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“What’s this black box for?”
The Doctor turned towards the sound as she saw Yaz handling said object. She narrowed her eyes at it, unsure of what it was. The pair were in the TARDIS storage room, a room she’d normally avoid at all costs. Too many memories, good and bad. She’d already had to explain various objects to Yaz like a cricket bat, an umbrella, and a recorder. But they did need a specific part to make the console completely Flux-proof, hence why they were here.
That black box was certainly not that part, but it was curious enough that the Doctor was interested. She knew about everything in here, but for whatever reason, that wasn’t ringing a bell. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.
“Let me see.” She said, taking it from Yaz. She dusted off some of the cobwebs from it and examined it further. Too big and too plain to be for a wedding ring, so no worries there. Maybe big enough for a watch, but why would she have one? Only way to find out was to open it.
“Well?” Yaz asked, intrigued.
As the Doctor took them out, memories came rushing in like a tidal wave. “…The cards.” She breathed.
“What cards?” Yaz enquired.
The cards that helped turn her into the woman she was today.
Okay, that was a bit hyperbolic, but it had kernels of truth. After her crisis of confidence about whether he was a good man or not, Clara insisted one way to become one was to try sensitivity training. When the Doctor refused, Clara suggested the cards. Specific phrases to help the Doctor learn more about understanding how people worked and felt.
He took those lessons and eventually didn’t need them again, as Clara used them less and less. That growth was something the White-Haired Scotsman helped instil in her in that final speech, which she carried with her ever since. So she gazed at them with a mixture of love and sadness, enough that Yaz noticed.
“You okay?” Yaz asked, over to her in a flash.
“Yeah, I’m alright.” the Doctor nodded. “Just got a blast from the past here.”
Yaz placed her hand on it, waiting for permission to examine it herself. The Doctor nodded eventually and relinquished her grip on it. It’s gotta be important if the Doctor had such a reaction to it. Yaz took out one of them and read it aloud. Her eyes darted from the Doctor to the page every so often. The Doctor watched on with bated breath as she did, eager to see what she really thought.
“Well?” she asked, curious.
“And these are yours?” Yaz asked.
“Well, yes and no. They belonged to a friend who eventually gave them to me as a job well done. They were just to help me out. I had a phase where I didn’t necessarily have a filter.” The Doctor admitted.
“You still don’t.” Yaz added with a smirk, as the Doctor frowned. “And you used these regularly?”
“Only when I really needed to.” The Doctor said bashfully.
“Hmm.” Yaz remarked, flipping through the others. Definitely interesting. They all were phrases for the Doctor to say she gathered, at some very specific times it seemed. Whether she followed them well was up for debate. But they did seem like a good idea… maybe better than she originally thought.
Yaz’s eyes fell onto the Doctor as her smirk rose again. The blonde looked back at her in confusion. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Well... I can think of at least a couple times these cards might’ve been useful for us.”
“Like when?!” the Doctor shouted, offended.
“That time in Tokyo in 2418 where you saw that scientist and then-“ Yaz said, before the Doctor cut her off.
“Okay, but that was one time!”
“There are so many others I can think of.” Yaz said, folding her arms as the Doctor lowered her head. Yaz flicked through the cards once again. “Some of these are evergreen, but we may need some ones more tailored to you.”
“Well… what did you have in mind?” the Doctor asked.
“Oh, I know exactly where to start….”
“Happy birthday!”
Ryan opened his door, gleefully surprised at his two guests. The Doctor and Yaz stood side by side, as the former held a present in her hand. It certainly was an unexpected visit, considering they’d been apart for a year or so and he was fine with the normal video calls he’d get from them occasionally. So to be here and on his birthday? He appreciated it.
“Thanks!” He said as Yaz went in for a hug. The Doctor was a bit more sheepish, but she eventually came in and gave Ryan a bear hug of her own.
“We come bearing gifts!” the Doctor said with a smile. “Well, mostly me really.”
“I helped!” Yaz protested, sticking her tongue out.
“You didn’t need to, really. I wish I’d got something for your birthday… when is your birthday, actually?”
“I-“ the Doctor said before stopping herself. “I don’t think I know, actually.”
“You don’t know your own birthday?”
It wouldn’t be easy to explain to Ryan that after he left, she learned that she was actually a different species and way older than she originally thought she was, so she had no idea about her early life. So she had to settle for something a bit simpler. “You live as long as I have, your mind tends to forget certain dates.”
It seemed to work as he shrugged. “Fair enough. You guys wanna come inside?”
“No thanks. It’s alright. The Doctor and I are busy but we wanted to come and give you a gift.”
“Right!” Yaz then nudged the Doctor a few times as she handed the gift over to him. “We would like to see you open it now, if that’s okay.”
“Absolutely.” Ryan smiled. He quickly unwrapped the gift to reveal a white box. Ryan quickly unwrapped the gift and discovered a brand new phone inside the box, from a brand he didn’t recognise. It looked really sleek and hi-tech though. But when he looked up to ask questions, he saw the Doctor with a small card in her hand as Yaz stood straight, with her hands in front of her.
“Do you have something you want to tell Ryan, Doctor?” she asked, looking over. The Doctor gave her a look before returning her eyes to the paper and reading aloud.
“I’m sorry I deleted the apps/photos/ contacts off your phone. However, safety and necessities took precedence. I will work to make sure they are fully restored. Please accept this gift as my apology.”
“Thanks?” Ryan said, confused.
“We’re working on her people skills. Like learning you can’t just reformat people’s phones without asking permission.”
“It was for the greater good!” The Doctor shouted, defiant.
“Ah, ah.” Yaz said, nodding towards the card as the Doctor sighed.
“I’m sorry I-“ The Doctor tried to say again before Ryan stopped her.
“I understood it the first time.” Ryan said with a chuckle. “The gift, the birthday wishes, and the apology are all appreciated.”
He came forward and pulled the duo into a tight hug nonetheless. The pair waved him off as they headed back into the TARDIS, leaving Ryan to explore his new phone himself. The first thing he saw once he turned it on was a video of the Doctor explaining its functions. They were all standard fare with a few boosted applications, but when it was done, there was one last instruction.
“Whatever you do, do not press the roam button in the radio app. It’s only for emergencies.”
Naturally, he pressed it nonetheless. How was he supposed to know he’d picked up nearby Cyberman radio signals?
Boom
Another laser blast threatened to upset the carefully chosen hiding spot of the Doctor and Yaz. The Zarats were firing a lot more heavily than before, which seemed to answer the question in Yaz’s head of whether they had recharged or not. She rushed over to the windows and set up the barriers the way Yugha showed her. That would at least give them a bit of time.
“How are we doing there, Doctor?!” she shouted, looking at another drone fly past.
The Timelord sat at a table, currently fiddling with a cylindrical device that had a mess of buttons and wires on it. “Higatta EMPs are not easy to rewire!”
“Can you make it easier?!” Yaz asked.
“I’m trying!” the Doctor shot back. Just then, the door opened and closed quickly to reveal Yugha. The blue-skinned, triple-antenna alien was shaking off as much snow as he could, rushing over to Yaz when he was done.
“How bad has it been?” he asked as an explosion rocked the cottage, sending Yaz into him.
“It’s not been great!” she answered as they got up.
“I found a path back to the base. Should be an easy run if we get them offline for a few minutes. Doctor?”
“Yeah, yeah, keep your hair on! I’m getting close.”
“I don’t have any hair.” Yugha said, confused.
“It’s an Earth expression.” Yaz corrected.
The Doctor continued to rewire as best she could, finally making headway and getting it to work remotely. Which meant they could throw it outside and let the sonic do the rest. A simple plan. Well, the plan would be simple if the Doctor wasn’t currently preoccupied with the machine still.
“Oh wow, the range on this is insane! Could take out London. Higatta technology never ceases to amaze me.” She said, marvelling at it.
“Doctor, are you finished?!” Yugha shouted, concerned.
“I think so!”
“Then why are you not throwing it outside!?”
“Oh! Right! Just one thing though.” She said before getting up and fumbling into her jacket for something and producing a pack of white cards, choosing one.
“What is she doing?!” he whispered towards Yaz.
“Her training.” Yaz whispered back.
“I have not forgotten about the deadly alien(s)/technology/threat made against you. I get easily distracted by new and different things, but will still solve the problem you are currently facing.” the Doctor explained, reading off the card.
“Thank you?” he said, confused.
“You’re welcome.” She said, picking up the EMP and opening the door. “Now let’s get a shift on!”
“You know, I don’t think I need the cards anymore.” The Doctor said, sitting on the grass outside the TARDIS.
The pair were currently in Central Park, managing to find a secluded enough spot. In front of them was a nicely prepared picnic spread, with foods chosen by Yaz and the Doctor. Their main dishes did differ, however, as Yaz chose Pakora that she made herself and the Doctor chose fish fingers and custard. Safe to say one was eaten a lot more than the other. But Yaz did agree to try it at least once.
“Somehow, I don’t agree.” Yaz said, cautiously hovering the fish finger above the custard. “Did you forget I needed to make an apple bobbing card on the spot last week?”
“I did not forget, no… it’s just that that little girl needed to know that the fastest wins sometimes.”
“Or that you had to reuse the Aberdeen card?” Yaz said, finally dipping the fish finger into it.
“I mean, it was an honest mistake, that. The TARDIS gets it wrong sometimes.”
“Sure… the TARDIS…” Yaz said, unconvinced. She warily looked at the custard covered fish finger and quickly put it in her mouth, taking a few bites and swallowing.
“Well?”
“…. It’s an acquired taste.”
“Soft.” The Doctor teased.
“I am not! I just don’t go around dipping fish fingers in custard for goodness’ sake. People don’t do that!”
“Do I look like people?” the Doctor asked with a small smile. A smile that Yaz couldn’t help but return as she laughed and shook her head.
“No, you don’t.”
“Exactly.” The Doctor said, scrounging for some more custard cremes, only to find her packet empty. “Aww, done already?”
“Are you surprised when you kept going through them like they were nothing?”
“Hey, they are delicious!” the Doctor said, getting up to her feet and heading back inside. “Back in a mo. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Yaz smiled at her, leaving the Doctor blushing. She loved when she was able to do that.
She took out the aforementioned box of cards and opened it up, realising that said box was showing some wear and tear. Taking it out in active war zones would do that sometimes. Not only that, but the amount of cards was beginning to exceed the capacity. One more and it couldn’t close. So she decided to take them out and place them in her pocket, settling for finding a bigger box when she got back inside.
But as she was about to dispose of the box in a nearby bin, she noticed something. The inside of the box was scratched, revealing something underneath it. Normally she’d not give it any attention, but she saw a bit of writing on it. She tore the rest of the inside off and below it was another card, one that was very well hidden.
“Huh? What’s this one?” she said as she took it up and turned it over. However, as she did so, she gasped at the sight, trying to grasp what she just saw.
“Tell her that you’re in love with her and that you always have been. Tell her there is no point wasting time because things happen and then it’s too late.”
As if she needed any more shocks, she quickly realised that it was the Doctor’s hand-writing, and the paper was brand new. Newer than the ones that came with the box, at least. So it was written recently.
When did the Doctor write this? Why did she write this? Well, Yaz knew why. It was obvious, but after their talk on the beach, she assumed it was over. The Doctor said as much… but was this her getting cold feet? Was she thinking of changing her mind? Why bury it in the box then? Was Yaz always supposed to find it?
All of these questions had her head spinning and soon her eyes watering. She didn’t know what to think or how to feel, but she had no time to, anyway. Once she heard the Doctor’s voice, she quickly shoved the box into her pants pocket and the card into her shirt pocket, hoping she didn’t seem too suspicious.
“I think I brought enough. I will actually share with you this time, though. Just know that I’ll take-“ the Doctor said, arriving outside and seeing Yaz’s eyes wet with tears. “Yaz?! Are you okay?!”
Thankfully, travelling for so long with the Doctor made her into an excellent liar. “Yeah, just something got in my eyes, that’s all.”
“Do you wanna go inside then? It’s getting a bit dark, anyway.”
“No, no. I mean, we can at least stay for the sunset.” Yaz said, offering her hand. “Just a few more minutes.”
The Doctor wasted no time in accepting and sitting down next to her. As the sunset did arrive, Yaz took the risk of resting her head on the Doctor’s shoulder. She briefly worried the Doctor would pull away, but once she not only stayed but rested her own head against Yaz’s, the fear went away. Yaz didn’t know what was coming in the future for them but if she believed what she just read, it was only good things.
Who’d have thought the cards would help her too?