Chapter Text
“Bloody hell!”
Stacy ran inside, umbrella in hand, her attempts to shield herself mostly in vain.
And it had been such a beautiful day earlier. She tried to keep as much of the excess rainwater out as possible, but there wasn’t much she could do.
But at least she was here.
Her first day back at work since marrying Tim. Not the most ideal weather for it, but it reminded her of home. Taking off her drenched jacket, she quickly checked her locker, hoping it had remained intact during her absence. When she arrived, however, she noticed a note on it.
“What’s this then?”
Picking it up, she read it out loud to herself.
“Hey, didn’t want anyone to snoop around here so I kept guard over it, as best I could -Tammy”
She smiled as she finished reading. She hadn’t even asked her to do it, and yet she had. She really should get her that headset they saw before the wedding. Probably make it a surprise too.
She was still a little cautious when she opened her locker door and looked inside. But all was well and intact. She pulled out her vest as her mind began to drift towards the day.
Without missing a beat, she jumped right back into the interesting goings on around the place.
Pierre, in particular, was more than happy to let her have it. The last thing she heard was that a new couple of guests had arrived. Latimer and Mcsomething. It wasn’t her place to focus on the gossip. She just let him talk, so she didn’t feel left out. Hey, maybe she’d end up meeting them. You never know-
“Hi.”
She slammed the door by accident, getting startled, but once she saw who it was, she went back at ease.
“Jeez, Tam. You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry. Just didn’t wanna disturb anyone.” Tammy said apologetically.
“Since when has that stopped you before?” she chuckled.
“Just feeling different today, I guess.”
“It’s fine. Anyway, thanks for looking out for me with the locker. I appreciate it.”
“What are friends for?” she smiled.
“I’ll have to make it up to you.”
“Oh, there’s really no need.”
“No, no, you didn’t have to do this, but you did.”
“Well, I can’t turn down a gift, can I?”
“I sure bloody hope not.”
But as she went to move away, Tammy’s voice stopped her again.
“Wait!”
“What’s up?”
“Just remembered what I came here for.” She smirked. “Boss wants to see you. Said something about you needing to change your name tag..”
Stacy’s eyes widened, and her grin grew.
“You mean-“
“Shh! I’m not supposed to know. So I’m not telling you to go and fix yourself up in the bathroom for your potential promotion..”
Stacy zipped her lips. “I never heard a thing.”
“One more thing.”
She went up and took the original name tag from Stacy’s vest.
“I’ll keep a hold of this so you get to have it for posterity.”
“Thanks... for everything.”
“No problem. Now go and get ready!”
So she did, hurrying into the bathroom as Tammy watched with a smile .... before it turned to a grimace. She reached into her bag and pulled out a strange red device with a button on top.
She considered pressing it now, but needed the right moment...
“Hey Tam. What’s this on the floor?!”
This was the moment. As she made her way to the door’s window, she caught Stacy’s stare. It was relieved, if albeit confused.
“It’s this giant red alien looking thing. Maybe call a janitor or something.”
But Tammy did not respond, but she did lock the door.
“Alright Tam, unlock it. I don’t wanna be stuck in here with this.”
She tried to open the door several times, but each time yielded the same fruitless results.
“Tammy, this isn’t funny anymore. Let me out.”
But Tammy just rose her hand to the window and then... pressed the button as she smirked.
She watched the red smoke begin to surround her as Stacy kept looking around. She could hear her coughing incessantly. It would only be a matter of time before it was all over. It was almost... sad to see.
But Stacy had what she wanted. She needed that face, because on what memories she got from dear Tammy, tonight was going to be very important if she planned it right.
Tonight was the night she could get rid of the mortal enemy of the resistance.
Tonight, she could finally kill the Doctor.
“If you see anything strange, you just let us know, OK?”
The young woman nodded, but fixed the Doctor with a puzzled look as she walked away. Yaz couldn’t really blame her. It wasn’t as if what they were asking was all that normal.
With her determination that she knew exactly what she was looking for, Yaz and the Doctor had spent most of the day - save for a short break for lunch - searching for the Zygon.
The duo took turns either examining certain individuals or asking others if they had noticed anything wrong with any of the other people staying here.
Unsurprisingly, they received no helpful information at all. No one would admit to being a shape-shifting alien, or to having seen one. Funny that.
But the conversations, fruitless as they were, gave Yaz a much-needed break from the almost deafening silence she had received from the Doctor since breakfast.
She hadn’t even woken up next to her, finding the Time Lord’s side of the bed empty. It was only when she went downstairs to get something to eat that she found the Doctor sitting alone at a table.
With a croissant in her hand and a cup of tea beside her, Yaz approached the Doctor expecting a hearty good morning and a jovial wave. What she got was a quickly turned head that snapped back just as quickly and a huge blush on her cheeks.
It was then that Yaz knew what had made her like this.
It was cute at first, really. Seeing the Doctor so flustered. But Yaz soon realised that it meant she would hardly get a word out of her for the rest of the day. Every attempt to bring it up was met with apprehension and hesitation and the most annoying of all...
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Well, it was nearly 7 in the evening and, as far as Yaz was concerned, that could be called later. So when the Doctor went to interrogate another confused guest, Yaz immediately pulled her back.
“Yaz, what are you doing?!”
“We need to talk.”
“I told you, we’ll do it lat-“
“Ah ah! You said that two hours ago.”
The Doctor tried to protest, but she bit back her words, preferring to remain silent instead.
She knew Yaz was right, and from the look on her face, she was right to be angry with her. They were going to talk about this, honestly. She just didn’t know when.
Yaz’s face softened though, she never enjoyed being angry at the Doctor. She led her away from the public as the pair made their way to a more secluded area.
Yaz sighed. “I know that last night was... different from how we normally do things, but we should at least address it.”
“It happened. See? Addressed.”
She started to move away, but Yaz held onto her hand. The Doctor didn’t even have to turn around to know that the look on Yaz’s face was not a happy one. As she turned, she could see those puppy dog eyes staring back at her, desperate to actually talk about what had happened.
Hard as it was, the Doctor knew she couldn’t let Yaz down.
So, with a deep breath and a few seconds of shuffling on the spot, she finally gave Yaz what she wanted.
“I... enjoyed last night. Very much so. “
“So did I.” Yaz smiled.
“It was just a bit out of the blue, you know? So I didn’t exactly know how to react.”
Yaz did nod in response to that. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, after all.
“That was my fault. I should-“
“No, no, don’t apologize. Unexpected doesn’t always mean bad.”
She took Yaz’s hands in her own and squeezed them.
“It’s just... It’s been so long since I’ve even had the chance to do that with someone, so I didn’t know how to react.”
“Well, you’ve had a good while to think it over. How do you feel about it now?”
“Now as in now?”
“Now as in the present, yes.” Yaz giggled.
The Doctor pondered the question for a few more seconds, before finally coming up with an answer.
“... I’d like to do it again.”
“... So would I.”
This time Yaz decided to look at the floor, releasing the Doctor’s grip and putting her hands behind her back, swaying slightly in place.
“... Maybe we can do the next best thing as well.”
“What do you mea-oh.” The Doctor said, as she saw Yaz’s eyes flick to her mouth. “Well, only if you really want to. “
“I think I really want to. Do you want to?”
“I do want to, yes.”
So, for the third time, they moved closer, their eyes now locked on each other. It was as if fate had once again wanted them to close their eyes and move in for the moment, and they had no intention of denying fate what it wanted.
This had to be the moment.
This had to be the time.
This had to be...
“Excuse me.”
“Wha-oh, hi. It’s you again.” The Doctor said, remembering the face from before.
“Ah, the young couple.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I was hoping you could direct me to where the ball is happening tonight.”
“Ball? There’s a ball tonight?”
“Indeed, there is. I even got dressed up for it.”
They inspected her and she indeed was wearing a dress befitting such an occasion.
“If you want to get good seats, you better hurry. I know I do.”
With that, she left them alone and strolled over to another person to ask for directions, who quickly pointed her in the right direction.
It was as if both their brains were coming to the same conclusion at the same time, but not necessarily for the right reasons.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“We could head to the ball and see if we could locate the Zygon, since everyone would be in one place?”
The Doctor looked at her confusedly before breaking out into a sheepish grin.
“Totally. Had the exact same idea. Yep...”
The quick turn away to do one thing and one thing only left Yaz chuckling to herself. Couldn’t say the Doctor wasn’t a romantic. They had to find the Zygon, but who said they couldn’t have some fun first?
“Shall we?”
She offered her hand to hold as the Doctor promptly took it, with a smile.
“We shall.”
The Doctor had left early again, but this time for a good reason.
If the Zygon really was there, then it was possible that they were carrying some kind of technology that could be detected.
Perhaps they were using the crowd as a way of blending in and feeling safe in their hidden form. But the Doctor would find them if they slipped even once.
She waved the Sonic around a few more times before deciding to cool it a bit, especially as she remembered that she hadn’t saved the table like she should have. If she got anything, it’d light up, and she’d know.
She hurried back over just as a middle-aged couple was about to park their butts in the seats.
“This table is taken. Sorry.”
They gave her an annoyed look and walked off, looking very snooty in the process.
“Rude.” The Doctor remarked.
She put the Sonic onto the table just in case and took a glass of water, having admittedly not had any since lunch. She could go longer without it than most humans, but she wasn’t capable of surviving without it.
She brought it to her face, the glass temporarily obscuring her vision and preventing her from properly seeing the person who had just appeared in front of her.
“Is this seat taken?”
“I told you before, it-“
Once she placed the glass down and looked up, she could hardly believe her eyes.
Standing before her was Yaz, yes, but not as she had seen her before. She was wearing a long, flowing gold dress covered in black floral patterns. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she wore ruby red lipstick, with handbag in her hand.
It was one of the most stunning images the Doctor had bore witness to, which said a lot.
“... Yaz. “
“Hope I’m not too late. Took a bit longer getting ready than usual. “
“It was certainly worth the wait.”
Within seconds of seeing her getting ready to sit down, the Doctor burst out of her chair and walked over to Yaz’s, pulling it out for her and making sure she was seated properly.
“You really didn’t need to. “
“Felt it was the right thing to do.”
“Guess chivalry really isn’t dead.”
“Did you know I was actually around when it started? I always thought it was a bit much, but I eventually realized some of it had merit. I-“
The Doctor found herself stopping halfway through her story when she noticed that Yaz was staring at her intently, a soft smile on her face and her chin resting on her hand.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just love it when you ramble.”
“You never said that before.” She blushed.
“No time like the present.”
“Quite.”
The Doctor casually (or at least tried to) sipped her water again, ignoring the look Yaz continued to give her. It was almost overpowering, overwhelming. It was nothing she had experienced in so long, especially in this body...
But she didn’t dislike it. Which explained why, as the minutes ticked by, she grew more and more used to it, and then desired it.
She soon found herself matching the gaze, for to her credit, Yaz did not wilt under the pressure the way she did. The Doctor was certainly pleased, as she had grown rather fond of staring into Yaz’s eyes.
It was a recent development, but hey, no time like the present.
It was as if they were in their own little pocket of the universe, away from the rest, content just to be together in the moment. So they thought it rather rude when the announcer on the PA shattered their fantasy with sobering efficiency.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen. Remember that the buffet is now open and available.”
The Doctor could feel her stomach growling at the mere mention of it, and Yaz could certainly hear it. There was a passing look between the two that needed no words to explain as Yaz simply nodded and the Doctor hurried out of her chair.
Yaz could only shake her head and laugh as she sipped from her own glass of water. She took the time to look around the place, taking it in for the first time since she had arrived.
Sometimes she really couldn’t believe how lucky she was in her life. If you explained it to someone else, they’d say you were crazy.
Her in Monte Carlo, sitting here, waiting for her best friend, an alien, to come back while they were tracking another alien.
Specifically, she was at a ball with said best friend, who she’d been spooning with the night before, now wearing a dress she’d never worn before, just for her.
It was almost too good to be true, and yet here she was.
Her musings were interrupted by an attendant, however.
“Do you need anything, ma’am?”
“Oh, no thanks...”
Yaz looked at the nametag of the attendant. “Stacy.”
She smiled at her, and Stacy smiled back.
“Is it just you here?”
“Oh no, my friend’s just at the buffet. She’s the blonde in the suit who seems a bit too enthusiastic about filling her plate.”
“Right...”
“Honestly, I don’t know how she has the capacity for so much food. She just tucks it away like it’s... nothing.”
As Yaz attempted to look back at Stacy, she noticed that she was now speaking to herself.
“Huh. Rude.”
She was about to turn back to the Doctor to see if she was coming when she felt her handbag vibrate and her phone ring.
As she clicked it open, the name she saw brought a small look of confusion to her face.
Kate.
The Doctor told her that UNIT had given them free rein to do that themselves, so she wasn’t sure why she’d called her. Maybe it was to check in.
Nevertheless, she swiped and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Yaz? Where are you?”
“Still at the hotel in the ballroom. Where are you?”
She could hear cars honking in the background, which at least indicated she was on the road.
“Not far from you, actually. Osgood and I were in the area, as we wanted to check on you tomorrow. But we just got a response on our Zygon technology tracker. We managed to get some UNIT troops from France to help. Have you noticed anything strange happening?”
“No, nothing. The Doctor just went to get something to eat. Surely, we’d know if something... happened.”
Her eyes fell on the flashing light in the corner of her eye, the sonic. It was now flashing repeatedly before it began to beep.
As the realisation hit Yaz, her eyes widened.
“Wait, that means-“
The lights then went out.
Soon there were a series of screams, both male and female, as Yaz herself was feeling quite worried, though not for the same reasons as everyone else.
The Zygon was here and now, and it could be anyone. But there was nothing she could do with the lights out. The Sonic could give off a good amount of light, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Fortunately, the same PA announcer - now with much less use of a microphone - was shouting some encouraging instructions.
“Do not worry, ladies and gentlemen, the power will be on in a matter of seconds. It may have been just a random power cut. There is nothing to worry about.”
That was until they all heard the sound of plates being smashed. A few murmurs of confusion and concern intensified until the lights returned, revealing exactly what was causing the sound.
The image that lay before them was a most fascinating one, doubly so for Yaz. More than you’d think.
Locked in a struggle on the buffet table were the Doctor and... the Doctor. As far as Yaz knew, the Doctor hadn’t suddenly grown an identical twin, so one of them had to be the Zygon.
She jumped out of her seat and ran over to them as some of the security guards came over to separate them.
Despite this, the pair still tried to claw at each other and escape the guards’ clutches in order to resume the fight, but as soon as Yaz arrived on the scene, both women stopped dead in their tracks.
“Yaz!” they both shouted.
Yaz shut her eyes and sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy, was it?
“Doctor, what happened?”
“Wait, you know these women, miss?” a security guard asked.
“One of them, anyway. The other is an impostor.”
“Yes, it’s her! Call Kate and Osgood and tell them we found it.”
“No, it’s her! Convince them to let me go and we can take it in to UNIT.”
They both looked and sounded exactly the same, which was the point for the Zygon, Yaz gathered.
“It? What are they talking about?”
“Long story. Not the main concern right now. The main concern is figuring who’s the real one. So we’ll start asking some questions..”
Both Doctors seemed to be ready for it, but brief looks of concern betrayed their confidence. It didn’t exactly help Yaz, but she had to begin, nonetheless.
“Where did we first meet?...”
“On a train!” one Doctor said.
“In Sheffield!” the other continued.
“After I fell through!” they said at the same time.
“Correct...”
That last answer garnered some odd looks from the crowd, but Yaz pressed on.
“What was the name of my nani’s first husband?”
“Prem!”
Another correct answer, both at the same time again. Maybe she needed to step it up a bit.
“What did you say in the hologram after you expected me to say Miss you, too ?”
“I know you do.”
And the correct answers continued. Time after time, no matter what, they both seemed to know exactly what the right thing to say was. Yaz was running out of questions. But she had to find out.
Especially when she saw Osgood and Kate making their way through the crowd to the front, waiting to apprehend the real culprit.
So Yaz decided to take a risk here. If it worked out, then she’d quickly snuff out the Zygon, and UNIT could take it away. If it didn’t, then she’d look like a right weirdo.
Nonetheless, she decided to just go for it.
Take the plunge
“I want you two to kiss me.”
“What?!” they both shouted.
“You heard me. Come and kiss me.”
Yaz looked at the bewildered guards and nodded as they let go of the two Doctors. The identical duo looked at Yaz and then at each other in confusion before one of the Doctors seemed to comply and pushed forward.
The other was more apprehensive and, in addition to her flushed cheeks, felt it appropriate to make a follow-up request.
“I mean, only if you really want me to.”
Yaz smiled
“Kate, Osgood, I’ve found your Zygon. Arrest her!”
She pointed directly at the Doctor who was approaching her to offer a kiss. The woman looked confused at Yaz, who stood with her arms crossed, smugly grinning.
Her face gradually changed from confusion to anger as she began to run towards Yaz with malicious intent. But she was swarmed by a number of UNIT guards.
Kate soon approached and placed a pair of handcuffs on her, which glowed red, confirming Yaz’s choice.
“Take it away.”
It hissed at Yaz before the guards dragged it away through the crowd.
“I believe our work here is done. I’ll leave you two to it and we’ll check in tomorrow afternoon. Goodnight ladies and gentlemen. “
With that, she and Osgood followed the guards out of the hotel, and despite a momentary murmur of confusion, the band began to play again and people slowly returned to their prior activities as the staff cleaned up the mess they had made.
“The human race..”
Yaz turned to see the Doctor appear beside her.
“Never ceases to amaze me how easily you just carry on, no matter what you bear witness to. “
Yaz chuckled as the Doctor joined her, and the pair decided to stand and simply take it all in for a bit..
“... How’d you figure out it was me?”
“Only you would ask me permission to do something I just told you to do. “
“Fair point.”
Another silence followed, interrupted by the Doctor’s hand slipping into Yaz’s as the former led the latter past the now noisy ballroom to the outside of the hotel itself, the night sky shining above them.
Funny how, no matter how many times they travelled, the stars were still a marvel to Yaz, even though she had seen some of them up close. Much to Yaz’s confusion (and delight), the Doctor didn’t let go of her hand as they stood outside.
“... I don’t want this trip to end. I don’t want... this to end.”
It took Yaz by surprise to hear the Doctor freely admitting that, so much so that she didn’t really have a response to it.
She turned towards Yaz.
“Because I do want to be a couple with you. Like I said, if it was going to be anyone, it’d be you.”
Yaz then felt the Doctor squeeze her hand as she took a deep breath. Yaz could see tears beginning to form in her eyes, which quickly triggered some of her own, as the emotions of the moment began to overwhelm her as well.
“Yaz, I don’t know how much time I have left, and I wish I could fully know that I will always be there for you. Well, at least this version specifically. Some new man or woman is eventually gonna saunter away in my place, and I don’t want to put you through that.”
A few tears rolled down the Doctor’s cheeks.
“I wish I knew a way to make it work. To make it easier for me, for you, for-“
Any further pleading from the Doctor died in her throat as her mouth was clearly occupied. She hadn’t had much time to think about the current concept of Yaz’s lips on her own, but now was not the time to think.Especially when Yaz deepened the kiss as soon as she took hold of the Doctor’s jacket. Each woman melted into the other’s embrace as they each felt all the anxiety and worry slowly slip away from the other.
The instigator of the kiss was the one to break it, as Yaz kept hold of the Doctor’s jacket, taking time to breathe before she took her turn to speak.
“Then, instead of worrying about what’s coming, why don’t we focus on what we have right now?”
“... Live in the present of what we have...”
“... While we still have it.”
The Doctor nodded quickly.
“I don’t care how long. We’ll get to that bridge when we get there. I just want you, no matter how long it lasts for. Is that OK?”
She tilted her head and smiled warmly at the Doctor, who sniffled and matched it with a nod before grinning widely.
“Yaz.”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“Can you kiss me again?”
“Only if you really want me to.” She giggled.
“More than anything in the universe.”