*Chapter 4: The Enemy Within
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Bec led the way to a small kitchenette, intent on making herself another cup of tea. The drink Rose had given her was sitting back in the console room, barely touched, but she wasn't about to return for it.
She shook her head as she went about her task of preparing the two mugs for herself and Cathryn. The rage that flowed through her at the Time Lord was settling back to a weary despair. Even if they succeeded in escaping on Pete's World and found their way home it would only be a matter of time before they ended up as science experiments because of what he was doing to them. Either that or they'd spend most of their lives on the run, unable to even see their families lest it be discovered that they weren't entirely human anymore.
In her distraction, she poured the hot water from the jug over the edge of the mug and onto her hand. She hissed and dropped the cup in the sink, before running the burn under the cold tap.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say…" Cathryn shook her head. "I don't know what happened."
"It wasn't your fault," Bec assured her without turning around. "It was withdrawals from that stupid needle." She paused for a moment. "Maybe…" she glanced at the girl behind her. "What if we ask if we can give ourselves the needle, you know, like a diabetic does, then we just try to hide out until the withdrawals go away…" She shrugged, looking back at the tap. Even to her it sounded like a bad plan.
"It wouldn't work," the other girl sighed. "You know he won't let us avoid him for long, not if he thinks… And then he'd just scan us to see we hadn't taken it."
"Why is he doing this?" Cathryn lamented after a moment.
Bec had a few choice answers for that question, but she bit them all back. None of them would be helpful. "I don't know,' she finally answered softly. Even if he was right and they did have some sort of Time Lord heritage like Laura and Honor, surely he'd be able to come up with an injection that switches off that DNA rather than activating it.
Since joining her fanfiction community, she'd learned that there was more to the Doctor than the friendly, helpful alien he'd appeared on the show. She couldn't even watch the show anymore without seeing that darker side of him. However, she never thought he'd go so far as to force them to become like him so cruelly simply so he didn't have to be alone, especially while Rose was still with him. He always said that Rose made him better. If this was what he was like with Rose, what would happen to them when she was gone?
She paused in her musings, removing her hand from the cold water and drying it as she turned. "Did he say a fourth helix?" she asked suddenly. "I thought Time Lords only had a triple helix in their DNA, TNA, whatever-NA."
Cathryn paused, struggling to remember what she read, all that she researched on Time Lord physiology for her stories. "Well, the Time Lord before going through their first regeneration only has one heart, like a human." She paused in consternation, sipping from the mug that Bec handed to her. "But it's not to say I understood that entire little explanation he gave." She briefly rolled her eyes. "I do think he does that to show off."
"But after their first regeneration?" Bec felt nervous. Would they go through regenerations too? She remembered the tenth Doctor saying regeneration was like dying. The stories she read and watching the process on the show. It looked painful and then…. then, you changed. The person she was gone forever…. Bec swallowed and Cathryn looked at her only with profound empathy. They were both thinking about what this could mean. Still, Bec had to know.
"After the first regeneration, a second heart develops and I think with the fourth helix of Time Lord TNA." Cathryn said softly. "We're not there yet since we haven't….. or, well, maybe won't regenerate." She approached her friend. "Bec, we have a plan. Just remember…." She bit her lip. "I didn't help." All the words that came out of her mouth just were beyond her control. She did have hormone injections once or twice from her Ob/Gyn. True they made her emotional but it was nothing like this. What he was doing to them….Cathryn dug her nails into the cabinet. Yes, they expected to be captured. But they never expected this. Still, a few days worth of injections and they would be out of his hands. The withdrawals they would simply overcome. Would have to overcome.
"Even if we get back to our world, we'll be different." Bec muttered, making herself a new cup. "How could we stay with our families? We'll be… found… collected…" She could never see a doctor regarding a condition. There would be too much risk. It simply broke her heart to think about her children. Her husband. The thought of being forced to part from them because of what the Doctor was doing to them.
"I know my grandfather is dead." Cathryn said. "But your Granny, she's still alive. Would she help us?" She glanced down at her tea. "If what the Doctor is saying is true. She could help reverse this….what's happening."
Bec looked at her and closed her eyes briefly. It was possible. If what the Doctor said was true, she was a Time Lord, perhaps living as a human but it was a hope. Certainly, her Granny would understand their wish for them not to live like this. "My Granny is a lovely old bird," she said with a smile. "She would help us in any way she could, but…" She took a deep breath before shaking her head minutely. "I'm sorry. My Granny… I can't see how he could possibly be right." She swallowed, thinking about her children, bubbling with the fear that even if they found a way home, she wouldn't be able to stay with them and watch them grow up. "I don't…" She choked on her words and shook her head, trying to not be overwhelmed with despair.
"We can do this." Cathryn said in determination. She wasn't going to give up. Forced medication or no, she considered it temporary. Neither of them would be owned by anyone. But for now….
"You both change your mind about dinner?" The Doctor had come in behind them and Bec momentarily froze while Cathryn only briefly closed her eyes.
"In fact, yes." Cathryn finally spoke. "Just decided to make it myself. I have several allergies. I didn't want to risk it." She took a deep breath. "I'm used to preparing my own meals."
"You have?" the Doctor said speculatively. His diagnostic of her wasn't just a matter of a few misplaced nutrients from food borne allergies.
She turned to him, her expression fixed. "For three weeks prior, I went every day to the ICU with my father." She said sharply. "You will excuse the fact that food wasn't the first thing on my mind but…." She paused. "I would rather eat on my own, then have another needle forced into my vein, if that's alright with you."
Bec glanced up at the two, her upset safely compartmentalized away again so he wouldn't see. She lightly chewed on the inside of her lips as she listened to the exchange. Even though she knew Cathryn's dieting habits were somewhat erratic before, her explanation was still plausible. He was looking directly at her friend firmly who only met his stare. Cathryn, had given him the truth, although an abridged account of it.
But in this he seemed to relent. "Of course you can make your own meals. If you told me before-"
"I don't seem to remember getting a chance," Cathryn said, turning from him opening the cold box. She was looking for something simple. Chicken or fish that she could boil on her own. No breading.
The Doctor frowned. So far, this wasn't off to a pleasant start. Rebecca was sipping her tea staring at a fixed point on the floor away from him and Cathryn was now focused on the task in the cold box. He ran his hand through his hair. "There's something I need to discuss with you both."
Bec still needed time after her last confrontation with the Doctor and she wasn't prepared to talk to him now. "Can't it wait?" she asked. Didn't they deserve any respite at all? Her hands gripped the mug tightly as Cathryn tensed.
"It's just a couple of questions," he answered smoothly. He still wanted to get back to the Louvre but he needed some clarification, especially before they went to sleep and another injection was needed. He had two companions onboard. If Cathryn and Rebecca were able to see the events of their lives just by being in their proximity then that definitely went beyond ancestral memory.
He paused to look at his granddaughter who had successfully managed to find an adequate piece of cod from the cold box and was now in the cabinets, muttering about the location of olive oil. "Top left cabinet, over the sink," he directed absently, clearly hearing her. Taking a mug, he poured himself a cup of tea while grabbing the sugar bowl as an accompaniment. Taking three generous spoonfuls, he glanced up at Cathryn while sipping his tea.
"Cathryn, how did you know that Rose was missing from home for a year?" he asked, keeping his voice calm.
Bec nearly choked on her tea and had to stop herself from coughing. She was afraid of this. Neither Rose nor Mickey had discussed those events with them and Cathryn during her inhibition from the withdrawals between the injections had lost control over her discernment.
She could see her friend's posture stiffen at the question as Cathryn took in a sudden breath. She didn't know at that moment what to say.
"I just need to understand." His voice was gentle. "Time Lords, weeell, each Time Lord is capable of time sensitivity. The ability to sense other Time Lords and access to ancestral or direct family memory. It is a bit more rare to be psychically aware of other time lines outside of our family descent." He was understating the case. On Gallifrey, visionaries that could see into the future were rare and those that were stable, rarer still. But they did exist in his family and if this was the circumstance, the hormone dosage had to be adjusted, then training had to ensue rapidly to include regulations about their use of this ability.
"We're not psychic," Cathryn told him. "It's….." She didn't know if telling him it was a TV show in their dimension would make their predicament worse. All the stories she had written, only this wasn't a story. Her stomach churned.
"Rebecca," he started. "How did you know about 'Bad Wolf'?"
She was caught by surprise. She didn't know he had seen her mouth the word to Cathryn. Bec wanted to groan. Lies were not her forte but what could she say?
"Back home," Cathryn said finally. Bec looked at her in surprise. The Doctor examined both his granddaughters.
"You heard this back home?" He raised his eyebrows. My son and daughter…?
"We thought they were just stories." Cathryn managed. "Like fairy tales or something you see on a TV show."
Bec internally winced at this but how would they explain the TV shows without seeming mad themselves. The way Cathryn avoided having them being defined as precognitive and despite the tone of voice, the intensity of the Time Lord's stare when he questioned them, she swallowed. It was possible he could find them insane. He already declared them unstable in handling their own medical welfare, which was bad enough.
The Doctor was dubious at this explanation. True, there were one or two visionaries in his ancestry but from what was being inferred, both his son and daughter inherited the gift without the Doctor being aware of it. But the physics of an alternate dimension could have such a radical impact, it may have been an unintended side effect as his children transitioned through the rift. But Cathryn, herself said his son died when she was six years old. Rebecca's grandmother, his daughter was still alive. He recalled Cathryn's claim clearly that his name was a prominent source online for anyone with the will to search for it. Why would they want to search for it? His hearts clenched, remembering how Cathryn said her grandfather spoke little about his family and his life growing up. Did they use a chameleon arch to become human? It would possibly account for it although in the wrong universe, the arch would not have the power to make the full transition due to the wrong energy from that universe in particular. Likely enough to transition them into human society and put their TNA into a state of dormancy. As for their memories….
If his children knew about the fall of Gallifrey….. he had evacuated them from Arcadia with very little warning before sending them through the rift, knowing he would never see them again. He never expected to survive himself but at least, his family would survive. It was the one consolation he gave to himself when he stole 'the moment' device after time locking the war.
But he observed both his girls posture upon being asked the question and how it took a minute or two for Cathryn to respond. He ran both his hands through his hair as he sat down, his elbows on the table, hands propping up his chin. "Are you sure?" he asked and he put up his hand as Rebecca glanced at him in alarm. "Because from what I could tell, it seems a bit more than just a few stories." He looked from Cathryn to his other granddaughter who was now staring at her tea. "Rebecca?" he prodded. "Did your grandmother tell you these stories?"
Bec looked up at him, her eyes flashing momentarily at the mention of her Granny. Her family she was now forced apart from and the ache of her separation returned to her even as Cathryn came next to her, taking her hand, squeezing it gently in reassurance. Looking up at her friend, she took a deep breath before returning to the Time Lord in question. "My family…." Her voice nearly cracked. She closed her eyes and took a breath. She didn't want to talk about it, especially not to him. He who had a twisted interest in her family, her children…
But Cathryn was right, they needed to distract him from thinking they were precognitive. She thought about her dear old Granny, of how she used to read her bedtime stories almost every day, as she lived in the house next door and Bec and her brothers just wandered in whenever they felt like it. Her favourite story, and yet the one she had cried at every time was Epaminondas. She smiled softly at the memory. "All the time," she admitted softly in answer to the Doctor's question.
Cathryn in the meantime lost her focus for the task at hand. Cooking now seemed out of the question. She knew the merit behind it. They had to reach some accord or no doubt a leash wouldn't be far behind but after a day like today…..she had watched Bec plead with him not to give her the injection and had seen the helplessness on her friend's face. She would have done anything to intercede and if she thought they had a chance of going without the injections but….it was a futile endeavor. For now.
"I am just trying to help," he said. "If you would only talk with me then-"
"Then…?" Cathryn asked. She slammed the pan into the sink causing everyone in the room to jump. "Then what? Force another injection on us we don't want? Wasn't it enough you tricked us into making you our medical proxy? Oh, you must have thought that was so clever."
"Cathryn," he started, slowly coming to his feet.
"No," she said adamantly. "I, in fact told you the truth. Up to you whether or not you want to believe it. I don't really care but you know." She inhaled deeply as her lips trembled. "I guess I thought you would give me the benefit of the doubt being that we are family." She glanced at Bec. "Let's go. I'm really not hungry anymore."
Bec looked at the Time Lord before nodding fiercely. "Neither am I." She was drained. Perhaps Cathryn was too. Maybe it was his presence and the constant confrontations they had throughout the course of the day. Dinner could wait a few hours until they both had time to calm down.
They left him alone in the kitchen and this time, the Time Lord didn't try to stop them. He was mulling over their words. Cathryn's words. Stories. He thought to himself. More specifically it was the way she phrased the explanation. He didn't specifically detect deceit from her and when observing Rebecca, she seemed to affirm if only through some degree, his granddaughter's explanation. 'Like a fairy tale or a TV show.' He frowned. Human precognition and psychics were something he was aware of especially with the Cardiff Rift. If they were exposed, it was a possible explanation. With their human genetics combined with Time Lord TNA, acclimating to the environment, they were attempting to interpret the time lines they were exposed to into something they could understand.
It was possible his children were both visionaries. However, that alone was theoretical. Visionaries were identified early at the Time Lord Academy and great care was taken so they would not be prone to Time Lord Dementia. A far worse fate then human Alzheimer's disease. There was a darkness in every Time Lord, which caused the propensity towards madness. Omega had it to such a degree, it had cost the Doctor his own Gallifreyian wife when he formed a dangerous anti-matter reality inside a black hole, which he had to seal, losing his wife in that one decision forever.
But it was either that or risk the entire universe. The choice was difficult but he knew, always knew, which one he would be forced to make.
Then Rassilon became mad at the end of the Time War, forcing his hand. If he wasn't in power, he might have been quietly institutionalized, but the Time War brought out the darkness of the majority of Time Lords directly to the surface. The Doctor closed his eyes briefly, thinking of 'the moment' device. That blinding flash of light. It also included him. The darkness. Otherwise called 'the dark design'. A part of every Time Lord that had been in existence.
But then he was alone. Bitter. Angry. Until Rose came along and even just being human, so fleeting, she saw him for everything he could be. Stood by him. Believed in him and even as early as their first few adventures, he began to believe in her.
He sighed, mulling over his options. His girls were tired and he received as much of an explanation as he was going to expect at the moment. It was likely they were heading back to their rooms to rest. He would take another visit to the Louvre considering the suspicious readings he received from there. He knew he had seen them a few times before but it had been….his mind pondered the centuries, thinking of the possibilities and winced to think if his notion could indeed be a possibility. Putting his mug into the sink, he headed back into the console room to change the coordinates to the early 1990's in Paris, after the pyramid in front of the Louvre had been erected. After all, he knew, it wasn't just the Egyptians that had a predilection for that type of architecture.
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"Oi, you two can't go to bed now," Mickey protested. He had located Cathryn and Bec as they were just approaching their subsequent rooms and the young man seemed somewhat reproachful. He did feel like a third wheel to the Doctor and Rose as his ex-girlfriend had taken to agreeing with each one of the Doctor's decisions. He knew the alien had saved the planet more than once and he had chosen to travel with them for a reason when Sarah Jane turned the Doctor down.
"We just wanted a little break," Cathryn told him. After all, she had nothing against Mickey. He in fact stood up for them when it came to force medicating them. If they had a closer affinity, they would consider taking him into their confidence but both were afraid he would still ultimately talk to Rose, who would then in turn tell the Doctor.
"So, just going to let him tell you to take a nap like you are five years old?" he challenged the two as they both turned. Bec raised her eyebrows.
"Let him tell us…." she started to repeat slowly. "Mickey, he didn't give us nap times." What was Mickey talking about? Was this another regulation the Doctor was instituting that he told his companions but not them? But both Bec and Cathryn decided to go to their rooms after seeing him in the kitchen or did they? She swallowed. Maybe it was another form of manipulation that neither girl had readily picked up on.
"Not what he told me," Mickey said to them. "Rose and the Doctor are just outside in the Louvre and when I asked why you two weren't comin' along, he said you both needed your rest as part of your treatment." He watched Bec clench her jaw. "Said he had to keep you two on some kind of schedule."
"Oh, this is just ridiculous," Cathryn said, feeling irritated. "Nap times? We actually have nap times?" She felt her heart begin to race. Compromise yes but to be systematically controlled to do everything the Doctor said?
"Now, that's what I said," Mickey affirmed. "So why stay cooped up in here? At least, you can get out of the TARDIS for a bit. Think you both could use it."
"But the Doctor and Rose…." Bec started. She wondered if this might cause further trouble. What were they doing back at the Louvre? It wasn't part of any adventure she was aware of. Certainly it was never referenced on the show. "Why aren't you with them?"
"I told 'em I needed to come back for my jacket." He shrugged. "Just sor' of happens you two were on the way."
Cathryn stared at Mickey for a long moment before coming to a decision. She finally nodded. "We'll go with you. Bec and I, we just need to grab our coats." She gave her friend a meaningful look. "Left them in my room."
"I'll be waiting right here then." Mickey was encouraged. The girls were not aware of the Doctor's regimen he had in mind for them. Surely bit by bit, Rose might start to become wary of the alien that was directing everyone without expecting a word in refusal.
It was only when Bec and Cathryn stepped in the confines of her room that Bec turned to the brunette beside her.
"Cathryn, I'm not sure about this. I'm not ready for another…." Her hand waved about, thinking of the prior afternoon.
"We're not there to have a showdown," Cathryn insisted. "Think of it as a performance."
"A performance?" Bec said in confusion.
"To simply show we won't run away." Cathryn raised her eyebrows. "He might even expect it. If Pete's World is to have a chance at working, we have to show him we won't. That right now, we think it's hopeless."
"Lose the battle, win the war," Bec echoed her thoughts from earlier.
"I suppose," Cathryn started, "But he is not about to give us nap times." She rubbed her forehead. "You have to draw the line somewhere." After all, Cathryn hadn't been relegated to take naps since she was four years old and as a show of refusal, she never slept during any of them. The very thought that he would make this part of their schedule had her cringing. Her memories of her grandfather might be few and far between, but he had been gentle. Never forceful or domineering. She couldn't see in her grandfather a resemblance akin to how the Doctor was treating them now.
At the moment, Bec could see Cathryn's point and maybe just the two appearing with Mickey was a sign strength, a testament of will that they simply were not going to follow all his regimens to the letter. Would that not also seem suspect if they became so compliant? A balance had to be struck. They would demonstrate their ability to 'not wander off' in the Louvre while at the same time, cast scorn to his stipulated rest times. Hitting two birds with one stone,Bec thought. She might feel more asserted by this act of simple defiance, however small it was. Besides, at this point, neither girl was particularly tired anymore.
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"You two are awake." The Doctor spoke calmly although the intensity of his gaze could not be missed, which he cast in Mickey's direction. The idiot Mickey. Repeating a thought he had so many times from his prior regeneration. He thought he had explained this. Simply. Effectively. Even most humans could understand. His girls not only needed but were required to take rest intervals at designated periods every seven hours and forty two minutes in conjunction with the injections he was giving them to adapt to the Time Lord physiology that was rapidly asserting itself.
He clenched his jaw briefly, while removing his glasses, pushing himself up from his knees from the sarcophagus he was examining in the Louvre that had been giving the fluctuation in readings with his sonic.
Cathryn didn't miss the not too subtle exchange taking place between the Doctor and Mickey. Bec didn't either. She knew there had always been some friction between the Doctor when it came down to one thing. Rose. The simple but then not simple at all blond human who had quite readily and effectively stolen the Doctor's hearts.
"The two of you weren't tired?" she asked simply. "'S just you seemed like you could use some space." Rose knew what the Doctor had said, what he explained, and she trusted it, but at the same time the nineteen year old was wise enough not to use the words 'medical rest periods' when addressing other adults, especially those older than herself. But how many times had she had one vicious row or another with her own Mum, did she require distance after an argument? Too many to count. She gave Mickey a questioning glance. Oh, she would have a thing or two to say to him later.
"No, we're not and it's a good thing we caught Mickey going down the hallway and asked him if we could tag along," Cathryn said as the young man glanced at her, startled at first, then a small smile starting on his lips. He had expected, was expecting, some heat from this decision but maybe the girls understood his offer for what it was and were trying to return the favor. She continued, "Took a few minutes but eventually he agreed." She rubbed her neck in order to ease some of the tension from the cramped muscles. "I think Bec and I needed someplace off the TARDIS to stretch our legs…. so to speak." Her smile was diffident as Cathryn glanced towards her friend. "I don't know about you but I think I've outgrown nap times I would say, oh, well, twenty years ago….maybe."
Bec nodded in firm agreement. She was an adult with children of her own. Children she still fervently hoped to see again but if anyone was to decide when she was to take a nap, it would be her. "I'm not tired at the moment either." Truthfully, she always felt the tired but that made it a simple matter to ignore the extra weariness she felt at this moment; the girls were attempting to make a critical point, how they would abide him now so he would drop his guard later when they needed him too. "And I've never been to the Louvre before." In her opinion, being chased through the museum hardly seemed to count. "I'm more interested in what we're still up to around here."
The Doctor sighed, running his hands through his hair. They simply weren't making this easy for him. He was trying so hard to ease their transition. Make it as painless as it could possibly be despite the circumstances but….. no. Their arguments today, hormone elevation and their presence here? He had to make some recalculations and he needed to make them quickly. His mind was already processing the details but for now….now, it would be good to avoid another confrontation especially in the middle of the Louvre with the potential problem of a sarcophagus and a nearly activated lodestone on his hands.
"Alright," he muttered. "Fine. You would like to stay, then?" he asked his girls. As they nodded, he just shook his head briefly. He would address this issue with them back on his TARDIS but his work in the Louvre likely wouldn't take that much longer. "I see. Alright. Alright, then," he said in repetition. "Just no wandering off." His voice was firm.
"Not this time." Bec said flatly, scarcely casting a glance in Cathryn's direction who gave a minor nod of approval. "I would only get lost."
"Good, that's good." He put his glasses back on and knelt back down next to the sarcophagus. "What do you two know about Ancient Egypt?"
"Egypt," Cathryn repeated. "Pyramids," she said automatically because it came to the forefront of her mind. "Hieroglyphs and they used papyrus. I think they were pretty advanced although they enslaved others to do their labor for them." She grimaced remembering the bible story of Moses having to lead the Hebrew people out of Egyptian captivity. "There are Egyptian myths and stories but I don't really know them. I liked reading Greek and Roman mythology better." She raised her eyebrows at Bec. Maybe her friend knew more about Egypt if this was some kind of test. "I think Anubis was the god of the underworld and Ra was the sun god?" A question hung in her tone.
Bec shrugged. "Basically everything I know about Egypt I learned from Stargate," she admitted a bit bashfully. "There was Ra, Apophis, Anubis, Osiris, and lots of others who names ended in 'is'..." She shrugged again.
"Stargate. What's that?" the Doctor asked, glancing up from where he was working once more.
"Oh, umm, it was a TV show I liked," Bec said softly as though she was embarrassed to admit it. "All the Egyptian gods were aliens. America got their hands on an ancient artifact, the Stargate. It made a wormhole to other planets and they travelled through it and accidentally made enemies with them. The good guys always won in the end though…" she trailed off.
"Of course they did," the Time Lord agreed with an air of disdain as he turned back to his work. Humans, he thought. Although it was true that in their first transgalactic forays the human race managed to make a lot of enemies before they learned the art of interspecies diplomacy. "Did you really watch rubbish like that?" he asked after a moment, glancing back at her. Still, something bothered him about this telly show called Stargate. The problem being that he never came across a show by that name and admittedly, he was often entertained by human concepts of time travel and wormholes. Even if he thought it was rubbish, he would have likely have watched an episode before coming to a determination.
Bec didn't answer, but she did exchange a smirk with Cathryn that the Doctor didn't miss. 'Like a TV show', Cathryn had said. His lips pulled into a frown.
"Well," he began, pulling the back on track. "Funny you should mention that show really since what we are seeing here," He gestured to the sarcophagus, "is alien in origin and not Egyptian."
"Alien." Mickey looked at the artifact in front of him. "But it looks Egyptian."
"Believe me, many archeologists make that mistake." He glanced over at his girls noticing Cathryn's eyes widen in a sense of realisation. He pondered this briefly. Was this part of their ancestral memory? Just the way they were sorting through time was so alien in his perspective. So very human. But both girls had been raised human. Their now activated Time Lord TNA was only barely making the smooth transition with his medical assistance from their human genetics. The next several months regardless would be difficult ones. "You know what that mistake was, Cathryn?"
She was caught off guard by the question as she looked at her friend with a sense of anxiety. What could she do? He must have realized when she made the connection of who might be behind the origins of the sarcophagus. It was straight out of classic Who and something she researched for two stories. She had been amused with the concept of aliens imitating Egyptian gods but that seemed relatively logical in approach especially for a TV show. Only it wasn't a TV show anymore. If she admitted to knowing about the Osirians especially after that discussion in the kitchen, it might open a door she couldn't close so easily. Thoughts of the story about Lilly and her 'time sensitivity' ran through her mind. The Doctor could very well declare them as insane. She internally shivered at the idea as she attempted to think quickly in order to answer the Doctor's question.
"I just thought….maybe Bec's show isn't 'rubbish' as you said." Cathryn had never seen Stargate, well, she couldn't remember off the top of her head before but it could work as a distraction point for the Doctor. "I haven't seen 'Stargate' but when Bec said aliens pretending to be gods, I thought we or you could be dealing with something like that here. An alien sarcophagus. The Egyptian gods here could have been aliens just emulating the culture, doing things that were so advanced to that society, it made them appear as gods." She shrugged. "It was just logical conclusion. I don't think you would be so interested in a sarcophagus if it was just run of the mill or human."
He looked at her in evaluation before nodding briefly turning back to the artifact. "Good thinking Cathryn." It was indeed a very well constructed hypothesis given the information she had and he shook his head briefly at just dismissing Bec's show out of instant distaste on the premise of humans engaging in a conflict with aliens. There were indeed very similar elements, which if he hadn't been so prejudicial, wouldn't have just considered it wasteful. "And the show. Sorry for calling it rubbish. Pretty insightful plot, weeell, for humans anyway."
"That's probably the best you're going to get as an apology, Bec," Cathryn muttered as Bec briefly rolled her eyes at the Doctor's superior attitude.
"So it's an alien sarcophagus," Bec concluded.
"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the 'p'.
"Why is it here?" she asked. Bec admittedly was a little worried. Should they even be there? True, there was little information about what happened between episodes, except that the travelling and adventures continued even though those weren't televised, but she was sure they had travelled straight from saying goodbye to Sarah Jane to the SS Madam de Pompadour. Things had changed by their very presence, by them trying to escape to avoid changing his story. She worried at her lip as she worried over the dilemma. She had seen every episode since the reboot but knew little about the early years. Bec knew Cathryn had made the realisation but was attempting to cover for their knowledge through her usual means of half-truths.
"Well, that is the question, isn't it?" the Doctor stated, looking at his readings. "You see, there was a species of aliens called Osirians. Dealt with them in my fifth regeneration. Usually a very noble race, but there are a few wayward members."
"Wayward members?" Rose interjected. "Wha' does that mean?"
"Ohhh, well, the thing is, Rose, this is an ancient race that goes back to the year 150 million BC. Time sensitive, very technologically capable, nearly as powerful as Time Lords were themselves." He paused. "But a few wayward members ended up on Earth and on Mars. People there worshipped them. One particularly dangerous of the lot was just a bit paranoid. Thought that every life form was a potential threat and if he didn't destroy them, they would rise up against him."
"That's absolutely mental," Mickey muttered and Bec agreed.
"Is that what's in there, then?" she asked in confirmation.
"Weeell, possibly," the Time Lord said. He wanted to keep them calm and telling them about Sutekh, an ancient, deadly and embittered Osirian that was very nearly finding his way out of the time tunnel the Doctor in his forth regeneration had crafted was not the way to do it. Sutekh, the Destroyer. The Doctor shook his head. No, not something I should say. He did wonder how Sutekh ended up here when he left him in a burnt priory on Mars trapped in a time tunnel of the Osirian's own making. He sighed. He was struggling with making adjustments to the dial for the lodestone inside the sarcophagus so Sutekh remained inside the effectual prison the Doctor had created. "The mummy inside is just a dormant or inactivated robot lying in the tomb right now. What we're dealing with is more of the consciousness or mental projection of the Osirian rather than the body."
"Mental projection?" Rose asked.
"Osirians are telepathic. Able to project themselves over certain distances. A bit limited there. They can take over and animate robots for their purposes," he explained.
"Oh, thought control," Cathryn said, without thinking, her mind reflecting on the plastic Santa's she had seen utilized in the show. Briefly, she felt a jab in her arm. Bec was looking at her critically and Cathryn internally winced as the Doctor paused to glance up at her.
"You know about thought control?" he asked and Cathryn swallowed. Mickey looked at her seeing the strain appear in her expression. She covered for him just earlier. Maybe it was time to return the favor.
"Oh, c'mon Cathryn, we talked about it, remember?" Mickey asked. "The Santa's that appeared on Christmas?" He gave her a grin as the girl looked at him in surprise but quickly recovered herself.
"Yes, that's right," Cathryn said. "In the hallway, you mentioned it just before we came here. I must be spacing out. Not entirely myself lately."
"Soooo, Mickey told you and you forgot?" The Doctor looked at his granddaughter analytically as Cathryn struggled to remain composed.
"Can't be that hard with what you're druggin' them with," Mickey accused thereby earning an unfavorable glance from the Time Lord and Rose in equal measure.
Bec's mind had meanwhile flown back to the Nestine Consciousness who used thought control to animate plastic. Was that what they were up against? An enemy like the Autons? Except she'd never known the Autons to have anything to do with ancient Egypt, though she would admit herself that her knowledge of classic Who was sorely lacking. The Autons had disguised themselves as Romans, but that was only part of a plot using Amy to trap the Doctor.
"I thought the Santa's were remote control, not thought control," Bec murmured to Cathryn, yawning partway through her sentence. She was thinking about when the Doctor pulled the remote out of his pocket, where he and Donna faced the Empress of the Racnoss. Bec frowned. In the grand scheme, that episode wasn't particularly far away. She hoped she and Cathryn were long gone by the time he met Donna, even though they would still have to wait a few years in Pete's World before the dimension cannon was ready.
She was tired. She was always tired. It was like a perpetual state for her, so she was used to pushing through even when she felt weary. Her pills, which had disappeared upon her arrival in the TARDIS, helped her to feel more awake, which was more of a pleasant side effect than anything, but without them her head was just starting to feel slow and cloudy. Internally, she berated the Doctor for stealing her medication. Her pills helped her think clearly. Without them, her brain fog, impulsiveness and lack of motivation had caused her to fail college and lose jobs. During the brief time they would be traveling with the Doctor there was a risk of losing something far more valuable if she couldn't keep her own head in check. Right now, however, she was wondering if she should have stayed back and lazed on the TARDIS, not that things looked particularly dangerous. They were all simply standing around an unmoving sarcophagus while the Doctor buzzed it with his sonic.
The Doctor frowned at Bec's yawn. They really should have stayed on the TARDIS. This was going to do nothing to help them through their transition. He silently shot another glare at Mickey. He didn't believe what Cathryn had said about convincing Mickey to let them join him. While she had sounded believable enough, Mickey had initially been surprised by her statement, giving lie to her words. And now, again, Mickey seemed to be trying to cover for them. Perhaps inviting Mickey to travel with them had been a bad idea. It would be much better if it was simply he and Rose with his girls without Mickey the idiot being in cahoots with them and sabotaging his efforts to try to help them. One trip, he thought to himself, and then he would drop the young man home again.
Cathryn glanced at her friend, her mind feeling sluggish as she worked to answer Bec's question. Santa's. Remote Control. Thought control. She stifled the yawn she felt with the back of her hand. Maybe yawns are really catching. "No, the Santa's during Christmas were like…." She paused before coming up with the word. "pilot fish. They knew something bigger was coming. Sycorax was controlling everyone with an A positive blood count. Thought control. Not remote control. You're thinking…." She shook her head. "Wrong place."
The Doctor stared at them. Bec had just asked about thought control versus remote control with the Santa's. Cathryn had used two references he made specifically when the Sycorax attacked. Mickey would not have known to discuss this with either of his girls. Now they were both looking tired. Already he was thinking of adjusting the dosages of the injections he was giving them. Now it seemed an outright necessity.
"I'm picking up increased time spillage," he said to Rose, trying to focus at the task in front of him. "I'll need to move the top of it just counter clockwise to access the lodestone." He was becoming increasingly nervous. The positioning of the lodestone, the sarcophagus and the access point was at a near ninety degree angle with the pyramid, newly built, looming as the ugly variant attached to the Louvre itself.
"What if there's a mummy?" Cathryn asked hazily. She glanced at Bec. "Ever seen 'The Mummy' and the 'Mummy Returns'? The mummy in there took someone's tongue." She shuddered. She hoped the Osirian was nothing like the mummy in that movie. Still, she found herself captivated by the object in front of her. Pulled by it. Maybe it was simple curiosity. She discovered herself walking towards it, placing the palm of her hand on the sarcophagus, and feeling a distinct vibration.
"Cathryn, what are you doing?" The Doctor glanced up at his granddaughter and studied her.
"I don't know," she said, tilting her head to one side to look at the artifact. "I've never touched a sarcophagus before." The world around her seemed to vibrate and pulse as she felt Bec step up to join her at her side. "Have you Bec?"
Bec reached out and placed her hand next to Cathryn's, shuddering slightly as she did. "The guards would get us in trouble, won't they," she giggled. "Rory the Roman was a museum guard. Do you think it's like Night at the Museum when everything wakes up at night?" The world was getting hazy around her like it did when she was starting to fall asleep, but she could also feel something scratching at the back of her mind, like a nagging memory that she couldn't quite grasp hold of. She dropped her hand away and shook her head.
"Bec, are you alright?" the Doctor was asking.
"It's something about the mummy," she explained, trying to shake clear her mind. "Brendan Fraser beat it by reading the book, and you beat it by surrendering." No, she thought, that wasn't right.
"I liked the mummy." Cathryn was thinking of 'The Mummy' as a film. "Had this romance with Pharaoh's wife. Yes, read a book. Book of Death, gives life, Book of Life, takes life away." She started to chuckle. "Do you think that's reverse psychology? So, people would pick up the wrong book by mistake?"
Bec started to laugh in a nearly drunken matter. "Maybe they could've combined the two. Book of Life and Death."
"Book won't help us here," Cathryn said. "Unless they're like Carronites." She knew Carronites used words as a science to bend things to their will. "No." She nodded to herself. "No books. Have to surrender. Told us that Earth could be our plaything."
"See? Surrendering! I told you!" Bec exclaimed cheerfully.
Now that made the Doctor visibly alarmed. "Who told you this?" He was starting to realise just what his scans were telling him about the robot laying inside the tomb. It's activating. He thought. It was dormant before. One of Sutekh's robots that had been placed in the sarcophagus that had been damaged and was actively engaging in self-repair mode. They would have originated from the same period of time and the robots Osirians including Sutekh used, shared similarities in appearance to actual mummies.
"Voice in my head," Bec answered. Her hands were on the artifact. "Adjust the dial, he'll give us the earth as a present." She paused with a smile. "I like presents." She was looking inside the visible open in the sarcophagus. "Cathryn, you see what that is?"
Cathryn's face brightened. "Crack in time. I hear the voices don't you?" she asked her friend. "We just touch it, it will send us home."
"Bec! Cathryn! Listen to me!" the Doctor tried to interrupt, but the girls continued as though they couldn't hear him.
"Our home?" Bec asked hopefully.
"So, this will never happen," Cathryn mumbled. "Told me history can be rewritten. That's what they do. It will be like this never happened."
"I can hear them," Bec whispered. "My children, my family. Just on the other side.
"Me too," Cathryn agreed. They made their way nearer as the Doctor continued to work on the sarcophagus. Strain evident on his expression. This might be more serious then he even believed. He worked furiously on disabling the lodestone, furtively glancing at them with palpable concern as Cathryn started to giggle. "My father. He's right there and he's waiting for me."
Suddenly, without warning she reached down her hand to adjust the dial. Sutekh was absorbing more of the energy they carried. It was just nearly enough.
"Massive time spillage," the Doctor exclaimed in reaction, jumping back. "Everyone out." It was an order cast to his companions. The mummy was continuing its activation sequence. Sutekh only had a low level connection to it being the positioning of the time tunnel. When his girls ran off through the Louvre, the mummy….or robot, the Doctor thought grimly, must have absorbed some of their void energy they still carried from navigating through a crack in time without a time capsule. It was one decade when his girls both ran through the exhibit leaving a trail of void energy in their wake to feed into the tomb. Full activation required the presence of the pyramid and likewise his girls as an additional source. Sutekh was very patient when he wanted to be.
"Said, no wandering off," Cathryn yawned. Was she seeing things or did the artifact become covered in a putrescent red glow.
"There could be a paradox in place here. Considering the origins or mental state the Osirian could…." The Doctor was struggling to work the mechanism to turn the dial back. "Rose! Mickey! I said get back!" He commanded as they seemed nearly frozen by his side.
"But this…." Bec started. "This could be our new home." She heard her family's voice on the other side of the tiny but slowly opening vortex.
It was the delighted giggling that filled her ears. Her children as they played. The memory at the back of her head still seemed to nag at her uncomfortably, like it didn't quite fit, didn't quite belong, but that little voice whispered for her to reach for the memory, to embrace it, that if she let the memory fill her then it would no longer be a memory, her children would be there with her in reality.
But the mummy wasn't quite strong enough. The sarcophagus was powering up, but it needed the extra energy from the glass pyramid. Energy the Doctor had been attempting to cut off. Her hatred for the man filled her. It was his fault! He did this to them. Locked them up, gave them injections, forced them to change! And now they had a way to reach their families again, for her children to be with her in their new home... She smiled at the laughter. It wasn't just her two boys, it was all four of her precious babies, including Amara and Zachy whom she'd lost. They were all within reach. She sneered at the man who tried to stop it, who would trap her children forever in darkness.
Nearby she spied a portable guardrail, one with seatbelt like straps that clipped to a matching rail to create a virtual barrier. It had already been unclipped from its neighbours, perhaps when the Doctor deemed fit to approach the sarcophagus. She picked up the portable post, balancing it in her hand, before stepping back into her place beside Cathryn.
"Doctor!" Rose screamed as Bec swung the heavy post right at his head.
He barely managed to duck in time, even with his superior reflexes, his granddaughter was already moving to deal him another blow as he stepped forward in anticipation, grabbing the bar with both hands, wrenching it away while she stumbled, a fervent glare in her eyes. "My children! I can hear them! I won't let you stop me from seeing them!" The quality of her voice seemed to change dramatically. "Not this time. Lost once already. This time you're going to lose!"
A sudden blow was paid to his left shoulder as Cathryn moved forward, laughing wickedly as he fell to his knees, the air briefly spent from him. He engaged his respiratory bypass while attempting to gain a clear perspective of the situation. Sutekh was trying to use mental projection to gain control of his girls but it wasn't completely working. The girls weren't fully Time Lord and were still in transition, the telepathic centers of their minds for which Sutekh was depending, not fully developed. That was why they weren't feeling the family bond growing between them quite yet. Wait. The Doctor thought. That's it. The bond. Sutekh was too strong on his own to fight a telepathic war with and send him back into the time tunnel. But with his girls, working through the bond, there stood an opportunity. After all, Time Lords when Gallifrey existed often engaged and used telepathy as part of the collective. Family bonds were simply a more potent expression. He struggled to stand.
Cathryn just paid the Time Lord before her a spiteful stare. She knew about the nerve cluster in his shoulder and the voice in the back of her mind knew too. Oh, the promises the voice made. She could hear her father speaking to her, telling her if she finished turning the dial with Bec, she could be with her entire family again. He wouldn't die anymore. They would all live a long time. She even heard Anna, her niece giggling, begging to her to read about unicorns when they were reunited. She was telling Cathryn they could go to the zoo again like they did last year. But she had to free them first.
"I'll free you." Cathryn nodded eagerly, before looking at Bec. "We both will." The light around the sarcophagus was getting brighter as they both moved to interact with the object. Once again she laid her hand on the surface just as Bec was doing the same right next to her. "The dial." Bec said dreamily. "Said we have to turn it. They can all come home. I know they can."
The mummy started to climb out of the sarcophagus, throwing the lid across the room. The Doctor shouted as he ran, quickly taking Rose's hand, and leaving the girls behind.
"What about your granddaughters?" asked Rose, running as fast as she could.
"Yeah," Mickey piped up. "Don't mean that much to you now. Do they?"
"Mickey!" Rose objected.
Mickey was about to say more when the Doctor pulled him around a corner and covered his mouth.
"Hush," he ordered in a low tone. The Time Lord's look was dark.
Mickey looked out of the corner of his eye to see the Doctor's other hand covering Rose's mouth. Only a moment later the mummy robot came barreling past the trio, oblivious to where they were hiding. When the sound of the mummy storming off disappeared, the Doctor removed his hands and stepped back.
"I can't help them if I'm dead!" he whispered furiously to Mickey. The Doctor turned to Rose. "Don't worry," he told her. "I've got an idea." Without another word the ancient alien began leading his companions back toward his girls. He knew Sutekh was dividing his mind between two Time Lords. Weeell, maybe they weren't completely Time Lord, but it should still be enough, especially if he added his own mind to the mix. The Doctor never thought he'd be so grateful for the family bond. He knew the girls would probably give him hell over it in the future. But today... Today it might just save their lives.
He clamped his hand down on Bec's wrist, effectively cutting off her almost crazy ramblings, and Cathryn gasped when the Doctor took a firm grip of her arm. This wasn't going to be pleasant. He grimaced briefly, shaking his head. No, not pleasant at all but now it was a necessity. His girls were telepaths but had no training in how to shield their minds therefore they were susceptible to Sutekh's control. Now, though, he needed to use their emerging telepathy against an intrusive, parasitic threat. There was no other choice. Both girls started to cry out in pain as he efficiently forced his mind into theirs, driven in one purpose as he connected to their emerging family bond. He heard both of them cry out in pain, having to cope with two telepathic presences in their minds. But he had no choice. It was similar to a parent rooting out a deeply embedded splinter from a child before it became infected, without anesthetic, an agonizing procedure but one the parent had to perform. The fully developed telepathic pathways his girls didn't yet have would have to act as anesthetic enough. Human minds were so delicate as it was. Despite his focus and the fact that time was a critical factor, he tried to send soothing sensations to both of them.
Cathryn could only cry out in pain from this new voice forcing its way into her thoughts. Her head felt so full. Was it going to split open? Two voices seemed to be speaking at once but now she couldn't understand either one. She started to weep, struggling to pull out of the Doctor's hold. "Stop it!" she said. "Please stop talking. Too much noise. I can't hear. Please….it hurts. It's hurting me!" A slight cooling sensation entered her mind as one voice seemed to anchor onto…. something. It was familiar. What was it? But it was being used. She could feel it. Her strength being sapped from her as the work inside her mind continued. Her father. She couldn't hear her father anymore. Where did he go?
"Dad?" Cathryn whispered. "Daddy, you're still there, right? You'll still come back to me, won't you?" There was silence now where her family's voices filled her ears and she felt gut-wrenching pain at the sudden loss. "Dad!" she screamed.
Bec only felt devastated at the sudden departure of her children's voices. Their laughter, which had been so delightful to hear was suddenly silenced. She cried out for them in agony, feeling the pain inside her mind. She was in the midst of a tug of war. The new voice that entered her thoughts didn't seem to fit but he was forcibly intruding nevertheless. This perpetrator was responsible for the silence that fell between herself and her children. She was sure of it. And as he seeped his way into the very center of her thoughts, she cried out. "Stop!" She struggled frantically but could not pull away. "Stop it!" He was torturing her. Couldn't he see that?
The moment the thought struck her, there was a calming sensation. A minor soothing that was offered as a balm to otherwise inflamed nerve endings.
"Bring them back," Bec demanded. "I can't hear them. My children. Can't leave them in darkness. Please give them back!" In desperation, she tried to call out each of their names, hoping they would respond. Nothing. Internally, she started to weep bitterly feeling the devastating loss she had once endured happen all over again. I can't…. she thought frantically. I can't lose them again….please….
The Doctor could hear both his girl's thoughts and it broke his hearts but now he had firmly navigated his way through their mental pathways and anchored himself into the core of the already emerging family bond. One part was over but he was now using his girl's telepathic abilities, forcing them in sync with his own as a more powerful channel to push Sutekh out of their minds. Using their connection to rebound the Osirian back into the time tunnel for which he was fated to linger. But doing it would usurp likely a steady amount of his girl's energy that was already leaving them in a state of imbalance. Feeling mentally exhausted as a ramification. It was certainly better than losing either one of them to this parasitic, telepathic entity. Gently, but firmly, he proceeded to push the barrier that was formed as part of the bond inside their minds to the intruding forces. Sutekh's mind that had been divided between the two. The Osirian was unstable but the Doctor, guiding the hand of his two reluctant girls, was not. The task was proceeding as he made careful inroads forcing the entity to release each tendril of its grasp on Cathryn's and Bec's mind while forcing the creature back inside the time tunnel.
"No!" Cathryn protested again. "My father! I want my father. He promised my father!"
"Amara," Bec managed, tears in her eyes. "Zach." She swallowed. "My boys. They're gone." Her voice started to crack. "They're just…"
I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. The mental voice radiated throughout their minds almost continuously as they felt the utter pain of their loss while the presence in their heads forced them to drive something else away. Something that had merely been a mild flicker. Scratching at the back of their minds. Uttering intoxicating promises that neither one could resist. The slight scratching now seemed to claw at them in an attempt to hold in place, to not be expelled.
"Doctor!" Rose cried out. "The mummy!" Her voice was a warning. "He's headin' this way!"
"You and Mickey go and hide right now." The Doctor's voice brooked no room for argument.
"But wha' 'bout you?" Rose didn't want to think about leaving the Doctor, her Doctor behind.
"I'm almost done Rose." He forced assurance in his tone. "Just a few more seconds." He could hear the mummy robot staggering through displays, crashing things in his wake. Tourists were screaming. The alarms around the Louvre started to sound. He took a deep breath. If he was quick enough, it wouldn't matter. Once he forced Sutekh back in the time tunnel, sealing it, the robot would lose its power. But only moments remained. He had to act quickly. More lives hung in the balance. So he pushed harder on the bond and the barrier he formed despite his girl's tolerance. It was in that moment, both gave a gut wrenching scream of agony, which didn't match the mental inhumane shriek he knew was Sutekh's, as one final agonizing thrust dispelled him back into the waiting partially opened vortex.
In those seconds, as quickly as he could, he disengaged himself from his girl's minds who in turn collapsed on the floor, trembling on their sides. Rose and Mickey leapt forward, immediately assisting to drag each girl away from the sarcophagus. This time without the girl's physical contact and the blocked pyramid, he was able to finally close the rift before turning the dial to send Sutekh backwards in time five hundred thousand years. Ten times the life span of any Osirian. Better safe than sorry, especially now. Weeell, no. Another measure needed to be taken. He heard the horrendous shrieking of Sutekh as he was forced backward far into time where he couldn't survive since an Osirian could only travel through his or her approximate life span. He was about to activate the final measures by igniting the lodestone.
The mummy robot Sutekh has been controlled had just barely grasped his arm. Trying to wrench him away. Fingers wrapped around his throat, squeezing tightly. The Doctor flailed. Even with ten times the strength of a human, the robot was more than a match for him. But it was Mickey. A surprise for him given the day's prior events. He picked up the dropped sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the lodestone as Rose only whispered briefly. Without hesitation, the very device started to glow in activation and then burned, pieces of it falling apart into a charred ruin. The last crack of the time tunnel sealed, the robot fell over, directly on the floor. Once again, dormant having no further commands being given to it by the Osirian that controlled it.
The Doctor inhaled, closing his eyes briefly before he looked at his girls, both in tears on the floor, clasping each other's hands for comfort. No doubt they suffered from their experience and carefully he bent down in front of them, attempting to keep his voice soothing. "I'm sorry. I had to. There was no choice." He said. "If I didn't force the Osirian out of your minds, I would have lost you both." Silence followed his statement as they only looked at him in shock. Grief was a double measure. It was nearly as though they had been separated from their families all over again.
"My father…." Cathryn's voice was shaky. "I heard him."
"It wasn't your father, Cathryn." The Doctor gentled his tone. "I promise you it wasn't. It was an Osirian called Sutekh who used telepathy. He wanted you to think that it was your father or…." He looked at Bec. "Your children."
"They were so real." Bec's voice was despondent as she felt a wave of depression starting to settle on her. She had thought for just a moment, her children might be returned but it wasn't….. she looked at the sarcophagus. Smelled the burned metal. The scratching that was in the back of her mind was gone. No, the voices of her children didn't quite fit but at that moment, she didn't care. She just wanted them back.
Cathryn blinked back her tears as she moved to the other girl's side, putting her arm around her shoulder. Maybe it was true. Osirians were superior telepaths and the trick wasn't beyond their capability. Playing on their memories. She could only imagine how Bec must be feeling. Having to lose two children was probably the worst pain for any parent to endure. A parent shouldn't outlive their child. That much she knew. But in life, there were things you couldn't anticipate. Rules generally conceived by society had no impact on nature or a fallen world. So she swallowed whispering the only words that brought her comfort, which Bec had once told her. "But God is still in control right?" Despite the universe they were in, life or death, God had control and would see them through this. It was the only thing Cathryn now could cling to.
Bec finally nodded as she closed her eyes. Opening them, she saw chaos all around them. Other artefacts in cases strewn about the floor in pieces. Chunks of marble ripped from walls. She still heard the tourists screaming. Wasn't this supposed to prove to the Doctor they wouldn't run? Now she remained uncertain of whether this truly helped their position or only proved that they couldn't be trusted.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," she tried. "We just wanted to see what you were doing. We had no idea…." Her voice was lackluster with defeat while the Doctor put a comforting hand on both their shoulders.
"It wasn't your fault," he assured them. "Doubt you asked to have your mind possessed by an alien entity, I don't think." He nodded. "Good to be curious but…"
"You wanted us to sleep," Cathryn discerned, finishing his sentence. "It was only supposed to take a few minutes."
"Expect the unexpected," the Doctor concluded. "Next time, don't take Mickey up on his…." He glanced at the young man. "Distractions."
"He didn't," Cathryn said firmly. "We wanted to go." She glanced at the young man. "Besides, don't you think you're underestimating him? He helped save your life back there. Did you even thank him?" She gave him a brief scowl in reproof.
The Doctor inhaled. She certainly had a way with words but at this point, she was right. When it was needed, Mickey had been there for him. Maybe he was too quick to dismiss him. In fact….the ancient Time Lord was thinking. Perhaps, if he allowed his girls to develop a rapport with him, he might be better able to anticipate their needs. Mickey often confided in Rose. This might work to his advantage.
At any rate, his work here was done. Best he clear away his companions and his girls to the TARDIS before security got there first. He cringed briefly at the questions they just might have for him considering the disaster that was left in his wake.
xxxxxxxxxx
The Doctor's first demand was for them to come to sickbay so he could examine them for any permanent damage that might have been left in Sutekh's aftermath. So far, the results had been promising. Indeed a headache or two was expected after utilising the bond in the way they did but an analgesic would help with the pain and perhaps, they might as an after effect start to sense more of the innate bond with one another since he forcibly widened their telepathic pathways. Neither brooked an objection to going to sickbay seeming to reconcile themselves to their fate. The Doctor nodded briefly to himself as he pulled out two newly prepared syringes out of the drawer. At least they didn't try to run first thing in the Louvre. That was something. A step forward, he believed. Still, there was now this new unpleasantness to handle but it had to be done, especially after today. Pressing his lips together, he turned back to his girls.
"It's time for another injection," he said, seeing their already reluctant expressions. "I'm sorry, you both are in need of one. It would risk you deteriorating. The telepathic attack only increases that chance two fold."
Cathryn took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Of course she could fight again but that wouldn't make a venture into Pete's World easier when they both attempted to flee. On a second note, fighting did little good where the Doctor was concerned. She was on his turf. Where would she go even if she tried to run? There was little reason at the moment and she needed to assist in allowing him to drop his guard. Just a few more days. She told herself. "Fine." She held her hands up in a placating gesture. "I'll go first." She shook her head. "No point in fighting. Don't want to risk anymore damage." Well, that much was true. She didn't want to derail what fragile inroads they were trying to make already.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. Well, that was an improvement anyway so he smiled at his granddaughter. "Thank you Cathryn." He said approaching her, taking her arm. "Now this won't hurt a bit." The needle inserted her skin, going directly into her vein. She cringed but didn't otherwise move and the Doctor nodded. "You did wonderfully." He commended.
He started to pull out another syringe. It was Bec's turn. Maybe if he hurried then-
"Cathryn!" Bec cried out. She saw her friend standing there one minute and then swiftly starting to collapse at the next.
The Doctor acted instinctively, catching her while placing her gently on one of the medbay beds. He rubbed his forehead and grimaced. "It's not supposed to be that fast. Could be her malnutrition. Thought I would have more time."
"More time?" Bec stared at Cathryn with incredulity as clarity started to dawn on her. "You sedated her. She wasn't fighting you but you just put her to sleep." Her heart started to pound. "No, nu-nu-nuh, no, no, no…..." She knew. Just as the Doctor turned on her, the way he looked at her, she knew. This was part of their new regimen. He had introduced sedatives into the injections. Nap times were no longer optional. They would sleep exactly when he demanded it. Things were spiraling. It was one more freedom that was now being torn away from them as if it was nothing of consequence. Bec clenched her jaw. Nothing of consequence to him, but then at this moment, it was everything to her.
She turned and fled into the TARDIS corridors, ignoring his call to her retreating back. Rose and Mickey were nearly at the medbay. They had pused in the console room to exchange heated words but had finally followed the Doctor and his charges out of their concern for the two women. But Bec didn't even hesitate. She had to get away, had to escape!
She instinctively drew on the years of experience fighting with and fleeing from her brothers. She dropped her shoulder and charged right at the gap between the two impeding bodies. She felt herself glance against someone and ram hard into the other, but her momentum kept her going until her pathway was clear once more.
"Rose! Are you alright?" the Doctor asked crouching down beside the young woman. After a quick assessment, he pulled out his sonic and ran it over her back where her diaphragm sat, relieving the muscle contraction that prevented her from drawing breath.
"What is she a Rugby player?!" Mickey yelled incredulously as the Doctor quickly worked.
"... fine," Rose gasped. "I'm... fine... Jus'... winded..."
Satisfied, the Doctor stood and stared down the hall, trying to determine where Bec may have run to. She hadn't been doubled back, which implied to him that she must have taken refuge somewhere rather than simply trying to run as far from him as she could go.
"Rose," he began, having come to a decision. "You stay here and watch Cathryn for me. Mickey, I need you to help me find Bec."
"What?" the boy said defensively. "You tried to drug her again or something?"
The old Time Lord growled as he turned on the human and vented some of his anger at the little ape's lack of understanding. "Mickey the Idiot. If they don't get the rest and medications they need they'll burn their bodies out before they've even acclimatised to this universe. When a human is starving, their body draws on the sugars and nutrients stored in the fatty deposits and little used muscles for energy to keep itself alive. Their bodies are doing the same; only they don't have the resources stored away to maintain their emerging Time Lord physiology. Their emotional displacement, their anxiety and their disorientation are symptoms of a starving brain, and, as you've seen, the onset of their destabilisation is as little as a matter of hours. How much longer do you think they have without intervention, hmm? You want to help them? Then help me!" He turned and stormed into the TARDIS corridors searching for signs of where his granddaughter had fled.
Show me, his mind whispered to his TARDIS as he sprinted down the hallway. He skidded to a stop at the only open door he had seen. The library. His chin lifted as he remembered where she had hidden the first time she'd fled from him. That time had been a lot less volatile than this occasion.
He glanced about as he warily entered, while a slightly puffed Mickey Smith finally caught up with him. The Doctor turned his head towards the other man slightly as he spoke, but his eyes continued searching the room. "Close the door," he said in a soft low voice. "And call me if you find her."
He quickly darted forward at a soft whispery sound, carefully maneuvering through the bookcases to stay hidden. He frowned as he saw the source of the faint sound. One of the volumes of the Encyclopaedia Gallifreya sat open on the floor next to a set of stairs that led to the library's upper levels, whispering its secrets. He carefully re-corked the jar and silently began creeping up the staircase.
Mickey, on the other hand, wandered aimlessly as he searched the ground floor, and it was he who found the girl huddled beside a couch with a side table pulled in front of her. She desperately mimed for him to help her and keep her secret, but, looking at her, Mickey could see the Doctor was right. She was shivering, almost shaking violently, as she clutched a bottle of something to her chest. Her skin was overly pale and she was sweating far too much given the situation, and she didn't quite seem able to focus on him properly. He swallowed guiltily and met her blurry gaze. "I'm sorry," he told her, before loudly announcing her location to the Doctor.
"NO!" she cried out, pulling herself out of her little nook, but by the time she untangled herself, the older Time Lord had already entered their row. She threw the jar of encyclopedia she'd been cradling at him, but he caught it and lightly tossed it onto the couch beside him
"It's okay, Bec," he told her as he slowly approached, his empty hands held up in a placating manner.
Bec glanced around frantically before laying her hands on the olden style lamp, hurling it at the Doctor, but, once more, he brushed the projectile aside with ease.
"Bec, just calm down! I'm not going to hurt you."
"Liar!" she screamed, lifting the side table by one of its legs, tipping its contents to the floor and holding it up like a baseball bat. "That's all you do! You lie! I just want to go HOME!" She swung the table threateningly as he slowly approached. "Just stay away! Just leave me alone!"
He watched her, studying her erratic pattern before stepping closer and catching the table mid swing. "I can't do that," he told her softly.
"NO!" She shoved the table at him, releasing her grip and then backed away fearfully towards Mickey.
The young man reached out to try to calm her. "Bec," he began as the Doctor called out to him in warning. Bec turned and grabbed him, spinning him around to use him as a shield.
"Bec, it's okay!" the Doctor tried again, his voice calm but serious. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"You can't just make me sleep!" she screamed. She backed away, pulling Mickey with her as she glanced behind her, searching for an escape.
Mickey could feel how much her hands were shaking where she held him by the elbows. He tried to struggle free but, somehow, her grip was almost impossibly strong and he couldn't shake her off. "Bec, Bec just think about this," he said, a note of panic to his own voice.
The girl quickly adjusted her grip and pushed the man at the approaching Time Lord, catching one of his ankles with her foot so he would stumble into the Doctor and she fled once more in the opposite direction.
She skirted around the edge of the room back towards the only doors she knew the location of, but when she tried to open them they resolutely remained closed. The Doctor's voice echoed as he called for her, and she knew she only had seconds to escape. She shook at the handles, but the doors didn't even rattle. She fought against her bubbling panic as she slowly withdrew the screwdriver he had given her. The device sat heavily in her hand as she tried to remember everything, anything, he'd said about how to use it, but eventually she just fell back on the point and think technique. The door remained stubbornly locked against her.
"Bec," came a soft voice from behind her.
It was too late, he'd found her, and there was nothing nearby that she could harness to protect herself.
"No!" she cried, spinning around. "Stay away! I want nothing from you! Nothing!" She briefly glanced down at the useless device in her hand. He'd probably deliberately made it so she couldn't use it against him. She threw it at him as hard as she could - "NOTHING!" she repeated - but once more he just reached out and caught the projectile with ease.
The room seemed the tip around her, so she held one of her hands back against the door to keep her balance. She wondered if he was trying to hypnotise her, to disorientate her to make her a weaker target. She tore her gaze away from him, and that was the moment he sprang into action.
Seeing her swaying weakly, he leapt forward, catching her by her right hand, and quickly spinning, rotating in position to press his back against her chest while firmly pinning her so her back was against the door while her arm was held securely to his front. She screamed and thumped him with her free hand, but she didn't have enough room to place a stronger blow. He tightly held her arm with his elbow and gently but firmly pulled her hand back to expose her wrist. The veins on her wrist would suffice for her injection, but it did worry him to see how small the veins were. As he pulled out the already prepared needle, he ran through in his mind how much both girls had eaten and drunk since they came into his care, and his conclusions sat uncomfortably with him.
"No, no, no, please don't..." his granddaughter was begging.
"It's okay, Bec," he promised. "You start to feel better in just a moment."
The injection complete, he carefully released her and turned to face her. She sank to the floor in despair, scratching frantically at her wrist as though she was trying to remove the preparation. He caught her hands and held them still. "It's okay," he consoled her gently. "Just ten more seconds. Seven..."
She shook her head and tried to pull her hands away, tear tracks running down her cheeks, but she felt so weak and the edges of her vision were flickering darkly. "Please," she whispered.
"...two, one." The Doctor sighed as Bec softly slumped to one side, and he quickly gathered her into his arms in relief. The injection wasn't going to have been enough with the extra adrenaline in her system, so he was going to have to top up the dose he'd given her. He also decided that a course of fluids would be beneficial for both of them.
"Will she be right?" Mickey asked from behind him.
"She'll be fine," but it was close, the Doctor answered, keeping the second part of his comment to himself.
"Why did you need to drug them again anyway?" Mickey asked. "Didn't you do that before we went to France?"
The weary Time Lord sighed. "If you eat and then exercise, your body burns all those calories and nutrients much faster, without storing them. Theirs does the same."
He gently hefted her up and led the way back to the medbay.
"Is she alright?" Rose asked quickly, jumping up from where she sat beside Cathryn.
"She's fine," the Doctor promised as he set the girl on a bed. "Bit of sleep will do them both good."
He paused, pulling Rebecca's sonic out of his pocket. 'I want nothing from you', she'd said, but he hoped it was a delirium induced statement rather than how she truly felt. His hand tightened on the screwdriver. It was the one thing they had connected over since his granddaughters arrived. He carefully slipped the device back into her pocket, before turning to prepare a course of fluids for them and a second injection for Bec. He only wondered what would await him when his girls finally did awake from their imposed slumber.
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Authors' note:
Another chapter for you all to enjoy. As always, thank you Almadynis Rayne, Fan Fictional Authoress and LovelyAmberLight for your help and encouragement, and to everyone else for your kind words and support. :-)
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