infinitum tenens (The Sentry Reports Book 2)

Rise of the Cybermen

A/N: Featuring my not great photoshop manip.
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Since leaving the SS Madame de Pompadour, the Emissary had spent the last four days in the library, leaving the Doctor, Rose and Mickey on their own. She was intent on finding answers to her questions about the Schism, to the point that her mental barriers had been locked tight, keeping the Doctor out of her head.

By all rights, Gallifrey burning should have meant her connection to the Schism was gone, that there should be emptiness there, not a wall. The fact that she'd been able to break through to the Timeline at all was strange. The Doctor had practically forbidden her from breaking through to the Timeline again, and the look in his eyes as he'd said it had kept her from arguing.

She sighed as she put yet another book back on the shelf. That was another thing that was keeping her in the library. For a second there, she'd been sure he was going to kiss her. She had wanted him to kiss her. But she hadn't closed the distance, and then he'd left instead. That was another benefit of keeping her mental barriers closed. It made it easier to keep thoughts of the Doctor out of her head. If she focused fully on her research, she didn't have to think about her complicated feelings. It was a tried and true method that worked every time.

The TARDIS buzzed around her, and the Emissary sighed, leaning her head against the bookshelf.

"I know," she mumbled. "I need to leave this library." The TARDIS's affirmative hum made her glare up at the ceiling. "I just want answers. About the Schism." The TARDIS gave a little hum-buzz. "I am not avoiding the Doctor!" She slammed a book back into its place, earning herself a reprimanding buzz. "Sorry." She sighed, angry at herself. "I don't know what I expected. For Rassilon's sake, he just lost Reinette." She pushed a book into place. "It was just a weird moment, you know?"

The TARDIS hum-buzz-trilled.

The Emissary nodded. "You're right. I can't keep hiding in here." She stood up straight. "Besides, I actually miss the running and the danger." Mind made up, she headed out the door and towards the console room, the TARDIS humming in approval around her.
~~~
Mickey leaned against the console, listening to Rose and the Doctor ramble on about some adventure they'd been on. It was the fourth day in a row that the Emissary hadn't made an appearance, and it hadn't escaped either human's notice that the Doctor was becoming increasingly more worried.

Still, Mickey couldn't help wishing the Time Lady was in the room with them as he held down the same button for nearly half an hour. He huffed a laugh as he looked between Rose and the Doctor.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Where was that, then? What happened?"

The Doctor actually looked startled that Mickey was there. "Oh, it was on this er, this, er, planet thing," he said awkwardly. "Asteroid. It's a long story, you had to be there." He waved a hand at the button Mickey was pushing. "Er, what're you doing that for?"

Mickey gave him an incredulous look. "Because you told me to."

"When was that?"

"About half an hour ago," Mickey snapped. Behind the Doctor and Rose, the Emissary walked into the console room.

The Doctor hadn't noticed her come in. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, you can let go now."

"Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?" Mickey asked. He pulled his hand off the button.

"Ten minutes?" the Doctor guessed.
Rose winced as he guessed again. "Twenty? Twenty nine?"

"Did you forget about him?" The way the Doctor whipped around at the Emissary's voice would have been funny if Mickey wasn't so irritated.

"You did, didn't you?" he accused the Time Lord. "You just forgot about me!"

"No, no, no!" the Doctor cried, scrambling for an answer. "I was just, I was, I was calibrating. I was just. No, I know exactly what I'm doing."