A/N: Next chapter! :) I hope this one lives up to your expectations as well :) Also you may have noticed that I've changed the title :P Well the old title "A Tale of Two Hearts" wasn't working for what this whole episode was about so I changed it to "For Those We Have Lost" :) Please let me know which one you like more :D And also I would love to hear what you think of either this story, chapter or anything you have to say about my writing :) I'm always trying to improve and I'd love your thoughts on how I could do that :)
For Those We Have Lost
Chapter Three: Round Trip
BANG!
Kreystel jumped. It was bad enough that she had the floating remains of what was once a beautiful planet hanging around her head, but also the station seemed intent on making the loudest, scariest noises possible. Add to that the fact that this was her first assignment, and it was on Platform One, renowned throughout the sector as the place where the last human finally succumbed to her lust for never-ending life, and she had just about every reason to quit now and sign back up as a labourer in the fields of Crespallion.
There was another crash, and this time the grip on her pri-spanner tightened. She stood up, slowly edging closer to the store cupboard, from where another clang enemated. Pri-spanner raised, she placed her hand on the pad, typing the number in quietly. The door slid open and she launched herself forwards, a cry sounding that was mirrored by the thing, if not in such a strong way.
"Ahhh!" The thing in the closet fell backwards over a bucket, crashing to the ground with a groan. Kreystel looked at him, taking in the tweed jacket with patched elbows, the strange red bow-tie and the hair that looked like it belonged on the end of a mop. She lowered the spanner and rushed over to him.
"Oh I'm so sorry," she cried, helping him up. "I didn't mean to-" then she remembered the rule and silenced herself, standing back watching, with some amusement, as he sorted himself out. It was only when he was straightening his bow-tie that he realised she was there.
"Hello there," he said, looking at her with a grin. "Sorry about that, manipulator never did like listening to me, and it has this strange affection for store cupboards" he muttered, glaring at the brown device strapped around his wrist. When he didn't hear a reply he looked away from the device at the short, blue humanoid by the door. "Oh of course you're Crespallion!" he cried, messing with his hair now, "don't worry you'll always have my permission to speak! Love a Crespallion," he said, grinning foolishly. "Don't ever get into a who-can-be-silent-the-longest competition with one though," he muttered as an after though. "You can lose a lot of good biscuits that way."
Kreystel smiled, slightly bemused by this person's weird rantings. "Thank you Sir," she said anyway, bowing gently.
"And please don't call me sir," the man cried exasperatedly, "The Doctor is fine." She waited for the strangest Doctor she'd ever seen to finish adjusting himself, and then stepped out of the cupboard, allowing him to do the same before closing it behind him.
The Doctor looked around the echoing hall, with its black pillars and jaw-dropping view of fire and stone, floating just outside. "It's been a long time," he muttered to himself. But before he threatened to disappear into the deep recesses of his memory, he span around, his usual energetic side beginning to regain its stride. "So," he said, swinging over to the open control panel that Kreystel had been dismantling, "beginning the deconstruction?"
"Yes Sir," she said and noticed The Doctor cringe slightly, although he continued to scrutinize the panel in silence. "There's a team of twenty of us here, each on a different section, I'm on the shields and main hall. There will be another twenty arriving next week."
"Good," he muttered standing up, patting himself down. That was when he remembered that Rory still had his psychic paper. He turned to face Kreystel, smiling. "I'm one of the visitors to the platform, I think you might have me on some kind of list?"
Kreystel pulled her PDA from her pocket, consulting it. "The Doctor?" He nodded. "Ah yes here you are, The Doctor and his plus one?" The Doctor's insides squirmed. So long ago.
"Yes but you see there's been a mishap," The Doctor said, thinking fast. "My plus one managed to get onto the last transport out of here but unfortunately I missed it, and I've been wandering around here since."
Kreystel looked at the odd man questioningly. "But that was two months ago."
The Doctor just grinned, before flipping out his screwdriver and starting to figure out a plan. "Yeah, it's been terrible trying to find food." The Doctor paused suddenly and turned to Kreystel. "You don't have any Jammie Dodgers do you?" She shook her head, confused. "Ah well," sighed The Doctor, "guess I'll have to go without then. Why can't I wind up in a place with a bountiful supply of Jammie Dodgers? Just once?"
Kreystel followed him as he scaned the walls with his weird contraption, casting a eerie green light over the already eerie station. "So what are you going to do? Like I said the next spaceship isn't arriving for another week, and I'm sorry but even then you can just hitch a ride home." Then The Doctor began to pull open the wall, exposing countless wires and pipes. "What are you doing!"
"I'm helping!"
"No! The station needs to be deconstructed in an ordered way, not just torn apart!" The Doctor stopped, thinking hard.
"Sorry what was your name?"
"Kreystel, Sir."
"And you said that we have a week yes?"
"Yes Sir." He strode back to the panel she'd been disasembelling, beginning to change things and swtich things as fast as he could, before standing up and looking at Kreystel with a spark lighting his eyes and a grim slash of determination set on his lips, almost all that he had left.
"Then we might just have enough time."
Kreystel, for what could well have been the hundreth time that week, entered the main hall of Platform One and thought only one thing. "I'm definitely getting fired."
"Oh it'll be fine!" The Doctor's voice echoed out from the middle of a very large amount of wires. "You couldn't pass me my sonic screwdriver could you?"Kreystel sighed, picking up the device and passing it through the nest. She heard its characteristic whinning and then saw The Doctor emerge with a grin on his face.
"Why are we doing this again?"
"Because I need a lift home!" He said, grinning. She looked anxiously at the extortionate amount of mess that surrounded her, wires hanging from the ceiling and growing out from under the floor panels. "Didn't I mention why you don't have to worry?"
Kreystel massaged her forehead with her fingers, sighing deeply. "Yes you have Sir but I still don't understand." She looked up expecting to see The Doctor frustrated that she hadn't understood yet, but he actually just looked upset. Not angry, just doubting his own ability to explain it instead. He was such a strange being, Kreystel doubted she'd ever understand him or anything he told her. Never-the-less she sat down on the floor to listen as he began to explain the whole operation to her. Again.
"Right, basically there is a transdimesional time-machine out there," The Doctor said, pointing through the walls of the station to the asteroid field and boiling sun. "I'm using this," he patted the manipulator thingy that had all the wires feeding into it, "to draw it out of its defense mechanism and then use it myself." Kreystel was still confused.
"But why can't you just go out there and get it? We had a shuttle you know."
The Doctor looked over to her and shook his head, now attempting to dig his way into and set of wires. "It's complicated, but basically the machine is just out of conventional technologies reach." He disappeared under the floor but his muffled voice continued babbling. "Luckily I have the vortex manipulator, which is slightly similar," The Doctor paused, and shuddered at the comparison before continuing, "and I also have a great space station to channel the field through."
Kreystel nodded. "Right, so you're using Platform One to find your ship?"
The Doctor paused for a moment, contemplated arguing the 'your' part but thought it wasn't worth it. "Yes I am. The statis field will draw it out like poison from a wound. You see, the field will stop time for everything inside, meaning that the repit loop that For created will be rendered usless, because his TARDIS can't flit between two seconds if the seconds are stopped at exactly the right moment." Kreystel murmered her agreement, even though she was now even more lost than before. "And don't worry," The Doctor reassured her, "I'll make sure that you're back on track before you know it."
"I hope so Sir," she muttered, "because the shuttle will be here tomorrow."
There was a long silence, only broken by the occasional "ow!" from The Doctor or crack from the wiring. Eventually The Doctor cried "done!", pulling himself from the floor and grinning triumphantly.
That was when an alarm sounded throughout the station, causing Kreystel to jump to her feet and consult her PDA. "Sir something unknown is approaching the station! I can't even figure out- what is that?" The Doctor, however, already knew what was happening.
"My timeline's catching up with me!" he cried, racing out of the door and down the corridor, Kreystel atempting to keep up, calling after him.
"What are you talking about! And could you slow down Sir I'm not exactly as tall as you are!"
"Because I've managed to get For's TARDIS, and because I'll be using it against him, he's come back from my new timeline's future to try and stop me from getting it in the first place!"
"But I thought you said it was your's Sir! Did I just help you break into someone else's property Sir?"
The Doctor skidded round the corner down the other end of the corridor with a resounding "No! Of course not!" That was when he figured out what the For must be using. "Hey that's my TARDIS!" He shouted to nobody in particular, running off again, a fury pounding in his chest, pushing him faster as he raced to stop The For from reaching his own TARDIS. He could see the door to the shield room now. Locked.
No time to lose he pulled the sonic from his pocket, the door sliding open as he launched himself through it with a frustrated yell. He didn't even stop to think, plowing through the gaps in two of the three giant fans that kept Platform One cool, but that was as far as he got.
For must have hacked the station's computer, because the final fan sped up to incredible speeds, and he heard the supports creaking under the unbelievable strain, the two behind him doing the same, threatening to break away from their supports and end his fight. He was trapped.
Then hearing the yell from Kreystel, who had finally caught up and grabbed hold of the lever that slowed them down, although they were still revolving at far toog reat a speed, a strange sense of deja vu swept over him. The Doctor closed his eyes, breathing deeply before taking one final step and lunging forwards , grasping the leve and yelling, for the second time in his life in that exact spot, "Raise shields!"
He felt the very platform shake beneath him as it strained and groaned under the immense pressure the advanced technology was forcing it through, but barely a second later he knew the shield had worked. He sighed as The For's roar of anger rippled between them.
"I'm sorry For." The Doctor turned around and made his way back to Kreystel, slowly but surely. She looked up at the strange man, seeing a very different side to him; a darker, lonlier side. She decided it didn't suit him, it made him look old, ancient even.
She tried to lighten the mood. "You promise you'll be back before the shuttle arrives Sir? We have quite the mess to clean up."
The Doctor smiled slightly. "Of course I will. Time-machine remember? And don't worry about For, he can't get in unless he can crack the code I've placed on the manipulator and considering it's an eternity code, as human's call it... you'll be okay until I return."
Kreystel was surprised to find herself believing this Doctor, he didn't seem like the kind of person who wanted anyone to get hurt. The Doctor looked Kreystel in the eye, that same spark she saw a week ago glinting there now, even if it was slightly marred by sadness.
"Now Kreystel, my brilliant blue friend, where's that shuttle? I've got a TARDIS to reclaim."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D Please review if there's anything you want to tell me (good or bad :P) and don't forget to say which title you prefer :) Thanks for reading and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can :) Thanks again! :D
P.S: I just reviewed this chapter and discovered a few things that didn't work so I changed them :P I would really like to know what you think about my writing, anything that I might need to improve or anything you like even (although those are probably few and far between :P) Also I would love to know how you feel about The For arriving straight after The Doctor completes the field to stop him... does that work/ make sense? Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this and my other stories :)