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singledarkshade · 2 years

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Immovable Objects

Summary: While Amy muses over her relationship with Rory, Rory is trying to deal with what Cayodan left in his head. But as always, the Doctor has stumbled across aliens where they shouldn't be which could change everything for both of them.

Sequel to The Doctor And The Nurse, A Fishy Tail, Getting To Know You, Kernel Of Stubborness, Home Sweet Home, Party Time, Sewers, Bookshops And Slime. Making Old Friends, And Donna Makes…, One Unanswerable Question, The Last Warrior and Lingering Effects.

Author’s Notes: For @theadrogna whose request for more of this series helped spark my thoughts and the new story appeared.

*********************************************

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Amy rolled her eyes at her boss, “Yes, Julia. I can survive four days in a luxury hotel while you and Clay go have a few days alone to celebrate your anniversary.”

Julia laughed, “If we’d planned this better, then I would have suggested you call Rory and bring him over to join you for the next few days.”

Amy shrugged, “That would have been nice.”

Julia rolled her eyes, “I have to ask, because it’s been driving me crazy ever since we met Rory, have you never thought of being more than just friends with him?”

“Well…” Amy bit her lip and sat on the bed confessing, “Okay, for a long time I was convinced he was gay.”

Julia laughed, “Why?”

“He never looked at girls,” Amy shrugged, “Not like the other guys did.”

“Okay,” Julia replied amused considering the way Rory looked at Amy, “So, you know he’s not gay now.”

Amy blushed, “One of the women on his course pointed it out to me.”

“So…” Julia encouraged.

“I was thinking about it,” Amy confessed, “And then Rory had his final exams that he was convinced he’d failed completely. I went to cheer him up, which involved a lot of alcohol because that is the only way to get Rory’s brain to turn off. We drank a lot that night and…well…”

“What?” Julia demanded leaning in.

Amy grimaced, “We had sex and it felt right,” she sighed, “Except he was so drunk he doesn’t remember.”

“You’re sure he doesn’t? Julia asked

“Rory can’t lie to me,” Amy told her confidently.

“So, you never told him?” Julia demanded.

Sighing Amy shook her head, “I was going to but then I thought about it. What if we started something and it went wrong? What if I lost him? Rory is my best friend, the only person who has never let me down and I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Julia hugged her, “Or you could have something so much better by having your best friend as the love of your life. Trust me, it’s the most amazing thing in the world.”

Amy sighed before shaking herself, “It’s a moot point now anyway. I did what everyone else has, I left him.”

“You won’t be gone forever,” Julia reminded her, “Maybe think about it a little more.”

The sun was shining, and Amy grabbed her bag with her towel, book, and sun cream in it before heading down to the pool side. Clay and Julia had left on their trip that morning, so Amy had nothing to do for the next few days except relax and top up her tan.

Except in just over an hour she was bored to tears.

Heading into the bar, Amy ordered herself some lunch and stared at her phone trying to work out if Rory would be at work or not. She was missing him a lot just now, missing the way he’d smile at her, the way they could talk about anything, missed listening to him tell her about his patients and how comforting his voice was. Taking this job had been the best thing in the world in many ways and she was learning so much, but Amy hated that she’d let Rory down.

“Hi,” a voice pulled her out of her thoughts, a man stood beside her who offered her a flyer, “We’re opening a new bar/restaurant just along the road and we’re having an open afternoon so we can test food, cocktails, and some of the entertainment ideas. If you want to come along, it starts at one.”

“Thanks,” Amy took the flyer.

“Oh,” he turned back to her, “Bring shoes you can run in, there will be karaoke and our boss may try to sing. It could be truly terrifying.”

Amy chuckled and studied the flyer as he moved on to the next table. She needed a distraction so this could be fun.

*********************************************

Donna finally found Rory sitting in the Observation Deck, the TARDIS currently showing an amazing meteor shower for him. Something Donna never would have been given.

They’d been in Florida, about a block from the hotel where Amy was staying for two days now, and Rory was refusing to leave the TARDIS to see her.

“I’m staying here,” Rory stated stubbornly, “You two go and have fun.”

Frowning Donna took a seat at his side, “The Doctor brought us here so you could spend some time with Amy. I thought you’d want to see her.”

Rory glanced over at her, his eyes betraying just how much pain he was in before he looked back up at the show the TARDIS was putting on for him.

“Rory,” Donna pushed.

He sighed, “Because I don’t want her to know what I am now.”

Confusion filled Donna, “What do you mean?”

Rory shook his head, “You know what I mean.”

“Rory…” Donna stared at him, “That’s all Cayodan, none of it is you. I know your memories are all mixed up, but you didn’t hurt anyone.”

“But I could have,” Rory whispered, “We’re more alike than we are different. His mother died when he was young, just like mine. His father wanted nothing to do with him, just like mine.”

“You became a nurse,” Donna reminded him, “You look after people. You care for them. You don’t hurt people.”

“But I could,” Rory stated coldly.

Donna shook her head, “Anyone who knows you, Rory knows that you wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“You don’t know that anymore, Donna,” Rory breathed, “You don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

Rory shook his head, he turned to Donna and his eyes bore into her, “You have no idea what’s in my mind now. Sitting here I can think of three ways to kill you just off the top of my head.”

Donna took his hand, “But you never would, that’s the difference.”

Sighing Rory didn’t pull away as Donna wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Donna, Rory,” the Doctor’s voice came, “I need you to come to the control room now.”

Standing Rory offered Donna his hand,

Allowing him to pull her up, Donna sighed, “Let’s see what he’s done this time.”

The Doctor glanced around when his two companions walked into the control room. Donna hovering at Rory’s side the way she had been since he’d woken after the attack by the Theiums drone. Rory had not been happy to discover that the Doctor had brought him to see Amy and steadfastly refused to visit his best friend. The Doctor refused to leave until Rory had seen Amy, so they were currently in a stalemate since neither was giving in.

“What’s wrong?” Donna demanded.

“Or have you decided to take us somewhere else finally?” Rory asked sharply.

The Doctor frowned at him before explaining, “Since we are stuck here for the moment,” he ignored Rory’s snort of annoyance, “I’ve been scanning, and I found something that shouldn’t be here.”

“You found aliens?” Donna demanded incredulously.

The Doctor nodded, putting the information up on the screen, “What’s concerning me is where their signal is and what signal is crossed with it.”

“What?” Rory asked, he looked at the information and saw what the Doctor meant, “Amy?”

Before either the Doctor or Donna could say anything, Rory ran out the TARDIS. It took them both a second before they ran after him.

Amy walked into the bar from the flyer seeing several other people mostly were close in ages to her wandering around looking at the drinks and food platters that were on offer. She frowned as she looked around. From what the guy with the flyer had said to her, Amy expected the place to be actually finished and ready to open but this looked like they’d just found an empty building then put up a few tables for the ‘buffet’.

Wandering around Amy began to feel more and more uncomfortable, there was something seriously wrong about this.

“Have you had a drink?” a voice made her turn to find a man standing there, slightly taller than her however it felt as though he was towering over her.

Amy shook her head, “Not needing one just now. Just having a look round first.”

“Well,” he touched her shoulder and led her to the table with the buffet, “You should eat something.”

Aware suddenly that the people around her were acting drunker than they should be with the small drinks, not to mention how long they’d been here Amy picked up a plate pretending to be relaxing.

“Let me see what I like,” Amy gave him a smile, hoping her nerves didn’t show through it.

“Everything is really nice to eat,” the man said, “You should try a bit of it all.”

Nodding Amy picked a few pieces of the food and placed them on her plate before she walked over to the drinks, getting some space between herself and the strange man. Relieved she’d worn comfortable shoes, Amy walked slowly to one of the groups and looked as though she was about to take a drink before she dropped the plate and glass, running for the door.

Just as she almost made it to the exit a hand grabbed her arm and she was yanked back, the man who’d tried to get her to eat looked at her darkly as he gripped her.

“You’ve not finished your free samples,” he said.

Amy struggled, “Let me go.”

He laughed, a gurgling edge to it, and he grabbed her hair on the back of her head forcing her back towards the others who had come to the taster afternoon, she could see most of them were unconscious and being carried through a circle of light by several men all who looked exactly like the one holding her.

Fear filled Amy and she continued to struggle to get away from the man, stunned when someone slammed into them. The man fell as she was thrown to one side, rattled it took her a second to see who her rescuer was.

“Rory?” she whispered in shock, not sure if the most surprising thing was her best friend was here or that he was fighting the man who had tried to abduct her AND winning.

But as she saw the look in Rory’s eyes, she felt a shiver down her spine because that was not who she had grown up with. Getting to her feet, Amy could see Rory was pushing the man towards the circle of light, each punch, each kick sharp and precise.

From the light however two more identical men appeared and started to fight Rory, Amy looked around and found the piece of a broken chair. With determination, Amy went for the third guy and whacking the piece of wood across his face. He went down, giving Rory some relief but it wasn’t enough. The second clone grabbed Amy from behind, wrapping his arm around her waist and dragging her back towards the light.

Rory slammed his elbow into the first man’s face sending him tumbling into the light before turning and grabbing Amy’s hand. Punching the man holding her, he pulled her away throwing her behind him. The second one attacked Rory again, but before Rory could fight back a bright green beam burst through the circle of light hitting Rory who fell unconscious into the light.

“Rory!!!” two voices called, Amy turned shocked to see Dr Smith and an unknown woman running towards them.

Turning back to where Rory had fallen, Amy saw the final man smirk before he stepped through the circle of light which then disappeared leaving the room in darkness.

Donna stared horrified that Rory had just disappeared through a portal of some kind. She turned to the Doctor who was scanning the room with the sonic, his face grim.

“What happened?” a redhead demanded as she pulled herself to her feet, “Where’s Rory?”

“Miss Pond,” the Doctor turned to her, “Do you have your phone?”

“What?”

“Phone,” he ordered, “I need it to try to find Rory.”

Confusion covered the younger woman’s face, who Donna realised was the famous Amy, but she handed the Doctor her mobile. The Doctor took it and quickly soniced it before sticking it in his pocket and motioning for Donna to do the same. Pulling out her phone she watched as he repeated the process.

“Well” Donna asked, “Have you got him?”

The Doctor nodded, “We need to get back to the TARDIS so I can track the signal.” “Hold it,” Amy snapped, “What the hell is going on? What happened to Rory?”

“It’s a long story but basically he’s been transported to another planet,” the Doctor said, “I’m using the connection from both your phones to triangulate which one though his phone. We’re going to find him.”

Amy stared at him bemused but the moment he and Donna started walking, Amy ran in front of them.

“I’m coming.”

Donna turned to the Doctor waiting to see what the Time Lord was going to say to that. Rory insisted that he didn’t want Amy knowing he was travelling with the Doctor. It was a discussion they’d been having since long before Donna had joined them.

“Fine,” the Doctor said, “Follow us.”

Amy was confused and scared as she followed the strange doctor that Rory appeared to be working with and the unknown woman along the streets. She was worried for her friend, but she was also confused how he’d managed to fight like that because the Rory she knew was a little clumsy and had never thrown a punch in his life.

Running to keep up with the strange people, Amy frowned to see a blue police box sitting in front of her.

“Come on,” the woman told her, just before they ran in through the doors.

Amy took a tentative step inside, letting out a gasp at the large room before she stepped back out and walked around the blue box.

As she reached the door again, the woman was standing there who pulled her inside before she shut the door.

“She’s inside,” the woman yelled, “Go, Doctor.”

The room began to shake, and Amy reached out to support herself.

“Over here,” the woman said, helping her to a railing so she was able to stand a little more stably, “I’m Donna by the way.”

“Amy,” she introduced herself.

Donna laughed, “I know. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Where are we doing?” Amy asked, still confused.

“Hopefully going to find Rory.”

*********************************************

Pain filled his head as Rory felt consciousness return to him. He could hear confused babbling coming from around him which was not doing much for the headache he had.

Forcing open his eyes, Rory saw he was in a room that had one door, no windows and about forty people all dressed as though they were on holiday. He was grateful though to see that Amy wasn’t there, meaning that he’d managed to protect her at least.

“Silence,” a voice echoed through the room, making Rory wince slightly, “You are now soldiers for the Glorious Creel Empire, and will be sent to fight against the evil Graxans.”

“What if we say no,” a man who looked slightly younger than Rory demanded to the ceiling.

A whine sounded filling the room, and his head exploded, spraying those surrounding him with blood and brains. Screams of horror filled the room.

“Stop,” the voice yelled which had no effect on the panic in the cell.

Suddenly a few of those screaming and trying to escape through the closed door fell to the floor. Dropping to check the man who had fallen closest to him, Rory was relieved that they were unconscious and not dead.

Rory saw a circle of metal under the shirt of the man he was kneeling beside and slowly reached up to touch his own neck finding a metal collar wrapped around it. He found his phone in his pocket, hoping to get a proper look at whatever had been put on him without talking to anyone else just yet. The panic that was going around wouldn’t be conducive to a coherent conversation. With a sigh he discovered his phone’s screen was completely cracked and it was dead.

Typical.

“Get in line and follow the corridor to receive your uniforms,” the voice ordered, “Anyone who tries to escape will suffer the same fate.”

“Stay calm,” Rory said softly to the young woman at his side who looked on the verge of a panic attack, “Just stick with me and we’ll get through this.”

“I can’t,” she cried.

“What’s your name?” Rory asked as he moved her in front of her joining the line.

Shakily she whispered, “Chloe.”

“I’m Rory,” he breathed, “Just keep walking, breathe deeply and try not to panic.”

She glanced round at him, fear in her dark brown eyes, “I’ll try.”

He gave her a comforting smile as he walked forward with the line, dodging around those who were on the ground still unconscious. Rory just hoped that they would be woken and not killed.

Walking along the corridor, devoid of any decoration or anything to give any indication where they were, Rory watched the people in front of him walk through the door. The feeling of dread filling him since he’d woken up had settled into an icy acceptance of his fate.

Walking through into the new room, Rory took the uniform thrown at him along with the weapon. He could see the headless body of someone who’d obviously tried to turn the weapon on their captors and the looks of terror of those who had witnessed the event.

Chloe glanced around at him, and Rory nodded softly knowing she was terrified but thankfully she was holding it together.

Carrying the gear that he’d been given, Rory continued onto the ship sitting waiting for them.

All he had to do was survive because he knew the Doctor would come looking for him.

It was just a matter of how long it would take.

*********************************************

Final Author’s Note: So, this is a To Be Continued.

#fic #doctor who #tenth doctor #rory williams #amy pond #donna noble #alternate universe

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homosexuality-at-its-finest · 3 years

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You guessed, it's me again

How would the lords react to a very knowledgeable S/O who loves to learn whatever they can put their hands on no matter if it is a language or to wielding or dancing, THEY'RE READY. Oh and also they're really honest and have a booming laughter (Headcanons of course)

A/n: Welcome back my child, we're all back on our bullshit tbh. Thank you for the request, I fuggin love writing anything Resident evil

@rabid-d0g

Plot: Requested

Warnings: Chaotic Y/n, cussing, violence, that’s about it tbh

LADY DIMITRESCU

· She loves how knowledgeable you are, even if she can get envious that your knowledge surpasses her own

· She will buy you any book you could ever imagine, feeding into your curiosity and need to learn

· Alcina is often amazed by how quickly you learn languages, she watched you learn French in 3 days because there was a book you wanted to read

· When it comes to wielding weapons, Mother Miranda save her she’s terrified

· You’re so small and fragile and she doesn’t want you to end up hurting yourself

· That fear was ended in a rather ridiculous predicament of a Morticia attacking you, which caused you to scream while repeatedly whacking it with a sword

· You had tried to play it off smoothly, grinning up at your lover, but she’d seen everything and was cackling

· She’s the one that teaches you to dance, pleased by how quickly you picked up on it.

· You two now dance together almost nightly, the girls think it’s disgustingly sweet

· The first time she encountered your naive honesty was when you had anciently broken one of her favorite vases.

· She was used to the girls and maids alike lying to stay clear of her fury, but you looked up at her with red puffy eyes and a trembling bottom lip and admitted to breaking it

· She’s tried and failed in getting you to lie, you’re just so honest, and at times it can be infuriating when it’s a situation when the truth is best kept a secret

· Alcina adores your laugh

· She could be in the foulest mood, but as soon as she hears the booming, boisterous laughter the mood seemingly disappears.

· She will do anything to see you smile and hear your laughter, it makes her feel alive and full of love.

· Alcina overall loves you unconditionally, flaws and all.

SALVATORE MOREAU

· Salvatore loves how intelligent you are, the two of you constantly bouncing ideas off each other

· He may not be the same man he was before the Cadou, but he’s still a doctor and therefor is super smart

· He has a plethora of books for you to read, and if your eyes or head hurt from reading, he’ll read to you

· The fact that you can learn languages so fast baffles him, he’s asked you about it before, but only got a sly smirk and ‘a magician never reveals their secret’ in return

· He never doubted your ability to wield a weapon, the way you two had met was him finding you on his land violently bashing in a Lycan’s skull

· Though the idea of you having a gun did make him a bit wary, you wielded it like you were born with a gun in your hand, so he had no reason for concern

· So, the thing about dancing is Salvatore has two left feet, mans is awful at dancing

· You’ve seen him eat shit while he was walking on flat ground, let alone dancing

· When you taught yourself how to dance it was a solo thing, but he adores getting to watch

· He’s fascinated by your beauty, the way your body moves. Everything about you is entrancing to our favorite fish man

· When it comes to your honesty, it’s never bothered him

· He’s also naively honest, so if anyone wants to know info they immediately go to the reservoir

· Karl has asked jokingly what Salvatore’s nether regions looked like and you told him point blank much to his horror (he no longer asks joking questions)

· Salvatore at first was startled by your laughter

· It was so loud and sudden that it had taken him off guard

· Now it’s his favorite sound, your laugh is infectious and makes him laugh

· His favorite kind of laugh is when its booming laughter mixed with snorts, because those are reserved for his jokes alone, it makes his chest feel warm and full

· He’s a shyer lover to have, but once you’ve gotten through his shell you two are a match made in heaven

DONNA BENEVIENTO

· So, Donna knew you were smart from the start, so your intelligence has never caught her off guard.

· She’s the one that will never doubt your abilities and is almost never caught by surprise by the things you can do.

· You’ve recited an entire book from memory to her before and she didn’t even bat an eyelash, she knows her partner is smart

· When it comes to languages, she’s more curious than anything, asking how you can remember so many or how you can learn them so fast

· You explain to her that they just come easily to you and they just make sense, she takes it

· Her favorite language you’ve learned is ASL, you two use it when she doesn’t have energy to talk or use Angie to talk

· She will buy you as many books as you want, and will listen to you read them (Even if they make no sense to her) while she sews or works on her dolls

· She loves your voice and could listen to it for hours, it’s soothing for her to listen to you, especially if she’s having a bad day

· Donna supports you wanting to learn how to wield a bo staff

· She loves watching you train, even if it means getting up early to see you work out before you begin your training

· You protect the house itself now, no one has gotten into the house and survived after you taught yourself how to fight

· Donna loves dancing, but is shy when it comes to dancing when it’s in front of others, gently encourage her and she’ll teach you

· She’s a wonderful teacher, and you two could dance for hours, moving perfectly in sync. It’s hypnotizing to watch honestly.

· She likes that you’re honest, it’s nice to have someone in her life who doesn’t lie or who isn’t cryptic

· It’s like a breath of fresh air for her

· Your laughter? My god she blushes every time she hears it

· She loves your laughter, and can’t help but laugh along any time she hears it

· You’re the only person alive who’s heard her laugh, or can make her laugh

· Usually, she’s wary of loud sounds but you bring her out of her shell

· Donna is the most supportive lord, she’s never once doubted you

KARL HEISENBERG

· You two are a chaotic fucking duo who will bring the end

· Both of you are intelligent, bordering genius

· Karl lets you read all his books, which means you know just as much about metal, war and more

· He recruits you in his fight against Miranda

· You two speak in different languages all the time, mostly so other people can’t understand the confidential conversations you’re having, you can never be too safe.

· With your combined intelligence things at the factory go a lot smoother, and things aren’t as horrendous as they are in the games

· You guys still do some fucked up stuff, but all is fair in war, I guess?

· Karl is 1000% behind you in learning how defend yourself

· He even teaches you how to, and is offended and pouting when in your second session you knock him on his ass

· Even the Lycans are scared of you after seeing you beat one to death with your bare hands for destroying your blueprints.

· None of the other lords fuck with you, you and Karl give off a terrifying energy when you’re together

· You two don’t have much down time, but when you mentioned wanting to learn how to dance, Karl had taught you.

· He’d been quite the dancer in his day, and found that it was nice to have a dancing partner again

· It’s a rare thing, but when you two dance it’s very intimate, full of love and unspoken promises

· I think Karl would like your laughter the most

· Because you two live in a very scary and bland world where a war is building, so happiness is far and in between

· So when he hears your laughter it’s like a gift from the universe

· Any time he hears your laughter he tries his best to engrave it in his brain, eyes full of love and chest full of warmth

· I think overall you and Karl have the hardest relationship to maintain, but by pure love and respect for each other, it all works out

#resident evil #resident evil village #re8 #resident evil village x male reader #resident evil village x reader #resident evil x male reader #resident evil x reader #re8 x male reader #re8 x reader #karl heisenburg x reader #lady dimitrescu x reader #donna Benevento x reader #salvatore moreau x reader #karl heisenberg x male reader #karl heisenberg #lady dimitrescu #donna beneviento #salvatore moreau #salvatore moreau x male reader

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runestele · 2 years

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Favorite Characters Tag Game

Rules: List your favorite character from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people.

Tagged by: @aseaofhoney I LOVE exhibiting behavior thank you

I have so much to say bc they altered my brain chemistry

Ianto Jones from Torchwood: All time favorite character for as long as I can remember. The blueprint. I’ve visited his shrine in Cardiff and I will again. Soul-bonded with him when I watched him discover his sexuality while I was struggling with my own like ten years ago... He makes mistakes and cares deeply and is impeccably sarcastic and I could cry but anyways

Jack Rackham from Black Sails: THE man in my phone case <3 On Fathoms Deep (Black Sails Podcast), they asked which character loves the best. And one person said EXACTLY what I was thinking when she answered with Jack's iconic, “Darling? I can understand why you wouldn’t want to tell me about this, but please know that all I have ever wanted for you is to be happy" line. I'm infatuated

Jem Carstairs from The Infernal Devices: Genuinely set the standard for love and love interests in any book ever. The scene where he punches Will in the face is on loop in my brain + I have his proposal speech memorized

Magnus Bane from The Mortal Instruments: Specifically, Book Magnus. He is such a FUN character, while being dynamic and complex. Eccentric bisexual warlock of all time. On my mind since like .. idk 2011? I miss him maybe I'll reread

Richard Gansey III from The Raven Cycle: He put their refrigerator in the bathroom. He loves his friends but didn't even notice that one of them was a ghost the whole time bc he was distracted by hyperfixations. I feel so normal and sane

Donna Noble from Doctor Who: THE companion of all time. Has impeccable platonic chemistry with 10. Not only is she the funniest, but she’s also got an incredible arc ?? Her season 4 ending was the most impactful moment in DW for me, I rewatch Journey’s End so often I love agony

Diego Hargreeves from The Umbrella Academy: A dramatic petty bitch who loves his mom and his siblings so much, but has a hard time expressing love!!! He is such a dork but also hot

Aziraphale from Good Omens: They rly created a nervous angel with ethical dilemmas, an appreciation for humanity, identity crises, a flare for the dramatic, and a cute book store. for me.

Wanda (Wanderer) from The Host: My Alien Girlfriend. She is the reason this book is THE scifi of all time. Her perspective is so genuine but never boring. she cares so much. anyways Mel should have just fucked off and let Wanda have her body idc

Wolfgang from Sense8: It was so hard to pick just one from this show bc I love them all a LOT but I get so excited when he’s on screen. he’s either gonna be goofy and in love OR he’s going to blow someone up with a rocket launcher <3

Tagging: @adamfaerish @starlessaints @enjolrac @1327-1 @kindred-aquarian @tokillamockinjay and anyone else who wants to do it!

#this took me all day bc it was so hard to choose but it was so fun #not being able to choose every single Black Sails character was excruciating #I also had to make a separate list on my phone of all the Terrible Characters that are my favorite like Kendall Roy or Izzy Hands #bc the VIBE is so different for my favorite Worst Guys .. to put them on the same list as Ianto Jones? I don't think so #tag games #mine #long post #tbh Gansey and Noah are tied as my faves but I had to choose the boy thats been on my mind the most lately

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veraynes-blog · 3 years

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Fic Writer Review

Tagged by the lovely @1-of-those-things. It’s been a while since I’ve been particularly active on here, so it’s nice to hear from people!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Thirteen! There are some more on older sites I might eventually bring over.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

396,428 (I only realised the other day it was this high!)

3. How many fandoms have you written for?

Seven, if we’re just counting AO3. Probably a few others if you take into account older works.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

Unspoken (526) - Doctor Who, Tenth Doctor/Simm!Master. The fic that took over my brain and brought me back to fandom for the first time in years!

Unbound (443) - Doctor Who, Tenth Doctor/Simm!Master. Part 2 of the Time Lords Victorious series.

The Secret’s in the Telling [2021 Edit] (388) - Harry Potter, Harry/Draco. This was one of the first big fics I wrote back in 2008, so I decided to give it a polish and update when I brought it over to Ao3.

False Start (189) - Doctor Who, Tenth Doctor/Simm!Master. This was a lot of fun, inspired by a tumblr conversation in which we were speculating what would happen if the Doctor and the Master woke up from a joint regeneration not remembering which one was which.

Novelty (169) - Life on Mars, Sam Tyler/Gene Hunt. Part 1 of my Godawful Small Affair series.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

Yes, absolutely, I always try to. It genuinely means so much to me when people give feedback and responses to my work. Also, being chatty in comments and replies is how I met a lot of friends in fandom, I love when people are willing to hold a conversation with me about a plot point or character interpretation.

6. A fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Honestly, I don’t tend to write angsty endings. Unbound came close to having something of an angsty ending (I won’t spoiler), but even that I ended up changing when I came to actually writing it.

7. Do you write crossovers?

I did when I was much younger, between some anime shows I used to be interested in. Now, not so much, as I find each fandom has its own distinct feel and style.

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

Uhhhh, a little. Not so much in the Ao3 comments, but when I wrote Inhale, I remember getting some very dubious/aggressive comments in the tumblr reblogs I wasn’t happy with. It does cover some controversial matters I suppose, but nothing beyond the realms of canon??

9. Do you write smut?

Yes, definitely. I generally like it to be contained within a wider story, but I may have indulged in the odd PWP on occasion...

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, I think there are a few copied versions of The Secret’s in the Telling floating about. It was a popular fic when it was first published, and I remember people would occasionally tell me in the comments they’d found it on such-and-such a site under different authors. I gave up trying to keep track.

11. Ever had a fic translated?

Yes, there are multiple translations of The Secret’s in the Telling into different languages!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Myself and the wonderful @johnsimms wrote a jokey, informal fic together about the Tenth Doctor, Simm!Master and Donna called The Love Island AU that still makes me laugh honestly. That’s the only one, but I always liked the idea of collab.

13. All time fav ship?

Doctor/Master is right up there, and definitely the one I've produced the most content for. I’m also very fond of Hannibal/Will and wish I had the energy/ideas to produce work that really explored their characters.

14. WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I actually have about 20k written of the third part of the Time Lord Victorious series, and I’m gutted that I can’t figure out how to finish it or find the right inspiration to go back. Maybe one day...

15. Writing strengths?

Dialogue is a big one for me, I think. One of my favourite things about writing fanfic is learning the verbal ticks of how characters speak and being able to mimic it in my own writing, I take a lot of satisfaction from that. I think I’m also pretty good at analysing characters and using that to explore their motivations and development in a story.

16. Writing weaknesses?

Plot??? I feel like I never have a strong plot, I just write extended character analysis and conversations.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Honestly, I’ve never tried. It’s not something I’d attempt, I’ve got no talent for other languages.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Beyblade, back when I was about 15 or so!

19. What’s your fav fic you’ve written so far?

My favourite almost always tends to be my most recent, because I can see how I’ve improved and it’s usually about my latest interest. So for the moment that’s Anything But Temptation - Dragon Age Inquisition, Cullen/Dorian.

That said, I also have a massive soft spot for Unspoken.

20. Tag!

Like I said, I haven’t been super active on here for a while so I’ve lost track of a lot of people, sorry. If anyone’s interested please consider this a tag!

@johnsimms @linz33y @lasersonicked @riathel @countessrivers

#verayne writes #verayne answers #tag game #fanfiction

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asarahworld-writes · 3 years

Text

randomiser

insp.

“…randomiser?” The Doctor grinned, watching Clara’s hand hovering over the randomiser.

“Randomiser,” she agreed, hand poised. At the Doctor’s signal, she pulled the lever and whooped as the TARDIS took flight.

The Doctor gaped; his brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

Clara looked up. “What?” She followed his gaze, eyes landing on the same point, and her brow furrowed in turn. “Do you get unannounced visitors in flight often?”

The Doctor was still staring.

A woman, nearing middle-age and with fiery red hair, was standing in the middle of the TARDIS.

“What?” He whispered.

“How the hell did I get here again?” She half-whispered, half-shouted.

“But,” the Doctor started.

“I was having dinner. Proper chips for the first time in months since the shop closed. Just got my order. And now I’m back here,” she continued.

Clara looked from the woman to the Doctor, and back again.

“Is this why you pilot the TARDIS randomly yourself?”

“Where’s the Doctor? I swear, just send me a bloody text and STOP! SNATCHING! ME! OFF! THE! STREET!”

The Doctor was trying to say her name. “Do- Do-, Donna?”

“You get that sulky skinny streak of nothing and tell him to communicate like a normal person. He can’t be gallivanting around time and space and not know what a bloody mobile is.” Donna looked at him and frowned. “Who are you and how do you know my name?”

Clara looked at the woman. “Hi. Clara Oswald. Sometimes known as the Impossible Girl. This is the Doctor. Only known as the Doctor. How’d you get on the TARDIS?”

The ginger woman strode forward. “Donna Noble. Best temp in Chiswick. I would assume it’s the same way he technically kidnapped me as the last time.” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me that that’s the Doctor?”

“I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve seen him, then.”

“Well, yeah. Last time he regenerated it was into a whole other version of himself. There were two of him! He grew out of a hand! It was seriously the strangest thing I’d ever seen.”

“Donna,” the Doctor finally spoke. “How do you know that?”

“How are you the Doctor?”

“I regenerated. Twice.”

“Well, looks like you’ve run out of things to say. That was probably the most succinct I’ve ever heard you.”

“Donna, how do you know who I am? You’re not supposed to remember!”

“We’re going to talk about that later,” Donna frowned. “I begged you not to do that. Oh well, I remember everything now.”

“How?” The Doctor pressed. “That knowledge should have burned your mind into nothing!”

“Well,” Donna looked at him, noticing the strained concern in his eyes. “I stopped eating fish for a while and things started clearing up a bit. Thought it was a bit odd – they’re always telling you that fish helps the brain, but it worked.”

“You… stopped eating fish,” the Doctor said faintly.

“Yeah.” Donna shrugged. “So anyway, I stopped eating fish and I talked to Grandad – he’s still watching for the TARDIS in the sky, you know – and he said he saw the TARDIS over in Shoreditch. So I got a temp job as a secretary at the school there and I never saw you, but I guess I probably did and just didn’t recognize you. But then again, I was stuck in the office all day and if you were around, you were probably undercover with the psychic paper.”

“What year is it?”

“Eh? What do you mean, what year is it?”

“Clara, tell Donna the date today.”

“October twentieth, twenty-fourteen.”

“I know the date, dumbo. Anyway, started looking for trouble again cos that’s how I found you again last time and here we are!”

Clara interjected. “So, just to be clear, you know this woman from the last time she randomly appeared in the TARDIS and she’s not supposed to be able to remember you?”

“That pretty much sums it up, yes,” the Doctor said, still focused on Donna. “You stopped eating fish and then remembered everything?”

“Yeah.” Donna shrugged. “I could feel the ship in my head, like some sort of homing beacon. Got any way to turn that off? Although I suppose if we lose the TARDIS again, that might come in handy. Never really liked that part of the day when we couldn’t find the TARDIS.”

“The TARDIS is in your head?”

“Yeah, it was weird at first not knowing what it was but when I saw the TARDIS that day, I knew. She’d been trying to get my attention, I think. No fish, felt the TARDIS, found you. Isn’t this great?”

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed absently, taking his screwdriver from his breast pocket.

“You are NOT bleeping me with that thing, thank you.”

“No, I suppose not,” he agreed, replacing it. “It’s not as if the Racnoss are still around. The Huon particles have long since left your body. This is something else entirely.”

“The human brain is very elastic. Maybe she just remembered on her own.” The Doctor and Donna turned to look at Clara. “I took a few psychology classes in uni before settling on English.”

“Well, you always did go on about something ‘drawing us together’. Maybe whoever it was isn’t done with us yet. So, where are we off to? Or is the TARDIS still the principal driver?”

#donna noble #the twelfth doctor #clara oswald #dw fanfic

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saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance • Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 19: The Heist

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x Female OC

Chapter summary: When Avalon is well done with her lockdown in the TARDIS, she manages to rope in the traveling gang for an old fashion heist!

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel [If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

"NO! I SAID NO! STOP IT!"

The Doctor burst into Avalon's room just as she woke up from her nightmare. Avalon sat upright with a jolt and cried without actual tears. It was more fear than actual tears she felt.

The Doctor rushed forwards and climbed on the bed. "Ava! You're awake now! It's okay!" Her breathing was jagged but once she saw him she realized he was right. She was in her room. She was safe in her room and not with Kovarian.

"There we are..." the Doctor gently pushed some hair out of her face. Her hair was a bit damp from the sweat that'd collected during her nightmare. "Safe and sound, okay?"

Once Avalon was fully awake she let out a frustrated groan and angrily kicked the sheets off her. "Not again! Dammit!"

The Doctor would've liked to stop her but why bother? There wasn't a lot to do to release that frustration so if she wanted to throw off the covers, she could. He only helped take the covers off in the when she started to tear up because they got tangled around her left ankle.

"I can't do anything right!" She buried her face into her hands.

"Ava, c'mon," the Doctor gently pried her hands off her skin and kept them both in his own hands. "What was it this time?"

Avalon groaned. "Kovarian had me again. But like... I think this was a new room. I can't really remember it that well. It was like a...a library of some sort? She was there...and the Silence...and more people but I can't remember them. I just know that I was pretty scared and sad."

"It's okay," the Doctor scooted closer to hug her. "If the memories come back then okay but we don't have to force them either."

Avalon remembered only fragments of her time with Kovarian and they mostly showed up in nightmares, like tonight. The Doctor made himself readily available when it so happened that Avalon chose to sleep. Every once in a while she would wake up screaming because she thought she was back with Kovarian. The sight of her in that state broke the Doctor's hearts. How he wished he could take it all away but it was clear that even a memory wipe wasn't enough to make the horrible memories disappear. Kovarian no doubt made it a thorough memory wipe but even then Avalon's unique brain didn't take it.

"Can you stay with me please?" Avalon whispered the question so frailly that the Doctor almost missed it.

"Of course," the Doctor smiled against her hair. It wouldn't be the first time he stayed with her after a nightmare until she fell asleep again.

"But like...like stay with me?" She raised her head off his chest and showed him her best sad eyes. "Until I wake up?"

"Oh I know it must be boring but...you're the one who saves me in my dreams. I'd feel a lot better if you were right next to me in real life too."

"I can't argue with your logic," the Doctor said. Avalon rolled her eyes at his smugness. "For my Ava, I'll do anything to make her feel better."

"Never has there been a truer statement said," Avalon sighed contently. "You do everything you can for me."

"I don't know about that..." the Doctor mumbled. He did try but it didn't mean he was successful at it.

"I do," Avalon watched him kick his shoes off. She had a strict rule about her perfectly white sparkly duvet covers not being soiled with dirt. It took only one lecture for that lesson to stick. "You're my Fairy Tale Man. You always save me."

"I try-"

"You do," she insisted. She reached to undo his bowtie, thinking it'd be too uncomfortable to lie down with.

The Doctor watched her easily maneuver the strings. She'd taken custom of undoing his bowtie every once in a while and he learned fast that he loved the feeling of her soft fingers touching his skin. Sometimes it wasn't even the bowtie she was aiming for, she just liked touching him. It was something intimate but not sexual, more gentle and...loving?

"There we are," Avalon handed him the the bowtie. "Wanna keep that in your pockets, right? Bigger on the inside?" God forbid one of those ever got lost. He'd go crazy for sure.

"You should sleep, c'mon," the Doctor scooted slightly so they could both lay down.

Avalon immediately scooted her body the amount the Doctor had pulled away. "I'm not sure I can sleep now."

"You're making me stay still, you're going to sleep."

Avalon laughed. "Fair enough." She snuggled up to him and practically pulled his arm over her waist. "That's better. Now I know for sure that I won't have another nightmare, not when my Fairy Tale Man is holding me."

"The trust you have in me is beyond me," the Doctor admitted with genuine guilt lacing his words.

"Oh shush. You have got to stop blaming yourself for everything bad that happens to people around you. That's what gives Kovarian fuel to her cause."

"How do you mean?"

Avalon sighed and tilted her head up at him. She'd been wondering when it would be the right time to tell him the fact that she knew about his previous companions and all the battles he'd been a part of; that Kovarian had forced her to learn everything. Maybe now is as good a time as ever...

The Doctor could see the struggle in her eyes and assumed it was yet another thing Kovarian caused. "Ava? You can tell me."

"...I'm afraid of how you'll react."

A ripple of anger flourished through the Doctor's body as he thought of what Kovarian told Avalon to make her fear telling him something. Despite his moral code, he was sure that if he ever saw that woman again...he'd kill her. And yet, as he passed a hand over Avalon's hair he did it so gently that Avalon could never guess the dark thoughts that were running through his mind right now. "You can tell me anything, Ava. You can always tell me anything." Avalon closed her eyes when she felt his lips press against her temple.

"I...I know about things...from your past..." she had spoken so quietly she wondered if he managed to hear her words. When he didn't respond, she tilted her head up again. He was still but there was a clear fear etched across his face. Now he was afraid.

"What-what kind of things?" his voice had fallen to a similar volume as Avalon's whisper.

"Kovarian made me learn about some of your previous, most recent, battles from your past. She thought that it would help brainwash me if she taught me the 'truth' about you."

"Oh..." the Doctor couldn't find a place to glue to his gaze to. His hearts were beginning to hammer under his chest just thinking what Avalon knew. This wouldn't be happening if you'd had the courage to tell her yourself, he snapped at himself.

He'd been focused on the happy, kissing times and actively ignoring the darkness that followed him. He was foolish to think that he could keep the blissful bubble around them forever. Sooner or later, Avalon would learn his past.

Avalon's hand slid from his chest up to his cheek. She could only guess what was going on in that big head of his. That's what Kovarian wanted. She wanted him to be guilty and ashamed because when he did feel those things, he would either let himself be killed or do the job for them.

"I understand it wasn't your fault," she assured him.

"What do you know?" the Doctor found his courage but he wasn't sure if he could hold onto it as she answered.

"I know about the Reality Bomb the Daleks built and how the walls of the universe were breaking down. One of your old companions, Rose Tyler, inadvertently helped break the walls when she was trying to get back to you. I know that the Daleks made you see how changed your companions were because of you." Avalon watched his face sink as she told him everything about the Crucible. She hated the way he couldn't look at her out of shame.

"I had to do it..." he weakly argued when Avalon reached to the point of Donna Noble's memory wipe. He swallowed hard just remembering the way Donna had cried and begged him not to take her memories. "I ruined her life...like I ruined everyone else's."

"You didn't ruin them, you changed their lives," Avalon flinched at his hard scoff. He pulled his arms from her body and moved away from her. She immediately missed his warmth but even as she tried to reach for his arm, he made himself scoot to the edge of the bed.

"Tell me what else you know," he instructed her, his voice cool yet she didn't miss the sharpness in it. There was no choice of keeping everything back.

With a sigh, Avalon went back to talk about the year that never was. As soon as she mentioned the Master, the Doctor's entire body flinched. His horrified expression told her she should've never learned about him. It made it all the more difficult to keep going. "I know about the...the Toclafane? I think that's what they were called. A lot of people died but I also know that it never happened. No one died." She then switched gears to the Battle of Canary Wharf. "I-I remember that the Cybermen...the robots...they were everywhere. And the Daleks. Kovarian showed me the pictures of the aftermath. That's how I remembered it better. So many people died..."

"And I was at the middle of it," the Doctor muttered. "I was the reason. I couldn't save everyone. Kovarian was right. I got up and left afterwards."

Avalon pursed her lips together. "You didn't do it on purpose. It's what happened when you crashed into Amy's garden."

"Avalon I know who I am. I know that I do change people. I mean, I changed Rose so much that she accidentally helped Daleks because she wanted to cross worlds. I did that on accident. Imagine the times where I've legitimately manipulated people to change."

Avalon lowered her gaze. She couldn't take his eyes the way they were, all dark and full of hatred for himself. "This is what Kovarian wants, you know. She wants you to hate yourself-"

"Oh she's a bit late at that, love. I hated myself long before she came about. Is this what she showed you, then? She wanted you to hate me as much as I hate myself."

"But I don't hate you," Avalon once again tried touching him but he got up from the bed altogether.

"Avalon, I would appreciate if you were honest here."

"I am being honest-"

"Avalon!" he snapped, startling her. Her blue eyes widened and blinked fast. "Sorry," he apologized. The last thing she deserved was to be yelled at. She should be yelling at him. "It's important to me, okay? Did learning these things make you think differently about me?"

Avalon swallowed hard. "If you want the truth? Yes...I was a little scared." She felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach when she saw the look of horror on the Doctor's face. "But you know��that I'm not afraid of you. Would I be here if I was afraid? No. Right? It was a natural response given everything Kovarian showed me. I saw people dead but I never once blamed you. I am simply aware of the reality that you unfortunately have been in. I am so sorry you've endured all that. Nobody should ever have to."

"Kovarian showed you all that - a minuscule part of my horrors by the way - so you would join them, because she knows how dangerous I am. But that's not everything, why talk about my friends from the past? No," the Doctor almost stormed to Avalon's side. "Why? What could she want from that?"

"Oh Doctor, it's not relevant." Avalon turned her head away too fast for him to believe that was true.

"You look like it bothered you, or scared you. " He brought her gaze back with a finger under her chin. "What else happened, Avalon?"

The Doctor's eyes begged her to answer, for him. He needed to know how much they told her about him, how badly she would be scared of him. Avalon couldn't take it.

"She said you would leave me behind like you did with the others," she whispered. "You would change me, like you changed the others, and that you would leave me, Amy and Rory behind. We'd become more names to your list."

"Oh Ava..." the Doctor's eyes softened, his hands cupping her face, "I wouldn't...I couldn't! Not you!"

Avalon leaned into his touch. "She was so hellbent on making me change my mind about you, but I can't. I know what surrounds you, I know that sometimes people do change around you but they change because of everything they've seen. How could I not change when you've shown me different worlds? How could I not change after everything?"

"You shouldn't have to change, that was Kovarian's point," the Doctor moved to sit on the edge of the bed with Avalon. "Nobody should have to die because of me. If I wasn't around, how many people would be alive right now?"

Avalon held onto one of his hands before he could pull them both away from her face. "How many people would be dead if you hadn't helped them? Or...how many people wouldn't exist because of you?"

The Doctor couldn't help smile at that last bit. "Well...maybe it's not all that bad. I got you after everything. I got my Ava."

"And I want to be here for a very long time," she promised him. "I know the truth, Doctor, but it's not the distorted one you and Kovarian have. Believe me." She moved herself so she could hug him.

I wish I could, the Doctor silently thought. He held Avalon for as long as she wanted, but there was still a part of him that wondered if she wasn't just a little bit afraid of him after seeing the mass chaos he'd caused in the past.

~0~

"I'm bored! I am so bored!" Avalon dramatically walked around the console room, stopping between Amy and Rory. "Please, can we go out?" She threw her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. "Please?"

The couple shared the same irritated faces and even answered at the same time, "No!"

Avalon groaned and walked away from them. "But I'm bored! It's been weeks without going out! I'ts not fair! I got dressed and everything!" And she was pretty sure that she looked damn good for a day out. She'd rummaged through her closet and found a white wrap top with three-quarter puffy sleeves that she adored. She paired with light blue jeans and a pair of brown ankle-length boots.

"Jeez, you're worse than the Sapling and he's a child," Amy made sure to remind loud and clear so that Avalon would drop her games.

"Oh c'mon!" Avalon stomped her foot, making it clear that she would not be desisting anytime soon. "It's been months since I got back and I'm pretty sure my health is back to normal!"

"It'll never be normal again," Rory frowned but Avalon shushed him.

"If you're not on my side, don't help! C'mon guys!"

"Why are you even bothering us about this?" Amy threw her hands in the air and turned away. She loved Avalon, she did, but sometimes she got on her nerves. Right now was one of those times. "We're not the ones in charge of the TARDIS!"

"Course not, I am," the Doctor came in with the Sapling. "Why are we discussing who's in charge?"

"Doctor, I'm bored!" Avalon exclaimed. "Can we please go out?"

"Oh, I'd love to go out," the Sapling closed the book he was holding and excitedly turned to the Doctor. "Can we?"

"Avalon, why do you do that?" the Doctor sighed with annoyance. "You know hearing you say that makes him want to go out too."

"Really? Didn't know that..." Avalon failed to hide her knowing smile. This wasn't the first time she was asking to go out so she'd began to think of some tricks. "C'mon, it's been weeks since we went to Leadworth. I'm okay now!"

"Because you've been under constant watch," the Doctor reminded her. He was truthfully afraid of taking her out somewhere not sterilized. She was correct about her health - she'd been okay lately and her health was almost that of a regular human's - but it still didn't make the Doctor any less nervous. "I don't think it's a good idea." Needless to say, Avalon wasn't happy with his words. A deep scowl marked her face while he played casual and took the Sapling's book. "Here, why don't you read it? Seems like your kind of thing anyways." He held the book at her for a second before she snatched it from his hands.

"History of Jewels?" she read the title with an unimpressed look. "Seriously? You want me to read this?"

"I learned a lot from it!" the Sapling exclaimed happily. "I like the Fire stone best! What was its proper name, Father?"

"The Ignis Jewel," the Doctor tapped the top of the Sapling's head, making the tree child giggle. "It's actually quite impressive! You should read about it!" He told Avalon who responded with a groan.

"You're bored too," she watched him carefully avoid looking at her when he crossed the room to come up to the console. Ever since she told him that she knew about some of his past, he'd been so weird with her. She should've seen it coming though. As if the Doctor could ever let it all just go. The only thing Avalon hadn't worked out yet was how to get him to move on from it. And he certainly wasn't helping when he kept pissing her off.

"Doesn't matter what I think," the Doctor said from his newest spot away from her.

"Aha!" Avalon whirled around with a finger pointed at the Doctor. "So you are bored!"

"He just said it doesn't matter, Avalon," Rory said before the Doctor could answer. He moved around the ginger and tapped the cover of the book she was holding. "Why don't you go read instead? You love doing it anyways."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "You guys are so mean!" She stomped her way out of the room, leaving the group to hear her stomps getting father and farther.

"Sapling, why don't you go make sure she reads the book?" the Doctor asked, thinking that if the Sapling was around Avalon she would hopefully simmer down.

"Okay!" the Sapling turned and ran after his Mother.

"She is so bored," Amy shook her head.

"I hadn't noticed," the Doctor sarcastically said.

"Would it be so bad if we just went out for a little bit?" As soon as Amy asked the question, she had her husband on her.

"It's too dangerous! She's not ready for that!" Rory was almost shouting so Amy planted a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want Avalon to come back!?"

Rory pushed her hand off his mouth and continued on but with a much quieter voice. "She's not ready to go out."

"Yeah, but she makes a point. How do we know when she's ready if we never let her go out?" Amy folded her arms and waited for somebody to give her the answer. She smirked at the silence that followed. "Exactly. Doctor, she did stay in Leadworth for a few days and nothing happened. How come we can't try something else just for a little bit?"

"Because what if it goes wrong?" the Doctor didn't hesitate to respond with. Unfortunately, he forgot he was dealing with Amy Pond.

"What if nothing happens?" she counted and walked up to him. "Look Doctor, I get that we're all worried about Avalon's new health situation but we can't actually keep her locked away forever. She likes Rapunzel but she will hurt us all if she stays here another day!" Amy looked between the Doctor and Rory while she waited for either of them to make a comeback. Of course, none of them did. "So, where should we go?"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was quietly reading through the History of Jewels with the Sapling next to her. Since he had already read the book with the Doctor, he was giving Avalon the most important pages he thought she would like. The Doctor had been right: the Sapling's presence did semi-simmer Avalon's anger.

Neither of them noticed the others walking into the media room until the Doctor cleared his throat. He was leading Amy and Rory in and came to a stop beside Avalon's side of the couch. "Ava...?"

"Hmm," she hummed and pretended to keep reading.

"Right, well, we've been talking about it and...maybe you're right. You should have the opportunity to start travelling again." The Doctor didn't want to say that he was expecting Avalon to jump from the couch with excitement but...he did expect it. So when Avalon merely turned the page of her book, he became worried that her anger had worsened.

"Avalon, didn't you hear?" Rory called. "We're going to take you out like you wanted."

Avalon exchanged a secret glance with the Sapling. Both of them smirked.

"Avalon?" Amy asked.

"I have to thank you, Doctor, for making me read this thing," Avalon began to turn the pages of her book. "And the Sapling showed me his favorite jewel, the Ignis Jewel?" She got up from the couch and held the open book for them all to see. "Interesting thing about it is how it was stolen from a civilization and then placed in some elegant museum for other aliens to see."

"Yeah, so?" the Doctor tried taking the book from her but she slammed it shut, nearly getting his fingers had he not flinched away in time. Soon as he saw her mischievous grin, he dreaded what was to come.

"I know what I want to do today! I want to heist!"

"You want to what!?" Both Amy and Rory simultaneously yelled.

Avalon laughed and turned away, swaying with her book to her chest. "Doesn't it sound like fun!? A heist!"

"Yes! Yes!" the Sapling clapped on the couch. "I want to heist too!"

"No, no, there will be no heisting of any kind!" the Doctor wagged a finger at her that she did not see. "Why would you get an idea like that!?"

"Because of your stupid lockdown!" Avalon turned around, her grin momentarily replaced with an angry scowl. "Do you know how many TV series I've binge-watched in these past months?"

"Well..."

"FIFTY!"

"Okay, fifty..." the Doctor made a face and mouthed the number at Amy and Rory. They both nodded their heads in confirmation, making him do another face. Alright, that could drive him crazy too. It would, the voice in his head declared.

"The TARDIS was kind enough to give me series that haven't come out yet on Earth and it showed me one called Brooklyn-99! And guess what they do every year?" Avalon didn't wait for any of them to guess, she blurted the answer out in pure excitement. "They heist! They literally heist and that's what we're going to do today!"

"Avalon Harmony Reynolds you cannot be serious," Amy sternly looked at her granddaughter, wanting both to laugh and shake the girl.

But Avalon was so excited that she didn't even bat an eye at the fact Amy used her middle name that she hated. "I am so serious! Here!" she chucked the book at the trio, making them all scramble to catch it before it hit them. "Check it out!" she told them once Rory held the book between Amy and the Doctor. "It says the Ignis Jewel was stolen from a primitive civilization that would use the jewel to start fires. The jewel ensures fire. If it stays on the ground longer than a minute, it'll start a fire."

"Isn't it cool!?" the Sapling got on his knees on the couch, scooting himself to the armrest next to Avalon.

"Yes, but what's not cool is how these museum chains took it just so other people can come and look at it! It's literally sitting on a pedestal under glass!"

"Okay, okay, I get that it's been stolen but us stealing it back doesn't make us any better," the Doctor said, though there was a glint in his eyes that Avalon saw. He was so interested, he wouldn't be able to deny it for much longer.

"Except when we take it back, we can return it to its proper place!" Avalon grinned. "We'd be like Robin Hood! And we can make a wager if that'll make things more interesting."

"We're not doing this," Rory closed the book but he was mighty surprised when he heard Amy go "Weeeelll..." His head snapped in her direction. "Amy!"

"I don't know, knowing that it's already been stolen and we'd just be taking it back..." Amy shrugged her shoulders and mumbled, very lowly, her next words, "...sounds kinda fun..."

"Amy!"

"Yay!" Avalon clapped her hands. "Amy's on my team!"

"What - no! There'll be no teams because there'll be no heist! Doctor!" Rory whacked the Time Lord's arm to get his support. "Tell her!" Silence. Rory blinked and turned to the Doctor. "Doctor? Tell her!"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side, one eye squeezing shut. "I'm thinking..."

"What!? There's no thinking!"

"I'm looking at the possible consequences-"

"DOCTOR!"

"He's in!" Avalon waved the two men off and high-fived with the Sapling. "I told you we could do it!"

Rory slapped a hand over his face. "I can't believe this is seriously happening."

"Better believe it Rory Williams!" Avalon laughed so joyfully that for a moment, the trio forgot about their concerns for this crazy idea. Avalon hopped on the couch with the Sapling and together they clapped. "We are heisting!"

"Stomp jumping on the couch," Amy scolded them before they fell. The pair immediately let themselves fall on the couch into a sitting position.

Avalon flipped her head in their direction, her smirk back on her face. "So then, let's get the teams together."

~ 0 ~

"Knock-knock!" Avalon tapped a knuckle against River's cell, startling the brunette for a second. "Hi River!"

"What are you doing here?" River got up from her bed and hurried up to the gate. "You're not sneaking out again are you?"

"Oh great so the last version I met isn't that far from this you?"

"Somewhat, that was a month ago for me. Where are you right now?"

"Um, well, sort of getting back on my feet. Oh! I did have my first reading in Leadworth - have you gone to that?"

"No..." River eyed her strangely which only confirmed her answer.

"Oh, well, you're invited to my first public reading in Leadworth, October 21st, 2011 at 11:00 AM."

"Duly noted," River hurried back to her bed to jot the date down in her journal. She wouldn't miss that for anything! Her daughter's first public reading? Her heart swelled with pride just thinking about it. "So, what are you doing right now then?"

"Welll..." Avalon swayed her head, missing the way River smirked at her.

"What are you up to, young lady?" These were rare moments where River could sneak in a little bit of motherhood on Avalon without her suspecting.

"We are heisting today!"

Bemused, River stopped writing in her journal. "You're what?"

"We're heisting! And I want you to be on my team!"

River had to laugh. She finished writing the date down in her journal then came back to the cell bars. "Avalon Harmony Reynolds, what are you doing?"

"There's this thing called the Ignis Jewel that's been stolen and placed in a museum so I thought we should pull a heist and steal it back! We'll give it back to its rightful owners!"

"Why on Earth would you want to do something like that?"

"...because I'm bored," Avalon answered with a straight face, only making River laugh again. "I've been locked away for months now with only Leadworth. I was promised stars and planets and I am ready to come back!"

"And the Doctor actually agreed to this?" River asked fully knowing that the man would agree to anything that Avalon asked to.

"Course he did," Avalon shrugged. "He's bored too. So what do you say? Want help me steal something and make sure the Doctor loses?"

The same smirk that'd been on Avalon's face earlier was now on River's. "Always."

~ 0 ~

"Alright," the Doctor announced as he unrolled the schematics of the museum they would shortly arrive at. He pressed the paper against a large table in the TARDIS library for them all to see. "So the Bijou Museum is three-story building with roughly about 10 rooms on each floor. What we're looking for is on the third floor right there!" His finger tapped the small square nearing the middle from their right side. "Each room has their own security feed but, as per rules, I will disable them upon our arrival. Can't have us getting caught before we even steal the damn thing."

"Right, because that would be wrong," Rory said with a sigh of irritation. No one had listened to him about how ridiculous this whole thing was. He should've known that his daughter would of course agree with the entire stunt. River was just as excited as Avalon! Shocker.

"Oh shush," Amy bumped his shoulder with more or less the same excitement as River and Avalon. "It might be fun. I've never stolen anything."

"To be clear," the Doctor cleared his throat and raised a finger in the air. "We are not stealing this, we are retrieving it for a civilization who deserves to get it back." As he finished his clarification, his eyes landed on the Sapling. He didn't want his tree child to get the wrong idea that stealing was okay if you were bored. "We are not stealing."

"Right, we're heisting," Avalon moved around the table so she was across from the Doctor. "Totally different."

"It's really not," Rory mumbled but yelped when Amy jabbed her elbow into his side.

"We're doing something good," the Sapling chimed in to help his parents. They were so excited and he was too!

"Oh father," River shook her head. "Lighten up. It'll be fun. So, the cameras will be off?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. I'll just make it so the screens show the same thing on a loop."

"And nobody will notice that it's a loop?"

Avalon snorted. "Please. They're probably bored to death up in that security room. I bet they're so good at solitaire."

"These are alien security guards, Ava," Rory pointed out. "They don't even know solitaire."

"Actually," River swayed her head. "That's what most of the boys play at home."

"Please, don't help."

River smirked.

"Right then!" the Doctor said to keep things moving. "So we'll have about two hours to pull the heist before the cameras start showing the live feed again. In two hours, we all need to be back in the TARDIS no matter what." His eyes reluctantly found Avalon's. For the life of him he just couldn't face her. Each time he did, he remembered that she knew more about him than he ever wanted her to. The shame and guilt were just inevitable. "Whether or not we have the Ignis Jewel, we all need to come back."

Avalon gave a firm nod. "I understand. Thanks for doing this though." This time the Doctor nodded slightly and quickly looked at someone else. The action hurt Avalon more than she would've thought.

River didn't miss it. She made a mental note to look into that later.

"Anything is fair game except for the TARDIS," the Doctor went on as he pulled up a second copy of the schematics from his inside pocket.

"And your sonic," Amy gave him a pointed look. She held her hand out for the infamous sonic. The Doctor reached into his jacket's pocket and pulled out his beloved sonic. "Thank you!" Amy placed it on the table where the TARDIS would take care it until they got back.

"Alright," Avalon clapped her hands together. "Final thing: the wager." Her eyebrows quirked with a smirk on her face. "If my team wins-"

"Which we will," River muttered to Amy who agreed with a hum.

"-then you have to let me and Amy choose where we will go for the next month. And we pick River up each time. No buts about it."

"Fine, but if you lose - which you will - then you have to stay inside the TARDIS for another month." The Doctor planted his hands on the table and leaned forwards, smirking so smugly like he already knew what the outcome of the heist would be. "No buts about it," he mimicked her tone.

Avalon's tongue pressed against her teeth before she finally clicked it. "Fine." She did the same as him and leaned forwards on the table. "But you can't use any sonic of any type! Not even a little sonic pen!"

"Don't have one..." the Doctor faltered for a moment as he realized he'd never actually made one, "Why haven't I thought about that yet? Never mind! No sonic, no TARDIS. However, I'm also going to need River to promise not to use any of her little weapons she has stored."

River opened her mouth to argue but promptly shut it and shrugged. "Yeah, alright. They're all in my cell anyways."

"How do you even get that past the guards?" Avalon genuinely asked with curiosity.

"I'll tell you later," River smirked until she noticed Amy's disapproving look. Her smirk fell and she cleared her throat. "Or maybe not. Probably not."

"So," the Doctor called, "Two hours. No sonics, no weapons, no TARDIS, and no hurting anyone! Me, Rory and the Sapling against Avalon, Amy and River. Any other question?"

"Yes," Avalon leaned just a bit closer over the table, leaving a questionable distance between her face and the Doctor's. "Are you ready to cater to my every desire after you lose?"

The Doctor would've liked to have answered with "I always strive to" when he remembered there were other people in the room. He might have thought of kissing her too - her smirking lips were begging to be kissed - but other people and his own thoughts were forcing him back. Instead, he chose not to answer directly. He reeled away from the table - putting some distance would help him control himself - and turned to the others. "Let's head out, team!"

"Yes! Good luck Mother!" the Sapling scurried around the table to hug Avalon. The ginger, however, was a bit distracted with the Doctor's rash departure from the room but the Sapling tugged on her sleeve to claim her attention in the end. "Mother, good luck!"

Avalon smiled lightly at him. "Don't go getting yourself into trouble."

The Sapling giggled and rushed out of the room with Rory.

Avalon looked at her own team, choosing to focus on the task they had. "Well then ladies, let the heist begin."

~ 0 ~

Avalon, River and Amy decided to scope out the precise room where the Ignius Jewel was on display. The museum was functioning as it normally would, meaning the room was pretty crowded.

Amy noticed that the other displays of gemstones and the artworks against the walls each had their personal crowd of people. "I'm beginning to think that Rory has a point here."

"What do you mean?" Avalon distractedly asked while she and River studied the Ignius' display. It was a normal golden pedestal with a glass box over it. The jewel was tucked on a navy blue pillow. It was fairly easy...or so it appeared.

"There's loads of people!"

"Shhh, Mother," River put a finger over her lips, but Amy rolled her eyes. "Don't go all nervous on us."

"How are we supposed to get this out without getting caught?" Amy folded her arms and gave a nod towards the jewel.

"Well I have a few ideas," Avalon announced, earning two different reactions from the other two. Amy looked rather concerned that she'd already come up with a way to steal something in a crowded room but River seemed intrigued and perhaps a tad impressed that it only took her a few minutes to get ideas.

"Let's hear it," River gave Avalon the floor but made a gesture for the ginger to keep it down.

"Well," Avalon clasped her hands behind her back as she moved to the left side of the pedestal. "First option would be to lift it out of the glass assuming we could disable the alarm system."

"We'd need to get into the security room," River pointed out, not intending on shooting the idea down but only reminding Avalon they'd need to do that step first.

"What?" hissed Amy but neither her daughter nor her granddaughter paid her attention.

"Right. Shouldn't be that hard though, not if we use the right mode of entry," Avalon agreed with River and slowly moved to the other side of the pedestal. "If we're feeling adventurous-"

"Always," River nodded and shared a smirk with Avalon.

"-we could get some rope and climb down from up there," Avalon raised her head at the ceiling. The spot directly above the pedestal was an air vent. "We'd only need to clear out the room-"

"How would we do that!?" Amy once again hissed.

Avalon and River fixed the same stare on Amy. "Wait for lunch hour, duh."

If she could, Amy would have really liked to scold both of them for being so...alike. Without even trying, Avalon and River were too alike in situations like these and that honestly worried Amy for the future. What kind of trouble could these two get into when nobody was around?

"I checked the schedule," Avalon continued with River. "Lunch is in two hours which is just the time limit we have anyways. It'll be our last resort."

"I say we start the easiest way possible," River declared and before either woman could ask her what that way was, she reached inside her jacket's pocket to pull out a familiar tube of red lipstick.

"Oh I bloody love you!" Avalon laughed a bit too loud and got some looks from the other guests.

River's smirk widened. "Let's go ladies!"

~ 0 ~

"Excuse me?" the Doctor had come up to the reception desk on the first floor of the museum. A young brunette woman was working the desk when he arrived. "I was wondering what times are your scheduled tours for the, uh, third floor?"

"Well, you just missed one," the woman said as she stood up from her seat. "But you can catch the next one in twenty minutes. There's actually a pamphlet, hold on…"

"Take your time, take all the time you need…" the Doctor murmured as he watched Rory and the Sapling creep up to the opposite side of the desk.

"Here we are!" the woman exclaimed, raising her head up just as Rory was about to slip into her part of the desk.

"Oh! Why don't you show it to me!?" the Doctor quickly moved the woman to the very edge of the desk. He decided to pull her out of the desk so that they were standing on his side, hunched over the pamphlets. "I have a son, you see, and he's so adamant that we go through the best tours. Care to pinpoint those?"

Once the woman was thoroughly focused on the pamphlet, Rory tried slipping into the desk again. The Sapling remained just at the edge in case anybody happened to stop by, but he had to physically stop himself from giggling at the funny squatted-walking Rory was doing. He couldn't stand up to search the desk so he had to naturally walk with his legs squatting.

He was loving Heists!

Rory was quick to search for what they came for. His hands raked through the drawers until he reached the last one. It would be in that one that he found a ring of keys. He was careful to take them without jingling them and then bolted from the desk altogether. His hearts hammered until he reached the safety of a hallway.

A few minutes later, the Doctor and the Sapling joined him.

"I hate this!" Rory declared as he handed the ring of keys to the Doctor. "I just stole security keys! Don't-" he pointed a warning finger at the Sapling, "-you ever do that, Sapling! Got it!? Don't do what I'm doing! What any of us are doing!"

The Sapling brought his hands to his mouth as he laughed. "I know, grandfather."

"Oh..." Rory nearly lost his balance when he realized just how truly bad this whole thing was. In the Sapling's mind, his mother, his father, his grandmother and his great grandparents were all teaching him how to pull a heist. "Oh, my stomach hurts. My stomach really hurts." Rory pressed a hand against the wall to lean against while his arm wrapped around his stomach.

"Loosen up, Rory!" the Doctor exclaimed as he scanned the hallway for any suspicious actions. So far, no one had seen a thing. "Now then, these keys will let us walk into any room we want."

"But the damn jewel isn't even in a room with a door! Why did we get the keys at all?" Rory asked once he felt air begin to come back to him.

"Because if we have them, then the girls don't! Do keep up, Rory!"

"Yeah!" the Sapling mimicked his Father's tone. "The girls won't be able to lock or open any rooms!"

Rory's face went flat as his eyes flickered between the Sapling and the Doctor. "Oh, you two are so-"

"That is beyond petty," River's voice pulled the trio's attention to the end of the hallway. "I'm impressed, Doctor." The Doctor quickly stuffed the ring of keys into his inside pocket. Avalon and Amy had come up on either side of River. "But it won't be enough to win this."

"I'm going back to the petty part - that was really petty!" Avalon scrunched her face at the Doctor. "Fairy Tale Man, what the hell?"

The Doctor only slightly looked at her before turning away with Rory and the Sapling. "Off we go!" he ushered them off and ran behind them.

Avalon's face went grim for a moment, and even though it was just for one moment River still noticed it, then turned to the women. "So, lipstick, who are we using it on?"

"I was going to use it on whoever was in charge of those keys. I thought the same as the Doctor," River admitted with a sheepish smile. "I know, don't tell me." Avalon chuckled.

"But he got the keys so now what?" asked Amy.

"We move onto the next phase of our plan of course!" River took the lead down the hallway. It was fairly easy maneuvering their way through without being suspected. Nobody suspected three simple women wanting to find the best art piece on that floor.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a less crowded hallway. They would be going into the security room to de-activate the alarms.

"Amy, ready?" River asked.

Amy fervently nodded. "Keep an eye out. Easy-peasy."

River then looked at Avalon. "Ready?" Avalon was more than excited to finally start. River almost laughed and blew their cover. "Right. One, two, three!" She flung the door open and immediately went up to the first of two men.

"Hey! What are you-"

River grabbed the man's collars and yanked him forwards for a kiss. Avalon went straight for the second man and punched him across the face. She quickly swiped the small stun gun from the man's waist.

"Oh, you know you can't keep that," River warned when Avalon turned around. "Part of the rules, remember?"

"This is to stun," Avalon said, chucking it to River. "And you can keep it for now. Is he going to be okay?"

River looked back at the man she'd 'kissed' and nodded her head. "Yeah. He thinks he's dreaming that he's tied up. Hilarious really. And this one," she moved past Avalon to the man she'd knocked out. She smudged her lipstick across the unconscious man's lips. "Should be doing the same when he comes to. Blimey what a hand you've got."

Avalon proudly smiled behind her. "Now we can get the alarms!"

"Yes! They should be pretty visible!"

Avalon turned to the control panel. Her eyes flickered to the dozens of screens playing the loop that the Doctor had preset before arriving. Everything was completely normal to these people. She and River focused on the mess of buttons and and wires sticking out.

"So while we're here, you want to tell me what's going on with you and the Doctor?" River worked swiftly to find the head of the alarms on the screens. So far, she only had the alarms for the first floor.

Avalon had paused working for a moment to throw River a look. "What? How do you know-" She didn't get to finish asking on account of River scoffing loudly. "It is so weird how you do that!"

River laughed. She'd succeeded getting through the alarms for the second floor and now she just needed the third floor. "I always know about you, sweetie."

"Still," Avalon folded her arms over her chest. "So...so you know that he and I...?"

"Are in a relationship?" River only stopped to nod at her then went right back to work. "Of course I do. Can't hide that from me even if you tried."

"And...and you don't...you're okay with that?"

A flicker of confusion crossed River's face at the question. She stopped working again and turned her head in Avalon's way. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know cos...cos you're from the future. I mean, one time Amy even said if you were the Doctor's wife in the future."

"Hasn't said it to this me yet," River said, prompting Avalon to realize the Byzantium hadn't yet happened to this River yet. "And I really hope she never says it to me. That's...that's just..." She shuddered a breath and made Avalon smile out of relief. "Besides, we've talked about this, remember? The reason I know things about him is because I've seen future versions of him, and you! All your future is my past! We're going in the wrong order, sweetie, so of course to you it would look like I just know everything. But the truth is, I don't know everything. You tell me a lot of it, about you and the Doctor. Your future together." River loved watching her daughter's face light up with delight.

"You mean that?" Avalon clearly tried to dial down her happiness and relief but it was a hard thing to do.

"Of course I do! I honestly don't know how you stand that man for more than a few hours! I salute you Avalon, because it can't be easy!"

Avalon laughed for a short moment before a lamenting sigh came through. "Too bad right now we're in a funk. He's upset because I told him that I know about his past, you know the darker parts? He doesn't know how to be around me and...I don't like it. I wish I could sit him down and make him talk to me again but knowing him all I'm gonna get is his silent brooding face."

"You'll have to give him some time, Avalon. Just like you got your space after Berlin. Give him sometime to really think about it and then he'll come to you. Trust me."

For some reason, Avalon could trust River. It wasn't even because River was from the future, something about her always had Avalon more inclined in her favor. Even when the Doctor was completely against River, Avalon always tried defending her and seeing the helpful sides River often brought to their group. Things had always been like that.

~ 0 ~

With the alarms off, the jewel would be easier to take once they came up with the right plan. However, Amy raised the question of how they would make a clear getaway if somebody would immediately notice the jewel was missing.

"We get a decoy," River's tone was blatantly telling her mother this was yet another obvious thing.

"Really?" Amy jutted her hip. "And do you know where we could get a perfect decoy Ignis jewel?"

"Oh!" Avalon gasped when the answer hit her. "The little shop! There's always little gift shops in these places! I bet they sell all sorta of toy versions of the pieces here."

River pointed at Avalon with a proud smirk. "See that, Mother? Avalon's thinking!" Amy rolled her eyes. "Good job Avalon!"

"Thanks. The Doctor always tells me about the stupid gift shops he's spent hours at..." Avalon's smile lessened when she thought about him. She bet that right now, the Doctor wouldn't tell her anything about what he liked.

"Let's go to the gift shop then, see what happens," Amy sighed and rushed off first.

"We need to head to the third floor," River instructed as she and Avalon followed. "Each gift shop probably sells what's on that floor."

They got to elevator quickly and pressed the 3rd floor button. Once they arrived they made a quick down the hallway. Spotting someone familiar, Avalon skidded to a stop near the entrance of the Ignis jewel's room.

"Doctor!" she clung to his arm before he would run off on her.

"What!? Let go!" he frantically exclaimed, assuming this was one of her heist tricks.

"No, listen to me!" Avalon let go only so that he would calm down. "We, uh, we...we took down the alarms."

That sure made him freeze. "What?"

"Just for the 2 hours. They're down."

"Why would you tell me this?"

Because I really like you and I'll basically tell you anything you want. That would've been nice to say out loud. It would've pulled a smug smile from him. Avalon would pretend to hate it when in reality those smiles made her melt for him. "I just wanted to even the playing field. Wouldn't be very fair, right?"

"Right..." the Doctor gave a slow nod. He made to turn back for the room when he realized he hadn't even made sure Avalon's body wasn't reacting to the new environment. With all the heisting and his own issues, he'd forgotten. He could never let that happen. "How are you feeling?"

The corner of Avalon's lips twitched, warning to turn into a smile. He still wants to make sure I'm okay. Of course he would. He hasn't broken up with you and he hasn't stopped being kind. "I'm okay. I'm having a lot of fun so...thanks for doing this."

"Avalon!" River hissed from the other end of the hallway, making Avalon jump in her spot. "Stop cohorting with the enemy!"

"Gotta go!" Avalon quickly said and kissed the Doctor's cheek before running off.

The Doctor stayed put in his spot for a few seconds. Whether he wanted to or not, he smiled after her. He was aware of his rude behavior towards her and yet instead of yelling at him, Avalon did that instead. He just didn't know what to do now that she knew more about his dark past.

"Father, I'm in!" the Sapling's voice rang through an comm. piece in the Doctor's ear.

The Doctor shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on their task. "Right. Be careful Sapling!"

"I know!"

"Oh, and the alarms are off. I repeat: the alarms are off." The Doctor turned back for the room and strode in like any other visitor. He scanned the room and saw Rory pretending to study an art portrait hanging next to the Ignis Jewel.

Check.

He then spotted the current tour guide leading a group of guests around the room.

Check.

"And if you look very closely, you can see that each figure is actually made of dots..." the male tour guide was gesturing to the huge portrait hanging in the opposite side of the room. "It was inspired by the human painter-"

"Georges Seurat," the Doctor cut in, nearly sliding in beside the tour guide. "Marvelous French painter if you asked me. Least that's what I used to tell him."

"You've met a human?" One of the guests in the crowd asked, making it seem novelty despite being humanoid themself.

"Of course. Do some travelling, you see..." the Doctor prepared his longest rambling story that he would tell with extra pauses.

Rory glanced over his shoulder to make sure the crowd was deep into the Doctor's riveting story. They were. Rory turned away from the painting and quietly used his own comm. piece. "Sapling, now."

"Yay!" the Sapling exclaimed. He was up in the air vent waiting for his signal and now that it was, he peered over the vent. It was perfectly above the Ignis' display. He placed a hand over the vent and let his fingers extend into branches.

Rory nervously watched the branches stick against the wall and slowly creep its way down. From his spot, the Doctor made sure the Sapling was heading his branch in the right direction.

"Little bit to the right," he mumbled under his breath and continued with his story for the guests.

"Sorry!" the Sapling tried moving his body around so he could see the display and the wall but the slits of the vent were too narrow.

"You've got it now," Rory assured him. The branches were reaching the top of the display. Despite the Doctor telling them that the alarms were off, the Sapling still hesitated to actually touch the glass display. "C'mon Sapling!"

The branches slipped between the wall and the glass case but now the Sapling would have to sneak under the case for the jewel.

"A little to the right now," Rory instructed while not making it blatantly obvious he was staring at the branches on the wall. "No, no, my right not yours!"

"Sorry!" the Sapling shifted the branch to the right side and started to feel the tip of the cushion. "I feel it! Now I just gotta-"

"Aaaah! What is that!?" A screaming woman had froze the trio in their respective stops.

Rory scrunched his face when he realized a woman had stopped by to see the jewel.

"Thanks Rory," the Doctor groaned lightly before rushing towards them. The crowd was right behind him.

"What is that!?" the woman kept crying and pointing at the branch stuck on the wall.

"It's an infestation!" the Doctor quickly supplied the excuse as quickly as it came to him.

"Sapling, get out of there," Rory hurriedly left the crowd to speak to the child.

"I know! I know!" the Sapling wiggled his arm which in turn made the branch on the wall wiggle as well. He winced when he heard the same woman's scream again.

"Nothing to worry about folks, just a petty infestation," the Doctor said only a few seconds before the Sapling disconnected the piece of branch from his body. He beamed at his regular hand and quickly crawled back through the vents.

Down below, the branch crumbled into pieces...and the same woman still screamed.

~ 0 ~

"Right this way folks," Amy the newest museum tour guide led a group down the hallway, going past the Ignis' room.

"Wait, we're not going into this room?" an elderly humanoid man asked and pointed to the room on their way.

"Not right now. It's at the end of the tour, c'mon," Amy motioned the group to walk faster with her.

Inside the room, River and Avalon were making rounds looking at different artworks separately. There were hardly any people in the room since Amy had taken away the current tour group. Avalon waited near the entrance and as soon as a roaming guard walked in, she loudly coughed. River turned right away from an art piece and made a casual walk in the guard's direction. She purposely went around another jewel pedestal and dropped a red jewel that looked exactly the same as the real Ignis.

Avalon waited for River to be a safe distance away from the guard before gasping loudly. "Oh my goodness! Is that the Ignis jewel!?" At her question, the guard spun around to where she was pointing.

"I think it is!" River agreed and motioned the others in the room come see it.

"But that's impossible!" the guard rushed towards the sight, though because people were spread around the jewel, it was difficult getting through.

Avalon took her opportunity to dash up to the Ignis' display.

"Move! Let me see!" the guard shoved an old woman out of the way, earning himself a colorful response from her. "Sorry, ma'am!"

River poked her head around the crowd to see Avalon lifting the glass display, though it seemed pretty heavy judging by the struggle she was in. Avalon had her entire arms wrapped around the glass case and she lifted with all her might. She was halfway there when they got a lovely call...

"Mother! Hi!" the Sapling's sudden call made Avalon drop the case back in its place. At his call, the group turned away from the jewel and allowed the guard to finally pick it up.

"This is just a gift shop souvenir!" he groaned. "Seriously people?"

River scrunched her face but Avalon stalked her way out of the room, intending on shouting at the Doctor and Rory for sabotaging them. However, only the Sapling was in the hallway.

"Where's your father? Why are you alone!?"

The Sapling chuckled. "Father said he wanted to go to the gift shop and I snuck out. I don't think he's noticed yet-"

"Sapling!" they suddenly heard the Doctor's voice from the end of the hallway. He came zooming out of the store and sticking his head into each room for the Sapling. "Sapl-"

"I'm here, Father!" the Sapling waved his hand.

"Yeah, nice going! And sabotaging by the way!" Avalon shook her head and ushered the Sapling to the Doctor.

"Really?" the Doctor smiled proudly at the Sapling for a moment. "Good job, Sapling."

"I didn't mean to but okay!"

"GO!" Avalon yelled through her gritted teeth and was quite satisfied to see both of them rushing away from her.

~ 0 ~

The trip to the gift shop spawned a device for a purpose that Rory couldn't understand yet. The Doctor tinkered with the makeshift device on their way down the hallway. "Right then, with this we'll be able to grasp the frequency of the glass display. According to the Sapling, Avalon struggled to lift it which means that it has to be pretty strong."

"What - so you were sabotaging them?" Rory threw him and the Sapling a disapproving look.

"No, of course not, but the Sapling had perfect timing!"

The Sapling agreed in a hum. "Mother was trying her best to lift the case but she couldn't. I thought I might help her but then I remembered we were on different teams. Maybe next time I can be on her team!"

Rory's eyes widened. "The next...? No! There won't be anymore heists after this! Doctor, whatever you're thinking, please tell me it'll work so we can finally leave this place?"

"With luck, it will," the Doctor tapped a knuckle against the small beeping device in his hands. He'd found some petty tech souvenirs in the gift shop that he'd torn apart to reconstruct for his needs. It resembled his sonic but it was not his sonic. There were no sonics allowed after all. "And I added a touch of a laser in case it doesn't."

"Why would we need a laser?" Rory dreaded to ask and felt even worse when the Doctor smirked.

A short moment later they were back in the Ignis' room. The Doctor moved to the Ignis' display and discreetly took the scan of the glass. The results concluded that they would need to come up with another way to take the glass off because lifting it would require at least two of them and the Sapling couldn't risk using his branch-like abilities in public.

"Gentlemen, listen very closely..." the Doctor started to whisper their next moves and in the next few minutes, they enacted it.

The Sapling was hopping around the room, taking Rory from one art piece to a pedestal. He excitedly touched one pedestal, immediately instigating the scold of the guard.

"Sorry, he's just so excited," Rory apologized but by then the Sapling had gone to touch an art portrait.

"Hey!" the guard went after him and thus Rory too.

The Doctor pointed his makeshift device at the Ignis' display and shot a thin laser at it. He leaned closer to it, making it seem like he was just getting a better look at it while his hand slowly went in a circular shape. Just one small circle and he could pull it off. But midway through, something in the next room exploded and rocked everyone on their feet.

"What!?" the Doctor spun around, his first thought going to the Sapling and Rory, but they were just as confused as everyone else.

"Avalon?" River came running into the room with Amy at her side.

Avalon! The Doctor dropped his device to the floor and bolted for the women. "Where's my Ava?" He searched around them but, like everyone else, they didn't know what was going on. The Doctor could actually feel the way his hearts started picking up their beats. "Where is she!?"

"I-I don't know! She was supposed to be cutting through the wall-" River tried gesturing to the wall directly behind the Ignis' jewel but she was just as concerned as the Doctor.

"Everybody stay put!" the guard in the room started heading for the entrance. "Nobody move-" But the Doctor was already way ahead of him, literally. "Sir!" the guard called but the Time Lord was out of the room in two seconds. "Sir!"

"What do you think happened?" Amy quietly pulled River to the side while the rest of the guests were ushered together.

"My guess?" River gave Amy a look asking her if she truly wanted to know. Of course Amy did. "My daughter got carried away with her new toy. Now c'mon, we'll have to be in front of the pedestal in a bit and then we'll have to get Rory and the Sapling. We'll need to do a lot of running!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was crouched in front of a wall, humming the tune of Once Upon a Dream tune to herself as she finished cutting a circle into the wall with a new gun. She had no idea that guards' guns were this powerful. She'd made an explosion a few minutes ago just because she'd accidentally fired it at one of the metal shelves. The shelf had fallen against the wall and pretty much destroyed everything that'd been on it, but everything else in the storage room was fine.

"River and Amy: I hope you're ready," Avalon said once she successfully cut the hole in the wall. It was a small hold that wouldn't be give her away but would still be visible on the other side. She put the gun down on the floor then pulled out another Ignis decoy jewel from her jean's pocket. Her hand squeezed through the hole and was relieved to feel the velvet of the cushion the Ignis jewel was on.

On the other side, River and Amy were standing directly in front of the pedestal. Amy looked over her shoulder and saw Avalon's fingers searching for the jewel.

"She's in," she whispered to River who was keeping her eyes on the guests. The guard had positioned himself at the entrance, not letting anyone come in or go out until the museum figured out what had caused the explosion.

"Good, because we'll be running in five minutes."

"Why five?"

"Because that's when they'll be figuring out we took down the alarms."

"Ah." Amy's eyes found Rory and the Sapling across from them and willed her husband to meet her gaze. She mouthed 'Five minutes and run' to him, hoping it'd be enough to get the point across.

Thankfully, he had.

River discreetly glanced behind them and saw Avalon was puling her hand back through the wall with the Ignis Jewel in hand. "That's my girl," she whispered proudly and continued to look ahead.

Back in the storage room, Avalon had cheered when she pulled her hand out and saw the bright red jewel in her palm. "Avalon Reynolds, you are a genius!" She had just stuck her hand back into the hole when the Doctor burst into the room.

"There you are! Are you okay!?" His sudden entrance and yell had startled Avalon into smacking her head against the wall.

"Doctor, you idiot!" She rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

"What are you doing!?" the Doctor made sure to close the door behind him. The guards were going back and forth trying to discover the origin point of the explosion. It was then that he noticed the fallen shelf in the corner of the room. "And what did you do to that!?"

"Had an accident with that," Avalon nodded her head to the gun sitting beside her. "It's all good, though." She struggled to yank her hand out of the hole again but once she did she cheered. "It's all very good!" She jumped on her feet and turned around with the Ignis Jewel in her hand. "Because I just won this heist!"

"I thought you were hurt," the Doctor sighed but she scoffed at his concern.

"Please!"

"What!?"

"Oh you know what it means! You've barely looked at me ever since I told you what I learned with Kovarian! So don't come running here, telling me that you were concerned! Just acknowledge that you've lost!" She waved the jewel in the air and strode for the door, only for the Doctor to grab her arm and turn her back.

"I always care, Ava! I've just been having trouble accepting that you have a better idea of what I am!"

Avalon shoved his hand off her arm and scowled. "For the last time, I know who you are! You're my Fairy Tale Man and I hate seeing you doubt yourself! I know who I'm dating, alright?" Her anger faded to be replaced with a soft sigh. Her lips curved into a near pout. "And I really miss his hugs and his kisses..."

The Doctor's shoulders slumped as his head seemed to lower. "I'm sorry Ava. I'm afraid that this whole blissful bubble is reaching its end and that you're going to be afraid of me. Lots of people are afraid of me...but I don't know what I'd do if you were afraid of me."

"That's never going to happen," Avalon felt like this would have to be something she would be repeating for a while. That was okay. She knew that a few months ago she was in constant need of reassurance. It was her turn to be there for the Doctor and she would be. "I need my Fairy Tale Man right next to me..." She took the needed steps to leave them face-to-face. "And if he needs me to tell him every morning, every afternoon, every night I'll do it." Her free hand came to stroke his cheek. "I'll be there."

The Doctor smiled down at her. "Even if he's an idiot?"

"Yeah, I think it's a cute look on him..." Avalon smirked at his reddened face. She laughed and kissed him, muffling her own laugh.

It was true what Avalon had said. The Doctor had only just now realized it'd been too long without a kiss between them and now that he had her with him, he would be making up for lost time. He passed a hand under her chin, lifting her head up slightly more. It gave a much better angle for a rougher, faster kiss. Avalon brought her arms over his shoulders, never realizing that she'd let go of the Ignis jewel. Neither heard it clink against the floor and roll a few feet away from them.

Avalon forgot the Heist altogether when the Doctor hoisted her up. He hadn't yet done that and she wasn't complaining one bit. She wrapped her legs around his waist and met his lips again for a continuation. The Doctor's hand gone up to the back of her neck and firmly pressed her against his body. He couldn't get enough of her right now. Her sweet lavender scent, on a normal day, was simply wonderful but right now it was intoxicating. He left her lips - something Avalon deeply groaned for - but she got over it when she felt his hot kisses on the side of her neck.

She moaned and tilted her head in the opposite direction, giving him an easier access to her sweet skin. He had only started a few seconds ago and he was already settling in the crook of her neck, a spot he'd come to learn was one of the spots for Avalon. He gently bit down and smirked when she automatically gasped. He felt her fingers grasp the back of his hair, an extra treat for him for being oh-so-kind to her.

"More, more," she patted the nape of his neck, letting her eyes fall shut.

"More?" he taunted with a soft kiss on the same spot.

She groaned at it, making him laugh. "Not funny! Don't start what you're not going to finish you tease!"

The Doctor bit the same spot again, harder than the previous time, and heard her moan for him. He continued his series of kisses afterwards, bouncing her bit to keep her steady between his arms.

Avalon laughed when his lips once again attached themselves to her neck. Seems like he found his favorite spot, she realized and once he started leaving new hot kisses on her clavicle then nearer to her throat and finally lower...she realized it was her favorite spot too. He was outlining the v-neck of her blouse but had distinctly heard her moans louder when he went straight down her throat. She was right, he was a tease and he was enjoying every minute of it. She eventually got frustrated that he'd forgotten about her lips for a while so she raised his head. "I'm up here my love." She dove down for a kiss, quickening it within seconds.

Neither of them noticed the steam that was beginning to rise from the Ignis jewel on the floor...but they flinched when the sprinklers went off. All the rooms had suddenly fired its sprinklers on.

Their lips reluctantly, and slowly, disconnected as they both turned their heads up to the sprinklers.

"I thought we disabled the alarms...?" Avalon made a face at them, though she had to look down from to avoid the pelting of cold water in her eyes.

"Fire system is a different system," the Doctor said distractedly.

"But why would they go off...?"

Their eyes simultaneously widened at each other when they remembered. "The Ignis Jewel!"

The Doctor let Avalon down and both turned their attention to the steaming jewel on the floor. "It wants to burst into fire but the sprinklers are disabling it. We gotta get it out of here." The Doctor ran towards it only for Avalon to scream "NO!" and jumped on his back. "AVA!" The Doctor shouted at her.

"It's mine! I had it first!" She exclaimed, keeping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Avalon, get the hell off of me! I'm trying to bring it back to the TARDIS!" the Doctor tried prying her hands off him but she was strongly holding them together.

"Yeah, and bring it into the TARDIS first! I know that you're trying to trick me! You bring it in and you win the heist!"

Maybe I am, he silently thought. She was just too smart. "Fine! But it's fair game!"

"IT'S MINE!"

The Doctor spun around twice before finally pushing Avalon off his back. He winced when he heard her hit the ground with a loud thud. "Ava!" He turned around just as she groaned.

"Ow..." She scrunched her face in pain.

"Avalon, I am so sorry!" the Doctor reached to help her stand up. She took his hand but the moment she had a tight grip on him, she yanked him down to the ground beside her. "Uff!" the Doctor felt his back connect with the floor in two seconds flat. He heard Avalon's teasing giggle beside him and turned his head to see her looking at him with the biggest smile on her face. She was looking incredibly beautiful right now despite the water soaking them wet. Her ginger curls were sticking to her face, but her blue eyes were shining with mirth. It was as if somebody had pressed the rewind button and they were back to a time before the Silence and Kovarian had struck. They were traveling together while Amy and Rory were honeymooning. It was just him and Avalon, exploring and pulling shenanigans like this. The Doctor admitted to himself that he could see a life like this with Avalon, only with Avalon because he lo...

Oh God. I love her. The Doctor felt his hearts stop while he caught up to his own thoughts. He loved her. He loved Avalon. He loved the wild, unpredictable, passionate writer that was Avalon Reynolds. He loved her sweet self, her kind eyes and warm heart...he loved her temper and her challenging personality.

"Gotcha!" Avalon giggled again as she bopped his nose.

The Doctor grabbed her hand before it could leave his face and kept their fingers intertwined. This is my girl, he realized with his swelling hearts. He couldn't imagine himself being with anyone else but her. Only Avalon would pull this kind of stuff on him, and truth be told it was the same stuff he'd do too. One moment they were passionately snogging and the next...she was jumping on his back and he was spinning around to get her off.

He brought their interlocked hands and kissed Avalon's hand softly. "You got me alright."

Avalon blushed and sat upright. "Yeah?" He nodded and smiled when she leaned down to kiss him again. "You got me too," she whispered and pressed another kiss to his lips. "And I'm...going to get myself first place for this Heist!" She jumped from her spot and swiped the Ignis' jewel off the ground.

"Avalon!" the Doctor cried but a part of him was already laughing by the time he got up.

The ginger ran right past him. "Can't catch me!" she taunted on her way out.

The Doctor smirked after her. "I do love me a good chase!"

Avalon's laugh echoed down the hallways they ran through. And because somebody knew her laughter so well, River was able to catch it from the next room.

"Now Amy!"

"RORY!" Amy yelled before she made a dash with River.

"Sapling!" Rory grabbed the Sapling's hand and ran after the women.

"You can't leave this room!" the guard at the entrance barked but River neatly punched him across the face.

Amy's mouth fell open but River yanked her out of the room. "You just punched that guy!"

"Yes, I did! You're welcome!"

"River!" Rory called once he and the Sapling were behind them in the hallway. "You just punched a guy!"

"You're welcome!" River groaned and picked up her pace. They needed to get out of here fast or else she'd have another charge against her.

The group ran past guards and lingering guests until they reached the first floor. Elevators were down so they had to take the stairs, but with their adrenaline they crossed them in no time. Finally, they saw the TARDIS standing in the basement just like they'd left her earlier.

"I see Mother and Father!" the Sapling exclaimed just as the pair had disappeared into the TARDIS.

"I WIN! I WIN! I WIN!" Avalon was cheering around the console when the group ran inside. "I win the heist!"

"Oh shut up!" the Doctor went after her in a sulk. Soon as he saw the others coming in, he took the TARDIS off. Safe and sound they were, but nobody was safe from Avalon's relentless yelling.

Avalon was dancing around the console, waving the jewel in her hand. "I win the heist! And my dear Doctor lost! I win!"

River laughed and high-fived her daughter. "Good job!"

"Yeah!" Avalon high-fived Amy next. "We won, ladies!" She turned around to the Doctor and smirked. "Did I mention I won?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice," the Doctor muttered.

"Thank God this is over," Rory exhaled and finally felt his stomach rid itself of those knots. "What was that explosion anyways?"

"That was me! I accidentally fired a shelf," Avalon dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand.

"WHAT-"

"But I won! I won the first heist!"

"First and last," Rory cut in with a stern finger pointed at his granddaughter. "We are never doing this again!"

Avalon's smirk promised something else, though.

"Mother, I'm so happy you won," the Sapling rushed to Avalon's side and hugged her. "But maybe next time I can win!"

Rory groaned, throwing his hands in the air as he turned away. Amy moved over to console her husband.

"Alright, this is truly been a pleasure," River started making her way around the console, switching buttons here and there to set course for Stormcage. "I must get going though."

"No, not yet. You should dry up and get changed," Avalon gestured to River's wet appearance. They were all soaked from the sprinkles. "Can't have you going back all wet and stuff."

"Right," River agreed with a nod. "Give me a second then." She hurried off for the corridors and since the water had been truly cold, Amy and Rory followed seconds later.

"Sapling, you may be made out of bark but please go get dried up too," the Doctor nodded the child towards the hallway.

"Okay! But what are we going to do with the jewel now?"

"Well, we're giving it back to its rightful owners," the Doctor glanced at Avalon to see her agreeing with a nod.

"Yes! And listen Sapling," Avalon stepped up to the Sapling, crouching in front of him. "Uncle Rory was right when he said that we don't steal. What we did today was different, alright? It was fun, but we weren't trying to hurt anyone. I really hope you understand this..."

The Sapling laughed carelessly. "Of course I do! Mother and Father don't hurt people! Heisting was just different but I know that it's not okay to steal."

"That's my boy," Avalon chuckled and kissed the Sapling's cheek. "Now go get dried up!"

"Okay!" the Sapling ran off to find his bedroom.

"He knows, Ava," the Doctor said once they were alone.

"I just don't want him growing up with my irresponsible behavior in him," she sighed. "God knows I was a handful."

"Was?" the Doctor innocently asked and received quite a hard mock glare in return. "You should've seen me back in my day."

"I'd like to learn about it one day," Avalon's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "What was my Fairy Tale Man like when he was a child?"

"Oh, dangerous question..."

"Even then?"

"Yes."

"Oh my..." Avalon laughed shortly then came up to him, a soft smile gracing her soaking face. "Well, when you're ready, I'd love to get to know about those parts of your life. Nine hundred years has to have some nice parts right?"

"...yes," the Doctor nodded slowly. There were plenty of moments he would always cherish from his past. Funny how easily he could forget them when somebody dangled his darker moments in front of him.

Avalon reached around his neck to undo his bowtie, reminding him of the gentle moments he'd missed between them as well. "You should go change too." She picked his left palm up and let his bowtie fall into it. "I'll meet you here in 20 minutes. Maybe 30. This-" she gestured to her wet curls, "-might take a bit more time to tame."

"You still look beautiful as ever," the Doctor passed his hand through her curls. Avalon closed her eyes for a minute and let herself enjoy the touch of his fingers playing with her hair. The Doctor would've loved to play with her hair for hours, but he needed to he responsible. "Go on, love. I don't want you getting a cold. Lower immunity system means you're a lot more susceptible to common illnesses like a cold."

"Right," Avalon sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. She turned to leave but stopped at the stairs. "Oh," she turned back, "And don't worry. I'll be sure to wear this blouse more often."

The Doctor's face went red in an instant, especially when Avalon pushed her hair to one side so he could see the reddened spots on her neck and, shamefully, near her cleavage. He coughed in embarrassment while Avalon laughed.

"I'm a biter too so...expect that the next time," she blew him a kiss and ran off.

My girl alright, the Doctor smiled to himself once he was alone.

Author's Note:

Listen I just KNOW that if Avalon was real she would totally vibe with Brooklyn 99. I even know for a fact that she would love Rosa Diaz. I just do okay? And you just know that it would only be Avalon and the Doctor who would pull heists. It's just so them. But yayayay the Doctor knows that he loves her, when do you think Avalon will realize she loves him too? I loved writing that moment too.

#ocappreciation #doctor who #11th doctor #doctor who fics #11th doctor fics #11th doctor imagines #doctor who imagines #dw imagine #dw imagines #11th doctor imagine #doctor who imagine #oc: Avalon Reynolds #fic: falling in temptation

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neighbourskid · 3 years

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2020

What a year, huh? Surely not anything anyone has expected to happen when we woke up on this day a year ago. I certainly haven’t. I’m not even sure, now, where to begin to sum up this year like I’ve done years prior. But then again... I may just as well just dive right into all the media I consumed this year, as I have done every year. I haven’t kept track as detailed as I have last year, but my year was definitely punctuated by pieces of entertainment that have come into my life.

Continuing on from 2019, my obsession with Good Omens was still going strong. Which was ideal, since I was gonna spend the first half of the year writing my Bachelor thesis on it. The intensity of the obsession may have waned a bit since, but I still love that show and book dearly and hold it close to my heart, and I don’t think that will ever stop. But while Good Omens was certainly an overall theme throughout my year, there were some other things that actually stood out.

With January came new episodes of Doctor Who, and having returned to that particular bandwagon the year prior, I was all about that. Jodie’s second season finally brought what I had longed for in her first--a darker kind of Doctor. She wasn’t quite as bubbly anymore, you could finally see some of the depths in the character that I loved so in the previous regenerations, which made me love Peter’s Doctor so incredibly much. In this season, I felt, Jodie was finally becoming the Doctor. Overall, that season catered to me personally every single episode. So many of the time periods they visited were of people I loved, and the introduction of Sacha Dhawan as the Master was absolutely....well, masterful. Sacha is brilliant in that role and I am utterly stunned by his talent. Although both John Simm and Michelle Gomez brought things to the Master that I liked, it’s Sacha’s completely unhinged take on it that made me finally like the character. He’s a madman and I love it.

The next major thing was The Good Place. I tend to have a talent of getting into shows just as they either ended their entire show, or the final season is just coming up. It’s happened quite a bit, and it was the same with this. I finally binged the show early in January and it would end its final season at the end of the month. True to form, I was completely obsessed with it for about a month, before I only occasionally thought about it again. But, thinking back now, I get this incredibly fond feeling for this show, and I remember that the finale absolutely wrecked me and I basically ugly sobbed through the entirety of it. Also very true to form, actually. I want to rewatch it again some time, but honestly preferably with someone who has never seen it before. Which, obviously, is a difficult thing to do given, well, everything.

Next up is something that surprised me a lot. In the middle of having to write my BA thesis, my procrastination thought it would be a great idea to rewatch and catch up on the entirety of Criminal Minds. And so I binged 15 seasons of that instead of writing my thesis. Which, coincidentally, had also just aired its final season not long before I started my binge in March. Rewatching this, I realised just how little I took in of the actual, like, stuff in the show when I first watched it as a teen. Although I mostly cared about the characters and their found family this time around--although I do find the cases really fascinating most of the time too--I noticed just how much I am not watching this for the fact that they are in the FBI. I was hyperaware of how often they shot at people before doing anything else, how many of the suspects died before ever being questioned or being brought in, and it made my skin crawl. I am aware how fucked up the criminal justice system is, and especially in the US, how the police functions and how incredibly glorified they are in the media. But rewatching this show, I realised how little I actually paid attention to anything when I was younger. Big yikes. Still, I remembered my love for these characters, and I really enjoyed that rewatch a whole lot. Found family will always get to me.

Once I finished writing my thesis and handed it in early in July, I then found my next momentary obsession: Community. The show had finally come to Netflix earlier in the year and a friend of mine had watched it then. I remember watching that pilot episode back then and being completely uninterested in watching it. The comedy felt like it wasn’t quite up my street, the characters were entirely unlikeable, and I especially disliked Jeff who the show was more or less centred around. I binged Criminal Minds instead, but then decided to give it another try. And, well, I watched it twice through without taking a break to watch something else in-between. Ironically, and maybe actually unsurprisingly, Jeff ended up being my favourite and I found myself relating a lot to him and his arc throughout the series. I even found myself writing some short ficlet-like things in the notes app on my phone. I made an attempt at starting a third watch, but I guess then the month was up, and my brain decided it was time for something else. My hyperfixations usually tend to die out after about a month. Which is why my complete devotion to Good Omens was a pleasant surprise. I did, however, end up watching quite a bit of Joel McHale and Ken Jeong’s The Darkest Timeline podcast throughout August.

Early in September, while already preparing for the new term at uni, and my first semester in my Master’s studies, I then turned to New Girl. Friends of mine had seen it and recommended it, and I remember watching probably the entire first season on TV while I was in San Diego the first time around back in 2016. Or at least I think it was the entire first season. Either way, I binged that whole thing, realised through Nick Miller that the go-to character I am drawn to and tend to project on in any piece of media is usually what I like to call “the garbage man,” which Nick is a prime example of. And although I spent a month watching the show in-between starting university again and volunteering at a film festival, I didn’t spend much time afterward thinking about it and moved on to other things rather quickly. I enjoyed watching it, that much I remember, and I’m pretty sure I cried at the finale because it was done wonderfully, but seeing as another month was up, my brain was probably like “okay fine that’s enough”.

I then spent most of fall and early winter watching every single bad Christmas movie available on Netflix, which was quite fun. In that moment of festivity, I also watched a movie I found absolutely brilliant and fell in love with immediately. It’s a beautiful movie called Jingle Jangle, it has a magnificent soundtrack and is absolutely incredible. I had no idea Forest Whitaker could sing and he completely blew me away. If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend it. It doesn’t matter that Christmas is already over, it’s beautiful either way.

By the time December finally rolled around, I was already over the whole Christmas thing, to be honest and I turned away from festive movies or shows, and eventually ended up finally picking up a gem I had heard much about and had been meaning to watch for a while. A show which, as it were, also aired its final season earlier this year. This little show is Schitt’s Creek. I will be going on about what this show means to me probably in another post at length, but for now just let me say: if you haven’t seen it, find some place to watch it, and put this beautiful show in your eyeballs. I am on my second run through already (although I’ve seen the second half of the show a second time already while watching it with a friend on their first run through), and it brings me so much fucking joy. It’s a gift, this show. And it will likely stay with me for a very, very long time.

That’s about it for the big things. I also watched a whole lot of other stuff, including entirely new things, or just newly released seasons of things I was already watching. Here’s what I can remember off the top of my head:

Charlie’s Angels (2020). The Night Manager. The Witcher. Dolittle (2020). The Librarians (rewatch). Harley Quinn (2020). Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). The Chef Show (S1 part 3, S2 part 1). Avenue 5. Money Heist (part 4). The Good Fight (S4). Brooklyn Nine-Nine (S7). DuckTales (2017 reboot). Frankenstein live. Staged (2020). Hamilton. Sense8. Julie and the Phantoms. The Boys in the Band. One Night in Miami. Enola Holmes. Supernova. His Dark Materials (S2). Happiest Season. The Great Canadian Baking Show.

I also got some reading done in-between what I had to read for my thesis in spring, and then for regular university courses in fall. Here’s some of what I can remember:

Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk. Ramona Meisel, Sunblind. Donna Tartt, The Secret History. Good Omens novel and script book. Matt Forbeck, Leverage: The Con Job. Keith R.A. Decandido, Leverage: The Zoo Job. Greg Cox, Leverage: The Bestseller Job. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Lost Lamp. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Pot of Gold. Neil Gaiman, Marvel 1602. Christina Henry, The Lost Boy. Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology. John Green, An Abundance of Katherines. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh. Maria Konnikova, The Confidence Game.

Having mulled over all this entertainment I consumed in 2020, there are also some non-tv or book things I need to point out. As many, many other people around the globe, I have also spent a large amount of time this year on my Nintendo Switch, playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It is a game I have waited for since the Switch was first announced, and I fell in love with it from the moment the first trailer dropped. It has brought me great joy in this weird fucking year, and I have more or less consistently played it since it came out in March. I ended this year with the in-game New Year’s Eve celebration and I feel like that summed up this year quite neatly and appropriately.

This year also brought with it another game very close to my heart: Super Mario Sunshine. With their release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars in September, Nintendo finally brought my all-time favourite Mario game to my all-time favourite console, and I played the entire game through in the first week of owning it, in-between university courses and volunteering at the film festival. Also contained in that package was Super Mario Galaxy which I have also played through in its entirety since. All that’s left for me now is Super Mario 64, which I am excited to play through in the coming year.

And to round off my year of entertainment, there are two more things I would like to mention. First, David Tennant Does A Podcast With..., which released its second season this summer. It is one of the only, if not the only podcast I keep up to date with and listen to immediately whenever a new episode drops. I’ve loved the first season dearly, and David came back with some incredibly fantastic guests for the second season as well. I can’t wait for what the podcast will bring in the future, but I will wait patiently until it is time. I can highly recommend it for everyone who likes interesting conversations between lovely people who clearly adore each other a whole lot.

And finally, while this year brought a whole lot of bullshit with it, it also gave me something I never thought possible and did not even dare to imagine in my wildest dreams. My all-time favourite show announced that it would be rebooted with the same main cast (minus one), a new wonderful member, and involvement of the original creators, and even started filming already in summer. Leverage is coming back. I still cannot believe it. I hoped for a movie, always. That maybe one day, they might bring the gang back together, for one last job, just one more encore. But to get a whole new tv-show with Aldis, Christian, Gina and Beth returning? With the addition of Noah Wyle? I can’t wrap my head around it. I am so excited for this. I predict that I will ugly sob through the entirety of the pilot episode, if not the first season, and will have to rewatch every episode because of it, but I have no doubt that it will be brilliant and wonderful.

True to form, I have now gone on about tv shows and movies for far too long, and haven’t really said anything about this year at all. 2020 was fucking weird. And I don’t think 2021 will be much different quite yet. I wrote an entire BA thesis in 2020. I successfully finished by Bachelor’s degree and started my Master’s studies and even got some excellent first grades in as well. I was lucky enough to be able to see some friends and family throughout the year, and even celebrate my birthday with a small circle of friends. I’ve become closer with friends, shared experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world, and, I think, maybe also grown a bit as a person.

I started this year excited to finally be able to start taking testosterone in February, and to finish the first part of my studies by summer. Although I did both of these things, they didn’t happen quite how I imagined them, but I am glad that I could do these things nevertheless.

2020 was a hell year, for sure. But there were some moments in there that I wouldn’t want to lose.

I’ve tried very hard to not be optimistic about this upcoming year, and rather take a more realistic, even pessimistic approach. But I can’t help but be hopeful. Hopeful that this year will be kind to us, and if it isn’t, that at least, we’ll be kind to ourselves and each other. It won’t be easy, and not much will change, I think. But we have to approach the coming time with kindness and compassion. That’s where I’m at currently. And I think that’s all for now.

Be well, friends, and take care.

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megabadbunny · 4 years

Text

Cartography and Ritual Observation

In all the time that she plotted and worked and strove for a happy ending, Rose realizes, she had planned for all manner of contingencies and failures. She never actually figured out what she would do if she succeeded. (She never actually planned to be happy.)

* lemon-free version on fanfiction.net *

***

She never expected to see the Doctor in her universe, in her living room, in her flat. Yet, here he is.

(Here they both are.)

The Doctor is eager to inspect everything the moment they get in from Norway, peeking inside Rose’s bedrooms and her bath, opening the refrigerator and cabinet doors, inspecting the light fixtures, overturning the few knickknacks she has accumulated in her time here. His fingers glide over everything; impossibly, Rose has almost forgotten how much he sees with his hands. He listens to her house tour with rapt attention and she can see him filing every detail of her home away.

Rose doesn’t keep much food in the cottage, so she orders some takeaway and pretends to eat it while the Doctor tucks in. She’s too unsettled to eat properly, for reasons she can’t quite explain. She turns on the telly and they watch it for a bit—it’s a “documentary” on aliens, naturally—and Rose tries not to think about the weirdness of this situation, the mundane bizarreness or strange normalcy of it all, while she plucks out and eats all of the shrimp in her fried rice. The Doctor keeps up a running commentary on the film’s inaccuracies and Rose smiles, remembering how they used to do this on the TARDIS just a few years ago.

It’s almost disturbing, how easy it is for Rose to pretend that everything’s all right—except it isn’t pretend at all, is it? Everything is all right, just not the sort of all right she’d imagined, not the kind she’d planned and worked and hoped for. But her dislike of having decisions made on her behalf (yet again) notwithstanding, she can’t deny that she ended up with a pretty good deal. A fantastic deal, even; she got everything she wanted, and more besides—the Doctor, with her, and her family and her friends and her home, and the promise of adventures in the TARDIS once more, all in the same universe again. Which, as brilliant as it is, still doesn’t answer the question niggling in the background-noise of her consciousness, growing ever-louder by the minute:

What now?

For the first time in four years, the next step is completely unknown. It’s as if, upon arriving at her destination, someone ripped the guidebook out of Rose’s hands and set it on fire right in front of her. There’s no longer any map, no itinerary, no plan. And how the fuck is Rose supposed to deal with that?

Rose’s hands long to fidget, but she forces them still, locks her leg to keep her foot from tapping impatiently. She’s doing a magnificent job, she thinks, of looking like a normal person, one who isn’t about to vibrate right out of her skin with the utter need to just get up and complete the next step of the plan already. Whatever that next step may be.

Glancing sidelong at the Doctor, Rose wonders what, besides factual inaccuracies about aliens, might be going through his head right now. If he feels Rose’s gaze heavy on him, he doesn’t say, too busy glowering at the images of the Great Pyramid of Giza flashing across the telly because according to the documentary, humans only could have built the Pyramid with the help of aliens, but according to the alien in the room, that’s a bunch of hogwash, and all that business was 100% ancient Egypt, 100% of the time; I didn’t offer so much as a tidbit of advice on the construction, only popped by long enough to nab a snack from Khufu’s coronation, you can’t beat a pomegranate grown in the cradle of the Nile. At any rate, he doesn’t look worried about plans or the future, or indeed, anything that happened fewer than 4500 years ago. Rose wonders if she should snuggle up to him, for the simple comfort of it and also just because she can, just like she used to. She remembers when she would tuck in close on the settee in the TARDIS library under the feeble pretense of being cold; the Doctor would tut at her cold hands and feet and snag her a blanket, toss it over her. But he wouldn’t make her move. He’d still wrap an arm around her shoulders, wouldn’t budge if she nestled against his side.

(She had always wondered, then, how long the sense of normalcy would last if she had leaned up to press a kiss to his throat or his cheek or his mouth, if she had tried something more. She never found out. She never did try.)

They watch another film after that, and another, and finally, just when Rose is starting to wonder if he won’t need sleep to speak of in this body either, the Doctor stretches and lets out a yawn.

“I’m a bit knackered,” he announces. “But I suppose a metacrisis-regeneration will do that to you.”

After the two of them wash up for the night, there’s a brief, awkward question of which bedroom he’ll sleep in. But before Rose has to make a decision—put him in the spare room, or offer to share hers? Would offering the spare room make her seem cold and aloof, would offering her room make him feel claustrophobic?—the Doctor opens the door of the guest bed, deciding for her.

“Well,” says Rose, only a little awkwardly. But before she can say Good night, the Doctor surprises her by reaching out and pulling her in for a kiss.

It’s a very short kiss, but Rose’s brain still goes fuzzy and she’s warm everywhere he touches her, heat blossoming from his mouth, from his fingers on her shoulders, sliding down into her belly. He pulls her in close, her chest against his, and he’s so much warmer than before, so warm she can feel the heat of him even through both of their shirts. His lips part in millimeters and she can taste peppermint on his breath, the not-unpleasant reminders of toothpaste mingling with his own oh-so-human traces, working in gentle countermeasure to the softness of his lips, and the peppermint and the hormones and the warmth of him flood her mind like a pleasant buzzing fog. It’s a short kiss, yes, but her toes curl anyway and her heart races in her chest. She tells herself that it’s probably only because it’s been a while since anyone’s kissed her quite like this.

(She won’t admit that no one’s ever kissed her quite like this.)

Afterward, the Doctor pulls her into a hug. A proper hug. Arms wrapping around her body, bringing her toward him like gravity. Holding her snug and tight. Her own arms encircle him before she can even think to stop. It’s an automatic process. Touching the Doctor is still so engrained in her system, it’s right up there with breathing and blinking.

“Sorry,” he exhales into her hair, and he sounds almost out of breath—that’s a first. “It’s just—I’ve wanted to do that for ages.”

Rose can feel his heart hammering against hers. Fluttering like a creature in a cage. (A cage built for two.)

Should she invite him into her room? Is that what he wants? Is that what she wants? Is this part of the plan, now?

(What do they do, now?)

“Rose?” asks the Doctor. “Are you all right?”

Rose hesitates. She isn’t totally sure of the answer, and even if she was, she doesn’t know if she feels levelheaded enough to deliver it right now. But she can see that, despite his casual and placid demeanor all evening, now the Doctor is incredibly tense, concerned, even; she can spot it in the purse of his lips and the furrow of his brow, feel it in the rigidity of his hands on her arms.

Something eases up a little in her shoulders. He’s better at hiding it, but he’s just as nervous as she is, isn’t he? And probably feels just as lost, too.

“This isn’t really what either of us had in mind, is it?” Rose realizes aloud.

The Doctor frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...it’s not like either of us woke up the other day deciding to come back to this universe. And I can’t imagine you planned for your metacrisis-thing to happen.”

“That last one’s true enough,” says the Doctor, scratching his neck uncomfortably. “But, erm. As for the former. I had already made a decision about where I’d end up, regardless of what the other me decided.”

“You wanted to come back here?”

“Given the circumstances, yes.”

When Rose doesn’t reply, just furrows her brow in confusion, the Doctor averts his gaze. “I wasn’t so concerned about the specific location,” he says, slowly. He swallows hard. “All I knew—all I know—is that where you are, that’s where I want to be. Knew it from the second I woke up in this body. I just want to be with you.”

Rose stares at him, mouth parted in surprise.

“Only—only if that’s what you want too,” the Doctor stutters, cheeks flushing pink.

“I do,” says Rose, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as something goes fluttery in her stomach and warmth suffuses her from head to toe. “Of course I do. But I—it’s been a long few years, right? So I might need a minute, to get my thoughts and feelings and everything in order. Okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” the Doctor replies quickly. “Naturally. Makes sense. Completely.” Suddenly jittery, he steps back, hands fluttering about frantically in search of something to do before depositing themselves firmly in his pockets. “Totally understandable, imminently relatable. Molto bene. Hunky-dory. Bleh, not hunky-dory, never hunky-dory, what a dreadful-sounding phrase, please feel free to erase it from your memory immediately. But of course, take all the time you need, Rose, however long you need, I’ve got all the time in the world—well, I’ve got a good sixty years—well, could be fifty, with the way Donna’s cholesterol is going, and thanks for that, Donna—but then again, could be longer, depends on how things go with the baby TARDIS and whether anyone or anyplace in this universe has got any Werinian lipid stabilizers—but please, yeah, take whatever time you need, Rose, that’s fine by me, absolutely top-notch, spiffy, even—”

“Doctor, wait,” blurts out Rose, grabbing the Doctor by the elbow before he can sprint off to goodness-knows-where. “You don’t have to swan off.”

“I was not,” says the Doctor, who looks very much like he may bolt into the next dimension at any second, “going to swan off. Or duck off. Or goose off. Or any-other-sort-of-waterfowl-off, for that matter.”

“Sure you weren’t,” Rose teases him, smiling weakly.

“I was merely adhering to my promise of, you know. Being considerate and giving you what you need, and all that.”

“Yeah, except I asked for time,” says Rose. Her smile deepens. “Not space.”

“Right,” says the Doctor.

“An important distinction, don’t you think?”

Something about him seems to loosen just a little bit. “Very important.”

Rose grabs his hand, squeezing it reassuringly, just to make absolutely certain he knows where she stands, and feels immensely relieved when he squeezes her fingers in response. But not half a moment passes before Rose has to stifle a yawn of her own.

“All right, then,” she says quietly, almost shyly. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” he says, his voice soft.

“Good night, Doctor.”

He beams down at her. “Good night, Rose.”

***

Tomorrow, of course, ends up being something of a loose concept, because tomorrow is full of exciting things like Rose sleeping in (until past noon, somehow), Jackie and Tony bursting into the cottage (because it’s after noon, Rose, you haven’t stayed in that late in ages, are you dead?), Tony being so terribly excited to meet the Doctor that he wets himself just a little bit (The Oncoming Storm meets The Oncoming Piddle), and Jackie announcing that it’s time for a trip to the shops (they need to buy the Doctor things now that he’s human and here and forever).

“All right, but let’s keep it a short trip,” Rose tells her mum as the four of them head out the door. “Just for the basics.”

“Oh, of course,” Jackie replies, waving her hand dismissively. “Only the essentials.”

“One hour,” Rose says.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” Jackie calls over her shoulder.

Naturally, one hour becomes two becomes five.

It’s about as weird as Rose anticipated, or rather, as weird as Rose would have anticipated, if she’d ever thought of such a thing. She half-expects the Doctor to bound away at any moment, impatient with the quaint little Earth shops and their decidedly terrestrial wares, but he seems content to poke around, to good-naturedly ignore all of Jackie’s fashion suggestions, to answer all of Tony’s many strange four-year-old’s questions. Rose keeps to herself for the most part—it’s only sort-of on-purpose, there are all sorts of feelings crawling around under her skin and she isn’t sure what to do with them—and she trails behind the rest of the group, hanging back, watching.

Her mum, Tony, the Doctor. In the same universe. In a shop together. Picking out socks and deodorant and hair gel. Years of dimension-hopping and traveling all of time and space have somehow failed to prepare Rose for how very weird this is.

Not bad, of course. But weird. Probably weird for him, too, Rose reminds herself.

“Awful quiet,” Jackie remarks at an upscale suit shop, her voice low so that only Rose can hear. She rifles through a clothing rack and pulls out a suit jacket (in blue, not brown; she’s cottoned on quickly).

“How d’you mean?” Rose asks.

Tilting her head, Jackie holds the jacket out at arm’s length, surveying the garment and the Doctor in the same glance. The jacket’s skinny, but not as skinny as he is. “Thought you’d be bouncing off the walls, the both of you,” Jackie explains. “That, or tangled up in the bedsheets.”

Rose groans. “Oh my god, Mum.”

“Don’t give me that. I know how it is. Lose the man you love, spend years pining after him, finally find a parallel version of him in an alternate universe. Bound to be some celebratory shagging, isn’t there?” Jackie replaces the jacket on the rack and grabs a different one. “Especially when he keeps wearing those tight trousers. You buying what he’s selling, or what?”

Rose closes her eyes and prays for mercy. “Mum, I’m pretty sure he can hear us.”

Both of them glance across the store to check, but the Doctor seems absorbed in the necktie display, smiling when Tony points to a tie in a shade of nearly-TARDIS-blue.

“Nah,” Jackie sniffs. “Even his hearing isn’t that good, I reckon.”

As soon as she turns away, the Doctor looks up at Rose with a wink.

(Is she imagining things, or did it suddenly get a few degrees warmer in the shop?)

***

Days pass and he hasn’t kissed her again since that first night. But to be fair, she hasn’t kissed him again, either. Rose knows it’s only because they’re each trying to respect each other’s space or personal boundaries or sensitivities or whatever, which is quite frankly silly, given that in their time together before, neither of them seemed to really know what boundaries were, much less how to respect or enforce them.

Well, that isn’t quite true, she supposes. There were plenty of boundaries that they never crossed. It just didn’t feel so obvious before.

Take, for example, nighttime habits. On the TARDIS, each night they weren’t assisting some planetside uprising (or stewing in an alien prison for assisting in said planetside uprising), there was a distinct ritual: Rose would plop down on the jumpseat or the library settee or a pallet of cushions on the engine-room floor, reading a book or trashy mag or painting her nails or simply lounging about while the Doctor researched or tinkered or plotted. Rose would often have a snack with her as well, which the Doctor would insist he wasn’t interested in, but would ultimately eat half of. Lulled into relaxation by the TARDIS’ gentle hum, Rose would eventually doze off, at which time the Doctor would quietly rouse her and remind her to go to bed. After a bout of protesting that she wasn’t really that tired (punctuated with a deep and satisfying yawn that made the Doctor raise an eyebrow in amusement), Rose would then sleepily stumble-shuffle down to the hall to her room, scrub her face and brush her teeth, and go to bed. Neither of them would see the other until the morning (or sometimes the very early morning, on days where the Doctor excitedly burst into her room without warning and subsequently had a pillow chucked at his head), and that was it. That was the ritual, with all of its implicit steps and rules and boundaries. Hands could be held, food could be shared, cuddles could be had, but certain things were not discussed, other certain things were overlooked, and each night Rose went to bed alone. It didn’t need to be spoken or thought about; it just fell into place, a river following its own daily flow. It’s much the same, now, except there’s no hand-holding and no cuddling and no touching at all, just daily business, time together in the evenings, and then separate beds in separate rooms. This is the new ritual, it seems; this is the new plan.

This explains how a whole week passes before Rose decides she has to do something about the Doctor’s nightmares.

Wrenched awake by the sounds of shouting (again, same as the previous six nights), Rose waits just long enough for her heart to stop pounding before she throws off her duvet and pads down the hall, to the spare room where the Doctor sleeps. She presses her ear to the door, listening for any additional signs of agitation, and only spares half a thought for boundaries when he cries out again in the dark and suddenly she’s pushing the door open and climbing into the bed, time and space and rules be damned. Slipping beneath the bedclothes, Rose snuggles up behind the Doctor as he hyperventilates in his sleep, snaking a hand over his stomach and ribs and chest, pulling them both close. He awakens with a jolt and a gasp, grabbing Rose’s hand with a grip like a vice.

Rose freezes, feeling the Doctor tense to stone beneath her hand and arm. She wonders if he’s angry at her, if he’s embarrassed, if she did the wrong thing, if she should have waited to come up with a better plan.

“Rose?” asks the Doctor quietly, his voice rough.

“Yeah, Doctor,” she replies in a whisper. “I’m here.”

A few moments pass in thick silence before the Doctor relaxes, sinking back down into the mattress. He loosens his death-grip on Rose’s hand, but doesn’t let go entirely; instead he tugs, just a little, until Rose snuggles in closer, cushioning herself to him completely and eliminating even the thought of space between them. Her cheek pressed against his shoulderblades, her chest to his spine, Rose can feel the precise moment he slips back into sleep, his breaths expanding and evening out into liquid slow smoothness.

He doesn’t move her hand from his chest, and it’s a long time before he lets her hand go.

Probably they should just start going to bed together, but this all becomes part of the new ritual—go about their daily business (together), stay up late (together), wash up (at the same time), go to bed (separate beds, in separate rooms), awaken at the sound of nightmares ripping the calm night air (from down the hall), climb into his bed and go to sleep (next to him), wake up (alone). It’s another rule they both follow; the Doctor may need more sleep now, but he still needs less sleep than Rose does, overall, so she isn’t too surprised that each morning she awakes in it, his bed is empty. Until one morning it isn’t.

Honey-warm light drips in lazily through the gap between drapes and Rose realizes, her eyes slowly sliding open, that for once, she isn’t entangled in a mess of bedsheets, but rather, she seems to be intertwined with rather a solid fellow-human-shaped thing. One may even go so far as to say that she is, in fact, tangled up in the limbs of a fellow human. Probably she should slip out before he wakes, do what she can to preserve this boundary she’s drawn, but she hesitates, her breath warm and trapped between her face and the Doctor’s chest. Her legs are twined with his and her arms are wrapped around his torso and one hand, the cheeky little thing, has snuck up the back of his sleep-shirt, so her palm is pressed flat against warm, pliant skin.

It’s nice, all cuddled and close like this, pressed together in their blanket-cocoon. It’s very nice. But Rose suspects it’s breaking the rules; she asked for time, so that means she’s got no right to be touching him now, like this. Besides, there’s no indication that he’s interested in anything beyond hugging, or holding hands, or the occasional wayward kiss. He could very well be totally asexual, for all Rose knows. And if that’s the case, she doesn’t want him to feel pushed, or pressured. So she pulls her hand down, hoping that a slow, gentle motion won’t disturb him, but that’s almost worse than if she’d just whipped her hand out straightaway, because now it probably feels like she’s stroking him, which, not that she minds, but what if he does? Nevermind that when she glances down (oh, that’s a mistake) she can see that his shirt has ridden up in the night to expose an entire agonizing expanse of rarely-before-seen skin, stretched thin over his hipbone and smooth over his stomach and smattered with a sparse scattering of hair leading southward, and warmth blossoms between Rose’s legs at the thought of her fingertips tracing a line down, down, down, over his flank and his hip and straight to his—

His breathing has gone shallow. He’s awake now. With Rose’s face pressed to his chest, her lips right over his heart, and her hand still half up his shirt. And with one of his legs sandwiched between hers, there’s no way he can’t feel the heat of her.

Fuck.

“Sorry,” Rose whispers anyway, because she feels like she should. She shifts in a halfhearted attempt to extricate herself from the Doctor. “I’m sorry, I just woke up like this—I didn’t mean to—”

“No, no, you’re fine,” the Doctor stutters. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Rose laughs. “I was afraid I was making you uncomfortable.”

“Well, I appreciate the consideration, but I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about.”

Brow pinched in confusion, Rose shifts in the bed, extricating herself from the Doctor just enough that she can scoot up to his eye level. “Really?” she says.

He nods. “Really.”

“Oh,” says Rose, suddenly breathless, thinking of the Doctor’s wink in the shop the other day. Her hand has stilled on his lower back, near the waistband of his pyjama-bottoms and she can’t decide if she should keep moving away or if she should slip a finger beneath the elastic and see what happens next, sod the rules.

“I’m not in any particular rush,” the Doctor says, as if he can hear what she’s thinking. Or maybe it’s just that evident on her face. “I said I’d give you time, and I meant it. For whatever you need.”

Rose smiles at him. “You know just what to say to a girl, don’t you?”

“Well, it helps to have one buzzing about in your DNA.”

Rose abandons his waistband in favor of fisting her hand in the back of his shirt, squeezing him in a hug as she buries her face against his chest.

“Thank you,” she says.

He doesn’t say anything, but hugs her tightly in reply.

***

It’s Tony’s birthday party—hard to believe he’s five years old, now, feels like just yesterday that Rose was visiting him and her mum in the maternity ward and marveling over the downy-softness of his sweet little baby head—and he has decided, with all the solemnity a small child can muster, that he wants a proper garden party, something fancy and grown-up, all suits and ties and dresses and pumps. (Rose has a sneaking suspicion about the correlation of this interest in suits and the sudden arrival of the Doctor in this universe; she keeps it to herself, but can’t hide her smile when she asks Tony what he’d like for his birthday, and his immediate response includes a pair of his own red Chucks.) Of course, once the day arrives, after the cake and biscuits and presents and fancy-proper-adult-party have worn out their novelty, Tony decides he wants to play a game of hide-and-go-seek. And naturally, he starts by tagging the biggest child present.

“You’re it!” he shouts, slapping the Doctor on the leg before he and the other children run off laughing and screaming.

The Doctor glances up at Rose in question, a half-eaten treat in one hand. “I’m what?” he asks incredulously around a mouthful of biscuit.

“You’re it,” Rose laughs. When the Doctor just raises an eyebrow, confused, Rose laughs even more. “You know. You’re the one that finds all the children hiding. Haven’t you ever played hide-and-go-seek before?”

“Well, of course I have, but it’s called different things in different places, isn’t it? Not to mention it’s been several centuries and just a few planets since then.”

“At least you look good for your age,” Rose teases.

“I do, don’t I?”

“Oh, yeah. Barely have any wrinkles or grey hair or anything.”

The Doctor mock-glowers at her. “Rose Tyler. I most assuredly do not have any ‘wrinkles, or grey hair, or anything’ anywhere on my person.”

“What about the freckles?”

“Those are hardly indicative of old age. And besides, everyone knows freckles are charming. Like a bunch of little kisses from the sun, just kissing you all over.”

“Has the sun been kissing you all over, then?” asks Rose, her tongue peeking out playfully between her teeth. “Should I be jealous?”

The Doctor’s eyebrows pique with surprise as Rose registers the implications of what she just said. She begs herself not to blush.

“Just to clarify: for this particular hypothetical, are you asking if you should be jealous of me,” the Doctor asks slowly, a grin playing across his lips—and a smug grin, at that!—“or if you should be jealous of the sun?”

Huh. It’s been a little while, but Rose is fairly certain she’s being flirted-with.

“You’re a smart lad,” she says, grabbing the biscuit out of his hand. “You’ll figure it out,” she tells him, offering her own smug grin as she eats her stolen treat.

“Mr. Doctor!” shouts Tony from across the garden, drawing Rose and the Doctor’s attention to where he has decided to hide in a very obvious spot. “Come find us!”

Turning back to Rose, the Doctor clears his throat. “So I should, erm,” he says, gesturing over his shoulder toward where all the children ran off, and have the tips of his ears gone pink? “Probably go put the seek in hide-and-go-seek, right?”

“Right,” Rose says. “They’re not gonna find themselves, after all.”

“Well, it’s a good thing they’ve got me, then, isn’t it?”

“A very good thing,” says Rose, smiling.

The Doctor beams at her for just a second before darting off in search of all the children, pretending to carefully examine every nook and cranny in the garden, even those that children couldn’t possibly ever hide in, ignoring the titters of laughter that float his way from all of the poorly-hiding five-and-six-year-olds.

(He catches Rose watching him a few moments later and shoots her another wink across the garden. Cheeky bastard.)

An hour or so later, as the sun is setting and the sky darkening, the party has begun to wind down, and the staff has begun cleaning the mess away. (It still feels surreal, the staff, and the mansion and the money and the not-having-to-worry-about-every-penny, but it’s a good sort of surreal after twenty years of scraping by, and the staff are very well paid.) As Jackie and Pete start the goodbye negotiations with other sets of attending parents, Rose sets off in search of Tony and the Doctor, to lure them back to the mansion with the promise of dinner. She pokes around the poolside and the trees and the flowerbed, and has just come round the old shed when something seizes her by the shoulder and tries to pull.

With a blink Rose’s UNIT-honed instincts take over and she grabs her assailant’s hand and arm and lunges to the ground, yanking him bodily over her shoulder. He hits the grass in front of her with a solid thwack and Rose springs back, hands held defensively between her and the Doctor, just in case he—

Oh. Ah. The Doctor.

“What the hell was that?” Rose demands.

“What the hell was that?” he hisses back at her, staring up at her with wide eyes.

“Sorry, sorry,” Rose splutters. “Are you—”

She doesn’t have a chance to say Okay because the Doctor has already scrambled up from the ground to grab her once again (by the hand, from the front, this time, where she can see him coming) and he’s pulling her up to the shed with him, throwing open the doors so he can draw them both inside. It’s a tight squeeze, the two of them in there with all the old tools and tarps and equipment, but the Doctor closes the doors behind them anyway. Rose starts to ask what on earth’s gotten into him but the Doctor cuts her off with a finger held to his lips.

“Rose?” asks Tony’s voice, a few meters off to their right somewhere. “Mr. Doctor?”

Rose rolls her eyes. She opens her mouth to say that playtime is over now, ta, but before she can say anything, the Doctor switches his hand from his mouth to hers, putting his finger to her lips and stoppering her words. Normally, Rose might bat him away or grimace in irritation at him hushing her up like this, but right now, with these invisible lines drawn between them, heightening every touch to something near-electric, all Rose can think about is his finger against her mouth and his other hand still grasping hers. And as close as they’re standing, Rose notices (just like she used to back then) just how good the Doctor smells. It isn’t quite the same as before; there’s the slightest tang of sweat that never used to be there, but not in a bad way. He still smells like him, and he still smells good. (Christ, he smells good.)

The pitter-patter of little feet in the grass nearby isn’t quite enough to pull Rose out of her thoughts, though she knows it means Tony is close, and therefore close to finding them. But even if the stakes are so different now (no physical danger here, not unless the Doctor decides to surprise-attack her again), she can’t help but recall all the other times like this, the two of them holding close in a dangerous situation, before. Rose thinks of hiding from palace guards and harrowing space station escapes and prison breaks with held hands and held breaths and pounding hearts and god, she wants to kiss the Doctor so badly, she really, really does. So maybe she should, Rose thinks as the Doctor’s gaze drops from her eyes to her mouth, where his finger rests. Maybe she should just pull his hand away and push up onto the balls of her feet and press her lips against his and kiss him. Maybe it doesn’t matter that they still haven’t properly talked yet. Maybe it doesn’t matter that this dirty dingy old shed is possibly the least romantic setting she could have chosen. Maybe she should snog the everloving daylights out of him regardless. Maybe—

“Rose,” says the Doctor, his voice low, his eyes locked on hers. He leans forward, and Rose’s pulse races in her throat as his lips brush against her ear.

“Run for your life,” he whispers.

“Found you!” Tony shrieks, tossing open the shed doors. Shouting in mock-fear, the Doctor cinches his grasp on Rose’s hand and yanks her out of the shed before Tony can tag either one of them, pulling her along in a run. Rose stumbles at first, taken by surprise, not to mention that she’s still wearing her pumps. But the Doctor is laughing like a madman, pulling her along as he sprints with seemingly no effort whatsoever, and it feels just utterly glorious to be running again after weeks without and soon Rose is kicking off her pumps to better keep up with him, relishing the stretch and burn in her lungs and calves and thighs. Tony giggles and yells behind them and the Doctor laughs and whoops next to her and he’s still clutching her hand and the wind whips her hair and air expands her lungs and happiness swells in her chest and spreads to her head until she feels giddy with the rush of it and it’s been weeks since Rose grinned this hard or felt this good, it’s been months, it’s been years.

“Run for your life!” the Doctor shouts, and Rose laughs.

***

Rose may not have foreseen the Doctor returning to this universe with her, and thus may not have been able to plan for such an event, but some things still just make sense and fall into place naturally, and the Doctor working with UNIT is one such thing. (Working with, mind, not for; it’s an important distinction, he insists, and Rose rolls her eyes but plays along.) Thus it’s in the breakroom for the Applied Sciences department that Rose finds the Doctor late one night, dozing on the couch after a long day of research and alien negotiations.

Biting her lip, Rose watches him, taking a moment to appreciate this rare unguarded view. The Doctor has always looked youthful with this face, but right now, he looks young, downright vulnerable, head bowed and specs slipping down his nose and lips parted ever so slightly as he sleeps. Pale blue light from the breakroom telly bathes his face in ghostly hues, reflecting in his glasses, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. Something warm swells almost uncomfortably in Rose’s chest; this may not be exactly what she was working for all these years, but damn it, he’s wonderful, and he’s beautiful, and he’s here. With her. The enormity of such a massive thought in such a quiet moment is enough to make her head spin.

Biting her lip, Rose checks the clock. It’s nearly midnight. She’s more than ready to go home, but she sort of hates to disturb the Doctor right now. There are a few more things she can do, she decides, before she rouses him and they go home. Let him sleep for a few minutes longer, she thinks.

Rose has just turned to leave the breakroom when his hand reaches out to wrap around hers.

“’Lo,” murmurs the Doctor, his voice thick with sleep. “Time to head out?”

Rose smiles. “In a minute. You can close your eyes again.”

“Nah, I’m not tired,” says the Doctor, sitting up with a great yawn.

Rose piques an eyebrow in suspicion, her smile deepening. It is immensely gratifying to be on the opposite end of this conversation for once.

“…maybe I’m a little bit tired,” the Doctor admits.

“Just a little bit,” Rose teases.

“Only the littlest of bits,” says the Doctor, yawning again. With his free hand he reaches up beneath his specs, rubbing at his eyes. “Just give me a moment and I’ll be good to go. Yeah?”

“All right,” says Rose, moving to leave.

He still hasn’t let go of her.

“Did you want me to wait?” Rose asks.

“Only if you like,” he says casually—a little too casually, Rose thinks—so she nods, plunking down in the break room’s old comfy armchair, her fingers still twined with the Doctor’s. While they’re waiting, Rose figures she might as well watch some telly, but whatever the Doctor’s got playing looks dreadfully boring, not to mention so quiet she can barely hear it. So Rose reaches for the remote, only for the Doctor to pull it away at the last second.

Rose’s lips twitch. “Do you mind?” she asks.

“Do I mind what?” he asks, eyes trained forward on the telly.

“Do you mind if I change the channel?”

The Doctor shrugs. “Have at it.”

Maybe it was a misunderstanding, Rose reasons. He was asleep just a moment ago, after all. Probably he’s just not thinking. She reaches for the remote again.

He pulls it out of her reach again.

Rose’s eyes narrow. Her fingers drum on her thigh. Tap-tap-tap.

(Is he messing with her?)

She pretends to settle back in the chair, wriggling her bum comfortably into the cushions. He places the remote on the sofa arm between them. He rests his hand mere centimeters away. After a moment, Rose can tell he’s relaxed a little, sees the tension easing from his arm and neck.

After another moment, Rose pounces.

She dives across the furniture and naturally he’s too quick for her once again, snatching up the remote just as Rose’s fingertips glance against it.

(He is messing with her.)

(This, of course, means war.)

Rose pushes up on her knees and reaches one arm out as far as it will go, holding on first to the chair-arm and then the Doctor’s shoulder for balance, and he holds the remote just out of reach. His arms are longer than hers and he knows it and he’s using it to his advantage, the bastard. He just sits there with a slowly-spreading smug grin on his face, pretending to watch the telly even with Rose’s arm waving madly in front of his face. With every swipe of her hand, he just holds the remote further and further away, until his arm is fully extended and Rose is practically falling out of her chair. And when Rose jumps up, thinking she’ll just catch him from the other side, he switches hands, chuckling quietly to himself.

The urge to laugh bubbles up in Rose’s gut, but she pushes it down. She doesn’t have time for laughter. She only has time for vengeance.

With a quiet hmmph! she sits back down, trapping the Doctor between her body and the sofa-arm. The Doctor opens his mouth to protest and Rose takes full advantage of his tiny slip in concentration, throwing one leg over his lap in a deep lunge while her hand strains toward her prize.

Close—! She can practically feel her fingernails scraping the plastic casing, she’s so close��

—until the Doctor’s free hand grabs her by the waist and pulls her back, hard.

Rose can’t help laughing now, and he’s laughing too, both at her and with her, while she struggles against him, pushing at him with her chest pressed into his shoulder and thigh slung across his lap. (Damn, but he’s stronger than he looks; of course, so is she, but she has no desire to prove herself by harming him. The other day was a close enough call.) Writhing in his grip, Rose makes one last valiant effort, her hand straining desperately to close itself around his wrist or his shirtsleeve, maybe yank his arm closer, before he finally manages to pull her away, and she falls back with a solid thump.

“You unbelievable ass,” Rose laughs, pushing her hair away from her face.

“Me?” the Doctor asks innocently. “I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when I was assaulted—”

“I’ll show you ‘assaulted’,” Rose mutters under her breath, but she’s still grinning.

“—and then you decided to crawl all over my body like it’s some kind of sentient obstacle course!”

“Oi,” Rose chuckles, moving to stand up, “It’s not my fault you’re all arms and legs and—”

Her thigh brushes over his lap as she moves, and she freezes. Over the last few years she hasn’t had much chance to accrue what one would label a wealth of experience in the matter, but she’s fairly certain she just accidentally touched something that was neither a hand nor a leg nor a part that’s traditionally considered public touching material. And she might not be an expert, but she doesn’t think it’s typically quite that, well, hard, either.

Oh. Oh.

Rose feels like she should flush with embarrassment, or jump back and pretend nothing’s happening (observe the ritual, adhere to the boundaries, stick to the plan), but she can’t seem to move, stuck in partial suspension above the Doctor. His face is eye level with her chest, which he seems adamantly unfocused on, eyelashes fluttering just a little too rapidly, and oh my, but she’s suddenly noticing just how warm they both are, how short her skirt is, how his thighs are bracketed by hers, just how much they’ve been touching each other this whole time.

The Doctor swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the force of it. “Yes, erm,” he says quietly, and is he blushing? “I see you found my mobile,” he lies, his voice surprisingly calm.

“Your mobile,” Rose repeats.

“Yep. My mobile.”

“Right,” Rose nods. She points at the coffee table behind her, at the Doctor’s phone lying there. “That mobile?”

The Doctor closes his eyes. Rose can almost hear him silently cursing himself. “Yep. That’d be the one.”

“Of course,” Rose laughs. “So, you don’t feel anything when I…?”

“Nope,” the Doctor rushes.

Rose arches an eyebrow at him.

He sighs in frustration. “I used to have much better control over this sort of thing, you know,” he complains. “Now it’s all…misfiring synapses and…signals shooting all over the place willy-nilly, and, and, quite frankly ridiculous hormones.”

“Tell me about it,” Rose teases.

The Doctor chuckles under his breath, unable to meet her eyes. His hand is still snug against her waist, hasn’t left its spot where he pulled her down, and she can feel the warmth of him through her shirt, feel his fingers curling against her. Rose wonders if he’s even aware of doing it, and he must be, because a second later, his hand moves, spasming like he burned it. His hand settles awkwardly on the sofa next to him and Rose watches as he determinedly looks at anything but her.

God. He must be mortified.

She knows she should back away. She should. And yet…well, she notices he’s not exactly trying to get away, either.

“Do you want me to move?” she asks anyway, because she should.

The Doctor thinks about it for a second. “Interesting choice of words, move,” he says slowly. “Sort of…different connotations, aren’t there? Multi-layered word. Several different meanings.”

Rose grins. “Which one do you mean?”

He swallows again. He still can’t meet her eyes. “Erm,” he says. Followed by, “Well.” He looks like he’s thinking about it. Trying to decide. Rose thinks maybe she should help him with the process. (She’s never been afraid to cheat just a little.)

Rose eases forward until she’s straddling him, bookending his hips with her knees. She’s careful to leave some space between their bodies, just in case he changes his mind, just in case this isn’t what he wants. She can tell by the rise and fall of his chest that his breathing has sped up. She feels his thighs tense beneath her.

It never occurred to her that she could affect him quite like this. The prospect of it all is giving her a rush, hormones fizzing together in her head like a potent cocktail. Like a drug.

(They still need to talk about all these things, Rose knows.

So. She’ll talk.)

“Which one did you mean?” she asks again, conversationally, like none of it means anything. Like she isn’t sitting in his lap, feeling the faint predictions of arousal in her own body now, stirring somewhere low in her abdomen. She’s so sure she knows, almost entirely certain she can predict what he wants, but she needs to hear it. Needs to make sure she’s not taking advantage of him, that this isn’t just his fresh new human body reacting without his permission.

His fingers nervously tap the cushions next to him. He starts to ask her something, stops, glances over at the breakroom door. It’s still open, Rose realizes, and anyone in the lab could hear them. Well, it’s only Ripley in the lab, this late at night, and it’s doubtful he’s heard anything up to this point, but if their volume increases at all, he’s going to get an earful.

Rose reaches for the remote control, pulls it easily out of the Doctor’s hand.

“Was this all part of the game, then?” the Doctor asks, amusement bleeding through his nervousness.

Smiling, Rose turns around and aims the remote at the telly, turning up the volume just loud enough to mask any suspicious noises that may arise out of the room. When she turns back to the Doctor, he’s finally looking up at her face, making proper eye contact now. He doesn’t look away this time.

He looks so open and wide-eyed and pretty and god, Rose just really wants to fuck him.

“Do you want me to move,” Rose starts, sliding forward in his lap until their hips meet, her skirt rucking up around her hips until her legs are almost entirely exposed, “like this?”

Their faces are quite close now, close enough that they could kiss, if they wanted. And Rose does want. So that’s the next step of the plan. Rose does exactly that, leaning forward to press a kiss next to his lips, on his jaw, near his ear. She arches her hips into his and hears a soft breath escape him, watches in her peripheral vision as his eyes shutter closed. She does it again, until she can feel him pressing into her through her pants. His hands fly up to her hips but he doesn’t move against her.

“Doctor,” Rose breathes, her lips grazing the shell of his ear, “you need to tell me if you want me to keep going, or if you want me to stop.”

“Don’t stop,” he murmurs. “Please.”

“All right, since you asked so nicely.”

The Doctor lets out a half-laugh at that, but the sound ends in a hum when Rose starts rolling her hips against him again. She sets up a slow and steady rhythm that she knows is going to drive them both mad, even with all of these layers between them. Rose wants to look at his face, wants to see his guard slipping, but he ducks his head. He plants feather-light kisses while they move, dotting her neck and throat and collarbone with a touch that’s so faint, it simultaneously makes Rose want to squirm away and squirm closer for more. She opts for the latter, pressing into him until their chests touch and she can feel his heart hammering against her stomach. She can feel the exact size and shape of him through her pants, hot and hard and just begging for release. He still doesn’t meet her thrusts, but his hands settle on her hips, fingers skirting the edge of her waistband.

It’s been quite some time since anyone has touched Rose like this, anyone that wasn’t her anyway, and even taking that into account, it’s been a while; it doesn’t take long for her body to start crying out for more. His hold on her hips is too gentle, his kisses too light, his movements too careful. She can’t tell if he’s afraid of chasing her away or if he genuinely just doesn’t feel the same urgency she does. It feels like every single fiber of her existence is straining for him and a needy ache is growing between her thighs and she just really wants friction and heat and more and now.

“I’m heading out,” Ripley’s voice calls from the lab, startling them both. The Doctor gives a jump beneath Rose. She claps her hand over his mouth before he can make any noise. Both of them freeze, adrenaline pumping through their veins. Rose waits with bated breath for the sounds of Ripley approaching.

“Have a good night!” Ripley shouts, still in the lab.

“Thanks, you too!” Rose replies. She is supremely pleased with how normal and not at all out-of-breath she sounds.

The lights in the lab go dim, clicking out one-by-one. The breakroom plunges into darkness. Only the telly remains on, casting shadow-shapes that flicker gently over the room, voices and music shockingly loud in the quiet. Rose listens closely for the sounds of the lab door closing and locking after.

Once Ripley is well and truly gone, the Doctor relaxes a little. He heaves a sigh of relief, his breath warm against Rose’s palm. He looks up at Rose like he’s asking her what happens next.

She moves her hand out of the way and replaces it with a kiss.

The Doctor is surprised, but he warms up to the idea quickly, his lips moving against hers. He almost seems perfectly content with the close-lipped kiss, languorous and slow as it is, but his grip on her hips tightens just a little bit and he arches into her just a fraction. The sensation makes Rose’s head swim and her body flush with anticipation and want.

But it isn’t enough. Rose doesn’t need him calm and slow. She needs to see him out-of-control—needs to see him wanting her. Needs him to know how badly she wants him.

She hits the “off” button on the remote, cutting off the noise from the telly, and she scoots back just far enough that her fingers have space to unbutton the Doctor’s trousers.

“Close your eyes,” she says, brushing her lips against his jaw. “And keep them closed.”

The Doctor opens his mouth like he might protest, but he doesn’t. He licks his lips, nods, and complies.

Once Rose is certain his eyes are properly closed, no movement beneath to indicate that he’s peeking, she kisses him again, a little harder this time, and she unzips his fly, as quickly as she can without getting him caught. She strokes him through his pants, watches his brow furrow and his teeth flash as he bites his lower lip. His breaths leave his mouth with a ragged edge to them; he’s trying to breathe evenly, possibly trying to engage a bypass system he no longer has while he tries desperately not to thrust into her hand.

Good. Better.

Still not enough.

Rose hooks her fingers over the edge of his waistband and pulls it down, carefully. She edges back as she goes until she can extend one leg behind her, then the other, lowering herself to her knees on the floor.

The Doctor, eyes still closed, frowns. “Rose...?”

She leans forward and takes his cock in her mouth.

A strangled gasp tears out of him and his entire body goes stiff. Rose quickly pins down his hips with her hands and takes him in as far as she can, hollowing her cheeks. She swirls her tongue around him, applying as much pressure as she can muster. She can tell he wants to thrust, can feel it in the way he trembles; she rubs circles against his exposed hips, urging him to relax as much as he can. She moves her head up and down, slowly at first, torturing him just a little bit before she picks up speed, moving one hand to stroke whatever expanse isn’t covered by her mouth.

His hands fist helplessly in the cushions beside him. Rose looks up to find his head thrown back, teeth biting into his plump lower lip hard enough that it’s gone white. She redoubles her efforts. She hums around him, pressing her tongue firmly over where he’s most sensitive. At that, he starts panting, his stomach muscles pumping overtime with the effort of it.

Rose has never seen him like this before, never watched all the rules slip away like this, and the sight of him, gasping and desperate and so, so close to breaking, is enough to make her grow ridiculously wet and needy. She rubs her thighs together for any shred of friction she can get. A series of strained noises escapes him and that only makes it worse, so she tightens her lips around him, tightens and swallows.

“Rose,” the Doctor gasps, “Rose—ah. Stop. Stop. Let me—please—”

She ceases moving the moment the message reaches her brain and she releases him with a wet pop, sits up straight to ask him what he wants, and he leans over and shows her: framing her face in both hands, he presses his lips to hers in a punishing kiss. He urges her mouth open and his tongue slides over hers, and there it is, there’s that sense of urgency she was looking for. As his tongue explores her mouth, she wonders what he tastes there, what’s more overwhelming, the bare traces of him or the taste of her arousal—whatever it is, it stirs a moan deep in his throat and suddenly he’s pulling her up and back into his lap.

He’s still hard beneath her and in the midst of her increasingly intoxicating head-fog, Rose thinks that must be terribly uncomfortable. Rose moves to help him, to finish what she started, but he stops her. His grip on her wrist is surprisingly firm. “Not yet, please,” he says hoarsely between kisses. He holds her close with one hand while the other snakes up under her skirt, skating over her inner thigh on its way to her pants. Fingers press into her through warm, soaked cotton.

“Ah,” the Doctor mutters to himself, as if he’s just now realizing something. “Yes, that’s very—you’re really quite—”

His words fade to a satisfied hum as his fingers explore the edge of her pants, slipping under, gliding over slick skin. His strokes, gentle at first, grow firmer. Rose’s eyes fall closed at the sensation. She presses into his hand, hips tilting forward and drawing back in time with the motions of his fingers, and she lets out a whimper when he grazes over her clit. The pressure sends pleasure spiraling through her and she chases after that feeling, rocking her hips and fucking his hand until she’s so wet she thinks she might explode from need. He slips a finger inside her and she bites down on a moan.

She can feel the Doctor’s gaze on her face, gauging her reactions. A delicious thrill shivers through her but no, that won’t do, that won’t do at all, not when she’s still desperate to see him come undone.

Pulling herself up by the back of the sofa, she tries to sit up on her knees, starts to push down at her knickers. She lets out a surprised little yelp when the Doctor stops her, grabbing her hip with his free hand. At first she worries that maybe this isn’t what he wants after all, maybe he doesn’t want things to progress any further, but when he pushes her knickers to the side, she realizes that’s not true at all—he just doesn’t want her to move away from him, not even to take off her pants. He doesn’t want to wait. Which is brilliant, because Rose doesn’t want to wait anymore, either. She slides back down until she can feel the tip of his cock nudging at her, and, shifting her hips just so, she sinks down onto him, slickly, taking him in as far as she can.

The Doctor grits out a groan, his eyes losing focus, lips parting just the tiniest bit. Rose can’t help the grin that spreads across her face at that. (Can’t help the gasp that leaves her when she pushes down just a little bit more, taking him further in, the two of them sliding together deliciously.) She takes advantage of the breach in his defenses, leaning forward for another kiss and slipping her tongue along the seam of his mouth. She tilts her hips back and forth, drawing up and pushing down and pushing just a little further each time until he’s fully sheathed inside her, easing the swollen ache between her legs. When her muscles clench around his cock, she feels him tense beneath her, his legs and stomach going rigid while his brow furrows in concentration.

“Just relax,” Rose murmurs against his lips.

“Seems unlikely at this juncture,” the Doctor laughs weakly.

Grinning, Rose clutches at the Doctor’s back, nails digging into his shirts and his skin as she increases her pace and pressure, rocking her hips up and down and just losing herself in the heat and the wet and the friction of it all. For a bloke who has almost certainly never had sex—not in this fresh new body with all its sensitive new nerve endings—he is holding out magnificently, lasting far longer than Rose would have imagined. She thinks, maybe, as she feels her climax building, as the warm-tickle-yes-yes-yes builds low in her belly, that he must have held onto some truly extraordinary Time Lord willpower. Or, the thought dawns on her…

She slows her movement, hips grinding almost to a still. “Have you been practicing?” she whispers in his ear.

“What?” he asks, distracted, his voice strained and ridiculously breathy.

Rose sinks back down inch-by-inch and feels rather than hears the groan rumbling in the Doctor’s chest. “You’re holding out remarkably well, especially for the circumstances,” she says. “Have you been practicing? Touching yourself?”

When he doesn’t answer, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously, Rose nips at the pulse point beneath his ear, her tongue darting out to taste his salty-sweet skin. She slides a hand between them and rubs at where they’re joined. As her fingers ring the base of his cock, stroking him, the Doctor’s head lolls back on the couch, his eyes slamming shut.

“Yes,” he gasps out, like the admission pains him.

Rose rewards him by sliding her hips up and down, her movements agonizingly slow as she torments them both. “What do you think about?”

“What do you think?” the Doctor asks with another strained laugh. When Rose stops moving, his eyes open again and his gaze meets hers.

“You,” he confesses, panting. “Just you.”

Rose smiles and presses a hard kiss to his mouth the instant the words leave him. One of his hands flies up to grasp her by the jaw, suddenly possessive, claiming, and Rose’s lips part without hesitation as he plunders her mouth with his tongue and finally (finally) starts to move, arching up into her. She rocks against him and he meets her measure-for-measure, thrust-for-thrust. No longer content as a passive player, the Doctor slips his hands under Rose’s shirt and pushes it up over her breasts, planting kisses on every inch of skin he can reach. His thumbs circle and tease her nipples until they’re peaked and straining through the thin fabric of her bra.

Her climax quickly begins to build up again, warmth blooming through her; she’s close, she’s close, she’s so close, dancing right on the edge, pleasure rippling through her body in waves. She slides her hand back between them again, teasing her clit with fingers slippery with sweat and sex. As her muscles flutter desperately, clenching tight around him once more, the Doctor pumps his hips harder, his breaths leaving with a moan. He grasps her by the back of the head and pulls her down for one more kiss, his fingers tangling in her hair. When he bites her lower lip, flooding her with pain and warmth, Rose shudders and breaks around him and he swallows her cries. She strokes him and fucks him through her own climax into his, where he breaks the kiss in favor of burying his face in the join of her neck and shoulder, shouting as he spasms and empties into her.

Their movements slow and still until they’re both motionless, panting in the quiet dark. The Doctor winds his arms around Rose in a lazy embrace, his face still buried against her shoulder. His specs are digging into her almost uncomfortably but she doesn’t say anything, hugs him about the neck and idly strokes his sweat-dampened hair instead.

Her brain is mostly empty except for a very pleasant hazy hum. She hopes the same is true for him. Still, there’s that nagging little thought cropping up, quieter than usual, but still there, as always: What’s next?

“Are you, erm,” she tries to ask amidst shuddering breaths. “How are you doing?”

“Dunno yet,” is the muffled reply. “I’ll tell you when my legs stop feeling like jelly.”

Rose chuckles and kisses the side of his head.

They end up taking the train home, or as close to home as they can get, anyway. It’s the first time Rose has been on a train in years; she decides this is to blame for why her legs are so much wibblier than usual, why she has to shift her stance and cling to the pole so much harder than before. It’s certainly got nothing to do with the pleasantly warm soreness throbbing between her legs, certainly nothing to do with the source of said soreness.

Of course, the Doctor doesn’t seem to be having any trouble staying upright at all, jelly-leg comments notwithstanding. Of course he doesn’t.

“So,” Rose says, casually. “Not a fan of blow jobs, hm?”

It is incredibly satisfying to see him wavering just a little, his grasp tightening on the pole. “Huh?” he asks, very intelligently.

“You stopped me, earlier. You know. When I had you in my mouth.”

“Erm, well,” says the Doctor, scratching the back of his neck while flushing as brilliant a carnation-pink as Rose has ever seen. “Yes, I suppose I did.”

“Why?”

The Doctor glances down at the floor, as if he finds it suddenly fascinating. “Just wanted to hold you, is all,” he murmurs.

Something in Rose’s stomach feels almost unbearably fluttery and tender at that, but before she has a chance to reply, the train gives a lurch, jostling her. She braces herself against the Doctor, one hand on the pole while the other snakes beneath his jacket, grabbing a fistful of shirt. Strictly for balance reasons, of course. It’s got nothing to do with what he just said, or the fact that she’s so very glad to be on this train with him, or how very much she loves him, or the fact that she’s planning to kiss him again.

(It’s a good plan. Very good. The best she’s ever had, possibly.)

Rose pushes onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to the Doctor’s cheek. He’s warm, beneath her lips; warm from blushing, and other things too, maybe. She kisses him again, lower, and again, on the corner of his mouth, and this time he turns his head to catch her lips with his. It’s slower than the other kisses they’ve shared, and softer. Rose has to hide her face against his chest, after, to counteract the overwhelming sweetness swelling between her lungs.

There are still things they need to discuss, of course. Big things. Big, important things. But they can wait a little while longer.

Well, most of them can, anyway.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” Rose says quietly, to the Doctor’s chest.

He rests his head against hers, exhaling slowly. “Me, too.”

***

#ficandchips #tentoo x rose #tentoorose #tentoo/rose #anti turning of the tide #rose tyler #metacrisis doctor #tentoo #warning: here be lemons #here there be lemons what i wrote LITERAL YEARS AGO #poor lemons have been moldering for like FOUR YEARS????#??????????#because originally this was part of a super duper angsty post-JE fic i was working on off and on for a long time #but as much as i really liked some parts of it--it was ultimately too draining to write #because even though i likes me some angst as much as the next salty mean bitch #i do ultimately want these two idiots to get together #i can handle a fair amount of angst with rose and tenth doctor mach i but after an initial bout of angst #i'm ready for her and metacrisis doc to be happy together #even if they've got external shit to deal with -- i want them to be happy together #so instead i've just been reappropriating my favorite bits here and there--incorporating them into other works #a big chunk of it was incorporated into/transformed into 'something of the wolf'#other bits and pieces have been incorporated into the rewriting of 'in lovers meeting' (formerly 'hitchhiker's map')#and other bits have been retooled and expanded-upon to present this here fic #i'm just happy some of this writing is finally seeing the light of day dammit #:D #mbb fic

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elliebartlets · 4 years

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6.09 Impact Winter

Episode:

• Josh and Donna are singing???

plot twist: Josh and Donna, both fed up with being under appreciated/ignored, quit their jobs and join musical theater.

• that look Josh gave Donna...he knows what she wants to talk to him about

• poor Annabeth ....imagine if she went into the press room to brief while the news broke about Bartlet. At least this way she has time to prepare.

Also I don’t get why she’s so afraid to brief. She wanted to be deputy press secretary and she even trained Toby on how to brief, but it seems like she hates doing it.

• “The doctors say the paralysis is temporary but I think they’re lying.” Lmfao Margaret

• Will is annoying in this episode

• I love how Curtis automatically picks Bartlet up, like no hesitations or questions asked whatsoever on his part.

• god what if Curtis fell walking down the stairs aksjsjsha

• the whole “there’s an object hurling itself towards earth” has been done before

• ah the ol earlobe tug

• oh I never noticed you can see Bartlet tug on his earlobe when Toby goes to get CJ

• also for some reason I thought Kate was the one who interrupted the meeting and made some excuse

• I’m not liking this end of the world plot

• except for Margaret booking spots for the bunker in case the aesteroid hits lmao

• I also remember she forgets to add Russell to the list until she sees Will

• “I gotta stay here, finish what I started.”

“It doesn’t finish Josh. It keeps going.”

• Annabeth preparing to go into the press room by doing laps. and ducking under the file cabinet 😂

• Oh that was an awkward scene between Bartlet, CJ and Toby

Girl where have you been?! You’ve been gone for years!!!

• ugh Donna says she quits and Josh is still blowing her off. He’s not taking her seriously at all.

oh Josh...you have no idea what’s coming.

• oh no not the bathroom scene!! Too painful to watch!!

• It’s also kinda frustrating cause if Abbey didn’t try and move the wheelchair then Bartlet probably wouldn’t have fallen. I feel like she should’ve just...stayed near him and then helped him when he needed to get back in the wheelchair.

• oh my god he hit his head so hard. How does he not have a concussion??

• I can’t believe this is a Christmas episode.

• aaandd there’s the temp.

I don’t feel bad for Josh. At all.

• lol I love how Abbey’s like “The president made his choice. He’ll come out when he wants to come out” and then 2 seconds later when Bartlet exits the room, she’s so relieved and goes over to him as quickly as possible. Like way to hide your fear Abbey

• lol the temp definitely is no Donna.

oh Josh...you really took advantage of Donna.

• oh this is when he goes to Santos house to convince him to run for President!! And on Christmas too lol Josh really?

• I can’t believe Donna quitting was the straw that broke the camels back and made him leave. I wonder if he would’ve ever done that if Donna didn’t leave?

• oh no I forgot Bartlet ends up having another episode on the plane at the end

Podcast:

• guest star: Ben Murray (Curtis)

• Two episodes ago, the title was “A Change is Gonna Come”. In this episode, the changes arrive.

• oh when Russell told Josh and Annabeth “I was playing tennis when I heard” he was just practicing on them to see if he could use it on the press?? That went over my head lol

• “President Bartlet’s sharpness and his mental acuity in this episode, you know, highlights the physical degradation that he’s going through. So that he’s this brain in a chair.”

I’m so sorry I like this description a lot but I just thought of

• Hrishi also didn’t like the aesteroid subplot as it’s already happened and reminded him of the plot of the Chinese satellite in “The Fall’s Gonna Kill You.” We’ve already sat through the “paranoid nerd” coming in and warning about the dangers of something, only for everything to be fine in the end.

Josh thought it was a clunky metaphor for what’s facing Bartlet in the future.

• Hrishi thought Leo was rude when Josh told him Donna quit and he replied “Donna Moss?”

Hm I never saw that as rude. I think I see it as Leo confirming that it’s their Donna, or Josh’s Donna, that left.

• Oh my god Ben Murray was hilarious. I tried to keep this short but I always like to include the actual quotes cause I think it does more justice than me summarizing what he said.

• His audition was the scene where he carries Bartlet off the plane. When he did the audition, he had to bend down and pretend to pick somebody up and when he did, his pants fell down.

• Martin Sheen asked him what work he’d done with his character.

“And obviously I hadn’t done any, and I was like, “Oh, you know, I’ve been working on stuff.” He said, “Would you care if I told you what the backstory was? I don’t want to step on your toes.” I was like, “No man, I’ve got some ideas, but I want to hear you out.”

His backstory for Curtis was they brought him in to be the new Charlie because he played football at Notre Dame. He also thought the character should be played by an African American, but was able to move past that.

• It wasn’t hard to carry Martin, but it was hard to pick him up because it was hard to reach into the chair. In between each take, Martin would spray his face with water to make him look sweaty.

“I’m like, “Man I’m at 100% sweat already. I’m really, I’m good. I’m really ok, you don’t need to spray that.” And every time he was like, “Oh this is gonna look great on camera.” And he would call the makeup people in and tell them to dry me off in between.”

• Martin invited him to spend Christmas with his family at Charlie Sheen’s house.

“It was like a comedy sketch. Like, I pull up in my Kia Rio, and they’re like, “You guys can park around back.” And I’m like, “I’m really not here to work. I was actually invited to this thing. So I got to talk my way into it, and then it’s like, everybody’s famous, and they’re like, “Who’s this guy?” And I have to say, “Your dad actually invited me to this thing.”

He bought $50 worth of fancy Christmas cookies, nervously ate half of them on the way over, and then realized halfway through the party there wasn’t another carb in the house.

“And at the end of the night, Martin pulls out all these pieces of paper, and he puts them in a hat, and he said, “We have to do the - this is what we do every year. This is our Christmas tradition.” So you have to reach in a pull out a piece of paper, and so I’m the first one to go, and there’s no explanation for what this is, so I reach in and pull out a piece of paper, and it says ‘four calling birds.’ And I’m like, oh God Almighty... we’re going to have to sing “The 12 Days of Christmas”. And I’m four! So there’s only three people who have it worse than me. We sing the whole thing. It takes twenty minutes start to finish. I have to belt out ‘four calling birds’ because, you know, it’s Martin Sheen. What are you going to do?”

• “The look on my face was actually me thinking- “What in the hell am I doing here? That’s Martin Sheen telling me about an asteroid.” I mean, there was no acting at all. It was just me thinking I’m from Deshler, Nebraska. What in the hell am I doing here with all these people who know what they’re doing? And I’m just this moron here. None of that was acting. There was no depth in that.”

This is so hilarious.

• He also did a couple of episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Heroes, but he wasn’t enjoy acting that much so he left LA. He’s now a criminal defense lawyer.

#the west wing #impact winter #tww #the west wing weekly #tww weekly #rewatching tww #this is long again but whats new

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dragonnan · 4 years

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fanfic tag game

I was tagged by @disappearinginq- these are the absolute best fun!

Questions:

Ao3 Name: dragonnan (same as everywhere: Psychfic, FFN, etc)

Fandoms: *cracks knuckles* You want, like, ALL of them?? Welp I’m obsessively listy so here we go:

Currently writing fic for:

Sherlock

MCU

Psych

In the recent past wrote fic for (and may again as there are WIPs remaining):

SPN

HTTYD

Simon & Simon (as part of a crossover)

Lucifer

Wrote fics years ago but probably won’t write more:

Monk

Star Trek Voyager

Big O (as part of a crossover)

Wrote 1 or 2 fics but probably won’t write more:

Cowboy Bebop

Inuyasha

Lethal Weapon

Invisible Man (2001)

X Files

Quantum Leap

Fullmetal Alchemist

Haven’t published any fics yet but have (or had) ideas:

Doctor Who (specifically 10 and 11)

Burn Notice

Psych

Beauty and the Beast (1980′s series)

Moonlight

In Plain Sight

Star Wars

Haven’t had ideas but I love the fandom and may someday write fic:

Prodigal Son

Star Trek (TNG primarily)

MacGyver (1980′s)

Number of fics: Ummm.... It’s a little hard actually to parse that as some of my stories are posted as larger collections so let’s see what I can do...

Psych: 168 (give or take)

Sherlock: 8

MCU: 19

Other: 29

Total: 224

1. Fic you spent the most time on: Can I even remember anymore? I suppose Where There is Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth (Psych) which I think took me over 5 years to complete. However, I wasn’t straight writing that entire time so not certain if it specifically qualifies? Another contender is The Tiger and the Shark (Sherlock) which I posted pretty consistently and took about 2 years.

2. Fic you spent the least time on: I’m not counting those 100 word challenge fics cause, please. I think the least amount of time I spent on truly legit stories would be one of these possibilities (cause fuck if I know for sure): Wibble Wobble Wibble Wobble To and Fro (Psych), A Good Heart (Psych), Making the Cut With a Squeeze of Lemon (Psych)

3. Longest Fic: Where There is Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth (Psych) 104,522

4. Shortest Fic: Promises to the Dead (again, not counting 100 word challenge fics), This Week on Psychfic - 280 words

5. Most hits: Just Pieces; Passion, Pain, & Parody (Psych fic collection. Does that count?)

6. Most kudos: All Nighter (Psych)

7. Most comment threads/ reviews: Standing from Falling (Psych) 352 Reviews

8. Fave Fic you wrote: Ooohh screw this question! Staawwwp!!! I can’t just pick A favorite but I gueeeesss I could narrow it to a few which out of over 200 damn stories you should be grateful I can narrow it down that much (of COURSE I love my own writing - that’s why I do it!). I’ll also only include completed works: Psych - Suffer the Night, I Would Do Anything for Love; Even That, You Give Me Fever MCU - Just Another Day in New York, Did You Make it to the Milky Way to See the Lights all Faded, Simple Math Sherlock: The Tiger and the Shark, A Russian, Two Spies, and an Elephant

9. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: The Tiger and the Shark (expand) Fury (Psych) - rewrite

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: How about both?

Untitled Iron Dad and Spider Son fic:

It started with sand. Benign. Sorta... tan... Fucking sand and yet there he was, trembling like he'd just spent the last two hours in subzero temps wearing nothing more than a speedo and a grin.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony gulped; curling his toes before looking up at the young man across from him... who was wearing an expression that mirrored the anxiety thumping in Tony's chest. "Hey... you okay, Kid?"

Peter shrugged - his long fingers clenching and stretching. "Y-yeah. Sure! I mean..." he swallowed, "not like anything bad happens at the beach, right?"

Tony tapped his teeth around his lower lip. "It's just sand..." Not like sand ever hurt anyone...

Why were they there again? Oh right; facing demons. Because that shit never backfired.

The ocean was calm that afternoon. Behind them the sounds of the pier carried with shrill laughter and the cacophony of vendors, shrieking children, and seagulls. Lots of seagulls - drawn to the scent of funnel cakes and french fries dominating the blend of scents that normally drew Tony, as well, but currently just twisted the pool of nausea threatening his pride.

Peter drew his focus back with a sharply drawn breath. Then another. Wind flicked the curls that had been pasted to his forehead with sweat. Tony pushing his feet through the hot sand - too hot - a decade later and he still couldn't stand the feel of hot grains... until he stood alongside the kid. Not looking away from the reflection of sunlight on water he nudged his elbow against Peter's arm. "Not so bad during the day, yeah?"

Peter blinked rapidly - making something like a smile. "No, yeah... way better." he nodded - looking about as convinced as Pepper would be at the prospect of birthing octuplets.

Tony pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. The most expensive shades on the planet and he still hadn't managed to stop them slipping down when he sweated. He cupped his left elbow in his right hand and watched the para-sailors and jet skiis and swimmers splashing in the low waves. No surfers; not that day.

He wouldn't have been there if not for Pete. Kid's idea. Apparently therapy was the new heroin. Better come down, he supposed. Even at that he'd tried for distraction, first. Tony was nothing if not the Grand Master of distractibility. Offered everything from a road trip along the East Coast to helping the kid build a personal bot (who was he kidding, he planned both as a graduation present). And, yet, here there were. Revisiting trauma because what better way to spend a Saturday?

Story Idea - Doctor Who/ Doctor Strange crossover:

Plot: Stephen encounters a woman in a parallel world – a world protected, not by a Sorcerer Supreme, but by a man known only as “The Doctor”. He soon finds out that this Doctor is unique among the worlds he's explored. For all he has seen - all the beings he’s encountered, he has never met a woman with such energy coiled within the depth of her brain as the ordinary, redheaded woman he bumps into walking through a parallel London. In fact, so powerful are the forces within her that he is immediately struck with a chaos of discordant images – of giant wasps and singing squid-like beings and screeching salt shakers and before he can even begin to understand it a face – eyes furious and dark – glaring from a raging fire. “GET OUT! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! GET OUT, NOW, WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE!”

Stephen figures out that Donna is slowly being consumed by the Time Lord energies locked inside her. The Doctor may have barred her memory but it still seeps through – with each exposure weakening the walls even more. Eventually, it will consume her.

This is not something he can fix alone, however. He will need to track down the man who first created those mental blocks and left Donna behind to slowly go insane. The Doctor.

Tagged: @sgam76 @silentsaebyeok @kitcat992 @mizjoely @villaniouslyawesome @itsjustdg @hanuko @jennberry1984

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thecleverdame · 5 years

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TTWDBI - TWO

Part Two - Control

Masterlist

Summary: Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader -Sam’s young, powerful and comes from one of the wealthiest families in New York. When he meets an Omega bartender who’s far from what his family expects, Sam is forced to make a series of hard choices.

Warnings: A/B/O dynamics, smut, knotting, breeding, dominance, ownership, angst, family drama

The moment you push the front door open she’s giving you a piece of her mind.

“I hope to God that’s my roommate. I’ve been praying she’s not dead in a gutter somewhere.” Donna’s disembodied voice chastises you from the kitchen.

“Sorry,” you call out, throwing your coat on the back of a ratty armchair.

“Do you have any idea of how worried I was? Two nights and you don’t call or text. I was ready to call the police.” Leaning around the corner she’s in a silk robe and head full of curlers. she stops short when she lays eyes on you for the first time. “Holey Moley, you look like death warmed over. Did you sleep on a park bench?”

“Well, don’t sugar coat it.” Dropping onto the couch you lean back and sink in.

“Seriously, are you okay?” She takes a seat on the coffee table, cupping a mug of coffee. Leaning forward she sniffs in your direction. “Yeesh.”

“Oh come on…” You roll your eyes.

“You stink like sex and Alpha sweat..” She wrinkles her nose.

“I took a shower.” Picking up the neck of your shirt you sniff it.

“You need another one.” She grins, offering you a sip. “Jesse called, said you left work early on Saturday with some guy. He’s pissed, by the way. No one could get a hold of you.”

“Shit. I need to beg his forgiveness. I left him high and dry. And I’m sorry, my phone died. It’s been a strange thirty-six hours.” You shake your head fighting the urge to curl into a ball and fall asleep.

“There better be a good story. I need something to give me hope. The land between my legs is as dry as the Sahara with no rain in sight. I can barely remember what a penis looks like.”

She giggles and you can’t help but laugh with her.

“I don’t even know where to start.” You peak at her with one eye open. “It’s been…intense.”

“But there’s a guy?”

“Yes. Most definitely a guy.”

“Well don’t clam up now. I want all the details.” Donna slides onto the couch next you.

If there’s ever been a person you can talk to, it’s Donna. From the moment you met, there was an instant friendship. And while she can be a little naive, she’s one of the few people who’s never judged you.

You tell her about meeting Sam at the bar and going home with him. You describe how intense the attraction was and is, and that you let him claim you. You even relive the horror of waking up to his asshole of a father.

She doesn’t speak until you’re done, just listens with a hand pressed over her mouth. When you’re finally finished she’s bug-eyed as if you just told you were a vampire.

Her eyes dart to your neck as she gulps. “Can I see it?”

“Yeah.” You pull your hair back giving her an up-close view of Sam’s bite.

“Holy shit.” She whispers, looking back and forth between you and the mark. “It looks…did it hurt?”

“Kinda of, I don’t remember much. It’s sort of a blur.”

“Yeah, I bet.” She scoffs, nodding slowly.

“Is that all you’re gonna say?” You ask hesitantly. Her opinion matters more she knows.

“I need to think about this. It’s a lot to hit a girl with.” Donna never shuts up so the fact that she’s tight-lipped speaks volumes. “Are you happy?”

When you answer that question, it’s an honest response.

“I think so.”

“Well, that’s all I care about.” She smiles, squeezing your forearm. “And you know I love you like the dickens, but you do need a shower.”

–

After a twenty minute nap and a shower, you head on to the one errand that can’t wait - the health clinic.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. If you weren’t in heat when you met him it’s doubtful you’d be ovulating. I’ve never seen an Omega pregnancy outside of a monthly cycle.” The doctor nods, tipping her head to the side, gauging your reaction.

“Good.” You run a hand over your stomach. “Can I get on birth control today? Things are kinda hot and heavy - I’d like to be safe.”

“Of course,” She rolls on her stool, grabbing a notepad and coming back over to you. “We’ll get you set up before you leave and you’ll be good to go in twenty-four hours.”

“Awesome.” You nod, swinging your legs as the paper on the exam table crinkles underneath you.

“I just need to double check your neck and we’ll be good.” Finishing her notes she smiles.

Shit.

Before you can stop her she’s pushing your hair back only to be met with the angry, red bite.

“Oh.” The sound is soft as she recoils, looking at you apologetically. “You didn’t tell me you were claimed.”

“I didn’t think it made a difference.”

She purses her lips. You both know that’s a lie.

“I’m sorry, I can’t prescribe you birth control without the express consent your Alpha.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” You’ve heard of the laws and regulations but being unclaimed until now it’s never directly affected you.

“Look, if it was up to be me I’d take care of you right now. But I could lose my medical license. The law is clear, your Alpha has sole discretion when it comes to the reproductive rights of their Omega. Unless…it wasn’t consensual? Cases of sexual assault and forced claiming are the only exceptions I’m allowed to make.”

“No, God, it’s nothing like that. I wanted it. I just wasn’t prepared.”

“These things happen and I’m more than willing to put you on something but I’ll have to get permission from your Alpha first. I’m sorry.”

Permission.

The word rattles around in your skull like dice in a cup. Never in your life have you asked permission for anything. Even as a child you had trouble falling in line with normal parental expectations. And now, at twenty-five, you’re going to have to go to Sam and ask if he’ll allow it.

The entire scenario makes your blood boil.

–

“It’s about fucking time.” Dean hisses as Sam slides into the seat next to him. The boardroom is filled beyond capacity and the presentation is starting. Dean shoves a manilla folder toward his brother. “Quarter four prospectus. Kevin’s doing the powerpoint so it should be a real nail-biter.”

“All right guys, if everyone could turn to page five of your packets.” Kevin stands up as someone hits the lights. The door toward the back of the room opens and John walks in, taking his place at the back of the table. Sam doesn’t have to look to feel his father’s eyes boring holes into the back his head.

Dean rocks back in his chair whispering, “You’re in some deep shit.”

“Shut up.” Sam snips.

Dean is quiet for a few minutes but he can’t help himself.

“So fucked…” His sing-songs under this breath.

“Dean.” Sam hisses, shooting him a glare.

When the meeting ends John is already preparing for the next one. His schedule is jam-packed from morning to night and Sam knows he’ll be able to avoid his father, at least for the remainder of the day.

Dean follows Sam back to his office, refraining from commenting until they’re alone. Once the door clicks shut nothing holds him back.

“What the fuck?” Dean blurts, trailing Sam to his desk.

“Oh my God, I can’t get two minutes to collect myself?”

“You don’t get to pull a stunt like that and get time for yourself. Who are you and what have you done with Sam?”

Sam rolls his eyes.. “Things just happened. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Breakfast for dinner just happens. Trips to Vegas just happen. Claiming some Omega that mom and dad haven’t met? That shit isn’t an impulse. That’s a big frickin’ deal.”

“Dean,” Sam sighs. He doesn’t know where to start but his brother doesn’t give him the chance anyway.

“I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone. You played that one close to the chest.”

“Well, I haven’t known her that long.” Sam looks up at this brother.

“How long is not that long?” Dean inquires, already taken aback.

“Here it comes.” Sam shakes his head, looking up at the ceiling. “I met her Saturday night.”

Dean’s nostrils flare, looking at Sam closely. “You’re fucking with me.”

“No,” Sam confirms. “But man, I’m telling you, she’s different, her scent - this is gonna sound crazy but Dean, I think it’s a true bond.”

“Will you please be serious for two seconds.” Dean glares at him.

“I’m trying to explain what happened-”

“You’re so full of shit.” Dean snorts. “I can not believe you claimed some girl you don’t even know. This is what happens when you don’t get out and get laid every once in a while. Blue balls make you do crazy shit.”

“Dean, I’m telling you, this wasn’t like anything I’ve ever felt before. She’s meant to be mine. I knew it from the moment I saw her.”

“Wow,” Dean absentmindedly adjusts his watch, looking at Sam like he’s a space alien. “I’ve pulled some shit in my day. But I’ve never been so drunk and so fuckin’ horny that I claimed a mate. Jesus man, this isn’t good. How are you not freaking out?”

“Because…I can’t explain to you how this feels.”

“Is her pussy made of magic dust or something?”

“Don’t, Dean.” Sam cautions.

“You’re not making me into the asshole here little brother. Maybe I should ask - are you my brother? Toe-the-line Sam. The guy who reads a hundred yelp reviews before he picks a restaurant. The Sam who decided he wanted a new television and spent a week reading Consumer Reports. Have you seen that guy?”

“You’re not listening to me.”

“No, I’m hearing you loud and clear. Love at first sight. You know what this is? You’re thinking with your dick instead of your brain. Most guys get it out of their system in college. I bet you don’t know anything about this chick, do you?” Dean gets up from his seat and leans over Sam’s desk. “What’s her last name?”

Sam gives Dean the bitchiest stare of his life and Dean throws his hands up.

“What’s her favorite color? Does she eat red meat?”

Sam says nothing.

“Do you know anything about her?”

“I know that I’ve never wanted anything in my life the way I wanted her. The way I still want her. Dean, what happened wasn’t a choice. I had to have her.” Sam knew Dean would be a hard sell, but he expected at least a little understanding.

“Do I look like some thirteen-year-old girl to you?” Dean quips, becoming more disgusted by the minute. “Because you’re trying to feed me some line about fairytale bullshit, so I must look like I believe it.”

“I thought you of all people would cut me a little slack.” Sam points at his brother.

“Why? Because I have a history of poor choices? I may have partied my way through school and dated a stripper - which, for the record was not about pissing dad off - but you’re messing with your entire life, man. This is some serious shit.”

“I’m aware.” Spinning his cell phone in his hand Sam wishes he stayed home.

“How are you, of all people, not freaking out right now? You’ve gotta be thinking it - a hot chick like that throwing herself at one of New York’s most eligible bachelors…”

It’s a reference to an article from last month. Both Dean and Sam ended up profiled on NY Magazine’s most eligible bachelors’ list. Sam had rolled his eyes and Dead hadn’t minded the attention while their mother had been thrilled beyond belief.

“Don’t start with that again,” Sam warns.

“Girls that look like her don’t just end up with the first Alpha who takes them home. There’s a reason she let you claim her.”

“I picked her up, Dean. I came onto her. And it wasn’t just a whim, what happened between us was…powerful.” Sam’s done with this conversation. He unplugs his laptop, standing to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna lock myself in a conference room and get some work done. I don’t wanna be stuck here all night.”

–

Sam sent a text asking you to meet him for dinner at eight.

You own precisely one black cocktail dress that you found on a rack at Goodwill. It was dry cleaned right after you bought it and has been hiding in the back of your closet for nearly two years. It’s finding a set of matching undergarments that turns out to be the real challenge as you sort through a pile of clean laundry that’s been in the basket for the better part of a week.

With curled hair and polished makeup, you look significantly better than you feel. You’re still exhausted and sore, but you’re not going to let either of those things stop you.

You arrive at Eleven Madison Park just after eight. When you invoke the Winchester name, the hostess smiles brightly and informs you that Mr. Winchester is already waiting.

Sam stands as you approach the table. He’s the gentleman you expect him to be but it’s still a novelty. Your last boyfriend wouldn’t even get you a beer from the fridge.

“Hi,” He grins, kissing your cheek. His eyes flit down his bite, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Hello.” You reply, unable to look away.

A porter appears to take your coat and Sam’s grin widens at the sight of you in this tight little black dress.

Placing both hands on your hips he pulls you close as if you’re the only two people in the room. He kisses you softly, lips brush lips as he speaks. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” You whisper as he pulls away only to offer you a chair.

“Really,” He continues, settling in across from you. His eyes are just as hungry as when he took you home. “You look breathtaking.”

“You’re not too bad yourself.” It’s not just lip service. Sam looks damn good in a suit, his tie perfectly in place. And now that you know what’s underneath his dress shirt, all that thick muscle, it’s like having a dirty secret.

“What?” He questions your gaze.

“Nothing. I like your tie.” You cover.

He’s eyeing your cleavage unabashedly because there’s no reason to be bashful at this point. He’s seen every inch of you over the last two days and you’re just as attracted to him as he is you.

He orders wine and oysters and the two you begin the process of getting to know each other. Well, right after you handle some urgent business.

“There’s something we need to talk about.” You set your glass down, fighting the urge to feel embarrassed.

“Sounds serious,” Sam smirks.

“It is.” You confirm, looking around to make sure no one is paying attention to you.

His expression grows serious as he leans in.

“I wasn’t looking for anyone when I met you, I mean - not just a mate. I never really even did the hookup thing. So, I’m not on any birth control.”

“Oh.” Sam sits back.

He’s not sure what’s coming next but he feels like a fool for not thinking of it before. The last girl he fucked bareback was his college girlfriend and they’d been together for a year before he even entertained the idea. Even then it made him nervous. He’s never been one to roll the dice. Even if it’s with his mate. Despite his recent impulsive actions Sam prefers his life planned out in painstaking detail.

“And, this is probably a conversation we should have again in the future, but I’m not ready to have children. I’m young, I have a lot of things I want to do before I think about pups.” You pause to watch Sam, his face unreadable. “I know you’re my Alpha and you’re supposed to have a say in this, but it’s not what I want.”

“I agree.” Sam offers calmly, reaching across the table to take your hand, his thumb rubbing over your knuckles. “I do want kids, someday I’d like to have a family. But not any time soon.”

Your brain gets stuck on the idea of having his children. Letting him knot you and then watching your belly grow with his baby. But logic overrules biological impulse and you shake it off and continue.

“The reason I’m bringing this up right now is that I went to the clinic this morning hoping they’d put me on something only to find out that I don’t have the authority to make my own decisions anymore.” Pausing, you collect yourself. It’s not his fault and it’s not fair to be mad at him. “You have to come with me and sign a release.”

“Okay.” Sam shifts in his seat. He knows this is just the first in a long list of responsibilities he hasn’t realized yet. You’re clearly upset by the situation and he wants you to feel comfortable, to be happy that you’re his. “We can go first thing in the morning if you want. I don’t have a meeting until ten thirty.”

After two rounds of fresh oysters, you move on to one of the best meals of your life. It’s just handmade pasta with a light sauce but the flavors are bold and a far cry from the box mac and cheese you usually throw together.

Sam eats his steak pausing between every bite to look up at you, carefully observing as if he’s taking notes for later.

“I almost Googled you.” You confess. “I had your name typed out twice but I didn’t go through with it.”

“Why not?” Sam’s eyes narrow.

“I wanted to get to know you first, form my own opinion before I read someone else’s.”

He relaxes a bit. His forearm resting on the table as stares at you. “Good.”

“If I had looked you up what would it say?”

His lip twitches as he strums his fingers on the tablecloth.

“Depends on if you look up just me or the family. But in a nutshell? Old money, ruthless father, private. My brother is more likely to turn up the interesting search results.”

“No big scandals?”

“No,” Sam laughs dryly. “My father makes sure of that. Dean’s had a few indiscretions over the years but they always disappear.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

“He’s just good at giving people what they want as an incentive to go away, which most of the time is money.”

“I think I saw a Lifetime movie like that once. Mobsters and backroom secrets.” You smile.

“It’s not nearly as interesting, I can promise you that.” Clearing his throat, Sam sits up, his jaw jutting forward as if he’s going to speak but thinking better of it.

“What?”

“What I just said, about my dad, you can’t repeat that to anyone. I can’t have people in my life that aren’t discreet. I need you to know that’s a non-negotiable for me. ”

You’re offended before the sentence is even finished. Placing your hands together in your lap you lean over the table, lowering your voice.

“That’s a pretty nasty ultimatum for a first date.”

“I don’t mean to offend you. That’s the last thing I want. We belong to each other now but there are times when I don’t have the luxury of sugar coating things. There are a lot of people that would love to see my family fail, love to see John Winchester’s son go up in flames. So, while I don’t want you to be mad at me, it’s something I have to be crystal clear about. And I want to be able to talk with you openly without worrying. I need to be sure what’s said between us stays between us.”

“Message received.” You quip.

“Are you pissed at me?”

“A little.”

Your admission makes him frown, brow furrowing. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll get over it. I’d rather have you be upfront than play games. But for future reference, I’d prefer if you assume my intentions are honorable. I’m a loyal person and you are my Alpha now. I wouldn’t betray you.

Sam can’t help the smile that grows wide, blooming ear to ear.

By the time dessert arrives you’ve moved on to a game. Each of you can ask a question that both have to answer.

“Did you grow up here, in the city?” Sam questions.

“No. I’m originally from Connecticut. I’m a small town kid who couldn’t wait to move to the city. Two months after I turned eighteen I was out of the house.” You pick at the cheesecake, watching him thoughtfully. If it’s possible he’s even more handsome than when he left you this morning.

“Why were you in such a hurry?” The best thing you’ve discovered about Sam thus far is that he asks a question because he wants to hear the answer. He’s not just waiting to respond. He wants to know who you are and the feeling is mutual.

“My parents are…conservative and my sister and I rebelled every chance we got. My dad was always preaching you live under my roof, you live by my rules. So I left his house as soon as I could because I’ve never been very good at following rules.”

Sam chuckles, raising his eyebrows as if he already knows about your wild streak. “What happened to your sister?”

“She’s in the city…I think. We’re not exactly close. She’s always had her demons to deal with.” You don’t want to ruin this perfect dinner by diving into your family dysfunction so you shift the focus back to him. “What about you?”

“My family has a place in Scarsdale. My brother and I spend most of our time there. Dad worked and my mom was MIA but we had a great nanny, Ellen. She still puts me in my place from time to time.”

Grinning you sit back, momently stuck on how long his fingers are as they rest casually on the table.

“Tell me Sam, were you a rule breaker or rule follower?”

“Follower, for sure.” He snorts. “My brother Dean was a menace and I was so eager to please my father back then. I had to be perfect at everything.”

“You’re not a follower anymore?”

“When I went to college I started to realize that I had choices. I didn’t have to do what he expected. I could say no and ultimately there wasn’t anything he could do. Once I started to become my own person my father saw it as a personal insult. I’d always done everything he wanted and suddenly I dared to buck his authority. It was never anything bad. He wasn’t going to stop my tuition because I was interested in Law instead of business, and I knew it. The more he tried to control me the more I resented him. It’s just snowballed from there.”

“What a rebel.” You tease and his cheeks flush pink. Despite engaging in some genuinely filthy sexual acts with you it’s the first time you’ve seen him display any modesty.

“My turn.” You continue, offering respite. “If you could host a dinner party with any three people, alive or dead, real or fictional, who would they be and why?”

Sam laughs accompanied by a bright toothy grin and takes a drink while he thinks. He hasn’t had this much fun in a long time. He finds himself excited, eager to see what you’ll say next and how you’re going to react to his answers.

“Well, definitely Elon Musk because he’s constantly pushing toward the future and thinking outside the box. Jules Verne, because I had an obsession with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in high school. And…you.”

“Oh no,” You wag your finger. “No cheating. I’m helping you host this dinner party. I’m there by default. Pick a third.”

“You’re brutal.” He chuckles, biting his lip. “Okay, Hermione Granger.”

“Harry Potter?” You lean forward. “Why?”

“Because she’s this small little person who’s brave beyond reason. I like a strong woman.” He shrugs. “I feel like she could teach me a thing or two.”

Sam is indeed full of surprises.

“Alright,” he circles his finger in your direction. “Three people. Go.”

“Kurt Vonnegut, even though I have this feeling that he would ruin my party with his dark humor. Neil Armstrong because I want to ask what it felt like to be the first man to walk on the moon and…Freddie Mercury. Because he showed up to have fun but also had depth. I like complex people.”

“Good choices.” Sam nods. “Alright. Next question. How long was your last relationship?”

You take a breath, the levity fading fast as he goes in for the kill. Of course, he wants to know about your past, it’s natural.

“Two years, give or take.” You answer honestly, not offering more.

“What happened?”

“That’s more than one question.”

“I told you I’m a rule breaker these days. Humor me.”

“He seemed great at first and ended up being…not a very nice person. He got off on making me feel bad, so I left.” There’s a lot more you’re not telling him, but that’s a story for another time. “Alright Barbara Walters, spill it.”

Sam chuckles, perhaps from nerves almost as if he hadn’t thought about the fact that he’d have to reciprocate.

“Three months. It was a doomed office romance and I should have known better. We weren’t compatible.”

“Was she an Omega?” You’re jealous, couldn’t hide it if you wanted to.

“No.” He quips, clearly hearing the change in your tone. “Beta.”

“Good.” You cross your arms across your chest.

“I have an important question for you. Probably the most important question of the night.” He looks at you with a stare that makes your thighs clench, like he’s about to eat you whole.

“You better ask me then.”

“Are you going to spend the night with me?” He’s got both forearms on the table, leaning toward you with unrelenting intensity. It never occurred to you the night would end any other way, but you like that he’s pretending there’s a question. Offering up a modicum of power in your direction.

“I’d love to.”

—

“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” He sets his drink down on the bedside table, turning to look at you with a smoldering stare. You freeze mid-step, watching as he rolls up his sleeves, first one, then the other.

“Me too.” You confess, feeling excitement bubbling in your belly.

“Take your dress off.” He requests softly, sitting on the edge of the bed as he loosens his tie.

Sam might be young but he has the confidence of a man twice his age. It’s an incredible aphrodisiac.

You reach behind your back, pulling at the zipper and sliding it down until the dress is loose enough to drop around your waist before falling to the ground.

Sam’s cock springs to life in the blink of an eye at the sight of you in matching black lace and a pair of high heels. You look like something out of a pinup fantasy and the notion that you’re his is still hard to fathom.

“Come here.” He remains seated as you walk to him hips moving, swaying side to side.

Once you’re within reach he grabs the outside of your thighs with two bigs hands, pulling you to stand between his legs. He glances up momentarily before pressing a kiss to your stomach right above your navel. Your breath hitches and he does it again, dragging his lips over your skin.

“I was in a such a hurry when we were together.” He mumbles into your skin, his tongue dipping into your belly button as his fingers curl into the back of your legs. “Gonna take my time tonight.”

“Sam,” you whimper bringing both hands to his hair while he’s peppering kisses over your belly.

Both hands slide up the back of your legs, open palms ready when he gets to your ass, cupping both cheeks in tandem. He nuzzles lower, lips fluttering and pecking until he reaches the edge of your panties.

One of the hands squeezing your buttocks circles around to the front, as he swipes two fingers over your covered pussy, just a light touch that elicits a quiet moan.

“Are you wet for me Omega?” He asks, looking up with lust filled eyes.

“Yes,” you whimper as his fingers press against the material again, trailing upward where he pushes lightly over your clit.

“Better check.” He grins, kissing your belly once more.

Pushing your panties aside he slides his middle finger under the fabric, slipping between the lips of your sex and into your slick. You rock forward, moaning and grabbing his shoulders as he pushes his finger deeper, just enough to make you feel it but not enough to really be inside.

“I didn’t get the chance to touch you, taste you. I’m gonna make up for that.” His head dips down as two clever fingers hook the crotch of your underwear, yanking them out of the way as his head dips down. His tongue darts out, traveling the same route as his finger, dipping shallow into your slit, tasting how aroused you are. Sliding your hands into his hair you moan at the slippery warmth of his mouth gliding over your sex. You can feel the tip of his tongue scooping up and down, circling your clit, licking several times before he pulls away.

Your eyes pop open as his mouth leaves your body but there is no time to feel disappointed.

“Lay down.” Sam gets to his feet as you crawl onto the bed and roll on your back. He makes no move to shed his clothes despite the apparent erection straining at the crotch of his dress pants. The few items he does remove are his shoes, then his tie before he joins you, laying on his side. Propping himself up with one hand, he spreads the other hand over your belly, pressing down as stare up at him.

“I want to know your body, every inch of you. What makes you feel good, how you like to be touched. I want to always be able to satisfy you.”

You whimper, watching his mouth as he speaks. His pink lips seem to only add to the intensity of his words. With his free hand, he pulls the cup of your bra down, uncovering a hard nipple. Then does the same with other so that both your tits are exposed. Licking his lips he takes your nipple between this thumb and forefinger, pinching lightly.

You watch him touch you, wiggling as he tugs at your peak, squeezing gently.

“Too much?” he asks, waiting for your response.

“No,” you choke out. Your eyes flutter to his, only to find him watching you intently.

You’ve never felt this exposed before, this utter vulnerability as he slowly, deliberately begins his study of your preferences, the very definition of intimacy as you do what he asks, being honest about what turns you on.

“Harder.” You breathe.

He draws in a sharp breath seeming pleased by your answer. Squeezing your nipple firmly he pinches harder until it becomes nearly too much. Then he twists and your back arches off the mattress. You cry out as the pain becomes something else as it travels between your legs. Your clit is throbbing, pulsing with every beat of your heart.

He leaves one breast only to move to the other, clamping his finger around your sensitive peak and tugging as the pressure of his touch increases until you’re whimpering and writhing. He alternates between breasts, going back and forth from one to the other, plucking and twisting until both nipples are puffy and swollen. You’re convinced that if he keeps going you’re going to be able to cum from just his hands.

He continues to tug as he lowers his mouth to your tit, sucking the peak into his mouth and letting his teeth scrap over the sensitive flesh.

“Sam,” you call out, grasping at the sheets.

He takes his sweet time, sucking and licking, carefully playing the bud between his teeth until you’re sweating and ready to finger yourself just to get some relief.

Your hand moves over your lower belly only to be stopped short as he grabs your wrist and pins your hand beside your head.

“Tell me what you want.” He looks up as his mouth leaves one wet, aching nipple in favor of the other.

“I want you to touch me.” Moaning you fist a hand in his hair.

“I am touching you.” He smiles, mumbling with your breast in his mouth. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Sam,” you whine, gulping and biting your lip as his mouth works your tits.

“Tell me.”

Yeah, you’re slightly embarrassed but you’re even more turned on. Every inch of your body is on fire and he’s not even touched your pussy yet.

“Touch me with your hands.” You struggle for the words.

“Where?”

Damn him.

“Between my legs.” You’ve never considered yourself bashful when it comes to sex but giving an explicit instruction is new territory.

One hand spreads wide under your ribcage, fingers fanning out as he slides down over your belly and then lower. He cups your crotch, the heel of his palm presses over your mound and fingers curling under, reaching nearly back to your asshole.

He is going to make you spell it.

“No, I want your fingers-”

“Like this?” He moves as fast as you speak running three fingers up the material of your panties, sliding over your slit, slowly back and forth. While it feels good, it’s not nearly enough. He’s not touching your clit or pressing hard enough and you want something to fill you up.

“God damn it- oh fuck!” Sam bites down on your nipple, rolling the flesh between pearly white teeth and you groan, twisting like a mad woman.

“Tell me how you want to be touched.”

Any self-conscious concerns fly out the window.

“Put your fingers inside my panties and fuck me with them.”

He smirks, smiling against the flesh under your breast.

“What hole?” It’s a simple question but it makes your cunt clench.

“My pussy. Fuck my pussy with your fingers.”

“Okay.” His head pops up, watching your face as his hand disappears inside your underwear and you feel long digits pressing along the slippery opening of your sex. “How many fingers?”

“Oh, I - T-two.” You sputter.

“Anything you want, baby.” You’re both watching his hand moving under the lace of your panties when he slides two fingers quick and deep until his knuckles are against your lips. He pulls out halfway and shoves them back inside, scissoring, stretching you wide as he pumps in and out at the torturously slow pace. “You’re so fucking wet. Can’t wait to get my cock in here.”

“Fuck,” you call out as he curls his fingers upward and you see stars. You’re close to cumming but you don’t want to, not yet. There’s nothing like the build-up before a first orgasm when everything is tingling and aching with need. And as long as he’s taking instructions you’re not ready to give the feeling up.

“I want your mouth on my pussy. Suck on my clit.”

“There’s my girl,” Sam growls and pulls his fingers out of you. He gets up in record time, still fully dressed as he removes your panties. Grabbing your feet he hauls you to the edge of the bed with one flex of muscle. Then kneels on the floor and dives face first between your shaking thighs.

And Sam takes instruction well because he does just as you asked. His lips seal around your little aching bud, engulfing the most sensitive part of you and he sucks. Your eyes roll all the way back into your skull, mouth wide open and tongue cleaving to the roof of your mouth. When he finally takes a breath, he licks the full length of your slit, getting a tongue full of your slick and groaning in satisfaction before he’s back to sucking, just as you requested.

“Gonna cum.” You gasp, fighting to speak.

“Do it.” He mumbles against your wet, quivering flesh.

“No, I don’t want-” You can’t finish the sentence without moaning loudly and he stops, his head popping up from between your legs, lips, and chin glistening.

“What’s wrong?” He asks suddenly concerned, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Nothing,” You stop to take a breath, staring at the ceiling. Propping yourself up on your elbows you look at the filthy sight of him staring at you intently from between your knees. “I want you to fuck me first. Make me cum with your cock inside me.”

The conversation you had earlier in the night floods back to you. This is a dangerous game, your body wants him inside you, to knot you and to breed you. At this moment every inch of your being wants to bear his children. But you’re not wholly irrational. There’s still a slice of you that has the presence of mind to say something.

“You’ll have to pull out.” You gasp as his fingers slide back into your pussy, slowly swirling before spreading inside you.

“I will.” He nods.

His grin is nothing short of wolfish as he pulls his shirt over his head. His eyes are fixed on your pussy as he unbuckles his belt, and drops his pants to the floor. His underwear must have gone with them because his huge cock is suddenly bobbing below his belly. That cock that nearly fucked the life out of you just yesterday seems like the only satisfaction you’ll ever need.

“How?” Sam tips his head, eyes darting from between your legs to meet your stare. “What position?”

“From behind.” You offer but you don’t move, instead, you’re determined to take advantage of the situation. If he wants to know what you like then you’re going to make it as clear as possible. “I want you to tell me what to do now. Fuck me as hard as you want, make me take you so deep it hurts.”

“Fuck,” Sam whispers, biting his lower lip. His nostrils flare as he fists his cock. “On your hands and knees Omega. Get your ass in the air.”

You roll onto your stomach, and push yourself up, assuming the position. There’s a dip in the mattresses as he knees his way to you. You feel one hand on your ass cheek and the other at the base of your spine.

“Curve your back.” You stick your butt up, as his hand settles along the dip in your spine. “Good, just like that.”

You feel him lineup, your aching channel easily swallowing the head of his thick shaft as he pushes into you inch by inch. He doesn’t stop until his balls rock into your clit and your lips are flush with his thatch of neatly trimmed pubic hair. There’s no way you’re ever going to get used to this. There are a lot of things that a girl can get accustomed to over time but the feeling of his girth filling and stretching your needy cunt is not one of them. He’s always going to feel this big, you’re sure of it.

“Gonna give you this cock now sweetheart.” His hands grab the flesh of your ass, kneading the skin. ��You’re gonna take every inch aren’t you?”

There is a kind of inherent nonverbal communication between you. You don’t have to tell him this part, that his obscene words are precisely what you need, he just knows. He can read your body’s reactions like a roadmap that’s telling him where to go next.

“Yes,” you hiss as he leans back, letting you feel the drag of his cockhead. He pulls out all the way, leaving you painfully empty but only for a second before he’s pushing back inside, burying himself to the hilt.

“Can you feel how deep I am?” He asks, curling over your back. A hand snakes around your side and under your belly. He presses on your lower stomach, rocking his hips until you feel his cock bulging out to meet his hand. “My cock’s too big for your tight little pussy, I’m all the way in your stomach.”

“Alpha,” you moan, forehead hitting the mattress.

With a hand on each hip, he begins to pump in and out, fucking you with the entire length of his dick. One hand is suddenly in your hair, yanking back until your spine curves back and your breasts are in the air, bouncing with every thrust.

The stretch of his shaft is perfection, taking you right to the limit of what your cunt can handle without pushing over the edge. If there was any question that you were made to fit together it’s erased as he slides in to the root.

Twisting your head to the side you want to kiss him, touch him, but in this position, it’s just the unrelenting thrust of his hips against your ass.

“Please - touch - me” you beg between breaths, panting as the speed increases, faster and harder. This time he doesn’t make you spell it out, instead, he lets go of your hair and snakes a hand under your hips to find your clit. His middle finger finds the target almost immediately and you cry out, shoving your body back into him, desperate to take all of him inside.

When you cum your whole body shakes, the pleasure winding up and exploding out in all directions. You can feel your pussy clenching around his fat cock, squeezing and bearing down on him until your body finds it’s sought after satisfaction.

When it’s over, you’re a rag doll as he holds you in place rutting into your pussy at a break-neck pace. You can feel his knot swell, thickening as he forces it in with every pump. But before it’s too late he pulls out, slapping you on the ass.

“Turn over.” He groans and you roll onto your back just in time for him to cum. He shoots wet, warm and thick over your breasts and belly, stroking more and more out until you’re covered in his seed. Mouth agape and eyes open, admiring the mess he’s made.

“Fuck.” He chuckles, flopping onto his back beside you with a shit eating grin. Running a hand down his face he turns to look at you with rosy-cheeks and the happiest smile you’ve ever seen on a man. “You’re amazing.”

“I didn’t even do anything.” You laugh, still breathless.

“You don’t need to.”

Sam watches you use the sheets to wipe yourself off and then turn onto your side to face him. He’s cupping his knot, his hand curled around the base of the shaft. You’ve not seen a knot before. Felt one, yes, but never laid on eyes on a fully popped specimen. Alpha knots don’t present from just any stimulation, hand jobs and blow jobs don’t do the trick. It is, after all, a biological response to the urge to breed. So the only time they truly reach their full size is during intercourse.

But Sam must have come incredibly close to cumming inside you because he popped for sure.

Looking up at him you’re almost embarrassed that he’s caught you staring, but not really. You’re too interested.

“Can I see it?” You ask thoughtfully.

Sam’s eyes go wide as he smirks. “Sure.”

He uncurls his hand as you slide down his body getting up close and personal with his cock and there it is in all its glory. The thick ring of muscle, a shade darker than the rest of him, the same color as the head of his dick when he’s painfully hard. It’s big, close to the size of your fist. It’s incredible that you can take that in your pussy and that he’s done it to you more than once.

“What do you think?” There’s a sly edge to his voice.

So engrossed in your exploration of his body, you almost forgot he was watching you.

“I think you’re big all over.” Slinking back up his body you nuzzle into his side. “It’s hard to believe that what feels so good. You’re huge.”

“You’re perfect.” He turns on his side to face you, running a palm down your arm and glancing over you to the clock. “It’s almost two. We should shower and sleep.”

“So responsible.” You tease. He rolls off the bed and you prop yourself up on elbows to watch him. “My rule follower.”

“Watch it.” He lunges forward, grabbing your ankles and dragging you down the bed until he can pick you up. You squeal as he throws you over his shoulder, slapping your butt and carrying you toward the bathroom.

The Next Morning

Sam is painfully out of place sitting next to you in the lobby of the clinic, dressed in his thousand dollar suit and designer overcoat. He’s fixated on his phone reading an email but he must be able to feel your nerves because he nonchalantly reaches over to take your hand.

The nurse calls your name and you follow her through the labyrinth of muted Pepto-pink walls to a small exam room.

You don’t wait long. Dr. Carter walks in, stopping momentarily at the sight of your smartly dressed Alpha. She apparently expected someone else.

“Hello,” she recovers extending her hand, introducing herself.

Sam sits on the edge of a rickety chair, placing a hand on your bouncing knee.

“Well, I’m happy you were able to come in so quickly, Mr…”

“Winchester.” Sam offers and her eyes widen. “Call me Sam.”

“Well,” she clears her throat. “Y/N came in yesterday asking for birth control and according to federal regulations she needs your permission before I can provide any sort of family planning methods.”

“Okay,” Sam shakes his head, squeezing your knee. “Give her whatever she wants.”

“I will, gladly. But I have to go over her medical history with you-”

“Really? Can’t I just sign something and she can do what she wants?”

“I’m afraid it’s more involved than that. I need in-person verbal and written confirmation the first time. You’ll sign a couple releases. From then on we can call if we need approval.”

“Okay,” Sam shrugs, “let’s do it.”

“Because of her request and her newly claimed status, we ran some blood tests-”

“Hey, you never asked me about any tests.” You protest, appalled at the notion that she’s done anything without your consent.

“I don’t have to ask and I’m not supposed to. When we’re evaluating a newly claimed Omega certain screenings are standard and required.”

“I can’t believe this.” Fighting the urge to throttle the doctor you wring your hands in your lap. Sam reaches over, placing a large palm over your knuckles, squeezing lightly.

“It’s alright.” He scrunches his mouth at you as if to imply that this is all no big deal and you want to harangue him too.

“She’s free of any of the standard sexually transmitted diseases. She was concerned about pregnancy but as I advised her I don’t think it’s anything you need to be concerned about. We can do a pregnancy test when she’s closer to her heat, but I highly doubt you need to worry.”

“Okay.” Sam just looks at her deadpan. “You’ll put her on birth control?”

“Yes, we can do it today. Omegas normally respond better to the monthly shot. We’ve found that pills aren’t as effective in preventing pregnancy with an Alpha/Omega pairing.”

“Is that what you want?” Sam turns toward you, calmly awaiting your confirmation.

While you can’t see yourself you’re sure that your cheeks are beet red.

“Yes.” You answer softly.

“Alright, we’ll administer the first dose before you leave today. Only a few more items to review. She’s only had unprotected sex with one other partner but it’s up to you if you’d like a more thorough screening. I don’t think it’s necessary, we’ve already done the baseline STD tests.”

Sam’s hand is still over yours and at the mention at the previous partner his finger twitch.

You’re not sure if you want to throw a punch or crawl under the examination table.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Sam avoids your stare, looking directly at the physician. “What do I need to sign?”

–

He can tell you’re agitated as you both spill out onto the busy sidewalk. You turn to face him, grimacing as you fight with the zipper on your coat. It’s only late November but the frigid chill of winter came early this year.

“I’ve never been embarrassed like that before.” Sputtering you wrap both arms around yourself. “ I’m claimed so apparently I’m just your property now.”

“Hey,” Sam reaches for your scarf, wrapping it around your neck, before giving a gentle tug. “It’s just an old law. Archaic, patriarchal bullshit. After the elections next year they say things will change.”

“They’ve been saying that for a long time. I mean, I knew that there were regulations but that was humiliating. She was talking to you like I wasn’t even in the room. Like I was a damn dog at the vet.”

“For the record, it’s not exactly pleasant for me either, when she’s telling me personal things you’re uncomfortable with me knowing. You don’t know me yet, but I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to or try to control you. That’s not who I am. So if there’s anything you want, just ask for it.”

Sam’s finds himself in a real duality of man situation. He already respects you and he’s certainly not an old conservative like his father. These laws harken back to a time when Omega women were little more than breeding mares. The failure to overturn these outdated laws is nothing but prejudice and discrimination hidden under the guise of ‘traditional values’.

But, if he’s a hundred percent honest with himself, there is a latent satisfaction in the fact that you belong to him in such an all-encompassing way. As the thought crosses his brain he chastises himself for entertaining the notion, forcing it out of his brain.

“I want to make my own choices when it comes to my body.” Shivering you allow him to pull you under his arm, rubbing your shoulders with a gloved hand.

“And you will, at least when it comes to me.” He leans over and kisses your temple, squeezing you tight. It’s a simple gesture, but the ease with which he expresses affection makes your belly swoop. “Come on, let’s get out of the cold. I’ll take you to breakfast before I go into work.”

#Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader #alpha!sam winchester #supernatural a/b/o #sam winchester smut

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