[EDITED NOVEMBER 2018]

Part Eleven – After the End

Soundtrack:

"Orange Skies & Silver Trees" - Laudate by Corner Stone Cues

Three days later, the Doctor was making French toast when Viera walked into the kitchen. She grinned and took a deep breath. It smelled wonderful.

"What's the occasion?" Viera asked, pulling out plates and silverware before setting about making tea. She'd never drank it before she started traveling with the Doctor, but she'd become quite fond of it since.

"Can't I just feel like cooking?"

"I suppose," she said. She studied him a moment, but he seemed to be in a fine mood, so she returned his smile and went back to work.

They were settled at the table and eating before the oranges arranged in a bowl caught her eye and reminded her of her dream. Orange skies weren't something she'd seen before, despite their familiarity, but it had to have come from somewhere. The daylight skies in her dreams had always been blue. Maybe it'd come from a story she'd heard somewhere.

"Have you ever told me about a world with orange skies?" Viera asked guilelessly.

The Doctor went very, very still, reopened wounds spreading pain through his eyes. Viera wanted to bite her tongue; obviously she'd crossed a line. His voice was calm enough when he answered though.

"Gallifrey had orange skies."

Viera had seen the planet briefly, or its ghost at least. The whole thing had looked like a burning ember, but she'd never stopped to wonder what it'd look like from the surface. She hadn't meant to bring that up.

"What did you ask?" the Doctor inquired, curiosity mostly pushing the pain aside for the moment. He was good at that, focusing on distractions rather than things that couldn't be changed. "I don't recall telling you about it."

"I had a dream." Viera shrugged, but she felt disconcerted. She'd had nightmares about the Master but eventually she had convinced herself that was all they were, that he hadn't left anything behind. But if she had dreamed of Gallifrey… The Master's life force and mind might be dormant within the Vodivost box, but maybe there was a chance that some fragment of him had tainted her mind. "Maybe they're his memories," she said, fear making her voice hushed. "Maybe I didn't get rid of him as well as I'd thought."

The Doctor frowned, about as fond of that idea as she was. He stood and stepped around the table. He reached for her head, making his intentions clear before he paused. "Is it alright if I…?" He gestured with his hands.

"Sure," Viera agreed easily. Once again he gently touched his fingertips to her temples. He didn't touch his forehead to hers this time, but she felt the slight pressure of his mind searching hers. As far as she could tell, he never touched her memories, not that he hadn't already seen them all thanks to what she'd done with the Obetovat. She could feel him testing the edges of the power channels etched into the places where her mind and spirit met. The fear of being tainted had been very real, but despite the circumstances – and the fact that having someone in her head should have been strange- the Doctor's presence was relaxing. His mind was familiar and, most of all, she trusting him down to the deepest depths of her subconscious.

She came out of her near-doze when he pulled away.

"There's nothing there. He's completely gone," the Doctor assured her. He shook his head and shrugged at the same time. "It might have been a fragment of a memory left behind that dissolved once it was viewed." He didn't sound entirely certain, but he wasn't worried either. Viera let herself relax.

Time for a more cheerful subject.

"So where are we going to stir things up today?"