Melting

Author's Muse: I attempted to write out all of my version of "The Snowmen", but that didn't seem to work out, so this is part one and part two will come later. I'll be calling it "Giving In". Before anyone says anything, please understand that I'm not replacing Clara because I don't like her. That's not it at all. I love Clara. In fact, I love Clara/11. I just became caught up in a "What if" plot bunny that morphed into this huge thing.

Also, all stories will be in chronological order, so "Giving In" will be posted directly after this one. I figured that it would be best to tell everyone that there will be a lot of one-shots and two-shots in this conglomeration of short stories. While they're in chronological order, there will be too many time gaps in between for this to constitute as a proper chapter story.

As another note before you begin, I make a few references to season six and River Song in here. They're very subtle, but they're there. :)

Anyway, you know the drill. Read and review!

The Doctor posed a barrage of questions for her that she feared would never get answered. He was shrouded in mystery, but even she could see that his past was reflected in his eyes; those pain filled green eyes. She figured that many would be turned off from the anguish reflected in those green irises, but she wasn't. Brianna knew why that was, though. Her mentor, Professor Moruni, had that same look. Why that was, she never quite understood, but she wasn't put off by the look. In fact, it drew her to him more than she knew it should have. Questions about him elevated into more questions and she continuously sought out answers. She was subtle about it. She had to be. Interrogation would do more harm than good and she wanted him to trust her based on actual friendship attachment. As the months passed, she grew to care about him. He captured her heart, made her smile despite his evident repression. She wanted to help him; to melt the ice around his heart.

Then one day, two days before Christmas, Brianna's many questions started to get answered.

It began with missing children and perpetually frozen bodies of water.

Round Rock and Austin, Texas had bodies of water. Most were man made, but not all of them. Wherever the children went missing, another pond or lake would freeze over.

Naturally, this piqued the attentions of Brianna and Professor Moruni and the two wormed their way onto the investigations in Round Rock.

And then one day, to the shock of everyone in the state, it began to snow in only that area.

"Doctor, what do you make of this?" asked Brianna one day over coffee.

He glanced up at her from where he was inspecting the snow settled in his hands.

"I'm thinking that this isn't normal snow," he stated.

She gave him one of her looks.

"Doctor, the fact that it's snowing in Texas is enough to verify that claim. Besides the fact that it'd cold out and we haven't had a proper cold front in weeks," she replied dryly.

He ignored that quip and simply went back to inspecting the flakes that refused to melt.

"It has a slightly psychic signal," he remarked, "I've never seen snow do that before. Not here at least."

he seemed to be talking to himself and the man shook himself out of his thoughts and placed the snow back into the vial.

"Not my problem, though."

Brianna felt perplexed by his conclusion. How could this not be his problem when he lived in their area?

"Doctor, children are being kidnapped and we have an epidemic of strange snow. How isn't this your problem? You live here!" she snapped.

"Temporarily! I've retired from helping people a long time ago, Bri, I'm not going to get involved. In fact, you shouldn't either, come to think of it. It's too dangerous!" he hissed.

Brianna didn't reply. She simply stared at him while massaging the vial she kept her odd snow in.

"Maybe you shouldn't help, not if you're too scared to do the right thing," she said.

With that, she left.

The Doctor stared after her with a frown marring his handsome features. He was used to Bri's blunt honesty, but in this situation he didn't appreciate it as much as he usually did.

"Hey, Doctor!" snapped a voice startling him out of his thoughts.

He glanced up at the source of the voice and realized that the speaker was Mrs. Frost. The blond middle aged woman looked slightly concerned, but mostly irritated as she bent down to clear away the plate of coffee cake Bri half-finished before storming off.

"What the hell happened between you two?" she asked.

He kept his face neutral as he answered, "Nothing. There's nothing between us anyway."

She gave him a look, "Nothin'? Do you even see the way you two interact at all? You didn't talk to anyone let alone me until she came along."

The Doctor glanced up at her, but kept his face in the same frown. He heard her let out a frustrated sigh and braced himself for an onslaught of whatever the German woman had to tell him.

What she had to say, however, was entirely unexpected.

"Ever thought she might be good for you?" and with that she left.

The Doctor didn't show any acknowledgement. He sat there as pensive as ever pondering what Mrs. Frost had told him. He didn't need anyone. In any case, even if she was right he knew for a fact that he wasn't good for Bri. In the end, he'd hurt her in some way or another. There was no way he'd ever let that happen.

The day had been interesting. She staked out around the frozen bodies of water. She even inspected it. The ice was solid, too solid, and that worried her. No matter where one was in the state of Texas, the weather never dropped to the temperature low enough to cause such a heavy freeze. She couldn't even see the shallow bottom. It was completely frozen.

There was the snow that also worried her. It fell and more little kids and some adults made snowmen. Something was incredibly wrong with those snowmen. They seemed alive, like they were actually watching her; following her. It was slightly alarming.

She kicked the snow from her feet as she stepped from the snow dune onto the frosted sidewalk. It seemed cold, but not cold at the same time. It was weird. Her car was parked in its normal space ten feet from the place she was staying. Brianna smiled at the large house. Home. Actual, beautiful, home.

She walked through the door and kicked her shoes off her feet. The temperature was uncharacteristically warm and she felt small beads of sweat spring up on the back of her neck. It was so hot!

"Bri? Are you in?" asked an older female voice from the computer room.

"Yeah! Just me!" she called.

"I'm gonna have you watch Mary and Kyle tonight! Your father and I are going out. We have a university ball for the staff. It's a Christmas thing! You're not busy are you?" called her mother.

"Nah, I've got some research to do!"

"Your consulting missin' persons cases, ain't ya?"

Brianna smiled to herself as she hovered at the foot of the staircase.

"Yeah, I'll be working on it!" she called out.

"Don't overdo it! Get at least some sleep tonight!" her mom suggested.

Brianna called out an affirmative answer as she began her ascent into the upper levels of her home. She glanced into the room directly beside her, the game room, and noted that Marry and Kyle were both in there focused on their own respective pass times.

They were fine. That was good. She never wanted anything to happen to them. They were her family.

"Marry, Kyle, I'm gonna be in the office tonight, alright?" she asked them.

Kyle, who was slightly older than his Sister, looked over his shoulder from where he was playing some ninja game.

"You're playing soccer with us before dinner, right?" he asked.

She smiled, "Yep! Just let me know when you're ready and I'll come."

"Why would we play soccer today?" asked Marry from where she sat in the game room couch with her computer on the coffee table drawing, "its cold outside."

Brianna wrinkles her nose at her little sister's declaration in confusion. Did they really not notice how it felt like forty degrees outside instead of twenty?

"Is it really? I've been fine all day," she said.

"That's because you're weird, sis. You probably came from parents who lived in the north or something," quipped Kyle as he disembowelled a samarai.

Brianna rolled her eyes at that. While they could definitely be right about that there was still something odd about the weather and that had nothing to do with her not feeling the cold like others could. She could feel the change in the weather on normal Texas winters. There hadn't been a change in the weather. There had just been snow and ice in a climate that still wasn't giving off the right temperature.

"Well, some outdoor fun is good for you, Mary, so while your brother works through his drills i'll show you how to properly play in the snow," she suggested.

Mary's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Why?"

Brianna smiled, "Because I said so."

That was the end of that conversation. It was a norm in the house. Whatever big step-sister said, went. Big step-sister was older than the two of them, much older. The general consensus of the two younger Davis kids and their little friends was that whatever big sis, Bri, had in mind, it was certain to be fun. So, always listen to her. It was the way Brianna found that worked best with kids of all ages.

The college graduate slipped into her office and began to unpack her books, notes, and work onto her some-what-neat desk. Her parents had converted one of the guest rooms of their house into an office for her when they realized her room was too cluttered to actually clean.

Her phone buzzed and she answered it while organizing her case files with her other hand.

It was Professor Moruni.

"Hey, what's up?" Brianna asked pleasantly.

"So, Madame Vastra is about as confounded by the ice as we are. The only thing we seem to be able to conclude is that it's related to snow that seems to be able exist in non-freezing temperatures," replied the cultured british accent of her professor.

"Yeah, add slightly psychic to the list where the snow's concerned. And the ice, possibly," Brianna suggested while flipping through one of the case files.

"Slightly what?" came the reply.

"Psychic."

"Hmm."

Brianna glanced out the window when she saw a few flurries of snow flutter in front of her line of vision. She was about to look away when her eyes caught something and focused. The homemade pond in her back yard was frozen over.

She froze. Pond. Frozen. Kids inside. Psychic ice. Mary's bad dreams. Psychic snow. Possible psychic ice.

Who went missing then?

Oh. Right.

"Um, I'll catch you later, I need to check something," she said in a small voice.

She hung up before the professor could protest.

"Hey kids! I'm going outside for a few minutes! I'll be right back!" she called.

She hadn't heard their reply. She was already down the stair struggling into her shoes and attempting to wrap a scarf around her neck.

She ran outside and approached the frozen pond carefully while fervently hoping against hope that whatever she was thinking wasn't the actual truth. If it was the case, then the entire situation became ten times worse. In fact, Brianna was already prepared to admit that the situation was probably out of her league.

The pond. Frozen and lightly covered with the newly fallen snow. There hadn't been a forecast for that snow. The snow seemed to have just decided that that day was a good day to fall. It was exactly like this ice that covered the top of her family's pond. It seemed to have formed because it felt like it.

Maybe it wasn't normal ice and snow? Maybe it was something else? Maybe it was alive? Or maybe it was being controlled?

She hummed as she leaned over to inspect it. The ice was thick; very thick. How could it be so thick?

She was about to reach out and touch the stuff when she saw something move and her face paled. That was NOT supposed to happen!

Brianna straightened up and stared off into the distance. Her mother would be gone by now. She would have to ask the maid to stay a bit longer. She needed to talk to him. She needed to tell him what was wrong. She needed to show him that this was serious and that he needed to tell her what he really knew.

Because she knew why the ice was there. She knew who went missing inside the pond. They hadn't drowned, though. They were already dead when they fell in.

He was attempting to read one of the large historical volumes in the library, but found that he couldn't focus. The slightly psychic snow was bothering him because, as much as he hated to admit it, Bri was right. The snow was troubling. It wasn't supposed to snow at this time of year if at all. Texas was borderline desert and had been for at least eight thousand years. There was at least five geographic regions in the state. The fact that it was snowing in the Austin area without any preceding arctic front was troubling.

He sighed. This wasn't his problem, yet the pull of the conundrum was becoming stronger with each question that came up.

A rustling of fabric startled him from his inner battle and The Doctor glanced up from his book and saw the dark, Victorian, silhouette of a woman. He knew who she was. The veiled detective. Madame Vastra, a woman rumoured as the guardian angel of the night. She, and her wife, caught the human predators; the vilest of offenders. It was because of her that women and young men walked safely at night. She was also The Doctor's friend and a lizard woman from the Jurassic Era of the earth.

"Doctor," greeted her crisp and cultures British accent, "It's good to see you finally taking an interest again."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not taking an interest. I'm not sticking around long enough to investigate anything."

He heard her sigh from under the dark veil and the lizard woman shortened the gap between them. He kept his face neutral. He knew what was coming next.

"That girl is trying to get you involved. What makes it so ironic is the fact that she doesn't know a thing about your past, yet she has already pinpointed the exact reason as to why you isolate yourself from the rest of the world," commented Madams Vastra coolly.

The Doctor continued to frown while wishing that he could simply ignore the woman attempting to get him to acknowledge something that was plaguing his mind. He hated the fact that she was right. He hated that every reason behind anything that he did these days was born out of fear. He anguished over how Brianna, bossy, irritable little Brianna, was igniting his curiosity again in more ways than one.

He shook his head and began to walk away.

"This isn't my problem!" he called, "Stop attempting to make it!"

He wondered out of the library and into the small downtown street and looked around. The pavement was still covered with snow, that slightly psychic snow. His hands clenched at his sides. The urge to investigate was strong.

Finally, after pacing for a few minutes in front of the library building, he slowly walked away towards the TARDIS. It was the long way. The scenic route, so to speak.

Brianna was beginning to understand how impossible it was to actually find The Doctor. She knew he lived in this general area she simply didn't know where exactly. This was important, though. Then she saw him next to his car with that potato head man he referred to as Strax.

Relief coursed through her as she jogged towards him.

"Doctor!" she called.

He looked up from where he was leaning over the snow with some stick thing in his hand. She came to a stop three feet away from him. A suspicious look crossed her face as she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. Hi! Um, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Doctor, listen, I know you don't want to get involved, but the snow, the ice, and the missing people are connected. I think... Something's growing in the ice," she explained.

He rolled his eyes, "If you got if all figured out, then you don't need me."

"Yes I do! I still don't know what and- snowman!" her eyes widened at the thing that suddenly shot up from the ground behind him.

He gave her a confused look, "What?"

"Snowman," she replied backing away.

He stared at her for a few moments longer and then turned around. He followed her procedural backing away.

"That wasn't there before, was it?" he asked.

"Nope," she confirmed.

He laughed nervously and backed to the empty space beside her.

"Thought not."

There was a loud rushing sound behind them. They glanced over their shoulders and stared wide-eyed at the snowmen that newly materialized.

"Ah, yes, Bri we seem to have a slight problem at this present time," he remarked.

"Really? Hadn't noticed," she replies with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oi, no sarcasm! Not the time!"

"Doctor."

"What?"

"They're comin' to us!" she snapped.

"Moving I should say!"

They were backed into the wall of one of the older buildings. The Doctor pushed her behind him in an effort to shield her from the incoming snowmen.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Uh, just a long shot, remember when I said the snow was slightly psychic?"

Her eyes widened as she figured it out. Slightly psychic snow. Did that mean they could hear their thoughts? If so...

Brianna closed her eyes and thought if water. A lot of water suddenly bursting all around them. The most satisfying thing about that was when it worked.

She just wished that she didn't have to get soaked in the process.

Brianna opened her eyes with a satisfied look on her face and the Doctor standing over her with a look of concern plastered on his face. She smiled.

"Well, I guess that's one way to get rid of them," she said casually.

He smiled, "Yeah for now at least."

The look on his face was a picture. It was one she had never seen before. His eyes were lit with the fire of adrenalin of the moment.

"The ice, I'm sure that it and the snow are connected," she said sincerely.

His face fell, though she noted that, once ignited, the fire in his eyes didn't go out. While she knew that he was about to tell her to stop attempting to get him involved, part of her was not disappointed. In this small moment she learned more about her lone wolf than she ever had in the three months she had known him.

"Bri, no, stop investigating this and stop trying to get me involved. In fact, it might be best to avoid me for the time being," he said sternly.

With that he turned away and walked off. Brianna stood there for a moment in affronted anger before charging after him ready to lay on him her thoughts of just how stupid she thought he was.

"Are you seriously walking away from this? Ad what does me avoiding you have to do with this? I'll have you know that life doesn't revolve around you! People are going to die you know!" she practically shrieked at him.

He stopped and whirled on her; stopping Brianna in her tracks.

"I know I'm walking away from this! I know the world doesn't revolve around me! Every time I get involved in something like this people I care about die! Don't follow me, Bri, avoid me. I'm dangerous," his voice levelled at the end of his reply, but it didn't lesson in the passion behind it.

She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're such an idiot, you know that?" she asked before storming off and into the gloom of the dying winter eve.

She rounded the corner of a building before stopping, turning around, and peering around the corner. The Doctor still stood where she left him with a confounded look on his face. He paced for a few seconds before turning on his heel and heading off down the road. She waited until he was far enough away before following him.

He said that he was dangerous. It was practically his favorite catch phrase! In her mind if he couldn't back up his claims to be dangerous, so he was harmless until proven otherwise.

His trek was an odd one. It led them to the middle of a park and caused her to hide behind a wide oak tree while studying what he was doing. The Doctor was whistling something, Silent Night she thought, and skipping around a small space in the partial clearing.

Then he jumped. His arms stretched above him. His hands extended and... He caught something solid in the air and dragged it down on his decent. Brianna's eyes widened. Her lips parted ever so slightly and her knuckles gripped the old tree bark. It was a ladder. A ladder hanging in thin air and he was climbing it!

She was having a hard time coming to terms with what she was seeing. It was highly improbable for a ladder to hang in the air. Logically, it didn't make sense.

Brianna thought back to what her professor told her once when it came to seeing something that seemed highly impossible. Think through it, she had said, rule out the norm and the illogical will become logical and you will forever wonder at how you missed it. She did that now. She thought through the illogical sight of a ladder hanging in mid-air. Ladders, she knew for a fact, didn't hang in mid-air and most certainly didn't hide itself on its own. If such was the case, then that meant there was something above the ladder, something invisible.

The Doctor disappeared and the ladder was back in its hidden place by the time she finally came to that conclusion.

Her front teeth lightly grazed over her lip as she studied the spot for a moment. How desperate was she?

Deciding that she was very much so, she raced into the middle of the partial clearing and jumped. Her hands came into contact with whatever was in the air and she hung suspended for a moment before allowing her body to hang as dead weight. The ladder slid to the snow dusted earth much to her satisfaction.

Brianna looked up and smiled. Time to take that chance. Time to take that big chance into space and climb into the atmosphere. To boldly do what she sincerely doubted any Texas girl had ever done before. She was going to follow the Doctor and figure him out. She made her careful ascent.

The Doctor entered the TARDIS whistling and paced around the console until he came to a stop in front of the small screen suspended on a metal limb. He stared at it with a gaunt look in his ancient eyes contemplating the events of the day. His thoughts mostly revolved around the short, bronze haired young woman with those bright, challenging, teal eyes who blew into his life like a leaf on the wind.

He wasn't associating with her by choice. If he had his way, they would never had become... Sort of friends. Yes that was a good way to put it. They were sort of friends. The sad fact of the matter was that he was dangerous, but that didn't seem to put her off. Bri could, he conceded, simply be that oblivious. It wouldn't be the first time she ran blindly into something with her head held high.

He stopped whistling and frowned down at the screen. Bri was attempting to get him involved in the world. She had been ever since he helped her out with that one case in phluegerville. The problem, he decided, was that it was becoming increasingly hard to say no to her. Those bright teal eyes lit with fascination at the oddest of things. The way she'd push her research and/or case files in front of him to get his opinion intrigued him more than the subjects themselves. Her reaction to danger caught his attention as well. Bri seemed to receive an adrenalin rush in the face of it. So much like him. She had such wonder about her and The Doctor wanted to take her apart and unravel the mystery that was her.

And there were plenty of mysteries. For one thing, it was becoming increasingly apparent to him that her body was not reacting to hot and cold the way most human bodies tended to. For another, the mere fact she actually seemed aware that there was something off about the snow before he told her spoke wonders. No one else had noticed.

There was a knock that resounded through the console room and startled him out of his reverie. His brows furrowed. Who on earth knew he was here?

He moved to the door, hesitated for a minute, and then opened the door to peer out into the gloom of his cloud. There was no one there.

"Hello?" he asked.

No answer.

The Doctor stepped out onto the condensed surface and took a few careful steps forward before quickly darting around the left side of the TARDIS.

Nothing.

Someone was there, though. Knocks didn't just happen in their own. A hand was needed and that hand was normally attached to a body in some way or another. He darted around towards the back.

No one.

Becoming increasingly alarmed he was about to check the other side when he heard the reverberating sound of pounding feet descending the stairs. He hastened from behind his ship and quickly moved towards the entrance of the staircase. He caught a flash of bronze hair in the frozen water vapor before it disappeared from sight.

He stepped on something soft, knelt down and inspected it. A fluffy, red scarf lay there minding its own business. It was still warm.

"Bri," he muttered in alarm.

Penny in the air.

Brianna Davis was having a panic attack. Not the legitimate medical panic attacks that shrinks loved to dissect. No. This was a full blown spasm of perfectly ordinary panic created because she had just witnessed the impossible.

The bronze headed heroine jumped the final few feet to the ground and rolled to break her fall. She was up again in a moment running as far away as she could from the... The... She really wasn't sure about what exactly it was, she just knew that it was not of this world. Was that what the snow and the ice came from? Had the Doctor said he was dangerous because he was actually dangerous?

Blue 1960's Police Box. That was a blue 1960's police box on a cloud that she could walk on. With stairs and a ladder and everything!

She skidded to a stop at the edge if the park's exit and stood while she regained her breath. Who was the Doctor and why did he have a police box in the sky? Better yet, what was she supposed to do about it?

Brianna glanced back up at the sky. Dusk was setting in and sooner than later it would be dark. The next day was Christmas Eve. She needed to be home looking after her siblings, but...

Brianna closed her eyes for a second before finally making a decision. She stalked through the snow, more had fallen in the last hour, towards her car. She needed information and there was one place she knew she could get it.

A promise to herself had been made that she wouldn't do this. His personal life could be in there and she didn't want to pry. Now; however, she had to. This was beyond what she first thought he was like and she needed answers.

She needed to read that book.

Professor Laurel Moruni was not in her best of moods. The day with Madame Vastra and her wife was completely unproductive and her student's hint about the ice and snow being psychic was less than helpful.

To say that she was slightly annoyed when her protege appeared at her doorstep was an understatement. The woman was busy and had pressing matters to attend to. In fact, Brianna was supposed to be researching a possible perpetrator for these very inconsistent attacks. She was also supposed to be at home and safe with her adoptive siblings looking after them.

Laurel gave her student a look. Really, what was she doing here?

"Professor, I need the biography titled, The Doctor," she said urgently.

Laurel's eyes widened in shock. The Doctor? What could she possibly need to know about The Doctor? In fact, how does she even know anything about him at all?

"I've met a man," her student began to explain after seeming catching Laurel's evident shock, "he calls himself The Doctor and he seems to live in a blue 1960's police box on a cloud. I also think that he might know something about this snow and I'm quite certain that you have a book about him, so please let me read a bit of it so I can understand who and what he is!"

Laurel stared at her student completely dumbfounded. Really, she hadn't anticipated her actually meeting the man. Granted she knew that she made a new friend from downtown Round Rock...

Oh. So he was the contact who periodically helped her on a few cases. That explained some things at least.

"Alright, firstly, come inside and I'll get some hot chocolate on the stove. Then I will tell you a bit of what I know about him and how to sensibly contact him without confronting him. This matter has become delicate and you don't know enough about him to convince him to do anything at this moment," said the red head sharply.

Brianna nodded dumbly and stepped into Laurel's house the moment the professor stepped aside to let her in. The minutes passed in silence while Laurel mutely made the heated drink for the two of them. As she set one mug filled with brown liquid in front of her student she topped her own with brandy. She fad a feeling that she would need it.

Then she listened in growing astonishment as Brianna took the time, at least an hour, to explain how she met The Doctor. Three months of an actual, somewhat comfortable, friendship between the two was something Laurel had a hard time trying to come to terms with. The man rarely spoke to his usual friends and, of course, he made an effort to avoid her altogether. Her student, though, her incredibly bold student was the one to actually melt the ice around The Doctor's hearts. This gave her quite a bit if alarm, but also something to think about.

"Does your parents know you're hear?" she asked curiously.

Brianna nodded, "I told them that Maria's looking after them and that I had a sudden breakthrough with the case and needed to help pursue it."

Laurel nodded while feeling slightly alarmed at how easily her little protégé told half-truths. Granted, she shouldn't be one to talk, but still. This wasn't something she had ever wanted her to learn.

"Well, I'll tell you this. The Doctor isn't human, for one. Neither is Madame Vastra or Strax. The Doctor is a Time Lord, the last of his kind as far as I know. Vastra is a humanoid lizard from the Jurassic Era and Strax is a Sontaron. I've known the Doctor for quite a number of years and know enough about him to compile his life into a book only to be read after his death which is known to be sometime in the near future. The Blue Box you saw was his space ship and time machine," she paused while she let her student digest that bit of information.

When she got to time machine, the bronze haired girl looked incredulous.

"Time travel isn't possible is it?" she asked.

Laurel smirked, "Not for humans at least."

She noted that her student caught the way she had said that particular phrase, but was slightly disappointed that she didn't pursue it. Probably wise of her.

"He's an alien," Brianna clarified.

Laurel leaned backbone her chair and raised an eyebrow, "Of course."

She noticed that her student was staring off into space with a contemplative look on her face. Laurel had a feeling that she knew where her student's mind was going, but she patiently waited for her to finish the thought. Feeding someone information won't help them learn anything after all.

"I've seen his eyes, professor, they look like they've seen a lot. How old is he?" Brianna asked.

Good girl, thought the professor.

"A little over twelve hundred years old," answered Laurel.

It was a credit to the girl that she didn't have a panic attack the moment she heard The Doctor's age. In fact she looked like she was considering the information handed to her, again. Apparently, after the initial shock wore off, Brianna was quite… reasonable. Or maybe it was the additional factor of Laurel actually believing her that helped. After all, if she was placed in her student's position, she knew that she would think herself going mad!

"Okay, tell me more," the young woman finally offered.

Laurel nodded and launched into the rest of her explanation, "The Doctor is a great man. Possibly one of the greatest men I have ever known. He is both gentile and kind and hard and wrathful. He used to save the lives of planets, solar systems, and the like. The man was one to take up the burden of judge because he believes that there isn't anyone else out there to do so. The Doctor travelled the universe, all of time and space. He has seen the beginning and the end of time. Throughout his travels he would bring others with him, mostly humans, some from other worlds, and show them the wonders of the universe. He… lost many friends to war, mortality, and life itself. In the end, it was the deaths of his companions under his care that got to him in the end. One loss too many has made him withdraw into himself and become a hermit. He doesn't help anyone anymore."

The professor watched as a myriad of emotions flickered through Brianna's face at the information now reaching her ears. Finally, after a few minutes of shock on her student's side, the young woman finally found words.

"This is why you're just telling me a brief summary instead of letting me read the book," she said.

Laurel smiled wryly and nodded to affirm her student's remark.

"I have kept careful documentation of his life over the years. Such documentation is too personal for you to read right now, at this point in time. You may know him, but there is still much for him to elude to you before I ever let you actually read it," she said gently.

Brianna nodded and bowed her head in obvious thought. Laurel knew what this meant. Her student was considering the information currently at her disposal and weighing them against their current predicament. After a while a conclusion seemed to be made when her head rose to meet the professor's gaze.

"We need his help, professor. If he's done all that you say he's done, then we're goin' to need him," Brianna said after her thoughts finally caught up with reality.

Laurel smiled, though not as brightly as she wanted to at first.

"Tomorrow then, we'll pay the Veiled Detective a little visit, no?" she asked.

Brianna smiled. Mission accomplished.

Brianna had received an earful from her parents the next morning for leaving their housekeeper in charge of her two siblings. It was normal, after all, since she had done this several times before, but not before making sure that her siblings were looked after and that her parents knew what was going on. It was the problem with her detective work. She was always being called away at odd hours when she was in the middle of something to help work a case. It was very inconvenient, but it was necessary.

In the case of her running off to see the Doctor and Professor Moruni, Brianna was glad for the excuse of her current murder mystery. It made her plans for the next day ten times easier to explain to her parents.

Robert and Katie Davis weren't too thrilled with their daughter's need for constant danger. Mr. Davis was a Texas Ranger in the Williamson County precinct and had attempted, at first, to keep his daughter away from murder cases. That plan all went downhill when Brianna's professor dragged her student to Travis County to consult on a state-wide manhunt for two serial killers. Mrs. Davis made the odd attempt to keep her daughter busy with family matters (like babysitting her two younger siblings), but that all came for naught when the pull of work drew her daughter away from the family and into the line of danger. Kyle and Mary, though, thought what their sister did was fascinating and, when Brianna had the odd day off, loved to hear about the various cases she helped close.

The young historian knew where her family lay when it came to her hobby and, so, when she sat down with them at the dinner table for lunch she carefully explained to them that she was going to see the Veiled Detective in the early afternoon. Neither parent was happy about the news though Robert Davis didn't voice his concerns. Katie Davis, however, didn't feel the need to hide anything.

Strangely enough, it was the father who stopped the mother mid-rant and reasoned with her. Brianna remained silent through that part of the conversation.

In the end, with the promise that she would tell her two curious siblings about the visit when she returned home, Brianna left with Professor Moruni for downtown Austin.

"Now Bri, I want you to remember that you will be subject to whatever test Madame Vastra wants you to complete. She will help you if you don't pass it, alright?" asked the professor while she maneuvered through the hair raising traffic down the South I-35 corridor.

The younger occupant simply nodded her head while she gazed out the window. Snow fell from the sky and created a light, feathery, dusting along the road. This, of course, made everything twice as slick as either woman would have preferred. Thoughts of the Doctor were on her mind as well as what test the Veiled Detective would decide to put her through. Was she worried? Didn't seem like that was the case. Maybe it was the prospect that, whatever she tried, The Doctor would refuse to help. She didn't want that, but she wasn't sure if there was much choice in the matter. If he decided to continue in his existence as a hermit then they would have to come up with a way to fight the snow on their own. Was that possible.

The car pulled into a small parking lot in front of a house that resided in a neighbourhood slightly passed down town Sixth Street. Brianna gazed at it with the narrowed eyes of an observer. It seemed that Madame Vastra liked the Victorian Era a lot. Not only did she and her wife wear clothing from the mid-nineteenth century, but it seemed that their style of house was from the same time period as well.

"They're from the eighteen hundreds, aren't they?" asked Brianna bluntly.

Professor Moruni nodded and chuckled as she pulled herself out of the small Toyota Corolla and into the nippy December air.

"He brought them here ten years ago. Granted, for him it was about three hundred years ago for him, but time is of little meaning to him," the lady informed her pupil.

Brianna nodded to indicate that she understood.

'We must be nothing to him,' she thought, 'we must be like dust in the wind, always living and dying while he lingers on. Kind of like those elves from Lord of the Rings.'

It was a sobering realization, but it also gave her something else to consider. Why had he taken an interest in the human race if they were so… fleeting? Why had he ever cared in the first place?

The duo approached the greet Victorian Era house silently. There wasn't much left to be said at this point. All questions were Brianna's and said inquiries were meant for Madame Vastra. Professor Moruni rang the doorbell and the two waited for a brief moment before it was answered by a young woman, human, dressed in Victorian clothing, blue from what Brianna could take in. The woman smiled at them and dropped a prim and proper little curtsey.

"Madame's expectin' ya, Professor," she greeted and stepped aside to allow them entrance.

Brianna followed the red head into the house and felt like she was suddenly propelled into the eighteen hundreds. The hall even looked Victorian. There were old style furniture, paintings, flooring, and wall decorations. The hall rug even looked like it came from that era. It took a nudge from her professor to make her realize that here mouth had dropped open in astonishment and wonder.

She closed it abruptly. If these were the Doctor's friends, then she had to admit that they had style. Being the history buff that she was, Brianna absolutely loved the get-up.

"Please," began the woman after they entered and removed their jackets and scarves, "right this way into the green room."

They followed her through the winding halls into the very back of the first floor of the house. When they stepped through that final door Brianna was floored again by the sight that greeted her eyes. They weren't kidding when they called it a green room. The room was, quite literally, a greenhouse filled with lush tropical trees, leaves, ferns and flowers. It even had its own artificial sunlight.

Brianna smiled. The professor had said that Madame Vastra was a lizard woman from the Jurassic Era.

When her eyes finally found time to draw themselves away from the scenery around her, they focused on the dark form of the veiled detective sitting at a small, out door table drinking tea. Really, what was it with the British and their tea? She would never quite understand their fascination with the drink. To her, it was too weak. Coffee was the way to go and not tea. Despite this she approached the table with the professor and nodded to the other woman when asked if she would like a cup.

Madame Vastra greeted Professor Moruni first.

"Good afternoon, Laurel, am I to presume that this is the girl?" asked the lizard woman hidden by her dark veil.

Brianna bristled a bit at the "girl" term, but carefully kept her annoyance hidden behind her tea cup. She needed to remember that, to this woman, she was most certainly a girl.

"Yes, Madame, Miss Davis is here to speak with you about the Doctor. She wished to get a message to him about the odd winter weather we are currently having," explained Professor Moruni in what Brianna knew was a bored voice.

Brianna smiled slightly at teacher's attitude. Professor Moruni was never one for being polite.

Madame Vastra turned to her and seemed to study her nodding to her human companion who stood directly behind Brianna. The young woman, who professor Moruni explained was name Jenny, responded thusly.

"Madame will ask you questions and you will confine yourself to one word responses. Do you understand?" she asked.

Brianna glanced at her before returning her attention completely to the lizard woman in front of her.

"Why?" she asked simply to demonstrate that she understood the command, but not why it was needed.

"Truth cane be confined to a single word while lies are in many. To weed out the lies, I ask for the simplest of answers. I will know if your intentions are not honourable. Is that acceptable?" explained the woman.

Brianna responded with a definite "yes".

"Now, you have met the Doctor. In fact, you seem to have known him for a while now. Why is it that you wish to associate with him?"

Brianna stared at the woman while thinking of the right word that would describe her feelings towards the Doctor. There was a lot to sort through, many of which she either didn't understand or really want to place a name to. There was one answer that she knew would be acceptable and would also sum up her current disposition towards the man in question.

"Friend."

The woman looked taken aback for a moment before asking, "Why do you think of him your friend?"

That was a bit of a tough one, but she was determined to find the perfect word to describe that bit to her.

"Care."

"And what is it that you want from him now?" she asked.

"Help," replied Brianna.

Madame Vastra scoffed, "He doesn't help anyone, my dear, not anymore. He stands above this world and doesn't take an interest in the affairs of others."

"No," interjected Brianna strongly.

The lizard woman gave her a look, "No? What do you mean by that?"

Brianna tilted her head up slightly with a haughty look on her face, "Me."

The lizard woman stared at her for a second before nodding, "Yes, you are a bit of an anomaly at this present time, but what makes you think he will help because of you?"

Brianna gave her a hard look and answered promptly, "Kind."

"The Doctor is not kind," replied the madame sharply, "he has not been kind in a long time. There was a time, I'm sure you know, when he did used to give aid, but that is all in the past. He has suffered too many losses. His hearts are hardened. Carefully choose the word to communicate your understanding of this."

Brianna smiled, ever so slightly, as she chose the very word that popped into her head the moment Vastra finished her dialogue.

"Man."

The veiled detective straightened up and her head seemed to move in a way that suggested she was gazing behind Brianna at her wife behind her. Whatever passed between them, she didn't see. She was too busy making sure that her concentration hadn't wavered for a moment.

The woman spoke again, "We are the Doctor's friends. We may assist him in his isolation, but that does not mean we approve of it. Now, give me your message to the Doctor."

Brianna nodded and thought about what she was going to say immediately assuming that the one word rule still applied.

She looked up and spoke very clearly, one word.

"Pond."

The penny drops.

The End... For Now At Least...