Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Eight: Pro Tip, Don't Drink It If It's Called Moonshine

"You okay?" The Doctor's voice reached her in her haze of thoughts, startling her. She looked up to see him approaching in the mirror of the bar, his hand reaching out to rub her shoulders.

"Fine, yeah," she mumbled, relaxing into his touch. He always knew just where the tension was and exactly how to release it.

"Sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." She rolled her eyes as he sat on the stool next to her. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're in a bar, drinking water. And you're you."

She hesitated. "Shut up."

"So what's wrong, eh?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "Just..."

He put his hand over hers, interlinking their fingers on the surface of the bar. "It's getting bad again."

She moved her lips, but no sound came out. She cleared her throat. "Yes."

"Anything in particular?" he wondered. "Anything I can do?"

"My Doctor." She shook her head gently. "It's just the same old stuff. Worrying about the kids. I think Amy and Rory are changing their minds. About us. About travelling with us, I mean. And obviously it's better that way, that they say goodbye and go back to their lives and are happy and well and die at a proper age, but... I don't know that I'm ready to not have them around. They've become so... familiar."

The Doctor snorted, nudging her. "You've kidzoned your in-laws."

She huffed a laugh. "Oh, God. I suppose that's time travel for you. So messy." She sighed, biting her lip.

"What else, hmm?" He cradled her face in one of his hands, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "What's scared my clever girl, hey?"

She smiled half-heartedly. "Steve rang. They're closing in on the last remnants of HYDRA. Which means Rumlow. Which means a fight... And I'm not ready for another Sokovia." A tear spilled over. "Last time we almost lost Zoë. This time there are actual real-life children at stake. Our grandchildren. If something happens to them—"

"Nothing's going to happen to them," he assured her, pulling her into a soft hug. "They're protected by Earth's finest, and no one will lay a finger on them."

"Promise?"

He flashed a smile. "Promise. Now, what about a proper drink? I think we've still got some of that Asgardian moonshine Thor gave us."

"Last time we drank that, we passed out for a month," she reminded him. "You said never again. You said you'd rather drink diesel. Then you actually drank diesel and passed out for another week."

He shrugged. "I'm sure it wasn't all that bad. Want some?"

***

Three weeks later, they found themselves chained to some railings in the middle of an exploding Sontaran ship.

"It's definitely that bad," McKenzie managed, trying not to throw up. She heard the sonic buzzing in her direction. "What are you doing?!"

"The good news is, I'm sure I remember setting up the remote materialisation circuits in the TARDIS," he told her. "Essentially, so the TARDIS can home in on the keys."

"And the bad news?"

He made a face. "They've taken our keys!"

"Oh God!" The floor gave way beneath them, and they started to fall to the planet below. "I'm going to bloody kill Thor!"