Hello all,

We're keeping going on fixing these chapters, though it may slow down a bit soonish due to life stuff, but i'll try to keep going. My goal is to have new chapters (completely new) up by Christmas.

Thanks for still reading!

Robyn

The group watched as the screen turned black and the title of the next video was revealed. As seemed to be the way with the recent video titles the group looked around each other, trying to see if anyone had any clue about what the video would be about.

"The Pilot? That's very vague." Donna snorted.

"Does it mean a pilot like someone who flies a plane, or a pilot like the first episode of a tv series?" Martha asked, head tilted to the side in thought.

"That's a good point, this all does seem like a tv show." Mickey nodded at his wife's theory.

"Any ideas Doctor?" Jack asked, eyes focussed on the Doctor whose face was scrunched up (adorably) in thought.

"None at the minute. I've met a lot of pilots over the years, ooh, did I tell you about the time I met -."

"Not the time, Sweetie." River interrupted before the Doctor could jump into an elaborate story.

The Doctor pouted but sighed in agreement, "Guess we'll just have to watch and see then."

With that the group turned to the screen eager to see what they would be watching this time. The last video had been a fairly nice video with not much emotional trauma and drama compared to some of the videos they'd watched before. They were quite excited to learn more about the Doctor (and each other) preferably with less trauma for a while, there was only so much emotional trauma you could deal with before needing a break.

Bill follows Nardole into an office

The group turned to Bill as one, recognising the young woman who had appeared on screen.

As soon as the pair recognised the room, Bill and the Doctor shared a glance.

"Do you think this is about Heather?" Bill asked the Doctor eager to see her girlfriend on screen.

"I think that would be a good guess." The Doctor nodded, trying to think back to her first meeting with Bill and then the drama with Heather, had she mentioned Missy? She knew no one was likely to take the vault well and she was really hoping to avoid that mess as long as she could. She purposely didn't look at the Master (as much as she wanted to) knowing that someone was likely to pick up on that.

"Heather?" Rory asked looking like he was dreading the answer.

Both Bill and the Doctor shared another glance before answering at the same time.

"My girlfriend."

"Puddle girl."

"I have so many more questions now." Amy muttered looking between the pair who had gone back to staring at each other.

Nardole gestures with a mechanical arm for her to sit at the desk then leaves quickly after a bolt falls off

The group turned to look at Nardole who looked back trying to look innocent.

"Oh yeah, real unsuspicious." Bill snorted; she'd noticed his actions back then but tried not to think about it at the time (too worried about why she was in the Doctor's office).

"Really?"

"No."

In the office is the Tardis with an 'Out of Order' sign hanging on it. On the desk are photos of Susan and River

River turned and smiled softly at her wife; Bill had already mentioned the Doctor had photos of her on her desk but it was a different matter seeing it. The Doctor smiled back softly, carefully taking her wife's hand to reassure herself. Both were thinking of their departure after Darillium, they'd been reluctant (the Doctor more than River as she knew River's fate) and known that was supposed to be the last time they spent together properly, bit this time together was an unexpected gift, one they would enjoy for as long as they could. (Plus, the Doctor still had her suspicions about where River was in her timeline, but River kept avoiding the subject whenever she asked).

Bill reaches for a sonic screwdriver from a pot but is interrupted by the sound of an electric guitar

"Oh, it's definitely Eyebrows with that guitar." Clara announced, smiling despite her annoyed tone. She was excited to see her Doctor on screen again and was pleading to the universe that it wouldn't end up being as traumatic as the last time they'd seen him (when they'd separated after the mess on Gallifrey).

The 12th Doctor pokes his head out, goes back in and the sonic is heard before he enters the office. He wanted to see her

"Ooh, you're in trouble." Jack grinned at the younger girl who grinned back mischievously.

"Not really." Bill shrugged, she couldn't deny she was excited to see where everything started for her, especially from this kind of perspective.

Bill isn't a student, she works in the canteen but still comes to his lectures, she denies it

"Totally believable lie." Martha laughed, good heartedly earning a sheepish smile from Bill.

She changes her mind as he tells her he saw her, calling them awesome

The group laughed at that. "Complete backtrack and go for the compliments, nice tactic." Clara grinned, sharing a knowing look with Bil. They both had the advantage of having travelled with this Doctor.

DOCTOR: Why'd you come to my lectures when you're not a student?

"Your lectures? Is this when you were working at that university? Which one was it again?" Rose asked, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember the name of the university.

"St Luke's University, yes." The Doctor smiled, reminiscing over her years at the university. There was a good reason she's chosen the twentieth and twenty first centuries on Earth to start what was supposed to be a 1000-year stay – it gave her the chance to meet up with many of her former companions without them ever being the wiser.

"I still can't imagine you as a lecturer." Amy shook her head in disbelief.

Bill was the one to answer, smiling as the rest of the group snickered. "They weren't exactly the most typical lecturer." Her words drew some questioning looks but the young woman offered no further answers.

Bill goes on a long story that isn't really relevant about chips and pretty girls

The group was grinning at Bill's story, enraptured with the dynamic between the pair already. Bill was nodding along with herself; she'd almost forgotten about all that with everything else that happened (plus it had been a while ago for her).

Bill agrees it led nowhere relevant

"That's Doctor level of procrastination speeches." Mickey snickered.

"I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult." Bill pointed at Mickey, who shrugged – he didn't know either.

"Hey!"

Bill asks how he got the Tardis in the room when the door and windows are too small

"You're very observant." River said, looking at Bill with a considering glance. It was easy to underestimate the young girl based on what she said, but she was undeniably clever and noticed things most people didn't question. She could see why the Doctor liked the young woman. That very skill helped make the Doctor as dangerous as they were.

The Doctor lies about a crane bringing it in, then gets back to his first question about her attending his lectures

"You're trying to move away from that line of questioning." Rory said; so far, he was enjoying watching the Doctor try to keep up with Bill's endless questions.

"It wasn't like I could actually explain the truth." The Doctor grumbled as the rest of he group watched her with grins.

Bill admits she likes them, and asks why her

"Thanks Bill." The Doctor muttered; she hadn't done so at the time but Bill deserved a thank you for her comment about the lectures.

"It's the truth." Bill smiled back, she did miss those days of being the Doctor's student and attending their lectures (alongside the adventure in space and time). But she had enjoyed her time with Heather so far, but she did plan to go back eventually (though it would be weird without the Doctor).

The Doctor noticed her because when she doesn't understand something she smiles, instead of frowning like a normal person

The room was watching the interaction curious, all thinking back to their first meeting of the Doctor and trying to think back to how they had been noticed. Some of them like Amy, Yaz, Graham, and Ryan had met them straight after regeneration; others they'd run into during a dangerous situation with no one else around like Rose and Donna; some came alongside others like Rory and Mickey, and a few of them were only one of many but stood out, like Martha and Bill. Clara, Jack, Nardole and River were a bit more unique in circumstances.

Bill comments on his age as a consequence of a question

The group burst out into loud laughter upon hearing that comment and seeing the Doctor's resulting expression.

"Sometimes I think you forget you've regenerated." River shook her head in fond exasperation at the Doctor, who shrugged. It wasn't necessarily the case (at least not all the time), it was more the fact she didn't already understand human ageing (in terms of appearance), but she had been fairly young for the last few faces so looking older was harder to remember.

She wants to know what he's actually supposed to be lecturing on, as he changes it constantly

"I see what you mean about not being a typical lecturer." Mickey whistled.

"So, what are you supposed to lecture on?" Bill asked, turning to look at the Doctor, remembering how he had dodged her question the first time.

"Does it matter?" The Doctor asked, faking nonchalance.

"You can't remember, can you?" Jack realised, smile almost breaking his face. The fact that the Doctor started avoiding meeting anyone's eyes told the group the answer. It only made them start laughing at her.

The Doctor waves off her comments on the unrelatedness of physics and poetry by claiming they rhyme before asking why that university

"They don't rhyme?" Ryan pointed out; eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Everything rhymes if you try hard enough." The Doctor answered cryptically. The group glanced at her with doubtful looks but made no comments.

Bill always wanted to go here, she then avoids questions about not being a student

"You can't get on at me for avoiding questions." The Doctor grumbled, but offered a small smile at Bill, understanding her reasonings now for both avoiding the question and wanting to attend St Luke's.

The Doctor offers to be her personal tutor, claiming he can sort out making her a student

The group started grinning eager to see how everything was developing. The dynamic between the pair on screen was certainly unique but very earnest and entertaining to watch.

Bill was grinning at the Doctor, very glad for that meeting despite her initial apprehensions upon finding out about the meeting.

Bill agrees. The Doctor tells her to never be late as he is particular about time

"Yet you are rarely, if ever, on time yourself." Donna raised an eyebrow at the Doctor who put on her most innocent expression (which fooled no one).

BILL: Oh, er. People just call you the Doctor? What do I call you?
DOCTOR: The Doctor.
BILL: But Doctor's not a name. I can't just call you Doctor. Doctor what?

The group was practically cackling upon seeing the Doctor's expression at Bill's comment, the Doctor looked slightly (more than slightly actually) maniacal at the question. Bill and Nardole were both giving the Doctor side-eyes, thinking about Missy's comment about his name being Doctor Who.

The Doctor was again, purposely avoiding making eye-contact. There was a collection of things she loved upon meeting new companions – their reaction to the Tardis, their first adventure in time and/or space, their reaction to the sonic, and them being able to handle themselves as they grow in confidence - were a few and the question of 'Doctor Who?' as Madam Vastra had once pointed out, was another. Bill was one of a few of her companions who had circumvented that question in favour of Doctor What.

Time passes, Bill works int he canteen, attends the Doctor's lectures and his tutoring sessions in the evening

The group watched the screen in fascination, Bill was grinning in remembrance of the actual lecture from what felt like so long ago. The Doctor was nodding along with herself on screen and watching entertained by the way the video was put together, she'd enjoyed her time at the university – giving lectures to students and getting to share some of her knowledge, the marking hadn't been any fun though.

"I really see why you enjoyed the lectures." Martha muttered, she was one of only a couple people in the group to actually attend university and wished she'd had a lecturer like the Doctor at hers. The group all nodded along still in some sort of awe of the Doctor's lecture, it was very on point with their style.

"You've picked up some of my tricks I see." River smiled softly at her wife, happy to see the Doctor had managed to find some peace after their separation – tutoring Bill had really helped them get back into their normal rhythm and being at the university seemed to have been a welcome break.

"How could I not? My wife is an amazing professor after all." The Doctor smiled back. There were several reasons she'd chosen to work at a university – a way to remember her wife had been one of several reasons she'd never admitted out loud to anyone.

"And don't you forget it, Sweetie."

Bill arrives at the tutoring session asking if she's on time

"If you are, you're doing better than them." Jack grinned cheekily at the Doctor who just sighed in exasperation at his antics- they were never going to stop teasing her about her time keeping skills no matter how many times she tried to explain how hard it was to hit the right time.

At home, Bill talks to her foster mum (Moira) about the Doctor who is worried about his attention

"I'm glad she's so willing to defend you." Graham remarked.

"Yeah, that's Moira." Bill muttered; she knew her foster mother cared about her even if she wasn't sure she understood her. She hadn't ever explained that she liked women instead of men as she wasn't sure how Moira would take it.

Moira warns her to keep her eye on men, that's not where Bill's attention lies

A few members of the group nodded sympathetically, coming out to friends/family could certainly be interesting.

The Doctor's lecture on time continues

The cut back to the lecture grabbed the attention of the room again as they all turned to watch, still fascinated by the Doctor's presentation. They could certainly understand why so many people went to their lectures if they were all like that.

Bill is in a bar and notices a woman

Bill smiled upon seeing pre-Pilot Heather, it was always nice to see her girlfriend and the video was certainly presenting their meeting in an interesting fashion. The Doctor just raised an eye at the pair's meeting, she was curious to see the interactions that had led to Heather chasing them across the universe.

Back to the Doctor's lecture on time - ending with the familiar Time And Relative Dimensions In Space

The group grinned upon seeing the familiar acronym spelled out for the oblivious students. Bill was watching the lecture entranced – it certainly held a whole new layer of meaning once you understood who the Doctor was and what they did.

Back in the canteen, Bill is serving chips

"Now I'm getting hungry for chips." Rose moaned, gaining a few nods of agreement from several people in the group.

The Doctor smiled at that, "How about we break for some food and sleep after this video?"

"That sounds like a good plan for once, well done Sweetie."

"River!" The Doctor whined.

Later, Bill watches Nardole an the Doctor sneak around the corner of the building, she follows them a cellar door which opens for her

"You were following us?" Nardole squeaked and was promptly ignored.

"Well, if you didn't act suspicious, I wouldn't have." Bill crossed her arms, giving the pair a pointed look. It was only the three (four if you include the Master) who knew what they'd been up to back then.

"What were you up too?" Clara asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. There wasn't much they could be up to as the Tardis was in his office and he didn't have much else to hide let alone big enough to hide in a hidden basement.

The Doctor, Nardole and Bill shared a glance none of them really wanted to tell the group about Missy and the vault. The Master, however, was smirking with chaos swirling in his eyes.

The Master opened his mouth to start exposing the Doctor but didn't actually manage to get any words out before a pillow hit him in the face, turning his expression from an eager madness to bewildered fury. "How dare you –." The Master exclaimed staring at the Doctor who just glared at him.

"Okay, now I'm not even sure if I want to know." Amy announced, eyeing the pair of them warily. It was rarely a good thing when the Master and Doctor interacted like this. The whole group eyes the pair with suspicion but ultimately decided whatever was going on wasn't worth the pain at the moment – if the Tardis thought they needed to know they would find out.

Nardole and the Doctor discuss what he's teaching Bill - things like apple and alpha, descending multiples as the Doctor claims everything rhymes

"Literally none of those things rhyme." Yaz said, glancing at the Doctor who shrugged, that was hardly the point.

They are opening a huge metal vault door

"Why is there a huge vault hidden beneath the university!" Donna exclaimed, eyeing the Doctor with suspicion.

The Doctor looked around the group only to be met with curious and concerned expressions. She sighed but decided they wouldn't be satisfied without some kind of answer this time, "The Vault is the reason I stayed at the university for so long. I'm sure we'll see more later." She purposely avoided what (or rather who) was in the vault for the moment. The group narrowed their eyes at the vague answer but let it go for now.

Nardole tells him the security upstairs was set to friends only

The Doctor groaned, understanding all too well how Bill had managed to follow them now. The rest of the group was too busy snickering at the screen to notice how the Doctor glanced at the Master.

Bill sneaks away as the pair argue over the door

The group snickered at the pair's interaction, while River just sighed exasperated with her wife – she'd left Nardole with the Doctor for a reason and it wasn't (entirely) to antagonise them.

In the main quadrangle, Bill comes across the woman from the bar - Heather. Bill asks about the star in her eye, Heather states it is a defect defensively

"She's defensive." Amy remarked.

Bill shrugged, "It probably gets annoying with everyone asking about it."

"That's true." Rory surrendered for his wife.

She's getting it fixed. Bill asks if she is okay, and Heather asks if she can shown Bill something, Bill agrees quickly

"You have a crush." Jack sang teasingly, Bill just stuck her tongue out at him (it was true but he didn't need to tease her about it).

"I'm more worried about what she wants to show Bill." Yaz said, eyes narrowed at the screen. Unlike in the rest of the videos an 'enemy' or disastrous situation hadn't presented itself yet and knowing the Doctor, it wasn't likely to stay that way.

No one missed the look Bill and the Doctor shared, it left the group more on edge knowing there would in fact be something dangerous appearing shortly, because that was just their luck.

Heather hates the place and just wants to leave

Bill and the Doctor shared another look, having a silent conversation. The conversation hadn't been particularly significant in Bill's mind until Heather had become the Pilot, and the Doctor was just interested to get a better idea of why Heather was chasing Bill to start with. The rest of the group (bar Nardole who had made an 'ahaoh' kind of noise of realisation) didn't notice the exchange and were just happy watching Bill's crush on Heather, although they were a bit apprehensive of what Heather wanted to show Bill.

They reach a service area where Heather points out a puddle despite it not raining for a week

"Okay, that's pretty weird but there are lots of logical explanations for that." Martha said, face scrunched up in thought.

"Like someone spilt some water from a bottle or a burst pipe." Mickey offered logically.

"Yes, but how often is there a logical explanation when it comes to this one." Donna snorted, pointing towards the Doctor who adopted an offended expression.

"Hey!"

Bill offers an explanation about the students being blokes

"That's another explanation, just not a nice one." Rose nodded; face crinkled in disgust at the thought.

Heather tells her to look in it, Bill does and sees her reflection

Bill and the Doctor shared yet another glance, it was easier for them to notice what was wrong now that they knew. Bill stared at the screen assessing her reflection, it was weird to think about all the trouble she'd gotten into, how she had got to travel with the Doctor because of a puddle (a puddle of mysterious space oil but still a puddle).

Heather asks if she sees what is wrong with it

Now the whole group was analysing the screen in an attempt to notice what was wrong, glancing every so often at Bill for refrence. In his corner, the Master smirked having noticed what no one else in the room had but he wasn't about to share that information with them.

"Okay, I give up! What's wrong with the reflection?" Amy demanded after several minutes of the group silently staring at the screen.

Bill and the Doctor glanced at each other trying to figure out how much to say without spoiling everything but enough to satisfy the group. Bill decided to take charge for once, "I think it's best to just watch, it's kinda important." Most of the room looked like they wanted to argue that but upon seeing the determined faces of both Bill and the Doctor let it go for the moment - they'd get their answers one way or another.

They introduce themselves, Bill notices something is wrong but Heather walks away claiming another time. Bill makes her promise

Bill felt the sudden urge to hit herself - she'd noticed that something was wrong with her face she just hadn't been able to pinpoint it in that moment (admittedly, partially due to the distraction of a pretty girl that she wanted to impress aka Heather). The Doctor watched Bill carefully, this was another part of why Heather had chased them, she'd promised (or more accurately, Bill had asked her to promise). She couldn't deny she was enjoying this video - it certainly wasn't as intense or high stakes as many of the other videos they'd seen (or many of her other adventures they hadn't seen (yet)), plus she got to relieve some of her time at the university and relieve her meeting with Bill again.

An alien voice is heard talking about locating a pilot and establishing a link. The puddle freezes over

"Okay. That is not a puddle!" Graham exclaimed, eyeing the puddle warily. Why couldn't anything in their lives just be normal?

"What is it?" Ryan leaned forward a bit, eyes focussed more on the burn patches near the puddle - that looked semi-familiar but he couldn't connect it.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound very friendly and it wants - Heather, I'm guessing?" Yaz glanced at Bill for confirmation; out of the two of them who were there and from what they knew about both of them, Heather seemed the more likely target.

"The Doctor and Bill glanced at each other before turning to the room at large and answering in sync, "You'll see."

Time move son, its snowing as Bill carries a long round present to the Doctor's office

"We've jumped in time." Clara said, glancing at Bill and the Doctor for confirmation. It wasn't the first time the video had done that but she was curious how long the Doctor had been Bill's tutor before finding out about the time travelling alien part.

Seemingly reading her mind or, the more likely option, reading between the lines, Bill answered Clara, "He'd been my tutor since just after the start of term so it had been a couple of months at this point, I think. Term started September and he started tutoring me about the last week of September so, yeah." She glanced at the Doctor to see if she contested it but the Doctor was just nodding along - honestly, she was convinced it was a miracle that Bill hadn't noticed anything too weird before this point.

It's a rug

"You got him a rug?" Martha asked, not unkindly just curious and maybe a bit entertained by the sweet sight.

Bill nodded with a shrug, "Felt right to get him something but I'm a university student so inherently poor."

"Mood." Yaz snorted, it hadn't been that long ago she'd been a college/university student either and she knew that pain.

Later, they're discussing Christmas plans. The Doctor never claims to go anywhere

"Blatant lies." Jack teased the Doctor who just rolled her eyes at his antics.

"What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, yes I usually travel in time and space but for reasons I can't share I am sticking around 21st century Earth for the moment'?" The Doctor countered, earning a mock surrender from Jack who hadn't missed that she still wasn't saying why she'd been hanging round the university - all he knew was it had something to do with the vault and she wasn't telling them as she knew they wouldn't like it - which wasn't reassuring by any definition.

Bill doesn't think its true, quoting her mum, who died when she was a baby. The Doctor asks how she said that if she was dead

"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed, "Insensitive."

"Don't tell me you're not curious too." The Doctor shot back but her expression revealed that she did feel a bit guilty about it, the way she war glancing at Bill.

"It's okay. Bill shrugged, it wasn't like she'd ever properly known her mum and it was a long time ago - she'd come to peace with it as they say. Plus, in some way it only felt fair to have to share private things about themselves given how much of the Doctor's privacy they were invading (not that she was going to volunteer them - she meant more if they came up in the videos like they had been."

The Doctor's expression was troubled, "Still, I'm sorry Bill." The young woman just shot her a small smile and another shrug.

Bill admits to not really knowing her as there aren't many photographs, asking if photos really help. The Doctor looks at the photos on his desk

"You have an idea." River smiled at her wife, having a feeling she knew what they were about to do. She liked Bill and was glad the Doctor had found Bill and moved on after losing her, it was healthy (plus they were time travellers, who was to say Darillium was really their last meeting?).

Bill had shot up in her seat, suddenly remembering what exactly had happened - she's had her suspicions at the time but had dismissed they because it was ridiculous, but now she knew it was true. She gave the Doctor such an earnest, thankful smile that the Doctor shifted uncomfortable in her seat at the positive attention but managed to shoot a small smile back. All she could think about (at the time) was how much Susan and River's photos had helped her (plus all the other photos of her family and companions over her life that she kept in the Tardis) and knew she'd had to help Bill out.

Back at Bill's home, Moira and Bill exchange presents. Moira found an old box in the cupboard with photos of her mum. On close inspection Bill notices the Doctor with a camera in the reflection of a mirror in one of the photos

"Doctor-." Someone started, she wasn't sure who instead she was focussed more on Bill. Bill had jumped up from her seat upon seeing the Doctor in the photo again, leaping towards the Doctor and pulling her into a tight hug. She started chanting "thank you, thank you, thank you," over and over again while the Doctor just patted her back slightly awkwardly (she still wasn't exactly a hugger).

Several minutes later, Bill finally pulled back and moved to sit back down, but her gaze was still locked on the Doctor curiosity taking the place of thankfulness. "Did you know my mum then? That's a lot of photos and I doubt she'd let anyone just photograph her."

The Doctor smiled softly at the young woman; aware the whole room's eyes were eagerly watching them. "Your mother went to the university but she wasn't one of my students, I asked her to help with an imaginary art/photography project I told her I was working on, I only knew her a couple of months but you are every like her from what I saw." It went unsaid that she'd gone back in time to do this - it hadn't been that hard to enlist the help of her younger self (actually it had taken some convincing to take photos of a random student that wasn't even one of hers but that wasn't important). Of course, the mixing of time lines prevented her remembering until now and she'd managed to do a bit more time travelling to hide them in the cupboard until they could be noticed at the right time.

Bill's eyes were shining with unshed tears, but she composed herself enough to say a last thank you. Show over, the group turned back to the screen. The only person not looking at the screen was River who smiled softly at her wife, muttering "I'm proud of you." Before kissing the Doctor's forehead gently and turning back to the screen, missing the Doctor's lovestruck/grieving expression.

It's the New Year, il notices the Tardis is on top of the new rug, the Doctor pretends not to hear

"I was right!" Bill cheered. Of course, she'd know she was right after the Doctor's reveal but she took some pleasure in being able to announce it like this.

"Right about what?" Rory asked the young woman. She understood her confusion over the rug and Tardis but she hadn't made any declaration or theories.

"Well not right. I just thought it was weird and I already knew the Doctor was weird but that just made him weirder." Bill back tracked a bit; she may have gotten excited.

"Very true." Amy snorted, enjoying any chance to tease the Doctor.

Later again, Bill returns to the service area where Heather is. Bill still hasn't worked out what is wrong with her reflection, Heather offers to show her. Bill makes her promise to not go

Bill frowned at that, she'd finally gotten the promise she'd asked for form Heather but that was the last time she'd seen her before Heather had become the Pilot. Arguably that was the moment that things had really changed for her - maybe she could have gone her whole university career without finding out about the Doctor or maybe not but here was where she had gotten herself into a situation that required her to learn about the Doctor.

The group was just smiling at the blossoming young relation, although a bit apprehensive about the sudden reappearance of Heather and the puddle after the touching Christmas scenes. They didn't notice the Doctor watching Bill, or Bill's troubled expression.

Bill moves around but Heather is gone

"Where'd she go?" Mickey asked worried. There weren't exactly many places she could have gone in such a short time since they'd last seen her and he was getting a bad feeling about that 'puddle'. No one missed the frowns Bill and the Doctor exchanged.

She doesn't notice Heather's screaming face in the puddle, the alien voice confirms the pilot is engaged

The group watched in shock at seeing Heather's screaming face in the puddle. Even the Doctor and Bill who knew what had happened hadn't seen the details of Heather becoming the pilot, and it didn't look pleasant - no wonder she hadn't been entirely put together when chasing them compared to when Bill saw her after the colony ship.

"What happened to her?" Rose asked concerned.

"She became the pilot." The Doctor answered, expression blank. The trouble was only just starting.

"But what does that mean?" Donna shouted frustrated.

"Just watch, please." Several people shot the Doctor glares for the evasive answer but did as they were told for the moment.

Bill goes to the Doctor

"Tell him." Martha muttered, knowing the Doctor was Bill's best chance with the puddle.

Bill explains everything, the Doctor is already running outside when she glances at the window

The group burst out laughing upon seeing the Doctor running across the courtyard, not even waiting for Bill. The situation was tense and getting more anxiety inducing but as ever, the Doctor was very capable of comedic intervention even when they didn't intend to. Even Bill was chuckling, more relaxed than most of the group as she knew what had happened and how everything ended. She still wasn't sure how she'd been so distracted that she didn't hear him leaving.

Bill chases him

"Oh, you already know what happens during travels with the Doctor then." Clara grinned alongside the rest of the room at the familiar scene. Even without knowing who the Doctor was, and without being in (too much) danger there was still the ever-present running (and shouted 'Doctor!').

The Doctor looks a the puddle

"I don't think you should be that close to the not-puddle." Graham said nervously eyeing the screen as if waiting for it to jump at the pair. The Doctor just shrugged unrepentant.

Bill catches him, describing his run as a penguin with its arse on fire

The group burst out laughing again at the (accurate) description of the twelfth Doctor's run. Even the Doctor was chuckling - she couldn't deny it, especially after seeing it from an outside perspective like this.

Bill comments on how he seemed flexible about the subject of his face as they look in the not-puddle

"I absolutely had no idea." Bill declared with a sly smile, that was an understatement if there ever was one.

Bill asks if he knows any sci-fi

That made the group start chuckling again, while Bill just groaned - perspective really was annoying sometimes.

"The Doctor is sci-fi." Amy announced. "A dork and an idiot, but a sci-fi one."

"Yea- Hey!"

Bill theorises she was possessed base don something she saw on Netflix, the Doctor isn't impressed

The group snickered at both Bill's proposed explanation and the Doctor's reaction to it. The Doctor just shook her head fondly at the young woman, she'd made them watch any films during their travels and she still didn't understand half of them, but that explanation was particularly weird.

"Honestly, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing any of us had seen." Rose defended, gaining a few nods of agreement as the snickers died out.

The Doctor works it out, it was easy to see for Heather because of her eye. Bill asks if it gave her special powers

"Please tell me that is not the answer." Rory asked with a sigh. The Doctor grinned but waved to the screen instead of answering, earning another sigh from Rory (Which was exactly why she did it).

The reflection is wrong - their faces are the right way round not reflected

The group all muttered 'oh' as their expressions showed the dawning realisation as the Doctor explained. Then their expressions turned even more concerned as that revelation (while nice to have answers) was worrying - f it wasn't a puddle reflecting them then what was it and what was it doing?

Its not reflecting, its mimicking them

If possible, the group tensed up further, becoming more nervous at the confirmation of their theories. Bill and the Doctor shared another glance, having a silent conversation - things were only about to get worse.

The Doctor scoops up some of the puddle in a test tube, then notices the scorch marks. He then tries to hurry Bill away

"You've figured something out and don't want her involved." River deduced, eyeing the Doctor. She had her own theories about what the puddle was, especially having noticed the pattern of the scorch marks.

The Doctor nodded, "I was trying to stay out of trouble but it seemed to find me anyway. I didn't want to drag Bill into trouble."

"For once, I think Bill was the one to drag you into trouble." Jack countered, giving the Doctor a pointed look - they knew the Doctor tried to keep them out of trouble half the time but they usually weren't successful and it was usually against the wishes of the person they were trying to protect.

The Doctor pretends the puddle is nothing, claiming a freak optical effect as he tries to send her home

"You really weren't convincing that everything was normal." Bill said to the Doctor.

"You still went home." The Doctor shot back.

"Not that that went very well." Bill snorted, thinking back to how 'Heather'/the Pilot arrived at her house. The rest of the group watched the conversation getting more worried at Bill's comment but neither of the pair looked like they were going to offer answers if they asked.

The alien voice declares the passenger has been selected and starts to move

"It's chasing you. Why do they always chase us?" Mickey bemoaned; expression concerned for Bill but also annoyed with how their lives worked at this point. The whole group was watching, eyes locked to the screen in concern - things were certainly heating up.

At home the shower is running, Bill picks up a call from Moira, who is at a bar

"If that's not her in the shower, then –." Rose said, worried. She didn't finish her sentence but everyone was thinking the same thing.

"Talk of horror movie vibes." Yaz muttered which got a small grimace out of Bill. It was never nice to compare your life to a horror movie.

Bill catches her in a lie about a boyfriend, asking if anyone is in the flat

"You caught her there." Nardole chuckled but everyone ignored him in favour of keeping their eyes locked to the screen not wanting to miss anything as things became tenser.

Moira denies anyone being there, Bill wraps up the call quickly

"That's really not good." Ryan declared, glancing between Bill and the screen.

Bill approaches the bathroom carefully as the water stops running, she grabs an umbrella and orders them to be decent as she's coming in

"I love how you think there is a stranger in the house but you still ask them to be descent." Mickey shook his head.

Bill shrugged, "I didn't exactly want to see anything no matter how nervous I was about who was in there."

"But why go in there at all? People that do that die first in horror films." Clara asked, nervous about how the situation was unfolding.

"I didn't exactly know the weird puddle was chasing me. I just thought it was one of Moira's ex-boyfriends." Bill explained, frowning at the screen. She really was getting horror vibes and even though she knew what was going to happen it was still giving her the creeps.

"True." Yaz sighed.

She enters the bathroom and pulls aside the shower curtain, the water drains away as Heather's eye looks up from the drain hole, she runs

"Get out of there." Martha announced. "Go find the Doctor."

Bill smiled at the concern on the groups faces. "He'd been acting weird and he'd like the only person I figured might believe me. So, yeah I went to find the Doctor." A few people let out sighs of relief at that declaration. Even though they knew Bill was okay (and even seemed to like Heather) it was still scary to see her in so much danger.

Bill runs back to the university. She's in the quad as sees the Doctor up in his office, Heather stands nearby with the sound of water trickling. She's copying all of Bill's words

"It's mimicking you." Rory said.

"Just like it mimicked your reflection, it's mimicking your words." Amy evolved her husband's thoughts.

Bill shook her head at them, "She, not it. It took Heather a while to meld properly to become the pilot which is why she's only mimicking."

"But why is she chasing you?" Donna asked, already frustrated by the lack of answers presenting themselves. Bill smiled but waved to the screen for a proper explanation which only served to frustrate the group more.

Water is coming from all of her body, Heather leaps at her

"I know she's your girlfriend and all, but that's undeniably creepy." Ryan declares, eye sing the screen warily.

Bill shrugged, "Yeah, it was very scary at the time, can't argue that."

Bill runs into the Doctor's office as he's analysing the liquid, she jams a chair under the door as the sound of water continues

The group smiled upon seeing the Doctor analysing the liquid he'd collected. None of them had believed he thought the puddle was normal but it was good to see him actually trying to do something about it, even if it was a bit too late at this point.

Liquid leaks under the door, as Bill argues it definitely isn't a freak optical effect

"What gave it away?" The Doctor asked Bill with a teasing grin.

"I don't know, the fact the puddle swallowed Heather and was chasing me?" Bill exclaimed, sarcasm practically dripping from her words. Her words only made the Doctor grin more, which served to relax the room a bit as the pair weren't too worried by the threat Heather seemed to pose on screen. Then again, the Doctor wasn't usually great with assessing threat levels and appropriate reactions to danger.

Heather starts to form from the liquid as Bill tells the Doctor its following her. The Doctor tells her to get in his box, very calmly

"You're doing the same thing with her, that you did with me!" Rose announced, looking enlightened as she glanced between the Doctor and the screen.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked confused, thinking back both to their actual first meeting and the video of their meeting that they'd seen recently.

"You ignored the danger and tried to convince us to go in the Tardis without explaining anything." Rose answered with an accusing glare.

"Huh." The Doctor said, she hadn't even realised she'd done that. "Honestly though, would you have believed me if I tried to explain? And that's dependent on me having time to explain which I didn't really have in either case."

Rose glared at him for a second longer before sighing, "I guess that's fair." The accusing glare came back. "But don't for a second think we don't know you enjoy our reactions." The Doctor just smiled at that, unable to deny it.

Bill isn't convinced, the Doctor says it will be a very long explanation

"That's an understatement." Amy snorted.

They go into the Tardis, the Doctor pokes his hand back out to remove the Out of Order sign before shutting the doors again

"Oh yes, because that's an important thing to do when you're in danger, remove the Out of Order sign." River sighed, shaking her head fondly at her wife's antics. The Doctor just grinned unrepentant.

Bill is still panicking as they are trapped staying by the door, the Doctor claims they are safe, Bill disagrees as it is made of wood with windows, she doesn't notice as he turns on the power

"Bill makes a good point. How are you so sure, Doc?" Graham asked.

The Doctor immediately adopted an offended look (one that always appeared when someone doubted her or the Tardis), "The Tardis is a technological marvel, lightyears beyond human understanding. Very little can get through her doors." The group all shook their heads at her rant, far too used to it.

"It's still made of wood." Mickey backed up Graham, half to tease the Doctor and half a genuine question.

"It only looks like it is made of wood because of the Chameleon Circuit." The Doctor pouted, turning her offended look to Mickey. The rest of the group gave up and started laughing at them while the Doctor just looked perplexed about why they were all so entertained.

Bill still hasn't noticed, talking about Heather as she claims he isn't a sci-fi man, she finally turns around to see the rest of the box

The group all grinned, enjoying Bill's almost constant remarks, her reaction and the brilliant view of the Tardis. There were a few snickers at Bill's last remark about not being a sci-fi person, it was very ironic in retrospect. The Doctor smiled at seeing her old control room and Bill's reaction to it again but she was waiting for Bill's up and coming comments – most people were amazed but Bill kept going for logical explanations and ignoring the impossibility of everything.

DOCTOR: Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS for short. You're safe in here. You're safe in here and you always will be. Any questions?

The group all smiled softly at the Doctor's remark, glancing between the screen and the Doctor. During their travels with the Doctor the Tardis had always been a safe space they could go to at the end, a kind of second home that was always welcoming (to most of them).

The Doctor, however, was frowning mind jumping to al the instances when the Tardis hadn't been the safe space she wanted for her companions. They'd seen the incident with House taking over the Tardis and torturing Amy and Rory, but there was also the time she couldn't really remember with Clara when the Tardis had been badly damaged. The Tardis was her home and one constant companion but she wasn't always as safe as she wanted her to be.

Bill asks if it is a knock-through

The group was grinning at the Doctor and Bill, starting to understand why the Doctor loved people's reactions to the Tardis and enjoying the dynamic between the pair. Bill was grinning unabashed for her comment at the Doctor who was shaking her head fondly at the younger girl. She'd heard a lot of comments over the millennia but Bill was, as always, had unique comments and questions.

Bill declares it a kitchen as the Doctor says spaceship

The group was practically cackling at this point. Getting enjoyment out of both Bill's comments and the Doctor's reactions to them, the young woman seemed to keep taking away the Doctor's chance to show off and throwing him off his groove which was always enjoyable for them to watch.

The Doctor is offended about the comparison

The group grinned upon hearing the familiar words of defence about the Tardis, all of them had at some point said the wrong thing or asked the wrong question and gotten a long lecture about the Tardis. Bill was grinning at the Doctor; she loved the Tardis but she was also enjoying watching him get more bewildered by her comments.

"That is a brilliant reaction to the Tardis." Jack laughed, grinning widely at Bill while the Doctor just shook her head at the group.

Bill asks to use the toilet, the Doctor points out the way

A few people mouthed the words 'macaroon dispenser', it seemed every time they saw the Tardis, they discovered more hidden secrets which seemed to change with every version of it.

Nardole comes up as Bill heads down the stairs, he asks if he should repel her

A few confused and curious looks were turned onto Nardole who looked back as if daring them to ask.

"How would you repel her?" Yaz asked, too curious not to ask.

Nardole moved to answer but the Doctor scrambled to answer first. "Nope." She beat Nardole to the punch. "You don't want to know, trust me." She got a few assessing glances, trying to work out how serious she was, they ultimately gave up the line of questioning noting the Doctor's grimace – they didn't want to know.

The Tardis judders

"Heather." Martha declared, tension suddenly rising again in the room. They all become a bit complacent as the group moved into the Tardis – there was very little that could break into the Tardis after all, and they'd gotten distracted by Bill's reaction to the Tardis.

"Guess you're not going to get to go to the toilet." Donna said. Bill just shook her head, thankfully she'd gotten distracted by Heather and their travels that she'd mostly forgotten.

They're under attack, the Tardis dematerialises. Bill realises it isn't just a room

"Please tell me your about to make another amazing comment." Amy begged with a wide grin, as mother-in-law it was her duty to annoy her son/daughter/child-in-law, one she loved to carry out. Bill's answering grin and The Doctor's long-suffering sigh was all the answer she needed.

Bill declares it to be a lift

The group burst out laughing at that. Bill smiled, standing up and taking a mock bow, which only made the group laugh more as the Doctor watched on with a small smile – happy to see them all happy and enjoying themselves.

They check the vault in the cellar which seems secure

The Doctor got a few side eyes from the group when the vault was mentioned, whatever was in there the Doctor was desperate to protect and they were curious. But they knew they were not going to get any answers at the minute, no matter how much they wanted them. The Doctor's expression darkened at seeing the vault again, it held a collection of good and bad memories to say the least. She thought Missy, one of her oldest friends, was finally regretting her decisions but the time in the vault had been hard on all of them, especially at the beginning.

Bill asks if it can move anywhere in the university

"Try the whole of space and time." Jack grinned, earning a small smile from Bill. Her day had been very weird between Heather-Pilot chasing her and then the Doctor's revelation, she was allowed to take her time with the Tardis and everything. It wasn't like most people's first thought was that a room would be a time machine or spaceship or anything either, she felt perfectly logical for her though process no matter what anyone said.

The Doctor scans the vault door as he comments on how long the explanation is taking

"What? Do you time it normally?" Martha asked accusingly, arms crossed.

"No, but most of the time people freak out quicker than this." The Doctor shrugged, ignoring the accusing tone and earning rolled eyes from Martha.

Bill finally works out its bigger on the inside than the outside, Nardole and Doctor shake hands in celebration

Bill leaned to the side to reach Nardole an punch him in the arm, earning a whine of pain, from him at his comment. She also shot a small glare at the Doctor who smiled back at her, having not really meant the glare it quickly fell apart upon meeting the Doctor's smile. The rest of the group chuckled at the normal comment, albeit a bit later then normal.

Nardole gives a bad explanation of the Tardis

The whole group turned to look at Nardole with 'really?' expressions, earning a 'what?'

The Doctor doesn't want any curiosity over the vault

"So, you put it at a university with students who are inherently curious?" Rose asked with an accusing tone.

"That's a good point." The Doctor acquiesced after considering it for a second. Glad for the distraction from the Vault's contents.

Bill declares it is a coincidence that the alien attacked here

"When is anything ever a coincidence?" Amy sighed, very few things in their lives were a coincidence.

"This, for once." The Doctor shrugged, smiling proudly at Bill for working it out before her.

The Doctor makes a snarky comment on the puddle being a student as it is just lying around

"Ooh, burn." Jack clapped.

"Dude, so not cool." Ryan moaned Jack's attempt to use slang, it was almost as cringey as it was when Graham or the Doctor tried it.

Liquid pours down the cellar steps

"She's found you." Rory muttered, glancing concerned between the screen and the trio in the room.

They shuffle back towards the Tardis. The Doctor gives the good news of if Heather attacks them it isn't interested in the vault, it just wants to kill them

"You know, small silver linings." Clara muttered sarcastically.

They run

"And here's the running." Graham sighed, at least it was constant across all the videos and not just their adventures.

They go back into the Tardis and dematerialise. Bill asks if they can save Heather

The group smiled softly at Bill's concern for Heather, they hadn't seen the pair together much on screen but they could all see how much Bill was crushing on her. Bill's declarations about Heather though did reassure them that they likely had managed to help Bill in some way.

The Doctor says to survive her first, they land

"Surviving is always a nice idea." Rory sighed, knowing full well that surviving sometimes was put on the back burner during adventures.

They arrive in a harbourside café in the middle of the day

"Where did you go?" Martha asked, analysing the screen like many others of the group was doing. It looked like they were still on Earth but you could never tell with the Doctor. The Doctor just grinned in answer and waved to the screen, earning several eye rolls at the lack of answers.

Bill realises they have moved and it was night at the university, but it is now day. They're in Australia, he shows her the Sydney Opera House nearby

"'No of course not' she says like the Tardis isn't totally a time machine too." Bill muttered, levelling the Doctor with a glare while the Doctor smiled unabashed.

"You weren't exactly handling the spaceship thing well and we hadn't even left Earth, I figured the time machine thing was a bit too much at the minute." The Doctor said pointedly. Bill considered that for a second before shrugging in vague agreement – the Doctor had a point annoyingly.

Bill splashes her face with water as the Doctor asks how she's doing

"Oh, you did learn something from the cue cards. Only took you several billion years." Clara raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, a bit apprehensive about how the alluded comment to the Doctor's time in the confession dial would be taken but putting on a brave front.

The Doctor smiled, eyes twinkling with understanding of Clara's worries and reassurance it was okay at the minute. "Guess you left an impression." Her words left Clara speechless, unsure what to say to such a soft comment from the Doctor.

Bill asks if he is from space. He answers nobody is from space, he's like a planet like everyone else

"Honestly, Spaceman!" Donna shook her head alongside half the room at his comment on screen. They could all see Bill was struggling with this a bit, he didn't need to make it worse.

"What?!"

Just not this particular planet, Bill claims it doesn't make sense

"What does?" Amy asked with raised eyebrows. Travelling with the Doctor certainly altered your life views.

The Tardis acronym, she asks why it would be in English as the initials wouldn't work in another language. The Doctor comments on how people don't usually mention it

"You didn't answer the question though." Bill turned on the Doctor with a determined expression, it had been bugging her for a while she's just never got an answer.

The Doctor's smile turned incredibly soft and wistful which made her almost regret asking – she had a sudden feeling the answer wasn't as simple as she had presumed it to be. "Susan came up with the acronym, the first time we had humans on board she decided that was what TARDIS stood for." She shrugged almost absentmindedly, "It stuck."

The room was silent at that revelation, all unsure what to say. They'd never considered the acronym but it did make sense but no one wanted to say anything as usual when the Doctor's family came up – it was too touchy of a topic for nay of them to feel comfortable asking more than the Doctor was willing to answer at the moment.

The Doctor explains the chameleon circuit, and that its a bit broken

"Not that you'd change it anyway. You both prefer it like that." River said pointedly, referring to both the Doctor and the Tardis's love for the police box appearance.

"You say that like you don't love it." The Doctor shot back with a grin; she knew how much her wife loved the Tardis too.

Water appears on the mirror and the sink gurgles

"Heather, again." Jack said, tensing as the danger returned to interrupt the pair. "She's quick."

The Doctor runs out screaming shark attack, Heather follows screaming and people flee

"Definitely creepy." Ryan shivered.

They got back to the Tardis, they're going to test how fast Heather can move. Nardole worries about leaving Earth with the vault, the Doctor reassures him saying if there was trouble he'd get a message on the psychic paper

A few people narrowed their eyes at the Doctor, there wasn't much that could leave messages on the psychic paper and the Doctor had just insinuated that whatever/whoever was in the vault could leave a message, significantly narrowing the options for occupants. Aware of the eyes on her, she tried to not glance at the Master no matter how much she wanted too.

They materialise on the other end of the universe, twenty three million years in the future, stating its a time machine as well

"Such a casual comment." Clara sighed, poor Bill who's first time travelling was to escape her crush who'd merged with a puddle. It was only with the Doctor that you found yourself in those kinds of situations.

They're on an abandoned planet, as Bill comes to term that they're not on Earth

A few of the group shook their heads at the Doctor's casual comments while Bill was clearly panicking about everything. It was such a weird reversal of the earlier dynamic.

The Doctor claims the sky is made of lemon drops

"Really?" Rose asked, face revaluing how dubious she was about that. The Doctor just grinned and waved at the screen.

It isn't. Nardole tells him he's silly when they should be focusing on the danger

"She's very silly most of the time." Martha announced, gaining a slew of nods from the group and a pout from the Doctor.

"That's a good point about the water though. Why is it chasing you?" Mickey asked the room at large but his eyes were on the Doctor and Bill who smiled but refused to give up the answers.

The Doctor argues very few things are evil, most are just hungry

"Never mind, you learned nothing. I'll need to dig the cue cards out again." Clara sighed but everyone heard the fond tone.

The Doctor theorises the scorch marks were left by a shuttlecraft

"Oh!" Ryan realised, eyes lighting up. He'd finally made the connection he'd been trying to get too earlier. Mickey's face revealed he'd also made the connection, both of them having the advantage of mechanic training.

The puddle was an oil leak, super intelligent space oil that can shape shift to become what it needs to be

"Our whole lives are weird but that is just bizarre." Rose declared.

"Sentient space oil, why not?" Rory sighed, it seemed life could always get weirder.

Bill realises Heather just wanted to leave, which is what changed about the puddle

"So, the oil knew she wanted to leave, and what? Decided to help her?" Amy asked, something wasn't quite adding up.

The Doctor nodded her head for a second before shaking it. "Yes, no, Kind of? It's more that their intentions aligned. Heather wanted to leave and the oil wanted a pilot to help it leave. A quid pro quo you could say."

The puddle found someone that wanted to fly away when it was left alone in a strange world

The group nodded along with the Doctor's on-screen explanation which matched up with what she's said in person. They were glad to finally be getting some explanations, but it still didn't explain why 'Heather' was chasing them.

It found a pilot and ate her

"Ate her?" Martha asked alarmed, that did not sound pleasant.

The Doctor winced slightly, "I doubt Heather wanted to merge with sentient oil to start with, or even knew what was going on." Bill frowned, making a mental note to try and ask her girlfriend about that.

The Doctor admits he doesn't know why it is chasing them though, he doesn't know everything

"You finally admit it." Donna grinned alongside most of the group while the Doctor rolled her eyes, it wasn't her fault she knew a lot more than most of them – it was part of being so old and a different species.

Nardole comments that he acts like he does, the Doctor agrees claiming its because he doesn't

A few people blinked at the comment, the Doctor didn't often make such honest comments like that in tense moments like this. Actually, they did, but the dangerous situation usually meant they didn't get to really take it in.

Bill has found a puddle as the other two keep talking, Heather rises slowly to the surface

"Er, maybe you should say something Bill?" Yaz said, eyeing the screen warily. They still hadn't worked out why Heather wanted Bill and knowing their luck it wasn't for a good reason.

The Doctor realises what it is looking for and reaches Bill in time to pull her free from Heather, they run back to the Tardis

The group let out a sigh of relief at seeing the group escape Heather.

"She promised she wouldn't leave without you." Clara announced, she'd realised it half way through the last conversation but their escape from Heather had distracted her.

Bill nodded in confirmation, not worried about spoiling it now that most of the answers were up in the air.

It can time travel and is fast, so the Doctor plans to run it through the universe's deadliest fire to sterilise it

"Deadliest fire in the universe. Why am I not liking the sound of that?" Rory asked.

"Probably because knowing the Doctor they'll have to go through it first as Heather is chasing them." Amy answered with a concerned, but resigned, expression.

They do it by running through it first

"Told you." Amy declared with a sigh; she'd really wanted to be wrong.

Nardole is less impressed

"Mood." Yaz muttered.

Nardole isn't happy when he sees on the scanner where they landed

"That's not promising." Jack sighed, really not liking where everything was going.

The Doctor grabs a sonic and tells Nardole to run interference as he protests, he reluctantly agrees

The group snickered at the dynamic between the Doctor and Nardole although they were all a bit too tense and apprehensive about this fire to really enjoy it.

The Doctor explains to Bill that they're in a war zone but its not so bad, they're there to see old friends

"A war zone? That's definitely something to worry about." Graham said, worry clear in his voice.

"When you say friends, I'm guessing you mean enemies?" Clara levelled the Doctor with a knowing look to which she shrugged with a smile.

"Same thing."

"No, it's really not, Sweetie." River sighed.

"You'd know." The Doctor shot back.

The Daleks detect the Doctor, as the Doctor corrects his use of the term 'friend'

The room went silent for a second before exploding in protests.

"Daleks!"

"Doctor, really?!"

"They are the opposite of friends!"

Protests and exclamations were thrown across the room while the Doctor just waited patiently for them to all finish before she even tried to explain. It took several minutes but the group eventually did quiet down.

"You done?" The Doctor asked, not caring if they weren't. "Like I said, we need to test what Heather can do and the Daleks are one of the few things I can guarantee a place and time and have the ability and willingness to attack her."

"It's a dumb plan." Jack declared, eyes hardened and serious as he always was when it came to the safety of someone he cared about.

"It was necessary and we were as safe as we could be." The Doctor argued, "And, as you can see, we are fine."

"Your definition of fine is skewed." River countered, scanning the Doctor as if searching for injuries. "But most of your plans are dumb and we can't do anything about it now, so we'll let it go for the moment." Several people looked like they wanted to argue with that but River held up a hand to silence them, daring them to argue. The Doctor was well aware that River would add this to the mental list of discussion topics she was absolutely keeping for later.

They run through explosions, as the Doctor mentions they are in the past and Bill says it looks different and asks if they are safe

"We're in a different part of the universe, of course the past looks different." The Doctor said to Bill's comment. Bill held up her hands in mock surrender.

"No one is safe when it comes to the Daleks." Martha muttered, thinking back to her experiences with them.

That's up to Nardole, so the Doctor isn't sure

"Good to know you have so much faith in me." Nardole muttered, to which the Doctor (and rest of the room) ignored him.

Nardole runs around sonic-ing control boxes, as the pair keep moving

"I hate this plan." Rose muttered, glancing worriedly between the group on screen and in person as if checking they were still there.

"We all hate this plan." Jack said, tone hard.

They hear shouts and screams as people fight against the Daleks, then a wet Heather appears

"At least Heather's found you." Amy sighed, glad for that small silver lining. If Heather hadn't shown up or had been late there was a high chance of them getting hurt or even killed.

They finally see a Dalek, and the Doctor declares it the deadliest fire in the universe when Bill asks what it is

"You're so dramatic." Bill announced.

"But was I wrong?" The Doctor grinned back.

The Doctor gets it to identify him

"You're seriously telling them who you are?" Yaz asked in disbelief, her own experience with a dalek had not been pleasant at all.

"I needed to for the plan, I needed them to attack us." The Doctor shrugged.

River narrowed her eyes at her wife. "The Daleks would likely attack you no matter who you are, you just put yourself in more danger than necessary." The Doctor's expression remained blank as she stayed silent knowing that was the safest option here to avoid River's wrath for the moment.

They run as the Dalek fires, Heather is left against it, the shot goes straight through her as she mimics the Dalek's words

"I didn't think anything could make her creepier." Ryan said, "But her mimicking the dalek somehow accomplished the impossible."

They keep running as the Doctor explains it is a Dalek, Bill doesn't know what that is

"Not a good intro to the whole of space and time." Clara said, not that any of their intros were particularly safe or pleasant, but Daleks were a whole new level of dangerous introductions.

DOCTOR: Never mind. It's a Dalek.

"Because that explains so much." Bill muttered, she'd gotten an explanation out of the Doctor later and was very glad she'd had minimal interactions with them during her travels.

"It's not like we had much time." The Doctor protested.

More running, a Dalek slows down, something is wrong with it

"Something's wrong with that Dalek." Jack said, leaning forward in his seat and narrowing his eyes at the screen. The Doctor smiled with a nod, glad that her plan had worked (they would have been in some serious trouble if it hadn't).

The Doctor notices what is wrong - the familiar star shape is in the Dalek's eye stalk as Nardole joins the pair

"It's Heather." Clara realised. "But is she in the Dalek or mimicking it?" The Doctor and Bill shared a glance before waving to the screen in sync.

Heather turns back to her human shape

"Well, that answers that." Clara muttered to herself, eyes never leaving the screen as things heated up again.

The Doctor gives his normal speech about protecting Earth, stating it won't take anyone else and commanding it to leave

The group smiled at hearing the Doctor do their patented 'protector of the Earth and innocence' speech. Then the smiles widened, glad to know they'd already worked out why heather hadn't left – for once they had the answers.

Bill finally understands why she won't leave

"It took you a while." The Master muttered mockingly from his corner where the group had mostly forgotten he was. They shot several glares at him before going back to ignoring him, it was the best for the moment.

She promised to not leave without Bill, the Doctor declares it her last conscious thought - her crush driving her across the universe

"The power of love." Martha smiled at her husband, who smiled back softly.

Heather isn't chasing them, she's inviting Bill who has to release her from her promise. They share a sweet moment declaring their feelings

"Ooh." Rose smiled, despite the whole swallowed-by-sentient-space-oil thing Heather and Bill's crush was very cute to see develop. Though something else must have happened for her to become Bill's girlfriend.

Heather reaches out to Bill as she reaches back ignoring the Doctor and Nardole warning her to not

"Please don't." Donna said, glancing at Bill, both to check she was there safe and to see if she had. Bill's sheepish smile was all the answer she needed, and Donna sighed.

They clasp hands as Bill is shown endless worlds

The group watched in awe as Heather showed Bill everything, but their concern was over powering everything else. Even if Heather liked Bill and wanted her to go with her, she'd still been swallowed by space oil and they didn't know the consequences of that.

Bill sees it all but manages to say goodbye as the Doctor tries to convince her not to take the lure, They let go and say goodbye as the Doctor pulls her away from Heather

The group let out a breath they didn't know they'd been holding upon seeing Bill let go of Heather and the Doctor pull her to safety. That had been far too close for anybody to be comfortable. The Doctor's gaze was locked on Bill in the room, she'd been watching the screen with an almost bittersweet expression. Bill didn't regret not going with Heather, she'd gotten to travel and explore with the Doctor after all, but Heather was better now so maybe she could see where things went.

Heather dissolves into a puddle, as the other two worry over Bill, the Doctor declares her alright

The group glanced unsure between the Doctor, Bill and the screen. The Doctor was sometimes very obtuse to emotions and other times very observant (there was no in-between). This case could easily be read as him ignoring hers but they had a feeling it was more the case of the Doctor knowing Bill wasn't okay but wanted some privacy.

NARDOLE: That's the Doctor for you. Never notices the tears.
BILL: I don't think they're mine.

The group glanced at the Bill with questioning and confused expressions prominent, they figured she meant Heather but they weren't sure why Bill was smiling so sadly at the screen. They all assumed she was thinking about Heather leaving her, when in fact she was thinking about Heather coming back for her – after all where there was teras there was hope.

Back at the Doctor's office, Bill is at the desk as the Doctor comes out the Tardis

"Well, that's a sudden change of pace." Martha sighed, glad for the break from the tension. She had the feeling there wasn't much of the video left but it seemed the danger had largely passed for the moment. Hopefully Bill would get a better explanation of everything now.

The vault alarm had gone off but it was just a student being sick outside

"The joys of university." Clara smiled, thinking back to her own time at university.

BILL: I saw it all for a moment. Everything out there. She was going to let me fly with her. She was inviting me. I was too scared.
DOCTOR: Scared is good. Scared is rational. She wasn't human any more.

"You aren't human either." Rose pointed out, as the room turned to look at the Doctor.

"So?" The Doctor blinked not seeing what Rose was getting at.

"Your point is that Heather wasn't human, but neither are you Doctor." Donna took over from Rose.

The Doctor nodded, realisation lighting up in her eyes. "Ah, I meant more that Heather was a complete unknown. We don't know what she'd do or what the merge would do to her. Not being human doesn't mean bad, but scared also doesn't equal bad." The group nodded accepting that for the moment even though several of them saw holes in that explanation.

Bill asks if she will see her again, the Doctor doesn't think so

Bill and the Doctor glanced at each other, having a silent conversation. They had seen Heather again, or rather Bill saw Heather again, and she'd helped them when they really needed it.

Bill looks at the Tardis as the Doctor tells her to forget it all

"That's kind of a big request." Yaz said, she couldn't even imagine forgetting the Doctor. She'd been struggling with her own separation from the Doctor after Gallifrey after all.

The Doctor reaches for her head, saying he has to fix something

"Don't you dare!" Donna spat, eyes blazing as she turned to glare at the Doctor as soon as she realised what the Doctor had planned to do. The Doctor had pulled themselves further back on her seat, curling in on herself in preparation of what she knew was coming. She met Donna's gaze with sad eyes which seemed to take some of the wind out of her sails. "Don't you dare." Donna muttered again, looking more haunted than anything.

"Just watch, please." The Doctor begged softly, eyes never leaving Donna. Donna narrowed her eyes assessing her for several minutes as the rest of the group watched on in silence, slowly she nodded her agreement – only because she knew Bill had her memories of this.

Bill protests as the Doctor reassures her it won't hurt

"That's not the worrying part." Donna muttered, not meeting anyone's gaze this time.

Bill isn't reassured, she knows what a mind-wipe looks like

The Doctor smiled softly at the young woman, even when about to have her memories wiped, she was still herself and referencing movies.

Bill keeps protesting as the Doctor apologises but has secrets he needs to protect
BILL: Okay, let me remember just for a week. Just a week. Okay, well, just for tonight. Just one night. Come on, let me have some good dreams for once. Okay. Do what you've got to do. But imagine, just imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you.

The group watched the exchange in silence, unsure what to say as Bill descended close to pleading territory. Her last words, however, hit the group hard all know understanding how the Doctor had a rocky relationship with memories to say the least.

Bill winced, she'd never understood properly why the Doctor had suddenly stopped, but knowing now about what had happened with Clara shone a whole new light on that exchange and she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for bringing that up. The Doctor's gaze was focussed on the floor, back then she still couldn't remember Clara and Bill's words had hit far too close to home for comfortable, her guilt towards Donna's situation alongside her other former companions with missing memories like Zoe and Jamie had also contributed to letting Bill go. Not wiping Bill's memories was not something she regretted, she'd loved her travels with Bill – the young woman was amazing (all her companions were amazing in their own way) and she wouldn't have missed them for the world no matter how they'd ended.

Bill managed to grab the Doctor's attention after several minutes of trying, mouthing a 'sorry'. The Doctor smiled softly, before shrugging and mouthing her own sorry back.

The Doctor orders her out, saying she can keep her memories but to leave before he changes his mind

The group stayed silent as Bill ran from the room, memories in tack. None of the had been expecting that after all the drama with Heather and they weren't sure how to deal with the emotions it had aroused, especially after all they'd seen in the other videos so far. Though they were all relived to see Bill keep her memories, they'd figured she'd had too otherwise she wouldn't have been with them in the room but it was something else to see that kind of situation.

Bill leaves, the Doctor argues with the picture of Susan and River on his desk

River grabbed the Doctor's hand, squeezing it as a reminder that she was there, that they were there together. She was glad to know that even when she wasn't there, she was still affecting the Doctor. The rest of the group smiled at seeing the trio seemingly team up against the Doctor, happy to know the Doctor was trying to deal with their feelings and history though it was tinged with sadness for the Doctor's words.

Outside Bill is stopped by the Doctor and the Tardis, stating its a big universe and they might one day run into Heather

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed, excitement building as they all realised what was occurring. Bill smiled widely, happy to relive what was arguably the best part of the night and the start of her adventures in the Tardis.

BILL: What changed your mind?
DOCTOR: Time.
BILL: Time?
DOCTOR: And Relative Dimension In Space.
The Tardis door opens with a click of his fingers
DOCTOR: It means, what the hell?
Bill gets in the Tardis

The group all grinned at the Doctor's final words, glad to see he was healing after the time in the confession dial and losing River after Darillium. As Bill ran into the Tardis the screen turned blank and the group turned to the Doctor.

"Well, that's that." The Doctor smiled in attempt to appear okay, it was a weak smile that most saw through but no one said anything, willing to let her pretend for the moment. "How about we have that break, I think we could all do with some food and sleep."

The room all nodded, before moving to get up, stretching and chatting as they all gradually left the room in small groups. It had been a while since their last break and it was certainly needed, there was several conversations to be had.

The Doctor hung back as the room emptied out, needing a quiet moment to herself to collect her thoughts and put on a better front. She could feel Jack and River watching her, but their quiet conversation helped soothe her. Ten minutes after the last people had left the room, she felt composed enough to try and pull herself to her feet, noting out of the corner of her eyes, Jack and River follow her lead.

"Come on Sweetie, I definitely need something to eat." River smiled, taking one of the Doctor's hands in hers as if to lead her down the corridor. She appreciated her wife ignoring her more fragile state, the last few videos had been a rollercoaster of emotions (they had all been actually) and she'd needed the time to sort herself out.

Jack grabbed her other hand, helping River lead her down the corridor. He put his other hand to his mouth and faked a huge yawn, "And I could certainly do with a nap. Let's go Doc."

"Don't call me Doc." The Doctor grumbled, stomach fluttering as she was reminded how much she loved the pair for being exactly what she needed at the moment.

"You let Silver Fox call you Doc." Jack protested dramatically.

"Well, I actually like him." The Doctor smiled, glad for the distraction as they moved slowly down the corridor to the kitchen where she could hear voices.

"Are you trying to say something, Doc?"

"Jack!"

"Can't hear you Doc, you're too small."

"Jack!"