13 Novella 6

Kate

"I feel absolutely awful" says Jenny quietly and you nod, lost in thought. The Doctor had taken her back to their room to calm down and it was just you three left.

Missy is leaning against the console looking thoughtful.

"It is pretty harsh, I thought they would at least give it until they met the blonde clown to take a disliking" she says and Jenny stiffnes. You are barely listening.

"Was it bad?" Whispers Jenny and she has to repeat it before you are pulled from your reverie. They are both staring at you now. You blink and swallow.

"Hmm? Yeah no it wasn't great, her mother slapped her" you say and they both inhale sharply. "I think it would be best if we got out of here to be honest" you say and Missy shrugs, typing quickly and pulling a lever. Caught by surprise, you tense into Jenny who holds you steady but it isn't necessary; you barely move.

You loved The Doctor's chaotic flying but it was nice every now and then not to fight to remain upright.

"How old is she now, still can't fly her own ship" mutters Missy with an eye roll and you grin as the Time Lady walks in- followed by a puffy eyed Yaz -looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Missy It's rude to take someone's ship without asking!" She exclaims but Missy doesn't even look round.

"Is it now? Hypocrite" she smiles and the blonde scowls as The Tardis thrums slyly.

"That's different, I'm just borrowing her" she shrugs and you raise your eyebrows.

"You stole her?" You ask in disbelief and The Tardis shows you an older man, presumably The Doctor, getting into a cylinder box. You giggle. "You've got younger then" you point out and she smiles.

"In some aspects yeah" she grins, just as you hear a phone ring.

"Phone?" You question and the blonde picks up an old fashioned phone and holds it to her ear. You've never seen it before, but both Yaz and Jenny look weirdly apprehensive, like the phone is about to give them a death sentence. You want to question it but The Doctor has started talking.

"Kate! Heya yeah of course, be there in five" she trills, Yorkshire accent prominent. She puts it down and one bumpy ride later- Missy is very smug -you land with a thump. Yaz looks a little more composed as you follow her out into an office looking space within what represents castle walls.

"Doctor?" A woman calls. She has short blonde hair and an authoritive air. You are intimidated, but Missy flops in a nearby office chair and flicks one leg gracefully over the other.

"Nice to see you again Kate" smiles The Doctor and the woman looks startled. You assume her last encounter with The Doctor was a male face.

"You're a woman? I'm never going to get over that, Dad would be impressed" she sighs warmly and The Doctor does a little twirl.

"He'd probably salute or something" she rolls her hazel eyes and Kate shrugs. "Anyway, what did you need?" She asks pleasantly and Kate's smile drops, revealing lines of concern across her forehead.

"Zygons of course" she mutters and The Doctor looks concerned. "We believe there's a rogue group about, showing themselves and eliminating humans"

"Not to worry, any leads?" The Doctor starts, turning to Yaz when she looks confused.

"Sorry but what's a zygon?"

Before The Doctor can answer Missy chimes in "One of The Doctor's exes" she winks and Yaz frowns as Jenny snorts slightly.

"ONE TIME! It was one time" exclaims The Doctor in annoyance and you see her thoughts of an ugly red creature. You gag inwardly and she rolls her eyes.

"It didn't look like that when I kissed it (Y/n)" she sulks and you slyly give Yaz the image, letting her answer for you.

"I'm not judging" Yaz says with innocent eyes at the perfect time. The blonde groans and rolls her eyes to the ceiling while you all laugh at her.

"Back to business please" she grumbles and Kate looks at you weirdly.

"How did she do that?" She asks The Doctor interestedly, still looking at you.

You shift uncomfortably as Jenny pulls you back and Missy rises from her chair to stand in front of you, crossing her arms. You look at them both carefully and they relax, still in protective mode. Kate does a double take then scowls.

"Don't tell me you're in an alliance with Missy too" she sighs but The Doctor smiles and nods good naturedly.

"Actually yes, she's sorry for the cyber invasion"

"Is she now" Mutters Missy and you snort quietly. Neither girlfriend has moved from their position.

"Anyway, I need you to find the rogues and eliminate them" says Kate, giving up with you and Missy.

"Easier said than done" mutters The Doctor, scanning a nearby screen with the sonic.

"I need you to find them or we'll have to wipe out them all" she adds and you all pause.

"No. You made a treaty. I expect you to hold yourself and your people to it."

"Doctor they are killing humans."

"And I won't let you kill them for it. The rogues will be captured, but you will not harm the population living peacefully among us" she says cooly, and you feel the rarely seen coldness emanating from her.

"I will have no choice. You have 24 hours to sort this, and then I activate the box" she says lightly. You don't really understand all that is occurring, but you are pretty sure this woman just threatened to eliminate an entire race for the mistakes of the few.

"And what if we apply the same logic to humans?" You burst out and everyone looks at you in slight surprise. "Wiping out an entire race for the mistakes of a few? We sure as hell wouldn't be here now" you say and Kate looks at you with contempt.

"I like this one, human too? A little naive perhaps, but she's interesting to say the least." she says lightly and Missy growls under her breath.

You stroke her arm and she loosens slightly. "24 hours Doctor" and with that she turns and sweeps out the room, leaving you all with a seemingly impossible task.