Work Text:
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.” Yaz muttered, laying on her bed, flicking through the pages of the magazine she had eventually gotten back from Sonya. Whilst she wasn’t exactly into celebrity hot topics, it was a soft distraction whilst missing, thinking, and gazing into the mundane void of Sheffield.
It was as the Doctor has quietly stated ‘quality Earth time.’
The Doctor had more insistent for the Fam to have more days on Earth than Yaz deep down hope for. The last few weeks, the Doctor had grown distant with Yaz, and as painful as Yaz wanted to admit, the Doctor’s coldness for another day in Sheffield were unsurprising to say the least.
That morning, the Doctor had barely refused to look her in the eyes, flicking the small knobs on the Tardis panel switch that, with more and more knowledge about the control panel, Yaz knew that they were for the air conditioning in the library on the west wing, thirtieth floor, not for ‘Tardis maintenance’ that the Doctor hurriedly said.
“I mean I am sure I could help-“ Yaz was cut short when the Tardis doors flew open, and the gush of Autumn air seeped in making everyone shudder.
“Sorry Yaz! One Doctor job, I am sure you have lots to do anyways.” The Doctor looked up, but staring straight over at Ryan who was playing the latest sixtieth century game on his newly upgraded phone.
“But I thought we were going to Vandor-5? You said they do the universes best curry?”
“Well another time maybe.”
“But-“
“Yaz.” The Doctor was too sharp for anyone’s liking even herself, and she squinted as she said it. Graham and Ryan perked their heads up confused.
“You alright Doc?” However Graham knew that look, and tugged at Ryans arm to motion for him to grab their coats. “I mean we could always come back tomorrow right Yaz? Give the Doc a day?”
If Yaz wasn’t suspicious, she was now. But Yaz couldn’t understand Grahams instant recognition of apprehension and eagerness to leave the Doctor in the state of her ‘unknown’ feelings. The Doctor was once again playing with the Tardis air con, refusing to speak.
“Well, see you tomorrow Doctor.” Ryan gave a small wave and walked over to Yaz sympathetically squeezing her arm- he knew the Doctor wasn’t going to open up, no matter how desperate Yaz waited. “Text me when you get home yeah?”
Yaz smiled softly. Even though she couldn’t get through to the one person she adored the most, she was forever grateful for her friendship with Ryan and Graham. “Yeah you too, and hey don’t go stealing my chocolate biscuits on the top cupboard, I need them for when I come round for tea.”
“Oh, I may have eaten them, sorry Yaz.” Graham muttered, lifting his hands up guilty, backing away slowly as Yaz playfully shook her head.
“I should’ve known.”
“Are you all done now? So I can get back to doing what I need to do?” The Doctor snapped, and Yaz, sighed, she wasn’t done with the Doctor just yet, but for now, ‘quality Earth time’ was all the time she had to figure out what was going on with the Doctor.
So, after hours of mulling over why the Doctor had been so off recently, Yaz was startled by the knock of her very mundane bedroom door. No Doctor in sight.
God she missed the Doctor like she was air itself.
Maybe she was; Yaz wouldn’t be surprised by this point.
Najia poked her head into Yaz room, smiling softly and Yaz gave a wave of recognition not even having to look up- she could always tell when her Mum was near, and that scared her as nearly as much as staying on Earth with only a Closer magazine for company.
“You busy love?”
Crap, Yaz internally groaned. She couldn’t say no because that would mean having to go downstairs and actually… socialise. But-
There’s only so much Closer Magazine you can read over and over again until your brain starts to decompose as the Doctor would say, though apparently the Kaskervians love it on a bit of toast, and well Yaz wasn’t hungry.
Or cannibalistic for that matter.
“No Mum, I’m not.”
“Good. Well we thought we could have a meal, family outing and all that if you’re up for it?”
Yaz smiled, and stood up to get ready, “yeah sure, I’ll be down in five.”
It took Yaz five minutes to get ready but Sonya took thirty bloody five. Yaz was starting to get restless by this point, pacing up and down by the front door like she was waiting for a verdict of some Galorvian murder. Travelling with the Doctor made time so meaningless, yet filled with everything and more. Half an hour felt like half a heartbeat, yet twenty consecutive life sentences in space prison. Whilst Yaz had barely any time to consider what the outside universe could make her feel in the inside world, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was always something waiting if you really looked for it. And well, Yaz learnt from the ‘best,’ she couldn’t help but search everywhere for the next adventure-disaster-mystery-impending death.
Yaz shook that thought out of her head- this time it would be just some nice human outing with her family, with her family who are all now by the door and one of them looks like a Galorvian herself smothered in lipstick.
“What you think Sis?” Sonya said, Yaz just stared at her a little loss for words, which seemed to be the general vibe of the room and Najia and Hakim both just gawped at her.
Sonya frowned. “What?”
“You are NOT wearing that young lady. Take it off now.” Najia ordered, but Sonya just crossed her arms defiantly.
“You never say that to Yaz.”
“Because Yasmin doesn’t dress like she is about to seduce the first man that walks through the restaurant.”
“Well Yaz doesn’t even like boys so-“
“I’m driving!” Yaz exclaimed. “Now.” Yaz was out of the door and into the car before anyone else could mutter a single word. Yaz sighed, resting her head against the steering wheel and the rain trickled outside. It was peaceful, dark, the chill of the air painting the rims of the windows, and for once, being on Earth wasn’t that bad.
But nothing would compare to the Doctor.
Whilst Yaz didn’t have much time to process how badly she missed the Time Lord, her absence made the air colder, her heart hotter, and the Earth so much smaller.
No one said a single word on the drive to the restaurant. Maybe everyone could see the growing bags under Yaz’s eyes, or Sonya was saving all her energy for later adventures past watershed, but no one wanted to push Yaz any further.
When the Khans all arrived, the restaurant looked ‘nice’ as Hakim cheerfully put it. Yaz sniggered, knowing that her Dad could say the most mundane thing with so much enthusiasm just like the Doc- no, not today thank you very much.
“So what you all having, Pakora?” Hakim joked around the table, making even Sonya chuckle slightly. Yaz rolled her eyes, digging into the menu list- the pakora did look nice thinking about it.
“I want something spicy.” Sonya smirked and Yaz had to do her sisterly duty and elbow Sonya in the ribs. “Ow! Mum, Dad! Did you see that?”
Najia smirked pretending to look at the menu. “No love I didn’t, Hakim did you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Both Najia and Hakim smiled, because Yaz was smiling too.
Which didn’t last long.
“So Yaz.” Najia’s voice pushed Yaz back into reality and the young woman froze. Her mind instantly went to the Doctor, which was just weird because Najia hasn’t even mentioned her, in fact no one has and here she is thinking that they might be talking about the Doctor and she’s mentioned the Doctor again and oh god she’s over thinking this now, and the Doctor isn’t even here and why is she still thinking of the Doctor all of a sudden? Can’t be right, maybe it’s obsessional maybe-
“Yaz? Earth to weirdo?” Sonya waved her hand in front of Yaz and she jumped back, smiling innocently.
“Sorry just phased out.” Najia frowned, and everyone kept silent, whenever Najia did her worried look it just was not worth trying to start a new conversation.
“I’m worrying about you love.”
“Mum I’m fine.”
“Clearly not.”
Yaz sighed, she didn’t want to look at her Mum in the eyes in case she saw the ache for the Doctor buried in there somewhere, her Mum was always the best for sussing her out. And she was DEFO not going to do it with Sonya right beside her.
“What is this? Some interrogation, I want a curry, not to be treated like a child.”
Najia ignored the insult, her expression unchanging. “What’s going on?”
“Dinner is what’s going on.”
“Don’t try and get smart with me.”
“Don’t try and interrogate me, I’m 22.” Yaz hissed, and as always she wondered if she was actually 22. Maybe 26? Maybe 33? Time was just a haze in the TARDIS, it was like age didn’t matter at all, and she hoped it didn’t because there would be a huge age gap between her and the Doc-
Nope not doing it, not this time.
“Has something happened between you and the Doctor?” This time it was Sonya who spoke softly and Yaz’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Sonya reached out for her sisters hand, a sense of understanding rose between them. Yaz couldn’t open her mouth to say anything in case tears would pour out instead of all the words tingling on the end of her tongue. Maybe Sonya was smarter than she looked because she just squeezed Yaz’s hand tighter with love.
“What about the Doctor?” Najia asked, barely audible for Yaz to hear, and suddenly all those thoughts she was succeeding and failing to repress burst through that wall, which now seemed like It was just made of paper waiting to wilt away.
“It’s complicated.”
“Well there wouldn’t be if you two just talked.”
“There’s no need Mum, I am fine.”
“Yaz love, we can tell when our daughter is lovesick.”
Yaz’s ears were burning and she now was looking at anything but her parents, even looking at Sonya’s smirk was a relief. What was her life? Maybe Yaz was a little lovesick, and that the TARDIS two weeks ago had detected that somehow (bloody telepathy whatsit) and sent them to Valetenos, which may have led to the Doctor thinking Yaz was in a relationship with Ryan.
And since then, Yaz has been a lovesick mess craving the long gazes and silent smiles between her and the Doctor that not even the Tardis ever noticed. Well, sort of noticed. Ish.
And of course Yaz was too awkward to even deny it because she could barely admit that she was wanting more out of the Doctor and her heart would need trainers for how much it was beating so fast every time the Doctor was in a thirty mile radius. Like what do you do when the love of your life is right in front of you giving you a speech on how happy she is for you to be with your best friend whose like a brother to you. It’s not easy trying to tell an alien that you really don’t want to get frisky with the man, especially when he wouldn’t stop bloody laughing.
“I am not lovesick.”
Najia cleared her throat, smoothing the creases on the edges of the menu. “Maybe tell that to your face she drops you back home once a week.”
“It is perfectly normal when you feel like you have let the one you love go.” This time, it was Hakim’s words that echoed softly through the room and sat on Yaz’s shoulders. Yaz pulled away, shuffling with napkins on her plate. Has she lost the Doctor? Was this forever? And how was it so obvious for everyone else to notice Yaz was head over heels in love with the Doctor, and yet the Doctor was so oblivious.
“Shall we order?” Yaz muttered, and no one pressed for more questions, no one pushed her into that oblivion, the family knew all about ‘Ryan and Yaz’ when the Doctor sent a:
Congratulations on your new soulmate! Card in a massive pink envelope to the Khan household. Sadly the Doctor thought Earth was one of the 465 customs to traditionally send cards to new couples.
Luckily everyone knew the Doctor was an alien, when the Tardis’s malfunctioned on the DNA transmitter and located Najia and Sonya outside their flat. It took three minutes and forty two seconds of the Doctor talking about the sunset burn of Infernadium and how she wanted to take Yaz to show her how much stars can burn until she looked up and saw Sonya and Najia frozen on the spot staring at her, three pints of milk spilt on the floor.
The questions had been endless for Yaz when she came back from having dinner with Graham and Ryan to face her very traumatised family, and the Doctor instead of facing them all, went to buy more milk.
Yet to Yaz’s surprise, the first thing Najia said was “Now it explains why you look happier every time we see you.”
So when the Doctor rallied around the new shipping of half her fam, writing ‘Raz,’ last week, on a handknitted blanket for Yaz’s sofa, everyone was waiting for Yaz to just talk to the Doctor.
Najia tried the calm type, for the blanket was really good and matched the colours on the wall with a, “Why don’t you just tell the Doctor who don’t like Ryan love?”
To Sonya’s overarching jealousy interrogating Yaz with a “surely if you want to fuck the Doctor, then just dump Ryan?”
To Hakim, well doing what he does best: “Why don’t you make the Doctor some food, I can teach you some new recipes I try on your Mother that doesn’t give her food poisoning if you like.”
And with every interrogation, all Yaz can do is say how ‘eventually it’ll all blow over.’
However, the Doctor was oblivious, and as the time went along, nothing had blown over, in fact the more it continued, the Doctor was convinced that Yaz had been blown under.
The Tardis eventually realised how it had maladjusted… again. Even trying to move Yaz’s bedroom right next to the Doctors as a small form of compensation. But both the Tardis and Graham both refused to tell the Doctor, who at one point put love hearts on the chairs in the Tardis kitchen and labelled them ‘Ryan’ and ‘Yaz’. Apparently, it was Yaz’s job to tell the Doctor, and Ryan wasn’t complaining about the fake relationship- the Doctor had sent him Neptunian chocolate as a gift, along with a PS56 game.
Yaz had mentioned to Graham about the level of effort the Doctor was putting in to celebrate the ‘relationship’ which Graham then made her speechless, he pointed out that it was only a pretence. “Either the Doc was gonna cry or laugh.”
So now, Yaz’s refusal to have that conversation with the Doctor, she was now sat having an existential crisis wishing it was an extra-terrestrial crisis.
A few minutes later, Yaz felt the waiter approach behind her. “Hi can I-“
Yaz had to double check at first.
Blonde. Check.
Smallish- check.
Face and basically everything identical to the Doctor. Check.
Tux. Well that is a check and a half….
“Doctor?” Yaz asked, her voice wavering with uncertainty.
“Heya Yaz!” The Doctor loudly whispered, whipping out a pen and a notebook.
“Why are you a waiter?”
Was Yaz dreaming? Possibly? But the fact that Sonya was laughing right next to her and Najia had her eyebrow raised so high it looked like it was about to slide off her face suggested otherwise. At least Hakim was grinning cheerfully, waiting for the next conspiracy to unfold.
“Funny story, so the TARDIS detected energy signals outside this restaurant, and I reckon I’m dealing with robotic chefs.”
A pang of hurt sliced at Yaz’s heart. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we do adventures together.”
“Well you know.” The Doctor shoved her hands into the homemade pockets of the trousers. “I thought you’d be busy.”
“Never busy for you.” Yaz had to practically kick Sonya under the table once the gagging noises came her way.
“Well you’ve got Ryan so.” The Doctor sounded harsh? Her voice cold and her words carefully said, slowly and wobbly, like she was about to cry but no tears were coming.
“Oh this is getting ridiculous, Yaz just tell the Doctor the truth so we can eat and she can save the restaurant.” Najia snapped, and it was Hakims turn to snigger.
However there were different plans, suddenly mechanical footsteps pounded into the room, human looking machines began firing at everyone in the room and Yaz ducked, pulling her family down under the table, however the Doctor was gone, and once Yaz made sure everyone was under and hidden she followed the timelord close behind, ignoring the silent screams of her family calling her back. Smoke smouldered her lungs, and pieces of the ceiling fell down in chunks as Yaz zig zagged across the room. Her ears rang, and her mouth was metallic, as if she had swallowed a pint of blood. Yaz leaped over fallen chairs and broken glass, dodging what seemed to be lasers? No too old fashioned. Heat waves? Possibly.
“Everyone get down!” The Doctor screamed from afar, but Yaz’s heart was pounding- she couldn’t see her.
“Doctor? Doctor where are you?”
“Yaz! I’m over here!”
Yaz followed the most melodic voice in the universe, and her heart panged with anxiety- would it be the last voice she would ever hear? Yaz pushed those thoughts down, and eventually she saw the Doctor hiding behind a table, crouched down looking at her sonic. Yaz smiled, relieved, and the Doctor looked up- grinning- their eyes melting like the heat waves above, and it was as instincts took over, and they both sprinted towards one another.
“Yaz!” The Doctor darted within seconds by her side, before they could say anything else, the heave wave beams had stopped. Everything was silent. Yaz and the Doctor were the last ones standing, and suddenly very very surrounded.
Side by Side Yaz grabbed the Doctors hand, of course out of instinct because well that’s what you do in the situation right? And the Doctor so didn’t feel the world stopped as Yaz did that because well nothing feels like home as much as the touch of Yaz.
Now that was poetry under pressure.
“Okay you lot no need to panic! I got what you want!” The Doctor bellowed, and it dawned to Yaz to why they weren’t being shot at, the Doctors note pad wasn’t actually a notepad, it looked like psychic paper, as suddenly numerical sequences scribbled across it, like an endless flow of tears.
“There’s a race war going on, between the Robototrons and the Robototrics, this is was buried under the bins of the restaurant, the code to making more of the Robototrons as at the moment they were made by a creator of some sort.” The Doctor whispered into Yaz’s ears, and her spine shivered and her neck tingled and her skin crawled and forget the clichés Yasmin, Earth is in danger.
“Robototrons?”
“I didn’t choose the name Yaz. Anyways these fellas are the Robototrics and they well want to destroy this little code.”
“A code which just appeared.”
“Well my sonic may have accidently activated the code so that it can be read by any species.”
“Why would you activate it?!”
“I was curious- the Tardis detected Atron energy, it was alien somehow Yaz.”
“Yeah somehow as in the world is gonna end.”
The Doctor held back a smirk, too stubborn to admit any wrong. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done things differently.”
And the glint in Yaz’s eyes said more than words could ever say.
“So?”
“So what?”
“What’s the plan?”
The Doctor frowned, and then lit up as if a hundred ideas came to her only for it to go back down as quick as a blink. He Doctor scrunched her face slightly, “Yeah, no, no idea.”
Yaz groaned and the machines came closer and closer. “I’ll give you the code!” The Doctor called out and the robots stopped, listening, Yaz tugged on the Doctors jacket furiously.
“Are you mad? They’ll destroy a whole alien race?”
“I’ll give them a fake code, they’ll never know.”
Suddenly all the Robotronics began to laugh, and the Doctor stopped flapping the paper in the air triumphantly.
“We can hear you Doctor.”
“How do you know my name.”
“We hear everything, your heartbeats are singing.”
The Doctor was frozen- as if ice could kill. Yaz reached out and squeezed the Doctors hand- they were cold. The Doctor’s expression was unreadable, and the dust in the air began to scratch at her eyes.
“What do you want.”
“We want to squander in our enemies, and process the final conversion of our species. To make a pure breed.”
The Doctor was shaking with anger, her mouth twitching, was she feeling defeated? “You can’t do that- that is a genocide.”
“We have no such concept of the word.” The Robots advanced a little closer, and Yaz didn’t even bother to step back- there was nowhere to run. “So Doctor, give us the genetic code, or we will resume the final stage of death.”
“And what’s that?” Yaz whispered.
The Robotronics laughed. “Oh mortal human, it is death itself.”
“Wait no.” Yaz said, facing away from the Doctor she found the hooded eyes of what seemed to be the leader, Yaz snatched the device from the Doctors fingertips and took a deep breath. “We can take you to a planet, somewhere safe, somewhere only you lot can live and no one else. On one condition you can’t hurt anyone, not the-“ Yaz paused and turned to the Doctor, mouthing ‘which one are they again?’ the Doctor replied back pretty quickly. “Not the Robototrons, you must leave their species alone.”
“Human you are weak if you think that is what we shall do, the Robototrons need to be destroyed from this universe.”
“But you can’t park here.” Yaz declared, and the Robotronics shifted their eyes towards one another. The Doctor frowned a little perplexed- but she trusted her most faithful companion, she trusted Yaz with all her heartbeats.” Under 37-Belta-Nine-Axos code on the Vortexual high civic code for international travel, landing on a foreign planet without a permit is forbidden.”
The Robotronics sneered, growling. “And what makes you think we don’t have a permit human?”
“Your space shuttle is a Emporus-signature-8, which were banned from travel by the Shadow proclamation in 4569.” Yaz shouts proudly, and for the first time, the Robotronics take two steps back.
International Highway Law 1- Evil Robots with an illegal ship, 0.
The mention of the shadow Proclamation was clearly a good sign because suddenly the Doctor was behind her, squeezing her shoulders supportively as the Robots somehow croaked out a gasp. The leader, half of the prosthetic skin ripped off its face, shuffled backwards and nodded.
“Fine we shall leave.” The leader uttered, and Yaz grinned finding the Doctors hand once more. She looked over to the Doctor who had said nothing since, her eyes soft, and a small grin was toying on her lips.
“How did you know about all those space traffic laws.”
“I have to learn how to fly the Tardis properly you know, I’m the Officer of the Law I’ll have you know.”
The Doctor smiled wider. “Yasmin Khan, a very smart officer an all.”
The Doctor whipped back to face the robots, her hand refusing to leave Yaz’s, and Yaz smiled to herself, she could get used to this- a lot. “Alright you lot! You heard Yaz- get off this planet now. Start afresh elsewhere, adapt, grow- work together and don’t look back. I was gifted a few planets over the last thousand years, take them. Create a planet with just your race, and stop modifying the races of others. Planets are beautiful when they are multicultural, where all species can belong. I hope for all your sakes, you will eventually figure that truth out for yourself.”
“We will accept your offer, Doctor.”
With the Robotronics sorted, now all Yaz had to do was comfort her traumatised family, and the rest of the restaurant.
It took two hours to sort out the incident in the restaurant with MI5, and the press. The Khans decided to just go to the chippy on their way home, easy, simple and surprisingly nice. The Doctor had left to teleport 50 Robothings to a planet three galaxies away much to everyones relief, and now Yaz was on the sofa, a brand new closer magazine on her lap, waiting for her Doctor to come knocking on those doors.
Which she did by the fourth hour.
“Yaz it’s your girlfriend.” Sonya called and Yaz bounded up to the door, pulling in the Doctor for a hug.
“Girlfriend? But you’re with Ryan, did something happen between you two?”
Yaz froze and pulled away, motioning the Doctor to sit, the Khans retreated to the kitchen, pretending to keep themselves busy as Yaz did the inevitable. “Doctor me and Ryan were never dating in the first place.”
The Doctor began laughing, thinking it was a joke. “Oh you humans and your jokes.”
The Doctor stopped laughing when Yaz began to cry.
Tears one. Yaz zero.
The Doctor pulled Yaz into a hug, and Yaz melted into the touch, nestling her face further into the crook of the timelords next. “Why did you lie Yaz?”
“You assumed, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“But the telepathic circuits took us to Valentenos.” And then it clicked for the Doctor and she pulled away gently, sighing. “I don’t think Graham is available Yaz.”
Yaz’s face was blank and she looked at the Doctors sympathetic face. “Wait what?”
“Graham? I think he still is grieving over Grace and you-“
Yaz pulled the Doctor in, lips meeting lips for the first time and their breaths mingled, lips moving in sync. The Doctor melted in, tracing her finger tips down Yaz’s arms, down her waist, back up to find her neck making the human shiver as she kissed harder. Eventually, Yaz was the one to pull back, gasping for air as the Doctor just wobbled, perched on the edge of the sofa, lost in a daze. “Did that answer your question Doctor?”
“Yep, yep it did.” The Doctor whispered, and she pulled Yaz back in for round two. The Khan family decided at that moment they wanted desert and quickly left the pair to it, although Yaz didn’t care, she wasn’t that hungry it seemed.
Doctor one. Cheesecake Zero.