"No. No, Idris. I think you should have a rest," Auntie suggested as she petted Idris on the back.
"Rest, yes, yes, good idea! I'll just see if there's an off switch," the Idris fell to the floor without warning. The Doctor and River automatically reached to grab her,
"Whoa!" Everybody said all at once.
"Is that it? Is she dead now? So sad." Uncle commented with a very low dull voice. Rory shook his head,
"No, no. She's still breathing."
"Nephew, take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people, hmm?" Uncle asked Nephew. The Doctor turned around and smiled cheerfully as he pointed at the Ood.
"Oh, hello!" The Doctor greeted himself. Amy turned around and spontaneously moved back,
"Doctor, what is that?" She asked, completely freaked out- Rory aswell.
"No, it's alright Amy. It's just an Ood. People would just use them as slaves but that was revoked due to a situation in 4126 in the Ood Sphere." She explained as she slowly walked closer to the Ood.
"Oh yeah, I remember that!" The Doctor exclaimed. "They all had a bad case of the red eye disease, but it's all right now. I mean, Ood are good, love an Ood." The Doctor walked closer to Nephew, "Hello, Ood."
Rory from behind made a face and used his fingers to interpret the tentacles on the Ood's face. Amy laughed and nudged him playfully.
"Can't you talk? Oh, I see, it's damaged," the Doctor observed. "May I?" He asked politely. The Ood nodded its head. He opened up a ball that was connected on an umbilical cord-like string. "It might be on the wrong frequency." The Doctor realised.
"Nephew was broken when he came here. Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us," Auntie enlightened.
The ball the Doctor was fixing turned bright green and automatically a man's voice appeared.
'If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. Tell them that I am still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet.' There were many other messages like that in the background- messages asking for help or pleading for someone to save them.
Nephew turned the message off.
"What was the? Was that him?" Rory asked. River looked up at the Doctor, knowing this was huge!
"No, no, it's picking up something else. But that's…" The Doctor began to breathe quicker, "That's not possible. That's…" He started to pant. He looked at Auntie and Uncle accusingly, "Who else is here? Tell me. Show me! Show me!" He ordered.
"Just what you see. It's just the four of us. And the house," Auntie replied back. "Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?" She quickly changed the topic.
"The House? What's the House?" River asked sceptically as she looked at Auntie and Uncle.
"House is all around you, my sweets," she replied back cheerily. Uncle started to jump up and down. "You are standing on him. This is the House. This world," she expressed as she waved her hand around. "Would you like to meet him?" She asked.
"M-Meet him?" Rory said confused and in shock. Amy nudged him again.
"Yes, we'd love to," the Doctor answered for River. Auntie and Uncle began to walk backward,
"This way. Come, please. Come," Uncle ordered. Amy stepped forward.
"What's wrong? What were those voices?" Amy asked the Doctor uncertainly.
"Time Lords." The Doctor turned around to look at Amy and Rory, "It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of… Time Lords." Amy and Rory stood there in the same spot, baffled.
River, on the other hand, felt cautious. She felt this was all too good to be true, and that she and the Doctor would have felt something if they were there. She just didn't want the Doctor to put his hope up too high.
They followed in the direction of Auntie and Uncle.
"I'm…" Idris gasped once more as she couldn't quite finish of her sentence. She leaned up from the pillows, "big word, sad word." She clung onto the bars of the cage, "Why is that word sosad? No. Will be sad. Will be sad."
"Come. Come, come." Uncle ordered for the rest of them to follow. "Now you can see House and he can look at you and he…"
The Doctor walked up the steps and looked down the well-like hole in the floor that was covered in a steel gate. The Doctor looked down it,
"I see. This asteroid is sentient…" The Doctor acknowledged. Auntie began to talk,
"We walk on his back, breathe his air, eat his food…"
"Smell it's armpits," Amy whispered to River and Rory. River gave a smile,
"And do my will." Both Auntie and Uncle said in unison, but a much deeper huskier voice was their replacement. The Doctor looked up, "You are most welcome, travellers."
"Doctor, that voice, that's the asteroid talking?" Amy suspected.
"Yes. So you're like a sea urchin?" The Doctor asked out loud. He walked down the steps and knelt down to the floor, "hard outer surface," he knocked on the floor. "That's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside. That's you."
"That is correct, Time Lord." House replied.
"Ah! So you've met Time Lords before?"
"Many travellers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break."
The Doctor looked up at Auntie and Uncle, who were still possessed by House,
"So there are Time Lords here, then?" The Doctor proposed the question.
"Not any more. But there have been many TARDIS' on my back in day gone by."
"Well, there won't be any more after us. Last Time Lord. Last TARDIS." The Doctor admitted as he jumped down the step again. River looked down at the floor. She knew she couldn't say anything- due to spoilers. But to see the Doctor give up faith like that, it made her sad.
"A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest, feed, if you will." House offered nicely. Then Auntie and Uncle regained control and both looked at one another.
"We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" Rory pleaded more than asked. River too didn't want to stay here any longer. The fact that House recognised the Doctor as a Time Lord unnerved her. What if it recognised her? What would she have done then?
"Well, it seems like a friendly planet. Literally. Mind if we poke around a bit?" The Doctor asked as he looked at Amy with a smile. Auntie smiled,
"You can look all you want. Go, look." She walked over to Amy and placed her hands on her cheeks, "House loves you." She stated. River looked unconvinced.
"Come on then, gang." The Doctor announced like they were something of Scooby Doo. "We're going to see the sights." He said the last words mischievous and sly, so River knew full well he just wanted to nose around.
Idris stood in her cell.
"Oh! What was that?" She gasped. She looked to the left. "Do fish have fingers?" Then she looked to the right as if she were trying to play to different people, "like a nine-year-old trying to rebuild a motorbike." She blinked. "What am I saying? Why am I saying that?" She looked forward and held onto the railing, "Thief? Where's my thief? Thief!" She yelled as loud as she could.
The Doctor walked down a corridor, looking at every last detail as he walked by. He kept cautious with every step. Something with enough power to take the TARDIS' soul was enough to scare him a little.
"Thief!" He heard a woman yell from somewhere in the distance. The Doctor leaped forward and pressed his index finger to his mouth.
"Shh." He quietened Amy and Rory who were arguing about what they could smell. River on the other hand was still at the back, always checking every corner of every room- checking for any movement.
The Doctor stood still as he tried to listen.
"So as soon as the TARDIS is refuelled, we go, yeah?" Rory asked as he watched the Time Lord.
"No. There are Time Lords here. I heard them and they need me," he replied, still listening out for that distant voice again.
"You told me about your people and you told me what you did." Amy whispered as she folded her arms together.
"Yes, yes. But if they're like the Corsair, they're good ones and I can save them," he answered back as he turned to look at them.
"And then tell them you destroyed all the others?" Amy replied back again, her voice a little louder that time. The Doctor gulped,
"I can explain. Tell them why I had to," he muttered back as he turned back around. River lowered her gun as she listened to the conversation.
"You want to be forgiven," Amy figured out. River saw the Doctor clench his eyes together and sigh. His hands were on his hips and his head was looking down,
"Don't we all?" Was all the came out.
River's heart felt like it had been crushed a thousand times. She knew how he felt- the want to be forgiven. Killing the Doctor would always be a burden of hers, even if it wasn't her fault and that the Doctor said she was completely forgiven, she always feel guilty and terrible.
However she knew the Doctor must feel even worse than her. His whole planet. All of them… Gone. Yet he had no one who could tell him 'it's alright' or 'you did it for the best intentions' like River could, because they were all dead. So that's why he's so desperate to find the Corsair. To finally be told it wasn't his fault.
Amy nodded her head as if to say she understood him.
"What do you need from me?" She asked simply.
The Doctor tapped on his tweed jacket,
"My screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS. It's in my jacket." He said, his mood picking back up. River furrowed her eyes brows. She specifically remembered him putting it in his pocket the moment the TARDIS 'broke down'.
"You're wearing your jacket," Rory mentioned.
"My other jacket," the Doctor replied back, now turning to looks at them both.
"You have two of those?" Rory asked in an almost mocking way.
"Okay. I'll get it." Amy confirmed, "But Doctor, listen to me," she said as she moved closer to him. "Don't get emotional, because that's when you make mistakes." She warned for his sake. The Doctor smiled and did a salute,
"Yes, boss."
"I'll call you from the TARDIS," she threw a red phone at him, which he caught. She started to back away, "Rory, River, look after him." She ordered as she walked off. Rory looked at the Doctor with determination in his eyes; River on the other hand just smirked at Amy playfully.
"Rory, River, look after her," the Doctor countered with a smile. Rory looked back at River confused as what to do and River just nodded to the way in which Amy had walked off. He mimed the words, 'you sure?' but River just nodded and smiled as he walked off.
Amy marched toward the TARDIS, taking stride after stride- with Rory following. Amy glanced back and saw the blue vest that her husband wore, she sighed,
"I told you to look after him," she stated.
"He'll be fine. He's a Time Lord," he expressed in a non-worried tone. Amy had reached the TARDIS door, swung it open and then turned to her husband- her hand pointed in the air.
"It's just what they're called. It doesn't mean he actually knows what he's doing," she justified, making sure her opinion was known. Rory nodded, not really taking anything in, and followed her inside the TARDIS.
Strangely, once they entered the TARDIS a light green smoke started to swirl around the TARDIS- covering every last inch of it.
Amy strode to the console. She felt a little paranoid with the darkness inside. Normally she would be greeted with nice vibrant coloured lights that would make her feel at home, and that hum from the TARDIS herself- but that was no longer there.
She grabbed for the phone, Rory close behind her, and dialled a number. She put the phone close to her ear and listened- the phone began to ring.
On the other end of the line the Doctor was walking down a tight corridor- River not far behind trying to get her PDA to work once more. River sighed in frustration,
"River, you won't get that to work, the rift energ-" The Doctor tried to explain before he was interrupted, from the phone Amy had given him. It started to buzz. He flicked it up toward his ear and River moved closer, to try and hear the conversation.
"Hey, we're here." Amy tried to say as cheery as she could- it wasn't her fault, she would have much rather stayed with the Doctor and do… Whatever he was doing. Or to just see him around River- that was always entertaining. Amy remembered why she had called in the first place and talked again. "Screwdriver's in your jacket, yeah?"
"Yeah, it's around somewhere. Have a good look," he lied as he flicked the screwdriver around in his own hands. He knew he shouldn't have lied, but this was beyond their intelligence and he didn't want them in any kind of danger- so the screwdriver was the perfect distraction. He hated himself but this was Time Lords. Even if it was the 'good' ones, he didn't know how they would have reacted once he told them what happened to the others.
Yet River was still with him.
He didn't really have a reason as to why she was still with him. He liked her as company, yes, but he also like Amy and Rory as company. He thought about it for a few minutes. Why was she with him? How was she any different to anyone else? He admitted that she was different and that he clearly trusted her in the future, and he also admitted that he kind of liked her. Likelike her. After what happened in America: the guns, the silence, the flirting and that kiss, oh he quite liked that kiss if he was honest- though he'd never admit that… Would he? He sighed as he looked at her; she was concentrating too much with her PDA to notice him looking. That woman.
"Have a good luck," the Doctor said as he clicked a button on his screwdriver- the green light buzzed.
Back in the TARDIS the doors had suddenly locked by themselves. Amy looked up confused and hung up the phone.
"Did you do that?" Amy asked Rory as she looked at the TARDIS doors.
"I didn't do anything," Rory asserted, crossing his arms over each other. He then separated them again, "Right." He announced, stepping back from the console. "Jacket," he reminded.
"C'mon, where are you?" The Doctor asked out loud as he reached the ground and placed his left ear to the floor. "Now, where are you all? Where are you?" He asked again, expecting an answer. River had given up all hope with her PDA, and decided this could be a good time to synchronise their diaries.
"So, when are you?" She looked through a hole that was found in a tattered curtain. The Doctor leaped back up from the ground. "Have you done Jim the Fish?"
"No," the Doctor faltered as he straightened his lapels. He turned to look at her, "I've just done America three weeks ago," he admitted and he twirled to look at another object lying on the floor. River stared at him. To her, he was so young, so very young. He didn't even know who she was.
"I haven't done that yet," she acknowledged as she looked at the floor. The Doctor spun around, smiling- glad that for once he had done something she hadn't. He had the upper hand that time.
"Oh, it's brilliant! But y'know.. Spoilers," he teased as he moved closer to River, a big grin apparent across his face. River rolled her eyes and the Doctor tapped her on the nose. "So!" He exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "If you were a Time Lord… Where would you be… Well, I know where I'd be bu-" The Doctor babbled until River silenced him with a shush.
"Ca- Can you hear that?" She urged, her index finger raised and her eyes closed. The Doctor looked at her perplexed, his eye brows furrowed but his eyes full of fascination. River opened one eye to peek up at him and she rolled her eyes. The Doctor eyes widened as he realised that he was meant to be doing what she was doing so he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.
In his mind he could hear voices. They weren't loud but he could still vaguely hear them. They were cries of help- like he had heard from the message from Nephew. He eyes widened automatically as he looked in the direction from where the voice had come from. He looked back at River to find that she too was trying to peek in that direction.
The Doctor walked in that direction. He was nervous. The only way to keep his hands from shaking was to keep the occupied with objects- like his screwdriver. He pushed a curtain aside and looked into the tiny room hidden away. River was at his side, she turned around to make sure they weren't being watched and then turned to the Doctor, she nodded.
"Well, they can't all be in here." The Doctor obviously pointed out- then he saw River's eye brows furrow. She pointed to a metal cupboard- like storage room behind them. The Doctor placed his hand on the metal, the coolness of the metal making his fingers tingle. He placed his hand on the latch slowly, and gulped- he heard River take a quick breath as he opened the little doors.
All those voices he had heard before maximized. Hundreds of voices spoke over another- all crying for help.
Inside the cupboard were many lit cubes, much like the one River had given him earlier. River fist tensed as she realised…
There were no Timelords.
Even she was a little hopeful. Wishing that she could meet his people and to also know the Doctor wouldn't feel so scarred and blameful all the while. She closed her eyes as she heard the Doctor's tiny whimper that must have escaped him. She didn't want to look at him- to see the heartbreak in his eyes- but she had to stay strong for him, so she slowly and cautiously placed her hand on his shoulder. She could see his face- puzzled and confused and not quite sure what he was seeing. She gulped, trying to supress a sob.
River had noticed Auntie and Uncle behind them. The Doctor must have realised the increase of grip in his shoulder. River was then fuming inside. She wanted to turn around and shoot the two people, cold blooded or not. She just wanted something to hit, something to release the anger inside of her. If she were honest, she'd say she was dealing it worse than the Doctor. She looked up at him. His eyes were glued to the illuminated boxes. His facial expressions didn't move, River thought he must have been in shock, so she jerked him gently, in an attempt to wake him up.
"Doctor," she whispered as she desperately wanted him to wake of his dream.
He blinked.
"Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection." He breathed out the words, still looking at them with saddening eyes. River tensed. "Nice job. Brilliant job… Really thought I had some friends here," he admitted in a hoarse tone. He let out a deep breath, "But this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help," he acknowledged, a smile appeared on his face as he tried to stay as calm as he could. "From the long dead." He turned around to look at the two raggedy clothed humans, "How many Time Lords have you lured here the way you lured me?" He asked simply, but River could sense the threat in his voice. Uncle looked at him blatantly; no expression appeared on his face. "And what happened to them all?"
River's fingers twitched. Her hand was perfectly placed near her gun, ready to shoot anything that even slightly annoyed her.
"House… House is kind and he is wise." Auntie replied quietly and scared.
"House repairs you when you break! Yes, I know!" The Doctor's voice had raised, his anger accompanying it.
"Your eyes, they would belong to a twenty year old at the very most," River admitted sternly, her voice sharp and deadly as she looked at Uncle in disgust.
"Thank you," Uncle replied.
"No, she's right." The Doctor agreed as he pointed as Uncle accusingly, "Your eyes are thirty years younger than the rest of you." He violently snatched the hat that was on Uncle's head and soniced at his brow. "Your ears don't match; your right arm is two inches longer than your left. And how's your dancing?" The Doctor mocked as he danced on the spot. "'Cause you've got two left feet." He spat the words out.
"Patchwork people," River realised. She would have made some flirtatious remark about her date with a patchwork, but she felt that the Doctor wasn't in the right frame of mood to flirt. However, she did want to cool him down, he was becoming emotional- and like Amy had said earlier, that's when he made mistakes.
"You've been repaired and patched up so often, I'd doubt there's anything left of what used to be you." He placed the sonic back into his jacket. "I had an umbrella like you once," he said as he grabbed Auntie's arm and pulled up her sleeve. The arm was certainly a lot larger than what a normal woman her sizes would have been.
"Oh, now, it's been a great arm for me, this." Auntie confessed as she lifted it up in the air. An image, an exact replica of the one on the cube the Doctor was given before, appeared on her arm- a snake that was in the shape of a snake. The Doctor grabbed for her arm,
"Corsair," River recognised as she looked at the Doctor and back to the arm. The Doctor would have questioned on how River knew Corsair but instead he just looked at the symbol on Auntie's arm.
"He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he, Uncle?" Auntie remembered.
"Big bloke," Uncle agreed sheepishly.
"I got the arm and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys," Auntie affirmed. River furrowed her eye brows,
"So that's it then," she stated, annoyance heard in her words. "When a body part," she stressed the words out hatefully, "of yours needs replacing you just go ahead and use other people's. Living people's… And just how many have you killed?" She said angrily, her piercing eyes darting between Auntie and Uncle. They looked at each other, actually trying to think of an answer. Auntie was about to respond before the Doctor interrupted her,
"You gave me hope and then you took it away…" The Doctor expressed. "That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me… A man who has destroyed worlds… Galaxies… Empires… Basically, run!" He shouted, automatically making Auntie jump and run for her life. Uncle however stopped where he was.
"It's not us that should be doing the running," Uncle stated as he looked at River. "And you, I'd stay away from him," he started to walk away from them. "He does no good." He whispered the last part out as he walked around a corner to no longer be seen.
River edged forward as she was about to chase down that rude, insufferable man and tell him what was really the truth. Sure the Doctor wasn't exactly an angel sent from the heavens, but he was not a monster ever. The decisions he made would be for certain reasons. Sure he hated making them, but if he didn't make them, then who would?
The Doctor grabbed on her arm gently and shook his head at her,
"Leave them… It's not as if he was wrong anyway," the Doctor admitted softly as he looked into her eyes. All she had seen in those eyes of his was remorse, anger and regret-it made her even angrier. River furrowed her eye brows,
"Sweetie," she said as she turned around fully, "we both know that you have made mistakes or have done bad decisions, even I have, but the past is the past and you have to let it go…" Her last words faltered as she remembered past memories- her and the Doctor, on Silencio Lake. She closed her eyes and gulped. Until she felt something, something warm touch the tip of her fingers, and she looked up- confused.
The Doctor looked down at both his and her hands. The Doctor barely touched her, the tip of his fingers onto the tip of hers, but he scraped thumb along her knuckles. River knew even that was probably a big step for him… Hand holding. She breathed in deeply and looked up at him.
He phone rang.
The Doctor tensed, his jaw locked and she swore he gripped onto her hand tightly just for that split second. River herself bit on the inside of her cheek as she watched the Doctor answer the phone.
"No sonic screwdriver," Amy affirmed, not at all pleased and a little bit annoyed. "Also, the doors seem to have locked behind us." She looked at Rory accusingly, "Rory thinks there is a perfectly innocent explanation, but I think you lied to us."
"Time Lord stuff." The Doctor stated as if that were a good excuse. "Needed you out of the way."
"What, we're not good enough for your smart new friends?" She mocked as she looked at Rory obviously annoyed. "Put River on the phone." She finally requested.
The Doctor on the other end of the line looked at his phone baffled,
"Wh-Why?" he stuttered.
"Just put her on the phone," Amy said, her Scottish pronounced very clearly.
"N-" The Doctor went to protest until River sighed from behind him and grabbed the phone. She walked a few steps away from him,
"Amy liste-"
"River, we have to be with him, you know what he's like when he's emotional- and besides he's my best friend…" She sighed. "I-"
"I know Amy, trust me. I know. But you'll have to trust me now, you'll understand later but-"
"Spoilers," Amy huffed out, soon regretting the tone at which she said it in. She didn't mean to sound snappy or rude; she loved River- as a friend- and she a connection with her. She understood she couldn't tell them everything, but she found it frustrating at times. She then understood how the Doctor felt.
"I'm sorry, Amy," River apologized meaningfully. She hated not being able to tell her mother stuff, she missed that from when she was Mels- being able to gossip and tell each other everything when she was younger. However then, talking to Amy on the phone, it broke her heart. Amy didn't even know who she was.
"Just take care of him for me, River. And yourself of course, I can't take care of him on my own if you were gone." River laughed gently at that as she looked at the Doctor herself, a wide smile apparent on her face. She breathed out,
"I'll see you later, Amy. I promise," then River ended the call. She stood still for a moment, looking at the ground. Oh how much she loved her parents, even if they didn't know it yet.
The Doctor didn't spoil the silence, instead he was mesmerised by River, how protective she was of her. He knew straight away since the Byzantium that she obviously had a close bond with Amy, and he could clearly see that in the way River was talking to her threw the phone.
The Doctor heard River whisper something to herself and then she blinked and looked up at him,
"Doctor that woman, Idris. How did she know about the boxes?" She questioned as she moved closer to him. The Doctor realised what she was talking about,
"'Boxes will make you angry," he whispered out loud.
"Doctor, c'mon," River urged as she lifted her hand for him to take, which he took, and they ran together.
Sorry for the wait. I've had two exams the past two days, I apologize. But I have no more so I shall be putting them up every day as per usual. :)