Chapter Text
Yaz almost couldn’t believe they had found themselves in this situation, again. She was running through a forest in the middle of the night, not able to see more than two feet in front of her and having to rely on the sound of The Doctor’s footsteps thumping against the compact soil beneath them to guide her through the maze of trees.
For once she found herself grateful for Dan’s near-constant, usually quite irritating, grumbling as he ran because it meant that she knew he was right behind her, and she didn’t have to worry about constantly turning her head to check on him. Not that she would have been able to see him anyway.
Although she had no way of telling how long they had been running for, or even how far they might have travelled, Yaz kept telling herself that they were making good time and they would be back at the TARDIS soon. She repeated it like a mantra, over and over, using that thought to push through the pain sensation that had started to burn through her lungs and force her legs to keep moving forward.
And it was going so well.
Until a loud snapping sound shattered her focus and although she wouldn’t have been able to actually see what the cause of the sound had been, she instinctively twisted around to look in the direction of the sound. It was only for two seconds but that was long enough to throw her off balance and her feet gave way under her, throwing her forwards.
“Argh!”
Yaz cried out as she felt waves of pain shooting up her left ankle and a sudden sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could also feel what she knew would later come to form bruises over her forearms, which she had attempted to use to break her fall.
“Yaz?”
It took her a few seconds to realise that it was The Doctor’s panicked voice that had called her name out from a few metres away, her head was swimming a little and it was hard to tell which direction the sound was coming from.
“Yaz, are you okay?” The Doctor’s voice sounded closer this time, and then Yaz felt someone crouching over her. No, not just one person. Two. The Doctor and Dan. Maybe it had been Dan that had called her name out first.
“Mhm, sorry, just fell.” She managed to mumble.
A hand came to rest on Yaz’s side, pressing against her waist. That was definitely The Doctor. Her stomach fizzed and she started to feel a little too warm when she felt the hand start to rub against her side in an attempt to comfort her. Though, she supposed, that could be the onset of concussion symptoms. She was almost certain that she had hit her head on the way down.
“We need to keep moving, Yaz.” The Doctor said gently, though there was a hidden urgency to her words.
“M’okay, just need some help getting up.”
“If you can sit up, Dan and I will lift you up, okay?”
“Right.”
Yaz moved to sit up, glad for the dark now because it meant that The Doctor and Dan couldn’t see the pained expression on her face when she knocked her ankle against the root of a tree that jutted out in front of her.
Once she was sitting, The Doctor looped her arm around one of Yaz’s arms and Dan did the same to the other and they lifted her together until she was standing, rather unevenly, on her feet.
“How’s that feeling?” The Doctor asked.
“Um, okay, I think.” She tested out shifting some weight on to her left foot and had to stifle a pained noise in her throat.
“Liar.”
“No, I’m not.”
“I can make it back to the TARDIS, we’re really close now, only about five minutes away, and then I can come and pick you and Dan up within thirty seconds of when I leave.”
“No!” Yaz’s voice was sharp at first, and then it softened as she continued, “Please don’t leave m- don’t leave us here.”
The Doctor hesitated for a moment, glancing down at where Yaz had gripped on to her coat desperately – not something that she had done consciously.
For a brief moment Yaz thought that The Doctor might just go ahead with her plan despite her protests, until she felt a strong arm wrapping around her waist and another hand grabbing her left wrist to drape her arm over The Doctor’s shoulders.
“Alright. But we can’t stop moving.” The Doctor let go of Yaz’s wrist just long enough to grab her sonic. She thrust it into Dan’s hand, “You run on ahead of us and get to the TARDIS. The sonic is set to guide you in the right direction, if it stops buzzing like this then it means you’re facing the wrong way and you need to head in a different direction. There’s a first aid kit in the kitchen, just grab it and bring it to the console room. Got it?”
“Got it.” Dan replied, he had managed to catch his breath a little while they had been helping Yaz, so it was easier for him to start running again and he set off without another word.
“Come on.” The Doctor mumbled as she urged Yaz to get moving again. They did, at a much slower pace but they were moving.
Every other step caused Yaz to wince, and she only just managed to stop herself from crying out in pain each time. With The Doctor acting as a guide as well as a crutch, Yaz decided that she needed to distract herself if she was going to be able to push through the pain, she needed to think of something completely unrelated.
Her mind began to wander towards something she tried to keep locked up in a little box in the back of her mind, something that was much easier to access when she could feel The Doctor this close to her.
No.
Not that.
Not right now.
Instead, she let her mind drift to wondering what Ryan and Graham might be doing right now, although right now was, of course, relative when you’re a time traveller. It hadn’t been all that long since she had last talked to them, maybe a couple of days for them and about a week for her. They were planning a trip to investigate some reports of unusual activity in the wildlife in a village in Cornwall. Maybe they were already done with their investigation. She would text Ryan when she got back to the TARDIS. She had promised she would go and see them soon, maybe it would be sooner than she thought if her ankle injury would take time to heal.
That was the wrong move. Thinking about her ankle.
At the same time as her mind came back to think about the pain, she, and The Doctor, missed the ever so slight incline in the ground that meant her foot landed hard against the ground and Yaz couldn’t withhold the strangled cry when a fresh wave of pain ran up her ankle, tears immediately pooling in her eyes. She quickly tried to blink them away.
The Doctor tightened her grip on Yaz’s waist and wrist, pulling her closer, almost like it was an instinct.
“Not much further. I promise. You’re doing really well.” The Doctor panted, though gritted teeth, “We’re nearly there, look.” She gestured forwards with her head.
Yaz almost burst into tears of relief when she saw the warm glow of the open TARDIS door and it gave her a second wind because she was able to start moving a little quicker and didn’t need to rely on The Doctor taking so much of her weight to keep moving forward.
Ignoring the pain that was still flaring up every time she stepped on her left foot, she kept on going and within seconds they had reached the TARDIS and The Doctor practically shoved her inside and followed immediately behind before slamming the door shut.
Dan had been pacing in circles around the console waiting for them, and as soon as he saw Yaz bursting through the doorway he leapt into action, going to support her weight while he led her to a seat.
“You alright, Sheffield?” He asked.
Yaz nodded, trying to hide a wince. “Do I look that bad?” she asked, a grin ghosting on her lips.
Dan immediately tried to neutralise his facial expression – he hadn’t realised how deep his frown had been.
The Doctor had gone straight over to the console, setting the course for a nice quiet spot in space so she would have the time and space to look over Yaz’s injuries, and so that Yaz and Dan could rest for a bit. Once she knew they were safe, The Doctor turned away from the console to face her friends.
“Right, how about I take a look at you?”
Yaz was already standing up.
“I’m alright, honest.” She shifted her weight around a bit so she could stand more comfortably. “Just need a hot shower and a bit of rest.”
The Doctor’s face fell visibly, she had been hoping Yaz would be a bit more cooperative than this.
“You sure? I really would like to take a better look at you.” She said, and when she heard Dan clearing his throat in an attempt to stifle his laughter, quickly added, “I mean, I really would like to take a better look at your leg. You know, um, because you hurt it.”
This time it was Yaz’s turn to stifle a laugh, having to bite down hard on her bottom lip to stop herself.
“I’m sure. I’ll let you know if it gets worse.” She just about managed to get the words out and she started to hobble towards her bedroom before her body betrayed her and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
Yaz knew that the TARDIS was alive, and she was very vaguely aware that it had some sort of telepathic power, though she didn’t really know how that worked. Or even if it would work for her. That didn’t stop her trying to loudly project her wish that her bedroom be shifted just a little closer to the console room so that she didn’t have to limp so far.
She had barely made it into the second corridor leading towards the bedroom when she heard hurried footsteps behind her.
“Sheffield, wait a sec,”
It was Dan. That was something of a relief. She didn’t really think she could handle The Doctor fussing over her right at that minute. Especially because she felt more than a little embarrassed that she had managed to trip over her own feet while they were being chased through a forest.
Yaz turned to face him, “Yeah?”
“Why’d you brush The Doctor off?”
That look on his face was back, the one she had seen countless times in the four years they were travelling around the world together, the look usually reserved for when he knew she had been watching the hologram.
“I didn’t brush her off, I’m just tired. And sore. I just want to have a shower and then maybe a nap. A sprained ankle really isn’t a big deal.”
“Right. So, you’re sure there’s no problems between the two of you?”
“No more problems than usual.”
Yaz punctuated her comment with a sigh and silence fell over them as they continued on their way to the bedrooms.
“Actually, things seem to be better lately,” Yaz said after a minute, almost hesitantly. “She seems to be making more of an effort, y’know? Letting me in sometimes. Ever since the time loop, she’s been, well, I don’t really know how to explain it. I don’t know. But it’s been better.”
Dan smiled and squeezed Yaz’s shoulder. “And how’s telling her about your feelings going?”
Yaz raised an eyebrow, “It’s not. I don’t want to tell her. Not when things are starting to get better between us. It might ruin things again. I’m happy with how things seem to be going right now. Really.”
“If you insist, but I still think you should tell her.” He said with a shrug. “She might feel the same way.”
“As if.” Yaz scoffed, shaking her head.
Dan looked like he was about to say something else, and Yaz was relieved to see her bedroom door just a few metres away. “Right, I’m off to get a shower.” She said, before he could get another word in, “You should change your clothes. You look manky.” she gestured to the deep brown patches of mud ingrained in the knees of Dan’s jeans, with a small grin playing on her lips.
“Oi, watch it, Sheffield. They got like that while I was trying to help you,” Dan retorted, but he was grinning too.
“No idea what you mean.” She said breezily before she headed into her room.