The Lord and her Lady |Thasmin|

Part 17

The Doctor's POV
I lie besides Yaz, keeping my breathing slow and quiet to she thinks I'm sleeping, which obviously I'm not. My head is filled with too much important stuff. After a short while I'm sure Yaz is asleep, I slide out of bed quietly, trying not to disturb her.
Once I'm safely out of the bedroom and I know I won't disturb her I dash through the halls of the TARDIS, down to the control room. The newly repaired console of buttons and switches hasn't been behaving quite as it should be, so I get to work.
As I weld and click and twist, I lose my footing and my extended arm yanks a clump of wires out of the panel. The TARDIS begins to make a loud groaning noise and I sigh, jumping up quickly to see what's happening. Lights begin to flash and the ground shakes, I've really messed up here...

The entire ship jolts, knocking me onto the ground forcefully. The sound of running footsteps leads me to assume the others were woken by the motion.
"Doctor!? What's going on!?" Yaz yells over the loud rumbling, Ryan and Graham help me stand, though neither of them is particularly stable at the moment either.
"I don't know... Something came loose and we seem to be going somewhere... I can't control it..." I answer, steadying myself on the console table so I'm not thrown back to the floor.

"Does this happen a lot? The TARDIS just buggering off when it feels like it?" Graham asks, exasperatedly. Before I can answer the TARDIS rumbles louder, shaking violently.
"Well done! You've upset her now!" I groan.
"It's okay girl, he didn't mean it." I call, the shaking dies down a little.
"We're just gonna have to see where it's taking us I guess..." Ryan sighs, I nod.

Yaz's POV
I stumble to The Doctor's side as the TARDIS jolts violently.
She dashes around the panel, twirling dials and pulling levers in a manner I can only assume is a desperate attempt at stabilizing the ship.
Her hair frames her face perfectly, bouncing and flicking around as she turns her head in the direction of the noises coming from around her. I notice she seems upset as she goes about her business, anxious maybe?
"Hey, what's the matter?" I ask, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She jumps slightly, whipping around to look at me.

"Oh, hi Yaz. Can't talk now." She answers faintly, brushing her hand through her hair at the roots. I place a hand around her waist before she can turn away from me.
"Doctor, you can talk to me." I say quietly, she shakes her head.
"No, I have to try and slow us down..." She says, her voice cracking with panic.
"It's okay, we're all used to a bumpy ride once in a while, take a break, tell me what's going on." I reassure her. She takes a shaky breath, pressing a hand to her temples.

"I just... I can't put you in danger again... You or the others..." She whispers, for the first time ever I see real fear in her eyes, there's no hopeful shimmer that maybe she can get us out of the situation, she just looks afraid.
"We're gonna be fine, okay? We're smart, and more importantly - you're smart." I say, smiling confidently. A flicker of a smile twitches at the corner of her lips for a moment, only to disappear as the TARDIS crashes to what I can only hope is ground.
"Well, Land ho'?" Graham says, everyone looks to The Doctor who is staring at a reading on a shimmering hologram screen.

"Go on then, where are we?" Ryan asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The Doctor looks up for the first time since we landed, with an expression I've never seen on her before... Grief.
"the... the library..." She mutters gravely. We all share confused glances as The Doctor remains still.
"Now that is terrifying." Ryan says, trying to lighten the mood.
"I've been here before, three bodies ago..." She shudders, suddenly we're all listening intently.
"What happened?" I ask carefully.
"River..." She whispers.

The Doctor's POV
Everyone is silent, their eyes fixed on me.

Why are we here? How are we here?
No, we can't stay.
I turn back around to the console, flicking a few switches and twirling I dial.
"Woah, aren't you gonna explain who River is? Or how we ended up here?" Graham protests, I shake my head.
As I pull a lever to start up the TARDIS, a loud whirring starts, only to splutter out.
"What!? Oh come on!" I gasp, gesturing with my arms.
"Well if we're stuck here..." I sigh.
As everyone steps out of the TARDIS, Yaz grabs my hand.
"What's going on, Doctor, are you okay?" She asks, I force myself to smile brightly.
"Yeah, course! Don't worry about me." I beam, Yaz bites her bottom lip, she clearly doesn't believe me, but she lets it go.

"So! Welcome to the 51st century! Location, the biggest library in the universe!" I exclaim, twirling around the large entry hall with my arms spread widely.
"What, so like every book ever written is here?" Ryan asks, I turn on my heels quickly.
"Exactly right, points for Ryan!" I grin, pointing a finger at him.
"Hey Doc, how come you're all chipper now, huh?" Graham asks, I clear my throat.
"Just figured we should make the best out of a bad- well, a situation!" I say, mustering up all my optimism.
"Well, you lot go off and explore, I have something I need to tend to." I say.
"Oh! Before you do, this place is kinda massive, put these on" I call before everyone can disperse.

I retrieve three thin wrist bands, handing one to each person.
"What are these?" Yaz asks, fastening it around her wrist as the others do.
"They're like trackers, but we can all talk to each other." I explain, Ryan's eyes brighten.
"Like Apple watches!?" He exclaims, I furrow my brow.
"I don't know what that is but probably!" I answer, He grins.
"Okay, nobody do anything stupid, tap your band once to see everyone's locations and twice to communicate, got it?" I say, everyone nods and goes their separate ways. Leaving me, alone in this place once more...