a student. "You may be more telepathically powerful than me and you may be Romana's daughter, but I'm still older than you and that makes me in charge. So behave or I will spank you!"

The Doctor froze as he stepped through the doorway and registered six pairs of eyes and one robotic optical sensor staring at him from the center table. Madame Vastra raised her scaly brow questioningly at the Doctor whilst Jenny, Sky and Strax sniggered at the look on his face.

"So..." the Doctor said, his gaze dropping to the ground as he scratched his head sheepishly. "You all heard that."

fireandblood

Robin laughed uproariously at the Doctor's flustered state. It felt nice to be the one making him feel bewildered for a change instead of the other way around. All this energy just coursing through her body... The expansive state of her mind... It was all so overwhelmingly brilliant that she simply couldn't stop herself from being exuberant.

As Robin joined him in front of the others, her smile never left her face. Cocking her head to the side, she squinted at him before winking again.

"Is that a promise, Doctor?" she asked innocently. "If so, I'll have to misbehave more often." She looked back at the group of mismatched people in the room and winked at them as well, as if sharing in some sort of inside joke.

"Right you lot," she said, placing both hands on her hips once more. "The tides have turned. You now have two Time Lords on your side instead of just one. How does that make you feel?"

Villain

"Like I want to put a bullet through your head," Gwen replied bluntly before looking at the Doctor. "Are you sure about this Doctor? You said she could be the new leader of the Silence, what if she's just playing you for a fool?"

"Then I'll deal with it. Please trust me Gwen, Robin is here to help," the Doctor replied before turning to face the group. "I need to get to TARDIS, but we're in a bit of a pickle. The van is wrecked and so is the security of this place. This door is not going to be shutting anytime soon."

"Good, then that means we shall have to take the fight to the surface!" Strax roared before jumping onto the table and raising his fists in triumph. "Tonight I will spice my fluid intake with the blood of my enemies!"

"Strax, get off the table," Madame Vastra sighed heavily. "I know what you're about to ask Doctor. And yes, we shall do it."

"Do what?" Sky asked, looking about the room in confusion.

"The door is broken, which means that any of the creatures from above can get into this room and harm the humans that are being held in our cells. Someone needs to be here to guard them, so I will stay and defend them while the rest of you help the Doctor reach the TARDIS"

"Not on your bloody life!" Jenny snapped, slamming her fists against the table. "There is no way I am leaving you to fight an army by yourself! Your own kind are out there searching for you, they believe you're a traitor to their race. Do you think I'm going to leave you to deal with that by yourself?"

"My dear, you can't stay. Someone needs to look after out son," Madame Vastra spoke with a frown, refusing to make eye contact with the young Victorian Cockney. "You must go with the Doctor. I shall be fine."

"Yes you will, because Jenny is going to stay with you," the Doctor spoke, his eyes meeting Vastra's as they looked up from the table with a look of intense fury. The Doctor didn't budge, he stared back with a calm look on his face, showing that there was no negotiation. "You two will stay here and guard the place with Gwen, Sky and Harry. Its the safest way to protect everyone."

"Why can't I come with you Doctor?" Sky asked with a frown.

"And why are you leaving me behind?" Gwen asked with a scowl. "Don't tell me you're just going to go out there alone with only Strax and that possibly dangerous woman at your side!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," the Doctor replied as he looked at the two. "Sky I'm leaving you here to get the Jammer built into K-9 online and keep it running. Once you've done that this place will go off the grid to anyone with advanced radar technology, from the Cybermen to the the Autons."

"As for you Gwen, the reason is simple," the Doctor said before nodding at the cells. "Its your husband and child in there. If we succeed in bringing them out of this state I want the first thing they see to be you."

"Then... we are going to war?" Strax asked hesitantly, still stood on the table like an ornamental center piece.

"Yes Strax, we're going to war. Your blood thirsty mind is needed," the Doctor said with a sigh and rolled his eyes at Robin. "Go fetch the biggest gun you have. We're going to need it if we want to get out of here alive," the Doctor said before letting out a shout as Strax jumped off the table and practically skipped to the weapons locker in the medical bay.

"Oi! Take that spring out your step! Don't think I'm happy that I'm letting you use that stupid laser cannon of yours," the Doctor pouted before his mouth fell open as Strax pulled out an enormous futuristic rifle from the locker. It was the size of a steel girder and had multiple glowing red energy cells burning within its magazine. It looked as if a single shot from the rifle would blow up a building.

"Strax...where did you get that abomination?" The Doctor asked.

Strax looked at the gun for a second before shrugging and simply replying with; "Found it."

fireandblood

"Well thank you dear, I like you too," Robin replied to Gwen simply, the smile never leaving her face. Her fierce desire to have this strange crew like and trust her did not show on her face. She knew that simple words would never make it happen, that she would have to somehow prove herself to them. Steel formed inside her as she looked at all of their faces.

She would do whatever she needed to do.

When Strax jumped onto the table, Robin let out a loud laugh, watching the deformed-looking man put his fists in the air. She was really getting to like Strax, even if he was a war-hungry dwarf. Her eyes scanned the room as they all continued talking, taking everything in. It seemed a long shot, but if the Doctor had some sort of plan, Robin had faith.

She could see the fierce looks that all of the women were giving the Doctor. It was hard not to smile... It seemed that no matter where the Doctor went, he would always be surrounded by some sort of mob of angry women. Robin chuckled as she realized she wasn't sure whether to be amused or perhaps jealous. How strange, she thought, shaking her head.

Another laugh bubbled from her as Strax flounced his way to the weapons closet, but the laugh died as he pulled out the gun. Her mouth popped open.

"Ooh, I like that." She then shook her head. "Wait. Do I like guns? No, no I don't think I do. That's heinous." But she still laughed at his comment about having found the weapon. Hopefully if the tiny warrior made it through the oncoming battle and so did she, they would be friends. Of a sort... Robin wasn't quite sure how good of friends one could be with a Sontaran.

"Everyone," she said, her voice soft but still carrying. "I'm not going to let you down. But if I do... the Doctor and Strax are guarding me. And you can bet that dear Strax would not hesitate to turn my brain into paste. Isn't that right, Straxy boy?"

Villain

"Without a moments hesitation you puny little human girl," Strax said proudly, punching his hand into the air and banging it against his chest.

"Strax..." the Doctor began.

"Oh, sorry, I mean... Without a moments hesitation you puny little human boy!"

"Strax! Time Lord! Remember?" The Doctor exclaimed before sighing heavily. "Come on, lets go get ourselves killed for some silly noble reason."

"Good luck Doctor," Madame Vastra called after him as he walked through the doors. "You too Robin. Stay safe and try not to get in the way of Strax when he starts shooting. He gets a bit carried away."

"Yes I do!" Strax roared before marching over to the door and following the Doctor, laughing as if today was the happiest day of his life. Which in a Sontaran's case, might not have been such an unreasonable thing to assume.

"The first thing we'll need is some method of transportation. We have to make it past a bridge full of battling aliens, most of which will be the most fearsome and brutal, for they're the ones who have been strong enough to survive the last few hours of combat," the Doctor spoke before looking towards Strax. "Come on Strax, you're a tactical kind of dude, what do you suggest?"

"Our underground base has three grand chambers which are all accessible from this location. One chamber is for communications, the other is currently for the possession and comfort of the red headed woman known as Donna Noble and the final chamber contains the vehicles that UNIT and Torchwood wished to be relocated. I suggest we ransack it!"

"Good plan Strax!" The Doctor said before pulling out his screwdriver and pointing it at one of the remaining walls. After a brief moment of whirring from the device, the wall sank down into the floor and revealed a large show room that contained many different vehicles.

Unfortunately, most of them were broken, but amongst the sphere shaped ships, the broken down buses with rocket boosters, the large grey silos and large rotor blades, was something that made the Doctor let out a yell of pure unbridled joy.

"Oh my... Leftbridge, I knew you couldn't have got rid of her. She's just too beautiful," the Doctor spoke before striding through the miniature junkyard and jumping into the seat of a bright canary yellow roadster car. He honked the horn and beamed, laughing excitedly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a car key.

"Robin, Strax, meet BESSIE! The other love of my life!" The Doctor called with a devilish grin before turning the key in the car and starting its engine, causing it to roar and slowly creep out from amongst the metal. "Forget the TARDIS we're going to win the war with this!"

fireandblood

"Right the first time though Strax, definitely a girl in here," Robin said, fondly patting the gruff Sontaran on the shoulder. With a devilish grin, she added, "Though I'm sure you don't have to tell the Doctor that." Laughing, she turned back to Madame Vastra and gave her a wink before saluting the team and addressing them.

"Thanks Vastra," she said. "Everyone please keep yourselves alive. I want you all here when I get back so that you can pass judgement on me together." She pointed accusingly at each of them in turn. "Good luck. And here we go." With that, she turned on the spot, running to catch up with the Doctor and Strax. Looking down, she noticed the hole in her silvery shirt and frowned.

"Oh, I liked this shirt," she complained. "Well, I guess I'll have to change anyway. These clothes are a bit too tight for me. What do you think, Doctor?" But he was more focused on finding the apparent love of his life, Bessie. Grinning, Robin walked over to the yellow car and yanked open the passenger side before hopping in.

"Quite the ride here, Doctor," she said with a laugh. But before Strax could get in, Robin grabbed the Doctor's arm and looked at him very seriously. "Doctor, listen. What's going to happen when we get near the TARDIS? What if... what if the message is from the Time War? We can't bring that here... And you're seriously asking for it by taking me there." For a second, she hesitated, arguing with herself internally. But then she looked at the Doctor with a determined look.

"Also, I wanted to do something very important. I wanted to say thank you. If this is it, if I'm going to change or die or do something horrible and this is my last sane moment alone with you, I wanted to say thank you and do something I told you I wouldn't do again." With that, she smiled, placing a hand on his cheek.

And then Robin Baker kissed the Doctor.

Villain

"I have to take you there Robin. If you're somehow part of the Silence's plan then that means that they may be trying to do things that are out of their control. If the message in your head hints at anything to do with the Time War, then we have to deal with it now before they try something even more daring," the Doctor explained whilst driving the yellow car out of the garage and beginning to turn it into the slope to the surface. Strax had hopped in behind them and was now checking his aim by balancing the huge gun on certain parts of the car, he appeared to be satisfied with all of the angles.

"We need this to be in our control. Not someone elses. If its a link that someone is trying to use to bring the Time War into our world, then we should be able to severe it by cutting the connection on our end," the Doctor said before turning to her and giving her a grin. "Besides, if you are a part of the Silence's plan, the last thing they would expect is for me to do something irresponsible like this."

The light of the London evening crept over them as they emerged from the tunnel and tore onto the road. The Doctor let out a cheer as they landed on it with a bump, right before Robin grabbed him and laid a kiss upon his lips.

The car swerved and let out a screech as the Doctor's concentration became divided between driving and the utter shock of being kissed by Robin. When she pulled back he gawked at her, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide from shock.

"Sir are you all right?" Strax asked with a groan, having fallen over from the Doctor's sudden swerve. He pointed his gun at Robin's head and glared her down with a sneer, his finger pressing lightly on the trigger. "Did she attempt to kill you with poison? I saw some very suspicious movements between her mouth and yours."

"Uh...it was...N-Nothing Strax" the Doctor stammered, his voice weak and strained, as if he had just spent an hour shouting. "She just slipped me the tongue, thats all."

fireandblood

Robin laughed again, giving Strax a pat on his bulbous head. Then her hand went to her neck and massaged a bit as she felt the whiplash from the Doctor's sudden swerve. This was definitely proving to be a most interesting day. It seemed as though impulses were a bit harder to control in this body... But as she thought about it, perhaps it wasn't the Time Lord in her that made it hard. Maybe it was the new personality. A cheeky grin spread across her mouth.

"It's called a kiss, Strax," she said, looking at the Sontaran. "I'd say we could try it sometime, but I'm not that desperate for attention." Her gaze turned back to the Doctor and she smirked.

"Hold on a bit. Did you just say people wouldn't expect you to do something reckless? Because in my time with you, it has been my experience that nearly everything you do is reckless. Which doesn't bother me, not in the slightest, but you can't say I'm wrong." She winked. "I suppose we'll just have to hope."

Looking out the window, she smiled again, a little more sincerely. London was beautiful, even in the middle of an interstellar battle. It was a place she'd always longed to see, maybe after college or something when she had money. A laugh bubbled from her as she realized that she'd even seen other planets before she'd seen England. Her grin turned more devilish as she looked back at the Doctor.

"I love this whole new ability of mine. Making the Doctor all flabbergasted and weak in the knees," she said, tucking her feet under her. "I always thought you liked blondes, but now I'm learning your penchant for tall, dark, and mysterious." Cocking her head to the side, she added. "By the way, now that I'm a Time Lord, do I get a vague nickname? Maybe I could be the Vixen, or the Siren." Pointing a finger accusingly at him, she narrowed her eyes. "You took the only good one, you sod."

Villain

"I'm trying to be an optimist Robin, work with me here!" The Doctor exclaimed at Robin's comment before roughly turning the car to one side in order the smouldering wreck of a large spaceship that appeared to have been shot down and crashed into Big Ben. The Doctor was starting to feel sorry for the huge clock, spaceships seemed to enjoy crashing into it.

Explosions caught his attention as they turned back onto west minster bridge. The fighting seemed to have moved on from the grand bridge, but there were still remanants of some species battling it out on its surface. He could already see the remains of a gang of rhinocerus headed aliens dressed in black firing away at a trio of Rutans, who divided their attack between them and a small band of golden robots dressed in Father Christmas Costumes.

"If you're going to start thinking of a name, how about Pest? Because right now, you're being one!" The Doctor exclaimed, his cheeks red from blushing whilst he steered the car between the wreckage and the numerous bodies that covered the bridge, from Cybermen to Silurians to huge piles of what appeared to be sugar and metal. "Now try to keep your hands off me Vixen because I'm going to try really hard at driving this loud car past the aliens ahead of us without attracting their attention"

"Die! Die! Die!" Strax yelled as he began firing his rifle, sending huge lines of burning red energy at the hovering Rutans, cutting one of the gelatinous creatures in two and causing it to explode in a shower of green vapor and sparks.

"I'm going to pretend that Strax didn't just do that," the Doctor growled as he changed gear and sent BESSIE tearing across the bridge, knocking the christmas robots out of the way as it bowled into them.

fireandblood

"Oi, you know you like it, Doctor," Robin said, the grin never leaving her face. "You can hardly blame me, I'm just bursting with regeneration energy and my head is so full of stuff I feel I could just... explode." Another cheeky laugh escaped her. "So you've chosen Vixen... But maybe that one will just have to stay between the two of us."

She watched the battle with her dark eyes, taking in the dismembered corpses and the deactivated robot parts. Pieces of flesh and metal lay in smoking heaps across the road, and the sounds of guns firing echoed around them. Then Robin jumped as Strax began firing, the loud noise filling the car with its strange sounds. She giggled as he shouted at the aliens.

"Well, so much for not attracting attention," she said, grinning as they knocked over the Christmas robots. "Does that mean I get to put my hands on you again, Doctor?"

Villain

"Of course not, we'll crash if you try to pounce on me again!" The Doctor exclaimed before swerving again to avoid knocking into the rhino headed aliens, who seemed unsure whether to open fire on the antique car. "I swear Vixen if you put your hands on me again I'm going to make good on that promis I made earlier!"

"Sir, the Rutans are adjusting to the energy output of Starldemar!" Strax spoke as he fired another shot of red death at the Rutans who were now projecting barriers of green energy around themselves that reflected the beam at the rhino aliens, who were vaporised upon contact with the violent energy.

"What's Starldemar?" The Doctor yelled back to the Sontaran. "Don't te me that's what you've named your gun!"

"Very well, I will not tell you!" Strax called before ducking to avoid another blast from the Rutans bioelectric bolts.

"Stop being clever Strax, just give the darn thing here!" The Doctor snapped before pulling out his screwdriver and pointing it at Strax's rifle as he fired another shot.

The beam immediately changed from a burning red to a powerful pulsating blue. The blast knocked the Rutans out the air, causing them to float to the ground and land peacefully on the floor.

"Sir, I don't think our plan worked," Strax called to the Doctor. "The Rutans are still alive!"

"Really? Well isn't that a surprise?" The Doctor asked before they turned off the bridge and went thundering down one of the main roads.

fireandblood

"Oh, fine, hands to myself," Robin sighed. "But that only applies to now, when I get you alone in the TARDIS you're certainly in for it." She watched the ongoing battle carefully, taking in all the information she could about every alien they saw. It was so strange, seeing everything with new eyes, with a new body. She knew she was still herself but... It was all so different and amazing. And a little sad. She still laughed, however, when Strax made a joke.

"Strax, stop being clever, it doesn't suit you!" Her voice was cheery, but she kept looking out the window so that the Doctor couldn't see her eyes.

The closer they got to the TARDIS, the more she could sense it. The message, buried deep in her mind, was trying to push its way to the front. But Robin did not want to know what it said. She wished she would never have to find out. So, with all her might, she pushed it back. And it made her head hurt, so fiercely, that her eyes started to water.

One hand drifted up to her temple. She tried to make it look like she was scratching her head, but she kneaded the flesh there, trying to get some reprieve from the pain. But nothing she did helped. It was so frightening, knowing that someone had planted something in your head so long ago... Something you'd never known was there... Something that could possibly mean the end of everything.

Villain

"Down Vixen, I'm a Time Lord, not a piece of meat," the Doctor replied to Robin before looking back over his shoulder at Strax. "Nice shooting Strax. Now put down the gun before you blow us all up."

"Sir, I am a Sontaran warrior. I am perfectly capable of firing this weapon without endangering my comrades," Strax grumbled, locking and loading the weapon with a loud click. The gun hummed threateningly as the power cells inside it prepared to fire again.

"Strax, you're a nurse, you heal the wounded and the sick and have very few opportunities to let out your inner warrior, you're a ticking time bomb when you've got a gun," the Doctor warned as he looked back and fourth between Strax and the road. "Plus, your eyes need testing. You clearly have perception problems."

"What?" Strax cried with outrage. "Sir! My vision is perfect! I am able to blast the wart off the backside of an Absorbaloth from six hundred feet away!"

"I'm not talking about your aim. I'm talking about how you haven't noticed the small boy has been hiding under your seat," the Doctor replied before nodding to the small boy with messy hair that stared up at the Doctor with a guilty look on his innocent little face. "Harry, your mothers are going to kill me."

fireandblood

"Quite right, Doctor, but you do look pretty tasty if you ask me," Robin replied, giggling. She eyes Strax's gun nervously as it began to power up, scooting forward a little in her chair to get as far away from it as she could in the car. When the Doctor mentioned Harry, though, her eyes bugged out. Holding a hand back to him, she smiled reassuringly.

"Like to come out, sweetheart?" she asked softly. "Why did you tag along?" If he replied, she didn't hear it, for a blinding pain reverberated through her head. Quickly, she turned her face away, looking toward the window again. A small, strangled noise escaped her, but she doubted anyone heard it in the car. The message, whatever it was, was still doing its best to break through the walls in her mind.

She allowed three tears to escaped before she sucked it all up and wiped the little drips off her face. After a moment, she composed herself, and turned back toward her companions with a cheery smile.