A/N: Surprise! So I felt so bad for being so off with posting my stories and updating recently while also realizing that I hadn't posted a new OC for Doctor Who in over a year(! and that just wouldn't do, would it? ;)) that I wanted to surprise you all with a new OC! :D TL5 for anyone that's followed her sneak peeks and teasers on tumblr ;) This story is called Intercession (we'll see why as the story goes) and it is the first story in my sixth OC series for Doctor Who (for any new readers, the other series are 1. The Academic Series (the Professor), 2. The Lunar Cycle (Evy Daniels), 3. The Heart of Time Saga (the Angel), 4. The Time Lady Memoirs (Mac), 5. The Gallifreyan Sacraments (the Judge) if you're interested ;)) and will involve a new OC/Time Lady. I decided to call this series the 'Emissary Reports' due to the OC's title, which we'll see very soon ;)

This story will largely follow the events the OC or the Doctor are aware of and will be updated when I can find time to edit the chapters as it will be updated around about 3 other DW stories (2 of which are AUs) and 3 other show/movie stories (Lord of the Rings, Big Bang Theory, and Once Upon a Time) too so updating will be slow. Each episode will be 2 chapters except for this first one as it starts a good way through the episode. The specials, however, will be 3 chapters but a few of the mini-sodes/prequels will be 1 chapter each as well :) This will be a Doctor/OC story.

I can't give a physical description of the OC just yet, she hasn't been previously introduced but we'll see her very soon and an added helpful visual will be added to the end of the chapter of an actress that I think is similar in appearance to how I see the OC being ;)

~8~ is a scene break.
"italics" is Gallifreyan
'italics' is mental communication between Time Lords

Disclaimer #1...I do not own Doctor Who, or maybe some episodes would be just a tiny bit less convoluted and make more sense.

Disclaimer #2...My OC is in no way related to any others that may share the same title.

Enjoy!

~8~

Flesh and Stone

The Doctor stood, staring at the white light of the crack in the wall, glaring at him blindingly from above the door in the Byzantium, big enough that energy was pouring out of it, nearly blinding them all. Oh this had been one surprise and danger after another, from River's message on the Home Box, to the Weeping Angels, to this. He was getting too old for this, but he couldn't even stop, not now. He had managed to get a basic path out of the ship through the forest behind them, he just had to work out a way to stop the Weeping Angel army from strengthening, get all the humans out safely, close the crack in this new wall, and then he could go back to the TARDIS and have a very strong cup of tea while he pondered what on earth was going wrong in the universe this time that the cracks were even appearing.

"We're not leaving without you!" River shouted.

He nearly sighed at that, if only the others would leave him to his business in trying to shut the crack before him so that the rather clear energy pouring out of it wouldn't spread too far, "Yes you are. Bishop?"

Bishop Octavian nodded behind him, "Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!"

River huffed but grabbed Amy's hand, hauling her towards the robotic forest despite her protests.

The Doctor waited till he was alone to look at the crack, stepping closer to it, flashing it with the sonic, "So, what are you?" he glanced at the reading, frowning at it, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good," he moved closer, turning his ear to the wall, trying to listen for anything on the other side, much like he had when Prisoner Zero's cell had been there.

If Zero could escape from a crack as small as Amy's wall had been, there was no telling what might come through this bigger one.

He tensed, hearing a whooshing noise behind him and turned, nearly jumping back when he saw he was now surrounded by Weeping Angels.

"Do not blink," he murmured to himself, carefully climbing over the control console before him, doing his best to keep all the Angels insight till he'd passed them, making a break for the forest…only for one to grab him by the collar of his jacket but do nothing else, "Why am I not dead then?"

He glanced over his shoulder to see that all the other Angels besides the one holding him, were standing closer to the light, their arms raised, almost like they were trying to absorb it.

"Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe…"

Just as the words left his mouth, the light flared up, making his eyes widen as he saw a distinct red blur fly right out of it, landing on the ground with a thump and an 'oomph.'

He would not say he gaped like a fish so much as stared in shock when the blur leapt to its feet, a rather large gun clutched to its chest, not even hesitating to fire…right at the Weeping Angels, actually managing to break piece off of them before it ran past them. He blinked as the blur moved behind the Angels, now seeing them all changing position to grabbing various parts of their bodies in agony at having been blown apart.

He winced as a blast flew at him, cutting the Angel holding him in half, breaking off its arm in the process. You might not be able to kill a stone, but you could chip away at it, break it to pieces.

"Run!" the blur called and he realized, despite how muffled it was by the helmet it wore, that it was a female voice.

He had little time to think more on that before his arm was being grabbed and he was being yanked out into the forest at breakneck speed, half stumbling as he was jerked along by the person ahead of him, his jacket remaining behind in the firm grip of the Angel.

"Hold on, hold on!" he pulled his arm back, "Stop!"

"Are you mad!?" the person rounded on him, "We have to GO! If the Daleks and the Weeping Angels have joined forces…"

"Daleks?" the Doctor shook his head, "There aren't any Daleks here."

"Yes, there are!" the woman insisted, "I was JUST fighting them!"

It was then that the Doctor noticed something rather important about the woman standing before him. Her outfit.

One wouldn't normally think that necessary to observe, but when he saw exactly what it was, his hearts stopped.

It was a red jumpsuit with black straps over it, thick with padding. There were black gloves over her hands, black belts, black boots. Her head and face were covered by a red helmet, a mouth guard clasped over it, with black goggles over her eyes, the gun clutched expertly in her hands.

It was the Gallifreyan Military garb that he had seen numerous soldiers wearing during the Last Great Time War.

It was the uniform of the soldiers of the front line.

"The war…" he swallowed hard, "You were facing the Daleks in the war."

"Yes," the woman huffed, not even bothering to ask what war, for it was clear where she had just come from her point of view, and she likely assumed he was a Time Lord just by his knowledge of it even if she hadn't taken a moment to sense him as such just yet, "They cornered me, opened fire. I ducked to the side to avoid a blast and fell back only to find myself surrounded by angels and…" she paused, as though the situation had caught up to her as well.

He watched her stiffen and look around her, her body language radiating confusion before she reached up and pulled her helmet and protections off so she could see clearer where they were, a forest, a forest that was nothing like anything on Gallifrey, for it wasn't ON Gallifrey.

He got a good look at her as she stared around them, her hair was a light red, not quite in the realm of blonde though, her eyes more blue than green in their greenish color, her skin pale, but everything was matted down with sweat and dirt smears. She let the garb hang around her neck as she turned in a slow circle, taking in the location.

"Where are…" she breathed, shaken by something he couldn't see, before turning to him, lifting her gun, "What happened!?"

He could see it then, the tears in her eyes, and he knew she'd realized it, she'd FELT it, the emptiness in her mind, the lack of the buzz and connection to their people and planet. To have come from the middle of the chaos of war, the jumble of their people in her head, to the stillness of now, the quiet, she would notice, she'd feel it, she would feel how he was the only one left besides herself.

"I'm…I'm sorry," was all he could offer, his hands up, "The war's been over for…for more than a century," at least, it had been for him.

"I was JUST there!"

"I know, I know," he nodded, "There are…there have been these cracks in time," he shook his head, "I don't know how or why, but they're appearing and…and I think you've fallen through one, from then and there to here and now."

"That's impossible," her expression hardened in a desperation he knew well, a hope that he was wrong, that it was a lie, that they HADN'T so clearly lost the war.

"It's really not," he whispered, "I'm sorry. It's…it's gone, Gallifrey, it's all gone."

"We lost," she slowly lowered her gun, seeming struggling to cope with that sudden knowledge, to go from the middle of the fight to it being over and the loss of their efforts.

"Everyone did," he swallowed hard, "The Daleks too."

"They're gone?"

He winced at the thin hope in her voice, that if the Daleks were eliminated then maybe it hadn't been entirely worthless, "Not all of them."

The woman closed her eyes at that, his hearts breaking to see the utter devastation on her face.

"I'm sorry."

The woman shook her head, as though trying to shake off the pain, the realization that they'd lost, that everything they'd worked for was for nothing.

"How?" her voice cracked as she looked at him.

"It's a long story…"

"Tell me," she demanded.

"I can't," he sighed, "I…my friend," he glanced into the woods, "She was hurt, by the Angels, they're attacking her from inside her own mind. I need to help her and I can't…" this time his voice cracked, "I'll tell you all you want to know, but I have to help her first," the woman was silent, "Please."

She glanced into the woods in the direction he'd looked and back from where she'd come, "Help your friend," she swallowed, turning back to him, "If even one life can be saved this night…"

It wouldn't make anything else worth it, but it would make the sting of the loss just the smallest fraction less, to know she hadn't kept him from saving someone's life.

"Thank you," he offered her a smile, nodding his head to the side and starting to walk off at a hurried pace, the woman following him in silence. His mind raced as he tried to think of something to say to her, but he couldn't. What did you say to someone who had just found out that their entire planet was gone in the blink of an eye when not moments ago they had been standing on that very planet in the middle of very alive people?

"…in the room, your only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home," he looked up, hearing River speaking just a few feet ahead, "And trust me. It's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah," the Doctor smiled, spotting them at the bottom of a hill and hurrying down it, towards Amy, who was curled up on a rock, not seeming to notice how the woman following him had paused at River's address to him.

"I hate you!" River snapped, turning her head to glare at him, only for her eyes to shoot past where he was making his way down the hill and over to the woman frowning down at him from above it.

"You don't," the Doctor waved her off, kneeling beside Amy, "Bishop, the Angels are in the forest."

"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian turned to his men.

"How did you get past them?" River glanced between the Doctor and the woman, now making her way down the hill at a slower pace.

"I fired," the woman answered, holding up her gun, "Can't stop them, but you can destroy parts of them. You're the Doctor?" she looked at him.

"Yes," he flashed Amy with the sonic, "Sorry," he glanced at her, "You are?"

"Um…the Ambassador," the woman stated, River's eyes going impossibly wide at that.

"Sadie?" she breathed, staring at the woman as though she was smacking herself for not recognizing her.

The Ambassador gave her an odd look for that, "The Ambassador."

"Right, yes," River shook her head, "Sorry…" she looked over sharply when the Doctor plucked the med-scanner in her hands out of it to use on Amy.

"What's wrong with me?" Amy whimpered, too worried about herself to ask about the new woman standing there.

"Nothing," River rushed to sooth, "You're fine."

"She's clearly dying," the Ambassador stated, rubbing her head at the high pitched beeping of the scanner indicating things were very much NOT alright, "I can't believe you're the Doctor."

The Doctor glanced back at her, "You're rather fixated on that, aren't you?"

"It's just…" she shook her head, eyeing him, thinking about the stories, the rumors about him on Gallifrey. She'd never met the man before, but he was quite infamous among their people, not many were mad enough or odd enough to steal a TARDIS and flee the planet, not many would want to abandon their people so easily, "I thought you'd be taller?"

"Oi!" he stood up, looking down at her slightly from his inch or so height over her, "I'll have you know, I'm quite tall for the average human."

"And short for the average Time Lord," she quipped back, though it didn't hold a teasing note to her voice. She sounded more tired and overwhelmed than anything.

"Doctor…" Amy tugged on his sleeve.

"Busy," the Doctor muttered, spinning around to focus on her again.

"Scared!"

"Course, you're dying, shut up!"

"Ok," River shook herself out of her thoughts, "Let him think…"

"Amy," the Doctor sighed, no needing to think, he'd worked it out in the time he'd taken to pause, to let his mind drift to the fact there was another Time Lord there, a Time Lady. With that brief respite, his thoughts had caught up to the situation, to work out what had happened to Amy, "There's an Angel in your mind. You looked at it too long and it crawled inside your head, it's hiding in the vision center of your brain."

"Three," Amy breathed.

"Three?" the Ambassador looked between the Doctor and River for that, not understanding.

"The Angel," River offered, "It's been making her count."

The Ambassador nodded, starting to tug off one of her gloves with her teeth and kneel down before Amy, "Nothing's more frightening than a ticking clock," she muttered, reaching out a hand to place on Amy's not just in comfort, but to block her eyeline, "If it's in your vision, cut the vision off."

The Doctor blinked at that, "That is brilliant!" he shouted, "Amy, close your eyes."

"No," Amy shook her head, reaching out her hand to try and desperately pull the Ambassador's hands away from her face, "I don't want to."

"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid!" the Doctor reassured her, "Do it! Close your eyes!"

There was a single hesitant moment, River's med-scanner going crazy…before it evened out, turning green instead of flashing red.

The Ambassador glanced at the Doctor a moment, before pulling her hand away from Amy's face to see the girl had indeed closed her eyes.

"She's normalizing," River sighed, smiling at the Ambassador in thanks, "You did it! You did it!" she glanced over as more calls came in from the Clerics about the Angels, quickly looking at the scanner's reading, "Still weak, dangerous to move her."

Amy sat up, the Doctor reaching out to help her, wincing, "So, can I open my eyes now?"

"If you do, you'll just be restoring your vision," the Ambassador shook her head even though Amy couldn't see it, "It would defeat the purpose of closing your eyes in the first place."

"The Angel is still inside you," the Doctor agreed, "We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of...paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."

"Doctor," a man in uniform called, older than the others, the one in charge the Ambassador thought, heading over to them, "We're too exposed here. We have to move on."

The Doctor stood up, looking around with a sigh, "We're exposed everywhere, and Amy can't move, and anyway, that's not the plan."

"There's a plan?" both the Ambassador and River spoke as one, glancing at each other. River seemed to be smiling widely at that, moving to sit by Amy, though the Ambassador just appeared confused why River seemed so pleased by all of this.

"I don't know yet," the Doctor admitted, "I haven't finished talking," though a split moment later he whirled around to face them, "Right! Father, you and your Clerics will stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice. River, you, me, and Sadie here…"

"The Ambassador," she reiterated, not sure why two people she'd never met before were so insistent to cut her name down. It was a respectable title, it deserved its entirety.

"We're going to find the Primary Flight Deck," the Doctor continued as if she hadn't spoken, earning a huff from her, "Which is..." he licked his finger and held it up, "A quarter mile straight ahead. We'll stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."

"How?" River voiced all their concerns.

"I'll do a thing."

"What thing?"

"I don't know, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!"

"Doctor!" the Ambassador huffed, striding forward to grab his hand to stop him…

And the world vanished.

To anyone else, it seemed like the Doctor and the Ambassador froze in their actions, completely stopped, the Doctor spinning around but not letting go of the woman's hand as he stared down at it, matching her shocked expression. The Ambassador, on the other hand, seemed almost horrified, her breathing picking up as her eyes locked on their joined hands.

River, however, was looking between the two with a barely repressed grin, her eyes sparkling as though realizing something momentous was happening and she was going to be able to witness it.

To the Time Lords however…things were much different.

The second the Ambassador's hand touched his, the moment their skin brushed against each other, it was like an overwhelming heat flared to life, shooting up their arms and filling them to the brink of bursting. It was like they were being burned from the inside out with the most…delicious sense of completion following in its wake. Their hearts were hammering in their chests, their lungs feeling as though they couldn't breathe in enough air, like the air around them wasn't the right combination to allow it, their minds blanked out. The world completely faded away, the forest, the Angels, even Amy's dangerous state of being, all of it disappeared, leaving them feeling as though they were truly the only two in existence, like there was a fog surrounding them, blocking out the rest of the world and encapsulating just the two of them.

There was a tug just above their navel, a compulsion that was pulsing through them, as though a thousand tiny strings were surging out from each of them, connecting between them and coiling closer together.

And it felt wonderful.

It felt beyond magnificent, it felt divine, the heat, the warmth spreading through them, it was sending surges of the most pleasant feelings crashing over them.

The Doctor's hand tightened its hold on the Ambassador's, his eyes nearly drifting shut at the sensation, craving more of it…

When the Ambassador pulled her hand away violently, clutching it to her chest in her other gloved hand, panting as she stumbled back away from him, starting at him with too-wide eyes, eyes full of an emotion the very opposite of what they'd just been feeling.

"What is it?" Amy's voice broke through the silence that had fallen over them, sounding nearly deafeningly loud to the Time Lords as they came back to themselves.

No one could answer, not the Clerics who hadn't really been paying attention, focused on the Angels, not Octavian who genuinely didn't know, not River for all her love of Spoilers, nor the Time Lords.

Because what they had just experienced?

It couldn't be described.

The Ambassador closed her eyes as that thought hit her, it SHOULDN'T be described, it shouldn't have happened, it couldn't happen, not like this, not now, not ever. Their people…

"Don't…" the Doctor breathed, as though sensing a shift in her thoughts, a genuine fear in his voice as she took another step back.

He didn't care about the connection, what it meant, what their people would think of it. The Time Lords were gone, they weren't there to judge anyone for holding such a connection. And now, having experienced it himself, realizing the whispers of how such a connection felt were true, he wanted to feel it again. Everything he'd thought was wrong, everything he'd been told about it were so, so wrong.

Because something that felt so right couldn't be as horrible as his people made it out to be.

But he could see the Ambassador clearly was of the view of their people. He didn't blame her, she had come from right in the middle of the war, she hadn't had centuries around humans and their ideals. She hadn't experienced the universe the way he had, she WOULD think it as ill an omen as their people would. And he didn't want that, he didn't want her to see it as a curse it was so often called on their planet. He truly didn't care, because here before him was the last Time Lady in the universe, and the gods had seen fit to grant him a connection to her as strong and unbreakable as the one he'd just felt spring between them.

He didn't want her to run from it, like he could see she was preparing to do.

He held up his hands when he saw her look at him, stepping back instead, a silent promise that he would keep his distance, the only thing he could think to do at the moment that might give him a hope of keeping her around till they could talk. She couldn't, he wouldn't let her, run into the forest with the Angels out there, not now.

The Ambassador swallowed hard, giving him the briefest, smallest of nods, though she appeared deeply shaken by what had just happened, going so far as to frantically pull her glove back on her bare hand.

"Are you alright?" River reached out to the woman, seeming startled at how the Ambassador had reacted to just touching the Doctor, seeming almost confused by it.

"Fine," the Ambassador spoke, a little more harshly and snappishly than she intended, but she took a deep breath, "The flight deck?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, seeming more subdued and calm than any had seen him…despite the fact that calm was the LAST emotion he was feeling, not when his body was still tingling and his heart was still racing from just the Ambassador's touch.

"I'm coming with you," Octavian stepped forward, thankfully cutting into some of the growing tension, "My Clerics can look after Miss Pond. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in her protection."

The Doctor, in a tone that made Amy jump and flinch to hear, snapped, "We don't need you."

River didn't seem alarmed by the complete 180 the man had done in personality, though the Ambassador looked away, guilt in her eyes.

The Doctor forced his closed, taking a deep breath as he rubbed a hand over his eyes, pushing down the tingling feeling, the overwhelming urge to keep Octavian and the other Clerics away from the Ambassador that had reared up in him without warning. It was an aftereffect of the connection forming, he knew it, he should have anticipated a reaction like that, but it snuck up on him. He could tell the sheer venom and chill in his voice had affected the Ambassador as well and he couldn't have that, because he knew, even without knowing the woman in question, that she would take it as a sign of the strength of the connection, how vehemently he had reacted just after it formed…and she clearly didn't want it to be that strong.

Octavian, to his credit, didn't seem fazed at all, "I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."

"What?" the Doctor looked between them, another sort of emotion waving through him, "You two engaged or something?"

It was hope, he realized, he was hoping the man would say yes. Because that snarling feeling that was still aching in his chest at the thought of Octavian being near the Ambassador…it was calming at the prospect that the man was taken, that he would be…less a threat.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," Octavian confirmed, "Marco, you're in charge till I get back."

"Sir!" one of the Clerics called in agreement as Octavian began to leave with River, who had waited till the Ambassador started to walk off with them first.

"Doctor..." the Doctor winced as he turned to follow the group, his expression revealing to River that he had quite likely actually forgotten Amy was there, "Please, can't I come with you?

"You're in no state to walk through the woods," the Ambassador spoke quietly, clearing her throat, "We'll take twice as long with you around."

Amy frowned when, a moment later, the Doctor didn't defend her or agree that she should go with them, instead feeling him move closer and say, "You'll be safer here. We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can. I promise."

"You always say that," she muttered.

"I always come back," he straightened, looking over at the Ambassador standing with River, before his gaze turned to the Clerics, seeming almost as though he was forcing himself to look away, "Good luck everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later!" he tapped her on the head and started to walk off, "River, going to need your computer."

"Sadie's already got to it," River remarked, glancing at the Ambassador who was fiddling with the small scanner, the girl having looked like she desperately needed something to distract herself with, a mission of some sort.

"The Ambassador," she muttered, "Honestly, NOT that hard to say."

"It IS rather a mouthful," the Doctor remarked, trying to lighten the tension as they stepped through the brush and into the woods, leaving Amy and the Clerics behind.

The Ambassador just ignored that, focusing on the scanner and its directions towards the flight deck.

The Doctor seemed about to comment on it, when his sonic started to beep, causing him to pull it out and look at it with a deep frown.

"What is it?" River hesitated, not sure she wanted to know what was making him that concerned.

"Readings from a crack in a wall," he muttered, "From the end of the universe."

River shook her head, "How can a crack in a wall be the end of the universe?"

"Here's what I think. One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history, past and future, will crack."

"Is that possible?" she looked between the two Time Lords.

"Before today, I would have said no," the Ambassador remarked, focused on the directions, her gun clutched in one arm as they moved. Before today, she would have thought it impossible for cracks like that to exist at all…and then she'd fallen through one.

"How?"

"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" the Doctor tried to change the subject, not wanting to say he didn't quite know, not wanting to draw the likely possibility that it was something he might do in the future that would cause it. That would NOT help his case with the Ambassador.

"Well...sucker for a man in uniform," River smirked, clearly teasing.

Octavian was not in the teasing mood however, "Dr. Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."

While the Ambassador didn't seem remotely interested, the Doctor paused at that, looking at River, alarmed, "You were in Stormcage?"

River didn't answer, looking down at the sonic as it beeped again, "What is that?"

"The date," the Doctor's eyes widened as he looked at the sonic once more, "The date of the explosion where the crack begins."

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

"The 26th of June, 2010," the Ambassador answered, glancing over at the sonic, doing her best to see it without needing to lean over the Doctor's arm to do so.

"The 26th of June?" River's lips pursed at that, almost as though the date were familiar to her.

"Amy's time," the Doctor frowned, not liking the sound of that. In fact, he could distinctly remember that he'd picked up Amy on the 25th of June that same year, the fact that the date was so close to that one…it was leaving him feeling very uncomfortable.

He couldn't help his gaze flittering to the Ambassador, fearful of her thoughts, of how this might color her view of him, but found her not even looking at the sonic or him, more focused on the scanner in her hand, her gaze flickering to the forest ahead of them, the flight deck now in view.

Without looking back the Ambassador tossed the scanner back to River, moving to follow Octavian as he tried to open a hatch on the outside of the deck, the gun now firmly held in her hand as she took the role of guard. Something twisted inside of the Doctor at seeing that, a mix of jealousy and anger, that the woman was so keen to guard another man (which was ridiculous, Octavian was a good man and he deserved to be protected when his back was turned) and also that she seemed alright handling such a weapon.

The war had been over for him for more than a century now, but he had to remind himself that the woman before him had literally come from the middle of a warzone, you couldn't just turn off reactions or instinct like that. He had held his fair share of guns during his time in the war, it had taken him half a century to get himself back to a place where he didn't immediately reach for a gun or weapon of some sort when he was startled.

"Hurry up and open it," River's voice cut through his thoughts, her words directed at Octavian as he himself had gone rather lost in thought, "Time's running out."

The Doctor shook his head at the words, "What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"

River blinked, "Yeah. I just meant..."

"I know what you meant. Hush! But what if it could?"

"What if what could?"

"Time. What if time could run out?"

"It can," the Ambassador looked over at him, speaking to HIM in what felt like the first time in a lifetime to the Doctor, nearly sending his hearts skipping a beat at the sound, "It does. The universe is not infinite, it will end one day, you know this."

She was giving him a look as though she couldn't fathom why he seemed to think time was limitless. Time was, in fact, finite, it was limited from the time the universe began to when it ended. For a Time Lord, or any time traveler perhaps, it could be seen as infinite. One could keep travelling back in time to different places in the universe over and over in so many ways that it could go on forever. But time, in general, was running out all the time.

He opened his mouth to explain what he was talking about, the exact manner he meant that time was running out, when Octavian spoke, "Got it!"

The Doctor whirled around, still taking despite Octavian's interruption, "Cracks in time, time running out," he stepped closer to the Ambassador, who tensed as he drew nearer.

But she frowned, trying to understand what he was saying because clearly it had nothing to do with actual time running out, "Time…running out of the cracks?" she supplied.

"Yes!" his eyes widened, pointing at her in excitement for helping him phrase what his mind was rushing to put words to.

"Dr. Song, get through, now," Octavian called, ushering River through the hatch, "Ambassador?"

The Ambassador looked from the Doctor to Octavian and back, before shaking her head and following River into the hatch, crawling through the small space with some difficulty due to her gun, but managed to make it out the other side.

She huffed as she got to her feet, feeling more winded than she had right to, but everything was catching up to her now, the adrenaline from the battle she'd just been in wearing off, the empty pit in her stomach from the knowledge her planet was gone and having no time to grieve for it or the people on it, the threat of the Angels surrounding them, and…and what had happened with the Doctor. It was just too much. She just wanted this to be over!

She looked up, hesitating to enter the room further when she saw River smiling at her softly, "What?"

"Nothing," River tried to focus back on her work where she seemed to be examining wires and the controls of the deck, "I'm just…" she glanced back at her, "I'm really glad you're here, Sadie."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" she shook her head, stepping over to rest her gun on one of the flat surfaces, moving to a secondary control unit to see if she could help get this dealt with sooner.

River hummed, "That was how you introduced yourself to me."

The Ambassador frowned, "I wouldn't. I never have."

"What?" River laughed, seeming to find it ironic, "2 incarnations hardly means anything when it comes to 'nevers.'"

"How do you know that?" she demanded, tensing at how much River knew about her. This was only her second incarnation, yes, that was true, but…HOW had she known?"

River's expression just grew terribly sad and guilty, "Spoilers."

"Am I in a different incarnation then?" the Ambassador wouldn't let go of that, striding over to River, clearly the woman was familiar with her, knew HER even though they had never met, so she was a time traveler of some sort, "Did you meet the next me or something? You seemed shocked that you hadn't recognized me earlier than you did. The way you looked at me…"

"Spoilers," River repeated, "But…" she hesitated, eyeing the woman before her, "That wasn't the reason I didn't recognize you," her gaze trailed over her face, her body, the armor around her, "You look different now. I'm not used to seeing you like this," she gestured to the soldier's garb, "You're normally a lot cleaner," she added with a tease, her eye flickering to the dark smudges and sweat and matting on the visible parts of the Ambassador's face, "And you usually smell much better too," she wrinkled her nose for added effect.

The Ambassador opened her mouth, not quite sure how to respond to that, when the hatch banged shut behind her, causing her to spin around to see the Doctor rushing in, sonicing the hatch closed behind him…

"The Bishop?" the Ambassador frowned, seeing the man was alone.

"Dead," the Doctor swallowed hard at that, guilt written across his face.

River's expression grew grim and serious at that, getting right to business, "There's a teleport," she informed him, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here."

"The teleport won't work," he shook his head, striding over, though making sure to keep on the other side of River, placing the woman between himself and the Ambassador, "You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator," he plucked the small scanner/communicator up and soniced it.

"Hello?" Amy's voice came through, "Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello!"

The Ambassador watched the Doctor's expression for a moment before glancing at River, seeing a determination and drive in her eye as she worked on the controls of the teleport. She looked around the room, seeing a line running from the control panel to the teleport area right in the back and turned to go examine it. The tech wasn't familiar to her, but teleports seemed to all operate on the same basic principles and if it was even remotely close to the ones used on Gallifrey than it should be easy enough to help fix the teleporter while River worked on its controls.

She tried to keep focused on the task at hand instead of the Doctor growing more frantic behind her the longer he spoke with the ginger girl, Amy if she remembered correctly. Apparently the Clerics had all been absorbed by the time energy that, it appeared really was, running out of the crack in the wall she'd fallen through. They'd all been erased from time. He had instructed Amy to walk to the Primary Flight Deck, upgrading her comm. unit by sonicing a detection software into it, a sonic whirr to lead her towards the deck and a beeping to warn her when Angels were around her.

She looked up, tensing as she heard a whooshing and an eerie noise above them, the Angels surrounding them most likely. They were the only other things in the forest besides Amy.

"That time energy," she glanced back, hearing River speaking quietly with the Doctor and forced herself to look away as a small stabbing sprung up in her chest which she violently pushed away from her thoughts at what that could mean, focusing on her work, but she could still hear them, "What's it going to do?"

"Keep eating," the Doctor muttered.

"How do we stop it?"

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while."

"Like what, for instance?"

"Like me, for instance!" the Doctor's snapping, however, couldn't be ignored.

The Ambassador found herself on her feet from where she'd been crouching down and spinning to face him, seeing that a part of his volume came from him ripping his arm away from where River had tried to grab him, "Or me," she added, striding over, "I fell out of the crack, I could be just enough to close it if I go back in."

"No," the Doctor said, with such finality and assumed authority that she very nearly slapped him for it, as though he had any say in what she did with her own life.

But before she could make a single move against him, Amy was back on the comm. and he'd turned away from her to speak to the girl.

The Ambassador let out a very irritated huff that seemed to greatly amuse River, before she stomped her way back to the teleporter, a muffled 'Get back to work' thrown over her shoulder at River. Judging from the way the Doctor was growing more tense and loud as he spoke to Amy, the girl was walking right into terrible danger and for all her anger at the Doctor and all her crippling feelings involving the entire situation, she didn't want another life to be lost tonight. Her entire planet was gone, all the people were dead, no more.

"Sadie!" River shouted as Amy's voice began to echo through the room, starting to get more frantic and frightened as she tripped and fell, losing the comm. that had been guiding her.

The Ambassador was silent about the shortening of her name, was silent two seconds more, before sparks shout out of the wire she had jammed into a port on the teleporter, "Now!" she called and River hit a button, a blinding flash of white light filling the room, Amy appearing within it and remaining there as the light faded.

"Don't open your eyes," River rushed to Amy's side, grabbing her arms as the girl stumbled, having been teleported there, "You're on the Flight Deck, the Doctor and Sadie are here…"

"The Ambassador!" she nearly snapped at that.

But River ignored her, "We teleported you," she shot a look at the Doctor, "See? Told you I could get it working."

"You only managed because Sadie was helping you," he pouted.

"The…oh I give up," the Ambassador grumbled, standing to turn and face them, not at all happy with this familiarity the two of them kept forcing on her. She didn't know either of them from a hole in the wall and she was getting a mite peeved at how they kept calling her 'Sadie' so informally.

The Doctor, however, seemed to finally notice her irritation and turned, his mouth opening in what might have been an apology, but before a sound could leave him, alarms began to blare around them.

"What's that?" River looked up.

The Doctor ran over to one of the control panels, reading the statistics before the screens began to flicker and short out, "The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means... the shield's going to release!" he hopped over a bit of debris and moved to stand before a wall as it slowly opened to reveal the forest, a line of Angels, seeming never-ending, standing before them, a handful of them with missing limbs, "Angel Bob, I presume."

The Ambassador frowned at that, following his line of sight to one statue in particular that was holding a comm. of its own. She looked over at River, mouthing 'Angel BOB?' to her in confusion. River could only roll her eyes with a nod to the Doctor as though it were meant to be all the explanation she needed.

"The Time Field is coming," a voice spoke over the comm. in the Doctor's hand, drawing the Ambassador's attention to that as well, her frown deepening at hearing an Angel actually speaking, her face quickly paling and turning green as she realized how that would be possible, "It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you, all running away," the Doctor taunted, "What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw the outlier into it, it will close and they will be saved."

"The…outlier?" the Doctor frowned.

"The one that fell from the rupture."

The Doctor's entire posture changed at that, growing tense and rigid, his grip on the comm. tightening so much River was actually concerned he might break it from the force of his hold, "No."

The Ambassador tensed at the sound of his voice, swearing there was almost a faint growl to his word, and looked down with a hard swallow. This shouldn't be happening, the connection shouldn't be this powerful, not so soon…

"Your friends would also be saved," the Angel added, as though the afterthought would help the Doctor take action.

"I've traveled in time," River stepped forward before the Doctor, whose expression had become quite deadly, could speak, "I'm a complicated space-time event, too. Throw me in."

"Compared to someone that traveled through it?" the Ambassador shook her head, "None of you, not even him," she gestured at the Doctor, "Are as complicated."

"No," the Doctor agreed, seeming to have to force himself not to look over his shoulder at her, "But…" he took a breath, "Compared to you, these Angels are more complicated."

The Ambassador frowned at that, "It would take all of them to amount to me and my travel through the crack."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, as though a switch had flipped inside his head, "It would."

River looked between the Doctor and the Angels, tensing herself now as she heard the far too-calm tone of his voice, "Doctor…"

"River…" the Doctor cut in, "Hold onto something."

River's eyes widened at that and she turned quickly to grab Amy's hands, forcing them down on a small railing jutting out of one of the control panels.

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice the outlier now," the Angel cut in.

The Ambassador frowned, looking between the Doctor and the Angels as the man stood before them, a chuckle leaving him that seemed very…dark, "Thing is, Bob," the man spoke, an easiness in his voice that alarmed her, "The Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels...night-night."

The Ambassador gasped as the man turned and casually grabbed onto one of the railings as well just as the gravity finally gave out with the power and the deck turned on its side, as though they were all hanging from the top of a chasm that the crack was at the bottom of. The Angels began to fall backwards into the light…

But so was she!

She turned, struggling to grab onto something, realizing too late what was happening, too distracted by the contradicting changes in the Doctor's temperament, and just missed one of the handles by a hair. She could feel herself falling backwards towards the crack, noticing, in an oddly out-of-body moment that her gun had been sucked down moments before her, lost to the abyss…and taking a final breath to seal her fate…

When a hand reached out and grabbed her by her gloved hand.

Her gaze snapped up to see the Doctor had let go of one hand to grab her, holding onto the bar with the other. He was staring into her eyes, his own wide, as she looked back…holding each other gazes till a blinding white light flashed from the crack as it snapped shut and the power resumed now that the Angels had stopped depleting it.

The gravity kicked back on in an instant, all four of them falling flat to the floor with pained grunts.

The Ambassador quickly pulled her hand out of the Doctor's hold, even with her glove on, not wanting to be in his hold too long, "You shouldn't have done that," she panted, still shaken from her near fall back into the crack, knowing it wouldn't have led back to the war but to a nothingness of being un-born, "I should have been the one thrown to the crack."

"It wouldn't have helped," the Doctor argued lightly, "It would have closed and left us to still deal with an army of Angels," he observed her, reaching out to her but pulling his hand back just as quickly, "It was strategic," he told her, though the tone of his voice…it didn't quite match the matter-of-fact way he'd intended to say it in.

The Ambassador shook her head, "No, it wasn't," she swallowed hard, glancing over at River helping Amy up and trying to convince the girl to open her eyes, "And you know it," she added quietly before pushing herself up to go help River lead Amy out of the deck, the girl seeming to refuse to open her eyes.

The Doctor watched her walk away for a moment before he closed his eyes…she was right. He could say it was strategic all he wanted, he could use it as a reasonable excuse to anyone else, but the Ambassador of all people would know it had nothing to do with strategy at all and everything to do with her and their newfound connection.

~8~

The Ambassador stood in the console room of the TARDIS, staring up at the rotor as the Doctor dealt with River Song on the beach just outside the doors. The moment they had set foot on the beach outside of the shuttle crash they'd been trapped in, the moment she'd seen a TARDIS sitting there (and why did it look like a blue phonebox? HOW was THAT blending in?) she had given the Doctor a single questioning glance, only for him to gesture her to it, and rushed into it.

She just…she needed a moment. She needed a moment away from crashes and humans and clerics and reports and River and…and the Doctor. She just…she needed something familiar, something that still existed from her home planet. She need a moment to breathe, to just…stop. She hadn't stopped doing anything since the war began, running missions and organizing treaties and visiting planets and then the front lines…she hadn't stopped fighting for her planet since the war began and now…it was gone.

There was nothing left and she just…she needed a moment to pretend it wasn't so.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, before they snapped open, blinking furiously to keep her tears at bay when she heard the doors opening behind her. It appeared she'd been lost in her silent, blank thoughts longer than she realized if the Doctor and Amy were already entering.

"I want to go home," Amy was saying.

The Doctor was silent for only a moment before sighing, "Ok."

Amy snorted, "No, not like that! I just…I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."

"Oh?" the Doctor spoke, trying to sound interested when he caught sight of the Ambassador standing at the console, "Amy, could you go get me another jacket first?" he asked her, gesturing at his upper body, sorely lacking a tweed jacket. His first one had been caught in the grip of an Angel and he'd been half struggling out of it when the Ambassador had appeared and grabbed his arm to rush him away.

"Sure," Amy shrugged, "From the wardrobe?"

He nodded, gesturing her off, waiting till she had passed the Ambassador, casting the woman an odd glance on her way, before he made his way up to her as well. He waited till Amy was out of the room completely before he released the breath he felt like he'd been holding in all that time.

He glanced down, seeing her hand, ungloved, absently resting on one of the controls, the woman completely rigid beside him. He hesitated a moment before reaching down to place his hand on hers…only for her to quickly pull it away, shuffling a few paces away from him.

"Don't do that," she swallowed hard.

"Sadie…"

"I am the Ambassador," she cut in, her voice firm.

"Sorry," he held up his hands in surrender, "Sorry, Ambassador…" he took a breath, trying to pick his words, "We're…"

"Nothing," she forced out before he could continue, "We are strangers."

He shook his head, stepping towards her, but she stepped back, "How can you say that?"

"Because it's true," she insisted, "There is…there is nothing between us. We are not…"

"We are," he nodded, not wanting her to deny what the connection between them would make them, "We're…"

"Don't say it," she snapped, tears in her eyes, not wanting to hear him say the word, give the name of their connection, it was a forbidden word, never to be spoken, "I'm married," she told him, wishing with all her hearts that they didn't feel like cracking just from seeing the flash of pain that flashed across his face at her words, as though her having a husband should have an impact in his life at all, and wasn't that just unfair a reaction because... "And if I recall, you are too."

"I was," he whispered, "She died. Along with the children."

The Ambassador was quiet at that, "And Gallifrey is gone," she looked away, "My husband is gone too."

"I'm sorry," he winced, opening his mouth to say more, the words choking in his throat to have to tell her HE was the reason Gallifrey was gone, knowing it would only earn him her hatred for the act, hatred that it was HIS fault her husband was lost, and feeling fear seize his heart, stilling his words, catching in his throat as he struggled to force them out.

"He died just after they got the sky trenches up," she told him.

And the vice around his hearts released, that was…that wasn't the end of the war. Close to it, but not…not a result of his actions. That had happened before Arcadia had fallen, before he'd even made the conscious decision to go after the Moment, to end the war.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"As am I," she murmured, both for her own loss and his. She closed her eyes tightly, "I will not betray him, or his memory," she added, sounding almost as though she were making the promise to herself instead of warning him, both might have been true, "And even if I weren't married, we can NOT," she forced her eyes open to look him in his own, "You know it's forbidden."

"Gallifrey is gone," he began gently, hearing an almost disgust in her voice, an anger aimed at herself for even having the connection with him that she did. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel that way towards herself, if he could just make her see it wasn't as terrible a thing as she was making it out to be, that would be enough for now, "The laws…"

"It's not about the law and you know it," her expression grew hard, "What…what we felt. It…" she shook her head, struggling to even mention it, it was just...taboo, it was something NOT talked about on Gallifrey, "It's not…"

"There's no one to judge us…"

"There is nothing to judge!" she snapped, "I don't know you, you don't know me. You can't base anything on…on that sort of connection. It means nothing."

It was such a lie, they could both feel it hanging in the air. It meant so much more than either of them were willing to admit.

The Doctor nodded, however, stepping back slightly, his hands up again, "You're right," he admitted softly.

And she was, he really didn't know her, he knew absolutely nothing about her save she fought on the frontlines, that she had been married, that her title was 'the Ambassador.' He didn't even know her true name, he didn't know her past, her fears or dreams, her favorite color, her age, what incarnation she was on…he knew nothing. And she was terrified of the connection, she was ready to run, he could just tell it, he could almost smell it in the air, she was like a small kitten being cornered and was ready to fight or flee.

And he didn't want either.

He wanted the exact opposite.

But it wouldn't do to push, it wouldn't do to force the issue. And he didn't want to. Yes, the connection they shared seemed to mean more to him than her, and he didn't blame her for that. He understood how she viewed it, he didn't fault her for it. If he wanted to get to know her, and gods did he, he needed her to stay, and for her to do that, to feel comfortable enough around him...he needed to keep his distance. He needed to get a hold of himself, show her he could respect her boundaries and feelings on the matter, that he wanted to know HER for her and not the connection even if their connection was what had sparked that desire.

"Will…" he swallowed, "Will you stay?" he offered, but she looked away, "I've searched," he told her, "For…for others, for other Time Lords, other TARDISes, anyone. There was…there was one but he…" he looked away now, tears in his eyes as he remembered the death of the Master, "It's…it's just us, just us and this TARDIS left," he could see her hesitating at that knowledge, made sure he opened up as much of his mental barriers as he could so she'd sense the truth off him, that he wasn't trying to manipulate her. As much as he wanted the connection they had, she didn't, and he would respect that as much as he could, "If you want to go, that's…that's fine. I'll do all I can to help you find somewhere to go, somewhere safe. But…you could stay. You could stay here. The…the TARDIS is infinite, you could stay here and have your own room, or…or wing, you wouldn't ever have to run into me if you didn't want to. I'd leave you alone if you want. I just…" he sniffled a little, feeling the emotions of everything overwhelming him now, of coming so close to having another of his species back and possibly losing them because of his own weakness and lack of restraint, he hadn't made a good impression on her at all, "I don't want to lose anyone else."

The Ambassador looked at him a long moment, seeing the sincerity in his face, the promise in his voice. She…she wasn't sure how she felt, she didn't want to be there, she had been sure of it before she'd stepped into the box. But…it felt like home there. It was the last bit of home in existence really...

"I don't know, I...I need time," was all she could offer, "It's too much. Right now, it's just…it's too much."

"I understand," he nodded, forcing a small smile, "Take all the time you need," the smile became a little more genuine, "We're Time Lords, after all, we have nothing but time."

It managed to gain the smallest crack of a smile on her face as well…

"This one alright, Doctor?"

The Doctor had never wanted to curse as much as he had when Amy chose that moment to enter the room, a tweed jacket almost identical to his last on in her hands, "Yes, yes," he sighed, "That should do fine," he stepped up to take it from Amy, putting it on as his eyes drifted to the Ambassador again, "Um, the TARDIS can show you to…to a room to stay in for now, a shower if you want one, and…and a wardrobe," he stepped towards her, just a single step, and nearly sagged in relief when she didn't step back, "Feel free to anything, clothes, food, anything."

The Ambassador nodded slowly at that, stepping back and turning to walk out of the hall, cursing under her breath as she had to force herself not to look back at the Doctor, feeling his eyes on her until she disappeared out of sight.

~8~

To say the Doctor was distracted as he sat beside Amy on the edge of her bed in her actual bedroom on earth, absently glancing up at the wedding dress hanging from her wardrobe door, would be an understatement. Currently, he was doing his best to pay attention to Amy while simultaneously fighting off his desire to look back at the TARDIS doors, as though he expected the Ambassador to try and sneak out of them while his back was turned despite her saying she would stay for now.

It wasn't a promise to stay, but it was a promise to consider it, and he would take what he could get.

"This is the same night we left, yeah?" Amy asked, shifting in her seat as the Doctor was unnaturally quiet despite the rather large shock she must have given him with the dress.

The Doctor shook himself from his thoughts and glanced at his watch, "We've been gone five minutes."

Amy nodded, turning to pick up a ring box off of her bedside counter, showing him her engagement ring, "I'm getting married in the morning."

The Doctor frowned as he took the box, looking at the ring inside, feeling something uncomfortable settle in his chest at the idea of marriage after his talk with the Ambassador about their past spouses, trying to push the knowledge that he would actually have to explain to the Ambassador WHY Gallifrey was actually gone very soon. Call him selfish, but he just...he just wanted the smallest bit of time around another of his species, where they didn't judge him or look at him as though he really were the monster he felt he was for what he'd done. He just...he just wanted a little more time before he had to effectively ruin everything and crush his own small gleam of hope.

"Why did you leave it here?" he wondered.

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?" Amy scoffed, but the Doctor just gave her an expectant look, "You really are an alien, aren't you?"

The Doctor blinked at that, not sure what to make of it, and handed her the box back, "Who's the lucky fella?"

"You met him."

He struggled to think about that, to think about the men in Amy's life…actually, he was finding it hard to think about men in general, a gnawing feeling rummaging through his chest at the thought of other men being around. Not around Amy, no but around…

He shook himself, it was not his right to think that way.

"The good looking one or the other one?" he asked, miming a large nose, that boy Rory, trying to make himself seem normal again.

"The other one," Amy gave him an almost offended look.

"Well, he was good too," he honestly wasn't sure if he should be saying that. If the other one was taken, that meant the 'good looking one' wasn't and what if he was around the next time he and the Ambassador dropped onto Earth and…

Stop it, he tried to shake himself out of that, it was NOT his right.

"Thanks," Amy laughed, not noticing his internal struggle, "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

"Why would you need comforting?"

"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think," she gave him a pointed look on the last word, but he just looked confused, "About what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?" still more confusion, "About who..." her look at him could not possibly get more pointed, "I want."

"Amelia are you trying to tell me something?" he guessed, the tumbling feelings inside him starting to settle into an uncomfortable pit in his stomach.

Amy rolled her eyes, "Doctor, in a word, n one very simple word even you can understand..."

The Doctor practically jumped off the bed as Amy tried to straddle him.

"You're getting married in the morning!" he cried, stumbling backwards, towards the TARDIS.

Amy just stood with what was surely a sultry grace that did nothing to the Doctor, "The morning's a long time away," she stepped closer to him, half shoving him against the corner of the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" she slipped her hand under the shoulder of his jacket and began to try and push it off him.

He quickly grabbed it and shrugged it back on, doing his level best to keep his instinctual reaction held back, using an iron will not to lash out at the girl that had literally no idea what had happened between him and the Ambassador just a short while ago and what it meant for him, what it meant for her actions towards him now, how it had changed literally everything in his world with just a mere touch, "Listen to me. I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?" he tried to push her away, his hands on her shoulders.

"It's been awhile?" Amy smirked.

"No," he snapped, taking a deep breath to keep his voice under control, to keep it calm. Amy, for how much older she was now, was still the little girl from 5 minutes ago and he hated yelling at children, "It means I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older. I don't, and this can't ever work."

"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor," she tried to purr, "But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term."

He winced, hissing in what seemed like physical pain when she reached up to cup his face with her hands and press her lips to his.

"Doctor?" she frowned, pulling away at the sound of it…that was not the normal reaction she got when she kissed people.

The Doctor was nearly shaking as he actually shoved her away from him by a few feet, one of his hands coming up to gingerly touch the side of his face, his eyes closed, his breathing hard, trying to will himself to calm. But even just touching his face…he knew it wouldn't work. Nothing would help except the Ambassador and she would not touch him with a 15 foot pole at the moment. He could wait it out, wait out the reaction his body now had to Amy's touch, but it would be quite a while till his skin felt normal and not like the coldest ice in the universe had been slapped across him.

"What's wrong?" she tried to step towards him.

But he held up his other hand, "Don't," his voice was low, threatening in a way she had never heard from him directed at her.

"Doctor?" she repeated, hesitating now.

He took a few more deep breaths, "You do not kiss anyone but your fiancé when you are getting married!" his voice was less threatening, less harsh, but still rather angry…and quite disappointed, "He deserves better than that."

Amy seemed physically struck by that, "I wasn't…"

"You were," he forced his eyes open, "You're getting married in the morning," he began to chastise her again…when the words struck something else in him, "In the morning," his gaze flickered to the small clock on Amy's bedside, nearly midnight…on the 25th of June.

"What?" Amy shook her head, completely thrown by his change in attitude.

"It's you," he looked at her, trying not to sound accusing or suspicious, "It's all about you. Everything. It's about you," Amy just looked more confused, "I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now," he reached out, seeming about to grab her hand before he thought better of it and changed directions to grab her by her shoulder, "Come on!" he tugged her, spinning as she passed him to push her into the TARDIS.

He glanced back once more, seeing the clock had turned to midnight, now the 26th, and hurried into the box after her, the TARDIS disappearing from the bedroom only a moment later.

A/N: I can say there are quite a few reasons why the Ambassador is so set to deny the connection she feels for the Doctor. We'll see more of it and what the actual connection is in a few chapters, but I can say that a big thing is that...on Gallifrey, the connection is NOT viewed as a good thing :'( There were some hints here as to just what it is and how it affects those parties involved, but I can say...it's just the tip of the iceberg }:) There is also a reason why the Doctor is affected more than the Ambassador, which we'll discover as the story goes ;)

As for the Ambassador, I took what was said about the cracks literally from the Venice episode, if people could escape through certain cracks, through time as well as space, and we also know a little more of where other cracks appear and what's on the other side of them, then it's possible someone from Gallifrey could have fallen through one too. And if the time energy was bleeding out of the one in the Byzantium, maybe it was forcing the crack open wider and wider and could be big enough for a person to fall through, like a Time Lord ;)

We'll be learning a lot more about Sadie, her age, history, husband, life, job, and personality as the story goes, but I hope you like what you've seen so far :) She's going to have a tough time deciding if she wants to stay in the TARDIS (for one reason) or leave and make her own way (for another quite big reason) ;) We'll get more of a look into her thoughts and convictions and fears, her reaction to Gallifrey being gone once things settle down and she's had time to process, as the story goes ;)

This story will probably be updated much slower than the others, but, as they say, slow and steady win the race ;)

To help picture her, I see Sadie as looking something like Emily Blunt ;)