Fight For Freedom |4| The Ascension

Chapter Forty Five: Time To Go

It wasn't until that evening that McKenzie's eyes opened next, and when they did, she gave her husband quite the shock.

He had been in the console room, peacefully plotting coordinates for their next trip, when a pair of arms snaked around his waist. Admittedly, this had happened before on several occasions, but usually, he turned to see blue/green eyes looking back at him. This time, they were gold.

"What the—?!"

"Oh my God," the Wolf gasped, grinning. "That was good. You nearly swore! Go on, do it! Say 'fuck', I dare you."

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

She shrugged. "Well, you know, I heard the alter ego was out for a while so I thought I'd pop in and borrow the body. It's really tiring being incorporeal all the time, especially since my casing blew." Her eyes sparkled, her lips twitching. "Go on. Say it."

He frowned. "Why should I?"

"Because you've never been able to resist this woman," the Wolf pointed out. "Check this." She pouted, making puppy eyes at him.

He responded instantly. "No, no, no, that's not fair." He turned away, but he could still see her reflection on the monitor as she put her arms back around him.

"Oh, that's cute," she told him, resting her head on his shoulder. "She's starting to wake up. Apparently, she wants you to say fuck too."

He snorted. "She's heard me say it dozens of times before. Why should now make any difference?"

"Go on. Please," the Wolf begged, making puppy eyes once more. "Pretty please?"

The Doctor huffed a laugh, closing his eyes briefly. "Fu—" He hit the floor before he could finish.

The Wolf made a face, brushing off her knuckles. "Oops." She sidestepped out of McKenzie's body, becoming an iridescent image of her Wolf form. "There you go, me. He'll wake in eight to ten hours if my hook is as good as I remember."

McKenzie scoffed. "It was my hook you were using." She knelt to check on her husband.

The Wolf raised her eyebrows. "My technique."

"I can tell," McKenzie pouted. "You've split one of my knuckles on his jaw." She licked her thumb, rubbing the blood off his jaw absently.

"Hey," the Wolf complained. "It's a sharp jawline." McKenzie just rolled her eyes. "Besides, you didn't want to do it."

"Of course not. He's my husband, not yours. I'd rather you punched him, in the event that he needed punching," McKenzie explained distractedly, turning to type in new coordinates.

"Technically, I am you, so he's our husband really," the Wolf pointed out.

"You didn't say the vows, you didn't wear the circlet, you didn't raise the kids." McKenzie raised her eyebrows. "He's mine."

The Wolf chuckled, raising her hands in surrender. "All right, ego, keep your hair on."

McKenzie snorted, throwing the dematerialisation lever. "Whatever. Okay, it's midnight. We're in our bedroom, so no one should think this suspicious. Can I rely on you to watch over him? Just till he wakes up?"

"Sure, sure," the Wolf rolled her eyes. "Just plop him down in there, I'll look after him." She followed as McKenzie carried him out of the TARDIS and laid him down in their bed at the facility.

She brushed his hair away from his face, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "Sweet dreams, my love," she whispered, turning away before she could decide to crawl in with him and never leave. She nodded to the Wolf. "Thank you."

The Wolf just winked. "Anytime, me." She hesitated, stopping herself before she could enter the TARDIS. "You're really going to do it, huh?"

McKenzie turned back, biting her lip. "I've got no choice."

The Wolf raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like us."

"I'm going to save him," McKenzie told her, shrugging. "That's how we began."

"And now it's how we'll end," the Wolf finished.

McKenzie sighed, taking one last look at her husband. "Make sure he knows I still love him. Make sure he knows." And with that, she stepped into the TARDIS, setting off on her own adventure.

***

Several long and boring hours later, the Wolf looked over as the Doctor stirred. "Oh, finally," she complained. "You know, you snore like a fucking lawnmower."

"...what?" He sat up, rubbing his eyes, then remembered. "Kez!"

"Nope, not me," the Wolf teased. "Two strikes remaining."

"Where is she?" he demanded, his voice lowering.

"Ooh," the Wolf blinked. "That's kinda hot. I spent all these years wondering, you know, but I actually think I get it now."

He frowned. "Get what?"

"Well, why you," the Wolf shrugged. "I mean, she could be screwing pretty much anyone in the universe, but she chose you."

He shook his head distractedly. "I don't have time for this. I've got to find her."

"Uh oh." The Wolf got to her feet, standing in his way. "Sorry, man. I can't let you do that."

"You know what she's doing, what she's going to do," he implored. "Silence will fall, that's what they all kept saying."

The Wolf nodded sympathetically. "And yet the question must be asked." She sighed, biting her lip. "It's a fixed point in time, Doctor. You can't save her."

"She's my wife," he shook his head. "I have to try. I have to try!"