AN: SO SORRY I'M LATE! My weekend was jam packed with covering everyone's shift at work.
Just to clear a few things up. Terra is from 2012, before The Snowmen. That's why she knows nothing about Clara, or Gallifrey coming back, or Peter Capaldi.
Also, from now on I'll post on Saturdays. My Friday's are busy lately. For more updates on the story, follow me on Twitter.
Thank you doctor3378, yukocarr, and zoey-the-cat-girl for favoriting this story.
Thank you for RedstoneLP2 for following this story.
To Ingridie: I have a plan for her memories of Gallifrey, although it'll be much later in the story. It'll be a throwback to a thing from Classic Who, so be on the lookout for it.
The Doctor glared at me, the TARDIS already in transit so it was too late to drop me off back on Earth.
"Hi." I grinned, giving him a head bob. "Thought I'd come get my house back."
"The TARDIS is not your house!" The Doctor argued, walking over to the TARDIS screen. I snuck a glance at the ceiling, winking at Idris. "I'm taking you home. Where do you live?" The Doctor asked, nay ordered, for my residence.
I smirked. Time to have some fun with Nine. "With my friend." I said in a sing song tune, smiling deviously.
The Doctor almost glared. "And where does your friend live?" He emphasized that word, as if doubting I had friends.
I threw a glare back. It was true, my only friend was my sister, but I wasn't about to let him know that. "With me."
The Doctor huffed. "Where do you both live?"
"Together." I answered. Rose giggled off to the side. She should get used to this, I had a feeling Doc and I would be arguing a lot.
The Doctor changed tactics. "Where is your house?" The Doctor asked, hand still posed over the computer screen but his eyes were glaring at me.
"Next to my neighbor's house."
The Doctor grunted. I was annoying him, but I didn't care. This was way too much fun. "And where do they live?"
I threw my head to the side, pushing my hands in my hoodie pockets. My bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "You won't believe me if I tell you."
"Tell me!" The Doctor barked.
"Next to my house." That made Rose almost fall the ground laughing. Then, I turned to her. "So, he said this is a time machine, right? When are we going first? Forwards or backwards?"
Rose got back to her feet, still smiling.
"Now, hold on a minute-"
"Forwards." Rose decided, turning to the Doctor with a deviant smile.
I frowned, looking at the Doctor. "Nah, I don't think he can do it." I dared, tsking.
The Time Lord stood straighter, giving Rose and I looks of overconfidence. He took the bait. "How far?" He asked us, pulling various switches.
Rose and I exchanged a look. Now that we knew the Doctor could take bait, it would never stop. "One hundred years." The companion said.
He pulled more levers, bracing himself on the console. I followed, fighting the urge to bounce in place. "There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century."
"You're kidding." Rose said.
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Only one hundred years? Bit boring, wouldn't ya say?"
The Doctor squinted his face, frowning. "Do you want to go further?"
"If you can." I said with a grin.
"Fine by me." Rose agreed.
The Doctor pulled on the levers and dials, not taking his eyes off us. "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire."
Rose shook her head, leaning against the console. "You think you're so impressive." She said.
"I am so impressive." The Doctor said, offended.
"You wish." The new companion smiled, making me smile at the Doctor's face.
"Right then, you lot asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!" The Time Lord piloted the TARDIS, making it shake harder than I've ever felt.
My hands grabbed the console, bracing myself from the turbulence. The whoosh noise was getting louder the farther back in time we went. This was it, this was the start of it.
I smiled up at the glowing bit in the middle, feeling a strange sort of euphoria. Maybe this was that Time Sense I had heard about. There was the feeling on the back of my mind, disconnecting from that Time and whirling about for the next one. It's vaguely like shrugging off a jacket to let cool air on your shoulders.
No wonder the Doctor got so giddy in transit. This feeling was amazing!
For however long I would be traveling with the Doctor, this would be our first adventure. Sure, we had the living plastic with Rose, but this was an adventure. I'd meet proper Doctor Who aliens, Cassandra, and the beloved Face of Boe!
The noise stopped, so Rose and I looked at the Doctor.
"Where are we?" Rose asked.
The Doctor gestured dramatically at the door.
"Okay wise guy." I stood back on the balls of my feet. "What's out there?"
He dramatically gestured again.
I rolled my eyes, an excited look on my face. The Time Sense was still leaving be a bit peppy. Rose followed behind me.
The Tine Sense smacked me in the face. 5.5/Apple/26. It was a Tuesday, about 3 o'clock. Platform One, just a few hundred miles above planet Earth.
I shook my head, fixing my headband as the excuse.
It was a large room, with light wood walls and marble floors. I walked down the stairs, taking of slow. First TARDIS adventure, I was allowed to be slow.
The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS, briefly waving at Rose and I before walking to a nearby wall panel.
I kept walking down the stairs. The blinds on the window were going down. The Doctor stood between Rose and I, staring intently at the ball that used to be our Earth.
"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids." The Doctor explained. "But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day-"
He looked at his wristwatch. "Hold on."
The sun flared and turns red. My eyebrows quirked, staring curiously at the star.
"This is the day the Sun expands." The Doctor said. "Welcome to the end of the world."
"Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."
The Doctor was taking Rose and I down to the main room, away from the TARDIS. Rose had been a bit off since hearing the Earth would explode soon, although I was less so.
It was Earth, exploding. No one would risk the legal nightmare of killing a while planet (probably beyond Level 5), so Earth was empty. The only real reason to keep it going, well, there wasn't. It was her time to go, and I've met enough goddesses of the Earth to know she'd love going out of this world with friends...
...unfortunately she got these rich idiots.
"So, when it says guests, does that mean people?" Rose asked, speaking for the first time since arriving.
"Depends what you mean by people." The Time Lord countered.
"I mean people." Rose emphasized the word.
"Well that's racist." I pointed out.
The girl turned to me. "What do you mean?"
"You automatically assumed that guest meant humans. You met plastic that could destroy planet Earth today, and yet the idea of other alien life is flying completely over your head." I shook my head in wonder. "That's adorable. You're new, so I'll let it slide."
"New?" Rose snorted, looking me over. "You're younger then me!"
I shrugged. "In the end. It's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln. Nice guy, told some great stories."
Rose gaped. "You've met Abraham Lincoln?"
I stared at her. "No. Did a report on him in fifth grade." 'Side note: When I jump into a biography/history book/etc., I become a part of history. Didn't find that out until I wrote that paper.'
Rose seemed to buy it, but the Doctor was less convinced. "So these, aliens, what are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?"
The Doctor used the sonic on the metal panel. He had been listening to us, and I mentally scolded myself for letting the Abraham bit slip. 'No more of those, we talked about this!' "It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."
"Why?" I asked, stuffing my hands in my hoodie pockets.
"For fun." The door opened, and the Doctor walked on. "Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich."
Cassandra came up in my mind, making my eyes roll. Then the Face of Boe, which made me smile. Technically, he was the last human, just with a bit extra. 'I can't wait to meet him.'
"But, hold on. They did this once on Newsround Extra." Rose said as we walked up to the window. "The sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years."
"Millions, but the planet's now property of the National Trust." The Doctor clarified. I stood by Rose, going back and forth from these two to Planet Earth. "They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" He pointed at these satellites floating around the Earth's atmosphere. "Gravity satellites holding back the sun."
"The planet looks the same as in our time." I pointed out to him. "After millions of years, the continents should have shifted."
"They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth." The Doctor said. His voice almost sounded like he was a bit proud I had noticed. 'Probably because he gets to explain why, which makes him seem like the smartest one in the room.' "But now the money's run out, nature takes over."
"How long's it got?" The young girl asked, looking up at the Doctor.
The Doctor checked his watch. "About half an hour and then the planet gets roasted." He sounded just a bit too excited about this-
He was trying to impress us. Rose was new, she had only been doing this two days. She would be easier. I was a mystery, something challenging. The Doctor could tell it would take a lot to impress me. So, take us safer into Earth's timeline as he could to make us eat out our words.
That was why he liked it when I asked about the shifting continents. It showed I didn't have any knowledge on the situation. He could be the big man on campus, kindly showing the freshman and the junior around.
"Is that why we're here?" Rose asked. "I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"
'Yes.' I joked.
The Doctor gave her a hard stare. "I'm not saving it. Time's up."
"But what about the people?" Rose asked, concerned. She glanced at me. "The humans, I mean."
I smiled, proud of her. Most people would have ignored my statement, but Rose listened and evaluated it. She may not agree with it yet, but she knew of the importance.
"It's empty." The Doctor said. "They're all gone. No one left."
Rose paused. "Just us, then."
"Who the hell are you?" We all turned back, seeing a blue-skinned humanoid with golden slit eyes storm towards us. He was dressed in a dark brown suit, almost the same shade as tree bark. On his head was a pale silver cap, though with holes cut out for his ears.
"Oh, that's nice, thanks." The Doctor said dryly.
Steward stared down at the Doctor. I almost sighed, annoyed mostly at being ignored. "But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now."
The Doctor pulled out the psychic paper. "That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see?" He held the paper higher, to let the Steward get a better look. "It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus two. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler and Terra Johnson. They're with me. Is that alright?"
The Steward stared at the Doctor, clearly embarrassed. I don't usually enjoy public shaming's like this, but this guy was a jerk. Jerk shaming I am more than okay with.
"Well, obviously." The Steward said, covering his tracks. I snorted. The Doctor seemed just as amused. We put on serious faces as the Steward went on. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy."
The Steward goes over to a podium. "Did you see his face?" I whispered to the slightly impressed Rose. "He looked downright humiliated!"
The Doctor held the paper towards us, showing us what the Steward saw. "The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time."
"It sounds terrific." I said, reaching for it. "Mind if I-"
"No." The Doctor stuffed it back in his jacket pocket.
"Well why not?" I asked. The words came out with a bit of bite, almost like I had been offended at his lack of trust.
The Time Lord gave me a look. "You would steal it."
I mockingly gasped. "Why, good sir, I am offended. Where was I keen to this mockery born?"
The Doctor paused. "You know Shakespeare?"
"Loved 'um. Especially the one that turned into Lion King."
"He's blue." Rose commented.
The Doctor and I looked to her, remembering we had a third member in the group. We nodded. "Yeah."
Rose just went with it. "Okay."
"We have in attendance the Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Terra Johnson." The Steward said into a microphone. "Thank you. All staff to their positions."
Much to my amusement, dozens of small men dressed in all black came in. Two stood at the doors, while the rest ran into the small hallway beyond.
I shook my head. "Oompa loompa doompety doo." I sang lightly, making the Doctor snicker. Rose looked at us, stick in the middle of our madness.
The Steward spoke into the mic again, a rehearsed smile on his face. "And now, might I introduce the next honored guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."
A bark-skinned woman walked in, wearing an yellow and red dress. She had two bodyguards following behind her, firm expressions. The kind one expects, looking at a tree.
Rose stared in shock, the Doctor stood there proud of himself, and I was silently laughing at my tree pun.
"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace." The Steward explained. "If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon."
More and more aliens and sliding in. This room was starting to feel crowded. I saw the Repeated Meme men glide, making me start to be on high alert. Somewhere on their bodies they had the orbs that would kill Raffalo, the Steward, and who knows how many other workers here.
I could save Raffalo, with some of work. Jabe will be easiest, all we need is someone else to hold down that lever.
The trees came up to us, bringing me away from my thoughts. Jabe curtsied. "The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather." She took one of the potted plants, handing it over to the Doctor.
The Doctor smiled, immediately giving it to Rose. The young girl tried passing it back to me, but I backed away before she could. "Thank you." The Doctor said to Jabe. "Yes, gifts." He pat down on his pockets, unable to find anything. I snorted. "Er, I give you in return air from my lungs."
He breathed out onto the tree lady, making her smile in surprise. "How intimate." She said. She had not been expecting that.
"There's more where that came from." The Doctor said.
I have never heard a bigger 'please go away' then what the Doctor just said.
Another snort from me, followed by a confused look from Rose. What? Take away the thought that in an hour some of these people might be dead and we weren't about to watch Earth explode, this was kinda fun.
Jabe smiled at the Doctor. "I bet there is." The trees walked away, letting us look at the Doctor in confusion and slight awe.
"Did you just flirt with a tree?" I asked. The Doctor shrugged, still proud of himself.
"From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe." The Steward announced.
The giant head was filled in, causing me to gape at him like a fish. I could feel this strange feeling coming off of him, not like there was something wrong, but more like there had been. I guess losing his head made Jack a less immortal. As powerful as the Bad Wolf is, not even she could keep him alive forever.
Jack Harkness. I was going to meet Jack Fucking Everything That Moves Harkness. YesyesyesyesYES!
What brought me out of my fangirling was the sound of spit flying. I paid attention just in time to Rose get hit right in the face.
"Oh my Story. That just happened." I laughed, having to turn myself around so Rose didn't see.
The Doctor was snickering with me. "Thank you very much." The Adherents approached, making me square my shoulders. "Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." He breathed heavily on them, and that time I was a bit more disgusted with the action.
An Adherent held out a metal ball. "A gift of peace in all good faith."
The Doctor took it, passing it to Rose who passed it to me. I was perfectly fine with this. Needed it to help my Plan.
"And last but not least, our very special guest." The Steward announced, drawing attention to him. Rose watched the proceeding with wary eyes. "Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human." The Doctor smiled at Rose. I held back snorts and chuckles. "The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."
The flap of skin was rolled in, flanked by two men dressed in protective gear.
Cassandra didn't pay any mind to the fact that no one was applauding her. "Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference."
The Doctor and I were laughing, silently, at Rose's shock. I had to cover my mouth with my hand, using my arm to hold my side.
"Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand." Cassandra's eyes went back to the attendants. "Moisturize me. Moisturize me."
As they did, Cassandra continued on. Rose walked over, looking at the flap to devil it actually was a flap. "Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say goodbye."
Cassandra blinked rapidly, the only expression she could truly show on what little muscle she had left. Her attendant batted the tears away. "Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts."
An Oompa Loompa walked in, carrying the relay for her transport. Although it was painted to look like an ostrich egg. "From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband?"
A few chuckles from the crowd. Rose was still in shock over last human.
"Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines." Cassandra said. I tilted my head. How could she still be getting lines? She doesn't have enough skin for it! "And here, another rarity."
Two more Oompa Loompas waddled in with the 50's jukebox. "According to the archives, this was called an iPod." I snorted. I didn't truly believe the stereotype that the elderly couldn't quite grasp modern technology, and this just proved it. "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!"
A song played from the jukebox, I started dancing with it. It was similar to the Doctor's dance for it, except my hands were in my hoodie pockets. Rose seemed to be the only not able to wrap her head around it.
The Steward made one final announcement. "Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes."
Seeing Rose's unease, I decided to walk over to her to try and help her adjust. She was may come to be Rose Tyler, but right now she was Rose. I know it doesn't sound like a real difference, but it was huge one. This was her first adventure off Earth, and she was about to watch it burn with no one stopping it.
I walked up to Rose's side. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked.
Instead of vocally answering, the girl just ran off down the corridor we arrived in.
"That's a no then." I said.
After Rose ran, I decided to talk to someone I had been meaning to. I walked up to the Face of Boe, hoping my face wasn't in as big a grin as I feared. "Hi."
The Face of Boe smiled. "Hello Terra." A deep voice spoke in my mind. "What is it you wished to speak of?"
I laughed. "Nothing much, just thought I'd come talk to the man who sponsored the Doctor and Rose's first date." I complimented. "I trained you well."
You could see Jack's grin, underneath all the millennia of age and heartbreak. "What makes you believe it was you that trained me?"
"Um, have you met me?" I asked. "Me? Terra Johnson."
"Yes. I know who you are." Jack said.
My jaw dropped. "Oh, don't you dare quote Harriet Jones to me."
"I just did." The Face of Boe paused. "You were always able to bring out the child in me."
"It's a talent." I joked. "Even if I could, I wouldn't stop."
The Face of Boe tilted his head, something I once though impossible but Jack takes that word and...well...ya know. "It's been so long, Terra, since last we met. I was starting to think I would never see you again."
"Who told you that nonsense?" I scoffed. "I'm never leaving you alone, Buttface." I paused at the sudden nickname. "Oh. That was terrific, and it came naturally."
"I thought I would lose that when I lost my head." The Face of Boe sighed.
"You still have that butt shaped chin." I reminded him, grinning cheekily. Checking my watch, I made my way to the door. "Sorry, Buttface. Work is calling."
"Until next time, Terra Johnson." The Face of Boe said.
'You better believe it, Captain.' I winked, running off after Raffalo.
It took a moment to find her, and I was just in time. She was about to crawl into the vent.
"Did a blonde girl just walk through here?" I asked Raffalo. She pulled herself out of the vent, blinking in uncertainty. "You have permission to talk."
Raffalo smiled kindly. "Yes. She went that way." Raffalo pointed off into the distance.
"Thank ya kindly." I turned to run after Rose, then back to the blue woman. She was about to crawl back into the vent. "Actually, could I have your help with something?" There was a distinct tapping noise coming from the vent, like something robotic crawling around.
"Just a moment, miss. I think there's something in there." Raffalo commented.
"Oh my Story!" I groaned, trying to sound embarrassed. Raffalo turned to me, curious. "That might be something of mine. My gifts to the others. They got out of their box." I lied easily.
The blue plumber's slit eyes widened. "My goodness! Did you report it?"
"That's the thing. I wanna keep it on the hush hush." I leaned in closer to Raffalo. "It's impolite on my planet to reveal a gift before it's been opened. If I tell security, they'll end up telling the guests. I can't go against the traditions of my planet, ya know?"
Raffalo nodded, although she still looked a bit uncomfortable. "It's alright, miss. I can just-"
"No!" I pulled her away from the vent. She looked at me in slight horror. "Uh. Their robot pets. I installed them to protect their new masters, the other guests. They'll see you and attack." I walked to the vent, getting ready to crawl in. "I'll get them back. You can go tell management it's been repaired."
"Miss, I have to report-" Raffalo started.
"I'll just take a second." I promised, climbing into the vent. I crawled after the robot spiders before she could argue. Two of the robots crawled around the corner, I grinned confidently at them.
They chittered, and hissed. I pulled out the ball the Adherent gave the Doctor. "Simple robots, means stupid." I opened the orb with a quick press on the side. Before the other spider could get it's bearing, I ripped off it's head. The other two spiders appeared at the end of the corridor. "Aw. So sorry, boys."
The orb should give off a sort of connecting signal, like Bluetooth devices connecting to other Bluetooth devices. The spiders would think I was another robot, giving me a chance to break them down and stuff them in my bag.
"Miss?" Raffalo asked. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine!" I called back to her, crawling myself up to the robot spiders. They seemed docile, and they weren't any red dots on my chest. That's good. "Everything's terrific!"
I grabbed two of the bots my the head, yanking them off with little effort. Time Lady biology came in handy, and spared me the use of a hammer. The other two tried fighting for their fallen comrades, but it only made it easier for me to catch them.
"Are you sure? It doesn't sound like it." Raffalo said.
I grabbed one of them, smashing it into the other one. It was downed long enough for me to take out spider number four. "Uh, nothing I can't handle!" I grabbed the fifth, but it had learned where his brothers had failed. I grunted in annoyance, grabbing the legs of one of the other spiders.
With quick precision, I stabbed Spider Number Five in the head with his brother's leg. It didn't cut thru the steal, but it made the spider drop his guard and give me access to its head.
The parts of all the robots were stuffed into the ball, then into my bag (I'd have a hell of a hard time getting them out later), and I crawled back out of the vent to a worried Raffalo. "There, ya see? Not a scratch."
Raffalo did looked pleased that I was alright. "I'll still have to check to make sure they didn't damage anything."
I nodded. "Go ahead." I gestured into the vent. "Just, ya know, keep this quiet. I don't want the others to know I wrecked the gifts."
"Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery fifteen please report to the Steward's office immediately." The steward's voice came from overhead. "Guests are reminded that use of teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty five point four slash cup slash sixteen. Thank you."
"That'll be me." I sighed, smiling. "Gotta run."
Raffalo smiled kindly. "And thank you for the permission, most aren't that considerate."
I shrugged it off, getting ready to head to Gallery Fifteen. "Everyone deserves to be heard." I said as a goodbye, running to the Gallery.
"Earth death in twenty-five minutes. Earth death in twenty five minutes."
I was skipping down the hallway, hands in my pockets and whistling a random tune from Phineas and Ferb. The Doctor was instructing the Oompa Loompas.
"Oi, now, careful with that." The Doctor said, keeping a close eye on the group. "Park it properly. No scratches."
I walked up to his side, watching with interest. One of the Oompa Loompa's handed him a business card.
"Oh. There you are." The Doctor said. "Thought you'd be with Rose. What do you think?" He asked.
"It's interesting." I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets to keep them from being idle. "Speaking of Rose, have you seen her?"
The Doctor knew I had a good point, he just didn't say it. He walked off into Gallery Fifteen.
"Rose? Are you in there?" We found Rose sitting on the stairs, the potted plant at her side. The ball was thankfully in my bag, holding some of the broken spiders bits. Those spare parts might come in handy later, you never know. The Doctor practically bounced onto the ledge, while I sat beside Rose. "Aye, aye. What do you think, then?"
"Great." Rose said, uncertainly. "Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper. They're just so alien."
I nodded, adding a small chuckle. "Wanna know something cool? To them, we're the aliens." Rose blinked, apparently that hadn't crossed her mind yet. "Rose, I know this all seems a bit much, but it really isn't. Alien is just a fancy term for something you don't understand."
"But you just look at them, and they're alien." Rose stressed.
The Doctor stared at Rose for a second. "Good thing I didn't take you two to the Deep South." He joked.
I didn't laugh, cause that was where I was from. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, moved to Charleston, South Carolina when I was three. That was my home until I turned ten, then I lived all over the place. Santa Barbara, Quantico, New York City, Hawaii, a ton more, and now I can add London.
Still, I was from the south. It was Home, with it's overly sweet tea and biscuits and flapjacks and the colloquialisms. Oh, and apple pie. I've had this tongue and month and I have not had an apple pie!
That comment on the Deep South seemed to spark Rose's curiosity. "Where are you from?"
"All over the place." The Doctor evaded the question, looking down at his hands in what I could see was slight shame.
Rose turned to me. She must not have grasped the Doctor's shame face yet. "And you?"
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my legs. "Deep South." I joked. It got a laugh from the Doctor. I grinned. My head turned to the Doctor, curious. "Uh, more of a side note. They were all speaking English."
That was all the prompting the Doctor needed. He turned to us with a face of a child being asked what he wanted for his birthday. "No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates."
"Hold on what?" I reeled back.
"It's inside our brains?" Rose asked, shocked.
"Well, in a good way." The Doctor assured.
Just by mentioning it, I could feel a different presence in my mind. My first mind assault had been when I was a young child, getting into fantasy books. The attack inspired me to keep mental defenses up at all times, most of them kept up so long it was second nature to have them there. I didn't like the idea of someone else in my mind where they weren't wanted.
After my jump to Thirty Days of Night, I became a bit paranoid on the subject. I was wary around all magic creatures, or ones with telepathic abilities. That was why Logan's attack had me so jaded. He was able to not only break apart my walls, but Future Terra's as well. The walls had been rebuilt, stronger this time (I hoped). The number virtually doubled, except for the ones I didn't put in. I don't really know how to get those to stop.
But now, I could feel her. My mindscape looked a bit like a blackness, filled with dark pink and yellow storm clouds. Now there was a blue cloud in the midst, floating about and changing other clouds around it. The TARDIS must have gotten in when my guard was lowered, so probably when we landed and I adjusted to my Time Sense.
Future Terra had said the TARDIS would get inside my mind, but that she wasn't a harm. She saw what I was, what I was doing, and would help. Like a sister, Future Terra had said. Besides, the TARDIS would rarely hurt anyone intentionally. The thing that made it so uncomfortable for me was that there was an unlocked door open in my mind for translations and whatever else the TARDIS fancied.
And once a door is open, anyone can get it.
I stood up, pointing an angry finger at the Doctor. "The TARDIS got inside Rose and I's head, then changed it. That is the bad way!"
The Doctor's smile dropped into a frown. "I didn't think about it like that."
"No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South, Terra's home." The words came out in a cold sort of bite. I was a bit surprised Rose came to my defense so easily. Nevertheless, I moved a bit farther away from the angry blonde. "Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"
"I'm just the Doctor." The Doctor said, sitting up.
"From what planet?" Rose went on.
The Doctor laughed. "Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!"
"Where are you from?" Rose asked, talking down to him.
"What does it matter?" The Doctor asked. 'For a guy who hates domestics, he really knows how to get wrapped up in one.'
"Tell us who you are!"
"This is who I am, right here, right now, all right?" The Doctor said in his 'go to your room' voice. "All that counts is here and now, and this is me."
"Yeah, and we're here too because you brought us here, so just tell us!" Rose shouted.
The Doctor got up, storming down the stairs. He stared down at the soon to be dying Earth, shoulders squared. I nervously scratched the back of my neck, trying to find a way out of this awkward situation.
"Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes."
That'll do it. Rose and I went down the stairs, her standing at Doctor's left and me at his right.
Rose sighed, rocking on the balls of her feet. "Alright. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver."
The Doctor shook his head in amusement. I rolled my eyes, grinning. 'It's funny, because the designated driver is usually me and now it's the Doctor.'
Rose took out her mobile phone, holding it up Lion King style. "Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal." She paused. "We're out of range. Just a bit."
"Tell you what." The Doctor took her phone, pulling it apart. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery." He pulled out the battery.
"Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?" Rose teased, standing just a bit closer to the Doctor.
"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery." The Doctor went along with it, standing closer to her in return. He looked to Rose and I. "What about you?"
"No, I failed hullabaloo." The blonde smirked.
"Passed it with muchness." I said, quoting Alice in Wonderland. "And a bit of futterwacken."
The Doctor smirked at the banter. He replaced the battery in Rose's phone, clicking the back onto the phone. "Oh. There you go." The girl looked at him in confusion, but the Time Lord insisted.
Rose turned to me, then looked at the Doctor. "What about her? Shouldn't she get one of these too?"
It surprised me, a bit. That certainly made it easier for me. I pulled out the phone I brought with me, my dad's old flip Motorola. It was fully charged, thanks to the stores actually having the parts. I held it towards him.
The Doctor took the phone, a bit forceful. With a smug grin, he put in the new battery on. Once the upgrade was applied he handed it back to me.
I flipped it open, giving him a wary look. I pressed the button to call my only friend.
She answered in just a few rings. "Zup bitch." She sounded older, not the teenager I had last seen her as.
I laughed. This was actually working. That meant Darcy was somewhere in this world, which meant I would have to bring her here and risk universal safety. Terrific. "I'm good. What trouble have you caused?" I asked, keeping mind of the two people possibly eavesdropping on my conversation.
Darcy snorted. She had apparently been expecting this. "Nothing too bad. Promise." Darcy said. "When are you?"
"Oh, I'm at the End Of the World." I answered, shrugging my shoulders.
Darcy apparently didn't get the reference. "Could you...could you be more specific? That's every day for us."
My eyes rolled, and I held back a groan. "The sun gets roasted five billion years in the future, future of humanity is a flap of skin, Face of Boe. I must have told you about this in the future." I reminded her, boredly. "You sure you have brain cells in your head?"
"I feel the love." Darcy joked. "It's just that literally happens all the time in this reality. The aliens every Christmas, Downing street blowing up, the day where the universe literally stopped happening and there had to be a Big Bang Two. Don't even get me started on River's wedding! The world's always ending, at least according to the middle aged. Like you, my bitch."
"My witch." I shot back. It had been our little game, ever since in one reality I was a werewolf and she was a witch. The nicknames stuck. "Where are you?"
"What, so you can punch me in the face for calling you middle aged?" Darcy snorted.
"Pretty much, yeah."
A pause. "Torchwood Three jail cells. Jack doesn't like me much."
Oh, that was a twist. "How did you make him angry?" I asked, shocked. "You would think the two of you would be handcuffed to a bed or something."
"Yeah, hehe. That might be why he doesn't like me." Darcy admitted, awkwardly.
My eyes sharpened into a glare. She had sex with Jack Harkness, the man who couldn't die... "Tell me you didn't do it 'Darcy Style'."
Before Darcy could answer, Rose just started laughing beside me. I rolled my eyes in glee. Her joy was infectious. "We'll talk this later. Don't start a fire without me." I warned Darcy, an old inside joke.
"Too late." She joked, her usual way of saying goodbye. The phone clicked, signaling she had hung up on me. I snorted, pushing my phone into my bag.
"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." The Doctor said sarcastically.
"That was five billion years ago." Rose said, slowly. "So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead."
"Oh you're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" I snarked, stuffing my hands into my hoodie pocket.
The space station shook suddenly. It wasn't enough to send us to our feet, but enough to grab our attention. "That's not supposed to happen." The Doctor said, smiling.
"How did I know he was gonna say that?" I grumbled, trying to be funny. Rose gave me an slightly scared look, as if searching of assurance. I could only shrug back.
"Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you." The Steward broadcasted.
The three of us exchanged looks. The Doctor ran out of the room, me following excitedly after him.
The Doctor walked into the observation deck, going to one of the panels. "That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." He pressed some buttons, turning behind us. "What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"
Jabe shrugged, then smiled slyly at the Doctor. "It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."
The Doctor nodded. Honestly, he should have been expecting that. "Where's the engine room?"
"I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite." Jabe offered. "I could show you and your wife." She looked to Rose.
I immediately laughed, then covered it up with a cough. Rose glared at me in embarrassment.
"Oh, and your sister." Jabe added.
I gave Jabe a shocked look. That made Rose laugh. Okay, I deserved that. I laughed at her for being Mrs. Doctor, she can laugh at me for being his sister. Holy shit. I have no idea who I was on Gallifrey. There's a chance I could actually be his sister! I'm so fucked.
The Doctor had this sudden frown on his face. "She's not my wife, and she is not my sister." He said, sounding sure of himself.
"Partner, and daughter?"
"No."
At this point, Rose and I were thoroughly humiliated.
"Concubine and cousin?"
"Nope."
"Prostitute and ward?"
"Whatever we are it must be invisible. Do you mind?" Rose snapped. I would too, if a tree from the future called me a whore. "Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with family." She pointed at Cassandra. "Quick word with Michael Jackson." She made her way.
"I'm gonna stay here." A grin came to my face, politely nodding at Jabe. "I don't wanna catch what the skin flap has."
"Don't start a fight." The Doctor advised, wrapping an arm around Jabe's..
"Or start a fire, without me!" I warned, wrapping my arm around Jabe's other free one.
"We're all yours." The Doctor said, politely.
The doors opened, letting us walk through.
"And I want you home by midnight." Rose said.
"Not a chance, sunshine!" I replied cheekily.
"Earth Death in fifteen minutes. Earth Death in fifteen minutes."
The maintenance shaft was just a bit colder than Jabe's room, though being a tree I guess she needed it to be warm.
The Doctor walked in first, I was second, and then Jabe. I couldn't see any robot spiders, though I had taken a good number of them down. It didn't hurt to check anyway, I had only taken down five. There was no way of knowing how many Cassandra had as extras.
"Who's in charge of Platform One?" The Doctor asked Jabe. "Is there a Captain or what?"
"There's just the Steward and the staff." Jabe answered. "All the rest is controlled by the metal mind."
"That's the computer, I'm guessing." I said. "But who controls that?"
"The Corporation." Jabe explained. She probably didn't care for our questions, especially since the Doctor have her air from his lungs. "They move Platform One from one artistic event to another."
"But there's no one from the Corporation on board." The Doctor pointed out.
"They'd have been announced." I added.
"They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic." Jabe said, almost with pride. "It's the height of the Alpha class. Nothing can go wrong."
The Doctor and I turned to her, surprised. "Unsinkable?"
"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate." Jabe said.
I scoffed. "I hate when people say that."
"You're telling me." The Doctor agreed with me. "I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold."
I turned to Jabe, concerned. "So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?"
Jabe blinked. The idea had never occurred to her. "I'm afraid not."
"Fantastic."
"Terrific."
The two of us kept walking, a confused Jabe behind us. "I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic or terrific?"
"So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this?" The Doctor said after a few minutes of silence.
"Respect for the Earth." The tree woman answered.
"Oh, come on." The Doctor scoffed. "Everyone on this platform's worth zillions."
"Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions." Jabe admitted.
"In case your share prices drop?" The Doctor said. "I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."
"Or." I said. "She's a tree, saying goodbye to her ancestral home."
Jane smiled. "Yes. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest." The tree woman tilted her head. "How did you know?"
"Your room was as hot as that jungle." I said, shrugging my shoulders back.
The Doctor walked up to a panel, blocking my path. "Excuse me." He moved the sonic over the panel, causing various readings to flash across. One kept coming up, blocking out access.
"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left." Jabe had caught the Doctor's interest, but he ignored her.
I took a look at his face, seeing him try to focus on the panel but getting lost in memories. It was weird, I usually had at least one memory from my first self. That was strange. I should be having some vague memories of red grass, and silver trees under an orange sky...
Or, I should be remembering something from her life on Earth. Her moms, or aunt, maybe even just walking down the street. Yet, nothing.
"I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence." Jabe went on. My frown deepened seeing the Doctor become less and less interested on the panel.
"And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right." Jabe said. "I know where you're from." I turned to her, putting on a face of shock. "Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say...how sorry I am."
She gripped his arm in a show of comfort. I could only watch in slight awe as the last of the Time Lords didn't shove her away, placing his hand over her's.
I didn't know what to do. Hugs had never been a specialty, same for whatever Jabe was doing. Instead, I walked up to the Doctor's side, and gave him a smile saying I wouldn't tell a soul.
The Last Time Lord jumped back to the panel, shoving down the tears in his old blue eyes.
A nearby door opened, revealing to us a giant room filled with motors and giant fans.
"Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?" The Doctor asked us.
"A bit, yeah." I said. "I like it. Cold goes good with this outfit."
The Doctor walked over to the wall, using the sonic. "Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro."
I nodded, looking across it. They looked easy enough to run through now, but I knew they would get faster later.
The Doctor pulled the wall off. "Gotcha." A robot spider leapt out, crawling up the walls faster than I could catch it.
"What the hell's that?" The Doctor asked.
"Is it part of the retro?" Jabe asked.
"Safe to assume it isn't." I advised.
The Doctor brought out the sonic. "Hold on."
Jabe held out her arm, a vine shooting out to whack the robot. It felt into my hand, offline.
"Hey, nice liana." The Doctor complimented.
"Thank you." Jabe turned a darker brown. "We're not supposed to show them in public."
I mimed zipping my lips. "Secret's safe with us." I promised, adding a wink.
"Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?" The Doctor asked, looking down at the spider.
"What does it do?" Have asked.
"Sabotage." The Doctor and I answered, still watching the spider.
"Earth Death in ten minutes."
Our heads snapped up. "And the temperature's about to rocket." The Doctor said. "Come on."
We started running, heading to the Steward's office.
"Earth Death in ten minutes."
The door was covered in smoke, and guarded by the Oompa Loompas.
"Hold on. Get back." The Doctor said. I held back Jabe. She could still get hurt by this much sunlight.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic, working his way thru the tiny crowd. He pressed it on the panel beside the door. "Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising."
"Is the Steward in there?!" Jabe asked me.
"I'm sorry, Jabe, but you can smell him." I said, giving her a reassuring look. "They took out the Steward to
"Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend." The Doctor informed.
My eyes widened. 'Rose!'
I tossed the spider at Jabe. "Use the scanner. See how many of these things are onboard. We'll meet you at the observation deck."
Jabe nodded, going off to do her assignment.
The Doctor and I ran away from the Steward's office, heading for Gallery 15.
The Doctor started on the panel. "Anyone in there?"
"Let me out!" Rose shouted.
"Oh, well, it would be you." The Doctor commented.
"Open the door!" Rose shouted in a panic.
"Hold on. Give us two ticks." The Doctor said, somehow sounding completely calm.
"How does she go from talking to the flap to getting burned alive?" I thought out loud. "She might have made whoever is attacking this base angry, and they locked her in here. It's the only way they could know the filter would go down."
The Doctor nodded, a hard look in his eyes. "You're good at this."
I shrugged. "It isn't too big a leap."
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending." I couldn't breathe easy, especially when "Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." My hands started fidgeting, unable to stay still in this situation. "Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising. Sun filter descending."
"Just what we need." The Doctor shook his head. He turned to me. "The computer's getting clever."
I grunted, rolling my eyes. "Stop mucking about!" Rose shouted.
"We're not mucking about." The Doctor said. "It's fighting back."
"Open the door!"
"We know!"
There was a pause. "The lock's melted!"
The sun filter went back and forth, until the Doctor stuck his screwdriver into the inner workings. The computer couldn't fight the commands anymore, letting the filter rise.
I ran to the door. It should have opened automatically at my presence. "The whole thing's jammed!" I told Rose, getting pissed.
The Doctor walked up beside me, looking just as irritated. "We can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!"
"Where are am I going to go, Ipswich?" Rose said.
"Earth Death in five minutes."
We stormed off to the observation deck. There was only one person who could have done this; the last person Rose talked to.
Jabe was telling the observation deck of the danger. "The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One."
The room gasped, the Doctor and I were scanning the crowd for anything off.
"How's that possible?" Cassandra asked. She wasn't fooling me. Right now, she was the last thing to talk to Rose. That made her the prime suspect. "Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me." The Doctor took the spider back.
"Summon the Steward." The Moxx requested.
"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Jabe said.
This was even more unsettling for the officials of the room. "Who killed him?" Moxx asked.
"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us." Cassandra pushed away blame. "Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face."
I glared at the skin flap. How dare she falsely accuse Jack of this!
'Be calm, Terra.' The Face of Boe spoke in my mind. 'We can't panic.'
'Well I do what I like, so shut up.'
"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board." He held up the spider for everyone to see. He switched it on, placing it on the marble. "Let's send him back to master."
It scuttled off towards Cassandra, then turned to the Adherents.
"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" Cassandra glared (the only thing she could really show) at the Adherents.
"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it." The Doctor said.
"Right." I walked up to the Adherents. One raised it's arm at me. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea." I pulled the arm off. The others in the room watched in horror as I held the arm up. "And that's all these guys are." Tossing the arm aside, I looked over at Cassandra. "An idea."
Cassandra seemed on edge now.
I reached up, noticing the wires that were dangling from the Adherents. Reaching out, I pulled it like it was a pull string on a toy.
"Ah! Remote control droids! Haven't seen those in a while. Perfect cover for the real trouble maker. I should know." I gave the spider droid a nudge. "Go on, buddy, go on home."
The spider did as such, crawling over towards Cassandra.
The skin flap glared at me. "I bet you were the school swots and never got kissed. At arms!"
The attendants around her aimed their guns at the Doctor and I. I rolled my eyes, pulling my arms up to my chest like I was scared. The Doctor pulled the same position beside me. "Oh no! What are you going to do, moisturize me?" The Doctor asked, saying the last part with sarcastic flare.
Cassandra grinned. "With acid."
"I hear that really cleans up your pores." I snarked.
"Oh, you're too late, anyway." The skin flap said. "My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face." She explained, smug.
"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it?" The Doctor said. "How stupid's that?"
"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims." Cassandra said. "The compensation would have been enormous."
"Five billion years and it still comes down to money." The Doctor said, almost ashamed of them.
Cassandra scoffed. "Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor, Terra. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours."
"That's why you had her killed." I said, wondering if she would admit to it in front of witnesses.
Cassandra smiled. "Well, I couldn't have her running about, spreading lies, could I?"
I glared. Now, when she started creaking, my conscience would be clear. The Doctor was hiding his anger too.
"Arrest her, the infidel-" Moxx began, pointing one of his tiny blue fingers at the flap.
"Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option." Cassandra said. We were curious for barely a second.
"Earth Death in three minutes."
I stared at Cassandra in horror. "And here it comes."
"Your spiders control the sun filters." I said. "They can turn off the filters and roast us all." The room gasped.
"You're just as useful dead, all of you." The skin flap said, smug as ever. "I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."
Jabe glared. "Then you'll burn with us." She said fiercely. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing." Cassandra said, her voice turning cold. "Spiders, activate."
The slave station shook, and multiple explosions could be heard. The red alert lights blared, along with the siren. I almost growled.
"Force fields gone with the planet about to explode." The skin flap informed. I fixed my hair, the headband having come out of place in the explosions. "At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me."
"Safety systems failing."
"Bye, bye, darlings." Cassandra said. Her attendants walked to her side. She teleported out. "Bye, bye, my darlings."
"Heat levels rising."
"Reset the computer." Moxx suggested.
"Only the Steward would know how." Jabe said.
"And his computers burned to hoop in his office." I added.
"No. We can do it by hand." The Doctor said, walking out. "There must be a system restore switch. Terra, Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill."
The computer kept giving us warnings. I just ran faster, getting ahead of the Doctor.
I spotted the switch, groaning. "Hey Doc." He walked up behind me. "I'll give you three guesses where the switch is. And two of them don't count."
The Doctor looked through the now spinning fans of death. He marched to a nearby panel, pulling down on the lever.
"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."
The fans slowed to the speed from earlier, then kicked backup once the Doctor let go.
"External temperature five thousand degrees."
I pulled the lever down, Jabe coming to help. "You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place."
Jabe grinned. "I know."
"Jabe, you're made of wood." The Doctor agreed.
"Then stop wasting time, Time Lord." Jabe said.
The Doctor smiled at us.
I pressed down on the lever, just a bit harder. "This second this goes bad, you run."
Jabe only smiled.
"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.Heat levels hazardous. Heat levels hazardous.
After a long pause, the Doctor jumped through the first fan. He paused at the next one, waiting for the right time to jump.
"Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical."
The Doctor looked back at us, then leapt thru the next fan. I sniffed, smelling smoke.
"Jabe, get out of here!" I ordered, pressing down on the lever. "You'll burn!"
The tree woman paused. I shoved her aside. "Go!" I shouted. The tree woman ran back the way we came.
"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."
The Doctor looked back to me, seeing Jabe run off. I glared at him. "Keep moving!"
"Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five."
The Doctor walked through the last fan.
"About damn time." I commented, wincing. This thing was starting to get hot. I pulled my hand away, looking down to see them bright red with burns.
"Four."
"Raise shields!" The Doctor shouted.
With a sigh, I waved at the Doctor. The fans were slowing down as well, slow enough for the Doctor to walk through in a brisk pace.
I pushed my hands into my pocket, ignoring the sting. There was a balm in my bag I'm sure I could use, or maybe my Time Lady biology would be repairing it.
The Doctor walked up, looking down at my hands. "Let's go get Rose." I said.
"That lever was burning at critical levers." The Doctor pointed out.
"Rose. Fire. Death." I reminded him, walking towards the exit.
The Doctor grabbed my arm. The action surprised me, giving him the chance to pull my hand out. It was bright red, and painful once exposed to the air. I hissed in pain, pulling it out of his grasp.
"Rose was in danger. We can meet her in the observation deck, she probably went there." Without waiting for him, I stormed off. I heard him follow behind me.
There was some burn cream in my bag, so I got to work with First-Aid-On-The-Go. When working alone or with a sister, you needed to know how to fix your wounds.
The burn cream was settling, so I wrapped them in gauze. The cream was the best magic based one I could find, one of my own making in a potion's class. The cream would have my wounds all fixed by Unquiet Dead.
I arrived at the observation deck, the Doctor a few seconds behind me. He glanced at my bandaged hands, which were fixing my headband. It had gotten loose during all of the chaos again, and having my choppy hair in my face pissed me off.
There was a smoking pit where the Moxx's chair had been. I internally winced at the loss, he had been a good guy. He spat in Rose's face. That was rather nice.
Jabe was standing with her people. There wasn't any smoke on her hands, though they looked just a bit blacker than before.
Rose turned to us. Somewhere along the night she lost her jacket. "You alright?" Rose asked us, though she paid attention to my burned hands.
"Terrific." I said, tucking the hands into my jean pockets. 'But by the Story, I could use a drink.'
"Yeah, I'm fine." The Doctor walked up to me. "I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed." He glared at the ostrich egg, marching over to it. "Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby."
He smashed the egg on the table top. I almost flinched back. I could understand him being angry on the show, because of Jabe's death. She was alive now, so I guess Rose nearly being burned alive hits him harder now than before.
Or, maybe I was just denying the fact that he might actually care because the last people that did were risking their lives to fight a man who may or may not be dead. Maybe I was scared that Nine was angry over me, because that would only grow as time went on until he would become desperate enough to leave me alone in London, then go try and save my life.
I was scared he would see me as family, and then I would die. I was scared of doing to him what had been done to me. So, yeah. He was definitely angry over Cassandra trying to kill Rose.
"Idea number three." The Doctor went on, twisting some wires about on the device. "If you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed."
We could hear her before we saw her. "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces." The skin flap was back, only without those attendants. She paused, realizing she was back here an facing the last Time Lord. "Oh."
The Oncoming Storm glared. "The last human."
"So, you passed my little test. Bravo." Cassandra lied. I took a heavy breath, standing straighter behind the Doctor. "This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club."
"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." The Doctor spat.
Cassandra scoffed. "It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries." Her skin was becoming dry, flaky. "Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter."
"And creak?" I called out.
"And what?" She blinked. You could hear it in the quiet of the room, her skin tightening in on itself.
"Creak." I repeated, my voice playfully cold. "You're creaking."
"What?" More tracks went over her skin flap, easier to notice now. "Ah! I'm drying out!" She was panicking now. We had called her in to have her executed. "Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"
Rose was looking at the flap with pity, something I couldn't do in this instance. Cassandra would come back later in our lives, and try to kill us again. She had tried to murder us so she could stay rich, so she could afford the surgeries. Cassandra wasn't human anymore, that much Rose had right. She gave it up.
"You raised the temperature." The Doctor reminded her.
"Have pity! Moisturize me!" Cassandra pleaded. "Oh, oh, Doctor, Terra. I'm sorry. I'll do anything."
Rose went to the Doctor's side. "Help her." She asked.
"Everything has its time and everything dies." The Doctor said, not taking his eyes off Cassandra.
"There's nothing we can do." I added.
"I'm too young!" She screeched, bursting into a puddle of Cassandra goop.
The Doctor walked out of the room, not giving either of us another glance.
It had been a half hour before anything else happened. The others had all gone home, leaving just the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS, and I. Rose was standing at the window, looking at the Earth debris. I was tossing the ball Cassandra had given me out. Apparently, ordering all the spiders to blow and still worked on the ones I had. The ball contained the blast, at least.
My burns were healing, not better, but healing. The cream had done its job, leaving only a faint sensation of warmth on my hand. It would be sore for the next few hours, so I should be cautious.
I was taking my bandages off when the Doctor walked back in. Getting to my feet, I walked with him to Rose's side.
"The end of the Earth." Rose said. I stared forward, looking at all of what had been known as Earth. Somewhere amongst all of this, there was a Racnoss ship that was destroyed. "It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go." She was starting to get teary eyed, "All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just." The young girl stopped, unable to get the words out.
The Doctor held out his hands, to both of us. "Come with me."
Rose and I were guided into a street, packed with people. Faintly, you could hear a baby crying and a man shouting for a cab.
"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." The Doctor said. The pain in his voice making me look at his face. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time."
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"There was a war and we lost." The Doctor said simply
"A war with who?" Rose asked. The Doctor didn't answer.
"What about your people?" I asked. "They were Time Lords, like Jabe said."
"I'm the last of the Time Lords." He answered me, looking me in the eyes. 'Oh Story, I wanna tell him right now. I want to tell him I found out I had a second heart, that I was left alone on this planet, I'll tell him anything as long as he'll stop looking at me like that.' "They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else."
"There's us." Rose said, bobbing her head at me. I hooked my arm around her's, grinning at the Doctor.
"You've seen how dangerous it is." The Doctor warned Rose. "Do you want to go home? Either of you?"
My answer didn't come. I looked him right in the eyes, adding a smile. He couldn't get rid of me with a few deep words and exploding planets. I was on the run, and traveling with the Doctor was better than being on my own.
Rose was still indecisive. "I don't know. I want." She suddenly stopped, looking around the large crowd around us. "Oh, can you smell chips?"
"Yeah. Yeah." The Doctor chuckled at the complete 180.
"Story, I could use some food." I moaned at the smell of fries.
"I want chips." Rose decided.
"Me too." He kept chuckling.
"Me third." I held up a finger. "And you're both insane if you think I'm waiting in line behind you."
"Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is, and he can pay." Rose smiled at the Doctor.
The Doctor shrugged, grinning. "No money."
"What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me." The three of us exchanged smiles of glee. "We've only got five billion years till the shops close." She walked us down the street.
I smirked, following behind her into the chip shop.
"You alright?" The Doctor asked.
I looked up at him, a bit miffed. He was disturbing a much wanted plate of fries and chocolate/peanut butter/banana milkshake. Not to mention I was about to break out my headphones to tune the world out. Anything to get my mind off the agitating sensation in my hands.
"Why are you asking?" I begrudgingly had some of my milkshake. The Doctor sat in the chair across from mine. I quirked my brow. "Go on. Take a seat."
"Already did, thanks." The Doctor said.
I grinned at the bit of humor. "I lied." He quirked a brow. "When I told you I lived with my friends. I don't have any friends."
"You called someone on the phone." The Doctor pointed out.
I shrugged. "Not exactly someone I'd put in the friend category." 'More like: twin sister from another reality who likes to have sex and then kill the guy after.' "And she's about as homeless as I am."
This seemed to appease the Doctor, but only slightly. He still had questions about me. "You had some serious burns on your hands." The Doctor said. "Thought I would have to get you to the medbay to fix it."
"She's got a medbay too?" I deflected. "Next you'll say she's got bedrooms. Maybe even a tennis court."
He grinned, then gave me a hard stare. "I was serious about the burns."
I lifted my bag up, not taking it off but enough so he could see. "Had some burn cream in here. Used to work at a movie theatre, and you get burns there all the time. You learn to find the good stuff at the pharmacy." I lied easily. "Now, can I get back to my milkshake?"
"You said that TARDIS had let you in." The Doctor said after a pause.
Holding back the urge to roll my eyes, I sat up in my chair. "Yeah, and?"
"So, the TARDIS doesn't let just anyone in. Especially when I locked her door." The Doctor said, sounding nonchalant but I knew better. I was being interrogated. 'More like inTerragated. Story, this needs to stop.' "You need a key, a special kind of key. More than that, you knew where she was. I hadn't exactly left her out in the street, she was hidden in an alleyway."
I paused. That had been a thing I had forgotten about.
"So, why did she let you in?" The Doctor clarified.
There was a long tense pause. This was it. My make it or break it moment. "I was running from...from something. You were the only person I knew in town, and you were tracking the plastic, and the plastic was tracking Rose, so I tracked Rose to that restaurant. Finding the TARDIS was easy after that."
The Doctor was concerned now. He sat up more in his seat, his shoulders broadened. "Running from what?"
I forced myself to stay calm. This was not the time or place to have a hissy fit. This was just me doing my job, doing what it took to keep Him away from me. The note was tucked in my journal, stuffed between some of the random pages.
Breaking eye contact with the Doctor, I pulled it out of my bag. I tossed the note onto the table, tapping into that teenage apathy. My journal was put back in the bag, and I waited for the Doctor's response.
He lifted the note, unfolding it. I paid close attention to his facial expressions as he read. It changed from curiosity to confusion to slow burning anger. That was when I knew he had gotten to the bottom. He looked up at me, an apologetic yet angry look on his face. "Do you know who sent it?"
I shook my head. "He taped it to the door of my old motel room. I thought I had gotten away, but a part of me was still paranoid about it. Seeing the note, I just started running again."
"Again?" The Doctor pointed out.
I took a shaky breath. "The first time was a month ago. He." I couldn't say it. The words were in my mouth, but I just couldn't get them out.
He murdered a family to get my attention. He kidnapped my future self, your future self, and the somehow alive Oswin, just to get me scared. He kidnapped me, my first self, then killed her. He killed me. I died a month ago. But anyway, here I was, alive. Nothing to show for it but a new scar.
It wasn't the first time I had died, not by a long shot, yet I sometimes found myself staring at a new scar along my stomach from a knife wound. When I died, I went Home in bed. I would have nightmares for days, but alive. The only sign that anything happened was a scar from where I had been killed. There was a new one on my stomach, crossing with an old one to make an X shape.
X marks the spot, not exactly comforting.
The Doctor brought me back to Earth. "Terra?"
"Huh?"
"What did he do?" The Doctor asked, something in his tone saying he was holding back. He had probably been calling for me repeatedly.
I took a shaky breath. "No." I said, sitting up straighter in my chair. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Terra, this man could have killed you." The Doctor said, pushing the paper towards me. "If you hadn't been searching for that arm, you could have been killed."
I held back a snort. Jokes on him, Logan already killed me. He's probably killing my future self, Doc's future self may not be far behind. I don't even know what to think of Oswin. They could all be dying because of me.
"Would you want to talk about it?" I countered. Deflecting his questions with other questions seemed to be a good defense mechanism, if not obvious. "If he did to you what he's done to me, you wouldn't say a damn word." My hand grabbed the note, pushing it back to him. "This wasn't him saying he could kill me. This was him sending a message."
"I can find you." The Doctor tried.
"Keep your mouth shut." I corrected, my voice serious. "I saw what he did. I'm a material witness to the crime. There's nothing to really stop me from going to the authorities and reporting it."
"Until you got the note." The Doctor realized. I nodded. He looked at me, suspicious. "But you said a month passed before this. Why didn't you go before?"
'Bad things happen to people who mess with time.' I thought. 'Every reality I go, at least one person changes the timeline to catastrophic levels. Floods because you wouldn't embarrass yourself, whole family dead because you cheated on a test, Reapers killing your Doctor because you saved your father. I don't want to end up with something worse.'
None of this was said to the Doctor. It opened to many questions, plus it would make no sense. "I was a witness." I said. My voice was surprisingly small, although looking back it wasn't that odd.
"Exactly. You could have-"
"What he did was so horrifying, I could barely sleep that first week. I see him in shadows, late at night. I hear his voice when it's too quiet. That's why I was happy to find that living plastic group at that store. It gave me an outlet for my fear." I interrupted the Doctor, words full of fear. It was a familiar feeling for Two, being so scared my voice came out panicky. "No one would believe me if I told them what happened. I'm just a kid, you said so when we met. I don't even believe me!"
I forced myself to calm down. This was a public place, not a desirable place to start panicking. Panicking might not be the best way to convince Doc to let me stay.
"So." I snatched the note away, tucking it back in my journal then into my bag. "We are never talking about it again."
The Doctor paused, a glint in his eyes suggesting a new argument about to start.
"There you two are." Rose sat beside the Doctor, a tray of fries in her hand. "Why're you in the corner by yourself, Terra?"
'Because I'm scared to have my back facing a window, so this is the safest spot in the room.' Of course, that wouldn't be a good response from a somewhat eccentric fifteen year old to a nineteen year former shop girl. "Dark corners are my natural habitat." I joked, eating a couple of my fries.
Rose snorted. "Oh, really?"
I nodded, giving Doc one last meaningful glance. There was a chance he would bring it up in front of Rose, but then she would want to get involved and help me. That would end up with her dead, no question.
It was temporary, surely. Maybe til later, when he gets a better idea of who Rose is, can predict her movements enough to know when to tell her to stop. Maybe I'll be lucky, and Ten will want to know. I have time, three lifetimes worth, to deal with Logan.
For now, I was gonna coast. Adventures with Nine, Rose 'Bad Wolf' Tyler, later with Jack Harkness and Mickey Smith.
"So." I asked, taking a bite of another fry. "Where to next, Doc?"