A/N:

Heya guys! Kitty's back with a long chapter this week. I really hope your're enjoying this story as much as I am. Sorry to all this RiverDoctor shippers out there but I on,y ship them a little and I don't particularly like River that much. I do love her personality though so I'll try to make her as River-like as possible. I do however ship Thoschei and TenRose or DoctorRose (that means ThirteenRose too) so those are going to be my main focus along with JackIanto over the next chapters. I'll try and get another chapter done for tomorrow but might not happen so in which case I will post some time in the week. Still got catch-up work to do from when I was sick so. Anyways, 4005 words. Enjoy!

Disclaimer

I don't own DW no matter how hard I wish. And I admit, I probably haven't met anyone famous in my life apart from the Belgian Queen. Would you believe she actually speaks English?! I met her at a museum and she's lovely. I went with my mum and my sis and I'm rambling again. Oh well?

It was approximately six days into imprisonment- she'd been trying to count- and the blonde had mapped the abhorrent room fully in her head creating a perfect blue-print. It was officially un-escape-able, it was colder than the sea, it was deadly silent, it was eerily empty, it was as lonely as the ruins of Gallifrey. Before long on her first day, she'd found herself talking to the dripping, kelp-covered walls as she paced in pointless circles and laughed at nothing. First step to insanity, who'd have thought a women like herself could drive herself so insane and make herself such an emotional wreckage that she let more unstable than her best friend. This cycle of depressing life (if you could even call it that) had become her sad, daily routine. Her usually bouncy hair was now curled with the water droplets it had collected over the week and hung miserably at the base of her neck, darkened and twisted like her soul. Thankfully, she was still wearing her long, grey trench-coat however it didn't seem to be making a difference as even her superior biological systems began to collapse. Opting on snuggling up, she pulled her coat tightly around her curved feminine form (which she still hadn't got used to) and slid down the slimy wall beneath her single, barred window into outer space. All alone, she shivered uncontrollably letting all the unshed tears roll down her cheeks silently as she tucked her head into her knees. Arms surrounded her legs protectively as she shook pointless with each small sob. The last sane Time-Lord in existence reduced to this mess, this incapable and worthless child- all alone. Could she even have the title anymore? The only other one of her kind: dead all because of her. Her very own childhood friend, Koschei. Oh so perfect until that day, the chosen one and the drums. Now she was stuck in Storm Cage for a reason she could not comprehend but, as one does in a hopeless situation, she let the guilt and regret of all her lives poured down on her like weights causing her to crumple under the sheer mass. She held back the tears as she fought back anger, she felt so naïve and knowledge-less. This regeneration demanded utmost care and affection, in ways this was the weakest incarnation she'd ever had but she loved it still. Being a women, being so happy and energetic whilst wearing her heart on her sleeve; being expressive of her emotions with a large dose of self-control. Until now. Her façade was cracked along with her dignity and usually strong ego. It was wrong to give up, she knew, but the darkness-the peace-the easiness of just giving yourself away was just so inviting. She wanted out, wanted to rest someplace nobody could find her. Perhaps this place wasn't so bad on those terms. Like all broken heroes, she began to shut herself out from the world. Mental barriers crashing down, unchanged expression attached to her face and she just stared. Stared at the wall like it had deeply offended her. Rassilon, it hurt. All this emotional pain she now felt, it KILLED. Every companion she'd left behind, lost or let down: her dear grandchild- Susan, her friends Barbara and Ian, Vicki and Steven and Katrina, Polly, Ben and Dorothea, Jamie and Victoria, Zoe, even Sergeant Benton and the Brigadier L.S along with his daughter Katie Lethbridge-Stewart, then Liz, Mike and Jo, Leela, the bright Sarah-Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, the Gallifreyan Time-Lady Romana, Adric and Nyssa, Tegan, Ace Mel and Peri, then there was her post-Time War saviour Rose, her good friends ever since Martha and Donna, her amazing daughter Jenny and Jack, poor Adelaide and Astrid, good old Harriet Jones and all those awe-inspiring parents that had joined the fight too, her amazing Ponds and of course Madame Vastra and Jenny, everyone that ever saved him/her, her wife River and the darling Bill, Nardole and finally her current companions. She'd doomed all of them at some point.

How would she ever now if Ryan, Yas and Graham were ok? Maybe they got sent too far in the future, or even the past! Another blow to the head. She felt the load of every loss or anguished death push down on her. A surge of optimism ran through the room, and it was not her own never the less, it was welcomed with open arms. She was compelled to think of every moment that made her the Doctor: that tongue-touched grin, 'professor!', her very good dog: K-9, Gallifrey and the academy, floating hospitals or walking fat, a loving couple of Ponds, Spoilers, the sonic-sunglasses, the bow-tie. Every iconic Doctor-y thing she'd ever loved. If this was her first week here, Rassilon knows how she was gonna cope for the rest of eternity. After finally deciding that crying over the past was not going to help, she began to contemplate everything she had learnt. She was the Timeless Child but what did the name mean, what hid behind the title. What was she really if she is the real founder of Gallifrey? She was something new. The flow of rational thought was thrown out the window as a sudden wave of fury knocked her of course like a charging bull and she hurled her coat at the wall in an attempt to expel the horrid anger. Immediately feeling guilty, she ran over and picked it up. With a shudder, she slipped it back over her pink version of the original, Tardis-blue shirt she'd bought back on day two. Being the picky person she'd become in this body, the blonde Gallifreyan had her sentient ship create several identical shirts in different colours: sky-blue, burgundy, sunny-yellow, black, white, blue-green and sapphire-blue. She liked blue, pink and yellow. What could she say apart from so much for that. She was stuck out in pink, in a dark-grey cell, without her beautiful ghost-monument, without her Fam, without any hope. Another pulse of fiery rage pushed its way into her head and she frowned. It was almost as if these feelings weren't her own it was highly likely that there was a dangerous telepath in the neighbouring cell having a scuffle. She got up and put her ear against the wall to her left- nothing. With a sigh and exaggerated stumbles, she crumpled against the other wall to her right- nothing. It was deadly silent both sides and the Doctor shivered unintentionally as something probed her mental barriers gently. Curious, the slim women made her way to where the door had been. Being very careful not to get into trouble, because that was the last thing she wanted to do right now, she leaned against it and slowly put her right ear to the wet rock. In alarm, she leapt back from the wall and collapsed on the floor. There was most definitely something unpleasant going on outside her cell. She should stay in here and keep out of the way. It was probably nothing. She should really, REALLY, just leave it. Her incapacitated curiosity flooded all negative thoughts as she slid her hands into the trans-dimensional pockets of her coat. Sonic, sonic, sonic, sonic, oh. It was gone. Feeling useless and uncapable, she scuffed her feet as she limp-shuffled to the back of her horrid cell. Steadying herself below the window, the Doctor slowly opened her mind up to the world, immediately freezing as one familiar, close-to-heart mental signature revealed itself and pushed against her own: the Master. Breathing deeply, the stunning Time-Lady closed her eyes and pressed, she pressed on the bond she shared with her other and pressured him. She needed it, she needed contact. All she could think of was having someone in her mind, someone to fill that hole of loneliness. She didn't even understand why, but this craving was so desperate. She cried out quietly as she was pushed back outside his mental barriers. Like a persistent cat rubbing against its owner begging to be stroked, the need was still bubbling inside her brain as she started to fiddle with some slimy, green kelp on the wall. So empty, so alone. She whimpered ignoring the voice in the back of her head telling her how utterly ridiculous she looked, how she resembled a weak kitten or pupppy whining for its mother, how this wouldn't help or how help was coming. WAIT WHAT?...What...

Feeling completely and utterly confused, two smoky-hazel eyes flickered around the empty room seeking out the owner of the words. Alone. Listening hard, she focused once more and could hear the voice going on and on how ponds always flow into a river. That rivers don't like roses, that roses aren't always as they seem. Your rose might be my wolf. And your river might be my child. The child and the cub. With a frown of confusion, she entered her 'mind', racing around each 'corner' and chasing the golden light as it fled mischievously. Slipping past the 'closed doors', she failed to keep up with the glow however she had no doubt who it was. Only the TARDIS would behave like this, trying to play a game in the middle of such a mess. After losing the cheeky sentient being, Theta continued to walk around the maze of her mind, unraveling the past but keeping the doors shut to prevent further hurt. Each door contained a memory, and the past is often so lovely it hurts to look at. Especially in this scenario and state of depressing down when anything would seem better than this. Behind her, someone giggled. More like the Tardis giggled as she strutted up to her side taking the former body of Idris. She smirked as her Thief simply stared at her. She wiped away the tears and stroked the Doctor's cheek bones lovingly before hugging her tightly as the old, empathetic Time-Lady broke into pieces in her arms. She drew names in Gallifreyan across her back, not missing the way her Thief's breath hitched. Idris smiled again, sharing her love for the universe, for all of time, for those special humans she'd collected all her life.

"Everyone is special, my Thief. You most of all. Please don't be sad, there is hope in this darkness. I see all remember."

Nuzzling into the Tardis's neck like a child would to their mother and relished the feel of contact. The Tardis would be a good substitute until she could get Koschei to cooperate and she smiled as happy memories flooded through her closely guarded barricades. Actually, she quite liked it. Sniffing to her closest friend and companion,

"We should do this more often *sniff* You're very good at comforting."

With a chuckle, Idris pointed out how easy it would be to do it all the time. Also adding that she like hugs too and that her Thief could hug the crystal struts more often if she wanted comfort. Both were now openly laughing, the reason being they both knew it was only because the TARDIS liked being touched. They didn't care what the companions thought, the Tardis and her Thief were one and they'd do anything for each other. With a wink, Idris removed her firm grip from the Doctor's limp body and led her to a section of her mind that was lit up a brilliant emerald colour. Their shared stroll allowed the Doctor to make herself feel accustomed to walking in her mind again. When they stopped, the Tardis nodded towards the empty space, releasing the Doctor's hand. Questioningly, Theta smiled weakly and raised an eyebrow to which she only received another nod towards the sea of calming green. Being the Doctor, and the Doctor being a curious alien, she took a step. Two. In no time, she'd made her way into the middle and was stood looking slightly more relaxed but majorly perplexed. The Tardis smiled reassuringly once more before running back of into the depths of her Thief's mind. Back to being the small voice talking to Theta's mind from her real type40 form in outer space. Strangely aware of another presence, she refused to close her eyes as she sat in wait.

Rose grimaced as she sprinted into a large group of Judoon. Minutes earlier, she'd been flanked by several women and had safety in numbers. Her plan, so far, had been running out smoothly but this was a setback; a minor one but still a setback. Step 1: collect needed data from Mickey. (Completed) Step 2: organise the others so they are strong and well defended without you. (Completed) Step 3: escape their presence unnoticed. (Failed yet still completed) Step 4: follow the trail to the Master. (In progress) Step 5: bust him out. (Upcoming) Step 6: escape. (Upcoming) Simple, well, too simple really. With a sigh, she realised just how well this was going to go. Retreating silently, Rose pressed herself into a gap in the wall whilst she attempted to figure out how to pass the Judoon in peace. Using the smart-watch Jenny 'bought' for her on her 45th birthday, Rose observed the blue-print of every alternative route into sector 128. Time for contemplation was a luxury and she would use it well. Two corridors away from the blonde companion, three others crept in the shadows unnoticed. That was until River had enough of sticking to Rose's rules. Swiftly, she jumped up behind them, pulled out her one-shot blaster and shot them dead. She. Killed. Them. Something about River was very off and her two companions, the Asian Doctor and the English teacher, were terrified. Clara straightened up in surprise with a look of outrage and whispered forcefully,

"You didn't have to kill them! I thought Rose said you were his wife! He'd never let u do that. Not in a million years!"

River nodded whilst blowing the butt of her blaster casually,

"Just because we're married doesn't mean we have to be the same person and follow the same code, Sweetie. We do things very different, besides, I'm a psychopath. What do you expect? These rhinos deserve it, they're from the Mainframe!"

Sighing, Martha grabbed Clara's hand as they continued sneaking through the ship, River blew out any cameras with a single bullet as they sped through corridor after corridor despite Mickey insisting he'd disabled them all. Any excuse to hold a gun, Martha thought grumpily. She'd already had enough with this overly bold, sassy, all-curls women. When, yet again, River decided that she wanted to shoot something Martha turned around and scowled letting out a very huffy remark,

"I swear, River. If you do not stop shooting everything we walk past I will tackle you to the ground and take that stupid thing away from you!"

With another smug smile, River nodded,

"I bet you will."

With that, the trio continued their short pursuit towards cell 5 to rescue its 3 occupants. Despite Martha's warnings, River kept shooting out lights and cameras. Not so much the walls now but she still didn't stop and submit to the UNIT Doctor's will. With an overly loud sigh, Martha refrained from completely lobbing her shoe at River; shoes and Judoon, running with strangers in search of someone. She began to feel the De-Ja-Vu before remembering a very similar situation long ago in a hospital with the mysterious yet handsome alien, John Smith. When they arrived at the correct door, Clara let out an out of breath giggle whilst Martha too released air she hadn't realised she was holding. There were no guards whatsoever in this sector, there was really no need as this area was just for humans. A race looked down on as inferior and naïve therefore hardly dangerous. Well, they'd made a mistake today because this band of humans invading Storm Cage and infiltrating the security with no need for a second glance certainly weren't dumb, they weren't unprepared and by no means were they new to the world of aliens and futuristic tech. No alarms blared as River stuck her door bypasser to the arched frame, only a simple and short beep that was barely louder than a normal footstep. Beyond the now moving door, shuffling could be heard and hushed voices. Before the doors had opened fully, Clara dove through the gap. She was unwilling to be caught today for obvious reasons but as she did so, her slim, pulseless shape collided with another consequently she tripped and fell at the persons feet. Outside she heard her allies scoffing as she moaned and rolled onto her back, quickly scrambling to her feet.

"No fair."

She muttered as she dusted herself of looking up for the first time. Three people were staring unsure at their visitors. River stepped inside gracefully and smiled sweetly followed by Martha who was still suppressing a giggle. She then asked,

"Do we always look like that?"

Observing the group of new companions challengingly, River nodded eventually and shrugged in a light-hearted manner. Three stared at three inquisitively until the older man spoke up sounding more than a bit confused,

"Righ', so. Who are you lot then?"

Taking a strong step forward, Martha spoke up,

"I'm Martha. Martha Jones, this is Clara Oswald and Mrs Robinson over there is River."

"He used to call me that you know."

Martha smiled smugly and deflected River's insult (- was it an insult?),

"I know. Amy told me all about it. The legs, the nose and Mrs Robinson. Oh, and you said you'd kill him so don't get any ideas."

River scoffed, pulling her gun out of its holster and blowing out the hidden camera in the corner of the room, much to Martha rebuilding frustration. Her darkening though on how she should leave River here were interrupted by the old man again,

"Alright, I'm Graham, my grandson Ryan."

"And I'm Yasmin Khan. Yaz to my friends."

Martha smiled brightly and pushed her brain to remember the names as Clara spoke,

"Listen to me, ok. You're friends of the Doctor, right?"

Everyone began speaking at once:You know the Doc?- Oh my God, is she ok?- What happened?- Where is the Doctor?- Where are we?- Who are you?- How do you know the Doc?- Will we ever see her again? Clara's smile faded as she flinched away from the pounding flood of questions which did eventually cease. Martha grabbed Clara's arm for assurance as she explained and questioned,

"We're all past companions of the Doctor. He took us away in his TARDIS but we all get left behind or lost eventually but today. Well, on Earth yesterday...tenses and dates across time are confusing... anyway. Two friends brought us all together and told us that he needed help so now there's a team of us onboard rescuing you three, the Doctor and someone Rose and Jenny called O... (Martha frowned at the sudden change of atmosphere) pres-umably one of ...your friends?"

Each of the prisoners were stiff, Graham with worry, Ryan in fear whilst Yaz just seemed plain furious and insulted. Her voice just scraping a yell,

"That's possibly the biggest mistake I've ever heard in my entire life. O is a monster. He burnt the Doctor's home planet to the ground!"

"Yaz isn't exaggerating. He teamed up with the Cybermen and all. Last we saw of the Doc, she was going off to detonate the reality bomb and kill them all for the sake of the universe. We. We, we thought she was dead."

Martha's frown turned to surprise to worry, the emotions played slowly as different thoughts crossed her viewing point after Graham's explanation; she, Cybermen, monster, reality bomb, SHE. Clara seemed to be going through a similar process and both were unable to talk so instead River voices the questions,

"When you say she?"

Graham nodded understandingly,

"O did say the Doc had been a man all her life up until this version, not gonna lie, I don't really understand this odd term of speaking. Her people must be very gender-loose. At this point in time, of course, we didn't actually know that this ex-MI6 dude called O that the Doctor had known for years was actually the Master in disguise. Apparently he's known the Doc since childhood and they're the last of their kind and all. Bit sick if I'm honest, always trying to kill the only other one of his own kind. I mean, the Doc must be devastated that her best friend turned out to be a crazed psychopath."

"I'm a psychopath and I'm his wife."

River piped up being one of the lucky to already have this information unlike Martha and Clara who were looking rather pale. They shared a glance and spoke simultaneously about their respective versions of the Master,

"He died." "She died"

Rose slipped up through the grating above her, hauling the slim and curvy shape of the body she owned into the ventilation shaft. Silently sliding the grid back into its place, she let out a quick sigh before setting off again. Moving far too quickly through the thin tunnel, Rose's breath was becoming short as the single pulse elevated and the secretly building artron energy running through her veins tried to reduce strain as much as possible. It was working like stress-reliever (working quickly and effectively) causing Rose to smile at the quirky skill she'd gained after absorbing the time vortex 25 odd years ago- give or take. What was the odd decade off. After finding each other in the parallel universe, Jenny and Rose weren't specific on the years anymore so it was actually quite possible Rose was older than she thought but nobody asked her age of recent so it didn't really matter. Besides, she looked 20 still and everything worked like it used to, if not, better. Especially her respiratory system apart from right now. Sneakily, the fact she was short of breath escaped Rose's thoughts because she didn't like thinking about the reason. The reason being her fear of Koschei and what he was capable of. Whilst she travelled on her side of the void, she got to witness everything first hand whereas on the other side, all she could do was listen to Jenny's numerous recounts of his many daring adventures. Like every child, the blonde companion got her best friend to retell all her favourites like a book. At the end of the road, at the end of their journey, at the end of the opposing universe, they finally reached it. A gap in space and time, a mini hole through the void where they could feel it all as it went (the Doctor's timestream). On instructions, the pair mentally controlled the time fissure, they contorted and twisted it to bend to their will allowing them passage to the UNIT basement on the parallel Earth. During the time they stood there, staring, Rose saw it; she saw flashes of the far past. A child and two great, white pillars with a gap in space flowing between like a sea of galaxy compressed into a single curtain before two happy children playing in fields of silver and red beneath an orb that can only have been Arcadia followed by brief flashes of the children's encounters as they grew. It was warming to stand here- not physically but mentally. It was quite literally like having someone fill your mind with the self and cradle you; much like a hug but so much more. Like the silence, it erased itself from Rose's expanding mind as she turned to look at Jenny who smiled. The memories were supposed to stay hidden else they were used against the Timeless Child but thanks to the TARDIS's gift, the mother soon began to trust this golden cub who wondered so far for her secret Child of Timelessness therefore, with added caution, the mother of the universes themselves blessed this one with some of her sacred knowledge. (An over dramatised idea, theologically, it's quite possible that the Doctor is the daughter of the universes themselves but we don't know yet so when we do find out, I'll have to either continue the flow of this story or rewrite it...)

A/N:

So, yeah. I've been watching Mandalorian (RASSILON baby Yoda's cute), Star Wars, Torchwood, Doctor Who and Sherlock as of recent and why am I telling you thi? The answer is I really don't know., Never the less, hope you've been joining in Who at Home simulcasts and the Torchwood simulcasts too. We've had #saveTheDay (Day of The Doctor), #TripOfALifeTime (Rose), #TheUltimateGinger (Vincent and the Doctor), #FishCustard (Eleventh Hour) and next Saturday there's #BiggerOnTheInside which is the Idris episode (The Doctor's Wife). Funny, Idris was in this chapter! And the other day there was the Captain Jack Harkness episode from season 1 of Torchwood. There were rumours about a Dhawan simulcast where fans watched Spyfall but I think I missed that :(

Never mind, see you soon!

Xxxx