through the stars

Kai afforded her a huge grin while he swallowed. "Uh, well I spent eighteen years in abandoned restaurants and now I'm showing off the fruits of my labor."

Rosalie gave a roll of her eyes. "Yeah, I don't mean the Mystic Grill, you idiot. Obviously, I know you're eating because we've been here a whole night."

"Oh, you mean like, here here, in Mystic Falls," Kai nodded to himself like he was truly only just understanding her. He chuckled then, eyeing her seemingly embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm nervous. You know you're like, really pretty."

"I'm flattered," said Rosalie flatly. She crossed her arms tightly in front of her. "Oh wait, I'm not…because I don't trust a word you say."

"You can trust that," Kai said easily and shoved eggs into his mouth. "You're not going to eat?" He pointed at her untouched plate with his fork.

"I'm not hungry."

Kai snorted, swallowing before he spoke again. "Like you said, we've been here all night. I know you're hungry. I can make something else if you don't like it."

Rosalie snapped. "I don't want anything! What I want is for you to—" A few of the bottles at the empty bar burst and splattered the counter and floor with alcohol. Guilty, Rosalie tucked her arms deeper under her arms.

Kai watched with amusement. "Don't worry, it happens. I mean…we did absorb a ton of magic. I mean, magic's practically oozing out of the both of us. Remember the manager?" He snickered. "Poor guy!"

Rosalie did not share the sentiment and instead cast a glance at the corpse of the man now lying on the floor.

"Oh, c'mon, laugh a little. We're both the same, aren't we?"

At that, Rosalie's head snapped in his direction.

"I mean, you and I both eat magic and then eventually lose it," Kai shrugged. "But unlike you, I don't feel guilty when it gets away from me a little bit. So what if the guy's dead? He wasn't very nice to begin with. Think he had the heart attack well deserved, although I will point out that was unintended. Again — magic's oozing out of me — but, hey, maybe it was a step up getting him to vomit uncontrollably. Although the smell, am I right?"

Rosalie watched him laugh at the dead man's unfortunate last minutes on Earth. "I went off on your dad for you..."

Kai stopped eating then. He looked at Rosalie questioningly.

Rosalie took it as her sign to continue. "I met him last month. Real nice guy, by the way," she scoffed lightly. "Can totally see why you are the way you are. Hated and isolated over something you can't control — what was supposed to happen, am I right?"

"They hate me over something I literally don't control," Kai said, gesturing towards her. "Your words?"

Rosalie nodded, recalling their brief moment at the Whitmore bar. "You knew exactly what I was talking about then." Kai silently picked up a few more eggs with his fork. "Your brother and sister turned on me the moment they saw my birthmark. We'd been friends for months before that day, even done magic together. And then your father…" Rosalie smiled sourly, shaking her head, "He didn't even give me the chance to blink before he attacked me. And that was after I was kidnapped and tortured by a human because of this damn birthmark…"

Kai chewed in the same silence, though his face was now stoic. "Not fun, is it?" He said, his voice hard.

"Not at all," Rosalie answered in the same manner.

Kai put his fork down on his plate and studied her. Rosalie remained unphased. "You have friends," he said in an accusing voice like he couldn't understand the phenomenon.

"Oh, see, you make friends when you don't kill people for fun," Rosalie faked a sweet smile.

"Yeah, but in the end they'll just turn on you. You're already down 3, aren't you?"

Rosalie's smile faded. "Screw you, Kai. I have done nothing to you."

"But you're going to do something for me," Kai assured, "You, dear Rose, are going to tell me why I am the way that I am…why I was born like this."

"How would I tell you?"

"Because I know that you're not from this time. Yeah, Bonnie and Damon talked a lot before they knew I was there. I know you're from, like, ancient times or whatever. So, you want something to drink while you tell me?"

"Nothing about this is funny, Kai," Rosalie said, getting really tired of seeing his stupid grin. "The only reason I'm here is because you threatened to kill innocent people."

"Well, hey, that was for your benefit too!" Kai exclaimed. "You're making things explode left to right. Imagine you do that to some poor guy out on the street? Yikes!"

"I'm not—"

Rosalie's phone went off and since Kai had taken it the moment she went with him, he had the pleasure of seeing who was calling.

"Ooh, who's Enzo? Oh, wait!" Kai made a dramatic gasp. "I know that name!"

Rosalie stiffened in her seat. "Give me the phone!"

Kai pulled his hand back over his shoulder with the phone. "Oh, I definitely remember! You think he's calling with his new friend? What was her name again?"

"Kai, give me the phone!" Rosalie leaned over the table with her hand out. "Give me the—"

"Make a sound and you die," Kai threatened her before taking the call. "Hello, there! Dear Rose can't come to the phone right now. We're currently on a little breakfast date—"

Rosalie gritted her teeth together. "Give me the—"

More bottles began to burst at the bar.

"Sorry, little explosive, mind you. Still, I think she's a keeper! She's real easy on the eyes! Bye!" Kai hung up and then used magic to destroy the cellphone.

Rosalie brought her balled fists to her mouth, words fleeting from both her mouth and brain. Kai was wearing a huge smirk across his face.

"I think that should do it, don't you think?" He chuckled. He took a look at the bar and sucked air through his teeth. "Do you think they'll get some reimbursement for all that stuff? Actually," he snorted, "maybe it doesn't matter. They'll be so focused on the dead manager they won't know what's gone missing."

Rosalie shook her head as angry tears welled in her eyes. "You are a—"

Kai rose from his chair, ignoring the next things that burst around the Mystic Grill. "You'll want to follow me," he said confidently.

Rosalie looked up at him from her lashes. "I'm not going anywhere else with you," she muttered.

"Why are you so worked up?" Kai bent down in front of her and met her gaze. He rested a hand on the top of her chair. "Was that a special friend? Because from what I heard back at the cemetery, it sounds like he kind of moved on."

"I'm starting to get why Bonnie threw an axe at you. It's a shame that she missed."

Kai let out the tiniest of chuckles. "Well, it's not so much that she missed as it was the fact that I was basically immortal in the prison world thanks to my dear coven."

"Shame, I would have desiccated you instead…leaving you lucid enough to understand what was going on but terribly weak to do a damn thing about it."

"Oooh, now it's getting interesting," Kai said with a strange fascination in his eyes. "That's specific. Who was the lucky fella? Or girl? I don't judge."

Rosalie swiped the fork off her untouched plate and stabbed Kai on his chest. He grunted and fell back on the ground. As Rosalie went to flee, Kai used magic to throw her forwards. She hit a table and fell flat on her back on the ground.

"Ha, that was fun!" Kai exclaimed, grunting again as he pulled the fork out of his chest. He hissed at the lingering pain and sat up. "But if you want to see Elena Gilbert alive, I'm going to need you to follow me."

Rosalie slowly sat up and shook the daze of her fall. "Elena…? What did…what did you do…?"

"Now don't get mad, but you weren't the first girl I met with last night." Kai's smirk was absolutely dreadful.

~ 0 ~

Rosalie followed Kai into the Mystic Hills high school. It was completely empty for the winter break. She didn't do so quietly as the fact that Kai had intercepted a call from Enzo implied that he would realize something was wrong and would alert the rest of their friends.

"And don't you think I accounted for that?" Kai said smugly. "It's called a cloaking spell, my dear Rose."

"Why the hell did you take Elena and bring her here?"

"You know the manager thing from last night? Well, he wasn't really my first victim," Kai shrugged. "But he was the breaking point for me. I need to control my magic, much like you do. I've never had this much magic in me and, truth be told, I never got to practice like the rest of my siblings. If I start to merge with Jo and my gushing fountains of magic turn her into my last victim, then I'm not gonna have a twin for the merge. So I need a test dummy."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, not you of course!" Kai laughed at Rosalie's casually. "I like you," he nudged her side. She immediately recoiled from him and stopped walking in the hallway. "Agh, are you still mad about the phone call thing? I was doing you a favor."

"You were being a child! Nosy as hell!"

"I was helping you move on!"

"I have nothing to move on from! All you did was basically tell my friend that I was in danger!"

"Really?" Kai scrunched his face.

"I don't go on dates because the last time I did, the guy tortured me."

"Wow, talk about bad dates. Well, then you should consider our breakfast date a huge step up!"

"That was not a date," Rosalie declared. "Now where the hell is Elena?"

"So here's the thing," Kai put his hands in front of him, "I was dead serious when I said I wanted to know why the hell I was born this way and until you answer all of my questions…I'm not going to lift the cloaking spell off Elena Gilbert. Oh, and by the way, you should know that I coated her in vervain so every moment you spend wasting time is another moment she spends in agony."

Rosalie glared at his grinning face. "I wish I had an axe right now."

"I'll take that as a 'deal'!" Kai said, turning to continue walking.

"I want to see Elena," Rosalie said as she followed after him.

Kai ignored her and walked into a random classroom. "Ah, you know, schools have not changed much except for the chalkboard. We used to have chalk boards back then. I hated those."

"You went to public school?" Rosalie said, surprised. "I can't imagine that was a good idea for the rest of humanity."

"Well, I made it as far as first grade before we were pulled out," Kai grabbed a random marker and started doodling on the white board. "My powers didn't really develop until people started pissing me off. I siphoned this little boy — turned out he was also a witch in training — so after that, my father decided to complete our education outside of the public eye. He didn't even bother with the rest of our siblings. Directly to home school they went. What about you? Any school houses back then?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I'm from the first century," she answered. "Present day Greek and Turkey, if you were curious about where your bloodline descended from."

Kai tossed the marker over his shoulder and made a show of giving her his undivided attention. "Really? Greek? Turkish? Those are some really far-off ancestors."

Rosalie watched him sink into the teacher's chair. He then proceeded to stare at her waiting for her to continue her story.

Rosalie wasn't going to waste her breath. "I don't know."

"Come again?"

Sighing, Rosalie leaned back on a desk from the front row. "You asked me why you were born the way you are, and I don't know. I don't know because I don't know why I was born the way that I am. None of my friends ever knew why. We just were. There are always theories, like the fact that we were born under a red moon. But to say that we had something concrete, that would explain why we were born this way would be a complete lie."

Kai had dropped all of his childishness and leaned forward on the teacher desk. "So there were more of us?"

Rosalie nodded. "Your birthmark is different from mine because you didn't descend from my bloodline. It makes me wonder if the Gemini coven descended from my friends. It's gotta be them…"

"Who were the others?"

A soft smile came to Rosalie's face just remembering her friends. "There was Leyla…and Miray…and Eren, and Ali…and Aksel…and me. We were all born on the same night." She looked at Kai then. "Six babies were born on the night of a red moon and back then, people assumed a red moon was of Lucifer, the devil. The coven we were a part of thought of us as punishments for something that they had done without noticing. And that was before they realized the kind of ability we developed."

Rosalie saw Kai swallow hard. "The first time I siphoned was my brother's talisman," she confessed. "I, uh, was five, and I got really angry with him because he wouldn't let me have the talisman. And so I grabbed it from him and…and this red energy smashed the talisman into pieces. I was so scared. I mean I was five. What the hell did I know? I was terrified when my brother told our parents."

"And what did they do?" Kai asked quietly.

"It turned out that a month before, Ali had done the same thing to one of his mother's objects. He siphoned it when she wouldn't let him go with his father to hunt. And then a few days, my friend Leyla did the same thing to her father's ring. One by one the six babies that were born under the red moon started to siphon. And eventually the coven found out. We were immediately isolated. No parent wanted their child to play with the freaks. So me, Leyla, Miray, Erin, Ali and Aksel became our own little group. Back then we didn't know that we had siphoned. The word had literally not been invented. We didn't even know we could siphon from people. I just learned about that not too long ago. We just knew that we couldn't do magic on our own and that if we drew from an object infused with magic, we would have our own magic for a little bit."

"Must have been awful…" Kai said, his voice knowing. Rosalie nodded at him. "But you had those friends, right? So you weren't really all that isolated."

"If you're comparing yourself to my situation, then I suppose you're right. Because as bad as things were, we always had each other. We protected each other, we hid together…and we shared the same pain."

Rosalie couldn't count the times she and her friends would watch the other children of their coven be taught traditional magic by the elders. They were loved and cherished while she and her friends were demonized.

Rosalie walked through the woods of their settlement and spotted Leyla hiding behind a tree, crying. "I found her!" Rosalie shouted and darted towards the blonde girl. "Leyla, hey! What's — what's going on? Why are you out here all on your own?"

Leyla had her head buried under her arms. "It was…it was awful…" she said in-between sobs.

Rosalie bent down beside Leyla. She heard the footsteps from the rest of their friends as they finally caught up. Like her, Miray fell to her knees beside Leyla asking the latter the same thing.

"All Leyla had done was touch the wedding dress her cousin was supposed to wear for the ceremony," Rosalie explained bitterly. "She thought it was pretty. Her aunt hit her and told her she ruined the dress and they couldn't possibly use it anymore. Leyla was cursed, she was a demon…how could the bride wear something touched by a demon? It would ruin her future. Meanwhile, poor Leyla — and the rest of us — couldn't go to the ceremony. We were 8, by the way."

While the wedding ceremony commenced, the group of children were cooped up in Leyla's home, still trying to calm her down. Aksel and Erin, however, were by the door which they had subtly cracked open to see the celebration.

"This is so wrong," said Ali angrily. He stood to the side on his own, arms crossed tightly, and scowling into the darkness. "Not to be invited?"

"Ah, you should be used to it by now, Ali," Aksel said nonchalantly. "We are never invited to anything anyways."

"It's not fair!" Ali said, huffing. "Everyone looks at us like we're repulsive."

"You are not helping," Rosalie said. She was sitting next to Leyla on the ground, rubbing a hand on Leyla's back.

"Shush, I want to hear!" said Erin. Aksel shrieked when Erin accidentally opened the door wider in her attempt to get a better look.

"Stop that!" Miray said, equally afraid. "If they see us trying to look, we're going to get into trouble! Close the door!"

"We were ostracized for our power," Rosalie said grimly. "We were never invited to any of the celebrations and every year, things got worse. There was a little hope amongst our parents that when we turned thirteen, we would finally develop real power. We didn't, obviously. We stayed weak."

"Weak?" Kai cut in. At first he seemed like he was angry, but in the end a laugh won him over. "You think we're weak? Oh, Rose…"

He stood up from his chair and moved around the desk, walking up to Rosalie, much too close for her taste. He had no idea about boundaries, or at least that's what Rosalie wanted to think while he stuck his face right in front of hers.

"We are nothing like the weak." It didn't bother him that Rosalie had turned her head away from him. "The weak don't survive. We have power, we just take it differently. But we're powerful too."

Rosalie wanted to lean away but she was locked between him and the desk. "Can you, like, take a step back or two…?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Kai chuckled and stepped back like Rosalie wanted. She immediately darted to the next desk. "I got caught up in the moment! Agh! It's just so nice to finally meet someone like me and even more that I know more than you!"

"That's what you got from everything I said?" Rosalie said, unimpressed with him.

"We're not weak, Rose. We're strong, we're smart, we're determined. I mean, as bad as you guys had it…we're still here. I'm still here, which means that somewhere, at some point, you survived and led to the creation of new bloodlines. Which one do I belong to, by the way? Not yours, obviously — thankfully."

Rosalie's eyebrows furrowed together. Kai laughed lightly at himself.

"So, whose bloodline do I belong to?" Kai rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Which little ancient siphoner is my million times grandparent?"

Rosalie shook her head.

"C'mon, just tell me! Please?" Kai put his best smile for her, bringing his hands in front of his face to plead.

"Show me where Elena is first."

Kai's lips stretched into a wider grin that soon turned into a laugh. "You're good! An ultimatum. See? Not weak. Definitely smart."

"Where's Elena?"

"Here, well, not here, here but somewhere here…" Kai made a gesture at the place. " I am willing to show some good faith and show her to you but if you try to do anything I will have to kill her. And before you even think that you can untie her using your strong little magic, I may have melted her daylight ring last night so she can't leave this wonderful school until night time."

Rosalie was done being surprised. The only thing she would be surprised about is how he managed to pull all this before coming to get her last night.

"Shall we?" He held a hand out to her.

She scoffed and stormed right past him. He smirked to himself and sauntered after her.

~0~

Rosalie was horrified when Kai lifted the cloaking spell off Elena. She was in a random hallway with her hands bound to the ceiling.

"Oh my God…she's been here all night!?" she rushed towards the unconscious vampire.

"Tucked away nicely," said Kai defensively. "I was mindful. After the second time I tried turning her blood into acid and saw how it clearly ruptured important capillaries in her brain, I let her take a break. I went to get you."

Rosalie stared at him horrifically. "What did Elena ever do to you?"

"It's not personal. I needed a test dummy, remember? Now, you got what you wanted. She's here," Kai gestured at Elena, "Now it's your turn. Who's my ancestor?"

Rosalie relented for Elena's sake. "Your birthmark is the same as my friend Aksel's. He was funny, he was…adventurous. He was caring and protective. You are nothing like him and if he could see what you've done with your life, he would be rolling in his grave."

"Well, ouch," Kai said, bringing a hand over his chest. "All I asked was who my ancestor was, not a whole life story of his. Still, kind of nice to know who started the Parker bloodline."

"My turn," Rosalie said decisively.

Kai's eyebrows raised with surprise. "'My turn'? For what? I didn't know we were playing a game."

"Drop it and answer my question now," said Rosalie. "The Gemini coven…is it only made up of your family?"

"Why the question?"

"Because I want to know if it's possible that my friends, and my son, are the ancestors of the Gemini coven?"

"Hmm, there's an interesting thought…"

"Please just tell me. I have done everything you asked so far."

"No," Kai said bluntly. "The Gemini coven is large and filled with different families. The Parkers' have been the leaders for centuries by some ritual rite or whatever."

"So it's possible that we did become the Gemini coven," Rosalie said, the corners of her lips twitching into a smile. "My friends, my son, all lived on to become one coven. With time, they passed down the same genetics I had and…siphoner witches were born again…once in a blue moon over the centuries."

"So we all descend from you guys," Kai said, nodding. He stopped for a moment, however, and looked at Rosalie questioningly.

"What?" she frowned.

He leaned down to her face with the widest grin, "So you had a little, cute as a button, mini-Rose out there? Aren't you like my age?"

Rosalie's face hardened. "Don't talk about what you don't know!"

"Was it like an arranged marriage kind of thing? I know those were popular back then!"

"Shut up!"

But Kai had plenty more to say. Thankfully, Elena began stirring awake.

"Elena! Hey, hey! You're okay!"

Elena slowly opened her eyes and saw the old hallway she was in. She made to move when she felt the chains around her wrists above her head. "What…? We're in my high school?"

"They have plenty of restrooms, no flammable surfaces, and everyone's on winter break…" Kai said casually, bringing her attention over to him. "Still. You know, it's no wonder America got dumb while I was locked up; they're never in school." He saw a trophy case beside them and wandered up to it. "Is that you?" He saw the frame of the Mystic Falls cheerleader group that included Elena, Bonnie and Caroline. "Oh, and there's Bonnie! You guys look so innocent. Smiling, like nothing bad could ever happen to you."

Elena looked over at Rosalie, dead confused. "What are you doing here with him?"

"Oh, I brought her along," Kai said, leaving behind the trophy case. "Turns out we're a lot closer than we thought."

Elena once again looked at Rosalie. She, in turn, scoffed. "In his delusional mind, sure. But in real life, I'm here under threat."

"We had breakfast together and had a lovely conversation about our shared pain," Kai said, feigning hurt.

"Can we stop this already?" Rosalie said tiredly. "You kidnapped me, you tortured Elena until you literally made her black out, and I haven't slept a wink. It's been a productive day for Kai Parker. Now can we all go home?"

"I'm also a very busy boy," Kai said, taking his jacket off. He tossed it to the side and rubbed his hands together. "I need to make sure that I don't accidentally kill Jo while we're merging. Elena's got to help me."

"I'll help you but just let her go already," Rosalie said, reaching up to Elena's binds.

"Don't," warned Kai darkly.

Rosalie paused and looked at him defiantly. "You know," she stepped back from Elena, "maybe you were right about something."

Elena looked at the witch incredulously.

"Oh yeah? And what was it?" asked Kai.

Rosalie smirked. "I am powerful." She thrust her hand forward, throwing him across the hallway. "You know I created a whole other dimension? Yeah, it was called the Other Side — maybe you heard about it?"

Elena yanked down on her binds then, bringing part of the ceiling with her. They ran together into the closest room, which turned out to be the chemistry classroom. Rosalie locked the room and warned Elena to stay away from the windows where the sun was shining through.

"Rose, you have to get out of here!" Elena exclaimed. "If you leave, you can get help!"

"If I leave, you're dead!" Rosalie snapped. "Kai's using both of us for his endgame and if one of us goes missing, the other's dead! It's okay though, earlier Enzo called me and Kai's dumbass actually took the call! He knows that I'm in trouble which means he's going to tell the others, and they're going to come for us!"

The door behind her flung open and Kai walked in. Rosalie quickly scurried back with Elena until their backs hit one of the tables.

"Well, Rose, that's if he's still into you. And did you forget, I cloaked all of us? They don't know where we are. But on a different note, I'm glad you're starting to take my words seriously," Kai said, crossing his arms. "We're powerful, not weak. But I think now is my turn, right? I'm trying to be fair."

Elena scoffed at that. "Right." She looked back at the open windows and down at the table. Suddenly, she struck her hand forward into the sunlight. Her arm caught on fire and so she turned the gas from the chem lab on to ignite the fire even more and blasted Kai through the door.

"Oh my God!" Rosalie was horrified but Elena grabbed her arm and ran them out through the second door in the classroom.

"Phone! We need a phone!" Elena exclaimed. Without blood, she was severely weakened and was dragging her feet into a half sprint.

"I can't! Kai destroyed mine!" Rosalie said, having to pull Elena with her into a quicker run. "That's the second one in a month!"

Elena thought fast and went down an alternative hallway where they came up to an emergency phone on the wall. She pulled the phone and quickly dialed the only number she could think of at the moment.

"Magic camp. How may I help you? Although we really don't have time for this!" came Damon's voice through the line.

"Damon, Kai has me and Rosalie at the high school! We need your help!" She hung up immediately after and continued to run with Rosalie.

She opened a door and came face to face with Kai who pushed her back and fell on the floor.

"Kai…" Rosalie said warily.

"You're not being a very good friend, Rose," Kai tutted. "I've been helping you. I helped you understand your power, I gave you a frikin breakfast platter! I even helped you with that little friend of yours! And now you're doing this?" He rolled his eyes at Elena who scrambled up to her feet. "Hold on." He pushed Rosalie to the side, the witch stumbling on her feet. He turned his hand but nothing happened. "Really?" he said irritably. He tried again but knocked something to the side. "Dammit!" He flicked his hand one final time and successfully snapped Elena's neck. "Bingo!" He did a victory fist in the air and spun around to face Rosalie. "Now then, where were we again?"

Rosalie's eyes shifted between him and the unconscious Elena on the floor, weighing her options. Kai chuckled once he figured out her intentions.

"You can't carry her out of here. You can run but you'd have to leave her with me…" he taunted.

" You know I'm not gonna do that."

"Then come along, won't you?" Kai held a hand out to Rosalie, which she did not take. "We could be a perfect duo."

"I sincerely doubt that."

"I could teach you what you didn't get to learn back then. I mean, nobody ever really taught me

but I watched the lessons and taught myself."

Rosalie despised that she understood Kai completely. She couldn't count the times that she watched other young kids learn magic well, she and her friends had to teach themselves in the dark. She understood the pain that came with that kind of isolation.

"Help free Bonnie and then maybe we can talk," she declared, and she was truly uncertain if she meant it.

Kai laughed lightly at the request. "You know, I'm not sure if I would be able to do that. I would first need Bennett blood and then the ascendant. Two things I don't have."

"Because you destroyed one of them!"

"Exactly." Kai strode towards her, unphased by the fact she quickly backtracked away from him until her back hit the lockers, "C'mon Rosie, we could learn so much from each other."

"I've learned enough about you already! I've also learned a trick or two from my new friends!" And Rosalie drove her fist across Kai's face then made a run for it. "Maybe Damon actually did teach me something useful!"

~ 0 ~

Rosalie felt so impotent. Even with all her magic — which was still spontaneously bursting from her — she couldn't get Elena out of the school. Without the daylight ring, they were stuck. She remembered something about a tunnel system below the school but what was she supposed to do? Drag Elena's lifeless body until she woke up?

Once Rosalie decided running and hiding was futile, she stopped. Instead, she came back to the trophy case from earlier. She gazed at the different pictures and trophies inside, specifically at the cheerleaders' frame. Elena, Caroline and Bonnie truly looked so different then. So happy, she thought sadly. In all his insanity, Kai was right. None of them thought anything bad would happen to them.

That's what she thought of herself all those centuries ago.

Leyla was right behind Rosalie while the two made their way through the settlement of the Travelers, both careful to keep their heads low whenever a Traveler passed them.

"Rosalie, what Qetsiyah wants to do is crazy," Leyla spoke hushed but hard enough to make her point heard. "Talks of immortality? People already think we're damned and you want to go against nature?"

"I can do it, you know," Rosalie said, eyeing a few Travelers gazing at them. Leyla curled her arm around Rosalie's and walked them in a new direction. "Qetsiyah says that my gift would help."

"Yeah, it sounds like she's taking advantage," Leyla murmured. She gave Rosalie a gentle pat on Rosalie's arm. "You know Ali swears that Silas is up to something."

"Hush!"

"Just saying," Leyla said defensively. "We don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't," Rosalie said confidently. "I'm learning from the best Traveler here."

Rosalie lowered her head for a moment. She had been so naive then. What did she expect Silas to do after finding out what they "did" to Amara?

"I'll give you points for not abandoning Elena," Kai's voice startled her. She spun around and saw him standing across her holding an open soda can in his hand. He had changed shirts and was now wearing one of the gym shirts. "Though she has been tied with vervain rope again. Hell of a fist you got," he rubbed his jaw.

"Modern day means we women get to fight back this time."

"Were you here admiring the high school experience? It's all fake, you know."

"Like you said, I didn't go to school," Rosalie said, looking over her shoulder to the frames. "But that picture is real. The bond between those girls...I had that. Can you honestly tell me you never had one single moment where you cared about someone? I may have had a bad ending but I cared about my friends, about my family, about my mentor and friend."

"Is this going to be like an episode of "Ricki Lake" where I come face-to-face with my demons and change for the better?"

"I don't know what that is. Just answer the damn question."

"I guess I liked my brother, Joey," Kai said, seeming nostalgic. "We played Dr. Mario together and he'd always win. Actually, one of my favorite memories is when I finally beat him…" Rosalie had about a second to think differently about him when a malicious smile crossed his face. "Of course, my favorite memory is when I finally beat him to death."

Rosalie couldn't look any more disgusted.

"You don't have to waste your energy trying to change me. If Ricki taught me anything, it's that liking yourself is the most important thing. And I like me."

"It's a damn shame because if you weren't a sociopath, I would have been over the moon to have a friend who was exactly like me. Someone to understand the struggles about our kind of power."

"Never too late," Kai shrugged, taking a sip from his soda with a fixated look on her.

"Do you know what I really worry about?" Rosalie took a step towards him. "The Gemini coven was started by me and my friends, and over the years there's been witches just like us which means…there will eventually be more. And what then, Kai? You trying to be the coven leader and all — what kind of coven will you be leading? Will you cast those future siphoners out too? Let them be isolated like you were? What do they call them — black sheep? Treat them the same way they treated you?"

Kai lowered the soda from his mouth, his face hardening as soon as he heard 'black sheep'.

Rosalie stepped closer to him again. For a split moment, it looked like she was getting him. "You've been setting the precedent for their future. Just think of it — all these future little siphoners born just like you and me. What then?"

Deep satisfaction ran through her upon seeing Kai questioning himself for the first time (or perhaps ever). There were ways to sting him, you just had to dig a little deep to find the right way.

For a moment, it looked like Kai would have something to say on the matter. In the end, however, his eyes skipped over Rosalie at something behind her. Rosalie soon got the gist she was missing something and looked back just as Damon, Elena and Jo made the turn into the hallway.

"…why's your nose bleeding…?" Damon was in the middle of asking Jo. The latter looked worse for wear with a trail of blood coming from her nose.

"Really?" Rosalie sighed irritably.

All three pairs of eyes fell on her and Kai, making them realize that the cloaking spell had lifted.

"You guys literally couldn't have turned to any other hallway?" Rosalie shook her head.

"Magic's hard. Isn't it, Jo?" taunted Kai.

Jo couldn't handle the power anymore and stumbled on her feet. Damon reached out to her before she fell.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized guiltily and wiped the blood from her nose.

Kai moved to side-step Rosalie, but the woman shoved him back.

"Stay away from her!"

"Frankly Rose, I do like you, but in this instance, get out of my way."

Kai made a stride towards Rosalie, hands at the ready to strike with magic. Enzo appeared behind Kai, grabbing his shoulder and throwing him against the lockers.

"Enzo!" Rosalie couldn't help the elation that filled her chest seeing him standing before her. Without thinking about it, she threw herself into his arms where she was received quite well.

Enzo held her tightly. He'd been on edge ever since Kai answered Rosalie's phone, but now things were finally calming down. He looked over Rosalie's head at Damon. "I told you my way was quicker," he muttered.

"I wanted the element of surprise!" Damon reiterated.

He and Enzo had gone back and forth about the best way to reach Rosalie and Elena and while Damon had suggested using Jo, Enzo was adamant that a quick 'in and out' plan was the best way to do it. Damon suspected it was more anxiety than anything else that fueled Enzo's rush to action.

"We need to get out now," Elena said to the men. She was helping Jo stay on her feet, but the nose bleed the woman was suffering through wasn't getting better.

Enzo reluctantly let Rosalie go, and truthfully because Rosalie herself saw the blood under Jo's nose getting worse.

"Cloaking one person is tough, but two more?" She rushed over to help Jo. "You're crazy!"

Jo managed a weak smile at her. "But I did it, right? Sort of?"

Rosalie would say anything just to get them moving. Halfway down, Kai made Elena invisible, leading the rest to question her whereabouts.

"Dammit!" Damon groaned and whirled around to find Kai stumbling up to his feet.

"Oh, are we not cloaking people anymore?" Kai feigned confusion. "I thought that's what this was. Along with other blitz attacks," he added and spared a glance at Enzo. "Special friend, I presume?"

Rosalie looked back just as Enzo blocked her view of Kai. He glowered at Kai and was two seconds away from ripping his heart out.

Rosalie stopped him with a hand on his arm. "He's got the magic from the Travelers' spell," she informed him and watched Kai smirk at them.

"That I do," he agreed, "And now that I've got the kinks worked out, we can actually do this merge. Is there an upcoming celestial event that interests you? I'm partial to—"

Rosalie abruptly thrust her hands forwards, sending Kai down the opposite end of the hallway.

Enzo looked down at her, questioning her sudden burst of power as well.

"I also took in some of that power," she smiled sweetly.

He smirked proudly at her.

"Oh…" Kai groaned from his spot, "Good one, Ro—"

An arrow came flying out of nowhere and shot Kai through the shoulder in his attempt to stand up. Alaric then ran into the hallway and injected Kai with a syringe, knocking him out. Jeremy appeared from the other end of the hallway with his crossbow and hurried over to them.

~ 0 ~

There was a lot to digest when Rosalie was able to have a shower and some food. None of it was good. She was back at the boarding house and quickly learned that Jo's attempt at getting magic had not gone well. Caroline and Stefan were inexplicably M.I.A. together and while that was perhaps the thing she was most curious about, her mind wasn't completely unoccupied by something else. Someone else.

Enzo was still waiting for her to return from upstairs. He hadn't really said anything when they left the school, nor when she awkwardly excused herself to get changed. But the fact he was still in the house meant he wasn't upset with her anymore…right? God, she sucked at this whole situationship stuff.

"Thanks for showing up when you did." She figured it was the best place to start.

"I'm sorry I was late," he replied. "It's hard finding an adequate witch these days."

"Since the twins hate me and Jo can barely do magic?"

He turned his head slightly.

Rosalie hated the awkwardness between them. She missed the banter, the easiness that surprisingly had always been there since day one. She hadn't realized it until now.

"Do you want me to take you to blondie's place?" Enzo asked her, though it seemed like he had expected Rosalie to refuse because when she agreed so quickly, he blinked at her.

"I haven't seen nor heard from Caroline all day," she explained herself, "Kind of worries me. Damon was telling me about Liz and what…what was happening. Her mother has cancer, Enzo. She's going to need us."

"I don't think I'm included in that friend package, rose-flower," Enzo smiled lightly at her. He didn't miss the way her heart skipped a beat. So she missed him too…

"You'd be surprised," Rosalie said, offering him the same smile back. "I do want to go see her. I think Damon and Elena are going to want some privacy anyways. Take me?"

Enzo gestured to her to lead the way, and she did.

~ 0 ~

Caroline's house was quiet, and only the front porch light was on. Enzo swore she was still awake. He could hear her in the living room.

Rosalie wrinkled her nose at him. "That's still creepy."

He winked at her in return, taking her a few steps towards the house. She touched his arm and stopped him from getting closer to the porch. Looking back at her, he found her troubled gaze on him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her. "That menace Kai Parker didn't actually hurt you, did he?"

"Apart from traumatizing imagery, I'm fine," she said, letting her hand slide down to his. "But, um, I was wondering…"

Now that she had him right in front of her, she thought about his new friend…Sara. She couldn't shake the name off and much less the strange feeling in her chest.

"Why did you come rescue me?"

Enzo looked at her confused, his eyes blinking several times. "Did you not want me to?"

"Of course I did, but…last time we talked…you weren't exactly happy with me," Rosalie said quietly, "I thought maybe that…that was it. You wouldn't want to see me anymore."

"I'm not angry, if that's what you're getting at," Enzo said, moving his hand out from hers just to take it into his own. "I just can't understand why you would forgive Stefan so easily. I won't ever forget the way he made you cry that night in Savannah. How hurt you were…" He touched her cheek, brushing a thumb over her skin.

"I'm not forgiving him on the spot," Rosalie mumbled. "But you and I both know that Caroline is very much—"

"In love with the moron?" Enzo said, deadpanning over his shoulder at the house. "Yes, I"ve noticed."

Rosalie chuckled lightly and warned him to keep his mouth shut about that sensitive topic around others.

"You don't have to forgive him just for Caroline's sake," he said a moment later.

"But I also don't want to live hating someone that…that I do like. Yes, he did hurt me but you know what? That night in Savannah, I realized I had made another friend. He's a bit of an idiot, and sometimes aggressive with others, but he's alright in my book."

"Who's that? I need to meet him, you know," Enzo joked, earning a soft giggle from her.

"You'd like him," she said, looking up at him with a grin. "But he needs to stop being so moody!"

"Moody?" He said indignantly.

And just like that, Rosalie slipped back into the comfort of their bantering friendship. Situanship or not, their friendship had come first and she would always want to preserve that.

"Goodnight, Enzo," she said with newfound confidence. She moved around him and headed up to the front door to knock.

As soon as Caroline saw her, she flung the door open and pulled her inside. "Oh, I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help out! I didn't know — Damon didn't tell me until after—"

"Caroline, chill!" Rosalie chuckled and pried Caroline's tight hands off her arms. "I'm okay, as you can see…" She made a gesture at herself. "And Kai has been officially put down — temporarily, but you get the idea."

"Are you okay? Did that psychopath do anything to you?"

"Other than ignoring my personal space, not really," Rosalie said. "I think the fact that we're both the first people we meet who are exactly the same is mind boggling to him."

"Oh, you are nothing like him!" Caroline immediately said, shaking her head. "So what exactly is the plan for that guy?"

"Well, he siphoned the entire barrier spell — well, he and I did — and so now we're going to keep him under until Jo can get stronger."

"And do you think he'll be down for a while?" Caroline led Rosalie into the living room.

"Well, considering no one is really going to miss him, yeah," nodded Rosalie. "Actually, Damon had the bright idea to have me siphon his magic while he's down. So that's what I did."

"Oh, that's…an idea…" Caroline said, prompting Rosalie to chuckle.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Since I helped absorb some of the spell, my magic's sort of been coming out spontaneously. I've been making things break when my emotions flare."

"Bonnie did say that a witch's magic is rooted in their emotions," Caroline remembered.

"It is," agreed Rosalie. "Which is why I'm determined to keep myself calm until the magic goes away."

"Oh, then…this is probably not the place for you," Caroline said, plopping down on the couch.

Rosalie came to sit next to her and put a hand on Caroline's back. The air changed almost immediately then.

"Damon told me about Liz…I'm so sorry, Care."

Caroline's shoulders slumped and as much as she tried smiling through it, the tears got the best of her.

"Oh, Caroline, I'm really sorry," Rosalie hugged the girl. "If there was anything I could do—"

"I already did it!" Caroline blurted. She pulled away from Rosalie and explained what she had done at Duke earlier and then the decision she and Liz had made just hours before Rosalie had arrived.

"If vampire blood cures cancer I will never say anything bad about vampirism ever again," Rosalie declared, making Caroline laugh genuinely. "So what happens now? Is Liz—"

"She's sleeping right now," Caroline nodded, looking up at the stairs. "It took Colin a few hours to start responding to my blood so I'm assuming by tomorrow, my mom will be cured!"

"Cheers to that!" Rosalie exclaimed then shushed herself for being so loud. It wasn't exactly earlier in the evening. "I should've probably told Enzo to stay so he could take me back. I don't want to wake Liz up—"

"Oh no, stay!" Caroline said. "Like you'll be sleeping in the boarding house with all those guys? Eugh!"

Rosalie chuckled. "They're very respectful men," she said. "Although I'm pretty sure right now if Damon tried to mess with me, I'd accidentally snap his neck without lifting a finger. But hey, what about Stefan? If you guys went to Duke together then that means you're…doing a little better?"

Caroline nodded slowly, coming to terms with it. "Yeah, he's…he's been very supportive."

"Good, I'm glad," Rosalie said, "But I'm still gonna make him buy me iced coffees."

"You totally do that!" Caroline gave her a thumbs up.

"But, uh, I'm gonna need a new phone…again," Rosalie said glumly, "Stupid Kai destroyed mine! So where can I sleep? I can totally take the couch!"

"Yeah right!" Caroline laughed. "Bonnie and Elena used to stay in my room when we had sleepovers! We can do that!"

"Okay, great! And you can tell me all about the fact you and Stefan spent the whole day together?" Rosalie feigned confusion, although it wasn't all a complete lie.

"It doesn't mean anything, Rosie. We're friends-ish again."

"Sounds like a start to me…"

Renata playfully whacked his arm which, in Amy's body, wasn't as strong. "It's a different type of quiet. You know what I mean." Her mind abilities were drastically weak in Amy's body and would soon disappear altogether if she didn't get back to her own body soon.

The Doctor nodded at her. He did know exactly what she was talking about. As Time Lords, their minds worked at a much deeper level than that of a human's. They heard everything, they felt more, they were wired differently in order to grasp more information. A human had none of that and as such, Renata heard next to nothing right now. Amy was getting the bulk now.

"It's odd," Renata admitted. "I'm not used to it. Is this what you felt when you were John Smith all those years ago?"

The Doctor hummed in thought. "Sort of, yeah. The Chameleon Arch makes you entirely human. I didn't hear anything until I touched the fob watch."

"Humans are strange and so…" Renata pressed her hands on her side uncomfortably, "Sluggish."

The Doctor laughed softly. "Well don't tell Amy that."

Renata flushed — that more or less stayed the same between her original body and Amy's — and thought how to best describe what she actually meant to say. "I feel like I'm in slow motion for everything right now. My thoughts, my actions, it's like I have to do one thing at a time now. And to think about it."

The Doctor nodded. "You're not slow, you're just down a couple wires. You're normal, for a human."

"Right," Renata swallowed hard, her gaze falling over the body she inhabited, "I'm...human." She tried her best not to think about the terrible consequences that would happen if they couldn't fix this, but being 'down a couple wires' meant she couldn't do things the way she typically would. In her regular body, any fear she had she typically shoved into a cavern in her mind to compartmentalize. As a human, all her emotions were just there and she had to deal with them as they came.

This was strange indeed.

~0~

"My head hurts," Amy complained as Rory led her back to the console room. She rubbed her fingers fervently against her temples, hoping that some miracle would come through and make the pain go away. "I think...I can hear things too."

"That would be the universe, Amy," the Doctor said grimly. He and Renata were coming in behind them. "Time Lords can hear everything that was, is, and will be. Lovely side effects from your swapped brains. It comes with a mix of Renata's abilities."

Amy's head snapped in the pair's direction, eyes wide in alarm. "What—you mean this is what you guys hear all the time?"

Renata confirmed the answer with a simple nod. "And we've seen how this particular swap ends —a human with a Time Lord brain does not have a good ending."

Gabby's entire expression face fell. She had only just realized that as well. Donna. She hurried around Amy, her hands going back and forth as she decided whether it was a good idea or not to touch the ginger. "N-n-n-n-n-no! This can't happen again! No!"

"What's going to happen?" Rory demanded, growing more frantic with each second that jos question went unanswered. His eyes flickered from Gabby then to the Time Lords and vice versa. "Hello? What happens!?"

"Remember Donna?" Renata asked grimly, "Our friend?"

"Yeah, she lost her memories…" Amy answered. Of course she knew the story about their previous companion. She was an integral part of the TARDIS team before them. It took Gabby a long time to move on from the incident that took Donna Noble away from them.

"That was mercy," the Doctor clarified, "She got stuck with a bit of Time Lord in her and if I hadn't erased her memories, she would've died. Burned out."

Amy gulped.

Neither the Doctor nor Renata wanted to tell Amy that because she was actually stuck inside a Time Lady's body, the timer was running out even faster.

"We need to go," the Doctor settled and pulled Renata with him to the console.

"Go where?" called Rory from the other side of the console. "How can you fix this?"

"We're going back to the asylum of course," the Doctor said as he set the coordinates in. "The machines, Rory. That's where we can fix this." Hopefully.

When the TARDIS landed, the monitor came to life and since Gabby was right in front of it, she got a front row seat watching Dr. Robin groveling for help. "Check this out," she called to the group. They gathered around her to see the same thing.

"Well, it seems our Dr. Rubin has had a slight change of heart," the Doctor said with a smirk. This would work well in their favor. "Let's see how he pleads." The tone in his voice implied he would watch Dr. Rubin plead for hours if he could.

Unfortunately, Renata cleared her throat beside him. "We don't exactly have time to watch him grovel."

The Doctor let out a heavy sigh. She was right.

Dr. Rubin was utterly relieved when the group emerged from the TARDIS.

"You've got about 10 seconds to say why we should help you," Gabby said directly, "And I'm being nice because if it was up to the Doctor, you'd have about 2 seconds."

"I-I can reverse this!" Dr. Rubin exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Gabby raised an eyebrow. She glanced at the group to see their reactions.

The Doctor's hard face barely changed but it was the opposite for Rory. Amy didn't seem like she was very much with them – she kept rubbing her forehead.

"Take us now," the Doctor ordered.

Dr. Rubin didn't waste a second to do it. He brought the group back to the lab, luckily without being cut off by any of the Biogrowers who, unbeknownst to the group, were waking up. He showed the group his studies and results, despite it showing what he'd been trying to hide for ages.

"You've had the Biogrowers sending chemical messages to each other, proving sentience and you still did this to them?" Renata was downright outraged with the revelation. "You should be in prison!"

"They're brain dead!" Dr. Rubin argued.

"It's Ethylene," Rory spoke up, uncharacteristically glaring daggers at the man as well. "Mixed with Oxygen, it becomes a powerful anesthetic. You'd look almost lifeless."

Dr. Rubin scoffed. "Oh, please!"

"Rory's a nurse – I would think twice before you try discrediting his knowledge," Renata scowled. Rory had told them he'd done some examinations of the Biogrowers earlier when he, Amy and Gabby separated from them.

At that point, Dr. Rubin gave it up. "Alright! So I kept them sedated! Why have zombies walking around when you can have them sitting? The electrical charge stimulated them, and overcame the dosage!"

"All this time, I thought you were one of the greatest minds in the world!" Nurse Hella snapped. "They were nothing but lies!" Without a warning, she swung her fist across Dr. Rubin's face.

The man hit the ground in a second.

None of the travelers made a move to help him. Some of them may have wished they had taken a first swing themselves.

"Tell me how you created the Ethylene in the plasmatoids, Rubin!" Nurse Hella demanded, "Show us how to recreate it! Because the only way to stop them is to do what you've always been doing to them!"

"Is that really true, Doctor?" Amy managed to ask in-between her migraine jabs. "Do we really have to put them back through that?"

The Doctor begrudgingly nodded. "I think so, yeah."

"But maybe if we wait and think–"

"We don't have time to waste, Amy," the Doctor turned to her. No matter how many times he looked at her, he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea his Renata wasn't there. Amy was completely different from Renata and it showed even in her movements.

Where Renata usually stood straight, almost poised, Amy tended to shift and move her head a lot. Renata was trained from birth to constantly have direct eye contact with whomever she was speaking to. Amy was always more observant.

And perhaps one of the biggest differences right now is that the Doctor had to willingly shut Renata's 'mind' out from his. Amy was fighting (and losing) the battle against a Time Lady's mind and it was getting louder and louder. It was trickling into his mind and although he was no stranger to noise, this was too much even for him. Amy didn't have a way to focus all that noise away from the surface of her mind.

He couldn't concentrate like that. He had to put his walls up. Unfortunately, the moment he did, he was stuck with his own thoughts and God knew what that did to him. He'd gotten so used to feeling Renata in his mind, hearing a few of her thoughts daily. Now it was quiet again. Quiet and with his own thoughts — what a recipe for disaster.

"Attention staff and visitors!" rang the speakers in the building. It was a familiar voice too. "I'm sorry to tell you this but there's going to be a little changeover process!"

"Are those the biogrowers!?" Gabby exclaimed. It had to be them.

"If you could all make your way to the common area, we'll ensure that your minds will be housed in the brightest of bioforms! Oh, and we'd like Dr. Rubin to be the first person to attend us! It's only fair for him to see the fruits of his labors!"

"Damn you Jarvis!" Dr. Rubin shouted as if Jarvis would hear him. "I saved you! You should love me for it!"

"He should love you for making him your personal butler?" Renata scoffed. "You really are full of yourself."

"C'mon," the Doctor pulled her with him. Different bodies or not, he wanted Renata right beside him at all times.

Nurse Hella pulled out the plans of the building to devise a good plan. "Using a strong subsonic pulse through the system grid, we should be able to trigger an immediate ethylene reaction rendering the Plasmatoids inert. We just need a strong sonic source…"

The Doctor pulled out his sonic. "We have plenty of that, nurse Hella."

"Oh, I have mine too!" Renata said, her hands patting her sides until she remembered that her sonic was with her body. She exhaled and turned to Amy. My god, it was so strange looking at herself. "Could I trouble you for my sonic, please?"

Amy blinked and awkwardly patted her coat down. It was the same one Renata had on earlier, so just a bit of fumbling and voila, Amy produced the golden sonic Renata was looking for.

Renata reached over and took it from Amy. "Thank you."

"HEY!" Rory's call startled them. A Plastamoid had come running into the room, heading straight for the Doctor.

"Doctor! I thought I'd never find you!"

Just as the Doctor aimed his sonic at the plasmatoid, Amy yelled out 'Trevor'.

"You know him?" Gabby made a face at the woman.

"We met earlier. That's the Doctor's friend," Amy said, but given her appearance Trevor was unconvinced they had ever met.

"We switched bodies," Renata gestured between them. "That's Amy over there. Hi, I'm Renata."

"And so here we are," the Doctor let out a sigh.

"The lunatics have taken over the asylum, Doctor!" Trevor said, "I do hope you have a plan!"

The Doctor nodded. "Dr. Rubin has a backup network outside the asylum. If we can divert the power, we can send a narrow beam sonic pulse into the system. It'll feedback in the same way that the electricity did, but it'll only affect one part of the biogrower and I'm sorry…but it'll affect you too."

A moment of silence passed by. Trevor lowered his head. "Fine," he muttered. "Do what needs to be done. I will assist. Vegetation could never lead the Horse Lords, anyway. I'd be nothing more than…side salad."

The Doctor wished he could do more for his old friend but neither the situation nor the time allowed for anything better than what they had.

The group left the room following Dr. Rubin (very closely) to the alleged place of the power grid. It was a long catwalk outside in space.

"That's a long way," Gabby wolf-whistled. "Any chance we have space suits available?"

"No need," Dr. Rubin said as he walked up to the control panel beside the door, "There's a force field covering the walkway. It's got enough air inside it to easily make it across."

"What about the other lab?" demanded Trevor. "What if Biogrowers have beaten us there? I should go with you."

"Be careful, Dr. Rubin," the Doctor said, albeit his tone implied the man should be careful to avoid him and not the deadly murderers waiting. "If they manage to blow the reactor before we can release the sonic pulse, we'll all be dead."

Dr. Rubin scoffed. "Please, they won't blow it up. They value existence no matter how it looks."

"That's because everyone values life," Renata said with a nod of her head, "But you're the one who twisted it."

Dr. Rubin sent her a glare but the woman didn't back down. Ultimately, Trevor pulled Dr. Rubin away from the standoff and together they ventured out on the walkway.

"Come here!" The Doctor said to Renata as he hurried up to the control panel. "Sonics!"

Together, they poured their energy into the panel while the other pair walked down the walkway.

"Um…something's wrong…" Gabby said slowly. She was watching the walkway intently from the window on the door. "I think…I think Dr. Rubin's suffocating."

"What!?" went the Time Lords, spinning back around.

Rory and Amy came up beside Gabby to see the same thing. Dr. Rubin was clutching his neck as he fell to the ground. Trevor seemed unharmed.

The Doctor left Renata in charge of the panel to come see for himself. "What the hell!? The forcefield's down! There's no oxygen!"

"Why is Trevor leaving!?" Gabby's eyebrows shot up. If anything, he should be taking Dr. Rubin with him.

A short moment later, they heard Trevor's voice through the comms.

"Hello Doctor. Sorry you had to see that. You see, I had to get over here without Dr. Rubin. And let's face it, he deserved everything he got."

"I mean…" Gabby began to say when Renata called over.

"Gabriella!"

"It was I who called for you to come and help, Doctor. I knew Rubin would find it, and I also knew you were too good a temptation for him to pass up. But it wasn't Rubin who wanted your body – I wanted it."

"Oh, of course!" The Doctor threw his hands in the air, eyebrows knitting together furiously. This was the last thing he needed!

"Think of the possibilities! A Time Lord and Horse Lord? I'd be immortal! And you wasted it on…humans?"

"I am getting real sick of this discrimination," Gabby said sourly.

"So now here's my offer to you. Once I raise the shield again, either send the girl trapped in the Time Lady's body, or come yourself. We'll swap bodies and then I'll stop the riots. I'll arrange the sonic pulse."

"We were friends!" the Doctor shouted angrily. "Why!?"

"Because as you said earlier, if you create a sonic pulse, it'll put me in hibernation as well. Sol was right. I value my existence too much. So you have five minutes to make your mind up while I set up the plasma globes. A body…or everyone else's lives?"

"You have got to be kidding me," groaned Rory. He rubbed his face tiredly. "Now what do we do?"

"Yeah, I don't want to be broccoli," pouted Amy. She rubbed the side of her head. "Although I will admit I do crave some silence. Ren, it's so loud. How do you do it?"

"We deal with it, Amy," Renata said bluntly.

Amy frowned — it wasn't the answer she expected but she also supposed Renata was still upset with her for the age-old mistake she made a while back.

"Where are you going!?" Renata screeched as soon as the Doctor started unlocking the door.

"You heard him!"

"Yes, but did you hear him!?" Renata's hands rested on her (or Amy's) hips. "You are not giving yourself up!"

"Well I'm not letting him take your body either!" The Doctor stepped away from the door, arms open on both sides. "We need to get over there and turn the oxygen on! You know that only a Time Lord has the chance of making it across the walkway without suffocating."

"Yeah, but then what?" Renata demanded. "What are you going to do when you're over there and Trevor catches you? Because the machine is in the same room!"

"I'll wing it—"

"No, you'll get into trouble!"

"HEY!" Rory's yell overpowered both Time Lords' voices, a talent not everyone had. "Somebody needs to get over there because Amy does not have the time!"

Renata pursed her lips into a fine line. Rory was right. Little by little, her mind was consuming Amy. It would be another metacrisis all over again.

"I have to do it," the Doctor insisted, albeit calmly this time. "Renée, I'm the only one. I'm not sending Amy out there in your body. It's the only way."

Renata's shoulders slumped. She tried her hardest to think of a plan that could keep the Doctor safe and still give Amy enough time to survive. Humans' minds worked much slower than her own. Emotions clouded her usual tactical and logical viewpoints. She wondered if this is how Amy usually operated. If it was, then it explained why Amy would risk the timelines the way she did. Emotions were a powerful thing and for humans, it was about all they had.

"Fine," she managed to croak the word out. It physically hurt her to agree. She felt something crawling up her throat — was that heartburn? The thing Martha talked about at one point?

The Doctor was relieved to see her stepping down. "Thank you." He pulled her into a tight hug, reserving the much needed kiss he needed from her until after she was back in her body.

"Please be careful."

The Doctor nodded. "I will."

When he stepped into the walkway, Renata was right on the other side of the door watching his every step.

"He'll be okay," Gabby said, rubbing Renata's arm comfortingly.

Amy groaned. She was fervently rubbing her temples. "I can feel him," she said.

Renata's head whipped in her direction. "You can?"

Amy nodded. Her eyes were shut. "I don't think he knows it. He's super angry."

"Yeah, that's him," sighed Renata.

"Ren, is there any way we can help Amy not feel any of that stuff?" asked Rory.

"There isn't."

"Ren," Rory frowned. "I get that you're upset — we all know you're upset with Amy — but could you please just help her!"

Renata scowled. "I literally cannot do anything, Rory. This is how Time Lords and Time Ladies are built. There is no off button. This isn't, I don't know, the Vampire Diaries or whatever!"

Gabby snorted. It seemed like her marathons with Renata were paying off and she just never said anything.

"Ugh, you mean you always hear this stuff!?" Amy relentlessly tapped her temples. There were like a dozen different voices going on at the same time, not to mention the flashes of images she got every once in a while. "Do you always see things too?"

"My mind is constantly working," Renata said, "I see what happens, what must always happen. And when things go wrong, I feel it too. It's like a huge migraine that doesn't go away."

Amy could not imagine living like that…to have every waking moment clouded by the whole universe. Normal people would go insane. Maybe that's why the Doctor never stopped talking.

"Is it ever quiet?"

Renata seemed to consider her answer for a second. "Frankly, no," she said honestly.

"No!?"

"No."

Amy whimpered. She could not see herself surviving the next hour in this state.

On the other side, the Doctor had come up to the connecting building. He had never been as quiet as he was at that moment. He had no other business than to hurry the body switching process and having someone deliberately push it back was infuriating. He did not think twice when it came to Renata.

He saw Trevor working along the control panel in the room, none the wiser of the new presence in the room. The Doctor marched right up to Trevor, tapping his shoulder.

"Huh?" Trevor made the mistake of turning around for when he did, the Doctor punched him across the face. Trevor fell unconscious on the floor.

Simple and quick, the latter part being the most important about the plan.

The Doctor then quickly brought the forcefield back up and ordered the rest of the group to hurry and cross over.

"Did you hurt him!?" Renata exclaimed horrified when she saw Trevor's unconscious body on the floor.

"Who cares!" went Gabby beside her. "He deserved it!"

"Doctor, tell me you didn't—"

"I didn't," the Doctor assured Renata, "Although I won't lie and say he doesn't deserve it for putting you in this situation."

Renata walked up to him, shaking her head. "Not for me. Not ever for me, do you understand that?" Never in her life would she want to see the Doctor ignore his biggest rule because of her.

Unfortunately, it was about the only thing the Doctor couldn't please her with. "Nobody hurts you," he said with a finality in his tone. Renata would know she could argue all she wanted, but it was a lost cause.

"Doctor, how do we get this started?" Rory asked. Nobody would blame him for his impatience. Time was still running out.

"Right," the Doctor nodded, turning back to the controls, "So the biogrowers have already started the reactor core implosion already. The pulse will stop it by rebooting the core network the moment it hits zero. Now, doing that would mean there wouldn't be enough energy to change Ren and Amy back—"

"What!?" Amy exclaimed.

"Don't worry," the Doctor said, waving a hand to calm the woman down. We can feed the canceled reactor implosion buildup into the plasma globes! As we reboot, we siphon the extra energy off it!"

"And what will that do?" Gabby asked curiously.

"Well, uh…" the Doctor paused for a second.

Renata touched his arm comfortingly. "It might overload us," she answered for him.

"What?" Rory's eyes widened in horror. "N-n-n-no! We can't do that then!"

"If we don't, Rory, then Amy and I can't switch back and what's worse is that Amy will die in my body," Renata said, sighing heavily. The options weren't great in the least.

"We have to, Rory," Amy said tiredly. It was catching up with her and not stopping for anything. "I don't have any other choice." She looked at the Doctor firmly. "I'm game if Renata is."

"Yeah," nodded Renata.

The Doctor begrudgingly continued to work. He sent Rory and Nurse Hella to the other side of the room to help finish connecting the sonic pulse.

"Renata! Amy! Go now!" The Doctor exclaimed, flapping a hand towards the red orbs that started it all.

Gabby helped Amy reach one of the orbs while Renata ran for the other.

"Are you ready!?" The Doctor called to them.

"YES!" Renata and Amy screamed.

The Doctor pulled the lever down and started the process. Electricity fired up to the ceiling, spreading over to the two orbs. Once it engulfed Renata and Amy, their screams filled the entire room.

'System reboot! System reboot!'

"Doctor!" Gabby cried at the sight of the biogrowers storming into the room.

The Doctor didn't bat an eye at the biogrowers. A moment later they were collapsing on the ground from the pulse. That included Renata and Amy too.

Finally, it all stopped.

"Amy!" Rory jumped and dashed for Amy, albeit presuming she was still in Renata's body. "Amy! Amy! Are you alright!?"

Amy groaned. "My body hurts."

Rory froze. The Doctor and Gabby ran up to the pair.

"Renata!?" The Doctor's head flipped between the two women.

"Oh, well this is much better," Renata let out a big breath. She sat up and pressed her hands on her sides. "There's more room!"

"Hey!" Amy frowned. She pushed all her red hair back and basked in the sweet silence of her mind. "Your head was too loud! No wonder you guys are insane!"

"Hey!"

The Doctor burst into laughter as he scrambled to Renata. He grabbed her hands, yanked her up to her feet and into his arms. "My Renée!" He planted a big kiss on her hair.

The walls between their minds were coming down and he was beginning to feel her again. All her lovely thoughts dancing in his head. Renata was a flushed mess with all his attention, both externally and internally. She could feel the Doctor's relief and jubilance in her head and the loving hug she was still trapped in by his arms just reiterated everything they already knew.

~0~

Nurse Hella watched over the remaining biogrowers, including Trevor who was now as much of a biogrower as the others. "The board were very impressed with my conduct and have asked me to stay here as we work out what to do next," she told the group

"In other words, they want you to fix it," Gabby said sourly, "Of course. Leave it to the women to clean up after men."

"Gabriella," Renata said disapprovingly but Gabby was just happy to hear the reprimand coming from Renata's actual mouth.

"What about the biogrowers?" Rory asked, concerned. "They are alive…"

Nurse Hella agreed with him just like the first time when they made the discovery. "We'll be using part of Dr. Rubin's technology to separate the biogrowers' bodies from their minds and putting them in artificial housing until we can figure out what to do next."

"Artificial housing?" Amy didn't think that sounded any better than what they had right now.

"The alternative is to let them die in weak bodies, Pond," The Doctor pointed out.

Nurse Hella nodded. "There are talks of cloning the remains of their original bodies but that's still in the future."

"I'd be careful with cloning," Gabby pointed at the woman. At the looks of the others, she added: "There are a ton of movies where that goes horribly wrong."

Renata gave the girl a worried glance. "I think maybe it's time to start restricting your hours in the media room."

Gabby rolled her eyes. "They were good movies."

"The important thing is that we'll be able to reawaken the biogrowers and help them re-integrate into society," Nurse Hella said, mainly for Rory's sake. "As nurses, our priority is to make sure our patients are as healthy as they can be, right?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah."

"Well, I think it's about time we get going," the Doctor said, leaving the 'as fast as possible' unsaid but very much clear. He didn't want any part of Renata lingering on the planet any longer.

You're being dramatic again, he heard her say. Instead of being offended, all he did was smile dreamily at her. He was really happy to hear her voice in his head again.

~0~

It was later in the evening when Amy found Renata in the kitchen after the whole trip ordeal. She herself had been sentenced to various exams and prodding to make sure she was truly alright and with no lingering effects from their temporary body swap. Amy wondered how on earth Renata managed to skip all that then decided it had something to do with being a Time Lady.

"No, I just told the Doctor that I'd kill him if he touched me with a needle," Renata said as she poured herself a cup of tea.

Amy's eyebrows raised. "Oh, I didn't know you were afraid of needles."

"I'm not," Renata turned around, hugging her mug, "He's just been prodding me ever since I regenerated and I thought after a day like today, I deserved a night without needles."

"Oh…" Amy blinked, shuddering at the idea of needles prodding her arms every night. If she remembered correctly, it had been at least three months since Renata regenerated which meant it had been three months since the needles started. "I'm sorry about that."

Renata shrugged and took a sip of her tea. For a couple seconds, Amy rocked back on her feet slowly. She had no idea what to say now which was a bummer because she had the words in her head — her mouth just wasn't on the same plan.

"Amy, I get the feeling you want to say something," Renata eventually spoke on the redhead's behalf, "I don't usually push but you seem almost as red as your hair."

Amy's eyes widened. Her hands flung to her head, eliciting a small chuckle from Renata.

"That may have been a bit of an exaggeration," the Time Lady apologized.

Amy let out a relieved sigh. "Alright, maybe I do have something to say, but…well, I don't think it's that big of a revelation that I know you've been upset with me since London."

Renata's smile dropped at the mention. Her head did a type of tilt that reminded Amy of her aunt when she was about to reprimand her.

"I'm sorry," Amy said, only just now realizing this was the first time she said it with a full honesty behind it.

Renata might have sensed it too judging by the look on her face.

"I was in your body for only a couple hours and I still felt like the weight of the world was literally on my shoulders," Amy said, bringing her hands to rub her own shoulders as if she could still feel the lingering weight.

Renata half smiled. "Not to be smug but it kind of is. I didn't choose it — I think I'm one of the few who didn't, actually. Not everyone's like the Doctor."

"Yeah, was he born that way?" Amy said and soon the two women laughed together.

"I think he was, honestly," Renata said once she sobered from her laugh. "Some Time Lords just have an innate desire to solve everything."

"That sounds like the Doctor…"

"Yeah, I wonder if his picture is in the dictionary definition…?" Renata seemed like she was putting a decent amount of thought into the idea.

"Well, I didn't get before what you told us about the timelines and feeling them, until today," Amy admitted. "Your head was so loud…" She scrunched her eyes shut. "And I couldn't control it."

"Our minds are far more expanded than a human's brain, Amy," Renata explained, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"I mean is that what you're hearing right now?" Amy couldn't fathom the idea of not having a moment of silence when drinking tea.

Renata shrugged. "I'm 758 — I've had time to learn how to control it. Besides, it's one of the first things you're taught as a child. It becomes part of your daily routine."

Amy was flabbergasted with Reanta's nonchalant attitude. "How do you do it?" she asked a moment later. "How do you do it so that you don't feel all…sick and stuff?"

Renata lowered her mug down. "Truthfully?"

Amy nodded.

"By keeping the timelines the way they're supposed to be."

Amy's head lowered.

"I don't say that because of what you did in London. Keeping the timelines the way they're supposed to be is just another innate trait in Time Lords. We're embedded with Time. It's a part of us. If we keep it safe, most of the time it'll keep us safe and healthy."

"And I went and messed it up," Amy muttered, shaking her head.

Renata sighed. "Since we're being honest, I should confess that while I was in your body today, I began to understand your emotional drive to fix things."

Amy turned her head sideways. "You did?" she asked, hesitant to believe such a thing at first.

Renata nodded her head. "Yes. I felt this powerful surge of emotions that told me I should be doing something even though I knew it would lead to bad consequences. I suppose that's what happened in London. You went for morality because of your emotions — a human's innate trait is emotions. I get that now."

"Oh, well…" Amy had not been expecting that at all. "Still…I'm sorry. I really do understand more now why you do the things you do. You're strong, Renata. I could not imagine myself living like you do."

"I'm not 'strong', Amy, I'm just really old," Renata said, making Amy laugh.

"You look like my age!"

"Look," Renata pointed, "But I'm 758 years old. I've learned some things since then." She walked her mug to the table then returned to the cabinets for another mug.

Before Amy knew it, she was being handed a mug of tea. Renata made a motion for Amy to sit with her at the table.

"When I was kid — well, when children on Gallifrey turn eight by human standards — we're taken to this energy called the Time Schism to look directly into it. It's this massive form of time energy and it's powerful."

"And you all did this?" asked Amy.

"Every single child. Now usually three things would happen when a child looked into it. Some would run away, others would get inspired and the rest, unfortunately, would go insane from the energy."

"Insane?" Amy's eyes widened, disturbed. "Seriously?"

Renata nodded, sighing. "My brother in law was one of them. Of course now we know it was done on purpose but, still, it goes to show you how powerful it is."

"No, wait, hold on—" Amy pointed an accusing finger, "Brother in law? You were married!?"

"Oh yes, did I forget to mention that?"

Amy's mouth could nearly hit the table at this point. "You've never mentioned that!"

Renata smiled behind her cup. "Oops."

Amy deadpanned the Time Lady.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Renata shrugged, "It's been a hard couple months. I only just got over it, you know? Being a devoted widower."

Amy was learning so many new things about Renata that she needed several minutes to process each one. "Widower…right, yeah, because your planet is…"

"Gone, yes, but Elek was killed before that happened. He was killed in battle."

"That was his name?"

Renata nodded silently. It was strange being able to say her late husband's name without feeling so…guilty. It was even more strange being able to mention him and her marriage so easily. Poor Martha Jones had to wait a whole year to get that story.

Some things truly did change for the better.

"My Elek was a very sweet man," she spoke freely and contently but most importantly so calmly. There were plenty of reasons that kept her from talking about him — ranging from her own guilt to the fact she was now in a new relationship — and it'd become such a custom that she didn't realize she did it most of the time. "We were betrothed. Time Lords usually had arranged marriages."

"Like the Medieval era," Amy shuddered. "Barbaric."

"Traditions," corrected Renata, "The Doctor had an arranged marriage as well. We all did. Elek was the man my parents chose for me and we did have a good marriage."

"Well, still," Amy shifted in her seat, "I would never marry someone my parents told me to."

"It's just the way things were, Amy. Everything I do is because of my home. I was very…"

"Traditional?" Amy presumed. Renata smiled. "Yeah, I've noticed."

"One of my biggest flaws is that I'm too traditional…"

"Is that why you cook dinner for us every night?" Amy thought it was utterly strange how time travelers who could go anywhere in the world to eat would always choose to have a home cooked dinner.

"Yes," Renata confirmed Amy's suspicions. "Some traditions are nice to keep, don't you think? You humans seem fond of your 'something new, something blue and something borrowed' for your weddings."

Amy chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Renata sighed heavily. "I know I'm strange, believe me, but I do always have the best intentions, Amy. Please remember that. I'm a stickler for the rules. I'm probably the last person you would want to have fun with but I always try to keep things safe."

Amy nodded earnestly. She definitely got that from previous trips. How on earth does that work with the Doctor's chaotic behavior? For some reason, it just did. Amy supposed it was a balance that they both needed. Someone had to reel the Doctor back when he went too far, and in turn someone had to push Renata out of her comfort zone in order to truly live.

"I get that now, I promise," Amy said, "And I will try to be more mindful of my actions from now on. I owe that to you and your, uh, loud head…"

Renata laughed softly. "I thank you for it. And I can promise that I will try to remember where you're coming from as well. Emotions are tough to manage but sometimes they can be right."

"Great, so we're on the same page now…" Amy took a drink from her cup, "Right?"

"Yes," Renata confirmed, "And I'm so sorry but I'm going to have to leave you here now."

"What? Why?" Amy asked with a touch of concern. She thought they were doing well now!

"My ridiculously concerned Doctor is on his way here now," Renata said, already rising from her chair.

"What? Really? How do you…" Amy trailed off, "Oh, right." She tapped the side of her head, referencing the connection the Time Lords shared.

"Exactly." Renata went to the sink to dump the remaining tea and began washing it.

"You know he wouldn't let me in, right? The Doctor and his mind?"

Renata chuckled. "Don't be offended. You were being a bit loud for him."

Unfortunately, Renata's words had the opposite effect on Amy. The redhead's eyes widened indignantly. "I was being too loud for him!?"

Renata put her cup in the drying ramp and turned around to face Amy. "Apparently so. Don't fret, I sometimes have to shut him out too. His thoughts can get away from him. But he's a sweetheart too."

Amy huffed and muttered something on the side.

A short moment later, the Doctor himself was walking into the kitchen. Renata met him halfway and slid her arms over his shoulders for a hug and soft kiss on the lips.

"Hey, are we less grumpy and more willing to run those tests now?" the Doctor asked with a big grin on his face.

Renata smiled fondly at him. "No, I just really like you."

"Oh, well…" the Doctor couldn't find a reason to be upset when Renata said things like that. She knew him too well. "You should still come and rest. You too, Amy."

"Yeah, whatever!" Amy dismissed him sourly and without so much of a glance.

The Doctor's eyebrows raised, startled and puzzled with Amy's response. "Did I do something—?"

"I'm ready for some rest," Renata admitted both out of honesty and to calm the tension between the other two.

It worked like a charm.

The Doctor's gaze returned to Renata, ecstatic with the easy win. "Great! Can I walk you to your room, then?" He asked, holding one hand up for hers.

"Your room?" Amy stopped by the open doorway and finally afforded a look in their direction. "You guys still sleep in separate rooms?"

"Amelia, hush," Renata warned, throwing the redhead a narrow-eyed stare. "Traditional, remember?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think it applied to even that!" Amy snorted.

"Shut up!" Renata exclaimed, startling the two in the room. Renata hardly ever said that to anyone but right now she was flustered and not thinking straight.

"I think we'll be going to sleep now," the Doctor said, thinking more about Amy's safety than anything else. "C'mon, Renée. Goodnight, Pond!" He pulled Renata into the hallway, holding her hand tight in case she wanted to go back and have another word with Amy.

"Doctor, you don't mind that we—"

"Nope!" the Doctor exclaimed, giving her a lopsided smile. "I'm still over the moon that we're together, Ren. That's enough for me."

Renata didn't know whether to laugh at his softness or the fact that he could settle for so little.

"Hey — it's not 'little'!" He argued after catching that last thought. "I don't take anything for granted when it comes to you, Renata. Never again. Do you know how unbearable it was today not feeling you in my head?"

"Well...quiet, I assume?" Renata shrugged. "That's how it felt for me."

"It made me remember how I felt before I found you again," the Doctor said, swallowing hard, "Dark. Lonely. I don't want to go back to that, not after what you gave me."