When the Sun Sets ☼ Eleven x Reader

XI - Sardicktown

'Sorry, folks,' the Doctor says once you're all piled back into the TARDIS. 'I'm sure that's not quite what you expected when I said we were going to a spa,'

'You can say that again,' Amy muttered slightly, folding her arms and smiling mischievously in sarcasm. The Doctor opens his mouth to do exactly that, but you raise your finger up to his lips and give him a sharp glare before he nods and realises his mistake.

'Well I thought it was a nice... bonding experience,' you reply.

'Yes!' Rory interjects. 'That's the nice way of putting it, I think.'

'Well, I'm glad you saw the benefits,' the Doctor says. 'But I've got another plan,'

'Oh God,' you roll your eyes. 'Any more demonic therapy methods?'

'Sadly not,'

Flicking an assortment of buttons, levers and other random objects on the TARDIS' glowing control panel, the Doctor glided gracefully across it, inputting the coordinates of the next mystery location. There was a twinkle of hope in his eyes, as if this could be a saving grace in what he perceived to be a honeymoon nightmare.

You watched him move, scrutinising the methodical footwork. He waltzed passed you, and shot you a quick wink as he pulled down a final lever, and you felt the TARDIS begin to shake and groan as it travelled through the atmosphere. Your hand wrapped itself tightly around the metal railings, and you felt the floor beneath you shake definitively as the TARDIS materialised on solid ground. The Doctor ran quickly down the stairs, followed by his companions. He threw the door open, revealing an elaborate space-runway, with a starliner parked on the concrete. It contrasted your previous image of a starliner- instead of bearing futuristic electric blue and white garments, the ship was a dark, almost black in colour with deep red accelerators fixed in a circular arrangement on the back. The sheer size of the starliner was enough to drop yours and Rory's jaws, which Amy closed quickly by pushing her cupped palm underneath your chins.

'The Thrasymachus Starliner.' the Doctor introduces. 'You two will be quite happy here I think!'

He throws them all of the important things they'll need, like passports, boarding passes and packed suitcases. There was a flurry of goodbyes and hugs before Amy grabs hold of your shoulders and warns you.

'Now, I'm not worried about you, but keep the Doctor out of trouble.'

'I think he can handle himself, Amy.'

'I think the longer you travel with him, the more you will realise he can not.'

'Hey!' the Doctor shouts in retaliation. 'I can take care of myself!'

'Yes, of course you can.' Amy says in a sluggish tone. 'He can't.' She mouths back to you once she'd checked he wasn't looking.

'We'll pick you up in a week. Let's see, when will that be?' He ponders, counting on his fingers. 'Of course! Christmas Day! How could I forget? Now, have fun, and stay out of trouble!' the Doctor smiles happily, wrapping his arm around your shoulder as the couple skip off towards the ship, dragging their suitcases behind them and laughing already.

'Christmas Day?' you question. 'We left Leadworth in June. How can it be nearly Christmas?'

'It's a time machine.' the Doctor replies flatly. It was at that point that you realised how stu[id your question was.

'Well then.' you say, turning around and heading back into the TARDIS. 'What do we do for a week now?'

'We explore the town it'll arrive in until they get there!'

As expected, the Doctor began to throw himself over the control panel, and you closed the door behind you as the familiar groaning noise filled the air once again. When the doors are eagerly flung open by the timelord, you find yourself situated in a quaint little Dickensian town, flooded with people busying through the streets in attempts to arrive home before the snow increased to any more than the freckled scattering that currently crunched underfoot.

'Where is this place?' you ask, peering up towards the Doctor's beaming smile.

'Sardicktown!' he announces merrily, but frowns slightly. 'Six days after I wanted to get here. Christmas Eve. You know, I love the TARDIS, but sometimes she can be a BIT OF AN INCONVENIENCE!' he yells, slamming a fist on the side of the box and then immediately regretting it as he draws his hand back in pain. He pivots back towards the interior, but looks shocked to see a message blinking on the screen.

DOCTOR

SHIP CRASHING

HELP NEEDED

AMY X

He runs towards it and jolts the screen's hinge close to his face, and double checks the message before tapping away at the panel once again.

'In mortal danger and she still manages to add a kiss at the end.' you mutter quietly. The Doctor doesn't hear you- instead he spouts something about the background checks he's running on the area.

'They're stuck in the cloud layer. Not sure what to do about that. We could try speaking to the mayor? I'm assuming he lives in that big building with that beacon sticking out of the top.'

His gaze directs you towards the building. A large, domineering structure bearing a large purple light on the top. It looked a little too assertive to be the mayor's house, but if nothing else you were curious as to who it was that lived there.

Before you had chance to look at it in any more depth, the doors are closed in front of you, and two warm hands clasp your shoulders.

'Hold on tight.'

The TARDIS begins to shake once again, and you roll your eyes in slight boredom as you feel yourself grow accustomed to this procedure.

'Where to now then Doctor?'

'Well, if the TARDIS has done her job!' he yells a little passive-aggressively. 'We should be in the main living room of this big building. I figure that's where the mayor would be.'

'Can't argue with that.' you reply, opening the doors and peering back to the Doctor, who had his eyes screwed shut and both hands held aloft bearing crossed fingers. He opened them and let out an exasperated sigh to find himself not inside the building, but on the roof. The Doctor steps out into the crisp mid-winter air and sighs. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but then a large, comical grin creeps across his face as he notices the chimney behind you.

'No, no Doctor, you are not coming in down the chimney.' you raise your eyebrows as you speak, as you picture a mother would in this situation.

'But please,' the Doctor groans. 'It's Christmas Eve, and we're on a rooftop. How could we not?'

You think it over for a minute. 'Damn you for making such a convincing case.'

He smiles widely and gallops towards the chimney, and before you have a chance to change your mind, he pulls you close into his chest, placing a hand over the back of your head. He pulls your head away for a second, and looks deep into your eyes.

'Geronimo.'

He winks, before placing a brief kiss on your forehead and pulling you back into his chest. You feel yourself jolt backwards, and then immediately down as the two of you fell down the chimney, and rolled out at the bottom, covered in ash and soot from the still glowing coals.