Yaz stayed up all night intrigued about the train she couldn't sleep anyway. Refusing to leave her alone, Sandy ended up falling asleep in the control room on the makeshift bed curled up in her oversized fleece and blanket that Yaz had brought from the bedroom. Her little robot slept next to her. At least it seemed so. But despite its cute appearance, Yaz still didn't feel comfortable with the robots, so she would turn around every now and then to make sure it was still in the same place. She was almost at the end of the entire recording of all the video calls and messages. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she stood up and made sure Sandy was snuggled up nice and warm. She looked so cute as she slept, little pink curls falling over her lovely, freckled cheeks and her fingers curled into a ball under her chin. Yaz felt every cell in her body turn into a mush and couldn't help but plant a small kiss in her hair.

She then dragged her feet into the kitchen to make fresh coffee, in the meantime looking for snacks, but mostly they were Sandy's sweet candies stacked under the kitchen counter. 

 

"Hiya" 

 

Yaz jumped so hard that her head hit the edge of the kitchen counter. "Ahhh" 

 

"Aaaaaa....soooorry, so sorry Yaz" Doctor twisted her face worriedly "You alright?" 

 

"Nooo" she got up rubbing her head "But I will be don't worry...Arrrrh"  

 

"Tingle cuddle?" Doctor smiled and hovered her hand above the place where she hit herself. 

 

"That's cute...like a kiss to make it better" she smiled. 

 

"It is actually!" She agreed haply "Why are you still up Yaz? You're starting to remind me of myself. And why is Sandy checked out in a control room?" 

 

"She passed out with her head on top of the console at 5 and refused to leave" she giggled  "Buut the girl managed to find  the train" 

 

"What?" 

 

"Oh...not actually find it find it...She found something on the footage which very much looks like a train. Or at least we think that's what it is," She grabbed some wired snack Sandy bought which resembled crisps and made herself comfortable in a chair. 

 

"What on those recordings? Where?" 

 

"I'll show you. There's something behind this bloke, and it does look like it but its all blurred so Sandy said she can make the picture clearer, it might give us more clues." 

 

"You can put it through the ships visual scanner Yaz. It might pick up an image and tag it to a place." 

 

"It can do that?" 

 

"Not like TARDIS...the database is limited but we could try. We definitely should try. Also, it might store data about the incoming calls. We might be able to trace it." 

 

"Nope, Sandy and I tried that, they are covering their tracks really well. Like using universal VPN" 

 

"Hmmmm...Thought so, well, it was worth a try I suppose." 

 

"Also, it appears only on one recording, and I went through almost all of them. All 300 of them" she sighed exhausted resting her head on the table "I really hope we find it...we're running out of time." 

 

"There's never enough time." Doctor shrugged "It's just us...But you will Yaz. This isn't easy task you're doing a great job both of you. If it was that easy UNIT would've found it by now." 

 

"You would've found it by now." 

 

"Well, I'm here and I haven’t.” 

 

"That's because you don't have your TARDIS." 

 

"Excuse me but It's not all about the TARDIS Yaz, it's about the joint effort. It always was. Also, about what's in here." She tapes her temple "Which in my case is a mess most of the time I do admit, but all I need is half of a thought most of the time. And you got plenty inside that beautiful head of yours and she does as well. You don't need the TARDIS. You're doing perfectly well without it." 

 

Yaz couldn't help not to laugh. There was always something so cute in a way the Doctor would give her weaknesses a reasonable explanation and found time to give a compliment and encouragement. Which is strangely exactly what she needed recently as her brain kept playing a brutal game with her. 

 

"Come on" she nodded her head towards the door "Let's go find that train Yaz" 

 

She smiled and got up grabbing the bag of alien snacks form the table.  

 

"Oh, by the way your coffee is done" Doctor pointed. 

 

.... 

 

Doctor squinted intrigued, checking the footage. 

 

"I think you're right Yaz, that does look like a train." 

 

"But is it our train?" 

 

"I doubt very much there's many British looking trains out there in the universe. Shame the picture isn't better but let's give it a try. Go on, pop it in Yaz" 

 

Yaz connect the image recognition scanner and now it was a waiting game. She was excited and worried at the same time. 

 

"Brilliant, now let's keep our fingers and toes crossed." 

 

"Can you cross your toas?" 

 

"I did try." 

 

She laughed shaking her head "I'm getting used to this little ship." 

 

"Not bad, not bad at all Yaz...Needs a bit more work but it's gonna be a candy by the time we're finished." 

 

"We are getting there. I really love my room though. It's growing on me." 

 

"Aaaa...we're getting something here" she hunched over the console. 

 

"Did we find it?" Yaz jumped excited. 

 

"No, but now we now know the make of this bloke’s shoes." She scrunched her nose "And where he got them from." 

 

Yaz huffed disappointed. 

 

"We'll get there, one shoe at the time." 

 

"How exciting" she sighs "I'm tiered, my brain is cutting off." 

 

"Go Yaz, I'll stay here.” 

 

"Sure?" 

 

"Yeees, go. You have to rest." 

 

"And what will you do all night?" 

 

"Oh...you know...There's always something that needs to be done.” 

 

There is, but Yaz was also painfully aware of her limitations. She knows she's lying, and the Doctor knows she knows. Yaz looks down, focused on Doctor's little hand nervously clenching and she's reluctant to leave her alone. 

 

"It's alright, I'll be fine." She reinsures straight away "Promise, go, have some sleep." 

 

The truth is Yaz's vision is getting blurred by this point and she reluctantly agrees feeling like she's almost held hostage by her human limitations. 

 

"What about..." her eyes flow towards Sandy 

 

"Don't worry, I'll stay with her" she smiled "Unless you wanna..." 

 

"Whaaaa?....nooo" she frowns "...I'll be in my bedroom and..." she pointed squirming 

 

"Alright" Doctor shrugs "Night, night Yaz" 

 

"Night...love ya" 

 

"Love you too" Doctor smiled looking back at the monitor. 

 

.....

 

 

Sandy stretched out, still a bit disoriented forgetting she fell asleep in the control room. Fist thing she sees is her little robots’ eyes looking down at her making noises. 

 

"Morning" Doctor chirped and zapped something on the console. 

 

"Oh, morning..." Sandy laughs "I can see you're busy.” 

 

"Trying to kill time, not that you can kill time...more like trap it on a non-existent planet. Still bugging me that one." 

 

Sandy looked at her completely confused trying to make sense of what she was saying. But it was too early for puzzles, and she still didn't have her coffee. 

 

"...Anyways, you just got a nice forest." She flashes her a smile. 

 

"The what?" 

 

"Being bored senseless can sometimes be very productive." 

 

"I can totally relate to that." 

 

"I figured out a way how to connect my circuits to your console, sort of hacking into your ship...going through the back door if you like...I figured if I inserted myself into your system, I can easily change things from within. Been working it out for the past few days and last night I had that Eureka moment." 

 

"Aaaa did ya?" Sandy got up rubbing her face sleepy. 

 

"She's in her bedroom by the way" Doctor pointed "Your girl." 

 

Sandy stood behind her, watching the tiny woman tinker with the ship as sparks flew from the console. She couldn't help but think how hard this must be weighing on her soul. She also couldn't help but feel guilty that she was at least one of the reasons why the Doctor felt this way. She had an overwhelming urge to hug her. But how do you hug a hollo? How do you show you care? Then suddenly she felt a little closer to understanding the challenges that these two beautiful women have faced for the past 3 years, and she could feel the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes. But her thoughts got interrupted when the Doctor turned with a bright smile as if the sun itself had shone on her face. 

 

"Wanna see?" 

 

Sandy shook her head "Sorry?" 

 

"The forest? Wanna see?" 

 

"What now?" 

 

"Why not? Yaz is gonna have a kip for at least another two hours and I added more flavors to you coffee machine, we can grab some on a way.... You can grab some...Arrrh every time. I’m still not used to this." 

 

"Alright" she nodded haply. 

 

"Brilliant...I always loved fresh air in the morning." 

 

"We have to find a way of how to make you more.... you know...real" Sandy giggled on a way to the kitchen. 

 

..... 

 

"Can you show me? How you do this dimensional engineering. I understand the essence of it. But how do you do that? " Sandy asked as Doctor watched her adding unbelievable amount of sugar in her coffee. 

 

"Suppose so, but you do understand Sandy that whatever I teach you, must never impact the future.” 

 

"I get that...I promise I'm not gonna pattern it" she smiles and turns, eyes filled with wonder "I'm just absolutely dying to know. Besides...Nobody would believe me anyway." 

 

"Ok, you got yourself a deal." 

 

..... 

 

Annoying sound of her phone woke her up and Yaz rolled over the bed frustrated grabbing the phone without opening her eyes. 

 

"Whaaa??" She moaned rolling on her side pulling the duvet over her head. 

 

"You alright Yaz?" 

 

She opened her eyes in a second "OMG, Kate??" She asked horrified with herself and hysterically trying to untangle herself out of her duvet "Yeah, my god, so sorry. I was up till 6 am. Really sorry." 

 

Kate chuckled on the other end "That's alright, you wanna call me later when you come around?" 

 

"No, no" she said as she finally got the duvet out of the way and sat up "I'm absolutely awake now." 

 

"It's not that important, I'm just checking up on you." 

 

"I was gonna call today actually. We potentially have something, not sure yet." 

 

"Tell me" 

 

"It does look like we found a footage of the train, but we are working on finding the location." 

 

"I knew I could count on you two. Please let me know ASAP. But what ever it is Yaz, do not engage alone." 

 

"We're still not sure though, I'll send you the recording. We are running it through the visual scanner see if we can find out more." 

 

"Well, let's keep our fingers crossed so we can bring this to an end. Great job Yaz" 

 

"I hope so, any news from the lab?" 

 

"No, no progress yet I'm afraid. Which sounds pretty ridiculous considering all the resources we have”

 

"Well, maybe we should upgrade a little.” 

 

"Maybe we should...Everything else alright?" 

 

"I suppose so, I'm just anxious now. I wanna finish this off. It's making me nervous." 

 

"You will" 

 

"You're very confident in that" Yaz chuckled. 

 

"You learned from the best Yaz. I've got my top people working on this. I'm not worried about finding the train. I'm more worried about keeping you safe. Ok, I'm gonna let you go now, try to get some more sleep.  Sorry for waking you up" 

 

"It's alright. See you soon.” 

 

"See you soon Yaz.” 

 

She clicked off and rolled back into the bed with a sigh. Still tiered from last night she fell asleep again. 

 

 

.....

 

 

Sandy followed the Doctor down the hall intrigued about the forest, confused as to how it could even fit into the ship, but extremely excited at the same time asking her a million questions along the way as the Doctor was more than happy to explain everything to her. She was increasingly fascinated by her and wondered how absolutely incredible it must have been for Yaz to travel with her. Part of her hoped that this adventure would last longer, going back to the office behind the computer didn't seem as appealing anymore as it had been three years ago. She didn't know how long this will last and decided to simply enjoy the journey. There was a part of her that also couldn't help but wonder if there would be a price to be paid at the end of this adventure, the kind of price Yaz had to pay. 

 

"You alright Sandy?" Doctor asked worried as she noticed Sandy was drifting away somewhere. 

 

"Yeah, sorry...got into my thoughts a bit there. So sorry, I missed that last bit." 

 

"Maintenance, I'll show you. It's all pretty much self sustainable. Just need to make sure you don't bring some dangerous stuff in here. I had a fungi infection once it almost destroyed half of my rainforest. Pesky things I tell you, very hard to get rid off unless you have those Ornix snails. I had to travel halfway through the universe to get those and I was ripped off I tell you. Also, water, never drink the water, but I'll explain more." 

 

"What? Why? Is it toxic?"

 

"Aaaaa here we are” she stood at the door waiting and it took a moment for Sandy to remember she can't open them herself. 

She slid her palm over the sensor and the sight left her speechless. All trees and plants everywhere and real soil underneath her feet. 

 

"Holly...." 

 

"Banana's?" Doctor giggled. 

 

"Big bananas.... huge bananas...My God how did you make this place? And how did this grow so big in a matter of hours? ...Is this all real?" she took a few steps towards a nearby bush touching the leaves. "Where did all this come from? All these plants? Animals? Are there any animals here?" 

 

"No animals, just plants. For now. And no, it's not real. Well, it is, but not in the way you think. The one in the TARDIS is. This one is more like the Wish version of the real deal. Bit of a trick Sandy. Here, let me show you. Tear off that leaf.” 

 

Sandy did as she was asked only to find it immediately began to regenerate like a lizard growing a tail, only it was happening before her very eyes in seconds. 

 

"Whaaaa" 

 

"OMG...it this like one big computer? Are those mechanical?" 

 

"No, they consist of billions of nanoparticles, which have the ability to replicate and shape into objects, plants and even animals, that resemble the real thing, in this case a tree. But it's all just millions, billions of tiny drifts stacked together like Legos, locked into shape. So, if you say pull out a leaf, it will automatically replace, rebuild itself" 

 

"So, you can create anything, like literally anything? A chair, table, bird?" 

 

"More or less yes." 

 

"OMG, where did you get this from?" 

 

"Most of this ship is made out of it Sandy, that's why I can change it and morph it. Just needed few adjustments that's all. It's that special material I was telling you about which only exists on their planet." 

 

"God, I love the schooling system on Galifrey" she grinned haply "How big is this place?" 

 

"Not too big, exactly 3,5 km in diameter. It's like a big dome kinda bubble thing." 

 

"Oh, tiny then" she laughed "This is amazing" her eyes were glowing with excitement. 

 

"Wanna have a nose around?" 

 

"Yeees!!...buuut first" she wipes out her phone and stood next to the Doctor "Smile Doctor." 

 

 

.... 

 

Yaz tapped onto the kitchen still struggling to keep herself awake. It was late, yet she only had little over 4 hours of sleep and felt as if she just waisted a day instead of looking for that train. It was the only thing on her mind ever since they left the unnamed planet. But it was too early for those thoughts, so she pulled the bowl out of the cupboard and lazily filled it with cinnamon loops. So lazily that some rolled on the floor. She checked her phone, no message from Sandy. Not even one and found herself almost offended by it. No Doctor either, which she took personally as well and in the next breath questioned when her next period is because she was way too sensitive about the lack of attention, she's been given... She was about to pour milk over her breakfast when she was jumped from behind. 

 

"Moooorning sleepy bear" Sandy wrapped her arms around her sealing her lips to her cheek. 

 

"Hiya, morning" Doctor smiled from the door "Told you she's not gonna hear us.” 

 

"Hey, you two" she smiled as her whole body relaxed seeing them. 

 

"Uuu...love those" Sandy picked a loop from the kitchen top and shoved it into her mouth. 

 

"Want some?" 

 

"Yes pleaseeee" 

 

"What are you so happy about?" 

 

"We have a forest..." 

 

"We whaaa?" She looked up frowning. 

 

"Forest, Doctor made it, can you believe it" 

 

"I did, I'm very proud of myself...It looks really good Yaz" 

 

"What are you two going on about?" She turned confused passing Sandy her breakfast and sat at the table trying to process everything. 

 

"It’s a big, massive forest Yaz" she hopped exited and added more cinnamon and sugar to her breakfast "With pathways and bridges and a stream and..." 

 

"It's not that big only 3,5 km in diameter" Doctor added sitting at the table. 

 

"And real trees Yaz, tall once.... well not really real but realistic.... like really realistic that can regenerate" 

 

"Nanos" Doctor lifted her finger "And not regenerate, definitely not regenerate, rebuild." 

 

"Whaaaat?" Yaz's eyes jumped from one to another trying to make sense of it 

 

"It's all made out of nano partials Yaz the whole thing" Sandy continued explaining excited "...and did you know the chair you're sitting on is also made out of it and you can change it to a bar tomorrow?" 

 

"Ha? Slow down...How the hell did you make a forest?" 

 

"Hacked into your ship Yaz, It's so much fun. I was board when you went to bed and she snores, you gotta watch her." 

 

"Oi! No, I'm not?" 

 

"Yeah right" Doctor chuckles 

 

"She snores as well" Yaz chuckled nodding her head towards the Doctor winking at Sandy. 

 

"Oi, that's not true. It only happened once." 

 

"I have so many questions" she sighed tiered "I'm glad you two are having fun, but news flash, we are not on fakecation. We have to find that bloody train. I got a call from Kate this morning." 

 

"Oh, everything alright Yaz?" Doctor asked worried. 

 

"She upset?" Sandy looked at her panicked. 

 

"No, she's not actually. She's been surprisingly patient. I can feel that patients running thin if we don't come up with something soon." 

 

"I found the signal by the way" Doctor said casually. 

 

"Whaaaat?" Yaz and Sandy jumped at the same time. 

 

"Pleaseeee by all means, feel free to share the information with the rest of us at any point" Yaz said sarcastically. 

 

"I was waiting for you to ask" she shrugged. 

 

"You forgot" 

 

"I did not forget." 

 

"Yes, you did, your brow is twitching.” 

 

"I'm twitching all over, how can you tell? And I did not forget, you were sleeping." 

 

"I wasn't" Sandy raised her finger. 

 

"Well, you didn't ask either" she said smug. 

 

"You got distracted with the forest" Yaz laughed. 

 

"No... Maybe...little bit" 

 

"Aaaa....seee...I new it. Well, I'm asking now" she laughed. 

 

"Well, When I inserted myself into your system, I managed to pick up a faint remanence of the signal, bearley there, very well hidden but hopefully enough for us to tag on to it, so in about an hour the ship should be able to put a lock on it." 

 

"Are we going on another alien planet?" Sandy asked enthusiastically. 

 

.... 

 

"Earth!!" Yaz stared at the monitor shocked. 

 

"It's been on Earth all this time? What the hell?" Sandy leaned over her shoulder trying to see better. 

 

"Yeeeah...but we have a slight problem" Doctor twisted her face and hopped to the other side of the console. 

 

"What problem?" Yaz asked. 

 

"That's Earth in the early 34th century....and this is formally known as a Republic of China." 

 

"What's the problem?" Yaz lifted her head from the screen. 

 

"China as you know it today no longer exists in a 34th century. It's very, very different." 

 

"How different? Apart from being 34th century different" Yaz asked intrigued. 

 

"Right....history lesson, or should I say future lesson? Very confusing...anyways...China as you know it today continued to develop, slowly becoming a world leader in trade and technology. In the process, the big corporations became even bigger, stronger and their owners richer, more powerful, accumulating wealth on a massive scale. They began to control all levels of society becoming the ruling elite. As they grew richer day by day, people became poorer, working longer and longer hours or replaced by robots and AI wherever it was possible making it more cost efficient." 

 

"Why does that not surprise me" Yaz huffed. 

 

"You can just see its where we're already heading, I'm sure there's already an AI which can do my job" Sandy said "So what happened Doctor?" 

 

"That same ruling elite slowly infiltrated all levels of government and established an autocracy in the middle of the 34th century. It lasted for 10 years and one day the people had enough, riots broke out in the streets which soon turned into violence, which then turned into bloodshed which resulted in a major conflict known as the Night of the Blood Moon. Thousands died. And on January 25th, 3356, the revolution was crushed, and a martial law was established." 

 

"Jesus" Sandy said horrified and glanced at Yaz. 

 

"And?" Yaz asked intrigued. 

 

"That's it, it's a bad place Yaz and I'm not in a favor of you two going there at all, not alone, definitely not alone." 

 

"We have to find that train. I can't just let this go. Sandy, you stay here I'm gonna do this alone." 

 

"What? Nooo...I'm coming with you." 

 

"No, you're not. I'm doing this one alone. Sorry" 

 

"Are you nuts?" 

 

"Oh...nooo...no, no, no, no... nobody is going anywhere" Doctor panicked and jumped Infront of her. 

 

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Yaz randomly waived towards the monitor 

 

"Yaz, has any of what I just said sank in... This is a military state level 10 hostile environment. There's army check points on every corner, no justice, or rules, or laws. One mistake, just one, that's all it takes and you're either dead or stuck there forever. I'm not letting you go there, I'm sorry. We will have to find another way." 

 

"There is no other way! None, we are hitting the walls on every corner. This is the only solid lead we've had in months. I'll go in alone, Sandy stays here. In and out, just to get the information. I’ve done this thousands of times." 

 

"No" Doctor turned to the console, her mind racing as she's trying to think of a way to avoid this. 

 

"There's lives at stake." 

 

"I know what's at stake." 

 

"People are going to die, a lot of people, our families are down there." 

 

"I will not let you go to a suicide mission!" Doctor turned, her face almost in a spasm as the cries between her brows got deeper and without even saying one more word Yaz knows where this conversation is going. 

 

"It's my job...This thing is what I do now! You don't understand, you don't get to decide anymore. I have a boss and a task to perform, there's no TARDIS, or a flat team structure or adventures, this is it!" 

 

"Yaaaz...Yaz pleeease, the Doctor is right." Sandy placed her palm on her shoulder "We'll find another way." 

 

"There is no other way. They are killing everyone, everyone involved, destroying every trace of information and we are running out leads and out of time. I will not let more people die, I'm going in" she picked up her sonic from the console and was about to leave but the Doctor stood in her path. 

 

"Well, I will not let you die! You're not going anywhere. You are not going to be a sacrificial pawn. This is not up for a debate Yaz, not now, not ever." 

 

"You can't stop me, I'm going down and I'm gonna find that fucking train and we're gonna put an end to this shit." she walked through the hollo and started storming out of the room 

 

"Yaaaz this is crazy" Sandy tried grabbing her hand but she moved it out of the way and walked past her. 

 

"Yasmin Khan, don't you turn your back to me!" Doctor yelled so hard Sandy flinched "Aaaarrrhhh!... It’s like looking at myself!" 

 

"I'm gonna go and speak to her she's insane." 

 

"No use...she won't listen, stubborn...really stubborn...I'm not that stubborn? Or am I?...Never mind...Right, you and me, we're gonna make a plan Sandy..." 

 

.... 

 

She buttoned up her jacket and checked her sonic. Then she grabbed the phone off the bed. This time it was different, everything was. She hated herself for defying the Doctor, but she knew she would hate herself more if she failed. At the end of the day, that's what they taught her to do. This is what she has always done for the last 13 years of her life. And she half wondered if she had forgotten what it was like before because sometimes it seemed like that was all she knew. There was a knock on her door, of course. She was waiting for it, surprised it wasn't sooner. 

 

"Come on in" she rolled her eyes with a little smile. 

 

"Heeey..." Sandy peaked through the door then stepped inside. 

 

"I was waiting for you." She smiled and shoved the sonic into her pocket then lifted her foot on the edge of the chair to tie her boots. 

 

"I'm not gonna preach you, that's not why came." 

 

"Thanks...I appreciate that. She's cross with me, isn't she?" 

 

"She's worried Yaz, worried sick. We both are, but we got a plan" 

 

"You're not going down there with me, forget it" she looked up and tightened the laces. 

 

"I'm not. I’ll stay here, you need a backup in case this goes seriously wrong, and I don't know how to fly this thing" She felt physically sick just thinking about it, but the last thing she wanted was to come across as a squealing girlfriend. So, she swallowed deeply and ran her fingers down the back of Yaz's neck.  

 

"I'll be fine" she put her foot back on the floor and stood up. Sandy's eyes glistened with tears she was trying to hold back and Yaz found her putting on a bravado adorably cute and comical. She laced their fingers together and tugged on her hand pulling her closer. 

 

"Listen...we just fixed that short reach teleport we found on board, so we don't need to land." She said as her fingers nervously fiddled with the collar of Yaz's shirt and she was so obviously avoiding looking up. 

 

"Waaaaaw...that's fast. Should've done this earlier" she chuckled. 

 

"Shut up...listen..." she swallowed and finally looked up "It will take you straight there, I prepared a map for you... and you keep the com..." Yaz smiled silencing her with a kiss. Feeling her lips melting with hers and her fingers curl on the back of her head was enough to topple her over that edge she was clinging to so desperately. She whimpered into her lips as tears rolled down her cheeks and brought her palm to Yaz's cheek as she soaked up every bit of her she could get, then pull apart resting her head on hers. 

 

Yaz didn't say much, just rubbed her thumb over a little hollow by her ear and pressed her lips to her forehead. She was never good at verbalizing what she felt. "Come on...time to go.” 

 

"Don't you play a hero...you hear me...You don't get to regenerate." 

 

"Look at her picking up the lingo in two weeks." 

 

"I'll give you lingo..." she pushed her off playfully and headed to the door.  Yaz grabbed her hand as soon they were in a hallway but then let it go the moment they stepped into the control room and she saw the Doctor standing by the console waiting. She was in a bad mood that was clear and she half guessed what's coming next. 

 

"I'm not happy about this..." 

 

"That's pretty self explanatory" she said as she approached her "I heard you got that teleport working." 

 

"Yes...This is really important Yaz. I will stay here in case the teleport is not working and I need to pick you up fast because Sandy doesn't know how to fly the ship. Keep the con open, and do not stay any longer than needed. Any sign of trouble you get out Yaz" 

 

"Got it. Hey...I'll be fine.” 

 

Doctor ignored her words and went back to the monitor "This is the map of the place. Exits are here and here. You will enter on the east side, its the closest. The building is heavily guaranteed.  There are check points here and here. Do not go out on the street no matter what. If you are detected get out or stay put and we will pick you up. I can get to you at any point if you get stuck. It's eleven forty-five pm down there so the building is mostly empty." 

 

"Here... Hook this up to their system" Sandy passed her a little disc "it will bring it up here and we will deal with the rest. Give me your hand" she said and clipped a silver bracelet around her wrist and brushed her finger on side of her hand. "It's all preset just press here." 

 

"Right..." she looked towards the Doctor. Her back still towards her and looking down to the console pretending she was busy, so blatantly ignoring her. "So do I only get your hood?" 

 

Doctor sighed and turned around "I'm still angry...Pleaseeee be careful." 

 

"I will...promise." 

 

"Half hour...20 minutes the most...preferably 15 ideally 5" 

 

Yaz chuckled "Got it big head."

 

Doctor shook her head and rolled her eyes with a subtle smile "Go...before I change my mind." 

 

Yaz set the course locking to the coordinates and they sat off. Minutes later they were there. Safe distance from where she was heading and cloaked from view. 

 

"We should be fine here." Yaz turned and made sure one more time she's got everything set. Ok..." 

 

"Pleaseeee be fast" Sandy said. 

 

"I will...See you soon" she smiled, looked at both of them and pressed the button 

 

..... 

 

She found herself in a small dark room and lit it up with a sonic and saw shelves on each wall filled with neatly stacked cleaning materials. 

 

"I'm in... it’s a broom cupboard...why am I in a broom cupboard?" 

 

"It was the safest place Yaz" Doctor said "When you walk outside head left down the hallway till the very end." 

 

"Ok" 

 

She disengaged the lock and stepped outside carefully scanning the area and disabling every security system they had so she could move freely. It was after hours so the place was empty. A long bright corridor and many doors on each side. She went to the left as the doctor told her and soon found herself in the huge production hall familiar from the video. It was a massive industrial looking factory floor filled with machinery that had been left aside after the workers left, metal platforms that led to the upper levels by a series of metal stairs of the same style. She searched again for life forms. Her heart was beating fast as she walked slowly, looking around and up. The only light coming from a row of large factory windows at the very top. Everything looked spotlessly clean. Cleaner than her room, which at least was better compared to the first place they went. Although it will mean very little if she is caught. In the left corner she saw monitors and a control panel. She approached and looked around. 

 

"Doctor" 

 

"Yes, I'm here" 

 

"Is this the computer...I can't tell, or this is operating machines?”

 

"Both by the looks of it." Doctor said. 

 

"How do you do that?" Sandy asked confused as the Doctor just stood there looking into nothing 

 

"I'm connected to her ocular nerve, I see what she sees" 

 

"Waaaw...cool" 

 

"Just hook it up Yaz let us transfer the data and get out." 

 

"Ok..." she set the disc plate on top of the control panel and turned it on. "It's on" 

 

"Right. I'm in Yaz" Sandy said "It's protected...of course. So, give me a minute just to get us in." 

 

"Alright...I'll have a nose around whiles you do that" she said and started walking around a bit "Looks very clean here" 

 

"Don't get attached" Sandy giggled 

 

"Honestly...a bit too sterile. Freaky sterile if you ask me" 

 

"I hate sterile" Doctor said "It's so boring, what you do with that." 

 

"There's all this stuff left, tools" she said picking something from the floor. Then saw a bunch of papers stacked on one of the desks "There's some papers here, I don't understand the language" she said flipping through the pages "I'll take a picture and send it to you." 

 

"Look around Yaz maybe there's something else that can be useful." The Doctor said. 

 

"You don't understand how neat this place is. It's wiped clean I'm telling you. Apart from few stupid tools there's nothing here, not even a screw." 

 

"Arrh Doctor...what's that?" Sandy pointed to the monitor. 

 

"Aaaaa....don't worry Sandy, just press here and it will take about 1.25 seconds to connect....here...done, see. You and I work well together...Wait....what's that?" 

 

"What's what?" Sandy frowned. 

 

"Not you Sandy, Yaz...Yaz...on your left, what's that in a corner there. Can you scan that for me please?"

 

"Where?" She looked around searching. 

 

"More on a left... That, that's it..." she jumped of the floor "Right there...you're looking at it." 

 

"There's nothing here." She said confused and scanned the area "I'm getting very strange readings" she said confused looking at her sonic 

 

"Yeeees!" Sandy exclaimed excitedly “... I'm in, I got in Doctor." 

 

"Brilliant job Sandy" 

 

"And I'm not even listening to my music." She chirped excited "That's a first. Let's see what you're hiding. Uuuuuu...OMG, that's a lot of information it will take a while Yaz" 

 

"That's fine banana...I'll just walk around admiring the cleanliness." 

 

But the Doctor wasn't listening, she was concerned about Yaz at this point. 

 

"Aaarrrhh Yaz" Doctor scrunched her nose "I want you to verify slowly step back" Doctor warned concerned. 

 

"Why? What's going on?" 

 

"I don't want you worried but there's a security guard cloaked right in that corner 2 meters away from you" 

 

"Whaat?" 

 

"It's motioned activated, and I think it's not registering you cause we deactivated the security systems. Just be very careful." 

 

"Why can't I see it and you can and why isn’t sonic picking it up?" 

 

"Cause I'm an AI and you're not Yaz, it must be sonic cloaked...that's worrying.”

"There's not much here" she said looking around. 

 

"Almost there Yaz...4,3,2,1 GOT  IT!!!" Sandy jumped in her chair 

 

Suddenly the lights around Yaz went out and then turned green. The alarm went off and before she could catch her breath again, strings of lights came down from the ceiling enclosing the whole place in a massive cage. She felt a wave of energy come over her that made all the hairs on her body stand up. 

 

"I didn't do anything!" Sandy shouted "It's all up...security is back on Doctor" 

 

"Yaz GET OUT NOW" Doctor yelled 

 

"What's happening?" Sandy turned horrified 

 

"Aaaaaaahhhh" Doctor grabbed her head crying out in pain as her image glitched 

 

"Doooctor!" rushed to her "What's wrong?" 

"I'm fine, I'm fine. My back up system just came up" 

 

"Your what? 

 

"EMP, it must've blown out everything. It fried everything Sandy. I made some adjustments just in case something like this happens. I'm connected to this ship now. But Yaz is in dark" she looked at Sandy horrified. 

 

"Shit" 

 

"Doctor?" Yaz called out but there was only early silence on the other end 

 

She tapped her teleporter which wasn't working, and neither was sonic. She looked up at the shiny grid around her. It was completely closed with no way out. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour, but she had to think fast. Then the sound of some small metal object falling to the floor caught her attention. And yet one thing flashed through her mind, causing her to break out in a cold sweat. 

 

"The guard" she whispered turning around slowly and before her next thought something grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground throwing her across the room like a rag doll. The air flew out of her lungs as her body hit the ground. 

 

"Aaahh" she cried out as the pain shot from her hip down her leg and her arm went numb, then tingles spread all the way to her fingertips. She couldn't see anything and frantically looked for any signs of movement. She tried using sonic, but it was still dead. 

 

"Fuck" the second blow hit her in the back out of nowhere and she blanket out momentarily. 

 

"I can't reach her." Doctor said frantically. 

 

"Can you get there? Jump there as you do?"  

 

"Nooo Sandy? I'm now tied to the ship until I reboot." 

 

"We have to get her out." 

 

"Plan B Sandy" Doctor said hoping across the room. 

 

"Oh god...I was kinda hoping we will stay at plan A" 

 

"Look at this as a chance to surprise yourself Sandy" 

 

"Look....what's that?" She pointed to the monitor "It's a force field isn't it...She's trapped inside" Sandy rolled the image across the screen 

 

"Right, of course it is" Doctor purist her lips 

 

"Can we go through that?" 

 

"No, it's designed to block the dematerialization circuit. Clever 34th century, they must have anticipated this. Were gonna have to do this the old school...Sandy, how do you feel about crushing this ship?" 

 

"Whaaaa?" 

 

...... 

 

When she regained consciousness, Yaz was still disoriented. She realized that she was being held above the ground. Something squeezed her chest so much that she could not breathe, She began to struggle against her invisible opponent, kicking and shoving in a desperate attempt to break free of its grip. Whatever she was hitting wasn't metal, it was alive, huge, and strong. Too strong for her. She could feel the outline of its face under her palms as she frantically pushed, punched, and kicked. She was then lifted up and thrown across the room again. She heard her arm snap like a toothpick and screamed in pain. 

 

"Fuck, aaaa" she screamed as tears rolled down her face. Whatever the thing was, it could have killed her by now, but it enjoyed breaking her body down slowly, methodically and with clinical precision, playing with her like a cat would play with a mouse, weakening her more and more. She saw sonic lying on the ground and crawled to get to it. As she grabbed it in her hand, she felt something grip her ankle and pull her back. 

It swung her body with eerie ease launching her across the room again. She passed out as the cold washed over her body, then came around again with the realization that she had no idea how much time had passed, but again she was being dragged across the floor by her ankle like a rubbish bag and she knew in her absolute horror what was coming next. 

 

"Sonic" she said in a weak voice. It was still in her hand, and she made one last desperate attempt before she was squashed like a bug on this floor. She pointed it at the invisible creature, and it squealed in pain as it released her.  Suddenly she could see a huge alien creature over 2 meters tall. Its arms reached almost 3/4 of its length, its head with two large insect-like e eyes and its pointed face reminded her of a praying mantis. It was getting manic as the sound of sonic ripped through his ears as he lost his balance and hit the tables. 

 

When the initial pain subsided, Yaz gathered her strength and stood up. She disabled the cage and stumbled towards the exit, then reactivated it on the way out, trapping the creature inside. Then she heard footsteps running towards her and looked down the hall. Soldiers were running towards her from all sides, and she realized she was trapped between the cage and them with no way out unless she found a way to fly away. Laser shots were fired in her direction, and she turned towards the cage. 

 

"Come on you fucking piece of shit.... work...aaaaa" she tapped the teleporter that was on her broken arm and screamed in pain. The voices were getting closer to close, and she closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable. Then a loud sound pierced her ears and the whole building shook as sparks flew everywhere and the red box swirled around smashing through the wall. The cage disappeared and the ship's perception filter failed to reveal its true form as it slid across the floor and smashed against the opposite wall. 

 

"Wooooow!" Sandy screamed holding the lever and almost fell to floor as they finally stopped "Holly bananas" 

 

"You came" Yaz exhaled with a smile as the door opened and she saw the Doctor. 

 

"Ruuuun!!" she yelled and with last of her remaining strength Yaz picked herself up and stumbled towards the ship. Lasers shot around her, but she finally reached the door." 

 

"Go go go!" Doctor yelled and Sandy pulled the lever. The ship glitched and disappeared from the sight. Yaz slid down the wall closing her eyes. 

 

"Yaz" Doctor cried out shocked as only now she realised the state she was in. She reached out her hand to stroke her face then the brutality of her existence hit her like never before. She sat next to her with a wobbling lip helplessly looking at her beaten, broken body. 

 

"We're home!" Sandy said haply when they landed "I flew a ship Yaz can you believe.....Yaaaz!" Sandy's eyes opened wide in absolute horror as she turned around "Yaz...OMG"  she ran across the control room and threw herself on the floor next to her "Jesus Christ what happened...Yaz"

"Get her to the infirmary, she's got three broken ribs and arm, her spleen is damaged and she's got internal bleeding" Doctor said but Sandy stood frozen on the spot her trembling hand moving a strain of hair from her bloody forehead

"SANDY!" she yelled and Sandy shook snapping out "Get her to the infirmary now"

"Whaa I'm not a doctor I'll kill her...she needs to go to the hospital you're crazy"

"There's no time for that and I don't trust them. Infirmary now Sandy....I'll tell you what to do"

"You gotta be kidding me?"

"No I'm very much not kidding.... Now Sandy!"

.....

She opened her eyes, but her vision was blurred, an orange haze danced in front of her eyes, and the image slowly became sharper. The massive crystal pillars and hexagonal ceiling hovered above her head, a hum vibrating through her body, and she looked away as her eyes caught sight of a gray coat and a tiny blonde hunched over the console, fiddling with buttons. Soft light outlining her face.

"Doctor?" Yaz frowned confused and disoriented

"Heeey" the other woman turned and flashed her smile "Feeling better?"

Yaz sat up confused looking around. She was on the TARDIS floor sitting on the mattress.

"We were worried about you" she walked over and sat next to her

'Doctor?" She repeated in disbelief as the other woman smiled softly.

"She was really good you know, don't know what I would do without her"

"Ha?" Yaz frowned

"Your Sandy, very smart. I'm sorry, I know it's confusing. It's all the medication"

"Are you..." Yaz reached her hand to her face and as her fingers touched her cheek the image glitched

"No no I'm not love" she said "You need to wake up now" she smiled the softest smile and Yaz felt the pain shredding her heart into milion pieces

"Wake up darling" the Doctor repeated and the image blurred again

"Nooo" Yaz cried out

"I'm sorry" the Doctor said and she opened her eyes to a room with soft lights shining on her face. A repetitive sound of a machine was going on in a background and she was yet again confused about her whereabouts.

"Yaz?" Doctor smiled.

She was sitting next to the bed in the infirmary. Her glitching hand on hers and tears rolled from the corners of Yaz's eyes soaking into the pillow.

"Don't cry, it's alright. You're home darling, you're safe now. I'm so proud of you. Sleep, you need your rest"

She didn't say anything just inhaled deeply and closed her eyes again. She was so tired,

.....

Yaz sat in the tub with her head thrown back as Sandy washed her hair. Tiny fingers gently run through each strand. Her body was still broken and weak.

"Never thought I'd be naked Infront of you in this set up" Yaz chuckled looking up at her

"Well, it's gonna feel right at home when it's in a right set up then" she giggled and placed a small kiss to her lips "Just consider me your medical stuff at the moment"

"I have my doctor and my nurse, lucky me"

"I know, honestly you're so spoiled" she giggled

"Slowly, you're still healing" Sandy said holding a pajama top and pulled it over Yaz's shoulders. Her back still covered in bruises, black and purple made Sandy's soul hurt. "The Doctor is still rebooting. She said she'll come for a movie as soon as she's done. I'll make a cocoa if you want?"

"I'd love that"

"Are you cold, do you want a dressing gown?" She asked as she continued to button small buttons one by one.

Yaz smiled and hooked her finger underneath her chin raising her gaze. And Sandy felt her stomach doing a somersault again.

"C'mere" she pulled her in sliding her arm around her waist pressing her close and reached out moving a small curl from her forehead watching Sandy's eyes close at the touch. Watching her melt in her arms and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She kissed her slow and tender and felt gentle fingers palm her face as a soft whimper left Sandy's mouth and she parted hiding her face in Yaza's neck.

"I'm sorry I scared you" Yaz said and cupped the back of her head running her fingers through her curls as the other woman wrapped her arms around her holding her tight. "I promise I won't do that again"

"You better" Sandy mumbled into her neck and pressed her lips to the soft skin there "Cause I'm gonna kill you myself"

"Get in line cause I think Doctor's gonna be the first one in it" she laughed then fell silent giving  into this tender moment as Sandy's arms tightened around her. "I love you" she whispered and felt Sandy tense around her. She looked up with tears in her eyes

"What did you just say?"

Yaz cupped her face and smiled "I said I love you silly" Sandy smiled as tears rolled down her face and before she could answer Yaz's lips were back on hers. She felt herself falling deepening the kiss wrapping her fingers on a side of her neck as her knees were giving up on her.

"I love you too" Sandy smiled into her lips as Yaz wiped her tears with her thumbs.

"I could do with that dressing gown now" she chuckled

....