- c h a p t e r   t w e l v e - 

"Melody, is your ankle doing better now?" Connor said. She was leaning against the side of the TARDIS, trying to keep her weight on one side. It was affecting her balance, but she wasn't in any pain. 

"Yeah, it is," she said. "Thanks again for giving me the splint, Doctor." She turned her attentions to the man who was practically flying around the TARDIS console, trying to control it best he could. 

"It's no problem," he said absentmindedly. When he was acting as the pilot, he was going to be focused on the machine rather than all the things around him. When it came to the particular blue tme machine he was flying, he had to be very careful. Of course, he wasn't always paying so much attention and that's when problems happened. Sometimes he'd end up in the wrong time or place, or end up crashing. But no matter what, the Time Lord always found something or someone special when he landed.

"Well, you are the Doctor," Connor said. "I don't think you'd deserve that name if you couldn't even treat a sprained ankle."

"I take offense to that!" the Doctor said, creasing his eyebrows. His focus on piloting the TARDIS had been broken by his young companion's comment. "I never claimed to be what you'd call a 'real doctor,' you know." He put finger quotes around "real doctor," emphasizing the words as he turned to face Connor rather than the controls. 

"What's that noise?" Melody said, squinting her eyes and turning her head around. 

"Er, what noise?" Connor said. He couldn't hear a thing out of the ordinary. He would have called it silence, except in reality it was nothing of the sort. There was the chugging and churning of the TARDIS's machinery, straining itself to move through the time vortex and to a new place. Then, of course, there was the clicking and snapping noises that came from the controls as the Doctor piloted along.

"That weird sort of screeching noise, it's like a schoolbell ringing for a really long time. You can't hear that?"

"Melody, I think you've just got ringing in your ears," the Doctor said. Even though she shook her head as a response, she enjoyed the sound of the Time Lord using her name. It had taken him long enough, after all. As a bonus, she now knew even more about him and his past. 

Melody adjusted her weight slightly, testing out what it would feel like to try and stand on her injured ankle again. Whatever the Doctor had done was working. Since he had travelled all around the universe and time, he had been able to pick up some rather impressive medical technology. Her injury hadn't been too bad to begin with, either. But the splint she was wearing made the pain ease significantly. If she wasn't paying attention she barely even noticed.

Connor suddenly gave a start, the Doctor having a similar reaction. They had both begun to hear the noise as well.

"I hear it," Connor exclaimed. "I think it's getting louder!"

"Doctor," Melody replied. "What is that?"

The Doctor's eyes flicked back and forth. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "Never heard that particular noise before. I like noises, new ones especially. This one in particular reminds me of a bird that I saw in a zoo on Artang. Lovely planet, lovely people. I'll have to take you there sometime, I think you two would be delighted." He had distracted himself from the matter at hand and had began to babble, but he soon was interrupted.

Connor had been right about the noise getting louder. The TARDIS control room filled with the loud ringing, causing the three people within throwing their hands to their ears. 

"Yeah, just like a bird, Doctor," Connor said, yelling in order to just barely be heard. 

"Not my fault!" he replied. "Now, let's see. What's going on?"

"Figure it out," Melody said, her voice coming out with a slight whimper to it. She had been relying on using her hand to support part of herself, and now that was no longer an option. As well as the splint was working, she felt uncomfortable putting more weight on it. Then, of course, the other ankle was also getting irritating after it had been used to hold so much of her weight. 

"I think it's coming from the TARDIS," the Doctor said, turning back to the controls.

"You think?" Connor said. He was struggling to get his words out, but he couldn't help himself. 

The Doctor removed his hands from his ears and then gritted his teeth as he began to pilot the TARDIS again. "We're going to have to make an emergency landing," he said. "Then I can figure out what the problem is and we can go from there."

"Sounds great," Melody said, giving a slight grimace. "Just do it quickly, okay?"

"Trying my best!" the Doctor replied. As he flicked each switch and turned each knob in that madman's way that he had, another sound joined the loud ringing. A massive grin came to his face as he recognized the scraping and grinding of the brakes. They were landing, it was true. There was no real shaking or anything. He had done it. 

Finally, both sounds stopped and Melody could take her hands off of her ears. She took a breath of relief and promptly plopped onto the ground. She was going to be just fine, but she needed a break. 

"I'm going to check what might be wrong," the Doctor announced. "I'm heading down under the floor, but I'll be right here. Good? Good."

Connor made his way over to Melody to keep her company. The Doctor did as he said, shrugging the coat off of his shoulders. He was prepared to do some major work if he had to. He was hoping that wouldn't be the case, but he could never be sure.

The two companions were silent as they heard several movements coming from below. There were some slight crashing noises that caused them to jump. Meloyd's eyes widened as her gaze connected with Connor's.

"Doctor, is everything good down there?" Connor said.

"Everything's just fine! I think I found the problem, too. Not sure." There were a few more crashing noises that felt like they were drilling holes in the aching ears of the companions. "Ah, the Decryption Bane has a leak in the Compass Drive!" the Doctor said, his voice carrying back up to the upper part of the room.

"The what has a leak in the what?" Connor said, shaking his head. Wondering if this was just some thing he had never learned about, he turned his gaze to Melody. She gave him a shrug, being just as confused as he was. 

"Well, it's fixed!" the Doctor said. "It was a nice easy sort of thing. We can set out again."

"Wonderful!" Melody said, a smile coming to her face. 

The Doctor's face then appeared above the floor across from where she was sitting and Connor was crouching down next to her. He had his hands gripping onto the ground as he pulled himself up. It was rather funny seeing him struggling to get up. But he made it, sure enough. He scurried back over to the center of the room and began flying again. This time, everything seemed to be functioning properly.

Connor took Melody's hands in his and began to help her up. She made a few faces as her injured ankle ended up having more weight forced on it. She let go of his hands and fixed her own balance. But then, her thoughts started to take control. Suddenly, it was like something major had connected in the blonde girl's head.

"Connor," Melody said, her eyes wide. "You saved me."

"Well, if we're going to be honest here, I sort of helped as well," the Doctor said.

"Shut up," Melody said, despite her tone being light and sweet. 

"Oh, yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?" Connor said, not having listened to that short interruption with the Doctor. 

"Thank you for that," Melody said. She was in such a daze that she hardly even noticed the fact she was only about a few inches away from Connor. He was in a similar position, but even if they had both been paying attention they wouldn't have minded.

"No problem. No problem whatsoever."

"I mean, you saved my life. I owe you so much for that."

The two young companions stared at one another for a moment, both lost in the other's eyes. Even though they didn't speak a word, they were having a strange sort of conversation. Neither one was quite sure what was going on around them, but in that moment it didn't really matter. 

The Doctor, on the other hand, was getting a bit impatient with them. He had seen this coming from miles away, but for some reason they had been rather oblivious to it all. Maybe they just needed one last extra push.

"Oh, come on then! Just get over yourselves and kiss," the Doctor said. 

Finally, they began speaking again. At least they weren't totally brain dead with one another. "Kiss?" Melody said, her voice soft and breathy. "Who said anything about kissing?"

"Does it matter?" Connor said. With that, he leaned in and pressed his lips against Melody's. A bit surprised, she nearly jumped out of it. But of course, she wanted this just as much as he did. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his around her waist.

"It took you two long enough!" the Doctor said. They didn't listen to their Time Lord friend, they were in the middle of something, of course! But when they finally did break away, he spoke up to them again.

"I'm surprised that you two took so long to realize that you two had feelings for one another," the Doctor said. "I've been saying that you were flirting this whole time!"

"Sometimes it's nice to be oblivious," Melody said. "Then one day, everything just moves away and it's crystalline clear."

"So...are we dating or something now?" Connor said, a bit breathless.

"I don't know if it'd be dating, persay," Melody said. "It's more of having a romantic relationship while both living in the same enormous time machine which might as well be a hotel..."

"It's not a hotel," the Doctor said, jumping in. "You can't just pay to get in. It's not really that much like a hotel inside, is it?"

Melody turned around for a moment, still keeping her arms around Connor's neck. "The TARDIS has got a pool," she said. "That sounds like a hotel." But the topic was left at that. Their eyes connected and suddenly the thought of conversation vanished from their mind. 

"Now, we have to think of something to do to help Clara, yes!" The Doctor was practically talking to himself by this point. Connor and Melody were simply too wrapped up in one another to listen to him. This was going to be more difficult than he expected.

It had only been a matter of minutes since their lips had connected for the first time, but now they were longing for it again. They lunged towards one another and began to kiss again, throwing their arms around one another. 

"Do you two ever even breathe?" the Doctor said. "It seems like everyone is capable of doing this except for me. Is it some sort of human superpower that I don't know about? No, because River seems to be able to do it as well." He was sort of babbling on to himself at this point, but now he had caught Melody's attention back.

"Oh, trust me, I was breathless the whole time," she said, biting her lip in happiness. Connor's arms were still draped around her hips, keeping her in close. "Now, what were you saying about River? This is the Professor River Song who shares my name, yes?"

"Yes, yes it is," the Doctor said, his words getting out without his consent. It wasn't that big of a deal after all. He had told Clara about River, but of course he hadn't really mentioned much about her. Clara had learned about her as Professor Song because the Doctor simply wasn't ready to come out and explain his ties to the woman.

But Melody and Connor were slightly different. They felt a need to dig into his past, and they had a right to know. After all, they were helping him with Clara. If they didn't know about the past, they couldn't very well be expected to be able to help with the future. 

The two went in for another kiss, this one a bit lighter and warmer. Connor's hands now rested on Melody's face as she pulled herself closer to him. They were just sharing whatever romantic moment they could.

Finally, the two broke away from one another. They hadn't had enough of each other, but it would have to be suffice for the moment. After all, they weren't exactly alone with the Doctor looming right over them the whole time. They had literally all of the time in the universe if they wanted to go ahead and use it.

The Doctor now saw that he had an opportunity to reclaim their attention, and he had every intention to use it. Leaping between them and placing an arm around each shoulder, he began to speak to them.

"Er, I have an idea!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Here's what we'll do. In order to get your thinking gears up and running, we'll take you somewhere. Anywhere in time and space. Easy-peasy. So, Connor, it's your turn now."

"Oh," Connor said, glancing at the Time Lord's arm around him. "I haven't spent my entire childhood figuring out where I'd like to go like Melody here," he said, gesturing to the girl. A smile popped onto her face as he spoke her name. "I'm not really sure." With this, he made his way out of the Doctor's arm. Melody did the same, forcing the man to move back to the center of the room.

"Well, when you do get an idea, feel free to tell me," the Doctor said, crossing his legs and leaning against the TARDIS console. His elbow bumped into a button and sudden the TARDIS gave a huge lurch. "It might be good if you tell me soon," he continued, working to regulate the time machine's flight.

Now Connor was being put under pressure and he wasn't sure what to say. "Artist," he finally said, the first thought that popped into his head coming straight out of his mouth. "Artist. I want to see an artist."

"Any specifics?" the Doctor said. "I'm going to assume you mean someone from Earth. I'm going to have to get you more cultured. But that's another day's work. So. Past, present, future?" He couldn't possibly contain his smile at this moment. 

"Er...past," he said. "Something good, you know?"

"Oh, but there are so many good artists on Earth," the Doctor said. "I particularly like Vincent Van Gogh. I met him once. He even painted a picture of the TARDIS...sort of. It's complicated."

"Is anything here not complicated?" Melody said with a laugh.

"Nothing," the Doctor said. "Absolutely nothing." 

A/N It feels like I haven't updated this in forever, but it really hasn't been that long! Well, somehow I've managed to get more ideas for this story, which is a very good thing. I'm quite happy with the number of reads on this. Even if the votes and comments aren't as high, I don't care. I'm pretty content with what I've got. Although, I'm not saying I don't want to encourage you to vote and comment. Please do, heh. Well, thanks for reading!