a/n: yes I am back. Yes I did rewrite this story once more because I literally think all of my writing can be edited a million times. I hope that you guys really enjoy this version. I have condensed the chapters and placed it all in one … chapter. I've done this because I actually really love long af chapters, so I hope you guys do as well. Anyway, enjoy the rewrite x

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"Warp core breach in five minutes and thirty seconds." the gruff voice of the computer could be heard over the constant tone of the red alert. The voice was neither concerned or worried, it wasn't even scared. It was a computer, just a computer. A machine that was built into the ship to let the crew of the USS Phoenix know whenever there was something wrong, or to answer any questions the crew had; it was even built to alert them whenever there was something approaching from warp speed. It felt like it had done none of what it was programmed to do in the last hour, considering the fact that the E class science vessel was now floating aimlessly in space. Barely at the border of the Badlands, with no defences and no warp speed.

It was that automated voice that caused the brunette, who was currently on the floor of the sickbay, to stir - waking up slowly, groaning as her senses rushed back to her. The red alert tone sounded again and a frown found its way onto the woman's face, which eventually scrunched upwards when the tone sounded once more. Green eyes opened and stared up at the ceiling for a couple of seconds, the woman's mind was fuzzy and she couldn't remember what the hell had occurred in the moments leading up to her waking up. Pain shot across her forehead, even across her lower back. "Warp core breach in four minutes and forty seconds." It was then that Lieutenant Ana Matheson shot upwards into a seated position, a gasp escaping her chapped and bloody lips before her hand came up and rested on her chest.

Ignoring the way that the pain intensified across her lower back, Ana let her gaze linger around her sickbay. The sickly colour of a deep red filled her vision. No power and no vibrations from the warp core, this was bad. Swallowing, Ana started to move again, only to wince and press the palm of her hand against her head. "Oh fuck, my head." The Lieutenant cursed out loud. The palm of her hand came into contact with a wet and sticky substance, which caused her nose to scrunch up once more. A hiss escaped through clenched teeth, Ana knew for a fact that she was bleeding, probably from a lot of places - considering the state of the sickbay. It didn't feel bad, but she knew that it was probably contributing to the nasty headache that she was suddenly supporting at the base of her skull.

"Lieutenant!" A voice called out over the sudden silence before another tone of the red alert sounded. The red glow continued to fade in and out of Ana's vision as her bright eyes finally came into focus against the dark. Still feeling a little bit hazy, Ana didn't even want to try and stand up on her own, and she didn't really get a choice, when she felt someone loop their arms underneath her shoulders and hauled her up onto her feet. Her stomach dropped to the floor and she couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips, now all she wanted to do was throw up, but once her eyes focused on the dark glow of the room, she was able to make out the silhouette of the man who had helped her stand up - when the ship shook, the pair of them stumbled, managing to stay up right by holding onto one another. Ana turned her head and snapped into nurse mode.

"O'Malley?" His name left her lips, more as a question than anything else and the Chief nodded his head, pulling his arms from underneath her and stepped away when he figured that she was steady enough on her own two feet. The Lieutenant shook her head, trying to clear the haze that was still present in her mind. O'Malley was trying his hardest to be patient with the only medical staff left alive, but he was starting to get antsy, he wanted to get to the escape pod quickly.

"Lieutenant, Captain ordered we abandon ship." Ana's whole body tensed. Abandon the Phoenix? Brows snapped downwards on her forehead, before she straightened out her uniform, noticing that pieces had been torn and that she was missing a few pips from her collar. Ana then looked around her sickbay again, noticing that her tools were thrown across the floor and that most of the room was sparking - a bulkhead had fallen from the ceiling and was now resting against on the five biobeds. Star Fleet was always able to build another Phoenix, but well - Ana didn't want to think that she was cursed. Sisko said that she should have stayed on the station, but being cooped up in one spot for so long was starting to eat away at her.

"What the hell happened?" The question escaped her lips rather easily, green eyes focused back on the Chief, suddenly noticing the cut that was over his left brow and the blood that was making its way down his face. Ana stepped closer to him, reaching out to grip onto his chin, only for O'Malley to flinch away from her touch.

"Cardassians, Matheson." O'Malley finally replied, his bright blue eyes showed just how truly scared he was and she couldn't help the sense of dread pool at the bottom of her stomach. What the hell were the Cardassians doing all the way out here? It wasn't until Ana almost stumbled over her own two feet again, that she realised the Chief had grabbed a hold of her elbow. Maybe she did have that concussion after all. O'Malley had started to drag her out of the sickbay and towards the escape pods. "It was the goddamn Cardassians."

They made it to the starboard side of the ship and the only other three people that Ana could see was an Ensign, who looked about ready to burst into tears, one security officer and the last one was Sarah, a fellow nurse. Ana let the frown rest on her forehead again, there was no Wilkins and Ana knew that the bad feeling in her stomach was coming true. The captain was dead and the next person who was in charge...was herself, it almost caused the Australian to burst into tears herself.

"Warp core breach in two minutes and thirty seconds." Another warning from the computer, Ana had no idea how the Phoenix had gotten so badly damaged but all she knew was that she needed to get everyone onto an escape pod and make it safely back to DS9 so that she could assess the damage properly.

Turning on her heel, Ana ordered everyone inside the escape pod. They all looked between each other and she raised a brow. "Well? That wasn't a suggestion, or I could leave you all here." She was a nurse, not a commander, she didn't exactly have a good bedside manner in any kind of situation. The four other officers turned on the balls of their feet and piled into the two remaining escape pods, it was going to be a tight squeeze, but apparently Star Fleet only thought that they didn't need to be any bigger than the size of a bathroom, it was enough to support them.

It seemed like they hoped that the little science vessel that could, would make it on its own.

It was then that Ana looked behind her once more into the ship that had been her home for the past three months. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, as the computer told her that the warp core was going to breach in less than sixty seconds. That was when her green eyes focused on something that seemed totally out of place. Something that was there but then at the same time definitely should not have been.

The grandfather clock, that sat proudly in the centre of the corridor, was not something from the 24th century.

"Lieutenant!" Ana jerked slightly at her title and faced forwards once again. "We gotta go!" The Chief had stepped back out of the escape pod, making sure that Ana would make it safely on board, he was starting to get even more impatient. Warp core breach in forty seconds. It was then that a familiar sound reached her ears and she snapped her attention back to the not supposed to be there grandfather clock and out stepped Oliver.

A Time Lord, who had a habit of getting into trouble. A Time Lord that had also stolen a TARDIS and run away from home. A Time Lord that was the Master's … Missy's brother.

The father of two of her children.

Ana focused her attention back on her crew members, contemplating whether or not it was worth the risk to run to the TARDIS. Her lips tugged downward before she all but shoved O'Malley on the shoulders, all the way back into the escape pod. She gave him a bright smile, as she stepped backward out of the escape pod and she lingered at the entrance before she set foot back in the Phoenix and she pressed the panel on the wall beside her. "Tell Sisko that I found another way home!" She called over the blaring red alert tone and the computer telling them that they only about thirty seconds before the vessel would explode. "I'll be okay!"

"Ana!" The Time Lord's voice was right next to her ear then, she felt his chest against her back, which caused her heart to tug slightly inside her chest. "We have to go if you want your human friends to survive." She ignored the way his voice snarled at the mention of the other humans. Even after all this time, he was still slightly resentful towards them, even after having travelled the universe with one. O'Malley was banging against the glass and Ana gave the Chief a soft smile and a thumbs up before her hand shot out behind her. A larger and calloused hand curled around hers and once again, she almost tripped over her feet as Oliver tugged her towards his TARDIS.

The pair of them stumbled inside. It wasn't even a full second of catching his breath, that Oliver dropped Ana's hand and rushed over to the console. Plotting in a course and heaving a sigh as the TARDIS made its way quietly through the time vortex, away from the exploding ship. Ana, herself let out a heavy breath as she leaned her head against the doors, eyes closed, just taking a couple of seconds to take in the familiar sounds of the TARDIS … it - it wasn't the same as his, but this had also been her home when she had Leah. Just as much as The Doctor's had been.

It was then that she realised how sore and tired she really was. Her uniform was covered in dust and grime and dried blood. Torn in places that were going to be annoying to patch up, considering she won't have a replicator on hand, or Garak. "God - I need a shower," she muttered to herself, before reaching up and pressing against the cut on her forehead to check how badly it actually was. She flinched backwards - almost whacking her head into the doors. Okay, it was getting worse. "And stitches." Pushing off the doors, Ana made her way over towards the other Time Lord.

"What the hell happened back there?" He questioned, electric blue eyes focused solely on the console and not her. He usually pulled this when she had done something wrong, or he was mad at her. Typically they always came together and it wasn't rare, considering Oliver hated to show his temper now. The Time War felt like centuries ago and he had been trying to change the way he handled things, his second regeneration was a lot calmer than his first.

Though, she couldn't have really helped the fact that Cardassians wanted a bunch of people dead in the Federation. But she guessed his anger towards her was because she was like a magnet for trouble, it seemed to seek her out, he thought that she could have avoided it this time around. The only way that Ana could ever really tell what Oliver was thinking was through his eyes, and at the moment - he wasn't letting her in.

"I have no idea," she mumbled, hands curling in front of her stomach. "It was just supposed to be a routine mission across the Badlands, which seemed strange in itself but - well we never questioned it. Nothing more." Oliver still didn't look up at her, but he did let out a grunt of acknowledgement, which caused the human to let her nose scrunch upwards. She hated when he pulled this on her. Her arms crossed over her chest, eyes squinting ever so slightly as she watched him dance around the console. Now that they were in the vortex, safely away from the 24th Century, Oliver could plot a proper heading. Ana tried to figure out where they were going, but the bastard had put everything in circular Gallifreyan so that she wouldn't be able to snoop (or fly his TARDIS).

She had tried to learn, really she did. But even Star Fleet's most advanced universal translator had a hard time deciphering what it actually said. Time Lord's were known to be tricky and secretive.

"I'm gonna take you home." He finally spoke up after a tense couple of minutes. Ana had let her eyes wander, focusing on the interior. His TARDIS was nowhere near as extravagant as the Doctor's, but it was nowhere near as dreary and dark as Missy's was - had been. Since Oliver had regenerated, his TARDIS had become a little bit more homely. Considering that his three kids liked to stay with him for longer periods of time now, he knew that they hadn't taken well to the dark and overly harsh interior of his first self's TARDIS. Her heart rate sped up as she bounded closer to him, once her brain finally processed what he had said, causing the Time Lord to look up at her. Finally.

"Make sure it's a couple of days after, otherwise I'll have Section 31 breathing down my neck again." The space station had been her home for the last three years, not somewhere she had wanted to end up, but Q had been a little more cautious of where he took her, since what transpired the last time they had both been reckless. Ana was a little surprised that Q hadn't come for her himself, but she guessed the war was in full motion.

Wouldn't surprise her, the Continuum was having a full-blown mental breakdown.

Oliver's expression changed. From one of annoyance to apologetic, Ana's stomach dropped again - well home was going to have to wait then. "I'm sorry, love," he mumbled, sidestepping around her so that he could reach the lever. He pulled it towards him and the TARDIS shuddered before it pushed itself into flight - a lot smoother than the Doctor's to be quite honest. "But you need to go find The Doctor."

Eyebrows shot up into her hairline. Well - wasn't that just a coincidence. She thought to herself. Maybe it was the universe telling her that she had spent enough time running away from him and everything that had happened almost five years ago. Ana schooled her expression, but Oliver had already caught it before her head cocked to the side and her lips pulled into a pout. "What why?" she almost grumbled.

"I'm in a rather tight spot, which means I can't go and help him out," Oliver replied, coming to stand in front of the human nurse. The teal colour of her shoulder pads was coated in dust and Oliver lifted a hand and started to brush it off, it fell away from her body in dark clouds and Ana tried not to cough. "A shifty time agent is giving me a bit of trouble." he continued. "And you don't need to be involved with that." It was then that the TARDIS landed with a rather heavy thump.

Ana stared up at the father of her children and squinted. "What do you know?" she questioned him and Oliver couldn't help the blush that dusted his high cheekbones. He cleared his throat, then shook his head. Of course, he had known that Ana and the Doctor had a pretty … awful falling out five years ago but the other Time Lord knew that the pair of them were inseparable, they needed each other - even if so many higher beings tried to interfere with her life.

Himself and Q included.

"Nothing," he mumbled, pulling away from Ana and moving over towards the doors and almost ripping them open to reveal a rather vacant street in the middle of the night. "Now, go on - get out." he snapped before he stalked off and vanished down the hallway that joined onto the console room. Ana crossed her arms over her chest and huffed loudly.

A hand came up to rub at her forehead. The headache hadn't gone away, but it wasn't as painful. A dull ache was pulsing at the back of her skull and Ana knew that trying to argue with the Time Lord was going to make it worse. So, the brunette made her way down the steps and practically threw herself out of the TARDIS, slamming the doors behind her just for good measure. Rolling her eyes, Ana buried her hands into the pockets of her uniform pants, before slender fingers on her left hand wrapped around the familiar surface of her iPhone.

Of course, Ana never went anywhere without it in her possession. The Doctor had modified it the first time she had travelled with him. Just to prove a point that he had the ability to scare the living shit out her but also make it seem so impossible to leave him again. Pulling out the phone and turning it on, Ana squinted at the screen - waiting for the reconnection to Earth's mobile towers to … well connect. Teeth bit down onto her lower lip as she read the date. 7:36 pm, 5th of October 2018.

A huff escaped pink lips, as she shoved the phone back into her pocket. Well - at least she knew it still worked, Geordie LaForge was one hell of an engineer and she never did get to thank for building a makeshift charger for her phone. He had been curious as to what the hell it was that she wanted, and well - she wasn't one to tell him not to take a peek at early 21st Century technology.

The sound of the TARDIS taking off behind her, caused Ana to leap forward - spinning on the heel of her foot, she watched as the space ship disappeared, wind blowing her already messed up hair into her face. Green eyes squinted at the now space in the middle of the street before she reached up and pulled her brown hair out of the ponytail.

"That's just rude." She mumbled, before shaking her head. Stepping up onto the footpath and out of the middle of the road, Ana shoved her long hair into a neater ponytail. "Now, time to guess where the hell he dropped me off." At least with the Doctor, you knew where he was going.

Well – almost.

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The night was chilly, and her breath caused clouds of fog to appear. Ana slowly became even more annoyed over the short while that she had been back on Earth, mainly because her uniform wasn't remotely insulated. Guessing the controlled temperatures of space stations and starships there wasn't a need to make them warmer. Wrapping her arms across her chest - shoving her hands under her armpits in an attempt to keep herself warm, the brunette had found the closest newsagency, a twenty-minute walk from where Oliver had dropped her off.

Kicked her out?

Yeah, that was more like it.

Picking up the paper that had been left outside in a newsstand, Ana finally figured out where she was.

Sheffield.

The Lieutenant squinted at the name and all but rolled her eyes before shoving the black and white newspaper back on the stand and making her way inside the small shop.

Why the hell had he dropped her off in Sheffield?

To be honest, Ana hadn't been there before and even with the cold winter night, it still wasn't all that interesting for her.

The look she had received from the cashier hadn't bothered her, it was a look that said she was dressed like an absolute weirdo. Ana forced herself to hold back a snide comment, it wasn't fair for the Australian to assume everyone knew that she had just been on a starship in the 24th century fighting for her life not even two hours ago.

A part of her wished she was back there. But the other, more sensible part of her was glad to be home again. Maybe if she was lucky, she could make her way back to New Orleans, see if anyone was home.

Ana knew that her rather decent-sized apartment was still being used as a pit stop for her kids and brother, Oliver also frequented the nice place when dropping by.

Ana had been lucky that she was able to make it home last year, well - according to the date she was currently standing in (thanks to a certain omnipotent being), it allowed her to make sure that her finances where still put together and her children still had some kind of money in the bank. While also making it seem like a past and future self was still working hard enough to provide money for the whole Matheson clan, even though most places that they all visited didn't use Earth currency.

Though it came in handy for days like these. Allowing her to buy a can of Red Bull (she needed the caffeine boost) and a slice of banana bread.

Having chugged the whole can in about five seconds and scarfed down the bread not even five minutes after leaving the deli, Ana was left wondering why the hell she was even here again.

Eyes had been focused on the ground, after dumping her trash into the bin, her hands found their way back into her pockets. Contemplating that maybe … maybe the Doctor was here, that Oliver had been telling the truth and he really did need her help. Was it a Slitheen attack? Cybermen maybe?

Or hell even Daleks?

They always seemed to pop up at the most inconvenient times.

However, something pulled at her heart, pulling her off her train of thought and caused her head to lift and focus on the house that was to the right of her. Frowning, Ana wondered why this house was different from any of the others that she had been walking past for the last ten minutes.

And that was when she noticed.

"Oh." the sound escaped soft pink lips as the Australian came to a sudden stop. If there had been anyone following her, they would have more than likely slammed into the back of her and Ana couldn't help but raise one eyebrow. It was rather convenient that the large window at the front of the house was allowing her to see directly inside. However, green eyes missed the young boy, who sat at what appeared to be a dining table and an older woman who had just disappeared into the next room. They somehow didn't seem distracted by the blonde woman, who was asleep on the couch.

Which was strange, considering there was something oddly familiar about the woman and it was then that Ana noticed the clothing that this woman was wearing. Moving closer to the house, almost sprinting across the street, Ana tried desperately to be quiet and not seem incredibly creepy. The brunette focused harder at the figure on the couch. It … it was the same clothes that the Doctor had been wearing the last time she had seen him. Ana knew that Twelve wasn't really one to change up his style. Not as often as Ten would anyhow.

Now Ana was curious enough that she just really had to test out her theory.

Calmly walking the rest of the way across the street, without so much as looking both ways, Ana made it up the steps and paused in front of the door. What the hell are you doing? Ana chided herself. This was probably one of the weirdest things she had ever done. Well - okay that was a lie, but Tribbles were an increasingly annoying species and the Klingons were willing to pay for assistance this time around. Taking a deep breath in, Ana let her head tilt backwards, green eyes focused on the dark sky, which was littered with hundreds of twinkling stars. Welp, now or never. Standing straighter, Ana raised her hand - curled it into a fist and banged on the door.

There was some muttering of a conversation behind the wooden door, probably the boy to his grandmother? Ana took a guess - while it took them almost a full minute to even acknowledge her. The front door was heaved open finally and Ana was met with the boy who had been seated at the table.

He couldn't have been more than 18 or 19.

Ana froze on the spot and looked at the boy, before she tried to look around him, mouth dropping open for a couple of seconds before she snapped it shut and looked up at him. He raised a brow and frowned, perplexed by the weirdly dressed brunette that had just appeared on his doorstep.

"Can I help you?" He questioned, a confused tone lacing his words but Ana eventually grew the courage and didn't give him a reply. Instead, she pushed past him and stepped into the living room. "Hey, you can't just waltz in here!" he complained, slamming the door shut behind him and made his way back into the room.

"Sorry mate," Ana apologised, as she came to a stop just next to the couch, she didn't notice the older woman wander back into the living at the sound of the commotion. She looked strikingly like the boy who had answered the door. Ana was surprised that the older woman hadn't said anything to her in the five seconds of her being inside her home, maybe it was because she had noticed the rather intense look in her green eyes when staring at the woman who was asleep on her couch. "But that's my mate." Ana finally continued after an awkward silence. She then frowned. "Oh well, I think that's my mate. I haven't been around for a couple of years." Ana knelt next to the blonde's head and kept her eyes fixated on her face.

The Australian reached out and took a hold of the … Doctor's hand. It took a while, but a sudden jolt of regeneration energy raced up through Ana's hand and then her arm, which caused the brunette to gasp and almost fall back onto her thighs. She never let go of the other's hand though. "Oh, it is you." Ana murmured and couldn't help but feel the tears pool at the corner of her eyes. "I can't believe I missed it," she whispered, leaning closer to the Doctor, moving to sit up on her knees, using her free hand to brush blonde strands out of her face. "Again."

"I have to ask dear," their little moment was broken, and Ana turned to look to her left. It was the older woman who had spoken up this time. The younger boy had taken to sitting back in his spot at the dining table but he was watching Ana with an intense look. She couldn't tell if it was suspicion or just plain amazement at what just happened. "Who are you? And why do you look an awful like a Star Trek character?" the question caused Ana to suddenly look down and away from the two relatives. Ana spotted her comm badge, that had somehow managed to stay pinned to her chest this whole time, they were known to get lost at the slightest of inconveniences. While also glimpsing the teal coloured shoulder pads of her uniform that she almost forgot she was wearing. It had become second nature to have it on.

Ana supposed that the idea of … almost everything in Roddenberry's series turning out to be true was kinda hard to comprehend. Many had speculated in the future that Gene had been a time traveller or just had some seriously wicked visions. "Ah yeah, about that…" Ana mumbled, standing up then, letting her hand fall away from the Doctor's before she turned to face the others in the room. "It's a long story. And trust me when I say, I am not the weirdest thing you've dealt with this evening." The boy and his grandmother both shared a look then, one that Ana could tell literally said she's right. "But for now, I can tell you that my names Ana. Ana Matheson and I promise I am not here to hurt anyone." The brunette gave them a soft smile, as her hands clasped in front of her stomach.

"You Australian?" the boy asked, which caused Ana to let her smile grow back onto her face as she nodded. "Cool," he mumbled, causing Ana to laugh. "I'm Ryan." The boy finally introduced, he supposed that since the Doctor hadn't woken up yet and that the older woman had been so … enthralled by the blonde that she must be telling the truth. "and that's my nan, Grace."

It was then that Ana spotted another girl, coming out of a doorway that she could only assume was the hallway. Her dark eyes focused on Ana and once again the brunette was met with a frown. "Who's this?" The fellow brunette questioned, and Ryan couldn't help a slight smile lingered on his lips.

"Ana." He remembered the Australian was impressed. "This is Yaz." Ana nodded her head towards the woman still in a big coat, who returned it with a nod of her own and soft smile.

The older woman who was still stood in the kitchen, holding a blanket over her arms, flashed Ana a brilliant smile, one that seemed exactly like Ryan's and Ana couldn't help the blush that flushed across her cheeks at the sudden attention from everyone in the room - at least this time around it was positive attention. "Nice to meet you." Grace moved over to the Doctor then, and not before long the Time Lord's body began to glow, the regeneration energy moving throughout the blonde's body. "Ryan, look," Grace spoke up, causing Ryan to stand from his spot and stood next to his nan, looking down at the Doctor.

Ana squinted - it wasn't as bad as when they regenerated into Eleven, at least they were getting the rest they needed and they weren't out there scaring seven-year-old girls.

"Woah." Ryan gasped, and Ana couldn't help her smile grow even more as she watched the humans in front of her. The Doctor was such an enigma, a strange occurrence that anyone would be pulled in when he … she - they were around. She was almost like a drug, a rather addictive one at that and Ana had just felt like she had gotten over the Time Lord, that she had managed to kick the addiction, but she supposed the universe wasn't ready for them to be apart for extremely long periods of time, considering she had been dragged back to her side once more.

Causing the habit to return. An itch that just couldn't be scratched and Ana was almost panicking as the humans around her were trying to figure out what was happening.

"She's got two separate pulses." Grace continued, pressing two fingers against the Doctor's wrist, looking up at her grandson. The brunette managed to calm herself down and focus back on what was happening around her than the consequences of her being back in this timeline. Ana couldn't help but feel slightly awkward. She had moved to stand near the front door just in case, watching how the three of them worked around each other. Green eyes lingered on the younger boy as he moved closer to his nan and continued to watch the Doctor with such a curious look in his eyes that Ana couldn't help the giddy feeling that overtook the uneasiness in her chest.

That was until a puff of golden regeneration energy escaped the Doctor's lips. Ana narrowed her eyes, she hoped that everything had gone smoothly, that nothing had happened before he regenerated. But the Australian shook her head at herself, who was she kidding - it was the Doctor, she had a feeling that he went out with such a dramatic flair.

Once again.

Ana must have been in her head a lot longer than she realised because it was the Doctor shooting up on the couch, gasping and clutching at her chest that caused the Australian to snap out of her thoughts. Stepping forward in anticipation, Ana tried not to let the sudden overwhelming emotions envelop her, she had to keep it together, at least for a little bit longer.

"Ah! Ah!" The Doctor cried out, frowning as hazel eyes flickered between the humans, and absolutely breezing over her eldest companion who had moved slightly away from the front door again. "Oh! Who woke me up? I'm not ready, still healing, still …" The Doctor trailed off, as she stood up on the couch, before placing her bottom against the top. "Can you smell that? No, not smell, not hear," trailing off, the Doctor pressed her hand against her chest again, letting fingers travel up and rest against her collar bone. "Feel. Can you feel? Stay still, Ryan." The Doctor's dark eyes focused on the boy and his body tensed, Ana couldn't help but let her head tilt to the side - she wondered how long they had all known each other and yet … there was that unwavering trust that seemed to grow out of nothing already.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Not even after the first question left his lips, the Doctor had stepped off the couch and bounded closer to the dark-skinned boy. Reaching out she tugged down the collar of his shirt and gave a sudden huff.

"Ah. Show me your collarbones." She ordered them and each human … including the older man who had suddenly appeared out of the corner of Ana's eye, pulled the collars of their shirts down - a bright red dot was flashing underneath the skin and Ana squinted, oh that didn't seem good.

"Oh, you've all got them." The Doctor sighed, eyes flickering between the four humans.

"So have you." Ryan retorted. The Doctor looked down and Ana noticed the sudden tensing of her shoulders, her eyebrows lifted, and she took a big breath.

"Yeah." she almost wheezed. "I have." looking back up at the other humans, the Doctor started to pace. "Okay. Really sorry," she spoke up, moving from in front of Ryan and walking around the group. "Not good news. DNA bombs. Micro-implants." The Doctor continued, that was until her dark eyes spotted Ana - still slightly tucked away in the corner of the room, trying not to interrupt the conversation. Hazel eyes lingered on her eldest companion and Ana tried not to let it get to her too much. The Doctor squinted her eyes at Ana and the brunette could feel her chest tighten and a rather unsettling feeling fill her stomach like she wasn't going to be acknowledged - at least not right away. "On detonation, they disrupt the foundation of your genetic code, melting your DNA." Ana was wrong, however. The Doctor moved closer to her, eyes never once leaving Ana's face and the young woman let her teeth bite down into her lower lip. However, she was too focused on the Time Lord in front of her, that she hardly noticed when the Doctor raised a hand and tugged at Ana's uniformed jacket, pushing it away before she gripped the collar of her dark grey under top and pulled it away from her skin.

Revealing that she had no red dot. Ana heaved out a sigh as the Doctor released the hold she had of the undershirt, and moved back to stand in front of Ryan.

"Fast and nasty and outlawed in every civilized galaxy." She reached out again and gripped onto Ryan's collar, before moving and pressing a finger against the red dot.

"How did we get them?" Ryan asked.

"Never mind that," the elder gentleman spoke up, Ana hadn't caught his name and she slightly scolded herself for not surveying her surroundings a lot better. God, Odo would have had an aneurysm, she was distracted which meant that her guard was down. She was too worked up about everything all of a sudden. "Are they going to go off?"

Though, the Doctor didn't even look at him, still focusing most of her attention on Ryan. "Quiet, I'm trying to think." Not as rude as the last regeneration, Ana thought to herself, before she gained the courage to make her way further into the room again. Standing next to Ryan - Ana crossed her arms over her chest. "It's difficult." Hazel eyes flickered upward, looking at Ryan before they moved to look at Ana - who took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I'm not yet who I am. Brain and body still rebooting, reformatting." The eye contact between the old companion and the Doctor was long - longer than what Ana thought would be the … normal length but the Doctor thought nothing of it as she suddenly caught sight of something over Ana's shoulder and perked up. "Oh! reformatting." the Time Lord sounded excited all of a sudden. "Can I borrow that?"

Ana thought she was staring at Ten all over again.

Ana turned on her heel and watched as the Doctor makes her way to the dining table, picking up Ryan's phone. "Yeah, I guess so. But what for?" Ryan questioned, Ana had a funny feeling that the young boy wasn't going to get his phone back.

"That creature, on the train," The Doctor turned back around facing the group. "When you two came on board, it zapped us all with these." The Doctor moved back again, she was pacing, Ana noticed that much - while doing God knows what to Ryan's phone, Ana squinted and tried to peak over her shoulder. When she suddenly realised that she was taller than her.

Not by much - but still … finally. "Simple plan to take out witnesses. Very clever. Merciless, but clever." Spinning on her heel once more, the Doctor beamed as she held out her hands. "I reformatted your phone." She looked absolutely chuffed with herself and Ana couldn't help the soft snort that escaped her lips, arms crossing over her chest.

"No!" Ryan exclaimed, stepping forward. "All my stuff's on there!" Ana felt bad for the boy, her phone suddenly pressing into her thigh, she knew what it was like to live off your phone, though - her situation had been a lot dire and if the Doctor had done exactly that, she would more than likely whack the Time Lord over the head.

"Not anymore!" The Doctor exclaimed. Ana raised a brow and then witnessed as the Doctor shoved the end of Ryan's phone (which had started to look like it was charged with electricity) against her neck - which caused her to fly back into the wall behind her.

"Doctor!" Ana yelped out her name as she jumped forward, only to pause mid-step when the Doctor beamed up at her and raised a brow.

"Oh!" Ana rolled her eyes. "That nap did me the world of good. Very comfy sofa." Ana's shoulders dropped, and her head tilted to the side, well - she could cross out wondering if it truly WAS the Doctor. Almost the same excitedness and carelessness thrown all together. The phone beeped and suddenly the Doctor was up off the floor - shooting towards a chair, picking up … his - her jacket and racing back in front of the gang. Still staring at the phone. "Come on! Keep up." Ana only noticed that the Doctor had grabbed onto her hand when she stumbled over her feet, almost ramming her face into the blonde's back.

"Where are we going!" Ana exclaimed finally managing to find her own two feet again. The brunette wanted to let go of the hand that was holding her in a firm grip, but she didn't want to break the spell that the Doctor was under. It wasn't long until she heard the scrambling of the others behind them, trying to catch up with the strange person they had brought into their homes.

"Following this signal!" The Doctor answered - before coming to a stop right in front of the garage door, ripping it open and beaming at the fact that there was a car parked there. It was then that the others had finally caught up with them, already taking over the conversation, while Ana became quiet once again. She guessed that the car was either Graham's (who she figured out was his name, from Grace being extremely excited about everything that she couldn't help but tell her husband to stop worrying.) or Grace's. The brunette's hand was still wrapped tightly around the Time Lord's, but of course, with the Doctor running around like she was high, they hadn't had the chance to slow down and have a proper conversation.

Still, in her dirtied Star Fleet uniform, dried blood lingering on her forehead and clothes, Ana wasn't sure she was ready to have that deep and meaningful conversation anyhow. Everything seemed to be a blur, too fast for her brain to even comprehend. She wondered if this was how the new Doctor was going to be, fast and over the top.

And absolutely wonderful.

Or it could have been the concussion that she acquired back on the Phoenix.

To focused in her head, Ana was hardly paying attention to what the others were talking about, probably something to do with the tiny bombs that were embedded into their collar bones. Almost pressing her body up against the Doctor's, Ana focused her green eyes onto the floor of Grace's home. The Doctor looked at Ana then, staring at her for a couple of seconds before the Australian realised that everyone, besides Yaz and the Doctor had already piled into the beat-up Volo. Ana took a deep breath and let her eyes lift from the ground. Almost flinching backwards at the sudden onslaught of attention, Ana tried to give a smile.

"You okay?" The Doctor asked in such a soft voice, that Ana almost choked on her saliva. Well, Ana knew not to think of one regeneration as being the same as another, but no matter how long ago it was, the way they had left things almost three years ago was still fresh in her mind. The brunette frowned and shifted in her spot underneath the Doctor's hazel gaze, she also noticed that Yaz was watching the pair of them with such a curious and intense gaze that Ana tried not to blush. "Bear?"

Her breath caught at the back of her throat before she quickly nodded her head, stepping forward and pulling her hand free from the Time Lord's. Teeth bit down onto her lower lip, as she watched the Doctor nod her head and turn towards the car - moving into the garage and got in. Ana reminded stood in her spot for a couple of seconds before Yaz prompted her with a slight push against her shoulder. The brunette mumbled an apology and piled into the back seat, managing to squish in next to Ryan, who was sitting next to Graham. Only to be squished even closer to the younger boy when Yaz got in after her.

Mumbling another apology, Ana was surprised that they all managed to fit into the wagon. It was another three minutes of mumbling back and forth between Grace and the Doctor in the front seats before they left the garage and the safety of Grace's home.

Her hazel coloured eyes seemed hyper fixed on Ryan's phone, she was taking them somewhere, but Ana hadn't exactly gotten the chance to ask her where in correlation to the alien that had tagged them all. It was typical of Ana to arrive just when major shit was going down and the Doctor was struggling with being post-regeneration. Which seemed to happen a lot when she had just … died. The lieutenant was curious about how it happened, he had sent her home almost three years prior, so they had a lot of catching up to do.

Due to the fact that Ana was nestled between Yaz and Ryan, she wasn't wearing a seatbelt or even sat in a proper seat - which caused Ana to lean away from Ryan, who had looked slightly uncomfortable and almost all on top of Yaz. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position to be in when you had JUST met somebody, but well - you never know when you're with the Doctor, you just had to kind of suck it up and go with it and try not to be left behind. Her seating position wasn't exactly legal, and Ana was surprised that Yaz had even allowed it to happen, considering that in the five minutes that the brunette had to look around the house and out the car window, it was very easy to guess that one of them was a copper.

Spending an entire year living with Gwen Cooper and her family, she had picked up certain cues and actions that almost all coppers do. A soft sigh escaped Ana's lips at the thought of her old friend, she wondered where Gwen, Rhys and baby Anwen were now… Well, Ana guessed that Anwen would almost be ten by now. Breathing in suddenly and sitting up straighter in her kind of seat, Ana shook her head. Forget about it. If you keep lingering in the past, that's where you'll stay. Well - that oddly sounded a lot like Q.

Trying to get out of her head, Ana looked down and focused on her dirty hands, trying her hardest to focus on the conversation that was happening around her. The cut on her forehead still stung and she couldn't help but wince every time she moved her head. She was surprised that the attack on the Phoenix hadn't left her with any internal injuries, the concussion wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before and she had to count herself lucky that Oliver her found her when he did. But an entire bulkhead had collapsed in the medbay, who knows what else could have struck her when she was unconscious.

"Next left." It was the Doctor that eventually snapped her out of her thoughts and Ana's nose twitched at the sound of her voice, but she forced herself not to look up.

Didn't want to look too desperate.

"Where are we driving to?" Yaz questioned.

"I reckon she's using my phone to track the origin signal for the DNA bombs." Ana, however, did look up at Ryan, who gave her a look before shrugging his shoulders. The brunette couldn't help but let a bright smile cross her lips. That was oddly accurate, maybe he watched science fiction shows in his downtime - realising that they usually took things from real life and just … amped it up.

By like … a lot.

"Again, how long till they go off?" Graham asked the Doctor. Ana let her eyes wander forward, noticing that she was only able to see the side of the Doctor's new blonde head.

"Don't know." She replied. Oh very helpful. Ana thought.

"Well, can't we just defuse them?"

"Not without the right equipment." Ryan's phone in the Doctor's hand suddenly made a noise and the Time Lord looked out the window with sudden interest. "Left again." Grace followed the Doctor's direction and they turned into what appeared to be an industrial alleyway, the car came to a stop before everyone fell out, except for Ana.

"We're close."

Her back pushed, even more, into the fabric seats, inhaling deeply. The smell of strange perfume and old car wafted through her nose. Ana couldn't help but watch on in slight surprise at how everyone seemed to follow the Doctor with such willingness, even when they had all just met an hour before she had arrived. Green eyes watched as the blonde looked down one end of the alleyway, before crouching and turning on the balls of her feet - focusing on a puddle of water - that rippled as a deep rumble vibrated through the night sky. It honestly sounded like it had occurred at least a block away, but Ana couldn't be sure. Letting the breath escape through clenched teeth, the Australian forced herself out of the old Volvo and into the cold night, coming to the realisation that it had also started to rain. Her nose scrunched upwards in slight annoyance, as she came to stand next to the Doctor, who had now stood up and was facing the opposite way.

It was silent, almost too silent. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Ana mumbled out, only having Ryan snort slightly in response. It was a gut feeling, she had gotten used to listening to those more often - and when it did happen, she still couldn't help but flinch backwards. An explosion occurred just in front of them, near the bricked building to their right. The others started and flinched backward as well, and it was (obviously) the Doctor who had recovered first, a smile plastered across her lips.

"Bingo." The now shorter Time Lord exclaimed and looked over at Ana, her darker eyes beamed up at her. Ana couldn't help the small smirk that tugged at the corner of her lips. Okay - she might have missed this. "Oi!" The Doctor called out into the foggy night air, which caused Ana to cross her arms over her chest even tighter, wrapping herself in a fake safety blanket.

That was when she noticed a figure appear. Staggering slightly, the humanoid seemed to freeze when it spotted the six of them.

"I was expecting a tentacle-y thing." Ana grimaced.

"No, the last time we faced against one of those, I couldn't get the smell of seawater out of my hair for a week." The Australian grumbled, arms falling back down to her sides. The Doctor shot her an amused look, before turning back to focus on the thing.

"Don't you move!" The Doctor continued to shout, which didn't exactly help, considering the person turned tail and ran down the alleyway. Ana couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips as she watched the Doctor sprint right after it.

"Wait, is that another alien?" Ryan asked as he started to follow after the blonde. Ryan's nan couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice as she answered him and followed after her grandson. Which now only left Yaz, Graham, and Ana.

"Why is she running at another alien?" Graham complained, and Ana couldn't help but raise a brow, that was a valid question for a human with no experience with aliens or the Doctor to ask.

"Don't just stand there," Yaz started as she too took off after the Doctor as well. "Come on!" Graham looked over at Ana, who shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Graham. Better get used to this!" Ana started as she turned on her foot and started walking backwards. "The one thing you learn about being with the Doctor is that there is an awful lot of running." A bright smile and Ana turned back around as she started to sprint after the others.

"Now you're all running after it!" Graham still grumbled, and a laugh escaped Ana's lips. God, she had missed this. She loved being with Star Fleet and being stationed on …well a space station, but there was nothing like running around the universe or even just on Earth in general with the Doctor.

Like she said to herself earlier, the Doctor was a drug that was seriously hard to kick out of your system.

-x-

Eventually, Ana had caught up to the others, coming to a stop just in front of the massive warehouse. Wincing, Ana placed a hand against her lower ribs, pressing against them slightly. How had she missed that?

Leaning forward, another wince shot across her face. God, she hadn't even noticed. She prayed that they were just bruised and not broken, though the lieutenant had worked with broken ribs before, it was just a hell of a lot easier to work with them in the 24th century than now. Healing them took a hell of a long time, while a simple dermal regenerator over the affected area was enough to fix it. A pair of sneakers came into her line of sight, which was still squinting down at the ground. A heavy breath escaped Ana's lips again as she straightened up, shrugging her shoulders back and stretching her lower body - spotting Yaz in front of her, who wore a rather worried look on her face.

"You alright?" The shorter girl mimicked the question the Doctor had asked her only fifteen minutes before. Ana couldn't help the spread of warmth throughout her body. They barely knew each other and yet, Yaz was already making sure that she was okay. To be fair, she was a police officer - it was literally in her job description to care about others, as well as their health and safety. The lieutenant just nodded her head, trying to hide the wince that appeared on her face once again, especially considering the Doctor had made her way back towards the doorway - making room for Ryan to step inside.

He looked like he wanted to comment on the conversation, but he held his tongue and Ana was grateful - she didn't need everyone worrying over her. She had this handled.

"Yeah, yeah - just a little outta shape is all." It was a lie and the look Yaz shot her told the brunette that she hadn't believed it. Huffing, Ana straightened down her uniform jacket, giving the officer her most convincing smile, before stepping around her and following Ryan into the warehouse.

Though, the young Australian had only managed to get a couple of steps away from the entrance, when a slender hand wrapped around her elbow and pulled her to a stop. Almost stumbling over her feet, Ana swallowed and let her eyes fall to the newly regenerated Doctor. Her hazel eyes held an emotion that Ana hadn't seen in a while. "What happened, Bear?" Well - there goes her stomach again, it flipped at the old nickname, they hadn't called her that since they were in their eleventh body and that was almost eight years ago, from her point of view anyway. "How did you even get here?" The Doctor continued to question, oblivious to Ana's internal dialogue. Her hand tightened around her elbow once she noticed that Ana had started to subtly pull away. The brunette huffed slightly, as a frown fell on her face once she realised that the Doctor wasn't going to let her go until she answered her question.

She knew that with every regeneration, came a new face and a new personality - but it was a complete three-sixty to who the Doctor was previously. It was going to take the Australian a couple of hours to get used to this new Doctor. Ana sniffed and eventually pulled her elbow out of her grip, shrugging her shoulders but not looking at the blonde. "Oliver." was all she managed to say when Graham interrupted them.

"Got a man down over here." The Doctor gave Ana a long, sympathetic look, before her eyes hardened, hazel hues seemingly to linger on her green ones for a couple of seconds - it was a look that Ana knew all too well, no what matter what face the Time Lord was wearing. It meant that the conversation wasn't over. Great, that was going to be fun. Hopefully, she still remembered everything that had happened in her previous body. Twelve and Ana hadn't really gotten along, butted heads multiple times - but she knew he would always be the same person, but when Clara … when Clara died, Ana couldn't take the fact that he could no longer remember her, that he knew of Clara, but didn't know her face or how much she meant to him - to the both of them.

She had to say goodbye, and so she did - The Doctor, unwillingly dropped her off back at her other home on the Enterprise and then left and she never saw him again. It hadn't been a problem when she first got there, but eventually, as time went on and the battle of Wolf 359 occurred, Ana wanted nothing more than to be back on the TARDIS - where the Doctor knew what he was doing, knew that he would look after her. But well - he never showed up, no matter how much she begged the stars. The resentment (towards herself and him grew) and the hurt seemed to boil in the pit of her stomach.

He had completely forgotten about her.

"Looks like it took one of his teeth." Her voice broke Ana's train of thought for the second time that evening and the Australian snapped back to attention, hands latching on to each other as she wandered over to where the rest of the gang stood - only to let one of the hands fly up and cover her mouth as her eyes focused on the dead body.

She was a nurse, a midwife - she had seen it all. But a jaw that had been broken off from its body, without forewarning, well that would always be a little confronting.

"What sort of creature kills someone and then stops to pull out a tooth?" The Doctor was curious until she looked up towards her current companions. An apologetic look, with some remorse, flittered across her new face. "I'm sorry you all had to see this." Grace looked down at the body again, before she stood.

"I'll find something to cover the body."

"Thank you, Grace. I'm sorry any of this is happening." The Doctor continued. "I'm sorry that thing on the train planted these bombs inside you, and I'm sorry I haven't figured out what's going on yet." Ana had let her attention be drawn away from the dead body and watched as Ryan pulled away from the group. The brunette was curious to see what had caught his attention, so she moved away as well and joined him. Before she noticed ... what looks like the remains of an ... egg?

"What the hell is that?" Ana questioned, Ryan looked at her and then back at the egg.

"This is it." His voice was louder than Ana's had been. "This is the thing." The lieutenant wished she had some of her tools with her, the tricorder would help a hell of a lot with determining what the thing that sat at their feet, was. Or though, Ana started thinking again as her eyes flickered to the edge of her vision as she felt the Doctor brush past her, coming to stand in front of the broken shell, a sonic screwdriver would help just as well.

The others all moved with her, looking at the egg with curious and somewhat frightened glances. Ana couldn't blame them - this sort of stuff was always scary the first time around.

At least it wasn't stone angels they had to deal with as their first alien. Never again would Ana want to go up against the Weeping Angels. Never ever. She'd rather face a Borg or a Dalek than a Weeping Angel.

"It was all sealed up earlier," Yaz commented. "Looks like it's been broken." The Doctor moved from Ana's side, walking around the pieces of rock - the Australian could see the cogs in her brain working, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Or it's done what it came here for." The blonde added, looking up at Yaz and the others, before looking back down. "It's some sort of transport chamber, presumably for that thing we just saw in the alley. But why here?" The Doctor questioned looking up and catching Ana's gaze. "Why tonight?"

Ryan suddenly looked slightly guilty. "Actually, that might have been me," he confessed. At once, everyone straightened up and Ana couldn't help a small snort that escaped her lips. Grace had such a mum look on her face that it was hard to remember this was pretty fucking serious.

"Why? What did you do?" The Doctor's tone wasn't quite playful, but it wasn't quite … stern. She was worried, annoyed slightly at the fact that she had no idea what was happening.

"When I went to get me bike," Ryan started, Ana folded her arms over her chest. "There was this line in the air and then it moved, and there were shapes." Ana frowned shifting to her left - moving away from the rock and subconsciously closer to the Doctor, who prompted Ryan to continue with a nod of her head.

"And I touched one," Ryan answered, and Ana laughed.

"Ryan." Grace scolded, and the young boy looked annoyed, he shoved his elbow's out and frowned.

"You all would've done the same."

"I wouldn't." Graham inputted.

"I would've," The Doctor replied, raising a hand in the air. Ana rolled her eyes and nudge the Time Lord in the stomach.

"Of course, you would have," Ana mumbled. "You're like a kid in a lolly shop when you find something you absolutely love, you just gotta touch it." The brunette was still focused on Ryan, that she missed the fond look the Doctor gave her.

"Right," Ryan said, trying to finish his story. "The shapes disappeared. A few seconds later, that appeared." the younger boy looked over at the Doctor and frowned. "What've I done?"

The Time Lord scrunched up her face and tilted her head to the side. "Hard to say, really." Running a hand over her mouth, the Doctor focused all her attention on the pieces.

Which is where Ana let her gaze wander, ignoring the little family spat going on around her. "What do you think that thing was in the alleyway?" Ana questioned softly. The Doctor turned her head to look at her old companion and gave a slightly strained smile - even with a new face, Ana knew that smile.

The smile that said she had no idea and it annoyed her.

"Something not good." She replied Ana, nodded her head, before turning her attention to the others. Watching as Ryan had taken up a rather defensive stance, hands pushed further into the pockets of his jacket.

"Alright, I made a mistake," Ryan argued. "But why did that guy move this thing from the Peaks to here? And how did he even know it were there?" That caused Graham to let his mouth slide shut, and the Doctor raised a brow.

"Good questions." She praised. Yaz seemed to notice the tension still in the air, so she took it upon herself to gesture towards Ryan and turn slightly.

"Let's take a look round here," starting to walk off towards the far side of the warehouse, Ryan followed obediently. "see what we can find."

The Doctor lifted Ryan's phone, only for her to slump. Ana peeked over her shoulder and noticed that the screen was starting to freak out, a frown fell on Ana's forehead. "Can't follow it." The Doctor spoke, dropping her arms and turning to face Ana. "The tracking's been blocked like it figured out what I was doing."

Ana's frown deepened. "How could it do that?" The Doctor pursed her lips and walked off to the side, body hunched over this time - eyes lingering on the shell.

Or well - the emptied transport.

"If we were tracking bomb signals from that creature from the train," Grace started. Ana still had no idea why this train was involved? "Why did they lead us here?"

The Doctor looked up once more. "Another good question," hazel eyes looked back at the egg - transport. "I dunno. If I could analyse that." Ana stepped over and leaned a hand out to touch the shell - however, a paler hand snapped out and grabbed a hold of her wrist. Ana let her green eyes look over at the Doctor, who had her gaze on the shell once more. "Course, what I really need is my…" The Doctor let Ana's hand go so that she could pull her jacket open and reach into the pocket for the sonic screwdriver, only to let her face scrunch upwards and an annoyed groan escaped her lips. "Oh!" she then exclaimed, standing up straighter. "I could build one, I'm good at building things." The Time Lord looked over at Ana, who still wore a bewildered look before she shoved her hands into the pockets of her uniform and shook her head, an amused look crossing her features. "Probably. Come on you," The Doctor reached out and took Ana's hand for what felt like the fifth time that evening and lead her away from Graham and Grace.

-x-

"So where did you come from?" The Doctor's question caused Ana to stumble again. She swore she was once a graceful person - someone who was able to walk long distances without tripping over thin air, someone who could win in a sword fight and fight as many militiamen as she could. It was just - current situations that seemed to pull her just short of walking properly. The brunette had been in the process of jumping up onto one of the many counter tops when the Doctor had distracted her, and she'd slipped. Hissing through her lips as the edge of the bench cut into her hand, green eyes focused downwards, not realising that the Doctor had started to rummage through boxes and cupboards.

They had found a small working area behind a plastic sheet just a few feet away from the mysterious transport egg - Ana had turned her nose up at it at first, but well - it was the best they could find in such short notice. "Uh-" The Australian stumbled over her words this time, though she finally managed to hop up onto the counter and let her body relax. Shoulders dropping and her whole body folded forward slightly. "Uh, Deep Space Nine," she answered finally. She made a point of focusing her eyes solely on her hands, fingers rubbing over the sore palm of her hand. There was just something about the Doctor that made her feel like a teenager again, finding it hard to talk to someone and when they gave you the slightest amount of attention, you'd get flustered and start to stutter.

It was strange, Ana had known this alien for almost twelve years and yet somehow this regeneration made her feel like they had just met again. Maybe it was because she hadn't been there when she had died, or maybe it was because things had left on such a sour note that Ana wasn't sure whether or not the Doctor wanted her around. Slender fingers continued to rub over the slightly raw skin of her palm trying to get rid of the pain "It was just a routine mission to the Badlands," Ana mumbled. "But something felt wrong ever since we departed the station. The Cardassians ambushed us, the Phoenix was badly damaged and we all had to use the escape pods." Ana heaved out a sigh.

"What were a bunch of Cardassians doing out near the Badlands?" The Doctor questioned, and Ana couldn't help a smile cross her lips - however, she frowned down at her hand. "Surely they have enough on their mind as it is. Wouldn't have thought the Maquis posed much of a threat during that time?"

"That's the thing, they don't," Ana replied immediately, suddenly feeling comfortable with the topic of conversation - Like she was … back home and not suddenly on Earth in a time that seemed so foreign to her now. It was a shame, but Ana wouldn't trade the life she had now for anything else. "So, I had guessed they were there for something else." It wasn't until she felt a cool hand against her forehead, that the Australian flinched backward. Green eyes flickered upwards and noticed the Doctor, who was suddenly standing so incredibly close.

"Sorry," The Time Lord mumbled though, her eyes told Ana that she wasn't sorry at all. Delicate fingers, young fingers, brushed brown hair out of Ana's eyes and her hazel ones squinted at the cut on her forehead. "It doesn't look too deep," she diagnosed. "But you shouldn't let it continue to bleed." Her hand fell away from Ana's forehead and the brunette suddenly missed the feel of her cool hand against her skin. Shaking her head slightly, Ana watched as the Doctor pat down the pockets, before reaching inside … his jacket and pulling out a band-aid. "I thought this jacket still had some things inside it."

Ana let the Doctor … be a doctor. Wincing slightly as she placed an alcohol wipe, also out of the jacket, over the cut - and then the band-aid. The smile had never left her face, and the corner of her lips pulled upwards even more. "Thanks, Doc." Then the Doctor was pulling off the old jacket and handing it to Ana, who grabbed onto it as if her life depended on it.

The Doctor, now just in the white dress shirt and black vest, rolled up her sleeves and went back to work, searching for bits and pieces to make a sonic screwdriver with. Bundling up Twelve's jacket, Ana pressed the fabric under her nose and inhaled deeply. It still smelled like him, as much as Ana could remember that is - but it was something nostalgic, books and the TARDIS, plus slightly bitter coffee.

"What happened?" It was Ana's turn to ask the questions. She didn't know whether to be glad or not that she couldn't see the Time Lord's face when she asked that question. It didn't need clarification though. The question could only mean one thing and that was...

How did you die?

"I remember her." The Doctor didn't answer the question and Ana wasn't disappointed or surprised in the least. She knew that it would have to be something she pried out of the alien instead. Green eyes focused on the top of the blonde head, heart rate suddenly spiking. "Clara…" the name sent a shiver down her spine. "I was given my memories back and I remember her." That was the last thing they argued about - Ana desperately wanting the Doctor to remember the woman who had changed their lives.

"H-how?" Ana stuttered and watched as the Doctor popped her head up over one of the metal benches, her eyes sad, probably noticing the expression on her oldest companion's face. Clara and Ana … they had been - complicated to say the least, but they had been very much best friends, in love even. "How was she?" The Doctor let a bright smile beam across her face.

"Oh, so very much alive and happy." a sob escaped Ana's lips as she looked down at the jacket in her lap. She would never be able to see the other brunette again and it hurt so much - but she was … she was glad that Clara was travelling the universe at her own pace and that she was … at least happy.

The sound of plastic rustling caused Ana to stiffen, she wasn't finished. She had so much she wanted to ask the Doctor - but well … new companions meant questions of their own. So the lieutenant hopped off the counter, before pulling Twelve's jacket on, the sleeves always being slightly too long, but Ana didn't care. "I'm gonna … I need some air," she mumbled before speeding past Graham and Grace, ignoring the Doctor's worried look as she watched her all but rush out of the warehouse and into the fresh Sheffield air.

A heavy breath in - multiple times. Ana had to slow herself down so that she didn't pass out, or need to use her inhaler, she had been getting good at that. The rain was slightly heavier than before, and it caused brown hair to stick against Ana's forehead. The next few hours were going to prove painful and hard and Ana wondered if she'd be able to do this at all? The new knowledge that the Doctor finally knew who Clara was again had caused her heart to almost burst out of her chest. But well - she had to keep it together for a little while longer. Had to make sure that the Earth and the four other humans returned home safe and sound.

If not for them, but for her and the Doctor's peace of mind.

-x-

It wasn't long before the night air seemed to clear Ana's mind. The breeze against her skin was cooling and she gave a heavy sigh, as her head tilted backward and her eyes slid shut. She had missed them, more than she would like to admit, considering there was no way she would change how her life had ended up. But, she couldn't help but let her mind wander. Arms crossed over her chest, green eyes opened and stared up at the dark sky, it was rather hard to see most of the stars, but Ana knew that they were up there - hell she had been up there herself, not that long ago.

Though, she couldn't help but worry that by her coming back to Earth, back into her proper timeline that something major was going to happen back on Deep Space Nine - either between the Cardassian's and Starfleet or the Dominion and the rest of the galaxy. Then there was also the worry of the Klingons as well, though relations weren't as tight between both races as it had been in the early 23rd century, Ana knew that everyone was on edge because of the war.

Ana shook her head with a rough sigh, letting her head tilt downward. You seriously have to calm down, she thought to herself as her arms fell back down to her sides, fingers gripping some of the loose fabric of her pants. Staring intently at the ground, Ana stood in silence for a little while, well as much silence as there was in this part of the city. There was the occasional car passing by, sometimes they would blow their horn and Ana couldn't help but imagine the passengers and drivers in them complaining about the opposite car. There was also the murmurs of people walking by, the footpath down the end of the alleyway, that seemed to carry their voices, but she knew that most of the noise was coming from inside the warehouse, the Doctor certainly hadn't changed in the way that she spoke. Rather loudly with a hint of smugness to her voice. Though, Ana was kinda grateful that the Doctor seemed to be the same as the previous regenerations.

The bubbliness that she had witnessed already reminded her so much of the Doctor's eleventh body (that it kind of hurt sometimes) - he was a lot more childlike, somehow even when mourning the loss of Donna and the Master, he covered it up with humour and innocence. But Ana knew him, she knew that there was so much more to the Doctor. The way she rambled and spoke a million miles a minute reminded her so much of the tenth regeneration. The brown-eyed Doctor that … she … well - who didn't have a crush on the Doctor once in their lifetime. She was glad that she had grown out of that.

Possibly.

It was the sudden tug against her heart that caused her to remember the worst but most wonderful time of her life. Having her first son during the Year that Never Was, was a traumatic experience. The Master was a right bastard and she had wanted to kill him on more than one occasion during her stay on the Valiant, but well - she couldn't fault him for the way he … looked after her. She hated that fact, but well, the best midwives and doctors had been flown in to look after her. Ana knew that it had to have been an ulterior motive on the Time Lord's part (and fuck yeah it was) but she had to thank him in the end.

Her hand was already on the move before her brain told her what it was doing. She missed Ethan dearly, her son who just so happened to end up being a doctor himself - Of course, it would be the one thing that she wouldn't have pressured him into being and yet, he ended up becoming the best cardiac surgeon in Illinois. Ana snorted lightly and looked down at her phone, green eyes focused on the set photo she had for his contact. It most certainly wasn't a picture Ana had taken herself, Facebook was a rather helpful tool when looking for someone and god, she sounded ten times creepier that way. His eyes were the same blue as his father's and Ana's stomach twisted, the sick feeling appeared at the back of her throat - back in the day when everything seemed so much simpler, she thought she could have made it work but then they happened and The Order of The Silence kidnapped Ethan when he was only a baby and she never saw her son again.

Though, one fateful adventure that had led them to Chicago in 2016, she had literally run into him, though he had no clue as to who she was. But Ana - Ana knew instantly. Dark hair and blue eyes, taller than her by a couple of inches and was already in doctor mode, making sure that she hadn't been hurt when she had practically fallen on her ass. It was amazing that Ethan had kept all his memories, he told her that he vaguely remembered waking up in a room when he was five years old and that the family that had saved him became the best thing that ever happened to him. It had hurt Ana to realise that she could have had a whole lifetime with her son if she had only looked for him better. If she had never listened to the words of a crazy woman trying to kill the Doctor, but Madame Kavorian had told her that he had died, that he was killed in an experiment and there was nothing anyone could have done. That's why they kidnapped Melody, they needed another.

Ana didn't know if she should thank the Rhodes family for giving her son the life that he deserved.

Ethan let slip that he kinda resented her for not coming to save him when he had been a child, that he didn't know if he was ready to actually believe all the stories that he used to dream about as a kid.

Maybe those memories were better off forgotten.

Snapping out of her thoughts as a noise behind her got louder, Ana pressed the call button, placing her phone against her ear - she then wrapped her free arm around her stomach. This was the part that always made her nervous, whether or not he would pick up or if he'd just let her fill up his voicemail with desperate pleas. Time zones usually got away from her when Ana moved back and forth between timelines, so she hoped that it was at least early in Chicago. But the phone kept on ringing and ringing and eventually, Ana moved her arm and placed her hand against her forehead.

"Hey, this is Connor - I'm busy but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." The beep of the answering machine was all too familiar, and Ana squared her shoulders.

"Hey … Connor, it's me. Ana, I'm back in town, just thought we could catch up sometime. Okay, bye." Ana knew that it would be a risky move if she used his proper name, especially since he had started seeing someone, but Connor seemed unnatural and Ana hated saying it. Sighing once more the brunette pulled her phone away from her ear and locked it, placing the device up to her lips. Staring off into the distance, Ana almost forgot where she was.

Well, all you have to know at the moment was that Ana and Ethan have a long way to go before being a family again. She loved him so much that it hurt to let him go, but she knew that hanging around would only make the strain on their relationship worse. God, she missed him.

"Ana?" the voice of the young police officer broke Ana out of the train of thought that was going nowhere, and the lieutenant turned around to face Yaz. Raising a brow, the younger woman stepped out from the massive doorway and made her way over to the brunette. "You alright?"

Ana only realised a little too late that she had been crying, she probably started sometime between calling Ethan and thinking about whether or not he wanted anything to do with her. Ana started slightly, as she raised a hand to brush away the tears from underneath her eyes. Yaz watched her intently, suddenly wondering once again who this person even was. She seemed … sad. "Uh, yeah yeah of course." she gave a rather unconvincing smile, but Yaz seemed to accept it. "What's going on?"

"We're headed up to the roof," she started jabbing her thumb over her shoulder. "One of Graham's mates found the weird black orb thingy." It was Ana's turn to frown as she followed her inside. It was slightly convenient that the orb was directly above them, but Ana was glad - she didn't really want to pile back into the Volvo again.

"Black orb?" The Australian questioned and Yaz couldn't help the smile spread across her face.

"Right, you weren't on the train."

"No, I wasn't. Though, I guess I wish I was. Seemed like you lot had a party." Yaz snorted, and they made their way to the fire escape door - which Ana assumed led up to the roof, everyone else was already missing.

"Oh, it was a lot scarier than a rager, mate." Ana laughed, Yaz pushed against the door and stepped into the back alley, Ana following suite - there they spotted Grace and Ryan next to the ladder, holding bits and pieces, that Ana was certain the Doctor had given them. Ryan seemed to be holding a car battery, while Grace had a rather nice-looking electric drill.

"The Doctor's already up there," Ryan commented once he noticed Ana. "She also made this really weird screwdriver thing." Ana couldn't help the grin that crossed her lips.

"She honestly made the sonic?" the question left her lips before she flung herself over to the ladder and started to climb. "You know, she still continues to amaze me. Even if I've known her for ten years."

"Ten years?" she heard Yaz exclaim below her. "How old are ya?"

"Oi!" Ana looked down over her shoulder and noticed Yaz just under her. "You know you don't ask a lady her age." However, her grin remained on her lips, as she turned back to continue up the ladder. "Almost forty."

"Forty!" That was Ryan.

"Yeah, there was a certain run-in with the TARDIS, she wasn't happy with me there. Plus, an alternate reality and 23rd-century medicine. Doctor McCoy certainly knew how to keep me healthy." She winced at the memory of every single hypospray Bones had injected her with. The future, even though they had eradicated a lot of viruses and diseases, still propped up with a bunch of new ones to fill in the gaps. Before any of the teenagers could question her further, Ana made it over the lip of the ladder and came to stand on the roof and faced … the black orb thingy. "Holy crap, that's huge."

"That it is." The Doctor replied, striding past her. "Still don't really know what it is, but I have my sonic now." The Doctor paused and turned to face Ana. "What do you think?" the blonde presented the sonic screwdriver to her companion and Ana scrunched her nose. "Oh, you don't like it?"

The pout that fell on the Doctor's lips caused Ana to step forward, as Yaz had made it to the top, and she grinned at the Time Lord. "No, no I love it," she replied. "Silver still is in fashion." The pout on the Doctor's lips pulled upwards into a smile.

"It stays in fashion for quite some time." She mumbled, turning back to doing whatever it was she was doing before Ana had arrived. "Until the 32nd century. Bad decade for silver lovers." the blonde let herself be distracted by the black orb, as Ryan and Grace managed to catch up. So there they were the six of them standing just behind the Doctor, who seemed to know what she was doing. "Hi." she greeted the orb. "Us again."

They all set off in different directions seemingly knowing what they had to do - setting up for what Ana assumed was to figure out what the thing in front of them was. The Doctor clamped one of the crocodile clips to the fire escape, that was joined to the car battery Ryan had been carrying. "Now!" the blonde called and Grace surged forward with the electric drill, zapping it. It moved for a couple of more seconds before it lost all its power and crumpled to the floor.

Ana scrunched up her nose and stepped forward, moving closer to the once floating orb, coming to stand next to Grace and Graham. It just looked like a bunch of loose wires now. Nothing was powering it. Ryan laughed, a wide grin on his face.

"Get in!" he shouted, moving closer to it. "It actually worked!"

The Doctor looked mildly offended. "Of course, it worked. I'm not an amateur." She retorted, and Ana snorted. The six of them all gathered around the orb and stared down at it. The Doctor squatted. "Overloaded its socket, stunned it for a bit." She started. "Not sure for how long though. Best be quick." Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her new sonic before the Doctor started to use it on the thing and Ana couldn't help the grin that crossed her face when she watched it in action. God, she had missed that device. "And thank you to Kevin the bus driver for location intel."

"See? Always ask a bus driver." Graham seemed proud by that. Ana couldn't help but grin.

"Half organic, half machine." The sonic stilled whirred until it stopped, and the Doctor brought the device closer to her face. "Wait." she then frowned as she read the information the sonic had just given her before she stood up and looked down at the orb instead. "It's a Gathering Coil." A squint of her eyes. "No, dozens of Gathering Coils." She bent down again. "These tentacle-y things, they're creatures which gather information." and it was then that Ana winced, shuffling away from Grace and making her way over to the Time Lord. Ana squatted as well next to her and squinted at the jumble of black noodles.

"God, they're nothing like the … snakes, are they?" Ana questioned, her voice quiet as she kept her eyes purposefully away from the Doctor's face. Who in turn looked at her companion, a frown creasing her brow - until the memory came back to her. Their time on Skaro and how they got there in the first place. The Doctor knew that Ana could handle almost anything - had been through everything, but when it came to snakes - they were a completely different story. While her previous incarnation had trouble with expressing his emotions and dealing with comforting others, she knew that he had wanted to help her through it - especially considering she had almost thrown up twice on their ride to the planet. Clara had been the one to calm her down. In the end, the Time Lord shook her head - continuing to watch Ana, whose face scrunched upwards even more.

"Not snakes, though they may look similar, these guys have been lashed together and augmented into one super-creature." The Doctor finally let her eyes move away from Ana and back towards the mass of coils. "But Why? What data are they gathering?" When she felt the Time Lord's gaze off her face, Ana snuck in her own peek. "Unless…" she trailed off into thought, Ana stood up and shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants.

"So that's an alien species?" Yaz tried to guess and the Doctor stood up as well, almost falling against the brunette next to her.

"Not really." She replied, straightening herself out. "More of a semi-species. Weaponised biotech."

"And I am instantly filled with much less confidence," Ana mumbled, and the Doctor shushed her.

"You said there were two aliens in battle." Yaz continued.

"You're right. I did, but now I think I'm wrong and I'm trying to catch up with what that might mean." The Doctor scratched at her head and Ana wanted to tell her it just meant that she was still regenerating - the more delicate and inside bits that is. She was just glad that the Time Lord didn't seem to be fainting every couple of minutes like the last few times. That hadn't exactly been the most exciting hours - especially with the world under threat both times. "If I can access the data it's gathered." The Doctor leaned forward and pressed the sonic into the coils before an image of a man appeared in holographic light, albeit rather staticky.

"Woah," Ana muttered.

"It's Karl from the train." This goddamn train. That was when movement over Yaz's shoulder caught Ana's attention. Green eyes lifted, and her breath seemed to leave her stomach. Her hand reached out and caught hold of the Doctor's white sleeve. Which caused her to suddenly remember she was still wearing Twelve's coat.

"Karl's the data. That's what it was gathering on the train." She tugged at it, but the Time Lord seemed too invested in staring at the coils and the conversation. Green eyes squinted at the figure that seemed to stand twice her height and had paused to watch them for a couple of seconds. Ana tugged at the Doctor's sleeve again.

"Doctor..."

"Which one of you shall I kill first?" Its voice was deep and male like and Ana tugged against the Doctor's sleeve yet again.

"Yep, I see it now," She mumbled. "I'm voting none of us." The Doctor called out, pulling Ana's grip off her sleeve. The blonde wanted to take her companion's hand in her own, but the Doctor wanted her behind her - wanted them all behind her. Out of harm's way. "Get behind me now." Ana made her way forward, wanting to stand next to the Doctor, but Yaz grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back. "Stop right there. Come any further and we'll blast whatever that thing is." a slightly hollowed threat, but the tall figure didn't know that.

"You're interfering in things you don't understand."

"Yeah, well, we all need a hobby." Ana snorted.

"You're not human." The figure said, and Ana let her head tilt to the side, it wasn't exactly easy to figure that out. Many would assume that the Doctor was just weird and not … well, not human. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm…" Then the Time Lord trailed off, her face scrunched up and she let out a massive groan, falling backward slightly before straightening up once more. "Oh, it's gone again. I had it a minute ago." Ana suddenly realised that … the regeneration was just as painful as the last time - just, she was able to keep most of her memories intact. Ana then pulled her wrist away from Yaz, who gave her a look, but the brunette ignored it and made her way forward once more.

She wasn't about to let the Doctor, who really had no idea who she was, face this … thing alone. So, she came up just behind her and let her hand curl around the fabric of at the back of the Doctor's vest, letting the Time Lord know that she was there. "So annoying. Same question back at you. No, in fact, before that, because it's really bugging me, actually not bugging me, offending me." The Doctor stood straighter - shuffling forward, but still, keeping herself between the humans and the … being. "Why the teeth? Bad enough you kill, why take a tooth from the victim?"

The figure before them then reached for its mask. The mechanics of its armour hissed and the facepiece came away, revealing a humanoid creature … with - teeth stuck in his skin.

"Oh … fucking hell," Ana mumbled, as she pushed her forehead into the Doctor's back, suddenly trying to get the image out of her head. They sorta look like Jem'Hadar on steroids, Ana thought, before she straightened up and winced once more.

"A Stenza warrior wears his conquests. You may tell your children you were once privileged to encounter Tzim-Sha of the Stenza." Ana suddenly felt the Doctor stiffen in front of you.

"Tim Shaw?" she called, and Ana couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. Oh my god, she's gonna get us all killed, and not the first time either.

"Tzim-Sha." The alien corrected with a hint of confusion in its voice. Somehow, not used to someone talking back apparently. Ana tugged on the back of the Doctor's vest before she let go and came to stand next to her instead.

"Tim Shaw." The Doctor was just being a little shit now.

"Tzim-Sha!" Its voice held annoyance at being mocked. "Soon to be leader of the Stenza warrior race, conquerors of the Nine Systems."

"When you say soon to be leader, what are you now, the office junior?" Ana let her eyes slide shut with a sigh before she nudged the Doctor in the side.

"Eh? No, don't wind him up." Graham spoke Ana's thoughts.

"Tonight is my challenge. Trace and obtain the selected human trophy." Ana's eyes snapped open and her hand reached out, fingers searching for the Doctor's.

"It's a hunt." Her voice was stern, and Ana could tell by the clenching of her jaw, she was not happy. "You're on a hunt."

"Well done. Your tiny mind must be burning with such effort." The Stenza were apparently massive assholes. The Doctor turned her head and looked at Ana, her brows creased.

"Did he just say I had a small mind?" Ana couldn't help the twitch of her lips though. It was then that she felt the familiar warmth of the Doctor's hand. Green eyes flickered down, as she gave a heavy sigh of relief as the Doctor wrapped her slender hand around Ana's, fingers intertwining, gripping onto her as if she was her lifeboat.

"The challenge is simple. Our leaders randomly designate a selected human. I'm sent here, alone, no weapons, no assistance. I must locate and obtain the trophy and return home with it, victorious."

"Holy crap, they're Predators." Ana cut in and the toothy alien gave her a glare and the Australian cleared her throat and gripped onto the Doctor's hand tighter.

"By doing this," Tim Shaw continued. "I ascend to leader. This is the ritual of the Stenza." After he had finished his explanation, the air was tense and cold and silent. Until Yaz spoke up.

"And it's happened before. Rahul's sister." The Doctor's grip tightened around Ana's hand as well. Her eyes darkened and she was teetering on the edge, just shy of letting The Oncoming Storm out, but she was trying her to keep her cool.

"Earth is not a hunting ground."

"Access was granted."

"No, it wasn't," Ryan butted in. "It was a misunderstanding. Access revoked as of now, by me."

"Just to pick up on one thing." The Doctor continued. "You don't mind, do you? You said the rules were no weapons, no assistance." And suddenly Ana's face broke out into a grin.

Oh, you are so busted, Tim Shaw.

"Correct."

"How did you kill them? What caused the ice burns?"

"We Stenza live at temperatures far below this planet, one touch of my cold skin will kill a human."

"Well - that's just a Mister Freeze rip off."

"Ana…" The Doctor looked at her companion and the brunette cleared her throat once more.

"Sorry."

"So, this super-powered Gathering Coil," The Doctor pointed behind her. "Right here, you're not meant to have it, are you?"

"The creature is irrelevant." Its voice had gotten harder. The Doctor must have struck a nerve.

"I don't think it is. I think you smuggled it ahead of you." Ana watched as the Stenza shifted in his spot and his eyes harden. Brows raised on the brunette's face - god super busted. "I think it located the randomly designated human for you. I think you broke the rules. Some leader you're going to make. Tim Shaw is a big blue cheat!"

It was at this moment that Ana wished she was back home. The creature raised his hand, it glowed a bright white with cold energy.

"God, you gotta stop poking at aliens that could kill us," Ana muttered as the Doctor pulled her behind her once more and they both stepped out of the way of the alien.

"Okay, fine, have it." All six of them moved away from Tim Shaw, as he stepped over to the coils and crouched down, holding its hands over the bunch of noodles - Ana watched in slight amazement, as the energy that once held the coils in the air, flowed into the Stenza.

"What's it doing?" Ryan asked.

"Total transference." The Doctor replied, watching as the Stenza finished and stood up - turning to face them. "If you've finished, let's be really clear. You're not taking any human from Earth tonight." Ana stood closer to the Doctor once more. "Leave now or we're going to stop you."

"It's kind of our thing you know," Ana added, but Tim Shaw didn't care, he flashed what appeared to be a smirk at them.

"Good luck." it managed to get out before he turned to the side and crouched - before disappearing in a flash of bright white light. Ana squinted and growled softly.

"Well - that's just cheating again!" She complained, the Doctor nodded her head as she turned to face the other humans.

"Short-range teleport!"

"Where have they gone?" Yaz questioned.

"To hunt."

"Hunt who?" Ryan put his two cents in and Ana winced, pulling her hand out of the Doctors.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Karl," Ana spoke up and everyone looked at her. She raised a brow once again. "It's easy, that's what the information held right? Karl's face?" The Doctor's face broke out into a massive grin and she surged forward - placing her hands on either side of Ana's face and pressed a kiss against the brunette's forehead.

"Bear, you are still a genius." The blonde exclaimed before she pulled away and Ana flushed a bright red. God - she hadn't received praise like that in years. She forgot how awkward it was when she did it in public. "Grace, can you drive us again?"

Ryan's grandmother let a smile cross her lips and nodded her head. "Of course, I can, love."

"Great - Let's get a shift on then." The Doctor spun on her heels and started to make her way back over to the ladder before she stopped and turned back around. "Does that sound right?" Ana shook her head, as a huffed laugh escaped her lips. "I like that - Shift on." The Doctor then disappeared over the ladder and the humans were left to look between each other.

"Alright, let's go you four," Grace spoke up and followed after the Doctor. Yaz and Ryan shared a look and followed after her before Graham moved as well, after a heavy sigh, like he still couldn't believe he was going along with all of this. Which just left Ana standing on top of the roof alone.

"Ana!" The Doctor called after her. "Hurry up!" Ana rolled her eyes, but there was this feeling in the pit of her stomach like something was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good. She didn't know what it was yet but well … her gut had never failed her before. The lieutenant shook her head though and made her way over to the ladder.

"Coming!"

-x-

Of course, they all had to pile back into the wagon, but Ana didn't have time to dwell on the fact that she was probably once again too close for comfort for Ryan, as the four of them were squeezed into the back. They were searching on their phones trying to find out where this Karl person, who had been there with the others on the train, worked. Her lower lip caught between her teeth, Ana managed to block out the conversations that were happening around her once more, it took a lot of practise – green eyes were flying over the multitude of different search results that had appeared. Who knew that there were that many Karl's in the Sheffield area. It was seeming rather hopeless, until, she finally found a LinkedIn account that was the first that held a photo along with the name. It didn't take her any time at all, to shove her phone in front of Graham's face, to make sure it was the Karl they were looking for.

The older man looked startled for a couple of seconds before he grabbed the phone out of her hands and squinted at the screen as he brought it closer to his face and a sad sort of smile crossed his lips. "That's him." Ana beamed, proud that she still had the hang of 21st-century searching techniques - you do seem to get rather lazy in the 24th century. Taking her phone back from Graham, Ana then shuffled her way out from between the boys and threw herself forward, coming to lean against the centre console and held her phone out towards the Doctor.

"I found him," The Australian announced, "Karl Wright, an operator for Skylark Building Services." Grace looked up and focused on the rear-view mirror, aiming her gaze at Graham, Ana had to stop the grin that was going to spread across her face as she noticed the exchange. It's been a while since she had seen people so in sync that they just know when the other person … knows something.

"I know where that site is." Graham then spoke up, before he leaned forward slightly himself. "It ain't far. Grace, next right, love!" He patted the driver's seat, before leaning back. It was then that Grace stepped on the gas and everyone in the car almost fell even more against one another as the car rounded the corner.

Ana managed to stay upright, even after all those years with inertial dampeners, she still managed to keep her balance before she placed her phone back into her pocket.

"Look at you, home for not even two hours and you're already back into it." The Doctor spoke, and Ana couldn't help but blush before she leaned away and fell back, she hadn't been aiming for Ryan, but she came into contact with his chest and he gave a grunt as she hit him a little too hard. Mumbling an apology, Ana leaned forward once more, straightening her back and shrugging her shoulders. God, she hated tight spaces.

"Yeah well, you can't really leave this type of life behind easily." It was quiet for a couple of minutes after she spoke, everyone seemingly in their heads, even the Doctor, as if they were trying to figure out what they would do once they got to the construction site. But the silence didn't last long when Yaz decided to break it.

"Where did you come from exactly?" the question caused a brow to raise a couple of seconds later. The lieutenant was a little slow at realising that the question had been directed at her. Ana looked around Ryan and let her eyes fall on the younger girl. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, before shaking her head slightly. Tugging on the sleeves of the Doctor's jacket, Ana pulled them over her knuckles and looked down at her lap.

"You wouldn't really believe me if I told you." She mumbled, only to hear the Doctor scoff at her statement from the front seat. The blonde turned around and faced the four of them, but mostly kept her eyes on her oldest companion. Green eyes lifted from her lap, and her brows furrowed.

"Not believe you? Bear, I think they are willing to believe anything at this point." Ana narrowed her eyes at the Time Lord, who kept her gaze and it was almost like she was staring down the White-Haired Scotsman again. Hazel eyes that seemed to be so young, yet still felt like they were ancient and forever. There would always be the risk of falling into them and never wanting to leave. Ana huffed, her nose scrunching upwards before she let her gaze fall back onto Yaz.

"The … 24th Century."

"Twenty-fourth!" That was Ryan, Ana couldn't help but laugh. She really should have been expecting that. "Jesus, that's in the future yeah?" Ryan continued, Ana rolled her eyes playfully.

"That most certainly is the future." The brunette replied, the atmosphere in the car fell into a relaxed state after that and Ana was glad that they didn't think she was crazy, that had happened before but from her statements of saying she was from the past. It hadn't been easy for her, but it eventually ended up being the best time of her life. Before anyone could say anything else, however, Grace pulled up out the front of the construction site. Everyone piled out of the car. "God, I hate heights." Ana rested a hand against the car door, her eyes looking up at the cranes that were towering over the site. It was massive, and her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.

It was then that they all followed after the Doctor, who was making her way through the broken bit of fence. It was a couple of seconds later that they stumbled upon an older man's body who, to Ana's knowledge had been dead for only a couple of minutes. Scrunching her nose upwards once more, Ana's green gaze circled the open site. This wasn't the biggest number of dead people she had seen in one night, but it was strange for such a small town to hold such a high body count. The voice coming from the walkie talkie was probably Karl's and the Doctor crouched down to take it from Dennis' lifeless hands.

"Oh great. Karl's a crane operator." The Doctor sighed, looking at the body then around at the site. Ana's eyes fell back to the crane that sat directly in front of them and swallowed. Sure, she's been in space for the last couple of years, but that doesn't mean she enjoyed heights automatically. At least in space - you couldn't see the bottom. "He would be, wouldn't he?"

"It's over there." Ana followed Ryan's finger and winced at the sight of the alien climbing up the side of the crane. the Doctor stood suddenly and turned to face them.

"And that creature's guarding the bottom of it," Graham added. Ana noticed the Gathering Coils that they had all seen on the rooftop – moving around the base of the crane, it's electric body flashing white every couple of seconds. Ana watched it before returning her attention to the Doctor. She looked between Graham and Grace first.

"Graham, Grace, I need you to take this equipment," She gestured to the bag that was on the ground next to her. "And get everybody off this site. Don't care how, use your initiative. Do not come back in, understand?" The two older companions nodded their head. "Ryan, Yaz, how are you with machinery, and heights?" The two teenagers looked at each other and nodded their heads as well before the blonde bent down and picked up the bag that held the car battery and all the cables.

"I guess we're all right," Yaz answered for the pair of them and the Doctor's lips curled upwards. It wasn't long before her gaze fell onto Ana and the Lieutenant opened her mouth to interrupt but the Time Lord beat her to it.

"I know you hate heights. I won't make you come, you'd probably slow us down." Ana rolled her eyes at that. "I want you to go with Graham and Grace." A frown settled on the Australian's face and the Doctor shook her head, reaching out to hand Grace the bag. "Don't argue with me, Ana. You need to help get everyone off-site as well and then you are to stay where you are."

Ana let her eyes narrow at the Doctor, who kept her gaze. She wasn't going to look away anytime soon, but in the end – it was her new eyes that started to make the pit of Ana's stomach curl once more. So, she heaved a sigh and reluctantly nodded her head. "Alright - fine, but I'm not gonna leave you completely. I'm coming back here." Ana stepped forward. Grace and Graham had started to walk away from the group, Ana knew that she should follow after them but her need to make sure that the Doctor still knew where she stood with her was all that mattered to her. "I'm not leaving you this time."

The Doctor let her lips fall into a straight line, but the Time Lord held her human's gaze for a little while longer before she sighed and nodded her head. "Stay out of trouble." Was all she said before she turned on her heel and gestured for Yaz and Ryan to follow after her.

"You should try and take your own advice!" Ana called out after the Doctor. A heavy sigh escaped the brunette's lips again, gaze lingering on the three of them before she turned on her heel and started to jog after Grace and Graham.

-x-

On her way to catching up with the couple, Ana came across a few loose fluorescent vests and a couple of clipboards, which held a couple of sheets of paper, explaining what the hell they were building on this site. Nothing important, Ana summarised from her brief overlook. She knew that they didn't exactly need to dress up, but they didn't have time for multiple humans to be questioning as to why they were being told to leave the premises. A smile crossed pink lips as she jogged over to Grace first, who was peeking around the corner of a standalone building.

"Hey," she softly called out to them, coming to stand just next to Graham, who appeared around the corner. Grace turned around, giving Ana a soft smile and taking the vest that the Australian was holding out to her. "I found these," she continued before handing the other to Graham. "and these." then the clipboards.

"Oh, you're a lifesaver," Graham commented as he slipped the vest over his shoulders and took the clipboard from Ana's hands. She beamed at him, praise was hard to come by when you were fighting in a war. Her gaze flickered over to one of the many windows that the box had and spotted at least a few people inside, while a couple of others still lurked around outside. Ana crossed her arms over her chest and let herself focus back on the two in front of her.

"How are we gonna get them all off-site?" Ana questioned, it had seemed that Star Fleet had made her lazy. It wasn't difficult to boss people around when you were a nurse, and it certainly was less hard to control people while being a nurse on a space station. Everyone automatically listened to you - there wasn't a need to fake people out.

"Leave it to us, love," Grace replied, and nodded her head towards Graham, who followed her out from behind the building and into the centre of the walkway before they started to call out to all of the workers. "Could I have everyone's attention, please!" Graham was wandering around and knocking on the windows, people were starting to get curious and exiting the small buildings. "Can we have everyone please evacuate the site! This is a total site shutdown." Everyone seemed to be confused, but they weren't questioning the information, Ana guessed that this seemed to happen a lot on sites like these.

Ana couldn't help but feel slightly proud at the pair of them, if she didn't know any better, they would have appeared to be professional site workers. Quiet murmurings and mumbles suddenly filtered through her ears, but none of the men or women seemed to have a problem with leaving - Ana wondered if this was early for them.

"Thank you very much." Graham continued. "Total site shutdown. Quick as you can, please." He was herding everyone out of the buildings. Ana moved away from her hiding place, arms still crossed over her chest as she came to join them. "Thank you, major power issues, very serious, emergency services are on their way."

"Offsite immediately, please. Matter of urgency." and it was when the last person had left –that the three of them looked at each other. Ana couldn't help the grin that crossed her lips.

"Oh, I now know why the Doctor let you tag along." She beamed, looking back over her shoulder, towards the crane and her lip fell between her teeth once more. "Now, I'll just be back … in a moment, maybe two. Give me twenty minutes, tops." Turning on her heel once more, Ana sprinted back the way she came, ignoring Graham, who called out to her, or the fact that Grace had started to follow after her.

Stumbling back past the broken fence, Ana came to a stop closer to the cranes and squinted up against the fluorescent lights. Even looking that high up made Ana's stomach curl. Heaving in a deep breath, she tried to get her eyesight to work a little better, trying to spot the Doctor.

"Grace, she explicitly said not to come back. It's not safe." Graham, ever the worrywart, grumbled. Ana wondered if he'd ever lived in the moment. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted that Graham was suddenly looking at her as well. "That goes for you as well, Ana, love." A brow raised on Ana's forehead.

"Look, it's swapped cranes." Ana's gaze flew back over to the right crane and she spotted the gathering coil, which was now on the bottom of the crane, Ana had a sneaking suspicion, that it was this one that the Doctor, Yaz, and Ryan were on. Pulling off her vest, Grace hands it over to Graham. "It's trying to bring it down, we have to stop it." Walking forward, Grace then grabbed a hold of Ana's hand and pulled her after her, as she was making a jog even closer to the right crane.

The brunette wasn't fazed at all by Grace's words, considering there was no way that she was going to leave the Doctor to do whatever it was she had been planning on doing. Even if she had taken Yaz and Ryan along with her, Ana knew that there was always the possibility of something going wrong. They made it to the bottom of the crane, and the older woman let go of Ana's hand to come to a standstill, looking up. Graham finally caught up with them and stood next to his wife, almost ready to chastise her once more - expect he followed her line of sight as well.

Ana, however, squinted into the semi-darkness and looked around the base of the crane, trying to see if anyone had left behind another walkie talkie. She took a couple of steps over to the multitude of barrels that were scattered around the place, rummaging through them and even looking over a table that was in the far left. When she couldn't find anything, she gave a huff of annoyance and mumbled. "Why can't things ever be simple."

"Ana, love…" Grace's voice caught her attention and Ana turned on her heel and looked over at the older woman. "I think you wanna take a look at your Doctor." A frown settled on her forehead, but she didn't question it and jogged back over to where Grace and Graham stood.

"Why? What's she …" She trailed off, as her eyes focused upwards and spotted the Doctor at the edge of the crane. "…doing now." her train of thought veered off its track and she automatically started to worry, which stepped into overdrive as soon as the Doctor took a running leap of faith off the crane.

"Oh my god." Grace and Graham spoke together, while Ana couldn't even let herself look. Slapping a hand over her eyes, the brunette shook her head and turned away.

"Not even a day old and she's already scaring the shit out of me," Ana complained. She could faintly hear what was happening up above, swearing on her life that she heard the Doctor complain about her legs being shorter. Letting her hand fall away from her eyes, Ana turned back around and continued to watch what was happening above her.

"For the love of God, don't fall!" Ana yelled as loud as she could skyward. She had no idea if falling from that kind of height would induce regeneration again, or if she was still in her 24-hour period that she would just … heal herself. Crossing her arms over her chest, Ana gave all her attention to the Doctor, making sure that she wasn't going to fall.

"Love, come on." Grace tried to grab a hold of Ana's elbow, but the Australian wasn't having any of it, shaking off her hand.

"I gotta … I have to stay here." She replied, finally letting her eyes move from above, coming to rest on Grace's lovely face. It was then that she noticed Graham had disappeared. "Make sure nothing happens." Grace wanted to argue, say that there was nothing that Ana could do from down here. But she didn't, instead, she gave the younger girl a pat on her elbow, before she left herself. It wasn't long until Graham reappeared though, his arms full, with two other bags. The gathering coil was still trying its best to cut through the bottom of the crane the Doctor had jumped from. Ana prayed that whatever Grace had in mind, was going to work.

Letting her eyes leave the couple (who had told her that they were going to try and stop the coils before leaving Ana alone) and back upwards, it was then that she noticed that the Doctor was having a conversation, well – she says conversation, it's more like the Doctor was trying her best not to lose her cool with … Tim Shaw. "Let him go, or I destroy this." Ana had no idea what the Doctor was pulling out of her coat, but she knew that it was something important. It always was. "The recall from the pod you travelled in. I took it out, without this, you can't get home." Eyes wandered around once more, making sure that Grace and Graham were still okay. "Yeah, see? Now you're worried. If I fall, this falls with me." A sigh left Ana's lips, as her hand came up and covered her face again. She swore that this version of the Doctor was going to give her a heart attack as well.

It was only a couple of minutes later, that Grace came back. Ana watched as she set up the coil of cables and she wondered what the hell she was doing.

"Uh, Grace?" Ana called, letting her arms fall to her sides. Throwing one last look upwards, the brunette made her way over to Ryan's Nan. Grabbing a hold of the clamp, Grace gave Ana a soft smile. "What are you doing?"

"I'm climbing up and I'm going to stop that … thing." Ana's eyes widened.

"Uh - no, hang on." Ana stumbled over her words, fingers gripping the ends of her sleeves as Grace started to walk towards the crane. "I should be doing that. Where's Graham?" Grace's smile disappeared then, as she stopped. Shaking her head, there was a look of determination in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, love. Ryan's in trouble, I have to do this." Her voice held a tone that Ana hadn't heard before. She was serious, very serious and she wanted to do this - for her Grandson, for her husband and for the rest of them. "You stay here," Grace continued, and Ana's focus came back to her. "Graham may need you." Ana didn't even get the chance to argue further, as Grace shot off once more.

A curse escaped Ana's lips, but she didn't go after her. Instead, she shot off back the way they had all come, only to find one of the smaller sheds wide open. That must be where Graham is, Ana thought to herself as she sprinted over. Almost slamming into the open door, Graham jumped, turning on his heel rather sharply – he shone the torch directly into Ana's face.

"Blimey, Graham it's just me," Ana complained – squinting against the light. He heaved out a sigh relief before he rolled his eyes and turned back around to focus on the electrical panel before him. "You got this?" Ana questioned as she made her way over to him.

"Of course I've got this." He grumbled. "I rewired the whole house, you know." It was rare in this type of situation, but Ana went ahead and cracked a smile anyhow.

"Alright, granddad." She even let a soft chuckle escape her lips. "Just making sure." Ana then proceeded to take the last remaining clamp out of his hands and placing it on the black cable just to her right, in time to hear Grace yelling for them to switch it on.

"I hope this works." Graham murmured before flicking the small lever inside the electrical box. The cries of its working caused Ana to beam at Graham for the second time that night, which he returned with an enthusiastic smile. However, it only lasted for a couple of seconds, before they heard something heavy thump against the ground. The two of them stared at each other before Graham sprinted out of the shed. Ana let her lip fall between her teeth, flicking the switch upwards again, Ana then followed after him, that sick feeling returning to her stomach.

Jogging back to the bottom of the crane, Ana almost stumbled to a halt as she spotted Graham kneeling over a fallen Grace. "Oh my god." her voice was barely audible, and Ana seemed to forget all of her training, what was worse, was that she didn't have her medical tricorder on her. There was no way that she would be able to tell if Grace was going to make it or not. Arms wrapping around her stomach, the brunette slowly made her way over to them, however, still giving Graham the space that he needed.

"Promise me … you won't be scared." Grace managed to breathe out. Ana then lowered herself to her knees on the other side. She pressed her two fingers against the vein on Grace's neck, checking her pulse. It wasn't erratic, it was starting to slow down - Ana knew that it wasn't the fall that would have killed her outright, it must have had something to do with the pile of massive coils, that were now lifeless on the ground a few feet away from them, it must have done something to her before they died.

"What do you mean?" Graham was doing his best to keep it together. Ana sat back then, eyes drifting to her left - she spotted Ryan and Yaz running over to them. Her heart grew heavy and she almost wanted to sob, she had seen so many people die in the last couple of months - most of them had been her friends. But somehow, Grace, dying on the asphalt was affecting her a lot more than she would have thought.

"Without me…" That was her last breath and her hand fell from Graham's face, down onto the ground.

"Grace…Grace." His voice tore at Ana's heart and she had to look away. She was a nurse and yet she still couldn't handle the sight of someone grieving. Ryan skidded to a halt and almost fell over Graham as he got to his knees, resting his whole body over his Nan's and Graham rested an arm around his grandson. Tears pooling at the corner of her eyes, Ana looked up and spotted the Doctor coming to a stop just behind her.

It took her a couple of seconds, but Ana stood to her feet and moved backward to give the grieving family some space. It was almost like her body moved on its own accord. It was telling her hands to reach out to her right and find the Doctors. It was almost instant that the two of them threaded fingers and Ana couldn't help the sad smile that crossed her lips. The Doctor didn't pull away and for that, Ana was even more grateful. She needed the reassurance that everything was going to be okay, that the grieving family before them would make it through this day and the days afterwards. Ana's free hand came up and wiped away the stray tear that fell down her cheek and a heavy sigh escaped her lips.

Yaz had moved away from Ryan and Graham and pulled her phone out of her pocket, she was probably calling the paramedics. Ana had no idea how they were going to explain all of this, that was something else she hadn't had to think of in a while. But she was certain that Yaz would think of something.

Turning her head slightly, Ana watched as the Doctor's face was flooded with emotion - giving the group a sympathetic look, a frown settled on her forehead. Ana squeezed her hand even tighter and stepped closer to the blonde, she knew that the Doctor always struggled with the fact that there was always the possibility of someone dying on her watch. By knowing her, by being a part of their group and the adventures, there were high risks involved when travelling with the Doctor. But Ana knew that not one of the people they had met that night would ever blame her. Or give her up for that matter. Lord knows she hasn't yet.

"Paramedics should be here in about fifteen minutes." Yaz had come back, her face perfectly sombre but Ana knew the look she was trying to replace it with, even if she hadn't known the younger girl for long. That was the face of someone who was in work mode, trying to hide her emotions and get through this moment. Graham nodded softly, while Ryan finally pulled away from his Nan, tears staining his handsome face and Ana had to squeeze the Doctor's hand again to stop her tears from falling again.

"Thanks, Yaz," Graham mumbled.

"How are you doing?" Ana questioned, looking at the Doctor - who seemed distant. Hazel eyes moved from the others and focused on her. A soft grunt escaped from the back of the Doctor's throat and Ana let her nose twitch. "Because, if I'm guessing right, you're almost done regenerating properly but you're still … in the middle of it."

"Fizzing inside is still happening." Ana couldn't help the smile on her lips at the reply. "But it's nothing I can't handle." The Doctor continued, before pulling her hand out of Ana's - who tried not to feel slightly saddened by the move, but her arms folded over her chest. "I mean, there was that one time I had my hand cut off by the Sycorax, this is easy." Ana snorted and Yaz immediately looked over at them.

"I'm sorry, you what?" She questioned, a frown falling on her forehead and there was a part of Ana that felt bad for almost enjoying herself while Grace laid dead at their feet (Graham had gotten up and found something to cover her with).

"You remember that don't you, Bear?" Ana snapped back to attention and nodded her head. "It's alright, grew back though." Lifting her left hand, the Doctor gave Yaz a small wave. Ana couldn't help the second snort that escaped her, she was going to say something, but the sound of sirens filled her ears and Yaz fell back into police mode. It was about three minutes later that two paramedics arrived on the scene.

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Ana mumbled to the Doctor, as the pair of them stood back and watched Yaz interact with them - Karl had also finally made an appearance.

"Oh, I could have prevented this, Ana." The Doctor replied, letting her eyes fall back on the humans, especially Ryan - who had once again, stopped crying but he still didn't want to leave his Nan's side. In the end, Graham managed to pick Ryan up off of the floor, without a look behind, he walked Ryan towards the car. Ana's heart tugged in her chest, she didn't know whether or not to follow – but she didn't think that Ryan wanted to be around anyone else right now.

"Come on," Ana said, nudging the Time Lord in the ribs. "We should get out of here before the coppers show up." The Doctor gave her a look, before she stepped forward and started to pat down her jacket, that Ana was still wearing. The brunette raised a brow, it must now be a quirk of Thirteen's, she thought to herself.

"I thought I had my psychic paper somewhere." The Doctor mumbled, as Ana quickly spoke to Yaz in her ear – and the young copper nodded. Pulling off the jacket, Ana handed it back to the Doctor, who took it without a word and slipped it on. It was a bit of a walk back to Graham's place. Technically, the Time Lord should be resting, but there was no way that she was going to carry the blonde eight blocks.

"Yeah, well psychic paper still wouldn't explain why your clothes are basically falling off of you and look like they've been through the blender," Ana complained as she reached out and grabbed ahold of the Doctor's arm, pulling her towards the back entrance of the site, just as the sound of police sirens could be heard. "I really loved that jacket." Ana pouted as they made their way out onto the footpath.

A cool breeze blew across Ana's face and a heavy sigh escaped her lips. Tightening her grip on the Doctor's arm, green eyes looked over at the blonde – who was … still shorter than her. That was going to take some time getting used too, the Doctor had always been taller.

"I knew that my legs used to be taller." The Doctor continued to ramble, and Ana couldn't help but shake her head. They had a long walk ahead of them, but she knew that Ryan and Graham, could do with a little more alone time - away from the alien and her as well. The stranger that just appeared on their doorstep only two hours prior. "I'll get a jacket that you'll love even more." The Doctor commented, and Ana couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.

"Of course, you will." Green eyes beamed at the blonde. "You always have a good sense of fashion." Ana let the Doctor's arm go and continued walking, even as the Time Lord stopped.

"Oi, was that a dig at the bow tie?" Ana laughed once more, surprising herself at how well they fell back into … this. "Bow ties are still cool, Tanaka!"

-x-

An Hour After The Incident.

1:03 am

Ana had no idea where anything was in Sheffield, especially in the small part of town that they had found themselves in. So - aimlessly wandering for about half an hour, was all Ana could do, before she found her way back to the diner that she passed when she first arrived. Finding an empty booth near the entrance, she slid into it and all but fell against the window, exhausted. It was the Doctor that had suggested they should grab something to eat, well more so that Ana should find somewhere to eat, considering that the Time Lord had been insisting that she was feeling fine, the whole trip there and only if the diner made fried egg sandwiches would she even consider having something. Ana had been surprised that the diner was still open, checking the time on her phone – which read one am and her whole body sagged once again, this time backward against the plush, red seating and let her eyes close.

She stilled her whole body and just listened to the sounds surrounding her. Breathing in and out slowly, Ana could hear the rare occurrence of a passing car, while the most common sound that she could hear, was the light patter of rain against the window and it was doing wonders at calming her down, especially her heart rate. The sound of soft murmurs from the few fellow customers in the diner could be heard, mostly truckies who were pit stopping and probably staying the night. The whirring of the air conditioner just above her head, as it was trying its best to blast out warm air, but it looked so incredibly old, that all Ana could feel was cold air. But she wasn't about to complain, the softness of the seat was enough to make her forget about it.

"Here." The Doctor's voice appeared to the left of her and green eyes squinted open slightly. The Time Lord placed a white styrofoam cup in front of her, it was steaming, and Ana could feel her tastebuds water. It had been ages since she had a proper coffee - replicator stuff just wasn't the same. The Doctor slid into her seat on the opposite side of the booth, a white cup in her hand, Ana just knew that it was tea. "How are you doing?" The Doctor asked, which caused Ana to raise a brow as she leaned forward, reaching to grab one of the packets of sugar that were in a silver cup near the window sill.

"I'm fine," Ana replied shortly, ripping open the packet of sugar – spilling some on the table before she poured the whole thing into her coffee and stirred it with the wooden stick provided. "Why?" the question flowed easily from her as she brought the cup to her lips, blowing on the hot liquid and taking a sip.

It wasn't the best but my God it would do.

"Because, I know you, Bear." The Doctor continued, sipping her tea before she shifted in her seat. Ana forgot how … normal they could be. They hadn't had a conversation like this since he … they were in their eleventh regeneration. That was only because Eleven dragged her all the way to the American desert, the memory caused Ana to scrunch her nose slightly. "I know where you were and what's been happening," The Doctor continued. "At least… I think I remember." Ana snorted out a laugh, before taking another sip of her coffee.

God, at least she remembered how she liked it. Just a dash of milk, and a little bit of honey (with one small packet of sugar). It was a weird combination, but it worked for the Australian. "Yeah, well…" She mumbled, green eyes falling away from the intense pair and down at her coffee. A hand reached up and scratching at her forehead, she winced even before her fingers brushed over the cut on her forehead, however … it wasn't there anymore. Frowning again, Ana wondered if it had something to do with the fact that she had touched the Doctor while she was still letting off regeneration energy. It was silent between the pair. "What about you?" The Doctor looked startled for a second and the frown remained on Ana's brow. "What? Thought I'd forget you were literally still regenerating when I arrived?"

The Doctor narrowed her eyes and took another sip. "No, you know how it is," She started. "Just need a good night's rest." Ana rolled her eyes, but an affectionate smile crossed her lips.

"Of course," She did her best to finish her coffee – it suddenly dawned on her that if she kept drinking more, there would be no way she'd fall asleep. Instead, Ana rested back against the booth seat, and just watched the Doctor. Her chest was tight, but the air between them wasn't as awkward as it had been earlier. This was what they had needed, but Ana knew there wasn't anything she could say at the moment without seeming insensitive. Too soon after Grace, Ana just really wanted to get out of here and have a shower. They were lucky that Graham had allowed them to come back and stay with him and Ryan, Yaz said she would have offered - but she didn't have the room, nor did she want to explain who they were to her parents and sister. Not just yet anyway.

Seven Hours After The Incident.

10:12 am

Ana was surprised to find Yaz had come around to Graham's place at almost two-thirty in the morning just to give Ana some of her clothes. The brunette had been grateful enough that she wrapped her arms around the younger woman in a quick hug before she dashed off towards the guest bathroom to have a shower and get changed. Yaz had tried to offer some to the Doctor, but the blonde had shaken her head and said that she was fine in the clothes she was wearing. Later, when Ana came back out, she wanted to push her to take the clothes and have a shower, but there was a part of her that selfishly didn't want the Doctor out of her old clothes.

That would have meant a finality on the past life and Ana just … didn't think she was ready to let go just yet. Even if it hadn't ended all that great.

"Now, there's only one bed," Graham announced as Ana looked over the room. It looked … very much like Grace had decorated it, the brunette thought - she had only known the older woman for just over an hour, but she could tell that the house had been her pride and joy. Ana let her hand dance over the frog ornaments on the dresser. "I hope you don't mind sharing."

"Don't mind at all Graham!" The Doctor gave him a grin as she fell onto the bed, her back against the headboard and her hands folded over her stomach. "Ana and I have shared a bed many times." The older man looked between the two, even with Ana's back to him – he could tell that she snickered slightly at her response, he sighed and nodded his head.

"Of course," he mumbled, before pointing behind him. "The loo's just down the hall." he stood in the doorway for a couple of seconds more, just … watching the two women who had suddenly turned his entire life upside down in one night. By the time they had finished with the police, it was three am and everyone just wanted to go to sleep. "Goodnight."

"Night!" The Doctor had called. Ana finally made her way over to the bed and fallen onto it just as the Time Lord had. Yaz's clothes were a little big for her, but Ana was grateful to be out of her dirtied and bloodied uniform and feeling a lot more like herself.

Before anything could be said between them, Ana had dozed off – only to find that she had ended up snuggling closer to the Doctor in the middle of the night, it was amazing that she had managed to fall asleep in the first place. Ana knew that it was going to be the last time she saw the Time Lord asleep for a while.

It was a hand brushing through her hair that woke her up in the morning. The light had already started to stream through the partially opened blinds and Ana squinted against it. Another blink and the Doctor had disappeared from over her and the digital clock on the side table read 6:25 am. The brunette groaned and rolled over and buried her head underneath the pillow, even though she would have been late for her shift by 25 minutes, she told herself that she wasn't on a space station anymore. With that in mind, Ana closed her eyes again and let herself fall back asleep.

The next time that she woke, the digital clock read 10:12 am. A heavy sigh escaped Ana's lips, and the sounds of voices could be heard floating down the hall. They were too far away for Ana to make out what they were saying, so she pushed the pillow off her head and just stared up at the ceiling. Well - no use lying around, as much as she wanted to and as much as her sore body would have liked, it was time to get up.

Seven and A Half Hours After The Incident.

10:42 am

Okay, so it may have taken her another thirty minutes or so to get out of bed, Ana had managed to make it down the hall and into the living room, only to stop suddenly at the sight of Graham and Ryan at the dining table, with a man dressed in a suit and a shit ton of papers and files scattered across the table top. Ana stopped and blushed at the fact that she was almost naked (The tank top was the only small thing given to her by Yaz and it stopped just above her belly button and the track pants hung low around her hips) but the three men didn't even notice.

Green eyes flitted across the room, to see that the Doctor and Yaz were further in the kitchen. Ana made her way over to them and went straight for the fridge first, well - Graham did say to make herself at home.

"Ah! You're finally awake." The Doctor exclaimed as she looked up from the laptop sat in front of her. A frown fell on Ana's brow.

"Yeah, and you've been awake for hours." She grumbled, pulling out the milk - before grabbing one of the bowls already on the counter and the cereal, pouring everything into said bowl. "God," Ana grumbled and Yaz couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Not a morning person?" The copper questioned and Ana gave her a soft glare, shovelling a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"Bear's never really been an anything person," The Doctor answered for her, not looking up from the laptop this time. "Don't talk to her for at least twenty minutes after she's woken up." Ana rolled her eyes and made to sit up on the counter - next to Yaz. "Oi, no - off the counter." The Doctor finally looked up again and shooed Ana off. "Not our house, remember?"

"Fine…but you know there are no more chairs, right?" Ana placed her bowl down on the counter. Yaz laughed again, her eyes flickering between the two bantering women.

"There's a couch in the lounge." Ana scrunched up her nose. "Oh, come on, Ana." It wasn't that Ana had anything wrong with any of the furniture in the house, it was just … she didn't want to leave the Time Lord's side. "I'll be right here. In the kitchen." Hazel eyes met green, and Ana raised a brow. "Trying to find the TARDIS."

The Australian huffed, but reluctantly agreed, picking up the bowl of cereal once more and making her way over to the couch that had held the regenerating Time Lord almost nine hours before. Pulling her legs up underneath her, Ana munched away on her cereal and just listened to the sounds of the room.

How was this the new normal?

Fifteen Hours After The Incident.

6:17 pm

"It's not on Earth." The Doctor exclaimed walking back into their shared bedroom. It was usually around dinner time that Ana would start to get antsy again. It must be the mothering instincts in her that needed to eat around this time every day, which is why she was glad that Graham was able to keep on pushing through his grief and actually have some kind of routine in the house. For both Ryan and the two strangers, he was harbouring. He was just ordering take out, but it was better than not eating at all. Ana looked over her shoulder and frowned, the blonde was carrying what appeared to be a motherboard in her arms before she dumped it on the desk on the other side of the room.

The brunette turned back to look at herself in the full-length mirror. Letting her brows relax, Ana was amazed that the cut she had on her forehead when she evacuated the Phoenix, was indeed no longer there. "What's not on Earth?" She questioned, heaving out a sigh and dropping her hand from her forehead before fully turning around to face the Time Lord.

"The TARDIS." A tone that was clearly one of slight annoyance, like there was nothing else she would be talking about. "It's not here, and it's not in any neighbouring planets." Ana just grew to accept that the Doctor had crazy ways to find things without so much as an alien computer. All she needed was a sonic screwdriver and bits and pieces and she would be able to create the most amazing things.

"So, where the hell has it gone?" Ana mumbled, coming to sit on the edge of the bed, watching as the blonde fiddled with the motherboard, attaching it to the thing she had built during the day. "Would the Stenza ship help?" The Doctor looked up suddenly and a grin crossed her face. "Oh God, you've already done that, haven't you?"

"You're getting slow in your old age, Bear." Ana scoffed, but couldn't help the grin that crossed her lips.

"Dinner here's!" As much as Ryan tried to sound happy, there was no denying the grief that still laced his tone, even with the simplest of words. Ana stood from the bed and jabbed her thumb over her shoulder.

"You gonna eat?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer before the Doctor even shook her head. Ana sighed and nodded. "I'll save you some."

Two Days After The Incident.

11:15 am.

It's the warehouse where the Doctor spends most of her time now. Not once changing out of Twelve's clothes, she was building the TARDIS tracking device out of the leftover Stenza ship, Ana didn't know the technical name, but she knew it was going to work. Hopefully.

Shoving the door open, Ana tried not to get her dress dirty. Again, Ana had to thank Yaz for sharing her clothes, just a simple black dress, which stopped just above her knees and puffed out at the sleeves. Not something she was used to wearing, occasions like these her dress uniform would have been worn, but well she didn't have it with her.

The Doctor was hunched over something as Ana wandered in, her phone in one hand and a new purse (which again Yaz had helped pick out on their shopping trip the day before) clutched underneath her armpit. "Hey!" Ana called out, heels clicking against the concrete, she felt a little awkward, but she knew that they probably wanted the alien there just as much as her. "You ready?" The Doctor finally looked up and pushed the goggles up onto the top of her head.

"Just give me … a second." Ana rolled her eyes and came to a stop just a couple of feet away from where she was working. "I think I've narrowed it down." Only for the thing to spark and the Doctor to jump away suddenly, her face scrunched upwards. "Oh, well - never mind then." She turned to look at Ana and a brow raised on her forehead. "You look … nice?"

Ana narrowed her eyes and looked down at the dress. "Why'd that sound like a question?" Shifting on her feet, Ana looked back up at the Time Lord. "Come on, we're gonna be late." Reaching out, Ana grabbed onto the Doctor's elbow and dragged her away from what she was working on and if she hadn't, she would have stayed there for the rest of the day or hell the week even.

-x-

The balloons were a nice touch, even with not knowing Grace well enough, Ana thought that her funeral shouldn't be a sad occasion. Finally letting go of the Doctor as they stepped into the venue, the Time Lord spotted Ryan who was staring out the front window.

The Doctor handed Ana her coat, and the brunette couldn't help the roll of her eyes.

"I'm not your coat rack." She murmured but still wrapped it around her arms, trying her best not to press it against her face. Don't … wanna be weird at a funeral.

"Hey, you made it." Ana turned and spotted Yaz walking over to her before she smiled at her.

"How is he?" Ana asked nodding her head in the direction of Ryan.

"Waiting for his dad," Yaz answered. Ana looked back at the two figures who were having a quiet conversation. "He promised Ryan he'd be here."

"Ah - he hasn't shown?"

"No." There was a cue from the priest and everyone around them moved to sit in their respective places. Ana turned back to watch as Ryan stepped away from the alien and made his way to the front of the church, giving Ana a grateful smile as he passed. Yaz followed after him and the two of them sat at the front, next to what looked like Ryan's extended family.

Ana turned back to watch the Doctor, but she stayed where she was, at the back of the church with her hands in her pockets and a sombre look on her face. Ana decided to join her.

"Lots of you knew Grace longer than me." Graham started, standing up in front of everyone. Ana hadn't been to a funeral in a long time, the last she truly remembered was her own grandmothers when she was about eight or nine. Since then, there hadn't been anyone Ana had said goodbye to properly. "So, I can't stand here and pretend to know everything about her." Gripping onto the Doctor's coat in one arm, Ana let her other hand come out and grab lightly at the Doctor's sleeve. She looked down before she pulled her hand out of her pocket and gripped onto Ana's hand before looking back up at her companion, who was still focusing all her attention on Graham. The Doctor gave a soft smile, before tightening her grip. "I wasn't her first husband, but she said I would do for a second attempt." a small buzz of laughter filled the room. "I can only tell you about the Grace I met when I thought I didn't have much time left. The, umm, the Grace that showed me life had more to offer." Silence filled the room and Ana could feel her heart tug in her chest, a cough escaped her lips – trying to distract herself just enough so that she didn't start crying. "And I know if she was here now, she'd tell us not to be so sad. You see, I can hear her saying to me: We had three glorious years, what're you complaining about?" Ana smiled softly, eyes flickering up at the Doctor before she let them drop. "I'm complaining cos I wanted more. You see Grace was a better person than I could ever be. And I should have gone. And Grace should still be here."

-x-

They all found themselves back at Graham and Grace's house, while the wake was still going on inside, the five of them sat out the front of the house, perched on the steps - mugs of tea, or coffee in Ana's case, all in hand. They had been silent until the Doctor looked up from her mug.

"What did you mean, in your speech, you thought you'd run out of time?" She asked Graham, who looked up as well and shifted in his spot.

"Well, um, I had cancer." Ana winced. "Strictly speaking, I'm still in remission. Three years gone and Grace was my chemo nurse." The wince turned into a smile, Ana knew what that was like - she hadn't exactly been through cancer, but something of a similar case. "That's where we met and fell in love. So, by rights, I shouldn't even be here."

It was silent for a couple of seconds more, before Ana noticed the discomfort on Ryan's face, as he stared intensely down at his mug of tea. Ana cleared her throat softly before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Have you got family?" Yaz broke the silence and Ana was grateful. She may be a nurse herself, but Ana had a terrible bedside manner, something she picked up from Doctor McCoy. The Doctor let her gaze fall on Ana for a brief moment before hazel eyes found their way back onto Yaz.

"No. Well, when I say no, I mean I lost all but one a long time ago." The Doctor answered and Ana couldn't keep the frown off her forehead. Hazel eyes found Ana's green and the two of them held each other's gaze for a while, it was a moment that caused the three humans to feel slightly awkward witnessing. Even if the Doctor and Ana had spoken briefly about what happened in the warehouse, there were still things left unsaid between them.

"How d'you cope with that?" Ryan spoke up. The Doctor broke Ana's gaze and the brunette cleared her throat, louder this time and downed the rest of her coffee - placing the mug on the step next to her.

"I carry them with me. What they would've thought and said and done." The Doctor looked proud suddenly, remembering all of her previous companions - as well as her actual family back on Gallifrey. "I make them a part of who I am. So even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me." Hands clasped together in Ana's lap, her heart-tugging in her chest.

"That's the sort of thing Grace would have said."

"So, everything we saw, everything we lied to people about. Is this normal for you?" Yaz continued her questioning, only to level her gaze on Ana as well, who sat up straighter. "For both of you?"

"Oh, not so chaotic," Ana answered first. "My life managed to gain a bit more order." The Doctor scoffed.

"You left for Starfleet. Where's the fun in that?" The three humans all looked at each other, amused looks fluttering across their faces as the two suddenly not strangers began to bicker once more.

"Far less likely to be killed." A grin crossed Ana's lips as the Doctor let her face scrunch upwards. She knew she had the Time Lord there. "Ha."

"I'm just a traveller." The Doctor moved on, and Ana rolled her eyes with her amused look still present on her face. "Sometimes I see things need fixing I do what I can."

"Usually it means making it worse before it gets better."

"Oi." The Doctor complained and Ana giggled softly. "Except right now I am a traveller without a ship. I've stayed too long." She stops, before looking over at Ana once more. Ana knew that she had no way of getting back to her proper home without the Doctor and the TARDIS, so she was going to have to stick to the Time Lord's side for a little while longer.

Besides, she hardly had enough in her bank account to book a hotel, let alone a flight halfway across the world.

"I should get back to finding my TARDIS." The Doctor stood up once more. Ana following suite, knowing that the warehouse was where she would be heading.

"Doctor!" Yaz called, causing the Time Lord to pause in her steps and look back at the three humans. "Can I just say, you really need to get out of those clothes." Ana pouted, while the Doctor looked down at the old outfit, she had been sporting for almost a week. Twelve's clothes were big on her, Ana was amazed that they had managed to stay on.

"Right. Yeah." The Doctor looked at Yaz and Ana couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. Coming to stand next to the Time Lord. "It's been a long time since I bought women's clothes."

"Come on, Yaz!" Ana beamed up at the younger girl. "You and Ryan can help!"

"Why me?" Ryan mumbled and Graham shook his head.

"It'll be fun!" Graham added before he stood up from his spot and picked up the now empty mugs. "Take your time! But be back before ten." He called before making his way back inside the house. Ryan turned back to the three girls and groaned.

-x-

It had taken at least four different shops, and almost three hours before they had finally all settled on a small thrift shop. The sun was starting to set, and Ana was ready to fall asleep. She had forgotten how much funerals took out of you, the feeling of death and sadness and depressing undertones took a toll on the human mind. Besides, it had been a long time since she was able to properly sleep, and she was going to take advantage of that no matter where she was.

While Yaz and Ryan waited (with a pile of clothes in each of their arms) for the Doctor just outside the changing room, Ana wandered around the rather large shop. So many different clothes, ranging from vintage to fairly new. Slender fingers danced over the fabrics and green eyes flickered over every piece. It seemed like ages since she had been shopping, going to Risa wasn't exactly the same and whenever she was on Earth, it was always on Starfleet grounds.

Picking up a coat hanger, Ana looked over the piece of clothing, a leather jacket and heaved out a sigh.

"Oh yes." The sound of the Doctor's voice forced Ana's head to lift and look to the left - the last piece of clothing was flung out from behind the curtains. A smile crossed the brunette's lips as she placed the leather jacket back on the hanger and made her way over to the two other humans. "Now. That's what I want!" The three of them all looked at each other before the curtains were flung open and the Doctor stepped out from behind it.

Ana couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips.

Lilac coat, just as long as Ten's use to be, a blue shirt with a rainbow stripe across the middle. A slightly lighter blue three-quarter length pants and brown boots that would have made Eleven proud. Her arms were spread out on either side of her and Ana stepped over to her.

"That's what you're going with?" Yaz exclaimed behind her, but the Doctor kept her gaze on Ana – who reached out and grabbed ahold of one of the yellow suspenders. Ana's smile was replaced with a grin, as she looked at the Time Lord.

"Suspenders?" The Doctor grinned in return before she focused on Yaz.

"Yep!"

"I love it." Ana butted in, turning back to face the others. The Doctor placed her hands in her pockets and leaned forward, with a sheepish look on her face.

"Got any cash? Empty pockets." Yaz looked at Ryan, who grinned as well - it was infectious clearly. "Also. I've been thinking about my TARDIS." The Doctor continued, moving over to them. "D'you think you guys might be able to help me?"

-x-

Five Days After The Incident.

12:30 pm

Warm light bathed the warehouse, the Doctor raced around the mess that she had created almost a week ago. Ana knew how agitated she could get when stuck in one place for too long, so the mess was surprisingly neat for her.

The four of them were all in certain places, holding bits and pieces and even parts from the machine in place, while the Doctor bounded around them, using the sonic screwdriver to fix them into place and then walking back to the centre of the device she had been building.

Of course, it was Graham that broke the silence first. "How long have we got to stand here for, I'm getting a cramp." Ana snorted and the Doctor frowned, not looking at the older man.

"Seriously Graham, trying to concentrate here!" The Doctor chastised him, but Graham didn't look scolded, he just looked more annoyed by her reaction.

Ryan just looked confused. "Do you understand what she's doing?" He asked, leaning closer to Yaz. But the Doctor paused long enough to answer his question.

"My ship uses a particular type of energy." She started. "I've tracked that energy trail from the moment I lost it to where it is now." Moving to sonic something once more. "Now, given this is a transport pod, I'm configuring it to send me to the planet where my ship seems to have ended up." Ana frowned and dumped what she was holding, it seemed like part of a toaster.

"You mean we are going to the planet?" The Time Lord looked sheepish and Ana narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "You were going to leave me here? With them?"

"Oi," Graham complained but she ignored him. The Doctor heaved out a sigh and looked at the brunette.

"I didn't want to risk it, Bear." She tried to console the human, but Ana shook her head and made her way into the centre of the device. "You can't come."

"Too bad," Ana mumbled and Yaz shook her head.

"You're going to another planet?" She tried to get the conversation back on track. The Doctor pulled her gaze from Ana and let them rest on Yaz. A heavy sigh escaped her lips once more, as her hands rested on her hips.

"Trying to. Except Stenza technology's really annoying and super hard to decipher. Which is why I was going on my own, just in case." She directed the last part to Ana, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hundred and thirty-nine layers, seven of which don't make sense." The Doctor moved from the centre and pointed at Graham. "Right Graham you clamp these on to there."

"Yes. Alright." Graham did what he was told, and the Doctor moved on to the other two. In the end, they followed their instructions, looking up at the Doctor, before she stepped back into the centre, pushing Ana just behind her – who huffed in retaliation and leaned around the Doctor's frame and looked back at them.

"Okay, you three." She started – Ana sniffed, just a tiny bit hurt that the Time Lord had been planning on leaving her on Earth. Again. "I'm almost gonna miss you." The iPad to their right beeped and the Doctor perked up. "That's it! It's connected up. It should work." Though her lower lip fell between her teeth and the Doctor suddenly looked like she didn't want to leave. "Moment of truth, then. Wish me luck," Ana waved slightly and stepped around so that she could stand next to the Time Lord, who - this time reached out and grabbed onto Ana's hand. "Goodbye. Deep breath."

It was almost instinctual, Ana saw the three of them take a breath, only to huff a laugh when the Doctor shook her head. "Not you lot. Us." The Doctor pointed her sonic at the iPad and …

Ana suddenly couldn't breathe. Eyes stinging and the feeling of weightlessness was making her stomach churn. It was only a couple of seconds later that she realised where they were.

… in space. all five of them.

oh lord, Doctor what have you done?