Careful What You Wish For
Chapter Three
Behind the club in Shreveport the big blonde set his passenger down carefully, then stepped away a little warily. The Doctor looked at him, head cocked at a jaunty angle.
"You have two heart beats, you are not human," the warrior said accusingly.
"You can talk, you have none, what are you? Vampire or something?" the Doctor asked in his clipped English accent.
"I am Vampire, they call me Eric Northman," Eric told him.
"Good name that, Norse blood? I can hear a trace of the accent. Bet that was a long time ago. What were you, a viking or something?"
"I was. So why do you have two hearts? Do you have twice the blood?" Eric was still keeping a respectful distance, not sure what to make of his hostage.
"My gentle Norse friend I am the Doctor, and I am the last of my race. Well unless any more last of my race people turn up, but that might get confusing. No I think I'm the last of my race, we were wiped out during the war," the Doctor told him, flashing that smile again, the one that said winner.
"What race is that? You are not Fae, nor shifter, so what are you?" Eric's face said you better tell me.
"Timelord, dear friend, Timelord. And before you ask no you can't drain me, my blood would be far too potent for you, you must have noticed that I don't smell like lunch?"
"Well actually..." Eric began.
"Enough of this, we're not going to fall out, are we my large muscular friend?" The Doctor took the big warrior's arm in a gesture that was more than friendly. The message registered with Eric, although it came as a bit of a shock. Don't mess with me. He turned to look at the smaller man looking back so full of friendship, beaming that winner smile at him.
Don't mess with me, was the message he got from the vice grip on his arm.
Feeling confused Eric tried to shrug the Doctor off, but failed. "Why are you here again?"
"Apart from the fact that you flew us here?" the Doctor asked.
Eric didn't like this. Something about this little man in the pin stripe suit with the loosened tie, and that bloody smile, unsettled Eric. He wondered which of them would win a fight.
The Doctor's smile still said winner.
"Apart from that," he confirmed. "If I were to offer my help, what would you require?"
"I lost a friend," the Doctor began.
"In my line of work that comes with the territory," Eric agreed. "I've been known to lose them personally. Sometimes I make a point of it."
"A very dear friend, very special to me," the Doctor continued.
"You hadn't sorted her yet then" Eric asked.
"Not that kind of friendship," the Doctor argued.
"How long have you been looking for her?" Eric wanted to know.
"Three years, or so," the Doctor admitted.
"Definitely that kind of friendship. Didn't she want you?" the warrior asked.
"It wasn't like that. We worked together, she helped me against the evil's threatening mankind, there was no time for anything else," the Doctor tried to convince him.
"Always time for that! Was she pretty? What did she look like?" he asked.
"Rose was blonde, beautiful, intelligent. When she smiled the room lit up, when she was sad it broke at least one of my hearts," the Doctor told him, caught in the nostalgia.
"But you didn't sort her? Did you lose out in the trouser department to get two hearts?" Eric asked seriously.
Wearily the Doctor rubbed his hand through his short dark hair. He'd have to begin again.
"I need to find a space or time anomaly, evidence of a rift through which Rose could have traveled to this reality. Once I can find the rift I can work out what to do next. Are you going to help me?"
"Might as well, this could be interesting," Eric shrugged. All the while he was thinking of the blonde intelligent girl, wondering just how sweet she was.
It was Eric's turn to question himself. How come the girls he found most interesting were already spoken for by men who had yet to claim them? In his experience you just had to throw them down and take them. Of course he was aware that six foot four blonde viking warriors were better placed to do taking than little men like Bill and the Doctor.
He'd decided to do this, just to see what this Rose was like.
"So what are you looking for Doctor?" Eric asked.
"We need to find a break in the pattern, an anomaly, something or some place that is different. It could be a shaft of light from the ground," he looked hopefully at Eric. "No, then. It could be a place where there are lots of special people, far more than normal."
"Define special, Doctor," Eric asked.
"You know, gifted. Possessing skills and abilities that just aren't normal," he explained.
"Like changing shape to animals, reading peoples minds, living forever? Those sort of things?" Eric asked.
"Exactly!" the Doctor drew the word out, his large companion had finally got there.
"Like Bon Temps?" Eric suggested.
"Could be, can we go there?"
"Not until night, dawn's coming," Eric reached out to open the back door. It was locked. In a few minutes the sun would come and he would burn. Stepping back he prepared to put his shoulder to it.
"Hang on," the Doctor said. From the folds of his overcoat he produced a pen like object. There was a brief hum and a click, then the door swung open.
"Sonic screwdriver," he explained.
"Neat. You saved me using my sonic shoulder," Eric told him.