Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Ten: Of Angels And Devils

"Daisy! No! Stop it, not the aerosol!"

Zoë raised her eyebrows as a silver blur shot past her in the corridor, following the mischievous laughter of her niece. "We're definitely going to have to figure out how to put those out of her reach."

Pietro reappeared in front of her, holding the giggling child by her ankles. "How do you put something out of the reach of a wallcrawler?" He held her tight as Zoë confiscated the aerosol. "She figured out locks after the last time, didn't you?" He pretended to drop her, catching her in his arms.

"But the spray-spray is fun!" Daisy protested.

"Yeah, and the spray-spray set fire to the curtains last week," Zoë reminded her. "You promised your dad you wouldn't do it again!"

Daisy pouted. "I'm sorry." She squirmed. "Can I go and play with Zay now?"

"Fine." Pietro set her on her feet. "But no fire, okay?"

"Yay!" She set off down the corridor again.

"And no ice!" Zoë called after her. She shook her head. "That child is the devil incarnate. How can two people as normal as Zosia and Steve produce something so evil?"

"She's a toddler," Pietro pointed out. "It's traditional, да? The terrible twos."

"Hmm, that's right. They're terrible and there's two of them," Zoë joked. "Yesterday, I left a cup of tea unguarded for no more than three seconds and the little bastard froze it solid. He's impossible!"

"To be fair, I think you got your own back when you dropped him in the swimming pool." Pietro raised an eyebrow. "I am not sure you should be allowed to look after children."

Her lips twitched. "Maybe not. But hey, he was at no risk of drowning, I was right there! And it's not like he was gonna get hypothermia."

"He was freezing," Pietro frowned.

"Yeah, he tried to give me frostbite when I pulled him out," she remembered. She sighed. "I don't understand it. They're good as gold when Zosia's around. They know not to pull this stuff with her."

"Well, she is a tiger." Pietro made a face. "Just think, they're only half human. They might live longer. You could be stuck with them forever."

"You'd be there too, idiot." She turned to him, raising a hand to brush his hair away from his face. "You're enhanced. Longer life span, and all that."

"Not as long as yours," he pointed out.

"Hey, we don't know that," she said, cradling his face in her hand. "For all we know, this body is all I've got. I'm a genetic copy of a Time Lord, but I don't know if that's enough. If I can regenerate. Which means, you and I had better savour the time we've got, husband."

He smiled. "The Angel is going to kill me when she finds out we got married without her."

Zoë snorted. "Yes, she is, but in fairness, it's not our fault they were gone for so long. We did try calling them." She yelped as her leg gave way from underneath her, clutching onto him for balance. "Oh, for f—!"

"Language!" He helped her to sit, then set off after Izaiah, who was making a speedy getaway with his aunt's leg. "Oi!"

***

"I'm confused," Rory admitted, crouching in the bushes next to McKenzie.

"Well, you're only human." She flashed him a grin, before turning back to keep watch. "What are you confused about this time?"

"You bagsied me for your team," he reminded her. "Like, weirdly quickly. Why?"

She shrugged. "You're my best mate. Why wouldn't I?"

"But the Doctor's your husband," he pointed out. "Surely with your telepathic connection you'd work really well together."

"Well, yeah, but I try never to be on his side in this sort of thing," she confessed. "Makes a change from real life, I suppose. Plus, I get to use our connection to distract him."

"Distract him?"

"Throw him off his game."

"How do you do that?" She smirked at him, and he closed his eyes. "Of course. Why did I ask?"

She laughed quietly. "You should have learned by now. Besides, it's not like I chose you just because I didn't want to choose him. I'm serious, you're my best friend. Who else would I trust to have my back?"

"Really?" He frowned. "But surely Amy..."

"Would also be an awesome asset to the team," McKenzie conceded. "But, lovely though she is, she isn't Rory Williams. It takes a special kind of man to be the Last Centurion and still care so much about his patients. You took a bullet for me even though we hardly knew each other. Rory the Roman, you are one of the most caring people I have ever met. The best and bravest human being I ever knew."

He stared at her, touched. "Thank you."

She smiled, hugging him tightly. "You earned it, Roranicus. You and me have got to stick together. We're a good team. The Angel and the Roman. Like a fairytale."

He chuckled. "Well, I can deal with that. I'm not going anywhere."